A day of sun, surf and sand shouldn't break the bank, and holidaying in Vietnam is the best way to ensure that remains the case in 2018. As they did last year as well, three of the Asian country's beaches have topped Travelbird's annual Beach Price Index, which ranked 327 beaches from over 70 nations based on their affordability. Cua Dai Beach in Hoi An was dubbed the least expensive place to take a dip for the second year running, with hitting the waves costing AU$20.20 (or €13.44). City Beach in Nha Trang (AU$22,83) and Long Beach in Phu Quoc (AU$25.29) took out the next two spots, with beaches in India (Benaulim Beach, Palolem Beach, Mandrem Beach, Cavelossim Beach, Agonda Beach and Radhanagar Beach) and Egypt (El Gouna, Sunken City and Marsa Nayzak) rounding out the top 12. Germany and Mexico are the only other countries to make the top 20, courtesy of Hamburg's Falkensteiner Ufer and Oaxaca's Zipolite. Travelbird bases their rankings on the cost of five beach essentials: sunscreen (SPF30, 200ml), water (500ml), beer (an average between domestic beer prices, and the cost of Heineken, Budweiser, Becks, Guinness and Fosters at local prices), ice cream (pre-packaged and branded), lunch (for one person, including a meal, drink and dessert) and any applicable facility fees (entrance, lounger, chair, hammock, umbrella). If just more than an Aussie lobster sounds cheap for all of that, then spending more than AU$123 will sound mighty hefty, with New Caledonia's Anse Vata in Noumea nearing that mark at the other end of the scale. Don't go thinking that Australia's abundance of coastline means the country fares much better in the cheap beach stakes, however. Even the least expensive — The Basin on Rottnest Island — hits the $61.37 mark. In fact, all Aussie beaches rank in the 150 costliest spots to sunbathe and splash around, with Manly Beach in Sydney the ninth costliest at $97.86, and Perth's Cottesloe Beach taking 12th spot at $95.15. Others on the list include Blinky Beach on Lorde Howe Island, Bondi in Sydney, Cottesloe Beach in Western Australia, Mindil Beach in Darwin, and 75 Mile Beach, Whitehaven Beach and Palm Cove in Queensland. As for New Zealand spots to sunbathe and splash around, four make the poll. Over in New Zealand, Piha in Auckland is the most affordable, followed by Orewa, Karekare then Hahei in Waikato. Image: Prashant Ram
This article is sponsored by our partners, Wotif.com. Shakespeare once said wine is a 'good familiar creature' and it's hard to imagine many would disagree. While most of us are familiar with the bottom of the bottle (no judgement here, even Shakespeare was accustomed to drinking wine by the bowl), South Australia's McLaren Vale and its winemakers are not only familiar with the a good drop, they are synonymous with the stuff. Sound like your kind of deal? The McLaren Vale Sea & Vines Festival, held on the first weekend of June, is probably your cup of vino. Giving your average wine-drinking punter (ie. you and me) a chance to experience the region and taste more wine than you can probably handle, the weekend-long festival runs from Friday, June 6, to Monday, June 9, and showcases McLaren Vale's best wineries, food suppliers, music and sommeliers in one easy-to-unwrap culinary package. There's everything from degustations to Daryl Braithwaite (enjoyed simultaneously or separately), shiraz to street food and just about every edible and drinkable thing in-between. The weekend works like this: dinners, tastings, degustations, masterclasses and entertainment will run throughout the weekend, while Sunday becomes a ticketed event. Designed to allow you to explore the region, $25 will allow you entry to three wineries to taste their featured wine and signature dishes. Monday is more family friendly (jumping castles, ahoy!), with venues open for the day and food and wine for purchase. Shiraz is the main game here (it makes up over 50 percent of wine varieties in the region), so expect a lot of the red stuff as well as some Cab Sav, Chardonnay and Grenache. Best of all, it's an easy trip from the Adelaide CBD — it only takes around 40 minutes by car. Making a weekend of it? Have a look at our ultimate Adelaide itinerary and you're set for a wine of a time. Shakespeare would approve. See more of McLaren Vale in our Winter Weekender series.
UPDATE, Friday, April 26, 2024: Sleater-Kinney's Brisbane show will now take place at The Triffid, not Fortitude Music Hall. This article has been updated to reflect that change. When Sleater-Kinney, aka Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein, take to the stage Down Under in May 2024, they won't just be touring their latest album. And they aren't simply making their first trip this way in eight years, since 2016, either. Started under the riot grrrl movement, the group will also celebrate 30 years since forming, plus just as long since they recorded their self-titled first record in a single night in Australia. That album has been followed by ten more studio releases, with Little Rope their latest. That gives the duo — after Janet Weiss left the band in 2019 — plenty to play through on a five-city visit to Australia and New Zealand, including at Brisbane's The Triffid on Friday, May 17. [caption id="attachment_941980" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Justin Higuchi via Wikimedia Commons.[/caption] Sleater-Kinney have a stack of US dates locked in before heading this way, and will then make their way around Europe in August. Everywhere they play, fans can expect tunes from Little Rope — including singles 'Hell' and 'Say It Like You Mean It' — likely alongside past tracks such as 'One More Hour', 'Worry with You' and 'Jumpers'. As well as their three decades together — with a hiatus between 2007–13, between 2005's exceptional The Woods and 2015's No Cities to Love — Tucker has stints with Heavens to Betsy, Cadallaca, The Corin Tucker Band and Filthy Friends to her name, while Brownstein co-created and co-starred in Portlandia. Carol, Transparent, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Irma Vep are also on Brownstein's filmography. [caption id="attachment_941986" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Raph_PH via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]
They're the masters of immersive thrills, such as smash-hit shipping container installations Seance, Coma and Flight. But, as we learned last year, not even the folks at Realscape Productions are immune to the realities of pandemic life. When they were locked down with the rest of Melbourne the first time around, they put their nerve-jangling real-life projects on hiatus — and teamed up with UK creators Darkfield on three brand-new audio experiences that fans could enjoy from the comfort of home. With Melbourne currently experiencing a case of stay-at-home deja vu, Realscape and Darkfield are bringing their trio of audio shows back — just for the duration of the current lockdown. Sick of looking at the TV and checking the exposure sites list? Already had your two hours of exercise for the day? Now you've got something else to put on your to-do list: getting creeped out just by listening. You can also nab a ticket if you're located elsewhere around the country. While Double, Visitors and Eternal are all designed to be delivered remotely, they're also geared to be every bit as eerie and unsettling as their IRL predecessors. With Double, for instance, you'll be plunged into an immersive experience that's meant to perplex the senses — this time, with the use of a 360-degree binaural sound that's played through your own headphones. Inspired by the Capgras delusion, a condition which sees a sufferer convinced that a loved one has been replaced by an imposter (sometimes an evil-intentioned one), it requires a two-person set-up, with players seated across a table from each other. The pair of you will then tune into a special 20-minute broadcast, at the exact time as hundreds of other players across the country. And there's just one rule to follow: everyone has to be who they say they are. Visitors uses the same sound setup, and is also designed for two people to listen to at once. It starts with another two folks as well: a dead couple who invite themselves into the your home. They're eager to escape their current state, even if only temporarily. "We didn't know where else to go," they'll tell you — and then you'll each hear two different sides of the story. Only Eternal is designed to be heard on your lonesome. It's inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula, aka one of the best horror novels ever written (and certainly the best vampire novel), and you're meant to play it while you're alone in bed. Originally commissioned by Ireland's Bram Stoker Festival, the 20-minute-long experience explores the allure of living forever — and will get you pondering what you'd willingly do to avoid death. The uneasiness everyone feels when they hear something go bump in the night also plays a part, because that's just the kind of sensation the production aims to conjure up. At the time of writing, all three productions will be available to listen to until Thursday, June 3 — with lockdown currently set to end at 11.59pm that evening. And, if you want to make a night of it, you can get access to the trio with one $40 ticket. Double, Visitors and Eternal are available to listen to until Thursday, June 3. For more information and to buy tickets, head to the Darkfield website. Images: Alex Purcell
When Suicide Squad opened in cinemas back in 2016, it received plenty of attention. The film really wasn't great — it was worse than that, in fact — so some ridiculous fans wanted to shut down Rotten Tomatoes because the movie received negative reviews. No one should ever try to get websites taken down because other people didn't like a flick they loved, obviously, and thankfully the same thing didn't occur with this year's The Suicide Squad. Something that did happen: a smaller Australian release due to Sydney and Melbourne's lockdowns. Yes, missing movies you'd like to see in a cinema is sadly a part of pandemic life. So is watching those same films at home much sooner than you normally would've, with a lengthy list of flicks making the leap from the big to the small screen over the past 18 months or so. Before the pandemic, big-name movies wouldn't ever be available to view at home within a month or so, because films that release in cinemas usually didn't make the jump to home entertainment for 90 days. Fast-tracking to digital happens all the time now, however, so it isn't surprising that The Suicide Squad is doing just that — including while it's still in theatres in some parts of the country. Come Thursday, September 2, fans of the DC Extended Universe — the interconnected franchise that started with Man of Steel, and also includes Wonder Woman and its sequel, Aquaman and Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) — can stream this second stab at bringing the eponymous supervillain crew to the screen. It'll be available to buy and rent via video on demand, including from digital movie services such as Google Play, YouTube Movies, Amazon Video and iTunes. Accordingly, if you've already sat down to watch an extended new version of Justice League this year like it's still 2017, you can now pretend it's still 2016 with this confusingly named franchise effort — because no one has challenged themselves thinking of The Suicide Squad's moniker. Plot-wise, this sequel follows its titular gang as they're sent to the island of Corto Maltese on a deadly quest — to save the world in secret, and after being given zero choice by shady parts of the US Government, of course. Margot Robbie (Dreamland) returns as Harley Quinn and proves one of the best things about the movie, while Idris Elba (Cats) as Bloodsport is also a standout. They're joined by Joel Kinnaman (The Secrets We Keep) making a comeback as Rick Flag, Australian actor Jai Courtney (Honest Thief) doing the same as Captain Boomerang, and 2021 Oscar-nominee Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) returning as the agent overseeing this band of world-saving supervillains. John Cena (Playing with Fire), Peter Capaldi (The Personal History of David Copperfield), Pete Davidson (The King of Staten Island), Sylvester Stallone (Rambo: Last Blood) and Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit) show up, too — and so do Guardians of the Galaxy alums Michael Rooker and Sean Gunn, which makes complete sense given that GotG filmmaker James Gunn is behind the lens and also penned the screenplay. Check out the trailer for The Suicide Squad below: The Suicide Squad is currently screening in cinemas in Australia — where cinemas are open — and will also be available to stream online via video on demand from Thursday, September 2.
They're called The Kindred, not The Family. Adrienne Beaufort is their leader, not Anne Hamilton-Byrne. But there's no mistaking the inspiration for JP Pomare's book In the Clearing and its new eight-part Disney+ adaptation The Clearing, which streams from Wednesday, May 24. Exploring the inner workings of an Australian cult based in rural Victoria, spouting New Age sentiments mixed with doomsday thinking, fixated upon blonde-haired children and led by a charismatic woman — a rare female cult leader — this tale fictionalises the real-life details documented in countless newspaper headlines since the 80s, and also in Rosie Jones' 2016 documentary The Family and 2019 series The Cult of the Family. Amid their so-wild-they-can-only-be-true stories, both of Jones' projects showed viewers the eerie image of children with platinum locks in severe bobs and dressed in matching blue attire. That distinctive look is similarly at the heart of Disney+'s first original scripted Aussie drama. In the earlier of its timelines, Amy (Julia Savage, Blaze) dons the tresses and uniform as one of the older children at Adrienne's (Miranda Otto, Wellmania) Blackmarsh bush compound — one being prepared to be her heir, and made an accomplice in the group's quest to add more kids to its ranks. Initially dutiful, the teenager is soon questioning the only existence she's ever known, with its harsh rules, strict aunties keeping everyone in line between Adrienne's sporadic visits, weekend services attended by well-to-do acolytes and, sharing the show's title, its LSD-fuelled confessional sessions. The catalyst for Amy's growing unease: assisting The Kindred to kidnap schoolgirl Sara (Lily LaTorre, Run Rabbit Run). Even before her hair is bleached, the eight-year-old that's rechristened Asha rejects her new home. So, as Aunty Tamsin (Kate Mulvany, Hunters) and Aunty Hannah (Anna Lise Phillips, Irreverent) struggle with the brood's latest addition, Amy is charged with helping her new sister assimilate. Creators and writers Elise McCredie (Stateless) and Matt Cameron (Jack Irish), co-scripting with Osamah Sami (Ali's Wedding), aren't solely interested in the rituals and restrictions at the heart of the cult, however, although they find much to mine in its routines, power games and warped dynamics. As it jumps between the past and present, The Clearing is even more concerned with the interplay between control and choice — and the trauma that springs both from a life enforced upon someone and from the decisions they willingly make. "They are as pure and untainted as it is possible to be," Adrienne tells her followers of Amy and her so-called siblings. "A generation raised away from the suffocating rules of society, nurtured under the most perfect conditions," she continues. Even if The Clearing didn't dart forward, then return to The Kindred's heyday, the twisted reality behind those words couldn't be more apparent. There's nothing idyllic about Amy's upbringing, where Tamsin plays cruel disciplinarian, Hannah's exasperation hangs in the air, Adrienne's conditional love and fleeting presence are dangled as carrots, and only Henrik Wilczek (Erroll Shand, The Justice of Bunny King) offers a reliable source of kindness. There's nothing caring about The Kindred co-founder Dr Bryce Latham (Guy Pearce, Mare of Easttown), either, who reinforces just how calculating this sect is about its operations. When The Clearing dwells in the now, still in Victoria at its leafiest, nothing evades the smear of heartbreak and damage as well. Indeed, when single mother Freya Heywood (Teresa Palmer, Ride Like a Girl) hears about a girl being abducted, she can't shake the feeling that history is repeating. She dotes over her primary school-aged son Billy (debutant Flynn Wandin), but she's also visibly nervous and anxious. When she keeps spotting a white van, she's a portrait of panic. In an apt opening image — the show's very first scene — Freya is initially introduced in a lake, submerged up to her shoulders before disappearing below. The Clearing's directors Jeffrey Walker (Lambs of God) and Gracie Otto (Seriously Red) bring this sight to mind often, including what happens next: the surface is still, Freya is lost to the water and her descent into its depths goes unnoticed by the surrounding world. How the show's timelines connect is one of its original mysteries, but the series brings 2011 movie Martha Marcy May Marlene to mind, too. Also a tautly made and atmospheric psychological thriller, the film flits between life within a cult and the difficulties coming out the other side; Love & Death's Elizabeth Olsen plays its many-monikered namesake, while Deadwood alum John Hawkes throws around his menace. The Endless, 2017's brain-bender about two adults returning to the UFO death cult they were a part of as kids, likewise bobs up — and, thanks to Freya's impressive remote home and a throughline about the sway that parents hold over their offspring, Hereditary does as well. As it ponders people forever changed and frayed by an inescapable influence, and how that shapes their paths as adults, The Clearing is clearly in exceptional company. With Savage, Palmer and Otto at its centre, The Clearing also fills its frames with impressive talent. In Blaze and now this, Savage continues to excel as young women dealt tragic hands by fate, and never paints her characters as victims first and foremost; complicated teens feeling every possible emotion in response to complex situations are becoming the rising talent's speciality. Palmer wears Freya's pain and agitation like a second skin, bearing the shattering weight of being unable to clean a murky past out of her head and heart, too. And Otto is transfixing as Adrienne, splashing around a brand of charisma that can keep a congregation in her thrall, and mistreated children, but can't patch over the imposing figure's dangerous sense of self-importance, her masterful scheming and the lengths she's willing to go to to have her flock in her sway. Brandishing its ties to The Family so overtly, and starring a who's who of Aussie film and TV — Claudia Karvan (Bump), Mark Coles-Smith (Mystery Road: Origin), Hazem Shammas (The Twelve), Xavier Samuel (Elvis), Harry Greenwood (Wakefield), Matt Okine (The Other Guy) and Doris Younane (Five Bedrooms) also feature — The Clearing was always going to intrigue, and has since being announced by Disney in mid-2022. That's why viewers will initially press play, but it isn't what makes the series so riveting. It's one thing to dramatise a notorious cult that drugged adults and kids with psychedelics, and to examine the woman pulling the strings. It's another to convey such a range of swirling mindsets, motivations, impacts and coping mechanisms, and so comprehensively and probingly. Chillingly and gripping from the outset, The Clearing haunts far more than just its on-screen characters. Check out the trailer for The Clearing below: The Clearing streams via Disney+ from Wednesday, May 24.
If you're in Melbourne or southeast Queensland and you're a fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda, rejoice: your next chance to enjoy the musical talent's work is on its way in 2025. Hamilton has already done the rounds, including seasons in the Victorian capital and Brisbane. Next, it's time for another of Miranda's big Tony Award-winning shows to take to the stage locally — and his debut smash, too. Both Comedy Theatre and HOTA, Home of the Arts are set to turn into New York City's Washington Heights for seasons of In the Heights. Initially staged in 2005, then leaping to off-Broadway in 2007, then playing Broadway from 2008–11 (which is where it nabbed those 13 Tony nominations and four wins), Miranda's first stage sensation spends its time with Usnavi, a bodega owner from the Dominican Republic who dreams of going back — and who also sports a crush on Vanessa, who aspires to move out of the neighbourhood. Miranda himself originated the role of Usnavi, scoring a Tony nomination for his efforts. In Australia for this run, which began in Sydney in 2024, Ryan Gonzalez (Moulin Rouge! The Musical) has stepped into the part. When the show heads to Melbourne from Friday, August 1 and then to the Gold Coast from Friday, September 12, fellow Moulin Rouge! The Musical alum Olivia Vásquez is playing Vanessa. Alongside Gonzalez, she's joined by Richard Valdez (All Together Now — The 100) as the Piragua Guy — another character that Miranda has brought to life personally, this time in the 2021 film version of In the Heights. On the stage and on-screen, the production not only follows Usnavi and Vanessa's connection, and their respective hopes for the future, but also the residents of Washington Heights, their family ties across multiple generations and their friendships. The soundtrack — which helped In the Heights win Best Musical and Best Original Score Tonys — as well as the vibe and mood bring together salsa, soul, rap, hip hip, merengue and street dance. If you're keen to watch the movie — or rewatch — in the interim, it stars Anthony Ramos (Twisters) as Usnavi and Melissa Barrera (Abigail) as Vanessa, as well as Leslie Grace (The Thicket), Corey Hawkins (The Piano Lesson), Jimmy Smits (East New York), Stephanie Beatriz (A Man on the Inside) and Olga Merediz (Spellbound). In the Heights 2025 Australian Dates From Friday, August 1 — Comedy Theatre, Melbourne From Friday, September 12 — HOTA, Home of the Arts, Gold Coast In the Heights is playing Melbourne from August 2025 and the Gold Coast from September 2025— head to the production's website for more details and tickets. Images: Daniel Boud.
