The Ritual is a British horror that takes place in a Swedish forest where four friends go on a hike in honor of a deceased friend. After seeing so many films where a dark forest provides terrifying and life-threatening situations, I made a decision. I’ll never spend a weekend somewhere in a forest far from…
The lavish Italian/French co-production Caravaggio’s Shadow by actor-director Michele Placido looks at the final years in the life of Caravaggio (born Michelangelo Merisi). This is something of a passion project for Placido, who had been fascinated with the artist for over half a century and had long wanted to explore his life and legacy on…
Based on the hoary chestnut of opposites attracting, Long Shot is a far-fetched comedy that, by and large, works. I dare say it will appeal to many fans of the two leads, Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen, because a) they’re in it and b) it is so unlikely a tale, born of the #MeToo generation….
David Leveaux’s The Exception cleverly melds historical fact and smart fiction. This WWII spy thriller turned romantic drama showcases some fine talent, though none more so that the irrepressible Christopher Plummer. Experienced TV writer Simon Burke produced the screenplay, adapted from Alan Judd’s novel, The Kaiser’s Last Kiss. Leveaux himself is a renowned theatre director,…
Kindertransport is an English play written in 1993, by Diane Samuels. Samuels has written: In early November 1938 an intensive series of ‘pogrom’ attacks on Jewish property and arrests of people were launched in Nazi Germany. This became known as ‘Kristallnacht’, The Night of Broken Glass, and has subsequently been called “pogromnacht’ or Novemberpogrome’. In…
Set in rural Victoria, The Rooster marks a highly imaginative and impactful feature film debut for writer and director Mark Leonard Winter. The double Helpmann Award-winning actor, who featured in Elvis, Balibo and The Dressmaker, drew on personal experience to create something special. The film deals with masculinity, isolation and crisis; and features an introverted…
With stone fruit now on sale and schools this week farewelling their Senior students, it is clear that summer holidays are but a whisper away. For many in this COVID-19 year, Christmas holidays will mean a road trip to a regional destination, which makes Queensland Theatre’s world premiere production, The Holidays (which was postponed due…
Life in all its messiness is played out in Lyric Opera’s chamber opera The Children’s Bach. With music by Andrew Schultz and libretto by Glenn Perry, it is based on a novella of the same name by Helen Garner. Set primarily in Melbourne in the 1990s, it centres on the fraught relationships in the Fox…
The sci-fi adventure The Creator questions whether artificial intelligence is the big bad bogey or not. A war is raging between humans and robots possessing artificial intelligence. But, at first, it’s not clear which side is wearing the black hats and which the white. Joshua (John David Washington) is an American special forces soldier operating…
Question: What does it take to really appreciate the life you have? Answer: Getting close to death. That is the conceit expertly explored by Andi Snelling in a zany, powerhouse show that grew out of the pain and despair she was feeling after being bitten by a tick. She contracted debilitating Lyme disease while on…
