In a couple of months, when it's time to see how 101 Dalmatians' Cruella De Vil came to be such a villain, moviegoers will have two choices. When the end of May hits, you'll be able to see the Emma Stone-starring Cruella on the big screen — or you'll be able to sit on your couch, jump onto Disney+, pay an extra fee and check it out from home. More of a Marvel kind of film fan? Been looking forward to Black Widow, which was originally supposed to release in cinemas last April but has been delayed several times due to the pandemic? You'll have the same pair of options when that flick releases in July, too — a couple of months later than was last slated, but still in the very near future. Disney has announced that the two big movies will go the same route as Raya and the Last Dragon, which made its way to cinemas and Disney+ at the same time at the beginning of this month. The news is hardly surprising, given that theatres in different parts of the world are at different stages of reopening — or, in some cases, still closed. Indeed, after over a year of holding off from making move with Black Widow, the Mouse House just might be setting the template for its releases moving forward. So, you can expect to see Cruella in cinemas on Thursday, May 27 and on Disney+ the next day, on Friday, May 28. As for Black Widow, it'll hit the silver screen on Thursday, July 8 and then become available to stream on Friday, July 9. Because neither film will be included in your regular Disney+ subscription, just how much extra you'll pay to watch them at home hasn't been revealed — but Raya and the Last Dragon costs $34.99 on top of your monthly or annual fee, so that's a good guide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmRKv7n2If8 If you'd been looking forward to Pixar's next flick, the Italian-set Luca, you'll also be able to watch that at home from Friday, June 18. In this case, though, it's completely bypassing cinemas, and it won't cost you anything extra to see on Disney+. The animation studio's last movie, the gorgeous and moving Soul, did the same last Christmas — so again, this isn't unexpected in the slightest. Last year, Disney moved Pixar's Onward to streaming when cinemas started closing, then did the same with the terrible Artemis Fowl, the phenomenal filmed version of Hamilton and the visually impressive live-action Mulan, too — so yes, this is becoming a trend. Recognising that viewers want choice when it comes to watching big-name new-release movies was always bound to happen, of course, but the pandemic has certainly sped up the process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdAIBlPVe9s Cruella will release in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, May 27 and on Disney+ on Friday, May 28. Black Widow will hit the big screen on Thursday, July 8 and then become available to stream on Friday, July 9. And Luca will hit Disney+ on Friday, June 18. Top images: Black Widow, photo by Jay Maidment. © Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved / Cruella, photo by Laurie Sparham. © 2021 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.
If it's ethereal indie folk you're after, Dustin Tebbutt is your man. The New England native's music is described by his record label as "the music for your autumns and winters" which, in our opinion, couldn't be more accurate. The haunting isolation that comes through his high echoey vocals and crisp acoustic guitar certainly create feelings of isolation and introspection. Well, it's a good thing he's coming to town as the temperature is starting to drop. Tebbutt's latest national tour is for his latest EP, Bones, and it's gorgeous. First single 'Bones' is much like what we saw on debut EP The Breach; incredibly entrancing music that has the ability to transport its listeners far away from anyone or anything. If you enjoy the thoughtful sounds of Bon Iver or Sigur Rós, then Dustin Tebbutt is a local boy you definitely shouldn't miss. The Armidale local had a good ol' chat to Concrete Playground about roasting coffee, living in Sweden and working with Oliver Tank, right smack in the midst of his national tour. So you're on tour at the moment, and all of your shows are pretty much sold out. How has it all gone so far? It's been really great. We've got a really good crew and they're all people I know really well, so it's just like hanging out with friends really! The shows have been really nice, it's a big difference selling out shows and knowing there'll be a lot of people there to see you, as opposed to driving halfway across the county and ending up with 20 people in a room. It's been amazing and everyone has been really receptive so far, so it's good. Is this your first time performing with a band? What has that been like for you? We did Falls Festival with the band and a festival in March in Sydney with the guys, but they were really just warm up shows to get it all up and running. This is the first tour that we have headlined and the first time we've been on the road together. We've got a chance to do a few shows back to back, which has been really good. It has allowed us to have a closer look at the songs and workshop stuff a bit too. You have also done some international touring earlier this year, how was the reception to your music overseas? I was really surprised actually! I've been really lucky here to have the support of triple j and FBi that have allowed me to get in front of a lot of people quite quickly. Overseas that hasn't really been happening, it's just been word of mouth over the internet. The London show sold out and the New York show sold out, and the one in Amsterdam was packed, so it was really surprising to see that. It's kind of weird because it's very passive, going to these far away places and people happen to know about you! It's strange but it's nice. This tour is showcasing your recently released second EP Bones. Did the songs come together in a different way to your debut EP The Breach? It was a similar process in a way. Quite a few of the songs on Bones started out in the same place as The Breach, and they were kind of the ones I started writing a bit closer to the end of that period overseas. I wasn't quite finished with them when I got back but they all came from a very similar place — a lot of the themes are pretty similar as well. I think I learned a lot with The Breach EP production-wise and my own writing process, and I think Bones was more of a way to experiment with that and refine it a bit more. In a way I think they are both from the same chapter of my life, we'll have to see what the next one is. https://youtube.com/watch?v=FzdxNjwsoAI There is a wonderful remix of The Breach by Oliver Tank on the Bones EP. You two seem like a match made in heaven, how did that collaboration come about? I had seen him when he was supporting James Blake at the Opera House in Sydney, and when he first put out his EP years ago was when I just got back to Australia and I was listening to it a lot up in Armidale. It just kind of captured me straight away, I just sent him an e-mail just to see if he was interested and we just took it from there. I gave him a lot of creative control and said, "There's no agenda here, I just want you to make something that you're happy with." He took his time with it and when I heard it back for the first time it blew my mind, it was so stunning. I'm really happy that we got the chance to work together. So let's go back a bit, you moved to Sweden for two years and that is where song from The Breach EP were conceived. What drew you to Sweden and how did living their influence your music? Originally I was living in Melbourne just before that and I was playing in a few bands and roasting coffee, and my life was very sorted and on a trajectory. I just felt the need to shake it up a little bit. I had a friend who had grown up in Sweden and he was out here as well making music at the time. He told me about the scene over there and how the music is a bit different and I started to get intrigued by that, to the point where I had to go and check it out for myself. When I got there I didn't have any preconceived notions of what it would be like, so I was a bit of a sponge. Spending a lot of time with a small group of people writing music in winter, we stayed in this little country town an hour south of Stockholm for three months and it was insane. It was like the images you see on the Sigur Rós covers. It was such a beautiful place and to be so far away in a different environment was pretty inspiring. You came home to produce and record The Breach in your home studio that you built in Armidale. Do you prefer this set up to a fully-equipped professional sound studio? I really do. I actually did a lot of the drum tracking within a bigger space, which was really good because it's efficient and easy and there's not really anything logistically getting in your way. But the studio that I built was tiny; I could only just fit an office chair in there. But it made you solve problems differently, maybe instead of setting up a new microphone or getting a new guitar, because that would take you eight minutes to change everything over, you didn't. Or you couldn't fit the instrument in the room properly, so you'd play it upside down. The whole set up made me make all of these interesting choices that contributed to the overall sound of the record. If you go to a big studio where a lot of bands have tracked you risk sounding like every other record that has been made in that room. I didn't want to do that, I wanted to do my own thing and it might not have been the easiest way to do it! But I'm really happy with how it worked out. https://youtube.com/watch?v=OysNiYXWga0 Your music is very distinctive; ethereal and complex. Who would you say are your musical influences? Laura Veirs, a Canadian-born singer-songwriter, she and her husband have made six albums together now and he is one of my favourite producers. She was a geologist and she has this amazing vocabulary for songwriting and she tells the most beautiful stories through geographical metaphors. It's just stunning; she's one of my all time favourites. I guess I listened to a fair bit of Bon Iver when that first record came out, and Jeff Buckley when I was growing up, that's probably where the falsetto comes from. You've produced two wonderful EP's, any plans on releasing a debut LP album this year? I'm working really hard to make that happen. At the moment there's not a deadline, I don't want to put anything out that I'm not completely happy with. I'm just writing as many songs as I can and trying to finish them off when they feel ready. It would be really nice to get something out this year, but I'm not making any promises (laughs). What else has this year got in store for you once you've finished the Bones tour? We're heading up to Splendour in July, which will be awesome. Going to drop in to Armidale on the way back — I haven't been there for a few months so that will be good to catch up with some people there. In August there will be a festival in Port Hedland so we'll head up there for a few days. Missy Higgins is playing and the Kite String Tangle, and a few other people I'm looking forward to sharing the stage with so that will be nice. A lot of song writing this year I think, it should be a lot of fun. TOUR DATES: WED 14 MAY - Northcote Social Club, Melbourne (SOLD OUT) THU 15 MAY - Northcote Social Club, Melbourne (SOLD OUT) FRI 16 MAY - Northcote Social Club, Melbourne (SOLD OUT) TUE 20 MAY - Newtown Social Club, Sydney (SOLD OUT) WED 21 MAY - Newtown Social Club, Sydney (SOLD OUT) THUR 22 MAY - Newtown Social Club, Sydney (SOLD OUT) FRI 23 MAY - Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane SAT 26 JULY - Splendour in the Grass, Byron Bay
At most, I expected to tolerate I'm Your Man. It is, after all, about boxing, for which I (and, let's generalise, most theatregoing folk) care not. So it came as a surprise when I loved I'm Your Man, and if you allow yourself to be transported through the doors of Belvoir Downstairs into a so-real-seeming boxing gym, creator/director Roslyn Oades and her multitalented, impressively athletic cast ensure you will, too. My (self-appointed) job is to convince you to take that first step and turn up. I'm Your Man spends time with the fighters, trainers and aspirants at a Sydney gym, and one in particular, Billy Dib, as he gears up for his world title fight. Oades spent 18 months observing and gathering interviews with these athletes, scratching at the psychology and culture that makes them. Her little bit journalistic, little bit anthropological documentation is distilled through a technique she's pioneered called headphone-verbatim, last seen in her Stories of Love and Hate. Rather than memorising the lines, the actors have the recorded audio from these interviews fed to them onstage through headsets and focus on wholly and accurately replicating the subtleties of speech. It might sound awkward, but it really works. We're used to theatre speech being worlds removed from everyday speech, and there are some great verbal quirks — fast-talking, stumbling, on-the-run grammar — that would normally never survive the flattening of the rehearsal process. These rediscovered idiosyncrasies of voice prove totally bewitching, and it's a neat antidote to theatrey declamation. (Plus, no complaints about dodgy accents here.) But more than just document, I'm Your Man immerses you in its characters' world. Even before you see your seats, the walk down the corridor carries you into another, intoxicating world — one where whitewashed walls brandish fight posters, articles, autographs and inspirational quotes; one that sounds of fists hitting vinyl and sneakers squealing against the lino. It smells thankfully not of sweat but of Deep Heat. It's powerful. You soon get a sense for just how this milieu might become a clubhouse, and a comfort. The sharp observation extends to the gym-bright but cleverly flexible fluorescent lighting (Neil Simpson), evocatively ringside sound (Bob Scott), and host of behaviours, exercises and rituals enacted by the performers (Mohammed Ahmad, Billy McPherson, Katia Molino, Justin Rosniak and John Shrimpton). The wrapping of wrists is hypnotic. In place of the usual dramatic climaxes, you want to clap feats of core strength and skipping. These actors may not have memorised lines, but they've been doing some hardcore practice. Often Billy Dib and his team seem to make boxing bear the weight of dreams and ideals bigger than it could possibly contain. Their stories of struggle, migration, self-improvement and community admiration come together to produce insight into the motivations of people who pursue something that most of us don't understand, and in some cases, can't abide. I'm Your Man acknowledges that real-life violence and the competitive violence of sport are not wholly disentwined; it just won't let the violence be the whole story. After earning their trust over many months, Oades clearly had her subjects open up to her, and she's honoured that trust by using their words with warmth, empathy and unflinching honesty. This review was written about the January 2012 run of this production at Belvoir St Theatre - catch the current production at the Brisbane Powerhouse this week.
Sport and the internet seem to have a love-hate relationship. The extra exposure can make athletes more human, but a mis-placed tweet can land them in hot water; the web can open up new audiences, but illegal streams of event coverage can encourage fans to stay home. Sony Ericsson, the US Open and foursquare have teamed up to see what tech can bring to tennis. The 2011 US Open is set to become the first integrated foursquare sporting event. Fans will be encouraged to check-in at each of the courts, unlocking prizes, and if they become mayor of a court, the chance to do the pre-match coin toss. Sounds like a neat idea to encourage attendance, but perhaps foursquare will be the real winners in the deal, gaining a partnership that puts them one up against other check-in apps, and providing prime exposure to the 300,000 tennis fans expected to attend. Hopefully the web-sport crossovers won't stop there. Perhaps clubs will do away with expensive managers and just use the fantasy league picks of their fans? Or perhaps CrickiLeaks will be the source of all new cricket scandals? Let's just stay away from chatroulette while Warney is still around though...
Is your favourite spirit distilled from juniper berries, plus other botanicals? Does it go ridiculously well with tonic? Then you'll want to be sipping riverside until Sunday, August 27. Howard Smith Wharves is celebrating gin with ample drinks at a festival it's calling HSW Gin Week — and, clearly, there's no prizes for guessing what everyone will be knocking back. There are a few aspects to this end-of-winter festival. First up, the riverside precinct's venues — including Mr Percival's, Felons Brewing Co and Felons Barrel Hall, Ciao Papi, Stanley, Yoko, Greca and Fiume — are all serving up cocktails heroing gin in a variety of ways. Some are going traditional, while others are embracing local drops or varieties with distinctive flavours. If you're keen to taste them all, you've got yourself a gin trail. Fancy hanging out in a gin garden? Head along from 4pm on Friday and 12pm on Saturday and Sunday for sips in leafy surroundings thanks to Fever-Tree, Hendrick's and Archie Rose. Whichever day you choose, live music will also soundtrack your afternoon and evening. And, at Stanley on Sunday, August 27, Ambleside Distillers is also launching its Mandarin Gin Batch 4 on the side deck bar from 12pm. To line your stomach, Louis Tikaram, the restaurant's head chef, is doing a curated menu of snacks designed to go perfectly with the new drop.
Imagine an informercial, but instead of steak knives and stain-proof trousers, this one's selling nothing less than The Great Society itself. You've got your host, Michael Moore, waddling his way from one set piece to the next and reacting with staged incredulity to every deal and reveal ("you get HOW MUCH annual leave in Italy!?") Then there are the interviews, not strictly scripted, but painstakingly selected to ensure they provide every piece of tantalising information without any of the fine print or shortcomings. And, finally, the offer: "Act NOW to adopt the Norwegian penitentiary system and we'll throw in Finnish tertiary studies ABSOLUTELY FREE!" The thing is, unlike so many of those late night absurdities, this one's genuinely enticing. The premise of Moore's latest documentary is a simple one: America hasn't won a war since WWII, so he's giving the US Armed Forces a well-earned stand down order and is instead single-handedly invading countries to steal the things America's most desperately in need of, including France's healthy school lunches, Germany's recognition of past national atrocities, and Italy's fair workplace conditions. Yes, Moore is selective in his 'spoils of war', only showing us the instances where such programs work, but as a model for better government, better business…better living, it's a forgivable choice. Unlike many of Moore's previous films such as Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Capitalism: A Love Story, there's a refreshing absence of cynicism in Where To Invade Next. Even with the overarching message, which basically boils down to "look how much better than us the world does these things", the film ends by reminding us how so many of those initiatives were born in America and, with just a little legislative courage, could easily be reintroduced to sudden and sweeping effect. Greed, unsurprisingly, is identified by Moore as the chief source of America's ills, and it's no grand revelation that the privatisation of prisons, schools and healthcare invariably precipitates a clash between value and values. However, as Moore seeks to prove, a healthy and educated society where welfare is considered a strength rather than an embarrassment is, in the long run, both a cheaper and a more productive one. Moore's trademark one-liners, musical gags and, for want of a better term, 'clowning', repeatedly threaten to distract (or even detract) from his message. Thankfully he demonstrates enough reserve throughout to let the compelling facts speak largely for themselves. And they are compelling, speaking directly to many of the same shortcomings here in Australia that few would deny are in need of significant redress. Most notable of these are Norway's humane treatment of incarcerated criminals to combat recidivism, and Iceland's massively increased female representation at the executive level across both business and politics. This is a film that shows you how things can be done better, then compels you to ask why it's not already the case. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KeAZho8TKo
When Lunar New Year rolls around, there's one obvious place to go in Brisbane: the Chinatown Mall. Lion dances will saunter through the Fortitude Valley spot, firecrackers will light up the night, markets will tempt your wallet and a Vietnamese clay figures workshop will teach you a new skill — but it isn't the only place in the vicinity getting into the celebratory mood. Also joining in to mark the Year of the Rabbit are the Brunswick Street Mall, where traditional and dance music will provide the entertainment alongside comedy, drumming, martial arts and an LED lion show — and Bakery Lane, which'll have roving performances. [caption id="attachment_758021" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Tanya Dedyukhina via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] It all happens from 4–8pm on Saturday, January 21, and entry won't cost you a thing. And if you're wondering about the tastiest part of Lunar New Year celebrations — the food, obviously — you'll be in the absolute best place thanks to Chinatown's many eateries (and the Valley's in general). We recommend booking in advance, though, as you won't be the only one with that idea. Top image: J Low via Flickr.
