Now What?
The US Presidential election is coming to a head. Although 5 November 2024 is D-Day, early polling in numerous states has been going on for quite some time already. In a country of some 340 million (not counting the undocumented), where voting is a privilege rather than an obligation, free hot dogs, going-on-a-billion-dollars for advertising and events, and, in the case of the Democrat Party, Hollywood celebrities, are all deployed to get-out the vote. As of writing, the polls put the two candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, as even in the polls, or where in…
Continue Reading →Conclave
(Directed by Edward Berger, 2024) [Thanks to our Guest Reviewer, Dr. Jack White] Last night, I attended the final night of the Italian Film Festival in Adelaide that presented “Conclave” – a papal thriller based on Robert Harris’s novel. This is a film you must see, certain to take out many Academy Awards. Obviously, the setting is the Vatican. The Pope has died. The film explores the process by which Cardinals come together to vote for a new Pope. What is clear from the outset is that the cardinals are real people with real frailties who are driven by human…
Continue Reading →Heartstopper
GRAND FINAL: Norwood v Glenelg, 22 September 2024 As Woody Allen once wrote, sometimes to have a little luck is the most brilliant plan. Glenelg rode its luck in 2024, having undertaken to strive for more in the wake of its brilliant 2023 campaign. But this year was to prove no easy road: Norwood and Sturt dominated the minor round, finishing first and second. And the Tigers, lumbering behind those two teams, were generally winning by narrow margins: they lost Lachie Hosie, one of the great attacking spears from its trident, early in the season, and coming home in the…
Continue Reading →Still Shining
(Marcia Hines at Norwood Town Hall, Adelaide, 4 October 2024) She came from Boston to Australia on a six month gig in Hair, and 50 years later…she’s still here. And Australia is the better for it. Three times crowned as Australia’s Queen of Pop, Marcia’s lovely voice soars through all registers and her choice of material is broad but apt. At Norwood on Friday night, a packed Hall saw an enthusiastic (up in years) cohort get up and boogie, to songs such as Fire and Rain, I Want You Back, Shining, You, Disco Inferno, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, I Don’t Know…
Continue Reading →Prima facie
[Written by Suzie Miller; Directed by Justin Martin: live recording available online] (Our Guest Reviewer is a King’s Counsel of several decades experience, particularly in the criminal law) Prima facie: (of first appearance) Where there is some evidence in support of an allegation made, which will stand unless it is displaced. As it happens, I have never attended a performance by the National Theatre in London and I have not seen, or heard of, the actress Jodie Comer. That was until recently when I had the great pleasure to watch Prima facie, filmed live at the Harold Pinter Theatre and…
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