The latest songbook musical to revisit Australia is Jersey Boys, featuring the hits of Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito, Bob Gaudio and Nicky Massi, more commonly known as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (among other early pseudonyms). The show is a biopic-style story punctuated by chart-toppers that made these boys from Jersey household names –…
Back when I was reviewing for Brisbane’s Spectrum radio show I created the “Scottie” Awards. They were based entirely on my taste in entertainment and collated basically as a tribute the people who gave me a lot of pleasure and whose work I admire. This year I have decided to revive this annual event. So…
“Like” and “you know” – two of the most overused phrases in the English language. They irritate me; and the former is thrashed in the opening scene of Eighth Grade. I had a teenage daughter (now over that hump, thank goodness), so I know what overuse of language sounds like. In this case, they’re spoken…
– The Front Runner – Only in cinemas from 31 January 2019 We have 10 double in-season passes thanks to Sony Pictures Australia. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE Oscar® nominee Hugh Jackman stars as the charismatic politician Gary Hart for Academy Award®-nominated director Jason Reitman in the new thrilling drama The…
Each year ends with a bang. You’ll have the end-of-year festivities and people party themselves into the New Year. But when it’s about movies, this one created an end-of-a-film-year-bang. Frankly, I didn’t expect too much of it. But maybe my prejudice about Sandra Bullock has something to do with that. I readily admit that I’m…
Geez, you think you know a guy! Whether you loved or loathed former US Vice-President Dick Cheney, Adam McKays’ new film Vice will probably give you new insight into this enigmatic figure. Oh, and it may just illuminate some recent history as well. But the most important thing about Vice is that it’s fun. Although…
Romeo and Juliet are transplanted from Renaissance Verona to mid-20th Century Poland in Paweł Pawlikowski’s stunning Cold War. This elegant film charts a fractious love affair against the backdrop of fractious times. Pawlikowski has a reputation as a stylish and thoughtful director; sometimes compared to a younger version of his compatriot Roman Polanski (without the…
I was totally overwhelmed by the grandeur, elegance and excitement in Colette – undoubtedly one of the films of the year. Keira Knightley stars as the title character, a French novelist whose provocative debut in the written word was falsely credited to her larger than life husband (a role filled by Dominic West). After marrying…
Corny but endearing, Bumblebee gives a young audience exactly what it’s after in a continuation of the Transformers’ series. With Hailee Steinfeld (The Edge of Seventeen) in the lead, it could actually be the best of the breed (which now extends to six films dating back to 2007). The year is 1987. The Autobots, led…
– Storm Boy – Only in cinemas from 17 January 2019 We have 10 double in-season passes thanks to Sony Pictures Australia. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE A beautiful and contemporary retelling of Colin Thiele’s classic Australian tale. ‘Storm Boy’ has grown up to be Michael Kingley, a successful retired businessman…
