I feel like covers can get a bad rap: sometimes it's because we're too attached to the original; sometimes it deviates so little that we wonder what the point is; sometimes it's just too soon (Blue's Too Close leaps to mind ( Read more... )

This morning I heard an amazing mash-up, featuring a pair of songs from two of my favourite artists right now. It reminded me I haven't posted about music in a long time. I used to dedicate whole entries to songs, lyrics, and albums, so this has been a long time coming ( Read more... )

As a somewhat avid musical nerd, I've been wanting to see the stage production of Into The Woods for some time. (I can rarely decline a modern spin on a Brothers Grimm fairy tale - especially when it combines several of them.) However, when the film adaptation was announced, I hoped it would provide an ideal substitute in the meantime. With a cast ( Read more... )

Having never read the book or seen the Reese Witherspoon movie on which it was based, I wasn't the only one who was surprised by my decision to go along and see the Legally Blonde musical at Sydney's Lyric Theatre last night.

Perhaps my lack of expectation was precisely the reason I liked it so much, but that would detract from what a funny, clever ( Read more... )

A year ago, two of my literary pools of awesome independently recommended The Hunger Games, within hours of each other. It was at the same time we were all flooded with emotion over the final Harry Potter film and both said it was a great book to start a new adventure ( Read more... )

As a teenager who was quite vested in Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place (namely for supporting actor Nathan Fillion), Ryan Reynolds has been on my radar for a long time now. But I've never really had much time for him as an actor - he always struck me as someone who used his looks to ride on the back of average acting and sub par comic timing ( Read more... )

As a child I watched many musicals that I grew out of (The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, Grease), but have since rediscovered them with live stage shows. The most recent of these was Annie, which I went to see at the Lyric Theatre last night. Having not seen the film in at least twenty years, I knew some of the songs and the general storyline, but ( Read more... )

Almost a decade ago, the UK released a holiday film which compromised multiple main characters and storylines, culminating in a shared event to illustrate their connection. Since then, the US has jumped on the band wagon, with recent movies including Valentine's Day and their latest effort, New Years EveLike so many other holiday films, it ( Read more... )

Kevin Spacey has been my favourite actor for awhile now. It began with his magnificent performance in The Usual Suspects, continued with his fantastic death scene in L.A. Confidential and was cemented by his brilliance in American BeautyWhile all actors should be able to adapt to their characters, none seem to do it with more deft ease or ( Read more... )

I haven't seen Ryan Gosling in much of anything since The Notebook, but it's been pretty hard to avoid his impressive resume this year. Having already seen him work some charm in Crazy Stupid Love, I was interested to see what sort of character he'd be playing in critically acclaimed DriveThe opening scene is nothing short of captivating. There is ( Read more... )