When you spend your childhood working in the family seafood eatery, growing up to become a restaurateur yourself is hardly surprising. Neither is running your own joints that sling the ocean's finest. That's Michael Tassis' story, starting at his dad's George's Paragon Seafood Restaurant in Sanctuary Cove, also including Eagle Street's now-closed Fatcow Steak & Lobster, and now continuing over to Fosh at Portside. First announced in 2022, locked in for a winter opening back in July and officially open since Thursday, August 17, Fosh doesn't just sling fish, prawns, scallops, bugs, oysters and the like — it does so by the river, and with impressive views. Here, peering at the water while enjoying fresh lobster and doing caviar bumps is firmly on the menu. So is hitting up the island bar and enjoying the fireplace's warmth (when the weather calls for it) at this 700-square-metre spot. Tassis is also behind Opa Bar + Mezze, Massimo Restaurant and Yamas Greek + Drink, and has overwater restaurant and bar Bombora and landing cafe Mulga Bill's on the way 2024 in Kangaroo Point's new green bridge, plus steak venue Rich & Rare in West End's West Village this September. So, variety is in his wheelhouse along with seafood. As a result, it also shouldn't come as shock that Fosh is two venues in one. Fancy a more casual experience? Fosh Tails does fish and chips in a more relaxed setting, complete with picnic tables. Fosh's menu starts with whipped taramasalata and fish finger sandwiches among the snacks, those caviar bumps with optional vodka and champagne, and a raw seafood lineup heroing oysters. From there, it moves onto prawn cocktails, barbecue squid and Hokkaido scallops as starters, then mains such as dry-aged fish, Moreton Bay bugs with spaghetti, pan-seared snapper and one-kilogram servings of black mussels. The live seafood range features rock lobster and mud crabs. Or, pick from both cold and hot platters keep serving up catches from the sea. If you're after a different source of protein, spiced lamb ribs sit among the small plates, and twice-cooked chicken, a couple of steaks and smoked eggplants are among the larger options. From a kitchen team that includes Head Chef Vikash Gurung (Greca, Fatcow Steak & Lobster, Rico Bar and Dining, and Jellyfish) and sous chef Daniel Hernandez (Agnes, Restaurant Dan Arnold and La Cache à Vin), dessert picks span a cheese selection and chocolate cake with raspberry gel, plus lemon tart and creme caramel with orange segments. At Fosh Tails, patrons can choose from grilled, beer-battered, crumbed or coconut fish of the day, cod, snapper, barramundi, ocean trout or coral trout. The chips come with kombu salt and mayonnaise, and the potato scallops with curry mayo and curry leaves. There are also fish sandwiches, fish bowls, both fish and wagyu burgers, buckets of fresh prawns, beer-battered prawns and chips, oysters and calamari — so, levelled-up takeaway fish-shop fare. Images: Blank Studios / Markus Ravik.
Not even Australia's balmy December temperatures can keep us from embracing the ironic ugly Christmas sweater trend. Christmas in July is here again, my friends, and so too is the Colonel's line of OTT Yuletide-themed pullovers for another year. Yep, KFC has just dropped its 2023 Christmas jumper range — and, like in 2022, there's a matching outfit for the furry mate in your life, too. Available to snap up now, the limited-edition designs are primed for cheesy family photos, rocking a cheery red-and-white pattern and emblazoned with a cheeky nod to fried chicken: "Tis The Seasonings". Both the human sweaters ($60) and the pet versions ($40) come in a range of sizes, so you're sure to find a good fit no matter how hard you — or Murphy— have gone on the winter comfort food this year. What's more, there's zero shame to be felt in this daggy knitwear purchase, since all profits from the jumpers are going to support KFC's charity partners such as The Black Dog Institute, ReachOut Australia and Whitelion. 2023's range also includes socks ($25) — if you're all about business on top and a party on your feet — and a black long-sleeved jumper ($60) that's a bit more subtle in its seasonal cheer (although KFC buckets and drumsticks still feature). And if the matchy-matchy outfits have left you and your pooch really wanting to cash in on that Christmas in July spirit, KFC is also doing festive food specials until Tuesday, July 11. KFC's 2023 Christmas in July sweaters are available to buy online, costing $60 for the human jumpers and $40 for pets.
Home to the oldest vines in Australia, the Barossa Valley is renowned worldwide for its bold and beautiful wines. In particular, it's the rich jammy reds with complexity, texture and tannin structure that have contributed heavily to this reputation. It's in this region that Krondorf Wines lives, the estate making shapes to become the next go-to premium wine producer — a fact exemplified deliciously with the release of its 2023 five-bottle collection. The Krondorf story actually begins in 1847. The hamlet was founded by a collection of people from Silesia — what is now Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic — and among them notable wine families that regularly show up on standout wine lists and bottle shop shelves across the world: Henschke, Lehmann and Nitschke. The intrepid group named their newfound home Krondorf, meaning 'crown village' in German. Today the custodians of the Krondorf legacy, under the watchful eye of chief winemaker Nick Badrice, are realising the potential of their vines with consistently award-winning drops. The ripe bottles here showcase the best of the Barossa style, perfectly illustrated in the five-strong 2023 collection. Crafted with the traditional minimalistic approach, the 2023 release includes an ultra-expressive grenache, an intense but structured cab sav and a rich and robust shiraz. The standout of the collection is the winery's newest Icon wine: the aptly named King's Mantle Shiraz. It's described as having a luscious palate, evocative of juicy black forest fruits and plums, with an earthy liquorice undertone and velvety tannins — you're going to pay a pretty penny to taste it at $150 a bottle. If you're in the area, carve out some time to visit the cellar door and wine bar. With pouring beginning in 2021, the spot's housed inside a converted heritage-listed flour mill from the 1800s. You can taste your way through the whole range — including the 2023 collection — with a bespoke wine flight or set tasting that can be happily tailored to personal taste. For those that like nibbles with their tipples, the cellar door slings artisan pizzas as well as cheese and charcuterie boards (with the option to add on Maggie Beer's premium nosh and other local produce, too). Krondorf Winery's 2023 collection is a true celebration of the winery's history and dedication to producing wines that speak to the wonders of the locale. If you're heading to this bucolic South Australian region, the cellar door is a must-visit. But if you can't make it, we suggest you peruse the 2023 collection online, choose your libation and have it sent direct — truly stellar sipping guaranteed. Concrete Playground travelled to the Barossa Valley as a guest of Krondorf Wines. Book your Krondorf cellar door tasting experience here. The cellar door is open Monday – Saturday, 12–7pm and Sunday from 12–5pm.
Your tweets might be entertaining sometimes, but are they a narrative? A virtual page-turner? A form-bending flight of fancy? They could be, if you flex your fingers and join in the 2014 Twitter Fiction Festival. Friends, strangers and your favourite authors are using Twitter for their latest literary endeavours, right now until March 16. The best part is that, as with the recent Digital Writers' Festival, no travelling is required to get to it; it is entirely virtual and takes place on the platform it embraces, Twitter. While there are a select group of official participants — famous authors plus 25 contest winners — all Twitter users are encouraged to participate. Festival organisers (a grouping of American publishers) encourage everyone to use the hashtag #twitterfiction and make their stories easy to find for other users. The short stories call on many of the distinct features of Twitter. Users can collaborate, create multiple different character accounts, and incorporate pictures and videos into their fiction. Teju Cole recently wrote a story entirely through retweets. Ranging from romance stories to crime stories to the inner erotic thoughts of Mr. Bates from Downton Abbey, the 2014 Twitter Fiction Festival has something to offer everyone, particularly because these stories are so easily digestible. One fictional account is tweeting a new book of the Bible entitled #TheBookOfBieb. It recounts the rise and fall of the younger brother of Jesus, Justin Bieber. Alternatively, author Alma Katsu will be exploring what happens when a dead man's Twitter account seemingly comes back to life. Whether you're in the mood for a story about a tense hostage stand-off or need someone to relate to while you're stuck at the airport, finding fiction can be done by perusing the #twitterfiction hashtag or by checking the official Twitter Fiction Festival account to see what they're retweeting. Inspired to write your own Twitter fiction story? Get started on your own story with the Twitter Fiction tweet generator. If you just want to read, check out the program for more information. Via The Millions.
What do Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night and Sunflowers, Katsushika Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa and Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa all have in common? Yes, they're all masterpieces. Yes, they all hail from iconic talents. And yes, they're all works that art lovers need to see in-person with their own eyes. Here's something else that they each share: they've all received the Lego treatment, letting you build them yourself, then hang them on your own wall. Lego has announced that Sunflowers is the latest great work to get turned into plastic bricks — and the latest reason that your own home can hold its own with the world's greatest galleries. The company's art range not only lets you display stunning art in your own house, but gets you recreating these masterpieces, too. To construct van Gogh's rendering of golden flowers, you'll be using 2615 blocks. Releasing on Saturday, March 1, 2025, but available to preorder already (for AU$299.99 and NZ$349.99), the new kit is a collaboration between Lego and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Together, they've designed a set that reimagines Sunflowers with 3D bricks, using the blocks to help convey brushstrokes, plus light and shade — and they've also fashioned a Lego creation that isn't small. The finished piece measures 54 centimetres in height and 41 centimetres in width, so you really will want to find the right space to display it. As you construct Sunflowers, you'll be putting together the painting's 16 sunflowers, all with adjustable petals, as well as a removable frame. The kit comes with a hanger, too, alongside a tile with the artist's signature. Lego and the Van Gogh Museum are also dropping a podcast via LEGO.com, YouTube and Spotify on Saturday, March 1, which'll chat through both the artwork's history and the Lego set's design — and is recommended listening while you build. "Working on one of the world's most-famous paintings can be quite daunting, but recreating Sunflowers has been a dream come true. We collaborated closely with the Van Gogh Museum and its experts, delving into the details to meticulously craft a 3D version of the original artwork," said LEGO Designer Stijn Oom. " One of the most challenging yet crucial aspects was translating the impasto effect into Lego bricks while preserving the painting's asymmetrical yet balanced composition. We are incredibly proud of the result and hope our fans enjoy building it as much as we enjoyed bringing Van Gogh's masterpiece to life." For more information about Lego's new Sunflowers kit, which goes on sale on Down Under on Saturday, March 1, 2025 — but is available to preorder already — head to the company's website.
Australians can now send emoji-filled text and online messages featuring illustrated boomerangs, the Aboriginal flag and other visual representations of the country's Indigenous culture. As first announced earlier this year, Ingenous Studios has created a set of Indigenous images that are now available to download on both Android and iOS platforms — marking the first such collection of emoji-like symbols that celebrate the nation's first peoples. Called Indigemoji, and originally slated to feature 19 pictures but now spanning a whopping 90, the set was developed on Arrernte land in Mparntwe, aka Alice Springs, by Central Australia's young Aboriginal people. The Northern Territory residents were asked to design new emojis that were relevant to their culture and lives, with symbols that feature the Aboriginal flag on crowns, hands and hearts among them. Other images include animals, plants, landscape, vehicles, faces, gestures and symbols. Each of Indigemoji's images also feature their name the Eastern and Central Arrernte language, which is spoken around Mparntwe/Alice Springs, Amoonguna, Ltyentye Apurte/Santa Teresa and Titjikala. And while the set of symbols features the term 'emoji' in its name, they function as stickers — because getting any new emoji approved by overseeing body Unicode, let alone a set of 90, is an extensive and difficult process. If you're keen to start adding them to your messages, that means that they don't officially feature in your phone's inbuilt emoji keyboard. But, once you download the Indigemoji app from the App Store or Google Play, you can share them to text messages, WhatsApp, Messenger and social media platforms. The Indigemoji app is now available to download from the App Store and Google Play. For further details, visit the Indigemoji website or Facebook page. Image: Ingeous Studios.
It's been a crazy year all round, but there's one thing that's tracking along as nicely as ever and that's Apple's plans for its latest iPhone creations. The tech giant has just dropped all the hot little details for its next highly-anticipated iPhone 12 releases; the standard, Mini, Pro and Pro Max. True to form, Apple's new phones come fitted out with its finest suite of features yet, rendering all those before them instantly uncool. We're talking about an all-new design, complete with super speedy A14 Bionic chip, next-level pro camera, 5G and the largest edge-to-edge Super Retina XDR display to ever feature on any iPhone. Here are seven details about the new iPhone 12, served up in handy dot point form for your next debrief with mates. YOU CAN DOWNSIZE YOUR UPGRADE, WITH THE MINI VERSION The standard iPhone 12 clocks in at 6.1 inches from corner to corner, pretty much dwarfing the 5.8 inches of the old iPhone X. But if you'd prefer something that actually fits in your hand, the same features also come neatly packed into the iPhone 12 Mini, which measures at a more manageable 5.4 inches. That now lays claim to being the smallest, lightest and thinnest 5G phone on the market. THERE ARE NEW COLOURS TO CHOOSE FROM Once again, Apple is tempting buyers with a range of fun phone colours, with the iPhone 12 and mini edition available in red, blue, green, black and white aluminium finishes. The Pro and Pro Max keep things a little more subdued, with a choice of gold, graphite, silver or pacific blue. IT CHARGES WIRELESSLY...BUT DOESN'T ACTUALLY COME WITH A CHARGER Yep, Apple's caused a big stir with this one. The new iPhone 12 has been optimised for use with a MagSafe wireless charging system, featuring a special magnet in the back that's designed to work seamlessly with a newly released line of wireless charging devices and other phone accessories. But you'll find exactly none of them included with your new phone purchase. In what's apparently an environmentally friendly move, Apple's not supplying any new chargers or AirPods in its iPhone 12 boxes — instead, it wants buyers to keep using their old gear, or buy new ones separately. IT'S MUCH HARDER TO DESTROY If you're the kind of person that leaves a trail of ruined smartphones in their wake, these new models might have you breathing a little easier. Clumsy hands don't stand much of a chance against the ceramic shield cover, which is infused with nano-ceramic crystals and apparently makes the phones four times more likely to survive a drop than their predecessors. Spills aren't an issue either, with all four models boasting an industry-leading IP68 water resistance rating, protected up to six metres for up to 30 minutes. IT'S A GAMER'S DREAM The main thing you need to know about the new A14 Bionic chip is that it's 50 percent faster than any other smartphone chip out there. Which in short, means the iPhone 12 promises a console-quality gaming experience, without burning through that battery all in one hit. THE PRO CAMERA IS BETTER THAN EVER Phone snaps and Tik Tok videos are about to kick up a few gears, if the new iPhone 12 cameras have anything to do with it. Apple's incorporated night mode for both the wide and ultra-wide cameras, and a host of improvements mean low-light shots will be better than ever. The camera is also the first device in the world to enable an end-to-end Dolby Vision experience, which is a game-changer for smartphone video. IT'S NOT AS PRICEY AS YOU MIGHT HAVE EXPECTED The good news is, you can snap up one of Apple's latest for even less than you forked out for the iPhone X. The Mini starts from $1199, while the standard iPhone 12 will set you back $1349 for a 64GB, moving up to $1599 for the 250GB edition. Up the other end, the cheapest Pro clocks in at $1699 and the Pro Max starts from $1849. You'll be parting with a cool $2369 if you want the 512GB version, though. The iPhone 12 varieties will be available to pre-order from October 16. Head here for the standard and Mini, or here for the Pro editions.
