Start making holiday plans: that dream trip to Osaka, pandemic-delayed return visit to Tokyo or bucket-list getaway in Seoul just got cheaper. From October 2023, Jetstar will start rolling out three new international routes direct from Brisbane, heading to those three cities. Across the trio of legs, the airline will cater for almost 500,000 new seats each year out of the Queensland capital. Jetstar already flies to Japan from the Sunshine State, just from Cairns and the Gold Coast rather than Brisbane; however, that's finally changing. Come Tuesday, October 31, the Brisbane–Narita service will take to the skies, running five return flights a week. From Sunday, December 3, that'll increase to daily services. Two notes: everyone needs to do Halloween in Tokyo at least once; and, as part of the change, Jetstar will stop flying from the Gold Coast to Narita from Sunday, October 29, focusing on the Brisbane route instead. For folks keen on cherry blossoms in Osaka, Jetstar will boast four return legs a week from Brisbane from Friday, February 2, 2024. The new Seoul flights will take off the day prior, on Thursday, February 1, 2024, with three return services weekly. To celebrate the Japan and South Korean additions to its Brisbane destinations, the airline is also hosting a 48-hour sale until 11am on Wednesday, June 21. At sale prices, Brisbanites can expect to head to Osaka from $279, Tokyo from $299 and to Seoul from $289 — all one-way and excluding checked baggage. The budget carrier's existing routes from Brisbane to Bali and Auckland are also picking up, doing ten return services to Denpasar weekly (up from seven) from Thursday, February 1, 2024, plus daily return trips to NZ (up from four a week) from Sunday, October 29, 2023. Jetstar's extra services out of Brissie stem from a partnership with Brisbane Airport, with support from Queensland's Attracting Aviation Investment Fund (AAIF), which is joint Government and airport initiative to help kick the state's visitor economy back into gear. Jetstar's new international routes from Brisbane will start rolling out from October 2023. Jetstar's 48-hour sale to announce the new flights runs until 11am on Wednesday, June 21 — head to the airline's website for more details. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
Great renewal news for fans of Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez, The Dead Don't Die), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short, Schmigadoon!) and Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin, It's Complicated) usually means bad news for the folks that the trio know on-screen. Only Murders in the Building viewers get more episodes, but that means more deaths within the hit murder-mystery comedy's narrative. That's exactly the case right now, with the series just wrapping up its Paul Rudd (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania)- and Meryl Streep (Don't Look Up)-guest starring third season, then revealing that there's more in store — with the show locked in for season four. More instalments, more killings and more amusing antics are all on the way, then, for the series that first got Gomez, Short and Martin sleuthing in 2021's season one (aka one of the best new shows of that year), then followed it up with 2022's season two (aka one of the best returning shows of that year, too) before arriving for its third go-around in 2023. Details of when the series will return, who else will pop up and the like haven't yet been announced, but expect to spend more time in Only Murders in the Building's world. The show started with three residents of the same New York apartment building crossing paths after a murder in their building — hence the title — then bonding over true-crime podcasts. Next, they did what everyone that's jumped on that bandwagon knows they would if they were ever in the same situation, starting their own audio series that's also called Only Murders in the Building. That's how season one kicked off — and continued, proving a warm, funny, smart and savvy series at every step along the way. In the show's second season, another death needed investigating. That time, it was someone the main trio were all known not to be that fond of, so suspicions kept pointing in their direction. Indeed, every season, another death has given aspiring artist Mabel, Broadway producer Oliver and actor Charles-Haden another case to dive into. In season three, that involved looking into who caused Ben Glenroy (Rudd) to shuffle off this mortal coil at the opening night of Oliver's latest show. "Is this really happening again?" asked the theatre figure in the first teaser trailer for season three. "Yes, yes it is" was the answer from Only Murders in the Building's audience then — and still now. "The trio's journey is far from over," US streaming platform Hulu, which produces the show, announced on social media. There's no sneak peek at season four as yet, but you can check out the full trailer for Only Murders in the Building season three below: Only Murders in the Building's streams Down Under via Star on Disney+. Read our full reviews of season one, season two and season three. Images: Hulu.
In our own ways, we all fill our homes with interesting items. That's what galleries and museums obviously do, too. Imagine what must sit in their collections — the things they can't always display, and often don't, but are worth holding onto for an array of reasons. Actually, hit up Sydney's Powerhouse Museum in the second half of 2023 and you'll no longer simply have to wonder. The Ultimo venue has just announced its next huge exhibition: 1001 Remarkable Objects. That title is indeed descriptive, with the site's curators, led by curatorium chair Leo Schofield AM, diving into its vast store of pieces. Showcasing 1001 items might sound hefty, but there's a whopping 500,000 in the full collection, making those selections tricky work. [caption id="attachment_895796" align="alignnone" width="1920"] 'Supreme' mouse-trap making machine by AW Standfield and Co, Mascot, NSW, 1925-2000. Image: Anthony Potter.[/caption] Opening on Saturday, July 22, free to attend, and worth a look whether you're a Sydney local or making a trip to the Harbour City, this exhibition will span a wide variety of objects — celebrity-worn outfits, mousetrap-making machines, ceramic peacock and more. "Our vision for 1001 Remarkable Objects was a seemingly simple one: to create an exhibition celebrating the sheer scale, breadth and relevance of the Powerhouse collection. But how to choose?" said Schofield. "We rejected the nomenclature of 'treasures' or 'masterpieces' and instead determined all choices must be in some way 'remarkable' — whether by virtue of rarity, visual appeal, social history or an ability to invoke wonder. The result is a cornucopia of eras, styles, form, function, size and colour, to stoke memories that so many have of this iconic institution and signal the beginning of a new phase in its marvellous existence." [caption id="attachment_895790" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Performance costumes, 'Fruity Mambo', designed by Catherine Martin, made by Catherine Martin and Rosie Boylan, for Strictly Ballroom The Musical, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2014. Image: Laura Moore.[/caption] Four certain highlights all were once donned by someone, well-known names and samurais alike. Kylie Minogue's Sydney 2000 Olympics 'showgirl' costume will be on display, as will Nicole Kidman's 'pink diamonds' Moulin Rouge! dress and, still on Baz Luhrmann, the 'fruity mambo' costumes from Strictly Ballroom the Musical. Or, you can peer at an Edo-period samurai warrior's armour. Featuring pieces that've never been shown before, and filling 25 rooms, Schofield's selections also cover the only surviving fragment of the Lockheed Altair aircraft Lady Southern Cross that Sir Charles Kingsford Smith flew in 1935 on his final flight, that 1.5-metre-tall peacock from 1870s, a Detroit Electric car made in 1917 and part of the original transatlantic cable from 1858. And, there's more than 100 pieces of jewellery, including mourning pieces crafted from human hair — and a focus on glass, as gleaming through French and Venetian examples from the 1800 and 1900s, plus Australian and international glass artworks. [caption id="attachment_895791" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Diamond brooch in the form of a bee with sapphires on his head and in stripes across his body and with ruby eyes, gold settings. English c.1870. Image: Marinco Kojdanovski.[/caption] 1001 Remarkable Objects displays at Powerhouse Ultimo, 500 Harris Street, Ultimo, Sydney from Saturday, July 22 through to December 2023. Top image: Detail of suit of armour, possibly of samurai officer Koma Kaemon of Bizen clan, Japan, Edo period, possibly 1775. Image: Ryan Hernandez.
In 2023, Matt Adnate was an Archibald Prize finalist with his portrait of Daniel Johns, his first-ever entry for the acclaimed award. In 2024, the Northern Rivers–based artist has both repeated the feat and gone one better with his second entry, a new work featuring Baker Boy. Rhythms of heritage is among this year's shortlisted entries for the prestigious award, and also the recipient of 2024's Packing Room Prize. Which artist will tale home the Archie in the gong's 103rd year will be unveiled on Friday, June 7, but Rhythms of heritage status as the Packing Room Prize-winner for 2024 has just been announced. The latter is selected by three members of the Art Gallery of New South Wales' packing room team — Timothy Dale, Monica Rudhar and Alexis Wildman in 2024 — hence the name. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Art Gallery NSW (@artgalleryofnsw) "I have always been inspired by music as it can help me channel and evoke strong emotion into my work. It gives me the energy to keep painting, from canvases in my studio to large-scale murals. I'm in awe of artists like Baker Boy who have the power to use music to transform people's mood, mind and energy," said Adnate about Rhythms of heritage and his Packing Room Prize win. "It was an honour to paint him again and capture the intensity of his music. It has been incredible to watch Baker Boy evolving into a multi-talented and award-winning artist over the last decade, cementing his legacy as an Australian music icon," Adnate continued. "I learned to paint through doing graffiti letters as a teenager; I switched to portraiture in 2010. This painting was produced mostly with spray paint, a medium that has always allowed me the most control. It's been a challenge to maintain my own technique and resist the pressure to use oils or more traditional mediums. I've always considered the Archibald to be the pinnacle of art prizes, especially for portraiture. To win the Packing Room Prize with a portrait that is so significant to me, and to be the first street artist to do so, it really pushes me further." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Adnate (@adnate) If you're wondering how Baker Boy, aka Danzal Baker, feels about being a Packing Room Prize-winning subject, he's also thrilled. "Big congratulations to Matt for taking home the Packing Room Prize with his portrait of me. It's unreal to see how he captures me as I am today, reflecting my love for music and a deep connection to my home of Arnhem Land, seen through the soulful reflection in the eyes," he said. Dale, Rudhar and Wildman had no shortage of praise for Adnate's work. "Matt Adnate is an incredible Australian street artist renowned for his large mural paintings. His portrait of singer-songwriter Baker Boy in his signature style is characterised by grand scale, vivid colours and a gaze that draws you in," advised Rudhar. "Matt and Baker Boy are both highly accomplished in their respective fields and share a mutual recognition of each other's talents. Matt's powerful portrait encapsulates Baker Boy as the inspirational Indigenous storyteller that he is, mirroring the joy and hope that his music brings to the world." [caption id="attachment_959475" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Archibald Prize 2024 finalist, Caroline Zilinsky 'A lucid heart – the golden age of Jacob Elordi', oil on linen, 152.5 x 122.4 cm © the artist. Sitter: Jacob Elordi[/caption] Rhythms of heritage is one of 57 finalists in the Archibald, as whittled down from 1005 entries. Other works vying for the accolade include Caroline Zilinsky's portrait of Saltburn and Priscilla's Jacob Elordi, Mia Boe's of Tony Armstrong, Jessie Bourke's of Heartbreak High star Chloé Hayden, Paul de Zubicaray's of Jaguar Jonze and Angus McDonald's likeness of Professor Marcia Langton. Also on the list: Drew Bickford's portrait of Hello Dankness filmmakers Dan and Dominique Angeloro, aka Soda Jerk; Camellia Morris' of Anthony Field from The Wiggles; Tim Owers' of Matildas player Cortnee Vine; and Nick Stathopoulos' of film critic David Stratton. If you'd like to see all of the above, plus the rest of 2024's finalists, they'll all be on display at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney from Saturday, June 8–Sunday, September 8, 2024. And, they'll have company from works shortlisted for the venue's similarly coveted Wynne and Sulman prizes. The Wynne received 738 entries, with 41 named as finalists, while the Sulman received 628 entries, naming 40 as final contenders. The Wynne also made history by selecting 21 pieces by Aboriginal artists — the first time that there's been more works by Aboriginal artists than non-Aboriginal artists among the finalists. [caption id="attachment_959474" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Archibald Prize 2024 finalist, Jessie Bourke 'Different, not less', oil on canvas, 130 x 90.2 cm © the artist, image © Art Gallery of New South Wales, Jenni Carter. Sitter: Chloé Hayden[/caption] Speculation about who will be awarded the coveted Archibald Prize — and, more often than not, the Archibald winner itself — usually causes much-heated debate. From 2018's five-time Archibald finalist Yvette Coppersmith's first win to Tony Costa's 2019 victory with his painting of fellow artist Lindy Lee — the first portrait of an Asian Australian to pick up the prize — it's hard a prize to pick. All that's really assured is that it'll be a portrait of a person by an Australian-based artist. In 2020, Vincent Namatjira's portrait of Adam Goodes did the honours, and also marked the first time the award has gone to an Indigenous artist. In 2021, Peter Wegner's portrait of fellow artist Guy Warren nabbed the gong. In 2022, it was Blak Douglas' portrait of artist Karla Dickens in the Lismore floods that came out on top, while 2023's accolade went to Julia Gutman for a portrait of Montaigne. Whoever earns the nod for 2024's Archibald, there's still another award up for grabs afterwards. If you don't agree with the judges, you can cast your own vote for People's Choice, which will be announced on Thursday, August 8. [caption id="attachment_959477" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Archibald Prize 2024 finalist, Angus McDonald 'Professor Marcia Langton AO', oil on canvas, 154.5 x 271.5 cm © the artist, image © Art Gallery of New South Wales, Jenni Carter. Sitter: Marcia Langton[/caption] Archibald Prize 2024 Dates: Saturday, June 8–Sunday, September 8, 2024 — Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, NSW Friday, September 20–Sunday, November 17, 2024 — Orange Regional Gallery Saturday, November 30, 2024–Sunday, January 26, 2025 — Ngununggula, Southern Highlands Regional Gallery Friday, February 7–Sunday, April 6, 2025 — Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre Thursday, April 24–Sunday, June 15, 2025 — Araluen Arts Centre, Northern Territory Friday, July 4–Sunday, August 31, 2025 — Lismore Regional Gallery [caption id="attachment_959478" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Archibald Prize 2024 finalist, Drew Bickford 'Direct-to-video', oil on canvas, 152 x 101.7 cm © the artist, image © Art Gallery of New South Wales, Jenni Carter. Sitter: Soda Jerk[/caption] The winner of 2024's Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes will be announced on Friday, June 7 at 12pm — check back here then. If you can't make it to any of the above exhibition dates, you can check out the award winners and finalists of the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes on the Art Gallery of NSW website. Top image: Winner Packing Room Prize 2024, Matt Adnate 'Rhythms of heritage', spray paint and synthetic polymer paint on linen, 220 x 188.5 cm © the artist, image © Art Gallery of New South Wales, Jenni Carter . Sitter: Baker Boy.
