Year: 2016

If I wasn’t awake by the time EA’s press conference began this morning, I certainly was when the Star Wars theme blared through my headphones to herald a change of topic. EA gave a quick look at a number of Star Wars games they have in the pipe, including a follow up to last year’s Star Wars Battlefront at…

Electronic Arts have revealed a huge push towards the esports market with plans for major tournaments and big money prize pools, plus publisher support for community- and user-staged events.

FIFA 17 is set to introduce a complete story-based singleplayer mode according to a trailer released at the EA Play press conference ahead of E3 2016. Dubbed “The Journey”, the mode will take players through all of the trials and tribulations that come with being a Premier League footballer.

One of the biggest games to appear at the EA Play event ahead of E3 this year had to be Mass Effect Andromeda, and Bioware didn’t disappoint.

Respawn’s Vince Zampella has introduced two new trailers for the upcoming Titanfall 2 at the EA Play press conference, including a complete single player campaign and a look at the game’s multiplayer modes.

In a village in the north of Turkey, Lale and her four sisters innocently celebrate the end of the school year at the beach with some boys. The supposed debauchery of their actions causes their home to progressively transform into a prison; classes on housework and cooking replace school, and marriages are arranged. The five…

Defiance in the face of constraint brought on by stringent cultural convention is a favourite topic for Sydney Film Festival year in and year out. Falling into that category this year is Turkish award-winner Mustang which, following last year’s release, picked up the coveted Cannes Directors’ Fortnight prize, four Césars and an Oscar nomination, well…

In The Block Universe time happens simultaneously, so just as you’re reading this interview every other moment in the history of Time is also happening exactly now. Scary huh? We sat down with Briallen Clarke, who stars in the premiere of this new Australian work, to talk about the play’s existential time concept. So… Could you…

There’s a sweet tenderness behind Hew Parham‘s popular clown character of Rudi. As the audience came to realise through the duration of Rudi’s The Rinse Cycle last night at the Festival Centre’s Artspace, Rudi is much more than a young clown put on stage to make us laugh. Those who were at the Cabaret Festival’s Variety Gala on…

Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II is set for a radical makeover in a new production for Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre opening this July. Adapted by Australia’s Anthony Weigh, who is currently an Associate Artist at the renowned Donmar Warehouse Theatre in London, this Edward II speaks with a contemporary voice, referencing 21st century lust and politics. Unlike…

What happens when some of the top chefs from Sydney and the Hunter Valley are split into two teams and tasked with battling it out in the name of charity? I found out last weekend while up in the Hunter for the Hunter Culinary Association’s (HCA) 7th Annual Food Fight. The event aimed to raise…

What would an Almodovar film be like without the major presence of women? Certainly not an Almodovar film, that’s for sure. And it is a delight to see him back in his normal ways of female-centric stories that made him renowned and acclaimed around the world by audiences and critics over. Films of his like…

Any documentary ambitious enough to tackle different facets and implications of the “internet” is going to fall short of something. The single most influential creation of the past few decades has grown into such an impossibly complex and overwhelming force that it would be pure insanity to think one could encapsulate all its infinite intricacies…

The Adelaide Cabaret Festival is officially GO, after a packed out Adelaide Festival Theatre enjoyed a night of entertainment at the festival’s annual gala performance overnight. The show gave the audience just a taste of what’s to come over the next few weeks of shows, with various local Australian and international artists treading the stage…

This week in the music industry: the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) released their market report on the global performance of independent record labels in 2015 and fraud tickets for Dark Mofo are allegedly circulating the internet. Worldwide Independent Market Report  For the first time ever, the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) has been able to extract the true market…

Today, the 2016 Barunga Festival kicks off for another huge year of cross-cultural celebration and collaboration. This year’s theme is all about ‘Celebrating Women’ and the festival’s music line up definitely fits the bill, with some talented ladies in the mix with some of the NT’s best. Ahead of her debut appearance at the festival, I…

BADBADNOTGOOD recently showed off their latest cut of musical goodness in a recent collaboration with Chicago rapper Mick Jenkins, on “Hyssop of Love”. The track earned its Australian premiere on triple j overnight and has been something of an instant earworm of a tune for us! Jenkins’ rap flow snatches back and forth, firmly establishing a presence…

