Good lord but the current pandemic-addled state of the world is anxiety inducing isn’t it? As you survey a world where normal is no more, and is constantly abruptly and messily changing, it’s hard to imagine how you could possibly ever sit back, relax and watch life go by. And Continue Reading
ABBA: An exploration of old fandom and new music
ABBA had previously been voted the band the British public would most like to see reunited. Alamy Shanika Ranasinghe, Royal Holloway University of London It may have been almost 40 years since their last single, but ABBA are now back in the charts with two new songs – “I Still Continue Reading
His biggest adventures are in his own backyard: Thoughts on Dug Days
There is a great deal to love about Pixar’s 2009 masterpiece Up, which still stands 12 years later as a stellar of example of how big hearted, narratively rich and character-driven animation can be. Chief among its many delights is the character of Dug, voiced by Bob Peterson, a sweetly Continue Reading
Movie review: The Suicide Squad
If you think of the Marvel Comic Universe (MCU, for all its angst and blockbuster bombast, as the glossy, pretty member of the superhero family where bad things happen but it’s all reasonably tidy by the end, then the DC Universe is its scrappy, angry, dark and messy sibling, the Continue Reading
Rutherford Falls: a laugh-out-loud funny TV show about colonisation
First published in The Conversation Bronwyn Carlson, Macquarie University In a new series, writers nominate the TV series keeping them entertained during a time of COVID. As the lockdown continues, I find myself looking for Indigenous content to watch on TV to feel a sense of nourishment and joy I Continue Reading
Book review: Still Life by Sarah Winman
If you take a good hard look at love in the real world, it is far from the light, fluffy confection of romantic comedy legend. Sure, that’s appealing and who doesn’t want to feel wafted along on Cupid’s lighter-than-air ministrations, but the reality is that love, real love, is muscular Continue Reading
#ABBA Voyage #4 – Songs, songs and more songs: ABBA and five songs of energetic defiance
This post was originally published on 6 May, 2020. There is a popular perception of ABBA out in the general public of a Swedish group who were perpetually upbeat and sunny and whose music, composed of rich melodies and luscious harmonies, courtesy of the combined superlative vocal talents of Agnetha Continue Reading
“I just wanna be drama free and happy” – Insecure S5 teaser trailer
SNAPSHOT“According to showrunner Prentice Penny, the final season hinges on one question: ‘If life doesn’t look like how you imagined it, does that mean it’s a success or a failure?’ He spoke to Entertainment Weekly about what that means and how it should carry into Season 5, and it builds Continue Reading
ABBA Voyage #3 – Our Last Summer: The emotionally-evocative geography of ABBA’s songs
This post was first published on 25 November, 2018. ABBA is the great musical love of my life. Every single last one of their songs summon up some kind of powerful memory, including as a man in his ’50s a joyous/melancholic recalling of past memories, a theme that is common Continue Reading
ABBA Voyage: After 39 years, everyone’s favourite musical Swedes make sweet new music again
It’s a strange but wonderful thing indeed to find yourself taken back to the emotions and sensibilities of your youth. It can happen through all kinds of things – smells, old movies or TV shows and classic books but the medium which most quickly and completely transports me back to Continue Reading