UPDATE, April 21, 2021: A Simple Favour is available to stream via Netflix, Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies and Amazon Video. A Simple Favour is an unashamed delight: a deliciously twisty mystery with the zest and kick of a strong gin martini (and the visible gloss and sparkle of one too). Based on Darcey Bell's 2017 novel of the same name, the film slings its thrills with an upbeat vibe from director Paul Feig, dynamic performances from Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, plus a knowing but never mocking tone. It's the fun, fierce movie that Gone Girl might've become had it been vastly more playful, and boasts the flair that The Girl on the Train desperately needed. That's not a criticism of the former film, although it definitely is about the latter. If there's one thing that A Simple Favour knows above all else, it's how to turn a pulpy airplane read into an irresistible big-screen experience. Kendrick plays the widowed Stephanie, a perky, perennially helpful mum who lives for her young son. From overzealously signing up for every school activity that she can, to dispensing mothering tips on her vlog, she's a maternal wind-up bunny, to the point of ridicule by other parents (including Andrew Rannells as a snarky, scene-stealing dad). No one, including Stephanie, would've expected fashion executive Emily (Lively) to pay her any attention. The duo only start spending afternoons together downing cocktails and listening to jazzy French pop because their kids beg for a playdate. It's a chalk and cheese relationship, with Stephanie awed by her new pal's glamorous home, life and husband (Henry Golding), while Emily maintains an air of aloof, self-involved intrigue. Then Emily asks Stephanie to do her a simple favour, and nothing is ever simple again. One of Stephanie's video blogs kickstarts A Simple Favour, instantly revealing that Emily has disappeared. That's the film's basic premise — and when the movie fills in the gaps via flashback, it sets up one of its recurring motifs. As this sleuthing story slinks and snakes along a trail of gloriously unhinged developments, the truth proves slippery. Any good thriller involves duplicity, and all notable detective tales have their fair share of zigzags. Feig frequently serves up both while simultaneously fracturing the flimsy facade of suburban bliss, letting his characters spin their stories as his images expose the reality behind them. It's a technique that the filmmaker has cause to use often, and it adds to an enjoyably devilish atmosphere. Indeed, the director of Bridesmaids, The Heat, Spy and Ghostbusters might be in less overtly jokey territory than usual, but Feig's trademarks are all still on show. His latest female-focused flick throws women into a realm often populated by men, yet firmly retains its own personality. As the movie charts a knotty whodunnit narrative, it also follows its protagonists as they realise just what they're really capable of — be it nice or nasty. Furthermore, A Simple Favour brandishes a cutting, subversive sense of humour, while ensuring that viewers are always laughing with rather than at his on-screen ladies. Even when Kendrick is at her peppiest, and Lively at her most gleefully cunning, siding with the two is consistently on the cards. Whatever Stephanie and Emily get up to — and this is a film with a body count, oh-so-many deep secrets and more than 50 shades of darkness — the actors behind them are flawless. Kendrick nabbed an Oscar nomination for Up in the Air almost a decade ago, and Lively ruled New York's Upper East Side for six seasons on Gossip Girl, but here they're both given roles that are intricately attuned to their individual talents. That remains true emotionally as well as physically, with Stephanie a pocket livewire who's enthusiastic, awkward but never out of her element, and Emily seductive yet savage whether she's decisively making the perfect drink or devastating everyone around her with the sharpest of dialogue. Screenwriter Jessica Sharzer is in her element, too, even if a A Simple Favour doesn't initially seem an obvious companion to 2016's tech-savvy Nerve, her previous screenplay. Both movies share a knack for finding the sweet spot between the silly and sublime as their warped plots turns themselves inside out, A Simple Favour more successfully so. Sharzer's scripts veer into ridiculousness but float above B-grade schlock, and throw winks at the audience yet never act like the whole thing is just an ironic gag — although the source material assists considerably in this case. With help from Feig, Kendrick and Lively, the end result is slick, smart, slightly sleazy and ruthlessly entertaining, and remains thoroughly committed to making viewers eat up every moment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqsdrYBPjv8
Dry Gulch is the latest show from the unsettling, dark humour-loving artist Mark Shorter. In a work specifically created for Boxcopy, he'll be blocking off the space from all natural light, inviting you inside, and darting around in the dark. In a surreal and unique process, audience members will spend the time catching fleeting glimpses of Shorter and wildly trying to keep their nerves in check. Strangely enough, this isn’t a concept new to the artist — his 2012 performance Dark Contact put him in a dingy hotel room for a day-long exhibition, and we're guessing he read a lot of RL Stine as a kid. Dry Gulch revisits the complexity of the historical relationships between two entities, as the artist's body exists within the gallery during each show. Spooky right? The term 'dry gulch' itself means to sinisterly ambush, derived from the American West where outlaws would attack passer byers in dried up ravines and canyons. Think Red Redemption, Dances with Wolves, The Searchers etc. Therefore, it's safe to say this showing will be met with a bit of dry mouth and heavy sweats. Probably best to avoid it if you have a pacemaker. Dry Gulch runs from 20 to 29 November with an artist conversation and drinks on November 30 at 4pm.
As cinephiles of Melbourne well and truly know, August always marks the arrival of the Melbourne International Film Festival. That even remained the case in 2020, when the event was forced to go digital due to the pandemic. And, although the 2021 fest has had to go through a few changes itself and will now only play online, too, it is still showering film buffs with movies from Thursday, August 5–Sunday, August 22 this year. Initially, in-person sessions were set to span the festival's first week or so, before the event closed up online; however, just days before this year's MIFF kicked off on Thursday, August 5, the fest flipped that order and expanded its virtual component. It was due to then add in-person sessions from Thursday, August 12, but that'll no longer be happening. So, via its digital platform MIFF Play, the festival is screening more than 90 features for film lovers to watch from the comfort of their couches. The lineup has been growing, too, with exisiting highlights including college-set rom-com Freshman Year, Spanish influencer satire La Verónica, New Zealand thriller Coming Home in the Dark and Norwegian comedy Ninjababy. The Mads Mikkelsen-starring Riders of Justice and psycho-thriller music mockumentary The Nowhere Inn — featuring Carrie Brownstein and St Vincent — sit among the recent newcomers. More films are set to become available on Saturday, August 14 as well, such as documentary Hopper/Welles, which sees Dennis Hopper and Orson Welles meet and chat back in 1970; Night of the Kings, a prison thriller set on the outskirts of Abidjan; and Stray, a doco about the 100,000-plus stray dogs that rove freely around Istanbul. And, other titles will drop later in the fest, like Australian drama Little Tornadoes, which is co-written by The Slap's Christos Tsiolkas; Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror, a documentary exploring the folk horror genre; and closing night's Language Lessons, which takes place via video calls. MIFF's digital platform is available Australia-wide, ensuring that cinephiles around the country — including those in lockdown elsewhere, like in Greater Sydney — can enjoy its lineup, too. That facet of the online program proved popular last year, unsurprisingly, with 2020's virtual festival resulting in MIFF's biggest fest yet, audience-wise. Updated August 11.
How can we streamline our thoughts, ambitions and life away from the objects that tend to drive them? Is meditation the answer? Or pained focus? Or even street-grade Ritalin. Marnie Edmiston, a visual artist based in Melbourne, aims to explore this question the best she can in her exhibition Everything Is a Distraction. Her practice tends to include the overlap and envelopment of language, text and image, with this work including sculpture, video, photography and drawing to explore this theme in as many means as possible. Through appropriation and editing, refocusing and repetition of styles, genres, gestures and distortions, the pieces in this exhibition send out a mixed message of infinite meanings and tangents. This showcase opens at Metro Arts on March 19, with the artist talk on April 4. Make a focused goal of going.
Every March, Adelaide — the only UNESCO City of Music in Australia — gears up for festival season. Its centrepiece is the Adelaide Festival, a 17-day extravaganza of music, theatre, art, talks and unusual happenings, which encompasses world music festival WOMADelaide as well as Adelaide Writers' Week. In 2019, more than 70 events will take place, including 17 Australian premieres and ten worldwide premieres, all put together by artistic directors Rachel Healy and Neil Armfield. Taking place between March 1–17 at a variety of venues around Adelaide, here are some of the most epic, creative and left-of-field. THEATRE Travelling from South Africa is theatre company Isango Ensemble, to perform the Australian premiere of A Man Of Good Hope. This musical tells the true story of Asad Abdullah, who, at eight, witnessed his mother's murder in Somalia, then travelled across six African nations alone. Also exploring the experiences of refugees is Manus by the all-Iranian Verbatim Theatre Group, which tells stories from Manus Island and Nauru. For a more experimental adventure, immerse yourself in Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. Melbourne's La Mama Theatre will perform the play in real time — over two days — at The Cedars, Sir Hans Heysen's former 60-acre property in Hahndorf, Adelaide Hills. Alternatively, let Portuguese theatre-maker Tiago Rodrigues teach you to memorise a poem, all while he recounts the life of his grandmother, in By Heart. MUSIC Join 90,000 other people at WOMADadelaide, a four-day world music festival that takes over Adelaide's beautiful Botanic Park every year. On 2019's program you'll find Angelique Kidjo, the Central Australian Aboriginal Women's Choir, Julia Jacklin and the John Butler Trio, among scores of other local and international acts. Making its Australian premiere is Grand Finale by Israeli-born, London-based choreographer Hofesh Shechter, a momentous work that combines dance, live music and theatre in its exploration of demagoguery, groupthink and ecological disaster. Meanwhile, Aboriginal soul singer Emma Donovan will be teaming up with The Putbacks to perform a tribute to the late Ruby Hunter, the first indigenous Australian woman to record an album — and Tim Minchin will also be delivering the world premiere of his solo show Back. ART Headlining the art program are two major surveys. One is of Australian artist Ben Quilty, known for his work as an official war artist in Afghanistan, as well as his campaign to save Bali Nine members Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. The other is of New York-born photographer Roger Ballen, who now lives in South Africa, where he shoots squatter camps and mine dumps, and, most famously, collaborated on Die Antwoord's 'I Fink U Freeky' video. Also capturing little-told stories will be the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography's group exhibition Another Life: Human Flows / Unknown Odysseys, which depicts various moments in refugees' journeys — from portraits of personal anguish to heartbreaking images of piles of life jackets. TALKS The core of the talks program is Adelaide Writers' Week. Inspired by the theme 'telling truths', this year's event features an international collection of wordsmiths, from Sohaila Abdulali, the Mumbai-born US author of What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape, to Kassem Eid, Syrian refugee, activist and author of My Country. Nigerian author and Man Booker Prize Winner Ben Okri will deliver the opening address, 'Imagination Redeems'. Start each festival day with brekkie and papers at The Palais, settle into a long lunch with a writer — be it Annabel Crabb or Maggie Beer — and finish up with a Twilight Talk in the Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden. PLUS On any great festival program, there are always events that defy categorisation. Take Dutch artist Julian Hetzel's Schuldfabrik, for example — it's an installation that immerses you in a mini-factory and retail outlet where human fat is turned into soap and sold, with all proceeds going to aid programs in the developing world. Then there's Legs On The Walls' Man With The Iron Neck, which combines aerial circus, video and text to explore suicide in a small, tightly-knit, AFL-loving community. And, finally, Dutch company Schweigman&'s Blaas invites you step inside a gigantic white blob and expect the unexpected. Adelaide Festival takes place between March 1–17, 2019 at a variety of venues around Adelaide. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website. Top image: Ben and Martin Photography.
Maybe you jumped on the Saltburn bandwagon early, catching Promising Young Woman filmmaker Emerald Fennell's second feature when it was in cinemas. Perhaps you saw the Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin)- and Jacob Elordi (Euphoria)-starring thriller when it hit streaming over Christmas. Either way, once you watched the movie, you were probably as obsessed as Oliver Quick is about Felix Catton — and after you've ordered your Jacob Elordi's bathwater candle, you can hit up a party that's all about paying tribute to the instant cult-favourite flick. A series of shindigs is touring Australia, kicking off at Sydney's Oxford Art Factory on Thursday, January 25. From there, the Saltburn soirées will head to Ballers Clubhouse in Melbourne on Saturday, February 3, then to The Court in Perth on Friday, February 16. Come Saturday, March 2, it's Brisbane's turn at The Wickham. What does celebrating one of 2023's best movies at a boozy party entail? Dressing like it's Oliver's birthday party, for starters. From there, you'll enjoy a 'Murder on the Dancefloor' sing-along — even though you won't be dancing naked around a mansion — as well as crooning karaoke and hearing 'Mr Brightside', all while sipping Bathtub Brew, Grave Grinding Gulp and Felix's Fangirl Fizz drink specials. If you're keen to add some sparkle to your look while you're there, there'll be a free glitter bar. And the best-dressed attendee at each shindig will win a prize. In the film, Keoghan plays Oliver, who arrives at Oxford University as part of the future class of 2006, but finds himself stuck as an outsider among his well-off classmates. Enter Elordi as Felix Catton, the charming campus favourite who gains a helping hand in Oliver, then invites his new pal to his family's eponymous estate for the summer. Fennell won a rightly deserved Oscar for her Promising Young Woman script, and reteams with Carey Mulligan (Maestro) again here. Also demonstrating the actor (The Crown)-turned-filmmaker's knack for casting: 2023 Academy Award-nominee Keoghan, aka one of the screen's most interesting and talented rising stars, plus Elordi, Rosamund Pike (The Wheel of Time), Richard E Grant (Persuasion) and Lolly Adefope (Miracle Workers). As Felix's sister Venetia, Conversations with Friends' Alison Oliver is similarly excellent — as is Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story's Archie Madekwe as fellow Oxford student and Catton cousin Farleigh. 'SALTBURN' PARTY AUSTRALIAN TOUR: Thursday, January 25 — Oxford Art Factory, Sydney Saturday, February 3 — Ballers Clubhouse, Melbourne Friday, February 16 — The Court, Perth Saturday, March 2 — The Wickham, Brisbane Saltburn parties are touring Australia from January–March 2024. Saltburn is available to stream via Prime Video. Read our review.
