The New Theatre is presenting a revival production of Jonathan Biggin’s 2012 comedy, Australia Day. It was first seen in the Drama Theatre for the Sydney Theatre Company in 2012. Australia Day is set in the local community hall in a country town called Coriole. Says, the director of this production, Louise Fischer, a girl…
The insidious use of power in an unlikely setting is the basis for The Teacher, a wickedly clever black comedy. The film is inspired by the true story of a Communist-era schoolteacher who manipulated her pupils and their families for unprecedented personal gain. Jan Hřebejk (Divided We Fall) directs. It is the early 1980s and the…
If you crossed the 1990 comedy Home Alone with 2008’s thriller The Strangers, you’d have the makings of Better Watch Out, a rather surprising hybrid film. Better still, Home Alone meets Freddy Krueger at Christmas and a ho, ho, ho to you all. The film is set in a quiet American suburb on a snowy evening…
Not only do recent Christmas movies tend to be more narky and mean spirited, but they also seem to be hitting cinemas earlier. Even though it is only November we have three Christmas themed films in our multiplexes. There’s Bad Moms 2, the home invasion black comedy Better Watch Out, and now we get Daddy’s…
The Kransky Sisters rock. They’re an eccentric’s delight and their oddball antics in A Very Kransky Christmas are a delicious treat. I knew nothing about them when I entered Alex Theatre. But I turned into an acolyte long before I exited their hilarious 100-minute pre-Christmas Christmas show. Let’s just say showing emotion isn’t their strong suit (think…
Solid performances feature in desert, 6.29 pm, a world premiere comedy-drama about a dysfunctional family. Events revolve around a difficult 17-year-old gay girl, Xan (Eva Seymour) who doesn’t warm to interaction with other family members. About to graduate from high school, she’s perpetually sullen and angry. Her older brother, Jamie (Darcy Kent), who doesn’t live at home,…
I thoroughly enjoyed Winnie-the-Pooh as a child, and the movie behind the creation of the characters is equally satisfying. Goodbye Christopher Robin provides a rare glimpse into the relationship between beloved children’s author Alan Alexander Milne (played here by Domhnall Gleeson) and his son Christopher Robin (Will Tilston). After returning from the First World War, Milne was left…
What was the overall feeling after watching Atomic Blonde? For me it was a mixture of confusion and excitement at the same time. Confusion because of the complex story with a multitude of twists and spy-related mumbo jumbo. To be honest, I always have that with this kind of movies. So you can assume that…
Marianne (Marta Dusseldorp) and Johan (Ben Winspear) are cosy in the comfort of their overly-scheduled, boring bourgeois lives … well that’s what they tell a magazine interviewer when being asked about their union. But what lies behind their facade and how long will it be before their imperfect love begins to dissolve? These are the…
Playwright Eddie Perfect (The Beast) has crafted a wickedly clever musical satire with Vivid White, which focuses on the overheated property market. Liz (Verity Hunt-Ballard) and Ben (Brent Hill) have been friends with popular performer Evan (Ben Mingay) for years. Evan is married to producer Cynthia (Christina O’Neill). Back in 2005 Ben and Evan won a major…
