A mind-numbing comedy for senior citizens, Never Too Late relies on fanciful nonsense to move the story forward. A voice-over by Jacqui Weaver as Norma McCarthy sets the scene. Norma once met a handsome soldier Jack Bronson (played as an elderly gent by James Cromwell) the day before he shipped out to Vietnam. If he’d…
Promiscuity to hide the pain. That – in a nutshell – is the short life and times of Lolita, as evocatively captured by Patricia Cornelius in Slut. We chart her childhood, mainly through three frenemies (Michaela Bedel, Lauren Mass and Jessica Tanner) – girls who grew up with her, befriended her and then dissed her. They excitedly…
I’ve loathed every film revered auteur Terrence Malick has made since The Tree of Life. His impressionistic take on the material – with its ethereal visuals, non-linear structure, the fragments of whispered, overlapping dialogue, the rapid cutting within scenes that barely give a moment room to breathe and the off-centre framing of his characters and…
Boyhood was a very good film, but it was bloated. Last Flag Flying, by the same director, Richard Linklater, isn’t as good. Like Boyhood, it’s also distended, but still has its moments. Three buddies who served in Vietnam together reunite after decades for one express purpose. In 2003, soft-spoken family man Larry “Doc” Shepherd (Steve…
Naturalistic performances mark writer-director Clio Barnard’s new film Ali & Ava. She crafts a gritty, working-class story born of pain. Ali (Adeel Akhtar) is a Pakistani-British landlord who enjoys a strong relationship with his tenants in Bradford. He also loves his music with a heavier edge. After a tragedy in their lives, Ali and his…
I was a big fan of The Fully Monty in its heyday, but that was then and this is now. Based on the smash hit 1997 British film, The Full Monty (which was nominated for 10 Tony Awards, but didn’t win any) is a feel good musical comedy. The show premiered in San Diego on…
The ABC’s brilliant little gem Rosehaven is now no more. We’ve reviewed it in the (web)pages of The Blurb previously. But with the show now wrapped forever, it seems a fitting time to look back at this memorable work of local production. What began as “the little show that could” in 2016 has vaulted into…
Family secrets, past love, memory loss and addiction are just some of the issues explored in Sunset Strip, an Australian play by Suzie Miller, now on at the New Theatre. On the upside, this drama/comedy provides hope, inspiration and renewal. The setting is in the home of Ray (Vincent Melton), located in a rural community…
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Cameron Raynes’ young adult novel, First Person Shooter. The blurb didn’t grab me, and I don’t read a great deal of YA fiction, but I gave it a go. I encourage YA readers and schools to do the same. Here’s the blurb: Jayden lives with his father on the edge…
History was made – not by grandstanding or with vitriol … all but in a matter of fact manner, without too much fuss or bother. In this regard, Loving is different to most other equal rights movies, which play on showcase trials, eloquent speeches and virulent campaigning. It is a slow burn film from acclaimed…
