Ivan Sen has always gone it alone. In the world where we live, filmmakers have set decorators, editors, production managers, post-production technicians, concept artists, storyboard artists and legions of other scurrying assistants. Not Ivan Sen. He's an Australian filmmaker who does it all himself, and his outsider approach has so far taken him from his native rural New South Wales to places like Sundance, Cannes and Berlin film festivals. This directive — hands-on, honest, thoughtful, singular filmmaking — now stretches into the guts of his latest film, an outback murder case, Mystery Road. It's a quiet, steady yet thrilling film, held together by Aaron Pedersen's staggering performance as a lone, Aboriginal detective. To talk about Ivan's films, you have to talk about equality. In Sen's film worlds (Toomelah, Beneath Clouds), as in this world, some people are more equal than others. When Julie Mason, an Indigenous girl, is found with her throat cut off Mystery Road near Massacre Creek, no one gives a shit — not the cops, not anyone. This is the crime genre plot-point that opens up to a chasm of inequality. Underneath the high skies and low plains of Mystery Road, something else surfaces — a frighteningly beautiful, dead-on look at a troubled country. THE START OF MYSTERY ROAD "It's been a bit of a journey, this film," says Ivan. "I first mentioned it to Aaron in 2006 in Kings Cross, around midnight. We were passing like ships in the night, and I said, 'brother, I got an idea for you'. And he said, 'alright'. Then five years later, I ring him up and say, 'here's this idea, here's the script, it's time to do it'. It's a story that's come from my own experiences, my own heart, from my family and their experiences. So everything you see in some way comes from reality. The whole thing about Jay Swan being this cop caught between two worlds is something that's very close to my heart, coming from a small town, growing up, not quite belonging to the Aboriginal part of town, and not quite belonging to the white part of town. That's what I've always been fascinated by: the turncoat, the black tracker, the black trooper, the Native American scout. The person who's got a foot in both worlds, walking along the edge." Mystery Road comes at the crest of a wave of Indigenous storytellers making movies for all audiences — films like Bran Nue Dae and The Sapphires. "There are all kinds of young warriors trying to change the face of the industry, trying to tell our stories," says Aaron. "I've done a lot of mainstream material before on television. People used to always tell me, 'you play too many coppers!' Not now, because all those cops got me this job! Ivan wrote the role for me. It's something I'll never forget and a job I'll never get again." "I think [the murder storyline] is something that affects a lot of Indigenous families," says Ivan. "A distant cousin of mine was found underneath the roadway in very similar circumstances, a long time ago now. The killer has never been brought to justice. If you actually pursue reality in a film, that can make things more interesting and suspenseful than all this artificial and contrived conditioning." Adds Aaron, "This film is important to this country, the lessons of healing and understanding. It's about our lives. There are a lot of cold cases in this country, a lot of people left behind after murders." THE ONE-MAN BAND What's behind the all-encompassing role of director, writer, camera operator, editor and composer? "It's just easier to do it yourself," Ivan says. "I just started doing it a long time ago, back in the 1990s. And now technology's caught up and I can edit on the laptop, soundtrack on the plane, write in a cafe. For me, why should film production be the way Hollywood says it is? What right do they have to define all these things?" "Let's hope he doesn't learn how to act, because then there'll be no work for actors!" Aaron's having a go, but you suspect he might be right. "Ivan had all these hats that he'd been wearing [on set], but I'll keep saying 'till the day I die, if he was stressed out, you wouldn't have known. Incredible leader. I was so glad to be part of the project on this big scale — not just as a hired gun, but as someone who helped implement the operation. It was kind of like ceremony in a way. It was really beautiful, really personal. You don't usually have that relationship with a director. We became brothers." SEN GOES SCI-FI I've heard Ivan's next film is a science-fiction epic set in China, his new home. "Yeah, sci-fi," says Ivan. "Set in the future. Big action, romance. Commercial." At first it seems worlds away from the art-film vibe of Mystery Road. How do you cater for the largest possible audience without turning your film to shit? "Someone like Christopher Nolan is in massive demand," Ivan continues. "He puts his heart and soul into what he does, and really wants to give the audience something unique. There's not many other guys with the talent and heart trying to give the masses something special. Because it's all controlled by suits. Chris Nolan's not a suit, but he wears one. He gets the deals without losing any freedoms or destroy his personal approach." It's true — you see a big budget movie with heart and talent and intelligence (Robert Zemeckis's classic space movie, Contact, springs to mind), and you think, hey, that's what Hollywood could be for, that's what all those big budgets and beautiful faces could be doing all the time. They could have big ideas, too. "There's a big hole there, in the commercial arena, for quality," says Ivan. "There's so many shit films for big audiences. You go to the cinema and it's like, 'which crap movie do I have to pick?'" "I actually don't go to the movies very much 'cause of that," admits Aaron. "Too many people are spoon-fed their opinions in this world. That's another audience [than the one for Mystery Road]." Ultimately, for Ivan, leaping into sci-fi just makes sense to him as a filmmaker. "I don't want to make the same film over and over. It's boring. I'm a lover of cinema. Watching cinema gave me emotions that I'd never felt before in my whole eight-year-old life. I'd never felt that connection before." Mystery Road carries this sensibility — beyond being a genre piece, is cuts to the emotional heart of a country that's been torn by dysfunction for too long. At a screening of the film in Sydney's inner west, Aaron spoke plainly, and passionately. "History did not start 225 years ago in this country ... This role is more than a job, it's a chance for me to show my ancestral trauma. This film is larger than this script: it's a cinematic campfire. Sit around it. Take something from it. Be smarter for it. Be a better nation for it."
When podcasting grasped onto IRL mysteries and the world listened, it started a 21st-century circle of true crime obsessions. First, the audio format dived into the genre. Next, screens big and small gave it renewed attention, not that either ever shirked reality's bleakest details. Now, movies and TV shows are known to spin stories around folks investigating such cases to make podcasts, turning detective as they press record. And, as Only Murders in the Building did, sometimes there's also a podcast venturing behind the scenes of a fictional affair about podcasters sleuthing a case. While Bodkin, which arrived via Netflix on Thursday, May 9, mightn't come with an accompanying digital audio series stepping into its minutiae, it does take murder-mystery comedy Only Murders in the Building's lead otherwise. Swaps are made — West Cork is in, New York is out; deaths pile up in an Irish village, not an apartment building; three chalk-and-cheese neighbours give way to a trio of mismatched journalists — but the shared format is as plain to see as blood splatter. Call that part of the 21st-century circle of true crime obsessions, too, as one hit inspires more. Bodkin is easy to get hooked on as Only Murders in the Building as well, even if it's not as guaranteed to return for additional seasons. Siobhán Cullen (The Dry), Will Forte (Strays) and Robyn Cara (Mixtape) give this seven-part series its investigating threesome: Irishwoman-in-London Dove Maloney, a hard-nosed reporter who just lost a source on a big story; American Gilbert Power, who capitalised upon his wife's cancer for his first podcast hit; and enthusiastic researcher Emmy Sizergh, who wants to be Dove and, much to her idol's dismay, is fine with following Gilbert's lead to get there. They're thrown together in the show's titular town not by Dove's choice, but because she's bundled off by her editor when the whistleblower behind an article about England's National Health Service is found dead. Gilbert and Emmy are well-aware that she's not there willingly — Dove isn't the type to hide her disdain for anything, especially her latest assignment, Gilbert's medium of choice and his approach, and Emmy's eagerness. Bodkin beckons courtesy of a cold case from a quarter-century back when the village gathered for its then-annual Samhain festival (an influence upon Halloween). The last time that the event was held in the scenic coastal spot, three people disappeared, which Gilbert is certain is a killer hook for the next big hit he desperately needs for the sake of both his reputation and his finances. He also has Irish heritage, another angle that he's sure will add audience-courting flavour to the podcast. But the trio have barely arrived, with local twentysomething Seán (Chris Walley, The Young Offenders) as their driver and the eccentric Mrs O'Shea (Pom Boyd, also The Dry) their B&B host, when Dove is adamant that there's much more going on in Bodkin than the narrative that Gilbert has already decided to tell. Through the acerbic and cynical Dove — someone who responds to being considered a role model by telling Emmy to fuck off repeatedly — Bodkin gets its licks in about podcasting's tropes, formula and current oversaturation. Through Gilbert, too, including via his stock-standard and cliche-riddled opening voiceovers that could've been lifted from real-life audio, it also satirises the format that the show puts at its centre. Making his first series after penning four shorts between 2011–2018, creator Jez Scharf largely keeps the show in darkly humorous mode, though, and lets the whodunnit angle play out like a comic-leaning thriller (season two of The Tourist also comes to mind). Although that might seem a tricky tonal balance, it works not just in his hands, but with Nash Edgerton (brother of Joel, and director of Mr Inbetween, Gringo and The Square), Bronwen Hughes (Shantaram), Johnny Allan (The Devil's Hour) and Paddy Breathnach (another The Dry alum) helming. At one point, whether Gilbert, Dove and Emmy's project will be "a podcast that pretends to be about one thing but is really about something else" is raised — a fair comment in general, as regular listeners know. That's also an observation that applies to Bodkin itself, but knowingly. This is indeed a series about podcasters investigating a case, a parody of exactly that and an unpacking of the voyeurism behind the form in its true-crime guise. In addition, it's an exploration of the truth that little neatly boils down to the formula podcasts are chasing. It's a portrait of being caught between tradition and the future as well, which applies in a range of ways — and, especially of Dove, it's a character study. Bodkin is populated by everyone from singing blacksmiths (Ger Kelly, King Frankie) to entrepreneurs trying to set up a server farm (Charlie Kelly, Dublin Murders), and also an island of nuns and a camp of hippies. As becomes apparent early, at the core of much that's occurring usually sits fisherman Seamus Gallagher (David Wilmot, The Wonder). Scharf and his fellow writers have fleshed out their setting Parks and Recreation- and The Simpsons-style with an array of colourful characters that comprise any community, and have let comedy guide some of their choices. When it examines what drives Dove, Gilbert and Emmy as they get immersed deeper and deeper into a mystery that sees them witnessing yoga in a convent one day and hearing about the Good Friday agreement another, however, it is at its strongest. As Dove, Cullen turns in a multifaceted performance to build a series around. Given her raw, thoughtful and caustically amusing work, it's no surprise that that's where Bodkin heads. Forte starts off the show like he's wandered in from The Last Man of Earth, complete with goofy charm and bumbling certainty that Gilbert is on the right path, but is given room to lay bare the character's layers. Cara, too, gets the space to make Emmy much more than a sidekick. Among the supporting players, both Walley and Wilmot leave a considerable imprint. So does the show overall, despite taking its time to settle into a groove — and as a jump into scripted TV by Higher Ground, the production company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama (which also had a hand in 2023 movies Rustin and Leave the World Behind), it's an effective and quick-to-binge first leap. Check out the trailer for Bodkin below: Bodkin streams via Netflix. Images: Enda Bowe/Netflix © 2024.
Summer smells like sunscreen in your eyes, feels like sand between your cheeks and looks like old men in speedos. And while it mightn't be the most glamorous season, we wouldn't have it any other way. Put down the hair straightener and forego makeup, summertime weekends are made to be spent outside the city's confines – it's time to hit the beach once more. [caption id="attachment_591645" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Michelle Robinson.[/caption] BURLEIGH, GOLD COAST Downtown Burleigh has gone from the small-town fish and chips, thai takeaway and cold rock ice-cream I knew well to a hive of small bars, boutique shops, #cleaneating green juices, craft beers and hipsters on fixies. What happened and why, I don't know, but it's made apré beaching a whole lot more fun for 20 to 30-somethings. The fruit shop on James St sells those juices topped with fruit everyone has, The Pocket serves up delicious filled pitas for lunch and Ze Pickle, Bin 12 or Justin Lane are great places to go after dark. COOLANGATTA, GOLD COAST As far as my knowledge alludes me, Coolangatta is the only beach across the road from a cinema. So when the middle of the day hits and UV rating is simply too hot to handle, check the times and catch a blockbuster. We're always told to keep out of the sun in the middle of the day, so combine beach and movies and you've got yourself a relaxing day. If you're feeling extra adventurous and the conditions are right, swim your way around the headland to Rainbow Bay. [caption id="attachment_591646" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Andy Hay.[/caption] COOLUM, SUNSHINE COAST Not only does Coolum offer great surf on its patrolled beach, the surrounding restaurants and shops will keep you entertained long after the summer season ends. For a post-swim bite to eat try Harvest and Raw Energy, and if your sweet tooth is calling stop in at Gelato Mio which serves up delicious ice cream – try the mascarpone with pear and walnuts. If DIY dining is more your style, take a picnic to devour as you look over the beach from the adjacent park. Or, you could throw a few snags on one of the free BBQs and watch the waves roll in. [caption id="attachment_591647" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Flickr.[/caption] CURRUMBIN, GOLD COAST Currumbin is a favourite for it's small-town vibe that other beaches lack. Off the main drag, the small road is home to houses, small shops and cafes on one side and grass, dunes and beach on the other. Enjoy breakfast from the top floor of The Beach Shack, or grab a beer at Vikings Surf Club for panoramic beach views. Climbing Elephant Rock for your own Titanic moment is also a must. [caption id="attachment_591649" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Flickr.[/caption] KINGS BEACH, SUNSHINE COAST A jewel in the crown of the Sunshine Coast's beaches, Kings Beach is bit of a busy family spot, but nonetheless a great place to bake. Before laying your towel out, and if you make it up early enough, on Sunday mornings the Caloundra Street Fair markets are at Bulcock St until 1pm are worth a visit. A highlight is warm croissants from the bake-on-site French patisserie – heaven. For the young, or the young at heart, Kings Beach also has it's very own water park. You'd be crazy to not want to run through what is essentially a giant sprinkler. [caption id="attachment_591650" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Flickr.[/caption] MOOLOOLABA, SUNSHINE COAST The beauty of Mooloolaba not only lies in the pristine sands themselves. See and be seen strolling the well-landscaped Esplanade where you can pop into boutiques, grab a coffee with friends or enjoy a long lunch. Mooloolaba offers more than a beach day, but a day to be out and about socialising and shopping. But if your goal is to get away from the hustle bustle of city life, be sure to stroll south from Mooloolaba the point of The Spit. [caption id="attachment_591652" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Michael Dawes.[/caption] NOBBY BEACH, GOLD COAST One for those who like a beach less travelled. On my last visit there were four lifeguards just for us - drowning is not possible. Down the beach, next to the surf club is BSKT cafe. They serve up all sorts and cater to those only eating coyo, bee pollen and kale. Along the GC Highway is the main Nobby's strip and here you'll find tapas bars, boutique stores and The Smoothie Shack (yeah, that one the bikies love - live a little). So like Burleigh, this place has hip aprè beaching but with more space to lay your towel. From Nobby take the 15 minute walk south and climb North Burleigh headland. From here you get spectacular views of the GC skyline. [caption id="attachment_591755" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Petra Bensted.[/caption] TALLEBUDGERA CREEK INLET, GOLD COAST What many probably don't know is that just around the corner from the ever-getting-busier Burleigh is Tallebudgera Creek inlet. If you're a chump with navigation walk around Burleigh Headland until you find where Tallebudgera Creek meets the ocean – here are two generally quite empty surf-less beaches. Surf-less needn't mean boring – take the chance to relax without dumping waves (here's looking at you Kurrawa), re-teach yourself to float or challenge yourself to swim from one beach bank to the other. With the green forest of the headland, golden sand and bright blue ocean this truly is picturesque. TALLOW BEACH, BYRON BAY We've all been to main beach at Byron, but if you were local, wouldn't you want somewhere more, er, private? Popular with Byron's residents (and by popular we mean quiet, peaceful, serene), Tallow Beach is south of the lighthouse and backs onto total bushland. Bringing your own snacks is a must, and if you look closely, in the surrounding dunes the locals have created hidden tables and chairs to while the hours aways. Pure escape, pure cool. WOORIM, BRIBIE ISLAND Unsuspecting, Bribie Island's Woorim Beach is both beautiful and mostly flat. With Moreton Island situated 15km east, it creates a sort of wave break meaning swell never makes it above 1m high – hello baby waves. While there isn't too much happening on Bribie (except maybe a tea party with your nan, or someone else's nan), the surf club serves up a mean fisherman's basket and you can always cross to the inland side of the Island, hire a boat and cruise up and down Pumicestone Passage for the afternoon.
If you went to The Warehouse Project's first-ever Australian dates in 2024, then you experienced a slice of history, as one of the dance-music world's favourite events finally made the leap Down Under. The Manchester rave scene mainstay's Aussie debut clearly went well — so much so that dates have just dropped for a return visit in 2025. The Prodigy, Basement Jaxx, Fred again.., Skrillex and Happy Mondays have played it. De La Soul, Aphex Twin, Carl Cox and deadmau5, too. For dance music fans, and just music fans in general, The Warehouse Project's fame extends far past its UK home. For its second Australian trip, the event is again hitting up Sydney and Melbourne, this time across Thursday, April 24–Friday, April 25. [caption id="attachment_943879" align="alignnone" width="1920"] © Photography by Rob Jones for Khroma Collective[/caption] Melbourne's PICA will welcome The Warehouse Project for the second time; however, Sydney's event is taking place at Hordern Pavilion in 2025, after setting up shop at Munro Warehouse in Sydney Olympic Park in 2024. This year's events are one-day affairs in each city, too, rather than two nights apiece as happened last year. This remains a two-city tour, though, so if you're keen on hitting up The Warehouse Project in Australia and you live somewhere other than Sydney or Melbourne, you'll need to plan an interstate trip. The Manchester institution's Aussie debut in 2024 came after initially going international in 2023 in Rotterdam and Antwerp. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Warehouse Project (@whp_mcr) As for who'll be on the lineup this time, that's still to be revealed — but whoever does the honours, they'll follow on from Mall Grab, Bonobo, HAAi, Kelly Lee Owens, Paula Tape, dj pgz, Krysko, Effy, Jennifer Loveless and DJ Dameeeela in 2024. It was back in 2006 that The Warehouse Project first unleashed its club nights on its birthplace, kicking off in a disused brewery and then moving underneath Manchester's Piccadilly station, in a space that's also been an air-raid shelter — and also to a warehouse that dates back to the 1920s. Now, it calls former railway station Depot Mayfield home when it's on in its home city. The Warehouse Project Australia 2025 Thursday, April 24 — Hordern Pavilion, Sydney Friday, April 25 — PICA, Melbourne [caption id="attachment_943890" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mayfield Depot, Rcsprinter123 via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] The Warehouse Project returns to Australia across Thursday, April 24–Friday, April 25, 2025, with presale tickets from 12pm AEDT on Wednesday, January 22 and general sales from 11am AEDT on Wednesday, February 5 Head to the event's website for further details. Top image: Rob Jones for Khroma Collective.
If you've ever sipped lamington vodka, eaten a baklava croissant or tucked into a cookie pie, you'll know that mashing up two different types of foods and/or drinks is a gift to indecisive stomachs. Sometimes your tummy just doesn't know what it's hankering for — or it does, but it wants too many things at once to make a choice. The next culinary hybrid that's certain to help the next time you can't pick between multiple options: Latina and Old El Paso's new taco-flavoured ravioli. The two supermarket staple brands have teamed up on the limited-edition dinner offering and, yes, the result is exactly what it sounds like. You'll be tucking into Latina's beef ravioli, but made with Old El Paso's taco spice mix. And if you're not that fond of zesty dishes, you'll be pleased to know that this one is mild. The new ravioli is only available in Woolworths supermarkets for a short time, for RRP$8 a packet — and if you're wondering how to serve it, the two brands suggest pairing it with beans, corn kernels and a pasta sauce, popping it in the oven with cheese on top and turning it into a pasta bake. Obviously, just cooking it like you normally would Latina's pasta, slathering it with sauce and sticking a fork in is also an option. But you won't have to decide whether your tastebuds are screaming for Italian or Mexican — because you can have both. Latina and Old El Paso's taco-flavoured ravioli is available now at Woolworths supermarkets for RRP$8 a packet.
