Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION When Jurassic World Dominion was being written, three words must've come up often. No, they're not Neill, Dern, Goldblum. Those beloved actors reunite here, the trio appearing in the same Jurassic Park flick for the first time since the 1993 original, but the crucial terms are actually "but with dinosaurs". Returning Jurassic World writer/director Colin Trevorrow mightn't have uttered that phrase aloud; however, when Dominion stalks into a dingy underground cantina populated by people and prehistoric creatures, Star Wars but with dinosaurs instantly springs to mind. The same proves true when the third entry in this Jurassic Park sequel trilogy also includes high-stakes flights in a rundown aircraft that's piloted by a no-nonsense maverick. These nods aren't only confined to a galaxy far, far away — a realm that Trevorrow was meant to join as a filmmaker after the first Jurassic World, only to be replaced on Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker — and, yes, they just keep on coming. There's the speedy chase that zooms through alleys in Malta, giving the Bond franchise more than a few nods — but with dinosaurs, naturally. There's the plot about a kidnapped daughter, with Taken but with dinosaurs becoming a reality as well. That Trevorrow, co-scribe Emily Carmichael (Pacific Rim Uprising) and his usual writing collaborator Derek Connolly (Safety Not Guaranteed) have seen other big-name flicks is never in doubt. Indeed, too much of Dominion feels like an attempt to actively make viewers wish they were watching those other movies. Bourne but with dinosaurs rears its head via a rooftop chase involving, yes, dinos. Also, two different Stanley Kubrick masterpieces get cribbed so blatantly that royalties must be due, including when an ancient critter busts through a door as Jack Nicholson once did, and the exact same shot — but with dinosaurs — hits the screen. What do Star Wars, Bond, Bourne and The Shining have to do with the broader Jurassic Park film saga, which started when Steven Spielberg adapted Michael Crichton's book into a box-office behemoth? That's a fantastic question. The answer: zip, zero and zilch, other than padding out Dominion as much as possible, as riffs on Indiana Jones, The Birds, Alien, Mad Max: Fury Road, Austin Powers, the Fast and Furious movies, cloning thrillers, disaster epics and more also do. In nearly every scene, and often at the frame-by-frame level, another feature is channelled so overtly that it borders on parody. And, that's on top of the fact that recycling its own history is just Dominion 101. There's no theme park, but when it's mentioned that dinosaurs are being placed in a sanctuary, everyone watching knows that the film's human characters will get stranded in that spot, trying not to be eaten by a Tyrannosaurus rex and the like. From all of the above, a loose narrative emerges — an overstuffed and convoluted one, too. A few years on from 2018's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, people are endeavouring to co-exist with dinosaurs. Unsurprisingly, it's going terribly. Run by Mark Zuckerberg-esque entrepreneur Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott, WeCrashed), tech company BioSyn owns that safe dino space in the Italian Dolomites, although palaeobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern, Marriage Story) and palaeontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill, Rams) also tie the firm to giant dino-locusts wreaking existence-threatening havoc. Plus, ex-Jurassic World velociraptor whisperer Owen Grady (Chris Pratt, The Tomorrow War) and his boss-turned-girlfriend Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard, Rocketman) head BioSyn's way when the adopted Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon) — who links back to the first Jurassic Park thanks to Forbidden Kingdom's ridiculous storyline — is snatched. Oh, and mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum, Search Party) works there, as does cloning whiz Henry Wu (BD Wong, Mr Robot). Read our full review. A HERO With apologies to Bonnie Tyler, cinema isn't holding out for a hero — and hasn't been for some time. The singer's 80s-era Footloose-soundtrack hit basically describes the state of mainstream movies today, filled as screens now are with strong, fast, sure and larger-than-life figures racing on thunder and rising on heat. But what does heroism truly mean beyond the spandex of pop-culture's biggest current force? Who do we hold up as role models, and as feel-good champions of kind and selfless deeds? How do those tales of IRL heroism ebb, flow and spread, too? Pondering this far beyond the caped-crusader realm is Asghar Farhadi, a two-time Oscar-winner thanks to A Separation and The Salesman. As is the acclaimed Iranian filmmaker's gambit, his latest movie is intricately complicated, as are its views on human nature and Iranian society. As Farhadi has adored since 2003's Dancing in the Dust — and in everything from 2009's exceptional About Elly to his 2018 Spanish-language feature Everybody Knows as well — A Hero is steeped in the usual and the everyday. The 2021 Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix-winner may start with a sight that's the absolute opposite thanks to necropolis Naqsh-e Rostam near the Iranian city of Shiraz, an imposingly grand site that includes the tombs of ancient Persian rulers Xerxes and Darius, but the writer/director's main concerns are as routine, recognisable and relatable as films get. One such obsession: domestic disharmony, aka the cracks that fracture the ties of blood, love and friendship. A Hero sprawls further thematically, wondering if genuine altruism — that is, really and wholeheartedly acting in someone else's interest, even at a cost to oneself — can ever actually exist. But it charts that path because of the frayed and thorny relationships it surveys, and the everyman caught within them. When A Hero begins, calligrapher and sign painter Rahim Soltani (Amir Jadidi, Cold Sweat) is no one's saviour, victor or ideal. While he definitely isn't a villain, he's just been given a two-day pass from an Iranian debtor's prison, where he's incarcerated over a family financial feud. Owing 150,000,000 tomans to his ex-wife's brother-in-law, he's stuck serving out his sentence unless he can settle it or his creditor, copy shop owner Bahram (Mohsen Tanabandeh, Capital), agrees to forgive him. The latter is unlikely, so with his girlfriend Farkhondeh (debutant Sahar Goldust), Rahim hatches a repayment plan. She has stumbled across a handbag filled with 17 gold coins, and together they hope to sell it, then use the proceeds to secure his freedom — except, when they attempt to cash in, they're told that their haul won't reach anywhere the sum they need. Instead, with a mixture of guilt and resignation — and at Farkhondeh's suggestion — Rahim decides to track down the coins' rightful owner. Cue signs plastered around the streets, then an immensely thankful phone call. Cue also the prison's higher-ups discovering Rahim's efforts, and wanting to cash in themselves by eagerly whipping up publicity around their model inmate's considerate choice. The media lap it up, as do the locals. Rahim's young son Siavash (newcomer Saleh Karimaei), a quiet boy with a stutter that's been cared for by his aunt Malileh (fellow first-timer Maryam Shahdaei), gets drawn into the chaos. A charity that fundraises to resolve prisoners' debts takes up the cause, too. Still, the stern and stubborn Bahram remains skeptical, especially as more fame and attention comes Rahim's way. Also, the kind of heroism that's fuelled via news reports and furthered by social media is fickle above all else, especially when competing information comes to light. Read our full review. BENEDICTION To write notable things, does someone need to live a notable life? No, but sometimes they do anyway. To truly capture the bone-chilling, soul-crushing, gut-wrenching atrocities of war, does someone need to experience it for themselves? In the case of Siegfried Sassoon, his anti-combat verse could've only sprung from someone who had been there, deep in the trenches of the Western Front during World War I, and witnessed its harrowing horrors. If you only know one thing about the Military Cross-winner and poet going into Benediction, you're likely already aware that he's famed for his biting work about his time in uniform. There's obviously more to his story and his life, though, as there is to the film that tells his tale. But British writer/director Terence Davies (Sunset Song) never forgets the traumatic ordeal, and the response to it, that frequently follows his subject's name as effortlessly as breathing. Indeed, being unable to ever banish it from one's memory, including Sassoon's own, is a crucial part of this precisely crafted, immensely affecting and deeply resonant movie. If you only know two things about Sassoon before seeing Benediction, you may have also heard of the war hero-turned-conscientious objector's connection to fellow poet Wilfred Owen. Author of Anthem for Damned Youth, he fought in the same fray but didn't make it back. That too earns Davies' attention, with Jack Lowden (Slow Horses) as Sassoon and Matthew Tennyson (Making Noise Quietly) as his fellow wordsmith, soldier and patient at Craiglockhart War Hospital — both for shell shock. Benediction doesn't solely devote its frames to this chapter in its central figure's existence, either, but the film also knows that it couldn't be more pivotal in explaining who Sassoon was, and why, and how war forever changed him. The two writers were friends, and also shared a mutual infatuation. They were particularly inspired during their times at Craiglockhart as well. In fact, Sassoon mentored the younger Owen, and championed his work after he was killed in 1918, exactly one week before before Armistice Day. Perhaps you know three things about Sassoon prior to Benediction. If so, you might be aware of Sassoon's passionate relationships with men, too. Plenty of the film bounces between his affairs with actor and singer Ivor Novello (Jeremy Irvine, Treadstone), socialite Stephen Tennant (Calam Lynch, Bridgerton) and theatre star Glen Byam Shaw (Tom Blyth, Billy the Kid), all at a time in Britain when homosexuality was outlawed. There's a fated air to each romantic coupling in Davies' retelling, whether or not you know to begin with that Sassoon eventually (and unhappily) married the younger Hester Gatty (Kate Phillips, Downton Abbey). His desperate yearning to hold onto someone, and something, echoes with post-war melancholy as well. That said, that sorrow isn't just a product of grappling with a life-changing ordeal, but also of a world where everything Sassoon wants and needs is a battle — even if there's a giddy air to illegal dalliances among London's well-to-do. Benediction caters for viewers who resemble Jon Snow going in, naturally, although Davies doesn't helm any ordinary biopic. No stranger to creating on-screen poetry with his lyrical films — or to biopics about poets, after tackling Emily Dickinson in his last feature A Quiet Passion — the filmmaker steps through Sassoon's tale like he's composing evocative lines himself. Davies has always been a deeply stirring talent; see: his 1988 debut Distant Voices, Still Lives, 2011's romance The Deep Blue Sea and 2016's Sunset Song, for instance. Here, he shows how it's possible to sift through the ins and outs of someone's story, compiling all the essential pieces in the process, yet never merely reducing it down to the utmost basics. Some biopics can resemble Wikipedia entries re-enacted for the screen, even if done so with flair, but Benediction is the polar opposite. Read our full review. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on March 3, March 10, March 17, March 24 and March 31; April 7, April 14, April 21 and April 28; and May 5, May 12, May 19 and May 26; and June 2. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Batman, Blind Ambition, Bergman Island, Wash My Soul in the River's Flow, The Souvenir: Part II, Dog, Anonymous Club, X, River, Nowhere Special, RRR, Morbius, The Duke, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Fantastic Beasts and the Secrets of Dumbledore, Ambulance, Memoria, The Lost City, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Happening, The Good Boss, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The Northman, Ithaka, After Yang, Downton Abbey: A New Era, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Petite Maman, The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Firestarter, Operation Mincemeat, To Chiara, This Much I Know to Be True, The Innocents, Top Gun: Maverick, The Bob's Burgers Movie, Ablaze, Hatching and Mothering Sunday.
More than most games, Dungeons & Dragons thrives or dies based on the people rolling the dice, creating their own characters and casting spells. Whether Stranger Things' demogorgon-slaying teens are hunched over a table imagining up their fantasy dreams, or flesh-and-blood folks who aren't just part of a TV series find themselves pretending that they're fighters and clerics, an adventure or campaign is only as good as the party at its core. Writer/directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley understand this. The latter definitely should: the one-season TV great Freaks and Geeks, which gave him his start as an actor when he was just a kid, threw D&D some love, too. As filmmakers, Goldstein and Daley jump from Game Night to Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves with a clear mission: making the swords-and-sorcery flick's cast its biggest strength. This game-to-screen flick sports a stacked roster, starting with Chris Pine (Don't Worry Darling) as Edgin Darvis, a bard and former member of the Harpers who turned petty thief — complete with a Robin Hood-esque attitude — after his wife passed away. Since his daughter Kira (Chloe Coleman, Avatar: The Way of Water) was a baby, he's been co-parenting with his gruff best friend Holga Kilgore, a stoic exiled barbarian, who is played with exactly the stern look that Michelle Rodriguez (Fast & Furious 9) was always going to bring to the part. When Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves opens, however, Edgin and Holga have been in prison for almost two years thanks to a job gone wrong. Brought out of their dank dungeon to plead for their release, Edgin and Holga are determined to get free by any means necessary. And, once they're out, they're equally as committed to reuniting their makeshift family. Yes, a dungeon is indeed sighted within seconds of the film starting. Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves doesn't skimp on dragons when it's their turn to arrive, either. But there's more cast members to bring into the fray — and, handily, Edgin and Holga had a whole gang back in their escapade-heavy days. Rogue and con artist Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre) was one such party member. Simon Aumar (Justice Smith, Sharper), a sorcerer with hefty confidence issues, was another. These days, Forge has turned nefarious, seized guardianship of Kira, become Lord of Neverwinter, and gotten far too friendly with the fierce, fearsome and necromancy-loving Red Wizard of Thay Sofina (Daisy Head, Wrong Turn). Simon is still trying his magical luck, which is quickly needed, alongside help from tiefling druid Doric (Sophie Lillis, IT and IT: Chapter Two) and paladin Xenk Yendar (Regé-Jean Page, The Gray Man). As Dungeon Masters — co-scripting with Michael Gilio (Jolene), and working with a story by him and The Lego Batman Movie's Chris McKay — Goldstein and Daley thrust their various figures together, then shape a story around them. So, it's all classic D&D, just on-screen with copious amounts of special effects (some overdone in the usual CGI-dripping fantasy blockbuster fashion, some pleasingly looking more tangible, such as reanimated corpses voiced by Aunty Donna Down Under) rather than sitting around a board. Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves' tale couldn't be more straightforward, or fittingly episodic — with actions to complete, skills called upon and combat unleashed. There's no 20-sided die, but there is said bard and barbarian, and the sorcerer, druid and paladin with them, battling a rogue and wizard. And, straight out of the Monster Manual, owlbears, displacer beasts, red dragons and gelatinous cubes all make an appearance. Whether they first had everyone moving miniatures or mashing buttons, games are having a heap of big- and small-screen moments in 2023. The Last of Us is one of the year's very best new TV shows, a film about getting Tetris out of Russia and to the masses makes for a tense and entertaining streaming thriller, and The Super Mario Bros Movie gives the Nintendo favourite the animated treatment. A question lingers over all of them, though, and for fans and newcomers alike: would it be more engaging, and more fun, just to play? Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves answers by giving the act of watching the feel of playing regardless of whether you're a level zero or level 20 with its mythology — in its light, jovial and energetic tone, with the film taking itself earnestly but never grimly seriously; and in no small part thanks to its array of faces. Stranger Things has been helping broaden D&D's influence for nearing a decade now, but everything from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Futurama and Community to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The IT Crowd and Gravity Falls have nodded its way, too — and Goldstein and Daley also understand this. Their take on the game is welcomely accessible, while appropriately loving and still packed with nudges and references. That said, it's also padded and repetitive the more that it goes goes on. And Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves does go on, clocking in at 134 minutes. Some lengthy films make the time fly by — see: John Wick: Chapter 4, which could've lasted forever — but this one doesn't quite realise when a good time becomes an overly formulaic one. The fights and confrontations, the quips and character beats, the beasts and underground cells: after a while, a fantasy-101 feeling sinks in, especially in these days of ample worshipping thrown Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, The Witcher and company's ways. Mostly, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves is enough of a romp — a romp with clear franchise-starting ambitions, even though there's already been three D&D movies dating back to 2000, but a romp nonetheless. Take out Pine and his on-screen pals, though, and it would've been all over the map. His charm is breezy, and his rapport with Rodriguez gives the film a likeable chalk-and-cheese duo. Page is as smooth as ever — yes, Bridgerton-level smooth — and Grant is visibly having a blast of a time getting villainous Paddington 2-style. Head, daughter of Buffy and Ted Lasso's Anthony Stewart Head, frequently shows up the pixel wizardry with just her glare and makeup. Yes, Dungeons & Dragons is all about the folks playing both on- and off-screen, and Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves' bunch makes viewers want to play along with them.
Tenth birthdays are a big deal, especially when you're an Australian music festival that's been navigating a pandemic and the resulting difficult time for the industry for half of your run, and also grappling with the impact of La Niña. Yours and Owls has been on quite the rollercoaster ride across the past decade, clearly, so of course it's celebrating its milestone birthday with a massive lineup. Fontaines DC, Denzel Curry, The Kooks and Goo Goo Dolls lead the roster of talent taking to the stage in Wollongong across Saturday, March 1–Sunday, March 2, 2025. Orville Peck, Hockey Dad, The Jungle Giants, Peach PRC and The Veronicas are also on the bill, as are Elderbrook, Honey Dijon, JPEGMafia and Salute — and plenty more. When Yours and Owls revealed that it wasn't going ahead in 2024, joining the long list of music festivals scrapping plans for this year, it thankfully only put its fun on hold for 2025. Returning in 2025 was always the intention — and this is a lineup worth waiting for. Yours and Owls didn't completely sit 2024 out, however. Earlier in October, it held a pre-party, aka the event you put on when you can't put on the full festival experience at your usual time of the year because it doesn't work for your headliners' calendars. So, a tunes-filled shindig still took over the University of Wollongong campus — complete with Golden Features, Peking Duk, Alice Ivy, Anna Lunoe and more — to keep things warm for next year. Affectionately labelled "Gong Christmas", Yours and Owls 2025 will feature four stages across its two-day run, plus a feast of local arts — and food and drinks — beyond the tunes. [caption id="attachment_976058" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Theo Cottle[/caption] Yours and Owls Lineup 2025 Fontaines DC Denzel Curry The Kooks Goo Goo Dolls Elderbrook Hockey Dad Honey Dijon JPEGMafia The Jungle Giants Orville Peck Peach PRC Salute The Veronicas Allday Babe Rainbow Coterie Cyril Dice The Dreggs Frankie Stew & Harvey Gunn Grentperez Isabel Larosa Magdalena Bay May A Mark Blair Pond Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners Sam Tompkins San Cisco Slowly Slowly Sycco Wunderhorse Battlesnake Bean Magazine Bodyjar The Belair Lip Bombs C.O.F.F.I.N Crocodylus Keli Holiday Kitschen Boy Le Shiv Miss Kaninna Nick Ward Ra Ra Viper Satin Cali Total Tommy Y.O.G.A Top Yours and Owls image: Ruby Bowland.
Eat your heart out Bob Geldof, Brisbane's about to host a benefit concert like no other, and it's all going towards our favourite national treasure (nope, not Bert Newton). Rock the Reef is a non-for-profit event raising money and awareness for the Great Barrier Reef, which if you didn't know, is in a whole lot of nasty, Abbott-induced trouble. Taking place at The Brisbane Powerhouse this Saturday Rock the Reef will span over two large spaces, showing off musicians, speakers, campaign stalls and maybe a live set from Queen*. Bands kick off at 2pm, the whole evening wraps up at 11pm. The line up is a pretty impressive one, made up of Ash Grunwald, Deep Sea Arcade, the medics, Steve Smyth, Dog Trumpet, Formidable Vegetable Sound System, Bandito Folk, The Lyrical, Alesa Lajana, Resin Dogs, Jac Stone and Ben Ely and The Worriers. Together, they might (read: might) ask a confusing rhetorical question through song with Boy George and Phil Collins fighting for lead vocals. Do the fish know it's Christmas? Probably not, but don't you think they deserve a chance to find out? *almost definitely won't happen.
In news as certain as Han Solo's swagger, C-3P0's disapproval and Leia Organa's leadership prowess, another orchestra-scored Star Wars screening is making its way to Brisbane — this time Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi will be unleashing its full force onto a fanatic audience with the power of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. What was originally the final flick in George Lucas' space saga is headed to the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre at 2pm and 7.30pm on Saturday, February 15, 2020. If you've been hiding out on Tatooine and aren't quite sure what's in store, this climactic instalment features a second Death Star, a tribe of Ewoks on Endor, Han Solo imprisoned by Jabba the Hutt, plenty of family baggage, and one heck of a father-and-son battle — so, classic Star Wars thrills all round. And, it's all set to John Williams' memorable score, which the QSO will recreate for your eager eyes and ears. Last year saw the QSO perform both Star Wars: A New Hope and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, so we've got a good feeling about this combo of movies and live music.
