When the middle of October hits, celebrating Japan by actually heading to the country will be back on the agenda, with the Asian nation's strict border rules finally relaxing. Can't make the trip ASAP? Fancy getting your Japanese thrills in a cinema instead — or until you can hop on a plane? Then Australia's annual touring Japanese Film Festival has timed its return well. As it does every year, this year's JFF has compiled a selection of must-see recent and retro Japanese movies, and will take its lineup to Canberra, Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. There's two parts, both coming to all locations except Western Australia: a classics series, showing iconic films on 35mm; and a rundown the latest and greatest flicks the country has to offer. When it does the rounds between Saturday, November 5–Wednesday, December 14, the 2022 fest will open with historical drama Dreaming of the Meridian Arc, which hops between present-day Japan and the Edo period to tell the tale behind the man who completed the first-ever map of Japan. Also a huge highlight: the retro season's focus on filmmaker Mikio Naruse, with 1954's Sound of the Mountain, 1960's When a Woman Ascends the Stairs and 1964's Yearning on the bill — and showing for free. Back to the recent titles (and the paid part of the program), standouts include psychological thriller Lesson in Murder, which starts when a college student gets a letter from a serial killer on death row; drama In the Wake, about the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011; and the animated Blue Thermal, with the world of competitive gliding soaring onto the screen. Anime Supremacy! is unsurprisingly focused on characters who live and breath anime production; Baby Assassins gives battling the yakuza (and being hitmen) a kawaii spin, and culinary documentary The Pursuit of Perfection follows top Tokyo chefs Takemasa Shinohara (Ginza Shinohara), Natsuko Shōji (Été), Yōsuke Suga (Sugalabo) and Takaaki Sugita (Sushi Sugita). JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL 2022 DATES: Canberra: Special series: November 5–6 at NFSA Latest releases: November 16–20 at Palace Electric Perth: Latest releases: November 21–27 at Palace Raine Square Brisbane: Special series: Friday, November 11–Sunday, November 20 at QAGOMA Latest releases: Wednesday, November 23–Sunday, November 27 at Palace Barracks Melbourne: Latest releases: Wednesday, November 30–Sunday, December 4 at The Kino Special series: Friday, December 2–Sunday, December 4 at ACMI Sydney: Latest releases: Wednesday, December 7–Sunday, December 11 at Palace Central, Palace Norton Street and Palace Verona Special series: Monday, December 12–Wednesday, December 14 at The Chauvel The 2022 Japanese Film Festival tours Australia between Saturday, November 5–Wednesday, December 14. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website. Images: Baby Assassins Film Partners / Blue Thermal Film Partners / AOI Pro/TY Limited.
It's winter. The nights are getting longer, the cold is getting colder, and there you are with two perfectly good ears and nothing to do. But we've got you covered with some Scottish hip hop and four excellent Aussie acts: Big Scary, back with their second album; Ash Grunwald, who has teamed up with two-thirds of The Living End for some huge, riff-heavy blues-rock; OXBLVD, who kinda sound like if Boy & Bear had shot a man in Reno; and some dark, angular, multiple-guitar-having rock from Sydney's Service Bells. So snuggle in with that special someone – you're in for a wild ride. 1. OXBLVD - Gotta Get Away First off, it's pronounced 'ox blood'. Second, I almost didn't include this when I couldn't find a Soundcloud or YouTube clip to embed, but I figure you're all smart enough to find your way over to the band's Unearthed page. And besides, this is way too cool to ignore. There's a serious spaghetti Western vibe to the new single, and you can almost see the band as outlaws, riding across the deserts of the Wild West. There's a real swagger to the guitars, and singer Ed Worland sounds like a man possessed as he wails 'run away' over and over on the coda. These boys can play, and I have no doubt they will be playing stadiums before too long. And when they do, you'll be kicking yourself if you don't catch their residency at Sydney's Oxford Art Factory this Friday, June 14, as well as June 28. 2. Young Fathers - 'Rumbling' When you think of Edinburgh, hip hop groups aren't usually the first things that spring to mind. But Young Fathers are going to change all that. With three distinct, unique MCs, Young Fathers take the influences from their African homelands (Nigeria and Liberia), the grime of the housing projects of their adopted Scotland and all manner of hip hop and electronica influences to end up with something quite striking. 'Rumbling' comes from their first mixtape — imaginatively titled Tape One — but they've also just dropped Tape Two for free on Soundcloud. If there were any justice in the world, these guys would be huge. As it is, it's probably a question of when, not if. 3. Ash Grunwald – The Last Stand Ash Grunwald is one of those 'best-kept secret' kinda guys. He's been around for a decade, playing thousands of shows all over the country and leaving audiences totally enraptured wherever he goes. But he's done all this on independent labels and off his own bat, and he's never reached been able to reach as big an audience as he should. He's an extraordinary guitar player, with (at least) a four-octave voice, and to hear him in full flight is a real treat. On his new album he has joined forces with two more of Australia's greatest musicians — Scott Owen and Andy Strachan, better known as The Living End's rhythm section. And they just cut loose, with huge, crunching riffs and incredible musicianship. https://youtube.com/watch?v=K_EjSuYWzxA 4. Big Scary - Luck Now Big Scary are one of the great success stories of Australian music in the last couple of years, proving once again that even a two-piece can make it big with great songs and a little bit of luck. Their piano ballad 'Falling Away' was a huge smash, and the heavy piano chords that open 'Luck Now' remind you immediately of their earlier hit. But this one has a halting, skipping backbeat and noises swirling all around it, and the production on singer Tom Iansek's voice sounds almost exactly like Bon Iver. It's a really interesting direction for the band to take, and proves that Iansek and drummer Jo Syme are just as versatile, creative and talented as bands with five times the members. Their new album, Not Art, is out at the end of June (pre-order here), and I can't wait to hear what the rest of it sounds like. 5. Service Bells – Prospector's Waltz Queens of the Stone Age have just released an excellent new album, but where do you go after that if you want some pure, unfiltered rock and roll swagger? Sydney's Service Bells, that's where. Rising from the ashes of the criminally under-appreciated Cameras (RIP), Service Bells are all about thick riffs, good times and dark clothing, like all the best parts of QOTSA and Interpol combined, but with David Bowie singing. Yeah, I thought that would get you to hit 'play'.
It took more than 25 years for Twin Peaks to revisit its moody, otherworldly and all-round odd small-town mysteries — and if you're not done diving into the television show's wonderful and strange world just yet, don't stress. Whether there'll be any more episodes is anyone's guess, but you can spend an evening with the show's stars in the interim, with five of the series cast members heading to Australia later this year. Although David Lynch famously refuses to talk in-depth about any of his work, including Twin Peaks' three seasons to date and the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, expect Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer), Kimmy Robertson (Lucy Moran), Michael Horse (Deputy Hawk), Al Strobel (Philip Gerard) and Dana Ashbrook (Bobby Briggs) to be much more forthcoming as they chat about their experiences both on- and off-screen. Between August 25 and September 2, they'll be joining forces with Twin Peaks producer Sabrina S. Sutherland for a series of 'Conversation with the Stars' discussions around the country. If you've ever wondered what it was like to be wrapped in plastic, or to line up piles and piles of doughnuts, or to play the other half of the series' evil entity, here's your chance to find out. While Twin Peaks' lead Kyle MacLachlan won't be making the trip, the lineup is still a Peaks-lover's dream come true. Lee played Laura Palmer, the teen sweetheart whose murder sparked the whole series, while Ashbrook swaggered through highs-chool hallways as her boyfriend Bobby Briggs, and then turned unlikely cop in the latest season. Robertson is best known as bubbly police station receptionist Lucy, and Horse played the enigmatic Deputy Hawk — and had one of the most recent series' most moving scenes. As for Strobel's Phil Gerard, he was pals with Bob before becoming a resident of the Black Lodge. If all of the above gets you thinking about damn fine coffee and the Double R Diner's cherry pie, then you'll be keen to nab tickets to the intimate chat, which heads to Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney for one night only. No word yet if the cast members will be sitting in front of red curtains or being interviewed by someone called Diane, but we can only hope. And if you're an absolute die-hard Peaks fan with some spare cash (around $500 in spare cash), meet-and-greet tickets are also available. Twin Peaks: A Conversation with the Stars comes to Melbourne's Palais Theatre on Saturday, August 25, Brisbane's Eatons Hill Hotel on Sunday, August 26 and Sydney's ICC Theatre on Saturday, September 1. Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday, July 6, with a pre-sale at 10am on Thursday, July 5 — for more information, visit the event website.
Who better than frank, lively and charismatic First Nations artist Richard Bell to sum up what You Can Go Now is truly about: "I am an activist masquerading as an artist," he offers. The Kamilaroi, Kooma, Jiman and Gurang Gurang man says this early in Larissa Behrendt's documentary about him, because he and the Eualayai/Gamillaroi After the Apology and Araatika: Rise Up! filmmaker both know how essential and inescapable that truth is. They're not here to reveal that Bell's art is layered with statements. Neither is the feature itself. Rather, in a powerful instant must-see of an Australian doco, they explore and contextualise what it means for Bell to be an activist spreading his advocacy for the country's First Peoples around the world by being an artist, especially when the Aboriginal art realm is so often dominated by white interests. They address and examine not just what Bell's work says but why, what it responds to and how it's significant on a variety of levels, including diving deep into the personal, national and global history — and modern-day reality — informing it. Seeing what Bell's art literally expresses — simply taking it in, as splashed across the screen instead of hanging in a gallery — is still crucial to Behrendt's film, of course. In an array of pieces that frequently use heated words on intricately and colourfully painted canvases, his work utters plenty. "I am not sorry". "Give it all back." "We were here first." "Ask us what we want". "Aboriginal art — it's a white thing." Among these and other declarations, You Can Go Now's title gets a mention, too. Every piece sighted — works that riff on and continue a dialogue with styles synonymous with American artists Roy Lichtenstein and Jackson Pollock among them — conveys Bell's activist-artist raison d'être overtly, unflinchingly and unmistakably. Excellent art doesn't end conversations, however, but continues them, pushes them further and prompts more questions. Not that this is You Can Go Now's main takeaway, but Bell makes excellent art, with Behrendt helping to fuel and unpack the discussion. It's impossible to peer at Bell's work without feeling its anger and frustration, sharing that ire and exasperation as well, and wanting a great many things — more details about his creations, the fair and just treatment of Indigenous Australians that should already be a given anyway, and to live in a world where the nation's traumatic past isn't what it is, for starters. It's also impossible to watch Behrendt's unfurling of the circumstances behind the artist's art, which intertwines Bell's own story, Australia since British colonisation and the fight against racial oppression globally, without appreciating the immense importance of his work. He boasts accolades and international acclaim, but nothing cements the potency of Bell's efforts like Bell. Hearing him talk about his childhood, then witnessing what those formative experiences have inspired: it's what this doco thrives on. So it is that You Can Go Now listens to Bell describe growing up in a tin shack in central Queensland, where he lived until he was a teen, only for it to be bulldozed by the government eight months after the 1967 referendum recognising Indigenous Australians as citizens. In tandem, the movie watches him recreate such a shanty, run it down, film it and play that video piece in another tin shed installed at the Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea in Turin in Italy. With a broader view, You Can Go Now enjoys Bell's paintings of key images from the fights for rights at home and in the US, then shows the photographs that Bell draws upon. And, it steps through the history of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy as a protest, plus Bell's replica Embassy — which has been displaying and hosting chats in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Cairns, Moscow, Jakarta, New York, Venice, Kassel in Germany and more, and adds London's famed Tate Modern to its stops in 2023. Also filling this deftly penned, directed, shot (by The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone's Vincent Lamberti) and edited (by 2040's Jane Usher) film: addresses by the infectiously engaging Bell to camera, letting his playful but determined personality shine; text on-screen to emphasise the most pressing takeaways in his monologues; a cast of talking-head interviewees, spanning everyone from his Brisbane gallerist Josh Milani to friend and activist Gary Foley, plus current Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney; and a wealth of archival footage. Behrendt's approach is straightforward, but made dynamic and gripping through her subject, his story, the history behind both and the snippets focused on. And while Bell is an executive producer, ensuring this is his vision of himself, that doesn't make the end result any less thoughtful, passionate or compelling. In the feature's big picture, a portrait emerges of First Nations activism spread across half a century, both heartbreakingly and vitally so. In its Bell-centric guise, so too does a chronicle of activism channelled into his art to keep agitating for change, recognition and a better future. You Can Go Now's snapshot of both is thorough, so much so that it adds another want to its audience's list: wanting more time to sift through it all, something that no lone 82-minute documentary can deliver. Thankfully, this movie has company elsewhere in fellow docos such as Firestarter — The Story of Bangarra and Wash My Soul in the River's Flow. The former hones in on the pioneering and applauded Indigenous dance theatre, the latter on iconic musicians Ruby Hunter and Archie Roach, and both also survey Australia's attitudes towards its Traditional Owners, the creativity such a history has sparked, and how those resulting works are pieces of activism through and through. Indeed, You Can Go Now slides into stellar company, and into an expanding group of Aussie documentaries that will never lose their urgency as similar flicks keep emerging. Not that they can't stand alone, or don't, but You Can Go Now and its cohort actually gain strength from the fact that they're relaying a common tale. The impact of Australia's colonisation, and the prejudice and persecution that has followed, is vast. It always requires constant interrogation and confrontation. Across a life that's traversed gaining a political voice on Redfern's streets, working for the Aboriginal Legal Service, winning the 20th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, and gatecrashing the 2019 Venice Biennale, too, Bell knows this — and so does this filmic tribute.
International travel could possibly be back on the cards for Australians by Christmas, but you'll be able to get a 26-film glimpse of Italy first. The reason: the 2021 Italian Film Festival. As it does every year, it's showcasing a stacked lineup of new and classic cinema from its chosen part of the globe, as part of its touring program. For Brisbanites, this year's fest will arrive in mid-October, helping kicking off its Australia-wide run. From Wednesday, October 20–Sunday, November 14, movie buffs will want to head to Palace James Street and Palace Centro to get their Italian film fix. The fest opens with The Ties — and with a marriage in crisis. Starring Alba Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro) and Luigi Lo Cascio (Human Capital), and helmed by Daniele Luchetti (La Nostra Vita, My Brother is an Only Child), this moving film follows a couple's tumultuous romance over the course of decades. It comes to the Italian Film Festival after opening last year's Venice Film Festival, and becoming the first Italian movie in more than a decade to do the latter. At the other end of the 2021 Italian Film Festival, the event will close with a classic: Roberto Rosselini's Rome, Open City. It's part of a four-film retrospective of the director's work, and also falls within the fest's look back at iconic Italian leading ladies. This event always comes with a big appreciation for Italy's filmmaking past, which is where documentary Fellini Forward: From the Creative Genius of Federico Fellini, about the acclaimed director, also fits in. Elsewhere, festival highlights include Cannes Film Festival Director's Fortnight winner To Chiara, about a 15-year-old who discovers her father might have criminal ties; Nanni Moretti's Three Floors, which is set across a Rome apartment block; Hidden Away, a biopic about artist Antonio Ligabue; and You Came Back, a thriller that makes ample use of Venice's lagoons. Or, there's also comedy Three Perfect Daughters; drama Tigers, about footballer Martin Bengtsson; and Sirley, which sees director Elisa Amoruso draw upon her adolescence for her first fictional film.
In an absolute triumph for Melbourne music fans today, Cherry Bar’s crowdfunding campaign to refurbish the venue has been successful, as they have reached 114 percent of their goal this afternoon, with 39 days left to spare. The 200-capacity venue will need a $90,000 overhaul to soundproof the bar and comply with strict noise regulations. Some of the work expected to go into the venue includes double-glazed windows, a new entrance and extra brick walls. Cherry Bar owner James Young asked punters and supporters of live music to help contribute to a third of the cost through a crowdfunding campaign with Pledge Music. Incentives for donors range from stubby holders to lifetime entry and a 'brick' in the wall with your name on it. "It was tempting, for about three seconds, to leave our 42-day crowdfunding campaign open so that people who wanted to could continue to buy personally named bricks and 'I Saved Rock 'n' Roll' T-shirts and stubby holders to help fund Cherry Bar's sound-proofing works," Young told us. "But we hit our target and the right thing to do was to close down the campaign straight away with a smile on our faces, joy in our hearts and immense gratitude to all the music loving public who have generously contributed just under half the money we need to immediately commence soundproofing works in AC/DC Lane." The reason for the rebuilding is due to a new apartment block being erected next door. The apartment block will be 12 stories high with 189 apartments inside. If our maths is correct, that is a hell of a lot of potential noise complaints that Cherry could be facing from their new neighbours. "Crowdfunding has become the new success model for bands — bands who are looking for money to tour, to fund record releases, PR campaigns, recording," Young told ABC AM. "Bands that I'm involved with have successfully implemented these campaigns and been able to achieve things they didn't think they could possibly achieve, based on the generosity of their fans.” Thankfully the wonderfully giving nature of live music lovers has shown itself once more. Just in time for Soul night this evening, and yes, we’ll be dancing. Via ABC AM.
It's hard to imagine that there's a positive aspect to losing someone or something you care about, but with shows like The Joy of Loss, there might be a glimmer of hope for those who have dealt with the ultimate pain. Not unlike the four stages of grief, The Joy of Loss looks at six gestures of loss via multi-disciplinary installations. There is fire, air and infrasonic, eight-channel surround sound, live dance and live music installations, with the finale being interviews conducted in silence. This introspective look at a personal topic is lead by artist David Sudmalis, whose drive for this project was the notion that loss is a new starting point, that is, the moment of departure. These interconnected gestures represent the journey through which we must pass: memory, experience, emotion and physicality. We are losers by nature, we would learn nothing if we didn't grow from our losses. Hell, our twenties are just one big lose-fest! While you can't control the cards you're dealt, you can control how you approach the aftermath. Watch as sound, image, performance, space, metaphor, language, and silence come together to forge a shared understanding of loss and how its cathartic qualities can ultimately bring joy. Image credit: The Joy of Loss
You know the feeling. You’d like to relax with a beverage in hand, but the fridge is bare – and so is the liquor cabinet. Or maybe you've been mid-party when the unthinkable has happened, with every esky coming up empty, and all the nearby bottle shops closed. The folks behind Liquorun — former AFL teammates Joel MacDonald, James Strauss, and Rohan Bail — can certainly relate, and have come up with a solution. They'll bring alcohol to your door on demand within 60 minutes — a service already available in Melbourne and Sydney. Now Brisbane's joined the party. For the first time, Brisbanites can replenish their booze supplies at the touch of a button, and quickly. Sure, other bottle-os offer delivery, but they also make you wait much longer than an hour. And who wants to do that? The process is simple: head to the Liquorun website, select your preferred local liquor store and your tipple of choice, then expect a knock at the front door. It’s not just beer, wine and spirits on offer. You can even order food from local Brisbane eateries if you’re craving a delicious donut, hot pizza or juicy burger. They'll even solve the classic party facepalm — they'll bring that ice you forgot to buy. For those partying well into the night, it is worth remembering that this isn't a 24-hour service. A certain amount of forethought is required, with the service cutting off at 11pm — 10pm in Brisbane — due to licensing laws. For more information, visit the Liquorun website. Image: Walnut Studio.
