(courtesy IMP Awards) Even though he’s about two centuries late for the rise of TV streaming, there’s no doubt that Scottish playwright, novelist and poet would have found a lot with which he could relate with the sunny beachside film noir storyline of Bad Monkey. Based on the book of Continue Reading
Book review: The Betrayal of Thomas True by A. J. West
(courtesy Simon & Schuster UK) In his atmospherically-titled novel, The Betrayal Of Thomas True, A. J. West manages a rare and enthrallingly intense double feat. He delivers up a epically tense mystery, a race of one man to uncover the spy who has betrayed the “mollies” of 1715 London, often Continue Reading
“I believe in glasses half-full and silver linings…” First trailer for stop-motion gem, Memoir of a Snail by Adam Elliot
(courtesy First Showing) SNAPSHOTOriginal intro from Annecy: “Grace Pudel is a lonely misfit with an affinity for collecting ornamental snails and an intense love for books. At a young age, when Grace is separated from her fire-breathing twin brother Gilbert, she falls into a spiral of anxiety and angst. Despite Continue Reading
Songs, songs and more songs #111: Yannis & the Yaw, Skeleton, Ellur, Lodet and The Blessed Madonna & Kylie Minogue
(via Shutterstock) INTRO “Rain Can’t Reach Us” by Yannis & the Yaw (courtesy Yannis & the Yaw official Facebook page) One of the things that songs capture almost better than anything are emotions so intense they feel as if no vessel, human or otherwise, can contain them. In the songs Continue Reading
Movie review: Alien – Romulus
(courtesy IMP Awards) An inescapable part of every movie that falls into the now venerable Alien franchise, now in its 45th year, is how starkly monstrous and otherworldly the xenomorphs are. Everything about them feels alien, hence the title, and it horrifies us that anything that primal and darkly dangerous Continue Reading
Book review: Finding Mr. Write by Kelley Armstrong
(courtesy Hachette Australia) One of my reading happy places, and as an eclectic reader there are many, is when a writer combines books and love in one beautifully realised package. There’s something about the idea of a rom-com which is all about books and writing that sets the pulse racing Continue Reading
Time for higher education: Abbott Elementary season 3
(courtesy IMP Awards) The very best sitcoms don’t simply makes us laugh. That may seem like a strangely counter-intuitive thing to say since the final three letters of the genre’s abbreviated name makes it very clear that is very much what they are there to do; and yes, they are Continue Reading
Book review: These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs
(courtesy Hachette Australia) There is something breathtakingly thrilling about opening a sci-fi novel by an author you’ve never read before and finding an opening paragraph that sets the scene so vividly that in less than a quarter of a page you’re immediately thrust into a world and a story that Continue Reading
On their way to you … Frasier S2, Penelope and Kaos … plus maybe Ted Lasso season 4?
(via Shutterstock) Thank goodness we have more TV shows coming our way! I mean, we’re just about out of options so … kidding, of course. We manifestly are not even remotely short of shows to stream and frankly the number of new programs coming our way is almost alarming (which Continue Reading
“The mood swings! That one looks fun.” Inside Out 2’s delightfully funny missing scene
(courtesy Inside Out 2) SNAPSHOTThe little voices inside Riley’s head know her inside and out—but this summer, everything changes. Pixar’s Inside Out 2 returns to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley as headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions! Joy, Sadness, Continue Reading