In Her's almost certainly near future, Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore Twombly — a gentle, retiring man who works at BeautifulHandwrittenLetters.com penning heartfelt correspondence between people he's never met. In his personal life, his wife (Rooney Mara) has left him and now communicates exclusively via their lawyers. In short, nobody really talks anymore. Then one day he buys and installs a new operating system called 'OS1' — an artificially intelligent construct that names herself, or rather itself, 'Samantha' (voiced to perfection by Scarlett Johansson). At first Samantha simply streamlines Theodore's life, triaging his emails and encouraging him to get out more, but gradually, as she evolves and learns more from their interactions, they begin to fall in love. It seems ridiculous, yes, but thanks to Spike Jonze's masterful script and direction, it never really feels it, and that's what makes HER the first must-see film of 2014. it is a beautiful, imaginative and provocative offering by Jonze that asks some fascinating questions about the direction love is taking in the technological age. Read our full review here. Her is out on DVD, Blu- ray and digital download on May 22, and thanks to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, we have 15 DVDs to give away. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email us with your name and address. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au https://youtube.com/watch?v=1awGTPsEmiU
Sometimes you just need a little escape. You need cuddles, you need adventure, you need wine. In those times, both Queenstown and Wanaka are perfect backdrops in which to drink and dine at world-class eateries, stay at some very cosy accommodation, have some adventure-filled antics and spend time with the person who makes you feel like thousands of years of romantic poets have. Queenstown is an all-embracing renaissance city with more on offer than any holiday or pocket can stand. Although it is known as a ski town it also offers every other kind of activity – from wine tours on bike to sky diving. Its eclectic streets are packed equally with Lacoste-clad preppy folk as well as dreadlocked backpackers. Over the hill, Wanaka is a more easy going, quirky alternative where you can go watch films in an old drive-in inspired cinema, hike in one of the most beautiful national parks and go horseback riding. Eat Inside its neat little 4 x 4 town centre, Queenstown packs a culinary punch. It would take a decent part of a season to eat one's way through it all in order to write about all of the noteworthy eateries. Nevertheless, we definitely picked up a few new favourites on our most recent trip. Should you want to break your steak glass ceiling – and have the best steak you will possibly ever try in your lifetime – you'll want to promptly book yourself a table at Jervois Steak House. There you will be served with juicy, tender steaks that could be cut with a butter knife, practically. Steaks range in price from $39 for a petite eye fillet to $140 for a beautifully marbled, well-massaged, grain-fed, Japanese Wagyu beef. Jervois Steak House's excellent steaks fall in line with its culinary mission to properly pay homage to and reintroduce customers to traditional English and New Zealand food – many menu items read like the kind of garden variety dishes you'd be able to construct out of a shop from a supermarket near you (onion rings, brocollini, creamed spinach, croquettes etc.). The difference is the absolute quality of the ingredients used by Jervois and the sheer passion infused into the meals which plucks the meals from banality and converts them into something completely fresh. For example, the Yorkshire pudding – which was originally invented to be a first course meal filled with thick, cheap gravy so that guests wouldn't eat too much of the more expensive second course – here becomes a beautiful, interactive DIY pie with bacon, beef and the finest of fillings. Other (more typically fancy) dishes, like the buttered crayfish are executed amazingly as well, and still with that same warmth and passion mentioned before (the crayfish tasted like a buttery embrace from an old friend). Jervois Steak House is basically the love child of high-end dining and a casual steak house. This idea permeates not just the menu but the entire setting. Waiters, for example, are trained in silver service but dress in butchers' aprons and sneakers. It's a dichotomy that works and one you should definitely experience first-hand. Another lovely restaurant to visit in Queenstown central is Madam Woo. Established by the Michelin-starred Josh Emmett, the sassy Malaysian-inspired lady is an approachable, charming local favourite. Looks-wise Ms Woo is a total keeper. She's fresh without being annoyingly trendy and incorporates her heritage without being stuffy and archaic. With meals designed to be shared, you're looking at getting about three to four dishes between the two of you. Highlights of the menu include the eggplant hawker roll, which is a heap of fresh mint, cucumber, shredded lettuce and eggplant piled into a taco-shaped pie (or for those with a more enlightened food vocabulary, a roti). The hawker roll manages to nail all sorts of cravings in each mouthful – spicy meets fresh meets salad meets the pie-esque roti. The honey and soy tossed squid is also quite a crowd pleaser, especially for those of the sweet tooth persuasion. Lastly, No5, which is situated below the incredible suites at The Spire, is a good, classy little cocktail bar to visit. Cocktail options range from the likes of the Absinthe Mansinthe – a traditional absinthe which was commissioned by Marlin Manson, to the Burning Man – a showmen's drink consisting of Woodford Reserve bourbon, grapefruit, burn sugar and smoke. The drinks menu is a niche, well-designed and unique mixture of cocktails, but should your regular favourite not be featured, the very capable and talented bartenders can easily make you an amazing custom cocktail from scratch. No5 is also a restaurant and does a pretty well-priced mezze which follows the Greek/Turkish custom of serving many small dishes simultaneously or in succession for the entire table. The mezze is priced at either $50 (dishes only), $60 (includes dessert) or $100 (includes three matching local wines). A little bit further out of town is my absolute favourite of the region, Arrowtown's Saffron. It is a well established fact that the best ideas are sketched out on napkins, which is exactly how Saffron started. The restaurant which specialises in beautiful, seasonal and local fare serves what can be best described as hunter's food with a quirky bowtie on. The incredibly well thought-out, intuitive, visionary meals that Saffron dish up reduced this reviewer into a primal gurgle on her visit (albeit a quiet one – it's a pretty upmarket place after all). It's hard to write about the restaurant even now without feeling my mouth salivating. The paua tortellini, for example, was just a creamy beautiful symphony of flavours while their tender lamb was soft enough to swallow after one chew. Another favourite was the goat's cheese sorbet with amaretto-soaked dates which was served as a dessert. Sweet, warm, cold, fresh, comforting – it was pure genius. Although we only tried a handful of meals, I would venture that every single meal on the menu would be able to make the culinary equivalent of those Greatest Hits albums we all had in the '90s. I do not throw around the word 'must-do' lightly, but this is definitely one. Oh, and be sure to drop in to the Blue Door next door after dinner for a drink inside a cosy, cavernous bar. Over the hill, Wanaka has been developing some great restaurants too. Kika, the newly opened younger sister to Francesca's Italian Kitchen, is a notable mention. Serving Italian shared meals such as tea-smoked duck salad and patata fritte the trendy eatery accommodates all appetite sizes. Stay In order to soak in the most impressive bathtub in town, a stay at The Spire is imperative. With a perfectly crafted, wide and deep bowl, the bath has a way of letting hours pass in a steamy sigh of relaxation. Open the bathroom shutters up to a glorious view of the Remarkables for an even higher level of perfection to your bathtub experience. There really is nothing like it. Afterwards, clad with a complimentary, fluffy bathtub and slippers sit back into the leather armchair with a cup of tea (whichever type you prefer from the wide selection) and a sense of satisfaction that won't leave you for the duration of your stay. In fact, the only downside to this level of comfort offered by The Spire is the fact that it makes it near impossible to leave the room to enjoy the rest of Queenstown's offerings and eateries. With a cosy fireplace lit and cloud-like bedsheets to sink into, bunkering up with the significant other and never leaving the room – not even for food (room service is available) – is an easy choice, but for those who wish to stretch their legs just a little bit without hitting Queenstown's sometimes biting cold, the downstairs No5 is always there as a halfway house. The Spire is an absolute accommodation favourite and definitely something special for the two of you to enjoy together – even if you have to save up for it. Nearby, Arrowtown House Boutique Hotel also offers an excellent, deep bowl of a bathtub which is almost swimmable. Although the Arrowtown House, as the self-explanatory name states, is in Arrowtown– which is about a 15-minute drive from Queenstown – it is incredibly close to Arrowtown's central district which offers its own little collection of unique eateries, making a night-time food-motivated hike to Queenstown redundant. Breakfast at Arrowtown House is another highlight: a three-course meal with homemade pastry dishes and seasonal produce from award-winning chef and co-owner Jeanette. A little bit further out of town, a stay at the historic vineyard Kinross Cottages is a beautiful escape where a raft of chatty ducks – Jemima, Crispy, Pancake and l'Orange – will welcome you upon arrival. The ducks have so much personality that they've become quite Instagram famous and co-manager Adam Ross has even been dubbed The Duckfather. The cottages are all self-serviced, with pictures of the original Kinross family who ran a trading post on the site in 1860s decorating the walls. Kinross still has an on-site general store, but nowadays it also houses a cellar door where you can sip on five of the nearby Gibbston Wines. For those wanting to see the vines where the local wines' grapes were grown from up close, bikes can be hired from Kinross in order to take on the 8.7km Gibbston River Ride (which forms part of Queenstown trail) nearby. A post-bike hot tub session near the duck pond finishes off the day perfectly. For those who'd like a little bit more of an intimate host-to-guest experience, a small bed and breakfast such as the Riverview Terrace in Wanaka is quite a nice option. Run by a local winemaker, James McElrea (who just recently started his own delicious label called Black Peak) and hospitality veteran, Nicky McElrea, guests at the Riverview are no sooner welcomed than small, delicious nibbles are placed within arms' reach and glasses of wine hug their hands. The private hot spa overlooking Albert Town and the nearby Mount Burke makes for a pretty little spot to relax in. Do While skiing or snowboarding is a stalwart winter activity in Queenstown and Wanaka, many snow virgins find their initiation a little bit unnerving – which is why The Remarkables (alongside Coronet Peak) have assembled a four-day beginners pack for a steal at $499. For those who fall in love with the snow, an upgrade to a season pass is just another $100 extra. The Remarkables ski field, which is the closest skiing turf to Queenstown (about half an hour's drive) is a laid-back ski field geared at intermediate and beginner snowboarders looking to have a good time.* *Ice bar included. Another good ski field to try out currently is Cardrona, a park and blue skiers' paradise and the the highest ski field in the area at 1670m - 1860m in altitude, making snow coverage guaranteed from season start to finish – even during this pretty hot winter the region's having. While the weather gods (in particular those in charge of the snow department) might still not be fully cooperating with the wishes of thousands of locals and snow carvers alike, there are also plenty of off-mountain activities to fill your calendar with. For one, Skyline Stargazing offers lovers an opportunity to give gazing into each others' eyes a miss in order to take in the skies above. Secondly, if you're going to go and fall in love (with all the trappings that come with it: fear, vulnerability, learning how to trust, excitement etc.), you might as well replicate those emotions and fall out of a plane as well. NZONE Skydive offers packages for the latter. With over 25 years of experience – which translates to up to 25,000 dives in experience for the most experienced tandem jumpers – you're in safe hands. They are New Zealand's first Tandem Skydiving operation too, after all. You've also got what is probably the best skydiving view in the country, which you can appreciate while hurtling at 200km/hour towards a little farm nestled between the Remarkables and Lake Wakatipu. Skydiving is honestly one of the most surreal experiences a human can have and couples visiting Queenstown should definitely make some time in-between candlelit dinners and hot spas to try it out together. Thirdly, taking some time to go on foot through the Mount Aspiring National Park near Wanaka is well, erhum, inspiring. The DOC visitor centre in Wanaka can provide you with detailed maps, assurance and advice for which tracks to follow to find awe-inspiring beauty compliments of nature. The Rob Roy Glacier track would be my pick. For those who prefer to explore nature on hoof, Backcountry Saddle Expeditions offers a two-hour horse trek near Cardrona through high country farming plateaus and a historic gold mining valley. Another Wanaka favourite is a visit to the drive-in themed Cinema Paradiso, for a more relaxed night out. After all your adventuring together, a session at the well-known and very romantic Onsen Hot Pools in Arthurs Point near Queenstown rounds off any full-on trip nicely.
