Month: January 2015

American Sniper beats out Saving Private Ryan to become U.S.A’s top grossing war film of all time

Steven Spielberg’s 1998 epic Saving Private Ryan will now have to settle for being the number two grossing war movie of all time as the currently released American Sniper continues to break through records as it steamrolls to the top of that long list. That’s right, American Sniper is now the top grossing war movie…

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Raunchy official trailer released for Seth MacFarlane’s Ted 2

“The important thing about being a human is making a contribution to society”, a silky-voiced Morgan Freeman advises a talking teddy bear (Seth MacFarlane) who is on a mission to achieve ‘human’ status so he have a baby with his partner: Jessica Barth (Tammy-Lyn). The crude follow-up to comedy hit Ted is finally being released…

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Stumbled Upon #017 – World Wild (Adelaide)

In our 17th instalment of “Stumbled Upon”, we meet Adelaide’s latest synth pop minstrel World Wild , and chat about being in a band full of his friends and his latest release, ‘Coast to Coast’. Musician/Band Name: Jarrad Lee Jackson // World Wild Website / Social Media: www.worldwild.com.au Facebook / Soundcloud / Genre: Indie, Funk,…

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Angus and Julia Stone (Sydney) discuss "indie music", future touring & album plans and Rick Rubin at Laneway Singapore

This past weekend the AU review had the opportunity to sit in a media conference with Australia’s folk brother and sister duo Angus and Julia Stone at Laneway Festival in Singapore. In the first part, Julia discusses the idea of ‘making it’ and how it is driven on the love of making music; not keeping…

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Game of Thrones Season 5 trailer leaks ahead of official release

Hurry before it’s taken down (Update: It was taken down, but the official HD trailer is up). A full trailer for Season 5 of Game of Thrones has been filmed in an IMAX screening and uploaded to YouTube for the realm to see. While a David Bowie cover (“Heroes” by TV on the Radio) burns…

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Ambient Rockers sleepmakeswaves Announces 'Great Northern' Australian Tour

Sydney melodic post-rock band sleepmakeswaves are set to perform their biggest headline tour yet, in support of their new album ‘Love of Cartography.’ After a successful year of the album charting at #31 on the ARIA Chart and a number of award nominations (including 3 AU review awards!), the ‘Great Northern’ tour is set to be a celebration of the band’s latest single and everything they’ve accomplished so far.

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Jon Hopkins (UK) talks about his musical process, dream collaborations and more backstage at Laneway Singapore

This past weekend the AU review had the opportunity to sit in a media conference with UK’s Jon Hopkins at Laneway Festival in Singapore. He talks about his definition of ‘indie’ music as being more “independently spirited music” and “music that’s a little more messier and free”. He discusses musicians he would like to collaborate…

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the AU interview: Ratking (New York) talk Laneway, New York Hip Hop and their upcoming free record.

the AU review sits down with Wiki and Sporting Life from New York’s Ratking to chat about their Australian tour with Laneway Festival, the New York Hip Hop Scene, their upcoming album release – which will be dropping for free next month (February 2015). Find out all the details here: Ratking are currently touring Australia…

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Courtney Barnett (Melbourne) chats backstage at Laneway Festival in Singapore with drummer Dave Mundie

This weekend the AU review sat down amongst other media with Melbourne’s singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett (accompanied by drummer Dave Mundie) at St Jerome’s Laneway Festival in Singapore. Together we find out which city Barnett refers to as ‘the best place in the world.’ They discuss the origin of Barnett’s witty lyrics and she reveals how…

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Games Review: Fantasia – Music Evolved (Xbox One, 2014)

Disney’s Fantasia: Music Evolved feels like a bit of a strange beast when you first encounter it – it’s a Kinect-controlled game based on Fantasia, Walt Disney’s 1940 love note to classical music. But this feeling of uncertainty lasts only as long as it takes to get into your first song which is where the…

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Oz Comic-Con 2015 will feature a big Buffy reunion, as well as one for Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

Last year Australia witnessed the reunion of Emma Caulfield and Nicholas Brandon, who both starred in cult classic Buffy The Vampire Slayer as Anya Jenkins and Xander Harris, respectively. Now they are set to return to Oz Comic-Con in both Perth and Adelaide, right alongside previously announced co-stars Amber Benson (Tara Maclay) and Sarah Hagan…

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the AU interview: We hang backstage with Royal Blood (Brighton) at Laneway Singapore!

This past weekend, the AU review’s Larry Heath had a chance to sit down and interview UK rock duo Royal Blood at Laneway Festival in Singapore. We talk to them about their crazy past 12 months and how much they are enjoying touring and playing. The duo talk about how their live show hasn’t changed…

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Film Review: Foxcatcher (M) (USA, 2014)

You’ve probably heard or read some of the reviews for Foxcatcher already, and possibly seen the slew of award nominations it and along with its cast have been receiving recently. To say that this film warrants the accolades is fair, because for once a movie based on a true story manages to deliver not only…

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TV Review: Girls Season 4 Episode 3 “Female Author” (USA, 2015)

Our Girls are moving up in the world. They’re following their passions, righting their wrongs and becoming genuine adults. Well, they’re trying, at least, and isn’t that half the battle? Look at Shoshanna for example: she’s out of college and at her first big job interview. She nails her interview and is told that the…

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Official trailer released for Marvel’s Fantastic 4