Start making spring plans: the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers has locked in exactly when you'll be able to frolic surrounded by blooms and blossoms at the beloved festival in 2024. The event will turn 75 this year, but is set to start its celebrations a bit later than in recent years. Accordingly, you'll be waiting a couple of weeks into September, rather than kicking off the season with a trip west of Brisbane. As it has since 2021, the event will brighten up the Darling Downs city for a more than just a couple of weeks, although this year's festival doesn't span a full month. But, after starting on Friday, September 13, it will end on Monday, October 7 — which is a Queensland public holiday. The setup, as usual, will feature flowers as far as the eye can see. The Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers will also attempt to break its attendance record — again. That occurred in 2022, with 364,775 people making a visit, and then again when 417,517 folks went along in 2023. "Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers is a very special event — for four weeks in spring, it attracts more than 400,000 people to celebrate the 40-million-plus petals blooming across the city's parks," said Councillor James O'Shea, Chair of the Toowoomba Regional Council Environment and Community Services Committee. "Like its well-tended gardens, the event continues to bloom, and in 2024 will celebrate 75 years. We are thrilled that more attendance and revenue records have been broken at last year's event, as people from all over Australia and internationally, converged on our Garden City," O'Shea continued. The 2024 program won't be revealed until Thursday, March 28; however, garden lovers can look forward to blossoms and floral displays galore, as always. Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers takes over a variety of locations — including Laurel Bank Park and the Botanic Gardens of Queens Park — to showcase all of the gorgeous florets and growths and gardens around town, kaleidoscopic arrays of tulips, petunias and poppies included. 2023's fest also spanned everything from twilight tours to a succulent festival, plus a ferris wheel, bonsai show, a heap of strolls across Toowoomba, a sideshow alley filled with games, the dog-friendly Petals and Pups program, a cinema under the stars, three nights of fireworks and the three-day Festival of Food and Wine. It boasted the #trEATS regional food trail, too, which showcases local eateries, and sees participating cafes, restaurants and bars serve up floral-inspired dishes. Whatever ends up on the 2024 lineup, there's no bad time to head along throughout from mid-September to mid-October — and you might want to make the trek more than once. Indeed, when it comes to scenic spring sights, there's no prettier place to be. And, given it takes less than two hours to head up the mountain from Brisbane, it's perfect for a weekend day trip. The 2024 Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers will run Friday, September 13–Monday, October 7 across Toowoomba. For further information, head to the event's website.
First postponed from July to October last year, and then ditching 2020 altogether, Splendour in the Grass has announced today, Tuesday, March 2, that its next event will now be held in spring 2021. The last time the festival updated its plans, it was intending to take place in July 2021; however, it'll now go ahead between Friday, November 19–Sunday, November 21. So, get ready for a much warmer trip to North Byron Bay Parkland than usual. Get ready to see The Strokes and Tyler, The Creator, too. Both acts were originally set to headline the cancelled 2020 fest, and will now hit the stage on the Saturday and Sunday nights, respectively. They'll be joined in the top slot by Gorillaz, who'll do the honours on the Friday evening. Announcing the change of dates via its website, Splendour in the Grass co-founders Jessica Ducrou and Paul Piticco noted that they "had so hoped to bring you Splendour's 20th anniversary edition this July, but we can't stage the event that you know and love within the current restrictions and international border closures. Since March 2020, not a single festival in Australia has been able to run at full capacity and the industry is currently operating at a fraction of pre-COVID levels." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Splendour in the Grass (@splendourinthegrass) Just who else will be on the bill is still up in the air, but we'll let you know as soon as anything else is announced. If you had already purchased a ticket for SITG 2020, you'll be happy to know that it's valid for the 2021 edition. If you've bought one for this year, for the July dates, it's still valid for November, too. And if you don't have a ticket yet, you can head to the festival's website to nab a pre-loved ticket now. Splendour in the Grass has been postponed again and will now take over North Byron Bay Parkland from November 19–21, 2021. All 2020 tickets and July 2021 tickets are valid for November, with pre-loved tickets currently available via splendourinthegrass.com. Top images: Splendour in the Grass 2018 by Charlie Hardy / Splendour in the Grass 2019 by Dave Kan.
One tells of a woman seeking passion instead of a loveless marriage. The other follows star-crossed lovers held back by their respective families' long-simmering feud. Beloved on the page, and rarely far away from a screen or stage, they're two of the most famous stories of the past few centuries. And, both Anna Karenina and Romeo and Juliet are among the big highlights of the Australian Ballet's just-announced 2022 season. Anna Karenina will kick off the Australian Ballet's year with stints in Melbourne (from February 25–March 9) and Sydney (April 5–23). Here, in a co-production with the Joffrey Ballet that had its world premiere in Chicago in 2019 and then debuted locally in Adelaide this year, Leo Tolstoy's masterpiece comes alive with ex-Bolshoi Ballet dancer Yuri Possokhov's choreography. The story remains the same, with its eponymous figure seeking happiness but finding ruin — but you can expect quite the sweeping and sensuous production. Dancing with the Bard, the Australian Ballet's version of Romeo and Juliet will then close out its 2022, with Shakespeare's most famous duo also taking to the stage in Melbourne (October 7–18) and Sydney (December 1–21). Clearly, there's nothing like bookending a year with two stone-cold classics. John Cranko's production has been regular in the company's repertoire ever since it premiered back in 1974, in fact, and will again turn medieval Verona into a sumptuous onstage realm — all set to a score by Sergei Prokofiev that dates back to 1935. [caption id="attachment_830095" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Pierre Toussaint[/caption] Both Anna Karenina and Romeo and Juliet were originally meant to be highlights of the Australian Ballet's 2021 season, but we all know how this year has turned out. Also in the same camp: Harlequinade, a comedy by Marius Petipa, who choreographed Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. It'll bring its story of young lovers Harlequin and Columbine to Melbourne only (from June 17–25). As well as this rescheduled trio, plenty of other highlights will pirouettes across the stage, including Kunstkamer, which was created at Nederlands Dans Theater and has never before been performed by another company; and triple bill Instruments of Dance, which includes a nine-part ballet designed for 25 dancers and set to a score by Sufjan Stevens. And, there's also Counterpointe, which'll take its focus on ballet's extremes to Adelaide only — plus a regional program that'll tour Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and the Northern Territory. [caption id="attachment_830092" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Pierre Toussaint[/caption] THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET 2022 SEASON: Anna Karenina: February 25–March 29 at Arts Centre Melbourne; April 5–23 at the Sydney Opera House. Kunstkamer: April 29–May 15 at the Sydney Opera House; June 3–11 at Arts Centre Melbourne. Harlequinade: June 17–25 at Arts Centre Melbourne. Counterpointe: July 7–13 at Adelaide Festival Centre. Instruments of Dance: September 23–October 1 at Arts Centre Melbourne; November 10–26 at the Sydney Opera House. Romeo and Juliet: October 7–18 at Arts Centre Melbourne; December 1–21 at the Sydney Opera House. Season packages for the Australian Ballet's 2022 Sydney and Melbourne performances go on sale from 12.01am on Wednesday, October 27. For further details, head to the Australian Ballet website. Top image: Simon Eeles.
UPDATE, May 2, 2021: Little Women is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video, Foxtel Now, Google Play, Youtube Movies and iTunes. Greta Gerwig doesn't appear in Little Women, but she's as much an on-screen presence as her stellar cast. Two features into her career as a solo filmmaker, the actor-turned-writer/director has established a clear authorial voice, with both Lady Bird's titular teen and Little Women's Jo March feeling like extensions of Gerwig herself. They're characters she could've and would've played had either movie transpired a few years earlier. Dynamic young women eager to leave their imprint upon the world — and refusing to simply accept the niche that others have earmarked for them, too — they're clear kindred spirits to Frances Ha's eponymous New Yorker. Brought to life by Saoirse Ronan, they're also fiercely determined to do what many of Gerwig's own on-screen characters have: battle for the lives that they want, no matter how difficult that proves. If Lady Bird filtered the above idea through Gerwig's own adolescence in a loosely autobiographical manner, then Little Women locates it in what must be one of her favourite books. Notions of forging one's identity, finding independence and fighting societal conventions already exist in Louisa May Alcott's 1868 novel; however Gerwig's adaptation thrusts them to the fore — not just because a modern remake should, but because they're the Civil War-era story's beating heart. Accordingly, this version of Little Women opens with the indefatigable Jo (Ronan) selling one of her tales to a New York publisher (Tracy Letts), and shows her confidently holding her own in negotiations over what's expected of her female characters. She needs to make the sale to send money home to Massachusetts, but she's never willing to compromise just because she's told to. Tinkering with the flow of Alcott's classic, Gerwig's decision to start Little Women here is inspired. It conveys the crux of Jo's journey in a concise, witty, lively back-and-forth — because, both before and after this point in the overall narrative, she keeps experiencing this tussle in various forms. Via flashbacks, viewers piece together the whole story. Her mother Marmee (Laura Dern) doesn't push Jo along any specific path, and her sisters Meg (Emma Watson), Amy (Florence Pugh) and Beth (Eliza Scanlen) are accustomed to her headstrong ways, but Aunt March (Meryl Streep) has decisive views. With their father (Bob Odenkirk) away at war, the stern matriarch decrees that Jo must marry into money to secure the family's economic standing. Even given her close friendship with the wealthy, besotted Laurie (Timothée Chalamet) — literally the boy next door — Jo steadfastly rejects the prospect that her future is for sale. Gerwig's structural approach has another pivotal impact: it turns this into a tale of women, not girls. The audience first meets the March sisters as adults with precise personalities, and so the film prioritises who they are, not who they once were. This remains a coming-of-age story, but it's savvily reframed to focus on the women that emerge from games, squabbles, crushes, rivalries and stage shows in the attic, rather than on young ladies working out what they want. That might seem a tiny shift, but it makes a vast difference. From the outset, it accepts and foregrounds Jo's unwavering resolve, Meg's desire for a traditional family life of her own, and Amy's pragmatism about the financial realities of being female, instead of making these traits the punctuation that concludes their arcs. All of the above mightn't work so well if Little Women wasn't so superbly cast — especially Ronan as Gerwig's returning on-screen surrogate and Pugh as the thorniest of the siblings. If Gerwig can't play Jo, then no one else but Ronan could've, tapping into the character's intensity and the fact that she's well aware of the cost of her choices. As Amy, Pugh turns in her third excellent performance of the past year (after Fighting with My Family and Midsommar), giving depth and texture to a character who has often been treated as petulant elsewhere. They're surrounded by a wealth of other talent, of course, with Dern and Chalamet each keeping their internet darling status intact with aplomb. Gerwig works wonders with her script and her actors — tasks that might seem easy, but still bear her fingerprints — however she also directs a visually sumptuous film. Little Women sparkles with warmth and charm, not only when dresses catch alight and catastrophic haircuts inspire laughs, but across tender and heartbreaking moments. Cosiness and melancholy aren't mutually exclusive here, and nor are honeyed hues, imagery that resembles vivid period portraits, and a lived-in look and feel. Her trick to adapting Alcott's text for a new era — adding another version to a pile that already includes seven prior big-screen interpretations, including 1994's well-received take with Winona Ryder — is to eschew the idea that something can't be simultaneously dutiful and radical. Gerwig doesn't just make that plain via Jo's story, but bakes it into every frame of this sharp and soulful film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MCOpNti_pQ
The second relatively prominent Aussie horror film of the year, Damien Power's Killing Ground sits alongside Hounds of Love in terms of brutality, bone-chills and its capacity to inspire feelings of nausea in its viewers. Where it doesn't match up, however, is in doing something new with the disturbing violence that it pedals. The film tells the story of a camping ground from three different perspectives. First up is a young couple, Ian and Sam (played by Ian Meadows and Harriet Dyer), who embark on a New Year's Eve jaunt away from the city, only to find there's already a tent set-up in the remote place they thought they'd have to themselves. Number two are the owners of said tent: a family of four complete with teenager and a toddler named Ollie. Three is a pair of reprehensible men, German and Chook (Aaron Pederson and Aaron Glenane). By the time the penny drops and Ian and Sam figure out that the tent is empty, the audience has already cottoned on: the three storylines aren't happening consecutively, and bad things have already occurred. It's a clever plot device, but the cleverness runs out there. The film succeeds, in part, in setting up an environment that for all its sun and lake views will make you feel bitterly cold inside. Aaron Pederson's German is a terrifying, unpredictable vision of unhinged male violence, and the sight of a distressed Ollie wandering around alone is both sickening and chilling. Once Sam and Ian have gauged that all is not well with Ollie's parents, the film quickly descends into a tale of violence, rape, and a whole lot of frustration on the part of the audience. The couple take a truly infuriating amount of time to realise they should just leave and call the police – Ian even willingly accompanying Chook on a search mission to the nearby falls which will "only take 15 minutes", even though there's a sign that says the falls are 4km away. I mean come on Ian, you're a doctor, you're supposed to be smart. But even more frustrating is that ultimately, it all feels as though it's for naught. For all its atmosphere, the film ends up being an unrelenting exercise in gratuitous violence with no apparent novelty or meaning. By the time the gruesome two hours are up, viewers will be left with not much more than a funny tummy and a reluctance to go camping for a while. Although if you do head out into the woods after this film, you'll be sure to check any neighbouring tents. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3ePiwb0NxQ
Another week, another Gelato Messina special. That's been the dessert chain's contribution to making lockdown a little more bearable over the past 18 months, and it isn't changing that tactic now. So, if you're under stay-at-home conditions in Sydney and Melbourne, you now have another decadent sweet treat to look forward to. For folks in southeast Queensland, you've got an excuse to eat dessert even now that the region's latest lockdown is over. On the menu this time: the return of the brand's sticky brioche snails, complete with plenty of caramel. Basically, it's Messina's interpretation of a Cinnabon-style scroll, and it's another limited release. It also comes paired with a tub of cheesecake gelato — because Messina always likes to team up its baked goods with the frosty dessert it's known for, obviously Wondering what exactly Messina's latest sticky snail entails? It comes stuffed with caramel custard and choc chips, and covered in malt caramel — and the latter is oh-so-gooey. As for the accompanying tub, it's filled with layers of vanilla custard gelato and cheesecake mousse, and then topped with cheesecake crumble. Dubbed a 'lockdown snack pack', this special can only be ordered online on Monday, August 16. It will set you back $69 for both the snail and the tub of gelato — and, because Messina's specials always prove popular, the brand is staggering the on-sale times. Accordingly, folks in Queensland and the ACT are able to purchase at 9am, Victorians at 9.30am, and New South Wales customers split across three times depending on the store (with pies from Circular Quay, Surry Hills, Bondi, Randwick and Miranda on sale at 10am; Brighton Le Sands, Tramsheds, Parramatta and Darlinghurst at 10.30am; and Darling Square, Newtown, Rosebery and Penrith at 11am). The catch? You'll have to peel yourself off the couch and head to your local Messina store to pick up your order. They'll be available for collection between Friday, August 20–Sunday, August 22. Sydneysiders, remember to abide by lockdown restrictions when it comes to picking up your pie — with a ten-kilometre limit in place for picking up food in most lockdown areas, and a five-kilometre limit in place in Local Government Areas of concern. Melburnians, if lockdown is extended again until then, you'll also only be permitted to travel within a five-kilometre radius to pick up food. Then, after you've got the sticky snail safely home, you just need to whack it in the oven for 20–25 minutes at 160 degrees and voila! You can preorder a Messina lockdown snack pack from Monday, August 16, to pick up from Friday, August 20–Sunday, August 22.
