This Monday, our good friend the moon will be closer to the Earth than it has been in 68 years. How close? About 30,000 kilometres closer than the average — that's how close. And, as a result of this lunar proximity, the moon will appear much bigger and brighter than it normally does. The phenomenon is called a supermoon, which sounds pretty darn exciting on its own. For science nerds, though, it's called a perigee moon. In this instance, the term describes an event where the moon appears to be nearly 14 percent bigger and almost 25 percent brighter than usual. Now, a full moon is pretty visible from everywhere, but the full effect is apparently much cooler if you look east of the horizon. Lucky for Australians, there's a plethora of beaches on our eastern shore that provide an excellent vantage point, and groups are popping up all over social media to gather fellow lunar lovers to watch the unique event. Although all those photos you're bound to be taking are going to look pretty sweet given the subject matter, Australian Geographic insists that the best snaps are taken the days preceding or proceeding the full supermoon. If you need some more tips, they've even put together a list for getting perfect photographs. Although supermoons are pretty common, the moon won't be this close again until 2034. Also, it hasn't been this close since 1948. That was the year that the US Navy first allowed women to enlist as regular troops, a great step forward for equality in America. The supermoon will reach its absolute pinnacle of awesome at 12.52am on Tuesday, November 15 (Monday night, daylight savings time). So, look to the east to catch a glimpse of the coolest moon of most our lifetimes, #nofilter. Image: Andrew C.
Yeerongpilly's Plant Empire sells greenery every day of the week, helping folks with green thumbs — and those who wish they had them, too — fill their homes with leafy babies. But on Sunday, June 4, it's doing something more than that. You can still peruse the store's shelves for plants, of course; however, you can also head round back to check out the pop-up winter market. As well as plants, you'll be able to scope out a range of pots. If you're going to buy one of yourself some greenery — or your loved ones — you'll want something to put it in, obviously. Also on offer: ceramics, jewellery, art and other handmade crafts. And if you happen to arrive hungry — Sunday mornings can do that to even the most satisfied stomach — there'll be food and coffee available as well. Folk 'n' Broken Hearted will be providing a soundtrack, too, adding some tunes to your browsing and buying. Just drop by the Station Road spot between 9am–1pm, when the morning-long market and its 50-plus stalls will be in full swing. The usual advice applies here, as it does to all plant markets: yes, more greenery is always a good thing. Images: Plant Empire.
He captured imaginations and made his artistic mark with big-screen hits like The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel. And, he once designed a Milan cafe that resembled one of his film sets. In the coming months, he'll release his new stop-motion animated movie Isle of Dogs — but that's not all that acclaimed director Wes Anderson is working on. Known for his visual distinctive style and fondness for symmetry, Anderson will also take his creative vision into the art world, playing museum curator alongside his partner, set designer and illustrator Juman Malouf. The pair have been invited to put together an exhibition for Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum, which you've got to admit looks like it's been plucked from a dreamy Anderson flick itself. The exhibition is set to kick off this September and run until January 2019, featuring a broad collection of in-house artifacts, as chosen by the creative couple. Pieces like historical musical instruments, suits of armour, foreign antiques, carriages and sleighs will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue — sure to be a swoon-worthy piece of art in its own right. Via architecturaldigest.in. Image: Wes Anderson and Juman Malouf in the Picture Gallery, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna © KHM-Museumsverband .
Forget the pub with no beer — in central western Queensland, a resurrected watering hole will soon operate in a place with no residents. After closing its doors back in 1997, the Betoota Hotel will reopen in the ghost town this weekend. Brisbane smash repairer Robert Haken is bringing the famed spot back to life, telling Brisbane Times that he first fell for its charms around 30 years ago. Revisiting the empty, rundown site in 2015, he was driven to act. "When I walked into the place I just thought, what an amazing bit of Australia history and why isn't someone doing something with it." After buying the pub before Christmas, Haken's plan was to restore it to its former glory by late-August. The pub's reopening, unfortunately, hit a snag, with a post on Facebook saying it had been delayed because of red tape and paperwork. "Owners of the iconic OLD [sic] Betoota Hotel side wish to sincerely thank all that have given so much to help us attempt to reach our goal, a goal which is not gone, simply the finish line is further away than we hoped." Although it won't be opening for good quite yet, the pub has received a temporary licence to open on Friday, August 24, and Sunday, August 26 — just in time for the famous Betoota Races, the area's signature event, which often attracts more than 400 people to the resident-less town — and all profits from sales on the two days will go to charity. On Friday, from 11.30am–6.30pm, the Betoota Hotel will host an Australian Anti Ice Campaign (AAIC) awareness and education day, with 50 percent of profits going to AAIC and the other half to Rural Aid's Buy a Bale campaign, which supports drought-affected farmers. It'll be serving steak burgers, sausage sangas and, of course, plenty of frosty beer. It'll be closed on Saturday for the races, which you can, if you're so included, buy tickets for here. As they say, "when in Rome"... The day after, on Sunday, August 26, the pub will host the Cricket Cup from 12pm–7pm, with profits once again being split 50/50 to Rural Aid and AAIC. The same Aussie snacks and refreshments will be available, and there'll be raffles and prizes for the best-dressed cricketers. Once it's up and running — for good — Betoota Hotel will operate during the area's tourist season, between April and November. Due to the heat, it won't open in summer. The pub remains the only building in Betoota, and boasts quite the past, dating back to 1885. Previous owner Sigmund Remienko ran the place for 44 years until 1997. When he passed away in 2004, the town lost its last remaining resident. If it sounds like the kind of story you might read in The Betoota Advocate, that's understandable; however, while the satirical publication takes its name from the deserted spot, this isn't one of their amusing tales. For anyone keen to make the drive when the pub reopens, expect to trek more than 1500 kilometres west from Brisbane (a 20-hour drive), 1800 kilometres northwest of Sydney (a 24-hour drive) and 20,000 kilometres north of Melbourne (a 26-hour drive). Betoota Hotel is located at 6 Daroo Street, Betoota. For more information about its opening, keep an eye on the Facebook page.
One Rainbow is a good thing. Two is something extraordinary, and three is something so exhilarating that if you miss it, well, lets just say there’s going to be some bad ju ju following you round till the next storm season. Along with manic excitement the Triple Rainbow is bringing home Brisbane’s local indie favorites, Ball Park Music. After their independently recorded EP, Rolling On the Floor, Laughing Ourselves To Sleep in 2008 and shaking up the Brisbane music scene with their second EP, Conquer The Town, Easy as Cake in 2010, Ball Park found themselves touring the country with musical grates Philadelphia Grand Jury, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Cloud Control and Boy and Bear. Returning from a massive year of tours and Big Day Out placements, our local indie sextuple are touring once more bringing along their Melbourne and Sydney pals Eagle and The Worm and We Say Bamboulee. Excited? You should be, because The Triple Rainbow Tour is bucketing down into Brisbane this March streaming gold performances from all. Best part is you don’t have to sell half your home for a ticket; pre sales are available now for $12.25! The Triple Rainbow only comes around once so make sure you don’t miss it!
Now here's some casually beautiful design for your day. Japanese design house Nendo have created a box of chocolates that wouldn't be out of place in a contemporary art museum. Having already made you insatiably hungry with chocolate pencils and ice cream cakes far too beautiful to eat, Nendo decided to celebrate their new title as Maison&Objet's Designer of the Year by creating some of the most stunning truffles you're likely to come across. Geometric little bite-sized pieces they are, Nendo's truffles were created for M&O's upcoming design show in Paris; an event for which they're also creating the visitor lounges where visitors can soothe their weary tootsies. There are nine chocolates in total, all of which will be handed out to these weary visitors — a stunning little treat we'd be likely to attempt a furious commute home to the fridge with. According to Co.DESIGN, the cubic chocolates represent different geometric forms; everything from a representation of a soundwave to a wireframe cube. Nendo's chocolate boxes will only be available to buy at the Maison&Objet design show in Paris from January 23 - 27. All we're saying, if you're desperately trying to impress someone with a romantic gesture, bringing a box of chocolates that look like modern art back from a Parisian design show is a decent idea. Via Dezeen and Co.DESIGN.
Another day, another international ride-share company prepares to hit the streets of Australia. This time, it's an Indian-born platform called Ola, which we're told operates in over 110 cities, hosting a whopping one billion annual rides worldwide. That's over two million trips each day, and growing fast. Less than a week after rival Taxify launched in Melbourne (with half-price rides, no less), Ola today announced plans to roll out across Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, and has already put the call out for potential local drivers to register. The company counts its driver-partner focused approach as its main point of difference, hoping to tempt Australian drivers with incentives and upskilling opportunities. As Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal explains, that should result in a more competitive industry all round. "With a strong focus on driver-partners and the community at large, we aim to create a high-quality and affordable travel experience for citizens and look forward to contributing to a healthy mobility ecosystem in Australia," he said. Expect to see Ola cars cruising around town and competing with Uber within a matter of months.
First, the bad news: if you're not fond of peanut butter of you have an allergy (and therefore you've decided deep down in your stomach that it tastes awful), Krispy Kreme's latest batch of limited-time-only doughnuts definitely isn't for you. For everyone else, get ready to treat yourself to a dreamy mashup, because the fried pastry chain and Reese's have joined forces. A couple of years back, gelato brand Gelatissimo scooped up Gelato made with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Now, it's Krispy Kreme's turn to give those American sweets the doughnut treatment. The three-option range does indeed go all in on peanut butter — two with chocolate, too, and one in a cheesecake variety. If you opt for Krispy Kreme's peanut butter cheesecake made with Reese's doughnut — a mouthful to say and to eat — you'll be munching on the brand's original glazed doughnut, which has been dipped in white truffle, topped with peanuts and then given a Reese's Peanut Butter cream cheese frosting swirl. As for the others, the Krispy Kreme Reese's Peanut Butter and choc doughnut takes the usual Krispy Kreme shell, fills it with Reese's Peanut Butter sauce, then dips it in chocolate ganache, and sprinkles on peanuts and Reese's Peanut Butter Chips. Then there's the Krispy Kreme Peanut Butter choc brownie made with Reese's doughnut, which jams its shell with Reese's Peanut Butter and choc brownie butter, then gets plunged in milk chocolate ganache, and comes with Reese's Peanut Butter drizzle, choc crumbs and peanuts on top. You'll find the first two varieties — the Krispy Kreme's peanut butter cheesecake made with Reese's doughnut and the Krispy Kreme Reese's Peanut Butter and choc doughnut — on sale from today, Tuesday, September 20, at all Krispy Kreme stores nationwide. The cost: $3.90 each and $29.90 for a dozen. The Krispy Kreme Peanut Butter choc brownie made with Reese's doughnut will only be available from Tuesday, October 4 from 7-Eleven stores for the same price. Krispy Kreme's Reese's range is available for $3.90 each/$29.90 for a dozen for a limited time — with two varieties available at Krispy Kreme stores from Tuesday, September 20, and a third from 7-Eleven stores from Tuesday, October 4.
