MAN ABOUT TOWN

Care for some more Dr Who and Torchwood goodness? Then drop in here, to FreemaAgyeman.com , for the trailers for season four and season two of the shows, respectively.

While today isn't quite the scorcher it was on Saturday, it's still getting uncomfortably warm; too warm for my liking. Anything above about 26-27 degrees is too warm for me, and while I no longer suffer nosebreeds and dizzy spells once the temperature climbs above 30 degrees, as I did as a child, I'm still definitely a cold weather kind of guy. Which is why I favour finding ways to escape the summer heat that are simultaneously rewarding, culturally and personally, as well as offer lower temperatures than can be found outside, on the baking streets of Melbourne. Yesterday, my tempature-control plans saw me fleeing to the comforts of the cinema, at least initially. One of the good things about living in Fitzroy is that the city is so close. At 10:15am, on the spur of the moment, I decided to catch the 10:30am session of The Golden Compass at the Melbourne Central Cinemas (comfortable seats, air conditioned, great sound system and - at such an early session - an almost tot...

This measured, magnificent film by British director Joe Wright (based on the novel by Ian McEwen) is all the more remarkable when you consider that it's only his second feature. A period piece, a love story and a meditation upon the nature of fiction itself, Atonement opens with the film's titles seemingly typed on the screen; an aural and visual reminder that what we are about to witness is a story - a fitting motif given that a story , an untruth told by a jealous young girl, is the event upon which the film's drama pivots. Without going into detail about the film's plot (which you can read about elsewhere; and besides, I want to write this post quickly, as I have to bet up in less than five hours) I will say that Wright handles his emotionally-fraught narrative with restraint and subtle flair. Performances are excellent throughout, as is the sound design - driven, at key points, by the repetitive sound of typing to signifiy a shift in scene - and especially the cinem...

Three days into this fortnight of Breakfast radio and I'm loving it. Rising at 4:50so far hasn't been too challenging, though this morning -post-Christmas conviviality - was a bit of a chore. Ah, Christmas. It was circa 1990 that I announced I was no longer celebrating Christmas on the basis that it was fundamentally a Christian capitalist feeding frenzy that at its core enshrined the heterosexual family above other social groups. Being neither religious or straight, and avowing anarchist politics at the time, I wanted nothing to do with Christmas, I said; telling my family that I would no longer be participating in their rituals, and that I neither wanted to be given nor intended to give, Christmas presents. Yes,I was rather an insufferable idealist in my mid-20's, if you hadn'talready guessed. I've mellowed since, but I confess that ever since those days, I've found it hard to re-engage with the spirit of Christmas, though I do still celebrate it in my own way...

Just a quick note to inform those of you who don't already know about it that I'm co-hosting Summer Breakfast on 3RRR for the next fortnight, starting tomorrow morning. Yes, I'm going to celebrate having 10 days off work by getting up at 5am in order to play tunes, read the news, and generally banter with two charming co-hosts: the dashing Declan Kelly in week one, and the super-sonic Camila Hannan in my second week. Feel free to tune in Monday-Friday at 102.7 FM or streaming at www.rrr.org.au for all the fun - as well as the tired, grumpy, why-the-hell-am-broadcasti ng-with-no-sleep lunacy of New Year'sDay; the bah-humbuggery of Christmas Day; and much, much more! Trust me, it'll be frabjous!

Damn, my space bar keeps sticking. Possibly something to do with having slammed my fist into the keyboard in frustration on Thursday morning when Windoze kept freezing. Oh well, at least I managed to get the Return key back in place and working again. (As I said last night, it's been a shit of a week: I don't usually go around beating up innocent keyboards, honestly.) I think yesterday's Shiatsu session has unblocked quite a bit of emotion, judging by last night's grumpy post and how relaxed I feel this morning. And speaking of yesterday... Though I only caught the second half of the show, A Very Bella Christmas at Trades Hall last night was great fun, in an occasionally shambolic way. 'Not bad for a first rehearsal,' Mike McLeish muttered after he and musical chameleon Casey Bennetto had almost butchered then magnificently saved a Christmas carol or two. And a reggae version of 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer' that segued into The Specials' 'A...

