UPDATE, September 1, 2021: Due to Brisbane's COVID-19 restrictions in July, The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever 2021 was rescheduled, and will now take place on Saturday, September 4. This article has been updated to reflect that change. In 2013, 300 people danced to Kate Bush's' 'Wuthering Heights' in a field — and in 2021, the idea is back and bigger than ever. Yes, The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever is happening in Brisbane on Saturday, September 4. Yes, everyone should be dressed as Kate Bush, complete with a red dress, red stockings and black belt (men, that means you as well). On the day, a clowder (that's the collective noun for Kate Bushes, just FYI) will descend upon Milton and copy Bush's swaying, kicky dance in unison just for the pure joy of it. Support for this weird and wonderful outing has been widespread, and Kate Bush fans from around the world have been inspired to create events in their home cities. So get your gear together (dressmakers are usually flooded with orders for the day) and ready yourself to roll and fall in green, out on the wily, windy moors of Frew Park. If you need an incentive — other than the event itself, of course — it's now 43 years since the song was first released.
Eating hot dogs New York-style means tucking into dirty water dogs. The liquid they're heated in comes seasoned and spiced, hence the name, and they're one of the Big Apple's street-vendor specialities. So, when restaurateurs Bonnie Shearston and Tom Sanceau decided to open a NYC-inspired burger bar at Portside, and to add more than just burgs to the menu, of course they ensured that the humble dirty water dog is on offer. Dumbo's features two franks on soft buns topped with onions and yellow mustard. First announced mid-2024 and now open in Hamilton, Dumbo wears its love of New York right there in its name. Its moniker hails from the Brooklyn neighbourhood, aka Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass. The food naturally follows suit, serving up more dishes that'll make you think that you've headed to the US — all in a 121-square-metre space opposite 2023 arrival Fosh. The combination of NYC street food and burgers, a laneway, and Shearston and Sanceau first gave Brisbane Red Hook, with the Gresham Lane favourite launching in 2014 and satisfying River City tastebuds ever since. Accordingly, the pair are in familiar territory, just in a different part of town. They're asking one of the best questions that the hospitality industry can inspire, too. What tops one eatery from the duo throwing it back to the Big Apple? Two, naturally. Also behind Ruby, My Dear in Newstead — and with a past lineup of ventures spanning Coppa Spuntino, London Fields, Canvas Club and Pollen as well — Shearston and Sanceau have joined the influx of venues that are making Portside Wharf their home. The inner-north precinct's current $20-million revamp also saw Rise Bakery, Rosé Gelateria and Birds Nest Yakitori set up shop at the Hamilton spot in 2023. Portside Social, a gastropub from the Newstead Social crew, is a recent addition. The Ballpark Portside is another, with the fellow American-themed hangout, which features its own batting cages, also dishing up Dumbo's burgers. That gives diners after a taste of Shearston and Sanceau's latest joint two Hamilton spots to visit. At Dumbo itself, not just NYC but 90s NYC is the key influence — although with meals named Grandmaster Flash (a burger with beef, lettuce, tomato, ketchup and smokey mayonnaise) and Uptown Funk (beef, cheese, gorgonzola, bacon, caramelised onions and Dumbo's own sticky glaze), it's also taking cues from decades before and after. For both dining in and taking away, the menu spans Brooklyn cheeseburgers, plus the namesake burg (with double smashed patties, grilled onions, American cheese, special sauce and pickles). All beef burgers come with a choice of smashed or thick patties. There's four types of chicken burger as well, made with either grilled or southern fried chook, plus two plant-based burgers — one named after Wu-Tang Clan's RZA. Or, opt for either chicken and cauliflower wings, mac 'n' cheese balls, fries done three ways (salt and vinegar, bacon and cheese, and chilli cheese and brisket), poppy lox or pastrami bagels, and chopped beef and cheese heroes. With a fish sando, chicken and waffles, and a champignon po'boy also on the lineup, there's plenty to tempt tastebuds. And that's before picking from ice cream cookie sandos, waffles and thick malt shakes for dessert. Craft beers from both local and international breweries will help wash down your meal. Among the sips, so will spirits and wine. "The concept behind Dumbo is to bring a slice of New York's bustling laneway and bar culture to Brisbane's Northshore. Guests can expect a more-sophisticated and elevated take on a traditional burger restaurant, with its design echoing the charm of New York's 90s dining scene, and providing a welcoming space for people to catch-up, unwind and connect," explained Shearston when the venue was initially announced. "New York street food and burgers have always had a way of bringing people together, which is what we are wanting to achieve at Portside Wharf with Dumbo." "We have operated Dumbo's sister venue Red Hook in the CBD on Creek Street for more than a decade. We wanted to continue Red Hook's legacy and build on its offering, which has been loved by so many people over the years, by opening a similar concept restaurant with a unique style and flair," added Sanceau. Find Dumbo at 37c Harbour Road, Hamilton — open from 11.30am–9pm Monday–Thursday, 11.30am–11pm Friday–Saturday and 11.30am–4pm Sunday. Head to the eatery's website for further details.
Woolloongabba's South City Square precinct keeps getting bigger — and before it scores Australia's first Angelika Film Centre, and then a two-level brewpub with a Mad Men-themed chophouse, it has just welcomed in a new hole-in-the-wall joint. Meet Los Felix Taco Stand, which heroes Southern Californian-style Mexican dishes as paired with mezcal, tequila and margaritas. Now open and trading from lunch through to dinner five days a week — from Wednesday–Sunday — Los Felix is The Talisman Group's latest venture, too. The hospitality company is mighty fond of this patch of Logan Road, with the aforementioned The Wright House set to become part of its stable, alongside already-existing Italian bar and eatery Sasso, Chinese Peruvian joint Casa Chow, Palm Springs-inspired gin-pouring garden bar Purple Palm, and European-influenced wine bar and wine shop South City Wine — and now this. Taco fans can stop by for an openair bite, choosing from a menu overseen by Talisman's Head Chef Gabriele Di Landri, who has teamed up with San Miguel de Allende-born chef Aldo Lara. The latter is currently Head Chef at Sydney's hatted The Dolphin Hotel, and is known for consulting for Australian Mexican restaurants (see also: Carbón, Sonora and Santa Catarina). Here, he's also taking inspiration from Tijuana. Those tacos come served in soft corn tortillas with six varieties of fillings, starting with carne asada with guacamole and red onion, Baja-style beer battered snapper with chipotle mayonnaise, and orange confit pork carnitas with jalapeños. There's also lamb shoulder barbacoa, chipotle-style chicken tinga with shaved cabbage and pickled onion, and portobello mushroom with smoked mayo and then more mushrooms — wild and pickled — as well. Tuna aguachile tostadas, guacamole and chips, and Tijuana loaded fries — which includes chipotle mayo, pickled jalapeños and bacon — are similarly on offer. And for dessert, there's churros dusted with cinnamon sugar, then paired with ancho-infused chocolate sauce. To wash all of the above down, diners can pick from those aforementioned spirits and margs — which come in classic, Tommy's and frozen varieties — plus beers from Mexico and soft drinks. Find Los Felix Taco Stand at South City Square, 148 Logan Road, Woolloongabba — open 12–8pm Wednesday–Saturday and 12–6pm Sunday.
National Reconciliation Week is here for 2022, running from Friday, May 27–Friday, June 3 — and The Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation and Australian clothing label Deus Ex Machina have just the threads for the occasion. Collaborating to raise awareness about the ALNF's efforts to transform and empower First Nations communities around the country via literacy, language and education, the two organisations have teamed up on a new range of 'Literacy Is Freedom' t-shirts. And, as well as adding to your wardrobe, they'll help you support Indigenous Aussies as well. On sale from today, Friday, May 27, the limited-edition shirts come in black and white, both featuring the same 'Literacy Is Freedom' logo on the front. Printed upon 100% cotton, that design emulates the colours and format of the Aboriginal Flag. But, it's the fact that 100% of the profits from the tees are going to the ALNF's work with First Nations communities that's even more exciting. To launch the shirts, the ALNF and Deus Ex Machina have launched a campaign featuring a heap of familiar faces — including ALNF ambassadors — all decked out in the new gear. Doing the honours: everyone from AFL legends Adam Goodes and Lance Franklin through to ex-footballer and ABC News Breakfast sports reporter Tony Armstrong, plus Baker Boy, Casey Donovan, Brooke Blurton, Isaiah Firebrace and Hugo Weaving. The list goes on, with Michala Banas, Isaiah Firebrace, Benjamin Law, and Chloe Zuel and the cast of Hamilton all involved, too. And, so are Miriam Margolyes, Tim Minchin, Asher Keddie, Vincent Fantauzzo, Virginia Gay, Jesinta Franklin, Nathan McGuire, Luke Carroll, Clare Bowditch, Eddie Perfect, Zoe Norton Lodge, Alan Brough, Narelda Jacobs and Zindzi Okenyo. If you're now keen to slip on a tee and help a fantastic cause, you'll find them on sale for $59.99 from David Jones online, in-store at select David Jones locations, and in-store at Deus Ex Machina Camperdown and Good Ways Deli Redfern. "We need collaboration, bravery and commitment if we want to pave the way for a brighter future for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities," said ALNF Co-Founder and Executive Director Kim Kelly, launching the shirts — and the campaign. "We are excited to be partnering with an iconic Australian brand, standing with us and supporting our goal to give every single Australian a voice through literacy, language and education. Reconciliation is everybody's responsibility, and it's an important time for us all to reflect on what we can do to be part of the change. The simple act of buying and wearing this powerful t-shirt contributes to the creation of a fairer and more just Australia," Kelly continued. Deus Ex Machina and The Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation's 'Literacy Is Freedom' shirts cost $59.99, and can be purchased at David Jones online, in-store at select David Jones locations, and in-store at Deus Ex Machina Camperdown and Good Ways Deli Redfern. For more information about the ALNF, head to its website.
After the year we've had, some relaxation time is just what we all need. And while putting on a face mask or body scrub is a great way unwind, a good skin care routine — with natural, locally sourced and cruelty-free skincare products — can often be hard to come across or too expensive. Body Blendz is an Australian owned skincare company that produces vegan skincare products that are not tested on animals — and it's offering a huge discount on its whole range this week. Its selection of face masks and body scrubs are designed to improve circulation and reduce inflammation and blemishes on your skin. The brand's best seller is its range of coffee scrubs designed for full-body exfoliation. The coffee scrubs come in four varieties: coco luxe, sugar glow, coffee buff and vanilla blush. Up until Tuesday, December 29, you can pick up 30 percent off everything on the Body Blendz store. Just head online, select what you want and then enter the discount code 'END2020' at the checkout to receive the discount. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
Every year since 2013, QPAC has thrown open its doors to an annual celebration of First Nations culture. Via a lineup of performances, workshops and conversations, Clancestry delves into traditional and contemporary creative endeavours, showcasing the works of Indigenous Australians. Whether you're keen to see a stellar theatre production or listen to tunes, the 2023 festival features another diverse lineup of events from Wednesday, November 8–Sunday, November 12 — and with a hefty lineup of contributors. More than 100 First Nations artists are supported by the fest, which proves the case each year, including with Clancestry reaching its tenth anniversary in 2023. Highlights include opening ceremony First Gathering, plus performances William Barton: Sky Songs and Song Circle, with the latter featuring Shane Howard, Troy Cassar-Daley, Dan Sultan, Neil Murray and Sara Storer — and with stories a focus as much of songs. Or, via Emily Wells' Face to Face, attendees can catch a drama about two women disconnected from Country, in a new season of the production that first premiered at Metro Arts in 2022. At the South Bank Cultural Forecourt outside QPAC, a Festival Ground site is popping up to host First Nations music by sunset on the Mob Music Stage. On the lineup: The Andrew Gurruwiwi Band, J-MILLA, Cloe Tarere, Tjaka, BIRDZ, Fred Leone and more. If you fancy learning a new skill, weaving workshops that'll get you using recycled materials are on the agenda on Saturday, November 11–Sunday, November 12. And for families, theatre show Bubs and Cuzzies promises an all-ages delight.
Already home to Vietnamese food hall Fat Noodle and upmarket steakhouse Black Hide by Gambaro, the Treasury Brisbane is expanding its food range — with potstickers, dim sum, barbecued meats and other Cantonese-style food. As first announced last month, the Brisbane CBD spot has welcomed Mei Wei Dumplings, with the new hawker-style eatery setting up shop on the basement level. Head underground every day of the week to eat your way through plenty of Mei Wei's titular dish — at the chain's second location, with its first restaurant already a favourite at The Star Gold Coast. Plus, in good news for Brisbanites hankering for some dumplings long after dinner time, the eatery is open until 11pm weekends and 1am on Fridays and Saturdays. Whether you like your dumplings fried or steamed — and whether you're dropping by for lunch, an after-work meal of a late-night bite, you'll find a variety of flavours on offer. Prawn dumplings, vegetable dumplings and three varieties of potstickers (beef, chicken and pork) are all on the menu, as are other dim sum staples such as spring rolls, barbecue pork buns and xiao long bao. Also on the lineup: char siu pork, crispy pork belly and Cantonese crispy duck, as part of an extended Brisbane-only selection filled with new signature dishes. If you can't choose between barbecued options, there's also a combination platter. And just like Mei Wei's Gold Coast site, there's a range of wok-cooked options, including sichuan beef, kung pao chicken and Singapore-style curry rice noodle. The restaurant also boasts a separate congee menu, with the rice porridge coming topped with the likes of pork and preserved egg, seafood, or chicken and mushroom. Design-wise, Mei Wei's Brisbane eatery includes elements of Chinese design while also taking into consideration the Treasury's 134-year history. And, in terms of places to sit, you can choose between booths, benches and tables. If you're already thinking about gathering the gang for dumplings next time you're in the vicinity of the casino, Mei Wei also features a 14-person private dining room. And, patrons can enter via a separate George Street entrance, rather than through the Treasury. Find Mei Wei Dumplings at Treasury Brisbane, corner of Queen and George streets, Brisbane — open Sunday–Thursday 11am–11pm and Friday–Saturday 11am–1am.
