There's a reason Japanese food is the universally agreed-upon Best Food Ever. In choosing the cuisine you don't have to sacrifice dumplings for ramen, and you certainly don't have to choose fresh fish in favour of deep fried deliciousness. No, the Japanese love deep fried foods as much as the rest of us — and their national dishes include many a greasy, gritty dish. Matt Goulding knows this better than most, having downed many a Panko-crumbed morsel while traversing Japan's best (and greasiest) eateries for his new book Rice, Noodle, Fish. From convenience store korokke to Michelin-starred tempura temples, these are the fried foods you gotta try on your next trip to Japan. KOROKKE Filled with everything from mashed potatoes and mince meat to curry and cream of crab. Like a Spanish croquette but executed with Japanese precision. KARAAGE Chicken thighs marinated in soy, garlic, and ginger, then floured and fried. Also made with shrimp, octopus, and other sea creatures. KUSHIKATSU Fried meat on a stick eaten elbow-to-elbow at a bar and washed down with rivers of cold beer. What's not to love? Osaka invented the form, but you’ll find it everywhere. TONKATSU Panko-breaded pork loins fried to a greaseless crisp, served with hot mustard, sweet Worcestershire, steamed rice, and shredded cabbage. The best is made with kurobuta (black foot) pork. TEMPURA Shokunin dedicate entire lives to tempura, turning battering and frying into a high art form. For the full experience, go to a tempura-only restaurant and order the omakase: the chef's tasting menu. DEEP-FRIED DEPACHIKA Japanese department stores (called depachika) — wondrous centres of gastronomic greatness — trade in the entire spectrum of fried specialties. A fine place for korokke, katsu or tempura. (Be on high alert for free samples of each.) This is an edited extract from Rice, Noodle, Fish, written by Matt Goulding and published by Hardie Grant Books, RRP $45. The book is available in stores nationally.
If you've ever felt unsafe in an Uber, because of a predatory driver, other riders or something going on outside the car, this new in-app feature might help ease your mind — a 'panic button' that lets riders contact emergency services directly through the Uber app. It's part of a new Safety Toolkit, trialled in the USA earlier this year and currently being rolling out in Aus, which is designed to help both riders and drivers stay protected and connected during a trip. According to the Uber website, you'll soon be able to access the new Safety Toolkit by clicking on a small shield icon located at the bottom right of the map. It'll allow you to connect instantly to 000 — with the app showing your location and address in real time, so you can pass it on to an operator if required. Drivers will be able to access the same emergency assistance feature on the left side of their own driver app. Another new function allows both riders and drivers to keep their loved ones in the loop, by adding up to five people as 'Trusted Contacts' — you can then arrange to share your whereabouts and trip status with them at any time, with just a subtle tap of a button. The Safety Toolkit also features a new SafetyCentre — a sort of hub, where you can learn all about insurance details, driver background checks and information of how to access Uber's 24/7 support. The launch of the new Safety Toolkit follows two alleged sexual assaults on female Sydney Uber passengers in recent weeks and an investigation by CNN into the prevalence of sexual assaults by Uber drivers in the US. After CNN released its report, Uber published a statement saying it had committed to making trips safer by rolling out new technology and screening drivers more thoroughly (and frequently). The new Safety Toolkit is expected to appear in Aussie apps over the upcoming weeks.
You're at work. It's an ordinary day. You've been doing your usual tasks and, in a completely unremarkable incident, you happen to notice a stapler. If your first thought is "hmmm, I bet I could set that in a bowl of jelly", then you're obviously a fan of The Office. One of the rare instances where a TV remake is better than the original — it is based on the UK series of the same name, after all — this sitcom about paper company employees is far more amusing than it really has any right to be. In fact, it's downright side-splitting, and it's immensely easy to just keep rewatching. But that's what you get when you round up Steve Carell, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Rainn Wilson, Mindy Kaling, Ed Helms, Ellie Kemper and Craig Robinson in the same show, and let all of them break out their comedic best.
Waking up and not knowing who you are or where you are has become a Hollywood staple. Source Code takes the formula and flips it. Army helicopter pilot, Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up on a train bound for Chicago fully aware of who he is. Problem is, he is in the body of another man. Within minutes, a bomb goes off, destroys the train and Stevens is dead. And thus kicks off this new science fiction mystery thriller. From director Duncan Jones, son of David Bowie and director of 2009's BAFTA Award winning Moon, Source Code has received widespread critical and audience applause as well as drawing comparisons with Memento and Inception. As it happens, we have 10 double passes to screenings of Source Code to giveaway thanks to Hopscotch Films. To win, simply subscribe to Concrete Playground (if you haven't already) then email hello@concreteplayground.com.au with your name and address. Entries close Friday, April 22. https://youtube.com/watch?v=_3QkJ_a1nlw
UPDATE, January 25, 2022: The Nightingale is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. With The Nightingale, Jennifer Kent proves that she has a niche, although it's not what fans of The Babadook will initially expect. Following an Irish convict and an Indigenous tracker as they trek across colonial-era Tasmania on a quest for vengeance, the writer-director's sophomore film couldn't seem further removed from the pop-up book spooks of her first movie — and yet the two couldn't make a better pair. Once more, Kent has crafted a work filled with immense horrors. The details have changed drastically, as has her style, however the unnerving effect remains the same. Carving a firm cinematic groove across just two releases, the Australian filmmaker has established herself as an artist unafraid to look pain, suffering and terror in the eye, and just as unwilling to let her audience avert their gaze. There's nothing more harrowing to watch than someone in the throes of torment, anguish and sorrow, a fact that we all innately know in our hearts and souls. As long as narrative cinema has existed, it has reminded viewers of this, a tradition that Kent carries on masterfully. Her films unsettle and disturb with a purpose. It's unpleasant to see The Babadook's single mother fray in front of our eyes as a boogeyman leaps into her and her young son's life, and it's downright tough to realise that she has been disintegrating through grief and sole parenting responsibilities long before her new nemesis arrived. But staring at this difficult reality and grappling with its full force is the entire point. Applying the same principle, it's wholeheartedly, nerve-rattlingly distressing to witness the plight of The Nightingale's Clare (Aisling Franciosi) as she's subjected to a torrent of vicious treatment that begins with rape and only worsens. But, without truly beholding her agony, how else can we feel it — and the centuries of oppression, subjugation and cruelty across Australian history that it taps into — deep in our bones? Banished to Australia as a teenager, Clare's sentence should be reaching its end when The Nightingale opens. The now-21-year-old has been incarcerated for seven years, including as an indentured servant, but abusive British Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Claflin) won't grant her freedom. Instead of letting Clare start anew with her husband and baby, Hawkins keeps her as a maid, source of entertainment, and someone to thrust his will upon whenever he's drunk and in the mood. And, when she refuses to comply meekly, he imposes his might in the most atrocious fashion. Stripped of everything that she holds dear, Clare commits to tracking Hawkins across Van Diemen's Land to get revenge, enlisting the reluctant Billy (Baykali Ganambarr) as her guide through the inhospitable wilderness. From Clare's horrific treatment by Hawkins and his cronies (Damon Herriman and Harry Greenwood), to the despairing sights she sees on her journey with Billy, Kent delves into Clare's trauma in excruciating detail. You could call her bold for glaring straight in the face of continued violence. Indeed, she is. But she's also doing exactly what the story and subject matter call for. Treading through Australia's complicated past can never be a jaunty walk. Coming to terms with how our nation has cast aside the country's original inhabitants, how the world at large regards women, and how such racially and gender-motivated ghastliness still echoes today should never be easy. Rather, it must feel relentless and merciless, because that's what being subjected to such awfulness feels like. As well as employing an Aboriginal consultant during the film's production, Kent and Franciosi also investigated the real-life impact of post-traumatic stress disorder on abused and attacked women, and it shows. As a result, The Nightingale takes its task literally. Using the academy aspect ratio to confine the movie's imagery to a 4:3 box, it puts desolate, decimated faces front and centre. The film doesn't provide any space to turn away, even as its characters endure the near-unimaginable. When Clare and Billy traverse terrain that's as gnarled and thorny as their inner turmoil, it doesn't gaze slowly at the landscape either. At every turn, Kent finds the most effective way to splash her protagonists' pain across the screen, with the expert assistance of her returning cinematographer Radek Ladczuk. In their hands, The Nightingale proves not only an emotional onslaught, but a technical showcase, as the astonishingly precise and effective staging, blocking and framing of its most challenging moments demonstrates again and again. As powerful as it is brutal, The Nightingale never overlooks one crucial thing: that its savagery is waged on flesh and blood. When the movie peers intently and empathetically at Clare and Billy, it sees them as people, never victims. It catalogues their suffering without ever sweeping away their flaws, robbing them of their idiosyncrasies, or stripping their ability to grow, adapt, display their resilience and even scratch out a sliver of hope. That's a complex juggling act, but one that Kent perfects. Taking her lead, so do her exceptional actors. Balancing rage and determination, Franciosi's performance reaches haunting levels, ranking among the best of this and most other years. An Indigenous dancer turned first-time actor, Ganambarr imparts as much soul and depth as his co-star, a feat that's perhaps more remarkable given the more limited scope he's tasked with working within. Claflin, too, deserves ample recognition — he's playing the villain, but his is never a straightforward role. You could make a comparable comment about The Nightingale as well. This is an overt film from start to finish, and yet it's never simplistic — and that commonality with its characters is obviously by design. Diving into the depths of darkness may seem clear-cut, but it never is, which this searing, stunning excavation of Australia's past horrors never dares forget. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfPxmnMAyZw
With stay-at-home orders and social-distancing measures ruling most of our lives right now, there's a good chance your usual Mother's Day traditions are off the cards for 2020. But even if you can't visit, hug or tee up a lavish boozy brunch with your mum, you can still show her you care, albeit from afar. Maker of luxury personalised leather goods, Maison de Sabré is a family-owned label that knows a thing or two about accessorising in style. It's selling elegant signature pieces that are crafted from top-quality leather and custom printed for a unique finish and a healthy splash of self-identity. And who wouldn't feel like a total boss showing off a statement piece stamped with their own name or monogrammed with their initials? Or better yet, their star sign? The chic Maison de Sabré range runs from wallets and clutches to sleek phone cases, all in a variety of regal-looking hues. But those hunting down mum gifts will want to hit up the newly-dropped Mother's Day collection, featuring modern silhouettes, hand-stamped in either silver or gold foil, and each design emblazoned with a sketch of a blossoming carnation. The last touch is a luxe nod to the traditional Mother's Day floral choice — and one that might just be received with a little more fanfare than a standard bunch of blooms. There's a whole swag of colours to choose from — whether Mum's into a bold 'pomegranate red', or perhaps a softer 'matcha green' situation — plus, the phone cases are available to fit a variety of different smartphone styles. As an added bonus, Maison de Sabré is currently offering free express shipping on all orders, too, so they can get to mum in time for May 10. It's the kind of lasting Mother's Day fix that can be enjoyed from wherever your mama might be riding out the COVID-19 storm. Or hey, perhaps you've earned yourself a little something for handling iso life like a champ. For more information and to nab your mum a personalised pressie, head to the Maison de Sabré website. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
When it comes to imbibing gin at home, your go-to may be the classic G&T, or perhaps you shake up a crisp martini from time-to-time. You may also be ready to mix things up with a whole new botanical bev. Whatever your status with gin, Greenall's has given us a few trusty recipes to help you perfect your favourite gin drink at home — whether that be by mastering the perfect proportions for the classics or learning to make an entirely new cocktail. These guys have been at the gin game since 1761, so you can rest assured you're in good hands with their literal centuries of experience, heritage and passion for what they do — whether that's creating new and innovative recipes, or handing over their favourite gin cocktail recipes to make at your gaff. LIME TWIST MARTINI It's the drink that makes you feel like all the laundry has been done, folded neatly away and that Nina Simone is serenading you from an old record. Sit down and have a rest — you've earned it. — 50ml Greenall's Original London Dry Gin — 10ml dry vermouth — Lime twist Place a solid handful of ice into a metal cocktail shaker, add gin and vermouth and set your dominant hand to stir moderately for at least ten blinks. Next, strain into a chilled martini glass. If you're lacking said shapely vessel, Greenall's recommends any other fancy — but equally as chilled — glass. Twist and squeeze the oil from the lime peel into the glass, and leave the curly little citrus in there for garnish. WILD BERRY AND LEMONADE If Bernard Black of Black Books had to choose a summer drink for his summer girl, this would be it. — 50ml Greenall's Wild Berry Gin — 100ml lemonade (or quality tonic water) — Berries to garnish Find your tallest glass, fill it with ice and pour in gin. Top up with — no, not wine Bernard, it's for your girl remember, so opt for the lemonade. Yes, tonic will work, too. Garnish with one berry, two berry, three berry or more. BASIL SMASH Conversation running dry? Then it's time to Natalie Imbruglia the heck out of those basil leaves you've been growing all summer. — 50ml Greenall's London Dry Gin — 25ml fresh lemon juice — 12.5ml sugar syrup — 8 freshly torn basil leaves Add basil to the base of the cocktail shaker and muddle gently. Next, pour in gin, your heart, soul and the remaining ingredients. Shake over ice and strain over an ice-filled tumbler glass, and start (re)memorising the rest of the lyrics to Torn. Head out for a night of 90s karaoke hits. WILD BERRY FLORA DORA When the 'yes' vote came through and all Australian lovebirds got the right to get hitched, this is the drink everyone should have had in hand to celebrate. With a marrying together of gin, ginger beer, lime and raspberry, it's the refreshing drink we all deserve. — 40ml Greenall's Wild Berry Gin — 20ml fresh lime juice — 10ml raspberry syrup — Ginger beer Your Tetris skills will be invaluable here. Your job: build all ingredients in a highball glass over ice. Stir, stir, stir. Serve and play again. GIN AND TONIC Free pouring is for fools. What we're after is a taste sensation that rides the palate of perfection. And Greenall's has given us its easy-peasy, limey-squeezy take on the classic G&T. — 50ml Greenall's London Dry Gin — 100ml tonic water (again, go for quality) — 2 lime wedges Fill a tall glass with ice — that's right, enough to sink a duck. Squeeze in one of the lime wedges. Pour in gin. Top with tonic. Yes, all in that order. Garnish with your second lime wedge. Hold glass high for several seconds in appreciation, and then wink as you hand-deliver to your mate. Make 'em all and find (or re-confirm) a favourite drink to pour your Greenall's into at home.
If there's one surefire way to relax on a weekend, it's with a bottomless lunch. Everything is decided for you — from what to order to how much to spend. So, you'll be pleased to know that Lúc Lac, which serves up Vietnamese and Thai deliciousness on Queen's Wharf, is now doing bottomless weekends. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 11.30am–3.30pm, you can sit down to one-and-a-half hours of Vietnamese delights accompanied by stunning cocktails. The menu is all about share plates — from braised duck leg lettuce cups with Vietnamese herbs and apricot hoisin to Hanoi-style chicken in broth with spring onion, ginger and garlic. Then there are the crispy vegetable parcels with dipping sauce, and, come dessert, coconut sago pudding with pandan jelly, pineapple and dragon fruit. Equally thoughtful is the four-strong cocktail list. Sip your way through a lemongrass-coconut mojito, a lychee martini and a melon spritz, before trying the signature take on the Tommy's margarita with makrut lime, tequila and agave.