If you haven't watched Nicolas Cage pour a bottle of vodka over himself while growling with sorrow and menace, have you truly lived? If you haven't seen him milk an alpaca, get creepy about eating peaches or lend his voice to a black-and-white film noir-style Spider-Man (yes, really), then you probably should ask yourself the same thing. And if you haven't witnessed him chase a terrible CGI white jaguar around a hijacked ship, fight space ninjas, battle demonic animatronics and seek revenge over a stolen pig, well, you know you now want to after reading that sentence. The same applies to Cage playing Cage as well, naturally. That's the thing about Cage — sometimes his films are fantastic, sometimes they're terrible, but he's always compellingly, intoxicatingly watchable. He's the type of actor that no one wants to stop watching and, for better and for worse, his mighty prolific career just keeps delivering more and more movies. Currently got a Cage-sized itch that desperately needs scratching? Don't we all, and always. Indeed, there's plenty to watch from his 100-plus on-screen credits. That's a lot of flicks to choose from, so we've picked out 26 of his weirdest, wildest and most wonderful films, paired them up in double features, and basically planned out your next 13 nights of movie-watching. Consider this the viewing marathon you didn't know you needed. MANDY AND COLOR OUT OF SPACE One features Cage as a heartbroken lumberjack wreaking havoc with a chainsaw while chasing down demonic bikers. The other initially puts him in kooky dad mode, until a strange meteor unleashes mayhem and monsters — and Cage's unhinged best, of course — on a rural property. If these descriptions didn't already make it obvious, when it comes to excellent recent Cage flicks that pair out-there premises with excellent performances from their leading man, both Mandy and Color Out of Space sit at the top of the pile. They also provide quite the mind trip filled with psychedelic visuals and vivid soundscapes, all thanks to filmmakers Panos Cosmatos (Mandy) and Richard Stanley (Color Out of Space). Mandy is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. Color Out of Space is available to stream via Shudder, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. CON AIR AND FACE/OFF If you're a Cage-loving movie buff, then you probably know exactly when cinema reached its peak. Back in June 1997, two films hit the big screen within weeks of each other, delivering a double dose of Cage action, chaos and craziness that people still watch and rewatch today. Yes, Con Air and Face/Off made their way to cinemas in the same month — and yes, that's a whole lotta Cage to soak up in a darkened room in short succession. In Con Air, he plays a former army ranger-turned-paroled convict who's trying to head home when his prison flight is hijacked by fellow criminals. In Face/Off, he's a sociopathic terrorist who switches faces with the FBI agent (John Travolta) on his trail. Unsurprisingly, neither film is subtle. Face/Off is available to stream via Disney+, iTunes and Prime Video. Con Air is available to stream via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. RAISING ARIZONA AND ADAPTATION Often, when you're watching a Cage film, laughter is inevitable — even if you're not watching a comedy. So when Cage flexes his comic chops on purpose, the results are usually genuinely spectacular. In the case of Raising Arizona, Cage and the Coen brothers make a perfect pair. Also mighty fine: the movie's premise, following an ex-con and his wife's (Holly Hunter) zany scheme to kidnap a baby (and a quintuplet at that) so that they can start a family. With Adaptation, Cage pairs up with Being John Malkovich's Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman, and they also make quite the team — as you'd expect with Cage playing a version of Kaufman, as well as Kaufman's fictional twin brother. Raising Arizona is available to stream via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Adaptation is available to stream via ABC iView, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. WILD AT HEART AND MOONSTRUCK Speaking of Cage and phenomenal director combos, Wild at Heart boasts one of the very best there is. The movie David Lynch made between Twin Peaks' initial run and the series' big screen prequel and sequel Fire Walk With Me, it features one of Cage's greatest performances — because Cage playing one half of a couple on the run (opposite Laura Dern), singing Elvis tunes like he was born to and navigating a Lynchian crime-romance flick is what dreams are made of. The actor also dabbles in affairs of the heart in Moonstruck, this time as an opera-obsessed baker who falls for his brother's (Danny Aiello) fiancee. It's the movie that won Cher a Best Actress Oscar, too, as the object of Cage's affection. Wild at Heart is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Moonstruck is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT AND PIG If there's one thing that's been a constant in Cage's career, it's range: you name it, he's probably played it. His two most recent big-screen releases demonstrate that perfectly — including taking on the part he was born to, and also turning in one of his best-ever performances. In The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Cage is Cage. Yes, this Cage-loving film tasks him with jumping into his own fictionalised shoes, and he has a blast doing so. In Pig, he's seeking vengeance against the people who stole his beloved truffle pig, and he's as phenomenal as he's ever been on-screen. It sounds like the kind of premise that'd be a joke in other hands, or just a John Wick ripoff, but not with Cage at his finest and debut feature writer/director Michael Sarnoski behind this revenge thriller. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is available to stream via Google Play, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. Pig is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. WILLY'S WONDERLAND AND JIU JITSU Sometimes, we all just want to see Cage fight things. Clearly, that's an easy sell to get film financing, too. Otherwise, there's no justification for either Willy's Wonderland or Jiu Jitsu to exist — because both films' entire concepts revolve around Cafe going fist to fist with improbable adversaries. In Willy's Wonderland, he faces off against possessed animatronic mascots at a family-friendly restaurant. He also put in a silent performance for the ages, with his drifter character grunting and growling rather than speaking. Then, in Jiu Jitsu, he's part of an ancient order of skilled martial artists who have to do combat with vicious aliens every six years. No, we didn't make all of this up — but, in each case, someone else did. Willy's Wonderland is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. Jiu Jitsu is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. LEAVING LAS VEGAS AND JOE Never forget that Cage, when he wants to be, is a truly talented actor. His resume can scream otherwise at times, but an exceptional Cage performance is a sight to behold. Exhibit A: his Oscar and Golden Globe-winning work as a suicidal alcoholic in Leaving Las Vegas. Exhibit B: his role as a troubled man who gives a similarly tormented 15-year-old (Tye Sheridan) a job in Joe. Made almost two decades apart, this pair of films show that Cage always has a great performance in him, no matter what else he's been acting in lately. And, while he's often known for his wild and wacky ways — in no small part due to his resume over the past decade or so — he's impressively attuned to telling bleak tales. Leaving Las Vegas is available to stream via iTunes. Joe is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. BRINGING OUT THE DEAD AND THE ROCK Speaking of Cage's absolute best performances, Bringing Out the Dead features a powerhouse effort from its main star. He's directed here by the great Martin Scorsese, so how could it not? As a paramedic who works the graveyard shift, has his own demons, and is wearied by life and the world, this is one of the greatest films on both Cage and Scorsese's resumes. It sits in stark contrast to The Rock, but sometimes a good double is all about contrast — and seeing someone at the height of their powers in two different ways. Working with king-of-the-overblown Michael Bay (the Transformers franchise), Cage tries to break into Alcatraz to diffuse a hostage situation, and he hits every mark he's asked to. He also makes a great double act with Sean Connery. Bringing Out the Dead is available to stream via Disney+. The Rock is available to stream via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. MOM AND DAD AND MATCHSTICK MEN In Mom and Dad, Cage is no one's ideal father. Along with Selma Blair as his wife, he's trying to kill his kids. So are all the other parents in town, all thanks to a violent and murderous bout of mass hysteria. That means horror-comedy antics aplenty, as well as a whole heap of over-the-top expressions from Cage — the kind that only he can do justice to, of course. He grapples with being a dad and gives his facial muscles a workout in the entertaining Ridley Scott-directed drama Matchstick Men, too, although in a completely different scenario. This time, Cage plays a conman who discovers he has a teenage daughter (Alison Lohman) just as he's about to pull off a big job with his protege (Sam Rockwell). Mom and Dad is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Matchstick Men is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. KICK-ASS AND SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE Still getting fatherly, Cage isn't just a dad in Kick-Ass — he's a former cop-turned-crime fighter called Big Daddy, and he's training his 11-year-old daughter (Chloe Grace Moretz) to follow in his footsteps. Focusing on their run-in with the eponymous wannabe superhero (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), this caped crusader flick isn't always as funny as it thinks it is, but Cage consistently delivers. And, if you've always fantasised about hearing Cage as Spider-Man, he delivers in the sublime and surreal Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. He's just one of many webslingers in this animated delight (and the best Spider-Man movie out of the lot); however he's a great one: Spider-Man Noir, a black-and-white Spidey from a 1930s universe. Kick-Ass is available to stream via Binge, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is available to stream via Disney+, Binge, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. VAMPIRE'S KISS AND GHOST RIDER If you think you've witnessed Cage at his most manic but you haven't experienced Vampire's Kiss, we have some news for you: you're wrong. Nothing in the actor's filmography compares to this 80s comedy-horror film. We'll say that again: nothing. In terms of out-there Cage performances, this is ground zero. You'd expect that given that Cage plays a literary agent who starts to believe he's a vampire, and begins acting accordingly. After you've watched it, you'll spot shades of Vampire's Kiss in every other Cage film — including in Ghost Rider, where Cage blazes away as the titular bounty hunter of the damned. Adapting a Marvel comic, Ghost Rider isn't great, but like Vampire's Kiss, it's the type of movie that really has to be seen to be believed. Vampire's Kiss is available to stream via iTunes. Ghost Rider is available to stream via Netflix, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL — NEW ORLEANS AND PRIMAL Let these five words tell you all you need to know about Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call — New Orleans: Nicolas Cage and Werner Herzog. One acts, the other directs, two inimitable titans of their fields combine, and the movie that results — a crime thriller about a corrupt cop — firmly marches to its own beat. It also features a memorable iguana scene, which might've prepared Cage for his role in Primal. There, he plays a big-game hunter stuck chasing a white jaguar around a hijacked ship, all as a deranged murderer also stalks the crew and passengers. One of Cage's most recent movies, it turns out exactly as you expect it does (and with oh-so-much awful CGI). Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans is available to stream via Stan, Google Play and YouTube Movies. Primal is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. KNOWING AND DRIVE ANGRY When it comes to Cage, there's no avoiding the obvious: he has made a whole heap of ridiculous and trashy movies. Lately, they've been going direct to streaming — but, in the late 2000s and early 2010s, these kinds of Cage flicks were still hitting cinemas. The Australian-shot Knowing is one of them. Made in Melbourne, co-starring Rose Byrne, Ben Mendelsohn and Liam Hemsworth before they were Hollywood fixtures, and proving a box office hit, it casts Cage as an astrophysics professor certain he's found a code that predicts the future. Or, there's Drive Angry, where Cage escapes hell with a gun stolen from Satan, all so he can get revenge on the cult leader who killed his daughter. Knowing is available to stream via Binge, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Drive Angry is available to stream via iTunes and Amazon Video.
After taking on Snow White and Medea at La Boite's Roundhouse Theatre, Australian playwright Suzie Miller is delivering something more than a little different with her latest production — a play about life, love, loss, physics and mathematical theorems. If numbers, sums and equations aren't your idea of a great night at the theatre, don't worry. The Mathematics of Longing uses its titular field as a language to explore the complexity of humanity and of our emotions. It's an ambitious endeavour starring performers Ngoc Phan (A Streetcar Named Desire, The Village) and Merlynn Tong (Blue Bones), and it's one that marks the first collaboration between La Boite and Gold Coast-based dance-theatre company The Farm. Miller's own production house The Uncertainty Principle is also on board to bring this poignant, amusing effort to life from June 2 to 23. In addition, expect The Mathematics of Longing to look and sound particularly great thanks to artist Ross Manning and Regurgitator musician Ben Ely. The former took care of the set design, while the latter created the production's sound design.
Overwater dining, meals and sips with a waterside view, taking dinner and drinks up a few levels: around Brisbane, none of these are new experiences. That said, grabbing a bite or a beverage at a restaurant that's not only perched over the water — ten metres above the Brisbane River, in fact — but is also part of one of the city's bridges is something that the Queensland capital hadn't seen before until Stilts opened on the Kangaroo Point Bridge. The modern-Australian eatery is not just Brisbane's first-ever restaurant on a bridge, but also Queensland's first of its kind — even if it's the second that hospitality company Tassis Group has launched with ties to the River city's newest river crossing. Mulga Bill's Kitchen & Bar, which is sat at the foot of the structure on the Alice Street side, opened before it. Where that venue is a casual all-day diner, Stilts is all about an elevated experience (including literally) in unique surroundings. If the 100-seater restaurant's design looks familiar, that's because it takes inspiration from a Sunshine State staple: Queenslander homes. Of course, most such structures around Brisbane don't boast a 180-degree vantage peering out over the Story Bridge, Kangaroo Point Cliffs and Brisbane City Botanical Gardens, including through floor-to-ceiling windows. Also key elements of Stilts: an alfresco balcony, a casual bar area and an indoor dining room that allows ample light in, as well as a 12-person private dining room. Under Head Chef Dan Hernandez (formerly of fellow Tassis venture Fosh, and also ex-Restaurant Dan Arnold and Agnes), the Queensland-focused menu starts with beef tartare in cannelloni shells and potato pavé, serves up caviar three ways — in blinis and beef tartlets among them — and then spans everything from Australian wagyu dumplings and Moreton Bay bug linguine to pistachio gelato and yuzu curd. If you're keen on a surf-and-turf option, Stilts' version features 28-day aged sirloin and swordfish steak, and will set you back $135. Diners can also treat themselves to angus and wagyu steaks from the grill, charcoal or miso-yuzo glazed lobster, and a wagyu tasting experience with three cuts of meat. For those feeling spoiled for choice, three different banquets will make your picks for you, ranging from $155–240 in price — the latter with the three caviar options. Drinks-wise, more than 180 drops are on the wine list, alongside beer, spirits and non-boozy sips. Images: Allo Creative / Markus Ravik.
Mona has never shirked attention. Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art has welcomed it, in fact, whether it's bringing in 80 tonnes of sand, is allowing music fans listen to the sole copy of Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin or is part of a TV show about potentially eating Australia's invasive animal species — and that's just in the past year. Also part of the venue's story over the past 12 months or so: the legal proceedings around Ladies Lounge, the feminist installation created by artist and curator Kirsha Kaechele, which was taken to court due to an anti-discrimination complaint. Two big developments impacted Ladies Lounge in 2024: first, in April, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled that it must start letting men enter; then, a September decision by the state's Supreme Court upheld Mona's appeal, permitting it to reopen for women only to continue to make its statement about the lack of opportunity historically offered to ladies by such spaces. Kaechele did indeed relaunch the installation, but only briefly, while flagging that it could go on tour. So, after ending its run at its original home in January 2025, Ladies Lounge is now headed to the Gold Coast. Each year, the coastal Sunshine State spot turns over much of the city to Bleach*, its annual arts festival. This year, Ladies Lounge is on its lineup. This is the first time that it will pop up beyond Mona, and therefore also beyond Tasmania, with the Gold Coast's HOTA, Home of the Arts playing host to the feminist space. "Yes, some boys may be allowed in for domestic arts lessons and reparations," the fest advises. Bleach* 2025 runs from Thursday, July 31–Sunday, August 10, also covering music, opera, drama, food and more, all at festival hubs a HOTA, Kurrawa Park and Emerald Lakes. It has more big art names attached, too. Australian visual artist Michael Zavros is the festival's guest Artistic Director for the year, curating a program that spans 100-plus events. Among them, Patricia Piccinini's Skywhale and Skywhalepapa are on the lineup, and will float through the Gold Coast's skies. That's how Bleach* will kick off at sunrise on its first 2025 day. "It's such a thrill to come on board as guest Artistic Director and launch Bleach* 2025. We've been shaping this festival for some time now, and it's incredibly rewarding to see the program come to life and finally share it with our audiences," said Zavros, announcing this year's bill. "We've dreamed big this year — pushing for bold, ambitious moments — and it's exciting to see those ideas realised in such powerful ways. Bleach* continues to play a vital role in the Gold Coast's arts and culture scene, and this year's program is a true reflection of the city's creative spirit and growing artistic ambition." Among the festival's three world premieres of works created on the Gold Coast, plus five Queensland premieres and plenty of other must-sees, other highlights include opera, classical music and dancing horses taking over Kurrawa Beach; artist Jeff Koons getting chatting at an exclusive in-conversation event; and Selve's new album Breaking Into Heaven performed in full with lasers, Karul Projects dancers and the Australian Session Orchestra outdoors at HOTA. Or, there's also Drum As You Are, a family-friendly Nirvana tribute — one of the iconic band's albums is called Bleach, after all — that'll feature both professional and community drummers. Unsurprisingly given that he's steering this year's festival, you can also see Zavros' Drowned Mercedes, the sculpture that was first unveiled in Brisbane in 2023 and, yes, features a 1990s Mercedes-Benz SL convertible filled with water. Zavros is also taking part in life-drawing sessions, Melissa Spratt and Tal Fitzpatrick are teaming up to showcase how textiles can be comforting in public space, and Josh Cohen's Radiohead for Solo Piano II will be in the spotlight. Bleach* 2025 runs from Thursday, July 31–Sunday, August 10 at various locations around the Gold Coast. For further information, head to the festival website.
Sitting down to high tea can feel like being swept off to another world. A relaxed couple of hours spent eating and drinking? Most days for most of us, that's pure fantasy. So it fits that W Brisbane, one of the River City's go-to places for the indulgent spread, has teamed up with the Gallery of Modern Art to theme its latest high tea after Brissie's current Fairy Tales exhibition. This enchanting excuse to kick back over small bites and hot beverages — plus a cocktail or some champagne if you like — has been dubbed the Ever After High Tea, and is on offer every Friday–Sunday till Wednesday, April 24. Forget lunch, because you'll need to head by between 11am–3pm, getting cosy in Living Room Bar like you're in a pumpkin carriage. The most magical of vegetables, at least where fairy tales are involved, does indeed feature on the menu. Among the sweets, you'll be looking out for the Princess Midnight Pumpkin Surprise with mango and vanilla mouse, which comes uncannily looking like the real thing. Savoury-wise, pumpkin tarts with freeze-dried goats cheese are also on offer. Strawberry macaron clocks, Queen of Hearts chocolate and hazelnut cakes, raspberry and cranberry scones, forest mushrooms, chicken pies, cheese and herb bites, cured salmon crostini: they'll delight your tastebuds once upon a time (or as many times as you can fit in during the event's run) as well. So will a dish called Snow White's Bittersweet Poisoned Apple Mousse — which obviously isn't toxic, just cheekily named. The two jewels in the high tea's crown? A fairy tale cookie cake book that you can paint before you eat — because playing with your food is encouraged here — and a glittery signature Love Is Blind cocktail made with vanilla vodka, mango lassi, activated charcoal, lemon juice and aquafaba. You'll pay $79 per person for the food, plus endless tea and barista-made coffee. Add a cocktail and the price is $99. For a glass of champers instead, it's $109. And there's a $45 version for kids, which features bottomless juice, tea, babycinos and hot chocolates.
Everyone in Brisbane has been to Straddie at least once — and everyone has been to the Straddie pub, too. There's a reason for that. When it comes to classic southeast Queensland experiences that involve ocean views and a cold drink in hand, it really doesn't get much better. Now, North Stradbroke Island's much-loved watering hole is back, reopening as The Straddie Hotel after a thoughtful redevelopment that brings the venue into a new era without losing its soul. Set on the headland just steps from the ocean, the refreshed hotel still leans into surf culture and that unmistakably laidback island energy, just with a few more modern comforts. New and reworked spaces include a breezy upper deck, an expanded all-weather deck complete with an operable roof, a reimagined bistro and main bar, plus a second bar in the thick of the action — all designed to keep the focus firmly on the sweeping views of Cylinder Beach and the Coral Sea beyond. The kitchen delivers generous pub classics with a coastal twist: alongside island-sourced oysters, fish tacos, prawn and bug cocktails, and fish and chips, the menu includes staples like schnitties, hand-stretched pizzas and grill items like a Black Angus rump. At the bar, you'll find local beers from Straddie Brewing Co., easy-drinking wines and beach-ready signature cocktails like the Straddie Island Iced Tea, Coco Margarita and a rotating slushie of the month. Early risers in the summer months will also be rewarded with breakfast bites and coffee from a grab-and-go kiosk. Beyond the food, the refreshed Straddie Hotel also offers family-friendly spaces, a regular program of live music and a renewed focus on local culture and community — cementing its place as one of southeast Queensland's great island institutions.
Brisbane's pub scene has always been one of the city's great social anchors. From historic riverfront institutions to polished neighbourhood locals and new-school venues reinventing the category, the best pubs combine good food, cold drinks and the kind of atmosphere that encourages people to settle in and stay a while. This round-up spans some of Brisbane's most beloved drinking spots – places for Sunday roasts, steak dinners, long lunches by the water and lively nights with friends. Some lean proudly traditional, others bring a more modern approach, but each offers its own take on what makes a great pub.
Cheap eats don't come so easily these days. Yet the Sunnybank Food Trail is here to help, celebrating a decade of accessible, affordable bites that won't weigh heavily on your wallet. Running from 2pm–8pm on Saturday, June 28, across Sunnybank Plaza and Sunny Park, this jam-packed event is holding nothing back for its tenth edition. The lineup of food vendors is simply massive, with a record-breaking 53 restaurants and vendors getting involved in 2025. Serving a staggering 173 dishes, from sizzling skewers and barbecue pork buns to bubble tea, this is your chance to empty your spare change jar. Each plate is priced between $2 and $5, with 34 dishes available on the low end. Whether you're a regular attendee or this is your first visit, an incredible array of flavours is freshly served. There are even nine new venues making their Sunnybank Food Trail debut, with Charcoal BBQ House, Roro Restaurant and BiteJoy ready to impress. Meanwhile, returning favourites include Udonya Tokoton, Hot Cake House, Chatime and Landmark. If you're too full for even one more bite, the trail comes to life with lion dancing at 2pm and 6pm, while live music will keep the mood lively throughout the day. Plus, two dedicated family zones include face painting, balloon twisting and pop-up surprises, meaning there's no shortage of cuisine and entertainment on offer.
