Watching Bangarra Dance Theatre light up the stage isn't something that's easily forgotten. Seeing David Gulpilil grace the silver screen falls into that category, too. Australia's pioneering Indigenous dance company and the country's biggest acting legend have something else in common as well: they've both been the subject of excellent documentaries that've hit cinemas in 2021. The first, Firestarter — The Story of Bangarra, steps through the titular dance company's formation, history and impact. Of course, it can't recount Bangarra's origins, evolution, aims and achievements without also telling the tale of Stephen, David and Russell Page, who've become its most famous names over the past three decades. The film that results is a potent portrait of an Aussie arts powerhouse, as well as an important history lesson about the factors that gave rise to the company — and that it continues to address through its performances. The second movie, My Name Is Gulpilil, is a rare treasure — because it gives audiences the chance not only to look back at its namesake's now five-decade career (complete with roles in everything from Walkabout and Storm Boy to Goldstone and Cargo), but also to spend time with him as he reflects upon his life and achievements. He tells his story in his own words and, although he celebrates his successes, he doesn't overlook the struggles. Making the film all the more meaningful: the fact that director Molly Reynolds shot it while Gulpilil battled stage-four lung cancer. Thankfully, he's outlasted his initial prognosis, which allowed Reynolds to spend even longer recording his thoughts. Both of these docos have enjoyed their slots on the big screen. Both are exceptional films, too. Now, to celebrate NAIDOC Week, the ABC is both screening and streaming them — so, whether you missed them in cinemas or you'd like to see them again, you'll be able to do so at home, and for free. Firestarter — The Story of Bangarra screens first, airing at 8.30pm on Tuesday, July 6 and hitting ABC iView at the same time. Come Sunday, July 11, My Name Is Gulpilil will do the same. There's your viewing sorted for the week — with the ABC also showing Bangarra's Dubboo: Life of a Songman, and adding a NAIDOC Week collection of films and TV shows to iView as well. Check out the trailers for Firestarter — The Story of Bangarra and My Name Is Gulpilil below: Firestarter — The Story of Bangarra screens on ABC and hits ABC iView on Tuesday, July 6 — and My Name Is Gulpilil does the same on Sunday, July 11. Top image: Firestarter — The Story of Bangarra, Daniel Boud.
Ever wondered what words taste like as they roll off the tongue? From the delectable to the putrid, James Wannerton has compiled a smorgasbord of the London Underground. For him, winding through the Tube is a visceral, gastronomic experience. For example, Bond Street is the acidic bite of hair spray, Euston Square is the meaty sweetness of caramelised lamb and Willesden Junction is the translucent texture of evaporated milk. The specificity is astounding. However, it's not just when Wannerton is rocketing through the underground that he is plagued by different tastes, but in daily life as well. For example, he reveals on his website, "If you are called Virginia, Denise, Donna, Helen or Christine, my brain unfortunately places you at a disadvantage. Sorry. I can't help it." Wannerton has lexical-gustatory synaesthesia, a condition characterised by the involuntary taste testing of words; it is the conflation of senses that are normally experienced separately. Though his map may come across as fun and eclectic, Wannerton's process of creating it was a meticulous operation that took 38 years. According to him, some stations required revisiting as tastes and textures change with the general ambience of the station. Further, the flavour map can actually have a pragmatic purpose. Researchers can use resources like this to study links between taste synaesthesia and word formation. You have to admire Wannerton’s commitment to accuracy. However, apparently the London underground is just an appetiser; he has now turned his taste buds towards creating similar diagrams of the New York subway and Toronto network. Via Fast Co.Design.
You know it, we know it, everyone knows it: even the biggest Scrooge and Grinch has a soft spot for at least one Christmas carol. Whether the traditional tracks are your jam, or you like pop star and celebrity festive tunes, maybe Lefty's Old Time Music Hall will play them. That's what happens at a singalong, after all — a heap of songs dance through your ears, and a heap of folks try to carry a tune along with them. Andy "Orville" McDonell will look after the music, and you can join in as you like from 7pm to 10pm on Christmas Eve. So far, so standard? Given this is a Lefty's shindig, think again. They're promising to cover all of your favourite Christmas songs, which might just be the most intriguing statement they could offer. You just know that more than "Jingle Bells" will be getting the whiskey joint rocking.
More so than any other in recent memory, this summer is going to be all about socialising. And, whether you've got a special occasion to celebrate or looking for places to have those overdue catch-ups, you can't beat a private dining room if you want to go all out. We've teamed up with Hennessy to highlight six impressive private rooms in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane for your next baller night (or day) out. Round up your crew, get the Henny flowing and your night is set.
Think Apple gives the most visionary tech demos? The man whose 1968 'Mother of All Demos' showed us computer technology we'd still be using today passed away this week at the age of 88. Douglas Carl Engelbart was an inventor and engineer best known for creating the mouse. But he and his team at the Stanford Research Institute (now known as SRI International) actually showcased an eerie amount of still-familiar technology at their oN-Line System presentation in 1968. Video still exists of the entire 1 hour, 40-minute of it, but perhaps the coolest moment is this, in which he demonstrates the basics of word processing, copy-and-pasting, hypertext and something of a graphical user interface. In the next video, you can see the mouse in action. ("I don't know why we call it a mouse, I apologise. I started that way and we never did change it.") Theirs is a boxy thing with two wheels. In patent terms, an "X-Y position indicator control for movement of the hand to move a cursor over the display on a cathode-ray tube." Later, he demonstrates video conferencing. Seriously. It's like he made up the future, and then it all went ahead and happened. Engelbart's inventions never made him particularly rich — SRI didn't really realise the value of the mouse when they patented it — but he's regarded as a visionary in the industry.
It's not often that a Brisbane eatery delivers a taste of New York and a nod to the Gold Coast all at the same time, but that's what Joe's Deli serves up on Albert Street in the CBD. The Italian American-style street-food diner takes its culinary cues from Big Apple, and its vibe as well. But before the brand set up shop in the River City in September 2023, it cemented itself as a favourite down in Broadbeach — serving up meatball subs, cubans, hoagies, tempura prawn po' boys and Italian flatbreads, plus pickles and chips as sides as well. In spreading not just sandwich fillings but its footprint, the Glitter Strip favourite isn't just for the weekday lunch crowd. Midday meals are definitely on the menu; however, this isn't solely a midday haunt. All those sandos — and Joe's Deli's 90's hip hop playlist and NY-inspired booth seating — now grace an 80-seat eatery that's also a bar, boasting an extended booze offering. Accordingly, along with the chain's newest meat slicer getting to work, the venue is going big on beers and ciders from local breweries, plus organic wines, seltzers, Soda& mixers and pre-mixed margaritas. The Albert Street store also features laneway dining, as well as the brand's newest merchandise and clothing range. Fancy a Joe's Deli t-shirt, hat, bag or beer mug? That's the current line, and it's getting a boost. Food-wise, the selection there has also received a revamp, with hot dogs now sticking around permanently. Where the sangas range includes both Sicilian and Southern fried chicken, the hot dogs lineup covers Brooklyn-style, sloppy joe and chilli dogs. A fish 'n' chips option with beer-battered snapper also graces the menu, plus a lobster roll. Whether you now know where you'll be spending your lunch breaks or you have a new after-work go-to in mind, the dessert lineup with cookie sandwiches and two-tone, liquid Nutella and brûlée marshmallow cheesecakes has hit Brisbane, too.
Lighten your run with Mizuno, then lighten your spirits at the Race Village After Party. Which fun-runner personality category does your dad fall into? Is he the can't-wait-I'll-be-out-of-bed-and-into-my-runners-before-you've-quit-dreaming kind? Or more the you've-got-to-be-kidding-maybe-if-we-start-mid-morning-and-stop-for-a-coffee-and-pastry-halfway-I'll-consider-it type? Either way, you'll find a place for both him, and yourself, at the Bridge to Brisbane. Now Queensland's biggest community fun run, it's all about getting out and about with your dad on Father's Day and raising some cash for charity along the way. It doesn't matter whether you skip, hop, bolt, walk or crawl the distance. Participants have a choice of two events. The 10 kilometre run kicks off at the enthusiastic hour of 6am, commencing at Sir Leo Hielscher Bridge South (previously known as Gateway Bridge), Murarrie. The cruisier, 5 kilometre stretch starts at the more civilised time of 9am, at Remora Road, Hamilton. Both events finish up at the RNA Showgrounds, where runners can catch their breath at the Race Village After Party. Vocal extraordinaire Darren Percival will be taking the main stage, the Suncorp Bank Sunscreen Station will be keeping the UV at bay with free sunscreen, and onsite chefs will be conjuring up a selection of hearty post-run breakfasts. Participants can support a charity of their choice. It's just a matter of setting up a fundraising page online and chasing family members, friends and enemies for donations. At the race's end, each runner will be notified of his/her 'Hero Time', which is his/her race time, minus one second for every dollar raised. Those with the best Hero Time in both the 5 kilometre and 10 kilometre events will win a 2013 Holden Barina Spark. There's also a Best Dressed Costume Competition and two randomly drawn prizes — one being a $15,000 Flight Centre travel voucher and the other, another Barina.
One thing sure to rip a pet owner's heart out: leaving your pup behind whenever you're on holiday. Luckily, to celebrate International Dog Day, QT Hotels & Resorts is launching dog-friendly stays for your better half, so you never have to leave them again. Pup Yeah! is an Australia-wide add-on that can complement any QT Hotel stay. It includes pet-appointed rooms filled with luxury treats from the mini-bar, belly rubs and butler service. Then, for a dog dinner that's truly Michelin-star worthy, pups can enjoy steak tartare and bacon ice cream. For the best sleep a pooch can get, each Pup Yeah! room is fitted with a CUB bed, featuring orthopedic memory foam. Not to mention, each QT destination has a 'Strut Your Pup' digital map with the best local walks, dog-friendly parks and cafés. If at any point you need some human time, some QT Hotels also offer dog-walkers (known as Directors of Chaos) to take your pups on a little adventure. You'll also go home with some dog grooming essentials like, smith&burton soothing cologne and waterless foam shampoo. Pup Yeah! rooms start from an additional $120 for three nights. You can book a Pup Yeah! room from August 26, so get your pups ready for a pawfect hotel experience.
First, it was a popular 80s comedy starring Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. Then, it became a five-season television sitcom led by Parton's real-life younger sister. In 2009, 9 to 5 made the leap to the stage too, because you just can't stop a good story about female empowerment in the workplace. Revived in the West End back in 2019, it's still a huge hit — and now, the stage production will head to Brisbane in March next year. Just by reading the show's title, we know that you already have Parton's catchy song of the same name stuck in your head. Pour yourself a cup of ambition, because that tune isn't going away anytime soon. Indeed, you'd best get ready to exclaim "what a way to make a living" more than once when 9 to 5 The Musical hits QPAC's Lyric Theatre from May 22, 2022. Ahead of its time when it first reached cinemas, this tale of three women who take on their sexist, egotistical and all-round despicable male boss is obviously still highly relevant today. Before #TimesUp and #MeToo, workmates Doralee, Violet and Judy decided to turn the tables by kidnapping their supervisor and reforming their office. Expect the same story in 9 to 5 The Musical, as penned by the original film's screenwriter Patricia Resnick — just with more songs. The Australian version will star Caroline O'Connor (a veteran of the movie version of Moulin Rouge!), as well as Eddie Perfect as the workplace's controlling boss. With Parton herself writing the score — and earning Tony and Grammy nominations for her efforts — expect plenty of feel-good music as well. Although she doesn't appear on stage, the famous country star is still involved with the show, and with bringing it to Australia. The musical will premiere in Sydney before heading north, with its long-awaited arrival in Australia delayed from 2020 due to the pandemic. Still singing 9 to 5 to yourself? Of course you are. And you can also check out Parton's Sydney announcement video below: 9 to 5 The Musical will hit Brisbane's Lyric Theatre at QPAC, South Bank from May 22, 2022. For more information, to join the waitlist or to nab seats — with pre-sales from Monday, November 22 and general ticket sales from Friday, November 26 — visit the musical's website. Images: Pamela Raith Photography.
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.
Aussie brick enthusiasts, get excited. Sydney will join the likes of New York, London, Hong Kong and Copenhagen on the list of cities boasting a flagship LEGO store very, very soon. The Harbour City is set to welcome the world's largest official LEGO store to Sydney Arcade, overlooking Pitt Street Mall, on Saturday, November 11. Announced earlier this year, the massive two-storey, 900-square-metre Sydney LEGO store will officially swing open its doors at 9.30am next Saturday morning and promises to be your one-stop shop for all things colourful plastic bricks. "Every new store contributes to the LEGO Group's global mission of inspiring and developing the builders of tomorrow," Vice President and General Manager of LEGO Australia and New Zealand Troy Taylor says. LEGO fans can expect an interactive storytelling table that will give them behind-the-scenes looks at their favourite sets and designs; Australia's first Minifigure Factory, where visitors can create LEGO versions of themselves or their loved ones; and a pick-and-build wall boasting an enormous catalogue of different pieces. Official Brick Specialists will be on hand to help guide you through everything the superstore has to offer — and if you're after a challenge to get your creativity flowing, there will be in-store builds and monthly events. Basically, you'll have everything you could need to bring your wildest imagination to life. There will also be Australia-specific elements of the store with large-format sculptures of Australian and Sydney cultural touchstones decorating the new Sydney LEGO store's space. "The world's largest LEGO Store will stand as a must-see destination for LEGO fans across the globe whilst bringing a world-class retail experience to Australia," says Executive Chairman of the store's retail partner Alquemie Group Richard Facioni. The flagship Sydney LEGO store will open at Sydney Arcade, Pitt Street, Sydney on Saturday, November 11.