Thanks to The Talisman Group, getting a bite to eat or a drink at Woolloongabba's South City Square comes with options, including the hospitality company's neighbourhood-style Italian joint Sasso and its Chinese Peruvian bar and eatery Casa Chow. From Thursday, October 27, Brisbanites can add another choice to the list, as themed around a different part of the world: California-inspired gin-pouring garden bar Purple Palm. As its name makes plain, this 60-seat newcomer to Logan Road takes its cues from Palm Springs, complete with an openair oasis setup — and, yes, palm trees providing some greenery. The look and mood is relaxed but glam, and also glowing thanks to lights in the bar's eponymous colour illuminating its palms at night. That said, seating spans both indoor and outdoor spaces, with skylights letting in some brightness inside. Patrons will kick back on cushion-covered couches and get comfy beside a gazebo of plants, and ideally feel like they're on the other side of the planet. Perfecting the vibe is clearly a big part of this new watering hole — and, naturally, so is the drinks menu. Expect to see plenty of its beverage choices while you're deciding what to sip, all thanks to Purple Palm's eye-catching ten-foot wall of gin by South Australia's 78 Degrees Distillery. Whether you choose a cocktail on tap, one made fresh to order or the bar's shared option for four-to-six people, we hope you like downing Australian spirits and pairing them with homegrown produce, because that's exclusively on Purple Palm's lineup. That includes a bespoke Sunshine State Gin, as well as an exclusive tonic from StrangeLove. Cocktail highlights span The Palm Sour, as made with blueberries, aquafaba and matcha; the Qld Red Snapper, which features tomato juice, house-made chilli, garlic and olive brine, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce and more; six types of gin and tonics, including one made with green ant gin with extra green ants; and six kinds of martinis, complete with a jaffa and coffee number. Three non-boozy concoctions also sit on the drinks list, alongside beers from locals such as Slipstream, Aether and Ballistic, and a small wine selection. Purple Palm doesn't do food in-house; however, you can order share plates from Casa Chow or fellow newcomer South City Wine — another fresh venture from The Talisman Group. Find Purple Palm at 6/148 Logan Road, Woolloongabba, from Thursday, October 27 — open 4–9pm Tuesday–Friday and 12–9pm Saturday–Sunday.
When Marc Grey and Steve Maiden launched their first venue in Fortitude Valley's California Lane, they leaned into Grey's fondness for comic books, theming 22-seater 1st Edition around caped crusaders in its decor and menu. Less than two years later, they're adding a second venue to the same stretch of pavement off McLachlan Street, and also going all in on a concept. Indeed, when Viva La Cali opens its doors to kick off winter, it'll be in the perfect location. California Lane was always going to welcome a California-inspired joint at some point, and Viva La Cali is that place. Set to start greeting patrons from Saturday, June 3, it 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 jowl with fermented cabbage, apple wild rice and smoked yoghurt; fish ceviche with cucumber, pickled jalapeño and pomegranate; and beef carnitas with pineapple habanero salsa. Diners can also look forward to snacks such as Peruvian empanadas, beef tartar 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 will also do $79 two-hour bottomless margarita and bottomless taco sessions on Sundays, and 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 from Saturday, June 3 — open 5pm–late Wednesday–Thursday and 12pm–12am Friday–Sunday.
Broadbeach has never really had to work too hard to convince people to visit. The laidback vibes, excellent dining scene and ample swimming spots that give the suburb its name do most of the heavy lifting. But if you are a little harder to impress, the good people at Tourism and Events Queensland are rising to the challenge and cordially inviting you to plan a long weekend away to the Gold Coast for the annual Blues on Broadbeach festival that runs from Thursday, May 18 to Sunday, May 21. With 22 years of experience under its belt, the 2023 incarnation of Blues on Broadbeach will be the pay-off of a well oiled machine. And, while the organisers have had some time to fine-tune their ability to put on a stellar music festival that showcases authentic rhythm and blues music, this year's program could very well be their best yet. As well as a lineup of national and international artists performing across the precinct's multiple stages, streets and parks, the four-day-long fest will fold in a massive selection of restaurants, cafes and bars, and a host of accommodation options. Meaning you can stay right in the heart of the festival and enjoy live music at your actual doorstep. Kind of worried about blowing the budget? Fear not, because Blues on Broadbeach is one of Australia's largest free music festivals and it's generally non-ticketed, so you can just rock up and play it by ear (pardon both bad music-related puns). So, if you're heading in from interstate, set your Google alert to track flight prices and round up some mates. Otherwise, if Broadbeach is closer to home for you, take your time and pop in and out as you please. Either way, whether its your first pilgrimage to Blues on Broadbeach, or your 22nd, we're going to call it now and say it probably won't be your last. Blues on Broadbeach is on from Thursday, May 18 to Sunday, May 21, 2023. For further details, head to the website.
From its broth to its pork slices to its fish cakes, tucking into a hearty bowl of ramen is typically a meat-filled affair. While that's great news for lovers of tonkotsu, char sui and narutomaki, it robs vegans and vegetarians from slurping up soupy Japanese noodle concoctions. But come April, Taro's Ramen wants to change that. Brisbane might already be home to one dedicated vegan ramen joint — but soon it'll soon boast a dedicated vegan Taro's Ramen as well. As the city's ramen lovers will know, that's a rather big deal. A firm favourite with stores in Edward Street and Queen Street in the CBD, Racecourse Road at Ascot and Melbourne Street at South Brisbane, Taro's is the local go-to for authentic-style dishes. Taro's vegan and vegetarian-only eatery will take over its Edward Street site, with the existing Taro's Express closing on Saturday, March 20 and relaunching as Taro's Vegan Ramen on Monday, April 1. Chef and owner Taro Akimoto has no plans to change all of his stores, or to stop serving meat, or to take a stance on the topic. But he's eager to promote healthy, tasty ramen, and to show off a vegan ramen recipe that's the result of some serious trial and error. Visitors to Taro's South Brisbane store since last April might've already slurped up the meat-free version — and with the dish proving popular, Taro felt it was time to give it its own home. He's still been tinkering with the ingredients too, so prepare to enjoy his latest and greatest version. While the plan is to make Taro's Vegan Ramen a permanent venture, the Edward Street building housing the store is getting a revamp later this year. That means that sometime between July to September, the shop will be on the move — but if the dedicated vegan eatery is a hit, it'll retain the same all-veggie focus in a permanent location. Find Taro's Vegan Ramen at 288 Edward St, Brisbane from Monday, April 1.
Sun, surf, sand, plus somewhere to sip drinks and snack on seafood — that's every beachgoer's dream. Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast has long had the warm weather, waves and waterside lounging spots covered, and now it has a new bar and eatery positioned right on the popular strip's beachfront. A 640-person capacity venue as close to the shore as you're going to get, Burleigh Pavilion has taken over level one at 43 Goodwin Terrace. It's a two-in-one kind of place, with a 240-seater restaurant at one end and a huge hangout space at the other — all beneath four-metre-high ceilings held up by timber rafters, and within a space that goes heavy on beachy pastel hues. For those after a sit-down meal, The Tropic is the place to go. As well as water views, diners will look into the open kitchen, where head chef Guillaume Zika oversees the culinary side of things. His menu serves up plenty of seafood — think seafood platters, servings of octopus, and grilled tiger prawns with dry vermouth butter and shellfish oil — while also finding room for sobrassada with pickles, rib eye, plus coconut sorbet for dessert. Food is also available in The Terrace, Burleigh Pavilion's 400-capacity bar. Of course, you'll want a few cold beverages to go with your prawns on ice, freshly shucked oysters, beer-battered fish and chips, and four types of pizza. Drinks-wise, more than 90 wines are on offer, alongside 14 beers on tap — including locals Burleigh Brewing and Balter. Cocktails span a gin and ginger kombucha blend; Bacardi spiced rum with strawberry, lime and vanilla sugar; and another rum tipple with Malibu, pineapple, ginger syrup and lime. Find Burleigh Pavilion at Level 1, 43 Goodwin Terrace, Burleigh Heads, open daily from 11am–midnight.
Brisbanites, you don't have to go far from home to find world-class art and performance. The Sunshine State's art scene is one of the most vibrant in Australia, and 2023 is shaping up to be a non-stop calendar of festivals, exhibitions and cultural events that you'll want to lock in ASAP. And it's not just Brisbane: the quintessential beachside towns and rural cities come alive all year long as well. You'll find everything from boundary-pushing urban installations that merge art and science to world-first exhibitions of iconic artworks, celebrations of First Nations creators, new interpretations of classic performance pieces and international music acts satisfying all your boot-scootin' and blues-rockin' needs. Together with Queensland, we've rounded up nine stand-out arts and culture events that need to be added to your diary, stat. So in 2023, stick around town for your arts and culture fix — everything you need to inspire, intrigue and delight is happening right here. [caption id="attachment_876729" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Aerocene 2 and Aerocene 1.2, Studio Tomás Saraceno[/caption] 'AIR' AT GOMA, BRISBANE Until Sunday, April 23, 2023, the entire ground floor of GOMA will be given over to a sprawling exhibition exploring the ethereal element we breathe — aptly titled Air. Through the themes of atmosphere, burn, shared, invisible and change, diverse artworks will explore this vital, intimate and at times dangerous element that is core to our existence. The exhibition features Australian and international artists, including collection pieces from Ron Mueck and Jonathan Jone, plus commissions from Jemima Wyman and Tomás Saraceno. The artworks address weighty issues like climate change and the pandemic, as well as evocations and meditations on the place of wind and breath in the natural world. Encounter Air through a broad range of artistic mediums, from solid light installations to moving sculptures, the release of scents and art made from breath and pigment. 'Air' at GOMA, Saturday, November 26 till Sunday, April 23, 2023 [caption id="attachment_880980" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lizzie Himmel, Jean-Michel Basquiat 1985. Artwork ©️ Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York.[/caption] 'POP MASTERS: ART FROM THE MUGRABI COLLECTION, NEW YORK' AT HOTA, GOLD COAST For 15 weeks, the Gold Coast's Home of the Arts (HOTA) will play host to an exclusive, world-first exhibition of pop art. Pop Masters will take over the Sunshine State from Saturday, February 18 till Sunday, June 4, 2023. What's on show? Renowned works from the icons of the artistic movement that emerged during the late 50s — the likes of Andy Warhol will get cosy alongside the great Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Characterised by playful, incisive creative conversation with popular culture, these pieces have been selected from the private New York collection of Jose Mugrabi. More than 40 works will span the 60 year history of pop art — there will be legacy pieces from the original artists of the 70s and 80s, and those they inspired up until now. Don't miss the rare chance to see these works in person on Australian shores. 'Pop Masters: Art from the Mugrabi Collection, New York' at HOTA, Saturday, February 18 till Sunday, June 4, 2023 [caption id="attachment_853020" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Markus Ravik[/caption] WORLD SCIENCE FESTIVAL ft. CURIOCITY BRISBANE, BRISBANE Open your minds and feed your desire for new knowledge, insights and thought-provoking art at the World Science Festival. Presented by the Queensland Museum Network, the program offers a stellar lineup of live events across STEM, education and art, with activities for all ages and curiosities. From Wednesday, March 22 till Sunday, March 26, 2023, the festival will hit locations through the Queensland Museum precinct, South Bank and the city, before it takes a tour of locations in regional Queensland. Curiocity Brisbane is back too. From Wednesday, March 22 till Sunday, April 2, 2023, the city will transform into a landscape of wonder, strange encounters and eye-opening experiences, where an intersection of science, technology and art come to life in installations throughout the urban playground. World Science Festival ft. Curiocity Brisbane, Wednesday, March 22 till Sunday, April 2, 2023 [caption id="attachment_878012" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dave Kan[/caption] CMC ROCKS QLD, IPSWICH Pull out the cowboy boots and grab your Stetson, Australia's biggest international country music festival is boot-scootin' its way back to Ipswich. Over three days (March 17–19, 2023), Rebel and Stampede — the two main stages — will keep up a non-stop musical program of epic shows. Past years have brought big name talents — think The Dixie Chicks, Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw and Troy Cassar-Daley — and 2023 is no different. Next year's fest is hosting the finest country acts from here and abroad. Morgan Wallen and Kip Moore will be joined by the exclusive chance to witness the Zac Brown Band perform Down Under. Expect yeehaws of all kinds: old-school classic country, alt and pop-country. Camp onsite and come join the good country people for a hoedown and/or hootenanny. CMC Rocks QLD, Friday, March 17 till Sunday, March 19, 2023 BLUES ON BROADBEACH, GOLD COAST Now in its 22nd year, Blues on Broadbeach always draws a lineup of big-name artists and the best local talent in blues, rock and soul to its sunny locale. Ever-popular and packed with fans of good tunes, good grooves and good times, this free fest will run from Thursday, May 18 till Sunday, May 21, 2023. Those that've been know the fun they're in for. First time? It's massive: gigs take place throughout Broadbeach, from the seaside parklands to favourite venues, with around 20 different spots for you to catch a performance. Make a holiday of it — stay a few nights, explore the area, eat and drink delicious local things. You're free to get up and dance the trip away, or simply sit on the grass with a brew while soaking in the beachy energy of this seaside blues party. Blues on Broadbeach, Thursday, May 18 till Sunday, May 21, 2023 [caption id="attachment_879295" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Blue Click Photography[/caption] CAIRNS INDIGENOUS ART FAIR, CAIRNS AND GREAT BARRIER REEF The annual Cairns Indigenous Art Fair is both a leading ethical art market place and a true celebration of First Nations culture. From Thursday, July 13 till Sunday, July 16, 2023, the event provides an opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to exhibit, collaborate and connect with each other and wider Australian audiences. Next year's theme, 'Weaving Our Future: Claiming Our Sovereignty', highlights the crucial point of time we're in, on the edge of wide-scale change, bringing the narratives and lived experiences of Queensland's First Peoples into national discourse and uplifting their voices. The festival is comprised of both free and ticketed events, with stages at the Cairns Convention Centre precinct and other venues throughout Gimuy (Cairns) featuring art, music, fashion, comedy, food, crafts, conversations and more. It's an optimal time to book a trip to the tropical north — sun, sea and a showcase of stand-out Australian art. Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Thursday, July 13 till Sunday, July 16, 2023 TOOWOOMBA CARNIVAL OF FLOWERS, SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND COUNTRY Toowoomba will burst into bloom again for the much-loved, endlessly photographable, month-long Carnival of Flowers from Friday, September 1 till Saturday, September 30, 2023. Expect citywide floral displays, tours and activities, from a glorious swathe of natural colour taking over 25 hectares of Queens Park, to the floral floats and street performers of the Grand Central Floral Parade and the private gardens of proud Toowoomba residents in the Chronicle Garden Competition. By night, take a twilight tour through the magical grounds of Laurel Bank Park or explore the illuminated Botanic Gardens. It's not all buds and petals: there are foodie experiences, pub tours, and a food and wine mini-fest of Southern Queensland Country producers — plus music, local markets and a ferris wheel. Explore Toowoomba at its most lush with a trip next September. Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers, Friday, September 1 till Saturday, September 30, 2023 BRISBANE FESTIVAL, BRISBANE Brisbane Festival is the vibrant celebration that hits the city annually, bringing bold art, boundary-pushing performances and installations throughout the city. With a focus on challenging, disruptive and bold art, the popular fest spotlights international, local and First Nations creators and collaborators. Although official dates are yet to be released, it's set to run through September 2023. Expect to be able to head to free events, live concerts and interactive hands-on activities — in past years, there's been Naughty Nights Out, magic shows straight from the streets of Tokyo, all-out block parties, blow-out burlesque performances — even rollerskating. The starter? The famous Riverfire display over the waters of the Brisbane River. Brisbane Festival, September 2023 THE RING CYCLE, BRISBANE There's no opera quite like Wagner's Ring Cycle. Totalling 15 hours, you're in for four nights of powerful, operatic wonder. But even if you've seen it before, we're sure you've not seen anything like the upcoming rendition by Opera Australia. Hitting QPAC from Friday, December 1 till Saturday, December 23, 2023, the production comes from Chinese director Chen Shi-Zheng, and brings together performers from here and abroad. The version places Wagner's classic interpretation of Germanic mythology into a futuristic, parallel-universe setting, using digital art to create virtual landscapes. Breathtakingly original, the music is led by French conductor Philippe Auguin, who has headed up The Ring Cycle on numerous occasions. If you're an opera buff or just a fan of fantasy, futurism, timeless tales and truly epic theatre, this is an unmissable cultural event. The Ring Cycle, Friday, December 1 till Saturday, December 23, 2023 To explore more arts and culture events taking over Queensland in 2023, head to the website.