You may know Mike Mills for his music videos, posters, album covers, artist books - he's a man of many pursuits. Having directed his first feature length film Thumbsucker (2005), his new film, Beginners, is a considered and tightly-tuned autobiographical account of love, generation gaps and expectations. Tom Melick meets him in a beige-smothered hotel room. He wears a suit, looks overworked and speaks with a casual generosity. I was wondering, with the disciplines you seem to swim in (graphic design, illustration, music, film, graffiti, photography and so on) do you think of your output as one inter-connected 'total artwork' or are they distinct in your mind? Well, lots of themes and interests run across all the work I do – so in one very important way they are all interrelated – they kind of help each other. I guess I like being busy in my head because I'm happy when I have all these projects running concurrently. So there is definitely cross-pollination going on. Obviously making a film is so different from making a poster or a record cover. Film is such a public thing; you need so many people, you have to source all that money – it's a political affair. So they relate and they totally don't relate. Ok ok, so they sit on a similar conceptual ground but not on a practical one? Yes, my projects are linked through the deeper themes they explore…or just wanting to be creative, or simply wanting to talk to people. I mean the excitement I might have for a poster or a Fellini film is a similar excitement. I'm interested in joining these (not so) different realms. Elvis Costello supposedly said that his songs had to 'work' even when played through the cheapest transistor radio. I thought that a similar want is present in your work, where expressing the idea is paramount, with the medium being a result of the idea. Beginners is a film that contains a lot of other mediums – text, still images of presidents, stars and nature, graffiti, colour that fills the entire screen…does the idea come first for you, followed by the appropriate vehicle? I see. Well, I went to art school and studied with a conceptual artist named Hans Haake, so really I've always thought of myself as a product of those classes because Haake was all about [fingers jumping into action]: 1. That the idea comes first – the idea is primary and; 2. The medium is secondary, or serves the idea. If you think about it this enabled me to construct my own kind of career, giving me permission to do lots of things all at once. Haake was all about how to get out of the verified art world, since it really can be like contained theatre: you can do anything you want but you're not really sure what the impact is. It's exclusive, it's integrated with money – and not just any kind of money – rich people money. So from art school my friends and I looked for other outlets. So is that what drew you to film, in that it's less about speaking to the already converted and more about an immersive engagement? Sure, yeah, definitely. Film offers a much bigger discussion. I mean Beginners isn't exactly a huge blockbuster film but I've already been to many countries, I've been all over America, I'm talking to all kinds of people who may not be ready to see an older gay man on screen for example…people who have never thought about Fellini or the Situationists – so that's really powerful. Film offers an amazing opportunity. In the States when I'm on tour I do a lot of those morning breakfast shows…and I'm really proud that my Dad's story can be relayed via that kind of platform. Even the fact that my film re-looks at the 'all-American' family, or what constitutes a 'normal family', finds an unlikely audience through those shows. This platform is much more interesting for me then presenting the same idea in a museum or gallery. What interested me about Beginners was the father - played excellently by Christopher Plummer - who tells his son (Oliver) he is gay late in life. The father undergoes a kind of re-politicization – where suddenly he is going to gay nightclubs, has a boyfriend and begins writing papers as a gay activist…living a hyper-political life but at the same time nearing death from terminal cancer. Was this mix of politics couched in humour and sadness an intentional strategy, or did it come quite naturally? Hmm…a bit of both actually. I'm interested in asking how we got here. Which is very Marxist in a way. I like the idea of addressing a political position in an entertainment context, accompanied by humor or silliness. Like Situationist graffiti mixed with Groucho Marx. Humor is fantastically subversive, and why not? For me it's an awesome anti-depressant, it's just fun to laugh than to not, you can really undermine and reveal the false stories that we all pretend to believe in. Humour is great way to discuss bigger themes without needing to be explicit – when I show people my films they don't need to know about Guy Debord even though I was thinking of him at times during its making. I like that. I see, it reminds me of Charlie Chaplin's 1940 film The Great Dictator where he simultaneously plays both the lowly Jewish barber as well as a fumbling, insecure version of Hitler himself. Yeah exactly…but even that is more overtly political. I've just been reading about Chaplin actually. There is so much hunger in Chaplin's humor for example. There are so many food gags or just depictions of being hungry, of people trying to find or make food…so there is definitely a class consciousness embedded in Chaplin's humor – he's quite a punk in that way, always a vandal, always in prison, never cooperating. You focus a lot on the distance between generations in the film. We see Oliver [played by Ewan McGregor] dealing with his dying father and trying to understand love at the same time – both in his own life and in his father's. I wondered what you thought about how each generation re-invents what it means to be in a relationship, what it means to be in love at a certain time and so on. As historical beings the personal is political…the genesis of all of this comes from my real Dad having to grapple with social constructions of what constitutes a relationship. Being born in the 1950s meant that he faced certain challenges that no longer seem so ingrained…homophobia, a psychoanalyst telling him he had a mental illness, expectations of a married man and so on. He never really understood my ideas of love, why I was asking for so much, and I never understood his, since I thought he was asking for too little. The fact is that our idea of love is historical and it's codified. And that's really the fulcrum in which the story spans out of. It was me trying to understand my Dad; what was it like to be gay and born at that time? What was it like to marry my Mum in 1955 and be gay? That's when I devised those lyrical essays that you'll notice in the film – it's the voice of Oliver who guides you through the film and its the most 'me' element in the story. You'll find similar strategies are used by artists like Christian Boltanski and Sophie Calle to great effect. That's interesting because there is this literal but personalised tone in the film, where information is delivered flatly and succulently but somehow escapes your regular didacticism. That's a gag I'm fond of. A big influence is Jorgan Leth's 1967 film The Perfect Human. Being so straight that it…[pauses to think] So literal that it manages to go somewhere else… Exactly. I could do that shtick forever. In fact there is a scene where Ewan is dancing at a party and the dance is modeled off the one the man does in The Perfect Human. What about other influences? Big or small, direct or indirect. Tons. I did a blog on the Focus Films site, which lists a bunch of influences for the film, from the Milan Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being (the book not the film) to Istvan Szabos' Love Film. One last question. Arthur – Oliver's four-legged companion that he inherits when his father becomes unwell – plays a substantial role in the film. Explain? Arthur (whose real name is Cosmo) is a curious soul and good interlocutor despite being unable to speak. He and Ewan actually developed a great chemistry on screen, where Cosmo would respond to Ewan's gestures and vice versa. On set we'd treat him as though he was an alien visiting earth; he wasn't cute, he didn't speak our language but he was an intelligent being. Dogs have 220 million smell receptors and we have 5 million – who knows what the fuck they're smelling that we're missing. To win one of ten double passes, just make sure you're subscribed to Concrete Playground then email your name and address to hello@concreteplayground.com.au https://youtube.com/watch?v=KplqiAHYnHo
Before the pandemic, when a new-release movie started playing in cinemas, audiences couldn't watch it on streaming, video on demand, DVD or blu-ray for a few months. But with the past few years forcing film industry to make quite a few changes — widespread movie theatre closures and plenty of people staying home in iso will do that — that's no longer always the case. Maybe you've had a close-contact run-in. Perhaps you haven't had time to make it to your local cinema lately. Given the hefty amount of films now releasing each week, maybe you simply missed something. Film distributors have been fast-tracking some of their new releases from cinemas to streaming recently — movies that might still be playing in theatres in some parts of the country, too. In preparation for your next couch session, here are ten that you can watch right now at home. PARALLEL MOTHERS Whatever Pedro Almodóvar and Penélope Cruz happen to be selling — and whenever, and in whichever films — audiences should always be buying. It isn't quite right to liken the acclaimed filmmaker's long-running collaboration with one of his favourite leading ladies to commerce, though, so another comparison fits better: whatever this duo birth into the world, viewers should embrace as a parent does a child. Across four decades now, the Spanish pair has gorgeously and soul-stirringly made cinematic art with the utmost understanding of how to make people feel. They know how people feel, too, and have the combined resumes best exemplified by Live Flesh, All About My Mother, Volver, Broken Embraces, Pain and Glory and now Parallel Mothers to prove it. Their shared filmography also constantly demonstrates another essential insight into human existence: that life is emotion, whether facing its beginning, end or both. As the movie's moniker indicates, Janis, the almost-40 photographer that Cruz (The 355) inhabits with the quiet force and fragility that's second nature whenever she's directed by Almodóvar, is just one of Parallel Mothers' mums. Teenager Ana (Milena Smit, Cross the Line) is the other and, despite the feature's title, their stories keep converging. The two first meet in a Madrid hospital, where they share a room, give birth simultaneously, chat about how they're each going it alone with no father in the picture and quickly form a bond — as different as they otherwise appear, down to contrasting sources of support (Janis' brightly attired magazine-editor best friend Elena, which is where de Palma pops up, versus Ana's self-obsessed and distant actress mother Teresa, played by Estoy vivo's Aitana Sánchez-Gijón). Janis and Ana descend separately into motherhood afterwards, but twists of fate keep bringing them back together. Parallel Mothers is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. BELFAST Warm, cosy, rosy, charming, feel-good: typically when a film spins its story during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, none of these words apply. But with Belfast, Kenneth Branagh has made a movie set in its eponymous city when the Protestant-versus-Catholic violence was a constant sight, and also helmed a feature that's about a childhood spent with that conflict as a backdrop. It's an approach that only works because Branagh draws from his own experiences — the film isn't a play-by-play memoir, but it's also clearly personal. Here, it's 1969, when the actor-turned-filmmaker would've been nine years old. The movie's protagonist, Buddy (first-timer Jude Hill), is that exact age, in fact. And with the beginnings of a three-decade-long sectarian fracas bubbling and boiling around him, he navigates the usual age-appropriate antics, such as school, crushes, doting grandparents with ailing health and a potential big move. The Troubles are a constant sight in the largely monochrome-hued film, too, and the reason Buddy's that parents are contemplating relocating to England, something they wouldn't have dreamed of otherwise. Pa (Jamie Dornan, The Tourist) already spends most of his time working there as a joiner, leaving Ma (Caitríona Balfe, Outlander) at home with Buddy and his elder brother Will (Lewis McAskie, Here Before) — with assistance from the boys' Granny (Judi Dench, Six Minutes to Midnight) and Pop (Ciarán Hinds, The Man in the Hat) — and he's been offered a new job that comes with a house. The violence swirling through Belfast has already made it to the family's street, to their hounded Catholic neighbours and, when Pa refuses to join the fray, put them on their fellow Protestants' hit list. Shifting to London (or perhaps further, to Sydney or Vancouver) would provide a new start and a safer future, but leaving all they've ever known isn't a simple decision. Belfast is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE Not for the first time, the eyes have it, but then they always have with Tammy Faye Bakker. Not one but two films called The Eyes of Tammy Faye have told the 70s and 80s televangelist's tale — first a 2000 documentary and now this new Jessica Chastain-starring dramatisation — and both take their monikers from one of the real-life American figure's best-known attributes. In the opening to the latest movie, the spidery eyelashes that adorn Tammy Faye's peepers are dubbed her trademark by the woman herself. They're given ample focus in this biopic, as OTT and instantly eye-grabbing as they they are, but their prominence isn't just about aesthetics and recognition. This version of The Eyes of Tammy Faye hones in on perspective, resolutely sticking to its namesake's, even when it'd be a better film if it pondered what she truly saw, or didn't. In the path leading to her celebrity heyday and the time she was a TV mainstay, Tammy Faye's life saw plenty. It began with an unhappy childhood stained by her stern mother Rachel's (Cherry Jones, Succession) refusal to be linked to her at church, lest it remind their god-fearing Minnesotan townsfolk about the latter's sinful divorce. But young Tammy Faye (Chandler Head, The Right Stuff) still finds solace in religion, the attention that speaking in tongues mid-service brings and also the puppets she starts using as a girl. Come 1960, at bible college, her fervour and quirkiness attract fellow student Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick… Boom!), with the pair soon married even though it gets them kicked out of school. Unperturbed, she keeps seeing their calling to the lord as their way forward, first with a travelling ministry — puppets included — and then with television shows and their own Praise the Lord network. The Eyes of Tammy Faye is available to stream via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. JACKASS FOREVER Older men, same ol' tricks and dicks: that's Jackass Forever. The fifth film in the prank-fuelled TV-to-movie franchise isn't afraid of letting it show, either, just as it's never been afraid of flashing around male genitalia. No one in Jackass' crew of comic daredevils is scared of that much — or, if they are, they're more frightened of not challenging themselves alongside their buddies — so the proud and purposeful attitude flaunted in the flick's title and usual formula is thoroughly unsurprising. Twenty-two years have passed since Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave Englund, Wee Man, Danger Ehren and Preston Lacy first turned outlandish stunts and practical jokes into an MTV hit, but age hasn't wearied their passion or camaraderie. It also hasn't dampened the gang's fondness for showing their junk, but there's something sweet here among all the penises: the fact that time inescapably passes but doing stupid shit with your mates sparks immortal joy. Jackass Forever is stupid, because the kinds of gags that Knoxville and company love are profoundly idiotic — including the film's opening gambit, where a green Godzilla-esque creature tramples a city but it's really Pontius' package painted like a monster. Also inherently silly: using the cast's bodies to prop up skateboarding ramps, a Knoxville-hosted game show that penalises wrong answers with a whack to the sack, exploding a port-a-potty while Steve-O is using it and a contraption made of harnesses that simultaneously gives three people wedgies. The ridiculous bits go on, including lighting farts underwater and drinking milk on a moving carousel to the point of vomiting. Another reason that Jackass is forever for this troupe: they're still as juvenile now, even though they're all over or approaching 50, as they ever were. Jackass Forever is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. DEATH ON THE NILE Some folks just know how to rock a moustache. When Kenneth Branagh (Tenet) stepped into super-sleuth Hercule Poirot's shoes in 2017's Murder on the Orient Express, he clearly considered himself to be one of them. The actor and filmmaker didn't simply play Agatha Christie's famously moustachioed Belgian detective, but also directed the movie — and he didn't miss a chance to showcase his own performance, as well as that hair adorning his top lip. You don't need to be a world-renowned investigator to deduce that Branagh was always going to repeat the same tricks with sequel Death on the Nile, or to pick that stressing the character's distinctive look and accompanying bundle of personality quirks would again take centre stage. But giving Poirot's 'stache its own black-and-white origin story to start the new movie truly is the height of indulgence. Here, it's 1937, three years after the events of Murder on the Orient Express, and Poirot is holidaying in Egypt. While drinking tea with a vantage out over the country's unconvincingly computer-generated towering wonders, he chances across his old pal Bouc (Tom Bateman, Behind Her Eyes) and his mother Euphemia (Annette Bening, Hope Gap), who invite him to join their own trip — which doubles as a honeymoon for just-married heiress Linnet Ridgeway (Gal Gadot, Red Notice) and her new husband Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer, Crisis). Poirot obliges, but he's also surprised by the happy couple. Six weeks earlier, he saw them get introduced by Linnet's now-former friend and Simon's now ex-fiancée Jacqueline de Bellefort (Emma Mackey, Sex Education). That awkward history isn't easily forgotten by the central duo, either, given that Jackie has followed them with a view to winning Simon back. Boating down the Nile is initially an escape plan, but then the obvious happens in a film that always plays that way: a murder. Death on the Nile is available to stream via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. MOONFALL Does Roland Emmerich hate earth? Asking for not just a friend, but for the residents of an entire planet that the filmmaker just can't stop blowing up, devastating via CGI chaos and threatening with its end in his movies. Or, does he really love it, and has committed to the cinematic version of negging — tearing this pale blue dot down again and again so that his always paper-thin characters can swoop in to save the day, and also somehow seduce thankful viewers? Either way, Hollywood's go-to disaster-porn helmer is running out of moves, after a career spent blighting the globe in Independence Day, the terrible 1998 American Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012 and Independence Day: Resurgence. He does what he long has with Moonfall, of course, but with a space twist and while also noticeably ripping off elements of Alien and Prometheus. Moonfall begins in 2011, on a Space Shuttle mission, when it seems as if astronauts Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It) and Jo Fowler (Halle Berry, Bruised) might first find themselves in a Gravity knockoff. Something dark, fast and strange swarms them while Harper is out in the inky nothingness working on a satellite, leading to a tragedy, but no one believes his version of events — including Fowler. Ten years later, he's considered a has-been, she's still at NASA and, when conspiracy theorist KC Houseman (John Bradley, Game of Thrones) learns that the moon has been knocked off its orbit, they're the only ones who can save the day. Harper is also one of the only people willing to listen to Houseman's wild claim that the moon is actually an artificial megastructure, which is linked to its sudden descent upon earth. Moonfall is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Read our full review. INDIA SWEETS AND SPICES India Sweets and Spices sports a clunky title, but a descriptive one. The saccharine and the zesty — the formulaic and spirited, too — combine in this coming-of-age comedy about an Indian American college freshman returning home from her no-holds-barred campus life for the summer, and being expected to slot back into her parents' and culture's expectations and traditions as if she'd never left. That quickly unhappy student is Alia Kapur (Sophia Ali, Uncharted), who has little on her agenda for her break except lazing by and in the pool; however, her prim-and-proper mother Sheila (Manisha Koirala, an Indian cinema mainstay) and doctor father Ranjit (Adil Hussain, Star Trek: Discovery) still demand that she do the rounds of their social circle's weekly Saturday-night party circuit. It's more her mum's doing than her significantly more laidback dad's, but it's also the done thing. What isn't usual: inviting the new proprietors of the local Indian store to these well-to-do shindigs. Writer/director Geeta Malik (Troublemaker) could've called her sophomore feature Crazy Rich Indian Americans — or Snobby Rich Indian Americans — and the moniker would've stuck, with a clear class clash the obvious outcome when Varun Dutta (Rish Shah, To All the Boys: Always and Forever), his mother Bhairavi (Deepti Gupta, High School Musical: The Musical — The Series) and dad Kamlesh (Kamran Shaikh, Evil Eye) show up to the Kapurs' home as asked. The conceited judgement over their nice but not glitzy attire is immediate, and further awkwardness springs quickly when it turns out that Sheila and Bhairavi shared a past before they both emigrated to the US. Alia is outraged over the reaction, intrigued about her mum's history and, given that's the reason she invited the Duttas in the first place, interested in Varun — and all three swiftly shape her summer. India Sweets and Spices is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE LAST MOUNTAIN In 1995, 33-year-old Alison Hargreaves aimed to scale the three highest mountains on the globe: Everest, K2 and Kangchenjunga, all without the help of bottled oxygen or Sherpas to transport her gear. She achieved the first in May, becoming the first woman to do so. Next, she attempted the second in August, but died on the descent. In the aftermath, to help process their grief, Hargreaves' husband Jim Ballard, seven-year-old son Tom and four-year-old daughter Kate made a pilgrimage to K2, a trip that unsurprisingly left an enormous imprint upon her children. Tom was in his mother's womb when she climbed the north face of the Eiger in Switzerland, so he was perhaps fated to love the pastime with the same passion. He became an acclaimed alpinist himself, until a February 2019 trip to Pakistan's Nanga Parbat, at the age of 30, to attempt the never-before-completed Mummery Spur. Filmmaker Christopher Terrill (Britain's Biggest Warship) doesn't simply rely upon heartbreaking echoes, or the Hargreaves–Ballard family's personal plight, as bolstered with archival material and interviews both of Alison and Tom. (Given the passage of years and the change in technology since, there's more and better footage of Tom in action, and it's a spectacular sight to behold.) A lesser film would've been happy with all of the above and still proven gripping; however, Terrill also unpacks the intricacies around celebrating extreme alpine and rock-climbing feats, then looking for someone to blame when treks finish badly — even without examining how the media backlash that swelled around Alison for dying and leaving her kids behind more than a quarter-century ago. Indeed, the back and forth that steps through the events leading to Tom's death, after uncharacteristically taking on a climbing partner in Italian Mummery Spur fanatic Daniele Nardi, is as complicated as the emotions that visibly course through Kate every time that she's in front of the camera. The Last Mountain is a clear tribute, and another ode to humanity's pull to the mountains, but it's also willing to be as thematically complicated as the terrain that looms so large within its frames. The Last Mountain is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. ALINE In a 1997 ballad that'll forever linked with the on-screen sinking of the world's most famous ship, Celine Dion told us that her heart would go on. Whether the Canadian singer's ticker will physically defy mortality is yet to be seen, but Aline, the fictionalised biography based on her rollercoaster ride of a life, certainly takes the idea to heart by overextending its running time. It's easy to see why the 'Because You Loved Me', 'The Power of Love' and 'Think Twice' crooner demands a lengthy feature. Also, compared to the big-budget superhero blockbuster standard, Aline's 128 minutes is positively concise. At every moment, however, this Valérie Lemercier (50 Is the New 30)-directed, -co-written and -starring film feels like it's going on and on and on. Near, far, wherever you are, it limps along despite packing plenty of ups and downs into its frames. A key reason: it primarily plays like the result of Lemercier simply opening up that door to Dion's Wikipedia page. Dion's story has everything from childhood fame and enormous career achievements to relationship scandals and personal tragedies, and Lemercier and her co-scribe Brigitte Buc (who also co-penned the filmmaker's 2005 featured Palais royal!) don't overlook any of it. But Dion's immense success doesn't necessarily make her overly fascinating, and nor do the many twists and turns her path has taken since she was born into a large Quebec family — arriving as the youngest of 14 children — and then found fame as a teen. Or, in her defence, they don't make her particularly interesting in a movie that's content to tick through everything that life has thrown her way like it's marking off a checklist rather than fleshing her out as a person. Viewers glean all of the necessary biographical details from Aline, but little sense of its subject, especially buried under Lemercier's unconvincing blend of soapy comedy and loving affection. Aline is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. QUEEN BEES Squandering veteran acting talent in insulting comedies about being senior citizens has to be one of cinema's most infuriating moves. It's a fate that's claimed too many stars — Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Diane Keaton and Pam Grier included in just the past few years — and, following the likes of Poms, Dirty Grandpa and The War with Grandpa, Queen Bees is the latest film to jump on the bandwagon. Where the also female-focused Poms endeavoured to bring Bring It On to older age, this Ellen Burstyn (Pieces of a Woman)-led effort does the same with Mean Girls. It knows it, too, with Donald Martin's (Christmas Town) script saddling Burstyn's Pine Grove Senior Community newcomer Helen Wilson with describing her cliquish fellow residents as "like mean girls, but with medical alert bracelets". That line alone is the extent of Queen Bees' self-awareness, however. Widowed for three years and dwelling in the memories that her marital home still holds, Helen is fiercely independent, but also increasingly forgetful. Her doting grandson Peter (Matthew Barnes, Little Fires Everywhere) helps her laugh off the repeated times she locks herself out of the house, but when she accidentally starts a fire one night, it leads to her interfering daughter Laura (Elizabeth Mitchell, The Expanse) convincing Helen to spend the month it'll take to fix the place seeing what Pine Grove is like. The word 'temporary' gets bandied about constantly upon her arrival, and she's just as adamant about steering clear of the retirement community's locals. And the fact that the group of women who've gleefully adopted the movie's moniker — led by the sniping and stern Janet (Jane Curtin, The Good Fight), with Margot (Ann-Margret, Going in Style) and Sally (Loretta Devine, The Starling) always by her side — are instantly unwelcoming only solidifies Helen's resolve. Queen Bees is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. Looking for more at-home viewing options? Take a look at our monthly streaming recommendations across new straight-to-digital films and TV shows, or check out the movies that were fast-tracked to digital in January, February and March.