Some music festivals head on tour, be it the nation or the world, to share their fun. Others livestream. Tomorrowland ticks both boxes, hopping between countries and broadcasting live. The electronic dance music fest that first started in Belgium in 2006 also has a different way of spreading the love: taking its CORE stage to other locations, including to Australia in 2026. After expanding to Colombia for two editions so far, CORE has confirmed bigger plans for next year, embarking upon a global festival tour. First comes a return to Medellín in February, before making its US debut in Los Angeles in May, then hitting up Melbourne for its first-ever trip Down Under in November. While the two other cities will get a two-day CORE experience, its Aussie stint will make the most of just one: Saturday, November 28. So far, there's no other details on offer, including venue or lineup; however, the latter is due to be revealed in early 2026. This is the first time, too, that CORE will host standalone festivals on a trio of different continents — growing from its beginnings within Tomorrowland. It started as part of the overarching event back in 2017, but think of it as a fest within a fest that's now expanded to become its own unique experience, host its own dates and take on its own tour of the globe. So, the full Tomorrowland production isn't journeying to Australia — but CORE, one of its most-beloved stages, popping up in Melbourne is still huge news. The Aussie jaunt is a collaboration with agencies Framed and Pitch Control, and promises attendees "a natural, enchanting setting" for its alternative house and techno tunes, as paired with vivid multisensory staging. Think: lights, an immersive audiovisual approach and even scents. "We are thrilled to bring the iconic CORE stage to Australia. As one of the signature experiences of Tomorrowland, CORE represents the essence of our music, art and stage design. We look forward to sharing this unique atmosphere with fans in Australia and around the world," said Debby Wilmsen, spokesperson for WEAREONE.world, which is behind CORE and Tomorrowland. CORE Melbourne is taking place on Saturday, November 28, 2026, with venue details yet to be announced and the lineup set to be revealed early in 2026. Head to the event's website for more information and to pre-register for tickets.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. SHE SAID Questions flow freely in She Said, the powerful and methodical All the President's Men and Spotlight-style newspaper drama that tells the story behind the past decade's biggest entertainment story. On-screen, Zoe Kazan (Clickbait) and Carey Mulligan (The Dig) tend to be doing the asking, playing now Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. They query Harvey Weinstein's actions, including his treatment of women. They gently and respectfully press actors and Miramax employees about their traumatic dealings with the Hollywood honcho, and they politely see if some — if any — will go on the record about their experiences. And, they question Weinstein and others at his studio about accusations that'll lead to this famous headline: "Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades". As the entire world read at the time, those nine words were published on October 5, 2017, along with the distressing article that detailed some — but definitely not all — of Weinstein's behaviour. Everyone has witnessed the fallout, too, with Kantor and Twohey's story helping spark the #MeToo movement, electrifying the ongoing fight against sexual assault and gender inequality in the entertainment industry, and shining a spotlight on the gross misuses of authority that have long plagued Tinseltown. The piece also brought about Weinstein's swift downfall. As well as being sentenced to 23 years in prison in New York in 2020, he's currently standing trial for further charges in Los Angeles. Watching She Said, however, more questions spring for the audience. Here's the biggest heartbreaker: how easily could Kantor and Twohey's article never have come to fruition at all, leaving Weinstein free to continue his predatory harassment? In a female-driven movie on- and off-screen — including director Maria Schrader (I'm Your Man), screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz (Small Axe) and cinematographer Natasha Braier (Honey Boy) — She Said details all the moments where the pivotal piece of reporting could've been forced to take no for an answer, something that Weinstein wasn't known for. At the NYT, assistant managing editor Rebecca Corbett (Patricia Clarkson, Sharp Objects) and executive editor Dean Baquet (Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) are always supportive, starting when Kantor picks up the story, and continuing when she brings in Twohey fresh off an investigative article into Donald Trump's sexual misconduct. But, unsurprisingly, the women made victims by Weinstein are wary. Many also signed non-disclosure agreements. Kantor and Twohey's pitch: by speaking out and ideally going on the record, they can assist in ensuring that what they endured doesn't happen to anyone else. Knowing the end result, and the whole reason that She Said exists, doesn't dampen the film's potency or tension. Instead, it heightens the appreciation for the bravery of those who spoke out — at first and afterwards — and the care with which Kantor and Twohey handled their task. The two reporters knew that they were asking women to revisit their darkest traumas, make their worst ordeals public and take on a man who'd been untouchable for decades (with the spate of NDAs and settlements with many of his targets to prove it). Even Rose McGowan (voiced by The Plot Against America's Keilly McQuail) is hesitant; she's mentioned but not quoted in the final piece. Persevering to bring Weinstein's crimes to attention, Kantor and Twohey keep digging, and keep trying to persuade their potential interviewees — and She Said doubles as a lesson in compassionately and respectfully doing just that. Read our full review. BARDO, FALSE CHRONICLE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTHS Everyone wants to be the person at the party that the dance floor revolves around, and life in general as well, or so Alejandro González Iñárritu contends in Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths. In one of the film's many spectacularly shot scenes — with the dual Best Director Oscar-winning Birdman and The Revenant helmer benefiting from astonishing lensing by Armageddon Time cinematographer Darius Khondji — the camera swirls and twirls around Silverio Gama (Daniel Giménez Cacho, Memoria), the movie's protagonist, making him the only person that matters in a heaving crowd. Isolated vocals from David Bowie's 'Let's Dance' boom, and with all the more power without music behind them, echoing as if they're only singing to Silverio. Iñárritu is right: everyone does want a moment like this. Amid the intoxicating visuals and vibe, he's also right that such instances are fleeting. And, across his sprawling and surreal 159-minute flick, he's right that such basking glory and lose-yourself-to-dance bliss can never be as fulfilling as anyone wants. That sequence comes partway through Bardo, one of several that stun through sheer beauty and atmosphere, and that Iñárritu layers with the disappointment of being himself. Everyone wants to be the filmmaker with all the fame and success, breaking records, winning prestigious awards and conquering Hollywood, he also contends. Alas, when you're this Mexican director, that isn't as joyous or uncomplicated an experience as it sounds. On-screen, his blatant alter ego is a feted documentarian rather than a helmer of prized fiction. He's a rare Latino recipient of a coveted accolade, one of Bardo's anchoring events. He's known to make ambitious works with hefty titles — False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths is both the IRL movie's subtitle and the name of Silverio's last project — and he's been largely based in the US for decades. Yes, parallels abound. While dubbing Bardo as semi-autobiographical is one of the easiest ways to describe it, simplicity isn't one of its truths, even if the film champions the small things in life as existential essentials. Another easy way to outline Bardo: Silverio faces his choices, regrets and achievements as that shiny trophy looms, and ponders where his career has taken him, who it's made him and what that all means to him. From the filmmaker who first earned attention for telling narratives in a fractured, multi-part fashion (see: his debut Amores Perros, plus 21 Grams and Babel), and lately has loved roving and roaming cinematography that unfurls in the lengthiest of takes (see: Birdman and The Revenant), this was never going to be a straightforward affair, though. And so he weaves and wanders, and has the silver-haired Silverio do the same, while weighing up what's brought them both to this point. Bardo opens by visibly recalling Birdman, with a bounding force casting a shadow upon an arid land, but it's an early glimpse at a house from above that encapsulates Iñárritu's approach best. The home initially resembles a miniature, which Silverio then flits through — and, given its lead often segues between places and times like he's stepping through a doorway, the movie functions in the same manner. Sometimes, he's in a hospital corridor as his wife Lucía (Griselda Siciliani, The People Upstairs) gives birth to a baby boy who whispers that the world is too broken for him to want to live in, and is then pushed back into the womb. Or, he's picturing how a big TV interview with a bitter ex-colleague could go wrong, or shrinking down to childhood size to chat with his deceased father. Sometimes, Silverio is in Los Angeles holding a bag of axolotls, or striding through Mexico City streets that are empty except for corpses. Read our full review. GREENHOUSE BY JOOST When Joost Bakker helped pile 3000 kilograms of clothing waste in Melbourne's Federation Square in April 2022, all to draw attention to fast fashion, he viewed the project with his usual optimism. "Even if it's just one person who walks through that structure and gets inspired and comes up with a solution — that's what's so exciting," the renowned zero-waste campaigner noted. Those exact words could've been uttered about the venture at the centre of Greenhouse by Joost, too. A three-storey home made entirely out of recyclable materials that don't generate waste, and designed to operate as a closed food system with everything catered for onsite and not a scrap spared, it predates his spotlight on the textile industry. Clearly, it boasts the same sustainability focus. In fact, Bakker could've said the same thing about past pop-ups in the same spot over more than a decade, including fellow waste-free eateries also called Greenhouse since 2008. Scratch that — it isn't merely likely that the Dutch-born floral designer and activist could've expressed the same sentiments; it's certain he must've. Eliminating waste is Bakker's passion. Not wasting any time trying to put that aim into action is just as much of an obsession. His work doesn't merely talk the talk but walks the walk, and attempts to help the world see how crucial it is to reduce humanity's impact upon the earth. The habitable Greenhouse is quite the undertaking, though, given its purpose: building an abode that two people can get shelter, food, water and energy from, all in one cosy and clever self-sustaining ecosystem. Chefs Jo Barrett and Matt Stone (ex-Oakridge Wines) agreed to do the residing, and to put Bakker's Future Food System to the test. They were named among the world's 50 best next-generation hospitality leaders in 2021 for their efforts, for what's a vital, pioneering and fascinating enterprise. It's no wonder that filmmakers Rhian Skirving (Matilda & Me) and Bruce Permezel (The Obesity Myth) — both directing, the former writing and the latter lensing — were driven to document it. Shot since the conception and building stage, then chronicling the COVID-19 setbacks, the logistical and setup woes, and the daily reality of living in the structure, it's also no wonder that the resulting Melbourne International Film Festival Audience Award-winner makes such compelling viewing. Greenhouse by Joost is both a record and an aspirational tool: it shows what can and has been done and, as Bakker always hopes, it wants to get everyone watching following in his, Barrett and Stone's footsteps. Of course, for most, money will be a very real and practical obstacle. There's no doubting that Greenhouse stems from considerable resources, both in finances and time. But that's the thing with ambitions: they have us shooting for the stars, breaking our goals down into everyday pieces and finding ways to make even small parts of them happen. Evoking that exact response when it comes to making life's basics sustainable — what we eat and drink, where we stay and sleep, and how we power it all — is Bakker's aim, too. With Bakker as the film's on-screen guide, Greenhouse by Joost does just that itself as well, stepping through the idea and the execution like it's laying out a roadmap for its audience to chart. Viewers won't walk out of the doco ready to move into their own such dwelling, but learning plenty about the ingenious design, the bits and pieces that go into it, and the work required — to get it up, ready and operating smoothly, and also to have it function as a small-scale restaurant — comes with simply watching. Although the cooking, serving, welcoming in eager diners and sharing the titular building comes later in the movie, obviously, it's a crucial piece of the project overall and of Skirving and Permezel's feature. How much more doable does just living in the Greenhouse and taking care of yourself seem compared to running it as a mini eatery? Oh-so-much. How much easier does putting some of its principles to use in your own home seem, too? The answer remains the same. Read our full review. MILLIE LIES LOW A scene-stealer in 2018's The Breaker Upperers, Ana Scotney now leads the show in Millie Lies Low. She's just as magnetic. The New Zealand actor comes to the part via Wellington Paranormal, Shortland Street, Educators and Cousins — and the film first debuted at festivals before her role in God's Favourite Idiot — but it's an exceptional calling card. It isn't easy playing someone so committed to making such utterly questionable choices, yet remaining so charmingly relatable; however, that's Scotney's remit and achievement in this canny, savvy and amusing comedy. It also isn't easy to pull off the timing needed to highlight the hilarious side of Millie's hijinks, while ensuring that her woes, hopes and everything that's led her to lie low but lie about living it up remain understandable; consider her entire portrayal a masterclass in just that. Scotney plays the film's eponymous Wellington university student, who panics aboard a plane bound for New York — where a prestigious architecture internship awaits — and has to disembark before her flight leaves. She says she isn't anxious. She also says it isn't an attack. And by the time she realises what she's done, she's alone in the airport, the aircraft has departed and her own face beams down at her from a digital billboard. Even getting that Big Apple opportunity had made her the toast of the town, and huge things were meant to await, hence the ads and publicity. Now, a new ticket costs $2000, which Millie doesn't have. Admitting that she hasn't gone at all — to her family, friends, teachers, school and the NZ capital at large — wouldn't cost her a thing, but it's a price she isn't willing to pay. First, Millie endeavours to rustle up the cash from her best friend and classmate (Jillian Nguyen, Hungry Ghosts), and then her mother (Rachel House, Heartbreak High). Next, she hits up a quick-loan business (run by Cohen Holloway, The Power of the Dog) but is still left empty-handed. Millie's only solution, other than admitting the situation and facing the fallout: faking it till she makes it. As she searches for other ways to stump up the funds, she hides out in her hometown, telling everyone that she's actually already in NYC. To support her ruse, she posts elaborate faux Instagram snaps MacGyvered out of whatever she can find (big sacks of flour standing in for snow, for instance) and scours for every possible spot, building feature and poster that can even slightly double for New York. There's a caper vibe to Millie's efforts skulking around Wellington while attempting to finance the ticket to her apparent dreams. Sometimes, she's holed up in a tent in her mum's backyard. Sometimes, she's putting on a disguise and showing up at parties in her old flat — eavesdropping on what her mates are saying in her absence, and spying on the boyfriend (Chris Alosio, Troppo) she's meant to be on a break from. While she's doing the latter, she's also reclaiming the car she sold pre-trip to use as loan collateral, because she's that determined to get to America and leave her nearest and dearest none the wiser. Making her feature debut, director and co-writer Michelle Savill has more than just a laugh and a lark in her sights, though, as entertaining as Millie Lies Low's namesake's antics are. There's a caper vibe to the picture of Millie's supposedly perfect existence that she's trying to push upon herself as much as her loved ones as well, like she's selling herself on an unwanted fantasy. Read our full review. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on August 4, August 11, August 18 and August 25; September 1, September 8, September 15, September 22 and September 29; October 6, October 13, October 20 and October 27; and November 3 and November 10. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Bullet Train, Nope, The Princess, 6 Festivals, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Crimes of the Future, Bosch & Rockit, Fire of Love, Beast, Blaze, Hit the Road, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Orphan: First Kill, The Quiet Girl, Flux Gourmet, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Moonage Daydream, Ticket to Paradise, Clean, You Won't Be Alone, See How They Run, Smile, On the Count of Three, The Humans, Don't Worry Darling, Amsterdam, The Stranger, Halloween Ends, The Night of the 12th, Muru, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, Black Adam, Barbarian, Decision to Leave, The Good Nurse, Bros, The Woman King, Sissy, Armageddon Time, The Wonder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and The Velvet Queen.
We've all been there. It's 6pm on a Wednesday. You've just commuted home from a long day at the office, and all you want is to switch your brain off with a good doom scroll. The temptation to tap your trusty delivery app in this moment is high. What could be easier than having a takeaway arrive straight to your door? But we all know the truth. From missing items to cold meals and soggy cardboard, the dream of a takeaway is often tastier than the reality. That's why we've partnered with MasterFoods™ to give you three quick and easy midweek dinner ideas that'll curb your cravings and save some precious dollars (and time) without compromising on flavour. Keep reading (and save this article) to have some easy mid-week meals in your kitchen arsenal. [caption id="attachment_1027005" align="alignleft" width="1920"] Supplied[/caption] Zesty Chicken Wrap Rather than ordering a Greek wrap via delivery (which, realistically, will end up a soggy, mushy mess), this 25-minute dish will have you eating a fresh and flavoursome meal before the delivery driver has even left the restaurant. Ingredients: 500 grams of chicken breast MasterFoods™ Lemon and Pepper Seasoning 1 tbsp of olive oil 4 pitas or flatbreads Sliced red onion Sliced tomato Shredded Lettuce Crumbed Feta (optional) MasterFoods™ Zesty Lemon & Herb No Rules Sauce Method: Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken breast and MasterFoods™ Lemon and Pepper Seasoning. Cook until cooked through. Heat the pita in a dry pan or wrap in foil and warm in the oven for a couple of minutes. To serve, spread a generous spoonful of MasterFoods™ Zesty Lemon & Herb No Rules Sauce onto the warm pita, add your chicken, then top with lettuce, tomato, onion, and feta. Fold, serve and enjoy. [caption id="attachment_1027006" align="alignleft" width="1920"] Supplied[/caption] Smokey BBQ Beef Burger Is there anything worse than a cold burger after a long day? (And dropping $30 for the privilege?) This Smokey BBQ Beef Burger takes just 30 minutes, makes four serves, and guarantees a hot, mouth-watering meal. Ingredients: 500g regular minced beef 1 tbsp MasterFoods™ All Purpose Seasoning 1 tbsp MasterFoods™ Smokey Barbecue Sauce ½ cup panko breadcrumbs 2 white onions, thinly sliced 1 egg 2 tbsp of olive oil 1 large tomato Iceberg lettuce Pickles Method: Add the minced beef, MasterFoods™ All Purpose Seasoning, egg and panko breadcrumbs into a bowl and mix until combined. Thinly slice the onions and squeeze out excess moisture to ensure extra crispiness. Divide the seasoned mince into four balls and set aside while you preheat the barbecue — no need to chill. Turn your barbecue flat plate or griddle to high and place the meatballs down, ensuring you have space between each to smash flat. Each meatball should be loaded with a generous handful of sliced onion before being smashed as flat as possible into the pan or barbecue plate. Cook for 3-4 minutes and flip. After another one to two minutes, add cheese, let it melt and remove from the heat. Toast your buns and load up with salad: tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, pickles, etc. Don't forget the MasterFoods™ Smokey Barbecue Sauce to top it off. Hot tip: If you're a huge fan of sauce, why not also add a squeeze of MasterFoods™ No Rules Zesty Lemon & Herb Sauce as well? [caption id="attachment_1030078" align="alignleft" width="1920"] Supplied[/caption] Chipotle Mushroom Tacos A guaranteed crowd pleaser, this vegan recipe will spice up your midweek dinner rotation. Featuring MasterFoods™ Taco Seasoning Mix of paprika, oregano and cumin, this four-serve recipe packs a punch and will be on your plate in just 30 minutes. Avoid the takeaway tax (and time) and turn your week around with these delicious mushroom tacos. Ingredients: 400g king oyster mushrooms 4 tbsp MasterFoods™ Taco Seasoning Mix 1 small white onion, finely diced 1 tsp tomato paste 2-3 tbsp soy sauce or tamari (for GF version) ¼ cup water 3 tbsp olive oil 1 ripe avocado MasterFoods™ Smokey Chipotle No Rules Sauce 2 limes, halved Pickled red onion Vine-ripened tomatoes, diced Lettuce Vegan sour cream 8 tortillas (flour or corn) Method: Rinse the mushrooms and remove and finely slice the caps. For the stems, make incisions with a fork and pull them apart with your fingers to resemble pulled pork. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan, add the chopped onion, and cook gently for about 10 minutes until translucent and lightly browned. Add the minced garlic and sauté for another 2-4 minutes until fragrant. Stir in four tablespoons of MasterFoods™ Taco Seasoning Mix and cook for one minute. Mix in the mushrooms, soy sauce, and water, cooking until the liquid is mostly absorbed. Season with pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes, then remove from heat. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Spread the pulled mushrooms on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 15 minutes to add a nice crunch. Assemble the tacos with pulled mushrooms, chopped lettuce, diced tomatoes, pickled onions, and add lime and vegan sour cream or MasterFoods™ Smokey Chipotle No Rules Sauce as a topping. Craving more flavour-packed ideas? Head to MasterFoods™ for inspiration. MasterFoods™ — You Made It. Lead image: Getty Images
UPDATE, December 23, 2021: Don't Look Up released in select Australian cinemas on Thursday, December 9, and will be available to stream via Netflix on Friday, December 24. Timing may be everything in comedy, but it's no longer working for Adam McKay. Back when the ex-Saturday Night Live writer was making Will Ferrell flicks (see: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Step Brothers), his films hinged upon comic timing. Ensuring jokes hit their marks was pivotal to his scripts, crucial during editing, and paramount to Ferrell and his co-stars. Since 2015, McKay has been equally obsessed with timeliness. More so, actually, in his latest film Don't Look Up. As started with The Big Short, which nabbed him a screenwriting Oscar, his current breed of politically focused satires trade not just in laughs but in topicality. Skewering the present or recent state of America has become the filmmaker's main aim — but, as 2018's Vice so firmly illustrated, smugly stating the obvious isn't particularly funny. On paper, Don't Look Up sounds like a dream. Using a comet hurtling towards earth as a stand-in, McKay parodies climate change inaction and the circus that tackling COVID-19 has turned into in the US, and spoofs self-serious disaster blockbusters — 1998's double whammy of Deep Impact and Armageddon among them — too. And, he enlists a fantasy cast, which spans five Oscar-winners, plus almost every other famous person he could seemingly think of. But he's still simply making the most blatant gags, all while assuming viewers wouldn't care about saving the planet, or their own lives, without such star-studded and glossily shot packaging. Although the pandemic has certainly exposed stupidity on a vast scale among politicians, the media and the everyday masses alike, mining that alone is hardly smart, savvy or amusing. Again, it's merely stating what everyone has already observed for the past two years, and delivering it with a shit-eating grin. That smirk is Don't Look Up's go-to expression among its broad caricatures — in the name of comedy, of course. Trump-esque President Orlean (Meryl Streep, The Prom) has one, as does her sycophantic dude-bro son/Chief of Staff Jason (Jonah Hill, The Beach Bum). Flinging trivial banter with fake smiles, "keep it light and fun" morning show hosts Brie Evantee (Cate Blanchett, Where'd You Go, Bernadette) and Jack Bremmer (Tyler Perry, Those Who Wish Me Dead) sport them as well. But PhD student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence, X-Men: Dark Phoenix) and her astronomy professor Dr Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) aren't smiling when she discovers a Mount Everest-sized comet, then he realises it's on a collision course with earth and will wipe out everything in six months and 14 days. And they aren't beaming when, with NASA's head of planetary defence Dr Teddy Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan, The Unforgivable), they try to spread the word. The world is literally ending, but no one cares. Conjuring up the premise with journalist/political commentator David Sirota, McKay turns Don't Look Up into a greatest-hits tour of predictable situations bound to occur if a celestial body was rocketing our way — and that've largely happened during the fights against climate change and COVID-19. The President's reactions stem from her clear-cut inspiration, including the decision to "sit tight and assess" until it's politically convenient or just unavoidable, and the later flat-out denial that anything is a problem. The character in general apes the same source, and bluntly, given Orlean is initially busy with a scandal surrounding her next Supreme Court nominee, and that her love life and the porn industry also spark headlines. The insipid media and social media response, favouring a rocky celebrity relationship (which is where Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi come in), is also all too real. The list goes on, including the memes when Dibiasky gets outraged on TV and the worshipping of Mindy as an AILF (Astronomer I'd Like to Fuck). A Steve Jobs/Jeff Bezos/Elon Musk-style tech-company head (The Trial of the Chicago 7's Mark Rylance, putting in the movie's worst performance) also gets involved — poking fun at putting capitalism ahead of the planet's best interests — as does a stoner skater (Timothée Chalamet, The French Dispatch) enamoured with Dibiasky. The list goes on here as well, because Don't Look Up is as overstuffed as it is toothless. Satire is meant to use irony and exaggeration to highlight failings and flaws, but McKay pads out the bulk of his 138-minute film with first draft-style sketches and figures that say the bare minimum, then hops quickly from one to the other in the hope that something lands. Yes, amid its on-screen text explanations, montages of stock clips, a superfluous pop song and overactive editing, Don't Look Up has a comic timing problem, too. And the scenes it does hover on, including the grating White House confrontations, could've easily been cut in half. McKay has zero faith in the world's ability to face existential and apocalyptic threats (understandably), and no hope his audience would notice if he didn't slickly spoon-feed surface-level commentary (insufferably), but he places plenty of responsibility upon DiCaprio, Lawrence and Morgan. The film's key trio aren't given much to work with, but everyone else — aside from the underused Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets) as Mindy's wife June — plays a one-note gag. Mindy is sweaty and swayed by attention; Dibiasky is defined by her two nose rings, flame-hued hair and the Wu-Tang Clan lyrics she's introduced singing; and Oglethorpe is the only competent government employee. It's a credit to all three actors that they turn in convincing performances and make their characters the most compelling part of Don't Look Up, although no one is anywhere near their best. The entire planet definitely isn't at its finest in Don't Look Up, which is the whole overstressed point; however, in weakly holding up a mirror to truths everyone's already painfully familiar with, it didn't need to embody the same concept itself. Forget following in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb's footsteps, or Wag the Dog's, or mustering up an iota of Succession's astuteness (McKay is one of the latter's executive producers) — Anchorman felt shrewder and more incisive. Maybe Don't Look Up might've worked if it had pre-dated the pandemic. It undoubtedly would've been improved by ditching the puffed-up snark, as its closing scenes demonstrate; it's a far better movie when it switches to earnestness and even takes a few cues from Lars von Trier's immensely superior Melancholia, as unearned as the tonal change proves. Perhaps a humanity-is-damned flick that crashes itself is McKay's ultimate joke, though, because that's just the doomed world we find ourselves in. Don't Look Up releases in select Australian cinemas on Thursday, December 9, and will be available to stream via Netflix on Friday, December 24. Image: Nico Tavernise/Netflix.
