Rarely does a production come along that deserves the tag of ‘landmark’. In The Dismissal, now on at the Seymour Centre in Sydney, a new standard of Australian devised and created theatre has arrived. Put simply, it’s non-stop enjoyment! Politics may not be everyone’s cup of tea. And the events of 11 November 1975 still…
He Who Drowned the World is the concluding volume in Australian fantasy author Shelley Parker-Chan’s epic Chinese-historical fantasy Radiant Emperor Duology. The first book of these, She Who Became The Sun, was a jaw-dropping debut which went on to make numerous award shortlists, including the Hugo Award,ugo Awar and won the 2022 British Fantasy Award….
I don’t usually talk about cover art of the books that I review but just this once, I have to say that the Australian cover of Stef Penney’s excellent historical novel The Beasts of Paris does not do it justice. Some of the action of The Beasts of Paris is set in and around the…
The genius, the arrogance and the madness of Spanish artist Salvador Dali (played by Ben Kingsley) is front and centre in Daliland. Mary Harron’s (American Psycho) film presents a picture of a 70-year-old man obsessed with sexual creativity, but who doesn’t actually have sex. Dali deeply loves his volatile wife, Gala (Barbara Sukowa), who controls…
Ambrose Parry (aka husband and wife team Chris Brookmyre and Dr Marisa Haetzman) is back in 19th Century Edinburgh for a fourth time in their Raven, Fisher and Simpson mystery series in Voices of the Dead. Once again Parry serves up an engaging story in a fascinating and well realised milieu. A few years after…
Inga Vesper’s debut novel The Long, Long Afternoon was a crime novel set in a perfect Los Angeles suburb in the 1950s. Vesper used that scenario to get beneath the façade of the perfect housewife and community of the time to reveal the racism, infidelity and drug use that sat beneath the surface. Her second…
– Corsage – Only in cinemas from 9 February 2023 Thanks to Vendetta Films, we have 5 double passes to give away to CORSAGE a film by director Marie Kreutzer, opening nationally in cinemas on February 9 *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE Empress Elisabeth of Austria is idolised for her beauty…
British author Kate Atkinson delivers another fascinating, well researched historical novel in Shrines of Gaiety. Set in London between the wars, its focus is on Nellie Coker, the matriarch of a family that runs a group of illegal clubs. The narrative ranges over not only Nellie Coker and her family but others around the clubs…
Whatever else you might think about writer-director Damien Chazell’s first two films – Whiplash and La La Land – they definitely had a very clear narrative drive. And, even though it was grander in scope, you could say the same about his third film, First Man. But with Babylon, he replaces sharp linear narrative with…
Emily is a fictitionalised story about lauded 19th century writer and poet Emily Brontë (Wuthering Heights). Australian actor-turned-writer/director Frances O’Connor has woven a compelling tale. As a youngster, Emily (Emma Mackey) enjoyed making up stories. Considered odd and deviating from the norm, her mind worked differently to others. While comfortable in the company of family,…