Something delightful is happening in cinemas across the country. After months spent empty, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are starting to reopen — spanning both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney and Brisbane (and, until the newly reinstated stay-at-home orders, Melbourne as well). During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made over the past three months, including new releases, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-fxRXzfi0U KAJILLIONAIRE When Evan Rachel Wood played a troubled teen in 2003's Thirteen, the then 16-year-old received a Golden Globe nomination. For her work in Westworld since 2016, she has nabbed multiple Emmy nods. So when we say that the actor puts in her best performance yet in Kajillionaire — the type of portrayal that deserves several shiny trophies — that observation isn't made lightly. Playing a 26-year-old con artist called Old Dolio Dyne, Wood is anxious but yearning, closed-off yet vulnerable, and forceful as well as unsure all at once. Her character has spent her entire life being schooled in pulling off quick scams by her eccentric parents Robert (Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water) and Theresa (Debra Winger, The Lovers), who she still lives with, and she's stuck navigating her own street-wise brand of arrested development. Old Dolio knows how to blend in, with her baggy clothes, curtain of long hair and low-toned voice. She also knows how to avoid security cameras in physical feats that wouldn't look out of place in a slapstick comedy, and how to charm kindly folks out of reward money. But she has never been allowed to truly be her own person — and, from the moment that Wood is seen on-screen, that mournful truth is immediately evident. Kajillionaire introduces Old Dolio, Robert and Theresa as they're falling back on one of their most reliable swindles: stealing packages from post office boxes. But two developments drive its narrative, and make Old Dolio realise that she's far more than just the third part of a trio. Firstly, to make a quick $20 to help cover overdue rent, she agrees to attend a parenting class for someone she meets on the street, and is struck by how far removed its teachings are from her own experiences. Secondly, on a return flight back to Los Angeles from New York as part of a travel insurance grift, her parents meet and befriend outgoing optometrist's assistant Melanie (Gina Rodriguez, Annihilation). So accustomed to playing the role dictated to her by Robert and Theresa, and never deviating from it, Old Dolio isn't prepared for the emotions stirred up by both changes to her status quo. But July's poignant and perceptive movie — a film that's a quirky heist flick, a playful but shrewd exploration of family bonds, and a sweet love story — is perfectly, mesmerisingly equipped to navigate her protagonist's efforts to reach beyond the only loved ones and the only type of life she has ever known. In fact, the result is one of the most distinctive, empathetic and engaging movies of the year. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbIxi2VHTTk BABY DONE A relic of a time when women were considered wives, mothers and little else, the public need to comment on whether someone has a baby or is planning to have a baby is flat-out garbage behaviour. In your twenties or thirties, and in a couple? Yet to procreate? If so, the world at large apparently thinks that it's completely acceptable to ask questions, make its judgement known and demand answers. Baby Done offers a great take on this kind of situation. Surrounded by proud new parents and parents-to-be at a baby shower, Zoe (Rose Matafeo) refuses to smile and nod along with all the polite cooing over infants — existing and yet to make their way into the world — and smug discussions about the joys of creating life. An arborist more interested in scaling trees at both the national and world championships than starting a family, she simply refuses to temper who she is to fit society's cookie-cutter expectations. Her partner Tim (the Harry Potter franchise's Matthew Lewis, worlds away from his time as Neville Longbottom) is on the same wavelength, and they visibly have more fun than everyone else at the party. With a title such as Baby Done, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise when this New Zealand comedy soon upsets Zoe and Tim's status quo. She discovers that she's expecting and, while he starts dutifully preparing to an almost unnervingly sensible extent, she also struggles to face the change that's coming their way. Comedies about the trials and tribulations of parenthood, and of the journey to become parents, are almost as common as people asking "when are you two having kids?" without prompting at parties. But this addition to the genre from director Curtis Vowell and screenwriter Sophie Henderson (both veterans of 2013 film Fantail) approaches a well-worn topic from a savvy angle. Zoe clearly isn't a stereotypical mother-to-be, and doesn't experience the stereotypical feelings women have been told they're supposed to feel about having children — and Baby Done leans into that fact. Also pivotal in her first big-screen lead role is comedian Matafeo. Indeed, it's easy to wonder whether the movie would've worked so engagingly and thoughtfully with someone else as its star. Brightly shot and breezily toned, there's still much about Baby Done that's familiar; however, charting one woman's pregnancy experience, and her backlash to the widely accepted notion that motherhood is the be all and end all of a woman's life, proves poignant and charming more often than not here. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU-Z90SEqGQ&t=20s CORPUS CHRISTI No one wants to live in a world where Parasite, the best movie of 2019, doesn't exist. But if it didn't for some reason, it's highly likely that Corpus Christi would've been this year's Best International Feature Film Oscar winner, rather than just a nominee. This Polish drama also focuses on people pretending to be something they're not. As directed by Warsaw 44 and The Hater's Jan Komasa, and written by the latter's screenwriter Mateusz Pacewicz, it casts a wry eye over much about life in its homeland today, too. And it isn't afraid to call out hypocrisy, societal divisions and greed, either — literally, in the latter case, with its protagonist making a speech about it at the local sawmill. There are few other similarities between Corpus Christi and the movie it lost to, but perhaps the only one that really matters is how blisteringly and rousingly it unfurls its on-screen gifts. Well that, and how striking every second of the film looks, pairing its grey, hazy aesthetics with its complicated account of an ex-juvenile delinquent who poses as a small-town priest. The imposter's name is Daniel and, as played with soulful intensity by Bartosz Bielenia, he's a complex figure. First seen serving out the final days of his reform school sentence, he has made a fan out of the facility's head priest Father Tomasz (Lukasz Simlat). In fact, if his criminal record didn't preclude it, he'd follow in the elder man's footsteps and join the seminary. Instead, he's released to work in a sawmill. Through a series of events that never feels convenient or strained, however, he's soon welcomed by the locals as their new spiritual advisor. Daniel genuinely has faith and believes in his task, so the jump from playing lookout as his fellow inmates dispense a brutal beating to endeavouring to help his congregation is easy. Loosely inspired by real-life details, Corpus Christi gifts its young protagonist an unexpected second chance — and an unlikely opportunity to follow his heart and make a difference to an insular community — but he's not the only figure within its frames with a troubled past to overcome. As a film about a masquerading cleric, tension and foreboding seethes through every second, but it's the bubbling and brooding movie's contemplation of what redemption and benevolence really means that hits the most potent notes. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atKsEdLKPLo&feature=emb_logo THE WOMAN WHO RAN Alcohol. Conversation. A scene-stealing cat. Combine all three in one movie, and not only is South Korean great Hong Sang-soo firmly in his element, but he delivers exactly the type of film that has won him a legion of fans. Given how prolific the director is, it'd be easy to assume that he'll soon run out of ways to combine his usual trademarks. Similarly, it'd be understandable to expect that he'll eventually exhaust all of his ideas. But like other impressive filmmakers who seemingly never stop working — Japan's Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters), Sion Sono (Tokyo Vampire Hotel) and Takashi Miike (First Love) come to mind — Hong's features never run out of new ways to twist his favourite touches, themes and inclusions together. They're often brief, they're usually an equally melancholy and charming delight, and they're always perceptive. If you've seen his past standouts such as Nobody's Daughter Haewon, Hill of Freedom, Right Now, Wrong Then and Yourself and Yours — all of which have done the rounds of Australian film festivals, as all of Hong's movies do — then you'll know what you're in for, and you'll already be excited. In The Woman Who Ran, which premiered at this year's Berlinale, booze flows freely. (Craving soju while watching Hong's work is a common side effect.) Drinking plenty of it is Gamhee, as played by Hong regular Kim Min-hee, a 2017 Berlinale Best Actress winner for On the Beach at Night Alone. Gamhee is enjoying her first time away from her husband in five years, visiting friends around Seoul while he's off on a business trip. In the filmmaker's typical fashion, much of The Woman Who Ran unfurls as his characters simply chat — about lives, hopes, dreams, problems and, with a pesky neighbour in the movie's funniest moment, about feeding stray felines. Hong's penchant for long, patient takes, playful repetition and echoes, and expertly timed crash-zooms are all used to winning effect, in a movie that slots perfectly into his busy oeuvre (he's made 23 movies since 1996) and yet always feels distinctively insightful. Also, and it cannot be stressed enough, look out for one helluva kitty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYQzdhjHeIE&feature=emb_logo&mc_cid=ccf652e7a2&mc_eid=1628bbb5f5 HONEST THIEF Another Liam Neeson-starring movie, another bland action film with little else going for it beyond its main attraction. The genre must pay well, but it has sadly been years since the Irish actor's particular set of skills anchored a fist-flinging, chase-filled feature worthy of his talents. In Honest Thief, Neeson plays elusive bank robber Tom, who is also known as the 'in-and-out bandit'. A year after unexpectedly falling in love with psychology graduate student Annie (Kate Walsh) — and a year after he last indulged his pilfering urges, too — he decides to turn himself in to the FBI in exchange for a lesser sentence and the chance to make a real future. Answering his call, agents Baker (Robert Patrick) and Meyers (Jeffrey Donavan) are skeptical that he's actual the culprit. When their colleagues Nivens (Jai Courtney) and Hall (Anthony Ramos) are given the case, however, they take another approach that sees Neeson rushing around Boston and fighting for his life against corrupt, trigger-happy law enforcement officials. There's only one real surprise in store in Honest Thief, a movie that writer/director Mark Williams (A Family Man) and his co-scribe Steve Ullrich (The Timber) could've almost cobbled together using scenes from other Neeson action vehicles. No one is astonished that, despite being a bank robber, Neeson's character is the movie's hero. No one should expect anything unusual in its workman-like action choreography or by-the-numbers plot, either. But the fact that the movie also features a heap of well-known names and faces alongside Neeson — including The Umbrella Academy's Walsh, The X-Files' Patrick, Fargo's Donovan, Aussie Stateless star Courtney and Hamilton's Ramos — is a little startling. They're all wasted, because Honest Thief only tasks its other actors with giving Neeson someone to talk to, kiss, hunt down or flee. That's how generic this addition to his resume proves. Indeed, 2020 hasn't been great for Neeson fans, even with Made in Italy eschewing action for father-son bonding. His most recent great roles might've only been back in 2016 and 2018, courtesy of Silence, Widows and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, but they currently seem like a distant memory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjkLx3-hK2Y NEVER TOO LATE Jack Thompson and Jacki Weaver rank among Australian acting royalty, with his resume spanning everything from Sunday Too Far Away to The Great Gatsby, and an Oscar nomination for Animal Kingdom sitting among her many credits. James Cromwell might be American, but he has earned a soft spot in many an Aussie's heart thanks to Babe and Babe: Pig in the City. Joining forces for Never Too Late definitely isn't a high point of any of their careers, however. They also feature on-screen alongside local veterans Max Cullen (Acute Misfortune), the New Zealand-born Roy Billing (Mystery Road), British star Dennis Waterman (80s series Minder) and Shane Jacobson — because few Australian films exist these days without the latter — but this broad comedy set in an Adelaide nursing home can't use its recognisable cast to distract from just how lumbering it is. Known as the Chain Breakers, Cromwell, Thompson, Cullen and Billing's characters all served in Vietnam, becoming famous for a daring escape. But, along the way, Cromwell's Jack Bronson lost contact with Weaver's Norma — until, decades later, he uses some sly trickery to cross her path again at the Hogan Hills Retirement Home for Returned Servicemen and Women. Due to groan-worthy plot contrivances, their reunion is short-lived, inspiring Jack and his now-elderly and ailing pals to concoct another big getaway plan. Cue an Aussie spin on the geriatric heist film genre, in the same vein as Going in Style and King of Thieves but with romance as a motivation and tourism shots of South Australia featuring heavily. Never Too Late attempts to ruminate on the vagaries of ageing, the struggles of living with regret and the fact that it can take a lifetime to chase one's dream, but the film's cast sport wrinkles deeper than the movie's themes. After last directing the abysmal A Few Less Men, director Mark Lamprell is in similarly dismal territory here. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on July 2, July 9, July 16, July 23 and July 30; August 6, August 13, August 20 and August 27; September 3, September 10, September 17 and September 24; and October 1, October 8 and October 15. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Personal History of David Copperfield, Waves, The King of Staten Island, Babyteeth, Deerskin, Peninsula, Tenet, Les Misérables, The New Mutants, Bill & Ted Face the Music, The Translators, An American Pickle. The High Note, On the Rocks, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Antebellum, Miss Juneteenth, Savage, I Am Greta and Rebecca.
After shooting Elvis on the Gold Coast, Baz Luhrmann dubbed the Queensland city "Goldiewood". For four days in February 2024, the coastal spot will certainly become the centre of the Aussie film and television industry when the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts sweeps into town. As well as hosting its annual awards, AACTA will put on a festival around the accolades — and after announcing its first program details in 2023, that lineup has just expanded. A series of free outdoor film screenings, a Yellowjackets Q&A, and chats with the teams behind Colin From Accounts and The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart lead the new additions for AACTA Festival, which takes place from Thursday, February 8–Sunday, February 11 at HOTA, Home of the Arts. For those keen to see a flick under the stars, you have three options, all with Aussie ties. Of course Barbie tops the list, as part of a barbecue bash where dressing up is highly encouraged — cinephile Barbie, anyone? — and there will indeed be the appropriate food spread. Also hitting the screen: a 25th-anniversary screening of 10 Things I Hate About You, celebrating the Heath Ledger-starring film, this time with a 90s shindig. And, rounding out the movies is The Greatest Showman, complete with Australian filmmaker Michael Gracey on hand to introduce the Hugh Jackman (Faraway Downs)-led flick. Yellowjackets fans, get excited about Aussie actors Courtney Eaton (Mad Max: Fury Road) and Liv Hewson (Party Down), aka teen Lottie and teen Van, talking about the series — including its cliffhangers and supernatural elements. Leah Purcell (Shayda) will discuss The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, while the Colin From Accounts chat will feature producers Ian Collie and Rob Gibson (who both also worked on Scrublands) ahead of season two's arrival. [caption id="attachment_894476" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME.[/caption] Now that the AACTA nominations have been announced — which hadn't happened before AACTA Festival's first lineup drop — sessions where you can meet both the film and TV contenders have been added as well. Exactly who'll be attending hasn't been revealed as yet, however. Also joining the bill is music by Sunny Luwe, Kent Dustin and Alisha Todd; panels about streaming's future and screen trends in general; and a speed-networking session for women in the industry. AACTA Festival already boasts a heap of other highlights, all surrounding AACTA's Industry Awards on Thursday, February 8 and then its main glittering ceremony on Saturday, February 10. If Talk to Me creeped its way onto your list of favourite Australian horror movies, directors Michael and Danny Philippou will dive into it. Warwick Thornton is also on the lineup to discuss The New Boy as part of the fest's 'meet the creators' events, as are the teams behind Limbo, Sweet As and The Newsreader. Trent Dalton will talk about the Boy Swallows Universe TV series — and, giving the event one of its international standouts, Lessons in Chemistry's Bonnie Garmus is on the bill as well. There's also behind-the-scenes explorations of The Matrix, the stunts of Mad Max: Fury Road and, for some more overseas flavour, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's animation. Or, enjoy a chat with Wellmania and The Way We Wore's Celeste Barber about her career, then find out more about Aussie-made Robbie Williams biopic Better Man and the sequel to Mortal Kombat. AACTA Festival will run from Thursday, February 8–Sunday, February 11 at HOTA, Home of the Arts, 135 Bundall Road, Surfers Paradise Gold Coast. For further details, head to the fest's website.