Not only is Lunar New Year one of the biggest celebrations in the Asia Pacific region, it's easily also one of the most delicious. If you're not celebrating it already, your palate is missing out. Cue family feasts — friends are also more than welcome — and a table stacked with all the greatest hits. The biggest at-home celebration of LNY typically happens on Lunar New Year's Eve and usually takes the form of a dinner that's not unlike Christmas lunch. The best part about the celebration is that the dishes you'll typically find are surprisingly simple to prepare and come together in no time at all. Whether the celebrations are taking place in Hanoi or Hong Kong, Singapore or Sydney, everyday dishes tend to land on Lunar New Year's Eve dinner tables. There are regional differences when it comes to must-have Lunar New Year dishes, but dumplings and fish or seafood are mainstays in most places where Lunar New Year is celebrated. You'll find them at LNY dinners and enjoyed as ordinary meals throughout the year. The enduring appeal of these dishes is just how easily they can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion. And that's before we even factor in how delicious they are. [caption id="attachment_987199" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Josh Mullins[/caption] After some inspo for an authentic festive spread that's easy enough for everyday meals but seriously impressive for a celebratory gathering? Look no further. In partnership with Oriental Merchant, we've called in chef Jason Chan, owner of newly opened pan-Asian restaurant Rice Kid, for two recipes he turns to when it's time to ring in Lunar New Year at home. XO Pipis [caption id="attachment_987205" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Josh Mullins[/caption] Seafood is a staple ingredient in many quintessential Lunar New Year dishes. The festivities are a reason to shell out on premium seafood to celebrate the special occasion. For Chan, Lunar New Year is the time to "have all those special dishes that you don't really get to eat every week." And it doesn't get more impressive or mouth-watering than XO pipis, which — despite being known as a restaurant special — is a surprisingly straightforward dish that can be replicated at home. In Chan's recipe, half a kilo of fresh pipis transform into a delectable showstopper that packs an umami punch thanks to the sauce trifecta of XO, soy and oyster. Ingredients: 500g fresh pipis (if you can't find live pipis, you can substitute with prawns or any other seafood to your liking) 100g Lee Kum Kee XO Sauce 50ml Lee Kum Kee Premium Dark Soy Sauce 50g Lee Kum Kee Panda Brand Oyster Sauce 100ml Shao Xing cooking wine 1 tsp sugar ½ tsp salt 1 tsp chicken powder 1L water 50g shallot rondelle Coriander for garnish Slurry: 50g corn starch or potato starch 100ml water Method: Use a wok or pan on high heat and add Lee Kum Kee XO Sauce and cook for 5–10 secs, deglaze with Shao Xing cooking wine, add water and bring it to the boil. Once boiling, add pipis and cook until they are completely open. Discard any unopened pipis. Add Lee Kum Kee Premium Dark Soy Sauce, Lee Kum Kee Panda Brand Oyster Sauce, sugar, chicken powder, salt and shallot rondelle and cook for a further minute to infuse all the flavours into the pipis. Mix slurry and pour into the XO pipis to thicken. Garnish with coriander or shallot rondelle. [caption id="attachment_987287" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Josh Mullins[/caption] Moreton Bay Bug and Prawn Siu Mai or Wonton [caption id="attachment_987203" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Josh Mullins[/caption] Dumplings are another dish which sit proudly on dinner tables — particularly in northern China — during Lunar New Year festivities. Traditional dumplings are said to resemble ancient Chinese money and are symbolic of prosperity. Today, all kinds of dumplings and wontons make the festive cut. Whether they're crescent-shaped dumplings, wontons or siu mai, this is a dish that is great for everyday dinners as well as during Lunar New Year. For an elevated everyday wonton or siu mai (the only difference is how you wrap them), this recipe is as fun as it is delicious. Finesse your folding skills by wrapping your parcels of seafood yourself, or get the whole dinner crew involved before sitting down to celebrate. Ingredients: 250g fresh or frozen prawn meat 250g Queensland Moreton Bay bug meat 25ml Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce 25ml Lee Kum Kee Panda Brand soy sauce 10g minced garlic 10g coriander root finely sliced (use stems for extra aroma) 5g lime zest 20g sugar 25g potato starch 50ml garlic oil (canola oil can be substituted) 1 packet of wonton skin Method: Place prawn and bug meat in food processor and slightly pulse 4–5 times. Ensure the prawn and bug meat retain small chunky pieces for texture. Take out the processed prawn and bug meat and place in bowl. Add in Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce, Lee Kum Kee Panda Brand Oyster Sauce, minced garlic, coriander, sugar, garlic oil and mix until everything is combined and bound together. Add in the remaining ingredients: potato starch and lime zest. CHEF'S TIP: You don't want the starch to form clumps, do not skip step 3 with step 2! Place filling in fridge for 30 minutes. Once it is set, you can begin making the dumplings. Blanch wontons for about 5–6 minutes or until they float. To serve, place blanched wontons in a bowl and garnish with shallot and a few drizzles of sesame oil. Dip into preferred sauce (see below for sauce options). [caption id="attachment_987286" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Josh Mullins[/caption] Simple Dipping Sauce for WontonAdd Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Style Chilli Oil, soy sauce, sesame oil and black vinegar. Season to taste. Simple Dipping Sauce for Siu Mai Add Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Style Chilli Oil and soy sauce. Season to taste. Experience the flavours of Lunar New Year everyday with Oriental Merchant authentic Asian ingredients.
Just because you haven't got an actual kid, that doesn't mean you have to miss out on that time-honoured tradition of taking some festive shopping centre snaps with the jolly man himself. As has been the case for a few years now, Westfield centres across Australia and New Zealand are teaming up with a crew of expert pup-arazzi to once again offer Christmas-themed pet photography shoots in 2023. Yes, your fur baby can get a family paw-trait with Santa Claus. A heap of Westfield's shopping centres are offering an extended festive photography series this year, with the details varying per site. If your local is doing pics, sensitive, Auslan and pet-friendly options available. Unfortunately, not quite all creatures great and small are allowed — dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs can book in at most centres, but you'll need to double check before bringing in something like an alpaca, snake, frog or goat. Westfield has two sites in the Australian Capital Territory, three spots in South Australia, four in Western Australia, six in Queensland, seven spots in Victoria and a whopping 15 in New South Wales. Over in New Zealand, there are four in Auckland and one in Christchurch. The Santa photography sessions have opened for reservations now — and you'll be getting snapped between Sunday, November 12–Sunday, December 24. Those bookings are a must and can be made via your local Westfield's website, where you'll also find some guidelines for you and your four-legged mate. Most centres will have a dedicated pet zone where you'll be met and escorted to the set, and your animal companion needs to be brought in on a lead or in a cage. There's a range of photo packages to choose from, including The Vixen ($30.95) for one 6x8 photo, one 4x6 photo and four wallet snaps. Fancy sending everyone Christmas cards featuring your pet and Santa? You can get 12 for $40.95. At the higher end, you can also splash out on Santa's Gift Pack ($49.95), which includes a hefty array of photos, gift tags, digital files, bookmarks and even a calendar. Santa photography is available at various Westfield centres across Australia and New Zealand, with from bookings open now for Sunday, November 12–Sunday, December 24. Check your local's website for details.
DeLoreans, hot tubs and phone booths are all great forms of time travel, but sometimes stepping back into the past is as simple as heading to the right place. Restaurants where nostalgia may as well be on the menu, and bars where you'd think it was the '70s if it weren't for the thoroughly modern prices, for example. New eateries and venues might be opening in this fair city of ours every day, but that doesn't mean that Brisbane doesn't know how to rock a retro vibe. To help you find them, we've partnered with American Express to whip up the ultimate guide to getting a blast from the past when it comes to eating, drinking and having a great night out. Plus, you'll be able to swipe (see: tap) that Amex card of yours at these spots, too. From beer halls that never change to boozy lounges that aim to recreate times gone by, the question isn't just where to go — it's which era to spend time in. If you work your way through the entire list, you'll be calling yourself Marty McFly in no time. Got yourself in another dining situation and need some guidance? Whatever it is, we know a place. Visit The Shortlist and we'll sort you out.
Australians are eating out less often as cost-of-living pressures bite, but younger diners are helping to keep the country's hospitality industry buzzing. New research released by the Foodservice Association of Australia (FSAA) and consumer insights platform Vypr shows that while three in ten people are cutting back on restaurant visits — and one in ten have stopped altogether — Millennials and older Gen Zs continue to dine out several times a week, or even daily. The 25–34 age group is one-and-a-half times more likely to head to a cafe or restaurant compared to the population average (79 percent versus 57 percent), with many weaving breakfasts, coffee breaks and light lunches into their daily routines. "Our data shows that while Australians are being more careful with their spending, they continue to see dining out as essential to their social lives," said Vypr's International Chief Revenue Officer, Sam Gilding. He noted that socialising with family and friends (60 percent) and celebrating occasions (44 percent) remain the top reasons to head out. [caption id="attachment_1023279" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Diners line up for viral burgers at Brunswick East's Charrd[/caption] Still, diners are more cost-conscious than ever. Nearly four in five spend under $60 per week on eating out, with value for money their biggest priority. More than half (52 percent) want better portion sizes, and almost two-thirds (63 percent) prefer discounts over loyalty schemes. Consistency across venues also matters, with 45 percent of respondents ranking it as a key improvement restaurants could make. Quick-service restaurants are the most frequented (62 percent), followed by casual dining venues (47 percent) and cafes (33 percent). Delivery apps are also especially popular among younger Australians, with 25–34-year-olds twice as likely as average to order via an app. Health and sustainability are increasingly influencing decisions, too — 71 percent of respondents said they seek healthier options, while 42 percent consider sustainability when choosing meals and venues. [caption id="attachment_1018380" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sydney's popular new Enmore bar, Deadwax.[/caption] FSAA CEO Minnie Constan said the report highlights important shifts. "We're thrilled to partner on this independent report at a time of real change in our industry. We pride ourselves on delivering accurate information that helps our members understand shifting consumer expectations and adapt to ensure foodservice remains strong into the future." Read the full Consumer Preferences & Dining Habits 2025 report here. Images: Supplied | Top image: Johnny's Green Room
To celebrate an incredible 40 years on the air, beloved broadcaster and your best friend on a road trip Triple J will host a big one-off party in The Domain as part of next year's Sydney Festival. Taking place on January 15, Beat the Drum will feature The Presets, Hilltop Hoods, The Cat Empire and Vance Joy among others. No worries if you won't be in Sydney. The whole thing will be broadcast live on Triple J. The lineup, which hasn't yet been fully released, will be full of high-rotation Australian tunes. As well as the above artists, Beat the Drum will feature You Am I, Ball Park Music, The Preatues, Adalita, Courtney Barnett, Remi, Owl Eyes, Tkay Maidza, as well as Alister Wright and Heidi Lenfeer of Cloud Control. As always, Nina Las Vegas will also be on the decks. It seems appropriate that this celebration be announced this week, following all the nostalgia that came with the death of the legendary Gough Whitlam. Establishing the station (then called Double J) in 1975, Whitlam is the reason Triple J exists at all. As Faster Louder wrote following the news of Whitlam's death, he also "introduced FM radio to Australia in 1974, established local content quotas for commercial broadcasters and created independent arts funding body the Australia Council for the Arts." This legacy continues today. On the 40th anniversary of this excellent institution, Beat the Drum will not only feature an all-Australian lineup, it will also be beaming out some covers of iconic Triple J hits. Prepare to take a stroll through the history books of the Hottest 100. The lineup so far: Hilltop Hoods The Presets The Cat Empire You Am I Vance Joy Ball Park Music The Preatures Nina Las Vegas KLP (DJ Set) Adalita Courtney Barnett Remi Owl Eyes Tkay Maidza Alister Wright and Heidi Lenffer (Cloud Control) Beat the Drum will take place 4pm-11pm on Friday, January 16, 2014 at The Domain, Sydney. Tickets go on sale Monday, October 27 via Sydney Festival. Via FasterLouder.
