TV
The Bridge | SBS ONE, Wednesday April 2, 9.30pm
The Returned | SBS On Demand and Madman DVD.
Smash Euro crime drama The Bridge returns to SBS this week for another 10 episodes of cross-cultural cooperation and politically motivated crime. The Øresund Bridge, linking Denmark and Sweden, again takes top billing, this time endangered by an oil tanker sent to crash into it. Somewhat autistic detective Saga is put on the case and quickly seeks help from her grizzled Danish counterpart, Martin.
The Bridge has already been remade twice, but the original is still the best, relying on the unique dynamic between Denmark and Sweden, as played out in the wonderfully sexless relationship between the two leads. Saga remains as fascinating as ever, now struggling with a partner left an emotional wreck by his son’s death.
A different brand of European mystery has just wrapped up on SBS 2. The Returned was a gripping series in which an isolated French mountain town saw its dead return to their homes years after they departed. Rather than being another zombie-schlock horror, this was startling psychological drama, driven by well-drawn and complex characters. Reminiscent of Top of the Lake, both in setting and tone, it felt remarkably fresh.
MUSIC
Grids | Teeth & Tongue (Remote Control)
There’s a tremendous sense of drama throughout this third album from New Zealand-born Melburnian Jess Cornelius. At times, Cornelius seems to struggle against the music itself, as if we’re witnessing her put the song together in real time. Thankfully, it’s a battle she always wins, having a gift for crafting grand emotion from slight, strange elements. Her powerful melodies work like magnets, pulling ill-fitting instrumentation into something coherent and wonderful. Startling single Good Man is an epic, Kate Bush-like affair, built from little more than a drum machine and samples of Cornelius’ voice. Certainly, there’s a joy hearing each song come together, such as the moment the ragged drone of More Than This explodes into rattling rock. Happily, the less-conflicted songs are no less appealing. The Party Is You is glorious, ’80s-flavoured synth pop, with a sultry performance from Cornelius that could give Martha from The Motels a run for her money. Idiosyncratic, eclectic and potent, Grids deserves to stand as one of the best Australian releases this year.
GIG
Songs in the Key of Motown | GPAC, Sunday April 6, 8pm, $30-65
Trading Las Vegas casinos for the Geelong Performing Arts Centre, two US quartets are teaming up for a special, spectacular show paying tribute to the Motown era of the ’60s and ’70s. Male group Spectrum has spent six years recreating the sound of the Four Tops for a string of big-budget Vegas shows, while female outfit Radiance has travelled the world performing numbers from the likes of The Supremes, Martha & The Vandellas and The Marvelettes. Together, they have created Songs In The Key of Motown, which promises to be an energetic revival of classic soul music, with the costuming and choreography to match.
FESTIVAL
Melbourne International Comedy Festival | Until April 20
Looking to avoid a sausage fest this Comedy Festival? Try Sara Pascoe’s new show, in which she takes issue with facts and notions of truth. UK comic Pascoe has built a name for herself in sitcoms such as Twenty Twelve and by being one of very few women to have appeared on QI. Onstage, she’s a charismatic presence, poking more fun at herself than anyone else. Likewise, LA comedian and podcaster Jen Kirkman finds much hilarity in extreme self-analysis, her style halfway between Tina Fey and Louis C.K. Melburnian Felicity Ward is more concerned with analysing everyone else with her new show, The Iceberg, which is reportedly nothing to do with lettuce. I enjoyed Ward’s last show, which dealt with her escape from alcoholism in a frank but affable fashion.
FILM
Captain America: The Winter Soldier | Opens April 3, Rating CTC
Captain America is Marvel’s equivalent of Superman – tediously patriotic, as deep as the paper he’s printed on and representing decidedly outdated values. Thankfully, Cap’s second cinema outing makes a virtue of these shortcomings. Stranded in our modern world, where heroes are expected to out-nasty the villains, the one-dimensional Captain stands as a rare point of certainty. Chris Evans is still as dynamic a presence as his collectable plastic figurine, but a supporting cast including Scarlett Johansson and Robert Redford bring spark to a fast script with surprising moral complexity. Still, if television is becoming the new cinema, these films are becoming the new sitcoms. Each new episode changes nothing. No matter how big the explosions, we know our heroes will survive unscarred.
WORKSHOP
The Pop-Up Book Factory | The Salon, Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford, April 8, 10am-noon, $27
Budding novelists are helped to find their voices in this great holiday workshop. Kids’ Own Publishing is a not-for-profit community publishing group dedicated to assisting children and their families share their stories. This two-hour workshop, led by one of the group’s artists and supervised by a resident author or illustrator from the Abbotsford Convent, is now in its third year. Children aged five to 12 (although we’re told kids as young as three have taken part), from a diverse range of backgrounds, are given a fast-paced tour through the publishing process. Inside two hours, they plan, write and illustrate their own book before publishing a copy to take home. As school holiday activities go, it beats yet another morning with the X-Box.
MYKE’S SPACE
Watching | The Lego Movie. Clever, very funny and sometimes surprising, this building-blockbuster offers the perfect mix of self-awareness and nostalgia.
Listening | Metropolis New Music Festival. (Until April 12) An exciting program of new Australian symphonic music, inspired by mythology and the natural world.
Attending | DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition. ACMI is offering a superb season of kids’ animation classics, starting this week with the underrated Antz, screened from April 5-7.