Keen to learn more about coffee? Already know a bit, but want to know more? Here's your chance. Toby's Estate is inviting you to a coffee omakase at its flagship store in Newstead. You'll spend 45 minutes tasting a series of standout coffees, led by Toby's Estate's green bean buyer, Josh. While you sip, he'll fill you in on where each coffee is sourced, and how it's roasted and brewed. Since being founded in 1997, Toby's Estate has sourced specialty coffee from small communities all over the world. Its collection ranges from red bourbon beans harvested in the hills of Rimiro in Burundi to pink bourbon sourced from El Meson in Colombia. Coffee omakases are happening from 7am–2pm on Saturday, May 31 and Sunday, June 1. You can book your session online.
If you're going to watch a romantic film with your other half this Valentine's Day, you may as well do so while you're splashing around in a pool — especially if that's the kind of watery movie date that you've never had before. That's what's on the bill at Brisbane's returning outdoor cinema pop-up, aka the fittingly called Float-In Cinema. Once again setting up at W Brisbane, it's taking over the riverside hotel's WET Deck for three nights in February to pair swim-in flicks with food and cocktails. Screening from Sunday, February 12–Tuesday, February 14 — with a 6.30pm seating time for a 7.15pm start — Float-In Cinema costs $109 per person. For that price, you'll float on the water in an inflatable lounger, watch the movie (obviously), tuck into your choice of three grazing boxes, and sip a glass of bubbles or a I Heart You cocktail upon arrival. Those food options include a cheese box packed with aged cheddar, double brie, blue cheese, prosciutto, salami and stuffed olives; a savoury box with vegetarian sliders, flank steak skewers, corn ribs and fried plantain with guacamole; and a sweet box with macaroons, mini tarts, mini cakes and caramelised mixed nuts. Whichever you select, you'll need to email the venue in advance to make your pick. If you're keen, you might want to get in quick, as seats are limited per session. And as for what you'll be watching, romance is the natural theme. So, that means The Other Woman, Focus and — yes, on the day itself — Valentine's Day.
There's nothing quite like having time off, especially if that means having the opportunity to get out of the city for a good dose of fresh air, nature and countless outdoor adventures. We know figuring out where to go and how to fill your days can be a bit like putting a puzzle together. That's why we've done the hard yards for you by narrowing your choices down to eight must-do experiences in New South Wales' Mid North Coast region. Whether you're passing through on a road trip to Sydney or just keen to spend a few days over the border, you can return home with some new memories in tow and experiences checked off your bucket list. Please stay up to date with the latest NSW Government health advice regarding COVID-19. [caption id="attachment_795539" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Skywalk Lookout, Destination NSW[/caption] ENJOY PANORAMIC VIEWS OVER DORRIGO NATIONAL PARK When seeking out superb views, you'd be hard-pressed to find many as vast and stunning as the one from the Skywalk lookout in Dorrigo National Park. Walk along the 70-metre platform and, from the edge of the escarpment, you'll see everything from the dense rosewood subtropical rainforest and Bellinger Valley to the distant coastline and McGrath's Hump, also known as Old Man Dreaming, which, according to Gumbaynggirr legend, shows the profile of a warrior's face. [caption id="attachment_795540" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Bago Maze and Winery, Destination NSW[/caption] GET LOST IN A SWIRLY MAZE IN BAGO We all get a little lost sometimes, but you'll probably find the feeling of not knowing where to go next more fun when you're trying to make your way through the maze at Bago Maze and Winery. With over 2000 metres of lilly pilly-lined pathways, it'll make you feel like you've entered a magical world, if only for a little while. The best part is afterwards you can enjoy a meat or cheese platter with a few glasses of wine from the neighbouring vineyard. [caption id="attachment_795547" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rotary Park, Destination NSW[/caption] CATCH YOUR DINNER IN TENTERFIELD CREEK Any keen fisherman will know a day out on or by the water is always a good time — even if you don't catch anything. Tenterfield Creek might not look like it holds many fishing opportunities at first glance, but locals know it's a great spot for snagging cod and yellow belly. Nearby spots, including Mole River Dam, Dumaresq River, Clarence River and Glenlyon Dam, are also stocked with golden perch, catfish and more (depending on the time of year). Don't worry if you're not experienced, as fishing charter companies like Northern Rivers Sportfishing can teach you the ropes for the day. Don't forget to get a fishing licence from Service NSW before casting your line. [caption id="attachment_795548" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ebor Falls, Destination NSW[/caption] HIKE TO THE STUNNING EBOR FALLS Cascading over 100 metres of graphite-coloured, lava-formed rock, Ebor Falls is quite simply one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Australia. Although the falls are broken into two sections, there are three platforms to view them from, all of which offer incredible views over the gorge and Guy Fawkes River National Park. If you visit in the warmer months, golden daisies and rare ground orchids sometimes bloom around the upper falls making the whole place seem like a scene from a fantasy movie. Stay updated on park closures here. [caption id="attachment_795549" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Paragliding, Unsplash[/caption] GLIDE THROUGH THE CLOUDS OVER TAMWORTH Ever had a dream that you could fly? Well, this is the next best thing. Manilla Paragliding at Mount Borah offers tandem paragliding flights that last for about 30–40 minutes. You don't need any experience, just a bit of courage. Once you're in the air, you won't regret it. If you're lucky, while you're soaring high above the rest of the world, you might spot a local wedge-tailed eagle. For dinner, make a reservation at The Pig and Tinder Box, based inside the heritage-listed bank building, and enjoy pizza and other share-style dishes. [caption id="attachment_795550" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Fossicking, Unsplash[/caption] SEARCH FOR GOLD IN NUNDLE Nundle is steeped in history. The quaint little town maintains its heritage gold rush era roots from the late 1800s by keeping timeless traditions like fossicking alive. With its reputation as a regional treasure trove, people come from all over to experience panning for gold and sapphire in the Peel River. Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and strike it big? Panning equipment is available for hire from Mount Misery Mine or Nundle Country Cafe. [caption id="attachment_803381" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Bellingen Canoe Adventures, Destination NSW[/caption] PADDLE ALONG BELLINGER RIVER AT SUNSET OR UNDER THE STARS Few would dispute that Australia is a country filled with nature worth seeing up close — and that shouldn't be limited to just walking or driving. Seeing your surroundings at water level from the comfort of a canoe or kayak is a pleasure you'll only understand once you've tried it. Bellingen Canoe Adventures in the Coffs Harbour area will take you for a relaxing paddle down the Bellinger River at any time you like, although we'd recommend a full moon tour for anyone looking for something truly peaceful. Thrillseekers won't be disappointed either — there are also whitewater options if you're keen for a rough and tumble ride. [caption id="attachment_802881" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hot Air Ballooning, Destination NSW[/caption] SOAR ABOVE THE HUNTER VALLEY WINE REGION IN A HOT AIR BALLOON Speaking of seeing things from a different point of view, what could be more special than witnessing the vast expanse of some of Australia's most remarkable vineyards and valleys from a hot air balloon? If the Hunter Valley was a painting, hot air ballooning with Balloon Aloft would be one of the best ways to step back and admire the whole thing. Nothing really compares to a bird's eye view of Pokolbin, Lovedale and Rothbury from a wicker basket at sunrise — although having a champagne breakfast at nearby winery Peterson House afterwards does come close. Start planning your great escape to New South Wales this season by visiting the Visit NSW website. Top image: Bellingen Canoe Adventures, Destination NSW
Step inside Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art this summer and you'll be whisked away to another world where forests sprawl, mirrors beckon and otherworldly creatures linger, all thanks to the South Brisbane venue's entrancing Fairy Tales exhibition. Head along specifically across Friday, January 19–Sunday, January 21, however, and you'll find a Fairy Tales Festival taking over the site — making an already-magical way to spend a few hours even more entrancing. Like the exhibition — plus much in its accompanying movie program — the three-day fest is an all-ages affair. Catering to attendees big and small, it spans pop-up performances, drop-in drawing sessions, storytelling and other activities over one big weekend. The centrepiece is still the items and art lining the gallery's walls, including pieces by Yayoi Kusama and Patricia Piccinini, as well as a costume that David Bowie wore in Labyrinth, but you can pair your wander through the halls with getting interactive. [caption id="attachment_936493" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Henrique Oliveira, Brazil b.1973 / Corupira 2023, commissioned for 'Fairy Tales', installation (detail), Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) Brisbane 2023 / Plywood, tapumes veneer and tree branches / Courtesy: Henrique Oliveira / © Henrique Oliveira / Photograph: C Callistemon © QAGOMA[/caption] Once Upon a Chime, aka Patience Hodgson, Joel Woods and Lake Kelly, will be singing fairy tale-inspired tunes on the Maiwar Green Stage twice daily. A Villain's Tale will also hit up the same spot, with the performance told by a misunderstood villain. They're both free to attend, and you don't need a ticket to Fairy Tales itself to enjoy them. The same is true of watching Jim Henson's The StoryTeller television series at GOMA's Australian Cinematheque. That said, some parts of the fest do require an entry pass for the exhibition, such as hearing Brisbane Fairy Tale Ring reimagine classic fairy tales in the River Room — and picking up a pencil. [caption id="attachment_936492" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Costumes (costumier) / 'Yellow dress with hood' costume from Mirror Mirror 2012, installed in 'Fairy Tales', Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane 2023 / Silk taffeta, polyester, nylon tulle, synthetic taffeta / Collection: The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Los Angeles / Photograph: C Callistemon © QAGOMA[/caption] Top image: Anish Kapoor, India/England b.1954 / Red and Black Mist Magenta 2018, installed in 'Fairy Tales', Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane 2023 / Stainless steel, lacquer / Collection: The artist / © Anish Kapoor. DACS/Copyright Agency, 2023 / Photograph: C Callistemon © QAGOMA.
If you're a fan of plant sales, Christmas markets — including in July — and stalls dedicated to dogs, then you might've made a trip to VEND Marketplace in Virginia over the past few years. Since opening back in 2018, the northside shopping space has hosted all of the above, and operated as a haven for small local businesses day in, day out. But, come Saturday, April 8, enjoying this browsing and buying experience won't involve crossing the river from Brisbane's south. On that date, VEND Annerley will officially open its doors, and it's marking the occasion with a grand opening party. This permanent indoor market, which also boasts a cafe and outdoor lawn area, is expanding — and making its second home on Annerley Road. Yes, the new site is still dog-friendly. Yes, it operates seven days a week, hosting 120-plus local businesses and creatives in one spot. VEND will make its Annerley debut with festivities from 8am–4pm, and plenty of shops to peruse. There'll also be an ice cream van selling frosty treats, facepainting for kids and prize giveaways. New to VEND? It features local vendors all in one spot — slinging everything from clothing, homewares and furniture through to art, records and vintage collectables.
Heading to Given Terrace staple Darling & Co is firmly about hangs in the venue's breezy space, but we all know that a weekend party isn't complete without a little (or a lot of) bubbly. Happy to oblige, the Paddington spot does bottomless brunches complete with bubbles — and they're now hosting them every Saturday and Sunday. The restaurant isn't simply offering the standard two hours of bottomless booze, however. Instead, those tipples come via a fountain. In fact, your R!ot Fizz and rosé spritzes will come from its taps throughout the two hours, all while you enjoy an extensive spread. Find a comfy spot while tucking into a Spanish frittata made with capsicum, spring onion, potato and a side of chorizo — plus onion bhajis with mushroom, garlic chives, minted yoghurt and fresh herbs. You'll also get your pick of focaccia, including prosciutto and rocket, pumpkin and caramelised onion, and sun-dried tomato and olive. Although your $69 ticket gets you all of the above food and all the drinks for the fountain you like for two hours, the weekly event runs from 12–4pm. So, you've got some options in terms of time slots, with sittings at 12pm and 2pm.
