The fast-paced and decidedly “now” thriller Searching employs social media in its full glory. It also marks the first time a mainstream Hollywood thriller has been headlined by an Asian-American actor. David Kim (John Cho), his late wife Pamela (Sara Sohn) and their daughter Margot (Michelle La) were a great team. But Pamela unexpectedly became sick and died from cancer….
Paul Feig steps away from broad comedy and onto the darker side with A Simple Favour. This pulpy thriller certainly has Feig’s fingerprints on it, but it’s easily his most expressive film in ages – maybe ever. Of course, the film invites comparisons with the David Fincher’s wonderful Gone Girl. But A Simple Favour is…
Zoe is not just a film about artificial intelligence and the influence it will have on our society. It also shows how artificial our society will be in the future. A world where feelings are reduced to figures and where pharmaceutical concoctions provide a short but intense expression of love. Both with disastrous results. Couples…
What the hell am I seeing? What does it mean? Why am I even in the theatre? What a total and utter waste of time and space. How boring. These thoughts came flooding into my head five minutes into Working With Children. A slightly transparent white curtain and a pair of white runners and folded…
It’s not just the fact that defenseless young children are victims of unscrupulous people who use them in networks for pedophiles. The most disgusting aspect of this is that these circuits are visited by people who occupy important positions in daily life. Individuals who show a respectable and neat appearance to the outside world. But…
We got our first glimpse of the demonic nun Valak, in The Conjuring 2. She plagued Lorraine Warren’s visions and filled her with dread. Now she gets her own outing in The Nun. The epic battle of good vs. evil pits a priest with a dark history and a sister who has yet to take…
Teenagers have it tough. Physical and emotional changes can wreak havoc. So imagine how much harder it would be if your parents decided these changes were just “wrong” and the only solution was isolation and religion. One teenager has to face just that dilemma in The Miseducation of Cameron Post. This beautiful and moving film…
As clever and highly regarded as it is, I can’t say I particularly warmed to Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter. An atmosphere of frustration and menace permeates the setting – a basement in Birmingham. A couple of hit men are awaiting instructions for their next assignment. As the play starts, Ben (John Wood) – the…
Brisbane Festival’s 2018 program brims with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever, and a new light-and-laser show on the river that will see Brisbane illuminated for 22 days of celebration. There will be almost 600 performances – 100 of them free – of close to 70 shows across 17 venues. More than 1,000 artists…
Blasted is a remarkably insightful and deeply traumatising work from British playwright Sarah Kane, first performed in 1995. Ian (David Woods) is a broken, middle-aged journalist. He’s brought a much younger woman, Cate (Eloise Mignon) – who he’s known for some time – to an upmarket hotel room. But when she resists his advances, he…
