20 th Century Women is the latest film from Mike Mills, whose previous film Beginners came out a full six years ago – but the wait has certainly been worthwhile. He’s managed to follow up what was a rather lovely and tender film with an even lovelier and even more tender one, a film that encompasses a sprawling range of themes and sentiments. It’s set in Southern California in 1979, and centres on Jamie, a fifteen-year-old living with his single middle-aged mother, Dorothea (Annette Bening), in ...
May 29, 2017•3 min
Wild Bore is a new theatre production by three comedians, Zoe Coombs Marr, Ursula Martinez and Adrienne Truscott. It is a meta theatrical production where the three performers analyse and deconstruct theatre criticisms, drawing material from real reviews they have received and other brutal reviews of other theatre productions. A lot of the themes of the show revolve around their experience of being ‘female comedians/theatre artists’ and the sexism and misunderstandings and backlash they receive....
May 29, 2017•3 min
Christian chats with director Robbie Carmellotti and cast member Jordon Mahar from Chapel off Chapel's production of Spring Awakening: The Musical , running until June 10. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 29, 2017•17 min
Action Hero arrives in Melbourne bringing a light Americana teeny boppy show "Whatever it takes" the banner read on the gym decorated theatre. Lines like these that seemingly belonged in a Degrassi High after school special were particularly prevalent in the UK groups show. It relied on the underdog team standing up against great grief and overcoming it all. The plot relied on spectacle and capturing this culture of teen movies. This was hard at first for many of the more elite theatre goers who...
May 29, 2017•2 min
Christian reviews Boutique Theatre's production of The Fairytale Russian Girls ( running at St Martin's Youth Theatre until May 27) for Host Adalya and Assistant Producer Thierry. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 24, 2017•6 min
On Art Smitten's special Mother's Day episode, Host Maria, Executive Producer Christian Producer and Christian's mum, Helen, chat with Tegan Jones, Producer, Co-Founder and Company Manager of Boutique Theatre, about The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls , on at St Martin's Youth Theatre until May 27. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 24, 2017•16 min
Smithers interviews double bass player from the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra, performing in Unfinished Romance – Rossini & Schubert on Monday 22 May, 7.30pm at the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 20, 2017•17 min
Christian, Jack and Ellie chat with actor Faran Martin from North of Eight's production of Gardner McKay's Toyer , running at The Courthouse Hotel (86-90 Errol St, North Melbourne) until May 13. Click here for Christian's review See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 08, 2017•15 min
Christian, Jack and Ellie chat to artists Ali MC and Rushdi about their exhibitions from the 2017 Human Rights Festival - Rohingya: Refugee Crisis in Colour (on display until May 25 at the Fitzroy Library) and Reframe “Home” with Patterns of Displacement (on display from May 9-14 at the No Vancancy Gallery in QV). Click here to listen to our interview with festival director Lauren Valmadre See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 04, 2017•13 min
Jack, Ellie and Christian chat with Lauren Valmadre, Director of this year's Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, running until May 14. Click here to listen to our interview with HRAFF artists Ali MC and Rushdi See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 04, 2017•10 min
Federation Uni Graduating Class of 2017 I’m going to start by saying that my parents saw RENT on Broadway twice during its run from 1996 to 2008 and gushed about it to me as soon as I was old enough to understand. It’s the 11th longest running musical on Broadway when it finished and has won 4 Tony’s, 6 Drama Desk awards and The Pulitzer Prize for Drama. So, as you can tell, going in I had pretty high expectations for this production. Long story short, it blew me away. The cast, the music, the c...
May 03, 2017•3 min
Jack and Ellie chat to Laura Morrisby and Jonathan Reeves from the FedUni Arts Academy Ballarat production of RENT, running until May 6 at the Athenaeum 2 (188 Collins Street). Click here to listen to Ellie's review See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 03, 2017•14 min
Producer Christian chats to hosts Ellie and Jack about North of Eight's production of Gardner McKay's Toyer , featuring Faran Martin and Kashmir Sinnamon, which runs until May 13 at the Courthouse Hotel, 86-90 Errol St, North Melbourne. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 02, 2017•7 min
Shining a spotlight on American independent cinema The American Essentials Film Festival, now in its second year, features a range of independent works produced over the last year and timeless American Masterpieces. The Artistic Director, Richard Sowada created a program that captured the essence of American culture. The program features G-Funk, Annie Hall and feature documentaries such as The Bomb that Sowada noted “is an interesting piece… particularly at a time like now”. David Lynch: The Art...
May 02, 2017•3 min
“I myself almost don’t know which season I like best; I believe all of them equally well” -Van Gogh London 1873 The NGV has done it again. The NGV has pulled off one of its most ambitious plans for the 2017 collection. The Winter Masterpieces exhibition, which started in 2004, features a beautiful array of Van Gogh pieces; some of which have never been on Australian soil. The exhibition featured the contribution of, a deeply devoted Van Gogh scholar and curator. Sjraar found seasons a proper tit...
