Year: 2025

Japan’s spirituality is deeply connected to nature, tradition, and quiet reverence. Among the most iconic cultural sites are its many shrines. These sacred places are not just tourist stops. They offer a chance to witness rituals, observe architecture, and understand centuries-old beliefs in a living form. Travelers using an esim for Japan travel can easily…

M3GAN 2.0 is hyping up its central battle of A.I. killbots as “This Bitch versus That Bitch.” But which bitch is which? The anticipated sequel brings back the the murderous doll who captivated pop culture in 2023, and this time around M3GAN has to contend with AMELIA, a military-grade weapon and the ultimate killer infiltration…

Acclaimed biographer Jacqueline Kent explores the left wing movement through the lens of women writers in her latest biography Inconvenient Women: Australian Radical Writers 1900 – 1970, tracking the lives and works of prominent authors and poets such as Mary Gilmore, Katherine Susannah Prichard, Kath Walker and Dorothy Hewitt among many others. In her introduction…

Whilst the original M3GAN was sold as a horror film, its camp sensibilities ultimately shone through, turning its titular killer “doll” from a slayer to an outright slay.  It had tense set-pieces and a terrifying mentality, but it found its personality sat more comfortably in the space of a meditation on A.I. and technology through…

Naarm’s Duxie Franklin has a gift for creating upbeat earworms, and she strikes again with her new single, “Wasting Time”, which we are thrilled to be premiering ahead of its release on Friday. The single is taken from her forthcoming EP, In The Pool, Wasting Time, which will drop on the 18th of July. I…

Based on the story of the Mitford sisters, Outrageous follows six sisters who refuse to play by the rules and whose often-scandalous lives made headlines around the world. Set in the 1930s, it is a tale of betrayal, scandal, heartache and even imprisonment. Following the show’s release on BritBox in North America and UKTV’s U and…

Atmospheric in a strange, almost empty way, The Sun Was Electric Light is the debut novel from Australian author Rachel Morton. As the winner of the 2024 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, it may come as no surprise to hear that this one is something truly special, meditative and evocative – or that this uniqueness comes at…

On the eve of their Glastonbury appearance this Friday, Scottish rock gods Biffy Clyro have just announced their upcoming album, Futique.  The will be the tenth studio by the trio, almost exactly four years since the release of “The Myth of the Happily Ever After” which came out back in October 2021. Earlier this month…

Set to open next year, Universal Studios Hollywood has finally revealed more information about the park’s first ever high-speed outdoor roller coaster. Here’s everything we know! The ride is called Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, inspired by Universal’s endlessly popular Fast & Furious franchise. According to its press release, the coaster “will rocket guests up…

In 2022, when cinemas were still largely recovering from the pandemic and blockbuster viewing wasn’t guaranteed, director Joseph Kosinski (and Tom Cruise) revitalized such a brand with Top Gun: Maverick.  It was undeniably thrilling popcorn entertainment that, with its heart, humour, action and dramatic stakes, checked all the boxes for each major demographic, ultimately resulting…

Del Water Gap is heading back to Australia this September for a run of headline shows, following the announcement of his SummerSalt festival appearances earlier this year. The Brooklyn-based songwriter and producer will play three headline dates only, Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney, in between sets at Torquay, Tamborine, Lake Macquarie and Fremantle as part of…

It’s been a big week for Melbourne/Naarm-based artist REDD. Last Friday, they released their debut mixtape RAUNCH., and shared the official video for their smoking new single “BAD DAYS.”. They also announced a RAUNCH. Mixtape Tour, including free headline shows in Melbourne and Sydney next month. We’ve got the lowdown on the mixtape, the tour,…

Motorola is quietly making waves again in the mid-range smartphone market, and the Edge 60 Fusion is proof that you don’t need to fork out a fortune for a premium experience. Arriving a year after the well-received Edge 50 Fusion, this update keeps the stylish design but packs in some hefty upgrades, without bumping up…

I don’t know what it is about flossing that makes it feel like such a tedious task for me. I know that I have to do it, and I do every day, but if I’m being honest, it feels time-consuming and can sometimes be a bit messy. I knew that water flossers have been in…