Spending more time at home is much easier to stomach with a hefty rage of desserts on hand, or at least that seems to be Gelato Messina's pandemic motto. Over the past few months, the gelato fiends have served up plenty of tasty specials, including cookie pies in choc chip, red velvet, choc-hazelnut, and peanut butter and jelly varieties; 40 of its best flavours; and full tubs of both Iced VoVo gelato and Messina's own take on the classic Viennetta ice cream cake. Up next: a lamington version of the brand's sticky snails. Basically, it's their interpretation of a Cinnabon-style brioche scroll, then combined with an Aussie favourite. It's another of Messina's limited releases, and it'll be available at all of its stores for a very short period. Wondering what exactly Messina's lamington sticky snail entails? Well, that sticky brioche scroll is filled with vanilla custard, chocolate chips, raspberry jam and chocolate caramel. And, yes, it's then sprinkled with desiccated coconut. If it didn't, the lamington label just couldn't apply. The sweet bake-at-home bite can only be ordered online on Monday, August 17. On its own, it will cost $20 — but to sweeten the deal, the cult ice creamery has created a few bundle options, should you want some of its famed gelato atop it (vanilla is recommended). You can add on a 500-millilitre tub for $28, a one-litre tub for $36 or a 1.5-litre tub for $39. Once you've placed your preorder, pick up will be available between Friday, August 21–Sunday, August 23 from your chosen Messina store. And, once you've got the lamington sticky snail safely home, you just need to whack it in the oven for 20–25 minutes at 160 degrees and voila. If you're in Melbourne, remember that you can only venture to shops within five kilometres of your house — and only once a day — to get essentials, including food. Gelato Messina's lamington sticky snails will be available to order on Monday, August 17, for pick up between Friday, August 21–Sunday, August 23 — keep an eye on the Messina website for further details.
Fancy building a cardboard city, then pretending you're Godzilla and knocking it down? You mightn't have realised it until you read this, but of course you do. Netherworld understands. The appropriately named Kaiju Beer understands. And so does Moon Dog Brewing, the third partner in making this dream come true. They're teaming up for Rampage!, the Brewsvegas shindig that involves filling the Valley bar with towering creations — whether you make them on the day or bring your own from home — then drinking some special Banana Pale Ale, and crossing your fingers that you win the chance to tear it all down. The game that gives the event its name, Rampage, will also be onsite for you to play. Sure, there's a movie version starring The Rock coming out just next month, but doesn't this sound like more fun?
If you're a Queenslander with a trip to Melbourne in your future — or vice versa — the pandemic has just interrupted your plans. Yes, again. With the Victorian capital now in a five-day lockdown in an attempt to contain its latest COVID-19 cases, the Sunshine State has just declared the southern state a coronavirus hotspot. And, as a result, Queensland will close its borders to all of Victoria once more. The change was announced today, Friday, July 16, by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, and will come into effect at 1am tomorrow, Saturday, July 17. It applies to the entire state, and doesn't have an end date at present. With the Victorian closure, folks who've been in that state will no longer be permitted to enter Queensland unless they receive an exemption and then go into government quarantine for 14 days. This affects anyone coming into Queensland who has been to Victoria in the past 14 days. And, if you arrive in the Sunshine State from Victoria during the remainder of today, you'll be required to go into a five-day lockdown at home, just as if you were still down south. https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1415818067334946816 Queensland's online travel declarations are also in effect, after the state brought them in permanently back in June. So anyone travelling to the Sunshine State from another Aussie state or territory — or from NZ — always now needs to fill out the form. Announcing the border closure today, the Premier said that "the clear message to Queenslanders is definitely do not go to New South Wales and do not go to Victoria during this period of time." And, yes, it's interesting to note that the borders will close to all of Victoria based on its current cases; however, with New South Wales, the borders are currently only closed to the Greater Sydney area. For more information about Queensland's COVID-19 border restrictions, or about the status of COVID-19 in the state, visit the Qld COVID-19 hub and the Queensland Health website. For more information about COVID-19 in Victoria and the state's current restrictions, head over to the Department of Health website.
Calling all wizards, witches and muggles: a nail-biting Harry Potter trivia night is coming to West End. Taking place at The Boundary Hotel, the night will feature two hours of Harry Potter fun. This is a must-attend event for all Potterheads who have read all eight books from cover to cover and know their alohomoras from their sectumsempras. Dressing up is highly encouraged, and while butterbeer isn't on the menu, you will be able to purchase the regular variety. There'll also be Harry Potter-themed mini-games and activities around the quiz, which means that you could very well end up playing a game of quidditch, trying your luck with the sorting hat or going on a treasure hunt. Entry cost is via gold coin donation on the night, although you do need to register your place in advance. Choose your team wisely.
So, you've seen Nanette, then Douglas, then Body of Work, Hannah Gadsby's three famous stand-up shows — all of which hit stages, then Netflix. Next on your list to catch is Woof!, and in-person for now. The new performance premiered in Australia this autumn, playing both Sydney and Melbourne. Next for audiences Down Under, it's Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide's turns. If you're wondering if Woof! will also get the streaming treatment, it's too early to say, so getting giggling in the Queensland, Australian Capital Territory and South Australian capitals is your best bet if you're keen to check out Gadsby's new routine ASAP. The performance has dropped one-night dates in all three spots — all this winter. [caption id="attachment_871296" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ben King[/caption] Those dates and venues: Thursday, July 25 at Canberra Theatre Centre, then Saturday, July 27 at QPAC Concert Hall in Brisbane and Friday, August 2 at Her Majesty's Theatre in Adelaide. The comedian is returning home for the three gigs after shows in America and Canada in June, and before hitting up the Edinburgh Fringe in August and London in November. Woof! comes after Nanette became an international smash, travelling not only throughout Australia but also the UK, and winning awards at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Edinburgh Fringe. Douglas then took comedy fans on a "tour from the dog park to the renaissance and back", including in Australia, NZ and Europe. And as for Body of Work, it embarked upon an extensive stint around Australia, as well as in Europe again. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dr. Hannah Gadsby (@hannah_gadsby) Hannah Gadsby 'Woof!' Tour Dates: Thursday, July 25 — Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra Saturday, July 27 — QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane Friday, August 2 — Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide [caption id="attachment_896516" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hannah Gadsby: Something Special. Jess Gleeson/Netflix © 2023[/caption] Hannah Gadsby's 'Woof!' tour will play Brisbane, Adelaida and Canberra in winter 2024. For further details — and to buy tickets from 10am on Friday, May 17 — head to the comedian's website.
Visiting Europe sadly isn't on Australians' agendas in the near future. Heading to New York to wander through The Metropolitan Museum of Art isn't at the moment either. But, for four months this year, a heap of European art masterpieces from The Met are making the journey to our shores — so you'll be able to feast your eyes on some of the greatest paintings ever committed to canvas at Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art. From Friday, June 12–Sunday, October 17, 65 works that almost never leave The Met's galleries will grace GOMA's walls, in what'll be the venue's biggest-ever survey of the history of European art — and, it's a Brissie exclusive, too. If you're wondering why these paintings are so treasured, well, that's because they're by everyone from Monet, van Gogh and Vermeer to Renoir, Rembrandt and Degas. The list of artists featuring in the exhibition, which covers a whopping 500 years of European art and is fittingly called European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, just keeps going — with Rubens, Poussin, Gauguin, Raphael, Boucher and Velazquez all included as well. Also impressive: the different types of artworks that'll be on display, spanning everything from portraits and still-life pieces to landscape paintings and figure studies. From the full lineup, the earliest work will date back to 1445, courtesy of an altarpiece panel depicting the Crucifixion of Christ by the Florentine artist Fra Angelico. Also among the centuries-old highlights are Titian's Venus and Adonis from the 1550s, Caravaggio's The Musicians from 1597, Rembrandt's Flora from around 1654, and Vermeer's Allegory of the Catholic Faith. And, for works from the 19th-century impressionist and post-impressionist period, the likes of Monet, Renoir and van Gogh have things wrapped up — complete with Monet's 1919 piece Water Lilies. GOMA's program will also feature hands-on digital and analogue activities to accompany the masterworks, plus — as is always the case with its major exhibitions — a lineup of yet-to-be-announced Up Late events that'll let you check out these art wonders after dark and over a few drinks. [caption id="attachment_781830" align="alignnone" width="1920"] 'The Flowering Orchard' (1888) by Vincent van Gogh. The Mr and Mrs Henry Ittleson jr Purchase Fund 1956/56.13. Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.[/caption] Top images: Water Lilies (1916-19) by Claude Monet. Gift of Louise Reinhardt Smith 1983/1983.532.; Still Life with Apples and Pears (1891-92) Bequest of Stephen C Clark 1960/61.101.3. Both collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Holy See — Vatican City — is one of the world's smallest countries, nestled entirely inside of the city of Rome. It normally rates above its size in world attention, but for the next two months it's going to to get a double dose of international focus. Now that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has taken the almost unprecedented step of stepping down from the pontificate, a story on which most (but not all) journalists got a slow start, we're bound to be getting a lot of incoming footage of this tiny city. But before you get onto the usual round of Latin glossaries, explanations of Vatican lore and law, and no shortage of betting odds. But it also means a lot of time spent with camera staring at the unmoving windows and quiet chimneys of St Peter's Basilica. If your Latin feels a little rusty, you might feel the need to remind yourself about this tiny city state. To help, Concrete Playground has put together this list of five top Vatican movies to get you in the mood for the next two months of Church and State. 1. The Borgias What The Borgias lacks in HBO-like budget, it makes up for with sheer bloody-minded ambition. It starts with the elevation of Rodrigo Borgia (Jeremy Irons) from cardinal to Pope Alexander VI. Breaking with fictional tradition, it takes the violent ambition of the Borgias and places it in the context of their equally violently ambitious contemporaries. It's also okay (though far from perfect) for historical accuracy. Not least in Gina McKee's depiction of Caterina Sforza: the woman who pulled off the most badass flash in history. 2. The Pope Must Die Shorter on historical accuracy or, indeed, any accuracy, The Pope Must Die is a lightweight film, somewhat held together by the presence of Robbie Coltrane, later to be famous for playing the lead in Cracker and Hagrid in Harry Potter. The film was a farcical, nice-guy power fantasy, much in the vein of Kevin Kline's later, pre-Aaron Sorkin presidential comedy Dave. The film spends time behind the scenes at movie Vatican, but is much more of a Prince and the Pauper fable than anything approaching genuine behind the scenes. 3. We Have a Pope Although director Nanni Moretti is best known as a comedian, his work on serious films like The Son's Room have cemented his ability to cross genre. We Have a Pope is named after the proclamation that accompanies the arrival of a new pontiff, usually announced from the papal balcony to expectant crowds below. Except, in this film that announcement never happens. Pope-elect Melville (Michael Piccoli) gets cold feet the moment before the proclamation, and the rest of the film follows a considered will-he-won't-he as Melville decides if he has a future as the leader of the Catholic world. Audiences expected a papal farce from Moretti. And, while the film has its absurd and funny moments as the Vatican bureaucracy tries to deal with a Pope-free limbo (not the least with some biting, volleyball-based satire of Australia's chances in the World Cup), it's neither pro-church nor anti-church; instead, Moretti's film explores the weight of responsibility resting on this maybe-Pope-to-be's unwilling shoulders. 4. Fellini's Roma Federico Fellini examined, and defined, huge swathes of Italian culture in his post-WWII career. He famously flew a statue of Jesus over St Peters — the church at the heart of the Vatican — at the beginning of La Dolce Vita. But Fellini's lesser-known Roma goes the whole hog. As part of its combination of reporterly and exaggerated depictions of Italian, post-war male life and Italian history (not to mention a cameo from an Italian-speaking Gore Vidal), Fellini takes Roma's audience to an imagined fashion show of papal garments. Nuns with oversized, wing-like wimples. Cardinals on roller-skates. The Pope as sun god. Empty, glittering robes. The parade satirises the financial excess, ornamentation, and mystery of Italian religious ritual. 5. Angels and Demons Swapping out The Da Vinci Code's Audrey Tautou for Ewan McGregor, Angels and Demons had the distinction of being the only film in this list to get close to almost filming in the Vatican itself. Although the Vatican famously banned the production from using St Peter's as a filming location, the production simply sent people in with cameras disguised as tourists to take high resolution background photos later stitched together into a passable vatican using CG.