Pouring a drink and overcome with a big dose of city pride? Australian Distilling Co certainly hopes so. The Aussie outfit's whole remit is making gins that pay tribute to local places — with its master distiller teaming up with distilleries in each region to craft drops that reflect everywhere from Brisbane and Perth to Bondi and Adelaide. In the case of the aptly named Brisbane Gin, that means you'll be tasting lime and ginger. When it comes to Perth Gin, lemon myrtle features heavily. Handcrafted in small batches, each product is designed to celebrate its namesake. Australian Distilling Co's range has also proven quite the award-winner, too, picking up 56 gongs in the past 18 months. Including Melbourne Gin, Sydney Gin and Darwin Gin, too, Australian Distilling Co's are available via its online shop.
When something has been a part of the pop culture landscape for a whopping 33 years, there really isn't much it won't have done. And The Simpsons has done plenty — over 700 TV episodes and counting, a 2007 movie, its own albums and singles, and video games, books and comics as well. Yes, the list goes on. Until now, however, even the most diehard fans of television's favourite Springfield-dwellers mightn't have seen the titular family take to the stage in a burlesque and drag parody. But come Saturday, April 16, for one night only at The Tivoli, Brisbanites can choo-choo-choose to watch exactly that. In case the show's name didn't make it plain, The Stripsons also claims to "put the strip in Springfield" — so, as iconic as Homer's blue pants and white shirt combo is, and Marge's green dress, too, you can expect to see them wearing much less. That's what happens when The Bad Collective takes on a childhood favourite and turns it into a firmly adults-only stage show of the highly satirical kind, as it has already done with Shreklesque. In a production that's also obviously in the same vein as The Empire Strips Back, The Stripsons doesn't just give Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie the comedic treatment, but also Millhouse, Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, Mrs Krabappel, Mr Burns and Smithers as well — because The Simpsons has always been about more than its eponymous characters. The cast of burlesque, drag, musical theatre, dance and music talent donning yellow makeup includes Trigger Happy, Bebe Gunn, Lulu Lemans, Baron von Envy, Barbie Banks and Betty Lovecat, plus newcomers such as Indea Sekula, Kimi Young and Ella Nagel. [caption id="attachment_841043" align="alignnone" width="1920"] KTB[/caption] The soundtrack for the two-hour show: all of the songs that you've had stuck in your head over the years thanks to The Simpsons, all accompanying a blend of dance, comedy, drag and striptease. (If "Dr Zaius, Dr Zaius, ohhhhh Dr Zaius" or "Who holds back the electric car? Who made Steve Guttenburg a star?" just popped into your brain right now, then you know what we're talking about.) And, that likely means everything from 'See My Vest' to 'Monorail' to 'We Put The Spring in Springfield' will get a whirl. Cross your fingers that 1991 hit 'Do the Bartman', which reached number one on the Australian charts, also shows up. And if you're wondering how The Stripsons came about, The Bad Collective creative team conjured it up after Shreklesque proved unsurprisingly popular — and after rewatching hundreds of episodes and listening to all those Simpsons tunes, naturally. The Stripsons will play The Tivoli on Saturday, April 16 — head to the show's website for further details, and to the venue's website for tickets.
Pack your bags, book a flight, grab your winter woolies, and get ready to head to Hobart. For yet another year running, the Museum of Old and New Art is making Tasmania the place to be with events more weird and more wonderful than ever before. Yep, they've unveiled their stellar Dark Mofo 2016 lineup. From June 10 to 21, the museum every mainlander wishes was in their home city is unleashing its unique brand of large-scale art, food, film, music and just general light, noise and mayhem upon the apple isle. It's the kind of cultural pandemonium that has inspired more than 130,000 people to make the trek to Tassie in previous years. Now that's how you celebrate the winter solstice. One-off installation Asylum, set inside a historic mental institution, includes a 72-hour, non-stop performance by artist Mike Parr — and it only accepts mirrors (yes, those shiny things you can see your own reflection in) as an entry fee. It's the type of event most festivals can only dream of, so, naturally, it's on the Dark Mofo program. So is Ryoji Ikeda's supersymmetry [experience], which springs from his 2014-15 residence at the European Council for Nuclear Research, the home of the Large Hadron Collider, and will become the latest addition to the MONA collection. With the Juliana Engberg-curated exhibition Tempest bringing a blend of piracy and wild weather to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery at the same time, that's part of the Dark Mofo shenanigans as well. And it includes Event for a Stage: the Australian premiere of a new stage-to-film exploration of the acting and the creative process made by Turner Prize-winning Young British Artist Tacita Dean OBE, starring Game of Thrones' Stephen Dillane, and shot live during the nineteenth Biennale of Sydney. If that's not enough to inspire a mid-year pilgrimage, then perhaps a public art playground filled everything from swinging pendulums to LED light drawings that transcribe the patterns of the wind will be. Yep, the dockside Dark Park is the place to find Divination, Nancy Mauro-Flude's thirties-era cabaret crossed with a cypherpunk internet cafe; A Galaxy of Suns, where Michaela Gleave and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Chorus turn constellations into scores; and the disorienting chamber of kaleidoscopic reflections that is Christian Wagstaff and Keith Courtney's House of Mirrors, too. We're noticing a theme here. [caption id="attachment_567185" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] The Bacchae. Image: Pia Johnson.[/caption] And really, that's just the beginning. Performance-wise, pop-up space Block Box will play host to a whole heap of pieces — although it depends if Lustmord's dark ambient tunes or hallucinatory theatrical event The Bacchae, a dream-like invocation of excess and violence as told through the eyes of teenage girls, is your kind of thing. Music fans will want to flock to Hymns to the Dead, where death metal gets its due, or to Rivers and Streams, the only Aussie show by Ukrainian maestro Lubomyr Melnyk, aka the fastest concert pianist in the world. Anyone fond of costume balls can don their best gothic threads for The Funeral Party — and given that it's set at Turnbull Family Funerals, it's certain to be as dark as it sounds. Plus, film buffs should expect another fright-inducing feast of sinister cinematic delights, such as heavy metal horror effort The Devil's Candy. Dark Mofo isn't just about all things new and exciting, though, with a couple of old favourites also returning. Late-night event Blacklist will turn both weekends into an art party, and the Winter Feast will serve up another communal banquet. Don't forget to purge your fears with the annual burning ritual of the ogoh-ogohs, and take part in the Nude Solstice Swim after the longest night of the year. Basically, whatever type of activity floats your boat, you'd best get on one — or another type of landmass-hopping transport — to take part. With a lineup this killer, you know you're going to kick yourself if you miss it. Dark Mofo runs June 10 to 21 in various locations across Hobart, Tasmania. Tickets are on sale from 10am on Monday, April 20 from the festival website.
Legos: the colourful building blocks that adults pretend they don't miss. They began as toys for children to use their imagination to create miniature houses and spaceships, but have become tools for the construction of life-size sculptures across the world. Who claims the glory of building the largest Lego masterpiece? Brazil, as of April 10, has triumphed over cities across the world in building the tallest Lego tower. In a shopping centre parking lot in San Paulo, Brazil, over 6000 children and parents spent four days putting together the tower, which now stands at 102 feet and three inches, breaking Chile's latest record set in 2008 by 9.8 inches. Children assembled over 500,000 individual Lego pieces which were later stacked together by a crane and held together with wire supports for stability against strong winds. The World's Tallest Lego Tower has come a long way since London's first attempt in 1988, which resulted in a 50 foot structure. Since then, Toronto, Moscow, Tokyo, Munich and our very own Sydney have held the coveted title. https://youtube.com/watch?v=qvRIcASivqQ [via Nerdist]
By this point in 2020, the year has served up all manner of challenges and surprises. But in one area at least, it's rolling on as planned. Because the world can't last too long without delivering multiple new film and/or television adaptations of Stephen King's work, viewers are about to score another one — a new miniseries version of the author's 1978 novel The Stand. Hitting Amazon Prime Video in Australia and New Zealand from Friday, January15 — after debuting in America in December — The Stand joins HBO's The Outsider as the two new TV shows bringing King's work to our eyeballs over the past 12 months. Of course, as avid fans will know, this isn't the first time this particular book has made the leap to the screen. Back in 1994, it aired as a big-budget, star-studded, four-part miniseries featuring the likes of Gary Sinise, Miguel Ferrer, Rob Lowe, Ruby Dee, Laura San Giacomo, Molly Ringwald and Ed Harris. Plenty of well-known names are onboard this time around, too, because there's quite the sprawling story to tell. And, quite the timely one, although that's obviously pure coincidence. The Stand is set in a world devastated by a plague. Here, the devasation is caused by a bioengineered super flu strain, which has wiped out 99 percent of the global population. Among those that survive, a battle between good and evil plays out — with the character of Randall Flagg, a common figure in King's work (see: The Eyes of the Dragon and The Dark Tower series), featuring prominently. Alexander Skarsgård plays Flagg, while the rest of the cast includes James Marsden, Whoopi Goldberg, Amber Heard and Heather Graham, as well as Watchmen's Jovan Adepo, Paper Towns' Nat Wolff, IT: Chapter Two's Owen Teague, Arrow's Katherine McNamara, and Australian Shirley and The Daughter actor Odessa Young. Behind the lens, The Stand is the latest project from filmmaker Josh Boone — whose latest movie, The New Mutants, hit cinemas in mid-2020 after years of delays. Check out the trailer for The Stand below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytkZJSzeg7A The Stand will start streaming in Australia and New Zealand on Friday, January 15 via Amazon Prime Video, airing new episodes weekly.
A jewel in Brisbane's treasure trove of musicians, Emma Louise, has hit the ground running following her sold out tri-state Album Preview Tour. To celebrate her anticipated debut album, Vs Head Vs Heart, the delightful songbird will be partaking in her biggest tour yet. Joining the chanteuse on her grande tour will be Thelma Plum who has caused a stir amongst the Brisbane music scene for her impressive song-writing skills and unique style. Sydney lad Patrick James will also be coming along for the ride as he will share his beautifully crafted indie tunes and warm the stage for Emma. Emma Louise has gone from strength to strength since releasing her popular tune, Jungle in 2011 and followed up this infectious track with singles, Boy and Freedom. The gorgeous singer songwriter shows no signs of slowing down, so catch her while you can this Friday at The Hi-Fi.
Brisbanites, prepare to start feeling a big dose of deja vu. In response to the new local cluster of COVID-19 cases in Brisbane, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced that the entire Greater Brisbane region — spanning the Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Moreton and Redlands local government areas — is going into lockdown again for three days. The shutdown will start at 5pm on Monday, March 29 and run through until 5pm on Thursday, April 1. "We now have significant community transmission and significant numbers of venues of concern all through Brisbane," the Premier said at her daily press conference today, Monday, March 29. "And we know that people have moved from Brisbane out into the broader community, which is why I have advised that we need to ask people who live in greater Brisbane — those five local government areas that make up greater Brisbane — to stay home for the next three days until we can work out how much community transmission there has been and we can contact all of the contacts who have been in these many, many venues. That's critical," she continued. The Greater Brisbane region will return to the rules in place during January's lockdown, and also in March 2020. So, that means you're only allowed to leave the house for four reasons — to head out for work or education if you can't do that at home, for essential shopping, for exercise in your local area, and for health care or to provide support for a vulnerable person. The lockdown comes as a result of four more people being diagnosed with local cases of COVID-19, joining the two men who have already been diagnosed since Friday, March 26. Two of the cases have also travelled to Byron Bay during their infectious period, and one was in Gladstone for three days from March 26–28. https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1376311897624956929 "This is a protective measure but it's absolutely the right thing to do based on the health advice," the Premier said. "We do not take these measures lightly. These are very, very difficult decisions, but they are done to keep Queenslanders safe. They are done to protect everybody and to make sure that we stop the spread of this UK variant." As part of the lockdown, there is a limit of two visitors in homes. Masks are also compulsory for the three days of lockdown, and are required to be worn everywhere in Greater Brisbane's local government areas, other than if you're at your own home. Cinemas, entertainment and recreation venues will all close, as will places of worship, while cafes, pubs and restaurants are only allowed to open for takeaway service. https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1376303010880479237 Also, folks who decide to come to the Greater Brisbane region during the lockdown will be bound by the same restrictions, although travel is discouraged — and no one should leave Greater Brisbane during this period. The government strongly encourages non-residents currently in Greater Brisbane to remain until the end of the lockdown. And, if you've been in the Greater Brisbane area since March 20 but you're now elsewhere, you still must quarantine wherever you are. You'll also need to wear a mask when you leave your home — for one of the permitted reasons. Queensland Health is maintaining an active register of locations that have been visited by positive COVID-19 cases, which you can check out on its website. Extra testing clinics have been set up, and you can find a rundown of clinic locations online as well. The Greater Brisbane area will go into lockdown from 5pm on Monday, March 29 until 5pm on Thursday, April 1. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in Queensland, head to the QLD COVID-19 hub and the Queensland Health website. More details about the lockdown and associated restrictions can also be found on the Queensland Health website.
If something relaxed suits your partying style, then Brisbane’s newest festival has the event for you. The gang from The Motor Room takes over the entire Boundary Street Markets Complex for 12 hours of revelry, spanning from the early afternoon to the early hours of the new year. Kick about watching musical acts such as Weekend Money, Resin Dogs, DJ Butcher and MANTRA; gorge yourself on scrumptious street food; and give your wallet a workout at the artisan markets. There’s also an urban beach and a tiki bar for true blissing out. That’s right, New Year’s Eve can be both epic and easy.
