Having recently returned from a spot of European travel-on-a-shoestring, I think I can hyperbolically decree that the Sleepbox may well be one of the greatest things I have ever seen. Sleepbox, designed by the Arch Group, does essentially what it says on the tin: it's a pod wide enough for a bed and a drop-down desk. This means that the days of sleeping on rows of metal chairs while clutching your belongings for dear life or sitting slumped over coffee-flavoured hot water in an airport food court may well be behind us. The first Sleepbox has recently been installed in Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, and can be rented out from half an hour to many hours. Kitted out with an LED reading light, WiFi and electrical outlets for you to charge your phone or get your ironing done or whatever it is you need to do, the pods also come with a mechanism which automatically changes the linen once each guest checks out. Which means there is less chance you will have to come into close contact with the bodily odours of others before you have to sit wedged beside them for fourteen hours in a flying tin can. Arch Group is proposing Sleepbox as a contemporary staple of urban life, with plans to set them up in other airports, railway stations. large shopping spaces, and even on the streets in warm climates. Genius. https://youtube.com/watch?v=3qxnqy37KPc [Via PSFK]
Doughnut chain Krispy Kreme has had sweet-toothed Aussies in its grip for years now, and it's showing no signs of relenting on our tastebuds. The chain doesn't just pump out its original glazed doughnuts, but also serves up various themed versions that've been getting everyone salivating. Who can forget trying to catch all of the Pokemon-themed doughnuts last year, or coveting those Caramilk doughnuts, too? Now, the doughnut chain has teamed up with fellow iconic US brand Hershey's, whipping up three brand-new American-inspired sweet treats that you might be tempted to travel to New York for. Don't worry — you actually only need to travel to your nearest Krispy Kreme or 7-Eleven stores. The first on the lineup of Hershey's Krispy Kreme deliciousness is the Choc Strawberry doughnut, which comes filled with a special Hershey's choc crème and dipped in strawberry truffle, before being topped with chocolate chips and icing. Or if you're a die-hard chocoholic, you'll probably go for the Ultimate Choc: again filled with the choc crème, this doughnut is then dipped in milk chocolate ganache, before it's finished off with chocolate chips and ganache drizzle. And, only at 7-Eleven stores, you can get S'Mores doughnuts. They take Krispy Kreme's usual ring of deliciousness, swirl it with whipped marshmallow filling, then cover it in chocolate dip — and adds Hershey's semi-sweet choc chips and biscuit crumb on top. Yeah, we'll take one of each, thanks. But, be quick: launching on Tuesday, February 22, these special edition doughnuts are only available for a limited time, so you'll want to hustle. And you won't want to tell your personal trainer. Krispy Kreme's Hershey's doughnuts launch in-store, online and at 7-Elevens on Tuesday, February 22 — and will be available for a limited time.
Adoration opens with the seaside funeral of Theo, an event which doesn't seem to have particularly bothered anyone. His wife, Lil (Naomi Watts), and her best friend, Roz (Robin Wright), are altogether content with their lot; they live in a Garden of Eden-like seaside town and enjoy a friendship so enduring and close that people in the small community whisper that they are "lezzoes". When Roz's husband, Harold (Ben Mendelsohn), leaves for a job teaching drama in Sydney, the path is clear for them to give into temptation as each takes the other's gym-toned surf-loving son, Ian (Xavier Samuel) and Tom (James Frecheville), as lovers. At a preview screening, there were scattered laughs throughout, a worry for a film aiming for thoughtful adult drama rather than comedy. Adoration takes itself very seriously, though there are some potentially interesting ideas bubbling away underneath the slick surface, not least a sense that Lil and Roz are taking up these younger lovers for deeper reasons than a simple desire for their attractive sons — they are grasping at the memory of their own faded youth and seeking to be even closer with each other, the young men acting as substitutes for their own sublimated love. But too often the film wastes the dramatic potential of its material and settles for clunky symbolism rather than nuance; a scene where the characters sit down to eat an apple for no particular reason apart from the obvious biblical symbolism is particularly galling. Perhaps a director as versed with melodrama as Pedro Almodóvar could have made a great film out of Adoration, but this version stubbornly refuses to embrace the essential soapy silliness at its core, instead stretching for serious drama. Cue Lil looking off into the middle distance and intoning "We've crossed a line here" as she and Roz ponder their latest transgressions. A baffling development sees Tom, previously a monosyllabic lunk, declare his ambitions of working in theatre and temporarily move to Sydney, where he meets an aspiring actress, Mary (a scene-stealing Jessica Tovey), who also gets dragged into their web of adultery and deceit. Meanwhile, Lil's hapless suitor Saul (Gary Sweet) trails after her like a despondent puppy, dimly unaware of the fraught emotions of the group he longs to be part of. Blessed with a paradisiacal backdrop and shot with a stylish malevolence, Adoration is a kind of interesting failure. It isn't as bad as unintended guffaws would suggest, but it's hard to escape the feeling of missed opportunity here. https://youtube.com/watch?v=4xYrRsZpoxI
Portside is no stranger to hosting markets, after holding Mother's Day markets, a dedicated vegan market, and a blossoming plant and flower market as well. For its next event, it's celebrating spring — by the water, with stalls to browse, and with free posies and coffee to grab. If you really like browsing and buying, taking in the riverside air, and having a reason to stop for a bite and a drink, you'll want to head to Hamilton on Saturday, September 24. From 10am–2pm, you can shop, stroll and sip, which sounds like a mighty fine weekend itinerary. More than 50 stalls, Portside's biggest showing so far, will offer up plenty for you to browse and buy, including art, plants, ceramics, pet treats, clothing, accessories and more. If you've been to markets at the Gasworks, or in Fish Lane, Coorparoo and Gabba South City, you'll have a firm idea of what you're in for — because The Market Folk is behind all of the above, and is running this returning Portside event as well. To give your shopping a soundtrack, live tunes from Sam Perren will echo through the Hamilton precinct. For snaps, there'll be an Instagram photo wall. And, if those hunger pangs strike — or you're just keen on having a drink — the precinct's eateries and bars will be open. As for those freebies, there'll be 100 free posies and 50 free coffees on offer on a first-come-first-served basis. Images: Claudia Baxter.
Someone somewhere has dressed up as one of IKEA's coveted blue bags for Halloween, or fashioned an outfit out of them for the eerie occasion. This year, in the lead up to spooky day, you can do that too if you like. Or, you can just wear whatever frightening threads you prefer, or even your normal getup, to the Swedish chain's three-course Halloween dining experience. Yes, two faves are joining forces: IKEA and Halloween. No, you won't just be eating those Swedish meatballs (take children along with you, however, and that is indeed what they'll be tucking into). Happening at the brand's Logan and North Lakes stores in Brisbane, the Halloween feast costs $30 for adults and $25 if you're an IKEA Family member. On the menu: mac 'n' cheese, crispy fried chicken and veggie burgers, as well as pancakes with berry compote and vanilla soft serve for dessert. You'll want to book tickets ASAP — IKEA's food events are always popular — for 5.30pm on Friday, October 28 at North Lakes, and the same time on Saturday, October 29 at Logan. The furniture and homewares giant is also hosting kids' activities around the dinner at some locations, complete with trick-or-treat sessions, face painting, treasure hunts, craft workshops and costume contests, if you feel like being a favourite aunt or uncle for the night.
Australia's clash-free, one-day summer festival is back for a fifth year at Brisbane Showgrounds. This year, it's bring out flute-playing babe Lizzo ('Truth Hurts' and 'Juice') plus Texas-via-California rap collective Brockhampton. If you missed out on tickets to US rapper Lizzo's Sydney Opera House gig (which sold out in minutes) you can still catch her singing tracks from her album Cuz I Love You at the January festival. Modern-day boyband Brockhampton headline the bill, bringing their troupe of rappers, directors, photographers, engineers, producers, graphic designers and DJs to Brisbane once again with their catchy pop-led tracks 'Sugar', 'No Halo' and 'Bleach'. Joining Brockhampton and Lizzo is Canadian producer Kaytranada, who's set to drop a new album any day now. Other big names on the lineup include French singer Madeon, UK rapper Octavian and, from the local contingent, hip-hop artist Chillinit and Sydney producer Ninajirachi. Image: Jordan Munns.
This Saturday night, Greaser wants you to dress up like you've just stepped out of your favourite Michael J. Fox-starring '80s movie. Okay, your second favourite. At their annual Halloween get-together, Teen Wolf is in the spotlight. Prepare to have a howling good time. Yep, there ain't no Halloween party like an '80s werewolf Halloween party, so you'd best do your part. That means dressing up in your furriest costume and pretending you're a high school teenager who transforms into a basketball-playing canine monster, for starters. Anything '80s, horror-ish and college-like will count as well, though you really do want to wear something that'll stand out in the evening's neon disco.
Given its title, audiences could be forgiven for thinking that The Promise is a Nicholas Sparks-penned romance. It's not, although in truth this tale of love in the time of the Armenian genocide isn't all that different from the sappy fluff the author of The Notebook, The Lucky One and The Choice tends to peddle. Indeed, the latest effort from writer-director Terry George (Hotel Rwanda) has a one-track agenda: bringing an attractive couple together, tearing them apart and then forcing them to overcome horrific obstacles in an attempt to reunite. Oscar Isaac and Charlotte Le Bon play Armenians during the First World War. He's Mikael, a poor village apothecary who agrees to marry a local girl so he can use the dowry to pay for medical school in Constantinople. She's Ana, a well-off tutor who was raised in Paris. When sparks fly, there's plenty of complicating factors keeping them apart — including his betrothed back home and her boyfriend Chris (Christian Bale), an arrogant but fearless American journalist. Then there's the matter of the Ottoman Empire's campaign of violence against their people, which hinders Mikael and Ana at every turn. If it sounds as though we're downplaying the horrors inflicted on the Armenian population, that's because we're taking our cues from the film. The Promise never pushes the Turkish military's eradication efforts to the side — in fact, there's plenty of bleakness and brutality on display. Yet by using the conflict as a backdrop for a sweeping love story, the end result is the same. Given that the movie is billed as the first major feature to explore these particular events, that's obviously an problem. It really should go without saying that such an awful chapter of history doesn't need to be packaged as a grand romance to evoke an emotional reaction, and that it clearly deserves more considered, thoughtful treatment. Of course, filmmakers have been pairing love and war for as long as they've been making movies. The problem is that The Promise doesn't even try to find the right balance. Instead, it turns a rising death toll into a glimmer of hope that the central duo will find a way to be together. When you think about what that could mean for the other players in their overlapping love triangles, it all seems not only calculated, but highly disrespectful as well. Two factors at least help The Promise look the part, even if it struggles elsewhere. Handsome cinematography gives the movie the requisite epic sheen, while Isaac, Le Bon and Bale all put in solid performances. There's energy in their portrayals that isn't evident in the material otherwise, although sadly the trio can't completely enliven bland characters. Rather, they're stuck being the best things about a film that doesn't know the difference between having good intentions and actually following through on them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxjkuy3c3Lw
Emporium's Piano Bar glitters every day of the year, all thanks to its cascading gold and crystal chandelier, as well as its sizeable array of shiny black mirrored surfaces. Come Christmas, it doesn't need to do much decorating to sparkle — but the luxe South Bank spot is serving up festive cocktails to get you in a merry, jolly mood. Until the big day hits, two seasonal tipples are on offer for those who like their Christmas spirit with some actual spirits. The 'Rum and Raisin' combines Ron Zacapa, Havana 7, port, chocolate bitters and a burnt cinnamon stick, while the 'Christmas Pear-ty' features Beefeater pink gin, elderflower, pomegranate and pear. They'll both set you back $20. Whether you're doing your seasonal celebrating over lunch or after work, the cocktails are available from 10am until close every day of the week. Timing your visit to coincide with the venue's regular live music lineup is recommended — hear a pianist tickle the ivories from 5pm on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and from 2pm on Sundays. On Thursdays from 6pm, and Friday and Saturday nights from 8pm, live jazz also echoes through the space.
Since forming back in 1981, the Beastie Boys have enjoyed quite the career. The New York hip hop outfit has sold more than 50 million records, caused a splash with its music videos and assumedly inspired plenty of folks to dance like robots in Tokyo train stations. In 2012, it also lost one of its three members — Adam "MCA" Yauch — to cancer, then officially disbanded in 2014. The above summary barely scratches the surface, of course; however Apple TV+'s new live documentary is here to fill in the gaps. Based on surviving Beasties Mike "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz's bestselling Beastie Boys Book, it takes audiences through the group's ups and downs — as guided by Mike D and Ad-Rock themselves. If you're wondering exactly what Beastie Boys Story will focus on, the band's 'Paul Revere' sums it up nicely. Clearly, here's a little story that Apple TV+ has to tell about three bad brothers you know so well. And yes, it started way back in history with Ad Rock, MCA and Mike D. As directed by Being John Malkovich and Her filmmaker Spike Jonze — who also helmed the Beasties' iconic 'Sabotage' music video, as well as clips for 'Time for Livin', 'Ricky's Theme', 'Sure Shot', 'Root Down' and 'Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win' — Beastie Boys Story is drawn not only from MCA and Mike D's book, but from the live performances that followed after it hit shelves. After publication, the duo took to the stage to talk fans through their career, in a show directed by Jonze as well. So mixing the performance with archival clips and turning it into a documentary was the clear next step, really. Originally due to premiere at this year's now-cancelled SXSW, Beastie Boys Story will hit Apple TV+ globally on Friday, April 24. As the just-dropped first trailer shows, it's a wild ride — and its filled with killer tunes. Ch-check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCyqR2RXoQU Beastie Boys Story hits Apple TV+ on Friday, April 24+.