Despite the scale of Australia, Aussies love to walk. There's loads of scenery, our cities are optimised for walking, and we have some beautiful tracks nationwide that are worth the lengthy trips to get there. With thick jungles, red deserts and stunning coastlines, we're spoilt for choice. One of the most spectacular is the mighty Three Capes Track. The 48km trail, found in far southeast Tasmania, takes you through the spectacular wilderness of Tassie and along the highest sea cliffs in the country. If you want to level up an already stunning experience, you can book with the Tasmanian Walking Company to sleep in a private eco-lodge and campsite along the track (rather than the public huts) to rest and recover in style between walking stretches. Now the good part: you can win two spots on the Three Capes Adventure with the Tasmanian Walking Company. This adventure includes experienced guides, lightweight packs, private accommodation, chef-curated meals, plus local beer and wine throughout the adventure. We're also throwing in a $1000 flight voucher to get you there and home, so all you need to worry about are the awesome views. To enter the giveaway, complete the form below. [competition]895873[/competition]
It's television's greatest tragedy, and one that's been more than a decade in the making. Watching Better Call Saul, it's impossible not to think about the route its protagonist takes through Breaking Bad. We already know how Saul Goodman's (Bob Odenkirk) story ends, so as we explore his pre-Walter White life — when he was known by his birth name of Jimmy McGill and genuinely wanted to be a legitimate lawyer — the feeling is bittersweet, to say the least. The same sensation applies to former cop Mike Ehrmantrout (Jonathan Banks), whose Breaking Bad fate is also already known. Before getting caught up with Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), he first crossed Jimmy's path as a car park attendant at the Albuquerque court house — and Better Call Saul tells his tale as much as its namesake's For four seasons since 2015, the Breaking Bad prequel has stepped through the earlier existence of these two characters, as well as others in their orbit — such as Jimmy's successful older brother Chuck (Michael McKean), his girlfriend and fellow lawyer Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), and Mike's widowed daughter-in-law Stacey (Kerry Condon) and granddaughter Kaylee (Abigail Zoe Lewis). As the episodes pass, the two central figures slowly start inching towards their Breaking Bad lives. Familiar faces, such as Gus and Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis) also pop up. The result: a series that's as excellent as its predecessor, and one that provides another excuse to spend more time in Breaking Bad's world. After last airing episodes in 2018 — and leaving 2019 to El Camino — A Breaking Bad Movie — it's returning for a fifth season this year. And if you can't wait until February 24 to see what comes next, or you weren't quite satisfied by the season's first couple of sneak peeks, a new trailer has just dropped. This new trailer is still brief, like its predecessors, but it does offer a glimpse at all the familiar players. Jimmy, Mike, Kim, Gus and Hector are all accounted for, as is gangland figure Nacho Varda (Michael Mando). That said, the biggest revelation is the return of a Breaking Bad character who hasn't been seen in Better Call Saul just yet, but was always going to pop up eventually. No, it's not Walt (Bryan Cranston) or Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), but DEA agent and Walt's brother-in-law Hank Schrader (Dean Norris). The trailer follows a big Better Call Saul announcement a few weeks back, with US network AMC announcing that the show will wrap up after its sixth season. Work on the last batch of 13 episodes will begin this month, and will presumably air in 2021 — ending your chances to hear Jimmy tell everyone "s'all good, man". Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLOgEMxt-yM&feature=youtu.be Better Call Saul's fifth season starts streaming on Stan from Monday, February 24.
The days of Sizzler are long behind us, with the buffet chain closing the last of its Australian eateries back in late 2020, but cheese toast is back on the menu in Brisbane. Let's be honest: the beloved bread dish was the real drawcard tempting diners to the chain (well, that and being able to eat as much dessert as you like). Now, it's making an appearance at Fritzenberger South Bank after the burger joint picked up an original cheese toast machine. This stomach-warming favourite has joined the Little Stanley Street venue's range, but if you'd like to enjoy a piece for free, you only have a week to head by. The cheese toast will be on offer at no extra charge from Monday, June 10–Sunday, June 16, 2024, with a caveat: it's only free if you purchase a burger or a main. Fritzenberger's take on the cheese toast features thick white bread topped with parmigiano reggiano. "We've stayed true to the iconic recipe, but we've used higher quality ingredients to really intensify the flavours," says Executive Chef Sebastien Calais. And yes, the burger spot is promising a cheesy crust and pillowy bread beneath, because every Sizzler cheese toast fan knows that the contrast of textures is one of the reasons that the dish is such a hit.
UPDATE, Thursday, July 18: Titanic. The Human Story will now open on Friday, July 26, 2024, not Friday, July 19. This article has been updated to reflect that change. More than 110 years have passed since the RMS Titanic's ill-fated voyage, but the ship's tragic sinking hasn't ever become a mere historical footnote. James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and Celine Dion all helped. In Australia recently, a Melbourne exhibition about the ocean liner has also assisted — and, from September, so will the arrival of musical Titanique, which is set to make its Aussie debut in Sydney. Displaying in Brisbane from July, Titanic. The Human Story is the next event that'll step through the tale of the vessel that set out from Southhampton in April 1912, then struck an iceberg en route to New York. The exhibition has popped up in both the UK and the US, but is making its maiden Down Under visit in the Queensland capital. If you live outside of the Sunshine State, cross your fingers that it heads elsewhere around the country afterwards. Although everything Titanic-related since 1997 has meant thinking about Cameron (Avatar: The Way of Water), DiCaprio (Killers of the Flower Moon), Winslet (The Regime) and Dion, Titanic. The Human Story wants you to cast the movie from your mind as it focuses on the ship's passengers and crew. The exhibition features around 200 personal artefacts from them, including never-before-seen pieces that span handwritten letters, belongings, keepsakes and photographs. As attendees step through their experiences, an audio guide will also relay the tales of those onboard the liner during its one and only journey — and some of the boat's interiors will feature via life-sized recreations as well. Titanic. The Human Story will open at Uptown, the shopping complex in the Queen Street Mall that was previously the Myer Centre, from Friday, July 26, 2024. The precinct is first getting into the exhibition game with the completely different Dopamine Land, which is filled with Instagram-friendly experiences designed to make visitors feel happy (ball pits are one of them) and is also making its Aussie premiere in Brisbane. Behind both is entertainment discovery platform Fever. Also behind Titanic. The Human Story specifically is Spanish company Musealia. Bringing historical exhibitions to audiences is its remit, including about the Berlin Wall and Auschwitz, and it has enlisted Titanic expert Claes-Göran Wetterholm to assist with its research on this exhibition. Titanic. The Human Story will display at Level Q, Uptown, 91 Queen St, Brisbane City from Friday, July 26, 2024 — head to the exhibition website for more information and to buy tickets.
Prepare to forget everything that's traditionally creepy and awkward about beauty pageants, and embrace the sequin-studded, sashaying side of things instead. That's the aim at the MELT Festival Beauty Pageant — which is about as close as Brisbane is ever going to get to having its own version of RuPaul's Drag Race. In a show of diversity and a celebration of drag queens, kings and trans beauties, competitors will battle it out to be crowned the city's most fashionable figure. Expect wigs, glitter and many a jaw-dropping outfit, courtesy of categories such as Graceful Glamourzons, Tremendous Talent and Condom Costume with a Message.
What starts with a progress pride flag-raising ceremony, officially opens with Kylie Minogue and Charli XCX, then ends with MUNA and G Flip? What features the long-awaited return of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade to Oxford Street (with new viewing areas), more than 45 rainbow artworks all around town and a monumental pride march with 50,000-plus people walking across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, too? In other words, what'll make Sydney the centre of the queer universe from Friday, February 17–Sunday, March 5, and make history in the process? Sydney WorldPride, the first WorldPride ever held in the southern hemisphere, and basically a mega Mardi Gras — and your unmissable reason to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community in the New South Wales capital in early 2023. Plenty of the above has been giving everyone reasons to rejoice for a while now; however, the Sydney WorldPride crew has just dropped the full event lineup. In-person, the team has done so with Bondi Beach's first-ever gigantic rainbow sand sculpture — which is on display until sunset today, Wednesday, November 9, if you're in the neighbourhood and keen to check it out — but this is a program worth getting excited about for the next 100 days until Sydney WorldPride arrives. Charli XCX has indeed joined the opening concert lineup, as has Jessica Mauboy, both of whom will perform alongside Kylie Minogue. Also welcome news: more tickets have been released for the previously sold-out gig, although don't expect them to stick around for long. At the Domain Dance Party mid-fest — another huge highlight — Kelly Rowland will headline‚ with DJ Dan Slater curating the bill, and DJ Suri and DJ Isis Muretech among those on the decks. And, the Bondi Beach Party on March 4 will turn the famed stretch of sand into an openair club for a casual 12,000 people, dancing by the water from dusk. If that's not enough to start making plans — a staycation or vacation via Concrete Playground Trips and its seven different Sydney WorldPride packages, perhaps? — overall the fest will feature more than 300 events over 17 days, making it the largest-ever LGBTQIA+ festival ever held in the region, too. Still on numbers, that hefty total includes 19 official major events, 68 WorldPride Arts experiences, 17 WorldPride Sports events and 192 Pride Amplified community events. That's a massive lineup to sift through, so here's the short version: wherever you are in Sydney during WorldPride, expect the festival to be in the vicinity. The list of standouts worth mentioning is similarly sizeable, including the gigs at Sydney WorldPride's at Marri Madung Butbut (Many Brave Hearts): the First Nations Gathering Space — such as the Klub Village party and performance, the Miss First Nation drag contest, and exhibition Bloodlines, which honours artists lost to HIV/AIDS. There's also the impressive WorldPride human rights conference, which is the largest of its kind ever held in the Asia-Pacific as well, and will span three days. Also, Queer Art After Hours will head to the Art Gallery of New South Wales and its new building; the Mardi Gras Film Festival returns for its 30th fest, complete with a big focus on Asia-Pacific cinema and a day of free outdoor screenings; and the Queer Formal is back. And while some Mardi Gras favourites, such as the official 10,000-person Mardi Gras Party at Hordern Pavilion and the Mardi Gras Laneway at The Beresford and Hill Street, have already sold out, there's clearly plenty more where they came from. The WorldPride Arts lineup alone spans exhibitions by Paul Yore and Dylan Mooney, the first dedicated exhibition of Australian queer artist David McDiarmid's photos, lesbian divorce comedy Blessed Union, the Australian premiere of Choir Boy by Moonlight co-writer Tarell Alvin McCraney, and installation Eulogy for the Dyke Bar — which will indeed operate as a bar — for instance. And, there's a 24-hour dance piece, a comedy night hosted by Ru Paul's Drag Race Down Under's Coco Jumbo, and Powerhouse Museum's showcase of Sydney's leading LGBTQIA+ artists, designers, makers and performers as well. Sports-wise, 17 different activities will be featured, spanning everything from roller derby, ten-pin bowling, soccer, ice hockey and basketball to wrestling, swimming, golf and dragon boating. Then, throw in a Pride Climb on Sydney Harbour Bridge, LGBTQIA+ history walks and a Sapphic Literary Lounge at Watsons Bay Library, all from the Pride Amplified part of the fest. That program covers gin dinners, events in spas and pop-up fetish bars, and a world-record attempt at the biggest disco dance class, too, and there's more still to come. Sydney WorldPride will run from Friday, February 17–Sunday, March 5, 2023. For more information, head to the event's website. Making Sydney WorldPride plans? Concrete Playground Trips has a heap of exclusive packages on offer, including tickets to and accommodation around the Opening Concert, Domain Dance Party, Bondi Beach Party and more.
When a music festival takes place in a winery, it already has two of the three fest essentials taken care of before it even announces its lineup: an ace location and booze. But, that doesn't mean that Grapevine Gathering slouches on talent. The acts hitting its stages around the country are always chosen to impress, and 2023's fests are no different. Leading the charge: Spacey Jane, King Stingray and Vanessa Amorosi, with the latter meaning that 'Absolutely Everybody' will be stuck in your head for weeks afterwards. The Wombats and Hayden James are also on the bill, both doing Australian-exclusive shows at the wine-fuelled festival. Rounding out the list: Cannons, The Rions, Teenage Joans and Bella Amor, plus podcast duo Lucy and Nikki on hosting duties. [caption id="attachment_905845" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sam Hendel[/caption] Grapevine Gathering's 2023 tour will hit Queensland on Sunday, October 8, taking place at Sirromet Wines. Naturally, sipping wine is a huge part of the attraction. As always, attendees will have access to a heap of vino given the fest's locations, as well as an array of food options. GRAPEVINE GATHERING 2023 LINEUP: Spacey Jane The Wombats Hayden James King Stingray Vanessa Amorosi Cannons The Rions Teenage Joans Bella Amor Hosted by Lucy and Nikki Top image: Jordan Munns.