Plenty about the past couple of years has felt dystopian, but that isn't stopping one West End spot from indulging in an annual tradition. That'd be Archive Beer Boutique's signature event, its craft beer fest Armakeggon, which returns on Saturday, October 14. Obviously, the bar will still be around long after the shindig is over. It isn't the end times on Boundary Street. Head along, though, and you'll find a lineup extra-special beverages being poured through the establishment's taps until your beer-loving heart is content. Expect both new and rare brews, plus old favourites, too. For those after more than an out-of-the-ordinary drop of the yeasty good stuff, there'll also be games throughout the day, as well as live music and comedy providing a soundtrack. Entry is free from 11.30am, or you can nab a $35 VIP ticket to head in early at 10am and get sipping before the event opens to the general public. The paid option also includes a tasting paddle with four brews, plus a bacon and egg roll to line your stomach. Images: Archive Beer Boutique.
Among the many thoughts that Only Murders in the Building has caused viewers to ponder across 2021's season one, 2022's season two and 2023's season three, the misfortune that comes with living in its eponymous spot is right up there. Exactly why is in the show's name, too. Each season, a new murder has taken place in the Arconia, the New York apartment complex that its main sleuthing trio call home. Here's another takeaway from this hit mystery-comedy series so far: famous faces are rarely far from its halls. Only Murders in the Building stars Selena Gomez (The Dead Don't Die), Steve Martin (It's Complicated) and Martin Short (Schmigadoon!) as neighbours and podcasters Mabel Mora, Charles-Haden Savage and Oliver Putnam, and has enlisted a heap of other well-known talents. Sometimes they play themselves, as Sting (The Book of Solutions) and Amy Schumer (IF) have. Sometimes the show gets Meryl Streep (Don't Look Up), Paul Rudd (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire), Tina Fey (Mean Girls) and more into character. In season four, which starts streaming via Disney+ Down Under from Tuesday, August 27, 2024, all of the above notes still prove true. There's another murder to investigate. There's more big-name cast members as well. Some of the latter appear as versions of themselves, while some play fictional parts. Being aware that there has again been a killing in the Arconia doesn't mean knowing what's in store in the show's return, though. Indeed, something different is afoot this time around, taking Only Murders in the Building to Hollywood. But as the just-dropped full trailer for the new season demonstrates, no one is completely saying goodbye to the series' main setting. Also, Los Angeles isn't the only fresh surroundings that beckon for Mabel, Charles and Oliver. The crew's latest investigation and the cinema business both beckon in Tinseltown. A studio wants to turn their podcast — which is also called Only Murders in the Building — into a film. Cue the arrival of Molly Shannon (The Other Two), Eugene Levy (Schitt's Creek), Eva Longoria (Tell It Like a Woman) and Zach Galifianakis (The Beanie Bubble), with season four's new cast members also including Melissa McCarthy (Unfrosted), Kumail Nanjiani (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) and Richard Kind (Girls5eva). Alongside Short, Gomez and Martin, fellow long-running Only Murders in the Building regulars Michael Cyril Creighton (American Fiction), Da'Vine Joy Randolph (a newly minted Oscar-winner for The Holdovers) and Jane Lynch (Velma) are also back. Check out the full trailer for Only Murders in the Building season four below: Only Murders in the Building streams Down Under via Star on Disney+, and will return for season four on Tuesday, August 27, 2024. Read our reviews of season one, season two and season three.
Overworked? Jet lagged? Hung over? Desperate for a nap, with nowhere to run? Kickstarter is your new best friend. Without crowd funding, the 'Ostrich Pillow' might well have been just another designer's castle in the air. But with 1,846 backers having provided support to the tune of $195,094, it's become every dreamer's reality - in airports, offices and parks all over the world. Architecture and design studio Kawamura-Ganjavian (also known as Studio KG) ran their Ostrich Pillow campaign last year. Not only did they met their initial $70,000 target, they nearly tripled it. 'Ostrich Pillow is a revolutionary new product to enable easy power naps anytime, anywhere,' they explained. '[Its] unique design offers a micro environment in which to take a cosy and comfortable power nap at ease . . . Its soothing soft interior shelters and isolates your head and hands (mind and body) for a short break, without needing to leave your desk, chair, bench or wherever you may be.' It's not difficult to understand why weary travellers and office workers might have rushed to pledge support. Made of 'Flexible Fabric' and filled with 'micro balls', the pillow measures 45cm x 28cm x 15cm, with a 70cm round opening, which means that pretty much any human head should be able to find its way in. Studio Banana Things is selling it online for $US99. [via Kickstarter]
Beloved local spirits producer Four Pillars is known for innovation. Its inventive collaborations and tasty creations like the rare dry and bloody shiraz gin ranges have earned it the title of World's Best Gin for two years running now. The distillery is now looking to elevate your sunny days with an esky in hand with a new range of ready-to-drink gin and tonic cans. In an effort to take the RTD game to the next level, Four Pillars is squeezing all the goodness of its rare dry gin into a convenient can. The RTD is made using a special rare dry gin that is hyper-concentrated using twice as many botanicals as its bottled gin. The Melbourne distiller also created its own tonic for the cans in order to get the mix just right and ensure the flavour is just as good as a G&T you'd make using a bottle of Four Pillars. "We set out to make a gin and tonic, not a tonic and gin, so the ratios were really important," distiller Cam Mackenzie said. With summer on its way and restrictions beginning to roll back for states that have been in lockdown over winter, Four Pillars has launched the cans just in time for all your future picnics and trips to the beach. Each 250-millilitre can will be 5.1-percent alcohol and will come in four-packs for $27.99. If you want to get your hands on some, you can expect to see them begin to pop up throughout October and they'll be available from Four Pillars' Healesville and Surry Hills outposts, plus all the classic bottle shops you'd expect like Dan Murphy's, BWS, Liquorland, and independent sellers. Head to the Four Pillars website to read more about the new G&T RTDs. Images: Benito Martin
Stare at The False Mirror at Magritte, one of the Art Gallery of New South Wales' big summer exhibitions for 2024–25, and the masterpiece of a painting from 1929 will peer right back. Among the Belgian surrealist René Magritte's most-famous creations, the piece features a giant eye looking at the viewer, while also filled with a cloudy blue sky. It's an unforgettable work, and it's one of the stars of the latest showcase as part of Sydney International Art Series. Another striking painting that's on display in the Harbour City from Saturday, October 26, 2024–Sunday, February 9, 2025: Golconda, Magritte's 1953 work that brings two other pieces of popular culture to mind. Just try not to think about Mary Poppins and The Weather Girls' song 'It's Raining Men' while you feast your eyes on the sight of bowler hat-wearing men streaming down from the heavens. At Magritte, which is exclusive to Sydney, The False Mirror, Golconda and 1952's The Listening Room (La Chambre d'Écoute) — which shows an oversized apple — have ample company at AGNSW's south building Naala Nura. In total, 100-plus works are on display. This is not only a huge retrospective dedicated to the artist, but also Australia's first retrospective dedicated to Magritte. More than 80 of the pieces are paintings, demonstrating why Magritte is considered one of the most-influential figures in 20th-century surrealism; however, archival materials, photographs and films also feature. Sydney International Art Series isn't just about one major exclusive showcase, of course. From Saturday, November 30, 2024–Sunday, April 13, 2025, AGNSW is also hosting Cao Fei: My City. Over at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia from Friday, November 29, 2024–Sunday, April 27, 2025, Julie Mehretu is on display as well. Images: installation view of the 'Magritte' exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 26 October 2024 – 9 February 2025, artworks © Copyright Agency, Sydney 2024, photo © Art Gallery of New South Wales, Mim Stirling.
Movies don't have pores, but How to Have Sex might as well. Following a trip to Greece with three 16-year-old best friends who want nothing more than to party their way into womanhood — and to get laid, too — this unforgettable British drama is frequently slick with sweat. Perspiration can dampen someone when they're giddily excited about a wild getaway, finishing school and leaving adolescence behind. It can get a person glistening when they're rushing and drinking, and flitting from pools and beaches to balconies and clubs. Being flushed from being sozzled, the stickiness that comes with expending energy, the cold chill of stress and horror, the fluster of a fluttering heart upon making a connection: they're all sources of wet skin as well. Filmmaker Molly Manning Walker catalogues them all. Viewers can see the sweat in How to Have Sex, with its intimate, spirited, like-you're-there cinematography. More importantly, audiences can feel why protagonist Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce, Vampire Academy) is perspiring, and the differences scene to scene, even when she's not quite sure herself. How to Have Sex also gets those watching sweating — because spying how you've been Tara, or her pals Em (debutant Enva Lewis) and Skye (Lara Peake, Halo), or lads Badger (Shaun Thomas, Ali & Ava) and Paddy (Samuel Bottomley, The Last Rifleman) in the neighbouring resort unit, is inescapable. Walker has been there herself, with parts of her debut feature as a writer and director drawn from her own time as a Tara, Em or Skye while also making the spring break and Schoolies-like pilgrimage from England to the Mediterranean. When the movie doesn't lift details directly from her own experience, it shares them with comparable moments that are virtually ripped from western teendom. One of the feature's strokes of genius is how lived-in it proves, whether Tara and her mates are as loud and exuberant as girls are when their whole lives are ahead of them, its main character is attempting to skip her troubles in a sea of strobing lights and dancing bodies, or slipping between the sheets — but not talking about it — is changing who Tara is forever. If a film called How to Have Sex had arrived in cinemas in the 80s, 90s or 00s, viewers would've known exactly what was in store from its title. Indeed, more than a few teen comedies of the era, American Pie especially, could've adopted the non-Google-friendly moniker. But Walker's picture isn't those flicks, despite starting with Tara and company almost dizzy with euphoria about wrapping up their exams, farewelling secondary schooling and dashing eagerly into their vision of adulthood. Rather, How to Have Sex is a portrait of the details that don't typically get seen and definitely aren't stressed when garnering laughs about coursing hormones is the aim of the game. As it unpacks consent and coercion in a real and raw way, Walker's feature is steeped in the confusion, the hurt, the quiet "yeah" that isn't a hearty yes, the peer pressure and rivalries, and the fact that sex is almost everywhere — in one based-on-reality sequence, oral sex is a basically a contest in front of a vast crowd — but any genuine and considered "how to" is far from everyone's thoughts. In its first half, there's a woozy buzz to How to Have Sex that matches the slinky outfits, glittery faces, neon lights and constant chase for the best holiday ever. Tara, Em and Skye are in Malia, Crete, but there's no time for sightseeing when there's shots after shots to down, dance floors to cut loose on, splashes to be had, and Badger and his crew to pursue. "Oi, smokeshow" is how the bleached-blonde fellow Brit first greets Tara from across their balconies. There's a goofiness to him that pairs well with her bubbliness; her "angel necklace" and his "hot legends" neck tattoo also appear to match. But Skye doesn't approve, in the way that besties who don't always want what's best for their friends can nix someone's crush because they're thinking about themselves. After dubbing Badger a clown, she suggests with forcefulness that Tara set her sights on the supremely confident Paddy instead. If you're not aware going into the movie that Walker is also a cinematographer, it's evident in every frame of a film that she doesn't actually shoot herself. Nicolas Canniccioni (A Respectable Woman) takes on that gig, but How to Have Sex is made with a meticulous sense of colour and light, as Walker's lensing on the also-visually expressive Scrapper similarly possessed. While the in-the-moment flavour to the imagery thrusting Tara's plight to the screen doesn't subside, the hues and the gleam reflect the delicate tonal rollercoaster her story takes. In its second half, then, all that shines, fluoresces and fizzes isn't shimmering with exhilaration. After Paddy takes her to the beach alone, and Tara drunkenly loses the virginity her mates have been just as adamant that she can't go home with, nothing looks or feels the same. How Tara regards herself, not clocking the myriad of reasons why her situation has been so many other teen girls' situation and the societal underpinnings behind that truth, also shifts shatteringly. The before, the after, the seesaw from hedonistic bliss to gutwrenching discomfort, the sensitive lack of judgement shown to both How to Have Sex's women and men, the utter unwillingness for the feature to never stop being frank: with them all, Walker beams as brightly as a glowstick that she's an exceptionally talented, perceptive and compassionate filmmaker. At the centre of the booze and the horniness, so does McKenna-Bruce; that they've both been collecting accolades and awards attention, including Cannes' Un Certain Regard Award and BAFTA nominations for Walker, plus the British Independent Film Awards' Best Lead Performance and BAFTA Rising Star prize for her main actor, is deeply deserved. Calling this a launching pad for McKenna-Bruce isn't accurate, though, because her How to Have Sex performance should always be mentioned whenever her name comes up from now on out. Brassy, energetic, vulnerable, insecure, disoriented, regretful, dread-filled, let down by a fantasy of growing up that's never real, still picking herself back up: her stunning portrayal has it all, and she shouldn't ever want to soar away from it. It isn't just teen-comedy antics that How to Have Sex eschews; this story would never be easy to tell or witness, and nor should it, but Walker clearly doesn't pour it into the standard dramatic template. As much as it brings them both to mind at times, her film isn't Aftersun-meets-Spring Breakers, either — two excellent pictures themselves — but it's as honest and potent, and also as intensely immersive. Charlotte Wells' tender father-daughter trip played like a haunting memory and desperate attempt to hold onto someone lost. Harmony Korine's bacchanalian crime-comedy jaunt to Florida was rendered with a dreamlike air. How to Have Sex stares unblinkingly, knowing how many women have stood in Tara's shoes, how many men in Paddy's, and how a definitive resolution where everything falls where it should is a rarity. Sweat is far from the only aspect, then, that's messily real.