David Attenborough may have turned 94 in 2020; however the acclaimed broadcaster and natural historian isn't slowing down anytime soon. Fresh from narrating and presenting two new TV series in 2019 (Our Planet and Seven Worlds, One Planet), appearing at Glastonbury and recently joining Instagram, he's now bringing his latest movie-length documentary to your screen. Called David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet, the film sees Attenborough look back on his more than nine decades on earth, the sights he has seen and the changes he has witnessed. Specifically, he reflects upon humanity's enormous and damaging impact on the natural world — and, when it hits Netflix on Sunday, October 4, it servers up quite the powerful viewing experience. Since the early 50s, Attenborough's stunningly shot documentaries have been awash with revelatory sights and detailed insights from across the planet, sharing the kind of wonders that eager audiences would be unlikely to see or discover themselves otherwise. Now, after becoming a constant, respected and beloved presence in the field, his passionate and vibrant work has earned its place in history several times over. But it might also become a record of a world, and of natural history, that's lost due to climate change. It's this possibility that's behind A Life On Our Planet — that, and the great broadcaster's efforts to motivate a response to combat both global warming and the catastrophic loss of biodiversity blighting the environment. On offer here is an urgent and far-ranging exploration of how our pale blue dot evolved to its current state, what might be in store if we continue down this path, and how and why things could and should change. Determined in his tone, Attenborough calls the documentary his witness statement several times within its frames, and it's as potent and devastating as intended. Bookended by scenes in Chernobyl that are initially designed to illustrate what can happen ecologically when bad planning and human error combine — a situation that, Attenborough posits, applies to climate change as well — A Life On Our Planet is both broad and intricate, and personal and political too. Cycling through the earth's life to-date to provide a snapshot of the planet's predicament, it delivers a comprehensive overview, a raft of telling facts and figures, and a plethora of reflections from its central figure. It also features the now-requisite array of eye-catching footage that Attenborough's hefty body of work has long become known for, served up here to not only revel in its glory and showcase his exceptional career, but to demonstrate what's fading away due to humanity's impact upon the globe. Accordingly, it's impossible not to be moved by the film. If viewers won't listen to Attenborough on this topic, and as he explains what he's seen and where he sees things heading, then they probably won't listen to anyone. In the documentary's latter third, A Life On Our Planet follows in the footsteps of Australian doco 2040, too, by pondering how the world might adapt for the better. Produced by wildlife filmmakers Silverback Films and global environmental organisation WWF, A Life On Our Planet was originally slated to play in cinemas in April — but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its release was postponed. It's currently showing on the big screen Down Under now (except Victoria), with the film paired with an exclusive cinema-only conversation between Attenborough and Michael Palin, if you'd rather see its vivid and impassioned sights in a larger format. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64R2MYUt394 David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet hits Netflix on Sunday, October 4, at 5pm AEST / 6pm ADST. It's also currently screening in Australian and New Zealand cinemas.
COVID-19 clusters keep popping up, lockdowns are still part of Australian life and whether Aussies can head to states other than their own — or to New Zealand — can change quickly. This is the reality of life during the pandemic. That said, if you have a trip to Queensland in your future, the Sunshine State has revealed one definite new part of your next visit. The state's government has advised that it is introducing online travel declarations for all visitors to Queensland. So, from 1am on Saturday, June 19, anyone travelling to the Sunshine State from another Aussie state or territory — or from NZ — will need to fill out the form. And yes, this should sound familiar, because similar online forms were implemented back when Queensland's borders were beginning to reopen post-lockdown in 2020. Queenslanders returning home from other Aussie states and territories, and from NZ, will also need to fill out the declaration. You're required to do so up to 72 hours before heading to Queensland, after which you'll be issued a 'green Queensland travel declaration' — as long as you haven't been to a hotspot or exposure site while you were outside of the state. The declarations will apply to everyone, unless you live in the Queensland or New South Wales border zone and have only been in that zone or in Queensland for the past fortnight — and then, only if you're entering the Sunshine State via road. Workers in emergency health services, emergency services, national defence, state security and police who are responding to an emergency in Queensland will be exempt, too, as will ambulance and aeromedical passengers, anyone heading to Queensland in an emergency situation, some maritime crew, folks assisting with or participating in a State or Commonwealth law enforcement investigations, and disaster management workers under their operational protocol. https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1405311966072037382 Announcing the news today, Thursday, June 17, Queensland Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Yvette D'Ath advised that the declarations were about contact tracing efforts. "It's vital that if an interstate exposure site or hotspot is declared, our health experts can quickly contact anyone who has travelled into Queensland from that area," the Minister said. Also coming into effect: a traffic light-style system like Victoria's, which will designate sections of Australia and New Zealand as green, amber and red areas. If somewhere is green, there are no travel restrictions. In the amber category, the area in question has interstate exposure venues — and if it's red, it's a hotspot. Queensland already requires anyone heading to the state who has been to an interstate exposure venue to either quarantine at your home or in other appropriate accommodation for 14 days if you're already in the state with the exposure venue is identified. Or, if you enter Queensland after an exposure site is named, you'll need to isolate in government arranged accommodation for a fortnight. Queensland's online travel declarations will come back into effect from 1am on Saturday, June 19. For further information, head to the Queensland Government website.
This article is part of our series on the diverse highlights of NZ's Canterbury region, from city to snow. To book your snow trip, visit the 100% Pure New Zealand website. The South Island of New Zealand is enjoying some epic snow this year, attracting a huge local and international crowd to test out the slopes. To capture this season in all of its glory, New Zealand Tourism is using ‘dronies’ — mini drones with cameras attached to them — to photograph the skiers and snowboarders so they can take a little something back with them. That means, what a mere three months ago sounded like an April Fool's Day prank is now spectacularly real. The drone begins recording with a close-up of you being king of the mountain, then it swiftly flies backwards, widening the shot to include the surrounding snowy mountains and beautiful South Island landscape. The videos last for about eight seconds, and it seems like a much wiser option for a photo-op than carrying a camera in your pocket only to crush it if/when you ungracefully stack it on the mountain. Once the video is taken they’ll send it to you so you can share it via social media using #NZdronie. If you’re heading to New Zealand while the powder is still fresh we’d happily wage a bet that your snow selfie will make more then a few friends/colleagues/family members tingle with envy. And really, isn’t that what a selfie is all about? NZ Tourism is the first country to use dronies on their slopes, and they will be flying all over the South Island between July and August. Some of the destinations they plan to pop into include Coronet Peak, Cardrona, Mount Hutt, Mount Cook, Queenstown and Lake Tekapo. For more info on the NZdronie, or to find out where they’re located, head to the 100% Pure New Zealand Facebook page.
Young Dreams want us to follow in their footprints, HAIM just keep on giving and Mumford & Sons are hopelessly wandering towards claiming funniest music video of the year. 1. 'Footprints' - Young Dreams The new release from Norweigan pop wizards Young Dreams is another slice from the bouyant harmony pie that is their album Between Places. Despite coming in at only a tad over four minutes long, it does not waste any of this time, dealing with young love, angst and moving on against a driving drumline, bubbly vocals and hooks that leave us all dreaming of happier things. If music this joyous can be made in a country that gets almost no light for half of the year then I for one am buying a one-way ticket to Norway. 2. 'Nothing Less' - No Regular Play This is the perfect house music for your weekend, nay for any weekend. This track is timeless. From the opening horns it becomes clear that there is something different about 'Nothing Less', a funky playfulness ready to take over your ears and your body and have you moving something along to the beat. This something will swiftly become everything as arms, hips and legs will be flailing everywhere as they are carried by the introduction of the exquisite synths that take over the track. As soon as it hits dancing time, just keep this on repeat and nobody will be unhappy. This is the type of music that memories are made to. 3. 'Strong Enough' - HAIM I know we included this trio last week but they just keep on giving sonic gifts that have to be shared. This week they gave Australia two parting gifts. Not only did they announce the long-awaited release date of their debut album Days Are Gone (Friday, 27 September) but they followed that up today with an early morning visit to Triple J's Tom and Alex to do 'Like a Version'. The L.A. trio opted to restyle Sheryl Crow's 'Strong Enough' and their electric guitar transforms Crow's heartfelt piece of acoustic rock into a driving anthem sure to be played post-break-ups for years to come. The lovely people over at Triple J are letting us all download it for free as well so you can easily add it to your playlist for this weekend and all of the weekends in the future. 4. 'JSMN' - Badboxes 'JSMN' confuses but in a beautiful way. It's captivating melody transports us to an ethereal musical Eden for two and a half minutes. You want it to last so much longer yet if it did then the song's perfection would be shattered. Luckily once you reopen your eyes and realise you can press repeat, your dilemma is somewhat quelled and you can once again concentrate on how natural this song is to your ears. The accompanying video is also eponymous with the track, mixing cuts of nature, pretty people and mesmerising employment of split screen. 5. 'Hopeless Wanderer' - Mumford & Sons Just about every video clip Mumford & Sons have ever made follows a fairly predictable pattern, and their latest for 'Hopeless Wanderer' isn't much different. Mottled light shining through golden leaves? Check. Impossibly whimsical vests? Check. Banjo-led hoedowns in Ye Olde Barns? Check. Jason Bateman and SNL's Will Forte wearing fake beards and thrusting their crotches at each other? Check. Hang on. What? That's right — Mumford & Sons have procured the services of some of the world's funniest comic actors for a pitch-perfect parody of their own pastoral proclivities in a move that suggests M&S might not take themselves too seriously after all. Jason Sudeikis, Will Forte, Jason Bateman and Ed Helms go all out here, and their utterly straight-faced commitment to the bit is amazing. I couldn't keep a straight face watching it, so goodness knows how they were able to while filming. Truly, you haven't lived until you've seen Sudeikis fall to his knees on a dusty road because of all the feelz, and Bateman's furious banjo shredding is the most metal thing you'll ever see. By Matthew Watson and Hugh Robertson.
Getting into festive mood? Prefer to do your shopping while the big day is still a few weeks away? Hate leaving your Christmas preparations until the last minute? Then pencil the year's must-attend Yuletide markets into your calendar: Christmas on Cribb. Sure, Christmas on Cribb is just what the Milton Markets call their seasonal shindig, which takes place on Friday, December 7 from 4pm to 10pm. And sure, you've been to markets before. But, their festive event boasts plenty to get excited about. Here, you'll get your food and gift plans sorted, and lap up music and entertainment while you're there. This Cribbmas, you can also enjoy everything from gourmet food to artisan wares, with more than 100 stalls always on offer. Grab bites you'll want to eat on the night, produce for your big feast, and presents for your loved ones (and yourself). Plus, there'll be two pop-up bars on-site thanks to Stone & Wood and City Winery, in case you need a break from the browsing and buying — or an extra excuse to feel merry.
Nothing about 2020 has played out as anyone expected at this time last year. But with summer, the festive season and the end of this tumultuous 12 months fast approaching, life in Queensland is slowly easing back to pre-COVID-19 normality — with the state revealing that it will further relax a number of its restrictions from 4pm on Tuesday, November 17. As announced by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday, Friday, November 13, Queensland will change a heap of caps and limits on everyday activities mid-month. The eased restrictions cover everything from gathering at home and grabbing a beer at the pub to going to the movies and to watch live sport — and dancing as well. With almost 11 months of 2020 almost behind us, Queenslanders have cycled through quite a number of different at-home gathering restrictions this year — including lockdowns, a roadmap outlined in May that slowly started easing limits, the reintroduction of strict caps in August when cases started rising again and the unveiling of a second roadmap earlier in October. At present, Queenslanders can gather at home in groups of 40, which has been the case for the past month. That's increasing to groups of 50 — which was due to happen on Tuesday, December 1, but has been brought forward to Tuesday, November 17. Gatherings in public spaces will also increase to 50 on the same date, and a bunch of rules about specific places are also easing. Outdoor events with COVID-Safe checklists will be able to host 1500 attendees, up from 1000, which was also previously flagged. Openair stadiums will now be able to fill to 100-percent capacity, up from 75 percent, just in time for the third State of Origin match. And dancing will be permitted outdoors at music festivals and in beer gardens, and at weddings (but otherwise, the state will still resemble Footloose, just without Kevin Bacon). In the hospitality industry, big changes are coming, too — with all indoor premises able to move to one-person-per-two-square-metres capacity limits. That applies to restaurants, cafes, bars, pubs and clubs, as well as to entertainment venues such as museums, art galleries and convention centres. At seated and ticketed events within indoor entertainment venues, capacity limits will fall in line with openair stadiums — so cinemas, theatres and seated live music gigs be able to sell 100-percent of tickets. Queensland's Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young recommends that folks wear masks on their way to and from the venues, and to and from their seats, however. https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1327078426457509888 As always, the usual rules regarding hygiene, social distancing and getting tested if you display any possible COVID-19 symptoms all still apply as restrictions keep easing. Announcing the current changes, Premier Palaszczuk noted that "this is the result of the hard work of Queenslanders. Other countries are experiencing third waves with increasing numbers of daily cases. Queenslanders are able to enjoy our Queensland way of life and we have to keep up the good work". For more information about southeast Queensland's COVID-19 gathering restrictions, or about the status of COVID-19 in the state, visit the Qld COVID-19 hub and the Queensland Health website.
The status of Queensland's borders has changed multiple times in 2020, and whether they're open to other states or not has attracted ample public and political attention over the past few months. At present, the Sunshine State has closed off access to anyone who has been in Victoria and New South Wales in the past 14 days — and, in August, revealed that that's unlikely to change until there has been no community transmission in those states. Small shifts in Queensland's border policy have been coming into effect, however. From Friday, September 25, ACT residents will be able to enter the state, but only if they're flying in. And, from Thursday, October 1, Queensland will also expand its border zone — allowing folks from several local council areas in northern New South Wales to head north without quarantining, and letting Queenslanders trek south to the same area without a 14-day stint in lockdown upon their return as well. As announced today, Tuesday, September 22, Queensland will open to people in the Byron, Ballina, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Glen Innes council areas. They'll be able to enter the Sunshine State — and travel around the state — for any reason once October hits. For Queenslanders, the reverse applies, albeit still within the border zone. Still, that means that heading down to Byron Bay is back on the agenda. https://www.facebook.com/annastaciamp/photos/a.523591701005345/3539319546099197/?type=3&theater Whichever way you're travelling — whether you're a northern NSW resident keen to come to Queensland, or a resident of the latter eager to venture slightly beyond the state's borders for a bit and then head home — you will still need a border pass. It isn't required to leave the state, but NSW folks will need one to enter and Queenslanders will need one to come back. To obtain a pass, you'll need to apply online, with each one valid for seven days. For more information about Queensland's borders policies, head to the Queensland Government website.
