Detective Robbie Green (Jonathan LaPaglia) is called in to investigate the murder of his former partner, Detective Jason Pearson (Luke Hemsworth). Green and his new partner, Detective Jane Lambert (Viva Bianca), find themselves on the tail of two runaways, ultra-religious cancer-ridden Rachel (Hannah Mangan Lawrence) and her unstable boyfriend, AJ (Alex Williams), who are filming a "documentary" as they seek Biblical retribution for the drug-related death of Rachel's sister. If this sounds like the type of story (and character naming conventions) of an American film circa 1993, you wouldn't be far off. The Reckoning, despite being filmed in Perth and featuring an Australian cast, feels like as if its main concern is ensuring that every element be a facsimile of US thriller tropes. LaPaglia's Green is a short-tempered alcoholic who is trying to be a good father despite being married to the job. Priests wait in candlelit gothic churches to talk wisely to those seeking guidance. High-tech, CSI-style equipment can be used to facially identify anyone spotted on a security camera. And so on. This aping isn't inherently a bad thing. Even the best Australian films are criticised for not even trying to appeal to mass audiences, and the ones that do are so often dismissed as being populist. An industry that produces as few films as ours does cannot afford sub-genres, and so there's little patience for films that are not all things to all people. So with the wider context established, let's pull back before we fall into the trap of reviewing the industry instead of the film. As a gritty crime thriller, The Reckoning is moderately successful. It's diversionary, predictable, derivative and silly, and there's no denying that there's an audience for that. It's slick, too. The kind of slickness that will make it palatable to someone who wants to have something on in the background when it finally does the home video and TV rounds. But there's little in here that would interest a modern audience looking to plonk nearly $20 down for a night out at the cinema. It's not just the story and style that feels dated, but the idea that this possesses anything to distinguish it from a thousand other similarly themed thrillers. Everything in The Reckoning is achingly American, and this would be annoying if it wasn't so obviously deliberate. This is a film with its eye firmly on international sales and goes out of its way to filter out anything that makes it feel Australian. The religious angle, for instance, is weirdly anachronistic, with a priests talking in haughty "my child" this and "the Lord says" that dialogue. Blurry number plates are zoomed in on and enhanced into the sort of clarity that only made sense about twenty years ago when nobody knew how video worked. If all this sounds like nitpicking, well, yes, it is. But it is these details that make or break a film, and with a plot that is as by-the-numbers as this one is, we rely on details to turn it into something more interesting or unique. The Reckoning is a fascinating film for all the wrong reasons. It is out of time, decades too late to be of any interest, and so desperate to cover up its country of origin that its edges are sanded down into something that is ultimately of zero consequence. https://youtube.com/watch?v=gjJgFijldaw
It's not every comedian who would take a nonchalant detour from her LA stand-up set to announce to the audience she'd just been diagnosed with breast cancer. That day. "With humour, the equation is tragedy plus time equals comedy," said Tig Notaro that night. "I am just at tragedy right now." A brave, matter of fact Grammy-nominee who did something instantly legendary in 2012, Notaro has just announced she's coming back to Australia. One of the US's biggest stand-up comedians, Notaro is heading to our shores from December 6 – 13 for a limited run of dates presented by Melbourne International. Stopping by Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, Notaro's Boyish Girl Interrupted tour is sure sell out venues within an inch of their capacity — having sold out her wildly successful Edinburg Fringe run last year and sold a casual 100,000+ copies of her Grammy-nominated, second comedy album Live, the follow up to her 2011 debut Good One. Notaro's blend of humour and real life truth bombs have earned her serious high fives from some significantly kickass people — Louis CK tweeted after her LA show, "In my 27 years doing this I have seen a handful of truly masterful performances. One was Tig Notaro last night." Then This American Life's Ira Glass went and praised his frequent TAL contributor, "Tig is now in the heads of hundreds of thousands of people who don’t see her as a comic, she’s now their favourite person." Throw in some kickass guest appearances on The Office, The Sarah Silverman Program, Inside Amy Schumer and Community and you've got yourself one truly applauseworthy comedian. Tig Notaro's Boyish Girl Interrupted 2014 Dates: Perth: Saturday 6 Dec, 8pm — Regal Theatre. Tickets via Ticketek. Melbourne: Tuesday 9 Dec, 8pm — Athenaeum Theatre. Tickets via Ticketek. Brisbane: Thursday 11 Dec, 8pm — Tivoli Theatre. Tickets via Ticketmaster. Sydney: Saturday 13 Dec, 8pm — Enmore Theatre. Tickets via Ticketek. Tickets on sale on Wednesday 17 September. Image: Ruthie Watt.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Brisbane at present. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. LAMB Just over a decade ago, Noomi Rapace was The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo — The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, too. After starring in the first film adaptations of Steig Larsson's best-selling Millennium books, the Swedish actor then brought her penchant for simmering ferocity to Alien prequel Prometheus, and to movies as varied as erotic thriller Passion, crime drama The Drop and Australian-shot thriller Angel of Mine. But Lamb might be her best role yet, and best performance. A picture that puts her silent film era-esque features to stunning use, it stares into the soul of a woman not just yearning for her own modest slice of happiness, but willing to do whatever it takes to get it. It also places Rapace opposite a flock of sheep, and has her cradle a baby that straddles both species; however, this Icelandic blend of folk-horror thrills, relationship dramas and even deadpan comedy is as human as it is ovine. At first, Lamb is all animal. Something rumbles in the movie's misty, mountainside farm setting, spooking the horses. In the sheep barn, where cinematographer Eli Arenson (Hospitality) swaps arresting landscape for a ewe's-eye view, the mood is tense and restless as well. Making his feature debut, filmmaker Valdimar Jóhannsson doesn't overplay his hand early. As entrancing as the movie's visuals prove in all their disquieting stillness, he keeps the film cautious about what's scaring the livestock. But Lamb's expert sound design offers a masterclass in evoking unease from its very first noise, and makes it plain that all that eeriness, anxiety and dripping distress has an unnerving — and tangible — source. The farm belongs to Rapace's Maria and her partner Ingvar (Hilmir Snær Guðnason, A White, White Day), who've thrown themselves into its routines after losing a child. They're a couple that let their taciturn faces do the talking, including with each other, but neither hides their delight when one ewe gives birth to a hybrid they name Ada. Doting and beaming, they take the sheep-child into their home as their own. Its woolly mother stands staring and baa-ing outside their kitchen window, but they're both content in and fiercely protective of their newfound domestic happiness. When Ingvar's ex-pop star brother Pétur (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga) arrives unexpectedly, they don't even dream of hiding their new family idyll — even as he's initially shocked and hardly approving. Enticing, surreal and starkly unsettling all at once, Lamb also benefits from exceptional animal performances — it won the Cannes Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize for Palm Dog, the prestigious event's awards for best canine acting — and its own savvy. It nabbed Un Certain Regard Prize of Originality at Cannes as well, but the movie's shrewdness isn't limited to its standout concept. Each patient shot that roves over the hillside, peeks through the fog, and soaks in the strain and pressure is just as astute. Each rustle, huff and jangle in the film's soundscape proves the same. Every aesthetic decision paints Lamb in unease and uncertainty, in fact, and lets its lingering gaze towards the steely Rapace, affecting Guðnason and their four-legged co-stars unleash an intense and absurdist pastoral symphony of dread and hope, bleakness and sweetness, and terror and love. Read our full review. I'M WANITA In Amy, Whitney: Can I Be Me, Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry and similar documentaries, audiences nabbed behind-the-scenes glimpses at music superstars. Via personal and candid footage not initially intended for mass consumption, viewers peeked behind the facade of celebrity — but I'm Wanita evokes the same feelings of intimacy and revelation by pointing its lens at a singer who isn't yet a household name. The self-described 'Australian queen of honky tonk', Wanita Bahtiyar hasn't given filmmaker Matthew Walker a treasure trove of archival materials to weave through his feature debut. Rather, the Tamworth local opens up her daily existence to his observational gaze. Following his 2015 short film about Wanita, Heart of the Queen, Walker spent five years capturing her life — and the resulting doco is as wily as its subject is unpredictable. I'm Wanita mightn't spring from a dream archive of existing footage, but it does dedicate its frames to a dream point of focus; its namesake is the type of subject documentarians surely pray they stumble across. Since becoming obsessed with Hank Williams and Loretta Lynn as a child, Wanita has chased music stardom. Her voice earned her ample attention from her teen years onwards, and her first album received rave reviews that she giddily quotes now; however, she's spent her adult life drinking, partying, and supplementing occasional gigs with sex work. Today, she's a legend in her own head, and also an erratic whirlwind. I'm Wanita charts her trip to Nashville to finally make the record she's always wanted, and yet it never paints her tale as a simplistic portrait of talent unrealised. At home with her beleaguered Turkish husband, rustling up the cash for her big trip with fellow muso and her now-stressed manager Gleny Rae Virus, and in the studio she's always fantasised about, Wanita consistently dances to her own song. She spits out frank and pithy quotes that Walker splashes across the screen as text a little too often, too, but her determination to succeed (and her certainty about her talent) isn't matched by any skerrick of willingness to take a plain, breezy and direct route. It's to Walker's credit that he lets I'm Wanita follow its eponymous figure on that messy and meandering journey, rather than simmering down her story to fit a neat narrative. A Star Is Born, this isn't — even with a glorious closing number that could easily cap off a Hollywood melodrama. Indeed, this is a film about challenges, clashes, contradictions, and careening from highs to lows, with every flat note in Wanita's quest for fame and acclaim largely stemming from the woman herself. It's as rich and engaging a character study that a filmmaker could hope for, because there's simply so much to examine and interrogate (be it Wanita's complicated relationship with her mother and the impact it had on her own efforts with her now mostly estranged daughter, or her belief that alcohol improves her performance versus the reality of seeing her sauced in the studio). Crucially, this is a documentary about pluck, passion, self-belief and self-sabotage, and it steadfastly sees every extreme and everything in-between with clear eyes. In other words, it's the music doco equivalent of a country song, turning hopes and heartbreak into affecting art. WAITING FOR ANYA Great intentions and great films don't always go hand in hand, with Waiting for Anya the latest example. The World War II-set drama treads a path that everything from Lore and The Book Thief to Jojo Rabbit and When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit already have, exploring the conflict's impact upon young hearts and minds — and jumping, as those four other movies did, from the page to the screen. It contrasts the efforts of a French boy in Vichy France with those of Jewish children trying to stay alive, the former aiding the latter in his small village in the Pyrenees. It's a feature made with the utmost earnestness and sincerity, expectedly given the scenario. And yet, it also makes every obvious and easy choice, diluting any potential emotional impact by happily wallowing in Second World War-themed movie-of-the-week territory. As adapted by writer/director Ben Cookson (Almost Married) and screenwriter Toby Torlesse (My Dad's Christmas Date) from a book by War Horse author Michael Morpurgo, Waiting for Anya doesn't waste any time in demonstrating its overt approach. In an early scene, shepherd Jo (Noah Schnapp, Stranger Things) tends to his flock when a bear comes a-lumbering. Soon, the Nazis will do the same. The bear couldn't be more heavy-handed a metaphor, especially in a movie that begins with Jewish man Benjamin (Frederick Schmidt, The Alienist) escaping the train to a concentration camp and secreting away his daughter Anya (debutant Dolma Raisson). In a movie that confronts the Holocaust from the outset, and also provides on-screen text explaining the historical situation, that initial animal attack can only play as needlessly blunt. Jo and Benjamin meet because of that bear, however. And when the teen follows the stranger afterwards, he learns his story. Staying with his mother-in-law (Anjelica Huston, John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum), Benjamin is now doing exactly what the movie's moniker explains, all as other kids make their way to the same farm as a stopover before crossing the mountains to safety in Spain. Jo pledges to help, initially fetching food from the village, and hiding his actions from his mother (Elsa Zylberstein, Selfie) and grandfather (Jean Reno, Da 5 Bloods). But then the Germans arrive, making the situation far more precarious — even if one officer (Thomas Kretschmann, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels) shows uncharacteristic kindness towards Jo. Yes, Waiting for Anya includes a friendly Nazi among its cliches, which is just one of its many poor decisions. Every character is so thinly written, they could fall over if a bear even looked their way or a stiff mountain breeze swelled up. The cast, all putting in passable performances at best, can't improve the material's sore lack of depth — or its inescapably clumsy dialogue. The choice to speak in accented English proves clunky as well, unsurprisingly, making the film feel like a relic from the 70s or 80s. And although the setting should look gorgeous and scenic, visually the sappy and overstated feature resembles one of the many fictional titles that pop up in other movies and TV shows, typically as parodies (aka the flicks listed on website Nestflix). If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on June 10, June 17 and June 24; July 1, July 8, July 15, July 22 and July 29; August 5, August 12, August 19 and August 26; September 2, September 9, September 16, September 23 and September 30; and October 7. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Lapsis, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Fast and Furious 9, Valerie Taylor: Playing with Sharks, In the Heights, Herself, Little Joe, Black Widow, The Sparks Brothers, Nine Days, Gunpowder Milkshake, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Old, Jungle Cruise, The Suicide Squad, Free Guy, Respect, The Night House, Candyman, Annette, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Streamline, Coming Home in the Dark, Pig, Big Deal, The Killing of Two Lovers, Nitram, Riders of Justice, The Alpinist and A Fire Inside.
UPDATE: FEBRUARY 12, 2019 — This winter, we'll be able to return to Margaret Atwood's unsettling dystopian realm, with the announcement that the third series of The Handmaid's Tale will hit SBS and SBS On Demand at 8.30pm on Thursday, June 6. Lucky for us Down Under, this is the same time as it'll be dropping on Hulu in the States, so hopefully no spoilers will crop up. The 13-episode series will follow June's (Offred's) continued struggle against the controlling regime. While details are scarce, a teaser was dropped during this month's Super Bowl — which you can watch below. Under his eye. Praise be, Handmaid's Tale fans. The series' third season is due to hit the small screen sometime this year, and US streaming platform Hulu has just released the first sneak peek during the Super Bowl. Blessed be not only the fruit but the football, we guess. If you've been immersed in this world from the absolute beginning and can remember the show's first trailer, then this initial look at the next season will feel somewhat familiar. Of course, that's by design. How better to show just how creepy the fictional society of Gilead is than to start with a dose of recognisable propaganda — and then dive deep into the chaos that awaits Offred/June (Elisabeth Moss) and her fellow subjugated women? As the fiery clip tells us, it's time to wake up. Otherwise, details about the third season are about as scarce as a happy woman in red. The series' regulars are expected to return, and given how the second season wrapped up, expect the story to get even darker, too. While the current trailer may be brief, there's plenty more Handmaid's Tale bleakness to enjoy this year (well, not that enjoy is necessarily the right term). Margaret Atwood, author of the original 1985 novel that started it all, is coming to Sydney next month. And, she's also releasing a long-awaited sequel, called The Testaments, which'll hit bookshelves comes September. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=11&v=PuWg6AyzETg The Handmaid's Tale's third season will screen on SBS in Australia at 8.30pm on Thursday, June 6.
