Year: 2015

Steven Spielberg’s legendary Jaws is about to become much, much more terrifying with an immersive cinematic experience put on by Art & About Sydney and Golden Age Cinema next January. The concept is fairly simple: the screening will take place at Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool right by Sydney Harbour on Woolloomooloo Bay and attendees can…

A week ago, we gave you our impressions of Netflix’s new crime drama Narcos and came away impressed and eager to see where the series would go. A week later we’ve had time to sit down and work our way through the first season of the show and while we still feel it’s a strong…

Last week we brought you our review of Kill Me Three Times, and this week, we’ve got some behind the scenes clips and images from the film’s director Kriv Stenders, who also directed Red Dog. In an effort to stay on top of the developments in technology, the film debuts on digital platforms, DVD and…

Tearaway Unfolded, an expansion of the award-winning Tearaway game, is another inventive gem from the Media Molecule team which has now been released for Playstation 4. While the game is busy attracting acclaim from around the world, mirroring the reception the original Tearaway received in 2013, we at The Iris want to give you a…

A feature film is on its way based on the documentary Our Brand Is Crisis, which focuses on the use of American political campaign strategies in South America. The film, which will be named after the original, stars Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie and is set for release at the end of October.  Today…

Late last week, we got a chance to chat to Rex Crowle from Media Molecule about the developer’s upcoming title, Tearaway: Unfolded.  We asked him about the decisions that go into making a game as unique as Tearaway and how Media Molecule approach the task of moving the game, built for the PSVita, to a new home…

It’s been a slow few weeks at the box office. Despite a slew of new releases, none have really made a huge impact and its been 6 weeks since anything has broken $4 million. Enter Straight Outta Compton, F. Gary Gray’s highly anticipated biopic on prolific hip-hop group N.W.A.. The Hip-Hop drama had a $60 million opening…

Peace Officer is one scary film and it’s not even a horror movie. This documentary is a timely and important one about the militarisation of police in the United States. It’s a fascinating, informative and balanced look at a complex subject and one that manages to hit all of the right notes. The story focuses…

It’s easy to assume that all bands start off with an influence of some sort. Whether it’s from the music they grew up listening to or the people that have influenced them to start their own band, there is no conventional way of making music; you simply do it because you love it. Carrying over…

Synth-pop solo artist BP Valenzuela, had a chat with Hello Asia editor Johnny Au during her time at Music Matters in Singapore to discuss her new album The Neon Hour. This is the first time the nineteen-year old has performed outside of her home in the Philippines. 2015 has been a huge year for the…

Hong Kong singer and actress Shiga Lin sat down with Hello Asia editor Johnny Au and chatted about her upcoming Australian tour this September to Melbourne, her budding acting career, work on her fourth album and some non-music related plans for the rest of 2015. Shiga Lin is currently working on her fourth album, she…

Japanese Film Festival Classics program returns to 2015 with an array of the best Japanese films selected from the works of renowned filmmaker, Kon Ichikawa. This tribute highlights Ichikawa significance in moulding the style of 20th Century Japanese films. All screenings are free and are to be held in the Domain Theatre, featuring a total…

Singapore, save the date! On January 30th, the annual St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival will be heading back to The Meadow, Gardens by The Bay. 2016’s lineup is ready to showcase the best international and local talent. The full lineup will be announced on September 22nd. The sixth edition of this annual event in Singapore will…

Over the past two years, Northlane‘s rise to the top has been a public one – from ARIA and triple j award nominations to being added to a slew of festivals and tours. And then, earlier this year, their brand new record Node debuted at number one on the ARIA charts. And now this week,…

For those pining for more Geralt of Rivia in their lives, CD Projekt Red have announced that Hearts of Stone, the first story-driven expansion for their fantasy RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, will release October 13. Geralt has been hired to take down a bandit captain named Olgierd von Everec, who is supposedly immortal. Geralt…

TV series Empire caused quite a stir with it’s first season, quickly becoming one of the most talked about shows of the year and establishing itself as a firm player amongst the likes of network big guns like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. Created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong with stand-out performances…

