From the opening sentence in A Butcher of Distinction, instantly recognizable is the costumes worn by Liam Nunan and Heath Ivey-Law in their roles as Hugo and Hartley. The boys wear all white-preppy-private-school-sports-day type clothing that instantly evoke Peter and Paul of Funny Games who themselves carried the specter of Alex of A Clockwork Orange […]
Author Archives: lisathatcher
May
14
A Butcher of Distinction – James Dalton directs Rob Hayes’ question of violence ‘out there’ or ‘in here’. (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
May
13
My top twenty-one film choices for the Sydney Film Festival. (SFF review)
posted by lisathatcher
It’s almost Sydney Film Festival time again and already the films are selling out. Check out the festival program here, if you are lucky enough to be in this lovely town this time of year. I am hoping to get along to as much as I can attend. It’s always a huge fortnight, and given […]
May
13
Henry Magazine – The first edition now published.
posted by lisathatcher
I am pleased to announce the first edition of Henry Magazine, the magazine devoted to the exploration of art by artists, is now published. Henry is the brainchild of writers Seb Doubinsky and my good self, both proud writers, philosophers and reviewers and in Seb’s case poet and teacher. We wanted a magazine that explored […]
May
11
Hangovers, Bridesmaids and Bachelorettes: The strange case of competing naughties. (film reviews)
posted by lisathatcher
So I finally took a leap out of my comfort zone and did the whole “The Hangover, Bridesmaids and Bachelorette” films in one go. There seems to be some sort of contemporary theme around wedding fuckups in popcorn films. This whole ‘who does more damage’ idea, the gals or the guys. It is refreshing to see […]
May
07
The Room and The Roomsical – the worst film ever made moves to theatre. (Film and theatre review)
posted by lisathatcher
Have you seen The Room? It has the illustrious title of the worst film ever made, and yes – it is even worse than The Paperboy which is the worst film I have seen so far this year. The Room is considered to be the “Citizen Kane” of bad films, and like many things that […]
May
06
Farewell to the art posts.
posted by lisathatcher
It is with mixed feelings that I inform my regular readers of this blog (have I told you lately that I love you?) that I have removed virtually all the art posts from these pages. The reason behind this is, primarily, the spate of negative comments I received because I used Wikipedia as the information source. Because I […]
May
06
Pusher Three: I am the Angel of Death – Nicolas Winding Refn completes his ode to Goodfellas. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
In 1990 Martin Scorsese speaking about the making of Goodfellas, said he wanted to show the glamour of the gangster lifestyle in order to explain why people are attracted to it. Around the same time Lorraine Bracco said in an interview that she felt she had to make her role powerful because the set was so male dominated she feared […]
May
04
The Hunt – Thomas Vinterberg and the Salem Witch Hunts. (film review)
posted by lisathatcher
When recording data about the Salem Witch trials in 1963, Governor William Phips had this to say: “When I put an end to the Court there ware at least fifty persons in prision in great misery by reason of the extream cold and their poverty, most of them having only spectre evidence against them and their mittimusses being defective, […]
April
30
The Ham Funeral – Phillip Rouse gives a new spin on Patrick White. (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
When a company courageously takes on a play write as significant as Patrick White and a play as complex and potent as The Ham Funeral, it must be acknowledged that the production is a kind of literary criticism in itself. This is the position director Philip Rouse finds himself currently. To direct The Ham Funeral, is to […]
April
29
The Place Beyond the Pines – Derek Cianfrance and the testosterone high. (film review)
posted by lisathatcher
“You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me…” (Exodus 20:5, NIV) I’m starting to feel a bit like my voice is going to […]
Lisa Thatcher 