May 02, 2017•2 min
I often find myself unable to articulate what I feel, think and experienced after seeing a Rabble show, and JOAN was no different, so here’s my best shot at trying to speak about it. JOAN is an experimental theatre production exploring the story of Joan of Arc. It has no plot or story and very little dialogue, and it is made mainly of images inspired primarily from Joan of Arc. A lot of the show is quite visceral, not only in the performers' bodies, but also in all the elements of production, in...
May 02, 2017•3 min
Smithers and Samara chat to CEO and co-founder of CLIMARTE Guy Abrahams about the ART+CLIMATE=CHANGE 2017 festival, now running until May 14. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 27, 2017•10 min
Part 2 of Samara and Smithers' interview with Rebecca Rosengrave about her debut young adult fantasy novel, Gumtree Gargoyles. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 27, 2017•6 min
CONTENT WARNING : Mental illness Part 1 of Samara and Smithers' interview with Rebecca Rosengrave about her debut young adult fantasy novel, Gumtree Gargoyles. Click here for Part 2! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 27, 2017•6 min
An Intimate look into Brett Whiteley's life and legacy Whiteley uses Brett Whiteley's art and interview archives to take you on a journey into his inner psyche. Within the footage he tells of his relationship with Wendy, his search for meaning and his push to create art that serves a purpose for the public. His life is summed up with tension and brooding that Brett unsuccessfully attempts to get away from. The film starts off strong, playing with the biographical art piece of Brett, incorporated...
Apr 25, 2017•2 min
Samara and Smithers chat to Olugbade Okunade from the Nigerian afrobeat band Alárìíyá about their debut album launch on Saturday April 29, 7.30pm at The Toff (Level 2 Curtin House, 252 Swanston St) with Headphones Jones. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 25, 2017•13 min
Smithers reviews Comedy Zone Asia , the Melbourne International Comedy Festival show featuring Jinx Yeo, Neeti Palta, Sumit Anand, Rizal van Geyzel and Douglas Lim that runs until April 23. Click here to listen to Smithers' interview with Douglas ! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 21, 2017•5 min
In the Mens Interesting look into the expansive Australian male psyche. The show is a number of monologues dedicated to generations of male Australians. It highlights the weird, quirky and uncomfortable experiences felt in our own backyard. Characters included “shirtfront” the jockey addicted to cheesecake, a ex-greyhound racer, a stockbroker stuck between the bliss of the sea-change and the agony of work, the oldest man in Australia, and a businessman breaking up with his fiancee due to his sup...
Apr 19, 2017•2 min
Cal Wilson's show in the MICF this year is about 'Things I've Never Said', or, all things she's never focused on in her comedy. For Wilson, this means a focus on politics and feminism. Wilson flourishes on the topic, deploying a white hot commentary on sex, gender and equality. Throughout a series of anecdotal pieces which include her prejudice about playing to a room full of male mine workers; what it means to be a mother; what happened when her son wore pink sparkly face paint, and being physi...
Apr 18, 2017•4 min
Colossal is a film about monsters, both literal and metaphorical. Written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo, perhaps most famous for his sci-fi dark comedy Timecrimes , it stars Anne Hathaway as Gloria, a young woman with a lot of problems. In an attempt to recharge, she goes back to her home town, which is small, nondescript and somewhere in the Midwest of America. She reconnects with a childhood friend, and slowly starts to get back on her feet, when suddenly news breaks out of a giant monster t...
Apr 18, 2017•2 min
Raw has got to be one of the best horror films I’ve seen in recent years. It manages to create discomfort not only out of the deeply horrifying but also out of pretty much everything else. Cannibalism becomes as nasty to watch as skin rashes. The first film by Julia Ducournau, it’s grisly and very dark and shows an impressive flair for visceral tension and thematic construction. I was gripped from the start and floored by the end. Justine is a first-year veterinary student, intellectually gifted...
Apr 18, 2017•3 min
Jim, Gill and Smithers interview vocalist and viola player Biddy Connor from the Letter String Quartet, who have an upcoming concert, Oracle Marker , on Sunday April 23, 6pm at the Hawthorn Arts Centre on 360 Burwood Road. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 17, 2017•14 min
Smithers chats to Brenton Amies and Cam Ralph the morning after seeing she saw their Melbourne International Comedy Festival show Everyday Monsters , playing at Tasma Terrace (6 Parliament Place, East Melbourne) until April 22. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 13, 2017•19 min
Nikki Britton is an excitable, full of energy Australian comedian whose show, Romanticide, reflects on her not so excitable love life. Britton reflects in her show on her romantic conquests, experiences and failures, and how they have shaped her as a person. The show is a one hour energised stand up routine in a small crowded room at The Forum, which boasts quite a hot time, as it’s stuffy inside. Luckily, there is a massive air conditioner blasting cool air into the place. Unluckily, it was pos...
Apr 09, 2017•2 min
I grew up watching older British Comedy, so I’ve always had a love for it. Fawlty Towers was of course one of these loves, as well as Monty Python, The Goodies and Benny Hill. I’m shocked that I never heard about Faulty Towers, The Dining Experience until now, but better late than never, I finally went to go. Straight up, and I didn’t even realise until writing this review, the actual names of the show and the original are different. Fawlty is spelt F A W L T Y whilst the Dining Experience is F ...
Apr 09, 2017•3 min