O captain, my captain. There are few actors that can make your heart break and your sides hurt in one feel-fuelled moment. Perpetually twinkly-eyed, Oscar-winning actor Robin Williams had done just that for many of us, becoming a sort of surrogate dad for many of our childhoods with his high-pitched Doubtfires, high-fiveable genies and Sesame Street how-tos. "Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien – but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most – from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets," remarked President Barack Obama this morning. With the tragic news of the 63-year-old comic genius's passing this morning, we took time to delve into the impact Williams has made on audiences young and old, opening minds through unrivalled slapstick comedy, Academy Award-worthy drama and that loud, lively, unforgettable voice. While an entire, kickass career can't be summed up in a list of ten (special mention to his unbreakable role as Aladdin's genie, the heartbreaking Patch Adams, everyone's favourite Jumanji and the terrifying One Hour Photo), here's a modest snippet of ten ways Robin Williams opened minds, hearts and lamps with his extraordinary talent. https://youtube.com/watch?v=vdXhWS7lLvs Dead Poet's Society The quintessential lesson in seizing the day, 1989's Dead Poets Society saw Williams take on unforgettable English teacher John Keating (and nab an Oscar nomination for it). Kicking his students into gear with a love of poetry and a fierce ability to tackle life head on, Williams' Keating is one of those captivating, To Sir With Love-like teacher characters who kicks your own butt into gear along with the characters. And then there's that table-topped scene. We're all standing tall with an "O Captain, My Captain," today. Williams Gold: "We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse." https://youtube.com/watch?v=mXkApy0gkjM The Birdcage Making plain the ridiculousness of right-wing conservative homophobia, The Birdcage saw Williams delve into the world of gay cabaret to expose widely shared prejudice and bullshit. Playing South Beach drag club owner Armand Goldman in this remake of the hugely popular French musical farce La Cage aux Folles, Williams and his drag queen partner (Nathan Lane) have to put up a 'straight front' in front of a his son's fiance's narrow-minded parents. Damn good comedic timing from Williams and Lane makes a mockery of disdain and small-minded attitudes, with the subtlety of Williams balanced by the high pitched screams of Lane. Williams Gold: "Yes, I wear foundation. Yes, I live with a man. Yes, I'm a middle-aged 'fag'. But I know who I am, Val. It took me twenty years to get here and I'm not gonna let some idiot senator destroy that. Fuck the senator, I don't give a damn what he thinks." https://youtube.com/watch?v=qM-gZintWDc Good Will Hunting The role that earned Williams his Oscar (and rightly so). Teaming up with Matt Damon for a genuinely kickass onscreen partnership, Williams channelled all previous dramatic experience into his role as Sean Maguire, counselling Damon's troubled mathematical genius. Nailing a particularly rousing, almost one-take monologue in the park, Williams' performance cuts to the core of knowledge versus experience, knowing about something as opposed to feeling it. Then there's his delving into "superphilosophy" and Dead Poet's Society-like Take Control speeches. Williams Gold: "You think I know the first thing about how hard your life has been, how you feel, who you are, because I read Oliver Twist? Does that encapsulate you? Personally, I don't give a shit about all that, because you know what, I can't learn anything from you, I can't read in some fuckin' book. Unless you want to talk about you, who you are. Then I'm fascinated." https://youtube.com/watch?v=MAp8j4c2LGs Mrs Doubtfire Tackling divorce in an accessible way for your inevitably young viewers is a masterful skill for any film team — and Chris Columbus's Mrs Doubtfire nailed it. Dragging up in order to secretly spend time with his kids, Williams' wild and wonderful lead role as Daniel Hillard was deliberately appealing to a broad audience, dissolving the stigma attached to divorce at the time by making the simple facts plain (not to mention the Tootsie-like gender role adventure). Groundbreaking for the time, Sally Field (Miranda Hillard) and Williams didn't get back together in the end. So while audiences were chortling over Williams' fiery breasts or whipped cream face mask, the comedic master was giving a lesson in attitude change. High-freakin-five. Williams Gold: "Sink the sub. Hide the weasel. Park the porpoise. A bit of the old Humpty Dumpty, Little Jack Horny, the Horizontal Mambo, hmm? The Bone Dancer, Rumpleforeskin, Baloney Bop, a bit of the old Cunning Linguistics?" https://youtube.com/watch?v=W4fmVJ3nPs0 FernGully: The Last Rainforest Soaring through the rainforest canopy and throwing down a mean rap, Williams' Batty Koda taught us one important environmental lesson: humans truly suck. Teaching us to respect the natural environment, stop being tossers and Damn the Loggers, FernGully saw the fairy community and the recently-freed-from-animal-testing Batty take on a freakin' terrifying Tim Curry-voiced, human-released menace called Hexxus. Rapping out his terrifying past and constantly 'changing channels' through his human-installed aerial, Batty was one of Williams' most underrated performances — voiced the very same year as his kickass Aladdin genie (every inch worth a spot in our ten, we ran out of room for Williams chockers resume). Williams Gold: (Best rapped out loud) "I've been brain-fried, electrified, infected, and injectified, vivisectified and fed pesticides. My face is all cut up 'cause my radar's all shut up. Nurse, I need a check-up from the neck up. I'm Batt-ay." https://youtube.com/watch?v=Gl3e-OUnavQ Sesame Street A constant friend to the imaginary, education-addicted New York City street, Williams opened our minds to many a truth nugget as youngsters. While it's actually quite sad to watch his tutorial on how to tell whether something is alive, his clip unpacking conflict (above) is just adorable. Then there was that time he gave Elmo a stick. For years, Williams trained our silly young'un minds about things that matter, now Sesame Street mourns their lost, loveable friend. Williams Gold: "You can be playing baseball in the World Series, hit it over the fence and realise "I'M THE ONE." Or maybe you can be playing hockey... or you can be at the Olympics, throwing the javelin... Or you can be doing incredible things like riding a horse through the pass, leading all the wagons through. Or you can have a cane and you're dancing around with Tommy Tune, or it can be a conductor's baton... You can be at the head of the parade, or you can be AN ENGLISH OFFICER MARCHING FOR NO REASON, AROUND, BACK AND FORTH, or you can be playing pool..." (Williams on the uses of a stick.) https://youtube.com/watch?v=JsJxIoFu2wo Hook Growing up is overrrated. We all knew this was the main Peter Pan soapbox, until Williams took us through imaginary food fights, insult-slinging and Dustin Hoffman showdowns while keeping his grown-up life (read: family) together. The film that pretty much embodied Williams' anti-growing up lifelong persona, Hook saw Williams lend a new street cred to Pan, one absent in Jeremy Sumpter's poor 2003 effort. Williams opened our minds to the art of insults at the dinner table, a true artform. So if growing up comes with being a fusty, fun-hating adult and losing your ability to silence a regular Rufio, sign us up for a ticket to Williams' Neverland. Williams Gold: "Rufio, if I'm a maggot burger why don't you eat me! You two-toned zebra-headed, slime-coated, pimple-farmin' paramecium brain, munchin' on your own mucus, suffering from Peter Pan envy! I'll tell you what a paramecium is. That's the paramecium. It's a one-celled critter with no brain, that can't fly. Don't mess with me man, I'm a lawyer!" https://youtube.com/watch?v=wuk8AOjGURE Good Morning Vietnam Shaking things up on breakfast radio is one thing, doing it on a US Armed Services Radio station during the Vietnam War is another. Playing the highly unorthodox DJ , Williams nabbed another Oscar nomination for giving a finger to the system as Adrian Cronauer in Good Morning Vietnam. Diverting from his dull, monotonous radio predecessors, Cronauer's dynamite, wacky morning broadcasts turn real when he experiences first-hand the horrors of war — a broadcast truth that sees him replaced and facing another battle to get back on the air. Williams balances wacky outlandishness with dramatic poignancy, channelling all the Damn the Man finesse with high-fiveable conviction. And if we could wake up every day to Williams respect for microphone technique instead of certain bullshit shock jocks, we'd be outstandingly happy campers. Williams Gold: "GOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING VIETNAAAAAAAAAAAAM." https://youtube.com/watch?v=PXeSgVk5aH4 Stand-Up Outspoken on everything from porn to the Vatican (and often blending the two), Williams made no compromises for his stand-up gold. Exposing hypocrisy in the Bible, taking digs at the Pope and slamming homophobia, Williams countless stand-up tours opened minds to prejudice, stupidity and the questionable nature of religious doctrine — made immortal through the biggest catalogue of vocal impressions you've ever seen in one sitting. Williams Gold: "In the beginning, Genesis, 'let there be light.' Could that be a metaphor for the Big Bang? 'No. God just went click.'" https://youtube.com/watch?v=v9g1yRXF8I8 Mork and Mindy "Nanu-Nanu." Less WTF than Bowie's The Man Who Fell to Earth and significantly less heartbreaking than ET, Mork and Mindy made a rambunctious ride out of alien-human relations. One of Williams' first real lead roles, Mork was a spin-off show from his bit character on Happy Days — Williams had impressed producer Gerry Marshall who cast him on the spot, later quipping that Williams was the only alien who auditioned for M&M. A bonafide archive of Williams' comic voices, slapstick and twinkly humour, Mork made us question the weird, wonderful and (most often) trivia parts of human life and the things we take for granted. Williams Gold: "If my knees knock any louder, I'm gonna look inside my pants and see who's there." Vale, Robin Williams. You freakin' ruled. Anyone across Australia experiencing a personal crisis or thinking about suicide can contact Lifeline. Regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation their trained volunteers are ready to listen, provide support and referrals. Lifeline answer around 1800 calls every day from Australians needing crisis support and suicide prevention services. Lifeline provide all Australians experiencing a personal crisis with access to online, phone and face-to-face crisis support and suicide prevention services. Call 13 11 14 for 24hr telephone crisis support or visit their website here.
While you might feel decades too old to be partying along with the current cast of The Wiggles — even though they're now Hottest 100 winners — anyone who grew up in the 90s will be well familiar with the kids' band's OG gang: Anthony Field, Murray Cook, Greg Page and the ever-sleepy Jeff Fatt. And now, you can get ready for a serious dose of nostalgia, when the four entertainers return to the Brisbane stage for a time-tripping reunion show. After doing the same for bushfire relief in Sydney back in 2020, The OG Wiggles hit the Brisbane Entertainment Centre from 8pm on Saturday, April 30, inviting you to relive some big childhood memories as you dance up a storm to some favourite old-school tunes. Get grooving to classics like 'Wake Up Jeff!', 'Fruit Salad' and 'Hot Potato', all without a single toddler in sight. Even better: DZ Deathrays are the support act, because this Wiggles concert really is for adults — well, audiences over the age of 15, to be specific. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRqLtxqxmKI Image: WikiCommons
All good things must come to an end, but not without a last hurrah. That's the role of the after party, where everyone lets their hair down after a big event, and things get weird and wonderful. Of course, such a task is tricky following something like Wonderland, Brisbane Powerhouse's festival dedicated to all things offbeat and unusual. How do you outdo three weeks of eclectic and eccentric arts programming? With everything from big-name cabaret acts to tiny underground cult artists, of course — and with Velvet Helmet, Ruckus Slam, Brisbane Powerhouse and the New Globe Theatre joining forces. Live street art painting, storytelling boudoirs and a dance floor will also feature across three rooms, multiple performance stages and an all-round frenzy of performance. That's not all, thanks to a bustling bill that includes Lady Longdrop, Kristian Santic, Dani Cabs, Daz Buckley, Anna Straker and BADCLOWN, just to name a few. There's a reason this shindig is called The Best After Party Ever, after all. To find out if it lives up to its name, you'll just have to be there.
If someone were to mention pre-fabricated housing, most people would probably conjure up images of dingy, ugly and generic box-like houses inferior to standard homes. However, recent prefab homes have taken a leap forward in terms of sustainability, practicality and comfort. The eco-friendly materials which make up the pods or modules of prefab houses are constructed in factories and can be configured in various ways to allow the buyer to add some creative flair to their housing style. Standard prefab houses are a great way to save money and time when building a house, and ensuring it is highly sustainable, yet imagine if they were tiny prefab houses. Small prefabricated houses are an incredibly effective use of space, help with the increasingly pertinent issue of urban sprawl and housing density, and are also easily transportable and even less costly in terms of both time and money. Here are ten of the most sustainable, imaginative and simply bewildering tiny prefab houses that will be sure to convert you in your thinking about the buildings of the future. Tiny House Number Two This portable house is Kent Griswold's second self-built house with tiny proportions. This 8.2 x 16.2 foot wide house manages to fit in five wooden windows, a pitch and steel roof, walls reinforced with hurricane straps and foam insulation. This little goldmine would be perfectly suitable as a beachside cottage, a guest house or even just a house for tiny living. Gifford Box Bungalow This majestic snow retreat is 99 square feet of luxury with endless interior design options. Complete with porch and even a loft area at the top, the box bungalow is the ultimate in effective use of space whilst ensuring comfort is still a high priority. The house is available from Tumbleweed Tiny House company, which was founded in 1997 by Jay Shafer. Shafer is dedicated to crafting high-quality and inventive small houses which have minimal impacts on the environments and are conducive to a slower, more relaxed style of living. The XS House This tiny construction is the smallest green house available in Jay Schafer's range and comes from the 'House to Go' series, meaning it can easily be transported and towed anywhere. The XS stands for extra small and extra space-efficient because with only 11 feet in length and 7 feet in width, this house manages to somehow fit in a living room, kitchenette, bedroom and bathroom. If you're planning to go caravaning across the countryside, why not just go 'housing' instead, because if built yourself this little beauty will only set you back $16,000. Weehouse Don't be fooled by the deceptive name, because this modern house offers much more than just a place t0 urinate. This construction by Alchemy Architects is spacious living in a non-spacious area at its best, and at an incredibly affordable price: the cost works out to be only $125 per square foot. The interior features IKEA cabinetry and kitchenware and floor to ceiling Anderson windows, making this off-grid living unique yet nevertheless comfortable. Solo 36 Bunkie This eco-friendly pine wood home is a trendy and creative design from Sustain Minihome. Complete with bar, sleeping loft, living room, bathroom and kitchen, you wouldn't know once inside the solo 36 bunkie that it's only 36 feet by 12 feet. As long as you have level ground, this prefab home can situated virtually anywhere, say on a rocky cliff overlooking the stunning Lake Rosseau in Canada. Micro Compact Home A team of researchers and designers from London and the Technical University of Munich have really abided by the lore of less is more with their development of the m-ch. This tiny construction is designed for students, businessmen and sportsmen who require short stay living. The m-ch uses compact living methods as used in aircrafts, yachts and cars to create a 266cm cubed space that conveniently fits in two double beds, shower and toilet, a fold-out table, kitchen and storage space - what more could you want? Ideabox's Minibox Minibox is 200SF of ecological and simple living. These versatile homes can be whatever you want them to be - a studio, backyard feature or a micro-home. Despite the small space, these prefab houses have been designed so effectively that you won't have to make any compromises on comfort. And these efficient, green houses come at only $42,500, making them within most individual's or family's home buying budget. kitHAUS' K4 This stylish little wooden structure is the perfect option for those looking to live tiny, and in style. Kithaus offers a range of modern and revolutionary prefab homes, which are all made from patented lightweight M.H.S construction systems. The creation of their homes, such as this K4, takes only days and can be done almost anywhere because of the lightweight properties - a wilderness retreat made easy. Fish Camp Katrina Cottages produces quaint and dainty little cottages, which are tiny, versatile and easily transportable. This Fish Camp styled house was designed by Steve Mouzon and is a mere 170 square feet. With it's effective use of space this cottage is not only cute to look at but also highly practical, incorporating a porch, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom into the small space. Max's Cabin Max had his 10ft x 20tf cabin built last year by Birky's Better Built Barns as his holiday and meditation retreat 25 miles north of his home in Washington State. The construction added up to about $10,500, which isn't bad for an off the grid, self-sufficient house set with all the necessities required for tiny living.
Everybody, be cool. This isn't a robbery — but it is a raucous rush through the filmography of one of the most distinctive directors of the past three decades. Two Man Tarantino is exactly what it sounds like, with two people hopping up on stage to re-enact diamond heists, twist dancing contests, blowing up bad guys, hunting down the hateful and more. Running between Thursday, March 18–Sunday, Saturday, March 27, it's a 70-minute-long recreation that also has the perfect framing device: it's set in a video store. Everyone knows that's where Quentin Tarantino's love of movies blossomed long before he was asking Samuel L Jackson to wax lyrical about royales with cheese — and revisiting the kind of shop that has died out in recent years is also part of the fun. Two Man Tarantino first hit up Brisbane a couple of years ago, but now it's back for a return season at Brisbane Powerhouse. Get ready to fly, folks. If you need some motivation — or just a refresher on one of the filmmaker's very best movies — check out the trailer for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELeMaP8EPAA
It didn't happen with Sofia Coppola in the director's chair, but taking a live-action swim in The Little Mermaid's ocean is definitely happening — in 2023, in cinemas everywhere, and with Halle Bailey (Grown-ish) slipping into Ariel's scales and tail. Wondering how that might turn out? Disney has just unveiled the initial teaser trailer for its latest double dip in its beloved catalogue, because the Mouse House just keeps giving its animated hits the flesh-and-blood treatment. Released at this year's D23, the company's fan expo and convention, the first sneak peek at the film doesn't dive into the story that viewers already know and adore — it doesn't need to given how popular the original movie is — but it does show Bailey as Ariel. More than that, it swishes through the mermaid's underwater realm, sunken ships, circular caves and all, and shows her staring up at the light above, pining for a different life. The soundtrack: the flick's star singing 'Part of Your World'. Fans of the original 1989 movie, aka everyone given how popular The Little Mermaid-themed events have proven over the years — such as screenings with live orchestral scores and cocktail experiences at aquariums — are well aware that Ariel dreams of being human, and is willing to make a deal with a sea witch to see her wishes come true. That involves a trade, though: giving up her voice to get legs in return, which'll allow her to live above the water. As well as Bailey as Ariel, this new version of The Little Mermaid features Jonah Hauer-King (World on Fire) as Eric, the human prince that Ariel falls for; Melissa McCarthy (Nine Perfect Strangers) as Ursula, said sea witch; and Javier Bardem (The Good Boss) as King Triton, Ariel's protective father. Also among the cast, on voice duties: Daveed Diggs (Snowpiercer) as Sebastian the crab, Jacob Tremblay (Doctor Sleep) as Flounder and Awkwafina (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) as Scuttle. Behind the camera, filmmaker Rob Marshall adds The Little Mermaid and its take on Hans Christian Andersen's 1837 fairy tale of the same name to his many big-screen musicals, alongside Chicago, Nine, Into the Woods and Mary Poppins Returns. And as for the tunes, they come courtesy of Alan Menken — returning from the original movie, as do all those old songs — and Lin-Manuel Miranda. If you're keeping track, when it hits cinemas next year, The Little Mermaid will join a hefty list. That's the list of animated Mouse House fare remade either with actors on-screen, photorealistic CGI or both, that is, and it includes Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo, Aladdin, The Jungle Book, The Lion King, Lady and the Tramp, Mulan, Pinocchio and more. Check out the first trailer for The Little Mermaid below: The Little Mermaid will release in cinemas Down Under on May 25, 2023. Top image: Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2022 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
What do Elvis Presley, Yayoi Kusama, Pablo Picasso and Ancient Greece have in common? In 2022, all four will have items and objects on display across Victoria. Accordingly, if you're looking for an excuse to spend the cooler months in a museum or gallery, you have several — including peering at 44 ancient works dating back to the early bronze age. Those historic pieces will hit Melbourne Museum courtesy of Open Horizons: Ancient Greek Journeys and Connections, a new exhibition that's set to open on Saturday, April 23. Co-created and presented with the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, the Australian-first showcase will feature pieces from the Greek organisation's collection — which happens to be the richest range of artefacts from Greek antiquity worldwide — all of which will be making an appearance Down Under for the first time. In the case of two of the exhibition's big highlights — the gold Theseus ring, which dates back to the 15th century BCE, as well as a 2500-year-old marble sphinx that depicts a female head with the body of a winged lion — they'll make their debut outside of the National Archaeological Museum, too. Also coming our way: a collection of artefacts depicting Greek hero Heracles, as well as pieces that date through to the Roman period. Overall, Open Horizons: Ancient Greek Journeys and Connections will focus on not just Ancient Greece itself, but how the trade of ideas and goods influenced its culture — and how the Greeks also influenced the rest of the ancient world. [caption id="attachment_845125" align="alignnone" width="1920"] One of a pair of antefixes Clay Representations of Chimaera and Bellerophon mounting his winged horse, Pegasus. From Thasos. 550-500 BC. Credit National Archaeological Museum and Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports. Photographer Magoulas.[/caption] Top image: 'Open Horizons: Ancient Greek Journeys and Connections' at Melbourne Museum, installation shot by Tim Carrafa.
Considering a boozy break in the national capital? Sounds like a magnificent idea. Canberra is home to loads of top-notch bars, wineries and distilleries where you can sip on locally crafted beverages — and meet their makers, too. Among them are Australia's first bar dedicated to reisling, a speakeasy that you need geographic coordinates to find and a brewery that specialises in traditional German techniques. So, it's time to grab your mates, open your diary and start planning. To save you time and help you get started, we've scoped out six of the best venues in and around the city that serve a quality drink. Please stay up to date with the latest ACT Government health advice regarding COVID-19.
