Star struck: Are we becoming too hooked on online reviews?
After bingeing the last two episodes of The Pitt and The Last of Us finale on Monday night, I decided to give my adrenal system one final shake by watching the trailer for the new season of The Bear.
Somehow I'd managed to forget the season three cliffhanger. The episode ends with Carmy receiving a Google notification. The review of his new restaurant is in, and based on the snippets of text showing words like 'brilliant', 'sloppy', 'excellent', 'confusing' and 'disappointing', it's not all good.
How much attention do you pay to reviews?
I read reviews. Not religiously, but certainly when I'm visiting a different city or trying a new venue. I want a sense of where I should go or stay, and an even greater sense of where I should avoid.
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When I recently found myself (rather insanely) questioning a 4.8-star review, I realised this compulsion to be guided by the opinion of others had gotten out of hand. The amount of choice and information we have access to is a luxury, one that many frenetic review readers probably take for granted.
Spare a thought for the business owner who's just been savaged by a one-star review and watched their Google rating drop because a dish didn't agree with one guy's palate.
Sarah Baldwin, the chef-owner of Fortitude Valley fine-dining restaurant Joy, understands the delicate nature of modern review culture – and the pitfalls of public feedback.
In the six years since opening her 10-seat restaurant in Bakery Lane, she says negative reviews have been infrequent. But even one can sting.
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Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The 18 TV shows we can't wait to see this year
It's been a busy first half of the television year, as demonstrated by the interim best-of list we recently put together. But as much as the likes of Adolescence, The Pitt and Andor delivered, you can make the case that the second half of 2025 has an even more promising roster. Here's a headline sample of the scripted shows still to come, from exciting debuts to highly anticipated return seasons. Romantic comedy New Too Much: Girls creator Lena Dunham is back, crafting this transatlantic romcom with her husband, British musician Luis Felber. The set-up has autobiographical leanings, with a New Yorker, Jessica (Megan Stalter, Hacks), moving to London, where she makes a connection with Felix (Will Sharpe, The White Lotus). Gotta love Richard E. Grant in the supporting cast. Netflix, July 11. Returning Nobody Wants This (season two): As Netflix's data team can tell you, nearly everybody wants more of Erin Foster's savvy show about a take-no-prisoners Los Angeles podcaster, Joanne (Kristen Bell), who finds a genuine connection, and much entanglement, when she begins dating a newly single rabbi, Noah (Adam Brody). The show's first season profited off a prickly, unconventional take on romcom conventions. Hopefully the new episodes double down on that. Netflix, October 24. Spin-off New Outlander: Blood of My Blood: As the romantic period epic Outlander prepares for its eighth and final season, this dual-timeline prequel focuses on the origins of its time-crossed lovers, Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall. The narrative will alternate between the meetings of his parents in 18th-century Scotland, and her parents in World War I-era England. Expect the show's trademark features: passionate longing, testing endurance and strong, shirtless men. Stan*, August 9. Returning Wednesday (season two): Star Jenna Ortega had to come to terms with the success of this 2022 supernatural mystery, in which she made the delightfully macabre Wednesday Addams iconic for a new generation, but she's finally ready to rejoin the outcasts of Nevermore Academy. Wednesday's magical mystery tour of romantic intrigue and spectral conspiracy gets a jolt with the addition of Lady Gaga as a legendary teacher. Netflix, August 9 (part one) and September 4 (part two). Action-thriller New Task: Mare of Easttown creator Brad Ingelsby keeps the setting in Pennsylvania for this intense limited series about a pair of battered family men and committed professionals – Mark Ruffalo's FBI agent and Tom Pelphrey's armed robber – who are on a collision course when the former hunts the latter. Ingelsby is a sure hand with complex characters, illustrating them in striking ways. This should be gripping. Max, TBC September. Returning The Terminal List: Dark Wolf: Chris Pratt's former US Navy SEAL, James Reece, left a long and bloody – so, so bloody – line of bodies in his quest for vengeance in the first season of this muscular drama. This prequel explores how serving in the US Army and then the CIA made Reece and his comrade Ben Edwards (Taylor Kitsch) into the show's uncompromising veterans. Amazon Prime Video, August 27. Comedy-Drama New Hal & Harper: Hal (writer-director Cooper Raiff) and Harper (Lili Reinhart) are co-dependent twenty-something siblings whose lives are going nowhere fast. Their imperfect father (Mark Ruffalo) may have something to do with that. Figuring out what to do next makes for a bittersweet comedy with an idiosyncratic outlook – in flashbacks