Year: 2025

After cutting her teeth with her critically acclaimed turn in the seminal 90s drama Picket Fences, Holly Marie Combs became a household name as Piper Halliwell in the long-running fantasy series Charmed. Moving from the magic of that show to the murderous mystery of Pretty Little Liars, Combs has become a cross-generational figure, something our…

From the tropical shores of the Blue Lagoon to Stephen King’s vampiric world in Sleepwalkers, Brian Krause has indulged in a plethora of genres across his varied career, but there’ll always be one role synonymous with his name – that of Leo the white lighter in The WB’s long running fantasy series, Charmed. As the…

For a decade now, The AU Review’s parent company Heath Media have been proud to curate the annual summer free, all-ages series Seymour Nights in Sydney. The event takes over the courtyard at the Seymour Centre at the corner of City Road & Cleveland Road for a series of concerts showcasing emerging artists from Sydney…

An award-winning actor and producer who has captivated audiences worldwide, from the cult classic sci-fi comedy Attack the Block, to the cinematic galaxy far, far away that is Star Wars, John Boyega, with his undeniable talent, magnetic presence, and dedication to his craft and community, has established himself as a force to be reckoned with….

It’s 1968, and Hair has just brought a story about identity, hippie culture and war to the musical theatre scene. Cut to nearly 60 years later, and the same cultural movement is making its way through Australia, capturing the audience with an emotion-fuelled tribal ritual. This tribal love rock musical is hinged around 60s counterculture,…

Britpop icons Pulp are set to make their triumphant return to Australia in March 2026, headlining two very special open-air performances on the Sydney Opera House Forecourt, their first Australian show in over a decade. Fronted by the incomparable Jarvis Cocker, Pulp will bring their legendary live show to one of the world’s most iconic…

Serving as something of a spiritual sister to the 2000s cult classic Dude, Where’s My Car?, Ian Kimble‘s Dead Giveaway is a biting mystery of a comedy that continually elevates beyond its premise due to the winning dynamic of leads Ruby Modine (Happy Death Day) and Mikaela Hoover (Superman). Across a slick 88 minutes, in…

Oh that every home should have a doorman as wise and as kind as Lester Coluca. Sadly, Lester (Teddy Coluca) was the victim for the fifth season of Only Murders in the Building, and this season’s mystery revolves around our three amateur sleuths finding out who had left him for dead in the fountain at the…

  As a great song once said, get your star, because another game in the weirdly wonderful series, Katamari Damacy, has just dropped. This new entry, titled Once Upon a Katamari, introduces a night sky of inventive new levels while still having the original’s solid gameplay at its core. Just as bold and brilliant as…

When Donkey Kong Bananza first launched, its energetic platforming and creative mechanics instantly cemented it as one of Nintendo’s best new-era titles. With the release of its DK Island and Emerald Rush DLC, the developers clearly wanted to offer both a heartfelt nod to the past and something fresh for players who can’t get enough…

As you may have read in our original review for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, the sequel to Ninja Theory’s acclaimed and highly praised 2017 psychological action-adventure doubles down on atmosphere and sensory immersion. It’s a haunting and technically dazzling experience that toes the line between game and interactive movie, but also one that too often…

The “high school dramedy” is a tried and true genre that (arguably) everyone can relate to in some form or another.  Teen angst and the tumultuousness of that life period before you are officially deemed an adult is a universal experience, and, for whatever reason, the 1980s are so often reserved to explore such.  Whether…

With the highly anticipated Oasis Australian tour starting today, and massive tours like Lady Gaga on the horizon, we wanted to look back at the last few months of Summer touring in the northern hemisphere and talk about the tours that have impressed us the most. This list only reflects the shows that our team…

Another week, another stacked playlist of the best new releases from Australia and beyond. This week we have added another ten tracks to our Discovery Playlist, on Apple Music and Spotify, including two tracks which we premiered earlier in the week. Leading the charge is our Track of the Week, “On Your Own” from Perth…

When Luvcat holds the vinyl copy of her debut album Vicious Delicious for the first time, she can hardly believe it’s real. “It was the first day of holding my vinyl today,” she says, still sounding a little dazed. “It was a crazy experience.” With only a week to go before release, she admits to…

I personally enjoyed The Outer Worlds upon its launch in 2019, as it felt like a solid Obsidian Entertainment game that many had felt they had played before, yet was built off the best bits of previous RPG titles. Even so, it did combine a few interesting elements for an entirely functional, engaging and at…