Feeling like a bit of low-key self-improvement? Want to change the way you approach each day? Or, do you just need a bit more balance in your life? We agree that it's important to bring positive changes into your life, but why start with the big stuff? Vincent Van Gogh once said, "Great things are done by a series of small things brought together." So, start with the small. To help you out, we've teamed up with our mates at Coopers to bring you a list of 'easy wins' — small things you can do to make your day, your week and your life just that little bit better. And, yes, savouring an easy drinking Coopers Dry is a good start. MONDAY: ATTEND A COMEDY NIGHT Need a good laugh? Well, local comedy nights are guaranteed to get you cackling. Sure, you might have some hit and miss moments, but small-scale comedy nights are a great way to check out your area's comedic chops. Plus, it's an easy date idea that's not just 'going for a drink'. Who knows, you might even be inspired to get up there yourself (but only if it's in open-mic format, please). On Mondays, laugh the blues away at The Comedy Lounge at Cafe Lounge in Sydney, Quick Bites at Boney in Melbourne or The Sit Down Open Mic Club at Newmarket Hotel in Brissie. TUESDAY: WATCH THE SUNRISE We know it's tough, and it doesn't have to be Tuesday, but pick one day a week — maybe when you have a late start or a bit of extra time — grab yourself a takeaway coffee, and watch the world wake up slowly. Living in Australia, we're blessed with a ton of easily accessible scenic views in and around most of our major cities. Start a day an hour or so earlier this week, and welcome the morning with a view. By the time everyone else is rushing off to start the day completely stressed out of their minds, you'll be calm, relaxed and focused. Great spots for this include, Wendy's Secret Garden in Sydney, Brighton Beach in Melbourne or The Redlands Bayside in Brisbane. While it's a little too early for beer, earmark the spot and head back after work for a sundowner. WEDNESDAY: WALK TO WORK Now, if your commute is massive, we're not suggesting you load up a supply donkey and trek through the night — but if there's a point you can walk from, do it. If your walk to work is half an hour or less, try to make this choice a couple of times a week. It's a great way to break up the monotony of the working week and stay fit and healthy. And, you'll actually look forward to going to work — hear us out — since you won't have to join the squished sardines on the train, you can stretch your legs and pump up the volume on your motivational playlist. Fresh air, exercise and good tunes — it's a winning formula. Plus, fewer cars on the road means peaceful streets and lower carbon emissions — an easy win, for a brighter future. [caption id="attachment_640628" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Riley Street Garage, Sydney.[/caption] THURSDAY: PUT AWAY YOUR PHONE ON DATE NIGHT There's no denying that the smartphone is an invaluable part of modern life, but it's far too easy to get lost in the pixels and waste away a day (or night) on your phone scrolling and swiping and tapping. So, you've booked a nice restaurant for you and your partner (or bestie) to enjoy together? We reckon it's time to ditch the phones and focus on each other — just like the good old days. Give your dining partner your undivided attention instead of staring aimlessly at your feed and scrolling into the Insta-abyss. You'll be surprised how easy and rewarding this is. FRIDAY: GO TO THE THEATRE Sure it's great to veg out, watch every new original Netflix series that's been released and completely disengage. We get it, it's important to turn the mind off. But, it's also important to keep it stimulated — our parents did say too much TV would turn the brain to mush, right? Look to the theatre. It's like IRL television and it doesn't have to be inaccessible, overly artsy and incredibly dull. There are multitudes of theatre companies both mainstage and independent doing exciting, hilarious, terrifying and incredibly entertaining work. Check out your local theatre and catch a mid-week independent show, support emerging artists and indulge in the thrill of live performance. Great examples include The Old Fitz in Sydney, Red Stitch Actor's Theatre in Melbourne and La Boite in Brisbane. SATURDAY: INVITE YOUR NEIGHBOURS FOR BARBECUE AND BEERS If you're stuck in that uncomfortable smile-and-wave phase with your neighbours, we have a solution. Ditch the awkwardness and invite them round for a low-key barbecue. Grab a case of Coopers Dry to break the ice, and knock the froth off a couple with who could be your new best mates. Meeting new people is a great way to build confidence and sharpen your social skills, and where better to do it than in the comfort of your own home. You'll gain some new friends that are literally a stone's throw away. NB: we do not condone the throwing of stones at neighbours. SUNDAY: PLAY A GAME OF POOL Everyone likes pool, even more so when it's free. The pool table is a great leveller and icebreaker, chuck a few coins down, grab some beers, and get to know some new mates down at your local. Brush up on your skills or just have a laugh — the free pool is usually available on quieter nights in most venues and always makes for a nice night of mild-mannered fun. Make it a weekly thing and, who knows, you might discover your hidden talents as a pool shark. Best spots for cheap (or free) pool on Sunday are The Rose Hotel in Sydney (free), The Rainbow Hotel in Melbourne ($2) and Tomcat in Brisbane (free). Kick off your 'easy wins' by enjoying a Coopers Dry, or two, with your mates.
Here's your latest excuse to pretend it's the late 90s and 00s: The Offspring and Simple Plan are teaming up for a heap of 2025 Australian shows, heading Down Under in a year that's also bringing Green Day this way on their own tour. Who needs one reason to grab your sneakers, your huge sense of nostalgia and head to a gig when you can have two? The Offspring just played an Aussie gig on Sunday, November 24, 2024 as part of Victoria's Always Live music season — but it was their only concert on this trip, and it sold out in 30 seconds. So, next May, they're returning to hit up arenas in four cities. The tour kicks off on Sunday, May 4 at AEC Arena in Adelaide, then heads to Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney and Brisbane Entertainment Centre. It's been a quarter of a century since The Offspring earned a claim to fame that every music fan Down Under should know: topping Triple J's Hottest 100 with 'Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)', a win that still ranks as the annual countdown's most-controversial result to date. 2024 also marks four decades since the band first formed in the early 80s, and more than 30 years since it came to mainstream attention with hits like 'Come Out and Play' and 'Self Esteem' — and the Californian outfit isn't done belting out its catchy brand of punk just yet. While the band released albums Let the Bad Times Roll and Supercharged in 2021 and 2024, respectively, you can still expect to hear their famous tracks — including 'Gotta Get Away', 'Why Don't You Get a Job?', 'The Kids Aren't Alright' and the song that's forever cemented in Australian radio history, obviously. Still led by frontman and guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland — the group's only remaining member from its initial 1984 lineup, so you can definitely call him the original prankster — The Offspring will have company in the form of Canada's Simple Plan. From The Offspring alone, you'll get the words "gunter glieben glauchen globen" stuck in your head for another couple of decades. The Offspring Supercharged Worldwide in '25 Australian Tour Sunday, May 4 — AEC Arena, Adelaide Wednesday, May 7 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Sunday, May 11 — Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Wednesday, May 14 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane The Offspring are touring Australia in May 2025. Early-bird pre-sale tickets go on sale at 9am local time on Thursday, November 28, 2024, with general tickets on sale at 9am local time on Tuesday, December 3, 2024. Head to the tour website for further details and to register for early ticket access. The Offspring images: Daveed Benito.
Nearly 30 years on from their breakout 1994 record CrazySexyCool, TLC's music continues to radiate a timeless quality. "It's just real-life stuff," Rozonda Thomas, aka Chilli of the group, tells Concrete Playground. "When you have lyrics like that, it can be 100 years later and people can still connect with those lyrics." TLC remain the best-selling American girl group of all time, having sold over 85 million records worldwide while earning four number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100: 'Creep', 'Waterfalls', 'No Scrubs' and 'Unpretty'. Following the tragic passing of member Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes in 2002, the group went on hiatus before reuniting in the 2010s to bring their hits back to the stage, and releasing a self-titled comeback album in 2017. Chilli and her TLC partner-in-crime Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins are currently Down Under as part of the Fridayz Live tour in Australia and Friday Jams in New Zealand, alongside a nostalgia-packed lineup featuring the likes of Akon, Craig David, Macklemore, Shaggy and Ashanti. They're also set to perform in Melbourne on Tuesday, November 8 at the Palais Theatre for a headline show billed as An Exclusive Evening with TLC. On a bill filled with hitmakers of the last 30 years, TLC stands out as a group who have not only stayed relevant, but who've only grown in critical acclaim and industry praise over the years. So, we took the time to chat to Chilli about the band's influence and staying power in the worlds of music and fashion, as well as the best advice that she's ever received. How do you approach a festival show, compared to if you're doing a solo headline show? "I personally kinda like that middle slot. I think that's the best slot. Most artists are like 'oh, I want to headline', but especially when it's a lot of acts, you don't want to do that. People are tired! They're probably drunk off the devil's juice — they don't know what's happening. They're kinda just there. And so, I like the middle because you get all that good energy from everyone." When you're pulling together and performing your hits, are there any songs from your career that have had more staying power than you had ever thought or that still get a bigger reaction from the crowd than you would have expected? "It's funny because people love 'Diggin' On You'. They really, really, really, really, really like that song a lot. I mean, it gets a really big reaction. Because, you know, it's not like a tonne of energy or anything like that. It's just one of those feel-good records. It always makes me smile a bit more, because it's not one of those hype songs where we're doing signature dances or anything like that. So I'd have to say it's 'Diggin' On You'." Another timeless quality of your music is the appreciation from other artists as it's been either sampled, covered, remixed or interpolated so many times — from Pharrell to Avicii, and even Ed Sheeran. How do you feel when an artist reimagines one of your songs? "It's an honour. It really is. It is an honour. It kinda lets you know our body of work is still beloved and respected by so many — and up-and-coming artists. Even artists that are just y'know, been around for a long time. They do covers of our songs when they're in concert and things like that. Like Hanson. They do. Taylor Swift has. And it's amazing to me. I just love it." Is there any artist who hasn't sampled, covered or remixed your songs that you hope will one day? "Well not even necessarily a sample or anything, but we would love to work with Bruno Mars. I just think that Bruno Mars and TLC goes together. This needs to happen at some point in time. So I'm really hoping, because, just the way he performs and all of that. I just love him as an artist, period. So I really hope that we get a chance to grace the stage together." TLC have always been fashion icons — still are to this day — but your style from the 90s is really popular right now. How does that feel to see Gen Z revisiting the fashion trends that you pioneered? "Well, I think everything kind of circles back. Just like with the 70s. I think right now, fashion from even the 70s is in. Everything is kind of in right now and it's been like that for the past decade, maybe. I think that, the time that we first came out, with the bright colours, I haven't seen that so much. Or like, with girls wearing baggy clothes, like for real, I haven't really seen that. And I'm sure it's going to come back around, because I tell you, it's way more comfortable." I feel like it's bubbling, even with pop stars like Billie Eilish who's really into bright baggy clothes at the moment. "Yeah she is! She sure is. So you have artists here and there. And to me, I just think that it's more fun. Very colourful and, again, very comfortable. That's always been our thing. I mean to this day, look at my outfit." Chilli then stands up to reveal her all-white matching Paul Frank tracksuit set. "I'm cute! I'm casually cute." Are there any trends from that era that you don't want to see come back? "When you sag too much. And we did touch on that because we'd run through the airport holding up our pants because they were falling down. So, we need a little happy medium there. You can sag a little bit. I don't want to see your underwear, period." What's the best advice you've ever been given? "To never take anything personal. In this business, it's business, it's not personal. No matter how many times people say 'I love you', because if you have to report something and do your job, it's business, right. It took me a while to get there because I'm such a love bug, and 'we said we love each other, and how could you…'. I could get all in my feels and have my feelings all hurt. So once I was able to get there, then it was like 'ok'." Do you remember who gave you that advice? "Well, you know what, I think it was [MC] Hammer. Hammer has given me so much advice, like in the beginning. He is definitely someone that I looked up to then, and still to this day is an amazing person. Just a great human being, y'know, besides a great artist. He really schooled us on a lot of things." Catch TLC performing at Fridayz Live as it makes its way to Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney in November, or at An Exclusive Evening with TLC at Palais Theatre in Melbourne on Tuesday, November 8. In New Zealand, TLC play Friday Jams at at Western Springs Stadium in Auckland on Sunday, November 13.
Master sommelier Madeline Triffon describes pinot noir as 'sex in a glass'. Winemaker Randy Ullom calls it 'the ultimate nirvana'. Broadway wannabe Titus Andromedon loved it so much he compares it to 'caviar, Myanmar, mid-size car' (see below). No wonder the good folk at Revel — who bring Game of Rhones our way each year — are coming back to town with Pinot Palooza, an epic travelling wine festival celebrating all things peeeno noir. For just one day, Brisbane wine connoisseurs will have the chance to sample more than 100 drops, direct from Australia and New Zealand's best producers. Expect drops from Macedon's Curly Flat, Shaw and Smith (which will be coming in from the Adelaide Hills), Orange's Swinging Bridge, and Akarua and Pegasus Bay from NZ — and that's just the first few leaves on the vine. Whether you're a newbie who wants to start with something light and inviting, or a pinot pro ready for the biggest, most complex mouthful on the menu, there'll be an abundance of selections at either end — and plenty along the spectrum, too. If, at any point, you need to take a pause in your tasting adventures, you'll be catered for. Food vendors have yet to be announced, but the calibre of previous years leads us to believe you won't be disappointed. Pinot Palooza will hit Brisbane Showgrounds on Saturday, October 13. Early bird tickets are available up until August 1 for $60, and include all tastings and a take-home crystal Plumm RedB glass. What's more, those keen to fuel their brains (as well as their tastebuds) can spot $95 for a VIP pass. For that you'll get access to the VIP area, a glass of bubbles on arrival, entry into wine talks and some one-on-one with one of the event's sommeliers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6yttOfIvOw
There's no such thing as 'just a cocktail', as everyone who's fond of making and sipping them knows. Sourcing the exact right ingredients, combining them in the ideal way, perfecting your favourite recipe — ace all three stages, and you'll find yourself with a refreshing, drinkable work of art. One particular part of the above equation is especially crucial, of course. If you don't pick the right spirit to start with, your cruisy afternoon cocktail just won't taste the same. And, if you can go one better and find a standout local drop — a creative gin or a flavoursome rum, for example — you'll be able to both enjoy a stellar beverage and support a homegrown distillery at the same time. When it comes to great spirits made right here in Queensland, you might already have your go-to. Or, you could be looking for ideas for your next concoction. Either way, we've teamed up with our pals at BWS to highlight five local outfits pumping out first-rate spirits you should know about.
For the past few years, chatter about Victoria Park / Barrambin's big makeover just keeps popping up. Don't wait till the Herston space gets a revamp before stopping by, though. One excuse to make a visit is Outdoor Cinema in the Suburbs' Pawsome Movie Night, which is making its films under the stars dog-friendly for the evening. On Saturday, January 21, this inner-city patch of turf is hosting two flicks — for free, out on the grass, and with picnics welcome. It all kicks off at 7pm with the supremely family-friendly The Secret Life of Pets, which'll also deliver a big dose of animated antics. Then, come 8.40pm, Australia's own Red Dog: True Blue will unfurl its canine caper as well. Entry doesn't cost a thing but, if you don't pack your own snacks and drinks, you'll want your wallet to hit up the onsite food truck. They'll be serving from 5.30pm. Also, while this movie night is obviously dog-friendly, but Rover will need to remain on a leash. Don't have a pooch? You can still head along, of course.
"Shaken, not stirred." At Le Martini, those three words are bound to be uttered frequently. Shaken martinis are indeed on the menu. If you prefer your cocktail stirred, that's fine, too. Wet, dry, whatever else takes the watering hole's guest bartenders' fancy: that's what you'll find at the world's first-ever Grey Goose martini bar. James Bond is a fictional character, but if literature and cinema's super-suave spy was real, he'd be interested in this spot — and he'd have to head to Australia to check it out. When Le Martini opens its doors on Friday, May 24, Melbourne will the bar's home, giving the city martini-swilling bragging rights over everywhere else on the planet. Initially announced back in March, this 34-seat watering hole on the ground floor at Crown Melbourne isn't just heroing one kind of tipple. It's also about one variety of vodka. The aforementioned visiting bartenders will whip up their favourites, starting with New York's Dale DeGroff, whose career dates back to the Rainbow Room in the 80s. Accordingly, head by from 5pm–late Thursday–Sunday and DeGroff's Harry's Original, Grey Goose Millennium Dry and Grey Goose Martinié Speciale are your choices. The first takes its cues from the 1888 Harry Johnson martini, which was the first martini recipe with five ingredients to ever make it to print. The second serves up a crisp taste, while the third uses blanc vermouth, sauternes and a Sicilian olive. Don't know which type of martini suits you best? Le Martini's bartenders will assist. And to pair with the martinis, martinis and more martinis, French bites using local Victorian produce are on offer, with Bistro Guillaume at Crown Melbourne responsible for the culinary range. Oysters come with a mignonette, whipped cod roe baguettes and gildas are among the options, and so is a caviar with blinis and creme fraiche. While sitting beneath glass chandeliers, you'll definitely know that this is a Grey Goose bar; a window displaying the brand's bottles will remind you even when you don't have the taste of your martini on your lips. The space also splashes around blue on its walls, as well as its velvet curtains and banquette seats, and includes geese etched into its mirrors. Find Le Martini on the ground floor at Crown Melbourne, Southbank from Friday, May 24, 2024 — open from 5pm–late Thursday–Sunday. Head to the venue's website for more details.
