It's happening again, musical fans: Wicked is returning to Australia. That statement also applies to a mighty magical chance to see the smash-hit show for cheap. Yes, TodayTix is doing another of its ticket lotteries. When a big musical heads our way, there are often two reasons to get excited: the fact that the particular stage show is coming Down Under, and possibly getting to catch it without breaking the bank. That budget-friendly option has spanned everything from Hamilton and Moulin Rouge! to Mary Poppins and Tina — The Tina Turner Musical in recent years — and now it's Wicked's turn. This is an enchanted opportunity to enjoy The Wizard of Oz-inspired show at a discount, with tickets costing just $45. To take part in the lottery, you will need to download the TodayTix app — which is available for iOS and Android — and submit your entry each week for the next week's performances. The lottery will go live at 12.01am AEST every Thursday morning, and is already up and running for its first week. Then, the winners are drawn after 1pm on the following Wednesday. If your name is selected, you'll have an hour to claim your tickets from when you receive the good news. If you need a reminder, you can also sign up for lottery alerts via TodayTix, too. Opening in Sydney on Friday, August 25, Wicked returns to Australia two decades after composer Stephen Schwartz and playwright Winnie Holzman initially took a book that gleaned its influences from The Wizard of Oz, put it to music and turned it into one of Broadway's biggest hits of the 21st century. Even if you haven't seen the blockbuster show before, including on its past Aussie run from 2008–11, then you've likely heard of it. Following the Land of Oz's witches — telling their untold true tale is the musical's whole angle, in fact — Wicked has notched up more awards than you can fit in a hefty cauldron over the years. That includes three Tonys from ten nominations, a Grammy, an Olivier Award and six Drama Desk Awards. Story-wise, Wicked starts before The Wizard of Oz and continues its narrative after Dorothy Gale lands, adapting Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. The text itself has sold 5.5 million copies, including five million since the musical first opened. Here, before Dorothy blows in, two other women meet in the Land of Oz: Elphaba and Galinda. One will later be known as the Wicked Witch of the West, while the other will become Glinda the Good Witch. Exactly why that happens, and how, and the pair's relationship from rivals to unlikely friends to grappling with their new labels, fuels the show's tale. There's no word yet if Wicked will also hit up other Aussie cities, with only a Sydney season locked in so far. Pop on your ruby slippers and click your heels three times in hope that'll defy gravity in Melbourne, Brisbane and more afterwards — or make a Harbour City date ASAP. Wicked will open its Australian-premiere season at Sydney Lyric from Friday, August 25. To enter the TodayTix $45 lottery, download the company's iOS or Android app, and head to the company's website for more information — and to set up an alert. Images: Joan Marcus.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. ZOLA It wasn't just a Twitter thread — it was the Twitter thread. Whether you read Aziah 'Zola' King's viral 148-post stripper saga live as it happened back in October 2015, stumbled across the details afterwards as the internet lost its mind or only heard about it via Zola's buzzy trailer, calling this stranger-than-fiction tale a wild ride will always be an understatement. Its instantly gripping opening words, as also used in Janicza Bravo's (Lemon) savvy, sharp, candy-hued tweet-to-screen adaptation, happen to capture the whole OMG, WTF and OTT vibe perfectly: "you wanna hear a story about how me and this bitch fell out? It's kind of long, but it's full of suspense." In the film, that phrase is uttered aloud by Zola's eponymous Detroit waitress (Taylour Paige, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom). Still, the movie firmly embraces its origins. For those wondering how a filmmaker turns a series of tweets into a feature, Bravo handles the task with flair, energy, enthusiasm and a clear understanding of social media's role in our lives. Much of the phrasing that the real-life Zola used has made its way into the conversational script, which was co-written by playwright Jeremy O Harris. Each time that occurs, the film echoes with tell-tale swooshes, whistles and dings. But those words and alerts are just the starting point; as Zola's chaotic narrative unfurls, it comes to life with a mix of the hyperreal, the loose and the dreamy. It doesn't merely tell a tale taken from the tweetstorm to end all tweetstorms, but also uses every aesthetic choice it can to mirror the always-on, always-posing, always-sharing online realm. The other person that Zola refers to in her initial statement is the cornrow-wearing, blaccent-sporting Stefani (Riley Keough, The Lodge), who she serves at work, then joins on a jaunt to Florida. They immediately hit it off, which is what inspires the invite to head south — a "hoe trip" is how Zola describes it — however, what's meant to be a girls' getaway for a stint of lucrative exotic dancing in Tampa soon gets messy. The drive is long, and Stefani's boyfriend Derreck (Nicholas Braun, Succession) quickly dampens the mood with his awkward, try-hard schtick. Then there's X (Colman Domingo, Candyman), who, while introduced as Stefani's roommate, is actually her pimp. Trafficking Zola into sex work is the real plan of this working holiday, she discovers, but she's ferociously adamant that she won't be "poppin' pussy for pennies". As the woman both relaying and riding Zola's rollercoaster of a story, Paige is fierce and finessed. It's a tricky part; making the dialogue sound authentic, and also like it could've just been rattled off on social media with a mix of emojis and all caps, requires a precise tonal balance, for starters. So does ensuring that Zola always feels like a real person, especially given the tale's ups and downs. That said, Paige is guided by Bravo at every turn, with recognising how things play online and how they pan out in reality — and the frequent disconnection between the two — one of the filmmaker's biggest masterstrokes. That's exactly what a flick that's based on a Twitter thread should offer, rather than just mining posts for punchy content that's already proven popular. Using the platform as source material definitely doesn't equal an endorsement here. Instead, it sparks a brash and bouncy feature that interrogates its inspiration and the mechanism that turned it into a whirlwind, rather than serves up a cinematic retweet. Read our full review. LAST NIGHT IN SOHO Edgar Wright must own a killer record collection. Weaving the perfect playlists into his films has ranked high among the British writer/director's trademarks ever since he made such a horror-comedy splash with Shaun of the Dead, and his own love of music is frequently mirrored by his protagonists, too. This is the filmmaker who set a zombie-killing scene to Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now', and had characters wield vinyl as weapons. He made zoning out the world via iPod — and teeing up exactly the right track for the right moment — a key trait of Baby Driver's eponymous getaway driver. Earlier in 2021, Wright also turned his avid fandom for Sparks into his delightful first documentary The Sparks Brothers, because wearing his love for his favourite songs on his sleeves infiltrates everything he makes. So, the fact that his second film of this year is about a giddy devotee of 60s tunes really doesn't come as the slightest surprise. Last Night in Soho takes its name from an era-appropriate song that gets a spin in the film, naturally. It boasts a cleverly compiled soundtrack teeming with hits from the period, and has one of its central figures — called Sandie, like singer Sandie Shaw, who croons '(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me' on that very soundtrack — seek chanteuse stardom. As Wright is known to do, his latest movie also sports sequences that could double as music videos, and possesses a supple sense of rhythm that makes his picture virtually dance across the screen. It's a feature shaped by music, made better by music, and that recognises that music can make anyone feel like they can do anything. A partly swinging 60s-set thriller that adores the giallo films of the time with equal passion, it also flits between a cinematic banger on par with the glorious tracks it peppers throughout and the movie equivalent of a routine needle drop. Cilla Black, Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield: these are the kind of talents that Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie, The Power of the Dog) can't get enough of, even though she's a Gen Z aspiring fashion designer; they're also the type of stars that aforementioned blonde bombshell Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen's Gambit) wants to follow onto London's stages. Last Night in Soho starts with its wannabe fashionista, who's first seen donning her own 60s-inspired designs in her Cornwall bedroom that's plastered with posters and pictures from the period, and also dancing to 'Peter & Gordon's 1964 track 'A World Without Love'. Soon, Eloise is off to college in the big and, hopefully, working towards the fashion world. Then she meets Sandie, but only in her dreams. Actually, as she slumbers, she becomes Sandie — and navigates her chiffon-adorned quest for stardom, her breathy 'Downtown' covers and her thorny relationship with slippery bar manager Jack (Matt Smith, Official Secrets). Some of Last Night in Soho's most dazzling scenes play with these doppelgänger characters, and with the time-travelling dreamscape where they both exist, as if Wright is helming a musical. The choreography — both by McKenzie and Taylor-Joy, playing chalk-and-cheese roles, and by the film's lithe and glossy cinematography — is stunning. The effect is mesmerising, as well as whip-smart in tapping into the feature's ongoing musing on identity. This is also a horror movie and a mystery, however, so exploring what's behind these nocturnal visions is the primary focus. As a mousy girl bullied by her roommate (Synnøve Karlsen, Medici) to the point of leaping into the too-good-to-be-true Soho attic studio leased by the cranky but obliging Ms Collins (Diana Rigg, Game of Thrones), it's easy to see why Eloise flees into her dreams. But the who, what, why and how of it all — when and were clearly being answered already — isn't as simple as pure retro escapism. Read our full review. BLUE BAYOU Blue Bayou isn't Justin Chon's first film as an actor, writer, director or producer, but it's a fantastic showcase for his many talents nonetheless. It's also a deeply moving feature about a topical subject: America's immigration laws, which are complicated at best and draconian at worst. Worlds away from his time in all five Twilight flicks — because Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Anna Kendrick aren't the franchise's only breakout stars — Chon plays Antonio LeBlanc. While the Korean American tattoo artist has lived in Louisiana since being adopted as child, the name he was given upon his arrival in the US still sparks cognitive dissonance, as the job interview that opens the movie illustrates. It also doesn't stop both the casual and overt racism frequently directed his way, or the deportation proceedings that spring after he's accosted in a supermarket by New Orleans police officers. Helming and scripting as well as starring, Chon layers Antonio's situation with complexity from the outset. He's getting by, just, but his criminal record makes it difficult to secure more work — which he needs given his wife Kathy (Alicia Vikander, The Green Knight) is pregnant. He's a doting stepdad to her daughter Jessie (Sydney Kowalske, Doom Patrol), but her birth father Ace (Mark O'Brien, Marriage Story) is one of those aforementioned cops. Also, Ace has a bigoted partner, Denny (Emory Cohen, Flashback), who makes antagonising Antonio his daily mission. And, after that grocery store run-in, the latter discovers that his adoptive parents didn't ever complete the paperwork required to naturalise him as a US citizen. His life, his wife, his kids, that he has no ties to Korea: sadly, it all means nothing to the immigration system. Based on the plot description, it'd be simple to accuse Blue Bayou of throwing too much at its protagonist, dialling up his hardships and wallowing in his misery, all to tug at heartstrings. The film inspires a strong emotional reaction; however, this isn't just a case of calculating narrative machinations manipulating viewers to feel everything — or even something. There's a sense of inevitability to Chon's feature, his fourth after Man Up, Gook and Ms Purple, and it's all by design. The path that Antonio's life is forced down isn't surprising, complete with tough truths and heartbreaking realities, but it's filled with authenticity. Piling on misfortune after misfortune isn't merely a ploy when all of Blue Bayou's dramas can easily accumulate as they do here, and when no one's struggles are ever limited to just one or two troubles. There's no contrivance in sight, but rather a firm understanding of snowballing sorrows and their overwhelming impact. Still, Chon walks a delicate tightrope. He could've veered into tear-wringing movie of the week-style melodrama, clogged it up with cliches and failed to evoke even a single genuine feeling — or, alternatively, he could've deployed too much restraint and crafted a clinical, procedural film that saw Antonio as a mere cog in a system. The space he's carved out in-between is both masterful and organically messy; finding the right balance is a mammoth task, and embracing the whirlwind that sweeps along Antonio, Kathy and Jessie is inherently chaotic. The result is a stirring and empathetic film that's also precise and intricate, especially when it comes to the emotional deluge weathered by its central trio. At every moment, Blue Bayou plunges viewers into their turbulent existence, sees their plight with clear eyes and acknowledges all that that encompasses. Read our full review. THE RESCUE It isn't the first movie about the Tham Luang Nang Non cave incident to reach screens, thanks to the underwhelming The Cave. It won't be the last project to focus on the 12 Thai schoolboys and their soccer coach who were trapped in the Chiang Rai Province spot for 18 days back in 2018, either. Ron Howard (Hillbilly Elegy)-directed dramatisation Thirteen Lives hits cinemas next year, a Netflix limited series executive produced by In the Heights filmmaker John M Chu is also set to debut in 2022 and, to the surprise of no one, more are bound to follow. Still, The Rescue earns another worthy honour. The documentary isn't just an inspirational recounting of a miraculous effort that thwarted a potential tragedy, as told by the brave people who pulled off the feat, although it's certainly that. In addition, this gripping film falls into a genre that always needs more entries: celebrations of skilled people doing difficult things with precision, passion, persistence and prowess. If documentarians Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin have a niche, it's this. As co-directors, the married couple has now made three films, all valuing hard work, expertise and when the former leads not only to the latter, but to extraordinary achievements. With 2015 Sundance award-winner Meru, they documented Chin's efforts with two other climbers to scale Meru Peak in the Indian Himalayas. Then came Oscar-winner Free Solo, the exceptional doco about Alex Honnold's quest to free-climb Yosemite National Park's El Capitan. The Rescue swaps clambering up for diving deep, and hones in on an event that captured international headlines as it happened, but still belongs in the same company as the duo's past two releases. Here, viewers start the film with an understanding of what happened thanks to all that non-stop news coverage, but finish it in profound awe of the talent, smarts, dedication and unflinching competence involved. Vasarhelyi and Chin spotlight the divers who extricated Tham Luang's 13 unwilling inhabitants, aka the Wild Boars soccer team — and did so as the world watched, as hours became days and then weeks, and as monsoonal waters flooded the cave despite a desperate pumping initiative. Thai Navy SEALs initially attempted the task, yet struggled in the ten kilometres of sprawling and narrow tunnels. In fact, due to the murky water and the constant deluge from the fast-falling rain, they weren't able to get far. To assist, civilian hobbyists including Brits Rick Stanton and John Volanthen were brought in — experts in their field, and volunteers for the biggest diving quest of their lives. When their crew found the boys and their coach almost four kilometres from the mouth of the cave, they then faced another dilemma: how to get them back out alive. With its ending already well-known, The Rescue starts at the beginning, letting those who were there talk through each step, and also weaving in footage from the rescue mission itself. No re-enactments — not the small amount The Rescue uses, as noted in its credits; not The Cave's awful docodrama approach; and not all the future dramatisations set to flow from Hollywood — can ever be as nerve-wracking as seeing this remarkable feat actually happen. That said, the film's interviews are also significant. While the on-the-ground and in-the-water clips show the immense level of skill at work and the enormous dangers faced, the accompanying discussions offer keen insights into the thought processes involved. And, they draw out Stanton, Volanthen and their team's distinctive personalities, ensuring that these heroes are always flesh and blood. Read our full review. PHIL LYNOTT: SONGS FOR WHILE I'M AWAY One of the most astute things that a music documentary can do is lead with its subject, whether they're a household name the world over, deserving of more fame and acclaim, or fall somewhere in the middle. With Phil Lynott: Songs for While I'm Away, that's a tricky task, as it is of any film that looks back at a figure who is no longer around — and who didn't leave a treasure trove of candid and personal materials behind, as docos such as Amy, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck and Zappa all benefited from. Accordingly, editor-turned-director Emer Reynolds (The Farthest) undertakes a careful juggling act, pushing Thin Lizzy singer Lynott to the fore whenever and however she can. Songs for While I'm Away is still filled with talking heads that aren't Ireland's Black, working-class rockstar — his family members, friends, colleagues and peers alike — but it's at its best when it lets its namesake's songs echo and his on-stage presence take centre stage. "You'll never see a bad photo of Phil Lynott," Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham offers in a to-camera chat, a sentiment that the film bakes into its frames. Bearing witness to a great talent always casts a spell that merely listening to other people talk about them can never match, no matter how insightful and affectionate those discussions prove. Early in Songs for While I'm Away, Reynolds lingers on footage of Lynott singing and strumming, his piercing eyes instantly demanding attention — and that clip is the doco's hook, even for first-timers to his story. The soulfulness of his lyrics, many of which are placed into context by the film's interviewees, is just as entrancing. Sometimes the documentary resembles a listening party, pairing snippets of songs with stock visuals, then dissecting the tunes; however, in diving well beyond 'The Boys Are Back in Town' and 'Jailbreak' — the two songs that Thin Lizzy, and therefore Lynott, will always be best known for — it's a canny move. Still, Songs for While I'm Away has much to unpack: Lynott's upbringing, after being born in England to a mother from Ireland and a father from Guyana, then spending his childhood with his grandparents in Dublin; his path to music stardom, with Thin Lizzy's rock cover of 'Whiskey in the Jar' giving the group their first top-ten hit; and everything that sprang from that success personally and professionally. Early in the doco, Lynott's daughters Sarah and Cathleen stress how they wish people didn't focus so much on their father's death — in 1986, at the age of 36, from pneumonia and heart failure due to septicaemia after a struggle with heroin — and Reynolds takes their words to heart, too. This is a movie that's eager to soak up as much of Lynott, and what made him the star he was, as it possibly can. Indeed, with his addiction, it's positively shy; don't expect to even hear the word 'heroin'. That's another balancing act, and one that Reynolds doesn't quite perfect, opting for skirting around the obvious instead. A film can enjoy triumphs and recognise flaws at the same time — including when it comes to someone as pivotal in the history of Irish rock 'n' roll as Lynott — but Songs for While I'm Away eventually feels a tad safe and sanitised. It's celebratory from its first moment till its last, including when its smattering of equally famous faces, such as U2's Adam Clayton, Metallica's James Hetfield, Huey Lewis of Huey Lewis and the News, and singer Suzi Quatro — who supported Thin Lizzy when they supported Slade on a 1972 UK tour — deliver anecdotes and admiration. This is a heartfelt ode, undoubtedly, and both an entertaining and engaging one, but it also dons rose-coloured glasses that feel at odds with Lynott himself. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on July 1, July 8, July 15, July 22 and July 29; August 5, August 12, August 19 and August 26; September 2, September 9, September 16, September 23 and September 30; October 7, October 14, October 21 and October 28; and November 4 and November 11. For Sydney specifically, you can take a look at out our rundown of new films that released in Sydney cinemas when they reopened on October 11, and what opened on October 14, October 21 and October 28 as well. And for Melbourne, you can check out our top picks from when outdoor cinemas reopened on October 22 — and from when indoor cinemas did the same on October 29. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Herself, Little Joe, Black Widow, The Sparks Brothers, Nine Days, Gunpowder Milkshake, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Old, Jungle Cruise, The Suicide Squad, Free Guy, Respect, The Night House, Candyman, Annette, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Streamline, Coming Home in the Dark, Pig, Big Deal, The Killing of Two Lovers, Nitram, Riders of Justice, The Alpinist, A Fire Inside, Lamb, The Last Duel, Malignant, The Harder They Fall, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, Halloween Kills, Passing, Eternals, The Many Saints of Newark, Julia, No Time to Die, The Power of the Dog and Tick, Tick... Boom!.