It isn't always easy to satisfy fans of pastels and symmetry, brand-new Australian cinema, one of Japan's greatest filmmakers, a buzzy Euphoria and The White Lotus star, Succession, the internet's boyfriend and heartfelt animation all in one go. Or devotees of acclaimed Iranian directors, kaiju flicks, NBA superstar Stephen Curry, John Wick-style revenge tales, and wild commentaries on America's recent political landscape using clips from Wayne's World and Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, either. But, when you're a cinema celebration hitting 70 years old as Sydney Film Festival is in 2023, ticking all those boxes is just another annual program. Of course, there's no such thing as an ordinary or routine SFF lineup. Whether you're a diehard cinephile or a more casual moviegoer, this festival has always spoiled viewers for choice, making sure there's truly something among its selection each year for everyone. In 2023, Festival Director Nashen Moodley's carefully curated bill kicks off with one of the most exciting Aussie films of the year arriving straight from Cannes, then includes Wes Anderson's latest doing the same — and throws in new work from Hirokazu Kore-eda, Sydney Sweeney, Sarah Snook, Paul Mescal and Pixar, plus much, much more. When SFF's milestone 70th fest officially opens on Wednesday, June 7, launching a program that'll screen 239 films from 67 countries until Sunday, June 18 — with 90 narrative feature films and 54 documentaries, and also notching up 37 world premieres and 123 Australian premieres — it'll do so with Warwick Thornton's The New Boy. The Cannes-selected title is his first film since 2017's stunning Sweet Country, and sees him team up with none other than Cate Blanchett. 2023's Tár Oscar-nominee plays Sister Eileen, who runs a monastery and home to orphaned boys in the 1940s, which is where the titular nine-year-old (newcomer Aswan Reid) is sent. Also among the cast: Deborah Mailman (Total Control) and Wayne Blair (Seriously Red). The New Boy is also vying for the festival's annual prize alongside 11 others, in what marks the official competition's 15th year. Other contenders span Aussie documentary The Dark Emu, about Bruce Pascoe's book; Bad Behaviour, the feature directorial debut of actor-turned-filmmaker Alice Englert (You Won't Be Alone) starring Jennifer Connelly (Top Gun: Maverick); Kore-eda's Monster, the prolific helmer's latest after fellow recent SFF titles Shoplifters and Broker; and Celine Song's first effort Past Lives, telling a bittersweet romance about two childhood friends (Russian Doll's Greta Lee and Decision to Leave's Teo Yoo) who briefly reunite after decades apart. From the competition highlights, there's also Cobweb from South Korean A Tale of Two Sisters talent Kim Jee-woon; the animated Art College 1994 from Have a Nice Day's Liu Jian; Finnish great Aki Kaurismäki's (The Other Side of Hope) Fallen Leaves; and Afire, a Berlinale Silver Bear for Undine and Transit's Christian Petzold, which was part of the fest's first lineup announcement for 2023. Yes, Anderson's Asteroid City is on the 2023 SFF program, too, bringing the filmmaker's now-trademark sensibilities and aliens together at last — and a characteristically massive cast filled with every famous actor ever or thereabouts. Also set to flicker across Sydney's screens is the Sweeney-starring whistleblower docudrama Reality, Snook in Sundance-bowing Australian psychological thriller Run Rabbit Run, the Mescal-led (and Aussie-shot and opera-inspired) Carmen and Pixar's what-if-elements-had-feelings newbie Elemental. Jafar Panahi's (Tehran Taxi) Venice Special Jury Prize-winner No Bears was announced earlier as well, but remains a SFF must-see — and the kaijus come via Shin Ultraman, which springs from the creators of Shin Godzilla and Neon Genesis Evangelion. NBA fans will want to see Stephen Curry: Underrated, and the vengeance arrives via SXSW hit The Wrath of Becky (well, one of SFF's 2023 flicks about vengeance). And Soda Jerk return to the fest after Terror Nullius screened in 2018, this time with Hello Dankness and its chaotic yet cutting survey of US politics from 2016 onwards. Movie lovers should already be eagerly anticipating SFF's already-revealed Jane Campion retrospective, with the filmmaker herself in attendance — and Indian screen icon Amitabh Bachchan also earns his own program strand. But the new features keep coming, too, including in the fest's returning strands. Seasoned attendees should already be well-acquainted with SFF's ten-film focus on female directors from Europe, selection of movies about music, weird and wonderful horror and genre flicks, family-friendly fare, celebration of filmmaking talent with disability and titles from First Nations creatives, all back in 2023. Other specific standouts range from comedy Biosphere, about the last two men on earth; to Passages, from Love Is Strange's Ira Sachs; and also German filmmaker Wim Wenders (Submergence) heading to Japan with Perfect Days. Plus, there's assassin thriller Kennedy by Gangs of Wasseypur's Anurag Kashyap; literary thriller The Lesson, which stars Richard E Grant (Persuasion), Julie Delpy (On the Verge) and Daryl McCormack (Bad Sisters); and historical drama Chevalier, with Kevin Harrison Jr (Cyrano) playing 18th-century Black composer Joseph Bologne. Cinemagoers can similarly look forward to Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winner A Thousand and One, the obviously film-loving I Like Movies, environmentalist tale How to Blow Up a Pipeline, talk show-set horror Late Night with the Devil and the self-explanatory tribute Cannes Uncut. Also, SFF has added a new Independent in Spirit section that's all about indie films by up-and-coming Australian directors, which is where The Big Dog will get comedic about a stockbroker with a financial domination fetish, Sunflower will spin a Melbourne-set queer coming-of-age tale, Birdeater will follow a bride-to-be attending her fiancé's buck's party — and more. As for where you'll be heading to get your festival fix this year, SFF is back at The State Theatre, Event Cinemas George Street, Dendy Newtown, Palace Central, Palace Norton Street, Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace Cremorne, Ritz Cinemas Randwick, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Australian Museum and Art Gallery of NSW. Sydney Film Festival 2023 runs from Wednesday, June 7–Sunday, June 18 at various Sydney cinemas — head to the festival website for further information and tickets.
Call it an end-of-year movie theatre frenzy, call it the spirit of Christmas spreading celluloid dreams across the city, or call it a mighty great time for film lovers — whichever way you describe it, Brisbane's cinema scene has been growing at an astonishing rate in recent months. With the Elizabeth Picture Theatre giving the CBD a new movie base, and Dendy Coorparoo taking care of eastsiders, it's now the inner north's turn. More than a decade since a Reading-branded shopping centre popped up in Newmarket, a cinema is finally being added to the site. Come 12.01 am on December 14, cinephiles can head to 400 Newmarket Road for their filmic fix, and find eight shiny big screens — including two Gold Class screens — ready and waiting. The late-night opening time might sound a little odd, but it won't to Star Wars fans. If you're going to launch a new cinema, you may as well do it with midnight screenings of Episode VIII — The Last Jedi, aka this year's biggest flick in this or any far, far away galaxy. That's not the only big news that Reading Newmarket is serving up. In an Australian first, the site will also be revealing Reading's new Titan Luxe offering, which comes with a 23-metre screen, Dolby Atmos 360 sound, recliner seats and a dine-in food menu. Lush seats and during-movie eats and drinks are also a part of their Gold Class offering, of course, while all patrons can hang out at the cinema's lounge bar — either inside, or on the balcony. As part of the shopping centre's broader redevelopment, around 900 square metres of cafes, eateries and bars are also being added across a new dining precinct. As well as a new spot to catch a film, that's your next dinner-and-movie date sorted. Find Reading Newmarket at Newmarket Village, 400 Newmarket Road, Newmarket from December 14. Head to the cinema's website or Facebook page for further details.
If 2020 has taught us anything, it's that a lot can happen in six months. Around this time half a year ago, we were getting mighty excited about all the new movies set to reach Australian cinemas in 2020. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Now, after months spent at home, indoors, giving our streaming queues one helluva workout, it's reset time. Aussie picture palaces are slowly reopening — albeit at different rates across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane — and this year's big-screen releases are kicking off again. In great news for cinephiles, that means there are plenty of new flicks vying for your eyeballs. Some are big-budget blockbusters that've had everyone talking since last year. Others are long-awaited sequels and eagerly anticipated remakes. From the return of familiar faces to exceptional intimate dramas, we've rounded up ten new movies to look forward to seeing in a cinema throughout the rest of 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLNXHJB5Mto BABYTEETH Usually, cancer movies aren't just terrible, generic and cliched — they're insulting. Often focusing on pretty young things succumbing slowly to the insidious disease, they generally tug at the heartstrings with shameless abandon, treating their protagonists and their plights as a mechanism to wring weepy tears out of the audience. But while Babyteeth also hones in on a cancer-afflicted teenager, it could never be mistaken for the usual illness drama. As directed by feature first-timer Shannon Murphy, this lively, vibrant, insightful and genuinely moving film truly sees its main character, Milla (Little Women's Eliza Scanlen), as a person first and foremost. Story-wise, the movie charts Milla's unexpected romance with enigmatic Sydney drug dealer Moses (Acute Misfortune's Toby Wallace), as well as the reaction of her struggling parents. Also starring Essie Davis and Ben Mendelsohn as Milla's mum and dad, this is a raw, sensitive, astute and arresting addition to a genre that rarely (if ever) earns any of those terms. It's also visually striking and, unsurprisingly given the cast, boasts fantastic performances — and it's one of the best Australian movies that'll hit cinemas in 2020. Babyteeth releases in Australian cinemas on July 23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKOT56zkRQ8 NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS The third film from talented American writer/director Eliza Hittman (It Felt Like Love, Beach Rats), Never Rarely Sometimes Always took home Berlinale's Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize this year — the festival's second most prestigious award — but it would've been a more than worthy overall winner. First premiering at Sundance, where it also nabbed a jury prize, this a heart-wrenching gut-punch of a movie that's about an ordinary teenager in an everyday situation, while simultaneously focused on a crucial topic. When small-town Pennsylvanian 17-year-old Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) discovers that she's pregnant, she only really has one option. She's certain her family (including Sharon Van Etten as her mother) won't help, and the local women's clinic advocates having the baby, so with her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) she hops on a bus to New York. Their experiences in the Big Apple are tense and devastating, as is this potent, compassionate and naturalistic entire film. Never Rarely Sometimes Always releases in Australian cinemas on August 6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loGLiMU5fuI TENET Is it a follow-up to Inception? Does Christopher Nolan just like getting twisty every ten years? Or does the acclaimed director simply enjoy messing with everyone's heads? When the first trailer for Tenet dropped in 2019, it inspired all of the above questions — and keen moviegoers have been waiting for answers. For now, we do know that Nolan's latest will involve time travel, the afterlife and stopping World War III. Also: spies, boats, sensing things before they happen and objects running in reverse. Throw in an active attempt to bend viewers' minds, plus many a superbly shot and staged spectacle, and Nolan is back in the territory that has served him so well since Memento. BlacKkKlansman's John David Washington leads the cast, alongside Robert Pattinson, Nolan regular Michael Caine, Aussie actor Elizabeth Debicki and Kenneth Branagh. Tenet releases in Australian cinemas on August 13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hAL7emClFM BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC It was first uttered more than three decades ago, but the world could always use Bill & Ted's main nugget of wisdom. "Be excellent to each other," Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure first told us in 1989, before continuing the message in 1991's Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey — and the series will do so again in the long-awaited Bill & Ted Face the Music. Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves are back as everyone's favourite high school slackers and wannabe rockers, who initially started travelling through time in a phone booth to pass a history report and secure the world's future. They're middle-aged now and they even have daughters (played by Ready or Not's Samara Weaving and Bombshell's Brigette Lundy-Paine), but when you're told as a teen that your music is going to change the entire universe, that responsibility doesn't just fade because you get older. Bill & Ted Face the Music releases in Australian cinemas on August 27. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7qxYOpy9Ms A QUIET PLACE PART II In 2018, A Quiet Place tasked a young family with staying soundless, lest they be heard and then killed by giant spider-like monsters. As a result, audiences keenly listened out for any noise that could put Lee (John Krasinski), Evelyn (Emily Blunt), Regan (Millicent Simmonds) and Marcus (Noah Jupe) Abbott in jeopardy, with the film serving up a mighty tense — and noise-free — time at the cinemas. Now, two years later, the frightful aliens and the hushed tones are back. So is Blunt in kick-ass mode, too. Like the first film, A Quiet Place Part II is directed and written by Krasinski, with this follow-up picking up where its predecessor left off. Certain to serve up plenty of bumps, jumps and — naturally — silence, the sequel also welcomes franchise newcomers Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders) and Djimon Hounsou (Guardians of the Galaxy). A Quiet Place Part II opens in Australian cinemas on September 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlwzuZ9kOQU CANDYMAN For nearly three decades, horror movie lovers have fallen into two categories: those who've dared to say the word 'candyman' five times while staring into a mirror, and those who haven't. If you fall into the first group, then you'll be making a date with this unnerving sequel, which revives the Candyman franchise and boasts a few tricks up its sleeves. Firstly, Candyman circa 2020 is produced and co-written by Jordan Peele, who adds another frightfest to his resume alongside Get Out and Us. Secondly, it's directed by Nia DaCosta, whose Tessa Thompson-starring 2018 film Little Woods deserved more attention. And last but by no means least, it features the OG Candyman, Tony Todd, among its cast. Plot-wise, the new flick focuses on artist Anthony McCoy (Aquaman and Watchmen's Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who decides to start exploring the Candyman legend through his art. His girlfriend Brianna (If Beale Street Could Talk's Teyonah Parris) thinks the story is just that, but then the bee-covered figure starts wreaking havoc again. That's what happens when folks say his name while looking at their own reflection, after all. Candyman opens in Australian cinemas on September 24. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfM7_JLk-84&feature=emb_logo WONDER WOMAN 1984 New Order's 'Blue Monday'. A giant mall. Women exercising in bright leotards and leg warmers. All of the above inspire instant visions of the 80s, which is where Wonder Woman is heading in her next big-screen outing. Yes, the fierce female superhero with the bullet-deflecting bracelets and Lasso of Truth is finally back, thanks to Wonder Woman 1984. This time around, she's navigating the Cold War era and facing off against Kristen Wiig. The sequel's story pits Gal Gadot's Amazon demigoddess against Wiig's Cheetah — also known as archaeologist Barbara Ann Minerva. While the franchise newcomer is looking rather meek and mild at the beginning of the just-dropped Wonder Woman 1984 trailer, she's not likely to stay that way for long in this eagerly awaited sequel. Game of Thrones, Narcos and The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal also joins the cast as Maxwell Lord, a powerful businessman, and Chris Pine returns as American pilot Steve Trevor — despite the tragic events of the first film. And, behind the camera, writer/director Patty Jenkins is also back — as she should be given that Wonder Woman is currently the highest-grossing film ever directed solo by a woman. Wonder Woman 1984 releases in Australian cinemas on October 1. HALLOWEEN KILLS For 42 years, the Halloween franchise has been delivering stone-cold horror masterpieces, weird and wonderful detours, and entries that deserve to be locked away for all eternity with Michael Myers. The difference between the series' John Carpenter-directed best and its trashy worst is enormous, but when David Gordon Green (Prince Avalanche, Pineapple Express) took the reins for 2018's Halloween — a direct sequel to the 1978 original that ignores the seven other follow-ups and two remakes in-between — he served up one of the saga's best chapters. It helped that Jamie Lee Curtis was back, of course. Also beneficial: a meaty story that grapples with trauma, a skill for slasher thrills, a new score by Carpenter himself, and producer Jason Blum's support. So it was great news when two more movies were announced, including 2020's Halloween Kills, which brings the whole gang back to Haddonfield for another encounter with the town's masked menace. Halloween Kills releases in Australian cinemas on October 15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcPk2p0Zaw4 THE FRENCH DISPATCH An offbeat storyline. Mesmerisingly symmetrical frames. A cast that includes Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson, Saoirse Ronan, Willem Dafoe, Jason Schwartzman, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban and Anjelica Houston. Yep, it must be a new Wes Anderson film — and The French Dispatch looks like Wes Anderson at his most Wes Anderson-esque yet. The premise: in the fictional French town of Ennui-sur-Blasé sometime in the mid-20th century, Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Murray) has turned a series of travelogue columns into a weekly American magazine. A supplement to the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun, The French Dispatch resembles The New Yorker, is staffed by top expatriate journalists, and covers life in France, world politics, high and low art, and diverse stories of human interest. As for the film that shares its name, it focuses on three tales printed in the publication's pages. The French Dispatch releases in Australian cinemas on November 26. [caption id="attachment_774009" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Photo credit: Chiabella James. Copyright: © 2020 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.[/caption] DUNE David Lynch's Dune is one of the most unfairly maligned sci-fi films ever made. It's not the version that Alejandro Jodorowsky would've whipped up — as explored in excellent documentary Jodorowsky's Dune — but the 1984 movie still has its surreal delights. Just how Denis Villeneuve's new adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel will fare is still yet to be seen, but the French Canadian director has already revived another 80s sci-fi property to stunning effect with Blade Runner 2049. Once again, he has amassed a stellar cast, including Timothée Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem and Doctor Sleep's Rebecca Ferguson. They'll all fight over 'the spice', the most valuable substance in the universe. Dune releases in Australian cinemas on December 26. Top images: Dune: Copyright: © 2020 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures. Babyteeth: Lisa Tomasetti. Wonder Woman 1984: Clay Enos/ ™ & © DC Comics. © 2018 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC.
On Saturday, November 16 and Sunday, November 17, Enoggera Reservoir won't just be Brisbane's oldest reservoir. As part of Open Actions, the Mt Nebo Road spot will become an immersive art playground. If you've ever wanted to explore the site, interact with creative installations, and engage with nature, water and the location's splendour, this is your chance. Open Actions will feature six new artworks created by Aishla Manning, Anthony Baker, Aurora Christie, Guyala Bayles, Joella Warkill, Keemon Williams, Kylie Spear, and Primitive Motion (Sandra Selig and Leighton Craig), all of which are in dialogue with their unique spot. Some will involve cement mixers filled with rushing water, others will feature dingos guarding the dam, and yet another will unveil a mini-waterslide for giant ice cubes. You can also take a bushwalk with poets, listen to multi-sensory soundtrack and attend an album release. When you're not directly engaging with the above pieces, you can also chill out on the lawn — on furniture and under a canopy designed by local design studio Five Mile Radius. Attendance is free, with Open Actions running from 10am–6pm on both days.
Saving your pennies for a big weekend, but don't fancy cooking? Every Thursday, Trash Taco has your back. Head in between 5–7pm, and you can tuck into tacos for half the regular price — which, as well as livening up the second last working day of the ol' grind, will also help you save the bulk of your cash for another day. The eatery's tacos usually cost $6 a pop, so you'll be nabbing stuffed tortillas for $3 each. There's a minimum of three, but at $9, you're still grabbing a bargain. Choose from pork, vegetarian and bean, and then start eating. Of course, given that you have to order a trio of tacos, you can try all of the above. If you're new to Trash Taco, it's the latest venture from Lucky Egg's Jacob Knauth. Located inside bar Barbara, it's your latest excuse to pair a Mexican feed with margaritas — if you'd rather spend big on booze than food, that is.
