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Welcome to ABR Arts, home to some of Australia's best arts journalism. We review film, theatre, opera, music, television, art exhibitions – and more. Reviews remain open for one week before being paywalled.
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Recent reviews
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment) ★★★★1/2 and The Walking Dead (Telltale Games) ★★★★
The worlds of literature and video games appear at first glance to be distinctly at odds. Book lovers may feel that playing video games is puerile, a waste of time that could be better spent improving oneself by reading. Some gamers regard books as old hat, a stuffy waste of time that ...
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That Monash University has become a national leader in jazz studies is far from surprising when we consider the calibre of its teaching staff: pianist and composer Paul Grabowsky, saxophonist Rob Burke, trumpeter Paul Williamson, and trombonist Jordon Murray, among others ...
... (read more)Trainspotting Live (In Your Face Theatre/fortyfivedownstairs) ★★★★1/2
When ticketholders are forewarned not to wear white clothing to a small-scale production, feelings of trepidation are understandable. The aptly named ‘In Your Face Theatre’ troupe’s Trainspotting condenses Irvine Welsh’s 1993 critically acclaimed collection of short stories about a ...
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Martin Zandvliet’s Land of Mine is unsettling from the very outset. During the credits a recurring sound becomes audible, then consuming: the sound of heavy, ragged breathing. Sergeant Carl Rasmussen, sitting in Danish army fatigues and a maroon beret, he is watching a column of ...
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How much is too much music? What creates a successful program? The first of András Schiff’s two Tokyo recitals in the splendid Opera City Concert Hall left these and other questions in the forefront of this reviewer’s mind. Advertised under the banner ‘The Last Sonatas’, the pair of recitals ...
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The Australian Ballet opened its first 2017 Melbourne season looking like a new creature – mature, chic, and serious, ready to tackle any challenges choreographers placed in its path ...
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In this fortnight's Update: Marten Bequest Scholarships, The Faith Healer, Bill Henson at the NGV, The Balnaves Award, Art for Epilepsy, Castlemaine State Festival, and a film giveaway from Entertainment One.
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In this fortnight's Update: Ian Potter Museum of Art, Adelaide Festival ends with a bang, Christoph von Dohnányi, ACMI’s new $240,000 VR program, Armando Iannucci, The 2017 National Folk Festival, Shona Martyn, R&R in Melbourne, Yirramboi (Tomorrow) Festival ...
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You see them driving from Kings Canyon to Alice Springs, the majestic ghost white river gums depicted so faithfully in the paintings of Albert Namatjira. You would think you were looking at a Namatjira painting. And then there is the vista of the craggy hills of the West McDonnell ...
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Three women are staring into space. They are dazed, in shock, not yet believing that what has just happened has actually occurred. Beneath them is the body of a man, husband and father, whom they have just murdered. So begins the wild, darkly lyrical nightmare ride that is Australian ...
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