There seems little that could be utopian about an alien invasion film where people are picked off by hulking, spider-limbed, lightning-fast, armour-clad creatures who punish every sound with almost-instant death, but prequel A Quiet Place: Day One makes the opening status quo of horror franchise-starter A Quiet Place look positively idyllic. If you're forced to try to survive an extra-terrestrial attack, where better to be than at your well-appointed farmland home with your family, as the John Krasinski (IF)-helmed and -starring 2018 feature depicted? Most folks, including the third movie in the saga's protagonist Samira (Lupita Nyong'o, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), a terminal cancer patient with just a service cat called Frodo left as kin, can only dream of being that lucky — not that there's much time for fantasising about a better way to be conquered by otherworldly monsters when what looks like meteors start crashing down to earth. Samira is in hospice care as the A Quiet Place big-screen series, which also spans 2021 release A Quiet Place Part II, steps back to the moment that its apocalyptic scenario begins in New York. She hugs her black-and-white feline companion like letting go would untether her from life even before existence as the planet knows it changes forever — when she's sharing surly poems among other patients, being convinced to attend a group excursion to see a marionette show and, when the promise of pizza on the way home is nixed, telling kindly nurse Reuben (Alex Wolff, Oppenheimer) that he's not actually her friend. A Quiet Place: Day One explores the ground-zero experience for someone who feels so alone in this world and connected only to her devoted pet, and also answers a question: how do those on more than two feet react when the worst that humans can imagine occurs? It might've appeared a significant change of pace when Pig filmmaker Michael Sarnoski was announced as A Quiet Place: Day One's writer and director, a role he took on after The Bikeriders' Jeff Nichols — who, with Take Shelter, Mud and Midnight Special on his resume, had played with visions of the end of the world, science fiction and adventurous quests before — dropped out. But swap in Nyong'o for Nicolas Cage, a cat for a porcine pal and aliens for a kidnapping, and Sarnoski has moulded the terrain of his second feature to pair perfectly with his first. Wolff further links the helmer's two movies together; however, they'd prove a set without him. When the only other critter that defines your days and spends its own by your side is in peril — your one constant in a life already under the shadow of loss, too — the fierceness with which you'd react is the same whether vengeance or safety is your ultimate aim. Samira has another mission: securing that yearned-for slice in Harlem, which she's willing to navigate the chaotic streets with the utmost of hush to endeavour to taste. Sarnoski again deeply understands what our bonds with animals, places and things can say about us; why we cling to and fight for them unflinchingly and against the odds; and how devastating it can be when what little that a person has left is under threat. Accordingly, committing to hunt down a favourite piece of pizza while bedlam breaks out isn't just about enjoying an Italian meal. As with Pig, casting enormously aids the process of taking viewers on this emotional and psychological journey. Cage gave one of his finest performances in a career filled with versatile wonders as a truffle-foraging ex-Portland chef whose tentative sense of stability and self were shattered sans swine, and fellow Oscar-winner Nyong'o, ten years on from clutching Hollywood's most-coveted trophy for 12 Years a Slave, is equally as gripping. Sarnoski's current star is no stranger to horror, or to being excellent in it. See: Nyong'o's unforgettable effort in 2019, just past the midway point between 12 Years a Slave and A Quiet Place: Day One, in Jordan Peele's haunting and razor-sharp Us. Conveying the piercingly melancholy feeling of fighting what's long been a fraught fray for yourself, but holding up the battle for what you hold dearest, isn't an easy feat in her latest role — and nor is doing so when terror on multiple levels never subsides. It's also the heart and soul of the movie, which continues the franchise trademark of valuing characters over bumps and jumps, even as it still delivers the latter. Nyong'o wears Samira's determination despite several hazards to her mortality as assuredly as the fentanyl patches that get her character through the day, and the red beanie and yellow cardigan that are Samira's uniform. Knocked out amid the Big Apple erupting in mayhem, noise and white dust — any racket, of course, being the most-fatal thing for everyone desperate to avoid extinction — A Quiet Place: Day One's lead figure first wakes up in the puppet theatre, and she isn't solo. All things A Quiet Place have established in prior flicks how fleeting and fragile any calm and refuge can be, even in the best-case setup of the OG movie's Abbott clan, so it's no surprise when tragedy keeps thundering in. Via Djimon Hounsou's (Rebel Moon) Henri, though, the film gets a direct tie to A Quiet Place Part II and hope that some kind of future beckons. Courtesy of Joseph Quinn's (Stranger Things) English law student Eric, who also gives the picture another opportunity to demonstrate the comforting power of befriending a mouser, Samira's ordeal receives a new chance at human connection. And with its scene-stealing kitty, who is played by 100-percent real the real thing and is wonderful, cinema gains a complement to Alien's Jonsey. Collaborating again with cinematographer Pat Scola (We Grown Now) after Pig, Sarnoski has switched areas of America, yet there's no less of a lived-in texture to A Quiet Place: Day One's look and feel. That's another not-at-all-small achievement in a successful sci-fi/horror saga — one that has briefly jumped back to attack day in the past, in fact — that's set in a city that virtually everyone around the has globe has walked through via the silver screen almost as much as their own locations IRL. Meaningful wins when far less could've resulted sums up the film again and again, from a story co-conjured with Krasinski that does far more than merely extend a hit realm to the exactingly executed creature-feature sequences and the meticulous sound design that a tale predicated upon silence demands. Movies about attempting to endure can also be movies about finding your own idea of utopia in the absolute direst of circumstances, no matter how short-lived, and this one hears the call loudly.
It's the frostiest of Australia's annual film festivals for two reasons — the time of year it arrives, and the region it showcases — and it's back for 2022 with another round of recent and retro flicks. That'd be the Scandinavian Film Festival, which naturally hits cinemas around the country each winter. Well, winter Down Under, that is. This year's fest will play 19 titles, primarily hailing from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, with the program touring the nation between Tuesday, July 12–Wednesday, August 10. That gives film buffs in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Byron Bay around a month — three weeks in some places — to get their Nordic movie fix, whether you're keen on a historical epic or a dive into Scandi cinema history. Yes, blasts from the pasts are a feature of the 2022 lineup — starting with opening night's Margrete — Queen of the North. Starring Trine Dyrholm (The Commune) and directed by Charlotte Sieling (Lovecraft Country, Homeland), the historical drama is set in 1402, and hones in on Denmark's Queen Margrete, who oversaw the Kalmar Union that brought together Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Also peering backwards: the Scandi Screen Sirens selection, which celebrates leading ladies from times gone by — all in classics. So, you'll catch Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, Greta Garbo in Queen Christina and Britt Ekland in The Wicker Man. There's also two Liv Ullmann films: The Serpent's Egg, directed by iconic Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman; plus The New Land, the 1972 gem in the festival's closing night slot. Elsewhere, the program includes Dyrholm again in A Matter of Trust, which heads to Australia straight from premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival; Finnish effort The Woodcutter's Story, which played the 2022 Cannes Film Festival Critics' Week; and The Emigrants, a new adaptation of Vilhelm Moberg's novels. The latter first hit the screen in 1971, in a film of the same name — to which the aforementioned The New Land was a sequel. From a selection of 19 flicks all up, there's also the Danish boarding school-set Pretty Young Thing, which will have its world premiere at the fest; psychological drama Quake from Iceland; Berlinale Crystal Bear Award-winner Comedy Queen, about a 13-year-old girl who wants to be a stand-up comedian; and documentary Nordic by Nature, which was filmed in the Faroe Islands, including in its seafood industry, and also covers two-star Michelin restaurant KOKS. And if Scandinavian talent has you thinking of Game of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, he's accounted for A Taste of Hunger from Denmark. It's about the quest for a Michelin star, actually, with the drama following a couple determined to get one for their restaurant. SCANDINAVIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2022 DATES: July 12–August 7: Palace Norton Street, Palace Verona, Palace Central and Chauvel Cinema, Sydney July 13–August 7: Palace Electric, Canberra July 14–August 7: The Astor Theatre, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Palace Balwyn and Pentridge Cinema, Melbourne July 19–August 10: Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas, Adelaide July 20–August 10: Palace Raine Square Cinemas, Luna Leederville and Luna on SX, Perth July 20–August 10: Palace Barracks and Palace James Street, Brisbane July 22–August 10: Palace Byron Bay, Byron Bay The Scandinavian Film Festival tours Australia from Tuesday, July 12–Wednesday, August 10. For more information or to buy tickets, visit the festival's website.
It's news that'll make you melt. Actually, it's news about the monarch of melted foods, to be precise. Everyone loves a good cheese toastie, however the folks behind Brisbane's next must-visit eatery really love them. In fact, it's their main menu item. Of course, with a name like Melt Brothers, the CBD spot's fondness for gooey cheddar between two pieces of warmed bread is front and centre. And really, why not open Brissie's first joint dedicated to slinging the ultimate in comfort food? Details such as an exact location and menu are still trickling through; however do know that they're opening in soft launch mode on November 21, and that they might be in the vicinity of Gresham Lane. We also know that Melt Brothers will be serving Fonzie Abbott coffee, and toying with ice cream concoctions. It'll also be licensed, which means toasties-and-beer combos, people. Basically, it's probably prudent to expect cheese on everything. And, if hunting down Melt Brothers to make your cheese toastie dreams come true is a little too tough, don't forget that Brisbane is quite the oozing cheese capital at present. Ronny's in Carseldine serves up quite the variety of jaffles, while Milton fromagerie Fromage [The Cow] has a cheese toastie window. Yep, it's a good time to be a melted dairy lover in this city. Find Melt Brothers in the vicinity of Gresham Lane from November 21. Keep an eye on their website, Facebook page and Instagram feed for more information. Image: Asnim Asnim.
During the catastrophic bushfire season over the summer of 2019–20, flames encroached on Bundanon and Riversdale, the 1100-hectare properties that were gifted to the Australian public by by artist Arthur Boyd and his wife Yvonne Boyd back in 1993. Located in the Shoalhaven region on the New South Wales south coast, the heritage-listed sites were thankfully saved, as was the art collection within them — and now they're all part of Australia's sprawling new bushland gallery. The Bundanon Art Museum was first announced back in 2018, with construction starting in early 2020. Come Saturday, January 29, it'll finally opening its doors to the public. The purpose-built, 500-square-metre structure will showcase contemporary and First Nations art year-round, starting with opening exhibition From impulse to action, which is all about the creative energy of experimentation. And yes, works by Boyd are part of the program. The venue will host three seasons each year, drawing from its $46.5 million onsite collection of around 4000 items, plus new commissions. When they're not on display, the museum's pieces are housed in a safe storage facility, which is part of its 'environmentally prepared gallery-of-the-future' design by Kerstin Thompson Architects, and takes all of the challenges posed by its location and the changing climate into consideration. Also a highlight: The Bridge, the 160-metre-long by nine-metres-wide structure that doubles as a learning centre, and spans over the existing gully on the property's sloping hillside. As well as teaching and break-out spaces, it features accommodation for up to 64 guests, plus cafe and dining facilities. And views, too, taking in the Shoalhaven River — because seeing the scenery is as much an aim here as checking out art. That eatery, Ramox Cafe, will serve up seasonal menus that hero paddock-to-plate ingredients and source produce from the Shoalhaven region. Drinks-wise, expect sips from local wineries and breweries, continuing the local mindset. Built near the site's existing nineteenth century buildings, the new art museum and bridge also share a public plaza as part of the $34 million project. Windows that frame the artwork with glimpses of the natural splendour outside are also a big feature — and, as well as responding to its surroundings, including by making The Bridge a piece of flood infrastructure that'll still allow water to flow naturally across the property, it's all solar-powered. As for that hefty art collection, if spans around more than 1300 works by Arthur Boyd himself, as well as pieces by Pablo Picasso, Francisco Goya and Brett Whiteley. When the Boyds gave the rural site to the Australian public back more than a quarter-century ago, Bundanon and Riversdale became a haven for creativity, arts and education, and remained a working farm. That's all staying the same now that Bundanon Art Museum is opening — just with the new addition built into the hillside. Bundanon Art Museum opens on Saturday, January 29 at 170 Riversdale Road, Illaroo, New South Wales. For further information, visit the venue's website. Images: Zan Wimberley.
After revealing the first four titles from this year's program back in mid-September, the Brisbane International Film Festival has just unveiled its entire 103-film 2021 lineup. Brissie cinephiles, get ready to spend 11 days in the city's cinemas watching everything from Edgar Wright's latest, an Oscar Isaac-starring gambling drama and this year's Berlinale Golden Bear winner, through to flicks based on Twitter threads, new works from acclaimed directors and Nicolas Cage's latest OTT effort (yes, another one). Those aforementioned highlights include Last Night in Soho, which sees Shaun of the Dead filmmaker Wright embrace psychological thrills; The Card Counter, starring not only Isaac but Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip); and Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, owner of the best movie title you're likely to see anytime soon. And, it also covers Zola, the wild drama based on that viral 148-tweet thread; Vortex, the latest film from Love's Gaspar Noe; Memoria, which sees Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Cemetery of Splendour) team up with Tilda Swinton for his English-language debut (and for BIFF's closing night slot) — and Prisoners of the Ghostland, where Cage joins forces with inimitable Japanese director Sion Sono (Why Don't You Play in Hell?, Tokyo Tribe). In total 81 features and 22 shorts are on the revamped BIFF's bill, screening at New Farm Cinemas, The Elizabeth Picture Theatre, Reading Newmarket, Dendy Coorparoo, Palace James Street and GOMA's Australian Cinémathèque between Thursday, October 21–Sunday, October 31. Still sticking with numbers, that includes four world premieres and 26 Australian premieres among the feature lineup — and, across both full-length and short films, 150 sessions in total. Other must-sees: the already-announced The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, with the Leah Purcell-starring and -directed film kicking off this year's festival; Petite Maman, the eagerly anticipated new film from Portrait of a Lady on Fire's Céline Sciamma; and The Worst Person in the World, the Norwegian comedy-drama that picked the Best Actress prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival. From the just-revealed newcomers to the lineup, Australian documentary River, Hugo Weaving and Tilda Cobham-Hervey-starring Aussie thriller Lone Wolf, and eagerly awaited drama Bergman Island from Mia Hansen-Løve (Things to Come) all sit alongside Andrea Arnold's (American Honey) documentary Cow, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's Japanese duo of Drive My Car and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, and sublime German fantasy-drama Undine. Plus, Viggo Mortensen jumps both behind and in front of the lens with Falling, Alicia Vikander leads immigration drama Blue Bayou, Wyrmwood: Apocalypse serves up an Aussie horror sequel and the original version of The Witches is getting a retro screening. And, if you didn't see them during the Melbourne International Film Festival's online-only 2021 event, Sisters with Transistors, The Girl and the Spider and Witches of the Orient are also in BIFF's program. So is stellar Aussie doco Strong Female Lead, if you haven't watched it online. BIFF 2021 marks the fest's latest iteration, after the festival has gone through more than a few changes over the years. The event was unceremoniously cancelled after its 2013 fest in favour of the short-lived Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival, then revived by Palace Cinemas in 2017, and then run by the Gallery of Modern Art from 2018–20. Now, it sits under Film Fantastic, who also organise the Gold Coast Film Festival, with the organisation winning a three-year tender for the 2021–23 festivals. The 2021 Brisbane International Film Festival runs between Thursday, October 21–Sunday, October 31. For further information, or to buy tickets, head to the festival website.
If you haven't yet forked out the krónas to head to Iceland, you might have only hypothesised about that mystical phenomena known as the Northern Lights (or Aurora Borealis) through Philip Pullman's pageturner. But after this little gem of a new project, you'll be booking flights before you can spell Reykjavík. Created by three independent filmmakers from Reykjavík and a web developer from Azambuja, Portugal, and co-produced by Design Studio Borgarmynd and TrailerPark Studios, Iceland Aurora takes timelapse next level. There's been a fair few amateur timelapse videos cranked out featuring the Northern Lights, like this and this, but this new project is just out of control. Scored by Pétur Jónsson, the non-narrative film was shot in more than 50 different locations around Iceland and put together from over 100.000 individual RAW High Res images. Turning Iceland into Hogwarts meets The Riddler's weird mindreading machine from Batman Forever, the Northern Lights get a whole new round of applause in this stunning new film. Iceland Aurora will be available in full HD and 4K resolution, on DVD and digital download in July 2014. Via Fubiz. Images by Iceland Aurora.
If you're an Uber One member who's headed to the Australian Open, you're in luck. Complimentary rides to the Rod Laver Arena in snazzy EVs are on the cards — and they'll even drop you home. For the duration of the tournament until Sunday, January 28, Kia is serving up a fleet of 30 brand-new EV9s and EV6s, which are available in the 'Kia Electric' option on your Uber app — assuming that they haven't all been snapped up at the time you're looking, of course. Given that Kia is the major partner of the Australian Open, these same types of EVs will be transporting the players to and from the tournament. So you'll have the chance to experience travelling to the matches like a star of the game, even if you get winded going up the stairs. [caption id="attachment_935839" align="alignnone" width="1920"] annieb via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] How do you snag one of these rides? Simple. When heading to the tennis, just pop 'Rod Laver Arena' as your destination. If you're going home, just pop in your address or anywhere else you feel like heading within a five-kilometre radius. If an EV is available between 9am–7pm, from until Sunday, January 28, you can select it and enjoy the ride on Kia's dime. Here's the fine print: it's capped at $100, and only available if you're an Uber One member and booking within a five-kilometre radius of the arena. Free trip to one of the greatest sporting events on the planet, all in the quiet comfort of a slick EV? That's not a bad start to any day at the tennis. The Australian Open is held at Melbourne Park. It runs from Sunday, January 14 to Sunday, January 28. Top image: Tourism Victoria via Flickr.
To add more fizz to the festive season, Brisbane bar Cloudland is hosting a two-month celebration of bubbly. As part of the luxe affair, the glitzy venue is hosting a Grand Cru Champagne Dinner from 6–8pm on Wednesday, December 6. Guests can mingle with new friends at the communal table while being treated to a five-course menu designed by Executive Chef Andrew Musk and paired with RSRV wines. Maison Mumm Champagne and GH Mumm Ambassador Emeline Troger will also be on hand to talk diners through each sip. Arrive at Cloudland's Heritage Room, where you'll be greeted with Pacific oysters, served with cucumber and elderflower mignonette, and watermelon with goat's curd, aged balsamic and basil. Then, progress onto a refreshing blackberry-cured salmon crudo with burnt grapefruit, citrus crème fraîche and a squid ink tuile, while sipping on a glass of 2015 RSRV blanc de blancs. Seared duck breast with beetroot, hazelnut and shiso will be accompanied by a glass of the elegant Rosé Foujita, followed by a hearty herb-crusted lamb with pinot noir jus and a 2014 blanc de noirs. To finish off the night, there's a meringue with mascarpone, raspberry sorbet, strawberries and lemon balm, matched with the delicate Cuvée 4.5. For those further down south who can't attend the Cloudland Brisbane event, there'll be another Champagne Dinner at The Island Gold Coast on Thursday, December 7. Tickets are $190 per person and strictly limited, so get in quick. Book your spot and find out more at Cloudland's website.
