Month: February 2014

Album Review: Sally Seltmann – Hey Daydreamer (2014 LP)

Ladies and gentlemen, I have some good news for you: Sydney’s Sally Seltmann is back after four years with her latest solo full length album, Hey Daydreamer and boy, is it a treasure, stuffed full of indie pop gems. In all honesty (and without sounding too gushy), I have never before listened to an album…

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TV Review: The Feed Season 2 Episode 8 – 20th February 2014 (SBS2, Australia)

Thursdays come around so quick eh? And with it comes the week’s last episode of The Feed. This episode took a slightly different approach – with a core focus on the third anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake (yes that was somehow three years ago). Before that though- we were treated, if that is the right…

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Photo Gallery: Richie Sambora + Orianthi – The Tivoli (20.02.14)

Richie Sambora and Orianthi played their first ever show together down in Australia for a Soundwave 2014 sideshow at The Tivoli on Thursday night. Photos by Gwendolyn Lee.

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Box Office Report: Leo and Marty Re-Take Box Office Crown

It is rare that a film returns to the #1 spot at the box office, and it is even rarer that the film is an R-rated three hour crime epic about stock brokers. But Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street has reclaimed the top spot from the RoboCop remake, which debuted last week. Wolf has been an incredible success, having…

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TV Review: The Walking Dead – Season 4 Episode 10 “Inmates” (USA, 2014)

With the writers seemingly placing character development first, ‘Inmates’ continues the artful slow-burn that worked so well in ‘Alive,’ but this time they have four disparate storylines to play around with. Despite multiple arcs not working so well in previous seasons, ‘Inmates’ handles the situation quite nicely, patching each tale together with not-so-subtle easter eggs,…

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Film Review: Nebraska (M) (USA, 2013)

The transitional space of the open road appears to be the setting most conducive to good storytelling for director, Alexander Payne. He gave us a disheveled Jack Nicholson on a mission to travel across the US to sabotage his daughter’s approaching wedding in About Schmidt (2002), a heartbroken Paul Giamatti taking a wine connoisseur’s tour…

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TV Review: Rake – Season 3, Episode 2 (Australia, 2014)

Well, that was surprising. Not the fact that Rake is back on the streets— that was to be expected— but the fact that everything in his outside life has become so egregiously shithouse in such a short amount of jail-time. This is the episode where Cleaver Greene gets thrown into a landfill-sized hole, so that…

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DVD Review: Dracano (M) (USA, 2013)

Given the success in recent years of ridiculous Z-Grade giant animal films such as Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus and giant animal disaster films likeSharknado, the straight-to-DVD market has been flooded with similar titles. The latest is Dracano. As in Dragon Volcano. Get it? Yep, that’s what we’re dealing with here. Dracano introduces us to Professor Simon Lowell (Corin Nemec), who has…

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The Iris’ 14 Most Anticipated Films of 2014

As we come to the end of the January/February “catch up” period for American films that were released at the end of last year in their home country (it could also be called “Oscar fever”, if you’re so inclined), we bring you the 14 films we can’t wait for over the year ahead. There are…

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Live Review: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – Allphones Arena (19.02.14)

Something special must be in the water here in Australia, because Bruce Springsteen sure has been treating us well on his current High Hopes tour with the E Street Band; their second time to our shores in the last 12 months, which is a rarity in its own right. Following two nights in Melbourne, where…

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The Iris Interview: David Cross on It’s a Disaster and his directorial debut Hits.

Today marks the release of the indie film It’s a Disaster on DVD and Blu-Ray in Australia. Before the end of last year, I caught up with David Cross, star of the film – alongside the likes of Julia Stiles and America Ferrera – to talk about the release of the Todd Berger helmed film,…

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Trailer released for A.C.O.D.: Adult Children of Divorce. Out on DVD March 12th.

Fans of Parks and Recreation will be looking forward to this one – a feature film that features both Adam Scott and Amy Poehler – A.C.O.D.! The film, which was a hit at Sundance, is getting an Australian release on Blu-ray and DVD on March 12, 2014 from Paramount Home Media Distribution. Digital and Video…

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DVD Review: Outpost 3: Rise of the Spetsnaz (MA15+) (UK, 2013)

I think we would all agree that the following conditions must be met for a film to be considered a success: it must be entertaining, have a comprehensible plot and be populated with interesting characters. But sometimes a film comes along that fails to meet even one of those conditions.Outpost 3: Rise of the Spetsnaz is…

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Photo Gallery: Dolly Parton – QANTAS Credit Union Arena (18.02.14)

Dolly Parton played the QANTAS Credit Union Arena on Tuesday night and performed all her hits. Gwendolyn Lee was there to capture Dolly’s magic.

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Baauer talks about working with G-Dragon on Coup d’Etat

Superstar DJ and Producer Baauer is visiting Australia in March for the Future Music Festival. We had a chance to talk to him about his experience of working with G-Dragon on Coup d’Etat. One thing I wanted to talk to you about, when you worked with the Korean pop artist G-Dragon on Coup d’Etat. Can…

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the AU interview: Client Liaison (Melbourne)

Larry sits down with Melbourne duo Client Liaison to talk about their latest single “Free of Fear” (watch the music video HERE), their tour with Miami Horror, their plans for their debut album and much, much more… Filmed in Sydney Australia at AU HQ in February, 2014.

