Year: 2025

One of the great things about documentaries such as The Rose: Come Back to Me is that it both provides further insight into a rock outfit for the legions of fans, as well as introducing uninitiated viewers into a world that proves endlessly fascinating.  I am personally of the latter, as going into this film,…

Intentionally testing audience patience across its increasingly bizarre, tension-laced 100 minutes, Lorcan Finnegan‘s Australian thriller The Surfer is more about breaking points than Point Break as it mashes surfing culture localism and toxic masculinity. Thomas Martin‘s script doesn’t give specific names to the majority of its players, instead referring to the film’s protagonist as simply…

We’ve reached the midpoint in June, and we’ve added ten more tracks to our Discovery playlist on Spotify and Apple Music, including one track that we premiered earlier in the week. Yes indeed, Friday the 13th can be lucky for some. Our track of the week goes to Meanjin’s Full Flower Moon Band, with their new…

As a genre, hardcore is having a serious moment right now. Bands like Turnstile and SPEED are pushing boundaries and bringing a raw intensity to global stages, shining a newfound spotlight on a genre that’s long thrived in the underground. With over twenty years in the game, Melbourne hardcore veterans Iron Mind have returned with…

If hearing the title I Was Born This Way immediately brings to mind the Lady Gaga song “Born This Way”, the coincidence is intentional.  Gaga, one of the few interviewees featured in Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard‘s beautiful, insightful documentary, talks about how Carl Bean‘s legacy influenced her songwriting, as he did for the likes…

The female matchmaker.  The handsome singleton.  And her familiar ex-boyfriend. The set-up feels ripe for the most standard of romantic comedy practices, and perhaps in the hands of a more traditionally-minded writer/director that’s what we would have received.  But under Celine Song (Past Lives), Materialists defies genre expectation with a meditation on love and its…

Set in the heart of the San Gabriel Valley and based on a harrowing true story, Rosemead is a gripping, emotionally charged portrait of a mother’s love pushed to its limits. Lucy Liu delivers a transformative performance as a terminally ill Chinese immigrant who uncovers her teenage son’s disturbing fixation with mass shootings. As her health deteriorates, she takes…

A self-awareness regarding certain specifications in getting his film made along with a universality in conjunction with its narrative, writer/director Alireza Khatami goes beyond genre conventions with The Things You Kill, a twisted thriller that breaks apart what it is to transform. At one point in the film, the language professor at the centre of…

OPPO is no stranger to a wide variety of entry-level, mid-range, and even premium phones for various users and budgets. Their newest entry-level option, the A5 Pro 5G, proves to be a decent choice in certain areas. For A$399, you’re getting fantastic battery life, 45W SUPERVOOC fast charging, and plenty of software support for added…

Melbourne artist Jacuqi Lumsden has today released her second single of the year, the evocative “Pretending Season”. The track follows “I Love Me” which was released in February. We are buzzed today to be premiering the video, ahead of its release tomorrow. The track journeys through themes of relationships, and the fears we often have…

Kendrick Lamar is touching down this December, bringing the acclaimed Grand National Tour to select Australian stadiums. After a string of sold-out shows across North America and a massive run through Europe and the UK with SZA, Kendrick will play only two solo headline dates in Melbourne and Sydney. In addition to these shows, he’ll…

The king of art-pop weirdness David Byrne is heading back to Australia and New Zealand in January 2026, touring a brand new live show off the back of his upcoming album Who Is The Sky?, out 5 September via Remote Control / Matador. It’s his first new record in eight years, and the accompanying live…

It feels an absolute age since Scottish rock gods Biffy Clyro last released new music, with nothing since 2021’s album ‘The Myth of the Happily Ever After’.  At long last, happily, the drought is broken and the trio are back with the release of their new track, “A Little Love”. Debuted at a secret gig…

At first, I felt a little out of place. When I pulled up the opulent driveaway to the front doors of the JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort & Spa, I came to a stop besides a shiny, new, red Ferrari. I looked down on the flashy vehicle from the seat of my beat-up old Toyota…

This interview contains SPOILERS. As a Brisbane boy in the early stages of his career, Liam Greinke is all too aware how lucky he is to be able to share the screen with Jai Courtney in the serial killer-cum-shark attack thriller Dangerous Animals – even if he doesn’t make it to the final frame! Talking…