There's never a bad time the Gold Coast's shores; however, from March 31 to April 16, driving down south comes not just with surf, sun and sand, but with an added dose of arts and culture. Don't worry, beachgoers — at Bleach Festival, both often combine into one glorious package. The annual event returns with a 2017 program that's equal parts outdoor and indoor fun, and spanning theatre, music, art, sport and more. If performance is your kind of thing, then Frank Enstein and Blanc de Blanc are definite drawcards. One reimagines one of the greatest tales ever written, the other combines cabaret, circus, champagne and salacious sights. Or, enjoy a beachside concert, spy giant illuminated figures on the street, catch a footy-focused play at a football club and watch a man run 42.2 kilometres on a treadmill. Plus, skateboarding displays, '60s-style parties by the waves, an Indigenous art tour and blues on the sand are all also part of the lineup. Image: Lamp Photography
It's that time of year again. The bargain-filled Click Frenzy sale return for its next online shopping riot, kicking off at 7pm on Tuesday, March 17 — and, this time around, it's focusing on Aussie businesses in need. The site's inaugural Places in Need event arrives on the heels of Australia's devastating bushfire season and amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. This double-whammy has hit the travel sector hard, and Click Frenzy plans to aid local businesses through its quarterly sale. As of 7pm, you'll have access to the usual array of bargain deals on airfare, holiday packages and accommodation, as well as on experiences, tours, car hire and travel insurance. Over 500 deals will be on offer, with big names like Virgin Australia, Travel Online, Flight Centre and Klook all on board. Those deals will specifically focus on a combination of lesser-known Australian gems and well-traversed destinations where tourism is especially low. Of course, in this period of uncertainty, it's not expecting travellers to book a trip for next week. Instead, there'll be flexible dates and cancellation terms — with the intention that consumers will hold onto their vouchers or book for future dates. Now for the deals: expect 70-percent-off Flight Centre packages, 50-percent-off Travel Online destinations, 20-percent-off Hamilton Island stays and 25-percent-off Metro Hotels across Australia. [caption id="attachment_765150" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Shotever Jet Boat[/caption] A few of the New South Wales-specific offers include $400-off luxury stays at White Sand Jervis Bay, a free private tour of biodynamic vineyard Lark Hill Wines, a $100 voucher in Bundanoon (when staying at Fulford Folly) and one-night-free accommodation at Redleaf Carriages in Fitzroy Falls. There's also $30 off Sydney-based experiences via Klook, including the Harbour Bridge Climb, skydiving and hot air balloon bookings. Now may be a time to tick these off your bucket list. Other featured deals around the country include one-night-free stays at Waverley House Cottages in Lake Entrance, Yarranungara Yurt Retreat in Oxley and Aurora Ozone Hotel on Kangaroo Island (which was devastated by the bushfires. And the Mansfield Zoo in Victoria is offering adult camping for child prices. And if you're a member (or want to register for free), you get additional benefits, including early access to all of the deals. There's no official 'end' time to the sale this year, either so you'll have extra time to explore and book. Choose wisely. Click Frenzy's Places in Need kicks off at 7pm on Tuesday, March 17. You can find all the tasty travel bargains here. Check each individual deal for exact terms and conditions. Top image: Kangaroo Island by Isaac Forman
Since the beginning of the year, Groove Therapy has been helping Australians dance away their evenings. Whether you think you can bust or move or know for a fact that you can't, their relaxed, hour-long dance classes promise to unleash the aspiring street dancer in all of us — and have been doing just that in Sydney and Melbourne. Queensland, now it's your turn. Bringing the concept up north, GT are teaming up with Universal to hold two hip hop dance class parties. Brisbane gets its chance for some shape-throwing fun on July 10 at the Latvian Hall in Woolloongabba, while Gold Coasters can get in on the action on July 3 at Southport Community Centre. And like their other efforts, there's no pressure, no recitals and — most importantly — no mirrors. Indeed, the workshops are designed for beginner students who might feel intimidated by a more professional environment. Don't let that fool you though, because the instructors are legit, and will have you popping and locking in no time. It's perfect for those of us who dream of burning up the dance floor, but have never had the moves to back it up. By Sarah Ward and Tom Clift.
Thanks to the soothing tones of waves lapping against the shore, a trip to Burleigh Heads always comes a soundtrack. But if you're a fan of Japanese cuisine, it now also features slurping noises aplenty. The reason: RaRa Ramen, which has opened its doors on James Street. It's the Sydney-based chain's first outpost in the Sunshine State, adding the Gold Coast site as a sibling venue to its four New South Wales stores. On the menu: creamy, brothy, stomach-warming tonkotsu ramen, which has proven quite the hit at RaRa Redfern, RaRa Randwick and RaRa Chan in Eveleigh. Taking its cues from the chain's vegan offshoot Lonely Mouth, RaRa Burleigh Heads does three-types of meat-free bowls, too — so you can choose between a soy shio with grilled tomato and housemade chilli grind, a miso version that features grilled tofu, and the vegan tantanmen with its plant-based mince. For snacks, both chicken karaage and cauliflower karaage are on offer, the latter with vegan mayonnaise. Or, there's also corn tempura, pork gyoza, Japanese pickles and vegan kimchi. While a great bowl of broth and noodles is always a drawcard, RaRa Burleigh Heads boasts another reason to drop by, all thanks to its neon-lit cocktail bar. Glowing hues are a feature of the company's other sites, too; however, in this case, the vivid lights nod to the area's history. When on the Gold Coast and all that. Drinks-wise, sours are a highlight, alongside a lineup of beers that includes Japanese brews. And, the venue's decor reflects its beachy setting in other ways, including in the curved lines featured in the fitout. View this post on Instagram A post shared by RaRa Ramen (@rara__ramen) Burleigh Heads locals and visitors can find RaRa's new store at the back of an arcade on James Street. If you're wondering why owners Scott Gault and Katie Shortland have decided to make the leap, Gault is originally from Brisbane — and, on a trip this way to see family after navigating border closures and restrictions during the peak of the pandemic, the pair spotted the property. "We let it percolate in our heads, and thought it could be a good opportunity to bring RaRa to the Gold Coast," Gault tells Concrete Playground. "Initially, we didn't have any plans to expand interstate, or to open a new store at the time." Like most Brisbanites, Gault has fond childhood memories of spending ample time on the coast, and identified Burleigh as an exciting food hub. Also a factor in the decision: the Gold Coast's existing culinary range. Gault notes that the city has boasted "great options for Japanese food over the years, which have informed everyone's palate." RaRa Ramen is now open at 21A/50 James Street, Burleigh Heads — open 1130am–10pm Friday–Saturday and 1130am–9pm Sunday. Images: Kitti Gould.
Blues, Booze and BBQs is coming to MANIAX Newstead on Sunday, July 27. The event, which runs in two separate, two-hour sessions, combines axe throwing, ice-cold beers, good tunes and a barbecue showdown. The first round of the barbecue battle sees Flaming Horns Barbecue take on Peteʼs Barbecue Catering. All you have to do is taste test and vote for your favourite. The winner earns the right to return for the next showdown and has a shot at being crowned Brisbaneʼs Barbecue Champion. Once you're fuelled up and well and truly in the competitive spirit, head to the axe range and test out your range while channelling your inner Viking. Along with axe-throwing and barbecue battles, there will also be live music from Jake and the Cadillacs, and two tasting plates from Brisbaneʼs top barbecue crews. Keep yourself quenched with booze from Black Flag Brewing and Travis Fimmel's Travla. Two sessions are available from 12–2pm or 2.30–4.30pm. Spots are limited, so booking is recommended. Images: Supplied.
There's a new way to get around Brisbane. Move over trains, buses and CityCats, because Brisbane has scored a different form of public transport. News about the River City's latest way to get from A to B has been impossible to avoid for nearly a decade now — it was first announced back in 2016, and has expanded, evolved, scored sign-off and plenty more since. As at Monday, October 21, 2024, however, Brisbane Metro is starting to get operational. This shake up of the city's transportation network is all about high-capacity electric metro vehicles that haven't been used in Australia before, each capable of carrying 150 people — or up to 170 when they're in event mode. Every Metro spans twice the length of a normal bus, coming in at 24.4 metres, and also measures 2.6 metres wide. Passengers hop inside three compartments, with the driver in a separate cabin. The full network will feature two new metro services running between 18 stations and providing interchanges across 11 locations — and that isn't up and running yet. But an initial Metro service is now doing the rounds, in what's being called a preview. Brisbanites can use the Brisbane Metro to travel from Eight Mile Plains and UQ Lakes on the 169 bus route. During peak times, Brisbane Metro services on the 169 will run every five minutes — and across the entire timetable, the route will increase its capacity by 50 percent, up from 14,000 people per day to 21,300 people. The idea is to also gain feedback about the Metro during this preview that can help shape future services. If you're wondering what else makes the vehicles standout, each Metro includes a low floor design, three large mobility aid bays and ten priority seats, plus audio and hearing loops in all compartments and an automated ramp — on request — at the first door, all boosting accessibility. The vehicles feature onboard wifi and USB charging points, too, alongside a real-time travel information screen for passengers. When trip details are spoken aloud along the journey, you'll hear the voice of Bluey's Melanie Zanetti. The large double doors let you hop on wherever you like — not just as the front — and the sizeable windows, including a panoramic rear window, help add a view to your ride. Metro fares cost 50 cents per journey under Queensland's current discounted public transport fares, which began as a trial but look set to continue permanently. Exactly when the Metro 1 and Metro 2 services, as the lines have been dubbed, will become operational is still under negotiation by Brisbane City Council and the Queensland Government — but Metro 1 will take passengers from Eight Mile Plains to Roma Street, and vice versa, while Metro 2 will run the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital to UQ Lakes Station and back. Ahead of either line getting up and running, Brisbane City Council is already exploring expanding the Brisbane Metro, with lines to Springwood, Capalaba, Carseldine, and to DFO and Brisbane Airport identified as possibilities. Brisbane Metro started running on the 169 bus route on Monday, October 21, 2024. For more information about the Brisbane Metro, head to the service's website.
Excusez-moi mes amis? Que faites-vous le Vendredi? Quelque chose excitant? Haha! See what I just did there? Instantly made myself look cool and chic (don’t fight it), whilst also retaining a bit of je ne sais quoi. It’s almost ridiculous how feigning knowledge of a second language instantly lifts your level of intrigue. But what can you expect, really? Everyone knows that French equals chic, and god knows it wouldn’t hurt if everyone were a tad more sophisticated. If, like me, you’re in the mood for croissants and champagne, or perhaps macaroons and un café, look no further than the Powerhouse. Their 2012 installment of the So Frenchy So Chic franchise is just around the corner so it’s time for your berets and stripy tops to make an appearance. This year the performances are by two vastly different yet amazing acts, ready to seduce you with their dulcet French tones. Asa has been described in the past as a young Bob Marley and is sure to bring a high amount of soul to the evening. Moriarty Moriarty is also set to impress as the five-piece band accompany their voices with an eclectic range of instruments - including a drill. If you are the mood for some international intrigue, So Frenchy So Chic is the event for you. Who knows, you may even find your own foreigner to feed you wine and cheese and whisper sweet accented nothings into your ear.
There are many things that are great about The Great, and the fact that it tells you what to exclaim whenever you're enjoying it, just received good news about it or simply can't stop thinking about it is one of them. For two seasons so far, this historical satire has bandied about "huzzah!" like it's the only word worth saying. And, come May, it'll do so again when its third season finally drops. The Great was renewed after its second batch of episodes arrived late in 2021, and now season three finally has a release date. Mark Saturday, May 13 in your diary for your next binge — following the rise and reign of Catherine the Great, including her marriage to and overthrowing of Emperor Peter III, with only the slightest regard for the actual facts, this show has a concept that's all killer, no filler, after all. [caption id="attachment_771188" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ollie Upton /Hulu[/caption] Season three will once again feature Elle Fanning (The Girl From Plainville) as Catherine and Nicholas Hoult (The Menu) as Peter, and again step into their chaotic life together. Their nuptials have always been tumultuous, but season two threw everything from attempted murders to mass imprisonments at the couple — and kept disrupting their dynamic as Catherine continued to work towards the name that's a part of history, and also inspires the show's title. So, this time around, expect more of Peter figuring out what it means to play First Husband, and Catherine expanding her influence and reputation beyond just Russia. That, and visions of Peter's late father (Jason Isaacs, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris), life lessons, attempts to build a new country and the usual scheming. While the series has always been supremely confident in its blend of handsome period staging, the loosest of historical realities and that savage sense of humour (it does spring from Oscar-nominated The Favourite screenwriter Tony McNamara, after all), it felt even more comfortable in its skin during its second season. And smoother, too, yet just as biting. So, hopefully that will remain the case in season three as well, all while it keeps seesawing tonally and proving as sharp as a shot of vodka — or several. Fanning and Hoult will be joined by returning co-stars Phoebe Fox (The Aeronauts), Adam Godley (Lodge 49), Gwilym Lee (Top End Wedding), Charity Wakefield (Bounty Hunters), Douglas Hodge (I Hate Suzie Too), Sacha Dhawan (The Prince), Bayo Gbadamosi (War of the Worlds) and Belinda Bromilow (Doctor Doctor), too, because this is a show with a phenomenally great cast. There's no trailer for The Great season three as yet, but you can check out the trailer for season two below: The Great season three will be available to stream in Australia via Stan from Saturday, May 13.
When the clock strikes 11.59 pm tonight, Friday, May 15, Queenslanders will be able to venture a little further away from home. As part of the state's easing of COVID-19 restrictions, folks can travel up to 150 kilometres away from their place of residence for a recreational day trip — and, as just announced by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk this morning, that now includes visiting Fraser (K'gari), Moreton (Mulgumpin) and North Stradbroke (Minjerribah) islands. The three islands off the coast of Queensland will welcome back visitors, including anyone who'd like to go driving along the beach — although a permit is still needed for the latter. To make the trek, however, you will still need to live within 150 kilometres of each island. If you reside further away, they'll remain off limits under the stage one restrictions. The reopening is purely for day trips, with camping not yet allowed — and nor is booking and staying for a night in holiday accommodation. That said, if Queensland's coronavirus case numbers remain low between now and the next school holidays, staying overnight will be permissible when the break rolls around at the end of June, the Premier advised. https://www.facebook.com/annastaciamp/photos/a.523591701005345/3161202320577590/?type=3&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDES7ouBV69_STTVHMMr3pAQCTLrfrG2y9JGep4KUUqfNKNXmIq2CQoekwAmySjKIRrrqLKN0DBT_j9Vomp9_Nn-HYn5FGtXRoMuKlNJrOEv-XNDccM7FZfHskcFuG5SwyTNY0eT_9W7fRHAyT46MOKnS4GoiADys1DBDsMCKxduEzvJCR8-BusBwLeESLVcN8ZoPOiaOm18IFvSbF61RrRHc0rMA_JSEDq7Zcg0oGu2pZc2gD8xJ60CvfDhUZeB47iQlXPElXizF1IYtCfLqELeSua2EcGnx3Yw0e9hniy9KPJGfmg_Pn1RlBCJ43nkEnUVlHTuyVw0DhalnWY1FcJtQ&__tn__=-R Also revealed today: eased restrictions for Queenslanders living in the outback. When stage one of the eased limitations was announced, it included the ability for outback residents to travel 500 kilometre away from home — and now they'll also be to stay overnight as well. That covers staying with family and friends in the area, as well as spending a night or several at paid accommodation in outback regions. "They must remain in those outback areas," the Premier clarified. 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. Top image: Tourism and Events Queensland
It's the film that first made the world fall in love with Hugh Grant, screenwriter Richard Curtis and their brand of British rom-coms — and, just like everything else with a well-known name in the entertainment game, Four Weddings and a Funeral is coming back. This time around, the hit flick has been remade as an American TV miniseries. If you're unsurprisingly a little skeptical, the news that Mindy Kaling is one of the show's creators and writers should change that. Kaling's six-season sitcom The Mindy Project was basically a long-running ode to the romantic comedy genre, complete with plenty of references to plenty of classic flicks. As a result, reworking one of the huge rom-com successes of the past 25 years really does feel like the logical next step. Across a ten-episode series made for US streaming service Hulu, the new Four Weddings and a Funeral will follow four American friends who meet up in London for a wedding. Clearly, given the title, three more ceremonies are in their future, as is a tearful farewell to someone they know. The show tracks a year in their lives, their romantic escapades and even political scandals — all with a cast that includes Game of Thrones' Nathalie Emmanuel as Maya, plus Rebecca Rittenhouse (The Mindy Project), Brandon Mychal Smith (You're the Worst) and John Reynolds (Search Party) as her best buddies. Nikesh Patel (Doctor Who) also features as Maya's potential love interest, who she first encounters in an airport meet cute, naturally. And while Hugh Grant doesn't show up in the trailer — sorry, 90s obsessives — original Four Weddings star Andie MacDowell does. Because Kaling isn't averse to nodding to other rom-com favourites of the era, My Best Friend's Wedding's Dermot Mulroney also makes an appearance. Watch the charming first trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=604JeF9RNu8 While Four Weddings and a Funeral drops on Hulu in the US on July 31, it doesn't yet have an Australian platform or airdate — we'll update you if and when that changes.
