It is timely, of course, reading a novel about an airborne illness that necessitates changes in human behaviours in order to reduce its deadly impact upon a population. The Pull of the Stars is set over a three day period, sharply focused on one woman’s battle to keep her head about water as she cares…
“Thank you and goodnight” is what you could hear after the opening track, “EKG,” on Wilco’s new surprise ninth record Star Wars. The disjointed instrumental affair is loose and free and would fit nicely into this veteran groups encore to say goodbye. Instead, it is the greeting and welcome mat on this solid and free…
Rural noir being the big thing at the moment, it’s sad that many seem to have forgotten that there have been superbly talented authors like Garry Disher telling beautifully crafted, intelligent, and informed stories of the urban fringe, and the rural regions for many years. Peace is the second book now to feature Constable Paul…
Micachu & The Shapes’ return, three years after the release of their last record Never, is almost an accident: the trio of friends decided to rehearse in an East London studio, and found themselves immersed into an hours-long jam. Drummer Marc Pell had an Edirol field recorder in hand, and unbeknownst to his bandmates, recorded…
Blended families can be problematic. So it is when Minna (the voice of Robyn Dempsey) becomes sister to Jenny (Emma Jenkins). Minna’s dad John (Tom Hale) and Jenny’s mum Helene (Karen Ardiff) are engaged. Minna has a great relationship with her father … and her adorable hamster Viggo Mortensen. Jenny is a lot harder work….
The sensitive and affecting film Adam takes a close up look at two women from a poor Casablanca neighbourhood caught in an emotional maelstrom. Abla (Lubna Azabal) is a dour widowed mother who can’t get over the untimely death of her husband. Meanwhile, Samia (Nisrin Erradi) faces the imminent birth of a child alone and…
After flirting with Arthurian legend and live action remakes of Disney animation Guy Ritchie returned with great success to the gangster genre with which he established his reputation with The Gentlemen in 2019. His latest film is another crime thriller; this time he gives us a solid heist thriller that will remind audiences of the…
Brian Kirk’s 21 Bridges is a predictable procedural broken into two parts – one involving a big haul of drugs and cop killers, and the other corrupt police. The script by Adam Mervis and Matthew Michael Carnahan (World War Z) is nothing we haven’t seen many times before. The only interest is how it reaches…
Stick five strangers together in a room for a week and see what comes out the other end. Are they themselves or acting out some fantasy to form a shield of protection or anonymity? If the latter, how long before the shield is lowered? Intolerance, disinterest and antagonism are par for the course in Malthouse’s…
If 2022 saw a return to normality for the first time since 2019, in 2023 cinema took a beat to consolidate. And if 2022 was really all about Top Gun: Maverick, in 2023 the pie got divided up rather more evenly. Australian box office dominated by “Barbienheimer” with the international smash hit Barbie taking out…
