The excitement I felt while watching One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) – a pivotal movie in my formative years – came flooding back while watching Unsane. A smart young woman seeks help after a stalker has made her life miserable for two years. But she’s inadvertently admitted to a private psychiatric hospital. The…
In 1979, fundamentalist rebels overthrew the Shah of Iran and, simultaneously, threw the everyday lives of many into total disarray. In the West, it was an event captured in incendiary news clips of fevered young revolutionaries, American hostages, mounting repression and political tensions that exist to this day. But the story that was rarely told,…
Charlize Theron’s character is put through the wringer as the Berlin Wall comes down in Atomic Blonde. This stylish and violent spy thriller is based on a graphic novel series, The Coldest City by Antony Johnston and illustrated by Sam Hart. The screenplay is by Kurt Johnstad and directed by David Leitch (John Wick). It’s 1989 in Germany. The Berlin…
Perhaps the original rom-com, this fresh but faithful retelling of the classic Jane Austen novel will charm audiences. For those who aren’t familiar with the story (though you probably are – it’s been adapted and re-fashioned many times already); “handsome, clever and rich” Emma Woodhouse fancies herself as the village matchmaker. She spends her days…
Julie Rodgers (Elyse Batson) is having a very bad day. The 28-year-old has just been sacked from her secretarial job for rejecting her married boss’ overtures. It was her eighth job in 10 years and she is worried she won’t be able to pay the rent. She pays out by drinking (a lot) and playing…
A rogue cop, police brutality and domestic violence are front and centre in David Williamson’s incendiary satire The Removalists. Written by the prolific and highly acclaimed playwright 54 years ago, the piece has lost none of its bite. With crime the number one issue in the state and partner abuse showing no signs of dissipating,…
Set in Paris in the lead up to the French national day, Bastille Day is an action-thriller featuring British actor Idris Elba (Pacific Rim) as a rogue CIA agent. He plays Sean Briar, the agent tasked with trying to come to terms with what at first appearances could be a terrorist attack. An explosion kills…
Just why the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences chose to only nominate Hidden Figures for three Oscars (Best Film, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay) one can only speculate. For mine, it is one of the films of the year. Hidden Figures is inspirational, poignant, infuriating, witty and warm, an ode to…
It was fun, fun, fun, all class and a spirit reviving couple of hours in the Lyric at the Anything Goes opening night – and we got a lot more than a glimpse of stocking, we got a sparkling, energy packed marvel of a show, with leggy showgirls, great comedy, super singing and character creation…
It was 1995 when Australia first produced the enchanting musical The Secret Garden starring Philip Quast, Anthony Warlow and Marina Prior. With book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize-winner Marsha Norman and music by Lucy Simon, it was based upon the Victorian classic written by Frances Hodgson Burnett in the early 1900s. The Broadway production four…
