A new blockbuster exhibition is headed Sydney's way, delving into one of the most famous figures in history. Whether you loved learning about the past at school or prefer to get your history fix via flicks like The Mummy, there's something about Tutankhamun that always intrigues — and now more than 150 objects from the ancient boy king's tomb are coming to the Australian Museum. Set to grace the museum's walls in 2021, Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh marks a century since King Tut's treasure-laden resting place was first discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter back in 1922. The exhibition's world-premiere season is currently running in Los Angeles — and while exact Sydney dates are yet been announced, it'll head to our shores for a six-month period, with the New South Wales capital becoming one of only ten cities around the world to play host to the showcase. Golden jewellery, elaborate carvings, sculptures and ritual antiquities will all feature, in an exhibition that "is exclusively focused on interpreting the significance and meaning of artifacts from Tutankhamun's personal tomb and includes," according to the Los Angeles season's website. Visitors can expect to set their sights on a ceremonial bed that historians believe was made for the pharaoh's funeral, a life-sized wooden statue of Tut and a jewelled container that held his liver. Given it's the world's largest Tutankhamun exhibition outside of Egypt — featuring 60 pieces that have never previously left the country — it's a rather big deal. It's also the final time that these items will leave Egypt, as they're set to be permanently housed in the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, which is due to open this year. Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh's trip to Sydney will be made possible by a $50 million upgrade to the Australian Museum, which will enhance the facility's ability to host large-scale exhibitions. "Repurposing existing storage space will see the significant expansion of the touring exhibition halls to 1500 square metres across two levels – allowing the Museum to host either one big blockbuster or two exhibitions simultaneously," said museum director and CEO Kim McKay. Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh will display at the Australian Museum in Sydney in 2021, with dates yet to be revealed. For more information, keep an eye on the Australian Museum website. Images: AP Images / King Tut: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh at the California Science Centre.
After the disrupted and predominantly domestic-only ski seasons in 2020 and 2021, thrill-seekers from both sides of the ditch could be hitting New Zealand's pristine slopes from as early as June. That means it's less than 70 days until some of our major fields, including Coronet Peak and The Remarkables in Queenstown and Canterbury's Mount Hutt, are up and running for winter. If you're making the trip across the ditch, you're in luck: there's plenty set for this season, including new trails and night-skiing events. Mount Hutt is set to be the first to open from Friday, June 10 until Sunday, October 16. It will be open seven days a week, with capacity on the mountain having increased thanks to the last year's recently opened Nor'west Express eight-seat chairlift. With a ride time of only two minutes, the lift has the capacity to carry up to 3000 skiers per hour. It also features a loading carpet to assist those who are new to using chairlifts. The field's full moon skiing event will also return on Saturday, June 11. [caption id="attachment_849337" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NZSki[/caption] Coronet Peak will be open from Friday, June 17 right through until Sunday, September 25. The ski field plans to operate its popular after-hours night skiing nights every Wednesday and Friday from June 22 onwards. The 48th dog derby is also on the cards. Fellow Queenstown favourite The Remarkables will be open every day of the week from Saturday, June 18 through to Sunday, October 16. The mountain's Sugar Bowl development includes two recently opened trails and a new snowmaking system, which means better snow coverage on the Serpentine side of the mountain. [caption id="attachment_849335" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NZSki[/caption] Cardrona Alpine Resort's Olympic-sized superpipe will be open from Saturday, June 11 until Sunday, October 16. The ski field also added another chairlift to its network last year, which opened up a new major section of skiable terrain on the southern face. Sibling ski field Treble Cone is scheduled to open from Saturday, June 25 until Sunday, September 25, and for cross-country skiers and snow-shoers, Cardrona's Snow Farm is intending to open for the 2022 winter from mid-June — dates are yet to be confirmed. The largest ski area in the nation, Mt Ruapehu, is preparing to open its Happy Valley (Thursday, June 23), Turoa (Saturday, July 9) and Whakapapa (Friday, July 8) fields, too, which will give skiers and snowboarders access to the mountain's natural pipes, steep chutes and a vertical drop of 722 metres. The alpine village says the opening will be subject to snow conditions. With the borders set to open, quarantine-free, to Australian tourists from Tuesday, April 12, this ski season will definitely see a rise in visitor numbers across all the country's fields. Tourists will be required to test negative for COVID-19 with a PCR or RAT before leaving for New Zealand, then provide negative tests on day one and day five of their stay. If you need a refresher on the rules, check out the Government's COVID-19 website. All ski field 2022 season plans are dependent on snow conditions, as well as COVID-19 guidelines and expectations set out by the New Zealand Government. Images: NZSki.
We all know Britain's iconic red phone booths — they're as British as Queen Lizzie or a chicken tikka curry. So what happens when the service they offer becomes redundant? You turn them into smart phone repair workshops. British phone repair company Lovefone is in the process of renovating 35 phone booths across Britain, transforming them into stations where people can get their smartphones and tablets fixed. The results of their efforts are going to come in very handy after you've drunk a pint too many and dropped your electronic goods into the loo. The revamped booths will also offer free charging stations and wifi, as well as an underfloor safe that protects electronic goods while they await pick-up. A similar but definitely not as cool idea has been in place in Australia for a while, with Telstra equipping their pay phones with routers to give their customers wifi access when they're nearby. Unfortunately, this service is only available to certain Telstra users — but it does pave the way for other networks to run with the idea in the future. Other countries around the globe have come up with their own novel ideas for repurposing phone booths. One phone booth in New York has been revitalised with the addition of shelves, converting it into a library. Citizens donate unwanted texts, with the book exchange working on a honesty-based policy. We're thinking that there has to be a market for this in Australia. Back in the UK, the Red Kiosk Company allows you to rent and run your own business from a phone booth. A number of cafes now lease phone booths as their cafe shopfronts — and one guy even opened up his own phone booth salad store. So take note entrepreneurs: your dreams of opening up your own quirky cafe might be just around the corner, literally.
By the time that 2022 is out, lovers of Studio Ghibli's films (aka everyone) will have two places to visit if they'd like to get as close as humanly possible to walking into the animation house's gorgeous frames. Already, you can head to the Studio Ghibli museum in Mitaka, a city on the western outskirts Tokyo — and you really should; it's as magical as it sounds, giant catbus and all — but now Ghibli's very own theme park has officially set a November launch date. Come November 1, the new location in Nagoya's Aichi Prefecture — which is around a three-hour train trip from Tokyo — will start spiriting away Ghibli fans across its 200-hectare expanse. The studio initially announced that it was creating its own theme park back in 2017, and originally planned to open in 2020. Then, in 2018, it pushed back its launch timeline to 2022; however, this is the first time it's set a specific date that everyone can mark in the calendars. The opening day of the Ghibli Park was announced today. pic.twitter.com/01vhPGuJgq — スタジオジブリ STUDIO GHIBLI (@JP_GHIBLI) January 27, 2022 The Aichi Prefecture Expo Park spot is already home to a replica of Satsuki and Mei's house from My Neighbour Totoro, and it's gaining plenty of other attractions as it becomes a fully fledged Studio Ghibli thee park. Totoro features heavily, understandably, with the site even initially described as having a My Neighbour Totoro focus. However, you'll also be able to check out a life-sized version of Howl's Moving Castle, the antique shop from Whisper of the Heart, Kiki's home from Kiki's Delivery Service and a village area that pays tribute to Princess Mononoke. Also slated to feature: nods to the cat from Whisper of the Heart and The Cat Returns, buildings with design elements that take their cues from Laputa: Castle in the Sky, and a super-sized garden that'll make you feel like you're one of the tiny characters in Arrietty. There'll also be a permanent exhibition room, a special exhibition room, a video exhibition room, a playground, and a shop and cafe, so you'll have plenty of places to explore, eat and browse. Expect more nods to Ghibli's various features to follow, recreating other aspects from its three-decade-old body of work — and possibly its most recent movie, Earwig and the Witch, too. And if the end result is even half as wondrous as the studio's aforementioned museum, then fans are in for a treat. There, you can also climb up to the building's rooftop garden to see one of the robots from Laputa: Castle in the Sky, and watch exclusive shorts (including a sequel to My Neighbour Totoro) in a cute little cinema. Indeed, the museum is such a tourist attraction, you have to buy tickets over a month in advance — and experiencing the rush of folks in the merchandise-packed gift shop will make you feel like a susuwatari (Totoro's gorgeous little balls of floating soot). [caption id="attachment_799539" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Studio Ghibli[/caption] Incorporated into the existing parklands, the Studio Ghibli theme park will be heavy on greenery and the natural surroundings, which matches the environmental messaging that plays a prominent part in Ghibli's movies. The site will also encourage "enjoying walking", according to the draft concept outline, while aiming to offer "a one-of-a-kind park loved by more people". We don't think either will be difficult. If you're now planning a Ghibli-centric holiday, you'll need to cross your fingers that Japan's border rules change before November to allow foreign nationals to enter the country — something that's currently suspended until at least the end of February 2021. And if you won't stop dreaming about the Studio Ghibli theme park anyway, the Aichi Tourism Bureau has released a trailer — which is largely an ad for the surrounding area, but also features Satsuki and Mei's house prominently. Check it out below: The Studio Ghibli theme park is slated to open on November 1, 2022. For more information, keep an eye on the animation company's website.
If you have firm thoughts on South Bank's place and purpose in Brisbane, then you might've shared them with the Queensland Government back in 2022. That's when news of the precinct's upcoming revamp was revealed, complete with a draft proposal outlining how the 42-hectare patch of the River City's inner city could change — and it was also when the public was asked to comment on those ideas. More than 25,000 pieces of feedback were received. Two years later, the new South Bank Master Plan has been unveiled. The riverside stretch has been part of Brissie since 1992, but it is about to look significantly different. With the location notching up more than three decades since it was turned into public parklands after Expo 88, the new plan focuses on how it can evolve for the people of Brisbane over the coming years. Accordingly, a trip to South Bank in the future will involve hopping along a treetop walk, strolling along wider footpaths, shopping at a permanent handmade goods market and taking a longer promenade to Kangaroo Point. Many of these additions and expansions were in the blueprint initially, alongside refreshing Little Stanley Street's dining options, adding a beach plaza and enhancing the Queensland Performing Arts Centre cultural forecourt. A key part of the overall concept, as announced by Queensland Minister for State Development and Infrastructure, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Racing Grace Grace, is to focus on South Bank's southern and northern gateways — so where the Maritime Museum currently sits, and also the BRISBANE sign — plus Grey Street. One big aim: to make Grey Street "one of the world's most-recognisable subtropical people-centric streets". Here's what's definitely staying the same: the arbor, the BRISBANE sign, the existing heritage buildings, the rainforest, the Rainforest Green, the Riverside Green and the River Quay lawn. But the plans from there are hefty, ranging from relocating the Epicurious Garden to Little Stanley Street and adding a busy tucker trail, through to removing the piazza and also Flowstate, and expanding the lagoon. More riverside lawns, including one that peers over the beach and the city, and more riverside eateries are also on the list. Throw in temporary river stages, a potential water taxi from the Cultural Centre, more outdoor dining, laneways, a digital water wall, an island archipelago in the water play zone, an elevated lookout and a reflecting pool, and that's still only part of what's in store. "We know that people want more greenery and shade, enhanced connections to surrounding areas like the CBD, Kangaroo Point Cliffs and Gabba, and more active transport opportunities — this plan delivers that and more," said Grace. "South Bank is a lasting legacy of Expo 88 and its Master Plan envisions how South Bank can help create our next big legacy, including from the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We want to ensure the legacy of these investments is felt for residents and visitors for decades to come." Susan Forrester AM, Chair South Bank Corporation, called the plan "a testament to the collective efforts of the community, who provided invaluable feedback and insights throughout the planning process and played a crucial role in shaping the future of South Bank. "With 89 percent of respondents expressing support for the plan's vision, we are prioritising increased greening of the precinct, improved accessibility and travel connectivity improvements. We have a unique opportunity to reimagine South Bank and create an incredible legacy for future generations." Given that this is a long-term blueprint, exactly what will be in place when — including ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games — hasn't been finalised. But Brisbane's Olympics transformation was never going to forget South Bank, which is also set to welcome QPAC's fifth theatre, the Neville Bonner Bridge connecting to the Queen's Wharf precinct, and the new Kangaroo Point green bridge with an overwater bar and restaurant. For more information about South Bank's revamp, head to the South Bank Master Plan website.
When a festival dedicates its focus to art and design, it is limited only by its imagination. Exhibitions and installations, parties and food trucks, markets and tea celebrations, getting cosy on bean bags and staring at mini Queenslanders — they're all on Brisbane Art Design's program for 2023, with the fest celebrating Brisbane's creativity from Friday, May 12–Sunday, May 28. With more than 150 events on its lineup, Brisbane Art Design is going big, broad, bright and busy for its latest run. Wherever you look throughout the River City in May, you'll likely find part of the festival's program livening up the place — including breweries, record stores, restaurants, gardens and the usual galleries. Wondering what to see? Where to browse and buy? Which works you should be peering at? Where you can feast and dance as well? We've picked ten must-attend Brisbane Art Design festivities for this year. Top image: Alessia E Art.
It's the excuse you need to stop for a drink on the way home from work, or to even hit quittin' time a little early. On Thursdays, Cielo Rooftop is serving up $1 oysters from 4pm — letting you slurp down some super-affordable saltwater bivalve molluscs, soak in the Fortitude Valley bar's scenic city views and liven up your pre-weekend routine. On the menu: natural oysters for $1 a pop, or you can pay a bit more for raspberry mignonette oysters ($3 each) or truffle oysters ($5 each). This celebration of freshly shucked oysters does come with a caveat, though: to access the cheap seafood, you will need to buy a beverage. You can also only purchase 24 oysters per person — if you're thinking about making the absolute most of the once-a-week deal. You'll find the venue's usual array of drinks waiting to wet your whistle; however, Cielo Rooftop is going hard on its $45 cocktail trees, which include three signature tipples.
You're sure to be a little worn out from your Earth Day's tree-hugging and recycling activities, so why not relax with an eco-friendly cocktail? These 100% organic drinks will keep you in the green holiday spirit. Like any cocktail, these begin with quality (and in this case, organic) liquor. Some Earth Day-friendly stand-outs include Square One Vodka from Marin County, California, Del Maguey Mezcal, which imports single-village mezcals from Mexico via Taos, New Mexico, and Kanon Vodka, from Sweden. Each company produces 100% organic spirits. Square One and Kanon focus on sustainable production, utilising wind power in their distilleries. Square One bottles even feature labels made of sustainably grown bamboo and cotton. With the main ingredient covered, all you need are a few organic limes and tangerines and some creativity. Good's cocktail enthusiast Ken Walczak shows you how. So Fresh, So Green 1 ½ oz. Square One Basil Vodka ¾ oz. lime juice ½ oz. ginger-peppercorn syrup* Shake with cracked ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an organic lime wedge. * To make the ginger-peppercorn syrup: Combine 3 to 4 oz. of ginger, sliced thin, 1 tsp. black peppercorns, the skin and core of an apple, 2 cups sugar, and 3 cups water in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat; simmer for about 40 minutes or until syrup has the desired flavor and consistency. Cool completely. Strain. El Niño 1 ½ oz. pepper-infused vodka* 1 ½ oz. tangerine juice [I squeezed organic Minneolas] 1 oz.Del Maguey Crema de Mezcal [i.e., mescal with agave syrup added] ½ oz. agave syrup Shake with cracked ice. Double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a vodka-soaked pepper or a dried Fuyu persimmon. * To make the pepper-infused vodka: Remove the cores and seeds from a habanero, a jalapeño, two serranos, and an Anaheim pepper—preferably while wearing gloves. (Ripe peppers may be best overall, but firmer, crisper ones produce a “green” taste that is not entirely unwelcome in the cocktail, in addition to the heat.) Chop the peppers roughly. Clean and dry a mason jar thoroughly, place the chopped peppers in the bottom of the jar, and fill with an organic vodka (I used Kanon). Screw the lid on to the jar. Let the vodka infuse for 8 to 48 hours—longer infusion will result in more intense, spicier flavor. When the flavor is to your liking, strain the infused vodka. The vodka-soaked peppers can be retained as a garnish. [via Good]
Brisbane's underground home of rum and jazz is at it again. When the Ekka public holiday hits on Wednesday, August 14, The Walrus Club is celebrating the occasion with dark spirits and smooth tunes all afternoon long. Yes, it's going to be a real Rum Royale at the Regatta's prohibition era-inspired basement bar. On the boozy side of the equation, prepare to taste your way through 12 different rum samples, showcasing the best tipples from around the globe. There'll also be food to match, including a tiki-style smokehouse and a pop-up deli — which means plenty of cheese and charcuterie is on the menu. Attendees can also learn more about the beverage in question, and about making cocktails, thanks to a range of masterclasses. You'll receive your own tasting glass, too, which you can take home with you. When it comes to music, a live jazz soundtrack will add to the atmosphere all afternoon long. Rum Royale runs from 3–7pm, with tickets on sale now for $49.
