Zero Dark Thirty, Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow’s first movie since the much-acclaimed Hurt Locker (2009), is in many ways a very brave movie. In an era where fact is often obscured by rabidly-argued opinion, and everyone seems to have fractured into tribalised camps sniping and trolling each other with vengeful Continue Reading
Movies
Sneak peek: “Trance” movie trailer + poster
Anyone fancy a trippy rummage around James McAvoy’s mind? Yes? (As if you wouldn’t want to!) Well then you’re in luck! The handsome actor, who surely must have a brain worth poking around in, is starring in Danny Boyle’s new trippy psychological thriller, Trance, as Simon, a fine art Continue Reading
Movie review: “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
I have missed Middle Earth. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a welcome return to the magical land that exists somewhere in an alternate version of medieval England, brought to life in spectacularly vivid fashion once again by director Peter Jackson, and his collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens Continue Reading
R’ha: the future of sci-fi greatness
There’s a huge amount of buzz on the interweb today about a little six minute sci-fi film from an aspiring German film director, and not without good cause. It is, quite simply, amazing. Made over seven months and drawing from established sci-fi properties like Terminator and Battlestar Galactica without Continue Reading
“The Big Bang Theory” boldly goes “Into Darkness”
Well not quite. In fact they go to Bakersfield in this week’s episode (entitled appropriately enough “The Bakersfield Expedition”) for a comic book convention, all dressed up in their finest Star Trek: The Next Generation regalia, and have to get some help from the townsfolk in a diner when Continue Reading
Movie review: “Life of Pi”
Life of Pi is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. Visually, and narratively, even musically, it is a wonder and a delight for the senses, a triumph for director Ang Lee who took a novel largely regarded as “unfilmable” – I am not sure by Continue Reading
Movie review: “Les Miserables”
In a world where suffering accosts us around just about every corner, Les Miserables is a reminder that hope is possible, though it must be tenaciously clung to, in even the most dire of circumstances. The graphic realism of Academy-Award winning director Tom Hooper’s impressive screen adaptation of the hit Continue Reading
High on popcorn and candy: my 5 favourite movies of 2012
I am made of popcorn … and choc-top ice creams … and yes, big bags of brightly-coloured lollies (candy) … At least that’s the way it feels given how much I spend at the local cinema, especially towards the end of the year and over the Christmas break, taking Continue Reading
Merry Christmas to all … and to all a good night (of TV/music/cinema/reading)
Merry Christmas everyone! I have had a wonderful year writing what feels like a million and one enthusiastic posts about pop culture and as I permit myself to relax a little (from blogging at least) while I race around the east coast of Australia visiting family for Christmas, I want Continue Reading
On the 12th day of Christmas … I pondered the enduring popularity of “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens
It would be a rare person indeed who hasn’t read, seen, or even listened to, a version of Charles Dickens’ classic novel A Christmas Carol, which has remained wildly popular ever since its publication on 19 December, 1943, and which shows no sign of slipping off the zeitgeist radar any Continue Reading