Croissants aren't easy to make, and no one in Australia knows that better than Kate Reid. For a decade, she's been the face of Lune Croissanterie, the bakery acclaimed by everyone from Yotam Ottolenghi (who called its flaky wares "the croissant that should act as the prototype for all others") to The New York Times (who anointed them "the finest you will find anywhere in the world"). The Melbourne-born chain's pastries didn't just luck into that effusive praise, however. Drawing upon her background as an ex-Formula 1 aerodynamicist, Reid took to the task of making the perfect croissant with scientific precision back when she changed fields. Lune's climate-controlled glass cubes, where its croissants are made and baked, have also become famous — adding even more complexity to an already-intricate pastry-creating process. After ten years spent crafting its titular treat, and also expanding the brand across Melbourne and Brisbane (plus Sydney in 2023), Lune has its croissants down to an art — and a science. Australia's pastry fiends clearly agree, spanning the chain's classic OG number through to its rotating array of monthly specials; head to any Lune location and the lines are proof enough. But Reid doesn't want croissant aficionados to only covet Lune's baked goods by heading in-store, not that anyone needs much encouragement there. Cue recipe book LUNE: Croissants All Day, All Night, which endeavours to share and demystify the croissant-making method — the butter, layers and laminating all included — across its hefty 272 pages. [caption id="attachment_871783" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lune's Kate and Cam Reid[/caption] Reid hasn't found a croissant-making shortcut for the masses, but she has reworked Lune's greatest hits to whip up at home. "Making croissants is really hard, and there's a reason why it's normally a bakery with commercial equipment," she tells Concrete Playground, chatting while touring the country launching the book. When it came time to write the tome, the pandemic struck. Reid describes herself as "a hermit" as a result, but put the situation to good use. "It was coincidental that we ended up in a lockdown, and I was basically stuck in my kitchen at home," she explains. "I was like, 'okay, well what I'm surrounded by is what everyone who buys the book is going to be surrounded by'. So I basically rewrote the recipes from scratch with the home baker in mind." Yes, while everyone else was trying out sourdough, Reid was creating the world's next home-cooking obsession. (When Concrete Playground suggests that perhaps readers will approach Reid's recipes Julie & Julia-style, baking their way through them all from start to finish, she laughs approvingly.) If that commitment sounds like the act of a perfectionist, it is, and Reid freely uses the label to describe herself. You don't get to be an Australian who's globally renowned for a French pastry — so much so that LUNE: Croissants All Day, All Night is being snapped by up folks with bakeries in Wales and Prague, Reid advises — without being diligent and meticulous. You also don't get there without learning plenty. When Reid founded Lune, she did "honestly just want to make the best croissant". She was dedicated to that task — starting work at 5am and putting in 10–12-hours-plus a day rolling croissants up until just a couple of years ago — but didn't once dream of having "five stores around Australia, soon to add to Sydney to the mix (which we're all super-excited about), a book, 170 staff and a wine bar", as she itemises. She credits that modest initial outlook and the genuine passion behind it for Lune's success. It might seem surprising for someone clearly so detail-oriented, but she also champions discovering when to not sweat the small stuff, as she talked through in a chat about croissant dreams, cookbook essentials and the best advice she's ever received. ON STARTING LUNE TO CHASE THE PERFECT CROISSANT "The story's well known about leaving Formula 1 and coming back to Australia, and being interested in being a baker or a pastry chef. But it was going to Paris and spending the time at Du Pain et des Idées, and working exclusively in their raw pastry kitchen. Prior to that, I'd been working in cafes, and making cakes and tarts and biscuits — and while I enjoyed that, I needed something that presented far more of a technical challenge. Discovering that at a bakery in Paris, I finally felt like every single one of the receptors that I needed to be stimulated to feel fulfilled in my work were. I was working in a bakery in France where I had to speak French, and learn new techniques that are physically challenging. I came back from Paris so inspired by what I'd learnt — and then wanting to find a croissant in Melbourne that had matched what I'd been eating and making in Paris. I couldn't really find anything that came anywhere near it, so I guess that was where the idea for Lune was born." [caption id="attachment_668102" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Peter Tarasiuk.[/caption] ON SWAPPING A CHILDHOOD DREAM FOR A PASTRY-FILLED FUTURE "I think I'd turned 30 the year I started Lune. For 20 years just preceding that, I'd been laser-focused about a career in Formula 1. I'd literally planned out my retirement. I was going to be the first female technical director of an F1 team, and wanted to retire in Scotland. When I got sick and came back to Australia, the thought of planning too far ahead scared me, because planning so far ahead had put me in a pretty dark place and things hadn't panned out the way I'd thought. So Lune was a bit more of a one-step-at-a-time approach. Like, 'okay you've discovered this new thing that you love, and you've got an ideal to open a little wholesale bakery in Melbourne — let's start there'. Maybe that's been one of the keys to the success of Lune, in that I didn't have a hard and fast outcome that I needed to achieve other than continuing to hone and perfect this pastry, and therefore it has grown in quite an organic direction. The right people have come along at the right time. Cam [Reid's brother and co-owner] came along 18 months in and he's been instrumental. And Nathan [restaurateur Toleman, of Dessous, Hazel and Common Ground Project] came onboard another year or so later, and he's been instrumental as we've been growing in Victoria and interstate. And then there's the chefs that've crossed our paths over the years. We didn't even know that we were going to go to Brisbane up until two years ago, when the opportunity presented itself. I think now where we are, it's important for us to have a growth plan and a vision, but I think all of us — myself, Cameron and Nathan — are all aware that you don't know what life's going to throw at you, or what your business or you are personally going to have to face, and what challenges are going to come. And it's better to be open-minded, as doors will open when you don't expect." ON WRITING A LUNE COOKBOOK TEN YEARS ON — AND CATERING FOR ALL BAKERS "I've had experiences, not just with bakery books but cookbooks in general, where you follow a recipe to the letter in a book and somehow the end result isn't exactly what it promises to be in the photo or the inscriptions. You always blame yourself, because you're like 'well I'm not a professional chef that wrote that recipe, and I don't work in that restaurant, so I must've done something wrong'. I really wanted to write a book that, short of having me in the kitchen with you, the person who bought it and wanted to cook from it really felt like I was like coaching them through the process in a very detailed way. So, the recipes had to be achievable by a home cook. In order to do that, I discovered over probably six or seven weeks of pretty frustrating trials at home last year that I couldn't just replicate what we did at Lune, obviously, because no one in their home kitchen has all the commercial bakery equipment that we have at Lune. I make no bones about it: there's a reason that we don't make croissants at home. But I think especially over the past few years — and with thanks to people like Chad Robertson from Tartine, who's really normalised and championed more technical baking at home, especially with the understanding of making sourdough bread — people out there want a bigger challenge. Especially over the last couple of years with going in and out of lockdown, people got really savvy in their own kitchens making things that otherwise they might've just wandered down to the local bakery to get. There will be many people who read the recipes I've written and, at the start it tells you you've got to dedicate three days to it —there's managing of temperatures, and pulling batches of pastry in and out of the fridge to make sure the butter's the right consistency; it's very technical. The technical home baker will absolutely dive into the recipes. But for those people who don't want to dedicate three days of life to try to make them from home, there's a couple of chapters in the book dedicated to twice-baked recipes that are cult-classics at Lune — like our coconut pandan or the carrot cake, the mocha, the choc-chip cookie-slice bake — and then there's also a leftovers chapter. Those chapters mean that you can just walk down to your local bakery, buy half-a-dozen plain croissants, then engage with the book and cook from it in a couple of hours of cooking in the kitchen, rather than three days." ON PICKING THE RECIPES — AND PLAYING FAVOURITES "I actually compiled a list of every single special we've ever done at Lune, and the list is hundreds long. Then I looked through it, and basically went and picked out my 60 favourites. The book had to come from my heart, and I needed to make sure that there was a really lovely story behind each recipe included. I also wanted it to be a good balance of sweet and savoury, of simple and complex, and pastries that Lune customers remember from the last ten years. It'd be very hard for me to go past the traditional croissant, and just the challenge of mastering the plain croissant at home. Anyone who embarks on that recipe is going to have a great amount of satisfaction when they pull them out of the oven on day three. But in terms of what to do with the croissant pastry and be creative with it, there are so many recipes in the book. The fish pie one is genius because it uses the scraps of the scraps, so nothing needs to get thrown in the bin. And then with the kouign-amann recipe, which isn't a cult Lune recipe — it's a classic French pastry — even if you've stuffed up your lamination a bit in the raw pastry, you are going to get the most delicious pastry you've ever made at home." ON THE BEST ADVICE REID HAS EVER RECEIVED "It's probably been from Cam, my brother. I am absolutely a perfectionist, maybe to my detriment, and had Cam not come along I potentially could've gotten really stuck in the detail of perfecting the croissant — and at the expense of making a viable business. I'm a control freak as well, so it took me a long time to be able to step back and let go of control of elements that ultimately I didn't need to have control of. The advice is to let go of the things that don't matter, and let other people take hold of things, because somebody's always better at something than you are. If you can find someone that's better at it than you, it's going to be to the benefit of the business and the product, and ultimately you as well. And trusting in people. I think my biggest learning is that to grow a business, 100-percent the most important thing is to have a really good recruitment program, because to get the right people involved in your business is the only way for a business to grow and succeed." AND SOME ADVICE FOR LUNE: CROISSANTS ALL DAY, ALL NIGHT READERS "Source really good ingredients to start with, because you can't make something great from bad ingredients – you just can't. They're your foundation, your good ingredients. If you live in a really hot, humid environment and you don't have air-conditioning, it's probably going to be the most frustrating recipe of your entire life. It's really not designed for warm environments, and if you don't have the ability to control the room that you're doing the pastry in, then you're not going to have a great time. And please tag me on Instagram if you try to make it, because I'm so excited to see everyone's results. That's not advice — that's a request!" LUNE: Croissants All Day, All Night is available at Australian bookstores and online, with the hardback edition retailing for $55.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas across the country. After months spent empty, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are back in business — spanning 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, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ivHf4ODMi4 JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH The last time that Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield appeared in the same film, Get Out was the end result. Their shared scene in Jordan Peele's Oscar-winning horror movie isn't easily forgotten (if you've seen the feature, it will have instantly popped into your head while you're reading this), and neither is Judas and the Black Messiah, their next exceptional collaboration. With Kaluuya starring as the Black Panther Party's Illinois Chairman Fred Hampton and Stanfield playing William O'Neal, the man who infiltrated his inner circle as an informant for the FBI, the pair is still tackling race relations. Here, though, the duo does so in a ferocious historical drama set in the late 60s. The fact that O'Neal betrays Hampton isn't a spoiler; it's a matter of fact, and the lens through which writer/director Shaka King (Newlyweeds) and his co-scribes Kenneth Lucas, Keith Lucas (actors on Lady Dynamite) and Will Berson (Scrubs) view the last period of Hampton's life. The magnetic Kaluuya has already won a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe for his performance, and is bound to be nominated for and likely win an Oscar as well — and if he wants to keep acting opposite Stanfield in movies this invigorating, ardent, resonant and essential, audiences won't complain. It's 1966 when O'Neal falls afoul of the law for trying to impersonate an FBI agent to steal a vehicle. With J Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen, Grace and Frankie) directing his employees to "prevent the rise of a 'messiah' who could unify and electrify the militant black nationalist movement" — his real-life words — the car thief is offered a deal by actual FBI Special Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons, I'm Thinking of Ending Things). If O'Neal cosies up to Hampton, then reports back on his comings, goings, political moves and general plans, he'll avoid jail. Initially apprehensive, he acquiesces to keep his freedom. With Hampton's raging speeches earning him a firm following, and his charisma and canny strategies broadening the crowds hanging on his words, O'Neal's task isn't minor. And the further he ingratiates himself into Hampton's confidence, becoming his head of security, the more he's torn about keeping tabs and doing the government's increasingly nefarious bidding. This isn't just a story about one young Black man coerced into bringing down a rising leader and revolutionary, however. It's also a tale about the figure who mobilised the masses as Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X had, until he was shot while he slept at the age of just 21. And, it's an account of the powers-that-be's abject fear of progress, equality, and the crusaders willing to put their lives on the line to fight for justice and a better world. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBjcbZla2cA GIRLS CAN'T SURF Exploring the gender imbalance in professional surfing, especially during the 80s and 90s as women in the sport were starting to attract the world's attention, Girls Can't Surf feels like a floodgates-bursting documentary. Watching female stars of the era talk about their experiences, including the vast disparity in prize money between men and women and how that affected their efforts to make a living, it's easy to see this candid and detailed film setting a template for a wealth of other movies. As fans of any type of women's sport well and truly know, differing treatment, pay, sponsorship and levels of respect aren't restricted to hitting the waves. Indeed, as the doco's high-profile parade of talking heads offer their thoughts and recollections — such as former world champions Frieda Zamba, Wendy Botha, Pam Burridge, Pauline Menczer, Lisa Andersen and Layne Beachley — many of their words could be uttered by any number of female athletes in a wide range of fields. That truth doesn't undercut the doco's power, or downplay what women surfers have been through. Rather, it underscores the importance of continually shining a light on the way the sporting arena has routinely sidelined, undermined and devalued anyone who isn't male. "If you can't see it, you can't be it" is one of Girls Can't Surf's resonant and universal sound bites, and it's easily applicable far beyond the film's specific stories and the sport in focus. Indeed, when Beachley talks about how she used to mill around surfing contests as a teen starting out in the field, and annoy the ladies she'd soon be competing against, you can see those words in action; if earlier generations of women hadn't already been hanging ten, Australia's seven-time champ wouldn't have had any footsteps to follow in. The film is filled with astute insights and telling connections such as these. It all leads to the well-publicised recent development, only back in 2018, of equal winnings for men and women being mandated by the World Surf League from 2019 onwards. That happy ending benefits today's stars, such as Stephanie Gilmore, Tyler Wright and Carissa Moore, but it came too late for Girls Can't Surf's interviewees. Once again, knowing that significant change has finally come to the sport doesn't diminish the potency of hearing about the horrors, struggles and rampant sexism that female surfers endured for decades — with two-time feature surf documentarian Christopher Nelius (Storm Surfers 3D) smartly bringing those tales to the fore, and the people sharing them as well. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb9PBr7Qhec MAX RICHTER'S SLEEP Since first opening its doors back in 1973, the Sydney Opera House has played host to a wealth of performances, spanning far further in genre than just the art form that gives the venue its name. But it was only during Vivid Live 2016 that the iconic locale serenaded visitors into an evening-long slumber, all as part of Max Richter's live recital of his eight-and-a-half hour work Sleep. Across 31 tracks comprised of 204 movements, the German-born British composer's concept album unfurls music based on the neuroscience of getting some shuteye. In its intonation, the ambitious yet soothing piece favours the range that can be heard in the womb for much of its duration. When performed for an audience, it is played overnight, with beds set up — and doing as the work's title suggests is highly encouraged. Attendees recline, listen and let Richter's blend of strings, synthesisers and soprano vocals lull them into the land of nod. If they'd prefer to stay awake, that's fine as well, but soaking in Sleep's ambient sounds while you're snatching 40 winks is all very much part of the experience. In its live version, Sleep has echoed through spaces in London, Berlin and Paris, too; however, it's the first openair performance in Los Angeles' Grand Park in 2018 that takes pride of place in the documentary Max Richter's Sleep. A filmmaker was always bound to be so fascinated with the concept that they'd turn their lens Richter's way, and that director is Natalie Johns (an Emmy nominee for Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert), who endeavours to capture the experience for those who haven't had the pleasure themselves. The resulting film doesn't run for more than eight hours, or anywhere close — but those watching and listening will quickly wish that it did. As a feature, Max Richter's Sleep isn't designed to advertise its namesake. Rather, it documents, explores and tries to understand it. Still, the movie so easily draws viewers into the music, and so deeply, that making its audience want to snooze in public while Richter and his band plays is a guaranteed side effect. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZSLvFo0eus COSMIC SIN Reminding viewers of far better movies while they're watching yours isn't a smart or recommended filmmaking tactic, but it's what writer/director Edward Drake (Broil) does best with Cosmic Sin. By casting Bruce Willis in this science fiction slog, it immediately brings The Fifth Element to mind. That influential 1997 movie just keeps inspiring flicks that don't feature Willis of late — see also: Chaos Walking — but it leaves a particularly heavy imprint here. Indeed, it's impossible not to think of the rosier era in the actor's career that The Fifth Element represents as Willis is grimacing his way through scene after scene in Cosmic Sin, and visibly putting in zero effort. It's difficult not to think of 1998's Armageddon, too, a movie that isn't at all great but is certainly better than this new space war-fuelled picture. Drake clearly wants audiences to make these connections, which is why his feature spends far more time than it should watching Willis meander around looking unimpressed and wearing plastic armour, all while playing a disgraced military head honcho on the comeback trail. And, it must be why the film squanders Frank Grillo, who also hasn't had a great run of late (as seen in Jiu Jitsu and Boss Level), but has been screaming for years for a movie that makes the most of his presence. The year is 2524. Earth is now an old hand at attempting to colonise other planets. And when one such celestial body tried to break away five years earlier, Willis' James Ford handled it by committing mass murder. Now, a group of aliens from a just-discovered civilisation is attempting to give humans a taste of their own medicine. Ford is brought back as part of a ragtag team tasked with defending life as everyone 500 years in the future knows it, which also includes General Eron Ryle (Grillo), his nephew Braxton (Brandon Thomas Lee, Sierra Burgess Is a Loser), quantum tech Fiona Ardene (Adelaide Kane, Once Upon a Time) and fellow veteran Marcus Bleck (Costas Mandylor, In Like Flynn). Cue a movie that's never as over-the-top as it needs to be to keep viewers even remotely interested, and a bland affair all-round. The film's fondness for tech jargon-heavy nonsense dialogue doesn't help. Cosmic Sin's vision of the future — including its laughable robot bartenders — also looks as awkward as its narrative and performances feel. And while Drake and his co-writer Corey Large (Breach, and also a co-star here) endeavour to ponder deeper themes, including humanity's historical penchant for exploring the world and conquering everything in sight, that too proves flimsy. It isn't intentional, but Willis' bored look says everything it needs to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVOH9540Sbg THEN CAME YOU With film distributors playing it coy and cautious when it comes to releasing their hopeful box office hits during the pandemic, movies that mightn't have otherwise made their way into cinemas are currently getting a shot at the big screen. In some cases, that's excellent news for small but exceptional features that would've likely been dwarfed by blockbusters. In others, flicks that no one should have to pay to endure are also reaching theatres. Then Came You falls into the latter category. A vanity project for American talk show host Kathie Lee Gifford, who stars in and wrote the not-at-all romantic or comedic rom-com, it'd test patience even if it was watched with just one eye half-open and after several drinks in the middle of a long-haul flight. As well as lazily using culture-clash tropes to throw obstacles in the way of its chalk-and-cheese central duo — a newly widowed American hardware shop owner (Gifford, Sharknado 5: Global Swarming) and the Scottish Lord (Craig Ferguson, Hot in Cleveland) whose crumbling mansion she books for the first stop on a globe-hopping getaway — this trite affair hasn't met a clunky double entendre it didn't love, or a predictable plot development that can be seen from Nantucket to Scotland. First, Annabelle Wilson and Howard Awd converse via email, which Then Came You has the pair read aloud in its opening moments. Then, she announces to her empty house that she has to make new memories or the old ones will kill her, heads to the UK, is shocked that Scotland has working trains, and alternates between flirting and arguing with her host. He has a sob story, too, and he's also struggling to retain his sprawling, stereotypical-looking estate. He has a high-powered London-based bride-to-be (Elizabeth Hurley, Runaways) as well — but there's never any doubting how Then Came You will end. Rom-coms frequently stick to a template; however, it is possible to liven up a creaky formula with snappy dialogue and warm, charismatic performances. As directed with the forceful gloss of a TV commercial by second-time feature helmer Adriana Trigiani (Big Stone Gap) and often set to the same repeated song (also co-written by Gifford), this film sadly struggles with both its core rapport and its leading lady's overacting. He's worlds away from his own former TV hosting gig on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and from his sitcom tole on The Drew Carey Show, but the fact that the reliably charming Ferguson fares best here, even with the grating material, hardly comes as a surprise. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on November 5, November 12, November 19 and November 26; and December 3, December 10, December 17, December 26; and January 1, January 7, January 14, January 21 and January 28; February 4, February 11, February 18 and February 25; and March 4. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Craft: Legacy, Radioactive, Brazen Hussies, Freaky, Mank, Monsoon, Ellie and Abbie (and Ellie's Dead Aunt), American Utopia, Possessor, Misbehaviour, Happiest Season, The Prom, Sound of Metal, The Witches, The Midnight Sky, The Furnace, Wonder Woman 1984, Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles, Nomadland, Pieces of a Woman, The Dry, Promising Young Woman, Summerland, Ammonite, The Dig, The White Tiger, Only the Animals, Malcolm & Marie, News of the World, High Ground, Earwig and the Witch, The Nest, Assassins, Synchronic, Another Round, Minari, Firestarter — The Story of Bangarra, The Truffle Hunters, The Little Things, Chaos Walking and Raya and the Last Dragon.