Celebrating all things LGBTQIA+ in Australia is easy this summer. In fact, it's historic. For the first time ever both Down Under and the southern hemisphere, WorldPride is heading our way, joining Sydney's already jam-packed lineup of queer events. That's the cultural landscape the returning Mardi Gras Film Festival slides into in 2023 — and it's marking the occasion with a massive lineup of movies to celebrate its own 30th-anniversary milestone. Fans of queer cinema, rejoice: this annual Sydney film fest is screening 166 films at eight venues around the city, running from Wednesday, February 15–Thursday, March 2 at locations such as Event Cinemas on George Street and in Hurstville, Dendy Cinema Newtown, the Hayden Orpheum, Ritz Cinemas, Casula Powerhouse, the Westpac Open Air Cinema and the Alumni Green at the University of Technology. Not in the Harbour City but still want to watch along? As it has done in past years, MGFF is also streaming part of its program online around the country — because catering to movie lovers Australia-wide is fast, and welcomely, becoming a pandemic-era film fest staple. For in-person attendees, the festival kicks off with coming-of-age film Of an Age, which heads to Sydney after also opening 2022 Melbourne International Film Festival, and marks the latest from Australian You Won't Be Alone director Goran Stolevski. Joining it as a MGFF bookend is closing night's The Venus Effect, with the Danish movie about two young women in love enjoying its Aussie premiere. And, just as huge is All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, 2022's Venice Film Festival Golden Lion-winning documentary about queer artist Nan Goldin, her life and career, and her battle against the billionaire Sackler family. With the full fest program including 100-plus sessions in cinema, outdoors and on-demand — as well as panel discussions, workshops, networking events and parties — other highlights include two world-premiere screenings, glimpses back to the past and free sessions. Documentary Trans Glamore and camp comedy The Winner Takes It All will make their bows at MGFF; Vegas in Space and an episode of Aussie soap Number 96 will hit the big screen; retro sessions of Pride and Raya and the Last Dragon also get a spin; and new queer comedy specials by Joel Creasy and Rhys Nicholson will nab a run, without attendees needing to pay a cent. Or, there's a special Westpac Openair session of the Cate Blanchett-starring Tár, which looks set to score the homegrown talent another Oscar; doco The Giants, about Dr Bob Brown becoming Australia's first openly gay member of parliament; Cannes Un Certain Regard Jury Prize-winner Joyland, a Pakistani effort about a romance between a trans woman and a married man; and moving Moroccan drama The Blue Caftan. Plus, other standouts include The Longest Weekend, about three siblings in Sydney's Inner West; inner-city cowboy love story Lonesome; Uýra: The Rising Forest, focusing on trans-indigenous artist Uýra; In From the Side, about an affair between two members of a fictional South London gay rugby club; and My Emptiness and I, honing in on a young trans call-centre worker. Plus, for cinephiles watching on from home, there are 21 features on offer, including Black as U R, a doco about the lack of attention paid to the black queer community; Icelandic spoof Cop Secret; Blitzed!, about the eponymous London nightclub, with Boy George, Princess Julia and Spandau Ballet sharing their memories; Youtopia, which explores the inadvertent formation of a hipster cult; and In Her Words, an ode to 20th-century lesbian fiction. Mardi Gras Film Festival 2023 runs from Wednesday, February 15–Thursday, March 2 at eight venues around Sydney — and online nationally. For more information, visit the festival's website.
It's Australia's annual slice of Italian cinema, and it's back for 2018 in its usual jam-packed fashion. That'd be the Italian Film Festival, which not only returns for its 19th year, but does so with a hefty touring lineup of 37 features and two short films, including 33 Australian premieres. It heads to Brisbane's Palace Barracks and Palace Centro from September 19 to October 14. Bookending the festival are two movies that couldn't be more timely, one delving into a media tycoon who becomes a world leader (no, not that one), and the other a stone cold horror classic that has just been remade by one of today's best Italian filmmakers. Exploring the scandals surrounding former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Loro kicks off this year's fest with an epic, nearly two-and-a-half hour drama from The Great Beauty and The Young Pope's Paolo Sorrentino. Then, at the other end of the event comes Dario Argento's original 1977 giallo masterpiece Suspiria — just weeks before the new Tilda Swinton and Dakota Johnson-starring version from Call Me By Your Name's Luca Guadagnino hits cinemas. Elsewhere, IFF also boasts three of the biggest Italian flicks doing the rounds of this year's international festival circuit, courtesy of Dogman, Happy as Lazzaro and Daughter of Mine. A diverse trio from a diverse range of Italian talents, the first sees Gomorrah's Matteo Garrone spin a story about a criminal who loves dogs (winning this year's Palm Dog Award at Cannes for its canine cast), the second unravels a time-bending fable from The Wonders' Alice Rohrwacher, and the third offers a devastating look at two mothers and the daughter they share courtesy of Sworn Virgin's Laura Bispuri. Other highlights range across the entire spectrum of Italian offerings — think comedies based on off-Broadway plays, such as My Big Gay Italian Wedding; underworld dramas like Boys Cry; and an amusing mystery about an inspector investigating the death of a local prosecco wine maker, as aptly called The Last Prosecco. Or, there's also detective thriller The Girl in the Fog, based on the best-selling novel and starring Italian veteran (and Loro actor) Toni Servillo; plus Italian box-office hit Couples Therapy for Cheaters, which focuses on exactly the narrative you think it does. And, looking back at cinema history as film festivals crucially do, this year's IFF retrospective will showcase the work of Italian-Turkish filmmaker Ferzan Özpetek. If his name sounds familiar, that's because he had a hand in movies such as Naples in Veils, Facing Windows and Ignorant Fairies — and if his name doesn't ring any bells, here's your chance to discover his celebrated filmography.
Surfing and gig-going have always been two of Australia's best-loved pastimes, and last year we scored a festival celebrating the best of both worlds. And, now, it's back for its second round of autumnal beachside festivals. Returning this April, The Drop festival will cruise around the country as it follows the Aussie leg of the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour and it's bringing a banging little lineup of musical gold along for the ride. Surfing the festival wave for 2019 are brother-sister folk band Angus and Julia Stone, the perennially pastel indie pop duo Client Liaison and NSW surf rock band Hockey Dad, along with other local legends The Jungle Giants and Alex the Astronaut. Held on the first weekend of each area's surfing event, The Drop is set to grace some of the Australia's most iconic surf spots, each outing featuring a locally focused offering of food, drink and culture, to match the tunes. As well as heading to the official WSL events in Torquay, Margaret River and Coolangatta, this year, the festival will also kick off Surfest Newcastle and Vissla Sydney Surf Pro in Manly — both WSL Qualifying Series events. THE DROP FESTIVAL 2019 LINEUP Angus and Julia Stone Client Liaison Hockey Dad The Jungle Giants Alex the Astronaut Images: Miranda Stokkel.
"Spectacles, not survivors". If you've ever wondered what the creator of The Hunger Games wants from its participants, they're his exact words. Meet Casca Highbottom, Dean of the Academy, and the reason that children from 12 of Panem's districts fight to the death every year for the entertainment of the masses — as well as a looming force of evil in prequel The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Yes, every movie franchise ever has to keep returning to screens, as Harry Potter and Twilight are as well. Unlike those two page-to-screen hits — two other favourites straight out of YA literature, too — The Hunger Games is making a cinematic comeback. And, it's gracing theatres again this November because author Suzanne Collins followed up her original trilogy of novels from 2008–10 with a step backwards in 2020. While Casca Highbottom is a pivotal figure in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, complete with Peter Dinklage (Cyrano) playing the part, another usually- nefarious presence is the movie's protagonist. If you've ever wondered about Coriolanus Snow's life before he became President of Panem and kept having encounters with Katniss Everdeen, here's your answer. This prequel is set 64 years prior to the dystopian tales told in the saga's initial four films between 2012–15, with Tom Blyth (Billy the Kid) doing his best to become a young Donald Sutherland. If the Wizarding World can have young Dumbledore, The Hunger Games can have young Snow, clearly. As the just-dropped first trailer for The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes starts to cover, his backstory includes hailing from a family that's hit hard times in the postwar Capitol. That's how he becomes a mentor to District 12's Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler, Shazam! Fury of the Gods). And that "spectacles, not survivors" comment is spoken his way, in fact, as a word of warning about what's expected in his new role. Of course, this wouldn't be a Hunger Games story if one of its tributes didn't earn plenty of attention — and hearts. When his protege proves a hit, Snow starts to think about turning the odds in their favour. That said, viewers already know that any good he achieves here won't change the fate that's already been seen in the novels and past movies. As well as Blyth, Zegler and Dinklage, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes features a stacked cast spanning Jason Schwartzman (I Love That for You), Viola Davis (Air), Hunter Schafer (Euphoria) and Josh Andrés Rivera (Zegler's West Side Story co-star). Francis Lawrence jumps behind the lens again, as he did with The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part I and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part II. Check out the trailer for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes below: The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes releases in cinemas Down Under on November 16, 2023. Images: Murray Close.
Gorman. Oh, Gorman. The source of literally everyone's fancy first date outfits has just gone and announced that, this Friday, August 25 they'll be giving out thousands of free t-shirts to anyone who proves they've registered to vote. And while you can vote however you feel, the initiative is proudly and loudly in support of the 'yes' vote. In their own words: "Love is love. All people are equal". Damn right. To share in the love, make sure you've verified and updated your enrolment details today — you have until midnight to do so. Then head to your local Gorman store tomorrow and flash the Gormie staff a screenshot of your verified enrolment details to receive a limited edition (and cute as heck) 'love is love' tee for free. The design is based on an earlier collaboration with Monika Forsberg and there are only 5000 of them. Gorman fans are Gorman fans, so we presume you'll have to get in early to nab one. Most importantly, you can check your enrolment details here.
Sydney's CBD has landed a major dose of the Tokyo-esque practical and compact, with the former Bar Century space reopening in May as The Capsule Hotel, a three-storey, luxury boutique stay. The George Street cheap drinks den, which closed in 2016, was taken over by developer Walter Guo, who invested a massive $5 million on a full interior refurb, carried out by interior design consultants Giant Design. The heritage building has somewhat retained its vintage fit-out but with more of a nod to the futuristic space-like capsules of The Fifth Element. The bar and hotel are running as separate entities, with the first two levels acting as The Century Bar, while the top three floors of the building are dedicated to the capsules. Each of the 70 capsules contains a large flatscreen TV and entertainment system, Wi-Fi, and a climate control panel. Guests can choose from single or deluxe beds with entry from either the side or the end of the capsule. The communal facilities include a kitchen space, breakfast bar, lounge area, rooftop terrace and individual bathrooms. If you're worried about security, don't be — each capsule is fitted with a secure lock and the security desk runs 24-hours. But let's set the record straight — The Century is not a hostel, and it's not aimed at overindulgent locals that can't seem to make it back home. "The accommodation, which is not quite hotel nor hostel, is aimed at solo travellers looking for something more private than a typical backpackers and those who want the designer hotel experience on a budget," says Christopher Wilks, an associate at Giant Design. It's set to sit well within your budget, with prices ranging from $50-90 a night. Which, depending on how far from the CBD you live, could be a lot cheaper than a cab home at 1am. Find The Capsule Hotel at Level 3, 640 George Street, Sydney. For bookings, head to the website or call (02) 8957 7763.