Here's news to restart Australia's city rivalries: in 2024, just like in 2021, 2022 and 2023, Melbourne is home to the country's best pizza. This year, however, so is Sydney as well. That's the word from the experts at the 2024 50 Top Pizza awards for the Asia Pacific, which keeps enjoying slices from Victorian chain 48h Pizza e Gnocchi Bar — but this time, it loved the Harbour City's Al Taglio just as much. Both pizzerias have been named in the top-five slice-slinging joints in the Asia Pacific for this year, sharing fifth spot. They're the only Australian eateries in the top ten, but New Zealand's Dante's Pizzeria Napoletana came in sixth. If sending some affection 48h Pizza e Gnocchi Bar's way sounds familiar, that's because it happens often. As well as its Top 50 Pizza successes, the Melbourne pizzeria with outposts in South Yarra and Elsternwick was also crowned #1 Pizza in Australia at the Pizza World Championships in 2019. Back at the Top 50 Pizza gongs, only 48h Pizza e Gnocchi Bar placed on 2023's global list, too, with the Melbourne chain coming in 41st. Al Taglio popped up in the next 50, at number 63. How they'll each fare worldwide in 2024 won't be announced until September. This year's best Asia Pacific pizzerias were named at a ceremony at the Italian Institute of Culture in Tokyo. Running for the last seven years, the 50 Top Pizza awards are chosen by around 1000 experts across the globe, who visit the pizzerias anonymously to judge and rank their offerings. The annual international pizzeria guide chooses its picks based not just on the merit of their slices, but on each pizzeria as a whole, rating the food, drinks, service and overall ambiance. In top spot in the Asia Pacific this year: The Pizza Bar on 38th in Tokyo, which also earned the same placing in 2023. In second came Crosta Pizzeria in Makati in The Philippines, followed by RistoPizza in Tokyo in third, Hong Kong's Fiata by Salvatore in fourth and then the Aussie double shared fifth spot. A handful of other Aussie venues were also among 2024's Asia Pacific top 50 best pizzerias, starting with Sydney's Queen Margherita of Savoy in 23rd place. Lil Franky Pizzeria, also in the New South Wales capital, ranked 27th — and Gigi's Pizza, similarly in the city, came in at 30th. From Melbourne, Il Caminetto sits in 31st spot, Shop225 in 32nd and +39 Pizzeria in 33rd. Maestro Sourdough Pizza in Perth also earned some attention, ranking 43rd — and Sydney's Pizza Madre rounded out the list by coming in at 50th. Find 48h Pizza e Gnocchi Bar at 373 Malvern Road, South Yarra and 15 Gordon Street, Elsternwick. For the full 50 Top Pizza Asia Pacific awards list, jump over to the website. Craving a slice, Melburnians? Check out our top picks for pizza in Melbourne. 48h Pizza e Gnocchi Bar images: Hi Sylvia.
On May 20, 2011, 500 people will explore the Stephen A. Schwarzman building of the New York Public Library (NYPL) from dusk 'til dawn in a new interactive game allowing players to become an author by sunrise. Find the Future is an overnight adventure where participants have specific missions and objectives to complete through the secret underground stacks of the library, where over 40 miles of books are housed. By the end of the excursion the group will have collaboratively written an entire book that will be published and entered into the permanent collection of the NYPL. Participants will observe over 100 objects of monumental significance to mankind and learn over 100 untold stories that are aimed to inspire creativity and encourage people to realize their dreams and goals for their own lives. The entry form to become one of the first lucky few to begin the Find the Future quest asks individuals to imagine a vivid picture of their future and then create a goal to achieve by the year 2021. The most original and determined entries will be selected for the overnight stay. Following the debut on the 20th, anyone can play the game during regular library hours at the NYPL, or online from anywhere in the world, to make history by finding their future.
This year, Melbourne and Australia got its first not-for-profit bar Shebeen on Manchester Lane. With every drink sold going towards developing projects in its country of origin, it is changing the way we think about charity and sipping a tipple. We have Simon Griffiths to thank for this. Concrete Playground got hold of Simon to talk about his philanthropic work, Shebeen, toilet paper and his cat. What drove you to philanthropic work? I started working in the corporate world but quickly realised that I wanted to use my skills to solve social problems, not just business problems. After a lot of research I found that the number one problem faced by development aid organisations was a lack of funding, so I decided to create a new channel for funding, moving away from the donation market, and instead creating an avenue for consumer dollars to create social impact. After you came up with the concept for Shebeen with Zanna McComish, what was it that made you think, this really might work? The basic concept was actually 100 percent Zanna's, but it has snowballed into something much larger and more sustainable over the years. When Zanna first mentioned the idea to me, I was so excited that I knew a lot of people would dig it as well ... we just had to figure out how to make the business model work. How was it getting partners and suppliers on board? The really tricky part was raising the capital to get the venue open. We ended up raising social capital, i.e. without any financial return, from 20-25 different investors, then pieced together product partnerships with Brown-Forman, Schweppes and Silver Chef to fill the remaining cash shortage. We did everything on a tiny budget, so had to garner pro bono support from anyone and everyone, including Foolscap Studio (interior architecture), Swear Words (graphic design), Run Forrest (PR and communications), McCorkells Construction (building), Alpha 60 (uniforms), Tin & Ed (murals and uniform graphics), and so on. It has been a long but amazing ride! What is one of the projects you are most excited about contributing to in the developing world? I really get off on KickStart, who we work with in Ethiopia. Around 80 percent of the poor in Sub-Saharan Africa are small-scale farmers who depend on unreliable rain to grow crops. KickStart figured out that irrigation would allow many of them to move from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture, so they developed the MoneyMaker pump to allow farmers to draw water from rivers, ponds and wells to irrigate large areas of land year-round. Basically their pumps create a substantial and sustainable increase in household income — and they're really great at measuring their impact. We know that every $1 we give them turns into $12 of profits and wages for one of their farmers. That's a pretty exciting return-on-investment — or return-on-drinking-an-Ethiopian-beer. For you, how does Shebeen's support to the developing world differ from other charitable organisations? Basically we give consumers an opportunity to put their purchasing power to work. Now that we're open we're 100 percent self sustaining — we're already profitable and will start donating funds in the next four months or so. We'll only seek to raise additional capital to open new venues. What do you want people to take away from Shebeen? We want them to start thinking a little differently about what it means to be a consumer, and where their money ends up. After five years in the making. What does it feel like to walk into the bar and see it as a reality? It's still quite surreal to see people in there! But we've been so busy it's also been difficult to stop and celebrate. I'm taking my first weekend off for the year this weekend — it's going to be great! Where do you see Shebeen in five years? In five years we're hoping to have venues in five or more locations and will hopefully be looking at our own retail range of products as well. What is your favourite drink on the menu? I've really gotten into our cocktails. I really like the Ginger Kaffir Limeade, which is made with Kaffir Lime infused Finlandia vodka, and our warhead-sour lemon frozen margaritas, which we're making with El Jimador tequila. We're just about to start experimenting with cocktails on tap, too. What gets you out of bed in the morning? Usually my alarm, or my cat biting my foot. Occasionally it's a hangover. What's next for Simon Griffiths? Getting Shebeen doing a great takeaway lunchtime trade, opening the second Shebeen venue, and selling more toilet paper — I also run whogivesacrap.org. Images by Clever Deer.
Reunions aren't always joyful occasions. In Another Simple Favour, that looks set to prove true for Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick, Woman of the Hour) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively, It Ends with Us), after the latter surprises the former with an unexpected return, as well as a request. For audiences, however, this sequel to 2018's A Simple Favour can't arrive fast enough and couldn't be more welcome. Until it hits streaming queues on Thursday, May 1, 2025, Prime Video has dropped the film's full trailer to tide viewers over. As well as stars Kendrick and Lively, filmmaker Paul Feig also returns in this long-awaited follow-up to a movie delight, and to a deliciously engaging and entertaining mystery. This time, as both the first teaser and the new sneak peek show, the frenemy antics are heading to Italy for a wedding filled with murder and betrayal. Out of prison and about to get married to a wealthy businessman, Emily crashes Stephanie's book reading to task her with being her maid of honour, but it might just be a revenge plot. Using the Italian island of Capri as a backdrop, Another Simple Favour not only boasts Feig (Jackpot!) back behind the lens, but also Andrew Rannells (Girls5eva), Bashir Salahuddin (How to Die Alone) and Henry Golding (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare) returning alongside Kendrick and Lively among the cast. Equally part of this big comeback: more secrets, as little is ever as it seems with Stephanie's glamorous and mysterious friend. While the first film released in cinemas, this seven-years-later sequel is heading to Prime Video, hitting streaming queues on Thursday, May 1, 2025. It did have a date with the silver screen first, but only at this year's SXSW in Austin, where it was the opening-night movie at the event's Film and TV Festival. If you missed the initial picture — which was adapted from Darcey Bell's 2017 novel of the same name — it followed a widowed mum who is also a vlogger and becomes friends with a fashion executive. Then Emily asks Stephanie to do her a simple favour, changing everything. Screenwriter Jessica Sharzer (Nine Perfect Strangers), who penned the first film, is also among Another Simple Favour's returnees — this time penning the follow-up's script with Laeta Kalogridis (Altered Carbon). Check out the full trailer for Another Simple Favour below: Another Simple Favour will stream via Prime Video from Thursday, May 1, 2025.
First it was clap lights. Then it was Siri. Then Amazon released the Echo, their wireless voice-activated device. Now, Google (in true Google style) has swept in, taken all these ideas, made them better, and announced their plans to release their own voice-controlled speaker and device: Google Home. Announced at Google's I/O developer conference in California last week, Google Home is a device that isn't meant to be a device, as such. You don't swipe it or tap it — it doesn't even have a screen. Basically, it's a really smart small speaker that can both play music and listen to what you're saying. It's got a series of always-listening far-field mics that can hear you from across the room, so you can ask it questions, control your connected devices and play music and video through Chromecast. It also looks like a giant salt shaker. So it'll blend right in to your benchtop (we assume that was Google's thinking). Home will be integrated with Google Assistant, Google's voice technology (and essentially their version of Siri). Assistant will pull info from the Internet to answer your questions — like 'what's the temperature today?' and 'do you love me, Google Assistant?' — and allow you to have two-way convos with an empty room. Apparently 20 percent of all queries on Google's mobile app and Android devices are voice searches so, y'know, it's a thing. Home is essentially the same product as Amazon Echo, but it looks as though Google's voice technology and sound quality could be of a higher calibre. All remains to be seen. There's no date set as to when Google Home will be available to buy, but you can sign up to get updates on the product here. Via The Next Web.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe's 22nd film might be called Endgame, but we all know there's more where it came from. Of course there is. In July, Spider-Man: Far From Home will swing into cinemas, continuing the MCU and the story of everyone's favourite friendly neighbourhood web-slinger (the Tom Holland version — sorry Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield fans). If you haven't seen Endgame, and you're averse to spoilers, we're not going to tell you anything that isn't already widely known. Far From Home has been in the works since 2017's immensely fun Spider-Man: Homecoming proved a hit, it released its first teaser back in January and it's officially considered the end of the MCU's phase three. But if you don't want to know what follows on from the huge Avengers showdown that's currently in cinemas, then you definitely won't want to watch Far From Home's new trailer. Consider this an official spoiler warning — something that the trailer itself includes at the start. Yes, really. By getting Holland to deliver the caution to camera, Marvel and Spider-Man distributor Sony shows it clearly has a sense of humour, especially since the young star is known for being loose-lipped with important MCU details. Picking up where Endgame left off, Far From Home sees Peter Parker pondering what the end of its immediate predecessor means, all while he's headed to Europe with his friends. Step up for the good of the world, or pursue his crush on MJ (Zendaya)? They're some of Spidey's options. Once again directed by Jon Watts, who helmed Homecoming, the movie also features Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio — as well as familiar faces in the form of Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, Jacob Batalon as Parker's best friend Ned, and Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan. Oh, and because it's an MCU film, Samuel L Jackson as well. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFoz8ZJWmPs Spider-Man: Far From Home releases in Australian cinemas on July 4.
Think Fortitude Valley is just about weekend markets and bars, bars, bars? Think again. There's art to see and food to eat, too — and a trip to TWFINEART followed by a stroll down Bakery Lane makes quite the combo. At the first you'll find an exhibition, of course. And while just who the artist is and what kind of style they prefer might change, the fact that you'll experience a creative onslaught won't. Then, eat your way along the coolest off-Ann Street space there is. Nom-Nom Korean's three types of bibimbap always hit the spot, but Johnny's Pizzeria might tempt you with their woodfired wares and disco theme. Either way, call into I Heart Brownies as well. From jaffa to double chocolate to salted caramel, you really will heart their baked goodies.
Queensland has the Big Pineapple and Big Mango. New South Wales boasts the Big Prawn and the Big Merino, and you'll find the Big Lobster in South Australia. They're just some of Australia's 150-plus big things, because we sure do love giant versions of foods, animals and everyday items — and if you'd like to walk into a huge whale that's also an underwater observatory, that'll be on the cards from the end of 2022, too. Australia already has a couple of big whales, but not like this one. The animal-shaped structure will house the Australian Underwater Discovery Centre, and it'll sit right at the end of the Busselton Jetty in Western Australia. That means that it'll be located two kilometres out to sea — and, when it launches in December next year, it'll become the largest natural marine observatory in the country. The $30 million centre has been in the works since 2017, when Busselton Jetty started looking into ways to increase the capacity if its current underwater observatory — because it can only accommodate 44 people per hour. Now, however, the designs for the new site have been revealed. Marine contractor Subcon has appointed Baca Architects as the project's lead architects, and it's going with a cetacean design that resembles a whale. The design recreates the marine creature in an abstract but still noticeable manner, and will be made to look as if the concrete structure is raising its head over Geographe Bay. When the building comes to fruition, it'll span 900 square metres across multiple levels, and huge windows will be a big feature. Some will measure up to 5.5 metres tall and 12 metres long, letting visitors peer out at the area's marine life — including via a partially submerged window called the 'cetecean's eye'. Attendees will enter from the pier, which is 5.5 metres above the average sea level, then descend down through an art gallery and accompanying exhibition spaces to the observatory on the ocean floor level. Those galleries will mainly focus on new habitats for fish and coral, but underwater sculptures and marine art will be part of the project, too. And, if you'd like to eat beneath the ocean's depths, an underwater dining experience is also set to be included. Project engineers Core Marine have experience with restaurants under the sea, as the company also worked on Norway's Under. The Australian Underwater Discovery Centre will be designed to withstand cyclones and storm surges, including 6.5-metre-high waves, and will feature an outer surface that'll enable barnacles and algae to graft onto the outside, like they would with a real whale. And, as it'll be fabricated onshore, the centre will then get towed out to its location — which is planned to occur in tandem with 2022's annual whale migration. As for Busselton Jetty's current underwater observatory, it's set to become a marine research centre. It'll focus on promoting clean oceans and educating people about ocean climate change. The Australian Underwater Discovery Centre is set to open at the end of Busselton Jetty by December 2022 — we'll update you with an exact launch date when it's announced.