You can pick a Judd Apatow film from a mile off. Bromantic plot-lines, improvised dialogue and gross-out humour are his unmistakable calling cards, to say nothing of his vow to include at least one penis in every project. It’s just that, Trainwreck is also a Judd Apatow film, only you don’t realise it until his name appears in the final credits. From start to finish, it feels like an Amy Schumer film, and that’s a credit to both of them. If you don’t know who Amy Schumer is, you probably don’t have the internet. The current queen of comedy has had an amazing few years, including her own sketch show on Comedy Central, a sold-out stand up tour, countless guest spots and a hosting gig for the 2015 MTV Movie Awards. Trainwreck, which Schumer both wrote and stars in, is her first foray into film, and it’s a solid (if also circumspect) debut. Schumer plays Amy Townsend, a relentless party girl and writer for the trashy magazine S’nuff who's assigned to write a profile on celebrity sports surgeon Dr Aaron Conners (SNL’s Bill Hader). Amy soon finds herself in a serious, committed relationship with the doctor, one that flies in the face of her lifelong dedication to polyamory, making Trainwreck a traditional romcom with an entirely untraditional difference: a female lead playing the ‘guy role’ – drinking, swearing and laying waste to one sexual conquest after the next. To call it refreshing is a giant understatement. In the lead, Schumer falls short of an assured performance, but hits enough high notes to carry the film through its weaker moments. Her trademark honesty-bordering-on-overshare is evident throughout, proving endearing even when her character’s words and actions are anything but. Amy Townsend isn’t a particularly likeable person, but like her you do all the same. Opposite her, Hader is pleasantly reserved as the good doctor and greater man, whose goofy grin and sexual naiveté nicely round out the ‘opposites attract’ motif. But by far the most pleasant surprise is the performance by NBA superstar LeBron James as Aaron's former patient-cum-best friend. A few years back, Gary Oldman and Jimmy Kimmel teamed up for an amusing short called “Actors Against Acting Athletes”, in which Oldman railed against the influx of sportspeople in film – particularly basketball players. Cameos aside (e.g. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s turn in Flying High), it’s an entirely reasonable rant, especially since you’d be hard pressed to name many classics amongst Shaquille O’Neal’s twenty-three listed acting credits, let alone the twenty-six boasted by Dennis Rodman. James, however, is a terrific comic presence in Trainwreck, gleefully presenting himself as a Cleveland-obsessed romantic with a profound investment in Aaron’s love life and Scrooge-like stinginess, insisting on splitting every check despite his estimated net worth of $325 million. The scene between him and Aaron playing some casual one-on-one whilst discussing commitment and intimacy is arguably the finest in the film. There are many other cameos in Trainwreck. Some are clever (Daniel Radcliffe as himself in an art film called The Dogwalker, and WWE star John Cena as Schumer’s erstwhile boyfriend), but most are either unnecessary or downright bad (none more so than Matthew Broderick and Marv Albert in a bizarre intervention scene). Schumer’s the hottest ticket in town right now, so it’s understandable that Hollywood would be queuing up to get in on the action, but successful cameos require the deftest of touches to avoid completely breaking a film’s flow and reeking of ‘why not?’ stink – which wafts in more than a few times here. With a shorter run time and a tighter third act, Trainwreck might have proven itself a terrific romcom. As it stands it’s still a solid comedy that even boasts a few serious moments to tug at the heartstrings. Without question, Schumer’s only getting started, and we eagerly await the next instalment from this spectacularly funny comic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_KP9x80Z9Q
For one week each September, Brisbane becomes Australia's live music capital — even if a Melbourne survey generally claims otherwise. When BIGSOUND hits the city, it seems like every venue in Fortitude Valley is packed to the rafters with bands, industry folks and music-loving punters, all enjoying the latest and greatest the country's music scene has to offer. And given this year's newly announced lineup, expect that to be the case once again. Unveiling its first 76 acts for 2019, BIGSOUND will play host to a stacked pack of musos, spanning everything from pop, electronic, rock and rap to metal, hip hop and folk. Topping the bill so far is the likes of Bad//Dreems, Electric Fields, SCABZ, Outright, Milan Ring, LOSER, Tones & I and Tasman Keith, plus yergurl, EGOISM, Stevan, Laura Imbruglia and Concrete Surfers. Yes, the list goes on. A swag of other acts, reaching more than 150 in total, will be announced closer to the event. That said, the current lineup joins a host of previously revealed speakers — including keynote speaker Terry McBride, CEO and co-founder of Nettwerk Music Group, which includes Canada's largest independent record label, artist management and music publishing company; and British TV and radio presenter Abbie McCarthy, from BBC Music Introducing, Radio 1 & 4 Music, and Good Karma Club. [caption id="attachment_727168" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] I Know Leopard at BIGSOUND 2018. Image: Bianca Holderness.[/caption] Previous BIGSOUNDs have showcased everyone from Gang of Youths, Flume, Tash Sultana and Courtney Barnett to San Cisco, Violent Soho, Methyl Ethel and The Jungle Giants, so its program is usually a very reliable bellwether of current and up-and-coming talent. Even better — the festival's four-night $85 (plus booking fee) Rainbow Pass nabs you access to 270 music showcases at 18 venues. And, they're all held within three blocks of each other. Here's the full lineup of music acts so far: 100 3K Ainsley Farrell Alana Jagt Approachable Members Of Your Local Community Aquila Young Bad//Dreems Being Jane Lane Black Rock Band Bobby Alu Butter Butternut Sweetheart Chakra Efendi City Rose Concrete Surfers Deline Briscoe DREGG DRMNGNOW Dulcie EGOISM Electric Fields Fan Girl First Beige Fletcher Gull Flossy FRITZ Future Haunts Gordon Koang Hannah Blackburn Hemm Hope D Johnny Hunter Kat Edwards Kobie Dee Kymie Laura Imbruglia LOSER Louis Baker Love Deluxe Lucy Peach Mambali Marco Mariam Sawires Mermaidens Mickey Kojak micra MID CITY Miiesha Milan Ring Nerve Outright PINCH POINTS P-UniQue Raj Mahal Rebecca Hatch Reija Lee Reliqa RINI Royal And The Southern Echo Ruby Gilbert Ryan Fennis SCABZ Shady Nasty Spacey Jane Stellie Stevan Sycco Tasman Keith Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers THE DEAD LOVE The Money War Temgazi Tones And I Wolfjay yergurl ZĀN BIGSOUND 2019 runs from September 3–6 at various venues around Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. For further details or to buy tickets from 9am on Monday, June 27, visit bigsound.org.au. To discover what to do, see, eat and drink while visiting Brissie for the annual event, check out our weekender's guide to Brisbane during BIGSOUND. Image: Bianca Holderness.
One of the greats of the Aussie comedy industry, Josh Thomas, has graced our eyes and ears with his two television series Please Like Me and Everything's Gonna Be Okay, his podcast Josh Thomas and Friend and his standout standup career. Said standup career is returning to our lives with his newly announced 2024 national tour Let's Tidy Up. In this show, Josh tidies up, which isn't usually particularly gripping entertainment. Unless it's difficult, and for Josh, it's supposedly impossible, akin to defying gravity and reversing the tides. But he also promises more topics — like gardening, gophers and a love story. The tour starts in Sydney at the Sydney Opera House from Wednesday, January 31 to Sunday, February 18. Then Josh will move on to visit Canberra, Hobart and Newcastle for one-night-only shows in late February. He'll set up shop at Adelaide Fringe Festival from March 5—10, then hit Cairns and Perth for one-night-only shows in March and April. There'll be several shows at Melbourne Comedy Festival from April 9—21, a one-night-only show in Toowoomba on Wednesday, May 1 and finally the Brisbane Comedy Festival from May 2—5. And as a special offer for you, dear reader, you can get 20% off your tickets with this limited time offer to select shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. 'Let's Tidy Up' is playing at the Sydney Opera House from Wednesday, January 31 to Sunday, February 18. For more information or to get tickets, visit the website.
When something shows you its true colours, believe it. The Kingsman franchise certainly did when it debuted in 2014, as viewers have been witnessing ever since. That initial entry, Kingsman: The Secret Service, gave the espionage genre an irreverent and energetic spin, and landed partway between update and parody. But, while making Taron Egerton a star and proving engaging-enough, it didn't know when to call it quits, serving up one of the most ill-judged closing moments that spy flicks have ever seen. Since then, all things Kingsman haven't known when to end either, which is why subpar sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle arrived in 2017, and now unnecessary prequel The King's Man. Another year, another dull origin story. Another year, another stretched Bond knockoff, too. Stepping from 007's latest instalments, including No Time to Die, to this pale imitation, Ralph Fiennes takes over leading man duties in this mostly World War I-centric affair. He looks as if he'd rather be bossing Bond around again, though, sporting the discomfort of someone who finds himself in a movie that doesn't shake out the way it was meant to, or should've, and mirroring the expression likely to sit on viewers' faces while watching. Simply by existing, The King's Man shows that this series just keeps pushing on when that's hardly the best option. It overextends its running time and narrative as well. But as it unfurls the beginnings of the intelligence agency hidden within a Saville Row tailor shop, it ditches everything else that made its predecessors work — when they did work, that is. Most fatally, it jettisons its class clashes and genre satire, and is instead content with being an outlandish period movie about the rich and powerful creating their own secret club. Adapted from Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar's 2012 comics, the Kingsman series hasn't cut too deeply in its past two movies, but it did make the most of its central fish-out-of-water idea. It asked: what if a kid from the supposed wrong side of the tracks entered the espionage realm that's so firmly been established as suave and well-heeled by 007? Finding out why there's even a covert spy organisation staffed by the wealthy and impeccably dressed for that young man to join is a far less intriguing idea, but returning filmmaker Matthew Vaughn — who has now helmed all three Kingsman films — and co-screenwriter Karl Gajdusek (The Last Days of American Crime) don't seem to care. Vaughn has mostly ditched the coarse sex gags this time, too, and for the better, but hasn't found much in the way of personality to replace them. It's in a prologue in 1902 that Fiennes makes his first appearance as Orlando Oxford, a duke travelling to South Africa during the Boer War — and soon made a widower, because The King's Man starts with the tiresome dead wife trope. Twelve years later, Oxford is staunchly a pacifist, so much so that he forbids his now-teenage son Conrad (Harris Dickinson, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) from enlisting when WWI breaks out. But the duke hasn't completely given away serving his country himself, overseeing an off-the-books intelligence network with the help of his servants Shola (Djimon Hounsou, A Quiet Place Part II) and Polly (Gemma Arterton, Summerland). That comes in handy when a nefarious Scottish figure known only as The Shepherd interferes in world affairs, with King George V of England, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (all cousins, and all played by Bohemian Rhapsody's Tom Hollander) his targets. Using real-life history as a backdrop, The King's Man weaves in Rasputin (Rhys Ifans, Spider-Man: No Way Home), too. If only it possessed the sense of humour to include Boney M's 70s dance-floor filler of the same name, or even a vodka-filled shot glass of its vibe. Rasputin, the character, is actually the best thing about the film, and solely because he's the most entertaining. Ifans plays the part like he's in on a joke that no one else in the production has gotten, amping up a goth mystic, busting out dance-inspired fighting moves and proving the liveliest thing in a feature that's frequently ridiculous yet rarely fun. Making a screwy but banal First World War spy-fuelled action flick surely wasn't on the franchise's agenda, but The King's Man can barely be considered a comedy. Vaughn does stuff his overladen plot with lip-service sentiments fired in a few directions, however, tearing into war and colonialism — but that, like everything that The King's Man purports to do, comes across as half-hearted. In showing the horrors of combat, it doesn't help that 1917 is so fresh in cinematic memories (and it's definitely unfortunate that Dickinson could easily play the brother of 1917's star George MacKay). It's also hardly handy that Vaughn and Gajdusek's script manages to both rally against imperial rule and eagerly celebrate monarchies and the British Empire. That's the kind of thematic muddle the film wades through, making it clear that no one has thought too deeply about any of these concepts. The same applies to Oxford's pacifism, given that The King's Man heartily splashes around OTT violence. Here, an idea or position is only convenient when it's needed to further the story, and it's thoroughly disposable seconds later. Manners may maketh man, as the series' eponymous society has intoned in three pictures now, but throwing together whatever disparate parts happen to be at hand doesn't make a good movie. If the same approach was taken to tailoring, the resulting suits wouldn't pass the central secret service's sartorial standards. Poking fun at the past, name-dropping historical figures, giving Hounsou and Arterton so little to do: none of that turns out well, either. Plus, while zippily staged, all of the film's action scenes that don't involve Ifans get repetitive fast. But The King's Man still commits to its franchise duty, pointlessly setting up a sequel that no one wants in its dying moments. A follow-up to The Golden Circle, called Kingsman: The Blue Blood, is also in the works, as well as a TV show about its American Statesman offshoot. Keeping on needlessly keeping on: that's still this spy series' main trait, as it always has been.
