A quiet spot for coffee and cake can be hard to find on Queen Street. Hidden up on the gallery level of the Brisbane Arcade, Room with Roses offers a brief respite from the hubbub of the Mall. This English style tea room serves an assortment of desserts, scones and cakes (the passionfruit sponge and the lemon curd roulade are two of their best). The breakfast and lunch menus are made up of traditional, even sentimental dishes (corned beef fritters, shepherd’s pie, dainty ribbon sandwiches) not often seen on other Brisbane cafe menus, Prices are pretty hefty (a flat white alone will set you back $5.20) but you are paying for the atmosphere — the 1920s architecture of the Heritage listed Arcade, the fresh cut roses at each table, the wall mounted chandeliers and floral upholstered armchairs, the friendly but unobtrusive service –as much as you are paying for the food. The olde worlde ambience makes Room with Roses an ideal setting for high tea, and they do one of the best in the city. Fully licensed, the drinks menu at Room with Roses lists several wines and some beers, as well as one cocktail – a Classic Pimms and Dry.
"You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?" Jack Nicholson's (How Do You Know) version of the Joker asked in 1989's Batman, just because he liked the sound of it. Here's another question: have you ever seen the Tim Burton (Wednesday)-helmed, Michael Keaton (The Flash)-starring classic caped-crusader movie on the big screen with a live orchestra playing its score? Whatever your answer to the first query, you can soon respond to the second with a hearty yes. To celebrate 35 years since the superhero classic initially reached cinemas, Batman is making a silver-screen comeback Down Under to see out 2024 and start 2025 — and in each of its six stops, beginning in Melbourne then heading to Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Hobart and Sydney, it's giving the film's tunes the symphonic treatment. It's Batman in concert, with the movie playing, plus John Foreman's Australian Pops Orchestra, Southern Cross Symphony, Perth Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and The Metropolitan Orchestra picking up their instruments as the flick screens. They'll be busting out Danny Elfman's Grammy-nominated score, which is just one of the feature's music highlights. The other: songs by the one and only Prince. As well as marking three-and-a-half decades since the picture debuted, these concert screenings also commemorate 85 years of the character on the page — and have been announced just as Burton and Keaton reteam again for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. For the Batman Live in Concert sessions, audiences can follow the bat signal to Melbourne's Regent Theatre across Thursday, October 24–Saturday, October 26; AEC Arena in Adelaide across Wednesday, November 13–Thursday, November 14; Perth's PCEC Riverside Theatre on Friday, November 29–Saturday, November 30; the BCEC Great Hall in Brisbane from Tuesday December, 3–Wednesday, December 4; MyState Bank Arena in Hobart over Friday December, 13–Saturday, December 14; and ICC Sydney Theatre on Friday, January 10. Keaton's stint in Bruce Wayne's slick suits by day and Batman's cape by night kicked off a big-screen four-movie series that ran from 1989–1997, and also saw Val Kilmer (Top Gun: Maverick) and George Clooney (IF) inhabit the role — a character played elsewhere by everyone from Adam West and Christian Bale (Amsterdam) to Ben Affleck (Air) and Robert Pattinson (The Batman). As part of a global tour of events, only Batman going the concert route so far, not Batman Returns, Batman Forever or Batman and Robin. If you're keen to dress up to attend, that's encouraged — and there'll also be merchandise on sale. Batman Live in Concert Dates: Thursday, October 24–Saturday, October 26, 2024 — Regent Theatre, Melbourne with John Foreman's Australian Pops Orchestra Wednesday, November 13–Thursday, November 14, 2024 — AEC Arena, Adelaide with Southern Cross Symphony Friday, November 29–Saturday, November 30, 2024 — PCEC Riverside Theatre, Perth with Perth Symphony Orchestra Tuesday December, 3–Wednesday, December 4, 2024 — BCEC Great Hall, Brisbane with The Metropolitan Orchestra Friday December, 13–Saturday, December 14, 2024 — MyState Bank Arena, Hobart with Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Friday, January 10, 2025 — ICC Sydney Theatre, Sydney with The Metropolitan Orchestra Batman Live in Concert is touring Australia from October 2024–January 2025. Head to the event website for tickets and further details.
When a standard villa and self-made holiday itinerary simply won't do, you could turn your attention to Hotel Clicquot — a world first entry to all-in luxury accommodation by French champagne house, Veuve Clicquot. Here's the skinny: The hotel is popping up in the Byron Bay hinterland at Cooper's Shoot, a prime location for exceptional ocean vistas (and possible Zac Efron sightings), from 24 November to 5 December 2021. As per the description: A quintessential part of a stay at Hotel Clicquot is the daily calendar of unique, money-can't-buy experiences, all of which are entirely optional. Do or do not! Once there, you'll be looking at two nights and three days of activities (or no activities!), pre-arranged for you, so the only decision-making required is whether or not you should have another glass of champers. There's a 24hour butler service. There will be an in-house sommelier to guide you on a journey through the French champagne house's finest drops. A massage therapist will be at your disposal. Meals will be prepared for you and your cohort, one by up-and-coming chef Alanna Sapwell and the other by David Moyle of acclaimed local spot Harvest Newrybar, who will host a 'garden gastronomy' dinner. And, it should go without saying, but yes: there is of course an infinity edge pool. Helicopter transfers are optional. And if you need to fill a seat, I solemnly nominate myself for the task. Bookings are available from 1 November and you can register your interest here.
Enjoying a glass of wine might come with plenty of medical benefits, but having a tipple isn't typically an exercise-heavy pastime. You sit. You drink. You get up, top up your beverage and repeat. You usually don't walk particularly far, let alone run. At a new series of wine-tasting fun runs about to take place around Australia, however, you'll put in the hard yards before you get the boozy rewards. The Grapest 5K run consists of two sections. First, you sprint, jog or set forth at whatever pace suits you best, making your way through scenic vineyard surroundings. Then, you walk another kilometre — yes, in addition to the first five, or ten if you're feeling extra energetic — while stopping at tasting stations along the way and sampling the good stuff. Don't worry, if you're not up to the first part and you're simply keen on wandering and sipping, that's an option (although it does defeat the idea of combining fitness with throwing back drinks). The first run takes place on February 11 at Balgownie Estate in Bendigo, with a second scheduled on March 4 at Coolangatta Estate in Shoalhaven, south of Woollongong. Further events are mooted in the Hunter Valley, Brisbane, Margaret River in Western Australia, Langhorne Creek in South Australia and Canberra throughout the rest of the year. For more information, visit the Grapest 5k run website.
This is one for the adventure-seekers who really, really want to get away from it all and head out to the bush. The track to the Lower Portals starts from the carpark, about a two-hour drive from Brisbane CBD. A 3.7-kilometre hike will take you up and over hills, traversing creeks, eucalypt woodland and boulder-strewn scrub to reach your reward. Mount Barney Creek opens out and deepens into a rock pool surrounded by a natural stone gorge. With mountain-chilled water and patches of shade, it's the perfect cool-down after that trek. Plus, that hike means this beautiful spot is unlikely to be super busy, even on weekends. If you need a bit more time with the tranquility, you can camp downstream and make a mini-break of it. Image: Tatiana Gerus via Flickr
When the Bloodhound Corner Bar and Kitchen opened its doors in May 2015, they only unveiled part of their Fortitude Valley space. Sure you've hung out, grabbed a drink, feasted on Latin American-inspired food and whiled away more than a few afternoons in their cosy downstairs confines over the past ten months or so, but you haven't ventured upstairs. Yet. Renovating the top level of the building was always part of the plan, but these things don't just happen overnight. At the time of writing, the upstairs area is practically complete, and is expected to be open on Sunday March 13. Once patrons are allowed into Bloodhound's upper sanctum, expect more beverages, more Frank & Mimi designs, an outdoor balcony and views down Brunswick and Robertson streets. Basically, expect yet another reason to drop by one of the best beer spots in the Valley. As if you needed one. Visit Bloodhound Corner Bar and Kitchen at 454 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley — or check out their website and Facebook page for more information. Image: Robert Killey Photography.
The BrisStyle team is a rather busy bunch. A few times a year, it puts on twilight markets in King George Square, but that isn't its only regular event. If you're particularly after a treasure trove of handmade goodies — and who isn't? — it hosts another opportunity to browse and buy that's dedicated to exactly those kinds of objects over at the Queensland Museum. And, because it's that time of year, it's putting on a Christmas version of the latter. Fashion, art, jewellery, homewares — if someone's been using their nimble fingers to make it, then you can probably trade your hard-earned cash for their hard work. In fact, there'll be a long list of artisans — 60 locals, actually — selling their wares. And, while you're shopping, you'll also be able to grab a bite at the onsite cafe and listen to live tunes from local musos. The BrisStyle Handmade Christmas Markets take place on Saturday, December 10, so that's when you can take care of your gift-buying needs. Head along from 9am–3pm, with it all taking place in the Queensland Museum's whale mall. Image: BrisStyle.
Everyone in Brisbane has been to the Ekka on more than one occasion, but have you heard of the food and drink-focused equivalent? There mightn't be any rides, sideshows, goldfish, fireworks or flu at the Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show; however, there are plenty of tasty delights of the edible and drinkable kind, all vying to be crowned the state's finest in their respective category. Don't worry — if you're wondering why you haven't come across RQFWS before, that's because it's not open to the public. Well, not usually, anyway. Grape Grazing by Night is a delicious, alcohol-infused exception. Yes, it's all there in the name. Here, vino is in the spotlight. That's the case for one celebratory evening in the Exhibition Building at Brisbane Showgrounds — although the event also showcases award-winning brews from the Royal Queensland Beer Awards. In 2025, the big boozy evening takes place on Friday, July 11, and hundreds of wines are always submitted for the judges' seal of approval. Now, they can also compete in another taste test: yep, that'd be yours. You'll sample award-winning tipples, snack on cheese, beef, lamb and other canapés, and chat with the experts, too — all while raising your glass, or several, to the best boozy grape drinks in the country.
The Single Guys: not the latest dating app, but rather a local specialty coffee roasting company and cafe in Kenmore. The boys behind the business are dedicated to all things coffee and seek to supply the finest single-origin beans in Brisbane. You can purchase their products online or stop by their suburban cafe and let them do the brewing for you. If you find yourself in the 'hood, be sure to indulge in a frothy flat white, lavish latte or creamy cappuccino topped with real chocolate shavings. The Single Guys prove their place is in the kitchen. The menu is full of all-day fare, from humble sourdough toast with spreads ($6 for two slices) to a brilliant Bircher muesli with quinoa, chia seeds, coconut yoghurt, honey and nuts ($13). If there's one reason to keep coming back to the Single Guys, it's got to be the Fruity French Toast with rosewater rhubarb, pistachios, creme anglais and Persian floss. There's also a winning B 'HAL' T — a take on the classic BLT but with the very welcome additions of grilled haloumi and rocket pesto ($13.5). A selection of cakes and pastries adorn the countertop — sometimes including gluten-free, cake-like nodo donuts — which are as eye-catching as the men in aprons behind it.
After serving up broth-filled bowls of soupy noodles in Carindale for the past few years, Shinobi Ramen is finally bringing its dishes to the CBD, all thanks to the opening of its second store. And, to celebrate, it's doling out free tastes, ready for ramen-loving Brisbanites to slurp up. On offer: free bowls of Shinobi's tonkotsu ramen, which features house-made noodles made with high-grade Japanese flour, broth simmered down from pork bones over 12 hours and eggs that've been marinated for more than a day. [caption id="attachment_752882" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Image: Shinobi Ramen.[/caption] Head along to Shinobi Ramen's new digs in Queen's Plaza in the Queen Street Mall from 11am–1pm on Saturday, November 30 — and yes, caveats do apply. To grab a bowl, you'll need to both follow and like the chain on either Facebook or Instagram. And, unsurprisingly, there's only one bowl available per person. Image: Shinobi Ramen.
