opinion and polls

Shrine by Tim Winton

It is fair to say that any new Tim Winton book, play, film or short story is welcomed with open arms by Western Australians.




opinion and polls

The Best Offer

The latest from Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore is a twisty, mysteroius affair that features an engaging narrative and wonderful performance from Geoffrey Rush




opinion and polls

The Rocket makes hearts soar

I knew very little about this film before I saw it, but I'd heard some pretty positive rumblings. The Rocket was awarded the People's Choice gong for Best Feature at the Melbourne International Film Festival (Victorian audiences are no slouches when it comes to cinema) and it was shot in Laos with a predominantly non-professional cast, which I found intriguing.




opinion and polls

The Rocket

Laotian film The Rocket won the People's Choice award for Best Feature at the Melbourne International Film Festival, and it proves to be a small film with a big impact.




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From Afghanistan to Murwillumbah: Ben Quilty and Olive Cotton

The Tweed River Art Gallery features a swag of interesting exhibitions just now, and there's nothing like a gallery hiatus to encourage you to get along to them. The Gallery closes for the first half of October to allow major works on the Margaret Olley Art Centre, which will open as an extension of the gallery in early 2014.




opinion and polls

Blue Jasmine

Woody Allen finds form with his new film, that's more drama than comedy and features a brilliant cast, led by a powerful performance from Cate Blanchett




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The Rocket

It's a simple story, with simple goals and activities being undertaken, and in that respect comes from the neo-realist tradition of socially aware filmmaking.




opinion and polls

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Two junior reviewers on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for 720 ABC Perth.





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Runner Runner

Justin Timberlake stars in this online gambling crime film that's entertaining without being memorable




opinion and polls

Storm Boy

I was a little despondent heading out to the State Theatre on Grand Final night to see Barking Gecko's latest play Storm Boy. A friend remarked as I was going out the door "at least you know the story line".





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Gravity

Alfonso Cuaron's lost in space thriller is an extraordinary white-knuckle ride featuring outstanding effects and a terrific performance from Sandra Bullock




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Xavier Rudd at Fremantle Arts Centre

The wintry weather dampens spirits in this performance from an artist whose music is 'quintessential summer'.




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Festivals upon us

The October long week was a weekend of festivals. It had me zooming from Tyagarah for the Boomerang indigenous arts festival, on to Nimbin for a spot of basketweaving at the Weave and Mend Festival and then out to Mullumbimby for the Circus Festival on Sunday. And I still didn't make it down to Ballina for their Country Music Festival.




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Diana

This big screen treatment of the life of the late princess manages to be both melodramatic and dull, and adds nothing to Diana's legacy or legend.




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Adelaide Film Festival: Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

12 hostages, 24 hours, 1 Partridge!




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Adelaide Film Festival: Charlie's Country

This quietly powerful examination of one man's life is a sad indictment on a modern nation struggling to reconcile with the customs and culture of the original custodians.




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Adelaide Film Festival: Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa "OLD SCHOOL RADIO RULES!"

Clever dialogue and big British comedy talent make this compulsory viewing especially for radio lovers.




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Adelaide Film Festival: Tracks

The inspirational true story of Robyn Davidson's journey through the desert.




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Prisoners

It's dark and its subject matter is unpleasant, but solid direction and powerhouse performances make this crime thriller memorable.




opinion and polls

Adelaide Film Festival: The Boy Castaways "IT'S A MAD WORLD"

Is it madness? Is it purgatory? Or is it just male mid-life crisis? Whatever it is it is a musical descent into perdition.





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Adelaide Film Festival: Sons and Mothers "An unfailingly honest portrait of a unique group of men"

Abner Bradley, Alirio Zavarce, Ben Wishart, Damien Turbin, Duncan Luke, Kym Mackenzie, Ryan Rowland, Richard Samai




opinion and polls

Captain Phillips

Director Paul Greengrass applies his usual intensity to this well executed real life tale of modern day priacy.




opinion and polls

The Butler

Lee Daniels' movie is top heavy with history and stars, and while it is engaging, it's more noble and well-meaning than emotionally satisfying.





opinion and polls

Midsummer [a play with songs]

Black Swan Theatre's latest offering Midsummer (a play with songs) directed by Damon Lockwood is a breath of fresh air.




