Adelaide Festival of Arts - Northern Lights Display

Adelaide's Lights Spectacular by Linh

By day, the cultural precinct along North Terrace in Adelaide attracts crowds to marvel at the wonders inside the various buildings, but at night the attraction is external.

Throughout the 2008 Adelaide Festival of Arts season, buildings including Elder Hall, Bonython Hall and the Art Gallery are splashed with luminous lights from the entire rainbow spectrum for the Northern Lights display installation.

Sydney-based projection specialists, The Electric Canvas, have created a brilliant series of colourful and bright projections using digital software and huge French-made system projectors for the facades of art and cultural bulidings along North Terrace.

Northern Lights have about seventy diferent projections and changes every five minutes, delighting crowds of all ages who are keen to catch a glimpse or photograph the exhibition.

Northern Lights has been extended until the end of March 2008 from 8pm to 1am every night along North Terrace in the city.



Bonython Hall by day:


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Bonython Hall by night:


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Image: Linh, www.linh-chameleon.blogspot.com

Elder Hall by day:

Image: Linh, www.linh-chameleon.blogspot.com


Elder Hall by night:


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Art Gallery by day:


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Art Gallery by night:


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South Australian Museum by day:


Image: Linh, www.linh-chameleon.blogspot.com



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South Australian Museum by night:


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Mitchell Building by day:


Image: Linh, www.linh-chameleon.blogspot.com


Mitchell Building by night:


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Institute Building by day:


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Institute Building by night:


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Image: Linh, www.linh-chameleon.blogspot.com

Adelaide Fringe Festival - One Man Star Wars Trilogy; comedy review

A GALAXY OF HIS OWN: Charles Ross performs his solo comedy show One Man Star Wars Trilogy for the Adelaide Fringe Festival.
Image: Jason Woodruff

May The Laughs Be With You by Linh

After performing his comedy show One Man Star Wars Trilogy around the world for six years, Charles Ross can still keep the production fresh and spontaneous.

His characterisations of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, C3PO and Chewbacca are all performed on stage in scenes at a cracking pace. Charles Ross brings to life all the major and minor, good and evil characters from the original Star Wars trilogy without props, costumes or fancy special effects.

Charles Ross is a Star Wars addict who has seen the trilogy over 400 times, and handles all the characters and special effects with comedic flair. His Darth Vader voice is deep and disturbing, he buzzes to reveal a light saber, walks and grunts like a wookie. He sings the music, performs the opening credits, fights the battles and condenses the plots of all three original films into one hour.

The only downside to One Man Star Wars Trilogy is that one must be familiar with the Star Wars films and characters to really appreciate and comprehend the hilarity of the send-ups. The humour would be lost in space if one weren't au fait with the Star Wars phenomenon. Although, to watch a grown man re-live his childhood love of Star Wars on stage is a wonderous sight to behold and equally humourous.

Adelaide Fringe Festival - Rove McManus Stand Up Tour; comedy review

SOMETHING FISHY: Rove McManus fishes for laughs with his latest Adelaide Fringe comedy show.
Image: Token Artists

Comic Marvel by Linh

Thunderous drum beats in pitch darkness followed by an immediate burst of bright lights flooding the audience is how Rove McManus opens his latest stand up comedy show.

Rove McManus (real name John McManus) knows how to make an entrance and his self-titled Adelaide Fringe show highlights his witty nature and keen mental awareness of looking for opportunities to pounce on for laughs. Rove’s energetic and well-paced performance harpooning celebrities, politicians and technological advancements, sends the audience into fits of laughter.

Rove displays his personable side as he chats with audience members about nicknames or Adelaide’s record-breaking heatwave. Rove’s bemoaning of the heat bringing on heat rage and ways to stay cool while keeping your cool is comic gold. His bizarre and down-to-earth nature is evident as he’s bemused by other people’s dreams of fame and having their names in bright lights while he’s equally content with having his name in fish faeces.

Rove’s facial distortions, wild and effective movements and body language gives the show a theatrical vibe with sparks of spontaneity to keep the audience on their toes. Highlights include the classic Benny Hill sped up chase scenes complete with a short, bald and elderly man chasing a scantily clad woman on stage, his audio presentations of US President George W Bush’s numerous gaffes and Rove’s hip-swivelling rap song Baby Bump.

Rove McManus’ comic material reflects his individualistic comedic talents of making the mundane seem hysterical, while his natural ability of making the effort look effortless is admirable.

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead; crime thriller film review (Advance Screening)

DEVIOUS DUO: Andrew and Hank Hanson (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke) discover their Mother is in a coma in Before The Devil Knows You're Dead.
Image: Will Hart, ThinkFilm.

Devilish Deeds by Linh

Director Sidney Lumet's latest crime thriller borrows the name and theme from the Irish proverb "May you be in Heaven half an hour before the Devil knows you're dead."
Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead is one of Lumet’s best directorial work and Kelly Masterson's excellent script combines intricately woven plots and interlaced flashbacks with a brilliant cast who brings bravado and energy to characters with few redeeming qualities.


The flashbacks are cleverly presented out of sequence and relates to a particular character; with each flashback labelled as before the robbery, the day of the robbery and days after the robbery.
Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead leaves the viewer breathless during some scenes and shocked during others, yet one never feels much sympathy for any of the characters.

