They say crime doesn’t pay, but whoever stated as such may want to have a chat with the titular criminal in John Patton Ford‘s scrappy, oft intense thriller, one that furthers Aubrey Plaza‘s hold on chaos personified characters in the off-kilter subsect of cinema. Plaza’s Emily is a former art student with a $70,000 debt…
Country music star Casey Barnes has today released “Get To Know Ya” from his upcoming album, Light It Up, which will drop on Friday 25th February. Reflecting on two years of cancelled tours, posphoned shows and missing the interation with his audience, “Get To Know Ya” is the perfect salve for those missing connecting with…
Maybe its the accent. Maybe its her ability to release quirky and angular pop tracks that has some of the biggest producers in the world wanting to work with her. Maybe is Maybelline. Whatever it is, MØ has historically been able to hit the mark with her music and live performances. Here on new album…
Today South Australia’s Wanderers have released their third EP, self-titled, and arguably their strongest to date. The well-respected duo, Dusty Lee Stephensen and Matt Birkin have established themselves as outstanding songwriters and musicians. The EP is their first since 2017’s Something For A Distraction and sets them up nicely for a visit to the US…
Hatching tells the story of Tinja (Siiri Solalinna), a 12-year old rising star gymnast who lives in the supposed perfect existence of domesticated suburbia; led by her image-perfectionist mother (Sophia Heikkilä), who runs a popular blog about exactly that. Tinja’s family also consists of her taciturn father (Jani Volanen) and her spoiled, irritable younger brother…
Maika tells the story of Hung (Truong Phu), an 8-year old boy who is grieving over the loss of his mother who had died almost a year ago due to a severe illness. One would think that this type of emotional baggage is bad enough. However, it not only rains but it pours. His best…
Thanks to Universal Pictures, The AU Review has a copy of the Licorice Pizza soundtrack on vinyl to giveaway to one of our lucky readers. Currently playing in Australian cinemas (you can read our glowing review here), Licorice Pizza, written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, tracks the treacherous navigation of first love in the…
This week we’ve topped up our discovery playlist with nine new tracks, including two exclusive premieres. Our Track of the Week is “Come, Cry” the new single from Norwegian artist Metteson. The nordic pop star will shortly be heading out on tour in the UK and Ireland with fellow Norwegian AURORA, and is definitely one to…
Jennifer Ryan‘s latest cosy novel, The Kitchen Front, has been described as “The Great British Bake Off set in World War Two”. Taking its title from a daily BBC radio show established in 1940 in cooperation with the Ministry of Food, the novel looks at life on the home front for four very different women, all through…
As we celebrate 30 years since the first Big Day Out in Australia, we’ve dug out some never before seen footage from the 2014 Big Day Out in Sydney. It was held on Australia Day, 26th January 2014, so we thought we’d ask 3 bands playing that year – The Hives, Grouplove and Portugal The…
There’s something of a full circle moment experienced with Am I OK?, Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne‘s co-directorial feature debut. The real-life couple, who met on the set of a Sundance selection title (2013’s In A World…), return to the festival as married women detailing their own journey of self-discovery and acceptance with a film…
Follow your own path, and create your own destiny. Listen to yourself, and not so much to others. This is the theme for “Hear Me” from Melbourne-trio Just A Leo. We are thrilled today to have the first listen of this genre-bending anthem ahead of its release tomorrow, Friday 28th January. “Hear Me” is the…
The Shadow House is the latest thriller from author Anna Downes. The novel follows single mother Alex, as she escapes an abusive relationship. Along with her teenage son and baby girl, she bunkers down in a rural eco-village. The off the grid lifestyle and remote location seem perfect for their new beginnings. Here they hope to…
The last two years have been tumultuous ones and have left people reeling. You can either dwell on the hopelessness of it all, or try and seek out the light. Poet and writer, Maxine Beneba Clarke does both of these things, but mostly the latter, in her fourth poetry collection, How Decent Folk Behave. This…
While the sun-scorched Melbourne, homage was paid to the release of The Teskey Brothers’ newest album Live at Hamer Hall at the Sidney Myer music bowl alongside the Orchestra Victoria (OV). With what seemed to be a full house, close to two and a half hours of folk, blues and rhythm were unleashed on an…
The Teskey Brothers with Orchestra Victoria put on a memorable performance over the weekend at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, supported by Emma Donovan & The Putbacks. Check out some of the memories from the night below!