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Bad Grandpa

This latest hidden camera prankfest has some outrageous moments and winning performances, but is rather tame and sentimental when compared to other Jackass adventures




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South Pacific

South Pacific is pushing 65 this year but is still an infinitely renewable theatrical resource. "Younger than Springtime" you say? Well, sorta.




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Drawn to a close: the end of the Dobell Prize

Over the years as I've trawled through annual Archibald Prize for portraiture at the Art Gallery of NSW, I have always taken the time to also peruse two of the other exhibitions shown simultaneously: the Wynne Prize for sculpture and landscape painting and the Dobell Prize for drawing, named after Australian artist Sir William Dobell.




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Romance and loss fused for Brief Encounter stage show

'Brief Encounter' serves as a poignant little reminder of the volcano ready to erupt beneath the cover of a mediocre suburban life.




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Mystery Road

Ivan Sen's outback crime thriller is a stark and haunting drama with an impressive cast and wonderful cinematography




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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The second installment in the futuristic series follows a similar path to the first film, but interesting characters, impressive design and a terrific turn from Jennifer Lawrence




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Peter Pan

West Australian Ballet's Peter Pan will delight both young and old, says 720's reviewer Sinead Mangan.




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One Chance

This story of the singing reality TV star follows traditional biopic conventions, but it has charm to spare and benefits from some touching performances and great music.




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Brief Encounter

Weepies are a lot like liquorice jellybeans, rice pudding or Clive Palmer: You either love 'em or you hate 'em. There's no middle ground. Personally, I've always been a fan. There's nothing like a bit of good ol' cleansing hysteria to give a rinse to life's windscreen.




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Deckchair Review: Jappeloup

Every week Drive sends a listener to the Festival Films to be their deckchair reviewer. Here's what our reviewer thought of Jappeloup.




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Leonard Cohen and the art of ageless music

One of the most influential lyricists of the past 50 years delivered a marathon performance of his classics in a voice that gets richer by the year.




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Cavalia

The horses were without a doubt the star of the show at Cavalia. The elegance of the horse is consistently displayed throughout the show, and despite some improvisation, the horses were every inch the perfect performers.




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Backyard Ashes

Mark Grentell's celebration of an Aussie tradition is low on budget and rough around the edges, but is ultimately an affectionate tale with plenty of laughs.




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American Hustle

David O Russell charts the rise and fall of con artists and shady characters in this 70s era comedic drama, and the results are fantastic




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Deckchair Review: Mood Indigo

This week's Deckchair Review is from Robyn Westbrook for the film Mood Indigo.




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Songwriters in the round sing it out for our small halls

I really love the small wooden halls that dot each village in our north coast region. The halls have been social hubs for our rural communities for decades. They have seen bush dances, card nights, trivia fundraisers, 21st birthday parties, garage sales, weekly yoga classes and many other social events.




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Deckchair Review: The Gilded Cage

It was a full house for the opening night of The Gilded Cage, Somerville's latest film, a thoroughly relaxing and charming adult family comedy.




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Deckchair Review: 12 Years a Slave

Deckchair Reviewer John Gilby reviews one of the year's most acclaimed films, 12 Years a Slave.




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Flood

If Flood is anything to go by there is a whole lot of promising writing simmering in the State Theatre's latest venture, the Black Swan lab.




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The Wolf of Wall Street

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio take on the excesses of the stock market and manage to push their movie over the top and over the edge with wildly compelling and entertaining results.




opinion and polls

Deckchair Review: A Hijacking (Kapringen)

Deckchair Reviewer, Denise, gives her review of 'A Hijacking', currently showing at Perth International Film Festival's Joondalup Pines.




opinion and polls

Deckchair Review: The Past

The latest film from Oscar winning director Asghar Farhadi is our Deckchair Review this week - The Past.