The last couple of weeks have pretty much sucked, I have to say. Work's been a nightmare: we had to publish not one, but two issues of the paper in one week; indeed, within a day of each other, in order to be able to publish a paper next week, in the lead-up to New Year's Eve. Simultaneously, I've also been working on a 64-page magazine which we're publishing in early January. To say that I've been stressed would be an understatement. On top of which, I've been finalising the appointment of a new General Manager for Melbourne Fringe, and trying to arrange to get home for a couple of days over Christmas, which isn't going to happen now that I've agreed to co-host Summer Breakfast on 3RRR for the next two weeks, starting this Monday. I really must learn to say no sometime. On top of all that, a colleague's partner was killed in a motorbike accident last week (I went to the wake today) which if nothing else puts some of my own personal dramas into conte...

In the pantheon of openly gay and lesbian pop and rock musicians, singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright is one of the brightest stars. More importantly, he is also one of the most talented. The son of folk music royalty (his father is the acclaimed American folk singer Loudon Wainwright III, his mother the Canadian singer-songwriter Kate McGarigle), Wainwright came out as gay when he was a teenager. Consequently, unlike some of peers, he has explored same-sex romance and desire from the earliest days of his career; such as his former habit of falling in love with straight men, or as Wainwright once put it, “ guys I would occasionally have sex with, maybe only make out with, but never be allowed to say they were my boyfriend.” It’s a situation many a gay man pining over a heterosexual friend can identify with; and many a lesbian too. “For me, after a brief therapeutic period, it was apparently revealed that it was a fear of abandonment,” Wainwright explains. “At the end of the day y...

Curious to know what's going on with Captain Jack, Ianto and the rest of the Torchwood crew? If you are (hello, Yarraville Paul !), then click here for details - including some minor spoilers (one of which is news of a proper date between two of my favourite characters - w00t!). And yes - with the year winding down and less theatre and gallery openings to go to than usual, this blog is more reflective of the fan-boy part of my personality. Never fear, my inner critic will return 2ith gusto in 2008 - or before! Oh yeah, and here's a picture of Torchwood season two guest star, James Masters ( Buffy the Vampire Slayer ) as a rogue Time Agent, together with John Barrowman (Capt. Jack) just to whet your appetite...

So yes, I'm quite excited about the new Batman movie, as you've probably guessed. I am truly a fanboy. So, go watch the new trailer here . W00t!

For some strange reason, every week, at least three or four people come to my blog as a result of Googling 'alan brough + gay' or variations thereof. Like, I understand why Google brings them to my blog (I'm gay, I blog about gay issues semi-regularly, and I've reviewed various comedy shows in my time that Alan's appeared in or written) but really: why do you people care so much about this particular comedian's sexuality that you're googling this subject so regularly? Is it just idle curiousity, or what?

The teaser trailer for the new Batman film was leaked a couple of days ago: I've seen a very bad pirated version obviously shot in a cinema which I won't post here, as I'm lead to believe that it will be officially released today, US time, which means we can all see it soon. In the interim, here are the latest teaser posters for The Dark Knight . Kinda cool, huh? There's a third one, a distorted picture of The Joker bearing the words 'Why so serious' that is freakishly cool, but I haven't been able to find a good image of it so far...

"And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?" These two, simple lines by W.B. Yeats are among some of the best-known and oft-quoted fragments of poetry in the world, I suspect. I say this without any particular authority; it's a claimed based on suspicion and possibility, nothing more; and yet somehow I rather suspect it to be true. So, why am I quoting from Yeats' ' The Second Coming '? Fear not; I haven't become a Theosophist , nor a prophet of doom hoping to immanentize t he eschato n; nor for that matter am I presently overwhelmed with existential dread despite the perilous state of the modern world (my ennui has been temporarily abated by Rudd's championing of Kyoto , Australian literature and intimations of a move against Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean, although I'm sure this unusually cheerful state can't possibly last). Quite simply, the title of this latest, overdue blogpost was i...

I'm speaking on a panel about GLBT media tonight at Collingwood's Glasshouse Hotel at 7pm if you feel like coming along. It's a free event, and is being recorded for broadcast later this week on JOY 94.9 FM. Bring your friends!