to the brother and sister's childhood, the adult actors play their primary-school-age characters. Stan, June 26. Returning The Bear (season four): Gotta say, there's a lot of hugging in the trailer for the new instalment of this acclaimed kitchen drama about a barely-holding-it-together chef (Jeremy Allen White) trying to launch a fine-dining restaurant in Chicago. The new season looks as if it's setting up some resolution amid the emotional exchanges, something that was in short supply for the third season. Disney+, June 26. Horror New It: Welcome to Derry: HBO's gambit of blockbuster spin-offs – see Dune: Prophecy and The Penguin – continues with this horror prequel to the hit movies adapted from Stephen King's bestseller. The setting is once again the cursed Maine town of Derry, albeit in 1962, but evil never rests and the nightmarish Pennywise the Clown (Bill Skarsgard) will torment a new cast. The movies' director, Andy Muschietti, helms multiple episodes. Max, TBC. Returning Stranger Things (season five): It's setting up to be the streaming event of the year. With some episodes reportedly each as long as a feature film, the conclusion of the Duffer brothers' heroic mix of pop-culture nostalgia, adolescent science-fiction and wide-eyed horror will release as a three-part epic. The young stars are all adults now – this series debuted in 2016 – but its interdimensional monsters are timeless. Netflix, November 27 (part one); December 26 (part two); and January 1 (finale). Animated New Long Story Short: One of Netflix's earliest and greatest triumphs was the tragicomic adult animation BoJack Horseman, which concluded in 2020 after six illuminating seasons. Now its creator, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, and designer, Lisa Hanawalt, have reunited for this family saga, which follows a group of siblings from childhood through adulthood. The voice cast includes Paul Reiser (Mad About You) and Abbi Jacobson (Broad City). Netflix, August 23. Returning King of the Hill (season 14): This is quite the comeback. Mike Judge's animated sitcom about an everyday Texan family last aired in 2009. The plot has propane salesman Hank Hill and wife Peggy returning to Texas after years working abroad, while their son Bobby is now a twenty-something chef. The show had fun with a traditional man in a changing world, but as a setting America has changed wildly. Revisiting Hank's conspiracy-theorist friend Dale looms as a challenge. Disney+, August 4. Science-fiction New Smilla's Sense of Snow: Danish author Peter Hoeg's 1992 mystery novel Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow was a literary hit and Scandi-noir precursor. There was a Hollywood film in 1997 but it's been reimagined here, set in a politically fraught near-future. Filippa Coster-Waldau (daughter of Game of Thrones star Nikolaj) plays the title role, a young woman unofficially investigating the suspicious death of a neighbouring Greenlandic boy. SBS, TBC Returning Foundation (season three): This galactic epic launched with the goal of turning Isaac Asimov's seminal Foundation stories into eight seasons that covered 1000 years of complex history. With Jared Harris as renegade scientist Hari Seldon, and Lee Pace as an emperor losing his grip on power, it's actually getting there. This season introduces a crucial book character, mutant usurper the Mule (Pilou Asbæk), which will up the conflict. Apple TV+, July 11. Australian New Dear Life: The creative team of Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope add to an already impressive CV – The Librarians, Little Lunch, Upper Middle Bogan – with this heartfelt series about grief and understanding. Brooke Satchwell plays a woman who lost the love of her life, sending her on a journey to track down the recipients of the organ donations, which sets off a chain of unexpected new connections. Stan, TBC Returning Austin (season two): Last year's debut of this Australian-British comedy proved to be a warm, witty hit, exploring the difficulty of change through the first-time meeting of a floundering British author, Julian (Ben Miller), and his adult, Australian, autistic son, Austin (Michael Theo). The show succeeded as gentle farce and representation for the neurodiverse. In the new season Austin faces the temptation of unexpected success. ABC, TBC. Dystopian New Alien: Earth: Creator Noah Hawley, whose previous successes include building the Fargo anthology off the Coen brothers' film, delves into the Alien franchise with this horror-primed prequel set two years before 1979's original movie. The story brings the terrifying xenomorph creature to Earth after a space vessel crash-lands, with only a unique young woman and a squad of misfit soldiers on hand to confront it. Disney+, August 13. Returning Squid Game (season three): Filmed back-to-back with season two, the third instalment of this South Korean blockbuster will conclude the warped survival tale of Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) as he attempts to bring down the macabre life-and-death games being run by a cynical syndicate. The show has made economic inequality and murderous giant dolls equally memorable, and you would expect creator Hwang Dong-hyuk to hold his nerve. Netflix, July 27.
