(courtesy IMP Awards) How do you have a sequel when you don’t have a sequel? When you have a film that sits well and truly within the universe of a previous film, with clear allusions to it, visually, narratively and character-wise, but which tries as much as it can be Continue Reading
Standing up for who you are and what matters: Thoughts on Sweet Tooth S2
The COVID pandemic gave rise to many a strange dynamic. One of them, and the one that impacted this reviewer most when it came to consuming everything from movies to streaming shows to books, was a willingness to dive into all kinds of plague-related and end of the world-set storytelling; Continue Reading
Book review: Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
(courtesy Pan Macmillan Australia) There a re a great many superstars of the literary sci-fi genre, authors whose minds not only go there but who are then, almost miraculously, able to take their wildly imaginative musings and doing something profoundly impressive them. One of the leading stars of this pantheon Continue Reading
Graphic novel review: Eight Billion Genies by Charles Soule and Ryan Browne
(courtesy Image Comics) On the surface, the idea of a genie appearing before each and every one of the people currently alive on Earth and offering them one wish would be something miraculous and full of wondrous possibility. Think of the things that could be righted – world hunger, climate Continue Reading
Because we need more Christmas in July music! Thoughts on Mark Tremonti, Kate Rusby, Samara Joy, Chloe Flower + Bing Crosby
(via Shutterstock) Christmas music in July? What, what, WHAT are you even thinking?! Well, I’m thinking that the world is a dumpster fire of climate change and fascistic chaos and listening to music that is dedicated to conjuring up a warm-and-fuzzy winter wonderland of loveliness is no bad thing (and Continue Reading
#ChristmasInJuly book review: The Gingerbread Café by Anita Faulkner
(courtesy Hachette Australia) As someone who grew up incredibly socially isolated thanks to incessant bullying from the first day of school until almost the last, this reviewer appreciates a story in which something similarly cut out of the mainstream finds their way into a place of belonging and the unconditional Continue Reading
Retro movie review: Twister
One of the great delights of life is returning to a movie you haven’t seen in years and discovering, oh happy days, that it is every bit as good as you remember. Or, in the case of Jan de Bont’s 1996 tornado masterpiece, Twister, even better. What makes this 28-year-old Continue Reading
Star Wars: Acolyte review – what went down in E6 (“Teach/Corrupt”), E7 (“Choice”) and E8 (“The Acolyte”)
(courtesy IMP Awards) If religious dogma and legalistic ideology prove anything, it’s that a good many people like their beliefs neatly binary and plainly explained. They also want to believe, to an almost amusingly delusional degree, that the institutions charged with keeping those beliefs sustained and upheld are perfect and Continue Reading
Songs, songs and more songs #109: Jessie Ware & Romy, Kylie Minogue & Rexha & Tove Lo, Pixey, Tones and I and Michael Franti & Spearhead
(via Shutterstock) There’s a lot of awful stuff going on in the world. No newsflash there, alas; what also needs to be mentioned though is that there’s also a lot of good still around which includes these five songs from artists who refuse to let a broken reality get them Continue Reading
Book review: Hurdy Gurdy by Jenny Ackland
(courtesy Allen & Unwin Book Publishers) The way the world is going at the moment, you would have to be the hardiest and perkiest of optimists to think that the way forward is strewn with anything but death, disaster and destruction. Fascists are making their cruelly odious presence felt around Continue Reading