Earlier this year, we introduced you to Unyoked, an Aussie startup that lets you stay in your own tiny house in the wilderness. Now we'd like you to meet Redleaf, a 280-acre property in the Southern Highlands where you can sleep in an 1890s train carriage surrounded by gumtrees and birdsong. "We wanted a way of sharing this beautiful life we've created — to give people an opportunity to spend a weekend in fresh air, enjoying nature," says Katrina Sparke, who's lived at Redleaf for nine years with her partner Sam and their four children. While the Sparkes were contemplating how to do just that, they stumbled across a disused train carriage in a collector's junkyard in Sydney's northwest. Two cranes and a truck later, it was delivered to their property, which was already operating as a free-range farm, supplying suckling pigs and eggs to some of Sydney's best restaurants, including ARIA and Chiswick. Katrina set about restoring the carriage, now called #343, to its former glory. "It was pretty old and derelict, and needed a huge amount of work," she says. "But much of the original timber, silky oak, was still inside." That meant a whole lot of sanding, polishing and patching up with local river oak. To that backdrop, Katrina added a tin-pressed ceiling a la the 1890s, premium linen, lush cushions, a velvet couch and a marble-tiled bathroom. The aim was to capture the carriage's history, but also to provide touches of luxury. Outside, there's a barbecue and a fire pit to keep you warm on cold nights. The set-up is entirely off-grid and solar-powered. If you'd like something a little more modern, there's a second carriage, born in the 1920s and now known as #1238. "It's quite stylised — a bit like something out of Harry Potter," says Katrina. "The main room is entirely taken up by the bed." At the other end, there's an original train seat, a kitchenette and a deck with a barbecue, overlooking rolling paddocks. When you're not relaxing in your carriage of choice, there's a creek, swimming hole and waterfall to explore, as well as nearby trails for walking and mountain biking. You can also find out a bit more about how the Sparkes run their independent farm. "I want people to come to Redleaf and experience a unique break," says Katrina. "There's no TV and no wifi. It's about getting back to the things that are important in life." Redleaf Farm is located 20 minutes south of Bowral, off Redhills Road in Fitzroy Falls. The carriages start at around $280 per night — #343 can be booked here and #1238 here. For more info on the farm, visit redleaf-farm.com.
If you missed seeing Hamilton during its Australian runs in Sydney in 2021, Melbourne in 2022 and Brisbane in 2023, you didn't throw away your shot to catch Lin-Manuel Miranda's smash-hit musical Down Under. The Aussie production of the show went to New Zealand after its Brissie season, and has trips to Manila, Abu Dhabi and Singapore slated next. Then, come July 2024, it'll return to the Harbour City. If you're a fan of the biggest thing in musical theatre in the 21st century — and a game-changing, award-winning, rightly raved-about sensation — then you'll be excited whether you've already been in the room where it happens or not. Hamilton's homegrown production will hit Sydney Lyric Theatre next year, opening at the venue on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. In its local run so far, the Broadway blockbuster's Aussie production has boasted 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 — plus 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. Who'll return to Sydney in 2024 hasn't yet been revealed, with the cast for next year's season to be revealed at a later date. Still new to this song-and-dance take on 18th-century American politics? Not quite sure why it has been the most-talked about theatre show of the past decade? 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 2021, Australians eager to see the show had to be content 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). If you're not feeling financial enough to nab a seat, cross your fingers that the $10 ticket lottery, which offers Hamilton tickets for less than the cost of lunch, will return as well. There's no word yet whether Hamilton will also play new seasons in Melbourne or Brisbane, so cross your fingers for that, too. In March 2023, Miranda came to Australia to see the local production, calling the cast "so fantastic". "I remember seeing Jason Arrow's audition — it had to have been April or May of 2020, and it was around the time that we were watching and editing Hamilton for [the Disney+] release. So they were really stacking up against the originals in a very tangible way, and so we were really proud of the incredible company that we were able to put together from there locally," he said at a press conference in Brisbane "Every original cast is like a four-minute mile," Miranda continued. "They said scientists proved you couldn't run the mile in under four minutes, and then someone did it, and then suddenly everybody's running it — and I feel like original casts are like that. It's impossible to find that first cast, and then it attracts the people who know they can do it." Hamilton's 2024 Sydney season will play Sydney Lyric Theatre from Tuesday, July 30, 2024. Head to the musical's website for further details, or to sign up for the waitlist for tickets when they go on sale — with pre sales from Monday, November 27 and general sales from Monday, December 4. Production images: Daniel Boud.
The kind of place where 18 degrees is considered freezing, Brisbane is hardly a snowman's natural habitat. But that'll change come summer, when South Bank's Gallery of Modern Art welcomes its own icy figure — and, yes, it'll be made out of real snow. GOMA's latest high-profile acquisition, Snowman is the work of artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss, and dates back to 1987. First conceived as part of a site-specific work at a German thermic power plant, the fairly typical-looking snowman is made from three balls of snow, with the top one boasting hand-drawn eyes and a mouth. What's not typical of this well-travelled snowman, however, is its ability to survive full summers. To protect Snowman from Brisbane's subtropical climate, it'll sit encased in a glass and metal industrial freezer — so, while GOMA visitors will be able to see the frosty sculpture, you definitely won't be able to touch it. But, lucky gallery staff members will be given the task of retracing its eyes and smile every few days, with the artwork's enigmatic expression expected to shift subtly over time from happy to quizzical to maybe even diabolical as a result. When Snowman brings its literal chill to Brissie, it'll mark the piece's first visit to the Southern Hemisphere. Understandably, it's usually exhibited in locations where it's much, much older — including a hit season at New York's Museum of Modern Art. [caption id="attachment_743010" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Snowman (1987/2017-19). Copyright: Peter Fischli David Weiss, Zurich 2019. Courtesy Spruth Magers, Matthew Marks New York and Los Angeles, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich.[/caption] The icy work will first go on display on December 7 as part of GOMA's huge summer showcase, which is completely dedicated to the theme of water. As well as marvelling at Snowman — because a snowman in Brisbane is definitely something worth marvelling at — visitors will also be able to walk across a massive indoor riverbed, with Olafur Eliasson's Riverbed installation another of Water's centrepieces. More than 40 works by international and Australian artists will be featured across the entire exhibition. Geraldine Kirrihi Barlow, Curatorial Manager of International Art at GOMA, hopes the sculpture will help inspire visitors to contemplate topical environmental issues. "In the context of Water, Snowman prompts us to think about issues such as global warming and climate change," Barlow said in a statement. While Water runs until April 26, 2020, Snowman will become a permanent feature at GOMA. The piece isn't just on loan to the gallery, but has been acquired thanks to philanthropic support — and, according to The Courier-Mail, may even eventually tour the state in its freezer. Snowman will display at the Gallery of Modern Art, Stanley Place, South Brisbane as part of GOMA's forthcoming Water exhibition, which runs from December 7, 2019 to April 26, 2020. Top image: Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Snowman (1987/2016). Installation view: SFMOMA. Copyright the artists. Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery. Photograph: Mary Ellen Hawkins.
It's been home to David Lynch's eerie filmscapes, Yayoi Kusama's infinity and obliteration rooms, Gary Carsley's projected jacarandas and Patricia Piccinini's forest of flowers that aren't quite flowers. It has also welcomed a riverbed, a snowman and a suspended installation that visitors can climb through, too. Marvel has taken over the place, and European masterpieces from The Met have graced the walls as well. But a labyrinth of red and black wool? That's about to completely transform Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art this winter. Yes, GOMA loves an immersive installation. It loves this one in particular — and yes, it should sound familiar. Originally, Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles was announced as part of the gallery's 2020 lineup; however, we all know how that year turned out. So, it's coming Brisbane's way as an Australian exclusive from June 18–October 3 this year instead. The eye-catching exhibition will showcase the Berlin-based Japanese artist and her work over the past quarter-century, coming to Brisbane after premiering in Tokyo back in 2019. 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 is Brissie's big art date for the winter. [caption id="attachment_750700" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Chiharu Shiota. b.1972, Kishiwada, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Uncertain Journey (2016/2019). Courtesy: Blain | Southern, London/Berlin/New York. Installation view: Shiota Chiharu: The Soul Trembles, Mori. Art Museum, Tokyo, 2019. Image courtesy: Mori Art Museum, Tokyo. Photograph: Sunhi Mang.[/caption] 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.
It's the longest-running American musical in Broadway and West End history. It's the longest-running production now currently playing Broadway, too. It's been seen by over 34-million people worldwide in 38 countries, and played more than 33,500 performances in 525-plus cities. And, it's won six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and a Grammy. The show: Chicago. It has also locked in a return date with Australia, splashing a healthy dose of 1920s razzle dazzle around the country from November 2023. First announced in June, the musical's big Aussie comeback has now locked in exact opening dates — and added Sydney to its tour, joining Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne. Come on Australians, why don't we paint the town? With all that jazz, the the record-breaking smash will shimmy back onto stages in Perth from November, then Brisbane from January 2024, then Melbourne next March and finally in Sydney from June. This take on the original Kander & Ebb musical has also confirmed its cast. Get ready to see Zoë Ventoura (Home and Away) as Velma Kelly and Lucy Maunder (Mary Poppins) as Roxie Hart, plus Aussie theatre star Anthony Warlow (The Phantom of the Opera, The Wizard of Oz, Annie, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) as Billy Flynn. Also featuring: Peter Rowsthorn (Kath & Kim) as Roxie's husband Amos, Asabi Goodman (Hairspray) as prison warden Mama Morton and S. Valeri as crime reporter Mary Sunshine. [caption id="attachment_714916" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jeremy Daniel[/caption] Inspiring 2002's Renée Zellweger (Judy)- and Catherine Zeta Jones (Wednesday)-starring Academy Award-winning film of the same name, Chicago tells the tale of housewife and nightclub dancer Roxie Hart. In the decadent 1920s, she twirls through a whirlwind of murdered lovers, jail time, fierce rivalries and tabloid sensationalism — all set to a toe-tapping soundtrack. "What an extraordinary cast we have assembled for Chicago," said producer John Frost. "I'm delighted to bring Anthony Warlow back to the stage after his huge success in New York, in what is surely a perfect role for his talents. How could Velma and Roxie resist this clever and conniving Billy Flynn?" "I'm very excited to welcome Zoë Ventoura to a Crossroads Live production, in what is sure to be a career highlight as Velma, and to welcome back Lucy Maunder as Roxie after working with her on Dr Zhivago, Grease and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Peter Rowsthorn will be a sensational Mr Cellophane, and Asabi Goodman astounded us in Hairspray so I know will blow the roof off as Matron Mama Morton." [caption id="attachment_714915" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Paul Kolnik[/caption] "Chicago has everything that people love about a Broadway musical — a story of fame, fortune and all that jazz, one show-stopping number after another and the most amazing dancing you've ever seen. We are thrilled to bring the razzle dazzle of this New York institution back to Australia," Frost continued. Based on a 1926 play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, the production showcases music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb and choreography by Tony Award-winner Ann Reinking. CHICAGO 2023/24 AUSTRALIAN TOUR: From Tuesday, November 21, 2023 — Crown Theatre, Perth From Tuesday, January 2, 2024 — Lyric Theatre QPAC, Brisbane From Saturday, March 23, 2024 — Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne From Sunday, June 9, 2024 — Capitol Theatre, Sydney Chicago returns to Australia from November 2023. For pre sales from Monday, August 14 and general sales from Friday, August 18 for Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne — or to join the waitlist, or for more information — head to the production's website. Top image: Jeff Busby, Chicago tour Australia 2019.
When a TV show or movie franchise returns years and years after its last instalment, there's no longer any point being surprised. It happens that often these days, with Veronica Mars, Twin Peaks, Star Wars and Jurassic Park just a few recent examples. The latest past pop culture hit set to make a comeback: Sex and the City. Thankfully, as anyone who sat through the terrible 2008 and 2010 movies of the same name will be hoping, the Sarah Jessica Parker-starring series is returning to the small screen this time around. Parker is back, as are her co-stars Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon, all starring in a new HBO show called And Just Like That.... The new ten-episode series is a spinoff, rather than an additional season of the existing 1998–2004 program — and there's one big difference. As revealed in the official announcement, the show will follow Carrie (Parker), Miranda (Nixon) and Charlotte (Davis). That means that the character of Samantha isn't part of the revival, and neither is actor Kim Cattrall, who played her. Parker, Davis and Nixon are also named as producers on And Just Like That..., alongside Michael Patrick King, who worked as a writer, director and executive producer on the original (and on the two movies). HBO hasn't released too many other details; however the US network has advised that the series will follow its three main characters "as they navigate the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s". In America, And Just Like That... is headed to HBO Max, the network's streaming platform. Just when the program will hit and where it'll be available elsewhere (including Down Under) haven't yet been revealed. While you're waiting for the new series, you can check out a clip from the original below — or, in Australia, you can stream Sex and the City's six seasons via Binge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fFNOGU_QRU And Just Like That... doesn't currently have an airdate, either in the US or Down Under, but we'll update you when one is announced.
