Month: January 2015

HRAFF to screen Still Alice at Dendy Cinemas, Newtown

On January 28, the Human Rights Arts & Film Festival (HRAFF) is presenting a special preview screen of Julianne Moore’s new film, Still Alice at Dendy Cinemas, Newtown. Still Alice tells the story of Alice, a 50-year old Professor who struggles with being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. A moving, and utterly compelling film that has…

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Cool down on hot summer nights with Moonlight Cinema

It’s summer, which means that it’s time to pack a picnic, get a glass of wine, and relax underneath the stars and watch some of your favourite flicks. That’s right, Moonlight Cinema is back in most cities from December 11 – March 29. Feel like glamming up? Spoil yourself and grab the Gold Grass package…

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Box Office Report: Taken 3 Holds Off New Releases

For the second week running, Taken 3 has topped the Box Office charts, leaving new release Unbroken – Angelina Jolie’s directing debut – in the dust by a mere $0.5 million. Good news for Aussie film fans – Robert Connolly’s Paper Planes came in forth for the week at $1.7 million, just trailing behind the…

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ABC’s new drama Hiding coming in February

ABC kicks off another big year of original Aussie drama with the family drama series, Hiding, created, co-produced and written by Matt Ford and directed by Shawn Seet, Tori Garrett and Grant Brown. After a botched drug deal, Troy Quigg (James Stewart) must take his family into Witness Protection in exchange for giving evidence against…

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Stumbled Upon #014 – Nova and the Experience (Sydney)

In our 14th instalment of “Stumbled Upon”, we meet Sydney ‘s latest indie pop offering Nova and the Experience, and chat about being mistaken for drug dealers in New York. Band Name: Nova and the Experience Website / Social Media: www.novaandtheexperience.com Facebook / Instagram / Twitter Genre: Pop / Indie Members & their roles: James-…

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Exclusive Album Premiere: Sky Picnic "Her Dawn Wardrobe" (2015)

Brooklyn psych-rockers Sky Picnic are producing a sound that fans of Australia’s own Tame Impala should feel very at home with – and following the reception of their latest single “Upon Further Reflection”, they now have a full album for us to enjoy. And today we’re excited to premiere it in full, exclusively on the…

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Exclusive Music Video Premiere: Elwood Myre "California" (2015)

Elwood Myre is a young Australian troubadour who collaborates with mandolin player Hunter Beasley, to create folk-laden Americana flavour. In October 2014, endowed with a sound that’s smooth and warm like bubble gum, the pair stumbled into Vienna People Recordings where they tracked their debut album live in 4 days. Today we’re excited to premiere…

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Exclusive: Josh Lovelace from NEEDTOBREATHE presents his list of 5 Bands you need to see live

Ahead of their Australian tour next month, we caught up with Josh Lovelace from the band NEEDTOBREATHE, who let us in on the five bands (other than his own, of course) who he reckons we all need to see live… The Killers We have been fans of The Killers for a long time but hadn’t…

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the AU interview: The Lazys reflect on Canada and their album and look ahead to the Summer

Leon and Matty from The Lazys talk to Larry from the AU review at Festival of the Sun in Port Macquarie. We talk about what they’ve been up to since we last caught up in Canada during Canadian Music Week earlier in 2014. They reflect on their multiple trips and successes to Canada, their latest…

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10 Reasons to get excited about the third season of Vikings

Michael Hirst has created something extraordinary with period drama Vikings, bringing a human aspect to the Scandinavians usually perceived as being only barbaric marauders wearing horned helmets. Vikings stars Australia’s Travis Fimmel and Alyssa Sutherland, with Season 3 to air on SBS ONE commencing 19th March. Here is what we are looking forward to in…

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Sydney Festival Live Review: So Frenchy So Chic in the Park feat. The Dø – St John's College (17.01.15)

Pictured: La Femme (Photo by Larry Heath) It was a relaxed atmosphere under the hot Summer sun on Saturday, as families, Francophiles and Festival fans got their spots under the umbrellas and on top of the hay bales that scattered the rarely used (but very well suited) site of St. John’s college for Sydney’s second…

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What to Watch: The Iris’ Weekly TV Picks (19th – 21st 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 the work week kicks off… Monday 2015 Australian Open, Ch. 7, 11:00am AEDT Channel 7’s live coverage of the Grand Slam of the Asia-Pacific begins, featuring the world’s top…

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Win a brand new Sony Xperia Z3 premium smartphone and Digital Noise Cancelling Headset thanks to Telstra!

Thanks to our good friends at Telstra we have a brand new Sony Xperia Z3 Premium Smartphone to give away, along with a brand new Digital Noise Cancelling Headset. The brand new Xperia Z3 is one of the leaders in the Android market. Combining a super-slim body and aluminium frame, the phone’s premium design also…

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Nominees for 87th Academy Awards announced

With ‘Awards Season’ coming along quite nicely, this morning saw the release of the official nominees list for the 87th Academy Awards. It’s the grand daddy of film industry awards, celebrating the best of the best and giving us a nice little compass to guide us through the greatest film industry achievements of 2014, and…

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Film Review: Wild (USA, 2014)

Director Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club) is back for another awards season with part travelogue, part grief memoir, Wild. The film stars Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl Strayed (seems highly coincidental, but that is her real last name), who undertakes the personal challenge of hiking solo, 1,100 miles along the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to…

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Win a copy of the Academy Award nominated film Ida!

