Author: Tony Ling

Sydney’s White Bay Power Station brought the buzz and glamour once again as Sony announced the winners of its fifth annual Catchlight Film Festival. Celebrating the best emerging and established storytellers from Australia and New Zealand, many celebrations were had for those who chose to bring their visions to life through Sony cameras. From heartfelt…

The SXSW Sydney Games Festival is now back, and it’s bringing the heat. Across one dynamic week, the festival unites some of the most daring, inventive, and genre-defying titles from across the world, spotlighting the visionaries shaping the future of play. The celebration will reach its crescendo on Saturday, the 18th of October, with the…

Creativity was centre stage as Sony unveiled the winners of its tenth annual Sony Alpha Awards 2025, honouring the most striking photography from across Australia and New Zealand. The competition, which has grown into one of the most anticipated events on the region’s photography calendar, attracted more than 3,000 entries across 13 categories, from astrophotography…

The formula of Borderlands is unquestionable. You get a wild, survival-of-the-fittest sci-fi world (that went absolutely nuts) filled with characters, writing, and a story that has a charm and comedy unique in this industry. And then there’s the loot. Oh, such glorious loot that leaves you with countless gunplay possibilities and a hunger for more….

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…

We love adorable cats. We love compelling video games. And we especially love when the two collide in a mature, story-rich experience that tugs at the heartstrings and reminds us just how deeply our feline friends love us (with spellbinding emotional results). Developed with support from Screen Australia, Copycat is the debut title of developer…

Plenty of titles in this industry become victims of their success. Few ever become such cultural hotbeds that raise the bar, challenge the medium, and become such a fuel for controversy like the legacy of the famed Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II. Originally released on PS4 mid-2020, it was coming hot off…

Now in its fourth glorious season on Apple TV+, Mythic Quest, our favorite workplace comedy set in the gaming industry, continues to raise the stakes – bringing fresh challenges, bigger ambitions, and ever-wilder twists for our beloved characters. Created by Charlie Day, Megan Ganz, and Rob McElhenney, Mythic Quest Season 4 sees the return of…

Mythic Quest returns for its fourth glorious season on Apple TV+, once again raising the stakes for our favorite game-industry misfits. With sharp wit and ever-escalating workplace antics, the beloved comedy continues to explore the highs and lows of game development, corporate chaos, and the ever-blurring lines between personal and professional life. Created by Charlie…

In the closing months of 2024, the following has happened: Ridley Scott revealed that AI can now achieve what used to take 10 people 10 weeks, in just one week, and he plans to integrate it into his process. Robert Zemeckis credited generative AI for making his latest film, Here, possible within a $50 million…

With AI making headlines everywhere, robots have had their biggest growth spurt in years, fueled by rapid advancements in machine learning, deep learning, and large language models. Countless AI developments have allowed us to accelerate the wider applications of what robots can do sometimes to uncanny effectiveness. Of course, our capitalist overlords want a piece…

Steve Jobs once said, “People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.” That very well became the case with the quantum leap advent of the ARM-based Apple M silicon that now, in its latest 4th generation, has its architecture built for Apple’s own AI cheekily named Apple Intelligence. But on the…

From the ICC to multiple UTS venues, the Palace, and beyond, the energy of Australia’s film industry was unmistakable at SXSW Sydney 2024’s Screen Festival. Here are some of our highlights from panels, interviews, and sessions featuring indie pioneers and industry giants alike. Creative folks talking candid shop What better way to open a festival…

Whether you’re a seasoned gamer, industry veteran, or somewhere in between, SXSW Sydney 2024’s Games Festival delivered and injected sweet fuel and fire into the Australian and Sydney side of our beloved games industry. With the dust now settled, here are some of our personal highlights and standout moments from the week that was. 3…

2024’s Sony Catchlight Film Festival awards night was a vibrant celebration of filmmaking talent, held at Sydney’s iconic White Bay Power Station. Now in its fourth year, the festival recognises filmmakers from Australia and New Zealand who tell their stories using Sony cameras. The 2024 edition was nothing short of inspiring, with awards given across…

Back in 2018, I got my first full-frame mirrorless camera: the Sony A7 III. The hype and acclaim for this camera blew everyone away, offering an unprecedented jam-packed performance package and an unbeatable value proposition. It was hot off the heels of its previous unique Alpha brethren including the sorcery see-in-the-dark, low-light sensor of the…

On a glorious Friday night of creative festivity at the White Bay Power Station, Sony’s prestigious annual photo competition brings on its moment of truth. Needless to say, the excitement was palpable as Sony announced the winners of the ninth annual Sony Alpha Awards, celebrating creativity and talent in photography across Australia and New Zealand….