One of Australia's bestselling beers is launching its first-ever flagship venue. Say hello to Northern Grounds, a laidback and family-friendly venue from Great Northern Brewing Co. set to open soon on the banks of the Maroochy River, with open fires, sweeping waterfront views and a food and drink menu built for long, lazy afternoons. Taking over the former Waterfront Hotel in Diddillibah, the venue — which pours its first beers on Friday, August 15 — channels a classic Queensland camping trip, complete with firepits, communal lounges and a kids' playground on the wraparound deck. Designed by Brisbane studio Cayas + Ward and delivered via a $5.1-million renovation, the venue retains its sweeping balcony and waterfront outlook, now enhanced with open fireplaces and timber accents. There's also a playful mural wall that maps locals' favourite fishing, hiking and camping spots, a nod to the Sunny Coast's outdoors culture. Similar Queensland iconography can be seen throughout the sprawling pub, which has been designed with gathering in mind. At the heart of the action are the lively dining hall and bar. Both overlook the water and extend onto the deck, an expansive outdoor space ideal for long lunches, casual dinners or drinks by the fire as the kids play nearby. Northern Grounds also boasts two dedicated event spaces — The Lodge accommodates up to 160 guests with deck access and AV capabilities, while The Cabin offers a more intimate setting for smaller groups at the end of the deck. At the bar, 24 taps pour the full Great Northern range, as well as other crowd favourites from across the spectrum of carbonated booze, like Balter, Green Beacon and Hard Rated. The food menu follows suit, spotlighting seasonal produce from Queensland suppliers, including fresh-off-the-boat seafood from nearby Mooloolah River fisheries. Rooted in pub standards, the wide-ranging menu spans snacks, share platters and hand-stretched pizzas perfect for grazing, through to hearty mains like parmies, a seasonally rotating pie and coal-cooked proteins served with damper and cultured butter. You'll want to nab a place by the open fire for dessert — house-made s'mores arrive toasty and gooey, just like the campsite classic.
Under current COVID-19 restrictions in Australia, there are various interstate border restrictions in place. Up-to-date information on restrictions are available at your state's health websites (click through for NSW, Victoria and Queensland). Of course, even border closures don't mean you can't start dreaming — bookmark this for when you can explore freely once again. There's something special about getting behind the wheel for a long drive, whether you're summiting Australia's soaring mountain ranges or rambling your way up the coastline. There are fascinating adventures awaiting in every corner of the country, so forget about setting a breakneck pace. Just pick out a few waypoints along the way and pull in wherever you please. When you spot a stunning hike or a sandy beach that simply has to be experienced, slide the new Sonos Roam — featuring ten hours of playtime and a drop-resistant design — into your daypack and let the perfect playlist soundtrack your adventures. Exploring Australia has never sounded so good. [caption id="attachment_728931" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lisa Kuilenburg, Tourism Tas[/caption] GREAT EASTERN DRIVE, TASMANIA Don't think that you can get away with ignoring Tassie for much longer. The entire state deserves to be explored but, if time is of the essence, the east coast boasts a particularly scenic drive overflowing with stellar restaurants, wineries and landscapes. The fun starts in the island's northeastern corner at the Bay of Fires with its striking orange lichen-cloaked boulders. Heading south, you'll find windswept delights in coastal towns like Binalong Bay, St Helens and Bicheno before arriving at Freycinet National Park and experiencing spectacular views across Wineglass Bay. [caption id="attachment_777954" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ensay Winery, Visit Victoria[/caption] GREAT ALPINE ROAD, VICTORIA Victoria offers some wonderfully diverse landscapes with the Great Alpine Road carrying you through some of the best. Stretching for 339 kilometres from Wangaratta to Metung, this adventure sees you cruise through granite mountain ranges and venture into lush rainforests — with dozens of great stops to make along the way. Consider taking a detour into Mount Buffalo National Park to experience the incredible views from The Horn or cool off in the Eurobin Falls. You can also sample eco-conscious wines at Ensay Winery or swing by Bruthen's Bullant Brewery for top-quality beers and a feed that showcases delicious regional flavours. [caption id="attachment_734990" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cape Paterson, Visit Victoria[/caption] BASS COAST, VICTORIA You don't have to travel far from Melbourne to get amongst some of the state's most scenic locations. Just an hour's drive from the CBD is the stunning Bass Coast region, which encompasses everything from Phillip Island to Inverloch. Catch views of the jagged coastline and sea-bird nesting areas from San Remo before scooting along the coast to charming towns like Kilcunda, Wonthaggi and Cape Paterson. This unforgettable coastal cruise bounces from one relaxed village to the next with outstanding spots for surfing, snorkelling and dining at every turn. [caption id="attachment_813784" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cape Tribulation, Unsplash[/caption] CAIRNS TO CAPE YORK, QUEENSLAND Completing the 1000-kilometre trip from Cairns to Cape York is a tropical adventure like no other. Featuring some of Australia's wildest landscapes, this road trip will take you on a tour of pioneering history via lowland rainforests and sweeping landscapes. Pause at Mareeba to discover why 70 percent of Australia's coffee is grown here before experiencing the reaches of the Daintree Rainforest at Port Douglas and the pristine Mossman Gorge. While much of the Cairns to Cape York route is sealed, having a 4WD to overcome some unexpected obstacles is a good idea. [caption id="attachment_743610" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] 75 MILE BEACH, QUEENSLAND Scout out the sights of the world's largest sand island — K'gari (Fraser Island) — and its breathtaking 75 Mile Beach. When the tide is right, you're welcome to take your four wheels onto the white sand beach to live out the summertime getaway of your dreams. Plus, there are more than 100 freshwater lakes found across K'gari — be sure to take a dip in the red waters of Lake Boomanjin. You can also explore the SS Maheno Shipwreck, which ran aground in 1935, before pitching a tent beneath the enormous ferns of Central Station's open rainforest. [caption id="attachment_813791" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Geoffrey Rhodes, Flickr[/caption] ANCIENT OUTBACK MOUNT ISA LOOP, QUEENSLAND Pack plenty of water and sunscreen because a multi-day drive through Queensland's remote northwest is bound to get a bit warm. This trip departs from the mining capital of Mount Isa, taking you east past the rugged Selwyn Ranges. Onwards to Richmond, you'll come across Australia's best-preserved dinosaur skeleton at Kronosaurus Korner, while Winton, about 230 kilometres to the south, is believed to be the birthplace of 'Waltzing Matilda'. Ahead of finishing the loop, experience cinematic history by stopping for a drink at Crocodile Dundee's favourite pub, the Walkabout Creek Hotel, in McKinlay. [caption id="attachment_772492" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination Port Stephens[/caption] PACIFIC COAST, NEW SOUTH WALES/QUEENSLAND The road from Sydney to Brisbane is peppered with remarkable attractions. You'll need about a week to experience the top-notch locations along the 1000-kilometre route. After leaving Sydney behind, the first unmissable stop is Lake Macquarie's sparkling rock pools and world-class fishing. Just up the coast, choose any of Port Stephens's 26 stunning beaches for an idyllic picnic and break out the snorkelling gear at Coffs Harbour's Solitary Islands Marine Park. Following a stop in Byron Bay, it's time to cross the Queensland border and experience the Gold Coast hinterland en route to Brisbane. [caption id="attachment_813795" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Broken Hill, Trevor McKinnon, Unsplash[/caption] BROKEN HILL AND THE OUTBACK, NEW SOUTH WALES See both sides of New South Wales as this sweeping road trip transports you from Sydney's bright lights to the frontier town of Broken Hill. You have a variety of fascinating backcountry communities to explore with Dubbo the first major landmark on this adventure. Prepare yourself for the wide open landscapes to come by visiting the Taronga Western Plains Zoo. After you move through historic mining towns like Cobar, Wilcannia and White Cliffs, you'll soon arrive at Broken Hill. Relish a cold drink at the famous Palace Hotel, then head out for an unbeatable sunset surrounded by the sandstone sculptures at the Living Desert & Sculpture Symposium. [caption id="attachment_746256" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Snowy Mountains[/caption] ALPINE WAY, NEW SOUTH WALES Australia might not be best known for its snow-capped mountains, but our alpine region is about as scenic as they come. The Alpine Way links one mindblowing destination to the next with this road trip beginning at the laidback community of Cooma and heading deep into the Snowy Mountains. Learn your local history by paying a visit to the Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre, then make tracks to the picturesque town of Jindabyne for a dip in the lake (weather permitting, of course). As the altitude increases, the isolated town of Khancoban provides the perfect launchpad to explore Kosciuszko National Park's hikes and adventure activities. Find out more about the new Sonos Roam at the official website. Top image: Bay of Fires, Spencer Chow.
From the Lumiere brothers to Christopher Nolan, cinema has always been more than just benign entertainment for our Saturday nights. It has reflected the ages we live in, not just in costumes and settings but in representing the pure zeitgeist. As we head off to the Sydney Film Festival and the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, where films break barriers and open eyes, we’re thinking about those films that have changed how we see that crazy little thing called love. Mixed-race couples in love Even now it's still unusual to see mixed-race couples on film and television. Take Glee: the Asian girl has to end up with the Asian guy. It seems like a particularly persistent blindness given all the inter-species lovin' outlined below. But go back a few years and you will find a few films that did manage to break down this particular barrier. Most famous is 1967's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner where Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy's daughter brings home a black fiance, the barrier-breaker himself, Sidney Poitier. This film paved the way for a series of bad dance films where white ballerinas hook up with street dancers, a la Save the Last Dance. Awesome. Monsters and humans in love Move over Twilight; if you think this was the first film that depicted the forbidden love between a human and a monster, you need to catch up on some movies. It wasn't even the brilliant Joss Whedon who was first in with Buffy. You have to go right back to the first monster movies, and King Kong. Okay, so in the 1933 version love was a little-one sided on the monkey side, but in Peter Jackson's 2005 remake Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) shows a tender affection for the giant ape. The Mummy (1999) also depicted an everlasting love between a monster and a human, with the mummy rising only with the intention of bringing his love back to life through a human host. Unwed couples in love Cinema is polluted with unwed couples; the only thing is they're usually the ones copping all the flak. Take any disaster or horror movie you know: the first people that are going to get it are the ones that are enjoying a bit of out-of-wedlock nookie. Most movies, in Hollywood at least, focus on the couple's progression towards an inevitable marriage. Even today it's unusual for a Hollywood romance not to end in marriage. The spectacular The Princess Bride is one classic film that, ironically due to the title, doesn't end in a wedding. In fact, it ends with breaking up the marriage that was to be, so the true lovers can be together. More recently, the successful comedy Knocked Up shows us that it's possible to not only be in love but to have a baby out of wedlock and still be relatively happy. Other films catching up to the multitude of ways in which start families include the upcoming Friends with Kids, where friends have kids. Teenagers in love Early cinema often turned to literature's classics for inspiration, which means cinema's first teenage couple in love was that famous star-crossed duo Romeo and Juliet. They were the ones breaking barriers down between two warring families, but were they breaking cinematic barriers? Teenage films really came into their own in the '60s with the likes of cheesy, safe comedies like Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), where the teenage actors were well into their twenties. That trend continued into Grease (1978), surely one of the greatest teen love stories of all time, but it was John Hughes and the Brat Pack in the '80s that really examined what it meant to be a teenager in love. The '90s brought us another round of teens in love with 10 Things I Hate About You being a personal favourite (vale Heath Ledger). If a teenage boy can get over a girl's obsession with Sylvia Plath to buy her a Fender Strat, that's got to be love. Gay couples in love One of the earliest scenes in moving pictures shows two be-suited men dancing together, perhaps cinema's first gay couple. In fact, this scene is from an experimental sound picture now known as Dickson Experimental Sound Film, one of the first examples of an attempt to synch sound and picture. One early German film, Madchen in Uniform, is reputedly the first film with a pro-lesbian storyline, and in 1931, that’s quite an achievement. References to gay characters have permeated cinema throughout the years - for the best breakdown on queer cinema see the brilliant, though slightly old, doco The Celluloid Closet - but it's only been in recent years that we've seen true love, not jaded by other motivations. While we enjoyed the comedic love between the fathers in The Birdcage (1996), it was with the excellent The Kids Are All Right (2010) where we first had a gay couple, truly in love, whose 'gayness' wasn't an issue to be exaggerated; in fact, wasn't part of the main storyline at all. How could it be, when the parents could just as easily have been heterosexual? The Sydney Film Festival is on from June 6-17 and the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival is on from May 29 to June 1. The New Zealand Film Festival kicks off in Auckland on July 19 2012. Friends with Kids releases nationally on June 7. Main image from the film Attenberg.
Grabbing everyone's attention with one shiny promise, then delivering something else as well: if you've ever watched Black Mirror, then you've seen that exact situation play out several times among its many tech nightmares. When the dystopian saga's seventh season arrives, that setup just might apply to the show itself, too. A sequel episode to season four's Star Trek-riffing USS Callister episode has long been promised, but a follow-up to choose-your-own-adventure movie Black Mirror: Bandersnatch also appears to be part of the six-instalment return. Black Mirror season seven now has a trailer, and Bandersnatch's Will Poulter (The Bear) and Asim Chaudhry (Industry) are part of it. The next chapter in Charlie Brooker's can't-look-away take on how humanity's use of gadgets and innovations can go devastatingly wrong also has an official release date. In excellent news, you'll be plugging in soon, on Thursday, April 10, 2025. The new episodes will drop two years after 2023's sixth season, which is a short gap in Black Mirror terms given that there was a four-year wait after season five. Season seven's batch of Black Mirror episodes is also bigger than the past two seasons, serving up six instalments — which only season three and four have done in the past. As teased by the trailer, the show's seventh season has artificial intelligence in its focus — and everything from a black-and-white realm and wearable tech to Peter Capaldi (Criminal Record) chatting about expanding minds on offer along the way. From USS Callister, Cristin Milioti (The Penguin), Jimmi Simpson (Pachinko), Billy Magnussen (The Franchise), Milanka Brooks (The Windsors), Osy Ikhile (All American) and Paul G Raymond (Deadpool & Wolverine) are all back. Across the rest of the season, the cast also includes Awkwafina (Jackpot!), Emma Corrin (Nosferatu), Rashida Jones (Sunny), Chris O'Dowd (The Big Door Prize), Issa Rae (American Fiction), Michele Austin (Hard Truths), Tracee Ellis Ross (Candy Cane Lane), Harriet Walter (Silo), Patsy Ferran (Mickey 17), Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers) and more. And if you're wondering whether Brooker took any inspiration from his headline speaker gig at the first-ever SXSW Sydney in 2023, you'll need to watch the new season to find out. Chatting with Netflix, he has promised "a mix of genres and styles". Also "they're all sci-fi stories — there's definitely some horrifying things that occur, but maybe not in an overt horror-movie way. There's definitely some disturbing content in it." Check out the trailer for Black Mirror season seven below: Black Mirror season seven will stream via Netflix from Thursday, April 10, 2025. Read our review of season six, and our interview with Charlie Brooker.
December is here, and we're sure the sound of jingling bells is well and truly lodged in your head — but if your TV isn't screening an endless festive movie marathon, is it really Christmas? This portion of year isn't just the prime period for gift-giving, lots of eating, and spending quality time with your nearest and dearest, but also for watching and rewatching all those flicks that make you feel merry. Or, if you're hardly the jolly type, to get a dose of Christmas with some offbeat, action-packed and/or darkly comic picks. Just what makes a Christmas film has been hotly debated. Some folks, like Last Christmas director Paul Feig, rightly believe that Die Hard counts. Others stick firmly to movies that weave in the season in a more overt way. Whichever category you fall into, and however you feel about the season, we have a list of suggestions for your Yuletide viewing pleasure. Pour yourself some eggnog, get cosy on your couch and start streaming. Home Alone (and Its Sequels) In 2021, a brand new Home Alone movie arrived to demand your attention. Yes, the 90s classic was remade — by Disney+, and with Jojo Rabbit's Archie Yates, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's Ellie Kemper and Deadpool & Wolverine's Rob Delaney among the cast. Nostalgia might draw you to it, but the Mouse House's streaming platform is already serving up classic Home Alone delights, with the 1990 original, 1992's Home Alone 2: Lost In New York and 1997's Home Alone 3 all available (and also 2002's Home Alone 4, if you're a completist). Naturally, the original is the one that calls everyone's names whenever they're feeling festive. It was the highest-grossing live-action comedy at the US box office for more than two decades for a very good reason. Watch as Macaulay Culkin (Entergalactic) puts in a star-making performance, Joe Pesci (Bupkis) and Daniel Stern (For All Mankind) play bumbling burglars, and plenty of inventive booby traps get in the way. Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, Home Alone 3, Home Alone 4 and Home Sweet Home Alone stream via Disney+. Happiest Season Forget Twilight. Yes, it's the film franchise that Kristen Stewart (Love Lies Bleeding) is best known for, but her resume spans much further than sparkly vampires. And, courtesy of Happiest Season, it includes a festive rom-com that gives its well-worn genre a much-needed queer focus. Stewart plays Abby, the girlfriend of Harper (Mackenzie Davis, Speak No Evil). The former usually hates Christmas, but she's willing to give the usual trimmings a go for the latter. Alas, it turns out that Harper hasn't come out to her family, which cause more a few complications over the holidays. From the get-go, it's easy to see where the film is headed, but Happiest Season willingly sticks to a formula in order to update it. And, 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. Happiest Season streams via Binge. Read our full review. The Nightmare Before Christmas More than a quarter-century ago, filmmakers Tim Burton (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) and Henry Selick (Wendell & Wild) served up one of the most-enchanting holiday films to hit the big screen — and one that doubles as both Halloween and Christmas viewing. It's Burton's name that everyone remembers; however, a pre-Coraline Selick is actually in the director's chair on The Nightmare Before Christmas, which charms with both its offbeat story and its gorgeous stop-motion animation. Burton came up with the narrative though, because Jack Skellington only could've originated from the Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands filmmaker's brain. Imaginative, original and engaging (even as it nods to Dr Seuss a few times), it still remains a festive treat for all ages. The Nightmare Before Christmas streams via Disney+. The Holdovers Melancholy, cantankerousness, angst, hurt and snow all blanket Barton Academy in Alexander Payne's (Nebraska) The Holdovers. It's Christmas 1970 in New England in this thoughtful story that's given room to breathe and build, but festive cheer is in short supply among the students and staff that give the movie its moniker. Soon, there's just three folks left behind: Angus Tully (debutant Dominic Sessa), whose mother wants more time alone with his new stepdad; curmudgeonly professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti, Billions), who's being punished for failing the son of a wealthy donor, but would be hanging around campus anyway; and grieving cook Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Only Murders in the Building, and an Oscar-winner for her work here), who is weathering her first Christmas after losing her son — a Barton alum — in the Vietnam War. The Holdovers streams via Netflix and Binge. Read our full review. Last Christmas Some Christmas movies — many festive movies, let's be honest — get the usual carols stuck in your head. Fancy a little George Michael whirling around your brain instead? That's what's on offer with Last Christmas, for obvious reasons. Just read the title and you'll already be humming the appropriate tune. This recent festive rom-com is both extremely likeable and very predictable. In other words, it's perfectly suitable feel-good Christmas in July viewing. The cast, which includes Emilia Clarke (Secret Invasion), Henry Golding (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare) and Emma Thompson (Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical) are all an absolute delight, Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, A Simple Favour) directs with a light touch, and the George Michael hits just keep coming. Last Christmas streams via Netflix, Stan, Prime Video and Paramount+. Read our full review, and our interview with Paul Feig. It's a Wonderful Life It's been 78 years since Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life first warmed hearts, and started to become a festive tradition. The ultimate 'what if?' tale, the five-time Oscar nominee is also a shining example of a movie that didn't do well at the box office originally but has more than made up for it since. Featuring a pitch-perfect performance from the great James Stewart as the downtrodden George Bailey, the film's charms are many. It's sweet, optimistic but still willing to look at grim realities. That's what happens when Bailey has bleak thoughts one Christmas Eve, and contemplates ending it all, before a guardian angel shows him what life would've been like in his home town of Bedford Falls without him. It's a Wonderful Life streams via Stan. Eyes Wide Shut It isn't by accident that Eyes Wide Shut, Stanley Kubrick's last complete film and one of the masterful director's absolute best, takes place during the holidays. The late, great filmmaker plunges into a fraying marriage at a time of year that's either blissful or fraught in relationships, or seesaws between the two, with then real-life couple Nicole Kidman (The Perfect Couple) and Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One) as his leads. And, in the process, he has plenty to say about the institutions, traditions and expectations that society tells us will bring contentment — the wealth and romantic ideals that fall into the same categories, too — and the gaping chasm between those glossy notions and reality. When it hit cinemas, Eyes Wide Shut was marketed as an erotic thriller — 'twas the 90s — but despite the sex, masquerades and relationship games, that's only one layer of the feature. Following Bill (Cruise) and Alice (Kidman) Hartford as they navigate the festive period, complete with indulgent parties and strung-up lights aplenty, this probing film has zero cheer for Christmas' shiny facade, or the annual promise that forced jolliness will make anyone's lives better. Eyes Wide Shut streams via iTunes. How to Make Gravy Normally when it comes to watching Christmas movies, you can pick whichever day in December takes your fancy and press play. But How to Make Gravy is best watched on December 21, because that's the date that's been known as Gravy Day since 1996 thanks to Paul Kelly's classic tune 'How to Make Gravy'. Yes, this is a movie adaptation of the song, with musician Meg Washington and writer/director Nick Waterman behind it. And yes, it spins a story around the many characters that Kelly names in his track. The Royal Hotel co-stars Daniel Henshall (RFDS) and Hugo Weaving (Slow Horses) feature as Joe and Noel. The first hails from the tune — he's the prisoner who writes to his brother Dan (Brenton Thwaites, Titans) to kick things off — while Noel, a new addition to the tale, is a veteran inmate that he crosses paths with inside. With a cast that also spans Kate Mulvany (The Clearing), Damon Herriman (Better Man), Kieran Darcy-Smith (Mr Inbetween) and Kym Gyngell (The Artful Dodger), plus Titane's Agathe Rousselle in her first English-language film, How to Make Gravy charts the events that lead to Joe being away from his family come festive season, how they're coping without him and the underlying factors that he needs to face to spend next Christmas at home. How to Make Gravy streams via Binge. Read our interview with Daniel Henshall and Hugo Weaving. The Muppet Christmas Carol It's time to play the music, light the lights and see Charles Dickens' classic play out in felt — and with Michael Caine (The Great Escaper) as Ebenezer Scrooge. Any Muppets movie is ace seasonal viewing because they're all so warmhearted, but The Muppet Christmas Carol was obviously made for the merriest time of year. The movie follows Dickens's tale, with the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge given a change of perspective by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. Here, however, Jim Henson's beloved creations join in, with Kermit the Frog playing clerk Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy as Emily Cratchit, Gonzo narrating the story as Dickens (with help from Rizzo the Rat), Fozzie Bear as Fozziwig and Robin the Frog as Tiny Tim. Other Muppets show up, because of course they do. The Muppet Christmas Carol streams via Disney+. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale Calling all festive horror fans — and fans of deadpan comedy. You'll get a bit of both with Finnish thriller Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, because sometimes, that's just what the season needs. Taking inspiration from the Joulupukki, a pagan and folkloric figure that's helped shape Santa Claus-centric stories, this creative film starts as all sinister tales do: with the unearthing of something eerie and perhaps best left forgotten. Here, after a British research team disturbs an ancient burial mound, the local reindeer become the first casualties. Twisted and off-kilter, eager to play with mythology and unafraid of gruesome imagery, this is the kind of Christmas flick that doesn't come around very often — all from Jalmari Helander, the filmmaker behind 2023's underseen Sisu. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale streams via iTunes and Prime Video. Tangerine Before writer/director Sean Baker gave the world 2024 Palme d'Or-winner Anora, plus The Florida Project and Red Rocket before that — each among the best movies of their year — he spent Christmas Eve with two transgender sex workers as one learns that her boyfriend and pimp has been unfaithful. Sin-Dee Rella (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) is fresh from a 28-day stint in jail when she teams up with her best pal Alexandra (Mya Taylor, High Tide) to chase down her other half Chester (James Ransone, The Black Phone). While getting revenge on cheating spouses isn't a new topic on film, Tangerine is its own raw and delightful effort. Baker also shot the Los Angeles-set feature solely on iPhones, which proves quite the technical feat, and doesn't stop it from being visually inventive again and again. Tangerine streams via iTunes. Christmess "Happy holidays" might be two of the most-used words each and every December, but this time of year isn't jolly for everyone. With the gripping and affecting Christmess, writer/director Heath Davis (Broke, Book Week and Locusts) stares clear-eyed at the haunting regrets, aching loneliness and complicated family dynamics that are part of the festive season for many — and has his characters chat about the best Christmas movies, too. Fresh-out-of-rehab actor Chris Flint (Steve Le Marquand, The Twelve) is at this Australian dramedy's centre, as he tries to get his life back on track — a job playing a shopping-centre Santa included — while living in a halfway house with his sponsor Nick (Darren Gilshenan, Colin From Accounts) and fellow recovering alcoholic Joy (musician Hannah Joy). Christmess streams via Binge. Nutcrackers After a few years spent making horror movies — and building upon genre classics at that, thanks to Halloween, Halloween Kills, Halloween Ends and The Exorcist: Believer — filmmaker David Gordon Green has swapped scares for heartwarming seasonal hijinks. Consider that one of his latest feature's big returns. Opening the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival before making its way to streaming, Nutcrackers also gets Ben Stiller back in front of the camera (although he can be forgiven for his time behind the scenes given that he's been busy directing Severance). Long-term Stiller fans should spot echoes of Reality Bites, which he helmed as well as co-starred in, in his Nutcrackers character Mike Maxwell. Looking the corporate part and devoted to his job, he's not fond of the idea of shaking up his routine — or jeopardising his career advancement prospects. Then tragedy strikes, leaving him to find new guardians for his four rambunctious nephews who definitely don't want to go into foster care, and also have a creative take on classic ballet The Nutcracker that they're eager to stage. Nutcrackers streams via Disney+. White Reindeer If your attitude towards Christmas is 'bah humbug' or something similarly grinchy, then White Reindeer might just be the festive film for you. It starts with the festive season approaching, and with real estate agent Suzanne Barrington (Anna Margaret Hollyman, Sister Aimee) happy with her weatherman husband Jeff (Nathan Williams, Younger) — and super excited about the most wonderful time of the year. Then, tragedy strikes, and Zach Clark's (The Becomers) black comedy leans firmly into its genre. Tackling dark subjects, as well as the fact that Christmas isn't all presents, big hugs and glittering lights for everyone, this is a very funny, savvy and astute movie. It's also purposefully awkward, and remains a great example of low-budget indie filmmaking no matter the time of year. White Reindeer streams via YouTube Movies. Carol Carol falls into the category of films that, purely because they're set at the right time of year, automatically qualify as Christmas movies (see also: a few other flicks on this list). If that's the excuse you need to revisit Todd Haynes' (May December) aching romantic drama, then that's completely fine. Any excuse will do, really. The more eyeballs soaking in this sumptuous tale of forbidden love either for the first time or the hundredth, the better. Starring Rooney Mara (Women Talking) as a shopgirl who falls for Cate Blanchett's (Disclaimer) titular character, and based on Patricia Highsmith's novel The Price of Salt, the 50s-set drama fills the screen with emotion as the two women confront their feelings. Haynes' resume isn't short on highlights (Velvet Goldmine and Far From Heaven, for example), but might be his crowning achievement. Carol streams via ABC iView. Read our full review. Batman Returns Why so seasonal? No, the Joker doesn't say that in Batman Returns. In fact, that villain isn't even the Dark Knight's nemesis in this 1992 film. The sentiment still fits, though. Given the amount of times that Batman has graced cinemas, one of those movies was always going to be appropriate Christmas viewing — and Tim Burton's (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) second stint unpacking Bruce Wayne's alter ego, plus Michael Keaton's (also Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) second round of playing the titular character, is 100-percent that movie. Christmas provides the backdrop for Oswald Cobblepot (Danny DeVito, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and Selina Kyle's (Michelle Pfeiffer, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) antics — aka The Penguin and Catwoman — in this sequel to 1989's Batman, and lights up Gotham City as its namesake endeavours to save the day. Again, there's never any shortage of Dark Knight flicks to choose from, including two more follow-ups in the 80s and 90s franchise, Christopher Nolan's trilogy, Ben Affleck in the cape and cowl and 2022's Robert Pattinson-starring The Batman, but 'tis the season for this one. Batman Returns streams via Binge. Elf Will Ferrell (The Boys) plays an elf. It sounds like the idea for a Saturday Night Live sketch, really. To the joy of Christmas-themed film fans everywhere, that's not the case with Elf — and even though it was written with Jim Carrey (Sonic the Hedgehog 3) in mind, and even though he went seasonal again with Spirited in 2022, this festive comedy ranks alongside Anchorman as one of the movies that Ferrell will always be remembered for. He's both amusing and endearing as Buddy, a human raised by Santa's elves who only realises that he's not like everyone else he knows when he grows up. It's a basic fish-out-of-water setup, but showered with humour, heart and festive goodwill. Also, long before he directed Iron Man, The Jungle Book and the photorealistic version of The Lion King, this is what actor-turned-filmmaker Jon Favreau served up. Elf streams via Binge and Stan. Gremlins Fun fact for Breaking Bad fans: Jonathan Banks, aka Mike Ehrmantraut, plays a deputy in Gremlins. He's not the star of the show, though, and nor are any of the movie's humans. No, that honour goes to its furry creatures that definitely shouldn't be exposed to water or sunlight, or fed after midnight. That's the warning that Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton, King Cobra) receives when he buys an unusual gift for his teenage son Billy (Zach Galligan, Midnight Peepshow) from a Chinatown store and, as Joe Dante's (Nightmare Cinema) upbeat, anarchic comedy demonstrates, it's advice that should be heeded. Another trusty tidbit that's worth remembering: no matter how old you are, watching Gremlins will make you want a mogwai for yourself. Gremlins streams via Binge. Black Christmas A fun, feisty remake with a female perspective and a refreshing sense of sisterhood, Black Christmas is a college-set slasher flick for the #MeToo era. The latter gets thrown around a helluva lot, but with this updated version of a 1974 cult movie, writer/director Sophia Takal (Always Shine) firmly leans into the term. Indeed, Black Christmas circa 2019 lives and breathes its #MeToo mindset, particularly in its story and characters. In this Imogen Poots (Outer Range)-led, Cary Elwes (Knuckles)-costarring effort, a masked predator stalks women as the festive season swings into gear, specifically targeting sorority sisters at a stately university. There's a mounting body count, but these gals aren't merely a parade of powerless, disposable victims. Black Christmas streams via Netflix. Read our full review. Die Hard Yippee ki-yay, fans of both action and seasonal hijinks (and of Bruce Willis crawling around in vents trying to fight off terrorists, too). It's time to follow in the footsteps of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Jake Peralta and love Die Hard unconditionally, because — by virtue of being set on Christmas Eve — this is a Christmas-appropriate film. The story, if you somehow don't know it, involves NYPD cop John McClane (Willis, Assassin), a Los Angeles building attacked by the nefarious Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman, Eye in the Sky) and plenty of explosive antics. We know, we know, Rickman also features in that other, more overtly festive-themed favourite, aka Love Actually, but there's nothing quite like a couple of hours spent at Nakatomi Plaza. Die Hard streams via Disney+. In Bruges Before The Banshees of Inisherin, filmmaker Martin McDonagh teamed up with actors Colin Farrell (The Penguin) and Brendan Gleeson (Joker: Folie à Deux) on another darkly comic gem. In Bruges is writer/director McDonagh's first feature, in fact, and what a stunning debut it is, diving into hitmen chaos in Belgium over the Christmas period. McDonagh's whip-smart script only mentions the time of year a few times, but its titular setting is lit up for the occasion. Farrell's Ray is hardly thrilled, though; "For two weeks? In fucking Bruges? In a room like this? With you? No way," is his response to being holed up and hiding out with his mentor Ken (Gleeson) at the behest of their handler Harry (Ralph Fiennes, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar). Blackly comedic amusement springs from their predicament, and so does mayhem, melancholy and even hope. In Bruges streams via Netflix and Stan. That Christmas Richard Curtis is getting festive again. The screenwriter behind Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and the first two Bridget Jones movies — and a big driver of Hugh Grant's (Heretic) early career, clearly — will forever be associated with the jolliest part of the calendar thanks to Love Actually. Now he's added That Christmas to his resume, and a clip of his past end-of-year flick that everyone knows and has thoughts about even features in this animated all-ages-friendly affair. That Christmas springs from the page, from Curtis' books That Christmas, The Empty Stocking and Snow Day with illustrator Rebecca Cobb. On-screen, he's intertwined those tales, with Simon Hunter (A Tale Dark & Grimm) directing, Peter Souter (Married Single Other) co-scripting, and the film's account of home-alone kids both lonely and mischievous featuring voicework by Bill Nighy (The Wild Robot), Brian Cox (The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim) and more. That Christmas streams via Netflix. Bad Santa The sequel didn't stuff anyone's stocking full of laughs, sadly, but the original Bad Santa is a masterclass in seasonal misanthropy and utterly inappropriate humour. Now two decades since Billy Bob Thornton (Landman) first popped on the red suit to play the world's most begrudging Father Christmas — actually a professional thief that uses his gig as a department-store Santa as a cover to case the place — he's still one of the most memorable festive figures there is. Everything that can go wrong does for Thornton's character Willie, and every boundary that director Terry Zwigoff (Art School Confidential) and writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Jungle Cruise) can test gets pushed as well. Grinches, this comedy understands your Yuletide disdain and milks it — and finds hilarious uses for a sack full of the festive film genre's cliches, child sidekicks and all. Bad Santa streams via Prime Video. Scrooged Every Christmas, real or otherwise could use a dose of Bill Murray (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) — even when he's hardly brimming with festive cheer. So, back in 1988, Scrooged delivered just that in a modern retelling of A Christmas Carol. Murray plays arrogant, selfish TV executive Frank Cross. He doesn't share the same name as Charles Dickens' famous grouch, but he's just as lacking in feel-good spirit. Everyone knows how the broad story goes, with ghosts of Christmas past, present and future popping up to teach this cynical crank the error of his ways. When Murray is involved, though — and when he's also leading a sing-along — even what seems like the umpteenth adaptation of a well-known story doesn't feel routine. Scrooged streams via Binge. Carry-On What if Die Hard met TV series Hijack, but starring Taron Egerton (Tetris) and Jason Bateman (Air), and with Non-Stop director Jaume Collet-Serra on helming duties? That's Carry-On, 2024's addition to the festive thriller subgenre. Egerton plays a Los Angeles TSA officer with a newly pregnant girlfriend (Sofia Carson, Purple Hearts) and therefore fresh motivation to ask his boss (Dean Norris, Law & Order: Organised Crime) for a promotion, who's given a chance to show he's worthy of climbing the airport's corporate ladder on Christmas Eve. Baggage scanning duties await, then, as a test — but a trial of a different kind swiftly arrives. Via a voice speaking to him through an earpiece, Carry-On's protagonist is soon being told to let a particular piece of luggage through or face deadly consequences. Bateman is a treat playing firmly against type, in what proves a well-cast picture all round. And while it's easy to see where the story is going, the writing remains smart and the setpieces are lively. Carry-On streams via Netflix.
Knowing when to take the one-and-done route isn't pop culture's forte, as too many movie franchises and TV shows extending beyond their best days keep showing. The Tourist falls into the opposite category: initially planned as a once-off with its six-episode first season in 2022, the Australian-international co-production has found a way to return. The catalyst for that comeback isn't just the show's initial success, but teaming up stars Jamie Dornan (A Haunting in Venice) and Danielle Macdonald (French Exit) for a second time because it worked so swimmingly to begin with. Indeed, when The Tourist swiftly earned its season-two renewal, it was hardly a twist. Some on-screen collaborations simply demand more opportunities to keep shining, and Dornan with Macdonald is one of them. Same cast, new location, similar-enough scenario: that's the approach in this also six-episode run, as streaming on Stan in Australia and TVNZ+ in New Zealand since Tuesday, January 2. In season one, Dornan's Elliot Stanley awoke in the Aussie outback with zero memory and his life in danger. When it ended, he'd uncovered who he was, complete with a distressing criminal past, but was on the path to starting anew with Helen Chambers (Macdonald), the constable who helped him get to the bottom of his mystery. Screenwriters Harry and Jack Williams (Baptiste, The Missing, Liar) switch part of their initial setup in season two, moving the story to Elliot's homeland and turning Helen into the tourist. Remaining is the lack of recollection about the former's history, even as he actively goes looking for it. The travelling life has been far kinder to Elliot in the gap between seasons, with The Tourist first rejoining him and Helen on a train in southeast Asia. While not married, they're firmly in the honeymoon phase of their relationship. But the now ex-cop has a revelation for her boyfriend: he's received a letter from one of his childhood pals who wants to meet back home. Quickly, off to the Emerald Isle the show's main duo go. Trying to shave off his bushy holiday beard in a public toilet leads to Elliot being kidnapped, plus Helen playing investigator again. As he attempts to flee his captors (Outlander's Diarmaid Murtagh, Inspektor Jury: Der Tod des Harlekins' Nessa Matthews and The Miracle Club's Mark McKenn), she seeks help from local Detective Sergeant Ruairi Slater (Conor MacNeill, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre), but any dreams that The Tourist's globe-hopping couple had about happy reunions or relaxing Irish getaways are sent packing fast. Disturbing discoveries; feuding families led by the equally formidable Frank McDonnell (Francis Magee, Then You Run) and Niamh Cassidy (Olwen Fouéré, The Northman); Helen's grating ex Ethan (Greg Larsen, Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe) hopping on a plane to Ireland in an effort to win her back, even as he's supposedly dealing with his oozing toxicity: they're all key factors in The Tourist's second season. So is doing plot-wise what the series' namesakes often embrace, aka veering here, there and everywhere. The obvious point of comparison has always been the Coen brothers and, in particular, Fargo. Its TV adaptation is currently working through its fifth season, and also hurtles through comic crime chaos as a madcap caper with thoughtful leads. Both have that anything-can-happen feel, and live up to it in their narratives. You betcha both are also well-cast. As Elliot endeavours to evade his abductors, Helen searches and worries, and frays going back decades are pushed to the fore, the Williams' brothers aren't afraid of tonal and storytelling swerves, or of jam-packing a tale that's taut and tense but also regularly amusing. Directors Fergus O'Brien (Happy Valley), Lisa Mulcahy (Lies We Tell) and Kate Dolan (Kin) don't shy away from stressing season two's setting, either. As also served their season-one counterparts Daniel Nettheim (who made the excellent 2011 Australian film The Hunter) and Chris Sweeney (Liar) well, the helming trio take their visual cues from their surroundings — with coolly bleached hues suiting someone with nothing to grasp onto in the show's initial run, and verdant sights lingering now that Elliot can't stop being confronted by his densely overflowing past. So follows car and foot chases among rolling hills, a Saw-esque stint, escaping an island, hanging off cliffs, Helen witnessing a murder, unearthed secrets and others that should be buried, escalating violence, and several folks wanting Elliot to reckon with events and choices that he can't recall, all dropping at a breakneck pace that makes binging the series as rapidly as possible the natural reaction. The Tourist is gleefully written to be moreish, yet never manipulatively so. The only misstep: giving Ethan such a prominent part again. In its jump to the other side of the world, bringing Helen's jilted former fiancé back feels like an attempt to ensure that there's more than one Aussie actor popping up — because it certainly isn't a plot necessity. There's no doubting that The Tourist prefers the rollicking over the realistic in everything that it throws Elliot and Helen's ways; however, Dornan and Macdonald are up to the job. He finds the subtleties and vulnerabilities in a man learning who he is more literally than most, and she gives Helen the perfect balance of kindness and determination. Together and with charisma to burn, they're clearly a pair to build a series around, as the Williams siblings have done twice now. Whether laced with laughs or overtly courting them, comedy suits Dornan — see: Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar — but he brings as much dramatic nuance and depth to the role as he did in fellow recent highlights Belfast and Synchronic. If The Tourist will end with just two stamps on its passport is yet to be announced. Its driving forces patently hope otherwise, setting up a third season that hasn't yet been greenlit in season two's final moments, and showing that they're keen to keep shaking up their overarching narrative by always leaping in new directions. Regardless of whether more comes to fruition, Dornan and Macdonald have a highlight on their resumes, while viewers have a compellingly entertaining thriller-meets-dramedy that not only made the most of its arrival, but does the same with its 2024 return. Check out the trailer for second season of The Tourist below: The Tourist season streams via Stan in Australia and TVNZ+ in New Zealand. Read our review of season one.
At plenty of Fortitude Valley bars, you can dance the night away. At some, you can play games, get putting and win prizes instead. Only at Pawn & Co, however, can you buy everything in sight — and not just the beverages — in-between making your own scent. Some of the tipples that you'll be sipping while you browse, hang out, and just generally take advantage of this combined watering hole, pawn shop and perfumery are inspired by fragrances as well. It's a bold concept: a nightclub that not only takes its cues from completely different kinds of establishments that don't normally serve drinks, but operates as them, too. Pawn & Co first debuted in Melbourne and, as initially announced in July 2024, has now made its first foray outside of Victoria on Ann Street in Brisbane. The 500-square-metre Bakery Lane space that Laruche previously called home has undergone a $4-million refurbishment to cater to its new inhabitant — and to ensure that patrons know that they're in the type of bar that's new to the River City. Yes, you can purchase whatever you like within Pawn & Co's walls. If you've been known to window-shop when having a few tipples — wondering if your own cocktails would taste better out of the same glasses, if your lounge room would be more relaxing with the same couches and if your dining room would be moodier with the same lighting, for instance — then you can turn that pondering into a reality here. Need a new handbag? A watch? A $390,000 Bentley, which sits in the front window? They're just some of the items that you can go home with if you mix your drinks with a spending spree. Fancy your own signature scent? You can create them while you're there, complete with masterclasses with perfumers. Obviously the drinks are for sale, too, but you can't take them with you. How do you deck out a place that slings drinks, aromas and all that falls within its walls? Co-founders Josh Lefers and Stephen Wools, plus their collaborators Steve Thomas and Alex Docherty — who also boast Ballers Clubhouse in Melbourne and Adelaide, and Melbourne's StoryVille and 29th Apartment, on their combined resumes — have gone luxe. Pawn & Co Brisbane features an art deco-inspired piano bar among its many other inclusions, such as rich colours, retro patterns and slide-out furniture. And the atmosphere? Elegant, lavish and piquing patrons' curiosity, befitting somewhere where martinis and Rolexes sit side by side on the menu. The vibe may scream lavish, but getting inspiration from pawn shops also means appreciating the circular economy and sustainability. Accordingly, while some of the objects on sale are upmarket goods, others are pre-loved and hail from thrift stores. Images: Dominic Loneragan.
