I Am Not a Serial Killer set for a limited theatrical release later in Australia

After premiering to rave reviews at the Melbourne International Film Festival last month and at SXSW earlier in the year, Irish director Billy O’Brien’s I Am Not a Serial Killer – based on Dan Wells’ best-selling YA novel – will now see a limited theatrical release in Australia this spring, with seasons in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane….

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Video Games Review: No Man’s Sky (PS4, 2016)

Usually, the kind of backlash that Hello Games’ ambitious space explorer has received would be reserved for something from Ubisoft (Watch Dogs, The Division), but it would appear that we’re in a golden age of broken promises, embellishments and flat out lies, with No Man’s Sky leading the charge.

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Australian Box Office Report: Bad Moms overtakes Suicide Squad in its third week of release

Looks like Suicide Squad has finally been knocked off its number one perch by Bad Moms, after dominating the box office across the first three weeks of its release. Having coasted at number two for a fortnight, Moms did an impressive $1.99 million this week to move into the top spot, possibly due to the weekend being the third…

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The Australian Movie and Comic Expo returns in 2016 to celebrate its tenth year

This year will signal a decade for the AMC Expo (formerly known as Armageddon Australia) as it returns to Melbourne with an entourage of local and international pop culture stars. Amongst the guests in attendance this year will be Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Daniel Davis, prolific Game Of Thrones bad guy Dominic Carter and…

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“Send a Raven”: The latest video from Marvel reveals where Thor and Hulk were during Civil War

Even the Reddit detectives would have been a little dumbfounded when it came to the true whereabouts of Thor during Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War. The absence of both Thor and The Hulk from Marvel’s recent venture did not go by without notice and while fans took time to try and figure out where it…

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The role written for Patrick Swayze, Jean Claude Damme and Sylvester Stallone that ended up in the palms of Bill Murray

On the most recent episode of Kevin Smith’s Geeking Out, Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick spoke about one of the most iconic moments from their feature length film. This moment is of course, the discovery and subsequent murder of an apocalypse surviving, zombie impersonating Bill Murray. A part that (like every part he…

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ABC’s Newton’s Law to bring together a line-up of Aussie veterans

As filming begins this week for ABC’s latest drama Newton’s Law, a myriad of Australian actors will be on site at Melbourne to bring their best to the new eight-part series. The cast built largely from the annals of Australian drama prestige includes Claudia Karvan (The Secret Life of Us) as protagonist Josephine Newton, Toby…

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Avengers Academy is barely a game, so why can’t I stop playing it?

We all know Freemium city builders are the worst games in the world. They have no real gameplay to speak of, they prey on people’s love of established franchises and they demand vast sums of your money in ways so brazen and frequent that they feel a bit like a front for a debt collector….

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The incredible revitalisation of Downtown Los Angeles takes us back to the city’s Golden Age

There’s a scene in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, when Gil, played by Owen Wilson, is reminiscing about a time he never lived in; “Imagine this town in the ’20s,” he said of Paris. There was something forlorn about it, a regret that he was living now instead of then. Though Allen portrays this romanticisation…

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Hotel Review: Taking in the 1950’s experience of the Cabana Bay Beach Resort at Universal Studios Orlando

Earlier in the month, we took you to Walt Disney World in Orlando. Today, however, we’re moving things to the nearby Universal Resort and the Cabana Bay Beach Resort, which opened on a 37 acre site some two years ago. It’s the fourth of five official on-site hotels currently operated by Loews, servicing the nearby…

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Jump First, Ask Later to bring parkour from the streets of Fairfield to the Sydney Opera House

In a unique collaboration between the Powerhouse Youth Theatre, critically acclaimed dance theatre company Force Majeure, and performers from Dauntless Movement Crew, Jump First, Ask Later will bring parkour to a whole new audience, with several dates at the Sydney Opera House from late September. When young parkour enthusiasts in Fairfield, one of Sydney’s most culturally…

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Book Review: The Island Will Sink by Briohny Doyle

Briohny Doyle is a Melbourne-based writer and academic. Her debut novel, The Island Will Sink, is the first book published by The Lifted Brow. The Island Will Sink is set in the near future and follows the life of Max Galleon, a leading director in the disaster movie genre. In this world, people don’t care…

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W.J.P. Newnham wins The Lifted Brow’s 2016 prize for Experimental Non-Fiction

A joint venture between quarterly magazine The Lifted Brow, RMIT University’s non/fictionLAB, and the Copyright Agency, the Prize for Experimental Non-Fiction was this year won by Brisbane based writer W.J.P. Newnham, for his autobiographical piece Trashman Loves Maree. The award celebrates work unlike any other, seeking out new and audacious voices from across the world….

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Devon on Danks to close in Waterloo; Devon Cafe to open at Barangaroo (Sydney)

One of Sydney’s all-time favourite casual dining spots, Devon Café, will be expanding from the flagship in Surry Hills this October to open a new venue at Barangaroo. The very welcome news does come with a heartbreaking announcement though: the hugely popular Devon on Danks in Waterloo will be closing its doors in a couple…

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Where to take dad to eat in Sydney this Father’s Day

Father’s Day is this Sunday 4th September and a man’s got to eat, right? If nothing else, the day is a chance to celebrate all your main man does throughout the year, and there are few ways to do that then by treating him to a good old fashioned feast, whether it be a sunny…

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Tkay Maidza links up with Killer Mike for “Carry On”; drops national album tour dates!

