Star Wars Burlesque: The Empire Strips Back!

0 Comments. 20 Views. Posted 22 Feb 2012 @ 4:15pm.
  “Basically I’m two things: I’m a geek, and I’m a pervert,” laughs Russall Beattie, on what inspired him to develop Star Wars Burlesque: The Empire Strips Back! The show, which sold out months in advance in Sydney, visits Melbourne this weekend to entertain those who love George Lucas’ original Star Wars trilogy, and wondered what Darth Vader would be like if he was female, wore black latex, and stripped. “Star Wars Burlesque is great because you take everything you loved as a child and combine that with things you love as an adult, ideally people wearing Stormtrooper masks and... Read More!
arts › Features › arts feature archives
SmartBar feature, arts.
0 Comments. 43 Views. Posted 22 Feb 2012 @ 3:23pm.
  The Melbourne Museum staff know that if you’re a 20 or 30-something without kids, you probably don’t go to the museum much. It’s open during the day while you’re at work and on the weekends it’s full of children and families. So the programmers have come up with an idea to entice you back there: the SmartBar, an adults-only evening at the museum where you can grab a drink, listen to... Read More
Sofia Coppola On Film feature, arts.
0 Comments. 44 Views. Posted 21 Feb 2012 @ 4:34pm.
  “Something for everyone” is the best description of ACMI’s upcoming Sofia Coppola retrospective. It’s a chance to discover Coppola’s films if you’ve never seen them before, to revisit them if you haven’t seen them for years, or to immerse yourself in her cinematic world if you’re already a fan. The films feature personal stories and universal themes, compelling heroines and developed male... Read More
Infinity feature, arts.
0 Comments. 35 Views. Posted 21 Feb 2012 @ 4:31pm.
  With a lineage stretching back nearly 400 years, ballet is hardly renowned for its avant-gardism. Since its advent in the Italian Renaissance, this form of dance has retained much classicism up until the present day, an air of the esoteric clinging like soil to its aristocratic roots. But on the anniversary of their 50th year, the Australian Ballet are set to challenge such perceptions... Read More
Global Atheist Convention feature, arts.
0 Comments. 116 Views. Posted 20 Feb 2012 @ 4:59pm.
  “There’s a need in civilisation that we have to try a new paradigm because the paradigm that has got us to this stage is also threatening to destroy us,” observes David Nicholls, President of the Atheist Foundation of Australia and one of the key organisers of the upcoming Global Atheist Convention to be hosted by Melbourne in April. From producing the Global Atheist Convention in 2010 to... Read More
Due Paesi, Due Cuori feature, arts.
0 Comments. 227 Views. Posted 16 Feb 2012 @ 10:02am.
  Due Paesi, Due Cuori began as one of those rare true tales told to the director that so captivated him, he had to share. Translating to ‘two countries, two hearts’, Rob Lo Bosco offers the story fully formed, but in actuality it was revealed to him in snippets. The genesis of the story is almost as unique as the production itself. Lo Bosco, a practitioner of Chinese medicine, was regaled... Read More
Any Questions For Ben? feature, film, arts.
0 Comments. 155 Views. Posted 15 Feb 2012 @ 1:57pm.
  “I think that years go by quicker as you get older,” tells writer and director of Any Questions For Ben? Rob Sitch, the first feature film from the Working Dog team (The Castle, The Dish) in over a decade. When asked why it has taken so long for them to create a new feature, Sitch, who co-wrote the film with his usual collaborators Santo Cilauro and Tom Gleisner, explains that other things... Read More
Apocastrip Wow! feature, arts.
0 Comments. 320 Views. Posted 15 Feb 2012 @ 1:50pm.
  “It was lovely lying in bed, luxuriating in my curlers naked, talking to you.” Julie Atlas Muz manages to purr even when her throat is cigarette-style croaky after sleep. She’s on the phone in Sète, France, yawning constantly. From what I’ve gathered during our conversation, she’s really coming across as a reserved type. Muz is an experienced burlesque performer with signature acts that... Read More
Focus On Raj Kapoor feature, arts.
