There might be no such thing as a bad sausage, but that doesn't mean that all snags are created equal. Your regular ol' supermarket banger isn't quite the same as the gourmet butcher variety, and your tastebuds know it. Now, imagine adding a third category of sausage to your barbecue repertoire: the sausages that you make yourself. If it sounds good in theory but much too hard in reality, don't worry. There's a workshop for that, and courtesy of Work-Shop in fact. At Snags 101: The Art of Sausage Making, you'll learn how to really make your next sausage sizzle, well, sizzle, thanks to expert advice from smallgoods maker Anna Mortimer. Running on Friday, November 9 from 6.30pm, the two-hour class will take you through the tools of the sausage-making trade, the different types of snags, and the steps needed to end up with the best kind of wurst — all using pork shoulder. You'll get to taste an array of sausage styles, drink beer while you do it and take some recipes home with you, too, with participation costing $90 per person.
Mitch Jones, aka Captain Ruin of Caravan of Doom, brings to Brisbane his playful new show, One Night Stand. Having recently escaped incarceration in a Turkish jail, Ruin's stories of tragedy and misfortune provide a stepping stone for the audience into his world of thrill seeking and living life on the edge. Seductively combining song, strip tease, circus, and comedy, the show leads the audience on a journey through Ruins' experiences and adventures from around the world. Amongst this playful performer's textured web of humorous stories, eccentricity and satire, there is a deep and clear message of prevailing against the impossible. Filled with dry social commentary, satirical wit and a healthy dose of physical humour, this exuberant evening will be a mixture of both excitement and reflection. Described as raunchy, raw and a little bit dirty Ruin's performance sounds like the perfect One Night Stand.
Who hasn't wanted to care less about all the things that really don't matter? Since long before self-help was even a book genre — since before there were books — humanity has been desperate to devote less of its attention to matters that simply aren't worth it. That's easier said than done, though, which is why there's so many texts about living your best life and forgetting pointless strife, including Mark Manson's 2016 hit The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. If giving less fucks is your ultimate goal — and it should be everyone's — then you've probably read The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. Or, you've heard at it at least. It was absolutely everywhere back when it first hit bookshelves, with people glued to it on buses, everyone's mates spouting its advice and more than 15-million copes sold. In early 2023, it's also going to be hitting screens. The tome dedicated to living more contented and grounded lives has been turned into a doco, with Manson himself featuring to lead the way. As the just-dropped sneak peek at the movie shows, he's on-hand to chat viewers through his brutally honest and raw but refreshing philosophy — and help you learn, if you haven't already, that it's wise to choose where to direct our fucks, what to give a crap about and what genuinely bloody matters. Couldn't be arsed reading the book? Clearly, this is the quicker way to soak in its contents, as shot in New Zealand during the pandemic. When NZ-based producer Matthew Metcalfe (Dawn Raid) came across the text — drawn to its bright cover, like plenty of folks have been — he was fascinated by its anti-self-help-book vibe, as well as its take on life's difficulties. Manson had been approached about adapting The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck for the screen before, but Metcalfe got him interested in giving a fuck about his offer. If you're new to Manson's brand of advice, the book's chapter titles are as telling as its overall moniker, boasting names such as 'Don't Try', 'Happiness is a problem', 'You are not special', 'You are wrong about everything (But so am I)', 'The importance of saying no' and 'And then you die'. The appropriate mood comes through in the film version's trailer, with experienced commercials director Nathan Price behind the lens. No doubt timed for New Year's resolutions — especially if not giving a fuck is one of yours — the film debuts in Australia via digital and in New Zealand in cinemas on Wednesday, January 11, 2023. Check out the trailer for The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck below: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck will be available to watch via digital download from Wednesday, January 11, 2023 in Australia, and in NZ cinemas on the same date — head to the film's website for further details.
While you may have been spoilt these holidays, with a scented candle or an adult colouring book, you may not have gotten what you really wanted for Christmas. As the festive season comes to a close and we head into the new year, you can treat yourself to some new makeup that's cruelty-free and affordable. After being crowded Best International Makeup Brand of 2020 by the Beauty Shortlist Awards, Byron Bay's Eye of Horus is offering its vegan-friendly makeup range for up to 50 percent off. The beauty brand offers everything you need for your brows, cheeks, eyes and lips and has been worn by the likes of Isabel Lucas and Dannii Minogue. You'll find a warm summer solstice eyeshadow, metallic bronze eyeliner or aurora peach lipstick. The promotion is running from Boxing Day until Wednesday, December 30, so you have just five days to look through the the website and decide what colour palette you'll be taking into 2021. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
Ali Barter knows all too well that tapping into your most creative self doesn't always come easy. "I used to experiment a lot more," says Barter. "I'd play different instruments, I'd get on the keyboard, or I'd try and write to a concept. I was trying to find my pattern." Along the way, she's discovered her ideal approach is a more organic one, gathering inspiration as she goes. "It starts off with words, maybe from watching a movie or having an interaction with somebody," explains Barter. "I'll jot them down, and then when it gets to the songwriting part, I'll sit down with an instrument, make up a melody and use these words that I've saved. Or new words come along." We sit down with Barter to discuss her approach to the creative process and staying true to herself in music and in fashion. Some will tell you that routine and structure are creativity's best mates, but for this artist, it's the opposite. Between touring, songwriting, time spent in her Collingwood studio and all the other life stuff, Barter's day-to-day schedule is always changing, which means there's no chance of relying on a specific place or time of day to ignite that creative spark. "My routine's all over the shop," she muses. "So it's more just about showing up, getting my notebook and guitar and being there. And something might happen, or nothing might happen." The artist, who writes a lot with husband and producer Oscar Dawson, says she also draws plenty of inspiration from just being around someone she trusts creatively. "If Oscar's there and we're together, it doesn't really matter where we are," she says. "A creative space is really dependent on your attitude and who you're with." "It's like when I go to band practice — we're just in an empty, sterile room, but because I'm there with three other musicians that I love to play music with, we'll end up being creative." And, just as Barter's best work has come from sticking to her own guns in the creative process, the artist's discovered along the way that staying true to her own sense of style also inspires her most authentic work. "I'm just really a jeans and t-shirt girl," she explains. "Sometimes I've tried to be a little bit more out there, but I never feel like myself. And I think it's the same with my music. Musically, if I've tried to be a bit more cool or fancy, I end up not sounding like myself. And with fashion, when I try and be something that I'm not, I don't feel like me." In Barter's wardrobe, denim has always been a staple. "I wear denim every day, it's like my work gear," says the singer-songwriter. "It's just such a functional but honest piece of clothing, you know?" "I've started wearing these Wrangler jeans called Birkins, and I just wear them every day," Barter says. "They're high-waisted, cropped, not too tight and they look good with everything." Listen to Ali Barter's music here, and find the denim that brings out the creative, innovator and gamechanger in you at The Iconic. Images: Kate Shanasy.
When King Kong swung into cinemas back in 1933, it reshaped movie history — and also had viewers everywhere thinking twice about great apes. Fast-forward almost nine decades, and now another giant gorilla is making an impact. You can see King Nyani IRL, however, and not just on the silver screen. Even better: you can now climb into the 30-foot-long creature's hands at Taronga Zoo. Created by public artists Gillie and Marc Schattner, King Nyani was inspired by King Kong. Consider the bronze statue — the world's largest bronze gorilla statue, in fact — a response to that pop-culture behemoth. "In the movie, Kong is seen as a ferocious beast. That was so far from our experience meeting the actual animals. We wanted to show the world that this great creature was really a pacifist who put family above all else," says Marc. Spreading a message of conservation, King Nyani first popped up in New York City — where else? — in August 2020, and understandably received a huge reaction. Now, the the first edition of the sizeable statue sits in the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, with a second due to be installed at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut. Yes, that makes Sydney's version edition three. "We decided to create three editions after seeing the unbelievable response to the original Nyani in NYC. We knew that this was a cause that many people were willing to get behind," advises Gillie. "This was a chance to inspire three times as many people to protect gorillas to save them from extinction." King Nyani is definitely big — up to three people can sit inside the bronze silverback's hands, an act that serves multiple purposes. "We wanted to create a sculpture where the public could really get close to the silverback, both physically and emotionally. Being able to sit in his hand and look up into his gentle face, we hope they will fall in love and join the movement to save the gorillas," explains Gille. At Taronga, King Nyani now sits next to the Centenary Viewing Platform, underneath a giant fig tree — and mere metres away from the zoo's harbour view. You'll need an entry ticket to Taronga to check out its new addition, and to snap those pics you know are going to be all over social media, but those funds will go towards the zoo's efforts to support, care and protect wildlife, including gorillas. King Nyani is on display next to the Centenary Viewing Platform at Taronga Zoo, Bradleys Head Road, Mosman. For more information, head to the zoo's website.
Jean-Paul Bourdier is an award-winning photographer, author, film production designer and professor. Bourdier's long list of talents and prizes aside, his ephemeral photographs of body art and landscapes - or 'bodyscapes' as he affectionately calls them - truly speak for themselves. His breathtaking shots seamlessly integrate painted naked bodies into the background of wondrous natural topography. Provocative, mesmerising and refreshingly unique, Bourdier's images will have you transfixed, so make sure you set aside a good amount of time to marvel at the many works of art in this collection. Here are 15 stunning photographs from his book, Bodyscapes, to give you a taste of his inspired style. [Via Design You Trust]
There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who think the movie Legally Blonde is awesome, and those who are wrong, so plain wrong. Reese Witherspoon's adventure as Elle Woods, the Malibu sorority girl who goes to Harvard Law for all the wrong reasons and yet finds it's just the right place for her, is a 2001 classic that's totally hilarious, surreptitiously full of heart, and a pillar of the teen girl-power canon. And with all its exuberance, kitsch, and preposterous costume, it was ripe to make the hop from celluloid to the musical theatre stage. Legally Blonde: The Musical opened on Broadway in 2007 to widespread 'snaps' of approval. Now that show's original director and choreographer, Jerry Mitchell, has reproduced the spectacular on the Lyric stage with a knockout Australian cast. Avenue Q or The Book of Mormon it ain't, but Legally Blonde is still a hipper musical than most and a great excuse to leave your cynicism and 'thinking brain' at the door for a night of giddy, gratifying musical theatre that will have you grinning like a golden retriever puppy. The numbers here are big and seductive. It opens with the all-in 'Ohmigod You Guys' as Elle (Lucy Durack) prepares with her Delta Nu sisters for an impending proposal from boyfriend Warner (Rob Mills), and the uber-catchy, always-apt refrain happily reappears throughout the show. Things briefly take a turn for the wistful when its revealed Warner and Elle have their lines crossed on what it means to get 'Serious', as Warner dumps Elle to begin his fast track to political candidacy via Harvard Law School. He now needs a Jackie, not a Marilyn, he memorably tells her. Heartbroken, she resolves to become that serious partner, applying herself to her studies for the first time so she can blitz the SATs and join him at the prestigious university. But, as we all know, being something other than who you are is a recipe for disaster, and Elle learns that in a glorious, individuality-affirming way. The only musical number that equals the charm of 'Ohmigod You Guys' is the courtroom drama 'There! Right There!' (also known as 'Gay or European'), but solid songs dot the performance, from Elle's turning-point mantra 'Chip on My Shoulder' to the energetic exercise routine 'Whipped Into Shape' from Brooke Wyndham (model Erika Heynatz making her impressive musical debut) and 'Blood in the Water' from legal shark Professor Callahan (Cameron Daddo), which drips with cartoon villainy in a manner reminiscent to Scar preparing to kill Simba. Occasional dashes of contemporary pop and hip hop are welcome in the typically Broadway broth, although the forays into Irish folk are a little stranger. The performers really make this production, as they're beautifully cast. Durack, last seen as Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked, effuses high energy and total adorableness as Elle. Mills has well and truly come good in the musical theatre world since his Idol days, and he does 'caddish and slightly infuriating' really, really perfectly. Thesp Helen Dallimore gets sweetly garish as Paulette, and David Harris is a strong presence as Elle's new, better love interest, Emmett. The performers do well just to hold their own against the four dogs playing Bruiser and Rufus, whom audiences are clearly smitten with. It must be said, however, that this Elle Woods does not rock as much as Witherspoon's, and it's through no fault of Durack's. It's that composers Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin and director Jerry Mitchell have increased Emmett's role to the point where he often stands in for Elle's intellect and morality, stripping her of her own agency, which drove her arc in the film. Now, it's Emmett who pushes Elle into reorientating her attention towards her studies in 'Chip on My Shoulder', rather than her making that change of her own reckoning, and Emmett even prompts her first legal victory, where she reclaims Paulette's dog. In return, she gives him a makeover (ugh). You can see why they've done it — to centralise the romantic plot for a mainstream audience and to theatricalise her internal journey for the big stage — but the consequences are disappointing to anyone who valued Legally Blonde precisely because of Elle's independence. (Outside of gender politics, the creative team also seems to have decided that the source of Elle's pep is Red Bull, which seems to miss the point of the story's supposedly central message of embracing your true, natural self, whatever it may be. No?) But that's already too much serious talk for a buoyant musical with sets that unfurl like pretty Transformers, costumes that dazzle, and songs you'll download to iTunes in secret. Its simple philosophy is that femininity can be a strength and not a weakness. And that positivity is cool. And that pink goes with everything. This review was written about the Sydney opening night performance of Legally Blonde at the Lyric Theatre.
