MAN ABOUT TOWN

Sharing a laugh with horror film maestro George Romero at Triple R on Monday July 28, 2008. (Photo by Donna Morabito) May, 2008: Melbourne Zombie Shuffle (Photo: Brian Villamin) Anti-racist protest, Fawkner, March 1997 (Photo by Grebo) A punk pub-crawl, Melbourne, circa 1996 (Photo: Ian Cook) Sarah Sands Hotel, Brunswick, circa 1990. March, 1986, shortly after moving out of home aged 17. (Photo: John Stewart)

Photo by Jeff Busby On Saturday night, the Australian premiere of a significantly overhauled Love Never Dies - the latest blockbuster musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber - was held at the Regent Theatre. It wasn't as dreadful as some people were perhaps expecting/hoping for, but it was definitely far from brilliant. I've written a detailed review over here , for Arts Hub, but here's a short extract to whet your appetite: Saved from the hands of a vengeful French mob a decade ago by choreographer Madame Giry and her ambitious daughter Meg, and secretly installed as the master of a Coney Island freak show and music hall, The Phantom pines after Christine, his muse, without whom his life has no meaning and his music no inspiration (opening number ‘‘Til I Hear You Sing’). Reunited (‘Beneath a Moonless Sky’), the Phantom begs Christine to sing for him one last time, in return for which he will pay off all of Raoul’s gambling debts and leave them in peace at last. Their reu...

Lucas Pittaway as Jamie Vlassakis in Snowtown Last week I had the pleasure - if pleasure is the right word to describe such a disturbing but powerful film - of seeing the new Australian film Snowtown . I've written a detailed review over at Arts Hub, which you can read here , but here's an excerpt to whet your appetite: Thanks in part to Adam Arkapaw’s accomplished and voyeuristic cinematography, the movie quickly and deliberately distances the audience from the events it depicts. This is not a film which asks the viewer to identify with its protagonists; rather, its actions unfold with the viewer held resolutely at arms length. Tight editing and an ominous score ensure that it remains a compelling and unsettling experience. The involvement of mostly non-professional performers ensures that the audience is never distracted by stars pretending to be members of a socially and economically deprived underclass (a jarring flaw of Ana Kokkinos’s Blessed ); and their pres...