October 16, 2026 – SparklyPrettyBriiiight

(courtesy Text Publishing) In a world full of hatred, bigotry, violent attacks and simmering intimidation, and that’s on the good days, having somewhere to escape to that also feels like it might just exist in the real world too is an incalculable joy. While romcoms get a lot of stick Continue Reading

In an age of AI, Wildwood is a film that reminds us human creativity is irreplaceable (curated article)

(courtesy IMDb (c) Laika Studios) Animation has long had the unique ability to transport us to other worlds. But stop motion takes this further, with a level of skill and intentionality that provides a perfect counter to the droning hum of AI slop infecting our feeds. Laika Studios’ latest stop-motion Continue Reading

Andrew’s birthday month book review: Match Fit by Leesa Ronald

(courtesy Allen & Unwin) It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a romcom worth its swoon-worthy salt is in need of a protagonist and their would be significant romantic interest who are hugely and endlessly likable (and yes, I have paraphrased the opening sentence to Pride & Prejudice by Jane Continue Reading

Moving in and moving on … Thoughts on Nobody Wants This S3

(courtesy IMP Awards) Finding home is something we all dream of. And not in the sense that we stumble across the property of our dreams at weekend auctions or we have a Dorothy moment, desperately trying to get home to whatever our Kansas is by clicking our heels; no, that Continue Reading

“In order to find you, you need to find yourself.” Bollywoof drops a fun first, emotionally meaningful trailer

(courtesy First Showing) SNAPSHOTBasil the springer spaniel is lost! Basil, a very British Springer Spaniel, is living his best doggy life with his favorite human, 11-year-old Luke Price, in the tranquil Yorkshire countryside. However, Basil’s idyllic existence is about to change forever as the Prices relocate halfway across the world Continue Reading

Halloween book review: The (Most Unusual) Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish

(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) If you’re someone who has grown up on the social margins, you will be ruefully well acquainted with how isolated and alone you can feel. While it feels like the entirety of the far more socially acceptable world, and yes, you will also wonder where those Continue Reading

Movie review: Wildwood

(courtesy IMP Awards) When you look at someone’s present-day life, it’s laughably easy to think that it arrived as some fully-formed agglomeration of past thoughts and deeds, feelings and mistakes and triumphs, all of them neatly woven together by the uncomplicated passage of time. But all of us know, at Continue Reading

Halloween book review: The Tinderbox by M. R. Carey

(courtesy Hachette Australia) We are so used to everything we consume these days delivering up instant gratification vibes that when it doesn’t, we are prone to simply to see it aside and find something else that will deliver the narrative sugar hit we have been conditioned to crave. Slow-burn anything Continue Reading

Not so scary after all … Grover discovers all kinds of courage in Sesame Street: The Monster at the end of your Story with Grover and Elmo

(courtesy Sesame Workshop) Ever since I was a kid, which let’s face it, was a good long while ago now, I have loved the character of Grover from Sesame Street – yes, yes I know you’re not supposed to have favourites (sorry Bert and Ernie, and Oscar the Grouch, and Continue Reading

Halloween book review: Angelika Frankenstein Makes her Match by Sally Thorne

(courtesy Hachette Australia) One enduring constant of life is that finding a perfect partner, or even a lovably imperfect one, is no easy thing. While Hollywood and Mills & Boon would have you believe that meet-cutes are strewn across the ground like confetti and your one and only is bound Continue Reading

Let’s get Halloween animated! Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost

(courtesy IMDb) I have been watching Scooby-Doo! cartoons in their multitudinous iterations since the 1970s – not that long after the franchise debited in 1969 so yes I am hauntingly old, thank you – and one thing that has struck all the way through is the way the show manages Continue Reading

New releases October book review: People Skills by Nina Kenwood

Christmas movie preview: The Christmas Switch, A Dog’s Perfect Christmas, Guarding Stars + In a Holidaze