Poland 1962. Anna, a young nun, orphaned from birth, is summoned after many years by her estranged aunt Wanda. Wanda is a successful judge having during her career prosecuted criminals who have been sentenced to death for war crimes. She is also an alcoholic. Upon meeting Anna she shows the nun pictures of her family…

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DVD Review: Girls – The Complete Third Season (USA, 2014)

Girls isn’t a glamorous show and in many ways that’s what makes it feel so brutally honest and real. In the third season the characters are the most fully developed and realised versions of themselves to date. It’s also one that is full of the kinds of stories and things that will challenge, enthral, frustrate…

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DVD Review: Boardwalk Empire Season 5 (USA, 2014)

Boardwalk Empire has always been one of the few series on television that approaches the element of surprise from an artistic standpoint. The Emmy winning show played this hand very strongly throughout it’s five-season run, taking it from just a super stylish, superbly curated gangster period drama to something much, much more and memorable than…

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Stumbled Upon #013 – Statues (Perth)

In our 13th instalment of “Stumbled Upon”, we meet Perth’s latest hardcore sensation Statues, and chat about their upcoming tour with Heiress. Band Name: Statues Social Media: Facebook Genre: Chaotic Hardcore Members & their roles: Jayme – Vocals Scott – Guitar John – Guitar Matt – Bass Dan – Drums What music or artists inspired…

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the AU interview: We get to know The London Souls (New York)

Last July saw The AU Review venture to the Quebec City Summer Festival in Quebec, Canada where we caught up with New York based outfit The London Souls. Having just performed, Chris, Tash and Stu talk about a scary incident during their show, appreciative Canadian crowds, the history of the band and what’s next for them on an international scale.

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Australia & New Zealand Take the Spotlight at Canadian Music Week 2015

The Annual Canadian Music Week has chosen to feature Australia and New Zealand for their 33rd installment, hosting 21 elite industry members and over 25 artists to participate in conferences, performances and awards shows… with more to come!

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Vanilla Ace Announces Debut Australian Tour Dates

London based Vanilla Ace is set to tour Australia for the very first time this January, thanks to Soapbox Artists. After exploding onto the EDM scene in 2012, the producer will finally be bringing his soulful house music to some of the most loved underground venues on Australia’s East Coast. Citing influences ranging from 1980’s disco to New Swing Jack, this is not a show to miss!

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The best moments from Sugar Mountain Festival's years at The Forum in Melbourne (2011 to 2013)

Since launching onto the Melbourne scene in 2011, with an annual event at the Forum Theatre, the boutique festival Sugar Mountain has become one of Australia’s most anticipated events. Always boasting an incredibly well curated lineup, the event endeavours to provide an experience you won’t have at any other festival. And by all accounts it…

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Film Review: American Sniper (USA, 2014)

Based on the best-selling autobiography of the same name, Clint Eastwood’s new film American Sniper is the gripping story of Chris Kyle, the “Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History”. Starring Bradley Cooper in the lead role, the film avoid the typical “war movie” plot twists or convolution, endeavouring instead to focus on a man who…

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The Iris’ 14 Best TV Series of 2014

We look back at the 14 TV shows that we couldn’t get enough of in 2014… 14. Banshee This little known series produced by one the more low brow networks in the US (Cinemax), has a plenty of thrills and was one of the more underrated shows of the past couple of years. This series…

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Win a double pass to one of the final performances of "WICKED The Musical" in Sydney!

Wicked: The Musical is in its final weeks at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, with the Emerald City closing down on January 30th before it moves on to Brisbane (opening February 12th) and then Perth in May – and we have a double pass to give away to one of the final shows! One lucky…

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the AU review’s 15 Australian artists to watch in 2015

It’s that time again where we look ahead to the year, rather than backwards, and move through the Australian artists we think will make it big in 2015. Now, our definition of “big” doesn’t mean a Gotye size explosion – we just think that by the end of this year, all these artists will be…

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28 Months Later emerges as a strong possibility

Big news for horror fans today as Alex Garland, screenwriter for 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, as well as director for the upcoming Ex Machina, popped by the IGN offices in London and opened up about the very strong possibility of making the very long-awaited 28 Months Later a reality. Garland stated, ““We’ve…

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Release date confirmed for sixth season of Community

Cult comedy and regular best. show. ever recipient Community was purchased by Yahoo! last year, adding to the confusion over the series foggy future. At least that future is a bit clearer now with the announcement that the show will return for a Sixth Season, an announcement made at a panel which included series creator…

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Bondi Beach welcomes Ben & Jerry’s Open-Air Cinema once more this Summer

Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinemas are back with a bang this summer, bringing music by day and movies by night to Sydney’s Bondi Beach. As part of a nationwide series of events, which are enjoyed by more than 150,000 people across Australia, the Sydney leg of the tour will take place on the lawn by…

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