Art Smitten: Reviews - 2017

This documentary wasn’t just your normal superstar backstory, this was a story about a woman's journey through self-doubt, a controlling family, addiction and racism. Nick Broomfield’s documentary of Whitney Houston is truly riveting and captivating, unlike any documentary I’ve ever seen. There were a number of never before seen home videos of Whitney starting out singing with her mum, Cissy Houston, in church, Whitney’s early interviews and of her backstage. There were also a number of interviews from people close to her where it was really interesting to hear what they saw and how she spiralled out of control. She paved the way for African Americans. We wouldn’t have people like Beyonce if it wasn’t for Whitney, but back when she was starting out she was hated by her African American community because they thought white Amercia had basically taken her away and moulded her into a white American popstar singing pop as opposed to what African Americans wanted to hear: RNB. S

This weeks Friday Nights included a headline act by Two Steps on the Water, a extravagant chandelier and a reviewer entranced in the art of Van Gogh and Love: Art of Emotion 1400 - 1800. I find that the two components that make or break the Friday Nights experience is the music and the art. This weeks Friday Nights had exhibitions that emphasize emotion and mood. It only made it more suitable that the headliner for this week had so much gumption and feeling in their songs. The three piece punk/heavy folk band, Two Steps on the Water gave such a colourful performance that complimented the often varying tones of Van Gogh's art pieces. Their set also had heaps of humour implanted between songs. In every wolf whistle, lead singer June Jones was there to alert everyone "there are no wolves in the NGV". People filled every room to offer, perhaps to feast their eyes on the amount of art available on display. If you are heading to the Friday Nights in the future don't forget to check out the other exhibitions like lo

There's something very romantic about going to an art gallery at night time, especially one as grand as the NGV. The high ceilings and wide open spaces are really beautiful. It would be really cute to take someone there on a date and afterwards get a hot chocolate and sit by the river, just a suggestion. Van Gogh and the Seasons was curated by Sjraar van Heugten The exhibition begins with a short 9 min video detailing important points and shifts in Van Gogh's life. I really enjoyed this part of exhibition, it was interesting and easy to understand. Then you walk into the next part of the exhibition, a narrow walk way the kind of zig-zags around, it had big blocks of writing to read on the walls, which made this part of the exhibition very congested and I found it hard to keep my attention on the text. Next was a grey U-shaped room with Van Goghs early works. Then it moves into the main event of his prints and paintings. The dull grey then turns into black and white with scrims in between sections. The artwork

Jack reviews the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra’s May concert, Unfinished Romance – Rossini & Schubert.

20th Century Women is the latest film from Mike Mills, whose previous film Beginners came out a full six years ago – but the wait has certainly been worthwhile. He’s managed to follow up what was a rather lovely and tender film with an even lovelier and even more tender one, a film that encompasses a sprawling range of themes and sentiments. It’s set in Southern California in 1979, and centres on Jamie, a fifteen-year-old living with his single middle-aged mother, Dorothea (Annette Bening), in a house she rents out to punk photographer Abby (Greta Gerwig) and hippy handyman William (Billy Crudup). Rounding off the main ensemble is Jamie’s best friend Julie (Elle Fanning), a troubled teen who spends much of her time staying at Jamie’s house. We grow close to these characters as we learn intimate details about their past, present and future and go through their pleasures and pains alongside them. It’s the rare type of film that not only introduces a relatively large core cast

Wild Bore is a new theatre production by three comedians, Zoe Coombs Marr, 
Ursula Martinez 
and Adrienne Truscott. It is a meta theatrical production where the three performers analyse and deconstruct theatre criticisms, drawing material from real reviews they have received and other brutal reviews of other theatre productions. A lot of the themes of the show revolve around their experience of being ‘female comedians/theatre artists’ and the sexism and misunderstandings and backlash they receive. It’s very farcical and crass and is delivered in a very satirical tone. It opens with the three performers bums at a long table reading reviews of the show performing as theatre critics, this image is repeated through the whole show. Then there is an ‘interval’ and the curtains part and there’s a giant long table and the performers are wearing bum hat mask sort of things and continue with the critiquing of theatre critics, it then gets a bit surreal and there’s a big scene w

Action Hero arrives in Melbourne bringing a light Americana teeny boppy show "Whatever it takes" the banner read on the gym decorated theatre. Lines like these that seemingly belonged in a Degrassi High after school special were particularly prevalent in the UK groups show. It relied on the underdog team standing up against great grief and overcoming it all. The plot relied on spectacle and capturing this culture of teen movies. This was hard at first for many of the more elite theatre goers who joked later that this "was the closest they got to a sport game in their life". Action Hero, created by Gemma Paintin and James Stenhouse, is a company that focuses on theatre, performance and live art. The company has been particularly noted for their ability to involve the audience continuously. Hoke's Bluff was no different. The audience had to walk on the stage in order to get to their seats and whilst doing so the actors invited them to collect popcorn. As soon as you sat down there was a flag and the Hoke's Bluf

Producer Christian chats to hosts Ellie and Jack about North of Eight's production of Gardner McKay's Toyer, featuring Faran Martin and Kashmir Sinnamon, which runs until May 13 at the Courthouse Hotel, 86-90 Errol St, North Melbourne.

