Trigger warning: This post includes information about domestic violence and may be distressing for some readers. Vanessa de Largie’s book will leave you torn. It’s a diarised account of the domestic violence she suffered from 2001–03. On the one hand you wish this book didn’t exist (and that de Largie didn’t have to live through…
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Some shows work best when certain things are kept to a minimum. Prince’s “Piano and a Microphone” concerts were one such example as is the kiwi cabaret known as Daffodils [inspired by true events]. The play is a love story inspired by writer, Rochelle Bright’s parents and grandparents meeting at the same spot in New Zealand…
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Stephen K Amos knows Australians. The English comedian has been visiting our fine country for over a decade and he even has the nasally accent down pat. His show at the Enmore Theatre for the Sydney Comedy Festival was a rather clever look at life both in general as well as different observations and anecdotes…
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When we were children most of us would’ve blown bubbles and tried to catch them. As adults there is still something magical in watching large bubbles being created as they fly through the sky before they reach the end of their transient lifespan and go “Pop!” Melody Yang is someone that knows all about this….
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Stephen K Amos is no stranger to Australian audiences. The English comedian has been visiting our shores for ten years and has made us laugh with his funny anecdotes and observations. The author of the hilarious autobiography, “I Used to Say My Mother Was Shirley Bassey”, has just completed a run of shows for the…
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Trigger warning: This post includes information about rape and domestic violence and may be distressing for some readers. Vanessa de Largie makes no apologies. The former actress and feminist is now a successful author and sex blogger for The Huffington Post. Her writing is fierce, funny and honest with things like “The Blowjob Artist”, “The…
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Punk band, The Scavengers once sang about true love being beautiful. You could also say that Daffodils is a gorgeous romance story set in New Zealand where the aforementioned are from. The play is actually a Kiwi cabaret based on a real life love story between two teenagers, a farm girl named Rose and a…
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Love will tear us apart. This song lyric by the late Ian Curtis of Joy Division seems an appropriate way to sum up the gothic romance tale, Wuthering Heights. Queensland’s shake & stir theatre co. have produced a rather faithful and intense adaptation of Emily Brontë’s story, but it also manages to add a few…
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Emily Brontë’s classic novel, Wuthering Heights has inspired many different adaptions and other art forms since its initial publication in 1847. It has inspired everything from a Kate Bush song to a Hindi movie and a Death Cab for Cutie track, to name a few. Australia’s very own, shake & stir theatre co will also…
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If you’re old enough to recognise Hey, Hey It’s Saturday’s Plucka Duck in the current KFC ads than chances are you’ll also remember David Strassman. The ventriloquist and comedian was often a guest on the show with his two much-loved characters, the naive but sweet Ted E Bare and the foul-mouthed, Chuck Wood. Strassman now…
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Henry Lawson and Dame Mary Gilmore (nee Cameron) are famous Australian authors who appeared on Australia’s old paper $10 note. They’re also the subject of an intense period drama and romantic play called All My Love. It’s a story that asks a number of “What if?” style questions and hints at what could have been a great…
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Henry Lawson and Mary Gilmore are two famous, Australian writers. But what people may not realise is that the pair were also lovers and secretly betrothed. This information has only come to light in the couple’s surviving letters and in Gilmore’s memoirs and forms the basis of a new play titled, All My Love. It’s…
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Both Sydneysiders and visitors to this great city may know the large, salmon-coloured Novotel building in Darling Harbour. What they may not realise is that this hotel also houses a great restaurant called The Ternary. This is the brain-child of Executive chef, Anthony Flowers and the perfect place to experience a memorable dining experience, which…
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Photo by: Jamie Williams Oh you pretty things. As Hyde Park’s Sydney Festival Village heaved with people paying their last respects to the one and only David Bowie, a little band from New Zealand played a nice venue called the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent. They were The Chills and they played a set that was brimming…
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Life Story is nothing short of amazing. The incredible nature film starring Sir David Attenborough and produced by the Emmy award-wining team that made Life is an intense ride that is supported by a sensitive soundtrack performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. It conveys a thrilling roller-coaster of emotions, as it chronicles the…
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Can a few dating wrongs allow you to find Mr. Right? That is the question that is asked in the British rom-com, Man Up. The film is simply one zany night stretched out to feature length. It’s an evening filled with mishaps and misadventures and it’s all madcap fun that is uncomplicated, funny and silly….