What a fantastic idea for a movie. Captured hitman Darius Kincaid (Samuel L Jackson) agrees to testify against alleged war criminal Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman), but in order to keep Kincaid alive a compromised Interpol must call upon the assistance of disgraced bodyguard Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds), whose past missions were consistently imperilled thanks to the very killer he's now tasked with protecting. It's a terrific concept, an amazing cast and, unfortunately, a spectacularly disappointing film. The odd-couple buddy action-comedy format has given us some great films over the years, including several featuring Sam Jackson himself. The mid-90s classics Die Hard With A Vengeance and The Long Kiss Goodnight saw the star paired with perfect yings to his yang. First it was Bruce Willis' no nonsense NYPD cop John McClane, and then Geena Davis' homemaker-cum-assassin Charly Baltimore. Both flicks offered that perfect blend of high personal stakes, high-octane action and high quality dialogue that, when mixed together, added rare complexities to the genre's traditionally two-dimensional character archetypes, and delivered sequences that could make you laugh, wince and grip your armrests until your knuckles turned white. In The Hitman's Bodyguard, by contrast, the overwhelming feeling is that while writer Tom O'Connor understood all the ingredients necessary to make an entertaining blockbuster, he failed to appreciate the subtleties of how to best combine them. And the ingredients really are all there. The film's premise is tailor made to deliver conflict between its leads (to say nothing of the non-stop threats from the villain's henchmen). Yet everything about their relationship feels forced. Ryan's by the books persona sits uncomfortably with the actor's natural sarcastic schtick, while Jackson's foul-mouthed tirades lack both the venom and the wit to carry any real force. What follows features an awful lot of shouting, none of which ever feels like it really matters. Pair that with a truly staggering degree of nonchalance during every fight scene, and The Hitman's Bodyguard ends up a movie robbed of any sustained drama or tension. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4Afusxc2SM
Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel wonder about days gone by, while Rachel Weisz and Jane Fonda deliver verbal tirades designed to awaken the ageing men from their apathy. All four spend their time in an expensive Swiss spa, and in a film as visually luxurious as their lush surroundings. So unravels Youth, its seasoned cast and opulent images its obvious selling points. Musings about life, love and legacy have rarely looked as exquisite, even if the movie's charms remain somewhat surface level. Youth is an inescapably familiar effort from writer-director Paolo Sorrentino, who covered similar territory — contrasting internal emptiness with external splendour — in his Oscar-winning last feature, The Great Beauty. Alas, the same magic doesn't strike twice, though in some ways that's rather apt. There's obvious symmetry in a filmmaking repeating the past by depicting characters stuck in theirs. Caine's Fred Ballinger is a retired composer, so renowned that he's asked to conduct his most famous creation for the queen, and so haunted by his troubles that he can't agree to participate in the performance. His discussions with Keitel's Mick Boyle, a filmmaker trying to finish a new script, largely focus on former glories, the ailments of being elderly, and their feuding children. Fred's daughter, Lena (Weisz), is married to Mick's son, Julian (Ed Stoppard), until Julian announces that he's leaving her for another woman. Others wander around the retreat, including an actor (Paul Dano) worried about being typecast and a fading screen siren (Fonda) Mick wants to re-team with for his next movie. In slivers and glimpses, Youth casts its net even wider, with a famous footballer, a beauty queen, and a motley crew of fellow guests also featuring. Together, they paint a universal picture of the ebbs and flows of existence, and of the contrast between the sublime and the grotesque. Sadly, most come across as diversions and distractions, directing attention away from the flimsiness of the film's supposedly wise dialogue. That's not to say that Youth doesn't have its pleasures — just that they're saddled with less successful elements, which is an appropriate outcome for a movie that tasks its characters with attempting to find the joy beyond their own sorrows. Watching Caine and Keitel chat and ponder is as enjoyable as it sounds — and while their conversations aren't as profound as they're clearly meant to be, the performances are moving nonetheless. Coupled with a strong score, Sorrentino's aesthetic flair ensures the feature offers a sight to behold and a soundscape to revel in, whether fashioning a music video for a pop star, taking a trip down memory lane or just staring at the folks reclining by the pool. It all makes for a suitable spectacle of mortality and melancholy; however the filmmaker's greatest feat is also his greatest undoing. He makes Youth feel exactly as it should, but always like an imitation. It's a decadent picture about watching the world go by, rather than really experiencing it.
Who doesn't want to spice up their weekdays with a three-course lunch? No one, that's who. For Good Food Month, OTTO Ristorante is turning your average quick bite into a midday feast every Monday through Thursday in July. Let's Do Lunch treats you to a luxuriously long lunch from noon, with a cheeky beverage thrown in for good measure. $60 per person gets you two savoury courses and your choice of drink (from house beer, sparkling, white, rose or red wine), along with dessert of petit fours and tea or coffee. Bookings are required, but, given that the event runs all month long, there's still plenty of time to enjoy a riverside splash of modern Italian cuisine — or, if the temptation strikes, several occasions to do so. You'll just have to come up with an excuse to be out of the office for a few hours, or finally cash in on that time in lieu.
If you're a fan of Gelato Messina and its sweet treats, 2020 and 2021 have been years that just keep on giving. That saying doesn't apply to much at all of late, but it definitely fits in this situation. The dessert chain has released all manner of one-off specials, launched a new range of chocolate-covered ice cream bars in supermarkets, dropped a new merchandise line and brought back its Christmas trifle, for starters — and, after taking care of your summer drinks list, it's now moving on to Easter cocktails. Teaming up with Cocktail Porter, Messina has a new DIY kit that'll let you make your own boozy beverage — this time using its dulce de leche, and pouring it inside an Easter egg. Basically, it's the answer to a familiar dilemma, especially at this time of year. No one likes choosing between tucking into an orb of chocolate or having another boozy beverage, after all. The Messina dulce de leche and coffee cocktail packs come with the brand's popular topping, as well as Baileys, cold-drip coffee and Mr Black Coffee Liqueur. You'll also receive chocolate Easter eggs, which you'll pour your mixed liquids into, as well as pieces of salted caramel popcorn to pop on top. You can pick between two different-sized packs, with the small kit costing $80 and making five drinks, and the large costing $140 and making 12. A second type of seasonal kit is also available, without Messina products, but featuring espresso martinis served out Lindt milk chocolate bunnies. This one also comes with vodka, cold-filter coffee, sugar syrup and Mr Black Coffee Liqueur, and the prices for both small and large batches are the same. Cocktail Porter delivers Australia-wide, if that's your Easter drinking plans now sorted. To order Cocktail Porter's Easter cocktail kits, head to the Cocktail Porter website.
At Boho Luxe Market (the event's term, not ours), Byron Bay comes to Brisbane. Well, the beachy New South Wales spot's general vibe does at least. Forgoing the trappings of the city for bohemian fashion, jewellery, homewares and the like is on the market's agenda, and has been since it made the jump from Melbourne to Brisbane in 2019. Clearly we responded well to three days of dreamcatchers and flower crowns — because it keeps coming back again and again, including in 2023 right in the lead up to festive season. If that sounds like your kind of thing, then block out Friday, November 10–Sunday, November 12 in your diary for the market's Christmas event. The Boho Luxe Market will head to The Old Museum for a weekend of browsing and buying, food trucks, live music and more. A picnic spot decked out boho-style and pop-up bars are also part of the fun. Usually there's also be a dedicated vegan section, plus a kombi display and glamping providers tempting you into booking your next holiday — so fingers crossed they'll return. Entry costs $5 per day or $10 for all three. Drop by and pretend you're somewhere quiet and coastal on Friday from 5pm–9pm, Saturday from 9am–5pm, and Sunday from 9am–3pm. Images: Romana Saeheng Elope / Samee Lapham.
Since 2010, Ashcan Comics has been one of the leading voices in the independent comics scene. That's not an easy feat — and neither is putting together ten issues showcasing local emerging artists and writers. With their tenth edition due to launch during Brisbane Writers Festival, Ashcan has put together a retrospective exhibition of their past hits and highlights from the nine preceding printed tomes. And that launch we mentioned? It takes place in the same space on the same day; hit up the showcase from 9am, and the shindig at 3pm. This event is one of our five picks for Brisbane Writers Festival. Check out the whole list.
It may have taken 15 years and two full blown reboots, but the Spider-Man movies finally have a decent villain. Gone are the Green Goblins and anthropomorphic sandpits, replaced at long last by...a guy. Just a guy; a vulnerable, human, salt-of-the-earth labourer trying to carve out a little something of his own amongst the rubble and ruin of a post-Avengers New York City. Played by Michael Keaton, Adrian Toomes is an ordinary character in an extraordinary world, whose bare bones simplicity helps ground this refreshingly low-key entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And low-key is the key to this movie's appeal. Spidey (Tom Holland) isn't a world saver, but a hero for the little guy; intervening in grocery store holdups and helping grandparents with their luggage. The problem is that he wants more. He's fought alongside Iron Man and taken on Captain America, and the expectation of future avenging is what drives his daily routine. Expectation, however, soon falls short of reality, as he's told by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) that which no teenager ever wishes to hear: "you're not ready". What's worse is that Stark is plainly right. Thing is, gaining super-powers doesn't mean you automatically gain super skills, and Spidey/Peter Parker is a superhero still very much in the training wheels phase. It's a clever device by director Jon Watts, whose hero – like a giraffe attempting its nervous first steps – repeatedly fumbles his landings, misses his web castings and wreaks low-level havoc in suburban backyards while chasing down the bad guys. Paired with raging hormones in a body that's also transforming in a more typically teenage way, and Peter makes for an immensely likeable lead. It helps that Holland makes for a far more plausible teen than either Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield. The teenage superhero setup has always given Spider-Man an added complexity (one perhaps only shared by Superman), in that his public persona is painfully weak and nerdy. Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark get to be billionaire playboys when they're not battling criminal kingpins, but Peter Parker is perceived as a weedy, bookish, scatter-brained dork who rolls over for bullies and can never keep an appointment. His life would be immediately and immeasurably better if he simply revealed his true, courageous self. But to do so would invite sudden and deadly peril upon all those he cares about. That dilemma, in turn, passes on to the audience, as you find yourself grappling with your desire to see Spider-Man take down the villains but also make his date with the dream girl. Even better, it all comes without another version of Uncle Ben's 'great power comes with great responsibilities' speech, or another retelling of Parker's spider-bite origins. Spider-Man: Homecoming is a film that knows what we already know, and just gets on with telling its story. If there's a drawback to all of this, it's that the final product feels a little bit childish. Yes, it's a film about a teenage superhero, but plenty of movies have captured the teenage experience without feeling like they were written by teenagers as well. There's far too much 'whoa, awesome, dude, bro, cool' going on here for our liking, although thankfully the adults (Downey Jr, Jon Favreau, Marisa Tomei and Keaton) provide plenty of counterbalance. Minor flaws aside, Spider-Man: Homecoming is a fun cinema experience, and a refreshingly human story amidst the surfeit of superhero movies that continue to flood our screens. Oh, and yes, there are the additional Marvel scenes – so if you're so inclined, remember to stay through to the very end of the credits. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9DwoQ7HWvI
Those keen to jump in their car — or on a plane — and explore another Australian state or territory may be able to do just that this winter, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison hinting that interstate travel could be back on the cards by early July. After a national cabinet meeting today, Tuesday, May 5, the Prime Minister said he was hopeful interstate travel would be a possibility by the next end-of-term school holiday, which is June 26 in Queensland and Victoria, and July 3 in the ACT and NSW. "It's part of the road back that national cabinet is considering," the Prime Minister said in response to a question about interstate travel. "Hopefully, by the end of term school holiday, if [Australians] are able to go and have a holiday on the Gold Coast or in South Australia or in — wherever it happens to be out of one's home state — let's hope that is possible because that will be great for those places in terms of the tourism impact." This does, of course, depend on some Australian states and territories reopening their borders. Queensland, Tasmania, WA, SA and the NT have all suspended non-essential cross-border travel and require interstate arrivals to quarantine for 14 days. The possibility of interstate travel resuming this winter was a sentiment echoed earlier today by Qantas, too. In a statement released this morning, the Australian airline group said, "the initial easing of government restrictions suggests some domestic travel may start to return before the end of July". When domestic travel does ramp up, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said Melbourne-Sydney flights on Jetstar could drop as low as $19. The airline also announced that it had extended flight cancellations from the end of May through to the end of July, but that "some capacity can be added back in if domestic and Trans-Tasman restrictions ease in coming weeks". New Zealand is another travel possibility that's been flagged for Australians the near future, with Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy previously saying it could be allowed by within the next three-to-four months. The Prime Minister also said that he'd been discussing a Trans-Tasman travel bubble for "several weeks" with NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who joined today's national cabinet meeting, and that, in terms of international travel, it was "the most obvious place to start" but that was "still some time away". It's expected a clearer look at the "road out" and some possible easing of restrictions will be announced on Friday, May 8, after this week's second national cabinet meeting. Top image: Numbananga Lodge by MVandavee for NPWS.
When you spend your life cooking up dishes so delicious that you've become famous for them, and penning books filled with recipes as well, where do you dine when someone else is preparing the meal? When you're a British celebrity chef hitting Brisbane for a live speaking gig, which eateries take your fancy? We're talking about Nigella Lawson, who paired her trip to the River City with giving the tick of approval to several Fortitude Valley eateries: Agnes, Sushi Room and the bakery at The Calile Hotel. The Nigella Bites, Nigella Feasts, Nigella Kitchen, Nigellissima, Simply Nigella, Nigella: At My Table, Top Chef, MasterChef Australia and My Kitchen Rules star first showered praise on Agnes and Adam Wolfers, who is now the Group Chef at Anyday, the outfit behind it, Biànca, sAme sAme, hôntô, LOS (sAme sAme's cocktail bar) and Agnes Bakery (Agnes' woodfired pastry offshoot). Then, Lawson backed it up with more affection for two fellow Valley spots, both on James Street. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nigella (@nigellalawson) "Best-ever croissants at the bakery in The Calile Hotel Brisbane — and what makes them even better, if that's actually possible, is that the baker of them is called Ju Butteri," she noted. "It would be hideously remiss of me not to mention the beautiful sushi at Sushi Room, too," Lawson also posted on social media. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nigella (@nigellalawson) So, if you've watched Lawson on television, whipped up her recipes at home and filled your shelves with her books, you can now eat where she did, and then raved about, without leaving Brisbane. The author of How to Eat: Pleasures and Principles of Good Food, Nigella's Cook, Eat, Repeat and more took to the stage at QPAC Concert Hall on Thursday, March 14, 2024 for An Evening with Nigella Lawson. Around that speaking engagement, she did what everyone does when they're in a different city: feast their way through the place, then tell everyone on Instgram. [caption id="attachment_877412" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Joshua Maguire[/caption] Sushi Room opened on James Street in 2022, with the crew behind Hellenika and SK Steak & Oyster, aka STK Group, branching out into Japanese fine-dining. Its focus is on simple ingredients, sophisticated dishes and traditional preparation, all while still turning the act of making its meals into an experience, and also giving the whole process its own spin along the way. And The Calile, which launched in 2018, must be used to international attention by now — and recently. The boutique place to stay was picked as Oceania and Australia's top spot at the World's Best 50 Hotels in 2023, then named as one of the reasons that The New York Times chose Brisbane for its '52 Places to Go' list for 2024. [caption id="attachment_694714" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sean Fennessy[/caption] [caption id="attachment_694717" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sean Fennessy[/caption] Find The Calile Hotel at 48 James Street, Fortitude Valley. Find Sushi Room inside The Calile Hotel, 48 James Street, Fortitude Valley — open from 5.30pm Tuesday–Thursday, and from 12pm Friday–Saturday.