A film that’s likely to resonate with, or at least feel more familiar to American audiences, The Eyes of Tammy Faye does its best to clue in local Australian viewers as to just who was the larger-than-life personality Tammy Faye Bakker Messner. An only-in-America type tale, Tammy Faye’s small-time Minnesota upbringing, where she “found Jesus”…
With its mix of deadpan satire and high concept sci-fi – comparisons to Yorgos Lanthimos’ 2015 dystopian black comedy The Lobster feel imminent – Dual may be an off-putting experiment to many who can’t readily accept Riley Stearns‘ mentality. It certainly helps that the film is headlined by the wonderful Karen Gillan though, delivering two…
Cha Cha Real Smooth tells the story of 22-year old Andrew (writer/director Cooper Raiff), a recent college graduate who is stuck in his own purgatory before adulthood. Stuck in a dead-end job selling fast food and back living with his family including his mother (Leslie Mann), his step-father (Brad Garrett) and his younger brother David…
Set-in present-day Hollywood Hills, Something in the Dirt tells the story of two neighbours Levi and John (Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead), who both meet after Levi had recently moved into an apartment, following a large amount of predicaments. The two strike up a quick camaraderie as they exchange life stories, intimate secrets and their…
Alice tells the story of its titular character played by Keke Palmer, a slave who has spent her entire life enslaved in a rural Georgia plantation. Like many of her family members, she yearns for freedom. Her recently wedded husband Joseph (Gaius Charles) plots an escape for the entire plantation but the plan backfires due…
Two men meet in a park; a seemingly innocuous Grindr hookup. Except, there’s a wide age gap, and an immediate tension between the two men. The younger Edden (Joseph Althouse) finds the original suggestion to meet pre-hookup amusing and wants to head to a nearby sauna, while Warren (Steve LeMarquand) awkwardly attempts to discreetly take…
Set in 1950’s Britain, Living tells the story of Mr. Williams (Bill Nighy), a veteran civil servant who works every day in a meticulous and repetitive fashion in a government office while leading a group of colleagues to help him out. His work ethic and reputation are well known around the inner circle but the…
Comparisons to Rob Reiner’s 1986 coming-of-age drama Stand By Me will be inevitable when discussing James Ponsoldt‘s Summering; the Sundance fixture returning to the festival following his last effort, the critically mauled 2017 Tom Hanks vehicle The Circle, the first of his filmography to not screen at the festival. The dark elements, thematic inclinations, and…
Leonor Will Never Die tells the story of its titular character Leonor Reyes (Sheila Francisco), a once successful screenwriter in the Filipino film industry. Now, she is an aging mother who is struggling to keep her household in check. Desperately trying to recapture past glories as a path to escapism, she discovers a newspaper advertisement…
Fringe World Festival is back in Perth despite the hardest of hard borders in WA but the local talent is shining, with Lisa Woodbrook‘s It’s Not Me, It’s Definitely You: Songs of Amy Winehouse & Lily Allen a fine example. As a supremely talented vocalist, Woodbrook’s show – as the title suggests – contains plenty of…
Speak No Evil tells the story of a Danish family who are having a vacation in Tuscany, Italy. They meet a friendly and jovial family who are from the Netherlands. They both share common interests, they both have children the same age but most importantly, it is the polite camaraderie that they share that makes…
Emergency tells the story of two best friends, the academic and accomplished Kunle (Donald Elise Watkins) and the jovial and casual Sean (RJ Cyler). After all the stresses of school, the two are determined to make school history by being the first Black students to complete the legendary frat party tour. With a laid-out plan,…
Whilst there’s no surprise revealed in the fact that Emma Thompson truly deserves to be considered one of the greatest living actresses working today, it’s always appreciated when a performance solidifies such a statement. And in the deliriously charming and strikingly emotional Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, Thompson turns in career-best work that leans…
A thriller that both leans into the formulaic mentality of the genre whilst simultaneously hoping to combat it, Watcher, from director Chloe Okuno (V/H/S/ 94), is a dread-filled effort that plays on the terrors of voyeurism. Gorgeously shot, though consistently lingering with uncertainty, Watcher lays focus on Julia (Maika Monroe, always a welcome presence in…
