There are many things that are great about The Great, and the fact that it tells you what to exclaim whenever you're enjoying it, just received good news about it or simply can't stop thinking about it is one of them. For two seasons so far, this historical satire has bandied about "huzzah!" like it's the only word worth saying. And, come May, it'll do so again when its third season finally drops. The Great was renewed after its second batch of episodes arrived late in 2021, and now season three finally has a release date. Mark Saturday, May 13 in your diary for your next binge — following the rise and reign of Catherine the Great, including her marriage to and overthrowing of Emperor Peter III, with only the slightest regard for the actual facts, this show has a concept that's all killer, no filler, after all. [caption id="attachment_771188" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ollie Upton /Hulu[/caption] Season three will once again feature Elle Fanning (The Girl From Plainville) as Catherine and Nicholas Hoult (The Menu) as Peter, and again step into their chaotic life together. Their nuptials have always been tumultuous, but season two threw everything from attempted murders to mass imprisonments at the couple — and kept disrupting their dynamic as Catherine continued to work towards the name that's a part of history, and also inspires the show's title. So, this time around, expect more of Peter figuring out what it means to play First Husband, and Catherine expanding her influence and reputation beyond just Russia. That, and visions of Peter's late father (Jason Isaacs, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris), life lessons, attempts to build a new country and the usual scheming. While the series has always been supremely confident in its blend of handsome period staging, the loosest of historical realities and that savage sense of humour (it does spring from Oscar-nominated The Favourite screenwriter Tony McNamara, after all), it felt even more comfortable in its skin during its second season. And smoother, too, yet just as biting. So, hopefully that will remain the case in season three as well, all while it keeps seesawing tonally and proving as sharp as a shot of vodka — or several. Fanning and Hoult will be joined by returning co-stars Phoebe Fox (The Aeronauts), Adam Godley (Lodge 49), Gwilym Lee (Top End Wedding), Charity Wakefield (Bounty Hunters), Douglas Hodge (I Hate Suzie Too), Sacha Dhawan (The Prince), Bayo Gbadamosi (War of the Worlds) and Belinda Bromilow (Doctor Doctor), too, because this is a show with a phenomenally great cast. There's no trailer for The Great season three as yet, but you can check out the trailer for season two below: The Great season three will be available to stream in Australia via Stan from Saturday, May 13.
Boys and Their Toys shines the spotlight well and truly on those Brisbane boys who are driving the thriving artistic scene. Join Artisan as they celebrate the efforts of some talented fellas and embark on a tour to visit the studios of some of the city's leading male creatives. The pitstops along the way include the work stations of photographer Toby Scott, architect Nick Flutter, the team from eyewear design label Holloway, custom bike partners Steve Barry and Leo Yip from Ellaspede and Alexander Lotersztain and Erik van Genderen from delish West End restaurant, Depo. Step into each of these artists' creative bubbles and pick their brains regarding their inspiration, stories and passions. While this event celebrates local lads, likeminded ladies are more than welcome. Tickets for this exciting event are $80.00, including travel and refreshments. Meet at 1pm at Artisan gallery in Fortitude Valley where the afternoon will begin with Japanese architecture exhibition, Parallel Nippon.