A 90s-set musical directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. A crime thriller starring Gal Gadot, Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds. Amy Poehler's latest stint behind the camera. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence teaming up in the newest film from The Big Short's Adam McKay. They're just some of the big new movies heading our way in 2021 — and they're all coming to Netflix, with the streaming platform revealing its slate of features for the year. Miranda's tick, tick…BOOM! will mark his filmmaking debut as a director, while Johnson plays an FBI profiler forced to team up with rival crims played by Gadot and Reynolds in Red Notice. As for Poehler, she's directing (and co-starring in) Moxie, about a 16-year-old fed up with the sexist attitudes at her high school. And the collaboration between DiCaprio, Lawrence and McKay — and Jonah Hill, Timothée Chalamet, Cate Blanchett and Meryl Streep, too — happens in Don't Look Up, about two astronomers trying to warn humanity that a comet is about to wipe out the earth. [caption id="attachment_796892" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Moxie. Colleen Hayes/NETFLIX © 2020[/caption] They're just some of the films on Netflix's lineup for 2021 — and if you can't wait to check them out, the streaming service has released a sneak peek that rounds up a heap of its other titles for the year, too. Thunder Force sees Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy play superheroes; western Harder They Fall features everyone from Idris Elba and Lovecraft Country's Jonathan Majors to Watchmen's Regina King and Atlanta's Zazie Beetz; and Escape From Spiderhead plunges Chris Hemsworth into a futuristic tale about experiments on inmates using emotion-altering drugs. Or, there's a remake of The Guilty, this time starring Jake Gyllenhaal; the third and final films in both the Kissing Booth and To All the Boys trilogies; The Power of the Dog, the latest movie from filmmaker Jane Campion; and Robin Robin, the newest release from Aardman Animation, featuring the voices of Gillian Anderson and Richard E Grant. Some flicks, like the Zendaya-starring romantic drama Malcolm & Marie, already have release dates. Plenty of others don't as yet, including zombie movie Army of the Dead, starring Dave Bautista; Blonde, a fictional portrait of Marilyn Monroe featuring Knives Out's Ana de Armas as the real-life figure; Halle Berry's directorial debut Bruised, about an ex-MMA fighter; and thriller O2, which starts with a woman waking up in a medical cryogenics unit that's no larger than a box. Either way, though, Netflix has announced that it'll be releasing at least one new movie a week for the entire year. More than a few of these titles might hit cinemas, too. The Vanessa Kirby-starring Pieces of a Woman already has in Australia, while The White Tiger, an adaptation of the Man Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name, will release on the big screen in January — as will fellow page-to-screen affair The Dig. And, some were originally supposed to screen in theatres, but have made the jump to streaming due to the pandemic, such as The Woman in the Window with Amy Adams. Whether Netflix's 2021 movies get a cinema run or not, they'll obviously pop up on the platform. So, expect a hefty list of star-studded flicks sitting in your streaming queue throughout the year — and making sure that you're still well-acquainted with your couch. Check out Netflix's trailer for its 2021 films below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9t86v_JMG0&feature=youtu.be New movies will hit Netflix every week throughout 2021 — head to the streaming platform for its current catalogue.
Fatcow was a beef-eating favourite in its original digs at Eagle Street Pier — and the aim is to repeat the feat now that it has moved to Fortitude Valley. It was back in late 2023 that Tassis Group announced that Fatcow on James Street, which was known as Fatcow Steak & Lobster during its CBD days, would return in 2024. It lost its previous site, where it had operated since December 2020 in the spot that was formerly home to fellow upscale steak joint Cha Cha Char, when the Brisbane CBD precinct was torn down to make way for an upcoming new $2.1-billion waterfront precinct. Now, since May 2024, the new Fatcow is welcoming in patrons. The restaurant has relaunched in the Fortitude Valley spot that Space Furniture and David Jones each used to call home. The design led by Allo Creative and Clui Design harks back to steak-slinging eateries in the mid-20th century, complete with a bar made out of solid marble. Patrons can also peer through a window to the chef's grill to see where the culinary magic happens. Two private dining rooms are also on the premises at Fatcow 2.0, but just eating at a booth here means stepping into your own world. Each one comes with a floor-to-ceiling curtain that screens off the rest of the restaurant. That's another luxe touch at the steakhouse's new digs. Also on the list: wagyu tasting boards and a gold-wrapped 400-gram rib fillet on the menu. Neither comes cheap; the first costs $285 for three types of steak and three sides, and the second — aka the Golden Fatcow — is $190 for a 150-plus-day grain-fed black angus cut from the Riverina region that's wrapped in gold leaf. Under Head Chef Garry Newton, a Fatcow alum who also has Herve's and Rich & Rare on his resume, the new Fatcow's signature dishes also span a $199 steak-and-lobster combo and the butcher's choice, which varies in price. If it wasn't already apparant, this is a treat yo'self type of restaurant. All up, the menu features more than 16 steaks. You can also tuck into mains such as wagyu burgers, buckwheat risotto and lamb shoulder. Caviar is among the options, as are oysters fresh from Brisbane's only live oyster tank, raw scallops and beef tenderloin tartare as entrees, and tank-fresh lobster. The restaurant is taking a 24-hour approach to seafood — that's how long, maximum, the journey from the trawler to your plate will be. As for dessert, choices include a chocolate tart, lime sorbet and basque cheesecake, plus ten cheeses that come served in 50-gram pieces. To drink, a 300-strong wine list combines local and international drops, and cocktails are also among the beverages. Images: Markus Ravik.
To say that artist, Danie Mellor's, background is interesting would be an understatement. He was born in Mackay, grew up between Scotland, Australia and South Africa before studying his passion for art at North Adelaide School of Art, the Australian National University and Birmingham Institute of Art and Design. Mellor's skills are vast as he produces prints, drawings, paintings and sculptures all with exceptional artistic skill. Mellor also has strong ties to his Indigenous heritage which is expressed in his artwork. His latest exhibition, Exotic Lies Sacred Ties, explores Australia's complex history and Mellor's great contribution to the national body of art. The showcase includes major pieces from public collections such as the Australian Museum, National Gallery of Art and many more. Have a look at the public program for more details. High school students are in luck as Mellor will be holding a masterclass just for you guys.
Grabbing a meal. Going to work. Eating at a restaurant with friends. Making a living cooking up a storm or waiting tables. We've all had a bite to eat at a cafe, and many of us have worked in hospitality — and we should all be able to enjoy both in a safe space. With tensions rising across the United States since the election of Donald Trump as the country's 45th President, a new initiative has emerged to ensure both patrons and employees can do just that. Sanctuary Restaurants provides resources to eateries to help ensure that people can dine and work in a discrimination-free environment, and to assist with supporting customers and staff that find themselves targeted. Establishments that join the movement — currently 64 at the time of writing — have a zero tolerance policy for sexism, racism, and xenophobia. More explicitly, they do not allow "any harassment of any individual based on immigrant/refugee status, race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation to occur in their restaurant". After signing up, they're advised to place a sign in their windows advertising their policy: "SANCTUARY RESTAURANTS: A Place At the Table for Everyone". While such an initiative should definitely be commended, as should the restaurants signing up and the effort to make sure that restaurants remain inclusive and welcoming for all, the fact that it is needed really says plenty about the current climate of hatred and fear festering around the globe. As long as something like this is necessary, here's hoping more places join in — and that the commitment to cultivating safe spaces continues to spread, including beyond America. Via MUNCHIES.
When The Favourite took a chapter of 18th-century history, filtered it through a witty and twisted sense of humour, and brought it all to life with lavish sets, luxurious costuming and a high-profile cast, it instantly attracted attention — and became one of the best films of 2018. Now, The Great is here to roll out the same format on the small screen, this time swapping English royalty for a famed Russian empress. And, sporting savage, satirical humour in spades, it works just as well. The moniker 'the Great' has popped up plenty of times in Russian history; however there's no doubting who it refers to in this instance: Catherine, formerly Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg of Prussia. As played by Elle Fanning (The Neon Demon, Mary Shelley, Galveston), she hasn't yet ascended to greatness when The Great begins. But, by the time the show's first episode finishes, she's firmly plotting her path. Sent to Russia to marry reigning emperor Peter III (The Favourite and True History of the Kelly Gang's Nicholas Hoult) and solve her family's money troubles, the educated and idealistic Catherine arrives in her new homeland with a romantic vision of life, her nuptials, her place in the kingdom and her adopted country in general — especially its treatment of women. Alas, instead of marital bliss and being regarded as an equal, she's soon betrothed to a vain, arrogant, brattish ruler who'd rather binge-drink vodka, shoot bears, throw parties and start wars to prove his manliness than spend any real time with his new wife. He's also the kind of guy who describes himself as possessing "a gentle heart and massive cock", then pauses to make sure his ever-present entourage of ass-kissing noblemen furnish him with praise and laughs. It's no wonder, then, that when Catherine describes her hopes and dreams for a tender and ecstatic wedding night, her caustic but loyal maid Marial (The Aeronauts' Phoebe Fox) only barely manages not to roll her eyes. The reality of the royal couple's first evening together is definitely no one's fantasy, with Peter thrusting away while he chats to his best friend Grigor (Bohemian Rhapsody and Top End Wedding's Gwilym Lee) about shooting ducks. Created and written by The Favourite's Oscar-nominated, BAFTA-winning co-scribe Tony McNamara — and based on the Australian playwright, screenwriter and director's 2008 Sydney Theatre Company stage production of the same name — The Great serves up acerbic laughs from the outset, and doesn't let the mood drop. That means sharp, sly and thoroughly self-aware dialogue, an irreverent and cheeky tone, and having ample fun with real-life details. Indeed, The Great's title card notes upfront that the show tells "an occasionally true story". The broad strokes of Catherine's life remain in place, including her progressive plans for Russia and her quest to topple her husband in a coup; however slavish devotion to history is far, far less important than dark comedy, laugh-out-loud lines, a willingness to get silly and viewing Imperial Russia as a farce. Entertaining, engaging and very easy to binge, The Great also benefits from pitch-perfect casting. In her first comedic role, Fanning is equally luminous, intelligent and calculating, especially when she's scheming her way to the top. But, while the series isn't called Peter III (or "no Peter the Great", as he's dubbed in one episode), Hoult constantly steals the show as the demanding and impetuous frat boy emperor. Also deserving attention: the delightfully sarcastic Fox, Lodge 49's Adam Godley as the manic Archbishop, Hoult's fellow Skins alum Sebastian de Souza as Catherine's approved lover, Iron Fist's Sacha Dhawan as her chief co-conspirator and Australian actress Belinda Bromilow as Peter's offbeat aunt. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5vLgpdXz0g All ten episodes of The Great's first season are available to stream via Stan in Australia and NeonTV in New Zealand. Top image: Ollie Upton, Hulu
Following its local premiere last year, Love Actually? The Musical Parody is set for an encore run — with dates confirmed for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The NSW premiere lands first at Sydney's Darling Quarter Theatre from November 27, before the production heads south to Melbourne's Athenaeum Theatre from December 5, then up to Brisbane Showgrounds from December 11. The show, based on the famous hit 2003 Christmas film, will return to Melbourne's Athenaeum Theatre from December 5, after its NSW premiere at Sydney's Darling Quarter Theatre from November 27, and a Queensland premiere season playing at Brisbane Showgrounds from December 11. The musical follows "nine quirky couples seeking love across the pond, the cheeky show delivers all the awkward meet-cutes, over-the-top grand gestures, and side splitting moments that fans crave." "This show is like Christmas dinner after a few too many champagnes — loud, ridiculous, and way too much fun. Whether you're obsessed with Love Actually, love to hate it, or just want some musical theatre laughs, Love Actually? The Musical Parody is pure festive chaos: outrageous jokes, over-the-top romance, and songs that'll have you humming into New Year," promoter Ashley Tickell said. "It takes all the bits you secretly giggle at in the movie and dials them up to 100. Grab your mates, a date, or your mum — this is a night out that you'll actually love! It's like wrapping yourself in tinsel and good vibes." Love Actually? The Musical Parody will boast all local casts, with auditions already underway. Tickets are on sale now. Images: Supplied.
Sometimes Apple TV+ dives into real-life crimes, as miniseries Black Bird did. Sometimes it mines the whodunnit setup for laughs, which The Afterparty winningly achieved. The family feuds of Bad Sisters, Servant's domestic horrors, Hello Tomorrow!'s retrofuturistic dream, the titular take on work-life balance in Severance — they've all presented streaming audiences with puzzles, too, because this platform's original programming loves a mystery. So, of course The Big Door Prize, the service's new dramedy, is all about asking questions from the outset. Here, no one is wondering who killed who, why a baby has been resurrected or if a situation that sounds too good to be true unsurprisingly is. Rather, they're pondering a magical machine and what it tells them about themselves. That premise isn't merely a metaphor for existential musings, although everyone in The Big Door Prize does go down the "what does it all mean?" rabbit hole. When the Morpho pops up in the small town of Deerfield, it literally informs residents of their true potential — for $2, their palm prints and social security number. Adorned with a butterfly symbol and glowing with blue light, the contraption looks like an arcade game. There's nothing to play, though, unless it is playing everyone who sits in its booth. Participants receive an also-blue business card for their troubles, proclaiming what they're supposed to be doing with their life in bold white lettering. Is it a bit of fun? A modern-day clairvoyant game? A gag? Somehow spot-on? Also, where did the machine come from? Who brought it to the local grocery store? Can it be trusted? The longer that folks share their existence with the Morpho, the more queries arise. As seen in the first three episodes that dropped on Wednesday, March 29, with the story then continuing weekly for the show's ten-episode first season — a second has just been greenlit as well — not everyone in Deerfield is initially fascinated with the locale's new gadget. The series opens as high-school history teacher Dusty Hubbard (Chris O'Dowd, Slumberland) turns 40, marking the occasion with that many gifts from his wife Cass (Gabrielle Dennis, A Black Lady Sketch Show) and teenage daughter Trina (Djouliet Amara, Devil in Ohio). Some presents he likes, such as the scooter and helmet. Others he's perplexed by, including the theremin. He's also baffled by all the talk about the Morpho, the new reason to head to Mr Johnson's (Patrick Kerr, Search Party) store. As school principal Pat (Cocoa Brown, Never Have I Ever) embraces her inner biker because the machine said so, and charisma-dripping restaurateur Giorgio (Josh Segarra, Scream VI) revels in being told he's a superstar, Dusty claims he's happy not joining in. Lines sprawl down the street in a town that only really has a main street, and a high school, as Deerfield's inhabitants are drawn in by the Morpho's promise: "Discover Your Life Potential". For someone who keeps saying he's sitting it out, Dusty sure does love obsessing over why everyone else is upending their routines because 80s-esque technology spat out their destiny. His parents announce that they're splitting, for instance, with his dad (Jim Meskimen, American Auto) pursuing male modelling and his mother (Deirdre O'Connell, Outer Range) heading to Europe after the machine advised that she's a healer. When Dusty points that his mum is already a doctor, it falls on deaf ears. So goes the entire town, making snap decisions and grabbing the opportunity to reinvent themselves, mix up lives that didn't ever seem like they'd change and reassess what they truly want. The Big Door Prize itself hasn't appeared out of nowhere, adapting MO Walsh's book of the same name. On-screen, it boasts David West Read as its creator — a writer and producer who knows a thing or two about pursuing alternate storylines thanks to penning stage musical & Juliet, which gives Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet a revisionist twist and continuation, and is also well-versed in small-town hijinks after winning an Emmy for Schitt's Creek. He's in far less overtly comic territory than the latter here; The Big Door Prize is still amusing, but rarely laugh-a-minute, although The Other Two delight Segarra could walk straight out of this and into Read's past hit. Still, this is also about a family disrupted while navigating small-town life, the assorted people who populate such spots, the rituals and gathering points that communities congregate around, and the quest to find significance in the cards you've been dealt. Making the most of its strong ensemble cast, each of the show's first eight episodes focuses on a particular Deerfield citizen and their potential, while keeping Dusty, Cass and their marriage in view, plus Trina's grief over her boyfriend's recent death and his identical twin Jacob's (debutant Sammy Fourlas) efforts to cope. All four earn their own chapter, as does Cass' mother and town mayor Izzy (Crystal Fox, Big Little Lies), Jacob's western-loving dad Beau (Aaron Roman Weiner, Suspicion), aforementioned NHL star-turned-Italian eatery owner Giorgio and school chaplain Father Rueben (Damon Gupton, Your Honor). This approach helps The Big Door Prize get not just philosophical but universal, because the Morpho's fortune-telling means different things to different people, yet sparks ripples that flow over everyone. While only bartender Hana (Ally Maki, Hacks) genuinely opts out, there's a tale around that as well. From the get-go, the Morpho nabs viewers' intrigue — and so do the strange cobalt dots, matching the machine's chosen palette, that appear early on Dusty's rear. There's no shortage of small mysteries in Deerfield, just as there's no lack of quirks (see: the town's staycation spot, aka "the number one nautical-based hotel in Deerfield", plus the canal and gondola inside Giorgio's eponymous restaurant). But like The Twilight Zone-meets-The Box but lighter, with nods to Schitt's Creek and sharing Wes Anderson's love of visually magnifying the everyday, The Big Door Prize gets its audience ruminating over two main questions. The first, in classic Apple TV+ mystery-style: what's really going on? The second: if a machine could advise how to best spend your days, possibly shattering your long-held dreams but maybe confirming your deepest desires, what would you do? In lieu of physically slipping into Dusty and co's shoes, then facing The Big Door Prize's scenario themselves, viewers should watch. Wanting to solve the show's key mystery makes this addictive viewing — and if you start thinking about Lost, or even the theory that Schitt's Creek was happening in purgatory, that's understandable. As written so convincingly across O'Dowd's expressive face, though, The Big Door Prize isn't about delivering instant answers. The likeable The IT Crowd, Bridesmaids and Moone Boy star plays a man who has never actively sought any himself, but just complied with the done thing, a path that's beginning to unravel. Easy proclamations now surround him; however, alongside his fellow townsfolk, he's learning that life's mundanities and enigmas alike don't fit neatly and nicely into any one box — and nor does this engaging series. Check out the trailer for The Big Door Prize below: The Big Door Prize streams via Apple TV+.
Eerie things happen in shipping containers when Realscape Productions is around. Across the country, the team has been creeping everyone out with its immersive installations for a few years now, with Séance, Flight, Eulogy and Coma each serving up different unnerving experiences. Sensory deprivation, simulating sitting in an aircraft cabin when events turn unsettling, wandering through a labyrinthine hotel, falling into a dream state in a bunk bed: they're all part of the Darkfield suite, terrifyingly so. Next up from the Realscape Productions crew comes a dance with sci-fi, this time in a 40-foot haulage truck. Future Cargo sees Darkfield's David Rosenberg join forces with UK-based choreographer Frauke Requardt on an otherworldly outdoor performance, which will make its Australian premiere at 2024's Adelaide Fringe from Friday, February 16–Saturday, March 17. The aim: combining a vast spectacle with intimacy, and putting on a dance show filled with shiny aliens and seduced humans that will lure in all kinds of audiences, even if watching dance isn't normally high on your to-do list. So, as attendees sit in the open air at twilight, the truck will roll up its side to reveal a machine, which starts a mysterious process. Cue power surges, electromagnetic waves and making contact, with viewers listening in via binaural sound while wearing headphones. "We've come together to develop Future Cargo because David and I are constantly fascinated by how to connect performance and audiences in unique ways in public space," explains Requardt. "By working with different architectural constraints and inviting audiences to discover bold and beautiful contemporary dance in and amongst them, we hope to ignite a passion for the arts in people who wouldn't usually watch dance, while also captivating those already in love with the art form." So far, only an Adelaide run is confirmed — but cross your fingers that Realscape will tour its latest production, as it has with Séance, Flight, Eulogy and Coma. "David and Frauke have developed a show unlike anything that has ever played in Australia before. We know Australians have developed an appetite for multidimensional experiences, and Future Cargo brings something new to Adelaide Fringe, creating a spectacle through dance, lighting, binaural sound and science fiction. We can't wait to watch Adelaide fall in love with a new way to experience dance at the Garden of Unearthly Delights come February," said Realscape Productions producer Amy Johnson. Future Cargo will premiere at Adelaide Fringe 2024 from Friday, February 16–Saturday, March 17 at the festival's Garden of Unearthly Delights — head to the fest website for further details and tickets. Images: Camilla Greenwell / Henry Curtis.
Everyone loves a comedy festival, but sometimes being so spoiled for comic choice isn't just amusing — it's overwhelming. That's where comedy festival showcases come in. They add laughs to the lulls between annual fests, plus they offer a bite-sized sample of the up-and-coming comedians you might not have seen live yet. Coming to Brisbane Powerhouse on Saturday, October 22, the Sydney Comedy Festival Showcase certainly promises both — serving up the brightest and most buzz-worthy performers from the 2022 event, which took place in the Harbour City earlier in the year. If it's highlights of hilarity you're after, then this is the place to get it. This year, Cam Knight, Luke Heggie, Mandy Nolan, Jacques Barrett and Cameron James are all on the bill, ready to give your funny bone a tickle. Also doing the honours: RAW Comedy winner Alexandra Hudson. Check them out now during side-splitting shows at 5pm and 8pm in the Powerhouse Theatre — and for just $39 — before putting their solo gigs on your must-see list for the 2022 festival circuit.
The building might be 97 years and heritage listed, but the coffee and belly-busting treats on offer at Kenilworth Country Bakery are anything but stale. This mecca of baked goods is located in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, and has a prodigious selection of filled, iced and glazed doughnut worthy of a Saturday morning road trip from Brisbane. There are the classic cinnamon-dusted, jam-filled and glazed morsels, but you can step into modern territory with doughy boys taking on the flavours of Golden Gaytimes, Tim Tams, and peanut butter and jelly. In addition to this, Kenilworth also does old-school bakery faves like meat pies, vanilla slices and ice cream heavy milkshakes. You could pair one of these decadent baked goods with a latte, but you may as well get your coffee in a doughnut. The bakery hollows out a doughnut, fills it with Nutella and then pours in a shot of espresso and milk. It's messy but worth it for the novelty. And then there's the OTT one-kilogram doughnut challenge that sent Kenilworth viral a few years ago. The cream-filled monster costs $20, but is free if you can finish it in under an hour. We suggest sticking to the regular doughnuts so you don't ruin any future visits.