Internationally and at home, borders have been opening up to tourists. Finally, we can get back to crossing destinations and experiences off our ever-growing travel bucket lists. We can run away to remote beaches. We can get lost in bustling cities full of culture. And, at last, we can go to a place which isn't full of your neighbours – don't be mad, sometimes it's good to be around different people. All in all, it's time to go exploring (or escaping). To get out of our local towns and cities and experience something new. There are endless possibilities when it comes to choosing where to go next, so let us help you. We've created this list of incredible locations and paired them up with some exclusive holiday deals. All you've got to do is pack your bags and put your out-of-office on. [caption id="attachment_872774" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Taweeroj Eawpanich (Unsplash)[/caption] Where: Japan Why: Thank the travel gods for Japan's reopening to tourists. This country is on so many people's travel bucket lists for so many reasons. Nature lovers, foodies, thrill seekers and culture kids are all offered something entirely unique in a place that's unlike anywhere else on earth. Who could say no to sake-fuelled karaoke nights, whacky themed restaurants and remote onsen baths? How: Get through your Japan bucket list using the country's famously elite rail system and staying in a mix of traditional ryokan accommodation and modern hotels. Experience the can't-miss places by starting in Kyoto — where you'll get the best of 'old' Japan (including the iconic Golden Pavilion and historic geisha district of Gion), making your way to Hiroshima to visit the Peace Memorial Park and Museum, before experiencing the sensory overload and diverse culture of one of the world's most dynamic cities, Tokyo. You'll need at least 10 days to do it properly. Go if you want to... experience a collision of cultures, both ancient and ultra-modern, in one of the most tourist-friendly places on earth. Book it now: Book the ultimate first-timer's cultural tour of Japan here. [caption id="attachment_872751" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sorasak (Unsplash)[/caption] Where: Auckland Why: Based around two stunning harbours and surrounded by picturesque islands, Auckland is a city like no other. Yes, nature is on your doorstep. Wineries are just a short drive away. As are remote beaches and Lord Of The Rings-esque mountain ranges. But this city is worthy of visiting in and of itself. You've got world renowned galleries, exciting restaurants and bars opening up all the time, theatres packed with long line-ups of comedians and musicians and a heap of other cultural happenings. How: First things first, we will do you the service of directing you to the Auckland section of Concrete Playground but here's a few of our personal selections. You can explore world-class exhibitions at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, find all the best local wares and fresh produce at the Farmers Market in Matakana, visit the island of wine (Waiheke Island), do some whale watching in the Hauraki Gulf or go on a road trip up on the west coast to find some of New Zealand's best beaches. Go if you want to… see what all the New Zealand hype is about — exploring endless natural landscapes as well as experiencing the city's thriving arts and food scene. Book it now: Book the ultimate VIP Spring City Music Festival trip with access to all of Auckland's best offerings here. [caption id="attachment_872969" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sulthan Auliya (Unsplash)[/caption] Where: Cook Islands Why: Each of the 15 islands that make up the Cook Islands is a tropical paradise. We could gawk at photos of the palm-lined beaches, vast turquoise lagoons and coral reefs full of your Finding Nemo favourites for days on days. But that's just pure masochism. Get on a plane and visit the Pacific paradise instead. The Cook Islands are on the bucket list of so many beach-loving travellers — be they snorkelling and scuba diving enthusiasts, or lovers of luxury resorts and beachside glamping experiences. How: Located a six-hour (ish) flight from the east coast of Australia, your first port of call will be Rarotonga. Within an hour of landing, you can find yourself at a beach bar sipping cocktails or floating around in your own private plunge pool — forgetting that the rest of the world exists. You can then go further afield on a series of island cruise tours, hikes up into the rainforests, or go snorkelling around coral reefs. Alternatively, hire a bike and find your own private patch of Rarotonga to call home for the day. Go if you want to…. escape to a tropical island paradise. Book it now: Book a peaceful getaway at a Rarotonga retreat with luxury glamping here. [caption id="attachment_872741" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Christoph Burgdorfer (Unsplash)[/caption] Where: Cambodia Why: You can live out your best Lara Croft fantasies in Cambodia's jungles (with less stealing of local artefacts and blowing up of beautiful ancient sites). The underrated Southeast Asian bucket list location is a land of spectacular ancient temples that nature is slowly claiming as its own. The villages and cities each have their own bustling markets full of local wares and tasty street food. And the welcoming locals will help you better understand their own captivating culture. How: When in Cambodia, you must visit the ancient temples of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap (or lesser-known Ta Prohm nearby) and learn the secrets behind Khmer cuisine in bustling food markets and at some of the countless street food stalls dotted about the country. Phnom Penh is, of course, a city that also deserves your time and attention. Reflect on Cambodia's tragic history at sobering sites such as the S21 school and the Killing Fields before taking in their spectacularly colourful palaces and pagodas. And, while you're in the area, try to fit in a visit to one of Cambodia's hot ticket neighbouring countries like Vietnam and Laos. Go if you want to… explore ancient temples surrounded by nature and wildlife as well as get a culture overload within seemingly chaotic cities full of incredibly welcoming locals who will feed you all the best local grub. Book it now: Book the complete Cambodia adventure tour here. [caption id="attachment_872744" align="alignnone" width="1920"] James Wheeler (Unsplash)[/caption] Where: Byron Bay Why: let's just say this from the get-go — Byron Bay is so much more than just the home of soulless influencers and the brothers' Hemsworth. Byron Bay and its surrounding regions are an embarrassment of riches when it comes to incredible beaches, one of Australia's most exciting food and produce scenes, and is the ultimate wellness playground with resorts, retreats and experiences that are dedicated to losing yourself or finding yourself. How: Set yourself up in accommodation that is social. It's a great place to meet likeminded people — do some group yoga classes, find your zen during a guided meditation, or set out on a sea kayaking adventure to spot turtles and dolphins. Spend your nights out at great restaurants, hit up some local bars and stroll through the town and beyond. You don't need to go full luxury here. You can enjoy Byron's vibe on a decent budget too. Go if you want to… live without shoes for an entire week by the coast, treating yourself to all the best self-care experiences. Book it now: Book a restorative Byron Bay wellness escape here. [caption id="attachment_872743" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Jake Charles (Unsplash)[/caption] Where: Morocco Why: This North African country is bursting with natural wonders, from the beaches lining The Med all the way through to the red sandy dunes of the Sahara Desert. And the cities are just as special. Get lost in maze-like markets where you'll find locals selling just about anything (from extraordinary spices to beautiful textiles), before exploring a range of cities and villages steeped in history and eclectic architecture. How: Casablanca and Marrakech are the spots to set up your base. Within Casablanca, you can visit the famous Villa des Arts Gallery & Museum for world-class exhibitions and visit the mind-blowing Hassan II Mosque located right on the water. And, from here, you can get a taste of Morocco's rural culture in colourful towns such as Rabat and Meknes. Marrakech, an ancient city wrapped in European modernity is where you'll find bustling bazaars and hammams for all the best pampering. It's also close to the Sahara Desert, where you can find the quintessential camel ride experiences and luxury camps. To get the most out of Morocco, you'll want to spend a couple weeks jumping from city to city. Go if you want to... mix remote desert glamping with bustling cities steeped in culture — expressed through food, art and architecture. Book it now: Book an exclusive Morocco getaway with all the trimmings here. [caption id="attachment_872748" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Danny Lau (Unsplash)[/caption] Where: Bali Why: Bali is beautiful. That's undeniable. And it's been on the top of the travel list for many Australians for decades. But some of the best parts of Bali exist in the remote areas where nature is mostly untamed. Walk along empty beaches and through dense jungles or simply swim in your pool overlooking all that natural beauty. How: Zip around the winding roads of Bali on a quad bike (or just get a taxi if you dare not undertake this feat) to explore the temples, holistic centres, yoga studios, rice fields and stacks of local markets of the Ubud region. You won't see quite as many Bintag singlets in these parts. You can also visit Canggu and Uluwatu to find the best surf or Kuta and Seminyak for those famous Bali party vibes. Choose your own Bali adventure. Go if you want to... run away to a remote jungle paradise and live that luxury lifestyle without breaking the bank. Book it now: Book an indulgent bail holiday away from all the crowds here. [caption id="attachment_872752" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Niklas Weiss (Unsplash)[/caption] Where: Mexico Why: Why the hell not?! Mexico has it all. Urban cities full of modern art and culture — and let's not forget the legendary and world class cuisine. Then you've got long white sand beaches that stretch on for miles as well as dense forests with hidden waterfalls for the adventurers. Small villages are also full of vibrant indigenous cultures where residents still live the traditional way of life. There are boundless ways to fall in love with Mexico. How: Mexico City is a mighty fine starting off point. The Leon Trotsky and Frida Kahlo (La Casa Azul) Museums are must-see. As are the colourful Diego Rivera Murals in the Mural Museum. Make sure you carve out some time to get lost in the Juarez neighbourhood too. This area, full of young creatives, has evolved in recent years. Once gritty, it is now teeming with great boutiques, bars, parks, and restaurants. Smaller cities such as Izamal and Merida are also great for a less crowded cultural experiences. You've then got Teotihuacan, Mitla and Oaxaca, where you'll find countless ancient archaeological sites steeped in history. And lastly, there is the one and only Playa del Carmen. Sit by the pool (finishing that book you've been working on for far too long) or get a little more active with snorkelling excursions. We could go on and on about the abundance of joy to be found on a journey to Mexico. Just make sure you give yourselves two weeks to see as much of this country as you can. Go if you want to… experience an intoxicatingly joyful culture — expressed through warm hospitality, flavour-packed food and all manners of modern and ancient art. The famous beaches and coastal towns aren't so bad for pure relaxation either. Book it now: Book an epic journey from Mexico City to Playa del Carmen here. [caption id="attachment_872767" align="alignnone" width="1920"] David Vives (Unsplash)[/caption] Where: Phuket Why: There are over 1400 islands in Thailand. And they range in reasons to visit. Visitors choose where to go depending on whether they're after party vibes, quiet escapes, family-friendly fun or adventure activities. But the beauty of Phuket is that it offers up a little bit of everything. You can do it all here — all while being surrounded by 50 kilometres of dazzling shoreline. How: First off, Mai Khao Beach is a big bucket list destination. This seemingly infinite stretch of sand lined with trees is what postcards are made for. It's stupid beautiful. Plus, it's also a national park and sea turtle zone. That means it's the perfect place to get your snorkel on. Patong is the nightlife epicentre of Phuket — for better or for worse. Here you'll find a booming party scene, busy beaches and neon-lit streets full of people having a ball. But if this one island isn't enough, you can easily jump on a ferry to nearby islands or take a day-long cruise around a bunch of the best. Go if you want to... get all the best bits of staying on an island without emptying your entire savings account. Book it now: Book a surprisingly affordable luxury resort in Phuket here. [caption id="attachment_872775" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ratul Ghosh (Unsplash)[/caption] Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world. Top Image: Danny Lau (Unsplash)
Before the pandemic, when a new-release movie started playing in cinemas, audiences couldn't watch it on streaming, video on demand, DVD or blu-ray for a few months. But with the past few years forcing film industry to make quite a few changes — widespread movie theatre closures and plenty of people staying home in iso will do that — that's no longer always the case. Maybe you've been under the weather. Perhaps you haven't had time to make it to your local cinema lately. Given the hefty amount of films now releasing each week, maybe you simply missed something. Film distributors have been fast-tracking some of their new releases from cinemas to streaming recently — movies that might still be playing in theatres in some parts of the country, too. In preparation for your next couch session, here are 13 that you can watch right now at home. BONES AND ALL To be a character in a Luca Guadagnino film is to be ravenous. The Italian director does have a self-described Desire trilogy — I Am Love, A Bigger Splash and Call Me By Your Name — on his resume, after all. In those movies and more, he spins sensual stories about hungry hearts, minds and eyes, all while feeding his audience's very same body parts. He tells tales of protagonists bubbling with lust and yearning, craving love and acceptance, and trying to devour this fleeting thing called life while they're living it. Guadagnino hones in on the willingness to surrender to that rumbling and pining, whether pursuing a swooning, sweeping, summery romance in the first feature that put Timothée Chalamet in front of his camera, or losing oneself to twitchy, witchy dance in his Suspiria remake. Never before has he taken having an insatiable appetite to its most literal and unnerving extreme, however, but aching cannibal love story Bones and All is pure Guadagnino. Peaches filled with longing's sticky remnants are so 2017 for Guadagnino, and for now-Little Women, Don't Look Up and Dune star Chalamet. Biting into voracious romances will never get old, though. Five years after Call Me By Your Name earned them both Oscar nominations — the filmmaker for Best Picture, his lead for Best Actor — they reteam for a movie that traverses the American midwest rather than northern Italy, swaps erotic fruit for human flesh and comes loaded with an eerie undercurrent, but also dwells in similar territory. It's still the 80s, and both hope and melancholy still drift in the air. The phenomenal Taylor Russell (Lost in Space) drives the feature as Maren, an 18-year-old with an urge to snack on people that makes her an unpopular slumber-party guest. When she meets Chalamet's Lee, a fellow 'eater', Bones and All becomes another sublime exploration of love's all-consuming feelings — and every bit as exquisite as Guadagnino and Chalamet's last stunning collaboration. Bones and All is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE MENU Getting "yes chef" bellowed his way as Julian Slowik, the head chef at exclusive fictional restaurant Hawthorne, Ralph Fiennes (The Forgiven) is a sinister delight in the vicious and delicious The Menu. With his character terrorising staff and customers alike, but similarly trapped with his employees in the hospo grind, Fiennes is also visibly having a ball in an entertainingly slippery role. He plays the part with the instant presence to make a room of well-paying patrons snap to attention just because he's there, and his facial expressions — his eyes in particular — are a masterclass in passive malevolence. There's a cruel streak in Slowik, as there is in the movie, but The Menu is a black, bleak, vengeful comedy as well. Director Mark Mylod (What's Your Number?) and writers Seth Reiss and Will Tracy (The Onion) know the best thing to eat, aka the rich, and turn their fine-dining factory into a savage, savvy and scathingly amusing satire about coveting $1250-a-head meals but letting the workers behind them slice, steam, stir and sweat through upscale kitchen drudgery. Babbling snootily about mouth-feel before even getting to Hawthorne by boat, Tyler (Nicholas Hoult, The Great) doesn't spare a passing thought for the restaurant's workers. A self-confessed foodie who can't abide by the eatery's no-photography rule for a single course, he's in fanboy heaven after finally scoring a booking — and doesn't his companion Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy, Amsterdam) know it. She's less enthused, and her lack of fawning over her surroundings, Slowik, each plate and the theatre of it all rankles her date. She's the least-excited diner of the evening's entire list, in fact, which also spans status-chasing finance bros (The Terminal List's Arturo Castro, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series' Mark St Cyr and The Now's Rob Yang), a cashed-up couple (Mass' Reed Birney and Julia's Judith Light) who attend regularly, an arrogant food critic (Janet McTeer, Ozark) and her editor (Paul Adelstein, The Greatest Beer Run Ever), and a movie star (John Leguizamo, Encanto) with his assistant (Aimee Carrero, Spirited). The Menu is available to stream via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. MISTER ORGAN A single tweet has sparked many things for many people; however, the chaos started by a social-media missive from New Zealand journalist and filmmaker David Farrier has few parallels. In 2013, he commented on Twitter about a friend parking their car at Auckland's now-closed Bashford Antiques, then weathering an unpleasant experience: the threat of towing, instant abuse, and an immediate demand for $250 in order to be allowed to leave. Farrier next began writing articles about it all, and what seemed like a clamping racket, in 2016. In his first piece, he covered being asked by his employer three years prior to delete his tweet, too. But his own ordeal was only just beginning, because his ordeal involves Michael Organ. "You pay a soul tax for every minute you spend with him," Farrier notes in the documentary he's made about all of the above, complete with far more twists than anyone can imagine going in — and watching Mister Organ, the feeling behind that observation is starkly apparent. As well as helping impose onerous conditions on folks parking outside an antiques store, and becoming the owner's constant companion in the process, claiming to be royalty is also part of this tale. Organ has defended himself in serious court cases, and assisted with bringing legal proceedings against others, including Farrier. His web of interpersonal dealings, as fleshed out through discussions with ex-housemates and acquaintances, brings bewildered and infuriated interviewees into the doco. Finding someone to say a kind word about him is almost impossible, other than the endlessly talkative Organ himself. For newcomers to this situation, it's best to get the ins and outs by watching, stolen boats and all, because no description does them justice — but Farrier's time with Organ, as he tries to get to the bottom of his story, never fails to surprise. Viewers of filmmaker's Tickled and Dark Tourist will easily glean why he was drawn to tell this tale, though; for starters, it's another disturbing, perplexing, so-messy-it-can-only-be-true slice of life. Mister Organ is available to stream via DocPlay, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. SKINAMARINK Age may instil nocturnal bravery in most of us, stopping the flinching and wincing at things that routinely go bump, thump and jump in the night in our ordinary homes, but the childhood feeling of lying awake in the dark with shadows, shapes and strange sounds haunting an eerie void never seeps from memory. Close your eyes, cast your mind back, and the unsettling and uncertain sensation can easily spring again — that's how engrained it is. Or, with your peepers wide open, you could just watch new micro-budget Canadian horror