the AU sessions at SXSW: Ross Leighton of Fatherson (Scotland) performs an acoustic version of "Foreign Waters"

Last week you may have seen our interview with Ross Leighton of emerging Scottish trio Fatherson from our SXSW pop-up venue! Now, we’re pleased to bring you the special intimate, acoustic performance Ross gave us with the beautiful song “Foreign Waters”. The stunning track comes off their debut album I Am an Island. Be careful,…

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Watch the AU's Chris Singh go head-to-head with Australian UFC Fighter Robert Whittaker in Mortal Kombat X (PS4, 2015)

Last week the AU’s Chris Singh went head-to-head against Australian UFC Fighter Robert Whittaker, fighting for the fatalities in the brand new next gen game Mortal Kombat X. See what happened when the two went at it on the Playstation 4 in this exclusive video below and then read on for Chris’ first impressions of…

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Live Review: Angélique Kidjo – Sydney Opera House (12.04.15)

Photo Credit: Johnny Au Coming to Australia all the way from Benin in West Africa is the beautiful, the wonderful Angélique Kidjo. She’s a Grammy Award winning artist who has been described as “the undisputed queen of African music” and is no stranger to our shores, returning this past week to play Bluesfest in Byron…

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Exclusive Track Premiere: Dallas Frasca "Corazon En La Seda" (2015)

Australian riff rock trio, Dallas Frasca will release their highly anticipated third studio album, Love Army, on April 17th, through Australian independent label Social Family Records. It’s the culmination of almost 10 years of hard work, performing over 700 shows, seven international tours and fast becoming one of Australia’s most exciting and revered bands across…

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Studio Ghibli film When Marnie Was There gets limited release

In exciting news for Studio Ghibli fans, Madman Entertainment have announced that the animation powerhouse’s latest When Marnie Was There will get a limited release in cinemas across the country from May 14-27. Cinemagoers will also get the choice to see the film in its original form with subtitles or a dubbed English language version….

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Latest trailer for Terminator Genisys released

It’s official; Arnie is back starring in the franchise that made him a megastar. Terminator Genisys serves as something of a reboot for the film series, helmed by Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor and starring the Mother of Dragons herself Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor. When John Connor (Jason Clarke), leader of the human…

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The Fault In Our Stars dominates 2015 MTV Movie Awards

Teen rom-com/weepy The Fault in Our Stars and its talented star Shailene Woodley have dominated the 2015 MTV Movie Awards. The ceremony, hosted by comedienne Amy Schumer, took place yesterday at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, California. Schumer demonstrated her no-holds-barred style of comedy, leaving no celebrity unscathed during her monologue. Schumer displayed her…

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HBO acquires rights to Mavis Staples documentary

US documentary MAVIS!, about the life of gospel singer and civil rights activist Mavis Staples, now has a home, with subscription channel HBO acquiring the rights to the documentary. Directed by Jessica Edwards and produced by New York-based company Films First, MAVIS! explores Staples’ illustrious career, which began with singing in a church gospel choir…

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Film Review: While We’re Young (M) (USA, 2015)

While We’re Young has one shot where Josh (Ben Stiller) and Jamie (Adam Driver) are cycling towards us. Josh strains something in his back, forcing him to stop in the middle of a busy New York street. He manages a yelp to his younger friend, though Jamie hears nothing and keeps on pedaling, no hands,…

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Spanish Film Festival Film Review: Wild Tales (aka Relatos Salvajes) (Spain, 2014)

As the days shorten, and autumn bleeds into winter, the chill temperatures are enlivened by the start of the 2015 Spanish Film Festival, running in Sydney exclusively at Palace Verona and Norton Street from 21 April until 10 May, opening at staggered dates in other cities subsequently. Amongst its offerings are the multi-Goya winning Marshland,…

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Stumbled Upon #038 – Sundara Karma (Reading, England)

In our 38th installment of “Stumbled Upon”, we meet Reading’s alt rockers Sundara Karma, and chat about their eclectic influences and upcoming shows. We find out how the band got started, how they’d best describe their live show and learn more about their latest music. Plus, we get to have a listen ourselves! Band Name:…

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Live Review: Gary Clark Jr – Metro Theatre, Sydney (10.04.15)

At this point, I feel I’ve said everything there is to say about the great Gary Clark Jr, yet once again I find myself at one of his concerts in absolute awe of his talent. The way he makes everything look so effortless, the way he moves along that guitar and makes us move in…

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Exclusive Single Premiere: The Dawn Chorus "Big World" (2015)

We’re excited to present today the exclusive premiere of “Big World”, the second single to be taken from The Dawn Chorus‘ upcoming album, set for release late 2015. Front man Mitch Davis shines on the release, and the track features Kyla Van Mason. Produced at Pix Studios, in their hometown of the Sunshine Coast, it’s…

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Exclusive Interview: The cast of KTown Cowboys chat about the making of the film at SXSW

Hello Asia editor Johnny Au caught up with the cast of US/Korean coming-of-age flick KTown Cowboys at SXSW in Austin, Texas. KTwon Cowboys made its world premiere at SXSW and Johnny caught up with director Daniel Park as well as writer Danny Cho and cast members Shane Yoon, Peter Jae, Bobby Choy, Daniel Dae Kim and…

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TV Review: Game of Thrones Season 5 Episode 1 “The Wars to Come” (USA, 2015)

The season premieres of Game of Thrones have almost always served the purpose of re-adjusting the show’s landscape to it’s constantly shifting dynamics, slowly but surely rearranging arrows to give us some sort of hint as to what we’re in for over the 10 episodes. “The Wars to Come” is no exception to this pattern,…

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Get a glimpse of Ant-Man‘s tiny nemesis “Yellowjacket” in the first full length trailer!

