By any idealistic measure, childhood is supposed to be an untouched idyll, a place of innocence and untrammelled happiness where the sun shines, the birds sing and anything wonderful is possible. 11-year-old Tippy Chan, however, inhabits a wholly different world in The Nancys, one where the bounteous escapism of youth Continue Reading
aussiemoose
I am an extrovert gay man living in Sydney who loves Indian food, current affairs, music, film and reading, caramel anything, and a beautiful guy called Steve who makes every day a delight. I am trying to get two novels in a trilogy ready for e-publication, love my iPhone & iPod, and am secretly Canadian in my soul. Life is fun, exciting and joyful and I aim to make the absolute most of it!
Songs, songs and more songs #9: FKA Twigs, Anna of the North, The Marías, Barrie, Winona Oak
Sit down! Set a spell. Think quiet thoughts. Don’t think at all. We live in a busy, frantic, manic, noisy world and taking some time out to just ruminate, smell the roses and let your mind wander is one of the greatest gifts we can gift ourselves. These five amazingly Continue Reading
Frozen 2: Giants, equine water spirits and grave threats to the kingdom
SNAPSHOTWhy was Elsa born with magical powers? The answer is calling her and threatening her kingdom. Together with Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven, she’ll set out on a dangerous but remarkable journey. In Frozen, Elsa feared her powers were too much for the world. In Frozen 2, she must hope Continue Reading
Movie review: Bellbird
There’s an idea prevalent in society that grief unexpressed isn’t grief at all. In other words, if you’re not wailing and crying and gnashing your teeth like an Old Testament prophet clad in sackcloth and ashes, then are you really grieving? It’s an idea that is gently and thoughtfully challenged Continue Reading
Fear the Walking Dead: “The Hurt That Will Happen” (S5, E2 review)
SPOILERS AHEAD … RADIOACTIVE ZOMBIES, FRIENDLY CATS AND THE SOUND OF GOOD INTENTIONS COMING UP HARD AGAINST HARD REALITY … Continuing the season 5 theme of doing good even when everyone else is doing bad, or at best, being protectively ambivalent, “The Hurt That Will Happen” celebrated the idea that, Continue Reading
Book review: Snake Island by Ben Hobson
We are an idealistic species. It may not look that way at times, most times if we’re honest with ourselves, with war, poverty, disease, brutality and avaricious criminality the seemingly obvious defining marks of what it means to be human; dig down a little further, however, and it becomes clear Continue Reading
The short and the short of it: The endless parental love of Freaks of Nurture
SNAPSHOTFreaks of Nurture is an animated short about a neurotic mother-daughter relationship inspired by the filmmaker’s own unorthodox upbringing with her single-parent mom, who is also a foster parent and dog breeder. Self-deprecating and bursting with energy, the film reveals that no matter how grown-up we think we are, we Continue Reading
Something inhuman approaches: Carnival Row and the fight against intolerance and darkness
SNAPSHOTBloom (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Delevingne (Suicide Squad) star in Carnival Row, a series set in a Victorian fantasy world filled with mythological immigrant creatures whose exotic homelands were invaded by the empires of man. This growing population struggles to coexist with humans — forbidden to live, love, or Continue Reading
Movie review: Brittany Runs a Marathon
If you were to use the likes of Oprah and Tony Robbins are your guides, you would have to assume the world is awash in victorious people, staring down all manner of existential perils and emerging, self-realisation trophy in hand, on top every single damn time. But as we know Continue Reading
Book review: The Lost Puzzler by Eyal Kless
Is humanity its own worst enemy? History is littered with example after bloody example that would suggest we are, and then some, the holders of daggers to our throats that are briefly raised only to be plunged in again and again, as we cut off our existential nose to spite Continue Reading