Grounded, by George Brant, performed by Kate Cole at the Reginald Theatre, SHOULD NOT BE MISSED. An exhilarated female Top Gun flies her own plane, her ‘Tiger”, striking down the enemy, begins a relationship with an ordinary but love-smitten man, becomes pregnant, is required to stop flying, has a girl child, Sam, and later returns…
Inspired by true events, this fantasy adventure tells the story of a young woman’s extraordinary journey from Japan to Minnesota, in search of a mythical fortune. The titular Kumiko (Rinko Kikuchi from Babel) lives a shy and solitary life in a cramped Tokyo apartment shared only by her beloved pet rabbit Bunzo. She is 29…
The melodramatic The Best of Me is the latest adaptation of a novel from Nicholas Sparks, a bestselling author best known for The Notebook. Sparks writes overly sentimental romantic novels to a well established and increasingly predictable formula – rain drenched passionate kisses and young lovers from different social classes kept apart by family, prejudice,…
This simple, low budget New Zealand and Australian co-production is a two-handed romantic drama that is reminiscent of the Before trilogy from Richard Linklater. It basically follows a couple as they wander through the streets of Christchurch while they try to work out where their relationship stands. Charlie (Dustin Clare, from TV series Spartacus) left…
Grab your tuning forks, sequin vests and spirit fingers: the Barden Bellas are back to serenade us in Pitch Perfect 2. The clever followup to 2012’s runaway smash Pitch Perfect, this sequel reunites the core acapella afficionados for their senior college year after their win at the national titles. The troupe suffer a global fall…
Psychiatry and religion are two crutches that people turn to in times of trouble, seeking help, spiritual guidance and comfort. But these twin sources of help are also double-edged swords and have often been exploited for darker purposes. With religion, the dark side is often the suicide cults with their brainwashing, manipulation and the ability…
I am a great fan of Dead Puppet Society. It has walkways intrigued me with dark tales and clever puppetry combined with the human element to create fascinating entertainment. But Argus, designed and directed by David Morton, is something completely different and challenging. There were no giant puppets, or mysterious figures behind doors, in fact…
Slick and digitally savvy, this is a horror thriller for the social media generation. Unfriended follows what happens when a seemingly innocent online prank spirals out of control. The film unfolds over a teenager’s computer screen as she and her friends are stalked by an unseen figure. This entity seeks vengeance for a shaming video…
Ryan Adams live used to be “watch and see” because Adams might do something nuts like kick someone out of the show, walk off the stage, go into a rant and then go into another rant. Basically, the music would be absolutely spot on but you were always a little scared to shout out a…
In the present fetid political climate, maybe, overheated by the media in its rush to find ‘villains’ and ‘victims’, to entertain our appetites for the moral humiliation of others, with the official exposure and investigation of child abuse in Australian schools and institutions, Melvyn Morrow’s new play, VICE – Private School Scandal, attempts to bring…