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7 Acts who blew us away at Laneway Festival 2014

Every year, St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival serves its position as the festival with its “finger on the pulse” on what’s new, what’s cool and what’s hot. By the time the festival rolls around, many of the bands who you had never heard of 12 months before are well and truly ingrained in your consciousness. triple…

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Eating with MTNS: A Food & Drink Tour Diary – Part One

The following is part one of a food and drink journal that Brisbane band MTNS have been keeping exclusively for the AU review, as they’ve been touring the country on their Salvage EP Tour. The band kick things off in Perth… PERTH – 01.02.2014 LA VEEN COFFEE & KITCHEN After the arduous five-hour flight from…

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the AU interview: Sam Cromack of Ball Park Music (Brisbane) talks about album number three: Puddinghead!

the AU review sits down with Sam Cromack, the frontman for Brisbane group Ball Park Music. We talk about their forthcoming third album “Puddinghead”, which will be released on Friday, 4th April 2014 via Stop Start and Inertia. The band will be embarking on a massive tour in support of the record. Dates and part…

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VideAU Games Feature: Meeting the Sydney Gaymers

In the leadup to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, SBS2 series The Feed will be highlighting a series of topics that relate to the LGBITQ community. Last week they met transsexual porn star Buck Angel, and tomorrow (Wednesday, 19th February) they will be shining a light on a group in Sydney that call…

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Live Review: Little Bastard – Factory Floor, Sydney (15.02.14)

As the seven members of Little Bastard emerge, squeezed tightly onto the Factory Floor stage, the room fills with friends of the band and fans, eager to enjoy the band’s headlining gig in their hometown. For those who have missed the memo to now, the Sydney band could be described as a disheveled country experience;…

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Video Feature: Jeremy Neale interviews Ross from The John Steel Singers (Brisbane) to talk about "The Boys Gone Wild" tour.

the AU review sees Brisbane musician Jeremy Neale interview Ross from The John Steel Singers to talk about their upcoming co-headline tour, “The Boys Gone Wild” (the dates are below). They talk about Valentine’s Day, He-Man, the tour, meeting each other at University and forgetting… and more! Feel free to call in and join the…

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10 artists not to miss at Future Music Festival

With a lineup like the incredible one we have in store for us at Future Music Festival, it’s easy to get distracted by the big, shiny lights of the headliners and forget there are other artists on the line-up too. Well, we at the AU have cut through the list of DJs, bands and electronic…

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The 13 Best Music Videos of 2013!

We’ve taken a bit of time getting this one together – what a year it was! – but we finally bring you our annual look back at the best videos of 2013. This year we have a mix of local and international, with a dose of interactive experiences thrown in for good measure. Enjoy this…

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Interview: Sally Seltmann (Sydney via LA) talks moving to America, her new album and more.

Sally Seltmann is a busy lady. After her touring with Seeker Lover Keeper (her collaboration with Sarah Blasko and Holly Throsby) she has found herself travelling and basing herself in a new country, but also writing consistently – both in a musical sense and a an actual, writerly, sense. Here she speaks to Philippe Perez…

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TV Review: New Girl – Season 3 Episode 14 “Prince” (USA, 2014)

It was one of the most anticipated episodes of the series and for one enormous reason: Prince. All right, maybe two: the “l word” was in there as well. The episode started out strong, laughs right from the get go before Jess and Cece regaled the boys with a curious anecdote, ending in an invitation…

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Film Review: Lone Survivor (USA, 2013)

Stylish and brutal, Lone Survivor refuses to hold your hand during its harrowing 121 minutes, while you gasp and squirm at the incredibly uncomfortable fate of four U.S Soldiers deployed in the lonely mountains of Afghanistan. Based on the true story of 2005’s failed Operation Red Wings, this film handles the unquestionable dangers of Navy…

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Win a copy of “The Act of Killing” on DVD!

The 2012 Academy Award-nominated documentary The Act Of Killing directed by Joshua Oppenheimer has now been released on DVD and Digital thought Madman. This chilling and inventive documentary, executive produced by Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man) and Errol Morris (The Fog of War), the unrepentant former members of Indonesian death squads are challenged to re-enact some…

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DVD Review: Why Stop Now? (MA15+) (USA, 2012)

Armed with the tagline, “A funny thing happened on the way to rehab”, this film tells the story of piano prodigy, Eli Bloom (Jesse Eisenberg) who desperately seeks to get his mother, Penny (Melissa Leo), checked into rehab. And he needs to do this in time to get to a very important audition for a…

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Perth Festival Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (As You Like It) – His Majesty’s Theatre (15.02.14)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is up there as one of Shakespeare’s most oft performed plays. There have been countless as adaptations and reinterpretations over the years, but I’d imagine there are few as wonderfully strange and eclectic as Russian director Dmitry Krymov’s interpretation A Midsummer Night’s Dream (As You Like It). As clichéd as it…

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