0 Comments. 197 Views. Posted 14 Feb 2012 @ 12:54pm.
  For one reason or another, Bollywood remains a blind spot in the cinephilia of many Western film fans. Is it the butt-numbing run-times that deter audiences? Or the whiplash changes in tone, which see films shift from tragedy to slapstick, often within a matter of moments? Perhaps it’s the tradition of embroidering even the most harrowing narratives with show-stopping song-and-dance... Read More
The Wild Duck feature, theatre, arts.
0 Comments. 186 Views. Posted 14 Feb 2012 @ 12:46pm.
  In Belvoir St Theatre’s promotional video for its production of The Wild Duck, a jittery soundtrack punctures scenes of a young family’s torrid internal affairs. But for a few brief seconds, a sexagenarian played by Anthony Phelan cradles a live duck onstage and all is unnervingly calm. Henrik Ibsen’s play heads to the Malthouse Theatre this month after a critically-lauded season in... Read More
Penguin Café feature, arts.
0 Comments. 264 Views. Posted 10 Feb 2012 @ 11:19am.
  Following your dad into the family business is never a good idea, be it accounting or cobbling, as far as I am concerned, it’s just begging people to make comparisons. Especially if your father is a genre defining musician. Wolfgang Van Halen now plays bass in Van Halen, everyone thought Julian Lennon was singing some unreleased song of John’s, Zak Starkey (son to Ringo Starr) plays in The... Read More
World's Greatest Shave feature, arts.
0 Comments. 457 Views. Posted 9 Feb 2012 @ 11:10am.
  Picture Kiss’ curls and Mötley Crüe’s mullets. Visualise Slayer’s silky hairstyles and Slash’s curly shock. Aside from screaming and rocking out to legendary guitar solos, these musos have one overwhelming feature in common: long hair. Now say these mangy men decided to get office jobs — bear with us — and chopped off their manes. Would it be their Achilles’ heel? Would the spirit of rock... Read More
Kimmo Pohjonen feature, arts.
0 Comments. 318 Views. Posted 8 Feb 2012 @ 1:52pm.
  Little known fact: aside from providing a traditional ambience to Finnish wrestling matches, accordion music was utilised as a cover for wrestler’s farts, Kimmo Pohjonen explains. The idiosyncratic artist hails from Finland and is renowned for his exploration and development of his much loved instrument – the accordion. Due to hit our shores this March for the WOMAD festival, Kimmo speaks... Read More
Raw Comedy comedy, feature, arts.
0 Comments. 348 Views. Posted 7 Feb 2012 @ 1:36pm.
  Chris Dewberry has tough times ahead. He’s jumping between two jobs. One involves cracking jokes as a stand-up comedian, while the other is being editor of Comedy Beast, a monthly mag that reviews comedy shows and showcases comedy news. As a RAW Comedy contestant for the second year in a row, Dewberry will be competing against other up-and-coming comedians in this well-known open-mic... Read More
The Slickman A4 Quotation Event feature, arts.
0 Comments. 305 Views. Posted 7 Feb 2012 @ 1:26pm.
  "It might just be another case of the world needing the artist to die before they can look 'em in the face," remarks John Hand, a passionate participator in the Slickman A4 Quotation Event -- a yearly celebration in which fans in hundreds of cities worldwide write quotes from the novels of American expatriate author Russell Hoban on yellow A4 paper and spread them throughout cafés, train... Read More
A Chorus Line feature, arts.
0 Comments. 821 Views. Posted 5 Feb 2012 @ 7:06pm.
“Five six seven eight: turn, turn, touch, down, back step.” A Chorus Line opens on a gruelling dance audition, a cattle call held on the vast empty stage of a Broadway Theatre. A mass of young and not so young hopefuls are working hard to keep up with the assistant director, Larry, who is putting them through their paces. The beat is driving, and this group of chorus kids can really... Read More
Guilty Pleasures feature, arts.