When Andrew Haigh surveys the world, he sees its small, quiet stories. Peering deeply at everyday life, the British filmmaker finds tales that couldn't be more commonplace — and, as a result, are often simply overlooked. In queer romance Weekend, he spots two men meeting for the first time, connecting and spending three unforgettable nights together. In melancholic drama 45 Years, he gazes at long-married retirees taking stock of a past gone too quickly. And in Lean on Pete, he trains his soulful stare not only at a struggling teenager, but at the horse that the boy loves unconditionally. That said, it's not just Haigh's willingness to tell these tales that makes his filmography stand out. It's how the writer-director explores these stories that's just as important, with his pictures overflowing with empathy. Haigh couldn't look more kindly, warmly and thoughtfully at the characters in his movies, especially Lean on Pete's 15-year-old protagonist Charley (Charlie Plummer). The lanky boy is someone that the world doesn't see, just like his beloved steed, whose winning days are long behind him. In patient moments that show the unspoken bond between teen and animal, in detailed wide shots that place them both within harsh surroundings, and in rare close-ups that make plain the pain in both of their eyes, Haigh notices, cares and feels for them both. Lean on Pete isn't really Charley's horse. He belongs to trainer Del Montgomery (Steve Buscemi), but when Charley stumbles upon them at the local racetrack, the boy finds a kindred spirit in the ageing sprinter. As a respite from his desolate home life — where the dad he idolises (Travis Fimmel) is more interested in his job and girlfriend (Amy Seimetz) and regularly leaves the teenager alone in their ramshackle house — Charley begins to work for Del. While the boy doesn't shy away from hard tasks, it's Pete that keeps him coming back. Jockey Bonnie (Chloë Sevigny) tells him that "horses aren't pets", but that's not what Charley sees in Pete. Rather, he sees his first real friend. With the film based on Willy Vlautin's novel of the same name, Charley and Pete aren't Haigh's original creations, however that's part of the point of Lean on Pete. Its protagonist is every person who's found more kindness on four legs than on two, every soul that's been cast adrift by society, and every child living in less-than-ideal conditions. And, when Charley's father ends up in hospital, the boy's already difficult life becomes even more so. When he takes off in Del's trailer with Pete in tow, hoping to find his estranged aunt, there's even more heartbreak in store. The second of this year's stellar films about young men, desolate plains and caring animals (after fellow festival favourite The Rider), Lean on Pete is an exquisitely tender and affecting picture. Haigh's handling of loneliness, isolation and tragedy is raw yet delicate yet devastatingly authentic, in a movie that's always sensitive yet never sentimental. Scene by scene, it builds a compassionate portrait of life in the margins in America's midwest that dares to look where others don't. Assisted by lingering and visually striking observational shots by cinematographer Magnus Nordenhof Jønck (Hold the Dark), the film crucially doesn't avert its gaze when the going gets tough. Of course, with Plummer to focus on, why would Haigh look away? Last seen being kidnapped in All the Money in the World, the young actor carries Charley's woes with few words but with a world of hurt evident in his every move — and with just as much love beaming from his face when Pete is by his side. It's another great internalised performance under Haigh's direction, and a portrayal that does what only the best can. Not only does Plummer feel like he's walked across America's heartland and straight into this film, but he makes it seem like he's not even acting. Haigh might see Charley, but his lead actor lives and breathes him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdJonibBDx4
American historical drama gets so contemporaneous as to become current affairs with Zero Dark Thirty, the film about the CIA's hunt for and killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. Director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal, who worked together on the Oscar-winning Hurt Locker, reunite for another epic about a different type of war. It starts in 2001, when two planes hit the World Trade Center, and chilling documentary footage recalls the pain caused that day. Two years later, rookie Maya (Jessica Chastain) is sent to join a specialist team at a CIA black site in Pakistan, where a detainee, following torture and deception, discloses the name Abu Ahmed. Operations come and go for the next eight years, but Maya comes to fixate on that one name, whom she believes to be Bin Laden's right hand. Zero Dark Thirty is stunningly well made, with a controlled level of tension that works on a scale of high to higher. It remains nail-bitingly riveting over two hours and forty minutes. Interestingly, the structure is almost like three films, or at least, a film with three clearly defined acts. Each passing act (complete with the appearance and disappearance of its own high-calibre cast, including Jennifer Ehle, a buff Chris Pratt, Joel Edgerton, and James Gandolfini) reinforces the intensity of Maya's perseverance, her lonely state of being in the right. The film has won widespread acclaim from critics, but from reading the news, you'd think everyone hated it. Many from the American right have criticised the film for its having supposedly improper access to classified documents and glorifying Obama, and many from the left have slammed it for advocating torture. Both stances seem an overreaction. Zero Dark Thirty does depict "enhanced interrogation techniques" — torture, to you and me — happening during the Bush administration, and it also depicts that torture was a favoured tactic of the CIA operatives you get to know here. That's probably accurate. Its attraction to these people in the field is the feeling that they're doing something and of expediting processes when delay can be fatal. The film also shows some of the problems with torture: it yields useful but also false information, and the act is viscerally depraved (even if it's not totally possible for the audience to sympathise with a tortured character whom we only see as dehumanised). The issue isn't that the filmmakers support torture, but that in Zero Dark Thirty, as in The Hurt Locker, they're concerned with hyper-positioning viewers into the perspective of American martial figures. They want you to feel their fear, sacrifice, and bravery — not for a moment the fear, sacrifice, or bravery that could be reflected back at them by the enemy. Many of us prefer to see films that have a different, more challenging purpose, but you can't deny that what Zero Drk Thirty sets out to do, it does excellently. Concrete Playground has 10 in-season double passes to give away to Zero Dark Thirty. To be in the running, make sure you're subscribed to our newsletter and then email hello@concreteplayground.com.au with your name and address. https://youtube.com/watch?v=EYFhFYoDAo4
It's possible that after directing the pastoral idyll that was the Olympic Opening Ceremony, Danny Boyle felt the need to dirty things up. That would explain Trance, a gangster/heist movie that takes a turn into the unexplored psychosexual corridors of Inception. James McAvoy stars as a young art auctioneer, Simon, who gets mixed up in some bad business. Charged with hiding the most valuable artwork on the auction block in the event of a heist, Simon cops a severe bump on the head after Franck (Vincent Cassel) and his men breach the building. He now has amnesia and doesn't know what's what. It's soon made clear to him, however, that this was an inside job of his orchestration, and that he's the only one who knows — knew? — where the painting is hidden. In an attempt to retrieve the buried information, Franck sends Simon to a hypnotherapist, Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson), who soon inserts herself into the gang. Things get crazy from here on in. Boyle might never have made a bad film (or play or Olympic spectacle). His titles range from Trainspotting to 28 Days Later and 127 Hours (how is that range possible, even?). Slumdog Millionaire was universally adored. But Trance will divide people. A film like this really rests on the payoff of its twist, and the Trance twist is limp and signposted early on (and I'm not one of those actively thinking cinemagoers who can usually guess the ending). There seems no good reason for the lack of subtlety throughout. On top of that, some debasing things are inflicted on the single female character, and you'd really like that kind of treatment to only happen with good narrative cause. That said, Trance is definitely interesting. You should see it just so you can have a healthy argument about it with your movie date. It's dark, complex, challenging and so inventive as to demand attention. Above all, it has a distinct and mesmerising visual style. Most of the shots you see are indirect; you are not looking at the actors as they stand in front of the camera lens but at their image as reflected off potentially several mirrors or other reflective surfaces. At one point, it's such that I swear I can see a pool cleaner crawling along the kitchen ceiling. What we think we're looking at is literally not what we are looking at. It could be a kitchen. It could also be a pool. It's a beautifully accomplished metaphor for the hypnotised state that Boyle has realised together with cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, a frequent collaborator. Their saturated blue-orange colour palette is a stunner. Another frequent collaborator of note is Rick Smith of Underworld, the iconic electro band who have worked on Boyle's Trainspotting, Sunshine and, yes, the Olympic Opening Ceremony, among other things. Smith adds another literal dimension to Trance — the music. Those demanding, racing beats are one unsubtle touch that works. Read our interview with Danny Boyle and the cast of Trance here. https://youtube.com/watch?v=L4_bdS3_gr0
That moment when you don't know if a film franchise has become more juvenile, or whether it's you that's grown up. This was the uncomfortable experience of watching Kick-Ass 2, and after days of quiet contemplation, I've come to the conclusion: it's not me. Based on the comics by Mark Millar and brought to the screen by Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Stardust), the first Kick-Ass film was a high point in the 'real superhero' wave — a funny counterpoint to the likes of Watchmen. Catching bits of it on TV recently, I thought it seemed only more razor-sharp. The new Kick-Ass 2 disappoints by pitching way too low. There is, for starters, an insane number of dick biting jokes. And it's not a running gag. It seems almost unbelievable that an objective party read the script and didn't think to say, 'hey, how about we stop at separate dick biting joke no.3'? Impotence, race and sexuality are also targets of choice. It seems new writer and director Jeff Wadlow has decided his audience is teenage boys, and no one else. Plot-wise, Kick-Ass 2 picks up about three years after its predecessor. Dave Lizewski (previously weedy, now hunky Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has hung up the Kick-Ass wetsuit, while the orphaned Mindy MacCready (Chloe Grace Moretz), aka Hit Girl, keeps her ongoing training a secret from her guardian, her dad's good friend, Sergeant Marcus Williams (Morris Chestnut). But when Dave gets restless and Mindy gets obedient, their crime-fighting status is reversed, and for camaraderie Dave instead joins the superhero team calling themselves 'Justice Forever' (led by a well prosthetised Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars and Stripes) to rid the streets of evil. The devoted amateurs are no match, however, for the coming storm from Dave's spoilt and abandoned schoolmate Chris D'Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), who's graduated from being Red Mist to the moniker the Motherfucker and who has Kick-Ass obsessively in his sights. It's a unique mix of unimpressiveness at work in this film. On top of the lumpen humour, there's also extreme violence and schlock sentimentality that together are supremely weird. Kick-Ass 2's one redeemer is Hit Girl. If the whole film had been 'Hit Girl Goes to High School', it would have been great. She's always been a special character that challenges every idea we have of girlhood, and the Professional-meets-Mean Girls-like scenes of her dealing with dating, dance club, the popular crowd and bullying are smart, fresh and compelling. The film also deals well with her sexuality, now she's 15. Her costume remains fabulously unsexy and practical, so that's how we view her fights, but she's given room to explore some of her own sexual feelings. In what's possibly the film's best scene, a One Direction replica band plays, and we see that even the disciplined teen warrior is unable to resist their charms. Later, she has a quick perv at a shirtless Dave. This is a character whose impact will carry on, even if there's no Hit-Girl movie in multiplexes. https://youtube.com/watch?v=YWozxV3fsAU
Skiing and snowboarding aren't the only things to do at Thredbo, but they're the main reason that most folks head to the snowy resort in Kosciuszko National Park in winter. The spot in New South Wales' Snowy Mountains also prides itself on its unique attractions, however, including Australia's only alpine gondola, plus the country's only lift-accessed mountain bike park with more than 40 kilometres of trails — and, soon, the first alpine coaster in the southern hemisphere as well. What's an alpine coaster? It is indeed a rollercoaster-like attraction, but features individual sleds on a track. Get zooming on the Thredbo Alpine Coaster, then, and you'll travel along a 1.5-kilometre expanse while controlling your own pace. The maximum is 40 kilometres per hour, but whether you feel the need for that speed or you're keen on something cruisier is completely up to you. Whichever you pick — fast, slow, in-between — you'll traverse both uphill and downhill tracks. You'll also go through a tunnel and over a bridge. And while this new addition to Thredbo is called an alpine coaster and is set to open for winter 2024, it will operate all year round. So, it'll be a drawcard in summer, too. Construction started in October 2023, with bulk civil excavation works and concreting already finished, and the track currently being installed. In autumn, independent third-party engineers will undertake safety testing. Then, come the coldest season of the year — with an exact launch date not yet announced — it'll be open to everyone. Thredbo General Manager Stuart Diver said that the Thredbo Alpine Coaster "will build upon our wide range of outdoor adventures in summer as a drawcard for new tourists to the village in the shoulder seasons". "This new development is a testament to Thredbo's commitment to provide a premium experience for our guests 365 days a year," he continued. The Thredbo Alpine Coaster is set to be operational by winter 2024 — we'll update you with an exact date when one is announced. Head to the Thredbo website for further details in the interim.
Australian superhero fans, your must-see movies over the next few years are going to look very familiar. You won't just spot parts of the Gold Coast and Brisbane in Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok, which is due in cinemas in October 2017 — come 2018, DC Comics' Aquaman will also boast plenty of Queensland scenery. What's good for a a hammer-wielding god is good for a water-dwelling hero, it seems (and, given that the Gold Coast has plenty of water parks, it certainly appears to be a great fit). Aquaman will start shooting in early 2017 at Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast and on location in south-east Queensland. As well as starring Game of Thrones' star and Port Adelaide AFL supporter Jason Momoa, Amber Heard (who we're guessing won't bring any pet pooches with her), Patrick Wilson and Willem Dafoe, it'll mark the homecoming of Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring and Fast & Furious 7 director James Wan. "This is another huge win for our local industry and testament to the international reputation of our people," said Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. The Federal Government pledged to provide $22 million in tax breaks to entice the production to come to Australia. Indeed, it's shaping up to be a busy time for the local industry, with the just-renamed Pacific Rim: Uprising also resuming filming early in 2017, and the likes of Kong: Skull Island, The Shallows and San Andreas shooting on the Gold Coast in recent years. It's also a great time to be a comic book movie lover in Queensland. After trying to spot Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston running around Brisbane in 2016, superhero aficionados can explore all things Marvel at the Gallery of Modern Art's upcoming Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe exhibition come April, and then attempt to catch a glimpse of the next effort in the DC realm.
