First-time documentary director Catherine Dwyer starts her career off impressively with Brazen Hussies. This highly entertaining film charts the course of the so-called “women’s liberation” (the term is pretty dated now) movement between about 1968 and 1976. Over the course of the film’s crisp 93 minutes, Dwyer explores what motivated the movement, where it went…
The best storytelling comes from showing not telling… that is using action (or lack of, as the case may be) to reveal the emotions intended to be interpreted by the audience. Awareness of this is at the core of Hannah Belanszky’s mainstage debut work Don’t Ask What the Bird Look Like from its very outset…
Formed in 2021, Louse have established themselves within the new-wave punk scene. The group consists of Sam Souders on vocals, guitar, and keys; Danny Lovell on bass; Connor Simpson on guitar; Max Enslen on keys; and Bradley Kennedy on drums. Together, they created a project that evokes a mix of nostalgic and experimental tendencies. Passions…
Backtrack is an atmospheric Aussie psychological thriller with supernatural undertones that borrows elements from the superior The Sixth Sense and Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, among others. The film explores themes of grief, redemption, loss, forgiveness, and confronting the ghosts of the past. Troubled psychologist Peter Bower (played by Oscar winner Adrien Brody, from The…
On 14th August 1936, the US eights rowing crew did something very special at the Berlin Olympics. The Boys in the Boat is their story. The eight, plus an alternate and a cox were drawn from working class men during the Depression era. The team was handpicked by well-meaning and decent University of Washington coach…
I can’t help thinking the latest Thor outing, Thor: Ragnarok (which introduces several Marvel Universe characters) is yet another elongated, derivative outing. In the story, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer. He finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to…
I first discovered Sophie McKenzie with her psychological thriller Trust in Me. That one kept me glued to the pages until I was finished. Her latest novel, Here We Lie, is equally full of twists and turns that make it hard to put down. Here’s the blurb: On holiday with family and her adoring fiancé, Jed,…
A cheeky gangster flick with attitude, Pixie is a bloody delight … and I do mean that literally. As the body count mounts, the star of the show, Pixie O’Brien (Olivia Cooke), bats her eyelids and schemes away. Pixie is the adopted daughter of a gangster who fell out with a bunch of gun-toting priests,…
A secret imaginary rendezvous between two towering but polar opposite African American leaders plays out in The Meeting. The pair lived in the same era. Both were assassinated at age 39. One preached non-violence, the other violent rebellion. I speak of Baptist minister and activist Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) and Muslim…
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is fanciful fun for the whole family. This lightweight fare will put a smile on the faces of littlies, their parents and grandparents. It’s a live action/CGI musical comedy – a bit of colour, song and silliness to soften even the hardest of hearts. Hector P. Valenti (Javier Bardem) is a wannabe…
