There are lots of ways you can throw your support behind native wildlife conservation, but there's no doubt which one is the tastiest. That would be the new Koala Choc Caramel ice cream the team at Paddle Pop has created in collaboration with wildlife rescue organisation WIRES. Hitting shelves today, Monday, September 7, the koala-shaped frozen treat marks the start of an ongoing partnership between the two groups, which aims to help raise awareness for koala conservation projects across the country. The themed ice cream features a blend of chocolate and caramel, made with all-Aussie dairy products. It's debuting at convenience and petrol stores from this week, scheduled to hit Coles and IGA stores later this month. If you're in NSW, you can pick one up from Sydney Zoo, which, throughout September and October, is also donating ten percent of all Koala Paddle Pop sales to WIRES. It's fitting timing for both the ice cream launch and the announcement of the new joint venture, as Australia today celebrates National Threatened Species Day. Paddle Pop's two-year partnership with WIRES also launches at an important time, with a report released by the NSW government estimating that 5000 koalas — a third of the state's population — were wiped up by last summer's devastating bushfires. The Streets ice cream brand will help support three of WIRES' key initiatives, including the Water Drinkers Project — which aims to install 800 animal water drinkers in drought- and bushfire-impacted areas — and the Koala Rehabilitation Facilities program, planning new facilities to help a variety of native species. It'll also support the Koala Health Hub at the University of Sydney, backing its research, management and education efforts. Find the new Koala Choc Caramel Paddle Pop at convenience and petrol stores, as well as at Sydney Zoo, from September 7. It'll hit shelves at your local Coles and IGA stores later this month.
Grab a dose of the world's best short films when the 25th Flickerfest International Short Film Festival comes to Brisbane on its national tour. Kicking off Thursday, February 11 at the Judith Wright Centre, Flickerfest will see three jam-packed nights of shorts, including great local Brissie content, inspiring Australian shorts and four short films that have been nominated for an Oscar this year — Ave Maria, Shok, Stutterer and Alles Wird Gut (Everything Will Be Okay). Flickerfest is the only competitive short film festival in Australia to be both Academy®Accredited and BAFTA-recognised, so expect these films to be top tier. Opening night on February 11 will see the 'Best of Australian Shorts' session, which includes The Meek, the story of a very small person trying to quit a very big bad habit, written and directed by Queensland-based Joseph Brumm and produced by Laura DiMaio, narrated by Myf Warhurst and scored by The Cat Empire’s Ollie Mcgill. Join opening night and you'll nab tickets to the post-screening afterparty. Friday and Saturday night, we'll heads overseas for the 'International' programs including four short films up for Academy awards. A not-to-be-missed highlight of Friday, February 12 is Balcony, winner of the Flickerfest Award for Best International Short Film, a powerful story set in a neighbourhood rife with racial tension. Then, on Saturday, February 12, it's the second 'International' program, with Alles Wird Gut (Everything Will Be Okay) which received a special mention from the Flickerfest jury for Best International Short Film, and sweet UK romantic comedy Stutterer — both nominated for Academy awards. Head to the Flickerfest website for more info on the program.
It's not every music festival that feels like a country weekend fete — and it's definitely not every music festival that feels like a country fete while being headlined by Rodriguez. But, hey, that's exactly what Fairgrounds 2016 promises to be. After a stellar debut last year — with Father John Misty headlining, no less — the boutique camping festival in the small NSW town of Berry is coming back this December. And the lineup has two big thumbs up from us. Taking over the local Berry Showgrounds on December 2 and 3, the two-day festival is making a triumphant return — much to the delight of everyone who went last year (including us). In a huge coup for the small festival in its second year, they've secured the legendary Rodriguez to headline on the Friday night. It's something of a self-fulfilling prophecy as the film in which Rodriguez is the subject, Searching for Sugar Man, was screened at the festival last year. Like last year, they've also nabbed some talent from Victoria's Meredith Music Festival, which will take place the weekend following Fairgrounds. In great news for NSW-bound music lovers, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Jagwar Ma, Angel Olsen and Japandroids will all be doing back-to-back festival weekends. There's a notable Aussie music presence (go team), with old hats The Drones and the ever-talented Sarah Blasko both playing the festival, along with Big Scary, who should be releasing their new album any day now. With a strong focus on the local NSW South Coast area, Fairgrounds isn't just about the tunes. Last year local nosh, market stalls and the local swimming pool played equally starring roles at this multifaceted festival — something we're sure made Berry residents pretty happy. Between watching films at the openair cinema, sack races, bouts of tug-of-war and dips in Berry's local pool (within the festival grounds and equipped with hectic DJ sets), punters feasted on local delights, from South Coast candy from Berry's own Treat Factory, and fresh rock oysters from An Australian Affair, harvested less than half an hour from the festival site. Plus pies, pies, pies, pies, pies. Straight-up, it warmed our jaded little hearts to see a smaller scale festival like Fairgrounds supporting local nosh, something still spearheaded by the likes of local loving' bigwigs like Bluesfest and Splendour. We can't wait to do it all again this year. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, Friday, August 19 at 9am. But we know what you're here for. Here's the full lineup. FAIRGROUNDS FESTIVAL 2016 LINEUP Rodriguez King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Angel Olsen Big Scary Jagwar Ma Japandroids Julia Jacklin Julien Baker Sarah Blasko Sheer Mag Son Little The Drones The Tallest Man on Earth Fairgrounds Festival will return to Berry on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 December, 2016. Onsite camping will once again be available from Friday. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, Friday, August 19 at 9am at fairgrounds.com.au. By Shannon Connellan and Lauren Vadnjal. Image: Andy Fraser.
If ever your heart could be hugged by a live show, Tiny Ruins will leave yours well and truly cuddled. Following the release of their enchanting folk release Brightly Painted One, the native New Zealanders will head to Australia to crank out their softly spoken repertoire in a national tour. As well as giving their newest album a big ol' run around, Tiny Ruins will revisit tunes from their 2010 release Some Were Meant for Sea as well as their 2013 EP Haunts. Expanding her solo flight into a touring trio, Tiny Ruins' Hollie Fullbrook now hangs with bassist Cass Basil and drummer Alexander Freer as a trio. The threesome haven't had a holiday for quite some time, touring for the past few years through Australia, Europe and the US in highly coveted support slots for Fleet Foxes, Beach House, Joanna Newsom and Father John Misty to name a few. But now's no time for Tiny vacationing, with a national tour ready to kick off this July. The NZ folksters have plenty of Aussie radio feature albums, festival slots and critical accolades under their belts and have been gaining traction over the past few years with folk lovers worldwide. But Tiny Ruins are no stage hogs, inviting their buds Shining Bird and Aldous Harding along for the ride this time. Sydney favourites Shining Bird have spent the last year gaining high fives Australia-wide after the release of their debut album Leisure Coast gained the crew some serious festival appearances. Shining Bird aren't dudes to waste a touring opp, combining their support spot with their brand new 7" single. Aldous Harding is one of those Kiwi musical talents we'll casually be calling our own in a few years. You may not have heard much from her yet, but this Christchurch folk queen is just about to drop her debut album and counts this support slot on her first tour of Australia. Be sure to check her out — by all accounts, she's killin' it across the Tasman. Her self-titled debut so far has just the one single, 'Hunter', with the rest to be released on July 25. These shows are sure to be a very chilled affair — perfect for red wine, big jumpers and melodious swaying. Words by Shannon Connellan and Meg Watson. https://youtube.com/watch?v=jnqc4falhGk
UPDATE, December 14, 2020: Marriage Story is available to stream via Netflix. Talk about a bait-and-switch. Marriage Story opens with Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) and Charlie (Adam Driver) penning tender, generous prose about each other, explaining why they fell in love and built a life together. As they speak, writer/director Noah Baumbauch pairs their praise with glimpses of the New York-based couple's romantic highlights. But these aren't love letters. Rather, as viewers disconcertingly discover, they're part of a pre-divorce therapy exercise. And while Marriage Story does indeed tell the tale of the pair's marriage, this devastatingly astute and empathetic drama does so within a portrait of their relationship's dying days and its rocky aftermath, particularly focusing on the custody battle over their young son Henry (Azhy Robertson). 'Talk' is a keyword here. It's not by accident that Baumbach starts his 12th film with two hearty, revelatory monologues — the first of many. Chatter has often played a large part in the acclaimed filmmaker's movies, with his characters exposing their woes and shortcomings with a sea of words — and his actors, including the astonishing Johansson and Driver here, benefit from meaty, multifaceted roles as a result. Greenberg's titular grump, Frances Ha's buoyant but directionless twenty-something and The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)'s feuding family members all fit the above description. Everyone in While We're Young and Mistress America, too. In his ever-perceptive way, Baumbach hones in on figures whose lives are a shambles, then watches as they natter their way forward — revealing their fragile core while revelling in the minutiae of their existence. Nicole moves back to Los Angeles and tells her new lawyer (Laura Dern) about frustrations she hasn't dared voice in years: about being a rising Hollywood commodity who married an experimental theatre wunderkind, putting her wants and needs on hold, and feeling like Charlie was always directing their lives. And, as she does so, we don't just hear her story — we also learn about who she is, what she holds dear and where her path might lead, all while we listen and watch. When Charlie tries to juggle making the leap to Broadway for the first time and jetting back-and-forth to LA to see Henry, we go through the same process with him as gets annoyed with Nicole's decisions, pinballs around town, yet hardly makes the most of his time with his son. Marriage Story overflows with these kinds of scenes. The movie's duelling monologues basically continue from the outset, even when Nicole and Charlie are talking to others, or singing (which they both do) — and even when they're not saying a word. Taking the audience through these moments, and through the couple's clearly tumultuous times, Johansson and Driver are exceptional. It's through their achingly realistic work, and their way with Baumbach's witty and incisive script (and, yes, its words) that Marriage Story comes alive. Between this, his excellent performance in The Report, and standout turns in The Dead Don't Die and The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Driver is having a fantastic year (and Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker isn't even out yet). Meanwhile, demonstrating that she's acting's successor to the great Annette Bening, Johansson makes her biggest on-screen impact since the trio of Lucy, Her and Under the Skin. The two aren't just impressive — they make you feel Nicole and Charlie's ups and downs and, especially, the raw uncertainty about their new futures. And, they'll likely earn a string of well-deserved nominations and awards for their efforts, as should Dern as one of the uncompromising figures caught in the middle. (Ray Liotta and Alan Alda are also memorable as the legal eagles in Charlie's corner.) These are all sharp, layered performances that fill a big screen — perhaps a contentious point given that Marriage Story was funded by Netflix, and plays in cinemas before hitting the streaming platform in a few weeks. It might seem counterintuitive, but Baumbach's intimate, dialogue-heavy films and their accompanying portrayals soak up the light and room that a larger canvas provides, as if the director is putting his scenarios and characters under a magnifying glass. (He is, of course; that's what movies do.) His naturalistic imagery, lensed here by the visually talented Robbie Ryan (I, Daniel Blake, American Honey, The Favourite), also relishes the heftier format, laying bare the everyday interiors that fill the feature's frames, as well as the space that frequently blankets its protagonists. Indeed, in the movie's biggest confrontation, to watch Driver and Johansson go head-to-head against the beige walls of the west coast apartment Charlie doesn't even want to be renting is to witness the heart and soul of Marriage Story. Two people, ordinary surroundings, relatable circumstances, a whole lot of talk and a mess of whirling emotions — that's this shattering but phenomenal drama in a nutshell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHi-a1n8t7M
Whenever a beloved sitcom comes to an end — as Brooklyn Nine-Nine will when it finishes up this year — it leaves a hole in your viewing schedule, and in your TV-loving heart. You can keep binging your favourites all over again, of course, and as many times as you like. But, although one-off specials, starry reunions and movie spinoffs keep happening more and more, you'll always be sad that you can't just look forward to a big batch of new episodes. The one silver lining: when the likes of Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock finished up their runs, the creatives behind them stayed in the sitcom game. Indeed, that's why B99 exists, and how The Good Place and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt came to our screens, too. And, over the past month or so, new shows from the key folks behind all of these series have just reached Stan. When it comes to Girls5eva, a word of warning: the hit song that brought titular fictional late 90s/early 00s girl group to fame is such an earworm, you'll be singing it to yourself for weeks after you binge through the sitcom that bears their name. That's to be expected given that Jeff Richmond, the composer behind 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's equally catchy and comedic tunes, is one of the talents behind it. Tina Fey and Robert Carlock produce the series, too, so you what type of humour you're in for. Starring Sara Bareilles (Broadway's Waitress), Busy Philipps (I Feel Pretty), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton) and the great Paula Pell (AP Bio), Girls5eva follows four of the band's members two decades after their heyday. Their initial success didn't last, and life has left the now-fortysomething women at different junctures. Then a rapper samples their hit, they're asked to reunite for a one-night backing spot on The Tonight Show — and they then contemplate getting back together to give music another shot. As well as being exceptionally well-cast and immensely funny, the series is also bitingly perceptive about stardom, the entertainment industry and the way that women beyond their twenties are treated. Also, when Fey inevitably pops up, she does so as a dream version of Dolly Parton — and it's as glorious as it sounds. Check out the Girls5eva trailer below: Also now streaming its first season in full on Stan: Rutherford Falls. Michael Schur co-wrote and produced The Office, then did the same on Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, both of which he co-created as well. And, he gave the world The Good Place — which makes him one of the best in the business when it comes to kind-hearted, smart and savvy small-screen laughs. His new show continues the streak. Co-created with star Ed Helms and showrunner Sierra Teller Ornelas (Superstore), it boasts his usual charm and intelligence, too. And, as with every program he's had a hand in, it also boasts a top-notch lineup of on-screen talent. Plus, Rutherford Falls is immensely easy to binge in just one sitting, because each one of its ten first-season episodes leave you wanting more. The setup: in the place that gives the sitcom its name, Nathan Rutherford (Helms, Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun) runs the local history museum. One of his descendants founded the town, and he couldn't be more proud of that fact. He's also very protective of the towering statue of said ancestor, even though it sits in the middle of a road and causes accidents. So, when the mayor (Dana L.Wilson, Perry Mason) decides to move the traffic hazard, Nathan and his overzealous intern Bobbie (Jesse Leigh, Heathers) spring into action. Nathan's best friend Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding, Blast) helps; however, the Minishonka Nation woman begins to realise just how her pal's family have shaped the fate of her Native American community. Also featuring a scene-stealing Michael Greyeyes (I Know This Much Is True) as the enterprising head of the Minishonka Nation casino, Rutherford Falls pairs witty laughs with warmth and sincerity, especially when it comes to exploring the treatment of First Nations peoples in America today. Check out the Rutherford Falls trailer below: The first seasons of Girls5eva and Rutherford Falls are available to stream via Stan.
