Absolutely Fabulous 1992–2012 follows the adventures and struggles of PR maven and fashionista Edina Monsoon (Saunders) and her best friend, magazine fashion director Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley).
 

 
In their first outing, we get caught up with Edina’s emergency weight-loss regime, 40th birthday tantrums, last-minute fashion show preparations, a Romanian baby adoption plan, and the endless quest to remain relevant and fashionable.

In Character: Absolutely Fabulous
17 June 2016 – 2 July 2016
GOMA, Cinema A – Brisbane
www.qagoma.qld.gov.au

As befits their wide-screen nature the six-piece Glaswegian outfit won’t be doing things by halves either, taking in a two-night stand at Perth International Arts Festival (with special guest: Dinosaur J frontman J Mascis), a headline spot at Adelaide Festival‘s Thebarton Theatre, debut performances at both the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall and Melbourne’s famed Hamer Hall, a return slot at the Tivoli in Brisbane PLUS the band’s first ever visit to New Zealand – how’s that for stamping your authority!

Almost 20 years since their inception Mogwai have carved out a niche entirely their own – often copied but never bettered – that has seen the band release eight (largely) instrumental and hugely influential studio albums (including this years UK top ten debut Rave Tapes), live albums, compilations, film soundtracks (including Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait and The Fountain) while most recently Mogwai were commissioned to provide the score for SBS TV series The Returned a/k/a Les Revenant.

“It concerns a group of dead individuals who return – not as archetypal zombies, but seemingly exactly as they were – to live in their former communities. Gradually, though, things start to unravel, the creeping unease bolstered brilliantly by this sinister Mogwai score.” – The Guardian July 2013

Live, Mogwai‘s shows are legendary taking the audience from a whisper to a scream, from darkness to light as wave after wave of sound comes crashing around them taking the listener on the most epic of journeys.

Just getting better and better the band incorporate so many sounds and textures into their music that it would take for ever to describe. There is a serious imagination at play here with songs sometimes hooking around a fierce almost Stooges style riff and then descending into a spooked neo silence before exploding with a genuine danger or twisting around some electronic loop. – Louder Than War June 2014

Mogwai 2015 Headline Tour
Perth – PIAF, The Festival Gardens – 23-24 February 2015
Adelaide – Adelaide Festival – Friday 27 February 2015
Melbourne – Hamer Hall, Melbourne Arts Centre – Sunday 1 March 2015
Sydney – Sydney Opera House Concert Hall – Monday 2 March 2015
Brisbane – The Tivoli – Wednesday 4 March 2015
www.mogwai.co.uk

First forming in Manchester in 1995, Lamb’s 1996 self-titled genre-bending debut album delivered intensely personal, emotionally charged songs intertwined with startling drum n bass beats in in a collision of jazz, classical, blues, techno & hip hop that defined an era of trip hop.

Singles ‘Gold’, ‘God Bless’, ‘Cotton Wool’ and ‘Górecki’ have been critically and commercially successes. In particular, ‘Górecki’ – inspired by the works of composer Henryk Mikołaj Górecki – has become one of the most recognized anthems of electronic music, attracting numerous remixes, covers, TV commercials and movie soundtracks (Basquiat, Moulin Rouge and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer to name the biggest box office hits).

Since their Australian debut, Lamb has drawn rave reviews from thrilled audiences and critics alike for their sold-out headline and festival performances. They wowed fans as part of 2003’s iconic Livid Festival, headlined Sydney’s much-loved Peats Ridge Festival in 2009 and 2011 brought Lamb back to our shores to headline the Playground Weekender Festival on the Hawkesbury River, as well as selling out numerous sideshows along the way.

Lamb 2015 Australian Tour
Friday, February 6 – Astor Theatre, Perth
Sunday, February 8 – Fowlers Live, Adelaide
Tuesday, February 10 – The Tivoli, Brisbane
Thursday, February 12 – The Enmore, Sydney
Saturday, February 14 – The Forum, Melbourne
www.lambofficial.com

After premiering at the London and Toronto Film Festivals respectively, the organisers are proud to book end the festival with two wonderful epics set during the war  “Testament Of Youth” based on the famous memoirs of Vera Brittain and starring Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina) and Kit Harrington (Game Of Thrones) as our opening night film and closing the festival will be the highly anticipated “The Imitation Game” starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing who was successful in cracking Nazi Germany’s Enigma code during World War 2. The Imitation Game is certain to feature prominently in next year’s Academy Awards in all major categories.

There are new films from much heralded British Directors Ken Loach “Jimmy’s Hall” and Mike Leigh “Mr. Turner” featuring Timothy Spall in his Cannes Best Actor award winning role as J.M.W Turner one of the most prolific painters of the 19th century . New voices in British Cinema showcase their immense talent with their directorial debuts Yann Demange (71) , Andrew Hulme (Snow In Paradise) and Stuart Murdoch (God Help The Girl).

Billy Connolly appears in the humorous and heartwarming “What We Did On Our Holiday”, Charlotte Rampling is mesmerising in “The Sea” and a wonderful cast including Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette and Imogen Poots star in “A Long Way Down” based on the best selling book by Nick Hornby.

The long rich history of British Cinema is represented in ‘Six From The 60s’ retrospective with six standout films from the era. The festival is thrilled to present the digitally restored 50th anniversary screenings of Richard Lester’s “A Hard Day’s Night” featuring a day in the life of The Beatles at the height of Beatlemania and a snapshot of the cultural revolution of the 60’s with Tom Courtenay as “Billy Liar”, Julie Christie in her Academy Award Winning role in “Darling”, the quintessential British caper film “The Italian Job” and Lindsay Anderson’s classic “IF…”. Michael Caine is featured in his first major film role in one of the great epic war films of the 1960’s “Zulu” .

The Emirates British Film Festival 2014
MELBOURNE 5 – 26 Nov -PALACE CINEMA COMO, PALACE BALWYN, PALACE BRIGHTON BAY
SYDNEY 6 – 26 Nov – PALACE NORTON STREET, PALACE VERONA
ADELAIDE 5 – 16 Nov – PALACE NOVA EASTEND
PERTH 5 – 16 Nov – CINEMA PARADISO
CANBERRA 6 – 23 Nov – PALACE ELECTRIC
BRISBANE 6 – 16 Nov – PALACE BARRACKS, PALACE CENTRO
BYRON 6 – 16 Nov – PALACE BYRON BAY
www.britishfilmfestival.com.au

It’s set in India and uses that colourful and frenetic local as an integral part of the storyline. It’s a tale of redemption amongst an older generation of Brits that are bucking against feeling like they have reached their used by dates. They end up at a hotel in India under false pretences and find that the luxury hotel the ads spoke about has been replaced by a run down complex run by Sonny (played with good humour by Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire).

The set up is somewhat conventional but what really lets the movie down is how predictable the script is. This is not helped at all by an overbearing soundtrack that telegraphs almost every salient moment in the film. The actors try as they might have little to work with other that establishing their characters eccentricities.

Films with sophistication, complex characterization and involving plot lines will always have a place up on the big screen even if they appeal to only a certain segment of the audience but when you pander to a specific group you still need to involve them regardless of age or demographics.

Rob Hudson
www.thebestexoticmarigoldhotel.co.uk