Nothing warms the heart like the company of those you love, and with these cooler temps, we could all use a little extra warmth. Also, with the sun setting so early these days, you've probably found yourself cold, in the dark but still looking for something to do after work. So, take the social coordinator role this month, hit up your group message and let the gang know you're all heading out. You don't have to do the usual dinner and drinks either. In fact, to help you plan, we've teamed up with RACQ to round up some top after-dark activities to do with your mates. RACQ offers some pretty decent discounts on Brissie activities for their members — and even if you're not a member, you can still join as a Lifestyle member just to gain access to all those sweet, sweet discounts. Time to keep spirits high as we enter the thick of winter this July; here are our five picks of things to do once the sun goes down. NIGHT NOODLE MARKETS July in Brisbane gets a little colder than we Queenslanders are typically comfortable with. Luckily, we have Brisbane Good Food Month to warm our bellies and compensate for this chilly weather. As part of the tasty month, the Night Noodle Markets pop up with twinkling fairy lights, a stunning riverside location and a massive amount of incredible Asian dishes to try. Grab the gang and head down to South Bank to indulge in a night of bao, gyoza, pad thai, something called a 'phorrito' (where pho meets a burrito) and even more dishes from abroad. This year, there'll be 23 food stalls to choose from, so you may even plan a few visits to the markets to eventually make your way through all the eats on offer. Pull up some grass, enjoy the live music and feast on all the treats, washed down with a refreshing brew from the pop-up bar. And maybe after, why not take it all in from above with a cheeky ride on the Wheel of Brisbane? NIGHT KAYAKING Get out and see Brisbane from a whole new perspective on a night kayaking tour. Kayak under a starry night, as the lights of Brisbane's skyline glitter across the water. The evening kayaking tour goes for an hour and half, taking you from Kangaroo Point Cliffs, up to the iconic Story Bridge, to Mowbray Park and past the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Maritime Museum and South Bank Parklands. And once you've finished, reward yourself for all that arm effort and opt in to the big Aussie barbecue complete with prawns, lamingtons and Aussie beer, all to be enjoyed while overlooking the beautiful Brissie River. THURSDAY NIGHT KARAOKE Are you that person who's always singing along to the radio and secretly wishing you were Mariah Carey? Well, maybe it's time to find out what your vocal chords are made of by heading along to the Brunswick Hotel's Thursday night karaoke. Grab a few friends and head to this New Farm local early to grab a prime spot in the sports bar. Flag down the karaoke masters, make your request and wait your turn to flaunt your vibrato for all to hear. If you're truly stuck on which tune to choose, drag some friends up with you to take turns belting out verses from No Scrubs, or play it safe with basically anything by Queen. GLOW WORM TOUR If you and your mates are the type of people who are always up for an adventure, consider journeying into the Gold Coast hinterland for an evening tour of the mesmerising glow worm caves within Springbrook National Park. Like a real life tour through Pandora or Ferngully, you'll wander through lush rainforest, past a beautiful cascading waterfall and into the illuminated caves. As a bonus, you'll also get to learn about the history, culture and lifestyle of the traditional Aboriginal landowners. A wintry adventure into a World Heritage-listed rainforest with magical sights and a rich history, how could you lose? NIGHT ROCK CLIMBING Fire up that competitive streak by challenging your mates to an evening rock climb; book the crew in for a night of scaling up Kangaroo Point Cliffs. Forgo the indoor, colour-coded, plastic 'rocks', for an outdoor climb up the 20-metre rocky facade. Once you've made it to the top, take a long moment to look out over sweeping views of our fine city and river at sunset. Remember to pack a picnic (and maybe a few blankets) so you and your friends can cook up a dinner under the stars with onsite barbecues after. Want more after-dark activities? RACQ offers its members access to a huge selection of deals from night kayaking to glow worm cave tours. Check out their full offering here. Words: Arabella Anderson and Laura Dawson.
Most people know the tonal nuances of Ira Glass' voice better than they know they know their own family's birthdays, but, chances are, they don't know him like this. The prolific This American Life host and producer is coming to Sydney and Melbourne this July — but not to do a live broadcast of the seriously popular NPR show or to speak in conversation. He'll be performing as part of a contemporary dance stage show. Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host combines live radio with dance. You may think that these two disciplines have "no business being on stage together" (Glass' words, not mine), but somehow the public radio king manages to pull it off. Collaborating with veteran dancers Anna Bass and Monica Bill Barnes, the 90-minute, three-act performance pulls in Glass' knack for storytelling, staging radio interviews as dance pieces and weaving in anecdotes from the performers' own lives. "I know this whole thing sounds a little nuts but I swear it's pretty great. Huge laughs. Big emotions," said Glass. "Dance is all visuals, no talking. Radio's all talking, no visuals. But what the stories on This American Life have in common with dance is music." The radio-dance spectacular will visit both Melbourne and Sydney this July, with two shows at both the Sydney Opera House and the Arts Centre's State Theatre. After initially debuting as a ten-minute test run back in 2013, the show has gone on to be performed all over the U.S. It will tour through California, New Hampshire, Alabama and North Carolina, before finishing up in Australia. Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host will visit the State Theatre at the Arts Centre Melbourne on July 14 and 15, before going to the Sydney Opera House for two performances on July 17 and 18. Tickets for the Melbourne show go on sale on Friday, March 11 at 9am here, while the Sydney show will go on sale at 9am on Friday, March 18 here. Image: David Bazemore.
Alcoholic champagne icy poles might've been 2016 and 2017's must-eat frosty treat, but they just might have a challenger for the summer of 2018–19: boozy frosé sorbet. National ice cream chain Gelatissimo has launched the new flavour to mark the first official day of the season, with the chilled dessert made using Chandon Sparkling Brut Rosé and strawberries. Why drink pink while eat fruit when you can combine the two in this icy pink concoction, clearly. The gelato fiends have also launched a second summery variety, this time pairing with Aussie swimwear brand Speedo and taking inspiration from the ocean. Yes, that means Eyre Peninsula sea salt and plenty of it, in a sea salt butterscotch blend that's a creamy blue shade. Gelatissimo's new flavours are available at all of the ice creamery's stores around the country throughout December, unless they sell out before the end of the month. For more information, visit Gelatissimo's website.
It only takes one perfect record to make a musician a legend. For Ms Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was that album. The American singer and rapper fronted The Fugees before dropping her only solo release. She starred in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit as well. But come 1998, when the record that bears her name hit, it ensured that she'd always be an icon. 2023 marks 25 years since The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill first arrived — and to celebrate, Hill is touring. Down Under, she has locked in three stops, including a headlining gig at Promiseland Festival on the Gold Coast. The fest runs across Saturday, September 30–Sunday, October 1 at Doug Jennings Park, with Hill topping the Sunday bill. Also on the Promiseland lineup: Six60, L.A.B., Davido, Tems, Fiji, House of Shem, Koffee and Fireboy DML — and Giveon, Tems, ONEFOUR, Ayra Starr, Stefflon Don, Koffee and more. Home to singles 'Doo Wop (That Thing)', 'Ex-Factor', 'Everything Is Everything', 'Lost Ones' and 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You', The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was a smash on the charts, with critics and at the Grammys. It peaked at number two in Australia; has been named in oh-so-many lists of 90s, hip hop and rap records, as well as albums of all time and releases by women; and earned five Grammys from ten nominations. During her tour, Hill will play tracks from her time with The Fugees, too — killing audiences softly with the iconic cover that the band is best known for, plus 'Ready or Not', 'Fu-Gee-La' and more. Top image: Città di Parma via Wikimedia Commons.
Calling all lovers of vino: the new app FreeWines offers up a free bottle of award-winning wine when you dine at participating restaurants across Australia. Currently, FreeWines is working with 200 restaurants to reward you with quality tipple and the list of participating restaurants grows weekly, with the aim of reaching 500. This is no attempt for restaurateurs to get rid of their less-than-desirable drops, either. All wines featured have either won international wine awards or have scored highly with James Halliday — think Hugh Hamilton 'The Rascal' Shiraz, Elephant Hill Syrah and First Creek Verdelho. The restaurants already involved are a mix of hatted venues, local favourites and popular spots, including The Hill Eatery, Boscage and Red Lantern on Riley in New South Wales; Chow City, Ebenezer and Romulus & Remus in Victoria; and Cove Bar and Dining, Deer Duck Bistro and Mecca Bah in Queensland. So if free, delicious wine sounds like something you can get down with (so, that’s most of us?) the first step is to download their app (also free and available on iOS and Android devices). Once you have found a participating restaurant, mention that you are a FreeWines member on arrival and when you order. Then select your desired bottle via the app, and Bob’s your uncle, free wine for you. The wine is compliments of both the vineyard and the restaurant to say thanks for dining, although to be honest, we feel that we should be thanking them at this point. Like most great clubs, membership is limited for this app, so make sure you get on board sooner rather than later. For more information head to their website and download the app. Here’s to top-quality wine and fantastic food.
Spending more time at home is much easier to stomach with a hefty rage of desserts on hand, or at least that seems to be Gelato Messina's pandemic motto. Over the past few months, the gelato fiends have served up plenty of tasty specials, including cookie pies in choc chip, red velvet, choc-hazelnut, and peanut butter and jelly varieties; 40 of its best flavours; and full tubs of Iced VoVo gelato. Up next: a Messina version of that vanilla and chocolate-layered ice cream cake everyone considered the height of extravagance as a child. Yes, we're talking about Viennetta. If you've been indulging your sweet tooth over the past few months — frozen desserts were subject to strict item limits back in March, so plenty of folks clearly went big on sugary comfort food — then consider your tastebuds primed for this super-fancy take on the nostalgic favouritte. It's another of Messina's limited releases, with tubs of the rippled gelato creation available at all its stores for a very short period. Wondering what exactly Messina's Viennetta — or Messinetta, as it has been dubbed — entails? It combines fior di latte gelato with choc chips and chocolate fudge, then covers it all with piped vanilla chantilly as well as a chocolate velvet spray. And yes, the end result looks like the dessert you know and love. If it didn't, it just wouldn't be as exciting. The latest release in Messina's new 'Hot Tub' series, Messinetta gelato can only be ordered online on Monday, August 10, with a one-litre tub setting you back $30. You can then go into your chosen Messina store to pick up your tub between Friday, August 14–Sunday, August 16. If you're in Melbourne, remember that you can only venture to shops within five kilometres of your house — and only once a day — to get essentials, including food. Gelato Messina's Messinetta gelato tubs will be available to order on Monday, August 10, for pick up between Friday, August 14–Sunday, August 16 — keep an eye on the Messina website for further details.
Sand, sun, surf are always reasons to head to Burleigh Heads. Here's another: the new Burleigh Festival. It'll debut across the weekend of Friday, September 16–Sunday, September 18, taking over Justins Park on the foreshore for three days. On the agenda: food, wine, music and surfing — aka a golden quartet for any festival, especially one setting up shop right by the water. Burleigh Heads' culinary scene sits at the centre of the new fest — and while the event is free overall, obviously you'll be paying for what you eat and sip. Food-wise, venues such as Tropic, Tommy's, Maman, Costa Taco and Tarte will serve up their signature dishes, spanning everything from Mediterranean bites and Italian cuisine through to Middle Eastern-inspired and Mexican dishes. Also on the vendor list: Al Natural Oysters, Freddy's, Lil Mami, Lucia, NAAMI and Rosellas. And, to wash everything down, Burleigh Festival is celebrating local wine via tipples from Naked Bunch, Flor Grocer and Jackson West. Grabbing a plate, some vino and enjoying a beachside picnic is one of the fest's big drawcards — but the event will give you something to watch and listen to as you eat and drink, too. The music lineup includes Angus Kaftan, Bronte Alva, Hollie Joy, Lily Papas and more, with Boo Seeka curating the bill. If it's the surfing part of the program that'll have you rushing to the shore and vicariously living out your Point Break or Blue Crush dreams, you'll be able to catch spectacular wave action via the the inaugural Burleigh Festival King and Queen of the Point surfing competition. Hosted by Burleigh Boardriders and Summer of Surf, it'll run across two days, on Saturday, September 17–Sunday, September 18, and see top surfers — such as Marlon Harrison, Sean Gunning, Freya Prumm, Alyssa Lock and Tru Starling — competing for a $5000 prize pool. Updated September 16.
If you live in Brisbane, odds are that you've said goodbye to quite a few of your friends. No, we're not judging your social skills — we're simply recognising that Sydney and Melbourne are filled with ex-Queenslanders who have moved interstate to chase their dreams. Alex Ward is one of them. Tim Hewitt is too. They're just two of the city's funny folks who are now plying their trades down south. But they haven't forgotten where they're from. Along with Angus Gordon, Aaron Gocs and Gearard McGeown, they make up Brisbane Born and Bread: Brisbane Comedy Festival 2016's collection of Brisvegas-centric laughs. And yes, because they all once called themselves locals, we're certain they won't refer to their former hometown by that cringeworthy nickname. Brisbane Born and Bread is one of our top ten picks to see at the Brisbane Comedy Festival.
Sinking beers, mashing buttons: now that's a winning combo. It's the whole reason that pubs have long had pinball machines and arcade games. It's why bars wholly dedicated to boozy pinball and arcade gaming exist, and seem to keep popping up. And it's why BrewDog's riverside Brisbane brewery will play host to more than 70 pinball machines and 40 classic arcade games — and Nintendo 64 competitions as well — for the third year running this July. The occasion: the Brisbane Pinball & Arcade Collective Showcase: Australian Kong Off VI and Brisbane Pinball Masters. That's what on at BrewDog DogTap at Murarrie from Friday, July 14–Sunday, July 23. There are multiple parts to it, but whether you're keen to play or to watch others attempt impressive feats — or you're just a fan of the documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters — you'll want to head on down. Watching is an option every day — and so is entering the competitions, as long as there are tickets available. Across Saturday, July 15–Sunday, July 16, the Australian Kong Off VI will take place. No, there's no prizes for guessing which game is being played. Keen to press buttons yourself, but just casually? From Monday, July 17–Wednesday, July 19, you can score unlimited gaming at over 100 machines for $10. Then, on Friday, July 21, the Australian Women's Pinball Championship will be held — followed by the Australian Arcade Champs IV from Friday, July 21–Sunday, July 23, as well as the Brisbane Pinball Masters from Saturday, July 22–Sunday, July 23. The Brisbane Pinball and Arcade Collective is running the fun, Netherworld and 1UP Arcade are also behind the action, and BrewDog is doing a special beer for the event, naturally: an Italian-style pilsner.
