Wicket behaviour

Book | The Character Gap |Christian Miller

Review by Nick Mattiske

The ball tampering cricket scandal has put moral character in the headlines again. While disciplinary action has been taken, deeper questions remain about why it happened – why on Earth the players thought they could get away with it and what sort of culture has allowed the cricketers ...

Test of faith

Review by TIM LAM

FILM | PAUL, APOSTLE OF CHRIST | M

Paul is one of the most significant figures in Christian history, so it is surprising there has yet to be a major Hollywood production about his life.

Paul, Apostle of Christ details the final days of Paul (James Faulkner, Game of Thrones) as ...

There’s something about Mary

Review by TIM LAM

FILM | MARY MAGDALENE | M

Mary Magdalene is arguably one of the most enigmatic characters in the Gospels. She has taken on numerous roles in the popular imagination: a penitent prostitute, the first to witness the resurrected Christ, even the wife of Jesus according to Dan Brown.

The new Mary Magdalene film from Garth ...

Burrowed time

Review by DAVID SOUTHWELL

FILM | PETER RABBIT | PG

Undoubtedly for many parents and grandparents considering holiday movie entertainment/time-out the most important metric is how long a film will keep the kids quiet and in their seats.

Peter Rabbit kept my three-year-old and four-year-old hushed for the first half hour and mostly ...

Asking the big questions

Review by Nick Mattiske

Book | A Little History of Religion | Richard Holloway

The ‘Little History’ series is aimed at a younger audience or those wanting a layperson’s introduction to a subject. In this title, Richard Holloway, a one-time bishop who is something of a sceptic, aims to foster critical thinking about religion rather ...

Lessons of history unlearnt

Film | Detroit | MA

Review by TIM LAM

Watching Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit is an uncomfortable experience.

Based on the 1967 Algiers Motel incident, Detroit is a harrowing recreation of institutional racism, injustice and police brutality.

Following reports of a gunshot near the Algiers Motel, a group of rogue cops enter the building and embark on a violent ...

New York stories

Review by ROS MARSDEN

Social media | HONY | Brandon Stanton

One week’s notice, one night only and Brandon Stanton hit Melbourne last month to a full house.

“Who is Brandon Stanton?” I hear you ask.

For anyone interested in new ways of telling a story, Brandon’s tale of starting Humans of ...

Making miracles

Review by NICK MATTISKE

Book | Miracles: A Very Short Introduction | Yujin Nagasawa

You may know a miracle when you see one, but they are not so easy to define. Or so it seems from this book in Oxford’s A Very Short Introduction series.

For a small book, philosopher Yujin Nagasawa spends a ...

Not quite down the tubes

Review by DAVID SOUTHWELL

Book | Darkest Hour | PG

Darkest Hour appears predestined to deliver a gold Oscar to leading man Gary Oldman. But for audiences the reward is a gripping and rousing portrayal of a pivotal moment in modern history, even if the film’s pivotal moment is potentially polarising.

Oldman, largely unrecognisable ...

Rebel yell

Review by NICK MATTISKE

Book | Rebel in the Ranks | Brad Gregory

The Reformation is sometimes spoken of as creating the proliferation of churches we see today. It can also been seen as concerning dogmatic nit-picking over religious matters that have little relevance for the majority of society outside the churches.

But for ...

Wishing well

Review by DAVID SOUTHWELL

Movie | The Shape of Water | MA15+

The Shape of Water is, like its male romantic lead, something of an oddity.

Directed and co-written by Guillermo del Toro, it defies easy taxonomy into genre.

The film might be considered a love story where boy meets girl – if ...

God at work

Book | At Work with John’s Gospel | John Bottomley

Review by Tim Lam

In At Work with John’s Gospel, Rev John Bottomley has compiled five bible studies that explore the way God impacts our daily work.

Bottomley is a member of the Creative Ministers Network congregation, which gather bi-monthly in members’ homes or at weekend retreats and ...