The oddball music biopic seems to be a burgeoning new subgenre. There’s the Robbie Williams monkey movie and now the Lego animation Piece By Piece which recounts the life of famed musician and producer Pharrell Williams. Full disclosure, the prospect of another quirky jerky Lego movie/ product placement had me recoiling like a vampire doused with holy water but I
Read moreMidnight Oil were always an intriguing mix of contradictions. They were almost as much an activist entity as a band. Their sound was an unusual mix of disparate genres such as hard rock, punk, surf music and prog and was sufficiently diverse that just about anyone would like at least some of their repertoire even if they recoiled at other
Read moreI had never heard of Australian artist David Bromley but apparently he’s hugely successful and according to the documentary, Bromley: Light After Dark, his work is ubiquitous in upper middle-class homes. This mostly uplifting documentary examines his work and the aspects of his life, like family, that he cherishes and that have sustained him in his battles with mental illness.
Read moreFor better or worse, documentary My Name is Alfred Hitchcock is not so much about the man and his personal history but the master of suspense’s filmmaking approach. To delve into this topic, Director Mark Cousins has made the slightly unusual decision to have British actor and impressionist Alistair McGowan impersonate Hitch as narrator. This is a little distracting at
Read moreFor anyone even vaguely interested in the history of the city in which we live, the documentary, The Lost City Of Melbourne will be a must-see. With remarkable film footage, illustrations and still photography (much of it from German photographers Mark Strizic & Wolfgang Sievers), the documentary traces Melbourne’s growth and transformation over the last 170 years. Delivered in a
Read moreA quarter of a century after her death, Princess Diana remains a subject of public fascination. Following the impressive Diana biopic, Spencer, comes the documentary, The Princess. While directed by Ed Perkins, the film also bares the stamp of its producers Jonathon Chinn and in particular Simon Chinn who gave us Man on Wire and Searching For Sugar Man, two
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