Delivery Man is not your typical Vince Vaughn film. Whilst we have grown accustomed to his formulaic comedic persona, here we are treated to a change of pace with a down-to-earth and likeable Vaughn. He plays David Wozniak, a perennial underachiever and incompetent meat truck driver for the family business (okay, so his stereotype remains to begin with). Triggered into bringing order to his life upon discovering his girlfriend Emma (Cobie Smulders) is pregnant, he is disturbed to find he is the biological father of 533 children, 142 of which are suing him to uncover his identity. This is all courtesy of a colossal mistake by the sperm donor facility a younger Wozniak anonymously frequented under the pseudonym 'Starbuck'. Delivery Man is the American adaptation of French-Canadian film Starbuck and succeeds largely due to the presence of Ken Scott, who wrote and directed the original. He ensures that the film retains its sincerity, allowing the exploration of the challenges of parenthood, albeit in farcically exaggerated circumstances, to bloom. Whilst the material provides plenty of opportunity for the film to descend into satire and farce, its decision to stay the course and explore the raw emotion of familial relationships is what makes this film worth giving a chance. It skips the diaper-changing staple of parenthood films and instead delves into the core of parenting: accepting your children no matter what. This allows for beautiful moments, the best of which is David visiting one of his sons who is severely disabled in a home. It is both touching and heart-warming, words I never thought I would write when discussing a film featuring Vaughn. Providing the comic relief is David's best friend and unsuccessful lawyer Brett, played brilliantly by Chris Pratt. Brett's attempt to single-handedly raise his four young children whilst pleading the case for his friend's anonymity provides the comic relief that frees Vaughn from his typical role of funny man. Pratt surely has a future of funny features ahead. Delivery Man of course has its faults, the largest of which is the injection of Wozniak's vegan hipster son Viggo (Adam Chanler-Berat); the writers clearly were unaware that these stereotypes were last funny three years ago. Viggo uncovers that David is the father of the list of plaintiffs (that includes himself) and yet saves nobody their suffering or legal costs by exposing him. Also, some of the connections feel short-lived, an inevitable product of suddenly trying to make a connection with 142 children in 100 minutes. This film won't win any awards, but it isn't trying to. Hollywood needs films like this to plug the gaps between the blockbusters and audiences need these films to watch in between the Harry Potters and Hobbits. Delivery Man fills this void and, if nothing else, should be a prime candidate for Cheap Tuesday. https://youtube.com/watch?v=yGAktL45XNQ
One of Brisbane's most recent traditions is also one of its most fun: themed mini golf at different times of year at the Victoria Park Putt Putt Course. At Christmas, the site gives itself a festive revamp. At Easter, a candy-themed wonderland pops up. And, the Halloween spirit kicks in for a month and a half leading up to the spookiest date of the year — including in 2023. From Friday, September 15–Tuesday, October 31, the venue's greens will be getting a horror-themed makeover — and, no, missing a hole in one won't be the most terrifying thing about your stint on the course. As it did in 2022, the mini-golf spot is busting out something that's haunted one of Stephen King's best-known horror novels, the movies based on them, and just life in general: clowns being creepy, chilling and downright terrifying. How do you feel about M3GAN, Annabelle, Chucky and the like instead? Evil dolls are also one of 2023's source of inspiration. Fancy seeing how you cope with both types of eerie figures while you're tap, tap, tapping? Wondering if all that makeup and those unsettling toy stares will put you off your short game? When you're doing the monster mash on the green this year, you'll also be trying to avoid frightening jokers and unnerving playthings. Zombies, witches, spiders, toxic waste barrels, tombstones, pumpkins: they're also among the petrifying things that'll be improving or scaring your short game again. So is a spot called Broken Bones Boulevard. If a haunted house was to meet up with a mini golf course, this is what it'd look like. Bookings are essential, with the course open from 6am–10pm Sunday–Thursday and 6am–11pm Friday–Saturday. Fancy a few holes before work? Want to add some fun to your lunch break? Need something to look forward to come quitting time? They're all options. Just remember that it's a family-friendly affair, so you'll likely have plenty of company — and tickets cost $23 per adult. Also, for liquid courage, there'll be Altos Tequila slushie margaritas available to purchase. Spooky Putt Putt takes over the Victoria Park Putt Putt Course at 309 Herston Road, Herston from Friday, September 15–Tuesday, October 31, open 6am–10pm Sunday–Thursday (and public holidays) and 6am–11pm Friday–Saturday — with tickets costing $23 for adults. For more information, head to the venue's website.
The frogs need your help. At least 30 Australian and New Zealand species of frogs are currently considered endangered, a statistic that wasn't helped by the disastrous 2019/20 Australian bushfire season. In response to this dire frog situation, Cadbury has partnered with Taronga Zoo, Zoos Victoria and Conservation Volunteers Australia to raise awareness about at-risk frog species by replacing the iconic Freddo mascot with real amphibians on the front of each packet of Freddo Frogs. Cadbury isn't just raising awareness though, the chocolate brand has also pledged $600,000 across three years to support zoo and conservation experts in Australia and New Zealand and their efforts to save our smiley little friends. These funds are going towards research and breeding programs including a new breeding bunker at Healesville Sanctuary. Taronga is also introducing a new frog exhibit to its beloved Sydney site that centres around educating people on endangered frogs and conservation efforts. The Freddo packets, which are currently available in Australian supermarkets, feature two endangered species: the spotted tree frog and the northern corroboree frog. Both are among Australia's most endangered species. Zoos Victoria has been fighting save the former from extinction through its role in the Spotted Tree Frog Recovery Program, while Taronga Zoo has already released hundreds of corroboree frogs and thousands of eggs into Kosciuszko and Brindabella National Parks through its breeding programs. The Freddo packets are available in 12 packs or as individual Freddos at major Australian supermarkets and independent retailers. You can find out more about the campaign and donate to the conservation projects via Cadbury's website. 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.
Think there's just one Hottest 100 in January? Think again. The second important countdown of the month actually goes rather well with the music poll that just proclaimed The Wiggles' cover of Tame Impala's 'Elephant' as the nation's best track of 2021. In fact, while you were listening to the hottest songs of the past year, you might've been sipping some of these other winners. That'd be the great brews in the spotlight on the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers list, which does for yeasty tipples what Triple J's poll does for bangers. And, just like its music counterpart, a worthy victor has come out on top. That'd be Bentspoke Brewing Co, with the Canberra brewery taking out the top spot with its Crankshaft American IPA for the second year in a row. In doing so, it bested 2017 and 2018 winner Balter Brewing Company, which came in second with its Balter XPA; Your Mates Brewing Co, which took third spot with its Larry pale ale; and Stone & Wood's Pacific Ale, the winner of the 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2019 polls, and 2020's second-place getter, which nabbed fourth position this year. As it did in 2020, Bentspoke had five beers in the 2021 top 100 list in total, which is clearly something to toast to — also coming in 12th for its Barley Griffin Australian Pale Ale, 41st for its Sprocket American IPA, 45th for its Cluster 8 Imperial IPA and 91st for its Red Nut Red IPA. Run by GABS — or the annual festival also known as the 'Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular' — the countdown is a people's-choice poll decided by booze-lovers around the country. Now in its 14th year, it saw a huge 2238 beers nominated this time around, hailing from 281 breweries. Still playing the numbers game, 58 beermakers nabbed a spot on the 2021 list — and, states-wise, Queensland emerged victorious with 30 brews on the full rundown of 100 beers, followed by Victoria with 22, New South Wales with 20, the Australian Capital Territory with 12, and South Australia and Western Australia with eight apiece. 2021 was also a big year for new brews, with 37 beers making their GABS Hottest 100 debut. And, low- and no-alcohol tipples also made a splash, including Heaps Normal's Quiet XPA debuting at 20 and Sobah Beverages' zero-alcohol Pepperberry IPA taking 69th place. If you're thinking "less background, more beer", here's what you've been waiting for: the rundown of the best beverages from the past year that just keep tempting tastebuds. Black Hops, Better Beer, Capital (with two showings), Ballistic and Young Henrys round out the top ten, while Coopers, Bridge Road, Pirate Life, Gage Roads, Kaiju!, Heads of Noosa, Brick Lane, Moon Dog, 4 Pines, Philter, Stomping Ground, Grifter, Hawke's and Mountain Goat and are among the other brands featured. Working your way through the whole 100 isn't just a great way to show your appreciation for locally made brews, either — consider it research for the 2022 countdown. GABS HOTTEST 100 AUSSIE CRAFT BEERS OF 2021: BentSpoke Brewing Co — Crankshaft IPA Balter Brewing — Balter XPA Your Mates Brewing Co — Larry Stone & Wood Brewing Co — Pacific Ale Black Hops Brewery — G.O.A.T. Better Beer — Better Beer Zero Carb Capital Brewing Co — Capital XPA Ballistic Beer Co — Hawaiian Haze Capital Brewing Co — Coast Ale Young Henrys — Newtowner Coopers Brewery — Original Pale Ale BentSpoke Brewing Co — Barley Griffin Balter Brewing — Balter Hazy Bridge Road Brewers — Beechworth Pale Ale Beerfarm — Royal Haze Pirate Life Brewing — South Coast Pale Ale Gage Roads Brewing Co — Single Fin KAIJU! Beer — KRUSH! Tropical Pale Ale Black Hops Brewery — East Coast Haze Heaps Normal — Quiet XPA Heads Of Noosa Brewing Co — Japanese Lager Brick Lane Brewing Co — One Love Pale Ale Little Creatures — Little Creatures Pale Ale Moon Dog Craft Brewery — Old Mate Philter Brewing — Philter XPA Mountain Goat Beer — GOAT Very Enjoyable Beer Feral Brewing Co — Biggie Juice Brookvale Union — Ginger Beer 4 Pines Brewing Co — 4 Pines Pacific Ale Big Shed Brewing Concern — Boozy Fruit Hawke's Brewing — Hawke's Patio Pale Bright Brewery — Alpine Lager Grifter Brewing Co — Pale Blackflag Brewing — Rage Juicy Pale Green Beacon Brewing Co — Wayfarer Stomping Ground Brewing Co — Gipps St Pale Ale Akasha Brewing Co — Hopsmith IPA Dainton Beer — Blood Orange NEIPA Revel Brewing Co — Strawberries & Cream Sour Ale Coopers Brewery — Sparkling Ale BentSpoke Brewing Co — Sprocket Capital Brewing Co — Hang Loose Juice Blood Orange NEIPA Coopers Brewery — Coopers XPA Your Mates Brewing Co — Sally BentSpoke Brewing Co — Cluster 8 Black Hops Brewery — Neverland Balter Brewing — Eazy Hazy Ballistic Beer Co — Hawaiian Haze IPA Capital Brewing Co West Coast NEIPA — Mountain Culture Collab Coopers Brewery — Coopers Pacific Pale Ale Bodriggy Brewing Co — Speccy Juice Colonial Brewing Co — Colonial Pale Ale Grifter Brewing Co — Serpents Kiss Sunday Road Brewing — Cryotherapy Deeds Brewing — Juice Train 10 Toes Brewery — Pipeline Pale Burleigh Brewing Co — Bighead No-carb Lager Hop Nation Brewing Co — J-Juice Range Brewing Co — Lights + Music Black Hops Brewery — Hop Swap Black Hops Brewery — Black Hops Pale Ale Your Mates Brewing Co — Macca Balter Brewing — Captain Sensible Capital Brewing Co — Trail Pale Ale Hawke's Brewing — Hawke's Lager Burleigh Brewing Co — Twisted Palm One Drop Brewing Co — Double Vanilla Custard Pancake Imperial Nitro Thickshake IPA Cronulla Beer Co — Next Level XPA Sobah Beverages — Pepperberry IPA Jetty Road Brewery — Jetty Road Pale Ale Brouhaha Brewery — Strawberry Rhubarb Sour Stone & Wood Brewing Co — Cloud Catcher Blackman's Brewery — Juicy Banger 4 Pines Brewing Co — 4 Pines Pale Ale Brick Lane Brewing Co — Sidewinder Hazy Pale Hop Nation Brewing Co — Rattenhund Sunday Road Brewing — Enigma Ale Otherside Brewing Co — Anthem IPA Bad Shepherd Brewing Co — Peanut Butter Porter Ballistic Beer Co — Mexican Hot Chocolate Stout Black Hops Brewery — Hornet Little Creatures — Pacific Ale Your Mates Brewing Co — Eddie Dainton Beer — Jungle Juice Bodriggy Brewing Co — Utropia Pale Ale Young Henrys — The Unifier Hawkers Beer — West Coast IPA Mismatch Brewing Co — Mismatch Session Ale Gage Roads Brewing Co — Side Track All Day XPA Little Bang Brewing Co — Face Inverter BentSpoke Brewing Co — Red Nut Tumut River Brewing Co — Ginja Ninja Eumundi Brewery — Eumundi Alcoholic Ginger Beer Deeds Brewing — Once More Into the Fray Akasha Brewing Co — Mosaic IPA Ballistic Beer Co — Low Ha Capital Brewing Co — Rock Hopper IPA Wayward Brewing Co — Raspberry Berliner Weisse Willie The Boatman — Nectar Of The Hops Balter Brewing — CryoHaze For more information about the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2021, head to the GABS website.
Take a seat. Please, I insist, just so that you can jump out of it and celebrate in true headbanging style at the news that Nine Inch Nails and Queens of the Stone Age are heading Down Under in 2014 for a co-headline tour. Okay, now take a seat again and continue to read on. Two of the biggest acts in alternative rock are set to arrive on our shores in March next year. This is glorious news to Oceania fans who haven't seen Nine Inch Nails since 2009 and Queens of the Stone Age since 2011. Both bands have teased since May about heading this way, when Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme told triple j's Tom and Alex, "Everybody who knows me knows that Australia is my home away from home. I also think it's time that we come and tell our own stories, so we're gonna skip the round of festivals and see you in your fall." Nine Inch Nails lead Trent Reznor then revealed his band's intentions to head down under when they turned down Soundwave in favour of a "better scenario" for fans. Well, there is no better scenario than seeing them combine with QOTSA for a tour that is sure to go down in legend. The tour comes on the back of Nine Inch Nails' and QOTSA's recent respective releases, the much-heralded Hesitation Marks and ...Like Clockwork, and they will be joined on stage by Australian-born Brody Dalle, Mrs Josh Homme, of The Distillers and Spinnerette fame. Which one of the two bands will play first each night? That will be left to a flip of the coin. Seriously.
Maybe you were planning to do your Christmas shopping in the CBD this year, and had a stop at Brisbane Arcade on your agenda. Perhaps your present-buying strategy just involves seeing what's on offer in the Queen Street Mall — amid all the festive hustle and bustle, obviously. For the third year in a row, there's an option that involves all of the above: the Brisbane Arcade Christmas Markets. That's when, for two big days, the Brisbane Arcade spills out onto the mall to fill it full of seasonal markets showcasing designer wares, fashion, gifts, accessories and other goodies (for your loved ones or for yourself). In 2022, the QSM takeover is happening from 10am–7pm on Friday, December 2 and 10am–4pm on Saturday, December 3. So, you can stop by after work during late-night shopping or make a day of it. The markets usually involve tunes — 'tis the season — and photo opportunities, and you can obviously still wander through the arcade to check out its latest festive decorations.