As Fleabag knew, and also Sherlock as well, Andrew Scott has the type of empathetic face that makes people want to keep talking to him. Playing the hot priest in Phoebe Waller-Bridge's (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) acclaimed comedy, he was the ultimate listener. Even as the Moriarty to Benedict Cumberbatch's (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar) Holmes, and with a game always afoot, conversation flowed. All of Us Strangers puts this innate air — this sensation that to be in Scott's company is to want to unburden yourself to his welcoming ears — at its tender and feverishly beating heart, this time with Paul Mescal (Foe) as one of his discussion partners. Dreamy and contemplative, haunting and heartfelt, and also delicate and devastating, the fifth film by Weekend and 45 Years writer/director Andrew Haigh, which is his first since 2017's Lean on Pete, is stunningly cast with Scott in seeing-is-feeling mode as its isolated screenwriter protagonist alone. That Scott is joined by Mescal, Claire Foy (Women Talking) and Jamie Bell (Shining Girls) gives All of Us Strangers one of the finest four-hander casts in recent memory. Awards bodies clearly agree, with nods going around for everyone (alongside wins for Best Film and Best Director, the British Independent Film Awards gave all four of the feature's core cast members nominations, with Mescal scoring the Best Supporting Performance trophy, for instance). Haigh isn't merely preternaturally talented at picking the exact right actors to play his on-screen figures, but it's one of his most-crucial skills, as every performance in his latest shattering picture demonstrates. It comes as no surprise that Scott, Mescal, Foy and Bell are all excellent. It's similarly hardly unexpected that Haigh has made another movie that cuts so emotionally deep that viewers will feel as if they've been within its frames. Combine these stars with this filmmaker, though, and a feature that was always likely to combine its exceptional parts into a perfect sum is somehow even more affecting and astonishing. That been-there vibe, like everyone watching has been Scott's Adam or Mescal's Harry — or Foy and Bell as the former's mum and dad — contributes to an ethereal atmosphere: anyone who has ever wondered where their memories and dreams end and reality commences, as we all do daily in an emotional sense, understands. So it is that Adam is caught between the past, the present and perhaps the future as he works on a new project, which gets him peering back at his childhood. Like sleepwalking, he's pulled to his 80s-era home where he discovers the parents that he lost just before he was 12 awaiting. They look the same as they did the last time that he saw them, but he's definitely an adult. What does a fortysomething queer man who grew up in the period, never had the chance to tell his mother and father who he was, and has a lifetime's worth of truths to share and grief to process, say and do when he gets a fantastical opportunity? That's one of All of Us Strangers' strands. Amid Adam's dancing with his nostalgia, this adaptation of Taichi Yamada's novel Strangers also flits from his family to his romantic relationships. He experiences almost everyone's biggest wish when Mescal's Harry comes knocking on his door with a bottle of whisky in hand in the apartment block that they both dwell in. They're the London building's only two residents, in fact. One lonely spirit recognises another and, after an initial rejection on Adam's side — he's that accustomed to being on his own — passion springs. In his flat and in ketamine-induced reveries at clubs, Adam and Harry see possibilities and find solace. They have deep-and-meaningful "this is why I am why I am" chats. They sink into their new idyll, as All of Us Strangers' audience does into the poignant flick. Despite what the movie's title proclaims about humanity even within its closest bonds, they try intensely and sincerely not to be outsiders to each other. With the Pet Shop Boys' version of 'Always on My Mind' and Frankie Goes to Hollywood's 'The Power of Love' on the soundtrack also aiding in setting a swooning mood, this is an intimate tale that innately and sensitively appreciates being consumed by the events, traumas and absences that've shaped you — and just as intuitively and compassionately recognises not just the perspective-altering delights but also the comforts of falling for someone. But Haigh doesn't stop there. Making a ghost story, a love story and a queer portrait in one, his film is characteristically layered. It also feels like the continuation of dialogues started in his past work, capturing what it means to be a gay man as per Weekend, to navigate life coloured by tragedy as in 45 Years and to yearn for a guiding hand as Lean on Pete did. Shooting scenes in the house that Haigh himself grew up in also helps build a movie that immaculately matches its aesthetics with its emotions. The decades-gone-by cosiness of Adam's time with his mum and dad is pivotal as All of Us Strangers conveys a certainty applicable to all parents and children: no matter how old the latter get, we all become kids again around the people who brought us into this world, frozen in time in our heads and hearts while weathering the passing years externally. As well as making ample and telling use of reflections and windows, Living cinematographer Jamie Ramsay heroes cooler tones whenever Adam is alone, but warmer hues when he has company. That touch ensures that embracing the fact that existing means co-existing with our histories like we're glimpsing reminders everywhere, as the feature does, observes the joys along with the sorrows and struggles. Penned in 1987 and translated into English in 2003, Yamada's Strangers has earned the cinematic treatment before courtesy of 1988 horror film The Discarnates by the late, great Nobuhiko Obayashi (who gave the world one of Japan's all-time entries in the genre with 1977's House). There's never any question that All of Us Strangers is Haigh's movie, however — or that his iteration is a wonder that reckons with heartbreak and hope in tandem. That's the power of the British filmmaker's output, including TV's Looking and The North Water. Whichever screen he's crafting stories for, the end results always linger on the mind. Scott's staggering — and subtle, and anchoring — portrayal is one of the latest pieces of proof. Mescal's unforgettably naturalistic supporting turn, plus the chemistry between the pair, provide others. No one leaves All of Us Strangers as an alien to its lived-in emotions, either — or, as Haigh so perceptively knows, goes into it that way to begin with.
When Robert De Niro asked his reflection who it was talking to, Joe Pesci questioned whether he was funny, and Leonardo DiCaprio crawled along the ground under the influence of Quaaludes, one man was responsible. Over a career spanning almost six decades, Martin Scorsese has brought tales of taxi drivers, goodfellas and wolf-like stockbrokers to the screen — and now an exhibition dedicated to his work is coming to Australia. From May 26 to September 18, the Melbourne's Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) will pay tribute to one of America's most iconic directors, exploring everything from his early experimental beginnings to the award-winning films that have shaped many a movie buff. If you're already a fan, you'll be in Scorsese heaven. If you've somehow resisted the charms of (or completely missed) the likes of Raging Bull, The Departed and Hugo — or his concert flicks such as The Last Waltz and Shine a Light, or even Boardwalk Empire and Vinyl on TV — then prepare to have your eyes opened. [caption id="attachment_561113" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Exhibition section "New York". Photo: Deutsche Kinemathek / M. Stefanowski, 2013.[/caption] In its only Australian stop after wowing Berlin, Ghent, Turin and Paris, SCORSESE will present a collection of more than 600 objects spanning the filmmaker's entire cinema resume, as curated by the Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin's Museum of Film and Television. Expect storyboards, hand-annotated film scripts, unpublished production stills, costumes, film clips and more, all drawn from the private collections of De Niro, Taxi Driver writer Paul Schrader, and Scorsese himself. No ACMI exhibition would be complete without a bustling lineup of screenings, talks and other events, so expect plenty of those as well. The complete program is yet to be announced, but we'd advise blocking out a few days to delve into the influence and impact of the guy who hasn't only mastered movies, but directed the music video for Michael Jackson's 'Bad' too. SCORSESE will run from May 26 to September 18 at ACMI in Melbourne. For more information, visit the ACMI website. Top image: Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro, Paul Sorvino, Martin Scorsese, Joe Pesci in GOODFELLAS, USA (1990). Source: Sikelia Productions, New York.
Maybe you're after an excuse to swap Brisbane for somewhere so scenic that the word is literally part of its name, just for a few hours, and while eating and drinking. Perhaps you're keen to hit up a weekend-long harvest festival, taste your way through a patch of southeast Queensland or getting sipping at mountainside distilleries. Or, you could be eager to spend a day celebrating carrots, including enjoying carrot ice cream. The event that covers all of the above: Scenic Rim Eat Local Month. For everyone who has ever been to a festival, soaked in everything it has to offer but wished it went for longer, the Scenic Rim's annual celebration of the region's food and drink demonstrated how firmly it understands that feeling back in 2023. Before then, the region hosted Eat Local Week as a massive incentive to wander around the southeast Queensland area. But the jam-packed event was always overflowing with things to fit in, so it made a big move, expanding to become Eat Local Month last year. There's no going back from that change in 2024, as the just-dropped second-ever month-long program makes clear. When it returns from Saturday, June 1–Sunday, June 30 to a region that was named one of the best places to visit in the world in 2022, Scenic Rim Eat Local Month will feature 120 food and drink events across its 30 days, in what marks the fest's 13th year overall (including its OG week-long format). More than 7500 people are expected to attend. Big culinary names get behind this treat for your tastebuds and wanderlust alike, with the festival enlisting ambassador chefs. On 2024's list for starters: Alison Alexander, Ash Martin (Eden Health Retreat), Brenda Fawdon (Picnic Real Food Bar), Cameron Matthews (Mapleton Public House), Caroline Jones (Three Girls Skipping), Daniel Groneberg (The Roadvale Hotel) and Glen Barratt (Wild Canary). They're joined by Javier Codina (Moda Brasa Bar), Josh Lopez (Lopez at Home), Kate Raymont, Richard Ousby (Tama and Ousby Food), Jack Stuart (Blume Restaurant) and Simon Furley (Embers Wood Fire), too. Elliot Platz (Kooroomba Restaurant) and Olivier Boudon (Roastbeef and the Frog) are showing 2024's Scenic Rim Eat Local Month some love as well. The program itself features 40 long lunches, degustations and dinners; 53 opportunities to meet local producers; 37 tours and related experiences; 23 workshops and classes; and over 50 parts of the lineup that are family-friendly. The full rundown will also get you hopping from Beaudesert, Kerry and Mount Alford to Beechmont, Kalbar and Tamborine Mountain. While the winter harvest festival isn't new, unleashing it in Kalbar and running it over an entire weekend is. It'll close out 2024's Scenic Rim Eat Local Month, complete with a harvest dinner on the Friday night, country music on the Saturday and farmers slinging their wares on the Sunday. Among the other highlights, Tamborine Mountain's growers get their own market day, a high tea is happening in the fields at Beechmont Estate, and the Fermented Food Festival will return for its second pickle- and sourdough-filled year. Or, you can dine in lavender fields, pick your own produce and edible flowers, blend spirits, make your own liqueurs and cheese, enjoy a game of lawn bowls, take a native foods tasting tour and tuck into a campfire lunch. At Mount French Lodge, the Long Lunch on the Lawn will pop up. The Roadvale Hotel is putting on a six-course degustation, Tommerup's Dairy Farm is celebrating 150 years in the business and Beaudesert itself is also notching up that anniversary. And for carrot fiends, because you'll be in a place where 600 million of the orange vegetables are grown each year, the Kalfresh Carrot Day is back — as is that aforementioned carrot ice cream for the month. [caption id="attachment_883177" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] Scenic Rim Eat Local Month 2024 runs from Saturday, June 1–Sunday, June 30 at various locations in the Scenic Rim. Head to the festival's website for more information and tickets.