There's nothing like a flight sale to spark holiday plans, but the offer that Cathay Pacific is about to drop isn't your regular airfare special. Fancy a Hong Kong holiday without paying to get there and back? That's what's available for 6020 round-trip getaways. The caveat: the airline and the Airport Authority Hong Kong will cover the cost of your base fares, but you need to pay taxes and surcharges. The drastically discounted airfares form part of the Hello Hong Kong campaign, which was announced back in February with an aim to help the Asian destination kickstart its pandemic-era tourism industry. It was originally revealed as a massive flights giveaway, with the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the Airport Authority Hong Kong joining forces with local airlines Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong Express and Hong Kong Airlines; however, it operates slightly differently in various parts of the world. In March, the focus was on tourists heading to Hong Kong from southeast Asia. Then, in April, attention shifted to travellers from mainland China in April. Now it's the rest of the globe's turn — and for Australians, that means this once-in-a-lifetime arrangement for trips out of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth to the busy city. From 12pm AEST on Monday, May 29, you'll be able to head over to Cathay Pacific's campaign website to score your fares. There are a few more rules, though, including the fact that you'll need to be a Cathay member — which you can sign up for online for free — and be logged in when the crucial time hits. There's also only one adult Economy Class fare per person for the 6020 lucky folks, offered on a first-come, first-served basis until they're all booked out. And, again, you do still need to pay those taxes and surcharges. Still on terms and conditions, you must be an Australian resident aged 18 or over to take up the deal. Once you've nabbed a ticket, they're non-transferable, non-reroutable and non-exchangeable. You'll be able to travel between Monday, May 29, 2023–Wednesday, February 28, 2024, staying for at least two days and at most a month. There are blackout periods, however, which'll limit your travel periods. Free flights are just one aspect of the overall Hello Hong Kong promotion. Another: free drink, dining, shopping and transport vouchers, with at least a million up for grabs from 16,000-plus outlets. Dubbed 'Hong Kong Goodies', these freebies will be available to folks visiting Hong Kong for 90 days or less — and you'll have to pick just one offer. So, you can choose between a welcome drink valued at more than HK$100 at one of more than 100 bars, restaurants and hotels; a HK$100 cash voucher to use at 140-plus restaurants, shops or attractions; or a gift worth more than HK$100 at a heap of Hong Kong attractions and museums. With the current exchange rate, whichever of these three goodies you pick equates to around AU$18 / NZ$20 — but it's still a freebie. [caption id="attachment_887783" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hong Kong Tourism Board[/caption] There are caveats for these vouchers, too. First, you have have to have a non-Hong Kong mobile number to obtain them. Also, there are rules about collecting and redeeming them. Visitors to Hong Kong have until December 31, 2023 to enjoy their goodies — and once you have chosen your coupon, you can't swap it. Cathay Pacific's discounted Hong Kong flights in conjunction with the Airport Authority Hong Kong are available from 12pm AEST on Monday, May 29 until sold out from Cathay Pacific's campaign website. Top image: Hong Kong Tourism Board. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
It's the news lovers of Japanese cuisine have been waiting for, particularly those who don't live in the vicinity of Runcorn. One of the southside's favourite ramen places is now slinging their wares in the inner west. Welcome to Genkotsu Ramen Toowong. Noodles, broth and slurping them all up as quickly as possible are all on the menu here. Well, actually, you'll find four original, four special and two premium combos of those first two elements officially on offer — including your choice of salt, soy, fish and miso flavours, plus karaage, black garlic, soft shell crab and prawn. We're just know there'll be plenty of the latter, too. Ramen might be the main attraction within Genkotsu's 1960s Tokyo-styled confines, designed to evoke a traditional rather than modern feel; however you'll want to order something from the list of sides as well. A mix of pork and spicy gyoza always goes down well, though we're quite fond of the cheese takoyaki. Who doesn't like their Japanese snacks small, round and oozing with creamy goodness?
In 2019, just one Australian bar made it into the World's 50 Best Bars list: Maybe Sammy. This year, not only has the innovative bar in The Rocks made the list again, it has jumped 32 places to number 11 — and it's joined by two more Sydney spots. Laneway mezcal bar — and one of Concrete Playground's favourite openings of 2019 — Cantina OK! came in at number 28, while Bulletin Place, which has made the list many times during its eight-year life, came in 39. If you've been looking for an excuse to spend a night drinking cocktails in the city, this is it. With many Sydneysiders WFH during the pandemic, CBD bars have done it tough, with some venues reporting drops in revenue of 40 percent and more. Now, it's more important than ever to go out and support them (in a COVID-safe way, of course). For those yet to be acquainted with Maybe Sammy, its luxurious styling nods to old-school Vegas glamour, all blush pink velvet banquettes and lush indoor greenery, while the list of theatrical signature drinks pays homage to the classics. Cocktails are served with the likes of scent-filled pillows, hand cream and rosemary bubbles. The latter, comes atop the much-Instagrammed Dunes cocktail, pictured below, which is a delicate balance of gin, fino sherry, watermelon and agave. [caption id="attachment_788842" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dunes cocktail at Maybe Sammy by DS Oficina[/caption] While Sydney cleaned up in the top 50, only Melbourne venues (from Australia) featured in the 51–100 list, which was announced late last week. Fitzroy bar The Everleigh snagged the 73 spot, while newer CBD haunt Byrdi came in at 80. Petite Collingwood bar Above Board followed not too far behind at number 84 and the long-running Black Pearl — which has scooped a spot in the Top 50 list numerous times throughout the award's 12-year history — was voted in at 98. The annual World's 50 Best Bars awards are voted on by over 540 bar industry experts from around the world, including bartenders, consultants, drinks writers and cocktail specialists. You can check out the full lineup of the World's 50 Best Bars 2020 here, and see 51–100 here. Top image: Cantina OK! by Kimberley Low
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. DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA The movies have come to Downton Abbey and Violet Crawley, the acid-tongued Dowager Countess of Grantham so delightfully played by Maggie Smith (The Lady in the Van) since 2010, is none too fussed about it. "Hard same," all but the most devoted fans of the upstairs-downstairs TV drama may find themselves thinking as she expresses that sentiment — at least where Downton Abbey: A New Era, an exercise in extending the series/raking in more box-office cash, is concerned. Violet, as only she can, declares she'd "rather eat pebbles" than watch a film crew at work within the extravagant walls of her family's home. The rest of us mightn't be quite so venomous, but that's not the same as being entertained. The storyline involving said film crew is actually one of the most engaging parts of A New Era; however, the fact that much of it is clearly ripped off from cinematic classic Singin' in the Rain speaks volumes, and gratingly. When the first Downton Abbey flick brought its Yorkshire mansion-set shenanigans to cinemas back in 2019, it felt unnecessary, too, but also offered what appeared to be a last hurrah and a final chance to spend time with beloved characters. Now, the repeat effort feels like keeping calm and soldiering on because there's more pounds to be made. Don't believe the title: while A New Era proclaims that change is afoot, and some of its narrative dramas nod to the evolving world when the 1920s were coming to a close, the movie itself is happy doing what Downton Abbey always has — and in a weaker version. There's zero reason other than financial gain for this film to unspool its tale in theatres rather than as three TV episodes, which is what it may as well have tacked together. Well, perhaps there's one: having Lady Mary Talbot (Michelle Dockery, Anatomy of a Scandal) proclaim that "we have to be able to enter the 1930s with our heads held high" and set the expectation that more features will probably follow. A New Era begins with a wedding, picking up where its predecessor left off as former chauffeur Tom Branson (Allen Leech, Bohemian Rhapsody) marries Lucy Smith (Tuppence Middleton, Mank) with everyone expected — the well-to-do Crawleys and their relatives, plus their maids, butlers, cooks, footmen and other servants — in attendance. But the film really starts with two revelations that disrupt the Downton status quo. Firstly, Violet receives word that she's inherited a villa in the south of France from an ex-paramour, who has recently passed away. His surviving wife (Nathalie Baye, Call My Agent!) is displeased with the arrangement, threatening lawsuits, but his son (Jonathan Zaccaï, The White Crow) invites the Crawleys to visit to hash out the details. Secondly, a movie production wants to use Downton for a shoot, which the pragmatic Mary talks the family into because — paralleling the powers-that-be behind A New Era itself — the aristocratic brood would like the money. With Violet's health waning, she stays home while son Robert (Hugh Bonneville, Paddington 2) and his wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern, The Commuter) journey to the Riviera — as part of a cohort that also includes retired butler Mr Carson (Jim Carter, Swimming with Men), who's determined to teach his French counterparts British standards. And, as the Dowager Countess remains in Yorkshire exclaiming she'd "rather earn a living down a mine" than make movies, potential family secrets are bubbling up abroad. That subplot takes a cue or two from Mamma Mia!; Downton Abbey creator and writer Julian Fellowes must've watched several musicals while scripting. Violet also notes that she "thought the best thing about films is that I couldn't hear them", because the production helmed by Jack Barber (Hugh Dancy, Late Night), and led by stars Guy Dexter (Dominic West, The Pursuit of Love) and Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock, Transformers: The Last Knight), has hit a period-appropriate snag: talkies are the new hot thing, but their flick is silent. Read our full review. AFTER YANG What flickers in a robot's circuitry in its idle moments has fascinated the world for decades, famously so in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 — and in After Yang, one machine appears to long for everything humans do. The titular Yang (Justin H Min, The Umbrella Academy) was bought to give Kyra (Jodie Turner-Smith, Queen & Slim) and Jake's (Colin Farrell, The Batman) adopted Chinese daughter Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, iCarly) a technosapien brother, babysitter, companion and purveyor of "fun facts" about her heritage. He dotes amid his duties, perennially calm and loving, and clearly an essential part of the family. What concerns his wiring beyond his assigned tasks doesn't interest anyone, though, until he stops operating. Mika is distressed, and Kyra and Jake merely inconvenienced initially, but the latter pledges to figure out how to fix Yang — which is where his desires factor in. Yang is unresponsive and unable to play his usual part as the household's robotic fourth member. If Jake can't get him up and running quickly, he'll also experience the "cultural techno" version of dying, his humanoid skin even decomposing. That puts a deadline on a solution, which isn't straightforward, particularly given that Yang was bought from a now-shuttered reseller secondhand, rather than from the manufacturer anew, is one roadblock. Tinkering with the android's black box is also illegal, although Jake is convinced to anyway by a repairman (Ritchie Coster, The Flight Attendant). He acquiesces not only because it's what Mika desperately wants, but because he's told that Yang might possess spyware — aka recordings of the family — that'd otherwise become corporate property. Before all that, there's a stunning dance — a synchronised contest where families around the globe bust out smooth moves in front of their televisions, competing to emerge victorious. The dazzling scene comes during After Yang's opening credits and is a marvel to watch, with writer/director/editor Kogonada (TV series Pachinko) conveying a wealth of meaning visually, thematically, philosophically and emotionally in minutes. To look at, the sequence brings to mind Ex Machina's, aka the Oscar Isaac-led scene that launched a thousand gifs. In what it says about After Yang's vision of an unspecified but not-too-distant future, it's reminiscent of Black Mirror, with engrained surveillance technology eerily tracking participants' every move. It's here, too, amid the joy of the family progressing further than they ever have before, that the fact that Yang is malfunctioning becomes apparent, turning a techno dream in more ways than one into a potential source of heartbreak. When a feature so easily recalls other films and television shows, and so emphatically, it isn't typically a positive sign. That isn't the case with After Yang. Adapting Alexander Weinstein's short story Saying Goodbye to Yang, Kogonada crafts a movie that resembles a dream for the overwhelming bulk of its running time — it's softly shot like one, and tightly to focus on interiors rather than backgrounds — and that makes it feel like a happily slumbering brain filtering through and reinterpreting its wide array of influences. Another picture that leaves an imprint: Kogonada's own Columbus, his 2017 wonder that also featured Haley Lu Richardson (The Edge of Seventeen), who pops up here as a friend of Yang's that Jake, Kyra and Mika know nothing about. It isn't the shared casting that lingers, but the look and mood and texture, plus the idea that what we see, what we choose to revel in aesthetically and what makes us tick mentally are intertwined; yes, even for androids. Read our full review. WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY To watch films written and directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi is to watch people playing a part — in multiple ways. That's one of the key truths to features not only by the Japanese filmmaker, but by anyone helming a movie that relies upon actors. It's so obvious that it doesn't usually need mentioning, in fact. Nonetheless, the notion is as essential to Hamaguchi's pictures as cameras to capture the drama. He bakes the idea into his films via as many methods as he can, pondering what it means to step into all the posts that life demands: friend, lover, spouse, ex, sibling, child, employee, student, classmate and the like. Hamaguchi loves contemplating the overt act of performance, too — his Best International Feature Oscar-winning Drive My Car, which also nabbed its helmer a Best Director nomination at this year's Academy Awards, hones in on a play and the rehearsals for it in dilligent detail — but the auteur who's also behind Happy Hour and Asako I and II has long been aware that the art of portrayal isn't just limited to thespians. Shakespeare said it centuries back, of course. To be precise, he had As You Like It's Jaques utter it: "all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players". Hamaguchi's Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, his second film to reach cinemas in mere months, definitely isn't a French-set comedy; however, it lives and breathes the Bard's famous words anyway. Here, three tales about romance, desire and fate get a spin. This trio of stories all muse on chance, choice, identity, regret and inescapable echoes as well, and focus on complex women reacting to the vagaries of life and everyday relationships. They're about sliding into roles in daily existence, and making choices regarding how to behave, which way to present yourself and who you decide to be depending upon the company you're in. While Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy mightn't ultimately mimic Drive My Car's Oscars success, it's equally masterful. In the first part, model Meiko (Kotone Furukawa, 21st Century Girl) discovers that her best friend Tsugumi (Hyunri, Wife of a Spy) has just started seeing her ex-boyfriend Kazuaki (Ayumu Nakajima, Saturday Fiction), and grapples with her complicated feelings while pondering what could eventuate. Next, college student Nao (Katsuki Mori, Sea Opening) is enlisted to seduce Professor Sagawa (Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Tezuka's Barbara) as part of a revenge plan by her lover Sasaki (Shouma Kai, Signal 100). Finally, in a world where the internet has been eradicated due to a virus, Natsuko (Fusako Urabe, Voices in the Wind) and Nana (Aoba Kawai, Marriage with a Large Age Gap) cross paths — thinking that they went to school together decades ago. Hamaguchi's resume is littered with other obsessions beyond the fictions people spin to get through their days — to themselves and to each other, and willingly and unthinkingly alike — many of which also pop up in Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy. Coincidence has a role in each of the movie's trio of intelligently and painstakingly plotted narratives, and destiny and fortune as well (as the name makes plain). The tangled web that romance weaves, and the sticky strands that represent alluring exes, also leave a firm imprint. So does seduction, and not always in its usual and most apparent form. All three of the picture's sections could stand alone, but each could've been fleshed out to feature length as well; as they exist, they leave viewers wanting more time with their lead characters. Commonalities ebb and flow between them, though, because this is a smart, astute and savvily layered triptych that's brought to the screen with everything that makes Hamaguchi's work so empathetic, warmly intimate and also entrancing. Read our full review. HELMUT NEWTON: THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL One of the great treats in Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful stems from perhaps the film's simplest move: letting viewers peer at the often-provocative photographer's works in such a large format. Being able to do just that is the reason why the Exhibition On Screen series of movies exists, surveying showcases dedicated to artists such as Vincent van Gogh, David Hockney and Frida Kahlo over the years — and this documentary isn't part of that, but it understands the same idea. There's nothing like staring at an artist's work to understand what makes them tick. Writer/director Gero von Boehm (Henry Miller: Prophet of Desire) fills The Bad and the Beautiful with plenty more, from archival footage to recent interviews, but it'd all ring empty without seeing the imagery captured by Newton's lens firsthand. Every word that's said about the German photographer, or by him, is deepened by roving your eyes across the frequently contentious snaps that he sent Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Playboy and other magazines' ways. Those photos aren't run-of-the-mill fashion pics. Largely, the highly stylised images are of naked women — naked famous women, if not then then now, such as Isabella Rossellini, Charlotte Rampling, Grace Jones and Claudia Schiffer — and they're as fetishistic as the artform gets. They're the kinds of snaps that saw Susan Sontag call Newton out for being a misogynist to his face, as seen in a French TV clip featured in the film. The Bad and the Beautiful is an affectionate doco, but it also dives headfirst into the trains of thought that his work has sparked for decades. Anna Wintour explains that when someone books Newton, "you're not going to get a pretty girl on a beach". Women who posed for him, including the aforementioned stars, plus Marianne Faithfull, Arja Toyryla, Nadja Auermann and Hanna Schygulla, all talk through their differing experiences as well — and the portrait painted is varied. As a result, The Bad and the Beautiful is both a biography and a conversation. It covers the birth-to-death details, such as Newton's upbringing in Berlin, fleeing the Nazis in the late 1930s, and his time in Australia, where he met his wife June. It chronicles his stint in Singapore before heading Down Under, and his jaunts in London and Paris afterwards — and the fact that Monte Carlo and Los Angeles were both considered his homes when he passed away in 2004. The film is an easy primer on his life, complete with the requisite Wikipedia-style information, but it's an engrossing watch because of how eagerly it engages with the plethora of views that his images have and continue to inspire. (Admittedly, even a documentary that's clearly an authorised exploration of its subject couldn't justify really existing if it had left all traces of anything controversial out.) Don't go expecting answers, though. That isn't The Bad and the Beautiful's remit, unsurprisingly. That isn't necessarily a criticism; von Boehm's still-fascinating film presents the debate that's raged around Newton's works — are they sexist, art, both or neither? — and unpacks perspectives on either side, although the fact that this is a fond examination of his life, career, impact and legacy is never in doubt. A doco can be candid, probing, hagiographic and happy to let its viewers make their own calls, however, as this one clearly is. It can offer insider tidbits, conflicting views, comparisons and simply the change to look on in-depth as well, as is similarly the case here. And, it can let its images keep fuelling and furthering questions, which everything that Newton shot likely always will. 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 January 1, January 6, January 13, January 20 and January 27; February 3, February 10, February 17 and February 24; and March 3, March 10, March 17, March 24 and March 31; and April 7, April 14 and April 21. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Ghostbusters: Afterlife, House of Gucci, The King's Man, Red Rocket, Scream, The 355, Gold, King Richard, Limbo, Spencer, Nightmare Alley, Belle, Parallel Mothers, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Belfast, Here Out West, Jackass Forever, Benedetta, Drive My Car, Death on the Nile, C'mon C'mon, Flee, Uncharted, Quo Vadis, Aida?, Cyrano, Hive, Studio 666, The Batman, Blind Ambition, Bergman Island, Wash My Soul in the River's Flow, The Souvenir: Part II, Dog, Anonymous Club, X, River, Nowhere Special, RRR, Morbius, The Duke and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, 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 and Ithaka.
