Tag: Eyeball Media Enterprises

I, TONYA REVIEW AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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The chance to review films for a publication is always a special treat. Cinema is my first love though and so getting to be a film critic if only sporadically is a way to live that dream. I was very lucky to review the new film Margot Robbie film I, Tonya for Scenestr magazine.

Margot Robbie was once a 17 year old playing a role in a small budgeted independent action film on the Gold Coast. There was an overweight 27 year old on that film set too working as a production runner. Based on Margot’s performance in that film I wouldn’t have thought Oscar buzz was in her future. A performance I saw a year later in a Gold Coast cinema with cast and crew. By then Margot was already down south working hard on the Australian soap Neighbours. It’s 10 years later and Margot Robbie is one of the hottest young talents in America, a first-rate actress, a woman with her own production company forming her own projects to ensure she’s not just the girl in the bikini or the hotpants. Her work in The Wolf of Wall Street, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and now I, Tonya is simply first rate. To go from where we were to where she is now is truly remarkable and I look forward to a long prolific career with many more great performances. I take my hat off to you Ms. Robbie and congratulations on becoming an Academy Award nominee. Most deserved.

On some level it’s very surreal for me to have known at one point a very big star for a brief period of time where they were not a big star. It’s also weird to then have my dream job of writing for publications be involved with a Margot Robbie film but also rewarding. I feel a small measure of success in the industry I love which is nice.

Karen and I went to a preview screening of I, Tonya at Chermside cinemas two days before it opened nationwide. My review was published the next day, there were things I was trying to get across about the strength of the performances, the depth of the storytelling and the pacing of the picture that I hope come through. It is one of those reviews where it feels like I’m getting there but not quite where I want it to be. Deadlines can be good for getting past your own doubts.

I hope you like the review which can be read here http://scenestr.com.au/movies-and-tv/i-tonya-review-20180124 and enjoy the film. Once again to all my readers thank you so much for your continued support and interest. The trailer below by the way in my humble opinion is one of the best film trailers of 2017. Maybe it’s the music.

Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. Celebrating 25 years in 2018 of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts including festivals, stand-up comics, fashion, theatre and film. I feel very fortunate to get to write for them.

-Lloyd Marken

INTERVIEW WITH COMEDIAN RANDY FELTFACE AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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One of the funniest shows I saw last year was Randy Writes A Novel, performed and written by Randy Feltface who is famous for his work with comedic partner Sammy J including television series Ricketts Lane on the ABC, Randy Writes A Novel was his fourth solo show which I saw at the Wonderland Festival at the Brisbane Powerhouse. Not just raucously funny it was cleverly meta and so it was quite a thrill to only a month late get the opportunity with Scenestr magazine to interview Randy in preparation for his tour of his new solo show Randy’s Anti-Crisis. Randy proved not just funny but, thoughtful, insightful and extremely gracious. You can read the interview here http://scenestr.com.au/comedy/randy-s-anti-crisis-exploring-the-concept-of-belief

Readers who live in Adelaide and Perth I highly recommend you going along to see his upcoming shows.

Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. Celebrating 25 years in 2018 of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. This interview was published in print in the January WA edition of Scenestr which is always a thrill for a GenX guy like myself. A digital version of the print edition can be found here http://scenestr.com.au/read/WA/2018/10-WA/scenestr-WA-10.html#p=24 with the interview on page 24.  If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts including festivals, stand-up comics, fashion, theatre and film. I feel very fortunate to get to write for them.

-Lloyd Marken

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‘LORD OF THE FLIES’ BY BEENLEIGH THEATRE GROUP REVIEW AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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Last Friday I was fortunate to attend opening night of the Beenleigh Theatre Group’s first production for the year 2018 as a reviewer for Scenestr magazine. I had interviewed Brad Chapman last month who was directing this stage adaptation of Lord of the Flies and who I had seen perform earlier in 2017 in Cosi. Chapman who is also a school drama teacher has gotten some great natural performances out of his young cast and I was impressed by the lighting and set design. I enjoyed the play and you can read more of my thoughts here http://scenestr.com.au/arts/lord-of-the-flies-brisbane-review-crete-street-theatre-20182201

It remains a privilege to get to go along and see theatre put on by people who give up all their spare time to put on a show with great productions and performances.

Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. Celebrating 25 years in 2018 of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts including festivals, stand-up comics, fashion, theatre and film. I feel very fortunate to get to write for them.

-Lloyd Marken

INTERVIEW WITH EDM EXTRADINAIRE OPIUO AND THEATRE DIRECTOR BRAD CHAPMAN AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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2018 kicked off with a bang for me in terms of writing for magazines when I got the opportunity to contribute to the cover story for my hometown’s edition of Scenestr. This was a great opportunity and a thrill for which I’m grateful to Opiuo and to the team at Eyeball Media Enterprises.

Rather than the usual phone interview I provided a series of questions to be e-mailed to the electronic music producer and then received his responses. Opiuo’s answers were thoughtful, passionate and fascinating making the piece a great read. You can find it here http://scenestr.com.au/music/opiuo-is-making-your-inner-cheeky-child-dance It’s an honour to have my name attached to such a piece where others made it what it is. Two cover stories in two months is a real privilege.

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Also during the Christmas break I got to speak to the director of Beenleigh Theatre Group’s latest production Lord of the Flies which is opening this Friday night for local readers. Chapman was a delight to speak to and provided some excellent discussion about what fresh angles this new production of such a well known text will bring. You can read the interview here http://scenestr.com.au/arts/lord-of-the-flies-survival-of-the-fittest-in-beenleigh

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Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. Celebrating 25 years in 2018 of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. You can read see a digital version of the printed Queensland edition here http://scenestr.com.au/read/QLD/2018/1100-QLD/scenestr-QLD-1100.html where the Q&A with Opiuo features on page 10 and 11 http://scenestr.com.au/read/QLD/2018/1100-QLD/scenestr-QLD-1100.html#p=10

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If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts including festivals, stand-up comics, fashion, theatre and film. I feel very fortunate to get to write for them.

-Lloyd Marken

INTERVIEW WITH GRAVITY AND OTHER MYTHS MEMBER JASCHA BOYCE AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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At the end of last year I was blessed to have a run of assignments with Scenestr including a week where I saw five performances and one film. At the end of that week a last minute opportunity came which I was lucky enough to be able to seize. I’ve reached another milestone with Scenestr by completing an interview that went on the cover of their Western Australia December edition. On Wednesday night I saw contemporary circus group Circa perform in Brisbane and believed it to one of the best shows I saw last year. A top 5 would include Queensland Ballet’s Raw, Tim Crouch’s England, Circa, Randy Writes A Novel.

Having just been thrilled by Circa‘s performance it seemed appropriate to now get to interview an actual performer. Gravity and Other Myths are Adelaide based and perform around the world. I interviewed Jascha Boyce as part of press for their upcoming performances in Perth as part of Fringe World. It was fascinating to hear from Jascha how as one of the founding members they have sought to maintain a close family dynamic in the group and her own history as a performer. I couldn’t have asked for a more interesting and patient interviewee as she went through her craft, her fellow performers and their priorities in the world. There is a courage and a vulnerability in circus performers as they perform for us putting their bodies on the line but also risking failure and yet maintaining such disciplines and nerves of steel that they always seem to nail it. You can read my interview here http://scenestr.com.au/arts/a-simple-space-filled-by-circus-company-gravity-other-myths

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There were 3 more interviews I did before 2018 for Scenestr which will feature soon. This was the last thing to be published in 2017 though and was a real thrill for me to cap off the year in this way with a cover story. I really can’t believe my luck, I feel so grateful for this. I went to the offices to wish the team Merry Christmas a couple of weeks ago and feel so grateful to contribute to what is an amazing group of talented individuals. It is one helluva thing to produce a street press magazine in 2017 in the Australian market and keep it viable and grow it online in other mediums but this is what these guys do and there’s no shortage of what I could learn from them. Bring on a 2018 where I hopefully continue to contribute to and get so much from the awesome gang at Scenestr.

