Take your gallery experience to the next level with Van Gogh Alive, a multi-sensory experience focused on the life and works of Vincent Van Gogh. This global touring exhibit / event opened runs in Brisbane from October 2021 to January 2022 (at the time of publishing), at the emerging new event precinct Northshore Hamilton. The…
He promised he’d be back, and it’s good to report that Arnold Schwarzenegger has returned to the Terminator franchise that made him a bona fide box office draw card looking little worse for wear. Thirty years ago James Cameron gave us an ambitious mix of sci-fi and action in the original Terminator movie about an…
Writer and director Jonah Hill pulls no punches in Mid90s; a coming of age story about a 13-year-old skateboard enthusiast. Hill himself grew up skateboarding in LA in the mid ‘90s, but he maintains the movie is not autobiographical, even though some of the imagery in the film is just as it was back in…
Some of the most intoxicating circus acts I have had the good fortune to see are among the highlights of Santa’s Magical Kingdom, which has reappeared in Melbourne in the lead up to the festive season for an eighth time. The word “wow” doesn’t do them justice – they are that good. The experience is…
Essendon supporters (including me) can rejoice in the long and storied history of the club, which has resulted in a record equalling 16 Premierships. But along with the adulation, there has been a fair share of bruises along the way. Most notably, of course, was the supplements’ saga of the early to mid 2010s that resulted in…
Shakespeare-like high drama melds with anthropological study in Birds of Passage. Directors Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra (Embrace of the Serpent) skillfully examine how modern issues affect the lives of an isolated clan of indigenous people in remote northern Colombia. The results are shocking yet sadly familiar. The people in question are the Wayuu. They…
How do you know when it is best to end a relationship? That question is highlighted and spotlighted in the compelling and highly creative new work Cutting Onions. A young couple has just moved into fresh digs. Their home is quite spacious, with a good size kitchen and a large, if overgrown, backyard. There are still unpacked boxes…
Like most everybody else, I first discovered The Shins in that great scene in the coming of age movie Garden State (2004) where Zach Braff’s character tries on the headphones of Natalie Portman to hear a brief snippet of the song “New Slang,” from the band’s 2001 debut album, Oh, Inverted World. That exposure worked…
Patricia Highsmith is a name familiar to many movie buffs. Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mr Ripley and The Two Faces of January are just a few of the films based on her writing. Of course, these fall into the mystery-thriller genre, but Highsmith’s writing was broader than that. In Carol, director Todd Haynes…
The tense Holocaust drama Farewell, Mr Haffmann concerns a Jewish jeweller in France caught up in the maelstrom as the Nazis spread their tentacles. It is May 1941 and Joseph Haffmann (Daniel Auteuil) runs a small jewellery shop. He’s noted for his fine craftsmanship. Haffmann sees the situation in occupied Paris worsening and understands the…