Brisbane is gearing up for another balmy season, and, at the city's busiest new food precinct, Tex Mex hot-spot El Camino Cantina is set to join the party on the first weekend of summer. Even better — when this loud venue flings open its doors, starts pouring its giant cocktails and beings serving up its lively Tex-Mex fare, it's doing so with a party. The venue will launch on Friday, November 30 with a weekend-long fiesta, starting with a ticketed party on Friday night and continuing with $2 tacos, 10-cent wings, free tortilla chips and $7.50 margaritas across Saturday and Sunday. What else is in store in general? Well, eight slushie machines signal big nights and brain freezes — El Camino's margaritas come in a swag of flavours and multiple sizes, including a group-friendly two-litre tower. From the food lineup, think fiery buffalo wings, sizzling fajitas, plump burritos, soft shell tacos loaded with punchy flavour combinations and unlimited complimentary corn chips and salsas. Images: El Camino Cantina Manly by Tom Ferguson.
There's the naturalism you know, and then there's the immersive, mythic, sensorial and heady naturalism of Abdellatif Kechiche's Blue Is the Warmest Colour (known in its native France as Adele: Chapters 1 & 2). The director boldly sticks his camera in the face of actor Adele Exarchopoulos and lets it linger there for three hours, watching intensely as the ingenue lives and loses her first love, while several years roll by. It's an extreme viewing experience that garnered high praise in Europe and won the most prestigious independent film award on the planet, the Palme d'Or. Since winning, the film has encountered controversy, but nothing can dampen the phenomenal performances of leads Exarchopoulos as Adele and Lea Seydoux as her worldlier girlfriend, Emma. Adele is from a plain, working-class household, and her world opens up when she meets art student Emma, who floors her from across the street with her blue-streaked hair and white-hot insouciance. Their love is explosive, total and immensely physical. But first loves don't often last, and that's probably a good thing. Captured in extreme close-up, Blue Is the Warmest Colour lets you feel the beauty and the pain of it, really feel it, for a few blessed minutes. Blue Is the Warmest Colour is in cinemas on February 13, and thanks to Transmission Films, we have five double in-season passes to give away. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email us with your name and address. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au. Read our full review of Blue Is the Warmest Colour here. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y2OLRrocn3s
They've given you all the chicken you can handle, both in a poultry-packed menu and in a one-off all-you-can-eat wings day. Next on The Coop's agenda: cheap tacos. When Thursdays roll around, that's your lunch and dinner plans sorted thanks to Bueno Bueno. When it was first announced back in January, Bueno Bueno was an evening affair — but thanks to popular demand, it's now happening all day and all night every single Thursday. Each week, seven types of taco will be on offer for $3 each. And it's not just a few spoonfuls of mince in a crunchy shell, aka the kind of thing you could make at home, either. Their menu includes the Demonio Blanco (24 -hour pulled cola pork with beans, pickled red cabbage and chipotle mayo) and The Generalisimo (BBQ pulled beef taco with caramelised onion, pickles and parmesan cheese). Or, have some karaage in your tortilla with the Gallo Fantástico (chicken, diced pickled onions, blue cheese and chipotle BBQ sauce), or opt for a beetroot-filled meat-free option with the Verde Delicioso (beetroot patty, pearl couscous, diced tomato and onion, parsley, smoked ketchup and tahini dressing). Wash it all down with an appropriate beverage — Dos Equis stubbies, sangria, margaritas and tequila shots — and call it a prelude to your weekend.
We all love a good pictorial menu to help make those dish selections easier, but how about a menu that that lets you have a sneaky taste of everything before you order — including drinks? That's what the innovative minds at renowned Singaporean bar and restaurant, The Tippling Club, have created for their latest cocktail program, 'Dreams and Desires'. No, you won't sip each beverage before you make your pick. Rather, you'll eat them. The world's first edible cocktail menu, it's the brainchild of head bartender Joe Schofield and chef-owner Ryan Clift, realised with help from American company International Flavors and Fragrances Inc. Instead of a regular old written cocktail list to peruse, guests get one of those classic striped candy bags, filled with 12 different flavoured gummy bears. Each of these speaks to a specific dream or desire, flavoured to represent one of the bar's new signature cocktails. You might find yourself seduced by Lust's heady blend of Champagne, peach, tonka bean and vanilla; or loading up on good vibes with the honey, citrus and tequila creation called Happiness. There's a concoction dubbed Revenge, featuring a moody mix of vodka and umami bitters, and even one called Baby, which is served in a kid's bottle. Choose a favourite based on which flavours take your fancy, and you should end up with your ideal cocktail. The Tippling Club, which recently took out 31st position at the World's 50 Best Bars awards, is no stranger to thinking outside the box when it comes to drinks lists. Launched late last year, its experimental Sensorium cocktail menu used various scents to trigger memories of yesteryear. And, while enjoying their new tipples — and the tasty selection process — will usually require a trip to Singapore, Brisbanites are in for a special sneak peek on December 1 and 2. That's when The Tippling Club bartender Jonathan Lee will be stopping by Gerard's Bar for a two-day Tippling Club takeover in celebration of the new menu. Fancy an overseas cocktail adventure? Find The Tippling Club at 38 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore.
"Goodbye Christopher Robin," announces the title of this treacly biopic. Goodbye subtlety and and emotional nuance, too. A true tale about Winnie-the-Pooh author AA Milne, his son, and the loveable bear that made them both famous, this is a movie that doesn't trust its audience to laugh or cry without being told when and how much. Eeyore's constant moping and Tigger's bouncy zest seem almost restrained in comparison. The handsomely staged effort sets its sights on a shell-shocked Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) in the wake of the First World War. He's rattled by London life following his experiences on the battlefield, much to the dismay of his socialite wife Daphne (Margot Robbie). A move to the country doesn't seem to help matters either — or at least it doesn't until a stint in the surrounding forest without Daphne or live-in nanny Olive (Kelly Macdonald), when the writer and his eight-year-old son Christopher Robin (Will Tilston) imagine a whole new world with the help of some stuffed toys. If it worked for Peter Pan and Mary Poppins, then it can work for Winnie-the-Pooh. Or at least, that's what director Simon Curtis (Woman in Gold) appears to think. Indeed, as Finding Neverland and Saving Mr. Banks did before it, Goodbye Christopher Robin presents itself as a behind-the-scenes origin story, but soon proves more interested in riding an easy wave of affection. Given that everyone's favourite fictional bear is involved, there's ample love flowing, of course. Alas, though the movie's approach is well-intentioned, the end result remains noticeably heavy-handed. An overwrought score, uninspired cinematography and pacing that pauses for impact every time something notable happens are just a few of the film's particularly grating elements — although arguably the biggest problem is the mismatch between the script and the way it's been executed. Screenwriters Frank Cottrell-Boyce (The Railway Man) and Simon Vaughan aren't afraid to take the narrative to darker corners, touching on the trauma of war, the difficulties of marriage and motherhood, the struggle of having your childhood suddenly opened to the public, and the distance that can grow between a father and a son. Sadly, Curtis would rather skip nostalgically past the bleaker material, or wring it to inspire easy waterworks. Filmmakers underestimating their viewers isn't new. Nor is spoon-feeding plot developments and signposting sentiment, pairing a cute kid with a grumpy adult, or leaning on pop culture commodities. Goodbye Christopher Robin is guilty of all of the above — but, more than that, it's guilty of squandering its potential. As the great performances from young Tilston and the suitably conflicted Gleeson both show, there's plenty of emotion and drama to be found in the Milnes' story without smothering it in honey. As Winnie himself would say: "oh bother." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb6gC-G2-6c
SXSW (occasionally still known as South by South West) is an annual celebration of independent music, film and technology, held in Austin, Texas. Unlikely, challenging projects are born there and all the brightest of the creative world (plus Selena Gomez) attend. Midway through the festival, we take stock of what we've missed. A NASA Space Social Happens Basically nerd porn come to life, NASA's Space Social brought real-life astronauts Ron Garan, Nicholas Skytland, John Yembrick and others face to face with fans of Princess Leia and Neil Armstrong for socialising and space-related chats. We can only imagine that the hors d'oeuvres were served floating through the air by waitresses wrapped in aluminum foil. Interactive Vending Machine Stage Lets You Tweet at It Annoying party iPod DJs are set to rejoice this week at the Doritos vending machine stage, where onlookers are invited to tweet in their (hip hop- and rap-specific) song requests using the hashtag #BoldStage. Taking the choose-your-own adventure shtick one step further, the six-storey machine's LCD screen interface flashes simulated confetti, smoke machines and lasers in accordance with more Twitter directions. Control freaks need to let their hair down too, right? Grumpy Cat Upstages Everyone Kendrick Lamar, Justin Timberlake, Dave Grohl and James Franco were also in town for the festival, but really who are they to compete with Grumpy Cat? After queuing in earnest, fans got what they wanted — the inimitable feline looking characteristically unimpressed before curling into a ball and retreating. This kitty is more diva than Kimmy K and Lindsay Lohan combined. Meow! Hater App Launches to Bring Balance to the Social Media Force Despite its obvious benefits (stalking and empowering minority groups) social media unfailingly makes you hate society and your loved ones. Somewhere between #instabrag and your part-time model friend's profile picture number 300, it became difficulty to feel genuinely happy for the success of others. The world might need the new Hater app, a tool that allows users to dislike status updates, rant enthusiastically and band together over shared misery and disdain. If you don't have anything bad to say, don't say anything at all. https://youtube.com/watch?v=v01h6BsUgTY Shaq Attack is Well Tall Shaquille O'Neal looked down on everyone while still being really humble as he walked the trade show. A towering god amongst men. Google Village Is Like Willy Wonka's Factory for Tech Intent on achieving world domination, Google has morphed out of the computer screen and into the real world with the grown-up's answer to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Apparently the future will be a utopia filled with food trucks, free forums that teach people how to read HTML, Google pinball machines aplenty and even an Adidas talking shoe that can be programmed to give the wearer constant positive chatter. Sounds annoying. Images via SXSW and Grumpy Cats. Google Village image by Leimdorfer.
"Honey, we're home." Those words are uttered in the first sneak peek at Netflix's Heartbreak High revival and, especially if you were a 90s kid, they're filled with emotion. Screening for seven seasons and 210 episodes between 1994–99, the OG Heartbreak High wasn't just a high school-set Aussie show — it was the high school-set Aussie show of the era. The original series was filled with now-familiar faces, too, including Alex Dimitriades, a pre-Home and Away Ada Nicodemou, and Avengers: Endgame and Mystery Road's Callan Mulvey as Drazic. It painted a multicultural picture of Australia that was unlike anything else on TV at the time. And, for its six-year run across two Aussie networks, the Sydney-shot show was must-see television — not bad for a series that started as a spinoff to the Claudia Karvan and Alex Dimitriades-starring 1993 movie The Heartbreak Kid. Back in 2020, Netflix announced that it was bringing Heartbreak High back — and now that revival is almost here. The series itself will join your streaming queue on Wednesday, September 14, and the platform has dropped the first trailer in the interim. Yes, it definitely looks like a 2020s take on the Aussie classic. While the initial teaser sets the vibe rather than spells out the story, the show obviously returns to Hartley High — the fictional school that everyone watching was obsessed with way back when. This time around, a revelation turns Amerie (Ayesha Madon, The Moth Effect) into a pariah, and also sparks a rift with her best pal Harper (Asher Yasbincek, How to Please a Woman). Attempting to repair her reputation, and just navigate the usual teen chaos, she calls on help from her new friends Quinni (Chloe Hayden, Jeremy the Dud) and Darren (first-timer James Majoos). If you're keen for a bit more background on the new show's characters, back when it announced the cast, Netflix described Amerie as a smart, big-hearted but loud working-class girl, and Harper as the person at Hartley that everyone is a little afraid of, including teachers. Quinni, who has autism, is "a brain trying to connect to a body and a heart", while Darren is "the warmest snarky shit-stirrer you're ever likely to meet". Other characters include Malakai (Thomas Weatherall, All My Friends Are Racist), a Bundjalung boy and basketballer who is new at Hartley High; Dusty (Josh Heuston, Thor: Love and Thunder), an insecure bass player in an indie rock band; Sasha (Gemma Chua-Tran, Mustangs FC), who has been badged "the coolest, sexiest, and chiccest lesbian at the school"; and Ca$h (Will McDonald, Home and Away), a mullet-wearing drug dealer, food delivery driver and pet duck owner. Rachel House (Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Baby Done) plays Hartley High's principal, too — and yes, Netflix is still streaming the original series, should you feel like a double dose of nostalgia. Check out the first trailer for the new Heartbreak High below: Heartbreak High will be available to stream via Netflix on Wednesday, September 14.