A film about memories, Aftersun is impossible to forget. Floating across the screen like it's sweeping in from a dream, it's too raw, too personal, too deeply felt and too tactile. Within its frames, 11-year-old Sophie (debutant Frankie Corio) enjoys a sunny late-90s getaway to Turkey with her father Calum (Paul Mescal, The Lost Daughter), cementing recollections that'll linger decades afterwards. In telling this "emotionally autobiographical" tale, as she's called it, Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells crafts a movie that's rich, resonant and haunting from its very first moments to its equally stunning and beautiful finale. Since the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, Aftersun certainly hasn't been forgotten by the film world. Nearing a year later, it's still the talk of the industry — deservedly so. The list of accolades and nominations to its name keeps growing almost daily. A Cannes Critics' Week Jury Prize, five Independent Spirit nods, a Gotham Award, seven British Independent Film Awards and nine more nominations, the BAFTA for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer: they're among the movie's ever-expanding list of gongs. So too is the Directors Guild of America's coveted prize for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Feature Film. And, of course, there's Mescal's Academy Award nomination for Best Lead Actor, a feat that the Normal People star achieved in just his third big-screen role. Making her feature directorial debut after shorts Tuesday, Laps and Blue Christmas, Wells didn't contemplate anything that'd follow simply making Aftersun. "With shorts, it most often ends at its premiere. You're so fortunate to have gotten to the point where you're showing the film with an audience at a festival that that is the end of the road, really," she tells Concrete Playground. "I had naively not thought about what came after making the film. I thought about the response only really in the narrative sense, about how legible the film was in its themes and its characters, and its intentions," she advises. "It's been really special. I don't think you set out to make films to get that type of award recognition, but it's been really nice to see the work recognised, and the work of my collaborators recognised." Special truly is the word for Aftersun, and for everything that it brings to the screen. It applies to the so-intimate-you-could-be-there look and feel, the heartwrenching use of a coming-of-age tale to ponder loss and depression, the meticulously specific yet also timeless use of 90s minutiae — songs like 'Macarena', 'Losing My Religion' and 'Tubthumping', plus Catatonia's 'Road Rage', All Saints' 'Never Ever' and Blur's 'Tender' as well — and Corio and Mescal's sublime performances. With the film now in cinemas Down Under, and still buzzing around the international awards circuit, too, we spoke to Wells about her journey with Aftersun — including what it's like to direct Paul Mescal to an Oscar nomination, and finding her perfect cast to begin with. ON CASTING PAUL MESCAL — AND WATCHING EVERYTHING HE WAS IN FIRST "We focused our attention first on casting Sophie, because we knew she would very likely be a discovery, somebody who'd never acted before, and that it would take time — which it did, it took about six months. And towards the end of that process, we started to consider Calum in earnest, and Paul's name came up. Obviously, I'd seen him in Normal People. It was about a year after that had premiered during the early days of the pandemic, and I watched everything that I could get my hands on. I was drawn, I think, just to his warmth and capacity for vulnerability, and his openness and playfulness and charm. You know, I was watching interviews, really anything and everything. There was like an Instagram video of him singing Sia, and reading a children's book — everything. I don't think I've said that to him. Then we had the opportunity to meet and to talk. There was a period where he wasn't available, so we had to dispel the idea, but it came back around because our dates had moved. Then we had the chance to meet, and we just had a really great conversation and connected. He was so thoughtful in the way that he spoke about the script and the character. It's always a leap of faith at every step of the process, from the second the script leaves your inbox, to bring on collaborators, particularly for a project like this. It was so long in the making, in the writing, and so personal in so many ways, and casting is a really big leap of faith — it's when things start to become concrete in a certain way. It was a leap of faith really well taken, and I feel really proud to stand beside those two when we present the film to people, when we're at awards together. It was a really good experience, and they connected in such a profound and unexpected way. I don't think anybody foresaw the relationship that they would build to be as real in some way as it was." ON HEARING THE OSCARS NEWS AFTER SUCH A COLLABORATIVE EXPERIENCE "I can tell you what it felt in the moment that it happened, because I was on the phone with a couple of my producers. Paul rang the moment that it happened, and we both just jumped up and down around our respective apartments, yelling and swearing — and then took this moment just to appreciate the absurdity of the moment, and also the experience that we had together, which really was like a creative partnership and collaboration." There was a lot of trust that we placed in each other, I think. It really worked both ways. He put a lot of trust in me that I was creating meaning out of sequences of images, and things that may not be shot the way he'd imagined they'd shot — great stretches of dialogue shot while he was 50 feet away, sitting on a float out at sea for pivotal scenes in the film. He really trusted that I knew what I was doing in crafting this and building it, and allowing the feeling to shine through. I trusted him to just bring so much empathy to that character and to find meanings in unexpected places, and warmth in unexpected places. It was just a really special collaboration, and it feels like an amazing accomplishment on everyone's part in the film. And his performance being recognised, you know, it's such a small team. There weren't a lot of us. It was a really intimate film, and it's just very exciting and really, really nice." ON FINDING FRANKIE CORIO TO PLAY SOPHIE "We worked with [casting director] Lucy Pardee, who has worked with [Fish Tank and American Honey director] Andrea Arnold and [Birth and Under the Skin filmmaker] Jonathan Glazer, and has this amazing reputation for discovering new talent. She was my guide through that process, really. We had almost 800 submissions. These kids would submit various videos, and ideally we allowed them the space to grow with the process and become more comfortable in front of their camera at home. So, when we got into the casting room in-person — we met 16 of them — it felt like a natural step, a natural point of evolution in the process, even though that was still a new experience for them and for me too, really. That's where Frankie really stood out. That's where she was able to sit in front of the camera and become somebody different, and respond to direction, I suppose. And conjure emotional states that weren't what she was feeling in the moment, and then just shake them off when the exercise was over and cartwheel out the room. She was really, really, special and funny and never let me off easy in the best possible way. She's amazing to be around. She has so much energy." ON BRINGING 90S SIGHTS, SOUNDS AND CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES TO THE SCREEN "It was all about specificity in detail. The colours were just right. The length of the sleeves were just right, and that was down to our costume designer. The size of the tiles were just right or, if they weren't, we knew and we made a choice. There was just so much attention to detail in every department, and yet Greg [Gregory Oke, Aftersun's cinematographer] and I spoke about this, because we didn't want to excessively draw attention to detail. I think music is the most significant signifier of the period in the film. I played into a little bit, and enjoyed playing into a little bit. At the same time, I didn't want to always choose mega hits, because if I did I couldn't pay attention to the scene at hand. I wanted to choose things that were pop, and that felt real to the location, and also draw from slightly older tracks, too, because it's not only songs from 1997–8 that you would be hearing in 1997–8. We wanted it to feel really present and rich, and vibrant. 'Present' was our overriding adjective for the feel of the film, even though it was set in the past. We used our own holiday photographs as the basis of the look, the turquoise blues and the magenta skins and the rich blacks, quite saturated. We literally just handed holiday photographs to my colourist. I had been on one holiday to Turkey as a kid, and the photographs for that were the basis for the look for the film, and the types of tones that we went for. The Souvenir, Joanna Hogg's film, the first one had come out when we made the film. The second came out devastatingly in post. That was definitely a cue for how to portray a period that just felt very lived in and authentic, and never drawing attention to itself where it didn't need to, but just serving the story and the feel of the film." Aftersun is now screening in Australia and New Zealand cinemas. Read our full review. Images: Sarah Makharine.
After months of cancelled and delayed get-togethers, we're excited to be able to call up our friends and host a much-needed party. If you're in the same spirit, you may be looking to up your cocktail making game for pre- or post-dinner drinks. In partnership with Hennessy, we've pulled together five cocktail recipes that are an upgrade to the classics — from fruity concoctions that'll make you feel like you're on an overseas getaway to sophisticated takes on sidecars, martinis and champagne cocktails. And, most can be made or prepared in advance to help take the stress out of having everyone over to yours this holiday season. ESPRESSO MARTINI When you want to shake up your favourite caffeinated cocktail to pep everyone up at the end of a big meal, try whipping up this elevated version. The below ingredients serve one, but you can batch make this drink to make offering up a round easier on you. Ingredients 45ml Hennessy VS 10ml Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur 40ml freshly made, chilled espresso or cold drip coffee 10ml sugar syrup Coffee beans (optional) Method Shake all the ingredients together with ice. Strain into a chilled glass and serve with coffee beans (optional). GINGER MULE When you're keeping things as simple as possible for your at-home occasion, there's a refreshing drink you can make with three ingredients and minimal effort, but still looks impressive. Scale up the below ingredients to serve more than one. Ingredients 45ml Hennessy VS Ginger beer Lime juice Mint leaf (optional) Method Add cognac to a tall glass and top up with ice. Squeeze the juice of a quarter of a lime and add to glass. Top up with ginger beer and garnish with a mint leaf or wedge of lime (optional). PINA COLADA Few people like getting caught in the rain, but many more enjoy this fruity drink. And you can take the holiday cocktail up a notch with this truly luxury take on a piña colada. Ingredients 45ml Hennessy VS 15ml coconut cream 15ml coconut cordial 45ml pineapple tepache (fermented drink) Squeeze of lime Method Shake cognac, coconut cream, coconut cordial and squeeze of lime together. Pour pineapple tepache into a glass. Strain shaken ingredients into the same glass and top up with ice. FRENCH 75 When you're out to impress, this elegant and easy-to-make cocktail has that je ne sais quoi. The classic drink is usually made with gin and champagne, but this twist uses cognac. Ingredients 40ml Hennessy VS 40ml champagne 30ml lemon juice 20ml sugar syrup Method Shake cognac, lemon juice and sugar syrup together with ice and strain into a glass. Top up with champagne. SIDECAR This party-ready drink will appeal to your sweeter toothed guests. Make this sugar-rimmed cocktail as a welcome drink, or to serve with desserts. Though the egg white gives it a perfect cloud-like top, it's entirely optional. Ingredients 40ml Hennessy VS 20ml Cointreau or triple sec 25ml lemon juice 10ml sugar syrup Egg white (optional) Method Shake all ingredients together. Pour over ice, or serve straight with a sugar rim on glass (not salt). Find more cocktails recipes on the Hennessy website.
Proving that the Australian film industry isn't immune to the sequelitis that has plagued American horror franchises for decades, director Greg McLean has teamed back up with star John Jarratt for a follow-up to their stomach-turning 2005 sleeper hit, Wolf Creek. Not unsurprisingly, the result feels very much like a cash grab. A film no one was asking for, Wolf Creek 2 trades the raw, taboo-shattering violence of its predecessor for a cheaper, more predictable yet somehow nastier kind of carnage. The difference between the two films becomes obvious almost immediately. Although notorious for the graphic tortures inflicted on its backpacking protagonists, the original Wolf Creek actually runs for almost an hour before the first drop of blood is even spilled. Prior to that, McLean spends his time getting us to care about his characters, making their eventual demise, at the hands of Jarratt's Akubra-wearing serial killer, that much more distressing. In comparison, Wolf Creek 2 puts the villain front and centre, allowing him his first kill before we even see a title card. Focusing on the killer is a standard move for a horror sequel, and seems all the more logical here in light of Jarratt's fantastic performance. A blood-soaked ocker stereotype from hell (with a sick sense of humour to match), killer Mick Taylor is a cinematic sadist for the ages; his menacing chortle sends shivers down your spine, even as his profane, xenophobic rants strike savagely at the heart of so-called Australian values. But while Jarratt's performance is the sequel's best feature, his character's increased role is also its biggest problem. Unlike in the first film, McLean never bothers to flesh out Taylor's prey, which this time consists of two Germans and a Pom. Conversely, Taylor is clearly the character that viewers are meant to be most excited to see. At times, it even feels like we're meant to root for him, which I found difficult to reconcile with the fact that he's a murderer and a rapist. Wolf Creek was effectively shocking because it made no attempt to make its violence entertaining. Wolf Creek 2 does just that, making it a far more exploitative film. This might be less of a sticking point if the movie was actually scary. But it's not — just intermittently gory. Most of the film consists of Taylor chasing his helpless quarry through the outback, their capture or grizzly death (probably both) a glum inevitability. Things briefly get interesting in the film's final third, when McLean finally rediscovers the notion that terror comes not just from violence, but from the threat of it. But by then it's too little, too late. https://youtube.com/watch?v=s4bqeT5edbs
Over the past year or so, many Australians have been working from home either during lockdowns or in general, which means many of us are have been leaning on our bar carts a little more than usual. This has lead to a level of experimentation — whether that's ordering in cocktails, trying our hand at making our own fancy drinks or getting some fun wines delivered. Another way you can get creative: by ordering a bottle of Unico Zelo's yuzu vermouth. The tasty child of Adelaide Hills winery Unico Zelo and sister distillery Applewood, this third batch of untraditional (but ever-so-tasty) vermouth is made from a combination of Adelaide Hills merlot grapes, some native Australian botanicals (usually used to make Applewood's Okar bitter amaro) and yuzu from Mountain Yuzu — a 20-acre farm located in northeast Victoria, on the foothills of the Australian Alps. As you can see, its an all-Australian affair — unlike a lot of traditional vermouths, which are made in Italy and France. Eco-minded founders and winemakers Laura and Brendan Carter are committed to using native botanicals and sustainably produced grapes in their entire range of wines and spirits, aiming to create products that truly taste Aussie as. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Unico Zelo | Australian Wine (@unicozelo) As it's not a traditional sweet vermouth — it's really quite far from it — we forgive you for not knowing exactly how to drink it. But, thankfully, we've done some testing for you. On the rocks? Yep. Instead of sweet vermouth in a negroni? Do it. With a splash of soda? Definitely. If you want something a little fancier, the Unico team has a couple of cocktail suggestions for you. Try your hand at the Natty-Cano, a spin on an americano, but with pét-nat instead of soda water. To make it, mix 45-millilitres of Unico Yuzu, 15-millilitres of Økar Island Bitter (or Campari) and 120-millilitres of pét-nat in a highball glass and garnish with an orange twist. All of Unico's limited releases only available in very small batches, so if you want it, don't wait on it. Unico's Yuzu Vermouth is now available to purchase via the brand's website for $35 per bottle.
Back in 2018, Gang of Youths announced its very own music festival, taking over Brisbane's Riverstage with the likes of Luca Brasi, Thelma Plum and Jack River. Four years and a whole new album cycle on, the band is returning with A More Perfect Union part two, taking over a new Queensland venue and expanding to a new state much further afield. Following a stopover in Tasmania, the festival will head to Queensland's Sandstone Point Hotel in Moreton Bay on Saturday, August 20. Each date for the festival has a unique lineup personally curated by Gang of Youths, both headlined by the band, of course. Moreton Bay's edition will feature sets from Matt Corby, Middle Kids, Budjerah, Blessed, Becca Hatch and Romero. If you can't make it to the festival, the band will be touring their latest record angel in realtime and new EP immolation tape across the country in August, popping up in Adelaide, Newcastle, Sydney and Melbourne. Tickets are $131, with a variety of VIP packages available. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9QsAO4BU28 Image: Sergey Osipov.
This article is sponsored by our partners Red Bull. Question: What is better than a roller disco? Answer: A rooftop roller disco. Question: What is better than a rooftop roller disco? Answer: A free rooftop roller disco. That's right folks. As part of the 2013 Valley Fiesta, Brisbane's biggest street party, the musical wizards behind the Red Bull Music Academy are skating into town on Saturday, November 23, to present a free rooftop roller disco that cannot be missed. Spinning the decks atop Wilson Car Park will be a host of local and international acts including world renowned music man Kon, Boogie Monster, Cutloose and Matt Lapish, who will all be delivering the retro smooth sounds of disco and funk, from the wee hours of the afternoon until long after the sun has gone down. This homage to the glory days of disco doesn't stop there. The entire rooftop car park is being transformed into a roller skating wonderland, with licensed bars and, more importantly, a fully functional skate rink. Red Bull will be trading in the wings and giving you skates for the evening, so no need to bring your own. Just bring your bag of tricks and a willingness to be the dancing queen. '70s inspired costumes are encouraged. So pull out those flares, grow out that afro and put on your most outrageous shirt, because Red Bull is bringing back the '70s (for one night only).
Kick-Ass is back. The self-made masked crusader (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has bulked up and is ready to deliver a bigger punch of vigilante justice to the criminals of New York City in Kick-Ass 2. He isn't the only one who has come back for more either; old friend Hit Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) will join Dave Lizewski's heroic alter ego as they take on their nemesis Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), who has restyled himself as The Mother Fucker in another bout of Hollywood comic book violence. There is also a gluttony of new superheroes and villains entering the good vs bad fray, most notably Jim Carrey, who is almost unrecognisable as the patriotic Colonel Stars and Stripes. Whilst the sequel is unlikely to hit the controversial heights of an 11-year-old Moretz hilariously dropping the C-bomb, the trailer suggests that it has lost none of its quirky humour, and if Jim Carrey's post-production Twitter reaction is anything to go by, we can look forward to a flurry of stylised screen violence that is set to make this another (kick ass) cult classic. Kick-Ass 2 is in cinemas August 22 and to celebrate we have ten double in-season passes to give away thanks to Universal Pictures. To be in the running, subscribe to our newsletter (if you haven't already) and then email hello@concreteplayground.com.au with your name and address.
