Happy pop culture new year everyone! – SparklyPrettyBriiiight

Here’s to more movies, books, songs, TV shows, cartoon and comic strips and so much more in 2019!

Festive the short and the short of it review: Make the holidays magic with The Invisible Horse

(courtesy Disney+) SNAPSHOTJust when Jack begins to think he’s too old for Christmas, he ends up befriending an invisible creature that reminds him of what makes Christmas so magical. The short follows Jack and his unlikely companion on a journey to rediscover the magic of the holidays. [Disney synopsis] The Continue Reading

Still on thin ice: Thoughts on North of North S2

(courtesy Netflix) Figuring who you really are, and what you actually want out of life, is no easy thing. Oh, we are promised it is; 21st century self-help/wellness orthodoxy tomes and TV programs and speakers sell self actualisation like it’s as easy as walking into a supermarket and buy a Continue Reading

Graphic novel review: Ember and the Grand Metamorphosis (Ember 2) by Jason Pamment

(courtesy Allen & Unwin) There is a sublime and deeply reassuring joy in listening to your inner child and reading some of the sorts of luminously lovely but groundedly honest stories that made reading when you were a kid such an endlessly rewarding pleasure. That’s why I don’t even remotely Continue Reading

Andrew’s birthday month book review: The Sunflower Boys by Sam Wachman

(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers) We all know how powerful storytelling can be. But it’s storytelling that shines an often uncomfortable spotlight on real world events that really has the capacity to hit home, and hit home hard. Case in point is The Sunflower Boys by Sam Wachman which takes you Continue Reading

30th anniversary movie review: Muppet Treasure Island #AndyBirthdayMonth

(courtesy IMP Awards) Those fond of the idiom there being nothing certain in life but death and taxes have clearly never sat down to watch a Muppet movie in its 30th anniversary year to discover it is just as fresh, sweet and funny as it was when you first saw Continue Reading

Andrew’s birthday month book review: As You Wake, Break the Shell by Becky Chambers

(courtesy Hachette Australia) One of the great gifts of sci-fi as a genre, and it has many, is its ability to take big existential issues and frame them in ways that makes them approachable, dealable and maybe even solvable. Life is a lot, we all know that, but thinking about Continue Reading

Songs, songs and more songs #147: Grimes, Tinashe, Aluna feat. Jengi, Käärijä x Joost + Rêve

(via Shutterstock) There cheers, and a metric ton more thank you, for absolutely original creativity. In a world threatened by the monochromatic idiotic blandness of AI slop, it’s exciting to see music artists pushing envelopes, trying new and innovative things and make truly arresting, interesting, endlessly listenable music. These five Continue Reading

Movie review: Tender Loving Care (British Film Festival)

(courtesy Russell Hobbs British Film Festival) There is a rich authenticity to every one of British director Mike Leigh’s films, a sense that you are seeing real people living all-too-real lives in circumstances that don’t pretend life is anything other than a hard slog. But for all the gritty honesty 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

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