Just how far can artificial intelligence take us? Can it deliver genuine companionship and more for the lonely, elderly and ailing? Those questions are answered in the resounding affirmative by playwright Jose Rivera in his dramatic and comedic work Your Name Means Dream. Aislin (Caroline Lee), of Polish Irish extraction (and whose name means dream…
This is a film with heaps of dastardly monkeying about. Over the top. You betcha. It revels in beheadings, spearing, disembowelment and explosions. Human splatter is everywhere. No, I am not trying to turn you off, for this is a pitch-black comedy, based on a 1980 short story by Stephen King, written and directed by…
Rosie Andrews pulls a slight bait-and-switch in her debut novel The Leviathan. Set in the 17th Century, the first half of The Leviathan concerns itself with a possible witch trial before pivoting into something even darker. The short prologue ends with the ominous words: “She is awake.” But it will be a while before those…
In 1998, 70-year-old Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser was sued by the giant agricultural Monsanto company for “patent infringement”. That battle provides the source material for Clark Johnson’s film, Percy vs Goliath. Schmeiser grew canola crops on his property near the town of Bruno. Apparently some genetically modified canola seeds blew onto his crops and Schmeiser…
West Side Story debuted in 1957 on Broadway. Four genius artists somehow subdued their egos to collaborate as an ensemble to produce one of the great works in the musical theatre canon: Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Laurents and Jerome Robbins. A motion picture version arrived in 1961 winning 10 Academy Awards – it created…
Survival is at stake when stunning brunette Rosie (Janet Anderson) finds herself cornered in a bathroom. She is a transwoman who has had to endure a great deal and continues to do so. Above all, she has learnt to be true to herself. Bathrooms are a constant thread running through Overflow. That dates back to when Rosie first…
Artist Joy Hester (21st August, 1920 – 4th December, 1960) didn’t run with the pack. Despite being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 27, given a year to live and told to put her house in order, she continued to do things her way. She thumbed her nose at the doctor and at the establishment….
It’s a case of feathers meeting fluro when performers in Polytoxic’s new work, Dangerous Goods, initially ensemble in movement of feathered fans to ‘light our fire’. Continuing with theme of the collective’s 2021 Brisfest show, Demolition, the fluro comes from the hi-vis tradie uniform costumes… and also the more revealing hints from beneath them. It’s…
Revenge is at the heart of the dark fantasy romance, The Crow. This is a remake of Australian Alex Proyas’ 1994 film of the same name. Both movies are based on the comic book series by James O’Barr. This time, Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) is in the director’s chair. Eric (Bill Skarsgård)…
British intelligence is under the microscope in Black Bag. George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) is an elite operative at Britain’s closely guarded National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). He can’t stand liars. He seeks them out an exposes them. That has included his own father. Now there appears to be a mole in the ranks of the…