0 Comments. 308 Views. Posted 3 Feb 2012 @ 6:52am.
The crowd at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) are about to get all loved-up. As part of its First Look program, ACMI will present Guilty Pleasures, a documentary about the world of romance novels directed by Julie Moggan (As The Sun Begins To Set, Waiting For A Lift). While much of the film doesinspect the romantic lives of various people, all connected by some... Read More
The Straits feature, arts.
0 Comments. 439 Views. Posted 1 Feb 2012 @ 7:45am.
Set in the tropics of Far North Queensland, The Straits is a drama unlike anything Australian TV has seen before. It tells the story of the Montobellos – a crime family who run an empire of guns and smuggling in Cairns and the Torres Strait. The waters, as you may already suspect, are far from crystal clear, and when patriarch Harry Montobello announces his retirement, he sets his children... Read More
Good People feature, arts.
0 Comments. 422 Views. Posted 31 Jan 2012 @ 12:00pm.
  David Lindsay-Abaire’s stage drama Good People may question the American Dream, but given recent world events such as the global financial crisis, it’s just as relevant to Australian audiences halfway across the planet. According to actress Alexandria Steffensen, who plays the character of Kate, at the core of the play lies the question, ‘Does one’s fortune come down to blind luck or hard... Read More
Kitsch Australiana feature, arts.
0 Comments. 527 Views. Posted 27 Jan 2012 @ 6:42am.
Walking down Swanston St, lined up along the pavement are a plethora of garish souvenir stores, each one offering goods of green and gold. Beach towels emblazoned with the Southern Cross, tote bags decorated with the Sydney Harbour Bridge (despite the landmark being more than 700 kilometres away) and little creatures made by some poor soul gluing ‘googly’ eyes onto seashells and gumnuts. ... Read More
Weekend feature, arts.
0 Comments. 604 Views. Posted 25 Jan 2012 @ 7:37am.
  Since the ‘90s we've seen a blossoming of queer cinema that has gradually made headway into the mainstream via directors like Gus Van Sant (Milk), Todd Haynes (I’m Not There) and, more recently, Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right) – but more often from indie directors like John Cameron Mitchell and Gregg Araki, hardcore arthouse doyens like Derek Jarman or B-movie mavens like John... Read More
Passi Jo And Warako Musica feature, arts.
0 Comments. 483 Views. Posted 24 Jan 2012 @ 11:16am.
In a world where joy and good vibes are so scarce, Passi Jo and his feel-good band Warako Musica are the perfect remedy. Performing at this year’s Globe To Globe World Music Festival, the Congolese music legend says a world full of insecurity and poverty should be holding dancing and singing competitions, not wars fought with guns and ammo.   “I like to put on a show that expresses the... Read More
The New Black feature, arts.
0 Comments. 749 Views. Posted 18 Jan 2012 @ 10:03am.
Judging by its name, The New Black sounds like a show about fashion. It’s not. The ‘black’ in the title refers to something deeper than clothes: skin, heritage and identity. The musical takes a look at what it’s like to be an urbanised Aboriginal person today, using comedy and song to tackle serious issues. The show tells the story of Jim, a smart, young, indigenous man who has... Read More
Amiina feature, arts.
0 Comments. 680 Views. Posted 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:54am.
  Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir of Amiina admits she does not really understand what ‘Icelandic music’ as a genre sounds like, but she seems to have a pretty chilled out metaphor for her group’s approach to musical innovation. As she says, “I think it was the fact that we all put our musicality together into one pot and stirred it and that something totally new came out, almost like a fifth... Read More
The National Theatre Drama School’s Advanced Diploma Of Acting feature, arts.
