The slow-moving period piece Fanny Lye Deliver’d is a film mired in pain. The year is 1657. The place: Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Fanny Lye (Maxine Peake) is a hard-working farmer’s wife, living a life of Puritan stricture. Her husband, John (Charles Dance), is a cruel former army captain returned from…
Caleb Azumah Nelson’s debut novel Open Water is a deeply personal exploration of the connection between two people and whether that connection can survive the pressures of the world. It is clearly, from the first page, a love story, but it is much more than that, as Nelson considers what it means to be young…
His appearances, disappearances and reappearances are captivating. Michael Boyd is an illusionist whose top line acts are slick and seamless. Two sold out shows at the Palms at Crown (the only two he put on) are testament to his popularity. He draws people of all ages. The couple of volunteers he calls up on stage are children, but adults…
Around 200 movies were commercially released in Australia in 2015 (more if you live in Sydney or Melbourne; less if you’re in a regional or country area); and as these things go, it was a pretty good year. The range of films – from predictable superhero blockbusters to surprising indie fare – provided at least…
I love Hamlet; it’s my preferred Shakespearean tragedy. Visiting its Kronborg Castle setting was my favourite of all days when touring in Denmark. There’s something rotten in the Denmark of this ultimate revenge drama though. After his father’s death, Prince Hamlet (Silvan Rus) is overlooked for the crown in favour of his uncle, Claudius (Ben…
The mysterious and the unnatural collide with devastating consequences in the psychological body horror Together. Tim (Dave Franco) is 35 – a largely out of work musician who doesn’t drive. Millie (Alison Brie), a teacher is the steady one in their relationship. They have been together for almost a decade and although they haven’t always…
Over the years I’ve read a few Lynda La Plante novels featuring DCI Jane Tennison. Actor Helen Mirren, who portrayed Tennison in the award-winning ITV television drama series Prime Suspect, described Tennison as “extremely directed, ambitious, talented and very uncompromising”. Fans of the series, both book and television, will know that although Tennison is an extremely skilled detective,…
Life isn’t straightforward for Palestinians living in Israel. There’s no place like home. The bond between father and son remains strong even if they often don’t see eye to eye. These are just some of the takeaways from Wajib. This slice-of-life drama features a real-life father and son playing a father and son. The plot…
A spectacular romp, a cavalcade of fun and a glittering array of talent await those venturing to Her Majesty’s Theatre to see the crack-a-jack, rolled gold hit that is Disney’s Aladdin, the musical. The genie has well and truly been let out of the bottle on this one. It is based upon the 1992 Academy…
What a delightful and engaging comedy, which moves along at pace and is entertaining throughout. Tommaso (Marco Giallini) is a respected heart surgeon, although his relationship with the “heart” is limited to the operating room because his hard-nosed manner is hardly endearing to patients, their families or his students. Nevertheless, he is a highly capable…
