Month: June 2017

Album Review: Phoenix – Ti Amo (2017 LP)

Phoenix is a seemingly cool band. They just ooze confidence in their music and live sets. Here on their sixth album Ti Amo, the Parisian four-piece seemingly rest on these cool laurels that has made them favourites worldwide, while not really progressing all that much as a band. While the band are notable and proud…

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Australian Music Week reveals its first performing artists, delegates, new partnerships and prize for 2017

The annual music conference and festival held in Cronulla, just outside of Sydney, Australian Music Week, has today announced the first 30 showcasing artists confirmed to play at the summit this November. Alongside this, the event has revealed their first group of delegates, a series of new partnerships and a brand new prize sure to excite anyone…

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Feature: Bad//Dreems let us in on how Gutful has seen them grow as a band

Adelaide’s own Bad//Dreems finished their Gutful national tour at home on the weekend, playing to a sold out venue at The Gov – their largest headlining show in Adelaide to date. We followed the guys around a bit after their soundcheck on Saturday night and found out how this tour has compared to their other adventures on the road,…

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Album Review: Rozwell Kid – Precious Art (2017 LP)

On their most recent album, Precious Art, Rozwell Kid commit to this very 90s, Get Up Kids-esque, early Weezer kind of fuzzy pop punk. There’s nothing that would sound out of place in the background of a scene in a Buffy episode from 1998. Here’s the main question you need to answer before heading into…

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TV Review: The first season of American Gods revels in its weirdness

In our first impressions piece of American Gods we examined why this show even in its first episode had the makings of being one of the hot new television series for 2017. Adapted from the Neil Gaiman book of the same name, helmed by showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green and starring a ridiculously talented…

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First Impressions: GLOW (Netflix, 2017) is a glamed-up, feminist comedy in the vein of OITNB

From the first scene, GLOW‘s feminist message is openly clear. Aspiring actor Ruth Wilder (Community alum Alison Brie) is auditioning for a role as company boss “Mel”, opening the series by delivering a sombre monologue. After finishing, she explains that she is grateful for the opportunity because  “there are not roles like this for women”, yet…

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Hacksaw Ridge, Hounds of Love and The Drover’s Wife among nominees for the 50th Annual AWGIE Awards

The Oscar and BAFTA winning Hacksaw Ridge is leading the impressive line-up of nominees for the 50th Annual AWGIE Awards, announced this morning by the Australian Writers’ Guild. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017, this year’s AWGIE Awards will be presented across 19 individual categories including feature film, television, documentary, theatre, animation and interactive media…

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Event Review: The Supanova Comic-Con and Gaming Expo delivers its best event ever to Sydney

Saying the Supanova Comic Con & Gaming Expo is a little more than a nerd and geek fest is pulling far too short a straw for the event; rather, it is one rich with amazing artists and cosplayers (one and the same usually), TV and film stars, authors and exhibitors from all over the world. It…

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Star Trek: Discovery sets an official launch date to engage (with Netflix)

Star Trek: Discovery is set to Launch at full warp speed towards the end of the year, as CBS sets the air date to September 25th on Netflix in Australia and worldwide (Excluding the U.S. and Canada where it will air on CBS) only a day after its U.S. air date. Excellent news, not only…

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Film Review: Detour (UK, 2016) tells its simple story with a violent edge and an air of unpredictability

Having made something of an underground name for himself in the horror genre with such European productions as Creep, Triangle, and Black Death, British filmmaker Christopher Smith opted out for a brief moment to helm some TV work and an out-of-character holiday-themed comedy; Get Santa with Jim Broadbent and Warwick Davis, for those playing along…

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DVD Review: A Cure For Wellness (USA/Germany, 2016) discovers glee in its unrestrained European sensibility

Returning to the genre that arguably brought him to fruition, Gore Verbinski’s (The Ring) A Cure For Wellness is a decidedly morbid slice of cinema that revels in its own jarring weirdness. Here’s a film that has considerable monetary backing (something of a surprise for a particularly eerie horror experiment) yet comes off more like…

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Australian Box Office Report: Despicable Me 3 takes the lead as Wonder Woman tops $20 million

This week, Gru and his minions beat out Wonder Woman and her Lasso of Truth, as new release Despicable Me 3 takes the lead and premieres at no. 1, earning $5.89m in the process.   Wonder Woman dropped to no. 2, but not without earning $3.35m in the process.  It’s now made over $20m nationally since debuting a fortnight…

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KFC Australia to introduce home delivery service next month

It’s the speedy evolution of fast food this generation has always dreamed of. Australia has been left behind as the rest of the world introduces delivery services for the most well-known chains and frankly it’s left us a bit bitter. KFC Australia seemed to have realised this, hence the recent announcement that the chicken empire…

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Peer-voted list of top 100 restaurants in Australia revealed

The Australian Financial Review Australia has announced their 3rd annual peer-voted top 100 restaurants list, celebrating excellence across the nation. Going through and rounding down this country’s exceptional dining scene to a top 100, a challenge by any means, was once again done by a panel of insiders, positioning the list as a unique ranking…

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Luke Mangan to open Chicken Confidential at Sydney Airport

Luke Mangan has a lot on his plate right now. In addition to bringing an al-fresco dining experience to P&O’s new Pacific Explorer later this month, the respected chef has just announced an expansion for his recently launched Chicken Confidential brand. After debuting in Sydney’s Chifley Plaza earlier this year, the organic chicken burger joint…

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Live Review: Big Scary + Cub Sport + CC:Disco – Forum Theatre, Melbourne (16.06.17)

