The Runner was about a congressman who tried to provide financial support for local fisheries after the disastrous BP oil spill in April 2010. Deepwater Horizon displays in a consistent manner the pure facts on the day of the fatal accident with this oil platform. It could have been just another disaster movie, like I’ve…
I’m starting to suspect at some point during the 2020 lockdowns, a bunch of screenwriters all had the same idea: a highly trained assassin is redeemed through a connection with a child. Cut off from regular contacts, they all pitched this same idea – and many were accepted. That could explain the slew of movies…
I fell in love with Fredrik Backman’s My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises, and now, I’ve just developed a crush on Britt-Marie Was Here. What is about his writing that gets me? I think it’s the way he taps into whimsy, delight, oddness and the sometimes elusive inner child. Here’s the blurb: For as long…
Respectful, determined and humble. That is the picture that emerges of Australian tennis great Evonne Goolagong Cawley in Sunshine Super Girl, a moniker given to her by the British press. Goolagong picked up a tennis racquet at an early age and immediately showed impressive hand/eye coordination. She grew up without the home comforts many of us took…
Leonardo da Vinci’s The Mona Lisa is world’s most famous painting by the world’s most famous artist in the world’s most famous museum. And it’s just one of the works featured in the remarkable, insightful documentary A Night at the Louvre: Leonardo da Vinci. The film is based around an exhibition that closed at the…
Identity is the theme of a dramatic comedy about a 34-year-old who is trying to get a sense of self. Korean-born Lucy (Susanna Qian) was adopted by her quintessential Australian parents – Shirley (Maude Davey) and George (Syd Brisbane) – when she was four. She was brought up with much love in a small country town. Now, out…
Father John Misty – the moniker of Josh Tillman – has carved a distinctive path in modern music with his blend of sardonic wit and introspective storytelling. After his tenure as Fleet Foxes’ drummer, Tillman emerged as a solo artist, quickly establishing himself as a critical darling with his lush folk-rock sound. Over time, he’s…
Two apex predators go head-to-head with an extra surprise thrown in for good measure in Godzilla vs Kong. It’s a battle that goes back generations and most interest lies in who will emerge victorious. Several story lines come together in the film. First up, Kong is being monitored around the clock on Skull Island, but…
Merrily We Roll Along is based upon a 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. George Furth (book) and Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) retained the basic structures and themes of the play but updated it to cover the period from 1957 to 1976. The musical starts in New York…
A 110-minute set from James Blunt had the capacity crowd at Rod Laver Arena totally sold from the get go, as his distinctive tone rang out across the stadium. For a born entertainer who has been touring for the past year and three quarters, his passion and enthusiasm remain surprisingly fresh and infectious. That, in…
