Film Review: The Quarantine Hauntings (Australia, 2015)

The Quarantine Station in North Head, Manly, is known, internationally even, as one of spookiest places ever. When it was used as a quarantine station between 1833 and 1984, over 5000 people lost their lives from diseases like the Bubonic Plague (the freaky one where you bleed from your eyes or something) and Smallpox. Rather…

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Film Review: The Wedding Ringer (USA, 2015)

The Wedding Ringer is a kind of terrible fun. The film has a direct-to-DVD feel that isn’t as enjoyable as The Wedding Singer but it’s also not as torturous as seeing your enemy get married. Ultimately, it’s a high-octane series of silly shenanigans that help redeem some of the film’s flatter moments. The movie is…

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Tkay Maidza, Ball Park Music, The Preatures and KLP talk about their triple j Beat The Drum performances

the AU review was backstage at triple j’s Beat The Drum concert, held in the Domain in Sydney on Friday, January 16th. Celebrating the iconic youth broadcaster’s 40th Birthday. While there, we spoke to The Preatures, KLP, Tkay Maidza and Ball Park Music about their performances at the event – who they were going to…

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Bonobo announces Australian DJ tour dates

British musician, producer and DJ Simon Green aka Bonobo will be returning to Australia and New Zealand for a run of special DJ sets this March. These special solo shows promise to include “spectacular visuals” and provide us with some hypnotic and hugely entertaining sets. Bonobo’s last record, The North Borders, was released back in…

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Watch as Sydney group Bonez attempt to perform Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" in the Triple J Studios Foyer

We’ve been deliberately trying to avoid taking part in the whole “Taylor Swift for Hottest 100” debate because, frankly, too many people were talking about it and it was a bandwagon we didn’t want to be a part of. We’re glad people are talking about Australian music though (as a byproduct) and ultimately, we just…

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Urban Theatre Project's Artistic Director Rosie Dennis talks Bankstown: Live (January 22nd to 25th)

BANKSTOWN:LIVE kicks off as part of Sydney Festival tomorrow, showing off an eclectic program over four days. To find out a bit more about what we can expect from the event, we caught up with the event’s curator – Urban Theatre Project’s Artistic Director Rosie Dennis. Tell me a little bit about how you came…

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VideAU Tech Review: Sony Digital Noise Cancelling Headset (MDR-NC31EM)

Recommended for use with the new Sony Xperia Z3 Smartphone, the Sony Digital Noise Cancelling Headset (RRP AU$79, MDR-NC31EM) brings together high quality sound with digital noise cancelling technology for an affordable price. Audio Quality Firstly, let’s talk about the audio quality. Putting it simply: it’s solid. With frequency response from 20Hz to 20,000Hz, it…

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Five International artists not to miss at St. Jerome's Laneway Festival 2015.

It’s that time of the year again that we get ourselves revved up for the massive Laneway Festival tour of Australia, New Zealand and Sinagpore – the first date of which kicks off this weekend in the Asian city. Now the only question is: who do we see? We’ve gone through the lineup and chosen…

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Live Review: Catfish and the Bottlemen + Food Court – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney (19.01.14)

It was Catfish and the Bottlemen‘s first ever Sydney show on Monday night – in the country acting as a support act to The Kooks. The support act for Catfish, however, were Sydney group Food Court, who proved themselves a tight outfit, bringing forth some surfy vibes – think Wavves and you’re on the right…

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Exclusive: An Interview with Edwyn Collins and the directors of his film The Possibilities Are Endless

The Possibilities Are Endless is a film that explores Edwyn Collins’ slow recovery and return to the stage after suffering from a stroke in 2005, which debilitated his music career and his life. Film-makers James Hall and Edward Lovelace work intimately with Collins to produce a beautiful film – voiced over by Collins himself superimposed…

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The Iris’ 24 Most Anticipated Films of 2015

With the return of franchises like Star Wars, Terminator, Bond, Jurassic Park and Mad Max, not one but TWO Pixar films (a first for the studio), the next Avengers, the end of the Hunger Games saga, that Fifty Shades of Grey adaptation and more sequels than you can possibly imagine (some of which are totally unnecessary……

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Faulty Towers: The Dining Experience set to tour Australia

Fans of the classic 1979 TV series Faulty Towers have something to look forward to. The interactive theatre production Faulty Towers: The Dining Experience is returning for a run of shows as part of Fringe World Perth, Adelaide Fringe Festival and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival following successful jaunts around the world. The production puts…

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Aussies Abroad: Twerps, Wax Witches announce US and International Tours, Fairchild head to London

As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting Australian artists touring internationally, we’re going to present to you a regular series of articles that bring you up to date on all of those tours… we start you off with three: Fairchild The Gold Coast group will be playing their first UK show in London at…

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Arts Review: Light Show – Auckland Art Gallery (Through 8th February 2015 – in Sydney later this year!)