When JK Rowling dropped those last terrible three words on us at the close of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, all was not well. It would never be well without Harry, Ron, Hermione and co. in our lives. But great things are bubbling in the wizarding world, with Supreme Mugwump Rowling announcing the release of an eighth Harry Potter book. If we look Petrified, it's because HOLY SHIT. According to Pottermore, Rowling's own kickass content website, 2016 will see a special rehearsal edition of the script book of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II — Rowling's first play on London's West End that picks up 19 years after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and that abominably cheery epilogue on Platform 9 3/4. Print and digital editions of the book will publish right after the play's world premiere in winter 2016. You'll be able to read the version of the script from the Cursed Child's preview performances (a Definitive Collector's Edition will come later). JUST. LOOK. AT. IT. What's in store for Harry and the gang? The Cursed Child is set 19 years after the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Harry is now a Ministry of Magic employee, and the play focuses on his youngest son Albus Severus Potter — the heart pangs. The official synopsis of the play (and now official eighth book) was released by co-writers J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany on October 23, 2015: "It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places." It's been 20 years since the UK publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Twenty. Re-read it, go see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them when the film comes out and sit on your sorting hats until the EIGHTH HARRY POTTER BOOK arrives. Oh god, I need a butterbeer. Via Pottermore.
New year, new vacation season, new gorgeous destination — and new round of chaos at HBO's favourite luxury resort chain, too. After proving not only a huge hit but the best new show on TV in 2021, The White Lotus is returning for a second spin from the end of October. And, as happened in the show's first run, holidaying at the titular chain comes with a whole heap of mayhem for the new batch of guests. Trust Tanya McQuoid-Hunt, aka the character that newly minted Emmy-winner Jennifer Coolidge was born to play, to sum it up in the just-dropped trailer for season two: "it's just been a series of very bad decisions." She's the only main figure on this new getaway, and she's travelling to the just-as-exclusive White Lotus hotel in Sicily with her husband Greg (Jon Gries, Dream Corp LLC) and assistant Portia (Haley Lu Richardson, After Yang) — however the former isn't happy that the latter is with them. Also, Tanya thinks that Greg might be cheating. While the Hawaii-set first season of The White Lotus also starred Murray Bartlett (Physical), Connie Britton (Bombshell), Steve Zahn (Where'd You Go, Bernadette), Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria), Fred Hechinger (Fear Street), Brittany O'Grady (Little Voice), Kekoa Kekumano (Aquaman), Alexandra Daddario (Songbird), Jake Lacy (Mrs America) and Natasha Rothwell (Insecure), a new cast of faces is joining Coolidge and Gries this time around — all with their own vacation issues. Checking into season two: F Murray Abraham (Mythic Quest), Michael Imperioli (The Many Saints of Newark) and Adam DiMarco (The Order) as three generations of one family; Aubrey Plaza (Best Sellers) and Will Sharpe (Defending the Guilty) as a newly wealthy couple vacationing with pals played by Theo James (The Time Traveller's Wife) and Meghann Fahy (The Bold Type); Tom Hollander (The King's Man) as an English expat away with Leo Woodall (Cherry) as his nephew; Beatrice Grannò (Security) and Simona Tabasco (The Ties) as locals; and Sabrina Impacciatore (Across the River and Into the Trees) as this White Lotus' manager. Mark Monday, October 31 in your diary, as that's when HBO's biting satire will return for its second season, including via Binge in Australia and Neon in New Zealand. Yes, we know that that's the same date as Halloween, but prepare for something twistier, more scathing and more playful than trick-or-treating — at least based on The White Lotus' exceptional first go-around, which just swept Hollywood's TV night of nights in September. Once again, creator/writer/director Mike White (Brad's Status) is behind the series — and also once again, the social satire will follow a week in the lives of titular resort's guests and employees. Season two will span seven episodes, however, prolonging the holiday fun/mess. Check out the trailer for The White Lotus season two below: The second season of The White Lotus will be available to stream Down Under via Binge in Australia and Neon in New Zealand from Monday, October 31. Read our review of season one.
Dom Dolla just keeps making history. Back in December 2023, the Australian DJ and producer notched up a hefty achievement, playing his biggest-ever hometown show in Melbourne at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Then, come 2024, his national tour became the largest ever by an Australian electronic artist, selling 170,000-plus tickets in four cities. What does 2025 hold, then? Oh, only the Grammy-nominee doing his first-ever Aussie stadium show and biggest headline gig ever. He's played Coachella, Lollapalooza, Wildlands, Spilt Milk and more — including soldout Madison Square Garden gigs with over 30,000 attendees, plus Ultra Miami and EDC Las Vegas. When Europe's summer hits, he's doing a ten-week residency at Hï Ibiza. Then, on Saturday, December 20, 2025, Dom Dolla will head home in a massive way, headlining Sydney's Allianz Stadium. The three-time ARIA-winner (and 16-time ARIA-nominee) also has something else sizeable to add to his resume in 2025: with 'No Room for a Saint' featuring Nathan Nicholson, he's making his film soundtrack debut. The movie: the Brad Pitt (F1)-starring F1. Also this year, Dom Dolla has released two other tracks: 'Dreamin' featuring Daya and 'Forever' with Kid Cudi. On his 2024 Aussie tour, the venues weren't small, given that he played Melbourne's Flemington Racecourse, Sydney's Domain, Brisbane's Riverstage and Perth's Wellington Square. But making the leap to a headline stadium gig is no minor feat. Only the sole Allianz Stadium show has been announced, so if you're keen to head along and you're outside of the Harbour City, you'll also want to make travel plans. Dom Dolla is playing Allianz Stadium, Sydney on Saturday, December 20, 2025. You can sign up for ticket presales from 11am AEST on Monday, May 19, then buy presale tickets from the same time on Thursday, May 22, with general sales from 12pm on Friday, May 23. Head to Dom Dolla's website for more details. Images: shevindphoto / Beyond the Valley, Chloe Hall.
There are many, many great things about Nicolas Cage. But if you could only pick one, the sheer erratic nature of his almost four-decade-long filmography has to top the list. He has an Oscar to his name, for 1995's Leaving Las Vegas, but he can also be seen getting goofy in madcap comedies, crooning tunes in David Lynch movies and swapping faces with John Travolta — and playing a deluded literary agent who thinks he's a vampire, yearning over Cher, trying to keep a plane full of criminals in check and grappling with escaped wild animals on a boat. For his latest role, Cage is battling space ninjas. That isn't the type of sentence that you get to write or read every day but, to be honest, it's also a surprise that it hasn't come up multiple times in the actor's career. The reason for the martial arts face-off with aliens: new action flick Jiu Jitsu, which has just dropped its suitably over-the-top first trailer. If you're a Cage fan, you're probably already sold. Watching Cage at his most Cage-esque really shouldn't need much convincing. But if you need more details, the actor also wears a headband, sports flowing locks, dispenses words of wisdom, talks about alien politics, proclaims that he's crazy and claims that he can fly. Of course he does. Story-wise, Jiu Jitsu follows an ancient order of experts in the eponymous martial arts style, who are forced to fight alien invaders for control of earth every six years. Humanity has always won, but when that changes, Wylie (Nicolas Cage) has to help fallen hero Jake Barnes (Alain Moussi) prepare for one last showdown with these violent visitors from a distant gallery. As well as Cage and Kickboxer: Retaliation's Moussi, the film stars The 100's Marie Avgeropoulos, Avengers: Endgame's Frank Grillo, Alita: Battle Angel's Rick Yune, Wu Assassins' JuJu Chan, and Ong Bak and xXx: Return of Xander Cage's Tony Jaa. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywhTeWg8970 Jiu Jitsu releases in the US via video-on-demand on November 20 — we'll update you with release details Down Under when they come to hand.
When you were watching Ocean's Eleven, did you ever think to yourself "this is great, but I really wish someone was trying to eat George Clooney's brains?". Every time you settle in for an episode of The Walking Dead, do you find yourself hoping that someone — anyone — would mastermind a scheme to break into a casino vault? Whichever thought has popped into your head, you'll soon be able to see what a Las Vegas heist flick looks like when it's paired with the zombie genre. That's the whole premise behind Netflix film Army of the Dead, one of the big new movies the streaming platform has lined up for 2021. If the overall concept sounds somewhat familiar, that's because you probably saw Train to Busan sequel Peninsula last year — another zombie-heist film hybrid. The huge difference here, of course, is the Las Vegas setting. Well, that and the fact that Army of the Dead stars Guardians of the Galaxy's Dave Bautista and is directed by Justice League's Zack Snyder. You definitely won't forget the latter based on the just-dropped first teaser trailer for Army of the Dead, because it spends about half of its brief running time stressing exactly who is behind the lens. And as for all the shuffling undead hordes and pilfering antics, the movie follows a group of mercenaries who decide to take advantage of the situation by breaking into the casino-filled quarantine zone. When the movie hits Netflix on Friday, May 21, viewers will also spot Garret Dillahunt (Deadwood), Tig Notaro (Music), Ella Purnell (Sweetbitter), Omari Hardwick (Power), Ana de la Reguera (also from Power), Theo Rossi (Luke Cage) and Matthias Schweighöfer (Resistance), plus Nora Arnezeder (Mozart in the Jungle), Hiroyuki Sanada (Westworld), Raúl Castillo (Knives Out) and Huma Qureshi (Viceroy's House). And yes, Snyder has toyed with zombies before, in the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. Here, though, he's aiming to set up his own franchise — with a prequel movie and an animated spinoff series already greenlit. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H83kjG5RCT8 Army of the Dead will stream via Netflix from Friday, May 21. Top image: Clay Enos, Netflix.
Spoiler warning: this interview incudes spoilers for Yellowjackets season three if you're not up to date with the series at the time of publication. It was meant to be a simple sports trip, with a high school girls' soccer team travelling from New Jersey to Seattle to compete in a tournament. That's where the plot of Yellowjackets begins in a linear sense — with American teenagers, their coaches and one of the latter's two children all flying across the US in 1996, and with the promise of on-field glory awaiting. But after the plane carrying the titular team is diverted over Canada, it plunges to the ground en route. What immediately happens next for young women who should be living normal teen lives, not doing whatever it takes to survive, is one half of the series. What's occurring a quarter of a century afterwards also fills Yellowjackets' frames, as the hit survivalist thriller has spent three must-see seasons so far exploring the impact of a wild dance with the wilderness, and with the trauma such an experience sparks, plus the vulnerability of being stranded then scarred by it. New Jersey, Seattle, Canada: that trio of locations is pivotal to Yellowjackets, even if no one has yet made it to the middle spot on the list. In the show's third season, New York proves crucial as well, but New Zealand and Australia have also long left their own imprint. The series began with Aotearoa's Melanie Lynskey (The Tattooist of Auschwitz's) leading the present-day cast as the adult Shauna, nee Shipman and now Sadecki, one of the team members to make it back from the plane crash alive. Also since the first season, Australians Courtney Eaton (Mad Max: Fury Road) and Liv Hewson (Party Down) have helped dig into what enduring in the forest really entails, the first as Charlotte "Lottie" Matthews and the second as Vanessa "Van" Palmer. In season two, New Zealander Simone Kessell (Muru) joined Lynskey among the survivors — and joined Eaton in portraying Lottie. Alongside a killer premise, an unflinching embrace of the darkness and devastation that was always going to spring from such an ordeal, a glorious array of 90s nods and a spectacular cast — Christina Ricci (Wednesday), Juliette Lewis (I'm a Virgo), Tawny Cypress (Law & Order) and Lauren Ambrose (Servant) also play the 2020s-era crew; Sophie Thatcher (Companion), Sophie Nélisse (No Return), Jasmin Savoy Brown (Scream VI) and Samantha Hanratty (Atlas) are among the talents bringing the squad's younger guises to life — characterisation has always been one of Yellowjackets' strengths. There's no doubting that these are complex women, both as teens and decades later. Its cast may portray a team, but the show sees its main figures as individuals, surveying their respective wants, needs, desires and fears. In Lottie's case, Yellowjackets spies someone yearning to be loved and accepted, so much so that she tries to grasp it in her faith in her new surroundings. No high schooler is prepared for suddenly living in the wilderness for months and months awaiting rescue, but Lottie's moneyed upbringing — her dad financed the fateful private plane to Seattle — leaves her seesawing between confidence and fragility. She's so assured in her beliefs in the forest that her fellow survivors start following her lead. She's also troubled, including from her family life, and despite how she projects herself to the world. The adult Lottie is introduced as a wellness guru-slash-cult leader, complete with purple-wearing disciples, but she's still weathering the same internal struggles. Following a stint staying at Shauna's and bonding with the teenage Callie Sadecki (Sarah Desjardins, The Night Agent), season three takes Lottie's story to an end that the character avoids in the woods, as the world discovered at the end of the latest run's fourth episode. How is Kessell feeling now that the character's fate is out there in the world? "I've got to say the fans of Yellowjackets are everything," she tells Concrete Playground. When the episode aired, an influx of messages came her way. "It's so lovely and so kind and generous, and I think I'll read them all," she advises. "I didn't quite expect such an outpouring of love and support." "And also because season two starts on Netflix soon, I was cautious not to — and for people who haven't watched that episode yet — put a spoiler on social media and things like that. But I'm overwhelmed. And it's amazing that you can play these characters that touch so many people." [caption id="attachment_995131" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jesse Grant[/caption] Kessell came to Yellowjackets more than three decades into her career. Like her compatriot Lynskey, she was starting out as an actor when she was a 90s teen herself. NZ TV series Homeward Bound gave Kessell her first role — and from there, her resume has spanned everything from Xena: Warrior Princess, the OG Heartbreak High, CSI: Miami, Underbelly and Terra Nova through to 1%, Pine Gap, Our Flag Means Death, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Wellmania, Critical Incident and plenty of others. Next, she'll be seen in The Last Frontier, a new American thriller series that also sees her keep a Down Under connection courtesy of Aussie Jason Clarke (Oppenheimer). Kessell is coy about whether Lottie could possibly return to Yellowjackets in some form, spirit or otherwise, in the future. "Oh my goodness, how would I play ghost Lottie? My god, I don't even know," she laughs. But she's deeply grateful for the chance to have stepped into her shoes, she also shares, in a chat that covers the balancing act that is portraying such a complicated character, plus how she approached taking on a figure that'd already been established in a younger guise, the Australian and NZ-heavy roster of talent, why the show has earned such a devoted following and more. On Saying Goodbye to Lottie — and What It Has Meant to Play Her "I've had so many people say 'is Lottie really dead? Please come back. Diva down. I miss you mother. I'm an orphan'" — all these great social media comments, which crack me up. But I think when I found out that Lottie was going to die in the season, of course I was disappointed because I just loved playing her. If I'm really honest, I just love playing Lottie. So unpredictable. And she's so vital. And you don't know whether she's going to analyse you or laugh at you — or laugh with you. And I think that getting the opportunity as an actress in my late 40s, playing those characters, they don't come along very often. So when you get them, you grab them with both hands. And I got to really, really play in the world of Lottie, which was incredible. So, when they told me she was no longer, I just went 'okay'. It's that kind of show, right? It's Yellowjackets. So it's the kind of show, if you're going to die — and let me just say, I'm not the only main character that dies this season — so, I went with it. And it was just so great to film, and it was such amazing cast — and I just had the time of my life working on the show." On Juggling Lottie's Confidence and Her Vulnerabilities — Her Faith in the Wilderness, Too, and Her Desperate Need to Be Loved and Accepted "The first season was a lot tougher, because she was really unravelling — and we saw that through the flashbacks. Also, you don't know what's happened in the wilderness till you read the script or watch the episode for the younger characters. So you've got to really go with your gut instinct, because you get these new scripts and you're like 'oh my god, I did that?. Huh. Maybe I would have played that other scene differently had I known I did that'. I think as an actress, you have to have a well where you can tap, or a part of me that I can tap and go there, and there was some really vulnerable, fragile scenes this season — but mostly last season, too, where she was just haunted by her past and I really had to go there emotionally. I was away from my family — living in Vancouver, and hadn't seen my family for a long time. My two boys, because they're at school here, and my husband and everything. So I was able to really tap into the loneliness in myself. And the unknown. As an actress, you find the things that really resonate truthfully for yourself and then put it through the character's words, and that's where I go. And then you have to take it off. You go for a run, or you go and do a hot pilates class, or you drink some white wine. You just throw it at the wall and see what sticks. And she was vulnerable. Thank you for saying that, because that was something I really wanted to find in her this season — just lost, a bit out at sea." [caption id="attachment_995127" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jesse Grant[/caption] On How Kessell Approached Stepping Into Lottie's Shoes When Courtney Eaton Had Already Established the Character as a Teen "First of all, Courtney's a lot taller than me — so literally stepping into shoes that were a lot higher. And also I wanted to do Courtney justice as a young actress on the verge of her career, and a character that she had done such a beautiful job with setting up. I wanted to make sure I did it well out of respect for her craft and her work. But those are high stakes, and there's a lot of pressure. I mirrored a few of her mannerisms, and then I decided that 25 years ago — I don't know about you, but 25 years ago, I was very different to who I am today, so that gives you a lot of room to play. And Lottie was the queen of reinventing herself. In this season, yet again she reinvents herself. Yet another mask is put on Lottie. She's gone from spiritual guru cult leader to now sort of like a bit of a vagabond, a bit of a lost soul, finding shelter at Shauna's house, at the Sadeckis', when really she has a penthouse in New York. She's shoplifting even though she's probably worth $100 million. Things like that. So you just roll with it on the show, and you never know what the writers are going to throw at you, so you have to be open to all of those storylines. But yeah, it was big shoes — literally high shoes — to fill." [caption id="attachment_995129" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jesse Grant[/caption] On the Down Under Origins of Plenty of the Cast "Unfortunately I never got to work with Liv and Courtney, because they're in the different timeline. So it was often Melanie and I. And Melanie, even though she's been out of New Zealand maybe 25 years, has got a stronger accent than ever. And, because I'm me, I still fall on the ground — even though I when I get drunk, I speak like that. So she's got a great Kiwi accent and the two of us just chat, chat, chat, chat, chat away — and I can tell that the American and Canadian crew are like 'what are they saying? What are they talking about?'