`Finke:There and Back’ – a film review
Not just for petrol heads, this is the story of an iconic annual two-day race through Central Australia – 'God's Country' – the 460km off-road Outback ordeal from Alice Springs south to the town of Finke and back. Gruelling and dangerous it certainly is, the track...
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`Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot’ – a film review
Director Gus Van Sant has created a poignant portrait, warts and all – the true story of the American cartoon-satirist, the late John Callahan. The characters are a diverse lot – some dregs, all diamonds – the performances touching, the direction skilled and straight...
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`Woman at War’ – a film review
A quirky film with a capital 'Q' set in the surreal scenery of Iceland, where an Amazonian middle-aged choir-mistress takes on the terrain, politicians and the captains of heavy industry, with a long bow and circular saw. The acting is genuine, the cause urgent and...
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`Capharnaum’ – a film review
A potent story with powerful performances from child actors. This is a desperate portrayal of survival, and a test for humanity, peering through a shattered looking glass into a world of abject existence - all set in the busy bleakness of Beirut slums. There is...
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`Juliet, Naked’ – a film review
The adventures of a young English woman reassessing her life after a 15yo relationship treading water, all wrapped in a quirky, crazy plot, driven by ridiculous coincidence. The writing is clever, the direction inspired and the acting superb – the chemistry between...
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Seeing the Light – a book review
'Trick of the Light' is Australian writer Laura Elvery's debut collection of short stories, a journey once begun, difficult to put down. Elvery is the mistress of the mundane and the quirks that live within, the reader led down winding paths loaded with a surprise at...
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A Walk on the Dark Side – a book review
Australian author Helen Patrice has been described as a fantasist cat-lady, tarot enthusiast, belly dancer and a widdershins circle-casting witch. But going by her latest offering – THE COMMUNICANT and other stories – there is much more to this writer than meets the...
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In the Beginning – a slow boat to Africa
Grandma was a short, stooped lady fond of telling stories in her Scottish brogue. In that blue, white and green MacDonald tartan pinny over a floral dress, she cooked up batches of potato scones, fried fruitcake and black pudding. No one in her family had seen a...
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Of Phantoms and Fog – looking for John Ruskin (Venetian Lagoon, Italy)
Broken walls topple, the last defenders with them. Canal bridges, city gates and the cathedral burn. Steel clashes with steel, horses' hoofs pound stone roads and women drag screaming children, the old and infirm towards the hills and mountains. Columns groan and...
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The Problem with Breakfast – a perplexing Outback puzzle
This morning we ponder our breakfast bowls in quiet isolation, another bush camp away from the road trains, the caravans and crowds, 100km east of nowhere in Outback Queensland... last night's neighbours a passing herd of camels with shining eyes, their footfalls the...
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