After jaunts through northern England and Italy, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon embark on another culinary road trip. This time, the guys head to Spain to sample the country’s gastronomic offerings in between rounds of off-the-cuff banter. Over plates of pintxos and paella, they exchange barbs and their patented celebrity impressions. Fun, but overly indulgent, this third…
Aladdin is loosely based on a tale from “One Thousand and One Arabian Nights”. This lavish production features magnificent sets and costumes. But this live-action version doesn’t measure up to the spectacular 1992 animation. The streets of Agrabah are home to Aladdin (Mena Massoud), a lovable street rat who is eager to leave his life…
Melbourne alt-country favourites Miles and Simone have returned with the release of their new single “She And I”. The track was recorded with producer Dan Luscombe (The Drones, Courtney Barnett) and was birthed out of the chance discovery of a a battered old nylon-stringed classical guitar amongst boxes of old records behind the red velvet…
There is a grand tradition of former spies going on to write spy novels – Ian Fleming and John Le Carre are probably two of the best known. But there are also authors like Stella Rimington (most recently – The Devil’s Bargain), Joe Weisberg (An Ordinary Spy and also The Americans TV series) and Jack…
Much like Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Australian director Claire McCarthy’s Ophelia concentrates on a relatively minor character in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. But unlike Stoppard’s absurdist play, this film is basically a re-telling of Hamlet from Ophelia’s perspective – with a few twists thrown in. McCarthy directs from Semi Chellas’ screenplay, adapting Lisa Klein’s…
The Lost City of Z turns out to be a kind of boy’s own adventure story. Based on author David Grann’s non-fiction bestseller, the film follows British explorer Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam). Fawcett journeys into the Amazon in 1906 where he discovers evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilisation that once inhabited the region. His…
Not only do recent Christmas movies tend to be more narky and mean spirited, but they also seem to be hitting cinemas earlier. Even though it is only November we have three Christmas themed films in our multiplexes. There’s Bad Moms 2, the home invasion black comedy Better Watch Out, and now we get Daddy’s…
Francis Lee follows up his well-received debut feature, God’s Own Country (2017), by mixing fact and fiction in Ammonite*. This finely constructed drama explores a real-life relationship, but takes it in directions not necessarily supported by the historical record. As in God’s Own Country, Ammonite delves into a same-sex relationship in a somewhat remote location….
What caused Osama bin Laden to become the most hated and hunted man on the planet? The controversial drama Bin Laden: The One Man Show asks that question about the once-feared al-Qaeda leader. It’s the work of UK’s Knaïve Theatre; specifically writer and performer Sam Redway and fellow writer and director Tyrrell Jones. Redway came…
Special effects wizardry, violence and a dollop of humour drive Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The storyline is almost incidental, but split personalities are at the heart of it. Tom Hardy reprises his role as former journalist Eddie Brock, now host to bad alien symbiote Venom. When I say “host”, I mean that literally –…
