Talk about the power and passion. Iconic Australian band Midnight Oil has always had that in spades. Now the new documentary Midnight Oil 1984 captures that in their heyday; when they were reshaping the lives of young Australians. This is a grass roots band that went about the business its own way. It didn’t chase…
A bitingly funny script – full of wit, irreverence and reverence – is the backbone of this comedic and dramatic play about cultural identity, which returns to the Alex Theatre for a short season. A beloved grandfather has died and a treasured family heirloom with religious and cultural significance is up for grabs. But who…
I was a big fan of The Fully Monty in its heyday, but that was then and this is now. Based on the smash hit 1997 British film, The Full Monty (which was nominated for 10 Tony Awards, but didn’t win any) is a feel good musical comedy. The show premiered in San Diego on…
Non-indigenous Australians have often had a rather fraught relationship with the landscape of this continent. On one hand, its “boundless plains” offered a sense of opportunity; a chance to control the environment. But the land is also sometimes perceived as a wild place that can never be controlled. This led to a pervading sense of…
What price success? That’s the key question asked in Clare Barron’s Australian premiere satirical comedy Dance Nation. Set in the US, the seven kids – six girls and one guy – are looking to replicate their local dance club’s previous successes. They want to make it all the way to the national dance championships. But…
School holidays have arrived around Australia – and that means lots of kids saying “I’m bored!”. Kid-friendly movies make a great outing though, and with that in mind, here are our quick reviews of three. They all opened on 19 September 2019. Dora and the Lost City of Gold (PG) The cartoon TV series Dora…
Disney seems to be lacking in creativity at the moment. All they seem to produce are live action remakes of their animated classics; endless sequels and spin-offs from some of their successful franchises; and films based on their theme park rides. And now we get a rather cynical remake of a film based on a…
This quirky, comedic cross cultural drama, set in New York, concerns a serious, hard working driving instructor who has a second job as a taxi driver and a book reviewer that has just found out her husband is leaving her. The instructor is Darwan (Ben Kingsley) an Indian Sikh who was granted political asylum and…
Featuring Sacred Harp, otherwise known as shape-note or fasola, singing, The Hall is a moving and superbly executed offering. It involves a community choir delivering a capella in four-part harmony. The story concerns three members of a family. Tup (Natasha Herbert) has been diagnosed with Stage 4 frontotemporal dementia. She is incontinent and prone to…
10 years is a long time between albums, so Scheherazade is a true welcome back to the simple folky rooted songs from Catherine Ann Irwin and Janet Beveridge Bean of Freakwater. For some, this reunion is something special as their 1995 record, Old Paint, is always an album you may hear listed as helping put…
