Don Pasquale…an opera review by Michelle Coleman

Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, in the tradition of opera buffa, is a comic masterpiece that is brought to life with wit and charm in Opera Australia’s 2014 Spring season. Read more

Favourite bookends and a bone-shaking middle

The grandeur and familiarity of Beethoven and Brahms sat either side of a pyrotechnic exhibition in sound at the SSO APT Master Series in the Sydney Opera House last night, writes Fraser Beath McEwing. Read more

Very much a live performance from Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

The difference between a careful, note-perfect recording and a caution-to-the-winds live performance was graphically demonstrated by French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet last night, writes Fraser Beath McEwing. Read more

Self Made…a movie review by Roz Tarszisz

A modern fairytale with deep political messages, Self Made demands that the viewer suspend critical analysis and tag along for the ride. Read more

Next to Her…a movie review by Roz Tarszisz

Chelli (Liron Ben-Shlush), an attractive young woman, is a school security guard in Haifa. Read more

Sculthorpe remembered

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra paid its respects to the distinguished Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe who recently passed away by including an unscheduled performance of his Memento Mori in its ATP series concert thus week. Read more

The Selfish Giant…a movie review by Roz Tarszisz

Grim and gritty does work well in the North of England. Read more

Still Life…a movie review by Roz Tarszisz

Funerals are meant for the living. Still Life opens intriguingly with the same solitary figure at a series of burial services. Read more

Venus in Fur…a film review by Roz Tarszisz

Venus in Fur – a play within a play. Based on David Ives’ Tony Award winning play “Venus in Fur”, this two hander directed by Roman Polanksi opens innocuously enough in a small rundown theatre in Paris.

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Empire by Spiegelworld

’10 out of 10’ (Sun Herald), ‘the best show I’ve seen in years’ (Sydney Morning Herald), ‘the best sex of my life and I wasn’t even involved’ (Brisbane Times). It’s not every day that a show comes to town that arouses that kind of excitement!…writes Deb Meyer. Read more

Apples and Pears – a drama review by Deb Meyer

Where in Sydney do you find an intimate theatre inside a NY style, graffiti filled warehouse, with a labyrinth of narrow staircases, bustling with energy and the occasional pot of overgrown tomatoes? Read more

Atomic – The Musical: A review by Deb Meyer

Physicists make for fascinating protagonists in the current Sydney theatre scene. Read more

The Whole Megillah

A well stocked orchestra plus two choirs and four vocal soloists hardly left room for conductor, David Robertson, to thread his way to the podium to launch Verdi’s Requiem…writes Fraser Beath McEwing. Read more

Olympus has fallen 3/4 – a film review by James Berardinelli

There’s irony to be found in the recognition that the best Die Hard to be released in 2013 isn’t the franchise’s official entry, A Good Day to Die Hard, but the White House-based copycat, Olympus Has Fallen. Read more

Warm Bodies 2½/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

As if it wasn’t bad enough that Twilight defanged vampires, turning them into whiny emo Harlequin romance heroes, now Warm Bodies has done something similar for zombies. Read more

Hyde Park on Hudson 2½/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

Hyde Park on Hudson represents the odd marriage of an uninteresting, borderline-creepy “romance” and a peek behind the scenes of a notable but unsung historical event. 2012 has seen dramatizations of eras from the administrations of two of America’s greatest leaders. Read more

Rust and Bone 3/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

When Rust and Bone tells a story of a woman’s recovery from a devastating injury, it hits all the right notes, traveling a path that is poignant without being mawkish and triumphant without being saccharine. Read more

A night of percussive passion…writes Fraser Beath McEwing

For concertgoers who like an adrenalin hit, the second concert in the SSO Master Series filled the bill. Four romantic composers poured on syrup, explosions and tail wind flying that delighted many, but left the classicists harrumphing into their post-concert coffee. Unashamedly, I fell into the delighted class – without being totally convinced by all the offerings, however. Read more

Broken City **/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

Broken City? More appropriately, Broken Movie. Read more

Side Effects ***/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

There’s something delightfully old-fashioned about Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects. Read more

The Paper Boy **½/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

Whatever else it may be cited for, The Paperboy, Lee Daniels’ follow-up to Precious, is not going be called “the feel-good movie of 2012.” Read more

Cloud Atlas ***/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

Based on a perusal of reviews for Cloud Atlas, one might be convinced that the sprawling, ambitious, epic adaptation of David Mitchell’s 2004 novel is either a masterpiece or an unmitigated disaster. Read more

The Last Stand **½/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

Old action heroes don’t die or fade away; they just keep going. Read more

Amour ***½/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

Films can be tremendous vehicles for escapism – paths to freeing oneself from worldly concerns and considerations. They can also be a means of getting in touch with essential elements of humanity such as love, sacrifice, and mortality. Read more

Beautiful Creatures **½/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

Beautiful Creatures is the latest attempt by a Hollywood studio to cash in on the popularity of a YA (Young Adult) series. In this case, instead of vampires and werewolves, it’s witches and warlocks. Read more

Safe Haven **/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

It’s pointless criticizing a Nicholas Sparks movie for being a Nicholas Sparks movie. Sparks, like Barbara Cartland before him, delivers exactly what his fans want: romance between two attractive people. Read more

Anna Karenina ***/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

Like Frankenstein and Hamlet, Anna Karenina is a literary touchstone that filmmakers return to on a regular basis. Read more

Lincoln ***½/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

One of the many, many smart decisions made by director Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner when developing Lincoln was not to make it a traditional bio-pic of the 16th U.S. president. Read more

Silver Linings Playbook ***½/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

Silver Linings Playbook is a quirky adult romantic comedy that goes beyond the standard rhythms of the genre. Read more

Zero Dark Thirty ***½/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

Zero Dark Thirty is a compelling contemporary thriller with the added benefit of also being an engrossing character study. Read more

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