Razor sharp writing by Joanna Murray-Smith (featuring acerbic put downs), and bravura acting performances, are features of the brilliant two-hander Switzerland. The focus is the best-selling author of The Talented Mr Ripley, Patricia Highsmith, who is living as a recluse in the Swiss alps. She finds solace in her seclusion, her cats, her booze and…
Sweden is more than idyllic red cottages and affordable housing in flat packages. Today it is also a country with a big youth unemployment problem. It is so massive, in fact, that hundreds of thousands of young Swedes see no option other than to move across the border to Norway. They hope to find work…
Leonardo da Vinci’s The Mona Lisa is world’s most famous painting by the world’s most famous artist in the world’s most famous museum. And it’s just one of the works featured in the remarkable, insightful documentary A Night at the Louvre: Leonardo da Vinci. The film is based around an exhibition that closed at the…
A troubled man tries to get home for his mother’s funeral, but events conspire to delay his journey. The third feature film from Ari Aster (Hereditary) is a completely bonkers, surreal and bloated pitch-black absurdist comedy. Beau Is Afraid isn’t so much your typical horror film but rather more of a disturbing Kafkaesque nightmare full…
Rae Cairns was shortlisted for the best debut crime novel in the Ned Kelly Awards in 2021 for her then self-published book The Good Mother. The book was picked up by Harper Collins and has now been followed up with a another standalone crime thriller Dying to Know. While it is a very different proposition,…
From the earliest days of rock & roll, there’s been a special place for power trios, like Cream, Rush, Nirvana, Husker Du, The Jam, King’s X, The Police, and plenty more. These are bands that relied on the essential less is more formula, often just guitar, bass & drums, and one or more sang, they…
Steven Spielberg knows how to bring the magical world of Roald Dahl to life on a screen in a masterly way. Occasionally I need to watch a not too complicated or weighty film. Such a film that takes you to an enchanting, carefree world and to forget about everyday worries for a while. This time…
SLUTNIK 2: Planet of Incels has cult classic written all over it. Think lashings of The Rocky Horror Show liberally mixed with Magic Mike and you have a starting point. The theme is women treated poorly and men behaving badly. It is a play with a series of up-tempo musical numbers, accompanied by buff male dancers. Unfortunately, I didn’t…
Established in 1952, the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is one of the oldest film festivals in the world and the most significant screen event in Australia. An iconic Melbourne event, the festival takes place annually in the heart of the city, presenting an acclaimed screening program alongside industry and celebratory events. MIFF showcases the…
At some point do you ever feel like you are too old for a genre of music? I have had those thoughts over the years about emo but always remind myself how I will still turn up the stereo for Sunny Day Real Estate, American Football and The Promise Ring. Flash forward to present day…