Call it fate, call it symmetry, call it pairing the perfect place with the perfect spot: whichever fits, opening Viva La Cali in Fortitude Valley's California Lane instantly sounds right. Marc Grey and Steve Maiden are no strangers to the laneway, launching their first venue 1st Edition — a 22-seater themed around caped crusaders in its decor and menu — there back in 2021. Now, the pair is doing double duty with their new California-inspired joint. Announced in May and greeting patrons since early June, Viva La Cali sees Grey (Destino Sanctuary Cove) and chef Maiden (Baja Fortitude Valley) team up with fellow hospitality figure Morgan Webster to celebrate the cuisine and vibe of southern California — and, reflecting the region, to mix dishes from Central and South America into the menu as well. At this bar and restaurant, diners can chase an endless summer to match Brisbane's usually sunny climate. The palm tree-heavy artwork by Steen Jones, which wraps around one side of the venue including under the bar, heartily champions that mood. So does the setup in the 80-square-metre space, thanks to an openair and undercover abode that caters to 50 folks seated — including at a sizeable communal high table — or 70 cocktail-style. The menu unsurprisingly heroes tacos while also getting creative. A banh mi-inspired taco made with pulled chicken, pickled veg and chicken pate tops the must-try list, alongside pork belly with fermented cabbage, apple wild rice and smoked yoghurt; fish ceviche with cucumber, pickled jalapeño and mango; and beef carnitas with pineapple habanero salsa. Diners can also enjoy snacks such as Peruvian empanadas, beef tartare with egg yolk and the Viva La Cali's take on popcorn chicken with chimichurri. Short ribs, wagyu smoked in-house with cherry and apple wood (then paired with cactus salsa), and spiced eggplant with cacao mole are highlights among the bigger dishes, while the dessert options include picarones, aka crispy fried Peruvian doughnuts. "As chefs, we strive to create dining experiences that are vibrant, fresh and, in our case, a little bit quirky. It's about delighting the senses and pushing culinary boundaries," says Maiden. "When it comes to my favourite dishes, I simply can't resist the King River wagyu and the spiced eggplant." To wash all of the above down, margaritas are Viva La Cali's signature sip from a tequila-centric drinks list. Whether you go with the classic sip whipped up with house-made orange bitters, a version with coffee lime agave or a Tommy's, you'll be picking from a range featuring tipples that require a comprehensive gastro process to come to fruition — a source of pride for the venue's team. Among the standouts: the Watermelon Margy Hiiiii, made with house-made watermelon cordial and a natural watermelon rind sour strap; the Bugs Bunny Margarita, which uses house-made sour carrot juice; and chilli mango coconut slushies. Operating Wednesday–Sunday, Viva La Cali also does $79 two-hour bottomless margarita and bottomless taco sessions on Sundays, and will host California Lane laneway parties with live music, and local chef and kitchen takeovers. "Above all, our ultimate desire is for our guests to embark on a flavour-filled journey. We want them to feel a sense of casual relaxation, fun and energy. Picture Sundays with a contagious laneway party vibe, all while upholding our uncompromising standards of quality. We want to make a first great and longlasting impression," says Grey. Find Viva La Cali at California Lane, 22 McLachlan Street, Fortitude Valley — open 5pm–late Wednesday–Thursday and 12pm–12am Friday–Sunday.
Fancy seeing one of Brisbane's most popular spaces in a completely new light? Or, to be more accurate, with more than 40,000 different lights flickering over the top of its lush greenery? As every home renovation-focused TV show has told us time and time again, a splash of colour can make a world of difference — and, at Roma Street Parklands' Enchanted Garden, it can turn an already picturesque space into a bright, festive wonderland. This is a family-friendly affair, and it's returning from previous years. That said, it's a bit different in 2020. Firstly, it'll run on select dates between Friday, December 4–Sunday, January 17 — every day except Mondays and Tuesdays up until the week of Christmas, then every day until December 23, then returning from January 1 from Wednesday–Sunday. So, it'll initially be part of the city's Christmas fun, then it'll keep the merriment going into the new year. The reason for all of the above? Capacity limits and social distancing, of course. You'll also need to select a 45-minute time slot (starting at 6.30pm, 7.15pm, 8pm and 8.45pm) and nab a ticket. The first batch, up until Christmas, have actually already booked out — but you can join the waitlist. The second batch, for post-Xmas viewings, will become available from 9am on Friday, December 11. Attendees shouldn't go expecting the kind of setup that you've been ignoring on every street corner in Brissie's suburbs. Lights will twinkle and decorations will sparkle; however, this isn't a tacky DIY display. Nope, not at all. That said, a word of warning: people love all things glittery, so prepare to have as much company as is permitted in this chaotic year. If you're organised enough, you can always pack a picnic, arrive early and enjoy dinner beforehand. Plus, you can BYO drinks to one of the few public places that allows them in our fair town — although Roma Street Parklands' licensed areas are only licensed until 8pm. Food trucks will also be onsite from 5pm daily if you don't get around to taking care of your own nosh.
A slice of Italy has come to Bulimba and a waterside favourite has undergone facelift. After attracting eager diners to the end of Oxford Street since 2009, The Jetty has sailed off into the sunset, with Il Molo taking its place. The site has a whole new focus for the kitchen and bar, but owners Jason and Katie Coats are still nodding to their past restaurant in a fitting way. If you know much Italian, you'll be smiling at Il Molo's moniker: translated to English, it means The Jetty. Amidst black, white and wooden decor or on the sun-lit outdoor deck, patrons will still enjoy views of the Brisbane River at its most scenic; however the revamped space now serves up flavours and meals that will make you dream of a European jaunt. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner from Tuesday to Sunday, think prosciutto and mozzarella-filled omelettes, a seven-pizza menu, pappardelle pasta with a pork shoulder ragu, and lamb shanks with parmesan polenta and green tapenade. Il Molo also offers Italian coffees, pastries and cakes to take away, wine and beer for those after a stiffer drink, and a decadent range of desserts. Who can pass up sweet ricotta and orange zest-filled Sicilian cannoli? Italian chocolate and raspberry doughnuts with hazelnut gelato? Here, a change really is as good as a holiday — for your tastebuds, at least. Il Molo is now open at 1b Oxford Street, Bulimba, or check out more information on their website and Facebook page.
Once, not that long ago, Brisbane had never played host to a gin festival. Now, that's definitely no longer the case. They seem to pop up rather frequently, alongside plenty of other regular gin-focused nights, gatherings and parties. We do have several bars solely focused on gin in this city of ours, after all. They all have one thing in common, of course: oh-so-many juniper spirits. And another: oh-so-many G&Ts. That's exactly what's on the menu at Pig 'n' Whistle Brunswick Street's gin-fuelled addition to the fold, aka its returning Ginfused Festival. Taking place from 12–6pm on Saturday, March 26, this patch of the Valley will become a gin mecca — complete with plenty of artisanal gins, a heap of cheese and charcuterie to help soak up the botanical booze, cocktail masterclasses and live music. Distilleries including Brookie's, Four Pillars, Archie Rose, Nosferatu, Wildflower and more will be slinging drinks, and entry is free. You can also purchase tokens, food and masterclass sessions in advance, because there are multiple options for attending this fest. A $40 ticket can either include five drink tokens — or access to a masterclass, gin tastings and a cocktail. For $45, you'll nab two beverage tokens and a charcuterie or cheese plate to share. There's also a $39 option with two drink tokens and smoked salmon bruschetta, plus a $120 package that covers all the food and six drinks.
All it takes is two brownie biscuits and some buttercream filling. Yep, that's how cookie perfection comes about. Butterbing have been showering Melbourne with their tasty wares since 2014; however, come May 6 and 7, it's Brisbane's turn. That's when West End's Morning After will be treating cookie-loving tastebuds with biscuit deliciousness over one decadent weekend, but consider yourself warned — stocks are only available until sold out. There's four flavours on offer, so deciding which one you want might prove more than a little bit difficult. Salted caramel, peanut butter, vanilla and Nutella... they all sound so tempting. If you opt to try them all, that's okay. Now that's how you get your Saturday or Sunday started.
If you looking to write something poignant but can't seem to get the words to form in your mind or onto the page, you may just need a bit of inspiration to kick your creativity into gear. Some words of wisdom from the mouths of some of history's best writers and poets may help you do just that. From T.S. Eliot to George Orwell, here are some creative tips to help you put pen to paper. Elmore Leonard Anton Chekhov F. Scott Fitzgerald George Orwell Ernest Hemingway Kurt Vonnegut Mark Twain Saul Bellow T.S. Eliot G.K. Chesterton Gertrude Stein Toni Morrison [Via Buzzfeed]
For a couple of years now, Queensland Vegan Markets has been popping up around town to take care of your cruelty-free shopping and eating. Sometimes, it heads north, setting up a berth at Toombul until the floods, and then moving to Portside. Sometimes, it ventures south instead — which is where the South Brisbane Twilight Vegan Markets come in. Once a month, you can browse, buy and grab a bite as the sun sets at Mount Gravatt Showgrounds, all on a Friday night. For the rest of 2022, that involves heading along from 5–9pm on Friday, October 7, Friday, November 4 and Friday, December 2. On the plant-based menu: usually everything from burgers, nachos, pizza and pasta to coconut ice cream sundaes, doughnuts, cupcakes, fudge, brownies and almond croissants. Entry is free, as is parking. You will need to pay for a game of mini golf if that takes your fancy — because there are three different courses at the showgrounds. And, the market is dog-friendly — although not on the greens.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology looks like a rad place to study. Dotted around Killian Court in the university grounds are SOFT Rockers, solar powered lounge chairs which let you recharge yourself and your electronics between classes. The seats rotate on an axis to soak up the sun, and the rocking motion created when you sit inside generates extra electricity. All of which powers three USB ports plus a light strip on the inside of the chair. Professor Sheila Kennedy and a team of students created this concept for the Festival of Art+Science+Technology (FAST) as a sustainable alternative to "conventional 'hard' urban infrastructure." [Via Engadget]
Wearable technology has been around for a few years now, but hasn't really taken off. Google Glass tried to get everyone to stick a computer on their face, while the Apple Watch attempted to move smartphones onto everyone's wrists — but, as cool and suitably futuristic as both are, they're hardly must-have gadgets. That's where Snapchat comes in. A few months ago they announced they would make their first foray into the hardware realm with Spectacles, a pair of sunglasses that can capture ten-second bursts of video. And now they're officially available to the public. But you can't just go online and order a pair. Oh no — that'd be way too easy. Instead, Snapchat will be selling the specs from a roaming yellow vending machine (that doesn't look unlike a Minion). Punters have to check the Snapchat website to see where it will be set up each day. Earlier today it was at Venice Beach in LA. pic.twitter.com/ECQhbYZBPa — Spectacles (@Spectacles) November 10, 2016 So what do the Spectacles actually do? Well, they're basically a cheaper version of Google's eyewear with one specific function: to take Snapchats. But as well as turning the act of taking photos into a mostly hands-free task (unless you can press buttons with your mind, you're still going to have to lift a finger to the frames to start each clip, sadly), Spectacles boast two major drawcards. Firstly, they look like regular glasses, rather than Robocop-like attire, complete with black, teal and coral styles. And even better, they're going to be affordable, at $130 USD a pair. Other features include a 115-degree lens designed to mimic the human field of vision, as well as the ability to capture circular images to approximate our natural perspective. And yes, everything you record with your new toy will then upload to your Snapchat account, after connecting to your phone via wifi. No word as yet regarding a local release date. By Sarah Ward and Lauren Vadnjal.
No, this isn't The Onion or an ad for Portlandia. It may be the most hipster headline we've written for some time, but the news is interesting all the same. In 2002, New York-based artist Peter Coffin began a project called Music For Plants. Exploring the idea that plants can hear and respond to different types of sounds, he enlisted the help of a bunch of famous musicians and got to recording music in greenhouses all over the world. Twelve years later, he's released the relaxing, flower child goodness unto all of the internet and it's safe to say your Sunday listening has got significantly more chilled. With special compositions performed by Sonic Youth, Ariel Pink, Mice Parade, Yoko Ono, and members of Animal Collective, the two volumes Coffin has released via Soundcloud are surprisingly star-studded. Though you may find a couple of them familiar — Ariel Pink's offering 'Passing the Petal 2 U' also appeared on their 2007 EP Scared Famous — the general audience for most tracks has so far consisted of ferns and flowers. Of course, this is something you can deduct from the general meandering, floaty, chillwave style of both volumes. Most tracks are characterised by birds quietly chirping alongside delicate guitar picking, slow-paced melody and, one happy occasion, a vibraphone makes an appearance. One wouldn't usually pick Sonic Youth for such a collection, but their instrumental track 'Creepers and Climbers' fits in well; the perfect choice for the alternative pot plant among the bunch. Coffin has released both volumes online as publicity for his recent installation in New York. With the goal of recording a third volume, artists such as Kelela, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Teengirl Fantasy are currently bunkered down in a gallery greenhouse serenading more lucky foliage. Though we fully realise you are not a plant of any kind, we still recommend listening to the volumes below if you're after a weekend chill session. For optimum enjoyment, we suggest listening to the music while basking in the sun or being lightly sprinkled with a Spring rain. Though the music has not yet been tested on human brains, we're secretly holding out hope that it will somehow make us slightly taller. Via Pitchfork and Dazed Digital.