. And often, Melanie and I, I'd be like 'babe, how do I say this word?'. She's like 'oh, well, I think you say it like this'. And I was like 'okay, great, great, great'. And then occasionally our accents would drop and we'd laugh. But it's just lovely having someone, when you're so far away and you're working with such heightened characters, to have a confidant and have a best friend like I had with Melanie. She's not only an incredible actress, extraordinary talent, she's actually a really beautiful person. And that was that was a joy." On Why Kessell Thinks Yellowjackets Has Earned Such a Dedicated Following "I think the two timeframes make it — if you're not into the older timeline, then you've got the younger timeline. I think the fact that it twists and turns the way it does. I think the fact that it's set in the 90s, so for older audiences, they're like 'oh my god, I remember this song, I remember this time, I remember this'. So you can reminisce. And then it's also, I think, there's the part that you go 'oh my god, how would I be if my plane had crashed?'. And what we did to survive — that's kind of intriguing, because it could have happened to any one of us, right? And then it goes to a whole different level. So I think there is a part of us that's intrigued with the actual storyline and what happens to these girls, and do they get rescued or do they all go fucking crazy? And I guess the answer is the latter, and then we get to see it as older versions. I think the casting on the show is brilliant. I think everyone is like their younger selves, and I think there's a part of it that makes you go 'that really could have happened to me and what would I have done?' And 'if you're that hungry, what would you have done?'." [caption id="attachment_995130" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jesse Grant[/caption] On What Gets Kessell Excited About a New Role More Than Three Decades Into Her Career "I think the writing. And I think speaking to you, a journalist, you get that — when you read something that pops off the page and you can't stop reading it, as an actress that's everything to me. And then my mind starts going. I love picking up bits of people in my life, like a characteristic or a way someone tilts their head or eats their food or walks, all of those wonderful things that we instinctively do as human beings. So if I feel I can paint that into a character, then I get really excited. Then I'm like 'ooooh, this is a challenge. Oh my god, what's her voice? Where's she from? What's happened to her? Why is she doing what she's doing? Why is she behaving badly or why is she behaving this way?'. That's what gets me going. [caption id="attachment_894498" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lorenzo Agius/SHOWTIME.[/caption] And that's, I think, why I'm so sad to see the end of Lottie in Yellowjackets, because I got to do that — I got to play in that world for a long time. And there were no restrictions on me as an actress. I got to really dive deep and nothing was a no. When I asked them, I was like 'what if I tried this?'. And it's like 'yeah, go for it'. I think that's why that show is so successful, because we were given so much rope to play with and then, I guess, eventually, she hung himself with it, right? She didn't. That's not a spoiler." Yellowjackets season three streams via Paramount+ in Australia and Neon in New Zealand. Read our review of season one and review of season two, plus our interview with Melanie Lynskey. Yellowjackets stills: Kailey Schwerman/Paramount+ with SHOWTIME.
A lot can happen in 18 days. Relationships can crumble, local football teams can try to break the mould and huge celebratory balls can be held. If you're an avid cinephile, you've probably spotted the connection — they're what this year's Melbourne International Film Festival opening, centrepiece and closing flicks were all about. With the city's annual celebration of cinema taking over the town between August 2 and 19, film buffs also witnessed everything from zombie invasions and giant rock-climbing feats to unlikely heists and high-stakes rap battles. And Italian crime waves, pioneering female rockers and tense murder cases, too. Plus, they did so from the comfort of their cinema seats (although seasoned MIFF-goers will tell you that some chairs are more comfortable than others). From all of that and more, Concrete Playground film critics Sarah Ward and Tom Clift went, watched and came up with a wealth of highlights — movies that, if you didn't see them yourself, you should definitely pop on your must-see list. Many are downright wonderful. Others are weird in a heap of ways. Some couldn't be more surprising. And a few particularly ace flicks hit all three categories. BEST https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCF5Y8dQpR4 FIRST REFORMED Ethan Hawke featured in four films in the 2018 MIFF program, and directed one of them. That's an impressive haul; however, only one of the above movies ranks among the highlights not only of his year, but his career. In First Reformed, the actor is at his devastating best as a lonely pastor grappling with the complexities of faith as one of his parishioners (Amanda Seyfried) asks for his help — and as his health woes and his general malaise escalate. With the intensity that's made him such a compelling screen presence for decades now, Hawke wears his character's growing uncertainty and unhappiness like a weathered second skin, one that hasn't felt a warm embrace for some time. He also hits every nuanced, delicate note in Paul Schrader's screenplay, which might just mark the writer/director's weightiest, most sombre and still most daring effort on a resume that includes scripting Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The Last Temptation of Christ. — Sarah Ward https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRF290gedLs SORRY ANGEL At last year's MIFF, BPM (Beats Per Minute) broke hearts and burrowed into souls with its depiction of 1990s Paris — a time when queer men loved passionately and fought proudly for their place in the world, but always found their existence lingering under a cloud. Consider Christophe Honoré's Sorry Angel not quite its successor, but its dance partner, with the two films sashaying through similar space while unleashing their own moves. Here, writer Jacques (Pierre Deladonchamps) meets student Arthur (Vincent Lacoste), and as a bond grows between them, the former's illness and the latter's idealism shape their relationship. Sublimely blue in its bittersweet mood and its exacting colour scheme, the end result is a layered, almost novel-like, always tender and touching study of life and love. — SW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efz1ESCpcLo TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID An enchanting and empathetic debut from writer/director Issa López, Tigers Are Not Afraid tackles a familiar topic in an imaginative manner, seeing the Mexican drug war through the eyes of the children it leaves orphaned. Ten-year-old Estrella (Paola Lara) is one of them, proving at a loss when her mother disappears at the hands of the local cartel, and banding up with a group of similarly abandoned boys in an effort to survive. More than that, however, she's driven to track down the men responsible for their misery — driven by ghostly whisperings from her mum. Spanish-language cinema is thrillingly filled with dark fairytales that unpack the ills of childhood, as Guillermo del Toro has demonstrated more than once, but López's effort is a worthy, moving and mesmerising addition to the fold; one that's as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking. — SW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgE8e6QBtt0 BIRDS OF PASSAGE Drug warfare films sometimes feel like a dime a dozen, but this multigenerational crime saga couldn't be more distinctive. The latest feature from Embrace of the Serpent's Ciro Guerra — directing with producer, editor and first-time filmmaker Cristina Gallego — chronicles the choices and consequences when one of Colombia's indigenous Wayúu families wades into the illegal trafficking trade. And, it does so with the same ethnographic approach that shaped the helmers' previous effort; think strikingly vivid images that highlight traditional locations and costumes, plus a genuine desire to immerse viewers in a specific way of life that's rarely seen on screen. Following a cyclical battle for power and wealth that descends into death and bloodshed, it's a gorgeous gut-punch of a movie, almost like Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude tinted with bleakness and set in a unique gangster world. — SW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCHx2m_hQc4 ACUTE MISFORTUNE On paper, it hardly sounds riveting: a young journalist profiles an acclaimed but controversial Australian artist. When Erik Jensen met Adam Cullen, it gave rise to a Sydney Morning Herald article, and then an offer to write a book — and now this astonishing, extraordinarily accomplished filmmaking debut from Thomas M. Wright. Even if you're familiar with both figures (the former is now the editor of The Saturday Paper; the latter won the Archibald prize and courted much attention before his death in 2012), nothing about Acute Misfortune sticks to the expected path. As excellent an Australian film as the country can claim in recent years, this is a fearless dissection of two men, their unconventional relationship, and the stories they both spun and starred in. It also features a powerhouse performance from Daniel Henshall as Cullen, who is as unnervingly, menacingly exceptional here as he was in Snowtown. — SW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7TcFMkShpI APOSTASY In this intimate British drama, the titular term looms large over its three protagonists — a devoutly religious mother and the now-grown daughters she has brought up as Jehovah's Witnesses. There seems little chance that Ivanna (Siobhan Finneran) would ever abandon her faith, although two incidents test her devotion, and her family's: 18-year-old Alex's (Molly Wright) need for a blood transfusion, a procedure that's forbidden by their beliefs; and 21-year-old Luisa's (Sacha Parkinson) embrace of the secular world. Debut writer/director Daniel Kokotajlo was brought up in the church himself, and treads through this fraught territory with both authenticity and a no-holds-barred understanding of the complexities of the situation. Shot with clear-eyed naturalism befitting its premise, the film is also a showcase for its trio of actors, who each seethe with internalised conflict. — SW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lqgxmq24qE SHOPLIFTERS Hirokazu Kore-eda has long been fascinated by questions of family. From Our Little Sister to Like Father, Like Son, the Japanese writer-director has probed and prodded at the indelible connection between siblings, spouses, parents and grandparents, crafting exquisite, often heart-wrenching dramas in the process. His latest film, Shoplifters, concerns an unconventional Tokyo family who must resort of petty theft in order to survive. We won't reveal where the story goes from there, but suffice it to say there's a good reason this funny, moving, quietly provocative film won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival. — Tom Clift WEIRDEST https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKsZlwq19mE MANDY Two words: cheddar goblin. That'll make more sense once you've seen Mandy, and if it doesn't make you want to watch this out-there genre effort, then the movie mightn't be for you. Starring Nicolas Cage at his most Nicolas Cage-like, the film sees the inimitable star play a lumberjack happily in love with his titular partner (Andrea Riseborough) until a cult and their demonic demon bikers decide to snatch her up. Needless to say, things get strange, bloody and unhinged, with director Panos Cosmatos (Beyond the Black Rainbow) making an 80s-set mind-bender that would've even seemed excessive if it came out three decades ago. We mean that in the best possible manner, with everything from the feature's colour-saturated visuals, to its ferocious score, to Cage's glorious performance all hitting the mark — and, perhaps surprisingly, the movie's melancholy tone as well. — SW https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLZQfnFyelTBOQ15kmHSgEbdjzLMWzZpL7&v=DTvdgwQfewM KNIFE + HEART It's 1979. Someone is savagely murdering gay porn stars, all of whom work for successful, ruthless producer Anne (Vanessa Paradis). And, as she tries to keep making movies while her actors keep dropping like flies, she's coping with the end of her relationship with her editor. Kudos to writer/director Yann Gonzalez for Knife + Heart's exceptional premise, which also features films within films, creepy legends, spooky woods and rather inventive weapons. Still, it's his lurid execution that makes this a weird and wonderful delight. In his hands, nothing is too much — and we mean nothing. The end result is an assault on the senses that's as brutal as its slasher set-up and as theatrical as its campy tone. — SW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNp0jlfbgqM CLIMAX How do you follow a divisive relationship drama full of gratuitous 3D sex scenes? If you're writer-director Gaspar Noe, with a mesmerising cocktail of carnage, music and sangria. A late addition to this year's Sydney Film Festival line-up, Climax takes place at a dance rehearsal after-party, where petty squabbles and personal baggage spin violently out of control when somebody spikes the punch. Those who are familiar with Noe's previous films such as Irreversible, Enter the Void and Love will recognise all of his trademarks: a pulsating soundtrack, floating camerawork and sequences of exhilarating beauty that make subsequent moments that much more disturbing. Love it or hate it, you certainly won't forget it in a hurry. — TC MOST UNEXPECTED https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfCqeoIP0bY THE DESERTED Forget everything you think you know about virtual reality. With The Deserted, the medium reaches its most immersive, all thanks to Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang. If you've seen the director's previous features, such as Journey to the West and Stray Dogs, then you'll know that he's known for his slow cinematic approach and penchant for patient long takes — touches that couldn't be better suited for his first VR effort. Across 55 minutes, you'll inhabit the same space as a lonely man and the spirits of his mother and neighbour. You'll peer around crumbling buildings and earthy gardens, and you'll even sit in the bathtub with the film's protagonist, too. Thanks to all of the above, you'll float along with this ethereal, intricate treatise on isolation, and you'll devour every stunning sight and sound. More than that, you won't want it to end. — SW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CDKr6n0KDE THE WORLD IS YOURS There are heist films, and there are heist films. The World Is Yours has earned comparisons to Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino's work; however it's no mere derivative take on a well-worn genre. Instead, it's a splashy, stylish, skilfully executed and supremely entertaining effort in its own right, and a mighty fun time at the cinema. Perhaps best known for making music videos for M.I.A., Simian Mobile Disco, Kanye West and Jay-Z, and Jamie xx, French filmmaker Romain Gavras turns this account of small-time gangsters dreaming big into a cool, comic and confidently engaging caper that drips with energy and charm from start to finish. Veterans Isabelle Adjani and Vincent Cassel take to their roles with glee, but it's A Prophet's Karim Leklou who stands out among the movie's stars — playing the son of a seasoned grifter who just wants to pull one last job so he can sell icy poles in North Africa. — SW A final note: if you're wondering why some of this year's other excellent MIFF efforts aren't on our list, that's because we've already showered them with love. We were keen on The Green Fog, Profile, An Elephant Sitting Still, Transit, Museum and Aga at Berlinale, plus Leave No Trace, The Rider, Burning, Searching, Cold War, The Guilty and Tyrel at Sydney Film Festival. Then, we fell head-over-heels for Let the Corpses Tan, You Were Never Really Here, Caniba and Zama at Queensland Film Festival, and adored Angels Wear White, Skate Kitchen, Lean on Pete and Strange Colours before MIFF even started.