Looking for a place to eat, drink or slumber, and eager to do so in eye-popping surroundings? Australia's annual hospitality design accolades have you covered. Each year, the Eat Drink Design Awards shine a spotlight on restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels that go above and beyond in the style stakes — where stunning decor is as essential as top chefs, signature dishes, creative cocktails, stellar coffee and comfortable beds. In 2019, the awards have cast their eyes far and wide. Melburnians have more than a few standout spots to add to their must-visit list, with the city leading the charge just as it did last year; however some of this year's winners hail from much further afield. In fact, if you want to visit the country's best-designed bar, you'll need to head to the lakeside New South Wales country town of Mulwala, a near seven-hour drive from Sydney. And if you want to bunker down at one of the nation's best hotels, Brisbane is calling. In the bar category, Blacksmith Lake Mulwala emerged victorious, all thanks to its well-balanced indoor/outdoor space, elegant colour palette, consideration for the town's pre-existing mid-century buildings and willingness to get whimsical — as seen in its vintage-style pink patio umbrellas, which have a 1970s California feel. And in the hotel field, Fortitude Valley's gorgeous The Calile shared top spot, with the resort-style inner-city establishment listed alongside Drifthouse in Port Fairy. One creates an oasis in the middle of Brisbane's hustle and bustle, complete with an oh-so-inviting pool, while the other combines a double-storey Victorian bluestone house, a single-storey Edwardian home and a new garden pavilion into a quaint and intimate boutique hotel. [caption id="attachment_694718" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] The Calile by Sean-Fennessy[/caption] Of course, you can still turn 2019's Melbourne winners into a very impressive all-day itinerary — whether you're a local looking for a new reason to go exploring, or you're in town from interstate for a few days. Start with Best Cafe recipient Via Porta in Mont Albert, which got the nod for its bold, warm and inviting design that heroes earthy tones and textures in a striking fashion. Then, check out Lagotto, the Best Identity Design winner, with the all-day Italian spot awarded for its dog mascot and associated marketing materials. Best Restaurant pick Di Stasio Citta is obviously worth a visit, especially if you like eating in a space that could double as an art installation. As for gelato go-to Piccolina Collingwood, it earned plaudits for its retail design — and Flinders Lane favourite Cumulus Inc nabbed this year's Hall of Fame gong. [caption id="attachment_715148" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Di Stasio Citta by Kate Shanasy[/caption] Judged by New York Times restaurant critic Besha Rodell, The Mulberry Group CEO and founder Nathan Toleman, Studio-Gram architect and co-founder Graham Charbonneau, architect Phillip Schemnitz and Artichoke editor Cassie Hansen, the Eat Drink Design Awards also named commendations in various categories. Spreading the love around, St Kilda's Prince Dining Room, The Rocks' Tayim Restaurant + Bar, the Gold Coast's Burleigh Pavilion and Byron Bay's Locura rank among those recognised. 2019 EAT DRINK DESIGN AWARD WINNERS Best Restaurant Design: Di Stasio Citta by Hassell (Melbourne, VIC) Best Cafe Design: Via Porta by Studio Esteta (Mont Albert, VIC) Best Bar Design: Blacksmith Lake Mulwala by The Stella Collective (Mulwala, NSW) Best Hotel Design: Drifthouse by Multiplicity (Port Fairy, VIC) and The Calile Hotel by Richards and Spence (Fortitude Valley, QLD) Best Installation Design: The Magic Box by Liminal Objects with Van Tuil (fabricated in Hobart, TAS) Best Retail Design: Piccolina Collingwood by Hecker Guthrie (Collingwood, VIC) Best Identity Design: Lagotto by Studio Hi Ho (Fitzroy North, VIC) Hall of Fame: Cumulus Inc by Pascale Gomes-McNabb (Melbourne, VIC) For the full list of winners and commendations, head to the Eat Drink Design website. Top images: The Calile Hotel by Sean Fennessy and Blacksmith Lake Mulwala by Lillie Thompson.
After a hearty brekkie in Brissie's south? Keen on some early-morning grease, though not of the fast food variety? Giving the location formerly inhabited by Azafran Restaurant in Annerley a retro makeover — complete with a record library — Snag & Brown has you covered. And yes, their breakfasts are available whenever their doors are open. With a name like theirs, you can expect to find one particular thing on the menu — and plenty of them. We're talking about sausages, of course. Chorizo, pork chipolatas, chicken, spinach and pine nut, and semi-dried tomato, thyme and polenta bangers are all highlights of various dishes; however pairing them with one of the different varieties of roasted hash browns (including classic, sweet potato, and tomato and feta) is highly recommended. You'll also find the irresistible combo of braised pork belly and slow poached eggs among the breakfast options, and the likes of beef lasagne, flash-fried calamari and roasted vegetable salad for lunch. Warm beverages come courtesy of Bear Bones Coffee and West End Tea Co, while boozy selections are planned in the future. Now that's how you make all-day bangers and hash even better.
For hefty portions of the past two years, plenty of normal, everyday activities have been off the cards for Brisbanites, thanks to both the pandemic and the floods. But anyone who wants to picnic while cruising along the Brisbane River can now do so again — even if they don't own a boat. If you live in the River City, you already have a whole heap of excuses to hang out in, on, near and around the water. Last year, however, GoBoat splashed into town. First, back in April, it set sail from Kangaroo Point while it was still finalising its permanent home. Then, in September, the Denmark-born company let Brisbanites hop onto the water in its eco-friendly picnic boats from Breakfast Creek. Now, after 2022's catastrophic bout of late-summer/early-autumn weather put its operations on pause, GoBoat is hitting the brown snake from Brekkie Creek again. That means that it's back up and running at the Breakfast Creek Lifestyle Precinct, where the company has set up its own pontoon — and you can start hiring vessels from there once more. With Brissie about to enjoy not one, not two, but three successive long weekends, the timing is mighty nice. So, filling a picnic basket, hanging with your mates and soaking in big river vibes is now back on the agenda over Easter, Anzac Day and Labour Day. If you're new to GoBoat, the company is all about making the whole boating caper more accessible for everyday folk. So, to do just that, it has been busy launching its eco-friendly picnic boats in cities all over Europe over the past few years, as well as in Canberra, Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Sydney — and Brisbane, obviously. The Scandinavian-designed vessels are slow-moving, a breeze to operate and don't require a boating licence, making for some fun, fuss-free sailing sessions. In a win for the planet, they also run on silent, pollution-free, electric engines, and are crafted from a mix of reclaimed timber and recycled PET bottles Each of the contemporary GoBoats clocks in at 18-feet long, boasting a central picnic table with room for eight people (and all the necessary snacks and booze). And despite what you might be thinking, they're even affordable enough to fit your budget — simply BYO food and drinks, find enough eager sailors to jump aboard and a GoBoat session will start at around $16 per person, per hour. That's $129 hourly for the first hour, but the longer you book, the cheaper it gets. The Brisbane fleet sails seven days a week — and the company's vessels are pet-friendly. So, surely you've got a very good boy who deserves a river jaunt. GoBoat is now operating in Brisbane from the Breakfast Creek Lifestyle Precinct, Breakfast Creek. For further details and to book, head to the company's website. Images: Lean Timms.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Brisbane at present. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. COMING HOME IN THE DARK When Coming Home in the Dark starts, it's with a lingering look at New Zealand's landscape, with the film peering across the magnificent countryside as far as the camera can see. In doing so, it begins with two familiar touches that bubble with comfort and security. NZ's stunning scenery has been burned into audiences' minds several times over via The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. As a result, it beckons with the kind of warm memories that've sent plenty of fans flocking to the nation's shores. And, the people seen navigating NZ's scenic sights here, and what they're doing, also initially sit in cosy territory. Hoaggie (Eric Thomson, The Furnace) and Jill (Miriama McDowell, Waru) have hit the road from Wellington with their teenage sons Maika and Jordan (debutants Billy and Frankie Paratene), all to stop at quaint service stations, hike through the wilderness, take family photos with striking backdrops and have a nice little picnic. In other words, they're enjoying exactly the leisurely trip you'd expect in such eye-catching surroundings. Fond thoughts, tranquil feelings, unspoiled vistas, loving company — none are indulged for too long, though. Adapting Owen Marshall's short story of the same name, and marking the feature debut of director James Ashcroft, Coming Home in the Dark sees the bliss and beauty; however, but it also quickly shines a spotlight on trauma and horror. During the picnic, two men appear suddenly, instantly popping the happy little bubble that's encased the film's central family so far. It's immediately apparent that the gun-toting Mandrake (Daniel Gillies, Occupation: Rainfall) and his little-spoken offsider Tubs (Matthias Luafutu, Ghost in the Shell) aren't there to improve this picturesque escape, or to make friends. First, the interlopers demand the car keys. Mandrake taunts his hostages and struts around like he's holding court, visibly feeding on the response. He warns Hoaggie that they're facing a pivotal juncture, too — one where "later on, when you're looking back at this occasion, I think that right there's going to be the moment you wish you'd done something." Then, after a campervan of fellow travellers has been waved away from the precarious hostage situation, Coming Home in the Dark starts to sink its claws in. Within the narrative, the movie forever shatters any possibility of returning to its idyllic opening scenes. Thematically, this tense, nerve-wracking and unrelenting feature unearths the ills of history that simply refuse to remain buried. Indeed, Ashcroft and co-screenwriter Eli Kent (The Seagull) find a deep pool of terror in pondering the abuse of children in government-run facilities, the inescapable scars left, the paths towards criminal behaviour potentially sparked and, here, the retribution inspired. Read our full review. RIDE THE EAGLE As well as starring in Ride the Eagle, Jake Johnson co-wrote the pandemic-shot comedy with Australian director Trent O'Donnell, after the pair previously worked together on New Girl. It's easy to see where they found their inspiration for this tale about slowly learning to be your best self. Indeed, Johnson may as well still be playing the sitcom's Nick Miller — and if you've seen him do just that on the small screen, you'll recognise all the character traits that are on display in this film. Ride the Eagle's Leif Reinhold hasn't quite grasped adulthood yet, and doesn't really show any signs of wanting to when the movie opens. A percussionist who can't be called a success, he's first seen living in his manager Gorka's (Luis Fernandez-Gil, Horse Girl) backyard and being ditched by his latest bandmates because he's two decades older than them. He also has deeper conversations with his dog Nora than with more people. So, he has a strong case of arrested development — and here, just like in New Girl, it takes a woman to shake up his status quo. For Leif, that catalyst is actually his long-estranged mother Honey (Susan Sarandon, Jolt), who chose living in a new age commune over being his mum back when he was a teen. She's just passed away, and Leif receives word not only of her death, but that she's left him her sprawling Yosemite cabin; however, that inheritance is conditional, so he'll need to travel there to work through a list of tasks she's set him. It isn't just easy to see what Johnson and sitcom veteran O'Donnell (No Activity, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place) are doing in the latter's feature directing debut; it's also plain to see why. Johnson steps into this type of character's shoes engagingly and amiably — and well — so much so that he was the best thing about New Girl. Some of the show's standout scenes involved his character casually chatting through monologues to an elderly man who didn't ever speak back, and Ride the Eagle takes the idea of talking through your woes virtually to yourself (or to Leif's pet pooch and the video that Honey has left outlining her instructions) and builds an entire movie around it. It also sees O'Donnell follow in fellow filmmaker Joe Swanberg's footsteps, given that features like Drinking Buddies, Digging for Fire and Win It All also capitalised upon Johnson's likeable haplessness. Again and again, Ride the Eagle is built from recognisable parts; Sarandon even just played an ailing matriarch in Blackbird. But, while there's no escaping the air of familiarity that wafts through the film, there's also no discounting Johnson's ability to make it work. The movie's script opts for the obvious and exaggerated, which is where D'Arcy Carden (The Good Place) and JK Simmons (Palm Springs) come in as Leif and Honey's respective exes. It's shot with overtly warm tones to match its feel-good vibe, it never leaves any doubt where it's heading and it trades in standard insights about what's important in life. Sarandon and Simmons hit all the blatant beats, too. But when Johnson finds his usual groove — and when the always-impressive Carden is involved as well — Ride the Eagle gathers enough momentum to take flight. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on April 1, April 8, April 15, April 22 and April 29; May 6, May 13, May 20 and May 27; June 3, June 10, June 17 and June 24; July 1, July 8, July 15, July 22 and July 29; August 5, August 12, August 19 and August 26, and September 2. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Nobody, The Father, Willy's Wonderland, Collective, Voyagers, Gunda, Supernova, The Dissident, The United States vs Billie Holiday, First Cow, Wrath of Man, Locked Down, The Perfect Candidate, Those Who Wish Me Dead, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, Ema, A Quiet Place Part II, Cruella, My Name Is Gulpilil, Lapsis, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Fast and Furious 9, Valerie Taylor: Playing with Sharks, In the Heights, Herself, Little Joe, Black Widow, The Sparks Brothers, Nine Days, Gunpowder Milkshake, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Old, Jungle Cruise, The Suicide Squad, Free Guy, Respect, The Night House, Candyman, Annette, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) and Streamline.
There are many reasons to thank Mike White, creator and writer of The White Lotus, for bringing the hit HBO series to our screens. He's responsible for one of the best TV shows of both 2021 and 2022 — a program that has weaponised luxurious settings, helped set travel itineraries, thoroughly eaten the rich, spun twisty murder-mysteries, and kept viewers guessing throughout each and every episode of both season one and season two. He's also helped shower affection and attention upon the one and only Jennifer Coolidge, a screen icon who always deserves such love. Indeed, if it wasn't for White and The White Lotus, the world wouldn't have had the joy that is Coolidge's various awards speeches for playing Tanya McQuoid. For folks in Sydney on Saturday, June 10, worshipping the White-and-Coolidge pairing — hearing Coolidge talk about her time on The White Lotus, too — won't just involve checking out Emmy and Golden Globe clips. In huge news in general, and for the Vivid Sydney lineup, the duo is coming to the Harbour City for what's set to be the biggest in-conversation session of the 23-day, 300-plus-event festival. [caption id="attachment_891047" align="alignnone" width="1920"] HBO[/caption] While Vivid dropped its program back in March, it has been making additions since, including literally underground light and laser show Dark Spectrum and now this. Unsurprisingly, the Vivid team has dubbed its latest addition one of the biggest announcements in the festival's 13-year history — which is no small feat for an event that's seen everyone from The Cure to Robert Pattinson and Spike Lee grace its bill in past years. Coolidge and White won't just chat about The White Lotus, McQuoid's utter lack of luck in love and a certain fateful boat ride — and, on White's part, likely skirt around answering where the third season will be set (the word so far: Thailand). They'll also discuss their full careers, and both have plenty to dive into. Coolidge has been a screen presence for years, thanks to parts in everything from American Pie, Best in Show and the Legally Blonde franchise through to Party Down's original run, Joey and Promising Young Woman. As for White, he's written the screenplay for School of Rock, and acted in it — and given the TV-watching world the Laura Dern-starring Enlightened, which he also appeared on. He has Year of the Dog and Brad's Status on his directing resume as well, and penned and produced episodes of Dawson's Creek and Freaks and Geeks. Also, he was famously an Amazing Race and Survivor contestant. Benjamin Law will be asking the questions at this in-conversation event, which takes place at Aware Super Theatre, ICC Sydney. Tickets are on sale now — and they'll get snapped up quicker than McQuoid falls in love. "We're thrilled to share that The White Lotus creator Mike White and star of the series Jennifer Coolidge will join this year's Vivid Sydney lineup. Securing these huge megastars cements Vivid Sydney 2023 as the biggest and most culturally relevant program yet," said Vivid Sydney Festival Director Gill Minervini, announcing the addition to the fest's program. "This exclusive event will allow audiences to see behind the curtain on what has become a massive cultural zeitgeist and hear from two of the hottest figures in the creative industries right now." Vivid Sydney 2023 will run from Friday, May 26–Saturday, June 17, with Mike White and Jennifer Coolidge in Conversation taking place on Saturday, June 10 at Aware Super Theatre, ICC Sydney. For further information and tickets, head to the event's website. Top image: HBO.