Back in 2020, Lord Howe Island was picked as one of the best places to visit on the planet. The 11-kilometre-long, two-kilometre-wide expanse just a two-hour flight east of Sydney is also one of Australia's most incredible islands, clearly. Now, it's being recognised for boasting the best hotel in the South Pacific — beating out resorts in Fiji and Bora Bora, which is quite the feat. The latest acclaim being showered Lord Howe Island's way comes courtesy of Tripadvisor, which has surveyed its users' review data and unveiled its Best of the Best Hotels list as part of its 2023 Travellers' Choice Awards. Open since around 1895, Pinetrees Lodge earned the top spot in the South Pacific rankings, and also came in at number 25 on the best all-inclusive hotels list, which details the top spots where everything you need is all in one place. [caption id="attachment_901975" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Pinetrees Lodge[/caption] Joining Pinetrees Lodge among the Aussie highlights in the South Pacific are six other accommodation destinations. The Reef House Adults Boutique Tropical Escapes in Palm Cove came in second, The Remington Muswellbrook ranked fourth, RACV Torquay Resort sits in fifth, Brisbane's Kingsford Smith Motel at sixth and Element on Coolum Beach at seventh, then Little National Hotel Sydney in tenth. Filling the gaps between them: Fiji's Tokoriki Island Resort in third spot, then Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort at eighth and The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort in ninth position. That's quite the handy rundown of local and local-ish places to spend a night or several on your next vacation or staycation — and all seven Aussie hotels obviously took the top seven berths in the Australia-only top 25 as well. That lengthier list spans everywhere from Sovereign Park Motor Inn in Ballarat and MACq 01 Hotel in Hobart to Laneways by Ovolo in Melbourne and the Four Seasons Hotel Sydney. [caption id="attachment_901976" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rambagh Palace[/caption] Sadly, there was no Aussie showing in Tripadvisor's top ten hotels in the world, with the number-one spot going to Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, India. As all these kinds of rankings offer, the rest of the placeholders comprise an impressive travel bucket list, pinballing from Ozen Reserve Bolifushi on Bolifushi Island in the Maldives to the Shangri-La The Shard in London, plus Ikos Dassia in Greece, Padma Resort Ubud in Puhu in Indonesia and more. In various subcategories, other hotels given some love include Dromoland Castle Hotel in Ireland, a 16th-century castle that's been named the best hotel for sleep; The Ritz-Carlton in Hong Kong, aka the newly dubbed best hotel with a spa; and the yurts of Patagonia Camp in Chile, which were anointed the best out-of-the-ordinary hotel. Or, there's The Toulson Court in England as the best B&B or inn — a field that Yarra Gables in Victoria came in third in worldwide — and White House Hotel in Istanbul as the best small hotel. [caption id="attachment_901973" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ozen Reserve Bolifushi[/caption] TOP TEN HOTELS IN THE WORLD 2023: 1. Rambagh Palace — Jaipur, India 2. Ozen Reserve Bolifushi — Bolifushi Island, Maldives 3. Hotel Colline de France — Gramado, Brazil 4. Shangri-La The Shard, London — London, United Kingdom 5. The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong — Hong Kong, China 6. JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai — Dubai, United Arab Emirates 7. Romance Istanbul Hotel — Istanbul, Türkiye 8. Ikos Dassia — Dassia, Greece 9. Ikos Andalusia — Estepona, Spain 10. Padma Resort Ubud — Puhu, Indonesia [caption id="attachment_901978" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tokoriki Island Resort[/caption] TOP TEN HOTELS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC 2023: 1. Pinetrees Lodge — Lord Howe Island, Australia 2. The Reef House Adults Boutique Tropical Escapes — Palm Cove, Australia 3. Tokoriki Island Resort — Tokoriki Island, Fiji 4. The Remington Muswellbrook — Muswellbrook, Australia 5. RACV Torquay Resort — Torquay, Australia 6. Kingsford Smith Motel — Brisbane, Australia 7. Element on Coolum Beach — Coolum Beach, Australia 8. Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort — Sigatoka, Fiji 9. The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort — Bora Bora, French Polynesia 10. Little National Hotel Sydney — Sydney, Australia [caption id="attachment_901977" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Reef House Adults Boutique Tropical Escapes[/caption] TOP 25 HOTELS IN AUSTRALIA 2023: 1. Pinetrees Lodge — Lord Howe Island, NSW 2. The Reef House Adults Boutique Tropical Escapes — Palm Cove, Qld 3. The Remington Muswellbrook — Muswellbrook, NSW 4. RACV Torquay Resort — Torquay, Vic 5. Kingsford Smith Motel — Brisbane, Qld 6. Element on Coolum Beach — Coolum Beach, Qld 7. Little National Hotel Sydney — Sydney, NSW 8. Zagame's House — Melbourne, Vic 9. Sovereign Park Motor Inn — Ballarat, Vic 10. Mansi on Raymond — Sale, Vic 11. Quest South Perth Foreshore — South Perth, WA 12. Quest Orange — Orange, NSW 13. Emporium Hotel South Bank — Brisbane, Qld 14. MACq 01 Hotel —Hobart, Tas 15. Julie-Anna Inn — Bendigo, Vic 16. Majestic M Suites — Adelaide, SA 17. Alcyone Hotel Residences — Brisbane, Qld 18. Laneways by Ovolo — Melbourne, Vic 19. Quest Echuca — Echuca, Vic 20. Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat — Tallebudgera, Qld 21. Quest Warrnambool — Warrnambool, Vic 22. Korte's Resort — Rockhampton, Qld 23. Novotel Brisbane South Bank — Brisbane, Qld 24. Four Seasons Hotel Sydney — Sydney, NSW 25. Adina Apartment Hotel Adelaide Treasury — Adelaide, SA For more information about Tripadvisor's 2023 Travellers' Choice Awards, head to the service's website. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
Being a Barbie girl in a Barbie world wasn't just a 2023 trend, back when Greta Gerwig's (Little Women) Margot Robbie (Asteroid City)-starring — and Oscar-nominated — film became one of the biggest and pinkest movies to ever hit cinemas. The 2025 way to get your Barbiecore fix Down Under from late June through till summer 2026: by enjoying ice cream floats served in a pink Barbie convertible car at the Malibu Barbie Cafe, plus sipping fairy floss-topped cocktails at the Ken Kabana bar, all at The Social Quarter at Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne. The Malibu Barbie Cafe has been popping up across the US, with New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, Miami, Austin and Houston all welcoming the venue. From Friday, June 27, 2025, it'll next make its first-ever appearance in Australia. This is also the cafe's debut stop beyond America — as well as Melbourne's second temporary big-name pop culture-themed addition in the same month, after Melbourne Museum's Star Wars Galactic Cafe opened its doors in early June. Pink hues? Beachy decor? Kicking it back to the 1970s, when Malibu Barbie initially debuted, at the onsite watering hole? A rollerskating rink lined by artwork of palm trees? A life-sized Barbie box? An installation that celebrates how Barbie as a brand has changed over the years? That's all on offer at the Malibu Barbie Cafe. So is merchandise that you won't find anywhere else, if you need a memento from your visit — although, with that in mind, we're sure that you'll fill your phone with plenty of photos. Ken's job isn't just beach here, given that his name adorns the cocktail-slinging upstairs bar in the two-storey site. On the drinks menu: that gin and lemonade concoction with spun sugar on top; themed takes on mojitos, margaritas, cosmopolitans, espresso martinis and old fashioneds; and more. If you're keen on a booze-free version, some of the tipples are available as mocktails. There's also a snack range, including fries with pink mayo, prawn cocktails, sushi and baked brie. Does putting your skates on appeal? You'll find that on the second level, too. Downstairs, Malibu Barbie Cafe's menu is an all-ages-friendly affair, with that ice cream float just one option. Sticking with sweets means choosing from doughnuts, pink cookies, cupcakes, ice cream sundaes, fruit and marshmallows. If you can't decide, the dessert sampler dishes up a mix of picks on a Barbie boat for between four and eight people. Savoury dishes span the same small bites as at the Ken Kabana, plus burgers, poke, garlic prawn linguine, beer-battered fish tacos, club sandwiches, grilled cheese, mac 'n' cheese and salads. Or, tuck into avocado toast, açai bowls, bacon and eggs, parfait or pancakes from the all-day brunch selection. Then, to drink, milkshakes, pink lemonade and pink lattes are among the options. If you're thinking "come on Barbie, let's go party", party packages are indeed a feature — including three-hour adults-only private-dining experiences from 6.30pm Thursday–Sunday. "We're delighted to partner with Bucket Listers and Chadstone, in collaboration with Mattel, to bring the Malibu Barbie Cafe to Melbourne," said Matt Gudinski, Chief Executive of The Mushroom Group, which is helping to share the Barbie fun with Australia. "At The Mushroom Group, we're always exploring new immersive live experiences and working with the world's biggest brands — few are as iconic as Barbie." Find Mattel's Malibu Barbie Cafe at The Social Quarter at Chadstone Shopping Centre, 1341 Dandenong Road, Malvern East, Melbourne, from Friday, June 27, 2025–summer 2026. Head to the cafe's website for more details.
Among Brisbane's must-do experiences for locals and attractions for tourists, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is one of the most famous. While the Fig Tree Pocket wildlife facility that dates back to 1927 isn't just home to koalas, but also fellow wildlife such as owls, kangaroos, wombats, echidnas, turtles, birds of prey and snakes, it's long been known as the spot in the Sunshine State capital to cuddle a koala. Since Monday, July 1, that's no longer the case, however. The site has announced that it has ended its koala holds "in response to increasingly strong visitor feedback", and will replace it with a new koala close-up experience from Sunday, September 1, 2024. "To address increasing public demand and a concerted effort to embrace more-immersive and educational experiences, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary will be ceasing koala hold experiences," said the site in a statement. Visitor feedback indicated that folks are "wishing to spend longer with the sanctuary's koalas and their passionate wildlife care team, without necessarily holding them," the announcement continued. "We love that there is a shift among both local and international guests to experience Australian wildlife up close, but not necessarily personal, just doing what they do best — eating, sleeping and relaxing within their own space," said Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary's General Manager Lyndon Discombe in the same statement. "We have absolutely seen an increase in demand for educational programs and guided experiences, focusing on the ability to witness the natural behaviours of koalas. Once you see them up close and in their wonderful natural state, we hope our guests love and respect them even more." "With the development of koala close-up and the expansion of the sanctuary's existing daily koala encounters (koala moments), Lone Pine will be offering guests increased opportunity to be in the presence of our adorable marsupials and learn about their behaviours, ecology and daily care, as well their unique quirks and personalities." [caption id="attachment_964209" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Christopher Neugebauer via Flickr[/caption] When spring arrives, the new koala close-up give patrons extra time in the koalas' presence, with each session running for 15 minutes for groups of up six people. It does include feeling a koala's fur, but not holding it or getting a complementary photo with it. Lone Pine's koala moments experience covers touching a koala, while the 60-minute koala discovery tour gets you spending one-on-one time with a koala, entering the koala exhibit and seeing behind the scenes at the leaf-sorting area. Still on the adorable marsupials, the venue's platinum tour also weaves in the koala moments experience. [caption id="attachment_964210" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Christopher Neugebauer via Flickr[/caption] The latest change to the Brisbane locale comes after the wildlife sanctuary expanded in 2023 with a new nocturnal precinct. At the night-focused addition, visitors can see koalas, rufus bettons, tree kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, bare-nosed wombats, potoroos, pademelons, bandicoots, bettongs, southern hairy-nosed wombats and echidnas after dark while taking a one-kilometre stroll through a eucalypt planation. "It's an Australian native animal treasure hunt, with the prize being able to see these amazing creatures up close and personal," said Frank Mikula, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary Curator, when the nocturnal precinct opened. Patrons get peering using portable thermal imaging cameras, with the experience designed around not disrupting the critters, and instead walking across a new elevated boardwalk that has been custom-designed for the site. [caption id="attachment_964208" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Andrew Thomas via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary at 708 Jesmond Road, Fig Tree Pocket, Brisbane stopped offering koala holds on Monday, July 1, 2024, and will start its new koala close-ups from Sunday, September 1, 2024. Head to the venue's website for more information and bookings. Top image: Christopher Neugebauer via Flickr.
When Baz Luhrmann decided to bring The Great Gatsby to the screen, he enlisted 2010s Sydney to double for 1920s Long Island and New York. Now, a decade after the Australian director's Oscar-winning movie hit cinemas, Sydney Opera House is following in the filmmaker's footsteps, turning itself into a The Great Gatsby-themed pop-up club while hosting a The Great Gatsby-inspired cabaret variety show. From Saturday, December 16, 2023–Sunday, February 25, 2024, GATSBY at The Green Light will take over the Sydney Opera House's Studio with an array of excuses to pretend that it's a century ago — and that you're on the other side of the globe. The GATSBY part of the big summer event's moniker refers to the entertainment, while The Green Light is the temporarily rebadged venue where what's being dubbed a "theatrical experience" will take place. First, the show: taking its cues from F Scott Fitzgerald's text, which will also date back a century when 2025 hits, GATSBY gives the classic text the aerial, burlesque, dance and circus treatment. As performers show off their skills, live vocals will accompany their efforts, all on a glittering stage. Then, the club: The Green Light will also owe a debt to prohibition-era speakeasies, and will feature cabaret tables for attendees to sit at while watching the performances. Canapé and cocktail packages will be on offer, with themed drinks including the Green Light gimlet, the Blind Tiger martini and the Reggio manhattan. GATSBY at The Green Light hails from director Craig Ilott, who adds the event to his resume alongside Smoke & Mirrors, La Clique Royale at Edinburgh Festival's The Famous Spiegeltent, and also American Idiot, Amadeus and Velvet Rewired at Sydney Opera House. With GATSBY co-producer Stuart Couzens, he was also involved in L'Hôtel, the dinner theatre experience which turned the exact same space into a French hotel with cabaret, circus and burlesque. "Our treatment of GATSBY has been akin to that of a concept album; riffing on the essence of a familiar text through a new form to create an evocative experience," said Ilott, announcing GATSBY at The Green Light. "We've taken elements entrenched in the 1920s — the vaudeville, the fashion, the hospitality — and remixed them with a bold 2020s beat, with the aim of creating an evening that feels both contemporary and captivating." [caption id="attachment_681696" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hamilton Lund[/caption] [caption id="attachment_857577" align="alignnone" width="1920"] L'Hotel, Claudio Raschella[/caption] [caption id="attachment_857579" align="alignnone" width="1920"] L'Hotel, Claudio Raschella[/caption] GATSBY at The Green Light will take over the Sydney Opera House's Studio from Saturday, December 16, 2023–Sunday, February 25, 2024, with ticket pre sales from 8am on Wednesday, August 30 and general sales from 9am on Friday, September 1. Head to the Sydney Opera House website for more information. Top image: Tom Oldham.
Permission to come aboard, captains: RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under is back for 2023. Those first five words spring from RuPaul's very owb lips, not only announcing the show's return in July, but also unveiling this year's queens. Ten new fierce, fabulous, bright, bold and sassy competitors will sashay before the show's cameras for glory this winter, and showcase drag in Australia and New Zealand in the process. "Australasian drag is filled with heart and humour, and I'm thrilled to share my season three queens with the world, for all to see their charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent," said RuPaul. From Friday, July 28 via Stan and TVNZ, seven Aussies and three New Zealanders will do their utmost to become the next Down Under Drag Race Superstar: Amyl, Hollywould Star and Ivory Glaze from Sydney; Melbourne's Ashley Madison, Bumpa Love and Isis Avis Loren; Gabriella Labucci from Ballarat; Auckland's Flor and Ivanna Drink; and Rita Menu from Hamilton. Each will endeavour to follow in Kita Mean and Spankie Jackzon's footsteps — after Mean took RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under's first season and Jackzon did the honours in season two. Obviously, the show's first go-around worked a charm. The second did as well. And, there's no doubt that the third will be, after the series was renewed for its latest run on Stan in Australia and TVNZ+ Aotearoa in 2022. RuPaul is back on on hosting duties, of course. 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, however, you'll watch the next batch of Australian and NZ competitors work through a series of contests to emerge victorious, and join the likes of Mean, Jackzon, and US contenders Jinkx Monsoon, Sasha Velour and Sharon Needles in being crowned the series' winner. Before it made the leap Down Under in 2021, the US version of RuPaul's Drag Race had already been on the air for more than a decade, first premiering in 2009 — and wholeheartedly embracing its mission to unearth the next drag superstars ever since. The original US series aired its 15th season earlier in 2023, so this is a program with proven longevity. It has also spun off international iterations before, including in the UK — where it's also hosted by RuPaul — plus in Thailand, Holland, Chile and Canada. Meet Drag Race Down Under's season three queens below: RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under season three will stream via Stan and TVNZ from Friday, July 28.
Sometimes, when a TV show is a hit, giant dolls pop up by Sydney harbour. At other times, when a movie is a must-see, one of its key locations makes its home on Little Bourke Street in Melbourne. Right now is one of the latter occasions, all to celebrate Everything Everywhere All At Once — aka the multiverse-hopping, mind-bending delight starring the one and only Michelle Yeoh that everyone is rightly talking about at the moment. In the flick, the Crazy Rich Asians, Last Christmas, Boss Level, Gunpowder Milkshake and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings actor plays middle-aged Chinese American woman Evelyn Wang, who runs a laundromat with her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's Short Round and The Goonies' Data). That might sound straightforward, but the feature was written and directed by the Daniels, aka Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. If you saw Swiss Army Man, which cast Daniel Radcliffe as a farting corpse who doubled as a jetski, you should have some idea of the kind of wild and wacky on-screen chaos the filmmaking duo is capable of conjuring up. For Evelyn in Everything Everywhere All At Once, she takes a trip to her local tax office — and her tale soon goes hurtling through other dimensions from there. The full details are best discovered by watching; however, the end result is exactly what big-screen multiverse-focused fare should look like. While following in Evelyn's footsteps isn't something that anyone can truly do, Roadshow Films has set up a pop-up that'll let you pretend — only if you're in the Melbourne CBD from 1–8pm daily between Friday, April 22–Sunday, April 24. At Corrs Corner at 132–138 Little Bourke Street, you'll find the Everything Everywhere All At Once multiversal laundromat. Step inside, see crucial spots from movie right there before your eyes and feel like you've leapt into the film. While you'll enter a space that, yes, resembles a laundromat, that's just the beginning. From there, you'll find a spliced and angled mirror room as well, and different nods to places and moments in the movie. Having your senses overwhelmed comes with the territory — as it does, at least with your eyes and ears, while watching Everything Everywhere All At Once. Make sure that you peer inside the washing machines onsite, too, as they're designed to spin with a kaleidoscopic array of moving imagery — and make you feel like you're time-travelling between different dimensions. Obviously, taking snaps is a big part of the fun, so that's what you'll be seeing on Instagram all weekend. Find the Everything Everywhere All At Once laundromat at Corrs Corner, 132–138 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne from 1–8pm daily between Friday, April 22–Sunday, April 24. Everything Everywhere All At Once is currently playing in Australian cinemas — read our full review.
