When Boxing Day rolls around, it'll be 15 years since the old Red Hill Skate Arena met a fiery end. Other than the brightly coloured graffiti adorning the burnt-out building's walls, the site on the corner of Musgrave Road and Enoggera Terrace has remained largely unchanged since, though plenty of redevelopment plans have been floated. If the latest goes ahead, it could see Brisbane gain yet another new cinema. A development application has been lodged for a five-screen cinema and a two-lane bowling alley, in what's proving a boom period for new movie houses across the city. The Elizabeth Picture Theatre opened in October, the new Dendy Coorparoo will follow at the end of November and Reading Cinemas Newmarket is slated to launch in December. This proposal comes courtesy of the folks behind the former, as well as New Farm Cinemas. According to documents submitted to the Brisbane City Council, the Sourris family were the owners of the original building on the site in the 1950s. They plan to resurrect its name — Red Hill Pops Theatre — as part of a project that nods to the address' history. If it gets the go-ahead, locals can expect a quintet of big screens with a total capacity of 355 seats, bowling lanes put in beneath the upper foyer, and the restoration of architectural pieces with significant cultural heritage as part of the design by James Davidson Architecture. A new metal roof will replicate the previous roof while replacing the existing open framework, while some fire-damaged aspects will be demolished. Previous ideas for the spot have included a function centre, shops and restaurants, as well as an extension of Musgrave Road's Clovely Estate Cellar Door, but none have come to fruition. Via Your Neighbourhood.
Black Friday and its super-cheap sales only come once a year. Use the occasion to score a bargain holiday, however, and the memories will last a lifetime. Thanks to Virgin's addition to the 2022 shopping frenzy, you have options — whether you're happy to explore Australian destinations or fancy a getaway further afield. A whopping 500,000 fares are currently up for grabs as part of the airline's Black Friday, Bright Holidays sale, covering a heap of Aussie and international spots. Sticking with home turf, you can head to Byron Bay, the Whitsundays, the Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Hamilton Island, Alice Springs, Hobart and more. And, if you're eager to journey overseas, you can hit up Bali, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu and Queenstown. With discounts of up to 30-percent off, one-way domestic fares start at $55, which'll get you from Sydney to Byron Bay. As always, that's cheapest route. Other cheap flights include Brisbane to either Cairns for $89 and Hamilton Island for $99, Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast from $109, Adelaide to the Gold Coast from $125 and Perth to Hobart from $189. Internationally, both one-way and return flights are on offer — with return deals including Sydney to Fiji from $469, Brisbane to Vanuatu from $539 and Melbourne to Queenstown from $489. If you're wondering when you'll need to travel, there's a range of dates from January–June 2023, all varying depending on the flights and prices. As usual when it comes to flight sales, you'll need to get in quick. Virgin's discounted fares are now on offer until midnight on Tuesday, November 29 or sold out, whichever arrives first. Virgin's Black Friday, Bright Holidays sale runs until midnight AEST on Tuesday, November 29 — or until sold out. 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.
Playground Weekender is, for the uninitiated, a four-day extravaganza in arguably the most gorgeous festival location near Sydney, Del Rio's Riverside Resort on the Hawkesbury. We're talking lush green bush land, a sparkly river and all the trimmings of a 'Riverside Resort' - nine hole golf courses, tennis courts, riverside chalets and kangaroos that serve you cocktails. Add yoga, the Club Tropicana (!) swimming pool, cabaret, cinema, a beauty salon and a 24 hour general store, and there's little wonder if features very near the top of our list of favourite festivals. Now back for its sixth year with a cavalcade of amazing artists and things to do, the 2012 edition will feature performances by artists such as Chic ft. Nile Rodgers, Boy and Bear, Roots Manuva, Black Lips, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Unkle Sounds, Shapeshifters and Lanie Lane. If you need a break in between shows go and visit the Village Green, home to an array of food stalls, stand up comedy, and a beer and cider garden. Or, if you prefer, do a session of yoga and have a massage in a teepee. Playground Weekender takes place from March 2-5 at Del Rio Riverside Resort, Wiseman's Ferry. Want to get your hands on a four-day double pass? To win, simply subscribe to Concrete Playground (if you haven't already), then email hello@concreteplayground.com.au. Entries close at 5pm on February 29, 2012. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Z5ExV8ABNNU
He's the creative mind behind Uluru's spectacular Field of Light installation, which pulled more than 200,000 visitors in its first eighteen months and has been extended twice to keep up with demand. And now, renowned British artist Bruce Munro has lent his talents to yet another landmark Aussie exhibition. This time, he is illuminating the tree-lined Avenue of Honour in Albany, Western Australia. Field of Light: Avenue of Honour kicks off today and will run until April 25, 2019, in honour of the ANZACs who departed for the Great War from this southernmost point of the state 100 years ago. It's an immersive work, aglow each night with 16,000 flower-like glass spheres, 'planted' by local volunteers to form a glowing carpet through the avenue's memorial trees. Arriving at peak wildflower season, the glowing orbs also nod to this corner of the country's unique plant life, referencing the whites, yellows and greens of the wattle and New Zealand's kowhai. Munro's Field of Light: Avenue of Honour installation will be free to wander during its stint Down Under, which coincides with the ANZAC Centenary commemorations. If you'd like to visit, you'll have to plan a bit of a trip. Albany is located a five-hour drive (or one-hour flight) from Perth. Field of Light: Avenue of Honour runs from October 4, 2018 until April 25, 2019. Images: Mark Pickthall, courtesy of the Bruce Munro Studio
Forget the Hilton. These hotels market their unique, and occasionally bizarre, approach to hospitality. For adventurous travellers looking for more than just a memorable trip, these five hotels will guarantee that your accommodations are equally unforgettable. Caves of Civita Where: Sextantio, Italy Opened in 2009, Caves of Civita creates a primitive ambiance with 18 cave-like guest rooms. The walls are rock, linens are hand-sewn, and the furniture is furbished using ancient techniques. You certainly won't find a minibar or widescreen television here. The hotel blends near-seamlessly into the surrounding landscape and has earned a 4-star rating for its romantic hideaway feel. Hotel Alcatraz Where: London, UK The new Hotel Alcatraz opened its doors in London last week, completing the UKTV's marketing stunt to promote JJ Abrams' new television drama series, 'Alcatraz'. The hotel contains four 1.5 by 2.7 metre rooms which have been constructed to accurately represent cells of the infamous San Francisco prison, which closed in 1963. Each room is appropriately utilitarian, containing a mattress, sink, prison-style toilet and two shelves. Intrigued guests must pose for mug-shots upon check-in, and are then issued prison uniforms and metal food trays by the 'prison wardens' -- hotel staff. The new 'inmates' are also subjected to historical prison activities, including exercise sessions and tailoring. Capsule Hotel Where: Amsterdam, The Netherlands The Capsule Hotel in Amsterdam offers 1972 oil rig survival pods as overnight accommodation. It's a tight squeeze into these electric orange life rafts, perhaps not suitable to the claustrophobic traveler - or an arguing couple, for that matter. Sandcastle Hotel Where: Weymouth Beach, Dorset, UK Sculpted from 1000 tonnes of sand, the Sandcastle Hotel blows the sand creations of our childhood out of the water. A stunt to draw Brits back to the country's beaches, the hotel offered guests both a twin and a double sized bed, entirely made of sand - until rain washed the 100 hours of manpower away. Laterooms.com, which commissioned the sculpture, insists that if guests do not mind sandy toes (or sandy everything for that matter), a night spent stargazing in this open-roofed getaway would be perfectly romantic. Das Park Hotel Where: Ottensheim, Austria The charmingly utilitarian rooms at Das Park Hotel are snug inside re-imagined drainpipes. Providing guests will just enough space for a bed and for storage, these rooms are strictly minimalist; the only decor is the painting work of Austrian artist Thomas Latzel Ochoa. The accommodations are available for rental from May through to October under a "pay as you wish" policy; guests are encouraged to leave only as much as they can afford to support Das Park's project.
The Black Phone didn't need to star Ethan Hawke. In a way, it doesn't really. Fresh from Moon Knight and The Northman, Hawke is definitely in this unsettling 1978-set horror film. He's also exceptional in it. But his top billing springs from his name recognition and acting-veteran status rather than his screen time. Instead, superb up-and-comer Mason Thames gets the bulk of the camera's attention in his first feature role. After him, equally outstanding young talent Madeleine McGraw (Ant-Man and The Wasp) comes next. They spend most of their time worrying about, hearing rumours of, hiding from, battling and/or trying to track down a mask-wearing, van-driving, child-snatching villain — the role that Hawke plays in a firmly supporting part, almost always beneath an eerie disguise. Visibly at least, anyone could've donned the same apparel and proven an on-screen source of menace. There's a difference between popping something creepy over your face and actually being creepy, though. Scary masks can do a lot of heavy lifting, but they're also just a made-to-frighten facade. Accordingly, when it comes to being truly petrifying, Hawke undoubtedly makes The Black Phone. He doesn't literally; his Sinister director Scott Derrickson helms, and also co-wrote the script with that fellow horror flick's C Robert Cargill, adapting a short story by Stephen King's son Joe Hill — and the five-decades-back look and feel, complete with amber and grey hues, plus a nerve-rattling score, are all suitably disquieting stylistic touches. But as the movie's nefarious attacker, Hawke is unnervingly excellent, and also almost preternaturally unnerving in every moment. Whenever he opens his mouth, his voice couldn't echo from anyone else; however, it's the nervy, ominous and bone-weary physicality that he brings to the character that couldn't be more pitch-perfect. Everyone is tired in The Black Phone, albeit in varying ways. At first, that comes as a surprise — it's a looser, more laidback time, and the film happily rides the vibe in its opening Little League game. Still, that relaxed air comes with its own sense of anxiety. What's better, an era when kids escape their homes during daylight, roaming the streets as they like but also instilled with a festering sense of stranger danger, or a period where such unsupervised freedom seems utterly unthinkable? This movie lurks in the former, obviously, and there is indeed a dangerous stranger prowling around north Denver's suburban streets. To 13-year-old Finney Blake (Thames), his younger sister Gwen (McGraw) and their schoolmates, that monstrous figure is known as The Grabber, and he's abducted several of their peers so far. Finney and Gwen are also exhausted at home, where their alcoholic father Terrence (Jeremy Davies, The House That Jack Built) is hardly hands-on — unless his hands are flying in anger their way. At school, Finney has a trio of bullies to deal with, too; luckily, if his pal Robin (first-timer Miguel Cazarez Mora) isn't around to save him, the plucky and sweary Gwen usually is. She's zapped as well, courtesy of dreams of events that haven't quite happened yet. The pair's mother had the same ability, which is why their dad is so sozzled, and also so hard on the two of them. Fatigue is well and truly in the air, thick yet invisible, although The Grabber's (Hawke) is the flimsiest. After taking Finney, he's drained by his need to kidnap and kill. That doesn't stop him from terrorising the neighbourhood, of course — but if his latest target has his way, aided by advice whispered down the disconnected basement telephone by past victims, the masked assailant might soon be far worse than simply weary. If you didn't know that The Black Phone came from Hill's pen, or that his father is the most famous horror author alive, you'd likely guess it the moment that The Grabber uses balloons to lure his prey. Those decorations are black, not red. The Grabber is a part-time magician instead of a demonic clown. No one dwells in a sewer here, but the trapped Finney does peer out of a basement window — and looking at him from the outside has a Pennywise-in-a-storm-drain appearance to it. The Black Phone isn't an IT do-over; however, it always feels like it has been moulded not just from memories of growing up in the 70s (Derrickson and Hill are the right ages, as is Hawke), but by minds that have also internalised King's brand of horror. Stranger Things does the same, but with the 80s. And as with the Netflix hit, that loving, knowing, nodding sensation doesn't stop The Black Phone from drawing viewers in — or keeping them immersed, engaged, entertained and unsettled. If you also didn't know that The Black Phone was a short story on the page, you'd swiftly pick that by watching, too. The film can't be called economical or slight, but it jumps speedily from forebodingly setting the scene with gripping unease (that weariness is palpable) to getting close to wrapping everything up, all without lingering much in the middle. The sense that connecting the dots is happening a tad too fast can't be shaken, although it doesn't confine The Black Phone to the cellar where terrible, half-baked, by-the-numbers horror flicks should go to rot. (Also, The Black Phone isn't any of those things.) Rather, for such an escape room of a movie — a picture that's all about a teenage boy who isn't the typical hero using his brains and even his fears to hopefully puzzle together the necessary pieces to escape a room, with some supernatural help — it just seems too eager to flee. Wishing there was more teasing and loitering to Derrickson's return to horror after helming the first Doctor Strange, and Hawke's as well, is the right kind of problem to have, though. There's plenty about The Black Phone that keeps audience hooked — and, unlike Finney, we'd be happy to remain that way a little longer. Derrickson's film is big on mood, and on crucial details. Almost every character feels lived-in, from its two key kids through to The Grabber, Terrence, and other victims fleshed out in small scenes and flashbacks. (Performances obviously play a pivotal part in the latter, not just from the superbly vicious Hawke and the impressive Thames and McGraw, but right down to IT: Chapter Two's James Ransone showing up and getting unhinged quickly.) There's always a dripping sense of tension, much of the picture's imagery is perturbing all on its own, and the well-executed jump scares do exactly what they're supposed to. The Black Phone doesn't always know when to stay on the line, but the chilling flick is still a horror-movie call worth taking.