Director Pablo Berger's retelling of the Grimm Brothers' Snow White story is generating a lot of buzz right now. A silent, black-and-white, Spanish reinterpretation of that well-known childhood tale, the film is wowing critics and charming the pants off judges at film festivals worldwide (particularly San Sebastian and Toronto). It well may snaffle the Best Foreign Film Oscar. Macarena García gives a much-applauded performance as Carmen, a young orphan girl who suffers under the tyranny of her wicked stepmother Encarna, played with evil relish by Maribel Verdú. Long story short, she changes her name to Blancanieves (Spanish for Snow White, obvs), teams up with a crew of wily dwarves and becomes a successful bullfighter. There's lots of flamenco music, some fabulous cinematography and a stellar Spanish cast. Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian enthuses, "All I can say is that there's a flash of pure inspiration, unfakeable and unmistakable, in this extraordinarily enjoyable film." If you struggled to sit through 2011's silent black-and-white hit The Artist you might already be ruling this out — but you should know that Blancanieves is a very different film, one that Berger had already been working on for eight years by the time Jean Dujardin's face was first lighting up the screen at Cannes. Blancanieves is in cinemas on October 24, and thanks to Rialto Distribution, we have ten double in-season passes to give away. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email us with your name and address. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au
Winter is coming, as Game of Thrones has been telling us for years — but the show's final season is coming first. Before the weather turns cold again in the southern hemisphere, fans of the epic HBO series will be able to discover how the popular series wraps up, so mark your calendars accordingly. After leaving everyone hanging for the entirety of 2018, HBO has announced that Game of Thrones' eighth and final season will hit the small screen in April 2019, nearly two years after season seven premiered in July 2017. The US network hasn't announced an exact premiere date as yet, but even knowing which month to look forward to is good news. If you're eager to get your fix of the series' staples — that is, battles, bloodshed, betrayal, bare chests, family bickering, Jon Snow knowing nothing (including about his long-lost aunt) and plenty of dragons — then you can almost start counting down the days. HBO revealed the month in a fairly generic video on the Game of Thrones Facebook page, and you can probably expect a precise date and even a trailer to follow soon enough. If you're looking for clues from past seasons, seasons one to six all premiered between March 31 and April 24, so really any Sunday in April, US time — so Monday in Australia — is possible. Of course, we all know that this isn't really the end of the world created by author George RR Martin — and no, we're not talking about the now seven-year wait for his next book in the literary franchise, The Winds of Winter. A prequel TV series to Game of Thrones is in the works, set thousands of years before the events we've all be watching since 2011, with Naomi Watts set to star. Come next year, you'll also be able to tour original GoT filming locations in Northern Ireland. https://www.facebook.com/GameOfThrones/videos/734669123560089/ Game of Thrones season eight will arrive on HBO in April, 2019.
Next time you fly domestically, you might notice something missing during your time in the air. Virgin Australia has announced an overhaul of its menus, effective immediately, with one big change bound to hit economy passengers' stomachs: the scrapping of free snacks. Those small bites to eat that helped stop your hunger pangs while zipping around the country have been axed, in favour of a new lineup of snacks to purchase. The airline says that it "has found that travellers would prefer to choose their own food and beverage in a buy onboard model on domestic flights, instead of receiving a predetermined snack." It also advises that the price of the snack has been taken out of the company's economy ticket prices, making them slightly cheaper. So, unless you stock up on food in the airport, you'll be forking out some cash while you're in the air — on cheese and crackers, muffins, chips, chocolate, lollies and two types of noodles. The drinks list includes soft drinks, hot chocolates, wine, beer, spirits and premixed gin and sodas, but you will still get complimentary tea, coffee and water. Virgin plans to expand its economy menu down the line, too, once the demand for flights gets back to near pre-pandemic levels. For those travelling in business class, the airline has dropped a bigger range of hot meals and salads, including smashed avocado on sourdough for breakfast, haloumi and quinoa salad for lunch, and lamb and rosemary pie for dinner, all of which is being served on crockery and glassware — and with proper cutlery as well. For more information about Virgin Australia's menu changes — which are in effect now — head to the airline's website.
With a certain mid-November leaders' summit coming up ever sooner, you'd be forgiven for succumbing to some of the niggling public confusion that's abounding in Brisbane. Common questions are "What even is the G20?" and, more importantly, "Do I get a public holiday?" While we can't answer those ones for you, we can tell you that reigning Brisbane burger empire Burger Urge is crafting a special, G20-exclusive burger that'll give meaning and purpose to those coming three days of inevitable road closures, military-level security, and jokes about presidents with a penchant for macho publicity stunts involving doing equestrian sports in the (semi) nude. It's called The Big Bad Vlad, it's billed as the "taste of G20," and it's only available when the G20's happening — November 14, 15 and 16. Burger Urge say they're not naming names, and that "The Big Bad Vlad in no way singles out any individual leader." But with the timely tagline "Shirtfront one today!", picking up one of these babies is basically the same as giving a big fat up yours to a certain oppressive leader of an unnamed ex-Soviet megastate, a la this. (The cringe level on that one is high, click at your own discretion.) The Big Bad Vlad comes from a long tradition of continually rotating Burger Urge specials. Recently they've cooked up Fat Elvis burgers with lashings of bacon and three types of sauce, made magic of a plain ol' bun with pork and fried noodles and called it The Genghis Khan, and gone all US of A with ranch sauce and cheddar for The Manhattan Project. Now, while world leaders and delegates are discussing Important Stuff like the future of world economies and labour mobility, you can do your bit for sticking it to the shirtless horse-riding man. So what, according to Burger Urge, does that undoubtedly highly satisfactory feeling taste like? Although the burger contains their much-loved thick-cut fries, the Vlad is far from being your regular old chip butty — this is a megalithic stack of two chicken breasts, two rashers of bacon, two slices of cheese, lettuce 'n' tomato, and a dollop of sweet chilli mayo that you'll be hard pressed not to slop all down your own shirtfront. Yeah. Shirtfront that one, Mr. President-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. Image by Ria Novosti.
Streaming services overflow with TV series to watch, with new titles added daily, but the best of them achieve a particular feat. We all have our favourite television show that it feels like we live inside; however, that isn't a sensation that any old program can manage. From 2023's new TV offerings so far, only the best of the best can make that claim. If you've already started planning a move to Tasmania thanks to an Australian murder-mystery comedy, you understand this. If you feel in your bones like you know how you'd react to the apocalypse, or having Pedro Pascal as your surrogate dad, you do as well. And if you just want to hang out in a coffee cafe with Aussie comedians, you're definitely ticking that box. They're some of 2023's best new TV shows so far — the series that, no matter how little couch time you have or how easy it is to just revisit Parks and Recreation again, you need to see. After hours and hours of viewing, we've chosen 15 of them now that 2023 is halfway through. Play catchup and you won't be able to say that you don't have anything to watch before the year is through. DEADLOCH Trust Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan, Australia's favourite Kates and funniest double act, to make a killer TV show about chasing a killer that's the perfect sum of two excellent halves. Given their individual and shared backgrounds, including creating and starring in cooking show sendup The Katering Show and morning television spoof Get Krack!n, the pair unsurprisingly add another reason to get chuckling to their resumes; however, with Deadloch, they also turn their attention to crime procedurals. The Kates already know how to make viewers laugh. They've established their talents as brilliant satirists and lovers of the absurd in the process. Now, splashing around those skills in Deadloch's exceptional eight-episode first season lead by Kate Box (Stateless) and Madeleine Sami (The Breaker Upperers), they've also crafted a dead-set stellar murder-mystery series. Taking place in a sleepy small town, commencing with a body on a beach, and following both the local cop trying to solve the case and the gung-ho blow-in from a big city leading the enquiries, Deadloch has all the crime genre basics covered from the get-go. The spot scandalised by the death is a sitcom-esque quirky community, another television staple that McCartney and McLennan nail. Parody requires deep knowledge and understanding; you can't comically rip into and riff on something if you aren't familiar with its every in and out. That said, Deadloch isn't in the business of simply mining well-worn TV setups and their myriad of conventions for giggles, although it does that expertly. With whip-smart writing, the Australian series is intelligent, hilarious, and all-round cracking as a whodunnit-style noir drama and as a comedy alike — and one of the streaming highlights of the year. Deadloch streams via Prime Video. Read our full review. I'M A VIRGO No one makes social satires like Boots Riley. Late in I'm a Virgo, when a character proclaims that "all art is propaganda", these words may as well be coming from The Coup frontman-turned-filmmaker's very own lips. In only his second screen project after the equally impassioned, intelligent, energetic, anarchic and exceptional 2018 film Sorry to Bother You, Riley doesn't have his latest struggling and striving hero utter this sentiment, however. Rather, it springs from the billionaire technology mogul also known as The Hero (Walton Goggins, George & Tammy), who's gleefully made himself the nemesis of 13-foot-tall series protagonist Cootie (Jharrel Jerome, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse). Knowing that all stories make a statement isn't just the domain of activists fighting for better futures for the masses, as Riley is, and he wants to ensure that his audience knows it. Indeed, I'm a Virgo is a show with something to say, and forcefully. Its creator is angry again, too, and wants everyone giving him their time to be bothered — and he still isn't sorry for a second. With Jerome as well-cast a lead as Atlanta's Lakeith Stanfield was, I'm a Virgo also hinges upon a surreal central detail: instead of a Black telemarketer discovering the impact of his "white voice", it hones in on the oversized Cootie. When it comes to assimilation, consider this series Sorry to Bother You's flipside, because there's no way that a young Black man that's more than double the tallest average height is passing for anyone but himself. Riley knows that Black men are too often seen as threats and targets regardless of their stature anyway. He's read the research showing that white folks can perceive Black boys as older and less innocent. As Cootie wades through these experiences himself, there isn't a single aspect of I'm a Virgo that doesn't convey Riley's ire at the state of the world — that doesn't virtually scream about it, actually — with this series going big and bold over and over. I'm a Virgo streams via Prime Video. Read our full review. DEAD RINGERS Twin gynaecologists at the top of their game. Blood-red costuming and bodily fluids. The kind of perturbing mood that seeing flesh as a source of horror does and must bring. A stunning eye for stylish yet unsettling imagery. Utterly impeccable lead casting. When 1988's Dead Ringers hit cinemas, it was with this exact combination, all in the hands of David Cronenberg following Shivers, The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome and The Fly. He took inspiration from real-life siblings Stewart and Cyril Marcus, whose existence was fictionalised in 1977 novel Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland, and turned it into something spectacularly haunting. Attempting to stitch together those parts again, this time without the Crimes of the Future filmmaker at the helm — and as a miniseries, too — on paper seems as wild a feat as some of modern medicine's biggest advancements. This time starring a phenomenal Rachel Weisz as both Beverly and Elliot Mantle, and birthed by Lady Macbeth and The Wonder screenwriter Alice Birch, Dead Ringers 2.0 is indeed an achievement. It's also another masterpiece. Playing the gender-swapped roles that Jeremy Irons (House of Gucci) inhabited so commandingly 35 years back, Weisz (Black Widow) is quiet, calm, dutiful, sensible and yearning as Beverly, then volatile, outspoken, blunt, reckless and rebellious as Elliot. Her performance as each is that distinct — that fleshed-out as well — that it leaves viewers thinking they're seeing double. Of course, technical trickery is also behind the duplicate portrayals, with directors Sean Durkin (The Nest), Karena Evans (Snowfall), Lauren Wolkstein (The Strange Ones) and Karyn Kusama's (Destroyer) behind the show's lens; however, Weisz is devastatingly convincing. Beverly is also the patient-facing doctor of the two, helping usher women into motherhood, while Elliot prefers tinkering in a state-of-the-art lab trying to push the boundaries of fertility. Still, the pair are forever together or, with unwitting patients and dates alike, swapping places and pretending to be each other. Most folks in their company don't know what hit them, which includes actor Genevieve (Britne Oldford, The Umbrella Academy), who segues from a patient to Beverly's girlfriend — and big-pharma billionaire Rebecca (Jennifer Ehle, She Said), who Dead Ringers' weird sisters court to fund their dream birthing centre. Dead Ringers streams via Prime Video. Read our full review. THE LAST OF US If the end of the world comes, or a parasitic fungus evolves via climate change, spreads globally, infests brains en masse and almost wipes out humanity, spectacular video game-to-TV adaptation The Last of Us will have you wanting Pedro Pascal in your corner. Already a standout in Game of Thrones, then Narcos, then The Mandalorian, he's perfectly cast in HBO's latest blockbuster series — a character-driven show that ruminates on what it means to not just survive but to want to live and thrive after the apocalypse. In this smart and gripping show (one that's thankfully already been renewed for season two, too), he plays Joel. Dad to teenager Sarah (Nico Parker, The Third Day), he's consumed by grief and loss after what starts as a normal day, and his birthday, changes everything for everyone. Twenty years later, he's a smuggler tasked with tapping into his paternal instincts to accompany a different young girl, the headstrong Ellie (Bella Ramsey, Catherine Called Birdy), on a perilous but potentially existence-saving trip across the US. Starting to watch The Last of Us, or even merely describing it, is an instant exercise in déjà vu. Whether or not you've played the hit game since it first arrived in 2013, or its 2014 expansion pack, 2020 sequel or 2022 remake, its nine-part TV iteration ventures where plenty of on-screen fare including The Road and The Walking Dead has previously trodden. The best example that springs to mind during The Last of Us is Station Eleven, however, which is the heartiest of compliments given how thoughtful, empathetic and textured that 2021–22 series proved. As everything about pandemics, contagions and diseases that upend the world order now does, The Last of Us feels steeped in stone-cold reality as well, as spearheaded by a co-creator, executive producer, writer and director who has already turned an IRL doomsday into stunning television with Chernobyl. That creative force is Craig Mazin, teaming up with Neil Druckmann from Naughty Dog, who also wrote and directed The Last of Us games. The Last of Us streams via Binge. Read our full review. THE MAKANAI: COOKING FOR THE MAIKO HOUSE At the beginning of The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, 16-year-old best friends Kiyo (Nana Mori, Liar x Liar) and Sumire (Natsuki Deguchi, Silent Parade) leave home for the first time with smiles as wide as their hearts are open. Departing the rural Aomari for Kyoto in the thick of winter, they have internships as maiko lined up — apprentice geiko, as geishas are called in the Kyoto dialect. Their path to their dearest wishes isn't all sunshine and cherry blossoms from there, of course, but this is a series that lingers on the details, on slices of life, and on everyday events rather than big dramatic developments. Watch, for instance, how lovingly Kiyo and Sumire's last meal is lensed before they set out for their new future, and how devotedly the camera surveys the humble act of sitting down to share a dumpling soup, legs tucked beneath blankets under the table, while having an ordinary conversation. Soothing, tender, compassionate, bubbling with warmth: that's The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House from the outset. There's a key reason that this cosy and comforting new treasure overflows with such affection and understanding — for its characters, their lives and just the act of living. Prolific writer/director Hirokazu Kore-eda simply isn't capable of anything else. Yes, Netflix has been in the auteur game of late, and The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House is unmistakably the work of its rightly applauded creative force. One of the biggest names in Japanese cinema today, and the winner of the received Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or back in 2018 for the sublime Shoplifters, Kore-eda makes empathetic, rich and deeply emotional works. His movies, including the France-set The Truth and South Korea-set Broker, truly see the people within their frames. On the small screen, and hailing from manga, the nine-episode The Makanai is no different. It's also as calming as a show about friendships, chasing dreams and devouring ample dumplings can and should be. The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House streams via Netflix. RAIN DOGS In 2019's Skint Estate, Cash Carraway told all; A memoir of poverty, motherhood and survival completes the book's full title. Penned about working-class Britain from within working-class Britain, Carraway's written jaunt through her own life steps through the reality of being a single mum without a permanent place to live, of struggling to get by at every second, and of being around the system since she was a teenager. It examines alcoholism, loneliness, mental illness and domestic violence, too, plus refuges, working at peep shows, getting groceries from food banks and hopping between whatever temporary accommodation is available. Rain Dogs isn't a direct adaptation. It doesn't purport to bring Carraway's experiences to the screen exactly as they happened, or with slavish fidelity to the specific details. But this HBO and BBC eight-parter remains not only raw, rich, honest and authentic but lived in, as it tells the same story with candour, humour, warmth and poignancy. Slipping into Carraway's fictionalised shoes is Daisy May Cooper — and she's outstanding. Her on-screen resume includes Avenue 5 and Am I Being Unreasonable?, as well as being a team captain on the latest iteration of Britain's Spicks and Specks-inspiring Never Mind the Buzzcocks, but she's a force to be reckoned with as aspiring writer and mum (to Iris, played by debutant Fleur Tashjian) Costello Jones. When Rain Dogs begins, it's with an eviction. Cooper