Whether you're working in the CBD or hanging out at South Bank, crossing from one side of the Brisbane River to the other is a straightforward prospect, especially if you're making the trip on foot. No fewer than five bridges for pedestrians are located between Hale Street and Gardens Point; however, that's clearly not enough, with the busy stretch of the river about to gain another crossover. Proposed as part of the Queen's Wharf development, the Neville Bonner Bridge will reach from the new precinct over to the Cultural Centre Forecourt. Earmarked solely for foot traffic and named after the country's first Indigenous Australian parliamentarian, it'll link Queen's Wharf's restaurants, bars and retail hub with South Bank's venues, plus the surrounding parklands. Construction and opening dates haven't been revealed, but the Queensland Government has just announced that the tender for the project will soon be unveiled, meaning that work could be underway sooner rather than later. An exact cost for the bridge hasn't been revealed either, but, speaking to The Courier-Mail, Tourism Minister Kate Jones noted that it's expected to range around the $100 million mark. She also advised that it would be paid for by the consortium behind Queen's Wharf — Destination Brisbane Consortium — rather than taxpayers. Of course, if you're thinking the obvious — that is, do we really need another piece of cement crossing the river in a part of city that already has plenty of them? — you're not alone. The Neville Bonner Bridge will sit between the Victoria Bridge and the Goodwill Bridge, after all. The former runs from QPAC to the Treasury Casino, is open to cars, buses, bikes and folks just using their legs, and is located incredibly close to the new bridge (particularly its southern section). The latter is already purely for pedestrians, spanning from the other end of South Bank over to the Queensland University of Technology. As for Brisbane's other three bridges with pedestrian access in the area, they're all nearby too — the foot traffic-only Kurilpa Bridge runs from the Gallery of Modern Art over to Tank Street, the mixed-use William Jolly Bridge links Grey Street with North Quay, and the Go Between Bridge, which caters for vehicles, cyclists and walkers, runs from Merivale and Cordelia Streets in West End to Hale Street in Milton. Perhaps the idea is for Brisbanites to spend more time walking across bridges, and less time walking to get to one? For further details about the Neville Bonner Bridge, visit the Queen's Wharf development website. We'll keep you updated with an opening date when we have one.
If there's one thing that Breath just had to perfect, it's something that everyone can relate to: the experience of truly appreciating the ocean's wonders for the first time. No matter when it strikes, the feeling hits with the power of a wave — whether it inspires you to jump into the sea, bake by the shore or just stare at the water in awe. Adapting Tim Winton's award-winning Australian novel for the screen, Breath conveys this moment in a simple but potent fashion, through the twinkle in two teenagers' eyes and an excited exclamation. "I'll surf that one day. You dare me? I dare you to dare me!" 14-year-old Loonie (Ben Spence) tells his 13-year-old best mate Pikelet (Samson Coulter). They've just hitched a ride from their inland home town to the coast nearby and, from the look on their faces, they've found their calling. In narration provided by Winton himself, Breath also describes the sea's allure in more poetic terms. "Never had I seen something so beautiful, so pointless and elegant, as if dancing on water was the best thing a man could do," says the author as the voice of an adult Pikelet. But the movie doesn't just saddle its characters with relaying this perspective. Thanks to the expert assistance of water cinematographer Rick Rifici (Storm Surfers 3D, Drift), Breath boasts jaw-dropping surf footage that captures the full majesty of the ocean. Grey might come in 50 shades (or so we're told), but there are just as many hues of blue in Simon Baker's first film as a director, most of them found in Western Australia's stunning waters. After locking their sights on the enticing waves in all of their crashing, thrashing glory, Pikelet and Loonie are keen to pursue their newfound passion. It's the 1970s and, while the duo are largely left to do what they please by their parents (played by Richard Roxburgh and Rachael Blake as Mr and Mrs Pike, and Jacek Koman as Mr Loon), surfing represents the kind of freedom and danger these eager teens equate with finally growing up. When they're not rustling up the cash to buy boards, they're convincing reluctant, reclusive ex-professional surfer Sando (Baker) to show them the ropes. Soon, however, Pikelet's attention is split — between catching bigger and bigger breaks with Loonie and his new idol, and spending time with Sando's injured aerial skier wife Eva (Elizabeth Debicki). Throwing its youthful protagonists into complex waters both figuratively and literally, Breath makes the most of its obvious metaphor. The movie's textured, detailed ocean imagery speaks to the sea's threats as much as its thrills, and really couldn't better encapsulate Pikelet's seething inner turmoil. In each meticulous, expressive shot, the character's restless energy, his desire to transcend his otherwise ordinary life, and his need to prove himself, all come to the fore. And while the parallels between the water's ebbs and flows and the film's exploration of one of Winton's favourite topics — blossoming masculinity — aren't particularly subtle, pairing them together is still effective on a visual, emotional and thematic level. If Breath's images swell with feeling, then so too does its cast, with Baker coaxing fine-tuned performances out of his small ensemble. While The Mentalist star himself is quiet and contemplative in his return to Australia's film industry after nearly two decades, and Debicki finds the line between no-nonsense and vulnerable, Coulter and Spence bring the film to life with the same force as the curling sea seen so often throughout the movie. The young talents are actually surfers who learned to act, rather than vice versa, and their portrayals always remain genuine and naturalistic. Whether Pikelet and Loonie are splashing around, testing the boundaries of their friendship, or grappling with what it means to become a man, the teenage newcomers ensure this soulful, lyrical picture never merely wallows in familiar coming-of-age waters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY8KFlOm7qo
As both a comedian and a dramatic actor, Bob Odenkirk has earned a lifetime's worth of well-deserved praise. Writing for Saturday Night Live and starring in Mr Show with Bob and David each sit on his resume, as does his pivotal part in Breaking Bad and lead role in the exceptional Better Call Saul. But in Nobody, Odenkirk highlights a facet of his work that's easy to overlook. Jumping into a new genre, he makes viewers realise a truth that cuts to the heart of his talents. Every actor wants to be the person that can't be replaced, and to turn in the type of performances that no one can emulate; however, only the very best, including Odenkirk, manage exactly that. A movie so forged from the John Wick mould that it's penned by the same screenwriter — and boasts the first film's co-director David Leitch (Atomic Blonde) as a producer, too — Nobody could've featured any existing action go-to. It could've been an easy knockoff of well-known hit, joining the swathe of direct-to-video and -streaming titles that use that very template. It could've given Bruce Willis his next role to sleepwalk through, added yet another Taken-style thriller to Liam Neeson's resume or proven one of Nicolas Cage's more straightforward vehicles of late. Thankfully, though, Nobody is all about the ever-watchable Odenkirk and his peerless and compelling ability to play slippery characters. When Nobody begins, Hutch Mansell's (Odenkirk) life has become such a routine that his weeks all unfurl in the same fashion. Plodding through a sexless marriage to real estate agent Becca (Connie Nielsen, Wonder Woman 1984), and barely paid any notice by his teenage son Blake (Gage Munroe, Guest of Honour) and younger daughter Abby (debutant Paisley Cadorath), he catches public transport to his manufacturing company job every weekday, always puts the bins out too late for the garbage truck on Tuesday mornings, and usually earns little more than polite smiles from his family while he's cooking them breakfast that they fail to eat. Then, the Mansells' suburban home is randomly burgled. Hutch confronts the thieves in the act, has a chance to swing a golf club their way, yet holds back. But when Abby notices that her beloved cat bracelet is missing in the aftermath, he decides to take action — a choice that leads him to an unrelated bus filled with obnoxious guys hassling a female passenger, and eventually sees unhinged Russian mobster Yulian Kuznetsov (Aleksey Serebryakov, Leviathan) threatening everything that Hutch holds dear. Derek Kolstad's script — his first feature screenplay beyond the John Wick franchise — teases that there's more to its protagonist's story right from the outset. He communicates with his in-hiding brother (RZA, The Dead Don't Die) via radio, for starters, and his elderly father (Christopher Lloyd, I Am Not a Serial Killer) has a gun and multiple forms of ID stowed away in the closet at his retirement home. But Nobody isn't a twist-filled thriller that snakes, weaves and tries to keep its audience guessing. Lean and economical across its swiftly flowing 92-minute running time, it instead pairs frenetic action scenes with a character study. Yes, the stellar John Wick movies do the same, but don't underestimate the difference that Odenkirk makes. Cartoonishness can come with the territory when a film unleashes punch after punch, and Nobody is rarely subtle, except where its star is involved. On the small screen, he's currently part of the best tragedy there is, with viewers watching as the enterprising Jimmy McGill becomes Breaking Bad's shady Saul Goodman. Here, he gives the same amount of flesh to a seeming mild-mannered everyman with a complicated background, simple dreams and a formidable battle to reconcile the former with the latter. Also helpful: Odenkirk's ability to deliver the line "give me the kitty-cat bracelet" without it ever sounding like a joke. With dialogue like that, Nobody could've quickly slid into parody, but that's never Kolstad and director Ilya Naishuller's (Hardcore Henry) vibe. While there's a knowing undercurrent to the film as it keeps thrusting its various frays to the fore, that mood — like so much in this cinematic cavalcade of violence — is intricately tied to Odenkirk. Indeed, Nobody constantly has fun with its casting, riffing on its star's unlikely addition to its genre in multiple ways. Some are visual and blatant. Odenkirk doesn't resemble Hollywood's typical action hero, after all. Nobody isn't a particularly contemplative movie, but it also emphasises how dismissively Hutch is treated by everyone in his orbit, despite secretly possessing skills that his detractors can only fantasise about. Of course, fans already acquainted with Odenkirk's knack for complex characters will instantly spy the texture to Hutch, who thankfully never joins the ranks of toxically pent-up men stereotypically pushed to their supposed breaking points. Hutch is barely interested in being a vigilante, in fact. He doesn't snap in a frenzy. Rather, he just wants to return to the one thing that he's always been good at, especially after spending a couple of decades in a rut. Again and again, Odenkirk is both essential and crucial to Nobody — but its fight choreography was always going to stand out. In line with its central character, all of the movie's attacks prove resourceful instead of slick. They're exceptionally, elaborately and engagingly executed, including by its star, who does most of his own stunts; however, they're also somehow both scrappy and dynamic. Naishuller doesn't skimp on bloodshed or style, though. He wants every over-the-top showdown to strike a chord, and he gets his wish. But it's the first big confrontation, on that bus, that Nobody will forever be remembered for. As well as being kinetically yet tightly shot and staged, it manages what Odenkirk does so well, and repeatedly: anchoring this gleefully OTT symphony of brutality in the everyday and commonplace. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngy7grwzFTw
Brisbane's busy market scene loves an occasion. Mother's Day markets, winter markets, Christmas in July markets, spring markets, festive markets, Halloween markets — this city has seen them all, including in past years, and will continue to do so. Accordingly, it should come as zero surprise that Easter markets are also a thing around town, including at Redcliffe's regular excuse to get shopping by the sea. Indeed, only the Redcliffe Markets Easter Weekend Pop-Up Market will take you browsing and buying by the Redcliffe jetty. Fancy an excuse to eat sweet treats at an ace waterside location? That's on offer from 8am–2pm on Friday, April 18, 2025 and again from the same times on Sunday, April 20, 2025. Also on the bill: over 200 market stalls, live tunes, Easter bunnies (well, folks in the appropriate suits) hopping around, viewing the start of the Brisbane-to-Gladstone yacht race, and gifts and homewares to shop. And, among that heap of food stalls serving up bites to eat, plus drinks, there'll be everything from seafood and macrons to pizza and wagyu wraps — and a big focus on dessert. Yes, chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate features heavily. Entry is free, but you'll want your wallet for all that browsing and buying.
What's better than one place where you can blow off steam by hurling sharp blades at a target? Two such establishments, obviously. Not that long ago, Brisbane didn't have any axe-throwing joints — and now it's about to welcome its second with the arrival of Maniax. Three months after Lumber Punks expanded from the Gold Coast to Brissie, fellow weapon-flinging outfit Maniax is adding a Queensland venture to its existing Sydney and Melbourne empire. Opening on Doggett Street in Newstead on Saturday, November 10, the latter might be playing catch-up in Brisbane, but it was actually in the Australian axe-throwing game first, with its original Sydney digs launching back in 2014. Finally making its way up north, Maniax is bringing its range of blade-hurtling activities along with it — think solo or small group sessions, axe-throwing events for larger parties, date night options (because the couple that hurls hatchets together stays together, clearly) and even an eight-week competitive league. The different events all run for at least two hours, but take place on different nights. Every second Friday evening is all about couples, Monday to Wednesday will be dedicated to league comps, while solo and small group sessions are held on the last Saturday of every month. Bookings are essential — in fact, you can't just walk in and take part without a reservation — and as for how it all works, it's comparable to darts. Basically, you chuck axes at a board and try to hit a bullseye. Don't even know the first thing about picking up a hatchet? That's completely to be expected, with lessons included in every session, as well as in the league competition. Axe-throwing experts will also be on hand to help even when you think you've mastered the basics. The venue, which is in the process of being fitted out now, also features safety barriers to protect everyone — and, to the surprise of no one, is a completely alcohol-free affair. You can buy soft drinks, water and some snacks onsite, and you're welcome to bring your own too. And if you suddenly become an axe-throwing fanatic, Maniax also has its own line of merchandise. Find Maniax at 52a Doggett Street, Newstead from Saturday, November 10. Visit the venue's website for further details and to make a booking.
Thirsty? If you're not now, you will be once you've read this. That's the only appropriate reaction to a festival of beer, after all. Just think of all the amber liquids and foamy goodness. Okay, enough drooling; here are the important details that every ale-lover needs. When Beer Fest On the Grass returns for its whopping tenth year from 11am on Saturday, July 29, more than 300 beers and ciders will be on offer. To line your stomach, there'll also be a range of international food trucks. Basically, if there's a beer heaven, this is it. Yes, Eatons Hill Hotel has been hosting this tipple-fuelled shindig for a decade — and will once again celebrate drinking, eating and enjoying a day in Brisbane's glorious outdoors. If you're serious about your beverages, you'll want to taste, sip, sample and chat to folks from a huge selection of breweries. And, if you're serious about fun, you'll want to gather some mates and take part in the event's other fun activities — in previous years, there's been an inflatable beer obstacle course, a keg-stacking comp and a life-sized game of foosball. Tickets are on sale now, with second-release entry starting at $23.80. Top image: Brisbane Beer Fest. Updated July 24, 2023.
If you're a longtime Brisbanite, you are probably well acquainted with the sandwiches at Dannyboys. Owner Danny McKennariey opened the original Dannyboys back in 2011 and it quickly grew a bit of a cult following thanks to its epic, made-to-order sandwiches. There are a whopping 24 different sandwiches to choose from, all served on a good ol' fashioned crusty baguette (or you could swap to a lettuce wrap if you'd prefer). There are also flatgrills, brekkie rolls, soups and fries, too. We won't distract you further by talking about the Big Porky Roll or the Cuban Flatgrill (both firm winners, in our humble opinion). Instead, we are going to let you in on the solid dessert selection available for takeaway and delivery. Think jumbo cookies that are promised to be 'bigger than your hand', chocolate caramel brownies and puppy chow — not dog food, but instead a sugary snack mix of cereal, chocolate and peanut butter. Dannyboys also bakes cupcakes daily, so give the store a quick ring to find out which flavour the team whipped up this morning. If it's the key lime pie ones, then you are truly blessed.