With less than two weeks until SXSW Sydney 2024 descends on Darling Harbour, its Games Festival has released its highly anticipated 2024 Games & Screen Awards shortlist. As one of the festival’s marquee events, the awards recognise standout indie games from the festival’s showcase, celebrating the best in mechanical design, gameplay, narrative, and creative direction….

Behind every great man is a great woman. Especially if that man is as shrouded in mystery and as reclusive as post-impressionist French painter and printmaker Pierre Bonnard. Bonnard, Pierre & Marthe is as much a character study as it is a love story about the decade-spanning romance between famed painter Pierre Bonnard (Vincent Macaigne)…

In a world grappling with complex political and economic challenges, there’s something that continues to drive progress, hope and helps bring people together… SCIENCE! The Beaker Street Festival in Hobart just wrapped up its eighth year, and it’s clear that the city was buzzing with excitement. This annual celebration isn’t just your average science fair—it’s…

We’ve seen buddy heist comedies before, especially when the perpetrators are a fair bit on the amateur side, but that doesn’t make them necessarily less enjoyable. There is a beauty to the comfort of familiarity, and not every film needs to have something profound to say or gut-wrench you to emotional oblivion, especially in this…

When the Final Fantasy VII remake was initially announced, you could say it broke the internet. That original 1997 game changed the gaming landscape forever and hearing that it would be released to a new generation on a new platform made you feel like you were witnessing the second coming of Christ in gaming pop…

An idyllic family life juxtaposed with the genocidal holocaust horrors next door has made for one of the most gripping and intellectual cinematic gems in years.  The Zone of Interest is by far the most haunting and arresting depiction of Nazi family life and Holocaust bureaucracy you’ll get all year.  Directed by Jonathan Glazer, his…

In many ways, Killers of the Flower Moon is a celebration of everything we love about Martin Scorsese, whether it’s the flawed gangster charm of Goodfellas or the arresting psychological nuances of Taxi Driver. Though with a budget of between $200-250 million for this epic crime western, you cannot fault this film on being a…

It’s been a while since I last ventured into a fusion restaurant, let alone one that skillfully harmonizes not just two, but three distinct culinary traditions into a symphony of flavors. Calle Rey has masterfully achieved this feat, exuding both confidence and finesse through its plant-based and gluten-free menu. The abundance of exquisite diversity in…

Nintendo’s sequels are somewhat known for how long they take to brew. Pikmin joins the ranks of Metroid, Fire Emblem and Zelda as one of Nintendo’s most iconic yet elusive properties, to the point you’d be forgiven for forgetting the Pikmin franchise even existed. The last numbered title was released way back in 2013 back…

At the tender age of five, my life took a remarkable turn as my family migrated to this sunburnt Australian land from Northern China. Little did I know that this journey would shape the very core of my identity, transforming it forever from the days of my humble industrial neighbourhood in Shenyang. As the years…

The impact of drugs, violence and racism has always gripped the hearts and minds of audiences the world over. It’s quite a refreshing coat of paint to see that in your own Aussie backyard helmed by a writer-director with unquestionable lived experience in the matter: Ronnie S Riskalla. Yet after I left the Orpheum world…

There are few films as meditative and rhythmic as what Wim Wenders managed to achieve here with Perfect Days. Known for his past documentaries and dramas, this German auteur presents a celebration of living a beautifully present life that is fresh out of Cannes and was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or, where it…

It’s an exciting time for the Australian arts when we get to see an ambitious, personal, and original Australian musical take the stage. Driftwood the Musical presents a captivating tale of hope and perseverance which delves into poignant themes involving the Holocaust, inter-generational trauma, sacrifices in times of war, and the perseverance of art. Created,…