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There is a sentiment going around at the moment, often expressed by critics of conservative persuasion, that comedy is not what it used to be and our PC-obsessed world is full of righteous goody-goodies who can’t take a joke. Many conversations have been had, and countless words written, arguing that humour today is more watered
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The first appearance of the miniature superhero Ant-Man was in a 1962 comic book called Tales to Astonish, published five years after The Incredible Shrinking Man arrived in cinemas. This classic midnight movie is famous for scenes featuring the titular protagonist battling a spider with a pin raided from a sewing kit, and navigating comparatively huge household
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By Daily Review
The board of Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has announced the appointment of Al Cossar as the festival’s new artistic director. He takes up the position formally in October. Cossar has been acting as interim artistic director of this year’s festival for the outgoing MIFF director, Michelle Carey, who took maternity leave in October 2017. She has held the
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By Helen Razer
Last night, dozens of Australians gave in to the choreography of the Logies. There are reports today that the spectacle is now seen as a “joke”, but I do not fall in with this assessment. This is not the camp of Eurovision, undisturbed despite its self-awareness. This is not the Brownlow medal red carpet parade of
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To say that Hannah Gadsby’s Netflix comedy special Nanette leaves a lasting impression is to put it very, very lightly. I’ve watched this extraordinary show twice, on both occasions fighting back tears in its final minutes, struck by a range of emotions: shame, shock, consternation, compassion, something resembling hope for a brighter future. Taking the
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By Helen Razer
The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of ladies struggling to Lean In. This narrow principle informs the ABC’s newest “factual” blockbuster, Back In Time For Dinner, just as it has come to inform all entertainment aimed at the female viewer white and/or wealthy enough not to have noticed that the West
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By Bo Svoronos
Sydney’s Chinatown is a familiar place to me. I know most of the turns, food courts and spruiker scripts like a good friend thinks they know another’s sensibilities. It’s a place I’m accustomed to since I began truanting high school as a 14 year old in the mid-eighties. After dropping out of school I scored a
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The actor David Wenham’s feature film directorial debut, last year’s Ellipsis, is a love letter to Sydney in the form of a ‘night on the town’ story following two potential lovers, who spend an evening chatting and bonding. It is a classy and cultured affair, told in a wandering Richard Linklater or Woody Allen-esque style,
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Director Rachel Perkins’ six-part ABC TV series Mystery Road is the third instalment in the titular franchise, following two hardboiled movies from filmmaker Ivan Sen and star Aaron Pedersen – including the terrific, big thinking neo-noir/western Goldstone. Among Mystery Road’s many virtues is a gravitas-weeping performance from Pedersen as outback detective Jay Swan, the actor
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With the addition of the Pete Evans-produced health documentary The Magic Pill to its library, Netflix continue a slate of commissions and acquisitions that are either bold or tone deaf, depending on your perspective. See also: the second season to the controversial 13 Reasons Why, among the most socially irresponsible television shows of the 21st
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