Get ready for the adrenaline-fuelled action of watching sailing's greatest athletes race on Sydney Harbour in Australia Sail Grand Prix this summer. To be right in the heart of the action, head to Waterfront Premium - Shark Island for the best land-based view of the race in the middle of Sydney Harbour. Tickets start at $230 for adults and includes return ferry transfers from SailGP Village at Barangaroo, a gourmet picnic hamper, premium open bar, big screens for action replays and live commentary. If you'd prefer to watch the race from the water, hop on one of the official spectator boats courtesy of Captain Cook Cruises. On-Water Access tickets allow you to bring your own food and purchase beverages from the bar while you soak up include an incredible view of the race and live commentary. If you want to elevate your day on the harbour, choose the premium package that includes a buffet and an open bar. Finally, if you've got your own boat, you can register to the free 'Bring Your Own Boat' program to receive live updates from race management from your preferred spot on the water with friends. Don't forget, you can also check out the SailGP Village in Barangaroo which will host events for all sailing fans across the two days of racing. Ready for a thrilling day on the beautiful Sydney Harbour? Head to the Australia Sail Grand Prix, Sydney from Friday, December 17–Saturday, December 18. For more information and to book, visit the website.
On Australia's list of big things, the Big Pineapple is among the most famous. It's big. It's a pineapple. It's heritage-listed Queensland icon. It's located on the Sunshine Coast surrounded by pineapple fields. Basically, what's not to love? It's not merely a reason to head to Nambour to gawk at over-sized tropical fruit, though. Back in 2013, it also became home to a music festival. Initially, the Big Pineapple Festival ran annually. At present, it was last held in 2021. The event's three-year hiatus is coming to an end, however, with organisers announcing that the fest will return in October 2024. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Big Pineapple Festival (@bigpineapplefestival) No specific date has been revealed as yet for this spring, and there's no lineup so far, but the fest's website says it all: "we're back baby!". The Big Pineapple Festival's site and socials have also said far more than just those three words about the event's comeback. So, you can start looking forward to a Woombye fest that'll take over the location's natural amphitheatres, get folks pitching a tent at the 4000-person campground, and also span workshops and art installations in a relaxed setting, too. The fest has always drawn a crowd, selling out in its very first year and plenty of times since. In 2021, Alison Wonderland and Peking Duk headlined, leading a lineup that unfurled top-notch entertainment across four stages. Also included at past festivals: a ferris wheel, food stalls aplenty, arts, crafts and other activities, and camping — all in the shadow of a giant pineapple that's the Sunshine Coast's biggest tourist attraction. The Big Pineapple Festival's return is welcome news at a time when the Australian music scene has been seeing cancellations, rather than comebacks. Tasmania's Mona Foma said farewell forever after its 2024 event, both Splendour in the Grass and Groovin the Moo scrapped their 2024 festivals mere weeks after announcing their lineups, Falls Festival took summer 2023–24 off, Summergrounds Music Festival at Sydney Festival was cancelled and This That hasn't gone ahead for a couple of years now. [caption id="attachment_944026" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Big Pineapple, Alpha via Flickr[/caption] The Big Pineapple Festival will return in October 2024, with an exact date yet to be announced. We'll update you with more details when they're revealed — keep an eye on the fest's website, Facebook and Instagram in the interim. Images: Claudia Ciapocha / Charlie Hardy..
Once upon a time, a man's beard represented the ultimate in raw masculinity and virility. Alas, these days beards have come to be worn by city dwellers as a kind of ironic badge of honour, much like a daggy old jumper or high-top Converse shoes. But fear not, Adelaide's favourite facially furry friends, The Beards, are claiming it back. The quartet are taking their bearded odyssey to the world with the launch of their first global tour across North America, Europe and Australia. The Beards see themselves as more than simply hairy entertainers but also as prophets of the immortal message proclaimed in their most recent album that "having a beard is the new not having a beard". Call them a one-joke concept if you will, but The Beards have found themselves a pretty bloody funny joke. And they have the sort of indie success to prove it as well. With over 2 million hits on their YouTube channel, a spot on the 2011 Triple J Hottest 100 and sold-out shows across the country, The Beards have fashioned the sort of cult following that many a clean-shaven artist can only dream of.
UPDATE, June 10, 2022: Hustlers is available to stream via Stan, Netflix, Google Play, YouTube Movies, Prime Video and iTunes. Kudos to the bright minds behind Hustlers' many needle drops. When the film's trailer hit, it used Cardi B's 'Money' as its soundtrack — not only nodding to the rapper's co-starring status, but capturing the movie's materialistic vibe with its sultry lyrics about diamonds, jets and oh-so-much cash. In the picture itself, Janet Jackson's 'Control' initially does a similar job, opening the feature with a statement that really couldn't sum up its characters better. While they're literally rolling around in moolah until the global financial crisis hits, Hustlers' resourceful strippers are always at the mercy of their banker clientele. Forced to get creative when times get tough, they turn the tables on the guys usually throwing notes their way, hatching quite the entrepreneurial scheme to reclaim their bodies, lives and independence. The pesky little fact that, by drugging well-off men, running up huge charges on their credit cards and pocketing the profits, these gals are as shady as their Wall Street marks — well, Hustlers has a music cue for that also. It might seem obvious to introduce Jennifer Lopez's Ramona, the mastermind of the group, to the sounds of Fiona Apple's 'Criminal'; however, her eye-catching entrance shows that her allure is as seductive as the song's beat. Elsewhere, the film lets its characters scream in delight to Britney's 'Gimme More' and serenade Usher (as himself) to his own 'Love in the Club'. It uses Lorde's 'Royals' to telling effect, too. These are knowing, savvy music choices in a picture that's always coolly calculating. To truly unpack this real-life tale of bling-coveting erotic dancers scamming the financiers who just fleeced a nation, it needs to be. Experienced at disrobing on the job, but nervous when she moves to a new New York strip joint in 2007, Dorothy (Crazy Rich Asians' Constance Wu) hardly follows the film's lead — at first. Known as Destiny on stage, she's barely getting by until she becomes as bewitched by Ramona as all the guys around her. Standing out among the other dancers (including not just Cardi B, but Lizzo), their double-act lights plenty of clients' fires and keeps the duo flush with cash. Then, post-GFC, the dollar bills stop raining from the sky. Fast forward to 2014, and Dorothy is relaying the details to Elizabeth (Julia Stiles), who's writing about the strippers' escapades. More than just a framing device, the pair's chats have a basis in actual events, with writer/director Lorene Scafaria (The Meddler) adapting Hustlers from a 2015 New York magazine article. It's not the heady, dancing heyday that Elizabeth is most interested in, however, and nor is the piece that Hustlers is inspired by. Rather, it's the hijinks that follow when Ramona concocts her pilfering plan. Aided by two other pals (Keke Palmer and Lili Reinhart), Dorothy and Ramona start living their wildest dreams — enjoying a level of wealth, excess, comfort, security and, yes, control that they've never experienced before. "I kept thinking there was some magic number," Dorothy notes as she tries to explain what the women got up to, how and why, although the film does a perceptive job of making that plain beyond her words. Playing out like a gender-flipped Magic Mike meets The Wolf of Wall Street, the movie doesn't turn its characters into heroes by any means. But, it saves its deepest savagery for another target: the money-hungry American dream that today's brand of corporation-favouring capitalism gleefully encourages and endorses. It's a delicate balancing act, thoughtfully interrogating Dorothy and company's story without glorifying their actions — and it's one that Hustlers nails. Like many a great heist and gangster flick before it, this upbeat crime drama eschews the simplicity of black-and-white morality. Aptly, given that it's constantly bathed in neon-lit hues, it avoids mere shades of grey, too. Here, all that glitters seems gold and silver, but it's really laden with chrome and encrusted with diamantes. Scafaria styles her whole picture in the same fashion, with its shining frames welcoming viewers in, then exposing the stark, seedy reality. The twist that makes Hustlers exceptionally astute as well as engaging and entertaining? While Dorothy and Ramona desperately want to gain control, they're still firmly steeped in a flimsy, male-defined world. Accordingly, their rise to the top was always going to prove fleeting and superficial — so the bonds they make and break along the way shape their story more than the cash, jewels and designer clothes. Hustlers never shies away from this fundamental truth, or from a warts-and-all depiction of its wily protagonists as well. It can't, and it's all the better for it. Of course, if Wu and the especially fantastic Lopez didn't ground this larger-than-life true story in fleshed-out characters, it'd all mean next to nothing. Thankfully, from its spicy narrative to its potent themes to its stellar performances, Hustlers both works the pole and packs an almighty punch.
When the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television anoints its picks for the best movies and TV shows of 2023, it'll do so in February 2024 on the Gold Coast. The country's night of nights is on the move to southeast Queensland, making its Sunshine State debut; however, a change of location isn't the only big offering. For the first time ever, the organisation is also hosting the AACTA Festival, a celebration of everything that the country puts on screens both silver and small. AACTA's gongs will be given out on two dates, starting with its Industry Awards on Thursday, February 8 and then hosting its usual glittering ceremony on Saturday, February 10. Around those occasions, running from Thursday, February 8–Sunday, February 11 at HOTA, Home of the Arts, AACTA Festival will be filled with talks, screenings and more featuring a swag of impressive names. If Talk to Me creeped its way onto your list of favourite Australian horror movies, directors Michael and Danny Philippou will be at AACTA Festival to dive into it. Warwick Thornton is also on the lineup to discuss The New Boy as part of the fest's 'meet the creators' events, as are the teams behind Limbo, Sweet As, Shayda and The Newsreader. Can't wait to see the Boy Swallows Universe TV series? It'll be out by February, so you'll have it fresh in your mind author Trent Dalton gets talking about it. And if you were a fan of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart either on the page or screen, Holly Ringland will also be chatting. Indeed, writers are a big focus, including Nick Earls, Lystra Rose, Mathew Condon, Richard Jameson, Tristan Michael Savage and Ben Hobson. Giving the event one of its international highlights, Lessons in Chemistry's Bonnie Garmus is on the bill as well. Also each massive highlights: behind-the-scenes explorations of The Matrix, the stunts of Mad Max: Fury Road and, for some more overseas flavour, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's animation. Or, enjoy a chat with Wellmania and The Way We Wore's Celeste Barber about her career, then find out more about the upcoming series High Country starting Leah Purcell (Wentworth), Aussie-made Robbie Williams biopic Better Man and the sequel to Mortal Kombat at their own dedicated talks. Before they get their own immersive experience in Brisbane, Bluey and Bingo will be doing a meet and greet — and, including a live-watch party for the AACTAs, a screening of 1906's The Story of the Kelly Gang, trivia, a Play School live event and a chat about music Baz Luhrmann's movies, there's plenty more joining them. In total, over 70 sessions form AACTA Festival, with most free to attend. AACTA nominees will also be taking part, although the details there can't be revealed until after exactly who is vying for a gong is announced on Saturday, December 9. "AACTA Festival is a must-attend event for anyone who lovesAustralian film, television, music, gaming, art and pop culture," said AACTA CEO Damian Trewhella, announcing the lineup. "We are excited to present more than 70 events over four days celebrating the excellence of our industry. From red carpet glamour to workshops and a special kids' lineup, it's an invitation for everyone to step into the magic of storytelling and creativity." AACTA Festival will run from Thursday, February 8–Sunday, February 11 at HOTA, Home of the Arts, 135 Bundall Road, Surfers Paradise Gold Coast. For further details, head to the fest's website. Boy Swallows Universe and Wellmania images courtesy of Netflix.