Thanks to Keith Courtney, Brisbanites have already been able to walk through a huge house of mirrors in the past few years. And, with his help, moseying through an eerie and endless labyrinth of doors became a reality, too. The Melbourne installation artist isn't done setting up massive mazes just yet, however — and his latest is designed to resemble a huge, human-sized kaleidoscope. Called Kaleidoscope, fittingly, this installation isn't small. It's a 700-square-metre expanse of glass, steel, mirrors and moving prisms that features a labyrinth of corridors decked out in a revolving showcase of lights and colours. Originally debuting in Melbourne for the city's Rising Festival, and still on display there now until mid-July, it'll start shimmering and luring Brisbanites on Brisbane Powerhouse's Performance Lawn for two months between Friday, August 12–Monday, October 3. Like both House of Mirrors and 1000 Doors, Kaleidoscope has been crafted to be immersive as possible. Expect to have your senses disoriented while you're strolling through, including both motion and gravity. Expect to see plenty of shifting illusions among the ever-changing array of light and colour as well, and to be drawn in by the installation's soundscape in the process. "No one will have the same experience in Kaleidoscope – this is a multi-sensory and at times physical experience where the visitor is completely submerged in sound and light – a vortex of serenity to somewhere or nowhere," explains Courtney. In bringing the massive piece to life, the artist has teamed up with visual artist Ash Keating, composer Tamil Rogeon and artist Samantha Slicer, plus a team of highly skilled technicians. Tickets to Kaleidoscope will cost $16.50, and will go on sale on Tuesday, June 28. It'll head to Brisbane in association with Brisbane Festival and, although only making its home there temporarily, it marks one of four big new additions to Brisbane Powerhouse in the coming months. The New Farm venue is also set to launch a permanent outdoor cinema and a glow-in-the-dark performance venue this spring, plus a twice-yearly night food market from March 2023. After hitting Brisbane, Kaleidoscope will then take an international tour. House of Mirrors premiered at MONA's Dark Mofo in 2016, then headed to 12 cities across the globe, while 1000 Doors debuted at the Melbourne International Arts Festival, then went on a 10-city tour of Australia and New Zealand. Find Kaleidoscope at Brisbane Powerhouse's Performance Lawn from Friday, August 12–Monday, October 3 — open from 2–9pm from Wednesday–Thursday, 2–10pm on Fridays, 10am–10pm on Saturdays and 12–2pm Sundays. Tickets will go on sale on Tuesday, June 28.
If spending all this time at home has made you realise you're a pretty poor bartender, don't despair. Just turn to the big wide web and you'll be shaking and stirring some tasty tipples in no time. Want a martini, negroni or a giant cosmopolitan? Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci and Ina Garten have you covered. But what about a real party starter, like the espresso martini? Well, now top-quality spirit labels Mr Black (coffee liqueur) and Belvedere (vodka) are bringing you an online class, so you can shake up an espresso martini good enough for a caffeine-craving James Bond. Kicking off at 7pm on Thursday, June 11, the Espresso Martini Masterclass will be led by some of the best in the biz. Belvedere's Australian brand ambassador, Garth Foster, and Mr Black's Martin Hudak will be teaching you how to make a mean coffee-fuelled martini in just one hour. The live-stream class will be available via Facebook or Zoom (link provided closer to the event). Don't have any Belvedere or Mr Black in your liquor cabinet? Both Shorty's Liquor and Wine.com are delivering pre-bundled kits so you don't have to subject yourself to subpar booze. Belvedere's x Mr Black's Espresso Martini Masterclass is taking place from 7–8pm on Thursday, June 11. To order the necessary booze, head to Shorty's Liquor or Wine.com.
Many an Aussie kid has spent a Saturday night hyped up on lime cordial spinning around their lounge room to Kylie Minogue. So, prep the cordial, and get ready to party like it's 2000 'cause the Aussie pop icon is heading back to home turf. While your inner child might be more familiar with her hits 'Spinning Around', 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' and that duo with Robbie Williams 'Kids', next year, Minogue is returning to Australia to perform songs off her just-released album Golden. Minogue was last here four years ago, in 2014, for her Kiss Me Once Tour, and now she's back, taking her Golden Tour for a spin around the country in March, 2019. As well as performing headline shows in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, she'll also be performing at A Day on the Green in Perth, the Hunter Valley and Mount Cotton, Queensland. She'll be singing hits off her latest — and fourteenth — album Golden, which debuted at number one on the ARIA charts just this year. Featuring hits like 'Dancing' and 'Stop Me from Falling', the album has more of a country music-feel than her others, which is fitting, seeing it was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee. On stage, Minogue will be joined by former Scissor Sisters frontman (now solo artist) Jake Sears at all shows and Brisbane artist Hatchie at A Day on the Green. Another special guest is expected to be announced soon, too. KYLIE MINOGUE 2019 'GOLDEN' TOUR DATES Sydney — ICC, March 5 Perth — A Day on the Green, Sir James Mitchell Park, March 9 Melbourne — Sidney Myer Music Bowl, March 13 Hunter Valley — A Day on the Green, Bimbadgen, March 16 Mount Cotton — A Day on the Green, Sirromet Wines, March 17 Tickets for capital city shows are available through Frontier Touring and A Day on the Green tickets are available through its website. Both go on sale at midday on Monday, November 19.
UPDATE, MARCH 5: Due to concerns around the coronavirus, Universal Pictures has announced that No Time to Die will no longer release on its initially scheduled date of Thursday, April 8, 2020. It will now release worldwide in November 2020 — including Down Under on November 12, 2020. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website. It's trailer time. James Bond trailer time. That means espionage thrills, world-in-peril action, formidable villains, savvy ladies, plenty of gadgets and — since 2006's Casino Royale — Daniel Craig as 007. All of the above is present and accounted for in the just-released first look at No Time to Die, which'll mark the British spy's 25th official big-screen outing. It's also Craig's final go-around as the martini-loving hero. After the events of 2015's Spectre — and after retiring from active service to soak in Jamaica's splendours — Craig's version of Bond is looking a bit shaken and stirred in the No Time to Die trailer. That's bound to happen when he's told his skills are needed to rescue a kidnapped scientist, only for that mission to bring him face-to-face with an unhinged new adversary (Bohemian Rhapsody Oscar-winner Rami Malek). Throw in a new 00 agent (Captain Marvel's Lashana Lynch) covering Bond's turf, a forced meeting with imprisoned ex-opponent Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) and things not seeming to have ended well with psychiatrist Dr Madeleine Swan (Lea Seydoux), and it's safe to say that the mood is rather tense. The instalment is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective, Maniac) and penned by a team that includes Fukunaga, The Report director Scott Z Burns and Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge — and all the usual Bond offsiders are on hand, too. Yes, Ralph Fiennes is back as M, alongside Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny, Ben Whishaw as Q, Rory Kinnear as MI6 head Bill Tanner and Jeffrey Wright as CIA agent Felix Leiter. Plus, reuniting with Craig after co-starring in the fabulously entertaining Knives Out, Ana de Armas also joins the cast. And, naturally, the first No Time to Die sneak peek delivers plenty of impressive action. It is a Bond film after all. Indeed, if Craig is stepping away from the role after five features (including 2008's Quantum of Solace and 2012's Skyfall), he looks to be going out in suave, stunt-filled, Aston Martin-driving style. Watch the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo-jtTLBhok&feature=youtu.be No Time to Die was originally due to release in cinemas on April 8, 2020, but will now release in Australia on November 12, 2020.
Since 2012, Blue Bungalow has been selling top-notch threads designed for all shapes and sizes. Originally focussing on Australian beachwear, the store has grown to feature over 3000 styles from 150 different brands. The flagship store, located in the chic industrial area of Newstead, is open Monday to Saturday for browsing, personal styling sessions and wardrobe refreshes. With an eclectic mix of striking colours, popping prints, neutral patterns and basics, the trick here is knowing what you're looking for and asking the staff for a little guidance. They are serious about making sure you're feeling confident in your new garb.
Like karaoke? Fond of singing in public in general, whether you're solo or in a group? Then it's time to up your crooning game. Pub Choir is exactly what it sounds like — aka a gathering of folks belting out a tune, together, in a bar. It's basically what happens whenever someone puts 'Wonderwall' or 'Weather With You' on the jukebox, but in a more organised fashion. The event happens monthly; however, for Anzac Day, they're throwing an extra special shindig. On April 25, Pub Choir will be returning to The Triffid for what's certain to be a spirited celebration— and yes, that means Newstead will be alive with the sound of 800 Brisbanites making music. Just like the usual get-togethers, participation costs $10, plus whatever you'd like to drink — and yes, singing and sipping go hand-in-hand. And if you're not usually the type of person to unleash their inner Beyonce in front of the masses, don't worry. The great thing about choirs is that everyone is singing, so you are literally a voice in the crowd. In fact, you might just find joining in the fun cathartic. If you can't feel free when you're crooning along with hundreds of others, when can you? Image: Pub Choir.
UPDATE: APRIL 14, 2020 — This Coorparoo bar is now delivering its chipotle chicken empanadas, jalapeño poppers and fish tacos to your door from Tuesday–Sunday from 5pm. Check out the full menu here and call 0438 685 650 to order. If you're looking for a slice of America's west coast on Australia's east coast, one Coorparoo bar has you covered. That'd be California Native, a surf shack-style establishment made for the beach, brew and beef lover inside all of us. It's a hangout that will make you want to go on holiday — or you can just pretend once you walk through their doors. Spying a surfboard hanging from the ceiling and sauntering past a Californian maple tree will definitely help. Devouring US and Mexican-influenced meals will as well. Starting your visit with a plate of house-made corn chips is a must, and not just because they're delivered to every table. From there, whether sizeable salads, just as hefty steaks or the kind of authentic tacos you won't find at your average chain joint are your thing, you won't be leaving hungry. As far as a signature dish goes, the mouthwatering Monterey Bay Toasty Fish Sandwich is preceded by its glowing reputation. Wash it all down with a beer or wine from the region, some tequila, or a Baja Sands Margarita; when in a Cali-Mex restaurant, and all that.
When the director and lead of one of 2021's best Norwegian films — and best movies from anywhere that year — joined forces again, of course the Scandinavian Film Festival needed to get the resulting picture on its program. Accordingly, Sentimental Value from The Worst Person in the World filmmaker Joachim Trier, once more starring Renate Reinsve (Presumed Innocent), is one of the big highlights at 2025's Australian showcase of cinema from the Nordic region. Stellan Skarsgård (Andor) and Elle Fanning (A Complete Unknown) also feature, and the results won this year's Cannes Grand Prix (the award below the Palme d'Or). At the Scandinavian Film Festival, Sentimental Value is getting the centrepiece treatment. Movies from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland are always in the drawcard at this Aussie fest — so a Norwegian spy drama to kick things off in 2025, then an Icelandic black comedy to wrap things up, are both on the itinerary. This year's national tour will hit Brisbane across Wednesday, July 23–Thursday, August 14 at Palace James St and Palace Barracks. Launching the fest: Number 24, the latest from The Burning Sea and The Quake director John Andreas Andersen, recounting a true espionage tale from World War II. The aptly named Grand Finale comes in at the other end, spinning a Reykjavik-set story about a struggling chamber orchestra's efforts to endure. Alongside Sentimental Value, Quisling: The Final Days is another of the festival's big-name titles, this time from The King's Choice and Utoya: July 22's Erik Poppe, with the trial of its controversial namesake head of state the film's focus. Cannes favourites, blasts from the past, laughter-inducing fare: they're all on the lineup, then. Add watching Björk's daughter in her first feature role, multiple dates with Danish actor Trine Dyrholm (The Girl with the Needle) and celebrating the 25th anniversary of a Swedish romantic-comedy to the list, too. The first comes courtesy of The Mountain, a coming-of-age and road-trip flick starring Ísadóra Bjarkardóttir Barney. Dyrholm pops up in both the healthcare-centric Second Victims and the David Dencik (Other People's Money)-co-starring Beginnings. And Jalla! Jalla! is marking its quarter-century milestone. Audiences keen to spend Australia's winter feasting their eyes on colder climes from the other side of the world can also look forward to the Faroe Islands-set The Last Paradise on Earth and heading into an Icelandic seafood restaurant with Odd Fish. Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Riders of Justice) leads Way Home, about a Danish father endeavouring to save his loved ones. With heist effort The Quiet Ones, Denmark's biggest-ever robbery makes its way to the screen. Finnish relationship dramedy Sudden Bursts of Emotions, the nation's great Heikki Kinnunen playing 'The Grump' in Long Good Thursday, three siblings returning to the house they grew up in in Everything Must Go, the couch-surfing antics of Live a Little, the beer-brewing sisters of 100 Litres of Gold, My Father's Daughter's focus on a Sámi teenager: add them to your Scandinavian Film Festival list as well.
Maybe you loved the smell of hops wafting over Milton. Maybe you just wanted to see how your favourite beverage was made. Either way, going on a tour of the XXXX brewery used to be a Brisbane rite of passage. Now, the brand is no longer synonymous with Queensland beers, and their headquarters isn't the only source of foamy, yeasty goodness in town. Yep, when it comes to local breweries, the more the merrier is the current status. Who wants to trek through one place when you can visit a couple? And who wants to try to work out the best way to get between venues when Hop On Brewery Tours can do all that for you — and not only take care of the transport, but lunch and beer tastings too? It's the service we wish we'd thought of ourselves, though that honour goes to Matt Farrelly and Joslyn Erickson. The duo doesn't just love drinking craft bevvys — they're keen on showcasing the great brewers helping Queenslanders wet their whistles courtesy of all-inclusive, region-specific day trips. Three options are currently available, hopping between All Inn Brewing, Green Beacon and Newstead in Brisbane; Bacchus, Catchment and Hipwood on the bayside; and Beard & Brau and Fortitude and Noisy Minor on Mount Tambourine, with a Gold Coast run — featuring Black Hops, Burleigh and the just-opened Balter — in the works as well. And while each tour costs $160 per person, that's a pretty good deal for six hours of drinking, eating and being driven around. Half-day options, running up to four hours for $120 per person, are also coming soon. For more information about Hop On Brewery Tours, check out their website.
You like burgers. We like burgers. And we're never going to get tired of telling you where Brisbanites can eat more burgers more often. 5 Boroughs joined the list in March 2015, however they're not content with simply slinging meat and bread combos from their Stones Corner store. Say hello to 5 Boroughs Ascot. Come March 5, the American-style eatery will be trading on both sides of the river, bringing their New York-influenced street food to a whole new part of the city. Burgers of the classic, cheese, bacon-filled and vegan variety might be their main attraction, but there's plenty more on offer. Baby back ribs in Bulldog Bourbon sauce, ginger pepper caramel chicken wings or a Reuben on rye, anyone? You'll find all that in Ascot, plus a few new additions. All things Brooklyn might reign at their initial digs, but their new hangout will be channeling the spirit of Manhattan. That means a new line of slow-cooked BBQ meats will also join the menu, much to the delight of our stomachs. It also means a boutique Boroughs experience in a roomier space, complete with a beer garden and a bigger drinks list. So, whether you're a northsider who doesn't want to trek across town, or a burger lover willing to go wherever your tastebuds take you, mark your diaries for the beginning of March. We recommend heading along on opening day to take advantage of 5 Boroughs' two-for-one deal — which is supposed to encourage you to bring a friend, but could just give you a second serving of greasy goodness. We won't judge you. Find 5 Boroughs Ascot at 120 Racecourse Road, Ascot from March 5. For more information, visit their website or Facebook page. Want more burgs? Check out our feature on Brisbane's best burger joints.
