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…
If you want a profound understanding of what inspired JRR Tolkien to write The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, you should look elsewhere. While Tolkien gives some insights into his creative mind when it comes to whole new languages, it’s essentially a tale of heartache and love. It unfolds as a dramatic and…
In Escaped Alone, society as we know it has fallen apart. Survivors are few. Four older women who are among the lucky ones reflect on times past over several summers … as the years run into one another. Vi (Margaret Mills) went to jail for six years after killing her husband. Sally (Caroline Lee) has…
According to American novelist Flannery O’Connor, “the beginning of human knowledge is through the senses”. This underpinning of human perception is at the core of playwright Elise Grieg’s world premiere work Magpie; its all-encompassing description offers theatre-goers immersion into the experience of a Brisbane summer, where thunderstorms threaten for longer than they onslaught and nothing…
In the wake of Godzilla (2014) and Kong: Skull Island (2017) comes the next chapter in Warner Bros. cinematic monsterverse. Godzilla II: King of the Monsters follows the efforts of a “crypto-zoological” agency called Monarch as its members face off against a battery of massive monsters, including the mighty Godzilla. The gargantuan collides with powerful…
As big, loud and flamboyant as its subject, Rocketman presents Elton John as a not-so-stable genius. If you want loads of Elton’s songs, extravagant costumes and a long spiral into depression, this is the movie for you. If you’re looking for a different take on the rockstar biopic though, you might have to look somewhere…
It’s rare that we get to see a film from Paraguay. It’s even rarer that this deeply conservative country would produce a film about two elderly lesbians whose relationship is undergoing something of a crisis. But that’s what we get in The Heiresses from writer/director Marcelo Martinessi. Chela (played by veteran theatre actress Anna Brun…
Finding love and keeping the flame flickering is difficult enough for any couple. But the couple in Patricia Cornelius’ Love are two rough-as-guts junkies. Tanya (Tahlee Fereday) fell in love with Annie (Carly Sheppard) the moment she set eyes on her in jail. That love was reciprocated. Annie dreams of a better life with Tanya…
A compelling story of struggle is enhanced by highly creative staging, sound effects and lighting. Set over 20 years (from the 1940s to the ‘60s), Cloudstreet isn’t just another play – it’s a look inside the consciousness of two Australian families. Tim Winton’s novel won the Miles Franklin Award in 1991. Nick Enright and Justin…
Life is tough for a pair of adult sisters in Little Woods. Ollie (Tessa Thompson) and her estranged sibling Deb (Lily James) live in the economically depressed fracking town of Little Woods, North Dakota. Deb has a young son with a deadbeat dad (James Badge Dale). Mother and son live illegally in a caravan that…