One great thing about street art and public art is the way they make you see your surroundings in a different way, and draw your attention to spaces you might not have noticed otherwise. French artist Julien Coquentin has captured this in Please Draw Me a Wall, a photo series that playfully blends fantasy with reality. The photos include things like a man with a fishing rod in front of a wall of painted fish, or a little girl in a red coat staring at what appears to be a wolf. Coquentin hasn't revealed the location of the images, but Paris would probably be the most likely — the city is known for its vibrant street art scene and Coquentin is currently living in France. See more of Coquentin's images on his website or on his Behance page. Via Flavorwire
It's that time of year again — Brisbane Powerhouse is about to play host to the annual, globally-touring World Press Photo exhibition. From June 30 to July 23, their exhibition space will display over 150 images painstakingly selected from 80,408 submissions by 5034 press photographers, photojournalists and documentary photographers from 126 countries to World Press Photo. That's a lot of photos. See what took out first prize in the contest's 60th year across categories including nature, sport, daily life and contemporary issues. Of course, the winner will be on display too — Burhan Ozbilici's chilling An Assassination in Turkey, which captured Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş mere moments after shooting the Russian ambassador to Turkey in an Ankara art gallery. Lighter fare includes a photo by Tomas Munita of The New York Times titled Cuba on the Edge of Change, which won first prize in the Daily Life: Stories category. The image depicts a barber shop — barber shop photography is quite the trend this month — in Cuba's Old Havana, taken shortly after the death of Fidel Castro.
Paula Scher has been painting maps since the 1990s. Using vibrant colours and stunning detail, some of these paintings have grown to stand at over 12 feet tall. 39 of her works of art have now been collected in her new book, aptly titled MAPS. The paintings actually house a remarkable amount of substantial information. In one painting, named 'International Air Routes', she has included flight paths and names of different airlines, while 'World Trade' has international currencies and trade routes. All of this information is crammed into an array of colours and geographical lines, which really have to be seen to be believed. Importantly, her book features close-up shots so the reader can truly appreciate every intricacy. Scher says "I began painting maps to invent my own complicated narrative about the way I see and feel about the world. I wanted to list what I know about the world from memory, from impressions, from media, and from general information overload. These are paintings of distortions.” In her book you will find maps of everywhere from China to New York City. Not only visually stimulating, Scher's pieces offer an individual distortion of the world and strong commentary about our society and often chaotic lifestyles. [via Cool Hunting]
From the team behind the massively successful production of Hairspray comes the classical Broadway musical, Bye Bye Birdy. Bye Bye Birdy is the 1960s rock 'n' roll inspired parody of what happens to a typical, small Midwestern community when a musician more than a little like Elvis Presley comes rolling through town looking for one last kiss before being shipped off into the army. Women love him, men want to be him and teenage girls across the country scream his name until they’re blue in the face at the mere mention of his name. Rock Star Conrad Birdie is the biggest thing to top the charts - until he gets drafted into the US military. Conrad’s long suffering agent, Albert, panics as he sees his cash cow packed off to very different pastures new, and plans one last big stunt for the rock’n’roll sex symbol.
Delayed and recut in the wake of the Aurora theatre shooting on July 20th, Ruben Fleischer’s much anticipated, star-studded crime flick Gangster Squad finally hits the big screen. In a post-war Los Angeles, prolific gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) has become the most feared and respected figure in a shady and violent criminal underworld. Determined to halt his relentless rise to power, police chief Bill Parker (Nick Nolte) and his wife, Connie (Mireille Enos) recruit a team of crack detectives to take him down. Calling themselves the Gangster Squad, Parker, Sergeant Wooker (Ryan Gosling) and detectives Harris (Anthony Mackie), Keeler (Giovanni Ribisis), Ramirez (Michael Pena) and Kennard (Robert Patrick) vow to stop Mickey Cohen, or die trying. With filming wrapped in December 2011 the release of Gangster Squad has been a long time coming, and the controversy surrounding its trailer’s similarities to the tragic events in Colorado have only added to its anticipation. One to watch.
"Eventually, I've come to realise that there are bad guys," says Julia Louis-Dreyfus (You Hurt My Feelings) as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in the just-dropped teaser trailer for Thunderbolts*. "And there are worse guys," she continues, "and nothing else". So goes the setup for one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's next big-screen releases — and it plays with a familiar template. Banding together a disparate group of characters is MCU 101. Teaming up antiheroes to take on worse folks as mandated by the government is also how Suicide Squad and The Suicide Squad from DC have played out. The Thunderbolts* version hits cinemas in May 2025 Down Under, also starring Florence Pugh (Dune: Part Two), David Harbour (Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story), Sebastian Stan (Dumb Money), Wyatt Russell (Night Swim), Olga Kurylenko (Paradox Effect) and Hannah John-Kamen (Breaking Point) in their Marvel returns. Pugh is back as Yelena Belova after Black Widow and Hawkeye, while Harbour again plays Red Guardian, Stan returns as Bucky Barnes and his The Falcon and the Winter Soldier co-star Russell is back as John Walker. Kurylenko played Taskmaster in Black Widow, too, while John-Kamen's Ghost was part of Ant-Man and the Wasp. This is a flick with a bit of homework, then, if you're keen to know the ins and outs of every character before they get thrust together in Thunderbolts*'s storyline, becoming a band of misfits and going on missions. The film marks the 36th in the MCU, and will follow fellow 2025 release Captain America: Brave New World into picture palaces. Behind the lens on Thunderbolts*: director Jake Schreier, who has helmed episodes of Beef, Minx, the Russell-starring Lodge 49 and more, plus films Paper Towns and Robot & Frank. Marvel has had a light year on the silver screen in 2024, with just Deadpool & Wolverine releasing. That definitely won't be the case in 2025, however, with not only Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* slated to drop, but also The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Check out the first teaser trailer for Thunderbolts* below: Thunderbolts* releases in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, May 1, 2025. Images: courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 MARVEL.
This article is sponsored by our partners, Rekorderlig. Sweden has a lot going on for a small country shrouded in darkness and snow for most of the year. Take a look around at the headliners of music festivals, at the clothes you’re wearing and the cider you’re drinking. You may have more in common with the sauna-loving nation than you’d think. Here are ten elements that define Swedish cool, compiled by Laura Phillips, editor of Mr Wolf Magazine, the journal of Nordic style. Raised in Melbourne, she was lured to the north with a promise of attractive men and affordable smoked salmon. Kanken backpacks Launched in 1978 in response to Swedish school children experiencing back problems, the Kånken is as minimal in design as you get. It’s everything a backpack should be — nothing more, nothing less. The weight of the pack is distributed evenly, its handles make it easy to hold as a handbag, its one front pocket and single internal compartment allow you to organise your keys and your notebook respectively. The fabric, sourced from yacht sail manufacturers in Japan, shifts from crisp to soft and glossed over time, commonly remaining a faithful companion to a Swede for 40 or so years. Saunas If sweating naked in a room full of strangers before plunging into a pool of ice doesn’t sound like you, Sweden will change your mind. Surprisingly relaxing and without doubt refreshing, the sauna is the place to make friends and bond with your fellow Swede. Some saunas, such as the Bjärred Saltsjöbad in southern Sweden, add stunning waterside views and rooftop sun bathing platforms for your cleansing enjoyment. Weekday Denim Forget the US, Sweden is the irrefutable capital of denim. For Swedes, denim is a way of life. No school uniforms and a year-round cool climate has nurtured a national attachment to jeans. It’s no wonder that the leading denim brands are all Swedish owned: H&M, Nudie Jeans, ACNE, Dr. Denim, to name a few. Weekday, responsible for the Cheap Monday label, has designed a jean for everyday of the week, perfect for the daily life of a Swede. Rekorderlig Cider Rekorderlig has captivated the globe with its cult of cider. Its tag line, 'Beautifully Swedish', has converted even the most staunch beer drinker and wine connoisseur to join the cider bandwagon. Savouring the feeling of fresh air, the woods and the comfortable welfare state, Rekorderlig (pronounced re-core-deer-lig) is the ideal accomplice for your induction into the Swedish way of life. Little Dragon Sweden’s recent electro music success is enough to believe the likes of Lykke Li, Robyn, The Knife, Swedish House Mafia, Avicii, Adrian Lux and Rebecca & Fiona all hang out with each other, and swap industry tips over fika (see no.7). Groups such as Little Dragon, however, have developed an international following with records characterised by smoothly evocative lyrics. Their self-proclaimed ‘global sound’ is experimental and consistently enjoyable. Their latest album, Nubuma Rubberband, is absolutely worth a listen. Way Out West Festival Every August Sweden’s second biggest city, Gothenburg, plays host to Way Out West, a staple of the Scandinavian summer festival circuit. Swedes are lured outside by the warm weather to dance through the night, dress so well it hurts and keep ahead of the next international Swedish music sensation. Johan & Nystrom Specialty Coffee Concept Store, Stockholm How do Swedes function on winter days with two hours of sunshine? It’s all in the coffee. This is epitomised in the cultural establishment of fika (pronounced fee-ka). A Swede is known to fika multiple times in the day. It’s a ritual of sitting down with a coffee and a cinnamon bun to take a break and socialise with colleges, family and friends. The specialty coffee movement in Stockholm is elevating the quality of the standard cup in Sweden; Stockholm’s Johan & Nyström in particular offer patient education on the art of coffee. ACNE The only kind of acne you want all over you, the Swedish fashion retailer epitomises Swedish minimalism. From its block colours to its clean branding, ACNE sells the composed self-assurance at the essence of Swedish cool. ACNE makes no frills look good. With a legion of loyalists from New York to Melbourne willing to renounce all things obnoxious and studded in the name of Swedish design, it’s onto something. If in doubt, dress head to toe in black and paint your apartment white; you’ve got Swedish minimalism in the bag. Restaurant Tusen at Ramundberget Ski Resort If you could generalise contemporary Swedish architecture at all, an attachment to nature would be the common ingredient. To understand a Swede, you must appreciate a deep connection with the environment. Sweden’s seasons occupy both extremes. As well as the temperature, their year is dictated by serious variation in light, fluctuating between complete darkness in the north during winter and 24 hours on sunlight during the summer. The built environment hence must accommodate for the extremes and adjust for the inhabitants within. Using natural materials and neutral colours such as blond wood and white walls keeps interiors adaptive and simple, allowing the transition from outdoors in to be seamless. The Restauant Tusen at Ramundberget Ski Resport by Hans Murman Arkitekter is a magnificent example. Dads with prams A progressive approach to paternity leave is the cornerstone of Sweden’s culture of gender equality. The result: a lot of dads with prams. Strolling through Stockholm’s hipster haunt, Södermalm, the packs of fathers-with-child would drive the most cynical bachelor to jealousy. No wonder Sweden is in a baby boom. Top image by Rekorderlig ambassador Agnes Thor.
Mention Caxton Street to a Brisbanite and a few things automatically spring to mind: the football stadium, pubs and seafood, to be specific. No matter how you feel about sports or even booze, the roadway's regular ode to the ocean's finest is always worth a trip to Paddington — and yes, The Caxton Hotel Seafood Festival is back for 2024. This street party loves everything from fish and prawns to oysters and calamari — and tunes, brews and a good time all round as well. On the culinary side of things, expect seafood galore on the menu on Sunday, May 5, including from food trucks, plus all the drinks that the Caxton Hotel serves to wash it down with. Also on the agenda: live music across two stages. Across its beer garden and beyond, the aforementioned pub is driving the whole shindig, with the watering hole a fest staple since the event first launched more than a quarter-century ago. And, while you're sipping brews and cocktails with a soundtrack, and tucking into seafood platters, there will be sports on the big screen — it is The Caxton, after all. Entry is free, but you'll need your wallet for whatever you're eager to eat and drink.
Brisbane band Orphans Orphans are the platypus of the Brisbane music scene. They're made up of five talents from different local bands, and when you put them together, it's kind of weird and wacky, but on some strange level, it works. Composed of Sam Hales (The Jungle Giants), Lewis Stephenson (The Belligerents), Spencer White (Morning Harvey), Aidan Moore (Moses Gunn Collective) and Steve Kempnich (audio engineer and former touring member of Last Dinosaurs and Millions), Orphans Orphans have set themselves up to be the next big thing in Queensland music and they're proving it song by song. Their debut EP What's a Boy S'Posed to Do was released last September, and they've been playing shows across Brisbane as both supports and headliners since they got together. Now, to celebrate how good they've got it going on, Orphans Orphans will be playing at The Brightside on Friday, March 27. They'll be supported by The Family Jordan and local youngster The Missing.
