And the winner is … SWEDEN! After what can only be described as one of the most tense voting sessions of any Eurovision Song Contest I’ve ever witnessed – at one point, first place was an effective three way tie between Russia, Italy and Sweden, with Russia edging ever Continue Reading
“This is the time for overkill”: Falling Skies goes all out in its new season 5 trailer
If Earth wasn’t already overcrowded, what with humanity, the “fishhead” Espheni and the Volm all duking it out for control of our pretty blue planet (or what’s left of it anyway), then it’s about to resemble a crowded commuter train at peak hour when a brand new “beautiful” race, the Continue Reading
It’s beginning to look a lot like a Murray Christmas … yes already!
SNAPSHOT Murray plays himself as the host of a holiday variety show, but a snowstorm may prevent anyone from showing up, leaving him to mope around … [that is until] a star-filled cast including Murray, George Clooney, Amy Poehler, Michael Cera, Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph, Jason Schwartzman, Rashida Jones Continue Reading
Movie review: San Andreas
As the Hoover Dam splinters in a thousand concrete shards, the Hollywood sign tumbles slowly down its resting place, and San Francisco is pummelled, set on fire and comprehensively levelled by a tsunami, we should be, by all rights, aghast at such wanton destruction of all the great (Californian) things Continue Reading
First impressions: Wayward Pines
*SOME SPOOKY SPOILERS AHEAD* Tree changers of the world beware. Any romanticised ideas you might have about leaving the big bad city behind for a simpler, idyllic life amongst the trees and towering snowcapped mountains will soon be put to rest by Fox’s new series Wayward Pines. Based on Continue Reading
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt meet Mad Max Fury Road … You’re welcome
Hollywood, and the entertainment industry in general, has a generally lamentable record when it comes to representing “women’s complex and interesting lives” as GrrlScientist described in a 2010 The Guardian article, in their films and TV shows. More often than not they fail The Bechdel Test, which originated with Alison Bechdel’s Continue Reading
The short and the short of it: The Mountain King learns a giant-sized lesson
Humanity takes a while to learn its lessons and learn them well. If history has taught us anything, and it’s quite true that those who ignore it are doomed to repeat it to their detriment, it’s that we often misunderstand the fundamental of things like power, wealth and leadership. Continue Reading
22 is the new age 80: Netflix redefines “old” in the trailer for Between
SNAPSHOT Between is the story of a town under siege from a mysterious disease that has wiped out everybody except those 22 years old and under. The series explores the power vacuum that results when a government has quarantined a 10-mile diameter area and left the inhabitants to fend Continue Reading
“In Which Pooh and Piglet Go Hunting and Nearly Catch a Woozle”: Listen to A. A. Milne read from When We Were Very Young in this rare recording
Winnie the Pooh, and by obvious extension the man who brought his remarkable adventures to life in The Hundred Acre Wood, Alan Alexander Milne or A. A. Milne, were an integral part of my childhood. For those of us who delight in reading still about the “Bear of Very Continue Reading
After Avengers: Age of Ultron, we really don’t need another hero [curated opinion piece]
Avengers: Age of Ultron is the biggest movie in the world right now and like it or not – I quite liked it though I felt I had seen it all before – Alastair Blanshard from The University of Queensland raises some interesting points in this article from The Conversation about why we love superheroes Continue Reading