Thirty-four-metres long, more than twice as big as a regular hot air balloon and ripped straight from Patricia Piccinini's inimitable mind, Skywhale 2013 might just be one of Australia's most recognisable recent pieces of art. And, this morning at sunrise (Monday, March 9), Skywhale took flight once again as part of the Canberra Balloon Spectacular. She'll make her second (and final) solo flight this evening at 8pm from the North Lawns — so, if you happen to be in Canberra, keep an eye on the skies. Then, as of May, Skywhale will be joined by her new companion, Skywhalepapa. The new floating sculpture is designed to form a family with Skywhale, with the second bulbous sculpture commissioned as part of the gallery's Balnaves Contemporary Series. In total, the pair will take flight six times during the nearly three-month Skywhales: Every Heart Sings exhibition — with launch locations at Parliamentary Triangle and yet-to-be-confirmed sites in Woden and Tuggeranong. [caption id="attachment_751759" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Skywhalepapa, 2019/20 (artist's sketch), Patricia Piccinini. Courtesy of the artist.[/caption] The structures' first co-flight is set to take place on Saturday, May 2 from Parliamentary Triangle. As reported by The Guardian Australia, the new balloon will be around 30 metres tall, 37 metres wide and weigh a whopping 400 kilograms. While the two were meant to take to the sky together today, Piccinini told The Guardian that it was better to have a "staggered approach" and allow Skywhale to be reintroduced to Canberra before Skywhalepapa (and the duo's attached children) take to the skies together. If you can't make it to Canberra to see the growing Skywhale clan, they will also tour the country later in the year, with locations and dates still to be confirmed. https://www.instagram.com/p/B9fIa3xHmDu/ Apart from the Skywhales: Every Heart Sings installation, the NGA is offering up a whole heap of top-notch exhibitions in 2020. It'll welcome Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London in November, boasting over 60 works from European masters — most of which have never before travelled to Australia. Art lovers can also look forward to Know My Name: Australian Women Artists 1900 to Now, which'll shine a spotlight on the nation's female creatives; Belonging: Stories of Australian Art, a major collection of 19th-century Aussie pieces; a six-month focus on Chinese artist and activist Xu Zhen; and The Body Electric, a showcase of works by female-identifying creatives that are all about sex, pleasure and desire. Skywhales: Every Heart Sings launched today, March 9 at the National Gallery of Australia, Parkes Place East, Parkes, ACT. Additional flight dates are planned for May 2 through July 25. For further information about the NGA's 2020 lineup, visit the gallery's website. Top image: Skywhale, 2013, Patricia Piccinini. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Gift of anonymous donor 2019, Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
For most, there isn't much in Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel The Color Purple that screams for the musical spin. Broadway still came calling. On the page, this tale always featured a jazz and blues singer as a key character. When it initially reached the screen in 1985 with Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans) directing, it also worked in an anthem that earned an Oscar nomination and has been much-covered since; Quincy Jones composed the film's score and produced the movie. But if the idea of lavish song-and-dance numbers peppered throughout such a bleak account of incest, rape, domestic abuse, racism, injustice, violence and poverty feels like hitting a wrong note, claims otherwise keep springing. First arrived 2005's Tony-winning stage adaptation, then 2015's also-awarded revival. Now, joining the ranks of books that became movies, then musicals, then musical movies just like the new Mean Girls, a second feature brings Walker's story to cinemas — this time with belted-out ballads and toe-tapping tunes. With each take, The Color Purple's narrative has predominantly remained the same as when it first hit bookshelves, crushing woe, infuriating prejudice and rampant inequity included. Musicals don't have to be cheery, but how does so much brutality give rise to anything but mournful songs? The answer here: by leaning into the rural Georgia-set tale's embrace of hope, resilience and self-discovery. Ghanaian director Blitz Bazawule follows up co-helming Beyoncé's Black Is King by heroing empowerment and emancipation in his version of The Color Purple — and while the film that results can't completely avoid an awkward tonal balance, it's easy to see the meaning behind its striving for a brighter outlook. When what its characters go through as Black women in America's south in the early 20th century is so unsparing, welcoming wherever light can pierce the gloom is a human reaction, and how Celie (American Idol-winner Fantasia Barrino in her feature film debut) copes. Although the sun streams, there's little that's merry about The Color Purple's protagonist's existence when the latest movie begins, or afterwards. On her second pregnancy to her bullying father Alfonso (Deon Cole, Black-ish), who sees her as mere property, the teen Celie (fellow first-timer Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, who was a writer on Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies) knows that this baby will be snatched from her again. But at least she has her sister Nettie (Halle Bailey, The Little Mermaid) to dote on, cling to and protect — until she doesn't. Celie is traded to farmer Mister (Colman Domingo, Rustin) for a cow and a couple of eggs, after he asks for Nettie. The younger sibling soon comes knocking on the door after Celie is burdened with cooking, cleaning, mothering his existing kids and weathering more abuse; however, the sisters are forced apart when Mister still can't get what he wants. Heartbreak is The Color Purple's baseline: over Celie's abhorrent treatment by her dad, and then by Mister; at two girls with nothing else to rely on being torn so cruelly from each other; and at the onslaught of pain that keeps streaming, and widely. With Sofia (Oscar-nominee Danielle Brooks, Peacemaker), the wife of Mister's son Harpo (Corey Hawkins, Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter), Celie meets someone who is unapologetic about her place in the world — even in such a harsh and discriminatory world — only for the xenophobic use of the law to cut her down. With aforementioned crooner Shug Avery (Taraji P Henson, Abbott Elementary), who Mister would prefer to have by his side, she finds more than a push towards self-confidence, a true confidant and friendship; alas, happiness in any form is so frequently fleeting. This Marcus Gardley (I'm a Virgo)-penned The Color Purple might package its championing of persistence and sisterhood with emotion-dripping songs, but it still shares much with its big-screen predecessor beyond its plot. Many holdovers come via personnel. Spielberg and Jones return, both as producers. Oprah Winfrey does the same, swapping from playing Sofia in her acting debut the first time around, which earned her both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. Another of the original movie's key cast members pops up for a cameo appearance. Also a blatant commonality: that film iterations of this story continue to tamp down The Color Purple's queer romance. 'What About Love?', a duet between Celie and Shug, is a dreamy picture-stealer. As Shug helps Celie to finally value her own desires, Barrino and Henson make a glowing pair. There's passion in their rousing relationship — but if 2024 isn't the time to make their love more than a footnote, then when? Alongside getting audiences yearning for more of Celie and Shug together, that standout tune epitomises a facet of the film that's evident from the very moment that anyone starts singing: this is a stagey production. When musical numbers are pitched as lively escapist fantasies, which isn't rare, Bazawule appears to be making the choice purposefully. Again, although it doesn't always go as smoothly as planned, the reasoning tracks. For Celie and Sofia in particular, finding ways to persevere through everything that they endure, and to retain or regain any sense of spirit, means confronting big emotions. And just as it does in a theatre rather than a cinema, The Color Purple as a musical goes big when those feelings are released through song. (The movie also gets overly enthusiastic with its editing, which proved the case when Jon Poll took on the same role on The Greatest Showman as well.) Even when the exuberant tone doesn't land and emphasising the sets is clunky, Bazawule has compiled an exceptional cast. Barrino and Brooks reprise their turns from the stage, with considerable tasks following in Whoopi Goldberg (Harlem) and Oprah's footsteps — but their expressive performances, which make everything that courses through both Celie and Sofia ripple from the screen, are each rich, raw and resonant. Henson is entrancingly sultry and fierce as Shug, Bailey caring and determined as Nettie, Domingo monstrous but damaged as Mister and Hawkins accommodating as Harpo. Louis Gossett Jr (Kingdom Business) and Jon Batiste (an Academy Award-winner for Soul's score) also make an impression in small parts. This lineup of talent is reason enough to have The Color Purple flicker and echo as a movie musical. And when this reclamation of a grim tale shines brightest, it shines in the same way that Celie's life eventually does: through the right company.
A thousand monkeys working at a thousand typewriters couldn’t create as great a masterpiece as the Blurst of Times lineup. Last year, the fresh face arrived on the Brisbane scene and blew festival-goers away with its immaculately curated bill. A pre-'Covered in Chrome' Violent Soho headlined, and every band that preceded them were just as impressive. Now, with a year of fine-tuning under their belts, Blurst of Times has pulled out just as stellar a lineup crammed full of the creme de la creme of Australian music. This year's headliners, trash rock duo DZ Deathrays, are selling point enough. They’ve built up a reputation for their stage antics and being ‘one of those bands’ that’s radically better live than on mp3 (their continually sold out tours are a testament to that). Lazy-listening Dick Diver will be jetting up from Melbourne, and Aussie punk legends The Hard Ons will be making a much anticipated appearance. And from the local circuit you can catch Salvadarlings, Major Leagues, The Good Sports, Babaganouj and a heap more of our musical do-gooders. Check out the full lineup here. Venue wise, the festival hops between Brightside, its carpark and The Zoo. Tickets for The Blurst of Times can be purchased at Outpost, Jet Black Cat or online. Don’t be a silly monkey, and grab your tickets asap.
When you can't venture to an art gallery, let the exhibition come to you. It's been a challenging year for artists and art institutions across the nation, but one of the good things to come out of this global pandemic has been the number of ways Australians have been able to access art without leaving their homes. Whether it's through online talks, tours or filmed performances, galleries have found alternative ways to share art with us. One of the institutions leading the way is the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), which is the host of 2020's Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards exhibition. For the first time this year, the gallery in Darwin is accessible no matter where you live, as you can explore all 65 artworks on display via its virtual gallery. To give you a taste of what you can expect, we've picked out five artworks that drew our attention — and some of the stories behind them. [caption id="attachment_782787" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Charlie Bliss[/caption] 'NGALYOD AND KOLNG (PALM TREE)' BY PAUL NAMARINJMAK NABULUMO One of the first works you'll see when you enter the virtual gallery is a hollow log burial pole painted with the image of a serpent. That's Ngalyod, the Rainbow Serpent, who is an important ancestral being for the Kuninjku people. Northern Territory painter and sculptor Paul Namarinjmak Nabulumo, who lives and works in Yikkarrakkal Outstation, created 'Ngalyod and kolng (palm tree)' in 2020. He only paints depictions of his ancestral country, as, he says if he painted other people's "it would kill us". The 49 year old is the son of acclaimed artist Mick Kubarrku (who passed away in 2008), and Nabulumo says his father's art practice had a huge influence on his work. In this artwork, you can see Nabulumo's fine, elegant rarrk (cross-hatching) work and the Rainbow Serpent emerging from a palm tree (kolng) at an important site called Dilebang. It's believed that Ngalyod supports the growth of water lilies, vines and palms that grow around freshwater sources. 'MUM BETTY' BY BESSIE DAYLIGHT In the same gallery space, point your cursor to a picture on the wall of a woman with angel wings. Western Australian artist Bessie Daylight has adorned a digital print of her mother Betty Carrington (also an artist) with a halo and wings to show just how precious our mothers are. "She worked all her life supporting us children," says the 53-year-old artist from Warmun Aboriginal Community. "Mothers are angels in disguise and we don't appreciate what our mothers do." Daylight says she painted Joonba dots on her mother's face as when Bessie was growing up, Betty was always singing and speaking in language. She grew up with traditional lore and culture and, along with other senior women, taught Daylight how to collect, grind and paint with natural ochre. "She is a mother, a grandmother, a friend. She is a councillor, a support person to many who come in contact with her, and she's an artist in her own right," says Daylight. [caption id="attachment_782271" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lynnette Griffiths & Erub Arts[/caption] 'EUM NORR (DYING REEF)' BY JIMMY K THAIDAY Digital metres away from 'Mum Betty' is a display unit, on top of which is Torres Strait Islander artist Jimmy K Thaiday's work 'Eum Noor (Dying reef)'. Thaiday has used clay and reclaimed ocean rope to make a statement about our ongoing environmental impact on the Great Barrier Reef. The 32-year-old artist says the balls represent the isolated bleaching incidents on the coral reef as the sea temperatures rise. They "bloom like flowers". The artwork is a timely reminder of the importance to care for our planet, and especially our waters. For the artist, whose clan is Peiudu, one of four tribes on Erub (Darnley Island), the waterways and the reef play a vital part in his daily life and culture. "We do not want to see our reefs suffer the fate of other coral reefs," he says. The netting used in his art has drifted into the water where he lives. "I feel that by combining clay with reclaimed rope, I can highlight an important message: look after the sea and the sea will look after you." 'BATJBARRA' BY MARY DHAPALANY Click through to the second exhibition room to find Mary Dhapalany's 'Batjbarra' (2019), seemingly suspended from the gallery ceiling. The Northern Territory artist and Mandhalpuy woman has been a practicing artist for four decades, and her weaving artwork is representative of traditional craft passed down through generations of women weavers in her family. The 70-year-old artist uses natural dyes, extracted from earth pigment or plant roots, to colour the pandanus leaf (gunga) used in her work. Batjbarra is the name of a scooping object that's used to gather water chestnuts (rarrgi/rakayi), and the artist has honoured the traditional object with her choices of colour, size and perspective. You can take a 360-degree view of the work in the virtual gallery. 'MY STORIES FROM ERNABELLA MISSION' BY NYURPAYA KAIKA BURTON Found in the far exhibition room, to the right of 'Batjbarra', is a photographic work by South Australian multidisciplinary artist Nyurpaya Kaika Burton. Three black and white photos printed on Belgium linen are covered in writing, in Pitjantjatjara language. Burton, who is a longstanding director of Tjala Arts in Amata Community and chairwoman of the APY Art Centre Collective, wants to share the stories of her time growing up at Ernabella Mission. The now published author, singer, weaver and former teacher, says she started going to school there without any clothes. The 71 year old says, "We lived the traditional way, in a wiltja (shelter), no house with no clothes, a long way from the mission." Burton says she walked to school every day, hungry to learn. "We'd get water from the hose to shower, and after the shower we'd wait for the bell to ring and we'd line up ready to go in." Burton's images are of her and her brother on a donkey's back looking for wild figs, of children and teachers playing games, and of teenagers sitting in front of a teacher's house. "I loved learning to read and write and still do today." Discover more artworks in the Telstra NATSIAA exhibition, here. Top image: Charlie Bliss
There's an undeniable MC Escher-esque quality to Christopher Nolan's films: a recurring preoccupation with infinity, architectural impossibilities and mathematical paradoxes that explodes (if also confounds) on the screen. For the director and his brother, time and space are not constrictions but ideas to be played with, and engaging with them unconventionally is a device that often underscores their scripts, or — as was the case with Memento — forms their entire plot. Interstellar, Nolan's ninth and newest film, once again places time as the driving force behind the story. A lack of time, to be precise, because earth's days are numbered. In the near future, climate change has finally, fundamentally and — as we soon learn — irrevocably imperilled the planet and its remaining citizens. Farming is now the industry, and almost everyone does it. If you've ever had a taxi driver tell you he was formerly a surgeon in his own country, imagine that, but that on a global scale. Even former NASA pilots like Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) find themselves toiling the fields and ducking the sandstorms. But the crops are dying, and pretty soon there'll be nothing left to produce the oxygen required to sustain life. Earth's last hope, it turns out, is a secret NASA plan to seek out appropriate new planets for humans to live on in the far reaches of the galaxy. "Ahh," you might say, "that's all good and well, but the nearest ones are lightyears away." True, but hope springs forth courtesy of a wormhole that one day simply appeared in our solar system: a secret backdoor to viable new planets that the NASA team can only presume was 'sent' to us by a higher intelligence. So, Cooper makes the heart-wrenching decision to leave his kids behind and give both them and the planet one last chance at salvation. The crux, of course, is time. The distances and physics involved with interstellar travel — especially when relativity comes into play — mean time is measured in almost impossible scales. An hour on Planet X equates to seven years on the spaceship orbiting just above it, just as a day to Cooper represents a lifetime to the family he left behind. It's a device reminiscent of the 'dream within a dream' world of Inception, only here the stakes are so much higher. Naturally for a film of this scale, Nolan elected to shoot more than 100 of its 180 minutes in 70mm IMAX, and the result is breathtaking. Matched with a Hans Zimmer soundtrack that's so epic it sounds like the composer simply threw himself on a giant organ and writhed around for a few hours, Interstellar is a film that's experienced as much as it's watched. With clear allusions to its predecessors, including 2001, Contact and even Event Horizon, Interstellar still manages to forge its own unique style and story, albeit with 'revelations' that most will predict a long way off. Performance wise, McConaughey is solid in the lead and finds ample support from a packed ensemble featuring Michael Caine, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Topher Grace, John Lithgow, Wes Bentley, Casey Affleck and Ellen Burstyn. The standouts, however, are Mackenzie Foy as Cooper's rambunctious daughter Murph (named after Murphy's Law), and a faceless, wise-cracking robot named TARS. The conceit sounds cringeworthy, but the result is amazing, boasting some of the funniest, smartest lines in any film this year. In all, this will surely prove a divisive picture, with debates certain to arise over its science, storyline and ultimate resolution. Time-travel films inevitably involve paradoxes that, in turn, must (by tradition if not by law) spark heated arguments over causality and order and the misconception of time being linear and… well, you get the idea. It's not Nolan's best film, but it's perhaps his most ambitious, and it's to be applauded for its determination as well as its technical achievements. https://youtube.com/watch?v=0vxOhd4qlnA
No one ever likes saying goodbye to their favourite TV show. Thankfully, due to the non-stop array of revivals, spinoffs and movie adaptations that just keep reaching our screens, those farewells are often only temporary. And, if you're lucky, you get multiple new chances to step back into the on-screen world you've already spent so much time watching and obsessing over — which is exactly what's happening with Downton Abbey: A New Era. It's been more than a decade since Downton Abbey, the Yorkshire-set television drama, first made its debut — and creator Julian Fellowes isn't done with it yet. After the show spun its tale of aristocratic life during the 1910s and 1920s across six seasons, finishing up in 2015, the 2019 movie that's also called Downton Abbey then brought the Crawley family and their loyal staff to cinemas. It played out like a last hurrah, but it unsurprisingly proved a hit, so that's where this new movie sequel comes in. To answer the most important question: yes, Maggie Smith is back. She's a key part of the new film's just-dropped teaser trailer, in fact, because of course she is. This time, she's telling her loved ones about a villa in the south of France that she's just come into possession of, which is where this follow-up is headed — in Downton Abbey's usual lavish style, obviously. Narrative-wise, the feature — which is once again written by Fellowes, but has filmmaker Simon Curtis (Goodbye Christopher Robin) in the director's chair — will chart the Crawley's summer trip, all as Hollywood comes to the Abbey. And yes, to answer the other burning question, there's familiar faces aplenty in the trailer, with the returning cast spanning Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Kevin Doyle, Joanne Froggatt, Harry Hadden-Paton, Robert James-Collier, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Tuppence Middleton, Lesley Nicol, Imelda Staunton and Penelope Wilton. If you're a fan of the series and the first movie, you don't need any further explanation. That said, a few new actors join the Downton Abbey world in A New Era, too, including Hugh Dancy (Late Night), Laura Haddock (Transformers: The Last Knight), Nathalie Baye (The Guardians), Dominic West (The Pursuit of Love) and Jonathan Zaccaï (The White Crow). Check out the teaser trailer below: Downton Abbey: A New Era releases in Australian cinemas on March 17, 2022. Top image: Ben Blackall / © 2021 Focus Features, LLC.