There is a lot more to dance than Sonia Kruger and the soap stars of Home and Away have to offer. Dancing with the Stars may be your embarrassing Sunday night vice (yes Mum, that’s you) but it’s time to open your mind and expand your dance loving horizons to reach a point that is far and beyond the six-thirty screenings of Channel 7. The season finale is over and now is the perfect time to get up off the couch and experience some real, subversive, sexy dancing that cannot be ruined by horrific hosts and jaded judges. Zen Zen Zo is a leading physical theatre company based in Brisbane. The quality of their live performance has developed a strong reputation for the company leading them to produce a new performance in the style of physical theatre cabaret. With promises to be visually stunning in choreography and stage design featuring a world class cast and production team, the cabaret will also be lead by an array of local musical talent with singer/song writers Emma Dean, and Sandro Colarelli in the show and musical directors John Rogers performing live. Screening at the beautiful QPAC Theatre you can spoil yourself on a lovely night out. Take your friends, splurge on some good wine and enjoy a night of quality live performance. Who knows, it may even inspire you to take up some dance classes yourself?
Praise be, Handmaid's Tale fans — the iconic novel behind everyone's favourite dystopian TV series is getting a sequel. The Hulu-produced, Emmy-winning television show has already aired a second season, with a third due to hit next year. But now author Margaret Atwood is penning a printed follow-up to the 1985 book that started it all. Called The Testaments, it's set 15 years after Offred's final scene in the novel, and is narrated by three female characters. Fans will have to wait a bit for their return to Gilead, with the book releasing on September 10, 2019. While Atwood's original novel built a rich, immersive and oh-so-bleak world that's rife with sequel potential, that's not her only inspiration for The Testaments. Announcing the second effort on Twitter, Atwood noted that she's taking some cues from today's Handmaid's-like times. "Everything you've ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we've been living in," Atwood said in the post. Given how scarily prescient the first book was, and how close to home it hit, that's hardly surprising. Just imagine what the Canadian writer will be able to dream up this time — or, if you don't want to fret about the state of the world, perhaps don't. Pre-orders are now open for The Testaments, if you're keen to get your red-cloaked mitts on it the moment it's available. We're betting that the new book will be a hot topic of conversation when Atwood visits Australia in March next year to chat about — what else? — dystopian futures. The Testaments is scheduled for released on September 10, 2019.
When I was in school, I was never allowed to go to a PCYC Bluelight Disco, as apparently the activities that went down were too scandalous and the music was too terrible for my parents to handle. Obviously it was all very upsetting and my life was ruined. Luckily I’m now old enough to make my own decisions about attending ‘Light’ themed bashes, although I have to say my taste has matured somewhat. Also lucky, is that the kids from Sceneless have run with the same idea and taken it to a place a million times better than the original. For the second year in a row, the Lightspace venue in Fortitude Valley will be home to the BLACKLIGHT warehouse party, with heaps of bands, light installations, DJs, and delish food and drink for everyone to consume. With bands including The Medics, Lunch Tapes, Pluto Jonze, Pigeon, and Boss Moxi, the night is going to go off! It will also be a jam-packed schedule so you’re getting plenty of bang for your buck. Ending the night will be the Cobra Kai DJs who are absolute pros at getting people moving. If you never got to corrupt yourself at a Bluelight Disco, like me, take back the night from your parents and get down at BLACKLIGHT this Friday.
"Something takes over once I'm on stage. The whole point of it, for me, is to transcend my conscious brain; which is sometimes not the most pleasant place to be... There's nothing more in the moment than being on stage. Things can fail. The stakes are high. I mean, the stakes aren't high like cancer high, but it is do or die. You're reacting to how the crowd is feeling and that kind of energy I find very effervescent and fun. I thrive off it." Annie Clark, better known as St. Vincent — a stage name taken from a Nick Cave song referencing the hospital where the poet Dylan Thomas died — talks to me from Melbourne about performance nerves. "I think I have some nerves; I think it's healthy. It seems that the stakes wouldn't be very high, if you felt just as comfortable in your living room as you did on stage. But it's also energy, rather than a lack of it; so you could also call it adrenaline or excitement. It's two ways of looking at the same energy." After making her first guitar out of cardboard at the age of five, Clark got her fingers around some real fret boards at twelve and went on to study at the Berklee College of Music. After three years of "grading and measurement" she dropped out to start making music. Since then, she's found her way to The Polyphonic Spree, toured with Sufjan Stevens and David Byrne, and created four solo albums — the most recent of which, St Vincent, was released on February 24. After selling out Melbourne's The Howler two nights in a row, she's heading to Sydney for Vivid. "I've thought a lot about what it means to go up on stage and ask people to listen to you and look at you for an hour and a half," she says, explaining how her approach to performance has changed over time. "I don't take it lightly, in the sense that I think (especially in this day and age) we are a distractable lot. When we have everything at our finger tips — at the internet or whatever — it means even more to say, 'Hey, everybody, let's be in this moment together. Let's go some place together'. "I've tried to make the performance aspect more elevated — to acknowledge what it actually is, which is a strange and unnatural act — and to dig into that, lean into it, believe in it and try to make it take us all some place else." At the same time, Clark's been dealing with what she describes as her own "delusions". "At various points, I've been delusional enough to think that someday I would tour less, that I was living one life — not that I wasn't meant to — but that there was a parallel life that I was supposed to be leading. Yet I was doing this other thing. But I've come to realise the silliness of that idea. I'm living the life that I want to be living and enjoying being in the ether and the constant change and undulation and stimulation. I need it, now." These days, she spends months and months on the road. "Sometimes, I get confused with which season it is," she says. "The other day, I could have sworn it was September and I was planning my life as if it was, and then I realised, no, it's May, where am I?" So where does she go to hide and reorient herself, if and when there is a break in the schedule? In keeping with her commitment to life as it is, she wants to talk about where she is. Right now. "I know this sounds really corny and cloying," she laughs, "but I love coming to Australia, because no matter how many shows you play, it feels like a vacation. Everything is pleasant here. People are attractive, coffee's amazing, food's amazing, wine's amazing, there's great galleries,there's great art... I usually end up with a lot of free time in Australia. This particular trip is basically run and gun, feels cosy and fun — like fun, sexy, cool time." https://youtube.com/watch?v=Itt0rALeHE8 When there is a moment to spare, she spends it releasing her own signature coffee blend, collecting outsider art, reading books and "hanging out". "What everybody does," she explains. "The only thing I don't do is cook and be domestic — you know knit a sweater or some bullshit [laughs]. I don't have any patience for that. I wish I could live in a hotel." Having just finished Karen Joy Walker's page-turner We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, she's currently into "a book about Sigmund Freud and his being a big proponent of cocaine as a panacea — a cure-all drug. It sounds like something someone on cocaine would say," she laughs. "I'm trying to enjoy Evelyn Waugh, too. I picked it up because my dad was a big Anglophile and he's all about Kingsley Amis and Martin Amis and all that. I tried to read that stuff when I was younger but what is a 13-year-old going to do with Vile Bodies? They have no context for that and you don't understand the satire because you haven't lived." St Vincent plays at Sydney Opera House for Vivid LIVE tonight. Details and tickets over here.
At Concrete Playground, we know the makings of a great trip when we see one. Our team of writers and editors is made up of hardcore travel enthusiasts — myself included. We're the ones who make detailed spreadsheets of recommendations for friends heading to a destination we've visited. Day-to-day for work we cover the best new hotels, travel-worthy experiences, and carefully craft itineraries and guides to the most fantastic places in Australia and abroad. Now, we're translating that passion and experience into a brand new travel inspiration and commerce platform called Concrete Playground Trips. From there, you can purchase trips that are exclusively curated by our editorial team, featuring experiences you genuinely can't find anywhere else, exclusive deals to places you hadn't considered, and trips that do justice to the spots that have long been on your bucket list. We do the groundwork so you don't have to. You just book and go. First up is an incredibly luxe (and fun) trip to Auckland to coincide with dance music festival Spring City, headlined by Groove Armada. You'll get exclusive VIP access and stay in New Zealand's hottest hotel with a couple of extraordinary dining and drinking experiences in the mix. Take in the full itinerary here. There's so much more to come and we're thrilled to get it out into the world and, hopefully, inspire your next great adventure. Happy trails. Discover more at Concrete Playground Trips. Image credit: Pietro de Grandi
Nineteeen-year-old genius Boyan Slat has proposed building an Ocean Cleanup Array, a device that could remove 7,250,000 tons of plastic waste from the world's oceans. While in school, Slat analysed the size and number of all the plastic particles in the ocean. Slat continued to develop this project and went on to start the Ocean Cleanup Foundation, a non-profit responsible for the development of his projects. The Ocean Cleanup Array would be placed in gyres, which are five areas in the world's oceans that have accumulated the most amount of plastic and garbage. Its anchored network of 'floating booms and processing platforms' would span the whole radius of the gyre, acting as funnels that are slightly tilted, creating a force towards the platforms. The debris enters the platforms and is stored in containers within the device until being collected for sales and recycling. If you weren't already impressed with the feat of removing over 7 million tons of plastic waste from the oceans, then listen to this: According to Inhabitat, the Ocean Cleanup Array could save hundreds to thousands to millions of aquatic animals every year. It would also reduce the number of pollutants that are building up in the food chain, including PCB and DDT. And it could eventually save millions of dollars every year in ocean clean-up costs, lost tourism to designated areas and damage to marine ships. According to Slat's website, it would take approximately five years to clean up the world's oceans. Even though the device would clean billions of kilograms of plastic, the solution isn't perfect. It has drawn concern from some critics who worry about negative effects to marine life and it still requires more research. The ocean won't ever be 100 percent clean of plastic and debris, but this is a start. Via Inhabitat.