lives and breathes determination as Costello then scrambles to find somewhere for her and Iris to stay next. But this isn't just their tale, with the pair's lives intersecting with the privileged but self-destructive Selby (Jack Farthing, Spencer), who completes their unconventional and dysfunctional family but tussles with his mental health. Including Costello's best friend Gloria (Ronke Adekoluejo, Alex Rider), plus ailing artist Lenny (The Young Ones legend Adrian Edmondson), this is a clear-eyed look at chasing a place to belong — and it's stunning. Rain Dogs streams via Binge. Read our full review. SILO Rebecca Ferguson will never be mistaken for Daveed Diggs, but the Dune, Mission: Impossible franchise and Doctor Sleep star now follows in the Hamilton Tony-winner's footsteps. While he has spent multiple seasons navigating dystopian class clashes on a globe-circling train in the TV version of Snowpiercer, battling his way up and down the titular locomotive, she just started ascending and descending the stairs in the underground chamber that gives Silo its moniker. Ferguson's character is also among humanity's last remnants. Attempting to endure in post-apocalyptic times, she hails from her abode's lowliest depths as well. And, when there's a murder in this instantly engrossing new ten-part series — which leaps to the screen from Hugh Howey's novels, and shares a few basic parts with Metropolis, Blade Runner and The Platform, as well as corrupt world orders at the core of The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner flicks — she's soon playing detective. Silo captivates from the outset, when its focus is the structure's sheriff Holston (David Oyelowo, See How They Run) and his wife Allison (Rashida Jones, On the Rocks). Both know the cardinal rule of the buried tower, as does deputy Marnes (Will Patton, Outer Range), mayor Ruth (Geraldine James, Benediction), security head Sims (Common, The Hate U Give), IT top brass Bernard (Tim Robbins, Dark Waters) and the other 10,000 souls they live with: if you make the request to go outside, it's irrevocable and you'll be sent there as punishment. No matter who you are, and from which level, anyone posing such a plea becomes a public spectacle. Their ask is framed as "cleaning", referring to wiping down the camera that beams the desolate planet around them onto window-sized screens in their cafeterias. No one has ever come back, or survived for more than minutes. Why? Add that to the questions piling up not just for Silo's viewers, but for the silo's residents. For more than 140 years, the latter have dwelled across their 144 floors in safety from the bleak wasteland that earth has become — but what caused that destruction and who built their cavernous home are among the other queries. Silo streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. AUNTY DONNA'S COFFEE CAFE If comedy is all about timing, then Aunty Donna have it — not just onstage. In 2020, Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun was the hysterical sketch-comedy series that the world needed, with the six-episode show satirising sharehouse living dropping at the ideal moment. While the Australian jokesters' Netflix hit wasn't just hilarious because it arrived when everyone had been spending more time than anyone dreamed at home thanks to the early days of the pandemic, the ridiculousness it found in domesticity was as inspired as it was sidesplittingly absurd. Three years later, heading out is well and truly back, as are Aunty Donna on-screen. Their target in Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe: cafe culture, with Mark Samual Bonanno, Broden Kelly and Zachary Ruane returning to make fun of one of the simplest reasons to go out that there is. Grabbing a cuppa is such an ordinary and everyday task, so much so that it was taken for granted until it was no longer an easy part of our routines. Unsurprisingly, now that caffeine fixes are back and brewing, Aunty Donna finds much to parody. With fellow group members Sam Lingham (a co-writer here), Max Miller (the show's director) and Tom Zahariou (its composer), Aunty Donna's well-known trio of faces set their new six-parter in the most obvious place they can: a Melbourne cafe called 'Morning Brown'. The track itself doesn't get a spin, however, with the show's central piece of naming is its most expected move. As demonstrated in episodes that turn the cafe into a courtroom, ponder whether Broden might still be a child and riff on Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt's 1967 disappearance, nothing else about Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe earns that description. Pinballing in any and every direction possible has always been one of the Aussie comedy troupe's biggest talents, with their latest series deeply steeped — riotously, eclectically and entertainingly, too — in that approach. Think: Richard Roxburgh (Elvis) playing Rake, even though that's not his Rake character's name; Looking for Alibrandi's Pia Miranda making tomato day jokes;. stanning Gardening Australia and skewering unreliable streaming services, complete with jokes at ABC iView's expense; and relentlessly giggling at the hospitality industry again and again. Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe streams via ABC iView. Read our full review. BEEF As plenty does (see also: Rye Lane above), Beef starts with two strangers meeting, but there's absolutely nothing cute about it. Sparks don't fly and hearts don't flutter; instead, this pair grinds each other's gears. In a case of deep and passionate hate at first sight, Danny Cho (Steven Yeun, Nope) and Amy Lau (Ali Wong, Paper Girls) give their respective vehicles' gearboxes a workout, in fact, after he begins to pull out of a hardware store carpark, she honks behind him, and lewd hand signals and terse words are exchanged. Food is thrown, streets are angrily raced down, gardens are ruined, accidents are barely avoided, and the name of Vin Diesel's famous car franchise springs to mind, aptly describing how bitterly these two strangers feel about each other — and how quickly. Created by Lee Sung Jin, who has It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Dave and Silicon Valley on his resume before this ten-part Netflix and A24 collaboration, Beef also commences with a simple, indisputable and deeply relatable fact. Whether you're a struggling contractor hardly making ends meet, as he is, or a store-owning entrepreneur trying to secure a big deal, as she is — or, if you're both, neither or anywhere in-between — pettiness reigning supreme is basic human nature. Danny could've just let Amy beep as much as she liked, then waved, apologised and driven away. Amy could've been more courteous about sounding her horn, and afterwards. But each feels immediately slighted by the other, isn't willing to stand for such an indignity and becomes consumed by their trivial spat. Neither takes the high road, not once — and if you've ever gotten irrationally irate about a minor incident, this new standout understands. Episode by episode, it sees that annoyance fester and exasperation grow, too. Beef spends its run with two people who can't let go of their instant rage, keep trying to get the other back, get even more incensed in response, and just add more fuel to the fire again and again until their whole existence is a blaze of revenge. If you've ever taken a small thing and blown it wildly out of proportion, Beef is also on the same wavelength. And if any of the above has ever made you question your entire life — or just the daily grind of endeavouring to get by, having everything go wrong, feeling unappreciated and constantly working — Beef might just feel like it was made for you. Beef streams via Netflix. Read our full review. POKER FACE Cards on the table: thanks to Russian Doll and the Knives Out franchise, Natasha Lyonne and Rian Johnson are both on a helluva streak. In their most recent projects before now, each has enjoyed a hot run not once but twice. Lyonne made time trickery one of the best new shows of 2019, plus a returning standout in 2022 as well, while Johnson's first Benoit Blanc whodunnit and followup Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery were gems of the exact same years. The latter also saw the pair team up briefly — Lyonne and Johnson, that is, although getting a Russian Doll-meets-Knives Out crossover from the universe, or just the Netflix algorithm, would be a dream. Until that wish comes true, there's Poker Face. It's no one's stopgap or consolation prize, however. This new mystery-of-the-week series is an all-out must-see in its own right, and one of 2023's gleaming streaming aces already. Given its components and concept, turning out otherwise would've been the biggest head-scratcher. Beneath aviator shades, a trucker cap and her recognisable locks, Lyonne plays detective again, as she did in Russian Doll — because investigating why you're looping through the same day over and over, or jumping through time, is still investigating. Johnson gives the world another sleuth, too, after offering up his own spin on Agatha Christie-style gumshoes with the ongoing Knives Out saga. This time, he's dancing with 1968–2003 television series Columbo, right down to Poker Face's title font. Lyonne isn't one for playing conventional detectives, though. Here, she's Charlie Cale, who starts poking around in sudden deaths thanks to an unusual gift and a personal tragedy. As outlined in the show's ten-part first season, Charlie is a human lie detector. She can always tell if someone is being untruthful, a knack she first used in gambling before getting on the wrong side of the wrong people. Then, when a friend and colleague at the far-from-flashy Las Vegas casino where Charlie works winds up dead, that talent couldn't be handier. Poker Face streams via Stan. Read our full review. MRS DAVIS It was back in March 2022 that the world first learned of Mrs Davis, who would star in it and which creatives were behind it. Apart from its central faith-versus-technology battle, the show's concept was kept under wraps, but the series itself was announced to the world. The key involvement of three-time GLOW Emmy-nominee Betty Gilpin, Lost and The Leftovers creator Damon Lindelof, and The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon writer and executive producer Tara Hernandez was championed, plus the fact that Black Mirror: San Junipero director Owen Harris would helm multiple episodes. Accordingly, although no one knew exactly what it was about, Mrs Davis existed months before ChatGPT was released — but this puzzle-box drama, which is equally a sci-fi thriller, zany comedy and action-adventure odyssey, now follows the artificial intelligence-driven chatbot in reaching audiences. Indeed, don't even bother trying not to think about the similarities as you're viewing this delightfully wild and gleefully ridiculous series. There's also no point dismissing any musings that slip into your head about social media, ever-present tech, digital surveillance and the many ways that algorithms dictate our lives, either. Mrs Davis accepts that such innovations are a mere fact of life in 2023, then imagines what might happen if AI promised to solve the worlds ills and make everyone's existence better and happier. It explores how users could go a-flocking, eager to obey every instruction and even sacrifice themselves to the cause. In other words, it's about ChatGPT-like technology starting a religion in everything but name. To tell that tale, it's also about nun Simone (Gilpin, Gaslit), who was raised by magicians (Love & Death's Elizabeth Marvel and Scream's David Arquette), and enjoys sabbaticals from her convent to do whatever is necessary to bring down folks who practise her parents' vocation and the show's titular technology. She also enjoys quite the literal nuptials to Jesus Christ, is divinely bestowed names to chase in her quest and has an ex-boyfriend, Wiley (Jake McDorman, Dopesick), who's a former bullrider-turned-Fight Club-style resistance leader. And, she's tasked with a mission by the algorithm itself: hunting down the Holy Grail. Mrs Davis streams via Binge. Read our full review. SWARM Becky with the good hair gets a shoutout in Swarm. Facial bites do as well, complete with a Love & Basketball reference when the culprit flees. This seven-part series about a global pop sensation and her buzzing fans and stans also has its music icon unexpectedly drop a stunner of a visual album, ride a white horse, be married to a well-known rapper, become a mum to twins and see said husband fight with her sister in an elevator. Her sibling is also a singer, and plenty of folks contend she's the more interesting of the two. Still, Swarm's object of fascination — protagonist Dre's (Dominique Fishback, Judas and the Black Messiah) undying obsession — sells out tours, breaks Ticketmaster and headlines one of the biggest music festivals there is. And, while they call themselves the titular term rather than a hive, her devotees are zealous and then some, especially humming around on social media. Donald Glover and Janine Nabers, the show's creators and past colleagues on Glover's exceptional, now-finished Atlanta — Nabers also worked on Watchmen, too — couldn't be more upfront about who they're referring to. No one says Beyoncé's name, however, but Swarm's Houston-born music megastar is the former Destiny's Child singer in everything except moniker. In case anyone watching thinks that this series is trading in coincidences and déjà vu, or just failing to be subtle when it comes to Ni'Jah (Nirine S Brown, Ruthless), the Prime Video newcomer keeps making an overt opening declaration. "This is not a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or events, is intentional," it announces before each episode. From there, it dives into Dre's journey as a twentysomething in 2016 who still adores her childhood idol with the same passion she did as a teen and, instalment by instalment, shows how far she's willing to go to prove it. Swarm streams via Prime Video. Read our full review. CUNK ON EARTH If you've ever watched a David Attenborough documentary about the planet and wished it was sillier and stupider, to the point of being entertainingly ridiculous and ridiculously entertaining alike, then Netflix comes bearing wonderful news. Actually, the BBC got there first, airing history-of-the-world mockumentary Cunk on Earth back in September 2022. Glorious things come to waiting viewers Down Under now, however — and this gleefully, delightfully absurd take on human civilisation from its earliest days till now, spanning cave paintings, Roman empires, Star Wars' empire, 1989 Belgian techno anthem 'Pump Up the Jam' and more, is one of the best shows to hit Australia in 2023 so far. This series is a comedy masterclass, in fact, featuring everything from a Black Mirror-leaning skit about Beethoven resurrected inside a smart speaker to a recreation of a Dark Ages fray purely through sound also thrown in. It's flat-out masterful, too, and tremendously funny. This sometimes Technotronic-soundtracked five-part show's beat? Surveying how humanity came to its present state, stretching back through species' origins and evolution, and pondering everything from whether the Egyptian pyramids were built from the top down to the Cold War bringing about the "Soviet onion". The audience's guide across this condensed and comic history is the tweed-wearing Philomena Cunk, who has the steady voice of seasoned doco presenter down pat, plus the solemn gaze, but is firmly a fictional — and satirical — character. Comedian Diane Morgan first started playing the misinformed interviewer in 2013, in Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe, with Black Mirror creator Brooker behind Cunk on Earth as well. Over the past decade, Cunk has also brought her odd questions to 2016's one-off Cunk on Shakespeare and Cunk on Christmas, and 2018's also five-instalment Cunk on Britain. After you're done with the character's latest spin, you'll want to devour the rest ASAP. Cunk on Earth streams via Netflix. Read our full review. SHRINKING Viewers mightn't have realised they'd been lacking something crucial until now, but Shrinking serves it up anyway: a delightfully gruff Harrison Ford co-starring in a kind-hearted sitcom. Creating this therapist-focused series for Apple TV+, Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein and Jason Segel didn't miss this new gem's immediate potential. Lawrence and Goldstein add the show to their roster alongside Ted Lasso, which the former also co-created, and the latter stars in as the also wonderfully gruff Roy Kent to Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning effect. It too bathes in warmth amid chaos, all while understanding, exploring and accepting its characters as the flawed folks we all are. As for Segel, he's no stranger to playing the type of super-enthusiastic and super-earnest figure he inhabits again here, as seen in Freaks and Geeks and How I Met Your Mother. If Ted Lasso downplayed the soccer, instead emphasising the psychologist chats that were a pivotal part of season two, Shrinking would be the end result. Also, if Scrubs, another of Lawrence's sitcoms, followed doctors specialising in mental health rather than working in a hospital, Shrinking would also be the outcome. Round up those familiar elements and details brought over from elsewhere, and Shrinking turns them into a series that's supremely entertaining, well-cast and well-crafted — and an engaging and easy watch. The focus: Segel (Windfall) as Jimmy Laird, a shrink grieving for his wife Tia (Lilan Bowden, Murderville), making bad decisions and leaving parenting his teen daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell, Generation) to his empty-nester neighbour Liz (Christa Miller, a Scrubs alum and also Lawrence's wife). When he decides to start checking back in, and to also give his patients like young war veteran Sean (Luke Tennie, CSI: Vegas) some tough love, it causes ripples, including for his boss Paul (Ford, The Call of the Wild) and colleague Gaby (Jessica Williams, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore). Shrinking streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. PLATONIC Sometime in the near future, Rose Byrne, Seth Rogen and filmmaker Nicholas Stoller could easily join forces on a new rom-com. In fact, they should. Until then, buddy comedy Platonic makes a hilarious, engagingly written and directed, and perfectly cast addition to each's respective resumes. Reuniting the trio after 2014's Bad Neighbours and its 2016 sequel Bad Neighbours 2, this new series pairs Australia's comedy queen and America's go-to stoner as longterm pals who are never anything but mates — and haven't been in touch at all for years — but navigate a friendship that's as chaotic and complicated as any movie romance. That's an easy setup; however, watching the show's stars bicker, banter and face the fact that life doesn't always turn out as planned together proves as charming as it was always going to. Also, Platonic smartly doesn't try to be a romantic comedy, or to follow in When Harry Met Sally's footsteps. Instead, Platonic explores what happens when two former besties have gone their own ways, then come back together. The show knows that reconnecting with old pals is always tinged with nostalgia for the person you were when they were initially in your life. And, it's well-aware that reckoning with where you've ended up since is an immediate side effect. Enter Sylvia (Byrne, Seriously Red), who reaches out to Will (Rogen, The Super Mario Bros Movie) after hearing that he's no longer with the wife (Alisha Wainwright, Raising Dion) she didn't like. She's also a suburban-dwelling former lawyer who put work on hold to become a mother of three, and can't help feeling envious of her husband Charlie's (Luke Macfarlane, Bros) flourishing legal career. Her old BFF co-owns and runs an LA brewpub, is obsessive about his beer and hipster/slacker image, and hasn't been taking his breakup well. They couldn't be in more different places in their lives. When they meet up again, they couldn't appear more dissimilar, too. "You look like you live at Ann Taylor Loft," is Will's assessment. Sylvia calls him "a '90s grunge clown." Neither is wrong. Platonic streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. Looking for more viewing highlights? Check out our list of film and TV streaming recommendations, which is updated monthly. We also keep a running list of must-stream TV from across the year so far, complete with full reviews.
