A highlight of this year’s Adelaide Fringe was Grace. The show starred British comedian Katie Reddin-Clancy who presented a solo stand up comedy about Alfie, who steps out on stage as Zora. There are costume changes galore as all personalities from the world of show biz make their way on stage. A fast-paced but bittersweet comedy that…
While at SXSW, we met Japanese actor (and film co-writer) Kunichi Nomura, to chat about his new film Isle of Dogs – the anticipated stop motion film from acclaimed director Wes Anderson. While on the red carpet, once he learnt we were Australian, he took the opportunity to let us in that he’d just flown in from…
Last week at SXSW we caught up with Hurray for the Riff Raff‘s Alynda Segarra to talk about her acting debut in Ethan Hawke‘s new film Blaze, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year. The film documents the life of songwriter Blaze Foley. While on the red carpet to promote the film, we also chatted about…
Earlier this week, the second South Park: The Fractured But Whole DLC, “From Dusk Till Casa Bonita”, was released – featuring a brand new story line that pegs the goths against the vamps, adding a class that you can take back to the main game with you, and introducing Henrietta as an ally. It also brings…
While at SXSW, we caught up with Evan Goldberg & James Weaver to chat about their work as writers and producers of the anticipated and acclaimed new comedy Blockers, which hits cinemas on Thursday. During our chat, the pair talk about casting an Australian actress (Geraldine Viswanathan) in the film, and go on to say that…
After working together on The Hero last year, Brett Haley has once again teamed up with Nick Offerman for new drama-musical Hearts Beat Loud. The film has already screened at Sundance and SXSW Film Festival to critical acclaim, so we thought it best to sit down with both Brett and Nick to talk about how…
Netflix has hooked up with Sacha Jenkins and several other directors to curate a new eight-part docuseries on hip hop. Premiering around the world at the end of March, Rapture will bring unique perspectives on the personal lives of various well-known and rising stars within the culture, from Nas and T.I to Dave East and…
In the first scenes of Ethan Hawke’s new film Blaze, a biopic about oft Austin based, relatively obscure American musician Blaze Foley, we find out that this story doesn’t have a happy ending. Foley’s life was one cut violently short. It’s a choice that Hawke said was made to keep the film from being emotionally manipulative,…
Last week at SXSW, the new Robert Rodriguez TV series Rebel Without a Crew (inspired by his book of the same name) launched at a special press event featuring Rodriguez and the five young directors who have taken part in the series. The series coincides with the 25th anniversary of Rodriguez’s groundbreaking film El Mariachi, which…
It’s been a long five years between drinks for iconic American rockers Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – both in terms of the album releases and visits to our shores. Their tour this month in Australia comes just weeks after the release of their brilliant LP Wrong Creatures, with songs like “All Rise” amongst the best…
You’ll remember Black Summer from last year – the teenager took triple j Unearthed by storm with “Young Like Me” (currently sitting at a cute 3 million plus streams online) and soon became a name to be buzzed about. He’s not even 15 yet, but the producer (aka Rhys Toms) has come through with another strong track, this…
Performers and now-fierce collaborators Sunny War and Micah Nelson (aka Particle Kid) have been bringing their own brands of rich music together in LA for a minute now, with SXSW being the latest platform for the artists to strut their stuff. And now they’re releasing a split LP under the name “Particle War“. With shows throughout the Austin festival…
With one of eight episodes from forthcoming Netflix docuseries Rapture dedicated to her story, we managed to grab a quick chat with North Carolina emcee Rapsody during a preview screening at SXSW Film Festival. The new series from Mass Appeal and Sacha Jenkins looks at the personal lives and individual contexts of various hip hop…
If you’re across Adelaide band SIAMESE, you might know they’re signed to Swirl Records and have been releasing some quality tunes in their short career so far. As a DIY band, these guys have their paintbrush in many pots, from graphic design to music production, including their debut EP, Code One. However their DIY talents extend…
This year’s Boston Calling Music Festival takes place between May 25 and May 27, at Harvard Athletic Complex in Massachusetts in the USA. A festival with this many headliners – Eminem, The Killers, Jack White, Queens of the Stone Age, Paramore, and Tyler, The Creator – doesn’t really need to do much else to get…