Nestled into the fast-growing Howard Smith Wharves precinct underneath the Story Bridge, Mr Percival's looks out over the Brisbane river — and, if that's not enough, the octagonal bar and restaurant is actually perched right on top of it. Here, you can grab a beverage and a bite to eat while both peering at the snaking central waterway and sitting in a structure elevated above it. When it opened, it became Brissie's first venue of its type since Oxley's on the River in Milton was destroyed in the 2011 floods — although Mr Percival's is less about sit-down dinners and more focused on chilling out in a scenic and stylish spot. From 11am every day, Brisbanites can relax in a watering hole that's been designed with European beach clubs and the Brisbane's own park rotundas equally in mind. Think decking, six arched doorways, outdoor seats with a view underneathpink umbrellas, plus an indoor colour scheme that takes inspiration from the Mediterranean. Star windows, round lights, eye-catching wallpaper, 70s-style upholstered chairs, terracotta marble and a brass-fronted bar round out the hangout's inside decor, which was overseen by Brisbane interior designer Anna Spiro. Mr Percival's menu aims to match its look and feel. Unsurprisingly, seafood features heavily among the range of small and large plates. As for the drinks selection, it includes three types of spritz, spicy watermelon margaritas, shared cocktail jugs and more — plus rosé, bubbles, aromatic whites and light reds among the vino range. Beer-wise, Mr Percival's keeps things super local by pouring four brews from fellow HSW spot Felons through its taps. And if you're wondering about the moniker, it's a nod to Australia. Pelicans are a common waterside sight around the country, and the 1976 Aussie classic film Storm Boy — which was remade in 2019 — features a pelican called Mr Percival.
With so much to see, do and eat around Singapore, you might be feeling a little lost on how to best navigate the city. While Singapore's streets are renowned for being spotless, the humidity sometimes makes it difficult to wander long distances on foot. Get around by hopping on the efficient — and air-conditioned — Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system instead, which runs from Changi Airport in the east to Tuas Link in the west and through major stops such as Marina Bay, HarbourFront, Chinatown and Little India. The trains operate every 2–8 minutes from 5.30am–12.30am each day and are often conveniently connected to large shopping malls, hawker centres or other attractions through covered passageways. Simply use your existing contactless card or Apple Pay to tap on, or purchase a Singapore Tourist Pass (if you're staying for less than 3-5 days) or EZ-Link Card (if you're staying for longer). With the help of Singapore Tourism, we're spotlighting five MRT stops worth hopping off for along your commute, and what to do near each station. [caption id="attachment_981017" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Afur Wong[/caption] Maxwell Located in the heart of Chinatown, Maxwell is a stop along the Thomson–East Coast line. Jump off here to explore Chinatown and some of the city's top hawker centres as you're travelling from Gardens by the Bay towards Orchard Road. You'll find the famed Maxwell Food Centre right next to the station, which boasts over 100 stalls, including the renowned Tian Tian Chicken Rice. If you're still feeling peckish, the Chinatown Complex Market and Food Centre, which is the largest hawker centre in Singapore with 260-plus stalls, and the renovated Lau Pa Sat are both a short walk away. After lunch, take a stroll through historic Chinatown with a self-guided walking tour to see sights such as the Sri Mariamman Temple, Masjid Jamae mosque and Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum, with breaks for sweet treats and coffee in between. Marine Parade Further along the Thomson–East Coast line is Marine Parade, where you can walk or cycle through East Coast Park, refuel at Marine Parade Central Market and Food Centre, shop at Parkway Parade, and discover Peranakan culture at Katong-Joo Chiat. East Coast Park offers a range of activities for the whole family, from walking and cycling trails to windsurfing, paddleboarding and skateboarding, as well as a plethora of dining options. Katong-Joo Chiat dates back to the early 19th century and was a hub for Eurasian and Peranakan communities. Step back in time and learn about the neighbourhood's rich history at The Intan (a home-turned-museum), Eurasian Heritage Gallery and Katong Antique House, before snapping some photos at the iconic pastel-hued shophouses along Koon Seng Road. Finish up your day of discovery with Peranakan cuisine at Kim Choo Kueh Chang, 328 Katong Laksa or Old Bibik's Peranakan Kitchen. Bayfront You can't go to Singapore without visiting the iconic Marina Bay area. Stop at Bayfront on the Circle or Downtown lines to explore the whole precinct. At Marina Bay Sands, you can sip a sky-high drink at CÉ LA VI, enjoy a free light and water show at the Event Plaza and dance the night away at MARQUEE nightclub. For a more laidback night, take an evening stroll around Marina Bay to snap a photo at the Here is SG sculpture and explore Merlion Park, which is adjacent to the buzzing Fullerton precinct. While you're in the area, make sure to check out other unmissable attractions, such as the sprawling Gardens by the Bay and innovative ArtScience Museum. [caption id="attachment_980376" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Danny Santos[/caption] Little India From ornate temples to vibrant street art and plentiful shopping and food options, Little India is an energetic cultural hub that's worth a stop on the North East or Downtown lines. Follow the self-guided map and visit landmarks such as the Indian Heritage Centre, Tan Teng Niah House and Sri Veerakaliamman Temple. Along the way, you'll be able to browse for Indian homewares, ornaments, jewellery and textiles. If you're really ready to shop, head to Mustafa Centre, which is open 24/7 and sells everything from home appliances and electronics to camping goods, perfume, vintage collectibles and snacks across six levels. Once you've worked up an appetite, sample some local fare at Tekka Centre, which is Singapore's largest indoor wet market and a hawker centre. Other notable eateries in the area are Podi and Poriyal for cocktails and contemporary takes; The Banana Leaf Apolo, which has been serving North and South Indian cuisine since 1974; and Bismillah Biryani, which has been awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand for eight years straight. [caption id="attachment_980381" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Paris Chia[/caption] HarbourFront If you continue on the North East or Circle lines until the final stop, you'll end up at HarbourFront. Alight here for outdoor expeditions to Sentosa or Mount Faber Park, with a break for bites at Seah Im Food Centre. Mount Faber Park is one of the oldest parks in the city and looks out across the southern coast of Singapore. With well-paved pathways, you can easily hike or cycle up to the highest peak at Faber Point. Other sites in the park include a rainbow-coloured stairway, two restaurants, cable car rides to Sentosa, a mini Merlion and even a famous public bathroom with views across the harbour. If heights aren't your thing and you'd rather not take a cable car to reach Sentosa, not to worry — you can also reach the island via car, bus, bike, monorail, or even on foot. You're in for an action-packed day once you're there, with attractions ranging from beaches and an aquarium to a waterpark, go-kart track, adventure park, Universal Studios Singapore, WWII fort and role-playing city for kids. Book your Singapore holiday now with Flight Centre. Top image: Paris Chia Photography. All images courtesy of Singapore Tourism Board.
For the best part of the past six years London artist Ben Wilson has spent his days painting pieces of chewing gum that have been stuck to the ground. Wilson transforms these sidewalk blemishes into miniature works of art. The paintings range from animals, landscapes, portraits and even messages to pedestrians. Unsurprisingly his chewing gum art has turned him into something of a local celebrity, meaning he also does paintings on request for members of the local community - including apologies to girlfriends, thank you messages from managers to employees, a R.I.P. painting for a deceased postal worker and even a marriage proposal. Despite this, Wilson has received some police interference including one arrest. Charges were quickly dropped after dozens of people wrote letters of support and Wilson was able to convince the police that it was not him actually sticking the chewing gum to the ground. To create it all, Wilson first softens the chewing gum with a blowtorch then sprays it with a lacquer and finally applies three coats of acrylic enamel. The works usually only last one or two years depending on conditions but this does not bother Wilson, as in his words "everything is transitory, what's important is the creative process." Images via Flickr users Jansos, Tezzer 57 and r3cycl3r [via Gizmodo]
Bluesfest experts already know that Iron & Wine will be folkify-ing Byron Bay come Easter 2014. But what they don't know (or haven't, until today, at least) is that the Texan singer-songwriter formally known as Sam Beam will be making headline appearances in Sydney and Melbourne. Since his last Australia tour, Iron & Wine has released two albums: the slick and poppy Kiss Each Other Clean (2011), which entered the US Billboard Chart at Number 2, and now, Ghost on Ghost. Representing yet another extension of Beam's creative repertoire, it combines '60s soul influences with dashes of '70s rock. Beam's idiosyncratic voice meets a punchy horn section, string flourishes and retro-style female harmonies. "As an artist, I think you should be exploring all the time," he told American Songwriter recently. "It's a transition in the way you think about your work. If your work is more about the process of working, then you are still in pursuit of good results, but the result is not where you get your satisfaction. It's the process — the process of exploring and doing." Iron & Wine will play the Sydney Opera House on April 22 and Melbourne's Forum Theatre on April 23. Tickets are available via Handsome Tours' website. Photo by Craig Kief.
Get your shopping done under twinkling lights while surrounded by real (not plastic) Christmas trees. No, this isn't a festive dream — it's the reality of South Bank's annual Christmas markets. Whether you've been every year since you can remember, or you've never gone a-browsing at the inner-city spot, visiting The Collective Christmas Markets is worth the trip. While the entirety of South Bank always gets into a merry mood, nothing will steal the show from the most important part of the proceedings: the wares on offer at the rows of stalls. Kicking off from 10am–9pm on Friday, December 13 and running until Saturday, December 23, you'll find handmade toys, jewellery and other trinkets just begging to be given as gifts, as well as tasty treats to add to your Christmas feast. Yep, everyone's a winner here.
Quiet and understated, Adelaide isn't always easy to navigate if you're a tourist. So much of the good (and there is a lot of good) is hidden in plain sight. That's where it helps to have some insider advice. We've teamed up with Pullman Hotels and Resorts to bring you a guide to Adelaide's less obvious but obviously fabulous experiences. Putting our heads together with Pullman Adelaide's chief concierge Enrico Angelletti, we've curated a list of must-dos that will leave you wanting more of Adelaide — from new art spaces to old smelly cheese shops, and from pizzeria nightclubs to tranquil gardens. Enrico (aka Ric) has been in the hotel business for nearly 38 years, and is looked up to by junior staff for his passion and expertise for helping guests find extraordinary experiences in Adelaide. His food knowledge is particularly strong — it comes at least in part from his Italian background. Check out the rest of our Explore More content series to hone your itinerary for some of Australia's best holiday destinations. ART & DESIGN ACE OPEN Born in response to dramatic cuts in arts funding, ACE Open is a new and innovative gallery space dedicated to creating challenging conversations with its audience. It showcases a diverse range of Australian and international artists who present experimental, unconventional work. Only launching in early 2017, ACE Open has quickly made a name for itself as being one of the most exciting art spaces in Adelaide, uncompromising in its dedication to quality and enthusiasm for creative risk-taking. Don't miss: Next Matriarch — an exhibition showcasing art from Indigenous women. SISTER GALLERY Created by artists Mia Van den Bos and Ashleigh D'Antonio, Sister burst onto the Adelaide art scene with its incredible stream of contemporary and experimental art from all over Australia. The gallery celebrates young, upcoming and underground artists with a bold point of view and a non-traditional approach. Located just outside of the city in Bowden (near some fabulous cafes and markets), Sister is easily accessible via the tram from the city. It's actually the perfect way to experience something totally different while exploring one of Adelaide's burgeoning cultural centres. Don't miss: Sister's October Openings, which will run in the gallery for two months. JAMFACTORY An Adelaide institution, JamFactory is a haven for all things ceramic and sculptural. Doubling as an education institute, it has purpose-built studios for the design and manufacture of jewellery, ceramics, furniture and glass. Because of its educational bent, visitors are not only able to buy direct from the artists but are able to get a sneak peek into cutting-edge processes and the next wave of influential Australian designers and makers. There's also the opportunity to participate in workshops and classes from industry leaders. Don't miss: Confluence. Presented in association with Tarnanthi Festival, it's an exploration of the work of Indigenous artists from all around Australia. ENSEMBLE ADELAIDE A concept store by and for locals, Ensemble is a new independent retail experience that puts good, sustainable design above all else. The recent home of the Slow Fashion Festival, Ensemble houses the work of local designers and artists, including BB Shoemaker and Goods Studios, and allows shoppers to buy direct from makers and artists. Beautifully curated and wonderfully relaxed, Ensemble is a space of beauty and collaboration that also highlights the innovation and spirit of the Adelaide creative scene. Don't miss: Seeing the makers work and chatting to them about their process. FOOD & DRINK NOLA Travel to New Orleans in the heart of Adelaide. Located in the city's relaxed East End, Nola is all about good beer, even better whiskey and delicious creole cuisine. Transforming Adelaide's stables building into the quintessential New Orleans speakeasy, the bar is a completely singular experience in the city's somewhat overcrowded small bar scene. Pouring at least 26 different craft beers at any given time, and having an ever-changing lineup of artisan whiskies, a menu designed for sharing (which features classics like cornbread, beignet and gumbo) and outdoor dining all summer, it's southern hospitality done right. Don't miss: The fried chicken is the most celebrated dish on Nola's menu for very good reason: it's light, crispy and just spicy enough to cut through all those beers. SUNNY'S This isn't your nonna's pizza. She'd probably like it, though. Serving Naples-style woodfired pizza with the best in South Australian beer and wine (and some very good cocktails), Sunny's is part restaurant and part club, with tables being cleared for live DJ sets every weekend. Located in the newly revitalised Solomon Street in the city's West End, Sunny's regularly involves collaborators representing the best of Adelaide's food scene. Delicious from start to finish. Don't miss: For all of its experimentation, Sunny's is still all about the classics. Their margherita is second to none. Pair that with their zesty Campari watermelon cocktail and you're set for summer. EAST END CELLARS Part bottle shop, part bar and 100 percent gourmet, East End Cellars is the perfect place to get your wine education. The shop has been pouring local wines (as well as a large variety of international labels), running educational tastings and preparing some of the most delicious food and decadent cheeseboards in the city for two decades. Everything is dedicated to getting the most out of your drink. Wines are expertly paired to your meal, and every week there is a guided tasting of their featured winery, where you can learn more about South Australian product from the best in the business. Don't miss: The huge selection of South Australian spirits, beers and wines exclusive to East End Cellars. THE SMELLY CHEESE SHOP An Adelaide Institution, The Smelly Cheese Shop has all your cheese needs covered. Located in the Central Markets, the shop stocks high-end and artisanal cheeses from all over South Australia and the world. With everything from imported French brie to Kangaroo Island feta, The Smelly Cheese Shop places quality above all else, offering customers the opportunity to have a real and in-depth experience with a true cheesemonger at the counter. In a state known for its passion for quality food, this shop is the pinnacle of excellence. Don't miss: The Smelly Cheese Shop runs classes all year round for the budding cheese connoisseur in all of us. They sell out notoriously quickly, so it pays to do your research and book in advance. WELLBEING & LIFESTYLE [caption id="attachment_643375" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] National Parks SA[/caption] MORIALTA CONSERVATION PARK While Adelaide is often derided as Australia's biggest small town, walking through Adelaide, you can see that size or space doesn't matter — it's all about how you use it. Located just 10 kilometres from the CBD, Morialta Conservation Park feels like another world, filled with rugged ridges, waterfalls and native woodlands. Visitors can challenge themselves with a variety of different hiking trails and, as they walk, be treated to expansive panoramic city views of the city and coast. And while you're walking, keep your eye out for native animals (koalas 24x7). Don't miss: A park. Adelaidians love Morialta, so it's best to head there early to save an inevitable car argument. BOTANIC GARDEN AND HIMEJI GARDEN If you can't leave the city but still want to get back to nature, the Botanic Garden and Himeji Garden should be at the top of your list. Designed by Japanese landscape artist Yoshitaka Kumada, the Himeji garden is a slice of beauty and tranquillity in the middle of Adelaide's bustling southern quarter. Featuring beautiful Japanese plant life, including black pine trees and gorgeous blossoms, the gardens are a favourite for Adelaidians who want to switch off and take some time out for reflection. Don't miss: Spring/summer sees the gardens truly come to life. Explore more with Pullman. Book your next hotel stay with Pullman and enjoy a great breakfast for just $1.