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Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. You can read see a digital version of the printed Western Australia edition here http://scenestr.com.au/read/WA/2017/9-WA/scenestr-WA-09.html where Gravity and Other Myths are featured on the cover and my interview with Jascha takes up page 10 and 11. The Western Australia edition only started up in May 2017 and only with such an expansion I guess could such an opportunity had been made possible. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts including festivals, stand-up comics, fashion, theatre and film. I feel very fortunate to get to write for them.

-Lloyd Marken

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CIRCA’S ‘HUMANS’ REVIEW AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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What a week it was, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday I was on assignment with Scenestr to check out shows at Wonderland Festival, comedian Alex Williamson and Woody Allen’s new movie Wonder Wheel. Recuperating on Tuesday I went along to see Circa on Wednesday at Queensland Performing Arts Centre. My first assignment given to me by Scenestr magazine was to go see Queensland Ballet’s Raw in 22 March, 2017 at QPAC. As we come to the end of the year such coincidences feel appropriate to me. Karen took me to see a performance from Circa with the Brandenburg Orchestra earlier this year so I knew we were in for a treat.

As we began to watch last week, I have to admit I was genuinely enthralled. I believe contemporary circus maybe one of the great art forms going at the moment and quite simply a show from Circa is the best thing to see in Brisbane at the moment. You can read more of my thoughts here http://scenestr.com.au/arts/circa-humans-brisbane-review-qpac-20171208

Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts including festivals, stand-up comics, fashion, theatre and film. I feel very fortunate to get to write for them.

Thank you for your continued support and reading, I’m not able to blog as much as I used to including reading my fellow bloggers’ posts. It’s been one hell of ride this year getting to write for publications and share it with you all. The next day an opportunity came up to interview a contemporary circus performer which I was lucky enough to get to do so it made one heck of a busy 7 days. I look forward to sharing that story with you in the near future.

–Lloyd Marken

WONDER WHEEL REVIEW AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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The latest film from Woody Allen has opened in Australian cinemas and we saw an advance screening last Monday night at New Farm Cinemas. It had been a few months since I’d been to New Farm 6 which I found charming and Karen and I didn’t miss the opportunity to trek to a nearby Pig’N’Whistle for dinner afterwards. Just up from the Valley, New Farm is choc-full of grand old buildings with history, wealthy yuppies and odd ball personalities. My work for Scenestr has made me more familiar with the suburb, in particular the Brisbane Powerhouse for which I am very grateful.

The opportunity to review a movie, any movie for a magazine is one that is heavily coveted by all contributors. I had just submitted three reviews the previous evening to cap off the Wonderland festival and was happy to be back on assignment that night.

Wonder Wheel is not one of Woody Allen’s best but it does show him continuing to try new things and features some great acting in a cast led by Kate Winslet. You can read more of my thoughts here http://scenestr.com.au/movies-and-tv/wonder-wheel-review-20171207

Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts including festivals, stand-up comics, fashion, theatre and film. I feel very fortunate to get to write for them.

-Lloyd Marken

ALEX WILLIAMSON, NATH VALVO AND HEROISM AND SIDEKICKERY REVIEWS AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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The second and final weekend of the Wonderland Festival was a rollercoaster ride of up and downs. Having seen Love/Hate Actually on Thursday night I set off to attend a concert by stand-up comedian Alex Williamson at the Old Museum before returning to Wonderland for the rest of the weekend.

