Once upon a time Terrence Malick was a revered filmmaker, especially after his first two films – the powerful Badlands and the visually beautiful Days of Heaven. But lately he seems to have become more obtuse in his filmmaking, churning out soporific and dull psychological claptrap. Since when was it almost compulsory to need a…
Pre-show music and mingling sets the tone of The Neighbourhood, as the show’s performers (Cieavash Arean, Nima Doostkhah, Aurora Liddle-Christie, Dr Matt Hsu, Naavi Karan, Anisa Nandula and Amer Thabet) converse with the audience to prompt conversation around consideration of our neighbourhoods. Clearly, the concept of home is a complicated and abstract one and it…
This is Hugh Jackman’s swansong as Wolverine, after eight films in 17 years of playing the Marvel superhero. And what a great way to go out! He has saved the best till last. Not only is Logan the best film in the Wolverine franchise to date but it is also one of the best comic…
In Antoinette in the Cévennes, the passionate Antoinette Lapouge (Laure Calamy) is a bundle of energy. She teaches grade five and is having an affair with Vladimir Loubier (Benjamin Lavernhe), the father of one of her students. She’s particularly looking forward to the holidays, which are upon them, because she can spend a few days…
Regular readers of The Blurb will be familiar with the film reviews of our friend and long-time contributor, John Bale. We’re sad to advise that John passed away this week in Melbourne after a long battle with illness. Through the years, John contributed close to 400 reviews for The Blurb. His last was the Jennifer…
Seventy-five years on, Guys & Dolls continues to charm and delight. The Handa Opera production on Sydney Harbour is polished, memorable and so much fun. I attended on a fine, still night and it was a privilege to be in the audience. There was a sense of the magical about the evening. Specifically in that…
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is front and centre in a searing and poignant new play from Walkley Award-winning ABC journalist and author Sally Sara. Semi-autobiographical, the world premiere of Stop Girl starts in 2011 when Suzie (Sheridan Harbridge) is in the final weeks of reporting from the Afghan capital, Kabul. There to catch up with her…
A diligent young teacher is caught up in a seemingly never-ending downward spiral in Ilker Catak’s film The Teacher’s Lounge. Try as she might, whichever way she manoeuvres seems to make matters worse. Carla Nowak (Leonie Benesch) is in her first job at a German school. She teaches 12-year-olds (sixth-graders) and cares a great deal….
Enthusiasm, expectation and excitement in the first half give way to drama and raw emotion in the second act in Titanic The Musical In Concert. 1,517 people, more than two thirds of those that boarded the world’s largest moving object, died after the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg at 11:40pm on 14th April, 1912 and…
Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chastain generally make good choices when it comes to accepting movie roles. Here, Wasikowska plays Edith, an aspiring author living with her highly regarded builder father in Buffalo, New York, at the dawn of the 20th century. She has grown up haunted (literally) by the loss of her mother. Cursed with…
