Yesterday is highly contrived and holds few surprises, but it’s still a heart-warming story. It’s also a showcase for the music of The Beatles. The basis of the tale is pure fantasy and from there it’s basically an adult fairy story. The film follows a decidedly ordinary guy thrust into most extraordinary circumstances. Humour, warmth…
Noises Off has been around for a few decades – it was written by British playwright Michael Frayn in 1982. And unlike The Play That Goes Wrong or Fawlty Towers, it feels like it. The farce appeared dated to me and it was inclined to push the envelope too far at every turn. The first act…
From the director of the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom and the critically acclaimed Best of Enemies, comes The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble , a new doco about a renowned international musical collective created by legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma. It follows a group of diverse instrumentalists, vocalists, composers,…
After spending time with international trouble shooter Olivia Wolfe (Devour and Prey), Australian thriller writer LA Larkin returns with a slightly more grounded, but no less feisty when push comes to shove, main character in Widow’s Island. But thematically, Larkin stays on familiar ground anchoring the action around themes of climate change and the power…
It happened more than 55 years ago – on 15th October, 1970 – and was Australia’s worst industrial accident. I speak of the West Gate Bridge collapse. Thirty-five workers died and 18 were injured. In fact, due to several issues before the bridge fell – identified in the findings of the subsequent Royal Commission –…
A transparent, highly predictable script underpins a sweet-natured coming of age tale pitched at younger teens. Fifteen-year-old Jack Hooper (William Lodder) and his widowed mother Christie (Frances O’Connor) move to a small town in Western Australia a few years after the death of his father/her husband. She opens a fruit and vegetable shop and he…
A fun-filled, comedic musical with some choice one liners, crowd-pleasing scenes and ear-pleasing songs, The Wedding Singer is a spirit lifter. The path to true love is littered with casualties. That single line probably best describes the theme running through The Wedding Singer, which is based on the Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore hit movie, released in…
Vince Vaughn in a crime movie where he plays a rough-looking drug dealer? You gotta be kidding me. Although he surprised me with an excellent part in Hacksaw Ridge, I always associate him with feel-good, romantic crap movies with the kind of humor I never laugh about in most cases. Well, I was totally wrong…
Sometimes third albums put artists in weird places. You have your introducing debut, avoid the sophomore slump with either more of the same or pushing your artistic boundaries and then where do you go? For Best Coast, it is no different with a great debut like Crazy For You (2010) that put Bethany Cosentino on…
Artist Joy Hester (21st August, 1920 – 4th December, 1960) didn’t run with the pack. Despite being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 27, given a year to live and told to put her house in order, she continued to do things her way. She thumbed her nose at the doctor and at the establishment….
