It’s Australia Day and while there is considerable, very much necessary debate about the validity of observing our national day on a date seen as Invasion Day by indigenous people, it is still a good day to reflect on what makes this country great. (For the record, I think Continue Reading
Worth a thousand words: the top ten best Australian children’s picture books (curated content)
by Nicholas Reece, University of Melbourne (December 2012) The academics and the “mummy bloggers” are in furious agreement – reading picture books to children is one of the best things you can do for a child’s development. It also happens to be, in the opinion of this humble author, Continue Reading
Movie review: Swinging Safari
It is said, with a wryly amused eye on the decade’s predilection for the consumption of illicit substances, that if you remember the ’60s, you weren’t really there; conversely, a sign of having grown up in the ’70s, as yours truly did, is that you can remember every last Continue Reading
When Your Catfish Is Actually a Fish (w/ Sally Hawkins) #TheShapeofWater
For those us who have been in the dating scene, and by logical extension, childhood sweethearts aside, that’s pretty much everyone, the heartbreaking disappointment of realising the person in front of you is not what was represented in the online profile, is all too real. It’s a universal experience Continue Reading
Star Trek Discovery: “Vaulting Ambition” (S1, E12 review)
SPOILERS AHEAD … AND A SCENE SO POIGNANT YOUR HEART WILL BREAK SURPRISE! SURPRISE! This is not your grandmother’s alternate universe. Unless of course she is from the Mirror Universe in which case she may, drenched in blood, anger and betrayal (it’s so “in” in alternate Paris, trust me), Continue Reading
A fart in the shape of a man: Further thoughts on The Good Place (S1, E9-13, S2, E1-9)
SPOILERS AHEAD … AND A HOST OF EXISTENTIAL CONUNDRUMS … When I was first wrote about NBC’s savvy, clever new-ish sitcom The Good Place last October, I remarked on how rare it is to fall head over heels in love with a show on a first viewing. Most TV Continue Reading
Upsetting the social apple cart? The unconventional romance of Splitting Up Together
SNAPSHOT Lena and Martin were once madly in love. But, like many marriages, time and circumstance eventually took their toll. Lena (Jenna Fischer, The Office), the perfectionist, fell into the role of caretaker for everyone, including Martin (Oliver Hudson, Scream Queens). Martin felt he could never do anything right Continue Reading
Movie review: The Post
If history has shown us anything, and interestingly one of the protagonists of Spielberg’s masterful The Post describes newspapers as “the first rough draft of history”, it is that power, for all its love of intimidating show, prefers to exercise its less noble impetuses, of which there are many, Continue Reading
Too good to be true? Donny the Drone comes alive ready to save the world
SNAPSHOT The film opens in 2022, as Donny – a mapping drone who “woke up” after a midair collision with a bird, and now speaks with the lulling cadence of a new age guru – is being presented with a “Person of the Year” award. Since his transformation, he Continue Reading
Weekend pop art: Follow these maps to a whole new movie experience
Movies are increibly intricate when you think about it. A ton of moving parts with everything from a perfectly-written script to first-rate actors to an inspired director, pitch-perfect music and dazzlingly good cinematography having to come together having to come together to make it all work. Sometimes of course Continue Reading