First postponed from July to October, Splendour in the Grass has now pulled the plug on all plans for a 2020 festival, announcing today, June 10, that its 20th-anniversary event will now be held in winter 2021. There is some good news, though, with the long lead time, the festival is intending to rebook as much of its 2020 lineup as possible. And, it's one helluva lineup. Flume was slated to head back Down Under, together with IGOR-creator Tyler, The Creator and The Strokes, who were set to perform their first new album in seven years, The New Abnormal. Of course, these artists heading to North Byron Parklands all hangs on the reopening of Australia's borders — which we hope, with a vaccine slated for 10-15 months, will be a reality by next winter. If the borders aren't open, Splendour in the Grass will still have a solid local lineup, including the one-and-only Midnight Oil, who have recently started recording music together for the first time in two decades. Also part of the OG local contingent, and hopefully set to return next July: Stella Donnelly, Violent Soho, Thelma Plum, Jack River and Alice Ivy. You can check out the full original lineup over here. https://www.facebook.com/splendourinthegrass/photos/a.140253397435/10158443101642436/ If you've already purchased a ticket for SITG 2020, you'll be happy to know that it's valid for the 2021 edition. If you haven't, more tickets will be available from 12pm on Monday, June 15. Yes, next week. Buying a festival tickets 13 months ahead is certainly novel, and kinda strange, but 2020 isn't so normal. The exact details — and lineup — for SITG 2021 are still up in the air, but we'll let you know as soon as anything is confirmed. Splendour in the Grass has been postponed again and will now take over North Byron Bay Parkland from July 23–25, 2021. All 2020 tickets are valid for 2021, and new tickets will go on sale at 12pm on Monday, June 15 via splendourinthegrass.com. Top image: Byron Bay's Splendour in the Grass 2017 by Charlie Hardy
Byron Bay is a standout spot. An iconic holiday destination for Aussies and celebrities alike, the coastal town draws crowds year-round with its gorgeous beaches, thriving wellness scene and bottomless good vibes. Byron does, however, get a bit crowded in the summertime. Escape the summer crowds and embrace the peace and quiet of Byron Bay during winter instead. Enjoy long walks on the beach, scenic hikes in the hinterland, and indulge in a laid-back lifestyle designed to unplug you from the fast-paced nine to five, a lifestyle that makes this town a special spot. We've teamed up with Crystalbrook Byron to give one lucky CP reader and a plus one that very getaway. Embrace the beauty of northern NSW with a stay in the luxurious Crystalbrook Byron — which is offering a special treat for anyone that's in need of a break, an intimate winter getaway for you and a plus one that includes: two nights of accommodation in a luxe suite, daily breakfast in Forest Byron Bay, complimentary bubbles, $500 spa credit in Eléme Day Spa and return flights from your home city. All that comes out to quite a lovely experience in one of NSW's loveliest towns. And if you fancy a return visit, you can join the Crystalbrook Crowd to get 20% off bookings until Saturday, September 30. To enter this giveaway, all you need to do is complete the form below. [competition]904144[/competition]
Who isn't going to see Avengers: Age of Ultron? Since 2008, almost everyone has watched at least one movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this being the 11th. It's the TV approach to film, with an episode or two released each year. By now, we've all consumed enough to get hooked on superhero shenanigans. Such a history might seem like a blessing, sending audiences to cinemas; however, it can also be a curse. Viewers know what Marvel excellence looks like; they've seen it, and they've laughed and cried along. They also know when a comic book adaptation doesn't make the grade. And, in good but not great efforts, they can spot the formula at work, see when a film is stuffed with a few too many characters, and recognise when it feels like it's going through the motions. That's where Avengers: Age of Ultron lands, a by-the-numbers outing not without its issues, but still enjoyable. Everyone's favourite gang of better-than-average folks is back, and this time they're responsible for their new worst enemy. That'd be the titular addition to the fold, a program with artificial intelligence created by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) in the name of world peace. Alas, after taking robotic form, Ultron (voiced by James Spader) has different ideas about how to protect the planet. Basically, it's the Frankenstein narrative, as the creation turns against its creator and the uncaring masses. It's not an original story, but it remains intriguing, exploring Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) coming to terms with the reality of their powers, roles and ability to play god — and Thor (Chris Hemsworth), too, even though he genuinely is one. Joss Whedon being Joss Whedon, the returning writer/director dresses it all up with more than a few complications — think ideological clashes and romantic subplots — plus comic touches. He's simply doing what he does, as fans of his television shows like Buffy and Firefly will recognise. He crafts scenes of spectacular chaos and continent-hopping carnage thankfully given time to play out, and wraps up the standard set-pieces and fight sequences in pithy quips. Yes, you've seen and heard much of it before, and yes, the film can never quite shake that feeling. Instead, flitting from one drama to the next and giving everyone their moment, it relies upon the fact that you already know and love the characters, the actors and their camaraderie. While spending time with the bulk of the bunch and spotting other familiar faces is hardly a chore, veering off in different directions is certainly welcome, particularly when twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen) — aka Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch — join the fold. That's where the entertaining yet never game-changing effort shines brightest, actually: in setting up the next offerings in a long list of Marvel movies, including two Avengers sequels already slated for 2018 and 2019 respectively. Age of Ultron may not be the best instalment so far, and you'll walk out well aware that what you just watched was only the latest chapter, but you're still enthused for things to come. Next stop: Ant-Man.
German artist Martin Klimas is painting with sound, endeavouring to answer the question: 'what does music look like?' Klimas put his idea into practice by splattering paint on a scrim, placed over a speaker while playing music. By turning the volume up, the paint colourfully vibrates off the scrim allowing Klimas to seize these moments as photographs. Through this series, Klimas has captured what music would look like as a physical object. Taking over 6 months and 1000 photographs to create, music from the likes of Miles Davis, Kraftwerk and Steve Reich and Musicians was featured. It makes you wonder what it would look like to have your favourite song framed. [via Gizmodo & NY Times]
It's easy enough to understand why so many people move from sunless England to Australia each year, but it's pretty rare for a whole restaurant and its staff to pack up their bags collectively. Yet that's just what's happening with one of the world's most famous chefs, Heston Blumenthal, and his molecular gastronomy stronghold The Fat Duck. They'll be shutting down the iconic Berkshire restaurant and 'relocating' it to the Crown Melbourne for six months. "This is not a popup restaurant," Heston obliquely insisted at this morning's announcement. Although The Fat Duck won't be opening until February 2015, you'll probably need to develop your booking strategy soon if you want to sample the likes of snail porridge, egg and bacon ice-cream and the aurally enhanced Sound of the Sea. The sensational food experience ought to wash away that bitter taste you get from having to pass through the casino to reach it. Funnily enough, The Fat Duck is not the only world-renowned restaurant to try an international exchange: Rene Redzepi yesterday tweeted that Noma would be moving its operation to Tokyo for two months in 2015. If these two chefs are on board, expect to see many more taking up the experiment soon. Heston's Melbourne non-popup temporary restaurant will leave a different, permanent one in its wake, dubbed Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. Meanwhile, rumours of a Sydney Blumenthal excursion abound.
As disclosed in the very first trailer for Ripley, not one but two actors with its title role on their resume appear in this latest take on the eponymous conman. Prior to Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers) stepping into the part here, and magnificently, John Malkovich (The New Look) did the honours in 2002 movie Ripley's Game. The latter isn't reprising his past work in Netflix's eight-episode series, which streams from Thursday, April 4. He's tasked with bringing an entirely different character to life, and firmly as a cameo at that. But his involvement late in the piece offers crucial reinforcement of a fact that's baked into this new adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 book The Talented Mr Ripley, and also into all versions: that while most folks won't attempt to level up their lives by social climbing via murder and fraud, yearning for a sunnier existence is as intrinsic for humanity as breathing. Screen Ripley iterations keep coming, with Highsmith's five-novel series continuing to fascinate readers, audiences and filmmakers for that very reason: everyone dreams of having more than they've got. In the darkest fashion, so explores a story that's given rise to 1960 crime-thriller Purple Noon, as led by French acting icon Alain Delon; 1999's Matt Damon (Oppenheimer)-starring The Talented Mr Ripley, the definitive take until now; and Scott proving slippery as one of pop culture's most-famous swindlers. Malkovich's stint in the part was based on a different book, which shared that film's name. 1977's The American Friend with Dennis Hopper (as helmed by Perfect Days director Wim Wenders) took its cues from the same source. Barry Pepper (Bass Reeves) featured in 2005's Ripley Under Ground, hailing from yet another novel. Each adds layers to a picture of envy and opportunism that'll never stop being painted, even if no more Ripley-related fare ever reaches TV or cinemas again. Indeed, as Netflix's miniseries follows a man of far more modest means than the friend that he's suddenly glued to, his overt coveting of a life less ordinary than his own, plus his sinister scheme to lie and kill his way to a shinier existence, another title might come to mind. It was evident in late 2023 that Saltburn owed Highsmith and Tom Ripley a debt. It will never stop being apparent. Again, such tales — about Tom or not — resound like echoes of each other because they'll always be linked to an inescapable aspect of human nature. Take note of Ripley's monochrome colour scheme: there's nothing gleaming about the ways that Tom goes about claiming his fantasies, no matter how gorgeous the scenery. Boasting The Night Of's Steven Zaillian as its sole writer and director — joining a list of credits that includes penning Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York and The Irishman, and also winning an Oscar for Schindler's List — this jump into the Ripley realm doesn't splash around black-and-white hues as a mere stylistic preference. The setting is still coastal Italy at its most picturesque, and therefore a place that most would want to revel in visually; Anthony Minghella, The Talented Mr Ripley's director a quarter-century back, did so with an intoxicating glow. For Zaillian, however, stripping away the warm rays and beaches and hair, blue seas and skies, and tanned skin as well, ensures that all that glitters is never gold or even just golden in tone. There's never even a glint of a hint of a travelogue aesthetic, with viewers confronted with the starkness of Tom's choices and actions, the shadows that he persists in lurking in and the impossibility of ever grasping everything that he desires in full colour. On the page and on the screen both before and now, the overarching story remains the same, though. It's the early 60s rather than the late 50s, but Tom is in New York, running fake debt-collection schemes and clinging to the edges of high-society circles, when he's made a proposal that he was never going to refuse. Herbert Greenleaf (filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan, who has also acted in his own three features You Can Count on Me, Margaret and Manchester by the Sea) enlists him to sail to Europe to reunite with a friend, the shipping magnate's son Dickie (Johnny Flynn, One Life). As a paid gig, Tom is to convince the business heir to finally return home. But Dickie has no intention of giving up his Mediterranean leisure as he lackadaisically pursues painting — and more passionately spends his time with girlfriend Marge Sherwood (Dakota Fanning, The Equalizer 3) — to join the family business. The complications hampering Tom's job remain familiar, too. He's a grifter who isn't being truthful about being old university pals with Dickie. He wants his welcoming friend's privilege as his own, plus his Italian idyll — ravenously and determinedly so. Marge is instantly suspicious, including of whether there's an amorous angle to Tom's intentions. Soon, the entire situation turns desperate and deadly. Freddie Miles (Eliot Sumner, Pretty Red Dress), one of Dickie's acquaintances, is also far from welcoming. And when Inspector Pietro Ravini (Maurizio Lombardi, Romeo è Giulietta) starts investigating the deaths that begin to surround Tom and Dickie, the former's deceptions keep mounting. Matching his protagonist's mindset, Zaillian brings a cool, calculated air to Ripley — and not just through its crisp and meticulously imagery, which is lensed with an eye for sumptuous beauty tainted by ominous urges, and for keen observation, with command by cinematographer Robert Elswit (Bob Marley: One Love, and also an Oscar-winner for There Will Be Blood). This masterful telling relishes noir as its guiding genre and mood, but patiently. It lingers and waits, as Tom does. It stares on probingly from all angles. It isn't in a rush for a second. Accordingly, Ripley is more intimate, especially in the ins and outs of Tom's decisions and their messy aftermaths, than its predecessors. It's also less enamoured with its central figure's charms. It dwells on minutiae, all of it revealing, whether it's the choice of a robe for Dickie or the all-seeing glare of an apartment-block cat. And when, earlier than might be expected, Tom and Dickie take to the ocean in San Remo, Zaillian's handling of the cleanup — its physical arduousness, but also the way that Tom knows exactly what he's doing — says everything about the show's key character study. Walking in Dickie's shoes is an act of treachery within Ripley's narrative. Following in Delon, Hopper, Damon, Malkovich and Pepper's footsteps feels fated for Scott — that's how mesmerising he is in the part. The ease of his Fleabag hot priest, the haunting longing simmering in his stunning All of Us Strangers performance, the guile of his time as Moriarty in Sherlock: blend them together and that's just his starting point. He knows, as Zaillian does, that it isn't enough to simply see why Dickie embraces Tom's presence, and why Marge is wary and Freddie dismissive in tandem. In those roles, Flynn, Fanning and Sumner are all excellent. Lombardi is scene-stealingly gripping, also. But to watch Scott as Tom is to peer at someone who could be anyone, and yet would do anything in the quest to be someone other than himself. Ripley is a limited series, but it's now time to begin pining for Scott to return in adaptations of Ripley Under Ground, Ripley's Game, The Boy Who Followed Ripley and Ripley Under Water as well. Check out the trailer for Ripley below: Ripley streams via Netflix from Thursday, April 4, 2024. Images: Netflix.