All killer, no filler: when it comes to HBO comedy Barry, that firmly applies. The premise is pure TV gold, following an assassin who'd rather be an actor, but finds it hard to cut ties with his murderous gig. Making it even better across two seasons now, with a third set to drop in April: the pitch-perfect casting of former Saturday Night Live great Bill Hader as the eponymous hitman. Here's the setup: when Hader's Barry Berkman heads from Cleveland to Los Angeles for his job, he discovers a previously unknown passion for acting after he stumbles into a class held by veteran thespian Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler, The French Dispatch). The catch? Barry kills people for money, and that isn't a line of work that you can leave easily, especially when you become caught in the Chechen mafia's violent and deadly dramas. As SNL fans will already know, Hader is an on-screen treasure, but he's never been better than he is in this part-comedy, part-tragedy series. Barry's struggle mightn't seem that relatable on paper, but it proves exactly that with Hader in the role. Also excellent is Winkler, expectedly. And, similarly great is Bill & Ted Face the Music's Anthony Carrigan as Chechen gangster Noho Hank — who befriends Barry, isn't that skilled at the whole crime business and quickly becomes one of the most memorable characters to ever grace a TV series. It's no wonder that fans have been hanging out for the third season of this Emmy-winner, which finally arrives in April — on Monday, April 25 in Australia via Binge, in fact — after a three-year gap since season two. Based on the just-dropped first teaser trailer, Barry's quest to go on the straight and narrow — and pursue acting — is still as chaotic as ever. In fact, this season will focus on the other factors, including his own psyche, that saw Barry become a killer to begin with. Another big part of the new episodes, according to HBO: fellow characters trying to make the right choices. Also returning are Stephen Root (The Tragedy of Macbeth) as Barry's former handler Monroe, who is in hiding; Sarah Goldberg (The Night House) as Barry's girlfriend Sarah, who is also an actor; D'Arcy Carden (The Good Place) as a fellow acting student; and Sarah Burns (Werewolves Within) as Detective Mae Dunn. And Hader isn't just phenomenally excellent on-screen in Barry — he also co-created it, has directed a heap of episodes, and also co-wrote others. Check out the first teaser trailer for Barry season three below: Barry's third season will start streaming via Binge in Australia from Monday, April 25. In NZ, look out for the new season via Neon. Top image: Merrick Morton/HBO.
Whether you're after world-renowned cocktails, bevs with panoramic views or elegant twists on classic tipples, there's a bar in Singapore that caters to every whim and mood. The city's multitude of bars shine at crafting inventive drinks that highlight local flavours and showcase the creativity and diversity of its multicultural population. A night out in the city doesn't have to burn a hole in your pocket — with the help of Singapore Tourism, we've rounded up some top-notch happy hour deals at popular bars around Singapore, so you can sip and sit back without worrying about your wallet. At the time of publishing, 1 SGD is equal to about 1.14 AUD. [caption id="attachment_981032" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Elephant Room[/caption] The Elephant Room Step into the vibrant world of Little India at The Elephant Room. Ranked as one of Asia's 100 Best Bars, the cocktail bar in Chinatown showcases the flavours, aromas and culture of Singapore's Little India district. The drinks menu includes bold, spice-forward cocktails inspired by the area, as well as Indian twists on classic drinks and a selection of spirits from India. Jothi's Flower Shop is named after the iconic store that has served the community for over 50 years, while Buffalo Road recreates the gin and tonic using native ingredients flown in from India. There are even cocktails derived from Indian cuisine, like the Briyani, Chicken Curry and Spiced Crab Rasam. If you prefer your food in more solid form, pair your drink with one of the naan pizzas or small share plates. Between 5–7pm every day, you can sample any of the signature concoctions for only 20 SGD. Jigger & Pony If you're visiting Singapore, you can't leave without having a drink at Jigger & Pony. The esteemed bar has been featured in the top ten of Asia's 50 Best Bars and listed as one of The World's 50 Best Bars for the past six years. A themed cocktail list is released each year, presented in a 70-page menu-magazine (or "menuzine"). Some of the drinks for this year are the Smashing Sundae with gin, vodka, fernet, melon, green tea, shiso and vanilla ice cream; Ugly Tomatoes with gin, tomatoes, kummel and elderflower; Strawberry Fields with tequila and cold-extracted strawberry; and Champagne Ramos Fizz with gin, cream, lemon, vanilla, bread, port and champagne. Happy hour is available daily from 6–7.30pm and includes a cocktail of the month or one of three signatures for 19 SGD, wine for 14 SGD and beer for 12 SGD. Morton's The Steakhouse Next up on the cocktail tour, we're travelling stateside. Morton's The Steakhouse is a popular American chain with over 55 locations in the US and eight locations internationally. The Singapore outpost is situated at the Mandarin Oriental hotel, right by Marina Bay. Stop in for Power Hour between 5–7pm during the week for 12 SGD beers, 20 SGD wines and 19 SGD cocktails. If you order the signature MORtini, you'll also get to munch on a complimentary filet mignon sandwich before you head out for the night. [caption id="attachment_981855" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Store[/caption] The Store Now that you've had a touch of glitz and glam, it's time to go hip and homey at The Store. Hidden behind an unassuming teal door, the laidback bar feels like you're sipping in the elegant living room of your coolest friend. Drinks include accessible and elevated cocktails such as the Clamatoberry with tequila, clarified clamato, sherry, strawberry and umami bitters; Shibuya Sour with whisky, sake, elderflower, yuzu and wasabi; and Prickly Pearloma with mezcal, Ancho Reyes Verde, pear puree and grapefruit soda. Drop in between 4–6pm on Tuesday–Saturday for 11 SGD cocktails and appetisers. Southbridge For panoramic vistas across Singapore, head on up to Southbridge. The rooftop bar is perched next to the Singapore River, with views from Parliament House to Marina Bay Sands and Raffles Place. Southbridge's happy hour is perfectly timed between 5–8pm on Monday–Thursday, so you can enjoy the sunset as you sample oysters with a range of toppings for 23 SGD and sip on glasses of sparkling for 16 SGD, spirits from 12 SGD and buckets of Singapore Lager for 78 SGD. You're in for a treat if you visit on a Sunday, as the happy hour deals run all day. Hopscotch With three central locations across Singapore (Gardens by the Bay, Gillman Barracks and Capitol Arcade) Hopscotch is a convenient option for a refreshing drink after a long day of exploring. The casual venue pours inventive cocktails and shooters inspired by the city, incorporating local flavours such as pandan, kaffir lime, calamansi, mangosteen, gula melaka, milo and even savoury bak kut teh (pork and herb broth). The happy hour runs from 5–8pm every day, with wine, beer and house spirits starting at under 10 SGD, and all cocktails priced at 18 SGD. Book your Singapore holiday now with Flight Centre. Images courtesy of Singapore Tourism Board, The Store and The Elephant Room.
A soon-to-be-released app is promising a brand new superpower: reading at the speed of light. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but it is posing some rather extraordinary possibilities – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in 77 minutes, War and Peace in ten hours and Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time (all 3 million words) in two days and twelve hours. You might assume that Spritz, as it’s named, would deliver such miracles via watered-down, abridged versions of the classics. But that's not the case. The user still reads every single word — just at a much faster pace than most of us thought was possible. But how? Rather than presenting books in the page-by-page format that we’ve come to accept as gospel, Spritz delivers them one word at a time. The average university student reads at a pace of about 200-400 words per minute, but with the app (and some practice), this can bump up to 500 or even 1,000. Check it: That was 250wpm. Think you can do 350wpm? 500wpm is below. If you're not dealing, look away for a while; you may find your brain adapts scary-fast. Its success depends on the existence of an 'Optimal Recognition Point' (ORP), also known as a 'fixation point', which is found just to the left of the middle of any word. When we read, we unconsciously jump from one of these to another. So Spritz gives us a speed injection by highlighting ORPs in red. This trick differentiates the app from previous speed-reading tools that have utilised the one-word-at-a-time format, such as Velocity and Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP). Spritz is bound for the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Samsung Gear 2 watch. It's been in development for three years and, now that it’s ready for take-off, its creators are looking for developers, technicians and database experts. If you’ve been looking for a reason to move to Utah, here’s your chance. Via Huffington Post.
Food is food and booze is booze, but both of these glorious gifts from the heavens are always made better if the surrounds are designed to punch you in the face with panache, and then gently guide you through your experience in a habitat of nice things. Last night, the Eat Drink Design Awards took place in Melbourne to celebrate the very best of hospitality interiors from Australia and New Zealand. Top gong for Best Café Design went to Higher Ground in Melbourne, with design team DesignOffice being lauded by judges for "considerable restraint in defining the space, creating a host of experiences at different levels" where "each occupant is rewarded with a different voyeuristic perspective on the gathered crowd." The Best Bar Design went to Adelaide this year, with bin-alley turned log cabin booze vendor Pink Moon Saloon taking out the top prize. Judges praised the bar for being completely sustainable, which can be taken down and returned to its former function at any time, and by the fact the design by Sans-Arc Studio "taps into that deep Australian memory of long-forgotten cubby houses and sheds." Heston Blumenthal's first permanent digs in Australia, Dinner by Heston in Melbourne, clinched the award for Best Restaurant Design, with the judges frothing on the feeling that "you are somewhere special, and special things are about to happen." Praise went to designers Bates Smart for "eschewing the brittle formality that can accompany the high-end gastronomic experience," and instead aiming for something that is "equal parts theatrical and delightful." Best Retail Design went to Lune Croissanterie in Fitzroy, crafter by the team from Studio Esteta, and Pink Moon Saloon took out their second gold in the Best Identity Design Category. Sydneysiders featured heavily in the shortlists, but didn't take any top awards this year. Il Bacaro in Melbourne was also inducted into the Hall of Fame, with the team from Chris Connell Design taking their place among the antipodean design legends. Have a squiz at the sexiest places to eat and drink.
In an ironic makeover, a former Chicago meatpacking plant and slaughterhouse has found a new purpose as the city's first self-sustaining, vertical farm. Located in Chi-Town's Union Stock Yards, the 93,500 square foot brick building once specialised in mass-producing red meat - one of the least environmentally-friendly industries out there. Now, it is a sci-fi-like space dedicated to non-waste-producing urban farming. Projects inside 'The Plant' include a tilapia fish farm, beer and Kombucha tea breweries, aquaponic farms which harvest vegetables, and a mushroom garden. The Plant will also host to a group of bakers and caterers that will work together in a communal kitchen area. Upcoming projects include 'living' walls, and rooftop gardens. All of these endeavors have taken up a zero net waste policy, made possible by an interconnecting indoor ecosystem of sorts. The used grains from the beer brewery will be used as fish-food for the tilapia; the waste produced by the fish will nourish the mushroom garden and hydroponic plants; those plants will clean the water, which may be cycled back up to the fish tanks. Initially aided by a combined heat and power system, as well as an anaerobic digester, the Plant will be entirely self-sustaining. The project hopes to be taken off the power grid in just a few years. By the end of this year, the Plant hopes to have five rentable tenant spaces, and its renewable energy system up and running by next June. By 2016, the building is set to be fully functional, creating 125 neighbourhood jobs, and keeping over 10,000 tons of food waste out of landfills each year. Human waste is an obvious problem, says Melanie Hoeskstra, the Plant's director of operations. The renovations made to the Plant are workable in any old building: “It’s not a perfect system, but it’s really close," she says of the Plant. Sounds like city planners should take a note or two.
Next time you feel like escaping from it all, soaking in greenery-filled views and spending time next to a national park, you don't have to forgo trips to the bar to sip cocktails, too. Opening on Wednesday, September 1 in Beechmont in the Gold Coast hinterland, and neighbouring Lamington National Park, Hazelwood Estate is the new Scenic Rim spot that combines cosy comforts — think: cabins with fireplaces and private verandahs — with an onsite lounge, restaurant and bar. If it's countryside bliss that you're after, the retreat is located on a 75-acre wagyu and polo farm. Hills stretch out in the background through Beechmont and Binna Burra, providing picturesque surroundings — and to even get into the estate, you need to enter a passcode at the gate. Sleep-wise, guests can choose between 17 king farm cabins or three luxury pavilions, with the former including rain showers and the latter decked out with freestanding baths. Whichever you pick, you won't have much company around the place, with only 44 guests accommodated in total. When it comes to grabbing a bite and a beverage, Hazelwood Estate is home to The Paddock restaurant, which boasts Cameron Matthews (ex-Spicers Group) as chef-in-residence. Showcasing local products, including from the venue's own market garden and beehives, is the big focus here. The food menu spans dishes such as beef tartare, camel milk gnocchi with brown butter and coal-grilled beef with salt baked potato — and for breakfast, there's a farmer's platter that comes with black pudding pancakes, red onion jam and lardo. The Paddock also features the estate's cocktail bar, which spills out onto a terrace with views out over the valley — and serves up drinks that hero seasonal ingredients. Or, you can choose from sommelier Luis Buchan's wine list, with Australian and European drops getting pride of place. Aussie beers are also on offer, including an exclusive New England-style lager from Victorian craft brewery Edge Brewing Project that's only available onsite. Also part of the Hazelwood Estate spread: The Club House, as decked out in lounges for lazing around by the fireplace; Spa by Hazelwood, should you be hankering for a facial, massage, scrub or wrap; and a range of activities such as wagyu tastings, market garden tours, horse rides and guided bushwalks. Unsurprisingly, you'll be treating yo'self if this sounds like your idea of a scenic and relaxing vacation, with cabins starting at $699 per night for two people. Find Hazelwood Estate at 422 Binna Burra Road, Beechmont. For bookings and further information, head to the resort's website.
With metropolitan Melbourne currently subject to strict stay-at-home orders until at least mid-August, the city's cinemas have all gone dark — again. But, as it usually does at this time of year, the Melbourne International Film Festival will still be serving up an 18-day feast of movies for Melburnians to enjoy, this time from the comfort of their homes. Cinephiles around the rest of the country will be able to check out MIFF's 2020 program, too, with the festival going both virtual and national with a lineup it's calling MIFF 68 1/2. After cancelling the fest's physical event months ago, back when the first COVID-19 lockdowns were going into effect, the annual showcase of cinema will deliver a sizeable and impressive online program between Thursday, August 6–Sunday, August 23, which is when the festival would've run if it had forged ahead in-person. Mirroring the fest's physical structure as much as is possible in a digital format, that includes exciting opening night, centrepiece and closing night screenings — as well as other program spotlight titles, a selection of world premieres, and movies that have had film buffs talking at prestigious international festivals. In total, 113 features and shorts are on offer, spanning flicks from 56 countries. So, if you were wondering why you might need almost three weeks to work your way through the program, now you understand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRUWVT87mt8 It all kicks off with Kelly Reichardt's First Cow, one of the very best movies of the past year — and a hit everywhere from Telluride to Berlinale. Stepping back to 19th-century America, the Certain Women director spins the story of a cook (John Magaro) and a Chinese entrepreneur (Orion Lee) who start an illicit but highly profitable business making delicious biscuits using milk stolen direct from the titular animal (the first in their region, hence the name) in the dark of night. It's also one of the 49 percent of MIFF 68 1/2's films that's made by at least one female director. MIFF viewers can also look forward to Peter Pan reimagining Wendy, the long-awaited next film from Beasts of the Southern Wild's Benh Zeitlin, which sits in the fest's centrepiece spot. Wrapping things up is closing night's Ema, from Jackie director Pablo Larrain — with his frequent star Gael García Bernal featuring alongside newcomer Mariana Di Girolamo, and the narrative set in Chile's dance world. Also in the high-profile camp: the Aubrey Plaza-starring psychodrama Black Bear, about a filmmaker who gets involved with another couple's squabbles; the Tilda Swinton-narrated, visually stunning Last and First Men, as directed by late film composer Jóhann Jóhannsson; Mogul Mowgli, with Riz Ahmed playing an aspiring British-Pakistani rapper forced to grapple with a sudden illness; and Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt), a queer Aussie rom-com with a ghostly component. From the documentary selection, there's also this year's Sundance US Grand Jury Prize-winner Boys State, which experiments with democracy from the perspective of teenage boys; On the Record, detailing and exploring the allegations against Def Jam mogul Russell Simmons; and 9to5: The Story of a Movement, which sees this year's American Factory Oscar-winners Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar chronicle the fight to end gender discrimination in the workplace. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFFvje2A2vE As always with the consistently super-sized MIFF, the list goes on — with Polish drama Corpus Christi, US black comedy Shiva Baby and the distinctively animated Kill It and Leave this Town on the bill as well. So is award-winning documentary Welcome to Chechnya, about the persecution of queer Chechens, and Maddy the Model's insight into the life of Madeline Stuart, a Brisbane-born model with Down syndrome. Staying local, Aussie film fans can reassess Captain Cook's arrival through the eyes of the country's First Nations population via Looky Looky Here Comes Cooky, and watch the Karrabing Film Collective latest work, Day in the Life. If you really feel like settling in for the long haul, Mark Cousins' Women Make Film: A New Road Trip Through Cinema spends 14 hours diving deep into female-directed cinema (and 183 female filmmakers, in fact), while the four-part City So Real surveys Chicago's 2019 mayoral elections. And, if that's not enough, a program of 44 short films will screen for free — and, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Aussie comedy Death in Brunswick, MIFF 68 1/2 is hosting a virtual table read of the movie's script. MIFF 68 1/2 runs from Thursday, August 6–Sunday, August 23. For further details and to buy online tickets from 9am on Friday, July 17, visit the festival's website.