Everything about the Bavarian Beer Cafe screams Germany — its theming, its menu of schnitzel, German sausage, roast pork, apple strudel and black forest cake, and its lengthy list of schnapps and weissbier. And yet, one glance out of the Eagle Street Pier establishment's windows or over its balcony, and there's no mistaking that this slice of Bavaria is smack-bang in the middle of Brisbane. Looking at the Brisbane River will do that, naturally. It's the best of both worlds — as well as one of the CBD's best spots to grab a beer and a bite if you want a killer view.
Seven days a week, Bellissimo Coffee's Oxford Street outpost serves up caffeinated beverages, plus brunch, lunch and bakery bites, all while the sun shines. But as great as that is for a daytime pick-me-up, snack or meal, and has been for a decade now, it means that the old warehouse-turned-eatery isn't welcoming in customers after dark — until Thursday, July 21 rolls around. Meet Besitos, the 80–90-seater Mediterranean-infused pop-up restaurant that'll soon share Bellissimo's Bulimba digs three nights a week. A product of the location's 2021 revamp, which saw the venue nab a a sleek and rustic new look courtesy of interior designers Alkot Studio, the new dinner spot takes over the area that Bellissimo previously used to roast its coffee beans. On the menu: candle-lit dinners in an industrial-but-cosy space, plus a food lineup from Executive Chef Marco Torrisi (ex-Joey's) that heroes dishes prepared on the open kitchen's flaming charcoal grill. Yes, you'll get a prime view of your meal being cooked while you wait, with the culinary range changing seasonally. When Besito's opens, it'll launch with a winter menu that'll feature emu tartare, charred octopus, and bone marrow with salsa verde on toasted brioche, as well as baguettes paired with Spanish anchovies, burnt miso toothfish tacos, Mooloolaba king prawns and hot pot mussels. Most dishes will be small, with patrons encouraged to order a heap — aka sample their way through, rather than agonise over picking just one thing. There will be three large plate options, though: casarecce pasta with Canadian scallops, chargrilled market fish and angus sirloins. For dessert, a trio of choices also awaits, spanning a modern take on tiramisu with housemade espresso ice cream and coffee syrup, chargrilled pineapple given a chocolate crumb and paired with basil-infused ice cream, and a range of housemade gelato. Drinks-wise, 12 wines will be available by the glass and plenty more by the bottle, while cocktails, beers and spirits also feature. Naturally, the Besitos martini features Bellissimo cold-press coffee, as well as vodka and coffee liqueur. When the restaurant kicks into gear at 5pm from Thursday–Saturday, don't go expecting the usual Bellissimo setup, but at night, however. The kitchen setup will change with the switchover to Besito's every evening, as will the full roster of staff. "Besitos is the next chapter in the Bellissimo story, marking a continuation of connections made during mornings spent at our cafe and transcending our communities' dining experience from day to night," said Bellissimo owner Mark Bignell. "This exciting new venture is our special way of giving back to our community — we wouldn't have a business without Bulimba." "We've been waiting for the perfect moment to share our team's talent, dedication, and passion with Brisbane foodies and are beyond excited to help revitalise the ferry end of Oxford Street," Bignell continued. Find Besitos at 35 Oxford Street, Bulimba, from Thursday, July 21 — open Thursday–Saturday from 5pm–late.
Beyond: Two Souls is a staggering achievement in gaming. If you're a semi-regular gamer, you already know that. But it's if you don't include games in your current recreational repertoire that the information is most pertinent. Because Beyond is quite unlike your Grand Theft Autos, Call of Dutys, Wii tennises and nearly every other blockbuster title on the market, and it might be the one that sucks you in. Made for a reputed $28 million, Beyond stars Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe in leading roles and screened its demo at this year's prestigious Tribeca Film Festival. It sits somewhere between cinema and what we think of as games, crafting an interactive drama that you play in the first person. French studio Quantic Dream, who explored a similar form with Heavy Rain (2010), are really concerned with the possibilities of immersive storytelling using new technologies. Curious? Here are a few reasons to give Beyond: Two Souls a go. Because you like film and TV Let's face it, of all the screen arts, video games are not the ones known for their complexity of story, character or emotion; they're known for their abundance of things to shoot at. But storytelling comes first in Beyond: There are some action scenes, but they happen in the broader context of the life of one specific girl, Jodie Holmes (Page), who is blessed/cursed with various psychic powers that make her valuable to the CIA and government research departments but chilling to her parents and peers. Her whole life she has felt a connection to the invisible 'entity' Aiden, and much of the tension in the game comes from the love/hate relationship she has with her constant companion. As the player, you see Jodie from the ages of six to twenty-one, though you play the chapters out of chronological order, piecing together the puzzles of her life. "We tried to create an interactive experience, more than just another video game," said Beyond's writer/director David Cage at a recent game preview in Sydney. He takes his cues from the world of cinema, adding elements from the game designers' toolkit to make you even more invested in the story. Because you want to see Ellen Page's Oscar-worthy performance There are so many sub-reasons it's great to see Ellen Page in the main role in Beyond, and the fact that she's not some 'sassy' and pneumatically boobed animation — she's Ellen Page — is just the tip of the iceberg. "A mix of technology and talent" is Cage's catch cry for Beyond, which would've been a far lesser game without the perfect female lead to embody your journey. And embodying it really is — Page is not just lending her voice or her face; she and the rest of the cast acted out this 2000-page script in a bare room kitted out in the latest in performance capture technology. They even developed a new method of capturing eye movement, placing small markers all around the eye to track minute muscle contractions and so basically eliminating that 'cold dead eyes' effect that has long plagued computer-generated imaging. The process is truly a sight to behold. In this sometimes testing, sometimes liberating environment, Page puts in an entrancing performance as Jodie, a character who's a pretty intense contradiction of feelings over many years of her life. "It's really bare acting," says Cage. "It's just you in this silly suit and all you can trust is your imagination, the script, the director helping you and, of course, the other actors. But it's really about acting in its pure, pure form." Because you think emotional journeys are the core of story "The idea is really to make you feel emotions that are usually rarely found in video games," says Cage. Specifically, rather than stress, competition and (a hopefully cathartic) rage, there's more hurt, mourning, nervousness, pride and love. Beyond's emotional palette is that of growing up, moving forward and mourning (Cage was inspired to write the story after the death of someone close to him). While there's plenty of this kind of exploration going on in indie games, such as That Game Company's phenomenal Journey, Beyond is perhaps the only big-budget, high-production-value game with this agenda. "We really tried to put you in the shoes of this young woman," says Cage. "You will feel like you've known her since she was a kid because you've been with her in the happy and difficult moments of her life, you know what she went through and where she comes from. My hope is that by the time you are done with the game and you turn off the console you will be a little bit sad, because you may never see her again." Because you won't get stuck on level 6 Or any level before or after. Beyond is all about the consequences your actions have on a life. And just like life, there are no do-overs. Instead, the game will funnel you on to the next chapter, via a slightly different road. Get caught by the cops? Maybe your invisible friend can help you out of those cuffs. Asphyxiate in a fire? Here's that 'come toward the light' sequence you were definitely going to see at some point. You will not keep dying at that one tricky spot in perpetuity. That means no matter your skills, Beyond will take you about 12 hours to play through. The control scheme is also a bit different and quite simple — an annoyance to some regular gamers but great for newbies. Quantic Dream have carefully designed the gameplay to be so integrated into the story that it's basically invisible, and at its best moments, it's very elegant. The goal is not to pull you out of the story with the trials of a complex controller dance but to allow you to lose yourself in it. And if it's the controller itself that unnerves you, Beyond even allows you to sync up your Android or iOS device and use familiar swipes and taps instead. Because you won't be able to help it Beyond has its successes and failures it's true, but its single-minded inventiveness is so inspiring, film and new media makers are lapping it up. It's a bold step in the direction of 'convergence', which sees film and games blend, borrow from each other and sometimes forge something completely new. Don't play it now and you'll instead see some flicker of it, in some medium, some time in the future. Beyond: Two Souls is out now on PS3.
Put down your So Fresh CD. Crack open your teenage piggy bank. Keep practicing your Usher slide glide. It's time to bust out your R&B love — not only at mammoth shows around the country, but at jam-packed after party. A full-blown R&B frenzy is set to sweep the nation this November thanks to RnB Fridays, which will descend on stadiums in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide between November 9 and 17 (not all on Fridays, mind you). The event has managed to pull a pretty serious lineup of international music legends straight from the 90s and early 2000s. And, because you can't get too much of a good thing, plenty of them will be keeping the fun going after the main show. The official RnB Fridays after parties won't boast tour headliner Usher; however it's not short on names otherwise. Lil Jon, Estelle, Fatman Scoop and Ginuwine will all do double duty, as will DJ Spinderella and Pepa from Salt-N-Pepa, plus DJ Kay Gee and Vin Rock from Naughty By Nature. Joining them in Sydney and Melbourne is singer and rapper Trey Songz, while YO! MAFIA and Aussie R&B DJ Horizon will also be hitting the decks. You'll need a separate ticket for the after parties, which are held in separate venues — with tickets costing $49.90 for Melbourne's shindig on Level 3 of the Crown Casino on Saturday, November 10, the same amount at The Tivoli in Brisbane on Friday, November 16 and $96.30 to hit up The Marquee at The Star Sydney on Saturday, November 17. RnB Fridays Live at will hit Melbourne's Marvel Stadium on November 10, Brisbane Showgrounds on November 16 and Spotless Stadium in Sydney on November 17 — with the after parties taking place on the same dates at Level 3 of the Crown Casino, The Tivoli and The Marquee at The Star Sydney. Tickets for the after parties are now on sale. Image: Mushroom Creative House.
If you've ever been to a gig featuring an Australian band, streamed their tracks, read a book by a local author, hit your nearest theatre for a play or musical, wandered through an exhibition, or enjoyed an Aussie movie or TV show — and, of course, you've done some and probably all of the above — then you've interacted with Australia's arts industry. These aren't the only ways that the nation's creatives have an impact, and this country of ours wouldn't be the place it is without them. So, the Federal Government has unveiled a hefty package of support: a new $286-million National Cultural Policy. Announced on Monday, January 30 by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for the Arts Tony Burke, the fresh policy has been badged "a new chapter in Australia's cultural story". The aim: to help boost the $17-billion industry that's generally been underfunded in the past, and has suffered through a particularly tough period during the pandemic — an industry that employs around 400,000 Aussies. Today we've got big news for the Australian arts and entertainment industry – and for fans of the incredible work we produce here. We're supporting the industry and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it creates, after a decade of neglect and missed opportunities. pic.twitter.com/MVV5wjFLFK — Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) January 30, 2023 The National Cultural Policy outlines the government's plan for Australia's arts, entertainment and cultural sector over the next five years — and it's full of big inclusions, from upping support, creating new institutions and helping ensure that Aussie stories reach our screens in today's streaming-heavy times. "Our new cultural policy Revive will provide the support Australian artists need to thrive and grow," said the Prime Minister. "I am excited by the potential it will unleash, and to see our extraordinary and diverse Australian stories continue to be told with originality, wit, creativity and flair. It builds on the proud legacies of earlier Labor governments that recognised the importance of art and culture to Australia's identity, social unity and economic prosperity." [caption id="attachment_836832" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alice Springs gallery, Tourism NT[/caption] Among the big-ticket items, a new National Aboriginal Art Gallery in Alice Springs and an Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Perth are worth getting excited about — with the former receiving $80 million in funding and the latter $50 million. The policy puts a significant and needed focus on First Nations art, including legislation to stop fakes and their impact. A creative workforce strategy specifically for Indigenous Australians will be developed as well, and $11 million will go towards establishing a First Nations Languages Policy Partnership between First Nations representatives and Aussie governments. Also on the list: creating four new bodies in the arts space, including a First Nations-led body to give Indigenous Australians autonomy over decisions and investments. It'll be part of a new organisation called Creative Australia — aka the Australia Council for the Arts, but renamed and upgraded, and given an extra $199-million in funding over four years. Creative Australia will also span Music Australia, which'l be dedicated to contemporary music industry and receive $69.4 million; Writers Australia, for writers and illustrators creating new works, nabbing $19.3 million in funding; and a new $8.1-million Centre for Arts and Entertainment Workplaces, which'll be devoted to making sure creative workers get fair wages, work in safe spaces and are protected from harassment and discrimination. [caption id="attachment_885816" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Genesis Owusu and members of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra by Alex Turley.[/caption] And, in important news for Australia's screen industry, a long-sought-after Aussie content quota for streaming platforms is also part of the National Cultural Policy, starting no later than July 1, 2024. "During that time online streaming platforms have taken off, but our Australian content obligations haven't. I know we can do better," said Burke on social media, noting that there's currently no requirements for the array of streaming services available Down Under to invest in Aussie movies and shows. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tony Burke (@tony_burke_au) Among a hefty list of inclusions, the National Cultural Policy also covers an extra $11.8 million in funds for the National Gallery of Australia to tour its collection around the country; a $12.9-million digital lending rights scheme, which'll earn money for authors, illustrators and editors when their works are borrowed from libraries; splashing $8.5 million in more cash into the Regional Arts Fund; and continuing Festivals Australia. For more information about Australia's new National Cultural Policy, head to the Australian Government's website. Top image: Splendour in the Grass, Savannah van der Niet.
Brisbane's 'burbs continue to prove their worth as the dining scene expands from the confines of the CBD. The latest score for Bardon is Smoked Paprika, which has opened its doors on Macgregor Terrace. Sugar, spice and all things nice fill the mean all-day breakfast and lunch menus, inspired by the chef's European heritage and served with an Aussie twist. Peruse the menu, order and pay at the counter, then dabble in a spot of people-watching while you wait for the kitchen to work their magic. A word of warning: the courtyard-style cafe is not air conditioned, so be prepared to embrace the balmy Brisbane weather. For a small cafe, Smoked Paprika are delivering big things in the kitchen. The menu is loaded with unique dishes, and very meal that arrives on customer's tables is plated with care, flair and a subtle artistry, ensuring a perfect breakfast 'gram for your friends and followers to swoon over on their smartphones. The Smoked Paprika breakfast ($16.90) can be thought of as a mashup of breakfast favourites, as spiced beef is served on Turkish bread with poached eggs, a creamy hollandaise, roasted tomatoes, grilled haloumi, and a handful of rocket for good measure. This signature dish proves to be a crowd favourite, with a plate adorning almost every table in sight at Sunday brunch. The whipped persian feta on sourdough ($11.90) served with avocado, lemon and house spice mix is another excellent contender if your heart and stomach desire a light but creamy, classic. Just like the breakfast menu, the lunch offerings here don't mess around. Hearty salads, pasta and burger options are sure to satisfy your lunchtime hunger pains. And if its a thirst you seek to quench, the coffee is good, the juices are fresh and the smoothies come served in mason jars. Catering for the suburban surrounds, Smoked Paprika is little-people friendly, offering a dedicated kids' menu. Boiled eggs with soldiers ($9.90), crepes with Nutella ($6.90) and a classic ham and cheese toastie ($6.90) are sure to keep Brisbane's little stomachs happy.