Not all that long ago, the idea of getting cosy on your couch, clicking a few buttons, and having thousands of films and television shows at your fingertips seemed like something out of science fiction. Now, it's just an ordinary night — whether you're virtually gathering the gang to text along, cuddling up to your significant other or shutting the world out for some much needed me-time. Of course, given the wealth of options to choose from, there's nothing ordinary about making a date with your chosen streaming platform. The question isn't "should I watch something?" — it's "what on earth should I choose?". Hundreds of titles are added to Australia's online viewing services each and every month, all vying for a spot on your must-see list. And, so you don't spend 45 minutes scrolling and then being too tired to actually commit to watching anything, we're here to help. From the latest and greatest to old favourites, here are our picks for your streaming queue for October — and yes, we're guessing you've already hit up The Trial of the Chicago 7, Rebecca and On the Rocks. NEW STUFF TO WATCH NOW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rsa4U8mqkw BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM Of all that twists and turns that 2020 has delivered, the arrival of a new Borat movie ranks among the most unexpected. Watching Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, however, it's obvious why the famed fictional Kazakh journalist is making a comeback at this very moment — that is, just before the US election. Once again, Borat travels to America. Once again, he traverses the country, interviewing everyday people and exposing the abhorrent views that have become engrained in US society. Where its 2006 predecessor had everyone laughing along with it, though, there's also an uneasy and even angry undercurrent to Borat Subsequent Moviefilm that's reflective of these especially polarised times. It's worth noting that Sacha Baron Cohen's last project, 2018 TV series Who Is America?, also used the comedian's usual interview technique to paint a picture of the US today, and the results were as astute as they were horrifying. There are plenty of jokes in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, which bases its narrative around Borat's attempt to gift his 15-year-old daughter (instant scene-stealer Maria Bakalova) to Vice President Mike Pence and then ex-New York mayor Rudy Giuliani to help get Kazakhstan's own leader into President Donald Trump's good graces, but this is the unflinching work of a star passionate about making a statement. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is available to stream now via Amazon Prime Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-Tm63y-S4s THE GOOD LORD BIRD In The Good Lord Bird's opening moments, the new seven-part mini-series tells viewers what'll happen to 19th-century US abolitionist John Brown (Ethan Hawke), its central figure. The audience sees Brown approach the gallows, with narration making plain that he's about to meet his end. Given that Brown was a real figure, the show is merely outlining his history in this regard. But even with the knowledge of his character's ultimate fate lodged firmly in viewers' minds from the outset, Hawke turns in a riveting performance every time he's on-screen. Brown not only opposed slavery, but was driven to use violence to liberate enslaved Black Americans — and the power of his conviction shines through in Hawke's blistering portrayal, as it does throughout the engaging series overall. The Good Lord Bird's voiceover and perspective comes from the fictional Henry 'Onion' Shackleford (Joshua Caleb Johnson), a boy that Brown saves but mistakes for a girl, and who also crosses paths with other historical personalities such as fellow reformer Frederick Douglass (Hamilton's Daveed Diggs) and Confederate general JEB Stuart (Wyatt Russell). As for this smart, irreverent, bold and vehement take on America's troubled past in general, it stems from the pages of James McBride's 2013 novel of the same name. The first three episodes of The Good Lord Bird are available to stream now via Stan, with new episodes added weekly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeYWT7CnFK0 SCARE ME Written and directed by Josh Ruben, and starring him also, Scare Me doesn't just like scary movies — it loves scary stories. Indeed, this pared-back horror film understands that sometimes all that's needed to keep an audience on the edge of their seats is a great tale told well. Its characters, both writers, are all about unfurling creepy narratives. Fred (Ruben) falls into the aspiring category, while Fanny (You're the Worst and The Boys' Aya Cash) has an acclaimed best-seller to her name. With each taking time out in the mountains to get some work done, these two strangers end up in Fred's cabin telling each other disturbing stories when the power goes out (and trying to one-up each other). For its first two-thirds, Scare Me makes the most of that basic concept. Fred and Fanny perform their tales, sound effects and ominous lighting kicks in — it's a stormy night, of course — and the mood is suitably perturbing. The film also demonstrates its self-awareness, namedropping other genre titles with frequency and sending in a pizza from the Overlook. When this Sundance-premiering feature decides to ponder real-life horrors as part of its layered stories, however, it proves especially potent. Scare Me is available to stream now via Shudder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10dsDHszrcY TOTALLY UNDER CONTROL Perhaps the most frightening film of 2020, Totally Under Control isn't a horror movie filled with traditional bumps and jumps. For anyone who has been keeping a close eye on the constantly unnerving news served up by this hectic year, it also doesn't tell viewers anything that isn't already known. But this US-focused documentary unsettles from start to finish, all by exploring the American response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Comparisons with other countries — including South Korea, which initially had a similar caseload back at the beginning of the year — are particularly effective. To-camera interviews by officials involved in the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus, and from one volunteer given far too much responsibility for solving crucial PPE shortages, are just as telling. This isn't the first doco about COVID-19 and it won't be the last; however, as co-directed by Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief) with Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger, it's absolutely essential viewing. Totally Under Control is available to stream now via DocPlay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWoiNlLqLR8 THE UNDOING If it was made less than a decade ago instead of now, The Undoing likely would've followed Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train to cinemas. This page-to-screen adaptation certainly has the cast for it — Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, Donald Sutherland, A Quiet Place's Noah Jupe and Edgar Ramirez — as well as a knotty mystery premise and a tension-dripping tone. But hot on the heels of Big Little Lies, The Undoing is actually HBO's latest big-name mini-series. Kidman returns, obviously, as does well-known TV writer David E Kelley (LA Law, Ally McBeal, The Practice). The former plays a successful therapist, Grace Fraser, whose seemingly happy home life and marriage to Grant's paediatric oncologist Jonathan starts to collapse when someone linked to her son's ultra-wealthy private school turns up dead. Based on Jean Hanff Korelitz's novel You Should Have Known and directed by The Night Manager's Susanne Bier, this six-part series is the epitome of #richpeopleproblems — but whether exploring heated moments in lush surroundings, or noting the type of emotions and behaviours status and standing can both encourage and hide, it's firmly aware of that fact. Thanks to a twist at the end of each episode, it's also very addictive, even when it's predictable. The first episode of The Undoing is available to stream now via Binge, with new episodes added weekly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfTmT6C5DnM DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD Mortality is no one's favourite subject. Confronting the certainty of our own demise is so difficult, we all just generally carry on as though it won't happen. And the reality that everyone we know and love will die, including our parents, is just as tough to deal with. Facing not only the fact that her father is advancing in age, but that he's suffering dementia — meaning that she'll lose him mentally before he passes away physically — cinematographer and documentarian Kirsten Johnson (Cameraperson) conjured up a playful and poignant project. In Dick Johnson Is Dead, she stages her dad's death over and over. He's very much alive and he takes part, with the father-daughter duo bonding during what time they have left together in the process. While it might sound morbid, this moving movie is anything but. As well as the scenes that give the film its title, it also provides an insightful chronicle of the Johnsons' lives. Tender, thoughtful, personal and intimate, and driven by both Dick and Kirsten's presence, the result is perhaps the most affecting feature of the year — and a very worth winner of the Special Jury Award for Innovation in Non-Fiction Storytelling at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Dick Johnson Is Dead is available to stream now via Netflix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WHZM-gDONo FEELS GOOD MAN If you've somehow managed to avoid Pepe the Frog over the past decade, then you clearly haven't spent enough time on the internet during that period. The green character became an online meme back in the 2000s, popping up on message boards and earning users' devotion. It was then was co-opted by the alt-right movement, not only becoming its symbol but getting quite a workout in the lead up to the 2016 US Presidential election. That's not how Pepe started out, however, as Arthur Jones' documentary Feels Good Man shows. Originally, Pepe was created by artist Matt Furie and featured in his Boys Club comics — and the kindly illustrator definitely didn't intend for his cute critter to become associated with prejudice, hate and offensive viewpoints. In addition to charting the history of Pepe, Feels Good Man works through Furie's ongoing fight to reclaim his creation. As you might expect given the above description, this is the type of tale that can only be true, and is also best understood by watching it unfurl. Feels Good Man does something else, though, documenting how online content can take on a life far beyond that initially envisaged, as well as offering a pivotal snapshot of how politicised every facet of American life seems to have become. Feels Good Man is available to stream now via DocPlay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4ISTHi45_s FARGO Last month, SBS added the first three seasons of Fargo to its streaming platform, in preparation for the long-awaited fourth season's arrival. Based on the Oscar-winning Coen brothers' film of the same name, this is an anthology series, so watching previous seasons before starting the new one isn't essential — but, as the latest batch of episodes demonstrates, soaking in all things Fargo is highly recommended. Dropping fresh instalments weekly, Fargo season four is easy to devour. Set in 1950 in Kansas City, Missouri, it steps into its favourite territory: a turf war. While the first episode explains that different groups have been fighting to control the city's underworld for decades, this time it's Loy Cannon (Chris Rock) and his fellow Black Americans' turn to challenge the Italian crime syndicate led by Josto Fadda (Jason Schwartzman). As always, the story from there proves both twisty and blackly comedic, and appears on-track to deliver yet another cautionary tale about the perils of underhanded and illicit activities. There's gravitas to Rock's portrayal of a man trying to carve out his place, and he's joined by a similarly top-notch cast including Jessie Buckley (I'm Thinking of Ending Things) as a nurse with a secret and Ben Whishaw (No Time to Die) as one of Fadda's put-upon offsiders. The first five episodes of Fargo's fourth season are available to stream now via SBS On Demand, with new episodes added weekly. ONES TO WATCH OUT FOR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW7Twd85m2g THE MANDALORIAN Travelling to a galaxy far, far away sounds rather nice at this point in 2020. If you're a Star Wars fan, that's actually quite easy, too. While this year won't deliver a new movie in the franchise for the first time since 2014, the second season of TV spinoff The Mandalorian is heading to Disney+ from Friday, October 30. For those that missed it or need a refresher — the Star Wars universe certainly does sprawl far and wide, both within its tales and in its many different movies, shows, books and games — the Emmy-nominated show follows the titular bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal). In the series' first season, which was set five years after Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi and aired last year, that meant tracking his latest gigs. And, it also involved charting his encounter with a fuzzy little creature officially known as The Child, but affectionately named Baby Yoda by everyone watching. Also on offer the first time around: Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito playing villain Moff Gideon, aka the ex-Galactic Empire security officer determined to capture The Child; everyone from Carl Weathers and Taika Waititi to Werner Herzog playing ex-magistrates, droids and enigmatic strangers; and plenty of planet-hopping. Yes, it was firmly a Star Wars TV series, and yes, it plans to continue in the same manner. The Mandalorian's second season starts streaming via Disney+ from Friday, October 30, CULT CLASSICS TO REVISIT AND REDISCOVER https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob_Sq__g01E THE HITCHCOCK COLLECTION Fans of thrillers, and of the filmmaker who became a legend by directing them, have two choices this month. Eighty years after Alfred Hitchcock first brought the story to the screen, Netflix has produced a lavish-looking new adaptation of Rebecca — a movie that intoxicates visually, but doesn't ever quite match the heights reached by the Master of Suspense's Oscar-winning version all those decades ago. But for those who'd rather luxuriate in all things Hitch, Stan is streaming a collection of his greatest hits. It doesn't include Rebecca, but when you're watching classics such as Psycho, The Birds and Rear Window — and Rope and Saboteur, too — you aren't likely to mind. All five will always stand the test of time, but Psycho's tale of a troubled man obsessed with his mother and the unfortunate woman who crosses his path has always been innately unnerving. When you're not revelling in its twists, and its famed screech-heavy shower scene, Rear Window's voyeurism-fuelled storyline (and the fact that its protagonist, played by a commanding James Stewart, is stuck at home) feels particularly relevant this year. Stan's Hitchcock collection is available to stream now. Top images: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm courtesy of Amazon Studios.
International travel could possibly be back on the cards for Australians by Christmas, but you'll be able to get a 26-film glimpse of Italy first. The reason: the 2021 Italian Film Festival. As it does every year, it's showcasing a stacked lineup of new and classic cinema from its chosen part of the globe, as part of its touring program. In a change from previous years, this year's fest will start in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, then move to Byron Bay and Sydney in line with New South Wales' roadmap out of lockdowns. Next, it'll hit up Canberra and Melbourne as they emerge from stay-at-home conditions as well. Wherever you're located, your leg of the festival will start with The Ties — and with a marriage in crisis. Starring Alba Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro) and Luigi Lo Cascio (Human Capital), and helmed by Daniele Luchetti (La Nostra Vita, My Brother is an Only Child), this moving film follows a couple's tumultuous romance over the course of decades. It heads to the Italian Film Festival after opening last year's Venice Film Festival, and becoming the first Italian movie in more than a decade to do the latter. At the other end of the 2021 Italian Film Festival, the event will close with a classic: Roberto Rosselini's Rome, Open City. It's part of a four-film retrospective of the director's work, and also falls within the fest's look back at iconic Italian leading ladies. This event always comes with a big appreciation for Italy's filmmaking past, which is where documentary Fellini Forward: From the Creative Genius of Federico Fellini, about the acclaimed director, also fits in. Elsewhere, festival highlights include Cannes Film Festival Director's Fortnight winner To Chiara, about a 15-year-old who discovers her father might have criminal ties; Nanni Moretti's Three Floors, which is set across a Rome apartment block; Hidden Away, a biopic about artist Antonio Ligabue; and You Came Back, a thriller that makes ample use of Venice's lagoons. Or, there's also comedy Three Perfect Daughters; drama Tigers, about footballer Martin Bengtsson; and Sirley, which sees director Elisa Amoruso draw upon her adolescence for her first fictional film. ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2021 DATES: Wednesday, October 20–Sunday, November 14 — Palace James Street and Palace Centro, Brisbane Wednesday, October 20–Sunday, November 14 — Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas and Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas, Adelaide Wednesday, October 20–Sunday, November 14 — Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX and Windsor Cinema, Perth Friday, October 20–Sunday, November 7 — Palace Byron Bay, Byron Bay Wednesday, October 27–Sunday, November 21 — Palace Norton, Palace Verona, Palace Central and Chauvel Cinema, Sydney Wednesday, November 17–Sunday, December 12 — Palace Electric, Canberra Friday, November 19–Sunday, December 12 — Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema, The Astor and Cinema Nova, Melbourne The 2021 Italian Film Festival tours Australia between Wednesday, October 20–Sunday, December 12. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
Television perfection is watching Elle Fanning (The Girl From Plainville) and Nicholas Hoult (The Menu) trying to run 18th-century Russia while scheming, fighting and heatedly reuniting in ahistorical period comedy The Great. Since 2020, they've each been in career-best form — her as the series' ambitious namesake, him as the emperor who loses his throne to his wife — while turning in two of the best performances on streaming in one of the medium's most hilarious shows. Both former child actors now enjoying excellent careers as adults, they make such a marvellous pair that it's easy to imagine this series being built around them. It wasn't and, now three seasons in with its latest ten-episode run arriving on Stan and Neon from Saturday, May 13, The Great has never thrived on their casting alone. Still, shouting "huzzah!" at the duo's bickering, burning passion and bloodshed-sparking feuding flows as freely as all the vodka downed in the Emmy-winner's frames. This devilishly loose and amusing parody of Catherine the Great's reign first found life on the stage, with its Australian creator Tony McNamara initially unleashing The Great's winning havoc upon Sydney Theatre Company in 2008. His process: stepping into the past, throwing familiar figures and events together, then shaking them around to make his own satirical story. Earning him a BAFTA and an Oscar nomination for co-penning The Favourite, too, that approach clearly resounds with the playwright, screenwriter and producer. Here, it results in a savage and witty charmer that ponders which tales end up echoing through history, and why, while also tearing into royalty and wealth's sense of entitlement and privilege — eating the Russian rich and powerful, and making it an exquisitely moreish meal. In season one, the former Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg of Prussia travelled to Russia to marry the gleefully frat boy-esque Emperor Peter III, a plan on his part that'd have history-making repercussions. It's meant to solve her family's financial woes and give him an heir, but her idealism plus his arrogance and immaturity prove a Molotov cocktail. Swiftly, she's plotting her way to the top job, to enlightening her adopted homeland with progressive ideas and to far-from-harmonious wedded life. In this "occasionally true story", as The Great has happily badged itself from its very first days, there was never any question that Catherine would overthrow Peter; the details, however, don't simply spill into the handsomely staged and colourfully costumed series from reality. Season two saw the show's main couple still waging war on each other, including via soldiers and within the venomous royal court. As their various hangers-on kept jostling for relevance and importance — including Peter's lifelong pals Grigor (Gwilym Lee, Top End Wedding) and Georgina (Charity Wakefield, Genius), his aunt Elizabeth (Belinda Bromilow, Doctor Doctor), Catherine's former servant Marial (Phoebe Fox, The Aeronauts) and co-conspirator Orlo (Sacha Dhawan, Doctor Who), the country's resident Archbishop (Adam Godley, Lodge 49) and military head Velementov (Douglas Hodge, I Hate Suzie Too) — it also had Catherine pregnant, her acid-tongued mother (Gillian Anderson, The Crown) make a visit and its central marriage come to stabbing blows. Now, in a new batch of instalments all either written or co-written by McNamara, Catherine and Peter begin the third season sure about their love for each other, but just as flummoxed as ever about making their nuptials work. She's attempting to reform the nation, he's the primary caregiver to their infant son Paul, her efforts are meeting resistance, he's doting but also bored playing stay-out-of-politics dad, and couples counselling is called for. There's also the matter of the royal court's most prominent members, many of whom were rounded up and arrested under Catherine's orders at the end of season two. From Sweden, exiled King Hugo (Freddie Fox, House of the Dragon) and Queen Agnes (Grace Molony, Mary, Queen of Scots) are also hanging around after being run out of their own country due to democracy's arrival. Also, Peter's lookalike Pugachev (also Hoult) is agitating for a serf-powered revolution. In lesser hands, The Great might've been a mere soapy diversion (when it comes to jumping back into the past, eagerly ignoring the facts and merrily dishing up straightforward melodrama, see: Bridgerton). But this series remains one of the sharpest programs currently airing as well, thanks in no small part to its astute insights. Each subplot, whether it's Catherine and Peter's conflict over ordaining Paul as next in line to the throne by divine mandate, or the chaos caused when Catherine legalises divorce (including for Marial and Grigor's affair), or the especially sycophantic Arkady (Bayo Gbadamosi, War of the Worlds) and Tatyana (Florence Keith-Roach, Juliet, Naked) doing whatever it takes to stay in court, unpacks today's social and political ideas as much as its setting's. When Pugachev starts riling up crowds at big rallies spent attacking Catherine, for instance, thinking of recent headlines happens instantly. The Great has always been as magnificently absurd as it is smart and biting, a blend that also doesn't stop now. Since episode one, Bromilow has carved her place alongside Fanning and Hoult by playing Elizabeth as delightfully fanciful but steely, while The Gallery's Henry Meredith steals almost every scene he's in as Marial's 11-year-old shoe-loving wannabe-assassin cousin and husband Maxim. But season three skews darker, too, which is also a terrific and intelligent turn. Indeed, in a show that's never been shy about a body count (when Catherine wants to criminalise murder in this run of episodes, neither the court nor the people respond warmly), it's positively bold about adding to its casualties, contemplating the choices that grief inspires and exploring raw emotions. It was true in season one, never in doubt in season two and an established fact with season three: The Great keenly, heartily and truly lives up to its name. In fact, the show's latest go-around is a case of something great becoming even greater — and more addictive and irresistible — in its willingness to get bleak, its joyous mix of ridiculousness and drama, and its superb main performances. Fanning relishes Catherine's complexities again and again, leaning stunningly into heartbreak and leadership's heavy toll. Flitting between suave and rough-and-tumble, Hoult couldn't be having more fun in his dual parts. When they're together, their scenes are ceaselessly electrifying. McNamara gives season three an exceptional ending, complete with a nod to Australia, after ensuring that The Great has been forever changed by this supremely bingeable return; here's hoping, though, that there's still more greatness to come. Check out the trailer for The Great season three below: The Great season three streams in Australia via Stan and in New Zealand via Neon from Saturday, May 13.