When Disney isn't keeping huge pop-culture franchises on our screens or ensuring that everyone's childhood favourites never fade into memory — and sometimes doing both at the same time — it happens to be mighty fond of scandals and true crime. Well, to be precise, the Mouse House-owned US streaming platform Hulu is, and its shows keep making their way Down Under via Disney+. The latest even promises a massive stripping-empire saga, sordid deeds driven by money and murder because of the dance floor. After exploring the story behind Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's sex tape in the 90s-set Pam & Tommy to start 2022, Disney+ plans to end it with a jump into back to the 70s and 80s — aided by a whole heap of disrobing male dancers — courtesy of Welcome to Chippendales. And if watching the just-dropped first teaser trailer for the latter gets you thinking about the former, there's another reason for that: writer/executive producer/creator Robert Siegel is behind both. The focus here: Somen 'Steve' Banerjee, who was born in India, moved to the US, bought a Los Angeles nightclub and founded the striptease troupe turned worldwide hit that shares Welcome to Chippendales' name. Banerjee's tale involves outrageous success, but also turns into sinister territory. That's put it mildly; however, if you don't already know the details, you'll want to discover the rest while watching. Fresh from a superhero stint in Eternals, Kumail Nanjiani plays Banerjee — and the rest of the star-studded cast includes newly minted The White Lotus Emmy-winner Murray Bartlett, Yellowjackets' Juliette Lewis and American Crime Story's Annaleigh Ashford, as well as Dan Stevens (I'm Your Man), Andrew Rannells (Girls5eva), Nicola Peltz Beckham (Holidate), Quentin Plair (The Good Lord Bird) and Robin de Jesús (Tick, Tick... Boom!). WandaVision's Matt Shakman is in the director's chair and, if you're fond of the era, expect the appropriate soundtrack (and vibe) when the show starts streaming from Tuesday, November 22. It'll drop two episodes first up, then new instalments weekly afterwards across the eight-episode limited series' run. Move over Magic Mike: Welcome to Chippendales looks set to be everyone's next stripper-fuelled obsession, and new true-crime addiction as well. Check out the trailer below: Welcome to Chippendales will be available to stream via Disney+ from November 22.
Ever considered a quick jaunt to Sydney to experience Vivid? Now's the time to take the plunge. The epic light festival is back for its tenth birthday, and there's more to see and do this year than ever. With so much to fit in, it's often hard to know where to start and how to get off the well-beaten track. As always, there are the big lights dotting the harbour, but there are also heaps of hidden gems worth seeking out — down alleyways, against the water and even up in the air. With the help of our mates at Samsung, we've pulled together a list of some of the best works tucked away in and around The Rocks and Circular Quay. And once you find them, it'd be remiss not to snap a shot or two so you can take them home with you — especially if you have Samsung's new Galaxy S9 and S9+ phones, which allow you to take beautiful photos in the dark with its Super Low Light camera. Check out our Galaxy S9+ snaps taken by photographer Cole Bennetts, take note of his tips and make tracks to these hidden Vivid gems. CHRYSALIS — REIBY PLACE Just as a caterpillar in a cocoon needs the right conditions to emerge, so too does the butterfly within each of the illuminated shells in Chrysalis. The sound of the audience approaching causes the butterflies to stir, and as people get closer and their collective noise grows louder, the butterflies awaken. Finally, they spread their wings within their five neon homes and flit and flutter with the crowd's presence. Cole's tip: Avoid contributing to a newsfeed clogged with identical Vivid snaps by changing your perspective. Get down low or shoot from up high to make the picture more interesting. OASIS — ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN Oasis is a shimmering, bioluminescent-inspired sea of light. Set in a corner of the Botanic Garden devoted to "lonely, frightened, lost and abused children who never knew the joy of a loving family", the work is dedicated to Australia's forgotten children — those raised in orphanages, children's homes and institutions. Playing on the relationship between light and water, courage and vulnerability, the seemingly floating lights move with nature but are always steadied by their underlying strength, returning them to their upright position. PARROT PARTY — ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN Is it a flock of birds in the gardens? Or a clandestine party among the flora? Well, it's a bit of both, actually. The festive Parrot Party in the Botanic Garden bursts with colour and sound, that grows brighter and more jovial as people join in. Perched in a pavilion, the birds' song is modulated by the crowds who come and go. Made up of Kiwi kea parrots and Australian rainbow lorikeets — a nod to the close relationship between our two countries — the flock's song grows louder as the crowd draws in, bursting with a display of sweet calls and chatter. Cole's tip: Vivid has excitement at every turn. You don't want to miss the money shot, so keep your S9 at the ready. When you stumble across a hidden gem worth snapping, double-tap the power button to bring up the camera quickly. 555 NANOMETERS — KENDALL LANE Hanging above a historic laneway in The Rocks, 555 Nanometers' sheets of green light and integrated soundscape also draw people in with the sound and sights of Australian flora and fauna. Follow the noise of cicadas calling into the night, pulling you toward this canopy of light. The name of the installation is a reference to its yellow-green hue that specifically sits at colour spectrum 555 nanometers. The human eye is most sensitive to the colour and feels most at ease when looking at it. As you look up at the illuminated perforated sheets, you'll find yourself reminded of looking at light streaming through leaves on a bright summer's day. FUGU — THE ROCKS If watching David Attenborough's Blue Planet has taught us anything, it is that the goings-on in our oceans are both compelling and crucially important. Artists Amigo and Amigo depict this in their installation Fugu. It's a kinetic light sculpture in the form of a pufferfish, a peculiar critter that changes form for protection against predators. As audiences surround the spiky creature it comes to life, expanding, contracting and pulsating in glowing multi-colour. The piece represents the fragility of life under the surface and highlights the importance of conservation. As you explore and uncover the hidden gems of Vivid, get the best snap on the new Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+, designed especially for low light. Images: Cole Bennetts.
There aren't many directors whose work we look forward to more than Joel and Ethan Coen. The Oscar winning siblings behind Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men and Inside Llewyn Davis among many others, the pair have made a name for themselves with their memorable characters and masterfully constructed plots, often seasoned with liberal lashings of dark, esoteric humour. Their latest film is set to be released on February 25, and we've managed to get our hands on some complimentary tickets. Hail, Caesar! is a screwball comedy set in 1950s Hollywood, and concerns a famous film star, played by George Clooney, who is kidnapped by a mysterious organisation. Josh Brolin, Scarlett Johansson, Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Jonah Hill and Frances McDormand make up the star-studded ensemble, along with Channing Tatum dressed as a sailor (which, quite frankly, seems like it'll be worth the price of admission on its own). [competition]558865[/competition] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMqeoW3XRa0
Usually, Australia's various film festivals only pop up once every 12 months; however, there's little that's been usual about the past few years. So in these chaotic times, the fact that the Jewish International Film Festival is returning for a second stint in 2022 doesn't seem all that out of the ordinary. Already enjoyed the fest during its March and April run? Get ready to do so all over again. JIFF will screen 50 features and documentaries at this iteration, alongside episodes from two TV shows and three short films — covering titles from 21 countries as it tours Australia between October–December. Leading the highlights, filling JIFF's biggest-ever lineup: opening night's Armageddon Time, which arrives after premiering at this year's Cannes Film Festival and will have its Aussie debut at the fest. Starring Anthony Hopkins (The Father), Anne Hathaway (Locked Down) and Jeremy Strong (Succession), and written and directed by Ad Astra and The Lost City of Z's James Gray, it tells a coming-of-age story in 80s-era Queens. Also among the standouts, Charlotte Gainsbourg (Sundown)-led French drama The Accusation tackles sex and consent; Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic World Dominion) narrates Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen, about bringing Fiddler on the Roof to the big screen; and Israel's Karaoke arrives after being nominated for 13 Ophir Awards. Or, there's doco The Art of Silence about mime Marcel Marceau — plus 60s-set comedy My Neighbour Adolf, featuring Udo Kier (Swan Song) as a Holocaust survivor in Colombia who thinks the German man who just moved in next door is Hitler. The full lineup includes closing night's As They Made Us, the directorial debut of directorial The Big Bang Theory's Mayim Bialik; Reckonings, about the negotiations between Jewish and German leaders that led to the 1952 Luxembourg Agreement; and three episodes of Bloody Murray, which follows the titular film lecturer, who specialises in romantic comedies. The list goes on, spanning — as always — a sizeable contingent of movies that examine World War II, the Holocaust and their lingering impact. JEWISH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022 DATES — OCTOBER–DECEMBER SEASON Monday, October 24–Sunday, November 27 — Classic Cinemas and Lido Cinemas, Melbourne Tuesday, October 25– Monday, November 28 — Ritz Cinemas and Roseville Cinemas, Sydney Thursday, October 27— Sunday, November 6 — Dendy Cinemas, Canberra Thursday, October 27— Sunday, November 6 — State Cinema, Hobart Thursday, November 10–Sunday, November 20 — New Farm Cinemas, Brisbane Thursday, November 17–Sunday, November 27 — Dendy Southport, Gold Coast Thursday, November 24—Wednesday, December 7 — Luna Palace Leederville, Perth The Jewish International Film Festival's second 2022 season runs from October–December. For more information, or to buy tickets, head to the festival's website.
Great renewal news for fans of Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez, The Dead Don't Die), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short, Schmigadoon!) and Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin, It's Complicated) usually means bad news for the folks that the trio know on-screen. Only Murders in the Building viewers get more episodes, but that means more deaths within the hit murder-mystery comedy's narrative. That's exactly the case right now, with the series just wrapping up its Paul Rudd (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania)- and Meryl Streep (Don't Look Up)-guest starring third season, then revealing that there's more in store — with the show locked in for season four. More instalments, more killings and more amusing antics are all on the way, then, for the series that first got Gomez, Short and Martin sleuthing in 2021's season one (aka one of the best new shows of that year), then followed it up with 2022's season two (aka one of the best returning shows of that year, too) before arriving for its third go-around in 2023. Details of when the series will return, who else will pop up and the like haven't yet been announced, but expect to spend more time in Only Murders in the Building's world. The show started with three residents of the same New York apartment building crossing paths after a murder in their building — hence the title — then bonding over true-crime podcasts. Next, they did what everyone that's jumped on that bandwagon knows they would if they were ever in the same situation, starting their own audio series that's also called Only Murders in the Building. That's how season one kicked off — and continued, proving a warm, funny, smart and savvy series at every step along the way. In the show's second season, another death needed investigating. That time, it was someone the main trio were all known not to be that fond of, so suspicions kept pointing in their direction. Indeed, every season, another death has given aspiring artist Mabel, Broadway producer Oliver and actor Charles-Haden another case to dive into. In season three, that involved looking into who caused Ben Glenroy (Rudd) to shuffle off this mortal coil at the opening night of Oliver's latest show. "Is this really happening again?" asked the theatre figure in the first teaser trailer for season three. "Yes, yes it is" was the answer from Only Murders in the Building's audience then — and still now. "The trio's journey is far from over," US streaming platform Hulu, which produces the show, announced on social media. There's no sneak peek at season four as yet, but you can check out the full trailer for Only Murders in the Building season three below: Only Murders in the Building's streams Down Under via Star on Disney+. Read our full reviews of season one, season two and season three. Images: Hulu.
The word poetry has many immediate connotations: romance, passion… love. Okay, so maybe I just have an unfulfilled life dream to be read poetry and as such can only think in shades of pink and red. However, the world of poetry is far from limited to relationships, as the Queensland Poetry Festival is sure to attest. Launched in 1997, the event lasts three days and includes a range of events such as workshops, touring programs, and competitions. They also have the massive task of managing the Arts Queensland Val Vallis and Thomas Shapcott poetry prizes, the Arts Queensland Poet-in-Residence program and the annual Riverbend Poetry Series. This year as well as an excessive variety of poets performing over the weekend, the State Library will also be hosting a one-off exclusive lesson with the talented Sandra Thibodeaux. So even if you’re not the biggest fan of poetry, this weekend is a great chance to see another type of artist perform.