I’ve been thinking for a few days now about how I was going to approach my Mad Max review. I’ve found it an incredibly difficult game to review, for a number of reasons. It lacks the punch of Mad Max Fury Road and the vision of Shadow of Mordor. But it’s not bad. In fact,…

On Sunday 18th October at Village Cinemas Crown in Melbourne, the cast of new comedy-drama The Dressmaker will be on hand at a red carpet premiere. The impressive line-up includes Liam Hemsworth and co-stars Judy Davis, Hugo Weaving, and Sarah Snook. What’s more is that the highly acclaimed filmmaking team will also be in attendance,…

Need to catch a TV break and don’t know what to watch? Simon takes us through his top picks on must-see shows and films for the week. Click through to see what’s showing for your entertainment needs…. Wednesday 9th September 2015 9/11: The Lost Hero-ABC2-9.20pm AEST There are innumerable tales of heroism from 9/11; with…

The title of this film doesn’t really give much of an insight into its narrative and in fact, the word “life” has a bit of a double entendre. It couples as both the act of existing as well as the name of the publication that one of our leads works for. Not so surprisingly though,…

A deeply emotional and captivating film, Mia Madre (My Mother) stands as what is bound to be one of the many beautifully told Italian films on offer for the Lavazza Italian Film Festival. Having won awards from the likes of the Cannes Film Festival 2015 (Prize of the Ecumenical Jury), and being directed by Nanni…

Sunday evening saw Joshua Radin kick off his Australian tour with an intimate gig at Perth’s Rosemount Hotel. It might have been a Sunday night and it might have been father’s day but that didn’t stop a sizeable crowd come out for Radin’s first ever gig in Perth; “the chillest place on earth” apparently. Opening…

1996 classic Trainspotting, a landmark achievement in raw British cinema, has remained the crowning achievement of Director Danny Boyle. Adapted from Irvine Welsh’s novel of the same name almost two decades ago, the black comedy is a reference point for the careers of all involved, particularly Ewan McGregor who played Renton, one of the four…

Variety is reporting that Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of the Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events book series is moving closer to production. Paramount Pictures, who also ran the ship on the last adaptation – the 2004 film starring Jim Carrey – have hired Mark Hudis (True Blood) as the showrunner and Barry Sonnenfeld to…

Kill Me Three Times is a black comedy/thriller that sees professional assassin Charlie Wolfe (Simon Pegg) tangled up in a web of deception tying together the rural lives of a dentist (Sullivan Stapleton), a bartender (Callan Mulvey) and his lover (Alice Braga) in Western Australia. Unfortunately, despite the messy fun of this premise and the…

In a small town in America’s Bible belt, Christianity and tradition reign supreme. For the past 88 years a community in the Holy City of the Wichitas have staged an Easter passion play/pageant that once saw audiences number the tens of thousands. Jesus Town USA is a documentary that is warm and sweet-enough but can…

“I wouldn’t wish what I went through on my worst enemy… but it’s brought you all here today.” Peter Greste knows that journalists don’t have the best reputation at the moment. He even puts them up with used car salesmen and politicians in public opinion. But all jokes aside, Greste spoke at this year’s Festival…

They’ve been coined “the next Tame Impala” and aside from sharing a home city of Perth, Methyl Ethel are experiencing a similar national hype with the former. The three-piece played to a packed room at Sydney’s Newtown Social Club, following a performance at the weekend’s Volumes Festival. Despite the crowd, they remained humble and ran their…

Pixels is not your usual alien invasion fare type film. It’s also not your usual Adam Sandler type film. And it’s also not your usual family type film either. You would think that being unusual would work in its favour but sadly it doesn’t. What this film does have is some funny moments, some really…

In our 75th instalment of “Stumbled Upon”, we meet Stephen and Simon from I’m Not A Band an electro pop act from Berlin and chat about their latest track, ’Cages’. Musician/Band Name: I’m Not A Band Website / Social Media: www.imnotaband.com Facebook / Soundcloud Genre: Alternative Electro Pop Members & their roles: Stephan Jung: Violin,…