Summer is fast approaching, and you know what that means: warmer weather, fewer layers. Although it seems like thongs and shorts become the uniform of the season for many, the style-conscious woman saves those for the beach. This may be the most exciting time of year for fashion, with all the bright colours, light fabrics and fun shapes. And it looks like it's going to be a good season for all of those things. Here at Concrete Playground, we've rounded up some of the best current looks for every taste. We've also got a style guide for men. Here it is over here. Top image by Oroton. CLASSIC Offering a mix of both ladylike and masculine looks, this season offers the traditional dresser something different. Minimalism has been a huge theme this season, but not necessarily when it comes to length. Think classic styles, clean shapes and funky prints. Matchy-matchy Suits Popping up in fun prints and wearable colours such as navy, pink and white, summer suits are finding their ways to more places than the office. If you're not feeling the pants, these colourful combos can be found in skirt and short options for a warmer weather alternative. Mix them up with a fun printed blouse, roll up the sleeves and throw on a fedora for an instant cool-girl touch. Images: Street Style from PFW ’13 by Victoria Adamson Suit from Dianne Von Furstenberg’s AW 13/14 collection. Catwalking Street Style Stripes at Paris Fashion Week by Lee Oliveira Full Skirts If the weather has you feeling extra cheery, try out fuller, mid-length skirts and dresses in flirty florals, girly ginghams and preppy pinstripes. Throw on some stilettos and cat-eye sunnies if you feel like channelling a little Hollywood glamour. Images: Stylist and fashion editor Viviana Volpicella in an Equipment blouse and Stella Jean skirt at Men’s Fashion Week in Milan by Lee Oliveira Marine Deleeuw modelling mary Katrantzou’s Spring 2014 RTW by Marcus Tondo Street Style at MBFWA ’13 by Diego Zuko Sleek Chic While last season was all about colour blocking, this is the time to clear your slate. Simple, well-tailored pieces in white, black or pastel are anything but boring. Go for the monochromatic edge by pairing similar coloured accessories and shoes with your clothes. Images: Street Style at Milan Fashion Week 2013 by Lee Oliveira Look from Camilla and Marc’s SS 13/14 collection by Breakfast With Audrey Sienna Miller in Carven at the BFI Gala Dinner by RCFA TRENDY For those who like to keep things current, there are some playful new looks that have gracefully transitioned from the catwalk to the sidewalk. Crop Tops The ultimate staple this season, these fun little numbers have matured beyond denim shorts. Try a crop top with a draped suit jacket and a high waisted, mid-length skirt for a vampy look. Or, keep it casual with slouchy trousers and flat sandals. The possibilities really are endless. Images: Street Style from MBFWA ’13 in Sydney by Petra Rudd A new suit from Ginger & Smart’s SS 13/14 collection. Getty Images and Mark Metcalfe Blogger Margaret Zhang of Shine by Three at MBFWA ’13 in Sydney Petra Rudd Slouchy Trousers The popular harem-style pants have gotten a more flattering update this season. Designers have done away with the drop-crotch yet maintained the delightful flow. In tailored shapes and sleek fabrics, these comfy pants have made their way from the beach to the streets. By the end of this season you’ll have forgotten what skinny jeans are. Images: Organic by John Patrick Spring 2014 RTW collection by Imaxtree and Alessandro Luciani BCBG Max Azria SS 13/14 RTW by Vogue UK Blogger Zanita Morgan of Zanita in Cue Clothing pants. Photo by Rebecca See-through Sheers Transparency was a huge theme on runways all over this season, especially in Australia. See-through tops and cut-out frocks from the likes of Karla Spetic to Dior are drawing attention to what is (or isn't) underneath. If you're bold enough to test this trend, you better be wearing your best knickers. Images: Street style during New York Fashion Week Spring 2013 by Mr Newton Sheer panelling from Karla Spetic’s SS 13/14 RTW collection by Lucas Dawson for Vogue Australia Actress/Dancer Julianne Hough in Jenny Packham at the 2013 Emmy Awards by Getty Images MAVERICK This season has seen some pretty out-there stuff. Whether with boudoir-to-boulevard ensembles or striking sunnies, those who are aching to stand out on the streets won't have a problem catching stares. Silky Separates We’ve all been guilty of making a Sunday morning coffee run or two in some sort of pyjama article. With designer approval, fashionistas are now strutting the streets in full-on getups. Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton have sent pyjama-inspired separates and chemises down the catwalk in sultry silks and satins. If you’d feel ridiculous in a matching polka dot blouse and pant combo, try just the blouse over a more structured skirt or pant. Images: Blogger Nicole Warne of Gary Pepper Girl in ASOS by Carin Olsson Edie Campbell modelling for Marc Jacobs’ Fall/Winter 2013 RTW collection Joanna Hillman, Market Editor at Harper's Bazaar by Beauty Frizz Voluminous Sleeves Futuristic with a tinge of '80s, the big shoulder look is not for the faint of heart. Last season we saw sharp shapes, but this season's silhouette is much more giving, with a softer, airy look. Pair a blouse with a mini skirt or try a dress for some serious statement making. Images: Alice McCall SS 13/14 by Lucas Dawson for Vogue Australia Connie Cao of K is for Kani. Photo by Rowena Ellery SS 13/14 at MBFWA 2013 by Getty Images Obnoxious Sunnies We’ve seen sunnies in all sorts of sizes and shapes, from round to rectangular. Now, circular and cat-eye frames are getting some serious makeovers in bold patterns, coloured lenses and dimensional flowers. Images: Elle Fanning in Karen Walker’s ‘Siouxsie’ shades. By FameFlynet Look by Shakuchi ‘s SS 13/14 collection at MBFWA ’13. Getty Images Streetstyle. By Style Creeper
The tradition of the 'last meal' is a complex one. In early Europe, the gesture functioned as an act of appeasement — a small token to ward off the spirit of the accused haunting its executioners. In modern times, the act is somewhat less superstitious. A little sweetener to the incalculable moral dilemma of corporal punishment. This is what NZ-born, Brooklyn-based photographer Henry Hargreaves sought to explore in No Seconds, his series of eerie re-creations of those final bites taken by America's most wanted. At a glance, the 12 visually rich photographs seem harmless enough. The shots of chicken and peas resemble something your mother might make you on a trip back home, and the steak and eggs are reminiscent of a meal picked up at a country diner. Of course, most plates are full of comfort food; the same kind of thing you could pick up one particularly hungover morning, or devour with a hint of shame at night. This empathy is exactly what's so worrisome about the series. With the camera positioned above each meal, Hargreaves invariably puts you in the seat of the killer. He forces you to reminisce about home-cooked meals or how much you love fresh strawberries mere moments before your eye wanders to the label reading "John Wayne Gacy ... Rape, 33 counts of murder". In an interview for the exhibition catalogue, Hargreaves said he wanted "the viewer to think of [the prisoner] as a person for a moment instead of them being anonymous". "It's a subject that people can relate to and are curious about," he said. "We all eat and we all die." Of course, the circumstances do differ. The series is further complicated by the fact the tradition may be on the way out in some places. In 2011, Texas — a state well-known for its continued support of the death penalty — put an end to last meals claiming it a waste of taxpayer funds. A premise made complicated by inmates such as Victor Feguer. Hung in 1963 for kidnap and murder, Feguer asked for just a single olive with its pit. Apparently, he thought it might grow into an olive tree from inside his body and hoped it would make use of him as a symbol of peace. Regardless of your politics, the photographs are definitely food for thought. See the series in full at Hargreaves' website. Via Buzzfeed.
It has been 12 years since RuPaul's Drag Race first premiered in the US, and its mission to unearth the next drag superstars shows no signs of stopping. Currently, the original series is reaching the pointy end of its thirteenth season, while international versions also exist in the UK — also hosted by RuPaul — plus Thailand, Holland, Chile and Canada. Next, it's finally making the leap to Australia and New Zealand. RuPaul's Drag Race already airs locally, but now it's being made here as well. The eight-part RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under will focus on Aussie and NZ drag queens battling for supremacy, and will air on Stan in Australia and TVNZ OnDemand in New Zealand. That was announced back in January; however, now you can mark your calendars for the show's debut on Saturday, May 1. While not all overseas iterations of Drag Race are hosted by RuPaul, RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under definitely is. RuPaul is also taking on judging duties, alongside show veteran Michelle Visage and Australian comedian Rhys Nicholson. If you're wondering just who'll be competing, too, that was unveiled back in March during the 2021 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Ten contenders will strut their stuff for drag supremacy, spanning seven Australians and three New Zealanders. So, prepare to see plenty of Art Simone from Geelong, Melbourne's Karen from Finance, and Sydney's Coco Jumbo, Etecetera Etcetera and Maxi Shield. Newcastle's Jojo Zaho and Perth's Scarlet Adams round out the Aussie queens, while Auckland's Kita Mean, Anita Wigl'it and Elektra Shock comprise the NZ contingent. Fans already know the format, which features fashion challenges, workroom dramas and lip sync battles aplenty. If you're a newcomer to all things Drag Race, you'll watch these Australian and NZ competitors work through a series of contests to emerge victorious, and join the likes of US contenders Jinkx Monsoon, Sasha Velour and Sharon Needles in being crowned the series' winner. Until next month hits, you can check about the RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under cast reveal video below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSLPdMi0b8U&feature=youtu.be RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under will start streaming via Stan and TVNZ from Saturday, May 1, with new episodes airing weekly. Top image: RuPaul's Drag Race.
Not all that long ago, the idea of getting cosy on your couch, clicking a few buttons, and having thousands of films and television shows at your fingertips seemed like something out of science fiction. Now, it's just an ordinary night — whether you're virtually gathering the gang to text along, cuddling up to your significant other or shutting the world out for some much needed me-time. Of course, given the wealth of options to choose from, there's nothing ordinary about making a date with your chosen streaming platform. The question isn't "should I watch something?" — it's "what on earth should I choose?". Hundreds of titles are added to Australia's online viewing services each and every month, all vying for a spot on your must-see list. And, so you don't spend 45 minutes scrolling and then being too tired to actually commit to watching anything, we're here to help. From the latest and greatest to old favourites, here are our picks for your streaming queue from November. NEW STUFF TO WATCH NOW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7QpnvmMmag&feature=emb_logo PALM SPRINGS It wasn't the first movie to play with temporal trickery; however, Groundhog Day has a lot to answer for. Films about folks stuck in a loop, repeating the same day or events over and over, now almost comprise their own genre — but, wearing its allegiance to the aforementioned Bill Murray-starring comedy on its sleeves, Palm Springs is one of the best of them. Here, Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Andy Samberg plays Nyles, who has ventured to the titular location with his girlfriend Misty (Meredith Hagner, Brightburn) to attend a friend's nuptials. He gets drunk, makes a speech and a scene, befriends fellow wedding guest Sarah (Cristin Milioti, Modern Love) and disappears into a cave, warning the latter not to follow. When dawn breaks, it's the same day again. Then variations on the same events happen once more, and they just keep repeating over and over. Also featuring an initially intense JK Simmons (21 Bridges) as another ceremony attendee, Palm Springs has a wealth of fun with its concept, and becomes one of the year's most enjoyable movies in the process. Produced by Samberg alongside his Lonely Island colleagues Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, directed by feature first-timer Max Barbakow and written by Lodge 49's Andy Siara, it also finds its own way to grapple with the time-loop genre's usual elements — the repetition that feels like being stuck in purgatory, and the existential malaise that comes with it — in a smart and funny rom-com that boasts particularly great performances from Samberg and Milioti. Palm Springs is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv-Mb4vTxj0 WE ARE WHO WE ARE Two on-screen tales about American teenagers in Italy. Two floppy-haired male leads oozing with uncertainty and yearning. One filmmaker. After Call Me By Your Name, Luca Guadagnino returns to familiar territory with HBO miniseries We Are Who We Are — and if its star Jack Dylan Grazer reminds you of the now ultra-famous Timothée Chalamet, that's completely unsurprising; in 2018's Beautiful Boy (not directed by Guadagnino), the former even played a younger version of the latter's character. But don't go mistaking Guadagnino's eight-part TV show for a mere or lazy rehash of the director's past work. Following two neighbouring 14-year-olds who live on a US army base with their enlisted parents, including Grazer's newly arrived loner, We Are Who We Are once again taps into universal themes about finding one's own identity and place in the world, and navigating affairs of the heart as well, but it definitely has its own story to tell. Also starring first-timer Jordan Kristine Seamón, plus Chloë Sevigny (Queen & Slim), Alice Braga (The New Mutants), Scott Mescudi (aka Bill & Ted Face the Music's Kid Cudi), Francesca Scorsese (daughter of iconic filmmaker Martin Scorsese) and Tom Mercier (Synonyms), this patient yet involving series once again boasts Guadagnino's eye for gorgeous and revealing imagery, though, with every intoxicating shot (and every camera angle and placement used for each shot) luring viewers in. We Are Who We Are is available to stream via SBS On Demand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BVoYKwTc4E AUNTY DONNA'S BIG OL' HOUSE OF FUN 2019's I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson was the best sketch comedy of that year. In 2020, the equivalent title goes to Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun. If you're familiar with Australian comedy troupe Aunty Donna, then you'll know what to expect. Writers and performers Mark Samual Bonanno, Broden Kelly and Zachary Ruane, director and writer Sam Lingham, filmmaker Max Miller and composer Tom Armstrong have been treating audiences to absurdist gags, satire, wordplay and songs since forming in 2011 — but now the group has channelled all of its silliness and surreal gags, and its astute ability to make fun of daily life in a smart yet ridiculous way, into a six-part Netflix series. Bonanno, Kelly and Ruane star as themselves, and housemates. Each episode revolves around a theme, starting with the search for a fourth member of their household when they decide to turf their annoying talking dishwasher (voiced by Flight of the Conchords' Kristen Schaal). There's nothing too over-the-top for Aunty Donna, or too trivial, including treasure hunts, an out-there recreation of Ellen DeGeneres' talk show, a pitch-perfect takedown of trendy barber shops to a parody of male posturing when the guys turn their house into a bar. And there's little on offer in the extremely binge-able show that doesn't deliver just the dose of side-splitting absurdity that this hectic year needs. Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun is available to stream via Netflix. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5FXjdKxgrA LEAP OF FAITH: WILLIAM FRIEDKIN ON THE EXORCIST First, a word to the wise: if you haven't already seen The Exorcist, you'll want to give it a whirl before checking out this new Shudder documentary. And even if you've watched the iconic horror movie so many times that you've memorised every crucifix and spinning head, revisiting it is never a bad idea; this in-depth examination of the 1973 hit by the filmmaker behind it will certainly make you want to as soon as possible. Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist is as straightforward as its title intimates. For the movie's 104-minute running time, the director also responsible for The French Connection, Sorcerer and Killer Joe chats through the feature he's best known for, explaining both behind-the-scenes and on-screen details. Expect an insight into the battles to even get The Exorcist to the screen, anecdotes about the quest to find the exact right stars for this unsettling tale of demon possession and insider recollections about the now-85-year-old Friedkin's wide-ranging career in general. Indeed, it's impressive just how wide a range of topics and themes this doco covers, proving absolute catnip for cinephiles. Leap of Faith's own filmmaker Alexandre O Philippe is known for diving deep into great screen works, as seen in 78/52 (about Psycho) and Memory: The Origins of Alien (about, well, Alien), after all. Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist is available to stream via Shudder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEv0xy7p5Rg GANGS OF LONDON When crime kingpin Finn Wallace (Colm Meaney, Seberg) is killed unexpectedly after a 20-year reign over London's illicit dealings, the city's underworld is forced to react. The first order of business: find out who ordered the assassination, which is Finn's brooding, grieving and quick-to-react son Sean's (Joe Cole, One of These Days) only priority, and one he's determined to pursue at any cost. At first, it seems as if Gangs of London's nine-episode debut season is simply charting familiar territory — because many a movie and TV show about mobsters has focused on shock hits, succession scrambles and bloody fights over turf. But this British series has a particular strength that none of its genre compatriots can boast, aka filmmaker Gareth Evans. He's the director behind The Raid and its 2014 sequel The Raid 2: Berandal. If you've seen those two movies, that should be all you need to know. Here, Evans' penchant for balletic brutality and exquisitely shot and choreographed action scenes is on full display once again. He doesn't just rely upon intense, ultra-violent fights to keep viewers interested in this contemporary-set gang epic, though, plotting out an intricate world filled with meaningful, memorable and menacing characters (and just as impressive performances). Gangs of London's first season is available to stream via Stan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDrieqwSdgI THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT In much of The Queen's Gambit, Beth Harmon sits at a chessboard. As a child (Isla Johnston), she demands that orphanage janitor Mr Shaibel (Bill Camp, The Outsider) teach her the game. As a teenager (Anya Taylor-Joy, Radioactive), she earns a reputation as a chess prodigy. As her confidence and fame grows, she demonstrates her prowess at tournaments around America and the globe, while also spending her spare time hunched over knights, rooks, bishops and pawns studying moves and tactics. None of the above sounds like innately thrilling television unless you're a chess grandmaster, but this seven-part miniseries proves that you should never judge a show by its brief description. Based on the novel of the same name by Walter Tevis, written and directed by Oscar-nominee Scott Frank (Out of Sight, Logan), and dripping with lavish 50s and 60s decor and costuming to reflect its period setting, The Queen's Gambit doesn't expect that all its viewers will be chess aficionados; however, it's made with a canny awareness that anything can be tense, suspenseful and involving — and that every different type of game there is says much about its players and devotees. The series doesn't lack in creative and inventive ways to depict chess on-screen. It knows when to hang on every single move of a pivotal game, and when to focus on the bigger story surrounding a particular match or Beth path through the chess world in general. And it's especially astute at illustrating how a pastime based on precision and strategy offers an orphaned girl a way to control one lone aspect of her tumultuous and constantly changing life. The Queen's Gambit is available to stream via Netflix. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4X9fQsiAOQ FIREBALL: VISITORS FROM DARKER WORLDS Werner Herzog could make a documentary about absolutely any topic and, as long as the great filmmaker narrated it himself in his inimitable tones and with his lyrical, observational prose, it'd be worth checking out. As his on-screen acting roles in the likes of Jack Reacher, Parks and Recreation and The Mandalorian have shown, listening to his voice is one of life's purest joys — and, in Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds, he spends his time talking about a riveting topic. Reuniting with University of Cambridge professor Clive Oppenheimer, who he worked with on the volcano-focused Into the Inferno, Herzog turns his attention to meteors. As well as searching for sites where they've fallen from the sky and made a literal impact, his new doco surveys experts from around the world, explores meteors in both ancient and recent times, and looks at the subject from a scientific, historical, archaeological and anthropological basis as well. From the Norwegian jazz musician who collects micrometeorites to the way that rocks descending from the heavens have played a part in Indigenous Australian culture, Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds is never anything less than fascinating. And, it also sees Herzog describe one part of the globe as "so godforsaken it makes you want to cry", which just might be one of his best turns of phrase yet. Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds is available to stream via Apple TV+. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYY0QJhlXjc HIS HOUSE Stories about fleeing persecution are innately horrifying, but His House makes viewers confront the scenario in a visceral and purposefully confronting way. That's what happens when you pair an unsettling real-world situation that's distressingly common with the horror genre — using the latter to augment and emphasise the terror of the former, as His House does commandingly. The first feature from writer/director Remi Weekes, this British-set movie follows Bol (Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, the aforementioned Gangs of London) and Rial (Wunmi Mosaku, Lovecraft Country) from war-torn South Sudan, across the Mediterranean by boat, into detention in the UK and finally to a home on the edge of London. They're thrilled to have made the journey safely, albeit at a significant personal cost that neither can shake, and they're initially excited to have a place to call their own. But, after their case worker Mark (Matt Smith, Official Secrets) gives them the keys, the couple's new abode turns into a nightmare. It doesn't help that Bol is certain that they need to farewell everything about their own culture to show the government that they deserve to stay, while Rial is rightly resistant to that idea. The pair are quite literally haunted, though, as Weekes manifests in eerie detail in a movie that cleverly and compellingly (and creepily, too) interrogates the refugee experience. His House is available to stream via Netflix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfiH_526qhY THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE ON THE RUN Never let anyone tell you that SpongeBob SquarePants is just for kids. The long-running show about the absorbent, yellow and porous sea critter has always proved otherwise, but his big-screen adventures wholeheartedly make the case — because when you have Keanu Reeves playing a talking sage tumbleweed that's also a sage that dispenses wisdom, that pitch-perfect piece of casting is 100-percent aimed at adults. Yes, that's something that happens in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, and more often than you might expect. Yes, it's delightful. There are more surreal and absurd gags where that came from, too, which has always been SpongeBob's appeal for older viewers. Story-wise, the movie — SpongeBob's third, after 2004's The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and 2015's The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water — sees everyone's favourite Bikini Bottom resident leave his pineapple under the sea in search of his kidnapped pet snail Gary, with the vain King Poseidon (as voiced by What We Do in the Shadows star and Sponge Out of Water alum Matt Berry) the culprit. It's silly, it's sweet, it's chaotic and, although the flashbacks to SpongeBob's childhood are just a blatant way to promote a new TV spinoff, it's supremely entertaining. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run is available to stream via Netflix. CULT CLASSICS TO REVISIT AND REDISCOVER https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0xENt3xZqA THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR Add this show about a west Philadelphia teen's life-changing move to Los Angeles to the list of classic series making a comeback in 2020. The Will Smith-starring sitcom hasn't returned in the proper sense. It is actually getting a reboot, in a darker, more dramatic form, because everything old is new again, but that was just announced a few months back and hasn't arrived just yet. Still, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's surviving original cast members have all come together for a brand new reunion special — which Stan now has available to stream alongside each and every one of the 148 episodes that initially aired between 1990–96. Accordingly, if you'd like to while away more than a few hours, days and weeks seeing where Smith's on-screen career kicked off, laughing at The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's fish-out-of-water premise and feeling mighty nostalgic for times gone by, now you can. You'll obviously be treated to a hefty array of 90s fashions, because that comes with the territory. And, you'll be certain to get the series' famed theme tune stuck in your head (if you haven't already while reading this paragraph, that is). Every season of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air is available to stream via Stan. Top images: The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, Paramount Animation; The Queen's Gambit, Phil Bray/Netflix; His House, Aidan Monaghan/Netflix.
As well as offering up alternative places to stay and opening up the holiday accommodation market, Airbnb has proven a gift to anyone interested in architecture and interior design. While you're sleeping in someone else's house, you're getting a glimpse of different styles and trends. Sure, you can also flick through house and garden-focused magazines, but looking at pics isn't the same as actually seeing design in action. At PlansMatter, bunking down in a space that demonstrates ace architecture isn't just an added bonus — it's the entire point of the Airbnb-like house-sharing service. Started in 2016 by architects Connie Lindor and Scott Muellner, it only offers up "places that have architectural intention and a story to tell," according to their statement on the service's website. Each listing provides a thorough description, runs through the usual features and also includes a rundown of why it's included on the site. In fact, as well as simply browsing through a sizeable list of eye-catching architectural beauties — which not only include spaces in the US, where PlansMatter is based, but in Canada, Austria, the UK, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Denmark, Japan, Germany and Australia as well — users can also search for somewhere to stay based on the amazing designers behind the houses. If you've ever dreamed of kipping in a home designed by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, or in artist James Turrell's Japanese House of Light, here's your chance. Of course, getting to live out your architecture nerd dreams doesn't come cheap, but if you're going to fork out a hefty stack of cash for a few nights away, there are much, much worse ways to spend it. For those keen on checking out the service close to home, a night in Magney House on the New South Wales south coast — and in a structure that was once featured on an Aussie stamp — will set you back $250 per night. Fairhaven Beach's landmark Pole House, which really is a house on a pole, starts at $434 per evening. Via Fast Co Design. Image: PlansMatter/Tsutomu Yamada.