It was true in 2023 and it's the case again in 2024: The Calile in Brisbane is the best hotel in both Australia and Oceania. After earning those honours on the inaugural World's Best 50 Hotels list last year, the Fortitude Valley venue has backed up the accolades for a second year. This time, it isn't the only Aussie accommodation spot to make the cut, but it still ranked higher than anywhere else Down Under. In 2023, The Calile came in at 12th place. In 2024, it sits in 25th. The awards called the James Street hotel an example of "laid-back, sun-soaked, chic Aussie hospitality", noting that it "riffs on modernist Miami and Palm Springs while also nodding to the design stylings of 1960s Australia". Also getting some love: its onsite dining and drinking spots, such as Hellenika, Biànca, Sushi Room, SK Steak and Oyster, and Lobby Bar, some of which have scored Nigella Lawson's approval as well. "Brisbane is becoming an increasingly interesting place to dine and The Calile's six restaurants have been instrumental in making that a reality," the World's Best 50 Hotels noted. Praise was also showered upon the site's ability to ensure that indoors meets outdoors, the 30-metre pool surrounded by cabanas and the service. "The Calile's stunning botanical pool deck is undeniably the hotel's centrepiece, with sun lounges filled with tanned and leggy guests, overlooked by the curved balconies of the hotel's poolside rooms. The seven cabanas can be booked for dinner or cocktails, which are the best place to observe all the action of Brisbanites at play," the accolades continued. The Tasman in Hobart is the other Australian spot to nab a place in the top 50, coming in at number 48. It received attention for its "three distinct architectural eras cleverly melded into one seamless, luxurious whole". "What binds this eccentric collection of styles together is an uncompromising attention to detail, a sense of relaxed luxury and a uniquely Tasmanian style and pace," the awards also advised. If you're looking for Aussie spots for a staycation or vacation, there's your top two suggestions sorted. If you're keen to say at some of the world's best hotels beyond Australian shores, you have 48 choices, capped by Capella Bangkok — which was 2023's Best New Hotel — in first place. [caption id="attachment_973399" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Capella Bangkok[/caption] Passalacqua in Moltrasio in Italy dropped down from top spot last year to second this year, while Rosewood Hong Kong came in third and Cheval Blanc in Paris ranked fourth. From there, The Upper House in Hong Kong sits in fifth place, Raffles Singapore came in sixth, Aman Tokyo ranked seventh, Soneva Fushi in The Maldives nabbed eighth place, and The Atlantis Royal in Dubai and Nihi Sumba on Sumba Island in Indonesia round out the top ten. Per continent, as well as The Calile being named the best spot in Oceania, Capella Bangkok did the same in Asia, Passalacqua was named Europe's top hotel, Chablé Yucatán in Mexico did the honours in North America, Rosewood São Paulo notched up the feat in South America and Mount Nelson in South Africa scored the title in Africa. [caption id="attachment_918889" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Passalacqua © Ruben Ortiz[/caption] The World's Best 50 Hotels sits in the 50 Best stable alongside the World's 50 Best Restaurants, the World's 50 Best Bars, Asia's 50 Best Bars, Asia's 50 Best Restaurants and more. Debuting in 2023, the countdown highlights excellence among places to stay, and initially favoured Europe heavily among its selections — but its second year sees Asian hotels earn more spots on the list than anywhere else with 19 in total, including four from Bangkok alone. European accommodation spots are represented in 2024 by 13 places, North American hotels nabbed nine, Africa features four, Oceania scored four as well and South America has one. The World's Best 50 Hotels winners for 2024 were picked by more than 600 international travel experts, all with a significant number of stamps on their passports, with the list unveiled in London. [caption id="attachment_819667" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rosewood Hong Kong[/caption] "To have been selected two years in a row marks a significant affirmation of The Calile's place on the global hotel industry stage. This is a win for our team, our collaborators, our loyal guests and a win for Brisbane as a destination, and we are humbled to again represent Australia and be recognised as leading in the Oceania region," said The Calile Hotel co-owner Catherine Malouf, who attended the ceremony in the UK. Brisbane keeps garnering the international spotlight, as does the broader Sunshine State as well. The River City was named one of the best places to go in 2024 by The New York Times, travel guide Frommer's also selected the city as one of 2024's best spots to visit and TIME put it on its world's greatest places list for 2023. Further north, Palm Cove near Cairns topped Condé Nast Traveller's beach list for 2024, and was named the home of the best hotel in the South Pacific, and also Australia, by Tripadvisor. For the full World's 50 Best Hotels list for 2024, head to the awards' website. The Calile images: Cieran Murphy.
Designer Peter Bristol enjoys playing with our perceptions of everyday objects. First he created the 'cut chair', the legs of which appear as though they've been sliced through, so the seat seems to be hovering in the air. Now, he's designed a bag that looks like a paper clip. 'New scale creates new purpose,' reads Bristol's website. 'The binder icon functions so well as a bag you can almost take it seriously.' Made of wool felt and aluminium tubing, the clip bag was conceptualised in 2007 but has only just been released. Bristol is currently seeking a manufacturing and/or distribution partner, and has put out a call for interested parties to make contact. Any takers will be working with a multi-award winning designer. Since 2005, Bristol has received professional recognition in the form of 24 various awards, including a 2011 Spark Pro Gold Award for his Microsoft Touch Mouse and an IDEA GOLD for his Nanopoint Microfluidics Controller. [Via boing boing]
When BŌS asks you to join its club, here's what it means: picking a dry-aged cut of meat from its cabinet, purchasing and reserving it, then tucking into it via the restaurant's 'Cleaver Club' whenever you're onsite. If that sounds like a swanky experience, it is, and that's what Brisbane's newest dining option has in store all round. You'd expect exactly that from a venue by Good Chef Bad Chef and Richo's Bar Snacks chef Adrian Richardson, plus ex-Cha Cha Char restaurateur Chris Higgins. Now open on Queen Street opposite Customs House, in Otto Ristorante's old Dexus Tower digs, the 120-seater BŌS gives the River City a luxe go-to with river views. Think: green hues and a plush fitout, as well as rounded edges, warm light, plenty of linen, and polished marble and brass, all courtesy of local interior design outfit Alkot Studio. Seating diners at tables and banquettes, or in the restaurant's al fresco seating, BŌS also clearly goes heavy on steak. It takes its name from the Latin word for beef, after all, which is indeed reflective of its menu. Here, you'll also find steak tartare, eight cuts from the grill included a bacon-wrapped fillet mignon, and two giant 1.2–1.5-kilogram options to share all on offer. That said, diners can also choose from oysters three ways, chargrilled Fremantle octopus, house-smoked salmon, sand crab lasagne, crackling-wrapped pork loin and duck breast with black garlic as part of BŌS' embrace of different types of proteins. The culinary theme, other than meat: modern Mediterranean, as also seen in the lineup of handmade small goods like salamis, bresaola and pastrami; the southern rock lobster with hand-cut mafaldine pasta; and the hand-stretched buffalo mozzarella. And, BŌS' sides range covers creamy mashed potatoes, wagyu-fat roasted spuds and a selection of other vegetables, while the dessert options include vanilla bean crème brûlée, Basque cheesecake, strawberries and cream, cheeses, ricotta doughnuts and dark chocolate brownies. As first announced in early November, BŌS sees Richardson and Higgins team up with lawyer Liam McMahon, with Richardson also taking cues from La Luna, his bistro in Carlton in Melbourne since 1998. The drinks list is just as much of a highlight as the meat-centric menu, thanks to restaurant manager and sommelier Romain Maunier (Montrachet, La Cache a Vin). BŌS' vino choices favour drops from high-end producers in Australia, France and Italy. If you prefer cocktails, the espresso martinis and affogatos fall into the 'liquid dessert' category; the full cocktail and spirits offerings fills seven pages; and there's a global gin selection, Bond-style martinis, share jugs of sangria and three kinds of spritzes. Come January 2023, BŌS will also boast a dedicated champagne and cocktail terrace bar — called The Aviary Terrace Bar — for summer sips and taking advantage of Brisbane's usually sultry weather, which'll pair full bottle service with city views.
There are 8222 islands within Australia's watery borders. You could spend your entire life hopping from one to another and never quite make them all (well, unless you're very, very quick). So, we thought we'd save you some time and handpick ten of the best. They should at least get you started. Next time you start imagining yourself on a white-sanded beach with quokkas close by, sea lions in the distance and your desk a few hundred kilometres away, these are the spots to catch a boat/plane/ferry to. Remember: when you leave the mainland, you leave all your worries there, too. From pristine beaches and bountiful wine regions to alpine hideaways and bustling country towns, Australia has a wealth of places to explore at any time of year. We've put together a list of some of our favourite island escapes — no passport or immense jet lag required. [caption id="attachment_688571" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Paul Ewart/Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] NORTH STRADBROKE ISLAND, QLD Located 25 minutes by ferry off the Queensland coast, Stradbroke Island is an easy day trip from Brisbane. It's the second biggest sand island in the world after Fraser Island (more on that later). For swimming in gentle waves, head to idyllic Cylinder Beach; for wilder surf, make your destination 38-kilometre-long Main Beach. Overnight stays include beach camping, as well as an array of cottages, hotels and B&Bs. Just north of Straddie is Moreton Island, a wonderland of long beaches, clear lakes and a national park. And, consider sleeping over at Tangalooma, an eco-friendly resort where you can hand-feed wild dolphins and swim around a shipwreck. [caption id="attachment_688550" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Trevor King/Destination NSW[/caption] LORD HOWE ISLAND, NSW Just 11 kilometres long and two kilometres wide, Lord Howe, a two-hour flight east of Sydney, is explorable within a few days. Whenever you travel, you won't have to fear tourist crowds: only 400 visitors are permitted at any one time and the population was just 382 at last count back in 2016. Prepare to have pretty beaches, spectacular diving sites and rugged terrain all to yourself. Among the best adventures are the Mount Gower Trail, a steep, eight-hour trek that carries you 875 metres above sea level, and Erscott's Hole, a natural wonder where you can snorkel among staghorn coral, bluefish and double-headed wrasse. [caption id="attachment_688568" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Khy Orchard/Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] MAGNETIC ISLAND, QLD There are hundreds of islands in the Great Barrier Reef area, offering everything from secluded campsites to five-star luxury resorts. But, for convenience, outdoor adventures and, most importantly, koala spotting, Magnetic Island is hard to go past. You'll find it just 20 minutes from Townsville. Get active with sea kayaking tours and yoga classes, get artsy at beachside markets and galleries or relax at stunning beaches like Horseshoe Bay. If you're keen to venture further, jump aboard a Great Barrier Reef snorkelling, diving or sightseeing tour. [caption id="attachment_688400" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Isaac Forman/SA Tourism Commission[/caption] KANGAROO ISLAND, SA With a whopping 509 kilometres of coastline, Kangaroo Island could have you exploring for weeks. The island was pretty badly affected by bushfires back in 2020, but this guide will help you navigate — including which businesses to support. To get there, take a 45-minute ferry ride from Cape Jervis, on the Fleurieu Peninsula, around 100 kilometres south of Adelaide. Then gear up to share your holiday with sea lions, fur seals, little penguins, echidnas, koalas and, you guessed it, kangaroos. The island is a haven for creatures who've struggled to survive elsewhere, especially Australian sea lions, who were hunted to the brink of extinction in the 19th and 20th centuries. There are numerous national parks and conservation areas, and the over 4000-strong population is big on food and wine. ROTTNEST ISLAND, WA This island is a 90-minute ferry ride from Barrack Street Jetty, Perth, or 25 minutes from Fremantle. Like Kangaroo Island, Rottnest has given a big dose of much-needed love to our wild creatures, particularly quokkas, which now number 12,000 or so. Dedicate some time to spotting them (though please don't go touching, patting or feeding), before visiting pristine beaches — such as The Basin, where you'll find an underwater playground, and Little Parakeet Bay, backdropped by striking rock formations. [caption id="attachment_724590" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Victoria[/caption] PHILLIP ISLAND, VIC Phillip Island's biggest drawcard is its penguin parade. Every night, at sunset, the island's resident little penguins return to their terrestrial homes, having spent the day out and about fishing. Beyond wildlife watching, go wine and craft beer tasting, bliss out with a massage or spa treatment, or conquer a trail on foot — such as the Cape Woolamai Walk, which traverses dramatic clifftops along Phillip's southernmost point. Find suggestions on where to eat, drink and stay in our guide. Unlike all the other islands on this list, you can reach this one by road: it's around 90 minutes south of Melbourne. [caption id="attachment_770035" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Australia[/caption] BRUNY ISLAND, TAS Bruny feels completely remote, yet it's just a 20-minute ferry ride from the coast and, with driving time added, 50 minutes from Hobart. The beauty of this proximity to the city is that, despite all the wilderness, you can find some top nosh: for fish and chips head to Jetty Cafe; for pub grub swing by Hotel Bruny; for cheese visit Bruny Island Cheese Company; and for a tipple, there's the Bruny Island House of Whisky. Meanwhile, nature lovers will find white wallabies at Inala Nature Reserve, windswept headlands at Cape Bruny Lighthouse and head-clearing watery views at Cloudy Bay. [caption id="attachment_688565" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Matt Raimondo/Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] K'GARI (FRASER ISLAND), QLD World Heritage-listed K'gari (Fraser Island) is the biggest sand island in the world. There are 184,000 hectares of the stuff, comprising of 72 different colours and mostly in the form of magnificent dunes, many of which are covered in rainforest. If you've time on your hands, take on the Great Walk, an eight-day epic that visits many of Fraser's 100 freshwater lakes. If not, jump aboard a 4WD and cruise along 75 Mile Beach, take a dip at Champagne Pools along the way and pay a visit to awe-inspiring Boorangoora(Lake McKenzie), a perched lake made up of rainwater and soft silica sand. [caption id="attachment_688583" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Andrew Wilson/Tourism Tasmania[/caption] KING ISLAND, TASMANIA You might have no idea where this island is, but you've no doubt seen its cheese at your local supermarket. King Island Dairy's decadent triple cream brie is an Aussie gourmet staple. But it's far from the only treat you'll be sampling in this lush place, which lies in the Bass Strait, halfway between Victoria and Tassie. Count, too, on super-fresh seafood, flavourful beef and a cornucopia of produce from local growers. When you're finished feasting, stroll along the white sands of Disappointment Bay, visit a 7000-year-old calcified forest and go horse riding by the sea. [caption id="attachment_688591" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Coral Coast Tourism[/caption] ABROLHOS ISLANDS, WA The Houtman Abrolhos isn't just an island, it's an archipelago. There are 122 isles that make up the marvel, more or less clustered in three groups, across 100 kilometres. They lie around 60 kilometres off the Coral Coast, west of Geraldton, which is four hours' drive north of Perth. Lose yourself snorkelling or diving among colourful coral, spotting Australian sea lions and looking out for more than 90 species of seabirds, including majestic white-breasted sea eagles. For mind-blowing views, jump aboard a scenic flight. Top image: Lord Howe Island, tom-archer.com via Destination NSW
2023 already marks Australia's last chance to be in the room where it happens. Until winter, it's now every Aussie muggle's final opportunity to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child pick up its wands as well. Currently running as a condensed single-night play rather than the original two-part version, this onstage follow-up to the page and screen Harry Potter franchise has announced that it'll wrap up its Melbourne season on Sunday, July 9 — and then leave our shores. Unlike other big shows such as Hamilton, Moulin Rouge! The Musical and The Book of Mormon in recent years, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child isn't jumping elsewhere around the nation after its stint in the Victorian capital. So, when the curtain falls on its lengthy stay at Melbourne's Princess Theatre after four years, that'll be the end of its magic Down Under. That gives theatregoers five months to book in a date with the hit wizarding production, which picks up 19 years after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and its abominably cheery epilogue on Platform 9 3/4. Here, Harry is now an overworked Ministry of Magic employee, with the play focusing on both him and his youngest son Albus Severus Potter as they grapple with the past and future. Since debuting in London in July 2016, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has won a swathe of awards (including nine Olivier Awards and six Tonys) and proven a repeated sellout — in the West End, on Broadway and in San Francisco, too. In its Melbourne run, it has become the most successful play in Australian history, including attracting 326,500 people in its first year. Four years on from first opening in Australia in February 2019, and after navigating the pandemic during that time, the local season has sold more than a million tickets and hosted over 1300 performances. "We are extremely proud of our Melbourne production and to be the longest-running play in the history of Australia is an extraordinary achievement," said producer Sonia Friedman CBE, announcing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child's Aussie end date. "Opening our production here has been one of the highlights in the life of our groundbreaking, astonishing show and we look forward to an amazing final five months in this glorious city." Muggles, if you want to see The Cursed Child, you'll need to accio yourself along before July — with more tickets released on Monday, February 6. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child plays Melbourne's Princess Theatre until Sunday, July 9. For more information and to buy tickets, head to the play's website. Images: Michelle Grace Hunder.