With Australia's international borders unlikely to reopen until mid-2022 at the earliest, that next big overseas vacation you've been dreaming about is currently on hold. But that doesn't mean you need to spend all your time until then just looking at your own four walls. That's Airbnb's new idea, at least — and the house-share platform isn't merely talking about getting you out of the house for a weekend here and there. Fancy spending a year hopping between different places — and whichever places you like, too? Do three of your mates feel the same way? If so, you'll want to check out the just-launched Live Anywhere on Airbnb program, which is funding 12 people and their pals to hop between Airbnb properties for 12 months. Basically, at a time when holiday bookings are down for obvious reasons, Airbnb is endeavouring to change the way people use the platform — by encouraging everyone to use its rentals as places to live for longer-term stays, rather than just for vacations. So, the 12 selected folks will get to do just that, and on Airbnb's dime. In a number of countries — including Australia and New Zealand — Airbnb is looking for people who work remotely, creatives, staycationers and digital nomads, as well as people with young families and empty nesters. If that's you, and you can do your job from wherever you like, you can apply to spend the period between July 2021–June 2022 living in different Airbnb listings. As well as scoring enough credits to cover all of your rental fees (between US$24,000–48,000 for the year), you'll also get a one-time payment (between US$5–12,000) to cover transport and travel expenses. This does mean that you will still need to earn an income or have enough savings to get by — but you'll still be living in Airbnb properties without spending a cent. And, although border rules might be tricky to navigate, travelling internationally during the program is an option. The caveat: Airbnb will ask you to share your experiences with the company, including about the platform's features and services, and about living the nomad life. So, you'll essentially be product-testing its longer-term stays, then providing your feedback. "This program aims to give 12 lucky people (and their companions) ultimate flexibility when it comes to blurring the lines between living, working and travelling," says Airbnb's Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand Susan Wheeldon. If you're wondering where you could go — and what you could do while you're there — some of the suggestions include farmstays in rural Australia to living the beach life for a year. To apply, you'll need to head to the Live Anywhere on Airbnb website before Wednesday, June 30, 2021. Twenty finalists will then be selected and asked to submit a two-minute video about the program. After that, there'll be finalist interviews before the 12 winners are told to start packing their suitcases. For more information about the Live Anywhere on Airbnb program — and to apply — head to the Airbnb 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.
Warm, cosy, rosy, charming, feel-good: typically when a film spins its story during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, none of these words apply. But with Belfast, Kenneth Branagh has made a movie set in its eponymous city when the Protestant-versus-Catholic violence was a constant sight, and also helmed a feature that's about a childhood spent with that conflict as a backdrop. It's an approach that only works because Branagh draws from his own experiences — the film isn't a play-by-play memoir, but it's also clearly personal. Here, it's 1969, when the actor-turned-filmmaker would've been nine years old. The movie's protagonist, Buddy (first-timer Jude Hill), is that exact age, in fact. And with the beginnings of a three-decade-long sectarian fracas bubbling and boiling around him, he navigates the usual age-appropriate antics, such as school, crushes, doting grandparents with ailing health and a potential big move. The Troubles are a constant sight in the largely monochrome-hued film, too, and the reason Buddy's that parents are contemplating relocating to England, something they wouldn't have dreamed of otherwise. Pa (Jamie Dornan, The Tourist) already spends most of his time working there as a joiner, leaving Ma (Caitríona Balfe, Outlander) at home with Buddy and his elder brother Will (Lewis McAskie, Here Before) — with assistance from the boys' Granny (Judi Dench, Six Minutes to Midnight) and Pop (Ciarán Hinds, The Man in the Hat) — and he's been offered a new job that comes with a house. The violence swirling through Belfast has already made it to the family's street, to their hounded Catholic neighbours and, when Pa refuses to join the fray, put them on their fellow Protestants' hit list. Shifting to London (or perhaps further, to Sydney or Vancouver) would provide a new start and a safer future, but leaving all they've ever known isn't a simple decision. Belfast's adult characters are only known as Buddy would know them, such is Branagh's commitment to seeing this story, time and place through a child's eyes as he once did. And, while there's much debate to be had between Pa and Ma about whether to go or stay, the film is filled with its young lead's joys and worries — with the prospect of never again seeing the Catholic classmate he swoons over high among the boy's concerns. Belfast isn't short on context, however, though there's zero chance that it could be mistaken for a meaty interrogation of The Troubles. Branagh weaves in examples of how the push-and-pull of the conflict that's inescapable in his neighbourhood every day, Molotov cocktails, broken windows, blazes, riots and all, puts Buddy and his family in the middle. Still, a magical view of childhood remains, including when Buddy gets thrust into the thick of the fray — where, after he returns home with looted supermarket wares, his mother marches him back to return the stolen products amid the chaos. Branagh also indulges in an origin story, perhaps inspired by his stint in the Marvel Cinematic Universe directing the first Thor film back in 2011 (Buddy is even seen reading a Thor comic). Escaping The Troubles as much as anyone can in Belfast, the writer/director's on-screen surrogate adores seeing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and A Christmas Carol also features — scenes that come to life in colour, unlike the bulk of the picture around them. In the process, Branagh helps trace the early steps of his own desire to become a thespian and filmmaker, which has led to everything from Shakespeare adaptations such as Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet, to doing double duty in front of and behind the lens with Hercule Poirot duo Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. He's played Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' Gilderoy Lockhart, helmed Disney's live-action Cinderella, gotten villainous in Tenet, and of course, enjoyed an applauded on-stage career as well, all stemming from those first rapturous experiences watching when he was growing up. You could also call Belfast Branagh's Roma moment, after Alfonso Cuarón also gave cinema a black-and-white vision drawn from his own childhood, although that comparison fades quickly — even with Oscar love likely to come this film's way, in nominations at least, as it did for its predecessor. Here, the Dutch angles have it, with one of Branagh's go-to stylistic moves visually reinforcing Belfast's skewed perspective. Everything that viewers see is gorgeously lensed by his regular cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos (a mainstay on everything except All Is True since 2007's Sleuth), and also fondly nostalgic as cherished memories of formative years always are, with the lean firmly towards Buddy and his subjective view. As often set to a Van Morrison soundtrack, there's no doubting that this is a portrait of the big and small moments remembered and given a tender glow far more than it's about matters of politics and religion. As carefully and sentimentally conjured up and constructed as it is, Belfast's message remains timely as it gazes five-plus decades back. Horror and conflict stalk Buddy's working-class turf, his routine and life are shaken and upended, but hope — and the reality that life does go on — shines through. The opposing forces of comfort and change jostle around him, and this boy and his loved ones endeavour to make their way through it. Indeed, it should come as no surprise that this was Branagh's pandemic project, or that he peers back with such affection. In one of the movie's least successful touches, he even finds a way to convey that process on-screen, starting with a glossy shot of Ireland today, then literally peeking beyond a wall to venture into the past. Branagh's best choice: his magnificent cast, although an actor who also directs guiding marvellous performances out of his key players also doesn't surprise. What's especially glorious about Hill, Dornan, Balfe, Dench and Hinds is how much their portrayals tell us about their characters in the beats between dialogue, with wide-eyed enthusiasm radiating from wonderful newcomer Hill, and Dench and Hinds perfecting Granny and Pop's world-wise lived-in dynamic, for instance. Dornan and Balfe are also exceptional; whether bickering heatedly about tax debts and far-off places or taking to the dance floor — or, in Dornan's case, belting out a big-hearted rendition of 'Everlasting Love' to give his Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar crooning a companion — they're a picture of that unceasing emotion that Branagh infuses into every element of the film. Yes, as its showcase number trumpets, that's love, which leads to a sweet, neat and light but still vivid and soulful snapshot of growing up amid swelling uncertainty. Image: Rob Youngson / Focus Features.
More than four centuries since it was first written, William Shakespeare's Othello still simmers with potency and relevance, as a tragedy about a power struggle, personal turbulence, war, betrayal, envy and revenge always will. But in Jimi Bani and Jason Klarwein's hands, the Bard's classic should echo with particular force for Australian audiences — moving the story to the Torres Strait during World War II, and paying tribute to the 800 Torres Strait Islander men who volunteered to hep protect the country's northern tip in the process, will do that. Staged by Queensland Theatre and treading the boards as part of this year's Brisbane Festival, this take on Othello also sees Bani step into the titular part. He plays Captain Othello — as the Imperial Japanese Navy heads towards Far North Queensland, and while his marriage to Desdemona (Emily Burton), the daughter of a cane farmer, is causing ripples. Cue the spurned Roderigo's (Matt McInally) scheming with the jealous Iago (Andrew Buchanan), all in a trilingual production spoken in Kala Lagaw Ya, Yumpla Tok and English. Same tale, brand-new setting and context: that's the end result, which plays the Bille Brown Theatre from Saturday, September 10–Saturday, October 8. Bani and Klarwein's version of Othello initially premiered at the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair in 2021, and now makes its way to Brisbane for the first time.
Brisbane's winters aren't as harsh as those endured down south, but that doesn't mean that Queenslanders don't feel the cold. Within a couple of hours' drive of Brisbane there's a stack of country towns ideal for visiting when swimming and sunbathing are off the agenda. Plan one of these short trips and you could be tucking into local produce beside roaring log fires, warming up with walks through ancient rainforest, meeting super-friendly locals in old-fashioned pubs and whale watching from some of the best vantage points on Australia's east coast. MOUNT NEBO If you don't have much time, but desperately need a hit of fresh air to take you out of your mid-winter stupor, journey to Mount Nebo. This super-cute village lies just 45 minutes' drive west of Brisbane, at the southern end of the D'Aguilar Range. On the way, stop at Samford for brekkie at The Flying Nun Cafe, where you'll be tucking into potato and feta hash cakes with poached eggs, roasted carrot purée and chorizo crumb beneath the stained glass windows of a former church. When you hit the actual Mount Nebo, warm up with a rainforest walk, such as the one-kilometre Pitta Circuit or the eight-kilometre adventure taking in Jollys Lookout, before heading to Mount Glorious for a fireside lunch at Elm Haus Cafe. How far? A 45-minute drive [caption id="attachment_682545" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Queensland[/caption] TAMBORINE MOUNTAIN Pack your scarf: winter on Tamborine Mountain, which is 530 metres above sea level, is noticeably cooler than in Brissie. If your day trip is an excuse for a feast, then book a table at Three Little Pigs Bar and Bistro. A stone fireplace takes care of central heating, while the chefs transform local produce into delectable dishes. Another lovely spot for lunch is among the log fires of Cedar Creek Estate Vineyard's Hamblin Room. Stay for a wine tasting, before rugging up to explore Tamborine Mountain's many walks, waterfalls and gardens. How far? A one-hour drive [caption id="attachment_682544" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Queensland[/caption] MARYVALE Encircled with farmland, and perched on the edge of the Main Range National Park, Maryvale packs a lot of punch. In town, you'll come across the Maryvale Crown Hotel, built in 1912. If you're not careful, you might find yourself spending your whole day (and night) there; it's a proper, old-fashioned country pub, filled with friendly folks. Should you manage to get away, you'll find plenty to pique your curiosity around Maryvale, including the ancient rainforest and breathtaking lookouts of heritage-listed Main Range National Park, found five minutes' drive east from the pub. How far? A two-hour drive [caption id="attachment_682543" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Queensland[/caption] STANTHORPE For a day trip that involves plenty of wine tasting, make Stanthorpe your destination. It's the gateway to the Granite Belt, which is developing quite the reputation for its experiments with alternative varieties. At Balancing Rock, you'll be trying a wild yeast syrah, and at Ballandean Estate, there's a range of unusual drops, including jacquez, a grape believed to have originated in North America and also known as black spanish. Prefer beer? Get your winter warmer at Granite Belt Brewery, with a chocolate porter. In between drinks, wander around Stanthorpe's delis and cafes, and be sure to visit Suttons Farm for homemade apple pie — it's a perfect wintry afternoon tea. How far? A two-and-a-half-hour drive [caption id="attachment_682551" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dayboro[/caption] MOUNT MEE Another town where you can rise above winter is Mount Mee, which, like Mount Nebo, is part of the D'Aguilar Range, and lies around 75 minutes' drive northwest of Brisbane. Get your bearings and lift your spirits at Dahmongah/Mount Mee Lookout, which gives you panoramic views of Brisbane, the coastline to the east, and the Glasshouse Mountains to the west. Continue to soak up the mind-blowing scenery during lunch at Birches Restaurant. If time is on your side, then drive ten minutes' north to visit bohemian Woodford, famous for its huge annual folk festival, or stop by Dayboro on the way home, for idyllic countryside, cafes, breweries and wineries. How far? A 75-minute drive MALENY Maleny, at 436 metres above sea level, affords magnificent views of the Glasshouse Mountains. Since the 1980s, it has been a magnet for artists, craftspeople, writers and musicians, who find inspiration in the dreamy landscapes. There's an abundance of cafes, dishing up wholesome, homemade fare — exactly what you want to be eating on a chilly day. Visit Maleny Food Co for gourmet cheese, Shotgun Espresso for comforting dishes, including spiced poached chicken broth, and Monicas Cafe, for hearty burgers and gourmet sangas made from organic produce. How far? An 90-minute drive BLACKBUTT Home of the Blackbutt Avocado Festival (returning in September 2021), this historical settlement started out in the 1840s as a timber town. It must've been thirsty work because, in 1910, a population of 300 managed to keep five hotels open. These days, just one survives: the Radnor, which was built over a century ago. When you're done carousing with the locals, head to the Blackbutt Bakery to dig into a cracking pie, followed by a caramel snickers mallow crown (if you can get one — they sell out fast). Blackbutt is along the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail, the longest continuous rail trail in Australia, which travels for 134 kilometres from Ipswich to Yarraman. Definitely consider taking your bike. How far? A two-hour drive CANUNGRA Canungra, which lies in the Gold Coast Hinterland, was born as a timber town in the 1800s. These days it's home to numerous artists and artisans. Step back in time with a beer at the Canungra Hotel, before wandering around art galleries and workshops. Running through the heart of them all is Canungra Creek, where, if you're lucky, you might spot a platypus. Go beyond town to visit cellar doors, including Albert River's grand Auchenflower House Billiard Room; O'Reilly's, where you're welcome to spend the afternoon picnicking with a gourmet hamper in hand; and Sarabah, to escape to vineyards and banish all thought of winter in the city. How far? A one-hour drive NORTH STRADBROKE ISLAND North Stradbroke Island isn't exactly a country town, and you probably wouldn't normally associate it with winter, but bear with us. For a start, it's the closest place to Brisbane where you can go whale watching while keeping your feet firmly planted on the ground. What's more, the North Gorge Walk is considered one of the best spots in Australia for spotting humpbacks. Don't forget your binoculars. More reasons we love Straddie in the winter include the spectacular sunsets and the fact that you can explore as you please, without jostling sweaty summer crowds. How far? A 50-minute drive plus a 45-minute ferry ride [caption id="attachment_770996" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] NOOSA HEADS Another day trip destination that involves whale watching is Noosa Heads, on the Sunshine Coast. When it comes to vantage points, you're spoilt for choice — try your luck at Main Beach, Sunshine Beach, Castaways Beach or while strolling along the stunning 11-kilometre coastal walk in Noosa National Park. It's even more breathtaking at sunset. Alternatively, climb aboard a whale watching tour and head out to sea. As at Straddie, you'll be able to spend your day soaking up Noosa's extraordinary natural beauty without battling hordes of sun-seekers. How far? A two-hour drive Top image: Tourism and Events Queensland
The onset of those searing summer rays should remind us that skin cancer is Australia's biggest killer. But national awareness doesn't seem to mirror the scary statistics. In an attempt to rectify this, Pretty Shady is injecting some style into the skin cancer awareness campaign, with sun protection gear you can get your hands on for free — some of it rather covetable and limited edition. Included is a beautifully designed Basil Bangs beach umbrella (there are 50 of those) and a rad Lister-designed tee (just 40). There's also a stack of reversible bucket hats (800), some handcrafted sunnies (800), and a few hundred litres of sunscreen up for grabs. These items ought to help you kick the habit of poolside tanning. Pretty Shady is aiming to be the generation that stops the spread of skin cancer, one summer at a time. With high-profile ambassadors such as Nicole Warne, Anthony Lister and Gossling, they're packing a pretty powerful cool factor. Enter the competition to win Pretty Shady gear and you'll automatically go into the draw to win even more. The five limited edition items will be released one by one. So jump on in as soon as possible to increase your chances of securing a piece of the shady action. And even if you don't win, we encourage you to find a way to, in the words of a much daggier campaign, slip slop slap.