movie Skinamarink. First-time feature filmmaker Kyle Edward Ball has even made this breakout hit, which cost just $15,000 to produce, in the house he grew up in. His characters: two kids, four-year-old Kevin (debutant Lucas Paul) and six-year-old Kaylee (fellow newcomer Dali Rose Tetreault), who wake up deep into the evening. The emotion he's trading in: pure primal dread, because to view this digitally shot but immensely grainy-looking flick is to be plunged back to a time when nightmares lingered the instant that the light switched off. Skinamarink does indeed jump backwards, meeting Kevin and Kaylee in 1995 when they can't find their dad (Ross Paul, Moby Dick) or mum (Jaime Hill, Give and Take) after waking. But, befitting a movie that's an immersive collage of distressing and disquieting images and noises from the get-go, it also pulsates with an air of being trapped in time. It takes its name from a nonsense nursery-rhyme song from 1910, then includes cartoons from the 1930s on Kevin and Kaylee's television to brighten up the night's relentless darkness. In its exacting, hissing sound design especially, it brings David Lynch's 1977 debut Eraserhead to mind. And the influence of 1999's The Blair Witch Project and the 2007-born Paranormal Activity franchise is just as evident, although Skinamarink is far more ambient, experimental and experiential. Ball has evolved from crafting YouTube shorts inspired by online commenters' worst dreams to this: his own creepypasta. Skinamarink is available to stream via Shudder and AMC+. Read our full review. BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER Black Panther: Wakanda Forever isn't the movie it was initially going to be, the sequel to 2018's electrifying and dynamic Black Panther that anyone behind it originally wanted it to be, or the chapter in the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe that it first aimed to be — this, the world already knows. The reason why is equally familiar, after Chadwick Boseman died from colon cancer in 2020 aged 43. At its best, this direct followup to the MCU's debut trip to its powerful African nation doesn't just know this, too, but scorches that awareness deep into its frames. King T'Challa's death starts the feature, a loss that filmmaking trickery doesn't reverse, no matter how meaningless mortality frequently proves when on-screen resurrections are usually a matter of mere plot twists. Wakanda Forever begins with heartbreak and pain, in fact, and with facing the hard truth that life ends and, in ways both big and small, that nothing is ever the same. Your typical franchise entry about quick-quipping costumed crusaders courageously protecting the planet, this clearly isn't. Directed and co-written by Ryan Coogler (Creed) like its predecessor — co-scripting again with Joe Robert Cole (All Day and a Night) — Wakanda Forever is about grief, expected futures that can no longer be and having to move forward anyway. That applies in front of and behind the lens; as ruminating so heavily on loss underscores, the movie has a built-in justification for not matching the initial flick. The Boseman-sized hole at Wakanda Forever's centre is gaping, unsurprisingly, even in a feature that's a loving homage to him, and his charm and gravitas-filled take on the titular character. Also, that vast void isn't one this film can fill. Amid overtly reckoning with absence, Coogler still has a top-notch cast — returnees Letitia Wright (Death on the Nile), Angela Bassett (Gunpowder Milkshake), Danai Gurira (The Walking Dead), Lupita Nyong'o (The 355) and Winston Duke (Nine Days), plus new addition Tenoch Huerta (Narcos: Mexico), most notably — drawing eyeballs towards his vibrant imagery, but his picture is also burdened with MCU bloat and mechanics, and infuriating bet-hedging. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is available to stream via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. BLUEBACK Films about humanity's affinity with animals are films about our ties to the natural world — and doesn't Blueback splash that truth around. Plunging from The Dry into the wet, writer/director Robert Connolly reteams with Eric Bana for another page-to-screen adaptation of a homegrown book; this is another movie inseparable from its landscape, too, again exploring the impact people have upon it. This time, however, Bana isn't the star. He's memorable as larrikin abalone diver and fisherman 'Mad' Macka, and this Tim Winton-based feature would've benefited from more of his presence, but the Dirty John actor is firmly in supporting mode. Set against the enticing Western Australian coast as the author's work tends to be, this is a picture about the sea's thrall, existential importance and inherent sense of connection — as filtered through the bond between a girl and a wild blue groper, plus the evolving relationship between that same child and her eco-warrior mother. Mia Wasikowska (Bergman Island) plays Blueback's fish-befriending protagonist as an adult, with the text's Abel becoming Abby here. Radha Mitchell (Girl at the Window) shares the screen as Dora, her widowed mother, early in the film's year-hopping timeline. Still, in their second of three movies in succession — arriving before upcoming The Dry sequel Force of Nature — Connolly and Bana dip back into familiar territory. Obvious swaps are evident, including a beachside rather than a farming community, and atrocities against the planet and its wildlife instead of crimes against people, but it's easy to see Blueback's appeal as a reunion project. Among the key differences as Abby and Dora fight to save their town and its aquatic treasures, still battling wrongs to strive for what's right: this is an overtly and eagerly family-friendly affair. Blueback is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. SISSY Thanks to everything from The Saddle Club and I Hate My Teenage Daughter to Sweet/Vicious and The Bold Type, Gold Coast-born Australian actor Aisha Dee knows what it's like to live life through screens. She's been acting since she was a teenager, and she's charted the highs of her chosen profession — all in front of a lens. In Sissy, she hops in front of a camera again, naturally, and not only once but twice. In this delightfully savvy and funny Aussie horror film, Dee turns in a wonderfully layered performance as the titular Instagram influencer, whose soaring follower count, non-stop flow of likes and adoring comments, and online fame all stems from her carefully poised and curated wellness videos. Also known as @SincerelyCecilia, the character's sense of self springs from that virtual attention too; however, when she reconnects with her childhood best friend Emma (co-director/co-writer Hannah Barlow), gets invited to her bachelorette weekend and finds old schoolyard dynamics bubbling up, that facade starts to shatter. If Mean Girls was a slasher film set in a remote cabin in rural Australia, it might look something like Sissy — and that's a compliment multiple times over. Every horror movie wants to be smart and savage on multiple levels, but Barlow and fellow co-helmer/co-scribe Kane Senes (reteaming after 2017's For Now) weaponise everything from influencer culture and pastel, rainbow and glitter colour palettes to toxic friendships, all while spinning a clever, cutting and comedic take on the impact of bullying. They also fill their feature with as gloriously diverse a cast as Australian cinema has boasted, and with one helluva lead performance. If Carrie was set in today's always-online world, amid cancel culture and plentiful praise at the press of a button, it'd look like this, too, but this instant Aussie horror classic takes its own bold stab at plenty of genres. Sissy is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. ARMAGEDDON TIME What's more difficult a feat: to ponder everything that the universe might hold, as James Gray did in 2019's sublime Ad Astra, or to peer back at your own childhood, as the writer/director now does with Armageddon Time? In both cases, the bonds and echoes between parents and children earn the filmmaker's attention. In both cases, thoughtful, complex and affecting movies result. And, as shared with everything he's made over the past three decades — The Yards, The Immigrant and The Lost City of Z among them — fantastic performances glide across the screen, too. Here, in a portrait of a pre-teen's growing awareness of his privilege, the world's prejudices, the devastating history of his ancestors, and how tentative a place people can hold due to race, religion, money, politics and more, young stars Banks Repeta (The Black Phone) and Jaylin Webb (The Wonder Years) manage something remarkable, in fact, more than holding their own against a reliably excellent Anthony Hopkins (The Father), Anne Hathaway (Locked Down) and Jeremy Strong (Succession). Repeta plays sixth-grader Paul Graff, Gray's on-screen surrogate, and Armageddon Time's curious and confident protagonist. At his new public school circa 1980, he's happy standing out alongside his new friend Johnny (Webb), dreaming of being an artist despite his dad's (Strong) stern disapproval and disrupting class whenever he can to his mum's (Hathaway) dismay — and outside of it, he's happiest spending time with his doting grandfather (Hopkins). But Paul will start to understand the luck he has in the world, hailing from a middle-class Jewish family, compared to his black, bused-in friend, even if that comfort is tenuous, too. And, he'll keep seeing the way the world has Johnny at a disadvantage in every way possible, from their instantly scornful teacher to Paul's own parents' quick judgement. As lensed with the look and feel of a memory, Armageddon Time is clear about the small moments that leave an imprint, and the small deeds left undone that cause craters. It's a powerful work from a filmmaker surveying happy and sorrowful slices of the past, and doing so with unflinching eyes. Armageddon Time is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE VELVET QUEEN "If nothing came, we just hadn't looked properly." Partway through The Velvet Queen, writer Sylvain Tesson utters these lyrical words about a specific and patient quest; however, they echo far further than the task at hand. This absorbing documentary tracks his efforts with wildlife photographer Vincent Munier to see a snow leopard — one of the most rare and elusive big cats there is — but much in the entrancing film relates to life in general. Indeed, while the animals that roam the Tibetan plateau earns this flick's focus, as does the sweeping landscape itself, Munier and his fellow co-director and feature first-timer Marie Amiguet have made a movie about existence first and foremost. When you peer at nature, you should see the world, as well as humanity's place in it. You should feel the planet's history, and the impact that's being made on its future, too. Sensing exactly that with this engrossing picture comes easily — and so does playing a ravishing big-screen game of Where's Wally?. No one wears red-and-white striped jumpers within The Velvet Queen's frames, of course. The Consolations of the Forest author Tesson and world-renowned shutterbug Munier dress to blend in, trying to camouflage into their sometimes-dusty, sometimes-snowy, always-rocky surroundings, but they aren't the ones that the film endeavours to spy. The creatures that inhabit Tibet's craggy peaks have evolved to blend in, so attempting to see many of them is an act of persistence and deep observation — and locking eyes on the snow leopard takes that experience to another level. Sometimes, pure movement gives away a critter's presence. On one occasion, looking back through images of a perched falcon offers unexpected rewards. As lensed by Amiguet (La vallée des loups), Munier and assistant director Léo-Pol Jacquot, The Velvet Queen draws upon hidden cameras, too, but so much of Tesson and Munier's mission is about sitting, watching and accepting that everything happens in its own time. The Velvet Queen is available to stream via Docplay, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. GLORIAVALE Exploring the story of the religious community that shares its name, New Zealand documentary Gloriavale makes for stunning, gut-wrenching and infuriating viewing. It's been a booming time for NZ films that earn that description over the past few months — see also: Mister Organ above — but this true tale was always going to stand out and leave an imprint. Given that it involves chatting to survivors of the cult-like organisation, particularly excommunicated members relaying their heartbreaking experiences, being aghast at their ordeals is a natural reaction. Feeling angry that this can happen is, too, including as the film charts legal proceedings to bring Gloriavale's horrors to light. What has gone on behind closed doors, in a closed community, in the West Coast-based sect heartily requires this type of exposé — and with brother and sister John and Virginia as their key interviewees, filmmakers Fergus Grady and Noel Smyth (reteaming after 2019's Camino Skies) are up to the task. The specifics date back to the late 1960s, when the organisation was founded and started drawing in members, who were soon living under the sect's strict beliefs. Here, for instance, women are expected to work all through their waking hours to keep Gloriavale running — not even sitting down for meals — and cramming the group's many families all under one big roof is the norm. Also, when sexual abuse claims arise, including with children as victims, blame is directed everywhere but the accused perpetrators. As Gloriavale steps through details like these again and again, it's unsurprisingly harrowing from the outset. Archival footage from within the community only adds to the distressing mood, and charting the legal cases ups the drama, but the accounts of what's gone on at the titular place would be damning and gripping as is even if Grady and Smyth only had talking-head interviews at their disposal. Gloriavale is available to stream via SBS On Demand, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. WHITNEY HOUSTON: I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY In the decade since her death in 2012, Whitney Houston has proven one of filmmaking's greatest loves of all. No fewer than five movies have told her tale, including documentaries Whitney: Can I Be Me and Whitney — and that's without including a feature about her daughter Bobbi Kristina, a miniseries focused on her ex-husband Bobby Brown and dramas clearly based on her story. All of that attention echoes for obvious reasons. Houston's mezzo-soprano voice, which earned her the nickname "The Voice", soared to stratospheric and literally breathtaking levels. Still holding the record for the most consecutive number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, which she took from The Beatles and the Bee Gees, her career zoomed skyward as well. That swift rise from New Jersey church choir member to one of the biggest bestselling music artists ever was matched by tabloid-fodder lows, however, and that tragic, gone-too-soon passing — and Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody charts it all. Taking its name from one of Houston's most exuberant singles isn't just music biopic 101 (see also: Bohemian Rhapsody, also penned by this film's screenwriter Anthony McCarten). Kasi Lemmons' (Harriet) feature follows the standard Wikipedia entry-like genre template, but the filmmaker wants those titular words to reflect how Whitney (Naomi Ackie, Master of None) just wanted to be herself, to be loved as such, and openly be with Robyn Crawford (Nafessa Williams, Black Lightning), the girlfriend-turned-creative director that her gospel singer mother Cissy Houston (Tamara Tunie, Cowboy Bebop) and stern father John (Clarke Peters, The Man Who Fell to Earth) disapprove of. Instead, after being signed to Arista Records at 19 by producer and executive Clive Davis (Stanley Tucci, The King's Man), Whitney becomes America's princess next door. Ackie turns in a commanding, multi-layered performance as the conflicted singer — even while lip-synching, with the movie smartly using Houston's own vocals — in a film that's impassioned, wisely filled with electrifying performance recreations, yet is happy to just hit every expected note. Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. LYLE, LYLE CROCODILE The Paddington movies did it better. That's a general catch-all statement that can apply to almost anything, zero context required, and it's also the prevailing feeling while watching Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. Instead of a marmalade-coveting bear, a singing crocodile is trying to win hearts — and the similarities don't stop there. The page-to-screen leap from a children's favourite? Tick. An adorable animal winding up in a family of humans who need its unique presence to make their lives complete, bring them together and show them what truly matters? Tick again. The strait-laced dad, creative mum, nasty neighbour and kindly kid? Keep ticking. Also present in both: the titular critter donning human clothing and craving fruity foods, warm colours aplenty, a vintage look and feel to interior spaces, a tense and traumatic capture, and an accomplished star having a whole lot of fun going big, broad and cartoonish (Javier Bardem here, and worlds away from The Good Boss, Dune or Everybody Knows). Bardem's playful turn as magician Hector P Valenti is the best thing about Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, which is breezily watchable but so indebted to Paddington and its sequel — so desperate to be an American version of the charming English franchise — that orange conserve might as well be smeared across the lens. As directed by Office Christmas Party's Josh Gordon and Will Speck, and scripted by Johnny English Strikes Again's Will Davies (adapting from Bernard Waber's books), the film is also a musical, with the eponymous croc (voiced by Shawn Mendes) able to sing but not speak. Those forgettable songs pad out a slight story, after Valenti discovers Lyle, hopes to get famous as a double act and loses his New York City brownstone when his gambit fails. Then the new residents, the Primm family, find the reptile in the attic, son Josh (Winslow Fegley, Come Play) finds a friend and his parents (Hustlers' Constance Wu and Blonde's Scoot McNairy) find their own reasons to get snapped up in the critter's singing-and-dancing vibe — although Mr Grumps (Brett Gelman, Stranger Things) downstairs obviously lives up to his moniker. Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH Since arriving in cinemas in 2001, Shrek has inspired three more ogre-centric flicks, a heap of shorts and TV specials, and a stage musical for the whole family. It's also the reason that green-hued burlesque shows exist, plus all manner of parties and raves — none of the last three of which are appropriate for kids, obviously. But beyond the Mike Myers (The Pentaverate)-voiced titular figure himself, only Puss in Boots has become solo big-screen fodder from among the franchise's array of characters. Like much in this series, the shoe-wearing feline hails from fairy tales, but the reason for its ongoing on-screen popularity is as simple as casting. Who doesn't want to see a kitty swashbuckler voiced by Antonio Banderas (Official Competition), basically making this a moggie Zorro? Based on the 2011 Puss in Boots' $555 million at the box office, that concept is irresistible to plenty of folks — hence, albeit 11 years later, sequel Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Pairing the right talent to the right animated character doesn't instantly make movie magic, of course; however, The Last Wish, which literally has Puss seeking magic, is among the best films that the broader Shrek saga has conjured up so far. The eponymous cat begins the picture being his usual swaggering self and caring little for the consequences, including his own dwindling lives. One raucous incident sees him realise that he's died eight times already, though, and knowing this ninth go-around is his last according to feline lore suddenly fills him with existential woe. That's a thoughtful premise for an all-ages-friendly flick, and one that's never dampened by the film's plethora of fairy tale nods, high-energy vibe and usually amusing gags. So, Puss, Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek, House of Gucci) and their new canine companion Perro (Harvey Guillén, What We Do in the Shadows) attempt to find a famed wishing star that can make avoiding death a reality — but Goldilocks (Florence Pugh, The Wonder) and the three bears (Black Widow's Ray Winstone, Mothering Sunday's Olivia Colman and Our Flag Means Death's Samson Kayo) are also after it, as is a no longer 'little' Jack Horner (John Mulaney, Big Mouth). Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Looking for more at-home viewing options? Take a look at our monthly streaming recommendations across new straight-to-digital films and TV shows — and fast-tracked highlights from January, too. You can also peruse our best new films, new TV shows, returning TV shows and straight-to-streaming movies, plus movies you might've missed and television standouts of 2022 you mightn't have gotten to.
