Brutal action scenes and a decidedly clumsy Superman is what Man of Steel will be remembered for; this reimagining of the classic superhero myth, by director Zack Snyder and producer Christopher Nolan, is loud, confronting, and grand, and this is why watching it on a screen as big as the one at IMAX Darling Harbour was absolutely essential; it’s this…
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Directors LAMAR+NIK, who we caught up with at SXSW earlier this year, have just released their music video for the first Pixies track to be released since “Bam Thwok” in 2004. The single, entitled “Bagboy” has been released a couple of weeks after Kim Deal quit the band, though the song seems to retain her…
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The Spanish Film Festival turned sixteen this year. To celebrate, it added Canberra and Byron Bay to its already impressive list of cities to be visited by all things Cine español. Plus, this year, Maribel Verdú, the brilliant actress from Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001), has joined the festival to participate in audience Q&As to follow…
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Little larrikin Lawrence Greenwood AKA Whitley has been MIA from the Australian music scene for a while on an indefinite hiatus. For those not familiar with Whitley he was basically Australia’s answer to Scott Walker or Nick Drake, a troubadour with impeccably crafted heartachingly sweet songs. His hiatus resulted in a lot of travelling to some intriguing…
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Michel Gondry has always been one of my favourite directors. His ability to take dreamlike concepts and turn them into something visually tangible has always been his strength, and a unifying quality between all his productions – be they feature length, short or music video format. Though perhaps we won’t consider The Green Hornet in…
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Michel Gondry has always been one of my favourite directors. His ability to take dreamlike concepts and turn them into something visually tangible has always been his strength, and a unifying quality between all his productions – be they feature length, short or music video format. Though perhaps we won’t consider The Green Hornet in amongst this…
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After 10 days of live music, art installations and plenty of wine and gourmet dining it was time to say goodbye to Dark MOFO with a massive free party along the waterfront which the entire city of Hobart could enjoy. The Winter Feast was a definite highlight with a vast array of local produce on…
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Ash Grunwald featuring Scott Owen and Andy Strachan (The Living End) played the Metro Theatre on Friday night with support from Benjalu and Cats Are Black. Gwendolyn Lee was there and brings us these photos from the pit.
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Less than a month after taking over The Vanguard, the Femme Locale showcase made its return for round four on Friday night. This time, the crowd gathered in the cozy second floor of The Hive Bar to watch Christine Jane, Imogen Bel, and Rosie Catalano perform an intimate concert.
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Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Satan were a hipster and threw a party in an old theatre? Well the intrigue is over as the Dark MOFO night garden was all that and more with its sensual sensory overload that did make me take pause and question what exactly was in…
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Writer Paul Ham gives the history of the Sandakan Death March, a war march that lead to only six survivors. Nothing is spared in this book, which gives details of the gruesome punishments the prisoners went through, how they died and how the very small few survived. Cannibalism, bayonetted, shot, starved, given no illness, medical…
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We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks looks set to polarise audiences as much as the organisation’s founder, Julian Assange does. The documentary is the latest film from the Oscar-winning, Alex Gibney (Taxi To The Dark Side, Enron: the Smartest Guys In The Room). It attempts to paint a portrait of this organisation with snappy animation and a good musical…
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What Maisie Knew could actually be called Matilda. The former is an adaptation of the Henry Jamesnovel but it also shares a lot in common with the latter, Roald Dahl book. There is the brilliant and mature-beyond-her-years little girl who has to take care of herself because her parents only do so when it’s convenient. Although both sets of parents are…
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Jeff Buckley may have sung “So Real” on his ground-breaking, Grace album, but the bio-pic of his and his dad’s lives concentrates on their mystical qualities. Maybe it was their untimely deaths – Jeff by drowning in Memphis’ Wolf River at age 27 and Tim at age 28 from an accidental overdose – that turned them into alt-rock…
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One of our favourite artists here at the AU for many years now has been Pluto Jonze, the Sydney based electronic artist who has been making waves with tracks like “Plastic Bag in a Hurricane”. After a long wait, our patience is finally being rewarded with the release of his debut album Eject, being released…
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Municipal Waste played the Hi-Fi on Sunday night with support from Shitripper and Exekute. Gwendolyn Lee was there and brings us these photos from the pit.
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Some gigs fade into memory as nothing more than a fun night, others we try desperately to forget… and then there are the few that we know we’ll always remember. They’re the honest, personal, sometimes elaborate performances that sit apart from the rest. They’re usually put together by a band who are at the top…
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When Deap Vally were flaring up in the blogosphere over summer as “artists to watch” they much surpassed their poster image as two Californian rockers. They command attention with classic rock ‘n’ roll theatrics. Their debut album Sistrionix lives up to its name – these two troublemakers are making a name for themselves. With essentially…
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90’s radio darlings the Goo Goo Dolls are back with their tenth studio album Magnetic, and they are showcasing an unbelievably strong record full of shiny pop rock nuggets of gold.
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Sometime last year, whilst wandering through the Rocks in Sydney I had the pleasure of witnessing a charming acoustic performance by Sydney local Patrick James. With his endearing folk rock and charismatic presence, James had easily captured the attention of the market goers. With an awkward ‘Hello, gosh you’re good, may I please buy a…
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The Black Angels played the Enmore Theatre on Saturday night with support from The Laurels and Zeahorse. Gwendolyn Lee was there and brings us these photos from the pit.
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The Eight is Sydney’s largest Chinese restaurant, specialising in modern fusion and traditional Chinese cuisine with a focus on live fresh seafood. Part of the award-winning Zilver Restaurant group, The Eight has been a finalist for several awards, the most recent being the 2012 Australian Small Business Champion Awards. They’ve been kind enough to share…
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Trigger Jackets. The name alone screams indie rock, perhaps with a tinge of surfer rock, maybe a couple of jaunty riffs similar to Ball Park Music? Skinny boys in their skinny jeans and ironic glasses. Thankfully, in reality, Trigger Jackets bucks the indie trend. Their latest release, debut full length, Skinny, is all things great…
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Baby Animals played the Factory Theatre on Thursday night with support from The Art and The Bonez. Gwendolyn Lee was there and brings us these photos from the pit.
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This year’s Russian Resurrection Film Festival marks its 10th anniversary as the largest festival of Russian Cinema outside of Russia. Showcasing a cross section of Russian culture over a variety of film genres, the program welcomes award winning Director of comedy musical Hipsters Valery Todorovsky. Set in 1950s Soviet Russia, Hipsters follows the relationship between Mels (Anton Shagin) who is a member of…
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Black Penny is one of the latest bars to make a splash in the trendy Surry Hills scene, with a focus on good vibes, classy decor, live music, unique cocktails and shared dishes to enjoy “between friends”, such as the “scallops in a blanket” ($17), pictured above. One of their most popular cocktails is the…
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