Melbourne's Queen Victoria Gardens will again play host to MPavilion, a four-month program of free talks, workshops, performances and installations from October 5, 2016 to February 18, 2017. This year, Indian architect Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai will install Australia's largest bamboo structure — of all time. The 282-square-metre art-chitecture project will be constructed using ancient building techniques and materials sourced from India and Australia. Along with the bamboo, Jain will use earth, stone and rope in order to create a structure that references both the Australian landscape and Indian tradition. Though it will be made simply from plant and earth-based materials, the structure sounds like it will be anything but simple. The roof will be made of karvi panels, which is created from a mix of cow dung and earth, and will be supported by 2.4-metre-high bamboo columns. White lime daub will act as a waterproofing agent and a 12-metre-tall tazia, an ornamental tower used in Indian ceremonies, will be constructed and viewable through the oculus in the suspended ceiling. Basically, it's going to be super, super cool. Jain told Dezeen that the creative space is meant to "suspend visitors between earth, ground and sky". Studio Mumbai is known for collaboration and often works with local artisans to design and build their projects with a connection to the environment it inhabits. If you want to get to know more about the man behind the plan, the RMIT Gallery is offering a preview, Bijoy Jain and Lore: Making MPavilion 2016, which will run September 9 through October 22. The exhibition explores Jain's inspiration and process, and features models and sketches of the new MPavilion prior to its official launch on October 4. MPavilion, presented by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, is in its third year and will again serve as a hub for free cultural activities. Past years have seen the Gardens host AL_A's immersive petal-shaped structure and Sean Godsell Architects' walled garden with moveable exterior. This year's MPavilion will remain in the Gardens until February, after which time it will be moved to a permanent home within Melbourne's CBD. Via Dezeen and Inhabitat. Images courtesy Studio Mumbai. Top image: Nicholas Watt.
Winter in Brisbane — it's not exactly the coldest place to be at this time of year. But hey, when your home lacks insulation and there seems to be only one fireplace per 1000 people, it's tricky to stay warm even if temperature rarely go below 10 degrees. One way to heat up when the temp drops is with a good old-fashioned party and a tasty gin in hand. We've teamed up with Tanqueray to let you know the best things happening in Brisbane worth getting out from under the doona for. Whether you're more of a G&T person or a Tom Collins kind of drinker, you're bound to enjoy these winter soirees, events and festivities while sipping on your favourite gin-based drink. CELEBRATE WORLD GIN DAY What better way to kick off winter (aka gin season) than with a whole day dedicated to your favourite spirit? Saturday, June 8 is World Gin Day, and there's no better way to experience it in our beautiful city than with a gin in hand. Celebrate this momentous date by catching up with friends at your favourite bar or restaurant, while sipping on a G&T. Or, really lean into the occasion with an OTT cocktail — an appropriately festive option is the Mad Tea Party from Canvas in Woolloongabba, which features raspberry, crème de cacao, lemon and rhubarb. Alternatively, stay at home, fix yourself a Tanqueray martini and watch the sun go down from your balcony while listening to Powderfinger's 'My Happiness' on repeat. What's more Brisbane than that? SALUTE YOUR UNIQUE FIND AT A LOCAL DESIGN MARKET WITH HIGH TEA No matter the time of year, you can always count on GOMA to host some killer free creative events in Brisbane. And its Winter Design Market is no exception. On June 8, head down to the GOMA Forecourt to shop the wares from some of the best ceramicists, jewellers, designers, craftspeople and makers that call Brisbane home. Armed with an enviro bag full of beautiful local creations, make your way to Covent Garden for a sophisticated high tea. Enjoy the triple-tier platter of sweet and savoury bites coupled with its twist on your classic G&T — a Gin and Tea — made with Tanqueray, creme de mure, grapefruit, strawberry and cream tea soda. Now that's a tea we wouldn't mind drinking on the daily. UNLEASH YOUR INNER FRANCOPHILE AT BRISBANE FRENCH FESTIVAL Looking for a unique outing that celebrates all things French food, music and culture? Then the Brisbane French Festival or Le Festival is an event you won't want to miss. Happening across Friday, July 5–Sunday, July 7, South Bank will come alive with the diverse music, food, education and lifestyle of the French. Celebrate Bastille Day over three days of markets, bars, tasting trails, masterclasses and a VIP lounge. Once you've indulged in all things French, make your way to South Bank's Aquitaine Brasserie, which makes one of Brisbane's best Tanqueray No.10 dirty martinis. COMMEMORATE 10 YEARS OF TENERIFFE Promising a diverse range of programming — from folk music to punk rock — plus, health and fitness, decadent food offerings and historical celebrations, the Teneriffe Festival is celebrating ten years of Teneriffe's official suburb status on Saturday, July 6. Check out the hidden laneways, entertainment, food vendors, and market stalls, then make your way to the local bars and restaurants in the area to wet your whistle. Hello Gorgeous, Gerties Bar, The Dalgety Public House and At Sixes and Sevens are standouts for great drinks and nibbles. And, of course, Fortitude Valley is only a hop skip and a jump away if you want to keep the celebration going. [caption id="attachment_707134" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image: Naomi Blacklock, Padma. 2018. Performance documentation from NETHERWORLDS exhibition, Spring Hill Reservoir, Brisbane, 9 June 2018. Photo: Charlie Hillhouse. Courtesy of the artist.[/caption] DELVE INTO THE DARK SIDE AT AN ENCHANTING WITCHCRAFT EXHIBITION Hosted by the University of Queensland, Second Sight: Witchcraft, Ritual, Power is a unique exhibition showcasing artists who explore the themes of witchcraft, sorcery and magical practices. The supernatural themes are sure to build up a thirst, so make your way to Merles Bar at Regatta Hotel and ask the bartender to mix up a potion of your very own. Or, you could order a Southside — this simple (yet very special) tipple has a dark past, having been invented during the Prohibition era with possible connections to Chicago mobsters. It'll keep the sinister theme going well into the night.
When The Many Saints of Newark ends, will it cut suddenly to black? Will Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing' somehow get a spin, even though the film is set in the 60s and 70s? How much ziti will be served throughout the course of the feature? And, how many overt and obvious links to The Sopranos will pop up? These are some of the questions you might have if you're a fan of one of the best TV shows ever made, you're excited about big-screen prequel The Many Saints of Newark, and if you woke up this morning and got yourself a hankering for a sneak peek at the latter. Fourteen years after HBO's hit mobster drama wrapped up its TV run, creator David Chase has penned this jump back to Tony Soprano's formative years. Yes, it's obviously one of the most-anticipated flicks of the year. The Many Saints of Newark hops into Soprano's story when he's a teen in the titular New Jersey city — a place under the sway of the DiMeo crime family, struggling with race relations and about to be caught up in the race riots of 1967. Young Anthony plans to go to college, but he also has a strong relationship with his uncle Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola, The Art of Self-Defense). And, to answer the question that's just sprang into your head, Dickie is indeed the father of series regular Christopher Moltisanti. Anthony's connection to his uncle Dickie will have a huge impact on his life, and sway his path to becoming the panic attack-suffering, hot-tempered mob boss that The Sopranos followed for six seasons between 1999–2007. Family is a huge part of the film, as it was in the influential drama before it — and as as both the initial glimpse and just-dropped second trailer for The Many Saints of Newark both show. That's true not just in the narrative, however, but also in the casting. If young Anthony Soprano looks familiar, that's because he's played by Michael Gandolfini (The Deuce, Cherry) — son of the late, great James Gandolfini. Enlisting the younger Gandolfini leaves a significant imprint, even just from the trailers. Watching these clips, it's impossible to imagine this movie being made without him stepping into his dad's shoes. The Sopranos aficionados can also look forward to spending time with a few familiar characters other than Young Anthony — including Corey Stoll (The Report) as Uncle Junior, Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It) as Anthony's mother Livia, and Billy Magnussen (Made for Love) and John Magaro (First Cow) as his future righthand men Paulie Walnuts and Silvio Dante. And, Leslie Odom Jr (One Night in Miami) and Jon Bernthal (Those Who Wish Me Dead) also co-star, while seeing Ray Liotta (Marriage Story) jump back into the gangster genre immediately conjures up memories of Goodfellas, the Martin Scorsese classic that also charted the rise of a young man within the mob. Check out the latest trailer for The Many Saints of Newark below: The Many Saints of Newark releases in Australian cinemas on November 4.