Merivale CEO Justin Hemmes' buying spree has continued with the purchase of yet another venue. This time, the hospitality mogul has purchased 115 Jonson Street in Byron Bay. Formerly home to Cheeky Monkey's Bar, as well as an adjoining massage spa, the far New South Wales north coast site will become the Sydney-based group's first Byron Bay venue — and its closest to Queensland. The acquisition of the Byron Bay outpost comes at a busy time for Merivale, with the company buying three new venues in the past week — and a total of five this year. The purchase of 115 Jonson Street follows similar transactions that have added the Lorne Hotel in Victoria, Norton's Irish Pub in Sydney's inner west, Tomasetti House in the Melbourne CBD and The Quarterdeck in Narooma to the group's portfolio. The two Victorian sites will mark Merivale's first outside of NSW. The Byron Bay property has been purchased from fellow hospitality group Red Rock Leisure, which currently own venues across NSW, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia, including Ludlow Bar & Dining Room, The Toff and the PJ O'Brien's Irish Pub chain. While no concrete plans for the venue have been announced, Merivale has confirmed that it will reopen the site as a restaurant and bar later this year. It'll receive the keys on Friday, May 28, but hasn't announced opening plans as yet. "I've been going to Byron since I was ten years old, so it has always been a place close to my heart. I can't wait to open our first venue on the north coast and spend more time in the area. There's simply no place like it," said Hemmes. Merivale currently operates more than 60 venues across Sydney, including popular restaurants Totti's and Mr. Wong, pub stalwarts The Beresford and Vic on the Park, and expansive bars Ivy and Coogee Pavilion. The group's growth has been especially noticeable in recent years, with high-profile purchases of The Duke of Gloucester Hotel and Hotel Centennial preceding this recent run of venue purchases. [caption id="attachment_813258" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Justin Hemmes[/caption] Merivale will open its first Byron Bay venue at 115 Jonson Street, Byron Bay. For further details, keep an eye on the company's website. Top image: Google Maps.
The days are long and drenched with sunlight, and you've got time on your hands to lie on the sand or in the grass and while it away with a book into the late summer hours. But you want the hours to be worthwhile, and sometimes it's really difficult to make a decision or to know where to start. Moreover, you want something enjoyable and easy to read that isn't going to turn your brain to marshmallow. So to help you out, Concrete Playground has come up with some suggestions for the best books to read over your summer. We've got new stuff and old stuff. Books you've never heard of and books everybody's heard of. Romances, mysteries, high quality smut, and stories both sweet and weird and wonderful. Compiled lovingly by somebody who's found the first legitimate use for her English major, we hope that these books delight you and make summer all the more wonderful. The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano If you've spent time in inner-city bookshops over the past couple of years, you've probably noticed a slow infiltration of the name Roberto Bolano onto every 'Recommended' shelf around. It's been a long time since an author has taken on cult status quite like Bolano has. When once asked what me might have done had he not become a writer, Bolano answered "a homicide detective. I would have been the sort of person who comes back alone to the scene of a crime by night, unafraid of ghosts." He said that just a few months before his untimely death in 2003, and ever since Bolano's ghost has been figuratively haunting international literature. The Savage Detectives is one of his greatest works. Divided into three sections, the novel is ostensibly about the adventures of two young Mexican poets from the 1970s until the turn of the twentieth century, as they drink, have sex, travel the world, and argue long and loud, narrated solely by the people they come into contact with. Written in luminous, ferocious prose, you have never read anything like The Savage Detectives before. If you read nothing else this summer but for the newspaper and the labels on bottles of cider, please, we implore you, read this. Citrus County by John Brandon John Brandon is one of 'those McSweeney’s guys'. Trumpeted by Dave Eggers, amongst others, as a kind of modern-day Catcher In The Rye (but then, isn’t everything?), Citrus County pulses with the heat and humidity of the backwaters of Florida. Combining your standard narrative of lonesome adolescence with the most sinister kind of crime novel, Citrus County has become something of an underground literary sensation. The story follows Toby, a fourteen year old with a case of minor delinquency, and his tentative relationship with Shelby, the new girl in his class. The catch is that Toby has kidnapped Shelby's four-year-old sister Kaley and hidden her in a bunker in the woods. The story emerges out of the sluggish apathy of the swamps and sun and hits you like a slap in the face, completely subverting your expectations about what novels are 'supposed' to do. It is at once 'easy to read' when it's too hot to think too hard, while also being a very, very good book. Axolotl Roadkill by Helene Hegemann Axolotl Roadkill, both when it was published in its original German two years ago and then translated into English earlier this year, was smothered in hype, like so many chips soaking in a puddle of cheap pub gravy. For one thing, the book was written by a seventeen-year-old girl, a filmmaker from Berlin who comes across as both bone-achingly cool and distressingly talented. For another, it's a bit like the first season of <em>Skins</em> in novel form. One effusive reviewer aptly praised Hegemann for "conjuring dialogue like David Mamet, romanticising the afterlife like Jack Kerouac and hallucinating as sadistically as the Marquis de Sade." That just about sums it up. Axolotl Roadkill is at once a portrait of a young girl so emotionally stunted there’s no hope for a happy ending or any kind of redemption, and also a broader critique of a society which prefers to float along on the surface of things, refusing to grow up or to ever really care about anything too deeply. The novel isn’t perfect – and got waylaid with nasty accusations of plagiarism which Hegemann, playing semantics, termed 'mixing' – but it is savage, and raw, and completely worth reading, regardless of the suffocating hype. Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy has the uncanny ability to render both horrific and beautiful descriptions from the same bloody, violent subject matter, in all of his novels. The sentences are long, heartwrenching rambling things which read as though a desert mystic is spinning them out of the threads of the dark universe around him. For that is very much the image of Cormac McCarthy, arguably the world's most adored misanthrope. While his more well-known novels are those that have been adapted to cinema, like The Road and No Country For Old Men, Outer Dark, his second novel, is worthy of just as much rapturous attention. Set somewhere in the deep south at the turn of the century, Rinthy gives birth to her brother Culla's baby, who abandons the baby in the woods. The novel follows the two of them, wandering separately, looking for the baby and attempting to assuage the sin. The world of Outer Dark is one abandoned by God, with no causality, and where human beings are indistinguishable from animals. It may be disturbing and unsettling, but Outer Dark is one of the finest things you could read over the next few stifling months. The Heart is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers Regularly included in lists of the top 100 English language novels of the 20th century, The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter was a sensation when it was published in the 1940s, propelling Carson McCullers, a waif-like twenty three year-old in androgynous clothing, into the throes of the literary spotlight. The novel centres on a deaf man, John Singer, in a Southern small town during the depression. Four characters - one an alcoholic labourer, another the owner of a diner, a black doctor and a young, idealistic teenage girl - all flock to him, each believing that he is the only person in the world who can truly understand them, despite not being able to hear a single word they say. No matter the heartache each character expresses, one thing comes across: the bitter loneliness and isolation that plagues the lives of the most disparate people, who cannot connect. Office Girl by Joe Meno In some senses Office Girl is a little like a Zooey Deschanel movie. It's a little bit twee, but not in an un-endearing sense. The semi-experimental novel published by Joe Meno earlier this year is the story of two former art-school kids in late '90s Chicago. Both ride around the city on their bikes, Jack recording the sounds of everyday life, while Odile defaces public advertisements with pictures of hairy genitalia. Often a little absurd and self-conscious, the novel is also an affectionate portrait of what it's like to be creative and lost in your twenties. Appropriately enough for a novel about people who want to change the world through art, the novel comes complete with photographs by Todd Baxter and illustrations by Cody Hudson. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell Cloud Atlas was published almost nine years ago, so it's hardly a new phenomenon, but given that the film version has just been released, there has never been a more apt time to read the book before you go to sit in a cinema and gaze adoringly at Ben Whishaw while appreciating the sheer moxy of the Wachowskis and Tom Twyker in adapting such a profoundly unadaptable book. The novel is composed of six different story lines, structured in a pattern very similar to Italo Calvino's If on a winter’s night a traveller, but with the added feature of a 'mirror' effect. Stretching from the nineteenth century into a post-apocalyptic future, and dabbling in genres as various as crime, science fiction and South Pacific adventure, each narrative ends abruptly at a moment of suspense, only to be returned to in the second half of the book. Completely original and endlessly entertaining, Cloud Atlas is definitely worth toting around with you to the beach until the pages get logged with sand. Blindness by Jose Saramago Saramago won the Nobel Prize for literature back in 1998 and remains one of the only Nobel laureates whose work is truly enjoyable to read. Blindness is one of his best-known works. In an unnamed city at an unnamed time, an epidemic of blindness begins to sweep through the population, an infection seemingly spread from just looking upon a blind person. For the safety of the rest of the city, the government locks up those afflicted in an abandoned mental asylum in the middle of the forest, fighting an increasingly hopeless battle and leaving them at the mercy of themselves. Eventually conditions degenerate, and the inmates are left to roam the devastated city trying to survive. On the most simplistic level, the blindness is allegorical of lack of sight, from a man who lived through dictatorship, and revolution. In this world it is the small heroisms of individuals that count. NW by Zadie Smith Although nothing Zadie Smith has written, arguably, has equalled her debut novel <em>White Teeth</em>, her books are reliably excellent. NW is all about roots, specifically about what it's like to be from North West London, where with its halal butchers, African hairdressers and housing estate blocks, seems a world away from the clean white avenues of central London. The novel follows four people now in the their mid 30s, all raised on the same housing estate, over the summer of 2010. Like the streets of North West London itself, the things which happen in the story are fractured and volatile, and there are only tentative conclusions. Seen across the complexities of race and class, NW is also about the kind of angst and disillusionment of people who are told they're supposed to be happy, yet can't feel it, let alone see it. Pulphead by John Jeremiah Sullivan Pulphead is a collection of long essays, which, when you say it just like that, doesn’t sound like a particularly riotous thing to read. But the essays in Pulphead are those of a man styling himself as a next generation David Foster Wallace, Jon Ronson or even Hunter S. Thompson. They are, in short, brilliant. With a wit and energy rarely present in journalism, Sullivan takes us to a Christian rock festival and Tea Party rallies. He races across the south in search of obscure lost blues musicians and nineteenth century botanists and then a few pages later we find him pondering the origins of Axl Rose and Michael Jackson. The stories in Pulphead form a journey through the back roads and badlands, with John Jeremiah Sullivan, a journalist previously published in The Paris Review and The New York Time, undertaking a quest for some kind of enlightenment in the parts of America we rarely see or even acknowledge.
"From little things, big things grow". If ever there were a film saga to take up Paul Kelly's mantra, the Fast and Furious juggernaut would surely be it. Beginning all the way back in 2001 with a Point Break knockoff about street racers moonlighting as crims, the franchise now boasts eight movies and a combined box office of close to $4 billion. The latest installment, The Fate of the Furious, could not be further from the film that began it all. The cast is bigger, the locations more exotic, the cars more expensive, and the explosions much, much more frequent. Far from a story about living life a quarter mile of a time, the plot is now about saving the entire planet from nuclear devastation. The rules of franchise cinema are well established. Each subsequent film must honour those that preceded it by including any signature shots, iconic lines or beloved characters that haven't yet been killed off. To that end, The Fate of the Furious knows its history well. The opening shot, in fact, tracks a barely-clothed female derriere as it snakes its way through a collection of vintage Cuban cars. Moments later, series stalwarts Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) come to the aid of family and challenge a local to an illegal street race for pink slips, all to the tunes of a thumping trap, electro and hip hop soundtrack. This, more than anything else, is the lifeblood of these films. But long gone are the days where such scenes receive anything more than lip service, replaced by action set-pieces so ridiculous that you can't help but go along for the ride. The Fate of the Furious kicks into gear via the sudden emergence of a computer hacker named Cipher (played by series newcomer Charlize Theron). From there, all it takes is a little bit of blackmail to convince Dom to turn on his extended family, betraying everyone in his life as he helps Cipher carry out a series of increasingly brazen attacks around the world. The rest of the movie tracks the efforts of Dom's crew to hunt him down and stop him. Naturally, a few hundred cars get obliterated along the way. The returning cast members – including Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel and Kurt Russell – give the intensely silly material everything they've got, though this time there's only a brief reference to the late Paul Walker. Director F. Gary Gray also lands the mother of all cameos, which we won't reveal here, other than to say damn. The vehicular cast is similarly impressive, and includes a 1971 Plymouth GTX, a 2017 Subaru BRZ, a Lamborghini Murcielago LP 640, and a Russian Akula Class Attack Submarine. Ultimately, and despite the major departure from its origins, The Fate of the Furious still delivers in spades when it comes to entertainment. If anything, the film actually rises above other brainless blockbusters by being, almost paradoxically, extremely clever in its stupidity. For example: any movie can crash dozens of cars into one another, but it takes a special kind of inventiveness to have a hacker assume control of their onboard computers, essentially turning them into zombies on wheels. The action sequence that follows proves utterly exhilarating, and makes clear that the folks behind this franchise still have a few tricks up their sleeve. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwMKRevYa_M
There aren't enough elbow patches in the world for The End's latest shindig — or enough shoes filled with Baileys. The kind of black hair dye and strong hairspray needed to get Vince Noir-style locks, green Old Gregg-esque body paint, '60s-era suits that look like they've been taken straight from Howard Moon's wardrobe... there probably aren't enough of those, either. Yes, the West End venue is going Boosh from 7pm on October 27, and we all know what that means. You don't dedicate an entire evening to the surrealist British comedy without going full Boosh. You bring the appropriate outfits, they'll bring the talking moon and the part-man, part-fish. Celebrating Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt's television show like no other is what The Mighty Boosh Unofficial Takeover is all about, complete with costumes, prizes and kitting the place out like a few iconic scenes from the series. There'll also be themed cocktails on offer during this journey through space and time, so maybe bring a second pair of footwear.