If the past few years have you craving something more than the usual — something outside of your house, for starters, and events that don't just feel like the same old thing again and again, too — then prepare to spend some time in a secret Somerset region location. You'll be heading to Jimna, which is where Jungle Love Music & Arts Festival will unleash its 2022 program. Yes, one of southeast Queensland's favourite smaller, more specialised, boutique, curated fests is returning. Since 2014 — with pandemic delays, like all events — Jungle Love has been a smorgasbord of creative activities. Instead of ridiculous queues and heaving crowds clamouring for space in an ordinary city showground, here you'll find a laidback vibe, a campground surrounded by luscious greenery, and the chance to go for a swim in the creek while you watch a gig. Oh, and did we mention that it's a BYO festival as well (though no glass is allowed)? This year's event will take place between Friday, September 2–Sunday, September 4. If you've been in previous years, the fest is heading to a new site in 2022, so get excited. Camping is included in the price, and you can level up to glamping packages — in bell tents that sleep up to five people — as well. And, in terms of what you'll be enjoying while you're there, the lineup includes visual arts displays, cabaret, circus, comedy, poetry slams, knocking back those BYO beverages and plenty of tunes. JUNGLE LOVE MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL LINEUP 2022: AYA J Battlesnake Boing Boing Boom Boom Bean Selecta Bud Rokesky Budjerah CityPiss Cloe Terare Dizzy Doolan DJONN Fem Fale Flamingo Blonde Full Flower Moon Band Great Sage Hope D Ivey JB Paterson Jem Cassar-Daley K+Lab Kid Heron King Stingray Koa Lastlings The Lachy Doley Group The Lazy Eyes Life On Earth Lucinda R. Matthew Graham Menajerie mou Mr. Maps Nicole McKinney Nonsemble Pink Matter Pirra Radium Dolls Rhythm Hunters Sahara Beck SCARES Shugorei Tessa Devine Thunder Fox Tjaka Torpid Vetta Borne Images: Bajj Holloway, Liav Shalev, Kyle Golly and Jackson Grice . Updated August 29, 2022.
Aah, aerobics — if any form of exercise instantly conjures images of the '80s, it's this blend of bending, stretching and waving your arms and legs about. And if you grew up during the spandex-wearing decade in Australia, two things probably spring to mind: Aerobics Oz Style and Jane Fonda. Because everything retro is cool again, Work-Shop is combining the two for their Aerobics Fonda Style classes. You'll get your heart pumping and limbs flailing, and yes, you can even wear a leotard and legwarmers if you really want to. While the energetic moves are the main attraction, the pumping '80s soundtrack is worth turning up for alone. It's not a real aerobic workout if you're not getting sweaty to Madonna, Michael Jackson, Rick Astley and Prince, is it? Just don't take it too seriously — we all saw how that turned out for Key & Peele.
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 Billie Eilish's 'bad guy' the nation's best track of 2019. In the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers list, great brews are in the spotlight. And, just like its music counterpart, a worthy victor has come out on top. That'd be Stone & Wood, with the Byron Bay brewery no stranger to the top spot. In fact, it won the 2011, 2015 and 2016 polls — and, with its ascent back up to prime position this year, it bested 2017 and 2018 winner Balter Brewing Company. The label had four beers in the top 100 list in total, which is clearly something to toast to — ideally with the brand's winning 'Pacific Ale' in your glass, obviously. Clearly, plenty of folks did just that throughout 2019. Run by GABS — or the annual brew fest 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 12th year, a record 35,500 voters took part this time round. Elsewhere on the list, 18 brews that first wet lips in the past year were included in the GABS Hottest 100, and 79 percent of the beers on the list are made by independently owned breweries. If you're particularly keen on either, GABS have also released rundowns of the Hottest 100 New Craft Beers and the Hottest 100 Indie Craft Beers (those owned independently) plus the next 100 from the main countdown. 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. Working your way through them isn't just a great way to show your appreciation for locally made brews — consider it research for the 2020 countdown. From Tuesday, January 28, Dan Murphy's will also be selling 24-packs of beers from the list, which are available through its website. GABS HOTTEST 100 AUSSIE CRAFT BEERS OF 2019 Stone & Wood 'Pacific Ale' (Australian pale ale) NSW * Balter 'XPA' (Pale ale) QLD Bentspoke 'Crankshaft' (American IPA) ACT * Young Henrys 'Newtowner' (Australian pale ale) NSW * Your Mates 'Larry' (Australian pale ale) QLD * Bridge Road 'Beechworth Pale Ale' (Australian pale ale) VIC * Feral 'Biggie Juice' (New England IPA) WA Balter 'Hazy' (New England IPA) QLD NEW Kaiju! 'Krush! Tropical Pale Ale' (Pale ale) VIC * Hop Nation 'Jedi Juice' (New England IPA) VIC * Balter 'IPA' (American IPA) QLD Bentspoke 'Barley Griffin' (Australian pale ale) ACT * Burleigh 'Twisted Palm' (Australian pale ale) QLD * Black Hops 'Pale Ale' (Australian pale ale) QLD * Gage Roads 'Single Fin' (Australian pale ale) WA * Coopers 'XPA' (American pale ale) SA * NEW Bentspoke 'Cluster 8' (Imperial IPA) ACT * Capital 'Hang Loose Juice' (New England IPA) ACT * Coopers 'Original Pale Ale; (Australian pale ale) SA * Balter 'Captain Sensible' (American pale ale) QLD Philter 'XPA' (Australian pale ale) NSW * Black Hops 'Hornet' (American IPA) QLD * Stone & Wood 'Cloud Catcher' (Australian pale ale) NSW * 4 Pines 'Pacific Ale' (Australian pale ale) NSW Balter 'Dazy' (Double New England IPA) QLD NEW Balter 'Hazy DC' (New England IPA) QLD NEW 4 Pines 'Pale Ale' (American pale ale) NSW Modus Operandi 'Sonic Prayer IPA' (American IPA) NSW * Colonial 'Pale Ale' (American pale ale) WA/VIC * Bentspoke 'Sprocket' (American IPA) ACT * Capital 'Coast Ale' (California Common) ACT * James Squire 'One Fifty Lashes' (Australian pale ale) NSW Black Hops 'Super Hornet' (Imperial IPA) QLD * Grifter 'Serpents Kiss' (Fruit beer) NSW * Moon Dog 'Old Mate' (American pale ale) VIC * Grifter 'Pale' (Australian pale ale) NSW * Furphy 'Furphy Refreshing Ale' (Kölsch) VIC Colonial 'South West Sour' (Hoppy sour) WA/VIC * Stomping Ground 'Gipps St Pale Ale' (American pale ale) VIC * Your Mates 'Sally' (American IPA) QLD * NEW Coopers 'Session Ale' (Pale ale) SA * Brick Lane 'One Love' (Australian pale ale) VIC * Coopers 'Sparkling Ale' (Australian sparkling ale) SA * Dainton 'Blood Orange Neripa' (New England IPA) VIC * Heads Of Noosa 'Japanese Lager' (Pale lager) QLD * NEW Bondi Brewing 'Beach Beer Bondi' (Australian pale ale) NSW * Ballistic 'Oaked XPA' (Pale ale) QLD * 10 Toes 'Pipeline' (Australian pale ale) QLD * Feral 'Imperial Biggie' (Double New England IPA) WA NEW Balter 'IIPA' (Imperial IPA) QLD Feral 'Hop Hog' (American pale ale) WA 10 Toes 'Happy Days' (American IPA) QLD * Capital 'Rock Hopper IPA' (American IPA) ACT * Little Creatures 'Pale Ale' (American pale ale) WA/VIC Bentspoke 'Red Nut' (Red IPA) ACT * Young Henrys 'Natural Lager; (Kellerbier) NSW * Modus Operandi 'Former Tenant Red IPA' (Red IPA) NSW * Jetty Road 'Pale Ale' (American pale ale) VIC * Mountain Goat 'Goat' (Hoppy lager) VIC Moon Dog 'Splice Of Heaven Pine-Lime' (Milkshake IPA) VIC Big Shed 'Boozy Fruit' (New England IPA) SA * Young Henrys 'Motorcycle Oil' (Porter) NSW * Balter 'Strong Pale Ale' (American pale ale) QLD Colonial 'IPA' (Australian IPA) WA/VIC * Wayward 'Raspberry Berliner Weisse' (Berliner weisse) NSW * Currumbin Valley 'Grape Bubblegum Sour' (Kettle sour) QLD * NEW Capital 'Trail Pale Ale' (American pale ale) ACT * Brick Lane 'Base Lager' (Helles lager) VIC * Stone & Wood 'The Gatherer' (American wheat) NSW * Fixation 'Fixation IPA' (American IPA) VIC * Young Henrys 'IPA' (Australian IPA) NSW * NEW Thirsty Crow 'Vanilla Milk Stout' (Sweet stout) NSW * Bentspoke 'How's It Gosen?' (Gose) ACT * NEW Bridge Road 'Beechy XPA' (Australian pale ale) VIC * 10 Toes 'Lager' (Australian pilsner) QLD * Green Beacon 'Wayfarer' (Pale ale) QLD Bondi Brewing 'Bondi Draught' (Australian pilsner) NSW * NEW Capital Big 'Drop Double IPA' (Imperial IPA) ACT * NEW Your Mates 'Macca' (Helles lager) QLD * NEW Brick Lane 'Red Hoppy Ale' (American amber/red) VIC * NEW Hemingway's '7th Heaven Tropical Ale' (Australian pale ale) QLD * NEW Stone & Wood 'Sticky Nectar' (Milkshake IPA) NSW * Capital 'Evil Eye Red IPA' (Red IPA) ACT * Burleigh 'Bighead' (Pale lager) QLD * Beerfarm 'Asam Boi Gose' (Gose) WA * Black Hops 'Caribbean Haze' (New England IPA) QLD * NEW Hop Nation 'Dreamfeed; (New England IPA) VIC * NEW Nail 'VPA' (Pale Ale) WA * Young Henrys 'Stayer (Mid)' (Hoppy lager) NSW * Moon Dog 'Beer Can' (Hoppy lager) VIC * 4 Pines 'Indian Summer Ale' (American pale ale) NSW Akasha 'Mosaic IPA' (American IPA) NSW * Green Beacon 'Windjammer' (American IPA) QLD Brouhaha 'Strawberry Rhubarb Sour' (Kettle sour) QLD * Akasha 'Korben D. Double IPA' (Imperial IPA) NSW * Mountain Goat 'Summer Ale' (Blonde ale) VIC Bridge Road 'Bling IPA' (American IPA) VIC * Range / Mr Banks / Mr West 'Participation Award' (Double New England IPA) QLD * NEW Your Mates 'Donnie' (Porter) QLD * Batch 'Pash The Magic Dragon' (Kettle sour) NSW* * — Brewed by an independent brewery. NEW — First brewed in 2019. Via Brews News. Top image: The Crafty Pint.
We've all contemplated what cars, aircraft and computers might look like in another 20 years. But often, the smaller things in life aren't subjected to the same kind of speculation. Take the ball, for example. Who could have foreseen its evolution from a beachy plaything to a robot, set to facilitate the future of mobile gaming? 21st-century toy experts Orbotix, that's who. In 2011, the Colorado-based company released the first incarnation of 'sphero' and, though its limitations prevented it from making too many waves, version 2.0 is a whole different story. At first sight, sphero 2.0 is nothing more than a sturdy white ball, big enough to fit into the palm of your hand. Hooked up to its recharging cradle, however, it takes on an Aurora-style inner glow, and linked via Bluetooth to your smartphone, it's a brand-new remote control car that can travel as far as 30 metres away. But that's just the beginning. Two levels are available through the basic app: 'free' and 'level-up'. The first allows you to direct sphero 2.0 anywhere you like at speeds of up to two metres per second and take on the included plastic jump ramps. The second mode allows you to gain points for the successful execution of tricks, providing access to new speeds and colours — there are thousands of possibilities. You can even set up an account and record your achievements online. This system is a smart way of hooking the user's interest. On top of that, 25 apps — many of them free — have been made specifically for sphero 2.0. These vary from social, multiplayer contests to multi-ball tournaments to augmented reality games. Sharky the Beaver, for example, transforms the ball into a cupcake-chasing beaver, while The Rolling Dead turns the surrounding floor into a zombie-fest. Sphero 2.0 can handle rough play, hard surfaces and the great outdoors, as it's made of polycarbonate, which is both waterproof and exceptionally strong. It's compatible with iPod, iPhone and iPad, as well as the equivalent Android devices. Battery life is about one hour. The Bluetooth connection is seamless and reliable. On the not-so-good-side, the device does tend to be a drain on phone battery power. Plus, when playing games that depend on it being picked up or jolted, the mechanism is not always immediately responsive. That said, sphero 2.0 is definitely a highly impressive improvement on the original and has the potential to add a whole new dimension to mobile gaming. Thanks to Orbotix, we have two sphero 2.0s 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
We all know the fun things that can happen when a nostalgic childhood treat is reimagined for a grown-up audience. And the latest collaboration from gelato masters Messina and Sydney distillery Archie Rose is certainly one of the goodies. The pair has gone and reworked the classic neapolitan ice cream combo into a limited-edition trio of spirits, heavy on the retro-tastic dessert vibes and ready for your spring cocktail sessions. Available from Monday, September 7, the Neapolitan Set features three 200-millilitre spirit varieties crafted on produce from Messina's own Aussie farms, paying homage to the familiar pink, white and brown scoops that have long graced dinner tables across Australia. There's a strawberry and pink peppercorn gin, a vanilla and pandan vodka, and a chocolate-inspired cacao husk and hazelnut whisky. Archie Rose individually distilled a swag of top-quality ingredients to create each sip and has even come up with some suggested cocktails to put them to good use. For example, the gin teams locally foraged pink peppercorn and native river mint with juicy strawberries from Messina's farm in Dural, NSW. They say this one works particularly well matched with some of Messina's strawberry sorbet in a blushing riff on the miami vice cocktail. Meanwhile, the collaboration vodka uses fragrant pandan and sustainably sourced Tongan vanilla beans to create a spirit that's the perfect addition to a grasshopper. And the whisky stars roasted hazelnuts from both Italy and the Messina farm in Seymour, Victoria, along with macerated husks from rare cacao beans. Best try that one blended with a scoop of Messina's hazelnut gelato in a creamy toblerone concoction. While the spirit set will be available to buy online and from select bottle shops, Messina will also be dishing up a supporting act with a limited-edition decorated neapolitan gelato tub up for grabs from September 7. Plus, stay tuned for a virtual neapolitan cocktail masterclass, presented by Messina and Archie Rose on September 25. Find the Archie Rose x Messina Neapolitan Set ($109) at select bottle shops, the Archie Rose bar and on the Archie Rose website, from September 7.
Imagine a fully immersive theatre experience with a choose-your-own-adventure twist — and lots of macabre nods to Edgar Allan Poe — and you'll have some idea of what to expect at A Midnight Visit. Since July, A Midnight Visit has taken over a disused Brisbane warehouse and, due to popular demand, it's now extending its season till November 21. This captivating experience is part performance, part playground and part film set and is being brought to life across 36 rooms of an eerie Fortitude Valley warehouse. The show's intricate design, epic scale and explosive energy have proved to be a freakishly good night out for folks who enjoy unearthly delights. Be transported into a dream world that has been imagined by a team of 100-plus creatives including actors, circus performers, musicians, dancers and burlesque artists, plus a crew of innovative sound, film-set and costume designers. Expect an air of David Lynch, some Stanley Kubrick vibes and even a hint of Stranger Things, with a spot of steampunk thrown in for good measure. It's the largest immersive theatre piece to be staged in Australia so you can expect the experience to be a wild ride. [caption id="attachment_830810" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nigel Hallett[/caption] A Midnight Visit is playing till Sunday, November 21 at 95 Robertson Street, Fortitude Valley. For more information and to book tickets, visit the website. Images: A Midnight Visit by Peter Wallis, Nigel Hallett, Anna Kucera, Tim Da-Rin, Jeff Busby.
