I minored in art history at university, so The Last Painting of Sara de Vos reeled me in easily. From the opening, where the fictional painting’s description is entrenched in the mind of readers, I was captivated by the fascinating story of this painting, and the impact it had on three key characters. While I’d love…
Heathers – The Musical by Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy, based on the 1990 film, written by Daniel Waters, and starring 16 year old Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, was a complete surprise for me. I had never seen the cult film set in the grossness of 1980’s fashion with all the horrors of American…
Inspired by events in his life, Miles Ahead is an impressionistic, no-holds barred portrait of one of 20th century music’s creative geniuses, Miles Davis. Working from a script he co-wrote with Steven Baigelman, Don Cheadle, who also stars as Davis, makes his directorial debut. In the midst of a dazzling and prolific career at the…
This grim but atmospheric drama about guilt, grief, redemption and revenge, and dysfunctional families marks the feature film directorial debut for Grant Scicluna, whose short film The Wilding has been racking up awards at film festivals around the globe. The film centres around James (played by Reef Ireland, from Scicluna’s The Wilding), who has been…
I generally enjoy a good crime caper, and I’m a fan of both Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick; so it’s a little disconcerting that I’m so conflicted about Mr Right. On the surface, this darkly comedic romp through New Orleans should be a crowd pleaser – after all, it’s a kind of Mr & Mrs…
Korean filmmakers have produced some of the tougher, more brutal horror films of recent years, from Old Boy through to Snowpiercer. One of the rising stars of Korean cinema is director Na Hong-jin, who makes tough thrillers like The Yellow Sea. His latest film is no exception. The Wailing is a gory, blood soaked and…
Fans of Americana with a long enough memory, will remember The Jayhawks as one of the best bands of the mid-90’s, when albums like Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow the Green Grass thrived critically and commercially thanks to the strong songwriting and harmony vocals of Gary Louris and Mark Olson. “Blue” is perhaps the best…
With a brand new album, Monday To Friday, released on the 13th May it was inevitable that Melbourne duo Sweet Jean would be hitting the road for a national tour. Sweet Jean have announced a bunch of dates this July and August taking in dates in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia. Check…
There have been a few excellent, heart-wrenching movies made in recent years about disabled men being looked after by caring attendants. Those that immediately come to mind are The Intouchables (2011) with François Cluzet and Omar Sy, The Sessions (2012) featuring John Hawkes and Helen Hunt, and The Theory of Everything (2014) starring Eddie Redmayne…
Family is at the heart of Finding Dory, the sequel to Finding Nemo (2003), which has a standalone script (in other words, if you haven’t seen the former, you can still appreciate the latter). When we are first reacquainted with Dory here, she is living a comfortable existence with loving parents who dote on her,…