Two years ago, Pappa Rich gave tastebuds across Australia the culinary hybrid they didn't know they were craving: a nasi lemak burger. They were originally sneakily trialled in Sydney stores in 2018, then rolled out for a limited time in 2019. Now, they're back. The burger takes the typical accompaniments in this Malaysian rice dish and sandwiches them all between two toasted burger buns. There are layers of crispy Malay fried chicken, spicy sambal, peanuts and anchovies, all topped with cucumber, lettuce and a fried egg. As a side? Expect Pappa Rich's deep-fried chicken skin, of course. You can also opt for chips if you prefer. The Malaysian hawker chain is returning the nasi lemak burger to its menu — at all of its 31 stores countrywide, but only for two months. If you're instantly hungry, you'll want to pop into one of Pappa Rich's outlets between Monday, March 29–Sunday, May 30. Or, if you just can't wait to sink your teeth into a burg, you can score one between Friday, March 26–Sunday, March 28, but only via Door Dash. The delivery service is selling 1000 nasi lemak burgers for just $1 across the three days, so you'll want to get in quickly. You'll also need to enter the code 'MALAYSIANBURGER' while you're ordering. Otherwise, if you're happy to grab a burger from next week onwards, you'll still have a couple of months to enjoy as many as your stomach demands. If you're in Sydney, you can nab one in Bankstown, North Ryde, Chatswood or on your lunch break at the express outlet in Ultimo; in Melbourne, pop by Chadstone, Southern Cross or QV; and Pappa Rich in Wintergarden, Garden City, Indooroopilly and Coorparoo Square will be selling them in Brisbane. Perth residents can head to Cockburn and Joondalup, while folks in Adelaide will want to make a trip to Gouger Street in the CBD. There are a heap more locations though, so check the website if you're looking for one closer to you. The nasi lemak burger will be available Monday, March 29–Sunday, May 30 at Pappa Rich locations across the country. There are also 1000 up for grabs for $1 via Door Dash between Friday, March 26–Sunday, March 28 by entering the code 'MALAYSIANBURGER' while you're ordering.
Any time is a good time to head to Noosa; however anyone needing an additional excuse will find plenty between July 15 to 24. That's when the Noosa Long Weekend Festival takes over the Sunshine Coast hotspot for ten days of artistic entertainment, delicious meals and all-round enjoyment. Whether it's theatre, literature, music, dance, film, visual arts or cuisine that you're after, you'll find it here in the event's 15th year. And while the fest's name might seem like a tease given that there's no public holiday in sight, we choose to take it another way: as a friendly suggestion to take a couple of days off for an extended trip. The Carnivale Infusion Parade will wander down Hastings Street to get things started — and yes, that's only the beginning. The rest of the schedule includes everything from a cabaret performance by Meow Meow and the latest iteration of the international One-Act Play Festival to a long Italian lunch and a screening of indigenous dance flick Spear. In other words, it's just the kind of program you'd expect at a vacation destination.
As a filmmaker, he co-created the Saw and Insidious franchises, and has since been tackling iconic horror tales with The Invisible Man and 2025 release Wolf Man. As an actor, he popped up in The Matrix Reloaded. Before all of that, he was a film critic on beloved late-90s Saturday-morning music TV show Recovery. That's a helluva career so far — and next, Leigh Whannell is heading to AACTA Festival to chat about it. In 2024, the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Awards launched a festival to sit alongside its accolades, and to celebrate the latter's move to the Gold Coast. That event is returning in 2025 in a bigger guise, running for five days between Wednesday, February 5–Sunday, February 9, and hosting more than 100 sessions. AACTA Festival will also welcome Australian The Greatest Showman filmmaker Michael Gracey, who has been earning some love from the academy of late. Better Man, his unconventional Robbie Williams biopic, topped the 2025 AACTA nominations — and attendees will hear all about the film at his festival session. Equally huge news is enlisting Paul Kelly to perform at the live How to Make Gravy concert, which also features Meg Washington, Brendan Maclean and Beddy Rays — and yes, it's easy to predict what the Australian icon will be singing. Plus, Late Night with the Devil is in the spotlight via filmmakers Colin and Cameron Cairnes getting talking, while Netflix's upcoming Apple Cider Vinegar series will score a behind-the-scenes look. Another massive drawcard: the Working Dog team, aka Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy, Michael Hirsh and Rob Sitch, coming together for an in-conversation session that's bound to touch upon everything from The Castle, Frontline, Thank God You're Here and Utopia to The Dish, The Hollowmen and Have You Been Paying Attention?. The Dish is also the screening program, and the Working Dog team will receive the prestigious AACTA Longford Lyell Award. Australian cinematographer Greig Fraser, who won an Oscar for Dune and is highly tipped for another one for Dune: Part Two, is another big-name inclusion, chatting about his Hollywood work. Also in the same category: John Seale, who took home an Academy Award for The English Patient, and was nominated for Witness, Rain Man, Cold Mountain and Mad Max: Fury Road. Everyone can also look forward to authors Trent Dalton and Holly Ringland returning from 2024's lineup, chatting about Boy Swallows Universe and The Lost Flowers of Alice on the small screen, respectively; a dive into the Heartbreak High soundtrack; a panel on queer storytelling with RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under season two winner Spankie Jackzon and Deadloch's Nina Oyama; and a session with First Nations filmmakers. And if you're keen to watch movies, Gettin' Square followup Spit will enjoy its Queensland premiere, complete with star David Wenham (Fake) chatting about the feature's journey; Looney Tunes: The Day The Earth Blew Up will make its Australian debut, at Movie World, of course; and upcoming action film Homeward with Nathan Phillips (Kid Snow) and Jake Ryan (Territory) will take viewers behind the scenes.
Dropping all commitments, staying indoors and bingeing Netflix was just shorthand for being an introvert six months ago. Now, it's the reality of many of our lives. As Australia, along with the rest of the world, battles to contain COVID-19, many of us are spending more time indoors than ever before, and we're searching for new ways to fill the minutes of the day that seem to tick by at a glacial pace. Streaming marathons, virtual trivia nights, indoor exercises and completing many, many jigsaw puzzles are solid ways to pass the time. But it's unlikely you'll ever have these chunks of uninterrupted free time at your disposal again, so you may as well use them to learn a new trick or two. There are a bunch of courses, workshops and activities that'll help you upskill while you're bunkering down — here are eight of our picks. LEARN TO COOK WITH SOME OF THE WORLD'S BEST CHEFS Chances are you'll be getting quite familiar with your kitchen over the next couple of weeks. If up until now, you've mainly used the kitchen as a place to grab cutlery for your takeaway feast, then you're going to be looking for a little guidance. In a very real example of the 'we're all in this together' aspect of this crisis, many of the world's best chefs are also social distancing, self-isolating or in quarantine, and they're using that spare time to share some of their top tips. Michelin-starred chef Massimo Bottura is live streaming nightly tutorials on Instagram, while celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has launched the Keep Cooking and Carry On series, with easy-to-follow recipes and simple swaps (since some ingredients can be hard to come by), which you can catch on 10 Play. Meanwhile, if you're inspired by (almost) your entire Instagram feed making sourdough and want to have a crack at your own loaf, Bon Appetit's baking extraordinaire Claire Saffitz has a step-by-step tutorial saved on her Instagram highlights. A little closer to home, Aussie culinary legend Maggie Beer has started her own social media cooking series, as have chefs like Mitch Orr (Ciccia Bella), Neil Perry (Rockpool Bar & Grill) and Danielle Alvarez (Fred's). LEARN TO CODE FOR FREE Coding is going be such an important skill in the future it's now part of the curriculum for primary school students. But you haven't completely missed the boat just because you graduated (many) moons ago. There are hundreds of online courses you can take to learn to code, including General Assembly's. As well as Dash, its free online coding course, GA is also running free sessions on UX design and data analytics. If you want to have some fun with it, also check out Girls Who Code. The platform is releasing fun online and offline coding activities to download every week — like debugging tasks and a digital storytelling game — and each one also showcases a woman kicking goals in the tech world. [caption id="attachment_696381" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jean Malek[/caption] LEARN TO WRITE WITH LITERARY LEGENDS Have you always thought you were capable of writing the next great Australian novel, if only you weren't so busy? Now is the time to put your money where your mouth is. If you're not feeling quite so confident, Masterclass can help you get started. Like many other online education platforms, this San Francisco-based startup offers extensive courses on a range of topics, but what sets it apart is the truly astonishing lineup of instructors. For writing, that includes author Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale, The Testaments) leading a creative writing course, Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code, Inferno) teaching on writing thrillers and essayist David Sedaris (Calypso, Me Talk Pretty One Day) on storytelling and humour. If words aren't your thing, Masterclass also has legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz teaching photography, Martin Scorsese teaching filmmaking, Doctor Jane Goodall explaining conservation and Hans Zimmer speaking on film scoring. Of course, the big names come at a price. There's an annual membership fee of AUD$280, but that grants access to every course on the platform. Plus, Masterclass is currently running a limited-time 'buy one, get one free' membership offer, so you can split that cost with a mate. LEARN PHOTOGRAPHY (AND LEVEL UP YOUR INSTAGRAM GAME) Photography as an art form has been muddled in recent years by way of us all documenting everything we do, eat, drink or see on social media. But there is a huge quality difference between pointing and shooting on your phone (and then promptly forgetting about it), and mastering manual mode on a DSLR camera. Once you get into it, you'll appreciate the value of a well-framed, well-lit HD photo so much more. Throughout April, Nikon is making its suite of online photography tutorials free to stream. Each video is hosted by a professional photographer covering topics like the fundamentals of photography and videography, understanding DSLR features, unlocking creativity and tips on shooting different subjects or environments. For now, you may be stuck practising on your pets, kids or housemates but, when the restrictions are lifted, you can reenter the world with your camera in hand, ready to capture all the beautiful things you missed. Just remember, nobody really cares what you ate for dinner — even in high definition. [caption id="attachment_662277" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Trent van der Jagt[/caption] LEARN TO MAKE WINE AND COCKTAILS We're not here to encourage excessive drinking, but we're also not going to skirt around the facts: you're probably consuming a bit of alcohol at home during this time. There are plenty of bars that have pivoted to delivering cocktails to your door, but you may also want to have a go shaking and stirring, too. If it's just recipes you're after, we've got plenty to get you started. Just pick your poison: vodka, gin, prosecco or spiced rum. Or you could go the whole hog and follow Ina Garten's (otherwise known as Barefoot Contessa) hilarious giant cosmopolitan recipe, which went viral on Instagram. If you want more of a guiding hand, check out Sydney Cocktails' Home Five O'Clock-tails video tutorials. Each day at 5pm, it'll share a new cocktail masterclass on Facebook, and it's getting Aussie bartenders who are out of work due to the current lockdown restrictions to host them. Or you could use this extra time to become the oenophile you've always wanted to be with The University of Adelaide's online course: World of Wine: From Grape to Glass. The free six-week course will teach you everything from the principles of grape growing and sustainable vineyard management to how to critique and describe a specific drop. You'll never need bluff your way through a restaurant wine list again (that is, once we're allowed back into restaurants). LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE IN PREPARATION FOR FUTURE TRAVEL Aussies have always been avid travellers, so it's safe to say there'll be plenty of itchy feet raring to set off on adventures as soon as the travel restrictions are lifted. You may not be able to make any solid plans right now, so use the spare time to add another language to your travel arsenal instead. The Open University has a number of introductory language courses available via its free Open Learn platform including German, Spanish, French, Welsh and ancient Greek and Latin. Each course takes between 5–20 hours to complete, so they should eat up a chunk of self-isolation time. After you've mastered your second, third or fourth language, take a look at some of the other courses available on the platform — there's everything from forensic psychology and art history to Egyptian mathematics. LEARN TO PLAY THE GUITAR OR MAKE MUSIC You've seen the Italians singing from their balconies, watched Lin-Manuel Miranda and the rest of the original Broadway cast of Hamilton singing 'Alexander Hamilton' via Zoom and danced up a storm to a virtual gig or two in your living room. And now it's time for you to create your own beats. Figure out which of your roommates has a neglected guitar hidden in the back of their wardrobe and jump onto Fender's website — it's offering three months of free online guitar, bass and ukulele lessons right now. Meanwhile, Apple is offering a 90-day trial on music production software system Logic Pro X, and Ableton is granting free access to a bunch of its music making resources, including the Ableton Live 10 Suite program, Spectral Textures presets pack and the Learning Music and Learning Synths tutorials. LEARN TO PAINT AND DRAW (WITH A GLASS OF WINE IN HAND) After spending so much time inside, you may get a little tired of staring at those same blank bedroom walls. Get those creative juices flowing and make something that you'll actually enjoy looking at via a virtual paint and sip class. All of the studios are currently shut down, so some of them, like Sydney's Cork and Canvas, have pivoted to offering online classes instead. For $25, you can access a step-by-step video tutorial to follow along whenever you like with a glass of wine in hand. And, if you need supplies, the studio is also delivering creative kits with paintbrushes, paint and canvases to your doorstep. There are single packs ($65), double packs ($120) and family packs ($230) available, and they all include a $20 voucher to Different Drop so the vino side of things is sorted, too. Or, you could check out the National Gallery of Victoria's Virtual Drop-By Drawing sessions, which are now happening online. Melbourne artists like Minna Gilligan and Kenny Pittock will guide you through a sketching session inspired by a piece from the gallery's collection, and all you'll need is a pencil, piece of paper and internet connection.
Wearing a pair of R.M. Williams says 'I'm ready for anything'. You could be going to the pub, walking into a work meeting or heading out to the farm to milk the cows. Sparkly footwear doesn't quite conjure up the same feelings of practicality. Well, until R.M. Williams released a special run of boots in gold metallic. The Aussie bootmaker released a special run of the boots last year to much fanfare — the shoes sold out quicker than most of us could transfer all our money into one bank account to pay for them. So we're sure more than a few people will be happy to hear that R.M.s will release a second lot of the limited edition Adelaide boots in gold and, for the first time, bronze. As with each R.M. boot, these have been crafted out of a single piece of leather and feature the same elegant stitching and tapered heel cuban heel of the regular Adelaide range. R.M.s are arguably Australia's most iconic shoe. From a modest start in the Adelaide outback servicing the stockmen and women of the heartland, 85 years later, a diverse range of people still wear the boots — from farmers in the outback, to corporate businessmen, to the style set at fashion week. Australian designer Dion Lee has used R.M.s regularly in campaign shoots and runway shows, even creating his own for New York Fashion Week in 2014. This latest addition to the women's range is only available online from tomorrow, Thursday, April 19. At $545 a pair, they're not exactly cheap — but if you're looking for an investment piece, a pair of R.M.s is the very definition of the phrase. Continuing to embrace contemporary styles and adapting to modern fashion without sacrificing their DNA has surely guaranteed the longevity of this historic label. R.M. Williams' gold and bronze Adelaide boots will be available to order online from Thursday, April 19 at rmwilliams.com.au.
When it comes to food, using fire is a gamechanger — it transforms humble ingredients into incredible flavours. And few are as skilled at harnessing flame for this purpose as Duncan Welgemoed. Welgemoed is the head chef of Africola, a North African-inspired grill and smokehouse that's so renowned, it alone is almost worth booking a trip to Adelaide to visit. A little extreme? Well, luckily, you'll soon have a chance to taste Welgemoed's lauded food right here in Sydney. He has teamed up with Red Rock Deli to host one of its upcoming Secret Suppers on Thursday, June 20. [caption id="attachment_724626" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Josh Geelen[/caption] So, what can diners expect from the chef behind menu items such as grilled smoked tongue, a 'tea sandwich' of crispy chicken skin and hot chicken dripping and wood oven cauliflower with tahini cream? Well, we don't quite know — yet. The menu will stay true to the event's name and remain under-wraps until the night. But we do know that it'll be inspired by Red Rock Deli's limited-edition flavour, flame grilled steak and chimichurri, and that fire will play a big role. "At Africola, we channel the smoke element of fire to be essentially used as a seasoning. And that's what I've done with my dishes for the event," Welgemoed said. That's some truly next-level, elemental seasoning. The raw force of nature flavouring your food? It's practically magic. As a man with a burning passion for cooking by fire (thanks to his South African roots), Welgemoed has a keen admiration for other like-minded chefs. So, in an effort to get more information on his upcoming menu, we asked him about some of his favourites. [caption id="attachment_522922" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Firedoor[/caption] Sydney's vibrant restaurant scene is home to some notable inclusions in this 'hall of flame'. One venue that stands out is the aptly named Firedoor, where smoke and flames are the conceptual theme throughout the menu. Welgemoed sings high praise of the 203-day dry-aged rib of beef. "Lennox Hastie at Firedoor is one of the best fire cooks in the world. His technique is second to none," Welgemoed said. And, while it's hard to pin down a favourite dish at the Argentinian barbeque and grill restaurant Porteño, he assures us you can't go wrong with anything cooked on the asado (fire pit). Of course, sometimes you want the comfort of a classic dish done just right, and that's when you should head for The Unicorn. Welgemoed loves the half Bannockburn barbeque chook with brown mushrooms and tarragon sauce — just the right balance of fancy and familiar. Then again, if you need your dining experience to be both firey and very fine, the wood-fired potato bread from Ester comes highly recommended. Welgemoed prefers it with dashi jelly, but Ester's latest menu refresh sees it intriguingly paired with kefir cream and trout roe for a zingy, salty lift. [caption id="attachment_658136" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Fred's[/caption] Fred's in Paddington strikes the balance between home comfort (you feel like you're in someone's luxurious open plan kitchen) and upscale city dining. Welgemoed's chosen dish reflects this perfect marriage of impressive elegance and honest, wholesome flavour — grilled rack of lamb with wine grapes, cime di rapa, fennel seed and rosemary. Like the other venues, Fred's exemplifies an approach to cooking similar to Welgemoed's own by letting the ingredients speak for themselves. So, what might we deduce about Welgemoed's secret supper menu from his Sydney sparks of inspiration? Expect delightful, yet unpretentious, play with fire and flavour, the comfort of familiar touches with innovative twists and a decidedly global approach to three flaming good courses. We'll leave that idea smouldering with you for now. Duncan Welgemoed's Secret Supper will take place across two sessions on Thursday, June 20. Top Image: Josh Geelen.
Calling all dinosaur film fans, 90s movie buffs, lovers of Jeff Goldblum and everyone who's ever wanted to walk with prehistoric creatures. After spawning five flicks to date, everyone's favourite dino-centric film franchise has become the subject of Brisbane's latest quiz night. Welcome to... Jurassic Park trivia. It's called Jurassic Park trivia, but we're certain that the three original movies and the two Jurassic World films will all rate a mention — and if you know whether there's set to be more dino antics on the big screen, then you're in the right spot. There's no tidbit too obscure for this affectionate (and competitive) ode to the world created on the page by Michael Crichton, then first brought to the cinema by Steven Spielberg. If you know what John Hammond's first attraction was, who was first offered the role that went to Laura Dern and which new kind of dinosaur starts chomping its way through Jurassic World: Forbidden Kingdom, then head along to Mucho Mexicano on Monday, December 10. Taking part is free, there's prizes up for grabs for first, second and third place, and registrations open at 6.30pm — with questions flying from 7pm. Also, you can combine your Jurassic Park knowledge with Mexican eats and margaritas.
Every week/month/year, we promise that we'll get better at life admin. And every week/month/year, we forget to pay bills, call our mums and make important appointments. Sound familiar? If so, then you're likely going to want a barber that allows walk-ins for those times when you catch your reflection and you realise you're way overdue for a chop. Tony's Chopshop Barbershop is always welcome to walk-in customers. The barbershop, owned and operated by veteran barber Tony Micale, is set inside Coorparoo Square. The space dances the line between retro and contemporary with retro barber chairs, dark leather couches, herringbone flooring and shelves packed with secondhand books and grooming products. Here, you can team a luxurious cut-throat face shave with a hair restyling, plus there are plenty of aftercare products available to buy.
Attention, Wes Anderson enthusiasts: The trailer for his latest film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, has just been released. This follow-up to the wildly popular Moonrise Kingdom is giving us another project to look forward to, with all the oddities that resonate with Anderson fans. The story follows Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes), a manager at the swanky Grand Budapest Hotel and his devoted lobby boy, Zero Moustafa. The suave Gustave is a hit with the mature lady guests, and when one of them dies, he is suspected of murder and theft. So he and his precious sidekick make a run for it, and the story unfolds into a whirlwind of adventure, mystery, romance and, of course, comedy that captivate us with Anderson's films. It looks like Anderson won't be abandoning his colourful, dreamy sets; dry, poker-faced humour; and eccentric characters anytime soon. The usual suspects in the cast include Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman. Tilda Swinton, Jude Law and Saoirse Ronan are also thrown in, making The Grand Budapest Hotel one Anderson's most dynamically cast films yet. It is set to release in 2014. https://youtube.com/watch?v=1Fg5iWmQjwk Via The Verge.