Autumn's here, which means less time at the beach and more time doing indoorsy things like art and theatre and music. Luckily, a stack of bands and singer-songwriters are gearing up to tour the east coast during the next few months, helping to ease your transition into cooler weather. Narrowing them down into a top five has been no mean feat, but, in partnership with JBL Link Speakers, we've come up with these recommendations to kickstart your gigging adventures. And while you're waiting for the gigs to roll around, we curated a handy Spotify list to get you pumped. Listen to it on some JBL Link 10s — anywhere you like because these babies are portable and last you five hours — and you'll feel as if you're almost (we said almost) at the gig already. Here they are, the five gigs to add to your calendar this autumn. All shows are likely to sell out quickly, so don't dilly-dally: get your mitts on tix as soon as your wallet will allow. CAMP COPE This year, Camp Cope's second album, How to Socialise and Make Friends, nabbed a coveted 7.8 review on Pitchfork. A follow-up to their 2016 self-titled debut, the sophomore continues to address misogyny, sexual assault and sexism in the music industry via songwriter Georgia Maq's clever blending of the personal and the political. Lead single 'The Opener', with its quotable lines like "Yeah, just get a female opener, that'll fill the quota", came in at number 58 on the 2017 triple j Hottest 100. On the back of this commercial and critical success, the outspoken Melbourne-based folk-punk-rock trio is gearing up to take its fierce live act across Australia. WHERE AND WHEN — Thursday, March 15 and Friday, March 16: Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne — Saturday, March 17: The Tivoli, Brisbane — Friday, March 23: Metro Theatre, Sydney — SOLD OUT ALEX THE ASTRONAUT AND STELLA DONNELLY Two young Aussie songwriters who aren't afraid of tackling the big issues are teaming up for a joint tour this April. One is Sydney-born, Alex The Astronaut, whose single 'Not Worth Hiding', about openly owning your sexuality, became a bit of an anthem for the 'yes' campaign in the lead-up to the same-sex marriage postal survey. The other is Perth's Stella Donnelly, whose 'Boys Will Be Boys' deals with victim blaming following sexual assault and rape. WHERE AND WHEN — Saturday, April 14: Festival 2018 in South Bank, Brisbane (free) — Wednesday, April 18: Oxford Art Factory, Sydney — Wednesday, April 25: The Corner Hotel, Melbourne THE SMITH STREET BAND It's been almost a year since Melbourne's The Smith Street Band treated us to a national headline tour. But that's not to say they've been resting on their laurels. In 2017, the boys rocked out at several major festivals, including Groovin' the Moo and Splendour in the Grass, supported Midnight Oil and gigged all over the US and Europe. Plus, their new album More Scared of You Than You Are of Me entered the ARIA Charts at number three. Over the next few months, they'll be appearing pretty much everywhere in Australia with support from Bec Sandridge, who toured the UK and Europe last year on the back of new single 'I'll Never Want A BF', and Press Club, who've been basking in big love following the release of their debut single 'Headwreck'. WHERE AND WHEN — Saturday, March 24: Enmore Theatre, Sydney — Monday, April 16: The Tivoli, Brisbane — Saturday, May 12: Hawthorn Arts Centre, Melbourne — SOLD OUT ALEX LAHEY Alex Lahey's catchy melodies and honest lyrics have been scoring airplay ever since she released 'You Don't Think You Like People Like Me' in 2016. Last year, she followed up with debut album I Love You Like a Brother — which made the 2017 Triple J Listeners' Album of the Year list — before touring the UK and the US (including an appearance on Late Night with Seth Myers) and returning home to scoop up the Levi's Music Prize. She's spending March gigging around the UK and Europe, before kicking off the Huge and True tour here in Australia. WHERE AND WHEN — Friday, April 6: Factory Theatre, Sydney — Saturday, April 7: The Triffid, Brisbane — Wednesday, April 17: 170 Russell, Melbourne DZ DEATHRAYS If you're keen to thrash your way through autumn, then get along to one of DZ Deathrays' shows. The Queensland-based duo, who cut their teeth at house parties around Brisbane, are heading out on the road to launch their newest album Bloody Lovely, which is all about solid, old-fashioned party rock songs. Providing support will be up and coming bands Clowns, These New South Whales and Boat Show. Several gigs have already sold out, but new dates have been added, so you've still got a chance if you get onboard and grab a ticket ASAP. WHERE AND WHEN — Wednesday, May 9: Metro Theatre, Sydney — Wednesday, May 23: 170 Russell, Melbourne — Thursday, May 24: The Triffid, Brisbane Get your tix and amp yourself up for the gig with our Spotify playlist — played on some swish JBL Link speakers, of course. And if you don't have wifi and Bluetooth-enabled, voice-activated, durable, long-lasting and, most importantly, high-quality speakers in your possession, we've got some to give away here. https://open.spotify.com/user/concreteplayground/playlist/2k4LuQ65AP4xn0ekGTH1qM
Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby was, as we all knew it would be, better as a trailer than a movie. It's hard to forget the first time I saw that beautifully designed gold art deco logo in the first ad, the dark beat of Jay-Z and Kanye's 'No Church in the Wild' and the shimmying of African-American flappers drinking champagne in a convertible. Gatsby's mansion looks every bit like the epic party hub described in the book, and though the film fails on the level of emotional depth and pace, visually it's spectacular. As becomes clear in this before-and-after video, by Gatsby's VFX supervisor Chris Godfrey, that mansion, in fact, never existed: green screen computer-generated effects make up even more of the set than you might expect. Let Lana Del Rey's irresistibly transfixing 'Young and Beautiful' take you through the digital construction of Gatsby's opulent world.
The Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA), curated by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin, are annual awards for First Nations artists from across the country. This year, NATSIAA award winners will be announced online — and all Australians can get to know the nominees via a virtual gallery — as well as vote for their favourites in the Telstra People's Choice Award. Each year, the awards celebrates contemporary artworks across a broad range of disciplines. Think paintings, craftsmanship, photography and textile works. There are 65 finalists from across the country, and what makes the awards so special is the diversity in storytelling; there are perspectives from coastal regions, desert towns, cities and everywhere between. [caption id="attachment_776094" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Telstra Bark Painting Award Winner 2019, Noŋgirrŋa Marawili. Photo: Fiona Morrison[/caption] For 37 years, Telstra NATSIAA has represented the art of the nation — culturally, geographically and historically, as well as looking to our future. And long-standing partner Telstra has been part of the awards for almost three decades. For those who plan to visit the Northern Territory, you can also experience the artworks in person at the Telstra NATSIAA Exhibition at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory from Saturday, August 8. And it's good news for those of us who'd usually miss out on the awards ceremony, as this year's presentation (usually held on the grounds of the museum) will be broadcast online. You can join host Brooke Boney on Friday, August 7 to find out which artists have won by visiting the Telstra NATSIAA website from 6pm. While you're there, check out the fully interactive, virtual gallery and chuck a vote in for your favourites.
Wasting food can often just come down to aesthetics: a bruised apple, a twisted carrot, a dinted onion. So Harris Farm Markets is launching Imperfect Picks, a range of would-go-unloved fruit and vegetables that may not look perfect, but are just as delicious and nutritious as their counterparts who made the 'good looks' cut. Good thing is, the uglies are now available for up to 50% cheaper. Inspired by the success of the 'Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables' campaign by French supermarket chain Intermarche earlier this year, Harris Farm aims to raise awareness of the Australian supermarket industry's overly strict standards of perfection regarding the appearance of fresh fruit and veg. "It is our hope that through this campaign, we encourage Australians and the big supermarkets to rethink what's important when buying fruit and vegetables," says Harris Farm CEO Tristan Harris. "Our commitment to freshness and taste won't ever change, [but] we've come to realise that when it comes to fresh produce, we shouldn't always judge a product by how it looks." https://youtube.com/watch?v=-U23XgEkZf0 But who doesn't search for the roundest orange or the straightest carrot in the bunch when on their weekly grocery run? The startling fact is that our pickiness as customers, coupled with unnecessarily high industry standards, has lead to about 25% of fresh food wasted each year. With the stats being this high, there's no doubt we're facing a food waste crisis. "It's such a crime and everyone needs to get involved. Sustainability is everybody's responsibility," says Rockpool's Neil Perry. "I'm really hoping that the… campaign grows and that it forces the other supermarkets and Australian consumers to realise that there is such great food being wasted," he says. Perry is just one example of chefs taking part in a sustainable table movement spreading across the country, showing us that today's funnily-shaped fruit and veg can be tomorrow's gourmet offering — and proving our pickiness unwarranted. So next time you drop in to your local Harris Farm, why not choose that two-headed potato or that wonky zucchini? Not only will you be helping to reduce environmental waste, but you'll also be supporting Aussie farmers and saving hugely on your grocery bill to boot. On offer in the first range of Imperfect Picks will be Packham pears, Navel oranges, Pink Lady apples, plus bananas, carrots, potatoes, swedes and zucchinis — all deliciously imperfect and in need of some lovin'.
If you love cheese, but are sick of spending the bulk of your pay cheque on it, here's a solution: take a cheese-making class. Sure, it'll cost you pretty penny, but then you'll have the knowledge to make endless cheese at home, whenever you want. Also, thanks to Omnom Cheese Shop's new virtual burrata, bocconcini and ricotta workshop, you can learn along at home as well. The Sydney-based cheese outfit is adding a series of online classes to its repertoire, taking place at 6pm on Wednesday, September 23 and Wednesday, October 21. During the 80-minute class, you'll learn to how to make three types of cheese — in real-time, via Zoom, with plenty of live tips as you go. You'll also receive a DIY cheese-making kit delivered to your door as part of your $59 ticket. You will need to have some kitchen equipment on hand, and to pick up some milk and cream — with full details sent out a week before the class. Hot tip: in-person, Omnom's cheese-making sessions regularly sell out, so its online classes are certain to be popular. Another suggestion: if you want to pair your cheese-making with wine, well, that definitely isn't frowned upon. Omnom Cheese Shop's virtual burrata, bocconcini and ricotta workshop takes place at 6pm on Wednesday, September 23 and Wednesday, October 21.
They're sticky, cinnamon scrolls, drenched in glaze and famous all across the USA. And now, at last, they're headed Down Under. Yep — Seattle-born bakery chain Cinnabon is landing in Australia, with sunny Brisbane marked for the location of its first local outpost. Family-run Queensland company Bansal Foods has announced it's scored the Aussie rights to Cinnabon, with plans to open the first stores here by the end of 2019. If the name sounds familiar, that's because this is the same crew that brought Carl's Jr to our shores, opening six local outposts of the US burger chain in the past 12 months. The plan for Cinnabon is to launch its first two Aussie stores in southeast Queensland this year — one in September and one in October — with another to follow in Sydney later and further expansion slated for 2021. Word is, we could see as many as 50 stores across the country within the next three years. Cue easy access to indulgent treats like the Classic Roll, miniature BonBites, Cinnabon Stix and (hopefully) the super-popular Chocobon. One of Cinnabon's big pulls is the freshness factor, with new batches of scrolls apparently cooked in store every half hour. Cinnabon is slated to open its first two Australian stores in southeast Queensland in September and October 2019. Updated: May 9, 2019.
Mother's Day is usually a time for family gatherings. Think brunches, barbecues, roasts, leisurely lunches and just generally spending the day with your mum. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the celebratory occasion will play out a little differently than usual in 2020 — however, if you're a Queenslander, you'll still be able to enjoy the day with your nearest and dearest. Well, at least some of them. From this Sunday, May 10, groups of up to five people from one household will be able to visit another household — an increase from the current limit of two visitors per residence. As announced today, Thursday, May 7, by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, it's a reward "because Queensland has been doing such a great job", with the focus firmly on families. As Queensland's Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young explained, "it's about five people, maximum, of one family group, one household group, going to another household group". The five-person limit only applies to homes — not to other venues or spaces — and it doesn't cover people from more than two households. So, two people from one household and three people from another household can't both visit a third household at the same time. There's no limit on the number of people who live in the household receiving the visitors, though — so if you live with four other people, and all five of you are going to visit a household with six residents, that's acceptable. https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1258171026443169792 That still won't allow plenty of families all gather together at once, but Dr Young suggests that people split up their visits — as receiving multiple visits from different households during the same day will also be allowed. "I'm sure there's a lot of mums out there who'd love to see one household in the morning and another in the afternoon and another in the evening," she noted. With Queensland's new cases of COVID-19 remaining low — with just 12 confirmed in the past seven days, from a total of 1045 cases since the pandemic began — the State Government is slowly beginning to ease back stay-at-home and social-distancing requirements. Queenslanders can now leave home for select recreational purposes, ranging beyond essential activities, and the state is considering allowing bars, cafes and restaurants to reopen in June. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website.
Showing your love for Gelato Messina's wares is easy. When you're not tucking into its regular scoops and nabbing its specials, you can don its merchandise line or get saucy with its personal lubricant. And, you can sip your way through Messina cocktails, too, including the returning Easter option that Cocktail Porter will bring to you. No, a ready-to-drink tipple won't arrive at your door. Instead, this Messina DIY drinks kit lets you whip up your own boozy beverages — and, because it's that time of year, you'll be sipping the end results out of an Easter egg. You read that correctly, because what's the point of being an adult at Easter if you can't combine sweet treats with alcohol, and do so in quite the OTT (but delicious) way? Going big on salted caramel, this kit helps solve the familiar dilemma everyone has had since they hit drinking age. No one likes choosing between tucking into an orb of chocolate and having another beverage, after all, and now you don't have to. One note: there isn't actually any gelato as part of the pack, but the cocktails do use Messina's popular dulce de leche topping as a pivotal ingredient. So, you'll get that, as well as Baileys, cold-drip coffee and Mr Black Coffee Liqueur. You'll also receive chocolate Easter eggs, obviously, which you'll pour your mixed liquids into — as well as pieces of salted caramel popcorn to pop on top. You can pick between two different-sized packs, with the small kit costing $80 and making five drinks, and the large costing $145 and making 12. Cocktail Porter delivers Australia-wide, if that's your Easter drinking plans sorted. To order Cocktail Porter's salted caramel Easter egg cocktail kit, head to the Cocktail Porter website.
Losing yourself in a giant Pac-Man-inspired maze may or may not be your idea of the ultimate reality break, but it is something you'll actually be able to pencil into the diary when The Pac-Maze hits Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane next year. Yep, someone has created a human-size version of the classic 80s arcade game that had you losing hours navigating tiny yellow Pac-Dots and avoiding ghosts. As with most immersive, themed experiences happening across Australia these days, this one's popping up in secret locations on unknown dates. At this stage, all we know is that it's only popping up for one day in each city — and that you can sign up for notifications and first dibs on pre-release tickets via the website. The Pac-Maze comes courtesy of the same masters of nostalgia that brought you the adults-only Lego bar, The Brick Bar, which means you can expect a bunch of interactive fun that'll delight both your adult self and your inner kid. Organisers are promising an immersive escape room-style experience, held within a 1.5-kilometre, LED-lit maze, with the chance to score prizes if you're quick enough to elude those multi-coloured ghosts (aka Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde). You can play solo or in teams of up to ten, though there are only 500 tickets in total up for grabs in each city. To stay in the loop and snag pre-release tickets, visit The Pac-Maze website.