Brisbane is getting a new, day-long celebration of seafood — and you'll be able to feast your way through the fruit of the sea without leaving the CBD. If oysters and Moreton Bay bugs are your idea of heaven in food-form, you're in luck, as Sea to the City — Brisbane's Bug and Oyster Trail promises to focus on these two succulent morsels. Fourteen eateries will serve up their best takes on these two main ingredients at the event, which will take over Eagle Street Pier from 11am–6pm on Sunday, October 7. Restaurants getting in on the action include Customs House, Cha Cha Char, Il Centro and Pony, plus Sake, Kingsleys Brisbane, Madame Wu and Friday's Riverside. You'll also be able to tuck into a feast at Riverbar & Kitchen, Riverland, Blackbird, Jellyfish Restaurant, Navala Churrascaria and the Pig 'n' Whistle Riverside, either trying specially curated menus in-house or stopping at pop-up stalls along the riverside. Attendees will also find live music and markets on offer, plenty of wine and the gorgeous river views that this stretch of the city is known for. Entry is free, although you'll need cash so that you can devour as much seafood as possible.
Calling all wannabe Greasers, Pink Ladies and everyone who's hopelessly devoted to a certain 1978 classic film. It mightn't be summer, but that's not stopping Black Bear Lodge from getting friendly, splashing around and paying tribute to Grease. It's the party you want, obviously. On Thursday, August 1, the venue will be playing the movie's soundtrack non-stop, welcoming in fans of Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta, and just getting into the retro mood. If you're ready to bust out your leather jacket, bobby socks and 50s attire — or pretend that you're heading to Rydell High — we're sure that won't be frowned upon. Grease is the word here all night long, especially if you're born to hand jive. Entry is free, and the bar will be serving up its regular array of drinks — which'll help wash down the nostalgia of spending a 2019 evening celebrating a late 70s movie that's set in the 50s.
Come April, the eyes of the sporting world will turn towards the Gold Coast, with the Queensland city hosting the 2018 Commonwealth Games. That's great news if you're a fan of athletes and nations vying for glory — and, while it might not initially seem like it, it's great news for arts and culture lovers too. As well as the expected competitive endeavours, the event will also feature a huge multi-arts festival, called Festival 2018. Festival 2018 mightn't boast the most exciting name, but it does promise a plethora of exciting programming across 12 days. Taking place from April 4 to 15, the fest will join forces with the existing Bleach* Festival to deliver a lineup of art, music, theatre, dance and more spanning from from Coomera to Coolangatta. Satellite events will also be held across the state. The first artists announced include Kate Miller-Heidke, The Jungle Giants and Mau Power, who'll all feature on the Queensland Music Stage. It'll feature free concerts held in Broadbeach, while Miller-Heidke and Power will also play in Cairns, and Power in Brisbane. The rest of the bill will be announced with the full program in February. As for what else is in store across the festival, given Bleach*'s annual array of shows, gigs, exhibitions, experiences and more, expect plenty of just that. More than 20 new works will feature, including a number of world premieres. That means audiences will have another reason to head to the Goldie — or, something else to do between watching the Games. "Bleach* at Festival 2018 is our most ambitious, thought-provoking program to date," explains artistic director Louise Bezzina. It will pay "tribute to local legends past and present in a spectacular showcase of what, and who, makes the Gold Coast such a special part of the world," she continues. Festival 2018 takes place from April 4 to 15 across the Gold Coast and other parts of Queensland. Keep an eye on the festival website for further details. Image: Bleach* Festival
In the past in Brisbane, when the time came to celebrate Lunar New Year, The Treasury got in on the action. Now that Queen's Wharf is here, it's The Star's turn instead for the Year of the Snake. The venue is spending a month marking the occasion with special feasts, performances and more between Sunday, January 12–Wednesday, February 12, 2025. Fat Noodle has banquets for couples covered, including braised pork belly with quail eggs, chargrilled turmeric spatchcock and mango trifle, all for $168. Fancy a culinary trip to Japan instead — and feeling flush with cash? Sokyo is doing a Lunar New Year upgrade on its opulent sashimi platter, so you can enjoy lobster and premium sashimi for the splurge price of $600. For the far-more-budget-friendly price of $26, opt for a crispy chicken cashew nut stir-fry in the Food Quarter. As for the entertainment, you can place your hopes for the year ahead on the wishing tree or watch roving lion dances. The latter are taking place from 7pm from Tuesday, January 28–Friday, January 31 and again on Wednesday, February 12.
Brisbanites, get ready to sit in the room where it happens — because Lin-Manuel Miranda's game-changing, award-winning, rightly raved-about Hamilton is finally coming to town. After stints in Sydney and Melbourne, the hit musical has booked a 2023 date with the Sunshine State. So, mark Friday, January 27 in your diary, and don't throw away your shot to see the biggest thing in musical theatre this century. The Broadway blockbuster finally made its way to Australia in 2021, launching in Sydney with a cast that includes Jason Arrow as Alexander Hamilton, Chloé Zuel as Eliza Hamilton, Lyndon Watts as Aaron Burr, Akina Edmonds as Angelica Schuyler, Matu Ngaropo as George Washington, and Victory Ndukwe as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson. Thankfully, as The Book of Mormon did as well, it's touring its way along the east coast. Next stop: QPAC's Lyric Theatre. Accordingly, before next January ends, Arrow, Zuel and company — including Shaka Cook as Hercules Mulligan and James Madison, Marty Alix as John Laurens and Philip Hamilton, Elandrah Eramiha as Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds, and Brent Hill as King George III — will all be exploring 18th-century American politics through song in Brisbane. Haven't become a Hamilton obsessive yet? Not quite sure why it has been the most-talked about theatre show of the past six years? The critically acclaimed hip hop musical, for which Miranda wrote the music, lyrics and the book, is about the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, as well as inclusion and politics in current-day America. In addition to its swag of Tony Awards — 11 in fact, which includes Best Musical — it has nabbed a Grammy Award and even a Pulitzer Prize. Until now, Brisbanites eager to see the show had to be content with trips south or watching the filmed version of its Broadway production, which started streaming via Disney+ in 2020 (and yes, it's as phenomenal as you've heard).
UPDATE, July 26, 2020: Charlie's Angels is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube and iTunes. The first line of Charlie's Angels circa 2019, uttered by a glammed-up Kristen Stewart, makes a statement. "I think women can do anything," Stewart's Sabina Wilson tells Australian Jonny (Chris Pang), responding to his smug assertions otherwise. Naturally, Sabina is swiftly forced to prove her point. The film she's in conveys this notion across its duration, too, although not always in the way that it intends. Written and directed by Elizabeth Banks (as well as co-starring the actor-turned-filmmaker), the third iteration of Charlie's Angels embraces the idea that women can do whatever they please — and, more importantly, that women needn't fit any mould. And yet, by emphasising these messages in a movie that's largely generic, there's an emptiness behind the film's empowering words. Sabina's altercation with Jonny is just the action-packed picture's opening punch. A year later, when computer programmer Elena Houghlin (Naomi Scott) seeks the Angels' help, the movie kicks its main narrative into gear. Meeting with Bosley (Djimon Hounsou), Elena explains that she's been working on a revolutionary clean-energy project, but it can be weaponised — and, just as it's about to hit the shelves, her boss (Nat Faxon) is hiding that fact from his boss (Sam Claflin). When, mid-conversation, a tattooed henchman (Jonathan Tucker) starts shooting Elena and Bosley's way, the main Angels swoop in. Soon, Sabina and no-nonsense ex-MI6 agent Jane Kano (Ella Balinska) are protecting Elena, trying to save the world and showing their new friend the wig-wearing, outfit-changing, globe-trotting, go-get-'em-girl spy ropes. Four decades since the initial Charlie's Angels hit the small screen, and nearly 20 years after the first two films brought the concept to cinemas, this feisty espionage franchise sports a few superficial changes. Like Men In Black (albeit far more convincingly), the Angels have gone international in this reboot-slash-revival (it introduces a new team, but exists in the same world as its predecessors). Plus, Bosley is now a rank rather than a specific person. So, Patrick Stewart also plays a Bosley. He's the retiring senior figure, as well as the man who spread the organisation's wings. Banks is a Bosley too, with her character overseeing Sabina, Jane and Elena's mission, singing day drinking's praises and stressing that there's nothing wrong with needing a hug in a time of crisis. That sentiment from Banks also makes a statement — one that's as crucial as KStew's opening words. Charlie's Angels is guilty of including a few easy female stereotypes (a love of cheese and a fondness for big wardrobes, for example); however it also highlights that being formidable and being vulnerable aren't polar opposites. From Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson to Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz, viewers have already seen previous Angels demonstrate different strengths and play dress-up as different kinds of women. Here, they let their multi-faceted personalities shine. Each of the new Angels does this in their own way, and it's a meaningful touch. It's also something that isn't always part of the 'strong female lead' package, with Hollywood frequently struggling to realise that proficient and powerful women aren't one-dimensional. With that in mind, Stewart, Balinska and Scott make a lively crew. While Stewart provides the off-screen star power, the three actors share the on-screen spotlight. Indeed, although Stewart is set up to steal scenes as the goofiest member of the group — playing against her usual type of late (see: Clouds of Sils Maria, Certain Women and Personal Shopper) — her co-stars make as much of a splash. Balinska cracks Jane's stern exterior, but never lets either her tough or open sides seem like a flaw. Scott, already a standout in this year's live-action Aladdin remake, plays the awkward but capable newcomer with charm. Banks often saddles the three leads with stating the obvious and relaying exposition, but they're a trio that audiences won't mind spending time with. And, in resurrecting a decades-old property, that's really the movie's main point. It's an incredibly timely moment to be back in the Charlie's Angels game, as Banks clearly recognises, but her task isn't simple. Sitting in the director's chair for the second time (after Pitch Perfect 2), she's charged with updating the series in-line with today's #MeToo mindset, and also reviving a potential cash cow. Filmmaking is a business, so the second part of the equation was always going to weigh heavier than the first for Sony. Cue action scenes that, though energetic and well-executed, rarely leave an imprint — especially given that nicely choreographed espionage antics are oh-so-common cinema fodder these days. Cue an overall mood that's perky, dips into thoughtful territory, yet still has a noticeable cookie-cutter vibe. And, of course, cue an engaging-enough but inescapably standard movie that's primarily here to whet appetites for more sassy girl-power antics to come. Yep, amidst the many things that women can do, they can star in passable franchise scene-setters as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKeRgPPQcoc
There's an intrinsic connection between emerging bands and pubs. The neighbourhood pub is a testing ground; the crucible where garage bands find out whether they've got what it takes to make it in front of a crowd. Who better to help these local legends get their start in the live performing world than Rolling Stone? A household name in music. Rolling Stone AU/NZ has teamed up with Keno for Local Legends, a multi-state gig series that pairs up-and-coming bands with great pubs. There are two gigs going down in May: the first at the Stock Exchange Hotel in Brisbane on Saturday, May 24, and the second at Hotel Steyne in Sydney on Saturday, May 31. Both events are free, with doors opening at 4pm before you wrap your ears around of a lineup of tunes from bands from all over Australia. So who's on the lineup at the Stockie? Once the crowds have filled the space, the first act to take the stage at 5pm is a local Brisbane group: The Steele Syndicate. This funk-rock octet may be new to the scene, but they're pinned for shows at Bluesfest and Peaks Festival later in 2025, so they're one to watch. Following that, enjoy an acoustic-style set at 6pm from Sydney-based indie pop star Charli Lucas and Central Coast-born pop artist Molly Millington. Then at 7.15, New Zealand pop rock trio BORDERLINE bring the noise ahead of Perth indie rock headliners Great Gable — who are fresh off an Australia/New Zealand album tour for their 2024 release Small Fry. The best news? Entry to the gig is completely free. Come for the music, bring your mates and enjoy a great night out checking out Australia's emerging musical talent in an intimate space. Rolling Stone Local Legends will take place at the Stock Exchange Hotel on Saturday, May 24, from 4pm. For more information, visit the Rolling Stone website. Gamble Responsibly. Think! About your choices. Help is close at hand. Call Gambler's Help, ACT Gambling Counselling and Support Service or GambleAware 1800 858 858 gambleaware.nsw.gov.au or www.gamblinghelponline.org.au.
For nearly eight decades, Brisbanites have driven over the Story Bridge. Since late 2018, the city's residents have been able to drink, eat and hang out underneath it, too. Now, anyone eager to spend a night at a hotel beneath the towering structure can do just that, thanks to the opening of The Fantauzzo. First announced in 2015, Brisbane's second Art Series Hotel is now welcoming patrons — and paying tribute to world-renowned Australian painter and photographer Vincent Fantauzzo. Each of the brand's hotels takes inspiration from a different artistic great, and Fantauzzo is in the spotlight at the new Howard Smith Wharves spot. A winner of plenty of weighty prizes — the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, the Archibald Packing Room Prize, and the Archibald People's Choice Award a whopping four times — Fantauzzo has committed everyone from Heath Ledger and Matt Moran to Brandon Walters and Julia Gillard to his canvas. Prepare to feast your eyes on six new original artworks, plus 500 of his most recognised pieces, with reproductions gracing The Fantauzzo's walls. Of course, given the location, that's not the hotel's only stunning sight. Built into the cliff bordering the CBD and Fortitude Valley, the $100 million site boasts one mighty fine view of the city and the Brisbane river, plus custom furniture and dark-toned interior decor that heroes concrete finishes, black glass, natural rock and timber. Across six levels, there's 166 guest rooms to slumber in, a ground-floor Italian eatery, a hotel bar, a gym and three conference rooms. Like Brisbane's only other Art Series Hotel, The Johnson in Spring Hill, the pool is a definite highlight. Here, guests can splash around on the rooftop while gazing out over the CBD. The Fantauzzo marks the eighth Art Series Hotel across the country, with five in Melbourne and one in South Australia. As at the chain's other sites, its new digs offers art tours, in-room art channels and libraries all about its titular creative. And, of course, given the Howard Smith Wharves location, guests will be right on the doorstep of Brisbane's newest precinct. It already has its own riverside brewery, overwater bar and Greek taverna, as well as indoor entertainment spaces, outdoor multi-use areas and entertainment stages, and a whole heap more. Find The Fantauzzo at Howard Smith Wharves, 5 Boundary Street, Brisbane. Visit the hotel website for further details and to make a booking.