It's always good to have a killer cocktail recipe up your sleeve. Whether you're hosting a Hottest 100 countdown party in your backyard, heading to a beachside Boxing Day barbecue or your mates stop by unexpectedly for a few cold ones before a night out — the drinks you serve can make or break the vibe. While the sun is shining and the days are long, you can't go past a fruity, tropical tipple with a generous splash of rum. We've teamed up with BATI and RATU by RUM Co of Fiji to craft three cocktail recipes to help you become the true hero of summer. They're fancier than goon punch in a laundry bucket and, to be honest, require about the same amount of effort. Your friends will be talking about these drinks all summer. FIJIAN DAIQUIRI Make like you're lying on a beach in Fiji and whip up a few of these bad boys next time you're entertaining poolside. — 45ml RATU Spiced Rum — 45ml coconut water — 15ml fresh lime juice — 15ml falernum syrup Add the rum, coconut water, lime juice and falernum syrup (which you should be able to find at any decent bottle shop) to a cocktail shaker with a good handful of ice and shake it like you mean it. If you're all out of fresh coconuts, strain into a chilled coupe or champagne glass. Garnish with a lime wheel or slice of coconut to make it a bit fancy. SPICED AND STORMY An absolute classic for a reason — there's just something heavenly about the combo of spiced rum, a spicy ginger beer and a tangy hint of lime. — 30ml BATI Spiced Rum — two dashes of aromatic bitters — ginger beer — lime wedges This one is super easy. Fill a highball glass with ice, throw in some spiced rum, two dashes of bitters and two lime wedges (after you've squeezed in their juice). Top with the ginger beer of your choice — make it the alcoholic variety for an extra kick or take it easy with non-alcoholic fizz. CORRETTO PACIFICO Coffee and liquor, they go together like peanut butter and chocolate, like wine and cheese — like, well, coffee and liquor. This one is a pacific twist on a classic corretto, which has been served in Italian bars and coffee shops for decades. It's like a simple (and easy) espresso martini. — 45ml RATU Signature Blend Rum — 30ml cold brew coffee — orange slices Pour the rum and cold brew coffee into a chilled rocks glass with some ice and give it a gentle stir. Garnish with a slice of orange and let the compliments roll in. Feeling Adventurous? Learn more about BATI and RATU by RUM Co of Fiji here.
Maybe you share your home with a very good pooch who likes sprawling out on soft surfaces. Perhaps your live-in company is a frequently slumbering feline who can turn anything — and we mean anything — into a bed. Either way, tell your pet that they're about to get comfier. Tell them to relinquish ownership of any Hommey cushions and throws they've taken as their own, too, because the homewares brand has just released a dog- and -cat-friendly collection. Hommey's first-ever pet range goes big on cosiness, just for your furry friends rather than for you. That said, the line looks so comfortable that you might find yourself snuggling up with your pupper or mouser while atop its soft memory-foam mattresses, resting on its bone-shaped pillows and beneath its cosy faux-fur blankets. First, those beds. Ranging from $159–229 in price, they're available in small and medium sizes, and in an array of colours including olive, cherry, stone, raven, milkshake, lilac, latte, blush, duke, marshmallow, mushroom, coffee, tan and rose. The covers come off so that you can pop them in the wash when your pet has given them a bit too much love, plus they come in either durable boucle fabric or faux fur. For popping on top, the bone-shaped cushions are decked out in almost as many colours, and in the same choice of fabrics. These cost $29 and, depending on the size of your pooch, can even be carried out in their mouth. As well as blankets priced at $49 completing the treat-your-pet set, the Hommey pet collection also spans leads ($49) and collars ($39) in a heap of hues. "Outside of playing with dogs everyday, the challenge of finding the perfect mix of function, style, convenience and affordability has been a fun process," said Hommey Founder and Chief Comfort Officer Justin Kestelman. "We love creating products that work to solve a problem, and over 12 months of development and testing our products with 30-plus owner/pets it's so exciting to see this come to life." The Hommey pet collection is on sale now — head to the Hommey website for further details.
In the not-so-distant future, every wine lover in Brisbane might be able to call Ardo's their local. The neighbourhood bar and bottle shop first opened in Carl's Bar and Bistro's old Newstead digs earlier in 2023, giving the River City's inner north a new vino haven. Now, the chain is also pouring in Graceville, launching in Brissie's west mere months later. The just-launched Honour Avenue outpost doubles the brand's footprint — and gives the City Winery crew, which is behind all things Ardo's, yet another venue. It sticks with the same concept that's proven such a hit on the other side of town. Accordingly, wine fans in Brisbane's west now have easy access to plonk-slinging chain's curated range of vino, including over pintxos, cheese and charcuterie. Like its sibling spot, Ardo's Graceville is welcoming in patrons in for a glass and a bite, and will also let folks pick up their favourite tipples — or a new discovery — to take home once the takeaway license kicks in. Again, offering a selection that you wouldn't just find at any bottle-o is a big source of pride, with Ardo's staff on-hand to chat you through its drops, help you make a pick and impart their expert knowledge. Here, customers can enjoy wines by the glass and the bottle. The lineup rotates, but everything you see on the shelf is able to be drunk on the premises or, license pending, taken away. As you're getting cosy, you'll also be surrounded by vino all across the walls, plus a wine tap that looks like an altar. And, you'll be tucking into seasonal snacks.
The title doesn't lie: when Fleishman Is in Trouble begins, its namesake is indeed struggling. He's also perfectly cast. If you're going to get an actor to play an anxious and unravelling recently divorced man in his forties who's trying to navigate the new status quo that is sharing custody of his kids, having a high-powered ex, and being initiated into the world of dating apps and casual hookups, Jesse Eisenberg is the person to recruit. If his Zombieland character lived happily ever after until he didn't, or his Vivarium character was trapped into a different type of domestic maze, this page-to-screen series would be the end result. That's just Fleishman Is in Trouble's first stroke of genius casting, however, with the Disney+ miniseries supremely smart and astute in choosing its on-screen talent. Arriving at the end of 2022 to become one of that year's best new shows, the eight-part drama has Eisenberg play Toby, a well-regarded hepatologist who is passionate about helping people through medicine. But for over a decade until the summer of 2016, when Fleishman Is in Trouble is set, he's been made to feel inferior about this work. As copious flashbacks illustrate, he's the odd one out among the Upper East Side crowd his theatre talent agent wife — now former — Rachel (Claire Danes, The Essex Serpent) favours because being in the healing business hasn't made him rich enough. She sported the same attitude as well, until she dropped their kids Hannah (Meara Mahoney Gross, Don't Look Up) and Solly (Maxim Swinton, Raymond & Ray) off at Toby's place in the middle of the night without warning, said she was going to a yoga retreat and stopped answering his calls. [caption id="attachment_887795" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Linda Kallerus, FX[/caption] Written to sound like a profile — something that journalist, author and screenwriter Taffy Brodesser-Akner knows well, and has the awards to prove it — Fleishman Is in Trouble chronicles Toby's present woes while reflecting upon his past. It's a messy and relatable story, regardless of whether you've ever suddenly become a full-time single dad working a high-stakes job you're devoted to in a cashed-up world you resent. Fleishman Is in Trouble is a mystery, too, as Toby, his friends and the show's viewers ponder the central question: what's happened to Rachel? That query hangs in almost every word that Eisenberg speaks, but it's also shaped by Toby's perspective. He wants to know where his ex has disappeared to and why she has upended his life, but he's far less interested in how the breakdown of their marriage has affected her, if she's in trouble and how that has contributed to his current dilemma. As narrated by the ever-shrewd Lizzy Caplan (Eisenberg's Now You See Me 2 co-star) as Toby's old college pal-turned-writer and now stay-at-home-mum Libby — one of two old friends, alongside Adam Brody as Seth (no, not The OC character) — Fleishman Is in Trouble dives into the minutiae that makes Toby's new existence such a swirling sea of uncertainty. It's detailed. It's specific. The directing team, which includes Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Battle of the Sexes) behind the lens of three episodes, Alice Wu (The Half of It) helming one, and Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (Things Heard & Seen) doing the honours on four, is never short on visual ways to reinforce how Toby's life has been flipped upside down. But at the same time, while honing in on the Fleishman family's situation and troubles, the series also ensures all that detail paints a universal portrait. [caption id="attachment_887796" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Linda Kallerus, FX[/caption] This is a show about discovering that more of your time is gone than you'd realised, and that your youthful hopes have faded and your looming future has receded. It's a series about the push and pull of being an adult, too — from dating, marriage, divorce and parenting to studying, the nine-to-five grind and that fabled work-life balance — that bears down on us all. It's a drama about the cumulative effect of our daily reality, plus the demands and expectations that come with it, whether or not we've started to feel the ebbs, flows and pressure. Everything from class inequality and constant social hustling to the roles that women are forced to play around men earns the show's attention in the process, as layered through a miniseries that's evocatively shot — and, again, meticulously cast. Brodesser-Akner and the Fleishman Is in Trouble team — which also includes Michael Goldbach (On Becoming a God in Central Florida) penning one episode to her seven — have an extra tool at their disposal: capitalising upon the baggage viewers bring to their stars. Why does Eisenberg seem such an apt choice from the get-go? Because he could've wandered off the set of countless other projects and into this one, slipping into Toby's shoes like he's always been wearing them. His casting acts as shorthand, signalling what to anticipate if you've ever seen him frayed and fraught on-screen. (The waxing lyrical about social media, as surrounding an actor who was Oscar-nominated for The Social Network, is as comic as it's meant to be.) [caption id="attachment_887793" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Matthias Clamer, FX[/caption] With Homeland her best-known role of the past decade-plus, Danes' involvement has the same impact from the outset; when Toby describes or remembers Rachel, offering up an image of a woman who is driven, determined, career- rather than motherhood-focused and desperate to succeed at all costs, it feels like an instant fit. His recollection bakes in those traits even in their romance's earliest days, just softer and waiting to solidify. Again, why is this the case? Why is it so easy to accept that Rachel is this clearly defined, and that Toby's take is accurate? Fleishman Is in Trouble wants that question to linger, because how willingly its audience jumps onboard with Toby's perspectives on himself, Rachel and their relationship is as much its focus, and as important, as Rachel's whereabouts. Watching Fleishman Is in Trouble evolve, getting sharper and deeper the more its viewpoint spreads and expands, is one of this exceptional series' many rewards. Watching Eisenberg and Danes unpack the type of personality traits they've frequently portrayed on-screen, the people who boast them, and the stereotypes, judgements, sympathies and hostilities they spark, is both thrilling and mesmerising — and while Eisenberg is excellent, Danes is phenomenal, especially as the show spends more time with Rachel and her struggles. Her masterful casting and the performance that follows cuts to the heart of Fleishman Is in Trouble's commentary on how women are treated if they focus on their professions or don't, or on motherhood or not, or make any move expected of them or rally against those dictated confines. And the fact that My So-Called Life alum Danes, Freaks and Geeks' Caplan and The OC's Brody are so tied to such seminal teen shows from several decades back? Well I guess this is growing up, Fleishman Is in Trouble posits. Check out the trailer for Fleishman Is in Trouble below: Fleishman Is in Trouble streams via Disney+. Top image: JoJo Wilden, FX.
Back in 2020, the Hella Mega Tour tour was meant to come to Australia, bringing Green Day, Weezer and and Fall Out Boy our way all on the same bill. Dates were announced, tickets went on sale, but then the pandemic hit, so the event didn't go ahead. Now, three years later and within the space of mere days, both Weezer and Fall Out Boy have either locked in or teased trips Down Under. Weezer have made everything official, unveiling dates for three shows along the east coast in October. Fall Out Boy, however, are just dropping hints at the time of writing. But you don't post an Aussie flag, a kangaroo emoji and a clip from The Simpsons' Australian episode if you're not going to follow through — we hope. 🇦🇺🦘🔜 pic.twitter.com/34YUSb2dr8 — Fall Out Boy (@falloutboy) August 14, 2023 So far, the above tweet is all that fans have to go on — so watch this space for actual tour details when they're announced. If you haven't heard the name Fall Out Boy for what seems like ages, the Chicago-formed band weren't just big in the 00s — they reformed in 2013, complete with both new music and new live gigs. [caption id="attachment_913087" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rufus via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] If Pete Wentz, Patrick Stump, Andy Hurley and Joe Trohman do make the trip Down Under sometime soon — adding dates to a tour that's also taking them to Japan this weekend, then to Europe until November — they'll do so of the back of their eighth studio album So Much (for) Stardust, which released in March this year. And, of course, they'll treating audiences to everything from 'Sugar, We're Goin Down' and 'Dance, Dance' to 'Uma Thurman' from their couple of decades together. Fall Out Boy haven't announced Australian tour dates yet, but we'll update you if/when they do. Keep an eye on their website and social media in the interim. Top image: Drew de F Fawkes via Wikimedia Commons.