Dance, as I've said several times in the last 24 hours, is the artform I'm least au fait with. I don't speak its language - certainly not to the degree with which I'm fluent in the narrative and vernacular of cinema, theatre and other artforms, at any rate. That said, on Wednesday night I saw what is without doubt the most engaging, stunning and vivid dance work of the year; the latest production by Melbourne's avant-garde dance company, BalletLab, Brindabella . I hoped to like it. I didn't expect to find it as fascinating as I did. In this 70 minute work, choreographer Phillip Adams leaps effortlessly from the camararderie of the gang to the violence of the pack, from humour to sensuality, from the freedom of self-realisation to the trap that is the way others see us. Part homage to queer culture; part reinvention of Beauty and the Beast ; and part memorial to a boyfriend Adams lost to AIDS, and whose hand he held as he died: Brindabella is a complex, challeng...

DEEP IN THE WOODS Richard Watts investigates the latest production by Melbourne dance company, Balletlab. Brindabella image by Jeff Busby Inspired by French poet, film-maker and designer Jean Cocteau's La Belle et le Bête , the latest production by avant-garde Melbourne dance company Balletlab is a baroque, sensual fantasia: Beauty and the Beast given a queer, post-modern bent. In Brindabella , New York ’s Miguel Gutierrez and Balletlab Artistic Director Phillip Adams have combined their choreographic sensibilities to craft a work that draws upon and engages with a variety of contemporary artforms, ensuring that the resulting work is more than just a new dance work. “The thing that drew me to Phillip is this common language,” says composer David Chisholm, who worked previously with Adams on Balletlab’s previous production, Origami , and is again contributing to Brindabella , this time with a soundtrack that will be performed live. “I think it was a queer aesthetic initi...

For your viewing pleasure (assuming that, like me, your a fan of both the new series of Dr Who and the so-called 'classic' series, as the old epsiodes are now known) I present, for your viewing pleasure, the latest Dr Who delight: Time Crash . This eight minute micro-episode was produced for a BBC TV special, Children In Need , broadcast on November 18, and bridges the end of the last episode of Season Three, and the forthcoming Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned (which will guest-star Kylie Minogue). Enjoy!

Billed as being "lovingly ripped off" from the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail , the award-winning Broadway musical Spamalot , which opened in Melbourne last night, is both a satire of Broadway musicals, and a homage to the iconic English comedy on which it's based. The original film was created by the well-known troupe of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. It was a low-budget exercise in which the quest for the Holy Grail undertaken by King Arthur (Chapman, now deceased) and his knights was presented both seriously (period costumes and settings, complete with extremely mucky peasants and plague, instead of the clean and sanitised version of the past usually depicted in cinema at that point) and satirically ( a historian strides about between scenes discussing Arthur's battles and their significance; the peasants are members of an anarcho-socialist collective) . Many of the film's best jokes and key sce...

I was, I must confess, really hoping to enjoy the debut novel by US author Austin Grossman, Soon I Will Be Invincible . Unfortunately however, while occasionally entertaining, it was rarely inspired; relying too heavily on over-familiar archetypes and failing to delve deeply enough into the sometimes-twisted psyches of its main characters. In other words it was a bit of a let-down, although not without its charms. Grossman, a game designer, has written a novel about superheroes and supervillains in which he attempts to get behind the mask and explore the psychology of individuals who are driven to wear capes and masks, and obsessed with either taking over the world, or stopping others doing the same. It's a nice idea, and done well, it could have been captivating. Unfortunately, due in part to the novel's pacing, and also to the author's inability to convincingly differentiate the two, alternate first-person narratives of the book, he fails to pull things off. The first of ...

The new animated movie BEOWULF is based on the epic 11th century poe m of the same name. Like the poem it tells the story of the warrior Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, and his three epic battles against three monsters: the monstrous, murdrous Grendel; Grendel's equally monstrous mother; and, in his old age, a fearsome dragon. Adapted for the screen by Neil Gaiman (the novelist best known for his Sandman comics for DC) and Roger Avery (whose screen credits also include Rules of Attraction and Pulp Fiction ) BEOWULF is directed by Roger Zemeckis, using the same motion-capture technique he first exmployed on The Polar Express. It's a suprising intelligent reworking of the original Anglo-Saxon poem, and although some liberties have been taken with the story (such as Beowulf becoming Hrothgar's heir and later ruling in his stead rather than returning to his own home) they're done in such a way that they feel neither contrived, nor offensive to anyone who knows the story we...