Cosmos at the ready. When Sex and the City and its sequel series And Just Like That... are streaming across the screen, that's the only drink that will do. Your next excuse to sip vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice and lime juice will arrive in June, when Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon all return to the New York-based characters they've been playing on and off for a quarter century. Yes, that's when And Just Like That... will be back for season two. If you've spent any part of the past two-and-a-half decades dreaming about being a fabulously dressed Big Apple writer who seems to do very little work but can still afford a fantasy wardrobe — or if you've just filled it drinking a lot of pink-coloured cocktails — then you'll already be excited. And, you'll know that the first season of And Just Like That... was both announced and premiered in 2021, 17 years after Sex and the City wrapped up its HBO run. Two years later, the show will start dropping its second season from Thursday, June 22 on Binge in Australia, this time spanning 11 episodes — one more than season one — and bringing back another familiar Sex and the City face. As seen in the first teaser trailer for season two, and also first revealed back at the beginning of 2023, John Corbett (To All the Boys: Always and Forever) is reprising his role as Aidan Shaw. He'll return to make Carrie's post-Big love life even more complicated after the world's most infamous Peloton workout. Also on the way: more of Carrie (Parker, Hocus Pocus 2), Miranda (Nixon, The Gilded Age) and Charlotte (Davis, Deadly Illusions) going about their lives and friendships in their 50s, when things are even more complicated than they were two decades ago. Season two will also feature Sara Ramírez (Madam Secretary), Sarita Choudhury (Ramy), Nicole Ari Parker (Chicago PD), Karen Pittman (The Morning Show), Mario Cantone (Better Things), David Eigenberg (Chicago Fire), Evan Handler (Power), Christopher Jackson (Space Oddity), Niall Cunningham (Poker Face), Cathy Ang (My Best Friend's Exorcism) and Alexa Swinton (Old), all similarly returning from season one. A reminder: due to Kim Cattrall's absence, And Just Like That... has been badged as a "new chapter' in the Sex and the City story, rather than an additional season of the existing 1998–2004 program. Parker, Davis and Nixon are also executive producers on And Just Like That..., alongside Michael Patrick King, who worked as a writer, director and executive producer on the original (and on the two terrible 2008 and 2010 Sex and the City movies). Check out the first teaser for And Just Like That..., season two below: And Just Like That... season two will start streaming via Binge in Australia from Thursday, June 22. Images: HBO.
Caravanserai has been serving traditional and delicious Turkish cuisine to the good people of Brisbane for many years. You're sure to be transported from Dornoch Terrace to Istanbul within moments of entering the restaurant, and as your eyes adjust to the dimly lit interior, you'll notice tables topped with textiles and colourful candles which create an authentic atmosphere. The space is open, large and able to cater for both groups or more intimate tables of two. Relish in the ambience for a moment and then get on with the feasting because this menu is best enjoyed when multiple morsels are ordered. The hummus is smooth, creamy and perfectly paprika-ed. Order the dip duo served with babagounosh and fresh, warm turkish bread or sample it as part of the Caravanserai's meze plate. For other entrees, check out the güzel, or mussels in butter and white wine sauce (we can guarantee you will be mopping up every last mouthful with the accompanying turkish bread). Once you've warmed up your stomach, you'll be ready to move on to something more substantial. The kofta have enough kick to remind you meatballs don't have to be Italian, and come served with a delightful garlic sauce on aromatic rice. But if decision-making isn't your strong suit, it doesn't matter because a banquet is the perfect way to enjoy Turkish cuisine. And with a minimum of four people required to order, its the perfect excuse to get the gang together for feasting and fun times (it is BYO after all). Caravanserai is an enduring delight. No pretension, just good food and a cracking atmosphere.
In 1996, Independence Day topped the worldwide box office. In music, Los del Rio's 'Macarena' did the same on America's Billboard chart. And, on television, 3rd Rock From the Sun and Sabrina the Teenage Witch made their debuts. Get nostalgic for that year, no matter whether you lived through it or not, and you'll likely think about all or some of the above — plus everything from fellow movie hits Twister and Scream through to tunes such as 'Ironic' and '1979'. Well, unless you're the women of returning 2021–2022 standout Yellowjackets, that is. For Shauna (Melanie Lynskey, The Last of Us), Natalie (Juliette Lewis, Welcome to Chippendales), Taissa (Tawny Cypress, Billions), Misty (Christina Ricci, Wednesday), Lottie (Simone Kessell, Muru) and Van (Lauren Ambrose, Servant), 1996 will always be the year that their plane plunged into the Canadian wilderness, stranding them for 19 tough months. As teenagers (as played by The Kid Detective's Sophie Nélisse, The Book of Boba Fett's Sophie Thatcher, Scream VI's Jasmin Savoy, Shameless' Samantha Hanratty, Mad Max: Fury Road's Courtney Eaton and Santa Clarita Diet's Liv Hewson), they were members of the show's titular high-school soccer squad, travelling from their New Jersey home town to Seattle for a national tournament, when the worst eventuated. Films, songs and shows couldn't be more trivial when an incident like that sears itself in your history. [caption id="attachment_894477" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Colin Bentley/Showtime.[/caption] Afterwards, life would never be the same — not during the time they spent fending for themselves in the forest, and not a quarter-century later as well. In both its instantly addictive Emmy-nominated debut season and just-arrived second go-around, which streams weekly via Australia's Paramount+ and Aotearoa's Neon from Friday, March 24, Yellowjackets flits between these two time frames. Hailing from creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson (Dispatches From Elsewhere), it openly courts nostalgia itself in the process. References abound to pop-culture touchstones of the era, the soundtrack is a dark and grungy 90s dream, and the show's theme tune 'No Return' echoes with killer throwback vibes (even if Shrill's Craig Wedren and Anna Waronker, the program's resident composers, created it anew for the series). All that looking back cuts deep, though, with Yellowjackets pondering what happens when someone's yearning for days long passed is forever tainted by trauma. There's far more than wistfulness lost, robbed and infected at the heart of this survivalist thriller, of course; when it premiered, it was understandably pegged as Lost-meets-Lord of the Flies with an Alive twist, a neat but accurate-enough basic summary. All isn't always what it seems as Shauna and company endeavour to endure in the elements. Also, tearing into each other occurs more than just metaphorically. Plus, literally sinking one's teeth in has been teased and flirted with since episode one, too. But Yellowjackets will always be about what it means to face something so difficult that it forever colours and changes who you are — and constantly leaves a reminder of who you might've been. That's where the series' jumping back and forth remains so crucial, exploring shattering turns of events and the choices they spark, then watching their ripples keep biting hard decades later. When Yellowjackets ended its first season, it was with as many questions as answers. Naturally, it starts season two in the same way. In the present, mere days have elapsed — and Shauna and her husband Jeff (Warren Kole, Shades of Blue), who was also her best friend Jackie's (Ella Purnell, Sweetbitter) boyfriend before the crash, are trying to avoid drawing any attention over the disappearance of Shauna's artist lover Adam (Peter Gadiot, Queen of the South). Tai has been elected as a state senator, but her nocturnal activities have seen her wife Simone (Rukiya Bernard, Van Helsing) move out with their son Sammy (Aiden Stoxx, Supergirl). Thanks to purple-wearing kidnappers, Nat has been spirited off, leaving Misty desperate to find her — even enlisting fellow citizen detective Walter (Elijah Wood, Come to Daddy) to help. These narrative threads each connect backwards, where two months have gone by since season one wrapped up. There, as winter makes searching for food and staying warm an immense feat, Shauna is heavily pregnant and also severely grief-stricken. Van thinks that she has a solution for Tai's nighttime departures, but they're stubborn. Nat spends her days scouring the woods with Travis (Kevin Alves, Locke & Key), one of their coach's sons, for his missing brother Javi (Luciano Leroux, A Million Little Things) — and her nights attempting to counter Lottie's "witch-doctor messiah" turn. And Misty has a new pal there, too, courtesy of theatre devotee (and fellow survivor and soccer-team member) Crystal (Nuha Jes Izman, FBI). [caption id="attachment_894479" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kailey Schwerman/Showtime.[/caption] Prepare to get meaty: where the rightly buzzed-about initial season was happy mostly hinting at its wilderness secrets, season two ramps up the eeriness, chills and gore. Seeing still isn't always believing in Yellowjackets, but the pivotal crash keeps unleashing vicious consequences — and savagery not only festers but grows the longer that the 90s team is on its own in the cold, lacking a secure source of sustenance, and fraying mentally and as a group. Their predicament never stops being visceral; however, Yellowjackets has always known that the troubles firing up in everyone's hearts and heads are just ferocious. Indeed, cue a bigger dose of fantasy sequences, hallucinations and the supernatural, as the series retains its commitment to examining how the bleakest and most brutal twists of fate, and the options they inspire, turn coping into a lifelong struggle. In Yellowjackets' two timelines, it couldn't have assembled a better cast to slice into trauma, coping, yearning and ripping apart nostalgia — and anchor a series that's a psychological horror show, black comedy and teen drama as well. While its mysteries and cliffhangers made the first season make-a-date weekly viewing, Yellowjackets doesn't merely survive but thoroughly thrives because it feels so acutely human. Its women, then and now, navigate messy situations that no one should face in their worst nightmares. And yet, how these ladies process that fact, and persist — even how they fracture and fight, escape into whatever assists, latch onto the tiniest slivers of hope, and make devastating decisions, right and wrong alike — remains intensely relatable thanks to both complex writing and stunning performances. Lynskey, Lewis and Ricci on the same bill is another of the show's 90s dreams, and that trio is well-paired with Cypress, Ambrose and Kessell, not to mention well-matched by their younger counterparts. This ravenous TV feast will continue, too, with Yellowjackets unsurprisingly renewed for season three in advance of season two. Check out the full trailer for Yellowjackets season two below: Season two of Yellowjackets streams weekly from Friday, March 24 via Paramount+ in Australia and Neon in New Zealand. Read our review of season one. Top image: Kailey Schwerman/Showtime.
'I Miss You' isn't just the name of a beloved blink-182 song. It isn't just a track they'll likely bust out on their 2024 tour Down Under, either. It's also the vibe being felt around Australia right now, clearly, because the band's tour keeps proving a huge hit — and adding new dates. Last week, blink-182 revealed that they were reforming their classic lineup of Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker, then hitting the road — and that Aussie fans would get their chance to see the end result live in February 2024. Then, they added more dates before tickets to the first gigs even went on sale, because the demand was already that huge. Now, another batch of shows is being added again. The first run of dates is already sold out, with tickets to those shows going on sale on Thursday, October 20. Now, one extra show per city has been added in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide — and tickets for those are up for grabs at 12pm local time today, Friday, October 21. Perth residents can now try to score tickets for Thursday, February 8 at RAC Arena, Melburnians can do the same for Monday, February 26 at Rod Laver Arena, and Sydneysiders can have an extra shot in Friday, February 23 at Qudos Bank Arena. As for Brisbanites, they have a new date on Wednesday, February 21 at Brisbane Entertainment Centre to pick from. DeLonge, Hoppus and Barker will play with Rise Against in support, starting their Australian run in Perth, then head to Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane — then back to Sydney and Melbourne. For three decades, blink-182 have been the voice inside punk and rock fans' heads, especially in the late 90s and early 00s thanks to albums Enema of the State and Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. Now that they're back together after DeLonge left the band in 2015, blink-182 are also recording new music together, with single 'Edging' out now. Expect to hear everything from 'Dammit' and 'Josie' to 'What's My Age Again?' and 'All the Small Things' live, though. BLINK-182 2024 AUSTRALIAN TOUR: Thursday, February 8–Friday, February 9 — RAC Arena, Perth Sunday, February 11 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide Tuesday, February 13–Wednesday, February 14 + Monday, February 26 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Friday, February 16–Saturday, February 17 + Friday, February 23 — Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Monday, February 19, Tuesday, February 20 + Wednesday, February 21 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane Blink-182 will tour Australia and New Zealand in February 2024. Tickets to new shows in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne go on sale at 12pm on Friday, October 21 local time. For more information, head to the Live Nation website. Top image: Jack Bridgland.
