2 Sept 2015
BLACK SUNDAY: Cult Cinema Horror From Lamented Director Mario Bava – DVD Review
The first film properly directed by the late lamented Mario Bava (who also served as cinematographer and uncredited co-writer, as drawing from a novel by…
Reviews – Page 143
2 Sept 2015
LATEST READINGS: A Collection Of Essays From Author/Broadcaster/Journalist Clive James – Book Review
Author/critic/memoirist/broadcaster/journalist/translator/you name it James’ latest and perhaps last tome is a collection of essays drawn from his ‘final’…
27 Aug 2015
Art Carney Gives A Magnificent Performance As The Grumpy, Bemused and Kind Senior Citizen, Harry, in HARRY & TONTO DVD Review
Late great writer/director/producer Paul Mazursky’s somewhat forgotten fourth feature from back in 1974 is less of an ‘Issue’ movie (see his 1969 début Bob &…
24 Aug 2015
A FORTUNATE AGE: Young New York Artists Search For Meaning In The Months Leading Up To The September 11 Attacks – Book Review
Joanna Rakoff was a popular speaker at the 2015 Adelaide Writers’ Week, where she spoke about her excellent memoir, My Salinger Year . Subsequent to the success…
24 Aug 2015
BOB DYLAN: DISC BY DISC – An Illustrated Discography From Zimmerman’s Extensive Music Catalogue – Book Review
Bream’s beautiful tome attempts to encompass Dylan’s vast body of often variable work, from 1962’s Bob Dylan to 2015’s inexplicable Shadows In The Night , with…
24 Aug 2015
CLUETOPIA: THE STORY OF 100 YEARS OF THE CROSSWORD by David Astle – Book Review
Astle, legendary crossword setter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age and an author of several books on wordplay themes (no less than Geoffrey Rush has…
24 Aug 2015
Dario Argento’s Classic THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE – DVD Review
Italian horror maestro Dario Argento’s first film as writer/director from way back in 1969 takes several uncredited cues from Fredric Brown’s novel The…
24 Aug 2015
LINDT CHOCOLATE BAR: THE BEST EVER RECIPES – Book Review
Seemingly designed and penned by Lindt types, this attractive, Lindt-block-shaped cookbook has much to tempt the chocolate obsessive, provided they can be…
24 Aug 2015
LOVE + HATE: STORIES AND ESSAYS by Hanif Kureishi – Book Review
The unreliable Kureishi’s latest combines short stories, odd essays on pet subjects and autobiographical pieces on sometimes minor topics, and they’re a mixed…
24 Aug 2015
THE LAST FIVE YEARS: The End, The Beginning and The Music In Between – DVD Review
The often bitterly funny modern musical by Jason Robert Brown is here adapted for the screen and directed by Richard LaGravenese, and while the low budget and…
24 Aug 2015
THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN: A Time-Capsule Piece For Horror Movie Completists – DVD Review
Director/producer/co-star Charles B. Pierce’s evocatively-titled ‘regional’ horror movie from 1976 is constructed as a rather awkward docudrama, a recreation –…
24 Aug 2015
THE WAITING ROOM: The Compelling Debut Novel From Author Leah Kaminsky – Book Review
Dina is the Australian-raised daughter of Jews displaced by World War II. She has married an Israeli man and is living in the melting-pot Israeli city of Haifa…