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!

Book review: The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits

(courtesy Allen & Unwin Book Publishers) Laments about middle age are often viewed as a tired old cliché. But what is often forgotten in the midst of all the eyerolling and lowkey dismissals is that the cliché exists for a reason; middle age is a time when youth is walking Continue Reading

Movie review: People You Meet on Vacation

(courtesy IMDb) It’s always with a little bit of your heart in your mouth vibe that you approach any adaptation of a book by a favourite author. Will it feel even remotely like the book? (For the record, I am not a precious reader and I’m happy give adaptations a Continue Reading

Book review: Moderation by Elaine Castillo

(courtesy Allen & Unwin Publishers) Mixing a love story in with an often excoriating though wryly funny exploration of the inhumanity of big tech in the 21st century may not sound like the most viable of narrative drivers for a novel but in the hands of Elaine Castillo it is Continue Reading

UPCOMING READS: The Name Game by Beth O’Leary

(courtesy Beth O’Leary newsletter) A fresh start is waiting for Charlie Jones.But another Charlie Jones wants it too… The Isle of Ormer: population 500, soon to be 501. Charlie Jones has landed on the island to embark on her brand new life. As the manager at Ormer’s only farm shop, Continue Reading

Funny, tender, goofy – Catherine O’Hara lit up the screen every time she showed up (curated article)

(New York, NY – June 09, 2019: Catherine O’Hara attends the 73rd Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall / via Shutterstock) Article by Ben McCann, Adelaide University (The Conversation) Catherine O’Hara, the beloved actor and comedian who has died aged 71, occupied that rare position in contemporary screen culture: Continue Reading

Movie review: Addition

(courtesy Village Cinemas) There is a very real gnawing sense when you are caught in the midst of dealing with mental health issues where you wonder if you have any agency in this at all. Your therapist will say you do, and as a grown-up who makes decisions all the Continue Reading

Witness how became He-Man … trailer lands, by the power of Grayskull, for Masters of the Universe

(courtesy IMP Awards) SNAPSHOTTen-year-old Adam Glenn (Nicholas Galitzine) crash-lands on his mother’s home planet Earth, separating him from his ancestor’s Power Sword of Grayskull. Two decades later, he takes his sword back and bears the mantle of He-Man as he battles for his home planet, Eternia, fighting against the evil Continue Reading

Book review: Lost in Time by A. G. Riddle

An escapee from the depth of this reviewer’s TBR – 2026 is supposed to be the year of the much-neglected reads though so far 13 new books have been bought so who knows who well this will go – Lost in Time by A. G. Riddle comes with a doozy Continue Reading

The mystery is afoot … Thoughts on Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials

(courtesy IMP Awards) In the grand scheme of things that relax, soothe and put your soul at ease, crime, particularly of the murderous variety, should not rate all that highly. Surely after all the murder of someone can not come remotely close to putting anyone into a chilled state? Likely Continue Reading

Book review: The Greatest Possible Good by Ben Brooks

(courtesy Simon & Schuster Australia) What does it mean to live a good life? We all have airily vague ideas of what that might entail from doing good to others to treating people with kindness to not using plastic and prioritising people over digital obsession. But it’s wide and open Continue Reading

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