A super clown act and an extraordinarily nimble pole dancer are among the highlights of the burlesque-style Cabaret de Paris. It showcases bejewelled dancers in skimpy and elegant attire, headlined by a former star of Paris’s Moulin Rouge, Marissa Burgess. Best known as the spiritual birthplace of the modern can-can, Moulin Rouge has been a drawcard…
A 16-year-old girl, Grace (Odessa Young), disappears; as do several thousand dollars. Her parents Denise and Dan (Radha Mitchell and Richard Roxburgh) are naturally worried and call authorities. The story unfolds gradually through the perspectives of the various players – the girl, her parents, a truckie etc. – until, we, the audience piece together just…
Eddie Redmayne won the Oscar last year for his portrayal of brilliant scientist Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. He now has the chance to go back to back after another Academy Award nominated turn as artist Einar Wegener, later Lili Elbe, in The Danish Girl. Redmayne stars opposite Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) –…
Jean Reno. The ever-calm actor is usually associated with roles such as a police detective, a gangster or an assassin. The quiet-looking Frenchman has a specific appearance that fits perfectly with such roles. Strange but true. I have only recently seen the film Léon: The Professional. Without a doubt the very best that Jean Reno…
In Escaped Alone, society as we know it has fallen apart. Survivors are few. Four older women who are among the lucky ones reflect on times past over several summers … as the years run into one another. Vi (Margaret Mills) went to jail for six years after killing her husband. Sally (Caroline Lee) has…
Godland was the centrepiece of the recent Scandinavian Film Festival, and now this slow moving but visually stunning Danish drama gains a cinematic release. The film is set in the frozen inhospitable wilds of Iceland in the 19th century. Lucas (Elliot Crossett Hove) is a young idealistic Lutheran priest who is sent to Iceland to…
The Second Mother is a film about a set of social rules, which have been in place in Brazilian culture since colonial times and which continue to affect its emotional architecture to this very day. Val (Regina Case) is the kind of live-in housekeeper who takes her work seriously. She wears a crisp maid’s uniform…
Just as it depicts Judy Garland’s life Judy, the movie, is a train wreck. In fact, I couldn’t wait for it to end. Garland wasn’t allowed to be a regular kid and was lauded over by the studio head Louis B. Mayer and her obnoxious, overbearing mother, Ethel. Given pill after pill at an early…
If you are looking to attend a superbly executed, exciting and energetic new play, featuring top notch acting, look no further than Fever103 Theatre’s the last train to madeline. It is a breath of fresh air. The piece charts the highly fraught but loving relationship between Maddy and Luke over 15 years. As eight-year-olds in 2003, they…
A big voice with strong vocal range, a dynamic personality, good humour, reflections about the world and homespun philosophy greet those who venture into Chapel off Chapel in a tribute to two prodigious talents with Bowie & Mercury Rising. Couple that with a highly accomplished pianist/keyboard player, in the form of creator Warren Mills. The award-winning…