Something delightful is happening in cinemas across the country. After months spent empty, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are starting to reopen — spanning both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made over the past three months, including new releases, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Qn70iqo-4Q MONOS The relentlessness of modern life, the ongoing unrest in Colombia, and the ceaseless trials and tribulations that plague all teens facing adulthood — they all sit at the centre of stunning South America-set thriller Monos. Set in a camp of teen guerrillas, Alejandro Landes' third film follows gun-toting rebels that have barely said goodbye to childhood, but are still tasked with guarding an American hostage (The Outsider's Julianne Nicholson). Unsurprisingly, even with nothing around but fields, jungle, a cow to milk and occasional enemy fire, little goes according to plan. Engagingly lingering between a dark fairytale and a psychological treatise on war, combat and humanity's dog-eat-dog nature, the result is the definite standouts of the past year. From the eye-popping landscape cinematography and the needling tension of Mica Levi's score, to the commanding performance from the young cast, there's a reason that Monos proved a huge festival hit around the globe in 2019 — including winning Sundance's Special Jury Award — before finally releasing in Aussie cinemas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzqevBnUUZU&t=3s THE ASSISTANT After exploring the JonBenet Ramsey case not only with precision, but via a perceptive re-enactment technique that interrogated its impact — with excellent documentary Casting JonBenet the end result — trust Australian filmmaker Kitty Green to turn one of the biggest topics of the past few years into a compelling, unsettling, fiercely searing thriller. The subject: the culture of sexual harassment and sexually predatory behaviour in the entertainment industry. The context: #MeToo, obviously. Following a day in the professional life of an entry-level personal assistant, Jane (Ozark's Julia Garner), as she works for an unseen film production company head honcho, The Assistant unnerves by showing the routine, everyday nature of inappropriate workplace conduct, as well as the powerlessness of those both subjected and witness to it to stop it. As always in Green's films, every element is fine-tuned to evoke a strong and earned response — which, here, includes a grey colour palette, claustrophobic camerawork, a taut script, a commitment to authenticity and a devastatingly stellar performance by Garner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqO25i-XNEU THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD He's skewered British, American and Russian politics in The Thick of It, In the Loop, Veep and The Death of Stalin. This year, in the eerily prescient Avenue 5, he pondered what would happen if a group of people were confined on a cruise of sorts — a luxury space voyage — for an extended stretch of time. But, in period comedy mode, The Personal History of David Copperfield might just be Armando Iannucci's most delightful work yet. Indeed, playfully trifling with a Charles Dickens classic suits the writer/director. Boasting a charming performance by Dev Patel as the eponymous character, and also starring Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Peter Capaldi, Ben Whishaw and Game of Thrones' Gwendoline Christie, this is a fresh, very funny and sharp-witted rendering of the obvious literary source material. Recreating this tale of a Victorian-era young man cycling from wealth to poverty and back again, Iannucci and his frequent co-scribe Simon Blackwell take shrewd liberties with the story, while never letting issues of class, abuse, loss, corruption and the dog-eat-dog nature of capitalism slip from view. And, Iannucci's visual inventiveness — including the use of split screen and rear projection — also leaves an imprint. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVlPl0SXFiE BAIT When a film is described as 'textured', the term typically refers to its narrative, themes and emotional impact, with nothing smooth, shallow or straightforward evident. That applies to Mark Jenkin's Bait as it hones in on feuding Cornish fisherman siblings Martin (Edward Rowe) and Steven Ward (Giles King). Indeed, examining not only family in-fighting, but culture clashes, the growing chasm between tradition and modernity, and the effect of tourism on local residents of scenic spots, this is a rich, tense, complex and mesmerising affair that muses as deeply on blood ties as it does on gentrification. Jenkin's film also boasts ample visual texture, too. It's noticeable from the feature's first moments, is intrinsically linked to its tone, and proves utterly inescapable as the sea, craggy shorelines, twisted nets and gnarled ropes all fill the screen. And, as shot on location with a 16mm Bolex camera — and on black-and-white stock that the director hand-processed — Bait's look and feel is as important to the movie as anything else within its frames. In fact, paired with a noticeable penchant for close-ups that forces the audience to stare firmly at both people and objects, this stunning British feature couldn't make a bigger or more powerful aesthetic splash. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DOiI_zYQrs BELLBIRD Bruce (Cohen Holloway) has long since reached adulthood. And, for all of the garbage dump worker's life, his mother Beth (Annie Whittle) has provided a buffer between him and his stoic father Ross (Marshall Napier). When tragedy strikes, however, they're forced to not only face a future without her — including the minutiae of running their scenic Northland dairy farm — but to truly face and talk to each other in a meaningful way for the first real time. Marking the feature directorial debut of teacher-turned-filmmaker Hamish Bennett, made in the area he grew up in and following the same characters from his 2014 short film Ross & Beth, Bellbird explores a straightforward and well-traversed concept, with mourning no stranger to screens. That said, this patient, understated and gently humorous New Zealand drama is a soulful and thoughtful gem. As well as finding a wealth of depth in two men ill-equipped to confront their complicated emotions but given no choice but to try, this gorgeously shot and weightily performed feature matches Bruce and Ross' taciturn ways with an astute script that conveys more through silence than words. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BewCjGqefoQ LOVE SARAH Also focusing on connection and reflection sparked by grief, Love Sarah steps into another family attempting to cope with loss. In this case, the dearly departed is the titular chef — the estranged daughter of ex-circus performer Mimi (Celia Imrie), beloved mother of dancer Clarissa (Shannon Tarbet), and best friend and business partner of Isabella (Shelley Conn). When the latter decides to forge ahead with Sarah's plans to open a bakery, she realises that she can't do it without both Mimi and Clarissa's help. Also lending a hand: Sarah and Isabella's culinary school pal Matthew (Rupert Penry-Jones), who might be Clarissa's father. Directing her first feature, filmmaker Eliza Schroeder lets everything about Love Sarah play out as expected, including its soft hues, appetising cake and pastry shots, and exploration of renewed bonds and new opportunities in the face of life-altering change. The film is suitably sweet, of course, and always palatable; however it's far too happy to stick to the easiest recipe possible — with some plot strands overstressed to add extra drama, and one of the movie's more enticing and interesting narrative elements quickly introduced and then abandoned. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tzas-d8MgM THE WRETCHED For part of this year, when US cinemas were closed but some drive-ins were still open, The Wretched topped the American box office. In no other scenario would that have occurred, so consider the attention afforded Brett and Drew T Pierce's instantly familiar but always effective horror film one of the few silver linings of pandemic-inspired lockdowns. Set in a small coastal town, the siblings' slickly crafted feature follows teenager Ben (John-Paul Howard), who's visiting his divorced father Liam (Jamison Jones). As tends to happen in this type of creepfest, his arrival coincides with strange goings-on at the house next door — namely a sinister force that's wreaking havoc on his neighbours and threatening to spread its malevolence even further. Immediately recalling 80s-era spookiness (and clearly the product of writer/directors who've spent much of their lives watching scary flicks from the period), The Wretched perfects the genre's jumps and bumps with ease, as well as the filmmaking nuts and bolts. In terms of its supernatural storyline, though — and its witchy villain — it does lean heavily on cliches. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K4qawhyasA&feature=emb_logo A SON A tragic accident causes a long-kept secret to come to light — and sparks a series of difficult choices for a Tunisian struggling couple — in the tense and moving A Son. Despite that description, however, this isn't just an intimate drama about messy personal lives tested by heightened circumstances, although it definitely fits that bill. As well as chronicling the fallout when Aziz (Youssef Khemiri), the 11-year-old son of Fares (Sami Bouajila) and Meriem (Najla Ben Abdallah), is hit by a stray bullet during an on-the-road ambush by an armed group, debut filmmaker Mehdi Barsaoui examines the societal underpinnings deepening the family's troubles. Aziz is in dire need of a liver transplant in the aftermath of the attack, but the quest to find a donor is complicated due to cultural, religious and political reasons, as well as a revelation that rocks Meriem and Fares' marriage. Playing parents and partners pushed to their limits, Bouajila and Abdallah are superb. And, while some of the movie hits predicable narrative beats, Barsaoui isn't afraid to veer in confronting directions, or to peer intently at the state of Tunisia today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq2n6LJrrZY THE BOOKSELLERS Calling all bibliophiles — whether your bookshelves are bulging, you've spent far too much of your life in bookstores or you've always dreamed about turning your passion for reading into your profession. Focusing on New York's rare booksellers, as well as the ups and downs of their industry, US documentary The Booksellers touches on all of the above. It's also catnip for anyone who's never more content than when they're thumbing through a printed tome, and convincingly evokes the feeling of trawling through shelf after shelf of old, beloved volumes. Cycling through the main players in NYC's antiquarian and secondhand book scene, stepping through the history of dealing in rare texts and contemplating what the future might hold as technology threatens to change everything, this is a meticulously structured, deftly edited, and immensely fascinating ode to the printed word and the happiness it brings. Filmmaker DW Young doesn't make any surprising moves, but he doesn't need to, with his overall topic, his individual subjects and the world they inhabit proving as captivating as any must-read page-turner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VSaaTCrhlU IT MUST BE HEAVEN In It Must Be Heaven, Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman both directs and plays himself. He also doesn't say a single word on-screen. Serving up a slice of observational comedy, he instead bears witness to and satirises the world around him — starting in his hometown of Nazareth, then roaming to Paris, New York and Montreal. In each place, absurdity reigns. Suleiman isn't interested in overt farce, though, but in a comically heightened, expertly choreographed exploration of the type of strangeness and silliness that lingers in ordinary lives, everyday situations and widespread attitudes. Think: run-ins with authority, examples on the increasingly engrained nature of violence, pondering global tourism and ruminating on the way that one's homeland shapes identity. The ebbs and flows of Suleiman's filmmaking career provide the scantest narrative framework, complete with a brief appearance by Gael Garcia Bernal as himself; however It Must Be Heaven favours vignettes, sight gags, soulful reflection, expressive comedy and strikingly staged moments over neat storytelling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w5Ej4SF2LE MASTER CHENG The ability of food to overcome national, cultural and racial bounds — to erase barriers, bring people together and help forge new bonds — is an overused cinematic trope. So too is the healing, happiness-inducing power of a great dish, including in fish-out-of-water and down-on-one's-luck scenarios. That doesn't stop Finnish comedy Master Cheng from giving all of the above a workout, though. Here, the titular Chinese chef (Pak Hon Chu) heads to the European country with his son Nunjo (Lucas Hsuan) in tow, plans to connect with an old colleague, but finds himself forging ties in a remote village instead. Naturally, there's a slow-simmering romantic connection with a local in the form of diner owner Sirkka (Anna-Maija Tuokko). Just as expectedly, the community warms to the newcomer's presence. What helps lift Master Cheng, however, isn't filmmaker Mika Kaurismäki's love of a clearcut (and clearly sentimental) template, but the time and attention he invests in building characters, as evidenced best in the film's fleshed-out central duo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qF-TrY0hBg&feature=youtu.be ROMANTIC ROAD Many a screenwriter has probably tried to pen a similar tale, but the story of Rupert and Jan Grey, their retirement plans and the adventure that followed could've only stemmed from truth. Invited to attend a festival in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the couple decide to drive Rupert's father's 1936 Rolls Royce across India to get there. The journey proves revelatory and life-changing in a variety of ways; however it's the detail captured by filmmaker Oliver McGarvey and his documentary Romantic Road that couldn't be more authentic. The Greys' road trip hits obstacles, both expected and not-so. That's part of the genre, whether based on fiction or fact. Here, though, McGarvey doesn't just focus on the trek and the ensuing escapades along the way, but spends much of the film unpacking his subjects' 35-year relationship — and their motivation to add this hefty drive to their lifetime's worth of affection and memories. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhwx30NPMY4 THE TAVERNA Setting a film inside a bustling restaurant — here, the White Village Greek Tavern in Melbourne's Elsternwick — almost feels like science fiction at this very moment. With The Taverna, though, it's inspiration for modest laughs, dramas and insights, with this ensemble piece charting the action in its obvious setting across one particularly chaotic night. Owner Kostas (Vangelis Mourikis) has plenty to deal with, including a car accident involving his shady son Angelo (Christian Charisiou), trying to get his his waitress Sally (Emily O'Brien-Brown) to replace his belly dancer Jamila (Rachel Kamath), and troubles with the latter, her ex-husband Arman (Peter Paltos) and his new girlfriend Rebecca (Tottie Goldsmith). Embracing multicultural Australia to an extent that isn't always seen on local screens, the result is a warm, sometimes wavering but generally engaging film from writer/director Alkinos Tsilimidos (Silent Partner, Tom White, Em 4 Jay). From 11.59pm on Wednesday, July 1, until at least Wednesday, July 29, stay-at-home orders have been reintroduced in ten Melbourne postcodes, which means their residents can only leave for one of four reasons: work or school, care or care giving, daily exercise or food and other essentials. For more information, head to the DHHS website.
In general, 2020 wasn't a great year. When it came to streaming new TV shows — something we all did, and much more than we normally would — it was an excellent year, however. Plenty of top-notch fresh releases joined everyone's must-see and favourites lists, and helped fill all of those hours spent at home, including a particularly delightful (and satirical, and also savage) jump back to 18th-century Russia. That show: The Great. It takes its title from its central figure, empress Catherine the Great. It's filled with lavish period-appropriate costumes, wigs, sets and decor. And, it explores an immensely famous time that had a significant impact upon the world. Normally, that'd all smack of a certain kind of drama — you know the type — however this is firmly a comedy as well. Starring Elle Fanning (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) as the eponymous ruler and Nicholas Hoult (Those Who Wish Me Dead) as her husband Peter III, The Great is full of witty, laugh-out-loud lines, sports an irreverent and often cheeky mood, and has ample fun with real-life details — much in the way that Oscar-winner The Favourite did with British royalty on the big screen. That comparison couldn't actually be more fitting, with that film's BAFTA-winning screenwriter, Australian Tony McNamara, using his skills to pen The Great as well. Across its ten-episode, very easy-to-binge, immensely hilarious first season, the series immersed viewers in Catherine and Peter's hardly happy marriage, all the day-to-day dramas in the Russian court, and her plans to push him aside and become the country's ruler in her own right. Thankfully, it didn't finish telling that tale, with a second season due to arrive later this year. In Australia, it'll land on November 20, at the same time as it hits — and a fresh new trailer that teases everything viewers can look forward to has just dropped. Here's five things that should take your fancy: Catherine and Peter slinging sharp banter back and forth, her preference for eating chicken over sex, the word "huzzah", more chaotic antics and Gillian Anderson falling off a chair. Because starring in everything from The X-Files and Hannibal to The Crown and Sex Education isn't enough for latter, she pops up here as Catherine's mother. If you weren't already hooked on all things The Great, that's obviously an excellent — and great, naturally — reason to start watching. Check out the first trailer for The Great's second season below: The Great's second season will be available to stream in Australia via Stan on November 20.
How good is summer? The days are longer, the sunsets are picture-perfect and we've got extra impetus to make the most of it now we're back on the clock. Of course, we all know that golden hour is prime time for kicking back with a cool drink and catching up with mates after work. Thankfully, soaking up every bit of Brisbane's tropical climate and Instagram-worthy sunsets is a breeze due to our extensive number of rooftop bars. Together with Jim Beam, we've rounded up five sky-high watering holes so you can take in those golden reflections from a beautiful vantage point.
When it comes to expressing how cool something is on the internet, we're kind of spoiled for choice. What with Facebook Like, Digg, Stumble Upon, Delicious and retweets on Twitter, you could argue there's little need for yet another alternative. Google recently jumped on the recommendation bandwagon with the launch of the "+1" button. According to Rob Spiro, a Product Manager at Google, +1s are "the right recommendations when you want them – in your search results." And the power of the recommendations is that they're coming from "people who matter to you." The +1 button takes search in new directions by tapping into the relevancy of relationships, as well as of search keywords. As Google rolls out the new feature, which will appear not only on Google search results but also on external sites, sites which have been "plus-oned" by your contacts will be flagged for you. Kind of helpful when you're sifting through the flotsam and jetsam of the average search query, which can generate many hundreds of thousands of results. https://youtube.com/watch?v=OAyUNI3_V2c
For over a month now, nothing has been flickering across Yatala Drive-In's big screens. Come Labour Day long weekend, though, that's going to change. The beloved openair cinema is reopening its doors for three evenings of movies under the stars — all while everyone is social distancing in their cars, of course. For three nights between Saturday, May 2–Monday, May 4, movie buffs can jump in their vehicles, head halfway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and check out three films — with each of the venue's trio of fields showing one movie each night. That means that you can get spooked out by the latest version of The Invisible Man, watch Vin Diesel get fast and furious in a different way in Bloodshot, or indulge in some super-speedy nostalgia with Sonic the Hedgehog. As always, your night at the flicks will cost $35 per car, which covers up to six people. You can also pay an extra $40 and receive a feast of snacks to munch on while the movie plays. If the three-day opening is a success, the drive-in will look to keep opening every weekend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSBsNeYqh-k Queensland will start easing some of its stay-at-home restrictions from 11.59pm on Friday, May 1, allowing recreational drives within 50 kilometres from home — which is great news for folks eager to head to the drive-in. The venue will also be implementing some new rules and procedures, however, to keep everyone safe and healthy. They include contactless entry, hand sanitiser stations, restricting capacity to 50 percent or less, only making restrooms available for emergencies, and limiting the candy bar to ten patrons at a time. Keeping in line with social-distancing requirements, cinephiles are asked to only attend with folks they live with, or with one person who doesn't live in the same household. If you're choosing to go out and support local businesses, have a look at the latest COVID-19 advice and social-distancing guidelines from the Department of Health.
If you didn't already have plans from 11.30pm on Saturday, June 23, you do now. And if you did, change them — or factor sending a whole lotta love Queen Bey's way into your schedule. Reacting promptly, impulsively and passionately is just something Beyoncé inspires, and has been doing so for almost two decades. You probably don't even remember a time before Bey ruled our airwaves and screens. Thanks to The Foundry's Dangerously in Love 15th Anniversary Party, you won't have to. Expect all of the hits from the 2003 album — her debut solo record, and the one that made sure we were all crazy in love with all things Bey. We're guessing you can also expect her other solo tracks, and even some songs from her Destiny's Child days — plus all of the epic dance moves that go with them. No, it's not Bey's b'day, but you'll be feeling like Sasha Fierce, as well as drunk in love with the pop idol in the spotlight. The joint will be jumpin' jumpin', and we're not telling you what to drink to celebrate the occasion; however you might want to mix it with lemonade.