Today the Sydney Opera House has launched its Own Our House campaign, inviting Australians and international admirers of the World Heritage-listed building to support its renewal by purchasing one of 125,000 tiles from its tallest sail. If you're looking for a unique Christmas present idea, this might be for you. Just $100 buys you the shiny 'Ice' tile, or if you’re feeling flush, $400 gets you the apparently rare 'Snow' tile, which has a matte finish. Choose your tile and then it's yours to play with online. You can visit your tile, check out the view, personalise it with a photo and short message, and share it on social media with your friends and family. The money raised by the campaign will go towards the renewal of the 40-year-old building, while also aiming to increase public access to the Opera House in the future with new education initiatives and more free events. Sydney Opera House CEO Louise Herron AM says, "The Opera House belongs to everyone. This campaign gives people a really tangible, practical way of showing how much they care."
Forget simply relaxing in hot tubs. You can watch movies in them, sing in them — and now, thanks to Japan's newest amusement park, you can take rides in them too. After originally floating the idea late last year, the city of Beppu in Oita Prefecture has made every spa-lover's dreams come true, opening a theme park dedicated to sitting in steaming water. Yes, an onsen merry-go-round, a hot tub-themed rollercoaster that spurts bubbles and foam dance parties are on offer at Beppu Rakutenchi, all coming to fruition after the concept proved such a hit. When Beppu Mayor Yasuhiro Nagano pledged his support in a video that understandably went viral, more than AU$900,000 was raised by eager, would-be hot tub theme park goers to turn the kind of concept you'd expect to see in a sci-fi comedy into a reality. If you're wondering why this spa-tastic park has come really about — other than the obvious response: why not? — the city's geography has the answer. Located on the island of Kyushu, Beppu is known for its eight hot springs and 2900 vents, so making a fun attraction out of the natural feature was always going to happen at some point. The park's initial run lasted three days, with no word yet on how and when it might continue. Via Japan Today. Image: Fredrik Rubensson via Flickr.
Get ready rock fans, for the Arctic Monkeys are returning to Australia and New Zealand. The British band will embark on their biggest down under tour to date this autumn for their latest album, AM. The album, which was released this past September, is the band's fifth consecutive number 1 in the UK and also debuted at the top spot in the ARIA Albums Chart. So, Aussie and Kiwi fans, get stoked because you'll soon have the chance to hear their awesome collection of new jams, including chart toppers such as 'R U Mine?' and 'Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?' Original fans needn't worry, because the Monkeys never forget to pay tribute to their old school favourites. You'll probably still get your chance to belt out 'Fluorescent Adolescent's, "Oh the boy's a slag / The best you ever had / The best you ever had." https://youtube.com/watch?v=6366dxFf-Os
If Neil Buchanan taught us anything on Art Attack it was that a toilet paper roll can be used to design an array of artistic works. Whilst the word 'intricate' may never be used to describe the toilet roll castles he helped us build, it perfectly describes the artworks created by artist Anastassia Elias using only toilet rolls and a scalpel. Since 2009, the French artist has sculpted 67 works from these rolls, with each as spectacular and beautiful as the next. She carves the detail of each scene from other rolls and then delicately inserts them through a slit cut into the roll that frames each individual piece. Her works include dancing ballerinas, a busy construction site, an incredibly detailed science laboratory and an amusement park spanning two toilet rolls. Rouleaux, the title of the series and the accompanying book, is available here. In the meantime, you can check out our favourites below. Via Huffington Post.
Paying tribute to great authors and writers is easy. Libraries beckon, as do whatever happens to be on your own bookshelf or Kindle. Getting the chance to celebrate the talents behind some of the greatest works of literature ever committed to paper in a stunning exhibition is far more rare, however. Indeed, Writers Revealed: Treasures From the British Library and National Portrait Gallery, London is a world-first. Clearly, it's a special treat for word nerds — especially if you're a fan of Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, JRR Tolkien, Bram Stoker, the Brontë sisters, Virginia Woolf, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and more. What goes on display at a showcase dedicated to wordsmiths? Featuring at HOTA, Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast from Saturday, April 12–Sunday, August 3, 2025, Writers Revealed spans author portraits, plus rare handwritten manuscripts and first editions. Over 70 pieces of art include the likenesses of the writers responsible for Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet, The Lord of the Rings, Dracula, Wuthering Heights, Sherlock Holmes and other masterpieces. More than 100 texts are on the lineup, too, with six centuries of literature covered. [caption id="attachment_987065" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jane Austen by Cassandra Austen, pencil and watercolour, circa 1810. © National Portrait Gallery, London[/caption] As the exhibition's full name states, this is a collaboration between the British Library and the National Portrait Gallery, London. If you're wondering why the two institutions are pairing portraits with texts, one of the showcase's aims to explore how literature and visual expression are linked. Also in the spotlight: the legacy of influential writers, plus digging into their creative processes. Oscar Wilde, Harold Pinter, William Blake, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Lord Byron, TS Eliot, Thomas Hardy, James Joyce, DH Lawrence, John Keats, William Wordsworth and Rudyard Kipling are some of the other greats earning Writers Revealed's attention, as are AA Milne, Beatrix Potter, Dylan Thomas, Sir Kazuo Ishiguro and Zadie Smith. Among the highlights that's filling 1000 square metres in HOTA's Gallery 1 for 16 weeks: Austen's writing desk, what's thought to be the only Shakespeare portrait to be painted while he was alive, illustrated letters from Tolkien to his grandson, Lewis Carroll's diary entry about Alice in Wonderland and Virginia Woolf's handwritten Mrs Dalloway manuscript. [caption id="attachment_987063" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Charles Dickens by Daniel Maclise, oil on canvas, 1839. © National Portrait Gallery, London[/caption] Top images: William Shakespeare, associated with John Taylor, oil on canvas, feigned oval, circa 1610. © National Portrait Gallery, London. Beatrix Potter by Delmar Harmood Banner, oil on canvas, 1938. © National Portrait Gallery, London. Harold Pinter by Justin Mortimer, oil on canvas, 1992. © National Portrait Gallery, London.
Some see the arrival of children in their lives as the time they transition into maturity. This is not the article for those people. Climbing trees, indoor snowboarding, horseback riding, giggling every time Uranus is mentioned — these are some of our favourite things to do (and the kids don't mind either). With that in mind, there's no reason why the next family fun day shouldn't be to someplace that delights your entire multigenerational crew — mums, dads and sprogs included. We've teamed up with Holden Equinox, the SUV for parents with nothing to prove, to help you find those excursions in Brisbane. From treetop swings to cafe petting zoos, these are the destinations where you'll come together to make memories, make Instagram Stories, make a fool of yourself (in a good way) — and all while making your kids' day. INDOOR SKI LESSONS AT URBAN XTREME ADVENTURE PARK Urban Xtreme is the new kid on the block, having opened in November 2017. With snowboarding programs for adults and little shredders, they have the whole family covered. Kids from four years old can learn to hit the (artificial) slopes with all of their gear included in the admission price. The best part about it? This is a perfect (and cost-effective) trial run if you are planning a trip to the real slopes this winter — minus the little runny noses from the ice winds. 4/370 Nudgee Road, Hendra THE PLANETARIUM AT MT COOT-THA This is for everyone still holding onto their dreams of going to space camp. The Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium on Mt Coot-tha runs informative, interactive shows suitable for both adults and their offspring. Learn the solar system through the eyes of aliens or enjoy the atmosphere (in all senses of the word) during one of the night sky tours. Opened in 1978, the Planetarium is much like parents themselves: an oldie but a goodie. Mount Coot-tha Road, Toowong TREETOP CHALLENGE MT TAMBOURINE Adventure? Check. Largest guided zipline in Australia? Check. Fun day for both adults and kidlets? Check. Now all you need to pack is an extra pair of underwear for yourself, since you'll be travelling along seven huge ziplines, 60 metres high, at 70 kilometres per hour. Don't say we didn't warn you! The nearest TreeTop Challenge is located at the gorgeous Mt Tambourine, just an hour's drive south from Brisbane. Your tykes need to be at least seven years old for the adventure course and meet the minimum weight requirement if they want to try ziplining. Cedar Creek Falls Road and Tamborine Mountain Road, Gold Coast SLICKERS HORSEBACK RIDING Only 40 minutes from the CBD, Slickers Horse Riding is much more than your average pony ride at the fun fair. Start off with a basic lesson then join the experienced crew in one of the 3,500-acre property's trail rides. Want to soak in the serenity? Opt for a farm stay or camp-out riding excursion. You'll build up your bush cred in no time. 116 Dunlop Lane, Kurwongbah PLASTER FUN HOUSE BELMONT Remember spending your Sundays immersed in an epic craft project for school that was due the next day? Well, Plaster Fun House is kind of like that, but with no deadlines — just pure unadulterated craft goodness, and the magic three little words that bring tears of joy to every parent: no cleaning up. Simply select your plaster from their extensive range, enjoy free use of the paints provided, and when you've finished your masterpiece, they will spray it with sealing gloss to preserve your art for you to take home and Instagram away. 5/1396 Creek Road, Carina SAND DUNE TOBOGGAN STRADBROKE ISLAND If you're up for a jam- (and sand-) packed day trip, take the 30-minute barge over to Stradbroke Island for sandboarding, Queensland style. You and the ankle-biters can start off with the smaller slopes while you perfect your technique, then move onto the more advanced sand dunes. Take your 4WD for a drive on the beach before cooling off with a gelato at Point Lookout's Oceanic Gelati before making the trip back home to the mainland. 34 Dickson Way, North Stradbroke Island ICEWORLD ACACIA RIDGE You missed out as a kid, now's your chance to don your glitter leotard, slick your hair back into a bun, strap on some blades and live out your figure-skating fantasies. Quite the Brissie institution, Iceworld Acacia Ridge hosts a "cheap skate" night every Tuesday. Eleven bucks will get you a sesh on the ice complete with skate hire. Keep this place front of mind for any hot day when the air-con's on the fritz, too. 1179 Beaudesert Road, Acacia Ridge Drive your family on adventures in and outside of town in the Holden Equinox, the SUV for parents with nothing to prove. Find out more on the Holden website.
In his creative exploration of sleep and lightness, David Nemcsik has placed his friends in sleeping positions in the location of their most recent dreams...levitating in mid-air. His ingenious levitation photography is unlike the many of this sort we've seen before. Not only do his pictures appear as a wonder of unfathomable manipulation, but they are also meaningful and attempt to do much more than just confuse and amaze. Nemcsik travelled around his home country, Hungary, asking his friends where they were in their last dream and then proceeded to depict them in each particular location. He wanted to "show that people can levitate. It's magical and mysterious. They are levitating in a lying position just as if you'd be if you were lying in your bed while you were sleeping." The project was conducted as an entrance exam to art university and aimed to demonstrate to his friends that magic does really exist out there in the world. He's certainly convinced us so take a look at Nemsciks magnificent levitation photographs and renew your faith in magic.
We download movies onto tiny laptop screens and watch them hunched over in our beds, spilling Red Bull on the keyboard when Ryan Gosling says sexy things like 'Hey' and switching over to check Gmail when he's not onscreen. It's sad, it's solitary, and the suspension of disbelief is, at most, fleeting. What happened to the glory days of yore, when moviegoing was an event? When you were truly transported? Sensing the aching pit in your soul, on December 11-14, World Movies is bringing its Secret Cinema event to a mystery location in Brisbane, in association with the inaugural Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival. You don't know what film you'll be seeing, and the location is revealed by text the day of the screening. Secret Cinema pushes a traditional medium into a new level of experiential entertainment. Live performance as well as themed food and drinks tie in with the world of the film. Examples of performative screenings from overseas have included London's 2010 version which re-created LA's Chinatown in 2019 for Bladerunner (two actors dangled from the ceiling during the climactic 'tears in rain' scene) and a 1950s Algerian casbah for The Battle of Algiers. In Sydney, Secret Cinema moviegoers were conveyed by ferry to Goat Island and subjected to a series of 'survival games' before seeing Japan's cult classic Battle Royale, forerunner of The Hunger Games. That event sold out in 15 minutes and drew a crowd of hundreds. Even bigger things were planned for Sydney's most recent event, though it ultimately had to be cancelled after issues with the venue, meaning this Brisbane incarnation marks a bit of a comeback for the WMSC team. What type of venue theming will be going on in Brisbane? This one's a classic: Roaring Twenties. Go back to the decadent and dramatic days of the pre-stock market crash 1920s. Tickets are $55 (plus booking fee) and go on sale at 9am on Thursday, November 6, via qtix. More info is available on World Movies' Facebook page.
2022 hasn't started the way that anyone wanted and, if you're like most Brisbanites, you might've spent more time at home over the past month or so than you planned. But if you're now keen to and comfortable about venturing into the city — or anywhere within the Brisbane local council area where you'd usually pay for metered parking — the Brisbane City Council is helping out with free parking. Not everyone wants to spend too much time on public transport at present; however, getting a park in the city isn't usually a cheap option. That's changing between Wednesday, February 9–Monday, February 28, with Brisbane City Council switching off all parking meters across the city. The move applies to Brisbane's 7869 metered parking spaces, which are mostly in inner-city areas. You'll still need to abide by parking time limits; however, you can ignore the meter — and save your change — otherwise. Also part of the February deal: half-price parking at King George Square and Wickham Terrace. They're the council's two major car parks, and that handy discount will also save you some pennies. The free and cheap parking is being provided to help entice Brisbanites back into the city, and to spend their cash at the CBD's businesses instead. "We want to attract people back to our major shopping areas to help businesses survive and continue employing people because this will ensure Brisbane's economy recovers quicker," said Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner. "Hopefully our free and half-priced parking will prompt people to catch up with friends, enjoy a meal out and indulge in a bit of retail therapy, all of which will help businesses that have done it tough." Brisbane City Council's parking meters will be switched off from Wednesday, February 9–Monday, February 28, and its car parks at King George Square and Wickham Terrace will be offering half-price parking over the same period. For more information about parking in Brisbane, head to the council's website. Top image: Kgbo.