Everyone has heard about — or tried to eat their way through — KitKat's famed range of weird and wonderful Japanese flavours. A cough drop version once existed, and it really wasn't great. The sake version, a perennial favourite, is absolutely delicious. But if you're vegan, none of these varieties will have tempted your tastebuds. KitKats in general won't have either, actually. Come July, that'll change for Aussies who follow a plant-based, dairy-free and cruelty free diet, and would also like to sink their teeth into a KitKat. The brand is launching KitKat V, a new vegan KitKat. It's made with a rice-based milk alternative, resulting in a smooth vegan milk chocolate — not dark chocolate — which is then layered over the usual crisp wafers. That means that from Monday, July 26, everyone can now have a break — and a KitKat — with KitKat V joining other plant-based alternatives among Nestle's products. So, if you'd like to crack open a few fingers while tucking into a glass of plant-based Milo, you'll be able to. The 41.5-gram bars will cost $2 and, if you're already keen, they can be pre-ordered from the KitKat Chocolatory website ahead of their supermarket debut at Woolworths Metro stores. When your next sugar craving hits, add them to your list alongside vegan Natural Confectionery Co fruit lollies, vegan choc tops, and vegan Magnums, Cornettos and Weis Bars. KitKat V will hit Woolworths Metro supermarkets on Monday, July 26 — or you can pre-order them now from the KitKat Chocolatory website.
When the time arrived to spread its footprint to Brisbane, the Gemelli Group decided to do something different. First, it stuck with what it knows, opening Gemelli Italian James St — but it also paired it with a new watering hole. Bar Tano is the company's first bar, and pairs snacks, drinks and people-watching over James Street. At this 55-seater, owners James and Alec Carney have gone dark and moody; think green marble, polished concrete and plenty of mirrors. They've also designed the street bar-style hangout as an aperitivo spot — not just for a happy hour, though, but for catching up with friends over a beverage. "Italy has such a rich culture and we're incredibly passionate about bringing that to Australia in a way that respects our heritage and the customs we love," explains James. "Bar Tano is inspired by Milan which is the birthplace of aperitivo and we wanted it to be a destination where you meet friends to reconnect over a refreshing aperitif and complimentary small bites." Drinks-wise, Italian wines and cocktails feature, as well as bespoke house tipples — like the Drive Me Nuts, which blends the negroni and the old fashioned; and the Better Than Butter, which gives whisky sours a buttery spin. For something to eat, there's ricotta dip, burrata, gnocco fritto and polpettini, plus a rotating selection of salumi and cheeses.
Nothing can stand between Brisbanites and their favourite orbs of tasty dough, as the ridiculous number of doughnut joints that just keep popping up around town shows. But sometimes you just need to grab one of those sweet treats on the go — which is exactly what's inspired the city's newest doughnut joint. When you have a hankering for freshly baked deliciousness of the cinnamon, Nutella-filled or homemade strawberry jam-oozing kind, you can roll into Charles Baker Donuts & Coffee. Located next to the The Glen Hotel in Eight Mile Plains, it's designed for hungry doughnut lovers to roll into one of the four allocated parking bays, zip in for a coffee and/or doughnut and zip back out again. A photo posted by Charles Baker Coffee & Donuts (@charlesbakerdonuts) on Nov 12, 2016 at 9:54pm PST Given just how mouthwatering their gooey Nutella-flavoured offerings are (see above), it's not just a gimmicky idea — it's a smart one. If you want to streamline your snack-and-caffeine pitstop even further, you can also text ahead to place your order. As well as giving everyone yet another reason to eat more doughnuts, Charles Baker Donuts & Coffee also offers up a slice of the city's history thanks to its ties to its namesake. Charles Baker bought the land the cafe and adjacent hotel now stand on back in 1863, which has since seen a pub open there in 1865, and Cobb & Co. coaches stopping by on their way between Brisbane and Southport from 1875. We're guessing they didn't feast on doughnuts, though. Charles Baker Donuts & Coffee is now open at 24 Gaskell Street, Eight Mile Plains. Check out their Facebook page for more information.
Yesterday afternoon, Melbourne hosted a climate change rally and knocked it out of the park. Upwards of 60,000 people attended the march through the CBD, which according to organisers would make it the largest rally of its kind in Australian history. The demonstrators marched from the State Library to Parliament House, and were joined by the likes of Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, Greens Senator Richard Di Natalie and national treasure Paul Kelly, who led the crowd in a rendition of 'From Little Things, Big Things Grow.' The People's Climate March in Melbourne was the first of many set to take place around the country this weekend, with Australian's calling on their leaders to take a strong stand against climate change ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris next week. According to the Australian Conservation Foundation, a further 10,000 people marched through Brisbane this morning, while there's a demonstration scheduled for Sydney tomorrow afternoon. Here's hoping they can amass even bigger numbers. If there was ever a time to put the ol' Sydney-Melbourne rivalry to good use, this would have to be it. To find the closest People's Climate March near you, go here. And if you want to feel good about humanity, we've gathered some of the best social media reactions from the Melbourne rally, below. "Coal- don't dig it! Leave it in the ground, it's time to get with it!" Huge crowds at Melb #peoplesclimate march! pic.twitter.com/IHRG8mLm1L — Adam Bandt (@AdamBandt) November 27, 2015 'The largest climate change rally we have ever seen in Australian history' #peoplesclimate #COP21 #melbourne https://t.co/Rcs2IjuU58 — CAHA Inc (@healthy_climate) November 27, 2015 That's a great view #Melbourne #peoplesclimate march @Peoples_Climate 50,000 pic.twitter.com/MPAXtslZgo — Samantha Dunn (@SamanthaDunnMP) November 27, 2015 Pics from the #peoplesclimate march in Melbourne this evening. Organisers think they have 30,000. #PeoplesMarch pic.twitter.com/IA1zFib0om — Melissa Davey (@MelissaLDavey) November 27, 2015 Pretty sure this guy just won #peoplesclimate (via @350Australia) pic.twitter.com/dAN3TSEjjO — GetUp! (@GetUp) November 27, 2015
No one is ever going to mistake a visit to Brisbane's Queen's Wharf with a trip to France — with its perch right beside the Brisbane River and views across to South Bank, there's no confusing where it's located — but Pompette wants your tastebuds to make the journey abroad anyway. Joining the precinct's smorgasbord of restaurants serving up international cuisines, this newcomer from Tassis Group goes all in on Gallic dishes. It's not only an eatery, in fact, but also a champagne bar. First announced in mid-2024 and open since December, Pompette adds French eats to the Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Italian, noodle, steak and seafood meals already on offer at Queen's Wharf. Under Head Chef Jean-Luc Morcellet, think: escargot, steak frites, raw beef tartlettes, chicken parfait, gruyere soufflé, baguettes with blue cheese butter, Parisian-style gnocchi, duck à l'orange, steak au poivre, côte de boeuf, crème brûlée, crêpes suzette flambée and more. At the 140-seater spot on The Terrace, there's also caviar bumps that come with a shot of frozen vodka, plus a dedicated oyster bar. Here, seven days a week from 11am onwards, classic French fare clearly features across the menu, but with two guiding principles in mind. Firstly, Pompette's dishes give traditional meals a modern spin. Secondly, if sending your tastebuds to Paris normally gets you thinking about extravagant fine-dining, this spot is aiming to be more accessible. "I've always been captivated by French cuisine — the artistry, the technique, and the craft behind it. Yet for many Australians, it can sometimes feel a little intimidating," explains Michael Tassis, Tassis Group's owner. "With Pompette, the vision is to honour the authenticity and quality of French cuisine, while ensuring it's approachable, shareable and inviting to everyone at the table." For patrons eager to say cheers to a glass of champers, more than 40 types of the French tipple are on the drinks list. Wine lovers can choose from 150-plus different bottles, while cocktails, spritzes, beer, seltzers and non-boozy sips are also among the options. Regular Tassis collaborators Clui Design and Allo Creative are responsible for the venue's look and feel, taking their cues from Paris, of course. Expect to be surrounded by pink and navy hues, plus brash touches and eye-catching artworks. Champagne and oysters are served from the site's 16-metre-long marble bar, while the outdoor terrace boasts bursts of greenery. And for special occasions, Pompette also features three private dining rooms. Find Pompette at The Star Brisbane, Queen's Wharf Road, Brisbane — open from 7am–late seven days a week. Head to the restaurant's website for more details. Images: Markus Ravik.