If there’s one thing Two Point Studios has mastered, it’s turning mundane institutions into gloriously chaotic management sims. From hospitals to universities, they’ve built worlds where humour meets spreadsheets, and stress is strangely fun. Two Point Museum continues this trend, letting players build, expand, and profit from their own museums. It’s packed with wit, charm,…

Brisbane/Meanjin indie-rock outfit Cedarsmoke return with their third album Under The Rainbow, out today. A concept record built around the emotional spectrum of colour, it finds the band blending folk-rooted storytelling with shimmering indie textures and electronic detail. Each track on the album represents a distinct colour and emotional state, creating a vivid sequence of…

“I’m gonna burn it all down!” And with that fiery threat, Scream‘s resilient serial killer, Ghostface, seems to make good on such if the explosive trailer for Scream 7 is anything to go by. When a new Ghostface killer emerges in the quiet town where Sidney Prescott (a returning Neve Campbell) has built a new…

It’s been 29 years since Pokémon invaded our Game Boy consoles way back in 1998. For the majority of that time, the game has retained the tried-and-true formula that has made it a worldwide phenomenon and a billion-dollar franchise. The gameplay has retained the turn-style battles with subtle variations and improvements made as each generation…

The spooky season is once again upon us, and with that comes necessary horror viewing. Sure, you could always revisit the classics (we’re talking your Halloween, Friday the 13th, Scream – and they’re iconic for a reason, so no judgement), but half the fun of the Halloween season is unearthing something scarily unexpected.  Between endless…

Honouring the tenth anniversary of Adelaide’s designation as a UNESCO city of music, Music SA hosted a gala event on Tuesday night at the Entertainment Centre to recognise the state’s musical talent. After a red carpet entrance, local all-girl rock group winners, Oscar the Wild, played a short, energetic set. Cliffy Wilson “Welcomed to Country”, before…

British-Sri Lankan artist, rapper, and cultural icon M.I.A. returned to Sydney at the iconic Enmore Theatre with a stunning performance of songs from her back catalogue including “bamboo banger”, “bird flu”, “bad girls” and to the delight of her fans finishing the set with her massive hit “paper planes”. Warming up the crowd brilliantly was…

Breville’s latest home appliance is something the brand, best known for its superb coffee machines and category-leading microwaves, has never done before. “In fact, no other company has done this before,” says Tom Groundes-Peace, Senior Global Category Manager & Head of Research at Breville. However, this gave them a slight advantage; Breville could thoroughly test…

With less than 3 weeks to go, RAYDIA Festival has revealed its final line-up additions, announcing global dance music icon Cascada and international drag superstar Marina Summers joining DJs Manuel Coby, Ana Julieta, BRYANT and festival curator Dan Slater for the highly anticipated new open-air day-into-night festival set to take over The Domain, Sydney on Saturday 15th November, 2025. Joining them are Sydney…

Lightweight and powerful is a reasonable pitch for a vacuum that you can pick up for $400 in Australia. As with all leading home appliance and consumer technology categories, the biggest refinement is always in value as brands constantly chase the perfect balance between performance, design and price to address all ends of the market….

Given how effortless a performer she is, it’s quite incredible that, prior to Kiss of the Spider Woman, Jennifer Lopez hadn’t appeared in a movie musical. Thankfully, Chicago scribe and helmer of such filmic musicals as Dreamgirls and the live-action Beauty and the Beast, Bill Condon, has corrected such a travesty with his vibrant, beautifully…

It speaks to just how truly bizarre Yorgos Lanthimos‘s filmography is if his latest, Bugonia – an English language remake of the 2003 South Korean black comedy sci-fi outing, Save the Green Planet! – is considered one of his most accessible.  Yes, there’s a certain comedic universality to the film’s premise – that of a…

Today, The AU Review is thrilled to premiere the video for Bree Tranter’s “Tuesday Fresh Cuts” — a dazzling reinvention of her breakthrough single, remixed by longtime collaborator and friend Matt Corby. Ten years on from its original release, “Tuesday Fresh Cuts” finds new life as a kinetic, drum & bass-driven reimagining that honours the…

Kirby Air Riders is shaping up to be one of the biggest racing games of the year. The long-awaited sequel races straight onto the Nintendo Switch 2 next month, so Nintendo dedicated another hour-long direct to give us MORE details on what is shaping up to be the best racing game of 2025 (and potentially…