The opening scene shows Philip Seymour Hoffman and Marisa Tomei, who play husband and wife Andrew and Gina Hanson, naked and performing an explicit sex act. They seem an unlikely pair with the hint that their marriage is in shambles. This scene is only the first piece of the bewildering puzzle and just the beginning of Andrew Hanson’s problems.

Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman is wonderfully convincing as the flawed and desperate Andrew Hanson who is defrauding his company, addicted to drugs and devises a plan to commit a robbery with his younger brother Hank.

Ethan Hawke gives a strong performance as the soft-hearted and gutless wonder Hank Hanson who’s estranged from his wife and teenage daughter, has numerous debts to pay and unwittingly agrees to his brother’s robbery plan.

In a commanding yet understated portrayal of Charles Hanson, father of Andrew and Hank, Albert Finney is a stand out. Finney provides Charles with the simmering rage underneath the calm composure despite being hell bent on revenge, even when he discovers the identity of the one responsible for his wife’s death is closer to home.

Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead succeeds in bringing rivetting performances, compelling moments featuring murder, adultery, drugs and revenge to create a meticulously crafted masterpiece.

Dr Seuss' Horton Hears A Who; animated family film review (Advance Screening)

ANIMATED ANIMOSITY: Horton (voiced by Jim Carrey) and Kangaroo (voiced by Carol Burnett) agree to disagree in Horton Hears A Who!
Image: Twentieth Century Fox

Passionate Pachyderm by Linh

Horton Hears A Who! is a computer generated animated feature from the makers of the Ice Age films, and is based on Dr Seuss’ ‘Horton’ series of children’s books.

It’s the third Dr Seuss tale brought to the big screen following its predecessors, The Grinch and The Cat in the Hat. The previous two films were less successful live action films, yet Horton is an animated joy which delights the imagination and evokes the essence of Dr Seuss’ text.

The story tells of a friendly and imaginative elephant named Horton who hears a cry for help from a speck of dust floating through the air. Horton suspects there’s a community living on the speck that needs his help, but no-one would believe him. Horton then makes contact with an inhabitant of the speck and embarks on a journey to save his new found friends.

Although boasting some big names in the ensemble vocal cast, Horton Hears A Who! succeeds in exhibiting the personalities of the film’s characters more than the personalities behind the film’s characters.
Jim Carrey lends his voice to create a lovable and passionate Horton whose belief that “a person’s a person, no matter how small” makes him risk everything to save those too tiny for him to see, but loud enough for him to hear.
Steve Carell is aptly flustered and flabbergasted as the Mayor of Who-ville who has ninety seven children, a son who hasn’t spoken in years, and is under pressure from Who-ville’s Town Council who are waiting for him to slip up.
Carol Burnett plays Kangaroo to the hilt, as a strict and snobbish mother who fears imagination and creativity results in anarchy and chaos in her orderly structured life. She even refuses to allow her joey, Rudy (Josh Flitter) to leave her pouch.

Other notable performances are Will Arnett’s Vlad the eagle who’s a wannabe-supervillain; Isla Fisher’s loopy scatterbrain Dr Mary Lou Larue, the scientist helping the Mayor save Who-ville; Seth Rogen’s fleet footed Morton the mouse who is Horton’s best friend and Charles Osgood’s narration brings authority and sincerity to Dr Seuss’ rhyming verses.

A special treat is the teaser trailer for Ice Age 3 – Dawn of the Dinosaurs, preceding Horton Hears A Who!, which features Scrat scrambling about in pursuit of his acorn.

The story’s simple message of believing in and helping others strikes a chord with audiences of all ages, making Horton Hears A Who! an enjoyable film.

Adelaide Fringe Festival - Terri Psiakis, Pending Nuptials; comedy review

TERRI-FIC TALES: Terri Psiakis prepares for her Pending Nuptials.
Image: Token Artists.


Hilariously Hymeneal by Linh

Following her highly successful and critically acclaimed comedy shows Available and Unavailable, Terri Psiakis returns to the Adelaide Fringe Festival with a work in progress.

Pending Nuptials may be still in its embryonic stages and is subject to audience scrutiny, yet Adelaideans are fortunate to be guinea pigs for Psiakis' latest swipes and gripes with comic brilliance. It's her sequel to the first two comedy shows; close to being finessed and polished for maximum laughability.

Upon entry, Psiakis presents friendly hospitality with a smile and a deliciously soft fruit chew, more out of gratitude for one's attendance than a bribe. After the niceties are complete, Psiakis launches into a laugh-out-loud series of anecdotes on the mayhem, frustrations and madness of preparing a wedding.

The performance includes audio presentations of Psiakis' telephone conversations when ordering flowers, the conflicting choices of wedding songs chosen by her and 'the bloke' (the groom prefers to remain anonymous) along with her sophisticated technique of relativity (where you laugh as you relate to everything she says).

Psiakis is one of the most engaging and down-to-earth performers who sees the laughter in daily life while finding the humour to support it. The jokes come thick and fast as the obvious sounds much funnier coming from her comedic perspective.


Pending Nuptials with Terri Psiakis is staged at the Bosco Theatre, in the Garden of Unearthly Delights until March 6.