The 1980 Wimbledon Men’s Final is widely regarded as one of the great tennis matches in sporting history. It was an epic five-set encounter between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe. Ice-cool Swedish champion Borg, the world number one, was attempting to win a record fifth consecutive Wimbledon title. Brash American upstart McEnroe, known as the “super…
There’s a poignant and melancholy quality to the sweet-natured Lucky. It serves as the swansong for revered actor Harry Dean Stanton, who passed away in September this year at the age of 91. Stanton delivers one of his finest performances in this low key independent drama. The film is an existential meditation on mortality and…
Do you like your movies light and fluffy? Maybe with a little romance thrown in? Yes? Then stop reading now, because The Killing of a Sacred Deer is not for you. Director Yorgos Lanthimos is best known for his magnificently bizarre The Lobster (2015). Now he brings his particular (and peculiar) vision to one of…
Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble’s Bogga begins with a rent-a-crowd supported riot at Brisbane’s infamous Boggo Road Gaol; it’s one of the ‘80s riots probably provoked by the university 4ZZZ radio station as was seemingly the norm, soundtracked by songs of the ‘Pig City’ sort. And the old Cement Box Theatre proves to be the perfect location…
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women is a genteel look at the ménage à trois behind the creation of iconic feminist superhero Wonder Woman. Its direction fittingly boasts a decidedly feminine touch. Truth is stranger than fiction in this origin story outside the norm. Harvard psychologist and inventor Dr William Moulton Marston (Luke Evans) was the…
Based on fact, but filling in the blanks with some licence, Detroit centres on the Detroit riots of 1967. The summer of that year was a pivotal moment in modern American history. The country was beset by growing political and social upheaval. The escalating US military engagement in Vietnam and decades of racial injustice and repression feulled the…
Agatha Christie is the world’s best-selling author. Some 2 billion copies of her crime and mystery novels have been sold. She wrote 66 novels; 33 of which feature her famous creation, the arrogant but brilliant Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot. Many of her books have been filmed to varying degrees of success, although apparently Christie herself…
Powerful, distressing and humorous, The Father is MTC’s best production of the season. Andre (played by John Bell – founder of Bell Shakespeare) is 80 years of age. Constantly losing his watch is the least of his worries. Although he steadfastly refuses to acknowledge it, he can no longer look after himself. His daughter Anne (Anita Hegh) is…
A remarkable piece of work, Loving Vincent is the world’s first fully painted feature film. Written and directed by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman, the movie brings to life the paintings of Vincent van Gogh, telling his astonishing story. Every frame of the picture, some 65,000, is an oil painting. The finished work has been hand-painted…
In our increasingly connected world, it’s ironically easier than ever to feel disconnected. How you deal with that disconnection is the subject of the disturbing comedy-drama, Ingrid Goes West. Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza) is an unhinged social media stalker. She has a history of confusing “likes” for meaningful relationships. Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen) is an Insta-famous “influencer”,…