Brisbane's cultural ecosystem is booming. Cafes and bars are opening on a (almost) weekly basis, restaurants and pubs are more forward-thinking and imaginative than ever and you can find innovative cultural events and pop-up spaces to visit every day of the week. Bars continue to offer immersive, imaginative experiences that take you beyond their drinks lists — you can drink cocktails at a bar hidden in a bottle-o, climb the stairs of a two-level gin oasis and sip house-made sodas while playing arcade games. At Concrete Playground we encourage exploration and showcase innovation in our city every day, so we thought it fitting to reward those most talented whippersnappers pushing Brisbane to be a better, braver city. And so, these six new bars, opened in 2017, were nominated for Best New Bar in Concrete Playground's Best of 2017 Awards.
Whether capturing a concert in full or piecing together a career overview, a great music documentary ticks two boxes. If it doesn't leave you with a new appreciation for and understanding of its subject — even if you already adored the band or musician in the spotlight, and thought you knew everything there possibly is to know — then it isn't doing its job. And if it doesn't take care of your music playlist for the hours, days and even weeks afterwards, well, there's something missing as well. We know this because music docos are a stacked genre. Name a group or performer, and odds are they've earned the documentary treatment. They're a popular genre, too — because who doesn't want to watch a movie about bands and musos they like? Alas, while plenty of cameras have been pointed at plenty of talent over the years, not every great music doco is available to stream. Some big hitters, like the Rolling Stones-focused Gimme Shelter, David Bowie concert flick Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Beastie Boys' crowd-filmed Awesome, I Fuckin' Shot That and the Chemical Brothers' Don't Think aren't currently accessible, for example. But others are — so we've rounded up ten ace documentaries and concert films that are presently on offer at the click of a button. And yes, dancing in your lounge room is perfectly acceptable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4IZBJrNXrY STOP MAKING SENSE When David Byrne walks out onto a Hollywood stage circa 1983 in Stop Making Sense, he brings a tape deck with him. With no one else around him, he presses play, takes hold of the microphone and begins to sing one of Talking Heads' best-known songs: 'Psycho Killer'. That's not how concerts usually kick off — but it's instantly memorable. Everything about this energetic and precisely executed documentary, which records the show from start to finish, earns the same description. Directed by future The Silence of the Lambs Oscar-winner Jonathan Demme, each element of the film is fine-tuned, and every element of the band's performance, too. Expect a lineup of hits, a playful approach, Byrne's famous big suit and even bigger stage presence, and the feeling that you're virtually in the room. Stop Making Sense is available to stream via DocPlay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB8qvx0HOlI HOMECOMING: A FILM BY BEYONCE April 14, 2018, will forever go down in history as the day Beyoncé took to the Coachella stage and made it her own. If you were lucky enough to be there, you'll no doubt remember it forever. If you watched the live stream — and it became the most-watched live-streamed performance of all time, so you probably did — then you'll never forget it either. Whichever category you fell into, you likely wished you were closer to the action — to the stage for the 137-minute performance, to the 100-plus dancers, to its powerful homage to America's historically black colleges and universities, and to the backstage antics as well. That's where Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé comes in, with the engaging and intimate concert documentary not only capturing the huge festival performance (and that Destiny's Child reunion), but weaving in behind-the-scenes footage and candid chats that delve into the preparation process and explain Bey's stunning vision. Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé is available to stream via Netflix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCyqR2RXoQU BEASTIE BOYS STORY The idea behind Beastie Boys Story is simple. After Adam 'Ad-Rock' Horovitz and Michael 'Mike D' Diamond wrote a book about their career, called Beastie Boys Book, they then talked audiences through it in a series of Spike Jonze-helmed live shows, called Beastie Boys Show — and the Adaptation and Her director filmed them. As a result, this doco tells the Beasties' tale direct from the source; however the hip hop group's surviving two members are candid, heartfelt and definitely not interested in sugarcoating their ups and downs. Along the way, Jonze weaves in an array of excellent archival footage, as well as plenty of the Beasties' tracks and music videos. Yes, that includes the iconic 'Sabotage' clip, aka one of the best music videos of all time. That's all great, fun, and both smartly and entertainingly structured, but just watching Ad-Rock and Mike D chat is the clear highlight. And when Ad-Rock sits down on stage to talk about the person missing — Adam 'MCA' Yauch, who died in 2012 from cancer — your eyes won't stay dry. Beastie Boys Story is available to stream via Apple TV+. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N7WthSspQ4&feature=emb_logo AMAZING GRACE Told on screen via text, the story behind concert documentary Amazing Grace is worth its own movie. Over two nights in January 1972, Aretha Franklin recorded her best-selling gospel album of the same name at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, with the Southern California Community Choir as backing singers, and with filmmaker Sydney Pollack on hand to capture the whole thing. But, due to both technical and legal issues — and Franklin suing to stop the movie's belated release before her death — the end result didn't make it to the big screen until just last year. Nearly half a century is a long time to wait; however, this doco is worth it. Amazing Grace is joyous for many reasons, including witnessing the Queen of Soul's talent, paying tribute in an intimate fashion, and seeing the effect of faith and artistry on the on-screen audience. And when Franklin sings the title track for 11 minutes, it's a moment no one will forget in a hurry. Amazing Grace is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube and iTunes. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5Pf3MlUo7c A BAND CALLED DEATH In the introduction to this article, we noted that a music doco should do two things. A few achieve something else as well: they open your eyes to a story, and to a musical talent, that you likely wouldn't have known about otherwise. A Band Called Death is one of those documentaries. You mightn't have heard of 70s hard rock outfit Death, the Detroit group widely considered to be the first punk band, otherwise — but once you've made their acquaintance, you'll want to discover more. Directors Mark Christopher Covino and Jeff Howlett are rightfully certain of this, because that's what record collectors started doing when Death's 1975 album ...For the Whole World to See was finally released in 2009. And yes, A Band Called Death covers that part of the story, too. A Band Called Death is available to stream via DocPlay, Google Play, YouTube and iTunes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeElITdTLE8 SIGN O' THE TIMES As Purple Rain wholeheartedly proved, there are few things as entrancing as watching the late, great Prince on-screen across a hefty chunk of time. If you'd rather see him do what he did best in a whole concert film — or you loved Purple Rain's live performance scenes so much that you want more, which is completely understandable — then Sign o' the Times has you covered. The purple one sings, obviously, largely sticking to tracks from the 1987 album that shares the film's name. He dances like no one other than Prince can. And, he also wears oh-so-many skimpy jumpsuits. Between songs such as 'Little Red Corvette' and 'If I Was Your Girlfriend', the concert doco also weaves in a narrative, should you be keen on a bit of a story with your sultry, slinky, toe-tapping Prince tunes. Sign o' the Times is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SluDNQTRDPQ THE PUNK SINGER She helped start the riot grrrl movement, became the voice of 90s punk feminism and, when she spray-painted "Kurt smells like Teen Spirit" across her pal Mr Cobain's wall, inspired the name of a certain grunge anthem. We're talking about Bikini Kill lead singer Kathleen Hanna — who also went on to release her own solo work and front late 90s/early 00s electro-rock group Le Tigre. From crafting art-school fashion shows that comment on sexual assault, to forcing gig crowds let girls to the front so they could mosh without being accosted, Hanna's story is as lengthy as it is fascinating, as The Punk Singer chronicles. This fantastic doco not only steps through its subject's career, explains her impact, explores her quest to share her feminist principles and exposes the many obstacles in her way, but also gets frank and intimate when it comes to her step back from performing due to health reasons in 2005. It also features insights from Hanna's husband, if you didn't get enough of Ad-Rock in Beastie Boys Story. The Punk Singer is available to stream via iTunes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXa3gw3g4C4 GURRUMUL As the insightful film Gurrumul conveys, the late Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu was a musician and a man utterly unlike anyone else. Making his first feature, director Paul Damien Williams charts Yunupingu's days from childhood to his passing, painting a captivating portrait of one of Australia's undisputed icons. Sometimes, the documentary is happy to simply sit and watch as Yunupingu does what he does so sublimely: sing and play, his voice ringing out over the top of his own guitar or even paired with an orchestra. Sometimes, the movie delves deep into Yunupingu's clearly reclusive nature, whether he's keeping mum in interviews, preferring to stay at home, or failing to show up at the airport for what would've been a career-defining trip to America. The end result is a dense, rare and haunting documentary modelled in its subject's image, proving as beautiful, intimate, layered and revelatory as the artist's remarkable songs. Gurrumul is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube and iTunes. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlT7UQm5pfY JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE + THE TENNESSEE KIDS Filmmaker Jonathan Demme strikes again with Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids, giving JT the same lively, entertaining and immaculately choreographed concert doco treatment that he did Talking Heads in the aforementioned Stop Making Sense. Even if you're not much of a fan of the former *NSYNC member when you start watching Demme's documentary, you're unlikely to find your attention levels dropping even for a second, as the movie constantly finds something dazzling to thrust in front of the lens. Usually, that's Timberlake. He's a top-notch live performer, and his efforts and talents are firmly on display here. Also on offer: a set list filled with familiar tracks. And, as the film's name makes plain, JT's band The Tennessee Kids also earns — and deserves — the camera's focus. Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids is available to stream via Netflix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEaCDxjmPNg SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN Before A Band Called Death stepped through the kind of music story that's so filled with twists and turns that it could only be true, Searching for Sugar Man did the same. The Oscar-winning doco's subject: Sixto Rodriguez, an American musician who was hugely popular in the 70s in South Africa, other African countries, and also Australia and New Zealand. After hearing rumours of Rodriguez's death in the late 90s, two fans tried to work out if it was true — with Swedish documentarian Malik Bendjelloul charting their efforts and revelations. Rodriguez is no stranger to Australia's shores, so part of the movie's discoveries won't come as a surprise to many viewers Down Under; however this film still proves informative and enthralling at every turn. Also, it'll get Rodriguez's track 'Sugar Man' stuck in your head. Searching for Sugar Man is available to stream via Stan and DocPlay.
Aptly given its title, new Apple TV+ sitcom Loot doesn't look cheap — or sound it. It's partly filmed in one of America's biggest private homes, an enormous mansion with 21 bedrooms, five pools, a bowling alley and a cinema. It's filled with well-known needle drops that come quickly and often, with one episode featuring three Daft Punk tracks alone. It couldn't scream louder or drip harder with excess; the series is about a mega-rich tech whiz's wife who gets $87 billion in their public and messy breakup, after all. And, it is inescapably made by a company that's a big technology behemoth itself, and has been splashing stacks of cash to build its streaming roster (see: The Morning Show, Ted Lasso, Severance, Physical, Prehistoric Planet, Foundation, The Shrink Next Door, Shining Girls, Slow Horses, Lisey's Story and more). Loot is also clearly a satire. Across its ten-episode first season — with the first three episodes dropping on Friday, June 24, and the rest following weekly — it parodies all that wealth, the people who have it and the lives lived in bubbles due to it. It also lampoons the idea that the lavishness that money can and does buy for the one percent can be balanced by giving a fraction of it to worthy causes. Yes, Loot is the latest entry in the eat-the-rich genre, alongside The White Lotus, Succession, Squid Game and Killing It of late. Hailing from creators Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard, both former Parks and Recreation writers, it also spins an immensely entertaining workplace sitcom around its pointed premise. The setup: amid being gifted a mega yacht for her birthday, then jumping to a party in that aforementioned sprawling home, Molly Novak (Maya Rudolph, Big Mouth) discovers that her husband John (Adam Scott, Severance) is cheating on her. Post-divorce, after that huge settlement and a stint of partying around the globe with her assistant Nicholas (Joel Kim Booster, Fire Island), she gets a call from Sofia Salinas (Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Pose), the head of the foundation she's forgotten bears her name (and even exists). With Molly's drunken decadence all over the news, the charity is finding it difficult to do its work. So, the organisation's namesake decides to ditch the revelry — and her married moniker, becoming Molly Wells — and put all that dough to better use. She also commits to playing an active role in how her funds can truly help people. As workplaces in workplace comedies always do — Yang also has The Good Place on his resume, which became a workplace comedy in its own way; Hubbard has written for 30 Rock and Superstore as well — Molly's foundation is staffed by a motley crew. Sofia is tough and wholly dedicated to making people's lives better. Following Molly over to the new gig, Nicholas is cutting in his comments and cut about the change in his lifestyle. Then there's Howard (Ron Funches, AP Bio), the sweet and supportive cousin that Molly barely remembers at first; mild-mannered divorced dad and accountant Arthur (Nat Faxon, Our Flag Means Death), who starts to hope his boss will become something more; and Ainsley (Stephanie Styles, Bombshell) and Rhonda (Meagen Fay, Dopesick), the requisite TV office oddballs. Re-entering the working world after two decades is quite the culture shock for Molly, unsurprisingly, and so is being part of a team again. Loot is always the show it instantly seems it will be: a workplace sitcom with a clear target in its sights, and a comedy with as much warmth as humour. It directs its scathing digs towards moneyed indulgence and ridiculousness — in Molly's life and the attitudes that come with it, there's obviously plenty to poke fun of — and its heart towards her coworkers and their efforts. It tries to swing both ways with Molly herself, pointing out that the life she's become accustomed to is patently absurd, but also endeavouring to demonstrate how she's trying to learn and grow. Here, a running gag has David Chang playing himself as Molly's overworked personal chef, for instance. Also, when Rudolph breaks out her Beyonce impression again, it's when Molly couldn't be in a more inappropriate, tone-deaf and cringe-inducing setting. But Loot's protagonist is also never one-note; that she keeps swinging between cashed-up extravagance and genuinely attempting to do better makes her a far more fleshed-out character. Molly is also a showcase part for the always-wonderful Rudolph, who really should've had a sitcom like this on her resume by now. She's featured in a few in her post-Saturday Night Live career, but in supporting parts, including stealing every scene she's in in both The Good Place and Up All Night. She's also glorious in the exceptional Forever, the 2018 existential comedy that similarly stems from Yang and Hubbard, yet sadly only lasted one season. But while Amy Poehler had Parks and Recreation, and Tina Fey had 30 Rock, this kind of series has eluded Rudolph. TV has been worse for it — and Loot wouldn't have worked for a second without her. It already navigates such a delicate tightrope, satirising the ultra rich while embracing Molly's quest to be more than just an affluent caricature. Indeed, it takes Rudolph's adaptability, her willingness to play the joke and also unpack it, her presence, and her charm to anchor the show's parody and empathy in tandem. If this entertaining must-see returns for a second season, it might be a different program, though. That's also a great thing. Loot's initial batch of episodes is a little like a Rorschach test: some viewers will see what it's trying to savage while still being a warmhearted workplace comedy, others will mostly notice that it doesn't chomp down as hard as Succession and its wealth-eviscerating brethren. The show is happy to sit in the first category for now but, still with its upbeat vibe, it makes bigger moves towards the other camp by the time its debut run wraps up. Seeing how it builds is one of Loot's thrills — alongside the tour de force that is Rudolph, including in Molly's Hot Ones appearance; Booster and Funches repeatedly proving a joy, playing to their strengths separately and together; Scott at his smug best among a well-rounded ensemble; and the series' deeper skewering and throwaway gags alike, of course. Check out the trailer for Loot below: Loot is available to stream via Apple TV+.
Since Plan International Australia launched its Free to Be map in Sydney last month, giving women a platform to highlight safe and unsafe areas around the city, it's attracted over 2600 entries. With double the number of respondents of a similar map previously launched in Melbourne, it's a huge response — and one that has enabled the NGO to pull together a list of preliminary safety 'hotspots', which it has released to the public. The unsafe spots, which attracted the most 'sad' pins on the Sydney map, include Kings Cross, King Street, Wentworth Park, Pyrmont Bridge and the stretch of George Street near Town Hall. A big number of these negative pins around key bus and train stations also highlighted major issues surrounding safety on public transport. On a more positive note, a list of 'happy' spots has also been revealed — these include Central Park, the UNSW and Macquarie University campuses, Circular Quay and the ferries, Oxford Street and McIver Ladies Baths in Coogee. Alongside the list of hotspots, Plan International Australia has also released its Sexism in the City research report, which surveyed 500 young Sydney women to get right to the guts of street harassment issues. Some of the confronting findings include more than a third of respondents experiencing harassment for the first time between the ages of 11 and 15; those harassed on a regular basis being twice as likely to report experiencing anxiety, depression or ongoing mental health issues as a result; and alarming rates of women being harassed in front of bystanders without anyone stepping in to help. Contributions to the map have now closed, and the full results should be released shortly. Updated: June 2, 2018.