The Age
a day ago
- The Age
The 18 TV shows we can't wait to see this year
It's been a busy first half of the television year, as demonstrated by the interim best-of list we recently put together. But as much as the likes of Adolescence, The Pitt and Andor delivered, you can make the case that the second half of 2025 has an even more promising roster. Here's a headline sample of the scripted shows still to come, from exciting debuts to highly anticipated return seasons. Romantic comedy New Too Much: Girls creator Lena Dunham is back, crafting this transatlantic romcom with her husband, British musician Luis Felber. The set-up has autobiographical leanings, with a New Yorker, Jessica (Megan Stalter, Hacks), moving to London, where she makes a connection with Felix (Will Sharpe, The White Lotus). Gotta love Richard E. Grant in the supporting cast. Netflix, July 11. Returning Nobody Wants This (season two): As Netflix's data team can tell you, nearly everybody wants more of Erin Foster's savvy show about a take-no-prisoners Los Angeles podcaster, Joanne (Kristen Bell), who finds a genuine connection, and much entanglement, when she begins dating a newly single rabbi, Noah (Adam Brody). The show's first season profited off a prickly, unconventional take on romcom conventions. Hopefully the new episodes double down on that. Netflix, October 24. Spin-off New Outlander: Blood of My Blood: As the romantic period epic Outlander prepares for its eighth and final season, this dual-timeline prequel focuses on the origins of its time-crossed lovers, Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall. The narrative will alternate between the meetings of his parents in 18th-century Scotland, and her parents in World War I-era England. Expect the show's trademark features: passionate longing, testing endurance and strong, shirtless men. Stan*, August 9. Returning Wednesday (season two): Star Jenna Ortega had to come to terms with the success of this 2022 supernatural mystery, in which she made the delightfully macabre Wednesday Addams iconic for a new generation, but she's finally ready to rejoin the outcasts of Nevermore Academy. Wednesday's magical mystery tour of romantic intrigue and spectral conspiracy gets a jolt with the addition of Lady Gaga as a legendary teacher. Netflix, August 9 (part one) and September 4 (part two). Action-thriller New Task: Mare of Easttown creator Brad Ingelsby keeps the setting in Pennsylvania for this intense limited series about a pair of battered family men and committed professionals – Mark Ruffalo's FBI agent and Tom Pelphrey's armed robber – who are on a collision course when the former hunts the latter. Ingelsby is a sure hand with complex characters, illustrating them in striking ways. This should be gripping. Max, TBC September. Returning The Terminal List: Dark Wolf: Chris Pratt's former US Navy SEAL, James Reece, left a long and bloody – so, so bloody – line of bodies in his quest for vengeance in the first season of this muscular drama. This prequel explores how serving in the US Army and then the CIA made Reece and his comrade Ben Edwards (Taylor Kitsch) into the show's uncompromising veterans. Amazon Prime Video, August 27. Comedy-Drama New Hal & Harper: Hal (writer-director Cooper Raiff) and Harper (Lili Reinhart) are co-dependent twenty-something siblings whose lives are going nowhere fast. Their imperfect father (Mark Ruffalo) may have something to do with that. Figuring out what to do next makes for a bittersweet comedy with an idiosyncratic outlook – in flashbacks to the brother and sister's childhood, the adult actors play their primary-school-age characters. Stan, June 26. Returning The Bear (season four): Gotta say, there's a lot of hugging in the trailer for the new instalment of this acclaimed kitchen drama about a barely-holding-it-together chef (Jeremy Allen White) trying to launch a fine-dining restaurant in Chicago. The new season looks as if it's setting up some resolution amid the emotional exchanges, something that was in short supply for the third season. Disney+, June 26. Horror New It: Welcome to Derry: HBO's gambit of blockbuster spin-offs – see Dune: Prophecy and The Penguin – continues with this horror prequel to the hit movies adapted from Stephen King's bestseller. The setting is once again the cursed Maine town of Derry, albeit in 1962, but evil never rests and the nightmarish Pennywise the Clown (Bill Skarsgard) will torment a new cast. The movies' director, Andy Muschietti, helms multiple episodes. Max, TBC. Returning Stranger Things (season five): It's setting up to be the streaming event of the year. With some episodes reportedly each as long as a feature film, the conclusion of the Duffer brothers' heroic mix of pop-culture nostalgia, adolescent science-fiction and wide-eyed horror will release as a three-part epic. The young stars are all adults now – this series debuted in 2016 – but its interdimensional monsters are timeless. Netflix, November 27 (part one); December 26 (part two); and January 1 (finale). Animated New Long Story Short: One of Netflix's earliest and greatest triumphs was the tragicomic adult animation BoJack Horseman, which concluded in 2020 after six illuminating seasons. Now its creator, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, and designer, Lisa Hanawalt, have reunited for this family saga, which follows a group of siblings from childhood through adulthood. The voice cast includes Paul Reiser (Mad About You) and Abbi Jacobson (Broad City). Netflix, August 23. Returning King of the Hill (season 14): This is quite the