Woke late. The fear and doubt that had built in me throughout Friday was gone, replaced by a 'nothing else to do but wait' mood. Voted - no sausage sizzle, damn it. Went to Richmond, took over from KP handing out how-to-vote Green flyers at a polling booth for two and a half hours. Still no sausage sizzle. Bantered with a Liberal, kinda ignored Family First, chatted happily with Labor volunteers. Polling booth closed; walked over to KP's house for election night party, ended up staying considerably longer than intended because bloody Howard wouldn't do the honourable thing and admit defeat early. It wasn't until 10:30pm that he appeared to tell us what we'd know for hours; that his government had been swept dramatically from power. Elation, and yet... Last night it all felt unreal, even with Rudd claiming victory on the TV before us. Thence to Trades Hall, and a huge fuck-off-Howard party; a sweaty, drunken, happy mess of a night packed with friends and stranger...

In an Age article today entitled 'Arts festival nearer to choosing new head' , increasingly out-of-touch arts scribe Robin Usher once again displays just his reactionary outlook with the following comments in a piece about the process of appointing the next MIAF Artistic Director: "It is understood the short list also includes Adelaide Festival's director, Brett Sheehy, who appears a more obvious choice [than Mark Yeoman]. Not only does he have vastly more experience of Australian conditions — he was director of the Sydney Festival before moving to Adelaide — but also he is more likely to return the Melbourne Festival to its traditional programming mix." Now, forgive me if I fail to grasp your logic here, Robin - but why should a "traditional" approach to programming - which in your eyes includes opera and symphony orchestras, as you don't hesitate to suggest - make Sheehy the 'obvious choice' to take over from Kristy Edmunds? Obvious in your...

So, only one more sleep until the 2007 federal election, and our chance to vote out the morally reprehensible Howard government. Please make your vote count! Me, I'm voting for the Greens again, but however you direct your vote, whether Labor, Democrats or Socialist Alliance; whether you vote above the line or below the line in the Senate, please don't stuff it up - and please consider voting Richard Di Natale into the Senate, to help give the Greens the balance of power in the upper house and re-install the proper system of checks and balances that our so-called democracy is supposed to have. HOW TO FILL IN YOUR BALLOT PAPER CORRECTLY Every Australian elector has a vote in the 2007 election, but it only counts if they fill in their ballot papers correctly. “Electors will be given two ballot papers at the polling place, and I urge you to pay careful attention when filling them out. If you do make a mistake, please ask a polling official for another ballot paper,” said Mr...

1. Good company with MsKP , Rach and others. 2. Trying not to hyperventilate. 3. ABC TV coverage. 4. Shrieking, one way or another. 5. The Greens' election night shindig in North Melbourne. 6. Huge fuck-off-Howard (hopefully) piss-up at Trades Hall bar til the wee small hours. 7. Hopefully get a celebratory root, or at least a snog. 8. Streaking optional. Yes, I know I wrote this as a comment on RYWHM yesterday, but I'm overworked at the moment and couldn't think of anything else to write here today. So sue me. Actually, don't - I have no life savings to speak off, only a stupidly large collection of CDs by obscure indie bands and lots, LOTS of books. I could possibly spare something from my collection of 80s fantasy novels I suppose... PS:

I was, I confess, initially a bit dubious about the latest exhibition to open at the National Gallery of Victoria's St Kilda Road complex, Modern Britain 1900-1960 , when I first heard about it. In retrospect, I think I was perhaps subconciously expecting a collection of bland landscapes and terribly prim portraits; a visual reflection of the "ordinary decent" Britain whose citizens and standards Joe Orton so delighted in shocking. Instead, it's a fascinating and focussed exploration of the impact of modernist art movements such as Post-Impressionism, Futurism, Surrealism and more, and how they first assailed and ultimately swept aside the stultifying hangover of Victorian values in British art. In many ways, Modern Britain is a companion piece to last year's NGV exhibition, British Art and the 60s from Tate Britain , which was a detailed survey of art created in the decade when the world's eye swung away from the USA and back to the Britain of David Hockney,...

