Sequels are, for the most part and for a thousand different reasons, the unloved siblings of modern cinema. But Paddington 2, the sequel to 2014’s Paddington based on the stories of Michael Bond who sadly passed away this year, bucks the trend in the most fulsome and heartwarming of Continue Reading
Small screen, big stories, much bingeing: My favourite TV shows of 2017
These days I don’t watch as much TV as I used to. That’s not because of some great philosphical turning against television, with which I continue to have a passionate and longstanding romance – one that endured despite a rock start at age 4 when I encountered TV for Continue Reading
Movie review: Breathe
However much derided the inspirational biopic might be, they are popular for one very good reason – we want to believe that adversity can make you a better person. Or, at the very least, that it doesn’t derail, to too great an extent, who you already are. The reality Continue Reading
Download. Play. Dance. Sing. My favourite songs of 2017
Music powers my life. Every last part of it in fact. Whether I’m commuting, exercising, sitting and working – but not when I’m writing alas; I’m one of those people who must write in monastic silence or the worlds will not flow – or simply sitting and watching the Continue Reading
The short and the short of it: Pombo Loves You (no, he really does)
SNAPSHOT A distant father confronts a heroic but troubled past-life as an ’80’s TV show mascot named Pombo. (synopsis via Vimeo) It’s pretty much a given that at some point in your life, and this will be different for everyone, your past will come back to haunt you. It Continue Reading
I need more popcorn and candy stat! My favourite films of 2017
What a difference a year makes! This time last year I was mired in the grief of losing my beloved father and while I still miss him dearly, life returned to normal, or whatever normal looks like after you lose a parent because nothing is ever the same again, Continue Reading
Movie review: The Florida Project
If you cast your mind back to the heady days of childhood, a feat that may be less taxing for some than others, you will recall how even the most troubling of events could be coated with a playful glow with little to no effort. That’s not because you Continue Reading
Lost in a sea of beautiful words: My favourite books of 2017
Ever since I was a kid, reading has been a central, if not the central, way for me to relax, to escape, to find adventure, excitement and quirky emotional resonance far from the banalities of everyday life. There is something deeply wondrous and magically exciting about the promise of Continue Reading
Happy Christmas everyone! May pop culture bless you every one …
What a big year it has been! Horrible in some respects – Trump, Australia’s treatment of refugees and North Korea sending off missiles I’m looking at you – but also delightful, wonderful, warm, funny and good for the heart, soul and spirit. Much of that joy has come from Continue Reading
Comics review: The hilarious omni-shambles of Asterix and the Chariot Race
There is something about the Roman Empire that has always cried out for satire. Perhaps it is that it was, and remains, the greatest empire in the history of humanity. Or perhaps that it was so domineering, so efficient, so all-encompassing and damn near omniscient and omnipresent, that besting Continue Reading