There are still certainties in this world. First of all, you can expect that if a type of movie has enormous success, something similar will appear in no time. A matter of surfing on the wave of success, I guess. The Silence resembles, for instance, the successful film A Quiet Place. It’s not exactly the…
In 2009, Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for his remarkable performance as the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Now, Joaquin Phoenix is destined for the 2020 Academy Awards in a similar guise, as the lead in Todd Phillips’ crime-thriller Joker. This is an unusual origin story set in the early 1980s. Joker…
How do you ever follow up a record that is as highly revered in the indie rock world as The Wrens’ Meadowlands? The album was released in 2003 and then the band faded away for 18 years with sporadic news of fresh material every year, new album talk constantly being whispered and dreamed about, and…
The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017) was an over-the-top action comedy. Now comes more of the same in Patrick Hughes’ standalone follow-up, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard. The film opens with Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) accepting the Bodyguard of the Year Award, except … actually, he hasn’t won the prestigious gong. He only dreams of winning it, until…
Ambition and success sometimes don’t go hand-in-hand. With a heavyweight pedigree and intellectual heft, George Clooney’s latest, Suburbicon, should (by rights) be up there with his best. Yet this undoubtedly ambitious but deeply flawed film dallies with greatness without ever fully achieving it. With the backing of the Coen brothers and Clooney’s go-to collaborator George…
Silly, funny, creative and clever, the Umbilical Brothers bring their unique blend of humour to the Melbourne Comedy Festival and the city is all the better off for it. This show, titled The Distraction, won the Best Comedy Award at the recent Adelaide Fringe Festival. David Collins and Shane Dundas, who are the Umbilical Brothers, have been…
With music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, book by Neil Simon and choreography from Bob Fosse, Sweet Charity is understandably one of the greatest of Broadway musicals. Yet, far from being a big, razzmatazz affair, it is essentially a simple and tender story, which makes it an ideal fit for Brisbane Powerhouse’s intimate…
Let me start in a cheeky and derogatory tone. Let’s take Jack Sparrow, promote him to be an eloquent university professor teaching literature and tell him that he’s terminally ill. If you watch the movie The Professor (the original movie title was ‘Richard Says Goodbye‘) with a dismissive attitude, you could utter such a statement….
Disney seems to be lacking in creativity at the moment. All they seem to produce are live action remakes of their animated classics; endless sequels and spin-offs from some of their successful franchises; and films based on their theme park rides. And now we get a rather cynical remake of a film based on a…
The latest from Finnish auteur Aki Karismaki, The Other Side of Hope was the opening night film at the 2017 Scandinavian Film Festival. This comedy is full of his usual droll humour, deadpan style and absurdist touches. Karismaki often pokes fun at the Finnish working class and their daily struggles. The Other Side of Hope…