First things first: if it's your first meal of the day, it arrives well past your usual breakfast time and you haven't yet had lunch, you can still call it brunch. Of course you can. That's the kind of justification you might want to use when it comes to Warehouse 25's new event, with the Milton bar hosting brunch sessions from 1pm. Book a $75 ticket for Saturday, April 10 or Sunday, April 11, and prepare to get eating — and drinking. Both the pizza and the cocktails will keep coming for three hours, finishing up at 4pm. While you're spending your afternoon at the inner west gin and vodka distillery, you'll also receive a side of your choice to break up the slices (not that anyone ever needs help when it comes to pizza). On the beverage list, you can pick between mimosas, lemon spritzes, Aperol spritzes, bloody marys, margaritas and espresso martinis. Whether you stick with one or taste your way through a couple, you won't be thirsty.
Australia's arts calendar is always world-class, but this year it is particularly jam-packed — not just with recurring festivals and events, but lots of things that will hit the city for the first time ever. Us lucky Australians will be the first people in the world to see Patricia Piccinini's Skywhalepapa take to the sky and, down in Melbourne, the works of 20th century French artist Pierre Bonnard reimagined by architect and designer India Mahdavi. Plus, we've got multiple big-name exhibitions and not one, but two new galleries. While more events, installations and and exhibitions will inevitably be announced as the year progresses, these are the ones you should get more excited about right now. THE RETURN OF PATRICIA PICCININI'S OTHERWORLDLY SKYWHALE At 34 metres long, more than twice as big as a regular hot air balloon and ripped straight from Patricia Piccinini's inimitable mind, Skywhale might just be one of Australia's most recognisable recent pieces of art. It's a sight to see, and the largest-scale example of the artist's fascination with the thin line that separates nature and technology — and it's about to meet its match. In 2020, the National Gallery of Australia will unveil Piccinini's new Skywhalepapa, which is designed to form a family with Skywhale. They'll both float through the Canberra skies from April, with the second bulbous sculpture commissioned as part of the gallery's Balnaves Contemporary Series. In total, the pair will take flight from a site near the NGA eight times during the nearly three-month Skywhales: Every Heart Sings exhibition, with the exact launch dates yet to be revealed. Just how big Skywhalepapa will be is also yet to be announced, but given the impressive size of its companion, expect it to be hefty. If you can't make it to Canberra to see the growing Skywhale clan, they will also tour the country for an NGA touring exhibition, with locations and dates to be confirmed at a later date. Skywhales: Every Heart Sings will run Canberra's National Gallery of Australia in April 2020. A BRAND NEW MULTI-SENSORY DIGITAL ART GALLERY If you prefer an art experience that extends beyond looking at works on a wall, prepare to be impressed by Melbourne's new immersive digital art gallery. Set to open sometime in autumn, The Lume will take the form of a $15 million 2000-square-metre gallery, decked out with 150 state-of-the-art projectors. Projections of some of the world's most celebrated works will be splashed across various surfaces, backed by powerful musical soundtracks and complemented by aromas. The project is the brainchild of Melbourne-based Grande Exhibitions, which, for the past 14 years, has hosted immersive exhibitions and gallery experiences in over 130 cities across the world. The company also owns and operates Rome's Museo Leonardo da Vinci. Known for celebrating art world greats like Vincent van Gogh and da Vinci through modern, multi-sensory technology, Grande Exhibitions will use a similar formula at The Lume. Instead of showcasing original works, the gallery will rely on a curation of music and moving image to create a tapestry of instantly recognisable artworks. The Lume will open in an unconfirmed Melbourne location in autumn 2020. We'll let you know when more details are announced. [caption id="attachment_750699" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Top image: Chiharu Shiota b.1972, Kishiwada, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. In Silence (2002/2019). Production support: Alcantara S.p.A. Installation view: Shiota Chiharu: The Soul Trembles, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2019. Courtesy: Kenji Taki Gallery, Nagoya/Tokyo. Image courtesy: Mori Art Museum, Tokyo. Photograph: Sunhi Mang.[/caption] A MAZE OF RED AND BLACK WOOL AT GOMA It's been home to David Lynch's eerie filmscapes, Yayoi Kusama's infinity rooms, a snowman and Patricia Piccinini's forest of flowers. Yes, Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art loves an immersive installation — and it has more in store for 2020. Fancy wandering through a labyrinth of red and black wool? That's on next year's agenda. As part of its just-announced 2020 lineup, GOMA revealed it'll host Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles, a showcase focusing on the Berlin-based Japanese artist and her work over the past quarter-century. In an Australian exclusive, the exhibition comes to Brisbane after recently premiering in Tokyo — and while it won't sit 53 storeys up or come with panoramic views of the city, like it did in Japan, Shiota's string-heavy installations are certain to garner more than a little attention. Fashioned from millions of strands, they resemble weaved, maze-like webs and take up entire rooms. The Soul Trembles is the largest-ever solo exhibition by the artist — and although GOMA hasn't revealed just how much of the Tokyo lineup is coming to Brisbane, art lovers can expect an array of sprawling installations, sculptures and video footage of Shiota's performances, as well as photographs and drawings. Highlighting her fascination with intangible concepts, such as memory, anxiety, dreams and silence, the ticketed display will run from June 27–October 5, 2020. Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles will run at Brisbane's GOMA from June 27–October 5, 2020. THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE'S FIRST MUSEUM OF UNDERWATER ART There are plenty of ways to soak in the Great Barrier Reef's natural underwater delights — and the Museum of Underwater Art is the newest one. The attraction – created by marine sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor — has been a long time in the works, but just recently installed its first two artworks just off the shore at Townsville. The first artwork, Ocean Siren, can be found 30 metres from The Strand jetty — and while it actually towers above the water, it interacts with live water temperature data. Designed to resemble Takoda Johnson, one of the area's Wulgurukaba traditional owners, it receives information from the Davies Reef weather station on the Great Barrier Reef, then changes colour in response to variations as they happen. This one can be visited now Coral Greenhouse, on the other hand, sits 18 metres beneath the ocean's surface on the John Brewer Reef. It's an underwater building filled with coral garden beds and more than 20 sculptures, many resembling local school children — and has been made to both stand up to wave pressures and cyclones, and remain visible to divers and snorkellers. While this one is installed, it won't be open for viewing until April 1, 2020. Four pieces are planned in total — another one at Palm Island is expected to be installed by the end of the year, and another at Magnetic Island will open once funding is sourced. MoUA's first artwork can be seen now just off The Strand jetty at Townsville, and the second one will be able to view from April 2020. [caption id="attachment_759712" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lisa Reihana 'Tai Whetuki - House of Death Redux' (2016) at The Walters Prize, Auckland Art Gallery.[/caption] SYDNEY'S BIANNUAL EXHIBITION THAT TAKES OVER THE CITY FOR 12 WEEKS The centrepiece of the 2018 Biennale of Sydney was Ai Weiwei's 60-metre inflatable boat, a critique and exploration of the global refugee crisis. This year, when the Biennale returns to art galleries across Sydney, the lineup of 100-plus artists will be examining another poignant issue close to the heart of Australia: First Nations sovereignty and intergenerational trauma. Running from Saturday, March 14 until Monday, June 8, the 2020 Biennale is entitled Nirin, which means 'edge' in the language of western NSW's Wiradjuri people. This year's theme is timely, for two reasons: the 2020 blockbuster falls on the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook's voyage to Australia — and it will be helmed by a new First Nations artistic director: famed Sydney-born, Melbourne-based interdisciplinary artist Brook Andrew. Andrew has selected an impressive lineup of artists and creatives — many of them First Nations — from around the world to exhibit at the Art Gallery of NSW, Woolloomooloo's Artspace, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Cockatoo Island, MCA and the National Art School for the exhibition's 12 weeks. On the just-announced program, you'll find the Southern Hemisphere premiere of Arthur Jafa's Golden Lion-awarded work The White Album, Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens's immersive work symbolising the disproportionate number of incarcerated Indigenous Australian women and a large-scale political protest piece by Pitjantjatjara artist Kunmanara Mumu Mike Williams (who passed away last year). Cockatoo Island will be home to a wide range of works, too, including Ghanaian-born artist Ibrahim Mahama's sprawling installation of coal sacks; Tony Albert's interactive greenhouse, where you'll be invited to write and plant messages; and Tlingit/Unangax̂ artist Nicholas Galanin's excavation work that'll 'dig up' the land beneath the shadow of Hyde Park's Captain Cook statue. The 22nd Biennale of Sydney runs from March 14–June 8 2020. [caption id="attachment_747305" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Gallery at sketch designed by India Mahdavi, London, 2014, photo by Thomas Humery.[/caption] A WORLD-FIRST EXHIBITION BY PIERRE BONNARD AND INDIA MAHDAVI Heading the National Gallery of Victoria's autumn/winter program this year is a world-premiere exhibition Pierre Bonnard, created in collaboration with famed Parisian museum the Musée d'Orsay. It offers a glimpse into the life and work of acclaimed 20th-century French artist Bonnard through a sprawling collection of pieces on loan from the likes of London's Tate and The Museum of Modern Art in New York, along with other renowned French museums. A close friend of the legendary Henri Matisse, the artist is best known for his stylised decorative works evoking scenes of everyday domestic life. The Melbourne exhibition will see Bonnard's recognisable designs brought to life even further, with the help of famed Iranian-Egyptian-French architect and designer India Mahdavi. Mahdavi — who has designed eye-catching spaces like London's Red Valentino store and the famous all-pink Gallery at sketch — will use her signature colour palettes and love of textures to create an immersive, life-size version of one of Bonnard's domestic scenes. The exhibition will run at NGV International from June 5–October 4, 2020. [caption id="attachment_737971" align="alignnone" width="1920"] White Night Melbourne by Gerard Dubois[/caption] A BRAND NEW MAJOR WINTER ARTS FESTIVAL Melbourne's arts calendar never fails to keep us busy, however, it's always had a bit of a lull in winter before Melbourne International Arts Festival and Melbourne Music Week take over the city in spring. But, this year, that's all set to change. In May last year the Victorian Government announced that it will launch a huge new citywide arts festival in the winter of 2020. It's set to shake up the Melbourne arts calendar as the new festival will merge the aforementioned Melbourne Festival and arts all-nighter White Night and move them into a winter timeslot. While White Night was originally held on a hot February night, in 2019 it was moved to August. Melbourne Fest, which was established in 1986, is usually held in October. Exact timings and details are yet to be revealed, but the new "global" festival — as it's being billed by the Andrews Government — will take over the city for several weeks, much like Melbourne Festival usually does in October. While it will no doubt combine the best bits of the two existing festivals, a new creative team will come on to develop a new program and vision. We're told the the 2020 program will feature a "diverse program of visual and performing arts" coupled with with "large-scale takeovers of precincts" after-dark. The inaugural festival — which is yet to be named — will kick off with a 'transitional' year in the winter of 2020. The new winter festival will hit Melbourne in winter 2020. We'll keep you updated when new details or dates are announced. Top image: Skywhale, 2013, Patricia Piccinini. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Gift of anonymous donor 2019, Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Singer, songwriter and all round rock demigod J Mascis is one of the most crucial figures in the international rock scene. He's also the definition of hair envy, the lead guitarist of Dinosaur Jr and pretty rad skater. Now, as one of the most in-demand musicians of our time, he’s heading to our neck of the woods to show off some crazy good guitar and swish his hair around like it’s nobody’s business. J Mascis is to Dinosaur Jr what Sting is to The Police, The Slash is to Guns N' Roses and George Michael is to Wham (yep, Wham comparison, right there). As a separate entity, he rocks a unique sound that ranges from the loud and riff-heavy, to something far more fine-lined and docile. This 2015 tour comes off the back of his second and latest solo album, Tied to a Star. He'll be fittingly supported by longtime Aussie rocker Adalita for the Brisbane, Melbourne, Gold Coast and Sydney legs of his Australian tour.
Hearing the right song at the right moment can instantly improve your mood, and we all have dance floor stories that attest to that fact. Now, imagine hearing a killer track while you're painting up a storm. In fact, just think of the masterpiece that you could whip up. That's the concept behind Brushes & Beats, Work-Shop's latest art class. As guided by artist Shannon Toth, it embraces the cathartic, de-stressing pleasures of painting and music, but not in a classical tunes and watercolours kind of way. Arrive empty-handed, get given all the tools and skills you need, and prepare to blend toe-tapping rhythms and your creativity. If that's not enough of a drawcard, or in case you need some added inspiration, Brushes & Beats also taps into Brisbane's current art and alcohol craze.