Something delightful is happening in cinemas across the country. After months spent empty, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are starting to reopen — spanning both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney and Brisbane (and, until the newly reinstated stay-at-home orders, Melbourne as well). During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made over the past three months, including new releases, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlBWyDf0r2M THE BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY Romantic comedies routinely trade in cliches, and The Broken Hearts Gallery is no different. Here, aspiring gallery curator Lucy (Geraldine Viswanathan, Miracle Workers) endures a traumatic breakup, indulges in a niche hobby that might just change her life, and oozes chemistry with the handsome and brooding Nick (Dacre Montgomery, Stranger Things) after the obligatory meet-cute. Her obsession: turning her hoarded mementos from past relationships, and similar junk collected by other lovelorn New Yorkers, into a cathartic, heartwarming exhibition. Long taunted by her best pals and roommates (Hamilton's Phillipa Soo and Good Boys' Molly Gordon) about her need to hold onto trinkets for sentimental purposes, she's actually motivated to make something of her bric-a-brac after drunkenly mistaking Nick's car for an Uber, unburdening her woes to him as he kindly drives her home, and later visiting the rundown old hotel that he's pouring his heart, soul and cash into as a passion project. From the above description, it should be apparent exactly where this film goes — but, in another rom-com trope, The Broken Hearts Gallery's likeable leads make a big imprint. Seen at home in Emo the Musical and Janet King, as well as Better Watch Out and A Few Less Men, Australian duo Viswanathan and Montgomery have already made a splash via high-profile US-made TV shows in the past few years — and, in Viswanathan's case, in the film Blockers as well. They're both destined for bigger things, especially the grounded, relatable and very funny Viswanathan, but they make the most of their roles here. Well, they do as much as they can given they're in an immensely standard movie otherwise. Indeed, while there are few weak links among The Broken Hearts Gallery's cast (which also includes Brittany Runs a Marathon's Utkarsh Ambudkar and Mozart in the Jungle's Bernadette Peters), the film's central duo easily make viewers wish that everything around them had more spark, served up more surprises and took more chances. Even when it's upbeat, spirited and delivered with charming talent, a happily by-the-numbers affair is still going to feel formulaic, after all, a sensation that this feature debut from writer/director (and ex-Gossip Girl scribe and story editor) Natalie Krinsky never quite shakes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC2dsAGvGy0 AN AMERICAN PICKLE If an early 20th-century Jewish immigrant found himself walking around in 2019, what would he think of the world? That question comes with a flipside, of course, because it's equally valid to wonder how today's folks would react in response. With Seth Rogen starring as a ditch-digging, rat-catching new arrival from Eastern Europe to Brooklyn, these are a couple of the queries pondered by An American Pickle. It's the latest in a long line of comedies that trifle with time while doubling as time capsules, and it falls firmly from a familiar mould. Indeed, seeing, examining and giggling at the contrast between century-old ways and contemporary ideas is a considerable part of the film. Not only that, but this Simon Rich-penned adaptation of his own short story Sell Out does all of the above broadly and blatantly — pointing out that big, bushy beards have become hipster beacons, for example, and that much has progressed since the 1900s. Consequently, there's no avoiding just how slight An American Pickle is. Its protagonist might fall into a vat of brine, get sealed in, then emerge in a new millennium, but this movie isn't diving deep. Thankfully, mixed up with all the obvious jokes are two thoughtful performances, both by Rogen, that help the film interrogate the push and pull between the past and the present in a moving fashion. He plays Herschel Greenbaum, a new arrival to US with his wife Sarah (Succession's Sarah Snook), after the pair leave their home of Schlupsk to escape Russian Cossacks and chase a better life — and he also steps into the shoes of app developer Ben Greenbaum, Herschel's great-grandson and only living descendant when he awakens in his preserved (and presumably extra salty) state. The two men are the same age, and look alike, but they sport differences beyond Herschel's facial hair and Ben's technological know-how. It's the usual generational divide, as instantly recognisable to everyone watching. But when An American Pickle lets its star shine, rather than gets weighed down with over-the-top clashes in the service of clearcut gags and satirical observations, this affable but also mostly forgettable film boasts heart and sweetness. It's oh-so predictable, but it also shows an understanding of how the past always leaves an imprint, the future needn't fastidiously be chained to tradition, and that everything old and all things new have a symbiotic relationship. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THXebxAFCzY THE TRANSLATORS Like Agatha Christie and Knives Out before them, the makers of The Translators know that a good whodunnit serves up two major joys. That'd be the puzzle and the journey — because whichever intriguing narrative is being thrust their way, audiences want to sleuth along with the characters, piecing clues together in their heads; and, they want to enjoy each and every one of the story's many ins, outs, twists and turns as all the details unravel, too. In fact, this French film embraces those truths heartily. Writer/director Régis Roinsard (Populaire) and his co-scribes Romain Compingt and Daniel Presley even go a little heavy on convoluted minutiae and attempts to keep everyone guessing. Still, they mostly deliver an entertaining thriller — and, as always proves the case in this genre, if you enjoy the game and the ride enough once, it doesn't really matter if you won't be clamouring for a second helping The Translators' premise is killer — in a film that doesn't shy away from a body count, but is actually more concerned with stolen pages from the yet-to-be-released last book in the bestselling The Man Who Did Not Want to Die series. The latest novel has only been seen by its secretive author, arrogant French publisher Eric Angstrom (Lambert Wilson, The Odyssey) and the nine translators the latter has assembled to prepare the text in multiple languages for a simultaneous worldwide debut. The enlisted team of experts are working in a bunker under stringent conditions, however, so when Angstrom receives an email threatening to leak the new book unless a huge ransom is paid, he's both perplexed and angry. Also starring Olga Kurylenko (The Man Who Killed Don Quixote) as a Russian translator who purposely dresses to resemble the fated heroine in the novel the group is working on, as well as Alex Lawther (The End of the F***ing World) as a noticeably young Brit, The Translators isn't big on depth but still keeps viewers engaged. Hurtling forward like someone furiously thumbing through an airport novel, and offering a slick, swift-moving affair that ticks all the whodunnit basics (even as it gets a little too carried away with the exaggerated drip-fed clues, surprise reveals and reversals) will do that. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jv6f59Z4Y8 THE SECRETS WE KEEP First bursting onto cinema screens as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's Lisbeth Salander — before Rooney Mara and Claire Foy both played the role in US versions — Noomi Rapace instantly became a star. Since her great performance in that thriller series and the underrated Prometheus, however, she's struggled to secure meaty roles that do her talents justice. And, unfortunately, The Secrets We Keep doesn't redress that situation. In a film that takes a premise already explored in 1990 play and 1994 film Death and the Maiden, but shifts the details to post-Second World War America, she's saddled with a stock-standard revenge narrative that couldn't feel more routine. In fact, Rapace's casting is actually one of the movie's overtly obvious elements. She's famed for her work a woman determined to right past wrongs and unafraid to take drastic actions to do so, and that's what she's asked to do here. Her last big part, as a mother who might be getting gaslit in Angel of Mine, also proves relevant as well. Rapace plays Romani immigrant Maja, who has set up a life with her physician husband Lewis (Chris Messina, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)) and their young son (Jackson Dean Vincent) in a small American town. Then, in passing, she spies newcomer Thomas (Joel Kinnaman, Suicide Squad). Still haunted by horrors from the war 15 years prior, she's certain that he once brutally attacked her — then changed his identity and moved to her neighbourhood. So, Maja takes matters into her own hands. Quickly, even though he has plenty of doubts, Lewis is enlisted to help. Writer/director Yuval Adler's last film, The Operative, also attempted to wade through a murky plot and similarly had little success. Rapace hits the familiar notes she's asked to with visible gusto, Kinnaman endeavours to play more than just a cookie-cutter possible Nazi, and She Dies Tomorrow filmmaker Amy Seimetz turns in a nuanced supporting performance, but The Secrets We Keep constantly mistakes its solemn tone for substance. A thoughtful, captivating or even just intriguing reckoning with vengeance, trauma and trying to reconcile past struggles, this sadly isn't. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy32-KCnexo THE SECRET GARDEN When The Secret Garden first reached the page as a serialised story in 1910, author Frances Hodgson Burnett couldn't have known how relevant her tale would feel 110 years later. Obviously she'll never know, as she passed away in 1924 — but if there was ever a time for a new big-screen version of this beloved children's favourite about escaping life's woes by banding together, making the most of things and enjoying the pockets of nature at hand, it's 2020. Indeed, while this new cinematic iteration was actually due to hit screens earlier this year, which means that it was made pre-pandemic, it firmly strikes a chord in these strange times. Whether you loved the book when you were much smaller, you can barely remember it, or you're more familiar with the narrative from the 1993 movie, a lavishly shot fantasy about a unhappy girl plagued by tragedy yet finding solace in the titular space couldn't be more fitting right now. The narrative, for those who need a refresher, focuses on the pre-teen Mary (Dixie Egerickx, The Little Stranger) — who swiftly segues from from living in India under British rule to being sent to the Yorkshire moors to stay with her reclusive uncle (Colin Firth) when her parents are killed. She's bratty, spoiled and far from content about the new arrangement, but wandering the estate's sizeable grounds soon brings her to a hidden patch of greenery. Under the direction of TV veteran Marc Munden (Black Sails, National Treasure), this version of the tale takes place after the Second World War, but that's not the only change. It relays the same overall details, but it also leans into the darkness and gothic drama of the material in a firm and noticeable way. Perhaps that's another reason why it also feels apt for viewers young and young-at-heart — because overcoming loss, misery and struggle always comes with a sense of weight and, amidst its expected leafy sights and general childhood wonder, this take on The Secret Garden never forgets that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvXgXQ6iro4 TROLLS WORLD TOUR Fuzzy-haired playthings turned into animated heroes, glitter fart clouds and cupcakes poop, and a lengthy list of earworm-style songs: that's what 2016's Trolls served up. It was loud, shiny and sickly sweet, but it also featured lively voicework from Anna Kendrick and standout handmade-looking visuals, which made the film's CGI look as if it had been made from felt and other crafting products. Naturally, the all-ages movie was a hit, like most flicks based on toys and simultaneously designed to sell more toys. So, it's to the surprise of absolutely no one that sequel Trolls World Tour now exists, and that it's once again using bright and bouncy visuals and a jukebox-musical style format to appeal to viewers young and old, and to spread a positive message — again, as efforts like this are known to. With Kendrick back as the perky Queen Poppy and Justin Timberlake once again voicing her best friend Branch, this follow-up returns to the first film's trolls as they learn that other creatures like them exist. They're not exactly the same, though, with different troll groups favouring varying styles of music — making Poppy's community the 'pop trolls'. Clearly, as the villainous Queen Barb (Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) of the hard rock trolls tries to make the separate tribes assimilate under her preferred style of music, there's an overt message about acceptance on offer. It isn't subtle, and it's actually undercut by the fact that the different troll crews (including techno trolls, funk trolls, classical trolls and country trolls) are all given such blatantly stereotypical traits. But, once more, the film is lifted by its cast (complete with Sam Rockwell and Ozzy Osbourne), it's textile appearance and the fact that it actually works its ongoing medley of well-known songs into the story, rather than merely uses them as an easy distraction technique as many fellow Hollywood-made animated movies do. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas, check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on July 2, July 9, July 16, July 23, July 30, August 6, August 13, August 20, August 27, September 3 and September 10 — and our full reviews of The Personal History of David Copperfield, Waves, The King of Staten Island, Babyteeth, Deerskin, Peninsula, Tenet, Les Misérables and The New Mutants.
If a horror movie sports a killer premise, more films are always likely to follow. So, when A Quiet Place gifted cinemas just that back in 2018, giving it a sequel and then a spinoff didn't come as a surprise. Neither does the latest news about this hit saga: after 2020's A Quiet Place Part II and 2024 prequel A Quiet Place: Day One, A Quiet Place Part III has officially been locked in. You'll be watching the next flick about trying to survive post-apocalyptic times by being as silent as possible — because the extra-terrestrials that've invaded the earth get brutal when they hear a noise — in 2027. And, you'll be viewing a film with John Krasinski (IF) behind the lens again. The actor-turned-director helmed both the OG A Quiet Place and Part II, and is returning for Part III after Michael Sarnoski (Pig) did the honours on Day One. So far, all that's known about A Quiet Place Part III is a release date — Thursday, July 8, 2027 Down Under — and that Krasinski is directing, writing and producing, as per Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. So, just what the narrative will chart and which characters will be the focus haven't yet been revealed. Also unknown so far: if there'll be any familiar faces, including whether Emily Blunt (The Fall Guy), Millicent Simmonds (Wonderstruck) and Noah Jupe (Lady in the Lake) will be back. So far, after life as we know it ended thanks to aliens that leap upon any and every sound, audiences have already seen what happened on day 89, days 471–7 and, in a couple of different ways, on the day that started it all. Add when A Quiet Place Part III is set to the list of details that haven't yet been advised, however. When the first A Quiet Place made its way to the big screen, it did excellent things with its mostly dialogue-free premise and gave films about otherworldly attackers a creative spin, quickly proving a box-office sensation as a result. Again, more movies building upon that success was to be expected. So are more sequels now, given that we're living in busy horror franchise times — as 28 Years Later, Final Destination Bloodlines, I Know What You Did Last Summer and M3GAN 2.0 can help attest in 2025 so far, and as Black Phone 2, Five Nights at Freddy's 2, The Conjuring: Last Rites and The Strangers: Chapter 2 are also set to demonstrate this year. There's obviously no trailer for Quiet Place Part III yet, but check out the trailers for A Quiet Place, A Quiet Place Part II and A Quiet Place: Day One below: A Quiet Place Part III is set to release on Thursday, July 8, 2027 Down Under. Read our reviews of A Quiet Place, A Quiet Place Part II and A Quiet Place: Day One. Via Variety / The Hollywood Reporter.
After the work-week marathon, holing up at home all weekend can be mighty tempting. Still, while technology has gifted us with the amazing ability to get both food and entertainment without changing out of our PJs, you might still feel like fresh air and socialising. So, on the first Sunday of each month — starting on Sunday, February 2 for 2025 — you can swap the hermit life for an outside hangout. The Sound Society is an initiative that fills Roma Street Parklands with music on the regular, with live tunes echoing through different parts of the inner city spot depending on the day and date. This time around, if a slow Sunday lunchtime with a soundtrack is your style, this is the place to head — picnic blanket in hand. [caption id="attachment_793757" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brisbane City Flickr[/caption] Head along from 11am–2pm for tunes by various musicians, with Sunny Luwe doing the honours in March on the Banyan Lawn. Food trucks will also be onsite, and also The Garden Room Cafe does picnic hampers — or you can BYO snacks if you prefer. Updated Wednesday, February 26, 2025.
Seafood is a true treasure of Aotearoa — and there may be no better place to sample some of the freshest than in the South Island. The South doesn't tend to do fine dining, preferring informal eating spots that emphasise ingredients, comfort and making you feel well and truly looked after. The wines are some of the best in the country, and the views? Incredible. Here's your guide to finding the truly unmissable seafood experiences of Te Waipounamu (the South Island). Whether you're eating with a knife and fork or deep-diving to the bottom of a newspaper parcel sitting on a beach, it's all ka pai (great). SHARE A POT OF GREEN-LIPPED MUSSELS AT THE MUSSEL POT Havelock is a little blip on the road between Picton and Nelson in the northeastern Marlborough region — blink, and you'll nearly miss it. But clamber out of the car, stretch your legs and go for a walk around the sleepy little marina where you'll find The Mussel Pot on the main road. Marlborough produces 80 percent of New Zealand's mussel exports. You will not find fresher. The Mussel Pot's menu dedicates the majority of its repertoire to these little green-lipped marvels. Order a kilogram of fresh mussels in cream, white wine, garlic and herbs ($20.50), or coriander, ginger, chilli and coconut cream ($20.50). It also serves battered mussels ($21.50) or grilled on the half shell ($21.50) and whip up a mussel platter ($47.60) if you can't decide which way you like them. 73 Main Road, Havelock, Marlborough. [caption id="attachment_686918" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Boatshed Cafe.[/caption] EAT OYSTERS PERCHED OVER THE SEA AT THE BOAT SHED CAFE IN NELSON The Boat Shed Cafe is a genuinely lovely eating spot in a beautiful old boat shed on the waterfront in Nelson, in the north of the South Island. It will win you over with plates of fresh food, many of which star locally caught seafood — think beautiful Bluff oysters served naturally with just a squeeze of lemon ($5.50 each) and roasted whole sand flounder with paprika and lime ($27). You can also choose the Trust the Chef banquet ($70 per person). This is food to share with people you love, watching the sun set over the sea with a cold glass of chardonnay (Neudorf is the local choice). New Zealand eating doesn't get much better than this. 350 Wakefield Quay, Nelson. [caption id="attachment_687366" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Graeme Murray.[/caption] SHARE A CRAY BESIDE THE OCEAN (OR HAVE ONE TO YOURSELF) AT NIN'S BIN This third-generation roadside eatery has served fresh seafood from its blue and white cray caravan since 1977 and has become an icon on the drive down the east coast. Shuttered for a long time after the Kaikoura earthquake, Nin's is now back up and running. Fishing quotas mean that Nin's opening hours vary, so check its Facebook page for updates, or give 'em a call before you head in for the hot crayfish, mussels and chips in newspaper. On the days you catch it open, your heart will sing as you drive around the corner and see the steam rising from the caravan hatch and the happy patrons tucking into their feast beside the sea. State Highway 1, Half Moon Bay. EAT FISH AND CHIPS ON THE BEACH IN AKAROA A lovely day trip, Akaroa is a sleepy little French colonial town beside the sea, over the hills from Christchurch. Head out in the morning from Christchurch and wander around town, go for a swim, have a long lunch at Rona's and finish the evening eating fish and chips on the beach or on the hill overlooking the harbour. The food is simple. The experience is a classic. There's not much more to say. Every South Islander knows it, and you should partake, too. Just don't forget the rip n dip. 59 Beach Road, Akaroa. [caption id="attachment_687223" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rodney F.[/caption] SIT DOWN AT FLEUR'S PLACE IN MOERAKI Fleur's Place feels like it has sat at the edge of the jetty in Moeraki, near Dunedin since forever. The elements of the day's menu are literally purchased off the back of the fishing boats and carried a few metres to the kitchen. At the heart of the operation is Fleur Sullivan, a chef who has a firm place in Aotearoa's food heritage. She centres the menu around local, organic produce and seafood like blue cod, John Dory, moki, bluenose, gurnard, sole, flounder, groper and crayfish. Fleur's is also one of the best spots to try local titi, or muttonbird. The wines largely come from central Otago, which is world-renowned for its pinot varieties and fruity white varietals. Take a seat and watch the seals on the foreshore, the fishing boats pottering in and out and parcels of fresh fish being brought into the restaurant or smokehouse. 169 Haven Street, on the jetty at Moeraki. Start planning your trip to New Zealand's south with our guide to the South Island journeys to take here.
