THEY say all publicity is good publicity, and Sculpture at Bathers had plenty this week. It made headlines after renowned Fremantle sculptor Greg James claimed his nude statue of Gaia the Greek was not selected for the exhibition because it was deemed too racy. Organisers refuted his claim, saying it didn’t reflect the setting as…

HE’S shared a bottle of wine with Billy Ocean and got a lift home from Rick Astley, and now singer-songwriter Jason Ayres is getting the rock out for his next musical adventure. Until recently, the Perth-based muso was best known for his solo acoustic gigs – he’s performed all across Australia and supported big acts…

WHEN Fall is Coming starts out gently. An elderly Michelle and her best friend Marie-Claude are picking mushrooms in the picturesque woods of their country village in Burgundy. It’s slow and peaceful – the autumn colours taking centre stage. Michelle (Hélène Vincent) is preparing a lunch for her rude and ungrateful daughter Valérie (Ludivine Sagnier),…

WHERE do ideas come from? The question is often put to creative folk like artists, musicians and novelists. Some believe ideas are floating about in the ether and you just have to reach out and grab them, while others describe them as a tangible feeling, like the first pang of a novel or the fiery…

DIETRICH BONHOEFFER was a German Lutheran theologian who famously participated in the anti-Nazi resistance movement during World War II, including attempts to assassinate Hitler.  It’s not a spoiler to say that he paid for it with his life. The movie is clearly a labour of love for scriptwriter, producer and director Todd Komarnicki.  Using a…

THERE are “no more excuses” and professional ensembles should have more young people and marginalised genders, says Gemma Farrell, the new artistic director of the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra. The talented Hamilton Hill muso – a well-respected jazz saxophonist, composer and educator – has just taken over the reins from Mace Francis, who had been…

LEGENDARY garage band The Stems have just finished recording a new track Deep Freeze, ahead of their headlining gig in North Fremantle this month. When the Chook called Stems front man Dom Mariani for a chat, he had just approved a final mix of the song. “It’s more in the R’n’B kind of style of…

ALLIANCE Française will celebrate International Women’s Day with a special screening of This Life of Mine on Saturday (March 8). A witty and poignant portrait of a woman navigating a mid-life crisis, the film was directed by the late Sophie Fillières and won Best Screenplay at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. Once an attractive, devoted…

BLUNT could be the most Fremantle film ever made – it was shot in the port city, most of the cast and crew are locals, and it was partly funded by a gig with Freo bands. In fact, a lot of the scenes were filmed around the corner from the Chook’s office at The Bistrot…

AS the world looks on, astonished at the theatrics being played out on the stage of the White House, Perth has an opportunity to observe August: Osage County.  It’s a stunner of a play that uses the metaphor of the collapse of an American family to interrogate the internal contradictions that have slowly rotted the…