(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) All of us, to some extent or another, come to appreciate through the course of our lives just how the present owes to the past. It’s not simply that one leads to the other though that is very much a part of what takes place Continue Reading
Movie review: A Nice Indian Boy
(courtesy IMP Awards) If you’ve been paying attention, you will have noticed a decidedly welcome tilt towards queer themes in romantic comedies that aren’t simply of the tokenistically inclusive kind. While good old-fashioned heteronormative rom-coms are a joy and delight and good for this gay reviewer’s heart, there’s something soul Continue Reading
Growing up too fast: Thoughts on Hal & Harper
(courtesy IMDb) Hal & Harper is one of the most rewarding series I’ve seen in quite some, full of an indie authenticity, a nuanced pace and a characters who make so much sense if you’re prepared to be honest about how exhaustingly painful life can be and yet how possible Continue Reading
It’s just like Avatar! Or is it? Check out the bouncily fun teaser trailer for Pixar’s Hoppers
(courtesy IMP Awards) SNAPSHOTWhat if you could talk to animals and understand what they’re saying? In Disney / Pixar’s all-new feature film Hoppers, scientists have discovered how to “hop” human consciousness into lifelike robotic animals, allowing people to communicate with animals as animals! The adventure introduces Mabel, an animal lover Continue Reading
Christmas in July book review: Snowed in for Christmas by Claire Sandy
(courtesy Pan Macmillan) Every year I read a lot of Christmas rom-coms and every year I’m mostly glad I did. There’s something comforting about reading about people’s lives taking a definitive turn for the better, especially when everything says there is no real hope of any kind of meaningful redemption, Continue Reading
Songs, songs and more songs #125: Classic festive songs to bring joy to Christmas in July
(via Shutterstock) I love music with unreserved devotion but especially at Christmas, and of course, given the timing of the post, Christmas in July which in Australia offers up the chilly accompaniment to the season that December manifestly does not. There’s something about the warmth and cosiness of the characteristically Continue Reading
Festive book read: A Special Cornish Christmas by Phillipa Ashley
(Harper Collins Publishers Australia) If ever there’s a time for redemption, it has to be Christmas, right? Not simply because the entire festival is centred around that idea in its Biblical roots; beyond that, it’s developed into a time of year when the world is not as moored to its Continue Reading
Book review: Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano
(courtesy Hachette Australia) Jumping without looking into a reasonably long-running series of books does not always end well. If the author is skilled and accomplished, they will do a marvellously good job of folding you into an already established world, getting you up to speed with who the main character/s Continue Reading
Mini-mass of movie trailers: Everything’s Going to Be Great, The Travellers + Magnetosphere
(via Shutterstock) My happy place, well one of them anyway, is a cinema where for anyone between 1.5 hours and god knows how long – overlong blockbusters I am looking at you – I can forget the world outside and lose myself in some cinematic magic. It’s a bliss and Continue Reading
Book review: The Mimicking of Known Successes (Mossa & Pleiti book #1) by Malka Older
(courtesy Pan Macmillan Australia) While doomscrolling through social media is generally a compulsive activity with few, if any, productive outcomes, it can sometimes, algorithms be damned, offer up some real gems. Such as coming across a fellow book lover on Bluesky who is waxing lyrical about the books of Malka Continue Reading