Why I Love: The Sidekicks (Will Kostakis)

When I started this series of posts, I envisioned it as being about exploring media I’ve loved for years. But sometimes, you read or watch something and you know, even as early as say, page 31, it’s going to be something you’ll love for years.

And sometimes you love something so much that once you finish it, you embarrass yourself by closing the book, kissing the cover, and then curling up in bed hugging it for about fifteen minutes.

That’s my experience of this book: I literally love it enough to kiss it.

Why I Love Final Fantasy X

If there’s any legacy attached to Final Fantasy X, it’s that of laughter.

A Lukewarm Take On: Ghost in the Shell

DISCLAIMER: I haven’t seen this movie, and I’m not going to. This isn’t about the movie, though. This is about a giant advertisement for the movie that’s sitting in my local cinema.

Movie Review: Beauty and the Beast (2017)

So, I saw the live-action Beauty and the Beast movie this afternoon. Spoilers ahead.

Review: A Whole New World

Recently, I had the experience of reading  A Whole New World by Liz Braswell. A Whole New World is the first in Disney Press’ new Twisted Tales series. Each will, I hear, be based on a premise that twists the famous movie away from Happily Ever After and fairytales towards gritty Young Adult reboots. It sounds like a joke but they’re deadly serious about it.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: A (Mostly Comedic) Summary

I could just do a review, couldn’t I, but I’d rather do this: a detailed and mostly accurate (but comedic!) summary of what happens in the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. This is all according to the script that was released: I haven’t seen it performed, so I’m aware I’m missing part of the picture. Still, here we are. And it’s very long, with a few editorial remarks thrown in.

Also it’s at least partly a joke. I tried to treat the serious scenes with the weight they deserved, but let me say upfront: this is a very flawed play. I admire so much about what it tries to be but the plot is a mess and if you’re as much of a Potter-head as I am, you’re bound to be irritated by the inconsistencies. Still, there’s some moments that are genuinely fantastic, as well as some themes that are amazing to see explored rather than just being heavily implied as in the books, and I wanted to be fair to those while also taking the piss. Which wasn’t hard to do, actually, a lot of the dialogues is, wow….

Anyway! I hope you enjoy it!

Review: Awoken by Serra Elinsen

Awoken is, put most simply, a Young Adult paranormal romance novel in which Cthulhu falls in love with your standard Not-Like-Other-Girls Ordinary Girl protagonist.

I’m three years late to this party, so I won’t bother with the pretence. To put less simply, it’s a stealth parody with razor sharp critiques of the YA fiction we’ve come to expect since Twilight changed the world.

Musical Review: Matilda

Like most bookish 90s kids raised as girls, I had a very special place in my heart for anything related to Roald Dahl’s Matilda. I saw the Danny DeVito movie first, not that I can particularly remember it as anything but a favourite we taped from the telly and my eldest brother’s Trunchbull impersonations. Then it was all about reading and rereading the novel. So I went in to this musical with a childhood worth of high expectations.

None of them were let down. This is one of the greatest musicals I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing.

Adaption decay is one of the biggest concerns fans have with adaptions. It’s a shame because changes must be made to accomodate new media formats, especially in the case of book adaptions. Every change made to the story only served to accentuate the story, all in the spirit of the original. The resulting musical is powerful, emotive, yet still very fun. Tim Minchin’s lyrics are sharp, witty, full of wordplay that would make Dahl proud, accentuating Dennis Kelly’s book perfectly.

The Sydney cast and crew are sensational. I can’t praise them highly enough, especially the extremely talented child actors. The night I saw it Molly Barwick starred as Matilda, bringing an energy and charm beyond worthy of the miraculous titular character. James Millar’s Trunchbull played off her well, an enjoyably nasty contrasting villain my brother would still love to imitate.

Overall, this musical is a sensational adaption; a fresh take on a classic children’s story with instant-classic songs. I want to see it ten more times.

Matilda the Musical is showing in Sydney at the Lyric Theatre until the 29th of February 2016. It will then move to Melbourne. Check the official site for tickets and tour information.

Musical Review: Jesus Christ Superstar

As many of you know (in excruciating ‘no please do not sing the entire rock opera on your own again’ details), I’m a big fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. I own the original London cast recording, the 1992 Australian production highlights CD, the 1973 film, the 2000 film, the 2012 arena tour DVD and the programmes for every live production I’ve attended. I’ve seen it performed at the Princess Theatre in Launceston (back in 2012), on Mt Nelson last year and last night at the Theatre Royal Hobart. I regularly look up performances recorded and shared on YouTube.

I freakin’ love Jesus Christ Superstar.

I emphasise this so you understand where I’m coming from when I say that Friday night’s performance at the Theatre Royal Hobart was the very best production of Jesus Christ Superstar I’ve ever seen.