Being a 'bit' of a horror movie fan I do enjoy a good vampire movie. Sadly they're few and far between. The latest vamp flick to hit Australian cinemas, 30 Days of Night is a case in point. It's got a lot going for it, but it's still not good. While there's a modicum of suspense, some beautiful cinematography, and some credible acting going on, its dire script really lets things down. Nor does it help that the vampires, for some unexplained reason, speak a guttural tongue that A) requires subtitles, and B) majorly reduces the ability of the actors playing the leeches to deliver their lines with anything resembling gravitas. The plot's a cute one though: Barrow, Alaska, is the northernmost town in the USA, and each year experiences 30 days of darkness in mid-winter during which the sun never rises. It's a perfect opportunity for a pack of vampires - led by Danny Huston, pictured - to descend and feed, though they're still careful enough to cover thei...

'In one of the most famous, free-flowing, and deceptively careless paragraphs in his second novel, On The Road (1957), Jack Kerouac writes with disarming honesty about his relationship with ‘Dean Moriarty’ (Neal Cassady) and ‘Carlo Marx’ (Allen Ginsberg); each of whom were later to become, like Kerouac himself, central figures in the mythology of the ‘Beat Generation’: “But then they danced down the street like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I’ve been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centrelight pop and everybody goes “Awww!” What did they call such young people in Goethe’s Germany? Wanting dearly to know how to write like Carlo, t...

If you're free this Monday November 12, dear reader, then I'd like to extend a cordial invitation to you and your nearest and dearest to join me at the launch of the The Greens' federal arts policy, at the fabulous Horse Bazaar, 397 Little Lonsdale Street (near the corner of Hardware Lane) Melbourne. I'll be speaking about the need for governments to properly support small to medium arts organisations, and to fund young and emerging arts organisations; and will be appearing alongsodefilm-maker Adam Elliot, the Greens lead senate candidate, Richard Di Natale, x:machine's Olivia Krang, and comedian Rod Quantock. It all kicks off at 6:30pm Monday, and should be wrapped up by 8pm at the latest. And if the speeches are boring, you can always look at the video art!

Just had an enlightening 3/4 hour conversation with the Malthouse's Michael Kantor about the first half of his 2008 program, which frustratingly is under embargo for a few more days, so I can't write about it here just yet, damn it. Something I can discuss, though - and I hasten to add that it's something I heard from a completely different source, several days ago, not from Michael - is a rumour concerning subscriptions for the MTC's 2008 season. It seems that the hardcore subscriber base at the Melbourne Theatre Company are so keen to avoid purchasing tickets to see Holding The Man , based on Tim Connigrave's heartwrending memoir about gay love and loss in the early years of the AIDS crisis; that rather than buy the full 11 play subscription package for the 2008 season, many of them are buying a 9-play subscription and purchasing an additional ticket for a tenth play, which actually costs them more than the 11-play subscription. If this is true, it's rather as...

Popcorn Taxi are hosting a screening of BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT in high definition digital at The Astor next Thursday November 15. To say I am pants-wettingly excited is a serious understatement. Anyone wanna come and see it with me?

One of the side effects of working as a newspaper editor, I've noticed in recent months, is that my so-called reviews on this blog have become increasingly informal. It's as if I've subconciously reacted to the nit-picking formality of editing other people's writing by deciding to have more fun with my words here. Alternatively, I'm just getting lazy, and/or even more time-poor than before. Such musings aside, let us turn our attentions to the latest production by Red Stitch Actors' Theatre , Douglas Carter-Beane's scathing comedy of Hollywood manners, The Little Dog Laughed . Alex (Martin Sharpe) watches over a drunken Mitchell (Tom Wren) Mitchell Green (Tom Wren) is a boy-next-door movie star on the brink of major fame. His power-hungry agent, Diane (Kat Stewart) sees Mitchell's career as her key to life as a big league producer, as long as she can secure him the right vehicle: namely, a hot theatrical property about a pair of gay lovers that's cur...