Back in 2001, in the ruins of Changnyeongsa Temple in Yeongwol in Gangwon-do Province, South Korea, more than 300 statues were found. Each stone sculpture depicts an arhat — the name given to followers of Buddha who've achieved the enlightened state of nirvana — and they're all thought to date back 500 years. The collection was dubbed 'The Five Hundred Arhats', in fact, after Buddha's 500 disciples. Also, every figure's face conveys a lifelike emotion. And, Australians will be able to see a selection of them without leaving the country thanks to Sydney's Powerhouse Museum. From December 3, 2021, the Five Hundred Arhats exhibition will put a number of the figures on display in Ultimo, incorporating them into an installation created by artist Kim Seung Young. They'll be surrounded by 700 audio speakers, in a piece that's designed to suggest that "the arhats are meditating in an attitude of intimate, reclusive poise amidst a cacophony that evokes the distracting bustle of urban life". The big summer showcase will be presented in collaboration with Chuncheon National Museum and National Museum of Korea — and it's just one of Powerhouse Museum's 2021 highlights. The Sydney venue has unveiled its full program for the year, spanning everything from tiny automobiles and gum trees to Australian ceramics and Persian arts and crafts. [caption id="attachment_799429" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Bayram Ali, Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme, Powerhouse Collection[/caption] On display from today, Tuesday, February 9, is Bayram Ali. It features images of Australia's Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme from the 50s to the 70s, as taken by the Turkish Cypriot migrant and amateur photographer who gives the exhibition its title. Also skewing local, Clay Dynasty will show more than 300 items from Powerhouse's Aussie ceramics collection, in a showcase that'll celebrate 50 years of Australian studio ceramics. Opening on May 28, it'll feature 20 newly commissioned pieces, too. From June 11, 100 Conversations will focus on climate change via an exhibition and talks program. On the bill: live discussions with leading Australian innovators acting on climate change, as well as an evolving exhibition that documents the public conversations. Also in June, Eucalyptusdom is set to explore stories surrounding gum trees, including their importance to Indigenous Australians. Expect to see pieces from Powerhouse's collection, plus new works by Dean Cross, Luna Mrozik Gawler, Julie Gough, Vera Hong, Anna May Kirk, Nicholas Mangan, Yasmin Smith, Sera Waters and Damien Wright with Bonhula Yunupingu. [caption id="attachment_799430" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Paul and Linda McCartney, Abbey Rd Studios, London, 1982. Photo: Robert Rosen.[/caption] Also on Powerhouse's agenda is Iranzamin, from March 19, which'll mark the first time that Powerhouse has put together an exhibition of Persian arts and crafts from its own range. And, from June 11, Microcars will focus on tiny vehicles — with more than 17 automobiles on display from Europe, Japan, the UK and Australia. Australian portrait and social pages photographer Robert Rosen will be in the spotlight from August 6, thanks to Glitterati: 20 years of Social Photography. From September 14, Powerhouse will highlight 20th century designers such as Douglas Annand, Frances Burke and Arthur Leydin in an exhibition called Graphic Identities. Throughout 2021, Electric Keys will also explore the influence of electric keyboards on soul jazz, blues, rock, progressive rock and pop, and The Invisible Revealed will let visitors see nuclear-beam scans of objects from Powerhouse's collection. There's also Future Fashion, a showcase the work of top graduates from four Sydney-based fashion design schools. Five Hundred Arhats displays at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street, Ultimo from December 3, 2021. For further details — or to find out more about the museum's full 2021 slate — visit its website. Top image: Five Hundred Arhats, Chuncheon National Museum.
After shutting up shop in February, Copenhagen's Noma is still making preparations for its move to a new location. As anyone who has shifted houses will understand, that means not only packing up the existing site, but sorting through everything within in — and saying goodbye to all of the bits and pieces that won't be needed in the restaurant's new home. When René Redzepi's eatery decides it doesn't need its existing wares, however, it doesn't just give them away to friends and family. Instead, the place considered one of the best culinary haunts in the world is auctioning off their unwanted furnishings, décor, tableware and art, letting fans own a piece of their distinctive aesthetic. The range of items on offer is considerable, and includes chairs, lounges, dining tables, coffee tables, cabinets, sculptural installations, stuffed birds, vases, a map of Scandinavia and even the wine list. From the serving, dining, stone and glassware, you could fill your kitchen cupboards with everything you need, with the crockery sold in sets. And, for anyone who visited the Australian Noma pop-up and wanted a souvenir, vases from their Aussie visit are also on offer. Prices range from $150 to $30,000, so turning your house into your very own Noma won't come cheap. The auction will be held on November 2 by Chicago auction house Wright, and accepts bids online, by phone and via their app. As for what Noma's new digs will look like now they're getting rid of their current furniture, fans will have to wait until 2018 to find out — but bookings will open on November 16. Via Eater. Image: Wright.
We're calling it: 2021 will be the year of road trips. After all, there's never been a more perfect time to scratch that travel itch by hitting the road. The best thing about road trips? You can take your time and truly explore. The best part about road tripping around New South Wales is, when it comes to eating, we're not stuck with servo snack foods and truck-stop drive-thrus anymore. The Brisbane-to-Sydney route is a foodie paradise for those in the know. Whether you're taking the coastal route or heading inland, if you're exploring NSW by car, you can eat very well indeed. Start planning your pit stops and overnight stays around these one-of-a-kind establishments. Please stay up to date with the latest NSW Government health advice regarding COVID-19. [caption id="attachment_794824" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sabine Bannard[/caption] PIPIT, POTTSVILLE There's a good reason Pipit has scooped up multiple awards since it opened 18 months ago. Its constantly changing set menu showcases the best of the Northern Rivers with a focus on ethical, local produce. You're unlikely to find red meat on either the short menu (five servings) or the long menu (nine servings), but Pipit creates bold flavours with experimentation instead, via woodfired cooking techniques, smoking, fermentation and wild foraging for native ingredients, including bunya nuts and lemon myrtle. It aims to surprise and delight with every new seasonal dish, but some favourites tend to stick around, like a tasty waste paste (fermented greens) and kelp madeleines with grouper fat caramel. [caption id="attachment_794820" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] THE WORKSHOP KITCHEN, TAMWORTH If you're heading inland instead of following the coastal route, stop to take a photo with The Big Golden Guitar and treat yourself to a memorable lunch at The Workshop Kitchen in Tamworth. The forerunner of regional fine-dining since 1986, it has an impressive, globe-spanning list of 201 wines. The dining menu is also broadly international: you'll find arancini alongside pork bao, curries and the specialty Filipino-style leche flan. The common thread is an emphasis on championing fresh, local produce and the techniques of its open, wood-grill kitchen. With ingredients this good, the dishes needn't be overcomplicated. Take, for example, the Jack's Creek Beef wagyu rump cap, aged for six months and cooked perfectly over charcoal, served with seasonal vegetables, truffle potato mash and spiced slaw. BIRDIE NOSHERY, ORANGE Birdie Noshery is a new venture from the team behind Orange's renowned Lolli Redini. Here, it's less fine dining and more fun posh nosh. Birdie Noshery is an all-day, community-focused hangout, which means more grazing and share plates, plus some fancy brunch dishes. Have a spritz or house cocktail at the bar, enjoy south coast oysters with live music, sip a sherry with your croquetas and antipasto, or fuel up before the day's drive with the world's fanciest breakfast cheese toastie of truffle gruyere, smoked ham and dijon bechamel. There's a changing daily specials board for larger dishes, and a wine list of the finest local and international drops. If you're missing the urban wine bar vibe, Birdie Noshery is the perfect pit stop. [caption id="attachment_794821" align="alignnone" width="1920"] MJK Creative[/caption] BISTRO MOLINES, POKOLBIN When you're heading into the Hunter Valley for a wine pilgrimage, you owe it to yourself to make a quick stop in Provence. Robert Molines, the chef at Bistro Molines, brings the essence of southern French cuisine to the heart of NSW wine country. That means seasonal fare with locally sourced ingredients, including some from his own kitchen garden. Think classic French dishes, such as duck à l'orange and filet mignon with gratin dauphinoise. The rural chic ambiance of the bistro is matched with an incomparable view of rolling vineyards. A premium wine list makes this spot a long-time favourite of foodies and wine-enthusiasts alike. BERT'S, NEWPORT Before you reach the big city, take a detour to the northern beaches. Bert's Bar and Brasserie offers coastal European-style dining in the waterside town of Newport. Sit at the bar or in the lounge and enjoy a Bert's Marteeny while you graze on snacks from the Larder Table menu — think sourdough with cultured butter, steak tartare and anchovies in lemon thyme oil. Being this close to the water means fresh seafood is prominent across the entire menu, from the luxurious tidbits of oysters, crab, crudo and caviar to main dishes of pipis with vermouth or slow-grilled rock lobster. If you'd prefer to lean into the old-world elegance of the main dining room, opt for a multi-course sharing menu ($120–180 per person). Hot tip: you'll want to leave room for Bert's desserts. [caption id="attachment_773848" align="alignnone" width="1920"] An artist's impression of Nobu in Crown Sydney[/caption] NOBU, SYDNEY Celebrate the journey's end in style. Nobu almost needs no introduction: this high-class Japanese fusion restaurant has outposts across the globe with its newest location opening in Crown Sydney. Here, Nobu Matsuhisa brings Nobu's signature dishes, such as black cod with miso, as well as new items fusing native and seasonal Australian ingredients with Japanese flavours. Key to Japanese tradition is the element of visual ceremony in multi-course cuisine. Simply put, this dining experience is not merely delicious, it's also beautiful to look at. It's the perfect way to finish your road trip — splashing out on Sydney's best. Start planning your great escape to New South Wales this season by visiting the Visit NSW website. Top image: Bistro Molines, MJK Creative
This spring, you won't be jetting over to the Italian riviera. You can still eat and drink like you are, though. Fortitude Valley's La Costa Restaurant and Bar takes its cues from that sunny and scenic part of the globe all year round, and it's carrying that vibe over to its new Sunday Seafood and Spritz specials. Kicking off just before the flowers start blooming again for this year — on Sunday, August 29, with a second session planned for Sunday, September 18, too — these two-hour sessions pair bottomless spritzes with a tower of seafood. You'll sip orange-hued cocktails, or wine and beer if you'd prefer. Food-wise, you'll feast your way through scallops, oysters and prawns, as well as calamari, ceviche and the grilled catch of the day. Two sittings are being held each day, from 12–2pm and 2.30–4.30pm. So, you just need to decide how early you want to get out of bed — and whether you'll be paying $59 per person for a midday seafood feast or a late-afternoon session.
In Hobart for Dark Mofo 2023 earlier this month, Max Richter performed all night. That mightn't seem like surprising news at the winter festival, but his show was designed to be listened to while attendees slept. Keep that in mind for a second. Also, take note of the upcoming plan in Brisbane to break the world record for the most amount of kazoos played at once. Supernova at HOTA, Home of the Arts is primarily about the piano, but this Gold Coast event is also playing music all evening as Friday, June 23 becomes Saturday, June 24. And, it's endeavouring to get into the history books in the process. Composer Charlie Chan will tinkle the ivories for more than 24 hours in an effort to set the world record for the longest improvised piano concert — with a slumber-focused 8.5-hour sleep experience where you'll get some shuteye to binaural beats part of the performance. The sleepover costs $40, but the rest is free to attend as Chan — and a few friends — hit the keyboard. Supernova kicks off at 4pm on the Friday with yoga and tunes, greets Saturday morning the same way, welcomes dogs over breakfast, will feature First Nations stories about the sky, and pays tribute to Charlie's 40-year career as a pianist and composer across the full stretch. Also on the lineup: learning about composing for the screen with Elvis' Elliott Wheeler, tunes with local Indigenous didgeridoo players and a jazz-fusion orchestra for the big-bang finale.
This Christmas, all you need is love — plus a festive little cabaret that showcases all of the hit tunes from Love Actually. It's the way to celebrate the season when you're not just leaving the seasonal favourite flick on repeat at home. Yep, that's Christmas Actually. Created by the folks behind Rumour Has It and Lady Beatle, and starring Naomi Price (Ladies in Black, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Christmas Actually features all of the tracks that've become synonymous with this merry time of year — including Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas Is You', naturally. Songs by Joni Mitchell, Norah Jones, Eva Cassidy, The Beach Boys and The Beatles are all on the bill as well — and, to help belt them out, Price will be joined by Luke Kennedy, Irena Lysiuk, Doron Chester, Scott French, Mik Easterman, OJ Newcomb and Luke Volker. There'll even be more than one nativity lobster, plus a jolly mood and a whole room full of festive cheer. That room is Brisbane Powerhouse, where Christmas Actually plays its 2023 season from Wednesday, December 13–Sunday, December 17. Get excited by revisiting Love Actually's trailer below. 'Tis the season, after all. Top image: Katy Bedford.
Named one of the best places in the world to visit in 2022, southeast Queensland's Scenic Rim region isn't short on highlights, whether it's gorgeous scenery or farm-fresh produce you're after. Keen on the latter but can't make the trip south from Brisbane on Saturday, December 3? Don't worry — Scenic Rim Brewery, Towri Sheep Cheeses, Tommerup's Dairy Farm, Valley Pride Produce, Bee All Natural, Tamborine Mountain Distillery, The Overflow Estate 1895 and more are coming to you. Save the road trip for another weekend — instead, head to the Farm Gate to City Door Christmas Market at the Breakfast Creek Lifestyle Precinct. It'll operate from 8am–12pm, serving up everything from fruit and vegetables, salted cultured butter and cheese through to craft beer, boutique spirits and honey straight from the hive. You can also nab handmade bath and body products, as well as some seedlings to help start your own garden. It's the second time that the Breakfast Creek Lifestyle Precinct has hosted this country-meets-city event, after an earlier event back in September — and, if it gets you thinking about holidaying in the Scenic Rim, there's a stall for planning that as well. Live music will provide a soundtrack, plus Mica Brasserie will be doing coffees. Feel like hitting the river afterwards, and tucking into some of the produce you've just bought? GoBoat and its picnic boats is also right there. Also, because it's the season for it, Santa will make an appearance. [caption id="attachment_874978" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Markus Ravik[/caption]
There's never a bad time for a food truck meal — whether you just can't face another brown bag sandwich come midday, or you're in the need for something to soak up last night's fun. Or, maybe you've just finished work and want something more exciting to eat on a Tuesday evening, or you're looking for a Sunday afternoon meal with a couple of beverages. Enter Truckin' Hungry. Brisbane's newest food truck hub, they're setting up shop on the corner of O'Keefe Street and Ipswich Road in Woolloongabba — opposite the Princess Alexandra Hospital — and they're not just dropping by for a short stay. Seven days a week, from 7am to 10pm, you'll find between five and eight of the city's finest meals-on-wheels purveyors cooking up a storm. And, if you'd like a couple of brews while you're there, it's BYO so you can bring your own. The foodie fun begins from midday on December 9 — and the first 100 customers will score themselves a free gluten-free doughnut from the folks at Bad Boys Doughnuts. Opening night will feature Dan's Dim Sim Kitchen and Shanks A Lots, while the first week will see the likes of Hello Yummi Fruit Icecream, Mad Coffee, King of the Wings, Brat Haus, CheeseLane, Curry in a Cone, I Heart Calamari and more make themselves comfortable. Find Truckin' Hungry on the corner of O'Keefe Street and Ipswich Road in Woolloongabba. Visit their website for further information.
