In an age of political correctness, this is one film that well and truly breaks the mould … and then some. Hotel Coolgardie is a warts-and-all look at Australia’s ugly drinking culture and its impact. Walk into any bar across outback Australia and there’s a good chance your beer will be poured by a young female…
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 10 April 2020. April was supposed to be when The Dandy Warhols went on the road to play a US tour. Instead, like so many of us, they find themselves bunkered down in isolation, beginning the journey of adjustment…
The Norwegian comedy Diana’s Wedding really puts family values to the test. This small film offers some hard truths, wrapped in that peculiarly Scandinavian sense of humour. Director Charlotte Blom doubles as the screenwriter. She brings a sharply observational style to what is essentially a kitchen-sink dramedy, but doesn’t seek to inject any great flair…
L’Appartement: Chaos in the City of Love is a play with lots of laughs, dark moments, some excellent acting from a top team and a set I’d be happy to live in! Joanna Murray-Smith worked hard as a director to bring her words to life, and it’s not an easy job. The plot sees an…
The tumultuous life of the world’s most awarded female vocalist is put under the spotlight in I Wanna Dance with Somebody. Whitney Houston (Naomi Ackie) was the greatest voice of a generation, who enjoyed the highest of highs and succumbed to excess, indulgence and heartache. Tragically she died at 48. The fact that she had…
To call Steve Cavanagh’s Eddie Flynn thrillers “courtroom dramas” is to sell them well short. Sure there are some courtroom or other legal shenanigans in every one of Eddie’s outings. But what Cavanagh seems to delight in is how much pressure he can bring to bear on Eddie outside of the case itself. In his…
A Writer’s Odyssey is intriguing and a tad exasperating. This intricately woven crime fantasy explores power and loss … and making it as a storyteller. It crams a lot into its two-hour plus running time and requires concentration to follow. Guan Ning (Lei Jiayin) is heartbroken and isolated. He used to be a happily married…
Both a prequel and a sequel to Mamma Mia! from 2008 , Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is a lightweight, fun-filled romp. In 1979, high-spirited Donna, Tanya and Rosie – aka Donna and the Dynamos – graduate from Oxford University. Donna joyfully embarks on her adventures through Europe to fulfil her destiny on the…
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 2 April 2021. Bell Orchestre return with their first full-length album in over a decade: House Music — an immersive ecosystem created by the acclaimed Montreal-based outfit, which include Arcade Fire’s Sarah Neufeld and Richard Reed Parry. House Music…
Speed-the-Plow, by David Mamet was written in 1988 and starred Madonna in its first outing. It concerns two lowly-runged ‘goers’ in the Hollywood hierarchy trying to get further up the ladder with the power to ‘green light’ the production of films. Charlie Fox (Lachy Hulme) brings to his ambitious friend/ally, the corporation favoured Bobby Gould…