Andy Bull is on one big ol' ride. The Sydney-based singer/songwriter has been unfathomably busy over the past year, juggling tour dates and life commitments while penning and producing his second album, Sea Of Approval. Just released on July 11, the 29-year-old's new record is a brilliant blend of insightful lyricism and exquisite electro pop. Bull's unique vocals and his knack for catchy hooks have caught the ears of listeners Australia-wide. Bull's latest three singles have notched up hours of radio play; you've definitely heard his voice on the airwaves. 'Talk Too Much', 'Keep On Running' and 'Baby I Am Nobody Now' have helped build anticipation for his second LP, which was almost entirely written and self-produced by Bull. We spoke to the Sydneysider not long after the announcement of his national tour in support of Sea Of Approval, starting September. An insightful young pop virtuoso with a unique take on the creative process, Bull took us through his penchant for DIY, staying sane in the business and dealing with second album demands. You've been unbelievably busy this year, how has 2014 run so far? I worked on the album over the last 12 months and I was busy, like some sort of insect in its hole, which was intense and strangely removed. Now that it is done, it's busy in this really external way; promoting, talking, playing and emerging back into the world sort of thing. You've just put out your second album, Sea of Approval, how long has it been in the works? Although it's been four years since I've put something out, this album was really done in the last 12 months. It was a pretty intensive period. There were ideas that were a bit older that had been hanging around, but the earnest work was pretty compacted. When you started piecing together the songs, was there any overall stylistic plan that you were working towards? Before I had songs, I had a vague idea of mood and sentiment. I had a sense of what I wanted, what I wanted it to feel like. It's a really hard thing to articulate until you start writing and recording and trying to materialise it. You have a sense of it all, but you don't really know if you can do what you are feeling and you don't really know how you will do it. The songs kind of came out of that initial mood and vision, but I didn't necessarily set out to do a full album. It began as a couple of tracks to see how they would go, to see if I could produce them myself and if anyone would care. It went well initially and then there was an expectation to do an album, so I got to work on it. At what point did you hit your groove? When did you know these songs would make a good second album? To be frank, it was very hard to get a groove going for a while. I did everything myself — I was being songwriter, lyricist, musician, producer, technician and rough mixer. I was doing all of those things constantly and I was trying to find solutions to creative problems and I didn't know where to locate the solutions. I got on a roll intermittently, but I wasn't cruising for 12 months. I generated so many ideas and about 30 percent clicked. You have a good day and on that day you will be more productive than the past two weeks. It's about slow builds; one day something will click. Did you do anything differently this time around? I wanted to take a hard look at myself. What you realise is when you step into a room you see that you aren't really on your own, because you have brought with you ten years of habits, values and aesthetics that you have inherited from other people. You've always got tonnes of baggage. Being alone and being willing to change your process, work hard and work against your old habits really makes a difference. The biggest change was an internal change where I didn't want to do what I had done before; I wanted to dig a little deeper and make music that matched my internal world in a more compelling way, using sounds and lyrics that told a vivid story and that the sounds would feel more personal, less traditional and more human. I wanted a change in tone, a different intent — not just to make things that worked and was pretty, but something that was useful to me. https://youtube.com/watch?v=JSGUxRWR_r8 Is it more nerve-wracking for you that this album is focused entirely on you and what you can create alone? Not nerve-wracking in the way you might think or that I might have expected. I am trying to, in my adult life, develop values and standards that are mine regardless of the expectations of other people. While I am sensitive to the reactions of other people, what I realise is that what I do has no potential value unless I am going to adhere to standards that are personal to me. It's a weird paradox; if you're not willing to abide by what you have done it might not have value in the outside world. In a way it's not nerve-wracking because I stand by what I have done, and although it's not perfect, it's a result of genuine questions and intent. When people judge it or decide that they like it or don't like it, that's fine because it is part of the process. It's not the end point or the beginning point, it's just part of the 'biz'. You've had three songs from the album do very well already, was that always part of the plan – to slowly trickle the songs to gauge a reaction? It was mostly because I didn't have an album finished. In the beginning I didn't know if I wanted to do an album or anything. I put a song out that I quite liked, 'Keep On Running', and it did quite well and people wanted another one. The next one I finished was 'Baby I Am Nobody Now' and then 'Talk Too Much' — it was really all on the go. Maybe it was the idea, but it also gives you a lot of pressure. There is no way to do this stuff without pressure. Once you put out a single, people expect another one. When you put out another one, people expect a record. I was constantly working to finish a record and to make it a good one, not a rushed one. You have to find a way to work comfortably, to have a buffer. If you are more focused on meeting a deadline then it narrows your options prematurely. If you are trimming before you have time to play, then sometimes your ideas don't come to fruition. You've mentioned how important it is "to stay sane and keep your integrity" when creating new work — how do you do that? How does that statement hold now that your album is out there? This is the key question in any process. Staying sane is basically about being gentle; having a self awareness and integrity means choosing what you are going to put your attention on and how you are going to interpret the events you are experiencing. To me, that's what sanity and integrity are — being able to analyse but not judge, being able to experience emotion without losing yourself to it, that sort of thing. How do you do that? It's difficult, but it's key. You've got to go slowly, appreciate that what you are doing is a long difficult process. You take a step forward and two steps back, you have to have a level of gentle acceptance if you want to stay sane in this environment. Keeping your integrity or authenticity is almost the same thing; if you can keep a calmness about yourself it allows you to choose what you are going to focus on and stay a step ahead. It takes constant maintenance to keep control of your attention and focus. Humility, patience and all the stuff that gets a bad wrap is important; we love the stories of creativeness being a huge, violent mess. That is a part of it but only a small part of it. I didn't necessarily do it well along the way, but the songs that I finished are the songs where I managed to find that headspace. If you gave your album to someone to listen to for the first time, what would you hope they respond to or take away from it? It's hard to say. Now that it has been given to people, it is amazing how many different responses there have been. The most you can hope for is that it would be of some use to people. You hope that it makes them feel ok about where they are at. In music you try to handle the ambiguities of life, the hope, the despair, all of the things because that is what life is. The best thing that music can do is even out the kinks in life. If you can even people out, that would be good. Sea Of Approval is out now through Island Records. Andy Bull National Tour Dates: Sep 7 — Spiegeltent at Brisbane Festival, Brisbane Sep 13 —The Metro, Sydney Sep 27 — Corner Hotel (SOLD OUT), Melbourne Sep 28 — Corner Hotel, Melbourne
Never fear, the Room 60 Christmas Party is here, and boy does it sound fun, just like the festive season should be. Starting at the very respectable time of midday, there will be Christmas cocktails and punch, parlor games, live music all afternoon, and lots and lots of dancing. If you haven’t ventured there yet, Room 60 is a super cute but also super cool bar tucked away in the Kelvin Grove Urban Village. It is the hot spot for all the QUT folk on the campus, but is also a saving grace for those that live close to the city/Valley but not quite in it. The space has a special Mad Men chic feel, with fabulous records on rotation, delicious cocktails and lovely lounges. But, when the bands get going, it transforms into an all-in disco venue. This a great opportunity to enjoy your Christmas with friends, or with complete strangers, either way; you know it is the perfect way to get merry.
It has been more than six months since the Australian Government introduced an effective ban on international travel in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19 within the country. And, over that time, there has been plenty of speculation about when jetting overseas might resume — including predictions that the entire global travel industry mightn't return to normal until 2023, and that Australia's borders could remain closed until 2021. When it comes to Australia's prolonged border closure, an exception has been floated, however. Receiving ample chatter over the past few months is the concept of a travel bubble with New Zealand, which would allow international travel between the two countries, even as they potentially remain closed to other nations. Now, the first stage of the bubble has been announced — but, sadly for some, it's only one way. In a media appearance today, Friday, October 2, Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack announced that New Zealanders will be allowed to visit New South Wales and the Northern Territory, without having to quarantine on arrival, from 12.01am on Friday, October 16. "This will allow New Zealanders and other residents in New Zealand who have not been in an area designated as a COVID-19 hot spot in New Zealand in the preceding 14 days to travel quarantine free to Australia," McCormack said today. [caption id="attachment_773731" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NT by Tourism Australia[/caption] The Deputy PM also said he hopes this is just the start of the two-country travel bubble, hinting to it expanding to further parts of Australia in the near future. "This is the first stage in what we hope to see as a trans-Tasman bubble between the two countries, not just that state and that territory," he said. Responding to the announcement, a spokesperson for New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden said the travel arrangements have not changed for New Zealanders. Which means, travellers to Australia would need to enter 14 days of managed isolation on return to NZ — and pay for it. Unfortunately, as mentioned, this is currently a one-way travel bubble, so Aussies shouldn't rush to book a holiday across the ditch — just yet. The ABC reported earlier in the week that Ardern had mentioned that travel from Australia to NZ might be possible on a state-by-state basis before Christmas. Here's hoping. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website. To find out more about the virus and travel restrictions in New Zealand, head over to the NZ Government's COVID-19 hub.
Radiohead are going down in history as one of the greatest bands of all time. This ground-breaking group of musicians have awakened imaginations and expanded the appreciation for alternative music globally, thanks to their inspired and diverse catalogue of music. The Oxford-bred five piece haven’t been to Australia in nearly a decade, so it is safe to say their current Australian tour is highly anticipated. For more than 20 years Radiohead have been masters of reinvention and sonic exploration; Their live shows have been hailed as ‘must-see’ by critics and fans; their latest album 2011’s King of Limbs saw the band delving into the depths of computer driven music and synth laden soundscapes. They are playing the Brisbane Entertainment Centre for one night only. The sad news is that tickets have already sold out, but, I’d highly recommend that you keep an eye out for re-sales or any spare tickets - this chance may not come again for many years.
The Big Day Out has become a summer festival institution, with some of the biggest musical acts in the world making the trip to our sunburnt country to be a part of one of the biggest touring festivals in the southern hemisphere. It is no surprise to anyone that this years Big Day Out is shaping up to be huge – the organisers have pulled out all the stops and amassed an impressive line-up for the punters this time around. Headlined by mega-stars, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers (pictured), the Big Day Out could have been labelled a success based on this announcement alone. However, the line-up has much more to offer with The Killers, Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective and Foals also appearing on the line-up, alongside a heap of other amazing acts. If you aren’t attending, prepare to be envious of all your friends who are. It is called a Big Day Out for a reason, this year could be the biggest of all.
It's the huge exhibition that took the world by storm, sending David Bowie's lightning bolt-adorned face everywhere from London and Berlin to Tokyo and Melbourne. His Ziggy Stardust costumes, various handwritten lyrics, an assortment of album artwork, rare photographs and even the magic orb he fondled as Jareth in Labyrinth, too. Organised by London's Victoria and Albert Museum, David Bowie is showcased a stunning range of around 400 objects from the David Bowie Archive, visiting 12 cities over six years and attracting more than two million visitors — and while it just finished its final run in Brooklyn, it's coming back in a new virtual format. In the coming months — autumn in the northern hemisphere, so expect it from September onwards — David Bowie is will exist as a digital recreation that you can access on your phone, as well as via virtual reality platforms. Fans can expect to tour the Bowie bonanza as an augmented reality experience, which will feature a sequence of audio-visual spaces highlighting the work and artifacts from Bowie's life. It won't just involve looking at 2D representations, either, with 3D scans used to preserve and present the artist's costumes and objects in detail. And while the final details are yet to be revealed, Bowie obsessives might even be able to virtually step into one of his out-of-sight outfits and see themselves in it. If you've ever wanted to become Aladdin Sane, the Jean Genie or just look like a real cool cat, this might be your chance to turn and face the strange — and experience some ch-ch-changes. A collaboration between Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc, the David Bowie Archive and the V&A, "these new digital versions of David Bowie is will add unprecedented depth and intimacy to the exhibition experience, allowing the viewer to engage with the work of one of the world's most popular and influential artists as never before," according to the exhibition website. How much it will cost is yet to be announced, but a portion of the profits will be donated the V&A and Brooklyn Museum. For further information — and to sign up for future updates, head to davidbowieisreal.com.