August 7th, the release date for Fantastic Four, just became a hugely anticipated day for movie-goers as the first official trailer for the reboot sweeps through the internet and leaves jaws on the floor. The latest iteration of Marvel’s ragtag group of genetically modified superheroes will be directed by Josh Trank, who is responsible for…

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Dendy Cinemas to screen Australian release of The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby

Transmission Films, Dendy Cinemas, and Dendy Direct announced toady that it will be bringing The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby – directed by Ned Benson and starring Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy – to cinemas on 12 March. The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby follows the story of Conor (McAvoy) and Eleanor (Chastain) as they try to…

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Film Review: The Theory of Everything (PG) (UK, 2014)

From Academy Award winning director James Marsh (Man on Wire) comes the much anticipated film based on the Jane Hawking’s memoir My Life with Stephen, the story of world renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking, as seen through the eyes and experiences of his ex-wife. Much of Hawking’s story is well known – a…

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Stumbled Upon #016 – Jake McMullen (Nashville, USA)

In our 16th instalment of “Stumbled Upon”, we meet Nashiville’s Jake McMullen , and chat about his latest single ‘Always’. Musician: Jake McMullen Website / Social Media: jakemcmullenmusic.com Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Souncloud Genre: Indie, Folk Members & their roles: Jake McMullen-singer/songwriter/guitar What music or artists inspired you? There is so much music…

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DVD Review: The Culture High (USA, 2014)

The Culture High takes one side of a polarising, public debate. It argues that marijuana should be legalised. This crowd-funded documentary is from the makers of The Union: The Business Behind Getting High and takes up where the latter one left off by giving a detailed but rather weighted perspective. Director Brett Harvey shocks us…

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Supanova 2015 bringing stars from Star Trek, Buffy, Game of Thrones, and more

Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Game of Thrones fans get ready – the lineup for this years Supanova Pop Culture Expo has just been announced and it is ridiculous. For the Star Trek fans – George Takei (the original Hikaru Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (the original Nyota Uhura), and Walter Koenig (the original Pavel…

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SAG Awards 2015 recap: Birdman flies high as it takes out top prize

Yesterday, on the 25th of January, the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards took place, proving to elicit a lot of controversial results. Most notably was Birdman, who took away the award for ‘Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture’, the award considered the top tier for the night. Whilst the cast rejoiced, there…

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Festival Review: St Jerome's Laneway Festival Part Two ft. St. Vincent + FKA Twigs – Singapore (24.01.15)

More Australian music followed Courtney (read about her in part one) with Angus and Julia Stone taking the stage to play tracks from their latest self-titled album and old favourites like “Big Jet Plane” and “For You”. The duo played well, accompanied by a four piece band. But their down tempo tracks didn’t quite match…

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Photo Gallery: Bo Ningen – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney (23.01.15)

Bo Ningen, one of Japan’s finest exports, played a special Sugar Mountain Festival sideshow at Oxford Art Factory on Friday night. Pete Dovgan was there and brings you the photos:

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the AU interview: Sky Picnic (Brooklyn) talk about their new album "Her Dawn Wardrobe"

Last week we exclusively premiered the new album Her Dawn Wardrobe from Brooklyn psych-rockers Sky Picnic. Today we catch up with the band to talk about the record, their music, the origins of their band and much more. Read on:

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Festival Review: St Jerome's Laneway Festival Part One ft. Courtney Barnett + Mac DeMarco + Eagulls – Singapore (24.01.15)

With 13,000 punters from Singapore and around the Asian region descending on the iconic Gardens By The Bay, yesterday saw St Jerome’s Laneway Festival take place for the fifth consecutive time in the city, with organisers selling out tickets for the first time ever. On arrival, punters are handed a bottle of water sponsored by…

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St Jerome's Laneway Festival tour kicks off for 2015 in Singapore with St Vincent, Banks, Chet Faker and more.

“This country is becoming one of the cultural epicentres of the world!” – Festival co-founder Danny Rogers said yesterday, as he thanked punters at the end of St Jerome’s Laneway Festival 2015. The country he was talking about was Singapore, which served as the opening date of the festival run for the fifth consecutive year,…

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Chet Faker talks about his Hottest 100 Chances for tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Australia Day, which means the winner of the Hottest 100 will be revealed – and finally we’ll never have to hear about the whole Taylor Swift “controversy” again. Assuming she isn’t eligible, there are two favourites looking to take out the top spot: Australia’s Chet Faker and Peking Duk. Either could walk away…

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We Ask: Do you remember the first time you heard yourself or your band on triple j?

Ahead of tomorrow’s Hottest 100 countdown, we ask The Preatures, Ball Park Music and Tkay Maidza to talk about the first time they heard themselves or their band on triple j. We also talk to KLP about the first time she hosted House Party… Filmed during the radio station’s 40th anniversary celebrations in Sydney: Beat…

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The trailer for the most ridiculous reality TV show of all time is here: Sex Box

We have seen some fairly out-there and outrageous ideas since the modest days of in-your-face reality TV but the one for American couples-therapy show Sex Box just about tops them all. This is a show where a couple has sex in a big neon-blue box on stage, after which they walk straight out, sit on…

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What to Watch: The Iris’ Weekly TV Picks (26th – 28th January 2015)

Kimberley is back with the first half of our weekly TV picks. Here’s what to watch this week on free-to-air from Monday through to Wednesday night, as we come around to Australia Day 2015. Monday The Manchurian Candidate, One, 9:30pm AEST The critically acclaimed remake of the 1962 classic, the 2004 Manchurian Candidate features an…

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