0 Comments. 1,022 Views. Posted 12 Jan 2012 @ 9:42am.
There's never been a more exciting time to be involved in Australian theatre, according to Melbourne-based actor, director and filmmaker Mark Constable, who has recently been appointed new Head Of Acting (Theatre) at the National Theatre Drama School, St Kilda. A whole new brigade is coming through the ranks and the industry is changing at an ever-rapid speed - and Constable has found... Read More
Ben Barretto feature, arts.
0 Comments. 736 Views. Posted 11 Jan 2012 @ 10:14am.
Breaking into the visual art world can be a cruel and complicated feat to achieve, especially if you want to make a buck or two along the way. But Perth-based artist Ben Barretto has accepted the challenge. The 24-year-old's unique installation art combines everyday objects, machinery and cloth with anything from paint smatterings to music and performance. "I've been an artist as long as I can... Read More
The Shadow Electric Open Air Cinema feature, arts.
0 Comments. 845 Views. Posted 10 Jan 2012 @ 1:42pm.
When the sun goes down and the screens light up, Melburnians know that summer has truly arrived. The outdoor cinema has become a staple in our sunny season's cultural calendar, with each up-and-coming contender boasting a setting more spectacular than the last. This year's new kid on the block, the Shadow Electric, is no exception. Held in the courtyard of the historic Abbotsford Convent, the... Read More
Vincent Moon feature, arts.
0 Comments. 983 Views. Posted 6 Jan 2012 @ 10:23am.
  French filmmaker Vincent Moon (real name Mathieu Saura) is one of few people capable of using the words ‘spiritual quest’ without irony, since his entire lifestyle seems to revolve around this particular goal. Vincent Moon’s 2009 film about Japanese singer Kazuki Tomokawa, La Faute Des Fleurs, won the Sound & Vision Award at the Copenhagen International Documentary Festival. Moon’s... Read More
The Interrupters feature, arts.
0 Comments. 875 Views. Posted 6 Jan 2012 @ 10:12am.
Eddie Bocanegra is an unassuming figure. Slender, softly spoken, his kindly demeanor belies his past. Watching him stand before a roomful of elementary school children in Chicago, teaching them to paint as a way of expressing their feelings about gang violence, it’s hard to believe he’s only been out of jail for three years. When he was 17, Bocanegra killed a rival gang member in a drive-by... Read More
Animals Distract Me & Green Porno feature, arts.
0 Comments. 1,499 Views. Posted 22 Dec 2011 @ 2:22pm.
If you thought Jean Painlevé and Mark Lewis had cornered the market on oddball nature documentary-making, wait ‘til you get a load of Isabella Rossellini’s Animals Distract Me and Green Porno. The actress – long a favourite of idiosyncratic auteurs David Lynch and Guy Maddin – writes, directs and stars in these playful, eclectic investigations of zoological matters ranging from Darwinism to the... Read More
Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence feature, arts.
0 Comments. 1,295 Views. Posted 21 Dec 2011 @ 9:43am.
If Kim Kardashian can turn a sex tape into a successful line of handbags, Britney Spears can turn a mental health melt-down into a fragrance fortune and Winona Ryder's kleptomania can re-launch her flailing career, then now more than ever the maxim of "any publicity is good publicity" must be true. So when film classification boards all over the globe delivered a ban on the Human Centipede... Read More
Mars feature, arts.
0 Comments. 1,218 Views. Posted 20 Dec 2011 @ 12:14pm.
On the morning Beat speaks with Geoff Marslett, the Austin-based filmmaker behind the animated comedy Mars , astronomers have announced the discovery of planet Kepler 22-b, nicknamed "Earth 2.0". Abiding some 600 light years away from our neck of the Solar System and orbiting a host star of similar intensity to Earth's sun, Kepler 22-b has already captured the imaginations of armchair... Read More
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol feature, arts.