Continuing from its sell-out season at the Hayward Gallery, London in 2013, the exhibition Light Show moved onto the Auckland Art Gallery in October ahead of its debut in Sydney later this year. The exhibition showcases a selection of some of the finest contemporary works that show off light in all its splendour, alongside works…

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More highlights from the first AU sessions in Sydney featuring Fanny Lumsden and Tim Chaisson

Today we’re very excited to announce that following the first ever AU Sessions last month in Sydney, from February onwards we will be putting on a monthly event at The Hive Bar in Erskineville – on the last Tuesday of every month! Stay tuned for more details on the lineups! But until then, come and…

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FOX in talks to bring back The X-Files with original cast

Good news for Mulder and Scully fans – there may be a possibility of a revival of the science-fiction drama, The X-Files. The series, which starred David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as FBI special agents with a penchant for the paranormal, ran for nine seasons from 1993 to 2002. According to Entertainment Weekly, CEO Gary…

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TV Review: Girls Season 4 Episode 2 “Triggering” (USA, 2015)

Hannah Horvath will never have her shit together. Yes, she now lives in a house that is so big that takes over four minutes to show it to Marnie over Skype as opposed to her New York apartment, which would have taken her forty seconds. Yes, she’s cycling everywhere and she doesn’t even need to…

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HRAFF to screen Still Alice at Dendy Cinemas, Newtown

On January 28, the Human Rights Arts & Film Festival (HRAFF) is presenting a special preview screen of Julianne Moore’s new film, Still Alice at Dendy Cinemas, Newtown. Still Alice tells the story of Alice, a 50-year old Professor who struggles with being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. A moving, and utterly compelling film that has…

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Cool down on hot summer nights with Moonlight Cinema

It’s summer, which means that it’s time to pack a picnic, get a glass of wine, and relax underneath the stars and watch some of your favourite flicks. That’s right, Moonlight Cinema is back in most cities from December 11 – March 29. Feel like glamming up? Spoil yourself and grab the Gold Grass package…

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Box Office Report: Taken 3 Holds Off New Releases

For the second week running, Taken 3 has topped the Box Office charts, leaving new release Unbroken – Angelina Jolie’s directing debut – in the dust by a mere $0.5 million. Good news for Aussie film fans – Robert Connolly’s Paper Planes came in forth for the week at $1.7 million, just trailing behind the…

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ABC’s new drama Hiding coming in February

ABC kicks off another big year of original Aussie drama with the family drama series, Hiding, created, co-produced and written by Matt Ford and directed by Shawn Seet, Tori Garrett and Grant Brown. After a botched drug deal, Troy Quigg (James Stewart) must take his family into Witness Protection in exchange for giving evidence against…

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Stumbled Upon #014 – Nova and the Experience (Sydney)

In our 14th instalment of “Stumbled Upon”, we meet Sydney ‘s latest indie pop offering Nova and the Experience, and chat about being mistaken for drug dealers in New York. Band Name: Nova and the Experience Website / Social Media: www.novaandtheexperience.com Facebook / Instagram / Twitter Genre: Pop / Indie Members & their roles: James-…

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Exclusive Album Premiere: Sky Picnic "Her Dawn Wardrobe" (2015)

Brooklyn psych-rockers Sky Picnic are producing a sound that fans of Australia’s own Tame Impala should feel very at home with – and following the reception of their latest single “Upon Further Reflection”, they now have a full album for us to enjoy. And today we’re excited to premiere it in full, exclusively on the…

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Exclusive Music Video Premiere: Elwood Myre "California" (2015)

Elwood Myre is a young Australian troubadour who collaborates with mandolin player Hunter Beasley, to create folk-laden Americana flavour. In October 2014, endowed with a sound that’s smooth and warm like bubble gum, the pair stumbled into Vienna People Recordings where they tracked their debut album live in 4 days. Today we’re excited to premiere…

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Exclusive: Josh Lovelace from NEEDTOBREATHE presents his list of 5 Bands you need to see live

Ahead of their Australian tour next month, we caught up with Josh Lovelace from the band NEEDTOBREATHE, who let us in on the five bands (other than his own, of course) who he reckons we all need to see live… The Killers We have been fans of The Killers for a long time but hadn’t…

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the AU interview: The Lazys reflect on Canada and their album and look ahead to the Summer

Leon and Matty from The Lazys talk to Larry from the AU review at Festival of the Sun in Port Macquarie. We talk about what they’ve been up to since we last caught up in Canada during Canadian Music Week earlier in 2014. They reflect on their multiple trips and successes to Canada, their latest…

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10 Reasons to get excited about the third season of Vikings

Michael Hirst has created something extraordinary with period drama Vikings, bringing a human aspect to the Scandinavians usually perceived as being only barbaric marauders wearing horned helmets. Vikings stars Australia’s Travis Fimmel and Alyssa Sutherland, with Season 3 to air on SBS ONE commencing 19th March. Here is what we are looking forward to in…

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Sydney Festival Live Review: So Frenchy So Chic in the Park feat. The Dø – St John's College (17.01.15)

Pictured: La Femme (Photo by Larry Heath) It was a relaxed atmosphere under the hot Summer sun on Saturday, as families, Francophiles and Festival fans got their spots under the umbrellas and on top of the hay bales that scattered the rarely used (but very well suited) site of St. John’s college for Sydney’s second…

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What to Watch: The Iris’ Weekly TV Picks (19th – 21st January 2015)

Kimberley is back with the first half of our weekly TV picks. Here’s what to watch this week on free-to-air from Monday through to Wednesday night, as the work week kicks off… Monday 2015 Australian Open, Ch. 7, 11:00am AEDT Channel 7’s live coverage of the Grand Slam of the Asia-Pacific begins, featuring the world’s top…

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Win a brand new Sony Xperia Z3 premium smartphone and Digital Noise Cancelling Headset thanks to Telstra!

Thanks to our good friends at Telstra we have a brand new Sony Xperia Z3 Premium Smartphone to give away, along with a brand new Digital Noise Cancelling Headset. The brand new Xperia Z3 is one of the leaders in the Android market. Combining a super-slim body and aluminium frame, the phone’s premium design also…

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