Shutting down for a makeover involves embracing change, but Fortitude Valley favourite Gerard's Bistro is taking that idea to heart in more than just its physical revamp. When the James Street restaurant reopens its doors after its current renovations, it'll do so under a new chef, too, with Scottish-born culinary figure Jimmy Richardson leading the charge in the kitchen. Richardson brings some Michelin cred to Gerard's, thanks to experience in restaurants sporting stars — and chef hats as well — during his career both in Europe and in Sydney. Immersed in the hospitality industry since he was 15, he's notched up stints at Shangri-La Sydney's Altitude Restaurant, The Bridge Room and Café Paci, plus Sydney's Park Hyatt Hotel, Annata and The Tilbury Hotel. And, he's also worked at Gerard's before. In his last gig at the Brisbane eatery, Richardson was the restaurant's Head Chef. This time, he'll be Executive Chef. He comes in after Gerard's said goodbye to Adam Wolfers in March when he departed for health reasons. [caption id="attachment_917986" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lyndon Mechielsen.[/caption] "Jimmy is very confident and articulate when it comes to food," said Gerard's owner Johnny Moubarak. "Bringing a brilliant balance between traditional and creative and progressive cuisine, Jimmy has an amazing way of letting food speak for itself." While Richardson's new menu hasn't yet been revealed — just like Gerard's Bistro's reopening date — it'll keep celebrating the Levantine region and its cuisine while giving classic recipes a contemporary spin. In the past, the restaurant has been known for its banquet-style feasts brimming with Maghreb and Middle East flavours, with its most recent culinary lineup including everything from smoked Moreton Bay bugs with baba ghanoush to sujuk-glazed octopus and cardamom ice cream. Gerard's shut up shop at the beginning of July for hefty renovations. Exactly what the new-look venue will entail still hasn't been revealed as yet, but diners can clearly expect significant changes at the Gerard's Lane spot, which has ranked among Brisbane's best restaurants since first opening its doors 11 years ago in 2012. When the revamp was announced via Instagram, the Gerard's Bistro crew said that it would "trade our culinary utensils for construction tools, immersing ourselves into this labour of love for a comprehensive makeover. Our team is eager to commence this renovation project, which will culminate in a reimagined exciting dining space". Gerard's Bistro is currently closed for renovations, with a reopening date yet to be announced. Find the eatery at Gerard's Lane, 14/15 James Street, Fortitude Valley when it relaunches. Top image: Lyndon Mechielsen.
Throughout cinematic history, it's been pretty common for filmmakers to take a normal situation and hype it up to the extreme. It's why the phrase 'based on a true story' exists — realistic experiences often aren't dramatic enough for the big screen. But, when it comes to tackling complex topics — like that of psychological manipulation — overdramatising isn't the most effective or the most responsible way to portray them on-screen. Modern filmmakers seem to be more aware of this than ever before, taking more care to represent victims (and perpetrators) of psychological abuse, manipulation and gaslighting accurately, rather than relying on stereotyped characters and the assumptions society often makes about these fraught situations. More and more, filmmakers are taking on the responsibility to do away with these problematic stereotypes, and talk about themes and nuances of manipulation in a way that doesn't place blame or loathing on the victim. Berlin Syndrome, the new feature from Somersault director Cate Shortland, is the latest film to do just that. It follows Australian photographer Clare (Teresa Palmer) as she explores the streets of Germany, which is where she meets a handsome, charming local teacher Andi (Max Riemelt). But this is not your run-of-the-mill holiday romance — things escalate quickly, and it soon becomes clear that Clare is not able to leave Andi's apartment at her will. She is being kept captive. To say this is a complicated situation would be an understatement. While being kept prisoner by Andi over an extended period of time, Clare finds herself grappling between her desire to escape and her emotions towards Andi. As the name of the film and her behaviour would suggest, Clare starts to experience Stockholm syndrome, a condition where a hostage feels empathy or affection towards their captor. But, unlike many archetypal female characters, Clare is never portrayed as weak — even when she appears to succumb to Andi. This type of psychological manipulation, to a lesser extent, is unfortunately pretty common in real-life abusive relationships. According to a 2012 Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey, one in four women and one in seven men have experienced emotional abuse by a partner. Emotional abuse is rarely portrayed in an accurate way on-screen. Historically, cinema's hostage and kidnap thrillers have painted the perpetrator as overtly villainous — think the Brie Larson-starring 2016 Oscar-winner Room, as a recent example — or as a literal beast, as is the case in Beauty and the Beast (although that's another problem altogether). Often characters that are being manipulated, or stuck in abusive relationships, are portrayed as weak and blamed for not recognising what's happening around them. Berlin Syndrome may be the latest film to portray the victim of abuse as strong, but it seems to be following a pattern of films being more thoughtful in their approach. Last year's Girl on the Train highlighted gaslighting, and how Rachel's husband used her drinking habits to continually manipulate and confuse her, and Netflix's Jessica Jones threw the model on its head, portraying the victim of abuse not only as strong, but with super-human strength. Manipulative situations are never clear-cut. It's possible to still have feelings for someone who treats you badly — to go back and forth between feelings of love, hate and protectiveness. Cinema has shown us that time and time again. In Berlin Syndrome, Shortland makes the situation relatable and, like the examples above, shows that even the 'strong' and 'normal' can be affected by psychological manipulation. But it's easy to see why filmmakers exaggerate these themes — manipulation in its most dramatic form (guns, suicide, violence) can form a compelling narrative. But it's important for us to realise that often it appears in real life in a much more subtle form. In the past, it seemed like filmmakers thought that we wouldn't understand psychological manipulation unless it was shoved in our face. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Berlin Syndrome is now showing in cinemas across the country — read our review and watch the trailer here. Words: Kelly Pigram and Sarah Ward.
Ready for it? Whether you danced in the aisles at your local cinema or you haven't yet seen the concert film version of one of the biggest music tours currently traversing the globe, you'll be able to enjoy Taylor Swift: The 'Eras' Tour at home from Thursday, December 14. Swifties, you'll be able to celebrate the pop star and newly crowned TIME Person of the Year's blockbuster film to celebrate the singer-songwriter's birthday. That falls on Wednesday, December 13 in 2023; however, with the time difference, Taylor Swift: The 'Eras' Tour is hitting digital on the Thursday in Australia and New Zealand. If your wildest dreams have been about getting in on Taylor Swift's Eras tour since it was first announced, then the pop superstar comes bearing gorgeous and enchanted news, clearly — including while the movie is still in cinemas. Missed out on tickets to see Swift when she plays Melbourne and Sydney in early 2024? Consider this the next best thing. Look what the world made Swift do: turn her current massive tour into a movie that's also proven a smash, taking in almost $250 million at the worldwide box office since releasing in October, ranking it in the top 20 for takings so far this year. While fans have been able to experience a money-can't-buy view of the 'Shake It Off', 'We Are Never Getting Back Together' and 'Bad Blood' musician's gig — working through her entire career so far, playing tracks from each of her studio albums in a three-hour, 44-song, ten-act spectacular — on the big screen, the extended version is coming to digital. Accordingly, donning your friendship bracelets at home means seeing three songs performed that aren't in the theatrical cut. The IRL Eras Tour kicked off in March in the US, then headed to Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. Next on the list: Japan, Singapore, France, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Canada, a return to the US and, of course, Australia, all in 2024. Check out the trailer for Taylor Swift: The 'Eras' Tour Concert Film below: Taylor Swift: The 'Eras' Tour is still in cinemas, and will be available to rent on digital from Thursday, December 14 in Australia and New Zealand. Read our review.
Lego is awesome. It is brightly coloured, easy to use and small enough to fit in your pocket and take to the park. Until you step and fall on a piece when you're trying to do something important like run to answer the phone or stumble to the kitchen for coffee and aspirin because you're hungover. Those pointy edges hurt like hell. Small children, and grown ups who were once children, have been making mind-boggling things from Lego for quite a while, but while pinball machines, iPods and even a camera might be impressive, it's always seemed harder to create real-live people out of the coloured plastic bricks. However, Fine Clonier, specialists in Lego minifig customisation, ran a competition inviting people to create historical literary figures out of lego. The winning design went to Mark Twain, the man who wrote Huckleberry Finn, sporting a particularly dashing haircut, and who sagely proclaimed "go to heaven for the climate and hell for the company." But other literary Legos were also included which are equally worthy of your attention. A smug F.Scott Fitzgerald, a brooding Ernest Hemingway, and a very French and goateed Rene Descartes round out the literary Lego figures and give some much needed bookish cred to the otherwise sober Danish amusement. [Via Booklicious]
UPDATE, December 4, 2020: Mank is available to stream via Netflix. In 2010's The Social Network, David Fincher surveyed the story of an outsider and upstart who would become a business magnate, wield significant influence and have an immense impact upon the world. The applauded and astute film tells the tale of Mark Zuckerberg and of Facebook's development — but it's also the perfect precursor to Fincher's latest movie, Mank. This time around, the filmmaker focuses on a man who once spun a similar narrative. A drama critic turned screenwriter, Herman J Mankiewicz scored the gig of his lifetime when he was hired to pen Orson Welles' first feature, and he drew upon someone from his own life to do so. Citizen Kane is famous for many things, but its central character of Charles Foster Kane is also famously partially based on US media mogul William Randolph Hearst, who Mankiewicz knew personally. Accordingly, Mank sees Fincher step behind the scenes of an iconic movie that his own work has already paralleled — to ponder how fact influences fiction, how stories that blaze across screens silver and small respond to the world around them, and how one man's best-known achievement speaks volumes about both in a plethora of ways. Mank is a slice-of-life biopic about Mankiewicz's (Gary Oldman) time writing Citizen Kane's screenplay, as well as his career around it. It's catnip for the iconic feature's multitudes of fans, in fact. But it also peers at a bigger picture, because that's classic Fincher. The director chased killers in Seven, Zodiac, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Mindhunter, painting meticulous portraits of obsession each time. He unpacked the myths we make of our own existence in Fight Club and Gone Girl, and interrogated the societal perceptions such self-told tales play with and prey upon along the way. Naturally, with him at the helm, Mank was never going to simply serve up a straightforward snapshot of a Hollywood figure. That isn't Fincher's style, and it wouldn't suit Mankiewicz's story, either. When Mank introduces its eponymous scribe, it's 1940, and he's recovering from a car accident. In a cast and confined to bed due to a broken leg, he has been dispatched to a Mojave Desert ranch by Welles (Tom Burke, The Souvenir) and his colleague John Houseman (Sam Troughton, Chernobyl) — all so he can work his word-slinging mastery. As Mankiewicz toils, the movie wanders back to times, places and people that inspire his prose, especially from the decade prior. Dictating his text to British secretary Rita Alexander (Lily Collins), he draws upon his friendships with Hearst (Charles Dance, Game of Thrones) and the news baron's starlet mistress Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried) in particular. And yes, as anyone who has seen Citizen Kane will spot, Mank's nonlinear structure apes the script that Mankiewicz pens. Many of the latter film's glimmering black-and-white shots do as well, although you won't spot a sled called Rosebud here. The authorship of Citizen Kane has long been a point of controversy, with Mankiewicz agreeing not to take any credit, as Mank shows. (When the screenplay won the film's only Oscar, however, it was awarded to both Mankiewicz and Welles.) Fincher's movie doesn't actually scrutinise the matter too deeply. It recognises that Mankiewicz was frequently asked to work uncredited — he's known to have polished the script for The Wizard of Oz, for example — and sides with the idea that Citizen Kane's screenplay was largely his creation. Of far more interest to the film is the role that Mankiewicz held not just for Welles, but also throughout his time in such an ambitious, ruthless, ethically dubious and uncaring industry. As such, it's impossible not to notice how, with Houseman trying to keep Mankiewicz's notorious love for a drink under control, the scribe feels trapped by his task for Welles. In flashbacks, the way that Mankiewicz is expected to ply his alcohol-addled wit to entertain Hearst and MGM studio chief Lous B Mayer (Arliss Howard, True Blood) is similarly inescapable. And so, Mank posits, it's little wonder that Citizen Kane became an epic takedown of the type of man whose success depends upon enlisting others to do their bidding. In a script by Jack Fincher — father of David, who wrote the screenplay in the 90s before passing away in 2003 — Mank suggests other factors that made Mankiewicz the person he was, and that shaped Citizen Kane's script as well. Scenes of Mankiewicz and his co-workers spitting out whatever ideas came to mind while lapping up the Golden Age of Hollywood and its studio system show the writer at his most content. His response to the use of movie-making trickery to create a fake news campaign to sway a 1934 Californian election by Mayer and film producer Irving Thalberg (Ferdinand Kingsley, Doctor Who) show Mankiewicz at his most passionate about something other than booze and bon mots. Also evident: the abundant cynicism that helps him wade through Tinseltown's trappings, the melancholy shared with Davies, and his reliance upon his wife Sara (Tuppence Middleton, Downton Abbey). Combine all of the above, and a dense and detailed movie results. That's Fincher's wheelhouse, after all. Mank is also visually ravishing and textured, and tonally cutting and icy — which, along with weighty performances, are all Fincher hallmarks. But there's both depth and distance to Mank. Its shadowy monochrome images, as shot by Mindhunter alum Erik Messerschmidt, dance across the screen. The Jazz Age score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is just as delightful. Oldman's certain-to-be-Oscar-nominated portrayal demands attention, and Seyfried's luminous efforts prove the best kind of surprise. And yet this movie about a man observing and interrogating a particular world, made by someone doing exactly that, always feels like it should be more intimate and resonant. It peers in and pokes about, but it never wholly lures the audience in — and watching Oldman and Seyfried's rich scenes together, viewers will wish it did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSfX-nrg-lI&list=PLsRQmb9N_1G9EZgWWwmSyr_fS0nrjZOBA
Brisbane, prepare to say ciao to Italian cinema throughout September and October, because the annual showcase of films from or about the European nation is back for another round. The Lavazza Italian Film Festival is back for its 17th year — and if the program is anything to go by, it's going to be another good one. Not only will the 2016 fest kick off with Italian box office hit Perfect Strangers and close with the digital restoration of the Audrey Hepburn-starring classic Roman Holiday, but it also boasts a world premiere. Local audiences will be the first on the planet to see the first-ever Australian-Italian feature co-production, The Space Between. Charting the intersection of an Italian ex-chef and a spirited Aussie in the scenic Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, it has been described as "a celebration of the Italian spirit of la dolce vita". All up, the program boasts 30 films. Because you probably won't have time to see them all, check out our list of the five must-see films of this year's Italian Film Festival. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sYLibWZrRs THE SPACE BETWEEN The feature filmmaking debut of Melbourne director Ruth Borgobello, The Space Between marks the first ever co-production between Italy and Australia — and will fittingly make its world premiere at this year's Lavazza Italian Film Festival. A romantic drama, the film follows an ex-chef, Marco (Flavio Parenti) who falls for an Australian woman named Olivia (Maeve Dermody) after a chance encounter in the picturesque town of Udine in Northern Italy. Dermody and Borgobello are guests of the festival, and will take part in Q&A sessions following selection screenings in Sydney and Melbourne. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBpVt7SiLVM FIORE Straight from the Directors' Fortnight section at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival back in May, the third feature effort from Claudio Giovannesi shapes up as one of the most intriguing titles in this year's IFF program. Fiore concerns a young woman, played by newcomer Daphne Scoccia, who must adjust to life in juvenile prison after being convicted of robbery. Giovannesi cast a number of non-professional actors, including several who had previously served time behind bars. The decision clear paid off, with the film — and Scoccia's performance in particular — scoring strong reviews from critics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg9avYV3FPs ONE KISS Best known for penning the Tilda Swinton vehicle I Am Love, writer-director Ivan Cotroneo here adapts his own novel, about a trio of unlikely friends living in a small Italian town. High school students Blu, Lorenzo and Antonio might not have much in common, but their shared outsider status soon brings them together. A coming of age drama, One Kiss scored a gong for Best Screenwriting at Italy's annual film awards, and is described in the festival program as a story about "friendship, the limits of imagination, and the consequence of honesty". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3al1PBx09A WHERE AM I GOING? The new comedy from Gennaro Nunziante broke box office records in Italy, to the point that it even gave Star Wars: The Force Awakens a serious run for its money. Where Am I Going? stars Luca Medici as Checco Zalone, a lazy, middle-aged bureaucrat willing to go to enormous lengths to keep his cushy government job and benefits package. A scathing critique of the Italian public service, the film also reportedly thumbs its nose of the concept of political correctness. Whether its sense of humour will be embraced by Australian audiences, we'll have to wait and see. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twi3lQIDkiU ROMAN HOLIDAY Of course, we had to include at least one retro title on this list — and, honestly, who could look past this Audrey Hepburn classic? William Wyler's 1953 romantic comedy, one of the greatest and most iconic of all time, has recently undergone a brand new digital restoration, and will no doubt look amazing when it lights up the big screen on closing night. Join Hepburn and Gregory Peck on a Vespa ride around the Italian capital and fall in love with the city all over again. The Italian Film Festival will run from September 28 until October 19 at Brisbane's Palace Barracks. See the full program at italianfilmfestival.com.au.