When it comes to winter family getaways, Sydney is often overlooked in favour of snowier spots further south. But the Harbour City is full of unexpected wintry delights—both indoors and out. Think cosy corners, hearty pub fare, awe-inspiring exhibitions, and close-up wildlife encounters. Add kids into the mix, and it becomes even more magical. From spotting humpbacks along the Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk and soaking up Harbour views aboard the iconic Manly Ferry to sampling global eats at Hay St Market, we've rounded up some of the best family-friendly activities to help you plan your next escape. Plus, if you're keen to stay in the city, Marriott Bonvoy is offering 10% off your stay across six hotels—all you need to do is sign up (for free). It's also the perfect excuse to extend your stay. Pack your puffer and rally the little ones—here are nine top family-friendly things to do in Sydney this winter. Wander Through Hay St Market If the weather turns grizzly or you're facing decision paralysis over what to eat, Hay St Market—Sydney's newest hawker-style foodie hub—is an ideal spot for the whole family to explore. Bringing together 48 traders and over 25 international cuisines under one roof, the market buzzes with lively, aromatic stalls serving everything from freshly-baked sourdough and creamy cannoli to juicy citrus, melt-in-your-mouth sashimi, and premium cuts of meat. To keep the food adventure going, walk across to Spice Alley in Chippendale—just a short stroll from Four Points By Sheraton Sydney, Central Park. Picnic In the Royal Botanic Gardens While many botanical gardens around Australia boast magnificent, manicured grounds, few compare to Sydney's historic Royal Botanic Garden. Home to more than 27,000 plant species and boasting uninterrupted views of Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, it's the ultimate spot to roll out a picnic rug and absorb some precious winter rays. There are plenty of things to keep the little ones entertained, too. Wander through the aromatic herb garden, the vibrant wildflower meadow, and the sun-drenched succulent garden—or book the kids into a nature-inspired craft workshop. Spot Whales Along Bondi To Coogee Coastal Walk Revered as one of the most picturesque walks along Australia's east coast, the Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk is a year-round favourite—but it's especially popular from May to November during the annual humpback whale migration. The walk stretches about six kilometres one way, is suitable for all fitness levels, and offers vantage points aplenty, including Ben Buckler Point, Clovelly Beach, Waverley Cemetery, and Gordon's Bay. Mornings and late afternoons are the best times to spot whales, which often breach close to shore—but bring a pair of binoculars to get an even closer view of the action. Ride Sydney's Iconic Manly Ferry Keen to check out one of Sydney's iconic beaches? Jump aboard Sydney's historic Manly Ferry. Departing regularly from Circular Quay, the 30-minute journey is packed with spectacular Sydney Harbour views, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Sydney Opera House, and Kirribilli House. A must on any first-timer's Sydney itinerary, Manly offers plenty to explore once you arrive, with viral eateries like Norma's Deli, Butter Boy, and Chica Bonita regularly drawing crowds daily. Plus, the ferry terminal is just a quick stroll from Sydney Harbour Marriott, Circular Quay making it the perfect day-trip if you're staying close by (and scoring 10% off your stay). Run Amok at Luna Park Speaking of ferries, hop aboard the Milson's Point Wharf ferry at Circular Quay and spend a day exploring Luna Park—one of Sydney's most iconic amusement destinations. The heritage-listed theme park blends vintage carnival charm with modern thrills like the sky-high Coney Island Devil's Drop, the gravity-defying Rotor, the classic Ferris Wheel, and The Big Dipper—the world's first-ever double-launch single-rail rollercoaster. Get Up-Close with the Animals At Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo is a playground for all ages that rolls education and fun into one, and has offered unforgettable wildlife encounters for over 100 years. Committed to wildlife conservation, the zoo is home to 4,000 animals across 350 species, including majestic African lions and Western Lowland gorillas, playful fairy penguins, and adorable pygmy hippopotamuses. To kick the adrenaline up a notch and see some wildlife from a new perspective, strap in for a climb on the zoo's thrilling high ropes course. Adventure Underwater at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium Home to over 4,000 animals across more than 300 species, SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium is a sample of the seven seas right in the heart of the city. With immersive themed zones like Jurassic Seas, Shark Valley and Penguin Expedition, it showcases the world's largest variety of Australian aquatic life—and has become a rite of passage for Sydneysiders and young visitors alike. Highlights include Pig, the resident rescue dugong, up-close shark scuba encounters, and a walk-through tunnel where rays and sharks glide overhead. Plus, it's just moments away from W Sydney, making it well within reach for an easy yet exciting day out. Tour Sydney's Historic Cockatoo Island Once a convict gaol and shipyard, Cockatoo Island is now a UNESCO World Heritage-listed site just nine minutes by ferry from Barangaroo Wharf. The largest island in Sydney Harbour, it offers a fascinating mix of historical tours suitable for all ages, plus regular cultural exhibitions and events. After exploring, pull up a seat at one of the family-friendly waterfront cafes and watch a flurry of boats glide past—and if you're staying at Pier One Sydney Harbour, take the scenic route back and wander through Barangaroo. Get Inspired at Sydney's Art Galleries The Art Gallery of NSW is a cultural cornerstone and arguably one of the most significant art galleries in the state — if not the country. While it's known for showcasing a program of both local and internationally acclaimed artists, it also offers a mix of compelling creative activities for the little ones, including Australia's first children's art library on lower level 3, weekly Storytime sessions, and interactive exhibitions. This winter, check out the annual Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prize (on display until August 17), and the Young Archie finalists. Down by the Harbour, The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia is the only public museum dedicated exclusively to contemporary art in the country. A must-visit for modern art lovers, it hosts a rotating lineup of globally acclaimed artists—including Cerith Wyn Evans' monumental light sculptures, on display from June until October. Families can also enjoy drop-in drawing classes, and unstructured creative art play for kids under five. Ready for a jam-packed family adventure? Book your Sydney escape before September 30 to access 10% off your stay and dining with Marriott Bonvoy. All you have to do is sign up as a member—and it's completely free. With access to exclusive member rates, your stay will also earn points towards free nights at over 30 hotel brands around the world. Book your stay here. T&C's apply and vary by participating hotels including blackout dates, cancellation restrictions and more. Offer may not apply in properties not participating in the award and redemption of Marriott Bonvoy.
Three decades after Expo '88 transformed the southern banks of the Brisbane river, and 26 years since the area was turned into permanent parklands, South Bank is set for its latest change. As first revealed as part of last year's 25th birthday celebrations, the precinct is set to gain a new riverside green space — a new 6816-square-metre precinct, in fact. As announced by the Queensland Government, the new addition will take over the spot previously occupied by South Bank's riverside restaurants, which were affected in the 2011 floods. Those buildings were demolished in 2017, and will now be replaced by parkland, including barbecue facilities, public art, a water feature, a place for riverfront events and a function space. Construction is set to begin mid-year, revamping the former restaurant sites, and incorporating and upgrading surrounding existing outdoor areas. Brisbane Times reports that the new river lawn will be 1.5 times larger than the River Quay lawn, and both a riverside lounge and a plant-filled shade house will be added. Further, a path will connect the promenade and the arbour, the promenade itself will be straightened, shady trees will be planted through the terraced lawns and the rainforest will be extended. South Bank also recently welcomed a new temporary creative space in the former Arbour View Café precinct, called Flowstate. It features an immersive digital art installation, an open-air performance pavilion and a grassy relaxation zone, and is intended to be in place for between 18 months and three years.
Everyone has their Christmas viewing rituals, whether you watch your way through every Home Alone movie each year (yes, even the recent one), pop on It's a Wonderful Life with the family after a big lunch or prefer saying yippee ki-yay to Die Hard. Until recently, however, it's likely that watching Australian festive flicks wasn't high on your list, given this country of ours doesn't have all that much seasonal fare to its name. Back in 2020, streaming service Stan aimed to help change that with A Sunburnt Christmas, a festive caper about a criminal, some kids and end-of-year hijinks — aka Australia's answer to Home Alone and Bad Santa, in a way. In 2022, the platform is set to add another homegrown title to its catalogue sometime before Christmas hits, too. Given it stars Miranda Tapsell and Matt Okine, it looks worth a watch based on its cast alone. [caption id="attachment_700158" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Top End Wedding[/caption] Christmas Ransom stars Okine (The Other Guy) as every kid's second-favourite person during festive season: the owner of a toy store. Things aren't too merry for his character, however, when his shop is held up by thieves on Christmas Eve. And yes, as the name makes plain, he's held for ransom. These kinds of Christmas movies usually involve children, whether or not they turn them into Macaulay Culkin-level stars — so obviously a couple of kids get caught up in the heist. To save the day, they enlist the help of Tapsell (Top End Wedding), who plays a pregnant security officer. Announcing the film, Stan notes that it's inspired by Home Alone, Die Hard and Elf. If you've ever seen just one Christmas flick for even just a few minutes, you will have spotted plenty that's predictable about the setup. Alongside Tapsell and Okine, Christmas Ransom stars Ed Oxenbould (Wildlife), Genevieve Lemon (The Tourist), Bridie McKim (Bump), Evan Stanhope (Thor: Love and Thunder), Tahlia Sturzaker (Ascendant) and Chai Hansen (The Newsreader) — and boasts Adele Vuko (Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am) in the director's chair. Add it to your festive viewing alongside this year's other big Aussie Christmas film, if it also surfaces in time: the upcoming movie based on Paul Christmas classic 'How to Make Gravy'. Otherwise, this newcomer will join the likes of A Sunburnt Christmas; Bush Christmas, both the 1947 and 1983 versions; the animated Around the World with Dot; and recent-ish horror movies Red Christmas and Better Watch Out — the latter also featuring Oxenbould. Christmas Ransom will be available to stream via Stan sometime this festive season — we'll update you with an exact date when one is announced.
Would the latest big-screen adaptation of Stephen King's Firestarter have been better or worse if it had included The Prodigy's hit of the same name, aka the most obvious needle-drop that could've been chosen? Although we'll never know, it's hard to imagine a film with less personality than this page-to-screen remake. Using the 1996 dance-floor filler would've been a choice and a vibe — and a cliched one, whether gleefully or lazily — but it might've been preferable to the dull ashes of by-the-numbers genre filmmaking that's hit screens instead. Zac Efron looking so bored that blood drips from his eyes, dressing up King's 1980 story as a superhero tale (because of course) and having its pyrokinetic protagonist say "liar liar, pants on fire" when she's torching someone aren't a recipe for igniting movie magic, or for even occasionally just lighting a spark. That said, the best thing about Firestarter circa 2022 is actually its 'Firestarter'-free score, and with good reason. It hails from legendary original Halloween director John Carpenter, plus his son Cody Carpenter and regular collaborators Daniel A Davies (all fresh from 2018's Halloween and its follow-up Halloween Kills). It's a savvy touch not merely for the kind of atmospheric, eerie, mood-defining electro-synth sounds that only the elder Carpenter can deliver, but because he was originally slated to direct the first version of Firestarter in 1984, only to be ditched because The Thing — now a stone-cold sci-fi/horror classic — didn't do well enough at the box office. While both features could've desperately used Carpenter behind the lens, at least the initial flick didn't feel like all it was burning was the audience's time and patience. Then, now and in King's book, Firestarter follows the McGee family, whose lives would blaze brighter if they didn't have abilities most folks don't. After volunteering for a clinical trial in college, Andy (Efron, Gold) and his wife Vicky (Sydney Lemmon, Fear the Walking Dead) have telepathic and telekinetic powers; being experimented on with mind-altering chemical compounds will do that. And, from birth, their now 11-year-old daughter Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong, It: Chapter Two) has been able to start fires with her mind. How director Keith Thomas (The Vigil) establishes this backstory says more than it should about the movie, how blandly it turns out and what it might've been with more flair. A flashback to Charlie getting fiery as a baby is laughable, and kindles exactly zero thrills, scares or unease. But, flickering over the opening credits as old video footage, Andy and Vicky's time as test subjects ripples with tension and creepiness — that's swiftly extinguished and never felt again. Unsurprisingly, the McGees have spent years attempting to blend in, hiding their powers and fleeing the shady government department, The Shop, that's responsible for their situation — and now sports a keen interest in using Charlie as a weapon. Alas, as the girl grows, holding her abilities back is becoming harder. Andy and Vicky argue about what's better: training her to suppress the flames or teaching her how to harness them. Then she literally explodes at school, The Shop head honcho Captain Hollister (Gloria Reuben, City on a Hill) puts bounty hunter John Rainbird (Michael Greyeyes, Rutherford Falls) on their trail and the heat is on. (No, that track from Beverly Hills Cop, which reached cinemas the same year that the OG Firestarter did, doesn't feature here either.) When a film gets its viewers thinking about the songs that aren't on its soundtrack, and more than once, it's a flaring warning sign. It's a scorching indictment of how uninvolving the new Firestarter is, too. Its predecessor isn't great, only really proving notable for starring a nine-year-old Drew Barrymore, but at least its chase-driven plot was propulsive. Here, Thomas and screenwriter Scott Teems (another Halloween Kills alum) scale back the story to spend half of the picture dwelling in the McGee's incognito existence, barely a few scenes on the run, and then turning in the least climactic finale in The Shop's secret base they possibly could. It all smacks of trying to cash in on King fandom after It and It: Chapter Two's huge success, and also continuing producer Jason Blum's penchant for remaking, reviving or riffing on movies gone by (see also: the Groundhog Day-but-horror Happy Death Day franchise, the latest The Invisible Man, Freaky Friday-but-horror flick Freaky and the past two Halloween films). At least this Firestarter doesn't have a white actor playing its First Nations hitman, although that doesn't mean that Greyeyes — who is so great in streaming sitcom Rutherford Falls — gets anything resembling a fleshed-out part. At least his character isn't written as inappropriately fascinated with Charlie this time, a wholly unpleasant aspect of the original's narrative that's thankfully cut. Asking much of its cast isn't on the new Firestarter's agenda, though. Reuben is cartoonish and saddled with clunky dialogue ("you are a real-life superhero," she somehow spits with a straight face); Kurtwood Smith (The Dropout) goes unhinged with aplomb as the man originally behind the mind-bending drug, but is underused; Armstrong is mostly tasked with scowling a lot. And while that blood oozing from Efron's peepers isn't genuinely caused by his visible lack of interest in his role, and there's a quiet power to his passive performance, it's the most relatable thing in the movie for audiences feeling just as underwhelmed. At least Firestarter 2022 is short, too, clocking in at 20 minutes less than the initial feature; there's a difference between burning fast and dazzling, however. When the psychokinetic pyrotechnics come — less often than you'd think in a film called Firestarter — the movie just looks cheap, the budget seemingly extending to a wind machine, a smoke machine, some shoddy CGI and piles of ashes. Letting King's underlying themes blaze away instead isn't the flick's aim, either. Firestarter is still about the sins of parents playing out through their children, as well as the ills of government wreaking havoc on ordinary families, but only in the broadest and most simplistic of ways. Even the Carpenter score, as welcome and excellent as it is, unintentionally undercuts the film — reminding the audience that the iconic filmmaker did helm a King adaptation once, aka 1983's haunted car flick Christine. Rewatching that is a far better move than seeing this cold Firestarter rehash fail to catch aflame.
Our Flag Means Death might be no more, after the pirate rom-com was cancelled after two seasons, but getting giggling at Rhys Darby is still on the agenda. The New Zealand comedian has hardly been away from the screen for more than 15 years, ever since Flight of the Conchords became one of HBO's best-ever sitcoms, so he's been inspiring laughs for years. For the first time in nearly a decade, however, he's returning to the stand-up stage — and he's coming to Australia. Fans can expect gags about AI, robots, dads wearing tight jeans and more — and the mix of absurdity and insights that have always marked Darby's brand of comedy — when The Legend Returns tour plays Brisbane's Princess Theatre on Wednesday, April 30. [caption id="attachment_915747" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Our Flag Means Death, Nicola Dove[/caption] Between calling band meetings on Flight of the Conchords and finding love while swashbuckling on Our Flag Means Death, his career has spanned everything from The X-Files, A Series of Unfortunate Events and Wellington Paranormal to Sweet Tooth, SpongeBob SquarePants and Monsters at Work on the small screen. On the big screen, Darby has also been a frequent presence, thanks to The Boat That Rocked, What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Jumanji: The Next Level, Uproar, Next Goal Wins and plenty more. [caption id="attachment_980410" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Gage Skidmore via Flickr[/caption]
Putt putt fans of Brisbane — so, everyone in Brisbane — it's time to do the monster mash while you're tap, tap, tapping your way around a mini golf course. This city of ours is home to more than a few places to unleash your short game, but only one of them keeps busting out seasonal theming and giving you a reason to celebrate special occasions with a putter in your hand. For the past two Christmases, the Victoria Park Putt Putt Course has given itself a festive revamp. Mini golf is more fun with reindeer, obviously. Earlier in 2021, the venue celebrated Easter as well, courtesy of a candy-themed course. Now, it's getting into the Halloween spirit by giving its greens a spooky makeover. No, missing a hole in one won't be the most terrifying thing about your next stint on the course. From Friday, September 17–Sunday, October 31 (naturally), the site will become home to all things frightening. If a haunted house was to meet up with a mini golf course, this is what it'd look like. So, you'll be putting around greens with names like Pumpkin Patch, Witch's Way, The Freaky Forest and Skeleton's Graveyard. Obviously pumpkins will feature heavily — plus skeletons, spiderwebs, grave headstones, ghosts and all the usual scary paraphernalia. Bookings are essential, with the course open from 6am–10pm daily. 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. Tickets cost $22 per adult. Images: Pandora Photography.