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A lot of people want to live in Utopia but not many would want to work there. Or at least the “Utopia” that’s depicted in the eponymous TV show by the Working Dog production team. The series is a comedy one that feels so real it could have been a documentary if it wasn’t so…
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Kevin Mitchell once sang about his “animal” and being insufferable whilst in heat but it’s hard to know whether the Jebediah front man considered this “lust”. The latter is one of the seven deadly sins. It’s also the subject of a new TV series which questions whether the seven deadly sins are bad vices or…
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What women want is something that has befuddled many men. But what guys don’t realise is that the answer to this question is quite simply a silly little reality program called Say Yes To The Dress Canada. The show is the equivalent of cotton candy in that it’s sugary and superficial but it’s also a…
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The Chaser boys will host The 16th Inaugural Chaser Lecture on Monday the 9th November at Sydney’s Town Hall. Delivered by one of the world’s most respected and influential political comedians, Egyptian Bassem Youssef, the evening promises to be immensely entertaining complete with a formal dinner and some after-dinner conversation. The Chaser’s Julian Morrow will…
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Just like starting over. Danny Collins is a film about an aging rocker who is strongly influenced by John Lennon. This dramedy is a predictable and formulaic film but it is redeemed by some great performances and its pleasant foray into the world of music. The film marks the directorial debut of Crazy, Stupid, Love…
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On album number five, Sarah Blasko shimmies and struts to the language of love. Her recent show at the Sydney Opera House for Graphic Festival saw the world premiere and official preview of her latest offering. It was worlds apart from her previous concert at this iconic venue where she was backed by the Sydney…
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The Rewrite is a film that should heed its own advice. It’s a derivative and forgettable rom-com that is in desperate need of a re-working or two. The film is redeemed in part by a strong and likeable cast of actors that will be familiar to audiences, but this is not enough to get it…
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My Giant Life is a reality show that means well but is far from good. The program is about four white, American women who are six foot, six inches or taller. The program attempts to get audiences interested by offering up their stories but a series of bad camera angles and scenes that highlight their…
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Euphemia “Effie” Gray was once a woman stuck between a rock and a hard place. This free-spirited, Scottish lady was living in Victorian times and was trapped in a loveless and sexless marriage to a renowned art critic named John Ruskin. Divorce was not an option for Gray but despite this, she managed to find…
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Girls just wanna have fun. Except that in the film, A Royal Night Out, those two ladies are Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret at ages 19 and 14, respectively. The film is a fun and warm-hearted historic romp that does feel like it’s being played a little too safe at times. On V.E. Day (8…
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The documentary, Killswitch makes some interesting points in support of whistle-blowers and hacktivists like Aaron Swartz and Edward Snowden. That is that their only real crime is that they’ve out-smarted you. Killswitch is an unoriginal but interesting film about the battleground that is the Internet, which describes how our rights to free speech and privacy…
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Peace Officer is one scary film and it’s not even a horror movie. This documentary is a timely and important one about the militarisation of police in the United States. It’s a fascinating, informative and balanced look at a complex subject and one that manages to hit all of the right notes. The story focuses…
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In a small town in America’s Bible belt, Christianity and tradition reign supreme. For the past 88 years a community in the Holy City of the Wichitas have staged an Easter passion play/pageant that once saw audiences number the tens of thousands. Jesus Town USA is a documentary that is warm and sweet-enough but can…
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Woody Allen is quite possibly the only living director who could make a dark comedy film about a perfect crime. Heck, he has kind of already done that with his previous film, Crimes & Misdemeanours. But in 2015 Irrational Man is a wry, tongue-in-cheek story about an older professor’s relationship with a younger woman. Sound…
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