In case you were wondering if the IKEA/Airbnb experiment was actually any good, their guests were woken up in the most painfully adorable way possible. After a night staying in the IKEA showrooms, three families were woken up with breakfast in bed, live classical orchestras and tiny, tiny, extra fluffy puppies. But we don't care, not even, shut up, we're not jealous, you're jealous, whatevs. Just a couple of weeks ago, IKEA became the latest registered accommodation on Airbnb, offering Sydneysiders the opportunity to stay the night instore at the furniture giant's Tempe store in Sydney. For free. Setting up their room displays as so-called quirky accommodation, IKEA let three winning families snuggle in to their fake homes for one epic slumber party on Sunday, August 31. After a Sydney-wide competition, IKEA selected three young families to take the three temporary stays — leaving the unwashed, debaucherous rest of us to wait for some kind of bad review with crossed fingers. After the three winning families were to a big communal dinner feast (featuring dem meatballs), the lucky ducks had Playstations to take the slumber party vibe next level. Airbnb put on a whole bunch of sessions with top notch hoster Claire Ferguson on how to make your home better equipped to become an Airbnb hosting (there's the branding exercise). Before all those rotten customers rolled in for the day, IKEA woke up the three families in three pretty kickass ways (even though, you know, you're snuggled in with your parents and surrounded by flashing cameras, no biggie). Awkward strings: Sweet, sweet breakfast in bed with your parents: AND ADORABLE FLUFFBALLS: Plus, they got to keep their sheets. So. Have a great sheetless, puppyless day.
Brisbane has a brand new hangout spot with plenty of beer to drink, thanks to the opening of Felons Brewing Co. at Howard Smith Wharves. Launching today, Friday, November 23, the brewery is the first of the precinct's bars and restaurants to welcome customers. It's also the city's first riverside brewery, so prepare to sink plenty of hoppy beverages with one mighty fine view of the water, the Story Bridge, Kangaroo Point and the CBD. First announced back in August, Felons serves up brews made on the premises, with an Australian pale ale, crisp lager, middy and IPA always on tap — and a sparkling cider, too. The focus is on "natural and balanced beers of no fuss," says head brewer Tom Champion, who's one of several Felons team members with an ex-Little Creatures background. A rotating array of other beers are also on offer, as well as a wine list; however, Felons' other big highlight is its food. Think shucked oysters, prawns with cocktail sauce, hot wings and burgers, with woodfired pizzas set to join the menu at a later date. If you're settling in for a substantial meal, then mains that range from Moreton Bay bugs to crumbed veal to a whopping one-kilo Angus rib eye are available as well. From the dessert selection, a mango and passionfruit pavlova looks like a standout — as does the warm choc chip and macadamia cookie with vanilla malt ice cream and butterscotch. Making one of HSW's heritage-listed sheds its home, Felons wants everyone to know that it's there — so much so that you can spot its name on the brewery's roof from afar. The black-lettered sign is designed to be a landmark that can be seen from the air, and measures 47 metres long and five metres tall. It's also a nod to the site's past, with the wharves' old warehouses decked out the same way back in the day. When HSW's other two sheds open, they'll do the same thing. On Friday, November 30, Felons will have company, with long-awaited overwater bar Mr Percival's also opening this month. And already available to hire is the first of HSW's venues, Howard's Hall. It boasts uninterrupted river views, retractable glass windows and rooftop terraces. Eventually, the precinct will also include five other indoor entertainment spaces, plus multi-use outdoor spaces and entertainment stages. The list goes on, with the finished precinct also set to welcome Greek taverna Greca, a two-level Asian fusion joint, Brisbane's first Toko restaurant and four other restaurants, as well as the city's second Art Series Hotel, a coffee roaster, a bakery and a green space that supplies HSW's eateries with fresh produce. Find Felons Brewing Co. at the Howard Smith Wharves precinct, 5 Boundary Street, Brisbane. For more information visit the brewery's website.
Laundry: everyone does it, albeit begrudgingly. Washing, drying and folding clothes, towels and sheets isn't really a fun activity — but, if you delve a little deeper, it is an interesting one. Yes, we just said that one of the least liked household chores can be fascinating. Yes, we meant it. It's the history and significance of this routine task, including clothesline aesthetics, gendered labour and environmental sustainability, that intrigues — and forms the basis of Hung Out to Dry: Space, Memory and Domestic Laundry Practices at the UQ Art Museum. More than just a pseudo-celebration of the humble Hills Hoist, although that's included as well, Hung Out to Dry takes a playful look at the act that inspires its name. Sixteen artworks by the likes of Chris Bennie, Bill Henson, Mari Hirata, Adrienne Kneebone, Tracey Moffatt, Georgie Roxby Smith and Arryn Snowball offer their spin, accompanied by an interactive installation charting the oral history of laundry around the world. Washing your clothes might still be a drag, but you'll be thinking about it in a whole new way. Image: Adrienne Kneebone - As rough as grass undies 2006/2015
It was true in The Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman: Robert Eggers knows how to unnerve. So, what happens when the acclaimed filmmaker directs his attention to the second-most famous name there is in vampire tales for his fourth feature? If the just-dropped first teaser trailer for Nosferatu is anything to go by, embracing a twist on Bram Stoker's Dracula is about to turn out chillingly. More than a century has passed since the initial Nosferatu flickered across the big screen, a German Expressionist great that adapted Stoker's story with zero authorisation, hence changes such as its count being named Orlok. The film has been remade before, with Werner Herzog (The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft) giving viewers 1979's Nosferatu the Vampyre. Now, Eggers is sinking his teeth in — and visibly loving it. The new Orlok: Bill Skarsgård, fresh from action-star mode in Boy Kills World but pivoting back to creepy villains, just swapping IT and IT: Chapter Two's Pennywise for another insidious pop-culture figure. In the first look at Eggers' Nosferatu, the writer/director plays coy with his monster, but not with Orlok's impact. "My dreams grow darker," cries Lily-Rose Depp, trading the nightmare of The Idol for the gothic horror kind, as Ellen Hutter. Eggers' movie is being pitched as a tale of obsession, where Orlok is infatuated, Ellen haunted and nothing good springs. The teaser is teeming with fire and shadows, screaming and blood, and the type of unease that gets under your skin — so, exactly what the man behind it has made his calling card over the past decade. Joining Skarsgård and Depp is a stacked cast of fellow big names, including Willem Dafoe enjoying another stint in gothic mode after Poor Things and returning to Nosferatu after his Oscar-nominated performance in 2000's Shadow of a Vampire, where he played Max Schreck, the IRL actor who played Orlok back in 1922. Nicholas Hoult jumps from dancing with Dracula in Renfield to more undead eeriness, and Emma Corrin (A Murder at the End of the World), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (The Fall Guy) and Ralph Ineson (The First Omen) all also feature. In the US, audiences have a silver-screen date with Nosferatu on Christmas — "succumb to the darkness Christmas 2024," the trailer asks — but viewers Down Under will see the film from Wednesday, January 1, 2025. Check out the trailer for Nosferatu below: Nosferatu releases in cinemas Down Under on Wednesday, January 1, 2025.
In Encanto, the Madrigal family might not talk about Bruno, but they sure do sing about him — and, thanks to that earworm of a Lin-Manuel Miranda-composed track, everyone watching soon does, too. Just try to catch the Golden Globe-winning, Oscar nominated animated hit without getting that song stuck in your head for weeks. No matter what you do, it's impossible. In fact, even mentioning the tune in this very paragraph will cause the same result. Yes, we know that everyone reading this now has 'We Don't Talk About Bruno' burrowed into their brains again — and there's absolutely nothing that we can do about it. But when a ditty takes up residence inside your skull and won't leave, you may as well lean in. And, over at Disney+, you can stream a sing-along version of Encanto that'll get you crooning with the movie from your couch. No longer solely the domain of special cinema screenings, Disney's sing-along takes on its famous musicals are heading to its streaming service. It was always bound to happen, and the Mouse House has started with the movie of the moment. As you watch, lyrics will dance across your TV screen when it's time to belt out ballads — so if you don't know all the words yet (or if you're viewing with someone who thinks they do, but inserts their own mistaken lyrics), they'll all be there for you. While Encanto is the first flick to get the sing-along Disney+ treatment among the company's popular musicals — and it hit the service back on Friday, March 18, so it's there to watch and warble along to now — it obviously won't be the last. The Mouse House has plenty of other tune-filled movies to its name, after all, and it's planning to build up a catalogue of them on its streaming service. Accordingly, before 2022 is out, Frozen, Frozen 2, and both the animated and live-action versions of Beauty and the Beast are all set to make their way to the platform. Exact dates haven't yet been revealed, but at least you now know there'll be other chances to get different Disney tunes stuck in your head — or 'We Don't Talk About Bruno' will just have 'Let It Go' and 'Be Our Guest' for company. The sing-along version of Encanto is available to stream via Disney+ now, with Frozen, Frozen 2, and both the animated and live-action versions of Beauty and the Beast set to hit the platform throughout 2022.
Set on a serene peninsula surrounded by Lake Wakatipu, the Queenstown Gardens boasts stunning lake and alpine views as well as a beautiful collection of blooms. Frequented by locals and visitors alike, the gardens' tranquil setting is the perfect refuge from the hustle and bustle of the city. As the gardens are conveniently located a short walk from downtown Queenstown, many community activities are held within the grounds. We suggest taking a rug, a picnic and some friends, kicking back and enjoy the views of the lake through the Douglas Firs. Once you're sufficiently relaxed, stretch your legs and take a stroll around the beautiful lawns. Be sure to check out the water feature and rose garden for an added bit of pretty.
UPDATE, April 29, 2021: Judas and the Black Messiah is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. The last time that Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield appeared in the same film, Get Out was the end result. Their shared scene in Jordan Peele's Oscar-winning horror movie isn't easily forgotten — if you've seen the feature, it will have instantly popped into your head while you're reading this — and neither is Judas and the Black Messiah, their next exceptional collaboration. With Kaluuya starring as the Black Panther Party's Illinois Chairman Fred Hampton and Stanfield playing William O'Neal, the man who infiltrated his inner circle as an informant for the FBI, the pair is still tackling race relations. Here, though, the duo does so in a ferocious historical drama set in the late 60s. The fact that O'Neal betrays Hampton isn't a spoiler; it's a matter of fact, and the lens through which writer/director Shaka King (Newlyweeds) and his co-scribes Kenneth Lucas, Keith Lucas (actors on Lady Dynamite) and Will Berson (Scrubs) view the last period of Hampton's life. It's 1966 when O'Neal falls afoul of the law for trying to impersonate an FBI agent to steal a vehicle. With J Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen, Grace and Frankie) directing his employees to "prevent the rise of a 'messiah' who could unify and electrify the militant black nationalist movement" — his real-life words — the car thief is offered a deal by actual FBI Special Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons, I'm Thinking of Ending Things). If O'Neal cosies up to Hampton, then reports back on his comings, goings, political moves and general plans, he'll avoid jail. Initially apprehensive, he acquiesces to keep his freedom. With Hampton's raging speeches earning him a firm following, and his charisma and canny strategies broadening the crowds hanging on his words, O'Neal's task isn't minor. And the further he ingratiates himself into Hampton's confidence, becoming his head of security, the more he's torn about keeping tabs and doing the government's increasingly nefarious bidding. The magnetic Kaluuya has already won a Golden Globe for his performance, and is bound to be nominated for and likely win an Oscar — but his Best Supporting Actor categorisation is misleading. Judas and the Black Messiah spends ample time with Hampton, as it needs to. While O'Neal works his way into his orbit, Hampton meets and falls for fellow Black Panther Deborah Johnson (Dominique Fishback, The Deuce), with their romance surviving arrests, other informants, prison, police shootouts and various underhanded law enforcement tactics. This isn't just a story about one young Black man coerced into bringing down a rising leader and revolutionary, but also of the figure mobilising the masses as Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X had, until he was shot while he slept at the age of just 21. And, it's a tale about the powers-that-be's abject fear of progress, equality, and the crusaders willing to put their lives on the line to fight for justice and a better world. As the twin film phenomenon has shown since the dawn of the medium, movies about the same topic or premise often reach screens concurrently. With Seberg, The Trial of Chicago 7 and now Judas and the Black Messiah, Hollywood has delivered three dramas within just over 12 months that examine the efforts of those supposedly upholding the law as they actively work to suppress anyone who doesn't suit their vision for America, all based on truth and all drawing upon the same period (Hampton also pops up in The Trial of Chicago 7, played by Waves' Kelvin Harrison Jr, in fact). The arrival of this trio in such short succession isn't a coincidence. Made by different filmmakers, they aren't connected or part of a purposeful approach, but US cinema is rightly reckoning with the imbalance that has been entrenched into its society. Alongside phenomenal documentary MLK/FBI, which steps through the concerted campaign by America's intelligence agencies to surveil and attack its eponymous subject, these politically charged and downright enraged pictures are deservingly carving out their own space and insisting that viewers pay attention to events that remain of immense relevance today. Managing to make everything look and feel equally slick, visceral, urgent and relentless (with vivid help from Widows' cinematographer Sean Bobbitt and his eye for colourful period detail, and from the production and costume design teams, too), King directs Judas and the Black Messiah like he's doing more than chronicling history. He is, of course. It's impossible to watch this film in the wake of America's particularly divisive past four years, and of the Black Lives Matter movement and its quest for fairness, and not see parallels. But Judas and the Black Messiah doesn't just use its narrative to reflect the present. Doing what only the best movies that look back at the past and its many problems achieve, it roves its eyes over times gone by, shines a spotlight on rampant oppression and the struggle against it, and condenses a wealth of information into a gripping feature — but it also revels in the minutiae of both O'Neal and Hampton's stories. Both are state-sanctioned ones tragedies, and they're as scalding and searing as they still should be. Alluding to the bible in its title might seem bold, but the reality here should be known as far and wide as any religious text. Also demanding notice: those two fierce performances by returning co-stars, each of which stand out in their own ways. Black Panther and Queen & Slim's Kaluuya commands the screen during every single one of his real-life character's speeches, and brings thoughtfulness and texture to a man who is never simply lionised. As for Sorry to Bother You, Uncut Gems and Knives Out's Stanfield, he plays conflicted with a raw, nervy air — and with the vulnerability and confusion of someone manipulated into a cause he genuinely wants to be a part of, yet required to double-cross the people he believes in. So much about Judas and the Black Messiah scorches itself into memory, although fans of its central duo will find themselves left with a distinctive dream. If Kaluuya and Stanfield can keep acting in movies this invigorating, ardent, resonant and essential, audiences will keep basking in their greatness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ivHf4ODMi4
