The gang isn’t all here, but the ultimate front-man is in Magic Mike’s Last Dance, the third installment in the Magic Mike franchise from Channing Tatum and director Steven Soderbergh. Just in time for Valentine’s Day next year, “Magic” Mike Lane (Tatum) takes to the stage again after a lengthy hiatus, following a business deal…
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Comedian and cancer survivor, Michael Shafar, is back with a fresh new comedy show. Shafar is a regular on television shows The Project and Studio 10 as well as having a huge following on YouTube. We’ve also captured him at the Adelaide Fringe, where his stand-up comedy shows were well-received. Shafar’s comedy is not for the…
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If you’re one of the many that have laughed on repeated viewings of Bridesmaids (and hopefully the underrated Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar) then it’s because of Annie Mumolo. A writer and actress who has long been a reliable staple in the comedy genre, she’s once again making her presence undeniably known…
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Though its title may suggest it’s a comedy of somewhat raunchy proportions, Renée Webster‘s assured debut feature film How to Please a Woman is a far more accessible, rather delightful dramedy that furthers the female view in a male-dominated industry. Filmed in Western Australia (and looking particularly stunning in the process), Webster’s film centres around…
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Nostalgia. It can happen to anyone, any time. The song that’s playing, that film you saw, the piece of memorabilia you found in your parent’s cupboard. They can spark memories of a time and place that you may have thought you’d forgotten. It’s those feelings of going back, remembering and sometimes cringing that Cameron…
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There could not be a more suitable title for a comedy show. We All Have Bloody Thoughts is exactly what you’d expect from a comedian that is known for quite shouty diatribes, especially from his appearances on the now defunct ‘Tonightly’ show, various other stand-up appearances or his opinion articles which dance on the line between…
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2019’s Downton Abbey, a filmic continuation of the long-running upstairs/downstairs television series that very much played to its strengths of catering to its devoted fans, was a product that very much felt like it had little interest in truly introducing a new dynamic. For Downton Abbey: A New Era, its bi-line is particularly apt, with…
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The idea of a multiverse isn’t a new faction within the science-fiction film realm, but because the comic book movie has become more and more prominent in the last decade – and last year’s biggest film took the idea and ran with it to the most epic of proportions – no doubt something like Everything…
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Daniel Muggleton is an Australian stand-up comedian wearing a tracksuit. His trademark comedy is poking holes at bogans, racism, and almost anything else he can think of. He has a regular podcast and is a comedy club regular. On this chilly Tuesday night in the open-air Piglet Theatre at Gluttony, he wasn’t fazed by the…
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When detailing delicate subject matter – in this case, sexual assault and the most toxic of masculinity – some films have the insight and intelligence to do so with a certain nuance. Asking For It is not one of those films! No, this is as subtle as a sledgehammer, ripping through its surfaces with a…
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Introducing Brendan Clare: actor, husband, father, IT nerd. Diagnosed with autism in his 40s, he faces his fears to tell his story with humour and heart. Brendan will look back on moments that were bewildering and disturbing, but now seem profound and illuminating. The AU Review sat down with him before his first Adelaide Fringe…
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The Producer’s Hotel has had a chequered life but is currently undergoing renovation and is starting to regain some of her former glory. The main room has larger events but upstairs is where the comedy lives. It is in one of the upstairs former bedrooms that Liars and Clowns, A Late Night Comedy Show is…
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Matt Hale is a self-confessed comedy hypnotist, with self-help motivational and corporate entertainment packages a major part of his life. It makes sense then that a show called Absolute Chaos would be on the Fringe list. Hale’s introduction to the show is measured, thorough and complete. He explains the process and jokingly warns that even…
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Sarah Gaul is a 31-year-old woman who’s been to more weddings in the last six months than she cares to admit. Always the bridesmaid but never the bride? Sarah takes the audience on a journey into her world, her take on relationships and what makes her tick. First things first, Sarah is an eco-warrior. She…
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Whilst we’re finally experiencing the certain studio projects that the pandemic momentarily stalled from their original release dates, the last year has also made way for many made-during-COVID productions to seep through the schedule too. Two creatives who put their lockdown status to viable use were Charles Busch and Carl Andress, lifelong friends and collaborators…