It's the film that had to happen, honestly. Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero couldn't just give the world the so-bad-it's-amazing gift that is The Room and leave it at that — even if their disasterpiece became the basis for Sestero's ace behind-the-scenes book The Disaster Artist, and then the oh-so spot-on movie adaptation of the same name. No, this cinematic odd couple just had to make a second flick. Really, they had to. All those spoons thrown at cinema screens, all those screams of "you're tearing me apaaaaart!", all those "oh hi, doggy" comments: as The Room became a cult phenomenon over the past 15 years, we've all been praying to the deity that is Wiseau's long, greasy locks, and hoping that the world's most unlikely film star and his best friend would make another movie. Well, they have, and it's called Best F(r)iends. It was written by Sestero but directed by someone other than Wiseau, so it might all make some kind of sense this time. Apparently inspired by a road trip the duo took just after they'd made The Room, it's actually the first volume of a two-part flick, starring Sestero as a drifter and Wiseau as a mortician. We know — the latter couldn't sound like better casting. Maybe he's a vampire, too? Either way, the pair hatch a scheme that comes undone due to greed and jealousy, sparking a road trip as well as an exploration of friendship and loyalty. Switch out a few details, and it sounds a little like our favourite best worst film. If you're so filled with excitement that you feel like storming onto a rooftop and throwing a bottle, don't stress — Best F(r)iends is coming to Brisbane, screening at Dendy Coorparoo at 6.30pm and 9pm on Friday, June 29. Even better, Sestero will be in attendance to answer all of your questions after both screenings. Just don't ask him how his sex life is, obviously. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTu9N40E_MI
UPDATE, May 7, 2021: Us is available to stream via Netflix, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. With his Oscar-winning directorial debut Get Out, Jordan Peele gave the world a powerful metaphor for everyday, engrained oppression. In the sunken place, the film's black characters are sent falling down an endless rabbit hole while their lives are controlled by wealthy white folks. African Americans are forced to watch from a cavernous expanse of darkness, all as someone else pulls their strings. Robbed of agency, they become passengers in their own journey, rather than drivers of their fate. The movie's brilliant blend of scares and social satire gives more flesh to the scenario, but the mechanics are straightforward: one race is sent plummeting; the other climbs higher through their subjugation. Peele's concept isn't a one-time idea, as his sophomore film shows. Us doesn't feel like Get Out redux for even a split second, but it does give another clever and chilling dimension to the notion of flailing versus prospering — and another example of who's doing both. This time, the writer-director puts class under his magnifying glass, while still training his gaze firmly at his country. It's not by accident that the movie's title can be read as U.S., aka the United States. That's not supposed to escape anyone's attention. Perhaps the greatest trick that Peele pulls, however, is slicing into the horror of just peering in the mirror and thoroughly detesting what's looking back. After a quick glimpse at an ad for 80s charity campaign Hands Across America, Us' 1986-set prologue sends a young girl (Madison Curry) into an actual house of mirrors. "Find yourself" the funhouse at the Santa Cruz beachside amusement park promises. She does, although not in the usual way — and as flashbacks remembered by the adult Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong'o) reveal, she's left forever shaken by the process. In the present day, Adelaide returns to the Californian spot with her husband Gabe (Winston Duke) and children Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex). She's wary and worried as her family pals around on the beach with their better-off friends, the Tylers (Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Cali Sheldon and Noelle Sheldon). Later, Adelaide tries to explain her visible unease to Gabe, confessing that she has always felt as if her other self was coming for her. With the arrival of the Wilsons' doppelgängers on their driveway that night, her words are proven accurate. Decked out in matching red jumpsuits, wearing lone tan gloves and clutching golden scissors, the sinister doubles call themselves 'the tethered' — and they're here to cut that name to ribbons. What begins as a tense, terrifically staged home invasion soon becomes much more, as Adelaide and her loved ones face off against their murderous counterparts. The terror that follows boasts more angles than the reflective maze that starts this unnerving story. It also contains more twists and turns than the abandoned and unused tunnels buried beneath the U.S., as pointedly referenced in the film's opening title card. Finally, it features more meticulously deployed pop culture references and nods than might be expected in a movie that remains so thoughtfully distinctive. Us is a creeper in multiple senses of the word. It's disquieting from the outset (even more so when it spends its opening credits staring at caged rabbits), but Peele knows how to let that unease fester and grow. While the 'master of suspense' label was bestowed decades ago, the comedian-turned-filmmaker is just as devastating at cultivating distress as Hitchcock or any other iconic horror or thriller director. He's similarly adept at using every tool in his arsenal. After giving It Follows such a disconcerting look, cinematographer Mike Gioulakis does so again here, especially while shooting in domestic spaces. Aided by a few choice song selections that range from NWA to the Beach Boys, Get Out composer Michael Abels conjures up another needling score designed to set viewers on edge. But it's the way that Us' agitated, anxious mood refuses to dissipate that marks the movie as something special. The narrative and its ideas are undeniably creepy and, even when some aspects initially seem a tad too obvious, the film resonates long after viewing. Us' tone, images and sounds reach further, however, truly and deeply creeping under the audience's skin. The simple sight of four shadowy figures looming over a house in the dark of night instantly demonstrates how effective Us is in a visual sense. Choreographed movements of the balletic, stilted and frantic kind do as well. They also highlight Us' other key element, because central to the malaise is Peele's cast. Their characters might battle themselves, but the actors never do the same, always making their dual roles feel like individual creations. If Daniel Kaluuya can earn an Academy Award nomination for Get Out, there's no reason that Nyong'o can't achieve the feat for her twin parts as both a fraught, complex victim and a calm, unrelenting aggressor. Her performance as Red, Adelaide's mirror image, is as delightfully disconcerting and affecting as the doppelgänger's gravelly, haunted voice. From Duke's transformation from goofy dad to non-verbal brute, to Joseph's expressiveness as both a too-cool teen and a psychopathic killer, to a particularly flighty then unhinged turn from Moss, Nyong'o is also in great company. Of course, that's one of the movie's mischievous tricks: as it delves into the divide between 'us' and 'them', it puts everyone in the same unsettling situation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bavqDA_3vIo
For 31 years, the Woodford Folk Festival has been a staple of south-east Queensland's event calendar, gifting the region with an annual array of music, arts, culture, creativity, camping and mud. As other festivals have come and gone around the country, it has remained an end-of-year mainstay, as well as a must-attend event for fest lovers; however that might not always be the case. Just days after the 2016/17 event wrapped up, Festival Director Bill Hauritz has announced that Woodford faces an uncertain future as a result of the strain being placed on the fest's infrastructure. This year saw audiences grow by more than five percent to reach 132,000 patrons over six days, with patrons flocking to see more than 2000 acts, performers and speakers across 438 events, including Paul Kelly, Gang Of Youths, Adalita, Amanda Palmer and Methyl Ethel. "It has been a most beautiful festival in almost every way but our future is unclear," said Hauritz in a statement. "This festival is becoming a hub for creativity attracting some great minds. It's been an inspiration for many of us," he continued. However, with growing crowds comes growing problems, as he also explained. "Raw water storage, and dusty and broken roads took the edge off what was a truly wonderful event. Dust was a big problem we have to fix, and the roads – they're just not up to required standards. That's just the beginning of our infrastructure issues." What happens next is yet to be determined, though given the massive amount of love and support Woodford Folk Festival receives — including from interstate attendees, with a third of festival visitors hailing from outside of Queensland — it's certain that everyone involved will be working to ensure the fest continues. The festival certainly has the backing of Moreton Bay Regional Council Mayor Allan Sutherland, who has called for more government funding. "With such a successful year of festival attendance and camping numbers – it has never been more important for all levels of Government to provide funding support and certainty to Woodfordia Inc. to turn Woodfordia into a destination worthy of ongoing national and international acclaim," he said. "Funding will be vital to ensure this site receives much needed infrastructure upgrades including permanent staging, toilets and amenities, dust control, roads, and camping space for this iconic Australian festival and Woodfordia itself to grow and flourish." Image: Woodford Folk Festival.
Since 2016, Bite Sip Stroll has been helping hungry diners with a culinary conundrum: sometimes, your tastebuds are just screaming out for dishes from a few different restaurants. After sending Brisbanites on two tours of the city, they're hopping on over to another part of town. Prepare to wander, drink and eat your way through Fortitude Valley. Feel like sampling chef-designed dishes at Gerard's Bistro, Gerard's Bar, Nickel Kitchen and The Apo all in one trip? You're in luck. Offering up between entree and degustation-sized meals with a glass of matched wine at each venue, the unique eating experience is named after the European style of dining out. There, indulging in a plate at one place and then a drink at another, and just roaming between eateries in general, is a common occurrence. Basically, it's a moving feast of cuisine and wine pairings, as well as a brief walking tour of the Valley's best culinary spots. You'll pay $129 per head for the privilege, but when are you ever going to have a lunch like this again? Tickets are limited, so we suggest getting yours as quick as you can.
When it comes to food events, there's nothing quite like the Sunnybank $2 Food Trail. It's all there in the name, with the Brisbane suburb's shopping hub becoming a diner's delight in the most affordable fashion. Think of it as the ultimate self-guided foodie adventure, for nothing more than spare change — and with around 22,000 people taking part. So how does it work? Between 2–8pm on Saturday, June 22, you'll walk between a heap of local cafes and restaurants, all at your own pace. Last year, more than 45 eateries took part. From chicken katsu and wontons to mochi ice cream and bubble tea, every participating eatery will feature a range of authentic Asian cuisines. You'll feast on Chinese, Japanese, Hong Kong-style, Vietnamese, Korean and Taiwanese dishes, and you'll only pay $2 per tasting plate. With such an array of steaming soups and sizzling stir-fries on offer, we don't recommend eating lunch first; in fact, you'd best arrive feeling as hungry as possible. Snacking on signature dishes is the main course — or several — but there's also plenty of non-edible appetisers, too. Enjoy some live music, watch lion dancers and and check out the roaming entertainment as you feast and wander, adding the perfect garnish to every meal by setting the mood. Image: Sunnybank $2 Food Trail.
When you find yourself on a small island in Norway, you start contemplating how humans make sense of their place in the world. We haven't been there and done that, but we're not just making assumptions. Melbourne-based artist Emma Hamilton spent part of 2015 and 2016 on Sørværet in the Scandinavian country, conjuring up By Way of Navigation based on her stints there. Hamilton's exhibition is interested in one key line of thinking: the difference between how we actually interact with the landscape around us and the methods we use to turn what we can see, touch and experience into maps, photos and navigational calculations. Capturing the Norwegian terrain, her mix of images and sculptures attempt to blend and probe the two, and merge visual and scientific observation. If the end result gets your brain pondering the wide world around us, then it has done its job. Get lost in thought at By Way of Navigation from March 22 to April 8 at Metro Arts. Image: Emma Hamilton, The distortion of landscape by the camera, 2016, digital collage.
Given that the Anywhere Theatre Festival is now in its fifth year, you probably know what it is all about by now. If you didn't before, you did the moment you read its name: this is a festival for theatre that could happen anywhere. Sure, it sounds simple — but anywhere really does mean anywhere. Yoga studios, Boggo Road Gaol, cafes, bookshops, bars, bowls clubs and markets are all set to become playgrounds for the next breed of eccentric, experimental physical theatre, dance and circus. The festival program does feature 57 productions and 337 performances in 24 Brisbane suburbs, after all. Here are just five of the best.
Five writers. One evening. A single topic. Plenty of weighty matters to ponder. That's Brisbane Writers Festival's Literary Salon, which focuses on A World Without Writers. If you're going to ponder a realm without those ostensibly wedded to the written word — and without the materials they create — then why not ask for their thoughts? On September 8, The Family Law's Benjamin Law, Flesh Wounds' Richard Glover, Panchinko's Min Jin Lee and more will sit, talk and work through the subject — all while wedding an old tradition with new ideas. Dating back to the 16th century, salons are all about enlightening discussion. Expect a whole heap here.