Playing their biggest headline run to date, Big Scary kicked off their Animal tour at the Forum Theatre in Melbourne on Friday June 16th. Gracing the stage with a five-piece band and a shadowy backdrop, the live show proved to be just as brooding as the much loved album of the same title. Supporting Big…

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Single of the Day: Caretaker “Swallow” (2017)

Over the weekend, we came across Brooklyn based group, Caretaker. With a new single in “Swallow”, the band has firmly cemented themselves on our “Must Watch” list – a great blend of post-punk with vibrancy injected that is simply undeniable. Everything from the pace to the piercing nature of the vocals makes this track immense…

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Interview: Adelaide’s DONNARUMMA due to make a splash with Billy Billy EP

Next week, Adelaide trio DONNARUMMA will release their debut EP Billy Billy after what seems like ages, if you’re a local music fan having seen Louis Donnarumma, Anthony Costanzo and Max Tulysewski perform around the place frequently over the past year. An amalgamation of different influences and previous performance experience comes to the fold with the DONNARUMMA project and has been poured into the…

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Music Video of the Day: HYLA’s “Swarm Out” (2017) is a dose of DIY goodness

Sometimes, you just have to give a bit of a shout out to some DIY goodness. Also, sometimes you have to drag your eyes away from the East Coast, and what a better time to be alive than to be able to combine the both. Perth outfit HYLA have just dropped the video for their latest track…

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New Music You Have to Listen to This Week (June 19th 2017)

This week’s wrap up of best new music comes to you straight from our writers and editors who reckon these tracks are definitely worth a listen. Catch up on Julia Jacklin’s sweet new one, the dream-pop single from newcomer Eilish Gilligan or satisfy your inner punk with additions from Sail On! Sail On! and Drown This…

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Interview: Noah Kahan (USA) reflects on songwriting, touring and looks ahead to an exciting 2017

On his recent tour in Sydney, we sat down with singer-songwriter Noah Kahan. Making waves on live stages during sold out shows with Milky Chance and Ben Folds, Noah is certainly one to watch. He tells us about his latest singles “Young Blood” and “Hold It Down”, currently topping Spotify Charts, song which express the passion…

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Sydney Film Festival Review: Okja (USA/Korea, 2017) delivers an exhilarating, heartfelt ride from a master filmmaker

Okja is a film involving a giant mutated pig. What more do you want? But seriously, in order to understand the hype of the film, you have to know the filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho. Bong Joon-Ho is an acclaimed Korean filmmaker who has made some incredible films. And the reason he is so acclaimed is his…

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Sydney Film Festival Review: Song to Song (USA, 2017) is a soulless endurance test with no plot or point

A song is as song except when it’s a Terrence Malick film. The famous director’s latest experimental offering is an absolute waste in that it is all show and no substance. It weaves together cameos from famous A-list creatives and a cast of Hollywood’s finest actors and then it does nothing. Absolutely nothing. For 129…

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On Body and Soul wins the Sydney Film Prize as the 64th Annual Sydney Film Festival comes to a close

Last night’s Closing Gala for the 2017 Sydney Film Festival saw an array of diverse Australia films and talent receive distinctions, as well as the Australian premiere of highly-anticipated Netflix Original Film Okja as the 64th Festival came to a close. The prestigious Sydney Film Prize was awarded to Ildikó Enyedi‘s intriguing love story On Body and Soul, while…

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MIFF partners up with Powershop for a new short film competition with a $3,000 prize

Powershop and the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) are inviting filmmakers, and anyone in the filmmaking spirit, to create a short film for the inaugural Powershorts Film Comp in Australia. To enter, contestants must shoot a film using only their smartphones, keep it anywhere between 10 sec and 3 mins and it must include the…

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TV Review: Fear the Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 4 “100” is the show’s best yet

“100” just may be the best episode Fear the Walking Dead has done to date. Daniel Salazar (Rubén Blades) was always one of the more interesting characters – that isn’t saying much though – in the show, up until the point where the writers made the terrible decision to randomly send him into “crazy” mode…

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The Iris names the five best films of the 2017 Sydney Film Festival

The Sydney Film Festival has come to a close for another year – and with it come all the great memories of the films that surprised us, inspired us and left us wishing the event would never end. Alas, it has – but here are five films we’re taking away with us as the best…

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2017 Sydney-UNESCO City of Film Award presented to Indigenous filmmaker Leah Purcell

Acclaimed Indigenous  Australian director, writer and performer Leah Purcell has been awarded the 2017 Sydney-UNESCO City of Film Award at last night’s closing of the Sydney Film Festival. The award follows a huge year for Leah, from adapting and starring in the theatre adaptation of acclaimed Australian novel The Drover’s Wife, with which she won the…

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Reese Witherspoon’s new romantic comedy Home Again gets a trailer

In Home Again, Reese Witherspoon stars as a recently divorced single mother whose life is complicated with the addition of three young men coming to live with her, just after her 40th Birthday. Witherspoon is joined by the likes of Nat Wolff and Michael Sheen for this romantic comedy, which hits US cinemas in September….

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Director Edgar Wright and stars Ansel Elgort and Lily James will be attending the red carpet premiere of Baby Driver in Sydney

To help celebrate the release of Baby Driver, Stars Ansel Elgort and Lily James will join writer-director Edgar Wright in Sydney for the Australian Premiere. The premiere will take place on Wednesday 12th July, 2017 at Event Cinemas, George St. The trio will walk the red carpet, before joining Australian director George Miller on stage to introduce…

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