Sometimes, only your favourite coffee order will do. At other times, your caffeine-loving tastebuds crave the taste of something new. Toby's Estate's Brisbane flagship, which has opened in Newstead, can cater for both instances. And if you're keen to try a heap of different types of coffee, it'll serve up more than 84 different kinds each year. Sleek digs, a hefty array of specialty brews, a full kitchen: they're all part of Toby's Estate's new River City setup as well. The brand has made its home on Longland Street, adding its Brissie base to a global footprint that includes similar sites in Chippendale, where its Sydney roastery is located, as well as Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and the Middle East. You won't miss the curved coffee bar when you walk in — which is by design by Melbourne architects Russell & George. Sitting in the middle of the room, the round centrepiece includes an espresso bar, filter bar and training bar. While perched at it, you also won't miss the chance to witness the coffee-making process and hear from the baristas pouring your brew. Otherwise, in a venue that uses sustainable vinyl and raw ply heavily — and aims for a look that mixes 70s-style retro with modern touches — tables and chairs are scattered around the place for you to settle in and sip cuppas at. Caffeine fiends can choose from a wide range of choices on the coffee menu, including the limited-edition Flavour Savour blends and the single-origin picks that'll offer new picks monthly. Food-wise, cooked meals and sweet treats are available.
"Do you guys ever think about dying?" When life in plastic is fantastic, that's not a line anyone that would expect to come out of Barbie's (Margot Robbie, Babylon) mouth. And, amid giant blowout parties with planned choreography with all her pals, and the constant devotion of her beau Ken (Ryan Gosling, The Gray Man), such existential musings do come as a shock. When she can no longer float off of her rooftop and her usually arched feet become flat, the Barbie movie's main namesake heads to the real world for answers. That's the plot for Greta Gerwig's film, which marks the actor-turned-director's third solo stint behind the camera after Lady Bird and Little Women, and has been teasing its extremely pink on-screen worlds in not one but two trailers prior to the just-dropped full sneak peek. Even dolls living in a dreamland struggle with life's big questions, it seems — and, when the film's key Barbie and Ken drive through Barbie Land's gates to discover what's on the other side, they struggle with Los Angeles as well. With mugshots to prove it, they even get arrested. Splashing as much humour as pastel hues throughout its frames, Barbie is scripted by Gerwig and fellow filmmaker Noah Baumbach — her helmer on Greenberg, Frances Ha, Mistress America and White Noise, and real-life partner — and boasts a cast that's a gleaming toy chest of talent. Indeed, it might just be the most anticipated toy-to-film release ever. There's that pedigree, of course. There's also the picture's patently playful vibe, which started with parodying the one and only 2001: A Space Odyssey and has kept beaming brightly from there. All those on-screen stars help fill the feature with Barbies, including Issa Rae (Insecure) as president Barbie, Dua Lipa (making her movie debut) as a mermaid Barbie, Emma Mackey (Emily) as a Nobel Prize-winning physicist Barbie, Alexandra Schipp (tick, tick... BOOM!) as an author Barbie and Ana Cruz Kayne (Jerry and Marge Go Large) as a supreme court justice Barbie — plus Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton) as diplomat Barbie, Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live) as a Barbie who is always doing the splits, Hari Nef (Meet Cute) as doctor Barbie, Ritu Arya (The Umbrella Academy) as a Pulitzer-winning Barbie and Sharon Rooney (Jerk) as lawyer Barbie. There's also a whole heap of Kens, including Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami), Ncuti Gatwa (the incoming Doctor Who) and Scott Evans (Grace and Frankie). And, Michael Cera (Arrested Development) plays Alan, Emerald Fennell (The Crown) plays Midge, Helen Mirren (Shazam! Fury of the Gods) is the narrator, America Ferrera (Superstore) and Ariana Greenblatt (65) are humans, Jamie Demetriou (Catherine Called Birdy) is a suit, Will Ferrell (Spirited) wears a suit as Mattel's CEO and Connor Swindells (also Sex Education) is an intern. Will this be the best figurine-to-film adaptation yet in a mixed field that also includes the Transformers series, Trolls, The Lego Movie and its sequel, Battleship and the GI Joe films? The answer will be pulled out of the toy box in cinemas on July 20 Down Under. And yes, Aqua's 'Barbie Girl' finally (finally!) gets a spin in this trailer, although you likely already had it stuck in your head just thinking about this movie anyway. Check out the full trailer for Barbie below: Barbie releases in cinemas Down Under on July 20, 2023.
Humans spend roughly a third of their life sleeping. Aside from the occasional drunken night or camping trip, most of this sleeping is done in a bed. So why, then, are such important objects in our lives often so commonplace and dull? Beds can be used to express our inner self, to represent our deepest loves or simply help us wake up and get going in the morning. Here are 20 of the most creative and eccentric designs that are sure to put a smile on your face. 1. The Stand Up Bed Thanks to this novel bed, which resembles a large vertical bean bag, sleeping while standing is apparently very possible. 2. The Floating Bed This magnetically charged floating bed by Janjaap Ruijssenaars not only looks incredibly chic and contemporary, but also would make it very hard for any monsters to hide underneath it. 3. The Rocking Bed The 'Private Cloud' is a a patented rocking frame designed by Manuel Kloker, which will be sure to lull you into a serene sleep every night. 4. The Sonic Bed Kaffe Matthew's Sonic bed probably isn't exactly designed to provide a good night's sleep, created with 12-channel surround sound speakers encased around the edges to cover every cell of your body with musical beats. 5. The Forest Bed For those who want to have a sense of being out in the wild whilst remaining in the comfort of their own bed, this exotic wooden bed would be the one for you. 6. The Safe Bed This 'Quantum Sleeper' is the ultimate in protection for those paranoid about the threat of natural disasters, terrorist attacks, kidnappers or any variation therein. 7. The Starfish Bed Known as the 'Hold Me Bed', this structure will ensure that you overcome those restless nights of tossing and turning because, well, you won't be able to move a muscle. 8. The Hay Bed Some people have such an affinity for hay they simply want to be surrounded by it when awake and asleep. 9. The Yin and Yang Bed If you believe you've found your absolute soulmate but can't handle sleeping next to them for whatever reason, perhaps this next bed will provide the solution to your problems. 10. The Sandwich Bed You are what you eat, right? 11. The Hammock Bed Everybody loves the tranquil and relaxing sensation induced by the gentle swinging and folding of a hammock. 12. The Pull-Down Bed If you are crammed for space due to a small apartment or want another handy spare bed that doesn't waste the space of a whole room, then this innovative and nifty pull-down bed is the way to go. 13. The Molecular Bed Scientists, sportspeople or ball-lovers will be sure to enjoy this bed made of 120 soft and pleasant balls. 14. The Cinderella Bed Perfectly suited to little princesses with large imaginations and a love for fairytales. 15. The Foetal Position Bed This bed doesn't leave much margin for movement - that is unless you want to end up snuggling up with the floorboards. 16. The Bird Nest Bed This large pit of soft pillows encased in a brown, nest-like structure is a novel way to help kids nod off to sleep. 17. The Geometric Bed If you want to keep the brain cells flowing even when getting some shut-eye, perhaps this bed with a modern geometric structure attached to it is the perfect way to achieve just that. 18. The Brush Bed This bed looks like it would be jabbing uncomfortable protrusions from every angle. 19. The Book Bed Let imaginations soar with this creative life-sized book that also doubles as a bed. 20. The Napping Pod Cure that threethirtyitis by grabbing a quick nap in one of these high-tech napping pods.
When pink guards approach, little that's good happens. In the first teaser trailer for Squid Game season three, that proves true again. The just-dropped sneak peek at the Netflix hit's third and final season starts with its red-adorned figures carrying a black box — the type used as coffins for players who haven't made it in this life-or-death game. Naturally, everyone decked out in a green tracksuit is curious, as well as apprehensive. It's time to play one last time — or it will be come Friday, June 27, 2025. Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae, The Acolyte) is back in the game. A huge gumball machine is part of the next round, complete with red and blue balls. The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun, The Magnificent Seven) also makes a return. Expect to hear a baby crying as well. That the deadly contest at the heart of Squid Game just keeps going, continuing to pit new batches of 456 players against each other in a battle to the death to win 45.6 billion won, sits at the heart of the award-winning Netflix series — but will that remain the case now that the show itself is wrapping up? What happens next in Gi-hun's quest to bring down those responsible for the killer competition? If you've watched season two, which dropped on Boxing Day 2024, then these are probably some of your questions already. Fans will also know that Player 456 went back in the game with new fellow competitors for company, then found himself closer to the person pulling the strings than he knew. However his efforts pan out this time around, the show's last run will feature a finale written and directed by series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk. In Squid Game's second season, Gong Yoo (Train to Busan) also returned as the man in the suit, aka the person who got Gi-hun into the game in the first place — and so did Wi Ha-joon (Little Women) as detective Hwang Jun-ho. That said, a series about a deadly contest comes with a hefty bodycount, so new faces were always going to be essential. That's where Yim Si-wan (Emergency Declaration), Kang Ha-neul (Insider), Park Sung-hoon (The Glory) and Yang Dong-geun (Yaksha: Ruthless Operations) all came in. If you've somehow missed all things Squid Game until now, even after it became bigger than everything from Stranger Things to Bridgerton, the Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning series serves up a puzzle-like storyline and unflinching savagery, which unsurprisingly makes quite the combination. It also steps into societal divides within South Korea, a topic that wasn't invented by Parasite, Bong Joon-ho's excellent Oscar-winning 2019 thriller, but has been given a boost after that stellar flick's success. As a result, it's easy to see thematic and narrative parallels between Parasite and Squid Game, although Netflix's highly addictive series goes with a Battle Royale and Hunger Games-style setup. Netflix turned the show's whole premise into an IRL competition series as well, which debuted in 2023 — without any murders, of course. Squid Game: The Challenge has already been picked up for a second season. Check out the first trailer for Squid Game season three below: Squid Game season three streams via Netflix from Friday, June 27, 2025. Season one and two are available to stream now. Images: Netflix.
Fanda Group has made a name for its eye-catching venues, from the award-winning subterranean CBD dumpling den Central to the breezy brutalism of Gold Coast rooftop bar Sueño. For these venues, the hospo outfit partnered with J.AR OFFICE — and it's tapped the Fortitude Valley studio once again for its latest showstopper. Marlowe is perhaps Fanda Group's most serious offer to date, and it stands to reason that this is in no small part down to its setting. Spread across two floors and nine rooms of a heritage-listed 1938 apartment building on Fish Lane once known as Merivale Flats, Marlowe presents a considered and elegant take on a Modern Australian bistro backed by seasonal, hyperlocal produce and inspired by vintage Australian cookbooks. [caption id="attachment_1027793" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jessie Prince[/caption] And while Head Chef and Co-Owner Ollie Hansford's menu might take its cues from Margaret Fulton and her contemporaries, there's a thoroughly modern edge to the offer. The ever-evolving selection might include prawn cocktail tartlet in crisp pastry with marie rose sauce, braised duck pie with radicchio jam and jus poured tableside, a yabby-topped surf and turf and a standout coral trout wellington finished with a rich caviar butter sauce. A custom-built woodfire hearth by Sam Fraraccio (The Brick Chef) anchors the grill offering, while a raw bar serves oysters and seafood sliced to order. Desserts, like a trifle layered with rhubarb jelly, macadamia sponge and custard, also straddle the line between playful and polished. Drinks also celebrate local makers and ingredients. Group Beverage Director Peter Marchant has curated a 200-strong Australian wine list, balancing legacy labels with new-wave producers alongside verticals from icons like Henschke and Grosset. Thirty-five wines are available by the glass via the venue's Coravin program, while French champagne is the sole non-local feature. Cocktails showcase native ingredients and nostalgic twists, like a lemon myrtle and eucalyptus highball topped with house-made mandarin creaming soda and a house martini starring Tasmanian gin and macadamia-infused oloroso. As for that design, Marlowe retains much of the building's art deco character, including the original layout of the four apartments it occupies. Nooks and crannies abound across the nine distinct dining and bar areas, including a verdant terrace and four enclosed sunrooms. The deliberately pared-back space sets rich walnut timber and polished chrome accents against a palette of sky blue, buttercream and deep crimson, bringing a thoughtful contemporary edge to the venue's heritage bones. [caption id="attachment_1027797" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jessie Prince[/caption] Top images: Jessie Prince.
They like jumpsuits, one name and living in the same suburb. That's The Kates' quick description of themselves, and of their fame as The Kates, as they've been known ever since The Katering Show proved the funniest thing on the small screen in 2015. Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney didn't start their careers together, but they've become Australia's comedy queens by proving a razor-sharp, whip-smart duo — first while satirising cooking shows in a webseries that was picked up by the ABC for its second season; then by taking on morning television with fellow pitch-perfect two-season parody Get Krack!n; and now with Prime Video's Deadloch, which started streaming its Tasmania-set comedic murder-mystery on Friday, June 2. "There were so many Kates in the show," McCartney notes of their latest project, which The Kates originally gave the working title Funny Broadchurch. One such Kate: Wentworth and Rake's Kate Box, who plays one half of reluctant detective duo in Deadloch's titular small town opposite The Breaker Upperers' Madeleine Sami. "Kate Anderson was our special makeup effects artist. Katie Robertson, Katie Milwright — Katie Robertson is on the show, Kate Milwright was one of the cinematographers — and we had another Kate, Kate Fox, doing locations," McCartney continues. "It was basically if your name was Kate…" adds McLennan, "then you got a job," finishes McCartney. Sami "is in the process of getting her name changed to Kate," McCartney keeps joking. "She hasn't started the paperwork yet," pipes in McLennan. No matter how many other Kates had a hand in Deadloch, the series is instantly recognisable as the work of The Kates. Within seconds of a man being found dead on a beach in the first episode's opening moments, the corpse's penis is on fire. When Box's small-town sergeant Dulcie Collins informs the next of kin, he bellows that he loved him like a brother — but has to be reminded that, yes, the deceased was his actual brother. And when Sami's Eddie Redcliffe blows in like a whirlwind of swearing and Hawaiian shirts, she's the stereotypical arrogant outsider cop, but satirically so. Indeed, with their male victim and female investigators, The Kates gleefully riff on the cop-genre status quo, flip the script to focus on the characters usually robbed of a voice and, although it wasn't originally their aim, balance sidesplitting laughs with making an excellent crime procedural. Deadloch is also an inescapably Australian murder-mystery series in its Tasmanian gothic look, its excavation of the nation's treatment of its First Peoples and, as frequently dropping from Sami's mouth, its love of cursing. The latter gave rise to The Cunt Essay, The Kates explain, to justify why its use of language couldn't be more ordinary on an Aussie-set show. From responding to the standard treatment of women in dead-girl crime thrillers to getting that homegrown vernacular over the line — and scrapping their own filmed cameo in the series, too — we chatted with McLennan and McCartney about all things Deadloch. ON THE NUMBER OF DEAD-WOMAN CRIME SHOWS SOMEONE NEEDS TO WATCH BEFORE THEY DECIDE TO RESPOND McCartney: "Roughly 800, I reckon. I just don't know if there is a single crime show that — if it's not in the first two minutes of a murder show, then you will still eventually see a dead woman." McLennan: "And once you're aware of it as well, you'd watch them and, sure, they're showing you the body of a dead woman, but they would always show a gratuitous shot of her boob. You would always see a nipple. You've got these very serious detectives standing over a body, and you just don't need to see a blue nipple. You don't need to see it." McCartney: "There's always that one at the crime scene. But then you go to the morgue and they have another conversation with the forensic pathologist, and rather than putting a sheet up, they're always completely nude on the slab as well." McLennan: "So we just thought what would be really interesting is if you actually gave those victims a voice. To us, we wanted to know about the backstories of these people that would normally be portrayed as victims in these types of shows. Also, we're just terrible at writing men, so it was easier just to have a dead one instead of writing dialogue for him." ON DEADLOCH'S STARTING POINT AS "FUNNY BROADCHURCH" McCartney: "We thought of the idea in about 2015, when we had just had kids, and the kids were newborns. So we were at home at 3am, in that witching hour of not quite knowing if you exist — and sort of knowing, 'well, I think I do exist because I have a Twitter profile, but I think that's the only thing that tethers me to this realm now because it's so late and I have spent so much time by myself as a tit machine with the baby'. During that time, we both, for whatever reason — and I don't really know what this says about our mental health at the time — but we just gravitated towards crime shows. There was a lot at that point as well, there was a bit of an explosion of Scandi noir. You know, like.. I can't think of a single one. What's that one with jumpers? What's the jumpers? You know, jumpers?" McLennan: "The jumpers?" McCartney: "Jumpers. The Scandi jumpers one." McLennan: "Do you mean The Bridge?" McCartney: "No, The Killing." McLennan: "The Killing." McCartney: "And then The Bridge, and then there was…" In unison: "The Return." McCartney: "And then there was…" In unison: "The Fall." McCartney: "The Fall. Yeah, silk shirts. Gillian Anderson. Silk shirts." McLennan: "And you told me to watch Broadchurch, and I thought it was a comedy because Olivia Colman was in it and I knew her from comedy. So I'm like 'oh, it's a comedy'. So I strapped myself in to watch this funny comedy show. And I'm like 'yeah, this is not a comedy'. But we thought 'what if we did take a show that had that small town, lots of secrets, lots of characters, and you just nudge the comedy". You just nudge the needle up a little bit. We had the idea just after we made The Katering Show. We were pitching Get Krack!n overseas, and we would do the spiel about Get Krack!n and then people would sometimes say 'do you have any other ideas?'