You don’t have to tell us twice that Brisbane’s dining and bar scenes have gone from good to excellent, and ordinary to exciting in the past 18 months. In a somewhat snow-ball effect, our small venues have been working hard to stay on trend, we’ve supported new ones popping up, and overall Brisbane has climbed up to be taken seriously – and as the country’s third largest city, we’re ready to embrace a month of food-loving. And while Good Food Month will mostly be showing off what great restaurants and bars Brisbane already has on offer, it also brings with it the famous Night Noodle Market as well as its signature events. Below we’ve gathered 10 different ways you can get involved in the Brisbane Times Good Food Month. Breakfast Club In August last year The Courier-Mail reported that we here in the Sunshine State are a breed of early risers who can't get enough of our breakfast dining scene. We’d like to think it's due to our sophisticated taste buds, but it's more likely that we keep curdling the hollandaise. For a sweet $20, 10 eateries are offering a set menu plus your morning caffeination. Anouk, The Jetty, Chow House and more make the list, with dishes ranging from lemon pancakes to brioche french toast, sweet potato hashcakes to a breakfast board. Four Points by Sheraton are evening opening its buffet. Sweet Tooth If there is something I always have room for, it’s dessert. There is practically another stomach built for sweet treats. Good Food Month are shining a spotlight on some of our pastry chefs – pairing a dessert with matching dessert wine for $20. Deer Duck Bistro are offering a dark chocolate brûlée, cocoa nib tuile and mascarpone sorbet, The Eatery are doing a double chocolate mousse with white and milk Callebaut chocolate and almond biscotti, Chester Street have a molten chocolate pudding with raspberry swirl ice-cream and Ovaltine, and Bacchus are offering its famous sticky date soufflé with toffee sauce and vanilla ice-cream. Yum. Pop Ups The event we’ve all been dying to have in Brisbane, the Night Noodle Markets will be popping up in South Bank from July 17-27. For 10 days an Asian-inspired hawker market will take over the Cultural Forecourt with 19 stalls from some of Brisbane’s favourite eateries including Bird’s Nest Yakitori, Chitty Banh Banh, Harajuku Gyoza, Okonomi House, Sake, The Bun Mobile and Taro’s Ramen. Expect everything from charcoal-grilled yakitori sticks to yum cha; steaming bowls of pho and ramen as well as Asian-influenced desserts. Also popping up in July will be Gastronomy After Dark at the Queensland Museum, Esq Street Eats, Bohemian Rhapsody and Dinner Under the Stars. Bar Hop A bar hop? But you thought this month was all about food. Well it still is. Sixteen of our best bars including Canvas, Emporium, Kerbside and The End will shake it up (some literally) by offering a gin-inspired Tanqueray cocktail and matched bar snack for $20. In a city where the cocktails are often nudging $20 themselves and when the bar snacks are everything from a pork tacos to thai fishcakes, a cheeseboard or chicken liver pate – this bar hop is good value. Meet the maker Want to know what makes a great chef? Wondering what tips and tricks, ideas and dishes set them apart? Meet and learn from three of Australia’s best chefs at An Afternoon with the Stars, a special masterclass-style event. Or, if you’ve ever wanted to know what goes on behind the Good Food Guide? Dine with Joanna Savill, from Sydney, and Natascha Mirosch, our Brisbane Times Good Food Guide editor at Gerard’s Bistro when the two share the stories of putting it to print and engage in a Q&A. Lunch time If you’re not already watching the clock for the big hand to strike noon then perhaps this month-long event will have you otherwise excited to break up your day. Nineteen of Brisbane’s leading restaurants are swinging their doors open for ‘Let’s Do Lunch!’. The venues are offering a well-priced set lunch of one course or more with a matched beverage. Learn something Some people just love to cook, while some people just love to eat. If you sit in either basket, use Good Food Month as a chance to try something new. The Instant Expert series are a number of workshops focussed on learning a new skill, while the Talk & Taste sessions will give you an insight into the history and love that goes into food. Oz Harvest are also running Think.Eat.Save are inviting you to join, enjoy a free meal and learn about food rescue. Food is Art Judging by some of what Brisbane’s venues are plating up, food is an artform. Good Food Month is taking it one step further with a number of intriguing events that add new dimensions to the eating experience with music, photography, literature and film. We’re particularly looking forward to the Create & Capture event – an exhibition of more than 20 photographs of chefs, bartenders and home cooks caught in act. Budget Starters, entrees, wine, main, wine, dessert…. dining out can really add up. Luckily, the festival have lined up seven great restaurants that will offer a two-course menu for just $30 per person. From Kettle & Tin’s Lancashire hotpot to Chop Chop Chang’s banquet for two, to a French feast at Baguette and sand crab dinner at the newly opened Fish Lane Bistro. Other budgets eats include the Breakfast Club, Bar Hop and dessert offerings. Splurge Do you need an excuse? I’ve got a few to help you justify spending a return ticket to Melbourne on a single dinner. One: Brisbane’s people can be a fiercely loyal crowd, and this being the first Good Food Month in this fine city you should be out supporting all that it puts on offer. Two: if you’ve got a favourite restaurant or somewhere you have been meaning to try, this may be your only chance to meet the chef. Three: you could even call these dinners ‘good value’ - Sake’s Hats Off Dinner six-course degustation is only $79, and for $98 you can dine at four great restaurants under the stars.
Quick show of hands: growing up, how many of us would have loved to commit our lives (and tastebuds) to chocolate? While our Willy Wonka-inspired dreams might have only been just that, for Koko Black chocolatier Remco Brigou, it has been a dream come true. The Belgian native holds the envy-inducing title of head chocolatier and product innovator at the artisan chocolate brand. Brigou's latest creation is an incredibly luxe range of ice creams in collaboration with Connoisseur. It's a surprising first for Koko Black, which has never ventured into ice-cold desserts despite delighting chocolate lovers around the nation for nearly 20 years. While two flavours — a classic vanilla and an indulgent honeycomb — are available at supermarkets around the country, Brigou's three exclusive creations for Koko Black lounges in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth are dressed up with ingredients including melted chocolate, pistachio and chocolate pearls. To celebrate the new Koko Black x Connoisseur ice cream range, we sat down with Brigou to talk about the new collaboration and what he loves about chocolate. [caption id="attachment_833239" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Julia Sansone[/caption] Hi Remco! Tell us a little about your journey. How did you become Koko Black's head chocolatier and product innovator? I started in hospitality at the age of 15, working and studying in Belgium, and by the age of 18 I had decided to specialise in chocolate and pastry. My love for chocolate and baking started when I was very little and has been my passion for as long as I can remember. From here, I worked with Marcolini in Brussels as their chocolatier and at 25 I moved to Australia for adventure, travel and a new challenge. I started working with Koko Black as the head chocolatier leading the development of our full retail and lounge menus with new owner Simon Crowe — together we formed a vision to bring an Australian edge to artisanal chocolate and build the Koko Black brand as we know it today. [caption id="attachment_833240" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Julia Sansone[/caption] What is your favourite thing about what you do? What keeps you inspired? I love chocolate and the possibilities are endless — from flavours within various [types of] chocolate to the flavours you can add and create. The discovery of new things, flavours and tastes is what inspires me. A lot of people might think that making chocolate is a dream job. Are there less glamorous things in the job that people might be surprised to find out? Not really, it truly is a dream job for me. I still love it as much as I did as a young boy. What is your favourite type of chocolate and why? Dark chocolate is definitely my favourite for its variation in flavour, depending on the origin of chocolate. It's versatile and can pair beautifully with so many different flavours. I'm often asked which is my favourite Koko Black chocolate, [but that's] like choosing a favourite child as they all have things to love. However, I think the dark hazelnut cluster might be the frontrunner. [caption id="attachment_833027" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Julia Sansone[/caption] Tell us about the Connoisseur collaboration. How did this come to life and what excited you about it? We are always teaming up with fellow Australian artisans to make, create and have fun together. So when we were thinking of ice cream, Connoisseur [was] the top pick. Like us, they are premium, artisan and Australian-made, and they also love to create new flavours and combinations. It's been really fun to work with them. For the new flavours, we took the best of both brands — their vanilla ice cream and our dark 54-percent dark chocolate — for an elevated classic. The other flavour was created to reflect one of our best-selling items, Tasmanian leatherwood honeycomb. This required a delicate balancing of flavours to capture the true taste of the leatherwood honey, with our dark chocolate and honeycomb coating. [caption id="attachment_833238" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Julia Sansone[/caption] Were there any challenges you had to overcome to create Koko Black's first ice cream? How did you get past these? The balancing of flavours always takes some work, but it's the part I enjoy most. For more information on the luxe new collaboration, head to the Connoisseur and Koko Black websites. Images: Julia Sansone
Italian Street Kitchen is the latest addition to the thriving Gasworks Precinct. That name might well sound familiar to you if you've spent much time in Sydney — owner Mauro Marcucci has two other venues down south, with the Newstead site the first for Queensland. Step into the light, airy space and you're immediately greeted with a glass-walled open kitchen (which takes up much of one side of the venue) where a team of chefs, dressed to match in stripes, man the various stations. A round pizza oven commands pride of place next to a pasta bench, while delicate arancini are crumbed and fried next to hanging legs of prosciutto. The restaurant's vibrant atmosphere is established at once with the open cheer of the kitchen. Try to snag a spot along the back wall, otherwise an outdoor table is perfect for people watching — but, really, anywhere is great. Grab an aperitif to warm up your palate for what's to come. The focus is, of course, on all things Italian, so your best bet would be to plump for the bitter perfection of a Negroni. We'll get this out of the way now just so you know: the hardest part about your whole visit is going to be deciding what to eat. The antipasto selection is comprehensive, to say the least — you might kick off with pumpkin and provolone arancini ($4.50 each), fried gnocchi with truffle ($6.50), baked cheese with honey and oregano ($10) or Sicilian anchovies with garlic and chilli ($6.50). Or keep it simple with a shared salumi plate — the bresaola is rich, salty goodness — ($20) and marinated olives ($4). Traditional spit-roasted meats like beef rump cap and lamb shoulder ($19.50 each) are mouth-meltingly tender, while oven-roasted pork belly ($19.50) is a Roman delight. And if the idea of visiting an Italian restaurant without eating copious amounts of both pizza and pasta horrifies you, fear not: Italian Street Kitchen's pizza and pasta game is strong. For pasta you might choose the gnocchi, oven-baked and creamy ($16), the rigatoni amatriciana with pork cheek and a hint of chilli ($16.50), or go classic with spaghetti and meatballs ($16.50). Pizza could be the buffalo margherita ($15.50) or the funghi — with three cheeses and meaty Swiss brown mushrooms ($16) — among others. Once you've decided, take note of your table number and head up to the counter to order. Wondering if you've over (or under) ordered? No problems — the staff are only too happy to advise, and, hey, you can always come back for more. On the way back to your table be sure to stop off and refill your complimentary sparkling water at the self-serve station. In what seems like the work of a moment, steaming dishes of pasta and thin, crisp pizza — cooked to perfection (each pizza spends precisely two minutes and 15 seconds in the rotating pizza oven) — arrive at your table and demands to be eaten at once. Oozy, cheesy and fresh, it is indeed food heaven. But how to slice? Wield the pair of scissors in your table caddy to make short work of divvying up the pizza. The scissors put you in charge of doling out exactly how much pie you're willing to tackle, and yes, "all of it" is a perfectly reasonable answer. We know we probably say this a lot but truly, save yourself room for dessert. Italian Street Kitchen's tiramisu is neither too coffee-y or too creamy and is extremely hard to stop eating. Italian Street Kitchen captures the modern vibrancy of casual Roman dining in partnership with the traditional simplicity of Italian cuisine. To that end, the pizza dough is made on-site and let rise for 48 hours, the pasta is made daily and air dried and the Napoli sauce? Yep, it's made right here. And yet, nothing on the menu comes in over $20 — which is pretty special, given the quality of the eats.
It's times like these that you can add a big summer gig to your diary, with Foo Fighters announcing their next trip Down Under for a two-country, eight-city stadium tour. Kicking off in Perth in late November to see out spring, then doing the rest of the Australian rounds in December before hitting New Zealand in January, the Dave Grohl-fronted rockers will embark on their first headline tour of Australia and NZ since 2018. It's also their first visit Down Under since drummer Taylor Hawkins passed away in March 2022. Foo Fighters were last in Australia that same month and year, playing a huge Geelong show to help launch Victoria's post-COVID-19 lockdowns live music program. The band unsurprisingly took a break from touring after Hawkins' death, only returning to live gigs just last month. Alongside Perth, they'll play Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, as well as Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington in Aotearoa. [caption id="attachment_903618" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jo via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Picking up the sticks: ex-The Vandals, Devo, Guns N' Roses and A Perfect Circle drummer Josh Freese, taking on the likely-daunting task of being the touring drummer in a band led by Nirvana drummer Grohl. Freese's stint with the band was announced in May, ahead of their first tour dates. When they hit our shores, the new-look Foo Fighters will weave in tunes from their new record But Here We Are, which released on Friday, June 2. Of course, all the hits from across their career will get a whirl, with their current setlist including everything from 'This Is a Call', 'Big Me' and 'Monkey Wrench' through to 'Learn to Fly', 'The Pretender' and 'Best of You'. And, yes, 'Everlong', because it wouldn't be a Foo Fighters show without it. [caption id="attachment_903619" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mr Rossi vi Wikimedia Commons[/caption] 'I'll Stick Around', which is also on the list, isn't just a song title from the group's first album. Given that their new tour comes 28 years after that debut release in 1995, it perfectly sums up Foo Fighters' longevity. Over the years, they've made it Down Under a heap of times, released 11 studio albums including the just-dropped But Here We Are, and made 2022 horror movie Studio 666. When they take to the stage again in Australia, they'll do so with Queensland punk act The Chats in support on a stack of dates, Manchester's Hot Milk also playing with them on the east coast, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers doing Melbourne and Body Type in Adelaide. In NZ, Dick Move are doing the honours, plus yet-to-be-announced special guests. FOO FIGHTERS AUSTRALIAN 2023 AND NEW ZEALAND 2024 TOUR DATES: Wednesday, November 29 — HBF Park, Perth, with The Chats and Teenage Jones Saturday, December 2 — Coopers Stadium, Adelaide, with The Chats and Body Type Monday, December 4 — AAMI Park, Melbourne, with Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers and Hot Milk Saturday, December 9 — Accor Stadium, Sydney, with The Chats and Hot Milk Tuesday, December 12 — Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, with The Chats and Hot Milk Saturday, January, 20 — GO Media Stadium Mt Smart, Auckland, with special guests and Dick Move Wednesday, January 24 — Orangetheory Stadium, Christchurch, with special guests and Dick Move Saturday, January 27 — Sky Stadium, Wellington, with special guests and Dick Move Foo Fighters are touring Australia in November and December 2023, and New Zealand in January 2024. Tickets go on sale on Thursday, June 15, with times varying per city — and an Amex pres-sale from Friday, June 9, then a Frontier pre-sale from Tuesday, June 13 from staggered times. Head to the tour website for further details. Top image: Scarlet Page.
