Month: August 2015

Failure to join Dead Letter Circus and Bullet For My Valentine at Soundwave 2016!

Soundwave Festival continues to drip feed us with the announcements for the 2016 event. Today the third band to feature at the festival has been announced – LA’s Failure, the much loved group who recently from a 17-year hiatus to play a one off show that led them to record the recently released and critically…

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The AU Mixtape: Nine Songs By American Bands Every Australian Should Be Listening To

Help us help you. Listen to some of the best music coming out of the US right now. 9 tracks from 9 artists that you may not be listening to. And we at the AU think you should be. Enjoy this little piece of music discovery to end your Thursday… The AU Mixtape: The Garden…

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Dates revealed for the 2015 Japanese Film Festival in Australia

The Japanese Film Festival dates for 2015 have been announced. Movies will be screened in Canberra, Brisbane, Perth,Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne from 14 October to 6 September. If you’d like to go, Hello Asia! has all the details below.

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Controversial Kurt Cobain docudrama Soaked in Bleach to get an Australian DVD release

Released in US cinemas earlier this year, Soaked in Bleach will be coming to Australian audiences on DVD through Shock Entertainment on October 7th.

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New Green Band trailer and poster released for Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

In our first green band look at the upcoming zombie invasion comedy, Scouts’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, we see Tye Sheridan star as the socially-awkard boy scout. Along with his two childhood friends, the three struggle to manoeuvre through usual hardships of puberty and girls,  but it isn’t until their small town gets invaded by the undead that their scout’s…

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Win a double weekend pass to Oz Comic-Con in Brisbane and Sydney!

After the huge success of the inaugural Oz Comic-Con Brisbane and Sydney events in 2014, and a recent sell-out show for Oz Comic-Con Melbourne, Australia’s best-loved pop culture extravaganza jets back to Brisbane and Sydney this September. Taking over the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on 19th and 20th September and the Sydney Exhibition Centre…

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CliffyB’s mystery project has a name: LawBreakers

After a very low-key showing at E3 this year, Cliff Blezinski’s BossKey Productions went quiet again, working on what they were calling Project BlueStreak. They’ve now revealed more about the game, it’s official title LawBreakers and a reveal trailer.

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The five best episodes from the first five seasons of FX’s Archer

We’re a bit excited that the first five seasons of Archer are finally on Netflix in Australia, after making quite a name for itself on the US version of the popular streaming platform. So excited, that many here at The Iris are not doing their work and instead having a binge of entire seasons of the…

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Music Video of the Day: Airling "Stallin'" (2015)

Our music video of the day belongs to Brisbane artist Airling, who has just released a clip for her single “Stallin’”, a track which will see her heading out on the road this October with her three-piece band and LANKS. Directed by Matisse Forman of Forman Film, the video lets the suave moves of Nacho…

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Exclusive Track Premiere: Best Friends "Happy Anniversary" (2015)

You surely realise this already, but one of the most exciting bands out of the UK right now are Best Friends, and this week they’re finally releasing their debut album Hot. Reckless. Totally Insane. And to celebrate, we have an EXCLUSIVE premiere track from the record in the form of the absolutely killer “Happy Anniversary”….

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Single of the Day: Falls "Let in the Light" (2015)

It was after Sydney’s folk-pop duo Falls moved to Los Angeles that they wrote the extremely personal new song, “Let in the Light”. While the track plays with universal notions of self-doubt and sadness, it ultimately offers a hopeful message, as its title suggests. Click through to listen to the track in full. “Let in…

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Seven artists who deserve your attention at Volumes Festival in Sydney this Saturday!

This Saturday, Sydneysiders are being treated to one of the finest local lineups we’ve seen in years. Headlined by Jack Ladder and the Dreamlanders and The Laurels the event – which kicks off at 2pm on Saturday 29th August – will see JACK LADDER AND THE DREAMLANDERS Well this one goes without saying. The deserving…

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What To Watch: The Iris’ Weekly TV Picks (26th August-1st September)

Need to catch a TV break and don’t know what to watch? Simon takes us through his top picks on must-see shows and films for the week. Click through to see what’s showing for your entertainment needs…. Wednesday 26th August 2015 Aquarius-Seven-8.30pm AEST With the onslaught of period pieces and biopics on our televisions in…

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Box Office Report: Vacation checks in at the top

A couple of fresh titles have taken up the top two spots this week as a new batch of films enter the top 10. National Lampoon’s reboot Vacation has taken up number 1 after a $1.6 million opening last week. It did $14 million in its opening weekend in the US making it the most successful opening of…

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Nintendo Expands 2015 Line-Up With New Amiibos and Software Bundles

Nintendo has announced its end of year line-up with a vast array of games, bundles and software for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. Featuring Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox and Animal Crossing, Nintendo has a great list of upcoming releases featuring their most popular franchises. Upcoming game releases for the Wii U…

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Falls Festival and Southbound add three more acts to line-up

Every year, Falls Festival and Southbound never fail to deliver a stellar line-up of our favourite music and comedy acts. The 2015/2016 editions will be no exception with a line up that includes Foals and Bloc Party. The twin festivals have now added even more names as part of a second announcement, adding to the…