Calling all wizards, witches and muggles: a nail-biting Harry Potter trivia is coming to South Bank. Taking place at Little Big House, the night will feature two hours of Harry Potter fun. This is a must-attend event for all Potterheads who have read all eight books from cover to cover, know their alohomoras from their sectumsempras, and have seen Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — because of course they have. Dressing up is highly encouraged, and while butterbeer isn't on the menu, you will be able to purchase the regular variety. There'll also be live music, themed specials and plenty of potty contestants. Entry is free, with the questions flying from 6pm on Monday, September 16 on Little Big House's verandah. Choose your team wisely.
Expect this weekend spectacle to bring a beacon of hope to Brisbane's skyline during this year's festival. Sunsuper Night Sky is a large-scale light and laser installation, with accompanying sound by acclaimed audio-visual artist Robin Fox. More than a dozen rooftops across Brisbane CBD will light up every Friday and Saturday night, from 7–9pm, from September 4–26. Each one hosts an interconnecting and pulsing laser beam show set to an ethereal soundtrack. You'll be able to see it dance across the skies from vantage points across the city, so take an evening stroll or cycle to catch the light artwork from afar.
Port Macquarie's Festival of the Sun has been running for nearly two decades, and the boutique summer music festival is still bringing the goods. The lineup for May has just been released and it looks like it'll be another doozy. Hermitude, Skeggs, Middle Kids and San Cisco lead the three-day fest's bill, with Ruby Fields, A Swayze and The Ghosts, The Buoys, Caitlin Harnett and the Pony Boys, Concrete Surfers and First Beige lending their voices too. The list goes on, so get ready for a big couple of days of music. Running between Thursday, May 19—Saturday, May 21, the camping festival is also — excitingly — BYO, so you don't need to spend your hard-earned cash on overpriced UDLs. Alongside the lineup of live music, there will also be a heap of food trucks (serving everything from burgers to vegan fare), silent discos and silent comedy. Tickets go on sale at 10am on Thursday, April 15. FESTIVAL OF THE SUN 2022 LINEUP Hermitude Skeggs San Cisco Ruby Fields Middle Kids A Swayze and The Ghosts The Buoys Caitlin Harnett and the Pony Boys Concrete Surfers First Beige Hayley Mary Jelly Oshen Kim Churchill Lazywax Liyah Knight The Rions Romero Pink Matter The Oogars Saint Lane Radolescent Boycott Fungas Palomino Updated Tuesday, May 3.
We have a quick chat with the people behind new theatre company Arthur about their new play Dirtyland, and their novel approach to funding the project. If you want to score some tickets to the play, and support new Australian theatre in the future, head to their funding page, but be quick, there's only one day left! Tell us a little about yourselves? We are Arthur and we are a brand new independent theatre company in Sydney. Our motto — well one of them — is organised chaos. This means, amongst other things, that we're pretty interested in having fun in making our work — and in delivering a fair amount of heart and a wallop of surprise to our audience. To split Arthur into personalities, we are Paige Rattray (director), Elise Hearst (writer) and Belinda Kelly (producer). You can meet Paige and Elise here, as they spruik for Arthur's first production, Dirtyland on the Pozible crowdfunding website. The Arthur people have a common link with the mighty Griffin Theatre Co in Kings Cross. Paige, a recent NIDA directing graduate, is a current resident director there. Elise, who has had residencies further afield including at The Royal Court, was resident writer in 2009, and Belinda is the company's Artistic Associate. Tell us a little about your project? We will be bringing the world premiere of Dirtyland to Sydney audiences in April as part of the inaugural Spare Room season at the New Theatre. This eight-character play is set in an unspecified village following the massacre of one half of the residents by the other. Nice. However, it's not just your standard post-apocolyptic tale. What should audiences expect? A play that is rowdy, entertaining, and, for those who fear an interval, pretty short. With live sound, epic atmospheres and striking visuals, the show is also pretty funny and very involving as you desperately barrack for our anti-heroes; willing them on to escape their dirty, dystopian world. Phew, that sounds full on, but fun no? What's the inspiration behind Arthur? We are setting up a new company because we want to make work that wouldn't otherwise see the light of day. Paige our director first came across Elise's writing while reading a stack of plays for a playwriting award. This was the beginning of Arthur. We didn't know it at the time, but we realized that this was the kind of work we needed to see and the only way it was going to happen was if we made it ourselves. Dirtyland is a cracking play that has generated a fair bit of industry interest, but the commercial reality is that a new play by a new writer with a cast of eight is never going to be a likely project to back for the main stage in Australia. What are your ambitions for the company in the future? We would like to stage 2-3 plays per year, and work on the development of a further 2 plays for future production. Arthur is very much interested in new Australian work, but also in creating devised work and text/performance/musical fusions. We plan to stay true to the company's touchstones of serious fun and organised chaos. Why have you taken the crowd-funding route? Because we only had three weeks' notice that we had secured a spot in the Spare Room season until rehearsals kicked off — yikes! The short lead time meant that we did not have access to more established forms of funding, such as government and foundation grants, nor the time to source company sponsorship. We decided to think laterally. I think we were actually drinking some beers at the pub and thinking of different models and really very much talking about old subscription models for publishing of books and so forth. The next day a few friends sent some links to crowdfunding websites, and we were off. It feels very much of the zeitgeist. How is it going? So far, so good. But — argh! We are 80% funded with a day left. Our target is $8000, so we have $1600 to go. Our target is high considering the amount of time until our project cuts off. In this all-or-nothing model, if you don't reach the target, the project receives none of the pledged funds. You also can't change the target or time limit once the project is away — so very nerve racking and we are obsessed with checking twenty times a day (give or take) to see if any more pledges have come in. It's going down to the wire!
Pick your poison, action-franchise edition circa 2023: balletically choreographed carnage; cars, kin and Coronas; or Tom Cruise constantly one-upping himself in the megastar stunts stakes. Hollywood loves them all. Cinemas keep welcoming them all. So, after John Wick: Chapter 4 and Fast X comes Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One to deliver the kind of movie spectacle that always looks best on the biggest and brightest of silver screens. And, as its lead actor's gleaming teeth do, the seventh instalment in the TV-to-film spy series shines. Like Cruise himself, it's committed to giving audiences what they want to see, but never merely exactly what they've already seen. This saga hasn't always chosen to accept that mission, but it's been having a better time of it since 2011's Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, including when writer/director Christopher McQuarrie jumped behind the lens with 2015's Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. McQuarrie and Cruise have history; McQuarrie first helmed Cruise in 2012's Jack Reacher, and also penned or co-penned the screenplays for the Cruise-starring Valkyrie, Edge of Tomorrow, The Mummy and Top Gun: Maverick before and during their Mission: Impossible collaboration. Prior to that, however — the year before Mission: Impossible was reborn as a movie, in fact — the filmmaker won an Oscar for writing The Usual Suspects. Take the puzzle-like trickery of that mid-90s big-reveal mystery, combine it with Cruise's determination to score the first Academy Award for Best Stunts if and when it's ever introduced (or die trying), and it's plain to see why they make an ace Mission: Impossible pair. With both 2018's Mission: Impossible – Fallout and now Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One in particular, they ensure that a franchise based on a half-century-old formula courtesy of Mission: Impossible's television days still feels fresh and thrilling. Rubber masks so realistic that anyone on-screen could rip off their face to reveal Cruise's Ethan Hunt? Of course they're present and accounted for. Espionage antics that involve saving the world while traversing much of it? Tick that off ASAP. The saga's main Impossible Missions Force operative doing whatever it takes, including sprinting everywhere and relentlessly exasperating his higher-ups? Check. A trusty crew faithfully aiding the always-maverick Hunt, plus slippery adversaries to endeavour to outsmart? Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One gives them a hefty thumbs up as well. Shady forces with globe-destroying aims, being able to trust oh-so-few folks, wreaking slickly staged havoc, those jaw-dropping stunts, top-notch actors: Cruise and McQuarrie, the latter co-writing with Erik Jendresen (Ithaca), feel the need to feed it all into the flick, too. They're also rather fond of nodding to and reworking the franchise's greatest hits. Happily playing with recognisable pieces while eagerly, cleverly and satisfyingly building upon them isn't the easiest of skills, but it's firmly in this team's arsenal. When Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation labelled Hunt "the living manifestation of destiny", it wasn't the series' finest piece of dialogue. There's a sense of humour about hearing him called "a mind-reading, shape-shifting incarnation of chaos" in Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, though. That description could also be directed at Hunt, Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames, Legacy) and Benji Dunn's (Simon Pegg, The Boys) latest timely enemy: The Entity, an artificial intelligence that's literally killer. Unlike in The Terminator flicks, this AI is content without mechanical bodies to control. Whether in Russian submarines, Abu Dhabi's airport or on careening trains, it does a commanding job of bending both computer programs and people to its will. The aim: to secure that power, a quest that Hunt is on a mission to thwart. Returning from the OG 1996 movie, IMF head Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny, Scream VI) initially gives Hunt and company their orders — and once this troupe has been set in motion, little can stop it. So, when the crew punches its "get disavowed by the government again" card, they still stick to the task of tracking down the two-part key that The Entity wants. Terrorist Gabriel (Esai Morales, How to Get Away with Murder) and assassin Paris (Pom Klementieff, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) are on the AI's side. Jasper Briggs (Shea Whigham, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) is among the US operatives trying to bring in Hunt. Back from the last instalment, arms dealer White Widow (Vanessa Kirby, The Son) has her own plan, while ex-MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson, Silo) appears in her third flick in a row to again link in with the usual team. Then there's pickpocket Grace (Hayley Atwell, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), a newcomer who is accustomed to flying solo. Atwell and Klementieff are scene-stealing additions to the cast, and the always-great Ferguson has been a standout since Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. Still, as has been teased, talked about and splashed across Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One's poster, Cruise is the one actually physically soaring. What would a Mission: Impossible movie be without flaunting its riskiest stunt, as performed by its stratospheric name himself, as audience bait? Not a McQuarrie-era chapter, that's for sure. When the scene arrives, getting Cruise riding a motorcycle off a towering cliff in an effort to land aboard the hurtling Orient Express, it is indeed breathtaking — and a gripping, nerve-shredding sight to behold. It isn't alone, though, thanks to a tense underwater opening, cat-and-mouse airport antics, Arabian desert horse chases, Fiat-driving Italian Job-style Rome romps and the high-stakes hijinks on Agatha Christie's favourite locomotive itself. Cinematographer Fraser Taggart (Robot Overlords) and editor Eddie Hamilton (back from the last two movies), plus the entire stunt team, help shoot, splice and execute these setpieces rivetingly. Repeatedly besting past Mission: Impossible action triumphs? Mission: accomplished. Twenty-seven years, notching up three pictures now with McQuarrie at the helm, and with Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part Two obviously on the way (arrival: June 2024), there's a well-oiled air to Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. That said, to run so smoothly requires care, aka someone doing the oiling, which is why there's rarely a well-worn moment or element be seen. Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One covers some ground that John Wick: Chapter 4 and Fast X already have in 2023 (and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny as well). It eagerly nods to its own past. And it knows that Cruise could just cruise-control his way through, as could his co-stars, if they wanted. Its biggest feat? Lifting everything that it does, and that a Mission: Impossible flick must, again and again so that seeming routine proves, yes, impossible. There's no self-destruction here — just devotion to an intense and entertaining action extravaganza.