Have you ever wondered why the Mad Hatter is so mad? No, of course you haven't. One of the wonders of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is that it doesn't try to explain the headwear enthusiast's mental state — it just accepts him for who he is and lets him get on with his tea party. Movie adaptations have done the same to date, including Tim Burton's 2010 live-action effort Alice in Wonderland. Alas, Disney is intent on sharing the origin stories of every classic literary figure it can think of, leaving Alice Through the Looking Glass to explore Hatter's background. In fact, with Alice (Mia Wasikowska) out in the real world, sailing the seas and attempting to save her mother's house, it's the plight of Hatter (Johnny Depp) that actually brings her back to the fantastical Underland. This time he's the one who's lost much of his muchness, thanks to his newfound belief that his long-gone family might still be alive. To help her truest friend, Alice visits Time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen), then goes jumping back through Hatter's history. His past isn't his alone, with his tale intertwined with the feuding antics of Red Queen Iracebeth (Helena Bonham Carter) and her White Queen sister (Anne Hathaway). As such, Alice Through the Looking Glass is both a prequel and a sequel. Given that its predecessor made more than a billion dollars at the global box office, the reason for the film's existence is obvious — as is the determination of director James Bobin (The Muppets) to follow in Burton's footsteps wherever he can. More peculiar is the decision of writer Linda Woolverton to turn Alice into a little more than an observer in the story, making her character the least interesting part of the movie in the process. As a result, Wasikowska is left largely watching on, even if she does ensure Alice seems suitably older and wiser. And while Depp receives top billing, he's carefully deployed — a little of his all-too-familiar wackiness goes a long way. With Bonham-Carter cartoonish and Hathaway mostly placid, it's left to Baron Cohen to bring the liveliness the film so badly needs. Sadly, despite his best efforts and never-ending supply of time-based puns, Alice Through the Looking Glass is never the energetic adventure it so desperately wants to be. That said, Bobin's movie is never boring — only misguided. Trying to ape Burton's over-the-top sensibilities was always going to be difficult, but simply shifting focus to the kookiest figure, throwing together similar set-pieces and asking most of the cast to repeat their previous performances isn't the way to go about it. Even the candy-coloured visuals don't shine as brightly this time around. That the film's most striking imagery stems from scenes of decay says more than it probably should.
During its Sydney run, Longrain was a must-visit for fans of Thai cuisine. In Melbourne, the Victorian version has proven the same, as has the Tokyo offshoot in Japan. Brisbanites can now head to Short Grain instead, with former Longrain co-owner, founder and Executive Chef Martin Boetz setting up his latest venture in Fortitude Valley. Short Grain marks a homecoming for the Brisbane-born kitchen wiz, who had a 14-year association with Longrain in Sydney and a seven-year link to its Melbourne eatery. Since then, he's been behind The Cook's Shed on the Hawkesbury River in Sackville in New South Wales, before giving Brisbane a new 60-seat Thai restaurant inside Marshall Street's Stewart & Hemmant building. This isn't just a place to sit and eat, either. Making its home inside an old clothing factory, Short Grain also features an Asian food store, as the brick building also once housed in the 90s. So, patrons can stop by for dinner or Sunday lunch, or pick up ready-to-go meals and house-made sauces. If you're dining in, you'll find arched windows letting light into Short Grain's section of the heritage-listed spot, banquette seating and wooden tables lining the space, and art by Vicky Lee. On the menu: Thai dishes aplenty, wine to match and a small dessert selection. For now, on a lineup that'll change seasonally, think: chicken skin with smoked trout and green mango among the appetisers, plus caramelised pork hock paired with chilli vinegar on the mains list. The culinary highlights also include red chilli nahm jim oysters, hot and sour squid, salt and pepper cuttlefish, and soy-braised quail. Yes, yellow, green and red curries are also on offer, the first with beef, the second with mackerel and the third with pork belly. And for something sweet? Choose from duck egg caramel custard tart made with salted pork-fat pastry, black sticky rice with mango and coconut tapioca with caramelised pineapple. To wash your meal down with, the vino list includes four bubbly drops, six whites, one amber, three rosés and chilled reds, and nine reds — with a focus on Australian wine, but also tipples from France, New Zealand and Germany. And, for taking home, expect not just curry sauces made and bottled onsite, but condiments and dressings. Short Grain is also selling The Fermentary's wares and acting as the only Queensland spot to get Gewurzhaus' spices.
When Brisbane's annual four-day weekend rolls around, there's time enough to a little bit of everything. Fancy sleeping in and getting comfy on the couch? Sure, devote 24 hours to that. Keen to roam far and wide, getting a big dose of nature? Again, slot it in the calendar. Want to hang out by the river, drinking brews, listening to live tunes and playing games on the grass? Slot that in for Saturday, March 30–Sunday, March 31, too. The place to head: CBD riverside precinct Howard Smith Wharves, which is hosting Easter Extravaganza on the Main Lawn. For two days, Brisbanites can kick back by the water, have a bite to eat, get sipping and celebrate all things Easter on the spot's patch of turf. On Saturday, you'll want to head from 12pm till late. On Sunday, the fun runs from 10.30am, also till late. Whichever suits, there'll be gelato, gourmet sandwiches and a sausage sizzle to tuck into, plus cocktails, wine and Felons' beers. For kids, there's also an Easter egg hunt at 10.30am on the Sunday, with 10,000-plus chocolate orbs waiting to be found. Entry is free all weekend, but you'll be paying for whatever you eat and drink.
Eyes to the sky, Australia — it's time to catch one of the year's most impressive meteor showers. Each autumn Down Under, the Eta Aquarids meteor shower sets the sky ablaze. And yes, it's happening right now. This vibrant astronomical vision starts in April every year, but is at its peak in early May. In 2023, that suits stargazers nicely. Last month was all about not looking directly at the solar eclipse, so now it's the night sky's turn to shine again. The best date to mark in your diary: the early hours of Sunday, May 7, which is when the shower will be at its most spectacular. If you're eager to catch a glimpse, even from just your backyard or balcony, here's what you need to know. [caption id="attachment_769233" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] WHAT IS IT The Eta Aquarids might not be as famous as Halley's Comet, but the shower is actually a distant relation — because the bits and pieces you see flying around were on Halley's path a really, really long time ago. And, rather than only being visible every 76 years (the next Halley's Comet sighting is in 2061), the Eta Aquarids come around every year, usually between April 19–May 28 every year. The shower's name comes from the star from which they appear to come Eta Aquarii, which is part of the Aquarius constellation. So, that's what you'll be looking for in the sky. Luckily, being in the southern hemisphere, we get some of the best views in the world. On average, you can see up to 20–40 meteors per hour. WHEN TO SEE IT The shower will reach a peak in the early morning of Sunday, May 7, but will still be able to be seen for a few days on either side. The best time to catch an eyeful is just before dawn after the moon has set, so around 4am — but between 2am–7am is also recommended. At that time, you'll be in the running to see as many as 50 meteors every 60 minutes. Each will be moving at about 225,000 kilometres per hour, shining extraordinarily brightly and leaving a long wake. The shower's cause is, essentially, the Earth getting in the comet's way, causing stardust to fry up in the atmosphere. HOW TO SEE IT Usually, when a meteor shower lights up the sky, we'd tell city-dwellers to get as far away from light pollution as possible to get the best view. If you can't venture out of town at the moment, you can still take a gander from your backyard or balcony. To help locate the shower, 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 Eta Aquarids. It has been updating this daily. The weather might get in the way of your viewing, though, depending on where you live. Melbourne is set for showers until next Tuesday, and Adelaide is as well on and off until Monday — although Sunday's forecast is just partly cloudy. There's also expected to be a shower or two in Perth from Saturday onwards, and showers are also meant to start in Sydney on Sunday. In Brisbane, however, mostly sunny conditions await.
If you haven't attended SXSW Sydney yet, then you've missed on not one but two Down Under iterations of the annual massive music, technology, screen and gaming festival, which made the leap to the Harbour City in 2023, then returned in 2024. For the event's third year, organisers have announced a number changes, all designed to give more folks more reasons to head along. One: additional free programming. Another: more flexibility with ticketing. It was in late 2024 that SXSW Sydney confirmed that it'll be back in 2025, continuing to prove a highlight of not just the Harbour City's cultural calendar, but also Australia's. The dates for its third iteration: Monday, October 13–Sunday, October 19, 2025. There's still no lineup details as yet, but being able to attend more of the fest without paying a cent — and, for ticketed parts of the program, being able to buy single-day conference passes and single-session movie tickets — is great news. Free sessions have always been a component of SXSW Sydney, but adding more is always going to be a welcome move. Again, the specifics lineup-wise haven't been unveiled; however, the event has promised a significant expansion of its free programming, including in its brand and partner experiences, and its music showcases. On the fest's Sunday date this year, Darling Harbour will become a hub of family-friendly entertainment, in one new move. Fancy hitting up the Innovation Expo without bothering your wallet? That'll now be on offer on the Saturday. As for ticketing, the single-day conference pass will set you back $295 and get you access to more than 75 sessions. The full-week pass to the conference and festival starts at $495. Movie lovers, if you just want to see one flick, you can do so for $25. SXSW Sydney's festival wristbands will be back, though, giving access to either the screen, music or games showcases — and the early-bird price this year is $100. 2024's SXSW Sydney, the second-ever Down Under, featured 1400 conference sessions, 95 screenings, 315 performances and 150 games. It also hosted more than 92,000 unique visitors, with folks attending from 56 countries. In terms of total visits, the seven-day festival notched up 300,000 — including 190,000-plus people heading along to the 163 events as part of the free programming in Tumbalong Park. Whatever graces the bill in 2025, it'll follow on from Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker, Chance The Rapper, Future Today Institute founder and CEO Amy Webb and Nicole Kidman in 2023, plus The Kid LAROI, human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson, author Johann Hari, The New Boy filmmaker Warwick Thornton, The Babadook composer Jed Kurzel, Grace Tame and Tim Minchin in 2024 — and heaps more. SXSW Sydney 2025 will run from Monday, October 13–Sunday, October 19 at various Sydney venues. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details. Images: Paul McMillan, Jess Gleeson, Jordan Kirk, Jaimi Joy, Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for SXSW and Nina Franova/Getty Images for SXSW Sydney.
UPDATE, Thursday, October 5: Zach Bryan's Australian show has now been moved to Flemington Racecourse due to demand. Not content with bringing Christina Aguilera to Australia for a one-off Down Under show, and boasting exclusive Eric Prydz and Jai Paul gigs as well, Victoria's statewide music celebration Always Live has added country music megastar Zach Bryan to its 2023 bill. The 17-day festival will now feature the biggest name in the genre right now, taking to the stage at St Kilda's Catani Gardens. The 'Something in the Orange' singer will head to Melbourne on Saturday, December 9 for an openair gig that'll give the Oologah, Oklahoma native's 2022 American Heartbreak album a hefty spin. Although he released two records prior — 2019's DeAnn and 2020's Elisabeth — his third album marked his major-label debut, and also the reason that Bryan has become such a sensation. Among Bryan's recent feats, American Heartbreak premiered in the top spot on America's Billboard 200. 'Something in the Orange' has now stayed in the charts longer than any single by a male country artist. In Australia, Bryan has earned that same achievement in the ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart for all country artists. And his streaming numbers? In excess of 6.8 billion worldwide. Yellowstone viewers will also know him from popping up in the western series. As he's been taking his American Heartbreak tour around the US — including stops at Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits — Bryan has been smashing attendance records, too. In his first-ever Australian stint, he'll also have tracks from his latest album to play, with the self-titled Zach Bryan releasing in August. Among the tunes: collaborations with Kacey Musgraves, The Lumineers, The War and Treaty, and Sierra Ferrell. Being brought Down Under by Untitled Group, which is also behind Beyond The Valley, Pitch Music & Arts, Grapevine Gathering, Wildlands and Ability Fest, Bryan's just-announced spot on the Always Live bill is his only currently scheduled gig in Australia. The statewide music celebration's full lineup includes more than 165 artists at 60-plus events — all, of course, in Victoria. Always Live 2023 runs from Friday, November 24–Sunday, December 10, with one pre-festival gig on Saturday, October 14. For more information, and to get tickets, head to the festival website. Zach Bryan will play St Kilda's Catani Gardens on Saturday, December 9, with pre sales from 12pm AEDT on Thursday, October 5 and general sales from 12pm AEDT on Friday, October 6.