Dreaming of cooler pastures? Swap your ice skates for a snorkel and kick back because the only ice you'll find here is in your frozen margarita. For the ultimate Aussie getaway, we head north to Port Douglas, the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. There's so much to do, see and eat — not to mention the promise of pristine beaches that stretch for years. Sitting on the picturesque Four Mile Beach, it's only a hop, skip and a jump to the Daintree Rainforest. They're bucket list places to visit, so why not tick them off this summer? Do To get the most out of the Daintree, make your first stop the Daintree Discovery Centre (Corner Baileys Creek & Tulip Oak Road, Cow Bay; open daily 8.30am-5pm). Grab an audio tour as you meander about the forest on the aerial walkway. Climb a few short flights of stairs to get to the top of the tower and gaze out, high above the treetops. It will be one of the best things you'll do all year. The Discovery Centre is a world-class facility and has won a bunch of awards. They're ecotourism masters, and every possible precaution is taken to protect the delicate rainforest. A trip to the Discovery Centre will set you back $32/adult, $16/child. Family passes are $78. Prices include audio tour. It's worth every dollar. If you heard the words 'an hour-long discussion about fruit', you'd be forgiven for hesitating. But the Cape Tribulation Exotic Fruit Farm (Lot 5 Nicole Drive, Cape Tribulation; open Nov - June, Sun, Tue, Thu, 2pm-4pm and every day Jun - Oct) is a seriously good time. You taste ten kinds of fruit, and we don't mean your standard Coles fare. We're talking incredibly rare, tropical fruit from the Amazon, South-East Asia and the Caribbean. Dark, pudding-like fruit that tastes like chocolate. Giant weird fruits that taste like bubble gum. Tiny magic seeds that make everything you eat for the next few hours taste super sweet. Tastings are followed by a tour of the beautiful farm.The groups are reasonably small (depending on what time of year you go) and it will give you an experience unlike anything you've ever had before. Who knew fruit could be so exciting? Bookings must be made in advance. The tasting costs $23/adult, $10.50/child or $62 for a family. Your kids will love it and so will you. See The Great Barrier Reef sells itself. It's easily one of the most beautiful places in the world and you're only a few hours away from it. Grab your flippers and snorkel, hop in, and prepare to be amazed. Fish in every conceivable colour, reef sharks, stingrays, gloriously coloured coral and all manner of delights lie under the ocean's surface. The guys at Ocean Safari are the best tour guides in the area. They're acutely aware of the peril currently facing the reef and take every precaution to preserve the delicate environment. Eco tourism at its best. Prices vary depending on the tour you select but a morning tour will set you back $123/adult, $79/child or $366 for a family pass. Sleep The recently renovated Ferntree Rainforest Lodge (36 Camelot Close, Cape Tribulation) is an environmentally friendly resort set in the heart of the Daintree Rainforest and a short walk from Cape Tribulation's Myall Beach. They have a wide variety of affordable rooms and accommodation options so you'll be able to arrange a wonderful tropical getaway without it costing you the earth. You're looking at $28/night for a budget dorm, $140/night for a private cabin and $200/night for the Pool Room Suite. The lodge is designed to fit in with the surrounding rainforest and its spectacular gardens are specially designed to attract native animals. Take our advice and book a Pool Room Suite. These private rooms each have a balcony that backs onto the lodge's second swimming pool. The pool is surrounded by a lush tropical oasis and is a few steps away from the Ferntree Rainforest Lodge's restaurant. All this at a reasonable price? Yes, please. If you fancy yourself a bit of a luxury bunny then Ultra Port Douglas is the place for you. It offers five-star, highly personalised, VIP holiday house rentals, and you can count on a first-class experience. Limousine transfers, private chefs and butler services are part of some of the packages and pretty much anything you could possibly dream of can be arranged. Now, luxury doesn't come cheap — Ultra Port Douglas is a holiday letting service that operates out of some of the most seriously grown-up real estate in the country. However, if you're cashed up and want to be treated like a celebrity, world leader or member of the European royalty, then Ultra Port Douglas is most definitely the place to be. Pass us the Dom Perignon. Thala Beach Lodge (Oak Beach, Port Douglas) is the only deluxe resort in Port Douglas set on a private headland. What does this mean? The most spectacularly mind-blowing views you could possibly imagine. The panoramic vista encompasses the far north Queensland coast from Double Island to Cape Tribulation and overlooks the Great Barrier Reef and World Heritage forests. It's considered to be one of the best eco-tourism resorts in the world. The Lodge sits on 145 acres of gorgeous rainforest and backs onto its own private beach overlooking the Great Barrier Reef. All individual bungalows have views to either the beachfront or the rainforest. Accommodation ranges from around $219 to $1030/night. There's a lot to do at Thala Beach Lodge: star-gazing, nature walks, turtle spotting, sea kayaking, yoga and swimming. Ospreys Restaurant, located within the complex, offers a delicious modern Australian cuisine. You can't go wrong here. Drink The Court House Hotel (Wharf and Macrossan Streets, Port Douglas) is Port Douglas's oldest and most famous hotel. They've been in business for over a century, serving up food and drinks for locals and tourists alike. The hotel is located in the town centre and offers gorgeous views of Anzac Park and the coast. Boasting three bars, two gaming rooms and a restaurant, the 'Courty' (as it's known to locals) is definitely the place to go after a long day's sightseeing. If you're feeling peckish, head to the hotel's restaurant, the Wharf St. Bistro. They're well-known for their great steaks. If you're in the mood to drink, then the hotel offers heaps of outdoor seating and reasonably priced drinks. It's the perfect place for a holiday sundowner. Eat 2 Fish (56 Macrossan Street, Port Douglas) is one of Port Douglas's most awarded restaurants. Specialising in seafood, only the freshest produce is used in the wide range of dishes on offer. The staff know their fish, so it's a good idea to ask for their recommendations. If you're a fan of oysters, start with the mixed dozen, a selection of variously seasoned oysters including Kilpatrick, lime and gin ($34), Bloody Mary, Vietnamese and crispy shallots, Tabasco and lemon and natural oysters. The dishes on the tasting plate menu can be ordered individually as entrees or combined to make a more substantial meal. Order a few, but make sure you don't miss out on the Malaysian butter prawns ($12) or the Atlantic salmon gravlax ($10). The star of the show is the market catch (prices vary). Ask the waiter what the catch of the day is and then choose your garnishes accordingly. A word to the wise: make a booking well in advance. They're seriously popular.
A trip to the north is better with a car. With so many waterfalls, beaches and hidden pockets of pristine nature to uncover, you really do need a car to see them all — which is excellent news if you're a big fan of road trips. One of the quintessential drives in the region is the scenic trip from Cairns to Port Douglas — also known as the Great Barrier Reef Drive. But, before you hit the highway, make sure you fuel up on caffeine from Vietnamese coffee institution Annee's. Then, wind your way north past the northern beaches of Cairns, making a pit stop at Palm Cove or Trinity Beach for brunch before continuing your coastal cruise and Coral Sea views to Port Douglas. The best part? The drive only takes about an hour each way so you'll have plenty of time to take breaks to capture the sights. Image: Tourism Tropical North Queensland
It's time you set your sights on the east coast because Aperol is coming to town in style with its Kombi Tour. The vintage, retrofitted 1976 Volkswagen van is back, chasing the sun with a road trip through some of Queensland's idyllic coastal towns — from Cairns to the perpetually stunning Whitsundays. The Kombi has been cruising around the southeastern corner of the state for the last month but is heading north for the rest of its tour, racing the winter chill and bringing the red-hot vibes along, too. There are five more stops on its journey before Aperol has to hang up its spritzes for winter. If you're in the area, chase the summer feeling and grab a delectable spritz while you still can. NORTHERLIES, AIRLIE BEACH The Kombi's next stop is Northerlies Beach Bar & Grill, just outside Airlie Beach. Aperol is stopping in for four weekends at the mellow beachside resort. Enjoy ice-cold Aperol Spritzes and exclusive specials — like the rosemary-infused Rosy Cheeks spritz — while taking in the gorgeous views of the salty waves crashing into the white sandy beaches. June 16–July 11, Northerlies Beach Bar & Grill, Airlie Beach. More information here. SALT HOUSE FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL Get a taste of the tropics at Salt House in Cairns when the Kombi rolls in this winter. The iconic waterfront venue is also hosting a Food & Wine Festival on Saturday, August 5, which will see winemakers, distillers, brewers and producers descend on the locale and share their wares with attendees. Enjoy local produce while sipping on a refreshing Aperol Spritz — direct from the Kombi. Not able to make it on the festival weekend? Well, you're in luck because it will be at Salt House for four weekends. July 28–August 7, Salt House Food & Wine Festival, Cairns. Book tickets here. CAIRNS ITALIAN FESTIVAL The inaugural ten-day Cairns Italian Festival is the next stop for the brightly-hued vehicle — although it won't actually be moving from Salt House. The waterfront spot is one of the many venues taking part in the festival, so the Kombi will sit tight at the venue for the festival's weekend in July. You'll be snacking on traditional Italian plates, woodfired pizzas, gelato and more — all while sipping deliciously bitter Aperol Spritzes. Saturday, July 29, Salt House, Cairns. More information here. TASTE PORT DOUGLAS The next stop on the 2023 Aperol Kombi Tour is the Taste Port Douglas Food and Wine Festival, held at the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort. Experience (and then taste) the rich food culture of Tropical North Queensland as top chefs arrive to dazzle you with their inspiring creations. You know the drill: wash it all down with a perfectly chilled spritz from the Kombi. August 10–13, Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, Port Douglas. More information here. SHERATON, PORT DOUGLAS If five-star luxury eco-certified stays are on your to-go-to list in 2023, take yourself to the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort. This August and September, you'll be on the doorstep of two staggeringly beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Sites (the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest), plus you'll be perfectly placed for the freshest of spritzes when the Kombi hits the digs from Tuesday, August 8 till Monday, September 11. It'll be the ideal way to toast the end of winter and celebrate the coming of spring. August 14–September 5, Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, Port Douglas. More information here. For more information on the Aperol Kombi Tour, and to plan your road trip to one of its pit stops, head to the website.
Style over Speed is a great way to get some exercise and meet new friends. No matter who you are or how seriously your take your bike-riding, you're welcome to join in the fun. This regulalry held event will be occurring on Friday, where riders are invited to meet at King George Square at 5.45pm before riding through the city to West End. Once at West End, you're invited to check out the Twilight Markets with the gang. The tagline for Style over Speed is “dress to impress”. You can don your finest or something a little more comfortable but there is one rule at this event, strictly no lycra please. We at Concrete Playground think this is a wonderful idea! For more information, check out the Brisbane Style over Speed Facebook page. Bring your bike and your friends for some Friday night fun.
If you haven't watched season one of Yellowjackets, which made it one of the best new shows of 2021, the full trailer for season two is here to play catchup. "Once upon a time, there was a place called the wilderness," explains Van (Liv Hewson, Santa Clarita Diet) in the just-dropped sneak peek's opening moments, as a Florence and the Machine cover of No Doubt's 90s hit 'Just a Girl' plays. "It was beautiful, but it was also violent and misunderstood. And it waited and waited to befriend whoever arrived." Van offers the above words like she's telling a bedtime tale, but there's nothing cosy about this survivalist hit. The instantly intriguing (and excellent) series follows a New Jersey high school's girls soccer team in the 90s after they crash in the forest and possibly turn to cannibalism — plus the aftermath among the survivors 25 years later. Indeed, already in season one, life and friendship have proven complex for Yellowjackets' core quartet of Shauna (The Last of Us' Melanie Lynskey as an adult, and also The Kid Detective's Sophie Nélisse as a teenager), Natalie (Welcome to Chippendales' Juliette Lewis, plus The Book of Boba Fett's Sophie Thatcher), Taissa (Billions' Tawny Cypress, and also Scream VI's Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Misty (Wednesday's Christina Ricci, as well as Shameless' Samantha Hanratty). The full setup: back in 1996, en route to a big match in Seattle on a private plane, Shauna, Natalie, Taissa, Misty and the rest of their teammates entered Lost territory. The accident saw everyone who walked away stranded in the wilderness — and those who then made it through that ordeal stuck out there for 19 months, living their worst Alive-meets-Lord of the Flies lives. Season two will pick up with the 90s-era group still endeavouring to stay alive as the woods get snowier, and that eerie symbol that's always been at the heart of the series pops up in more places. Also in the works, as based on this new trailer plus not one but two glimpses before now: the adult Shauna, Nat and Tai facing the fallout from their season-one actions — IYKYK — and Misty and newcomer Walter (Elijah Wood, Come to Daddy) playing citizen detectives together. After getting picked up for a second season because its first was that ace, Yellowjackets will start unfurling its next batch of episodes from Friday, March 24 via Paramount+ in Australia and Neon in New Zealand, as announced in late 2022. Season two will pick up after a heap of chaos in both timeframes, and with new faces among the cast. Introducing more of the team in their adult guise is very much on the agenda, including Simone Kessell (Muru) playing the older Lottie and Lauren Ambrose (Servant) as the older Van. In their younger years, both characters are played by Australian actors, with Courtney Eaton (Mad Max: Fury Road) as Lottie and and the aforementioned Hewson as Van. Also, this won't be the end of the story, with the show already renewed for season three before its second season even airs. Check out the full trailer for Yellowjackets season two below: Season two of Yellowjackets will start streaming from Friday, March 24 via Paramount+ in Australia and Neon in New Zealand. Read our review of season one.