When the Australian Government introduced an indefinite ban on all overseas travel in late March, Qantas and Jetstar suspended all scheduled international flights and temporarily stood down two-thirds of its staff. Today, Thursday, June 25, the airline has revealed that overseas flights will not takeoff again until at least July 2021. At a press conference this morning, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce announced 6000 job cuts across all parts of the business and the continued standing down of 15,000 employees until flights return — which, for international flights, won't be for a while. Referencing a report released earlier in the year by an airline industry expert, Joyce said that it is expected to take three years for international travel to return to 2019 levels. "We think international will take a long time," Joyce said. "There'll be nothing this next financial year, July next year we may start seeing some international services and that will only get us to 50 percent. The following year, only two-thirds of the pre-COVID international schedule." [caption id="attachment_773510" align="alignnone" width="1920"] A trip to Japan won't be on the cards until 2021[/caption] The likelihood of international travel not returning for Australians until at least 2021 isn't new, news, though. Earlier this month, Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said as much, telling the National Press Club, "international border restrictions are likely to be there for some time to come" — and that "keeping those border restrictions largely in place is a price we're going to have to pay to keep COVID under control". The good news is that, as has come up frequently over the past few months, implementing a 'travel bubble' with New Zealand — aka reinstating international travel just between the two countries before Australia's international border reopens to all nations worldwide — is still under consideration according to Birmingham. Whether Qantas and Jetstar will run flights across the ditch if a travel bubble is allowed before July 2021 is currently unknown. The airlines will, however, definitely still be running domestic flights — and expect domestic travel to be back to 100 percent of pre-COVID-19 levels by 2022. "We're very optimistic about domestic," Joyce said at the press conference. "The domestic market will get back to maybe 70 percent of pre-COVID levels in the next year and the following year to 100 percent." The airlines have started ramping up domestic flights again and even held a big sale, with one-way flights as cheap as $19, last week. https://twitter.com/Qantas/status/1268341083257233408 It's worth noting, of course, that many of Australia's state borders are still closed. Queensland is working towards reopening to visitors from other states on July 10, although that hasn't been officially confirmed as yet, while the Northern Territory announced it'll reopen on July 17 — and South Australia is slated to do the same on July 20. While Victoria, NSW and the ACT currently have open borders, numerous state health ministers — including NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard today — have encouraged their residents to avoid travel to Victoria, especially to Melbourne's COVID hotspots, as the state has seen a recent uptick in new cases, with 33 recorded in the last 24 hours. Qantas and Jetstar's 6000 job cuts are part of post-COVID-19 recovery plan for the airlines, which also includes the retiring of the remaining 747s six months early and the grounding of 100 aircraft for up to 12 months. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website.
Dating apps are getting more niche by the day, because, let's face it, Tinder isn't for everyone. There's a lot of people out there and meeting up with someone because you both like The Dodo on Facebook is not the most foolproof way to date. But the newest online dating tool to launch in Australia aims to connect people with one big thing in common: they're all vegans or vegetarians. V Love has been founded by entrepreneur and long-time vegan Amber Gouzy, who noticed her own circle struggling with online dating. So she decided to create a service that would be help them meet like-minded people. While the app is primarily for vegans and vegetarians, it's designed to bring together individuals with similar values and help them avoid dates with people who are completely closed off to the idea of vegetarianism. While the app does sound like it's only hitting a small market, data from Roy Morgan Research shows that over ten percent of Australians identify as vegetarian, which is even more evident in New South Wales, where there has been a 30 percent growth in vegetarians since 2012. Market Researcher Euromonitor International has also shown that Australia's packaged vegan food market is currently worth nearly $136 million and is set to reach $215 million by 2020, making the Australian market the third-fastest growing vegan market in the world. Though the food industry in Australia is clearly taking note of this stark increase and specifically responding to the increasing vegetarian population, V Love aims to fill the gap across other sectors. V Love is free to download but a $5.99 monthly subscription fee must be paid to access all features. As with most dating apps, users create a personalised profile, conduct a filtered search and use a 'swipe' method to connect with others. Matches are based on the V Love compatibility algorithm and connects users that live in the same area. Gouzy is planning for worldwide expansion for the app, with the goal of registering 800 downloads/subscriptions in Australia this month alone. V Love is currently available on the App Store and Google Play — it's free to download but has a monthly subscription fee of $5.99 per month. For more info, visit vlove.com.au.
If you eagerly drink your way through the taps at most craft beer bars, then a host of tell-tale signs await the next day: headaches, cold sweats, dehydration, a queasy stomach and a strong craving for greasy food, usually. That won't be the case at BrewDog's latest venture, however, with the Scottish brewery opening up the world's first alcohol-free craft beer joint. Called BrewDog AF — with the final two letters standing for "alcohol-free", rather than the other term that instantly popped into your head — the bar launches in London on Monday, January 6. Every one of its 15 taps will pour booze-free brews, focusing on draught craft beer sans alcohol. That includes both zero-percent and 0.5-percent tipples, with the latter also officially classed as alcohol-free. On the menu: BrewDog's 0.5-percent pale ale Nanny State, as well as the alcohol-free version of their flagship Punk IPA, Punk AF. It's also creating two new booze-free brews: a coffee stout called Wake Up Call, and Hazy AF, an alcohol-free version of its New England IPA, Hazy Jane. Alcohol-free spirits and cider will be available too, as will burgers, salads and buffalo wings — and if you're looking for something to do over your booze-free pint, get ready for karaoke and bingo, among other activities. While BrewDog has been busy opening bars and breweries around the globe over the past decade — launching its first Australian site in Brisbane late in 2019, in fact — BrewDog AF marks its first fully alcohol-free venue. It's not London's first booze-free bar, or the world's, but it is the first to focus on alcohol-free (and hangover-free) craft brews. To celebrate that fact, as well as the new range of booze-free beers, the brewery has also dubbed the entire month 'drink all you can Jan' — when it comes to alcohol-free beers, that is. Not only at BrewDog AF, but at all of BrewDog's bars and breweries worldwide, drinkers can score free refills of all alcohol-free beers throughout January. BrewDog AF and its increased non-alcoholic craft brew range forms part of the company's mission to whip up a craft beer for everyone, including folks who like their brews sans booze. As brewery founder James Watt explains, "drinkers opting for low or no alcohol are in danger of compromising on quality, taste and experience. And that's just the beer – forget about places in which to enjoy it. We are going to change that. We exist to be a point of difference, and our first BrewDog AF Bar is just that." Even if a trip to London isn't in your future, BrewDog's new venture is a welcome development for anyone who has tried to forgo alcohol during Dry July, doesn't drink booze but would still like to sink a few cold ones with their mates, or can't imbibe for a number of reasons — medication interactions, other health reasons or just by choice. With non-alcoholic spirits like Seedlip and Brunswick Aces gaining more attention, bars such BrewDog AF are the natural next step. Yes, you can get non-boozy beverages like juice and soft drinks anywhere, but it's not the same as knocking back booze-free beers in a spot that celebrates the drink but not the alcohol. Find the BrewDog AF Bar at the Mews Unit of the Bower Development at 211 Old Street, London, from Monday, January 6 — open 12pm–11pm Sunday–Thursday and 12pm–11.30pm Friday–Saturday. For booze-free beer lovers in Brisbane, BrewDog's first Aussie brewery — DogTap at Murarrie — is serving up unlimited refills of BrewDog alcohol-free beers until January 31.
In Dan Bradley’s Red Dawn, a surprising remake of the 1984 classic starring Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen, a city wakes to the alarming sight of foreign parachuting shocktroops dropping from the sky. The USA has been invaded by North Korea and Spokena, Washington, is their initial target. Determined to fight back rather than surrender, a group of young teenagers, including US Marine on leave, Jed (Chris Hemsworth) and his football player brother, Matt (Josh Peck), take refuge in nearby woodland; training and organizing themselves into a tactical, guerrilla group. Taking influence from their high school mascot they become the Wolverines, and hope to band together to take down their captors. Used to parties and nights in playing Call Of Duty, the teenagers must live the virtual lives they live from the comfort of their sofas, with real bullets, and enemies that fire back. Red Dawn is in cinemas now and also stars Josh Hutcherson from The Hunger Games and our own Isabel Lucas.
You don't need to tell Concrete Playground that Brisbane is indeed a concrete playground. When it comes to exploring this city of ours — showcasing everything that's on offer and celebrating all the different ways to make the most of all that Brissie boasts — that's our entire motto. For the next seven months, the Brisbane City Council's Outdoor Gallery agrees with us, too. We'd suggest that it concurs all year round, but it's only hosting an exhibition called Play/ground from Friday, September 9, 2022–Sunday, April 16, 2023. As always, this new splash of art is filling a heap of locations around the CBD with eye-catching work — as the Brisbane City Council's Outdoor Gallery has for years now. And yes, Play/ground is devoted to Brisbane as a concrete playground, with the participating artists providing pieces that tell visual stories about their relationship with the city; their routines as they move throughout it daily; and how they're pursuing a life that's grounded, joyful and playful. They're the ideas you'll ponder in spots as varied as King George Square Car Park, Ann Street and Fish Lane, with 11 Brisbane-connected artists are unveiling 37 pieces. You'll find their creations in light boxes, banners and outdoor display cases — and some are being projected across Howard Smith Wharves. The artist lineup spans Arkie the Label, Daniel Sherington, Emily Devers, Kelsey Doyle, Kirsten Baade and Loretta Lizzo, plus as Man&Wah, Maxim Chikanchi, MUCHOS and Yin Lu. As for where to else to visit, Edward Street plays host to some of the exhibition's works, and hitting up a laneway — including Eagle Lane, Irish Lane, Edison Lane, Giffin Lane and Hutton Lane — is recommended. Or, you can check out the Museum of Brisbane screen as well. There's also a launch party at Howard Smith Wharves from 5.30pm on Friday, September 16, with Devers DJing.
For the past decade, spy films have been Matthew Vaughn's caper, thanks to Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kingsman: The Golden Circle and The King's Man until now. With Argylle, he's still being playful with a genre that he clearly loves but isn't precious about, and he's also approaching espionage antics from another angle. 80s action-adventure comedy Romancing the Stone, which isn't about secret intelligence operatives, is one of this page-to-screen effort's blatant inspirations. Something that both do have at their centres: writers caught up in scenarios that would usually only happen on paper. 2022's The Lost City took the same route — but Argylle throws in a touch of North by Northwest, and also gets meta about its own origins. And no, Taylor Swift didn't write the source material. For his eighth feature, which hits 20 years after he made his directorial debut with the Daniel Craig (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery)-starring Layer Cake, Vaughn adapts the novel that gives Argylle its name; however, the specifics aren't quite that simple. The IRL title is only being published as the flick hits cinemas, starting a franchise on the shelf. That said, the film — which is similarly aiming to begin a series — jumps to a later as-yet-unreleased book. Those tomes are credited to Elly Conway, which is the name of the movie version of Argylle's protagonist. In the feature, Elly is also an author who has written a saga about spies. Back in reality, who she really is has sparked a frenzy, hence the theories that she could be one of the world's biggest pop stars amid a massive world tour and a huge concert film. Again, despite Swifties' dreams, that speculation needs to be shaken off. To recap, this is the spiel: Vaughn directs a picture from a book saga that's just reaching shelves, doesn't kick off with the initial tome and works in an iteration of its mystery author. Within the movie, Elly (Bryce Dallas Howard, Jurassic World Dominion) isn't an unknown but she is happiest out of the limelight, as turning down a date for an evening at home writing with her Scottish Fold cat Alfie illustrates early. Her in-film novels are already smashes, with just one problem. As she discovers after penning the draft of her fifth book just after readers get their hands on the fourth, and much to her surprise, her plots bear more than a little resemblance to reality. So informs actual agent Aidan Wilde (Sam Rockwell, See How They Run), who also advises that a villainous espionage outfit called The Division is after her because her texts are so prophetic. To add another layer to the Argylle trifle, Elly sees her fictional agent — the eponymous Argylle (Henry Cavill, The Witcher) — beyond her imagination. He's a Bond-type right down to the bar altercation with a femme fatale (Dua Lipa, Barbie). He's also a Mission: Impossible-style sort thanks to the team around him, including a trusty offsider (John Cena, Freelance) and tech guru (Ariana DeBose, Wish). With towering flat-topped hair, Argylle is a knowing spoof in a self-aware comedy, too. He's the stereotypical dashing vision of the undercover world, as juxtaposed with Aidan, who is introduced all scruffy and beardy on a train, blending in and earning Elly's incredulity when he says that spying is his gambit. The more that she gets pulled into the covert world, Argylle is also a blatant contrast to the writer herself; that there's more than one type of hero thrums within screenwriter Jason Fuchs' (Wonder Woman) script. More twists, more reveals, more zigzagging here and there (and, of course, everywhere) slip into a narrative that's unique in a way that's rare of late, especially when it comes to spies, action and big-budget big-screen fare. Argylle might be reaching screens with that did-Swift sheen and seemingly everyone that Vaughn knows in the cast — Cavill was in Stardust, Howard in the Vaughn-produced Rocketman, and Sofia Boutella (Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire) and Samuel L Jackson (The Marvels) both have a place in the Kingsman realm — but it isn't an already-known property. That said, there's a game of connect the dots at work for anyone who has seen any action flicks this century, spotting familiar parts. Still, with the visual flair that he's been known for since making the switch from solely producing (including Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch), Vaughn leans into the fun and spectacle of it all. This strives to be a just-go-with-it affair, putting its audience in the same situation as Elly as she tries to stay alive, outwit The Division, and work out what's going on and why. Howard, Rockwell, Catherine O'Hara (Pain Hustlers) as Elly's mother and Bryan Cranston (Asteroid City) as the head honcho overseeing the quest to capture the author: they all help make Argylle easy to spend time with. Rockwell, though, is the feature's mood ring. He's having a ball with the looseness that made him such a captivating performer long before he had a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and he nails Argylle's aimed-for vibe. His Confessions of a Dangerous Mind casting two decades back also comes to mind. Yes, he dances as he adores to, multiple times. He's always giddily entertaining. That Argylle doesn't earn the same label consistently is partly down to its running time: it might've more often if there wasn't 139 minutes of it. If the whole film all seems gleefully OTT, with its winks, nods, parodies, nesting-doll setup, more-is-more embrace of extravagant fights and frays — and kinetic chases and confrontations as well — and unconvincing CGI around the cat, Vaughn and his wife Claudia Schiffer's own, that's also been Vaughn's caper for even longer than he's been playing with spooks. In bringing Kick-Ass to the screen from Mark Millar's comic, then the latter's Kingsman afterwards, plus helming X-Men: First Class in the middle, the filmmaker hasn't been one for the grounded approach. It doesn't always pay off for him. The first Kingsman was undone by its ending, the second a subpar carbon copy and the two pictures' prequel thoroughly superfluous. But the energy of the cast, the Romancing the Stone throwback, plus standout setpieces involving skating through oil on knives and pirouetting through a gunfight amid rainbow-hued smoke grenades, prove both a lot and mostly enough to start off Vaughn's latest espionage franchise.
