80-yr-old to star in a play about his own fabled coffee shop

What do a street girl, a nun and a taxi driver have in common? They all drink coffee at the Piccolo Bar in Sydney’s Kings Cross! Read more

Wild – a movie review by Roz Tarszisz

A road movie with blisters?  As someone who likes her outdoors neatly packaged, I wondered if Wild would hold my interest. There are indeed plenty of sores and blisters but as the miles are chalked up, it becomes so much more. Read more

Tabac Rouge – Sydney Festival Opening Night…a theatre review by Deb Meyer

I can’t profess to understanding everything I saw and experienced in this latest production from James Thierree’s Compagnie du Hanneton, but with Tabac Rouge (Red Tobacco) I was blown away nonetheless! Read more

Taken3…a movie review by Roz Tarszisz

I did wonder if it mattered that I had not seen Taken or Taken2. But since it’s an action thriller, I decided Taken3 can be viewed as on its own merits. Read more

Penguins of Madagascar…a movie review by Roz Tarszisz

Taking a small child to the movies is about so much more than just what’s on the screen; it’s an outing, and the movie can easily end up the least of it. Read more

The Imitation Game…a movie review by Roz Tarszisz

In an ideal world you would come fresh to this knowing little about the British code breakers of World War II as it is a fascinating piece of history. Read more

A night to please

Take a British beginning and end, put Sibelius in the middle, and everybody goes home feeling good – but only if the musicians can deliver, writes Fraser Beath McEwing. Read more

Exodus, Gods and Kings…a movie review by Roz Tarszisz

Do we really need yet another swords and sandals cutlery saga? Why rehash ancient history? What could we expect from Director Ridley Scott? Read more

David Williamson’s “Rupert” – reviewed by Deb Meyer

Sitting down to write this review, a strange sweet craving came over me. Read more

Bronfman returns and brings Mahler with him

He saw him rehearse the Brahms Piano Concerto No 1 with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra…now Fraser Beath McEwing reviews the concert itself. Read more

Yefim Bronfman, pianistic force, in two acts

J-Wire took its music reviewer Fraser Beath McEwing to watch one of the world’s top pianists Yefim Bronfman rehearse Brahms powerful Piano Concerto No1 with the Sydney Symphony orchestra followed by a private interview with the maestro…read his report. Read more

Folies Bergere…a film review by Roz Tarszisz

Judging by the recent spate of mature-age romances, coming of age stories are a trifle old hat. From writer and director Marc Fitoussi, this is a delightful coming of second age (or possibly third) tale. Read more

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

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