The man knows how to rock a hat: Timothy Olyphant (Full Circle), that is. He knows how to play a determined lawman with a piercing stare and an unassailable sense of honour, too, and television has been all the better for it for nearing two decades. Pop culture's revival culture has benefited as well — first with HBO's 2004–06 western masterpiece Deadwood returning as 2019's Deadwood: The Movie, and now with 2010–15's US Marshal drama Justified making a comeback as miniseries Justified: City Primeval. Olyphant was perfect in both the first time around, and proves the same the second. Indeed, Deadwood: The Movie's only problem was that it was just a made-for-TV film, not a another season; Justified: City Primeval's sole issue is that it spans only eight episodes, and that a next date with the Stetson-wearing Raylan Givens hasn't yet been locked in Streaming Down Under via Disney+, this continuation of Justified's initial six seasons arrives eight years after the show ended for viewers, but also finds Raylan with a 15-year-old daughter. It's with Willa (Vivian Olyphant, Timothy Olyphant's real-life offspring) that he's hitting the road when a couple of criminals reroute their plans. Now based in Miami, Florida rather than Justified's Harlan, Kentucky, Raylan is meant to be taking Willa to camp, only to be forced to detour to Detroit, Michigan to testify. It isn't a brief stop, after the Deputy US Marshal makes the wrong impression on Judge Alvin Guy (Keith David, Nope), then is personally requested to investigate an assassination attempt against the same jurist — teaming up with local detectives who are adamant about Detroit's particular ways, including Maureen Downey (Marin Ireland, The Boogeyman), Norbert Beryl (Norbert Leo Butz, The Girl From Plainville) and Wendell Robinson (Victor Williams, The Righteous Gemstones). You can take Raylan out of rural America and into the Motor City, as Justified: City Primeval does, but even with silver hair atop his calm glare he's still Raylan. So, he'll always stride around like a lone gunslinger who has seen it all, will confront anything, and is perennially valiant and resolute — and silently exasperated about humanity's worst impulses, too — as Justified: City Primeval welcomes. New location, passing years, the responsibilities of fatherhood, more and more lowlife crooks: they haven't changed this character, and audiences wouldn't have wanted that to happen. One of Justified: City Primeval's chief joys is how comfortably that Raylan, and Olyphant playing him, steps straight back onto the screen like the figure, thespian and franchise never left. In Detroit, the Deputy US Marshal meets his latest lawbreaking adversary in Clement Mansell (Boyd Holbrook, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), aka the Oklahoma Wildman, whose love of singing The White Stripes and Beach Boys songs is only matched by his penchant for wreaking illicit havoc. Mansell is ruthless, including in committing murder, and also enlisting reluctant past acquaintance Marcus "Sweety" Sweeton (Vondie Curtis-Hall, Blue Bayou) — a musician who almost made it onto George Clinton's 'Atomic Dog' and now owns a dive bar — in his violent rampages. He's equally calculating in using his girlfriend Sandy Stanton (Adelaide Clemens, Under the Banner of Heaven) to conjure up a shakedown scam with ties to the Albanian mob, all while promising her that they'll get a big payday and get away. Even his attorney Carolyn Wilder (Aunjanue Ellis, an Oscar-nominee for King Richard), who has seen more than her fair share of dirtbags because that's the gig, knows that he's a sociopath. Seasoned Justified viewers will spy Justified: City Primeval's overarching narrative path going in. As long as they've seen a crime drama before, newcomers will as well. Raylan has a villain to take down in a deeply corrupt world — but, taking over from the OG series' creator Graham Yost (Silo, and an executive producer here), fellow Justified veterans Dave Andron (Snowfall) and Michael Dinner (Electric Dreams) can't be accused of connecting easy dots or making obvious choices. Both before and now, Justified has always been as much about painting rich portraits of its characters, good and bad, as it has been about its righteous-versus-evil face-offs. So, Justified: City Primeval delivers ample intriguing new additions, most of which pair up with Raylan so winningly that they could earn their own spinoffs. A series about Raylan and Willa, her teen rebelliousness bouncing off his perpetually wearied mood? The younger Olyphant makes a memorable impression, and adds seeing more of that dynamic to the wishlist. An odd-couple cop setup with Raylan and Robinson? That'd also work. Raylan's pursuit of the unhinged Mansell, and the latter's eagerness to keep it going, give Justified: City Primeval a compelling duel — and plenty of mirroring; they both drip charm, are whip-smart and canny, just on opposite sides of the law-and-order divide — but Raylan and Wilder are the show's meatiest duo. Sharing a sense of exhaustion, the Marshal and the lawyer each understand what it's like to ride through a murky and compromised world, endeavour to try to find a way to cope, and have to live with the costs. (That Ellis is as phenomenal as the older Olyphant assists.) 2023 marks 30 years since Raylan first appeared in print, in the pages of iconic crime writer Elmore Leonard's 1993 novel Pronto. While he returned in 1995 sequel Riding the Rap, it was 2001 short story Fire in the Hole that inspired Justified. Once the show became a hit, Leonard wrote 2012's Raylan, in what'd become his last published tome before his death in 2013. To revisit the character with Justified: City Primeval, however, Andron and Dinner dive into the author's back catalogue elsewhere, adapting and reworking 1980's City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit. The text's full title virtually screams for Raylan. On the screen, he slides in so seamlessly that it feels like he's always been in this tale. That's a testament to a series that doesn't just know its protagonist, but the work of the man who created him. Raylan might be Leonard's best character, but his bibliography is a wealth of riches — complete with Out of Sight, which became Steven Soderbergh's sparkling crime caper and shares a connection to Justified: City Primeval; and Rum Punch, which Quentin Tarantino turned into the sublime Jackie Brown. Justified: City Primeval excels at bringing Raylan Givens back to the screen, and Timothy Olyphant in the part. It's fantastic as a Leonard adaptation. And, although visually filled with thematically appropriate shadows, it's as shiny as Raylan's badge as a revival. The widespread trend keeps embracing beloved programs from years gone by, but the difference between the very best — see: Twin Peaks, aka the most stunning example there is and likely ever will be, and also Deadwood: The Movie, Veronica Mars, and the recent Party Down and Futurama — and the rest is considerable. Justified was a superb modern western from the get-go. Now Justified: City Primeval is a first-rate city-set neo-western that knows how to feature its familiar ingredients expertly, evolve them, and use them to comment on what changes and doesn't about humanity. Check out the trailer for Justified: City Primeval below: Justified: City Primeval streams via Disney+. Images: FX.
In The Guest Edit we hand the reins over to some of the most interesting, tasteful and (or) entertaining people in Australia and New Zealand. For this instalment, we've enlisted the effortlessly elegant and professionally organised Beck Wadworth — Creative Director and Founder of minimalist stationery brand An Organised Life — to share some of her favourite books from the past year. As a woman whose business is about beautifully-made paper life-tools, who better to turn to for good book tips. And, as it's the end of the year and all, we'd be remiss if we didn't nudge you in the direction of the customisable 2022 diaries available on An Organised Life to start your year with minimal chaos. BECK WADWORTH: Naturally as a lover of pen to paper and all its forms, I love how versatile a book can be. After spending a lot of time at home during New Zealand lockdown, books have become a much needed comfort and I'm drawn to inspiring words, interiors, architecture and art… all things you can find within the pages of a beautiful coffee table book. NEW NORDIC HOUSES BY DOMINIC BRADBURY A birthday gift I received this year, with a love for architecture & minimalism, this beautiful book has quickly become a favourite of mine. The book features over forty of Scandinavia's finest and most innovative houses including rural cabins, coastal retreats, town houses & country homes. I fall in love with a different one every time I open the book. Find it now at: Booktopia How much: $70 (recommended retail price but more affordable at most online book stores) CLARITY & CONNECTION BY YUNG PUEBLO Last year I did a lot of self reflection & self work. It was a personal goal of mine to make the time to do this. One of the books that inspired me the most over this time was Yung Pueblo's Inward. This year he released Clarity & Connection, and naturally it's high on my list of books to get my hands on. His poetic style makes for deep, thought-provoking conversations. Find it now at: Booktopia and Angus & Robertson How much: $29.99 rrp LIVE BEAUTIFUL BY ATHENA CALDERONE A style icon of mine both for her interiors and fashion, Athena Calderone's new book Live Beautiful is the perfect addition to any coffee table. The book isn't just pleasant to look at, it improves the quality of our lives. It helps foster the tradition, rituals and ceremonies we create in our homes. Find it now at: Norsu Interiors and Booktopia How much: $59.99 rrp 2022 A4 DAILY PLANNER BY AN ORGANISED LIFE Of course, I have to recommend one of our very on 2022 diaries. Not only do they help you manage your schedule and workload but they are also filled with lots of tools, tips and more. Goal set, budget, change a habit, reflect, write down your favourite moments and much more with this all-in-one must have. Find it now at: An Organised Life How much: $79.99 ATLAS OF THE HEART BY BRENE BROWN I love Brene Brown's work and often listen to podcasts she's a guest on while on my evening walks. At the top of my list to read this summer is her new book Atlas Of The Heart which examines the 87 emotions and experiences that define us, and provides a compelling framework to help us all become more emotionally fluent and connected. Find it now at: Abbey's books How much: $45 THE WIDOW CLICQUOT: THE STORY OF A CHAMPAGNE EMPIRE AND THE WOMAN WHO RULED IT BY TILAR J MAZZEO I was lucky enough to be a Veuve Clicquot ambassador for seven years, and over that time I became obsessed with the history of the brand. Madame Clicquot was an amazing woman who succeeded in a man's world. She was fearless and a true inspiration of her time. This book tells her incredible story. Find it now at: Booktopia How much: $26.99 rrp ARK JOURNAL My favourite magazine at the moment for all things interiors & architecture. Find it now at: Ark Journal website or select news agents and magazine stores How much: €20 per issue
In the centuries since William Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet, plenty of other projects have attempted to take his lead, spinning perhaps the most famous love story there is into both straightforward and creative new adaptations. Some have simply brought the exact same story to the stage or screen. Others have kept all the details, but filtered them through a filmmaker's own style, as Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet did. And, back in 1957 on Broadway and 1961 in cinemas, West Side Story revamped the narrative and transferred it to the Big Apple. Created more than six decades ago by famed musical figures Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents, West Side Story is the adaptation that's taken on a life of its own. It's rarely far from stages worldwide, and that now 60-year-old film is a classic. It's also set to dance its way across the big screen again — and sing, too — with its New York neighbourhood rivalry returning to cinemas Down Under via a new remake this Boxing Day. Yes, the Jets and the Sharks are facing off once more. As both the new movie's initial teaser and its just-dropped full trailer show, Tony (Ansel Elgort, The Goldfinch) and María (film debutant Rachel Zegler) will fall head over heels again as well, because that's how the story goes. This time around, Steven Spielberg is in the director's chair, but West Side Story's storyline will obviously remain the same. So, in NYC in 1957, the aforementioned pair will feel sparks fly despite their backgrounds — because Tony's best friend Riff (Mike Faist, Panic) leads the Jets, and María is the younger sister of Sharks head honcho Bernardo (David Alvarez). Also popping up among the cast: Ariana DeBose (The Prom), Josh Andrés Rivera, Ana Isabelle (Imprisoned), Corey Stoll (Ratched) and Brian d'Arcy James (Devs), plus the great Rita Moreno (One Day at a Time) — who also played the role of Anita, Bernardo's girlfriend, in the original movie. The film's long list of talent continues off-screen, too, with West Side Story circa 2021's screenplay penned by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner Tony Kushner (Lincoln), and the choreography coming courtesy of fellow Tony-recipient Justin Peck. Spielberg and company are taking the original Broadway musical rather than its first movie adaptation as their basis, and the results look vibrant and lively, but still with a classic old-school musical sheen. Thankfully — and unsurprisingly — it also looks worlds away from the filmmaker's last feature, Ready Player One. Check out the trailer below: West Side Story is set to open in Australian cinemas on December 26. Top image: Niko Tavernise, 2020 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
The Social Network isn't a rowing film, but the Henley Royal Regatta sequence in David Fincher's (The Killer) 2010 triumph quickly became one of cinema's most-famous oar-sweeping moments. Prestige, money, tradition, opulence, power, competition, determination: they all wash through the tightly shot segment, which gleams with the water of the River Thames, the sweat on the crew's faces and, just as importantly, with status. Definitely a rowing film, The Boys in the Boat paddles into the same world; however, a commentator's line mid-movie sums up the focus and angle of this old-fashioned underdog sports flick. "Old money versus no money at all" is how the usual big and rich names in the field and the University of Washington's junior varsity team are compared. George Clooney's (The Tender Bar) ninth feature as a director doesn't just spot the class-clash difference there — his entire picture wades into that gulf. Drawn from 2013 non-fiction novel The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown, reuniting Clooney with his The Midnight Sky screenwriter Mark L Smith in the process, The Boys in the Boat is about the UW's rowing efforts, rower Joe Rantz and coach Al Ulbrickson, too — plus an against-the-odds quest, bold choices, the struggles of the Great Depression, the reality of an Olympics held under the Nazi regime and the looming shadow of war. But thrumming at its heart like a coxswain is setting the pace is the mission to keep afloat one stroke at a time, and not merely in the pursuit of glory and medals. What rowing means to Rantz (Callum Turner, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore), the character at its centre, as well as to the classmates-turned-crewmates catching and extracting with him, is pure survival first and foremost. Rantz is the engineering student who lines his shoes with newspaper to cover the holes in their soles, has no reliable place to sleep and hasn't been a stranger to going hungry for years. He's had zero family to support him since he was 14, thanks to his remarried dad, and he'll no longer be at college if he can't come up with his tuition fees. If the details weren't all true, and if The Boys in the Boat wasn't so matter-of-fact about them — patient in its overall pacing, handsome in its imagery, and clear-eyed about the dire and desperate situation its protagonist is in when everything changes — then the movie's plot might seem to be a Hollywood confection. Indeed, Clooney's current jump behind the lens feels like a throwback thanks to its sincerity, and its understatement along with it. Finding emotion in the specifics of Rantz's life and feats isn't hard, so there's no forceful poking and jabbing needed. That existence-shifting turn comes via trials for UW's JV rowers, not out of affinity for or interest in the sport but because his similarly doing-it-rough pal Roger Morris (Sam Strike, American Outlaws) mentions that there'll be lodging and pay for whoever gets picked. Hundreds show up. Only eight will make it. The gratitude in their eyes is the antithesis of the entitlement spied when The Boys in the Boat enrols them in races against competitors from cashed-up schools, and as The Social Network's time in racing shells splashed around so successfully. Where Rantz's journey glides from there isn't difficult to guess, as seen in training montages, rising passion for his new endeavour, gaining more confidence about falling for childhood friend Joyce (Hadley Robinson, Anyone But You), butting heads with the stoic Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton, I'm a Virgo) and receiving words of wisdom from boatbuilder George Pocock (Peter Guinness, Jack Ryan). And yet, in a move that separates it from the clumsy breeziness of the other underdog sports flick based on real-life hitting silver screens of late, Next Goal Wins, it's always told with the utmost earnestness. The Boys in the Boat is solid, then — an apt state for a film about securing sure footing atop a substance that's anything but. Clooney's fellow key craftspeople, including cinematographer Martin Ruhe (who shot The Tender Bar and The Midnight Sky), editor Tanya M Swerling (returning from The Tender Bar as well) and composer Alexandre Desplat (also back from The Midnight Sky), make their pivotal contributions just as reliably. Scenes with oars in hand are a particular thrill, contrasting the exertion, resolve and grit to persist within the UW boat with the shimmering water and scenic surroundings. Peering at Turner and Edgerton, their characters pitched as opposites who aren't really, proves equally revealing in conveying why Rantz and the crew's toils — and Ulbrickson's tough love — is all about persevering no matter what, too. As a filmmaker, Clooney started out making movies that he'd also act in, albeit regularly leaving the leading parts to his co-stars. In his 2002 directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, as in 2017's Suburbicon, 2021's The Tender Bar and now The Boys in the Boat, for example, he's been perfecting the art of enlisting other talents to play roles that he might've once (or easily could've, but has chosen not to). Edgerton's performance as Ulbrickson slides into that category. That said, he brings his own interiority and intensity to a figure who rarely cracks a smile, appears dedicated to winning above all else — putting the JV squad in races over their senior counterparts if it'll improve his chances of victory, in fact, and regardless of the uproar sparked — yet also clearly cares, even if his way of showing it is simply going about the team's business as usual. Evident in Edgerton's portrayal, and Turner's — the movie would sink if it wasn't — is tenacity that goes past the promise of prizes, fame and acclaim. As much as the film sees the desolation of the period, its push against the privilege, elitism and affluence that's often synonymous with rowing shines through strongest in its characters. This can't be called a scrappy picture in any sense but, as Turner and Edgerton ensure with help from Strike, Luke Slattery (New Amsterdam) as coxswain Bobby Much and Jack Mulhern (Pet Sematary: Bloodlines) as crew member Don Hume, it's filled with scrappers. While The Social Network will remain the pinnacle of rowing on-screen for now, telling a familiar tale well, The Boys in the Boat brings stirring depth.