Shining a spotlight on American independent cinema The American Essentials Film Festival, now in its second year, features a range of independent works produced over the last year and timeless American Masterpieces. The Artistic Director, Richard Sowada created a program that captured the essence of American culture. The program features G-Funk, Annie Hall and feature documentaries such as The Bomb that Sowada noted “is an interesting piece… particularly at a time like now”. David Lynch: The Art Life is one of the featured works inthe festival. It uses Lynch’s artworks, archives and stories from his past to get a deeper view of his work. Within the film, he speaks of his adolescences, his search for meaning and his push to create impactful works. It is impossible to see David Lynch as dull, but Jon Nguyen's documentary about him comprises mostly of montages of the director's paintings interspersed with dramatic music that were a distraction more than anything. Some music felt car

“I myself almost don’t know which season I like best;  I believe all of them equally well” -Van Gogh London 1873 The NGV has done it again.  The NGV has pulled off one of its most ambitious plans for the 2017 collection. The Winter Masterpieces exhibition, which started in 2004, features a beautiful array of Van Gogh pieces; some of which have never been on Australian soil. The exhibition featured the contribution of, a deeply devoted Van Gogh scholar and curator. Sjraar found seasons a proper title for a collection of Van Gogh’s work. She stated that within Van Gogh’s work “seasons become a representation of life itself”. Seasons reflected his sporadic passions and pain within his life. The Exhibit makes note of many aspects of Van Gogh’s life that aren’t as widely known.  The exhibit reflects on Vincent’s relationship with his brother Theo and how he inspired Vincent to become an artist. It also reflects on his time in Nuenen which h

I often find myself unable to articulate what I feel, think and experienced after seeing a Rabble show, and JOAN was no different, so here’s my best shot at trying to speak about it. JOAN is an experimental theatre production exploring the story of Joan of Arc. It has no plot or story and very little dialogue, and it is made mainly of images inspired primarily from Joan of Arc. A lot of the show is quite visceral, not only in the performers' bodies, but also in all the elements of production, including sound design and stage design, it was very uncomfortable in it’s imagery but also very beautiful. It speaks to and explores why Joan of Arc has been retold so many times and why she is so significant. And to my understanding the story of Joan of Arc is also used as vessel to explore women’s/females bodily autonomy, and violence. As always in The Rabble shows, the direction, light, sound, and design of this work was impeccable, some of the most beautiful lighting design and a beautiful use of t

An Intimate look into Brett Whiteley's life and legacy Whiteley uses Brett Whiteley's art and interview archives to take you on a journey into his inner psyche. Within the footage he tells of his relationship with Wendy,  his search for meaning and his push to create art that serves a purpose for the public. His life is summed up with tension and brooding that Brett unsuccessfully attempts to get away from. The film starts off strong, playing with the biographical art piece of Brett, incorporated with the amazing score of Ash Gibson Greg. However, as the movie progressed, the fun of the first few minutes of the film had vanished.  It became another story of a brooding artist going to overseas to find himself,  coming back to Australia when he lost himself and feeling generally as lost in his life. This contradicted with the tagline from the movie "if there's no meaning to life then you might as well make it extraordinary." Where was the fun, bold character of Whiteley? A similar frustration was

Smithers reviews Comedy Zone Asia, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival show featuring Jinx Yeo, Neeti Palta, Sumit Anand, Rizal van Geyzel and Douglas Lim that runs until April 23. Click here to listen to Smithers' interview with Douglas!

In the Mens Interesting look into the expansive Australian male psyche. The show is a number of monologues dedicated to generations of male Australians. It highlights the weird, quirky and uncomfortable experiences felt in our own backyard. Characters included “shirtfront” the jockey addicted to cheesecake, a ex-greyhound racer, a stockbroker stuck between the bliss of the sea-change and the agony of work, the oldest man in Australia, and a businessman breaking up with his fiancee due to his supposed infidelity. The show felt at first difficult to approach. Introducing this short enthusiastic Jockey and his pursuit of racing success and love was completely different from my experience. He was the epitome of who I could not care about unless I personally knew him. This was similarly seen with the greyhound racer. However, I was taken aback as the ex-racer’s story took a turn with the dog’s eventual death.   Ben Maclaine and Ben Grant’s depictions of loneliness and stress with