When you're fresh from donning armour and sparking an international frenzy in one of TV's biggest franchises, what comes next? For Ryan Corr, following up his stint as Ser Harwin Strong in House of the Dragon means sliding into a six-part Brisbane-shot ABC dramedy about loss and mental health. In its themes, tone, scale and budget, In Limbo is in another world to Game of Thrones and its prequel series — it's about a thirtysomething man struggling with the sudden death of his best friend and his mental health in general, and it's also a supernatural buddy comedy — but the Australian star wouldn't have that contrast of parts any other way. "I guess subconsciously, I try to get them as different as possible, like going from a bikie to a man in a suit," Corr says of picking his roles two decades into his career. "I think that I do that because I've done this since I was a kid, and I'm in pursuit of that challenge, and knocking down boundaries that I didn't think I could necessarily do." Corr has done plenty since earning his first screen credit as a teenager in Aussie series The Sleepover Club. Most homegrown TV shows since have featured the charismatic actor, from Blue Heelers, Neighbours, Underbelly and Tangle to Love Child, Cleverman, Hungry Ghosts and Wakefield — and, of course, his 60-plus-episode run on Packed to the Rafters. On the big screen, he made his movie debut in the film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are, then added everything from rom-com Not Suitable for Children and horror sequel Wolf Creek 2 to biopic Holding the Man and bikie drama 1% to his resume, plus Ali's Wedding, Mary Magdalene, Ladies in Black and High Ground as well. Across a body of work with no shortage of highlights, his two most recent projects still stand out. House of the Dragon had Corr playing the strongest man in the Seven Kingdoms and, amid the global attention that followed, sparked an onslaught of 'Six Things You Might Not Know About Ser Harwin Strong' and 'Ryan Corr Has Gone From Blue Water High to Westeros'-style articles. "I don't see myself as a six-foot-five strong knight, and sure as hell not the strongest man in the Seven Kingdoms," he says. "But the challenge was how do I replicate that in my idea of what strength is and what the essence is? And can I portray that?" In Limbo, which is streaming now on ABC iView and airing weekly on ABC TV, swaps physical brawn for emotional vulnerability. After crane operator Charlie loses his lifelong best mate Nate (Bob Morley, Love Me), everything unsurprisingly changes, but Nate remains a presence in his life from the afterlife. "When I got the script, it really moved me. I found it laugh-out-loud funny, and really upsetting at times — and I thought it was really fresh. I don't think we've tried to deal with themes like this in quite this way before," Corr advises. There's a sense of responsibility that comes with a series like In Limbo, as well as that challenge that Corr is always seeking. Thanks to its subject matter, the show always felt personal while he was making it, too. Corr chatted with Concrete Playground about all about the above, having a profound reaction to the project, balancing In Limbo's tones and themes, his past year and his career highlights so far. ON MAKING A COMEDY THAT'S THOUGHTFUL AND WEIGHTY — AND IN LIMBO'S PERSONAL FEEL "There was a much longer rehearsal process than usual, where we just got to sit down together, weigh in and talk about what we were about to tackle subject-wise — and there were safety networks all around us while we did so — and also start to share and open up about our own lives and experiences, both direct and indirectly, to do with loss, so that we could develop trust together as people while we navigate these ideas. Because I think the series has to have heart. I found that everyone in the making of it — the crew all up in Brisbane, everyone that read this script — had a profound reaction to it and said 'I want to be a part of this'. I think you can feel everyone leaning into it in the final product. I hope so. I've, of course, experienced loss, as have most people that I know. I think it's a very personal tale. I very much based Charlie's relationship with Nate on some of my early childhood friends, who are a bridge past that now — we're not friends anymore, they're more like brothers and sisters, they are my family. So I very much know where that relationship lives, and the idea of losing one of them is the earth-shattering. We all actively worked through it, communicating with each other, personalising what we've been through and were going through, so that we could trust each other — and so you can invest the series with that heart and that meaning. I don't think it's possible if you don't." ON DRAWING UPON REALITY TO INFORM IN LIMBO'S MIX OF TONES AND GENRES "When I lost my grandfather, I was sitting around with a group of my friends and family, and we're all holding hands as he was literally leaving. And he did something funny in some of his final breaths, he made a funny noise or something. And so I found that my family were all holding each other and crying, and then laughing all of a sudden. We were saying goodbye to someone we love, and all of a sudden he made one of the funny noises and we laughed, and there was a wonderful lesson in that — it had both. And I think in life, it has both. And what In Limbo tries to explore is that — I think In Limbo is more about life than it is about death. Strangely, in the losing of Nate, Charlie discovers more about himself in the pursuit of trying to find answers about Nate. He becomes closer to his family, and it exposes things, it brings things to the forefront that he may have not been dealing with previously. And in a strange way, Nate guides Charlie through — in death, Nate helps Charlie through his life. And it's about the way that the people that are left continue to live, the way they come together, and the way they support each other and water those relationships and friendships, and help each other grieve and process. And that's what life is, you know? And within that, within this thing that we call life, there are often — at least I've found — moments of hysterical laughter, of mundane things that make you lose your shit laughing." ON PREPARING FOR IN LIMBO "Like with all characters, there are some parts that you research and some parts of yourself. I have some experiences with mental health myself personally, and with my family and with my friends. So it's not hard for me to go to places where I was in darker spaces with my anxiety and depression, and knowing what that felt like, and not being able to see the light. One the things that In Limbo brings up is that it's not always visible. In fact, it's very, very rarely visible. And I remember, just simply for me personally, that it wasn't until I was going through some shit for a couple of years until I was like 'oh, I don't think I'm happy right now' or 'I think what I'm feeling is muted. I don't feel the highs. I don't feel the lows'. I remember that being rather confronting, like 'oh [how long] have I felt like this for?". One of things that In Limbo tries to do is shed a bit of light on that. You ask more often if people are okay. When they say that they are, it's not always necessarily the full story. And it's about just trying a little further, it's about asking a little more and it's about checking on yourself. Everyone in In Limbo, we all have to pull from our personal worlds. This is an intimate story, and it's about family and it's about loss. So researching things like this, you have to draw from things in your own life, and then have an environment where you can leave that at the door and feel safe to expose it with other people and be safe going home afterwards. I think they very much made that environment for us." ON THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT COMES WITH TACKLING MENTAL HEALTH "It's not our responsibility to give answers or to hammer over the head any of our ideas around this — it's about starting a conversation, and I think that everyone in the creative process very much took that responsibility on board, and tried to keep that close through the shooting of it as our as our main drive. Our number-one prerogative was to take that responsibility seriously. You have responsibility to all characters you play. If you're doing it properly, it has to cost you something — and particularly with something like this, there's no phoning it in. So we made sure that being comfortable around dealing with these things, both as performers and as people, was right the forefront. And that we weren't trying to hand people any simple answers." ON WHAT CORR LOOKS FOR IN A PART "It can be a number of things, but usually something that challenges me or that I don't think I can do initially — something where I go 'all right, now we're gonna go over here'. It's about challenge and primarily it's about chase. It's about the pursuit of great writing and great directors. When you have language on your side, when you have great ideas on your side, that's the pursuit of this industry. It's raising to those writers and it's raising to those ideas — not making it about yourself and saying 'this is how it is when I feel', it's about trying to play your part in the whole of the narrative. It's really the pursuit of writing that excites me — and directors that, when you sit down and have meetings with them, the way they talk about their ideas gets you excited and inspires you, and you can see it as they talk. It's working with creatives who have a similar pursuit as I do." ON JUMPING FROM HOUSE OF THE DRAGON TO IN LIMBO "Obviously there's a difference in the scale and the reach, but honestly there's not a big difference between In Limbo and Thrones. There's more people, but it's ultimately always the same job. In fact, if anything, I find that the the bigger they get and the more expansive, the less personal they become, and the less involved with the people you're working with. You can shoot a scene over half a week [on House of the Dragon] — one scene of a sequence over half a week. On In Limbo, we're shooting 16 scenes the day and then waking up at 4am to do it again the next day. And we had bugger all time to do it in, like five weeks, so it becomes a completely different exercise in trusting each other. [With House of the Dragon] you just expand upon that. Instead of going into a house that we've decked out in Brisbane, it's a giant setpiece that is an operational castle — you can walk up the stairs, and there's 30 people teaching someone dance for next week, teams and teams of people. It's the same thing extended upon, obviously, because there's huge amounts of money involved, and because the shows are so big. I just tried to go in and fill Harwin's shoes the best way I knew how. There wasn't a huge amount of him in the book, so I had to fill in the lines. That part of it was exactly the same as sitting in the lounge room with In Limbo… working through these scenes, mining them for the best ideas, workshopping the best ways to do it, rehearsing it and then getting out there and trying to give it our all." ON THE PROJECT ON CORR'S RESUME THAT STANDS OUT "Honestly, every one — but two things. Kevin Jackson is my acting mentor who's just recently passed away — he was the acting teacher at NIDA for many, many years, and is responsible for framing the lives and artistry of many people that I know, including myself. I went at 17. I'd done teen shows, and I made the decision at that age — I was like 'I want take this seriously and I want to study it'. So I took myself out of the industry, went to drama school and that's where I met a man in Kevin that taught me what great writing was and how what we did was above ourselves. Like I say, he is 'the writer is God'. He's the reason that I pursue writing the way that I do. It's not about how you feel, it's not about bringing it down to you. It's about pain reaching these ideas. Can you make something of these ideas? And therefore it's universal. When I was growing up, I took a lot of my lessons, my understanding of emotion, my understanding of love, my understanding of grief, from a lot of the films that I inhaled. That was my go-to, that's what spoke to me and that felt important to me. And so, if I'm going to do it as my career, Kevin was very much a pivotal part of helping me understand what it is that we do. Also Holding the Man, I would say as an experience, as a film, working with [director] Neil Armfield, working with Tommy [playwright and screenwriter Tommy Murphy]. And having for the first time the yardstick of what I was doing, as my job slightly changed. It wasn't just 'here's my version of a character and I hope it's good' — it was someone's family. And I met that family, and I had them hand over their journals and their personal belongings, and I had his friends reach out from all throughout Melbourne. And we had the Victorian AIDS Council say, 'hey, can we can we do rehearsals here?'. I was just overwhelmed with the amount of compassion and the amount of love that reached towards us in doing it. And it made me realise that my job here wasn't to do a good job — it was to represent a real person's memory and their legacy and their love to the absolute nth degree that I possibly can. That felt important and, like with In Limbo, I felt a responsibility to the people that I was playing and to what it meant, and that really resonated with me throughout the years. It's not like you can have jobs like that all the time, but it really did entrench what this industry, what this thing that I call a job, what the arts can be and what it can do and how important it is." In Limbo streams via ABC iView. Read our full review. House of the Dragon streams via Binge. Read our full review.
If you're an iced coffee aficionado, you'll know it's very important to have one within arm's reach at all times — which can be tough on summer sojourns to beaches, parks and picnics. Well, New Zealand roastery (and firm Concrete Playground fave) Coffee Supreme has really come to the party with its latest release: a range of grab-and-go canned coffees (and one fancy-schmancy tea). The cans hit Australian cafes on Thursday, May 11 and come in three varietals: an iced long black, an iced oat latte and an iced Cascara fizz. The first two are fairly self-explanatory but if the fizz has spiked your interest, we've got the details. This coffee cherry-flavoured tea is made from the dried skins of coffee cherries and has a sweet, fruity taste with notes of rosehip, hibiscus and cherry. It's, of course, fizzy and a little lower on caffeine if you've already hit your coffee limit that day. The new cans are only available online and at your local Supreme-using cafe, so stock up on a few to pop in the fridge for caffeine emergencies this summer. We see them being crucial when en route to a morning gym class, packed into the chiller for a picnic, or perhaps necking back as you get ready for a big night out. If you want to get your hands on a free sample of the new range, Coffee Supreme's Abbotsford and Brookvale cafes, and Make My Day Brisbane are giving out 200 free cans from 9am on Friday, May 19. Plus, Coffee Supreme fridges are popping up across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, offering more cans free of charge. From Monday, May 15–Sunday, May 21 you'll find the fridge at FluidForm Studio in Sydney, Up There Athletics in Melbourne and Double Double in Brisbane. The following week, across Monday, May 22–Sunday, May 28, you can grab a free iced coffee at Sydney's Deus ex Machina, Melbourne's MAAP or Brisbane's Range Brewing. And, rounding out the tour will be DRNKS in Sydney, Blackhearts & Sparrows in Melbourne and Your Local Film Lab in Brisbane from Monday, May 29–Sunday, June 4. Coffee Supreme's new range of canned iced coffee is available online and in cafes around Australia. Follow along with the freebies the brand is giving out at the Supreme Australia Instagram account.
When January is in full swing, the sun is out and we're all still in a holiday mood — whether or not we're actually still on holidays — no one needs an excuse for a weekend road trip. But here's one anyway, coming courtesy of Harvest Newrybar: eating dishes whipped up by acclaimed chef Danielle Alvarez. Formerly of Fred's in Sydney, Alvarez is heading to the Byron hinterland to cook up a storm for three days. That means that diners at A Weekend with Danielle at Harvest have three chances to tuck in: for dinner from 5.30pm on Friday, January 20 and Saturday, January 21, and for lunch from 12pm on Sunday, January 22. [caption id="attachment_885631" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nikki To[/caption] It's the first time that Alvarez has brought her old-world cooking techniques to the region, and her all-round thoughtful approach to the kitchen as well — and she'll be matching Harvest's own focus on sustainability and top-notch local ingredients, of course. Indeed, she's visiting the producers that the restaurant works with, and Harvest family farm Picone Orchard, to come up with her culinary lineup. On the menu: oyster with gazpacho, fish tartare with finger lime and fish sauce in betel leaf, flatbread with charred chilli and clam butter, and a plate of pickled and wood oven-roasted veggies paired with locally made fresh cheese. And, there's also squid and prawn rice with coriander and chilli tahini, roasted Bangalow sweet pork and grilled fish with summer squash. Plus, dessert spans fruit from Piccone on ice, as well as lemonade fruit granita with lychees. Bookings will cost you $130 per person for a three-course set menu, or $220 with matched wines. Harvest Newrybar images: Jess Kearney.
Mark Friday, April 12, 2024 in your diary: that's when Fallout will jump from gaming's bunker to streaming's landscape. After 2023 saw The Last of Us leap from mashed buttons to a TV sensation for HBO, 2024 now has a big candidate to follow in its footsteps, this time via Prime Video. It's been almost three decades since Fallout first hit computers back in 1997, with three released sequels, a fourth on the way and seven spinoffs all following. Next comes a live-action television take starring Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets), Walton Goggins (I'm a Virgo) and Kyle MacLachlan (Lucky Hank). After dropping its first images earlier this week, the Fallout TV series now has a trailer — and it nails the game's aesthetic, sound and vibe. Fans of the Fallout game will already know the show's setting: a post-apocalyptic future. The series takes place 200 years after everything went pear-shaped, with people living in luxe fallout shelters ever since. When some such folks leave their cosy confines, they find a hellscape filled with mutants, wild west vibes and plenty of violence. Purnell plays vault-dweller Lucy, while Twin Peaks great MacLachlan is her dad Overseer Hank, who — as his name suggests — oversees Vault 33. On the surface, Goggins is bounty hunter The Ghoul, who has a secret past — and Aaron Moten (Emancipation) also has a pivotal part as Brotherhood of Steel soldier Maximus. The retrofuturistic dystopian series also features Moisés Arias (Samaritan), Sarita Choudhury (And Just Like That...), Michael Emerson (Evil), Leslie Uggams (Extrapolations), Frances Turner (The Boys), Dave Register (Heightened), Zach Cherry (Severance) and Johnny Pemberton (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story) as well — plus Rodrigo Luzzi (Dead Ringers), Annabel O'Hagan (Dear Edward) and Xelia Mendes-Jones (The Wheel of Time). For The Last of Us, HBO enlisted a creative force from one of the US premium cable network's past hits in Chernobyl's Craig Mazin. Prime Video has done the same with Fallout, but with Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy — who also executive produced Prime Video's own The Peripheral. As well as executive producing with Joy, Nolan directs the first three episodes. Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel) and Graham Wagner (Silicon Valley) are similarly among Fallout's executive producers, as well as the series' writers and co-showrunners. And yes, Bethesda Game Studios has a hand in finally bringing the games to the screen. Check out the first trailer for Fallout below: Fallout will start streaming via Prime Video from Friday, April 12, 2024. Images: courtesy of Prime Video.
Heading to the beach is all about sun, sand and taking a dip in the sea — and for Queenslanders this summer, it's now about two types of surfing. Selected spots across the state will be trialling a new system called Life-Fi, which enables sunbathers to connect to the internet for free while they're lazing about between the flags. The real aim of Life-Fi is actually to save lives. It gives beachgoers an incentive to keep close to lifeguards, with nearly 80 percent of the more than 5000 rescues that have taken place since January 2017 occurring outside of the red and yellow flags. The system also allows surf lifesaving clubs to communicate directly with folks sunning themselves by the shore — sending alerts from lifeguards on duty about ocean conditions, currents and marine creatures; conveying weather updates and live UV ratings; and offering general surf safety tips. Spearheaded by Surf Life Saving Queensland, Life-Fi has already been trialled at the Mooloolaba Surf Life Saving Club, and will now roll out to ten other clubs along the coastline. Four mobile units will also be dispatched throughout the state as they're needed. Exact locations have yet to be announced, although you can expect popular beaches on the Gold and Sunshine coasts to feature. The portable self-contained wireless network is available in six languages (English, Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, Japanese and Thai), ensuring that overseas tourists making the most of Queensland beaches can still receive safety warnings. Announcing the expanded trial, Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones noted that tourism was a key motivator. "If we can make people feel safe, we know we'll lure more people to the beach." For more information, visit the Life-Fi website. You can also use NetShare Pro.
Like beer and sunshine, cheese and crackers and Peter Kavinsky and Lara Jean Covey, wine and cycling are made for one another. And if there's one undoubtedly dreamy way to spend an afternoon, it's meandering through idyllic vineyards on two wheels. Fortunately, Australia's expansive, uncrowded wine regions are made for such adventures. So, we've scoured every vineyard in the country to find cycling trails filled with cellar doors and ocean vistas — just for you, our dedicated wine lovers. Here are nine of the prettiest and tastiest. While these trails are made for cycling between wineries, don't forget it's still a crime to ride a bike while intoxicated in all states. So drink and ride responsibly, and be safe on the road. If you plan on drinking at every winery, consider booking a mini bus instead. [caption id="attachment_685954" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Australia[/caption] BAROSSA TRAIL, SOUTH AUSTRALIA This 40-kilometre sealed rail trail, shared by cyclists and walkers, travels through the heart of the Barossa Valley, a world-famous wine region located 80 minutes' drive northeast of Adelaide. Your journey begins in the north in Angaston, one of South Australia's oldest settlements, before passing through the villages of Nuriootpa, Tanunda and Lyndoch, to reach Gawler's heritage-listed buildings. Look out for Mengler Hill Sculpture Park, the Barossa Museum, epic views of the Barossa Range and kangaroos, among countless cellar doors and eateries. [caption id="attachment_680367" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Adam Bruzzone[/caption] CLARE VALLEY RIESLING TRAIL, SOUTH AUSTRALIA If too much riesling is never enough, this car-free cycling trail is made for you. Find it in idyllic Clare Valley, around two hours' drive north of Adelaide. Your adventure starts on the Valley's southern edge in the gateway town of Auburn, before rolling 35 kilometres north to Barinia. Among the cellar doors you shouldn't miss are O'Leary Walker Wines, surrounded by rural panoramas; Skillogalee, whose rieslings are renowned; and Sevenhill, the Valley's oldest winery, founded in 1851 by a bunch of Jesuits who fled Poland due to persecution. [caption id="attachment_685953" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jacqui Way[/caption] SHIRAZ TRAIL, MCLAREN VALE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA Forty-five minutes' drive beyond Adelaide's southern border lies McLaren Vale, known for its Mediterranean climate, excellent reds and proximity to the Fleurieu Peninsula's spectacular coastline. On the Shiraz Trail, you'll cycle 14 kilometres, kicking off in the McLaren Vale township and heading south to the cute village of Willunga. Make slight diversions to visit experimental winemakers Alpha Box & Dice, who are currently working on an entire alphabet of wines, and Hamilton Winery, home to Australia's longest-serving wine making family, who's been stomping on grapes for over 180 years. The Shiraz Trail is one section of the 37-kilometre Coast to Vines Trail. [caption id="attachment_685960" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Swan Valley[/caption] SWAN VALLEY CYCLE TRAIL, WESTERN AUSTRALIA This picturesque trail in Swan Valley — around 90 minutes' drive northwest of Perth — gives you not one, but four routes to choose from. For maximum reward for your efforts, conquer the three-kilometre loop starting at Baskerville Oval, which takes in five wineries. Or, if you're keen to spend more time in the saddle, opt for the 18-kilometre loop beginning at Maali Footbridge, Swan River. You'll pass several cellar doors, as well as artists' studios, local produce and a sculpture park. You'll find maps and more info here. [caption id="attachment_685785" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Victoria[/caption] RUTHERGLEN TO WAHGUNYAH RIDE, VICTORIA Here, your boozy escapades occur in the majestic company of the Murray River. Climb aboard at Rutherglen, a town three hours' drive northeast of Melbourne that's home to more than 20 wineries, and pedal nine kilometres north to riverside Wahgunyah. Along the way, you'll come across Jones Winery, where you can taste shiraz made from 113-year-old vines; Rutherglen Estates, whose home dates to 1886; and Valhalla Wines, which specialises in Rhone Valley varietals. The Rutherglen to Wahgunyah Ride is one section of the mighty 100-kilometre Murray to Mountains Rail Trail. MILAWA GOURMET RIDE, VICTORIA For easy-peasy pedalling along super-flat terrain, make tracks to Milawa, a foodie's mecca found three hours' drive northeast of Melbourne. The Milawa Gourmet Ride stretches for five kilometres, from Brown Brothers Cellar Door, where you can borrow a bike for free, to Sam Miranda Winery. In between swirling and sipping, tuck into an array of gourmet deliciousness, including handmade dairy at Milawa Cheese, condiments at Milawa Mustards and fresh fruit at Blue Ox Berries farm gate. Like the Rutherglen to Wahgunyah Ride, this journey is part of the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail. If you want to continue exploring the Victorian High Country by bike, you'll find more great rides here. [caption id="attachment_686034" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] STANTHORPE TO BALLANDEAN BIKE TRAIL, GRANITE BELT, QUEENSLAND Three-and-a-half hours' drive inland from Byron Bay is Queensland's Granite Belt. Elevated 1000 metres above sea level, this dramatic landscape is a wonderland of rugged granite formations and dense woodlands. See it all from two wheels on the Stanthorpe to Ballandean bike trail. For 30 kilometres, you'll wind along tranquil country roads, pausing at wineries, picnic spots and maybe a brewery or two. The way is dotted with signposts, to keep you on track. The Granite Belt's claim to fame is producing varietals seldom grown in Australia. Among the whites, you'll find roussane, alvarinho and petit manseng, and, among the reds, sagrantino and montepulciano. HUNTER VALLEY CYCLEWAY, NEW SOUTH WALES Opened in 2017, this 10.6-kilometre cycleway runs alongside Hermitage Road – through one of the most winery-dense spots in the Hunter Valley, which lies around 90 kilometres' drive northwest of Sydney. Be sure to visit De Iuliis' stunning cellar door for a cheese and wine flight, as well as Peter Drayton Wines, and its onsite brewery Iron Bark Hill Brewhouse, for excellent wines and craft beers. Meanwhile, at Mistletoe Wines, you'll be sipping sparkling rosé in a sculpture garden, and at Tintilla, sangiovese in an olive grove. You'll find more great wine-filled Hunter Valley bike rides here, too. [caption id="attachment_685963" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lowe Wines, Destination NSW[/caption] MUDGEE WINERY RIDE, NEW SOUTH WALES Three hours' drive northwest of Sydney, the friendly country town of Mudgee has been cultivating grapes since the mid-1800s. There are now more than 35 cellar doors and you can visit 22 of them along a ten-kilometre loop that starts in town, at the Clock Tower. At Lowe Wines, you'll be sampling organic drops and taking a self-guided tour of the vineyards, while at Vinifera, Di Lusso and Mansfield, you'll be working your way through Mediterranean varietals, from Spanish tempranillo to Italian barbera. The map's over here.