As if IKEA wasn't already self sufficient enough — what with infinite clothing storage, affordable kitchenware and ready-to-eat meatballs — they've decided they don't just want you to enjoy your home like sleek, contemporary Swedish royalty, they want you to grow your own garden in it too. So they've added a new item to their expansive inventory: hydroponic indoor gardens. Hydroponics is a plant growing method that lets you grown your own greens without soil. It isn't exactly a new thing — the method has been used for years to grow plants in basically any conditions — but IKEA's introduction of their Krydda/Växer indoor gardening kits looks set to bring hydroponics out of the niche and into the mainstream. And, going by the number of people who own those Billy bookcases, it will probably do just that. The kits, which will launch in the UK later this year, are designed to sit on your benchtop so you can grow herbs and lettuce right in the middle of the kitchen, pick them, and pop them straight into your salad bowl like some fancy chef. It comes all ready to use, but you'll have to plant the seeds in absorbent plugs to get them going. Then, when the seedlings have sprouted, you'll need to replant them into tiny adorable planters with pumice stones, give them water, turn on the light (which acts as the sun) and watch them grow. Once they're big enough, you can go right ahead and pick them to eat. Like so: The indoor gardening range will go on sale in the UK in May, with the US set to follow next year. No word on an Australian launch yet, but we'll cross all our not-so green thumbs it won't be far behind. Via Fast Company.
It seems unsurprising that African Americans vote en masse for Obama and it has been well-established that women vote en masse for Obama. Much more surprising however is that 30 Rock and Game of Thrones fans also vote en masse for Obama. If this infographic is anything to go by it seems that our TV habits can be a useful barometer for understanding our voting patterns. Compiled by Engage, this fascinating graphic was created through an analysis of what TV shows and political pages voters 'like' on Facebook. Apparently, this data not only demonstrates the correlation between political preference and TV habits but also which TV fans are the most politically active and aware. While the overt (and dare I say tiresome) idealism of Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom and The West Wing (often dubbed "The Left Wing") seemed likely to produce hordes of Democrat devotees, interestingly it is Star Trek fans who are next in line as the most likely to turn up to vote come the Presidential election later this month. For the Republican camp, unfortunately Romney's frequent declarations of love for Modern Family aren't likely to swing many voters as the show's pro-gay marriage stance and ethnically diverse families appear to resonate much more strongly with more left-leaning voters. If this infographic whetted your appetite for bizarre political statistics then check out the graph below to see what your internet usage says about your politics.
We know there's nothing sweeter than the sound the brown paper bag makes as you whip it off your bottle(s) of grog at a table, and nothing better than the taste of your favourite beer accompanying a delicious meal. But it's not at every restaurant you can do this — and drinking sneakily out of your handbag at non-BYO joints is both illegal and a surefire way to ruin your bag. Let us guide you to the places that allow you to BYO beer in your city to avoid any of that, with the added bonus of being A+ places to eat more than heartily. Winter is for nothing if not overindulging on dumplings or Greek feasts and then waddling home, right? Grab your six-pack and put on your eating pants. SYDNEY: CHINATOWN NOODLE RESTAURANT Before you head to Chinatown Noodle Restaurant in Haymarket, beware: if you're coming for dinner, be prepared to queue for a while and wait for a table — or you can check out the neighbouring Chinese Noodle Restaurant and see if you can grab a seat. Otherwise, set up camp in the line, send a scout out to get beers from a bottle shop (there's one in Market City next door) and wait it out. Once you're in, service is quick, dumplings are countless and spring onion pancakes are hot. Crack open a beer or two to wash down the too-many dumplings that you'll no doubt eat. Haven't you had yourself a night? SYDNEY: THE SULTAN'S TABLE The Sultan's Table in Enmore is the sort of place you want to head to if your feet and nose are numb and you're craving some hot meat. If your hunger has never been greater than consider the banquet option for $38 per head. A very reasonable price delivers plate after plate of dips, pita, kebab, pides, veg stuffed with rice and grilled meats, followed by sweets, tea or coffee. If you're not quite up for such an intense fill, the chargrilled kebabs are obviously where it's at (unless you're a vegetarian and then the ample vego menu is more your vibe). Whether you're in it to win it with the banquet or just grabbing a pide, Sultan's Table serving sizes are good value for money and great fare for cold nights. Sit a while, finish your beers, and don't forget to nab a baklava at the end. MELBOURNE: MAMAK One word: roti. Another three words: get the roti. Mamak is famous for a good reason, and that reason is flaky, buttery, delicious and dipped in curry. The Melbourne branch of the Malaysian restaurant sits in the middle of the CBD on Lonsdale Street, with branches also in Sydney and now, Seminyak in Bali. Obviously, you'll hit up the roti menu (try the roti canai at a breezy $7.50) but don't bypass the satay options — they're just as good. There's also dessert roti FYI, so make sure to try and exercise a minute amount of self-control and leave space. And on top of all that greatness, Mamak is BYO at $2 per person. [caption id="attachment_637824" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image: Leah Hulst.[/caption] MELBOURNE: JIM'S GREEK TAVERN It's not a proper Greek feast unless you're calling an Uber home because you've eaten too much to be able to exist in a public place such as a tram. Wear your loosest pants (a large poncho might be best) and partake in the delicious roulette that is dining at Jim's; there's no menu as such. The staff will ask you what you feel like eating and then bring out dishes for you. Trust them, they've been doing it for years — just shut up and eat the saganaki (as if you really need your arm twisted for that though). Generally, you'll get whatever is fresh and good on the day you go — fish, lamb and calamari will all probably make an appearance, as well as the homemade galaktoboureko (custard cake). The food is traditional, the vibe is bustling, and your stomach will be happy. Best washed down with a lager or two — corkage is cheap, too. BRISBANE: CHOP CHOP CHANG'S Chop Chop Chang's in Brisbane's West End serves up pan-Asian street food fare, reminiscent of what you'd be eating if you were strolling through the markets and street stalls of Asia. With a focus on fresh and locally sourced produce, Chop Chop Chang's do brunch, lunch and dinner, but also four banquet menus with options increasing in decadence and starting at only $38 a head. If you're just picking from the menu, best give the curry section a good look, and don't go past the green curry chicken dumplings ($10). On the subject of dumplings, the dessert menu is hawking spiced apple dumplings ($14), so there are lots to think about while you leisurely sip your beer and mull things over. BRISBANE: VERVE Verve in the CBD is many things: it's a bar, a restaurant, a cider house, is situated in some cool basement digs and has you sorted for your winter pasta needs. Need even more than that? You can bring your own beer in. Check out the venue, originally Brisbane's first basement bar, below ground level at the Metro Arts building. With more pasta options than you can count on all your fingers and toes, you'll be happily carbing it up here — try the homemade gnocchi for a solid feed that'll probably keep you going until dinner the next night. Verve offers ample gluten-free and vegan options too, so you coeliac carb-fiends need not miss out. There's also something called brandy tortellini ($22.90) which, well, yes, please. Gather some mates and head to one of these top-notch eateries with an appetite and a six-pack of Hahn, too.
One of our most-read stories of 2017 featured an Aussie start-up called Unyoked, which lets you stay in a tiny house in the wilderness, miles away from anyone and anything. Now, if you happen to be heading to the Northern Hemisphere, you can have a similar experience in the American middle-of-nowhere. Meet Getaway, an American start-up founded by two Harvard grads that's building tiny houses in the woods. While Unyoked lands you in total solitude, Getaway takes you to a mini holiday village. So, it's a bit like a campground, but with tiny houses instead of tents. You get trendy architect design, a queen-sized bed, picture windows, wireless speakers, airconditioning, an ensuite, basic provisions and a fire pit with wood. But there's no wifi and a secure box invites you to lock up your smartphone for the duration of your stay. Also, your dog's welcome to join. To make sure you don't become too destination-focused, Getaway doesn't reveal exactly where you'll be going until close to departure time, although their three sites so far are located outside of New York, Boston and Washington. Other than that, all you can be sure of is that you won't be driving for more than two hours from your home city. Getaway isn't the first American business to be exploring the appeal of tiny houses as holiday accommodation. (Check out these 12 tiny house hotels, for example). However, the start-up's focus on disconnecting and immersing yourself in nature sets it apart. Images: Getaway.