In reality, cantankerous curmudgeons don't routinely possess hearts of gold. Genuine intentions don't always gleam behind petty folks with grudges spouting insults, either. Movies like A Man Called Otto keep claiming otherwise, though, because cinema is an empathy machine — and placing viewers in the shoes of characters different to them, whether in background, behaviour, situation or temperament, remains key among its functions. Tom Hanks, the silver screen's beloved everyman of more than four decades, knows this. Veteran filmmaker Marc Forster does as well. After getting villainous in Elvis and sweet with Christopher Robin, respectively, the actor and director join forces for a feature advocating for understanding, kindness and acceptance. Behind that cranky nitpicker, local annoyance or rude aggressor might just lurk a story worth appreciating and a person worth knowing, it sentimentally posits. This Americanisation of A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman's Swedish 2012 novel that first hit the screen in its native language in 2015, did indeed come about exactly as expected. Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson saw the Oscar-nominated OG movie, contacted its producer Fredrik Wikström Nicastro (Borg vs McEnroe), then went about making a US-set, Hanks-starring iteration. Wilson is now also one of A Man Called Otto's producers. Truman Hanks, Tom's youngest son with Wilson, co-stars as the young Otto (nabbing just his second on-screen credit after popping up in his dad's News of the World). This flick's smooth path to cinemas and the easy family ties behind it speak volumes about the film that results; despite focusing on a man repeatedly trying to take his own life, attempts at which are constantly interrupted by his rule-breaking neighbours, openly and breezily warming hearts and pleasing crowds is this remake's aim. Misanthropic and embittered beyond even the internet's most pointless keyboard warriors, Otto hasn't met a scenario he can't sour with his resentment and sometimes downright cruelty. Cue arguing with hardware store workers about being charged for too much rope, yelling about dogs urinating on his lawn, denigrating walkers for their exercise attire, snapping at his forced retirement party, gruffly spouting property bylaws in his gated townhouse community and getting short with a stray cat. Hence the struggle to make his exit, too, because there's always someone or something to scold. Soon, that spans the pregnant Marisol (Mariana Treviño, Narcos: Mexico) and her husband Tommy (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, The Lincoln Lawyer), who move in across the road with their kids Abbie (Alessandra Perez, To Leslie) and Luna (Christiana Montoya, The Guilty). Otto starts shouting at Marisol and her family about poor parking skills, but she isn't just willing to grin and bear his persnicketiness or bad temper. A film that rebukes nastiness instead of justifying it with a sob story, this isn't, however. It can't be. Since A Man Called Otto is a star vehicle for Hanks, its namesake is instantly destined to become likeable well before the end credits roll. That transition is true to the Swedish source material, but it feels unearned here. Specifically, it plays like casting doing too much heavy lifting, because an adored, usually affable, reluctant-to-be-disagreeable actor is going to turn out that way, as he frequently does, in this kind of uncomplicated affair. It's also a missed opportunity to make a statement about unpleasant people who are jerks for the sake of it, but that isn't the tale that Backman wrote, Swedish filmmaker Hannes Holm (Ted — Show Me Love) initially adapted and screenwriter David Magee (Lady Chatterley's Lover) reuses. Accordingly, Otto joins the ranks of surly and churlish on-screen men made that way by trauma (a dead wife in this case, played in flashbacks by Tokyo Vice's Rachel Keller, plus the isolation and loneliness he's been plagued with since her recent passing). Also, he's someone that everyone else can see goodness shining within even when he's at his worst. In other words, he's a scowling bag of cliches, which the movie endeavours to give depth via Hanks and Treviño. A Man Called Otto's best touch isn't pretending to get its high-profile lead playing against type, an approach that persuades no one. As a result, it isn't Hanks' committed but largely implausible efforts, either. Rather, it's ensuring that the charismatic Marisol is so convincing in her optimism, reluctance to let her crotchety neighbour bring her down and willingness to help anyone she can — selling why she, and anyone, would, could and should invest time and patience in Otto. When a feature needs a good-natured supporting character to make its audience care about its hostile protagonist, that isn't a great sign. With A Man Called Otto, this can't have been the desired outcome — just a matter of expecting Hanks to do what Hanks does, his charm kicking in regardless of what's around him. Worse movies have made that bet before, even if the actor's resume is filled with far more highs than lows. Forster's picture almost goes all in, Treviño's canny portrayal aside, given how by-the-numbers it proves in most of its choices (including workmanlike cinematography by Christopher Robin's Matthias Koenigswieser and an emotion-signposting score by Operation Mincemeat's Thomas Newman). There's being easygoing and then there's just ticking the straightforward, unchallenging and plainest-to-see boxes, with the director behind everything from Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland and Stranger Than Fiction to The Kite Runner, Quantum of Solace and World War Z clearly going for the former and achieving the latter. If the entirety of A Man Called Otto was as textured and luminous as Treviño's performance, viewers would've been gifted a better and less cloying film. That would've meant beefing up or ditching other plot points that happily skew broad and thin, and play like padding, such as rallying against exploitative corporations, turning Otto into a social-media star, using his fastidiousness to save the day, navigating multiple health conditions and serving up supposedly out-of-character nice deeds. And, it would've required giving gravity to Otto's recurrent suicide attempts, rather than being content with unamusing awkwardness. Also, it'd mean actually being funny, darkly, lightly, Curb Your Enthusiasm-style or otherwise. That said, the heartstring-pulling still works whenever Marisol is involved. A version of this tale from the scene-stealing Latin American character's perspective, unpacking issues of gender and race that this flick doesn't touch? That would've been refreshing, and might've also truly been loveable.
Since Samson & Delilah arrived in 2009, earned the Cannes Film Festival's prestigious Caméra d'Or for Best First Feature and proved an instant great of Australian cinema, every project from filmmaker Warwick Thornton has been a must-see. He got spooky with ghost-story anthology The Darkside, pondered the nation's relationship with the Southern Cross in documentary We Don't Need a Map and explored the country's race relations in blistering historical drama Sweet Country. Then, he co-directed the second season of the Mystery Road TV series, turned the camera on himself in meditative small-screen doco The Beach and was also behind vampires-in-the-outback show Firebite. Thornton is an Aussie icon. With his latest project, he has also joined forces with a fellow Aussie icon: Cate Blanchett. The Oscar-winning actor is following up her award-nominated role in Tár earlier in 2023 with Thornton's new film The New Boy — and playing a renegade nun in 1940s Australia, no less. As the just-dropped trailer shows, The New Boy heads to a remote monastery with a mission for Indigenous children, where Sister Eileen (Blanchett) is in charge. In a sneak peek filled with golden hues and bubbling with a thoughtful mood, her faith is tested when the titular child (newcomer Aswan Reid), a nine-year-old orphan, arrives and has his own experience with religion, which clashes with the mission's take on Christianity. Thornton writes and directs The New Boy, as he did with with Samson and Delilah and We Don't Need a Map. He also does triple duty as his own cinematographer, as he also has with the bulk of his filmography. And, on-screen, Deborah Mailman (Total Control) and Wayne Blair (Seriously Red) feature alongside Blanchett and Reid. Unsurprisingly given its helmer, star and the former's Cannes history, The New Boy premiered at the prestigious French film festival in May, and enjoys its first Aussie screening as the opening-night film at the Sydney Film Festival. After that, audiences Australia-wide will be able to check out the dream pairing of Thornton and Blanchett — and the movie debut of Reid — when The New Boy hits cinemas in general release on Thursday, July 6. Check out the trailer for The New Boy below: The New Boy opens in Australian cinemas on July 6.
Cold drinks, frosty treats, coastal breezes and glimpses of the ocean — sounds like the perfect summer, right? That's exactly what's on the menu at Redcliffe's Mon Komo Hotel; however the northside watering hole is adding a little extra something to the mix, too. Two words: cocktail popsicles. If you like your boozy concoctions not just chilled, but frozen, then you're in luck. You'll be able to lick and sip several flavours, including pink gin with Cointreau and raspberries, an alcohol-fuelled passionfruit and pineapple variety, and one that combines peach, home-made lemonade and the hard stuff. The icy delights are available all summer long between 11am–2pm and 6–8pm, although the Mon Komo's new Cabana Bar + Kitchen + Garden is throwing a launch party across the weekend of Friday, December 14 and Saturday, December 15. Plus, there's another highlight worth looking out for: punch bowls with fairy floss, ice cream and chocolate straws.
Last-minute shopping, over-indulging at celebratory shindigs, and pretending not to be annoyed about receiving another pair of socks: they're each part of every Christmas. For kids and adults alike, so is many a seasonal-themed movie. If it has Santa or Christmas in the title, it's optimal viewing at this time of year. The folks at South Bank certainly think so, and have thrown together their yearly Christmas Cinema Series brimming with merriment. These free films aren't just for families. Any Yuletide movie held under Brisbane's starry skies and on the shores of Streets Beach at this summery time of the season is perfect for, well, everyone. Pack a picnic, bring your beach towel, and enjoy double features every night from December 15 to 23. The familiar but still festive and fun lineup includes everything from Jingle All the Way's '90s stylings to the classic treat that is Miracle on 34th Street. That's not all, with The Muppets Christmas Carol, Elf, The Polar Express, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Home Alone and more among a positively jovial and jolly selection of childhood classics gracing the waterside big screen.
Rampant death. A destroyed world. When Cillian Murphy's (Small Things Like These) bicycle courier Jim awoke from a coma in a deserted British hospital 28 days after the rage virus leapt from chimpanzees in a biological weapons laboratory to spreading across the United Kingdom, that is what he found. The scenes of the Oppenheimer Oscar-winner's character wandering through an empty London in 2002's 28 Days Later — images that no one could fathom happening beyond the realm of cinema prior to the COVID-19 pandemic's earliest days — were stunning. So too was Danny Boyle (Yesterday) and Alex Garland's (Warfare) entire film, as Jim and the fellow survivors he stumbled across, including Naomie Harris' (Black Bag) Selena, Brendan Gleeson's (Joker: Folie à Deux) Frank and Megan Burns' (In2ruders) Hannah, tackled perhaps the most-important existential question there is: how does life go on? That query is again on Boyle and Garland's minds 23 years later for audiences, but closer to three decades on inside the narrative of their stellar horror franchise. 28 Days Later initially received a sequel in 2007, but Boyle didn't direct 28 Weeks Later, nor did Garland pen the film's script. For 2025's resurrection of the saga, they're now back in their OG roles — as they once were when Boyle only had Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary and the big-screen adaptation of Garland's 90s must-read novel The Beach on his resume, and also before Garland became the helmer of Ex Machina, Annihilation, Men, Civil War and Warfare. How life goes on interested this pair again in 2007 themselves, actually, but in a completely different movie. 2057-set sci-fi thriller Sunshine enlisted an impressively stacked ensemble — including Murphy again, another future Academy Award-winner in Michelle Yeoh (Wicked), 28 Weeks Later star Rose Byrne (Physical), plus Chris Evans (Materialists), his Marvel Cinematic Universe colleague Benedict Wong (Bad Genius), Hiroyuki Sanada (Shōgun) and Cliff Curtis (Kaos) — to portray astronauts attempting to save humanity from a dying sun. If Boyle and Garland had had their way, that would've sparked two more films. "Moonshine and Starshine. We never got to make them," Garland tells Concrete Playground. "So Sunshine was originally, there was this idea of it being a trilogy, but it didn't do very well. People like it a lot more now than they did on the day, or that's what it seems like, anyway," adds Boyle. Returning to 28 Days Later's infection-ravaged UK with 28 Years Later is no mere consolation prize in the wake of Sunshine's trilogy never soaring beyond a concept. This visit to a post-apocalyptic Britain is a spectacular event in its own right — and also the beginning of a new trio of movies. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple has already been shot, with Candyman and The Marvels' Nia DaCosta directing a Garland script, Boyle producing, Murphy set to feature and a January 2026 release slated. Everyone that sees 28 Years Later will be counting down the days. A currently untitled third picture, and fifth in the saga, is planned after that, which Boyle will hop back behind the lens on. Existence endures in this franchise partly through human persistence in a Britain quarantined from the rest of the planet — and, for the community on Holy Island, through carving out a new normalcy. This northeast spot, which is only connected to the mainland via a sole causeway, is the only place that 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams, His Dark Materials) has ever known. But its people have a custom, taking its adolescents across the water to face the infected and prepare for an adulthood that requires venturing beyond the isle's walls for wood for fuel. The town has many traditions, in fact; however, this is where the film meets its protagonists, as Alfie sets off for a day trip with his dad Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nosferatu) while his ailing mother Isla (Jodie Comer, The Bikeriders) remains bedridden. Not only how life continues but how people manage to subsist without modern medicine, or don't, is among 28 Years Later's concerns. Boyle and Garland's latest collaboration has brains — and heart, too, as it relays an immensely relatable story about coping with sickness regardless of the zombie-like creatures prowling rewilded landscapes. "I wanted the illness to feel believable," Comer advises. 28 Years Later also ponders what the passing of three decades means for societal attitudes, for young minds that've only existed since the rage outbreak and also for the infected themselves, as nature always evolves. A family drama, a coming-of-age film and, yes, a horror movie: all are alive within its frames, as is Garland's penchant for fraying and fracturing status quos. Firmly remembering death is as much a part of 28 Years Later. Mortality has become utterly unavoidable for England's remaining inhabitants. Musing on it proves the same for the movie. Grief and loss, both everyday and on a mass scale, pulse through it, as does the distress of co-exisiting with uncertainty, and with death always surrounding you. Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes, Conclave) helps give these themes an iodine-covered champion, assisting in the feature's balance of carnage with compassion in the process. "He sees the bigger picture," Fiennes tells us. Unsurprisingly, the actor adds to 28 Years Later's exceptional performances, with Williams and Comer among his clear company. While there's no desolate cities here, then, 28 Years Later's visuals are every bit as memorable, meaningful and masterful as those in the flick that started it all, and possess the same just-can't-escape intensity. Boyle and also-returning cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (My Penguin Friend) — who claimed one of Slumdog Millionaire's eight Oscars, as Boyle did for directing — have conjured up a new array of striking and terrifying imagery, filled with greenery and gore and sky-high monuments made of bones (over 250,000 individual replicas and 5000-plus skulls). Our chat with Boyle, Garland, Comer and Fiennes spanned giving the new film its own look, too, plus whether there was a Sunshine-esque plan for more 28 Days Later entries 23 years ago, contemplating mortality, towers of bones, conceiving of rituals and routines for a post-outbreak way of being, and more. On If There Was an Initial Plan Back in 2002 for Boyle and Garland to Make More 28 Days Later Films — Like There Was with 2007's Sunshine Alex: "Danny and I had a crack at a 28 Years Later film quite soon before this one. We worked on a script and worked something up, but just didn't feel it was right. There were some issues. Basically, it was it was too generic as a story. And I think that, in a strange way, trying and failing was the last part of the puzzle towards coming up with this idea. And when this idea arrived, it just came in the form of a trilogy. And I think stories, you slightly discover stories more than invent them. They just arrive not exactly fully formed, but with the core of them formed. And the core of this was a trilogy — three separate but interrelated narratives that form an overall structure, because some characters will move through the films, basically." On the Importance of 28 Years Later, Regardless of the Rage Virus and the Infected, Telling a Relatable Family Story About Coping with Illness Jodie: "I think it was important to me in a sense. I wanted the illness to feel believable, though it was tricky — because she goes on such a journey, yet is so debilitated by her illness. And she's very fortunate that she has her son to guide her and nurture her through, who often plays the kind of parental role. But I would just say it was always very present within the script, so it was beautiful to explore, and trust and lean into Danny's direction, and hope that it felt believable — and that there were enough ebbs and flows and nuances throughout the time in which we spend with her." On Giving 28 Years Later Its Own Visual Approach, After 28 Days Later Proved Such a Striking-Looking Film Danny: "Rewilding is something that played into our hands, really — that we were able to find areas that looked like they hadn't been [impacted by humans]. There are lots of areas of Britain — as you can imagine, it's quite a small island — that have been agriculturalised, and you can see, either close or in the distance, the mark of man, really. But there's an area in the northeast that does remain untouched. It's not much good for anything, that's the opinion of people anyway, but it's perfect for filming. And so we wanted to take these smaller cameras there, so we keep a light footprint and not disturb it too much. But also the technology has moved on so much now that these smaller cameras do allow you to use a widescreen format. There's enough resolution. And it means that you can have a statement that says quite clearly right from the early on that this is not a deserted empty city — which people might be expecting, because if it was a direct reference to the first film. It's very much outside the cities. They stay — in fact, I think one of them says at one point 'we stay outside the cities and towns', implying that their safety is on this beautiful island, Holy Island. Which is a historic — it's where Christianity first arrived, I think, in the UK. And it supports the perfect-size population for this kind of existence, about 100–150 people — where you don't need a system to run it. They just trust each other. They appoint their own leaders, and everybody knows each other and trusts each other. And Harari [writer Yuval Noah] says it in the homo sapiens book [Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind], that when you get above about 150, you have to have a trust system to make everybody relate to something and trust through a system — which can be religion, or it can be money, or other values, for bartering." On the Room That Fiennes Had to Explore Thanks to the Film's Examination of Post-Apocalyptic Life and Death Without Modern Medicine Ralph: "That was a great angle, because immediately it presents me, as Kelson, with the man who's accepted the reality of death. He's living with death, his mortality. And that makes him rather like a seer or sage or — he's kind of like a bit of a priest, in a way. He sees the bigger picture. He talks about what the skulls had, that they were inhabited by the different souls — 'these eyes saw', 'these jaws spoke'. He's aware of the human soul. He's aware of the vitality of the human soul and the passing, how we pass from our earthly life into another life. I think he's — and this is what I projected onto him — he feels that we must mark the passing. We have been. We have graveyards. We have symbols of those we have lost. And he's created a big symbol in this Bone Temple. So I think he feels the need to acknowledge the lives that have gone. I think he's a bit like an artist or someone who's made this extraordinary installation in recognition of all the suffering that's gone on." On Imagining the Detail of How a Nation Would Start Again After an Apocalypse — and the New Way of Life, Routines, Rituals, Priorities and All, That'd be Carved Out Over Almost Three Decades Alex: "A lot of it just stemmed from the idea '28 years later'. So then, if you know it's 28 years after this strange viral outbreak, there's stuff that just logically flows from that. One of the things that logically flows is if you have communities that have stayed alive, well, they must have been able to defend themselves somehow. There's different ways you could defend yourself. It could be high walls, and it could be patrols and stuff. But there is this island that Danny was just talking about, Holy Island, which is connected to the mainland by a causeway. So in high tide, it's separate, and there's only really one way you can get to the island across this across this road. And so that created a natural barrier where these people could live. But then past that, to be honest, I don't really develop that. I would write some characters and a story about a community where people are using bows and arrows, and there's a mum and a dad and a child, but the fleshing out of that community — like 'what is their relationship to churches? What livestock do they have? How have they divided up their roles?', and even little details like 'what have they made into their own folklore?', like, for example wearing masks that represent infected — that's really Danny, and then the people he's working with, production designers and costume and makeup and so on, everybody just coming together to inhabit those bare bones. I think a script is a blueprint. But then the rooms have to be filled with furniture and curtains are chosen, as it were. You can see the metaphor. And so it's not really my job, I suppose — just the superstructure." Danny: "But one of the pleasures of doing it, though, and I think for audiences watching it, is the world-building — that you have to make all those decisions about how would they have survived, fed themselves. Fuel was the big thing that we talked about. You'd need so much fuel, which is wood for them to burn. So they go over to the mainland and chop down trees. And England would basically slowly return to forest, which it was originally. And they would scavenge, they would bring that fuel back — which is one of the dangers they have, and why they have to train their boys. And it's very much a gender-separated society. They look back like that to an older era, to like the 50s. They train their boys, because they're going to have to go to the mainland to get fuel. And sometimes, maybe food — kill deer or whatever, because Britain would be overrun by deer, apparently. Because there's no natural predators." Alex: "It practically is right now. It is interesting. I think audiences detect logical consistency with these things, and also react against logical inconsistency. So, with world-building, it has to make sense. You have to believe in the interactions. They don't all have to be laid out, but you can make imaginative leaps between all the things. And when they don't make sense, people spot it — like they spot bad visual effects. They just know it somehow and pull back." Danny: "Something's not right, yeah." Alex: "And I do think this film has a lot of unseen consistency in the way of that world that Danny and the team put together." On the Energy That the Bone Temple Set with over 250,000 Individual Replica Bones and 5000-Plus Skulls — and the Film's Shooting Locations in General — Gave the Cast Jodie: "Well, it's funny, because the set felt so alive in many ways, in regards to the location and being right next to the running water. And there were lots of wind chimes made of bones, so there was just constantly this kind of music that was enveloping the space. I also came to that set at the end of the shoot, when we were shooting those moments. So it really felt like we've heard so much about this place and this doctor, and then we were able to do our scenes with Ralph and explore that part of the material. So it was really profound, actually. So much detail." Ralph: "Yes. It was a strong atmosphere. And the location itself, even with just as a location, even before the incredible Bone Temple, the location was beautiful. We shot it in North Yorkshire, and I was going to work every day driving over the moors. It's stunning. It's a stunning place. And I can see the other locations that Jodie and Alfie shot in are beautiful locations in the north of England." 28 Years Later released in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, June 19, 2025.
Thanks to all manner of markets around town, it's rather easy to stock your wardrobe with pre-loved threads. Brisbane's op shops help considerably as well, naturally. Alas, to the dismay of those who like fashion and sleeping in, secondhand shopping is usually a daytime rather than an evening activity — especially in Fortitude Valley. The key word is 'usually'. For one night only on Saturday, December 7, The Station Brisbane is hosting a late-night thrifting session. Forget hitting up a bar — if you're fond of all things sartorial, this is the way you'll want to spend your evening, with it all going down from 5–10pm. As well as recycled clothes, you'll also be able to pick up other vintage and pre-loved items, including a heap of secondhand records. Don't forget to take your post-shopping plans into account, though, given that you might have a new treasure trove to carry around with you. Of course, you can always wear your new outfit.
“Your nose like a delicious slope of cream / And your ears like cream flaps / And your teeth like hard shiny pegs of cream.” Diner en Blanc — like Howard Moon's poem — will have you in all white. But sorry, Booshers: the fourth edition of this Brisbane event is just for the sophisticated. Now on five continents, the Diner en Blanc began in Paris 27 years ago thanks to François Pasquier and friends. This year, 2000+ of Brisbane's creme de la creme will once again dress in all white on Saturday, October 17, for the event held at a predictably stunning location that remains secret until the very last moment (for the last two years, it was the beautiful banks of the Brisbane River at Portside and Roma St. Parklands). Following an evening of elegance, fine dining and live music, the foodies then pack up their crystal, dinnerware, tables and litter. Like ghosts (white 'n' all), they leave behind no sign of their rendezvous (but don't get any ideas, a white sheet thrown over your figure will not do for an outfit). Diner en Blanc guests must either be invited by a member from the previous year, or get on the waiting list for a ticket. Here's what happened last year:
When Reservation Dogs first breezed into streaming queues in 2021 — including via Binge in Australia and Disney+ in New Zealand — it did so with heart, style and purpose, delivering a rarity in the current TV landscape. Authentic depictions of life for Indigenous North Americans are scarce on the small screen, or any screen. Such shows that riff on a Quentin Tarantino movie with their moniker, start with a brazen and entertaining heist, unfurl their stories through creative cinematography, serve up a stunningly thoughtful coming-of-age tale and survey an entire community obviously are, too. And a series that does the above with Taika Waititi's (Thor: Love and Thunder) brand of deadpan humour, befitting his role as co-creator and executive producer, as well as co-writing the very first episode — doing so alongside showrunner and Seminole Nation filmmaker Sterlin Harjo (Mekko) — is genuinely unclaimed territory. In Reservation Dogs' first season, the end result was one of the best new TV shows of 2021. This year, its second season is one of the best and most moving returning shows of 2022. This gloriously heartfelt and perceptive series is dedicated to diving deep into the Indigenous North American experience today — as a teenager, primarily, but constantly broadening its focus to the parents, elders and spirits so instrumental and influential in its central foursome's life in Oklahoma's Muscogee Nation. It's no wonder that season one earned a Peabody Award, which celebrates US media's most powerful, enlightening and invigorating stories. It's no wonder, either, that the show has been picked up for a third run as well. Bear (D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Beans), Elora (Devery Jacobs, Rutherford Falls), Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis, Ghostbusters: Afterlife) and Cheese (debutant Lane Factor) are those restless adolescents at the heart of Reservation Dogs, and they've shared a California dream since the series' very first episode. But when the debut season wrapped up with a tornado, plus a figurative storm of hard truths and buried feelings, the gang's relocation fantasy didn't play out as expected. The lure of family and culture remained strong, as did holding onto a past that's brought happiness as well as hurt. While losing one of their best friends, Daniel (first-timer Dalton Cramer), to suicide was big motivation for wanting to head away — it was also his plan, too — actually following through proved a far trickier prospect when it became tangible. In season two, the more things change, the more they stay the same — until they don't. Elora still attempted to go west anyway to close out season one, but being on the road with enemy-turned-travelling companion Jackie (Elva Guerra, Dark Winds) gets tumultuous. For Bear, Willie Jack and Cheese, staying on the reservation requires facing life on the reservation and all that it entails, including the pain that no one wants to shoulder and plotting out a future that no one ever thought would exist without Daniel. Bear tries by getting a job in roofing, which ends up being beside Daniel's dad (Michael Spears, 1883). Willie Jack and Cheese feel like the group is cursed, and turn to town elder Uncle Brownie (Gary Farmer, First Cow) for assistance. Elora is called back, confronting loss, tradition and the friends she left behind. Reservation Dogs can be a series of side-splitting comedy. The lines that the writers find for Spirit aka William Knifeman (Dallas Goldtooth, Rutherford Falls), the warrior who died at (but not in) the Battle of Little Big Horn and is quick to dispense advice Bear's way, are comic gold every time he's on-screen. (Wanting him to get his own spinoff comes easily.) It's also a show filled with goofy capers, from the opening Flaming Flamers chip-truck heist through to a hilarious late season-two episode where lighthorseman Officer Big (Zahn McClarnon, Westworld) unwittingly takes acid, then stumbles upon a racist land-grabbing conspiracy that's fuelled a local myth, all with salvage yard owner Kenny Boy (Kirk Fox, Parks and Recreation) by his side. This is and always has been a sitcom about home, though, a term that's oh-so-loaded in a First Nations context. What does it mean to want to flee land that's been taken from Indigenous communities from centuries? That was one of the first season's key questions. What does it mean to rediscover that homeland, even knowing how much heartache lingers? That's a pivotal consideration in the second season. California — the oasis it represents, including fresh scenery, leaving everyday troubles behind and seeing the ocean for the first time — still can't be shaken, however. Sometimes, the only way to weather life's ups and downs is to realise how much you'd miss what you already have if it was gone, too. Made with such an evident commitment to minutiae, and to feeling lived-in at every moment, Reservation Dogs spins both its episodic stories and its long-running arcs, themes and emotions into something wonderful and insightful again and again. One season-two episode departs to the yearly Indian Health Summit with the Aunties, including Bear's mother Rita (Sarah Podemski, Resident Alien), who get their own time away. Another follows Cheese to a group home run by the misguided Gene (Marc Maron, Respect), where he's sent through no fault of his own — while yet another goes to prison, where Willie Jack visits Hokti (Lily Gladstone, Certain Women), her aunt and Daniel's mother. From the engaging cast and complex narrative to the incisive examination of everything it means to be an Indigenous North American right now, plus the crucial commitment to telling Indigenous stories with Indigenous on- and off-screen talent (every writer, director and series regular is Indigenous), Harjo deserves all the kudos that can be showered his way for this gem of a show. Seeing where each episode heads, what surprises are in store, and how it keeps giving the USA's First Nations people on-screen representation and a voice, is a continual and rewarding delight. Seeing how Reservation Dogs values both personal tales and fleshing out a community portrait, and excels equally in realistic and magical storytelling, is as much of a highlight. As for Waititi, his way with sitcoms shouldn't be astonishing. The Eagle vs Shark, Boy and Hunt for the Wilderpeople helmer is three for three in America — including not only this, but also Our Flag Means Death, which will return for a second season after 2022's debut run; and the What We Do in the Shadows TV spinoff, which just aired its fourth season and has a fifth and sixth on the way. Indeed, while there are many reasons to be thankful for the New Zealand filmmaker as his resume keeps attesting, using his fame to help bring the gift that is Reservation Dogs into the world is firmly one of them. Check out the trailer for Reservation Dogs season two below: Reservation Dogs streams via Binge in Australia and Disney+ in New Zealand. Images: Shane Brown / FX.
