April 19, 2025 – SparklyPrettyBriiiight

(courtesy IMP Awards) SEASON 1 On the surface, there’s not a lot that’s remarkable about Michelle Buteau’s series, Survival of the Thickest. Based on her book of humourous essays of the same name, the show centres on an aspiring fashion stylist, Mavis Beaumont (Buteau in the starring role; she is Continue Reading

Book review: Down in the Sea of Angels by Khan Wong

(courtesy Penguins Books Australia) A preview of this novel was provided by Angry Robot Books in return for a free and fair review. Plunging into any fictional book is an act of active and engaged imagination. It can’t not be; here you have a story that recounts events that have Continue Reading

“Every family has dark secrets, Wednesday … and secrets can have deadly consequences” Wednesday S2 has a long-awaited first trailer

(courtesy IMP Awards) SNAPSHOTWednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega), returns to prowl the Gothic halls of Nevermore Academy, where fresh foes and woes await. This season, Wednesday must navigate family, friends and old adversaries, propelling her into another year of delightfully dark and kooky mayhem. Armed with her signature razor-sharp wit and Continue Reading

Movie review: The Penguin Lessons

(courtesy IMP Awards) At first glance, you may not think there’s a great deal of emotional depth to The Penguin Lessons. This is not even remotely a criticism of the film adapted from the memoir of the same name by Tom Michell; it’s simply to say that the trailer suggests Continue Reading

Graphic novel review: Ember and the Island of Lost Creatures by Jason Pamment

(courtesy Allen & Unwin Book Publishers) I can still remember how incredibly isolating and alone it felt to be bullied continuously and mercilessly during 13 long years of school. Like anyone under constant attack by bullies, I alternated between crushing despair, near-palpable loneliness and a sense that no one would Continue Reading

Book review: Cheddar Luck Next Time by Beth Cato

(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) A digital preview copy of Cheddar Luck Next Time provided by Angry Robot Books Books in return for an honest and objective review; the novel released 8 April 2025. Cosy mysteries are becoming quite the thing. It makes sense – we live in a world rapidly Continue Reading

Look me in the eye and, uh, tell me that you didn’t kill her?” Poker Face 2 has a full, very truthful trailer

(courtesy First Showing) SNAPSHOTA “mystery-of-the-week” series streaming on Peacock. Charlie has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. Season 2 takes Natasha Lyonne as Charlie’s existential road trip to new heights, tracking lies and solving crimes in the most unexpected places – from a minor league baseball field Continue Reading

Easter book review: Friends of Dorothy by Sandi Toksvig

(courtesy Hachette Australia) While this book is not set at Easter, it carries themes of redemption and renewal, and of love and connection which surely are at the heart of this most redemptive of seasons … If you ask most people, they would tell you that they are very nicely Continue Reading

Easter special review redux: It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown!

This review was first published on 20 April, 2019. You have to hand it to Linus (Stephen Shea) – in the face of all evidence to the contrary, he continues to believe, and believe with a capital “B”, even when sceptics such as Sally mock him gently, and let’s be Continue Reading

Thick girls are having a moment: Thoughts on Survival of the Thickest S1 & S2

Trailers upon trailers upon … The Life of Chuck, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, 28 Years Later, Thunderbolts* + Jurassic World: Rebirth …

(via Shutterstock) Whenever I see a blockbuster movie trailer, and this post is packed to the epic rafters with them, I am immediately taken back to being a wide-eyes kid who would see trailers for the likes of Star Wars: A New Hope and E.T. and get a visceral, fizzy Continue Reading