Category: Event

Book Launch & Screening: BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (it’s a wrap!)

On 26th August 2023, Cinemaniacs launched our new book on James Whale’s classic BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN at ACMI in Melbourne, Australia.

This GLORIOUS event (emphasis intended) featured an introduction by the editor (me); followed by a screening of the film itself, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935); then a ‘meet the authors’ panel with Dr Eloise Ross, Stephen A. Russell, Dr Andrew Nette and Cerise Howard; followed by another screening from the Universal Monster Movie canon, FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN (1943).

Somewhere amongst it all, we managed to sell all our books, give away custom-made fragrances, distribute a number of movie-related raffle prizes and – the cherry on top – be welcomed by Sara Karloff, daughter of Boris Karloff, in a special video greeting recorded especially for the night.

For me, most thrillingly of all was the electricity in the cinema – a full house, nonetheless – with everyone there to celebrate a film as old as the hills; proof that the power of a masterpiece never fades.

Here it is immortalised in pictures:

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Meet the Filmmaker: GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE

On Sunday 7th August 2022, I hosted a Q&A with filmmaker Sophie Hyde, actor Daryl McCormack (pictured left) and Emma Thompson (pictured right) following a special advanced screening of GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE at Cinema Nova.

And what an occasion it was! The audience was pumped, the film was feel-good fab, and we were all left floating on air (mainly due to Dame Emma’s enigmatic presence). Here’s photo evidence…

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MEN at Cinema Nova Film Club

Time got away from me, so consider this post a belated shout-out for Cinema Nova’s Film Club screening of MEN, starring Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear (brilliance x 2!), which saw me join host KoKo for a post-film audience discussion.

This event possibly involved far longer ramblings from me than anticipated, given the film rendered the audience semi-mute but – hey – that’s the sign of a good film, I say.

I will take this as an opportunity to encourage all foolhardy filmgoers to give this one a shot – not for the lily-livered but worth it if you don’t mind a bit of folk-body-horror.

Here’s a great review in Screenhub that includes a reference to our event…

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Cinemaniacs’ screening: ALL THAT JAZZ

How blessed I am to have been asked by Lee Gambin and Cinemaniacs to do the pre-screening presentation of ALL THAT JAZZ (1979) on Friday 27th May at ACMI, Melbourne. I make no bones about this being one of my favourite films (ever) and, luckily, the prep for this presentation was completed almost two years ago when I appeared on The Projection Booth to speak about this incredible film.

This will be the first time I’ve seen ALL THAT JAZZ on the big screen so it’s likely I’ll be crying with joy (something I do often when I attend good cinema). Come along and cry 😭 (or dance 👯‍♀️) with me.

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Cut the Protesting: A look at Jesus Christ Superstar and more!

Public appearances have been few and far between during this global pandemic but, with a little bit of luck, I’ll be dusting myself off for another Cinemaniacs joint on 27th August at ACMI, Melbourne, Australia. Here’s a bit about it:

“Launching from a 20-minute video essay detailing various components of Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) by Lee Gambin, fellow critics Emma Westwood and Jarret Gahan will discuss works that caused controversy, sometimes sparking protest, as well as the role of the rock opera through a cinematic lens.”

“From religious themed films that prompted outrage such as The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971) to Russell’s manic magnificence in his filmic adaptation of The Who’s Tommy (1975), this will be a rollicking panel conversation.”

You can book tix now via ACMI’s website:

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Mentoring at MWFF

It is with great pleasure that I’ll be joining Stephanie Van Schilt (pictured right) as a mentor of burgeoning female voices in film criticism as part of the Critics Lab at the upcoming Melbourne Women in Film Festival (20th to 23rd February 2020).

Looking forward to learning a thing or two myself from some fresh, fertile filmic minds (mmmmmmmmmm… brains…)

Want to know more about this year’s MWFF program?

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International Women’s Day broadcast

It was International Women’s Day on 8th March 2019.

Programming and Content Manager at Triple R, Bec Hornsby, asked Cerise Howard and I from Plato’s Cave, and Megan McKeough from Zero-G, to talk about anything we wanted to talk about. So we chatted about women in film and we introduced our hour-long broadcast with the Duran Duran song, ‘Girls on Film’ (my personal highlight of the show).

One of the things we discussed was early women filmmakers, which meant the subject of Alice Guy-Blaché came up – one of (if not) the most criminally forgotten people in cinema. In talking about Alice, we were able to determine that cinema is not an industry that is new to female practitioners; it is one that was built by female practitioners. Somewhere along the way, the money men pushed the women out.

You can listen back to our broadcast here, and you can also find out more about Alice Guy-Blaché in a documentary that seeks to right a wrong, Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché.

We owe a lot to Alice Guy-Blaché. Worship her.

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ALIEN 4K restoration screening

It’s hard to believe Ridley Scott’s transcendent sci-fi/horror classic ALIEN is now 40 years old. What a film and what a legacy.

Accordingly, I’ll be celebrating this milestone birthday with a few hundred or so of my closest friends when Tristan Jones and I introduce the special ALIEN 4K restoration screening at The Astor Theatre in St Kilda, Friday 26th April. Here’s what the folks from the Astor have to say about it:

“To celebrate 40 years of the original cinematic space nightmare, we are presenting a new 4K restoration of the original theatrical cut of ALIEN to mark its 40th anniversary. The film was restored in 4K in 2018 by 20th Century Fox at Company 3/Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, supervised by Ridley Scott and Pam Dery. The 4K scans were done at EFilm and the audio restoration was done by Audio Mechanics.

But that’s not all – in this special “Alien Day” double feature, we will be following the screening of ALIEN with the return of the rare 70mm 6-track magnetic Dolby surround sound print of ALIENS. The way this original print sounds will blow you away!

This is enough to make any ALIEN fan scream! Expect some additional surprise on the night too – and keep en eye on Duke so we don’t have to go back on the ship and get him!”

Tristan and I will have more to say about it on the night. Buy your tickets here…

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Delightfully Dark – MWFF panel discussion

This Saturday 23rd February, I’ll be joining four other women – Susie Porter, Donna McRae, Alison Adriano and Janice Loreck (moderator) – for a panel discussion as part of the Melbourne Women in Film Festival (MWFF), exquisitely titled Delightfully Dark.

But why Delightfully Dark, you might ask?

Because we’re tackling the subject of (delightful) women in filmmaking, particularly those who venture into weird, transgressive and extreme cinema. What does the dark side look like for women creatives? And can it be empowering to depict darkness onscreen?

It all takes place at ACMI, 12.30pm. Please come along and don’t be afraid to say ‘hello darkness, my old friend.’

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