Has your dog always wanted to sit on a 'Game of Bones'-style throne? More importantly, have you always wanted your four-legged sidekick to pretend that they're in Westeros — all so you can take the world's most adorable photo? If so, then you might just go barking mad for Australia's latest pop-up installation. It calls itself a museum, but it's really just an excuse for you to snap pics of your cute canine against extremely photogenic backdrops. Think Sugar Republic and Melbourne's Christmasland — but, instead of focusing on desserts and all things festive (and human), Pet Stars is all about those gorgeous little animal critters that we choose to spend our lives with. The name is a little misleading, because the pop-up is "encouraging dogs only", according to its website. That said, it is hosting VIP cats-only nights as well, should you have a Ser Pounce to take along. If you're the proud parent of a "larger animal, snake or scary creature", though, you'll definitely have to leave them at home. Debuting at the Gold Coast's Carrara Market Event Space on Thursday, November 28 ahead of planned 2020 seasons in both Sydney and Melbourne, Pet Stars will boast an array of themed spaces for puppers to frolic through. In addition to 'Game of Bones', there's a Kong dog ball pit, a room that's all about chewed shoes and a doggy high tea set-up. Or, maybe your furball needs a trip to the 'Doggy Style' grooming roomor the glamour room? Given the season, of course there's a Christmas-focused room on the premises — there's your end-of-year pics taken care of. As well as more than 20 snap-happy scenes, Pet Stars will feature pet cosplay and a hall of fame room. You can also hang out in a park area with your pooch, and meet other dogs and dog owners. And, you can buy merchandise while you're there — but if you want to treat your doggo to some actual edible treats, you're encouraged to bring them with you. During its Queensland run, which spans three weekends until Sunday, December 15, Pet Stars will be donating $1 from each entry ticket to the Animal Welfare League of Queensland (and it's safe to assume it'll do something similar in New South Wales and Victoria, too). Don't have your own pet? You're still welcome to head along. In fact, if you stop by the Pet Rescue Area run by AWLQ, you might even find a dog and cat to adopt, take back through the installations, snap in heaps of pics and become your life-long best friend. Pet Stars will launch at the Carrara Market Event Space, on the corner of Gooding Drive and Manchester Road at Carrara on the Gold Coast, from Thursday, November 28–Sunday, December 15 — with tickets on sale now. It's open Thursday–Sunday during its run, welcoming dogs from 12–6pm on Thursdays, 12–8pm on Fridays, 10am–8pm on Saturdays and 10am–4pm on Sundays. Cat nights take place on Thursdays from 6–7pm. Pet Stars will also head to Sydney and Melbourne in 2020, although dates haven't been announced — we'll update you when they are.
Dubbed as the biggest night of the year for Sydney, the Mardi Gras Parade usually fills the streets of Darlinghurst and Surry Hills. In 2021, however, the celebration of LGBTQIA+ culture and communities — and its colourful array of hundreds of floats and performers — will actually take place in the Sydney Cricket Ground. Announced back in November, the parade has been moved to the SCG to help ensure social distancing is maintained. The 23,000-capacity event has been sold out for a while; however, a final release of tickets will go on sale from 2pm on Wednesday, February 17. If you're in need of some motivation to nab a seat, the parade's lineup should help. Rita Ora leads the bill, alongside Electric Fields, Montaigne and G Flip. Before the parade, DJs Kitty Glitter and Dan Murphy will hit the decks, with hosts Bob Downe and Julie McCrossin helping to get the crowd excited. When the floats start, however — after a Welcome to Country ceremony at 6pm — Nell Schofield and Kyle Olsen will be on voiceover duties. The full Mardi Gras festival runs from Friday, February 19 until Sunday, March 7, should you be wondering what else is in store around the main festivities. You can view all currently announced programming and events and stay up to date with all the news at Mardi Gras website. And, if you can't make it to the parade, it'll be broadcast live on SBS. Updated February 17. Images: Jeffrey Feng
Queenslanders are preparing to say goodbye to plastic bags and hello to a heap of change as the Queensland Government last night passed a bill to clear everyone's cupboards of both single-use plastic carriers and plastic containers — via a ban on the former and a refund-fuelled recycling scheme for the latter. Come July 1, 2018, all stores in Queensland will be ditching lightweight single-use plastic bags, including degradable and biodegradable options. The move brings the state into line with South Australia, the ACT, the Northern Territory and Tasmania, and follows the news that Woolworths and Coles will also be doing the same nationwide. And while it might seem like a long time coming...well, better late than never. Introducing a container refund scheme might also seem as though Queensland is playing catch-up, with SA and the NT already operating similar systems, and New South Wales bringing their own in from December this year. Hobart is aiming to completely ban the things by 2020. Applicable containers — which include cans and bottles of sizes between 150ml and three litres, though not any that hold plain milk, wine and pure juice — will each attract a ten-cent refund. Which can only be good for your overflowing recycling bin and piggy bank. To facilitate the scheme, designated collection points will be set up across the state, with reverse vending machines also likely to be part of the rollout. The receptacles will collect your containers and spit out refunds, (rather than vice versa) and will probably put an end to every conversation you've ever had about filling up your car with cans, driving to SA and filling your wallet. Let's hope Victoria and NSW follow suit.
Imagine a room filled with pinot noir, with red drops after red drops from wineries around the country poured for your sipping pleasure for hours. If that's your preferred type of vino, it likely sounds like your idea of boozy heaven. There's no need to just dream up the concept, however. Thanks to Pinot Palooza, it already exists, has been doing the rounds in Australia for more than a decade, and has locked in its return for 2024. A guiding principle here: that being spoilt for choice can be overrated when it comes to deciding which wine varieties you feel like at any given moment. So, let this event do the picking for you. Pinot Palooza celebrates exactly the type of vino that's in its name, and makes the sound of a light- to medium-bodied red wine sloshing around a glass its standard soundtrack, including in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne come spring. Expect to hear that noise a whole heap — before the pandemic, the Melbourne-born wine-tasting festival had notched up an estimated 65,000 tickets sold globally. In 2024, Pinot Palooza is hitting up its three east coast stops for a two-day stint in each. While that was first announced back in March, now venues have been confirmed. Across Friday, October 4–Saturday, October 5, Sydneysiders will be clinking glasses at Carriageworks. From Friday, November 15–Saturday, November 16, Brisbanites will get their pinot fix at the Exhibition Building at Brisbane Showgrounds. Then, come Friday, November 22–Saturday, November 23, the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton is the go-to destination in Melbourne. The Pinot Palooza team has also revealed that up to 100 wineries will be taking part in 2024, up from more than 50 winemakers last year, and surveying everything from organic and vegan to biodynamic and low-intervention drops. The full list of producers hasn't been unveiled, but Tasmania's Meadowbank, Oakdene from Geelong, Murdoch Hill and Vinteloper from the Adelaide Hills and New South Wales' M&J Becker are among the names that'll be involved from Australia. New Zealand tipples will be showcased by Two Paddocks, Burn Cottage, Mt Difficulty, Te Whare Ra, Greystone and others. As always, attendees will spend their session swirling and sampling that huge array of pinot noir, and making the most of up pop-up bars and food stalls between drinks. In Brisbane, though, a cheesy time also awaits. While dairy fest Mould has already taken place in the River City in 2024, it's teaming up with Pinot Palooza in October to give the Queensland capital a hybrid Pinot Palooza x Mould fest. Pinot Palooza 2024 Dates and Venues: Friday, October 4–Saturday, October 5: Carriageworks, Eveleigh, Sydney Friday, November 15–Saturday, November 16: Exhibition Building, Brisbane Showgrounds, Brisbane Friday, November 22–Saturday, November 23: Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton, Melbourne Pinot Palooza will tour Australia's east coast in October–November 2024. For more information, and for tickets, head to the event's website.
After blowing Sydneysiders away with her singing, dancing and towering cosmic structures at the Sydney Opera House last year for Vivid Live, Solange is heading Down Under once more. The Grammy Award-winning singer — composer, choreographer, actress, filmmaker, fashion icon — is coming back to the Opera House for four shows in January 2020. Mark it in your calendars, friends. If you were one of the lucky ones to score tickets the sold out show last year, you'll know what to expect come January: a stunning 360-degree stage, a live band, a team of incredibly choreographed dancers. Although this time, instead of singing and dancing to A Seat at the Table under a giant moon-like sphere, Solange will be performing her new album When I Get Home in Australia for the first time. Featuring hits such as 'Way to the Show', 'Dreams' and 'Binz' — and collaborators such as Pharrell, Sampha, Gucci Mane and Tyler, the Creator — the album is an ode to Solange's hometown of Houston, Texas. It was released alongside a 33-minute art film of the same name, which you can watch on YouTube while you're waiting for her Aussie return. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv_bpnIFr5g/?utm_source=ig_embed While the stage will look a little different to the one above, we're told to expect something similarly impressive. You can get a glimpse of what to expect from the new choreography, too, by checking out Solange's Instagram. The Sydney Opera House performances will be Solange's only Aussie shows, so, if you're interstate we suggest you start keeping an eye on cheap flights. Solange will perform four shows in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on January 27, 28, 30 and 31. Pre-sale tickets are available from 9am on Wednesday, August 21 with general sale starting at 9am on Friday, August 23 via the Sydney Opera House website. Images: Max Hirschberger
It can be very tough for young theatre and performance makers to get a break into the industry. Finding an opportunity to test, experiment and explore the process of making work is essential to their development – but these opportunities are hard to find. Once again the wonderful La Boite has the answer with the Scratch program. In 2011 Scratch has offered five performance artists the wonderful opportunity to scratch the surface, to test their work and to see what happens. The lucky participants are playwright David Burton; performance educator and director Emma Che Martin; contemporary performance-maker and producer Genevieve Trace; performance-maker Sarah Winter; and dancer and choreographer Liesel Zink. They have each been given two opportunities in 2011 to scratch the surface, testing their work in front of audiences in a low-tech context to get audience feedback on their work and they need you. You can be part of the next wave of performance making: viewing cutting edge, fresh work and offering your insights into how to improve and change these new performances. There are three more opportunities this year, and tickets are only $10, so get on down to La Boite and be part of the process in making great performance in Brisbane.
Southeast Queensland musical fans, the iconic theatre shows just keep coming — and the next production heading the region's way wants you to take a jump to the left. After already starting its Australian comeback in 2023, which began with a Sydney premiere season, The Rocky Horror Show has locked in Gold Coast dates in spring. For half a century now, this hit musical has been astounding. And, with the Richard O'Brien-created production lasting that long, perhaps time really is fleeting. Either way, whenever this sci-fi/horror musical hits the stage — and wherever — a glorious kind of madness takes its toll. Come September, Queensland audiences will be able to listen closely — and watch Jerry Springer: The Opera, In the Heights and & Juliet Olivier Award-winner David Bedella as Frank N Furter put his hands on his hips, then bring his knees in tight, too — when the famed musical plays The Star on its huge 50th-anniversary tour. The Rocky Horror Show's brand-new Aussie run kicked off at Theatre Royal Sydney in February, is currently playing Adelaide, and next opens in Melbourne on Thursday, May 18. It will head to Perth before the Gold Coast, then Canberra afterwards. There's no word yet on a Brisbane season, so if you're keen to do 'The Time Warp' along with the production without leaving the Sunshine State, hitting up the Gold Coast from Sunday, September 3 is your only chance so far. On offer: the tale that theatre audiences have loved for five decades — and movie-goers as well, thanks to 1975's iconic big-screen release The Rocky Horror Picture Show. For the uninitiated, the story involves college-aged couple Brad Majors and Janet Weiss getting a flat tyre, then wandering over to an old castle to ask for help. That's where they discover an extra-terrestrial mad scientist from the galaxy of Transylvania, plus his staff and his Frankenstein-style experiments. Bedella takes over from Jason Donovan, who has been slipping on Frank N Furter's fishnets down south. So far, the Australian tour has also been starring Myf Warhurst as The Narrator; however, whether she'll take on that role on the Gold Coast hasn't been confirmed. Either way, the show also features Ellis Dolan (School of Rock) as Eddie/Dr Scott, Darcey Eagle (Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical) as Columbia, Ethan Jones (9 to 5 The Musical) as Brad, Deirdre Khoo (Once) as Janet, Loredo Malcolm as Rocky (Hamilton) and Henry Rollo (Jagged Little Pill the Musical) as Riff Raff. Since first premiering in London in June 1973, The Rocky Horror Show has played in more than 30 countries — and over 30 million people have seen songs like 'Science Fiction/Double Feature', 'Dammit, Janet!', 'Sweet Transvestite', 'Over at the Frankenstein Place' and 'Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me'. If you haven't been before — and missed the live broadcast from Sydney back in March — this is your turn to join in. The Rocky Horror Show's 2023 Australian tour will play The Star on the Gold Coast from Sunday, September 3, with tickets on sale now via the production's website. Images: Daniel Boud.
