Theatre is full of surprises, little gems of productions that take you on unexpected journeys and make audiences think about life and the universe differently. Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories is one such gem. Marketed as suitable for ages 8 – 108, the production is certainly engaging and delightful, but parents do need to know…
Battle of Waterloo, by Kylie Coolwell, is a new Australian play. This is the Indigenous play that I have been waiting for. Ms Coolwell has written a work from the heart of an urban Indigenous community, in the contemporary world of the housing commission buildings of Waterloo, not far from Redfern, set in the thrilling…
Sophia (Lou Wall) has been desperate to get into the property market for some time. So it is that (yet again) she puts the hard word on her father – Tony (Joe Petruzzi) – trying to guilt him into going 50/50 with her on an apartment she has found. He is far from impressed. It is small,…
The dictionary definition of the term “bodice ripper” is: “a novel, on a historical subject, that involves some sex and violence”. Well, now the television equivalent is ripping its way into your lounge room in the form of Netflix’s hit series Bridgerton. Think Emma meets Gossip Girl and you’ve got a pretty good idea where…
A surfeit of truisms comes to mind when describing what is behind the teen-awakening flick, Before I Fall. They include “you really don’t know what you’ve got until its gone”, “make the most of each day” and “make each moment count”. What’s the expression? This is Groundhog Day (the Bill Murray movie) all over again….
How tough a job is teaching and disciplining a bunch of lively, but often disinterested and unmotivated students? The engaging French dramedy School Life (La Vie Scolaire) explores that question. A new vice-principal, Samia Zibra (Zita Hanrot), arrives at a school in economically disadvantaged Saint-Denis. She wants to do all she can to make a…
Talk about creative writing that starts out in one tone and suddenly becomes something entirely unexpected. That’s what you get if you know nothing about American Ultra when you enter the cinema. Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg) spends most of his time getting stoned, sitting behind the register of the local convenience store and writing a…
David Diop, winner of the International Booker Prize for At Night All Blood Is Black, returns with a novel that explores colonialism and the slave trade. Beyond the Door of No Return (translated by Sam Taylor) opens in France in the early 19th Century but the bulk of the novel is set in Senegal over…
– Back of the Net – Only in cinemas from 11 April 2019 We have 5 family (admit 4) in-season passes thanks to Umbrella Entertainment. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE For American teenager Cory Bailey (Sofia Wiley – star of The Disney Channel’s top rating show, Andi Mack), attending the Harold…
Cinema, like any art form, has boundless capacity to surprise. Disney-Pixar has struggled a little recently (see Onward, for example). But the studio reclaims its title as the benchmark in animation with the incredible Soul. I suspect the success of Soul has a lot to do with the return of Pete Docter to the director’s…