It's hump day, which means it's time to start thinking about the weekend (if you're not already). And, excitingly, the weekend coming up is a long one. With all states, territories and capital cities copping an absolute scorching over the past couple of weeks, we thought we'd take a look at what's on the menu for the Australia Day long weekend. Our capital is going to be bearing the brunt of the heat with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting Canberra will remain in the near-40s from Friday through Saturday, with Sunday dipping to 35 with 30 percent chance of rain. We suggest hitting the sand in the early morning before it gets too hot (and before the UV peaks). Down the coast in Melbourne, Friday is expected to be a fiery 41 — luckily this all-vegan gelateria is giving out 1000 free ice creams to make it slightly more bearable — but Saturday's only hitting a max of 26, with 40 percent chance of showers. Sunday and Monday will also hover around the mid-20s, with minimal showers predicted, so it'll be perfect weather for a hike or splash around in a body of water. There'll be no near-40 temperatures in Sydney, instead just mid-to-low 30s across the board, with little chance of rain. Our mates at BOM are predicting extremely high UV during the day on Friday and Saturday, so do cover up (with clothes, zinc or sunscreen) if you plan to head outdoors to the beach or to Yabun Festival, an all-day celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Brisbane is expected to be equally subdued, with 33 degrees predicted all weekend. If this sounds like perfect gin-drinking weather to you, you'll be happy to know that two juniper-heavy parties will, in fact, be taking place across the weekend, as well as GABS' much-hyped top 100 craft beer countdown. Across the country, Perth is expected to be dry and balmy, sitting in the mid-20s, while Darwin should expect rain and thunderstorms every day for the next week. Adelaide folk will be cranking their air-cons with 45 predicted tomorrow, before it eases off to the mid-30s for the rest of the week. Hobart will be ten degrees cooler, with mid-20s expected across the weekend. To help you plan your beach trips, we've rounded up our favourite ten spots in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Images: Lorne by Robert Blackburn; Manly by Paros Huckstepp; Currumbin via Flickr.
Bleeding Heart Gallery and The Black Parlour have created an interactive series of workshops designed to assist fans of arts and crafts to develop their creative skills. Hands On Brisbane includes workshops, demonstrations and Q&A sessions with some of Brisbane's creative geniuses who are eager to share their craft secrets. Bleeding Heart Gallery is located in the centre of Brisbane's city and is the creative heartbeat to our bustling city. Hosting markets, exhibitions, workshops and even a cafe, Bleeding Heart Gallery is always brimming with creativity and excitement. The gallery was established in 2008 by the Wise Foundation and designed to empower the disadvantaged in our community. Every dollar spent at the gallery is used to fun charitable projects. The events in Hands on Brisbane include a clay demonstration, many DIY sessions and a cake pops tutorial. If you love arts and crafts, this event is designed for you. Taking part just involves registering for a class online as most sessions supply materials – it's as easy as that.
The 21st-century has not been kind to the vampire. Between Stephenie Meyer's sparkling high schoolers, the leather-clad killers of the Underworld series and whatever the hell those things in I Am Legend were meant to be, the once noble creatures of the night have been reduced by pop-culture to cringeworthy caricatures. Bela Lugosi must be turning in his grave. Enter Jim Jarmusch, director of Dead Man, Ghost Dog and Broken Flowers, to name just a few. One of the enduring figures of the American indie film movement, Jarmusch has made a career out of minimally plotted, post-modern genre subversions, and his latest work is no exception. Mixing traditional vampire mythology with the director's distinctively aloof brand of cool, Only Lovers Left Alive is a handsome, compelling, meditative take on the lives of the eternal undead. An appropriately gaunt and pasty Tom Hiddleston plays Adam, a centuries-old bloodsucker living on the outskirts of Detroit. A reclusive figure, Adam's only human contacts are a crooked hospital doctor (Jeffrey Wright) who provides him with fresh batches of O-negative, and a wide-eyed rock 'n' roll fan (Anton Yelchin) from whom the vampire buys vintage guitars. Aside from his music, the one thing Adam cares about is his wife, Eve (Tilda Swinton), with whom he is reunited not long after the movie begins. For a while, the immortal lovers live in peace, but their solitary existence is shattered by the arrival of Eve's impulsive younger sister (Mia Wasikowska). Read our full review of Only Lovers Left Alive here. Only Lovers Left Alive is in cinemas on Thursday, April 17, and thanks to Madman, we have ten double in-season passes to give away. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email us with your name and address. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au https://youtube.com/watch?v=ycOKvWrwYFo
With her obliteration and infinity rooms drawing huge crowds around the globe, a range of merchandise brandishing her dot-filled designs on scarves and umbrellas, and even her own busy museum in Tokyo, Yayoi Kusama is one of the most popular artists alive today. That makes a documentary about the art star feel almost inevitable; however for filmmaker Heather Lenz, Kusama: Infinity was nearly two decades in the making. Drawn to Kusama's work as an art student in the 90s, Lenz decided to make a movie about the Japanese artist long before her pumpkins filled Instagram feeds. It wasn't an easy process. As a female filmmaker trying to direct a documentary about a female artist — and, more than that, about a female Asian artist — the path from concept to finished film was filled with knockbacks and setbacks. And that's before even getting Kusama involved. In several ways, the difficulties that Lenz experienced prove apt for a doco about Kusama, who found the world far from welcoming when she started to pursue her dreams. Lenz's struggles are also indicative of a filmmaker who was simply ahead of the times. When Kusama's star began to rise, the writer/director/producer/editor's path became smoother. With Kusama: Infinity now screening in Australian cinemas, we chatted to Lenz about her colourful and informative movie. The first-time feature filmmaker actually initially planned to make a biopic about Kusama — and that's just one of our topics of discussion, alongside the long and complicated process of bringing the documentary to fruition, the allure of Kusama's work and the joys of meeting the artist. BECOMING INTERESTED IN KUSAMA'S WORK BEFORE HER CURRENT FAME "It began in the early 90s — that's when I first saw an image of her work. I was earning degrees in art history and fine art, and for probably every thousand or so male artists we learned about, we learned about perhaps five women artists. And Kusama was definitely not among them at that time. Around 1990, there was an exhibition at the Centre for International Contemporary Art, and that helped start the process of putting Kusama back on the map in America. I saw an image of her work in that catalogue, which at the time was the only catalogue on her art — and I really felt from that exposure that her contribution to the American art world hadn't been properly understood or recognised. I was just really interested in her, and later I decided to go back to school and get a film degree. While I was a student, I started working on a biopic script about her. Then, over time, I decided to put that on hold and work on a documentary — in part because Kusama was still alive and able to tell her story her own words." THE PARALLELS BETWEEN THE FILM'S DIFFICULT PATH AND KUSAMA'S OWN CAREER "In the beginning, it was her artwork and the fact that she had been neglected that attracted me to her. But over time, I began to tune in more and more into her tenacity and everything that she had to overcome in order to finally achieve success — because it was, of course, mirroring the issues that we were facing. When I started the film, I was rather naive about the obstacles and challenges women directors faced. I just thought, 'oh, if you work hard, you can achieve whatever you set your mind to'. But when I started pitching the film to people, I was constantly told that it was a terrible idea, that no one would be interested. And it was men telling me that. I just felt like, well, we don't have the same taste. But there was a point where I had the opportunity to pitch the film to a woman who actually worked for Madonna back when she had a production company. And I thought, 'oh wow, she's really going to love this'. Instead, she questioned the fact that I wanted to make a film about a foreign female, so it never advanced to Madonna to review. At the time, I really wasn't thinking of Kusama as a woman or as Asian. I just thought here's someone who's lived this super compelling, interesting life, who's a brilliant artist, so she would be a great subject for a film. But that's when I started to get the idea that there were pre-conceived ideas about what's going to sell and what isn't. And even within the last few years, I had someone tell me 'you can't put her on the poster because she's Asian and no one will want to see the movie'." DOING MORE THAN JUST CONNECTING THE DOTS "I wanted to shine a light on her and her accomplishments — I wanted her to get more attention. These days, people know about her from social media, so they've seen images of her art, but they really don't know her backstory. I wanted to show the world in which she was raised, which was Matsumoto City. She was growing up in the 30s, and her dreams and ambitions to be an artist at this time, they were just completely out of step with the expectations for her. The idea her family had for her was that she was get married — not only get married, but have an arranged marriage — and become a mother. And to just to have a much more conventional life. She was just really really out of step with that. I think she thought that when she got to America [in the 50s] that the doors would be much more open and things would be much easier, but of course she still had many, many obstacles to overcome. I wanted to show everything she was up against, and to correct her place in history. That remains very very important to me. Recently I screened the film at a college and I had an art history professor, who was a man, tell me that the film was going to change the way he taught this section of art history in the 60s. That was very exciting. Those kinds of things are really meaningful." THE ALLURE OF KUSAMA'S ART "She's made a broad range of work. The work that seems to be featured these days is a lot of the infinity rooms and a lot of the more colourful pieces she's made in recent years. I think people see it as a very optimistic and cheerful work, which is very interesting given the issues she's had with depression and everything. It's almost like she's managed to take her own trauma and transform it into art that functions in a way like an antidepressant for society." WORKING WITH KUSAMA "Kusama actually has a history of cancelling on people, because maybe she's not feeling well or she's just not in the mood or whatever it is. So it was very risky to go all the way to another country, hire a crew and just take on all this expense and just not even know if she would show up. But fortunately she did show up and we really clicked. At the end I told her it was the happiest day of my life, and she said 'mine too'. Then a few months later I was able to go back, and that time I was able to spend a whole month in Japan. I had this very rare opportunity to go through her archives, which were just extraordinary. There were so many amazing photos. There were letters and receipts and calendars — there was just a treasure trove of archival materials for me to explore. It was really amazing." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRqxWNn3iQU Kusama: Infinity is now screening in Australian cinemas. Read our review.
When Milky Lane opened in Bondi back in 2016, it immediately generated a cult following. Thanks to its calorific concoctions, casual any-night-of-the-week vibe and celebrity endorsements, the venue has become a go-to for many Sydneysiders when an indulgent meal is a must. The chain made the jump to the Gold Coast in 2018, but for non-locals, the slog down south can be long and painful (albeit worthwhile once the mega shake and burger-induced coma hits). So it might be welcome news that there will soon be a solution a little closer to home for those who live in Brisbane — the team is opening a new venue at Gasworks Newstead in late-June. The formula has remained pretty much the same across Milky Lane's six stores so far, with five in Sydney and one in Queensland to date. On the menu: artery-clogging burgers, loaded fries and shakes. Hey, if it ain't broke. Graffiti typically lines the walls, transforming the burg joint into the sort of place that instantly makes you feel cool by association. And as for culinary favourites, there's the fried chicken Chic Kanye burger, the bacon-stuffed Kevin Bacon burg, mac 'n' cheese croquettes, deep-fried Golden Gaytimes and Kit Kat Choc Fudge Booze Shake cocktails, among others. An exact opening date hasn't been revealed, but the venue will be sizeable, seating 200 burger fiends both inside and out. It'll also be mighty close to the other burg, shake and dessert-swilling eatery in the area, Betty's Burgers — but we all know how much Brissie loves meat between two pieces of bread, hefty piles of fries, milky drinks and over-the-top sweet treats. Milky Lane Brisbane opens at Gasworks, 76 Skyring Terrace, Newstead, in late-June. For further details, visit the chain's website — or keep an eye on the Surfers Paradise store's Facebook page. Images: Milky Lane Bondi by Bodhi Liggett.
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. It began on Wednesday, December 4 and finishes for 2024 on Friday, December 20. Even better: Down Under, it's at its peak on the evening of Friday, December 13 and the morning of Saturday, December 14. 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_927790" align="alignnone" width="1920"] A composite of 88 photos taken over 60 minutes during the Geminids by Paul Balfe via Flickr.[/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_882304" align="alignnone" width="1920"] ESO/G. Lombardi via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] When to See It The 2024 shower kicked off on Wednesday, December 4, and runs through till Friday, December 20. As with every year, it's at its peak in Australia overnight mid-month — between Friday, December 13–Saturday, December 14, specifically. If you fancy a stint of stargazing, the best time to look up is on Saturday, December 14 from around 3.08am in Brisbane, 3.30am in Perth, 4.01am in Sydney, 4.13am in Melbourne and 4.18am in Adelaide — all local time. [caption id="attachment_699423" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, Jeff Dai.[/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 until Friday, December 20, 2024 and will be at its peak during the night on Friday, December 13–Saturday, December 14. For further details, head to Time and Date. Top image: Asim Patel via Wikimedia Commons.
How many bricks of Lego does it take to build a bar? It probably wasn't the first Lego-related question we were going to ask (or test for ourselves) but The Brick Bar is proof that there are tangible answers to life's most ambitious questions. According to the creators of Australia's first bar made entirely out of Lego, it's a million bricks. And we'll actually be able to visit it when it opens in four cities around Australia — Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth — in autumn this year. It's early days so we haven't yet been able to find out where these bars will be located (will the roof be made of Lego?), what drinks they'll serve (surely these won't be Lego?), or who actually counted a million Lego bricks (is this even possible?), but we do know that when it opens there'll be DJs all day and elaborate Lego sculptures placed around the adults-only space. Punters will also be able to make use of a huge pile of surplus bricks to fashion their own Lego creations, in public, with no shame at all. Just watch out for sharp corners. Legobar opens in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth this autumn. Tickets will be given on a first come, first served basis. Register on the The Brick Bar website for further updates. UPDATE FEBRUARY 12, 2018: Due to a trademark infringement, the pop-up bar previously named Legobar is now the Brick Bar.