For movie lovers, there'll never be anything quite like watching a film in a cinema. It's the place where big-screen dreams shine bright in the darkness, and where nothing — as long as your fellow audience is respectful enough — can get between you and its celluloid fantasies. It's also where the latest version of West Side Story looked an absolute treat when it hit picture palaces last Boxing Day; however, a great flick will still draw you in even if you watch it at home. Come Wednesday, March 2, this Steven Spielberg-directed, Golden Globe-winning, seven-time Oscar-nominated version of the beloved musical will hit streaming via Disney+, following a long list of recent movies — Dune, The Matrix Resurrections, The French Dispatch and Spencer among them — to get fast-tracked from cinemas to home viewing. So, if you missed it on the silver screen when COVID-19 cases went up over Christmas, or just didn't make it along because life doesn't always find a way, you can now settle in for the famed NYC-set spin on Romeo and Juliet on your couch. Yes, that means that the Jets and the Sharks are facing off once more — on your TV screen. If you're new to all things West Side Story, the two gangs have long been tussling within the movie's narrative, and also on the stage and in film. That first happened back in 1957 on Broadway, thanks to iconic musical figures Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents. West Side Story has rarely been far from theatres worldwide since — and, in 1961, when the first movie version followed, it became an instant classic. The westside-set story: in fair NYC and its rubble-strewn titular neighbourhood where the flick lays its 1950s-era scene, the Jets and the Sharks aren't quite two households both alike in dignity. Led by the swaggering and dogged Riff (Mike Faist, a Tony-nominee for the Broadway production of Dear Evan Hansen), the Jets are young, scrappy, angry and full of resentment for anyone they fear is encroaching on their terrain (anyone who isn't white especially). Meanwhile, with boxer Bernardo (David Alvarez, a Tony-winner for Billy Elliot) at the helm, the Sharks have tried to establish new lives outside of their native Puerto Rico through study, jobs and their own businesses. Both gangs refuse to coexist peacefully in the only part of New York where either feels at home — even with the threat of gentrification looming large in every torn-down building, signs for shiny new amenities such as Lincoln Centre popping up around the place and, when either local cops Officer Krupke (Brian d'Arcy James, Hawkeye) or Lieutenant Schrank (Corey Stoll, The Many Saints of Newark) interrupt their feuding, after they're overtly warned as well. But it's a night at a dance, and the love-at-first-sight connection that blooms between Riff's best friend Tony (Ansel Elgort, The Goldfinch) and Bernardo's younger sister María (feature debutant Rachel Zegler), that sparks a showdown. This rumble will decide westside supremacy once and for all, the two sides agree. Also popping up among the cast: Ariana DeBose (The Prom), who looks set to win an Oscar for playing Bernado's girlfriend Anita, plus the great Rita Moreno (One Day at a Time) — who also played that exact role in the original movie and earned an Academy Award for her efforts. And, the film's long list of talent continues off-screen, thanks to a screenplay penned by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner Tony Kushner (Lincoln), and choreography courtesy of fellow Tony-recipient Justin Peck. The result is lavish and dynamic, with Spielberg pirouetting back from the awful Ready Player One to make one helluva first musical — a swooning, socially aware story of star-crossed lovers that dances across the screen with rhythmic swirls and thematic twirls. Tonight, tonight, there's only this lavish and dynamic version of West Side Story tonight. Check out the trailer below: West Side Story will be available to stream via Disney+ on Wednesday, March 2. Read our full review.
In Stay of the Week, we explore some of the world's best and most unique accommodations — giving you a little inspiration for your next trip. In this instalment, we take you to Epvalis Hotel in Greece, a picturesque, openair delight overlooking the water on the sunny island of Santorini. If you're dreaming of a sun-soaked Mediterranean adventure this summer, think about spending a few nights here. WHAT'S SO SPECIAL? Epvalis is a four-star hotel that overlooks the village of Kamari on the famous Greek island of Santorini. The area is known for its volcanic black beaches — and you'll feel be able to finally find that sense of inner calm while gazing out at the azure waters of the Aegean sea. THE ROOMS The 45 rooms available at Epvalis are designed in the Cycladian style that Santorini is famous for. Think neutral whitewashed walls, rounded external corners, flat roofs and stone-paved floors. Each room has all the amenities you'll need, as well as private balconies overlooking either the gorgeous Santorini architecture or the sapphire bay below. Sound like a bit of you? Not only are the rooms gorgeous, but we've got an epic deal to make your Santorini snoozing even sweeter. Book the Epvalis through CP Trips and you'll knock a huge chunk off the price for a five-night stay — and nab perks like free cancellation and parking. [caption id="attachment_888518" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Karl Solano - Pexels[/caption] FOOD AND DRINK If you're headed for Santorini, you're probably prepared for a hearty Greek feed or three. You could choose to stay in and dine at the deli, or order a meal to your room to enjoy with sunset views. Every guest also will get to enjoy a complimentary buffet breakfast, which is open for three hours daily. In terms of onsite drinks, there are two bars: one an indoor lounge and the other a poolside bar. Epvalis is tucked away in the far south corner of Kamari, which keeps you away from the noise, but it does mean a night out is a roughly 15-minute beach walk away. Hey, all the more reason to stop and take in the waves. THE LOCAL AREA Kamari is a bustling seaside village on the southeast coast of Santorini, which is famous for its volcanic black sand beach. Along said beach are all the bars and cafes you could ever need to fuel your Mediterranean getaway, as well as thousands of beach chairs and umbrellas for hire. Looking for an activity? No worries — you can choose from watersports, art studios and even an openair cinema. [caption id="attachment_888517" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Dimitris Mourousiadis - Pexels[/caption] THE EXTRAS One of the most popular destinations in Kamari is Mesa Vouno, the second-largest mountain on Santorini. Epvalis lies on the foothills of the peak, which puts you within driving or walking distance of the ruins of Ancient Thera, a large Greek city that dates back as far as the 8th century. The ruins stretch across the top of the mountain and as far down to the beach, where a small shrine to Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, keeps watch over swimmers. On the summit, you'll find ancient excavated theatres, markets, temples, bathhouses and more. Feeling inspired to book a truly unique getaway? Head to Concrete Playground Trips to explore a range of holidays curated by our editorial team. We've teamed up with all the best providers of flights, stays and experiences to bring you a series of unforgettable trips in destinations all over the world.
After cancelling his 2018 Australian tour due to an ongoing injury, Childish Gambino has this morning announced he'll be returning Down Under this July. The US hip hop star will be hitting up Sydney on July 24, Melbourne on July 17 and Perth on July 14 for stadium shows — and to Byron Bay for an already announced headline spot at Splendour in the Grass. This will be Childish Gambino's — AKA Donald Glover, AKA writer/director/star of Atlanta, if you haven't already worked that out — first Aussie shows since performing at Falls Festival in 2016. At the shows, expect to hear 'This Is America' and last year's two-song Summer Pack, as well as hits from his lauded three albums Camp, Because the Internet and Awaken, My Love!. While you're waiting for tickets to go on sale, you can watch his new movie, Guava Island, which co-stars Rihanna. It premiered for free on Amazon Prime yesterday, and is now only available for subscribers. If you don't have a subscription, you can still catch a couple of teasers on Childish Gambino's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BwLNcCxn6Fd/ Tickets for the three shows will go on sale at midday on Thursday, April 18. Childish Gambino will perform at RAC Arena, Perth on Sunday, July 14; Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne on Wednesday, July 17 and Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney on Wednesday ,July 24.