If you're always on the lookout for a reason to escape to Byron Bay, here's the latest: a brand-new festival that'll have you eating, drinking, checking out art, listening to tunes and being merry, all in the seaside New South Wales spot. That's what's on the agenda at Revel Byron Bay Food and Culture Festival, which has just announced the dates for its inaugural event — and given potential attendees a glimpse at what's in store. First, block out the four days between Thursday, November 10–Sunday, November 13 in your calendar, which is when Revel will make its debut. As for what's on the program, the precise details haven't been revealed as yet, but it'll cover cuisine, drinks, music, art and culture. Think: long lunches, twilight soirees and moseying around public art installations, plus hitting up performances, taking health and wellness classes, shopping around a produce market and enjoying tours. The fest will also include panel discussions and workshops, and not only take place in Byron but across the Northern Rivers region. Chef David Moyle, who has been Chief of Food at Harvest Newrybar since 2020, is Revel's Festival Food Curator — and explains that the fest aims to "bring people back together to enjoy the company of friends and family with good food and good vibes in a beautiful setting". That'll come courtesy of the Revel Festival Village, aka a massive food, beverage, music and art precinct that's set to sprawl across the whole North Byron Hotel in the Byron Arts and Industrial Estate, and thanks to events at plenty of other spots around the area. On the list: Harvest, of course, as well as Raes on Wategos, Three Blue Ducks, Belongil Beach Italian Food, Bang Bang Byron Bay, Barrio, Capiche, The Hut, The Roadhouse, Treehouse on Belongil, and Mosey on Inn group's Ciao Mate!, The Eltham and You Beauty. Given the location, there'll be a beachside program within the larger program with views of Byron Bay Main Beach — including the fest's opening event — on the Thursday and Friday, as well as a secret Revel garden precinct operating on the Saturday and Sunday. And, while exactly what the arts and cultural side of the lineup will entail hasn't been unveiled, helping advise on that part of proceedings are Arakwal Bundjalung woman Delta Kay, plus artists Paul McNeil and Karlee Mackie. "As we all know, the hospitality industry was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic along with tourism, arts and music, and these are all industries that Byron Shire support in a large way for a regional place," said Revel Byron Bay Food and Culture Festival Founder and Director Alex Taylor, announcing the fest's dates. "Byron Bay is an incredible hub of creative talent and entrepreneurs, and we wanted to create something that would support all these industries as well as the wider community that has struggled to connect over the last couple of years," added Revel co-Festival Director Jonny Ruddy. Revel Byron Bay Food and Culture Festival will run from Thursday, November 10–Sunday, November 13 at various locations around Byron Bay and the Northern Rivers region. For more information, head to the festival's website. Images: Jess Kearney.
Why send all your unwanted wrapping paper to landfill, when you could use it to start a vegie garden? That’s what the forward thinkers at UK innovation company BEAF want to know. Last Christmas, in the UK alone, enough wrapping paper was discarded to reach around the world nine times. The statistic inspired the BEAF team to come up with a solution: a 100 percent plantable alternative called Eden’s Paper. They’re hoping to raise enough money on Kickstarter to be able to print and distribute the first run by Christmas this year. Five different types of paper are on the menu at the moment: carrots, tomato, broccoli, chilli and onion. BEAF is hoping that, in the long run, this will expand significantly, to include more edibles, as well as flowers and herbs. Eden’s paper is made from 100 percent recyclable materials and is totally environmentally friendly. Each sheet includes 700 seeds, embedded in biodegradable tissue paper — seven layers of it, in fact, interlocked by an embossing process that avoids the use of nasty glues. Plus, the ink used for printing is vegetable-based. In developing the product, BEAF worked in close collaboration with a seed supplier and a printing company. Over the past 12 months of testing, assessing and refining, they’ve planted enough wrapping papers to feed 5000 people. If you want to get behind Eden’s Paper in time to see your seeds sprout in January, then you’d better be quick. The Kickstarter campaign finishes up on Monday, 16 December. A five pound pledge will buy you one sheet, 14 pounds will buy three and 20 pounds will buy five. Shipping is available anywhere in the world.
When Shazam first hit mobile devices in 2008, it helped iPhone users solve a minor but common and often frustrating problem. By listening to a snippet of a song, the app identifies exactly what the tune is — so if you hear some music on TV, the radio or in the background but don't know what it is, you can easily find out. That's all well and good for songs that are playing somewhere around you, of course. But it doesn't help if you've got a ditty stuck in your head, have absolutely zero idea what it is and are becoming increasingly desperate to know what has wormed its way into your brain. We've all been there, and we've all been annoyed by it, too. Via a new addition to its search functions, however, Google has just announced a feature that resolves this very issue. If you want to find out what a specific tune is called, now all you need to do is hum, whistle or sing it — and Google will listen, then tell you what it is. The feature is available via mobile devices, through the Google app, the Google Search widget and Google Assistant. On the app and in the widget, you need to say "what's this song?" or click the "search a song" button before you start busting out a melody. With Google Assistant, you'll say "hey Google, what's this song?" first. It doesn't matter if you're not quite in tune (or nowhere near the right pitch), thankfully. After listening, Google will provide search responses that it thinks matches your song, so you can learn more about it, watch music videos, listen to the song itself, find the lyrics and more. The function uses Google's machine learning algorithm, building on work the company has been doing with artificial intelligence and music recognition technology — and it's now available in English on iOS, and in over 20 languages on Android, with plans to expand to other languages in the future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW61PpKJGm8&feature=emb_logo To use Google's new 'hum to search' feature, either visit the search engine on your mobile device or use Google Assistant. For further details, head to Google's blog.
It has been more than 40 years since Harris Farm Markets opened in Sydney, with a particular focus on fresh local produce. And if you're a Brisbanite wondering why the chain has both stood the test of time and amassed a considerable following, you can now find out for yourself — with the family-run brand launching a new Brisbane store, and planning a seconds one in 2021. The first has popped up at the former Clayfield Markets site, and it actually marks a homecoming. While Harris Farm Markets is definitely based in New South Wales, it used to own the Sandgate Road spot until it handed it over to Carlo and Susan Lorenti. The pair have run it for a couple of decades since, and are staying onboard to manage the store now that it has changed its name. Launching on Wednesday, December 16, Harris Farm Markets' Clayfield shop features a tomato shed, a huge deli with more than 200 cheeses on offer, and a leaderboard focusing on Queensland strawberries and mangoes — plus an organic produce section, a gourmet grocery range showcasing boutique local wares, a bakery and a hefty array of meat. Also on offer: milk on tap, from Maleny Dairies. The idea is to highlight Queensland and Australian products, all at a site that underwent a rebuild and redesign before it reopened. Then, in May 2021, Harris Farm Markets will open its flagship Queensland store, which'll set up shop in West Village in West End. It'll sprawl across a warehouse space in part of the old 1920s-built Peters Ice Cream building, so it's safe to expect that it'll be sizeable — and, obviously, conveniently located. At both sites, shoppers will be able to buy products from more than 300 Queensland growers, creators and producers — with Barambah's organic milk, frozen fruit from My Berries in Caboolture and organic chicken from Hobbs Family Farms Organic in Pittsworth just some of the items on offer. The two new stores will mark Harris Farm Markets' first outside of NSW, with 22 locations currently open down south. Find Harris Farm Markets at the current 823 Sandgate Road, Clayfield — and at West Village in West End from May 2021.
If your winter routine usually involves not only a trip to Tasmania, but a stint at music and arts festival Dark Mofo, then you probably have June permanently blocked out in your diary. With 2022 ticking by, that wintry time is fast approaching — and the Museum of Old and New Art, the venue behind Dark Mofo, has started revealing what's in store at this year's fest. First up, it has also announced the festival's dates — even though it already did just that back in late 2021. In great news for folks planning a jaunt south, Dark Mofo 2022 will run for a week longer than originally planned, kicking off on Wednesday, June 8 instead of Wednesday, June 15. It'll still finish up on Wednesday, June 22, but that'll now give you two weeks to soak in the fest's program. The full bill won't be revealed until April; however, a few headliner highlights have been unveiled now — in what festival organisers are calling a 'resurrection'. That label comes after Dark Mofo scrapped its 2020 festivities due to the pandemic, then returned in 2021 amid controversy over an artwork that was announced and then ditched. [caption id="attachment_846522" align="alignnone" width="1920"] 3.2, 404.zero, Dark Downtown, Dark Mofo 2021. Dark Mofo/Remi Chauvin, 2021. Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.[/caption] On the lineup for 2022 so far, starting with week one: the return of The Blue Rose Ball and its costumed debauchery; an art program that'll feature both video and new media artist Bill Viola and multi-channel video artist Doug Aitken; and a Mona Up Late event to launch exhibitions by Jeremy Shaw, Fiona Hall and AJ King, and Robert Andrew. In week two, Berlin-based composer and producer Nils Frahm will play Music For Hobart, after hitting Sydney's Vivid festival with Music For Sydney — and Spiritualized will also play both fests. Exclusive to Dark Mofo, Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon will bust out songs from her 2019 solo release No Home Record, Deafheaven will take to the stage and classically-trained multi-instrumentalist Lingua Ignota will also join the bill. A few signature Dark Mofo events are on the lineup as always, too — including the Nude Solstice Swim, because it wouldn't be Dark Mofo without it. The City of Hobart Winter Feast will take place on the waterfront and Night Mass: Transcendence will make a splash in the In The Hanging Garden precinct, while the Reclamation Walk is also back. [caption id="attachment_846523" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Winter Feast, Dark Mofo 2021. Dark Mofo/Jesse Hunniford, 2021. Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.[/caption] As for what else is on the cards, Dark Mofo is always full of surprises, serving up a fantastical combination of musical performances, performance art and large-scale installations — so watch this space. In 2021, the program included a vibrating chamber filled with light, guided night walks through Hobart led by teenagers, 49 search lights beaming up into the sky and multiple performances by Sonic Youth founder Thurston Moore. And back in 2019, the fest featured the likes of artists Ai Weiwei and Mike Parr, American musician Sharon Van Etten and one of the world's largest glockenspiels. Dark Mofo will run from Wednesday, June 8–Wednesday, June 22 in Hobart, Tasmania. The full 2022 program will be announced in April — head to the festival website for further details in the interim. Top images: Home State Reclamation Walk, Dark Downtown, Dark Mofo 2021. Dark Mofo/Remi Chauvin, 2021. Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia / THE BURNING - OGOH-OGOH, Dark Mofo 2019. Photo Credit: Dark Mofo/Rémi Chauvin, 2019. Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
If you've ever raised an eyebrow at the idea of peanut butter and whiskey in the same sentence, you're not alone. But Skrewball — the Original Peanut Butter Whiskey — is full of cocktail-compatible surprises… and that's what makes it so damn good. Created in the US as a blend of American whiskey and natural peanut butter flavour, it's smooth, nutty and often the number one choice for bartenders who want to go a little wild. One of those bartenders is Sav Harrison, Skrewball's AU & NZ brand ambassador, who thinks too many people box it in before they've had a proper taste. "A lot of people get either caught up in the whiskey side or the peanut butter side and forget that we created a whole new category," Harrison says. "Don't just go for an old fashioned and manhattan. Skrewball is an opportunity to create something new altogether. Go nuts!" For Harrison, Skrewball cocktail creation starts with asking herself: what won't work? "Nothing is off the table with this bad boy," she says. "Recently I just discovered that Mumm Premium Sparkling Wine and Skrewball work when paired with raspberry and lemon." [caption id="attachment_1018328" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Finley Jones[/caption] And when it comes to serving up your delicious concoction, she recommends a rocks glass or coupe. "Nothing beats a Skrewball on the rocks and the versatility of a rocks glass means you can make anything from a margarita to an old fashion. With the occasional jump to a coupe glass [because] it's fun, playful and can do anything." Here are three of Harrison's standout recipes, each designed to show off what peanut butter whiskey can actually do in the right hands. The Nutty Sparkler Think PB&J, but fizzy. The raspberry plays into Skrewball's nutty sweetness, while the lemon juice cuts through with a tart edge. The Mumm gives it a lift, making the whole thing lighter and more refreshing than you'd expect. What's in it: 45ml Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey 15ml Raspberry Liqueur (like Chambord, or a homemade raspberry syrup for less sweetness) 10ml Fresh Lemon Juice (to cut through the richness) Chilled Mumm Premium Sparkling Wine Garnish: Fresh raspberries and a lemon twist Ba Ba Bramble The classic 1980's bramble combines gin, lemon juice and simple syrup. To give it a remix, swap the gin for Skrewball's natural sweetness, add in blackberries for a fruity twist and Chartreuse for a herbal note and extra kick. What's in it: 1½ parts Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey ½ parts Green Chartreuse ½ parts Lemon Juice 5 parts Blackberries Mint & Blackberries for Garnish Skrewball Old Fashioned If you're still suspicious of flavoured spirits, this is an easy entry ramp. The rye whiskey keeps things grounded, while the Skrewball adds a hit of smooth sweetness that'll keep you coming back for more. What's in it: 1½ parts Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey ¾ parts Rye Whiskey 4 dashes Angostura Bitters The bottom line? Creating a Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey cocktail can be as fun as you want it to be. "Every time I decide to play around with cocktails and Skrewball, I find out there's so much to Skrewball almost anything works," Harrison says. Find Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey at Dan Murphy's, BWS and Liquorland and start Skrewing around with cocktails at home. Explore more Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey recipes on the website. Skrewball is classified as a flavoured liqueur in Australia. Please enjoy responsibly.
If you're a film buff, then you're also a travel buff. Even if you don't venture further than your nearest cinema, you're often journeying to other countries when you sit down to watch a movie. Thanks to the Cine Latino Film Festival, the sights and sounds of Latin America await Australian filmgoers in November, taking them on a trip to Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, Cuba, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. Australia's second Spanish-language film festival (after the Europe-centric Spanish Film Festival), the Cine Latino Film Festival will bring 26 titles from Central and South America to Aussie screens from November 14 to 29. The fun kicks off with You're Killing Me Susana, a marital comedy featuring Mexican star Gael García Bernal. Other highlights span a variety of genres and nations. Audiences can check out Inseparables, the Argentinian remake of French film The Intouchables, or get an authentic glimpse into prison romance in the Dominican Republic with Woodpeckers – about inmates from neighbouring jails communicating via their own form of sign language. Elsewhere, Cannes Critics' Week hit Gabriel and the Mountain combines documentary and drama to tell the true tale of a Brazilian traveller; Tales of Mexico asks eight filmmakers to spin stories about Mexican history; and Lost North tracks a man trying to find his girlfriend across the 900 miles between Santiago and the Bolivian border. Other notable titles include Peruvian musical-comedy Crazy in Love, Colombian paramilitary thriller Guilty Men, and Ecuador's submission to next year's foreign-language Oscar category Such is Life in the Tropics, about a battle between a land owner and squatters. The festival will also shine a particular spotlight on Argentinian and Mexican filmmaking in two specific program strands. The latter is a collaboration with the Hola Mexico Film Festival, while the former will thrill fans of familiar faces, with The Secret in Their Eyes star Ricardo Darín playing an Argentinian president in The Summit, and Gloria's Paulina García going soul searching in The Desert Bride. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gALX8_SHP68 The 2017 Cine Latino Film Festival will screen at Sydney's Palace Norton Street and Palace Verona from November 14 to 29, Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como and Palace Westgarth from November 16 to 29, and Brisbane's Palace Centro from November 16 to 29. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
Sometimes, enjoying the music festival experience involves gumboots, picking the best outfit with the most pockets and dancing in huge crowds. At other times, it spans making shapes at home while pretending you're at the real thing. Yes, the latter became familiar during the pandemic, but it's also been a way to live the Coachella life without heading to Indio, California for more than a decade now. And, for the 2023 fest, that means hitting up the YouTube livestream once again. This year, for the first time ever, the entire event is being beamed to the world — all six stages on all six days across two hefty weekends. Sure, you can still wish that you were at the Empire Polo Club across April 14–16 and April 21–23. Yes, there's nothing quite like being there in person. But if you're all about seeing the fest's impressive lineup — seeing as much of it as possible, too — without the plane ticket, make a date with your couch. 2023's bill is worth getting excited about, with Bad Bunny headlining the Friday nights, BLACKPINK doing the Saturday nights and Frank Ocean on Sunday nights. Down Under, you'll be tuning in on Saturday, Sunday and Monday to catch each, so mark your diaries now — actually, go one better with exact times too, now that Coachella has also announced its schedule for the first weekend. Also among the highlights on the Friday bill (so, Saturday in Australia and NZ) alongside Bad Bunny: The Chemical Brothers, Gorillaz, Blondie, Kaytranada, Pusha T, Idris Elba and last-minute addition blink-182, with the newly reunited group's classic lineup breaking out their live set before heading our way in 2024 on their latest live tour. On the Saturday lineup (so, Sunday Down Under) with BLACKPINK: Calvin Harris, The Kid LAROI, ROSALÍA, Charlie XCX, boygenius, The Breeders and Underworld — and more, obviously. And, come Sunday (yes, Monday Down Under), Frank Ocean will be joined by Björk, Fisher, Porter Robinson, Gordo and Weyes Blood, with the list going on there as well. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Coachella (@coachella) Coachella has been teaming up with YouTube for 11 years now. Earlier in 2023, the fest announced that it has locked in that arrangement till 2026. In-between this year's sets, YouTube will fill its feeds with more on-the-ground coverage, so you'll be able to scope out the art and installations around the fest, head behind the scenes, see how the acts get partying before the hit the stage and more. Bookmark Coachella's YouTube channel ASAP — or hit it up below: Coachella runs from April 14–16 and April 21–23 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. To watch the livestream, head to YouTube from 9am AEST on Saturday, April 15 Down Under.
When Nathan Sasi isn't cooking up a storm as the head chef at inner-city fine-dining restaurant Mercado, he's overseeing Good Times Artisan Ice Cream. When he's not doing that, he's collaborating with Lynx and designer Felix Chan to design accessories for Lynx's Find Your Magic collection. That's quite a number of hats to wear. And that's what makes him Sydney's renaissance man – he's clever, detail-focused, enthusiastic and can take on as many projects as he likes. He gets things done, and he gets them done well. Whether he's working in the kitchen, whipping up imaginative flavours in his ice cream shop or dabbling in the sartorial world, Sasi's entire existence focuses on showcasing his own personal style. We wondered, how does he balance so many projects? And how does he ensures that he expresses his individuality in everything he does? "You have to be passionate," he says. "Having a sense of confidence – not arrogance – with your style helps you pull of your look." Whether it's fashion, food, or life in general, Sasi says your style has to suit your personality. He says being passionate about what you do helps you to be persistent and reach your goals, and it also helps with the ability to juggle several different projects somewhat easier, or at least worthwhile. "Just go for it," is the advice he followed when it came to realising his childhood dream of selling everyone's favourite frozen sweet treat at Good Times. "Growing up I actually wanted to be a dentist or a lawyer," Sasi notes. But, "I always dreamt of having my own ice cream parlour, really so I could have an endless supply of ice cream." Sasi didn't just dream big though. He was also practical and thorough, and knew what worked best for him. His two food-focused roles are all about perfecting every element of the eating experience in a creative and unique way, from the Spanish-style dishes available at the former to hand-made ice cream served at the latter. "Becoming a chef was something I knew I was going to work towards actually becoming," he advises. "Once I developed my style of cooking with learning the art of making everything from scratch — charcuterie, cheese, vinegars, you name it — I knew that I wanted to extend that outside of the kitchen and typical restaurant setting. That's where the dream of really owning an ice cream parlour came about." [caption id="attachment_586645" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Sasi's collaboration with Lynx.[/caption] It was while he was waiting for Mercado to come to fruition that Good Times became a reality, with Sasi forging ahead — or just going for it — when the opportunity arose. "I was waiting for the build of Mercado Restaurant to be completed, and with time up my sleeve and a vacant space in a prime location in Potts Point, I decided I would give it a crack," he says. Give it a crack, he did. Good Times made a splash as soon as it opened its doors back in February. Sasi makes all the bases from scratch with pure cream and milk rather than pre-made powered mixes, along with using top quality ingredients for the garnishes. He found his inner magic and infused it into Good Times — and it's that outlook that inspired Lynx to come calling for a collaboration. He often alters his own clothes to create a little uniqueness, saying "people own the right to express themselves through their fashion choices, through their accessories and personal style." His own look is a blend of "old school gentlemen with a touch of rock and roll," which shines through in his collaboration with Chan. The line of silk pocket squares, checked socks and patterned ties they've designed together doesn't just try to convey Sasi's particular style, but aims to share his way of looking at the world. "I think to some degree, cooking and fashion go hand in hand. Chefs are putting what they create with heart and soul onto a plate for restaurant reviewers and diners to critique, so they tend to just do what they love, what feels right — and don't fuss too much about what others think, providing they are doing what is true to them." "You learn early on that you aren't always going to please everyone, and I think the same goes with fashion," he says. "If we didn't take risks and love being creative in the kitchen then we probably wouldn't be chefs." Or in Sasi's case, chefs, ice cream parlour owners and accessory designers. The Find Your Magic collection is available to purchase at Men In This Town, all proceeds will go to I-Manifest.
