Culture

Watch out for the Stupid Old Man

Moving the Mountain Directed by Michael Apted Sydney Film Festival Reviewed by Eva Cheng The pro-democracy student protests in China in 1989 are the best-documented people's movement, audio-visually, in Chinese history. This rich

Holding barbarism at bay

Holding barbarism at bay MGM Sarajevo Sarajevo Group of Authors (SaGA) Sydney Film Festival Reviewed by Jennifer Thompson MGM Sarajevo, made in that city during the war and ongoing siege, shows in stark reality one of the bleakest

Despite Hollywood, still a giggle

Tank Girl A Rachel Talalay film Reviewed by Jen Crothers In the future of Tank Girl, the world is struck by a comet, turning the whole planet into a desert. It hasn't rained in 11 years, and water is power. The Water and Power Company just

The well-meaning racist

The Color of Fear A film by Lee Mun Wah Reviewed by Chris McLean Arthur Tunstall's anti-Aboriginal jokes, National Action's anti-Asian campaigns and the widespread verbal abuse of Aboriginal footballers have been loudly condemned in the

Waldheim's ghost walks in the Hotel Hibiscus

By Max Watts What do Kurt Waldheim, Macbeth, Hamlet's uncle the king of Denmark, and "Australian Foreign Minister" Senator Owens in Robert Cockburn's play Hotel Hibiscus have in common? All have had trouble with a ghost. The ghost of their

Not brave enough

Braveheart Starring Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan and Catherine McCormack Produced and directed by Mel Gibson Reviewed by Barry Healy Scottish history is particularly colourful and fascinating. The wild clans of the Picts

Inspired collaboration

Canto General: Song of the people Brisbane City Hall Auditorium, May 31 Directed by Mark Dunbar Presented by BEMAC and Brisbane Biennial International Music Festival Reviewed by Lynda Hansen Canto General was presented to 1500 people

The '60s that began in Mosman

Hippie Hippie Shake: The Dreams, the Trips, the Trials, the Love-ins, the Screw-ups ... the Sixties By Richard Neville William Heinemann, 1995. 376 pp., $29.95 (pb) Reviewed by Phil Shannon Capitalist society's high and mighty had every

The children demand peace

I Dream of Peace Published by UNICEF and Harper Collins $25 Reviewed by Norman Taylor "Don't ever hurt the children. They're not guilty of anything." This is the plea of a schoolgirl who is one of a great many still suffering from the

When the head doesn't quite agree

When Night is Falling Directed by Patricia Rozema Reviewed by Jen Crothers When Night Is Falling is a beautiful love story set against a background of picturesque Toronto. Camille is a Christian academic who is in love with Martin, a fellow

Poem: A Black Man

Poem: A Black Man By Shane Riley Aboriginal i am a Black man i'm different cause my skin isn't white i'm a Black man a proud one they tried to take it away from me with no hope of success i'm a Black man with nothing to

The rediscovery of reality

Critical Realism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Roy Bhaskar By Andrew Collier Verso, 1994 Plato Etc: The Problems of Philosophy and their Resolution By Roy Bhaskar Verso, 1994 Reviewed by Neville Spencer The philosophical