UPDATE, Friday, June 21, 2024: Anatomy of a Fall is available to stream via Stan, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. The calypso instrumental cover of 'P.I.M.P.' isn't the only thing that Anatomy of a Fall's audience can't dislodge from their heads after watching 2023's deserving Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or-winner and 2024's five-time Oscar-nominee. A film that's thorny, knotty and defiantly unwilling to give any easy answers, this legal, psychological and emotional thriller about a woman on trial for her husband's death is unshakeable in as many ways as someone can have doubts about another person: so, a myriad. This is a movie about truth that's really a feature about trust and perception. Indeed, delivering a definitive solution and explanation isn't filmmaker Justine Triet's focus. Helming her fourth full-length picture and becoming an Academy Award contender for Best Director in the process, the French talent doesn't serve up neat true crime-style closure, either, but she unflinchingly knows that the world has been conditioned to want every query and mystery — every uncertainty as well — wrapped up conclusively and categorically. The scenario conjured up by Age of Panic, Victoria and Sibyl's Triet is deeply haunting, asking not only if her protagonist Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller, Sisi & I) committed murder, as the on-screen investigation and courtroom proceedings interrogate, but digging into what it means to be forced to choose between whether someone did the worst or is innocent — or if either matters. While the Gallic legal system and its specifics provide the backdrop for much of the Anatomy of a Fall, the real person doing the real picking isn't there in a professional capacity, or on a jury. Rather, it's 11-year-old Daniel (Milo Machado Graner, Alex Hugo), who has a visual impairment, finds his dad Samuel (Samuel Theis, Softie) in the snow with a head injury outside their French Alps home on an otherwise ordinary day, then becomes the key witness in his mum's case. Returning from a walk with his dog Snoop, the boy didn't see what happened, but he's the closest thing that detectives have to an onlooker. Novelist and translator Sandra is introduced with that clanging version of one of 50 Cent's best-known songs echoing, a graduate student (Camille Rutherford, The Night of the 12th) interviewing her about her work and successful career in the family's remote chalet and, as he undertakes renovations upstairs, teacher Samuel turning up the soundtrack to distracting levels. Within an hour in the film's timeline and mere minutes for viewers, the latter will be dead via a fall from the home's topmost floor. When the inquiries start, Sandra says that she was asleep post-chat. Already, a wealth of details give rise to questions. Was Samuel blasting tunes to sabotage his wife's discussion? Also, why that particular track? Sipping wine as she talked, was the bisexual Sandra flirting? Did that raise her husband's ire? Do his and her actions alike that day scream volumes about the state of their marriage? Did she really not hear the incident? Was it an accident, suicide or was she responsible? Anatomy of a Fall is always a film about questions, too — and the reality that, in life-and-death situations and everyday circumstances, they never stop springing in any relationship. The police can't make a clearcut decision either way based on the available evidence, hence the presumption of murder, Sandra as the prime suspect and the shift to court. Fittingly co-writing the script with her IRL partner Arthur Harari (Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle), Triet's poising of Anatomy of a Fall's opening moments as fuel for scrutinising Sandra and Samuel's union is savvy is another way: it sets up an entire feature where their wedded bliss — or lack thereof, as quickly becomes apparent — is probed, audited and analysed. The stakes are immense, but pondering how any long-term romance can hold up to such a dissection is one of the film's many takeaways. The questions swirl again, sifting through infidelities, guilt over the accident that caused Daniel to lose his sight, the division of household tasks, gender roles, mental health, professional rivalries, at-any-cost moves, past fights and how the couple's son was caught in the middle long before he's now asked to say whether his father, who homeschooled him, was killed by his mother. A picture as intelligent and exacting as this — and as taut, tense and tenacious — isn't short of unforgettable elements. Again, the whole feature earns that description, as does its unpacking of intimate connections. Also high on the list: the performances that are so crucial in telling this tale of marital and parental bonds, especially from one of Germany's current best actors. Although her similarly astonishing portrayal in The Zone of Interest is following Anatomy of a Fall to screens Down Under, arriving in February 2024, Toni Erdmann and I'm Your Man's Hüller is two for two in movies that initially debuted globally in 2023, collected awards at Cannes (The Zone of Interest picked up the Grand Prix, aka second place in the festival's official competition), rightly received Oscar attention and are anchored by her complex portrayals of women who refuse to meet anyone's expectations but their own. Here, she steps into an icy and complicated figure's shoes with the same surgical precision that Triet applies to rifling through the character's home life (that Sandra would rather speak English with her spouse despite him being French and them living in France isn't just a minor tidbit). In flashbacks to disagreements with Samuel and with her freedom on the line, Anatomy of a Fall's accused is unwaveringly unapologetic in her insistence to put herself first — as it's plain that both the prosecutor (Antoine Reinartz, Irma Vep) and defence attorney (Swann Arlaud, About Joan) on the case can see — and Hüller at her steeliest best, always devastatingly naturalistically so, is formidable in the part. She's the one with the Academy Award nod for acting; however, the up-and-coming French talent playing her son is also exceptional. In fact, as Daniel, who couldn't be more conflicted about the nightmare situation that he's been thrust into, Graner is a revelation, frequently via his expressive face and posture alone. If Scenes From a Marriage met Kramer vs Kramer, plus 1959's Anatomy of a Murder that patently influences Anatomy of a Fall's name, this would be the gripping end result. Tearing into a relationship — and tearing it apart — feels nothing less than brutal in Triet's hands; every realisation about human nature in love and life that resounds along the way feels decidedly accurate, though. There's an aspect of Gone Girl to her masterful feature, too. While this isn't a film with a "cool girl" monologue, the societal expectations placed upon women, and on mothers, are firmly pushed to the fore. Take note of the fact that cinematographer Simon Beaufils (Antoinette in the Cévennes) is often looking up at Hüller as well: whatever Sandra did or didn't do, whatever Daniel does or doesn't choose to believe, and wherever audiences land — again, there's no simple resolution here — being a victim, or allowing herself to be seen that way, isn't part of the character's anatomy.
UPDATE, Tuesday, June 18, 2024: Priscilla is available to stream via Stan, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Yearning to be one of the women in Sofia Coppola's films is futile, but for a single reason only: whether she's telling of teenage sisters, a wife left to her own devices in Tokyo, France's most-famous queen, the daughter of a Hollywood actor, Los Angeles high schoolers who want to rob, the staff and students at a girls school in the American Civil War, a Manhattanite worried that her husband is being unfaithful or Priscilla Presley, as the writer/director has across eight movies to-date, no one better plunges viewers into her female characters' hearts and heads. To watch the filmmaker's span of features from The Virgin Suicides to Priscilla is to feel as its figures do, and deeply. The second-generation helmer is an impressionistic great, colouring her flicks as much with emotions and mood as actual hues — not that there's any shortage of lush and dreamy shades, as intricately tied to her on-screen women's inner states, swirling through her meticulous frames. Call it the "can't help falling" effect, then: as a quarter-century of Coppola's films have graced screens, audiences can't help falling into them like they're in the middle of each themselves. That's still accurate with Priscilla, which arrives so soon after Elvis that no one could've forgotten that the lives of the king of rock 'n' roll and his bride have flickered through cinemas recently. Baz Luhrmann made his Presley movie in Australia with an American (Austin Butler, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) as Elvis and an Aussie (Olivia DeJonge, The Staircase) as Priscilla. Coppola crafted hers in North America with a Brisbanite (Jacob Elordi, Saltburn) in blue-suede shoes and a Tennessee-born talent (Cailee Spaeny, Mare of Easttown) adopting the Presley surname. The two features are mirror images in a hunk of burning ways, including their his-and-hers titles; whose viewpoint they align with; and conveying what it was like to adore Elvis among the masses, plus why he sparked that fervour, compared to expressing the experience of being the girl that he fell for, married, sincerely loved but kept in a gilded cage into she strove to fly free. For the leads playing their titular parts, the two Presley portraits of the 2020s far are also star-making pictures. If Spaeny becomes her director's new muse, it's much-deserved based on her turn as an excited and longing teen, then the isolated high-school senior and stuck-at-home girlfriend who's so controlled that she's instructed to dye her hair the same black that Elvis sports (by him), then the wife and mother virtually living a separate life. In fact, she was recommended by Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog), Coppola's muse since her debut feature, aka Spaeny's co-star in 2024's upcoming Civil War. Although finding someone who could take the role across a decade and a half, and be as genuine as a smitten teen, a fed-up woman deciding to claim her own life and everything in-between wouldn't have been easy, Priscilla's Venice International Film Festival Volpi Cup for Best Actress-winning choice is sublime. Priscilla Beaulieu is just 14 when she's invited to a party at Elvis' home in West Germany, where she's an army brat with a strict dad (Ari Cohen, Fargo) in the service and he's a 24-year-old donning the uniform solely because he's been drafted. Asked if she likes Elvis by one of his pals, her response is: "of course, who doesn't?". She subsequently can't help falling, as is to be expected of a girl being paid attention by one of the biggest stars on the planet. In the giddy aftermath of their first meetings, during their early courtship and when Elvis heads back home, Coppola gets her The Beguiled and On the Rocks cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd roving over fabrics and handwriting, two staple details in her work, to assist in showing the heady passion that pulsates through Priscilla. As her films keep demonstrating, you can glean much about someone by the textures that they surround themselves with, the way they communicate via the written word, and the care they take with each. Here, you can tell how Priscilla's namesake initially feels like she's living in a fantasy come true. As witnessed through Priscilla Presley's eyes — as adapted by Coppola from Priscilla's 1985 memoir Elvis and Me, and boasting an also-brilliant Elordi as the brooding and volatile Elvis — this romance is never a fairy tale, however. She swoons. She pines. She begs her parents (with Succession's Dagmara Dominczyk as her mother) to let her visit Graceland, and then to move there. She does what Elvis says, and shapes herself by his wishes and whims. She acts in the 50s-trained mould, with its firmly defined gender roles, as he also does. Priscilla spies the period, its expectations and demands, but it also spots the imbalance in power that goes beyond social norms. Leaving Elvis' music off the Phoenix-supervised soundtrack wasn't the original plan, after Coppola sought permission from his estate and was denied, yet it has a potent effect: as tunes other than his echo, and not only from the time — a Ramones cover of 'Baby, I Love You' and Dan Deacon's 2007 track 'The Crystal Cat', for instance — the film divorces itself from his perspective, and from what was accepted in the era. From the moment that it starts with red toenails upon shag carpeting, then, until it closes with swinging gates and one of the greatest songs that Dolly Parton has ever written (and a sentiment that never rings false), Priscilla is what many Coppola flicks are: an account of a woman trying to discover herself in restrictive circumstances where her existence is defined by a man. The picture's protagonist is The Virgin Suicides' siblings cooped up in their home, and Lost in Translation's left-behind spouse. She's Marie Antoinette's partner to royalty, complete with an unhappy bedroom life — the Presleys' romance is chaste when Priscilla is younger, then Elvis remains largely uninterested when she's older — and Somewhere's adoring youth in a star's shadow as well. Coppola sees the limits placed upon the women before her camera, the abodes they're trapped in and how they pass the time. In a revelatory fashion, she's well-aware that so much of Priscilla's life with Elvis was filled with just that as he went on tour, made movies in Los Angeles, and had gossip all aflutter about affairs with Speedway's Nancy Sinatra and Viva Las Vegas' Ann-Margret: Priscilla on her lonesome passing the time. While Coppola has never made a feature that's less than excellent, Priscilla is among her most-accomplished. Every inch always means something in the director's oeuvre, and proves immaculate and intimate. Such truths from her filmography resound again here to perfection, with exquisitely ravishing aesthetics — also thanks to costume designer Stacey Battat, who has worked on every one of the helmer's pictures since Somewhere, as well as Nightmare Alley production designer Tamara Deverell — helping to amplify the picture's emotional intensity. Coppola's little-less-conversation approach finds its action in glances and stares, and in being all shook up by what's not uttered. It's absorbing and mesmerising, heartbreaks, hardships and all. Priscilla herself wouldn't want anyone aching for her experience, but she'd surely hope for the crucial feat that Priscilla overwhelmingly achieves: ensuring that viewers feel as if they've lived it.
If you're all about that low-key life, then look away now, because you're not going to find it at Pop Masters: Art From the Mugrabi Collection, New York. Instead, the art exhibition — which will be residing in the Gold Coast's HOTA (Home of the Arts) until Sunday, June 4, 2023 — is a vibe of everything bold, beautiful and even a little brash, making it a perfect addition to the locale literally known as The Glitter Strip. The show, which takes its name from the private collection of art collector Jose Mugrabi, will bring Big Apple cool to Queensland's coastal capital. On display in this world-exclusive, first-time-in-Australia exhibition are pieces by Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat (pictured below), as well as a crew of contemporaries like Katherine Bernhardt, Kwesi Botchway, George Condo, Damien Hirst, Kaws, Joel Mesler, Richard Prince, Tom Sachs, Julian Schnabel, Mickalene Thomas and Tom Wesselmann. [caption id="attachment_880980" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jean-Michel Basquiat 1985 ©️ Lizzie Himmel. Artwork ©️ Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York.[/caption] Does this add a mustn't-miss arty vibe to the state of sunshine, shopping strips and soaring roller coasters? Absolutely. However, if you're concerned about wasting precious beach time, you'll be happy to hear that HOTA is also offering an after-hours event. Held on Friday May 19, from 6.30–10pm, Up Late will give guests the chance to enjoy the exhibition in a whole new light (well, technically dark). Completing the concrete jungle experience, expect an evening of DJs spinning old-school Brooklyn-influenced hip hop, pop-up performances and delish food and drinks — specifically, hot dogs, pretzels, standout cocktails and even a five-course dinner, all inspired by the Empire State. Pop Masters: Art From the Mugrabi Collection, New York is on at HOTA until Sunday, June 4. For further details and to book tickets, head to the website.