I love going to see stand-ups, in fact a lot of the shows I saw at Wonderland were comedies or comedian shows. The Old Museum in Brisbane is not far from where I used to work as hospital wardsman many years ago. I’ve been there over the years when they had the French Festival there, to see my sister in law perform as a member of Queensland Wind and Brass, it is the home of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. There were no elderly volunteers serving homemade scones with tea this night though. Karen and I approached two young women at the canteen who told us no food was available but would we like a drink. No peanuts, no chips, nothing, nada. They kindly told me where the nearest eating venue was and we ended up getting some nice truffle chips before racing back to the venue.

We found a good spot with twenty minutes to go until the allotted time of 7:30pm. I whispered to Karen that the show would most likely start at 7:45pm. As time went on I began to notice most of the audience was younger than us and Karen did not approve of all the baseball caps being worn indoors. I’ve never really cared for that absurd protocol and enjoyed the lively atmosphere of people kicking back after a hard week at work ready to laugh. A few dared each other to race out and grab another drink having already finished the one they had by 7:35pm. Sure enough the show kicked off at 7:45pm and within a minute Karen had gone stone faced. I leaned in and told her I had to stay to review the show but if she wanted to leave -she could but she didn’t.

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I was faced with a conundrum, this was the first time I had really seen a show for Scenestr and not enjoyed it. I wanted to express that but I also wanted to be fair to the comedian who had allowed us to attend his show to give an honest and fair review. Alex Williamson is extremely popular, engages with his fan base, commands attention on stage and give his all. Most of his comedy for me though lacked depth and rarely made me laugh. You can read more of my thoughts here http://scenestr.com.au/comedy/alex-williamson-brisbane-review-the-old-museum-20171206 I actually believe Williamson is very talented and could mature into a comedian who makes me laugh one day.

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Which brings us to Nath Valvo, a stand-up we saw at Wonderland Festival the next night. Like the puppet Randy the week before I laughed quite a lot through Nath’s routine. Valvo’s audience was full of people of all different ages, backgrounds, etc. We all laughed together in recognition of so many truths that felt familiar to all of us. Of course the key was wit, timing, delivery, pacing not just insight. Comedy is a tricky thing to review, repeat some of the jokes and you’ll spoilt them with your delivery and lack of context, over analyse too much and anything ceases to be funny. Its hard to explain what is funny but you know it because people laugh and if it isn’t funny they don’t. To that end wasn’t Alex Williamson just as funny then. Well not to me and therein lies the rub. Given I saw them one night after the other and had such different reactions it was fascinating to compare the two but in the end that’s just coincidence. I found Nath Valvo really funny and you can read more of my thoughts here http://scenestr.com.au/comedy/nath-valvo-brisbane-review-wonderland-festival-20171204

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The next day we saw Nath again on a sunday afternoon before going to see the final show I was to attend at Wonderland – A Modern Guide to Heroism and Sidekickery. Conceived and performed by Michelle Zahner with some help from the audience it was a humble intimate piece that poked fun at comic book tropes while delivering a heartfelt message of the little ways we can be heroic in our own lives. I’m curious to see how the show could expand without spoiling what makes it so special. Zahner has such a likeable engaging stage presence that I think no matter what the piece will remain charming and smart. You can read more of my thoughts here http://scenestr.com.au/arts/the-modern-guide-to-heroism-and-sidekickery-brisbane-review-wonderland-festival-20171205

I felt really lucky to attend all the shows I got to see and review and/or review at Wonderland and hope to get more opportunities in the future.

Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts including festivals, stand-up comics, fashion, theatre and film. I feel very fortunate to get to write for them.

