Some stories are so big and complex that they almost defy being told. “Almost” being the operative word here; of course Frank Herbert found a way with Dune, his 1965 novel which has deservedly earned iconic status as a breathtakingly vital piece of science fiction. It is the film of Continue Reading
Movies
A mini mass of movie trailers: Tytöt Tytöt Tytöt (Girl Picture), Moonfall + A Taste of Hunger
Once more COVID has locked me out of cinemas. This time it’s the Omicron variant running rampant, and while an official lockdown isn’t in effect in Sydney, or anywhere in Australia for that matter, most people are choosing to stay home and avoid public places of any kind. This aversion Continue Reading
Beware the kitteh: Jurassic Park but with a cat
Cats rule. Sorry dogs, you might be adorable and man’s best friend and rescue Timmy from a well like it’s going out fashion, but it’s true – cats rule and it’s seems only fair that popular culture reflect that. Even, in the case of Jurassic Park but with a cat, Continue Reading
Movie review: Mixtape
Identity matters. Nothing abhors a vacuum more than a person trying to determine who they are, and who they will be as a result, and it’s this quest for getting to the heart of self that powers the affecting momentum of Mixtape, a film that also digs deep into the Continue Reading
Movie review: Don’t Look Up
Humans, as a species, are a happily delusional lot. While we are fiercely intelligent (for the most part: COVID may challenge that notion among certain segments of the population) and capable of successfully tackling anything we put our mind to – we didn’t climb to the top of the evolutionary Continue Reading
I need more popcorn and candy stat! My 25 favourite films of 2021
This year was a highly unusual year. I finally started going back to the movies in something approaching normal fashion, and while the choices were a little limited with a lot of the big tentpoles titles such as No Time to Die, The French Despatch and Ghosterbusters: Afterlife all being Continue Reading
Movie review: Encanto
There was once a time, not all that long ago, when grief was treated as a linear, open-and-shut case, something that struck you, affected you and then left you alone to rebuild your life. That view of grief was simplistic at best, and as we’ve grown in our understanding of Continue Reading
#Christmas movie review: A Boy Called Christmas
As origin stories go, the one that belongs to Santa Claus is a doozy. Drawn from a host of different European traditions, embellished by one Charles Dickens in the nineteenth century and prettied up with fetching red and a convivial air courtesy of a soda maker in the 20th, Santa Continue Reading
Merry pop culture Christmas to all … and to all a goodnight!
Well, hello and goodbye to 2021, thank you very much! As I sat writing my brief thoughts for 2020 on last year’s Christmas Eve post, I thought we were free and clear of COVID; well, not completely obviously since an outbreak and partial city lockdown in Sydney meant we couldn’t Continue Reading
Winnie the Pooh gets festive in A Very Merry Pooh New Year (incl. Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too)
If you had the choice of all kinds of fictional characters to spend Christmas with, and yes, there are an awful lot of them – although, to be fair, avoiding the xenomorphs from Alien or Pennywise from IT may keep a lot more festive – picking the residents of the Continue Reading