(via Shutterstock) Music by itself is wonderfully good, true, but how much better is it with some real emotional vocal power and insight added to it? Very, very good, indeed, and that is borne out in these five superlatively great songs which not only deliver a musical adrenaline hit but Continue Reading
A different kind of succession story: Thoughts on Unstable S2
(courtesy & (c) Netflix) It goes without saying (but here is this reviewer saying it anyway because writing demands it, dammit) that sitcoms are funny; after all, they didn’t put the “comedy” in “situation comedy” for nothing. They make us laugh, the good one uproariously, in a world where there’s Continue Reading
Book review: Lucky Day by Beth Morrey
(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) What a liberating read Lucky Day by Beth Morrey is! All of us, to greater or lesser extent, live ourselves constrained by a host of weird little social paradigms, spoken or unspoken rules by which we are allowed to act, speak or react, and while Continue Reading
Graphic novel review: The Man Who F#&%ed Up Time by John Layman, Karl Mostert and Dee Cunniffe
(courtesy Aftershock Comics) Who of us hasn’t wondered, in ways endlessly big or thoughtfully small, what it would be like to jump into a time machine and see what the past looks like? To walk among the dinosaurs. See the Romans battle and subdue another city or state. See the Continue Reading
Come November, we’re all going to get a little Spellbound …
(courtesy IMP Awards) SNAPSHOTSpellbound follows the adventures of Ellian, the tenacious young daughter of the rulers of Lumbria who must go on a daring quest to save her family and kingdom after a mysterious spell transforms her parents into monsters. Spellbound also features an original score from EGOT-winning composer Alan Continue Reading
Book review: Ghost of the Neon God by T. R. Napper
(courtesy NewSouth Books) There is something magnificently enthralling about bearing witness to a talented author conjuring up an entire near-future world from the ground up in just 110 tautly-written pages. From nothing, we are led with brutal vivacity and a readily identifiable broken humanity into a dystopian world where civilisation Continue Reading
Movie review: Deadpool & Wolverine
(courtesy IMP Awards) We get it – saving the world, the multiverse, the life of a treasured loved one or friend, is SERIOUS. All caps, black font and dour countenance. Sure, but when did superhero movies get so damn grim? Sure, they are dealing with some deeply intense issues and Continue Reading
Book review: The Excitements by C. J. Wray
(courtesy Hachette Australia) Dancing deftly between the whimsical and the emotional weighty is a tricky thing to pull off in any novel. Tip too far either way, and the now-lesser part of the story feels pointless, a drag on a narrative that clearly wants to go one way in particular Continue Reading
UPCOMING READS: Two Kings by Holden Sheppard coming from Pantera Press
(courtesy official Holden Sheppard Twitter/X account) SNAPSHOTTwo Kings is a gritty and heartfelt gay coming-of-age story, set in the world of FIFO workers and tradies in Western Australia. Giacomo Brolo, aka Jack, is a mess, consumed by a self-loathing all too common for closeted men who have grown up in Continue Reading
So many SDCC2024 trailers! ST: Strange New Worlds S3, ST: Section 31, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power S2, Doctor Who + ST: Lower Decks S5
(via Shutterstock) San Diego Comic Con is one of the biggest events on the world pop culture calendar. Bestriding the zeitgeist like multi-headed entertainment colossus, SDCC has a ton of news and previews and sets the tone for much of the next year’s releases and buzz. SDCC 2024 was no Continue Reading