Buying gifts for the men in your life can feel hard at the best of times. Whether you're buying for your brother, partner or dad, we've rounded up some of the top gifts for men with a little bit of help from Amazon to help you out. We've sought out goodies for tech lovers, outdoorsmen, and gamers, as well as the men who like a bit of luxury. Plus, if you've left gifts to the last minute, Amazon has some of the latest delivery days out there, which is good news for those of us who tend to resort to last-minute Christmas shopping. 1. Pocket Knife The ROXON M2 Mini Storm 14-in-1 Multitool is a man's dream come true. Made from premium stainless steel, with a smooth, lightweight design and ceramic glass breaker, this is the ultimate handyman's accessory. While small, it has 14 functions, including a knife, a nail file, pliers and wire cutters, just to name a few. 2. BOSCK Watch A casual watch that also looks the part, this classic business watch from BOSCK is a simple gift for those who love their accessories. The watch features a striking black strap made of stainless steel, is designed with five layers of hinges and a folding buckle and features a 40mm watch diameter, high-accuracy quartz movement and a classic three-eye dial design. Oh, and it's waterproof. Comfortable, convenient and durable. What more could you want? 3. Retro Game Console The ultimate blast from the past, this retro console from CZT takes us right back to endless days spent gaming days as a kid. Take it anywhere and play until your heart's content. The Tetris-esque game may be simple, but it's a formula that's survived for a reason. All you have to do is move and flip the blocks left and right to create a complete line. Choose from four colours including green, purple, pink and blue. 4. Gamepad 3D Illusion Lamp This one's for the more hard-core gamers out there. The Gamepad Illusion Lamp from the Attivolife Store is a lamp or night light in the shape of a game controller, made with laser engraving on an optical acrylic plate to create an epic 3D illusion. With 16 colours, four kinds of flashing and adjustable brightness, this little thing is the ultimate way to elevate a dark corner of a room or add some extra decoration. 5. Electronic Accessories Carry Case For the men in your life who need help when it comes to organisation, we got you. Enter the electronic travel organizer. It comes with three dividers, so you can organise all those chargers, batteries and hard drives in a way that works for you, with no more tangles. Made from Oxford Fabric and with a soft, spongey inside, the case will also protect all your prized gadgets. A perfect gift for men who travel a lot or are just a little OCD. 6. Camping Hammock A gift for the camping aficionados out there, this portable camping hammock from Lineno is the ultimate way to combine outdoor fun with a bit of relaxation. Simply find some trees to hook it onto and use it as a bed or perch in it for a momentary swing. And when you're not hiking or camping, the hammock also makes a nice addition to the backyard or balcony. 7. Beer Mug Does Dad already have more stubby coolers than he can keep track of? Why not mix it up with a beer mug? The Stanley Adventure Big Grip Beer Stein keeps beer cold for two hours and keeps iced beer cold for an impressive 20 hours. Made from stainless steel with a heavy-duty handle, this mug can hold up to two cans of beer, which is more efficient, really. It can also keep hot drinks warm for up to one hour, perfect for mulled cider or even a cup of coffee in the morning. 8. Nespresso Essenza Mini The De'Longhi Nespresso Essenza Mini single-serve capsule coffee machine is a generous gift for the men in your life who may be known fondly as coffee snobs. The compact, sleek design of the machine is simple and easy to use, with a 19-bar high-pressure pump and fast heat-up system, so coffee is ready in under 30 seconds. Because Nespresso offers a wider variety of coffees, this machine is the way to go if you're not 100 per cent sure how your dad, uncle or father-in-law likes their coffee. And this is not something you want to just assume and, god forbid, get wrong. 9. Smart Ball A gift for all the football-lovers, soccer-lovers, or whatever you want to call it. This Smart Ball Bot is the next generation of the game – relying on state-of-the-art sensors to track and tackle the ball to test your football skills. There are three-speed modes to accommodate all skill levels, and it features an in-built LCD score tracker which keeps track of your current score and records your highest achievements. We can't think of any sports fanatic who wouldn't be happy seeing this under the Christmas tree this year. 10. Asēdos Perfume Often, the last thing he has on his list to buy, you can never go wrong with gifting a man a new perfume or cologne. This Spicy Pepper EDP Spray from Asēdos is our pick. Known for their inclusive, gender-neutral vegan fragrances, this scent features Calabrian bergamot and pepper, with middle notes of Sichuan pepper, lavender, pink pepper, vetiver, patchouli, geranium and base notes of ambroxan and cedar. It lasts between four to six hours and is small enough to keep in your pocket or bag. Images: Supplied. This article contains affiliate links, Concrete Playground may earn a commission when you make a purchase through links on our site.
For six days each April, the music-loving world's eyes turn to the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, where Coachella takes place each year. Maybe you're there on the ground. Perhaps you spend two weekends watching along via the festival's livestream. Either way, it's a helluva time — and 2025's festival will feature Lady Gaga, Green Day and Post Malone on headlining duties. The Coachella lineup normally drops in January as a start-of-year highlight, but the details have arrived early for the next festival. Post Malone had jumped the gun, revealing a stadium tour with Indio dates on Coachella's two weekends — and so now organisers have unveiled the full details. [caption id="attachment_972776" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Raph_PH via Flickr.[/caption] Mark Friday, April 11–Sunday, April 13 and Friday, April April 18–Sunday, April 20 in your diaries — including if you you're just keen to check out the livestream. (Remember, Coachella was livestreaming its sets long before the pandemic.) The full bill is impressive, as usual, with Lady Gaga headlining the Friday nights, Green Day doing the Saturday nights and Post Malone on Sunday nights. Also, Travis Scott is on the lineup as well, but without a set day so far. From there, get ready for jam-packed roster of acts that also spans everyone from Missy Elliott, Charli XCX, Megan Thee Stallion, Travis Scott, The Prodigy and Kraftwerk through to Benson Boone, FKA twigs, Basement Jaxx and The Go-Go's — and plenty more. Anyway, let's be honest, you haven't truly read any of those words — you'll be wanting this: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Coachella (@coachella) For music lovers planning to watch along from home, Coachella keeps teaming up with YouTube to livestream the festival. That's no longer such a novelty in these pandemic times but, given the calibre of Coachella's lineup, it's still a mighty fine way to spend a weekend. For those eager to attend in-person, you can signup for access to tickets over at the festival's website — with pre-sales starting at 11am PT on Friday, November 22 (aka 5am AEST/6am AEDT on Saturday, November 23). [caption id="attachment_907691" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Chrisallmeid via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Coachella 2025 runs from Friday, April 11–Sunday, April 13 and Friday, April April 18–Sunday, April 20 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Find out more information and register for tickets at coachella.com — with pre-sales starting at 11am PT on Friday, November 22 (aka 5am AEST/6am AEDT on Saturday, November 23). Top image: Raph_PH via Flickr.
In repentance for all the times you've ordered take away and slumped on the couch feeling like the worst, you can now do the exact same thing while feeling like the best. On Friday, July 15 Uber is teaming up with OzHarvest and a horde of celebrity chefs to design and deliver a range of gourmet ice creams for a good cause (sorry Gelato Messina, you're out of the gang). The guys at OzHarvest hope to deliver 100,000 meals for vulnerable Aussies to help them get through the harsh winter season. The profits from a $15 half-litre tub of ice cream will provide five square meals to struggling Aussies — and one indulgent meal to yourself. George Calombaris, Matt Moran and Neil Perry have all signed up, and each has designed a custom ice cream flavour. There are no prizes for guessing that George's has an amazing Greek twist — it's called Caramel and Walnut Baklava Smash. Matt Moran has wisely gone with the deliciousness of banana with his Banoffee Crunch and Neil Perry will be scooping Spiced Cookie and Caramel Swirl. They all sound bonkers, which is a good thing because distribution is randomised. All you have to do is jump on the app between 11am and 5pm on Friday and press the ice cream button for ice cream delivered straight to your door. If only all things in life were that simple. Check out their service areas on their website. Like all of Uber's extracurricular pursuits, demand will be high. But if you miss out, just buy an ice cream and donate to OzHarvest directly over here.
Congratulations. Not only have you made it through an entire year, and an entire month of Christmas carols, but you've also reached a neat yearly milestone. Today is the longest day of the year — and not just because you're staring out the window before your office goes on holidays tomorrow. Today — that is Wednesday, December 21 — is the 2017 summer solstice. What does that mean? Well, it means that today has the most daylight hours of any other day this year. That's because the earth's axis at this point in time puts the sun is at the highest point in the southern hemisphere's sky, creating a longer period of sunlight. This happens once a year in each hemisphere. How long the day is exactly will depend on where you live — the further south you are (i.e. closer to the South Pole), the longer the day. According to ABC News, Sydney will get 14 hours, 24 minutes and 43 seconds of sunlight today, while up north Brisbane will get about half an hour less. Hobart gets the longest one of all, with the day stretching for 15 hours and 21 minutes. Interestingly, the summer solstice doesn't coincide with the earliest sunrise or latest sunset, which take place on separate summer days. It might not have the hype of the last month's supermoon, but it's still a great excuse to get do something outdoorsy after work tonight. Via ABC News.
It's no surprise that the rainforests of Tropical North Queensland are among the most spectacular in the world. These ancient forests are the oldest of their kind, with some sections 80 million years older than the Amazon. They've even got the Galapagos Islands beat when it comes to biodiversity, with a staggering array of flora and fauna calling the Wet Tropics home. Don't just take our word for it, though — Sir David Attenborough famously dubbed the region "the most extraordinary place on earth". When you consider the environmental significance of this lush, green wonderland, it really makes you want to dig a little deeper — and there are plenty of ways to do so responsibly. Here are our top tips for your next travels to the tropics. [caption id="attachment_842262" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tropical North Queensland[/caption] EXPLORE A CASTLE IN THE RAINFOREST For a bit for fairytale magic, you can't forget a day discovering Paronella Park. José Paronella created this paradise when he moved, with his new bride, to Tropical North Queensland from Spain in the 1930s. The castle in the rainforest was built with a tennis court, movie theatre and a luxury ballroom — Paronella also planted over 7000 trees on his land and built a suspension bridge to sit above the park's own waterfall. Paronella was also an engineering pioneer, developing the region's first hydro electric system in 1933. This was restored by the park custodians just over a decade ago, and now powers the entire park. If you didn't think it could get any dreamier, today Paronella Park blends in beautifully with its environment, a soft layer of green moss glazing the castle walls. You can explore this parkland with a 30-minute guided tour where you will learn more about it's fascinating history and discover the wildlife that inhabits it. Your entry fee will help fund the restoration of this heritage-listed site — plus, it's valid for two years, meaning you can return to the magic again and again. [caption id="attachment_844234" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tropical North Queensland[/caption] STAY SOMEWHERE THAT'S ECO-CERTIFIED You don't have to skip out on luxury to do things sustainably — the rainforest is home to some amazing accommodation options that work with it's environment, not against it. Right in the heart of the Daintree, you will find an array of bayans (treehouses) amongst the lush rainforest. The Daintree Ecolodge is the perfect place for the environmentally conscious traveller — its many sustainable practices include funding native reforestation projects, recycling 100 percent of its water for irrigation and watering and donating $50 per guest stay to the Reef Keepers, an environmental fund that helps preserve the Great Barrier Reef. You can feel disconnected from the world without harming it — enjoy secluded walks to a private waterfall, relaxing at the wellness spa or pool and eating delicious fresh food (from the onsite veggie patch) at the restaurant overlooking the lagoon. Another option is the beautifully secluded Thala Beach Nature Reserve, a tropical oasis with its very own private beach located between Cairns and Port Douglas. Here, you can kick back and relax in a treetop villa and enjoy fresh local produce at Ospreys Restaurant. Also on offer are wildlife walks with flora and fauna experts, stargazing by the sea and Australia's only coconut tour. Plus, you know you can trust this eco-resort, with its having been awarded the Green Travel Leader with Ecotourism Australia after meeting a strict criteria for a decade — the owners of the lodge worked for over 30 years to re-establish the native forests on the land that had previously been degraded by farming. LEARN ABOUT RAINFOREST AND CASSOWARY CONSERVATION The cassowary is a fruit eating dinosaur-like bird that disperse big seeds, meaning it is crucial for the survival of many rainforests tree species. It is a fascinating creature that plays an important role in maintaining the diversity of the rainforest so it is important we conserve this species. The Community for Coastal and Cassowary Conservation (C4) in Mission Beach is dedicated to protecting the southern cassowary and the local coastal habitat through community activities and awareness. If you want to spot one of these beautiful birds in their natural habitat, then stop by the C4 Environmental Display Centre - here you will learn the best way to see a cassowary and discover more interesting facts. And, if you want to get more involved in the conservation process while on holiday, you can take part in C4 planting days and information sessions. Keep an eye on the organisation's website to see what's happening. [caption id="attachment_828486" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tropical North Queensland[/caption] TRAVERSE THE TREETOPS VIA SKYRAIL RAINFOREST CABLEWAY Located just 15 minutes north of Cairns you will find the spectacular Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, where you can explore the oldest continually surviving rainforest in the world from a new perspective. Enjoy the stunning panoramic vistas in a cableway that glides over the lush jungle canopies between Smithfield and Kuranda, or discover Red Peak Station with a complimentary ranger-guided walk and see the prehistoric Barron Falls. You can immerse yourself in stunning nature without worrying about your impact. Skyrail has cemented itself as a sustainable business after being one of the first tourism attractions in Australia to achieve the Ecotourism Australia Advanced certification, which they have maintained for 20 years. [caption id="attachment_845207" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tropical North Queensland[/caption] GET INVOLVED WITH WILDLIFE HABITAT Just a one-hour drive north of Cairns, this Port Douglas wildlife park provides an incredible way to connect with native fauna. The animals at Wildlife Habitat live in five carefully recreated natural environments, including wetlands, rainforest, savannah, nocturnal and woodlands, with each habitat offering guests a sneak peek into the interconnected lives of these beautiful creatures. Wildlife Habitat is guided by the ethos of 'observation, appreciation, conservation', which promises safe and sustainable interactions with animals. Guests are invited to swim with saltwater crocodiles, have breakfast with native birds, or cuddle a sweet koala. The park is also home to the Tropical Animal Rehabilitation Centre, which cares for sick, injured and orphaned animals. [caption id="attachment_844225" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tropical North Queensland[/caption] VISIT THE DAINTREE DISCOVERY CENTRE If you want a truly unforgettable view of the Daintree Rainforest, head to the Daintree Discovery Centre at Cow Bay. The famous aerial walkway has been standing for 30 years offering easily accessible stunning views without disrupting the precious root system below. There is also a Canopy Tower boasting 23 metres and boardwalks, offering multiple tours for those itching to discover. The centre is a leader in ecotourism, doing its bit to preserve the World Heritage area through waste management, recycling and water conservation initiatives, actively planting trees and exceeding its quota to maintain carbon-neutral status, sponsoring research programs, and more. Its Canopy Tower and Micrometeorological Weather Station and Centre also contributes to important Climate Change research. [caption id="attachment_844236" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tropical North Queensland[/caption] SEE THE DAINTREE WITH SOLAR WHISPER Solar Whisper is the only zero-emissions boat on the Daintree River (Julaymba) and is a small, family operated business - making it our top pick to explore the river. The solar electric vessel is whisper quiet, meaning you can soak in the sounds and smells of tropical wildlife without yucky fumes and disturbing noise. It is the perfect way to get closer to nature without impacting it. An experienced interpretive guide will take you through the river, rainforest and mangroves to spot a spectacular ecosystem of wild life including snakes, frogs, crabs, fish and birds. Plus, if you are lucky you might spot a crocodile above the water or with the croc cam fitted to show any creatures hiding away beneath the surface. With a 99% success rate for spotting crocs, Solar Whisper is a great way to see these impressive creatures in their natural habitat. NGADIKU DREAMTIME WALK For anyone visiting the incredible Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest, a Ngadiku Dreamtime Walk is definitely not one to miss. This is the perfect experience for those wanting to gain a deeper understanding of the Daintree land. The Dreamtime Walk commences with a welcoming smoking ceremony and then your guide will lead you on a gentle walk through the many sights of the lush rainforest. You will see traditional huts or humpies, learn about traditional plant use and bush foods and make bush soaps and ochre paint. Plus, your Indigenous guide will share Dreamtime stories that reveals their connection with the tropical environment. After you have worked up an appetite, you will end the tour with a bush tea and damper. [caption id="attachment_845848" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tropical North Queensland[/caption] GET INVOLVED IN RAINFOREST RESCUE To protect rainforests forever. This is the heartbreakingly simple vision of Rainforest Rescue, a not-for-profit conservation organisation that has been operating since 1999. Its team searches locally and internationally for sections of vulnerable rainforests that could benefit from conservation assistance. Once identified, these rainforests are purchased by Rainforest Rescue to ensure their future safety, and are maintained as conservation zones. Basically, these guys are the real-life version of Captain Planet, but luckily, you don't need superpowers to join the mission. Through its Buy Back & Protect Forever scheme, each $10 donation will protect two square metres of the Daintree. Rainforest Rescue also welcomes any green-thumbed volunteers to apply to become involved with its North Queensland plant nursery. Ready to plan a trip to the tropics? For more information, visit the Tropical North Queensland website. Top images: Tourism and Events Queensland, Tourism Tropical North Queensland
The Polish Club has supported generations of new migrants in Australia by keeping Polish culture alive in Brisbane from the heart of Milton. The weekly Saturday morning market is a longstanding tradition, open to all visitors and beloved by the locals. It's more than just a social event for club members. It's also a chance to share Polish food, crafts and traditions with the wider Brisbane community. Stop by and enjoy homestyle Polish cooking, with flavours that will keep you coming back time and time again. Here, you'll find the most perfectly pinched pierogi dumplings stuffed with meat, potato and cheese, or cabbage and mushroom. You can pick them up piping hot from the vendors tossed in butter and fried bacon bits, and then grab a pack of your favourites to take home for seconds. Deli items and handmade smallgoods, sausages and smoked meats are available alongside complementary Polish specialties, such as marinated mushrooms, pickles, sauerkraut and dark rye bread. Got a sweet tooth? You're in luck. Polish people take dessert very seriously, with an abundance of Mazurek cake, Polish cheesecake, the beloved makowce poppyseed roll, and filled paczki donuts up for grabs, too. Let musicians soundtrack your stroll from stall to stall then take a break in the restaurant for Polish beers and world-famous vodkas.
