If you like books that warm your heart, make you cry and want to read it all over again, Our Song by Dani Atkins might just hit the spot. Here’s the blurb: This is the story of Ally and Charlotte, whose paths have intersected over the years though they’ve never really been close friends. Charlotte…
Samuel Langhorne Clemens – a.k.a. Mark Twain – visited Australia in 1895. Advertising posters labelled him the funniest man in the world and audiences loved his sense of humour. Chris Wallace, the man responsible for the book, music and lyrics in Huckleberry: A Musical Adventure, isn’t credited. But he “frocks up” as the great man…
Late Night pokes fun at a flawed TV talk show host who’s been sacked after a decade of plummeting ratings. After almost 30 years on the box, legendary entertainer Katherine Newberry (Emma Thompson) – a pioneer in her field – is losing her touch. She dismisses contemporary guests in favour of those who are rock…
The Van Apfel Girls are Gone by Felicity McLean hooked me in with its all-too-familiar north-west of Sydney 1990s setting and the missing girls premise reminiscent of Joan Lindsay’s classic Picnic at Hanging Rock. Here’s the blurb: Tikka Molloy was eleven and one-sixth years old during the long hot summer of 1992 – the summer…
Ill-tempered, rude and crude, Billy Bob Thornton returns as anti-hero Willie Soke 13 years after he first donned the Christmas clobber in the independent black comedy Bad Santa for the sequel, predictably titled Bad Santa 2. Bad Santa was the story of a cynical thief who disguised himself as a department store Santa each winter…
Last year we saw the excellent documentary RBG, a comprehensive and insightful look at the life and legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the diminutive lawyer and champion of human rights and gender equality who became the second woman ever appointed to the bench of the US Supreme Court. Ginsburg, who graduated at the top of…
Sicario is a Spanish word used to describe the hitmen associated with Mexican drug cartels. Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario (2015) was a gripping action crime drama set on the border between the US and Mexico. The sequel, Day of the Soldado, doesn’t disappoint. The film is propelled by two antihero protagonists who venture deep into the…
The magnificent journey that is Avatar continues with awe-inspiring distinction in The Way of Water. The franchise has maintained its ability to mesmerise and excite. Seeing it in 3D on the biggest screen possible, with the most advanced sound, served to heighten an already captivating experience. Maestro James Cameron doesn’t do anything by halves and…
The fourth instalment of the BBC First British Film Festival is about to unspool in Palace Cinemas around Australia. With a mix of international award-winners, crowd favourites, and Australian premieres, this year’s films feature a star-studded line up of cinematic treats that dive directly into British culture, humour, and traditions. The festival will open with…
Circus Royale is an artistic triumph. I have seen a great deal of circus, but the calibre of acts in this hour and a half show (plus interval) is top shelf. As breathtaking as many performances are, the best of the best are undoubtedly the Colombian-born Lion Brothers – Saret, Sarius and Samir Leon. Not for…