Another beloved film is heading to the theatre — this time, iconic Australian effort Starstruck. It follows in the footsteps of a growing number of Aussie flicks-turned-musicals; think Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Muriel's Wedding and Moulin Rouge!. Like its predecessors, it's easy to see why the film is getting the stage musical treatment. In fact, given the movie's storyline, it's a wonder that a large-scale production of hasn't been made before. Directed by Gillian Armstrong and first released in 1982, the comedy-drama tells the tale of Sydney teenager Jackie Mullens, who works in her mum's pub by the harbour but wants to become a rock star — and her cousin Angus, an aspiring manager, plans to get Jackie on a national TV talent series to help her dreams become a reality. An all-singing, all-dancing affair that'll be filled with 80s pop just like the movie, Starstruck — The Stage Musical will see RGM Productions, the folks behind the Priscilla, Queen of the Desert musical, team up with the National Institute of Dramatic Art. For the show's initial run at Sydney's Parade Theatre in 2019, it'll showcase NIDA's graduating class; however the production will also act as pilot for future commercial seasons. Dates haven't yet been announced, but it's expected to take to the stage towards the end of next year. As well as Priscilla Queen of The Desert, The Musical producer Garry McQuinn and his partner Rina Gill, the behind-the-scenes talent includes director Simon Phillips (Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Ladies in Black, Muriel's Wedding) and choreographer Andrew Hallsworth (Anything Goes, Sweet Charity), with the book by actor, singer, writer and director Mitchell Butel (Two Hands, Gettin' Square, Holding the Man). "It'll be an exciting adventure to see this warm-hearted little Australian film take shape on the stage," says Phillips. "The story about a couple of self-invented Ozzie kids trying to save their family pub is full of joy and adolescent energy, and NIDA feels like the perfect place to road-test its charms." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucf3bzv-e9M
When spring arrives, winter subsides and chilly weather gives way to warmer days, of course it's worth celebrating. When flowers start blooming — because that's what they do at that time of year — it's an occasion worth marking, too. Commemorating the season and its blossoms is what Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers is all about, and has been for seven-and-a-half decades. Reaching 75 years of frolicking among the petals warrants a heartier party than normal, however, so get ready for plenty of reasons to take a trip west of Brisbane this September and October. Back in January, the festival announced that its 2024 event would undergo a few minor changes. Instead of spanning a full month, as it has in recent years, it'll start on Friday, September 13, then end on Monday, October 7 (which is a Queensland public holiday). But beyond that minor tweak, the scene is set for floral shenanigans galore in the Darling Downs city — as the just-dropped program for this year's Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers makes plain. As always, flowers as far as the eye can see is the big highlight. The event will also attempt to break its attendance record — again. That occurred in 2022, with 364,775 people making a visit, and then when 417,517 folks went along in 2023. If you're only interested in gardens, gardens and more gardens, you have options. Thousands of blooms always feature at the fest, including 190,000 in 2023. This year, Laurel Bank Park and the Botanic Gardens of Queens Park will boast displays, as always, while you can also scope out the University of Southern Queensland's Japanese garden, an ikebana display at Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, the local orchid society's spring show, a bonsai exhibition, and everything from geraniums to succulents. Plant sales are also on the lineup, should you want to take some new green friends home with you. Heading to Laurel Bank Park as the sun sets means enjoying a twilight tour. If you're keen to get a unique vantage over the blossoms, the Botanic Gardens of Queens Park is home to the festival's ferris wheel. The latter will feature an entertainment precinct as well, plus a three-day sideshow alley and outdoor movies amid the flowers. From there, the program has been curated around celebrating. The theme: it's a party. That comes through in a variety of ways, whether attendees are taking in a performance by Queensland Symphony Orchestra under the stars, wandering around a floral Lego exhibition, seeing a showcase celebrating the fest's 75th anniversary, moseying along on an art trail or enjoying a jazz session. [caption id="attachment_879297" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers's food and wine festival is back, too — and so are food trucks, farmers markets and the regional food trail that sees local eateries whip up spring-inspired dishes that'll only set you back between $10–20. Plus, for more excuses to hit up the city's hospitality venues, joints that usually only do breakfast, brunch and lunch are opening on select evenings to serve up dinner. As proves the case every year, there's no bad time to head along throughout from mid-September to mid-October — and you might want to make the trek more than once. Indeed, when it comes to scenic spring sights, there's no prettier place to be. And, given it takes less than two hours to head up the mountain from Brisbane, it's perfect for a weekend day trip. The 2024 Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers will run Friday, September 13–Monday, October 7 across Toowoomba. For further information, head to the event's website.
First in Sydney, then in Melbourne and now in Brisbane, the biggest show in musical theatre this century has finally been sharing its Tony-winning take on 18th-century American politics with Australian audiences. Since 2021, being in the room where it happens hasn't required a trip to the US — but you will need to be in Brisbane in March to be in the room where Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda himself will be in attendance in-person for a Hamilton fan event. For the first time during the blockbuster musical's Australian time — and likely the only time, given that the show will leave the country for a New Zealand run when it finishes its Sunshine State season at QPAC's Lyric Theatre on Sunday, April 23 — Miranda is heading Down Under. The exact date hasn't been revealed, but he'll hit the River City to meet the local company of the production, and also to take part in that event for Hamilton obsessives. [caption id="attachment_773737" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hamilton filmed version courtesy Disney+.[/caption] "I have been waiting such a long time to come to Australia and I can't wait to be with the company down under in-person for the first time," Miranda said, announcing his visit. "I have heard such great things from friends and fans in Australia, it is going to be fantastic to be able to meet them and watch them perform." Just like exactly when in March Miranda will be in Brisbane, where the fan event will happen and what it will entail — and how folks will be able to attend — is yet to be revealed, with further details to come. Still, Brisbanites and Australians keen on a trip to the Queensland capital won't want to throw away the shot to see the man who made the game-changing, award-winning, rightly raved-about Hamilton what it is "Australian fans have been so patient waiting for Lin-Manuel Miranda's visit to Australia and we have something very special in store for them when he gets here," added Australian Hamilton producer Michael Cassel AM. [caption id="attachment_774807" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hamilton filmed version courtesy Disney+.[/caption] The Broadway hit's Aussie production features a cast that currently includes Jason Arrow as Alexander Hamilton, Martha Berhane as Eliza Hamilton, Callan Purcell as Aaron Burr, Akina Edmonds as Angelica Schuyler, Matu Ngaropo as George Washington, and Victory Ndukwe as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson. Sami Afuni plays Hercules Mulligan and James Madison, Wern Mak does double duty as John Laurens and Philip Hamilton, Elandrah Eramiha plays Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds, and Brent Hill steps into King George III's robes. Haven't become a Hamilton obsessive yet? Not quite sure why it has been the most-talked about theatre show of the past six years? The critically acclaimed hip hop musical, for which Miranda wrote the music, lyrics and the book, is about the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, as well as inclusion and politics in current-day America. In addition to its swag of Tony Awards — 11 in fact, which includes Best Musical — it has nabbed a Grammy Award and even a Pulitzer Prize. Until now, Brisbanites eager to see the show had to be content with trips south or watching the filmed version of its Broadway production, which started streaming via Disney+ in 2020 (and yes, it's as phenomenal as you've heard). And yes, the $10 ticket lottery has also hit the River City, offering Hamilton tickets for less than the cost of lunch. [caption id="attachment_870525" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Australian production of Hamilton by Daniel Boud[/caption] Hamilton's Brisbane season runs until Sunday, April 23 at QPAC's Lyric Theatre, South Bank, with tickets available via the musical's website. Details of Lin-Manuel Miranda's fan event are yet to be announced — we'll update you when more information comes to hand. Top image: Hamilton filmed version courtesy Disney+.
When Stuart and Lucy Martin started their own brewery back in 2017, they took inspiration from an easy source: Stuart's experience as a former commercial pilot. In fact, the idea for Archer Brewing popped into Stuart's brain during a flight from Melbourne to Sydney, and their beer-making outfit takes its name from Archer planes, the first type of aircraft he ever piloted. So setting up a new brewpub in an old World War II hangar is the natural next step. Back when Archer first took off, it made Archer's Bunker in Spring Hill its home base, nestling into the space beneath The International Hotel in Spring Hill — and even requiring beer lovers to enter via the Archer Brewing fridge, which doubled as a door. But with that spot in Archer's past itineraries since 2019, the brewery has touched down in Wilston instead. On Newmarket Road since Thursday, February 2, Brisbanites will now find a 200-person beer bar in the abode that Lifeline used to call home. Archer Brewing's new location isn't the first watering hole in an old WWII-era hangar in Brisbane, but it's obviously a case of the perfect business settling into the perfect surroundings. To keep the aviation theme going, the bar itself is made from the last-ever Ansett 727 plane to be flown. If you're fond of aviation yourself, that's definitely something to say cheers to — and over. Stuart and Lucy have brought over their portrait of their border collie to oversee the brewpub, and the space's design highlights its original use. But, as well as the focus on flying, it's the range of easy-drinking beers made using Australian ingredients that'll tempt patrons through the door. Archer Brewing pumps out yeasty beverages of the mid-strength lager, pilsner, pale ale, IPA and rice lager variety, as overseen by head brewer Chris Fletcher (ex-2 Brothers Brewing). Plus, cider fans can sip a new apple number made from Stanthorpe produce. The full booze lineup also spans rotating guest taps, which are currently pouring Sea Legs, Diablo, Brouhaha and 27 South brews, as well as an all-Aussie wine, spirit and cocktail range. In addition to drinking your way through Archer's tipples, Brisbanites making the trip to Wilston will soon be able to snack on a food lineup that's still being finalised. At present, an array of food trucks are popping by to fill the gap. Find Archer Brewing at 1/278 Newmarket Road, Wilston — open 4–10pm Wednesday–Thursday, 12pm–12am Friday–Saturday and 12–10pm Sunday.
If you're a fan of mystery and delicious food, we have the juicy deets of an exclusive dinner that'll be right up your alley. This year, classy chip purveyor Red Rock Deli is hosting a series of exclusive secret suppers in mystery locations across Sydney — and you're invited. Across the next few months, some of Australia's most talented chefs will whip up mouth-watering feasts inspired by Red Rock Deli's new flavour range. And when we say exclusive, we mean it — only twenty lucky guests will be tucking into each lavish dinner. Despite everything being very hush-hush, we can reveal that the first Secret Supper will be hosted by Australian-Malaysian chef and 2010 MasterChef Australia winner Adam Liaw on Wednesday, May 15. Most of the details are still under wraps, but here's what we can tell you: after arriving at the collection point at Central Station's Grand Concourse entrance at 8pm, you'll be whisked away to a mystery location for the dining experience. During the evening, Liaw will recreate the flavours from the Thai red chilli and creamy coconut flavour from Red Rock Deli's new limited-edition Fusion range over a three-course meal. The menu will remain a secret until you arrive, but if grilled seafood, hearty curries and tropical flavours tickle your tastebuds, you're sure to be satisfied. Tickets to Fusion Adventure are priced at $110 per person and can be purchased here. Please note the Secret Supper menu will not cater to ANY dietary requirements or allergies. There are strictly no changes to the menu. Image: Kitti Gould.
Markets come in all shapes and sizes, just like the wares they sell. They're particular enticing in winter, though. There's something about browsing through stalls on a frosty weekend morning, a warm coffee in hand — and about hitting up a twilight market while the evenings are short, complete with a mulled wine or a cocktail, too. Whether you like shopping or eating — taking home handmade goods to fill your shelves, or coming home with a full and satisfied stomach — you've got options around Brisbane in July and August. Some markets sell creative and vintage wares. Others specialise in food and drinks. Many do a combination of both. Whatever you're looking for, here's 13 to check out.
It's a war that's been waged for decades among regional bakeries the country over: who's dishing up Australia's best pie? Whose pastry comes closest to perfection? Which filling reigns supreme? Well, this year's top dog has officially been named, with Kyneton's Country Cob Bakery taking out top honours at the 2019 edition of Australia's Best Pie and Pastie Competition. While you might have your own thoughts about which pie makes the best road trip accompaniment, this nationally recognised contest is run by the experts at the Baking Association of Australia. The 2019 competition saw 12 professional judges sample a whopping 1760 pies from 345 bakeries, across three days. And for the third year in a row, Country Cob claimed the top title, this time winning over tastebuds with a caramelised pork and pepper pie creation loaded with local ingredients. It's an impressive run for baker brothers Ryan and Chan Khun, who've owned and operated the bakery for the past three years. [caption id="attachment_726906" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The award-winning pie.[/caption] The two backed up their big win with 11 other gold medals, including taking out the title of Best Seafood Pie for their curry scallop number, and scoring Best Gourmet Pie with that same champion pork round. Other winners included Gusto Bakery's curried pumpkin, feta and spinach number for Best Vegetarian Pie (which you can find in Fairfield and Moonee Ponds), and Whittlesea Bakehouse claimed the title of Best Plain Chunky Beef Pie. Further afield, JoJo's Gluten Free in the Bass Coast Shire took out Best Gluten-Free Pie as well as Best Pastie overall. Coeliacs might want to lock in a road trip ASAP. And if you fancy sampling Country Cob's primo pie for yourself, Kyneton sits about an hour north of Melbourne just off the Calder, making the perfect pit-stop on a trip to Bendigo. The champion pastry will be sticking on the menu for the foreseeable future. Find Country Cob Bakery at 130-132 Mollison Street, Kyneton, Victoria — it's open from 6am–4.30pm on weekdays and 6am–3pm on weekends.
When Super Mario Kart first rolled onto Super Nintendo consoles back in 1992, it came with 20 inventive courses and endless hours of fun. Nearly three decades later, the game has become a beloved phenomenon — not just speeding through desert tracks and rainbow roads, but onto Google Maps and mobile phones, and also into reality. The hugely popular game's next stop? Theme parks. In the works since 2019, delayed due to the pandemic (like everything else), but finally opening its doors on March 18, Super Nintendo World is now a place that genuinely exists. And yes, you can enjoy a real-life Mario Kart experience as part of the first-ever Nintendo-themed theme park zone, which has joined Universal Studios in Osaka. There's no mistaking this space for anywhere else. Given that it features life-sized recreations of both Bowser's Castle — complete with spiked fences and heavy iron doors — and Peach's Castle, fans of the gaming brand will know exactly where they are. You also enter via a warp pipe, because of course you do. No other entryway would've done the park justice. For those keen to hop on Mario Kart: Koopa's Challenge, you'll be racing through familiar Mario Kart courses that've been brought to life. And yes, as you steer your way along the track, you're surrounded by characters such as Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach. You can also throw shells to take out your opponents — because it wouldn't be Mario Kart without them. If you're wondering how it all works, it's a blend of physical sets, augmented reality, projection mapping and screen projection, all designed to make you feel like you're really in the game. As for Yoshi's Adventure, that lets you climb on Yoshi's back — and, as it sounds, it's very family-friendly. So, you hop on, then set off on an adventure. Specifically, you follow Captain Toad to find three coloured eggs, plus a golden egg as well. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ユニバーサル・スタジオ・ジャパン USJ (@universal_studios_japan) Across its multiple levels — fitting for a gaming-themed space — Osaka's Super Nintendo World also includes restaurants and shops. A certain highlight: the world's first Mario cafe, which launched ahead of the rest of the site. Here, patrons are surrounded by oversized Mario and Luigi hat sculptures, the whole space is kitted out with a red and green colour scheme, and Mario Kart-style checkered floors are a feature. As for snacks, there are Mario pancake sandwiches and cream sodas, plus other drinks available in 'super mushroom' souvenir bottles. The theme park also has wearable wrist bands, called Power Up Bands — which connect to a special app and allow patrons to interact with the site using their arms, hands and bodies. That mightn't sound all that exciting, but the bands enable you to collect coins just like Mario does in the Super Mario games. Like the red-capped plumber, you can also hit question blocks to reveal more coins. There are collectible items to gather, too, such as keys and character stamps, which you can only find after achieving various goals. The stamps also earn you even more coins, so you really will be basically playing Super Mario in real life. You do have to buy a Power Up Band separate to your entry ticket to enjoy that element of the park, though. While no one is venturing far at present — and Japan has just shut out international travellers from the Tokyo Olympics, so you're unlikely to be able to head to the country anytime soon — you can add Osaka's Super Nintendo World to your must-visit list once overseas travel does start returning to normal. You might also want to add ziplining into a life-sized version of Godzilla to the same list while you're dreaming about Japanese holidays. Universal Studios is also planning Super Nintendo Worlds for its other parks in Hollywood, Orlando and in Singapore, if you need to add more places to look forward to visiting sometime in the future. The latter was just announced last year, and is set to open by 2025. Super Nintendo World is now open at Universal Studios Osaka, 2 Chome-1-33 Sakurajima, Konohana Ward, Osaka, 554-0031, Japan. Top image: Nintendo and Universal Studios.
If you've ever dreamed of being a muse or walking artwork, the 19th Biennale of Sydney might just be your chance. Artist Deborah Kelly is on the hunt for 19 life-sized nude portraits to come from the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane public. As part of an exhibition series entitled In All Our Glory, the portraits will be fashioned through a series of collage workshops through mid-October. The Aussie artist is known for politically motivated works that explore notions of power, and In All Our Glory should be no different. So, thankfully, you needn't be Miranda Kerr to fit the bill; Kelly is scouting portrait subjects of varying ages (18+), colours, sizes, genders and abilities. But there's still room for the camera shy to contribute: Kelly's also seeking donations of unwanted picture and reference books in any condition, in colour or black-and-white. So let the wind through your pubes and make the world take you in all your glory for the 19th Biennale of Sydney, themed You Imagine What You Desire for 2014. You'll be scoring the chance to catch yourself — an artwork — in the series from March 21 until June 9. To be the next Mona Lisa all you need to do is volunteer yourself as a portrait subject by shooting a pic of your face (just face) over to kellyproject@biennaleofsydney.com.au by Friday, 11 October 2013. Drop a line to the same email if you’d like to donate books, or join in on the collage workshops by contacting frances@biennaleofsydney.com.au.
Music lovers of Australia, and festival fans as well, we foresee trips to the Gold Coast, Cairns, Canberra or Geelong in your future. That's where The Grass Is Greener is heading this year, with the music, food and arts fest expanding beyond Queensland for the first time — and the event has just dropped its impressive lineup. Leading the bill: Ty Dolla $ign, YG, Zhu and Pnau, all hitting up the festival's four regional locations. The event is particularly pumped to have not one but two of the biggest names in hip hop gracing its stages, as well as one of EDM's global stars and some homegrown heroes. And, it's betting that you'll be just as thrilled to check them out live. Of course you will. One Four, Boo Seeka, Side Piece, Alok and Mashd N Kutcher also have spots on the lineup — and yes, the list goes on. As for when you'll be seeing all of the above, The Grass Is Greener is doing the rounds across the last two weekends in October, starting on the Goldie, hopping down to the ACT, zipping back up to its Tropical North Queensland birthplace, then wrapping up its 2022 run in Victoria. Clearly, it's a big year for the fest, which made its debut in Cairns back in 2016. Expanding to two new cities, covering three states and locking in huge headliners for this year's tour is quite the flex. The Grass Is Greener is also jumping into the NFT space in 2022, integrating NFTs into its ticketing with a limited edition 1,111 NFT Collection. As well as nabbing access to the fest, the NFTs also feature special art that you can use onsite to unlock unique and exclusive experiences that won't be available with physical tickets. THE GRASS IS GREENER 2022 LINEUP: Alok Aluna Boo Seeka Brux Crush3ed Little Fritter Wongo Jordan Burns (live) Market Memories Mashd N Kutcher Maya Jane Coles Mikalah Watego Mood Swing & Chevy Bass Onefour Piero Pirupa Pnau Sidepiece Sticky Fingers TDJ Ty Dolla $Ign Vnssa YG Zero Zhu (DJ set) THE GRASS IS GREENER 2022 DATES: Saturday, October 22 — Doug Jennings Park, Gold Coast Sunday, October 23 — Patrick White Lawns, Canberra Saturday, October 29 — Cairns Showgrounds, Cairns Sunday, October 30 — Geelong Racecourse, Geelong The Grass Is Greener will hit the Gold Coast, Canberra, Cairns and Geelong in October 2022. Ticket pre-sales start at 8am on Wednesday, July 13, ahead of general sales from 8am on Thursday, July 14. Head to the festival website for more information. Images: Curdin Photo and Mitch Lowe.