Before the pandemic, when a new-release movie started playing in cinemas, audiences couldn't watch it on streaming, video on demand, DVD or blu-ray for a few months. But with the past few years forcing film industry to make quite a few changes — widespread movie theatre closures and plenty of people staying home in iso will do that — that's no longer always the case. Maybe you've had a close-contact run-in. Perhaps you haven't had time to make it to your local cinema lately. Given the hefty amount of films now releasing each week, maybe you simply missed something. Film distributors have been fast-tracking some of their new releases from cinemas to streaming recently — movies that might still be playing in theatres in some parts of the country, too. In preparation for your next couch session, here's 15 you can watch right now at home. TITANE Eye roll-inducingly terrible bumper stickers be damned; no one honks if they're horny in Titane. Revving when aroused is more this petrol-doused body-horror film's style, spanning characters both flesh and chrome. When she's seen writhing in fishnets atop a flame-adorned vintage Cadillac, the stony-gazed Alexia (debutant Agathe Rousselle) is working. She's titillating a Fast and Furious-style car crowd with her sexed-up display, but the car model still seems to hum with every gyration. After wrapping up, murdering a grab-happy fan with the metal chopstick keeping her hair up and then showering off the gooey, gory evidence, she's soon purring rhythmically inside that gleaming vehicle. Yes, in a plot detail that spilled the instant Titane premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival, where it won the prestigious Palme d'Or, this is the French car sex flick. How does someone fornicate with an automobile? In her sophomore effort after the also-phenomenal teen cannibal film Raw, writer/director Julia Ducournau isn't too interested in those specifics. Instead, she's more concerned with shrewdly linking mechanophilia with agency and control, particularly over one's feelings and body. Her narrative starts its drive in Alexia's childhood, then speeds forward to her time as a fugitive posing as a fire chief's (Vincent Lindon, At War) long-missing son — and proves not just the French car sex film, nor merely a car sex movie about a woman partly forged from titanium (and with a penchant for piercing her way through those who block her road), but a ferocious and unflinching thriller that's also beautiful, tender and compassionate. If Ducournau had made her script out of metal, she'd be moulding it in its molten form. If her feature was a car instead, it'd be that libidinous, fire-emblazoned Cadillac, which arrives with a bang, lures Alexia in and then lets loose. Titane is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Read our full review. ZOLA It wasn't just a Twitter thread — it was the Twitter thread. Whether you read Aziah 'Zola' King's viral 148-post stripper saga live as it happened back in October 2015, stumbled across the details afterwards as the internet lost its mind or only heard about it via Zola's buzzy trailer, calling this stranger-than-fiction tale a wild ride will always be an understatement. Its instantly gripping opening words, as also used in Janicza Bravo's (Lemon) savvy, sharp, candy-hued tweet-to-screen adaptation, happen to capture the whole OMG, WTF and OTT vibe perfectly: "you wanna hear a story about how me and this bitch fell out? It's kind of long, but it's full of suspense." In the film, that phrase is uttered aloud by Zola's eponymous Detroit waitress (Taylour Paige, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom). The other person that Zola refers to in her initial statement is the cornrow-wearing, blaccent-sporting Stefani (Riley Keough, The Lodge), who she serves at work, then joins on a jaunt to Florida. They immediately hit it off, which is what inspires the invite to head south — a "hoe trip" is how Zola describes it — however, what's meant to be a girls' getaway for a stint of lucrative exotic dancing in Tampa soon gets messy. The drive is long, and Stefani's boyfriend Derreck (Nicholas Braun, Succession) quickly dampens the mood with his awkward, try-hard schtick. Then there's X (Colman Domingo, Candyman), who, while introduced as Stefani's roommate, is actually her pimp. Trafficking Zola into sex work is the real plan of this working holiday, she discovers, but she's ferociously adamant that she won't be "poppin' pussy for pennies". Zola is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Read our full review. THE CARD COUNTER Another Paul Schrader film, another lonely man thrust under a magnifying glass as he wrestles with the world, his place in it and his sense of morality. The acclaimed filmmaker has filled the screen with such characters and stories for more than half a century — intense tales of men who would not take it anymore — as evidenced in his screenplays for Martin Scorsese's brilliant Taxi Driver and Bringing Out the Dead, and also in his own directorial efforts such as Light Sleeper and First Reformed. You can't accuse Schrader of always making the same movie, however, as much as his work repeatedly bets on the same ideas. Instead, his films feel like cards from the same deck. Each time he deals one out, it becomes part of its own hand, as gambling drama The Card Counter demonstrates with potency, smarts and a gripping search for salvation. The film's title refers to William Tell (Oscar Isaac, Scenes From a Marriage), who didn't ever plan to spend his days in casinos and his nights in motels. But during an eight-year military prison stint, he taught himself a new skill that he's been capitalising upon modestly now that he's back out in the world. Anchored not only by Schrader's reliably blistering probing, but also by Isaac's phenomenal performance — a portrayal that's quiet, slippery and weighty all at once — The Card Counter unpacks the storm brewing behind Tell's calm facade. His status quo is punctured by fellow gambler La Linda (Like a Boss' Tiffany Haddish, in a career-best performance), and also by the college-aged Cirk (Tye Sheridan, Voyagers) and his quest for revenge; however, as the movie delves into Tell's murky history, it also lays bare America's rot and emptiness. The Card Counter is available to stream via YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Read our full review. THE FRENCH DISPATCH Editors fictional and real may disagree — The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun's Arthur Howitzer Jr (Bill Murray, On the Rocks) among them — but it's easy to use Wes Anderson's name as both an adjective and a verb. In a sentence that'd never get printed in his latest film's titular tome (and mightn't in The New Yorker, its inspiration, either), The French Dispatch is the most Wes Anderson movie Wes Anderson has ever Wes Andersoned. The immaculate symmetry that makes each frame a piece of art is present, naturally, as are gloriously offbeat performances. The equally dreamy and precise pastel- and jewel-hued colour palette, the who's who of a familiar cast list, the miniatures and animated interludes and split screens, the knack for physical comedy, and the mix of high artifice, heartfelt nostalgia and dripping whimsy, too. The writer/director knows what he loves, and also what he loves to splash across his films, and it's all accounted for in his tenth release. An ode to magazines, their heyday and their rockstar writers, The French Dispatch draws four of its five chapters from its eponymous publication, even badging them with page numbers. But this is also a tribute to everything Anderson holds The New Yorker to stand for, and holds dear — to everything he's obsessed over, internalised and absorbed into the signature filmmaking style that's given such an exuberant workout once again. One scene, involving two versions of murderer-turned-artist Moses Rosenthaler (Tony Revolori, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Benicio Del Toro, No Sudden Move), crystallises this so magnificently that it's among the best things Anderson has ever put on-screen. Also delightful: the picture's bookending story steps into Howitzer's offices in the fictional French town of Ennui-sur-Blasé, a dive into a student revolution and a police cuisine-turned-kidnapping story, all with a cast that also spans Tilda Swinton (Memoria), Owen Wilson (Loki), Timothée Chalamet (Dune), Adrien Brody (Succession), Frances McDormand (Nomadland), Léa Seydoux (No Time to Die), Jeffrey Wright (also No Time to Die), Elisabeth Moss (The Invisible Man), Saoirse Ronan (Ammonite), Edward Norton (Motherless Brooklyn), Willem Dafoe (Nightmare Alley) and Jason Schwartzman (Fargo). The French Dispatch is available to stream via Disney+. Read our full review. THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS Hordes of imitators have spilled ones and zeros claiming otherwise, but the greatest move The Matrix franchise ever made wasn't actually bullet time. Even 22 years after Lana and Lilly Wachowski brought the saga's instant-classic first film to cinemas, its slow-motion action still wows, and yet they made another choice that's vastly more powerful. It wasn't the great pill divide — blue versus red, as dubiously co-opted by right-wing conspiracies since — or the other binaries at its core (good versus evil, freedom versus enslavement, analogue versus digital, humanity versus machines). It wasn't end-of-the-millennia philosophising about living lives online, the green-tinged cyberpunk aesthetic, or one of the era's best soundtracks, either. They're all glorious, as is knowing kung fu and exclaiming "whoa!", but The Matrix's unwavering belief in Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss is far more spectacular. Lana goes solo on The Matrix Resurrections — helming her first-ever project without her sister in their entire career — but she still goes all in on Reeves and Moss. The fourth live-action film in the saga, and fifth overall counting The Animatrix, this new instalment doesn't initially give its key figures their familiar character names, however. Rather, it casts them as famous video game designer Thomas Anderson and motorcycle-loving mother-of-two Tiffany. One of those monikers is familiar, thanks to a surname drawled by Agent Smith back in 1999, and again in 2003 sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. But this version of Thomas Anderson only knows the agent from his own hit gaming trilogy (called The Matrix, naturally). And he doesn't really know Tiffany at all, instead admiring her from afar at Simulatte, their local coffee shop. The Matrix Resurrections is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Read our full review. GOLD Gold's title doubles as an exclamation that Australian filmmakers might've made when Zac Efron decamped to our shores at the beginning of the pandemic. Only this outback-set thriller has put the High School Musical, Bad Neighbours and Baywatch star to work Down Under, however, and he definitely isn't in Hollywood anymore. Instead, he's stuck in "some time, some place, not far from now…", as all-caps text advises in the movie's opening moments. He's caught in a post-Mad Max-style dystopia, where sweltering heat, a visible lack of shelter, a cut-throat attitude, water rationing, and nothing but dirt and dust as far as the eye can see greets survivors navigating a rusty wasteland. But then his character, Man One, spots a glint, and all that glisters is indeed gold — and he must guard it while Man Two (Anthony Hayes, also the film's director) seeks out an excavator. Exactly who stays and who goes is the subject of heated discussion, but Gold is an economical movie, mirroring how its on-screen figures need to be careful about every move they make in such unforgiving surroundings. As a filmmaker, helming his first feature since 2008's Ten Empty, Hayes knows his star attraction — and he's also well-aware of the survivalist genre, and its history, that he's plonking Efron into. Almost every male actor has been in one such flick or so it can seem, whether Tom Hanks is talking to a volleyball in Castaway, Liam Neeson is communing with wolves in The Grey or Mads Mikkelsen is facing frosty climes in Arctic. Although Gold purposefully never names its setting, Australia's vast expanse is no stranger to testing its visitors, too, but Hayes' version slips in nicely alongside the likes of Wake in Fright, The Rover and Cargo, rather than rips them off. Gold is available to stream via Stan. Read our full review. THE 355 They're globe-hopping, ass-kicking, world-saving spies, but women: that's it, that's The 355. When those formidable ladies are played by a dream international cast of Jessica Chastain (Scenes From a Marriage), Lupita Nyong'o (Us), Penélope Cruz (Pain and Glory), Diane Kruger (In the Fade) and Fan Bingbing (I Am Not Madame Bovary), the tickets should sell themselves — and Chastain, who suggested the concept and produces, wasn't wrong for hoping that. Giving espionage moves the female-fronted spin that Bond and Mission: Impossible never have isn't just this action-thriller's quest alone, of course, and nothing has done so better than Atomic Blonde recently, but there's always room for more. What The 355 offers is an average affair, though, rather than a game-changer, even if director/co-writer Simon Kinberg so evidently wants to do for its genre what Widows did for heist flicks. The film still starts with men, too, causing all the globe's problems — aka threatening to end life as we know it via a gadget that can let anyone hack anything online. One nefarious and bland mercenary (Jason Flemyng, Boiling Point) wants it, but the CIA's gung-ho Mason 'Mace' Browne (Chastain) and her partner Nick Fowler (Sebastian Stan, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) head to Paris to get it from Colombian intelligence officer Luis Rojas (Édgar Ramírez, Jungle Cruise), who's gone rogue and is happy to sell; however, German operative Marie Schmidt (Kruger) is also on its trail. The French connection goes wrong, the two women get in each other's ways, but it's apparent — begrudgingly to both — that they're better off together. They need ex-MI6 cyber whiz Khadijah Adiyeme (Nyong'o) to help, while Colombian psychologist Graciela Rivera (Cruz) gets drawn in after making the trip to stop Luis going off the books. The 355 is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Read our full review. STRAY In gorgeous and glorious 2016 documentary Kedi, Istanbul's stray cats received their moment in the cinematic spotlight, and also expressed much about the Turkish city and its human inhabitants in the process. The result was perfect — purrfect, even — regardless of whether you're normally a feline fan. Indeed, it's the defining movie about mousers, and also about their relationship with both places and people (even trying to put the likes of Garfield, Cats, A Street Cat Named Bob and its sequel A Christmas Gift from Bob, some of cinema's other go-to kitties, in the same company is thoroughly pointless). With Stray, it's now their canine counterparts' time to shine, so animal-adoring film lovers can spread their love between cats and dogs equally. Where Kedi elicited purrs of elation, this dog-centric delight is a piece of tail-waggingly tender and thoughtful cinema, too. Istanbul isn't just an arbitrary choice of setting for this compassionate film; it has a 'no kill, no capture' law when it comes to the dogs roaming its streets, which is why there's more than 100,000 of them scampering around. That leaves documentarian Elizabeth Lo spoiled for choice, but she only spends time with a few of those woofers. They span street veterans Zeytin and Nazar, both of whom prowl the pavement as comfortably as they would someone's home, as well as puppy Kartal. As they sniff and scurry their way through their days, Lo stitches together a perceptive and textured portrait of their lives, of the city around them, and of the people who help and are helped by them — and, just like in Kedi (which she wasn't affiliated with at all), there's plenty of two-legged Istanbulites who prove forever changed by these canines' presence. Here, there's a group of young street-dwelling Syrian refugees that are especially touched by Zeytin, Nazar and Kartal as well. Stray is available to stream via Docplay. Read our full review. BLUE BAYOU Blue Bayou isn't Justin Chon's first film as an actor, writer, director or producer, but it's a fantastic showcase for his many talents nonetheless. It's also a deeply moving feature about a topical subject: America's immigration laws, which are complicated at best and draconian at worst. Worlds away from his time in all five Twilight flicks — because Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Anna Kendrick aren't the franchise's only breakout stars — Chon plays Antonio LeBlanc. While the Korean American tattoo artist has lived in Louisiana since being adopted as child, the name he was given upon his arrival in the US still sparks cognitive dissonance, as the job interview that opens the movie illustrates. It also doesn't stop both the casual and overt racism frequently directed his way, or the deportation proceedings that spring after he's accosted in a supermarket by New Orleans police officers. Helming and scripting as well as starring, Chon layers Antonio's situation with complexity from the outset. He's getting by, just, but his criminal record makes it difficult to secure more work — which he needs given his wife Kathy (Alicia Vikander, The Green Knight) is pregnant. He's a doting stepdad to her daughter Jessie (Sydney Kowalske, Doom Patrol), but her birth father Ace (Mark O'Brien, Marriage Story) is one of those aforementioned cops. Also, Ace has a bigoted partner, Denny (Emory Cohen, Flashback), who makes antagonising Antonio his daily mission. And, after that grocery store run-in, the latter discovers that his adoptive parents didn't ever complete the paperwork required to naturalise him as a US citizen. His life, his wife, his kids, that he has no ties to Korea: sadly, it all means nothing to the immigration system. Blue Bayou is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Read our full review. LAST NIGHT IN SOHO Edgar Wright must own a killer record collection. Weaving the perfect playlists into his films has ranked high among the British writer/director's trademarks ever since he made such a horror-comedy splash with Shaun of the Dead, and his own love of music is frequently mirrored by his protagonists, too. This is the filmmaker who set a zombie-killing scene to Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now', and had characters wield vinyl as weapons. He made zoning out the world via iPod — and teeing up exactly the right track for the right moment — a key trait of Baby Driver's eponymous getaway driver. Earlier in 2021, Wright also turned his avid fandom for Sparks into his delightful first documentary The Sparks Brothers, because wearing his love for his favourite songs on his sleeves infiltrates everything he makes. So, the fact that his second film of this year is about a giddy devotee of 60s tunes really doesn't come as the slightest surprise. Cilla Black, Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield: these are the kind of talents that Last Night in Soho's Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie, The Power of the Dog) can't get enough of, even though she's a Gen Z aspiring fashion designer; they're also the type of stars that aforementioned blonde bombshell Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen's Gambit) wants to follow onto London's stages. Last Night in Soho starts with its wannabe fashionista, who's first seen donning her own 60s-inspired designs in her Cornwall bedroom that's plastered with posters and pictures from the period, and also dancing to 'Peter & Gordon's 1964 track 'A World Without Love'. Soon, Eloise is off to college in the big and, hopefully, working towards the fashion world. Then she meets Sandie, but only in her dreams. Actually, as she slumbers, she becomes Sandie — and navigates her chiffon-adorned quest for stardom, her breathy 'Downtown' covers and her thorny relationship with slippery bar manager Jack (Matt Smith, Official Secrets). Last Night in Soho is available to stream via YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Read our full review. NEW ORDER If only one word could be used to describe New Order, that word would be relentless. If just two words could be deployed to sum up the purposefully provocative film by writer/director Michel Franco (April's Daughter), savage would get thrown in as well. Sharing zero in common with the band of the same name, this 2020 Venice Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winner dreams up a dystopian future that's barely even one step removed from current reality. And, in dissecting class clashes, and also examining the growing discontent unsurprisingly swelling worldwide at the lavish lives indulged by the wealthy while so much of the world struggles, the mood and narrative are nothing less than brutal. Screens big and small have been filled with eat-the-rich stories of late — Parasite, Us, Candyman, Ready or Not, The White Lotus, Nine Perfect Strangers and Squid Game among them — but New Order is its own ravenous meal. The place: Mexico City. The setup: a wedding that goes undeniably wrong. As the ceremony gets underway at a compound-style residence that's jam-packed with the ultra-wealthy and ultra-corrupt, the chasm between the guests and the staff is glaring. Case in point: bride-to-be Marianne (Naian González Norvind, South Mountain) couldn't be more stressed when she's asked for money to help ex-employee Rolando's (Eligio Meléndez, La Civil) ailing wife, who also worked at the house, and plenty of her family members are dismissive, arrogant and flat-out rude about their former servant's plight. Then activists start making their presence known outside, as well as further afield in the city's streets — and interrupting the nuptials by storming the mansion, too. The military respond swiftly and brutally, sparing no one in their efforts to implement the movie's telling moniker. New Order is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Read our full review. BEST SELLERS Best Sellers is the latest case of casting-by-internet, or so it seems, at least: pairing up Aubrey Plaza and Michael Caine smacks of a feverish film Twitter dream. They both turn in fine performances, too, with the former coming off career-best work in Black Bear to play independent publishing house editorial director Lucy Stanbridge, and the latter getting a meatier role than his last Christopher Nolan-directed bit-part (that'd be Tenet) as cantankerous writer Harris Shaw. Lucy needs a big bestseller to save the business, which she took over from her father. Harris has been typing out manuscripts for the five decades since his sole success, which made the elder Stanbridge, but hasn't submitted the one he's under contract for to the company. Enter Lucy's solution to her pressing problem, and one that the reclusive Harris only goes along with because he's short on cash. Knowing how Best Sellers will turn out is as easy as knowing which marks the always-likeable Plaza and Caine usually hit. Indeed, it's knowing why their team-up instantly sounds like a winner on paper, and obviously did to actor-turned-directing first-timer Lina Roessler and screenwriter Anthony Grieco — Plaza is acerbic, albeit in a slightly lighter mode than seen in her breakthrough Parks and Recreation role, while Caine relishes being a curmudgeonly, outdated drunk who yells "bullshite!" so much that it's soon a viral catchphrase. There's plenty to like about their scenes together, especially when sweetness seeps into the surrogate grandfather-granddaughter bond that develops while Lucy and Harris are on tour spruiking his new book anywhere and everywhere they can. In their solo moments, they both find rich notes of yearning and melancholy in their unlikely duo, too, cementing the film's tender but comic look at odd-couple kindred spirits. Best Sellers is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Read our full review. DEAR EVAN HANSEN Dear Dear Evan Hansen: don't. If a movie could write itself a letter like the eponymous figure in this stage-to-screen musical does, that's all any missive would need to communicate. It could elaborate, of course. It could caution against emoting to the back row, given that cinema is a subtler medium than theatre. It could advise against its firmly not-a-teenager lead Ben Platt, who won one of the Broadway hit's six Tony Awards, but may as well be uttering "how do you do, fellow kids?" on the big screen. It could warn against director Stephen Chbosky, who has a history with disaffected youth thanks to The Perks of Being a Wallflower, shooting the bulk of the feature like it's still on a stage but with more close-ups. Mostly, though, any dispatch from any version of Dear Evan Hansen — treading the boards or flickering through a projector — should counsel against the coming-of-age tale's horrendously misguided milk-the-dead-guy narrative. A anxious, isolated and bullied teen who returns from summer break with a fractured arm, the titular Evan (Platt, The Politician) might be the last person to talk to Connor Murphy (Colton Ryan, one of the Broadway production's understudies). It isn't a pleasant chat, even if Connor signs Evan's cast — which no one else has or wants to. In the school library, Evan prints out a letter to himself as a therapy exercise, but Connor grabs it first, reads it, then gets furious because it mentions his sister Zoe (Kaitlyn Dever, Dopesick). Cue days spent fretting on Evan's part, wondering if he'll see the text splashed across social media. Instead, he's soon sitting with Cynthia Murphy (Amy Adams, The Woman in the Window) and her husband Larry (Danny Pino, Fatale), who inform him of Connor's suicide — and that they found Evan's 'Dear Evan Hansen' note on him, and they're sure it's their son's last words. Dear Evan Hansen is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Read our full review. THE HATING GAME Misery loves company in the world of publishing industry-set toxic romance novels, which just keep coming — as do film adaptations of such books. After the Fifty Shades franchise fittingly came After movies, doubling down on idealising unhealthy relationships cast against a literary background. Now, as based on Sally Thorne's tome of the same name, The Hating Game follows the same broad concept as well as the same path from page to screen. For anyone who loves words, there's a sense of romance about the business of immortalising them in print, so perhaps that's why these tales keep plunging into the publishing realm. Or, if you're turning destructive ideas about love into fiction, maybe using the industry responsible as a backdrop just feels apt? As more keep arriving, including this dull affair from director Peter Hutchings (Then Came You) and screenwriter Christina Mengert (the filmmaker's co-scribe on The Last Keepers), it could simply be the easiest and laziest choice. Narrating The Hating Game, Lucy Hutton (Lucy Hale, Son of the South) is upfront about her disdain for Joshua Templeman (Austin Stowell, Swallow) from the outset. She hails from Gamin Publishing, home to weighty works that exemplify literature as an art form, while he comes from Bexley Books, purveyor of ghost-written sports autobiographies. Creativity meets commerce in this business marriage of convenience; however, since the two organisations joined forces, The Hating Game's chalk-and-cheese central pair have dedicated as much time to annoying each other as they have to their jobs. The dangling carrot that is a big promotion not only ups the stakes but sees Lucy and Josh ramp up their animosity, but then their bickering begets an unexpected kiss. Afterwards, she struggles with lusting after the enemy while still trying to beat him out for her dream position. The Hating Game is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Read our full review. RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY It's the franchise about zombies that just won't die. The series with a disdain for big corporations and the chaos they wreak that keeps pumping out more instalments, too. After six movies between 2002–16 that consistently proved a case of diminishing returns — and the original horror flick was hardly a masterpiece to begin with — welcoming viewers back to the Resident Evil realm smacks of simply trying to keep the whole saga going at any cost. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City does indeed extract a price from its audience, stretching their fondness for the video game-to-film franchise, their appetite for John Carpenter-inspired riffs and their penchant for overemphasised 90s nostalgia. Primarily set in 1998, and endeavouring to reboot the series without its previous star Milla Jovovich, it strenuously tests patience as well. After an orphanage stint filled with familiar Resident Evil figures — siblings Claire and Chris Redfield as kids, plus nefarious Umbrella Corporation scientist Dr William Birkin (Neal McDonough, Sonic the Hedgehog) — writer/director Johannes Roberts (47 Metres Down and 47 Metres Down: Uncaged) has Welcome to Raccoon City first get gory en route back to its titular town. The now-adult Claire (Kaya Scodelario, Crawl) hitches a ride with a trucker, who then hits a woman standing in the road. The victim still gets up afterwards, because unnaturally shuffling along after you've been killed comes with the territory. The walking dead are a new phenomenon in the desolate locale, however, following Umbrella's decision to shut up shop and leave the place a crumbling shell. Of course, the night that Claire arrives back to reunite with Chris (Robbie Amell, Upload), who's now a local cop, is the night that a virus zombifies Raccoon City's residents. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Read our full review. Looking for more at-home viewing options? Take a look at our monthly streaming recommendations across new straight-to-digital films and TV shows.