On most days of the year, a Brisbanite can wander into a Fortitude Valley venue and listen to live tunes. In most years, too, the inner city suburb celebrates that fact in a huge way — and after taking a break from its usual form in 2019, that festival is back in full swing in 2020. Running from Thursday, November 19–Sunday, November 22, this year's Valley Fiesta is hitting up 14 locations with oh-so-much live music, all focusing on homegrown acts. Get ready to hop between Black Bear Lodge, The Brightside and its outdoor area, The Fortitude Music Hall, Greaser and Ivory Tusk. You'll also be heading to O'Skulligans, The Royal George Hotel and Ric's, The Sound Garden, Suzie Wongs Good Time Bar, The Tivoli, The Triffid, Woolly Mammoth and The Zoo. Prices vary and tickets for each event are sold separately — and, obviously, it'll be a COVID-19-safe affair with the applicable capacity restrictions. As for who you'll be listening to, only the first round of acts has been announced so far. But get ready to check out Concrete Surfers, Jaguar Jonze, Kate Miller-Heidke, Robert Forster, Screamfeeder, Seja, Tired Lion, WAAX, The Cairos and DZ Deathrays doing a DJ set, among a heap of other names. Top image: Fortitude Music Hall, Sam Charlton
All That Jazz isn't one of Damien Chazelle's films. It hit cinemas in 1979, six years before the Whiplash and La La Land filmmaker was born, so it can't be. But the Oscar-winning writer/director sure has taken those three words to heart. With the exception of his last flick until now, 2018's Neil Armstrong biopic First Man, Chazelle adores all that jazz — and he adores pumping it through his movies, too. So, returning to the big screen after making jazz club drama The Eddy for Netflix in 2020, of course he's heading back to an era in history known as the jazz age. Babylon dances through Hollywood's Golden Age with a jazz (what else?) soundtrack, following Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt as they wreak havoc throughout Tinseltown. Robbie (The Suicide Squad) plays Nellie LaRoy, a 1920s actor. After winning an Oscar for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — set in a different era of Los Angeles' past — Pitt (Bullet Train) plays Jack Conrad, an industry veteran. As the decade comes to an end and Hollywood changes, the two characters have much to grapple with in this tale of ambition and excess. As the just-dropped first trailer makes plain, they have plenty of parties to attend, too — decadently staged affairs that look right out of The Great Gatsby, or at least as if Chazelle is channelling his inner Baz Luhrmann. And if you weren't already thinking that anyway, up pops Tobey Maguire in only his fifth movie role since The Great Gatsby. (Also on his resume since then: the wholly unrelated 2014 TV series The Spoils of Babylon). Since capturing Hollywood's attention back in 2014 with Whiplash, Chazelle hasn't been known for holding back — and in a trailer that opens with Robbie and a table of drugs, ends with her fighting a snake, gleams with golden sights in-between, and splashes around so much alcohol that you're forgiven for feeling a little boozy while watching it, that's clearly the case with Babylon. The official plot synopsis promises to "trace the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood" — and if that's your tempo, the end result hits cinemas in January 2023. Also among the cast: a massive who's who of Hollywood today, including Diego Calva (Narcos: Mexico), Jean Smart (Hacks), Jovan Adepo (The Stand), Li Jun Li (Sex/Life), PJ Byrne (The Boys), Lukas Haas (Widows), Olivia Hamilton (First Man), Max Minghella (The Handmaid's Tale), Rory Scovel (Physical), Katherine Waterston (The Third Day), Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Eric Roberts (The Righteous Gemstones), Ethan Suplee (Dog), Samara Weaving (Nine Perfect Strangers) and Olivia Wilde (Don't Worry Darling). Check out the trailer for Babylon below: Babylon releases in cinemas Down Under on January 19, 2023. Images: courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
Articulate, enthusiastic, candid, and at least a little bit enamoured with the sound of his own voice — you only have to be in a room with John Landis for a few seconds to see he was born to be an entertainer. In town for a career tribute as part of this year's Melbourne Festival, the 63-year-old director behind beloved Hollywood films including The Blues Brothers, Trading Places and the music video to Michael Jackson's Thriller, seems totally at ease in a room full of journalists, as he recalls anecdotes from a career that spans more than 40 years. YOU CAN'T PICK WHICH WORKS WILL HAVE A LASTING IMPACT While we now look back at movies like Animal House and The Blues Brothers as era-defining comedies, when asked if he had any notion that his films would still be celebrated 30 years after being made, Landis shakes his head with a smile. "The truth is," the filmmaker explains, "you work the same on a successful movie as you do on an unsuccessful movie. [Peter] Bogdanovich was the one who said 'the only true test of a film is time'. And unfortunately we're in a very schizophrenic business, because according to the media and the industry, the only true test of success is money. So many great films come out and tank, and many terrible movies are huge hits. So there's no rule of thumb." "The one that surprised me the most was Thriller," Landis says. "The album was already the most successful album of all time when we made the short … The Thriller video, on Beta and VHS, was $29.95, and they sold 8 million of them. That amazed me. And I think what still delights me, because it's so nuts, is Thrill the World, where they do the thriller dance. And if you go online, they do the thriller dance at weddings and bar mitzvahs … I guess it's the power of Michael Jackson." BAD MOVIES DON'T ALWAYS START OUT BAD Of course, not all of Landis' films have been so successful. Asked about the woeful reception to Blues Brothers 2000, he grins and responds, "the biggest problem with Blues Brothers 2000 is that it's lousy. We had terrible interference from the studio. It was rewritten something like 17 times before they gave us the green light… it was a terrible script. But I'm very proud of the music." Another one of Landis' lesser known works is 1996's The Stupids, which sat unreleased on a shelf for years after the financing company went bankrupt. Upon release, the film tanked at the box office and was panned by critics, although as Landis points out, eventual distributor New Line Cinema bought the film for more than it cost to make, and so "we all made money." "It was mis-sold. It's a children's film, and they sold it as a teenage tits and ass comedy. It was a horrifying experience." IF YOU DOWNLOAD RATHER THAN GOING TO THE CINEMA, IT'S YOUR LOSS Perhaps it's in part due to his rocky relationship with the Hollywood studios that Landis has spent most of the last decade working in documentary and television. "Hollywood as it used to be hasn't existed for a long time", Landis reflects. "I started in the mail room at Fox in the '60s, and it was already dying then. The film business has changed just like every other business, because of globalisation and economics and all kinds of things. Now, Universal, Fox, MGM, Warner Brothers, they're small subdivisions of huge multinational corporations. And these giant corporations, they're their own nation states. They don't even fucking pay taxes! So it has changed, and it continues to change." Even so, Landis remains mostly optimistic about the state of affairs in the movie business. "I think good movies will always be made. One of the big ironies is that technology improved, so now literally anyone can make a movie. The only thing I don't like, the only thing that makes me feel like an old fart, is that it breaks my heart that generations will see Lawrence of Arabia on their cell phone. Because nothing can reproduce the theatrical experience. Big house; beautifully projected — and you know that film is communal. The more people you are with watching a movie, the better the movie works. Comedies are funnier. Scary movies are scarier. Sad movies are sadder. It's contagious." A retrospective of John's films will be screening as part of the Melbourne Festival during October. Check it out here.
New show, same squabbles: that's it, that's upcoming Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon. A month out from starting to hit screens, the eagerly anticipated jump back into Westeros' past has just dropped its full trailer. Yes, it's as obsessed with fighting over the Iron Throne as its predecessor. Of course, that was always going to prove the case with HBO's push to keep all things Game of Thrones alive and flickering across our televisions and streaming queues. House of the Dragon's ten-episode first season is set 200 years before the events of GoT, and focuses on House Targaryen — and if it wasn't already evident that history always repeats itself in Westeros, it looks like that point will be hammered home in the new series. This time around, Paddy Considine (The Third Day) plays King Viserys — and it's exactly who should be his heir that sparks all the Succession-style fuss. He has a daughter, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy, Misbehaviour), who is also his first-born child. But because putting a woman on the throne isn't the done thing, the King's younger brother Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith, Morbius) considers that spiky iron chair his birthright. Battling it out over who'll take the seat will fuel House of the Dragon's storyline, with Rhys Ifans (The King's Man) playing Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King; Olivia Cooke (Slow Horses) popping up as Alicent Hightower, Otto's daughter; and Steve Toussaint (It's a Sin) playing Lord Corlys Velaryon, aka 'The Sea Snake', a nautical adventurer from a Valyrian bloodline as old as House Targaryen. The cast also includes Eve Best (Nurse Jackie) as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon, plus Sonoya Mizuno (Devs) as Mysaria, Prince Daemon's paramour. To answer the other obvious question — other than "will everyone still be fighting over the Iron Throne just like in Game of Thrones?" — yes, dragons do pop up. Flame-breathing scaly creatures and Targaryens go hand in hand, after all. To answer another question, as the trailer's very first words advise, yes "war is afoot" as well. This dance with dragons will arrive on Monday, August 22 Down Under (releasing in winter Down Under, when else?), if you don't already have it in your calendar. Foxtel and Binge in Australia and SoHo, Sky Go and Neon in New Zealand will be doing the honours, if you're wondering where to direct your eyeballs. When it starts airing, following Game of Thrones' eighth-season run, it'll be the culmination of years of planning to extend the GoT franchise by HBO. Firstly, the American cable network announced that it was considering five different prequel ideas. It then green-lit one to pilot stage, scrapped it and later picked a contender to run with: the upcoming House of the Dragon. It has also opted to give novella series Tales of Dunk and Egg the TV treatment, too, and to work on an animated GoT show. And, it's been reported that another three prequels are also under consideration — plus a Jon Snow-focused sequel series. Throughout all of this, GoT fans have been told one thing over and over, even without it being explicitly said. Our days of watching fiery fights between famous Westerosi names — and games over who gets to sit on the Iron Throne — are far from over, clearly, and won't be for quite some time. And, now that House of the Dragon is getting nearer, including dropping several teasers and now this full trailer, that's glaringly apparent. Based on a George RR Martin book, Fire & Blood, this tale harks back to Aegon I Targaryen's conquest of the Seven Kingdoms — which is what started the hefty 738-page first volume in Fire & Blood's planned two-book series — and then works through the family's backstory from there. Aegon I created the Iron Throne, hence the returning favourite's prominence. Also, you don't have to be the Three-Eyed Raven to know that fighting, battles for supremacy and bloodshed are always a part of every GoT narrative. Behind the scenes, Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal are acting as the series' showrunners. Sapochnik has a hefty GoT history, winning an Emmy and a Directors Guild Award for directing 'Battle of The Bastards', helming season eight's 'The Long Night', and doing the same on four other episodes. As for Condal, he co-created and oversaw recent sci-fi series Colony, and co-wrote the screenplay for the 2018 film Rampage. Check out the full House of the Dragon trailer below: House of the Dragon will start airing on Monday, August 22 Down Under via Foxtel and Binge in Australia and SoHo, Sky Go and Neon in New Zealand. Images: Ollie Upton/HBO.
For three days of dusty boots, unashamedly bad dancing and wildly inappropriate Native American headdresses (FFS, stop that), Splendour in the Grass made a temporary wonderland of the North Byron Parklands for another year. With more Govindas feasts, random pop-up barns and fist-pumping sets than you could poke a satay stick at, Splendour cranked out one its most successful festivals yet — with a combination of applauseworthy production and a killer lineup. From unexpected midday Easter Eggs to huge headliner hurrahs, this year's Splendour paid the big names their dues while the limelight was more than adequately shared by up-and-comers. If you were there, you might have shared in our picks of the bunch. If not, think of this as a living-vicariously list of who to listen to this week. Here's our picks for the hits of Splendour in the Grass 2014: Tkay Maidza Filling out the Mix Up tent with the very first Friday slot is no mean feat, but Adelaide's 17-year-old Tkay Maidza managed to get a colossal roundup of early-rising brontosaurus feet stomping. Australia's shiny, PG-rated answer to Azealia Banks, Tkay Maidza is about to become a significantly Big Deal with her self-described 'dinojams'. Signed to Dew Process, Tkay is one of the newest bunch of Australian hip hop ones-to-watch alongside Remi, Coin Banks and Citizen Kay. Fronting giant projections of Nyan and Grumpy Cats casually hangin' with the Adventure Time crew, Maidza cranked out Flume remix after Skrillex sample all the way to her banger single 'Brontosaurus'. Image: Stephen Booth DMA's Sporting their signature Chav-like outfits, Sydney's rambunctious answer to Oasis melted faces in a packed out set in the GW McClellan Tent. Living well up to the significant hype, DMA's played their Britpop-loving butts off with a high energy ride through their debut self-titled EP, released on I OH YOU earlier this year. Frontman Johnny Took steered the crew with his Gallagher-like pipes and tambourine stick, with a particularly high-fiveworthy performance for that huge ballady single 'Delete'. Image: Stephen Booth The Preatures With their debut album on the way and a national tour done and dusted, The Preatures undeniably nailed their Friday afternoon set. Lead singer Isabella Manfredi is a Chrissy Amphlett-like force to be reckoned with, bouncing through the fivesome's highly energetic, super tight set. Running through snippets from the new album, nostalgia from early releases and paying tribute to The Angels' Doc Neeson and Amphlett herself with a cover of legendary 1976 single 'Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again?' (complete with That call and response), The Preatures are solidifying their spot as one of Australia's best live bands out. Image: Stephen Booth Buraka Som Sistema Standing idly wasn't a remote possibility with this furiously party-inducing set. Making a genuine carnival of the Mix Up tent, Portugal's Buraka Som Sistema brought their zouk to the floor and had every last boot pounding the grassy floor. The first of two sets at Splendour this year, the beats-loving crew cranked out banger after banger from their three celebrated LPs alongside generous bouts of onstage dancing — leading to the inevitable crowd stage invasion. The hardest we danced all festival. Image: Justin Ma Interpol Rose-mayor-eeee. Interpol's crisp headliner set took the cake for many a Splendourgoer, even after minor sound issues to start. Paul Banks's vocals were on form and booming, with Daniel Kessler's iconic guitar licks bringing back all the first love feels. Running through yesteryear favourites 'Evil', ' C'mere' and 'NYC', testing out some newbies and wrapping things up with 'Slow Hands', Interpol made a triumphant return to the Australian stage — sans Carlos D, Greg Drudy and Stella. Image: Ian Laidlaw OutKast By a mile, the Event of the festival. Exploding onstage with 'B.O.B.', Andre 3000 (in a top notch onesie) and Big Boi (in an equally "awwww shiiieeeet" get-up) took just under two hours to delve into the 20-year-strong OutKast catalogue — from radio longtimers like 'Hey Ya' and 'Roses' to throwbacks to solid fan favourites like 'Int'l Player's Anthem (I Choose You)'. Splitting time between collaborative 'Ms Jackson' efforts and their own solo moments, OutKast loudly took the Splendour crown with their only Australian appearance. Image: Justin Ma Mas Ysa Drinking a combination of whisky and champagne (apparently dubbed 'The Gentleman's Surprise'), Mas Ysa brought a level of intensity to the midday slot that most electronic artists would require a post-6pm cloak of darkness to come close to. Montreal multi-instrumentalist Thomas Arsenault took early rising punters to a pretty emotional place with booming loops, screaming vocals and piano samples that explain his Deerhunter support slot last year. A truly unexpected gem for most. Image: Justin Ma Fishing One of the biggest Easter Eggs of the festival. Having just released their debut album, the Sydney duo decided a lunchtime rave was in order, cranking out some of the hardest dance tunes of the whole festival at 1pm. Fine holiday fun and purely responsible for the sheer back pain we're still experiencing. Sky Ferreira Swamped by internet hype and tabloid snarks, Sky Ferreira is actually worth talking about. Following a rip roaring Australian autumn tour, NYC's super-hyped powerhouse Sky Ferreira brought her celebrated set to Splendour for the first time; quashing any lurking haters with some seriously killer vocals. Careening through her debut album Night Time, My Time, Ferreira's Kristen Stewart-like attitude always tends to find an adorable shyness in the midst of it all, balancing explosive opener '24 Hours' with the teenage diary earnestness of 'Boys' to the out-of-the-ballpark vocal set-winner 'You're Not the One'. Image: M. Lowe Little May Harmonies ruled the roost at this year's Splendour, with Sydney folk trio Little May crooning out solid three-parts without blinking an eyelid. Weaving through their First Aid Kit-meets-Tiny Ruins EP Boardwalks, Liz Drummond, Hannah Field and Annie Hamilton drew quite the rowdy crowd, with dudes on shoulders singing every word and possible ooo in rolling single 'Hide'. Image: Little May Violent Soho Bringing the festival rock back to the table, the Brisbane foursome proved they're more than a hyped up, yeah-friendly single. Violent Soho fronted their Vines-meets-Jebediah-meets-Pixies vibe to a rock hungry amphitheatre crowd for a lengthy set of older favourites like 'Jesus Stole My Girlfriend' and crowdpleasing "hell fuck yeah!" single 'Covered in Chrome'. Bassist Luke Henery even brought his three-year-old son Oscar to hang out onstage in giant headphones. The kid literally just stood there and took it all in. Legend. Image: Stephen Booth Future Islands Aside from Outkast, arguably the most talked-about set of the festival (and worth every last utterance). Future Islands' vocalist Samuel T. Herring is Something Else. The high-kicking, wildly expressive, emotionally-charged frontman has one of the most versatile and genuinely powerful voices in the game — with some of the best onstage moves this side of Run DMC vs. Jason Nevins. Fronting brainiac programmer Gerrit Welmers, crisp-as-blazes touring drummer Michael Lowry and the surly multi-guitarist William Cashion, Herring takes audience connection next level — with punters spontaneously growling "seasons chaaa-aaa-aaange..." and thumping their chests for the remainder of the festival. Image: SITG Chrome Sparks First cab off the Sunday rank, Pittsburgh's Chrome Sparks conjured up a midday set in the Mix Up tent worthy of a main stage applause. The brainchild of classical percussionist Jeremy Malvin, Chrome Sparks uses the power of three to play live — and how. The trio's double xylophone breakdowns, swelling collaboration and high energy dance moves had a pumped up crowd leaving their dustiness behind and getting straight into the day. Image: Justin Ma D.D. Dumbo Jaws dropped all over the joint at the Sunday afternoon set from Castlemaine's staggeringly talented D.D. Dumbo. Fronting a looping ability to rival Tune-Yards, his self-made three-part harmonies, layered drum beats and jaunty guitar picking made for one hand-claspingly wonderful set. Celebrated for his ridiculous ability with a 12-string guitar, D.D Dumbo has pricked the ears of the likes of Warpaint, St Vincent and Iron & Wine — most notably with standout single 'Tropical Oceans'. Recently-signed to 4AD, D.D, Dumbo offered up one of the festival's most compelling live sets, one sorely missed once the last loop ran its course. Image: Justin Ma Parquet Courts Punk as fuck, this Brooklyn foursome make an athletic marathon of endurance out of rock music. Charging through latest album Sunbathing Animal and beloved debut Light Up Gold, Parquet Courts stared straight into that pesky sunshine to play through their particular Modern Lovers-meets-Pavement breed of garage punch — with particular mention to singalong single 'Borrowed Time' (although 'Stoned and Starving' fans were left wanting). Image: SITG Courtney Barnett One of Splendour's most anticipated sets, Melbourne's Courtney Barnett proved she's worth every minute of hype. Fresh from significant overseas touring, Glastonbury and Lollapalooza sets and a stint on Jimmy Fallon, Barnett shredded up a solid set with her buds on bass and drums. Fusing her fantastically Australian drawl with fuzzy, scrambly guitar and brilliant ockerisms, Barnett bounced between her two EPs, How To Carve A Carrot Into A Rose and I’ve Got A Friend Called Emily Ferris, melting faces with elongated solos and solid banter with her bassist. First Aid Kit Conjuring harmonies worthy of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Simon and Garfunkel, the Swedish sisters had the Splendour crowd hugging strangers with perfectly placed vocal arrangements. Warmly caressing a chilly Splendour crowd with sweet country sounds, Johanna and Klara Söderberg plunged into their Paul Simon-approved cover of 'America' and finished up with picture-perfect renditions of singles 'The Lion's Roar' and 'Emmylou'. Image: First Aid Kit Darkside A solid final choice for the Splendour programming team. While some punters thought Danny Brown's thunderously kickass, death circle-inducing set could have closed out the day while Lily Allen was dominating the amphitheatre, the artful intensity of Darkside wrapped everything up on a casually mindblowing note. With Nicholas Jaar heading on over to the consistently-better-than-every-other-lineup Red Bull Music Academy stage for a final DJ set, Splendour finished things off with solid beats, big drops and a whole lot of hugs. Image: Tim Jones (Syd Fest) Special Mention: Skywhale Peacefully looming over the North Byron Parklands like the colossal multi-teated guardian we know and love (?), Canberra's Skywhale floated mystically over the dumpling stalls with the breast seat in the house for Childish Gambino. Pulsing its giant saggy nipples over adoring (?) Splendourgoers, Skywhale arrived daily to All The Hurrahs and WTFs. Canberra's weirdest investment became Splendour's most awaited arrival — but remained undeniably weird. Image: Lachlan Johnston Top image: Ian Laidlaw. Friday image: M. Lowe. Saturday and Sunday images: Aimee Catt.