. We'd just throw in the Deadloch idea as this last-minute 'we've also got this other show with the working title Funny Broadchurch'. And people just really grabbed onto it. McCartney: "Like, they got it." McLennan: "So we knew that it had legs. We made Get Krack!n and then we thought we'd pitch this other show, and luckily Amazon Prime were ready to jump on board with this." ON MAKING A COMEDIC MURDER-MYSTERY THAT ALSO WORKS AS A MURDER-MYSTERY McCartney: "It wasn't actually [the initial plan]. When we first conceived of it, this was at The Katering Show, that's where we were at in terms of what we were working on. And we did originally conceive of it as being a 30-minute show. And then, we just grew in confidence and ambition as we got into Get Krack!n — and then by the final season of Get Krack!n, we started to really experiment with using that interplay of something dark, then something funny. I think that informed us and bolstered us — that may not be a word — in our confidence and our ability to to be able to pull off something like this. And also having that experience. We'd done a few series. And the things we're trying to emulate, they are a lot longer because of the moodiness and the cinematic quality of it — and you just need more time. And because we're not in it — personally, I'm a terrible actor, so there's only so much I can do — but if you get someone like Kate Box or Madeleine Sami or Alicia Gardner, or anyone like that in your show, you can ask them to do a lot more with the characters. You can actually have proper characters." McLennan: "We wanted the space to tell the story and to do it justice, and to do in a way that felt like it was a rich, rewarding experience for the audience. I think around the time that we going through this creative process with it, Killing Eve had just come out — and I don't know if it did necessarily break the mould, but it made it pretty clear to us that you could tell a story that was longer than half an hour and there was an appetite for that from the streaming services as well." McCartney: "It was the appetite, really. Because we'd already thought about it, we'd already gone 'oh, I think I think this is how it needs to be, this is the kind of show we're looking at, I think we want it to be a proper show'. But the fact that people were watching it and responding to it, there was a precedent that we could go 'people will hang in there'." McLennan: "It certainly made us — when we knew that we had the hour up our sleeve, it's like 'well, we'd better made this crime story really good'." McCartney: "It's a lot. It has to be interesting. Because people aren't going to watch something for an hour if they don't care about the characters, if there aren't actual stakes. You can't just do cop jokes. You can't sit above it and laugh, going 'aren't we clever'." McLennan: "You've got to be invested in it. And play the stakes of the crime." ON DECIDING NOT TO APPEAR ON-SCREEN McCartney: "With Get Krack!n, by the end it was a challenge to have the kind of control over what we were doing that that we like to have, and to make sure that our voice is all-encompassing, and also be on screen. It's a very different brain, and you necessarily have to kind of let things go by the wayside if you're in that role — if you're trying to do those two roles together." McLennan: "I remember being on the couch when we were filming Get Krack!n, and I had my phone and I was answering emails, and then we'd have to go for a take and I'd shove the phone under…" McCartney: "Always shoving it under our legs." McLennan: "And it just felt like the acting was getting in the way of the other job." McCartney: "And we wanted to do the other other job more, because we were pretty done with being on camera as it was." McLennan: "I think audiences were pretty…" McCartney: "They were probably pretty done with us as well." McLennan: "But we did cast ourselves in a cameo in the show. And we filmed that cameo." McCartney: "Probably about half a day, I'd say. So not only did we spend half a day on it, like the production spent half a day filming our cameo, but we also took time out of our personal, very busy showrunner schedule, to do it. So it was like a loss in two ways." McLennan: "Because we were watching rushes, and assembly edits were happening as we're going, we got to see that scene pretty quickly in the edit — and we were so bad that we cut ourselves and recast." McCartney: "So it does exist, but it's in the vault. It's in the Amazon vault. It's in one of those seed things that are in Antartica." ON CASTING KATE BOX AND MADELEINE SAMI McCartney: "Mads was actually a writer on the show. We knew her from quite a way back. We knew she's an extremely funny physical comedian and we've been fans of hers for ages, and obviously we've been massive fans of Kate Box as well." McLennan: "The whole casting process was done over Zoom. I mean, interestingly, we were working with Mads writing scripts with her when the audition process was happening, but we pretended that we didn't know that we were getting her into this." McCartney: "We were secretly in love with her and really hoped that she would play this part." McLennan: "We wanted to keep things very separate, because obviously if we didn't cast her, then that would maybe be a little bit awkward. So we're like 'let's just keep this as two separate streams'. She's like 'guys, did you know I've got an audition?', 'And we're like 'great!'. And the more we worked with Mads, the more that we could see that she was a pretty good fit." McCartney: "In fairness, she was a perfect fit. Setting down a self tape at the best of times is the pits, and really one of the key reasons why I stopped being a performer — but, but, doing it via Zoom, auditioning over zoom…" McLennan: "So Mads and Boxy had both done their separate reads of their characters, and then we got them to do a chemistry test — which again, you can imagine how we that is over Zoom." McCartney: " Zoom chemistry, just you can feel it pinging off the screen, can't you?" McLennan: "But you kind of could with those two." McCartney: "You could, yeah." McLennan: "I remember that day of getting them to do the callback, and to do these scenes together. It was like this immediate calm came over us, like 'this is going to be okay'." McCartney: "Yeah, this is going to be really good." McLennan: "Yeah, they're really good." McCartney: "Boxy is so fucking smart — not the Mads isn't — but Boxy is so smart, and so good at her job. On the page, you don't necessarily see that Dulcie is as funny as she is. And she just got it. So it was the moment she started saying those words, we were like 'not only is this what we hoped the character would be, but it's so much more'. She can do anything, so it seems a bit cheeky to be like 'hey, in this comedy, can you be the straight woman?'. But we needed someone that good at comedy and drama to play that part because everyone else can be a bit silly, but we needed someone to have the stakes all the time, because the audience needs that person." ON KEEPING DEADLOCH'S DIALOGUE UNIQUELY AUSTRALIAN McLennan: "To be honest, we wrote all of the scripts and we did not receive a note on the language in the scripts. And then, just as we're going through the process of getting the show happening — you go through this process where people look over everything, just to make sure that everything's okay — there was just a question on the the volume of swearing. And there is a lot. It opened up a conversation, so we responded to that with what's now known as The Cunt Essay. Our setup director Ben Chessell wrote a thesis essentially on Australians' relationship to the word cunt and other swearing." McCartney: "The local usage of it, and how that differs from overseas usage of it. And how, within this context, it's actually not really even a swear word — in fact, it can be a very nice term. And it's used in advertising campaigns! So we just talked about it in its context in the Australian vernacular, and its cultural context. And also, I think he talked about how it speaks to Australianness as well, that we've taken this word — there's no hierarchy, there aren't bad words, we're not as puritanical because we don't have that secretly underpinning our constitution and our heads of government. He also then tied it into something else, he was talking about reclaiming it — which was a bit more of a stretch, I would say, if we're honest about it, and I think he knew it was a bit of a stretch. But it was very wordy. It was about seven or eight pages." ON MAKING MORE SEASONS OF DEADLOCH McCartney: "You always think about things being more than one series, but we'd always thought of it as being an anthology series. So, retaining some of the characters and moving them to a different location, probably — it was always going to be set around Australia. So, that's the hope. That's the plan. That's the secret mutterings between us." Deadloch streams via Prime Video. Read our full review of season one.
In the world of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, fighting for power and glory is a lifelong quest, and one shared far and wide across Westeros. In bringing the fictional realm created by author George RR Martin to the small screen, US network HBO seems to have adapted the same mindset — because this hugely popular franchise is only going to keep expanding in its hands. News about what follows the initial page-to-screen show has been bubbling for years now. Indeed, before Game of Thrones even came to an end back in 2019, HBO was looking at spending more time in Westeros. Of course, House of the Dragon has already aired its first season and been renewed for a second, which mightn't arrive till 2024. Chatter about what else might arrive spans a Jon Snow-focused spinoff with Kit Harington (Eternals) reprising his famous role, novella series Tales of Dunk and Egg and an animated GoT show. Beyond that, another three prequels are also reported to have been under consideration. To farewell 2022, Martin himself advised that there actually may not be as many GoT spinoffs on the way; however, now comes word of a brand-new candidate. Variety is reporting that HBO is contemplating another prequel — and another show to focus on the Targaryens, this time exploring how Aegon I took over Westeros with his two sister-wives Visenya and Rhaenys, plus three dragons, then became its first king and the first to ever sit on the Iron Throne. There's no confirmation from HBO so far, and obviously nothing in the way of a title, timing or casting. But Variety also advises that this prequel could even start as a movie, then return to the episodic format. And if there's one thing that HBO adores when it comes to Game of Thrones, it's House Targaryen and their complicated history. Wigmakers, rejoice — if this series gets the go ahead, there'll be an even bigger need for artificial blonde mops. Special effects crews will also get plenty of work creating those dragons. Whether this show ends up eventuating or not, our days of watching fiery fights between famous Westerosi names — and games over who gets to sit on the Iron Throne — are definitely far from over. Game of Thrones was that much of a hit, and House of the Dragon has proven the same so far. Until House of the Dragon season two hits, or any other on-screen dances with dragons are confirmed, check out the season one trailer below: The latest proposed Game of Thrones prequel doesn't yet have a release date — we'll update you if and when more details are confirmed. House of the Dragon streams Down Under via Foxtel and Binge in Australia, and SoHo, Sky Go and Neon in New Zealand. Read our full review of season one. Via Variety. Images: HBO.
When a bakery has earned fame around the world from chefs and publications alike, and lines outside its stores are a common sight, it probably doesn't need to give customers any additional motivation to drop by. But Lune — home of "the croissant that should act as the prototype for all others" according to Yotam Ottolenghi, and "the finest you will find anywhere in the world" as per The New York Times — has never been one to rest on its laurels. Monthly specials, seasonal treats, a cookbook: they've all helped extend the brand's experience. Now Lune's new loyalty program is giving pastry fiends another reason to head in. The Kate Reid co-founded bakery wants you to not only keep enjoying its croissants, pains au chocolat, cruffins, morning buns and more — it wants to reward you for doing so. Enter the Lune passport, which launched on Monday, April 7, 2025, and works on zont miles. You'll collect one for every dollar that you spend on food in a Lune outpost — which are located in Armadale, Fitzroy and the CBD in Melbourne; South Brisbane and Burnett Lane in Brisbane; and Rosebery and Martin Place in Sydney. Rack up those zont miles and you'll be eligible for discounts, with each 200 points reached giving you $10 off your next purchase. The program also gives members exclusive perks and bonuses, as well as priority access and gifts. Double days and double hours will see you earning twice as many zont miles, for instance, and you'll also score a free traditional croissant on your birthday. To sign up, you have options. Hop online, or scan the QR code at Lune's stores or on the top of your receipt if you've just made a purchase. There's no physical card, with the passport operating digitally. To use it, you just tap it at the counter when you're making an order. Everyone receives 50 zont miles for signing up and making their first purchase, plus 25 points for subscribing to Lune's newsletter. While you'll nab one point per $1 spent on dishes from the food menu, you'll get two points per $1 on Lune retail items. "We're super excited to finally announce the Lune passport loyalty program. It feels like a fitting way to reward and thank all our guests who have supported us over the years, and also a lovely way to introduce those that are brand new to Lune," said Reid, announcing the initiative. For more information about the Lune passport, head to the brand's website — or to its stores at Armadale, Fitzroy and the CBD in Melbourne; South Brisbane and Burnett Lane in Brisbane; and Rosebery and Martin Place in Sydney. Images: Peter Dillon.
There's no one right way to experience SXSW, whether you're attending the Austin or Sydney version, but one of the event's huge highlights is its high-profile list of folks who get talking. This is the kind of event where you could be listening to Chance The Rapper one moment, then Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker the next, as everyone learned in the Harbour City in 2023. In 2024, it's also the type of festival where Lucy Lawless, Grace Tame and Tim Minchin will be chatting — plus Nick Kyrgios, Noémie Fox, Suzie Miller and Stephen Page as well. Another week, another lineup drop for 2024's SXSW Sydney as it moves closer and closer to its Monday, October 14–Sunday, October 20 dates. The event began revealing its program back in May, which was just the beginning. Another announcement arrived in June, then not one, not two, but three more in July — and also another, focusing on the free hub at Tumbalong Park, at the beginning of August. Then came more music acts and speakers, still in August, and now arrives even more talents that'll be part of SXSW Sydney's conference. [caption id="attachment_971189" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Paul McMillan[/caption] From just the people mentioned above, SXSW Sydney 2024 has warrior princesses, activists, comedians, sports stars, playwrights and the former Bangarra Dance Theatre Artistic Director on its bill. Among the highlights, Lawless has moved behind the camera for the first time on documentary Never Look Away about CNN camerawoman Margaret Moth, and will chat about her directorial debut — while Stephen Page and actor Hunter Page-Lochard (Critical Incident), his son, will explore whether there's a global market for First Nations content and artists. With fellow guests such as Ogilvy Global CEO Devika Bulchandani, Google Analytics and Google Voice founder Wesley Chan, Intel Corporation's first futurist Brian David Johnson, and MIT Technology Review CEO and publisher Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau, everything from artificial intelligence in marketing and entrepreneurs keen to make the leap to America through to thinking about the future and new tech innovations will be covered as well. Also among the new additions: Fox joining Clare Stephens for But Are You Happy? live, Welcome to the Future! with Charles Firth and Dom Knight similarly taking to the stage, and sessions digging into neurotechnology and how to change habits. [caption id="attachment_971190" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ian Laidlaw[/caption] SXSW Sydney's latest 2024 wave expands a program that already features Australian filmmaker Warwick Thornton (The New Boy), Aussie composer Jed Kurzel (Monkey Man), Barbie executive producer Josey McNamara, Brave co-director Mark Andrews, Mortal Kombat helmer Simon McQuoid, human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson, author Johann Hari, Australian race car driver Molly Taylor, pianist Chad Lawson, Aussie astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg, TikTok marketing head Sofia Hernandez and Academy Award-winning Slumdog Millionaire composer AR Rahman — among a hefty list of others. More lineup details will keep being revealed over the coming month and a half, with the full event set to span more than 1000 speakers, 60-plus tech exhibitors, over 200 artists, 120-plus games and more than 75 screenings. [caption id="attachment_971191" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jaimi Joy[/caption] [caption id="attachment_971192" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Paul McMillan[/caption] [caption id="attachment_967878" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jaimi Joy[/caption] [caption id="attachment_953724" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jaimi Joy[/caption] [caption id="attachment_923286" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for SXSW Sydney[/caption] SXSW Sydney 2024 will run from Monday, October 14–Sunday, October 20 at various Sydney venues. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details.
Future Totoros and Ponyos may not eventuate; Studio Ghibli have announced a hiatus to their animation feature film department. Surrounded by rumours of an outright closure, Studio Ghibli's general manager, Toshio Suzuki, announced the movements on Japanese television today as a "brief pause". Responsible for the likes of Spirited Away, Grave of the Fireflies, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, Ponyo and My Neighbour Totoro among many, many other beloved tales, the animation studio is reassessing its filmic future. The news comes just under a year after legendary, Oscar-winning director Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement in September 2013 and released his final film The Wind Rises in February this year. Differing translations of Suzuki's announcement caused minor havoc online (notably fuelled by so-called Ghibli insiders at Japanese website News Cafe and subsequently quashed by Kotaku). Although most thought the studio was closing its doors for good, newer, more accurate translations cleared things up. "On what to do with Studio Ghibli’s future, it is by no means impossible to keep producing [movies] forever," said Suzuki on the TBS program Jonetsu Tairiku. "However, we will take a brief pause to consider where to go from here." Producer and co-founder Suzuki stepped into Miyazaki's shoes and became general manager when the director retired from Ghibli last year, joining forces with other Studio half, director Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies). So why is Ghibli shutting up shop? It seems to be a matter of money, a fair reason to reassess in a Michael Bay-peppered, box office landscape. According to Anime News Network, Studio Ghibli's latest film,When Marnie Was There opened at number three over the first weekend (July 19 - 20) with 378,790,697 yen (US$3,721,297) on 461 screens. That seems like a whole bunch, but the international market isn't so kind to arthouse-designated Ghibli. Marnie is set to hit US cinemas some time next year, with Australian release dates still TBC. Ghibli haven't covered up their financial struggle, most notably considering 2013's The Tale of Princess Kaguya a flop with tiny box office numbers (a huge step down from 2002's Acadamy Award-winning hit Spirited Away, which took US$274,925,095 worldwide). Suzuki said the studio is considering "housecleaning" or restructuring internally. While this doesn't entirely rule out a future shutdown, it seems the pause is centred around rebuilding the studio, managing copyrights and trademarks and possibly freelancing out projects — a good sign for Ghibli fans. But Kotaku has assured fans that Studio Ghibli is not dead yet, so we'll keep those good vibes delivered via Kiki and keep fingers crossed. Via Anime News Network, Kotaku and Hypable.