Feel like getting fast and furious? Got the need for speed? Want to live out your Mario Kart fantasies? Slideways has you covered. Whether you choose to channel your inner Vin Diesel or simply don some overalls and a red cap (or neither), motoring fun is on the agenda in the multi-coloured Eagle Farm space — a 425-metre, two-level indoor track, complete with a bridge, tunnel and loop of the carpark. It's the best kind of car-related activity the area has to offer, because getting stuck in traffic on Kingsford Smith Drive doesn't count. Afterwards, keep the revving revelry going by hopping in one of the site's new full-motion race car simulators.
Since the first Iron Man film in 2008, Marvel has trained superhero fans well. Notching up 33 movies in its enormous cinematic universe with 2023's The Marvels and showing zero signs of stopping, the comic book company has basically taken over the big screen, with this year delivering Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, too — and, as always, there's plenty more flicks on the way. Marvel hasn't just taken over picture palaces. Via Disney+, the small screen is also home to many a MCU story, including Secret Invasion and season two of Loki in 2023. Keen to see your favourite spandex-clad crime-fighters try to save the world in person as well? Along with splashing Marvel's heroes and villains across every screen it can find, that's also coming — and soon. Marvel Universe LIVE! is exactly what it seems — and if it sounds familiar, that's because it was meant to head Down Under in 2020, but then the pandemic hit. So, when it makes the trip to Australia in April 2024, it'll be unveiling its show to Aussie audiences for the first time. The production takes more than 20 characters such as Spider-Man, The Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, teaming them up on stage and letting audiences marvel (pun intended) at their exploits. Featuring everyone from Iron Man, Thor, Black Panther and the Hulk to Captain America, Doctor Strange and Black Widow, it tasks the beloved superheroes with facing off against some of Marvel's infamous villains, including Nebula, Loki and Green Goblin. And, it packages their antics with video projections, special effects, pyrotechnics, martial arts, and both aerial and motorcycle stunts. The performance is aimed at all ages and, in news that's about as unsurprising as most wisecracks that Tony Stark ever uttered, the show has proven a massive success in the United States, Latin America and Europe. As a result, it was only a matter of time until it hit Australia after its pandemic delay. Obviously, attendees won't be watching Robert Downey Jr (Oppenheimer), Chris Hemsworth (Extraction II), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar), Scarlett Johansson (Asteroid City) and Tom Hiddleston (The Essex Serpent) — or any of the many, many other high-profile stars who feature in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, because that list truly seems endless. But, if you're happy to get your Marvel fix however you can, then you can do just that in arenas and stadiums around the country in 2024. Marvel Universe LIVE! will premiere its Aussie run in Brisbane, before heading to Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. "Our tremendously talented creative team and a nearly superhuman cast have created a show that brings the grandeur of Marvel to life," said Marvel Universe LIVE! producer Juliette Feld Grossman. "This production creates an experience that immerses families in non-stop action, creating movie-style thrills and jaw-dropping stunts that showcase the powers of your favourite superheroes right before your eyes." MARVEL UNIVERSE LIVE! 2024 DATES: Thursday, April 4–Sunday, April 7 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane Friday, April 12–Monday, April 15 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Friday, April 19–Monday, April 22 — Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Friday, April 26–Sunday, April 28 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide Marvel Universe LIVE! is touring Australia in April 2024 — head to the event's website for more information, and pre-sale tickets, with general tickets available from 10am on Tuesday, November 28, 2023
For residents of Brisbane, southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales, the week commencing Monday, March 3, 2025 is starting with a key piece of advice: stay safe and dry. The Bureau of Meteorology has advised that Tropical Cyclone Alfred is forecast to impact the area, including potentially making landfall near the Sunshine State capital. Wet, windy and wild weather is expected from Bundaberg down to the Gold Coast and into the Northern Rivers, complete with daily rainfall totals up to 600 millimetres — and authorities are telling residents to prepare now. As at 4am AEST, Tropical Cyclone Alfred is around 465 kilometres northeast of Brisbane and 410 kilometres east northeast of Maroochydore, but the Category 2 storm is due to head south, then west. First, on Monday it is predicted to keep travelling southeast, away from Queensland's coastline, the Bureau advised in a morning update. Come Tuesday, however, it'll shift, coming back towards the southern Queensland coast. ⚠️Issued 4:51am AEST Monday 3 March 2025⚠️ 🌀The latest track map for Tropical #CycloneAlfred is available. Regardless of the track Alfred takes, severe coastal hazards are likely for southern #Qld and north-east #NSW. Track Map & Cyclone Bulletin: https://t.co/OGEZjBtOPJ pic.twitter.com/hhckFxyQtj — Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) March 2, 2025 While updates will keep being issued, the forecast for Brisbane and the Gold Coast for Thursday, March 6 already notes "cyclone possible" on the BOM website. The Bureau presently notes that "heavy to locally intense rainfall is forecast for southeast Queensland and northeastern New South Wales from Wednesday as Alfred approaches the coast" — and that the regions should all be on flood watch. "We are seeing sustained winds near the centre of the cyclone of 95 kilometres an hour and wind gusts to 130 kilometres an hour," Senior Meteorologist Jonathan How also advised. "It is moving in a southeasterly direction at around 13 kilometres an hour, sort of about a running pace, moving down towards the southeast." On Sunday, March 2, Brisbane City Council issued a weather alert communicating that Alfred "will potentially produce damaging or destructive wind gusts and isolated heavy rainfall which may cause flash flooding, from late Wednesday through until the weekend", and urged Brisbanites to "make all necessary preparations for possible severe weather impacts". On the list: clearing yards and gutters, securing loose items outside and trimming tree branches. The BCC website has a guide for being prepared for an emergency that's worth bookmarking. Also on Sunday, Queensland Premier David Crisafulli held a press conference about the storm, revealing that waves in some parts of the state — in the Wide Bay area — were already hitting 14 metres due to the cyclone. He also said that an official Tropical Cyclone warning was likely in the coming days. It has been 35 years since Cyclone Nancy threatened Brisbane. Back in 2019, Cyclone Oma also sat off the coast. While the River City mightn't seem like cyclone territory, the 1893 and 1974 floods were the result of cyclonic weather systems — and the latter was caused by a slow-moving cyclone. The Bureau's Brissie forecasts predict possible showers on Monday, a shower or two on Tuesday, wind and showers on Wednesday, all with temperature maximums of 31, 30 and 28 — and with winds up to 90 kilometres an hour on Wednesday. Thursday's prediction is currently "very high chance of rain" plus "the chance of a thunderstorm" and "destructive wind gusts exceeding 130 kilometres an hour possible depending on movement and development of Tropical Cyclone Alfred". From there, wind and heavy rain is expected on Friday, then showers across the weekend. Your plans for the week obviously might change due to the weather situation. Already, the AFL has flagged that it's keeping an eye out given that the first game of the 2025 season, with premiers Brisbane facing Geelong, is scheduled to take place at the Gabba on Thursday night. The Bureau of Meteorology will continue to update its warnings and maps regularly — visit its website for further details and updates.
Calling all extreme Nirvana fans, this has to be one of the most intensely freaky fan-out Airbnb stays yet. You can now stay the night in Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love's '90s rented Los Angeles apartment, where Cobain penned 'Heart-Shaped Box' in the bathtub. Cobain and Love rented the 1500 square-feet '20s-built space from 1991-92, when Love was expecting little Frances Bean and Cobain wanted more songwriting and painting time — he did both in the apartment. Owned by a lucky dude called Brandon Kleinman, the Fairfax/Melrose area space has been cleaned up since the Cobain/Love days (thank god) and gets rented out a few times a year by super fans. So this: And this: Has been cleaned up by Kleinman to look like this: And this: For about US$250 a night, you'll have wifi, two bedrooms and take baths in the 'Heart-Shaped Box' bathtub. But apparently the listing has now been viewed 1000 times this week, so this price could very well go up. Keen for more of a sticky beak into Cobain/Love life? Check out Brett Morgen’s documentary Montage of Heck (one Sundance film we're hoping makes it to Australia.) Via Vulture. Images: Vinnie Zuffante/Getty, NY Daily News, Airbnb.
After first spooking out southeast Queensland residents back in 2018, the unnerving Séance installation is returning to the region. This time around, it's bringing its big, white container to HOTA, Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast — from Wednesday–Sunday between Thursday, October 28–Sunday, November 14. Unlike most shipping containers in the city, this one isn't being used to transport furniture. And, given that the word 'séance' is written on the side in black, it's definitely more than a little ominous. Participants will be able to take a seat inside, and then put on a headset. You'll next be told to put both hands on the table. The lights go out, leaving the place in absolute darkness — and, for 20 uneasy minutes, you'll be taken on an immersive journey led only by touch and sounds. Expect to feel confused, repulsed and struck with temporary claustrophobia. According to organisers, numerous participants have bailed halfway through sittings in the past. You're probably thinking that there's something dark or supernatural about the whole thing — and going by the name, we don't blame you. But the installation's organiser says that 'séance' is simply a French word meaning 'session' or 'sitting'. And so Séance is a sensory experience that looks at the psychology of both sensory deprivation and the dynamics of a group sitting together. It's a scary indicator of how easy it is for confusion, disorientation and information overload to affect our judgement. (We're serious when we say Séance is not recommended for the claustrophobic, the easily frightened or those afraid of the dark.) Artists David Rosenberg and Glen Neath of Darkfield (who have collaborated in other sensory deprivation projects before) are the creative masterminds behind the project, which has been described as 'disorienting' and 'deeply unsettling'. And if need more of an idea of what you're in for, you might've listened to Darkfield's at-home experiences either last year or this year — such as Double, Visitors, Eternal and Knot — and experienced a few bumps and jumps. [caption id="attachment_804877" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Séance in Sydney in 2017[/caption]
At the risk of sounding a little anti-social, I can admit to remembering a time when I was sitting at a pub with a bunch of friends who were all busily tapping away at their iPhones (myself included). It's a sight that at first seems inappropriate for the pub but, in the age of the smartphone, probably one that won't disappear anytime soon. Untappd is an app that will have you doing more of the above. Released last week, the app is a social network for lovers of beer. And unlike checking your Facebook, using Untappd at the pub is a little more socially acceptable because you actually have to be at the pub drinking beer to use it. The app combines all the familiar social networking features such as check-ins, friending and rating. So if you're familiar with those things (via Fourquare, Facebook and Yelp) you'll understand the concept behind this beer-drinking app. It allows you to share what you're drinking and where you're drinking it, as well as your rating to earn some creds for drink choices. And for those who wish they could track 'life stats' like this guy, it does that too. If you ask me, it's probably a good way to keep busy during those awkward standing-alone-while-friend-goes-to-the-bathroom moments at the pub.
If you're a fevered festival-head, you'll know all about New Year's Eve favourite Beyond the Valley. At the end of 2022 an eclectic bill of musos will be taking to the stage in Barunah Plains, a region west of Melbourne, to see out the year with a dance floor heaving with good vibes. Nelly Furtado is heading up the festivities, and she'll be joined by the likes of Flight Facilities, Kaytranada, Charlotte De Witte and Lime Cordiale, too. It's set to be a big one. Now to squeeze as much fun as you can out of your festival experience, you don't just rock up without some forward thinking. To have the best time, you've got to know what you're doing — you've gotta plan. In our opinion, even the most experienced Aussie summer festival-goers could do with a few hacks. That's especially true with the influx of new tech and gadgets that work hard to see that our experiences are funner, easier and cheaper. Take, for example, inDrive, the new-to-Australia ride-sharing biz that lets you negotiate your own fares, and choose your own driver (based on star rating, pick-up time and car). Torn between surge pricing and waiting who-knows-how-long for public transport? That's not how you finish off a fest. Together with inDrive, we spoke to Taylah Hume, Beyond the Valley's Customer Experience Manager, about how to make the most out of summer festival season. BOOK YOUR RIDE BEFORE YOU GO "I cannot stress this enough — sort out your transport ahead of time! If you're going to a single-day event, make sure you've decided how you're getting home (or to kick-ons). No hitchhiking home please, and no one has time for surge pricing. Luckily there are businesses making this easier and cheaper — like inDrive, the ride-share app that lets you choose a pick-up time, a driver and your fare. You'll have no need to worry about being stung with surge pricing at the end of your night. That's a huge win for those of us on a budget — we don't need costly surprises at the end of a big festival when we're heading home. You can party as hard as you like, start and end your experience on a high with heaps of peace of mind." PACK D-FLOOR SNACKS "The best way to ensure you're not partying on an empty stomach — and crashing early — is to snack on the dance floor! I've never been as popular as when I opened a bag of chips in the middle of the dance floor on the second day of a camping festival. Don't forget to pack yourself some sweet treats, too. People are always so practical with their festival shopping and forget about the fun stuff. I bring lamingtons to every camping festival — they're perfect for summer festivals as they don't melt in the heat! You're welcome." [caption id="attachment_879657" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Beyond the Valley[/caption] ARRIVE EARLY "Always arrive early to catch the opening acts, because you'll never be disappointed — these artists are booked for a reason! And when they start getting more traction, there is no greater flex than telling your friends you were onto them months ago, duh. You'll also give yourself plenty of time to enjoy the festival's other activities — there's always more going on beyond the stages. Arrive early to get the full experience without rushing." DON'T BE AFRAID TO OVERPACK "You don't have the creature comforts of home, so a camping festival is the one time it's okay to overpack. My essentials? Face masks, a few extra pairs of socks, a portable charger, duct tape (you'd be surprised how often this comes in handy). And don't just come prepared with items, come prepared with an itinerary too. Who are your must-sees? When are they playing? And if you're still working it out, the best way to get prepared is to create a playlist ahead of the event — with both the artists you're already into and the new acts you want to check out all queued. Listening to the playlist on your way to the event is the best way to hype your crew, too!" KEEP YOUR KEYS IN A SAFE PLACE "There is nothing worse than having a big day/night/weekend — you're tired, the funs worn off — and then realising you have no idea where you left your keys. You want to be able to get home, and you want to be able to get inside once you're there. Make sure you keep them in a safe place — and make sure that safe place is not inside your tent (the tent that is currently packed up and wedged in between everyone else's belongings in the back of the car), because I guarantee you'll be getting the silent treatment the whole car ride home. If you can't tell, I learnt this one the hard way." If you're heading to a music festival this summer, or simply enjoying your city, inDrive will make sure you get to where you need to go — without any surge pricing. Head to the website for more information and to download the app. Top image: Mackenzie Sweetnam (first)
Fancy reliving your childhood film favourites on the stage? That seems to be the current trend. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child did big business in Melbourne pre-pandemic, the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory musical took its golden tickets around the country, and now Shrek the Musical is bringing its all-singing, all-dancing version of the animated movie franchise to Brisbane's Lyric Theatre from Saturday, January 9, 2021 — after a COVID-19 delay, because it was originally supposed to hit QPAC in 2020. Expect plenty of green when this Tony and Grammy award-nominated stage show finally heads our way, after first premiering on Broadway back in 2008. Since then, everyone's favourite ogre — originally voiced by Mike Myers — has sung his way through theatres in the UK, Asia Europe, Canada, Latin and South America, Israel and Scandinavia. You know the story, of course — unless you somehow managed to miss the original 2001 Oscar-winning film, its sequels in 2004, 2007 and 2010, and the heap of spin-offs, shorts, TV specials and series that all followed. Based on the 1990 picture book Shrek!, the tale follows the reclusive but kindly titular figure who endeavours to rescue the feisty Princess Fiona from the the fairy tale-hating Lord Farquaad, all while trekking along with a talking Donkey sidekick. Shrek lovers can expect a whopping 19 songs, an obvious colour scheme and plenty of other fairy tale references. The 2021 Brisbane season runs through until Sunday, February 7 — with tickets on sale from 9am on Thursday, December 3, and a waitlist available beforehand. Check out the trailer for the production's UK run below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESm1JoEIXAY Image: Brian Geach. Updated November 20, 2020.
