Sometimes out of the horror of war there are unusual and intriguing stories to be told. One of these is that of The Monuments Men, a group of civilians tasked with rescuing stolen art masterpieces and culturally important work from the Nazis and returning them to their rightful owners. From the opening sequence we are…
RAKE goes into courtroom procedural overdrive this week when Cleaver Greene agrees to represent no less than four men at four separate hearings in one day. Sydney is in a legal frenzy: there are five royal commissions and seven ICAC hearings taking place at the same time. Every other lawyer in town is tied up,…
3D action sequel 300: Rise of an Empire came out victorious at the Aussie box office over the weekend. The long-gestating sequel to 2007’s 300 took an impressive $3.17 million over the weekend, beating out last week’s top film, Non-Stop. The goodwill held over from the original film definitely helped Rise of an Empire, and…
Back in 2012, I had the privilege of joining Jake and Stav of Bluejuice as they took to the skies with the wonderful guys at Red Baron at Sydney’s Bankstown airport in their flagship Red Bull Stunt Plane. There are only two ways to describe it: exhilarating and nauseating. Both myself and Jake didn’t return…
We caught up with singer-songwriter Simone Felice ahead of the March 14th release of his new album Strangers to find out a bit more about the new record, his thoughts on the state of radio, the Americana revival and more. Hi, how are you? Hi Simon, it’s nice to hear from you. Yeah, it’s great…
Just wrapping up a massive Australian tour, Richard Fortus – famed guitarist of Guns N Roses and now The Dead Daisies – takes some time to chat to the AU about how he approaches The Dead Daisies and their reputation as a supergroup; what’s in store for him both as a solo artist and as…
Following the SXSW special screening of the new Wes Anderson film The Grand Budapest Hotel, Austin was graced with the presence of Mr. Anderson himself, in conversation with director Richard Linklater and accompanied by the film’s music supervisor Randall Poster and actor/long-time collaborator Jason Schwartzman. In addition to the comment on the possibility of sequels,…
The Iris talks to actor Nicholas Cage and director David Gordon Green about their new film Joe. Nicholas Cage talks about the father and son relationship between him and Tye Sheridan, and David Gordon Green talks about what drew him to adapt the book… Filmed at SXSW 2014 in Austin, Texas. ———- This content has…
The third of four film keynote speakers at SXSW was performed by writer, actress and general voice for a huge portion of Gen X and Y, Lena Dunham. The creator and star of the successful Girls series shared her experiences of entering the film industry with a packed out Vimeo Theater, and held the attention…
Following the SXSW special screening of the new Wes Anderson film The Grand Budapest Hotel, Austin was graced with the presence of Mr. Anderson himself, in conversation with director Richard Linklater and accompanied by the film’s music supervisor Randall Poster and actor/long-time collaborator Jason Schwartzman. During the Q&A, Anderson was asked by an audience member…
Ernest Ellis released his highly-anticipated new record, Cold Desire last week. We caught up with him to have a chat and find out more about the new album; how it all came about; and whether or not we’ll see him out on the road around the country in the coming months. What was the inspiration…
School night be damned, that wasn’t going to stop a bunch of punters to come along and check out some styled Aussie rock and roll tunes get cranked out. Both of the acts on the bill tonight have been critically recognised in the indigenous and mainstream music scene and both perform with an intensity and…
When I was approached by Tourism NSW to take on the duty of “Music and Culture Ambassador” for the blog-o-sphere, I don’t think I hesitated a second. Those that follow the website will probably notice that travelling for music is something I love to do. From heading to SXSW in Austin, CMW in Toronto and…
What better way to spend a Sunday morning than in the presence of one of the funniest faces on television at the moment? Mindy Kaling of The Office and The Mindy Project fame came to Austin to partake in an ‘In Conversation’ session hosted by Marie Claire’s Anne Fuldwider and also featuring her cast mates…
The Iris at SXSW presents an exclusive interview with Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords to talk about his new mockumentary film What We Do In The Shadows which he co-wrote, co-directed and starred in with Taika Waititi. We talk about the serious plight of Vampires in Wellington, New Zealand, and plans for the…
When fans associate an actor with one particular role, it can be hard for the actor to distance themselves from said character. For Doctor Who fans, this may be the case for some, as former companion Karen Gillan takes on the horror genre for one of her first feature film roles outside the franchise. Directed…
It’s been a rollercoaster year for Sharon Jones, the corrections officer turned soul queen. Her fifth album with the imitable Dap Kings, Give the People What They Want was shelved and touring halted so Jones could turn her attention to battling and ultimately beating cancer which threatened to bring her fairy-tale career to a halt….
Joan Wasser from Joan as Policewoman has just released her fourth album of original songs and AU review reporter John Goodridge chats about behind the scenes of making the album. Hey Joan, how’s it going? It’s going great thank you. How are you? Great! I’ve been listening to your new album “The Classic” and I…
Veronica Mars had its world premiere at SXSW and we were there on the red carpet to bring you all the glamour from this star studded event. Photos by Johnny Au ———- This content has recently been ported from its original home on The Iris and may have formatting errors – images may not be…
Put “from the producers of Breaking Bad” in front of the announcement of a new TV series and everyone is going to take notice. Indeed, as part of this year’s new “episodic” programming at SXSW in Austin, Texas, one of the most buzzed about screenings was a premiere preview of a series with one such…
SXSW premiered the The Horror/Thriller film 13 SINS from director Daniel Stamm. Stars Ron Pearlman, Mark Webber and Devon Graye walked the red carpet tonight at Stateside Theatre. Photos by Johnny Au. ———- This content has recently been ported from its original home on The Iris and may have formatting errors – images may not…
When such a well-loved TV series like Veronica Mars is given a new lease on life, it’s that much more special and significant when it is made possible by the fans. The Kickstarter campaign which saw a $2 million goal attained in rapid time brought the Kristen Bell-led cast back to loving arms of the…
We just jumped off the red carpet at the SXSW Film Festival for the world premiere of Veronica Mars. We kick off our interview series with Veronica herself, Kristen Bell, and Jason Dohring, who played Logan Echolls on the popular series, which is enjoying a rebirth in the form of a new feature film! Released…
The Iris meets Hellboy himself, Ron Perlman on the red carpet for the world premiere of his new film 13 Sins at SXSW 2014! Plus, see our chats with Mark Webber from the cast and the director Daniel Stamm! ———- This content has recently been ported from its original home on The Iris and may…
The anticipation in the air was palpable as the Elder Hall filled with people waiting to hear John Waters speak for the Adelaide Festival. The stage is minimalist – a green floral arrangement on a white stand with red lighting at the rear. John enters the stage resplendent in a grey checked suit with his…
Christchurch three-piece T54 are heading to Australia for their first ever series of concerts outside their native New Zealand. In anticipation of the tour, the AU is proud to present the exclusive premiere of the band’s new video “AC Parade”, off their debut record In Brush Park, out now. It’s dreamy, fuzz pop at its…
In a surprise announcement this morning, it was revealed that global superstar Benedict Cumberbatch will be making an appearance at Oz Comic-Con in Adelaide, as well as two exclusive Q&A sessions during Oz Comic-Con in Sydney. This is a serious coup for these events given the fact that Cumberbatch is one of the most popular…
It looks like things are slowly but surely returning to their natural state of comical disequilibrium in the world of Cleaver Greene. His career is given a boost when he receives his first personal request for counsel, and he finally has his bachelor pad to himself, now that Nicole and her crazy mother have taken…
The co-headline gig is something we rarely see in Australia from international artists. But in America, it’s fairly common place, with tours like NINJA (Nine Inch Nails and Janes Addiction) becoming something of legend. Finally, Australia gets its turn, with NIN – returning for the first time since Soundwave in 2009 – joined by Queens…
The long awaited debut album, Arecibo from Brisbane’s rock quartet Forever the Optimist is out April 18, and they have a preview of the album to show off their massive sound. The preview video is premiering exclusively on the AU review. Forever The Optimist will tour the album in June 2014.
