The confounding of expectations, at a time of the year when they are at their zenith, is at the heart of Joe Swanberg’s Sundance-screened Happy Christmas, the follow-up to last year’s well-received Drinking Buddies, his most accessible and successful film to date. The film’s title is an ironic one, of course, given Continue Reading
Movie review: St. Vincent
Figuring out where we belong in life, and just as importantly who we belong with while we’re living it, are the two great undertakings of our short time here on earth. Getting them right, or as close to right as this often flawed existence allows, is not for the fainthearted, Continue Reading
On the 4th day of Christmas … I listened to Seth MacFarlane’s Holiday For Swing
Seth MacFarlane is a delightful study in contrasts. Most well-known for his raunchy, highly intelligent comedies like the animation series The Family Guy and the Ted movies – Ted 2 is due for release in June 2015 – he is also a consummate showman, with a particular love for Continue Reading
Prep for The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies with this entire trilogy in 72 seconds LEGO re-creation
*Warning some spoilers from the book contained within the video* Peter Jackson, much like the man whose work he has shown a passionate drive and love for adapting, J. R. R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit), loves BIG, epic tales. The longer, the bigger, the better. Continue Reading
On the 3rd day of Christmas 2014 … I read “A Very Klingon Christmas” by Paul Ruditis / Patrick Faricy
It’s not often that you pick up a Christmas book and find every last one of your assumptions about this most sacred of Christian holidays gleefully shattered into a million small and pointy, could-be-weaponised pieces. But that’s what happened when I picked up a copy of A Very Klingon Continue Reading
Hand drawn perfection: Big Hero 6 goes outside the box to promote itself in Japan
SNAPSHOT Big Hero 6 is co-directed by Don Hall (Winnie the Pooh) and Chris Williams (Bolt) with a script that Jordan Roberts (3,2,1…Frankie Go Boom) co-wrote with the former. Based on the comic book series of the same name, the film marks the first collaboration between Walt Disney Animation Continue Reading
On the 2nd day of Christmas … I watched “Its Beginning to Stink a Lot Like Christmas” (The New Adventures of Old Christine)
Poor Christine “Old Christine” Campbell. Try as she might, and frankly she really doesn’t try all that hard – particularly not if there’s wine or sex with the Christmas tree guy to be had instead – she can’t actually manage to actually lead the sort of life she thinks Continue Reading
Movie review: Paddington
It’s a distinctly odd feeling when you’re about to see someone you once loved dearly for the first time in quite a number of years. You’re excited, of course, since this person once meant, and usually still means, even if in vividly-etched, rose-coloured memories, the world to you, and Continue Reading
On the 1st day of Christmas 2014 … I aurally orbited Pomplamoose’s Christmas in Space EP
Regardless of the time of year, Pomplamoose (real life couple Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn) are a lot of fun. Their music, which is released to fans via an innovative patronage system called Patreon, merrily skips from genre to genre, drawing in jazz, ’80s synth pop, big band sounds to Continue Reading
I give them 5 stars: Farewell to Australian movie critic legends David and Margaret
Saying goodbye to someone you love is never easy. Or in the case of Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton, a legendary movie reviewing duo who presented their last show on Australia’s public national broadcaster ABC last night, well nigh impossible. These two impressively articulate, cinema-literate movie lovers were an Continue Reading