Eurovision 2022 – SparklyPrettyBriiiight

When everyone has left the stage … the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 grand final wrap-up

Posted on May 17, 2022May 15, 2023 by aussiemoose

The Eurovision Song Contest is over for another year. It’s sad, as always, because if there is one thing Eurovision does better than just about any other event, it’s remind us that good and wonderful things still exist in the world. Beset as we are by war, climate change, rising Continue Reading

#Eurovision 2022 – Italian cultural festival TV review: An Astrological Guide For Broken Hearts / Guida astrologica per cuori infranti (S1 & 2)

Posted on May 14, 2022May 14, 2022 by aussiemoose

The recipe for the average romantic comedy is relatively simple. Two people who meet-cute in the most magical or banal of circumstances whereby an immediate, irresistible connection is sparked, one which cannot, of course, be given into because of one major obstacle, or several, and which after some torturous will-they, Continue Reading

Whimsically powerful pop: My 5 favourite Eurovision songs of all time

Posted on May 13, 2022May 12, 2022 by aussiemoose

Like a lot of people I have been watching the Eurovision Song Contest for a great many years. During that time, I have fallen in love with a great many songs – contrary to what the naysayers and trolls say the contest produces far more catchy songs than it does Continue Reading

Road to Eurovision 2022: Week 7 – The Big 5 – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom (grand final)

Posted on May 8, 2022May 8, 2022 by aussiemoose

What is the Eurovision Song Contest?Started way back in 1956 as a way of drawing a fractured Europe back together with the healing power of music, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson – the contest is telecast in both English and French – is open to Continue Reading

#Eurovision 2022 – Italian cultural festival book review: The Eight Mountains (Le otto montagne) by Paolo Cognetti

Posted on May 7, 2022May 7, 2022 by aussiemoose

People often define themselves in terms of context and relationships, and both these important markers of human expression are on poignant display in The Eight Mountains (Le otto montagne) by Paolo Cognetti, a novel which explores how both impact the life of one young Italian man who is surrounded by Continue Reading

Road to Eurovision 2022: Week 6 – North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Sweden (semi-final 2, part 3) + Semi-final 2 top 10 picks

Posted on April 30, 2022May 14, 2022 by aussiemoose

#Eurovision 2022 – Italian cultural festival music review: Sangiovanni, Fedez + Achille Lauro + Orietta Berti, BLANCO, Colapesce + Dimartino, Capo Plaza

Posted on April 29, 2022April 27, 2022 by aussiemoose

The #1 position of a music chart is always a heady place to occupy. Reaching that coveted spot means lots and lots of people not only love your music but love it enough to stream it, buy it and keep playing it over and over; it makes sense, when selecting Continue Reading

Road to Eurovision 2022: Week 5 – Finland, Georgia, Ireland, Israel, Malta, Montenegro (semi-final 2, part 2)

Posted on April 23, 2022April 22, 2022 by aussiemoose

Road to Eurovision 2022: Week 4 – Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia (semi-final 2, part 1)

Posted on April 17, 2022April 14, 2022 by aussiemoose

Road to Eurovision 2022: Week 3 – Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine (semi-final 1, part 3) + Semi-final 1 top 10 picks

Posted on April 10, 2022May 1, 2022 by aussiemoose

Movie review: Wicked

(courtesy IMP Awards) Having the loftiest of your hopes and dreams fulfilled in life is a very rare thing. Oh, we are very good at going big and large when it comes to how good things can be or how they might play out – unless you’re a glass half-empty Continue Reading

Fun animation movie trailers x 4: Elio, The Bad Guys 2, Night of the Zoopocalypse + Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Please stop thinking animated films are just for kids. Yes, they are a perfect way to entertain, amuse and inform children and thank goodness for them during school holidays, long car trips and inordinate waits anywhere. But these gems of cinema also beautifully entertain adults too, and not just the Continue Reading

Festive book review: A Merry Little Christmas by Cathy Bramley

(courtesy Hachette Australia) There is an idea that if you’re writing an escapist story, then it must be purely froth and confection, its fairytale heart untroubled by the real issues of the world. And while, yes, a healthy amount of reality-defying escapism is just what the mental health-enhancing doctor ordered, Continue Reading

Movie review: And Mrs

(courtesy IMP Awards) When my parent died within 3 1/2 years of each other, the grief that enveloped me was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. It felt as if all the old certainties had been swept away and that all the things I knew and could count on were Continue Reading

Happy Christmas ads to all! John Lewis, Aldi Australia, Barbour, M & S Christmas Food, Sainsbury’s + Deutsche Telekom

(via Shutterstock) Yes, yes, I know, I know, Christmas os commercialised, we’ve lost the true spirit of the season etc etc blahedy-blah-blah and on and on … But honestly? I love Christmas ads. The good ones anyway. Sure, they’re trying to get you to buy something but they are often Continue Reading

Festive movie review: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

(courtesy IMP Awards) As a child of the Church (thought failed, ultimately, to stick in childhood), it’s always fascinated this reviewer how something as pure as belief in the goodness of a higher power, which should always elevate and enliven can somehow become a tool for oppressive, punitive religious expression. Continue Reading

Book review: A Recipe for Christmas by Jo Thomas

(courtesy Penguins Books Australia) Life is full of “It seemed like a good idea at the time” moments. We can, we believe anyway, have all the wisdom of Solomon and the insight of a god, in one crystal moment of absolute clarity and act accordingly, only to find not that Continue Reading

Festive movie review: Hot Frosty

Having your festive viewing expectations subverted is a rare and precious thing indeed. Much of the time in Christmas viewing land, what you see is what you get, and that is usually a good thing since you want fun, escapist entertainment with a heartwarming moral core, and that is precisely Continue Reading

Comedy review double: Season wrap-ups of Frasier (S2, E9-10) and Only Murders in the Building (S4, 9-10)

(courtesy IMP Awards) Frasier (S2, E9-10) If you’ve been paying attention , and for the sake of my robustly fragile writer’s ego, I hope you have, you will have noticed how thrilled I am that Frasier 2023, as it’s often termed, has well and truly come into its own in Continue Reading

Book review: The Secret Christmas Bookshop by Cressida McLaughlin

(courtesy Harper Collins Collins Australia) If there is one universal theme in the rich and varied storytelling of humanity, it is the need to belong. Sure, we all want to fall in love, to know connection and find our village, but at the heart of all these story types, is Continue Reading