It’s been a whole decade since Australian genre director Sean Byrne graced the screens with his unique brand of horror with The Devil’s Candy.  But proving the wait has been worth it, he has unleashed a series of Dangerous Animals into theatres with his latest outing – a relentless, edge-of-your-seat survival horror starring Hassie Harrison,…

As far as hair-brained schemes go, Beat The Lotto has this down pat. The story of how a syndicate in Ireland tried to rig the lotto, this documentary is an absolutely thrilling spectacle that will leave you guessing right up until the very end. Ross Whitaker does an excellent job of telling this stranger than…

It feels inevitable that something like Together will earn comparisons to last year’s The Substance, purely off the fact that the horror it indulges in – that would be the body variety – escalates considerably leading into its wild climax.  Sure, The Substance being a great example of body horror is all well and good,…

This year’s Beer and BBQ Festival marked ten years of the event, and was the final one in the current format. Organisers have announced that the event will continue on in some form that is still to be decided. With that in mind, there was a mixture of celebration and sadness on the final day…

Suki Waterhouse made her RISING debut on Friday night with a sold-out show at Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre. Touring latest album Memoir of a Sparklemuffin, she moved through a lush set that felt like stepping into a smoky ’70s soft rock dream. With a set full of alt-pop tracks like “On This Love” and “Dream Woman”,…

The feeling that your childhood ride-or-die will remain so is something that many of us – if not all – have experienced.  But whether it’s through distance or altering priorities, it’s a common practice that adulthood (and everything that comes with growing up) can wedge itself between even the strongest of connections, and it’s that…

Whilst it’s predominantly the House of Mouse that have been transforming their animated back catalogue into live-action features that have all varied in their quality output, DreamWorks have entered the chat with one of their most ambitious updates in How to Train Your Dragon.  Hoping they can avoid a lot of the soulless critiques that…

A film that embraces a more eclectic hobby over ridiculing its eccentricities, Horsegirls is a sweet natured drama that speaks to the importance of independence and inclusivity. Written and directed by Lauren Meyering, Horsegirls embraces the defiance of its lead character, Margarita (so beautifully embodied by Lillian Carrier), and how her perceived fragility gives way…

While Skullcandy have certainly been around for a while with a diverse range of headphones, earbuds, and everything in between, their newest pair of earbuds has taken a bit of a detour from the norm. Pairing up with Bose to deliver a new form of high-fidelity audio proves Skullcandy isn’t messing around this time, providing…

It is incredible to think that Edna O’Brien grew up in a house with no books. It was an oppressive Catholic childhood in a small Irish town, but that didn’t stop this formidable woman from becoming a literary great. Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story is an intimate documentary and portrait of her life, which…

With the cold wind and rain that hit Adelaide for the King’s Birthday long weekend, it was good that there was plenty of warmth and shelter to be had at the Beer and BBQ Festival. With beer and craft stalls inside and plenty of open fires outside, it was a cosy place to escape the…

There’s a lived-in mentality to Poreless that is sure to resonate with certain audiences – it’s lead is a gay Muslim – but the comedic nature of its script, written by director Harris Doran and Fawzia Mirza, is particularly universal, looking at the vapid disconnection of the beauty world, the tightrope many walk when it…

A fabulous, queer Muslim beauty entrepreneur must figure out how to compete in a Shark Tank-like product pitch contest after suffering an untimely allergic reaction. Such is the logline for Poreless, a biting, commentative short currently screening at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.  Headlined and produced by Akbar Hamid, the performer is making a plenty…

PlayStation’s surprise State of Play, Summer Game Fest, Future Games Show and now, Xbox Games Showcase. It’s been a crazy weekend for game announcements, and we’re not done yet. Here’s every announcement from the 2025 Xbox Games Showcase, along with The Outer Wilds 2 Direct. Enjoy! ASUS ROG XBOX ALLY THE OUTER WORLDS 2 CALL…

Be it the stellar career of Lewis Hamilton, the recent domination of Max Verstappen, or the current rise of Aussie Oscar Piastri, Codemasters’ F1 games have been relatively fantastic over the years. They generally look great, play well and feature an impressive list of modes that remain true to the depth and authenticity of the…