For decades, Australians have been told that a hard-earned thirst needs a big, cold beer. In Iceland, a well-deserved soak also needs just that — and a whole tub full of brews. Helping keep the Scandinavian nation on the top of everyone's travel bucket list, it now boasts its first ever beer spa. Yes, that involves sitting in yeasty goodness while drinking it. Just opened in Árskógssandur in the country's north, Bjórböðin features nine tubs just waiting for beer lovers to take a dip in their favourite beverage. Seven two-person baths, made from Kambala wood, can be found inside, while two larger hot tubs capable of seating 8 to 10 people take the brew-soaking action outside. Each is filled with beer, water, hops and yeast, and don't worry — while you can knock back a few draughts while they're there, drinking the bathwater isn't on the agenda. Visitors steep themselves in the warm brew for 25 minutes at a time, then head for a 25-minute spell in a relaxation room. To get the most out of the soak (because bathing in beer is all about boosting your skin and hair, not just sitting in the tasty amber liquid), showering for a few hours isn't recommended. For those keen on making the trek, there's also a restaurant on site, helping everyone pair their drinking with a meal. And if you're eager to bathe in brews in more than one place, plan an Iceland-US round trip, with a beer hotel planned in Columbus, Ohio. Image: Bjórböðin.
At the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, the St Kilda Road venue's indoor spaces are gearing up to host an array of breathtaking garments as part of its soon-to-launch blockbuster Alexander McQueen exhibition. But its grounds have already scored a fresh injection of colour for the summer, and that's thanks to the winning NGV 2022 Architecture Commission, Temple of Boom, which has now made its home in the site's Grollo Equiset Garden. The boldly coloured replica of Greece's famed Parthenon is parking itself in the Melbourne spot until August 2023, and is set to be continually refreshed with large-scale works by various local artists during its stay. The structure itself is the work of Adam Newman and Kelvin Tsang, celebrating The Parthenon as a symbol of Western civilisation, democracy and enduring beauty — and built to reflect on the impact time has on architecture. The latter is what'll also drive Temple of Boom's ever-shifting look, the first of which features vibrant optical illusions and floral elements by contemporary artists Manda Lane, Drez and David Lee Pereira. Lane's work centres around relationships between the man-made and the natural; Pereira is known for his explorations of gender and identity fluidity; and Drez's murals challenge perspective using colour and form. While the structure will be transformed with different artworks across three phases of its stay, it'll also work as a community meeting spot and play host to an extended program of events. That includes a calendar of talks, performances and VR experiences held in collaboration with the Hellenic Museum Melbourne; and a lineup of Friday evening DJ sets as announced for the new NGV Friday Nights summer season. Catch 'Temple of Boom' in the Grollo Equiset Garden, NGV International, 180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, until August 2023. Images: Installation view of the 2022 NGV Architecture Commission 'Temple of Boom', designed by Adam Newman and Kelvin Tsang, at NGV International from 22 November 2022–August 2023. Photo by Sean Fennessy.
In news that will enrage haters of performance art, legendary provocateur Marina Abramovic just announced her next artwork: "nothing". Yup. The woman who once cut a star into her stomach then lay naked on a block of ice and invited audience members to point a loaded gun at her head — this artist is going to be doing absolutely nothing for eight hours a day, six days a week, for 65 days. No tricks. For those more familiar with Abramovic's work, this new project at London's Serpentine Gallery sounds eerily similar to her most famous piece, The Artist Is Present. This 2010 performance work — which inspired its own documentary — involved Abramovic sitting in silence at the Museum of Modern Art staring at whoever sat opposite her. Dealing with intimacy and catharsis, the artwork became famous for its effect on audience members and spawned the fan blog Marina Abramovic Made Me Cry. From the pictures we can conclude that James Franco and Alan Rickman didn't shed a tear, but Jessa from Girls was bawling. So, if your last work consisted of silently sitting in a chair and staring at people for 736 hours, how can your next piece be "nothing"? It's like when you tell a smartarse friend you're doing 'nothing' and they point out you're breathing, standing or looking. What will she be doing? The real game changer here will be the audience. Stripped of all bags, jackets, watches, phones and cameras, each participant will enter the space where Abramovic has been completely disconnected from the outside world. The piece will be "unscripted and improvised", entirely dependent on audience behaviour and action. "There is not any work. It's just me," said the artist on BBC Radio. "The public is my live material. It is the most radical, the most pure I can do." Take a good look, people. At this point Marina Abramovic basically is art. Via Huffpost Arts & Culture.
David O. Russell clearly knows when he's onto a good thing. Over the last few years, the writer/director has found a formula that works and it seems like he's sticking with it. He casts actors Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, tells stories of ordinary folks trying to escape dysfunction and chase better lives; and adopts a tone that shifts between harsh reality and fairytale. First Silver Linings Playbook. Then American Hustle. Now, his latest effort, Joy. This time around, Russell offers up a fictionalised account of the rise of a real-life home shopping network star. In the early 1990s, Joy Mangano (Lawrence) was a Long Island divorcee coping with caring for her two young children while living in a house with her daytime TV-loving mother (Virginia Madsen), ailing grandmother (Diane Ladd), singer ex-husband (Edgar Ramirez) and thrice-married father (De Niro). Then, while cleaning up spilled wine, she came up with the idea for the first-ever self-wringing mop. Enter an Italian investor (Isabella Rossellini), and, eventually, a television executive (Cooper). Yes, Joy is a rags-to-riches tale of a battler trying to improve herself and her situation; however it's also something more. It wrestles Russell's current patterns and preferences into a canny character study, watching on as a woman fights for agency and control, despite constantly being told that she should take care of others and reign in her go-getting ways. Weaving in surreal soap opera segments — and at its best when it's following its protagonist on the small screen or in the studio — the film becomes an astute and engaging dissection of the power of selling a fantasy. Of course, the latter works so well because that's exactly what the movie does, with Joy's success never in doubt (the film notes at the outset that it's inspired by stories of brave women, including one in particular). Indeed, Joy sells its namesake's journey from domestic unhappiness to business domination by making everything seem equally authentic and fanciful. The movie casts a dream-like sheen over crumbling interiors, proceeds at a lively pace through tough moments, and favours an upbeat soundtrack, all to create a purposefully wavering mood. In doing so, it manages to remain sincere, not satirical. That's where Lawrence proves pivotal too. When the going gets tough, she's determined rather than defeated; when everything appears to be coming together, she never patches over Joy's struggles. Her co-stars mightn't all fare as well, particularly De Niro's disapproving dad. Still, Madsen and Rossellini have their comic moments, and Ramirez and Cooper benefit from less chaotic roles. Besides, such a mix of performances feels fitting. Joy pairs a filmmaker's usual tricks and tendencies with a mostly-true tale of tenacity, serving up amusement and insight in the process.
The biggest horror movie of 2018 kept things muted. We're talking about A Quiet Place, of course, and we mean that in a very literal sense. The blockbuster monster flick tasked a young family with staying soundless, lest they be heard and then killed by giant spider-like creatures — and their efforts to survive became a huge box office hit. A Quiet Place's hushed tones were so successful, they had a flow-on effect. When you watched the film in a cinema, you probably glared whenever someone near you crunched popcorn, crinkled a packet of chips or started talking. Your ears keenly listened out for any noise that could put Lee (John Krasinski, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan), Evelyn (Emily Blunt, Wild Mountain Thyme), Regan (Millicent Simmonds, Wonderstruck) and Marcus (Noah Jupe, Honey Boy) Abbott in jeopardy, and you didn't want some loud person in the next row ruining that viewing experience. The frightful aliens, the hushed tones and Emily Blunt in kick-ass mode — it's all back thanks to sequel A Quiet Place Part II, which hits cinemas Down Under on May 27 more than a year later than originally planned due to pandemic delays. Also returning: hoping that your fellow cinema-goers don't make a sound while you soak in every second of expertly calibrated stillness. Like the first film, this follow-up is directed and written by Krasinski, with Blunt, Simmons and Jupe all returning on-screen. The sequel's cast also welcomes franchise newcomers Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders) and Djimon Hounsou (Guardians of the Galaxy). And while Krasinski is due to pop up among the actors as well, going back and watching the original movie again will remind you of the type of role he'll be playing this time around. As the initial trailer way back in January 2020 showed, and the just-dropped latest sneak peek does as well, A Quiet Place Part II picks up where its predecessor left off. Both suitably unsettling glimpses start with a flashback to the day the monsters initially made their presence known, before jumping to Evelyn, Regan and Marcus' latest attempts to avoid the fearsome creatures. Expect plenty of bumps, jumps and — naturally — silence. Check out the new trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id00Eq1j8M4&feature=youtu.be After being delayed from its original 2020 release date, A Quiet Place Part II will open in Australian cinemas on May 27. Image: © 2019 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved
Clouds are already pretty magical. They float around the sky above us, giving us shade (the good kind) and provide perfect material to gaze at while lying in the grass. Spotting shapes in clouds is a familiar childhood pastime for most of us — you see a monster, then your mum's face, then a flower. It's like an inkblot test for primary schoolers. Now the grownups have had their turn, and the results are kind of amazing. Argentinian artist Martin Feijoo bases his work on these moving blobs of cotton wool (or gas? — we're not great at science). From staring up and the sky and using his imagination, Feijoo has produced a gorgeous body of work from what he terms 'Shaping Clouds'. After taking a photo of the sky, the artist pencils in the full image he sees in his mind. This of course leads to some outlandish images. Giant sea turtles dive down to the earth below and a platypus with a giant neck attempts to walk on its hind legs. "When I was a child I was told that clouds’ shapes were created by expert balloon twister clowns who live in the sky," says the artist. "I imagine someone made [these clouds] for me." Now that the dreary skies of winter are gone, we can't wait to do some sky-gazing of our own. Check out the artist's Tumblr to see the full drawing process. Via Lost at E Minor and Daily Mail.
