To call The Morrisons’ debut self titled album “long awaited” would be an understatement. For a band that’s been kicking around for well over five years (and longer if you count their previous incarnations) and has developed a loyal fanbase in the process, recorded music has been something of a rarity. But now with the…
Father John Misty – the moniker of Josh Tillman – has carved a distinctive path in modern music with his blend of sardonic wit and introspective storytelling. After his tenure as Fleet Foxes’ drummer, Tillman emerged as a solo artist, quickly establishing himself as a critical darling with his lush folk-rock sound. Over time, he’s…
Kim Lock’s first novel, Peace, Love and Khaki Socks, is an intelligent and worthwhile novel about birth choices. Her second, Like I Can Love, highlights how talented and versatile this author is. Here’s the blurb: On a hot January afternoon, Fairlie Winter receives a phone call. Her best friend has just taken her own life. Jenna Rudolph,…
Unquestionably dark and haunting, Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw paints a devastating picture of distress and, possibly, madness. It concerns a governess appointed to look after two orphaned children on the strict condition that she never contact their guardian, an uncle too busy to take care of them. Apprehensive about taking on the…
Helmed by Ron Howard, Solo: A Star Wars Story combines double-crosses, action, humour and romance. This is the second break-out film in the Star Wars universe, the first being 2016’s Rogue One. Solo is the story of unpredictable – at time reckless – adventure-hound, scoundrel and maverick Han Solo. It follows his daring escapades within…
Inspired by the reflections of a photojournalist who spent four years as a member of the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club, The Bikeriders is about testosterone. It’s based around a fictional biker gang known as the Vandals and its founder, Johnny Davis (Tom Hardy). Married with two children, Johnny is a truck driver, although all we…
Anne Buist continues to put the psychology, and particularly the psychology of women and mothers, in the centre with what may be the final entry in her Natalie King series Locked Ward. King debuted in Medea’s Curse and two further books followed – Dangerous to Know and This I Would Kill For. In each of…
Kate Morton is one of my favourite mainstream Australian writers; the type of books she writes – gothic-style mystery with old houses and buried secrets – are my favourite. There’s something incredibly romantic about big old houses, once-beautiful but now tangled old gardens, yellowing letters, haunting secrets, ghostly apparitions … they put me in a…
The X-Men aren’t my favourite superhero franchise; but I’ve been happy to check in with them over the years. The original “tranche” (X-Men [2000] through X-Men: The Last Stand [2006]) and their spin-offs were pretty good, though Hugh Jackman as Wolverine was always the best thing about them. In 2011, the “throwback” series kicked off…
Teaming (arguably) the most successful director of all time with a story that plays on both the current obsession with gaming and pop culture nostalgia would seem to be a no-brainer. It has to be good, right? Well, kinda. Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One is a visually stunning spectacle at times, but it’s no E.T….
