Resilience thy name is woman. Room, the latest film by director Lenny Abrahamson (known for 2014’s Frank and 2012’s What Richard Did), based on the book of the same name by Emma Donaghue, tells the singular story of Joy ‘Ma’ Newsome (Brie Larson) and her seven-year captivity in a tiny room with her son Jack…
Read more
Amy Stewart’s novel Girl Waits With Gun, based on the forgotten true story of one of the first American female deputy sheriffs, is every feminist’s dream read. Brimming with humour, sass, mystery, and delivered to the reader by a narrator so completely resistant to stereotype, Stewart’s novel is worthy of its acclaim from beginning to…
Read more
Superheroes are in vogue. In 2016 alone, Hollywood will release films about Wonder Woman, Doctor Strange, the X-Men, Captain America versus the Avengers, and Batman versus Superman. The capes are back, with ripples of American pride flowing underneath. This outpour amounts to an endless bag of stale popcorn packaged in a picture of Chris Hemsworth’s…
Read more
If you’re looking for something to do in Melbourne, The Butterfly Club is a great place to go if you’re after hilarious night out with talented and devoted performances. This week from the 24th – 28th you can catch an exciting show that’s all about transporting the audience to those glamorous Hollywood years of old…
Read more
Kate (Charlotte Rampling) and Geoff (Tom Courtenay) are six days away from celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary, when Geoff receives a letter informing him that the corpse of an ex-lover has been finally been found after her tragic fall in the Swiss Alps over fifty years prior. It’s a truly grizzly, melodramatic death for…
Read more
The alienation of the immigrant experience is a common narrative device in cinema. Whether it’s a young Vito Corleone glimpsing the Statue of Liberty for the first time in The Godfather: Part II or the Mexican illegal immigrants at the center of A Better Life, the prospect of finding a future in a far away…
Read more
Blancmange Productions has done it again with their 2016 season opener The Punter’s Siren, on now until March 5th at The World Bar in Sydney. The play is short, sweet, and to the point, and is accompanied by nothing more than simplistic staging, talented performances, and some of the most refreshing and wittiest play writing…
Read more
We can all relate to the struggle that teachers go through when they try to teach history. Things that have happened in the past can often be a bore and leave students feeling uninspired. So, when you set out to create a “period piece” of sorts i.e. a history lesson presented on the live theatre…
Read more
Journalists can change the world. At least that was once true, when in 2001 the “Spotlight” team of The Boston Globe – through months of investigation – exposed the systematic child abuse of over 70 priests in the highly Catholic Boston area. If true stories of Pulitzer-winning journalism are your cup of tea, you’ll find…
Read more
Sticky: A (Self) Love Story, is a documentary by freelance writer and director, Nicholas Tana, about a topic that, as his film addresses, is engaged in by nearly ninety percent of people, but is talked about by almost none: masturbation. The film asks kindergarten teachers, rabbis, porn stars and everyone in between to talk about…
Read more
Darlinghurst Theatre Company has begun its 2016 season with the bold and relevant The Pride by British playwright Alexi Kaye Campbell. The script was first premiered in 2008 to critical acclaim and it’s no secret why that is. With poetic and life affirming language and an incredibly important message, The Pride is what theatre is meant to be. We…
Read more
I called myself a feminist out loud for the first time only last year. Mostly I felt proud, but lurking underneath this pride was an undeniable layer of guilt. I Call Myself a Feminist—an anthology compiled by Victoria Pepe, Rachel Holmes, Amy Annette, Alice Stride and Martha Mosse—helped me answer two questions at the heart…
Read more
It’s difficult to think of a recent film more exquisite and more perfect than Carol. It may seem too soon to call the film a masterpiece, but I can confidently say that it is truly up there with some of the greatest movies of recent times. More importantly, it takes its place alongside Brokeback Mountain…
Read more
Set sometime after the Civil War, and apparently contained within the same universe as 2012’s Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight introduces us to Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), a bounty hunter on route to the town of Red Rock to cash in on his deadly efforts. But on this cold day in…
Read more
