Year: 2025

Just steps from the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and next door to the Anaheim Convention Centre, the Hilton Anaheim has long been a popular hotel destination for travellers to the region. It opened back in 1984 just in time for the last Los Angeles Olympics. So it’s fitting that they just completed a multi-million…

There’s a point every December when the sleigh bells start to feel a little too loud and the familiar holiday classics blur together. You’ve seen the same heartwarming arcs, the same snowy kisses, the same miraculous last-minute transformations. Sometimes you want a Christmas movie that doesn’t insist on comfort. You want something stranger, sharper, or…

There’s no shortage of controllers on the market these days, but for the most part, I find myself looking for another controller when I need something more. Sure, an extra controller is great for gaming with others, but the recent rise of pro-centric controllers has made not only competitive gaming but casual gaming more accessible…

iRobot’s Roomba range has long been synonymous with robot vacuums, and the new Roomba Max 705 positions itself as the company’s most powerful vacuum and mop robot to date. Aimed squarely at busy households and pet owners, it pairs dramatically increased suction with intelligent navigation and a self-emptying dock designed to deliver weeks of hands-free…

Close to the first anniversary of its initial release on PC and the Xbox Series X/S, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 came out on the PS5 earlier this December. I must admit, my experience with the game is quite limited. Friends have let me play around with the game, including the complete home setup (joystick and…

Every great Batman era begins the same way: with skepticism. Michael Keaton was dismissed for his comedic inclinations. Ben Affleck was written off as a miscast action star. Robert Pattinson was mocked for his Twilight past. Even Heath Ledger’s casting within the Batman franchise was met with intense trepidation before he ultimately redefined The Joker….

A little over a year ago, Disneyland’s iconic 1989 attraction Splash Mountain received a long overdue makeover when Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opened at the Anaheim, California theme park. The ride is the first to incorporate characters from Disney’s 2009 film The Princess and the Frog. Tiana – the film’s titular Princess – has also spread…

Amazon MGM Studios have unveiled a series of first-look stills for The Wrecking Crew, their action-comedy starring Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa, which is set to premiere on Prime Video on January 28th, 2026. Born from one of Bautista’s own tweets – he posted on X in 2021 “Just going to throw this out into the atmosphere and…

I can’t lie, I’m a sucker for Mortal Kombat. Call it nostalgia, brought on by the 1995 movie (insert MORTAL KOMBAAAATTT scream here), or the long list of arcade and console classics that inspired it. Now I get it, that movie doesn’t hold a candle to the games released before and since, but that was…

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found myself wanting to live more of a minimalist lifestyle. I want to be on my phone less. I don’t feel the need to have the latest and hottest new tech in the market, nor do I really want it. So this drive for minimalism makes the Sprout Maverick Hybrid…

Quiet, searching, and deeply felt, The History of Sound unfolds like a folk song passed carefully from hand to hand. Set in the aftermath of the First World War, Oliver Hermanus’ adaptation of Ben Shattuck’s short story traces the intimate bond between two young music students, Lionel and David, as their shared devotion to folk…

A love of music – or, more specifically, folk music – is the driving force behind the tender, heartbreaking romance at the core of The History of Sound, an ironically quiet tale of song collecting and enduring connection between two men in the early 1900s. The story is experienced predominantly through the life of Lionel…

Just as thrilling to look at as its two predecessors, but perhaps the most narratively frustrating of them all, James Cameron‘s Avatar: Fire and Ash continues to make a good case for theatrical 3D technology and IMAX screen formats, but, as with both 2009’s Avatar and 2022’s The Way of Water, if you take away…

It’s just over a week until Christmas and the AU Books Team have been busy making their lists, rating their books, and agonising over their choices for their favourite books of 2025. It’s never an easy task and it’s practically impossible to pick just one, so we let them pick a few.  Of course this…

We’ve had the pleasure of reviewing a few EPOS products over the years, most recently with the EPOS ADAPT E1 earbuds. While the EPOS range attempts to bring a general sense of quality and a list of premium features to workplace options, its expanding range seems to be ticking more and more boxes by the…

Thanks to Sony Pictures Australia, we have 5 double in-season passes (Admit 2) to see Jack Black and Paul Rudd in the movie they’re dying to remake – Anaconda – in Australian theatres from Boxing Day, December 26th, 2025. Doug (Jack Black) and Griff (Paul Rudd) have been best friends since they were kids, and…

