STARS
BY LILITH
NEPTUNE’S ANNUAL FOUR-MONTH RETROGRADE DIRECTS THIS WEEK’S ENERGIES INWARDS TO BIGGER QUESTIONS, DEEPER DREAMS…
ARIES: The downside of retro Neptune can sometimes be a sudden, unaccustomed plummet in confidence, a doubting of abilities – scary for Aries. In which case it’s important to just relax into this cyclic season of spiritual self-development by asking yourself the necessary questions. Accepting inconvenient truths. Applying the insights provided. TAURUS: While Neptune retrograde’s slow-mo pace suits the Tauran psyche, remember that diving into your inner world to intuitively consider obligations, opportunities, relationships and responsibilities also needs the physical balance of getting outside for fresh air and exercise. Note to self: If this week’s decision making gets confusing, trust your gut. GEMINI: If old die-hard habits are going to make a bid for reasserting their grip, it’s during a retrograde Neptune transit. But even if you slip off the wagon, get back up and remake those promises to yourself. Stay away from situations of temptation, stick with reliable routines and supportive people. CANCER: A reflective week, but don’t get so caught up in your own emotional dynamic that you neglect friends: you’re going to need them, so make the effort to reach out. As the coming weeks reacquaint you with some ancient aspirations and lapsed ambitions, reality checks from trusted others are invaluable. LEO: If this week brings a dip in self-esteem, take a deep breath and remember who you are. Disillusion with some old behaviours is inevitable, so don’t get upset if attractions fade or friendships reach their use-by date. Everything in the current cosmic curriculum recommends (a) selfscrutiny and (b) treading very, very carefully. VIRGO: Retrograding Neptune can sometimes evoke a nagging focus on what’s lacking. You like fixing things, so use this time to rectify and correct, but only where you’re concerned – not anyone else, because that’s their business. This too shall pass, and till it does be grateful for everything life provides, in all its messy glory.
LIBRA: As planetary backspin heightens emotions and increases sensitivity, some partnerships deepen, other connections sever. With Venus in the sign of creativity, this week operates less on logic and reason, more in the right-brained universe of art and imagination – and isn’t combining artistic with realistic totally your Libran thing? SCORPIO: You’re superalert to picking up on undercurrents, mixed messages and the swinging pendulum of personal agendas in this week’s changing workplace dynamics. You can’t help but sleuth for the truth, whatever that means for you, but don’t lapse into old habit patterns: it’s your time to rise up and shine. SAGITTARIUS: A quartet of planetary retrogrades could put everyone behind schedule this week, so why not take it easy, scale back plans to what’s manageable and let others in a hurry go first. Because to paraphrase the Dalai Lama, not getting what you thought you wanted can often be a blessing in disguise. CAPRICORN: Neptune retro getting everyone in touch with their inner deities and demons can be an exasperating time for outer-world action. If this week’s changing moods, minds and arrangements deliver plans that weren’t on your list, make that your wakeup call to reunite with some of your own personal goals currently on hold. AQUARIUS: During retrograde transits past events do come up for review, but realisations gained may be FYI only so best not remind others of the crimes of yesteryear. If something doesn’t feel right, graciously decline while you think it through. While admittedly not always easy, communication’s the key to this week’s breakthroughs. PISCES: Neptune retrograding in your sign isn’t without complications like low energy, mood swings, indecision, and feeling the burden of the world on your shoulders. But stay focused on one small step at a time. If your clarity or purpose falters, readjust it and ride those rollercoaster tides like the seasoned sailor you are.
36 June 20, 2018 The Byron Shire Echo
CINEMA REVIEWS HEREDITARY
First of all, you need to have a smart location scout. For a psychological, brain-breaking flick that dives into horror and the occult, it is essential that the mise en scène is just right. The big house in the woods – lots of timber and stairs, shadowy hallways and an attic – surrounded by silver birches is perfect. Somewhere in the isolated northwest of the US (it was shot in Utah), Annie’s mother has died, but Annie (Toni Collette) does not know how to react to her loss. Mom, it seems, was something of a dragon, and before too long her legacy begins to manifest itself in the peculiar behaviour of Annie’s little girl Charlie (Milly Shapiro), who has messed-up hair and an unpleasant face. It depends on your taste, but for mine, the first half of this film is the more compelling, for you are never quite sure if you are watching something that will stay with the close tracking of a woman who is collapsing psychologically under the strain of loss and self-hatred, or evolve into bizarro nightmare-world. Collette’s supreme ability to shift into emotional overdrive without losing credibility fits the part well, but the character of her husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne) is less defined. Throughout he is little more than a passive, uninvolved observer. Annie’s high-school son Peter (Alex Wolff ) is collateral damage from the
ENTERTAINMENT BY JOHN CAMPBELL
crisis that grips the family before a weird séance medium enters the scene. Much depends on your acceptance of what might be passed on from one generation to the next – whether it be eyecolour or satanic tendencies – and whether or not there is such a thing as an ‘afterlife’. It has been compared favourably with The Exorcist, but that movie really did shock, because it broke new ground that had not been ventured into in mainstream cinema, whereas director Ari Aster almost shoots himself in the foot with an ending that is just plain silly. But in a cartoon age, what would you expect?
DISOBEDIENCE It’s heartening to see that there is still a place in cinema for the slow-burn, despite the mob’s expectation of a thrill every five minutes. A relief, too, to know that a subject that was once taboo – lesbian love – can be treated with compassion and insight, as it has been here by Chilean director Sebastián Lelio. Ronit (Rachel Weisz) returns to London from New York following the death of her father, the prominent rabbi in a neighbourhood of Orthodox Jews. We learn immediately that it was Ronit’s intimate connection with Esti (Rachel McAdams) that led to her estrangement from the community. Upon her arrival, she discovers that Esti is now married to Dovid (Alessandro Nivola), who is deemed to be the natural successor to take on the role left by Ronit’s father. In a wintery London, the two women are again drawn to each other, but Esti is hamstrung by her obligations as Dovid’s wife – I never knew that strictly Orthodox Jews have sex on the Sabbath, or that their women wear wigs when in
public (despite my countless trips up and down Bondi Road). Otherwise cowed by custom, Esti is encouraged to follow her natural instincts by the unapologetic Ronit, whose relationship with those she has left behind ranges from tense to downright abrasive. Caught in the middle is Dovid, who is bewildered by the prospect of everything that he so devoutly believes in might crumble to dust. The drama is sustained by beautiful performances from the three leads – I expected as much from McAdams and Weisz, but Nivola, for his subtlety and depth of feeling, was a revelation. And not shirking the issue at hand, neither actress is a shrinking violet in an extended sex scene that is wildly erotic without being in the least pornographic. We are all, to a greater or lesser degree, Girls Night Out Preview constricted by the manners Screening - Wednesday 18th July - 6.30pm arrival for a and mores of the society in 7pm screening. All Tickets $25. Pre-Show snacks and which we move. Self-liberation Complementary Glass of usually comes at a cost to Champagne on arrival served by Wicked Waiters. others, but it is all we can hope for. A wonderful movie.
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