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A chick flick, Reminders of Him pulls at the emotions to present a story arc that heads down a predictable path.   Still, for fans of this genre, I dare say they will be satisfied they get the ending they desired.   Kenna Rowan (Maika Monroe) was deeply in love with Scotty Landry (Rudy Pankow) and he with her, when a tragic accident occurred on his birthday, and he died.   Kenna was convicted of vehicular manslaughter and sentenced to seven years jail. Now, having been releas

The expression Hail Mary refers to a last-ditch attempt at an unlikely outcome.   And so it is that Project Hail Mary is about a desperate effort to save planet Earth from a destructive force.   The sun is dying and with it half the world’s population is expected to be wiped out within 30 years.   The cause is a powerful organism named Petrova, which has made a beeline from Venus to the sun.   In fact, it has already infected many planets and the world’s greatest scientific m

Strap yourselves in for a wild ride in this darkly comedic science-fiction zombie movie.   The set up comes in the wake of Skylab (America’s first space station) falling out of orbit in 1979.   Most debris on board burnt up upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, but some did not, notably a tank containing a parasitic fungus.   It crashed into the remote Western Australian outback, where it remained intact until 18 years ago.   Then, microscopic cracks enabled the hazardous orga

A crisis of faith. That is the essence of the slow-moving drama that is Midwinter Break.   The film is set up at the start with reference to a traumatic incident that happened in the first year of marriage between Irish couple Stella and Gerry.   It saw them leave their beloved home for Scotland, where Stella (then played by Lesley Manville) was a teacher and Gerry (Ciaran Hinds) an architect.   Both have since retired.   It is freezing cold on Christmas Eve when Stella atten

REBEL is a musical that delves into one man’s journey to discover his true self.   It is an exploration of family, community, music and being queer in the USA in the 1940s to 1960s.   The story is set in a New York bar in 1969, where cowboy Davey (Maxwell Simon) narrates his life as a gay singer/songwriter. Photos by Dylan Norrington  He has been greatly influenced by his beloved uncle Randy.   Davey was misunderstood and mistreated by his father, whose business went belly up

Bold and bodacious, why wouldn’t I start crowing about Year of the Rooster (the third part of what has become known as The Beast Trilogy by Spinning Plates Co.)?   The others were The Crocodile (2023) and Rhinoceros (2024).   Year of the Rooster is theatre of the absurd on steroids, with larger-than-life characters that bring attitude.   The subject is illegal cock fighting. No beg pardons here – just straight for the jugular. It presents as rich commentary about toxic mascul

An entertaining and engaging sports-based animation from the studio behind Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, this is an underdog story involving animals.   The title refers to the horned creature, as well as the greatest of all time.   Will Harris is a little goat with big dreams.  For as long as he can remember, his hero in a game called roarball, which looks suspiciously like basketball, has been five-time all-star black panther Jett Fillmore.   She plays for the Vinelan

A comedic drama romance, Colours of Time is intriguing tale about the past and how it can help inform the future.   A developer is expanding a shopping centre and a countryside home in Normandy –abandoned for decades and suspended in time – stands in the way.   A meeting is called of 30 ancestors of the family that owned the property, which was shuttered in 1944 and hasn’t been visited since.   Four are chosen as representatives to survey the estate and help determine its fat

Anne Frank’s story is a tragic but inspiring one and it is played out in dramatic fashion on stage.   As Jews, when her Dutch family was forced to go into hiding during the Holocaust, she was gifted a diary, which she wrote in religiously.   It contained her innermost thoughts about those she was with and her views of the world.  Photos by Amanda Humphreys Her emotions and those of the others holed up with her are laid bare in this Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning play.   They