In this day and age, writing – not the act of writing itself, but the pen to paper sort of writing – is becoming obsolete. Most people would scoff at the idea of penning a letter to a friend despite its sentimental qualities because they simply can't wait that long- 24 hours delivery is ages to wait for a bit of paper when they could just be emailed an amusing e-card right now! What we forget is that handwriting a letter is still a done thing and it is incredibly therapeutic as well as rewarding. For those of you who were lucky enough to have $500 sitting in your back pocket and got to attend Splendour in the Grass, or have seen the few Women of Letters shows that have been around our city, you will know how enjoyable and cathartic an experience it is. Women of Letters is a notion that plays on the idea that letter writing has been lost and we all need to sit down once in a while and write a letter to someone we hate, someone we love, or just someone we need to vent to. The chairwoman invites her lady friends to write and read out their letters on a topic and in the process invite attendees into their intimate thoughts. This time around though, Men of Letters has become its own event and takes on the same premise as its female counterpart. At The Zoo's early evening show you can expect an afternoon of literary prowess from the likes of our own Benjamin Law, Anthony Mullins, Daniel Evans and David Hinchcliffe. Prepare to laugh, cry and wince at the musings of these lads, but make sure to get your ticket ASAP, as these readings are very very popular.
It has been two short weeks since Banksy pulled what might be the artist's greatest prank yet — ripping one of his own paintings to shreds the very moment it was sold at auction. And if you just can't get enough of the stunt, Banksy has released a new extended video that peers behind the scenes as it all goes down. Called Shred the Love: The Director's Cut, the nearly three-minute clip is available on the artist's website, and reveals not only what went down when Banksy's Girl with Balloon artwork self-destructed as the hammer fell on the winning bid, but what was supposed to happen. Alongside the bidding at London's Sotheby's auction house, footage of someone pressing a button on a remote to start the shredding process, and the shocked mayhem afterwards, Banksy reveals that the entire painting was supposed to be cut to pieces. "In rehearsals it worked every time," the video notes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxkwRNIZgdY Understandably, the stunt has sparked plenty of chatter both in the art world and in general over the past fortnight, including suggestions that the work has now gone up in value. The Telegraph reports that the collector with the winning £860,000 (AU$1.6 million) bid has decided to keep the piece, which has been retitled Love is in the Bin — although if Banksy had gotten his way, only torn strips of the painting would remain. The new video expands upon the original clip that Banksy posted in the immediate aftermath of the October 5 prank, showing a shredder being secretly built into the artwork, with an explanation that this was done a few years ago "in case it was ever put up for auction". Sotheby's has repeatedly advised that it had no knowledge of the prank before it happened. "It appears we just got Banksy-ed," Alex Branczik, head of contemporary art for Europe, told The Art Newspaper. Of course, whether Banksy is building the world's most depressing theme park, crafting a dark tourism ad for Gaza, opening a Bethlehem guesthouse with a view of the Israeli-Palestinian border or spray painting his pieces all over the globe, the artist's work tends to make a statement. The latest stunt certainly does continue Banksy's fascination with both creation and destruction, which has long been a theme at the centre of the street artist's work. Images: Olga Rozenbajgier, The Art of Banksy / Banksy.
Maybe you loved Knives Out, rightfully so. Perhaps you adore Agatha Christie's books, and couldn't watch the latest big-screen versions of Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile fast enough. Or you might've become a true-crime podcasting obsessive thanks to Serial and found yourself instantly hooked. Whichever category fits — and perhaps several of them do — it's likely that you're a murder-mystery fan. We all are. And, it's just as likely that you adore Only Murders in the Building, the true-crime and true-crime podcasting comedy that proved one of 2021's surprises and delights. We're never too far away from a new murder-mystery in some shape or form, of course, and the second season of Only Murders in the Building knows it — because it's tasking its NYC neighbours-turned-sleuths (and true-crime podcasters) with investigating a second killing. This time, though, the trio of residents in the fictional Arconia in New York are suspects, and they're also the subjects of a competing podcast. That's what the just-dropped new trailer for the show's second season teases, following on from an initial sneak peek a couple of months back. If you missed the first season in 2021, Only Murders in the Building takes a great idea and turns it into a breezy murder-mystery gem. If you've ever listened to a true-crime podcast, decided that you'd make a great Serial host yourself and started wondering how you'd ever follow in Sarah Koenig's footsteps, then this is definitely the series for you. The show focuses three New Yorkers who basically follow that same process. Here, actor Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin, It's Complicated), theatre producer Oliver Putnam (Martin Short, Schmigadoon!) and the much-younger Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez, The Dead Don't Die) are all addicted to a podcast hosted by the fictional Cinda Canning (Tina Fey, Girls5eva). They find themselves unexpectedly bonding over it, in fact. And, when someone turns up dead in their building, they decide that they can sleuth their way through the case by getting talking themselves. That's how the first season panned out. Now, Charles-Haden, Oliver and Mabel are weathering the fallout from the last batch of episodes. Complicating their efforts in season two are a trio of factors: their public implication in the death in question; that new podcast about them and this murder; and the suspicions of their neighbours, who think they're guilty. Exactly how that'll play out won't be unveiled until Tuesday, June 28, when Only Murders in the Building returns — but you don't need to be an amateur detective to know that it's bound to be both amusing and twisty. Whatever happens, both Cara Delevingne and Amy Schumer are involved, with the pair joining the cast as guest stars. Check out the latest trailer for Only Murders in the Building season two below: Only Murders in the Building's second season will start streaming Down Under via Star on Disney+ on Tuesday, June 28. Read our full review of the show's first season.
Everyone has walked into a bar and fallen for the place instantly, imagining themselves whiling away future hours over several drinks within its welcoming confines. That same sensation hit Range Brewing's co-founder Matt McIver when he was looking for a new space to expand the Newstead-based beer business' footprint. "When we found that space in Paddington, it was literally love at first sight," he tells Concrete Playground. McIver is chatting about Patio, his latest venture with his Range pal Gerard Martin after the pair started their brewery back in 2018. Since then, they also set up shop Melbourne in 2020, and just gave their OG Brisbane location its own pizzeria and barrel hall — the latter to host functions and weddings. But this team isn't done growing yet. "Patio is going to be a neighbourhood craft beer, wine and cocktail bar. It's something that we've wanted to do for a little while, which is have more of a suburban presence in Brisbane, and really latch onto another community that we think a space like that will work in," McIver explains. "We've always wanted to have something with space outdoors, because of the climate that we have here in Queensland — and who doesn't love sitting outside on a patio or a deck? We'd always wanted a space like that where people could come and enjoy our beers." The spot in question: Baroona Road in Rosalie, the former suburb-turned-Paddington locality, in the space that Moga Izakaya & Sushi previously called home. When it opens its doors towards the end of May or in early June, Patio will turn the brick building into an Aussie pub-influenced watering hole. And yes, to make the most of the weather, the focus is on al fresco experiences — including in a leafy beer garden. "It's got a beautiful pavilion-style patio, then a smaller full-sun patio outside. And then a space inside that's like an old 1900s Queenslander, which has been architecturally redone upstairs and downstairs to to fit a couple of businesses in," McIver continues. "Outside doesn't actually require too much of an upgrade, but inside was fully gutted, so we've rebuilt our own space in there, and have designed it ourselves." [caption id="attachment_901789" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Moga, Kgbo via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Thanks to Myers Ellyett Architects, patrons can expect both a layout and fitout that pays tribute to the corner bar and the front bar of old pubs, with Melbourne drinking spots an influence. "We're leaning into 80s Australiana vibes with the colours and the styles we've chosen to go with in there, but we really just want it to be a super-comfortable space for people to feel like they're at home, but be out and relaxing having beers — and enjoying a wine or a cocktail," McIver advises. Inside, the venue will feature the bar, cosy booths and window tables, plus burgundy hues and dark oak amid the rustic brick. The mood: warm, welcoming and relaxed, a feeling that is designed to fill the whole place. Range's brews will be pouring through the ten beer taps, naturally, while two others will be devoted to wines that McIver and the team have made with LATTA Vino. More tipples, including wine, spirits and cocktails, will also be available. And, after launching Jacopo's Pizzeria in Newstead, Patio will sling its Roman-style sourdough slices, snacks and sweets. Down the line, there's plans to broaden the menu, too, with a focus on fresh Italian options. Patio is set to open at 2/146 Baroona Road, Paddington at the end of May or beginning of June — we'll update you with further details when they're announced.
Guns N' Roses just busted out 'November Rain' there on a November evening. Elton John will hit it up in January, closely followed by Red Hot Chili Peppers the same month. That venue: Suncorp Stadium. When a band or musician plays the Milton site, they're always a big name — and more of them might now be coming to town over the next few years. To host mega-popular acts, you need a stadium that can welcome a hefty crowd, and the Castlemaine Street location is a Brisbane go-to. But, it's also surrounded by homes and shops, as well as small streets that aren't well-equipped for the traffic — and parking — that a big gig can bring. So, there's a cap on the number of concerts that Suncorp Stadium can host in order to not annoy the neighbours. In 2023 and 2024, however, that figure is going up temporarily — doubling from six to 12. The idea is to attract more major concerts and help give the Queensland economy a boost, announced Tourism and Sport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe. "We're seeing a stream of major international music acts putting together plans to get back on the road with world stadium tours after Covid," Hinchliffe said in a statement. "Right now, Suncorp Stadium — with its central location, capacity and public transport capability — is highly sought-after by promoters bringing music events to Australia. Whether it's Ed Sheeran or the Red Hot Chili Peppers, major concerts bring visitors who spend millions of dollars in the tourism economy and support local jobs." "Five concert events are already locked in for Suncorp Stadium in the first two months of 2023." [caption id="attachment_861847" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ben Gibson[/caption] There's no word yet on which big names might be tempted Brisbane's way to fill the extra concert slots. Still, if you've ever been annoyed because your favourite superstar musician or band has played Sydney and Melbourne, only to give Brissie a miss — a familiar scenario — consider this a promising move. In the past, the venue has played host to U2, The Police, Foo Fighters, Eminem, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, One Direction, Bon Jovi, Queen, Justin Bieber, Phil Collins, Robbie Williams and more, so thats the calibre of acts the Queensland Government is hoping to attract. Before locking in the temporary change, the Queensland Government sought community feedback, with 78 percent of folks responding supporting the concert cap's increase, including 168 local residents and businesses in the Lang Park Traffic Area. [caption id="attachment_859836" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Pavel Suslov[/caption] Find Suncorp Stadium at 40 Castlemaine Street, Milton. For more information about upcoming gigs at the venue, check out the Suncorp Stadium website. Top image: Richard Greenwood via Tourism and Events Queensland.
What's better than watching a heap of top Australian talent sit around and talk about music? Watching them do all of the above while answering questions, competing for points and just generally being funny, too. That's the concept behind ABC TV show Spicks and Specks, which took a few cues from the UK's Never Mind the Buzzcocks, pit Aussie musos and comedians against each other, and has proven a hit several times over. A weekly favourite when it first aired between 2005–2011, it just keeps coming back — including its current series of new specials. When the program was first revived back in 2014, it returned with a new host and team captains. This time, it's back with its original lineup. That means that Adam Hills, Myf Warhurst and Alan Brough have all stepped back into the quiz show realm yet again. When the trio did just that back in 2018, for a one-off reunion special, it became the ABC's most-watched show of the year. Unsurprisingly, that huge response played more than a small part in inspiring this new comeback. If you're already eager to show your own music trivia knowledge and play along — we all know that's as much a part of the Spicks and Specks fun as seeing the on-screen stars unleash their own skills (or lack thereof) — then you probably lapped up the show's Ausmusic Month special last year. And, in the first half of 2020, you probably enjoyed its 90s episode and episode dedicated to 00s tunes as well. Next up, it's tackling past decade, focusing on all the tracks, bangers, one hit wonders and more that released between 2010–2019. When it airs at 7.40pm AEST on Sunday, December 20, viewers can expect questions about the best and the worst songs the last ten years had to offer — and expect not just Adam, Myf and Alan, but musicians Kate Miller Heidke and Vance Joy and comedians Claire Hooper and Luke McGregor as well. The 10s-focused episode marks the fourth of Spicks and Specks' specials, wrapping up its four-show comeback over the past year. And, if you need a refresher in the interim, this comedic chat about a Star Wars Christmas album will do the trick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KNMtDu7TAY Spicks and Specks: 10s Special will air on ABC TV on Sunday, December 20 at 7.40pm. The show's Ausmusic Special, 90s Special and 00s Special are all currently available to stream via ABC iView.