A good night's sleep is one of life's pure joys — and what better way is there to enhance your year than with a new set of bed sheets or a new mattress. Melbourne-designed Eva Mattress is here to help up your comfort level with its Easter sale. It's doing $50 off sheets and more than $100 off mattresses — and that's just the start. Up until 10am on Tuesday, April 6, the local Aussie retailer is offering big discounts so you can ensure you're nice and cosy each night before winter rolls around. Expect $125 off its Eva mattress, $50 off the Eva pillow, $50 off Eva hemp linen and $50 off timber bed frames. The brand's award-winning mattress-in-a-box has been engineered as a hybrid, which means it combines the comfort of memory foam with the support of pocket springs. The memory foam pillow uses activated charcoal to keep you cool and dry throughout the night. The timber bed frame, winner of a 2020 Good Design Award, has been certified by the Forrest Stewardship Council, meaning it's made from sustainably sourced timber. If you do spring for the mattress, sheets, pillow or bed frame, they come with a 120-night free trial, so you can be sure they'll help you get a good night sleep before you commit. Also, all mattress orders come with a 12-year warranty, ensuring you'll be sleeping pretty for years to come. Browse the store and pick up a discount. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
Australia's most sinister festival, Dark Mofo, is back for its seventh year and is set to be as boundary-pushing as ever, with its initial lineup announced today. As always, the festival will take place in the lead up to the winter solstice, exploring connections between old and contemporary mythology through art installations, performance, talks and music — all taking place in the darkness of Tasmanian winter. Hosted by the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Dark Mofo will takeover most of Hobart between June 3–23, showcasing a melting pot of artists, creatives and thinkers who dwell in the shadows of mainstream culture. Kicking things off is the festival's ideas symposium Dark + Dangerous Thoughts, running from June 6 to 9, which will present varied perspectives on issues of identity and politics from writers, commentators and thinkers such as homegrown talent Stan Grant, Yumi Stynes, Nakkiah Lui and Ginger Gorman alongside international guests Jennifer Boylan, Frederic Martel, and Coleman Hughes, among many others. Talks will navigate controversial topics such as Australia Day, average sex and priests in the closet. On site at MONA, installations by Ai Weiwei, Alfredo Jaar, Oliver Beer and Chris Townsend will be exhibited as well as MONA's own Kirsha Kaechele, who'll bring her book Eat the Problem to life with a series of immersive feasts (expect cane toads, starfish and camel), and an exhibition featuring one of the world's largest glockenspiels. Sharon Van Etten – the American musician and composer, who's appeared in David Lynch's Twin Peaks: The Return and Netflix's OA – is set to perform a night of disjointed, wistful and at times menacing folk-rock-pop with her new album Remind Me Tomorrow at the Odean on Sunday, June 9. [caption id="attachment_619495" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dark Mofo's Winter Feast, shot by Rémi Chauvin.[/caption] And back again for another extravagant performance is Mike Parr with Towards a Black Square – a lengthy blindfolded performance in an undisclosed location, shown through live video feed – while over at DarkLab's deconsecrated church, controversial Australian artist Paul Yore will transform the space into a technicolour shrine for Dolly Parton, Justin Bieber and other icons of sex, love and the excessive with It's All Wrong But It's Alright. The full lineup is yet to be announced, but we're expecting all the regular winter feasts, nude swims and warehouse parties will return, too. We'll update you when it drops on Friday, April 12. Dark Mofo returns to Hobart from June 6 and 23. The full lineup will be announced Friday April 12. Pre-sale tickets are available from 6pm on Monday, April 15 with general tickets on sale from 11pm on Tuesday, April 16. For more information, visit the festival website.
If you're a wannabe wizard or witch looking for more Harry Potter magic in your life, the last few years have provided plenty of ways to accio up some enchanting fun. Harry Potter-themed potions bars have popped up across Australia and New Zealand, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child hit the stage in Melbourne, and screenings, parties, escape rooms, scavenger hunts and other HP-centric events have been common everywhere, really. You can also play Pokemon Go-style game Wizards Unite or browse your way through the online Harry Potter at Home portal whenever you like, too. Soon, all of above will pale in comparison to the kind of space HP fans can really lose themselves in — and one that, hopefully, visitors will need a Marauder's Map to get around. That'd be a dedicated Harry Potter theme park, which is set to open in Japan in the first half of 2023. Fingers (or wands) crossed that international travel is back to normal by then. As first reported earlier this year, the new park will take over part of the existing Toshimaen amusement park in Tokyo's Nerima ward. That site has been up and running for 94 years, but will close at the end of August 2020 — so Warner Bros Studio Tours, Warner Bros Japan, Seibu Railway Co Ltd, ITOCHU Corporation and Fuyo General Lease Co Ltd are teaming up, waving a few magic wands about and turning a section of it into a Harry Potter-theme park. [caption id="attachment_761496" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Toshimaen. Image: Rsa via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Called Warner Bros Studio Tour Tokyo — The Making of Harry Potter, the new venture will take more than a few cues from the existing Harry Potter attraction in London, which spans costumes, props, exhibitions and special events. That means there'll be a focus on sets that fans can tour, rather than rides. If you were hoping to play quidditch, travel by portkey or ride the floo network, that doesn't seem to be on the agenda, sorry. Instead, visitors will be taken "on a fascinating behind the scenes tour of the Wizarding World series," according to the statement officially announcing the Tokyo park. Over a space of about 30,000 square metres that'll include a soundstage and backlot area, there'll be movie sets that were designed and built by the creators of the Harry Potter series, as well as original outfits and items from the films. Overall, it's expected to take patrons about half a day to wander through it all. [caption id="attachment_761499" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Warner Bros Studio Tour London[/caption] Warner Bros Studio Tour Tokyo — The Making of Harry Potter will be ticketed, unsurprisingly, but outside the entrance it'll also feature a landscaped area filled with sculptures of Harry Potter figures — and that'll be accessible to both park visitors and local residents. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will be turning the rest of Toshimaen Amusement Park's grounds into a public park, with the Harry Potter tour and the rest of site coordinating their development plans. Japan is already home to a Harry Potter theme park zone at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka — so diehard devotees just might have to visit two of the country's cities. When it comes to fruition, add the dedicated Harry Potter theme park to Japan's hefty range of pop culture-themed attractions. A Super Nintendo amusement park zone is due to open at the aforementioned Universal Studios Japan in Osaka this year, a forthcoming Godzilla attraction will let you zipline into the monster's mouth, and a Studio Ghibli theme park is in the works — and Tokyo already boasts huge Godzilla and Gundam statues, as well as the Studio Ghibli Museum just outside the city. Top image: Warner Bros Studio Tour London.
Since 2018, television has had an Atlanta-shaped hole where one of the best shows of the past decade should've sat. The Donald Glover-created, -starring, -co-written and -sometimes-directed series made a huge splash when it first arrived in 2016, then followed up its stellar first season with a phenomenal second batch of episodes — but, as fans have seen happen for Earnest 'Earn' Marks on-screen, too, life got in the way of the program's third season. Glover has been busy over the past four years, of course. Since we've last seen him play Earn, he's cancelled and rescheduled Australian tours, played Coachella, voiced Simba in the photorealistic remake of The Lion King, dropped albums and made Guava Island with Rihanna, and that was all before the pandemic. Thankfully, making more Atlanta also found its way onto his to-do list — and Australians will be able to start watching the results via SBS and SBS On Demand from Friday, March 25. To tide you over until then, the full trailer for Atlanta's third season has just dropped — and Earn and his pals are busy here, too. His cousin Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry, Godzilla vs Kong), aka Paper Boi, is touring Europe, with Earn along for the ride alongside Alfred's righthand man Darius (Lakeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah). As this latest sneak peek shows, eerie Santas, gushing fans and strange parties are all involved, in a trailer that sports a surreal vibe from start to finish. If you're new to the show, it dropped into Earn's life after he'd quit Princeton, returned home to the titular city, then began managing his Alfred's rap career — but little has ever gone as planned for him since. The 30-something also has an on-again-off-again relationship with Van (Zazie Beetz, The Harder They Fall), with the pair sharing a daughter, which throws up complications on a regular basis. Tackling the ins and outs of Earn and co's lives — including the daily reality of being Black in America today — while examining race, money, relationships, parenthood, art, music and simply trying to get by: that's Atlanta on paper, and it hits all of those marks devastatingly well. But, as the marvel that was season two's Teddy Perkins episode demonstrated, this series always bobs and weaves in its own unexpected directions. And yes, as well as being one of the best things on TV, it boasts one of the best casts on television, too. Atlanta will end after its fourth season, which is set to also air in 2022, arriving sometime during spring Down Under — but for now, season three's March 25 premiere date can't come soon enough. Check out the full trailer for Atlanta's third season below: Atlanta season three will start screening via SBS and streaming via SBS On Demand from Friday, March 25.
There's plenty to look at in Yves Saint Laurent, a new biopic of the legendary fashion designer. As well as giving the world the iconic Le Smoking women's tuxedo, he is credited with making ready-to-wear reputable in world of haute couture. His fashion journey — and personal one — is brought to life by director Jalil Lespert and gangly actor Pierre Niney in this French-language biopic. This film opens in 1953, as the 18-year-old Laurent wins a major fashion prize, which leads him to take over the Christian Dior legacy. Here he meets Pierre Berge, patron of the arts, future business partner and the love of his life. Three years later, they create the Yves Saint Laurent company and revolutionise the world of fashion. The film was made with the support of the Foundation of Yves Saint Laurent. The upshot of this is that the filmmakers were able to use all the original YSL designs. Get ready to feast your eyes. Read our full review here. Yves Saint Laurent is in cinemas on June 26, and thanks to Entertainment One, we have ten double in-season passes to give away. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email us with your name and address. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au https://youtube.com/watch?v=-ec-DQ_7EUM
It’s a hard slog for the Brisbane band. Yes, there are the Powderfingers, the Grates and the Regurgitators of the world, but then there are the others, who play every week at a different bar, slowly finding their way in. New wave Brisbane band The Cairos have certainly done the slog, but it seems now that it all paying off, and this awesome foursome looks on their way to joining that shining list of top-notch Brisbane bands. In recent times The Cairos have had support slots for the likes of The Temper Trap, You Am I, Powderfinger, The Mess Hall, and Birds of Tokyo, and were on the bill for the 2010 Parklife festival. Not bad chaps! Thus with the band gadding about like mad things, Brisbane fans should get their skates on and organise tickets to The Cairos gig at The Zoo before they sell out, and this band is too big for old Brisbane town’s boots. This is band’s last tour on the back of their EP Summer Catalogue, following these gigs the band will be heading back to the studio to make some more beautiful music together.
