Bridesmaids pretty much set the standard for the R-rated raunchy “girls misbehaving” comedy, and we have seen a lot of these female-centric versions of The Hangover. But subsequent films in this subgenre, like the recent Rough Night, Bad Sisters and even Sex And The City 2, have continually lowered the bar. And now we get…
With all the anti-Muslim bile being peddled at the moment, along comes Ali’s Wedding. This feel-good entertainment, based in fact, puts a smile on your dial. There’s something of The Castle’s sensibilities about this one. It’s funny and silly at the same time. Some of it seems incredibly far-fetched, but given what we are dealing with here, that…
What’s in a name? For Jon Dwyer, it doesn’t seem to matter much as his OCS/The Oh Sees/Thee Oh Sees/Oh Sees project continues to morph its 20 year psychedelic garage rock arc and it just keeps getting more interesting. Orc is Oh Sees 19th record and feels as fresh and new as anything the band…
After seasons in Sydney and Brisbane, The Bodyguard: The Musical has taken up residence at Melbourne’s regal Regent Theatre. It’s based on the hit 1992 film starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. The stage production debuted in London’s West End on 5 December 2012. The story concerns a former secret service agent turned bodyguard, Frank Farmer (Kip…
An emissary from a New York publishing house (Giuseppe Rotondella) is dispatched to Switzerland to convince reclusive crime novelist Patricia Highsmith (Jenny Davis) of The Talented Mr. Ripley fame to sign a new contract. A bold move to stage a two-hander at an hour forty five minutes with no intermission in the Heath Ledger. The…
Siren by Rachel Matthews was sent to me by Transit Lounge and proves uncomfortable reading for its exploration of sexual assault through the eyes of a teenage girl. And yet, despite the discomfort, it’s important reading because it challenges readers to think about a) the necessity of speaking out against sexual violence and b) the…
The Winter’s Tale: a fitting production to put on in this mild weather, it would seem. This is one work by Shakespeare I hadn’t seen before and am now quite happy to add it to my memory’s library. The play was performed by the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble and directed by Michelle Miall. This tight knit…
All For One is a slick documentary about the first Australian professional cycling team to compete in the Tour de France. The film follows the first five years of GreenEDGE cycling team. United by their renegade spirit, these riders take on the international circuit. In particular, it focuses on three members of the team – Melbourne-born…
The Lost City of Z turns out to be a kind of boy’s own adventure story. Based on author David Grann’s non-fiction bestseller, the film follows British explorer Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam). Fawcett journeys into the Amazon in 1906 where he discovers evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilisation that once inhabited the region. His…
“A broken bird and a scarecrow. An artist and a fish-peddler. A mismatched pair. Two souls existing on the fringes of society who find one another and change each other in the course of their lives together.” So says director Aisling Walsh (The Daisy Chain) about the two outsiders who form the nucleus of Maudie….