A huge 1908 entries were submitted for the the 2022 Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes. From that hefty number, 52 works were shortlisted for the Archibald, 34 for the Wynne and 29 for the Sulman. But only one artwork in each category can be named the winner of these three prestigious Australian art awards each year — and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the prizes' hosts, has just unveiled the 2022 recipients today, Friday, May 13. All three decisions were unanimous, and they provide an impressive snapshot of the Aussie art scene right now. Taking the big gong, the Archibald Prize — which is Australia's most prestigious portrait award, has now reached its 101st year and hands out $100,000 to its annual winner — is Blak Douglas' Moby Dickens. The painting depicts Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens, who lives on Bundjalung Country in Lismore, and is designed as a metaphor for northern NSW town's floods earlier in 2022. And yes, the title references Moby Dick. Douglas — a Sydney-based artist with Dhungatti heritage, who was born Adam Hill — made history, too, as the first New South Wales First Nations artist to win with a painting of a New South Wales First Nations artist. "I'm elated," he said, accepting the award. "It's a major historic win." Douglas has been an Archibald Prize finalist in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, all with portraits of Aboriginal sitters. "I'm making up for lost ground in the failure to memorialise First Nations people," he said, accepting the 2022 award. 'In the past I've considered each entry to the Archibald Prize a memorial to that individual and that's why I only paint First Nations people." Measuring three metres by two metres, Moby Dickens stands out in another way, too: it's the largest Archibald painting in this year's exhibition. [caption id="attachment_853908" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Winner Archibald Prize 2022, Blak Douglas. Moby Dickens, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 300 x 200 cm © the artist, image © AGNSW, Mim Stirling. Sitter: Karla Dickens.[/caption] Also picking up some love from the Archibald's judges: Jude Rae, who was highly commended for The big switch, a portrait of scientist, engineer and inventor Dr Saul Griffith. For the Sir John Sulman Prize, 491 works were submitted, with Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro winning for Raiko and Shuten-dōji. The first collaborative duo to do so to win the award — which is presented to the best mural, subject or genre painting — they nabbed the prize for their rendering of the battle between the warrior and the demon that gives the colourful piece its title. [caption id="attachment_853910" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Winner Sulman Prize 2022, Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro. Raiko and Shuten-dōji, acrylic gouache, jute and tape on helicopter shell, 159.5 x 120 cm © the artist, image © AGNSW, Mim Stirling.[/caption] With the Wynne Prize — which recognises the best landscape painting of Australian scenery, or figure sculpture — Nicholas Harding emerged victorious from 601 entries with painting Eora. The artist has a long history with the awards, being shortlisted for the Wynne nine times, and also for the Archibald 19 times, including winning the latter in 2001. Two artists were highly commended among the Wynne Prize finalists, too: Lucy Culliton for painting Mooresprings, a good season, and Juz Kitson for sculpture An unwavering truth. She walks in beauty, of the night and all that's best of dark and bright. In memory of the wildfires. And, the Roberts Family Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Prize — an annual prize of $10,000 awarded to an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander artist who is a finalist in the Wynne Prize — went to Sally Scales for Wati Tjakura. [caption id="attachment_853909" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Winner Wynne Prize 2022, Nicholas Harding. Eora, oil on linen, 196.5 x 374.8 cm © the artist, image © AGNSW, Mim Stirling.[/caption] Also a winner, but announced last week, on Thursday, May 5: Sydney-based artist Claus Stangl, who picked up this year's Packing Room Prize. He won for a portrait of the one and only Taika Waititi, because there really is nothing that the Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Thor: Ragnarok filmmaker can't do. The winning portraits and finalists will now be on display at Sydney's Art Gallery of NSW from Saturday, May 14, up until Sunday, August 28. If you don't agree with the judges, you can cast your own vote for People's Choice, which will be announced on Wednesday, July 27. ARCHIBALD PRIZE 2022 DATES Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, NSW — May 14–August 28, 2022 Bunjil Place, Melbourne, Victoria — September 2–October 16, 2022 Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, NSW — October 22—December 4, 2022 Grafton Regional Gallery, NSW — 17 December, 2022–29 January, 2023 Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, NSW — 10 February–26 March, 2023 Museum of Art and Culture Lake Macquarie, NSW — 8 April–21 May, 2023 Western Plains Cultural Centre, NSW — 3 June–30 July, 2023 If you can't make it to any of the above dates, you can check out the award winners and finalists of the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes on the Art Gallery of NSW website. Top image: Excerpt of winner Archibald Prize 2022, Blak Douglas. Moby Dickens, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 300 x 200 cm © the artist, image © AGNSW, Mim Stirling. Sitter: Karla Dickens.
In Australia, we're all about that coffee — though most of us are a whole lot more focused on what's in our cup, than what's being turfed out by our barista. But one Australian startup is hoping to change that by setting up Melbourne's first coffee waste mushroom farm, and using those soggy, leftover coffee grinds to grow fresh mushies. The innovative project has been shaking up Perth's food scene since March this year. Dubbed Life Cykel, the initiative sees cafe's coffee waste recycled and used to grow oyster mushrooms for some of the city's high-end restaurants. Melbourne's status as a world class coffee-swilling destination has marked it as the next logical landing spot for Life Cykel's mushroom movement, with founders Ryan Creed and Julian Mitchell set to unveil another of their urban mushroom farms — this time in a couple of shipping containers in the inner north suburb of Abbotsford. They're currently running a Kickstarter campaign to fund the farm. Instead of heading straight to landfill and messing with the environment long after you've finished that last sip of espresso, spent coffee grounds from some of your favourite local cafés will now get a new lease on life. They'll make their way to the Johnston Street site, where they'll be mixed with mushroom spores and used to cultivate scores of flavoursome funghi friends, which, in turn, might just end up back on your plate. The mushrooms will be sold to local restaurants, and will also be available to buy in take-home mushroom-growing boxes so you can watch those babies grow yourself. It's all designed to get us thinking a little harder about food sustainability — where our food comes from, where all those scraps end up and what we can do to change it. Life Cykel has raised over half of a $30,000 Kickstarter goal, with little over a week of their crowd funding campaign remaining. If you want the carnage of your coffee to be converted into some yummy mushies, you can pledge a few dollars here. It must be noted that the mushrooms don't taste like coffee — they taste like mushrooms.
UPDATE, February 8, 2021: The Breaker Upperers is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies and Amazon Video. Breaking up isn't hard to do in New Zealand's latest hilarious comedy. In fact, dumping someone you never want to see again couldn't be easier. For a fee, best friends Jen (Jackie van Beek) and Mel (Madeleine Sami) won't just do their clients' dirty work for them, but they'll come up with an elaborate scenario or even a song. Want to ditch an unwanted boyfriend via a country ditty? They'll start crooning. Certain that a scandal is the only way to stop your wedding? One of them will pretend to be the mother of your unborn child. Need something with a bit more finality? The pair will tell your wife that you're missing, presumed drowned. Welcome to The Breaker Upperers — the name of Jen and Mel's busy Auckland business, as well as the title of van Beek and Sami's astute and side-splitting film. The duo write, direct and star, and they're an uproarious force to be reckoned with. Comedians with considerable resumes on New Zealand television (as well as parts across Taika Waititi's filmography), their first big-screen adventure together doesn't just milk ghosting an ex for laughs. It's also the kind of female-focused buddy comedy that cinema could use considerably more of, telling a tale of thirty-something women who don't have it all together. Moreover, the movie's protagonists aren't chasing the usual romantic fantasy, and don't feel like they should be doing what rom-coms tell them. Actually, ever since Jen and Mel experienced their own respective relationship mishaps, they've each sworn to keep their love lives casual. That's easier for the pessimistic Jen than the amiable Mel, with two specific jobs thrusting their differences into focus. Firstly, the distraught wife of a former client (Celia Pacquola) keeps popping up in their lives — needing a shoulder to cry on, and making Mel start to doubt whether breaking up couples for cash is a line of work anyone should be doing. Secondly, high schooler Jordan (James Rolleston, delightfully asked to play dumb) hires them to dump his smart-talking girlfriend Sepa (breakout newcomer Ana Scotney), causing sparks to fly between the 17-year-old rugby player and Mel. As well as giving van Beek and Sami on-screen gigs over the years, plus directing Sami's one-woman TV show Super City, Waititi has an executive producing credit on The Breaker Upperers. While the brand of dry, awkward Kiwi comedy found in Boy, What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople is alive and well here, this is always van Beek and Sami's movie. They fire off gags and one-liners with such a hit rate that you might miss a few because you're laughing too much. They not only commit to the more outlandish aspects of the picture's humour, but flesh out their characters so they're much more than just a source of jokes. And, in a film with several standout musical moments, they make the best Celine Dion karaoke video you're ever likely to see. A little bit silly, a little bit sweet, yet still thoroughly smart in its ode to female friendship: that's The Breaker Upperers from start to finish. It's the cinematic equivalent of a great (not doomed) romance — hooking viewers instantly like love at first sight, throwing up plenty of joyful surprises and then riding off into the sunset. The film itself doesn't chart that narrative path, but that's the journey it takes audiences on anyway. It's also energetic, well-paced, and delightfully diverse in its appreciation of sexuality, sex positivity, gender, race, culture, body image and going grey at a young age. If it was your date, you wouldn't be asking anyone to break up with it for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-phMlkRiWIg
From French, Greek, Italian and Japanese to Jewish, British, Turkish and Russian, Australian cinemas have welcomed a vast array of cultural film festivals throughout 2017 — but they're not done just yet. Now in its second year, the Cine Latino Film Festival might be the last touring film fest of this year; however, it's here to help end the movie-going calendar with plenty of Central and South American cinema gems. This year's lineup includes Mexican rom-coms, Argentinian escape thrillers, Peruvian musicals and Chilean road movies, plus more from the festival's 26 film journey through everywhere from Uruguay to Cuba to Colombia to Ecuador. With the fest currently doing the rounds of Aussie capitals until November 29, we've picked five must-see movies from the jam-packed program. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECe0jfpNLKc YOU'RE KILLING ME SUSANA Is it possible to put on a Latin American film festival without Gael García Bernal showing up somewhere? Based on Cine Latino's two outings so far, clearly not. After turning in one of the finest performances of his career in last year's Neruda, the Mexican star returns for You're Killing Me Susana. Swapping poetry, police and politics for marital dramas, he plays the suddenly solo Eligio, who wakes up to find his wife has left him and then follows her to the US — as based on the novel Ciudades Desiertas by Mexican writer José Agustín. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnIE6y5KBwY WINTER Winter may roam across an icy landscape but it's every inch the western, its frosty sights playing home to a classic tale of survival in an unforgiving location. Winning a special jury prize for its cinematography at last year's San Sebastian International Film Festival, the debut feature from writer/director Emiliano Torres follows an older worker forced to face his future when a younger counterpart starts taking over much of his foreman role. Like many a traditional oater, it values sparse dialogue and stunning sights to help thrust the story forward https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGBVKLIbDqk WOODPECKERS Set in a Dominican Republic prison, stemming from reality and shot on location, Woodpeckers genuinely tells a tale you don't hear every day. In fact, you likely haven't heard this tale before. While the idea of love trying to conquer the odds is far from new, the story of petty thief Julián (Jean Jean) and female inmate Yanelly (Judith Rodriguez) is immersed in a location-specific sliver of jailhouse culture. Here, in a moving and immersive effort, detainees communicate via their own form of forbidden sign language — also known as woodpecking — from their respective men's and women's facilities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hi2FH_afxs EL INCA Add El Inca to the pile of big-screen boxing efforts, and add it to the list of controversial films as well. In its homeland, the Venezuelan feature was taken out of cinemas as a result of a court order; however, that hasn't stopped it from becoming the country's submission for this year's foreign-language film category at the Academy Awards. Based on the plight of real-life two-weight world champion Edwin 'El Inca' Valero, the movie not only steps through his professional bouts, but also his personal troubles — including his relationship with his wife, and the tragedies that result. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdA1c1ujTs8 GABRIEL AND THE MOUNTAIN Gabriel and the Mountain might initially seem like a Brazilian version of Into the Wild, but this Cannes Critics Week standout delves deeper as it tells its own true tale. With spectacular visuals providing quite the backdrop, this blend of recreation and reality charts traveller Gabriel Buchmann's quest to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. He's played by an actor, João Pedro Zappa; however the film pairs him with the people the actual Buchmann crossed paths with, in an involving, insightful and all-round stirring feature that's part travelogue, part character study, part untraditonal documentary. The 2017 Cine Latino Film Festival will screen at Sydney's Palace Norton Street and Palace Verona from November 14 to 29, Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como and Palace Westgarth from November 16 to 29, and Brisbane's Palace Centro from November 16 to 29. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
Back in early May, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said that when interstate travel was allowed once again, flights could drop as low as $19. Today, Friday, June 19, he's delivered on his promise. Qantas and Jetstar have just announced a huge tourism recovery sale with 200,000 discounted fares across the two airlines — including 10,000 flights on Jetstar for just $19. The domestic flight sale kicks off at 9am today and runs until midnight on Monday, June 22, or sold out. In the sale, you'll find cheap flights on more than 35 routes to 15 destinations across NSW, Victoria, South Australia, the NT and Queensland — but, before you book, we suggest you check in on when interstate borders are opening. Travel between NSW, Victoria and the ACT is currently allowed, but Queensland is working towards reopening to visitors from other states on July 10, although that hasn't been officially confirmed as yet, while the Northern Territory announced it'll reopen on July 17 — and South Australia is slated to do the same on July 20. Neither WA nor Tasmania have yet to announce reopening dates — but flight deals to these destinations are expected to be added when they are. Regional travel within your state is allowed, too, and you'll also find cheap flights from Sydney to Byron Bay (for $19), and Brisbane to Mackay (for $49). Other discounted flight routes include Sydney to Hamilton Island ($79), Brisbane to Darwin ($79) and $19 one-way flights on 22 routes, such as Melbourne to Sydney, Sydney to Gold Coast, Melbourne to Byron Bay, Brisbane to Whitsunday Coast and Adelaide to Cairns. Flights are available between July 14 and October 31. [caption id="attachment_743607" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Whitsunday Beach by Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] With Australian borders likely to remain closed to international travel until 2021, the Government has been telling Aussies to get out and explore their own backyards, which Joyce hopes this sale will also encourage. "We know that these low fares will encourage even more people to get on a flight to take a short holiday or visit family and friends. We've already seen our flights from Sydney to Cairns fill up on the days after the proposed Queensland border opening date of 10 July 2020, so we're adding more," Joyce said in a statement. "This is a great opportunity to go to the amazing places in our own backyard that you haven't got around to seeing like the Barossa Valley or the Great Barrier Reef." As we are still in the middle of a pandemic, flying will be a little different to normal. Qantas and Jetstar have introduced a range of safety measures, including hand sanitisation stations, contactless check-in and masks provided to all passengers (but wearing them is not mandatory). Qantas and Jetstar's domestic sale runs from 9am on Friday, June 19 until 11.59pm on Monday, June 22 or sold out.
Do you wanna know the latest big Australian tour news? Yes, if you're an Arctic Monkeys fan, you do. Already slated to head Down Under for Falls Festival and Lost Paradise, the Sheffield rockers have just gone and added three huge standalone — and outdoor — gigs to their tour itinerary. We bet you'll look good on the dance floor when January 2023 rolls around, obviously. 2022 marks two decades since the band first formed in their Yorkshire home town, and they'll see out the year in Australia, then start next year here as well. For their solo shows, Alex Turner, Jamie Cook, Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders will hit Melbourne's Sidney Myer Music Bowl and Brisbane's Riverstage, both with Mildlife in support, before heading to The Domain in Sydney with DMA's & The Buoys. Arctic Monkeys' last tour to come our way, 2019's Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino World Tour, was massive. Actually, every tour they've brought Down Under has been. Given their career to-date — including scoring the fastest-selling debut album in UK chart history when Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not released in 2006 — that's hardly surprising. (Nor are the Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday shirts always spotted in the crowd whenever the band makes the trip Down Under, with Aussie supporters of the group's two hometown soccer teams routinely coming out in force.) It's been four years since the Monkeys' last album, the aforementioned Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino — but they won't be short of hits to play. Expect plenty of fun when the sun goes down, and not just a number-one party anthem on the set list. And if you're somehow not already excited, snap out of it. ARCTIC MONKEYS 2023 AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES — STANDALONE SHOWS: Wednesday, January 4 — Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, with Mildlife Wednesday, January 11 — Riverstage, Brisbane, with Mildlife Saturday, January 14 — The Domain, Sydney, with DMA's & The Buoys Arctic Monkeys are touring Australia in January 2023. Tickets go on sale online at 12pm local time on Friday, June 17, with pre-sales via the band from 10am AEST on Wednesday, June 15 and through Frontier from 10am AEST on Thursday, June 16. For more information, head to the tour website. Top image: Raph_PH via Flickr.
