Year: 2014

There’s nothing better to do during winter than getting out of the rain and settling in to watch a movie and have a drink with friends. If you’re looking for a place that screens a range of classics and cult hits, the Golden Age Cinema & Bar in Sydney is a great choice. The intimately designed…

Earlier in the week we took you to T in the Park, an annual festival in Scotland – the biggest in the region. Over the three days we saw dozens of bands, and among them performances from the biggest and brightest stars around the world. But then there were the bands we hadn’t heard of…

A dark thread is strung throughout Devils Knot, the latest feature from Egoyan in which the unnerving act of a real-life case of child murder looms from beginning to end, with the sense of dread carried out well enough for the film to stick with you long after the credits. Unfortunately, awkward pacing speeds through…

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a huge surprise hit for Fox back in 2011. Tim Burton’s 2001 re-imagining of the 1968 original was a creative disaster, and no-one really expected the reboot to be a success. But the genius decision to cast performance capture legend Andy Serkis in the role of Caesar the…

With home viewing gradually becoming most viewers preferred way to see movies, digital downloads are understandably increasing in popularity. Two great upcoming options for digital download this month are indie comedy Happy Christmas and Bad Grandpa .5, an unrated and extended version of last year’s Bad Grandpa, with over 40 minutes of extra footage, outtakes and interviews. Happy Christmas boast an incredibly…

A sold out Enmore Theatre welcomed Aussie legends Something For Kate for their 20th anniversary tour, witnessing a set which spanned their consistently successful career. Gwendolyn Lee was on hand and brings you these images.

After a rainy day and night, the sun peered through the clouds in Scotland for the third and final day of T in the Park, which would see Arctic Monkeys close the festival’s main stage in typically rockin’ fashion, while Example, Disclosure and Sven Vath ensured there were ways to end the weekend for everyone….

After a day where the gods beamed their sun on the festival site, an ominous overcast morning proved that T in the Park’s second day wouldn’t be as kind. But with punters eagerly awaiting entry well before the gates opened, it doesn’t seem to be the Scottish way to let wet weather get in the…

The remotest of communities in Australia can breed the most intriguing and insightful art about life in such area. Through collaborative processes, Toby Finlayson, through Desert Pea Media, has released Song Nation, a compilation of songs trying to engage catalysts for social change amongst indigenous people. Philippe Perez spoke with Toby about the project. Tell…

D at Sea is a musician with a natural talent. With his clever acoustic covers of various metalcore bands, it’s safe to say that he’s someone that wants to stand out from the crowd with his amazing vocals. When I first came across his cover of a track by Bring Me The Horizon, I immediately fell in…

Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad (Tôkyô tawâ: Okan to boku to, tokidoki, oton) will warm your heart and tug at your heartstrings. The winner of the best film award at the Japanese Academy Awards as well as winning a host of others, is a slow-burning and detailed family drama. It’s also the…

Departures (Okuribito) is a simple, Japanese film about some big subjects: love, life and death. This existential family drama was the winner of the Best Foreign Film Oscar in 2009. It is also a subtle and nuanced story where a Zen-like air means that even though the final message is poignant and meaningful, it is…

Director Michael Winterbottom is no stranger to showcasing sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll in his work, as one of his most famous films to date is 24 Hour Party People. Four years after that was released came 9 Songs, a movie once described as the most explicit one in British film history. The controversial…

The Angriest Man In Brooklyn could be dubbed “The Diary Of A Mad Man”. The film is a straight-to-DVD release directed by Phil Alden Robinson and stars comedian, Robin Williams as one obnoxious lawyer. After being told he has 90 minutes left to live the irate curmudgeon engages in a frenzied, amazing race around New…

Lorde is barely even legal, but her music and live performance speaks volumes for someone so young. Filled with an energy that radiates outwardly you can’t help but be amazed and a little entranced by what you see on stage. Tonight would be first of two shows at the Hordern Pavilion for this New Zealand singer…

Now in its 21st year, T in the Park sits as the most established music festival in Scotland and alongside Glatsonbury, Leeds and Reading as one of the most well known annual music events in the United Kingdom. Its 2014 event – headlined by the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Calvin Harris, Scottish heroes Biffy Clyro,…

For those who are yet to experience a pop culture convention, The IRIS paid a visit to Oz Comic Con Melbourne this past weekend to experience what a convention is like on-the-ground and in the thick of it.