Cal Wilson's show in the MICF this year is about 'Things I've Never Said', or, all things she's never focused on in her comedy. For Wilson, this means a focus on politics and feminism. Wilson flourishes on the topic, deploying a white hot commentary on sex, gender and equality. Throughout a series of anecdotal pieces which include her prejudice about playing to a room full of male mine workers; what it means to be a mother; what happened when her son wore pink sparkly face paint, and being physically dominated by men or boys, as a woman or a girl, Wilson constructs a framework exploring very serious subject matter. Not one, you might think, for a comedy show. This is where the highly experienced comedian demonstrates, lightly, almost effortlessly, her genius. Wilson navigates her sadder pieces with grace, perfectly balanced between sad and happy, finding positive elements in each story, but also finding ways to tickle her audience into a state of emotional abandon, caught between the jagged truths of our curr

Colossal is a film about monsters, both literal and metaphorical. Written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo, perhaps most famous for his sci-fi dark comedy Timecrimes, it stars Anne Hathaway as Gloria, a young woman with a lot of problems. In an attempt to recharge, she goes back to her home town, which is small, nondescript and somewhere in the Midwest of America. She reconnects with a childhood friend, and slowly starts to get back on her feet, when suddenly news breaks out of a giant monster terrorising the city of Seoul in South Korea. Amazing! We soon find out that through some strange force Gloria actually controls this giant monster when she stands at a particular spot in the playground at a particular time of day. And then a robot appears as well! Even more amazing! Amidst this odd revelation all the issues that plague Gloria still rage on. Alcoholism, the reason she went back to her home town in the first place. Relationships, both dysfunctional and downright abusive. The general disorientation of life

Raw has got to be one of the best horror films I’ve seen in recent years. It manages to create discomfort not only out of the deeply horrifying but also out of pretty much everything else. Cannibalism becomes as nasty to watch as skin rashes. The first film by Julia Ducournau, it’s grisly and very dark and shows an impressive flair for visceral tension and thematic construction. I was gripped from the start and floored by the end. Justine is a first-year veterinary student, intellectually gifted but socially stunted. It’s the start of the academic year and like all first-years has to undergo a series of unpleasant hazing rituals, including eating a piece of raw rabbit kidney. That she’s a vegetarian who’s just eaten meat turns out to be the least of her worries. Soon after, she starts displaying alarming symptoms, culminating in an intense hankering for more raw meat and, finally, human flesh. The discomfort is palpable from the start. From the startling opening, to the subsequen

Nikki Britton is an excitable, full of energy Australian comedian whose show, Romanticide, reflects on her not so excitable love life. Britton reflects in her show on her romantic conquests, experiences and failures, and how they have shaped her as a person. The show is a one hour energised stand up routine in a small crowded room at The Forum, which boasts quite a hot time, as it’s stuffy inside. Luckily, there is a massive air conditioner blasting cool air into the place. Unluckily, it was positioned directly behind my head, meaning I sometimes struggled to concentrate on the show as blasts of cold air ruffled my hair. Apart from this however, Britton manages to encapsulate her audience over the hour by going through her experiences in the field of relationships from the help of a show plan which she attempts to hide behind a massive speaker on stage with her. Although this might come across as amateur at first, it merely adds to the hilarity of the show as she openly denies what it is, instead cracki

I grew up watching older British Comedy, so I’ve always had a love for it. Fawlty Towers was of course one of these loves, as well as Monty Python, The Goodies and Benny Hill. I’m shocked that I never heard about Faulty Towers, The Dining Experience until now, but better late than never, I finally went to go. Straight up, and I didn’t even realise until writing this review, the actual names of the show and the original are different. Fawlty is spelt F A W L T Y whilst the Dining Experience is F A U L T Y. Not a big deal, just thought that needs to be clarified. Even with the name change, Faulty Towers The Dining Experience is almost a complete mimic of an episode of the original Fawlty Towers, just with more improvisation. It’s remarkably impressive. It is also quite group, family or couple experience. It would be weird going in to sit by yourself and enjoy a three course meal. It just wouldn’t be the same. For the night I took my partner too the show, who actually has never seen

A stunningly beautiful dive into humanity's dark future with cyborg implants and upgrades, skyscraper high advertisements and incredibly frightening half human half machine - cyber terrorists. Ghost in the Shell is effectively a dark futuristic crime thriller that follows the Character of Major, who is an all robot body with the brain of a human being. She’s an elite counter-terrorist working for a crew called section 9 an elite group formed by murky mix of Hanka robotics the company responsible for Major, and the Government, Aramaki the the head of section 9, an enigmatic leader who seems to of seen it all before. Major’s team are relatively interesting but not particularly explored in depth, except for Major’s Partner Batou, who’s a relatively interesting character who ventures further from simply musclebound hard ass. He’s got a more soulful human bent. Now the film is an obviously an adaptation of the wildly successful and groundbreaking 1995 anime original. And in a way beau