They're taking to hobbits to Isengard at the Elizabeth Picture Theatre this spring, with one movie marathon to rule them all. Round up the Fellowship, stock up on lembas bread for sustenance and hide your finest pipe-weed from the Southfarthing for one sitting of all three of Peter Jackson's beloved OG Tolkien film adaptations on Sunday, October 7. Kicking off with The Fellowship of the Ring and ending with The Return of the King, this cave troll of a marathon clocks in at 558 minutes, starting the journey at 10am and including short breaks between each (for breakfast and second breakfast, if you will). If you make it to the final handful of endings, you can pat yourself on the back and smash a ringwraith screech at the nearest CBD resident on your way home (note: do not actually screech at the residents). Without a ticket, expect at least one overenthusiastic cinema staff member to make an example of you, thundering "You shall not pass!" to raucous applause. So buy a ticket, precious. Actually, you'll need three — one for each film, at $12 each.
Seafood by the sea? Brews next to the beach? There's nothing stopping you from enjoying both at 2025's Moreton Bay Food and Wine Festival. Coming to Apex Park in Woody Point between Friday, August 22–Sunday, August 24, this returning food fest serves up plenty to tempt your tastebuds, from oysters and prawns to farm-fresh fare — and beers and cocktails, too. Indeed, if you like the indulgent things in life, you'll find more than a few things that'll suit your cravings on the menu. [caption id="attachment_883183" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] While the program isn't out yet, the event always features a focus on local produce — and other past highlights have included the Moreton Bay BrewsFest (complete with beer pong and giant Jenga); a cocktail haven with a particular interest in gin distilleries; a vino-serving cellar door; and a stage dedicated to health, wellness, and things for your house and garden. Live tunes and DJ-spun tracks are also on the agenda, and so are cooking demonstrations by chefs. And, if you want to counteract all of the eating and drinking, you'll be in the right place for it — just go for a walk along the shoreline. Event images: Tourism and Events Queensland.
The cure to decades of SXSW FOMO arrived in Australia in 2023. Sydney played host to the first-ever iteration of the festival Down Under — the first outside of the US, in fact — and put on a massive party. It was a hit. Cue SXSW Sydney 2024, then, to ideally repeat the feat. There's still almost three months to go, but the second Aussie SXSW just keeps getting bigger. So far, organisers of the tech, innovation, screen, music, games and culture festival — which will run from Monday, October 14–Sunday, October 20 this year — have dropped three past rounds of lineup details, starting in May, adding to it in June, then expanding it some more at the beginning of July. Now comes the next batch, growing the music bill, throwing in parties and naming a few extra speakers. More than 40 talents have joined the onstage roster, starting with the UK's Jorja Smith on the 'Be Honest' musician's Australian tour. Also from overseas, Canada's Aysanabee, Thailand's PYRA, New Zealand's Brandn Shiraz and XUZZ, and the UK's Submerse feature. Among the homegrown names, Aussies Brazen Barbie, Jamahl Yami, Kitschen Boy and Special Feelings have scored a spot, plus a heap of other locals. When SXSW Sydney's 25 stages turn on their microphones, then, it's going to be mighty busy. For those keen on networking and shindigs, the lineup there now features parties and mixers hosted by ADA, APRA-AMCOS, Blak Label, Canada House, Concord Music Group, Future Classic, Inertia & [PIAS], Meta, Rolling Stone, The Orchard, UNIFIED Music Group, Virgin Music and Warner Music. Among the events, there's an Indies Please session, one dedicated to Women in Music and a meetup that's all about agents versus promoters. Plus, get ready to dive into international music tours and the streaming landscape, the first talk with WME UK's Global Head of Touring Lucy Dickins and Frontier Touring's Susan Heymann, and the second with Will Page. The latest additions extend a 2024 program that already boasts human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson, author Johann Hari, Australian race car driver Molly Taylor, pianist Chad Lawson, Westworld's Luke Hemsworth hosting a session about the Tasmanian tiger, Aussie astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg, TikTok marketing head Sofia Hernandez, Heartbreak High star Ayesha Madon, cricketer David Warner, Mortal Kombat director Simon McQuoid and documentary Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts, about the new uses of former Pizza Hut buildings across America — and that's barely scratching the surface of the lineup specifics announced so far. If you missed it, 2023's inaugural SXSW Sydney welcomed everyone from Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker and Chance The Rapper to Future Today Institute founder and CEO Amy Webb and Nicole Kidman to its stages. In the process, and via not just its talks but also its concerts, films, TV shows and games as, it notched up 287,014 attendances from 97,462 unique attendees. Those figures came from 34,975 total tickets, with folks from 41 countries heading along to 1178 sessions. SXSW Sydney 2024 will run from Monday, October 14–Sunday, October 20 at various Sydney venues. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details. Images: Jess Gleeson, Ian Laidlaw, Jami Joy, Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for SXSW Sydney.
Through their Fresh Ink program, the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) has been giving Australia's finest emerging writers space to play on stage, page, film and online. Their latest development under the banner of the Voices Project is worth checking out. It takes two heartbreaking monologues about first love and turns them into different but equally heartbreaking short films, which can be viewed online. Bat Eyes by Jessica Bellamy will give you a whole new appreciation of WH Auden, as it hones in on the fleeting bond shared between a teenage bully and his visually impaired, poetically charged target. The optometrist's office has never before seemed so romantic. Bat Eyes and its counterpart, Boot — about teenage recklessness and tense girl best-friendships — have been beautifully shot by director Damien Power. The great thing about the Voices Project is that it brings together young people from different backgrounds and disciplines, and it makes writers and viewers think about how storytelling changes from medium to medium. As well as the adapted short films, you can watch the original monologues (directed by Laura Scrivano) and see how they've changed while making the jump out of just one person's head. If you're under 26 and have your own thoughts on love to share, you can enter Fresh Ink's current Love Bytes competition, open until Friday, May 4. https://youtube.com/watch?v=qyDEEQoVqjY
In its entire concept, Sydney Opera House's All About Women has always pushed girls, ladies and women to the front. So, when the venue announced that the next version of its key feminist festival would feature riot grrrl pioneers Bikini Kill, it couldn't have been a more perfect way to start its lineup. That in-conversation event is just the beginning of the event's 2023 program, however, with the just-announced complete bill also going big on high-profile guests — such as child actor-turned-I'm Glad My Mom Died author Jennette McCurdy and human rights barrister Jennifer Robinson. Former iCarly star McCurdy will chat through her experiences, including growing up in the spotlight, finding her independence and the events that led to her New York Times best-selling memoir, in an Australian-exclusive conversation. After successfully representing Amber Heard in Johnny Depp's UK libel case, Robinson will feature in a panel called 'The War on Women', about fighting for both rights and lives, alongside Egyptian American journalist Mona Eltahawy, Pakistani author and journalist Fatima Bhutto, and Mununjali Yugambeh and South Sea Islander Professor Chelsea Watego. [caption id="attachment_885156" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jennifer Robinson by Kate Peters[/caption] Running from Saturday, March 11—Monday, March 13, All About Women's 2023 festival marks its 11th, and sees the event held across three days for the first time ever — growing again after it only just expanded to two days in 2022, in fact. And, in another significant change for this year, the event's lineup is guided by four festival co-curators. Doing the honours: author, podcast presenter and gender equality advocate Jamila Rizvi; Gamilaroi academic and Tell Me Again author Dr Amy Thunig; feminist social commentator, novelist and writer Jane Caro AM; and Sydney Opera House's Head of Talks and Ideas Chip Rolley. Their full program includes 25 events featuring 60-plus international and Australian artists, thinkers, and storytellers, starting with an evening of storytelling, poetry, dance and music for the fest's Opening Night Gala, hosted by Clare Bowditch and featuring actor Eryn Jean Norvill (The Picture of Dorian Gray), "mother of African contemporary dance" Germaine Acogny, Iranian Australian singer and instrumentalist Gelareh Pour, and Fatima Bhutto. And, it also spans Cult Classic author Sloane Crosley chatting about modern dating with journalist Maddison Connaughton — and a romance and reality TV-focused discussion between Bachelorette Brooke Blurton, Just The Gist podcaster Rosie Waterland, and Gamilaroi and Torres Strait Islander writer and actor Nakkiah Lui. [caption id="attachment_885157" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brooke Blurton by Jarrad Seng[/caption] In a session about neurodivergence in women and gender-diverse people, 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame, Heartbreak High's Chloe Hayden, and research psychologist and activist Dr Jac den Houting will talk with Thunig — and a panel examining trying to achieve justice in sexual abuse claims, and the trauma the process can bring, will feature sexual assault law reform advocate Saxon Mullins, criminal lawyer Katrina Marson, Yorta Yorta woman and survivor advocate Amanda Morgan, and lawyer and author Bri Lee. Or, attendees can look forward to Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies scholar Kylie Moore-Gilbert hosting a session on the women-led revolution in Iran, as joined by Pour, scholar and poet Dr Saba Vasefi, and author and journalist Shokoofeh Azar; plus a panel about the body positivity movement's struggles to be genuinely inclusive, featuring Wadjanbarra Yidinji, Jirrbal and African-American former model Sasha Kutabah Sarago, body love activist and podcaster April Hélène-Horton aka The Bodzilla, fashion editor and queer rights activist Deni Todorovič, disability rights campaigner Elly Desmarchelier, and comedian and broadcaster Tanya Hennessy. [caption id="attachment_844646" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jacquie Manning[/caption] The list goes on, covering Clementine Ford exploring the history of demonising single women, a session on women's activism through a First Nations lens, diving into starting a family in a modern world, unpacking gendered emotions, and turning Eltahawy's FEMINIST GIANT newsletter into a panel. The Girlboss movement, making tough decisions, the shame often imposed on women and girls, leading movements, a Bikini Kill gig: they all get their time in focus, too. Just like in 2022, the festival will host its sessions in-person for Sydneysiders, and will also live-stream to viewers both around Australia and worldwide — which is ace news if you live outside of the Harbour City. [caption id="attachment_874299" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Debi Del Grande[/caption] All About Women 2023 will take place from Saturday, March 11—Monday, March 13 at the Sydney Opera House, with tickets on sale from 12pm AEDT on Thursday, January 19. Head to the festival's website for further details. Top image: Jennette McCurdy by Brian Kimskey.
It's been four years since Ryan Gosling last graced screens, rocketing to the moon in First Man. No, Barbie set photos pored over on every internet-connected device don't count. Since he played Neil Armstrong, much has happened. There's the obvious off-screen, of course — but then there's Chris Evans farewelling Captain America, and also appearing in Knives Out with the scene-stealing Ana de Armas. After co-starring in Blade Runner 2049 with Gosling back in 2017, she leapt from that Evans-featuring whodunnit to palling around with 007 in No Time to Die. Also during that time, Bridgerton pushed Regé-Jean Page to fame, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood earmarked Julia Butters as a young talent to watch. This isn't just a history lesson on The Gray Man's cast — well, some of them, given that Billy Bob Thornton (Goliath), Jessica Henwick (The Matrix Resurrections), Dhanush (Maaran), Wagner Moura (Shining Girls) and Alfre Woodard (The Lion King) also pop up, plus Australia's own Callan Mulvey (Firebite) — for the hell of it, though. Back in 2018, before all of the above played out, it's unlikely that this exact film with this exact cast would've eventuated. But plenty of action-thrillers about attempting to snuff out hyper-competent assassins already did flicker across celluloid — both John Wick and Atomic Blonde had already been there and done that, and the Bourne and Bond movies, and countless other predecessors. Still, the combination of this collection of current actors and that familiar setup isn't without its charms in The Gray Man, which makes the leap from the pages of Mark Greaney's 2009 novel to the big and streaming screens. Reportedly Netflix's most expensive movie to date, it lets its two biggest names bounce off of each other with chalk-and-cheese aplomb, and isn't short on globe-hopping action spectacle. The off-the-book spy versus off-the-book spy killer flick is knowing amid all that box-ticking formula, too, although not enough to make its cheesy lines sound smart and savvy. Gosling plays Court Gentry, aka Sierra Six; "007 was taken," he jokes. Before he's given his codename — before he's paid to do the CIA's dirty work as well — he's in prison for murder, then recruited by Donald Fitzroy (Thornton). Fast-forward 18 years and Six is a huge hit at two things: being a ghost, because he no longer officially exists; and covertly wreaking whatever havoc the government tells him to, including knocking off whichever nefarious figure they need gone. But one stint of the latter leaves him in possession of a USB drive that his arrogant new direct superior Carmichael (Page) will ruthlessly kill to destroy. Actually, to be precise, he'll pay Lloyd Hansen (Evans) of Hansen Government Services to do just that, and to do the dirty work that's too dirty for the criminals-turned-government hitmen in the Sierra program, with Six the number-one target. If you've seen one espionage-slash-assassin flick that sends a shadowy life-or-death fight bounding around the planet — here, Hong Kong, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Azerbaijan, Germany and Austria all feature, among other spots — then you've seen The Gray Man's template. Directing duo Joe and Anthony Russo helmed the Marvel Cinematic Universe's versions with Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, so they know the drill. That they've seen a heap of other entries in the genre is never question, either. That feeling radiates from the script, which is credited to Joe Russo with seasoned Marvel scribes Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: End Game), and clearly styles its one-liners after superhero banter. Having Gosling and Evans sling it, one playing bearded, silent and virtuous and the other moustachioed, jabbering and unhinged, makes a helluva difference, however. The silver screen has missed Gosling, and the moody, charismatic brooding he does so well. Thanks to Drive and Only God Forgives, the actor is firmly in his calm-but-deadly, complex-but-smouldering element — and, when Fitzroy's niece Claire (Butters) joins the story, Gosling is also in comfortable The Nice Guys-style territory. That isn't a complaint; he's great at both, reliably and engagingly so. But, again, almost every aspect of The Gray Man recalls something similar or its stars' past work. As he did so memorably in Knives Out, Evans revels in his latest asshole swerve away from The Star Spangled Man with a Plan, spitting out his smirking dialogue with relish. (The trash 'stash and skin-tight wardrobe are new, but suit the psychopathic vibe that Lloyd is wrapped in as snug as spandex.) That at least 50 shades of this feature have filled other films before can't be shaken, and yet that fact never blows up the movie. Explosions aren't lacking, given the storyline. Neither are setpieces of varying action-flick ridiculousness to house them in, as well as such a hefty dose of transport-related mayhem that the Fast and Furious movies might get envious. There's nothing grey in colour about the first big action extravaganza, staged in Bangkok amid a gleaming nightclub and bursting fireworks — and the Russos' best shootouts, fights and frays boast a sense of playfulness, just like the back-and-forth between Gosling and Evans. Still, some lively lurches stumble. A "Ken doll" quip is too calculated to crib that Barbie mania, and when the setpiece setting ante gets upped to include a hedge maze, it's yet another reminder of riches elsewhere on celluloid. That said, Netflix also previously made the abhorrent Red Notice, the last film badged as its most expensive ever. Next to that atrocious example of cobbling together well-worn parts and plastering them over with megastars, The Gray Man naturally looks like a masterpiece. The Gray Man isn't a masterpiece, though. If it was — rather than being entertaining despite showing the easy dots it's connecting, and its seams — the slickly shot picture would make full use of its entire cast. The film is all the better for having de Armas, Page and the like in it, but they all scream for more screentime (and for better-fleshed-out characters), which may come for some in future instalments. As his mentor Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan saga did, Greaney's books have spawned followups. On the screen, both a sequel and a prequel were reportedly greenlit by Netflix before The Gray Man even reached audiences. Knowing that this is meant to be a franchise-starter doesn't justify its love of formula, or hide it, but it also doesn't detract from Gosling or Evans, or the dazzling destruction around them. The Gray Man screens in cinemas Down Under from Thursday, July 14, and is available to stream via Netflix from Friday, July 22. Image: Paul Abell/Netflix.
I won’t lie to you, dear readers, I was considering trying to define the surrealist art movement as a beginning to this article. But after several hours of perusing the GoMA website’s background and history on the period, I decided the adjectives were best left to the experts; avant-garde, experimentation, liberation of desire, reproduction of dreams. Instead I will say this: the artists from this period were crazy in the best possible way. They include people like André Breton, Giorgio de Chirico, May Ray, Joan Miró and Salvador Dali who were all known for being a little out there. The latter in particular who was known to regularly take his anteater for walks. As I’ve already realised, the best people to give you the 101 on these fabulous folk are the art world experts. Amazingly, GoMA are offering up their most experienced curators to guide visitors around the exhibition for no extra fee! Do pay attention though, each curator focuses on a different element of surrealism from film to an artist’s psyche. Depending on your interests, make sure you peruse the website before wandering into town with your own unusual animal on a leash.
Back in 2019, the Great Barrier Reef gained a new addition, as well as a new way to enjoy its natural underwater delights. Long before Avatar: The Way of Water and The Little Mermaid were plunging viewers into the deep from the comfort of their cinema seats, the Museum of Underwater Art turned sculptures beneath the ocean's surface into a spectacular reason to go for a dip. It's the southern hemisphere's first attraction of its type, in fact, and it added more artworks in 2020. Since then, divers and snorkellers have been able to enjoy two installations. The first, Ocean Siren, is located 30 metres offshore from The Strand jetty at Townsville and actually towers above the water; however, it interacts with live water temperature data from the Davies Reef weather station, then changes colour in response to variations as they happen. Coral Greenhouse, the second, definitely lurks below the sea. Sitting 18 metres below the waterline on the John Brewer Reef off Townsville, it measures 12 metres in height, weighs around 58 tonnes, and is made out of stainless steel, neutral marine grade cement and zinc anodes. And, yes it does indeed look like a greenhouse. As filled with more than 20 sculptures, it's an underwater building. Now, the Museum of Underwater Art boasts a just-opened third attraction: snorkel trail Ocean Sentinels. Also located on the John Brewer Reef, it features eight sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor, all modelled after leading marine scientists and conservationists — and mainly Australians, too. Made from high-grade, low-carbon and earth-friendly concrete, then reinforced with marine stainless steel, each piece measures 2.2 metres in height and weighs anywhere from 0.94–2.8 tonnes. Ocean Sentinels was installed in May 2023, and sits adjacent to Coral Greenhouse, making hitting the water to look at art a two-for-one experience. Because they need to be fixed to the seabed, they've been placed on barren stretches of sand. If you're keen to take a look, tourism operators will start taking travellers for a viewing from this month. "These eight pieces will be the third installation in a series of ocean-based artworks installed throughout the Townsville region. All eight models are renowned for their expertise in the field of marine science and marine conservation and their hybrid forms make reference to their contribution to their specific field of study," explains deCaires Taylor. One of the artist's muses: Dr Katharina Fabricius, a coral ecologist, who describes the Museum of Underwater Art "a living piece of art that communicates to the people how important research is, how important coral reefs are, and how all these aspects — art, science, humanity — can come together to protect the reef." Find the Museum of Underwater Art, including Ocean Sentinels, off the shore of Townsville, Queensland. For more information and to book a tour, visit the museum's website. Images: Jason deCaires Taylor.
