This biopic of athlete and WWII survivor Louis Zamperini is something of a labour of love for Angelina Jolie. This is her second fiction feature as a director following 2011’s drama In the Land of Blood and Honey, which was set against the backdrop of the Bosnian war, and Unbroken shares a number of similar…
Ber Carroll explores contemporary issues such as relationship breakdowns, child custody, belonging, identity and abandonment in her latest novel, Once Lost. It’s the first time I’ve read one of Carroll’s books, and I was impressed by her ability to give authentic voice to the everyday conflicts women face in modern life. Once Lost is a…
A modern take on Frankenstein in the age of artificial intelligence, the man behind the vision of Ex Machina is Alex Garland, who wrote 28 Days Later and Sunshine. This time he is both writer and director. Domhnall Gleeson plays Caleb, a mid-twenties coder at the world’s largest Internet company. He wins a competition to…
Six remarkably compelling stories in one, these are imaginative and colourful tales about people caught up in seemingly normal situations until something unexpected happens. Wild Tales concerns inequality, injustice and stress. #1 A model is flying on an aircraft when she is hit upon by a music critic, who discovers they have something in common…
– Partisan – Only in cinemas from 28 May 2015 We have 5 double in-season passes thanks to Madman Films. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE Alexander is like any other kid: playful, curious and naive. He is also a trained assassin. Raised in a hidden paradise on the outskirts of…
“My short films were made as student films in a very unprofessional and renegade manner, but I think that grounding helped,” says Australian filmmaker Ariel Kleiman about his debut feature film Partisan, which hits local cinemas on May 28. Partisan is a grim coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of a sinister cult run by…
I pulled Disclaimer by Renee Knight from my to-review shelf, thinking it would be a good book to take on a five-hour flight to Sydney. I was wrong. I finished the book before I even left the house. It was that hard to put down. Here’s the blurb: What if you realized the book you were reading…
A thought provoking art-house film from a first time Australian director (28-year-old Melburnian Ariel Kleiman, now based in London), it focuses upon an enclave cut off from the real world. Under the guise of protection, a cult figure known as Gregori (Vincent Cassel) professes bonhomie while riding roughshod over a gaggle of women and their offspring….
The cover of Beat The Champ, the latest album by The Mountain Goats, has a picture of two wrestlers going at it in the ring. John Darnielle’s 15th studio album is indeed a theme album about the wonders (and gruesomeness) of professional wrestling. And no, not the WWF or WWE of your youth; this is…
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…
