In Midnight Family, the audience become front seat passengers riding along with the Ochoa family in Mexico City after dark. Underground private ambulances compete for patients, beg for money and pay police bribes. The government operates fewer than 45 emergency ambulances in Mexico City for a population of nine million. The documentary explores urgent questions…
Prince Hal (Timothee Chalamet) was never destined to become king of England. He was a playboy, drunkard and womaniser, and his tyrannical father Henry VI (Ben Mendelsohn) passed him over in the line of succession for his younger brother Thomas (Dean-Charles Chapman). But England at that time was a land in chaos, divided by years…
True crime has been “flavour of the month” for a while now (at least since the Serial podcast burst into public consciousness). And nothing fuels the imagination like an unsolved mystery. Director John Dower (My Scientology Movie) skillfully combines the two in The Mystery of D. B. Cooper, producing arguably the best documentary of 2020….
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is so much riotous fun – a zany hoot. The 36-year wait for the sequel to the beloved Beetlejuice has well and truly been worth it. Just seeing Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara “doing their thing” again is joyful. I relished the addition of Jenna Ortega as the third-generation member of…
The old saying goes that behind every great man stands a great woman. But what if the woman is doing a lot more than just “standing” there? What does a “supporter” deliver to a celebrity? And what should that “supporter” expect in return? Swedish director Björn Runge explores these questions in his thoughtful drama, The…
The title is quite a mouthful, but The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a delightful British crowd-pleaser that combines the impact of war with true love. Based on the bestselling novel of the same name, the film tells the story of Juliet Ashton (Lily James), a free-spirited, successful writer living in post-WWII…
Family secrets, past love, memory loss and addiction are just some of the issues explored in Sunset Strip, an Australian play by Suzie Miller, now on at the New Theatre. On the upside, this drama/comedy provides hope, inspiration and renewal. The setting is in the home of Ray (Vincent Melton), located in a rural community…
Minions: The Rise of Gru is an origin story and an ode to the music of the ‘70s. The year is 1976. A bored teacher asks the children in her class at elementary school what they want to be when they grow up. Gru (voiced by Steve Carrel) is certain – he wants to be…
Fifteen years ago, Robert Randolph and his Family Band burst into rock music consciousness with Live at the Wetlands — a concert album of the band’s final performance at the celebrated NYC club and jam band Mecca that was going out of business – already a serious artistic force to be reckoned with, led by…
Stephen Chbosky’s Dear Evan Hansen is a film adaptation of the Tony and Grammy Award winning musical of the same name. And it features the original Broadway lead actor in the pivotal role. Teenager Evan Hansen (Ben Platt) struggles with anxiety and depression, and is seeing a therapist. He is being brought up by his…