0 Comments. 1,271 Views. Posted 14 Dec 2011 @ 9:12am.
Confession: the 15 minutes of the new Mission: Impossible reboot Ghost Protocol that I saw at IMAX in London had me literally on the edge of my seat, palms sweating and me desperately trying to resist the urge to run look away. The scene involved Tom Cruise's character Ethan Hunt scaling the outsides of an epically tall glass building (filmed at the 829.84 metres... Read More
Best Of The Independent Games Festival 2011 feature, arts.
0 Comments. 1,138 Views. Posted 13 Dec 2011 @ 3:18pm.
It's hard to think of a greater success story in any medium, let alone videogames, than that of open-world sandbox titleMinecraft. Winning the 2011 Independent Games Festival Seamus McNally Grand Prize and Audience Award, the game has gone onto sell millions upon millions of copies, building up one of the most devoted fanbases the world has ever seen in the process. Before the Best Of The... Read More
Spicks And Speck-tacular: The Finale feature, arts.
0 Comments. 1,735 Views. Posted 8 Dec 2011 @ 9:16am.
"La-la-la-la, ah-aaah." It's gotten to the stage over the past seven years that The Dissociatives' vocal refrain on the theme of much-loved variety show Spicks And Specks has been embedded into the Australian psyche far more prominently than The Bee Gees' original. But the infectious theme will be disappearing from our airwaves forever (except for reruns, of course) as Adam, Myf and... Read More
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey feature, arts.
0 Comments. 868 Views. Posted 7 Dec 2011 @ 9:07am.
I saw Elmo in person once, it was the fourth of July and Elmo was coming on before the Present of the United States at a celebration in front of the House of Congress. Elmo appeared on a tricycle, riding and talking across the stage, all the while laughing that his famous laugh of his. He rode to the podium, popping up behind it and chatting and singing for ten minutes before riding off stage... Read More
Microphone feature, arts.
0 Comments. 806 Views. Posted 6 Dec 2011 @ 10:58am.
In times of trouble, cinema can provide a window on the world. The filmmaker's lens offers a unique insight into the issues that are concerning a country's citizens, often revealing the subtleties that are omitted in mainstream media coverage. There is perhaps no nation this is truer of at present than Egypt, a country that has remained in the throws of swift and violent change since the... Read More
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest feature, arts.
0 Comments. 1,218 Views. Posted 2 Dec 2011 @ 9:52am.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - book, movie, play. There aren't many novelists that can claim one story has successfully spanned over 50 years, has been enjoyed, reread and recreated onstage and the screen. The 1962 release of the acclaimed novel was just the start of R.P McMurphy and his band of misunderstood misfits. In 1963 the play premiered on Broadway, 1975 saw the release of the... Read More
Forever Young: 30 Years Of The Heide Collection feature, arts.
0 Comments. 771 Views. Posted 1 Dec 2011 @ 10:11am.
With over 200 works of art exhibited by over 80 artists, and spanning a period of almost a century, Forever Young: 30 Years Of The Heide Collection is currently showcasing works which have rarely been seen alongside iconic masterpieces. Following a chronology that aligns with the history of each of the buildings onsite, exhibiting artist and founder of art collective DAMP James Lynch... Read More
Attack The Block feature, arts.
0 Comments. 875 Views. Posted 30 Nov 2011 @ 11:26am.
Joe Cornish's alien invasion flick Attack The Block has one of the more memorable openings of a movie in recent memory. Its young protagonists are members of a South London street gang, and when we see them for the first time, they're mugging a young woman for her wallet and jewellery. It doesn't engender a great deal of sympathy, but writer-director Joe Cornish didn't intend it to.... Read More
The Inbetweeners Movie feature, arts.
0 Comments. 778 Views. Posted 29 Nov 2011 @ 10:20am.
When I sit down with actors Joe Thomas and Simon Bird, they're in the middle of a whirlwind of press junkets and premieres for The Inbetweeners Movie , and the usual fare that goes along with such promotion (including a seven-course meal later that night). The two are in high spirits, chatting excitedly about the film, which represents the big screen continuation of the hit UK coming-of... Read More