A grim historical drama that recreates France's final instance of trial by combat, The Last Duel can't be described as fun. It hinges upon the rape of Marguerite (Jodie Comer, Free Guy), wife of knight Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon, Ford v Ferrari), by his ex-friend Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver, Annette) — aka the event that sparked the joust — so that term will obviously never apply. Instead, the movie is exquisite in its 14th-century period staging. After a slightly slow start, it's as involving and affecting as it is weighty and savage, too. When the titular battle takes place, it's ferocious and vivid. And with a #MeToo spirit, the film heartbreakingly hammers home how poorly women were regarded — the rape is considered a crime against Carrouges' property rather than against Marguerite herself — making it an expectedly sombre affair from start to finish. The Last Duel must've been fun to make from a creative standpoint, however. Damon sports a shocking mullet, and Ben Affleck (The Way Back) dons a ridiculous blonde mop while hamming up every scene he's in (and demanding that Driver drop his pants), although that isn't why. Again, the brutal events seen don't earn that term, but teasing out Marguerite, Carrouges and Le Gris' varying perspectives is fascinating. Director Ridley Scott (All the Money in the World) and his screenwriters — Good Will Hunting Oscar-winners Damon and Affleck, plus acclaimed filmmaker Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said) — have clearly seen Rashomon, the on-screen benchmark in using clashing viewpoints. In their "he said, he said, she said" tale, journeying in the iconic Japanese film's footsteps proves captivating. It must've been an enjoyable challenge for its cast, too, terrible hairstyles and all; as moments repeat, so much of the movie's potency stems from minuscule differences in tone, angle, emphasis and physicality. "The truth according to Jean de Carrouges" proclaims The Last Duel's first chapter, adapting Eric Jager's 2004 book of the same name in the process. (Le Gris and Marguerite's segments, following in that order, receive the same introduction.) Even in his own instalment, Damon plays Carrouges as a scowling and serious soldier, and as petulant and entitled. He's also a victim in his own head. That attitude only grows as Le Gris finds favour with Count Pierre d'Alençon (Affleck), cousin to teenage King Charles VI (Alex Lawther, The Translators), and starts collecting his debts — including Carrouges' own. And when the knight marries the beautiful and well-educated Marguerite, it's purely a transaction. It also deepens his acrimony towards Le Gris long before the rape, after land promised in the dowry ends up in his former pal's hands via the smarmy Pierre. Still, Carrouges is instantly willing to fight when he hears about the sexual assault. That said, it's also just another battle against Le Gris and the Count, after taking them to court and the King over their property squabble. In Le Gris' chapter, where Driver broods with an intensity that's fierce even for him, Carrouges' joylessness and pettiness is given even more flesh. Also explored here: the Count's hedonism, the ambition and greed driving the opportunistic Le Gris, and the fixation he develops with Marguerite. Scott ensures that the rape lands like the horror it is, too, leaving no doubt of its force and coercion despite Le Gris' claims otherwise. When Marguerite's turn comes, the words "the truth" linger for a few seconds longer; what follows is the most nuanced and best third of the film, with immense thanks to Holofcener and Comer. The Last Duel is often blunt movie, but there's a wealth of subtlety to this chapter — and a world of nuance in Marguerite's struggles in general and after her attack at Le Gris' hands. Holofcener doesn't rely upon big speeches, and Comer doesn't trade in big feelings. In fact, they're both economical and poignant, conveying exactly what they need to in as precise a way as possible. Both recognise that the situation, and all that Marguerite endures, is inherently abhorrent and distressing, and let those emotions radiate organically rather than with overstressed compulsion. The film's structure helps enormously, of course. After showing Carrouges glower and pout, and Le Gris pair charm with manipulation, The Last Duel makes its allegiance to Marguerite plain. That happens from the outset, actually, with the film knowingly arriving in a world where gender equality is still far from the status quo. That's why all those tiny tweaks over the three chapters couldn't be savvier or more engaging. Everyone is always the hero of their own story, but The Last Duel commits that idea to film by showing what it means in such horrendous circumstances — a life-and-death matter for Marguerite, Carrouges and Le Gris alike. This is a movie about power that examines how it manifests in broad, societal and overarching ways as well as on an everyday and intimate basis, all through its trio of perspectives. The Last Duel releases 44 years after Scott debuted with 1977's The Duellists. That nice bit of lexical symmetry is also a reminder that history and conflict have long been in his wheelhouse. As his second movie illustrated — that'd be Alien — he's similarly no stranger to tales of female survival in unforgiving conditions. Plus in Blade Runner, his third film, Scott showed his talent for getting contemplative via spectacular imagery. Both opening and closing The Last Duel, the eponymous joust is firmly a spectacle here. Visceral, exciting, tense and thrilling, it's shot and staged with rhythm, flair, grit, gore and an edge-of-your-seat level of anxiety. But this Gladiator-topping scene would ring empty if almost everything around it — not just within it — wasn't so piercing. Come for vain and selfish men brawling on horseback, stay for a compelling interrogation of the kind of world that sees them as its leaders while constantly casting women aside. Image: Patrick Redmond. © 2021 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
It just might be Australia's most famous man-made structure, and it'll soon be home to the Australian Aboriginal flag on a permanent basis. That'd be the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which only flies the Aboriginal flag for 19 days each year at present — for Australia Day, Sorry Day, Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week — but will do so every day "as soon as possible", as New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet has just announced. The Sydney Harbour Bridge currently has two flag poles, with one flying the Australian flag and, when the Aboriginal flag isn't on display on its allocated days, the other flying the NSW state flag. To display the Aboriginal flag permanently, the bridge will gain a third flag pole — with the Premier advising that the government has "been working through this for some time." Speaking at NSW's daily COVID-19 press conference on Saturday, February 5, Perrottet said that "the first advice I received is that it would take two years. Two years. I mean, in the 1920s, it took nine years to build the Harbour Bridge, but apparently today it takes two years to put a flag pole on top of the Harbour Bridge. I'll climb up there myself to put it up if I need to". He continued: "I can't see why it would take that long. The new advice that I've received is that it can be expedited — I think it went down to two years, and then to six months — so as soon as possible". A 5 year struggle worth while. WE BLOODY DID IT 🎉 Thank you to everyone who participated. The @ChangeAus petition & @gofundme won't stop until the flag is flying proud. Let's see it to the end.@AIA_SydneyCBD @MayorDarcy @david4wyong @GaryNunn1https://t.co/Xbqhunc8m7 — Cheree Toka (@Chereetoka) February 4, 2022 The announcement follows a five-year-long campaign by Kamilaroi woman Cheree Toka, who also launched a Change.org campaign in 2020 to continue to call on the NSW government to make this exact move. "The Aboriginal flag is a reminder that the country has a history before European arrival," Toka said two years ago. "I think it's really important to have a symbolic gesture on the bridge that identifies the true history of Australia, which is a starting point for conversation around greater issues affecting the Indigenous population." After the first three years of Toka's campaign, she had amassed more than 157,000 digital signatures and the required 10,000 paper-based signatures to bring the issue to NSW parliament. However, when it was debated in the final NSW parliamentary session of 2019, the result then was that it would cost too much to construct a third flagpole to see the Aboriginal flag flying daily — which was what sparked her crowdfunding campaign to raise the $300,000 quoted by the government to 'fund the flag'. [caption id="attachment_841962" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Vakrieger via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Announcing the change of policy on the weekend, the NSW Premier said that "we can't truly be proud of our country unless we are working together to achieve true reconciliation. That's a combination of both symbolic reconciliation and practical reconciliation." The move to permanently display the Aboriginal flag on the Sydney Harbour Bridge comes just weeks after 2022's other big flag news, with the Australian Government unveiling a copyright deal at the end of January with Luritja artist Harold Thomas, who designed the symbol, to make it freely available for public use, Exactly when the Aboriginal flag will start flying permanently on the Sydney Harbour Bridge hasn't yet been revealed — we'll update you when further details are announced. Top image: Mary and Andrew via Flickr.
Gambling sites are so often accused of being scummy. Confined to the cracked iPhone screens of sweaty middle-aged men watching the races, or nestled up against a footy fanatic's much-pounded Tinder app, these sites don't often conjure up images of class. But for this year's FIFA World Cup, Sportsbet have pulled out the big guns. They've called upon the classiest dude bro they could think of. They've let Jesus loose upon our skies. In a marketing stunt that seeks to mimic Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer, Sportsbet have created a hot air balloon in an arguably sacrilegious image of Jesus Christ. They've encapsulated his transcendent essence in 46 metres of gassy latex, slapped a hashtagged Socceroos jersey on him and launched him off into the atmosphere because culture or sports or betting or something. It's a move that's understandably enraged Melbourne's religious community. Director of the Australian Christian Lobby Dan Flynn has spoken out against the stunt on 3AW saying Jesus has been co-opted into endorsing gambling. "Jesus was very much for the poor and we know the effect of gambling on the poor, they take the biggest brunt of that," he said. The balloon has also been condemned by Deputy Premier Peter Ryan, the Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce, and the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne. However, Sportsbet's representatives claim the balloon is nothing more than a morale booster to get people behind the Socceroos this week. "Let’s be honest — the Socceroos need divine intervention to progress past their three group games, so the message we’re aiming to get across is that for all Aussies to keep the faith in [them]," PR manager Shaun Anderson told the Herald Sun. Sportsbet also claim they haven't received any complaints from religious groups directly. Spokesperson Matthew Campbell even went so far as to reassure readers at the Sydney Morning Herald: "We certainly don’t believe we’re being insensitive to anyone’s religious beliefs." This isn't the first time Sportsbet have been accused of insensitivity. In fact, their last controversy came only one year ago with this charming piece of good ol' Aussie animal porn. Any of the @QantasWallabies see this little guy upon landing in Melbourne today? #rootingforoz pic.twitter.com/NOei58MFNv — Sportsbet.com.au (@sportsbetcomau) June 23, 2013 Though today marks just the second day of flight for the holy balloon, it's already received a huge amount of attention. Not only has it faced scrutiny from those religious groups mentioned above, it's featured on the front page of mX, and made an appearance on both the Daily Mail and Wall Street Journal. How embarrassment. Despite all this, Sportsbet claim the only thing that could bring down our ever-present lord is the weather. The betting site intend to keep him airborne over Melbourne for the next couple of days before a national tour starting next week. If you weren't already having moral dilemmas with this year's World Cup, you sure as hell will now. Via Herald Sun and The Sydney Morning Herald. Photos via Sportsbet.
These days, plenty of events have been putting the 'fun' in fun run. Some take you jogging through a winery, then let you sip wine. Others ask you to dress up like your favourite Star Wars character, or as Batman. And, you can can decked out with colour while you put one foot after another, too. They're all well and good — but if you're eager to sprint through foam, tumble down waterslides and make your way through mud pits across a five-kilometre obstacle course, you'll want to head to the 5K Foam Fest. Hitting up Sirromet Winery on Saturday, January 11 and Sunday, January 12, this event will get you running, sliding, climbing, crawling, bouncing, hurdling, hopping through tyres and slipping over tubes. In total, you'll need to conquer more than 20 obstacles. And, although this should be obvious, you can expect to get wet, muddy and foamy while you're doing so. There's a reason that we keep stressing the foam, with 2.5 million cubic feet of it used across the course. Plus, there'll be some on your beer when you have a few cold ones in the beer garden once you're done. Tickets are on sale for both days of this family-friendly affair. If you'd like to have your entry fee reimbursed, you also have the option of using the event to raise money for the Make A Wish Foundation. Image: 5K Foam Fest.
Hoping that 2022 proves brighter than the last couple of years? Aren't we all — and, in Sydney, it's set to do exactly that in one particularly eye-catching way. After cancelling its 2020 and 2021 events due to the pandemic, Vivid will be back with its citywide celebration of creativity, innovation and technology (and luminous lights) from Friday, May 27–Sunday, June 18, and the festival has just revealed the first must-sees on its lineup. Words like dazzling, glowing, radiant and vibrant get thrown around a lot when describing Vivid, but there's a great reason for that: its installations and events — and especially its art displays and light projections — really are spectacular. 2022's bill looks to live up to the hype, too, based on the four inclusions revealed from first-time Festival Director Gill Minervini's program so far. Get ready to see plenty of Sydney in a whole new light, naturally. At The Goods Line at Central Station, Convergence will surround Sydneysiders in an immersive light-and-sound experience — all in the disused Goods Line railway tunnel, which'll be used for the first time ever. It'll actually be Vivid's largest-scale laser exhibition ever, too, if you need any more convincing. Next, over at Customs House at Circular Quay, none other than famed Aussie artist Ken Done will be joining forces with Sydney-based projection specialists Spinifex Group to deliver a work called For Sydney With Love. Yes, it's a love letter to the city, and it spans everything from Sydney's landmarks to its natural environment, which Done will bring to life. Also a highlight: Earth Deities, which'll set up at Hickson Road Reserve in The Rocks. It's the work of Western Sydney-raised artist Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, who is known for making large-scale sculptural forms out of compacted earth, steel and paint. Here, Nithiyendran will craft what's been dubbed as a "multi-limbed avatar", which'll come complete with animated fire and electricity. And, spanning an eight-kilometre continuous stretch from Sydney Opera House to Central Station, Future Natives will guide folks along Vivid's Light Walk. You'll find your way along thanks to sculptures along the route, including a flock of 200 Sydney bird species created by Sydney artist Chris Daniel. [caption id="attachment_843269" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Future Natives, Chris Daniel[/caption] The full Vivid 2022 lineup will be announced mid-March, but you can also look forward to spending time elsewhere in the Sydney CBD, Circular Quay, The Rocks, Barangaroo and Darling Harbour, and at the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, MCA and Customs House. Can't wait? You have to, sorry, but because Wednesday, February 16 marked 100 days till Vivid 2022 kicks off, the event has also stationed countdown clocks designed by artist Elliott Routledge — who'll also feature in the full festival program — outside the Queen Victoria Building at Town Hall and at Gateway Plaza at Circular Quay. So, you'll always know how many days are left until Sydney gets brighter for a few wintry weeks. [caption id="attachment_843267" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dallas Kilponen / DestinationNSW[/caption] Vivid Sydney 2022 will run from Friday, May 27–Sunday, June 18. We'll update you with the full lineup when it's announced in mid-March — and for further information in the interim, visit the event's website. Top images: Convergence, Mandylands / Earth Deities, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Jessica Maurer, Kane-Sullivan.
Don't say that you don't have anything to watch between Friday, March 1–Monday, March 11, or that you've only got the usual couch-viewing options. Queer Screen's Mardi Gras Film Festival is back for 2024, which isn't just wonderful news for Sydney's cinephiles. Thanks to the event's returning online component, it's also ace for folks located outside of the Harbour City. A feast of queer cinema coming to your chosen small screen. As always, the lineup of movies that Sydneysiders can catch at MGFF's in-person sessions is far larger than its online program — but you can still join in from home no matter where in Australia you're located. For cinephiles watching on from the couch, choices include All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White, the Berlinale Teddy Award-winning love story about two men dealing with Nigeria's anti-gay laws; Mexico's All the Silence, centring on a CODA (child of deaf adults) and her girlfriend who is deaf; F.L.Y., which sees two exes living under the same roof during the pandemic; and Mutt, which won Lio Mehiel a Special Jury Award-winner at Sundance for their performance. Or, opt for drama Old Narcissus about getting older in Japan, with a 74-year-old children's author finding connection with a sex worker. You'll also be able to stream several shorts packages online, including sessions dedicated to Asia Pacific, comedy, gay, non-binary and gender diverse, queer horror, queer documentaries, transgender and sapphic films. The My Queer Career short film fest will hop online as well, featuring seven films competing for $16,000-plus in prizes.
Biannual art and design markets The Finders Keepers is returning for its spring/summer iterations, bringing shoppers the latest and greatest from its stellar lineup of Australia's most creative makers. The Meanjin edition is taking over Brisbane Showgrounds from Friday, September 2 till Sunday, September 4. Joining the creatively charged stalls is a tasty range of food and beverage offerings — all the makings of a prime day to get out, have a chat with artists and support the industry. At the core of the conscious shopping space is a focus on helping you discover and connect with the next wave of independent and emerging artisans — specifically, local designers. So, you can expect to find everything from jewellery, fashion and ceramics to leather goods and body products. And, for the market's return to Brisbane, there's more than 100 stores to peruse. Nicoco Design will have you sorted for your bold and bright fabric pieces, Paxy & Flora are bringing oodles of cute-as-pie ceramic creations and Brisbane-fave Claire Ritchie has her joy-inducing floral artworks at the ready (pictured above). Plus, if you're into slow fashion, you'll be able to shop the excellent creations from Rex & Isla (which keeps maternity wear front and centre), Rose + Reggie and Al Elé. Don't miss the beauty delivered via the Finders Keepers Indigenous Program, which will be shining a spotlight on the collaborative works from Ikuntji Artists (pictured below). This collective — the first Aboriginal art centre for Western Desert women — has been producing fine art from the rich red soil of Haasts Bluff since 1992. As well as nabbing a ticket to enter — which is just $5 for daily general admission — be sure to remember that the market is completely cashless. So check (then check again) that you've got your digital or plastic payment methods at the ready — it would be a travesty to leave the market empty handed. The Finders Keepers Autumn/Winter Markets will take place on Friday, September 2 (4–9pm), Saturday, September 3 (9am–4pm) and Sunday, September 4 (9am–4pm) at Brisbane Showgrounds. For more info and to check out the full vendor lineup, head to the website. Location images: Samee Lapham
If you like beer, buns and biological conservation, then get your mates together and lend a hand. Stone & Wood Brewing have set up a pretty incredible initiative that not only sorts out a gross environmental problem at Gardens Point, but lets you party in return. First things first: the clean up. Slip, slop, slap and head to Gardens Point mangroves under the fig tree on the Riverstage side of the Goodwill Bridge at 3pm this Saturday. For two hours you can lend a hand cleaning up the mangroves in the area along with Clean Coast Collective. Then, as a little treat, you get to party. Pesto & Meddles, Eden Mulholland and TH'FIKA will be performing at the Maritime Museum, and the Bun Mobile will be providing all the bites. That will kick off at 5pm, aka immediately after the clean up finishes, and it should wind up around 9pm. Have a bit of heart and sign yourself up for this worthwhile cause — or just do it for the beer.