Sometimes you want a date night to last longer than the time it takes to scoff down a meal at your local. The most romantic nights are often spent lapping up each other's company, trying a new drink or dish, and creating an atmosphere that makes it feel like you and your partner are the only people in the world. One way to turn an average date night into a romantic weekend to remember is by booking a city staycation. At The Star Brisbane, you can turn an evening out into an all-in-one romantic escape. From sky deck views, set menu dinners, and a hotel that'll make you feel like you're nowhere near home, here's how to add some spark and rejuvenation to your Brisbane date weekend. [caption id="attachment_1023299" align="alignleft" width="1920"] The Star Brisbane[/caption] Stay the night Why cut the night short after activities conclude? The Star Grand hotel offers an elevated staycation option for Brisbanites. The five-star hotel features a slate of luxurious rooms where you can turn a single evening into a getaway for the ages. Enjoy views of the Brisbane River and South Bank, swimming pools, gym and a 24-hour reception. You'll leave with your romance cup filled. Movies under the stars Whether you decide to stay the night or not, the Skyline Cinema at The Star Brisbane offers openair screenings every Wednesday evening. Tickets for the variety of classic movies start at $5 per person, and you can book your own bean bags for maximum comfort. Otherwise, bring along a picnic blanket and buy some snacks for a low-key, cosy date night. [caption id="attachment_1021006" align="alignleft" width="1920"] Cicada Blu[/caption] Wow factor Cicada Blu is The Star Brisbane's bar that's perfect for pre- or post-dinner drinks. Featuring panoramic views of the Brisbane River and a unique cocktail menu, Cicada Blu will give your date night the 'wow' factor to impress. Enjoy the Golden Hour Fizz cocktail 100 metres above the CBD and cheers to a romantic date night. [caption id="attachment_1023301" align="alignleft" width="1920"] Cucina Regina[/caption] Italian romance Looking for a relaxed, romantic date night pick? Cucina Regina is The Star Brisbane's destination for elevated Italian comfort food. During the Brisbane Festival period, Cucina Regina is offering three share plates and two Aperol Spritz for $49, making it a budget-friendly choice as well. From hand-stretched pizzas and homemade pasta to tableside tiramisu and cocktails, Cucina Regina adds a helping of warm Italian hospitality to any date night. [caption id="attachment_1023307" align="alignleft" width="1920"] Aloria[/caption] Something elevated Aloria is for couples looking to take their relationship to the next level. Literally. Situated on The Star Brisbane's Sky Deck, the rooftop restaurant offers wines handpicked to pair with each course, a European-Australian menu, and sunset cocktails. The restaurant is currently offering a romantic deal. It includes a three-course menu paired with champagne on arrival, for $300 per couple. Executive Chef Shayne Mansfield has curated an indulgent menu that highlights seasonal flavours and culinary artistry. As an extra special touch, couples will receive a keepsake photo to remind them of their romantic evening. [caption id="attachment_1023306" align="alignleft" width="1920"] Sokyo[/caption] A touch of boldness Sokyo is where the date night takes a bolder turn. The Japanese-Australian fusion restaurant is for couples seeking bold flavours and a sensory-driven dining experience. Between theatrical dish presentation, unexpected flavour combinations and moody lighting, Sokyo feels effortlessly stylish. With dishes including sashimi and spicy tuna on a bed of crispy rice, you and your date will be competing over who gets the last bite all night long. Sokyo is the dining choice for those who like a little drama over their dinner. From an array of dining options to plush beds and openair cinemas, The Star Brisbane makes it easy to dial up the romance—staycation or otherwise. Want to discover more venues at The Star Brisbane? Check out the website here. Over 18's only. Drink responsibly. BET WITH YOUR HEAD, NOT OVER IT. Lead image: The Star Brisbane
Canada had Degrassi. Britain had Press Gang. For for seven seasons, 210 episodes and a whole heap of "rack off"s between 1994–99, Australia had Heartbreak High. It's the show that turned Callan Mulvey's Drazic into an icon, actually resembled the multicultural country its homegrown audience experienced every day, and lived and breathed 90s teen angst along with its after-class viewers. Once its instantly catchy opening-credits theme started each episode, it cycled through the same taboos and troubles that every high school-set drama does, and weathered the same schoolyard ups and downs as well — but it was unmistakably and unashamedly Aussie from its accents and Sydney setting to its attitude and vernacular. The OG Heartbreak High wasn't just another snapshot of adolescent chaos; it was a mirror. Dropping on Netflix on Wednesday, September 14, the revival is now another generation's looking glass. It's also a welcome blast from the past for everyone who grew up with the original or managed to track it down afterwards (wearing out old VHS tapes, perhaps, before it hit Netflix itself); however, it's never just that, not even for a second. Initially a spinoff from the Claudia Karvan- and Alex Dimitriades-starring 1993 movie The Heartbreak Kid, which adapted the 1987 play of the same name, Heartbreak High returns with Gen Z at its core and a spicier vibe to match. This new batch of Sydney high schoolers don't just watch Euphoria, Sex Education and Never Have I Ever, the shows that Heartbreak High circa 2022 easily slots alongside — they're now at the centre of Australia's version, all while listening to a Triple J soundtrack, working at Harry's Cafe de Wheels, avoiding eshays and talking about bin chickens. Teen-focused dramas always reflect the generation they're made for, and the returning Heartbreak High is no different. Today's high school-set shows often come with more than a few nods backwards as well, though. Just like Beverly Hills, 90210, Saved by the Bell and Gossip Girl before it — like Degrassi's multiple go-arounds across more than four decades now, including a new take that's set to land in 2023 — Heartbreak High 2.0 knows it has a history and doesn't dream of pretending otherwise. 90s worship is in fashion anyway, so all those Doc Martens, nose rings, baggy jeans, slip dresses and oversized band t-shirts not only could've adorned the initial show's cast, but prove a natural fit this time around. Sporting such decade-crossing attire is a fresh-faced — and fresh-to-the-franchise — cohort of Hartley High students. The years and teens have changed, but the location, like plenty of the outfits, remains the same. When the eight-episode new season begins, Amerie (Ayesha Madon, The Moth Effect) and Harper (Asher Yasbincek, How to Please a Woman) are life-long best friends, but their sudden rift after a drunken night at a music festival changes everything. Amerie doesn't know why Harper has suddenly shaved her head, let alone cut all ties with her. She's just as shocked when the mural they've graffitied in an unused school stairwell, chronicling who's dated, had a crush on and slept with who among the year 11s, is scandalously outed. That "incest map", whether one of Amerie's classmates received a "tongue punch in the fart box", if another has a "lazy kebab vagina", the pink dildo stuck to the school basketball hoop's backboard: there isn't just one sign that Heartbreak High isn't in the 90s anymore, let alone on Network Ten or the ABC; there's a whole classroom full of them. Where the initial series was groundbreaking in its cultural and class diversity at a time when the overwhelmingly white casts of Home and Away and Neighbours otherwise monopolised Aussie screens, navigating almost exclusively middle-class existences, creator Hannah Carroll Chapman (The Heights) ensures that her version is equally as inclusive — and frank — when it comes to gender, sexuality and neurodiversity. Principal Woodsy (Rachel House, Baby Done) isn't impressed by her students' candour, however, sending every Hartley attendee named on the map to an after-hours sexual literacy tutorial. Also in the group: the non-binary Darren (screen first-timer James Majoos) and their bestie Quinni (Chloe Hayden, Jeremy the Dud), who has autism — and who now comprise Amerie's new support system. Hartley heartthrob Dusty (Josh Heuston, Thor: Love and Thunder), his smug pal Spider (Bryn Chapman Parish, Mr Inbetween) and resident comic relief Ant (debutant Brodie Townsend) are all roped in, too. So is the pink-haired Sasha (Gemma Chua-Tran, Mustangs FC), her ex-turned-bestie Missy (fellow newcomer Sherry-Lee Watson), and mullet-wearing drug dealer and food delivery driver Ca$h (Will McDonald, Home and Away), plus Bundjalung boy, basketballer and new Hartley arrival Malakai (Thomas, Troppo). Throw any motley crew of high schoolers together and familiar issues and struggles will arise, as all of Heartbreak High's peers — then and now — can attest. Although no one becomes a teen mother here, recent fellow Aussie series Bump also casts a shadow (and not just because it stars The Heartbreak Kid's Karvan among the parents). That show hews softer and smoother, while this one skews glossier and racier. At first, it feels like the OG Heartbreak High's rawness and grit might've been buffed away. But as the series charts the fallout from Amerie and Harper's feud, the reasons behind it, and a new wave of hookups and controversies — as well as parties and pairings — it finds its own intensity. Come for the instant nostalgia, stay for an old favourite firmly seen with fresh eyes: that's the revived Heartbreak High experience. Some recognisable names pop up, but overtly winking and nudging to 90s viewers definitely isn't the show's point. It can't be; teen chaos doesn't rack off but rather gets handed down through time, just as this series now has. Spanning everything from consent and crime to drugs and police brutality, there's more than enough adolescent mess and stress to go around again. Viewers don't have a moment to waste wondering if old faces will return anyway, given how dynamic the new cast is — Madon, Majoos and Hayden make a terrific lead trio, and Weatherall, McDonald and Yasbincek in particular turn in beautifully complicated performances — and how addictive their characters' dramas prove. Check out the trailer for Heartbreak High below: Heartbreak High streams via Netflix from Wednesday, September 14. Images: Mark Rogers / Lisa Tomasetti / Elise Lockwood, Netflix.
Caxton Street's go-to for whisky, southern-style food and Americana rock, Lefty's Old Time Music Hall left Brisbane's nightlife scene with a considerable gap when it closed last November. Thankfully, the Petrie Terrace venue didn't permanently shut up shop — with new management swooping in, slightly amending its name and reopening the joint. While the dive bar-style spot is now called Lefty's Music Hall and is run by Hallmark Group Australia — the folks behind Jamie's Italian, Jamie Oliver's Pizzeria, Finn McCool's and Retro's Cocktail Lounge — not much else has really changed. If you've been a fan of its honky-tonk saloon theme, famed whisky apples and live music lineup since it originally launched back in 2013, that's all sticking around in the new iteration, which just launched at the end of February. So are Lefty's vintage chandeliers, crimson walls and the sizeable mirrors splashed around the place. Also staying put: its black leather booths lit by candles, giant curved bar, smattering of moose heads, wall-mounted bear and peacock, and heavily used stage and dance floor. Basically, it's a case of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. That seems understandable given how popular the venue has always been, as well as the reaction when it was shuttered suddenly. Other than that popular blend of whisky and freshly juiced apples, the relaunched bar is serving plenty of boutique beers and, obviously, whisky. Food-wise, American-themed snacks are on offer — such as hotdogs, chicken wings, fried chicken burgers, and both cheeseburgers and cheeseburger spring rolls. As for its entertainment lineup, it's once again focusing on rockabilly and country music, showcasing local, Australian and international talent.
Maybe you love croissants. Perhaps you can't go past a pain au chocolat. If it's a pastry and it has a French history, it could just get your tastebuds melting. If any of these apply and you've been in the vicinity of Sanctuary Cove since 2022, then you might've enjoyed Rise Bakery's wares. Now, Brisbanites can tuck in without the trip to the Gold Coast. Next stop: Portside Wharf. After Rise's pastries quickly proved a hit on the coast, French-born chef pâtissier Adrien Marcinowski and fellow chef Maxime Bournazel have now done what plenty of popular eateries on the Glitter Strip did in the past: capitalised upon that success by expanding up to Brisbane. This is the first Brissie outpost for the company, with customers able to pick up artisanal bread as well. At the moment, however, Rise's Portside venue is doing takeaways and serving just a limited in-store menu as it gears up for a full official opening in August. Both now and in the future, the chain is serving up its bites in a space spanning across 75 square meters indoors, plus an extra 80 square metres over an al fresco terrace — to make the most of the waterfront location. Even better: Rise Bakery's Portside venue features a champagne bar for sips over croissants and cakes. Marcinowski and Bournazel were drawn to Portside because it reminded them of the French Riviera, with the design and decor of Rise's new white- and pink-hued location nodding in the same direction. Drinks-wise, as well as champagne, Portside visitors can sip Tavalon's tea, as well as locally roasted caffeinated brews from Bear Bones Coffee.
Brisbane is known for its glorious sunny days and blue skies, so when it rains, we can be caught off-guard — even with storms and wet weather a regular part of spring and summer. But when the heavens do open, this shouldn't be an excuse to hide in bed under your doona all day. Thankfully, our city is teeming with wet weather-friendly activities, so don't let a bit of drizzle keep you from making the most of Brisbane. Here are some ideas to keep you entertained and sufficiently dry before you consider hiding under your doona forever — binge-watching streaming not included. [caption id="attachment_966493" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Markus Ravik[/caption] Hole Up in a Cosy Bar — and Do More Than Just Drink At the first sign of threatening weather, gather your best group of drinking buddies and head straight for your local watering hole. Nab a cosy corner, order a few rounds and stay put until the skies clear. Quality booze, food and friends are really all you need, but to take your rainy day pub game up a notch, choose a bar with something to do other than just sit and drink. Mini golf awaits at Holey Moley's CBD, Fortitude Valley, Chermside and Mt Gravatt spots. Or, you can fling electronic darts at Oche. Plus, there's plenty of games at bars-slash-arcades Netherworld, B. Lucky and Archie Brothers. Hurling hatchets is even on offer at Maniax, while Hijinx Hotel at Chermside and Mt Gravatt will get you sleuthing — and endless hours of rain-less fun are guaranteed. [caption id="attachment_820625" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Chloë Callistemon[/caption] Get Cultured in a Nice Dry Gallery A rainy day is the perfect opportunity to finally catch that exhibition you've been meaning to see. Escape the elements and step into a haven of vibrant and colourful artworks that will surely take your mind off the wild weather. Some of our go-to inner Brisbane galleries include Artisan, Milani Gallery, Jan Murphy Gallery and the Institute of Modern Art — and the South Bank double that is the Gallery of Modern Art and the Queensland Art Gallery, of course. Spend all day browsing the talent and leave with some newfound inspiration to pick up a paintbrush. Or, if you're eager to marvel at a museum's wares, rather than a gallery's, check out the latest displays at the Queensland Museum. Snuggle Into a Cinema Seat Is there anything better on a rainy day than snuggling up to watch a movie, popcorn in one hand and a glass of wine in the other? The next time it starts to drizzle, swap your streaming queue for a new release at one of Brisbane's best cinemas — whether a new flick is on the agenda, or a retro one. The art deco stylings and warm atmosphere of New Farm Cinemas make it the perfect place to while away a rainy afternoon, beginning with a drink before enjoying an movie on the big screen — and both the CBD-located Elizabeth Picture Palace and the inner west's Red Hill Cinemas from the same folks are worth a visit too. Still on that side of town, Cinebar's cosy Rosalie surroundings make big films feel boutique. Brisbane is the only place in Australia with an Angelika Film Centre — and, with every seat a recliner, you kick back no matter what movie you're keen on. Also among the city's best moviegoing spots: Newmarket's Readings, Coorparoo's Dendy, and Palace's Barracks and James Street venues. Curl Up in a Cafe One of the best places to be on a rainy day is in a window seat at a cosy cafe, where you can watch the rain from a safe, dry distance. Add a cup of steaming coffee (or a glass of wine), a hearty meal and a good book, and you're all set for a delightful day indoors. With Brisbane's cafe scene constantly expanding, there's no shortage of options to choose from. Key requirements include lots of natural lighting, a chilled-out soundtrack and friendly staff. If they're also serving all-day breakfast, you know you've found a winner. And if the vibe is just right, like at moody all-day spot Bar Miette, Picnic's Camp Hill and West End locations, restaurant-meets-garden shop The Green, Lune Croissanterie's first-ever Brisbane site, Doughcraft in Bowen Hills and Mary Street, and perennial favourite Morning After, there's nothing better for a drizzly day. Treat Yourself to a Spa Day Treating yourself every now and then is essential for your health, so use the next rainy day as an excuse to sneak off to the spa for a little dose of zen. Relax and rejuvenate with a facial and massage, or even rope your significant other in for a couple's treatment. Brisbanites looking for spa experiences can pick from The Bathhouse Albion, Contro Wellness, Away Spa at W Brisbane, The Healing Stone at South Bank and Kailo Wellness Medispa at Fortitude Valley — and that's just for starters. Nothing is more luxurious than spending the day wrapped up in a robe, with cucumbers on eyes to complete the experience, of course. For more, check out our full guide to the city's extraordinary spa spots to fill the wet, miserable hours. [caption id="attachment_994860" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Daniel Boud[/caption] Make a Date with the Theatre There's a certain element of romance to the theatre, which always seems to heighten on a drizzly night. The next time it's forecast to rain, book tickets to a show and you'll see what we mean. Whether you prefer the classics or are a fan of more contemporary productions, there's bound to be a theatre in Brisbane with shows suited to your tastes. Our favourites include Queensland Theatre, La Boite and Brisbane Arts Theatre, plus whatever's playing at Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane Powerhouse and the Judith Wright Arts Centre — but they're not the only places worth visiting. Check out Concrete Playground's events guide for what's on this week. Be a Big Kidult Don't let the rain put a dampener on your spirit. Take a break from your busy week of adulting and let your inner kid run wild for a day with some of the best kidult activities in Brisbane. Surely you can't resist a friendly game of laser tag at nostalgic favourite Laserforce or a visit to Timezone that will inevitably stir up some nostalgia (yep, Timezone still exists at Garden City, Indooroopilly and Springfield). Or, you can bring your Mario Kart skills into real life at Slideways. Another way to spend a day inside: trying to sleuth your way out of an escape room. Brisbane has a few options, including Escape Hunt at West End and Arcadium Adventures in Spring Hill. Take a Class If you've been meaning to pick up a new skill for a while — and you didn't perfect everything you hoped to during various lockdowns — a dreary day is your chance to make it happen. Finally learn how to cook your dream dish at Newstead's Golden Pig, get your creative juices flowing with a drink in hand at Cork & Chroma, add some pottery to your life at Mas & Miek Ceramic House or get floral at Soul Pantry. Fancy revamping your exercise routine instead? Get stretchy at Stretch Yoga or hit the skating rink at Rollerfit. Your rainy day activity may even breed a lifelong hobby. Top image: Installation of Haus Yuriyal's artwork including (front to back) Bopa, 2024, Kalabus, 2024, Kamkau Ike (Haus Toktok) 2024 with Yuriyal Bridgeman's Yuri Alai Eagles (ceiling shield paintings) 2024 and Kuman (shield) paintings 2024. 'The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery / Photograph: C Callistemon © QAGOMA.
