Hot on the heels of the far more serious Trumbo comes another paean to Hollywood in the 1950s, in the form of the Coen brothers’ manic comedy, Hail, Caesar!. If you’re a fan of the movies from that period, this film will be unmissable. For everyone else though, I suspect there’s likely to be a…
In the tradition of Forrest Gump, The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir is a wild ride, which combines coincidence with circumstance. It’s a quirky cross-cultural fantasy about a good-natured thief who makes good. Aja (Dhanush) is a poor young fakir (or magician) from the streets of India, being brought up by his single mother, whom…
Modern Love is testament to what can be achieved by a production that approaches the making of each television episode as if it were the filming of a big budget movie. Each episode of Modern Love delivers a new protagonist with a new kind of love dilemma that must be overcome by the end of…
Willy Wonka’s magic carpet ride hits town with its world of wonder and make-believe. Based on Roald Dahl’s children’s novel of the same name, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is the story of a boy from an impoverished family who’s obsessed with sweets. He’s Charlie Bucket and he lives with his mother and four bed-ridden…
Acceptance is the theme of the musical Kinky Boots, which is based on the 2005 film of the same name. Charlie Price is a young man destined to take over his family’s Northampton-based shoe manufacturing business – the fourth generation to do so. His father Harold has never thought otherwise. And yet, Charlie doesn’t have a passion for…
Unashamedly, outrageously great. That description doesn’t do justice to one of the best and brightest performances I have had the good fortune to see on stage. I am talking about Callum Francis in the Australian premiere production of Kinky Boots, the musical. This is a richly colourful, most engaging, highly entertaining fish out of water…
Babes in the Woods: Australian Purity Defil’d is a new musical comedy work in the knock-about vein of the traditional Christmas panto, but, in an Aussie style. A very Aussie style. Drought, ghosts/convicts, mine shafts, bushfires, secret rivers and occasional awful foul language. There are some illuminated signs to cue us, the audience, to APPLAUD;…
The unique talent that was Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunipingu is showcased in this reverential documentary written and directed by Paul Williams. Gurrumul is known as a band member of Yothu Yindi; and a supreme artist in his own right. He spoke little, but said so much through his evocative music. More often than not he let…
It’s been 15 years since comedian Rowan Atkinson grabbed his licence to kill as bumbling secret agent Johnny English. The character is a cross between James Bond, Maxwell Smart, Inspector Clouseau and Inspector Gadget. Now Atkinson reprises the role in this third film in the series. Johnny English Strikes Again is also the strongest film…
Alliance Française is back to delight Australian film-lovers and Francophiles with the 28th edition of the French Film Festival, running through March and April with a showcase of the best in French cinema from the past year. Opening in Sydney on 7 March and wrapping in Adelaide on 23 April, the festival will present screenings…