Getting to Howard Smith Wharves just got easier, especially travelling to the revamped space beneath the Story Bridge via the very thing it peers out over: the Brisbane River. While the site's ferry terminal opened in December 2021, and the CityHopper and Cross River Ferry Service have been servicing it since, the CBD spot is only now becoming part of the CityCat route. From Monday, May 27, 2024, you can cruise into and out of Howard Smith Wharves all day each day. The first services start at 6.10am daily, and the last run at around 11.30pm on weeknights and midnight on weekends. So, there's no more needing to get off at Riverside and walk up to HSW — even if that stroll does come with a nice riverside vantage. If you're thinking "finally", that's understandable. Any new riverside precinct in inner-city Brisbane was always going to need to be part of the CityCat network — and 45,000 people per year have already been getting to Howard Smith Wharves via the CityHopper and Cross River Ferry Service. "Howard Smith Wharves is not only one of Brisbane's most beloved entertainment areas, but directly linked to the iconic Fortitude Valley precinct, so a permanent CityCat stop at the wharves makes perfect sense," said Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner. "The introduction of these daily services will mean that more people can easily travel between Howard Smith Wharves, the city and South Bank, as well as a host of other terminals along the river as they see the best of Brisbane." The CityHopper and Cross River Ferry Service will keep running as they have been, giving folks a heap of ways to get to HSW via the river, but the CityHopper will move its timings by three minutes. Howard Smith Wharves started opening in late 2018, giving Brisbane a riverside brewery in the heart of the city — plus everything from Japanese, Greek and Cantonese restaurants to an overwater bar. Since then, it's been making the most of its perch by the water in every way except one; however, that's changed now that it's part of the now-19 stop CityCat network. Getting there and back via CityCat from Monday, August 5 will also only cost you 50 cents per journey for six months, when the Queensland Government slashes all Translink public transport fares to half a dollar for half a year. CityCat services to and from Howard Smith Wharves, which is located at 5 Boundary Street, Brisbane, commenced on Monday, May 27, 2024. Head to the Translink website for timetables and further details. Top image: Reuben Nutt.
UPDATE, December 20, 2021: Happiest Season is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Heading home for the holidays and stepping into a sea of interpersonal dramas is a familiar on-screen set-up, as a new movie every Christmas or so reminds us. By now, then, we all know the formula. Adult children make the pilgrimage to their parents' place, rivalries and animosities flare up, secrets are spilled, chaos ensues and, by the end of the film's running time, everyone has learned something. Happiest Season fits the template perfectly. With the merriest time of the year in full swing, the Caldwells converge on the Pennsylvanian family home, with their celebrations given an extra edge due to patriarch Ted's (Victor Garber, Dark Waters) mayoral campaign. His fastidious wife Tipper (Mary Steenburgen, The Book Club) insists on snapping every moment for his Instagram feed, all as stern eldest daughter Sloane (Alison Brie, GLOW) arrives with her husband (Burl Moseley, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), two children (Asiyih and Anis N'Dobe) and plenty of unspoken tension in tow; zany middle sister and aspiring fantasy writer Jane (Mary Holland, Between Two Ferns: The Movie) is largely ignored; and Pittsburgh-based political journalist Harper (Mackenzie Davis, Irresistible) returns with the girlfriend, Abby (Kristen Stewart, Charlie's Angels), that none of her relatives know about because she hasn't come out to them yet. If someone other than The Faculty, Girl, Interrupted, Veep and The Handmaid's Tale actor-turned-filmmaker Clea DuVall had made Happiest Season, the above paragraph would accurately reflect the feature's character hierarchy — because Sloane would take centre stage, and Harper and Abby would hover around the narrative's edges. But DuVall did make Happiest Season and, with co-writer Holland, she flips the movie's focus, even while still sticking with a well-worn general premise. Accordingly, this festive flick resembles a comfy sweater that often gets a wear, but seems welcomely different on this particular occasion. As Aussie queer teen rom-com Ellie and Abbie (and Ellie's Dead Aunt) also demonstrated this year, it shouldn't be so subversive to take an overused genre that's heavy on recognisable tropes, then strip away the engrained heteronormativity. But it is, in both high school-set romances and movies about meeting your partner's parents over eggnog. After filling the credits with details of the formative stages of Harper and Abby's relationship, the feature introduces them properly as they're touring local Christmas lights. The towering Harper is giddier than one might expect of someone of her age, but the calmer Abby isn't fussed about the season after losing her parents when she was a teenager. When the former asks the latter to come home with her for Christmas, though, Abby gets excited. She wants to pop the question anyway, and figures there's no time or place better to make the festive-loving Harper her fiancée — although her best friend John (Dan Levy, Schitt's Creek) points out that asking Harper's dad's permission beforehand is hardly a progressive step. It isn't until Happiest Season's central couple has almost reached the Caldwells' that Abby discovers Harper's subterfuge. Not only do Ted, Tipper and company not know that Harper is gay and in a relationship, but Abby is asked to pretend she's straight as well (yes, one gag literally places her in a closet, because of course that happens). In the broad strokes, the movie doesn't serve up any surprises. But like moving its focus to Harper and Abby, this Christmas rom-com is all about the details. Amid the sibling struggles, the re-emergence of old flames both male (Jake McDorman, What We Do in the Shadows) and female (Aubrey Plaza, Parks and Recreation), and the always-hectic whirlwind that surrounds every seasonal family affair — and every attempt to run for political office, too — Happiest Season explores two crucial themes in a meaningful way. First, it unpacks the performative nature of human existence, where too often we're all trying to match other people's perceptions and expectations without consistently remaining true to ourselves. And, it also interrogates how coming out isn't a simple or straightforward act, even in seemingly loving circumstances. These are weighty ideas and, while Happiest Season is light and jovial overall, it doesn't sugarcoat its heavier moments. It doesn't devote all of its running time to them either, but DuVall and Holland's script finds a delicate balance — with the part played by Holland herself at first seeming to be the movie's most overtly exaggerated role for comedic effect, but eventually proving more thoughtful, for instance. It's easy to see how the screenwriting pair could've turned this into a different picture, with the initially tentative friendship that springs up between Abby and Plaza's Riley, and the commonalities they feel as women who've been pushed aside so Harper could maintain a lie, 100-percent begging for an entire movie of its own. But DuVall never forgets the task that she has clearly set herself: to make a queer meet-the-parents Christmas comedy. The film's warm-hued, Hallmark-style imagery never lets the audience overlook the fact that Happiest Season willingly sticks to a formula in order to update it, either. Also apparent is just how well Stewart and Davis anchor the movie's generic and more soulful elements alike. This shouldn't come as a surprise, with Stewart picking most of her post-Twilight roles astutely (see: Clouds of Sils Maria, Certain Women, Personal Shopper and Seberg), and Davis always a memorable addition to any cast. In their hands, their characters feel lived-in. So does Happiest Season's central relationship, especially as it navigates considerable ups and downs, including an ongoing series of questionable decisions by Harper. Steenburgen, Plaza, Levy, Brie, Garber — they're all reliably great, too, but it's likely this LGBTQIA+-friendly dose of merriment wouldn't have found the right mix of festive familiarity and emotional substance with other leads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_jjELPpKkk
The first time that filmmaker Justin Kurzel and screenwriter Shaun Grant tackled a recent dark chapter in Australia's history, in 2011's Snowtown, they both earned AACTA awards for their efforts — and their film picked up six gongs in total. Ten years later, they've bettered the feat with Nitram, which explores the lead up to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. Both Kurzel and Grant again collected trophies, while the feature nabbed eight awards all up. One of those prizes: the AACTA for Best Film, beating out The Dry, The Furnace, High Ground, Penguin Bloom and Rams. Nitram also swept all four acting prizes in the film fields, with its four key cast members — Cannes Film Festival Best Actor-winner Caleb Landry Jones, plus Aussies Judy Davis, Anthony LaPaglia and Essie Davis — emerging victorious. That's the big story from the 2021 AACTA Awards, which announced its nominees back at the beginning of November, then handed out its trophies on Wednesday, December 8. Nitram scooping the pool isn't surprising, given that it's powerful, haunting and the best Aussie movie of the year — and that AACTA has a history of going all on features it loves. Last year's Best Film recipient, Babyteeth, won seven awards, while The Nightingale picked up six the year before, Sweet Country did the same the year before that and Lion nabbed 12 in 2017. (Thanks to the likes of Hacksaw Ridge, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Dressmaker, The Great Gatsby and The Sapphires before that, the trend goes on.) The Academy's gongs also span television — so, if you've watched The Newsreader or Fisk this year, then you've seen 2021's Best Drama and Best Narrative Comedy Series. Across both the big and small screens, other winners include Ellie and Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt) for Best Indie Film, My Name Is Gulpilil for Best Documentary, and Fires for Best Telefeature or Miniseries. Here's a rundown of the major nominations — and you can check out the full list on AACTA's website: AACTA NOMINEES 2021 FILM AWARDS: BEST FILM The Dry The Furnace High Ground Nitram — WINNER Penguin Bloom Rams BEST INDIE FILM Disclosure Ellie and Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt) — WINNER Lone Wolf Moon Rock for Monday My First Summer Under My Skin BEST DIRECTION Rob Connolly, The Dry Roderick MacKay, The Furnace Stephen Maxwell Johnson, High Ground Justin Kurzel, Nitram — WINNER Glendyn Ivin, Penguin Bloom BEST LEAD ACTOR Simon Baker, High Ground Eric Bana, The Dry Caleb Landry Jones, Nitram — WINNER Ahmed Malek, The Furnace Jacob Junior Nayinggul, High Ground BEST LEAD ACTRESS Rose Byrne, Peter Rabbit 2 Judy Davis, Nitram — WINNER Noni Hazlehurst, June Again Genevieve O'Reilly, The Dry Naomi Watts, Penguin Bloom BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Michael Caton, Rams Baykali Ganambarr, The Furnace Anthony LaPaglia, Nitram — WINNER Sean Mununggurr, High Ground Jack Thompson, High Ground BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Essie Davis, Nitram — WINNER Claudia Karvan, June Again Esmerelda Marimowa, High Ground Miranda Tapsell, The Dry Jacki Weaver, Penguin Bloom BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Monica Zanetti, Ellie and Abbie (& Abbie's Dead Aunt) Roderick McKay, The Furnace Chris Anastassiades, High Ground JJ Winlove, June Again Shaun Grant, Nitram — WINNER BEST SCREENPLAY Rob Connolly and Harry Cripps, The Dry — WINNER Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps, Penguin Bloom Will Gluck and Patrick Burleigh, Peter Rabbit 2 Jules Duncan, Rams BEST DOCUMENTARY Girls Can't Surf I'm Wanita My Name Is Gulpilil — WINNER Playing with Sharks Strong Female Lead When the Camera Stopped Rolling TELEVISION AWARDS: BEST DRAMA SERIES Clickbait Jack Irish Mr Inbetween The Newsreader — WINNER Total Control Wakefield Wentworth BEST TELEFEATURE OR MINISERIES A Sunburnt Christmas The End Fires — WINNER New Gold Mountain The Unusual Suspects BEST NARRATIVE COMEDY SERIES Aftertaste Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun Fisk — WINNER Frayed Preppers Rosehaven BEST COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM Dom and Adrian 2020 Hard Quiz — WINNER The Moth Effect Spicks and Specks The Weekly BEST LEAD ACTOR IN A TELEVISION DRAMA Rudi Dharmaligam, Wakefield Guy Pearce, Jack Irish Sam Reid, The Newsreader Richard Roxburgh, Fires Scott Ryan, Mr Inbetween — WINNER BEST LEAD ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION DRAMA Deborah Mailman, Total Control Mandy McElhinney, Wakefield Miranda Otto, Fires Pamela Rabe, Wentworth Anna Torv, The Newsreader — WINNER BEST COMEDY PERFORMER Mark Samual Bonanno, Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun Kitty Flanagan, Fisk — WINNER Tom Gleeson, Hard Quiz Broden Kelly, Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun Sarah Kendall, Frayed Nakkiah Lui, Preppers Luke McGregor, Rosehaven Celia Pacquola, Rosehaven BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A TELEVISION DRAMA Harry Greenwood, Wakefield William McInnes, The Newsreader — WINNER Matt Nable, Mr Inbetween Stephen Peacocke, The Newsreader Justin Rosniak, Mr Inbetween BEST GUEST OR SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION DRAMA Michelle Lim Davidson, The Newsreader Marg Downey, The Newsreader Harriet Dyer, Wakefield Rachel Griffiths, Total Control — WINNER Noni Hazlehurst, The End
Charging your phone is probably one of the most mundane things you do each day. Your phone's on three percent, you scramble to find your charger cord, you plug it in, it makes a noise and, hey, it's charging. But a Canadian startup has decided to take the downright borezo process of charging your phone and make it look like literal magic — they've created a charger that makes your phone levitate while it's powering up. The OvRcharge is a wireless charging base that puts your smartphone on show. While it's charging your device it not only suspends it in mid-air, but it can slowly rotate it too through an invisible magnetic field. The product, which has been created by Toronto studio AR Designs, is currently being funded on Kickstarter, and is $10k (Canadian dollars) off their $40,000 goal. Of course, it's not actual magic. The OvRcharge is able to simultaneously charge and suspend the device through magnets, which will transmit from the base to a special phone case that plugs into your device. "It consists of two main technologies: electromagnetism and induction," AR Designs' founder and CEO Rukhsana Perveen told Digital Trends. "Electromagnetism is responsible for maintaining its altitude and balance, [while] induction is for wireless power transfer." The charger is set to be compatible with the iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Sony Xperia and a few other models. If you want one, you'll have to pledge to the Kickstarter campaign — there's 15 days left. Via Digital Trends.
There's never been a better reason to drink. Order a Negroni from participating bars during Negroni Week, coming up June 1–7, and you’ll earn $1 for charity. Yep, it’s as simple as that. Negroni Week, an international event, was initiated by Imbibe magazine two years ago. In 2013, 300 bars participated, but by 2014, that number had more than quadrupled, to 1,300. And this year, Imbibe has teamed up with Campari to take Negroni Week global. Consequently, it’s arriving in Australia for the first time. The Negroni was invented in 1919 in Florence, Italy. It came about when a Count named Camillo Negroni ordered an Americano (Campari, sweet vermouth and soda) in a local bar, but decided to add an extra kick. He asked the bar tender to replace the soda with gin, and lo, the Negroni was born. While other cocktails have gone in and out of fashion, the world has been sipping this delicately balanced and beautifully bitter concoction ever since. To find your nearest participating venue, visit the Negroni Week website, or if you just want to see the shortlist, check out our picks of the top five Negroni bars in Brisbane.