comeback. Mike Judge's animated sitcom about an everyday Texan family last aired in 2009. The plot has propane salesman Hank Hill and wife Peggy returning to Texas after years working abroad, while their son Bobby is now a twenty-something chef. The show had fun with a traditional man in a changing world, but as a setting America has changed wildly. Revisiting Hank's conspiracy-theorist friend Dale looms as a challenge. Disney+, August 4. Science-fiction New Smilla's Sense of Snow: Danish author Peter Hoeg's 1992 mystery novel Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow was a literary hit and Scandi-noir precursor. There was a Hollywood film in 1997 but it's been reimagined here, set in a politically fraught near-future. Filippa Coster-Waldau (daughter of Game of Thrones star Nikolaj) plays the title role, a young woman unofficially investigating the suspicious death of a neighbouring Greenlandic boy. SBS, TBC Returning Foundation (season three): This galactic epic launched with the goal of turning Isaac Asimov's seminal Foundation stories into eight seasons that covered 1000 years of complex history. With Jared Harris as renegade scientist Hari Seldon, and Lee Pace as an emperor losing his grip on power, it's actually getting there. This season introduces a crucial book character, mutant usurper the Mule (Pilou Asbæk), which will up the conflict. Apple TV+, July 11. Australian New Dear Life: The creative team of Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope add to an already impressive CV – The Librarians, Little Lunch, Upper Middle Bogan – with this heartfelt series about grief and understanding. Brooke Satchwell plays a woman who lost the love of her life, sending her on a journey to track down the recipients of the organ donations, which sets off a chain of unexpected new connections. Stan, TBC Returning Austin (season two): Last year's debut of this Australian-British comedy proved to be a warm, witty hit, exploring the difficulty of change through the first-time meeting of a floundering British author, Julian (Ben Miller), and his adult, Australian, autistic son, Austin (Michael Theo). The show succeeded as gentle farce and representation for the neurodiverse. In the new season Austin faces the temptation of unexpected success. ABC, TBC. Dystopian New Alien: Earth: Creator Noah Hawley, whose previous successes include building the Fargo anthology off the Coen brothers' film, delves into the Alien franchise with this horror-primed prequel set two years before 1979's original movie. The story brings the terrifying xenomorph creature to Earth after a space vessel crash-lands, with only a unique young woman and a squad of misfit soldiers on hand to confront it. Disney+, August 13. Returning Squid Game (season three): Filmed back-to-back with season two, the third instalment of this South Korean blockbuster will conclude the warped survival tale of Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) as he attempts to bring down the macabre life-and-death games being run by a cynical syndicate. The show has made economic inequality and murderous giant dolls equally memorable, and you would expect creator Hwang Dong-hyuk to hold his nerve. Netflix, July 27.
The Age
a day ago
- The Age
Focusing on the younger set
'Don't let anyone tell you that oldies are not technically minded,' says Nola Scott of Estella. 'I, aged 90-plus, taught my masseuse, aged 20-something, how to use Google camera on her smartphone.' All these bangin' takes on cracker night (C8) have led to numerous recollections of folks getting inventive with one's fireworks, which will be today's focus, starting with Joan Hayward of Narrawallee: 'My father provided the highlight of cracker night for the neighbourhood kids. He'd fill a balloon with oxyacetylene, tape a row of Tom Thumbs to it, then as it slowly rose into the air, he'd light the lowest Tom Thumb. The result? Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! KABOOM! I swear the whole landscape shook.' Peter Nelson of Moss Vale recalls that 'when holidaying in Coffs Harbour in 1960, friends I was staying with showed me how to put a marble in a four-foot steel rod with a tuppenny bunger and watch the marble fly out at lightning speed. Could have killed someone.' 'Choko projectiles (C8) remind me of the 1950s when we Kogarah kids had an airgun but couldn't afford the pellets,' says Rhonda Ellis of Lismore. 'We'd shoot at each other using the berries from a privet hedge. Yes, it hurt.' 'Some 65 years ago, I discovered that toaster element wire wound around the fuse of a double bunger and connected to a car battery would light the bunger,' writes Peter Crowfoot of Normanhurst. 'A friend and I buried a number of these wired bungers along both sides of a local forest walking path and ran wires from each one back to a hiding place. When suitable (i.e. non-adult) test subjects appeared and were in position, we connected the wires to a battery in random order. The result was pandemonium, as we had hoped. Note: no person was injured by this experiment.' 'Wendy Illingworth and her Madeiran boomerangs (C8) has provided proof, once again, of the adage that once you can fake authenticity, you're on the road to success,' declares Marcus Daniel of Bellingen. 'The next challenge is to fake sincerity, then you've really got it made.' Regarding the possibility of aliens watching from above (C8) as we carry our dogs' deposits around in little bags, Jack Dikian of Mosman thinks 'should they be able to read our companions' mind -– it would be 'My name isn't Rover, and I am not specially a good boy'.'