Alright chinas, we need to have a rabbit and pork about Guy Ritchie's new $175 million rattle and clank buster: Kin Arfur: Jackanory of the Drum and Fife – an altogether pony and trap reimagining of the classic weep and wail that's light on the brass tacks, sore on the mince pies and pretty much tom tit. If you struggled to understand that, consider it our version of the "you must be this tall to get on the ride" sign for Guy Ritchie's calamitous take on the famous Arthurian tale. As with every Ritchie flick (see: Snatch, RocknRolla and Sherlock Holmes, among others), cockney banter flies thick and fast between Arthur's merry band of streetwise vagabonds, all of whom sport names like Goose-fat Bill, Wet Stick, Back Lack and Chinese George. Unlike Ritchie's previous outings, however, there's little wit or charm to back up the slang. Instead, we're given in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword a CGI-heavy romp that moves at such a frantic and disjointed pace that simply keeping up with the story feels like a greater test of character and strength than actually pulling Excalibur from the stone. Worse still, there's nothing new about any of it. Between the giant elephants (Return of the King), the 'bullet-time' slow motion (The Matrix) and an enormous killer snake (Harry Potter), it's all far too much like a video game we've played many times before and know exactly how to beat. There are, at least, a few notable highlights. Charlie Hunnam and Jude Law both put in commendable performances as Arthur and his evil uncle Vortigern, with Law in particular ensnaring the eye for every second he's on screen. Villainy suits the actor, whose charm and cheekiness take on a decidedly darker turn when given the right material with which to play. There's also a neat little twist on the sword/stone component itself, which – at least for a time – raises King Arthur: Legend of the Sword to a level worthy of its storied subject matter. Unfortunately, there's far too much style and not nearly enough substance to hold the film's loose narrative threads together. Snap cuts and fancy editing helped put Guy Ritchie on the map, but in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword there's no duck and diving the fact that it's all gone proper pete and tong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIM4-HLtUM0
From moving road trip dramas and joyous concert documentaries to passionate anthologies and wondrous animation, plenty of excellent films reached screens large and small throughout 2020. Indeed, the past 12 months were filled with cinematic delights — even when we've been watching them at home while movie theatres were closed — but, sadly, they can't all be great. Each year delivers its fair share of exceptional and awful movies, of course. And, both the best and the worst of the bunch can all score awards. The Oscars and the Golden Globes rank among the accolades that recognise the former, while the Golden Raspberries devotes its attention to the other end of the spectrum. After announcing its nominees from the past year's films last month, the Razzies has just revealed its latest batch of winners. Leading the pack from the 41st Razzie Award recipients is the terrible Sia-directed Music, which picked up three of the four categories it was nominated for: Worst Director (for Sia), Worst Actress (for Kate Hudson) and Worst Supporting Actress (for Maddie Ziegler). It didn't take out the Worst Picture field, though, with that gong going to Absolute Proof. Peddling conspiracy theories about the 2020 US election, it also picked up the Worst Actor award for Mike Lindell as himself. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm similarly picked up two awards. Also linked to the election, it deserves its nods in a different way. The film is smart, funny and savage, and definitely not awful, but scored dual wins for Rudy Giuliani (for Worst Supporting Actor, and for Worst Screen Combo with his pants zipper). Although Polish erotic drama 365 Days nabbed six nods and became the awards' first-ever contender in a language other than English, it only won one, for Worst Screenplay. Dolittle, the Robert Downey Jr-starring remake that hit cinemas before the pandemic, also only received one award from its six nominations, emerging victorious in the Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel category. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEf412bSPLs Reflecting the past year's general chaos, the Razzies also handed out a special trophy to the 2020 overall, naming it 'the worst calendar year ever'. Check out the full list of winners and nominees below: GOLDEN RASPBERRY NOMINEES AND WINNERS 2020: WORST PICTURE 365 Days Absolute Proof Dolittle Fantasy Island Music WORST ACTOR Robert Downey Jr, Dolittle Mike Lindell, Absolute Proof Michele Morrone, 365 Days Adam Sandler, Hubie Halloween David Spade, The Wrong Missy WORST ACTRESS Anne Hathaway, The Last Thing He Wanted and The Witches Katie Holmes, Brahms: The Boy II and The Secret: Dare to Dream Kate Hudson, Music Lauren Lapkus, The Wrong Missy Anna-Maria Sieklucka, 365 Days WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR Chevy Chase, The Very Excellent Mr Dundee Rudy Giuliani, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Shia LeBeouf, The Tax Collector Arnold Schwarzenegger, Iron Mask Bruce Willis, Breach, Hard Kill and Survive the Night WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy Lucy Hale, Fantasy Island Maggie Q, Fantasy Island Kristen Wiig, Wonder Woman 1984 Maddie Ziegler, Music WORST SCREEN COMBO Robert Downey Jr and his utterly unconvincing Welsh accent, Dolittle Harrison Ford and that totally fake-looking CGI dog, Call of the Wild Rudy Giuliani and his pants zipper, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Lauren Lapkus and David Spade, The Wrong Missy Adam Sandler and his grating simpleton voice, Hubie Halloween WORST DIRECTOR Charles Band, All three Barbie and Kendra movies Barbara Bialowas and Tomasz Mandes, 365 Days Stephen Gaghan, Dolittle Ron Howard, Hillbilly Elegy Sia, Music WORST PREQUEL, REMAKE, RIP-OFF or SEQUEL 365 Days Dolittle Fantasy Island Hubie Halloween Wonder Woman 1984 WORST SCREENPLAY 365 Days All three Barbie and Kendra movies Dolittle Fantasy Island Hillbilly Elegy
Dishing up desserts across Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland the Australian Capital Territory, Gelato Messina obviously specialises in frosty sweet treats. But, because the chain has amassed quite the following, it also has a range of merchandise. Over the past couple of years, it has released gelato-scented candles and decked out a line of clothing with pictures of its towering ice cream cones — and now it's collaborating with Lanolips on a gelato-flavoured balm. You can't spend all day every day eating Messina's desserts (sorry); however, you can slather your lips in its new salted caramel and mango coconut lip balm. Presumably, like those aforementioned candles, this'll give you a constant craving for a few scoops — so if you start eating more gelato as a result, you'll know why. The Messina x Lanolips collab takes its cues from Messina's most popular coconut milk sorbet — a flavour that features Murray River salt and Australian Kensington Pride mango salsa. In balm form, it's made with lanolin from local sheep's wool, vitamin E, natural coconut oil and mango fruit extract. You'll find the lip-smacking new product in all Messina stores, Messina's online store, at Lanolips' website and at Mecca. Head to Messina to pick some up before Tuesday, November 2 — or buy one from Messina's website — and you'll also nab a free scoop while stocks last. For more information about Gelato Messina's new Lanolips balm — and to buy some — head to the chain's website.
This review was written about the Melbourne run of this Absinthe production in April 2015. What do you get when you combine seriously chiseled muscles, cheeky lace underwear, a few nipples, death defying acts, and more laughs than you’ve had in a while? Oh, how we wish we knew where all your minds went first. But we’ll put you out of your misery. The answer, Absinthe by Spiegelworld, currently touring Australia. Did we mention it’s MA15+? After opening in Las Vegas in 2011 and then hitting the streets of New York, this show has drawn sold-out crowds for four years straight. The modern circus is a constantly rotating door of performers, dancers, singers, burlesque performers, and comedians from all over the world with unique abilities, leaving you with no clue what will come up next. And it’s hosted by the somewhat sleazy Gazillionaire and his weirdly funny sidekick Penny. Word of warning, the things that come out of her mouth are not for the faint-hearted. As the performance is inspired by the booze-soaked cabarets of the late 19th Century, the Spiegelworld tent is the perfect location for the show. The rooftop of Crown, for the night, feels like a secluded and sensual bar — ideal for saucy acts and dirty comedy. Without ruining too many surprises, the show opens with a pile of ten or so chairs and one small man doing handstands on top of it, we move to an almost naked girl and a very large balloon, to fire breathing, to towers of just men who drink shots of absinthe between acts, to girls who swing on a hoop and each other while kissing in the meantime. Don’t be surprised if you gasp, a few times for the sexy, sexy performers and a few times for when you think they're going to fall right in front of your eyes. This show literally keeps you on the edge of your seat, a cliché we wouldn’t use lightly.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. ZOLA It wasn't just a Twitter thread — it was the Twitter thread. Whether you read Aziah 'Zola' King's viral 148-post stripper saga live as it happened back in October 2015, stumbled across the details afterwards as the internet lost its mind or only heard about it via Zola's buzzy trailer, calling this stranger-than-fiction tale a wild ride will always be an understatement. Its instantly gripping opening words, as also used in Janicza Bravo's (Lemon) savvy, sharp, candy-hued tweet-to-screen adaptation, happen to capture the whole OMG, WTF and OTT vibe perfectly: "you wanna hear a story about how me and this bitch fell out? It's kind of long, but it's full of suspense." In the film, that phrase is uttered aloud by Zola's eponymous Detroit waitress (Taylour Paige, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom). Still, the movie firmly embraces its origins. For those wondering how a filmmaker turns a series of tweets into a feature, Bravo handles the task with flair, energy, enthusiasm and a clear understanding of social media's role in our lives. Much of the phrasing that the real-life Zola used has made its way into the conversational script, which was co-written by playwright Jeremy O Harris. Each time that occurs, the film echoes with tell-tale swooshes, whistles and dings. But those words and alerts are just the starting point; as Zola's chaotic narrative unfurls, it comes to life with a mix of the hyperreal, the loose and the dreamy. It doesn't merely tell a tale taken from the tweetstorm to end all tweetstorms, but also uses every aesthetic choice it can to mirror the always-on, always-posing, always-sharing online realm. The other person that Zola refers to in her initial statement is the cornrow-wearing, blaccent-sporting Stefani (Riley Keough, The Lodge), who she serves at work, then joins on a jaunt to Florida. They immediately hit it off, which is what inspires the invite to head south — a "hoe trip" is how Zola describes it — however, what's meant to be a girls' getaway for a stint of lucrative exotic dancing in Tampa soon gets messy. The drive is long, and Stefani's boyfriend Derreck (Nicholas Braun, Succession) quickly dampens the mood with his awkward, try-hard schtick. Then there's X (Colman Domingo, Candyman), who, while introduced as Stefani's roommate, is actually her pimp. Trafficking Zola into sex work is the real plan of this working holiday, she discovers, but she's ferociously adamant that she won't be "poppin' pussy for pennies". As the woman both relaying and riding Zola's rollercoaster of a story, Paige is fierce and finessed. It's a tricky part; making the dialogue sound authentic, and also like it could've just been rattled off on social media with a mix of emojis and all caps, requires a precise tonal balance, for starters. So does ensuring that Zola always feels like a real person, especially given the tale's ups and downs. That said, Paige is guided by Bravo at every turn, with recognising how things play online and how they pan out in reality — and the frequent disconnection between the two — one of the filmmaker's biggest masterstrokes. That's exactly what a flick that's based on a Twitter thread should offer, rather than just mining posts for punchy content that's already proven popular. Using the platform as source material definitely doesn't equal an endorsement here. Instead, it sparks a brash and bouncy feature that interrogates its inspiration and the mechanism that turned it into a whirlwind, rather than serves up a cinematic retweet. Read our full review. LAST NIGHT IN SOHO Edgar Wright must own a killer record collection. Weaving the perfect playlists into his films has ranked high among the British writer/director's trademarks ever since he made such a horror-comedy splash with Shaun of the Dead, and his own love of music is frequently mirrored by his protagonists, too. This is the filmmaker who set a zombie-killing scene to Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now', and had characters wield vinyl as weapons. He made zoning out the world via iPod — and teeing up exactly the right track for the right moment — a key trait of Baby Driver's eponymous getaway driver. Earlier in 2021, Wright also turned his avid fandom for Sparks into his delightful first documentary The Sparks Brothers, because wearing his love for his favourite songs on his sleeves infiltrates everything he makes. So, the fact that his second film of this year is about a giddy devotee of 60s tunes really doesn't come as the slightest surprise. Last Night in Soho takes its name from an era-appropriate song that gets a spin in the film, naturally. It boasts a cleverly compiled soundtrack teeming with hits from the period, and has one of its central figures — called Sandie, like singer Sandie Shaw, who croons '(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me' on that very soundtrack — seek chanteuse stardom. As Wright is known to do, his latest movie also sports sequences that could double as music videos, and possesses a supple sense of rhythm that makes his picture virtually dance across the screen. It's a feature shaped by music, made better by music, and that recognises that music can make anyone feel like they can do anything. A partly swinging 60s-set thriller that adores the giallo films of the time with equal passion, it also flits between a cinematic banger on par with the glorious tracks it peppers throughout and the movie equivalent of a routine needle drop. Cilla Black, Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield: these are the kind of talents that Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie, The Power of the Dog) can't get enough of, even though she's a Gen Z aspiring fashion designer; they're also the type of stars that aforementioned blonde bombshell Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen's Gambit) wants to follow onto London's stages. Last Night in Soho starts with its wannabe fashionista, who's first seen donning her own 60s-inspired designs in her Cornwall bedroom that's plastered with posters and pictures from the period, and also dancing to 'Peter & Gordon's 1964 track 'A World Without Love'. Soon, Eloise is off to college in the big and, hopefully, working towards the fashion world. Then she meets Sandie, but only in her dreams. Actually, as she slumbers, she becomes Sandie — and navigates her chiffon-adorned quest for stardom, her breathy 'Downtown' covers and her thorny relationship with slippery bar manager Jack (Matt Smith, Official Secrets). Some of Last Night in Soho's most dazzling scenes play with these doppelgänger characters, and with the time-travelling dreamscape where they both exist, as if Wright is helming a musical. The choreography — both by McKenzie and Taylor-Joy, playing chalk-and-cheese roles, and by the film's lithe and glossy cinematography — is stunning. The effect is mesmerising, as well as whip-smart in tapping into the feature's ongoing musing on identity. This is also a horror movie and a mystery, however, so exploring what's behind these nocturnal visions is the primary focus. As a mousy girl bullied by her roommate (Synnøve Karlsen, Medici) to the point of leaping into the too-good-to-be-true Soho attic studio leased by the cranky but obliging Ms Collins (Diana Rigg, Game of Thrones), it's easy to see why Eloise flees into her dreams. But the who, what, why and how of it all — when and were clearly being answered already — isn't as simple as pure retro escapism. Read our full review. BLUE BAYOU Blue Bayou isn't Justin Chon's first film as an actor, writer, director or producer, but it's a fantastic showcase for his many talents nonetheless. It's also a deeply moving feature about a topical subject: America's immigration laws, which are complicated at best and draconian at worst. Worlds away from his time in all five Twilight flicks — because Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Anna Kendrick aren't the franchise's only breakout stars — Chon plays Antonio LeBlanc. While the Korean American tattoo artist has lived in Louisiana since being adopted as child, the name he was given upon his arrival in the US still sparks cognitive dissonance, as the job interview that opens the movie illustrates. It also doesn't stop both the casual and overt racism frequently directed his way, or the deportation proceedings that spring after he's accosted in a supermarket by New Orleans police officers. Helming and scripting as well as starring, Chon layers Antonio's situation with complexity from the outset. He's getting by, just, but his criminal record makes it difficult to secure more work — which he needs given his wife Kathy (Alicia Vikander, The Green Knight) is pregnant. He's a doting stepdad to her daughter Jessie (Sydney Kowalske, Doom Patrol), but her birth father Ace (Mark O'Brien, Marriage Story) is one of those aforementioned cops. Also, Ace has a bigoted partner, Denny (Emory Cohen, Flashback), who makes antagonising Antonio his daily mission. And, after that grocery store run-in, the latter discovers that his adoptive parents didn't ever complete the paperwork required to naturalise him as a US citizen. His life, his wife, his kids, that he has no ties to Korea: sadly, it all means nothing to the immigration system. Based on the plot description, it'd be simple to accuse Blue Bayou of throwing too much at its protagonist, dialling up his hardships and wallowing in his misery, all to tug at heartstrings. The film inspires a strong emotional reaction; however, this isn't just a case of calculating narrative machinations manipulating viewers to feel everything — or even something. There's a sense of inevitability to Chon's feature, his fourth after Man Up, Gook and Ms Purple, and it's all by design. The path that Antonio's life is forced down isn't surprising, complete with tough truths and heartbreaking realities, but it's filled with authenticity. Piling on misfortune after misfortune isn't merely a ploy when all of Blue Bayou's dramas can easily accumulate as they do here, and when no one's struggles are ever limited to just one or two troubles. There's no contrivance in sight, but rather a firm understanding of snowballing sorrows and their overwhelming impact. Still, Chon walks a delicate tightrope. He could've veered into tear-wringing movie of the week-style melodrama, clogged it up with cliches