Perhaps the original rom-com, this fresh but faithful retelling of the classic Jane Austen novel will charm audiences. For those who aren’t familiar with the story (though you probably are – it’s been adapted and re-fashioned many times already); “handsome, clever and rich” Emma Woodhouse fancies herself as the village matchmaker. She spends her days…
– Mrs Lowry & Son – Only in cinemas from 28 November 2019 We have 10 double in-season passes thanks to Umbrella Entertainment. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE Artist L.S. Lowry (Timothy Spall) lives all his life with his over-bearing mother Elizabeth (Vanessa Redgrave) who constantly tries to dissuade him from…
Scheming and gossip abound in the lavish big-screen version of Downton Abbey, where opulence is the byword. First an admission, I only heard wonderful things about the TV series but I haven’t seen one episode. As a result, it took me some time to work out who was who in the zoo, namely who the…
Rainbow’s End is a play by Jane Harrison, author of Stolen (1998). Both of these plays have become part of the school HSC syllabus. Rainbow’s End, written in 2005, is an evocation of the lives of three generations of First Nation’s women: the Yorta Yorta nation, in the 1950’s, in the northern Victoria region of…
First, a big caveat. I realise this documentary about a pioneer of early cinema will have a limited audience. But Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché was total catnip for me. So I know my enthusiasm for this film may not be widely shared. But for anyone with a love for cinema in…
This novel is an excellent example of how a book well and gently written has just as much power to affect as one written to surprise and propel. The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant reminds us that our most meaningful interactions are those that we come to by chance, and not by design. The finding of…
This visually sumptuous but glacially paced coming of age drama tells the story of May (newcomer Nguyen Phuong Tra My), a 14-year old girl who is married off to Hung (Le Vu Long), a wealthy older landowner, to settle a debt. She is the man’s third wife. To cement her status she needs to produce…
– Red Joan – Only in cinemas from 6 June 2019 We have 5 double in-season passes thanks to Transmission Films. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE In a picturesque village in England, Joan Stanley (Academy Award® winner Dame Judi Dench), lives in contented retirement. Then suddenly her tranquil existence is shattered…
A throwback to a time of homophobia, paranoia and fear, 1985 is a heartfelt realist tale. Having been gone for three years, closeted advertising executive Adrian (Cory Michael Smith) returns to his Texas hometown for the Christmas holidays. As the title suggests, it’s 1985, during the first wave of the AIDS crisis. Burdened with an…
For a while there, they were the most popular double act in the world. Laurel & Hardy were superstars of slapstick during the 1930s and ’40s. But all good things have to come to an end sometime; and director Jon S. Baird takes a warm-hearted look at the twilight of their careers in Stan &…
