It would be a rare person indeed who would describe Christmas as a quiet, reflective time of the year. But there’s something about Amy Grant’s fourth Christmas offering – it follows 1983’s A Christmas Album, and A Home For Christmas and A Christmas to Remember (both 1990s releases) – that Continue Reading
Movies
Star Wars goes Rogue – but will this risky move backfire? (curated article)
Peter Allen, University of Melbourne Star Wars: The Force Awakens left audiences desperate to know WWLS? (What Will Luke Say?) But fans will be waiting quite some time to find out. The new film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which opens in Australia on December 15, does not Continue Reading
On 4th day of Christmas … I enjoyed A Very Calvin & Hobbes Christmas
If you were to imagine a Calvin and Hobbes Christmas, the odds are you wouldn’t imagine a traditional Norman Rockwell moment. Oh sure Calvin’s parents would love that kind of Christmas with everyone grouped around the table in blissful, festive repose, but the reality is that Calvin, who never Continue Reading
Baby Groot totally steals the new trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
SNAPSHOT Set to the backdrop of Awesome Mixtape #2, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the team’s adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos. The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries of Peter Quill’s true parentage. Continue Reading
Festive weekend pop art: awesome pop culture Christmas cards from P. J. McQuade
As a pop culture junkie, I love the idea of combining my passion for movies, books, TV shows and music with my equally enthusiastic love of Christmas. So heartfelt thanks to Brooklyn illustrator P. J. McQuade who has designed a range of awesome Christmas card, which you can buy Continue Reading
Movie review: La La Land
Ask most people what springs to mind when you mention musicals and you’ll likely be peppered with words like “romantic”, “fairytale”, “escapist” and “otherworldly”. And it’a true that a lot of musicals do tend to live up to these word pictures, evoking a magical sense of wonder at the Continue Reading
On 1st day of Christmas … I decorated my tree with pop culture ornaments
I am both a Christmas tree addict and a pop culture junkie. All of which means that with the arrival of the most wonderful time of the year, my thoughts tend to go to covering my delightful artificial pine tree – when I was growing natural pine trees were Continue Reading
“[He] speaks for us all”: The innate truths of Sam Klemke’s Time Machine (documentary)
SNAPSHOT In 1977, Sam Klemke started obsessively documenting his entire life on film. Beginning decades before the modern obsession with selfies and status updates, we see Sam grow from an optimistic teen to a self-important 20 year old, into an obese, self-loathing 30-something and onwards into his philosophical 50s. Continue Reading
The short and the short of it: The yin and yang of Jinxy Jenkins & Lucky Lou
One of the oft-quoted truisms of love is that opposites attract. While that’s true to some extent, it’s probably more accurate to say that opposites attract who are complementary to, and bring out the best in, each other. That’s very much the case in Jinxy Jenkins & Lucky Lou, Continue Reading
Open your heart to everyone: The heartwarming festive story of Frankie’s Holiday
I grew up knowing exactly what it feels like to be excluded and ostracised. Teased and bullied from the start of school to the end on a daily basis, for reasons known only to my tormentors, I longed to be loved and accepted for who I am, no strings attached Continue Reading