Culture

Josh Hartnett plays a loving dad who takes his daughter, played by Ariel Donoghue, to a concert in Trap. But he is not who he seems to be.

★★★½

Review

Josh Hartnett the perfect serial killer in M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap

The former teen idol gives a darkly funny performance as his character, the Butcher, tries to evade capture at a pop concert.

by Jake Wilson

Something for Kate’s Paul Dempsey and Powderfinger’s Bernard Fanning have merged to form Fanning Dempsey National Park.

Australian music

‘We weren’t sure what we were doing’: How Bernard Fanning and Paul Dempsey found their sound

by Michael Dwyer

Melbourne live reviews

Once again Bell Shakespeare’s King Lear isn’t quite right

by Cameron Woodhead, Andrew Fuhrmann and Jessica Nicholas

Alexis Wright says we need works of scale to really think about issues.

Literature prizes

Alexis Wright makes history with Miles Franklin, Stella wins in same year

by Jason Steger

Streaming

Taika Waititi’s Time Bandits is a rare remake that gets it right

by Craig Mathieson

Movies

★★★½

Review

Josh Hartnett the perfect serial killer in M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap

The former teen idol gives a darkly funny performance as his character, the Butcher, tries to evade capture at a pop concert.

by Jake Wilson

Robert De Niro and Bobby Cannavale in a scene from Ezra.

★★★½

Review

De Niro plays yet another grumpy old man – but this time it works

Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale play the parents of a nine-year-old with autism in this engaging drama.

by Sandra Hall

Russell Crowe plays a retired detective suffering from Alzheimer’s in the thriller Sleeping Dogs.

★★★★

Review

Russell Crowe has never allowed vanity to dictate his career – and that’s why he’s great

by Sandra Hall

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Analysis

Film & TV production

Could Deadpool & Wolverine have hit No.1 without an underage audience?

by Michael Idato

Ryan Gosling as Ken and Margot Robbie as Barbie.

Cinema

Barbie was supposed to be a game changer. What happened?

by Nicole Sperling

TV & radio

TV Guide

Streaming

The best new shows to stream in August

Our guide to the best of what’s on the streamers and free-to-air in Australia this month.

by Craig Mathieson

Opinion

Pop culture

There’s a place where I’m still 22, and a show to take me there

Watching Girls, listening to Lou Reed and smelling Flowerbomb, I’m transported back in time.

by Genevieve Novak

Happy “bird nerd” Dr Ann Jones with a wedged-tail eagle in The Secret Life of Urban Birds: Perth.

Australian TV

From promiscuous fairy wrens to troublesome lorikeets, this bird nerd has seen it all

by Bridget McManus

Review

Murder, misinformation and frenzies: the dark side of TikTok

by Kylie Northover

Richard Rankin as John Rebus in the new BBC adaptation.

Streaming

Ian Rankin’s detective Rebus is back - and he’s badder than ever

by Jake Kerridge

Starring Tom Blyth, brand new episodes of Billy The Kid are now streaming, only on Stan.

Every pleasure has a price. The brand new Stan Original Series Hotel Cocaine is now streaming.

Music

Pop music

‘I felt alive again’: How a brother’s death restored Matt Johnson’s mojo

by Barry Divola

Australian music

‘We weren’t sure what we were doing’: How Bernard Fanning and Paul Dempsey found their sound

by Michael Dwyer

Martin Phillipps was regarded as one of New Zealand’s finest songwriters.

Pop music

‘A true original’: Music industry mourns ‘Dunedin sound’ pioneer

by Hamish McNeilly

Billy Joel’s last show at Madison Square Garden.

Performing arts

Billy Joel says goodbye to New York after 104 shows over 10 years

by Caryn Ganz

British Blues pioneer John Mayall performs with this band the Bluesbreakers at the Deutsche Museum in Munich in1970.

Opinion

Performing arts

The supreme influencer: A bluesman who shaped rock legends

by Warwick McFadyen

Pop culture

Musician, model, producer: what the world needs now is Eartheater

by Sarah-Jane Collins

Live reviews

Melbourne live reviews

Once again Bell Shakespeare’s King Lear isn’t quite right

by Cameron Woodhead, Andrew Fuhrmann and Jessica Nicholas

Girl in Red performs at Margaret Court Arena on July 17, 2024.

Melbourne live reviews

Charming, awkward: This pop star’s joy is infectious

by Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen, Cameron Woodhead, Tony Way and Sonia Nair

Ryan Gonzalez is a hugely engaging, welcoming and convincing portal into the show.

★★★½

Sydney live reviews

Love Hamilton? Then you should see this as well

by James Jennings, Frances Howe and John Shand

Celebrity

Paris 2024

Mission Olympics: Tom Cruise set to star in closing ceremony

by Helen Pitt

The best Olympians to follow on TikTok during the 2024 games.

Paris 2024

The Olympians using TikTok to highlight the secrets of the village

by Meg Watson

Snoop Dogg cheers during the gymnastics on day two at Bercy Arena.

Olympics

The glamour games: Celebrities take over the Paris Olympics

by Gemma Grant

Stage

Interview

He used to steal food. A night at the theatre changed everything

by John Bailey

Daniel MacPherson in a scene from The Woman in Black.

★★★★

Review

You’ll jump and you’ll gasp at this old-school ghost story

by John Shand, Harriet Cunningham, Peter McCallum and James Jennings

Beau Woodbridge, the son of tennis star Todd Woodbridge, has landed the lead role in Sydney Theatre Company’s production of the musical Dear Evan Hansen.

Stage shows

Todd Woodbridge’s son didn’t follow dad’s footsteps. He walked into a lead role instead

by Louise Rugendyke

They shoot surfers, don’t they? Today I Feel A Soft Breeze is a 24-hour dance piece for two dancers to be performed on Evandale Lake, Surfers Paradise.

Gold Coast

Lizzie and Ryuichi will dance continuously on a lake for 24 hours

by Nick Dent

Art & design

Self-portrait Serial Copycat by Dennis McCart has won $10,000 in the Brisbane Portrait Prize.

Exhibitions

Artwork using AI wins $10,000 in the Brisbane Portrait Prize

2 hours ago
by Nick Dent

Outer coffin of Panesy, 22nd Dynasty, about 943–746 BCE at the National Museum of Australia, Discovering Ancient Egypt.

Visual art

It’s a great year for ancient Egypt - but mummies make museums nervous

2 hours ago
by John McDonald

Ella Lee Fowler won the 5-8 age group at the Young Archie for a portrait of her best friend.

Visual art

Fish, family and friends: Young Archie winners on show

Sophie Cape, in the pose of The Dying Gladiator collecting salt.

Visual art

The best way to understand Australian landscape art? Go feral in the remote wild

by John McDonald

Books

Hayley Scrivenor has written a worthy follow-up to the best-selling, prize-winning Dirt Town.

Review

Friends in need. But is it a friend who commits the deadly deed?

by Sue Turnbull

The memoir by Paul Ehrlich, seen here during a visit to Australia in 2013, is a rambling collection of memories, anecdote and thumbnail character sketches.

Review

A controversial scientist considers his many rights and wrongs

by Pat Sheil

Sarah Brooks takes great pleasure in blurring the boundaries between human and animal/

Review

These characters could have sprung from a steampunk Agatha Christie

by Flynn Benson

Lauren Elkin builds an elegant house of female desire.

Review

Building scaffolds of desire with sensuous female characters

by Molly Murn

The Age

★★★½

★★★½

★★★½

★★★★

Analysis

Opinion

Opinion

★★★½

★★★★