Birdlesque saw its debut this Saturday as a showcase for budding burlesque starlets. The event was nestled out the back of a secluded laneway in the middle of Brisbane city in the Bird Gallery and Studio – a charming, distinctive venue. First up was Melody Bonbon, whose iridescent gown reflected her colourful, playful performance, featuring…
The appeal of Kerouac’s On the Road isn’t its story – a loose, rambling journey across America featuring lots of drugs, sex and hitchhiking. The power of the novel is its prose, the way it encapsulates the optimism and possibilities of youth. To its credit, Walter Salles’ adaptation gets that. The plot is unimportant and…
Have you ever been at a party and found a stranger a particularly compelling speaker? They’re mounting an argument, and their eloquence is both engaging and convincing. But just when you’re totally in their corner, they reveal that they’re not who they seemed to be – what seemed like satirical wit is revealed as unfortunate…
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. might not be a good show, but “F.Z.Z.T.” is a pretty good episode of television. It’s not that it improves upon any of the fundamental flaws of the show, it just manages to execute its formula with more skill than previous episodes. The cast remain underwhelming (though Fitz’s crush on Skye…
One of the things that has always elevated Chris Lilley’s satire is his refusal to mock his characters in character. Sure, his bit is mostly about pointing out the ridiculousness of a given type, but while you’re supposed to laugh at Ja’mie, Lilley takes her very seriously. Ja’mie: Private School Girl takes this a step…
Thor: The Dark World is a film all about gods but, like its predecessor, it’s at its best when it focuses on the foibles of humanity. The film’s first half is spent primarily on Thor’s plane of Asgard – and somewhere called Svartalfheim (Gesundheit!) – and it’s mostly a slog. There’s some overly-serious exposition about…
The title “Still Positive” is apropos to an episode that restored some optimism towards Homeland. This is an episode that restored a ragged sense of tension without relying on lame narrative trickery. The plotting is still haphazard (most television shows make things up as they go along to some extent, but that’s more evident than…
If you’re not already, you should be watching Masters of Sex, the second-best new show of the year (after Hannibal). The show follows the scientific research of Bill Masters (Michael Sheen) and his assistant Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan) into human sexuality. Set in the fifties, it bears more than a passing resemblance to Mad Men,…
Tonight’s episode of Ja’mie: Private School Girl has to shoulder the burden of being a second episode, moving the plot along while ensuring viewers who missed the pilot won’t miss any key details. It does a decent job, but it’s a step down from the premiere, spending a lot of its time laying out what…
Some films are just impossible to evaluate with any kind of objectivity. For me, Toy Story is one of those movies; when that Randy Newman theme kicks in I’m transported back to my youth in a nostalgic rush. Even when trying to view the film with a critical eye, it holds up pretty damn well.…
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