If you're making the rounds of a trio of superhero- and supervillain-themed bars, do you need a change of outfits Superman-style for each one? Should you conjure up an alter ego to bust out, at least? Start pondering those questions, Brisbanites, because Fortitude Valley's 1st Edition will soon have two sidekicks: the aptly named Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. As 1st Edition has since 2021, the newcomers will also make California Lane their base, giving this patch of Brisbane its own comic book-themed quarter. Both will sling cocktails and lean into the theming as heartily as a caped crusader does vanquishing world-threatening foes, but they'll each have their own niche. Again hailing from Marc Grey and Chef Steve Maiden, Harley Quinn is the next of the gang to open, welcoming in patrons from Friday, May 24. It'll operate as a bar by night and a cafe by day, with the latter starting trade on Saturday, June 1. When the sun is out, expect tea, coffee, toasties, savoury platters, apple pie muffins and homemade curry pies. When evening hits, the cocktail list named The Multiverse will kick in. While all three bars belong in the same superhero-loving stable, each will pour its own specific signature beverages if you need motivation for a California Lane bar crawl. At Harley Quinn, expect to sip the venue's namesake cocktail, which is made from gun, rosé prosecco and lemon fairy floss. Fittingly, there's also a Puddin spritz, which features vodka, a grapefruit blend, prosecco, rosemary and soda. You'll also choose from a range that also spans Doctor Doom, Mysterio, Infinity Stones, The Riddler and Doctor Strange concoctions at Harley Quinn, so you won't just be thinking about a character played by Margot Robbie (Barbie) in Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) and The Suicide Squad — and that Lady Gaga (House of Gucci) is taking on in the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux. Or, there's the Kryptonite!, which includes a lightbulb, plus the lemon- and curd-featuring Flash Meringue. "Harley Quinn promises daytime casual vibes, and an evening filled with handcrafted creations, grazing options and conversation, and we're thrilled to bring this dynamic concept to Fortitude Valley to further enhance the fun but serious cocktail culture we continue to cultivate. It's a small bar, but packs a cheeky punch," says Grey. Poison Ivy, which is being dubbed a 'villain bar', will open Saturday, June 1, splashing around green aplenty (of course) in the space that was previously home to Viva La Cali. And yes, laneway parties will be on the bill when both Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are up and running. Find Harley Quinn Bar in California Lane at Shop G4, 22 McLachlan Street, Fortitude Valley from Friday, May 24, 2024 — operating its bar from 5.30–9pm Thursday and Sunday, and 5.30pm–late Friday–Saturday from its opening date, and also its cafe from 11am–4pm Tuesday–Sunday from Saturday, June 1. Head to the venue's website for further details.
Perhaps you're a Brisbanite eager to head to another state. Maybe you live elsewhere in Australia, but you're keen on holidaying in Queensland; summer is in full swing, after all. Either way, the Sunshine State is set to reopen its borders to quarantine-free travel, allowing in double-vaccinated interstate visitors from all around the country without a stint in isolation — even from places deemed hotspots. That means that whether you're a local keen to visit Sydney or Melbourne and then return home, or you reside in those cities and you've been dreaming of a sunny beach holiday, that'll be able to become a reality at 1am AEST / 2am AEDT on Monday, December 13. Queensland was already scheduled to ease its border restrictions in exactly this way, but not until Friday, December 17, so this is happening five days early. The reason? As flagged back when the Sunshine State started allowing folks from hotspots into Queensland if they went into quarantine — in November, when the state hit the 70-percent double-vaccinated mark ahead of schedule — the latest reopening stage has been fast-tracked because of high jab rates. Queensland will reach the 80-percent double-vaccinated mark earlier than expected, hence the new border reopening date. BREAKING: Queensland will reopen at 1am on 13 December as we move towards the 80% vaccination milestone earlier than expected. Nominating a time and date for reopening gives everyone certainty to book flights and accommodation and make plans to visit loved ones. pic.twitter.com/lYWnKoAUAk — Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) December 6, 2021 Announcing the news, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said that "we can't predict exactly when [Queensland will hit 80-percent double-vaxxed], but we know it's going to be this week. And I'm very conscious that we want to give people certainty. We want to give families certainty, and businesses certainty." The Premier also confirmed two other changes: that folks will be classed as double-vaccinated one week after getting their second jab, not two; and that all arrivals from domestic hotspots will need to get another COVID-19 test on day five after their arrival in Queensland. Double-jabbed interstate travellers still have to test negative in the 72 hours getting to Queensland, too — and anyone who isn't double-vaxxed will still be required to go into hotel quarantine for 14 days. Only double-vaccinated visitors can arrive by both air and road, with air the only option if you aren't vaxxed. Also, double-jabbed border residents will be able to move freely across the border if they have a border pass — no testing required — which is excellent news for people on the Gold Coast and in northern New South Wales. Queensland's rules around international travel will change as well come Monday, December 13, with double-vaccinated overseas travellers able to undertake 14 days of home quarantine — if they've also received a negative COVID-19 test result in the 72 hours before getting to Queensland. They'll be tested upon arrival, too. That said, the Sunshine State will still wait until Friday, December 17 to start its new rules regarding visiting venues. From that date, as previously announced, you'll need to be double-jabbed to enter places such as restaurants, bars, cafes, cinemas, stadiums, festivals, libraries, galleries and museums — but all of those types of sites across the hospitality and entertainment industries will completely ditch capacity restrictions. Queensland's border rules will ease at 1am AEST / 2am AEST on Monday, November 13. For more information about Queensland's border policies and border passes, head to the Queensland Government website.
If you're the type of traveller who chooses their hotels for the perks and extra inclusions, then you'll be particularly excited about an upcoming new addition to Melbourne's accommodation offerings. Mövenpick Hotel Melbourne on Spencer is set to launch sometime this May, marking the Swiss brand's second site in Australia, after Mövenpick Hotel Hobart opened earlier in the year — and if either the chain's name or its country of origin have you thinking of sweet treats, yes, they're part of the hotel's menu. For starters, Mövenpick Hotel Melbourne will be celebrating chocolate hour every afternoon. Going on the Hobart setup, that's when you'll receive a free dessert — such as an eclair, brownie or truffle — when you purchase a chocolate-flavoured cocktail, mocktail or affogato. Mövenpick's hotels all serve the brand's line of food and beverages as well, which means that Mövenpick ice cream is also available. The menu doesn't just cater to your sweet tooth, though. At breakfast, guests can choose to enjoy juice-blended energy shots, along with a range of health-focused and nutritious options available to eat in or grab-and-go. One of more than 80 of the brand's accommodation sites worldwide and run in collaboration with Accor, Mövenpick Hotel Melbourne will boast 172 guest rooms housed within the new 78-storey Premier Tower development on Spencer Street. It's decked out with boutique interiors, and comes complete with a 25-metre swimming pool, sauna and gym. The new hotel will also be home to a southeast Asian restaurant and bar, which'll rock a contemporary fitout courtesy of design agency Greymatters. It's slated to plate up traditional Asian grill and barbecue dishes, and will open daily for lunch and dinner. Find Mövenpick Hotel Melbourne on Spencer at 160 Spencer Street, Melbourne, from May 2021. Head to the Accor website for bookings and other information. Images: artists impressions of Mövenpick Hotel Melbourne on Spencer.
When a new restaurant and bar opens, or relaunches after a revamp, the menu always takes pride of place — but we all know that that's not the only attraction when you're heading to a venue. Design-wise, what's on the inside counts as well. And, at the Australian Interior Design Awards, top-notch decor in hospitality, residential, workplace, retail and public settings all gets thrust into the spotlight. On AIDA's 2022 shortlist, plenty of places have been given the nod — all now vying to emerge victorious when the gongs are handed out this winter. This marks the accolades' 19th year of showcasing the finest design minds working in Australia's residential, commercial and public sectors, and the work on display by the contenders is unsurprisingly stunning. Obviously, if you like your interiors swish, plush, luxurious and stylish all round, you're going to want to visit, live in or work at all of the places up for this year's awards. Among the hospitality, retail and public spots that've earned some love, dropping by to scope of their interior design is definitely possible. [caption id="attachment_849500" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Genovese Coffee House by Alexander CO. Photography by Anson Smart.[/caption] It helps if you live in Sydney or Melbourne, with spots in New South Wales and Victoria featuring heavily on the shortlists. Starting in the Harbour City, standouts include Genovese Coffee House in Alexandria, Ursula's Paddington, The Woollahra Hotel and The Imperial in the hospo field, and the revamped Theatre Royal Sydney in the public design category. Melbourne's Smith Street Bistrot, Entrecôte Prahran, Yugen Tea Bar, Tokyo Tina, Untitled, Hector's Deli South Melbourne, Ovolo South Yarra, Society, Flower Drum and Yakimono also rank among the places in the running, plus The Lume Melbourne and Victorian Pride Centre. [caption id="attachment_849499" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Fugazzi by studio gram. Photography by Jonathon VDK.[/caption] In Queensland, only six spots have made the cut: homes in Toowong and New Farm, Alba Noosa Providore and Wineism in the retail field, and two workplaces — with the local hospo industry missing out. Elsewhere, Inka Japanese Restaurant in Canberra, and Fugazzi and Arkhé in South Australia join the places in contention. The rundown goes on in all fields, which means that there's no shortage of strikingly designed new, revamped and refurbished places demanding your attention around around the country. This year's winners will be announced in-person at a dinner the Hyatt Regency Sydney on Friday, June 17. For the full Australian Interior Design Awards 2022 shortlist, head to the AIDA website. Top images: Society by Russell George. Photography by Sean-Fennessy and Shannon McGrath. / Flower Drum by Studio 103. Photography by Pete-Dillon. / The Imperial by Welsh Major. Photography by Clinton Weaver.
Every December, fans of sparkling sights are gifted a luminous feast for their eyes. No, we're not talking about Christmas lights. Regardless of whether you're bathing in a festive glow or hardly fond of all the merriment, 'tis the season for the Geminids meteor shower to soar through the sky — starting back on Sunday, December 4 and finishing for 2022 on Tuesday, December 20. Yes, that means that this shower is visible right now. Even better: Down Under, it's at its peak on the evening of Wednesday, December 14 and the morning of Thursday, December 15. If you have a telescope at hand, it's clearly a great time to put it to use. Eager to catch a glimpse, even from just your backyard or balcony? Here's everything you need to know. [caption id="attachment_882304" align="alignnone" width="1920"] ESO/G. Lombardi via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] WHAT IS IT Lighting up the end-of-year skies, the Geminids meteor shower is considered the most spectacular meteor shower of the year. Again, Christmas lights aren't the only spectacle worth peering at this month. The Geminids is caused by a stream of debris, left by an asteroid dubbed the 3200 Phaethon, burning up in Earth's atmosphere — and it was first observed in 1862. Some years, you can catch as many as 150 meteors every 60 minutes, so this definitely isn't just any old meteor shower. [caption id="attachment_699423" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, Jeff Dai.[/caption] WHEN TO SEE IT The 2022 shower kicked off on Sunday, December 4, but it really is just getting started. While the Geminids runs through until Tuesday, December 20 this year, it's expected to be at its peak in Australia overnight between Wednesday, December 14–Thursday, December 15. If you fancy a stint of stargazing, the best time to look up is on Wednesday, December 14 from around 9pm in Brisbane, 10pm in Perth, 11pm in Sydney, 11.30pm in Adelaide and 12am in Melbourne. The best time to catch an eyeful will be after midnight, when the moon has set and its light will not interfere, but before sunrise. [caption id="attachment_882301" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mike Durkin via Flickr[/caption] HOW TO SEE IT For your best chances, it's worth getting as far away from bright lights as possible. This could be a good excuse to head out of the city to a clear-skied camping spot — and pray for no clouds. To see the meteors, you'll need to give your eyes around 15–30 minutes to adapt to the dark (so try to avoid checking your phone) and look to the northeast. The shower's name comes from the constellation from which they appear to come, Gemini. So that's what you'll be looking for in the sky. To locate Gemini, we recommend downloading the Sky Map app — it's the easiest way to navigate the night sky (and is a lot of fun to use even on a non-meteor shower night). If you're more into specifics, Time and Date also has a table that shows the direction and altitude of the Geminids. The Geminids meteor shower runs from Sunday, December 4–Tuesday, December 20, and will be at its peak during the night on Wednesday, December 14–Thursday, December 15. For further details, head to Time and Date. Top image: A composite of 163 photos taken over 90 minutes during the Geminids by Jeff Smallwood for Flickr.
Whether it be reluctant landlords, a busy schedule or allergic flatmates, the predicament of every city-dwelling cat-lover is not being able to have one. But Yarraville couple Anita and Myles Loughran are offering hope to these frustrated feline fanatics. They have quit their uninspiring jobs in pursuit of the dream: opening Melbourne's first cat cafe. The first cat cafes opened their doors in Japan and Taiwan in the early 2000s. Since then it has been a steadily growing phenomenon, with similar establishments popping up in Europe and Asia. The Loughrans plan on housing a number of ex-stray cats, and have launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise the necessary funds to provide the best possible environment for these loveable rescues. As well as offering Melburnians a much-needed kitty fix, the venture is aimed at raising awareness and will accept donations to various shelters and welfare programs. Unlike the traditional cat cafe, to comply with Australia's food safety regulations, there will be a glass screen separating the main cat area and the cafe area, providing a fur-free space to enjoy coffee and cake. Not to worry, customers will still be able to interact with the cats; in fact, this model of 'feline therapy' has been scientifically proven to help lower high blood pressure, stress levels and anxiety. If you're keen to see Australia's first cat cafe come to fruition in Melbourne, you can donate online at Indiegogo. How could you say no to those cute little faces? https://youtube.com/watch?v=kHjpSiJ8gfY
Wu-Tang Clan. A group who need no introduction nor, apparently, an extended lead-up to their Australian tour, are coming to Australia soon. Very soon. Really goddamn soon. For anyone who clocked the ambiguous 'Wu-Tang Is Coming' posters that have been up around Melbourne, your suspicions have been confirmed. The Wu-Tang tour is happening at the end of February and they’ll be gracing Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane with their presence (sorry everybody else, but Canberra you never stood a chance). The lineup is still to be confirm but we can only hope they drop some numbers from Once Upon a Time in Shaolin as a big middle finger to Pharmaceutical Hitler Martin Shkreli who bought the unique record for $2 million and then kept the damn thing entirely to himself, much to the disgust of the entire world. Check out the dates and make the necessary arrangements to get work off. WU-TANG CLAN 2016 AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES: February 23 — Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne February 24 — Allphones Arena, Sydney February 26 — Riverstage, Brisbane Tickets go on sale on December 21, via Ticketek for Melbourne and Sydney and Ticketmaster for Brisbane, juuust in time for you to pick up a lil Christmas gift for yourself. Image: Jonathan Weiner.