Comedians might not like to brag about their achievements (well, some comedians), but there's no mistaking that Nazeem Hussain has had quite the exciting time over the last few years. The facts speak for themselves: sell-out tours of Australia and Europe, Helpmann and Logie award nominations and hit TV shows aren't the type of things that happen to just anyone. Of course, Hussain's ascent to stardom is just beginning — even if he is already a regular presence on our airwaves and television screens. At his first solo Brisbane shows at this year's Brisbane Comedy Festival, you won't just see this talented comedian live on stage before he gets even bigger — you'll also witness an evening of cerebral and challenging comedy from a performer that tackles politics, race relations and riffs on Cypress Hill song lyrics. Nazeem Hussain is one of our top ten picks to see at the Brisbane Comedy Festival.
We all know that exercise is good for us. We all know that it's much more fun when more than just bending and stretching is involved. That's why you've gotta love the current trend of pop music-themed yoga sessions. Just remember: you're not supposed to be tapping your toes. Hip hop yoga studio Yo! Yoga have already mastered the art of getting the blood pumping to a thumping soundtrack, but they really do just want you to shut up and exercise at their latest class. Because there's a difference between a mixtape kind of playlist and a session dedicated to one particular artist, they're asking you to throw some poses together while Rihanna blasts through their stereo. Umbrellas probably won't be used as a prop, but you can expect to work, possibly jump, sweat bright like a diamond, and find fitness in a happening place. And yes, we know what you're thinking. Alongside Harry Potter yoga, silent yoga, silent disco yoga, cat yoga, blindfolded yoga, hip hop yoga, brewhouse yoga, rooftop yoga, Beyonce yoga, Drake yoga and stand-up paddleboard yoga, there really is a type of yoga for everything.
When you're trying to avoid laser beams, watching a sea adventure unfurl around you, stepping into a room filled with blacklight art and being surrounded by a floral wonderland, real life can wait. Enter Dreamskape, then, and no one will be thinking about what lurks beyond the new Melbourne entertainment complex's doors. Escapism via multi-sensory experiences has been proving big business around Australia in recent years, whether via pop-up dessert museums or sunflower-filled celebrations of Vincent van Gogh. A key difference with this one: this latest series of installations is not only sticking around permanently, but also heralds the beginning of of a new chain. Dreamskape President Joanna Chen and General Manager Fraser Bell are planning to roll out the concept around both Australia and New Zealand, with 20 complexes in their sights within the next five-to-eight years. Their niche is augmented reality, but without the user needing any wearable tech or even to whip out their phone — and with their debut Melbourne location, the pair has started with six activity zones across 770 square metres, featuring 100-plus games and 50 immersive experiences. "We have seen a lot of VR and 3D entertainment emerge over the last decade, but now it's evolving. You don't need a headset or anything like that to engage in experiences like we have at Dreamskape. This makes it so much more accessible to a wide range of people," said Chen. "It's an exciting time for entertainment technology, and we can't wait to see what the future holds as Dreamskape continues to grow nationally," added Bell. Opening at The District Docklands in the Victorian capital from Friday, June 28, 2024, the first Dreamskape is the brand's flagship, with 2.5 kilometres of light and data cabling helping bring it to fruition. All of those wires connect spaces such as Dream Game, where you play through four different ten-minute games; Dream Verse, the site's version of an immersive cinematic experience; and Dream Coaster, an augmented-reality rollercoaster where you sit in a coaster carriage, then get blasted with IRL wind and mist, all amid 270-degree visuals. Hitting up Dreamskape also involves being greeted by QB, the venue's host robot, then seeing the aforementioned blacklight art by Melbourne talents at Dream Light, and also getting immersed in shapes and emojis — and scenery and animals as well — at Dream Immersion. Plus, for folks attending with little ones in tow, Little Dream will get kids turning their drawings into AR art and playing AR soccer. Find Dreamskape Melbourne at Level 1, The District Docklands, 37 Star Crescent, Docklands, Melbourne, from Friday, June 28 — open from 11am–7pm Monday–Wednesday, 11am–10pm Thursday–Friday, and 10am–10pm on weekends and public holidays (except Christmas Day and Good Friday). Head to the venue's website for more details.
If you live in Brisbane, you've heard all about the city's connections with Asia; we are the home of the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, and the new Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival, after all. Since 2013, the BrisAsia Festival has also been on that list, paying homage to the culture of our neighbours. As always, this year's program features another mix of traditional and contemporary Asian arts, channelled into events across Brisbane. It all kicks off with tours — of food around Sunnybank, and of art at GOMA — but the fun really is just beginning. Where do we start? Watch the films of a Hong Kong songstress, attend an Asian pop culture concert or learn the art of tai chi. Or, celebrate the lunar new year in Chinatown, make your own lanterns, listen to traditional Japanese instruments or discover the secrets to your favourite international cuisines.
Order up: The Bear's third season is about to be served. And if you're wondering what's in store when the Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning series returns this winter, a just-dropped first teaser trailer is here to whet your appetite. The main focus of the debut sneak peek: Carmy (Jeremy Allen White, The Iron Claw) in the kitchen. The Bear's namesake restaurant is now open in season three, after Carmy, Sydney (Ayo Edebiri, Bottoms), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach, No Hard Feelings) and the crew transformed their beef-slinging eatery (where season one's action took place) into a fine-diner (with that process fuelling season two). But staying operational is still a struggle, with the new batch of episodes set to chart Carmy's quest for culinary perfection, the reality of levelling up the business, and the stresses that both it and being in the restaurant trade in general bring. Also new: a release date for The Bear's third season. In America and Down under, the show will arrive on Thursday, June 27. In the past, there's always been a wait for Aussie and NZ viewers — season one hit in June in America, then in August in Australia; with season two, US viewers still had a June date, while Aussies and New Zealanders had to wait till July — but thankfully that isn't the case this time. Comfort food and winter do go hand in hand, after all — and since 2022, so have chaotic culinary dramedies and the frostiest time of the year Down Under. It was two years back that The Bear debuted to become one of the best new shows on television. In 2023, it then became one of the best returning shows on TV that year. The Bear was renewed for season three in November 2023 to the surprise of no one, but to the joyous shouts of "yes chef!" from everyone. Also, even though that third season hasn't yet dropped, it looks as if the show has been renewed for its fourth season already as well. If you've missed The Bear so far, its first season jumped into the mayhem when White's Carmy took over the diner after his brother's (Jon Bernthal, We Own This City) death. Before returning home, the chef's resume featured Noma and The French Laundry, as well as awards and acclaim. Then, in season two, Carmy worked towards turning the space into an upscale addition to his hometown's dining scene, with help from the restaurant's trusty team — including a roster of talent also spans Abby Elliott (Indebted) as Carmy's sister Natalie, aka Sugar, plus Lionel Boyce (Hap and Leonard), Liza Colón-Zayas (In Treatment), Edwin Lee Gibson (Fargo) and IRL chef Matty Matheson among the other staff. Check out the first trailer for The Bear season three below: The Bear streams via Disney+ in Australia and New Zealand, with season three arriving on Thursday, June 27. Read our review of season one and review of season two. Images: Chuck Hodes/FX.
Plastic shopping bags might seem to last forever, but Australian's reliance upon the pesky, flimsy carriers has an expiration date — and it's finally here. In a massive move for the industry — and a huge hug for the environment — the country's supermarkets are ditching single-use plastic bags from this week. Last July, three of the country's biggest grocery chains announced that they'll be banning the bag: Woolworths, Coles and the New South Wales-based Harris Farm. Harris Farm stopping stocking bags at the start of the year, and now it's time for the big two to do the same. Coles will pull the plug on Sunday, July 1, while Woolies — which also includes Big W and BWS — will get in first and remove the bags from checkout from this Wednesday, June 20. The move will impact Woolworths and Coles locations around the country — bringing New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia into line with South Australia, ACT, the Northern Territory and Tasmania, where state-wide plastic bans are already in place. So, without the bags, what are your options? Well, you'll still be able to get plastic bags at the checkout at both supermarkets fro 15 cents each. These ones are apparently thicker, more durable and are made from 80 percent recycled plastic — but, even though they're meant to be more reusable, it's hard to say if people will use them any differently to the way they use single-use bags now. Woolworths will also be offering another fold-up 99-cent bag option, as well as the regular, bulkier green bags. If you get your groceries delivered, you'll be able to choose a no-bag option. Queensland will flat-out ban single-use plastic bags from July 1, and Victoria is set to do the same later this year. NSW is the only state that hasn't committed to banning them. Getting rid the ever-present items everyone has too many of is the latest example of Aussie businesses putting the planet first. Bars around the country have banned plastic straws, Closed Loop has been trialling ways to recycle takeaway coffee cups, and reusable coffee cups have been gaining popularity all over the place — with some cafes offering discounts, and others banning disposable containers completely.
As craft and boutique beer become more and more common, the pastime of sinking a few brews become increasingly complicated. Like snooty wine connoisseurs, beer drinkers are now expected to pick up on subtle flavours and new styles. Coffee IPA is a thing that exists, for instance. And, if you're not well trained in the dark (ale) arts, the act of ordering a beer can be a bit daunting. Rookies can now breathe a sigh of relief. Spanish creative agency Txaber have devised a beautiful, simple system to categorise and label beer using every design nerd's favourite, Pantone. Under their labelling, beer names would no longer sound like children's books — looking at you White Rabbit and Little Creatures. Instead, they would simply be categorised by the exact Pantone colour of the liquid. Classed into nine varieties of beer, the system makes clear the important differences between pale ale, lager and pilsner or dark ale, porter and stout. Of course, it makes no mention of the taste, but it's an easy shortcut for those who are more visually minded. Instead of telling the bartender you don't want anything too dark, you can now give them a specific colour level you'd be content with. In fact, in case you can't even deal with the different names, you could just point to an item of clothing the same colour as your desired beer. Pantone really is the great equaliser. Unfortunately there aren't any plans to implement the designs as yet, although the creators are keen for breweries to give them an offer. Personally, we think it's only a matter of time. Who needs a finely crafted, floral-scented summer magic ale when you can have a wheat beer 7412C? A return to basics has never looked so good. Via Mashable. All images via Txaber.
Some scents will always stay with you — and for anyone who grew up eating as many rainbow Paddle Pops as they could manage whenever the weather was warm, that sweet treat's caramel-meets-vanilla aroma is the scent of summer. Now, it can be the fragrance that wafts through your home no matter the season, too, all thanks to a new range of ice cream-flavoured candles and other scented items. The company that's helping turn your home into an ice cream-scented dream: Dusk. Adding to its range of enticingly scented goods, it's now trying to conjure up dessert cravings. Teaming up with Streets, the chain is releasing four different lines all inspired by ice creams, with the full range hitting shelves in-store from Thursday, August 11, and available online now. Obviously, one batch of items is scented like rainbow Paddle Pops, the go-to gem of supermarket freezers. You can choose between two types of candles — one with three wicks, one with two (none with John), and also some misting oil, all of which smells like vanilla bean, strawberry and caramel. Three fellow classic sweet treats are getting the same treatment, too: Golden Gaytime, Bubble O'Bill and Splice. Yes, it's a big time for getting your Golden Gaytime fix in multiple ways, given that Streets has also just paired up with Oak on an Oak chocolate milk-flavoured Golden Gaytime as well. The Golden Gaytime candles smell like toffee, vanilla and chocolate, while the Bubble O'Bill versions will emit the scent of strawberries and raspberries — not bubblegum. As for the Splice, the aroma of pine lime and vanilla will be floating through your home. Dusk's Streets line also includes assorted tealights and melts smelling like all of the above, with prices starting at $14.99 (for a ten-pack of tealights or a four-pack of melts). The oil costs $24.99, the two-wick candles $49.99 and the three-wick candles $59.99. Constantly being hungry for ice cream is about to become your new reality, clearly — and if you also decked out your abode with Gelato Messina candles a few years back, and Tim Tam candles as well, consider this your latest sweet-smelling must-have. Dusk's range of Paddle Pop, Golden Gaytime, Splice and Bubble O'Bill candles, tealights and other scented item hit stores from Thursday, August 11, and are available online now. Head to the company's website for further information.
For fans of George Lucas' sci-fi phenomenon, it's easy to feel the force. More than four decades after Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope first hit cinemas, the space opera has spawned sequels, prequels, spin-off movies and TV series, all manner of celebratory events, and a near-unparalleled type of pop culture frenzy. Now, that humble 1977 movie has also given rise to a dedicated theme park zone, called Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. It's the next best thing to punching it into hyperdrive and zooming to a galaxy far, far away (and, also, it's something that flesh-and-blood folks who aren't fictional characters can actually do). Obviously, the force is particularly strong with this idea. Yes, we've definitely got a good feeling about it as well. First announced back in 2015, Disneyland Resort in California is now welcoming patrons into its 14-acre Galaxy's Edge after a star-studded launch this week — while Walt Disney World in Florida start doing the same at its own similar spot at the end of August. This concept has clearly been in Disney's sights ever since it bought Lucas' company, Lucasfilm, for more than $4 billion back in 2012. Now that it has come to fruition, a world of fun awaits wannabe jedis, rebels and siths (because we all have a dark side). [caption id="attachment_724265" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Joshua Sudock/Disney Parks[/caption] Galaxy's Edge is set on the outpost of Batuu, in village of Black Spire Outpost. It's a hive for smugglers and rogues (naturally), and it's where you'll be wandering around when you're not jumping into the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy and trying to become best buddies with a loveable wookiee. With Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ranking among the site's top highlights, you really do just that, aka sit in the driver's seat of Han Solo's beloved ship. It's not open yet, but later this year you'll also be able to take part in Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, where you'll get caught in the middle of a battle between the Resistance and the First Order. [caption id="attachment_724272" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Kent Phillips/Disney Parks[/caption] The theme park zone's other huge standout is boozy watering hole Oga's Cantina, which brings alcohol to the California spot for the first time. Here, the drinks come with names such as Carbon Freeze, Oga's Obsession and Cliff Dweller, and are served in unique vessels while you sit at the counter or get cosy in a booth. And because every good cantina has its own vibe, this one gets some help from DJ R-3X, the former droid pilot from Star Tours. Relax, sip and try not to shoot first. [caption id="attachment_724271" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] David Roark/Disney Parks[/caption] Elsewhere, if you're a hands-on type, you can construct your own R2-D2 or BB-8-style droids, which you can then take home with you. Or, build your own unique lightsaber, then take a few Jedi lessons so you know how to use it. You can also pick up Resistance or First Order supplies, look for rare goods at Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities and find a new friend at the Creature Stall (if you haven't noticed, plenty of these attractions involve purchasing some merchandise or a keepsake, because of course they do). And if all of this shopping is making you thirsty, the Milk Stand serves up exactly what everyone wants: blue — and green — milk. When you're not giving your Star Wars skills and your wallet a workout, you can enjoy the finest food that Black Spire Outpost has to offer. Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo takes the form of a multi-purpose transport shuttle docked in a hangar, and is basically an intergalactic food truck, with 'Smoked Kaadu Ribs' (aka pork ribs) and 'Ithorian Garden Loaf' (aka a plant-based meatloaf alternative) on the menu. At Ronto Roasters, spit meats are cooked up on a recycled podracing engine, while Kat Saka's Kettle sells street food snacks. [caption id="attachment_724274" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Richard Harbaugh/Disney Parks[/caption] Expect to spy an array of beloved characters roaming around as well — there's certainly room for it, with Galaxy's Edge marking the biggest single-themed expansion to both parks. The guiding concept is to "transport guests to a never-before-seen planet, a remote trading port and one of the last stops before wild space where Star Wars characters and their stories come to life." And, to give this interactive experience the requisite soundtrack, it'll features new Star Wars music by the man behind its iconic score, aka Oscar-winning composer John Williams. If you're going to be on the US West Coast between now and June 23, tickets have already been snapped up; however once the booked-out opening period ends, you'll be able to head to Disneyland's Galaxy's Edge as part of your regular entry. Eventually, visitors in Florida will also be able to spend a night or several in an immersive Star Wars-themed hotel as well, although construction hasn't started yet and an opening date hasn't been announced either. That said, Disney recently revealed that a visit to the hotel will involve boarding a launch pod and taking part in "a fully-immersive, multi-day Star Wars adventure aboard a luxury starship", with high-end dining and cabins that apparently have a space view all part of your stay. For more information about Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland, and to book park tickets, visit the park's website. Via Disney Theme Parks Blog. Images: Disney Theme Parks Blog.
