Keywords: Actors
There are more than 200 results, only the first 200 are displayed here.
-
ARTS AND CULTURE
- Tim Kroenert
- 08 October 2015
2 Comments
A Black Mass is a travesty of the Catholic Mass in worship of the devil. In this instance it is a metaphor for FBI agent Connolly's devotion to violent criminal Bulger, due in part to the social benefit he attains through his association with this powerful criminal, but running all the way back to a formative childhood encounter that is hinted at but not articulated in detail. Of the flatly villainous Bulger and the morally complex, wilfully compromised Connolly, the latter is the more palpably evil.
READ MORE 
-
- Frank Brennan
- 26 August 2015
7 Comments
When addressing Italian doctors last November, Pope Francis quoted St. Camillus de Lellis who suggested that the most effective method in caring for the sick was simply to 'Put more heart into those hands.' Let's do something to change the market settings and political settings here in Australia to modify the behaviour of all Australians in the future, and let's attend to our own Franciscan interior ecological conversion with our care for the vulnerable.
READ MORE
-
- Frank Brennan
- 06 August 2015
3 Comments
Pope Francis is not the first pope to address a social encyclical to everyone. But in comparison with his predecessors, Francis has been more inclusive in the process of writing the encyclical and in the final content of the document. He quotes from 17 different conferences of Catholic bishops. He is at pains to indicate that he is collaborative and that he takes the principle of subsidiarity very seriously. Being the final redactor of the text, he has felt free to interpolate some very folksy advice from time to time. He has also taken the liberty of inserting some very blunt, evocative images of environmental and economic devastation.
READ MORE
-
ARTS AND CULTURE
- Tim Kroenert
- 16 July 2015
4 Comments
English literary journalist Lucasta Miller noted that Hardy's title, Far From the Madding Crowd, with 'madding' taken to mean 'frenzied', is an ironic nod to idyllic perceptions of rural life; Hardy 'disrupts the idyll'. At the heart of the story is Bathsheba, a proud and independent young shepherd who becomes the new proprietor of her late uncle's farm. Her story unfolds against stunning rural landscapes that provide a sublime stage for violence both physical and emotional.
READ MORE
-
- Frank Brennan
- 24 June 2015
1 Comment
Given the ready access we have to international media and the world wide web, we can no longer plead ignorance of the trouble going on in our world. Those of us who are purist pacifists can presumably put a coherent case for eschewing violence in all cases, even were a madman to be imminently threatening the lives of our most vulnerable loved ones.
READ MORE
-
ARTS AND CULTURE
Famous actor Maria Enders finds herself cast in a new production of the play that kick-started her career. The play explores the tempestuous relationship between a businesswoman, Helena, and her much younger assistant, Sigrid. Back then, Maria played Sigrid. Now, she is to portray the older woman. Through her engagement with the material she probes her own ambivalence and insecurities about getting older.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 07 May 2015
13 Comments
To describe events as mythical is always open to misunderstanding, because in common speech myth is opposed to reality. When mythical stories are seen as unreal, the deep significance they have for individuals and groups also comes into question. So a hostile response is to be expected.
READ MORE
-
ARTS AND CULTURE
- Tim Kroenert
- 30 April 2015
The boys possess the steel and resourcefulness that must come from living on the streets of one of the world's most dangerous cities, along with the fragility and artlessness that are hallmarks of youth. It is heartbreaking to witness the ease with which they are exploited or degraded, and inspiring to see the fervour and ingenuity with which they are able to fight back.
READ MORE
-
ARTS AND CULTURE
- Tim Kroenert
- 02 April 2015
Cameron's illness is severe enough that he has been institutionalised at least once. He is on lithium but tends to neglect it, preferring to self-medicate with alcohol. His sensitive but strong-willed daughters do not make his life easy, but neither are their mother's absence and their father's illness easy on them. Still, there is a good reason why these events are viewed with nostalgia, and a good deal of humour.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- Frank Brennan
- 23 March 2015
17 Comments
Through the rough and tumble of politics, Fraser helped the country find true north on issues relating to race and human rights. His friendship with Gough Whitlam has been one of the great signs in Australian public life that human decency and shared commitment to noble ideals can transcend even the most entrenched political animosities cultivated across the despatch box. May he rest in peace.
READ MORE
-
ARTS AND CULTURE
- Tim Kroenert
- 04 December 2014
1 Comment
Try watching slasher parody Scream 4 with your eyes closed and see how much sense it makes. On the other hand, Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas and Kevin Smith's Clerks, with stories driven by strong characters and dialogue, offer up cinematic pleasures even a blind person can appreciate. Welcome to the world of America's Blind Film Critic, Tommy Edison.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 01 December 2014
7 Comments
World AIDS Day encourages us also to think of Africa, the continent most afflicted by AIDS. Cultural and economic factors are also significant, including the need for men to live far away from home in order to find work, and women driven to sex work. It is an issue of fairness, making us ask people in wealthier nations owe to those in poorer nations.
READ MORE