and failed to evoke even a single genuine feeling — or, alternatively, he could've deployed too much restraint and crafted a clinical, procedural film that saw Antonio as a mere cog in a system. The space he's carved out in-between is both masterful and organically messy; finding the right balance is a mammoth task, and embracing the whirlwind that sweeps along Antonio, Kathy and Jessie is inherently chaotic. The result is a stirring and empathetic film that's also precise and intricate, especially when it comes to the emotional deluge weathered by its central trio. At every moment, Blue Bayou plunges viewers into their turbulent existence, sees their plight with clear eyes and acknowledges all that that encompasses. Read our full review. THE RESCUE It isn't the first movie about the Tham Luang Nang Non cave incident to reach screens, thanks to the underwhelming The Cave. It won't be the last project to focus on the 12 Thai schoolboys and their soccer coach who were trapped in the Chiang Rai Province spot for 18 days back in 2018, either. Ron Howard (Hillbilly Elegy)-directed dramatisation Thirteen Lives hits cinemas next year, a Netflix limited series executive produced by In the Heights filmmaker John M Chu is also set to debut in 2022 and, to the surprise of no one, more are bound to follow. Still, The Rescue earns another worthy honour. The documentary isn't just an inspirational recounting of a miraculous effort that thwarted a potential tragedy, as told by the brave people who pulled off the feat, although it's certainly that. In addition, this gripping film falls into a genre that always needs more entries: celebrations of skilled people doing difficult things with precision, passion, persistence and prowess. If documentarians Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin have a niche, it's this. As co-directors, the married couple has now made three films, all valuing hard work, expertise and when the former leads not only to the latter, but to extraordinary achievements. With 2015 Sundance award-winner Meru, they documented Chin's efforts with two other climbers to scale Meru Peak in the Indian Himalayas. Then came Oscar-winner Free Solo, the exceptional doco about Alex Honnold's quest to free-climb Yosemite National Park's El Capitan. The Rescue swaps clambering up for diving deep, and hones in on an event that captured international headlines as it happened, but still belongs in the same company as the duo's past two releases. Here, viewers start the film with an understanding of what happened thanks to all that non-stop news coverage, but finish it in profound awe of the talent, smarts, dedication and unflinching competence involved. Vasarhelyi and Chin spotlight the divers who extricated Tham Luang's 13 unwilling inhabitants, aka the Wild Boars soccer team — and did so as the world watched, as hours became days and then weeks, and as monsoonal waters flooded the cave despite a desperate pumping initiative. Thai Navy SEALs initially attempted the task, yet struggled in the ten kilometres of sprawling and narrow tunnels. In fact, due to the murky water and the constant deluge from the fast-falling rain, they weren't able to get far. To assist, civilian hobbyists including Brits Rick Stanton and John Volanthen were brought in — experts in their field, and volunteers for the biggest diving quest of their lives. When their crew found the boys and their coach almost four kilometres from the mouth of the cave, they then faced another dilemma: how to get them back out alive. With its ending already well-known, The Rescue starts at the beginning, letting those who were there talk through each step, and also weaving in footage from the rescue mission itself. No re-enactments — not the small amount The Rescue uses, as noted in its credits; not The Cave's awful docodrama approach; and not all the future dramatisations set to flow from Hollywood — can ever be as nerve-wracking as seeing this remarkable feat actually happen. That said, the film's interviews are also significant. While the on-the-ground and in-the-water clips show the immense level of skill at work and the enormous dangers faced, the accompanying discussions offer keen insights into the thought processes involved. And, they draw out Stanton, Volanthen and their team's distinctive personalities, ensuring that these heroes are always flesh and blood. Read our full review. PHIL LYNOTT: SONGS FOR WHILE I'M AWAY One of the most astute things that a music documentary can do is lead with its subject, whether they're a household name the world over, deserving of more fame and acclaim, or fall somewhere in the middle. With Phil Lynott: Songs for While I'm Away, that's a tricky task, as it is of any film that looks back at a figure who is no longer around — and who didn't leave a treasure trove of candid and personal materials behind, as docos such as Amy, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck and Zappa all benefited from. Accordingly, editor-turned-director Emer Reynolds (The Farthest) undertakes a careful juggling act, pushing Thin Lizzy singer Lynott to the fore whenever and however she can. Songs for While I'm Away is still filled with talking heads that aren't Ireland's Black, working-class rockstar — his family members, friends, colleagues and peers alike — but it's at its best when it lets its namesake's songs echo and his on-stage presence take centre stage. "You'll never see a bad photo of Phil Lynott," Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham offers in a to-camera chat, a sentiment that the film bakes into its frames. Bearing witness to a great talent always casts a spell that merely listening to other people talk about them can never match, no matter how insightful and affectionate those discussions prove. Early in Songs for While I'm Away, Reynolds lingers on footage of Lynott singing and strumming, his piercing eyes instantly demanding attention — and that clip is the doco's hook, even for first-timers to his story. The soulfulness of his lyrics, many of which are placed into context by the film's interviewees, is just as entrancing. Sometimes the documentary resembles a listening party, pairing snippets of songs with stock visuals, then dissecting the tunes; however, in diving well beyond 'The Boys Are Back in Town' and 'Jailbreak' — the two songs that Thin Lizzy, and therefore Lynott, will always be best known for — it's a canny move. Still, Songs for While I'm Away has much to unpack: Lynott's upbringing, after being born in England to a mother from Ireland and a father from Guyana, then spending his childhood with his grandparents in Dublin; his path to music stardom, with Thin Lizzy's rock cover of 'Whiskey in the Jar' giving the group their first top-ten hit; and everything that sprang from that success personally and professionally. Early in the doco, Lynott's daughters Sarah and Cathleen stress how they wish people didn't focus so much on their father's death — in 1986, at the age of 36, from pneumonia and heart failure due to septicaemia after a struggle with heroin — and Reynolds takes their words to heart, too. This is a movie that's eager to soak up as much of Lynott, and what made him the star he was, as it possibly can. Indeed, with his addiction, it's positively shy; don't expect to even hear the word 'heroin'. That's another balancing act, and one that Reynolds doesn't quite perfect, opting for skirting around the obvious instead. A film can enjoy triumphs and recognise flaws at the same time — including when it comes to someone as pivotal in the history of Irish rock 'n' roll as Lynott — but Songs for While I'm Away eventually feels a tad safe and sanitised. It's celebratory from its first moment till its last, including when its smattering of equally famous faces, such as U2's Adam Clayton, Metallica's James Hetfield, Huey Lewis of Huey Lewis and the News, and singer Suzi Quatro — who supported Thin Lizzy when they supported Slade on a 1972 UK tour — deliver anecdotes and admiration. This is a heartfelt ode, undoubtedly, and both an entertaining and engaging one, but it also dons rose-coloured glasses that feel at odds with Lynott himself. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on July 1, July 8, July 15, July 22 and July 29; August 5, August 12, August 19 and August 26; September 2, September 9, September 16, September 23 and September 30; October 7, October 14, October 21 and October 28; and November 4 and November 11. For Sydney specifically, you can take a look at out our rundown of new films that released in Sydney cinemas when they reopened on October 11, and what opened on October 14, October 21 and October 28 as well. And for Melbourne, you can check out our top picks from when outdoor cinemas reopened on October 22 — and from when indoor cinemas did the same on October 29. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Herself, Little Joe, Black Widow, The Sparks Brothers, Nine Days, Gunpowder Milkshake, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Old, Jungle Cruise, The Suicide Squad, Free Guy, Respect, The Night House, Candyman, Annette, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Streamline, Coming Home in the Dark, Pig, Big Deal, The Killing of Two Lovers, Nitram, Riders of Justice, The Alpinist, A Fire Inside, Lamb, The Last Duel, Malignant, The Harder They Fall, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, Halloween Kills, Passing, Eternals, The Many Saints of Newark, Julia, No Time to Die, The Power of the Dog and Tick, Tick... Boom!.
In 2013, three women escaped from a home in Cleveland, Ohio, then shocked the world by revealing they'd been kidnapped and kept prisoner by one man for over a decade. It's hard not think that their harrowing tale may have played a part in the conception of writer-director M. Night Shyamalan's latest thriller, Split, which begins in a very similar fashion. Three young girls, all in their teens, are drugged and abducted in broad daylight outside of a shopping mall, only to wake up imprisoned in a bunker with no idea where they are, who took them, or why. That is, until they meet Dennis. Played by James McAvoy, Dennis is a cold, meticulous and physically brutal force. He's nothing like Patricia, the matronly British lady (also played by James McAvoy), who assures the girls they'll not be touched or harmed in any way. Then there's Hedwig (played by...James McAvoy) who's just a small boy who loves to dance to Kanye, and Barry (James McAvoy) a fashion designer constantly reassuring his shrink that everything's under control and…well…you get the idea. Rest assured though, this isn't some sort of Eddie Murphy costume romp where he's playing every character. Rather, McAvoy plays a collective of 23 distinct personalities competing for 'the light' within the body of one man named Kevin. Within this extraordinary case of DID (dissociative identity disorder), some personalities want the girls freed, whilst others appear to be preparing them for the arrival of the yet unseen 24th identity which they refer to only as 'the beast'. The burden of carrying the film, unsurprisingly, sits almost exclusively with McAvoy, whose performance more than rises to the challenge. Shyamalan actually filmed each of Kevin's identities as though they were portrayed by a different actor and the technique absolutely pays off. Each one feels different, and you soon think of them accordingly. Some you fear, others you warm to and none feel at all like the man playing them. The other performance of note comes from Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch). Introduced as a loner from the opening scene, Casey resists the others' suggestions of attempting an escape in favour of befriending the more approachable identities within Kevin, sparking additional conflict within an environment already dripping with tension. Taylor-Joy's a terrific actress with a long future ahead of her, and it's her scenes with McAvoy where Split is at its best. Filmed almost entirely in extreme closeups – a device that leaves audiences wondering what unseen menace might be lurking just off screen – McAvoy's unpredictability keeps the levels of menace high, while Taylor-Joy's enormous, soulful eyes speak volumes when words aren't (or can't) be spoken. Ever since The Sixth Sense, Shyamalan has been plagued by the expectation that his films will feature an unpredictable twist, a promise on which he's been mostly unable to deliver. Depending on your perspective, the finale of Split either sheds itself of that expectation entirely or doubles down and hits you with something even larger. Maybe it's both. Either way, the end result is almost certainly Shyamalan's best film since his breakout; a welcome return to form and an exciting precursor to whatever comes next. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84TouqfIsiI
From French, Greek, Italian and Japanese to Jewish, British, Turkish and Russian, Australian cinemas have welcomed a vast array of cultural film festivals throughout 2017 — but they're not done just yet. Now in its second year, the Cine Latino Film Festival might be the last touring film fest of this year; however, it's here to help end the movie-going calendar with plenty of Central and South American cinema gems. This year's lineup includes Mexican rom-coms, Argentinian escape thrillers, Peruvian musicals and Chilean road movies, plus more from the festival's 26 film journey through everywhere from Uruguay to Cuba to Colombia to Ecuador. With the fest currently doing the rounds of Aussie capitals until November 29, we've picked five must-see movies from the jam-packed program. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECe0jfpNLKc YOU'RE KILLING ME SUSANA Is it possible to put on a Latin American film festival without Gael García Bernal showing up somewhere? Based on Cine Latino's two outings so far, clearly not. After turning in one of the finest performances of his career in last year's Neruda, the Mexican star returns for You're Killing Me Susana. Swapping poetry, police and politics for marital dramas, he plays the suddenly solo Eligio, who wakes up to find his wife has left him and then follows her to the US — as based on the novel Ciudades Desiertas by Mexican writer José Agustín. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnIE6y5KBwY WINTER Winter may roam across an icy landscape but it's every inch the western, its frosty sights playing home to a classic tale of survival in an unforgiving location. Winning a special jury prize for its cinematography at last year's San Sebastian International Film Festival, the debut feature from writer/director Emiliano Torres follows an older worker forced to face his future when a younger counterpart starts taking over much of his foreman role. Like many a traditional oater, it values sparse dialogue and stunning sights to help thrust the story forward https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGBVKLIbDqk WOODPECKERS Set in a Dominican Republic prison, stemming from reality and shot on location, Woodpeckers genuinely tells a tale you don't hear every day. In fact, you likely haven't heard this tale before. While the idea of love trying to conquer the odds is far from new, the story of petty thief Julián (Jean Jean) and female inmate Yanelly (Judith Rodriguez) is immersed in a location-specific sliver of jailhouse culture. Here, in a moving and immersive effort, detainees communicate via their own form of forbidden sign language — also known as woodpecking — from their respective men's and women's facilities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hi2FH_afxs EL INCA Add El Inca to the pile of big-screen boxing efforts, and add it to the list of controversial films as well. In its homeland, the Venezuelan feature was taken out of cinemas as a result of a court order; however, that hasn't stopped it from becoming the country's submission for this year's foreign-language film category at the Academy Awards. Based on the plight of real-life two-weight world champion Edwin 'El Inca' Valero, the movie not only steps through his professional bouts, but also his personal troubles — including his relationship with his wife, and the tragedies that result. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdA1c1ujTs8 GABRIEL AND THE MOUNTAIN Gabriel and the Mountain might initially seem like a Brazilian version of Into the Wild, but this Cannes Critics Week standout delves deeper as it tells its own true tale. With spectacular visuals providing quite the backdrop, this blend of recreation and reality charts traveller Gabriel Buchmann's quest to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. He's played by an actor, João Pedro Zappa; however the film pairs him with the people the actual Buchmann crossed paths with, in an involving, insightful and all-round stirring feature that's part travelogue, part character study, part untraditonal documentary. The 2017 Cine Latino Film Festival will screen at Sydney's Palace Norton Street and Palace Verona from November 14 to 29, Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como and Palace Westgarth from November 16 to 29, and Brisbane's Palace Centro from November 16 to 29. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
The last time that Amanda Parer took over Brisbane, she filled Eagle Street Pier with seven-metre-tall bunnies thanks to her eye-catching Intrude installation. Obviously, it was quite the big deal/ This time, she's turning West End's West Village into a blossoming wonderland. Well, she is unveiling her latest artworks for spring, after all — and yes, it's set to be just as dazzling. Parer's new larger-than-life exhibition is called Lost, and it first made its debut at Surfers Paradise's Beyond the Sand Festival earlier in 2021. It's now set to bloom in Brissie — and it's filled with billowing botanicals that'll make you feel like you've gotten lost inside a giant floral wonderland. While you're wandering through this lit-up pieces as part of this year's Brisbane Festival, you'll notice Parer's particular focus on extinct or endangered species. You'll see her inflatables pieces, obviously, and you'll notice the LEDs as part of the installation as well. Entry is free, with Lost on display from Friday, September 3–Saturday, September 25. Images: Beyond the Sand Festival.
Death & Co, founded in New York City in 2006, is a modern craft cocktail bar that has been instrumental in shaping the industry. Now, the brand has chosen Australia for its first major move outside the United States. Death & Co is set to open in Melbourne in November at 87 Flinders Lane. The brand will also establish a venue in Brisbane beneath the Regatta Hotel, with a launch date to be announced soon. When Death & Co emerged in the New York bar scene two decades ago, it quickly became a major player in reviving interest in the art of cocktail making. With growing popularity, outposts were established in Los Angeles, Denver and Washington DC. The bars are a must-visit destination for those who take their drinks seriously, and have won many industry awards, including America's Best Cocktail Bar and World's Best Cocktail Menu at the Tales of the Cocktail Convention. Perhaps they heard Aussies take their drinks rather seriously, too, because they chose Melbourne as the brand's first international location. However, because they are so committed to their craft and ensuring the proper Death & Co experience is translated across borders, the Australian venue and bar managers have undergone extensive training in the United States. Death & Co will launch in Melbourne with several of its classic cocktails, including the Naked and Famous, with Del Maguey Vida Mezcal, Chartreuse, Aperol and lime, and the Oaxacan Old Fashioned, which blends El Jimador Reposado, mezcal, agave syrup, and bitters. Images: Shelby Moore. Death & Co is slated to open on Flinders Lane in November. If you're looking for some great cocktails in the meantime, check out the best bars in Melbourne.