Since 1888, a pub has sat on Sandgate Road at Nundah, pouring brews for Brisbane's northsiders. The River City currently knows that watering hole as The Royal, but it was initially called Royal Hotel. Get used to that other moniker, beer lovers. Come July, it's making a comeback. And, when the venue reclaims its original name, it'll also show off a $1.1-million refurbishment. The Royal is owned by Australian Venue Co, as part of the hospitality company's sizeable range of pubs, bars and eateries around Brisbane, Queensland and Australia. And, as AVC has been doing to spots all over town — The Wickham, the Cleveland Sands, Salisbury Hotel, the Crown Hotel in Lutwyche, Bribie Island Hotel and Capalaba's Koala Tavern, to name a few — The Royal is getting a makeover. In a venue designed by the same architect as Crown Hotel, patrons can look forward to a new first-floor entertainment space, where live bands will take to the stage and comedians will stand behind the mic. It'll fit in 200 people, and also be available for private events. The Royal's bistro and terrace is also scoring a revamp, complete with greenery aplenty, marble-look tables, checkerboard floors and wooden accents, giving the pub a 120-seater — and family-friendly — dining space. A new menu will tempt tastebuds, too, covering pub classics and seasonal dishes, with the exact culinary range still to be revealed. And, the front bar and al fresco area are also receiving a new lease on life. Expect TV screens showing sports t0 80 folks, as part of a renovation overseen by architect Mel Porter Design. "As an historic Nundah institution, we are focussed on staying true to the pub's unique heritage throughout the renovations. We have worked closely with the architects to ensure that, like with Crown Hotel, we are creating a modern pub that residents and families are proud to call their local," said Australian Venue Co's Chief Operating Officer Craig Ellison, announcing the renovations. "The Royal Hotel is a very exciting project, creating more entertainment and social space for people to enjoy throughout the year." "This renovation is part of a huge program of investments into pubs in Brisbane and throughout Queensland and we can't wait for it to be fully revealed later this year," continued Ellison. The Royal remains open during its revamp; however, different sections will be closed at different time to undertake work. Starting on Wednesday, April 26, the bistro has shut its doors, but will reopen in mid-May. Next comes the sports bar, which'll be back up and running in mid-June. The gaming room follows for a week, also in mid-June, after which the upstairs entertainment room will welcome its new look. Find The Royal at 1259 Sandgate Road, Nundah, with the pub remaining open during renovations, but different sections closing in stages. The venue will relaunch as Royal Hotel in mid-July — we'll update you with an exact opening date when it is announced. Top image: Kgbo via Wikimedia Commons.
Just a couple of months ago, spending a few hours in a cinema soaking in a dose of movie magic — and eating plenty of popcorn and choc tops — was a normal everyday activity. Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, mass gatherings were banned and picture palaces closed, however, seeing a film on the big screen in a darkened room filled with other people has become a relic of the past. But with Australia slowly starting to relax coronavirus restrictions, that might only remain the case until mid-July. The National Association of Cinema Operators-Australasia — a nationwide organisation comprised of Australia's major national cinemas, as well as independent movie theatres — has announced that the country's big screens are aiming to open in time for the planned release of Christopher Nolan's Tenet, which is currently slated for Thursday, July 16. As reported by Variety, the NACO board said it "is enthusiastic about the prospect of reopening and is hopeful of conditions enabling it to do so in July". Some Australian states, such as Queensland and New South Wales, have already eased some stay-at-home requirements. More developments in this space are expected in the coming days and weeks — with some social distancing and public gathering rules likely to be limited this coming Friday, May 8, when the national cabinet next meets; Australia-wide principles regarding sport and outdoor recreation already proposed; and Queensland working towards a June reopening date for bars, cafes and restaurants. So, with that timeline in mind, letting folks back into cinemas by mid-July seems perfectly reasonable. There are two major caveats, though. The federal and state governments obviously need to allow cinemas to reopen, after requiring them to close back in March. And, cinemas need access to new movies to screen for audiences — which doesn't just depend on the coronavirus situation in Australia. Over the past few months, a huge number of big-name flicks have postponed their releases, setting new dates for later this year and even next year. This started happening even before COVID-19 cases ramped up outside of China and Italy, because when a new movie hits the silver screen, it's usually a global event. So, the likes of A Quiet Place Part II, No Time to Die, Fast and Furious 9, Wonder Woman 1984, In the Heights, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Candyman and more all pushed back their release dates. Tenet wasn't one of them — in fact, it's one of the only movies that didn't move its original release date — but that could still happen, especially if American cinemas aren't ready to open by mid-July. Without a big movie like Tenet to screen — or Mulan, which moved its release date to Thursday, July 23, so the following week — it's possible that Aussie picture palaces will delay their plans, even if they've been given the go-ahead by the government to start their projectors again. And opening a huge blockbuster like the aforementioned movies in Australia weeks before they open in America just isn't going to happen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdOM0x0XDMo Either way, when Aussie cinemas do reopen, going to the movies won't be quite the same as everyone remembers. "The Board is very mindful of social distancing restrictions needing to be put in place and acknowledges that the impact this will have on trading due to these reduced capacities," NACO said in its statement. That also likely means bigger gaps between session times to avoid crowds milling about in the foyer, only partly filling theatres to ensure social distancing requirements can be met, making hand sanitiser available everywhere, cleaning cinemas more regularly, and preferring contactless and cashless transactions. For Queenslanders, these are some of the new strategies already being put in place at Yatala Drive-In — which first reopened over the weekend of May 2–4, playing movies that were screening in cinemas when they closed. The move was a success, so it'll be doing so again between May 7–10 and May 14–17. Via Variety.
If you live in one of the 82 million households that gave Bridgerton a stream during its first month on Netflix — making it the platform's most-watched new series ever — then you're probably also a fan of its reigning monarch. Sure, the soapy series spends most of its time with the eponymous family, with its first season following Daphne Bridgerton's (Phoebe Dynevor, Younger) quest to find a husband, and her dalliances with the Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page, Sylvie's Love). But whenever Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel, Lady Macbeth) enters a scene, she steals it so convincingly and savagely that everything else around her withers in comparison. Clearly, Netflix noticed this, too. And, fresh from renewing Bridgerton for its third and fourth seasons before the second even streams, the service has announced a Queen Charlotte-centric spinoff. Get ready to spend more time with the character, but in her younger guise, with the currently untitled new show set to be a prequel. At this immensely early stage, few other details have been revealed — although Charlotte will be joined by a few other familiar faces. Younger versions of Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell, Deep State) and Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh, The Witcher) will also feature in the new series, if you've ever wanted to know more about their backstories. Just who'll be playing Charlotte, Violet and Lady Danbury also hasn't been announced, and neither has exactly when the show about them will hit your streaming queue. It has been revealed that the new series will be penned by Bridgerton executive producer (and Grey's Anatomy and Scandal creator) Shonda Rhimes, though. She's calling the Charlotte-focused show part of "the Bridgerton-verse" — so yes, you can probably expect more spinoffs to follow. For now, you can revisit the original Bridgerton trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpv7ayf_tyE The first season of Bridgerton is available to stream now via Netflix. The show's Queen Charlotte-focused spinoff doesn't yet have a release date — and neither does Bridgerton's second, third and fourth seasons — but we'll update you when details come to hand. Top image: Liam Daniel/Netflix.
People travel from around the globe to see Uluru. In 2023, the Northern Territory landmark was even named one of the best places in the world to visit by The New York Times. Folks head to the Red Centre from all across Australia, too, of course — and if visiting the large sandstone formation has always been on your travel bucket list, and you're in Melbourne or Brisbane, making that trip is about to get easier. Virgin has announced new direct flights to the heritage site. From June 2024, the Aussie carrier will start two routes, which will mark the airline's first-ever legs to Uluru from Melbourne and Brisbane. The flights from the Victorian capital will begin first, on Thursday, June 6, 2024, but Queenslanders will only have to wait a day later, until Friday, June 7, 2024. After both routes kick into gear, Virgin will fly between Melbourne and Uluru four times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The carrier will zip between Brisbane and Uluru three times a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays. Virgin is partnering with the Northern Territory Government and Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia — which runs Ayers Rock Resort — on the new services to get more people to the middle of the country. And it's aiming to send quite a few more tourists in that direction, with 62,000-plus seats a year on offer thanks to the two new legs. "Uluṟu is a special place in Australia and a cultural landmark that identifies this wonderful country to the world. We look forward to once again connecting Australians and international tourists alike to the spiritual heartland of Australia," said Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka. "We are also proud to be offering direct flights to Uluṟu from Melbourne and Brisbane for the first time. The forecast demand from these cities, coupled with excellent connectivity from our international airline partners, will provide a much-needed tourism boost to the region. Greater competition in the market and more seat capacity to Uluṟu will also provide travellers with more choice and value next time they fly to the Red Centre." [caption id="attachment_905928" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Salty Travellers[/caption] "Whether it's still on the bucket list or a much-loved destination, visiting Uluṟu is a must-do for international and Australian travellers alike," added Matt Cameron-Smith, CEO of Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia. "Demand to visit Uluṟu is incredibly strong — driven by a wealth of amazing cultural experiences including the world-first $10-million cultural drone and storytelling experience Wintjiri Wiru — and we can't wait to roll out the red carpet for Virgin Australia's return to the Red Centre." How is Virgin celebrating announcing its new routes? With a flight sale, which is obviously great news for your wallet. Until midnight AEST on Wednesday, November 22, 2023, fares start at $129 one-way in economy, as long as you're keen to travel between Thursday, June 6–Thursday, September 12, 2024. For accommodation, Ayers Rock Resort is doing $150-per-night Lost Camel Hotel stays as well. Virgin's Melbourne–Uluru services will commence on Thursday, June 6, 2024, and its Brisbane–Uluru services on Friday, June 7, 2024. The airline's Red Centre sale is slinging flights from $129 until midnight AEST on Wednesday, November 22, 2023 — head to the Virgin website for more details.
Each year, the team behind Vivid Sydney clearly asks itself a question: where else can we dazzle with lights next? Ranging from gardens and tunnels to buildings and bridges, the answers brighten up not only the festival's annual program, but the Harbour City. Letting a train lit up with an immersive glow and pumping techno tunes loose on the New South Wales capital's rails is a new answer for 2024, however. Meet Tekno Train. This isn't your ordinary, everyday, average commute — this is a 60-minute trip filled with lighting and music that changes to match the train's speed and the landscape outside. And the tunes? Like the event itself, they hail from Paul Mac. The result is a 23-night-only railway experience that's an Australian first, with its music newly composed specifically for what promises to be a helluva ride. Here's how it works: between Friday, May 24–Saturday, June 15, you'll hop onboard a K-set train at Central Station, either opting for a scenic route to North Sydney and then Lavender Bay via a secret spur line (the slower, more family-friendly trip), or hitting up City Circle and South Sydney (which'll be the livelier and faster-paced journey). Whether you pick The Scenic Route or Tech Express, as the two choices have been named, you'll see Tekno Train's custom lighting beam and hear its electronic dance music soundtrack pulse through all of the locomotive's carriages. "Trains have always fascinated me. Their mix of rhythmic clicks and clacks, the screech of metal on metal, and the sound and smell of brakes are all interesting sensory experiences that everyone can relate to," said Paul Mac about the new addition to the Vivid Sydney 2024 lineup, which has been announced just days ahead of the fest's kickoff. "Tekno Train will take things one step further. It will drive the music and lights, turning a commuter journey into a sensory rollercoaster." If you're wondering how it links in with this year's Vivid theme of 'humanity', Tekno Train puts the power of music to unite — even when people are doing something that they don't normally think twice about — in the spotlight. It also celebrates public transport, mass transit and community. And, of course, it'll get you seeing riding the rails in a whole new light, literally. In 2024, other responses to the Vivid challenge to put lights anywhere and everywhere include the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, where Lightscape will again get radiant; the Sydney Opera House sails, the city's trusty large-scale canvas; facades including Customs House and the Museum of Contemporary Art; the Sydney Harbour Bridge; Barangaroo; and Sydney Tower, which will project a fan of 40-kilometre-long laser beams. And, for the second year running, Dark Spectrum will return to Wynyard's railway tunnels with a one-kilometre trail featuring eight chambers, 300 lasers and strobe lights, 500 lanterns, 250 search lights and 700 illuminated arrows. Tekno Train departs from Central Station, running for 23 nights during Vivid Sydney — which takes place from Friday, May 24–Saturday, June 15. Head to the festival website for further details and tickets. Images: Destination NSW.