Virtual reality is no longer just something found in science fiction films, as anyone who has experienced a VR concert or tour, attended a festival of VR flicks or bought their own VR headset is more than aware. That's just the beginning. The next step in this brave new world — well, maybe that's where everything the likes of The Matrix, TRON, eXistenZ and Strange Days told us starts to come into play. In Vienna, a world-first bar lets patrons combine the real and virtual worlds in a new fashion: by heading out for a few beverages, donning the requisite gear and hanging out in an intangible space rather than just soaking in the bricks and mortar surroundings. Who needs to chat to the people around you when you can plug in, play and interact in the VR space, right? Equipped with an array of VR gear, Vrei Lounge encourages both, with Playstation VR, HTC Vive, Samsung GearVR and more all on the menu alongside the usual selection of booze, coffee, pizzas and muffins. While you're sipping and snacking, you can play mini-golf, train to be a space pirate, repair robots, plunge into the underwater deep or race cars — virtually, of course. It might be the first of its kind, but with arcade and pinball bars popping up with frequency these days, expect more alcohol-fuelled VR haunts to follow around the world. It does indulge humanity's now-engrained love for always being glued to a screen, after all. Whether putting on a headset and having a tipple is better than lounging around and chatting to your mates — that's up to you. Via AWOL. Image: Vrei.
Succession may be over, but the fight for the Iron Throne between half-siblings Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney, Rogue Heroes) and Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy, Mothering Sunday) is about to fill your streaming queue. Both want to rule the Seven Kingdoms. Both claim the famous seat as theirs. Both are destined for war — the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons — when House of the Dragon returns for season two. Fiery feuds are this show's baseline — this franchise's as well, since Game of Thrones was also full of them — so much so that when HBO last dropped a sneak peek at the upcoming second season, it did so with duelling trailers. Now, following the first teaser in late 2023 as well, the US network has followed with a full glimpse. Carnage, fire, dragons, conflicting factions, a trip to the north: they're all coming. So is watching House of the Dragon season two in winter, which is when it will arrive. If you haven't already, mark Monday, June 17, 2024 in your diary. And while a clash of Targaryens awaits, Rhaenyra knows that the role of ruler isn't about power but stability. "The Targaryen who sits the Iron Throne is not just a king or a queen — they are a protector of the realm," she says to open the new trailer. Also returning when the fray continues: Olivia Cooke (Slow Horses) as Alicent Hightower, Matt Smith (Morbius) as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Rhys Ifans (The King's Man) as Ser Otto Hightower, Eve Best (Nurse Jackie) as Rhaenys Targaryen and Steve Toussaint (It's a Sin) as Lord Corlys Velaryon, plus Fabien Frankel (The Serpent), Ewan Mitchell (Saltburn) and Sonoya Mizuno (Civil War). HBO is also adding new faces to the mix, with Clinton Liberty (This Is Christmas) as Addam of Hull, Jamie Kenna (Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story) as Ser Alfred Broome, Kieran Bew (Warrior) as Hugh, Tom Bennett (Black Ops) as Ulf, Tom Taylor (Love at First Sight) as Lord Cregan Stark and Vincent Regan (One Piece) as Ser Rickard Thorne. They join Abubakar Salim (Napoleon) as Alyn of Hull, Gayle Rankin (Perry Mason) as Alys Rivers, Freddie Fox (The Great) as Ser Gwayne Hightower and Simon Russell Beale (Thor: Love and Thunder) as Ser Simon Strong among the season two newcomers. When it premieres in June, House of the Dragon's second season will arrive two years after the first debuted in 2022. Game of Thrones was always going to spark spinoff shows. Indeed, when HBO started thinking about doing a prequel six years ago, before the huge fantasy hit had even finished its run, it was hardly surprising. And, when the US network kept adding ideas to its list — including a Jon Snow-focused series with Kit Harington (Eternals) reprising his famous role, novella series Tales of Dunk and Egg and an animated GoT show, to name just a few prequels and spinoffs that've been considered, but may or may not actually come to fruition — absolutely no one was astonished. So far, just House of the Dragon has hit screens; however, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, the Dunk and Egg adaptation, is now due in 2025. With House of the Dragon, Game of Thrones' first spinoff jumps back into House Targaryen's history. When it initially roared into streaming queues, it became an instant success. Accordingly, as it delivered more complicated GoT realm relationships, flowing long blonde hair, dragons, stabbings and fights for power — and plenty to fuel a drinking game, as we created — it was quickly renewed for season two. The series kicked off 172 years before the birth of Daenerys and her whole dragon-flying, nephew-dating, power-seeking story, and gave HBO its largest American audience for any new original series in its history when it debuted. If you're thinking that House of the Dragon is basically a case of new show, same squabbles, as it was easy to foresee it would be, you're right. It's pretty much Game of Thrones with different faces bearing now well-known surnames — and more dragons. If you haven't yet caught up with the show so far, it dives into the battle for the Iron Throne before the one we all watched between 2011–19. Paddy Considine (The Third Day) started the series King Viserys — and it's exactly who should be his heir that sparked all the Succession-style fuss. The words "succession" and "successor" (and "heir" as well) got bandied around constantly, naturally. Also, Australian actors Milly Alcock and Ryan Corr were among the stars. This latest adaptation of George RR Martin's popular fantasy books — based on Fire & Blood, specifically — is bound to continue on for more than just two seasons, but that's all that's confirmed for the moment. Check out the full trailer for House of the Dragon season two below: House of the Dragon streams Down Under via Foxtel and Binge in Australia, and SoHo, Sky Go and Neon in New Zealand, with season two arriving on Monday, June 17, 2024. Read our full review of season one. Images: HBO.
If you've read much of Stephen King's work, then you'll agree with some of the first words spoken in the just-dropped debut teaser trailer for HBO's new IT prequel series: "anywhere but Derry". That's a great motto if you're keen to avoid unnerving and supernatural events, which have frequented the fictional town's streets in the author's pages for decades — and in their screen adaptations, too, including the hit 2017 IT movie and its 2019 sequel IT: Chapter Two. HBO and its streaming service HBO Max are in franchise mode of late, adding The Penguin to the world of The Batman, expanding the Game of Thrones realm with not only House of the Dragon but also the upcoming A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, announcing a new drama series set in The Conjuring universe and locking in a Harry Potter series that readapts the books. As first revealed in 2023, IT: Welcome to Derry falls into the same camp. It'll arrive in your streaming queue sometime in spring 2025. If you're not fond of clowns, find yourself scurrying past sewers and simply can't stand red balloons, there's probably one big reason for your phobias. Maybe you read King's horror tome IT, which first made its way to bookshelves back in 1986. Perhaps you saw the 1990 miniseries, which turned Tim Curry from The Rocky Horror Picture Show's Frank N Furter into the transdimensional evil entity known as Pennywise. Or, you might've caught the recent two IT flicks. Whichever fits, your fears are about to get another workout. King's go-to Maine town is clearly the setting, with the series stepping through the locale's scares before the terror that viewers have already seen and experienced. And yes, Pennywise does indeed feature. So does a spate of missing children, more kids seeking answers, a new family moving in, uncaring police, eerie smiles and cackles, voices in the pipes and a crimson balloon. Returning to oversee the show is filmmaker Andy Muschietti, who helmed the most-recent two IT movies and last directed DC Extended Universe flick The Flash. He's also behind the camera here on multiple episodes, expanding his Derry-set vision from his two features. "As teenagers, we took turns reading chapters of Stephen King's IT until the thick paperback fell to pieces," said Muschietti and his sister Barbara Muschietti, who is also working on IT: Welcome to Derry, back when the show was first revealed. "IT is an epic story that contains multitudes, far beyond what we could explore in our IT movies. We can't wait to share the depths of Steve's novel, in all its heart, humour, humanity and horror." "I'm excited that the story of Derry, Maine's most haunted city, is continuing, and I'm glad Andy Muschietti is going to be overseeing the frightening festivities, along with a brain trust including his talented sister, Barbara. Red balloons all around!" added King at the time. If you've somehow missed all things IT so far, it follows the exploits of maniacal clown Pennywise, as well as the folks he's rather fond of terrorising. In the 2017 and 2019 movies, Bill Skarsgård (Nosferatu) put on the demonic makeup. In the first of those films, his targets were all kids. In the second, those teens — the Losers Club — were all grown up and still getting spooked. Skarsgård is back as Pennywise in IT: Welcome to Derry, with Taylour Paige (Brothers), Jovan Adepo (3 Body Problem), Chris Chalk (Feud), James Remar (Megalopolis), Stephen Rider (What Lies Under the Tree), Madeleine Stowe (Soundtrack) and Rudy Mancuso (The Flash) as his co-stars. Watch the initial IT: Welcome to Derry teaser trailer below: IT: Welcome to Derry is set to stream via Max in Australia and Neon in New Zealand sometime in spring 2025 — we'll update you with an exact release date when it is announced. Images: HBO.
We've all heard the jokes about how many folks it takes to change a lightbulb, but here's a new situation to ponder: how many people are needed to turn your overhead light fixtures into a gorgeous mini hanging garden? The answer involves designer Richard Clarkson, possibly someone to help you install a new light (depending on how handy you are), and your plant-loving self. Clarkson has come up with the ultimate way to add a dash of greenery to any room courtesy of Globe, the terrarium lamp. It's as simple as it sounds, involving a suspended handblown glass ball with an intergraded LED light source. And, it's as visually spectacular too, coming complete with a thin power cord that makes the orb look like it's floating, as well as a dimmer letting you control the level of brightness surrounding your new ball of nature. The Globe comes in two sizes — diameters of 12" and 8" — and Clarkson's website also includes instructions about the best types of plants, how to layer everything in the best way, and watering recommendations. While they were designed as a hanging terrarium, with the shape of the glass magnifying the greenery inside to provide a new viewing perspective, they can also be filled with water. Prices range from US$210 - $460, and they ship internationally. Via: inhabitat. Images: Richard Clarkson Studio.
Exploring art galleries can at times be a sterile and overwhelming experience. Sprawling layouts, visitors' lack of knowledge, sleep-inducing audio guides, and a dearth of viewer interactivity with the world of the artworks and artists can quickly turn a cultural adventure into more of a cultural chore. Yet arts organisations across the globe are transforming how tech-savvy visitors can experience their works, with the help of innovative, entertaining, and interactive apps. Using multimedia, geolocation, augmented reality, and dozens of other features of mobile technology, these apps have the capacity to transform even the most unengaged of armchair critics into bona fide art aficionados. Take a closer look at these 10 of the best current arts apps, from online exhibitions to DIY art and pocket-sized glossaries. 1. Magic Tate Ball It seemed to be a match made in pun-lovers heaven: combining London's beloved Tate galleries with the concept of the Magic 8-Ball to create perhaps the most entertaining art gallery app available. The process is simple: once you have opened the app, give your iDevice a good shake and the Magic Tate Ball will take the date, time-of-day, your GPS location, live weather data, and ambient noise levels and spurt out the piece of artwork from the Tate collection that most closely matches your surroundings. So a hot day may have the Tate Ball tempting you into a pool with Australian David Hockney's A Bigger Splash or a loud, bustling pub may give you Georg Baselitz's sculpture carved from a chainsaw, all of which comes with a smattering of interesting details about why your particular surroundings produced that artwork. The brilliance of this app lies in its ability to utilise a fun gimmick to draw in people who only have a passing or casual interest in art, providing a refreshingly unique way to discover some of the highlights of the Tate's massive collection. 2. MCA Publications The Museum of Contemporary Art has become renowned for pushing artistic boundaries and embracing new technology. It therefore should come as no surprise that their newly launched e-publication provides a fascinating and highly interactive insight into the breathtaking exhibition of the legendary Gangnam-styling British-Indian artist Anish Kapoor. The iPad app takes the user on a virtual tour of the exhibition complete with photographs, in-depth descriptions of the various works, videos from the curator and Kapoor himself, and even a behind-the-scenes look into the immense task of engineering and installing the immense artworks. Add to this the intuitive nature of the app and you have yourself a brilliant tool for getting under the skin of the artist and understanding the awe-inspiring collection now on show at the MCA. 3. Watercolours of Namatjira For those of us whose brushwork leaves a lot to be desired, this app provides an interactive insight into how iconic Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira is able to create his vibrant watercolour paintings of the Australian landscape. Developed by Big hART, it allows you to create virtual replicas and redesigns by filling in stencils of the artist's work with your own choice of colours and brush sizes, with the paint then soaking into the screen just like it would have on Namatjira's own canvas paper. The end results are both realistic and often surprisingly spectacular, allowing users to gain a firsthand understanding of the watercolour process and tempting them into a more detailed exploration of the Namatjira community development project, theatrical show, and vast array of beautiful landscapes. 4. Art Gallery of NSW: Contemporary and Australian Produced in association with The Nest, the Art Gallery of NSW's two companion apps for iPad do a couple of things really well: they provide richly detailed vision of the gallery's most celebrated works, and they do it in a really interesting interface that encourages browsing by feel and intuition. Once you focus on a work you like, you can also take in additional material, such as sketches, photos, and curator insights. 5. Frank Lloyd Wright - Fallingwater History's most celebrated architect and his most celebrated work have been given the app treatment to awesome effect. Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, described by the American Institute of Architecture as the "best all-time piece of American architecture", can now be explored in three-dimensional glory from the comfort of your iPad. By combining photographs, archival drawings, floor plans, and videos in a sumptuous multimedia feast, this app allows budding architects the ability to explore Fallingwater in a unique and comprehensive way that is not possible on any other media platform. With more than 275 photographs, 360-degrees panoramas, and 25 minutes of video footage, this app is possibly the most perfect marriage of content and form yet imagined for tablet technology. 6. Art Authority Art Authority seems so simple in its concept yet quite unbelievable in its execution: collect the most famous and beloved works of art from across history and put them all together in a single, virtual gallery. This remarkable app includes a database of nearly 60,000 artworks from over 1000 different artists, taken from Ancient times all the way up until the present day. Perhaps even more impressive is the way Art Authority displays and organises the 10GB worth of art. Paintings are presented in beautiful, intricate frames on textured wallpapers resembling a real gallery and can be viewed in almost any thematic form you desire from time period to artist to subject matter. You can even take your virtual art tourism into the real world with the Art Near Me function, which allows you to locate nearby galleries and artworks. 7. Muybridgizer The technological pioneers at the Tate galleries in London have done it again, this time creating an interactive app that allows iPhone users to step into the shoes of the experimental motion capture artist Eadweard Muybridge. Created to accompany the Tate Britain's Muybridge exhibition, this app allows you to take filtered photographs and then piece them together to create a frame-by-frame animation that you can speed up, slow down, or reverse simply by swiping your finger across the screen, cleverly and playfully pastiching Muybridge's iconic videos of flying horses, waltzing couples, and cantering bison. Add to this the fact that they have managed to turn Muybridge's quite unpronounceable name into a verb and you can see why the Tate can almost undoubtedly stake claim to the title of most linguistically canny and technologically savvy gallery in the world. 8. MoMA - Art Lab Emphatically disproving the myth that iPads can only function as a medium for media consumption, the Museum of Modern Art - Art Lab app allows users to create some truly awesome pieces of virtual artwork. By playing with shapes, lines, and colours, you can make everything from collages to sound compositions and shape poems. What separates this app from your regular Etch A Sketch, however, is the way it combines simple drawing functions with the techniques and artworks on display at MoMA. You can trace a Matisse or read how Van Gogh created his starry, starry night or, if your creative flair dries up, check out the ideas section for a bit of inspiration from the world's premiere modern art gallery. In this way the MoMA app brilliantly combines the user's individual creativity with an interactive tour of the MoMA's world-beating collection. 9. Pocket Art Gallery If you've ever dreamed of becoming an art curator — selecting and hanging some of the world's most incredible artworks in your own home — then who else but the Tate could make that dream a virtual reality. The Pocket Art Gallery app allows users to select from a hundred famous artworks and then position them wherever they may desire while looking through the phone's camera. Augmented reality enables you to 'hang' a Picasso above your fireplace, a Turner in your workplace, or a Jackson Pollock in your bathroom. With the app linked into Facebook and Twitter, you can impress your socially networked friends with all the awesome and ingenious images you produce. 10. Tate Guide to Modern Art Terms Thanks in equal part to the complexities of the artist's technique and to the linguistic pretentiousness of the art world, keeping abreast of the terminology used by artists can be a mystifying and mind-boggling exercise. The Tate (again) is hoping to make the beguiling vernacular of artists more accessible and understandable with their Guide to Modern Art Terms. The app includes over 300 art terms covering everything from styles to schools to movements, allowing the user to search via category or through the app's image gallery. So if you're struggling to get your head around fauvism or want to find the word for sculpting concrete, then check out this super-handy app.