In Unsane, Sawyer Valentini (Claire Foy) moves across the country to escape her stalker David (Joshua Leonard), but can't break free from his grasp. She still sees his face everywhere she looks. She still feels like she's unravelling. She still experiences flashes of pain and anxiety at inopportune moments — when a Tinder date is getting hot and heavy, for example. Alone in a new city, Sawyer seeks professional medical help, yet even that exacerbates her situation. Signing what seems to be a routine form, she's soon trapped in a mental health centre "for her own safety". Even worse, she spies David among the staff. Directing his second feature following his short-lived retirement from filmmaking, Steven Soderbergh puts Sawyer through a recognisable ordeal. As scripted by Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer (in quite a departure from their previous work, the Jackie Chan vehicle The Spy Next Door), the movie takes a leaf out of the well-thumbed psychological thriller playbook. Or does it? Surprises are part of the film's nightmarish world, as well as the genre that it knowingly fits into, but Unsane isn't just a chip off the old block. It slides smoothly into Soderbergh's filmography — in fact, if his 2013 flick Side Effects met his excellent TV series The Knick, it might look something like this. More than that, Unsane pairs a savage takedown of America's profits-before-patients health system with an equally sharp take on society's treatment of women. Specifically, Soderbergh and company dive into the mindset of someone who has been violated and attacked, providing a devastating expression of a victim's fraught, overwhelmed viewpoint. The film's plot continues to set the appropriate scene, pitting Sawyer against hostile doctors, nurses and cops, as well as her stalker, with allies few and far between (Amy Irving plays her mother, while Jay Pharoah pops up as a fellow detainee). If it sounds broadly familiar, that's by design. Here, a woman is harassed through no fault of her own, and is stuck reliving the trauma. She's subjected to unwanted attention from her assailant, and is scrutinised by the powers-that-be when she tries to take control. Further, when she asks for assistance, she's left at the mercy of a system that's complex at best and oppressive at worst. Indeed, Unsane's biggest shock doesn't spring from anything in its narrative, even when the film toys with reality. Instead, what's truly astonishing about the picture is how effectively it relays its perspective. The twists and suspense all work swimmingly, keeping the audience on edge throughout, but figuring out what's true or false is really beside the point. What matters in Unsane is how Sawyer is made to feel over and over again, and how the movie conveys her emotional and mental agitation to the viewers. Who, under intense stress, hasn't imagined something they definitely didn't witness? Who, in the same circumstances, hasn't felt like they're being watched? Who hasn't questioned their own sanity? Who hasn't felt hyper-alert, physically reacting to everything and everyone around them? In bringing these aspects of Sawyer's turmoil to the screen — and making her anguish seem to seep from the screen — Soderbergh's decision to shoot the film on three iPhone 7 Plus handsets is particularly astute. Every shot is intimate and urgent, as well as both voyeuristic and claustrophobic. Each visual composition feels heightened, frequently positioned at a slightly askew angle and often keeping part of the frame out of focus. Every image looks gritty and grim, even bordering on unpleasant. Crafting a literal picture of distress, the director (who also acts as his own cinematographer and editor under different pseudonyms) matches his style with the movie's substance, in an inventive filmmaking masterclass. Regardless of who Soderbergh was pointing his camera-phones at, his shooting technique would've hit the mark. But with Foy on the other side of the filmmaker's jumpy handheld lens, Unsane hits home hard. Far removed from the drama and glamour of The Crown (and with the American accent to prove it), the actor's performance couldn't be less regal. It also couldn't be more committed or compelling. The movie itself might come packaged with a pulpy tone, but the uneasy look in Foy's eye, the jitters in her hands and the stiffness of her stance speak to something more than lurid thrills. In fact, as this powerful film makes plain, they've stared back at many a viewer from their own mirrors. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yOkE3vsU6g
Charles Robb is an artist with a healthy interest in himself and his surroundings. Most of us take selfies for the masses to like on Instagram, Charles does something with a bit more artistic integrity. While dabbling with self-portraiture, Charles investigates figure and form to reveal new observations of his immediate vicinity and the items within it. Loss Control II is a self-referential exhibition that utilises objects in his studio space, where the works help to redefine his environment and inject new meaning into what may be seen as the mundane. This series exhibits Charles’ modelling and casting work, with unique sculptures showcasing the materials that have been transformed and the ideas and subjectivities that form in the studio. This exhibition will be running until early-May so if you have an afternoon to spare, spend it at SGAR and witness everyday objects change form in front of your eyes.
Across its 12-season order to-date, the best episodes of Bob's Burgers have always resembled exactly what they should: a delicious serving of the meat-and-bread combination that shares the hit sitcom's name. There's a knack to a great burg — to a tastebud-thrilling, so-appetising-I-need-more-now example of this extremely accessible culinary art — and it's all about perfecting the absolute basics. No matter what else gets slotted in (and plenty of other ingredients can), every burger's staples should be the stars of the show. Indeed, a top-notch burg needn't be flashy. It definitely mustn't be overcomplicated, either. And, crucially, it should taste as comforting as wrapping your hands around its buns feels. On the small screen since 2011, Bob's Burgers has kept its version of that very recipe close to its animated, irreverent, gleefully offbeat heart. Unsurprisingly, the show's creators whip up the same kind of dish for The Bob's Burgers Movie, too. It's a winning formula, and creator Loren Bouchard knows not to mess with it while taking his beloved characters to the big screen. Co-helming with the series' frequent supervising director Bernard Derriman, and co-writing with long-running producer Nora Smith, he experiments here and there — in filmic form, Bob's Burgers is a tad darker, for instance — but he also knows what keeps his customers a-coming. That'd be the goofy but extremely relatable Belcher clan, their everyday joys and struggles, and the cosy little world that sprawls around their yellow-hued Ocean Avenue burger joint up the road from seaside fairground Wonder Wharf. Bouchard also knows that if you make something well enough time after time — be it a burger or a TV show that's spawned a movie; both fit — it'll be warmly, reliably and welcomingly familiar rather than just another helping of the same old nosh. With that in mind, it's a compliment to say that The Bob's Burgers Movie could've easily stayed on television, slotting in among the 238 episodes that precede it — but longer. Vitally, however, it doesn't ever simply feel like a few TV episodes simmered together. That can be the television-to-film curse, as Downton Abbey: A New Era demonstrated recently. Thankfully, as The Simpsons Movie and all three SpongeBob SquarePants films so far have also achieved, that isn't the case here. Instead, this super-sized stint in the Belcher family's company sports as much care, attention to detail, plot, gags, character-building moments, in-jokes, puns and musical numbers as a 102-minute portion of Bob's Burgers needs. It features the same colourful animation that works such a treat on TV, with added shadows for a cinematic feel, plus the lively voice acting that's the heart and soul of the show — but it's its own meal, and never merely four servings of fries passed off as something more substantial. As always, the action centres on the film's namesake — the diner where patriarch Bob (H Jon Benjamin, Archer) sizzles up punningly named burgs to both make a living and live out his dream. And, as the show has covered frequently, financial woes mean that Bob and his wife Linda (John Roberts, Gravity Falls) have more to worry about than cooking, serving customers, and their kids Tina (Dan Mintz, Veep), Gene (Eugene Mirman, Flight of the Conchords) and Louise (Kristen Schaal, What We Do in the Shadows). Their solution: a burger, of course. But their bank manager isn't munching when they try to use food to grease their pleas for an extension on their loan. That mortgage also involves their restaurant equipment, leaving them out of business if they can't pay up. As their seven-day time limit to stump up the cash ticks by, Bob sweats over the grill and Linda oozes her usual optimism — only for a sinkhole to form literally at their door. As trusty as Bob's Burgers gets, and still refreshingly committed to depicting the daily reality of its working-class characters, that above setup is the movie's buns. Layered inside are tomato, lettuce, cheese, pickle and beetroot, aka the narrative's well-balanced fillings. First comes a murder-mystery ensnaring the Belchers' eccentric landlord Calvin Fischoeder (Kevin Kline, Beauty and the Beast) and his brother Felix (Zach Galifianakis, Ron's Gone Wrong). Springing from there is Louise's determination to solve the crime to save the diner and prove she isn't a baby just because she wears a pink rabbit-eared hat. Then there's Tina's quest to make her crush Jimmy Jr (also voiced by Benjamin) her summer boyfriend; Gene's need to get The Itty Bitty Ditty Committee, the family band, a gig at Wonder Wharf's Octa-Wharfiversary celebrations; and Bob and Linda's attempt to sell burgs at the amusement park using a barbecue on wheels MacGyvered up by number-one customer Teddy (Larry Murphy, The Venture Bros). Meat-slinging, killer-hunting, carnival-frolicking mania and mayhem is the name of the game — dripping one-liners and puns, too, including the obligatory next-door store gag ("Sew You Think You Can Pants" is the film's offering) — and it all makes the leap to cinemas with well-oiled ease. So does the non-stop onslaught of quick gags, verbal and sight included; the extravagant musical numbers and action-flick-esque setpieces, which are all gorgeously choreographed even though they're animated; and the always-loose vibe that can entertainingly feel like the voice cast are just riffing. And, while it might've felt gratuitous, Bouchard and company's efforts to find space for plenty of the series' motley crew of neighbours and other supporting players is as natural as dipping chips in whatever sauce takes your fancy. Also part of this animated gem: robot aliens who hate music, a village inhabited by Wonder Wharf workers called Carnieapolis, fantasy horse rides, creepy skeletons and an underground lair that Wes Anderson could've dreamt up. And, obviously, the overflowing affection for its oddball family that's always made all things Bob's Burgers as engaging as it is firmly remains on the menu as well — as eagerly sprinkled with fondness for the Belchers' many quirks, their routine woes, and their daily efforts to just get by, be happy, love each other and enjoy their modest existence. Without that, The Bob's Burgers Movie would've just been any old film. With it, it's exactly what viewers have adored for over a decade. This show doesn't need to be your regular dish to fall for its charms, though. Whether it's your first bite or your 239th, it's a delight.
There are plenty of ways you could experience Sydney Harbour's world famous New Years Eve fireworks show, but here's one that'll really make all those haters jealous. The Sydney Opera House has teamed up with the crew at Airbnb to offer the ultimate bucket list New Year's Eve situation, involving exclusive VIP front-row seats, dinner by an acclaimed Aussie chef, an intimate concert and a private Opera House balcony. And all that could be yours for an easy $10. This high-flying experience will be enjoyed by just ten lucky people, with the Opera House releasing one double pass each Wednesday at midday for five weeks, starting from tomorrow, November 13. The Opera House x Airbnb New Year's Eve Experience will see those ten winning punters wrapping up 2019 in serious style, partying in their own VIP area overlooking the fireworks extravaganza. Hatted chef Karen Martini will be dropping by to whip up a fitting last supper of 2019, an Opera House expert will guide guests on an educational tour and a surprise act has a special, intimate concert planned. Then, it's off to a private balcony to celebrate the turn of the decade with possibly the best view in Sydney. Each pair of tickets will cost $20, though, as you can imagine, it'll be a challenge to beat out the competition and actually snap one up. But, for 20 bucks, it's worth a shot. Elsewhere, you have to pay a pretty, pretty penny to get a view of the fireworks. For example, the Sydney Opera House's official party costs a bomb ($795 per person), a ticket to Shark Island's festivities is $245 and even a spot on the lawn in the Royal Botanic Garden will set you back $360. To be in it, you'll need to head over to the website, and be ready and raring to go when the NYE experience appears on the page at noon. If you've been conflicted about your NYE plans, this could be an easy solution — and, even if you don't live in Sydney, it's a good reason to make the trip. Double passes to the New Year's Eve Experience will be released at midday on November 13, 20 and 27, and on December 4 and 11. Images: Ken Leanfore. Fireworks image: City of Sydney
When you were a kid, Easter Sunday meant stuffing your face with as much chocolate as you could. Just us? We know it wasn't. But now you're classed as an 'adult', there's really nothing stopping you from an annual chocolate inhaling. Hey, who's going to judge you? Alternatively, you could indulge in five hours of canapes, frose, rose, Pimm's Easter punch, champers — an all-day and eating and drinking extravaganza. Dalgety Public House has you covered with their Easter Sunday Bottomless Brunch. It's a cool $95 per person, but it'll be worth it. We've given this advice before, and we know we will again: wear something stretchy.
Stradbroke Island is famous for its white sands and crystal-clear waters — and this haven is only 30 kilometres off the Brisbane coast and accessible via ferry or water taxi. One of the most beautiful walks here is the North Gorge Walk, which crosses the northern tip of North Stradbroke. On an effortless 30-minute saunter, you'll be completely surrounded by invigorating seascapes, rugged rock formations, unspoiled bushland and loads of wildlife. If you're lucky, you might even spot a giant sea turtle. Although the walk is brief, you should take your time to make the most of it. There are plenty of seats where you can rest for a few minutes and soak up all of the sublime surrounds. [caption id="attachment_702559" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] Top image: Tourism and Events Queensland
Eight years goes mighty fast when it's filled with food, markets and a great riverside vantage, as Eat Street Northshore now knows. After opening its doors back in 2013, the Hamilton spot is celebrating another year of doing what it does best — that is, letting Brisbanites wander through its alleyways and feast on its spoils. Across the weekend of Friday, November 5–Sunday, November 7, Eat Street's eighth birthday shindig will well and truly commemorate the occasion with a heap of performances, food and fireworks. Whichever day you decide to stop by, you'll find a packed agenda of entertainment. You'll also find plenty to eat, of course. The three-day shenanigans run during Eat Street Northshore's usual weekend trading hours, so head along between 4–10pm on Friday and Saturday, and 4–9pm on Sunday. The usual entry price of $5 also applies, but bring your wallet for whatever you'll be consuming. [caption id="attachment_696389" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Eat Street Northshore.[/caption] Top image: Misaochan2 via Wikimedia Commons.
