Matthew Reddin

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thebigsmoke.com.au

Articles

The good news about Musk’s Nazi salute

Jan 22, 2025 | thebigsmoke.com.au | Joch Diaz |Paul A. McDermott |Matthew Reddin |Derryn Hinch

Elon Musk’s Nazi salute at President Trump’s inauguration could be a canary in the coal mine of the American media landscape. On January 20, Elon Musk did the Nazi salute during the American Presidential Inauguration. That is a statement of fact. That is what happened, right? Right? Just checking that you saw it too. It’s important that we’re all on the same page for this one. Cool? Cool.
The online response to the Los Angeles fires

Jan 10, 2025 | thebigsmoke.com.au | Matthew Reddin

“Sodom and Gomorrah” trending on Twitter/X in response to the fires devastating Los Angeles makes for another nail in human decency’s coffin. Sometimes, the editors of this website ask me to go to the movies. That’s fun. I like doing that. I’ve been writing about movies since waaaaaaay before anyone thought about paying me to do it, so it’s a nice thing to head back to the cinema and experience a film the way the brothers Lumière intended. Good stuff. Bit of a distraction from the world.
From ghost train to glory: Luna Park’s 89-year ride continues

Dec 4, 2024 | thebigsmoke.com.au | Matthew Reddin

Anyone concerned needn’t be, as legislation sets Sydney’s Luna Park site aside solely for use as an amusement park. Nostalgia for the win? Clive James returned to his native Sydney in 1991 to add the city to his Postcards From series of TV travelogues. When wandering into Luna Park, he described it as having “spent 50 unchallenged years as Sydney’s one and only funfair.
The gay men who helped elect Trump

Nov 13, 2024 | thebigsmoke.com.au | Gary Nunn |Matthew Reddin |Rebecca Reid |Vivienne Pearson

In the lead up to the 2024 presidential election, I interviewed the influential gay men who were crucial in securing a second Trump victory. Why on earth would any sane gay person vote for Donald Trump? In the buildup to the election, I found out exactly why. I’d hear this question a lot, and sometimes share the baffled tone. Yet, I also knew there was a cohort of people like me – gay men – who didn’t only vote for him. They endorsed and campaigned for him.
The (Australian) Office doesn’t deserve the vitriol. It also doesn’t need to exist.

Oct 23, 2024 | thebigsmoke.com.au | Matthew Reddin

Call off your dogs, Helen. The Australian reboot of The Office isn’t bad…it’s just patently unnecessary. There’s nothing inherently wrong or bad about the Australian version of The Office, which recently started streaming its first (and I’m boldly predicting only) season on Amazon Prime TV. For some background, this is either an Antipodean remake of the early 2000s British sitcom that made Ricky Gervais a star, or it’s a remake of the mid-late 2000s American sitcom that make Steve Carell a star.
Paul McDermott: Musk senses the end

Oct 20, 2024 | thebigsmoke.com.au | Paul A. McDermott |Deb Turney |Matthew Reddin

Like so many others, Musk abandoned morality and ethics and clambered into Trump’s clown car, but as the saying goes, “when one door closes…”All the conspirators, co-conspirators, enablers, false actors, con artists, grifters and everyone who’s stuck their fat fingers into Trump’s rotten American pie are losing their shit.
Paul McDermott: An open letter to America

Oct 14, 2024 | thebigsmoke.com.au | Paul A. McDermott |Matthew Reddin |Vivienne Pearson

In this open letter, Paul McDermott asks our cousins in America to consider a few things…or not, actually…in the lead up to the election. Hello, good people of America, I’m writing to you now begging you to MAKE IT STOP. The time has come to end it. In fact, it’s well past its due date. We’ve all been waiting and frankly, we can’t believe it’s gone on this long. This experiment in political stupidity, ego, male make-up, bad hair and barbarism has failed [1].
The Substance: Is there any to be found in this film’s messaging?

Oct 13, 2024 | thebigsmoke.com.au | Matthew Reddin

“The Substance” review: a noxious cocktail made partially of Ozempic, partially of Kubrick, and a healthy dose of contempt for modern culture. In what we might presume is present-day Los Angeles, Elisabeth, a famous actress/TV aerobics instructor (Demi Moore) has seen better days. Fired by her sleazy boss (Dennis Quaid; terrific) for being too old, she slips into a funk until she discovers a mysterious green liquid – the titular substance.
A straight, cis parent and aunty view on the LGBTQIA+ census debacle

Sep 24, 2024 | thebigsmoke.com.au | Vivienne Pearson |Matthew Reddin |Deb Turney

So, here I am as a straight, cis parent and aunty, to express my support for the Census including questions about gender and sexuality. I wasn’t going to write about the government’s decision (and then reversal of that decision) to ditch questions about gender and sexuality from the 2026 Census. I figured this was best left to those who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community (which I am not).
Why Patti LuPone is the diva we need to be talking about in 2024

Sep 13, 2024 | thebigsmoke.com.au | Matthew Reddin |Angela Mollard

In the hands of Patti LuPone, the wing was less a meal than a weapon…a symbol of her scorn for Madonna – and we ate it up. You may have seen a recent viral video of Patti LuPone eating a brutal hot wing in defiant refusal to say sorry to Madonna for calling her a “movie killer” and saying she is “dead behind the eyes” during a 2017 episode of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.