What happens when you absolutely, hand-on-heart adore desserts, but you've got a whole host of food allergies that makes indulging in sweets a bit tricky? Well, friend, we've saved this one for you. The products at Badboys Doughnuts are safe for anyone avoiding gluten, dairy, eggs, and nuts — and they're vegan. You won't be sacrificing taste either, with flavours on offer like vanilla chai, raspberry chilli chocolate and lemon passion. If you want to give your kitchen a workout, Badboys also has a range of gluten-free home baking kits — take your pick from cake, shortbread, doughnuts, pizza bases and soy muffins. And, since a sweet treat always tastes better when paired with caffeine, it sells cold brew concentrates, too. We often see Badboys at markets around Brisbane — including Redcliffe, Bardon and Kelvin Grove — and at New Farm's pop-up cafe Oxlade, but you can also have the doughnuts delivered directly to the comfort of your living room. All you need is coffee, or hot chocolate, and you are primed for a solid movie marathon. Images: Hennessy Trill
UPDATE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19: Live at the Bowl's extended lineup has been announced. On top of all the acts below, you can now catch the like of Ball Park Music and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard performing as part of the Summer Sounds series alongside Piknic Electronik, The Cat Empire, The Avalanches and many more. Check out the full event schedule via Live at the Bowl. When the warm weather rolls around each year, Melburnians usually have multiple reasons to head to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. For those feeling festive, it's where Carols by Candlelight is held. And for anyone keen on catching orchestral shows under the evening sky, it's where the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has held its free summer series for decades. Come 2021, the iconic venue will also play host to a new event: Live at the Bowl. It's a response to this past chaotic year, with holding a COVID-safe summer festival its number-one aim. Well, that and giving the city's residents something fun to add to their calendars after 2020's struggles. Live at the Bowl will run from Friday, January 8–Friday, April 23 and will feature more than 40 performances. The eclectic lineup is stacked with local talent from different eras and genres including Missy Higgins, Lime Cordiale, Daryl Braithwaite, Sampa the Great and Birds of Tokyo performing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. If you're looking to laugh, Emmy Award-winner Hannah Gadsby is also heading up a night of comedy alongside Zoë Coombs Marr. It'll be a socially distanced affair, obviously, which the renders of the event illustrate — including separate platforms that split the audience up into groups, as festivals overseas have already been using. Tickets are on sale Wednesday, December 16 via Ticketek. Check out the full program below and find out more via Live at the Bowl. LIVE AT THE BOWL LINEUP Spinifex Gum — Friday, January 8 Human Nature — Saturday, January 9 Piknic Électronik — Sunday, January 10 A Symphonic Celebration — Thursday, January 14 Soju Gang presents SorBaes — Friday, January 15 Mo'Ju with Orchestra Victoria — Saturday, January 16 Teeny Tiny Stevies — Sunday, January 17 Ocean Alley — Thursday, January 21 Birds of Tokyo with the MSO — Friday, January 22 Share the Spirit 2021 — Tuesday, January 26 Missy Higgins — Wednesday, January 27 2021 Sidney Myer Free Concerts — Friday, January 29, Saturday, February 6 and Wednesday, February 10 Sun Cycle — Saturday, January 30 Lime Cordiale — Thursday, February 4 Running Touch — Friday, February 5 Rock the Bowl with Jon Stevens, Daryl Braithwaite and The Black Sorrows — Friday, February 12 Chinese New Year — Saturday, February 13 Vika & Linda — Sunday, February 14 Hannah Gadsby — Wednesday, February 17 Sampa the Great — Saturday, March 13 No Friend But the Mountains — Sunday, March 21 Top Image: Piknic Électronik by Wade Malligan
In a surprising move that contradicts their usually pricey products, German sporting giant Adidas are set to launch a US$1 shoe under their subsidiary brand, Reebok. A similar project was undertaken by Adidas in 2010 in Bangladesh, but was abandoned after an initial run of 5000 pairs. This was due to production and import costs of US$6.50 exceeding the shoe's low price point. Adidas has now looked to neighbouring India as its new major growth market. With its booming population and high levels of poverty, the nation is an ideal market for durable and affordable clothing. Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer said that Adidas' surprisingly high sales have allowed them to undertake this venture. Furthermore, he told German newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag that "the shoe will be sold in villages through a distribution network... We want the product to be self-funding." Standing at US$1, or 52 rupees, this is a hard offer to turn down. [Via PSFK]
Pestival 2013 is a festival with a mission: to change your views about insects — largely by getting you to eat them. The unique insect-appreciation festival arrives in London next month with a wide array of events to turn us all pro-bugs. These include a variety of exhibitions to celebrate insects in art and the art of being an insect. However, the centrepiece of the pun-tastic festival is its pop-up restaurant: Exploring the Deliciousness of Insects. The diner, appearing for two nights only, will allow its guests to consume the crawliest cuisine imaginable. It is presented by Nordic Food Lab, the company behind the three-time best restaurant in the world Noma, who seek to "find the deliciousness latent in insects". According to head chef Rene Redzepi in an interview with the Guardian, this deliciousness can be found in ants, which taste like "seared lemon rind", and bee larvae, which makes a sweet mayonnaise. Those two options are just the tip of the ant hill, with more than 1900 edible insect species now on the menu according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation. With insects eaten in one form or another by 70 percent of the world's cultures, Pestival provides the perfect platform to present this gastronomic value to Western palates. And what better time to do so? With famine rising across the world, and food prices rising at home, insects offer a proficient alternative source of protein that is highly unlikely to become extinct. Pestival 2013 thus showcases a flavoursome solution to the food crisis of the future.
UPDATE, September 24, 2021: The Lighthouse is available to stream via Netflix, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Straddling the space where land meets sea, reaching high into the sky and emitting a glow that heralds safety, lighthouses have long ranked among humanity's most revered structures. They save sailors' lives by stopping them from crashing into craggy cliffs, and they're afforded not just respect as a result, but an almost ethereal, enchanting status. Also, every Australian who grew up since the 90s has dreamed of living in one, thanks to classic series Round the Twist. After watching Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson fart, fight, guzzle too much rum, growl at seagulls, masturbate and go steadily mad in one of the towering, alluring buildings in the nightmarish The Lighthouse, though, you might never look at these oceanside staples in the same way again. Dafoe and Pattinson play cantankerous sea dog Thomas Wake and eager newcomer Ephraim Winslow — a seasoned 'wickie' who adores the light above all else, and an ex-woodsman hoping to work his way up in the world. When Winslow arrives for a four-week stint assisting the peg-legged Wake, he really should see his choppy voyage to the isolated New England island as a sign of things to come. (As the latest film by The Witch writer/director Robert Eggers, omens come with the territory.) Although forcibly chatty while swigging spirits with dinner, Wake is a hard taskmaster. He's also dour, mean, flatulent and drunk on power. Attending to the light is his responsibility alone, with Winslow saddled with the tough, dirty, literally shitty work — and warned not to mess with the seagulls fluttering around outside, which Wake believes to be the souls of dead seamen. Scrubbing floors, carting heavy kerosene containers upstairs, emptying overflowing chamber pots — that's Winslow's new life day in, day out. Coupled with the constant stream of insults spat ferociously by Wake, it's enough to make him lose his grip on his sanity. And so, after finding a mermaid figurine in his bedsprings on his first night, then frequently fondling it with one hand while fondling himself with the other, the fledgling keeper grasps what solace he can. Then a storm sweeps in, stranding the two men inside with nothing but each other, alcohol and their bubbling acrimony for company. With a tempest swirling both in the sky and in the lighthouse, not even self-love can help brighten Winslow's stay on the island. In The Witch, Eggers charted the slow implosion of a Puritan family in 17th-century America. In an insidiously unsettling movie made with exceptional technical prowess, he watched as fear and superstition — plus good ol'-fashioned bickering and a goat called Black Phillip — collapsed his characters' bonds. Jumping two centuries forward, swapping a remote farm for the titular structure and focusing on co-workers, The Lighthouse does much the same. That said, you could never accuse Eggers of just repeating himself. He's clearly deeply fascinated with the darkness that springs when folks spend too much time together in close quarters in fraught circumstances, and how such a scenario reveals humanity's true nature. He's also well aware how common a situation that is, and how it can play out in oh-so-many ways. Here, shot in inky black-and-white, lit to stress every shadow and lapping up all shades of grey — a fitting colour for men stuck in limbo several times over — the above chain of events plays out in gripping, stunning, horrifying and even amusing fashion. Co-written by Eggers with his brother Max, the gothic-leaning narrative boasts its twists, shocks and secrets. Deconstructing masculinity while caught in a trippy daze, it offers more than its fair share of surprises. But how The Lighthouse conveys this tale is just as important as the story itself. Constrained within a square frame (deploying the 1.19:1 Movietone aspect ratio that was popular in the late 1920s and early 1930s), this is a masterclass in claustrophobia, paranoia and mania. Jarin Blaschke's Oscar-nominated cinematography is fine-tuned to agitate and disturb, as is the needling score by fellow The Witch alum Mark Korven's score. The end result? A surreal, savage and purposefully aesthetically overwhelming portrait of psychological unraveling that feels more like it has been washed up in a bottle than crafted anew. Thanks to Dafoe and Pattinson, there's no doubting that The Lighthouse was made in 2019 (and obviously not a century or so earlier). Eggers' casting instincts are superb — and not just because his monochrome visuals make the most of Dafoe's lively scowl and Pattinson's cheekbones. Spouting dialogue informed by real lighthouse-keepers' diaries, as well as by the writings of Moby Dick author Herman Melville, Dafoe barks and swaggers with frenzied energy. Glowering with growing internal rage, Pattinson's physically expressive performance is on par with the best silent film stars. The more this powerhouse duo snipe and snarl back and forth, the more they lure viewers into The Lighthouse's fever dream like a glowing beam — or like the tentacles that help make this already out-there movie even more eccentric, outlandish and utterly mesmerising. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gOs6gKtrb4
Since the end of June, in an effort to stop the region's recent COVID-19 cases from spreading, wearing masks has been compulsory across southeast Queensland. For residents of the the Brisbane City Council, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich, Redlands, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Noosa, Somerset, Lockyer Valley and Scenic Rim Local Government Areas, that isn't changing just yet, with Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath announcing today, Thursday, July 29, that the mask mandate in these 11 LGAs will be extended again for another week. This is familiar news, because the State Government first expanded its initial mask requirement in Brisbane and several other parts of the state until mid-July, then extended it again for 11 Local Government Areas in and around Brisbane for another week — and then did the same again for one more week. That last extension was due to end at 6am on Friday, July 30, which is why it has been announced today that masking up will remain a part of our daily lives until at least the same time on Friday, August 6. If you need a refresher, the mask rules apply whenever you're spending time indoors somewhere other than your own home. In those situations, you must wear a mask. They must be worn in all indoor spaces other than your house, all indoor workplaces unless it is unsafe to do so, on public transport, and in taxis and ride share vehicles. And, outdoors, you need to wear them when social distancing isn't possible. Accordingly, you always need to have a mask with you. Last week, the rules were also extended to a number of venues statewide — so wearing masks is currently mandated in all indoor ticketed venues, including stadiums, theatres and cinemas as well. https://twitter.com/qldhealthnews/status/1420542011136888832 "We have been able to contain all of these outbreaks to very small numbers, and that is in some small part to the restrictions we have had in place — and particularly mask-wearing," said D'Ath, announcing today's mask mandate extension. "It is important, while we work through the most recent cases that we have had in community, that we continue to practice mask-wearing to ensure that we don't have transmission going through our community." Queensland currently has 42 active COVID-19 cases, with no new locally acquired cases reported in the past 24 hours. As always, the usual requests regarding social distancing, hygiene and getting tested if you're feeling even the slightest possible COVID-19 symptoms also still apply — as they have since March last year. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in Queensland, head to the QLD COVID-19 hub and the Queensland Health website.
Been sharpening up your swing in anticipation of the Australian Open? Wondering how your skills might stack up in a match against Rafael Nadal or Li Na? The world's first 'connected' tennis racquet is at your service. Unveiled this week at the international CES, held January 7-10, in Las Vegas, the product is the brainchild of tennis equipment company Babolat. It's built according to the dimensions of a regular racquet, but with a difference. Sensors located in the handle measure pretty much every detail of your performance, including power, impact, spin, forehand, backhand, overhead smash and serves. An interface called 'The Pulse' collates and analyses the data, scoring your game in terms of power, endurance and technique. Some of the world's biggest tennis names have put their support behind it. Nadal thinks it's "great because you have the chance to know much more about your tennis, much more about the way you are hitting the ball, the way that you want to improve ... you can have fun with that." Na says, "You get a much deeper understanding of your game." An app allows the user to record statistics, thereby keeping track of when and how their performance is improving. There's also a limitless online community, where information can be shared and compared with others. The Babolat Play retails for US$399. Via PSFK.
After months of speculation and a soft launch that turned out to be a bust, Amazon's hotly anticipated Australian website is finally up and running. And the offering is huge. It's been a couple of weeks since the online retail giant kicked off an 'internal testing phase' here in Australia, on November 23, though customers weren't actually able to get their hands on any products. Now, the site's gone properly live, filled with a hefty array of goods in time for that hectic, pre-Christmas retail rush. This online shopping wonderland spells trouble for your credit card, boasting everything from books, electronics and homewares, through to fashion, beauty products and even power tools. According to Senior Industry Analyst for IBISWorld Kim Do, Amazon's arrival in Australia is set to give the local retail industry a solid shake-up. "The company intends to challenge domestic retail prices by offering items for 30 percent less than domestic retailers," she explained, adding that technology products are expected to be Amazon's highest selling category. Let the retail therapy begin!
