Month: January 2023

Interview: Emma Mackey and director Frances O’Connor on Emily; “People keep trying to make you think there are rules in cinema.  It’s not true.”

Emily tells the imagined life of one of the world’s most famous authors, Emily Brontë.  The film, written and directed by Australian actress Frances O’Connor (in her directorial debut), stars Emma Mackey as Emily, a rebel and misfit, as she finds her voice and writes the literary classic “Wuthering Heights”; further exploring her raw, passionate…

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Film Review: Frances O’Connor defies convention with Emily, a fictionally-charged biopic bolstered by a mesmerising Emma Mackey

“It’s an ugly book, full of selfish people who only care for themselves” isn’t exactly the sterling praise one would reap upon something as treasured as “Wuthering Heights”, but it is how author Emily Brontë’s work was described by her older, more traditional sister Charlotte upon finishing it; or, at least, that’s how Frances O’Connor…

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Interview: The Beths make way for Laneway before a massive year

“Rest is weird.” – This is how Elizabeth Stokes, guitar, singer and one-quarter of the formidable team, band and fast friends that are Auckland’s The Beths, starts our interview. 2022 saw them perform around 94 gigs in over a dozen countries as they took the chance to promote not one, but two albums that have…

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Film Review: M3GAN; A.I. horror-lite comedy is a self-aware slice of glorious lunacy

Right from the opening of M3GAN it’s obvious what type of film Gerard Johnstone‘s A.I. horror-lite is going to be: one that doesn’t take itself remotely seriously, has its wink poised at the audience, and knows you can’t think it’s ridiculous any more than the creators already do. If its trailer didn’t already clue you…

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Yard Act

Updated: The Laneway Festival 2023 sideshows you can still get tickets for

The new year’s festivals have come and gone, and the next mighty explosion of music is the 2023 Laneway Festival. We’ve done the hard work for you, and assembled a list of all the sideshows. Many have sold out, but there are still a handful of shows with a few tickets left. Amongst the artists…

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TV Review: The Last of Us is the perfect video game adaptation

Translating a video game to screen is no easy feat. There have been so many examples of terrible franchises that companies try to cross over and while some work (Sonic, Detective Pikachu) more often than not they fail spectacularly (Resident Evil on Netflix, Monster Hunter, Silent Hill). What these adaptations fail to understand is an…

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Film Review: Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre; Hugh Grant’s camp energy and Aubrey Plaza’s deadpan Bond girl elevate suave spy comedy

Originally scheduled for an early release starting in January of 2022, the sudden pulling of Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre from the theatrical schedule certainly didn’t bode well for a film that, from all appearances, seemed like a certified success.  Yes, it wasn’t uncommon for films to shift during the time period due to the…

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Sydney’s new year’s eve a massive success as NYE in the Park puts on its best show to date

From all accounts, New Year’s Eve 2022 will go down as one of the biggest in Sydney history. Nothing particularly shocking or unconventional happened, but that pent-up lust for celebration that has remained so tight-packed and anxious during pandemic-sanctioned (and necessary) lockdowns, resulted in some truly spectacular events throughout every corner of Sydney. And Victoria…

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CHVRCHES

Heaps Good Festival was a triumphant day of music

For native South Australian Croweaters the expression “Heaps Good” is used to denote something better than good; i.e. “That’s Heaps Good.” Hence this festival lived up to its name of being Heaps Good. With headliners Arctic Monkeys, CHVRCHES and Jamie XX, how could you go wrong? The outdoor Eucalyptus Stage opened with  local acts Mum…

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Sydney Festival Theatre Review: Girls & Boys will leave you thinking long after you’ve left the theatre

Girls & Boys is a one-woman play that had its Australian debut at the Adelaide Festival last year. The name can be deceiving given it is a rather quaint one for a story that packs a lot of punch. Across 110 minutes, we hear one woman’s story of how her picture-perfect life and marriage unraveled….

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Antarctica

Sydney Festival Review: Antarctica is a true blend of art and science into the unknown

Antarctica is a new Australian exclusive opera performed by the Sydney Chamber Orchestra, jointly with The Netherlands’ music ensemble, Asko|Schönberg. It draws its audience in to the endlessness of the southern continent that is Antarctica. As the composers, Mary Finsterer (Music) and Tom Wright (Libretto) intended, the performance “hopes to awaken a vastness of thought”,…

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Magdalena Bay

Photo Gallery: Magdalena Bay + girli – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney (05.01.23)

Magdalena Bay brought their Falls sideshow to Sydney last night, headlining at the Oxford Art Factory. Playing the hits from their highly acclaimed 2021 LP Mercurial World, the adoring crowd was vocal and in great voice. girli was in support, and with many in the audience knowing the words to many of her songs as well, it…

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Sydney Festival Review: Frida Kahlo: The Life of an Icon brings flowers, colour and fruit to Oz, oh my!

If you’re going to The Cutaway at Barangaroo make sure to wear some flowers in your hair. As part of Sydney Festival, this will host A wonderful and immersive exhibition about Mexican artist and icon, Frida Kahlo. The result is a dazzling array of kaleidoscopic colours as we walk through a powerful homage to this…

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Short Film Review: Kiddo is an unsettling and individually interpreted horror film

Kiddo, a short film written and directed by Brett Chapman, is an oddity, to say the least. And that’s meant in the most complimentary of fashions, as the supremely bizarre, always unsettling outing announces itself as an original, individually interpreted horror film that’s likely to sit differently (and divisively) with its audience. In fact, it’s…

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Film Review: Mummies is an engrossing adventure for all the wrong reasons

Needle drops have become more and more of a popular addition in film over the last year.  The notion of having a song not written for the film – often one that already has a sense of notoriety – and inject it into proceedings has been utilised to either enhance a physical sequence or, perhaps,…

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Win a double in-season pass to meet M3GAN; She’s more than just a toy. She’s part of the family

Thanks to Universal Pictures we have 5 double in-season passes (Admit 2) to see M3GAN, a fresh new face in terror from the horror genre’s most prolific minds – James Wan, the filmmaker behind the Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring franchises, and Blumhouse, the producer of the Halloween films, The Black Phone and The Invisible…

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Win a double in-season pass to see Emily; The real and imagined life of Emily Brontë on the big screen

Thanks to Madman Films we have 10 double in-season passes (Admit 2) to see Emily, where the real and imagined life of ‘Wuthering Heights’ author Emily Brontë intertwine, in Australian cinemas from January 12th, 2023. EMILY tells the imagined life of one of the world’s most famous authors, Emily Brontë. The film stars Emma Mackey…

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Arctic Monkeys

Photo Gallery: Lost Paradise ft. Arctic Monkeys, G Flip, Jamie XX and more – Glenworth Valley (28-31.12.22)

Lost Paradise festival returned to the beautiful Glenworth Valley in NSW on the 28th December for four days of music, dancing and all round good times. It was a young and friendly crowd, who were lured by the combination of great bands, cracking DJ’s and an epic location to see in the new year. Being…

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