If there's anything cuter than a dog on a beach, it's a puppy on a paddle board. Rounding up a whole heap of pooches, getting them to stand up in the waves, and sending them on a watery course with their human best buddies: that takes the concept to another level. Put together by Surfing Queensland to support the Animal Welfare League, Pups on SUPS is the splash of canine fun you didn't know you needed — whether your four-legged friend is barking mad to get on a board, or you're dog-free but planning on lapping up every second of it. Taking place in Currumbin Creek near Palm Beach's Salk Oval on October 28, participants can enjoy a leisurely two-kilometre social paddle or a 250-metre dash for cash, or both. Entry is open to pooches of all ages and sizes, with a special guest on hand to help show them — and their humans — the ropes. It'll cost you $20 in advance or $40 on the day, but the look of joy on your doggo's face will be worth every cent. The look of exhilaration on your own will be as well.
You've survived Monday and Tuesday, but if you don't shake things up on hump day you're risking some serious Groundhog Day vibes. Seeing as it's a Wednesday lunch, we aren't suggesting you go too hard — you've gotta save a little stamina for the weekend and keep it together for the rest of the day — but there's nothing wrong with having a few mid-week, Heineken 3s to break up your week. So round up some coworkers and go for a cheap eat, or sip on a beer with your face in your phone for an hour — that's cool, too. However you choose to play, we've partnered with Heineken to find the best spots in Brissie where you can score a delicious hump day feed and celebrate making it through 50 percent of the working week.
Fish Lane's Town Square is putting its patch of pavement to good use, with markets now popping up in the South Brisbane spot. While bars and eateries line the laneway, and festivals have taken it over as well, Fish Lane has only hosted its own stalls for two years now — and given you a reason to head by to browse and buy locally made art, ceramics and other goods. In 2022, that also includes the return of Fish Lane's Christmas markets. Running from 9am–1pm on Sunday, December 18, it'll span a heap of stalls filled with everything from fashion, plants, art and jewellery to natural skincare and accessories for your dog. In fact, the road between Hope and Grey streets will be closed down for the day to accommodate the market — and you can obviously bring your four-legged friend with you as you browse. Food-wise, Fish Lane's existing cafes and eateries will keep you feed and caffeinated while you shop.
In Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, a young Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) strides through a Hogwarts classroom, teaching his students to thwart the dark arts. They're asked to summon their worst fear and then vanquish it, an exercise that's cathartic for some and terrifying for others. If he tasked Harry Potter fans with doing the same, the results would likely fall into the latter category. Potterheads needn't conjure up nightmares about awful Wizarding World flicks, however — with The Crimes of Grindelwald, that torment becomes a reality. The spell has been broken with this sequel to 2016's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the tenth instalment in the franchise first started with 2001's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The magic has run out, the charms have worn off and JK Rowling's enchanting abilities are fading. For more than two decades, the British author has splashed wizarding wonders across both the page and screen, but The Crimes of Grindelwald proves a busy drag of a film. It's a movie where plenty happens yet it all feels like filler, and where the rampant spectacle leaves an empty sensation. The Harry Potter pictures had their ups and downs too, but the series' latest chapter is about as entertaining as spending time with the Dursley family. Picking up where its predecessor left off, The Crimes of Grindelwald finds the wizarding world waving their wands over the future of the villainous Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp). He solves that problem by escaping to Paris to rile up his supporters with anti-Muggle rhetoric, and to find orphan Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller). Magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) also heads to France, doing a favour for Dumbledore and trying to reignite his romance with American auror Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston). Enchanted beasts might be Newt's specialty — whether they're tiny saplings that can pick locks, gold-digging platypus types, or giant cat-like creatures — but he's soon tracking down a different kind of monster. From portkeys to Diagon Alley-esque laneways to a pre-serpent Nagini (Claudia Kim), this is a Wizarding World flick through and through. Good faces off against bad, allegiances are tested and tragic backstories remain a staple as well. The film might take place in 1927 with flashbacks to years prior, but nods abound to names and details established in the 90s-set Harry Potter movies. Some references even ignore existing HP lore and logic, much to the dismay of dedicated aficionados — and this seemingly haphazard approach cuts to the crux of The Crimes of Grindelwald's struggles. As penned by Rowling herself and directed by six-time franchise veteran David Yates, the movie adheres to the superhero school of filmmaking. It's less concerned with serving up an engaging new chapter that stands on its own merits, and more interested in prolonging the series. Rendered with visible gloom and shadow, this dull rather than vibrant film is a placeholder, doing what it must to keep things going and little else. Specifically, The Crimes of Grindelwald does what it needs to to keep everyone waiting for the three sequels that'll hit cinemas in 2020, 2022 and 2024. When a movie is content to replace Colin Farrell with Johnny Depp, doing only what it deems necessary is clearly its modus operandi. In a picture that's happy to go through the motions, the cast change is just one of the many missteps. Hectic yet also overextended, The Crimes of Grindelwald is filled with contrasts. The film's story is both jam-packed and flimsy, layering subplots upon subplots yet never delving too deeply into any of them. Characters are barely fleshed out, even when they're accompanied by solid performances, such as Zoe Kravitz as Leta Lestrange and Miller as Credence. Furthermore, the social commentary that's baked into the story — not only paralleling the rise of fascism between the First and Second World Wars, but nodding to today's fractured Europe — may set the scene for the next instalments, but adds little to the current film. As for the action set-pieces, while handsomely staged and teeming with technical wizardry, they hardly leave a lasting imprint. As he proved many times for the Boy Who Lived, Dumbledore is the movie's saviour. Or, more accurately, Law's young pope Dumbledore is. Channelling his inner Michael Gambon, Law is easily the best thing about The Crimes of Grindelwald, oozing the energy and intrigue that the film otherwise lacks. Viewers can be forgiven for wishing they were simply watching The Young Dumbledore without any beasts, fantastic or otherwise, with Law upstaging Redmayne's sensitive Newt and Depp's sinister villain. It goes without saying that he upstages the minor parts given to Waterston and fellow Fantastic Beasts returnees Alison Sudol and Dan Fogler, too. And while The Crimes of Grindelwald's ending is among its worst inclusions, it does at least guarantee one thing: we'll be seeing more of young Dumbledore in future films. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfMsZrrQ5Vo
Summer has settled in for the long haul and a sultry season of day-tripping, beach sessions and poolside hangs awaits. It can be hard to keep your cool when the temperatures are soaring. So, we've teamed up with the skin and beauty experts at M.A.C Cosmetics to share our list of summer essentials. Stock up on these must-haves and be ready for anything summer throws your way. FIX+, M.A.C COSMETICS ($39) Sticky, sweaty faces are a classic summer curse, but they needn't be. M.A.C's cult favourite Fix+ facial mist works as both a hydrating setting spray and a cooling skin spritz, so it's a must-have item for when those temperatures start climbing. It's free from alcohol and packed with nourishing ingredients like cucumber and camomile. It's even infused with caffeine to help pep up tired, post-party-season skin. Use it before, during or after makeup application to help stop wayward foundation from slipping down your face in a sweaty mess. Or, simply spritz some on whenever you need to counter the sweats with a little facial refresh. Hot tip: pop it in your fridge or esky so it's nice and cool when you spray away. WATER-RESISTANT SPEAKER, BOSE ($199.95) Beach, backyard, park or pool — any good summer session needs a decent soundtrack. And with a nifty waterside speaker like this one from Bose, you can keep the music kicking on no matter where the party takes you. It's poolside-friendly, so you can have those tunes pumping right alongside you while you swim, soak or sunbake. What's more, a nine-metre bluetooth connectivity range means your whole crew can take turns playing DJ, without any pesky sound dropouts. And with an impressive eight-hour battery life, this little noise machine will keep partying as long as you do. BEACH UMBRELLA, BASIL BANGS ($289) The Aussie sun can be savage, no matter how heavily you slather on the sunscreen. But with an umbrella in tow, you'll always have some sweet, shady relief from its rays, whether you're kicking back in the park or battling scorching hot sand at the beach. Amp up the summer vibes with a lively, feel-good print, like this special edition umbrella, designed by Basil Bangs in collaboration with legendary artist Ken Done. It boasts a hefty 1.8-metre diameter — so, no squishing in like sardines — with UPF50+ sun protection. Plus, it comes with a matching carry case that transforms into a sandbag weight should things get blustery. PICNIC CUTLERY WALLET SET, LAZY DAYZ ($34.95) Long days and balmy temperatures mean picnic season is in full swing, so you'll want to be prepared to make the most of it. Just because you're dining on a rug on the ground doesn't mean you have to slum it. Elevate any al fresco feast with the help of a proper picnic set, like this fun design from Lazy Dayz. Available in two vibrant prints, it has plastic plates, stainless steel forks, knives and spoons for two, all zipped up neatly into one compact carry case. Keep it by the front door and you'll always be picnic-ready in a snap. [caption id="attachment_799130" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Abbas Malek Hosseini[/caption] UNDERWATER CAMERA, KASBAH ($21.56) Here in Australia, summer and water go hand-in-hand, whether it's a backyard pool or your local stretch of beach. And while you might be partial to a splash and a dip, your phone probably isn't. So, for the sake of those summer happy snaps, hook yourself up with a camera that was made to get wet. This lightweight underwater version from Kasbah features a fun, tropical get-up and a detachable waterproof casing, so you can take it just about anywhere. Just stock up on 35-millimetre film and you're all set to capture even the soggiest memories this summer. To learn more about M.A.C Cosmetic's Fix+ facial mist, head this way.
Outdoor clothing brand Merrell wants your photos to stitch together the world's largest panoramic photo. You can be a part of it by uploading your geo-tagged shots of the outdoors to the Add Your Own Scenery website where they are pinned to a virtual globe, or you can just browse others' photos and see what things look like in their neck of the woods. As well as inspiring people to get and share their love of the outdoors with others, the project has a philanthropic purpose: for every photo uploaded Merrell will donate $1 to a range of conservation groups, up to their target total of $250,000. Unfortunately only residents of the US, UK and Canada are eligible for the prizes on offer, but sharing your favourite part of nature with the rest of the world to help conserve it should be reward enough! [via PSFK]
Back in 2012, when Daniel Radcliffe was initially trying to shake a certain boy wizard from his system — before everything from Swiss Army Man and The Lost City to Miracle Workers and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story firmly helped — he stepped into a different kind of supernatural thrills. His first post-Harry Potter role saw him take on The Woman in Black, a gothic-horror tale that pitted him against a curse and a ghost. And yes, the latter did have quite the fondness for wearing dark clothing. The film adapted the 1983 novella of the same name for the second time. But before The Woman in Black made it to the screen, it spooked out the theatre. Because hauntings often keep coming back, it's doing so again, this time in a new Australian production starring John Waters (Blaze) and Daniel MacPherson (Foundation). If you don't like scary tales about sinister spirits seeking revenge for past ills, then you might want to sit this one out. If you love them, then prepare to put your nerves to the test. We're betting that the QPAC Playhouse in Brisbane, Adelaide's Dunstan Playhouse, His Majesty's Theatre in Perth, Melbourne's Athenaeum Theatre, the Canberra Theatre Centre and Newcastle's Civic Theatre will all be at their unsettling best for the occasion — it's not every day that you host a show that ranks among West End's longest-running productions, second only to Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, after all. The Woman in Black is set in Eel Marsh House in England's north, which sits at the heart of a story that Arthur Kipps recounts about his stint as a young solicitor overseeing Mrs Alice Drablow's funeral. The place isn't just filled with secrets, thanks to the titular figure. Waters plays the elder Kipps, with MacPherson plays an actor who agrees to perform the role of his younger guise. Kicking off its Aussie tour in late April, the stage version of The Woman in Black was first adapted for the theatre by Stephen Mallatratt back in 1987. "I first saw The Woman in Black in 2020 and knew I had to bring it back to Australia. It's such an incrediblem gripping show that is so spellbinding, it has you on the edge of your seat for two hours," said the current season's producer Alex Woodward. "When it came to casting we knew it was perfect to ask theatre royalty John Waters to reprise his role he debuted in Australia more than 15 years ago. Daniel was also a natural choice for his incredible ability, charm and charisma." THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2024 AUSTRALIAN DATES: Tuesday, April 30–Saturday, May 11 — QPAC Playhouse, Brisbane Wednesday, May 15–Sunday, May 26 — Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide Thursday, May 30–Sunday, June 9 — His Majesty's Theatre, Perth From Sunday, June 23 — Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne Tuesday, July 9–Sunday, July 14 — Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra Tuesday, July 23–Saturday, July 27 — Venue Civic Theatre, Newcastle The Woman in Black hits stages around Australia from April 2024, with tickets on sale from staggered dates starting on Wednesday, January 24. Head to the production's website for more information. Top image: James Reiser.
First, Brisbane was set to get a Harry Potter-themed brunch. Now, we're getting a wizarding dinner. If the boy who lived's flicks were still gracing cinemas, exploring his adult life, we're certain he'd be keen on this magical meal. Whether you're still not over Harry or you just wish you'd had the chance to attend Hogwarts because you know you're destined to be in Gryffindor (and to be seeker on the quidditch team, obviously), you'll want to make a date with this event. You'll dine in the Great Hall-like space that is St John's Cathedral, matching your meal (Pixie Puffs, please) with 'magic' potions (aka beer and wine). And you can bet the menu will include every Potter pun you can think of. Tickets are available now for dinners on both Friday, January 18 and Saturday, January 19 — and as for how many galleons you'll have to spend, it doesn't come cheap. Adult tickets cost $205 + booking fee, and are available for both evenings. If you're taking someone under-18 along, they're welcome to attend on the Friday for $185 + booking fee. From the Sydney event held earlier this year, you can expect long tables topped with candles, goblets filled with wine and Harry Potter characters mingling with attendees. This video should get the vibe across: Folks in costumes pretending to be Hermione, Dumbledore and others isn't really our idea of a magical HP experience, but perhaps a few firewhiskys will get you in the right mood. And if not, you can just talk about the next Fantastic Beasts film that'll release this November, or sit tight for the Cursed Child stage show to hit Australia.
