Is there anything Hugh Jackman can’t do? The Mr Nice Guy, who completed the Wolverine franchise earlier this year, can act, sing and emcee with aplomb. He’s considered, intelligent and reflective. What a CV! So, I suppose it’s only fitting these qualities are neatly packaged up in The Greatest Showman. This fanciful musical tackles another showman, Phineas Taylor…
It’s the time of year when serious Oscar contenders swamp our screens. But sometimes it’s good just to sit back, disengage your brain and indulge in something silly. For that, there’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. This is a faux-sequel to 1995’s Jumanji, a film perhaps nostalgically remembered as better than it actually was. The nostalgia…
Strong and colourful visuals and a family-friendly story feature in Disney Pixar’s latest animation. Coco is about a 12-year-old boy with big dreams. Miguel (the voice of Anthony Gonzalez) is an aspiring singer and self-taught guitarist. He dreams of following in the footsteps of his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz, the most famous musician in Mexico’s…
In the shadow of the Disney World complex in Orlando, Florida, is a strip of motels catering to those on the fringes of society. One of these rather grim places is home to the subjects of Sean Baker’s The Florida Project. And while the film has been almost universally lauded, I have to say I…
The worldwide hit Paddington became the most successful non-US studio family film of all time. The sequel (predictably, Paddington 2) continues the story of the young Peruvian bear who came to London in search of a home. Having found that home with the Browns in Windsor Gardens, life is set for Paddington. While searching for the…
St. Vincent’s eponymous 4th solo album, released in 2014, was easily her most accessible, while also delivering some pretty amazing songs packaged with electro-pop polish, and marked by her unique guitar playing. And it paid off big, landing her on dozens of “best of year” lists and winning that year’s Grammy for Best Alternative Album,…
Isabel Allende’s In the Midst of Winter is a quiet, emotive read about friendships built out of unlikely circumstances – a freak snowstorm, a car accident and a dead body. Here’s the blurb: Amid the biggest Brooklyn snowstorm in living memory, an unexpected friendship blossoms between three people thrown together by circumstance. Richard Bowmaster, a…
Adoration for ABBA in Australia shows no signs of abating if the crowd at The ABBA Show at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne is anything to go by. The audience (of a certain age) turned back the clock as they danced, swung their arms in the air and frequently cat-called “Ya” as a group of two Brits…
Is bullfighting a subject appropriate for children? I don’t think so. It’s an ancient and barbaric practice. Just why the producers of Ferdinand believed it was appropriate to turn this into a cutesy animated feature is puzzling, to say the least. I say that notwithstanding that the central character is a gentle giant. At one point he literally…
Writer and director Rian Johnson (Looper) has delivered in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the second film in the sequel trilogy. Johnson takes over from J.J. Abrams, who is due to direct Episode IX. Following the events of The Force Awakens (2015), Rey (Daisy Ridley) starts her training under the surly and powerful Jedi Master Luke…