Whether for a drink, a bite to eat, a stint at the casino or to spend the night, heading to Treasury Brisbane has always involved heading to two neighbouring George Street spots. Until now, that is — with the inner-city venue branching out to a third location perched over the Brisbane river. Called Will & Flow, the new bar marks Treasury's first off-site location, although it isn't far from the casino and adjacent hotel. From midday on Friday, November 20, Brisbanites can mosey down to the Queen's Wharf precinct, where the overwater watering hole sits between the QUT Gardens Point CityCat stop and the Goodwill Bridge. On the menu: coffees during the day, cocktails after work and bites to eat from morning till evening. You can start with a fruit bowl or ham and cheese croissant before 11am — and then snack on chipotle crab buns, roasted king prawns, oyster and mussel-filled platters, scallops with bechamel sauce, and four types of pizza. Yes, seafood is a big feature. For dessert, there's even a chocolate peanut butter pizza, which comes topped with strawberries and marshmallows. And, as for what you'll be sipping, the drinks lineup also includes smoothies, wines, spritzes, Queensland beers, and other boozy concoctions such as espresso martinis, lime and lemongrass margaritas, and a 'State of Origin negroni'. Obviously, you'll be consuming all of the above with scenic views over the river to South Bank. Will & Flow is available for events, too, which'll benefit from the same waterside vantage. Visitors can choose between both indoor and outdoor seating, and the latter is bound to be mighty popular. That said, in line with current social-distancing requirements, visitors won't have too much company to start with, with the bar catering to 130 patrons either seated or standing up cocktail-style. The overwater bar is the second to open in Brisbane's inner city in the past couple of years, following Mr Percival's over at Howard Smith Wharves — aka the last big new precinct to open its doors. Find Will & Flow in the Queen's Wharf precinct, between the QUT Gardens Point CityCat stop and the Goodwill Bridge — open Thursdays from 6.30am–9pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 6.30am–10pm, and Sundays from 6.30am–9pm.
In Stay of the Week, we explore some of the world's best and most unique accommodations — giving you a little inspiration for your next trip. In this instalment, we go to the luxe Anchorage Port Stephens hotel and spa overlooking the picturesque Nelson Bay. If Anchorage Port Stephens looks like your ideal summer vacay destination then head to Concrete Playground Trips, where you'll find our latest travel deal – including a night's stay at this boutique hotel, an epic buffet breakfast and a couple of complimentary cocktails on arrival. WHAT'S SO SPECIAL? This Hamptons-style hotel is the pinnacle of luxury waterside accommodation boasting rooms with uninterrupted sea views, a fine dining restaurant and a glamorous spa experience. It's made for out-of-towners who are looking to spoil themselves silly for a weekend away. THE ROOMS Room options abound at Anchorage Port Stephens. The classic Anchorage Room gives you most of the best bits, including a private balcony looking out over the marina and all the essential amenities – king-sized bed, large ensuite bathroom, aircon and your own coffee machine. You can also upgrade your stay by booking the large Family Room, the glam Master Suite or one of the separate lofts with bay windows that perfectly frame the gorgeous views. FOOD AND DRINK When staying here, you've got to dine at one of Anchorage's seafood-focused restaurants — both of which have won multiple hospitality awards. The Galley Kitchen is where you go for sophisticated all-day dining options that include seafood feasts, a special sparkling wine breakfast and a traditional afternoon tea. Either sit inside or dine by the pool terrace. And if you want to truly treat yourself, get dressed up for dinner at The Wild Herring. Locally sourced and sustainably fished seafood is presented in a myriad of inventive ways thanks to Executive Chef Michael Jenkins. The culinary experience is one of sophisticated fine dining, so it's recommended that guests travelling with children don't bring the kids along. [caption id="attachment_885378" align="alignnone" width="1920"] James Dorevski (Unsplash)[/caption] THE LOCAL AREA Port Stephens is just a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Sydney but, once you're there, it feels worlds away. Wander through town to browse the selection of charming boutiques or get in touch with nature by exploring the coastal bushland of Tomaree National Park and the clear blue waters. You'll also find several wineries and breweries in the area, so if you're up for sampling the local goods just head to the Anchorage Port Stephens concierge to organise an exclusive tour. THE EXTRAS If total rejuvenation is what you're after, a trip to the hotel's Spa Luca is on the cards. The spa has treatment rooms for singles and couples where you can experience massages, scrubs, wraps, facials and immersive ritual healings — the menu of treatment options is extensive. You'll also find a lavish whirlpool and steam room alongside a private relaxation room to help you stay in the calm bubble for as long as possible. Head to the Concrete Playground Trips website to book a lavish stay at at Anchorage Port Stephens.
Given that The Simpsons Australia episode was more of a Fosters ad than anything else, it sounds clunky to claim 'beer is back Down Under'. When did it leave? So let's settle for the idea that brewers have lifted their socks in the wake of the return of cocktail culture. Hell, the Old Growler is pretty much a hops-filled speakeasy, beer festivals seem to be going off like fireworks on Guy Fawkes Day and home brewing is slowly being wrestled from the cold, dead hands of the river folk. Oh, and Coles now owns a microbrewery, Steamrail, that's exclusively stocked at their Liquorlands across the country. The times they are a-changing. But, with a flood in the market, where should you be directing your attention before the sun cuts back its working hours and we're all staring down those few unmentionable months of winter? Here is a list of (mostly) local beers you've probably glanced over on a menu but may not have taken the risk, forgone your beloved Coopers and forked over those extra $3 for a taste. Let's try them together. Robot Ninja Lager Rice lager is a great way to ease into the wonderful world of craft beer — fruity, light and round, this offering from the Victorian brewery Kooinda is inspired by Tokyo City and the proof is on the palate. Plus, it is something new. You can pretty much taste everything in this tipple (the website even claims a bubble-gum finish), but it is surprisingly smooth and a go-to on those hot afternoons. Though, be warned: this one masks its 4.6 percent booze content with a ricey backbone and shouldn't be treated lightly. For a more traditional rice lager, try out the Koshihikari Echigo Beer. Four Pines American Pale Ale Four Pines comes out of Manly, and offhand there is nothing in their range that isn't worth a look. The kolsch is an absolute winner, but their pale gets on here by virtue of its wide appeal. They use an unusual amount of hops in here, so expect a mouth-filling flavour, but the softness of the pine and bite of the grapefruit wrangle it in and make it a very versatile food match… Admittedly I'm thinking pub food here, but heck go with it. Murrays Angry Man If you are looking for something a little bit more familiar (yes I'm talking to all of you smashing-Sierra-Nevadas-like-its-going-out-of-fashion people) in a pale ale but still interested in broadening those horizons, try out the Murrays Angry Man. It's got a bit more punch and hop, aka bitterness, and will suit a blokier pallet — I swear I am not just running with their ridiculously awesome strong man versus kangaroo label here — but there is still plenty of complexity to the flavour. Keep a few in your fridge and order some unadvisedly hot Thai curry for your next Thursday in. Emerson's Pilsner New Zealand does do a few things well, and one of them is pilsner — in this case German pilsner. Emerson's is a well-balanced beer with a healthy smack of nectarine and then (which those of you easily overwhelmed by ales will appreciate) a long, dry finish that makes this one taste like… well... beer, essentially, which is nice. A clean, crisp mouth-wetter with a few surprising flavour notes to get your tongue wagging. Stone & Wood Jasper Ale It is still an ale, but its not going to blow your socks off with an overwhelming burst of vanilla or pineapple. The Jasper is a great crowd pleasingly thirst quencher, and it is sold in pints which is good news for everyone! Most people who identify as non-beer-likers are actually just not that into hops, but that doesn't mean you have to forgo the whole drink. Plenty of people enjoy peat free whisky, and in the same vein beers that let the malt sing and tone down the hops, like this one, will make a convert of you in no time. For the rest of us, true believers, this deep-red Jasper Ale kicks off fruity, finishes nutty and is very restrained on the carbonation front so it won't fill you up. Young Henrys Newtowner An Australian pale (i.e. they use Australian hops), this critter came out for the 150 years of Newtown celebrations and remains only available in the Inner West — which makes it the perfect excuse for a trip to King Street. Young Henrys is easily one of the most talked about local breweries and this English summer ale is a fair bit drier than their other regular pours, with a golden look and refreshing finish. Head over to The Courthouse for a long lunch with this one before summer's end. Murray's Moon Boy Golden Ale This is a beautifully gentle beer that should have spent all summer teamed up with your favourite pineapple-filled burger. It didn't did it? Do not mistake gentle for wishy-washy or tasteless; there is a lot of wheat in this baby, so expect a dry finish, and there is fruit there too. And if the option to drink a beer with a maroon-sweated, bespectacled werewolf man for a logo doesn't get you high-tailing it to the Trinity Bar on Crown Street, then I feel like I don't even know who you are anymore, man. Feral Brewing Hop Hog If this was 'Ten Beer Names to Appreciate Before the End of Summer', all of them would be from Feral Brewing. These WA beer freaks don't stop at making great beer, no, no; they then give them names like The Raging Flem, Runt and a whole selection of hogs. The Hop Hog is simply a great beer, but there is nothing simple about it: big on the hops, well balanced by malt, and somehow the whole room smells like pine when the top's off. Feral reminds us that some tastes can't be luck and someone, somewhere must know exactly what they are doing. Seriously, hop on a hog. Hargreaves Hill ESB Serious beer drinkers need only apply for this one, an Aussie twist on the Extra Special Bitter (this is normally an English speciality) that brought this Victorian brewery some serious international attention a few years ago. There are hops aplenty, a rich toffee-like malt and tropical wonders on the nose. Yes, I am an unabashed fan of this beer. If you're looking for a bit more oomph, pair it up with sherry casked single malt and sip away the next 45 minutes of your day. Sinha Stout Okay, so stouts aren't particularly summery, but they also aren't particularly Sri Lankan, which is where this mochaccino-worthy bevvy hails from, so go with it. First up, it is smooth (look at how this thing pours into a glass; it's like they've managed to bottle the voice of Laurence Fishburne), and then you sip it and suddenly you've gone to that place Irish Coffee promised but never delivered. It is 8 percent, but honestly, you don't even notice. Well, not while you're drinking it at least. Try this one out for a flavour kick at the end of your next dumpling session at Uncle Mings. Like anything, your appreciation of beer grows in direct proportion to the amount you pop in your gob, so get yourself off to an upcoming beer festival or check out the website of a brewery near you for the grand tour. Yes, it will smell like yeast. Yes, that is pretty much the smell of warm horse feed. Yes, you'll love it. Or else, we'll see you in the beer garden.
The humble parmigiana is a pub staple, and for a very good reason. When you're cooking up crumbed schnitzel, slathering it in a tomato-heavy sauce and topping it with cheese, it's very hard to go wrong. So, as part of its new menu, Bald Hills' Bonny View Hotel serves up classic, Mexican-style (with jalapeños, guacamole, pico de gallo and sour cream) and Aussie (with bacon, beetroot relish and slaw) varieties. Relaunching after a $1.3 million renovation, the northside site also boasts something else on its food lineup. Parmigiana fans, meet your new must-try mashup: the parmi hot dog. Which is exactly the Frankenstein's monster of a dish that it sounds like. You'll tuck into a crumbed chicken sausage on a hotdog bun, with said banger topped with napoli sauce, bacon and liquid cheese. Cheeseburger spring rolls, wagyu brisket croquettes, fish pies, chicken kievs, steaks, baked half-shell scallops, pulled chicken tacos and salmon fillets are also on the gastropub-esque menu; however, let's face it, those parmi hot dogs are the main attraction. Australian Venue Co, the hospitality outfit behind Bonny View Hotel, clearly recognise this — with 150 freebies being given away over the pub's relaunch weekend from Friday, August 21–Sunday, August 23. If you're just keen to check out the venue's new look, it'll all be unveiled on Thursday, August 20, with the 85-year-old location undergoing quite the facelift. As overseen by Brisbane architects Push, every space inside and out has had a revamp, from the front bar and indoor dining area to the outside bistro and covered deck. And, while parmi hot dogs are the big ticket item, they're not the only kind of dogs that Bonny View Hotel is interested in. Bring your pooch along and you'll be able to sit in the woofer-friendly outdoor area and nab them some puppy snacks, too. Find the Bonny View Hotel at 2077 Gympie Road, Bald Hills, open Monday–Saturday from 10am–4am and Sunday from 10am– 1.30am — and head by from Thursday, August 20 to see its new look and tuck into its new menu. Images: Cat Thuemling.
When the second season of Only Murders in the Building came to an end, it did so with exactly what fans of the delightful murder-mystery comedy series have come to expect: another death. And when the hit Disney+, show returns for its third season, hopefully sometime in 2023, it'll delve into the fallout, giving both the program and viewers another killing to solve. Even better, it'll boast a new high-profile addition to its suspects list: the one and only Meryl Streep. The three-time Oscar-winner, and star of everything from Big Little Lies to Little Women and Don't Look Up of late, is the latest big name to join a series that's been stacked with them from the outset, given that it's led by Steve Martin (It's Complicated), Martin Short (Schmigadoon!) and Selena Gomez (The Dead Don't Die). Over both season one and two, Tina Fey (Girls5eva) has been a significant presence, Sting and Amy Schumer have played themselves, and Cara Delevingne (Carnival Row) has also popped up. Oh, and so has Paul Rudd, who'll be back again in season three. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) Gomez, aka Only Murders' Mabel Mora, announced the news on her Instagram. That's where you'll see the show's main trio get mighty excited about the upcoming season, as joined by the returning Andrea Martin (Evil), Rudd and Streep. Clearly, New York City's deadliest fictional apartment block is about to get mighty busy — and residents turned true-crime podcasters Mabel, Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin) and Oliver Putnam (Short) will have something else, and a few more someone elses, to chat about. Is there a more chaotic place to live in NYC at the moment, at least on the small screen? It doesn't appear so. [caption id="attachment_824354" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu[/caption] If you're still yet to experience the series' charms, it follows the odd trio of Charles-Haden, Oliver and the much-younger Mabel after they bond over two things: listening to a Serial-style podcast hosted by the show's own version of Sarah Koenig, aka Cinda Canning (Fey); and a death in their luxe abode. Of course, they did what everyone that's jumped on the true-crime bandwagon knows they would if they were ever in the same situation, starting their own audio series that's also called Only Murders in the Building. That's how season one kicked off — and continued, proving a warm, funny, smart and savvy series at every step along the way, as well as one of 2021's best small-screen newcomers. In the show's second go-around, another death needed investigating. This time, it was someone the main trio were all known not to be that fond of, so suspicions kept pointing in their direction. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Steve Martin (@stevemartinreally) Further details about season three are still scarce — sorry, armchair detectives — including exactly when it'll return. Considering that there was less than a year between seasons one and two, though, cross your fingers that the show keeps up the same schedule. Steve Martin, on his Instagram, confirmed that filming has just started, so here's hoping for a quick turnaround. Until more information about season three is announced, check out the trailer for Only Murders in the Building season two below: Only Murders in the Building's third season doesn't yet have a release date — we'll update you when one is announced. Season one and two are currently streaming Down Under via Star on Disney+. Read our full review of season two — and of the show's first season, too. Top image: Glynn Lowe Photoworks via Wikimedia Commons.
We know what you’re thinking. This is going to be an article full of leprechauns and ‘top o’ the morning to ya’s and embarrassing attempts to coerce you into kissing us under the pretence that we’re Irish. Well, you’re wrong. St Patrick’s Day may be around the corner but that doesn’t mean we have to celebrate in the style of so many supposed descendants of the Emerald Isle (if you’re pale and your great-great-great grandfather may have passed through Dublin in the1800s, that’s an excuse to wear a silly hat and drink green cocktails, right?). This year, we say commemorate the world’s favourite snake chaser in a way that would make your mammy proud. Brisbane is teeming with Paddy’s Day celebrations, and we promise none of them involve pretending you actually like Guinness. Irish Breakfast Irish cuisine isn’t all about potatoes and soda bread, y’know. Queen Street cafe, Room With Roses is busting the carbs-on-carbs stereotype this St. Patrick’s Day with its $37 dinner special. Choose from Rib Fillet with Irish whisky cream or homemade corned beef and finish off with a slice of Bailey’s cheesecake. Treacle Cafe is also going green with a two-course lunch and beer deal over the Paddy’s Day weekend and if you’re suffering from your own personal potato famine, O’Connor’s in Windsor can always be relied on for a generous portion of hot chips. They import their cod and haddock all the way from the North Atlantic for that special Celtic taste. Paint The Town Green Where true blue and emerald green merge, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade is the centrepiece of Brisbane’s Irish Festival, which runs until March 17. The floats start their round at 10.30am on Saturday, March 15 on the corner of George and Elizabeth streets and move throughout the city. This year is extra special as the Parade celebrates its 25th year so don’t forget to sport your best shamrock-hued outfit. Cheers! If you have an unstoppable urge to dress up as a leprechaun and inflict your painful Irish impression of an Irish accent on unsuspecting victims, who are we to stop you? The city’s favourite Irish pub, Mick O’Malley’s is open from 10am on Saturday, March 15 to coincide with the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and promises a ‘full day of good Craic until the wee hours of the morning’. For us non-Gaelic folk, that roughly translates as live performances from Queensland Irish Association Pipes and Drums and Brisbane Irish band Murphy’s Pigs and plenty of good ol’ merriment. Irish Murphy’s goes one better with its week-long St. Patrick’s Day Festival. Running up until the day itself, the George St bar hosts a series of live music performances and a ‘Craic’n Paddy’s Eve Party’ as well as the obligatory pints of Guinness. The Fox is also celebrating St. Paddy with a themed Soho Sunday night featuring the rather worryingly sounding green beer and performances from Slow Lovers and Brisbane DJ Gatling Gun.
It's considered one of the greatest whodunnits of all time. Or rather, one of the greatest whodidn'ts. Penned by Agatha Christie back in 1934, and first adapted into a film in 1974, Murder on the Orient Express takes a train full of passengers, kills one of them off, then asks "probably the greatest detective in the world" to find the person responsible. Naturally, everyone's a suspect, especially to the famous Hercule Poirot. He's soon slinging questions and making deductions, in a story full of mystery and suspense. At least, that's how it played out both in the book and the initial film. But try as it might, Kenneth Branagh's new version doesn't quite manage the same feat. The British actor and filmmaker stars, directs and fills his locomotive with high-profile performers including Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Michelle Pfeiffer, Josh Gad and Daisy Ridley. And yet despite their efforts — and the fine work of Pfeiffer and Ridley in particular — the end result is far from an engaging or intriguing journey, or even one worth taking. We first meet Branagh's arrogant (and ludicrously moustachioed) Belgian investigator as he's fussing over eggs at the Wailing Wall, before showing off his prowess in a case that involves a priest, a rabbi and an imam. Once the job is done, Poirot is eager for a break, but duty calls even when he's mid-railway trip. After the discovery of a body with a dozen stab wounds, our hero sets to work. Among the potential culprits caught in his gaze: a princess and her servant, a count and a countess, a nun, a doctor, a governess, a professor, a car dealer, a divorcee, a butler and a secretary. Working with cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos (Denial, Cinderella), Branagh approaches the tale with aesthetic flair — shot with the same 65mm cameras used on Dunkirk, Murder on the Orient Express is a feast of roaming shots, inventive angles and visual detail, with the production and costume design teams also putting on a show. There's little sign of the same texture or care in the rest of the movie, however, with the director himself the main offender. As depicted on the screen by everyone from Orson Welles to Alfred Molina, Poirot has always been a bundle of quirks, but here he's as pompous and self-satisfied as he is eccentric — while also being presented as a genius and a source of laughs. Christie herself grew tired of the character after he appeared in more than 80 of her stories. Watching Branagh's performance, you probably will as well. Perhaps we've just seen too many brilliant masterminds of late, considering the number of Sherlock Holmes adaptations we've all sat through. Or perhaps there's simply more to portraying a famous character than wearing ridiculous facial hair, acting smug and leaning on an accent. Also hindering the film is the obvious and easy way that Poirot pieces everything together, and Branagh's failure to properly utilise his ensemble cast. If the film's protagonist can join the dots faster than he can brush his moustache, audiences aren't likely to be enthralled. And sticking a heap of well-known faces in the same frame isn't the same as giving them all something to do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFDGjNdRqTk
