A ROYAL NIGHT OUT
On the eve of VE Day, 1945, a ditzy Princess Margaret (Bel Powley) is breathlessly reading from a gossip mag to her sister Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon). Gregory Peck, she swoons, has been spotted at a swank West End nightclub. This early, quite proper reference is to William Wyler’s sublime Roman Holiday (1953), in which a Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) changes into mufti for a boozy night in Rome and meets up with a handsome American journo (Peck). Julian Jarrold’s film is nowhere near as good as Wyler’s classic, but it is enjoyable, in a childish way, and soft-centred enough to make you forget about what you have to pay for a choc-top these days. As a Republican who is dismayed by the grovelling notion that a member of the family of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha should be our unelected head of state, I went along with my finger on the ‘exterminate’ button. I’d had it up to here with the excesses of Anzac Day and the bed-wetting
THEATRE OF LIFE
Husband-and-wife team Adrian Brett and Philippa Williams of Theatre Of Life, joined by Frauke Huhn of Cicade, are running six new courses at The Ocean Shores Community Centre starting at the beginning of term three on 15 July. There are sessions and groups for under-fives, disabled adults, children (after-school and holiday classes), teens and adults. The Ocean Shores Youth Theatre, which they will run on a Thursday evening, will be a much-needed forum for young people in the Ocean Shores area to meet up and get creative. The first production is planned for January 2016. They are also offering Trinity College exam coaching in speech and drama. No experience is necessary and there is an earlybird discount of 10 per cent for all bookings made before 15 June.
cluckiness over Kate’s new kid, so I was pleasantly surprised – and relieved – by what is basically the cinematic equivalent of tea and scones. It’s the sort of project that costume and makeup people, set designers and location scouts drool over and, to be honest, it is they who are responsible for making things interesting. Margaret, just a girl at the time, is presented as a complete air-head, the Kray-type brothel owner has a heart of gold but I couldn’t figure out why, in a city of drunken servicemen, the military police were only concerned with finding Jack (Jack Reynor), the Peck character who hit it off with Liz. Rupert Everett is fabulous as old King George VI and Gadon puts in a winning performance as the goody-two-shoes older sister who stays sober and yes, comes to truly love the common people… aren’t we lucky? She even looks a bit like the young Helen Mirren, but there is no Bocca della Verità scene to seal the deal.
All bookings and enquiries to Philippa on 0422 882 319, or see the website at www.theatre-of-life or oceanshorescommunitycentre.org.
YOUNG PEOPLE TACKLE DRUGS
Byron Youth Theatre presents Altered States, shining the light on illicit drug use (alcohol, cannabis and ice). This thoughtprovoking and emotive work can be seen at the Drill Hall on Sunday from 6pm.
GOING DEEP FOR LOVE
How Deep is Your Love is a monologue written and performed by Mark Swival. The one-man show is a wonderful ride through Bangladesh, with the Bee Gees on the car stereo, and a dreamer at the wheel trying to fit the world in his head. It’s a great show for anyone interested in the big bad world, international development, or if you just like good stories and a laugh. At the Drill Hall 29, 30, 31 May.
North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
I SCREAM FOR CROWDFUNDING
As part of Screenworks’ upcoming Steps to Successful Crowdfunding seminar, two local film projects will have the opportunity to leap ahead towards getting the money they need in order for their film to be made. The one-day seminar will be held in Byron Bay on Friday 29 May with crowdfunding genius Thomas Mai. Thomas, who has run more than 17 crowdfunding campaigns (of which 13 were successful), will use two local projects as case studies while he demonstrates how to put in place an effective crowdfunding campaign. Screenworks’ Steps to Successful Crowdfunding is being held at the Byron Regional Sports and Cultural Complex on Friday 29 May, 9.30am–4pm. Tickets $80 / $35 Screenworks. For more information visit screenworks. com.au or call 6687 1599.
WHILE WE’RE YOUNG
A movie about ideas… now there’s a challenge. Josh (Ben Stiller) is a forties-something documentary maker. After an early success, he has been stuck for ten years on his second feature, with the end not in sight. Jamie (Adam Driver) is a bright young hipster, on top of everything in our digital, selfie-centric culture. When Josh meets Jamie he is energised by the younger man’s ‘just do it’ approach and the pair strike up an unlikely camaraderie. What Josh is slow to grasp is that their relationship is one of protagonist and antagonist, for Josh is committed to his old-school belief in artistic authenticity while, as a player on the new stage, Jamie is a child of his pragmatic time. In Noah Baumbach’s previous film, the dancer Frances Ha was similarly out of step with the cut and thrust happening around her, but whereas she was able to draw on an inner detachment to cope with it, Josh becomes agitated at his inability to adapt, and worse – he envies Jamie’s youthfulness. Baumbach’s witty and at times touching screenplay, though scathing in its contempt
for the falseness of so much contemporary media (he is the same age as Josh), has the good grace to not become a diatribe thanks to his reluctant concession that ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’. Stiller, carrying on from where he left off as Walter Mitty, has always had a knack for tapping that essence of the little guy who tries so hard. He finds a perfect partner in Naomi Watts as his wife Cornelia, who is supportive without being obeisant. But her sad history of miscarriages and the couple’s sometime-desire to have a child feels like an afterthought that Baumbach has had to give Cornelia a more significant role, especially as Jamie’s Darby (Amanda Seyfried) is little more than a pretty face and an example of a type that falls under the spell of a conniving egomaniac. If Max is not your go, this is a refreshing alternative.
WEDNESDAY
20 MAY to
WEDNESDAY
27 MAY
RAW AND SENSORY
This Friday RAW presents Sensory, bringing together 30 local emerging artists spanning fashion, music, visual and performing arts, music and more for a one-night extravaganza at the The Byron Bay Brewery. Tickets at the venue.
OPENS THURSDAY
SAT & MON ONLY
NOW SHOWING
NOW SHOWING
SUN & WED ONLY
NOW SHOWING
LAUGH IT UP!
After six weeks of touring her bag of comedy tricks up and down the east coast with the tour of her latest book Home Truths, including three sellout shows at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, Mandy Nolan is back doing what she does best – performing her regular comedic download as MC of the edgy and uber-popular Bellylaugh Comedy at the Byron Brewery. With new and upcoming comics travelling from as far away as Brisbane for the honour of five minutes with the Byron crowd, this is one fabulous night of financially and spiritually FREE comedy! Thursday at 8pm at the Byron Brewery! New and visiting comics welcome.
NT LIVE: THE HARD PROBLEM (CTC) (NO FREE TIX) Sat 1.00pm Mon 12.30pm
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (M) Wed 20 9.20, 1.40, 9.00pm Thu/Fri/Tue 11.00am Mon 9.40am
ROYAL OPERA: RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY (CTC) (NO FREE TIX) Sun 1.00pm Wed 27 11.00am
WHILE WE’RE YOUNG (M) (NO FREE TIX) Wed 20 11.30, 4.30, 9.10pm Thu-Fri/Mon-Tue 12.05, 4.50pm Sat 2.30, 5.20pm Sun/Wed 27 11.45am, 4.50pm
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (MA15+) (NO FREE TIX) Wed 20 1.50, 4.20, 6.50, 9.20 Thu-Fri/Sun/Tue-Wed 27 1.50, 4.20, 6.50, 9.20 Sat 11.30, 4.20, 7.20, 9.00 Mon 2.00, 4.30, 6.50, 9.20pm WOMAN IN GOLD (M) (NO FREE TIX) Thu/Fri/Tue 10.00, 2.10, 6.45, 9.00 Sat 10.45, 2.00, 6.45, 9.10pm Sun 10.00, 4.30, 6.50, 9.05 Mon 9.20, 2.10, 6.45, 9.00 Wed 27 9.50, 4.30, 6.45, 9.00pm THE AGE OF ADALINE (M) Wed 20 9.25am Enjoy our licensed bar
Lavazza Espresso Coffee
A ROYAL NIGHT OUT (M) (NO FREE TIX) Wed 20 9.20, 11.45, 2.30, 7.00 Thu/Fri/Tue 10.00, 2.40, 7.00pm Sat 10.00, 3.20, 7.00 Sun 9.40, 12.20, 7.00pm Mon 10.00, 2.50, 7.00 Wed 27 9.40, 2.30, 7.00pm PITCH PERFECT 2 (M) Wed 20 12.10, 4.40, 6.40 Thu/Fri/Tue 12.20, 4.25, 9.10 Sat 12.05, 4.40, 9.45 Sun 10.40, 2.30, 9.10 Mon 11.35, 4.25, 9.10pm Wed 27 12.10, 2.30, 9.10pm Gift cards are the perfect gift
Group Bookings available
108-110 Jonson Street, Byron Bay 6680 8555 | www.palacecinemas.com.au
The Byron Shire Echo May 20, 2015 27