It's a bloody glorious setup: Nicolas Cage, actor of a million unmissable facial expressions, star of almost every movie he's asked to be in (or so it can seem) and wannabe bloodsucker in 1988's must-be-seen-to-be-believed Vampire's Kiss, playing the dark one, the lord of death, the one and only Dracula. In Renfield, that stellar idea makes for frequently bloody viewing — cartoonishly, befitting an OTT horror-comedy with Nicolas Cage as Dracula. And the pièce de résistance that is Cage getting his fangs out as the Bram Stoker-created character, who was inspired by the IRL 15th-century Wallachian prince Vlad the Impaler? It is indeed glorious. The Transylvanian is the latest part he was born for, after stepping into his own shoes in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, getting revenge over a pet pig in Pig, milking alpacas in Color Out of Space and screaming while dousing himself in vodka in Mandy (and, well, most things on his four-decade resume). Some movies have learned a simple truth, however: that putting Nicolas Cage in front of a camera and letting him unleash whatever version of Cage the film needs isn't always enough. That disappointment is usually on everything but Cage (see: his entrancing work in the otherwise average-if-lucky Willy's Wonderland, where he wordlessly battled demonic animatronics and made viewers wish he was around in the silent era), but Renfield has pre-emptively staked that lesson through its own heart. As the title makes plain, Cage's Dracula isn't the lead character. Instead, the long-suffering, insect-eating servant played by the feature's other welcome Nic, The Great's Nicholas Hoult, is in the sunlight. Accordingly, The Lego Batman Movie and Robot Chicken director Chris McKay doesn't even try to get his feature by on the Cageness of it all alone. That's a miscalculation. In fact, it's up there with the flick's Robert Montague Renfield pledging allegiance to the vampire that started all vampire obsessions. Renfield is at full power when Cage is front and centre, and feels like its blood is slowly being drained when he's out of the frame. Rocking lush red velvet threads and a devilish stare, Cage couldn't be better as Dracula, proving both Renfield's instant drawcard and its reason to keep watching. He gives the script's ultimate toxic boss angle hilarious bite, too, because that's the storyline. After several lifetimes of doing the undead master's bidding, Renfield realises that finding people for the Count to sink his chompers into, cleaning up the mess afterwards — there's always a mess — and generally dealing with his chaos isn't fun, fulfilling or healthy. Getting invincibility and immortality by eating bugs doesn't bother him, but the demands that go with it do. The script from Ryan Ridley (Rick and Morty, Community) based on a story by Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead, Invincible) has Renfield come to that epiphany by attending a New Orleans support group for codependent relationships, then deciding to be his own person again. If only escaping Dracula was that easy, as over a century of movies — and Stoker's OG text — have established. There's a coming-of-age slant to Renfield's quest to work out who he is if he leaves the darkness behind, chooses life and matures into a post-offsider existence (while coming-alive-again isn't a term, that's what it is as well). There's also a hefty shadow cast by What We Do in the Shadows given that unhappy vampire familiars are a part of both Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement's side-splitting movie and the also-ace American TV spinoff. But McKay and company don't trust that there's enough legs in the Nic-and-Nic double act, either, or that putting them in Shadows-meets-Dracula territory gets the blood pumping. Their solution: also making Renfield about NOPD traffic cop Rebecca (Awkwafina, The Little Mermaid) and the mob family she's trying to take down. Her vengeance-fuelled feud hones in on the obnoxious Tedward Lobo (Ben Schwartz, in Parks and Recreation's Jean-Ralphio mode if he was a gangster) — and, of course, Renfield and Drac get in the middle. He may be fresh off a big-screen stint in The Menu, but Hoult was in somewhat similar territory a decade ago in zom-rom-com Warm Bodies. Even when he's tasked with delivering explanatory narration like this is Zombieland, being the likeably dreamy lead in a light-hearted twist on a horror-genre staple suits him, although not as much as irreverent takes on royal history as in The Great and The Favourite. Still, in Renfield he's at his best when he's bouncing off Cage. The entire cast is, including Schwartz, Shohreh Aghdashloo (Mrs Davis) as Teddy's all-controlling crime matriarch mum and Brandon Scott Jones (The Other Two) as Renfield's 12-step-group's leader. Cage is just having that much of a blast. While he knows he's in a comedy, he also blends camp and menace in an iteration of Drac that's gleefully happy being fiendish. As the old cliche goes, he could read the phone book in the cape and prove mesmerising. No one recites from 20th-century lists of landline numbers. Renfield spouts wisdom from a self-help book for a scene instead, and it's a nice gag. That moment stands out because it's a rare — Renfield doesn't ever suck, but it's nowhere near as funny as a Cage-starring Dracula comedy should easily be. Slickly shot and content with being amiable, it isn't anything as much as it should be, whether that's an odd-couple flick, a viscera-splashing horror parody, a crime caper, a superhero affair (cue Renfield's supernatural fighting skills) or, in a plot thread flirted with but never committed to, a romance. In not wanting to tie its fortunes to the entire reason that anyone is buying a ticket, this addition to Dracula's lengthy on-screen resume doesn't want to be any one thing, and it shows glaringly. Count Dracula is the Guinness World Records-confirmed most-portrayed literary character, giving Cage plenty of past competition — Max Schrek (Nosferatu), Christopher Lee (the Hammer flicks), Udo Kier (Blood for Dracula), Klaus Kinski (Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre), Gary Oldman (Bram Stoker's Dracula), Richard Roxburgh (Van Helsing), Adam Sandler (the Hotel Transylvania movies), Luke Evans (Dracula Untold) and Claes Bang (TV miniseries Dracula) all included. It might be daunted about its own focus, but Renfield surprisingly isn't daunted by that cinema and television history, in one of its other marvellous but oh-so-brief touches. Early on, McKay inserts Cage and Hoult into Tod Browning's 1931 Dracula. Their faces replace Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye's, and it's a wonder. Leaning into Cage as Dracula far heartier than Renfield does would be glorious, and what Renfield leaves viewers wanting — but it's teasing a Universal Classic Monsters-style effort with Cage baring his teeth that sparks all the yearning.
UPDATE, December 4, 2020: Carol is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Telling a slow-building tale of forbidden romance, Carol is a study in clashes, contrasts and control. Within its story and sumptuous sights, everything bristles against something else, is challenged by a counterpart, and has to find a way either to work within, or burst beyond, orderly confines. That's true of the character (Cate Blanchett) that gives the movie its name, and the shopgirl, Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara), who becomes infatuated with her. It's equally true of their attempts to connect in the conservative 1950s, and of the way the film brings their efforts to life. Actually, in making his latest feature — following the likes of Velvet Goldmine and I'm Not There — director Todd Haynes hits the jackpot when it comes to matching his style to the story. An adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1952 novel The Price of Salt, Carol doesn't just recount a narrative considered groundbreaking at the time of publication, though writer Phyllis Nagy does a stellar job of translating the content for the screen. More than that, Haynes and company take every ounce of emotion within the book, then carefully infuse it into every aspect of the film, from its warm colour palette and fondness for lingering shots to its sweeping score and elegant performances. Think of every moment, be it an image framed through a car window or a long look at gloves left behind, as an expression of the feelings the movie's characters can't always convey, or the words they can't always say. There's plenty left unspoken between Carol and Therese after they cross paths in a department store toy section just before Christmas. A friendship blossoms, and then something more, during dinners, visits and a road trip. Yet everything seems to conspire against them, thwarting them from embracing their love freely. Carol's pal Abby (Sarah Paulson) is cautious, her estranged husband Harge (Kyle Chandler) and Therese's boyfriend Richard (Jake Lacy) disapprove, and society is far from accepting. The combination of restraint and passion that Haynes perfected in 2002's Far From Heaven bubbles up again here, with the filmmaker once more showing his prowess for probing sentiments forced to simmer below the surface. Watching the way he makes the material his own — continuing his fascination with complex stories of identity and repression, as well as his ability to ensure every frame seethes with beauty and meaning — it's almost impossible to believe that any other director could've done the material justice. Haynes isn't the picture's only source of radiance, of course, with his technical team — particularly cinematographer Edward Lachman (Howl) and composer Carter Burwell (Fargo) — helping the exquisite-looking feature come together. And then there's Blanchett and Mara, both sharing the spotlight despite the film's title seeming to indicate otherwise. Believing their pain and desire is easy, and the pair more than earn the award nominations that keep coming their way. Sure, you've seen on-screen love stories before, but cinema romances this aching and consuming are all-too rare.
UPDATE, February 12, 2021: Portrait of a Lady on Fire is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. In Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Celine Sciamma tasks audiences with literally watching paint dry — and it's riveting. Viewers don't merely stare as the pigment settles, and they don't devote the whole film to glaring at a canvas. Still, in this sumptuous, striking romance, observing artist Marianne (Noémie Merlant) as she gazes at her latest creation couldn't be more crucial. She agonises over every brush stroke as if her soul depends on it, because it does, in a way. Her heart does at the very least. On an island in Brittany near the end of the 18th century, Marianne has been commissioned to paint a portrait of the betrothed Héloïse (Adèle Haenel). But how does anyone do justice to the face of the woman they've fallen hopelessly in love with? Hardly a blushing bride-to-be, Héloïse doesn't want to get married to an Italian man that she has never met, and she certainly doesn't want to sit for an artwork marking the occasion. She has previously refused to comply for another artist, making painting her traditional wedding portrait a tricky prospect. Accordingly, Marianne is enlisted by Héloïse's Countess mother (Valeria Golino) to be her daughter's new companion, to scrutinise her closely every chance she can, and then to craft the picture from memory in secret. As the women spend time together, walking by the sea as the wind swirls and slowly sharing aspects of their lives, their feelings simmer, then bubble, then boil heatedly. When Portrait of a Lady on Fire depicts Marianne peering obsessively at her picture of Héloïse — even wiping off the paint and beginning again when she's discontent with what's staring back — it shows her lost in thought and swept up in the throes of affection. And, because Sciamma is a gifted visual storyteller and Merlant a great actor, the film makes clear the significance of these moments without overplaying a single element. Watching paint dry is important, because every speck solidifies into a permanent token of how Marianne feels about Héloïse. Naturally, she's determined to convey those feelings in as precise and perfect a way as possible. Given the period, place, prevailing societal attitudes and expectations placed upon women, this portrait is the only enduring way that she can immortalise their love — and the weight of that truth is always heartbreakingly apparent. Equally beautiful and bold, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a film that balances the reality of impossible circumstances with otherwise hopeful glimmers, as has become the French writer/director's custom. It's that dynamic that made Sciamma's last feature, girl-gang movie Girlhood, simultaneously perceptive, exuberant and emotionally raw, traits that are essential here, too. The solace that Marianne and Héloïse find in each other's arms in stolen blissful moments proves both tender and sizzling. Their yearning, inner awakenings, and struggle to contain their infatuation within such restrictive confines is palpable. And the fact that their lives aren't their own to decide — no matter how fiercely independent Marianne is, and encourages the more pragmatic Héloïse to be — constantly tints their restrained romance with an unflinchingly bittersweet hue. Bringing all of the above to life in a movie that's the epitome of slow-burning — pun intended, although a portrait of a lady does indeed catch on fire in the film — Merlant and Haenel are a dream duo. Their performances are so measured yet still so heaving with feeling, and their interplay so exacting yet still so quietly expressive, that they could escape the entire feature without saying a word. Writing and directing, Sciamma has penned intricate dialogue for them to speak, though. They say much without uttering a thing, and they also swap meaty exchanges about classic tales, memories and harsh truths. Sciamma won this year's Cannes Film Festival Best Screenplay award for her efforts, as well as acclaim and applause since; however her exceptional script wouldn't burn as brightly without her two leads. Thematically, narratively and emotionally, this could never just be a lush romantic drama brimming with uncomplicated passion and desire. In her first period-set tale, Sciamma was always going to confront the minutiae of life for women of the era — it's pivotal to understanding how the requirements placed upon her characters are so incompatible with their happiness, and why they must relish what brief joy they can. That said, Portrait of a Lady on Fire always looks like a lush romantic drama, whether its gorgeous imagery is watching paint dry, enjoying the scenery, or getting as lost in Marianne and Héloïse as they are in each other. Befitting a movie about a painter and a portrait, every frame could be hung on a wall. An exquisite piece in every way and one of the year's very best, this film earns all of the obvious fiery terms, because it sparks, blazes and simply sets the screen alight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn_-YoG69Sw
Easter egg hunts might typically be restricted to the back garden, but this year ice cream giant Ben & Jerry's is staging its own virtual search to give away 50,000 free scoops across Australia and New Zealand. The global ice cream company has partnered with digital platform Block V for the experience in the lead up to the holiday season. After signing up to the platform, Aussies can hunt down virtual eggs on their phone and then exchange them for chunk-filled frosty treats in-store. Then, all you need to do is decide whether it's going to be a scoop of strawberry cheesecake, choc chip cookie dough, English toffee crunch or triple caramel chunk. In Australia, the virtual eggs — known as vatoms on Block V — will be hidden close to scoop stores. You'll need to find them between now and Tuesday, April 6. So, Sydneysiders will want to look near Bondi Beach, Chatswood, Manly, and Hoyts at Blacktown, Broadway, Penrith and Wetherill Park — while Melburnians should scope out Burwood Brickworks, Flinders Lane, Melbourne Central and St Kilda, plus Hoyts at Chadstone Shopping Centre, The District Docklands, Eastland Shopping Centre, Greensborough Plaza and Highpoint Shopping Centre. In Queensland, you'll need to peer around Pacific Fair, Surfer's Paradise, Mooloolaba and Noosa, and Adelaide residents will be searching around Norwood.
December is a time for reflection. A time to look back on the year that was, read round-ups to check up on what you've missed and put together best-of lists (indeed, we've just launched our own). Earlier this week Time Magazine announced Donald Trump as their Person of the Year, which, if you needed reminding, is pretty indicative of how this insane year has played out. How to deal with it all? With green, apparently. Greenery (PANTONE 15-0343) has just been named as Pantone's 2017 Colour of the Year. The inoffensive neutral shade was chosen by Pantone's colour experts not only because it's a "fresh and zesty yellow-green shade" but because of the role it plays in our modern society as a connection to nature and vitality. Referencing the year that was, Pantone executive director Leatrice Eisemen says that Greenery provides "us with the reassurance we yearn for amid a tumultuous social and political environment...it symbolises the reconnection we seek with nature, one another and a larger purpose." It's also symbolic of new beginnings — but perhaps that's being a bit too optimistic. At least Pantone was able to settle on just one colour this time. Last year, for the first time, it chose two colours to receive the title: Rose Quartz and Serenity.
Watching the first trailer for Alien: Romulus, can anyone hear you scream? The answer to that question depends on where you are and who you're with, of course — we're presuming that you're not in space — but the sneak peek itself firmly wants to unsettle. There's an eerie derelict space station, screaming, blood and plenty of facehuggers in this initial look. Behind the lens, albeit producing rather than directing, Ridley Scott (Napoleon) is also involved. Alien: Romulus is the seventh Alien film, and the ninth including the Alien vs Predator movies, and will arrive in August just over seven years since Alien: Covenant. While Scott originated the space-thriller saga back in 1979, then returned to it with 2012's Prometheus and 2017's Alien: Covenant, now Evil Dead, Don't Breathe and The Girl in the Spider's Web filmmaker Fede Álvarez is on helming duties. Based on the debut glimpse at the flick, however, there's no doubting that he's taking his cues from Scott's work. The setup: when space colonisers go a-scavenging through an abandoned space station, they get more than they bargained for. Given Álvarez's background in horror, it comes as no surprise that he's tapping into the genre for his Alien effort, just as Scott did with his. Álvarez also wrote the screenplay, reteaming with Rodo Sayagues, who he worked with on Evil Dead and Don't Breathe — and who directed Don't Breathe 2. Priscilla's Cailee Spaeny leads the group of folks doing battle with vicious extra-terrestrials, starring alongside David Jonsson (Rye Lane), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (Madame Web), Spike Fearn (Aftersun) and feature first-timer Aileen Wu. Separate to Alien: Romulus, the Alien franchise is also expanding to TV, with a new series from Fargo's Noah Hawley in the works, as set three decades before the events of the first film. Featuring Sydney Chandler (Don't Worry Darling), Alex Lawther (Andor), Essie Davis (One Day) and Timothy Olyphant (Justified: City Primeval), it isn't expected until 2025. Still, with all things Alien set to stalk across both the big and small screens, staying away from this saga isn't in anyone's futures. Check out the first teaser trailer for Alien: Romulus below: Alien: Romulus releases in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, August 15, 2024.