Sports are often spoken about as a type of art form, but the Basil Sellers Art Prize took this idea to new levels. Celebrating a decade of paintings, UQ Art Museum's latest exhibition Play On: The Art of Sport showcases the best artworks presented throughout the biennial prize's run. Awarded for the best depiction of sport or sporting culture, many of Australia's leading artists are represented, all offering up a different perspective on some of our favourite sporting pastimes. Play On features Melbourne-based artist Jon Campbell — who took home the $100,000 award in 2012 — and his work Dream Team, a series of 22 paintings depicting nicknames of much-loved AFL players, while 2016 winner Richard Lewer's work Theatre of Dreams will also be on display. Other artists include: Shaun Gladwell, Daniel Crooks, Tony Albert, Fiona McMonagle, Tarryn Gill and Pilar Mata Dupont, Lauren Brincat, Gabrielle de Vietri amongst others. The exhibition displays at the St Lucia gallery until February 9, 2019. Image: Kerrie Polliness. Marking the field (still). 2012. Single-channel SD video, 16:9 ratio, colour, sound. 20:00 minutes. Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne.
Due to its location, Tasmania stands apart from the bulk of Australia. It's an island at the bottom of the continent, so of course it's separate from the rest of the country. But, for much of 2020, the Apple Isle has been shut off from the nation in another way — with Tassie enacting strict border restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, just as many other states on the mainland did as well. Thankfully, while most Aussies couldn't head to the country's southern-most state for much of this year without seeking permission and then going into quarantine, border restrictions don't have any dominion over our tastebuds. You mightn't have been able to spend time in Tassie for big stretches of 2020, but drinking beverages by Tasmanian producers has always remained on the menu. Obviously, it still does — letting everyone nationwide do what Tassie residents have always done and show their love for the Apple Isle's top drops. Whether you prefer a refreshing cider, a hearty vodka or gin, or a nice vino, that's great news. Tasmania has all of the above covered. Indeed, when BWS asked the state's drinkers to name their favourite local picks as part of the bottle retailer's Local Luvvas initiative, those aforementioned beverages from Plenty Cider, Hellfire Bluff Distillery and Pepik Wines topped the poll. All three brands will now receive an extra helping hand with getting their products stocked in more BWS stores — and we spoke with the teams at each about loving their jobs, showcasing homegrown produce, garnering local support and making it through 2020. APPLE CIDER FROM THE APPLE ISLE Of course Tasmania makes great apple cider. When tasked with picking their favourite brewed beverage, including beer, of course Tassie residents went with apple cider, too. That kind of local support no longer comes as a surprise to Plenty Cider co-owner Grace D'Arcy, but it is always heartily and eagerly appreciated. "People really resonate with where we are from, and love the fact they know where it is — and they understand the quality of the produce that comes from the area," she says. "Without local support, Plenty wouldn't exist, so we can't thank Tasmanians enough for what they have done for us and for many small businesses across the state throughout COVID-19". Plenty Cider is not only a celebrated homegrown brand, but is also beloved for its use of 100-percent southern Tasmanian-grown apples. And yet, the company's journey actually started with a different kind of alcohol and type of fruit. It wasn't hard to make the switch, though, D'Arcy explains. "The transition from wine to cider ten years ago was an easy choice to make, as cider was an emerging sector with so much hope and potential." Cider is also an easy field to be passionate about. That might sound self-evident — who wouldn't want to spend their days turning fruit into a sweet and delicious drink? — but D'Arcy's enthusiasm shines through. "There is also plenty of room for innovation and creativity. This is what keeps me passionate, along with striving to continuously improve and craft delicious ciders," she says. "When a cider is fruit-driven and you get that fresh full flavour on the palate, nothing is better." GIN AND VODKA MADE ABOVE A ROCKY COASTAL OUTCROP Potatoes might not be as synonymous with Tasmania as apples, but they're the reason that one of the state's other much-loved drinks producers exists. The site that Hellfire Bluff Distillery calls home is actually a potato farm on a cliff above Marion Bay that dates back more than 30 years. "We were looking for a way to value-add to the potatoes we grow," advises marketing coordinator Kyla Flanagan. "We wanted to bring something unique to the well-respected Tasmanian spirits market and, after investing a significant amount of time and research, in 2017 we launched Hellfire Bluff Distillery with our premium potato vodka." Clearly, local fresh produce is crucial here. "The distillery was built out of our love for premium Tasmanian ingredients, driven by our passion for farming sustainably, and influenced by our beautiful wild and remote region," Flanagan says. Hellfire now not only makes vodka, but also three styles of gin, a selection of small-batch liqueurs, and other limited-edition releases — using rainwater sourced from the farm, locally sourced lemons in its limoncello, and other "quintessentially Tasmanian ingredients," she explains. "When we say our products are handcrafted, we really mean it." Given how pivotal all things local are to Hellfire, it's hardly surprising that the distillery has proven a big hit in the community. "Product provenance has always been important to our customers, and local support has been integral to our brand from the very beginning," says Flanagan. And that homegrown love is a source of inspiration, too. "It's important to us that people feel connected to where their purchase comes from, and gain an understanding and insight into the business they are supporting," she notes. TURNING 61-HECTARES OF LAUNCESTON-GROWN GRAPES INTO VINO It was back in 2004 that Josef Chromy launched the wine brand that bears his name, setting up shop just south of Launceston on a scenic and sprawling 61-hectare vineyard. Pepik is one of its labels, and its moniker also has a close connection to its founder — because 'Pepik' is Josef's nickname, as given to him by his mother. Chromy handpicked Tasmanian winemaker Jeremy Dineen to lead the business, a role that the latter still holds today. As Pepik sales and export manager David Milne explains, making wine isn't just a job here — it's a passion, an obsession and a puzzle all in one. "It's the challenge of crafting the best wines from whatever the vintage throws at you that keeps things interesting," he says, with Pepik favouring "a minimal intervention style of winemaking to allow beautiful, aromatic Tasmanian fruit to achieve full expression in the glass". The resulting tipples, especially Pepik's pinot noir, have proven popular locally. But in 2020, the true level of community support has actually surprised Milne. "As a small wine producer in Tasmania, we probably didn't realise just how strong our following was until this year," he says. "People have made a concerted effort to support the local brands that they love and want to see come out the other side of this pandemic… In a year like no other, we've never been so honoured to be carried on the shoulders of our tribe." To find these or other Tasmanian drinks as part of the BWS Local Luvva initiative, head to your nearest BWS store.
Towards the end of Victoria and Abdul, Judi Dench's face fills the frame during an extended speech. For the second time in her career she's playing Queen Victoria in a film about the British monarch's relationship with a servant. Whereas 1997's Mrs Brown saw her bonding with Billy Connolly, this time the 19th century sovereign has forged a strong platonic bond with Indian Muslim clerk Abdul (Ali Fazal), but her son (Eddie Izzard) and staff are none too happy about it. Cue a memorable dressing down delivered by a figure well-aware of her power and responsibilities, as well as the type of scene designed to garner awards nominations. That's Victoria and Abdul in a nutshell. The latest regal flick from The Queen's Stephen Frears, it's the kind of film that knows where its strengths reside, and how viewers are likely to react. That's not to downplay Dench's formidable talents, or her ability to inhabit Queen Victoria's many shades and depths. Indeed, she's the best thing on screen. But there's no ignoring the fact that Frears has plunged the beloved actress into a decidedly average historical drama that isn't always worthy of her talents. Despite taking its inspiration from real life, Victoria and Abdul sticks closely to a familiar culture-clash formula. Typically, one of two things happen when folks from different stations in life meet in a movie. Either they get along nicely, but their connection isn't met with the same fondness by those around them, or, after a rocky start, they're forced to learn from their differences. When Abdul is picked to journey to Britain to present the queen with a ceremonial coin during her Golden Jubilee celebrations, the film seems destined to take the second path. Then he breaks protocol by making eye contact with the monarch, she's intrigued by the good-natured newcomer in her midst, and before long they're facing off against institutionalised racism. While Dench plays Queen Vic with considerable texture and nuance — more than early scenes seem to indicate, in fact — the feature around her doesn't share the same fortune. There's a difference between probing engrained prejudices and just presenting a scenario filled with them, with Victoria and Abdul taking the easier, latter option. Adapting the book of the same name by Shrabani Basu, screenwriter Lee Hall (War Horse) keeps things light and simplistic when it comes to scheming naysayers, cultural disharmony and Abdul himself. Given that the film supposedly sets out to dispel racist stereotypes, the fact that Abdul is portrayed as a jovial, exotic outsider who helps Victoria get her groove back is more than a little bit troubling. Where the film succeeds is as a misty-eyed ode to friendship. As Rose-tinted as much of the lavishly shot movie proves, it thoughtfully and tenderly conveys the effect that having someone to talk to, and to listen back, can have. The rapport between Dench and the spirited Fazal helps, ensuring that Abdul remains an engaging presence, even if he's flimsily written. Their time together mightn't delve deep into the intricacies surrounding their characters, but Victoria and Abdul is at its best when its stars share the screen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtC8jNHSxgQ
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.
Montreal-based artist, Shelley Miller, has turned graffiti into a tasty artform. Her sugary designs have covered city walls in ornate scrolls and decorative motifs. She takes the conventional approach to graffiti, and turns it completely upside-down. Her designs are beautiful, intricate and look straight out the Victorian era. Miller's latest installation titled Throw-Up was part of the Nuit Blanche ("white night") project in September at the Metro Hall in Toronto, Canada. You could call her a sugar graffiti veteran. Having worked with cake icing for several years, Miller has exhibited works around the world including Canada, India and Brazil. And, she is even cooler than you think. Not only does she make amazing art, but it often represents more serious and important global issues. Her work has represented consumer culture and the historical links between sugar and slavery. Miller's pieces have been acquired by The City of Montreal, The Museum of Modern Art of Bahia, Reliance Industries and the Just for Laughs Museum (Montreal). Check out some of her unique street-art below and her website, here.
If your summer plans don't involve a trip to Japan, we feel your pain. Thankfully, thanks to Brisbane's fondness for Japanese eateries and hangouts, you can always pretend. Or, you can combine the best of both worlds at Saké Eagle Street Pier each Sunday. Think river views, that weekend Brissie vibe, plus Japanese beverages and snacks. Drinks-wise, between 3–6pm every week, Saké is serving up $10 Japanese spritzers and $10 Sapporo beers. It's also doing $18 glasses of Veuve Clicquot — and $99 bottles as well — if you're feeling particularly bubbly. And, to get you in the cruisy Sunday session mood, a DJ will be on hand spinning tunes. The best part? Saké is also slinging a selection of bar bites between 5–6pm, and they're all free. That leaves you with more cash for another spritzer — or to start saving for that dream 2019 Tokyo holiday.
Looking for fancy accommodation in the heart of Cairns, but still within stone's throwing distance to the water? The Pullman Cairns International provides. It's right in the middle of the CBD but still provides harbour views and tropical pools. It's in the perfect place for maximum exploration of the surrounding region – the Great Barrier Reef, waterfalls, Fitzroy and Green Islands and northern beaches are all your oysters. It's easy to hop on a day tour from here, don a snorkel or scuba mask and find yourself getting acquainted with the sealife of one of the world's largest coral reefs. But by staying in far north Queensland's biggest city, you'll also have access to the wealth of bars, clubs, cafes and restaurants that add an epicurean dimension to your holiday by night. Another perk: you're close to Cairns airport, so you can minimise the transit time and maximise hours logged on sunloungers and sundowners. The Pullman Cairns International is the largest 5-star hotel in Cairns' CBD, and it isn't just its colonial era architecture which make it so luxurious. All rooms have a balcony and a view, and the Cairns International also has a gym, the Vie Spa, and a pool with attached sundeck and jacuzzi. You may never want to be dry and clothed again. Make sure you eat at the hotel restaurant Coco's – all we need say is "seafood buffet" and "share plates". If you're hungry in daylight hours, the Lobby Bar also does a decadent high tea. Once you've eaten, head over to the award-winning Vie Spa for a cheeky massage or three. Try to come up here between April and October — not only you escape the winter drudgery of Australia's southern cities, you'll enjoy the more comfortable conditions of far north Queensland's dry season.
Carved in marble in the 17th century, and gracing an Italian chapel, the statue Ecstasy of Saint Teresa is one of the iconic artworks depicting religious fervour. It's also considered one of the standout pieces of the Roman Baroque period. Understandably, it isn't on display at UQ Art Museum's Ecstasy: Baroque and Beyond exhibition — but, it's safe to say that inspiring an entire collection really is the next best thing. From September 16 to February 25, the St Lucia gallery will contemplate depictions of ecstasy old and new, as well as examples of Baroque art, in a showcase marked by its passion, extravagance and exaggeration. Featuring pieces by everyone from Salvador Dali, to Italian artists of the time, to contemporary Australian practitioners, expect to see excess in each and every item included, be it painted recreations, bronze statues or copper creations. Image: Anastasia Booth (Australia, 1988–); Teresa; 2016; copper; 200 x 270 x 30 cm. Courtesy of the artist, Brisbane. Reproduced courtesy of the artist.
Make no mistake: Sandra Bernhard is an icon. Not just in stand-up, where she has offered her outspoken views to anyone who’ll listen for almost four decades, but in films such as Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy, and for playing the first openly gay character on a network series on television’s Roseanne. To say she’s pretty great is an understatement. For the last 12 months, Bernhard has been touring the United States with her one-of-a-kind live show, Sandyland, an all-out celebration of just what makes her so fabulous. Now, she’s bringing it to Brisbane for one hysterical night of rock 'n' roll, cabaret, stand-up, burlesque and just telling it like it is.
Hosted by Triple J’s Sarah Howells and seminal vocalist Katie Noonan the 2012 Queensland Music Awards will celebrate its most innovative songwriters and musicians, the masters whose sounds sweep the state and its radio waves. Judged by an experienced team of professional from all aspects of the music industry the awards will recognise artists of a number of genres, from pop and rock to country and jazz. Featuring performances from artists like Ed Kuepper (Pictured), Art Of Sleeping, Rainman and Velociraptor, the night will also see awards given out for the album of the year, with Ben Salter’s The Cat and The Grates’ Secret Rituals just two records in the running. Seated tickets are sold out, but standing ones are still up for grabs, so don’t miss out on the event of the year.
