Sophocles’ Antigone is more than two thousand years old, yet as a story with conflict at its heart, it is still relevant today as Queensland Theatre’s epic season finale, written by Merlynn Tong, illustrates. While there is a clear 2019 resonance to Antigone’s (Jessica Tovey) passionate activist rebellion and rejection of authority, the Greek tragedy…
It becomes necessary for Hester Why to take advantage of a well-timed employment opportunity when it presents itself to her. Arriving at remote Morvoren House to take the position of nurse and ladies maid, Hester is somewhat horrified to learn that her new charge is a partially paralysed elderly woman who is almost entirely mute….
These two documentaries opened on 31 October 2019 in limited release. Both are worth searching out. Happy Sad Man An empathetic look at a number of ordinary Australians struggling with mental health issues, Happy Sad Man is a beautifully composed and moving documentary. The focus is on five men aged from their 30s to 70s,…
The 6th British Film Festival is the biggest yet. Running across seven cities (most until 24th November, 2019) and 19 cinemas, it showcases 30 films, including 16 Australian premieres. Below are reviews of some of those premieres. To download the program, for more information and bookings, go to www.britishfilmfestival.com.au Official Secrets (MA) – 112 minutes…
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 25 October 2019. Leif Vollebekk’s New Ways is now available via Secret City Records (stream or download HERE). A sonic documentation of everything that Leif felt; tenderness and violence, sex and rebirth. “Anything that I wouldn’t ever want to tell…
– Knives Out – Only in cinemas from 28 November 2019 We have 10 double in-season passes thanks to StudioCanal Australia. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE Acclaimed writer and director Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper, The Last Jedi) pays tribute to mystery mastermind Agatha Christie in KNIVES OUT, a fun, modern-day murder…
Well, there’s always the “Disappointment of the year” award. I’m afraid this year Little Monsters will take this. I had regained confidence in the combination of horror and comedy after watching Monster Party and The Dead Don’t Die. I’ve always had a problem with it when moviemakers mix these two genres. But these last two…
A multi-faceted fight for justice, which tugs at the heartstrings, is the essence of the dramatic musical Ragtime. The timeframe is the early 20th century and the piece combines fictitious representative characters with historical figures such as Harry Houdini, J.P. Morgan and Henry Ford. It is a story of immigrants and African Americans facing adversary…
It was a great rite of passage that many of us born before 1965 went through and remember fondly. The annual six-week school holiday casual job at a city department store. It was often our first foray into the world of retail and, at 16 or 17 years of age, it gave us a glimpse…
I lost track of the Terminator franchise long ago. I think it was after Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003). And since that film logically tied off the loose ends, I was comfortable with it finishing there. But then we had the weak and divergent Terminator Salvation (2009) and Terminator Genisys (2015). I’d stopped…