Do you usually leave your gift purchasing until the last minute? Have you vowed to finally do better this year? Do you have a heap of friends and family members celebrating birthdays in the second half of 2025 — and zero idea of what you'll get them? Enter The Made Local Market, which is hitting Brisbane IRL this winter to lend a hand with your shopping — and give you an excuse to treat yo'self. Whichever fits, including if you're keen to get a jump on Christmas, you'll have plenty to browse and buy. The market will take place in the Exhibition Building at the Brisbane Showgrounds from 9am–4pm on Saturday, July 19 and 9am–3pm on Sunday, July 20, spreading across two days. Because it focuses on the best local talent, every market is filled with different stallholders and unique creations, but there'll be more than 120 makers, designers, artists and creators at this one. Supporting creative small businesses and scoring a killer gift for your loved ones is a win for everyone involved, so head along and get your shopping sorted. Entry costs $2 — and, the whole thing will be cashless, so don't forget your cards. There'll also be food trucks slinging bites to eat, gin tastings, and plenty of places to get caffeinated.
Date night can't be all loud bars, fancy dinners and fast times. There's a point in the evening where the two of you just want to slow down, maybe take in a bit of scenery, even some stargazing if you know the right spot. We've rounded up some of Brisbane's most gorgeous vistas, lamplit walks and secluded night haunts for you and your date to keep the good times going. City skylines, river reflections, hilltop panoramas and illuminated parkland wanders — when it comes to aesthetic night-time experiences, the River City has it all. And if you want to snap some mementos of your romantic evening, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Series has a Nightography mode that'll capture those night lights perfectly. Don't let the beautiful nocturnal photo ops of this fine city go to waste. WHEEL OF BRISBANE Quite literally made for views, the Wheel of Brisbane can get you high enough (60 metres high, to be precise) for 360-degree panoramic vistas of the skyline. Since 2008, these floating gondolas have been raising tourists and locals alike into the air to see the city (and beyond) from a whole new angle. There's also an audio guide that narrates the history of everything you're looking at, from the Botanical Gardens just across the water to Mount Coot-tha in the distance. The wheel is a night-time photo op in itself, so don't forget to take a snap of the towering structure against the night sky when you get back to the bottom. KURILPA BRIDGE This was built as the world's largest hybrid tensegrity bridge. Don't know what that means? Don't worry — all you need to know is that it's one of Brisbane's pedestrian bridges that make this such a walkable city. Spanning from QAGOMA to the inner-north pocket of the CBD, this beautiful bridge gives you a view all the way down the curves of the river and the entire span of South Bank. Turn around, and on the other side you'll catch the William Jolly Bridge and the twinkling lights of the inner 'burbs. The Kurilpa Bridge is also one of Brisbane's more visually fascinating man-made structures (and worthy of a photo or two of its own) — especially when it's lit up in vibrant colours at night, its illuminated poles slashing the sky in a very aesthetic feat of engineering. MOUNT GRAVATT LOOKOUT This one almost goes without saying. Drive up to the highest point at Mt Gravatt Lookout Reserve — it's not even 20 minutes' drive from the CBD — and park near the lookout. Your reward? A soaring panoramic view of Brisbane, Moreton Bay and beyond, framed by native trees and bushland. Look out over the columns of city light glowing in the distance and the constellation of suburbs stretching out beneath the moon and stars and broad, sweeping sky. It's the perfect occasion to put that low-light Nightography to work. Surrounded by only the sounds of nature, with the rest of the world so far away, makes for a very, very romantic little sojourn. KANGAROO POINT CLIFFS Finished up your dinner date in the city? Take a ferry over to Kangaroo Point. Not only do you get all the fun of a nocturnal boat trip, you'll be treated to a view of the illuminated cliffs rising in the night as you approach the parkland. Wander along the green or beneath the craggy stone cliff faces, catch sight (or a crystal-clear snap) of night creatures scurrying through the park, walk out to the wooden jetty, or just sit together on a bench and look back on the towers of the city beneath the starry sky — and wonder whether now's the time to hold their hand. SOUTH BANK PARKLANDS If you've spent any time in Brisbane, you probably already know all about the views and night-time meanderings of South Bank. Maybe you've just been a daytripper to the precinct's sun-drenched bars and perfect picnic lawns. But there's a reason this is the spot for light shows and night markets. When you walk the parkland paths at night, it's an entirely different world. The noises of nocturnal creatures in the gardens, the perfume of the tropical plants, the twisting bougainvillea trellises, the city skyline reflected in the water, the wash of the great Brown Snake against the waterline and ferry jetties — even the towering blocks of QPAC have their own romance. The perfect spot, in other words, for a date-night stroll. NEW FARM RIVERWALK If you've finished your date at Howard Smith Wharves and you fancy a scenic diversion before hitting the bars of New Farm and the Valley, take a stroll along the New Farm Riverwalk. This raised, 870-metre-long walkway zigzags with the curves of the river and ends at Riverview Court — a decent there-and-back stretch that makes for a tranquil night-time wander. Make your way along the lamplit route and see the clifftop homes of New Farm nearby and the CBD vista behind as the gentle current of river laps beneath your feet, and take in the twinkling lights of the towering Story Bridge shedding its glow over the mangroves and dark waters below. HIGHGATE HILL PARK If you've been kicking it in West End all evening, you don't need to head to South Bank for views — just walk uphill. Highgate Hill Park is secluded and suburban, but offers a unique vantage point from 62 metres above sea level that provides clear, close-up vistas of the city below. As you take in the expansive views down to the river and the suburban sprawl beyond, this peaceful hilltop will seem like a world away. You're not likely to be bothered with crowds or foot traffic here, so the two of you can just relax in the gazebo or lie back on the grass on a warm summer's night and watch the stars come out. Make your nighttime epic again with a Samsung Galaxy S22 series device. For more info, head to the website.
From six nominations, Sydney Theatre Company's Sarah Snook (Memoir of a Snail)-starring international production of The Picture of Dorian Gray is now the winner of two Tony awards. At American theatre's night of nights for 2025, the Broadway take of the show earned its leading lady another accolade, after she also won a 2024 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for its London version. Also adding a Tony to her mantle alongside her past Olivier Award: Marg Horwell, who emerged victorious for Best Costume Design of a Play, just as she did for The Picture of Dorian Gray's London season. "This means so much for a little Australian girl to be here on Broadway," said Snook in her acceptance speech, as the Australian Succession star nabbed another huge accolade. On the small screen, her turn as Shiv Roy sparked an Emmy, two Golden Globes and a pair of Screen Actors Guild Awards. "It is billed as a one-person show, but I don't feel alone on any night that I do this show. There are so may people onstage making it work, and so many people behind the stage making it work — in particular, a huge thank you to Kip Williams, who is incredible to create this." When the Tony nominations were announced, The Picture of Dorian Gray already made history before the winners were revealed. Becoming the most-nominated solo production in the awards' history will do that. While Snook was the only actor from the production to earn recognition because she's the show's sole cast member, Horwell was also up for Best Scenic Design of a Play with David Bergman, while helmer Kip Williams was nominated for Best Direction of a Play, Nick Schlieper for Best Lighting Design of a Play and Clemence Williams for Best Sound Design of a Play. Before The Picture of Dorian Gray saw Snook score a Tony and make her Broadway debut playing all 26 of the play's parts, it was a smash in Australia with Eryn Jean Norvill (Love Me) in the lead. When it made the leap to the UK starring Snook, it became the talk of West End. It's also been picked up by Cate Blanchett's (Disclaimer) production company Dirty Films to get the film treatment. Not only does the show feature just one performer playing every single character but, to make that happen, it uses video to help. The work of writer/director Williams, it's groundbreaking, and it's been understandably earning audiences raves and winning accolades. On the page, The Picture of Dorian Gray is also exceptional, as well as astute and unnerving, as it follows the selling of its namesake's soul in order to keep indulging every corporeal whim, urge and desire. There's a reason that it just keeps getting adapted for the screen and in theatres, after all. But there's never been a version like Sydney Theatre Company's, which the Tonys clearly appreciate. "Sarah Snook's Tony Award win is a deeply deserved honour. Her performance has captivated audiences night after night, and this recognition is a celebration of her extraordinary artistry," said Michael Cassel, producer of both the West End and Broadway productions. "It is also a proud moment for our entire creative team, whose vision and talent have also been recognised tonight. From its beginnings in Sydney to standing ovations on the West End and Broadway, the journey of this show has been nothing short of phenomenal. This accolade is not only a testament to the brilliance of everyone involved, but also to the courage of Sydney Theatre Company and Kip Williams, whose creative genius, ambition and innovation made this groundbreaking piece of theatre possible. I am so proud to be a part of Australian theatre being shared on the global stage." Williams' Dracula is the next Sydney Theatre Company hit that's heading abroad, with 2025 Tony Awards host and Wicked Oscar-nominee Cynthia Erivo set to star when the also one-performer-show heads to London from early 2026. Check out the trailer for the Broadway season of The Picture of Dorian Gray below: The 78th Tony Awards took place on Monday, June 9, 2025 Australian time — head to the accolades' website for more details and winners. The Picture of Dorian Gray has been playing Broadway in New York since March 2025 — for more information and to join the waitlist for tickets, head to the play's website. Images: Marc Brenner.
When Paul Mescal (All of Us Strangers) and Pedro Pascal (Drive-Away Dolls) were cast in Gladiator II, audiences instantly knew what they wanted to see. The film doesn't release until mid-November 2024, but the trailers for it so far — a first sneak peek back in July and the just-dropped latest preview — have been delivering. The pair face off, Mescal gets shirtless, and there's sandals and swords aplenty, too. There's also odious Emperors, of course, and even a rhinoceros and seafaring clashes in the Colosseum. Mescal's Lucius watched the climactic events of 2000's Russell Crowe (The Exorcism) and Joaquin Phoenix (Napoleon)-starring film, as the initial trailer explained, which is just one of the on-screen ties that Gladiator II boasts with its predecessor. Another: Connie Nielsen (Origin) returning from Gladiator as Lucilla, Lucius' mother. And, behind the lens, there's also the not-at-all-minor fact that director Ridley Scott is back to make this 24-years-later sequel. If Gladiator II's protagonist didn't have his own date with Rome's iconic amphitheatre, and his own rage to unshackle, there wouldn't be much of a film. His stint comes after Emperors Caracalla (Joseph Quinn, A Quiet Place: Day One) and Geta (Fred Hechinger, The White Lotus) take over his home. Queue a quest for revenge, plus glory for Rome, with Pascal's general Marcus Acacius becoming Lucius' target. As for Denzel Washington (The Equalizer 3), he plays power broker Macrinus. Alien, Blade Runner and Thelma & Louise director Scott has been in blast-from-the-past mode for over a decade now, first revisiting the Alien realm with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, then reteaming with Phoenix on Napoleon, and now helming his second Gladiator flick. Of late, he's also been fond of making movies set in the past — long ago and more recent — as not only seen with Napoleon, but also with House of Gucci, The Last Duel and All the Money in the World. With Gladiator II, the British filmmaker teams up two of the internet's boyfriends in Mescal and Pascal, and promises a battle-filled time following up the feature that picked up Best Picture, Best Actor (for Crowe), Best Costume Design, Best Sound and Best Visual Effects at the Academy Awards. Scott also earned his second Best Director nomination, after Thelma & Louise and before Black Hawk Down gave him a third. Gladiator II hits cinemas Down Under on Thursday, November 14, 2024, which means that local audiences will see it a week before American audiences — and a week before Wicked Part One arrives in picture palaces, too, so there'll be no Barbenheimer-style release day here. Check out the latest trailer for Gladiator II below: Gladiator II opens in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, November 14, 2024.
For six months, getting around the Sunshine State via Translink public transport services is going to be cheap. How cheap? Just 50 cents per journey. That's excellent news for everyone's bank balances, and so is the newly announced next part of the Queensland Government's cost-of-living relief measures relating to travelling from A to B: half-price Airtrain fares. While the train to and from Brisbane Airport isn't getting quite the hefty discount that general Translink tickets are, it'll still undergo a massive drop in price. Instead of paying $21.90 via Go Card or electronic ticketing to or from Central Station, the cost will be $10.95. And for paper tickets, it'll go down to $11. [caption id="attachment_960185" align="alignnone" width="1920"] MDXR via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] The slashed Airtrain fares will also come into effect on Monday, August 5, 2024 and run for six months, just like the 50-cent tickets otherwise. And although anyone heading to or from the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast will still need to pay to get to Brisbane before hopping on the Airtrain, that full one-way journey will start at $11.45 via Go Card given that the non-Airtrain part is 50 cents. "Rail travel to the terminals will now be included in our six-month cost-busting public transport trial, meaning travellers and workers will pay less to get to the airport," said Queensland Premier Steven Miles. "This initiative, combined with our 50-cent fares on Translink services, will make taking public transport more affordable and attractive to Queenslanders and tourists. There has never been a better time to leave the car and the stress of airport parking behind and enjoy the half-price train trip instead." [caption id="attachment_960189" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Orderinchaos via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] If you need a refresher on the 50-cent news, the price-cutting move will cover Translink services, starting with trains, buses, ferries and trams in southeast Queensland. So for Brisbanites, whether you ride the rails as part of your daily commute, hit the road or hop on a CityCat, you'll be scoring a hefty discount, getting there and home for just $1 a day. Translink also runs buses in Bowen, Bundaberg, Cairns, the Fraser Coast, Gladstone and Gympie — and in Innisfail, Kilcoy, Mackay, Rockhampton, Yeppoon, the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, Toowoomba, Townsville, Warwick and The Whitsundays. Yes, this is a statewide measure. [caption id="attachment_958245" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kgbo via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] The 50-cent price will apply to everyone, including concession cardholders, but is only available on Translink services. Accordingly, privately operated transport services won't be doing the cheap fares. Running for six months, the fare drop isn't a permanent change — but it will help you stop spending more than a fiver to get to and from your job if you work a five-day grind. [caption id="attachment_857365" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kgbo via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] [caption id="attachment_749921" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] John via Flickr[/caption] Half-price fares will come into effect on the Airtrain to and from Brisbane Airport on Monday, August 5, 2024, running for six months. To find out more, head to the Airtrain website. Top image: MDRX via Wikimedia Commons.
When the Australian Open returns for 2023 with two jam-packed weeks of Grand Slam tennis action, it'll also be serving up a few aces for local music-lovers. Especially as part of the inaugural AO Finals Festival, which is set to treat punters to a program of live acts across the event's final three days, heating up Kia Arena from Friday, January 27–Sunday, January 29. The music fest is dishing up a ripper lineup for its debut run, too, featuring the likes of Vanessa Amorosi, Flight Facilities and Benee. Which doesn't come as too much of a surprise, given it's been curated with help from the respected music-heads at Untitled Group — the brains behind Pitch Music & Arts, For The Love, Grapevine Gathering and more. [caption id="attachment_789706" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Benee[/caption] The festival is kicking off with a bang, its first day coinciding with global LGBTQI+ event The Grand Slam, presented by Ralph Lauren. Legendary singer-songwriter and 'Absolutely Everybody' star Amorosi will help launch the musical offerings, joined by pop darling Montaigne and Melbourne-based DJ Bertie. Chasing that on January 28 (also the AO women's finals day) you'll catch New Zealand singer-songwriter Benee, renowned Gamilaraay artist Thelma Plum and party-starting six-piece Winston Surfshirt, along with dance favourite CC:DISCO! And wrapping things up on AO men's finals day you'll have electro duo Flight Facilities, backed by brother-and-sister act Lastlings, Sydney's Willo and emerging Melbourne star Forest Claudette. [caption id="attachment_842049" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Flight Facilities[/caption] The gigs will take place in Melbourne's Park Kia Arena, with tickets at $34 for each day. If you're already heading courtside during the AO, you'll just need to drop $5 to upgrade your existing ground pass or Rod Laver Arena stadium ticket to include entry to the AO Finals Festival on any given day. As always, there'll be scores of food and drink pop-ups scattered throughout Melbourne Park, as well as big screens showing all the on-court action. [caption id="attachment_872292" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Thelma Plum, by Georgia Wallace[/caption] The AO Finals Festival hits Kia Arena, Olympic Boulevard, Melbourne, from January 27–January 29. Tickets are $34 for each day session, available online.
They're the business with one of the best names we've come across — and they're one of Brisbane's favourite market stalls as well. Now, from January 21 to 24, they're the reason you should mosey on over to Portside Wharf. Yes, we're talking about The Cheese Pleaser, those purveyors of a certain dairy product. If you've bought any of their sharp or creamy wares before, you'll know that they well and truly live up to their moniker. At Portside, they're not just showcasing artisan cheeses, although they'll be doing plenty of that, don't worry. They'll also be highlighting wine and craft beer, all set to the sounds of some rocking live Aussie music. It's the kind of event that you'll want to bring a picnic blanket to, then settle in for an afternoon of drinks, tunes and $12 platters. That's right, this pop-up won't just be yum — it'll be fun, too.
Strolling along a jetty is one of life's simple pleasures. Decking stretches from the shore out over the ocean, the water glistens as far as the eye can see, and the breeze — because there's always a breeze — is instantly refreshing. And, no matter where in the world you happen to be, the experience always feels comfortably familiar. The scenery might be different, but there's not much about moseying along a pier that changes from place to place. Well, that's usually the case. At Australia's new structure in the Eyre Peninsula city of Whyalla, in South Australia, the whole jetty concept has had quite the upgrade. The basics are still the same — it's still a platform that juts out over the sea, of course, and you still walk along it and soak in the coastal splendour — but this one has a huge circle in the middle, as well as LED lights along its handrails. If you're thinking about immediately adding it to your must-visit list, that's understandable. Instead of running in a straight line as most piers do, this $7.8-million concrete jetty boasts a loop in the centre — and visitors have to walk either one way or the other along the circle to get to the end of the structure. The design isn't symmetrical, which means you have two options: take the shorter, more direct route as you head to the big square platform at the jetty's tip, or meander along the lengthier arc for a leisurely spot of wave-watching. If you decide to wander along the entire jetty — walking the full circumference of the loop, as well as the straight sections at either end — you'll cover 315 metres. You'll also venture 165 metres out from the shore. In addition, you'll have ample space, as the whole thing is 4.5 metres wide. For accessibility purposes, a 45-metre ramp is currently under construction as well. [caption id="attachment_784064" align="alignnone" width="1920"] A render of the jetty[/caption] Officially opened on Wednesday, September 16, the Whyalla Jetty is the only jetty of its kind in the southern hemisphere — and given its eye-catching look, it's easy to see how that's the case. The design was selected by the local community to replace the old pier, which was destroyed by a fire in 2019 but was set to be superseded by the new jetty anyway. And, in picking a new structure, these SA residents have chosen well. To keep the jetty visible at night, bespoke lighting has been installed in its top brushed steel balustrade, too, with each 50-centimetre section of railing including a five-centimetre LED pod. So, as well as standing out due to its shape, this pier lights up the night. It has been built to last at least 80 years, so expect those lights to glow for some time. Visitors can meander along the jetty's expanse, obviously, as well as fish off the side; however, jetty jumping is strictly forbidden. There aren't any ladders or steps to take you down to the water either — so once you're up there, you'll be looking down at the sea from above. Find the Whyalla Jetty in Whyalla, on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula. For further details, visit the Whyalla City Council's website.
Get your shopping done under twinkling lights while surrounded by real (not plastic) Christmas trees. No, this isn't a festive dream — it's the reality of South Bank's annual Christmas markets. Whether you've been every year since you can remember, or you've never gone a-browsing at the inner-city spot, visiting The Collective Markets Christmas Edition is worth the trip. While the entirety of South Bank will be in a merry mood (including via a free and festive outdoor cinema program), nothing will steal the show from the most important part of the proceedings: the wares on offer at the rows of stalls. From 10am–9pm between Saturday, December 17–Thursday, December 22, you'll find handmade toys, jewellery and other trinkets just begging to be given as gifts, as well as tasty treats to add to your Christmas feast. Yep, everyone's a winner here.
