A blood feud that can only end badly, this has been adapted from the 1933 tragedy by Spanish dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca. Two families are at loggerheads. They have been for generations. I draw a parallel to the antipathy between the Montagues and the Capulets in Romeo and Juliet. Extend that to the conflict between…
There is disconnect between three members of the one family, a husband, wife and daughter who live in regional Australia and are struggling. It is not as if they want it that way, but that is what they are living with. They speak about their thoughts and feelings. They dare to dream and live out…
The conceit behind the Australian premiere of the darkly comedic chamber opera Fat Pig feels all too real. What is it like to be constantly judged for being an overweight (I am talking morbidly obese) woman? No matter that you are smart, witty and a good communicator, the one thing you can’t shy away from…
Gerard Butler, as US Secret Service Agent Mike Banning, is clearly trying to outmuscle and outgun Bruce Willis, as NYDP police officer John McClane (Die Hard), if his latest high-octane thriller, London Has Fallen, is anything to go by. The intent is no let up in the action or in the suspense from go to…
The Goldfinch spends a great deal of time working out how the puzzle fits together. Theodore “Theo” Decker was 13 years old when his mother was killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Not surprisingly, it changed the course of his life. Moments before Theo’s attention was taken by a pretty, young…
What expectations do you have when you’re going to see a disaster movie such as San Andreas? Obviously you’re looking forward to see how a metropolis like San Francisco is reduced to an immense mess, strewn with rubble and twisted steel. Immense skyscrapers collapsing like a house of cards and tumbling down one after the…
A sensitive and endearing tale that links three unlikely people – a student, a baker and an elderly woman – this Japanese movie was a selection for Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival. The title, An, refers to a sweet red bean paste, which is a favourite in Japan. Taciturn Sentaro (Masatoshi Nagase)…
Scintillating, fast paced, brilliantly choreographed Irish tap dancing. A strong, rhythmic, ear-pleasing score. Maestros on the fiddle and flute. Elegant and evocative costumes. Mesmersing magic. That is Celtic Illusion Reimagined. This dynamic, spicy and intoxicating hour and a half stage show (excluding interval) is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Celtic Illusion, the vision of creator, director,…
Legend certainly won’t be remembered as a brilliant gangster movie. You certainly can’t compare it with a gangster epos like The Godfather or The Untouchables. This film about the notorious Kray twins surely exhibits a successful retro look and shows how the brothers founded their business empire full of glamor and violence, and how it…
Wow! What a ripping good, most entertaining, magnificently realised origin story. Cruella is clever, funny and sassy – a family comedy turned sophisticated adult offering. English children’s novelist and playwright “Dodie” Smith is best known for the novel The Hundred and One Dalmations (1956), which became the big screen animation 101 Dalmations in 1961. Disney…