The Australian Open 2024 is set to serve up a lot more than world-class tennis, which is pretty ace if you ask us. Expect a food lover's dream, showcasing a smorgasbord of cuisines from across the planet and catering to every palate. One of the hottest seats will be Bar Atrium with its Yarra and city skyline views — the perfect backdrop to a three-course, Lebanese-inspired brunch curated by Melbourne's own Tom Sarafian. Then, as the sun sets, the venue transforms into an 'After Eight' experience, featuring bar snacks by Sarafian and cocktails from The Everleigh. Meanwhile, at John Cain Arena's Fusion Feast, you'll find dishes from beloved chefs like Ross Magnaye of Serai and Jessi Singh of Daughter-In-Law. But that's just the beginning. Enjoy tastes of Italia at Garden Square with Lygon Street Italian. Iconic Melbourne joints King & Godfree, D.O.C, and Brunetti Classico will serve up classic Italian dishes from pizza al taglio to delish porchetta rolls. Seafood lovers can head to the AO Courtside Bar, where Bondi's Fish Shop will be serving bar bites. Fishbowl will also make another appearance at Grand Slam Oval, serving items from its new Street Food concept menu. And for a taste of Spain, visit Abel Lusa's Cambio de Tercio for traditional and modern tapas. Not far away, the Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Bar offers a touch of fancy, perfect for sipping champagne while watching the matches. For those looking for salvation amid the Aussie summer heat, don't miss the signature Peach Melbourne soft serve at AO Ballpark. Or head to the returning Peroni Bar for ice-cold respite. Canadian Club's Cabana Bar, Terrazza Aperol and Squealing Pig Wine Terrace will also be on hand to provide tournament goers with some quality watering hole options. Rockpool Bar and Grill, Penfolds Restaurant and Stokehouse will be returning to next year's event, as will the much loved Rod Laver Arena Superboxes by Shane Delia's Maha and Nick and Nora's. So, with all that being said, our tip for next year's Australian Open? Wear loose pants. Catch the Australian Open from Sunday, January 14, 2024, to Sunday, January 28, 2024.
Two decades after Hae Min Lee's murder, the Baltimore high school student's horrific plight continues to dominate the true crime landscape. After featuring on the first season of Sarah Koenig's grimly addictive podcast Serial, it's now forming the basis for a new documentary series, The Case Against Adnan Syed. The four-part HBO series will pick up where everyone's 2014 obsession left off — the trailer below promises to reveal 'a new chapter' — not only exploring 18-year-old Lee's death in 1999 and her ex-boyfriend Syed's conviction in 2000, but the latter's ongoing quest to have the extremely complex legal matter reassessed in the years since he was found guilty. Everything from Lee and Syed's relationship, to the original police investigation and trial, to the developments up until now will feature, with the film gaining exclusive access to Syed, his family and his lawyers. The series couldn't come at a more crucial time for Syed, who was convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to life in prison, and continues to fight his case through the courts. While he was granted a new trial in 2016, that ruling was subsequently appealed by the State of Maryland — only for the Court of Special Appeals to agree to vacate Syed's conviction and finally give him that retrial last March. A date for the actual retrial hasn't yet been set, however. Splashed across the small screen, it's certain to make for compelling viewing — but if you think you've spent too much time mulling it all over across the past five years, filmmaker Amy Berg has you beat. Unsurprisingly given how complicated the matter is, the director has been working on the project since 2015. And, with her excellent doco background — with Berg helming 2006's Oscar-nominated 2006 Deliver Us from Evil, about molestation in the Catholic Church; examining the West Memphis Three's quest for freedom in 2012's West of Memphis; and tackling the sexual abuse of teenagers in the film industry in 2014's An Open Secret — her new venture is certain to be thorough. Weeks out from launching the series, which is expected to land this autumn, HBO has dropped a trailer. In it, it mentions the investigation of other suspects and new evidence — saying, "the closer you look the more you see". Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA1qzo2WEew As they did for West of Memphis, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis will provide the score. 'The Case Against Adnan Syed' will air on HBO this autumn, it is then hit Foxtel for Australian viewers later this year. It's not clear yet if the show will air or stream in New Zealand. We'll update you as soon as further release dates have been announced. Image: Adnan Syed via Syed Family / Courtesy of HBO.
Neo. John Wick. Johnny Utah. Ted "Theodore" Logan. Across Keanu Reeves' almost four-decade acing career, the inimitable star has played many iconic parts — but only one thrust him to stardom as a time-travelling high-school slacker who had to round up famous figures from the past to pass his history report and save the future of humanity. As a result, the Bill & Ted movies have always held a soft spot in Keanu fans' hearts. Since first hitting screens in 1989 and 1991, the franchise has long been the subject of follow-up rumours, too. And now, just when the world particularly needs a reminder about being excellent to each other, the series is returning with its long-awaited third instalment. Nearly thirty years after Reeves last rocked out, grappled with fate and used a telephone box as a mode of transport in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, he's back doing the same thing. So is Alex Winter as Bill S. Preston, Esquire, Ted's best buddy, San Dimas High classmate and fellow founder of Wyld Stallyns, aka the garage band that'll change life as we know it and inspire a utopian society — at least according to Rufus (the late George Carlin) in film that started it all, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. But as the just-dropped first teaser trailer for Bill & Ted Face the Music shows, that plan hasn't quite panned out as yet for the franchise's central duo. Twenty-five years ago, they played a concert in front of the entire world. One month ago, they played a gig in California for 40 people — "most of whom where there for $2 taco night", they're told. After being reprimanded by the folks from the future for their lack of progress — when you're supposed to write the song that unites the globe and saves reality, a quarter-century without any progress isn't going to go by unnoticed — Bill and Ted decide to head forward in time to a point when they've already penned the tune in question. Once they're there, they figure they can just steal the track from themselves. Bill & Ted Face the Music's first sneak peek is only brief, so it reveals few other details; however, if you've watched and rewatched the comedy series' first two movies, you'll know that plenty of hijinks await. So does playing air guitar with the Grim Reaper (William Sadler), because of course it does. Not touched upon in the teaser: the fact that Brigette Lundy-Paine (Bombshell) plays Ted's daughter Billie Logan, Australian actor Samara Weaving (Ready or Not) pops up as Bill's daughter Thea Preston and Kid Cudi also has a role. Keanu does exclaim "party on, dudes!" in the 90-second clip, though, and more than one version of Bill and Ted appear on-screen. As for what else the film has in store, audiences will find out when it hits cinemas in August. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hAL7emClFM Bill & Ted Face the Music is scheduled to release in Australian cinemas on August 27.
If you could use a good giggle right about now, the annual GC Laughs Festival is happy to oblige between Friday, March 17–Sunday, March 25. The Gold Coast's annual comedy fest returns for 2023 with a heap of impressive comedy names taking to the microphone — and taking over HOTA, Home of the Arts, to tickle ribs. The festival officially kicks off on the Friday with a big guffaw-inducing gala hosted by Nick Cody, but that's just the beginning of the lineup. For the rest of the fest, you'll also get chuckling at Mark Watson, Tom Ballard, Rove McManus, Lizzy Hoo, Paul Foot and Claire Hooper. Also on the bill: Stephen K Amos, Akmal, Hard Quiz hosted by Tom Gleeson, Michelle Brasier, Diana Nguyen, Josie Long, Lano & Woodley and more. That's a wealth of comedy worth hitting the coast for, but GC Laughs actually extends beyond its main dates, too. Firstly, it kicks off with a launch party offsite at Burleigh Brewing on Thursday, March 16. And, come Tuesday, April 4, Daniel Sloss will hit up HOTA as well. Images: Anneliese Nappa.
UPDATE: MAY 27, 2019 — Due to an overwhelming response, Matty Matheson's Sydney and Brisbane shows have been moved to bigger venues. The former will now take place at Marrickville's Factory Theatre (previously Oxford Art Factory) and the latter at Newstead's The Triffid (previously Brightside). All tickets already purchased will be valid for the new venues. New tickets for Sydney can be purchased here and Brisbane here. Chef Matty Matheson is stepping out of the kitchen and onto the stage, heading Down Under for an expletive-laden speaking tour next month. Known for his hit TV shows Dead Set On Life and It's Suppertime — and his new New York Times best-selling book, Matty Matheson: A Cookbook — the culinary star and award-winning author will hit up Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. A colourful character famed for his larger-than-life personality, Matheson will be dishing up a his cooking (and life) tips, with an audience Q&A and a meet-and-greet session, too. He's set to serve his home truths on topics like addiction and mental health, the #MeToo movement and its impact on the food industry, and a few of his own life's ups and downs, as well as talking about his new web series, Just A Dash. https://www.instagram.com/p/BjKhY6iHrRZ/ Audiences will be treated to a true taste of this foodie legend, as Matheson tweaks each show to best represent himself, even down to the soundtrack plucked straight from his own playlists. MATTY MATHESON 2019 DATES Perth — Rosemount Hotel, Saturday, June 22 Sydney — Factory Theatre (previously Oxford Art Factory), Sunday, June 23 Melbourne — Corner, Tuesday, June 25 Brisbane —The Triffid (previously Brightside), Thursday, June 27 Tickets are $49 and go on sale at 9am on Tuesday, May 21 via the Secret Sounds website.
The annual celebration of independent music merchants, Record Store Day, is back this Saturday, April 22, and there are a heap of exciting activations across the country hoping to draw patrons out to their local shop and have them flicking through stacks of vinyl. One such activity is a nationwide record treasure hunt being held by the Australian Music Vault. If you want to take part in the hunt and possibly get your hands on a free record from a beloved Aussie artist, all you have to do is head to your local record store and keep an eye out for releases marked with special Australian Music Vault branding on the front. If you find one of these gems, flash it at the counter where they'll confirm it's a winner and you can take it home to spin on your turntable, free of charge. [caption id="attachment_782966" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kitti Gould[/caption] Created by the Arts Centre Melbourne, the Australian Music Vault celebrates contemporary Aussie tunes by exhibiting and archiving important pieces of music history and working with artists to facilitate the growth of the country's music scene. All of the vinyl available as part of the Record Store Day treasure hunt will be from featured Australian Music Vault artists. While the exact location of these freebies are being kept under wraps, hints will be given over on the Australian Music Vault Facebook and Instagram pages on the day. "There's a magical energy about Australia's music culture. Record stores are often a meeting place of inspiration for creatives, and we can't wait to see stores full of activity for Record Store Day," said Australian Music Vault Senior Curator Carolyn Laffan. "It's a treat to be a part of this amazing initiative and good luck to all on the lookout for hidden Australian Music Vault gems." Alongside the treasure hunt, you can also expect limited-edition releases from the likes of Bluey, Ball Park Music, Foals and Groove Armada, plus Confidence Man, Peking Duk, Orville Peck and Loyal Carner to be available on the day. And the celebrations don't stop there, with performances from Ella Thompson, Close Counters, Redhook and Tropical Strength; Peking Duk's in-store signing at Beatniks on the Gold Coast; and a stack of MTV specials and giveaways among the other activations popping up across the country. Record Store Day will be taking over record stores across the country on Saturday, April 22. Head to the Record Store Day website for the full list of special-edition releases. Top image: Destination NSW
Gather a group of people together, then ask them to describe Brisbane as seen their own eyes — and, no matter how many answers you get, it'll be full of wildly varying takes. That's what the Museum of Brisbane's exhibition Making Place: 100 Views of Brisbane presents, but via pieces of art depicting the city, with works dating back as far as the 1820s. Obviously, Brissie has undergone a wealth of changes in the past two centuries — and if someone captured it on a canvas, it's likely on display here. As the name makes plain, there are at least 100 different views of the city included in this showcase, all helping to ponder this town of ours as it was, is and might be moving forward. Making Place: 100 Views of Brisbane first debuted in March 2022 and is still on display — running from 10am–5pm daily — complete with a refresh in July 2023. Some pieces were rotated out, others moved in, with additions spanning works by Margaret Olley, Robert Brownhall, Ruth Cho, Joe Furlonger, Gwendolyn Grant, William Bustard and Stephen Nothling. Brisbane-based production house Dead Puppet Society (Ishmael, The Wider Earth) has also contributed an interactive memory map that you can contribute to — focusing on feelings rather than topography. And, you can now take a new self-guided audio tour of the exhibition voiced by 2022 Writer in Residence Pat Hoffie. Updated: August 28, 2023. Images: Katie Bennett / Josh Woning.