-Lloyd Marken

LOVE/HATE ACTUALLY REVIEW AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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My attendance at Wonderland Festival continued last Thursday evening where I was fortunate enough to attend Love/Hate Actually put on by the Act/React theatre group. The show starred two friends arguing the merits of the classic Richard Curtis film Love Actually which has become a perennial Christmas tradition. Something I couldn’t see in 2003 but completely makes sense in hindsight. It’s a film that is relatively light, moves fast, has a lot going on and a stellar cast. As long time readers may know, I’m a huge fan of Richard Curtis, the first post made on this blog was about his film About Time. So it was impressive to find that a critical dissection of the film had a wealth of good points to be made. You can read my review here http://scenestr.com.au/arts/love-hate-actually-brisbane-review-wonderland-festival-20171201

The two stars Amy and Natalie are also fixtures in the group ImproMafia whom do Improvised Comedy Sketches. I was fortunate enough to review a show of theirs’ earlier in the year lampooning Games of Thrones, called Lord of the Thrones at Metro Arts. I attended Love/Hate Actually with an old friend and afterwards we went out for chips and a drink post-show. As I relayed this information to her and how great ImproMafia was I came to notice that the group seated at a table behind her were ImproMafia. As we got up to leave the two stars of Love/Hate Actually arrived to celebrate with their friends a successful opening night.

Lord of the Thrones featured the danger and joy of live improvised performing. Love/Hate Actually was a more meticulously constructed performance that still feed off the energy of the crowd. I found it funny and whip-smart and enjoyed every second. Not for the first time did it occur to me what incredibly talented people work in the arts around my city and maybe not always with it being their primary job. I am so grateful for such people.

Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts including festivals, stand-up comics, fashion, theatre and film. I feel very fortunate to get to write for them.

-Lloyd Marken

‘RANDY WRITES A NOVEL’ AND ‘WASTELAND’ REVIEWS AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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Currently the Wonderland Festival is running at the Brisbane Powerhouse and like the Queensland Cabaret Festival earlier this year at the same venue Scenestr put the call out to their contributors to suggest some shows they would be happy to attend and review. Previously for the Queensland Cabaret Festival I was lucky enough to see Soldier’s Wife. This time around I am to attend and review five shows Randy Writes A Novel, Wasteland, Love/Hate Actually, Nath Valvo, Heroism and Sidekickery. They are not the only shows running too, check out the program here https://brisbanepowerhouse.org/festivals/wonderland-festival-2017/ if you’re a local.

On Friday night Karen and I saw Randy Writes A Novel which probably features one of the bigger names of the festival with Randy ( a purple felt puppet) doing a stand up routine that asked some big questions about narrative structure and the purpose of art. God it’s good to laugh. You can check out my review here http://scenestr.com.au/comedy/randy-writes-a-novel-brisbane-review-wonderland-festival-20171127

On Saturday while Karen worked, I went to see Wasteland with her best friend put on by Flipside Circus. Think Cirque Du Soleil but with the performers aged 9 to 16 and set in a post apocalyptic future. You can check out my review here http://scenestr.com.au/arts/wasteland-brisbane-review-wonderland-festival-20171127

I also went and saw the cabaret There’s Something About Mary(s) starring Cassie George and musical director Luke Volker on piano. I was fortunate enough to interview Cassie for Scenestr in the lead up to Wonderland and was excited to see her show. A low key affair with one piano and a singer on stage I enjoyed the show. George is a talent through and through and her repartee with Volker kept the show moving. She certainly knows how to belt out a tune and he is excellent at tickling the old ivory. I kept wanting something deeper and more insightful from the finale but the show reflects a search that is ongoing about how to be our best selves and maybe that is why I felt some lack of fulfillment because it reflects the show’s ideas. Either way I will look out for shows from them in the future, it takes guts and panache to do what she did and honey she did it well. You can check out a review of the show from another Scenestr writer here http://scenestr.com.au/arts/there-s-something-about-mary-s-brisbane-review-wonderland-festival-20171129

Wonderland runs over two weekends. I’ll be attending further shows starting Thursday. Have a great week everyone. Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts including festivals, stand-up comics, fashion, theatre and film. I feel very fortunate to get to write for them.

-Lloyd Marken

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