South Bank's Stoke Bar is shutting up shop, with its riverside digs about to undergo a million-dollar makeover. But there's no need to say a teary farewell, as the space beside Stokehouse Q is set to become home to a new bar simply called Q. It's really a case of one door closing — and then that same door re-opening, just under a different name four weeks later. The rebadged, renovated watering hole will combine the old and the new when it launches on September 14. In the former camp, it'll boast the same gorgeous views, a similar weekend lineup of DJ-fuelled hangout sessions, and the same chef, Richard Ousby. In the latter category, Brisbanites can expect changes of the design, cuisine and beverage kind. In good news for everyone fond of hanging out by the water — which, let's face it, is why people head to South Bank to begin with — the revamp will result in a larger space that gets patrons even closer to the river's edge. In the process, Q will ramp up its water-adjacent seating, including booths, a wrap-around lounge on the boardwalk, and an additional private lounge area. Food-wise, Ousby's menu features a range of small plates, as split into one0handed snacks and knife-and-fork dishes. Grilled haloumi with burnt honey, mozzarella and bolognese jaffles, fried chicken bites and spanner crab with buckwheat noodles rank among the options. And as far as the drinks list is concerned, ex-Nant Whisky Bar, Cuvee Lounge and Soleil Pool Bar bartender Becki Parker will be overseeing the beverages, with four new cocktails on offer. The standout: the aptly named Goodwill Rising, which blends tequila, fig jam, ginger, pineapple shrub, vanilla syrup, lemon juice, lemon and vanilla sugar crisp, and is probably best sipped while you're looking out over the bridge that gives it its moniker. As part of the revamp, Stokehouse Q will also close from August 26, and re-open on September 14 with a new kitchen and a few other restaurant upgrades. Stoke Bar will close on August 26, and Q will open on September 14 on Sidon Street, South Bank. For more information, keep an eye on Stokehouse Q's website.
Six months is a long time in the restaurant business. It was only back in January that Fortitude Valley gained a new apothecary-themed late-night bar and eatery, appropriately named The Apo. Now, just six months later, the Ann Street haunt is switching to a new chef — from none other than Gerard's Bistro. Say goodbye to the venue's rotating array of intricate modern gastronomical delights, and prepare to welcome to a brand new hybrid of Lebanese and French cuisines. The change in food style comes with a change of personnel, with former chef Braden White (ex-Hatch & Co Gasworks) leaving the fold and Gerard's Bistro's frontman, Ben Williamson, stepping in to oversee the kitchen. Given that The Apo and Gerard's are both owned by the same folks (along with Lychee Lounge, Laruche, Hatch & Co and The Defiant Duck), it's far from a surprising move — even if it came about, according to Good Food, as a result of creative differences with White. It certainly might have had something to do with the immensely harsh two-star John Lethlean review of The Apo that was published in The Australian back in April. The new menu — which will hopefully be less convoluted, at least for Lethlean's sake — will be unveiled on Tuesday, July 12, and is sure to complement the bar's hefty beer, wine and cocktail list. If you've had an Apo Sweet Manhattan, Velvet Underground or Roadside Punch, then you know what we're talking about. And, for Gerard's fans out there — that is, everyone in Brisbane who likes to eat and drink — there's no need to worry about changes to your favourite hangout. The multi-talented Williamson will continue his existing roles, too. Now you just have more places to devour his tasty creations. Via Good Food.
UPDATE: April 20, 2020: The Guilty is available to stream via SBS On Demand, Google Play and YouTube. Some time in the not-too-distant future, Jake Gyllenhaal will sit in a nondescript cubicle, strap on a headset and try to save a woman's life. He'll do so while playing a police officer who's been demoted to phone duties, tasked with taking emergency calls, who suddenly finds himself talking to a kidnapping victim as her abduction is in progress. The camera won't move from his grey office location as he frantically attempts to resolve the fraught situation, and the movie will be all the more gripping for it. But no matter how effective this forthcoming flick is (or not, depending on how it turns out), exceptional Danish actor Jakob Cedergren and stellar thriller The Guilty will always have gotten there first. An English-language remake of Gustav Möller's Oscar-shortlisted debut was always bound to happen. It's the kind of high-concept film that Hollywood loves, regardless of where the idea came from. Tense Ryan Reynolds vehicle Buried, the involving, Tom Hardy-starring Locke, and Halle Berry's awful The Call have all played with aspects of the same concept, however The Guilty might just be the best of the talk-heavy bunch. With claustrophobic visuals and an uneasy mood, it's not simply smart, savvy and suspenseful, although each of those descriptions apply. More than that, this single-setting, real-time screw-turner is downright masterful in achieving its aim — that is, ensuring that one guy making and taking phone calls ranks among the most intense 85-minute periods in cinema history. In a standout role that deserves to bring Cedergren to broader attention, the Danish TV mainstay plays Asger Holm, a short-tempered, nearly-axed cop who couldn't be unhappier with his current assignment. One call virtually bleeds into the next in his frustrated mind, until a particularly fearful plea for assistance stands out. Iben's (Jessica Dinnage) story is distressing from the outset, involving domestic violence, being whisked away from home against her will, and two young kids left behind to fend for themselves. And so Holm springs into action, doing everything he can without leaving the phone to track down the kidnapped woman, as well as her reportedly explosive ex-husband (Johan Olsen), before it's too late. The immense skill required to not only engage and excite an audience's imagination, but to truly activate it, can't be underestimated. While the printed word achieves the feat with frequency, cinema typically prefers to be more explicit. Even when mystery is involved, movies tend to avoid relegating their most thrilling moments to spectators' heads — the same is true for the bulk of their action and drama, for that matter. Streamlined without ever proving simplistic, The Guilty takes the opposite approach, forcing its viewers' minds to fire on all available cylinders. The details shown on screen are far from sparse, including the range of emotion on offer from the picture's controlled but expressive leading man, and more subplots than one might expect given the movie's premise. But even as cinematographer Jasper Spanning spends much of the film's running time honing in on Cedergren's piercing, pensive eyes, the tale that's literally told via snippets of conversation couldn't be more vivid. Thank Möller's tight, taut script, as penned with economical but evocative precision with co-writer Emil Nygaard Albertsen. Thank their star as well, once again. And, with hearty enthusiasm, thank the craftspeople responsible for creating the film's fine-tuned soundscape. The fields of sound editing and sound mixing can confuse even the most dedicated cinephiles come Oscars time each year, with the former referring to finding and assembling individual sources of audio, and the latter involving the act of stitching them all together. Here, both disciplines are on show, although experienced sound editor Oskar Skriver has done a particularly astute job of finding the right sound for every single moment — and making audiences hang on each and every voice and noise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qYyTJM6Kvo
As one of southeast Queensland's two go-to beach-filled holiday spots, the Sunshine Coast is known for its sun and sand. But as well as being perched right on the ocean, the region also boasts rainforests and farms in extremely close proximity. That places it among Australia's most unique food and drink regions, gives it an interesting culinary landscape and makes it a prime location for a festival that's all about eating and drinking. Bites, beverages, basking in everything that makes the Sunshine Coast ace: that's The Curated Plate's remit, and has been since it kicked off back in 2019. Returning for 2023, the festival now runs for ten days, spanning Friday, July 28–Sunday, August 6, to celebrate all of the culinary goodness that this coastal pocket has to offer. On the lineup: more than 100 events featuring 300-plus local producers and suppliers, as put together by 52 local businesses and event organisers. The festival's program takes place in venues across the region's hinterlands, rainforests and beaches, giving attendees the full Sunny Coast experience. Heading along means feasting your way from Caloundra to Coolum, Maleny to Mooloolaba and Buderim to Beerwah, including at bar crawls, overwater picnics and farm-to-fork experiences. 2023's highlights cover MooloolaBARS, which is exactly what it sounds like across one beer- and beverage-heavy day; picnics in the Maroochydore Wheel House on Bradman Avenue, with food and booze taken care of for you; and a day spent eating at Falls Farm and Mapleton Public House. Or, there's the return of the Sunshine Coast Asian Food Festival, a zero-waste garden-to-plate lunch, and Moffat Beach Brewing's beer and barbecue degustation dinner. The festival is also championing First Nations food experiences, such as at a series of bush tucker river cruises by Saltwater Eco Tours, and a four-course dinner featuring native Australian ingredients — hand-picked garnishes from the Sunshine Coast hinterland included. Also on the lineup: a kombucha workshop, classes on plant-based cooking and oyster shucking, and a session about combining whisky, tequila and chocolate. Or, there's a boozy brunch heroing locally grown oyster mushrooms, bottomless high teas, trawler-to-table cruises that obviously go heavy on seafood and farm open days. The Curated Plate runs from Friday, July 28–Sunday, August 6 around the Sunshine Coast — head to the festival website for further details.
During the Point Break remake, a gang of adrenaline junkies contemplate their next fix. Staring up at a mountain they're about to base jump from, they discuss their limits — or "the point where you break". Dialogue isn't exactly this movie's strong point. Yes, the film expands its remit and titular reference beyond the realm of surfing that was so integral to its 1991 predecessor. No, it's not a smart move. The latest Point Break is as lacklustre as everything that comes out of its characters' mouths, despite its best efforts to distract audiences with scenes of spectacle. In broad terms, the story remains roughly the same: a freshly minted FBI agent tracks a gang of thieves whose crimes are tied to their thrill-seeking antics. Cue an undercover operation that tests the cops-versus-robbers divide, as Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey) is seduced by the swagger of ringleader Bodhi (Édgar Ramírez). This time, Bodhi and his cronies don't just surf and skydive, but snowboard, glide and free-climb too. Seeking spiritual fulfillment, they're attempting to complete the holy grail of death-defying endeavours, known as the Ozaki Eight. Their accompanying heists are designed to give back what they're taking in the process, redistributing the wealth to the poverty-stricken, Robin Hood-style. As a standalone feature, it all makes for the kind of slick film that leans heavily on what's being seen rather than what's being said. When the expositional or faux-philosophical chatter gets grating, up pops a daredevil act; when the script can't quite find a way to move forward, or anything for its characters to do, the same trick is deployed. It's the "look over there!" approach to filmmaking, and while it provides some striking sights, their purpose as filler is never in doubt. With the central bromance weak and the law-and-order side of things formulaic, Point Break becomes little more than a fast-paced, choppily edited mash-up of extreme sports videos and any template police procedural you can think of. Moreover, as a remake of a beloved, breezy '90s action classic, the film fares even worse. In reimagining the Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze effort about stoner surfers trying to finance their endless summer, director-cinematographer Ericson Core (Invincible) and writer Kurt Wimmer (Total Recall) clearly think that bigger is better — and that's where their thinking stops. Core has actually toyed with this kind of material before, lensing the car-oriented riff that is The Fast and The Furious. But where that flick spawned a successful franchise, this rehash just peddles in tedium. Sure, he ramps up the stakes, stunts, locations and backstory, adds the requisite updates and throws in a few overt winks and nods (including one that Hot Fuzz did better). But he also strips the feature of its fun, thrills, humour and personality in the process. Indeed, never has there been a movie in greater need of Reeves saying "whoa", Swayze's oozing charm, or Gary Busey being Gary Busey than this choppy dip into been-there, done-that territory. Among the next gen performers, only Ramírez stands out. Aussie actor Bracey plays his role not just blankly but blandly, Ray Winstone phones in his turn as a London-based officer, and Teresa Palmer's love interest appears to exist purely to give someone female a speaking part. To say that this version of Point Break is a wipeout might be a cliché, but it's also the dull reality — and the film doesn't try to inspire anything more than that.
Get your fill of the best vegan food in town at the Vegan Day Out. Come March 10 and 11, The Cruelty Free Shop is putting together a walking tour of vegan cafes, restaurants and retailers, many of which will be offering discounts, deals and free samples to anyone who stops by. For Saturday and Sunday, socially conscious eaters can stop by The Cruelty Free Shop on Melbourne Street, and grab a map outlining their route. From there, it's all about making your way to to plant-based delights aplenty — and making a day (or two) of it. Whether you're a dyed-in-the-wool vegan or just curious to give it a go, you'll find a whole world of retailers catering to animal-free eating, offering meal deals, two-for-ones, coffee, wine tastings and savings on vegan groceries. The Cruelty Free Shop will also be running its own tastings throughout the day, as well as offering discounts on some of its 3000+ products.
When the eighth season of Game of Thrones finished its run a few months back, and the highly popular show along with it, everyone knew that it wasn't really the end. The world created by George RR Martin will live on in his books, whenever the author finally publishes the long-awaited next instalment of his A Song of Ice and Fire series. And, it'll keep going in multiple GoT TV prequels. Like residents of Westeros hoping that summer (or at least autumn) will last for ever, HBO isn't ready to let go of its highly successful commodity. In 2017, the US network announced that it was considering five different prequel ideas, green-lighting one to pilot stage in 2018. Now, it looks poised to give another series the go-ahead. Details about the first spinoff show are still relatively thin on the ground. Co-created by A Song of Ice and Fire author George RR Martin with British screenwriter Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and the two Kingsman movies), it'll be set thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, with Naomi Watts, Miranda Richardson and John Simm among the cast. But, as The Hollywood Reporter reveals, the second potential series has a firm basis. Adapted from Martin's book Fire & Blood, it'll focus on House Targaryen. We all know what happened to GoT's last surviving Targaryens, aka Daenerys, her brother Viserys and her boyfriend/nephew Jon Snow. Fire & Blood jumps back before all that, to 300 years prior — with the first 738-page volume of the text, which was published in November 2018, starting with Aegon I Targaryen's conquest of the Seven Kingdoms and working through the family's history from there. [caption id="attachment_721122" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] HBO.[/caption] Given Daenerys' affinity for dragons, and her relatives' fondness for using the fire-breathing beasts to wage wars and claim power (sound familiar?), they also play a part in the tale. Plus, Aegon I created the Iron Throne, which means that this is an origin story in more ways than one. Whether the Fire & Blood adaption will progress from a concept to a show is yet to be seen, but you don't have to be the Three-Eyed Raven to know that some of these prequel ideas will hit screens. Apparently two other ideas are also still under consideration — because, like winter, more GoT shenanigans are definitely coming. Via The Hollywood Reporter. Top image: Helen Sloan/HBO.