Hangry is defined by the masses as the irrational, though very understandable, rage you feel when you are very hungry. Hangry you doesn't understand what's going on, why this is happening or what to do next. Hangry you just wants to yell and yell and yell. What you really need is to sit down, take a moment, eat a huge sandwich or inhale an entire pizza and maybe nap it off. But that's often easier said than done — life gets in the way. This is especially true for parents because they've made life and that life is often full of demands, which can also coexist with little, but still very strong, hanger. So, on family outings, when the rage of hunger strikes for all, it's all too tempting to call it a day and go home. But, rage no more. We've been doing some research for you with our mates at American Express, zipping around town with some rent-a-kids, flashing our American Express® Card and finding the perfect spots that welcome children (and raging adults yelling about sandwiches) so your hangry brain doesn't have to think for you. Got yourself in another dining situation and need some guidance? Whatever it is, we know a place. Visit The Shortlist and we'll sort you out.
Damian Griffiths, local Brisbane go-getter and owner of newfangled eateries Alfredo's Pizzeria and Chester Street Bakery and Bar (among a whole list of others) has finally opened the doors on his new hole-in-the-wall, artisan doughnut bar in the Valley — with the apt name Doughnut Time. Taking over a sectioned-off corner of Alfredo's on Alfred Street, and with design by Alex Lotersztain (who's provided interiors and accoutrements for most of Griffiths' other joints), Doughnut Time has started serving up its "hand-dipped artisan doughnuts" today. If Chester Street's doughnut offerings are anything to go by (think blueberry crumble, key lime, and passionfruit meringue varieties), we're only too excited to see (taste) the sure-to-be-mod delicacies that Griffiths' dedicated doughnut shop has come up with. We're crossing our fingers for more desserts converted into doughy, iced-and-garnished circular confections of your dreams, and perhaps a good old-fashioned jam doughnut, oozing with tongue-burning strawberry conserve straight out of the oven. The Doughnut Time Van is also set to hit the road soon, inevitably guaranteed to increase Brisbane's doughnut obsession with every kilometre. The bottom line is: expect to leave Doughnut Time's Valley store sticky-fingered and happily ready to sell your soul to Ned Flanders in a devil's outfit. Find Doughnut Time at 39 Alfred Street, Fortitude Valley. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 8am until sold out. Via The Courier Mail.
For most Australians, the past few days have been unprecedented: not since 1952 has the country experienced the death of its official head of state. Whether your main relationship to Queen Elizabeth II is watching The Crown or seeing her face on Aussie coins and $5 notes — and whether you follow the royal family's move through the media or not at all — the monarch's passing has unsurprisingly monopolised the news. It's also now the reason for a new one-off public holiday. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced today, Sunday, September 11, that Aussies will get a day off to commemorate the Queen. Mark Thursday, September 22, 2022 in your diary — that's being designated as the country's National Day of Mourning. On September 22 there will be a public holiday for the National Day of Mourning for Her Majesty The Queen. — Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) September 10, 2022 "It will be a one-off national public holiday. That's to allow people to pay their respects for the passing of Queen Elizabeth," the Prime Minister said on the ABC's Insiders. "I spoke to all premiers and chief ministers yesterday and I'm writing to them formally this morning, they will have received their letters by now. They have all agreed that it's appropriate that it be a one-off national public holiday," Albanese continued. The Prime Minister has announced Thursday 22 September will be a public holiday for the National Day of Mourning for Queen Elizabeth II. — Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) September 11, 2022 The public holiday will come three days after the Queen's funeral, which will take place on Monday, September 19 Australian time. And, the new day off means that Victorians will get a four-day long weekend, given that Friday, September 23 is already a public holiday for the AFL grand final. Aussies in other states who do the Monday–Friday grind will still have to work on the Friday, however, unless you take annual leave. Thursday, September 22, 2022 is now a public holiday in Australia, for a National Day of Mourning for the Queen. Top image: Elizabeth: A Portrait in Part(s).
Being called a ‘couch potato’ may not be so insulting after all. You’d never leave yours if you had such a killer view from your living room. Somewhere on Japan's Mount Rokko, five white sofas sit elevated upon a lovely hillside, with full views of lakes, trees and gorgeous mountain scenery. Visitors can easily spot them and climb their ladders to enjoy the views from the top. The ‘garden sky project’ is artist Hidemi Nishida's contribution to Rokko Meets Art, an annual outdoor art festival in Kobe, Japan. Featuring plenty of playful installations like these sky seats, the celebration encourages visitors to interact with art, nature and each other. Via Spoon & Tamago.
Independent Byron Bay-based craft brewer Stone & Wood is getting some bigger boots, launching its brand new major brewing facility at Murwillumbah in northern New South Wales. Sitting 40km north of its first brewery in Byron Bay, the brand new brewery has been in the works for 18 months — now with a a 50-hectolitre brewhouse ready to brew up more of that sweet, sweet Pacific Ale that Australians are apparently guzzling by the bucketload. According to The Shout, S&W have been struggling to keep up with Pacific Ale demand lately; Australian beer enthusiasts are chugging PA quicker than the dudes can brew it. Opening the new brewery in addition to their Byron flagship, co-founders Brad Rogers, Ross Jurisich and Jamie Cook quashed any beard-stroking suspicion that their new batches will be lower quality for their unwavering fans. "We want to reward the loyalty of those guys by giving them as much beer as they want," Jurisich told The Shout. "Once they're comfortable that they've got enough, then we'll start looking outside of that." Sounds like the most demanding, squawking nest of hungry chicks in the bar business. "We've continued to try and expand the brewery here for the last four years, to try and keep up with demand, and it really has gotten to a point where we are unable to put any more tanks into this place," said Cook. Local distribution is the priority for S&W, with the S&W trio noting their dedication to their geographically immediate market. "We're a local brewery and we want to make sure that we maintain that local connection with our backyard. Our backyard really is from Northern Rivers through to South East Queensland," said Jurisch. Now the brewery has opened its doors, the S&W team will get that Pacific Ale under customer demand control before tackling the Jasper Ale and Lager. Plus, the team have unveiled a brand new beer to celebrate the new instalment: the Cloud Catcher. With the brewery about to phase out the core brews from the Byron HQ and the promise of a bar to open at the new brewery, the S&W have even unveiled a new motto: "Born and raised in Byron Bay, growing up in Murwillumbah". Via The Shout.
We know what you’re thinking. This is going to be an article full of leprechauns and ‘top o’ the morning to ya’s and embarrassing attempts to coerce you into kissing us under the pretence that we’re Irish. Well, you’re wrong. St Patrick’s Day may be around the corner but that doesn’t mean we have to celebrate in the style of so many supposed descendants of the Emerald Isle (if you’re pale and your great-great-great grandfather may have passed through Dublin in the1800s, that’s an excuse to wear a silly hat and drink green cocktails, right?). This year, we say commemorate the world’s favourite snake chaser in a way that would make your mammy proud. Brisbane is teeming with Paddy’s Day celebrations, and we promise none of them involve pretending you actually like Guinness. Irish Breakfast Irish cuisine isn’t all about potatoes and soda bread, y’know. Queen Street cafe, Room With Roses is busting the carbs-on-carbs stereotype this St. Patrick’s Day with its $37 dinner special. Choose from Rib Fillet with Irish whisky cream or homemade corned beef and finish off with a slice of Bailey’s cheesecake. Treacle Cafe is also going green with a two-course lunch and beer deal over the Paddy’s Day weekend and if you’re suffering from your own personal potato famine, O’Connor’s in Windsor can always be relied on for a generous portion of hot chips. They import their cod and haddock all the way from the North Atlantic for that special Celtic taste. Paint The Town Green Where true blue and emerald green merge, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade is the centrepiece of Brisbane’s Irish Festival, which runs until March 17. The floats start their round at 10.30am on Saturday, March 15 on the corner of George and Elizabeth streets and move throughout the city. This year is extra special as the Parade celebrates its 25th year so don’t forget to sport your best shamrock-hued outfit. Cheers! If you have an unstoppable urge to dress up as a leprechaun and inflict your painful Irish impression of an Irish accent on unsuspecting victims, who are we to stop you? The city’s favourite Irish pub, Mick O’Malley’s is open from 10am on Saturday, March 15 to coincide with the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and promises a ‘full day of good Craic until the wee hours of the morning’. For us non-Gaelic folk, that roughly translates as live performances from Queensland Irish Association Pipes and Drums and Brisbane Irish band Murphy’s Pigs and plenty of good ol’ merriment. Irish Murphy’s goes one better with its week-long St. Patrick’s Day Festival. Running up until the day itself, the George St bar hosts a series of live music performances and a ‘Craic’n Paddy’s Eve Party’ as well as the obligatory pints of Guinness. The Fox is also celebrating St. Paddy with a themed Soho Sunday night featuring the rather worryingly sounding green beer and performances from Slow Lovers and Brisbane DJ Gatling Gun.
This article is part of our series on the diverse highlights of NZ's Canterbury region, from city to snow. To book your Christchurch trip, visit the 100% Pure New Zealand website. Serving beer out of a bus sounds like a next-level food truck about to hit the streets of Melbourne (and, honestly, a great business idea, liquor licensing laws aside), but Smash Palace is a bit more complicated than that. The bus doesn't move per se — it mostly stays parked in a vacant lot — but, as is the beauty of having a bar on wheels, it can be moved at any time. Welcome to Christchurch: where bars are mobile and most things are temporary. "We ... knew that a lot of Christchurch was, and still is, empty land," says Smash Palace owner Johnny Moore. "So we wanted to find a way to occupy that empty land." Like all good purchases, the bus was bought late one night on the internet. Finding a place to put it wasn't quite so easy. The site that was eventually found — an empty block on a busy corner of the CBD border — was disused. The bus bar forms the centrepiece of the lot, serving beer and burgers, with the addition of mulled wine and hot water bottles over winter. Circus-like coloured lights hang around the outdoor tables and undercover areas, making it more like a beer garden or a market than a booze bus. Originally designed to be temporary and provide Christchurch with a pub-like place to meet, drink and start conversations, Smash Palace has now been open for just over two years. People just really bought into the concept and what it gave to the community, says Johnny. "I think it’s the spirit of the place, making do with what you’ve got." As is the transitory nature of Christchurch at the moment, pop-up bars, shops and institutions make up a large percentage of the city. It's an exciting time for small business owners and those wanting to start something in Christchurch. "Anyone who's here wants to be here," says Johnny. "For younger people it's the land of opportunity. Whatever you can dream can happen at the moment."
Woolloongabba's South City Square precinct keeps getting bigger. Meet Los Felix Taco Stand, its latest addition, which heroes Southern Californian-style Mexican dishes as paired with mezcal, tequila and margaritas. Now open and trading from lunch through to dinner five days a week — from Wednesday–Sunday — Los Felix is The Talisman Group's latest venture, too. The hospitality company is mighty fond of this patch of Logan Road, with the aforementioned The Wright House set to become part of its stable, alongside already-existing Italian bar and eatery Sasso, Chinese Peruvian joint Casa Chow, Palm Springs-inspired gin-pouring garden bar Purple Palm, and European-influenced wine bar and wine shop South City Wine — and now this. Taco fans can stop by for an openair bite, choosing from a menu overseen by Talisman's Head Chef Gabriele Di Landri, who has teamed up with San Miguel de Allende-born chef Aldo Lara. The latter is currently Head Chef at Sydney's hatted The Dolphin Hotel, and is known for consulting for Australian Mexican restaurants (see also: Carbón, Sonora and Santa Catarina). Here, he's also taking inspiration from Tijuana. Those tacos come served in soft corn tortillas with six varieties of fillings, starting with carne asada with guacamole and red onion, Baja-style beer battered snapper with chipotle mayonnaise, and orange confit pork carnitas with jalapeños. There's also lamb shoulder barbacoa, chipotle-style chicken tinga with shaved cabbage and pickled onion, and portobello mushroom with smoked mayo and then more mushrooms — wild and pickled — as well. Tuna aguachile tostadas, guacamole and chips, and Tijuana loaded fries — which includes chipotle mayo, pickled jalapeños and bacon — are similarly on offer. And for dessert, there's churros dusted with cinnamon sugar, then paired with ancho-infused chocolate sauce. To wash all of the above down, diners can pick from those aforementioned spirits and margs — which come in classic, Tommy's and frozen varieties — plus beers from Mexico and soft drinks.
Whether it celebrates music, performances or film, every arts festival is a gift. When it's brand new and combines all three, it's like Christmas. And, when it also boasts Solange's return to Australia, it's the adult equivalent of scoring the pony or bike that you always wanted when you were a kid. The event ticking all of those boxes? Volume, the newly announced fest that'll take over the Art Gallery of New South Wales this spring When it debuts from Friday, September 22–Sunday, October 8 at the Sydney gallery, Volume will hero the cutting edge and the contemporary in all of its chosen artforms — and, given that it's calling itself a festival of sound and vision, that's where it'll be focusing. Solange has the headline slot, but the Grammy–winning R&B singer-songwriter has ample company, including Sampa The Great, Mount Eerie and Sonya Holowell. [caption id="attachment_738150" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Max Hirschberger[/caption] Also taking to the stage: everyone from Black Belt Eagle Scout, crys cole, Datu Arellano, Fuji|||||||||||ta and Hamed Sadeghi to Jeff Parker, Joe Rainey, Kim Moyes, Lonnie Holley and Maissa Alameddine, and the list keeps going from there. Via Dean Hurley, KMRU, Lea Bertucci, Loraine James, Megan Alice Clune, R Rebeiro and salllvage, Volume will also host the world premieres of seven new music recordings, all commissioned by AGNSW. All up, the fest will showcase 27 local and international musicians, with the venue's music and community curator Jonathan Wilson putting together the impressive roster of talent behind the microphone. That program includes an experiential live music performance series called Play the Room, plus local and international composers creating and playing new scores courtesy of the fest's Playback sessions. [caption id="attachment_881769" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jordan Munns[/caption] And, thanks to the gallery's new North Building, the setting is as stunning as the lineup. The Tank, which is a former-WWII oil tank-turned-art space, will host shows — and give its acoustics a workout — as will the 13-metre-high atrium and sculpture gallery spaces. Volume's film and performance lineups will be announced in August, with AGNSW's film curator Ruby Arrowsmith-Todd picking the moving-image works and the venue's curator of contemporary art Lisa Catt doing the honours with the dance performances. Expect 50-plus music, film and performance events in total — some free, some ticketed, and with the program running during the day and into the evening. [caption id="attachment_906009" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Art Gallery of New South Wales, Jenni Carter[/caption] "While the visual arts have traditionally been the Art Gallery's focus, our expansion, through the Sydney Modern Project, has created an exceptional opportunity for us to extend our programming as part of our new curatorial narrative to include more cutting-edge live music, film and performance. Volume is the manifestation of this vision," said Art Gallery of New South Wales director Michael Brand, announcing the new festival. "Featuring some of the most compelling artists of our time, Volume sets a new standard for music curation in public art museums and is the most exciting performative live music and art festival to be staged in Sydney." [caption id="attachment_880684" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Art Gallery of New South Wales, Iwan Baan[/caption] VOLUME 2023 LINEUP: Solange Sampa The Great Mount Eerie Sonya Holowell R. Rebeiro Toni Muñoz Datu Arellano KMRU Lonnie Holley crys cole TENGGER Maissa Alameddine Sumn Conduit Loraine James Jeff Parker Kim Moyes Joe Rainey Mourning (a) BLKstar Lea Bertucci Black Belt Eagle Scout Hamed Sadeghi Megan Alice Clune Oren Ambarchi salllvage FUJI|||||||||||TA Naretha Williams Dean Hurley Volume runs from Friday, September 22–Sunday, October 8 at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, with ticket pre sales from 10am on Tuesday, July 18 and general sales from 10am on Wednesday, July 19 — head to the festival website for further details. Top image: Ibrahem Hasan.