When it comes to street art exhibitions, it really doesn't get any bigger than this. A retrospective of Banksy's work is making its way to Australia, featuring more than 80 of the artist's off-street masterpieces. From October 7 to January 22, The Paddock in Melbourne's Federation Square will play host to The Art of Banksy, a massive collection of pieces by the art world's chief enigma — including the darkly satirical, overtly political work that has turned the stencil-loving artist into such an infamous icon. Endeavouring to take audiences on a journey through Banksy's output and mindset, the exhibition will include the well-known Girl with Balloon, Flag Wall and Laugh Now pieces, as well as three efforts that have never before been displayed to the public. If it sounds epic, that's because it is. The art featured has been sourced from over 40 different private collectors around the world, and comprises the largest showcase of Banksy pieces to ever make its way to our shores. As curated by the artist's former manager Steve Lazarides, the exhibition is also a little controversial. While every piece is original, unique and authentic, The Art of Banksy proudly boasts that the entire show is 100% unauthorised. No, Banksy hasn't signed off on the event. As well as displaying Banksy's work in a custom-built enclosure, The Art of Banksy will also shine a light on a range of pieces by well-known and emerging local street artists. Expect to find them on the surrounding external surfaces and the inside walls of the exhibition's own Circle Bar, which will serve craft beers and cocktails. Outside, the Welcome to Thornbury team will corral a heap of food trucks into an area called 'The Railyard'. Plus, on Friday nights and Saturday arvos, DJs will also provide appropriate tunes to suit the occasion. Of course, Melbournites will know that this isn't the mysterious figure's first dalliance with the city. The artist's stencils have popped up around the city previously courtesy of a visit in 2003, though many have been destroyed and damaged in the years since. The Art of Banksy will run from October 7 to January 22 at The Paddock in Federation Square, Melbourne. For more information or to buy tickets, visit the exhibition website.
Cinemas in Melbourne have been given the go-ahead to reopen, but that doesn't mean that you need to farewell that groove in your couch — or, if you're located elsewhere in Australia, that you need to miss out on one of the Victorian capital's top film festivals. After its physical event for 2020 fell victim to March's COVID-19 lockdowns, the Melbourne Queer Film Festival is returning with MQFF Interrupted, a largely online fest that's streaming nationally from Thursday, November 19–Monday, November 30. Film buffs around the country can look forward to 17 features and 40 shorts, all telling lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer stories. And it's an impressive lineup — whether you're keen on Aussie teen rom-com Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt), haunting British thriller Make Up, trans drama Lingua Franca, American vampire comedy Bit or Georgian romance And Then We Danced. Melburnians can also attend an in-person event, thanks to a Coburg Drive-In screening of Happiest Season. It stars Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis as Abby and Harper, a couple who head to the latter's parent's place for Christmas dinner — but said folks don't know that Harper is gay, let alone about Abby. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxx76RnyVIo&feature=emb_logo
FOMO — Australia's clash-free, one-day summer festival — is back for a fifth year. This year, it's making its return to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and it has just dropped its full lineup. Texas-via-California rap collective Brockhampton is the first of multiple international acts to be announced for the event, which has previously hosted the likes of Nicki Minaj, Post Malone and Kali Uchis. Led by Kevin Abstract, and formed through an online forum, Brockhampton is a modern day boyband made up of rappers, directors, photographers, engineers, producers, graphic designers and DJs. The group last performed here in 2018, touring the country with Listen Out festival. [caption id="attachment_724680" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brockhampton[/caption] Joining Brockhampton will be Canadian producer Kaytranada, who's set to drop a new album before heading down under, and US rapper Lizzo, who'll be bringing her catchy hits 'Juice' and 'Truth Hurts' — as well as other bangers off her just-released album Cuz I Love You — to Aus for the first time ever in January. Other big names on the lineup include French singer Madeon, UK rapper Octavian and, from the local contingent, hip-hop artist Chillinit and Sydney producer Ninajirachi. While we've just hit winter here in Aus, we've also just hit festival announcement season, so expect a heap more summer music events to drop their lineups in the upcoming weeks — Spilt Milk and Grapevine Gathering have already dropped theirs, too. FOMO 2020 LINEUP Brockhampton Kaytranada Lizzo Madeon Jax Jones Octavian Rico Nasty Meduza Chillinit Whipped Cream Dombresky Ninajirachi Plus triple j Unearthed and local artists TBA FOMO 2020 DATES Saturday, January 4 — Brisbane Showgrounds, Brisbane Sunday, January 5 — Elder Park, Adelaide Saturday, January 11 — Parramatta Park, Sydney Sunday, January 12 — Melbourne Showgrounds, Melbourne FOMO will take place in January 2020. Pre-sale tickets are available from 9am on Wednesday, July 3 — you can sign-up for those here. GA Tickets will drop at 9am on Monday, July 8. Top images: Jordan Munns. Updated July 1.
As winter closes in, you might be tempted to take anything that requires leaving your warm and toasty home off of your schedule. We get it. But it's no excuse. Even if it's cold outside, there are plenty of winter-friendly (and delicious) reasons to get out and about this season — especially down south. Tasmania might be known for its chilly weather, but, these days, it's also got quite the reputation as a culinary destination — and for good reason. Top-notch culinary menus make use of the freshest, seasonal and local produce and can be found all over the Apple Isle. That's why we've made it our mission to discover the Tassie restaurants that'll warm both your belly and your cold little hands this winter. Here are five of the best. Hope you're hungry. [caption id="attachment_719307" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Chris Crerar.[/caption] STILLWATER — LAUNCESTON Stillwater is quite possibly the best-known restaurant in Tasmania. Situated on the edge of the Tamar River in Launceston — and set within a restored 1830s flour mill — the space is cosy, with warm lighting and timber furnishings, and boasts stunning views. The seasonal menu is a love letter to the island state, celebrating fresh, local produce and the region's best vineyards, distilleries and brewhouses. Our tip: opt for the Arras sparkling, which some might call Australia's best answer to Champagne, paired with flavour-packed seafood dishes like the fresh Moulting Bay oysters or the Tasmanian blacklip abalone with whipped tofu, brown butter ponzu, enoki and avruga caviar for a particularly indulgent experience. A visit on a clear winter day is something special — not only will you get a great view over the water, but be treated to the spoils of a Tassie winter. Expect a menu that makes the most of the abundant and rich produce available in winter like cauliflower, beetroot and brussels sprouts along with treats like oysters and black truffle. TEMPLO — HOBART Tucked away in the back streets of Hobart, Templo is all about intimacy. Which makes it a dream find on a cold winter night. Eating at this 20-seat restaurant feels as if you're at a friend's dinner party, with the exposed brick walls, low hanging lights and close quarters creating a warm atmosphere and cheerful vibe. Choose from a concise list of unique wines, and look to the large blackboard for the ever-changing, seasonal food offering. But while the dishes rotate often, they have a consistently Italian flair to them that's unmistakable and are all made with the freshest produce. If it's available, the gnocchetti with crunchy fried bread will knock your socks off. While seemingly simple, Templo is about shared food, unique wines and a solid communal vibe, making it a charming neighbourhood stalwart and an absolute must during Tasmanian winters. FRANKLIN — HOBART There's a confidence to Franklin that's reflected in every aspect of the restaurant. The contrast of the raw, exposed concrete interior and the soft kangaroo hides and heated floors (which are a real godsend when you step in from the cold) elevates the large space from a classy wine bar to something unexpectedly elegant. Housed in an old Ford showroom within Hobart's historic Mercury Newspaper Building, Franklin is the epitome of industrial-chic. And it's not just the interior design that's special — the food is distinctive, too. With one of Australia's most talented young chefs, Analiese Gregory, and a ten-ton woodfired scotch oven both in the open kitchen, the restaurant serves a menu featuring a made-from-scratch mentality. Everything occurs on-site — whole beasts are broken down, bread is baked daily, cheeses are made and meats are cured. It's a feast for both the eyes and the tastebuds that truly champions local produce. GERONIMO APERITIVO BAR AND RESTAURANT — LAUNCESTON The second you walk into Launceston's Geronimo Aperitivo Bar and Restaurant, your winter blues will disappear. Packed with old-school charm, the space is adorned with Carrara marble, recycled timber, Greek metals, Italian ceramics and lots of warming Euro food on every table. Each dish is designed to share, so it's best to cosy up with some mates and order up. When it's cold outside you'll want to make a beeline for the confit duck leg — which is spiced with orange and star anise and comes with hazelnuts and cabbage — or maybe the fried polenta dumplings and a serve of winter veg. The bar's cherry-tinted take on the manhattan will send you home warm, full and slightly boozed. DIER MAKR — HOBART Dier Makr is made for winter. Broody and a little bit dark, the eatery sits within a large, nondescript, grey building. It doesn't exactly scream "this is one of the best restaurants in town" — but that's beside the point. Once you've found your way inside, you'll find a sleek, intimate bistro and bar where a playful degustation menu will take you on a journey of the senses. Try the seared mussels with chicken fat and mizuna-spiked golden ale. And opt for the cauliflower cooked so many different ways — you'll never look at the humble vegetable the same. Dier Makr is all about showing off the best Tasmanian produce, with a selection of natural and minimal intervention wines to match. Plus, there's a walk-in cellar if you want to bring back a souvenir. Top image: Stillwater, courtesy Tourism Tasmania and Rob Burnett.
It's been 357 days and many excruciating hours of silence since the last episode of Serial season one appeared on our Podcasts app and life ceased to be as thrilling as it once was. But now, after almost a year of insane anticipation, Sarah Koenig and the This American Life crew have uploaded the first episode of season two. And, boy, is the Internet excited. While season one focused solely on the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee and whether the conviction of her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed for the crime was right or wrong, this season's story looks like it will be asking more than one question. It will follow the story of Bowe Bergdahl, the American soldier who, in 2009, walked off his army base in Afghanistan, was captured by the Taliban and held as a prisoner of war for five years. There has since been speculation as to whether other soldiers died directly or indirectly because of his actions. And now, he's been charged with desertion and misbehaviour before the enemy, which could result in a life sentence. Oof. The podcast was released yesterday morning U.S. time, and host Sarah Koenig promptly posted this on the Serial website: "This story—it spins out in so many unexpected directions. Because, yes, it’s about Bowe Bergdahl and about one strange decision he made, to leave his post. (And Bergdahl, by the way, is such an interesting and unusual guy, not like anyone I’ve encountered before.) But it’s also about all of the people affected by that decision, and the choices they made. Unlike our story in Season One, this one extends far out into the world. It reaches into swaths of the military, the peace talks to end the war, attempts to rescue other hostages, our Guantanamo policy. What Bergdahl did made me wrestle with things I’d thought I more or less understood, but really didn’t: what it means to be loyal, to be resilient, to be used, to be punished." The podcast will be one of the first times the public has heard from Bergdahl and — if season one is anything to go by — it will surely be as gloriously addictive to listen to as it is to talk about with everyone from your colleagues to the lady sitting next to you on the bus. Sarah, it's so good to hear your voice again. You can listen to the first episode here.
Whatever else the past couple of years have served up, it has been an impressive time for folks who like staring up at the sky. 2016 ended with a huge supermoon that had everyone looking to the heavens, then 2018 began with an extremely rare super blue blood moon (a supermoon, a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse all at once). Next, at the end of July, an epic lunar eclipse will mark the next notable celestial happening. In fact, the Saturday, July 28 event will be longest lunar eclipse of this century — with the penumbral eclipse lasting just shy of four hours (236 minutes, to be exact) and the total lunar eclipse spanning 103 minutes. If you're wondering what the difference is between the two (because we're all more familiar with The Mighty Boosh's take on the moon than actual lunar terms, aren't we?), a penumbral eclipse is when the earth's outer shadow falls on the moon's surface, while a total lunar eclipse involves the moon passing directly into the earth's actual shadow. During the main event, which is expected to kick off at 5.30am local time, the moon will also turn a blood-red shade thanks to sunlight that's filtered and refracted by the earth's atmosphere. So yes, as well as a total lunar eclipse and a full moon, it'll be a blood moon as well. Australians will be able to spy the penumbral eclipse from 3.14am and the partial eclipse from 4.24am, before the full thing at 5.30am, with the maximum eclipse occurring at 6.21am. We won't be able to see the end of it, however, as the moon will be below the horizon when the full, partial and penumbral eclipses end (at 7.13am, 8.19am and 9.28am local time, respectively). While it's a great excuse to go stargazing, the 103-minute total eclipse only just pips the 100-minute event that took place on June 15, 2011 — and falls just short of the 108-minute event on July 16, 2000. Still, when the super blue blood moon did come around earlier in 2018, its full eclipse only lasted 72 minutes. If you miss it, 102-minute total lunar eclipses are expected in 2029, 2047 and 2094 — but nothing this long will occur again this century. Via Space.com and timeanddate.com.
