It is the 1980s. An elderly woman passes away. She lived with her son, being one of her five offspring. But there was no love lost between that son, Leslie and his sister Maureen. Each has their say in this heartfelt two-act play, with one actor – UK-born Michael Dalton, who immigrated to Australia in…
One of my favorite musical scenes in film is that long opening sequence at the beginning of the movie Once, where you can hear Glen Hansard playing guitar and singing while the camera tracks along the dark streets of Dublin before settling on the singer/songwriter busking in front of a storefront. Knowing that Hansard’s career…
Twelve albums with all the original members is a rare achievement in the music world these days but that is exactly what we get here from Canada’s Sloan. The band has returned with the appropriately titled album, 12, and it is another reminder of what makes a great power pop record. With catchy anthems, memorable…
Ridley Scott has never been afraid to take risks. That much is evident from his many canonical films including Alien, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and Blade Runner. But for every Gladiator, there’s a Robin Hood. He seems to have a tendency to always shoot for the stars, sometimes succeeding brilliantly but sometimes falling short. His…
Isn’t the cover of Holly Ringland’s debut The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart gorgeous? The inside is just as lovely, too – it’s beautifully designed. There’s been a lot of hype about this book so I was looking forward to reading it for myself, and the idea of women living and healing together through working…
La Verónica centres on social media star and footballer’s wife Verónica (Mariana Di Girólamo). Her persistent efforts to procure a sponsorship deal could be derailed by re-surfaced murder charges concerning an infant. Director Leonardo Medel frames the entire film in medium close-up with Verónica’s face in the centre. This conceit hinges on the idea that…
A classic crime thriller, this is the story of Britain’s most notorious gangsters, Reggie and Ronnie Kray (both played by Tom Hardy), as they have the time of their lives, ruling over London in the midst of the Swinging Sixties. With Ronnie fresh out of prison, the brothers set about consolidating their power in the…
Razor sharp writing by Joanna Murray-Smith (featuring acerbic put downs), and bravura acting performances, are features of the brilliant two-hander Switzerland. The focus is the best-selling author of The Talented Mr Ripley, Patricia Highsmith, who is living as a recluse in the Swiss alps. She finds solace in her seclusion, her cats, her booze and…
Robert Lukins’ Loveland, follow up to his debut The Everlasting Sunday, is an inter-generational family drama that takes readers from Queensland to the heart of Nebraska and a tragedy that feels destined to repeat itself. When May’s grandmother dies she learns that part of the inheritance is a house and block of land in a…
In Sean Durkin’s The Nest, a house of cards is waiting to come tumbling down. We’re in Ronald Reagan’s America – specifically 1986. British-born stock trader Rory O’Hara (Jude Law) is having a hard time of it. On the surface all appears peachy. He’s married to an American horse riding instructor, Allison (Carrie Coon). Rory…