Getting Brisbanites tasting top-notch cocktails from award-winning venues around the world has been Living Room Bar's game for a few years now. The watering hole inside the W Brisbane hotel teamed up with acclaimed Barcelona bar Paradiso — aka the best bar on the World's 50 Best Bars list for 2022 — for a special menu featuring the Spanish spot's globally famous beverages the same year that it won that accolade. Now, it's enlisting bartending talents closer to home; however, when Matt Whiley from Sydney's Re is involved, every tipple is an inventive creation. Re is no stranger to the World's 50 Best Bars list itself, placing 46th in 2021. In 2022, it made the 51–100 longlist in 87th spot. One of the reasons that the Harbour City venue — which is currently making a move to new digs in the New South Wales capital — earns so much love is its sustainability-focused approach. Reducing waste by using ingredients that'd normally be discarded is Re's angle, and an important one. That ethos comes through at Conscious Cocktails, as the menu that's kicking off on Thursday, May 30, 2024 at Living Room Bar has been dubbed. On offer for six months, it'll evolve over that period, always with reducing refuse at its core. Potato skins, pineapple rind, pumpkin seeds, cauliflower cream, carrot peel: expect to find them all featured. Take the Re Lamington Negroni, for instance, which uses a cacao husk vermouth blend alongside raspberry gin, Campari and coconut oil. Or, there's also the Re Margarita Spritz, with an entire mandarin going into the sip, plus tequila and mandarin kosho (it can also be enjoyed sans booze). You can be forgiven for wanting to order the Malt Disney for its name alone — and if you do, burnt potato skin, carrot vinegar caramel, whisky and malt vodka await your tastebuds, as does a malt cloud. Blackened pumpkin seeds are an ingredient in The Seed Money, the roasted cauliflower cream pops up with bread caramel in Space Plant 60, while salad leaves and caramelised white chocolate are among Tip of the Iceberg's necessities. And, opt for the Shroom Service for a libation with onion ash, mushroom honey and pineapple skin. Whiley has worked on the menu with Living Room Bar Bar Manager Francesco Squllacioti, and will continue to do so as the seasons change over the six-month run (because each one brings with it a new batch of ingredients that can be saved from becoming waste). The venue is also taking its commitment to sustainability beyond the pair's tipples, printing the menu on paper that was once coffee cups, using coasters made from 100-recent recycled plastic waste, composting its culinary waste that isn't part of Conscious Cocktails onsite and donating excess food to OzHarvest. "My passion for sustainability began ten years ago when I was offered ten trays of strawberries and ended up making 50 litres of strawberry wine. Gradually, I realised 'why isn't every bar in the world doing this?'," explains Whiley. "Collaborating with Francisco, we identified ten–12 ingredients going to waste in the hotel — our mission now is to transform these into something desirable and delicious, showing that food waste can be luxurious. I want people to leave thinking 'that was delicious', feeling happy, satisfied and knowing they've helped the planet." Matt Whiley's Conscious Cocktails hit the menu at W Brisbane's Living Room Bar, 81 North Quay, Brisbane from Thursday, May 30, 2024 for six months — head to the venue's website for further details and bookings.
What’s better than having an espresso bar in an old loading dock? Adding a gallery space out the back, obviously. That’s just what happened at Loading Dock Espresso – they’ve joined forces with the Sunny Coast’s Just Us Gallery and have created yet another space in Brisbane to look at lovely works of art – with the added perk of easily acquiring a perfectly brewed cuppa joe in case your caffeine levels drop to unmanageable lows. Just Us throws its doors open this Friday (actually, rolls up the rickety garage door), and it’s going to be a little something special. Exhibiting for the first time outside of his homeland of the U! S! A!, Scott Toepfer brings his Furthest Horizons exhibition to the Dock, coinciding with the Australian launch of his book, Chasing Horizons. With a penchant for capturing the idyllic American West, Toepfer works for the likes of Converse and Harley Davidson and has had work featured in Monster Children, amongst many others. It’s the American dream! The upcoming weather is perfect for a road trip to nowhere, and after viewing Furthest Horizons it’ll seem like you’re on Route 66 as opposed to the M3.
When JK Rowling sat in an Edinburgh cafe and jotted down the first Harry Potter book more than two decades ago, she couldn't have guessed just how magical her life would become — or how she'd escape from her ordinary existence. We can't all follow in her literary footsteps, but we can now try to escape HP-style. No, not into the novels or movies. No, not via broomstick, portkey, apparating or the floo network. Rather, if you're in Melbourne, you can attempt to find your way out of a Harry Potter-inspired escape room. Let's be honest: it sounds like the kind of place you don't want to escape from, doesn't it? While getting out is the aim of the game at Trapt's new Alchemy rooms, enjoying the experience is too. Here, you'll "practise spells and enchantments and test your magical skills," according to the website, aiming to "discover the mythical substance and Elixir of Life, the Philosopher's Stone, before time runs out." Trapt is also quick to state that this isn't an official HP offering, but you can't bring up spells, wizarding and the title of the first Boy Who Lived book without nodding to the room's obvious inspiration. Make that rooms, with two identical spaces available — to meet demand, because you know there'll be more than a little. In addition, the Lonsdale Street establishment is also serving up an appropriate array of beverages at the bar — both alcoholic and non-boozy, including Flying Cauldron butterscotch beer, the blueberry and cardamom-flavoured Exhibito Noctis, and Potion of Fire spiced rum. And if you're after a journey into more than one themed realm while you're there, there's also a spy room, a prohibition-set offering that's all about bootlegging and moonshine, and an Alice in Wonderland space as well. It's not the first time an Australian escape room has tried to give muggles a magical experience, with Sydney's Break the Code announcing its own back in 2016. Alas, at present, it's still listed as coming soon on the site's website, although it does boast Indiana Jones, Avatar and Lost-themed rooms. Find Alchemy at Trapt, The Basement, 377 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, or visit the venue's website for further details.
It's the ultimate in work-life balance, an antidote to non-stop after-hours emails and Slack messages, and a guaranteed way to ensure what happens at work stays at work. In Apple TV+'s mind-bending new thriller series Severance — which plays like Black Mirror meets the Charlie Kaufman-penned Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, with Wes Anderson's aesthetic if he designed soulless office complexes, plus sprinklings of everything from George Orwell to also-excellent 2020 TV effort Devs — switching off when clocking off at Lumon Industries is easy. There's a brain implant for exactly that, and it's a condition of employment on "severed" floors. Accordingly, when quittin' time comes for Macrodata Refinement division employee Mark (Adam Scott, Big Little Lies), he physically steps into a tiny, shiny elevator to descend back into his after-hours life — but the version of him that works for Lumon won't recall anything beyond the company's walls. The instant that the one-person lift plummets at the end of the day, it goes back up for Mark's "innie", as his office-bound consciousness is dubbed. Voila, it's clocking-on time once more. For Mark's "outie", as the rest of his brain is labelled, the reverse occurs. Each day, he enters an elevator, hops out immediately, then drives to the suburban estate he calls home and repeats the process the next morning. Mourning the death of his wife, he's consciously chosen to separate his work and home selves in the most drastic of ways, giving him an eight-hour-a-day reprieve from his grief. But while it may sound like a dream escape — from Mark's pain, and for any employee eager to reclaim mental real estate from their job — this dark, twisty and instantly gripping series is firmly dystopian. Severance's attention-grabbing premise springs from creator Dan Erickson, a TV first-timer, and understands how most folks feel about office life. The show is knowing in its lead casting, too, given that Scott is best recognised for two workplace comedies: the joyous hug that is Parks and Recreation, as well as the acerbic, astute and soon-to-return Party Down. But as savvily and evocatively directed by Ben Stiller in its first three season-one episodes (and again in its last three, with Kissing Candice filmmaker Aoife McArdle helming three in the middle), Scott's new series dwells in 'be careful what you wish for' territory. For the part of Mark's brain that blanks out work, Severance initially seems like heaven. For the half that only knows the office, it's hell. The series begins with Mark two years into his time at Lumon, and newly installed as a division head after Petey (Yul Vazquez, The Outsider), his workplace BFF, leaves suddenly. One of his first tasks: onboarding Helly (Britt Lower, Future Man), who awakes in innie form for the first time sprawled atop a conference table. The camera gazes down, the eerie tone resembles leaping out of a nightmare but being unable to pick if you're still dreaming, and she hears Mark asking questions. Helly has queries herself, including: "am I livestock?". The severance process is jarring for newcomers, but they're expected to adjust swiftly. Innie Helly hasn't gotten that memo, however — and no, Party Down fans, neither her nor Mark are having fun yet. He grapples with his new role and the sudden loss of Petey, with his cold, unsevered boss Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette, The Act) and her omnipresent, also-unsevered assistant Mr Milchick (Tramell Tillman, Hunters) scrutinising every move, and his fellow severed MDR employees Irving (John Turturro, The Plot Against America) and Dylan (Zach Cherry, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) handling Lumon life by being controlling and competitive, respectively. As for Helly's innie, she starts waging war on the new world order she definitely didn't sign up for, including writing briskly denied resignation requests to her outie. From The Truman Show and The Matrix to The Office and Office Space, Severance's list of influences is lengthy. It's Kafkaesque and Lynchian, too, and wandering its labyrinthine hallways — corridors designed like a maze to keep Lumon departments apart — is like being trapped in a surreal workplace version of Twin Peaks' red room. Indeed, every production design and cinematography choice enhances the feeling of being trapped in an off-kilter and deeply unnerving corporate purgatory. It's there in the 70s- and 80s-style technology, the green-and-white colour scheme, and the camera placement that flits between claustrophobic and cooly expansive. Lumon's innies don't have the choice, but Severance is also a series to willingly get lost in. Apple TV+ is dropping episodes week to week, following a two-instalment premiere, but the compulsion to lap up more of its unsettling mysteries springs quickly. Just like other standout shows of the past few months, such as Yellowjackets and Station Eleven, the desperation to piece together Severance's puzzles echoes strongly while watching — but this meticulously made head-trip is in no rush to unveil its answers. Given the wealth of wonders to be found within its frames — and the allure of its slow-drip secrets, including exactly what MDR is doing as its workers sort through screens of "happy" and "scary" numbers — it's hardly surprising that Severance isn't in a rush. It also boasts Christopher Walken (Percy vs Goliath) putting his distinctive on-screen presence to great use as another of Lumon's severed wager-earners, and is home to stellar performances across the board, including Scott's latest everyman turn, Turturro playing the office pedant with aplomb, a compellingly icy Arquette and the mesmerising Tillman. And, crucially, equally calling out, questioning and satirising today's ideas about work is always on the show's agenda. With a wry sense of humour, Severance sees the nine-to-five grind as the hellscape it can be, probes the control we've relinquished for paycheques and pokes fun at everything that's become normalised about the modern workplace. The hold our jobs have over our lives, the cult-like worship that large companies demand from underlings, the awkward office exceptions and social conventions, and these always clocked-on times in general: none of them escape this perceptive and addictive series' attention. Not so fond of the corporate treadmill? As it immerses, engages and intrigues, Severance truly understands. Check out the trailer for Severance below: The first three episodes of Severance's first season are available to stream via Apple TV+, with new episodes dropping weekly.
Music lovers all over the country have been holding their breaths for the much-awaited Parklife lineup announcement. And yesterday they were able to exhale with utter excitement at the acts that are set to hit the stages around Australia in late September and early October. We have a double VIP pass to giveaway in each city that Parklife will be making an appearance. Lucky winners of the VIP tickets will not only gain access to the exclusive Garden Bar, which offers such treasures as toilets, phone chargers, massages and the chance to catch up with Parklife artists, but they'll also get free drinks and a Parklife Mixtape, and be able to skip the ever-dreaded queues. To go in the running, just head to the Concrete Playground Facebook page and leave a comment under this story telling us which artist you want to see most, and which city you want tickets for. Entries will close at noon on June 21. Parklife dates and venues:Parklife Brisbane - Saturday, September 29 at Botanic GardensParklife Sydney - Sunday, September 30 at Centennial ParkParklife Perth - Monday, October 1 at Wellington SquareParklife Melbourne - Saturday, October 6 at Sidney Myer Music Bowl and Kings DomainParklife Adelaide - Sunday, October 7 at Botanic Gardens Discounted presale tickets ($25 off in all cities except Adelaide, which is $17 off) are available from 12pm on June 21 until midnight on June 25. Head to parklife.com.au for more info.
Thought you’d be eating vacuum packed meals in space? Think again. Fruit and veges could now be part of everyday space cuisine as part of EDEN’s (Evolution and Design of Environmentally-Closed Nutrition Sources) latest research initiative to grow fruit and veges in outer space with LED lights. The German Aerospace Centre (DRL) has picked up new Heliospectra LED lighting technology which the company has developed to help researchers explore conditions that can be used to grow fruit and veges in outer space. These space greenhouses could potentially function and feed a crew millions of miles above the clouds and prove particularly useful in harsh environments like a greenhouse module on Mars, or on slightly closer turf at the Neumayer Station III in Antarctica. One of the current projects at the German institute investigates testing the greenhouse module in the hostile Antarctica environment where a team lives in total isolation for nine months straight. Researchers hope to discover the ways whereby food could be produced for the crew and investigate how plants influence humans in isolation. [via inhabitat]