Thanks to StudioCanal Australia and Think Tank Communications, we have 5 double in-season passes (Admit 2) to see the twisted new thriller The Housemaid, in Australian theatres from Boxing Day, December 26th, 2025, starring Amanda Seyfried, Sydney Sweeney and Brandon Sklenar, and directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, A Simple Favour). The Housemaid is a wildly…

Yerin Ha, Phoebe Tonkin, Danny & Michael Phillipou, Baz Luhrmann, Dichen Lachman, Shane Jacobson and Adam Liaw added to the 2026 AACTA Festival Program AACTA today announced the next wave of programming for the 2026 AACTA Festival, revealing new headline guests, exclusive first-look screenings, milestone celebrations and the recipients of the prestigious 2026 AACTA Byron…

MUBI is a place to discover ambitious films by visionary filmmakers, from iconic directors to emerging auteurs, all carefully chosen by MUBI’s curators. With MUBI GO, members in select countries can get a free ticket every week to see the best new films in cinemas. And Notebook explores all sides of cinema culture – both in…

Earlier this morning, an announcement was shared via the Biffy Clyro social media accounts that bassist James Johnston would not be joining the band on the upcoming tours.  The message, from James, shared the news that he has been struggling with mental health problems, which have led to addiction issues.  Deciding to address the problems…

Given the shameless pun that is its title, one needn’t worry about subtlety or nuance with a film like New Fears Eve. Whilst we are in the midst of a true appreciation for the horror genre and how deeply layered it can prove, there’s something refreshing about a gory slasher that follows a classic formula…

Rob Reiner‘s passing is a shock felt across the worlds of film and television. Known for directing such beloved classics as This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally…, Misery, and A Few Good Men, he leaves behind a body of work that spans genres, tones, and generations. Reiner’s…

Holly Cardamone won the 2024 Hawkeye Press Manuscript Development award for her novel, Summer, In Between. Described as a kind of modern mash-up of Aussie teenage classics, Looking for Alibrandi and Puberty Blues, Summer, In Between follows seventeen-year-old Cat Kelty, an ambitious and slightly spiky Italian-Australian girl who lives in a coastal holiday town. Cat is stressed about the impending…

It feels like forever since I’ve played a new Metroid Prime game, and then I realised, that’s because it’s been forever since we got one. Not counting 2023’s admittedly stellar Metroid Prime Remastered, we last touched base with this particular series in 2007 with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption on the Nintendo Wii. While it was far from…

After more than two years since playing in their home country, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s orchestral set at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Friday felt huge, immersive and made for the space. Joined by 29 players of Orchestra Victoria and led by conductor/musical director Chad Kelly, the band stretched tracks from Phantom…

Garbage played at the iconic Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on the last show of their Australian tour. The alt-rock veterans delivered a set with tension and precision. Shirley Manson was magnetic, her voice still cutting deep on “I Think I’m Paranoid” and “Stupid Girl”. Garbage’s sound was perfectly amplified around the Concert Hall with…

When Luke Harris accepts a temp job in disability support during his exam period, the biggest problem he anticipates is running out of time to study for his economics exams. But the job – looking after an autistic man named Phil while his brusque father, Jonathan, is at work – draws Luke back into the…

Jefferson White brings a quietly lived-in warmth to Drink and Be Merry, starring as Chet, a beleaguered bartender holding together a struggling New York dive bar in the days leading up to Christmas 2019. Stuck in a state of extended arrested development, Chet spends his nights caring for a group of misanthropic, aging regulars who…

The over-the-top beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake that dominated pop culture last year is still paying dividends for at least one of its participants. Following his viral Super Bowl performance, which centred around Kendrick’s now-signature Drake diss “Not Like Us”, the Compton emcee’s star has puffed right into the stratosphere. He now commands some…

Sofia Isella on her YOU’LL UNDERSTAND, DICK tour performed at The Roundhouse UNSW to an ecstatic Sydney audience. Isella’s musicality is even more striking in person. She shifts between violin, keys, and guitar with the focused ease of someone who grew up treating instruments like extra limbs. She has a tender connection with her fans,…