There is no subtlety in Sleepless, a gritty crime thriller starring Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained) and Michelle Monaghan (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang). Almost everyone is dirty or corrupt, or both. It is simply a case of determining the wood from the chaff. When Las Vegas cop Vincent Downs (Foxx) and his partner Sean (Tip “T.I.”…
Monsters trying to eat the Chinese guarding the Great Wall. You might think I am spinning a far-fetched yarn … and you would be right. The fantasy adventure The Great Wall is billed as a myth surrounding the famed structure that covers 8,850 kilometres and took a couple of thousand years to build. Set in…
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…
Barbarity is brought into sharp focus in Silence, Martin Scorsese’s long-winded story about faith and religion. It is the tale of two 17th century Portuguese missionaries – Father Sebastian Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Father Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver) who undertake a perilous journey to Japan. They are searching for their missing mentor, Father Christavao Ferreira…
It was Napoleon who, two hundred years ago, called China a sleeping giant and warned of the consequences when she awoke. Since the fall of communism after the death of Chairman Mao, China has emerged as an economic superpower and its influence and wealth is somehow seen by America as both a challenge and a…
I’m a sucker for a good thriller, one full of false leads and an intricate plot that keeps me turning pages. So, is that what I got from Find Me by J.S. Monroe? Rosa committed suicide five years ago. But is she really gone? Because her boyfriend gets a cryptic email – apparently from Rosa….
If you are looking for a play where all the threads come together in the end and you can readily make sense of what has gone before, then this isn’t for you. A mystery, John brings together a young couple who have been “an item” for three years, but who are having their troubles, with…
Sometimes a show is so unique that review words can do little to aptly describe the reality of its shared experience. From the first moments of entry into the Metro Arts Sue Brenner Theatre via its alongside carriageway of welcoming performance artists, Cargo Club presents an enriched multi-artform celebration of culture and tradition in its…
Two actors presumably in their 60s, dressed in dark attire, sitting on fixed chairs about five metres apart, one questioning the other and then the roles are reversed … for 100 minutes without interval. No set. The audience on tiered seating on either side. Hardly what you may imagine could lead to riveting and dramatic…
When The Danger Ensemble is involved with a presentation of Shakespeare’s Scottish play, you know it is not going to be Macbeth as you know it. And given its feature of a sexy Mrs M, Weekend at Bernie’s type moment and even a Farnham number in support of its focus on ambition and ‘be your…