There's no need to feel the cold this winter. Whether you have a date with skis or you'll be trying to get as cosy as possible going about your usual routine, Aldi's snow gear sale is back to keep you warm. Making a beeline to the middle aisle to rug up has become an Australian tradition, and this year marks the first time that the supermarket chain has held two of the sales in consecutive years since before the pandemic. In budget-friendly news, too, nothing will set you back more than $100. Winter is coming, as the country is just beginning to feel — and this batch of bargains, spanning everything from gloves to thermoboots, is on its way as well. Ski trips, snowboarding sessions, building snowmen: there's attire for all of the above, plus just not shivering at home. Mark Saturday, May 18 in your diary, then make a date with your nearest Aldi supermarket. Also, prepare to have ample company. Every time that this sale happens, it draws quite a crowd — and 2024's run again includes more than 70 products, with prices starting from $4.99. Available at stores across the nation, and made to withstand extreme weather conditions, the latest range of gear includes ski jackets from $59.99, both ski pants and hoodies from $49.99, and fleece jackets from $39.99. Or, there's also balaclavas from $9.99, snowboard and ski gloves from $14.99, touchscreen gloves for $9.99, ski socks for $8.99, and scarves and beanies for $6.99. Ski goggles cost $17.99, ski helmets come in at $29.99 and thermoboots are $34.99. Need a heavy-duty boot, shoe and glove dryer? Decided that you do now that you've just read that sentence? They're also on the list, for $79.99. Because layers are pivotal, Aldi's Merino thermal underwear range is also back, with items such as adult tanks and camisoles for $19.99. Kids clothing is part of the deal, too, if you'll be travelling with younger skiers — including being able to dress a children for the snow from top to toe for under $100. 2024's Aldi Snow Gear Special Buys range is available from Aldi stores nationally from Saturday, May 18.
It's been almost five years since Australian viewers scored a dedicated platform to indulge their love of British television. When Britbox launched towards the end of 2020, back when new streaming services kept popping up every month — or so it seemed — it brought shows new and old from two English networks, the BBC and ITV, Down Under. If that's been your TV-watching niche since, then you'll be interested in its next plans, expanding its range and adding dedicated channels. The idea: to boost the hundreds of hours of British fare that's already available to view, on a service that launched with the likes of Doctor Who, Absolutely Fabulous, The Office, Blackadder, Pride and Prejudice, Prime Suspect, The Vicar of Dibley, Luther, A Confession, and David Attenborough's Blue Planet and Planet Earth. And, if you're the kind of person that wants the act of choosing taken out of your hands, the blast-from-the-past format that is linear channels will always have something on. Yes, after streaming attracted eyeballs away from traditional TV and changed how everyone watches the small screen, adding non-stop old-school television-style channels to online services has cemented itself as a trend in recent years. Britbox will have three, dedicated to drama, documentaries and general entertainment, respectively. So, expect Agatha Christie murder-mysteries, comedy quiz shows like Would I Lie To You? and Attenborough docos, for starters. On BBC First, then, you'll be checking out Call the Midwife and getting sleuthing with Towards Zero, the latter of which stars Anjelica Huston (The French Dispatch) and Matthew Rhys (Saturday Night). Head to BBC Entertain for Richard Osman's House of Games, QI and 8 Out of 10 Cats, among other similar shows. And on BBC Select, fiends for factual viewing will find Life Below Zero, Frozen Planet and Africa on the lineup. "Our customers told us they wanted more — more of the latest series, more quality dramas, comedies and mysteries, as well as more variety across genres. We've expanded the service with the aim of continuing to delight our existing fans and appeal to new customers," said Moira Hogan, Executive Vice President of International Markets and General Manager of BritBox Australia. "Our team has crafted a user experience that combines the best of on-demand viewing with a curated channel experience. So when you're not sure what to watch, you can easily switch to one of our three streaming channels and the choice is instantly made for you." In June, Britbox in general is adding a must see for Cunk on Earth fans to its catalogue, too: Mandy, also starring Diane Morgan. Or, check out docos Blue Planet, The Hunt and The Planets, plus the ninth season of Shetland. The Cleaner, Professor T and Karen Pirie will all be back on the platform this year as well. For more information about Britbox, head to the service's website.
Ikea products are notoriously frustrating to assemble, and the lack of words in their assemble instructions doesn't make it any easier. While their commitment to sustainability and not wasting paper is admirable, surely a few words here and there wouldn't kill too many more extra trees. But have you ever been tempted to just throw the instructions out and see what happens? Italian design firm Teste Di Legno did just that, although more out of curiosity than frustration. While assembling some new office furniture, they came up with the idea of "enriching" one piece of furniture with bits of another, which led to the creation of their 'Lato B' collection — four pieces of multipurpose Franken-furniture made entirely out of reimagined Ikea products. For instance, their 'Unacucina' ('one kitchen') piece combines a coffee table, toy storage and flower pots with an island bench to create a quirky, one-off piece of furniture that even has space for a herb garden. On Teste di Legno's website, they describe the process of making the collection as being "like moving around a body to discover the less visible parts (from side A to side B), or illuminating with a ray of light the dark part — not of the moon — which forces a design to have a fixed, rigid, defined identity: a table is a table." Although 'Ikea hacking' is not a new idea, this is definitely among the more creative attempts we've seen. Via PSFK.
Whether you're zipping from Sydney to Melbourne, or settling in for the long haul on the mammoth Perth–to–London flights, travelling by air comes with a significant environmental cost. As well as fuel usage and the considerable carbon footprint, planes are a hotbed for disposable items. Those plastic utensils you're using to tuck into your breakfast? The cup you're sipping your in-flight wine from? The wrapping around your blanket? All single-use plastics. To help counteract the hefty amount of environmental waste created by soaring through the sky, airlines have started changing their ways — such as Portuguese charter outfit Hi Fly, which has pledged to become the world's first plastics-free carrier within the next 12 months. Now Australia's own Qantas is following suit, announcing a plan to cut its waste by 70 percent by the end of 2021, including eradicating 100 million single-use plastic items from its flights and lounges each year from 2020 onwards. On their way out: 45 million plastic cups, 30 million cutlery sets, 21 million coffee cups and four million headrest covers each year, which'll all be replaced by sustainable alternatives. In the case of coffee cups, for example, they'll be swapped for versions that can be recycled or composted. Qantas has already ditched plastic wrapping on its pyjamas and headsets, and gotten rid of plastic straws altogether. It's also scrapping unnecessary paper, so that means using digital boarding passes rather than physical versions as well. The changes will come into effect across Qantas, QantasLink and Jetstar, and while the company recognises that some single-use plastic objects don't have a ready-made substitution (highlighting some wrappings used for hygiene purposes, as well as heat-resistant containers deployed in meal preparation), it's endeavouring to find solutions there as well. It has a history in the eco-conscious space, at least where fuel is concerned — using mustard seeds to fuel its Melbourne–to–LA flights, and dabbling with fuel derived from cooking oil before that. As part of the new waste reduction move, Qantas aims to become the world's first airline to reuse, recycle and compost at least three-quarters of its general refuse. "In the process of carrying 50 million people each year, we deal with more than 30,000 tonnes of waste," said Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce in a statement. "That's the same weight as about 80 747 jumbos."
Some plans to give Brisbane a makeover take time. Queen's Wharf might be open now after launching in the second half of 2024, for instance; however, it was around a decade in the making. Another part of town that's been talked about for just as long: Bulimba Barracks. This 20-hectare riverside stretch in the city's inner east has its own master plan, but it's become one of those "I'll believe it when I see it" concepts for locals. Turning the former Fabrication Workshop into a new lifestyle hub might change that. Brisbane City Council has announced its approval for transforming this historic part of the site — which dates back to 1943 — into a precinct filled with eateries, shops, a boutique supermarket and more. Open and central public spaces that can host pop-up and community events, and feature outdoor seating and dining, are also included in the revamp. "This new precinct will build on our record of supporting the creation of destinations like Howard Smith Wharves, West Village and Fish Lane, which has helped shape Brisbane's incredible lifestyle," said Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner. "Bulimba Barracks' history will continue to be recognised while becoming a new lifestyle precinct that ensures our suburbs remains the best place to live, work and relax." Shayher Group is behind the Bulimba Barracks development, with Director John Lin advising that "it is very important to Shayher that we complement the existing area, and we have ensured the historical integrity of the workshop building, which will become a community hub for local residents and visitors with a focus on a mix of retail and food and beverage to complement the existing area." "This development will be a focal point along the Brisbane River, resulting in a beautiful, high-quality area for the Bulimba community to enjoy whilst respecting the historical value of this part of Brisbane and Queensland for generations to come." If you've largely just driven past the Apollo Road spot, barely giving it a second glance, it previously was home to the Bulimba Army Base. Under the master plan, the war-time riverside industrial site is also set to welcome new homes, as well as parks and playgrounds. If and when the revamp comes to fruition, it'll join a number of water-adjacent locales in the city's east that've been undergoing transformations of late, as evidenced by the opening of BrewDog's Brisbane base at Murarrie and the launch of the Rivermakers precinct at Morningside. The new Bulimba Barracks doesn't yet have an opening date. For more information, keep an eye on the Brisbane City Council website.
On your next getaway in southeast Queensland, head up in the world, then stay there. Located 45 minutes out of the Gold Coast in the Scenic Rim region — which Lonely Planet named one of the best places in the world to visit in 2022 — Tamborine Mountain is the area's lofty tree-change go-to. From December 2024, the scenic site will also be home to a new boutique motel. The latest accommodation option from the team behind Cassis Red Hill in Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, The Tamborine boasts 23 rooms in its 80s-style abode, which takes its design cues from haciendas. When you're getting cosy, you'll be doing so in king-sized beds — and with mountain views no matter which room you're in, including from either a private balcony or a terrace. If you're keen for a splash as well, there's a heated mineral pool and spa. The Tamborine will also include a lounge and bar area, where complimentary continental breakfast is served each morning, hosted aperitifs are on the menu each afternoon, and drinks and bar snacks can be ordered to enjoy poolside. The drinks focus: locally sourced sips. But if you're eager to use the motel as a base to explore the rest of the mountain, the crew here understand — and have a curated array of experiences beyond the site's doors to suggest. "Whether it be immersing oneself in nature, enjoying a tipple at one of the many and emerging microbreweries and distilleries, or exploring the artisan wares the mountain is famous for, The Tamborine will be the perfect escape for our guests. We want guests leaving feeling enriched and connected, and eager to return," advised co-owner Nina Aberdeen. "We are beyond excited to open the doors to The Tamborine and share this special place with our guests. The hotel is designed to offer a seamless connection between our guests, our hosts, the natural surrounds and the local community," added co-owner Gina McNamara. "Every detail has been crafted to ensure that when guests arrive, they feel a deep sense of relaxation and belonging. We can't wait to see them experience the stunning views, unwind by the pool and explore everything the Scenic Rim has to offer." Find The Tamborine at 99 Alpine Terrace, Tamborine Mountain, Queensland, from early December 2024. Head to the motel's website for bookings and further details.
When SXSW Sydney first started revealing details of its 2025 lineup, it promised more free programming on this year's bill. If you're keen to head along to the event's third year — after making its Harbour City debut in 2023, then returning in 2024 — without spending a cent, you'll want to make a date with Tumbalong Park, then. Again, the spot is playing host to the fest's budget-friendly activities, including everything from live music to movies, as well as DJ sets, talks, fashion showcases, pop-ups and more. Free sessions have always been a component of SXSW Sydney, but adding more was never not going to be a welcome move. Accordingly, after outlining that there'd be a significant expansion of its free programming, the festival has upped its Tumbalong Park lineup to 85-plus hours of events. At SXSW Sydney Unlocked, as the hub has been dubbed, there'll be more than 200 options to engage in the fest between Monday, October 13–Sunday, October 19. This part of the lineup runs every day, but will feature extended hours from Thursday–Sunday. Weekday lunch breaks are a particular focus, spanning programming from 12–1.30pm Monday–Friday, as are happy-hour sessions from 4.30pm Tuesday–Friday. So, SXSW Sydney clearly wants the city to join in whenever suits everyone's daily schedules — and via everything from guest appearances to surprise hosts, too. Highlights include the return of FOMA: Fabrics of Modern Australia on the runway; gigs by Indonesian hip hop stars Tenxi, Filipino folk-pop singer Angela Ken, J-Pop boy band Psychic Fever and Chinese Tencent singer Tia Ray; and Blak to the Future: A Celebration of First Nations Creatives' celebration of Indigenous filmmaking. Or, hit up twilight gigs in the Seymour Centre courtyard, get line-dancing lessons and see a range of country talent — Max Jackson, The Washboard Union, Lewis Love and Big Wheels — at Tumbalong Honky Tonk, and explore the Australian Space Agency's space-themed hub. There's also Small Fry Rock for families, with Grinspoon's Phil Jamieson and Little Birdy's Katy Steele taking to the stage. The Rubens are set to celebrate ten years of 'Hoops', while K-pop is also getting a moment. On the Saturday, if you fancy attending the Games Showcase and Innovation Expo without bothering your wallet, that's also on the agenda. "SXSW Sydney Unlocked represents the very heart of what SXSW Sydney is all about: access, discovery and connection. We're incredibly proud to offer a dynamic, free program that invites everyone, from families and students to workers on their lunch break, to experience the energy and ideas that define this global event," said SXSW Sydney Co-Managing Director Simon Cahill. "Whether you're watching a runway show, getting hands-on with future tech at our expo, or dancing with your kids in the park, this is a celebration of ideas and imagination, and everyone's invited." SXSW Sydney 2025 will run from Monday, October 13–Sunday, October 19 at various Sydney venues, including Tumbalong Park. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details. Images: Jess Gleeson, Paul McMillan and Ben Gibson.
Frozen has done it. Beauty and the Beast and Shrek, too. The Lion King is set to again in 2026. We're talking about animated movies making the leap from the screen to the stage Down Under, as another childhood favourite will before 2025 is out. With Anastasia, Russian history first inspired a 90s hit, which then became a Broadway stage production since 2017. When the musical treads the boards in Melbourne from December, it'll mark the show's Australian debut. The Victorian capital's Regent Theatre will host Anastasia's Aussie premiere, but it isn't the only venue — or city — that'll welcome the production. So far, John Frost for Crossroads Live and Opera Australia have also locked in seasons in Perth and Sydney, the former from March 2026 at Crown Theatre and the latter from April 2026 at the Lyric Theatre. At each stop, the Tony-nominated musical will unveil an all-ages-friendly tale inspired by Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov during the Russian Revolution, as the 1997 movie also charted. Accordingly, accompanied by songs such as 'Journey to the Past' and 'Once Upon a December' — both from the big-screen release — theatregoers can get ready to spend time with a young woman named Anya on her journey to discover her past, and to unearth a story that some in the narrative don't want revealed. Audiences have writer Terrence McNally and songwriting team Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens to thank for Anastasia's existence as a stage musical — and between its Broadway run and its Aussie stint, Anastasia has also toured North America, and hit the stage in Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, Brazil, Mexico and Japan. "The legend of Anastasia has intrigued the world for many years and I've been wanting to bring this musical to Australia since it premiered on Broadway in 2017. It's a story full of mystery and romance with a magnificent score that I know Australia is going to fall in love with," said producer John Frost AM. "Opera Australia is thrilled to be once again partnering with John Frost to bring another world-class musical to Australian theatres. We expect the glorious music, spectacle and intrigue of Anastasia will captivate audiences around the country," added Opera Australia's Acting CEO Simon Militano. Anastasia Australian Dates From December 2025 — Regent Theatre, Melbourne From March 2026 — Crown Theatre, Perth From April 2026 — Lyric Theatre, Sydney Anastasia will premiere in Australia in Melbourne from December 2025, then head to Perth from March 2026, then Sydney from April 2026. Head to the musical's website for more details, and to join the waitlist for tickets. Images: Roy Beusker.
Each year, an Adelaide beach is taken over by the Nude Games — which is exactly what it sounds like. Maslin Beach was declared Australia's first nudist beach back in 1974, and now the locals embrace this history with a day full of naked fun, hosted by nearby nudist community Pilwarren. Expect three-legged, potato sack and baton races, frisbee and raw egg throwing, doughnut eating competitions and even best bum contests. Soft drinks, bottled water, a sausage sizzle and souvenir stubby holders will be available, with proceeds going back into running the games. While participants are required to come dressed in their birthday suits, spectators are also encouraged to come as nature intended. If heading out in public without a stitch of clothing on sounds like a nightmare, never fear — nakedness is not mandatory, and everyone is invited to enjoy the day at the beach however they feel comfortable.
It was back in 2000 that the Gold Coast gained its own Versace-branded hotel, letting cashed-up guests and plenty of celebrities enjoy a five-star stay surrounded by the fashion house's aesthetic. Beyoncé and Jay Z, Paris Hilton and The Rolling Stones have all stayed there. Everyone in Australia has heard of it. But the Palazzo Versace is no more — instead, it's now the Imperial Hotel. In April, it was announced that Versace wouldn't be renewing its agreement with the hotel, which has been put up for sale multiple times during its existence. Now, since Tuesday, August 1, the site has unveiled a new name, plus plans for a refurbishment. That star rating remains, as does the venue's exterior and famed antique entryway chandelier, plus its lobby furniture and bespoke tableware. But the Imperial Hotel's 200 rooms will get a makeover as part of the rebrand — still surrounding guests with luxury, of course. "The Imperial Hotel will retain the essence of Palazzo Versace's grand legacy, and will continue to offer the highest standard of luxury and impeccable service, to ensure an unforgettable stay for our guests", said Imperial Hotel General Manager Richard Clarke. "With the dawn of the Imperial Hotel, we are committed to exceeding expectations and redefining the boundaries of luxury hospitality. We are thrilled to welcome our first guests, and we extend our heartfelt appreciation for their support." Also changing: the menus at Imperial Hotel's restaurants. Exactly what signature eatery Vanitas, the seafood-focused Il Barocco and high tea-slinging spot Le Jardin will soon be serving is yet to be revealed. Obviously, the Pacific Ocean and Gold Coast Broadwater views aren't going anywhere, nor the option to stay in multi-bedroom condominiums including on the rooftop and with private plunge pools. And yes, as it has been for more than two decades under its past moniker, Imperial Hotel is still firmly a treat yo'self kind of getaway spot. Find Imperial Hotel at 94 Seaworld Drive, Main Beach on the Gold Coast — and head to the hotel's website for bookings and further details. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