Take one of popular culture's biggest supervillains, throw in one of today's very best actors and add the director of The Hangover trilogy. Only a few years ago, the above sentence might've seemed like a joke. Today, it's the reality we're living in — the reality that sees a standalone Joker movie cackling its way towards cinema screens, starring Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role. Move over Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger and Jared Leto — it's Phoenix's time to don exaggerated clown makeup, wield a killer smile and wreak havoc on Gotham City. The just-released final trailer for Joker promises plenty of all three, as failed standup comedian Arthur Fleck turns to a life of facepaint-wearing crime (and eventually obsessing over Batman, we're guessing). As directed and co-written by Todd Phillips (Old School, Starsky & Hutch, Due Date), Joker also comes with a suitably unhinged vibe, as if Phoenix's You Were Never Really Here character stumbled into Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy. (Fittingly, the latter film plus Taxi Driver and Raging Bull have been cited as inspirations for the new DC Comics flick, and Scorsese is one of Joker's executive producers.) It also looks certain to help everyone forget that the last take on the famous villain only arrived three years ago, because who wants to remember Leto's green-haired turn in Suicide Squad? If the first and second trailers are anything to go by, it looks like Phoenix will — thankfully — follow in the footsteps of Nicholson and Oscar-winner Ledger instead, as he plays alongside his nemesis (and talk show host) Robert De Niro, his love interest Atlanta's Zazie Beetz and his mother Frances Conroy, as well as Marc Maron and Brett Cullen. But we'll have to wait till October to know for sure. If you'd like a dose of terrifying clown cinema before then, IT: Chapter Two drops next week. In the meantime, check out the final trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGVQLHvwOY Joker releases in Australian cinemas on October 3, 2019.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas across the country. After periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are back in business — at present, spanning both big chains and smaller independent sites in 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, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. BLACK WIDOW Closure is a beautiful thing. It's also not something that a 24-film-and-growing franchise tends to serve up often. Since 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has operated with the opposite aim — extending and expanding the series at every turn, delivering episodic instalments that keep viewers hanging for the next flick, and endeavouring to ensure that the superhero saga blasts onwards forever. But it's hard to tick those boxes when you're making a movie about a character whose fate is already known. Audiences have seen where Natasha Romanoff's (Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story) story finishes thanks to Avengers: Endgame, so Black Widow doesn't need to lay the groundwork for more films to follow. It's inexcusable that it has taken so long for the assassin-turned-Avenger to get her own solo outing. It's indefensible that this is just the second Marvel feature to solely focus on a female figure, too. But, unlike the missed opportunity that was Captain Marvel, Black Widow gives its namesake a thrilling big-screen outing, in no small part because it needn't waste time setting up a Black Widow sequel. Instead, the pandemic-delayed movie spends its 143 minutes doing what more MCU flicks should: building character, focusing on relationships, fleshing out its chosen world and making every inch of its narrative feel lived-in. The end result feels like a self-contained film, rather than just one chapter in a never-ending tale — which gives it the space to confidently blend family dramas with espionage antics, and to do justice to both parts of that equation. Sporting an impressive cast that also includes Florence Pugh (Little Women), David Harbour (Stranger Things) and Rachel Weisz (The Favourite), Black Widow begins in 1995, in small-town Ohio. Here, Harbour and Weisz play Alexei and Melina, parents to young Natasha (Ever Anderson, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter) and Yelena (Violet McGraw, Doctor Sleep), and the portrait of all-American domesticity — or that's the ruse, at least. The film doesn't revel in small-town life, neighbourhood playtimes, 'American Pie' sing-alongs and an existence that could've been ripped from The Americans for too long, however, with the quartet soon en route back to Russia via Cuba at shady puppetmaster Dreykov's (Ray Winstone, Cats) beckoning. When the action then jumps forward to 2016, and to the aftermath of that year's Captain America: Civil War, Natasha hasn't seen her faux family for decades. On the run from the authorities, she isn't palling around with the Avengers, either, with the superheroes all going their separate ways. Then the adult Yelena (Pugh) reaches out, because she too has fled her own powers-that-be: Dreykov, the fellow all-female hit squad she's been part of for the last 21 years, and the mind-control techniques that've kept her compliant and killing. There's an unmistakable air of Bourne and Bond to Black Widow from there, but this deftly satisfying flick doesn't trade the MCU's blueprints for other franchises' templates. With Australian filmmaker Cate Shortland (Somersault, Lore and Berlin Syndrome) in the director's chair, this welcome addition to the franchise spins a thoughtfully weighty story about women trapped at the mercy of others and fighting to regain their agency. Read our full review. THE SPARKS BROTHERS "All I do now is dick around" is an exquisite song lyric and, in Sparks' 2006 single 'Dick Around', it's sung with the operatic enthusiasm it demands. It's also a line that resounds with both humour and truth when uttered by Russell Mael, who, with elder brother Ron, has been crafting art-pop ditties as irreverent and melodic as this wonderful track since 1969. Sparks haven't been dicking around over that lengthy period. They currently have 25 albums to their name, and they've taken on almost every genre of music there is in their highly acerbic fashion. That said, their tunes are clearly the biggest labour of love possible, especially as the enigmatic duo has always lingered outside the mainstream. They've had some chart success, including mid-70s hit 'This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us', Giorgio Moroder collaboration and disco standout 'The Number One Song in Heaven', and the supremely 80s 'Cool Places'. They're beloved by everyone from Beck and 'Weird Al' Yankovic to Jason Schwartzman and Mike Myers, too. They're the band that all your favourite bands, actors and comedians can't get enough of, but they're hardly a household name — and yet, decade after decade, the Maels have kept playing around to make the smart, hilarious and offbeat songs they obviously personally adore. Everyone else should love Sparks' idiosyncratic earworms as well — and, even for those who've never heard of the band before, that's the outcome after watching The Sparks Brothers. Edgar Wright, one of the group's unabashed super fans, has turned his overflowing affection into an exceptional documentary. It's the Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Baby Driver's first factual effort, and it's even more charming and delightful than the films he's best known for. That said, it'd be hard to mess up a movie about Sparks, purely given how much material there is to work with. Russell and Ron, the former sporting shaggier hair and the latter donning a pencil-thin moustache rather than the Charlie Chaplin-style top lip he's brandished for much of his career, are also heavenly interviewees. That's the thing about these now-septuagenarian siblings, every Sparks tune they've ever blasted out into the world, and this comprehensive yet always accessible film that's instantly one of 2021's best: they're all joyously, fabulously, eccentrically fun to an infectious and buoyant degree. The world has always needed more Sparks on a bigger stage; now, to the benefit of everyone that's ever loved them and anyone just discovering them, it's stopped dicking around and is finally delivering Read our full review. DATING AMBER "You look like a shit version of that guy from Blur". Before his reluctant first kiss, they're the exact words that the shy Eddie (Fionn O'Shea, Normal People) hears from the gum-chewing Tracey (Emma Willis, Vikings) — and the rest of their behind-the-building encounter, which is the result of pure peer pressure from Eddie's bullying classmates and zero actual desire on his own part, goes just as well. Afterwards, he soon finds himself face to face with another girl from his grade. This time, the similarly picked-on Amber (Lola Petticrew, A Bump Along the Way) has a far different assessment. In fact, she has a proposal, suggesting that they start dating each other to stop their peers from constantly taunting them about their sexuality. She's gay, she's picked that Eddie is as well, and this arrangement will help them stay in the closet in County Kildare circa 1995 until they finish the school year, graduate, and then both chase different futures. Plucky, no-nonsense and enterprising — she makes cash by renting out caravans in the park her widowed mother (Simone Kirby, Calm with Horses) runs to teens looking for somewhere to have sex — Amber wants to move to London to open "an anarchist bookshop with franchise potential". Quiet, determined to convince himself and the world that he's straight, and accustomed to tiptoeing around his parents' (This Way Up's Sharon Horgan and Extra Ordinary's Barry Ward) unhappy marriage, Eddie is training to join the military just like his dad, a path he clearly doesn't really want to follow. A warm and witty hormone-fuelled coming-of-age tale about seeking happiness, following your heart and breaking free of others' expectations, Dating Amber charts Eddie and Amber's faux relationship — including the camaraderie they feel as they play their parts, the comic subterfuge that comes with pretending they're the school's hottest couple, and the complications that spring the longer their charade continues. In another rom-com, this charming pair would simply be the queer best friends always by the straight protagonist's side, but thankfully that isn't the film that writer/director David Freyne brings to the screen. Instead, making his second feature after impressive zombie flick The Cured (and demonstrating his ability to hop seamlessly between genres in the process), the Irish filmmaker crafts a movie that's tender, thoughtful, perceptive and hilarious. His knack for 90s-era teen dialogue helps every exchange feel authentic, especially in the schoolyard. Even with the picture clocking in at a mere 92 minutes, the time and space he gives his central characters, as well as their hopes, dreams, fears and yearnings, is always noticeable. He helms a sunny but never visually glossy movie, too; however, alongside his insightful screenplay, he's served best by his core duo. In this amusing and astute gem, O'Shea and Petticrew put in wonderfully nuanced and layered performances that bring depth and emotion to every frame, and give them both a strong calling card for future roles. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on January 1, January 7, January 14, January 21 and January 28; February 4, February 11, February 18 and February 25; March 4, March 11, March 18 and March 25; and April 1, April 8, April 15, April 22 and April 29; May 6, May 13, May 20 and May 27; June 3, June 10, June 17 and June 24; and July 1. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Chaos Walking, Raya and the Last Dragon, Max Richter's Sleep, Judas and the Black Messiah, Girls Can't Surf, French Exit, Saint Maud, Godzilla vs Kong, The Painter and the Thief, Nobody, The Father, Willy's Wonderland, Collective, Voyagers, Gunda, Supernova, The Dissident, The United States vs Billie Holiday, First Cow, Wrath of Man, Locked Down, The Perfect Candidate, Those Who Wish Me Dead, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, Ema, A Quiet Place Part II, Cruella, My Name Is Gulpilil, Lapsis, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Fast and Furious 9, Valerie Taylor: Playing with Sharks, In the Heights, Herself and Little Joe.
For those who haven't been there, there's much that's simply unimaginable about war, including fighting on the front lines and being left behind. It's the latter that Merge Dance Theatre explores in their latest work. Through the medium of dance, they'll bring to life the untold tales of women waiting for their loved ones to return. It's a different kind of ANZAC story, staged by a different kind of dance group, with Merge endeavouring to bridge the gap between dance schools and professional companies. And, at a time when everyone's enjoying a break from work, it's a reminder of the sacrifices behind our way of living.
Lovers of Die Hard references and 'title of your sex tape' jokes, rejoice — and start planning your next Halloween heist. Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the beloved sitcom that all of the above gags form an important part of, has just been renewed. And if this feels a little like deja vu, there's a good reason for that. Basically, what a difference 18 months can make. This time back in May 2018, the show was cancelled after its fifth season by Fox, its original American network. An outcry followed, so rival US channel NBC came to the rescue, picking up the series just 31 hours later and committing to a sixth season of cop comedy. It was the latest tense move in the B99's history, with the threat of axing looming over the show since it premiered in 2013. Now, much to delight of fans, that's no longer the case — at least for the next two seasons. Back in March, the series was renewed for a 13-episode seventh season. Just last week, it was announced that those new episodes (and gags) will hit screens in both the US and Australia from early February. But there's even more exciting news in store for the fine fictional detectives of Brooklyn's 99th precinct, with NBC now renewing the series for an eighth season even before the seventh season airs. It seems that the network is rather fond of Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg), Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero), Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz), Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio), Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews) and Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher) — and even Hitchcock (Dirk Blocker) and Scully (Joel McKinnon Miller). https://twitter.com/nbcbrooklyn99/status/1195037124342378497?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Enews%7Ctwgr%5Etweet Yes, Brooklyn Nine-Nine fans can't utter "noice" fast or often enough. Or, as Peralta would say: cool cool cool. Expect season eight to air during the 2020–21 US TV season — although just when it'll screen obviously hasn't been revealed this far in advance. We do have season seven to get through first, after all. Aussie fans have been very fortunate in recent years, with SBS dropping new episodes in line with their US screenings, and that'll continue with season seven from February 2020. Here's hoping the same proves the case when season eight rolls around. As always, there are plenty of B99-appropriate ways to mark this development. Breaking out a celebratory yoghurt, Terry Jeffords-style, is definitely in order. If you're more like Captain Raymond Holt, perhaps you'd like to treat yourself to a trip to a barrel museum. Or you could channel your inner Gina Linetti and dance about your happy feelings. Brooklyn Nine-Nine's eighth season will air sometime in 2020 or 2021. Before that, the show's seventh season will start screeening from Friday, February 7, 2020, Australian time on SBS Viceland. Via Variety.
Pushing ladies to the front, welcoming them on-stage to discuss their fields of expertise and their experiences, and exploring a broad range of topics that are relevant to women: that's been the aim of Sydney Opera House's key feminist festival since 2013. From its inception, All About Women has dedicated a day to focusing on female voices, fittingly popping up around International Women's Day each year. Of course, it's never been possible to confine everything there is to talk about to one single day, so 2022's fest is expanding. When next March rolls around, All About Women will mark its tenth festival — and it'll hit double digits and broaden its footprint in tandem. To celebrate, Sydney Opera House's Head of Talks & Ideas Chip Rolley and First Nations legal academic, broadcaster, filmmaker, writer and Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt OA, the event's co-curators, have amassed an impressive range of speakers to participate in talks, panels, performances and workshops. The big focus: bravery, allyship and collective responsibility. One of the must-attend sessions of the 2022 fest, which'll take place between Saturday, March 12–Sunday, March 13: current and former Australians of the Year Grace Tame and Rosie Batty, who'll appear together publicly for the first time. In a session to moderated by author and political commentator Jamila Rizvi, they'll chat through the title they've both shared, including its challenges and opportunities. [caption id="attachment_837696" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jacquie Manning[/caption] Another of All About Women's key talks will feature American Bad Feminist and Hunger writer Roxane Gay in conversation with writer/actor and Gamilaroi/Torres Strait Islander woman Nakkiah Lui, discussing their personal experiences of racism and misogyny. Other highlights include a session on the story of 'Kate', who posthumously accused federal MP Christian Porter of sexual assault; an exploration of consent, featuring lawyer and author Bri Lee, writer Lucia Osborne-Crowley, and advocate for sexual assault law reform Saxon Mullins; a conversation with Distinguished Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson, Goenpul author of Indigenous feminist text Talkin' Up to the White Woman; and a panel discussing the everyday of disabled parenting curated and led by Eliza Hull, whose anthology of stories by disabled parents, We've Got This, will soon be published. [caption id="attachment_837698" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jacquie Manning[/caption] The rest of the lineup also features an opening night gala headlined by poet and contemporary dancer Tishani Doshi, who'll perform Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods; writer, historian and podcaster Yves Rees hosting a panel that imagines a future without gendered expectations; Fight Like A Girl, Boys Will Be Boys and How We Love's Clementine Ford giving a secular sermon on love; a panel on the fate of women in Afghanistan now the Taliban has taken back control of the country; a session highlighting veteran ABC journalist Laura Tingle; and a panel showcasing next generation First Nations voices. While the festival is going ahead in-person for Sydneysiders, it'll also live-stream to viewers both around Australia and worldwide — because this top-notch program, and the subjects it covers, can't be confined to either one day or one place. All About Women 2022 will take place on Saturday, March 12–Sunday, March 13 at the Sydney Opera House. Livestream tickets and event multipacks are on sale from 9am AEDT on Thursday, December 16, with single-ticket pre-sales starting at the same time — and general public tickets available from 9am AEDT on Friday, December 17. Top image: Prudence Upton.