Szymon‘s posthumous Tigersapp album was quick to envelop listeners in its sublimely constructed world of folk, pop and electronica upon its August 2015 release. A stunning musical offering from a talented creative, Tigersapp unsurprisingly reaped in the critical acclaim (including an ARIA Award nomination and a spot on this year’s Australian Music Prize nominee list). While existing as…

Glass Animals have continued to unfurl the craziness surrounding their sophomore album How To Be a Human Being in the release of the music video for “Life Itself”. It’s an exciting time to be an Australian Glass Animals fan, with the four-piece of course, heading out our way next month ahead of the album’s August release. Says…

From the time you first heard the opening vocals on “Sweet Disposition”, you knew The Temper Trap had just that little something that was going to differentiate them from the rest of the pack. A legitimate force when they released their debut LP Conditions, the band lost their way with their experimental, breaking-from-the-mould self titled…

Over the weekend, as they celebrated the release of the Sophomore LP Treasure House – and just a few hours before they were set to play their first show in support of it at Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Spain – I sat down with UK duo Cat’s Eyes. Made up of Faris Badwan (best known for his…

In this issue: Bands and Artists, old and new comers this week! Rock out to some Garbage or relax to The Temper Trap, or give it all a listen! FATHERDUDE Harlem-based breakout artist Fatherdude releases his fresh EP, The Balance, today! THE GOOCH PALMS The Gooch Palms release their much-anticipated sophomore album Introverted Extroverts on Wednesday, June…

Simply put, Swiss Army Man is a story about how a man, whilst lost and trapped on an island, befriends a seemingly magical corpse in order to find his way back to civilisation. However, this film is far more than that, it’s an examination of a multitude of themes. A comedy, a drama,a tale of friendship…

Universal will be bringing Matt Damon and Alicia Vikander down under next month to promote the release of their new Jason Bourne film. The pair will walk the red carpet at the film’s Australian Premiere on Sunday July 3rd at Hoyts Entertainment Quarter in Sydney. It has been fourteen years since The Bourne Identity, but Damon assures fans…

Between Red Christmas, High-Rise and Patchwork, the 2016 Sydney Film Festival is delivering some really solid offerings for horror movie fans. Fergus Halliday caught up with the Sean Byrne, the director of The Devil’s Candy, to talk about the film’s appearance at the festival, the film’s origins and the state of Australian horror. I wanted to start by…

Stephen Sewell‘s erotic political thriller Embedded sees a former-war correspondent meet an alluring, enigmatic woman at a party, before a dangerous power play engulfs them both. Fergus Halliday caught up with Stephen in the lead-up to the film’s screening at the Sydney Film Festival and talked it’s origins and the ideas the film dissects. Where did…

Consider yourself a reality TV junkie? Are you a Foxtel subscriber? If you’ve said yes to both, then you’re in for a treat. Foxtel announced on Tuesday that customers who are subscribed to the network with an additional subscription package including the channel E! Entertainment Television* will be able to access the new NBC Universal…

Following its premiere as the opening night film of the 63rd annual Sydney Film Festival, The Iris sought to learn more about Goldstone from Director Ivan Sen. Chatting character, corruption, representation and scale, Sen gives us further insight into the follow-up to 2013’s universally acclaimed Mystery Road, as well as discussing how his direction has…

Palace Cinema’s third annual Scandinavian Film Festival, sponsored by Volvo, opens around the country this July, offering a selection of 22 films from Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland. Director Rune Denstad Langlo‘s sharp and insightful black comedy, Welcome to Norway will open the festival. The film follows an aspiring hotel owner who turns his half-built…

Crowdfunded sci-fi action comedy, Lazer Team is making its way down under. The cinematic lovechild of Youtube’s Rooster Teeth, Lazer Team, is releasing to home video in Australia following box office success through its partnership with the cinema-on-demand platform Tugg. Lazer Team follows four small-town friends who stumble upon an alien crash site containing a segmented alien…