We’re being treated to so much Marvel goodness this year. In less than two weeks the new Avengers will hit screens and then less than three months after that we’ll have a brand new Marvel franchise to feast our eyes on… Ant-Man starring Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas. This is without question the smallest super…

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TV Review: Marvel’s Daredevil, Season 1 Episode 3 “Rabbit In A Snowstorm” (USA, 2015)

“Rabbit In A Snow Storm” is another strong world-building entry for Marvel’s Daredevil, which downplays the role of ‘Daredevil’ to instead give Matt and Foggy plenty of action in the courtroom. It also introduces two of the most significant characters from the comic book, investigative journalist Ben Urich (Vondie Curtis-Hall), and The Kingpin himself, Wilson…

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DVD Review: Laggies (USA, 2014)

“Laggies” are immature people who trail behind as their friends mature, get jobs, get married and have children. It’s also the name of a rom-com and family dramedy from director, Lynn Shelton (Your Sister’s Sister) and writer/novelist, Andrea Seigel.The story is implausible and forgetful but the film is redeemed by its pleasant-enough execution and the…

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DVD Review: Northmen – A Viking Saga (Switzerland, Germany & South Africa, 2014)

Northmen – A Viking Saga is for people who like their battles to be played hard and fast. It’s also one for those fans who want a little less conversation, a little more action. Because while it’s an adequate and epic adventure/drama, this battle does fail to properly introduce the characters and their back stories,…

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Sydney Film Festival releases teasers for upcoming films

The Sydney Film Festival is coming up in June, and to satiate us until then, the powers that be have released teasers for four new films that are set to screen at the festival. Deathgasm is directed by Jason Lei Howden, who previously worked on visual effects for The Hobbit trilogy and The Avengers. This New…

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Hot Pursuit trailer delivers action packed female buddy comedy with Reese Witherspoon and Sophia Vergara

The new trailer for upcoming action packed, female buddy comedy film Hot Pursuit has arrived. Reese Witherspoon plays uptight and by the book cop Officer Cooper who has to take Sophia Vergara’s sexy outgoing widow of a drug boss Daniella Riva into protective custody to escape from crooked cops and murderous gunmen. You can expect…

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DVD Review: Survivor (MA15+) (USA, 2014)

This is the next bad sci-fi that you need to see. Critics have spurned it as “the science fiction that even science fiction fans won’t like”. That’s a pretty harsh call. Let’s assess why Survivor did not survive the heat of film reviewers. It has a splash of sci fi favourites like Kevin Sorbo and Rocky Meyers. It…

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Kiyomi – Broadbeach (Gold Coast)

Gold Coast’s Jupiters is in the midst of a $345 million dollar refurbishment, aimed at completely revitalising the impressive building from the endearingly simple pool area to the in-house dining scene. I was kindly flown up there to check out the two starry restaurants that have opened due to the transformation, the first of which…

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TV Review: Marvel’s Daredevil, Season 1 Episode 2 “Cut Man” (USA, 2015)

The second episode of Marvel’s Daredevil dives straight into the aftermath of where the first episode left off, with Matt seriously injured after walking straight into a trap laid out by a Russian human trafficking ring. Lucky for him, the dumpster that he is left to die in just happens to be in the alleyway…

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Film Review: X+Y (M) (UK, 2015)

Navigating life, school and love can be tricky even for the best of us but for those with mental and social disorders it can be even harder. X+Y takes us into the fictional world of a teenage math prodigy who is diagnosed on the Asperger’s/autism spectrum at a young age and his journey to competing…

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TV Review: Marvel’s Daredevil, Season 1 Episode 1 “Into The Ring” (USA, 2015)

In late 2013, Marvel announced they were partnering with streaming giant Netflix to develop a number of shows based on their ‘street level heroes’, stating that they would be a grittier take than anything else seen so far in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). Nearly a year and a half later the first series Marvel’s…

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DVD Review: Halo: Nightfall (M) (USA, 2014)

Another installment in the Halo franchise has once again satisfied revelers of the Halo story. Much like a piece of the Halo ring floating in space, this feature is also an element that can be part of the Halo universe or a story all of its own. Considered the “origin story” of the one of…

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MICF Review: Chimp Cop – The Imperial Hotel (Until April 18th)

Chimp Cop – the love child of Melbourne comedians Timothy Clark, Ben Vernel, Adam Knox and Rosie Vernel, is a hard-hitting and hilarious tale of corruption, friendship, and bananas. A well-constructed hour of silliness that parodies just about every cop drama truism in the book, Chimp Cop moves through its influences, picking them apart and…

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Flight Review: Southwest Airlines – Los Angeles to San Antonio (WN3124)

We continue our Flight Review series, this time back in the USA on our way to Texas for SXSW. Instead of flying directly to Austin, I flew in via San Antonio – about 90 minutes drive from Austin – to bring you a run of coverage that you’ll be seeing online soon. Flying Southwest to…

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Stumbled Upon #037 – Why We Run (Sydney)

In our 37th installment of “Stumbled Upon”, we meet Sydney’s pop rockers Why We Run and chat about their debut single ‘Comfortable Lie’. We get o know the artists that inspire them, learn how the band got started and find out more about what they’ve got coming up – including a show in Wollongong tonight!…

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