After bringing New Farm's old Brunswick Street movie theatre back to life, then turning the Irish Club in Elizabeth Street into a CBD picture palace, Five Star Cinemas is launching its latest venture: a five-screen venue inside Red Hill's old Skate Arena. First announced in late 2017 and finally coming to fruition despite legal challenges, Red Hill Cinemas will welcome movie-loving patrons from Saturday, November 30. When it swings open its doors, it'll fall just under a month shy of 17 years since the building's former guise met a fiery end, with the roller-skating rink gutted by fire on Boxing Day in 2002. In the almost two decades since that blaze, the empty Enoggera Terrace site has become home to a host of multi-coloured street art by figures such as Sofles and Drapl — and, in revamping and restoring the structure, Five Star Cinema owners Peter and Stephen Sourris have retained the graffiti-covered walls as an eye-catching feature. They're also nodding to the past in a different way, with the location initially operating as a cinema from the 1920s–60s, before being turned into a teen music venue and then, for nearly 40 years from 1965, becoming the beloved Skate Arena. Brisbane cinephiles can expect other winks to history throughout the site, too, such as a plant stand made out of an old ladder that once went up to the projection booth, canvas foyer chairs sourced from a cinema in Gayndah, and walls filled with cinema items and artefacts from the family's collection — as the Sourris brothers have done at both New Farm Cinemas and The Elizabeth Picture Theatre. Sadly, an originally mooted bowling alley isn't part of the final venue, but Red Hill Cinemas' timber flooring has been recycled from a bowling alley's lanes, while the lower area of the building boasts a ceiling made up of wood from the old Skate Arena that survived the fire. https://www.instagram.com/p/B4whxHWg4YD/ Naturally, the location's history looms large over the new cinemas, but it isn't the main attraction. Film-goers can grab a seat in the main 160-seat cinema, or pick from one of four 70-seat 'gold room' screens, which all feature leather recliners. Red Hill Cinemas will launch with a lineup that includes Last Christmas, The Irishman, Marriage Story, Knives Out, Ford v Ferrari and Frozen II, and will offer movie-goers $10 tickets to all sessions from Saturday, November 30–Wednesday, December 4. Find Red Hill Cinemas at 14 Enoggera Terrace, Red Hill from Saturday, November 30.
Now you're spending a little more time in your home, you may as well pick up a new skill. Always wanted to know how to shake a martini that would impress James Bond? What about learning some handy tricks in the kitchen for the dinner party you're planning when this is all over? Well, Sydney bar and vegetarian diner Golden Gully is letting you level-up from the comfort of your living room. If you're keen to take your boozy drinks from the humble G&T to a whiskey sour or manhattan, join bartenders Rachael and Danny over video chat for a one-hour class, which will show you how to mix up whatever you've got lying in your liquor cabinet. So, you can put that shot of Midori down now. Prefer to learn how to be a whiz in the kitchen? Golden Gully's chef Emma Evans (ex-Alibi) will help you turn water into wine — well more like mi goreng into pad see ew, which is still a mean feat. You'll join her for an hour via video chat to go through a recipe and cook up something tasty, even using the most mundane ingredients in your panty. Each class costs $60 and will not only see you through self-isolation, but also are life skills you should probably have under your belt anyway. To purchase a class, head here. And once that's done, message Golden Gully on Instagram to arrange a time and date. Images: Trent van der Jagt
Word nerds, it's your time of year. Brisbane Writers Festival is just around the corner; however that's not the only city-wide celebration of literature and language of late, with Queensland Poetry Festival also returning for another stint. As always, this tribute to waxing lyrical has compiled a diverse program that showcases the artform in a number of ways. Focused around the theme of healing, attendees can expect sessions on everything from poetry and wellbeing, using the medium to imagine a better world, processing feelings into prose in today's post-#MeToo climate and grappling with loss — plus slam competitions, poetry readings, a bookstore slinging must-read texts and the the returning QPF Poetry Zine Fair as well. The 2018 Queensland Poetry Festival takes place from August 23 to 26 at a number of Brisbane venues, including the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts, Bloodhound Bar, Brisbane Square Library, the Institute of Modern Art and the University of Queensland Art Museum.
The mercury has dropped, the Uggs are dusted off, and you no longer need to feverishly crank the air con from the moment you wake. Pat yourself on the back, folks, because you've successfully survived another sweltering Brisbane summer. Don't listen to those naysayers who moan about the impending arrival of the cooler months. We promise you, it truly is a time to celebrate. Low humidity? Check. Less chance of sunstroke? Check. Finally getting a chance to crack out that ripper jacket you bought last year? Double check. Because we are lucky enough to live in the sub-tropics, we are keenly aware of the fact that the notion of 'summer' truly can be carried all year round. Here in Queensland, we teeter close enough to the equator to be blessed with damn decent weather all year round. You can almost pretend it's not winter at all. To do so all you need is good friends, good food, good beer and something fun to do. To help you keep the summer dream alive, we've teamed up with Coopers' new latest Session Ale — a refreshing new beer with distinct tropical fruit aromas and a crisp bitterness — to pull together five summer activities you can enjoy all year round. Because these guys know that the good times don't stop for the season. CONQUER A HIKE Remember all those hikes you had on your bucket list this summer? You and your gym buddies were going to wake up at the crack of dawn, strap on a CamelBak, and ascend some freakishly high terrain. We're willing to bet that the following things stopped you from achieving these goals: Christmas parties, engagement parties, New Year's Eve parties.... you catch our drift. But no longer shall you be swayed. With bright eyes, a clear mind, and cool, crisp winter's air, you cannot be stopped. Mount Tibrogargan! Mount Beerwah! Mount Coot-tha! Plus, you can exploit this opportunity to post some humble-brag Insta Stories from the summit. Need more of a challenge? Pack a six-pack (or two) and head further afield to conquer a multi-day hike. [caption id="attachment_621822" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Brisbane City Council[/caption] SWIM IN A HEATED POOL Yep, we love going to the beach. And we all know that swimming is a brilliant, whole-body workout, perfect for those looking for non-weight-bearing exercise. But once the cooler months hit, it can be tempting to sideline those swimming sessions in favour of… sitting on the couch eating pizza. But fear not. Your fitness levels don't have to be benched for the season —22 Brisbane City Council pools are heated for your swimming pleasure. The Spring Hill Baths is always a fan favourite — and one our top five — and we also love the Valley Pool and Langland's Park. And there's an added bonus: the pools tend to be a little less crowded at this time of the year, so you won't be sideswiped by any Olympic wannabes. When you're done, treat yourself to a pint — it's all about balance, after all. CATCH AN AWARD-WINNING FLICK If you were to poll your closest friends, you would probably find that a decent chunk of them have never experienced the sweet serenity of cracking open a beer in the cinema. Truly, it's a travesty. How about having a pizza, burger and even dessert delivered directly to your cushy leather chair? Mind-blowing, huh? Luckily for us here in Brisbane, we have a boutique, licensed cinema in our midst – the Blue Room Cinebar. Plus, since our winter lines up neatly with 'American Summer Blockbuster Season', the cooler months are the ultimate time to experience this little slice of luxury. Keep the brews coming. [caption id="attachment_594247" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Nightfall, Lamington National Park[/caption] GO CAMPING IN STYLE Sweating in a tent and drinking room-temperature beer might be fun for some (anyone? anyone?), but we prefer our camping trips a little more lush. A mini mid-year getaway is the perfect respite from the 9-to-5 drudgery (plus, you probably need some vitamin D). If you fancy yourself a Bear Grylls-type, you might want to fashion a shelter out of animal hide, but if you're anything like us, you'll want to step it up a notch. Hire a decked out tent in the hinterland. Camp out in a national park. Cosy up in a cabin at Moreton Island. The only essentials you really need are a six-pack of beer, warm socks, and a decent Bluetooth speaker. Marshmallows optional. [caption id="attachment_638442" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] The Osbourne[/caption] HANG OUT IN A HEATED BEER GARDEN On days when it's cold, or maybe when there's even a bit of rain, it's tempting for us Queenslanders to cancel our plans and hide under the covers. But simply mention the word 'pub' over the group chat and you'll find your mates are more than happy to meet up for beers. We are big fans of any venues that boast the winning combo of cosy indoor and outdoor seating, for the perfect summer/winter vibe. One such pub is Fortitude Valley's Osbourne Hotel. It has an impressive 400-seat glass-ceiling bistro and beer garden, plates of oysters and all-day pizza. Grab a seat under one of the heaters and a pint of Session Ale and the last thing on your mind will be the weather. Grab a Coopers Session Ale and make the most of summer, all year round. Top image: The Osbourne
With a life's work dedicated to upholding — and reinstating — human rights and democracy, Geoffrey Robertson has an indisputably impressive resume. The barrister, author and former human rights judge has garnered his worldly insights through defending the likes of Salman Rushdie and Julian Assange and founding the largest human rights practice in Europe. Fiercely defending lives on death row? Mentoring Amal Clooney? Assisting in the restoration of Fiji's democracy? All in a day's work for Robertson. The legal heavyweight is bringing his live show, It's No Longer Hypothetical, to Brisbane's QPAC Concert Hall on Tuesday, August 23, and Wednesday, August 24. Audiences will go on a deep dive into Robertson's life and career, with him taking a closer look at the importance of returning museum collections to the cultural groups they were stolen from, the societal fallout seen in a fake-news era and the actions he's proposed for constitutional regeneration in Australia. Whether you're a long-held fan of Robertson and his work or you're simply an inquisitive mind looking for insights into the state of the world, spending a night witnessing this Australian great command the stage is not to be missed. To secure your ticket to 'It's No Longer Hypothetical' in Brisbane on Tuesday, August 23, or Wednesday, August 24, head to the website.
Welcome to Theatre Republic, the space where anything stage-based goes. Indeed, if the folks behind independent, avant-garde, experimental and just all-round out-of-the-box productions branched out and made their own nation, we can only hope it would be as great as this showcase of offbeat works from around the globe. Here, you can enjoy the take on celebrity culture that is the scathing Dead Royal, remember that you're not dead yet at Funeral, play with the artistic experience that is Perception, and find out why Adrienne Truscott, one-half of the infamous Wau Wau Sisters, says she's Asking For It. You can also witness the artists chat about their work at free chat sessions, listen to free music from MKO, Ayla, Cheap Fakes and more, or partake in the food and drink delights in the garden bar. If this really was a separate country, we'd want to be citizens.