If you've made it to the middle of March without starting to count down until the Easter and ANZAC Day long weekends, congratulations: you're stronger-willed that most. Beginning to think about more than just a few days off sometime soon? If you're keen to travel from the very end of April 2025, you're in luck: Virgin has just dropped a new flight sale. Book in that annual leave, because you can take a discounted trip to Hamilton Island, Uluru, Bali, Fiji, Queenstown, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Hobart and more. The sale covers one-million fares, both Australian and international destinations among them, and prices start at $45. Yes, that $45 fare is for the Sydney–Byron Bay route, for a one-way ticket. You can also head to the Gold Coast from Sydney from $65, from Brisbane to Proserpine for $69 and from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast from $109. Prefer a Hamilton Island getaway instead? Flights there kick off at $109 from Brisbane and Sydney, and $139 from Melbourne. Other deals elsewhere span Sydney–Melbourne from $95, Brisbane–Hobart from $115, Brisbane–Uluru from $129, Melbourne-Perth from $195 and Sydney–Perth from $199. Do scenic sights further afield call your name? Your overseas options include Melbourne–Queenstown from $425, Gold Coast–Bali from $489, Brisbane–Port Vila from $499, Sydney–Nadi from $569 and Brisbane–Apia from $689, all return. You've got until midnight AEST on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 to book, unless sold out earlier. And the cheap fares, which are valid in both directions between each point in the discounted route, start with Virgin's Economy Lite option — although there are also business seats on offer. Wondering when you'll need to travel? These deals cover periods between Wednesday, April 30, 2025–Wednesday, February 11, 2026, with all dates varying per route. Inclusions also differ depending on your ticket and, as usual when it comes to flight sales, you'll need to get in quick. Virgin's March 2025 sale runs until midnight AEST on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 — unless sold out earlier. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
If watching a stage full of people sing and dance their hearts out is your idea of a great night out, then the next 12 months or so are going to be like musical theatre Christmas. With lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne set to end, a heap of big musicals have firmed up their Australian dates or locked in their postponed seasons — big shows such as Moulin Rouge! The Musical, The Phantom of the Opera, Jagged Little Pill the Musical, Come From Away and Hamilton — and, in January 2022, they'll be joined by West End and Broadway hit Girl From the North Country. For Bob Dylan fans, that name will be familiar. It's the title of one of the legendary folk singer's 1963 songs — a tune that features in this musical, naturally. Indeed, the entire show uses Dylan's tracks, including everything from 'Like a Rolling Stone' and 'Hurricane' to 'Slow Train' and 'I Want You', all weaved throughout a story of American life during the Great Depression. Making its Australian premiere at the 2022 Sydney Festival, and kicking off from Wednesday, January 5 at Theatre Royal Sydney, 108 King Street, Sydney, Girl From the North Country takes place in a guesthouse in the US state of Minnesota in 1934. The story revolves around owner Nick, who is deeply in debt; his wife Elizabeth, whose mind is fraying; and their pregnant daughter Marianne — as well as a bible-slinging preacher and a boxer endeavouring to make a comeback. [caption id="attachment_827941" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tristram Kenton[/caption] Overseas, the musical has enjoyed sell-out seasons since it first debuted in London in 2017 — heading from The Old Vic to West End, next leaping to the US for an off-Broadway run, and then hitting up Toronto, returning to West End and premiering on Broadway before the pandemic in early 2022. Locally, the debut Aussie season will star Lisa McCune (The King and I, South Pacific), Zahra Newman (The Book of Mormon, Wentworth), Terence Crawford (Escape From Pretoria, 1984) and Helen Dallimore (Wicked, Legally Blonde), with more cast members set to be announced closer to the show's dates. Girl From the North Country will open at Theatre Royal Sydney, 108 King Street, Sydney from Wednesday, January 5, 2022. For further information or to buy tickets, head to the musical's Australian website.
One day, in the not-so-distant future, perhaps Brisbanites will take their pet puppers with them everywhere. For now, we'll all just have to grab our four-legged best friends and head to another doggo market. It's the trend that won't go away, and we'd all be barking mad if we wanted it to. More excuses to take energetic ol' Rufus places? More chances to go "awwwww" over other people's pooches? Count us in. The returning Doggo Day Markets are the latest such event, taking over Virginia's VEND Marketplace between 8am–2pm on Saturday, September 17. The shindig's name also acts as your instructions, so round up your woofer and take them on an outing. There's even a dress-up competition, as there usually is at these things. That's how adorable pups get even cuter. Also on the agenda: doggy stalls, a dog play area, a dog wash, a dog photobooth and dachshund races, plus the northside spot's general array of markets and greenery — and an ice cream truck (for humans), too.
Usually, a new year heralds big travel plans. After the past 12 months, however, your suitcase is probably now caked in dust. Thankfully, even with physically venturing far from home still off the agenda for the near future, you can easily treat yourself to an on-screen trip any time you like. Your first destination: the UK. Australians have always been more than a little obsessed with British movies and TV shows, so it's one of the easiest places to head to while you're still sitting on your couch. Whether you're keen to step back into the country's history, venture into its halls of power or see it through an American-in-London's perspective, streaming service Binge has an array of options. In collaboration with the platform, we've selected five British films and programs that'll whisk you to the other side of the globe. They're all available to stream now, and you can check them out via a 14-day free trial for new customers.
NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all people of Australia to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In the past, the "National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee" were responsible for organising the events of NAIDOC Week, and since then the acronym has become the name of the event itself. NAIDOC Week will be held from Sunday, July 4 to Sunday, July 11 this year. Typically, NAIDOC Week kicks off on the first Sunday of July every year and runs for one week. The dates are a nod to National Aboriginal Day, which was previously celebrated on the second Friday of July. The theme of NAIDOC Week this year is 'Heal Country!'. Grounded in Country, this theme calls for the recognition, protection and maintenance of all aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. But in order to achieve this, it's essential that historical, political and administrative settings adapt in order to empower and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Check out the NAIDOC Week website for more information about the origins of the week and this year's theme. [caption id="attachment_817386" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image: Supplied by Clothing The Gaps.[/caption] WHY IS NAIDOC WEEK SO SIGNIFICANT? To further understand what NAIDOC Week means for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, @blakbusiness hosted an anonymous survey across Instagram. From Trawlwoolway to Kuku Yalanji, respondents came from over 30 Aboriginal and Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait Islands) nations. When asked what NAIDOC Week means for them, the majority of respondents expressed ideas of community, pride and strength. "NAIDOC is a week of celebrating and coming together with mob from all over the country. It's a week that makes me very proud to be an Aboriginal person," one submission said. Another respondent succinctly explained that NAIDOC Week for them was a "time of reflection, remembering important people in our community, a time to celebrate but also knowing what this week comes from. Knowing that it came from resistance, strength, fighting for justice, fighting against colonialism, white supremacy, ongoing acts of genocide, and celebration of invasion. NAIDOC is for us, and for many, it's a time to celebrate who we are unapologetically, loud and proud." When asked about the importance of the theme Heal Country, one respondent explained the theme meant: "Protecting the earth, because we need her and she needs us. We came from the soil and mob who aren't with us have returned to the soil so we're looking after them too." Another submission said of this year's NAIDOC Week theme, "[It means to ensure] we look after and preserve our Country, our roots, so that the next generations have a place to call home and connect to." Respondents also shared thoughts about how they would like non-Indigenous peoples to be involved in NAIDOC Week. "I [would] love to see non-Indigenous Australia celebrating NAIDOC, getting involved in events, lending a hand, paying respect, and most importantly getting educated about our culture and our history and how they can help with healing and positive changes going forward," one anonymous respondent said. [caption id="attachment_767113" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image: In My Blood It Runs.[/caption] WHERE YOU CAN LEARN MORE As some of the responses above noted, NAIDOC Week presents a great opportunity to commit to learning more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, history and culture. But, it can be tricky to figure out where to start. To help you out, here are some resources to check out: Watch Strait to the Plate: A six-part series exploring the food, culture, language and lifestyle of Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait Islands) communities. In My Blood It Runs: An intimate 2019 documentary following ten-year-old, Dujuan, as he is challenged to balance his Arrernte and Garrwa culture with state education. You Can't Ask That — Indigenous: Part of the ABC series 'You Can't Ask That', this episode answers a range of questions about the experience of being Aboriginal. Follow Seed Mob: A branch of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Seed is a network of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth working to build a movement for climate justice. Our Islands Our Home: Our Islands Our Home is a campaign led by the people of Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait Islands) to protect their island homes from the ongoing climate crisis. Blak Business: Brings together information, knowledge and resources to facilitate broader learning and discussion about a range of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander topics. Read Fire Country by Victor Steffensen: Written by Tagalaka man and fire practitioner, Victor Steffensen, this book explores how the revival of Indigenous fire practices could help to restore our nation for all peoples. Tell Me Why by Archie Roach: Written by Bundjalung and Gunditjmara man, Uncle Archie Roach, this is an intimate and powerful memoir into the experience of being forcibly removed as a child, being raised in foster families, struggling with alcoholism and homelessness, and overcoming it all with music. Our Home, Our Heartbeat by Adam Briggs: Written by Yorta Yorta man Adam Briggs, this is a good book for young readers to learn and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and culture. [caption id="attachment_816553" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image: Kee'ahn.[/caption] NAIDOC WEEK EVENTS Hundreds of events will be hosted across the nation by schools, community centres, local councils, workplaces and sporting clubs to celebrate NAIDOC Week. Here are five events happening IRL and online. For more events, research your local Aboriginal Land Council to see what is happening in your area. Naarm (Melbourne) Country and Culture: An evening of storytelling, poetry and music with Tony Birch (Aboriginal, Barbadian, Irish and Afghani), Larissa Behrendt (Eualaya and Kamillaroi) and Kee'ahn (Kuku Yalanji, Jirrbal and Badu Island). Meanjin (Brisbane) Cultural Cooking: Learn about Aboriginal culture through tasting native foods with Quandamooka, Kullilli and Wakka Wakka man Keiron Anderson, of Yalabin Dining. This event is suitable for kids aged 10+. Boorloo (Perth) Cultural Talk with Joe Collard: Listen to Biboolmirn Nyoongar man, Joe Collard, talk about culture and this year's NAIDOC theme. You can also check out the other events being hosted in South Perth Library. Online Free the Flag lunchtime yarn: Did you know the Aboriginal flag is currently under copyright? Clothing The Gaps are leading the campaign to have the Aboriginal flag freed. Join them for this lunchtime yarn to learn about the Aboriginal Copyright issue and the progress of the Free the Flag campaign. NAIDOC Virtual Run Walk Event: Get moving during NAIDOC Week with this virtual run or walk event. Nominate your distance of either 5km, 10km, 21.1km or 42.2km and be rewarded with a medal designed by Gunditjmara artist, Laura Thompson. Top image: Supplied by Clothing The Gaps.
Darren Hanlon has been around awhile now. I remember seeing him play at the Paddington Workers Club (which isn’t there anymore) when I was twenty (which I'm not any more), and he was top notch then. I have changed significantly since I saw Darren play all those years ago, and it seems he has too. He is no longer playing small rooms at smaller bowls clubs – he's now rocking it at the Brisbane Powerhouse. On top of this, he has supported world renowned acts, including the glorious Bright Eyes, and toured the world, jet-setting as far as Latvia, Estonia and Broken Hill! Darren is a gifted storyteller, and wins over large and small audiences alike with his particular brand of gentle folk. He has released in excess of ten albums (including EPs), and this stripped back Christmas tour will see him playing a mix of songs from all of them. For this performance is he sans band, adding a little more intimacy to the gig as he serenades audiences solo. This will be the perfect little Christmas treat, relaxing with the lovely Darren, listening to his beautiful and funny stories, and sharing a little Christmas cheer. Enjoy!
Aussies are ditching the overdone, stuffy dinner parties of yesteryear and instead are opting for bougie elevated cocktail nights at home with their besties. We're socialising more than in previous years but, with the rising cost of living, we're looking for more economical ways of hanging out with our friends. One way to do it is to host luxurious cocktail parties at home. Are you part of the trend? Read on to get some tips to elevate your next cocktail party. CONCOCT THE COCKTAIL LIST You can't have a cocktail party without cocktails. To keep things easy for you (and interesting for your guests), stick with a single spirit for your shindig. Bourbon can be a foundation for many cocktails like old fashioneds, manhattans, whisky sours or highballs. Vodka is the basis for numerous cocktail recipes like a classic cosmo, martini, bloody mary or lemon drop. Equally versatile is gin with cocktails like gimlets, Tom Collins, negronis and, of course, gin and tonic on its repertoire. Aim to prebatch your ingredients and garnishes so you can spend more time socialising with your guests. One garnish can work for many cocktails. For instance, bourbon cocktails work exceptionally well with orange peel garnish. CURATE A MENU Tasty cocktails deserve equally tasty food. It doesn't need to be complicated, especially because cocktail parties are better suited to canapes and charcuterie boards. So crack out the cheese knives and small plates and set up grazing stations throughout your party space. You don't need to bust your weekly budget on ingredients. Stock up on cheese, crackers, cured meats, fresh fruits, olives and crusty bread. Don't forget dips and spreads, and you'll be golden. Keep in mind any dietaries your mates may have, and don't mix bread and crackers with the cheese and meat to ensure any coeliacs among you are happy. CREATE THE ATMOSPHERE What's a party without the right vibes? Get onto Spotify and create the playlist to perfect your cocktail party theme. Are you going with minimalist chic? Maybe you should load up on lo-fi beats. Are you thinking more of a luxe old-world vibe? Jazz is your friend. Or perhaps you're pushing a colourful midday sesh. If so, pop music should be on the tracklist. Depending on the vibe you are going for, lighting can make a major impact on the atmosphere. No one wants to chill with overhead lights showing everything. If you don't have dimmers on your lights, you can create a soothing vibe with fairy lights, lamps or candles — just be careful where you set up candles. To let your guests know the party is over, subtly blow out the candles and turn off the music. The vibes will be over, and so will the party mood. Keen to host a luxurious night of your own? We are giving our readers the chance to host a luxury cocktail party for up to 40 guests. Check out the competition here. Images: Susannah Townsend, Woodford Reserve, Getty Images
It's hard to imagine sharing anything else with a complete stranger on public transport than the very seat you both happen to sit on. But the Bibliotaxi project based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, makes sharing things on public transport sound not half-bad. The concept behind Bibliotaxi or 'library in a car' was developed by Instituto Mobilidade Verde, or Green Mobility Institute, and combines their causes of sustainability and mobility. The project also aims to encourage 'sharing' in the city of Vila Madalena. Taxi passengers who enter a Bibliotaxi are free to leisurely peruse the books inside the taxi and even borrow (and return) the books if it becomes too hard to part with once their destination is reached. What a great way to revive books. Perhaps the awkward taxi conversation may become more interesting and informed in Sao Paulo, now that there is a library at the passenger's disposal. [Via PSFK]
When St Jerome's Laneway Festival announces its lineup each year, it gives music fans a hefty piece of good news. But, that's never the end of the story. As well as taking to the stage for the fest's main shows in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth and Auckland, plenty of artists on Laneway's bill do sideshows — and the 2024 batch of gigs has just been announced. If you're keen to catch Steve Lacy, Raye, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and AJ Tracey doing their own concerts, now you can. Also on the list: Blondshell, Faye Webster, d4vd, Paris Texas, DOMi & JD Beck and Hemlocke Springs. The one caveat: as can be the case with festival sideshows Down Under, this batch is not only east coast-focused, but almost all about Sydney and Melbourne. Still, you now have more chances to hear 'Bad Habit and 'Escapism', including the former at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall for two big shows — which is where Unknown Mortal Orchestra will bust out their tunes for one night. If you're wondering about Stormzy and Dominic Fike, they're doing exclusive Laneway tours. Accordingly, if you want to see either (or both), you'll only catch them at the fest. Also, Lacy is exclusive to Laneway in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth, hence the Sydney-only sideshows. [caption id="attachment_916473" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Callum Walker Hutchinson[/caption] LANEWAY FESTIVAL 2024 SIDESHOWS: BLONDSHELL Friday, February 9 — Corner Hotel, Melbourne Sunday, February 11 — Oxford Art Factory, Sydney FAYE WEBSTER Wednesday, January 31 — The Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne Thursday, February 1 — Metro Theatre, Sydney STEVE LACY Wednesday, January 31–Thursday, February 1 — Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, Sydney UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA Tuesday, January 30 — Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, Sydney Thursday, February 1 — Odeon Theatre, Hobart Friday, February 9 — Forum, Melbourne AJ TRACEY Friday, February 2 — Enmore Theatre, Sydney Thursday, February 8 — Forum, Melbourne PARIS TEXAS Thursday, February 1 — Oxford Art Factory, Sydney Thursday, February 8 — Night Cat, Melbourne DOMI & JD BECK Friday, February 2 — Brunswick Picture House, Brunswick Heads Friday, February 9 — Factory Theatre, Sydney Sunday, February 11 — Corner Hotel, Melbourne D4VD Friday, February 2 — Liberty Hall, Sydney Thursday, February 8 — Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne HEMLOCKE SPRINGS Friday, February 2 — Night Cat, Melbourne Wednesday, February 7 — Oxford Art Factory, Sydney RAYE Wednesday, January 31 — Enmore Theatre, Sydney Thursday, February 1 — Forum, Melbourne St Jerome's Laneway Festival will tour Australia and New Zealand in February 2024. Head to the festival's website for further details and tickets. The festival's sideshows run throughout January and February, with ticketing dates depending on the show — find out more via the Steve Lacy tour website, Unknown Mortal Orchestra tour website and Handsome Tours.
