The first time I picked up Isabel Allende’s The Japanese Lover I wasn’t in the mood for it – probably needed something light. I am so glad I listened to a good friend’s advice: “You must read it. It’s beautiful.” She was right. Second time around I was in the headspace to appreciate Allende’s writing,…
It’s not altogether surprising that Good Charlotte’s song “Lifestyles of the rich and the famous” is in my head as I type this review. Harrison Young’s novel Nantucket describes a lifestyle most of us can only imagine – private jet planes, unlimited money, beautiful holiday houses on exclusive beaches … It’s a world where the stakes are…
A road movie, but then on foot. A Walk in the Woods features two old-timers puffing like a steam locomotive while walking the Appalachian trail, a trip of approximately 3500 km in the USA. It’s a trip even young people fail to finish. But these two stubborn 70-year-olds won’t give in easily and are motivated to…
Just how bad was the global financial meltdown of 2008? Well … several top economists considered it to be the worst monetary crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Now the lead-up to it is captured in gripping detail and sensational form in The Big Short, one of the films of the year. When…
R.L. Stine has been recognised as one of the bestselling children’s authors of all time with his Goosebumps books selling more than 400 million copies in 32 languages since it first went into print in 1992. This movie adaptation features dozens of Stine’s creations, with Jack Black as the famed writer. Initially though, the filmmakers…
Patricia Highsmith is a name familiar to many movie buffs. Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mr Ripley and The Two Faces of January are just a few of the films based on her writing. Of course, these fall into the mystery-thriller genre, but Highsmith’s writing was broader than that. In Carol, director Todd Haynes…
Anthony Warlow, complete with appropriate affectations, makes a triumphant return to the Australian stage in Fiddler on the Roof, after three years treading the boards on Broadway. He takes the lead role in this beloved musical, the theme of which resonates as strongly today as when it premiered on Broadway in 1964. Fiddler on the…
America in 1968 was a volatile and turbulent place. The country was still deeply embroiled in an unpopular and unwinnable war in Vietnam, and back home there were race riots and both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. And there were the presidential conventions in which both the Democratic Party and the Republicans…
As a dancer, actor, choreographer and director, Jason Coleman is clearly a man of many talents. Remember, he was the one who choreographed the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2000 Olympics. After his last show, Spiegelicious, took to the road in 2015 it became clear to him that he needed a bigger venue. That’s…
– Dirty Grandpa – Only in cinemas from 28 January 2016 We have 10 double in-season passes thanks to eOne Films. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE Jason Kelly (Zac Efron) is one week away from marrying his boss’s uber-controlling daughter, putting him on the fast track for a partnership at…
