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

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

Flight is about addiction. In particular, it’s about the long spiral that comes between the period when a person begins imbibing too much and when he acknowledges that he no longer has control and needs help. Read more

The return of the LKQ

The London Klezmer Quartet (LKQ) returns to Australia for a five-week national tour of the festival circuit and major venues from 28 February.  And they have a hot new album with them! Read more

Short+Sweet with a Jewish Flavour

A host of Jewish artists appear in this week’s plays at Short+Sweet in Sydney. Read more

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

Most of the time, I am irritated when a movie proclaims to be “based on a true story”…writes James Berardinelli. Read more

This is 40 ***/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

This is 40 has the feel of one of those French “family comedies” – sort of like the kind of thing brought to the screen by Cedric Klapisch, except with more profanity and vulgarity…writes James Berardinelli. Read more

Hitchcock 3/4 : a film review by James Berardinelli

Hitchcock could be construed as a misleading title for this motion picture. A better name might have been The Making of Psycho, although that might have led to confusion with a DVD supplemental feature…writes James Berardinelli. Read more

Les Miserables 3½/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli

Les Miserables, believed by some to be the best novel ever penned in French, has been adapted in nearly every form imaginable, including dozens of movies, television mini-series in French and English, loose “thematic reworkings,” and comic books…writes James Berardinelli. Read more

The Hobbit 3/4: A movie review by James Berardinelli

In 2001, only a few months after the fall of the World Trade Center, Peter Jackson swept us away to Middle Earth with The Fellowship of the Ring..writes James Berardinelli. Read more

Rise of the Guardians 3/4: A movie review by James Berardinelli

The summer of 2012 was dismal for animated fare but, with releases like Frankenweenie, Wreck-It Ralph, and Rise of the Guardians, things have taken a turn for the better during the autumn…writes James Berardinelli. Read more

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