UPDATE, April 24, 2021: Parasite is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. When writer-director Bong Joon-ho lets two families roam around and unleash their best and worst in an opulent South Korean mansion, he couldn't have placed them in a better spot. The kind of house that anyone would dream of living in, Parasite's main setting is a multi-storey playground filled with wide-open spaces, gleaming surfaces and modernist decor, all opening out onto a grassy, leafy backyard. A real estate agent's fantasy as well, this not-so-humble abode is the bricks-and-mortar pinnacle of success and wealth. As created by production designer Lee Ha-jun to meet Bong's specific vision (a real house that matched the filmmaker's needs simply didn't exist), the labyrinthine structure is a puzzle box, too. Within its walls, mysteries linger. Here, anything and everything could happen. Parasite proves exceptional in every single frame and detail that it flicks onto the screen — but the way that this sprawling central home encapsulates the movie's very essence is a towering feat. Already lauded and applauded, not to mention awarded the top prizes at both the Cannes and Sydney film festivals, Parasite isn't short on achievements. Internationally renowned and beloved as the auteur behind The Host, Snowpiercer and Okja, Bong has crafted a bleak, twisty blend of black tragi-comedy, pulsating thrills and socially relevant horror — a movie that's such a phenomenal example of all that cinema can and should be that you'll want to high-five the filmmaker after watching it. Parasite possesses a pitch-perfect cast of both veteran and up-and-coming actors, all playing their parts with devastating precision. It's scripted, with Okja assistant director turned first-time co-writer Han Jin-won, to tease, mesmerise, infuriate, satirise and amuse in equal measures. And its look and pace, courtesy of the finessed work of cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo (Bong's Mother) and editor Yang Jin-mo (Bong's Okja), is as polished and probing as its all-important setting. When viewers first meet Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho), his wife Chung-sook (Chang Hyae-jin), and their young but grown-up children Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik) and Ki-jung (Park So-dam), they're dwelling in a damp, cockroach-infested basement apartment. They're also all out of work. Piggybacking whichever unlocked wi-fi network they can find keeps them going — and, when the streets outside are being fumigated, the family isn't opposed to keeping the windows open to take advantage of the free pest control (health consequences be damned). Combined, their only regular source of income comes from folding pizza boxes, with zero other prospects on the horizon. Then Ki-woo's former classmate Min (Park Seo-joon) asks if he'll fill in at a lucrative private tutoring gig. While Ki-woo doesn't have the requisite university degree such a position usually needs, it's easy to manufacture thanks to Ki-jung's impressive photoshop skills. Taking plenty of cues from this early bit of subterfuge, Parasite could be dubbed the ultimate 'fake it till you make it' movie. Stepping foot inside the film's main setting, Ki-Woo wows not only his new, quickly love-struck teenage pupil Da-hye (Jung Ziso), but her flighty mother Yeon-kyo (Cho Yeo-jeong) too. He's soon part of the household, which also includes tech entrepreneur patriarch Park (Lee Sun-kyun), pre-adolescent son Da-song (Jung Hyeon-jun) and their housekeeper (Lee Jeong-eun). With Ki-woo eager to bring his own family into this rich, luxurious orbit, an underhanded plan emerges. Without spoiling any specifics from this narrative juncture onwards, Bong was inspired to write Parasite after spotting a smudge on his pants. This intriguing tidbit gives very little away, although corrupting an otherwise pristine environment — and pondering whether a splatter of disarray makes supposed perfection and privilege better or worse — is the film's thematic stomping ground. The movie's lush locale draws viewers in, all so that it can shatter the allure. Slippery performances, with seemingly clear-cut characters becoming anything but, do the same. So too does Bong and his crew's exacting craftsmanship, which keeps audiences both immersed and guessing. Add shifting tones and changing genres to the fold as well, because evolution and elusiveness are among the movie's most crucial tools. Indeed, from sets and actors to framing and mood, every element of Parasite is weaponised. More than that, it's all calibrated and wielded for maximum impact. This isn't just a killer picture on all of the standard levels, however. Contemplating society's growing class collisions and inequities, Parasite also makes a killer statement. It shouldn't escape attention that three of the past year's absolute best and most astute works, all from South Korean or Japanese filmmakers, have taken aim at the increasing gap between the haves and the have nots. Or, looking to America as well, that one of 2019's great horror releases plays in the same terrain while also bringing race into the equation. Parasite shares its grifting, struggling family with Hirokazu Kore-eda's Shoplifters, its tonal flips and wiliness with Lee Chang-dong's Burning, and its malevolent tone with Jordan Peele's Us, adding to a blossoming field of urgent, intense and diverse cinema that interrogates the societal status quo with a rightfully scathing eye. That said, there's no mistaking Bong's dark, devious and delightful thriller for any other film — or for anything but a hands-down masterpiece. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_0KJAzyUJc
There are meat theme parks in Japan. Eataly are building the 'Disneyland of food' in Italy. But it looks like caffeinated bevvies are getting tired of going without their own themed digs, with a brand new US$100 million coffee-themed resort park set to begin development in South Korea. Korean specialty coffee giant Tom N Toms have shaken hands with South Korea's Gangwon Province in a multi-million dollar deal to plonk a 64-acre coffee theme park and production HQ smack bang in the industrial realms of Chuncheon on Nami Island. According to Daily Coffee News, the park will create of over 1000 jobs; both on the theme park side of things and the roastery/distribution half. While finite details haven't been released about the innards of the park — we propose steamed milk river rides, some kind of spinning rollercoaster called The Grinder, latte art galleries — the park will sit right beside a proposed Legoland (in the top pic), because all Great Things clearly need to be theme park neighbours. Commercial eyes are squarely focused on the area of PyeongChang, which is rapidly developing in the leadup to its hosting of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, according to Korea Bizwire. Gangwon Governor Choi Moon-soon and Chuncheon Mayor Choi Don-yong have given their John Hancocks on a deal for the park, geared up to be environmentally-friendly and finished by 2017. This isn't the first coffee theme park in the world, with Colombia's National Coffee Park taking those bragging rights clean away. But with a sweet hundy-million behind it and an actual roastery and distribution facility on site, this park's sure to be full of beans (#sorrynotsorry). Via Korea Bizwire and Daily Coffee News. Top image: Proposed Legoland, South Korea — via DCN.
Leisurely lunches might not be a daily occurrence – or, for most of us, a regular part of our routines — but The Inchcolm Bar wants to change that. Because getting through another working week is always something to celebrate, the revamped spot is serving up a three martini lunch special every Friday. For $59, you'll sit down to a two-course lunch between 12–3pm. As the event's name makes plain, you'll also get three martinis for your trouble. That's reason enough to zip from the CBD to Spring Hill — or to head in from wherever you're spending your Friday. Food-wise, you can choose from escargot, chicken liver pate and three natural oysters for your entree, with steak frites, Moreton Bay bug chilli pasta, fish and mushroom gnocchi on offer for your mail. And, as for those 'tinis, you can take your pick from the venue's signature martini menu. After kicking off in July as part of this year's Brisbane Good Food Month, this deal is sticking around for the rest of 2021. Updated August 24.
Watching a film by French writer/director Bertrand Bonello can feel like having a spell cast upon you. In movies such as 2016's Nocturama and 2019's Zombi Child, that's how magnetic and entrancing his blend of ethereal mood and dreamy imagery has felt. So it is with The Beast, too, another hypnotic feature that bewitches and also probes, because none of these three Bonello flicks ask their viewers to merely submit. Rather, they enchant while raising questions about the state of the world, whether digging into consumerism and anarchy, hierarchies of race and class, or the role of humanity in an increasingly technology-mediated society. The latter is the domain of the filmmaker's loose adaptation of Henry James' 1903 novella The Beast in the Jungle — a take that, as its author didn't and couldn't, perceives how the clash of humanity's emotions and artificial intelligence's data-driven analysis is fated to favour the cold and the calculating. In 2044, the very fact that people are guided by their feelings has rendered them unsuitable for most jobs in The Beast's AI-dominated vision of the future. Played with the mastery of both deeply conveyed expression and telling stillness that's long characterised her performances, Dune: Part Two, Crimes of the Future and No Time to Die's Léa Seydoux is Gabrielle, who is among the throngs relegated to drone-like drudgery in this new world order. To shift her daily reality, where she reads the temperature of data cores, she only has one path forward: a cleansing of her DNA. It involves spending sessions immersed in a black goopy bath to confront her emotions and past, a procedure that she's told will rid her of her trauma and baggage. Crossing paths with Gabrielle at the treatment centre, Louis (1917 and True History of the Kelly Gang's George MacKay) has the same choice. Bonello begins The Beast with the opposite of stolidness, with green-screen acting as Gabrielle reacts to directions uttered her way by an off-screen voice, and with her eyes widening and voice screaming at a monster who'll be added in the post-production process. It's a stunning introduction. Seydoux is transfixing from this moment onwards, but the entire range of her portrayal from cool and collected to uncertain and then terrified is captured in mere minutes. Bonello also thrusts fear, a key theme of James' book and this picture alike, to the fore — as well as the notion of being petrified of something intangible. The scene recognises that that which makes our blood run cold doesn't always exist, and queries how we make the panic in our heads and hearts feel real. It also turns Gabrielle into a doll behaving at someone else's behest, revealing a motif that'll continue to pop up while examining how much agency we have when imagined nightmares can so easily control us. The Gabrielle that starts off the movie isn't and is the Gabrielle going all Under the Skin-meets-Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in 2044. Wafting around a surreal atmosphere that recalls David Lynch's Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire as well, The Beast flits between parallel Gabrielles in different times, as she does while submitting to purification. Sometimes she's the Gabrielle of the feature's present. Then, she's a past-life Gabrielle in France in 1910. Rounding out the trio: another prior version in 2014 in Los Angeles. In the 20th century, the character is a pianist whose husband owns a doll-making factory. In the early 21st century, she's an actor and model housesitting a gleamingly lavish mansion while doing the audition rounds to get noticed. Louis dwells in all three as well, orbiting around her — as a romantic option who isn't afraid of pursuing a married woman in the Belle Époque era just before the Great Flood inundated Paris, then a misogynistic 30-year-old virgin broadcasting his lifted-from-actuality diatribes online in the 2010s just as the La Habra earthquake hits, then a man drawn her way and facing the same haunting feel-or-thrive dilemma that has Gabrielle in a tub. In The Beast in the Jungle, the tale's namesake is the lurking belief pulsing through James' protagonist that calamity awaits. 1910's Gabrielle has confessed the same concerns. The novel and the film each plunge into a potential self-fulfilling prophecy, then: if we expect doom and gloom, and we base our decisions upon its arrival, do we destine ourselves for it? In response, a seize-the-day message washes through the two iterations of this story; however, the timing that Bonello uses for his triptych's chapters gives The Beast a telling push and pull. One person's catastrophising is another's being prepared — and, as existence today means grappling with the sci-fi dystopian notions of AI and climate change becoming real, the filmmaker, who co-scripts with Benjamin Charbit (Spirit of Ecstasy) and Guillaume Bréaud (Eat the Night), sees that seeming irrationally wary of the possible worst-case scenario doesn't preclude a life-altering disaster from happening. Bonello doesn't just want to observe The Beast's recurring loops — like dolls, pigeons and telling fortunes as well as 'Evergreen' by Roy Orbison repeat — but to make the emotions that spring, as well as the battle with even having them, seep into his viewers. Not just Seydoux but Mackay are excellent choices to make good on this aim, each gifted at a very particular task: relaying the full swell and swirl of feelings that comprises every variation of Gabrielle and Louis human for better and for worse, and also makes them distinct, while spying the echoes between them in each era. Around his two leads, production design, costume design, hairstyling and makeup are crucial. The film veers from period romance to psychological thriller and then sci-fi horror across its trio of intertwined parts, and every craft choice — Josée Deshaies' (Passages) lingering cinematography included — enforces the distinction. And yet, Seydoux and Mackay could've unleashed their potent performances solely against green backgrounds with the same look throughout and had the same impact. To watch The Beast is to experience the premonitory unease, and the back-and-forth between the hope of joy and the dread of the unknown, that colours its tales within tales and its hops from genre to genre. This is a film with chaos and change at its core, but that spots the anchors and emotions that remain the same no matter what portrait of life is unfurling. First with android doll Kelly (Saint Omer's Guslagie Malanda, also exceptional), 2044's Gabrielle frequents a hidden-away nightclub where the theme cycles between a specific year night by night. One evening, it's 1972. Another, it's 1980. On yet another, it's 1963. There Bonello goes, finding a way to distill his film down to its essence yet again, as his opening sequence does — because what is navigating being alive and falling in love if not never knowing what any given day or night will bring, regardless of the time or impending ruin, then trying to face that fact? If technology steals that truth away, The Beast posits, our nature is conjure up a way to take solace in it anyway.
In Groundhog Day, weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) finds himself reliving the celebratory occasion over and over again. Since 1993, viewers have been able to enjoy their own looping experience, simply by watching and rewatching the movie. But later this year, there'll be another way to step into the beloved comedy's world — by jumping into the feature's virtual reality sequel. After being adapted into an award-winning stage musical back in 2016, Groundhog Day is now getting a follow-up. Coming to a VR headset rather than to the big screen, Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son takes fans back to Punxsutawney, reunites with the Connors family, and lets players experience the joys — and stresses — of repeating the same events again and again. As the title suggests, however, it doesn't focus on Murray's misanthropic character. We all know that Phil Connors really spent the original flick not only waiting to see if a woodchuck sees a shadow, getting frustrated and dying repeatedly, but learning how to value life and his loved ones. This time around, his son Phil Connors Jr will follow in his footsteps, all while experiencing his own bad, endless day. If you've chosen your way through Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, you can now do the same thing with this VR game, playing as the younger Phil and trying to break the cycle. Here's hoping that Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe" features on the soundtrack — you know that you're going to have it stuck in your head anyway. The news comes with the best possible timing, given that Saturday, February 2 marked this year's actual Groundhog Day. At Gobbler's Knob, 'Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators' Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow, meaning that spring is on the way in the US. As for the game that this marmot-inspired superstition has given rise to, audiences will be able to see it on PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive at a yet-to-be-announced date later in 2019. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rHHzQlqXdU Via Variety.