A city break in Aotearoa New Zealand's biggest city, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, has never offered more. There's an itinerary to suit all timeframes and holiday personalities — from the city-slicker to beach-goer, the shopping-focused traveller to the foodie whose appetite leads the way. It's a city constantly evolving its offerings, with hospitality joints popping up left, right, and centre. So, we've scoped the best experiences and places to note with 100% Pure New Zealand to help you make the most of your Auckland break. Add an extra car ride out of the city or linger a little longer in the big smoke — it's over to you to indulge your whims. What we can promise is all roads lead to a memorable stay. One with world-class views, innovative foods or even dramatic black sand underfoot. [caption id="attachment_929906" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] The Hotel Britomart[/caption] Stay: The Hotel Britomart The Hotel Britomart pulls out every stop for a distinctly Aotearoa New Zealand stay in downtown Auckland. Exposed timbers and brick nod to the building's past life as a factory and Masonic house, while modern luxury oozes from local artisan-crafted furniture, recycled glass chandeliers and crockery. Inside the rooms, minibars are filled generously with local treats. The 99 sustainable rooms are categorised by their views. Generous windows offer direct glimpses of the Waitematā Harbour, the CBD's skyline, or the vibrant laneways. The Wairoa Suite, the largest of the five Landing Suites, offers sprawling rooftop views framed by architecturally designed wooden details. Downstairs, the all-day restaurant kingi focuses on elevated seafood, with a sommelier-curated wine library showcasing local terroirs. Tucked away in the on-site lane are a fleet of complimentary vintage bikes, ready for adventures. Stay: Mövenpick Hotel Auckland Auckland is a food-lovers paradise, and now you can stay at a hotel where food is the focus. Mövenpick Hotel Auckland's daily Chocolate Hour indulges guests with a complimentary daily buffet of truffles, cakes and fondue between 3.30–4.30pm. When it's time to break the sugar rush, on-site restaurant BODA offers panoramic harbour views, Korean-New Zealander cuisine and inventive cocktails. Or retreat to the sleek, monochromatic suites, knowing the 24-hour ice-cream sundae service means that your next sugar hit isn't far away. A central location makes Mövenpick Hotel Auckland the perfect base for urban adventures. Step out from the lobby to Auckland's main Queen Street or explore the local boutiques and eateries in the adjacent Commercial Bay. For adventures further afield, Auckland's main Britomart Train Station is on the same block to connect you to most mainland suburbs, while the main ferry terminal — the gateway to wine-mecca Waiheke Island and bird sanctuary Tiritiri Matangi — is just a few metres beyond. See: Ever-Changing Landscapes with GO Rentals As exhilarating as city life is, renting a car, even for a day, is your ticket to seeing Auckland in all its glory — and fast. After all, you're never more than 45 minutes away from a beach. Jump in a GO Rentals four-wheel-drive to venture through the bush, to wineries and eventually to the surf-ready black sand beaches of west Auckland. Closer to town, soak up all dimensions of Auckland through the skyroof of a climate-friendly GO Tesla. Cruise through the bustling beach strips of the eastern suburbs like Mission Bay and Kohimarama along Tamaki Drive. Drive up one of Auckland's many maunga (mountains) for quintessential Auckland views. Mt Eden and Mt Albert offer panoramic views, and the nearby townships are brimming with artisanal bakeries and cafes for picnic essentials. Round out your journey by offsetting emissions with CarbonClick, and you'll feel just as good as you did driving breezily behind the wheel. See: Explore the City's Seaside You can't come to Auckland without experiencing it from its most impressive vantage point: the glittering Viaduct and surrounding Hauraki Gulf. If you stay in Auckland's city centre, you'll be a short walk from Te Wero Island — a nook in the Viaduct that houses many of Auckland's bustling harbourside bars and restaurants like St Alice, Dr Rudi's and it-bistro, Soul Bar. It's an ideal spot to rug up and maximise your culinary experiences. Otherwise, the area's public transport and ample roads make it accessible from all directions. The nearby New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa runs harbour cruises on the beloved wooden boat, Breeze, for a different vantage point of the city too. [caption id="attachment_929939" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] ai_yoshi via iStock[/caption] See: Nature and Heritage Your Way at Auckland Domain Auckland's sprawling park is home to 150-year-plus trees as well as a stunning winter garden that's well worth the visit on any trip to Auckland. It's New Zealand's oldest public park, 200 acres in size and has four kilometres of walking tracks that can be used to explore the scenery and peaceful vibes above the city. It's serene surroundings can be enjoyed year-round, but if we're being honest, it's particularly magical when temperatures dip in the city. The gardens' sculpture walk takes on a new dimension when experienced with a bite in the air, with the cool metal of the sculptures in stark contrast to the grassy greens of the park. Taste: Exquisite Pacific Fusion at Metita At the newly opened Metita restaurant in SkyCity, explore the urban ritual that Aucklanders love most: indulging in new fusion cuisines. Offering contemporary Pasifika cuisine, Metita explores the intricate flavours of the many island cultures that call New Zealand home and chef Michael Meredith's Samoan roots. Dishes include inventively garnished meats, caviar and corned beef buns, and the signature oysters cooked in marrow. There's no shortage of things to do, see, drink, and eat here. Being Auckland's largest entertainment precinct, SkyCity houses 15 bars and eateries as well as the iconic Sky Tower and its 350 metre-high city views. There's also the award-winning East Day Spa (home to the nation's only marble lounger tepidarium) and two hotels. Taste: Authentically Loved Auckland Eats Aucklanders have solidified their love of eating into a collaborative list of must-try dishes: Auckland Iconic Eats. This list is updated yearly by public vote, and the quality is consistent. Favourites include the chicken parfait from Britomart's Mr Morris, succulent fish sliders from SkyCity's Depot and Gochu's pork and kimchi-stuffed milk buns. Consider it a starting point for your next sit-in menu, or treat it as a bar-crawl-like mission to tick off as many as possible and test the limits of your belt buckle. Taste: New-Wave Māori Flavours at Ada Adding to the list of cuisines that are hard to find outside of New Zealand is Ada, where Chef Kia Kanuta prepares elegant Māori comfort kai (cuisine). Rewarewa fried sourdough is topped with a bespoke mushroom grown only for Ada, paua (abalone) gets a vongole and chilli-infused twist, while snapper is battered whole and served with his iconic Marmite béchamel. Everything is harvested sustainably and served with the finesse of Chef Kanuta's French training. Ada is in The Convent Hotel, located in the trendy suburb of Grey Lynn, 15 minutes from downtown and easily accessible by bus or car. Lovers of interiors and architecture will appreciate the space's sleek transformation from a former 1922 Spanish-revival nunnery to a boutique hotel. Find your very own Aotearoa New Zealand here.
Usually, no one is particularly fond of Mondays. The weekend is over and five days of work are ahead of you, after all. But December 14 isn't any old Monday. Yes, it kicks off the last full working week of 2020 — thank goodness — but it's also a day that comes with free burgers. Brooklyn Depot is spreading its Brisbane footprint by opening a new joint on Racecourse Road in Hamilton — and if you head along at 12pm on Monday, December 14, you might score yourself a free cheeseburger. Only 300 are available, and it's a first in, best dressed kind of affair. But, it's also a way to nab a free lunch. Arriving early to hop in the queue is recommended, because the burgs will be available as soon as the doors open. Of course, Brooklyn Depot's new outpost will be serving up menu items other than free cheeseburgers — if you're hankering for something else, and don't mind paying. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Brooklyn Depot, Brisbane (@brooklyndepotbrisbane)
Almost three decades since Snoop Dogg released his first single, the rap star's career has evolved in a variety of ways. He's dropped hits like they're hot, collaborated with seemingly everyone in the music industry, and popped up on both the big and small screens. He's also taken on MC duties at wrestling matches, released his own wine and adopted aliases. And, in 2018, he shared his cooking skills with the world. That's when Snoop unveiled his own cookbook, From Crook to Cook: Platinum Recipes from Tha Boss Dogg's Kitchen. Within its pages, fans can find recipes for everything from 'billionaire's bacon' and 'Bow Wow brownies and ice cream' to, of course, gin and juice. Yes, that means that you can listen to Snoop's tunes while whipping up his dishes and sipping the drink he'll always be synonymous with. Or, thanks to Menulog, you can just order in a feast based on the rapper's favourite meals. Until Friday, July 3, the food delivery service is serving up a Dogg's Diner menu, which is exactly what it sounds like. In collaboration with select restaurants around Australia, it's delivering a number of dishes from From Crook to Cook, helping to satisfy your 'mack & cheese', 'OG chicken and waffles', 'DOGGs in a blanket' and 'Rolls Royce PB-chocolate chip cookies' cravings. In total, nine items are available, with American-style eateries such as Down 'N' Out, Milky Lane and Meet Patty doing the cooking. While all of the aforementioned dishes are rather self-explanatory, they also include fried chicken wings sprinkled with potato chips, plus fries loaded with chunky ground beef chilli and cheese. Different items are available from different restaurants — so, depending on where you live, you mightn't have access to the whole range. And, while you're feasting away with 'What's My Name?' stuck in your head, you can start wondering whether the other '90s rap star turned cookbook author will ever get the same treatment — aka Coolio, who, in 2009, released Cookin' with Coolio: 5 Star Meals at a 1 Star Price. For more information about Menulog's Dogg's Diner menu — or to order a dish before Friday, July 3 — head to the Menulog website or app.
The silly season is for cooking, decorating and creating napkin swans for Aunt Julie, who insists on tradition even though it is 40 degrees outside and everyone is already in a punch coma. Yes, DIY Christmases are where it's at. Join those who actually know what they are doing (and buy some gifts with the same amount of love) at this year's QAGOMA Store Christmas Design Market. Find jewellery, ceramics, textiles and pre-loved fashions for some of your favourite humans (or perhaps as a self-gift, because you're worth it) among the more stalls across Saturday, December 7–Sunday, December 8. The annual market always compiles a bunch of well-known names in the creative gifts department — and taking the time to peruse the GOMA collection of books and art is always recommended, as is checking out the edible delights to keep you going. The 2024 QAGOMA Store Christmas Design Market runs from 9am–4pm on Saturday, December 7–Sunday, December 8 on the GOMA forecourt. Expect more than 80 stalls — so, also expect to be spoiled for choice. Merry shopping!
Australia's just scored what looks set to be its most inclusive music festival yet, with sports and radio legend Dylan Alcott announcing a strong lineup for the debut of his event Ability Fest. Helping to launch the Paralympian's charity, the Dylan Alcott Foundation, next month, the festival's being co-helmed by Untitled (the entertainment group behind Beyond The Valley and Pitch Music & Arts) and it's one that caters to everyone, regardless of gender, disability, age or race. With Ability Fest, Alcott's set out to both normalise disability and help boost inclusivity across all areas of the music industry. With 20 percent of Aussies living with a physical or intellectual disability, it's high time an event like this was added to the festival calendar. A massive lineup — including Zimbabwean-born singer-songwriter Tkay Maidza, disco guy Harvey Sutherland and a back-to-back DJ set with Flight Facilities and Client Liaison — has dropped today, with all artists donating their time. Melbourne's Coburg Velodrome is being transformed into a fully accessible live music venue for the event, complete with a bunch of viewing platforms for those in wheelchairs and AUSLAN translators for all acts on the main stage. Ability Fest is hoping to raise $300,000 through ticket sales and donations, with all of it headed directly to the Dylan Alcott Foundation. This will then be used to offer mentoring, scholarships and grants to marginalised young Australians with disabilities. Ability Fest will take over Melbourne's Coburg Velodrome at 30 Charles Street, Coburg North, on Saturday, April 7. You can register here for discounted pre-sale tickets before 4pm on March 15 — otherwise general release tickets are on sale from 10am on March 16. Image: Freedom Time at Coburg Velodrome.
Beyond the Pale, opened in the new Coorparoo Square development in 2017, aims to cover all bases. An extensive menu offers breakfast, lunch and dinner, with the takeaway coffee kicking off at 6.30am every day. Health aware but tasty is the breakfast vibe, with pumpkin and haloumi on rye, wild rice breakfast bowls and smashed avo with goats cheese. Tuck into some popcorn chicken or mac 'n' cheese nuggets for an after work snack, or go all out with a Wagyu cheese burger for dinner. Drinks wise, there are 12 beer taps of Queensland staples, including brews from Burleigh Brewing, Newstead Brewing and Green Beacon. An expansive cocktail and wine list covers the rest of the alcohol field. And, there's a Dendy Cinema right next door, making it a perfect pick for date night.
When you're looking to add something tasty to a humble slice of bread, plenty of toppings will do the trick. Even if you limit yourself to spreads and only spreads, everything from Vegemite and peanut butter to Nutella and Biscoff exists. But what if you're hankering for a doughnut and don't have any on hand, or you want to tuck into something more than a little healthier? To the delight of your tastebuds, that's where The Wholefoods Refillery's cinnamon donut spread comes in. A smooth concoction that features plenty of cinnamon — obviously — the spread has been available for around a year; however, since late June, The Wholefoods Refillery has been selling it online. That means that you can order a jar, or several, and have it sitting in your cupboard for whenever you need to turn any piece of bread into dessert. Then, just get slathering. The spread is vegan, as well as gluten free and dairy free. It isn't made from doughnuts, of course, but from cashews, peanuts and coconut. Sadly, if you have a nut allergy, that means you'll just have to stick to actual pastries. Because it uses birch xylitol, which is derived from birch, it isn't suitable for dogs either — so don't go sharing your spread with your four-legged best friend. A 375-millilitre jar will set you back $14 and, if you're wondering how else to put it to use, the folks at Wholefoods Refillery have whipped up recipes for apple rings and scrolls. The latter will help tame your Cinnabon cravings, too. And, if you'd like to try the brand's cashew coconut and Not Tella spreas as well, you can nab the trio in a three-pack. The Wholefoods Refillery's cinnamon donut spread is available to purchase for $14 per jar via its website.
