A blog of recent clips, reporting and notions on what's happening in pop culture of interest to me. Written by Cynthia Wang.
My page for current articles and reporting, random thoughts on TV, music, movies, etc.
As a Buffy geek, I enjoyed speaking with Alyson Hannigan as she prepared for Oz Comic-Con in Melbourne (July 1-2). She also joked how she was a little disappointed I was an American without an Australian accent interviewing her and how I should still try to end the call with a 'G'day,' which I did! We had a good laugh. More of our chat ran online, which you can read here.
After speaking to Family Law star Fiona Choi for our AACTA Awards preview last year, I got to meet her on the red carpet and she was fantastic. It's a pleasure to follow up with her for this season 2 piece. Here she is along with some other items in Back Chat for the July 3 issue of WHO.
Here are the events I wrote about in Hot Topics for this week (issue date July 3, 2017)
It's not really a review, but here is what I wrote about the latest Despicable Me movie, Despicable Me 3.
Living in Australia makes me see just how unique the Great White Way is to America, but I love the exuberance of it nonetheless!
People on Survivor always look so vibrant at the start of the series, right? Here is a sneak peek at season 2 of Australian Survivor. Click here to read more.
Mark W (left) and Locky compete in Samoa for season 2 of Australian Survivor, airing on Ten this fall. Photo courtesy of Network Ten.
After attending the Australian premiere of The Mummy at Sydney's State Theatre, I wrote up our listing item about the film, then interviewed Sofia Boutella. Here are all three components in reverse order. Also, to read more from Sofia, click on the link to the online story here.
It's not really a review, but I got to do the write-up of Wonder Woman for the release of the film in Australia.
Always a good thing to get in a Soundtrack of My Life feature!
While I got to interview Brenton Thwaites for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, I also wrote the copy you see on the whole Back Chat spread. In the List, I got to speak to Daily Show correspondent Ronny Chieng, which was a highlight.
Outside of the Casey Donovan and Eurovision Diary features in the May 29 issue, here are other items I reported. With Isabel and Kellan, I interviewed them in a video set-up — so strange for this print reporter!
Having Eurovision kick off this week's List is pure heaven. For more from my chat with SBS co-host Myf Warhurst, click here.
In the battle of Brisbane teams, siblings Amy and Tyson Murr edged out mother-daughter combo Valerie and Courtney to win the 8th season of My Kitchen Rules. For a full recap of the finale, click here.
As My Kitchen Rules winds down, House Rules begins. I preview the competitors in a Meet the Teams spread. For Doctor Who fans, I talk to showrunner Steven Moffat about his final season.
So young in Love Actually, Olivia Olson has worked steadily since she belted out "All I Want For Christmas Is You" in that film, namely on Adventure Time.
Among many happy returns this year (Twin Peaks! Twin Peaks!) is Mystery Science Theater 3000, which started streaming on Netflix. Here is a quick write-up about it.
When deciding the makeup of this year's Beautiful Hearts package, the WHO staff were asked to find Australian celebrities active in philanthropy. I remembered speaking last year to Australian Survivor contestant Sam Webb about the charity he created to get students with depression much needed help. When I spoke to him for this piece, he was between travelling to speaking engagements. Here's more from Sam online, and a throwback link to my exit interview with him last year.
Grant Denyer, the popular Family Feud Australia host, got into a terrible race crash. Although his car sponsor would not comment on what happened, his manager confirmed he was recovering.
How do I get classical music into WHO? With a guy like Charlie Siem! Thankfully, Charlie is a client of Jeremy Murphy, a colleague from CBS who started his own management firm, Bespoke 360. You can find even more about Charlie here.