Detective Robbie Green (Jonathan LaPaglia) is called in to investigate the murder of his former partner, Detective Jason Pearson (Luke Hemsworth). Green and his new partner, Detective Jane Lambert (Viva Bianca), find themselves on the tail of two runaways, ultra-religious cancer-ridden Rachel (Hannah Mangan Lawrence) and her unstable boyfriend, AJ (Alex Williams), who are filming a "documentary" as they seek Biblical retribution for the drug-related death of Rachel's sister. If this sounds like the type of story (and character naming conventions) of an American film circa 1993, you wouldn't be far off. The Reckoning, despite being filmed in Perth and featuring an Australian cast, feels like as if its main concern is ensuring that every element be a facsimile of US thriller tropes. LaPaglia's Green is a short-tempered alcoholic who is trying to be a good father despite being married to the job. Priests wait in candlelit gothic churches to talk wisely to those seeking guidance. High-tech, CSI-style equipment can be used to facially identify anyone spotted on a security camera. And so on. This aping isn't inherently a bad thing. Even the best Australian films are criticised for not even trying to appeal to mass audiences, and the ones that do are so often dismissed as being populist. An industry that produces as few films as ours does cannot afford sub-genres, and so there's little patience for films that are not all things to all people. So with the wider context established, let's pull back before we fall into the trap of reviewing the industry instead of the film. As a gritty crime thriller, The Reckoning is moderately successful. It's diversionary, predictable, derivative and silly, and there's no denying that there's an audience for that. It's slick, too. The kind of slickness that will make it palatable to someone who wants to have something on in the background when it finally does the home video and TV rounds. But there's little in here that would interest a modern audience looking to plonk nearly $20 down for a night out at the cinema. It's not just the story and style that feels dated, but the idea that this possesses anything to distinguish it from a thousand other similarly themed thrillers. Everything in The Reckoning is achingly American, and this would be annoying if it wasn't so obviously deliberate. This is a film with its eye firmly on international sales and goes out of its way to filter out anything that makes it feel Australian. The religious angle, for instance, is weirdly anachronistic, with a priests talking in haughty "my child" this and "the Lord says" that dialogue. Blurry number plates are zoomed in on and enhanced into the sort of clarity that only made sense about twenty years ago when nobody knew how video worked. If all this sounds like nitpicking, well, yes, it is. But it is these details that make or break a film, and with a plot that is as by-the-numbers as this one is, we rely on details to turn it into something more interesting or unique. The Reckoning is a fascinating film for all the wrong reasons. It is out of time, decades too late to be of any interest, and so desperate to cover up its country of origin that its edges are sanded down into something that is ultimately of zero consequence. https://youtube.com/watch?v=gjJgFijldaw
Bookshops are known for their variety. Everyone should be able to step into any store celebrating the printed word and find something they want to read ASAP. Writers festivals operate under the same principle, bringing together a wide array of authors covering a broad range of subjects and styles — so of course the 2023 Melbourne Writers Festival jumps from viral recipes to beloved movie stars, and also from award-winners to Australian music icons. One huge highlight of this year's MWF program: Alison Roman, whose home-cooking tips you might've followed more than once. Making her first trip to Australia, the Brooklyn-based food writer and chef will chat about her dessert-focused cookbook Sweet Enough, and also all those recipes that've had the internet salivating, plus her general approach to the kitchen. [caption id="attachment_894138" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alison Roman by Chris Bernabeo[/caption] Roman leads a lineup with its commitment to surveying writing in a wealth of forms, and from a swag of scribes, firmly intact — and a festival that hits Melbourne a little earlier in 2023, too. If it feels like the last MWF was just upon us, that's because it happened in September last year. From now on, however, the fest is settling into May dates instead, running from Thursday, May 4—Sunday, May 7 in 2023 at a variety of venues around the city. One such location is Melbourne Town Hall, which'll play host to four blockbuster sessions over two evenings to get MWF 2023 started. That includes an opening night event that asks a cast of writers to reflect upon the fest's theme 'I've Been Away for a While', with Penguin Random House copy chief and author Benjamin Dreyer doing the honours alongside nonfiction writer Bill Hayes, Sweet Country filmmaker and Kaytetye man Warwick Thornton, writer and critic Sarah Krasnostein, and Wiradjuri poet and artist Jazz Money. Also at the same venue that evening: Paul Kelly celebrating words penned by others — and likely not about making gravy — which'll see him perform Shakespeare, Sylvia Plath, Les Murray and more. Jurassic Park favourite Sam Neill is set to do the writers festival rounds, coming to Melbourne to chat about his career and new memoir with comedy star Jane Kennedy before doing something similar in Sydney — and two Booker Prize-winners are hitting both fests as well. So, the Victorian capital can also look forward to the most-recent recipient, with Shehan Karunatilaka emerging victorious in 2022 for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida; plus Girl Woman Other's Bernardine Evaristo, the first Black woman to ever win the award. Other 2023 highlights include Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow's Gabrielle Zevin exploring the New York Times bestseller; Emma Straub, writer of This Time Tomorrow and owner of Brooklyn bookstore Books Are Magic, getting talking; and Grace Tame chatting about The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner: A Memoir. Or, there's Dreyer doing his 'Guardian of Grammar' thing in-conversation with Richard Fidler — and Fidler himself focusing on his new historical nonfiction publication The Book of Roads and Kingdoms. Stan Grant will discuss his latest The Queen is Dead — on the weekend of King Charles' coronation, no less — and Ellen van Neerven will unpack Personal Score, their examination of sport from a First Nations and queer perspective. Also, aforementioned author and photographer Hayes dives into Sweat, which is about exercise and its history; and actor Heather Mitchell (whose recent credits include Love Me, Blaze and The Great Gatsby) joins the guests with memoirs to unfurl. The festival's events lineup also features the return of the MWF Big Debate, asking 'do books matter more than sport?'; Queering the Canon, which'll see its speakers plunge into the texts that influenced how they think and write about sexuality and gender; and a discussion of the past year in politics. Spanning talks, panels, workshops and other activities, the program keeps turning pages from there — so if you're keen on hearing from Shirley Hazzard's biographer Professor Brigitta Olubas, learning about art and writing from a First Nations viewpoint, exploring where memoirs stand in the search for meaning, pondering how difficult it is to write about your heroes and celebrating the return to travel, that's all on the bill. So is the In the Suburbs series, which takes authors beyond the Melbourne CBD. This year, that includes The Dry writer Jane Harper chatting about Exiles, her final instalment in the Aaron Falk series, in Narre Warren — a handy session to go to ahead of Force of Nature hitting the big screen in August. Melbourne Writers Festival 2023 runs from Thursday, May 4—Sunday, May 7 at a variety of venues around Melbourne. For more information and to buy tickets, head to the festival's website. Top image: Alison Roman by Chris Bernabeo.
Melbourne-born artist Buff Diss has been filling the streets with his geometric artworks for the past 14 years. Eschewing paint, he works primarily through the medium of tape to create dextrous designs that are not only striking in and of themselves but also create a "relationship" with the spaces on which they're displayed and present a "conversation with the architecture". Using a street art-like style, Buff Diss occupies a unique space in the art world, swapping the permanence and illegality of spray paint for a more novel approach. And it's with this style that he'll take over the Miller Design Lab — an innovative event series we're hosting with Miller Genuine Draft at Melbourne's SoHigh Gallery, featuring some of the most exciting contemporary artists and musicians Australia has to offer. Here, we talk creative inspirations and aspirations with the artist and about his latest taped-up work to be revealed at the Miller Design Lab on Friday, March 22. A typical work day for Diss starts to the waking call of his infant son. And then it's on to an early surf or skate, coffee, emails, sketching and brainstorming for new projects. "I try to spend as much time with my son as I can, sharing the workload with my wife by balancing projects — [it's] easier said than done," says Diss. "Then [it's a] nice dinner with a good strong red, [and I] put the little fella to bed then catch up on my Feedly." A former computer science student, Buff Diss has turned back to his roots. He's found an interest in the possibilities allowed by augmented reality for two-dimensional artforms and how he can work these into his art. "I'm keen as to set up a Donkey Kong emulation on a mural, where different sections of the painted mural transform to platforms and are populated with playable sprites," muses Diss. "I'm really keen to get back into coding so I can add AR functionality to my future work." But at present, the artist will keep things analog as he takes over every tapeable surface of the Miller Design Lab space on Friday, March 22. Buff Diss' large-scale, bespoke piece will take shape in realtime, as he works and contours tape and linear mesh into bold, graphic murals that represent a map of Milwaukee and the Milwaukee River — the home of Miller Genuine Draft. "I'm mapping out historical aspects of Miller Beer in modern medium," says Diss, distilling his mammoth project into a single line. Each geometric shaping will appear four times alluding to the "four times cold filtered" brewing process of the beer. And at the event, you can watch as he works in response to music and builds to a 'big reveal' moment. With such an interest in architectural terrain, it comes as no surprise that Diss's favourite country is Taiwan, where he completed a project in New Taipei City back in 2015. "It's such a special place, [with] incredibly varied landscapes from mountains, forests and islands," says Diss. "But [it's] the people and the free approach to art there [that's] addictive." Along with his admiration for Taiwan, as well as New York-based streetwear designer Jeff Staples (the global curator of the Miller Design Lab), Diss notes that there's a lot of inspiring stuff coming out of Australia's contemporary and street art scene. He particularly follows the likes of Adelaide street artist Order (aka Seb Humphreys), installation artist Georgia Hill and painters Matthew Fortrose and Laith McGregor. Whenever interstate, Diss makes sure he hits his favourite spots, including Sydney's China Heights Gallery and dining institution Tetsuya's; Hobart's MONA "for the wine" and The Source "for the art"; and Adelaide's Apothecary 1878. At home in Melbourne, it's gnocchi at Lover and ever-changing art at Collingwood's Blackwoods Gallery. Currently reading Musashu by Japanese writer Eiji Yoshikawa, watching Tawainese film The Assassin and listening to British punk-rock band Idles, Diss's interests are seemingly far-spread, both geographically and topically. But a good red wine, he insists, is a constant in his ever-expanding curiosities. As for his future plans? Buff Diss is going more traditional. "Having worked outdoors for so long I'm going to start painting canvas this year. Wish me luck." Images: Kate Shanasy.
If you, like us, have a deep pang of disappointment every time you open a shoebox to find not a skerrick of fried chicken within, prepare to have your weird fetish satisfied at Sydney's newest venue, Butter. Butter, as the name does not at all suggest, is a fried chicken eatery and sneaker store rolled into one that’s about to open in Sydney's Surry Hills (where else would a peak-hipster fried chicken-meets-sneaker dispensary possibly open?). This vibe is inspired by New York City’s hip hop culture, a vibe which is articulated by the inclusion of fancy-ass champagne-based drinks menu, you know, to wash down your fried chicken. They've actually done pairings. And your meal will be served in a shoebox, to make up for all those other there’s-no-fried-chicken-in-here box opening disappointments. The name Butter is actually a reference to the secret hero ingredient of the menu: butter (what, no way!). Buttermilk in the fried chicken, dashi butter in the waffle sandwich and the soft serve with flavour choices like buttery croissant, burnt butter and chocolate peanut butter cup (Lord have mercy on our arteries). At Butter, butter is king and we intend to rip through the menu like a… wait for it… hot knife through butter (zinggg). The fried chicken keeps it simple for four spice levels: naked, OG, fire and hot AF and the menu is organised into packs and sides. And the team behind the operation boast some impressive resumes, including the 2015 Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year winner Julian Cincotta (of Sydney's kickass restaurant Nomad and Rockpool) and bar manager Paul Flynn (who is responsible for the sparkling-heavy drinks menu list). And yes, if you're wondering, there is a butter based cocktail: a butter-washed vodka. What does that even mean? Who knows — but it's probably worth planning a trip to Sydney to find out. Butter will open at 6 Hunt Street, Surry Hills, Sydney on February 11.
Saying that a particular actor could read the phone book and make it sound great has long been deemed high praise. It's now a cliche, but like many over-used expressions, it still remains accurate. Ask Emma Thompson to utter any words on screen, for example, and it'd likely prove enthralling. Playing a family court judge in The Children Act, she reads legal judgements in a complicated case, keeping her emotions in check when few others can. Her character gives firm, sober answers both in her professional and her personal lives — and when the justice lets her guard down on one rare occasion, Thompson literally sings. Indeed, regardless of what the two-time Academy Award winner is doing or saying, she's utterly riveting. Thompson's Fiona Maye spends her days adjudicating difficult cases involving the welfare of minors, with the 1989 U.K. law known as the Children Act her guiding light. It's a job that she approaches with the utmost care, and often under significant scrutiny. Fresh from decreeing the fate of conjoined infants in an affair that's been splashed across the newspapers, another thorny matter comes before her court. 17-year-old Jehovah's Witness Adam Henry (Fionn Whitehead) is dying from leukaemia, and refuses to have a blood transfusion because it's forbidden by his faith. His devout parents (Ben Chaplin and Eileen Walsh) support his choice, but his doctors are seeking legal intervention to administer the life-saving treatment. The decision facing Fiona might rank among the most complex of her career, weighing someone's right to life against their right to their beliefs. Crucially, she's charged with deciding whether a boy who's almost a man can make a choice between the two for himself. Thompson is a powerhouse when Fiona is quietly considering all of the details, often with a pensive yet penetrating look adorning her face. She's just as mesmerising when she's exercising the character's wit, too. But when The Children Act truly cracks Fiona's facade — in fights with her unhappy husband (Stanley Tucci) about their childless marriage, in tender moments when she flouts protocol to visit Adam on his sickbed, and when she just can't hide the stress of the situation — she's nothing short of astonishing. When Adam feels as if he's being drawn to Fiona, his reaction to her presence is easy to understand. Thompson turns in a soulful performance in a film that also earns the same description, which is hardly surprising given the movie's pedigree. The Children Act isn't just the second novel by Ian McEwan to reach the big screen this year, after On Chesil Beach. It's also the second that he has written the screenplay for himself — something that he hadn't done for nearly 25 years beforehand. On the page and in the cinema, the result is another of the writer's mature and thoughtful works, with the picture sensitively handled by director Richard Eyre. The filmmaker is no stranger to complicated matters himself, as previously seen in book-to-film adaptation Notes on a Scandal, but there's a blend of deep emotion and calm subtlety to The Children Act that borders on devastating. Credit is also due to Whitehead, best known until now for his work in Dunkirk, who ensures that Adam is as multifaceted and fascinating as Fiona. It's a portrayal that makes viewers wish for another life for his character, and certainly keeps the audience invested in Adam's fate. As an acting showcase for both the young talent and for Thompson, The Children Act couldn't be better, however the patiently shot drama also succeeds as a probing and empathetic look at a difficult topic. Like this year's festival favourite Apostasy, it ponders faith and medicine among Jehovah's Witnesses to stunning effect — and with heart-wrenching delicacy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWOfsnxcD3s
Sun, surf and sand is a relaxing combination, and one of the Gold Coast's big drawcards. Soaking, steaming, sipping and staring at scenic views? That's also on the agenda if you're looking for a stint in Surfers Paradise without hitting the beach. The latest spot to head to: JW Marriott Gold Coast's Spa by JW. Open since mid-July, this new place to chase bliss is a hefty 2500-square-metre wellness space, and joined the hotel as part of its broader $35-million transformation. A spell here means enjoying the sounds of the ocean, a vantage over the hinterland, both tea and wine service, and a sizeable list of treatment options and spa packages. Fancy a massage solely designed to help you sleep? An aromatherapy facial? Hopping in the bath with your date or best mate? They're all on offer. Upon arrival, guests are first greeted at Spa by JW's curator's desk, then hang out in a living room-style lounge setup before diving in. From there, six different rooms unleash the venue's treatments, including one just for couples that comes with its own private lounge, ensuite stone bath and twin showers. Also onsite: saunas, steam experience showers, pods for relaxing and an outdoor garden terrace area dedicated to exactly that as well. For those making a group hang out of their spa experience, Spa by JW features a space for private groups, too, that's intimate but still in view of the wider lounge. The treatments focus on calming, indulging, invigorating and renewing, with a kaffir lime and ginger salt scrub, a chamomile and lavender soak, and a native clay body mask among the highlights. If you're keen to eat and drink while you're there, everyone gets a lavender tea upon arrival; however, that's just the beginning of the food and beverage range. The tea service is all about local inspiration, the food menu is curated by the hotel's Executive Chef Paul Smart and vino is an option. Think: lavender scones, chocolate-dipped strawberries, native honey seed nut slices and chocolate roses with hazelnut cream on the high-tea spread — and four types of rice paper rolls, spanning chilli king prawns, wagyu steak, tofu and grilled salmon, if you're after a less-decadent bite. This is also the first Spa by JW in the Australia and New Zealand region, with Australian design studio DBI taking care of its look. As the building's original architects and interior designers, it has a history with the site, and has gone with a coastal Queensland vibe for the wellness space. Think: curves aplenty, translucent walls, natural materials and textures, and neutral hues, plus lighting to suit the mood. Find Spa by JW at JW Marriott Gold Coast, 158 Ferny Avenue, Surfers Paradise — operating 9am–6pm Monday–Saturday and 10am–5pm on Sundays.