Life’s pretty sweet for Adelaide rapper Tkay Maidza. She’s just dominated her first proper run of European festivals and has recently announced that she’ll be on tour with What So Not in the US before this year is out. For Australian fans, Tkay hasn’t forgotten them, with a highly anticipated BIGSOUND set bringing her back to Brisbane next…

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Music Video of the Day: Japanese Wallpaper “Cocoon” (2016)

Japanese Wallpaper has recently unleashed the visuals for “Cocoon”, a perfect way to cap off a successful run of shows on Australian turf. A collection of outdoor scenes and landscapes, the song has been further explored by director Hamish Mitchell – the end result being all types of lush and stunning. Just like “Cocoon” itself. While…

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Single of the Day: Ali Barter “Girlie Bits” (2016)

Ali Barter, drop your album already please. Since “Far Away” dropped earlier this year, the Melbourne songwriter has had us well excited for new material and with multiple opportunities now on the cards to see her perform around the country…all we need is a full record of material to cap it off. BUT. In the meantime,…

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Artists at BIGSOUND: Ceres (Melbourne) on premiering new material for fans & chilli dogs in the Valley

Easily one of our most anticipated Australian album releases is Ceres‘ new record, Drag It Down On You. Set to drop this Friday, the album is going to be fleshed out on a tour post-BIGSOUND but in the meantime, the Melbourne band are looking to be bringing some sweet tastes of album number two to their official…

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Chance the Rapper and Childish Gambino both set for Field Day in Sydney!

Field Day is a must for many music fans keen to keep the New Year’s party going well into January 1st and for their 2017 event, the Sydney festival organisers have confirmed both Chance the Rapper and Childish Gambino to appear. For fans of both artists, being able to catch them on the same line up, especially at a…

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Live Review: Gordi + Xavier Dunn – Newtown Social Club, Newtown (28.08.16)

You know how much a ticket was to see one of my favourite artists play the last show on her current tour? $15. Fifteen Australian dollars. A year ago, I was in London spending that much on a pint of beer. Yeah, the beers were delicious, but I’d have definitely been more than happy to…

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Live Review: L-Fresh The Lion + Omar Musa + Sukhjit – The Odd Fellow, Fremantle (27.08.16)

Despite the dreary winter weather still clinging to WA, people flocked to the basement of The Odd Fellow in Fremantle on Saturday night to soak up the positive vibes as it transformed into an electric den of energy under performances from L-Fresh the Lion’s Become Tour. Sparking with pointedly political verse, heavy beats and 100%…

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The Iris’ Weekly Australian TV Picks: 30 August – 5 September 2016

From Australian Survivors to Pretty Little Liars and Knight’s Tales, here are our picks this week… Tuesday Australian Survivor, Ch10, 7:30pm AEST Things are heating up as the three tribes face the Immunity Challenge. Which one will survive the harsh environment? Wednesday Whitney, SoHo, 8:30pm AEST A heartwrenching biopic on the iconic singer Whitney Houston…

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Five Reasons you need to watch The A Word on BBC First

The A Word is an important BBC program that is based on an Israeli TV drama called Yellow Peppers. It is a show that focuses on a very real (read: dysfunctional) family as they try and cope with a five-year-old son who is diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. The Iris watched the first…

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Eight Things not to Miss at the 2016 Sydney Fringe Festival

The definition of what a fringe festival can be blurred in this day and age – you sometimes get ‘big names’ on lineups, and the biggest arts festival in the world is a fringe festival for goodness sake. In any case, it’s a huge bunch of talent full of great shows and performances that are undeniably unique. With both…

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Fratelli Fresh are giving away 500 free build-your-own pizzas this week (Sydney)

Fratelli Fresh will officially launch their long awaited casual pizzeria spin-off, Fratelli Famous, this week in the level 5 food court of Westfield Sydney. Set for Wednesday 31st August, the trusted Italian brand will be firing up that custom-built pizza oven to kick off their massive planned expansion – they want to open around 100…

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Broadway Shopping Centre unveils new food and retail line up after $55 million redevelopment (Sydney)

If you’ve visited Broadway Shopping Centre in Ultimo within the past week you may have noticed quite a few changes going on. The historic retail and dining hub has just completed a $55 million redevelopment to it’s second and third levels, an overdue refresh that has brought in new brands such as H&M, Sunglass Hut,…

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Live Review: Paul Dempsey + Olympia – The Gov, Adelaide (25.08.16)

On a Thursday night, The Gov fills out comfortably to await the return of Paul Dempsey to his beloved Kingdom. The air is chilly, but the vibe on the inside of the popular venue remains warm and inviting. It’s been a little while since the Australian favourite has been to Adelaide in this capacity and with…

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Single of the Day: Trophy Eyes “Heaven Sent” (2016)

Novocastrian alt-punk group Trophy Eyes have already built upon what was a huge 2015 with an acclaimed UNIFY Gathering appearance and continuing that momentum with a killer support slot touring with The Amity Affliction nationally. Their latest album Chemical Miracle has already been reaping in the praise since its release a few weeks ago and in their latest single, “Heaven…

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The Ocean of Everything: Phia unveils lush debut album, track by track

She calls Melbourne home but recently, Europe has been calling Phia and like many young artists, she answered it and found herself in Berlin. Soaking up the atmosphere of a city currently thriving creatively, the Aussie singer songwriter found her feet performing and exploring threads of songwriting and arrangement that she would eventually pour into the…

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