I picked up some great releases by the Australian artists after working through Double J’s Best of 2021 list, including a couple of impressive debuts and an intriguing musical re-invention.
I had mixed feelings about this slow-burn Netflix drama initially, but then I found myself thinking about it for days afterwards, so the least I can say for it is that it lingers.
It’s been a long while since I enjoyed a live gig in a general admission, in a smaller venue where you can feel the thumping bass and the floor reverberate under your feet. I’m glad I took a chance on this young Aussie, who turned out to be a fabulous live performer.
A standalone spy thriller set during Cold War and inspired by Dame Agatha’s journeys in the Middle East, Destination Unknown is a fairly decent quick read that doesn’t really stick in the memory for either good or bad reasons.
Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film with Penelope Cruz mixes personal drama and political commentary in a warm, empathetic, twist-laden story about two very different single mothers.
The last Miss Marple mystery Christie wrote is also the very last Miss Marple novel in my re-readathon. Bidding farewell to Dame Agatha’s old lady detective probably put me in a more sentimental and forgiving mood, because its flaws surely would have annoyed me more otherwise.
I kept my fingers crossed for the new adaptation of Frank Herbert’ notoriously unfilmable sci-fi classic to succeed ever since watching the awe-inspiring trailer… and Denis Villeneuve’s bold, mesmerising epic doesn’t disappoint. I wish I could say this more often.
One of Christie’s more unusual novels, this later-day Miss Marple mystery has a memorable setting and some interesting ideas, but it’s held back by a lack of focus and its various elements don’t quite gel together.