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PLEASURE AND PAINCulture

Divinyls singer, songwriter and frontwoman Chrissy Amphlett, in a photograph published in 'Pleasure and Pain', an autobiography Amphlett published in 2005 with US author Larry Writer. The book was re-released in 2025 with a new postscript chapter by her husband, drummer Charley Drayton. Picture: courtesy of Chrissy Amphlett and the Amphlett family

‘I had never seen sexy in that way’: Chrissy Amphlett’s story retold

Following her death in 2013, Chrissy’s husband and Cold Chisel drummer Charley Drayton has written a new postscript chapter to his late wife’s autobiography, Pleasure and Pain.

Charley Drayton

TV REVIEWCulture

Nobody Wants This. (L to R) Adam Brody as Noah, Kristen Bell as Joanne in episode 207 of Nobody Wants This. Cr. Erin Simkin/Netflix © 2025

Nobody Wants This season 2: Our verdict

The honeymoon phase is over for Adam Brody and Kristen Bell’s characters in the Netflix breakout rom-com hit, but does the charm remain?

ExclusiveNation

Kirsha Kaechele, wearing an outfit by Australian designer Gail Sorronda, settling into her 'diplomatic residence' in a contested logging coupe, in the Styx Valley, northwest of Hobart. Photographer credit: Marissa Joye Peden.

Fine art of forest hotel diplomacy reframes Apple Isle’s logging debate

Can art – and a little land swap – help save Tasmania’s most contested native forests? Mona’s Kirsha Kaechele thinks so, but the Bob Brown Foundation is unconvinced.

Matthew Denholm

Self-defenceCulture

Photo of writer and journalist Jack Marx

‘I rate The Bible 2.5 stars’: Why I won’t apologise for book reviews

Literary critic Jack Marx refuses to back down to cancel culture and stop doing his job. Watch the video.

Jack Marx

Movie reviewFilm

FRANKENSTEIN. Jacob Elordi as The Creature in Frankenstein. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix Ã‚Â© 2025. For Culture.

Has Frankenstein gone ‘woke’?

Our critics give their thoughts on Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and agree on one thing – Australian actor Jacob Elordi gives a ‘monster of a performance’.

Nikki Gemmell and Stephen Romei

French actor Isabelle Huppert poses in a couture look from Demna's last collection for Balenciaga.

Screen legend Isabelle Huppert on why Mary Queen of Scots was ‘free’

The French actress will headline the 2026 Adelaide Festival, bringing her affinity for complex anti-heroines to the role of Scotland’s most controversial monarch.

PLAYING GODCulture

This image released by Netflix shows director Guillermo del Toro, left, and Oscar Isaac on the set of

What kind of monster revives humanity’s oldest horror?

The death of the middle ground, bad fathers, and the unchecked reach of human invention – it’s the perfect storm turning men into monsters. Sound familiar?

Bianca Farmakis

CONFESSIONALReview

Scottish-Australian singer, songwriter and Men at Work frontman Colin Hay, photographed in 2021. Picture: Paul Mobley

Colin Hay: ‘We were royally, well and truly, completely ripped off’

The ARIA Hall of Fame-inducted Men at Work frontman on the worst deal he’s ever done and his opinion on record labels today.

Andrew McMillen

REVIEWBooks

Art fore review writers festival yarn

Woke warfare: Writers’ festivals in the age of Gaza and gender

Writers’ festivals are becoming increasingly febrile forums where freedom of speech and fear of cancellation frequently collide.

REVIEWMusic

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 02: Samara Joy, winner of Best Jazz Vocal Album for Ã¢â‚¬Å“A Joyful HolidayÃ¢â‚¬Â, poses in the press room during the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 02, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

What makes Samara Joy the hottest thing in jazz

At just 25, the mesmerising jazz phenomenon has captured five Grammy Awards and 1.3 million followers, yet remains remarkably humble ahead of her Australian debut.

JANE CORNWELL

Indigenous artReview

Art Gallery of SA curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art and Tarnanthi Festival artistic director Nici Cumpston will leave to become director of the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection at the University of Virginia in the US. Picture: Saul Steed

Too Deadly celebrates a decade of Tarnanthi Festival

Art Gallery of South Australia’s landmark Indigenous festival Tarnanthi marks its final year under founding director Nici Cumpston with a powerful retrospective of First Nations art.

JULIAN TOMPKIN

reviewReview

Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo (Italian/Australian 1870 - 1955) Derelicts 1910 oil on canvas, 76 x 150cm MAG&M Collection - Gift of the artist 1940

Manly gallery shows just how much Australia owes Italian art

As well as our cuisine, Italy’s influence on Australian culture can be found in almost every walk of life – not least the visual arts.

Christopher Allen

Book reviewReview

The Leap by Paul Daley

Leaping into the footsteps of an Aussie classic

The Leap by Sydney-based journalist Paul Daley tells the story of an Englishman dealing with a tough outback society

first watchReview

Mark Coles Smith and Tuulii Narkle for Mystery Road - Origin

Indigenous crime drama Mystery Road: Origin returns

The creative baton has been handed over to a new generation of Indigenous filmmakers for a tense new season of Mystery Road, delving deeper into racial tensions in small-town Australia.

Graeme Blundell

★★★½Film

This image released by Amazon MGM Studios shows Andrew Garfield in a scene from

This film is a bold take on the age of Trump

After the Hunt is an age-old story of professor versus student, with Julia Roberts in a frosty, anguished performance.

NIKKI GEMMELL

★★Review

This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Channing Tatum, left, and Kirsten Dunst in a scene from

Channing Tatum’s true crime romance falls flat

Tatum is a good actor but has a limiting role in Roofman, a film that could have been so much better.

ALBUM REVIEWSReview

Australian electronic DJ and producer Ninajirachi, aka Nina Wilson, whose debut album 'I Love My Computer' was released in 2025. Picture: Billy Zammit

Ninajirachi’s ‘compelling, brash’ debut lights up ARIA nominations

Nina Wilson’s relentless indie hustle across the past decade has paid off: the electronic musician’s first album I Love My Computer was recently nominated for eight ARIA Awards.

Jonathan Seidler

Book extractBooks

Prime Minister meets the No.10 cat

The cat that loved a wartime PM

How Nelson the cat, or Chief Mouser, came to live a rather indulgent life with writer and British prime minister, Sir Winston Churchill, at No.10 Downing Street.

Susannah Fullerton

Watch, listen & readCulture

VENICE, ITALY - AUGUST 27: Cate Blanchett attends the

The Australian transforms arts coverage with launch of Culture

The Australian is launching Culture, a dynamic and innovative digital-first approach to storytelling across film, television, books, art and live performances.

The Australian

IN THE FAMILYCulture

Sophie Hyde and Olivia Colman on the set of JIMPA. Credit: Matt Chauang

‘This is it!’: Olivia Colman on the Aussie film that reignited her love of acting

A koala named Florence, a glass of Adelaide’s finest – the Oscar-winner speaks to the film that convinced her to travel ‘so far away’ from home.

Bianca Farmakis

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review