A staple of holiday dining tables the world over, the humble Christmas ham is too often sidelined as a one meal wonder. Add a slice or two of really good bread and suddenly a problem leftover transforms into a culinary masterpiece. Behold, the humble ham sandwich. After the festive rush is done and dusted, and the downtime between Christmas and New Years gets underway, let Abbott's Bakery's loaves do the heavy lifting when it comes to high adventure, low touch meals. Surf and Turf Sandwich While you may be off the clock and in relaxation mode in the days after Christmas, time waits for no crustacean and is definitely of the essence if you've got leftover prawns piled up from Christmas lunch. A surf and turf sandwich is an ingenious way of using up some of Christmas lunch's most perishable ingredients and comes together in less than 10 minutes with no cooking required. All you need to do is lay out a few slices of your favourite Abbott's Bakery bread, on which you'll spread on a tangy green pickle relish, before adding lettuce and whatever ham you have on hand — that can be store-bought slices or sliced off the last of the Christmas ham. Then top the bottom layer with another slice of bread, add tartare sauce, lay down some prawns and any extra tartare to taste. Finally, top with some more greens and a final slice of bread. Lunch is served and leftovers are given new life. Provolone and Ham Melt This provolone and ham melt makes the most of the mish mash of charcuterie board leftovers that litter kitchens throughout the holiday season. Combined with leftover ham and sandwiched between two slices of Abbott's Bakery Sourdough White, this is an inventive toastie that packs a flavour punch and can be made in 20 minutes or less. Start by spreading mayonnaise and mango chutney on two slices of Abbott's Bakery bread. On the slice with chutney, add shaved ham, pear slices, roasted peppers and provolone cheese before topping it with the other slice of bread. For the perfect golden brown crunch, brush both sides with melted butter and grill on a griddle until the cheese is oozy and melted. Classic Croque Madame A croque madame is one of those indulgent breakfasts that requires time more than skill. Difficult to throw together in a rush, but deceptively easy, this grilled cheese sandwich is a classic for a reason. This particular recipe comes together in just 20 minutes and starts with a fresh slice of Abbott's Bakery sourdough. Spread on some fruit paste and your favourite chutney, layer with ham and a mix of cheeses and top the filling with your second slice of bread. Then, heat half a tablespoon of butter and cook your sandwich in a frying pan for two minutes on each side with the lid covered. Remove your sandwich from the pan, add another half tablespoon of butter and fry an egg to place on top of the sandwich. Voila, breakfast — or lunch or any old meal in between when you're pottering around and feeling peckish — is ready. Ham, Brie and Spiced Mango Sandwich Summer means mangoes and this recipe demonstrates there's more than one way to skin a mango. This sandwich starts with the mango salsa which is acidic, spicy and sweet in equal measure. Once the salsa is ready, set it aside and spread butter and mustard on a slice of Abbott's Bakery Wholemeal bread. Then, layer lettuce, ham, brie and the salsa on the buttered bread before topping with microherbs and another slice. Plate it all up with a fresh wedge of lime. Ripping Two-Cheese and Ham Toastie The combination of flavours in this toastie call for a darker bread with a slightly more nutty, malty and earthy flavour. A mixture of sharp Dijon and sweet mustard pickle adds zing, while the blend of cheeses used — gruyere and colby — elevates this sanga into something special. Layer the spreads, cheese and ham between two slices of Abbott's Bakery Dark Rye bread, give them a grill in a fry pan for two minutes on each side. Then, remove them from the heat, add rocket for a fresh, peppery and ripping toastie to tuck into. Ham, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich (HLT) Forget the BLT. Meet its Christmas cousin the HLT. Proving that there are countless ways to mix up what goes between two great white slices, the ham, lettuce and tomato sandwich is both a spin on a classic and fantastic in its own right. Ready in mere minutes, assemble this classic lunchtime feed by layering ham, sliced cheese, tomato and lettuce on Abbott's Bakery Rustic White bread that's been spread with mayo and mustard. Discover the full range of Abbott's Bakery bread and create your ideal sandwich.
Housed within Brisbane's former Land Administration Building, the Treasury Hotel is one of the city's most architecturally significant stays. Completed in 1905, the heritage-listed building has been carefully preserved, offering a sense of old-world grandeur right in the heart of the CBD. While the adjacent Treasury Casino has now closed and moved to The Star, the hotel remains a standalone destination, allowing its history and design to take centre stage. Inside, ornate details – from high ceilings and arched windows to polished timber and classic finishes – create a stay that feels distinctly different from Brisbane's newer hotels. Rooms are spacious and elegant, many overlooking the Brisbane River, Queen's Gardens or the surrounding city streets. The styling leans traditional, but comfortably so, making it well-suited to travellers drawn to character and heritage over contemporary minimalism. Guests are within immediate walking distance of Queen Street Mall, the river and South Bank across the bridge, with Brisbane Airport around a 20-minute drive away. Valet parking is available, and while the casino is no longer in operation, nearby dining, bars and cultural attractions ensure there's still plenty to explore just beyond the doors. Top image: Grace Smith
Rumours are fun, but knowing which bands are confirmed to play at Australia’s premier music festival is even better. The lineup for Splendour in the Grass was fed to early risers on Thursday morning via the Triple J Breakfast Show, quashing some rumours, verifying others and turning Coachella, Prince and holographic Tupac into nothing but distant memories. Generally regarded as Australia's biggest winter music festival, Splendour originated in 2001 at Belongil Fields outside of Byron Bay. The 2010 and 2011 festivals were relocated to Woodford, Queensland due to Byron Bay area restrictions, but this year's festival will return to its spiritual home. The three day festival, which this year takes place July 27-29, has a history of legendary line-ups, with past festivals including music greats like Kanye West, The Strokes and PJ Harvey. Tough acts to follow, but 2012's list won't disappoint. Headlining the 2012 festival will be Jack White, Bloc Party, Smashing Pumpkins, At The Drive-In and The Shins. Feast your eyes on the full lineup below and start saving your coin (is anyone still reading this anyway?). The lineup for Splendour in the Grass 2012: Jack White, Bloc Party, Smashing Pumpkins, At The Drive-In, Lana Del Rey, Azealia Banks, The Shins, Hilltop Hoods, The Kooks, Gossip, Miike Snow, Dirty Three, 360, Tame Impala, Explosions In The Sky, Ladyhawke, The Afghan Whigs, Missy Higgins, Wolfmother, Metric, Kimbra, Mudhoney, Band Of Skulls, Spiderbait, Django Django, Gypsy & The Cat, San Cisco, Last Dinosaurs, Electric Guest, Muscles, Angus Stone, DZ Deathrays, Howler, Lanie Lane, Wolf & Cub, Fun., Big Scary, Michael Kiwanuka, Seekae, Friends, Yacht Club Dj's, Bertie Blackman, Jinja Safari, Blue King Brown, Youth Lagoon, Pond, The Beautiful Girls, Yuksek, Tijuana Cartel, Ball Park Music, The Rubens, Ben Howard, Bleeding Knees Club, Zulu Winter, The Medics, Shihad, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Husky, Kate Miller-Heidke, Father John Misty, Emma Louise, Chet Faker, Here We Go Magic, Parachute Youth, Mosman Alder, The Cast Of Cheers, Gossling, Beni, Sampology (AV/DJ show), Canyons (DJ Set), Nina Las Vegas, Danny T, Alison Wonderland, Nice and Ego (AV/DJ show) Flume, Gloves, Luke Million, Harris Robotis, Alley Oop. Festival dates: Friday 27, Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 July. For more info check the Splendour in the Grass website. Words by Hannah Ongley and Anya Krenicki
Sometimes, when you're having an average day, you're caught up in your usual daily dramas or you're simply tired, it can be easy to forget that we're all just zooming around the universe on a floating blue ball. It can escape your mind that our pale blue dot is a mere tiny speck in the heavens, too — but, today, Tuesday, July 12 Down Under, in comes NASA with a massive reminder. The James Webb Space Telescope, the space science observatory charged with peering deeply into our solar system and well beyond, has been taking images of what it sees — and the first such picture has just been revealed. The telescope is an international program led by NASA with the European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency, with US President Joe Biden doing the honours in unveiling the deepest and sharpest view of the universe that's ever been captured. It's here–the deepest, sharpest infrared view of the universe to date: Webb's First Deep Field. Previewed by @POTUS on July 11, it shows galaxies once invisible to us. The full set of @NASAWebb's first full-color images & data will be revealed July 12: https://t.co/63zxpNDi4I pic.twitter.com/zAr7YoFZ8C — NASA (@NASA) July 11, 2022 How deep is deep? NASA Administrator Bill Nelson describes the snapshot of the cosmos seen in Webb's first image — taken by its near-infrared camera (NIRCam) — as covering "a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm's length. It's just a tiny sliver of the vast universe". Known as Webb's First Deep Field, the image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared a whopping 4.6 billion years ago, and covers thousands of galaxies, including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared. NASA explains that "the combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it". The NIRCam has then brought those galaxies into sharp focus, revealing faint structures that've never been seen before, such as star clusters. It's a detailed snap, unsurprisingly. It's also awe-inspiring and more than a little mind-blowing. The NIRCam shot is a composite, compiled from images at different wavelengths over 12.5 hours — at depths at infrared wavelengths even beyond the Hubble Space Telescope's deepest fields, which took weeks. This image is part of the Webb telescope's effort to unfold the infrared universe — and it's just the first of many. The full set will be revealed on 12.30am AEST on Wednesday, July 13 Australian time (2.30am in New Zealand), complete with spectroscopic data. If you're keen to watch, it'll be livestreamed via NASA, although expect the results to be all over the internet tomorrow morning anyway if you'll still be asleep. For more information about the James Webb Space Telescope, head to the NASA and James Web Space Telescope websites. Top image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI.
Motoi Yamamoto’s sculpture is bringing a new meaning to ‘living in the moment’. The supremely disciplined artist from Hiroshima creates installations out of grains of salt. Using intricate techniques that involve layering, shaking, sweeping and infinite amounts of patience, he has made a labyrinth, a set of steps, a ‘corridor to remembrance’ and a series of complex patterns that imitate biological systems. When the works have run their course, he sends them back to the sea. Yamamoto’s engagement with salt as a form started eighteen years ago, when he lost his sister to brain cancer. She was just 24, and struggling to cope with the loss, Yamamoto sought a way to recall his memories through his art. His very first piece was a bed comprised of bricks and the second, a three-dimensional representation of the human brain. In Japan, salt symbolises the processes of cleansing and mourning. Its use forms an important part of funeral rituals. Restaurateurs and small business owners often place salt at their doors, in the belief that it deters evil spirits and magnetises forces for good. “I can’t tell if my feelings of death have been changed by the passage of time or by the process of creating my work,” Yamamoto told the Daily Serving in June last year. “I don’t have any way to compare to the two alternatives because I’ve only experienced this through my work, not through a more conventional mourning process. I would like to think that it altered my thoughts on loss gradually, but I don’t know.” Yamamoto’s salt installations have been exhibited in galleries all over the world, from the Ierimonti Gallery in Milan to the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art in Charleston, USA. Last month, they were on show at the Mint Museum in Charlotte.
A murderous barber, a lustful judge, and some seriously suspicious tasting pies. Come one, come all, to attend the tale of Sweeney Todd. Following last years critically acclaimed production of RENT, Ignatians Musical Society and director John Peek are joining forces again to kick off 2012 on a slightly sinister note, with the hit musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. From sell out seasons on Broadway, to critical acclaim on the silver screen, this musical is sure to thrill and delight audiences of all ages. But beware, this dark tale is not for the faint-hearted or hemophobic. Emerging from the dank and foggy streets of Victorian London is Benjamin Barker (Sweeney Todd), who seeks revenge on the powerful judge who wrongfully deported him fifteen years earlier. When he learns of the ill fate of his wife and child from pie shop owner Mrs Lovett, he swears vengeance and the pair begin to work together. This musical is celebrated for its flawless fusion of the whimsical and the macabre. Its songs, cleverly crafted by writer Stephen Sondheim, black humour and tragic story are sure to leave its audiences unsettled, without appetite, and still longing for second helpings. Don't miss out, go along and take a bite!
Just a few short years ago, grabbing a bite or having a drink beneath the Fortitude Valley side of the Story Bridge simply wasn't possible. Now, Howard Smith Wharves is one of the city's most popular spots. Restaurateur and entrepreneur Hervé Dudognon knows that first-hand, after holding leadership positions at the precinct — and, hopping over to Albion's transformed 100-year-old timber mill for his new venture, he's now hoping to weave that magic twice. At Craft'd Grounds, Dudognon is the co-founder and namesake of soon-to-open French restaurant and bar Hervé's, which'll start welcoming patrons in sometime in March. "The vision has always been to create a community destination — an extension of your home that's warm and inviting," he explains. "Brisbane has a rich dining culture, and while there's many elegant restaurants and bars in town, we've seen a real opportunity to bring a new world-class, yet relaxed approach to French-inspired dining. We want to celebrate the romance of experimenting and preparing fresh produce subtly inspired by French and Australian culture," Dudognon continues. Husband and wife executive chef duo Alex and Chris Norman will be overseeing the kitchen — with Chris as Executive Chef and Alex as Executive Pastry Chef. Between them, the pair boasts The Square restaurant and Ritz Hotel in London, plus The Bridge Room, Merivale Group, The One & Only Resort, Palazzo Versace and Emporium Group in Australia on their resumes. Given that Dudognon's career includes stops at the Hotel De Crillon in Paris, Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, and Palazzo Versace and Merivale Group as well, the Hervé's team isn't short on hospitality experience. The venue's menus haven't been revealed as yet, but its food range will favour top produced sourced both locally and abroad — including southeast Australian oysters. On the wine lineup, the bar will hero Australian, French and other international vino from eco-conscious winemakers. Decor-wise, Byron Bay-based interior designer Katie Cameron has given top-floor space an intimate, homely feel. Think: timber aplenty — befitting the building's history — as well as terrazzo, soft lighting and textured fabrics, plus a clear view into the kitchen and its wood-fired oven. When Hervé's opens its doors, it'll join a growing precinct that sprawls across the 2600-square-metres site on Collingwood Street, and takes inspiration from The Grounds of Alexandria in Sydney. Craft'd Grounds is also home to brewery Brewtide and coffee roastery Seven Miles, and will house yet-to-launch bakery and deli Brass Tacks as well. Find Hervé's Restaurant and Bar at Level 1, Craft'd Grounds, 35 Collingwood Street, Albion, open Wednesday–Sunday, from sometime in March — we'll update you with an exact opening date when it's announced.
Whether you grew up collecting bricks or you're just in it for the nostalgia, there's no denying the icon status of LEGO®. Add Star Wars into the mix, and you've got one of the most wholesome and exciting pop culture events on the calendar for all ages. Landing at Melbourne Museum from (fittingly) May 4, LEGO® Star Wars: The Exhibition features a huge collection of life-sized models and is a must-see for anyone who still gets excited by lightsabers, stormtroopers and playing with LEGO®. But the exhibition is just the beginning. If you're heading to Melbourne for it, the fun continues once you leave. Just a few light years (minutes) away, there are after-hours museum visits, wild ice cream flavours and cult-status sandwiches. Below, we map out your cheat sheet for the ultimate night out. Grab a Legendary Meatball Sub from Roccos Start your post-exhibition feast by crossing the road and wandering down Gertrude Street to Rocco's Bologna Discoteca. This spot has reached cult status for its meatball sub, a saucy, cheesy, handheld, messy, and glorious masterpiece. It's open until 11pm on weekends, so settle in, pair your sub with a negroni, and you've got one of the most satisfying meals around. [caption id="attachment_1001344" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Rebecca Newman[/caption] Hang with the Locals at Marion Wine Bar Further along Gertrude Street, Marion Wine Bar is the perfect place to pause and watch the world go by. The treasured neighbourhood wine bar takes inspiration from across the world, while maintaining a distinct Melbourne vibe. Known for its seasonal menu and extensive wine list, stop in for a glass and a few small plates to debrief after a day of LEGO® Star Wars overload. Feast at Sparrow's Philly Cheesesteaks Over in Collingwood, Sparrow's Philly Cheesesteaks is slinging gooey, over-the-top sandwiches that feel like they belong in a Star Wars cantina. There are no small bites here. This is where you come when you're hungry for a feed. It's open late, walk-ins only, and exactly the no-fuss vibe you need to keep the night rolling. Visit the Museum After Dark While the LEGO® Star Wars exhibition might unleash your inner kid, Nocturnal is strictly adults-only. Once a month, this is your chance to explore the Melbourne Museum exhibits after-dark and child free. Whether you're wandering dinosaur skeletons or enjoying the music, food and drinks on offer until 9pm, it's the ultimate nightcap to a day spent exploring the city. Try a Wild Scoop at Fluffy Torpedo If dessert is non-negotiable, Fluffy Torpedo in Carlton is serving up wacky ice cream flavours like Buttered Baguette, Popcorn, Maltesers and Pretzels, Pork Butter and Chilli Oil, and other creations that are sure to be remembered. Go late, try something wild, and remember – you'll never regret trying something once. [caption id="attachment_1001352" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] Josie Withers[/caption] Browse Books at Readings Carlton Before calling it a night, wander over to Readings Carlton, a Melbourne institution that stays open until 9pm most nights. Inside, you'll find stacks upon stacks of graphic novels, art books, classics, and all the latest fiction you'd expect from one of the city's largest bookstores. Whether you're here for the LEGO® Star Wars exhibition or just to soak up the Melbourne vibe, go all in and make a weekend out of it. Head to visitmelbourne.com.au to discover more of what makes Melbourne every bit different. Images courtesy of Melbourne. Every bit different. By Jacque Kennedy
Check out the full photo gallery It’s one-seventh the travel time to Woodford, one-fifth the number of Southern Cross tats at Field Day, as picturesque as Falls, and the local line up is without parallel. Yep, if you were among those who chose to bring in the New Year at Peats Ridge, I don’t have to tell you that you made a wise decision. For those of you who didn’t, here’s why you shouldn’t make the same mistake twice. Day One With open-air yoga classes, healing sessions and kids running amok, Peats Ridge feels more like a gypsy community than a music festival. The sheer number of workshops and craft stalls means you could spend a whole day without your children (win) and without seeing any music. Having said that, come mid-afternoon you would have been hard-pressed to go past Canadian rockers Yukon Blonde, who played like they were aiming to blow a speaker. For other reasons, it was difficult to overlook the Dum Dum Girls, whose indie-pop tunes came second fiddle to their strategic dress sense and homogenous hairdos. In the Chai temple, barefooted folk sprawled over colourful carpet and couches were treated to an electrifying Steve Smyth, who mesmerised his audience with a spine-tingling rendition of Harry Belafonte’s ‘Sylvie.’ If you missed him, you missed one of the best acts of the festival. Later back at main stage, golden boy Xavier Rudd and his hypnotic five-piece, one-man band sung songs about Mother Earth and the evils of mankind to an adoring crowd. A fitting reception for a man who plays the didge like nobody’s business. Day Two The morning after saw more than a few dusty revellers slumped over chai lattés and gözleme. However Friday’s bill didn’t pander to anyone’s hangover. Compounding a throbbing headache were Melbourne’s Graveyard Train, who proved that all you need is a few swashbuckling dudes, a guitar, and some basic hardware tools to rock out. San Fransisco’s Hanni El Khatib took a less humble approach, describing his music as being ‘for anyone who’s ever been shot or hit by a train.’ Right. Well that may have explained the small turn out. Nevertheless, Khatib’s punchy guitar riffs soon had the space packed. A solid blues rock act like that is hard to follow, particularly when you’re armed with a bunch of classical string instruments, but the Crooked Fiddle Band dished out their special brand of high-energy ‘chainsaw folk’ to a wildly appreciative crowd. As the night drew on, dorky-cool Japanese instrumental jazz group Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro had frenzied revellers chanting ‘baggy pants’ as if they were hip-hop heavy weights at an Up in Smoke Tour. Local boys Hermitude did a better job than the much-hyped Canyons at carrying the party vibe with their electronic hip-hop set and slow hip-swinging cover of MJ’s ‘Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough.’ Day Three Dress up day. Luckily the music line-up today was a real slow-burner, which allowed campers ample time to adorn themselves in body paint or to join the queue at Fancy Schmancy costume hire. The Paper Scissors got into the masquerade theme early (on ‘em) and delivered a strong live performance largely thanks to Ivan Lisyak’s incredible drumming. At main stage, the Gold Coast’s Tijuana Cartel mixed breakbeat with some mean Afro-Cuban percussion and flamenco guitar solos. By the time they dropped ‘Letting it go’ the crowd was putty in their hands. In fact Tijuana would have been a far better way to end 2011 than the much-anticipated Gotye. The festival’s main event was a total fizzler. In the absence of any crowd banter and special guests, it boiled down to a lacklustre performer churning out his better-known hits. At the very least he could have done the whole thing painted in the nuddy. Thankfully the en masse midnight merry-making and after-party that carried on at the psychedelic Pirates’ Lair were more than enough to make up for it. At a time when Aussie music festivals are increasingly overshadowed by drug and alcohol-fuelled idiots, it’s great to see that Peats Ridge has managed to maintain a feel good eco- and family-friendly vibe. With a dome dedicated to artistic performances, a plethora of stalls selling local organic produce and crafts, art installations and a staggering variety of fresh food and high-quality drinks (fresh lime and ice with your vodka? Shut. Up.), it’s clear that a lot of love and attention has been put into the running of this event. And the results speak for themselves.
Leah Purcell's resume isn't short on highlights — think: Black Comedy, Wentworth and Redfern Now, plus Lantana, Somersault and Last Cab to Darwin (to name just a few projects) — but the Goa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka Murri actor, director and writer clearly has a passion project. In 2016, she adapted Henry Lawson's short story The Drover's Wife for the stage. In 2019, she moved it back to the page. Now, she brings it to the big screen via The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson. Only minutes into her searing feature filmmaking debut, why Purcell keeps needing to tell this 19th century-set tale is patently apparent. In her hands, it's a story of anger, power, prejudice and revenge, and also a portrait of a history that's treated both women and Indigenous Australians abhorrently. Aussie cinema hasn't shied away from the nation's problematic past in recent times (see also: Sweet Country, The Nightingale, The Furnace and High Ground); however, this is an unforgettably potent and piercing movie. In a fiery performance that bristles with steeliness, Purcell plays the eponymous, gun-toting and heavily pregnant Molly. In the process, she gives flesh, blood and a name to a character who wasn't allowed the latter in Lawson's version. In this reimagining, Molly is a 19th-century Indigenous Australian woman left alone with her four children (and one on the way) on a remote Snowy Mountains property for lengthy stretches while her husband works — and that situation, including the reasons behind it and the ramifications from it, causes ripples that shape the course of the film. Two of the key questions that The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson asks couldn't be more obvious, but something doesn't have to be subtle to be potent and perceptive. Those queries: what impact does being marginalised twice over, as both a woman and a First Nations Australian, leave on the feature's protagonist? How has it forged her personality, shaped what she cares about and cemented what she's capable of? It's during her spouse's latest absence that the film unfurls its story, not with a snake but rather strangers trotting Molly and her children's way. New sergeant Nate Clintoff (Sam Reid, The Newsreader) and his wife Louisa (Jessica De Gouw, Operation Buffalo) decamp from England — both well-meaning, and the latter a journalist who even protests against domestic violence, but neither truly understands Molly's experience. Also darkening her door: her husband's pals (Dead Lucky's Anthony Cogin and Wakefield's Harry Greenwood), who make the male entitlement and privilege of the time brutally apparent. And, there's no shortage of other locals determined and downright eager to throw their might, morals and opinions around, be it the resident judge (Nicholas Hope, Moon Rock for Monday), the minister (Bruce Spence, The Dry) or his unwed sister (Maggie Dence, Frayed). As Purcell impresses in her stare and stance first and foremost, Molly doesn't let her guard down around anyone. The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson has the parade of supporting characters to show why, and to illustrate the attitudes its namesake has been forced to stomach silently her entire life. She sports physical markers, too; from the outset of this moody and brooding film, there's no doubting that violence is a familiar and frequent part of Molly's existence. But Aboriginal fugitive Yadaka (Rob Collins, Firebite) is one of the few figures to venture in her direction and earn more than her ferocious gaze. He's on the run from murder charges, although he states his real crime bluntly: "existing while Black". Around the Johnson property, he strikes up a warm camaraderie with Molly's eldest boy, 12-year-old Danny (newcomer Malachi Dower-Roberts) — and, in another of the script's point-blank strokes, he's soon the closest thing to an ally his wary host has ever had beyond her children. Fiercely revisionist meat-pie westerns have been having their moments of late — spanning not only the aforementioned stretch of flicks, but back to The Proposition — and it's plain to see why. The always-blistering The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson digs sharply into issues of race, gender and identity, looking backwards with modern eyes to lay bare the horrors that've lingered at Australia's core for too long. It's a silver-screen reckoning, as its predecessors have been as well. It's also as resonant and striking as this Aussies slice of the genre has ever managed. Westerns as a whole have never simply dramatised frontier and colonial times, of course, but pondered the threats, behaviours and ways of thinking that were emboldened and entrenched amid all that dry, dusty land. In that tradition — one that, overseas, includes Deadwood and Django Unchained, too — The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson keenly, shrewdly and forcefully draws cinematic blood. Also simple to spot: the dedication that Purcell brings, on- as well as off-screen, to her unflinching examination of the country's past. It's there in every exacting frame, and obviously in her performance — which adds a new and instantly memorable Indigenous hero to the nation's screens. Purcell makes it impossible to look away from her film and its lead character, even while it's rarely easy to weather everything that Molly's been made to bear. Her scenes with Collins, intimate and heaving with shared woes as they are, crackle and spark with fury and pain. Both veterans of 2016–17 TV series Cleverman (Purcell as a director, Collins as a star), they gift The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson with portrayals that demand attention, and that never let the movie's First Nations, feminist and anti-colonial perspective waver in intensity. The theatre version of The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson won a spate of accolades, the 2017 Helpmann Award for Best Play included, so that there's a stagey feel to Purcell's feature is similarly unsurprising. That's one of its few struggles, though. Cinematographer Mark Wareham (Jasper Jones) has been tasked with trying to thwart that sensation, and overtly — but his expressive camerawork still adds beauty and texture to the film, welcomely so. And, when The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson does resemble impassioned dialogue pitched to the back rows, something else pivotal becomes apparent. A story this fervent and bold should echo across multiple formats. It needs to feel as if it's shouting its ire as far and wide as possible, and that every attempt to do exactly that is bleeding together as well as spreading. The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson will get another chance and another medium to do just that, in fact, with a TV series already slated to follow this commanding movie.
This month Alex Steinweiss, the inventor of the album cover, died at the age of 94. In the 1930s his simple idea revolutionised the marketing of music, and although the digital revolution hasn't killed off the music industry in the way many predicted, perhaps the marketing and consumption of music is due for another shake up. We look at three ways artists are using new tech to grab their fans' attention and beat the pirates. 1. Make it collaborative. Many a young band has called on friends and fans to help make their first film clip. British band The Vaccines have taken the idea to their entire fanbase, inviting them to provide images of their summer festival experiences via instagram to make the clip to their new song 'Wetsuit.' Other artists like Imogen Heap have gone a step further and asked fans to pitch in with creating the lyrics and music. https://youtube.com/watch?v=ur-y7oOto14 2. Make it interactive. By and large, music is now consumed digitally, either online or via a portable device that probably starts with 'i'. In the same way that Steinweiss used the medium of the record sleeve, artists are using the web and digital devices to express their creativity and involve the 'listener' on more levels. The Polyphonic Spree's latest single Bullseye is available as an interactive, video-game-like app. OK Go have released their latest song, 'All Is Not Lost', online with a dedicated website where, thanks to the magic of HTML5, viewers can generate a customised, kaleidoscopic video featuring their own message spelled out by the Pilobolus dancers. https://youtube.com/watch?v=o8AELvVUFLw 3. Make it immersive. Going one step further, Bjork has released her entire album Biophilia as a free app. Within the app you can purchase the tracks, each of which comes with its own game, video, musical score and sleeve notes. The volume and variety of material on offer demonstrates that there is a world of possibilities for artists to deliver far more than just an audio file, and change the way we consume music. [via PSFK]
A luxurious, all-expenses-paid staycation awaits you in the penthouse suite at the top level of one Kokoda Property's homes. Kokoda has recently opened a new development in Newstead, two-kilometres from Brisbane's CBD, so it's giving you the chance to spend five nights in the building's penthouse to really live it up around the river city. Valued at over $8000, the prize also includes return flights to and from Brisbane for you and your guest, a private chef for your meals and a whopping $5000 spending money to ensure you can splurge on pretty much anything your heart desires during your stay in Brisbane. To top the whole thing off, you'll also score a $1000 furniture gift card to deck out your home with some new pieces of furniture that will remind you of your luxe trip to Brisbane. The competition comes just in time for a post-summer getaway for anyone who had their plans ruined due to the pandemic or La Nina. If you're looking for inspiration for where to head in the city, you can check out our neighbourhood guide to Brisbane. In order to enter, head to the Kokoda Property website and follow the property group on Instagram where you can stay up to date with all of Kokoda's giveaways. The comp closes on Monday, April 4. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