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Film Review: The Gift (Australia, USA, 2015)

Joel Edgerton has already proved himself indispensable to Australian cinema, particularly with Animal Kingdom and The Rover, both films with an atmosphere and scope much larger than The Gift. For his directorial debut, Edgerton, who plays Gordon “Gordo” Moseley, brings a much more insular focus in both character and environment and it helps him deliver…

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Film Review: Vacation (MA15+, USA, 2015)

Given that at some point everything that is old becomes new again, it makes sense that the National Lampoon Vacation series would be on the reboot agenda. A surprisingly durable series that has spanned over three decades, the latest in line acts as a semi-reboot-come-sequel with enough sly nods to pay tribute to the original without…

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TV Review: Fear the Walking Dead Season 1 Episode 1 “Pilot” (USA, 2015)

With the monstrous success of The Walking Dead it does seem like a good idea to rewind the story a little bit and check out the origin of the zombie/walker outbreak that, as we’ve seen, completely destroys society and threatens to drag humility with it. Robert Kirkman’s hit comic series and eventual AMC megashow became…

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Warner Bros. Releases TV Commercial for Upcoming Mad Max Game

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has released a TV spot showcasing the chaotic, action-packed open-world game, Mad Max, based on the film franchise of the same name. The game is set in the savage post-apocalyptic Wasteland where cars are the key to survival. Players take on the role of Mad Max, a lone warrior and reluctant…

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Xbox Announces Forza Partnership With V8 Supercars Australia

Xbox has announced a partnership with V8 Supercars Australia to bring 10 cars from the current V8 Supercar series into the upcoming Forza Motorsport 6 game with 2015 liveries. The newest game in the Forza franchise launches in September, and is exclusive to Xbox One. The game has a range of new features, such as…

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Video Games Review: Madden NFL 16 (PS4, 2015)

With American football rapidly gaining popularity in Australia due to the rise of online streaming services (and a longheld belief that we were missing out on something due to all the American media we consume), the Madden series of games is becoming less and less of a curiosity here. With Madden 16, EA is playing…

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Theatre Review: Latitudes – Blue Room Theatre, Perth (Performances through September 5th)

Latitudes is the new play from emerging Perth theatre group The Lost Boys, and marks the debut theatrical work from acclaimed screenwriter, film maker and musician Mark Walsh. Directed by Mikala Westall it is a work suffused with ideas of memory and of forgetting. An at times clever, meditative and mesmerising piece Latitudes has ensured…

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Brendan Lukens of Modern Baseball (Philadelphia) talks social media, higher education, and more!

Editor’s Update: Not long after posting this interview, the band announced they would be cancelling their Australian tour. However, the interview remains here for your enjoyment. Please just ignore the dates at the end. Social media has provided a myriad of new opportunities for today’s band; from Facebook to Twitter, we see the music industry…

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Stumbled Upon #072 – Monogram (Glasgow, UK)

In our 72nd instalment of “Stumbled Upon”, we meet Scottish rockers Monogram and chat about the summer festival circuit, How to Train Your Dragon and their release Anno. Band Name: Monogram Website / Social Media: mo.nogr.am Facebook / Soundcloud / Instagram / Twitter Genre: Post-Pop Members & their roles: Liam Rutherford – Lead Vocals, Guitar…

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IMAX feature favourites to return to the world’s biggest screen in Sydney.

IMAX Darling Harbour has announced it will be bringing some of their favourite feature films back to their big (nay, biggest) screen for limited “Blast From The Past” run*. IMAX Darling Harbour will be screening: Gravity 3D on 27 August & 5 September Mad Max Fury Road 3D on 29 August & 3 September Interstellar on 10 September &…

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Video Games Review: Until Dawn (PS4, 2015)

With the exception of some of Telltale’s back catalogue, the “interactive movie” style of game has never really been my cup of tea. I didn’t like Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls barely made a dent. Thus, I went into my review of Supermassive Games’ Until Dawn with no small amount of skepticism. Despite my…

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Video Games Review: Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (Xbox One, 2015)

It’s been nearly ten years since Epic Games unleashed the original Gears of War upon the world. Since then, we’ve seen three more titles set in the same universe, a series of surprisingly good novels by Karen Traviss and a passing of the torch as series development went from Epic to The Coalition. With their…

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The Iris’ 10 Best Horror Games of All Time

With Supermassive Games’ Until Dawn just around the corner (ready to leap out and scare the crap out of you), we thought we’d take a look back at some of our favourite horror games ever made. From the revolutionary to the just plain creepy, these are the titles that made us go to sleep with…

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Australian Movie & Comic Expo unveils a star studded line up and much more for 2015 event

Victoria’s biggest movie and comic event is back for 2015.  Returning to the  Melbourne Showground on the 18th and the 19th of October, this year’s Australian Movie and Comic Expo (AMC, formerly known as the Armageddon Australia) is giving fans chances to meet and greet local and international guests from hit movies, TV shows and comics and enjoy some fun, nerdy and family…

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