What do you get the Gelato Messina fan who has everything, including a freezer filled with ice cream, plus gelato-inspired candles, lip balm, lube and body wash, too? The perfect kicks to don while eating gelato, thinking about gelato, going out to get gelato and wishing they had more gelato, of course. While Messina already has its own clothing line, now the sweet-treat brand is launching its first-ever range of sneakers. And, like chain's wild and wonderful gelato flavours, these shoes are a limited-edition special. After fellow Sydney-born dessert chain Tokyo Lamington teamed up with the artists at Customs Den on its own footwear earlier in 2023, Messina has now gone and done the same. This time, pairs of Nike Dunk Highs have been given a handpainted makeover, which is never a small feat. With these gelato-hued shoes, each set took between eight and ten hours' work. Gelato is obviously a wide-ranging theme — as Messina fans know, the variety of flavours that the chain scoops up is limited only by its team's imaginations — so these sneakers hone in on one of its favourites. If you adore the brand's dulce de leche gelato, as everyone who tastes it does, then you'll spot why these new shoes feature caramel and cream tones. Yes, Messina's Argentinean caramelised milk, which it makes in-house, is the colour inspiration for these multi-tone kicks. Also featured on the shoes: Messina cartoons and the company's name, so everyone will know why you're sporting some truly rare footwear. Only 100 pairs are available, all numbered from one to 100, and they unsurprisingly don't come cheap. You'll pay $700 to show your love for Messina, gelato and dulce de leche on your feet — and every one will be made bespoke for each customer. Custom Den is taking pre-sale orders now until Wednesday, May 31, unless they sell out earlier. Once you've nabbed yourself a pair, you can expect them to be delivered within six-to-eight weeks. For more information about Gelato Messina's sneakers, or to buy a pair, hit up the brand's website.
Hollywood loves an awards ceremony, and boasts a regular lineup of statuette-bestowing occasions to prove it. Stellar television shows and the folks who make them can win everything from an Emmy and a Golden Globe to a Screen Actors Guild Award and a BAFTA — and more — because cinema isn't the only screen format that likes rewarding its best and brightest at glitzy occasions with lengthy speeches and shiny trophies. Awards ceremonies are also a handy source of information for TV fans. They're fun to watch, but they can also help you work out what else you should be watching. So many television shows vie for everyone's eyeballs each year, so knowing that something has scored a few gongs (or even more than a few) might help rocket it to the top of your must-see list. Streaming platform Binge features quite a number of award-winners in its catalogue, for example, if you're not quite sure what you should marathon your way through next. In collaboration with the service, we've taken a look and picked five of our accolade-receiving favourites that you can check out now — including via a 14-day free trial for new customers.
If you're a fan of Gelato Messina and its frosty sweet treats, 2020 is the year that just keeps on giving. That saying doesn't apply to much over the past 12 months, but it definitely fits in this situation. The dessert chain has released all manner of one-off specials, launched a new range of chocolate-covered ice cream bars in supermarkets, dropped a new merchandise line and brought back its Christmas trifle, for starters — and now it's aiming to take care of your summer drinks list. Teaming up with Cocktail Porter, Messina is now serving up DIY kits that'll let you make your own boozy beverages — either using Messina's gelato or its just-as-beloved toppings. Basically, it's the answer to a familiar dilemma, especially when the weather is warm. No one likes choosing between tucking into a chilled, creamy dessert or having another boozy beverage, after all. The Messina dessert cocktail packs come in two flavours: dulce de leche espresso martinis, and gin-fuelled coconut and lychee piña coladas. In the former, you'll get Ciroc vodka, coffee liqueur, premium cold-drip coffee and Messina's dulce de leche topping, plus Messina's chocolate hazelnut spread and shaved coconut to go on top. In the latter — which are being called 'giña coladas' — you'll receive Tanqueray gin, coconut water, pineapple juice, verjuice, and vouchers to go pick up a tub of Messina coconut and lychee gelato. As well as choosing with variety you'd prefer — caffeinated and zesty or fruit and refreshing, basically — you can pick between two different-sized packs. A mini espresso martini kit costs $85, while a mini giña colada kit costs $89, and both serve up six drinks. Or, you can opt for the large ($149/159), which makes 18 dessert cocktails. Cocktail Porter delivers Australia-wide, if that's your summer drinking plans sorted. To order Cocktail Porter's Gelato Messina cocktail kits, head to the Cocktail Porter website.
Keen on all things innovative when it comes to technology and culture? Suffer from pangs of envy when SXSW kicks off on the other side of the planet each March? Jetting around the world to get your fix mightn't be realistic; however, thanks to Brisbane's newest festival, it's no longer necessary. Say hello to Myriad. Coming to Brisbane Powerhouse from March 29 to 31, Myriad might be in its first year, but that hasn't stopped the fest from going big. More than 100 speakers from over 20 different countries will ponder the future of culture, health, money, cities, and work and play — aka the event's five key themes — with more than 2000 people expected to head along to listen. Still playing the numbers game, more than 100 startups and 75 investors will be represented at the kind of gathering that aims to bring technology's best and brightest together in the one place. As for what everyone will be chatting about, topics include the intersection of fashion, robotics and technology; future business trends such as shaking hands with robots (yes, expect to hear robots come up quite often); tech advancements everywhere from Estonia to Chile; 3D-printed body organs; things that you can learn from Spotify and Tinder; drones; and the future of sex (you know that robots will get a mention here too). In addition to the discussion component of the program, Myriad also features a variety of interactive experiences, such as an art exhibition that explores sexual violence and women's rights through augmented reality, an exclusive V8 racing installation, and a series of collaborations with fellow Brissie fest BIGSOUND. That might sound like a massive amount of interesting pieces all jammed into two and a half bustling days; however consider organisers and Myriad cofounders Murray Galbraith and Martin Talvari up to the task. Galbraith was behind Melbourne's Pause Fest in 2015, while Talvari was formerly one of the guiding hands at Slush, the Helsinki startup event with more than 17,500 attendees. Myriad takes place at Brisbane Powerhouse from March 29 to 31, 2017. For more information, visit the festival website.
If you woke up this morning and got yourself a hankering for one of the best TV shows ever made, here's some good news: a big-screen prequel to The Sopranos is on its way. Fourteen years after HBO's hit mobster drama cut to black, creator David Chase has penned The Many Saints of Newark, which jumps back to Tony Soprano's formative years in the 60s and 70s. And, because family was always a huge part of the influential drama, the film's central role is played by Michael Gandolfini (The Deuce, Cherry) — son of the late, great James Gandolfini. The Many Saints of Newark hops into Soprano's story when he's a teen in the titular New Jersey city — a place under the sway of the DiMeo crime family, struggling with race relations and about to be caught up in the race riots of 1967. Young Anthony plans to go to college, but he also has a strong relationship with his uncle Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola, The Art of Self-Defense). Fans of The Sopranos will recognise the name, with Dickie the father of series regular Christopher Moltisanti. As the just-dropped first trailer for The Many Saints of Newark shows, Anthony's connection to his uncle will have a huge impact on his life — and on his path to becoming the ziti-loving, panic attack-suffering, hot-tempered mob boss that The Sopranos followed for six seasons between 1999–2007. Leaving a significant imprint on the film: the casting of the younger Gandolfini. Even from just this initial sneak peek, it's impossible to imagine this movie being made without him stepping into his dad's shoes. Whether director Alan Taylor, a veteran of The Sopranos, gives Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing' a whirl in the feature is yet to be seen. It doesn't pop up in the trailer, though. Of course, when the film releases in cinemas in September, The Sopranos aficionados can definitely look forward to spending time with a few familiar characters other than Young Anthony — including Corey Stoll (The Report) as Uncle Junior, Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It) as Anthony's mother Livia, and Billy Magnussen (Made for Love) and John Magaro (First Cow) as his future righthand men Paulie Walnuts and Silvio Dante. Leslie Odom Jr (One Night in Miami) and Jon Bernthal (Those Who Wish Me Dead) also co-star, while seeing Ray Liotta (Marriage Story) jump back into the gangster genre immediately conjures up memories of Goodfellas — the Martin Scorsese classic that also charted the rise of a young man within the mob. Check out the trailer below: The Many Saints of Newark releases in Australian cinemas on September 23.
Change is coming to The Witcher, with Henry Cavill (Zack Snyder's Justice League) set to relinquish Geralt of Rivia's icy locks after Netflix's hit fantasy series' upcoming third season. Before that big switch — which will see The Hunger Games, The Dressmaker and Independence Day: Resurgence's take over the role — fear is coming first, as the just-dropped first trailer for the show's next batch of episodes teases. "Now, for the first time, I understand real fear," growls Geralt to kick off the debut sneak peek at The Witcher season three — complete with his sword at the ready. Elsewhere, Ciri (Freya Allan, The Third Day) has ghost cavalry on her tail, while Yennefer (Anya Chalotra, The ABC Murders) has her own scares to deal with. Need a refresher on the story so far? Haven't watched the first two seasons yet? If The Witcher's name sounds familiar, that's because it's based on the short stories and novels of writer Andrzej Sapkowski — and, as well as being turned into comics, it was adapted the video game series of the same name. A Polish film and TV show also reached screens in the early 2000s, although they were poorly received. In the Netflix series, Cavill plays the witcher of the title. Geralt of Rivia is a monster hunter who prefers to work — aka slay beasts — alone in a realm called The Continent. But life has other plans for the lone wolf, forcing him to cross paths with powerful sorceress Yennefer and young princess Ciri. When it tosses a coin to its witcher again, season three will take its cues from Time of Contempt, the second book in Sapkowski's series. The new batch of episodes will hit streaming queues this winter Down Under, featuring eight instalments split into two parts. Volume 1 arrives on Thursday, June 29, with Volume 2 following on Thursday, July 27. One of Netflix's big successes, The Witcher has been renewed for a fourth season, too, which happened back in 2022 long before its third had a trailer or a release date — something that also occurred with season three before season two dropped as well, and with season two before season one debuted before that. But instead of Cavill as Geralt, Hemsworth will replace him, as also announced in 2022. The Witcher franchise doesn't just include the show itself, but also animated flick The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, which hit Netflix in 2021. And, there's 2022 prequel series The Witcher: Blood Origin, which takes place 1200 years before Geralt's time, spans four episodes and stars Everything Everywhere All At Once Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh. Check out the first teaser trailer for The Witcher's third season below: The Witcher's third season will hit Netflix in winter 2023 Down Under, releasing in two parts — with Volume 1 arriving on Thursday, June 29 and Volume 2 on Thursday, July 27.
Spotting strange sights is all part of a trip to the Gold Coast — however, giant sand versions of beloved animated figures and over-sized, inflatable octopuses aren't normally within view. But this month, they are. In fact, they're two of the highlights of the tourist hotspot's latest event: Sand Safari. As the name suggests, the free three-week celebration sings the praises of the one substance (well, other than sun and surf) that the Gold Coast has plenty of. Expect more sand sculptures than you can shake a shovel at, and a different take on street art as well. Those keen on the former will find 22 mini sculptures scattered across the coast — but that's not all. The main drawcard is the 2016 Australian Sand Sculpting Championships, which will take place from February 12 to 14. Over the course of three days, ten talented folk will carve ten tonnes of sand into giant creations. And because everything has to have a theme, they're not just fashioning any old over-sized sand statuettes — they're making granular versions of DreamWorks' beloved animated characters. Other than large amounts of tiny grains, the event also boasts the latest in giant inflatable street art and urban interventions from international artists Filthy Luker & Pedro Estrellas. If you remember the hefty blow-up squid that appeared at Currumbin back in 2014, then you're familiar with their work. Prepare for more massive sea monsters in the Cavill Avenue Mall and at both the Islander and the Soul Hotels. And remember: they don't call their pieces "art attacks" for no reason. Sand Safari runs until February 28, with the 2016 Australian Sand Sculpting Championships taking place from February 12 to 14. For more information, visit the event website. Image: Filthy Luker.
The Commonwealth Games are not coming to regional Victoria. One year on from its announcement and just three years out from the event, the 2026 games are going to have to find a new host after Victorian Premier Dan Andrews announced his government had pulled the plug on hosting the global sporting event. In a press conference on Tuesday, July 18, Andrews announced the decision had been made after the reported cost to host the games had nearly tripled since it was first budgeted for back in 2022. "What's become clear is that the cost of hosting these games in 2026 is not the $2.6 billion that has been budgeted and allocated," said Andrews. "It is, in fact, at least $6 billion and could be as high as $7 billion. "[This] is well and truly too much for a 12-day sporting event. I will not take money out of hospitals and schools to fund an event that is three times the cost as estimated and budgeted for last year." The plan for the 2026 games was to share the event between four regional hubs – Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Gippsland – each with their own athletes' village and sports program. [caption id="attachment_831273" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Robert Blackburn, Visit Victoria[/caption] While the games were set to deliver billions in regional upgrades and tourism, the state government has instead announced a $2 billion+ regional fund. This will invest in sporting facilities, tourism, community sport and social and affordable housing across the state's regional areas. Included in the package is a commitment to deliver the facilities promised to these regional hubs as part of the 2026 games. As well, 13,000 new homes that will be built across regional Victoria. Andrews promised that the Victorian Government had "looked at every option", including moving the games to Melbourne. However, all alternatives far exceeded the original $2.6 billion budget. The premier said talks with Commonwealth Games authorities had been amicable and productive, but no plan for where the games would now be hosted was announced. Neither the Commonwealth Games nor Commonwealth Games Australia have made an announcement yet. Australia only recently held the games, back in 2018 on the Gold Coast and still has a massive sporting event on the horizon, with the 2032 Olympic Games already locked in for Brisbane. Bit of a long one this morning. You might have heard the news this morning that Victoria will no longer be hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games. And I wanted to tell you about the decision. — Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) July 17, 2023 The Commonwealth Games will no longer take place across Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Gippsland in 2026. Head to Victorian Premier Dan Andrews' Twitter for a full run-down of why the government has pulled the plug.