The music of Kathryn Rollins has taken a real right hand turn into a seductive tone with her latest single “Cut & Paste It”. While her previous work seemed focused on a few guitars and a rich booming voice, the paring back with this release allows a more delicate and dark style of songwriting. Kathryn…

It is impossible to deny that we are currently experiencing a golden age in television. Viewers can choose from a ridiculous amount of high quality programs, and tv shows seem to be taking over from films as the dominating medium of popular culture. Shows like Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and Mad Men have been thrilling audiences for years, and…

One of the many buzz bands making their Australian debut at this year’s Splendour in the Grass festival are New York duo Phantogram, an electronic outfit who made big waves this year with the release of their sophomore album Voices – in fact, we named it among our best albums of 2014 (so far) earlier…

While both music and visual art require a huge amount of creative talent, they both have polarising audiences at times. The NGV Ian Potter Centre is set to break all that down and explore further afield from the visual pieces that adorn its spaces with a new music, art and conversation series call Unplugged Live:…

Now in its 13th year, the Arab Film Festival is back for 2014 and lucky viewers in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra will get the chance throughout August to see some of the best films coming out of the region. Kicking off in Sydney from August 14th to 17th, the Festival will move to Melbourne from August…

Earlier this week we had the chance to discover Montreal based outfits Groenland and Misses Satchmo, while at the Montreal Jazz Festival. We also had the opportunity to talk to members of both groups while in the city to find out about their music, the festival and much more. You can watch both interviews here:…

Thankfully, Disney’s latest installment in the animated Tinker Bell series isn’t lacking the accessible and progressive social commentary like it used to, with Tinker Bell & The Pirate Fairy standing as one very well-crafted, cheeky, and inspired work of art aimed at imbuing young girls with something that has a bit more depth than your…

After debuting last week with the biggest opening weekend of the year with an incredible $8.80 million, Transformers: Age of Extinction has repeated at the top of the Australian box office by taking another $4.84 million over the past weekend. Even with strong competition from returning hits How to Train Your Dragon 2 and 22 Jump Street and relatively strong openings from Rio…

Here it is: the final installment in the Easy Money franchise: Life Deluxe. Old favourites are back, old scores need to be settled, and new players find themselves drawn into Sweden’s dark criminal underbelly. JW (Joel Kinnaman) is on the run after his successful robbery at the conclusion of Hard to Kill, and has made…

We all have our slight addictions, many of them relatively benign like coffee. For others like the protagonists of Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography, the most recent production in Perth Theatre Company’s 2014 season, they are more extreme and not without their consequences – whether it be his addiction to hardcore pornography on the Internet…

Larry heath sits down with two parts of Melbourne’s Wagons during the Montreal Jazz Festival to talk about their return to Canada and their Montreal debut. We reflect on their recently completed Australian tour for their latest record Acid Rain and Sugar Cane (Out Now), what it’s like being on the road for Henry as…

It wasn’t that long ago that Annie Clark – aka St Vincent – was in Australia as part of VIVID Festival, continuing the international celebratory tour for her eponymous fourth solo album. And this week, the run of shows brought her to Quebec in Canada for a special show as part of the Montreal Jazz…

To say Irreversible is tough viewing is an understatement to say the least. When first released in 2002 the film was both universally acclaimed and condemned due to its confronting nature, and now, 12 years on from its initial release, the film is no less threatening. Given that Irreversible deals with unadulterated violence and brutal…