If The Mummy starring Brendan Fraser taught us anything, it is that Mummies are not to be trifled with. If it taught us anything else, it is that Mummies are also really freaking cool. On loan from the British Museum, Mummy: Secrets of the Tomb tells the tale of an Egyptian priest whose mummified remains have remained untouched for thousands of years. In a Brisbane exclusive, the exhibit will feature 3D film detailing the mummification process and will unravel the mysteries of the ancient Egyptians using the latest technology. If ancient civilisations are your thing, then this is the exhibit for you. If you just like cool things, then this is still the exhibit for you.
Quentin Tarantino might be best known for his blood-soaked crime flicks and fondness for the cinema-going of yesteryear; however the filmmaker also has a sweet side. Take True Romance, for example. His script is as passionate as it is violent as it tells the tale of a kung fu film fan and a call girl, as vibrantly brought to life by director Tony Scott. Indeed, the 1993 movie is one of the under-sung gems not just on Tarantino's resume, but on the CVs of cast members Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman and Brad Pitt. With its romantic mood, it's also perfect Valentine's Day viewing for those who like their films loved-up but absent too much sappiness. That's why Canvas has made it the centrepiece of their February 14 fun, screening the classic feature under the stars for added ambience. Plus, the $15 ticket price also includes popcorn and a cocktail, aka everything you could possibly need to make this super cool movie experience even cooler.
Some farewell tours seem to last forever — and, thanks to the pandemic, Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour is one of them. Since September 2018, the music star has been saying goodbye all around the globe, including making the trip Down Under already. But what was meant to be his final trip our way resulted in some rescheduled gigs, so he's back again, playing one last-ever Brisbane show. It's been a big few years for the singer, not only with the huge tour — which spans more than 300 concerts across five continents — but with his life story hitting the big screen in biopic Rocketman. He had a massive first round of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in Australasia, too, with over 705,000 tickets sold to gigs a three-month period that spanned 34 Australian and six New Zealand dates from November 2019. Missed out then? Keen to go again? In Brisbane, he'll light up Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, January 21. Fans can expect to feel the love through all of his hits, including 'Rocket Man', 'Tiny Dancer' 'Bennie and the Jets', 'Crocodile Rock', 'I'm Still Standing' and 'Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting'. The concerts will also feature never-before-seen images and videos show from John's 50-year career — well, never seen before the tour — which'll be displayed throughout the show. When the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour comes to an end, John will retire from touring after five decades on the road. If that all sounds rather massive, that's John's career in a nutshell. He's played more than 4000 shows across his career, sold more than 300 million records worldwide and holds the record for the biggest-selling single of all time thanks to the 1997 version of 'Candle in the Wind'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtVBCG6ThDk Image: Ben Gibson.
Is there a better time than 5pm on a Friday? Not only is the working day done and dusted, but the working week as well. That's a fact worth celebrating — and whether you've kicked a few goals that day, scored an unexpected win, ticked a couple of things off of your to-do list or just met your regular deadlines, you may as well mark it in style. Brisbane's bustling bar scene isn't short on upscale options for just this type of everyday occasion. From old favourites to lofty newcomers, and spanning everywhere from Woolloongabba to South Brisbane to Newstead, there's a levelled-up watering hole near you. The world's finest French vodka, Grey Goose, celebrates its versatility and commitment to quality ingredients as it allows bartenders to create incredible cocktails that upgrade any summer occasion — starting with those Friday night drinks. Grab your colleagues, welcome the weekend and live it up — we've found seven spots that'll bring a dash of fanciness to your regular Friday evening tipples.
There are a million mobile apps out there to help you take better care of your body. But what about one that helps you take better care of your planet? That's the idea behind TODAY, an app that'll let users "track and share the positive impact they have on the world". The homegrown app, which is currently being funded via a crowdfunding campaign, will provide users with information about their environmental footprint, and offer tips on how they can reduce it. It'll tell you how much clean air you create every time you walk to work. It'll tell you how much natural land you conserve every time you eat sustainable food. It'll even tell you how much pollution you save by cutting back on disposable coffee cups. "TODAY exists to inspire you and every single one of us to make the small changes, both individually and collectively, to create a better future for all," reads a description on the app's Start Some Good page. The plan is for the TODAY team to work with ethical businesses, "and engage with awesome environmental initiatives". For more information about TODAY, check out their website. If you like what you see, you can donate to their crowdfunding campaign here.
By now, you've probably had an absolute gutful of winter, not to mention of everyone else's European holiday snaps clogging up your Instagram feed. Plus, daydreaming about tropical getaways doesn't quite stack up to the real thing, right? Well, wannabe jetsetters, if you've got a vacation-shaped hole in your life, it turns out this is your lucky week, because a mammoth travel sale is hitting the internet tonight. The bargain-filled Click Frenzy Travel sale returns for a 29-hour online shopping riot, kicking off at 7pm on Tuesday, August 2019. And it's chock full of airfare, cruise, accommodation, tour and holiday package deals, for all kinds of budgets. Though, with a lineup of over 600 sales, it's going to be pretty hard to book just one trip. Virgin Australia's offering up to 40 percent off a range of domestic and international journeys, with prices starting from just $69. You can nab some wild discounts on holiday packages in the likes of Bali, London, Europe and Fiji from the crew at Luxury Escapes, or take advantage of savings of up to 50 percent on select Intrepid Travel trips to destinations including the Galapagos Islands and Croatia. [caption id="attachment_661817" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Intrepid Travel trip to the Galapagos Islands[/caption] Cantik Bali Villas is offering luxury private pool villas from $85 per night, G Adventures is knocking 25 percent off some of its worldwide tours, and Kogan Travel is slinging an array of hot deals including an 11-day China tour from $699. You'll also find $1057 return Air New Zealand flights departing Melbourne and Sydney for sunny Buenos Aires, as well as a stack of Beyond Travel deals, including mega savings on a 2020 Iceland cruise tour. In a Click Frenzy Travel first, this week's sale will also feature a cool 99 percent off 'Go Overboard' deals, up for grabs in limited quantities. The lineup is set to include everything from $2 Beats headphones (usually $250) to $500 Flight Centre vouchers priced at just $5. Dust off that suitcase and start plotting your annual leave — it's holiday time, finally. The Click Frenzy Travel sale runs from 7pm on Tuesday, August 20, until midnight on Wednesday, August 21. You can find it and all the tasty travel bargains here. Top image: Underwater temple ruins in Bali.
By the time Sunday rolls around, you're lucky if you have the energy and willpower to think, let alone cook. So, do neither. Instead, grab a friend or three and head for King Tea Chinese Kitchen and Bar in Paddington, where, from 10am, you can sink into all-you-can-eat yum cha for 30 bucks a head. The menu is big on both classic and inventive dishes, from bacon, egg and cheese dumplings, to mushroom wontons, to fried chicken, to Chinese omelettes and pancakes. Also look out for the vegetarian and vegan options — they take up half the menu. That's right, you won't be going hungry around here — no matter how worn out or ragged you might be from the night before. Bookings are essential — to the surprise of no one (especially if you're now salivating and making Sunday plans), this bottomless feast is bound to be popular.
Back in 2021, news arrived that Round the Twist was joining The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Muriel's Wedding, Strictly Ballroom, Starstruck and Moulin Rouge! in making the leap from Australia's screens to its theatres as a stage musical. If you've ever, ever felt like you needed to see the classic 90s and early 00s Aussie children's TV series with singing and dancing, the end result finally has a debut date. Your destination if you want to catch it first: Brisbane, with Round the Twist The Musical making its world premiere as part of Queensland Theatre's 2024 season. The homegrown gem is going the screen-to-stage route in a production that hasn't yet unveiled its cast, but already has the entire country well-acquainted with its characters. It'll hit QPAC's Playhouse from Tuesday, November 12–Sunday, December 1, closing out Queensland Theatre's 2024 run. We bet you're now more excited right now than a Twist family member in a lighthouse. Airing for two seasons between 1990–93, then another two from 2000–01, Round the Twist adapted Paul Jennings' popular books into an offbeat fantasy series. If you were the right age, it was must-see TV — and now it's your next must-see musical. Here's hoping that the new stage production not only does justice to the show that absolutely every Aussie kid watched in the 90s and 00s, and more than once, but that it taps into its balance of humour, strangeness and scares. There's definitely a big lighthouse involved, because of course there is. Obviously, we all know which song absolutely has to be included — and multiple times, ideally. Yes, it's the theme tune by Andrew Duffield that you've now got stuck in your head and will keep singing to yourself for the rest of the week. (And no, we're not sorry for putting it there.) Writer/composer Paul Hodge and director Simon Phillips (Muriel's Wedding: The Musical, Ladies in Black) are guiding the show, which will focus on single father Tony Twist; his children Pete, Linda and Bronson; and their efforts to save their home from the Gribble family while also attempting to solve a 200-year-old mystery. Expect haunted spaces, ghosts, smelly feet and a crystal ball as well, and songs. "Round The Twist The Musical is iconically Australian and it is our absolute pleasure to bring these characters, these stories and these songs to the stage for the first time ever," said Queensland Theatre Artistic Director Lee Lewis, announcing the 2024 program. "This has been a giddy labour of love for all of us here at Queensland Theatre for years now, and we're beyond excited to finally see this production come to life." Where Round The Twist The Musical will play after its Brisbane debut hasn't yet been announced, if you're hoping to see the production elsewhere around the country. Back in the Queensland capital, Queensland Theatre will also stage versions of Gaslight and Medea in 2024, the latter by Kate Mulvany and Anne-Louise Sarks. Football drama 37 will enjoy its world premiere, while Pulitzer Prize-winner Cost of Living and the Veep-style POTUS, Or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive will make their Australian debuts. If you need something Round the Twist-related to watch until November 2024 hits, all four seasons of the show are streaming on Netflix. You can also check out the trailer for Round the Twist's first season below: Round the Twist The Musical will premiere at the QPAC Playhouse, South Bank, Brisbane from Tuesday, November 12–Sunday, December 1, 2024 as part of Queensland Theatre's 2024 season — head to Queensland Theatre's website for further details. Top image: Round the Twist filming location Split Point lighthouse, Natalie Maguire via Wikimedia Commons.
Vegan eats can't be hit and miss. You want a kitchen that sources fresh, high-quality ingredients and isn't afraid to experiment with taste combinations. In this, Dicki's certainly delivers. From an understated New Farm nook of sleek white wood with indoor and footpath seating, it offers plant-based meals bursting with flavour. Once you've had smashed avo with macadamia 'feta' ($12), you'll never look back. Bad memories of buckwheat? Try them as waffles with stewed apples, cinnamon crumble and salted caramel ($16.5). Bright and fresh dishes like the Nurture Bowl ($16.5) and maple-roasted granola ($12.5) with seasonal fruit and coconut yoghurt are picture perfect, as is the decadent cake selection. Then, on Saturday and Sundays nights, food and drinks are available till 5pm. Prosecco, local beers and refreshing cocktails are paired with tasty plates like burritos with crumbed tofu and black beans ($15.5), as well as the big house-made mushroom burger with fries ($18.5). Trust us: you won't even miss the meat. Images: Dane Beesley.