Christmas means many things: chaos in the shops, carols invading your brain, and a focus on all things red and green. In Brisbane, it also means Queensland Ballet's final production for the season, with The Nutcracker brightening up the QPAC stage every year. It really wouldn't be the festive season without it. Whether you've experienced the Tchaikovsky-scored two-act performance about sentient toys, dancing snowflakes and the Sugar Plum Fairy before, or you're joining little Clara on her Christmas Eve journey for the first time, you're certain to get swept up in the show's magic. And if you don't already have a ticket for 2024, don't delay — selling out is also an annual tradition. Queensland Ballet's The Nutcracker dances across the Lyric Theatre stage from Friday, December 12–Saturday, December 21 — and, depending on the day, you can either hit up an evening session or a matinee. The company has been bringing the show to the stage since 2013, but the ballet itself dates back more than 130 years because this kind of Christmas magic never gets old. Top image: David Kelly.
There's more than one countdown that's worth paying attention to at the end of January in Australia. Music lovers have triple j's version, which ranks the 100 best songs of the past year — and fans of a brew have the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beer poll. Run by the folks at the Great Australasian Beer Spectapular, the huge beer fests that tour the country each year, this list rounds up the top homegrown craft brews as voted by you. And the best way to celebrate, of course, is sipping along. For the latest countdown, which is held in 2024 but focuses on 2023's beers, Revel Brewing Co's Rivermakers' venue in Morningside is getting in on the action by hosting a party from 11am on Saturday, January 27. There'll be drinks, the poll's results, prizes and more, all at a riverside brewery. Fancy a parmigiana with your brews? Tuck into a $25 parma and drink special. If you have little ones in tow, kids get a free meal as long as an adult is buying something to eat that costs over $15. Entry is free, you'll pay for what you eat and drink, and you'll be hanging out in a brewpub that was once the Commonwealth Acetate of Lime Factory, which dates back to the 1920s.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. THE GRAY MAN It's been four years since Ryan Gosling last graced screens, rocketing to the moon in First Man. No, Barbie set photos pored over on every internet-connected device don't count. Since he played Neil Armstrong, much has happened. There's the obvious off-screen, of course — but then there's Chris Evans farewelling Captain America, and also appearing in Knives Out with the scene-stealing Ana de Armas. After co-starring in Blade Runner 2049 with Gosling back in 2017, she leapt from that Evans-featuring whodunnit to palling around with 007 in No Time to Die. Also during that time, Bridgerton pushed Regé-Jean Page to fame, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood earmarked Julia Butters as a young talent to watch. This isn't just a history lesson on The Gray Man's cast — well, some of them, given that Billy Bob Thornton (Goliath), Jessica Henwick (The Matrix Resurrections), Dhanush (Maaran), Wagner Moura (Shining Girls) and Alfre Woodard (The Lion King) also pop up, plus Australia's own Callan Mulvey (Firebite) — for the hell of it, though. Back in 2018, before all of the above played out, it's unlikely that this exact film with this exact cast would've eventuated. But plenty of action-thrillers about attempting to snuff out hyper-competent assassins already did flicker across celluloid — both John Wick and Atomic Blonde had already been there and done that, and the Bourne and Bond movies, and countless other predecessors. Still, the combination of this collection of current actors and that familiar setup isn't without its charms in The Gray Man, which makes the leap from the pages of Mark Greaney's 2009 novel to the big and streaming screens. Reportedly Netflix's most expensive movie to date, it lets its two biggest names bounce off of each other with chalk-and-cheese aplomb, and isn't short on globe-hopping action spectacle. The off-the-book spy versus off-the-book spy killer flick is knowing amid all that box-ticking formula, too, although not enough to make its cheesy lines sound smart and savvy. Gosling plays Court Gentry, aka Sierra Six; "007 was taken," he jokes. Before he's given his codename — before he's paid to do the CIA's dirty work as well — he's in prison for murder, then recruited by Donald Fitzroy (Thornton). Fast-forward 18 years and Six is a huge hit at two things: being a ghost, because he no longer officially exists; and covertly wreaking whatever havoc the government tells him to, including knocking off whichever nefarious figure they need gone. But one stint of the latter leaves him in possession of a USB drive that his arrogant new direct superior Carmichael (Page) will ruthlessly kill to destroy. Actually, to be precise, he'll pay Lloyd Hansen (Evans) of Hansen Government Services to do just that, and to do the dirty work that's too dirty for the criminals-turned-government hitmen in the Sierra program, with Six the number-one target. If you've seen one espionage-slash-assassin flick that sends a shadowy life-or-death fight bounding around the planet — here, Hong Kong, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Azerbaijan, Germany and Austria all feature, among other spots — then you've seen The Gray Man's template. Directing duo Joe and Anthony Russo helmed the Marvel Cinematic Universe's versions with Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, so they know the drill. That they've seen a heap of other entries in the genre is never question, either. That feeling radiates from the script, which is credited to Joe Russo with seasoned Marvel scribes Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: End Game), and clearly styles its one-liners after superhero banter. Having Gosling and Evans sling it, one playing bearded, silent and virtuous and the other moustachioed, jabbering and unhinged, makes a helluva difference, however. Read our full review. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN If The Phantom of the Open was part of a game of golf, rather than a movie about the club-flinging, ball-hitting, bunker-avoiding sport, it wouldn't be a hole in one. It couldn't be; perfection doesn't suit the story it's telling, which is as real and as shaggy — as so-strange-it-can-only-be-true, too — as they can possibly come. That other key factor in spiriting dimpled orbs from the tee to the cup in a single stroke, aka luck, is definitely pertinent to this feel-good, crowd-pleasing, happily whimsical British comedy, however. Plenty of it helped Maurice Flitcroft, the man at its centre, as he managed to enter the 1976 British Open despite never having set foot on a course or played a full round of golf before. It isn't quite good fortune that makes this high-spirited movie about him work, of course, but it always feels like a feature that might've ended up in the cinematic long grass if it wasn't so warmly pieced together. When Maurice (Mark Rylance, Don't Look Up) debuts on the green at the high-profile Open Championship, it doesn't take long for gap between his skills and the professionals he's playing with to stand out. In the words of The Dude from The Big Lebowski, obviously he's not a golfer — although what makes a golfer, and whether any sport should be the domain of well-to-do gatekeepers who reserve large swathes of land for the use of the privileged few, falls into The Phantom of the Open's view. So does a breezily formulaic yet drawn-from-fact account of a man who was born in Manchester, later settled in the port town of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria and spent much of his life as a shipyard crane operator, providing for his wife Jean (Sally Hawkins, Spencer), her son Michael (Jake Davies, Artemis Fowl), and the pair's twins Gene (Christian Lees, Pistol) and James (Jonah Lees, The Letter for the King). Maurice had never chased his own dreams, until he decided to give golfing glory a swing. For audiences coming to all this anew, director Craig Roberts (Eternal Beauty) clues viewers in from the get-go, via a recreation of an 80s TV interview with Maurice. The film's key figure chats, looking back on his sporting efforts after his attempts at golf have clearly earned him a level of fame, but he'd also rather just sip a tea with six sugars. That's an easy but pivotal character-establishing moment. He's a cuppa-coveting everyman accustomed to finding sweetness in modest places, which aptly sums up his whole approach to his middle-aged pastime. The jovial humour of the situation — in caring more about his beloved tea than talking on the television — is also telling. Using a screenplay by Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2) based on the actor and writer's 2010 biography of Maurice, Roberts laughs along with and never at his protagonist. He affectionately sees the wannabe golfer's eccentricities, and also values the new lease on life he's eagerly seeking. That quest starts while watching late-night TV, after Michael advises that the shipyard where both men work — and Jean as well — will be making layoffs. With Bridge of Spies Oscar-winner Rylance dripping with sincerity and never cartoonish quirkiness, Maurice eyes the game on-screen like a man having a life-altering and surreal epiphany. Befitting anyone who's ever had a sudden realisation, he's instantly convinced. That he has zero know-how, nor the cash for the right attire, equipment and membership to the local club to practice, doesn't put him off. Neither does filling out the Open entry form, where he instructs Jean to tick the 'professional' box because that's what he wants to be. On the ground at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, he swiftly attracts attention for hitting 121 — the worst score ever recorded — with the press, as well as tournament bigwigs Keith Mackenzie (Rhys Ifans, The King's Man) and Laurent Lambert (Farnaby, Christopher Robin). Read our full review. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on April 7, April 14, April 21 and April 28; and May 5, May 12, May 19 and May 26; June 2, June 9, June 16, June 23 and June 30; and July 7. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Fantastic Beasts and the Secrets of Dumbledore, Ambulance, Memoria, The Lost City, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Happening, The Good Boss, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The Northman, Ithaka, After Yang, Downton Abbey: A New Era, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Petite Maman, The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Firestarter, Operation Mincemeat, To Chiara, This Much I Know to Be True, The Innocents, Top Gun: Maverick, The Bob's Burgers Movie, Ablaze, Hatching, Mothering Sunday, Jurassic World Dominion, A Hero, Benediction, Lightyear, Men, Elvis, Lost Illusions, Nude Tuesday, Ali & Ava, Thor: Love and Thunder, Compartment No. 6 and Sundown.
When the Queensland Symphony Orchestra turned 75 in 2022, it put on a huge free concert to celebrate, taking over QPAC's Concert Hall for an evening. It doesn't have a milestone birthday to mark in 2023, but it is hosting another free gig anyway — this time outdoors as part of a new annual tradition. Taking place at Roma Street Parklands, Queensland Symphony Orchestra's Symphony Under the Stars will enjoy its debut hour-long outing on Saturday, March 25, in what's set to launch a yearly show. Attendees will hear 'Fanfare for the Common Man' by Copland to begin, followed by Tower's 'Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman'. Also on the list Dvořák's 'Carnival Overture', Delius' 'Summer Evening', Dohnányi's 'Symphonic Minutes', Tchaikovsky's 'Capriccio Italien' and Glinka's 'Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila'. Given how popular last year's 75th-birthday show was, expect the maiden Symphony Under the Stars to prove the same. Although attendance is free, registration from 9am on Sunday, February 26 via the QSO website is recommended. Bringing picnic baskets is encouraged, too, and there'll be food options available onsite. If you're wondering about the history of the QSO, it made its debut on March 26, 1947, with 45 members playing to a crowd of 2500 people at Brisbane City Hall. It now boasts 74 musicians, and is the state's largest performing arts organisation. Images: Peter Wallis.
The idea behind The Lume was always a stunner, giving Australia its first permanent digital-only art gallery. When the Melbourne venue started welcoming in patrons in 2021, it lived up to its immersive, multi-sensory promise, initially with a spectacular Van Gogh exhibition that let visitors feel like they were walking right into the artist's work, and then with the French impressionism-focused Monet & Friends Alive. The latest showcase set to grace the site's agenda has those past shows beat, however, heroing First Nations art and music. On display from Friday, June 23, Connection features more than 110 Indigenous visual and musical artists in a dazzling fashion. At this Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre gallery, the art gracing its walls towers over patrons, with the space filled with large-scale digital pieces. And Connection is full thanks to more than 550 works — digitals and originals alike. Earning some love: art by Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Tommy Watson, Anna Pitjara, Lin Onus, Sarrita King, Kate Constantine, Wayne Qulliam, Clifford, Gabriella and Michelle Possum Nungurrayi, and many more, in a walk-through exhibition that presents its pieces through the themes of land, water and sky Country. Their work is scored a soundtrack by Yothu Yindi, Archie Roach, Emily Wurramara, Gurrumul, Alice Skye, Baker Boy and others, plus composers such as William Barton. Grande Experiences, the company behind The Lume and its touring exhibitions — Van Gogh Alive made its way around Australia, plus Monet in Paris from June — says that Connection boasts the largest representation of First Peoples art and culture ever assembled. It spans over 3000 square metres, and its remit is just as sizeable: highlighting pieces by past and present artists, and surveying the entire country and Torres Strait. Shining a spotlight on emerging talents while showing their work alongside their inspirations is another key mission. If it sounds familiar, that's because a smaller version premiered at the National Museum of Australia in 2022, with Grande Experiences joining forces with the Canberra gallery. Connection also benefits from an advisory panel featuring Constantine, Quilliam, King, Aboriginal art specialist Adam Knight, the National Museum's lead Indigenous curator and academic Margo Ngawa Neale, arts executive Rhoda Roberts AO, and designer and film producer Alison Page. Updated: Thursday, October 12.
Sometimes, you just want to forget what year it is. You don't need to remember anything that's happening in your life right now, or any of your worries or deadlines, or whatever you have to do tomorrow or next month. Instead, you just want to listen to old-school tunes and feel like you've stepped back a couple of decades — or more. Yes, they're the nights that Retro's probably calls your name. The Fortitude Valley spot has been celebrating nostalgic bangers for six years now, so we're guessing you've probably popped by for some 80s, 90s and 00s tunes and a fishbowl cocktail at some point. It'll keep going on in the same way, of course, but the venue is also throwing a big birthday party to mark its new milestone. Head by on Friday, July 23 or Saturday, July 24 to wish Retro's many happy returns, sip cocktails and enjoy all those suitably retro tracks. The fishbowls will be birthday-themed, and there'll be a photo booth as well, so you can take a memento home. Finding something that's been in your wardrobe for a decade or so to wear is completely acceptable, too.
