Latest news with #MargaretPomeranz
ABC News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
ICYMI: David and Margaret honoured with Walk of Fame star, Talking Heads release first music video for Psycho Killer
Welcome to ICYMI, where we recap the entertainment and arts news you might have missed over the past week. David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz might just be Australia's most beloved film critics — and now they have the star to prove it! The pair were presented with their very own star on the Australian Film Walk of Fame outside the historic Ritz Cinema in Randwick, Sydney. Their induction makes them the first duo and the first non-actors to be honoured with a star. Stratton and Pomeranz hosted SBS's The Movie Show for 18 years before clocking up another decade as the faces of ABC's At The Movies. Through both shows, the pair brought both blockbusters and indie fare to the attention of movie-lovers across the country. "I am thrilled to be given this acknowledgement … particularly with its association to one of this country's most innovative and pro-active cinemas. It is truly an honour," Pomeranz said. "It is gratifying to be connected to the Ritz Cinema, which is one of the finest movie places in Australia," Stratton agreed. Since 2008, the Australian Film Walk of Fame has honoured those who have made outstanding contributions to the local industry. Previous inductees include Jack Thompson, Deborah Mailman and Claudia Karvan. Beyond their work in front of the camera, Pomeranz and Stratton have been champions for the local film scene, long advocating for Australian film quotas and challenging film censorship in the country. Stratton, who was director for the Sydney Film Festival for nearly 20 years, was instrumental in bringing in the R18+ classification to Australia, which allowed for films with more controversial topics to be screened locally, instead of being outright banned. Their trademark brand of cinematic activism — including Pomeranz's arrest — was the inspiration behind 2025 comedy show Refused Classification, from comedians Alexei Toliopoulos and Zachary Ruane, which sold out venues around the country. In it Ruane plays Stratton while Toliopoulos dons a blonde wig to pay tribute to his idol, Pomeranz. The artist and his muse posed together for photos at the Australian Film Walk of Fame ceremony. Edmund White, the co-author behind revolutionary book The Joy of Gay Sex, has died, aged 85. Although he was subjected to conversion therapy as a child and young man, White eventually embraced his identity and became a pillar of gay literature, penning 36 books in total, many of them hauntingly autobiographical. His debut novel was Forgetting Elena (which was praised by Vladamir Nabokov), but four years later he released The Joy of Gay Sex, a sex-positive guide for gay men he had co-authored with his psychologist, Dr Charles Silverstein. The book that really made White's name was A Boy's Own Story, the first of his highly acclaimed trilogy of novels that chronicle a young gay man's coming of age in America. "Gay fiction before that, Gore Vidal and Truman Capote, was written for straight readers," White told the New York Times. "We had a gay readership in mind, and that made all the difference. We didn't have to spell out what Fire Island was." In the midst of the AIDS crisis, White helped found the Gay Men's Health Crisis group in New York in the same year he released A Boy's Own Story. He went public with his HIV-positive status in 1985, one of the first public figures to do so. As well as receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship, White won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1994 and the National Book Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He is survived by his partner of almost 30 years, writer Michael Carroll, who he married in 2013. He published his sixth memoir — The Loves of My Life: A Sex Memoir — in early 2025. Wake up. Eat. Drive to work. Talk to your co-workers. Drive home. Eat. Go to Sleep. The daily grind is enough to turn anyone into psycho killers, even legendary rock'n'roll bands. Art-rock pioneers Talking Heads waited more than 40 years to make an official music video for their smash hit, 'Psycho Killer'. But, on the 50th anniversary of the band's first live performance, they finally did. Starring Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird, Little Women) and directed by Mike Mills (C'mon C'mon) the music video documents one woman's life as she suffers through a mental breakdown in a Groundhog-Day-esque daily grind cycle. "This video makes the song better," Talking Heads said in a statement. "We LOVE what this video is NOT — it's not literal, creepy, bloody, physically violent or obvious." Amazing news for fans of talkative mimes and Twitch streamers covered in Smurf body paint: comedian Tom Walker is joining season nine of The Great Australian Bake Off as a co-host. Walker — who trained in clowning at the prestigious École Philippe Gaulier outside Paris — has been a mainstay in the Australian comedy scene ever since he took home Best Newcomer and Director's Choice awards at the 2016 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. His 2019 hour Very, Very was released as a special by Amazon Prime Video and highlighted his incredible (and incredibly sweaty) mime skills. Since then, Walker has moved into Twitch streaming to his near 20,000-strong audience and has become a frequent face on Guy Montgomery's Guy MontSpelling Bee. "I truly loved being a part of The Great Australian Bake Off. The whole crew is so warm, funny, welcoming and kind, and the bakers are so talented it blows my mind," Walker said in a statement. "To the little boy who grew up thinking he'd never see a biscuit city: you were wrong." Walker will join returning host Natalie Tran for the latest season. He follows in a long line of Aussie comedians in the Bake Off shed including Mel Buttle, Claire Hooper and Cal Wilson, who died suddenly in late 2023. Australian global TV event Future Vision has announced the international headliners for the summit's second edition. Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd — who picked up Golden Globes, Emmys and most recently a Peabody award for his semi-autobiographical series — will be joined by Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright and Pachinko creator Soo Hugh at this year's event. Returning co-chairs — Nine Perfect Strangers producer Bruna Papandrea and screenwriter Tony Ayres, built the line-up around the concept of "optimism in the face of uncertainty". "Richard Gadd, Sally Wainwright, and Soo Hugh are undoubtedly some of the most exciting television creators in the world today," Papandrea and Ayres said in a statement. "We cannot wait to engage with them in Melbourne and bring their thinking and provocation to the thought leaders at home." Taking place from July 14-16 at ACMI in Melbourne, the final two days of the summit are invite-only, however, Monday July 14 has ticketed options for the public to attend. There's no denying the best things always come in twos: Tom and Jerry; socks; the final instalment of the Twilight franchise. And, of course, a good Broadway show. After the first Wicked movie honoured the original stage production (including the powerful Defying Gravity cliffhanger), fans knew Wicked: For Good would be its epic act two conclusion — but that hasn't made waiting for it any easier. But the trailer for Wicked: For Good is finally here, showing that the friendship and undeniable chemistry of leads Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande will remain true and sing (literally and figuratively) through to the musical's wicked conclusion.
The Age
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
How a saga about banned erotic film has become an unlikely comedy hit
When Alexei Toliopoulos chanced upon a decades-old repeat episode of The Movie Show on an idle weekday, he had little inkling it would lead to one of the most talked-about comedy shows of this year's festival season. Not only did the 2003 episode see Margaret Pomeranz wax lyrical about 2 Fast, 2 Furious, it also saw her and co-host David Stratton urge viewers to take action over the classification board's decision to ban the Larry Clark-directed Ken Park. Pomeranz would later try to stage an illegal screening of the movie at Balmain Town Hall before police intervened. Now, Toliopoulos – best known for his comic investigative podcasts and TV appearances on the likes of Question Everything – has teamed up with Aunty Donna member Zach Ruane to explore the headline-making saga. Blending energetic comedy, audiovisual elements and verbatim theatre, Refused Classification is compelling – hard to describe, but easy to enjoy. 'It's an iconic story in Australian film history,' Toliopoulos explains. 'Going back to it, I couldn't believe how vivid it was, and how much it had stuck with me.' While a lesser show may have become didactic about the value of the film or the dangers of censorship, Ruane says the pair wanted to leave space for the audience to draw their own conclusions. 'I love the notion that if you can convey anything in a very simple, clear way, there's no reason to make it as art. Art lives in the ambiguity.' Toliopoulos dons a silver wig and a chunky necklace to channel his hero, Margaret Pomeranz, while Ruane – better known for his wild-eyed, manic sketch comedy – plays the buttoned-up Stratton.
Sydney Morning Herald
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
How a saga about banned erotic film has become an unlikely comedy hit
When Alexei Toliopoulos chanced upon a decades-old repeat episode of The Movie Show on an idle weekday, he had little inkling it would lead to one of the most talked-about comedy shows of this year's festival season. Not only did the 2003 episode see Margaret Pomeranz wax lyrical about 2 Fast, 2 Furious, it also saw her and co-host David Stratton urge viewers to take action over the classification board's decision to ban the Larry Clark-directed Ken Park. Pomeranz would later try to stage an illegal screening of the movie at Balmain Town Hall before police intervened. Now, Toliopoulos – best known for his comic investigative podcasts and TV appearances on the likes of Question Everything – has teamed up with Aunty Donna member Zach Ruane to explore the headline-making saga. Blending energetic comedy, audiovisual elements and verbatim theatre, Refused Classification is compelling – hard to describe, but easy to enjoy. 'It's an iconic story in Australian film history,' Toliopoulos explains. 'Going back to it, I couldn't believe how vivid it was, and how much it had stuck with me.' While a lesser show may have become didactic about the value of the film or the dangers of censorship, Ruane says the pair wanted to leave space for the audience to draw their own conclusions. 'I love the notion that if you can convey anything in a very simple, clear way, there's no reason to make it as art. Art lives in the ambiguity.' Toliopoulos dons a silver wig and a chunky necklace to channel his hero, Margaret Pomeranz, while Ruane – better known for his wild-eyed, manic sketch comedy – plays the buttoned-up Stratton.
