The DNA of Michael Mann’s 1995 classic Heat runs through the gritty crime drama, Den of Thieves. Los Angeles is the bank robbery capital of the US, with one committed every 48 minutes on average. Merriman (Pablo Schreiber) leads a highly organised and efficient gang of robbers. A former special ops soldier, Merriman uses his training and skills to…
A flawed but sometimes amusing animated feature, Charming is a delightful twist on damsels-in-distress. As an infant, Prince Philippe Charming (the voice of Wilmer Valderrama) was maliciously “over-blessed” with “charm” as the result of a curse. So, through no fault of his own, he attracts women like a magnet. Every woman he meets falls madly…
Kaleidoscope is a maze of mirrors that had me totally flummoxed. Set up in the forecourt of Arts Centre Melbourne, the outside multicoloured panels give you not a jot of an idea of what awaits you inside. Long vertical mirrors greet you at every turn. Rotating prisms, mood lighting and music add to the experience. As you…
Australian author Hugh Mackay is very clear about his intentions in his latest book The Question of Love. The book’s subtitle is “Variations on a Theme” and even before the book opens, Mackay lets the reader know that the musical form of “variations on a theme” is his favourite and that this novel is his…
Growing old and frail, becoming ill and disabled, hardly seems like a whole heap of fun or a bundle of laughs. And yet that is the backbone of MTC’s latest production, Minnie & Liraz, which produces a surfeit of rib-tickling moments that the first night audience greatly appreciated. The cacophony begins even before the play starts,…
The Queensland Ballet’s Dangerous Liaisons is not only a world premiere but it is also an amazing blockbuster of a show. The whole production just blew me away. It was the ballet’s premiere season and yet the choreography, the costumes and the music, made me feel I was watching an ageless classic. It was genius on…
Contemporary dance mixes with ancient ritual in Chunky Move’s double-header Next Move 11. The first work, titled “Nether”, is directed, choreographed and performed by Lauren Langlois. She shares the stage with James Vu Ahn Pham, who collaborated on the choreography. “Nether” has an otherworldly feel. It’s a fusion of light, music and movements that are on…
Slapstick humour characterises a little staged and decidedly different style of saints and sinners musical. Victorian Opera’s Happy End is set in America in 1919. The storyline sees the Salvation Army come face to face with gangsters. The hoodlums gather in Bill’s Beerhall, named after the man who strikes fear into others’ hearts. Bill Cracker (Adam Murphy) arrives…
Detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan return for a third time as the leads in Chris Hammer’s sixth book The Seven. Once again he delivers a multi-generational tale of crimes and misdemeanours in a very particular part of the Australian rural landscape. While Treasure and Dirt was set in the opal fields of Northern New…
One of the pieces of advice often given to those looking to write their first novel is “write what you know”. Surgeon, public servant and art lover Michael Levitt has taken this advice to heart in his first novel The Gallerist. The Gallerist features a former doctor turned art gallery owner and a sometimes dangerous…