We’re excited to reveal the winners of the AU review’s 5th Annual SXSW Awards, which celebrates the best performances and events we caught at the Austin, Texas festival – and some of the disappointments too. BEST AUSTRALIAN GROUP Bad Pony I knew Sydney indies Bad Pony were good live, I just didn’t know they were…
Technology gone overboard is a sci-fi trope that has been done to death in cinema, but it’s a pleasure to watch stories that are still bringing fresh takes on the theme. The latest is Upgrade, a techno-horror slash detective thriller written and directed by Leigh Whannell who moves away from the past few years of…
The Handmaid’s Tale is set in a dystopian future unlike those we are used to seeing. There aren’t any flying cars or amazing technology that you’d assume to see here. There is nothing but solid regression, simplifying life back to its roots. In fact, it appears that everything has gone backwards in the worst possible…
With his new film Upgrade having its premiere at SXSW Film this past week (where it won a prestigious Audience Award), we caught up with Australian director and writer Leigh Whannell as well as cast members Logan Marshall-Green and Betty Gabriel to talk about the sci-fi horror and its wider implications. The film, which is…
As I write this, three days after a rather bumpy launch, its clear that Sea of Thieves is a bit of a mixed bag. There are things that I love about it, there are things that I don’t love about it and there are things that I feel are not particularly well understood by those who…
The Undead, Serbian vile, Nazi Lobsters and an ancient taskforce against the supernatural are all stories we hear about on a day to day basis, (are they not?) but when watching Netflix’s Santa Clarita Diet‘s second season, they make so much more sense than that entire paragraph I just wrote. Check out the trailer! We…
After the premiere of Eddie Alcazar‘s latest film Perfect at this year’s SXSW festival, we managed to sit down with the cast and crew, including cinematographer Matthias Koenigswieser, as well as cast members Garrett Wareing, Tao Okamoto, Chris Santos and fellow Australian Courtney Eaton, to discuss the film itself, its experience and message, the attraction to working with such an experimental director, and…
At the 2018 SXSW premiere of Boundaries, Larry Heath caught up with Vera Farmiga and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, as well as the film’s writer/director Shana Feste to talk about the movie and its impact on each of the crew members. The film, in its world premiere at the event, touches on the struggles of family, drugs and animals as a…
Marlon Bundo, that lonely bunny who’s been making headlines this week, will be making his Australian debut next month, with the local release of this bestselling new children’s book. The book, A Day in the life of Marlon Bundo, was launched by comedian John Oliver earlier this week on HBO’s Last Week Tonight, and is in…
Kicking off their Australian tour over Easter long weekend, LA’s own Together Pangea are going to be heading out on a belter with our favourites, Bleeding Knees Club! Bringing their latest album Bulls & Roosters out to Australian fans, the guys from Together Pangea are making sure this debut tour is one to remember. Ahead of the shows,…
Melbourne’s Pretty City recently packed their bags for another short sojourn to the USA where recording of new music, as well as a cheeky stop at SXSW awaited. The band’s new album Cancel the Future is out tomorrow and in coming months, Pretty City will be out on the road (in Australia and abroad) with this new bad…
Talented singer and songwriter Fatai has been calling Chicago home for some time now, but the Melbourne-born artist has maintained strong links with home, even from the other side of the globe. A newcomer to the SXSW fold, Fatai caught up with Larry recently to touch base and share her experiences in the States. What are the…
Over nine nights in Austin this month, I caught dozens upon dozens of live performances from bands from all over the world. This year I found myself discovering more talent than I have in the past few years – both at the SXSW Festival, and at Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion event, which happens at his…
After freshly finishing his first ever sold out headline show in Sydney and Melbourne, indie-folk singer Ryan Downey is back with a new single “Those Eyes that Answer” off his debut album Running. Downey’s rich voice accompanies a haunting sci-fiesque melody to showcase a deeply colourful and beautiful song, accompanied with a music video shown only…
Neighbourly disputes are really not all that uncommon in the real world, but in Under the Tree, the third feature film from Icelandic director Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigur∂sson, a relatively minor disagreement between two suburban neighbouring families over a tree and the shadow it casts morphs into an ever escalating case of mutually assured destruction culminating…