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Michael Shafar is a Jewish lawyer turned comedian who relates his cancer recovery in his stand up shows. We chatted ahead of his upcoming season at the Adelaide Fringe. How did your show go back at the Fringe – was it two years ago or last year? I mean it feels like it’s a decade…
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There’s something of a full circle moment experienced with Am I OK?, Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne‘s co-directorial feature debut. The real-life couple, who met on the set of a Sundance selection title (2013’s In A World…), return to the festival as married women detailing their own journey of self-discovery and acceptance with a film…
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Whilst there’s no surprise revealed in the fact that Emma Thompson truly deserves to be considered one of the greatest living actresses working today, it’s always appreciated when a performance solidifies such a statement. And in the deliriously charming and strikingly emotional Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, Thompson turns in career-best work that leans…
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After 30 years of doing comedy all around Australia, famed comedian Jimeoin is finally embarking on a tour on his own terms. With his new program Waltzing Jimeoin (screening now on the Ten network), the loveable larrikin is surrounding himself with some of the industry’s funniest performers and performing stand-up wherever the roads of Australia…
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Over the least few years John Cena has proven himself surprisingly adroit when it comes to executing comedy. And a film like Vacation Friends, helmed by Silicon Valley executive producer Clay Tarver and featuring co-writing credits from Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Game Night), feels like the perfect vehicle to continue showcasing his wild,…
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A group of men looking to escape their everyday lives, a couple of inept gangsters, and a one-eyed killer who thirsts for his kills cross paths in Ernar Nurgaliev‘s wild horror comedy Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It. Slapstick comedy and irreverent bloodshed work hand-in-hand throughout the film’s crisp 85 minute running time, centring initially on…
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It’s never easy to say goodbye, and Australian comedians Celia Pacquola and Luke McGregor are making sure the sentiment is felt even more so as they debut the final season of Rosehaven. The number one comedy show across all ABC for 2020, the fifth and final season of Rosehaven premiered last night on the ABC…
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The first episode of The White Lotus, the latest darkly comedic effort from the mind of Mike White (Enlightened), sets itself up as a more humorous Big Little Lies, offering a seasonal hook in the first few minutes that suggests the titular paradisal resort is anything but. A stoic Shane (Jake Lacy) sits at an…
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Although in the last 12 months we’ve had two films detailing the very subject that Natalie Morales navigates in her directorial debut, Plan B, it doesn’t mean that her efforts are by any means diminished. The buddy comedy Unpregnant and the hauntingly realistic Never Rarely Sometimes Always both highlighted the difficulty of teen girls accessing…
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Despite a rather sunny marketing campaign – the poster alone evokes feelings of joy – June Again is a far more emotionally devastating feature than audiences may be expecting. That’s certainly not a criticism on behalf of JJ Winlove‘s feature film debut, more a light warning to audiences who may not be prepared for its…
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Satirical without ever being savage, YouthMin adopts a cringeworthy mockumentary style of approach to its narrative, bringing to mind the same uncomfortable comedy that made The Office such fascinating viewing. Whilst its thematics of being primarily raised in the protestant church and the subsequent camps that came with such faith is more likely to resonate…
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Arriving off the back of a successful run at the Adelaide Fringe, A Flying Photon at Giant Dwarf in Sydney is science, with a twist. The twist being – it’s actually interesting. We are introduced to Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer, who is a ‘science communicator, poet and performer’. With a background in physics, Rayner begins…
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A perfectly stupendous amount of ‘Dum’! The critically acclaimed and globally touring Australian circus company, Dummies Corp, lights up the stage at The Famous Spiegeltent in Melbourne with their first adult-themed circus comedy – The Dumtectives in Cirque Noir. As part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, this show blasts you into a world of…
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One of the first 2020 titles to delay its release substantially from its original bowing date (in this case, March 2020) due to the Coronavirus, Peter Rabbit 2 has finally hopped to a release window that makes sense. In a country where cinemas have been open and thriving (and how!) for the better part of…
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A comedy both made during and about the pandemic that has forever altered the landscape of the world, Recovery adds as much levity as it can to the most devastating of situations. Written, directed and headlined by the relatable comedy duo of Mallory Everton and Whitney Call (Everton serving as director and co-writer, Call as…
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