When Sydney Sweeney was in Sydney at a Sydney Swans game earlier in 2023, it wasn't just because she was playing the Sydney version of Pokémon and catching them all. Rather, the Euphoria and The White Lotus star was filming a romantic comedy. And when Boxing Day hits this year, cinemagoers will be able to see the end result. Right now, you can watch a sneak peek at rom-com Anyone But You, too, thanks to the movie's just-dropped first teaser trailer. The setup: Sweeney plays Bea, who had a great first date with Ben (Glen Powell, Top Gun: Maverick), then suggests that they pretend to be a couple when things don't quite work out otherwise. There's more to the story, but that isn't what teaser trailers are for — so why the pair's spark fizzled after their first date hasn't been revealed so far. As for that pretence, it comes while they're at a destination wedding. The location: Australia, obviously. From the first look, this clearly falls into a specific category of Aussie-made movies, aka flicks shot Down Under that can't stop reminding viewers that they're set Down Under. So, the trailer includes multiple shots of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. The latter even features in the background as Bea and Ben are having a Titanic moment on a boat. Anyone But You is directed and co-written by Will Gluck, who has both Easy A and Friends with Benefits on his resume, then the vastly dissimilar Annie and the two Peter Rabbit movies. On-screen, as well as Sweeney, Powell and a whole lot of Sydney — the city — Alexandra Shipp (Barbie), GaTa (Dave), Dermot Mulroney (Secret Invasion), Bryan Brown (C*A*U*G*H*T) and Rachel Griffiths (Total Control) also feature. Check out the trailer for Anyone But You below: Anyone But You opens in cinemas Down Under on December 26, 2023.
Brisbane has a new golf hub: South Bank, with Hey Caddy and X-Golf opening on Grey Street. One gets you putting around a mini-golf course, the other will test your swing via a golf simulator. They're both indoors, sharing the same space — and however you like your golf fix, there's also a bar. This is Hey Caddy's second location in Brisbane, after the brand opened its doors in North Lakes in 2022. The putt-putt spot is an offshoot of X-Golf, so they're no strangers to each other. This is also Hey Caddy's third venue in Queensland and tenth nationally — and for X-Golf, its third in the city after North Lakes and Enoggera, eighth in the Sunshine State and 26th in the country. Patrons can now tap, tap, tap their way around 12 holes, then give their swing a try at five simulators. Hitting up the bar, hanging out in the games area, grabbing a bite from the in-house kitchen and watching screens showing sports: that's all offered by the site, too, in what's been badged an "indoor golf-entertainment hybrid". The aim is to cater to all levels of golfing interest, whether you're only interested in having fun with your short game, you'd like to take lessons from PGA-certified coaches or X-Golf's X-League competition — which feeds into venue, state and national championships — gets you excited. Other than playing mini golf, you can hone or show off your skills on virtual greens, of course. While gone are the days when Brisbanites had to head to the Gold Coast to partake in a round of mini golf, Hey Caddy's angle is its themed holes — including nodding to Spain's running of the bulls, busy New York streetscapes, tropical holidays in Bora Bora and the like. When the North Lakes venue opened, it did so with Coachella, Area 51 in Nevada, Miami,, Egypt, Melbourne and Mars all getting a nod. Hey Caddy also themes its cocktails to its courses, which you can enjoy in the al fresco dining area. The hybrid venue features party rooms as well, if that's your ideal way to gather the gang to commemorate an occasion.
Whenever Kmart drops a new homewares range — be it beachy and boho or colourful and cosy — it inspires a Pokémon-style response. If there's new linen, trinkets and furniture to buy, you've gotta deck out your house with them all. The Australian department store's latest must-buy pieces will spark the same reaction, too, all while heroing Wiradjuri artist Judith Young. She has teamed up with the retailer on the just-dropped Waluwin collection, the latest in the company's First Nations program. Waluwin is the Wiradjuri word for healing and good health, which Young is keen to highlight in the range of wooden bowls, serving platters, eucalyptus-scented candles, cotton quilt sets and more. Customers can also purchase other pieces of serving ware, tea towels, candles, decorative pots and a canvas art print. On sale since Monday, March 6 online and in-store, the collection keeps everything affordable — $10 gets you a reusable stainless steel tumbler, while queen bedding tops the price list at $65. Whatever you opt for, you'll see a leaf design that's "symbolic of the Waluwin way, and each leaf represents something different," Young explains. "Many Aboriginal people around this country will all have different varieties of plants and trees that they use to make them well, and that is part of the diverse story we have as Aboriginal people." We are all different, our artwork and stories are different, and each has deep significance, just as my markings have meaning to me and my family." For the Waluwin collection, Young drew upon her family's history, with her parents growing up along the Murrumbidgee River in Narrandera in New South Wales. Her mother Judith Williams (nee Johnson) was a watercolour artist, while her father Kevin Williams was a boomerang and artefact maker. Accordingly, watercolour painting and burning techniques both feature. So do lines representing tree carvings, dots that are all about mob coming together, circles that symbolise water holes, and plants such as wattle and tea tree. The collaboration with Kmart appealed to Young because "a lot of our mob positively connect and shop at Kmart around Australia," she notes. "So to have the opportunity to work with them on this collection will have an impact on family across Victoria, regional NSW, Sydney, Darwin and Adelaide. The deeper reason is that I felt that it was the right thing to do, from the first meeting the atmosphere in the head 0ffice with the design team set the flow for the entire collection." Together, Young and Kmart's design team worked through themes and topics within her artwork, including family traditions, and what various colours and markings mean. The aim: to ensure that each design has a story that connects to the land, and that exactly that came through in the finished products. "It was a new experience for me, working with a big company, and a challenge at first. The design team had respect not just for the image but the story and helped make it an easier process, as I did have some challenges with trust and getting out of my comfort zone — but to see how they were really careful when considering each marking, colour and every component was incredible. I felt respected and know that my story and that of my family has been honoured," Young continued. "From this collection, I want people to know my work is about health, healing, joy and peace, speaking to the importance of healthy minds, bodies and spirit. This comes from connecting with Country, eating well and listening to your surroundings. The collection is about covering yourself in a healthy way of living, from what you eat, drink, wear, and sleep under." Kmart and Judith Young's Waluwin collection is on sale online and in-store now.
In the ultimate blend of gastronomy and performance art, dynamic duo Sam Bompas and Harry Parr are about to host the most intimate of Valentine's Day parties. The jelly-lovin' brains behind wobbling, edible houses of parliament and the lava-powered barbecue, Bompas and Parr are about to host a whisky tasting — an anatomical whisky tasting, in which guests are invited to taste 25, 30 and 50-year-old whiskies from the bodies of people born the same year the good stuff was casked up. Poured onto the natural contours of 25, 30 and 50-year-old performers, the whiskies will naturally react to the body heat and surface saltiness of each human, bringing out different flavours within each spirit. So you'll taste a 25-year-old single malt from a 25-year-old body — a predicted contrast to a 50-year-old scotch from a 50-year-old body. After you've slurped the smoky goodness from their body, the performer will then spin tales of their life story — they've been alive as long as that whisky has, so you'll add a bit of context to the matured mouthful you just downed. And any bored hesitation you have to hearing their life story, remember, you just drank whisky from the small of their back. They earned it. You'll have to book an airfare to enjoy Bompas & Parr's sensory experiment; the tastings are being held in collaboration with culture journal The Gourmand on February 14 at Shoreditch's Ace Hotel in London. Via Londonist.
Good news gaming fiends: Melbourne's first hotel games-inspired room is now available for you to live out all your gamer dreams. View Melbourne has created a 35-square-metre room that's custom-made for gaming, providing guests with everything they need for the ultimate game night. It's essentially a fully loaded paradise for gamers and, yes, it's as good as it sounds. The PC corner includes an MSI MEG Trident X2 computer, dual 27-inch 170Hz Esports gaming monitors, a full Elgato streaming setup and a game library that boasts an extensive collection that's continuously updated. The setup also includes an Xbox controller, MSI gaming headset, mouse, keyboard and a Logitech speaker system. Meanwhile, the couch and main television are perfectly set up for all kinds of console gaming, from intense solo sessions to epic four-player parties. The main machine is a Nintendo Switch hooked up to a 55-inch Samsung TV complete with Apple TV, accompanied by four Nintendo Switch pro controllers. On the games front, all the Nintendo faves are available, including the big Mario titles, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Plus, guests also have access to a huge catalogue of NES, Super NES, Game Boy, Game Boy Colour, Game Boy Advance, Sega Genesis and Nintendo 64 games, all of which are available to play via the Switch. Now, let's talk perks. The room comes with bottomless popcorn, which you'll make in the room yourself; a whole fridge filled with energy drinks, soft drinks, beer and wine; various spirits; and a fully stocked snack bar with an array of gamer faves (yes, even Cheetos). The popcorn is complimentary, but you'll pay for everything else that you eat and drink. The room is full of gamer memorabilia without feeling crowded, and the customisable RGB lighting adds a cool touch (don't worry, you can turn it off if it isn't your thing). Up to five people can stay in the room, so it's the perfect space for epic Mario Party sessions. The setup includes a king bed which can transform into two singles, a sofa bed, and the option to add a portable bed. The room is inclusive for two guests, with each additional adult costing $40 per night. Kids under 12 stay free if they're using existing bedding. For those looking to stream, the high-speed internet and Elgato gear, and even a ring light are there for a seamless experience. And if you're in Melbourne for business, the PC corner doubles as a workspace. In short, the room is a cool blend of nice hotel amenities and a gamer's dream setup, offering a fresh, fun way to stay in Melbourne if you're visiting — or a dream staycation if you just want to live out your 12-year-old kid fantasy. Find View Melbourne at 562 St Kilda Road, Melbourne — and head to the View Melbourne website for bookings.
Whether you watched along from 2009–15 when it was in production or you discovered its joys via an obsessive binge-watching marathon afterwards, Parks and Recreation is one of the 21st century's TV gifts — and the beloved sitcom cemented its stars, from its lead roles through to its supporting parts, as audience favourites. Plenty of those talents also share something else in common: a fondness for touring Down Under. Nick Offerman has done it, taking to Australia's stages. Amy Poehler has made multiple promotional Aussie trips for Inside Out and Inside Out 2. Henry Winkler even headed this way to chat through his lengthy career. Now, add the latter's on-screen son to the list. Ben Schwartz, aka Parks and Recreation's Jean-Ralphio Saperstein, has a date with Sydney and Melbourne in 2025. [caption id="attachment_968141" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Disney/Image Group LA[/caption] Don't be suspicious: Schwartz will be performing his Ben Schwartz & Friends live improv show, which begins with just a couple of chairs onstage. Where it goes from there, you'll only discover on the night — because that's the joy of improv. He's doing two gigs, one at the Sydney Opera House on Saturday, May 3 and another at Hamer Hall on Sunday, May 4. Schwartz isn't just known for Parks and Recreation, although that's the first thing on his resume that'll always come to mind for Parks fans. Since his time in Pawnee wrapped up — since he stopped being one of the woooooooorst people in the fictional Indiana town, that is — he's also starred in murder-mystery comedy The Afterparty, voiced a certain spiny blue mammal in Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, loaned his vocal tones to Star Wars: The Bad Batch and Invincible, and featured in Space Force and Renfield. You'll find Arrested Development, This Is Where I Leave You, The Interview, The Walk, House of Lies, The Lego Movie 2, BoJack Horseman, Bob's Burgers, DuckTales and Central Park on Schwartz's filmography, too, and a whole heap more. Does his resemblance to Stranger Things' Joe Keery come up in Ben Schwartz & Friends? Again, you'll need to attend to find out. [caption id="attachment_842850" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Afterparty, Apple TV+.[/caption] Ben Schwartz & Friends Australian Dates 2025: Saturday, May 3 — Sydney Opera House, Sydney Sunday, May 4 — Hamer Hall, Melbourne Ben Schwartz & Friends plays Australia in May 2025, with ticket presales from 10am on Wednesday, July 31 and general sales from 11am on Friday, August 2. Head to the tour website for more details. Top image: The Afterparty, Apple TV+.
If you're a fan of Gelato Messina and its sweet treats, the past couple of years have just kept on giving. That saying doesn't apply to much at all during the pandemic, but it definitely fits in this situation. The dessert chain has released all manner of one-off specials, launched a new range of chocolate-covered ice cream bars in supermarkets, dropped a merchandise line and brought back its Christmas trifle, for starters — and, as it did in 2021, too, it's also doing Easter cocktails. A collaboration with Cocktail Porter, Messina's DIY drinks kits let you whip up your own boozy beverages — and, because it's that time of year, you'll be doing so inside an Easter egg. Yes, you read that correctly. What's the point of being an adult at Easter if you can't combine sweet treats with alcohol? Basically, these kits answer a familiar dilemma, especially at this time of year. No one likes choosing between tucking into an orb of chocolate and having another beverage, after all. Flavour-wise, get ready to sip and eat a whole heap of salted caramel. These packs come with Messina's popular dulce de leche topping, as well as Baileys, cold-drip coffee and Mr Black Coffee Liqueur. You'll also receive chocolate Easter eggs, obviously, which you'll pour your mixed liquids into — as well as pieces of salted caramel popcorn to pop on top. You can pick between two different-sized packs, with the small kit costing $80 and making five drinks, and the large costing $145 and making 12. Fancy drinking Easter cocktails out of rabbit-shaped mounds of chocolate? That's on the menu as well. This kit doesn't actually feature Messina products, but espresso martinis served out Lindt milk chocolate bunnies should still tempt your boozy tastebuds. This one also comes with vodka, cold-drip coffee, sugar syrup and Mr Black Coffee Liqueur, and the prices for both small and large batches are the same as the salted caramel kits. Cocktail Porter delivers Australia-wide, if that's your Easter drinking plans sorted. It's now doing pre-orders for both packs, which'll start shipping from mid-March. To order Cocktail Porter's Easter cocktail kits, head to the Cocktail Porter website.