What’s it like when we reach ‘the other side’? JP Scesniak of Origami Ghosts poses just that question on his fast-paced odyssey, “Heaven’s Gate”, taken from Origami Ghosts’ new folky jangle-pop album, A Fine Time to Talk About Nothing, due to be released on the 8th of August. We are super excited to be premiering this…

In the lead-up to the launch of the first Death Stranding back in 2019, it’s safe to say the stakes were high. Hideo Kojima had left Konami, founded his own development company in Kojima Productions Co., Ltd. and created one of the more ambiguous games we had seen in quite some time. Was it a horror…

AC/DC are “Back In Black” for the first time since 2015, the world’s greatest and iconic rock band have just announced their long-awaited return to home soil with the Power Up 2025 Tour. After conquering stages across Europe and the Americas, the legendary Aussie rockers are bringing their high-voltage performance back to where it all…

Pop princess Addison Rae announced her much-anticipated debut Australian tour last week, playing extremely intimate venues in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Whilst fans are excited, snagging tickets has been no easy task, with many questioning the choice of venue sizing. Rae rose to fame on TikTok in 2019, where she was known for dancing. Her…

There is no doubt that Agatha Christie is one of the most influential authors in the mystery genre. Her work is beloved all over the world, with adaptations of her stories spanning across decades on screen and on stage. There is also such an innate human curiosity in finding a sense of justice and resolve,…

Gears of War is back again, and boy, does it feel strange to talk about its availability on the PlayStation 5. Gears of War: Reloaded is essentially a remaster of the original Gears of War, now polished and made available on a new platform. We got the chance to partake in the recent beta, which…

I must say, the Nintendo Switch got it right with the original Pro Controller. Maybe it was the uncomfortable Joy-Cons, which were way too small, but after begging for an alternative, the Pro Controller brought the goods. The Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller feels like Nintendo understood what we were already happy with. With a…

We recently reviewed the Nintendo Switch 2 and thought it would be a good idea to include this in our main review, as one comprehensive article that covers all accessories. But given that the Nintendo Switch 2 Camera doesn’t come with the console, we feel it deserves its own review. The Nintendo Switch 2 Camera…

It’s hard to believe the original Nintendo Switch was released back in 2017. It’s a true testament to that console that it lasted this long and remained popular practically until the release of the Nintendo Switch 2. That being said, this new console, while pushing the platform forward in terms of its outright grunt, also…

Former Wicked Whispers frontman Michael Robert Murphy launched his beautiful debut album, Chaos Magick last Friday. Michael played all the instruments on the album, and did all the arranging himself. He did however, rope in a few mates to help out on the odd track, including Will Sergeant from Echo and the Bunnymen, and Ian Skelly…

In one of the more interesting reviews I’ve had to write in a while, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour serves as an introductory guide to using and learning about your brand-new console. In certain ways, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour does its job well. Through a series of mini-games and quizzes, you not only learn about…

If you can believe it, CATS is now over 40 years old. One of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s signature stage musicals (on this rare occasion, without artistic teammate, Tim Rice), CATS has been around the world touring every city imaginable including Paris, London, New York, Athens, Bangkok, Tokyo, Amsterdam, and back now to Australia after tours…

Cloud Control celebrated 15 years of their debut album Bliss Release to a sold out Sydney’s Enmore Theatre on a freezing Friday night sounding as good as ever. The show kicked off with “Dojo Rising” off their 2013 release Dream Cave, “Rainbow City” and “The Smoke, The Feeling” before breaking into their classic award winning…

Following their chat earlier in the year when the M3GAN 2.0 trailer was released, Peter Gray and director Gerard Johnstone are speaking once again as the sequel to the acclaimed science fiction horror film M3GAN constructs itself for release. As the killer doll faces a new threat – a military robot called AMELIA (autonomous military…

The murderous doll who captivated pop culture in 2023 is back. And this time she’s not alone. The original creative team behind that phenomenon – led by horror titans James Wan for Atomic Monster, Jason Blum for Blumhouse and writer-director Gerard Johnstone – reboot an all-new wild chapter in A.I. mayhem with M3GAN 2.0. Two…

The fourth mighty iteration of everyone’s favourite vault-huntin’ fantastical looter shooter is upon us! Set to release for Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC (with Nintendo Switch 2 at a later date), Borderlands 4 seeks to impress with elevated scale, story and of course gunplay among many new features for you harness in a…