Cooking can be many things. For some, it's merely a means to an end; for others, it can be meditative to the point of being therapeutic. But no matter which side of the fence you fall on, there are days when we just can't be bothered doing it. And the same is true of professional chefs. After all, if you do something for a living there comes a point where you just don't feel like doing it in your spare time. So, where do chefs eat in their downtime? We've teamed up with UberEats to ask three Brisbane hospo stars — Ollie Hansford of Rita's, Michael Jackson of ZA ZA TA (pictured above) and Andie Bulley of Savile Row — about their top local picks for those times when they feel like handing over the reins to someone else. [caption id="attachment_821578" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Grill'd[/caption] GO-TO MEAL FOR A HANGOVER Ollie Hansford: "The Korean Fried Chicken burger — KFC — from BrewDog in Morningside every time! Spicy, crisp, sweet and hits that hangover craving. There isn't any other option, unless I'm in Newstead. Then I'll get the bacon and egg burger with truffle hash brown and Sriracha mayo from Yolk. It hits that same spot." Michael Jackson: Showing the kitchen whizzes both know that a morning-after is only bettered by carbohydrates sandwiching something delicious, Jackson's go-to lies with a dependable fave. "I go Grill'd every time. The Queenslander with the HFC (healthy fried chicken) and hot sauce. It's so good." Andie Bulley: "My secret hangover cure lies in the hands of the chefs at Bird's Nest in Fortitude Valley. When I have a bad hangover, there is only one thing I can think about: its miso soup. The katsu curry definitely helps, but I wouldn't be lying if I said I've ordered over five miso soups the day after a big night." [caption id="attachment_783024" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Stanley Restaurant[/caption] GO-TO MEAL FOR A DATE NIGHT Ollie Hansford: Sharing is caring, which Hansford knows to put on show come date night. "Stanley Restaurant at the Howard Smith Wharves. I love to order a banquet and share everything. Another great one for when you want to graze through a whole menu is Bird's Nest in The Valley. I have FOMO so I love to order lots of little snacks." Michael Jackson: "I always go for Ginga Japanese. Their food is spot on! I order the tuna sashimi, salmon ngiri, chicken karaage, miso broth and tempura vegetables. I love it. When I don't have the energy to drop in after work, I get it delivered with UberEats." Andie Bulley: "The perfect date night for me has two things: my partner and a good burger. Ben's Burgers on Winn Lane is our usual go-to if we feel like a night in. The Cheesy Burger is an absolute must, however the monthly burger special is dangerously addictive. If I ever feel like a drive, Broken Hearts Burger Club in Morningside has the greatest smash burgers in Brisbane — and don't even get me started on the house sauce." [caption id="attachment_672670" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tartufo[/caption] GO-TO MEAL FOR A NIGHT OF NETFLIX AND CHOW Ollie Hansford: "Easy. The margarita stone-baked pizza and truffle fries from Italian Street Kitchen in Newstead. It's simple, tasty, done right and easy to snack on." Michael Jackson: Again the men are aligned in choice, both offering expert opinions — and proof — of the quality of the slice in Brisbane. "A Tartufo margherita pizza, it's one of my favourites when I'm relaxing at home. It's such great bread-work and has simple flavours that go great with wine, which makes the night on the couch even better." Andie Bulley: "There is nothing more comforting than a dish cooked with love. District 1 in the Valley is a family-owned restaurant that puts its heart into every meal. I've gone through the entire menu, but my favourites will always be the lemongrass pork bahn mi, spring rolls and dumplings." [caption id="attachment_615347" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Messina[/caption] GO-TO DESSERT Ollie Hansford: "Maccas McFlurry, with M&Ms and caramel topping. Though, Messina's weekly special is always good. The recent hot cross bun scoop was awesome." Michael Jackson: "Messina. It's the best ice cream ever and we live close to the shop so delivery is always available." Jackson's selection offers another vote of confidence for the perfection of the gelato churned up by the Sydney-born dessert empire. Andie Bulley: "I've never been a big desert person until I went to Miss Claudes Crepes in Newmarket. There's a range of dessert crepes that make my inner child overjoyed. No matter how much food I have eaten that day, I will always have room for a Strawberry and Nutella Ganache combo!" Don't feel like cooking tonight? Jump on UberEats to discover a new local favourite. Right now, the delivery platform is offering discounts on a heap of restaurants around Brisbane from Monday to Wednesday — find out more here.
If Neighbours wasn't already famously taken as a title of an Australian TV series, it could've also fit Last Days of the Space Age. Set in the 70s in Perth, the eight-part Disney+ show incorporates everything from US space station Skylab and workers striking for their rights to the battle for gender equality, the nation's treatment of Indigenous Australians, grappling with trauma and the immigrant experience — plus Miss Universe and the Cold War as well. Navigating all of the above: three neighbouring families in the Western Australian capital's suburbs. Judy (Radha Mitchell, Troppo) and Tony Bissett (Jesse Spencer, Chicago Fire), Sandy (Linh-Dan Pham, Blue Bayou) and Lam Bui (Vico Thai, Total Control), and Eileen Wilberforce (Deborah Mailman, Boy Swallows Universe) are all good neighbours and good friends. The teenagers in the three households — aspiring astronaut Tilly Bissett (Mackenzie Mazur, Moja Vesna), her surf-loving sister Mia (Emily Grant, RFDS), her best friend Jono Bui (debutant Aidan Du Chiem) and new arrival Bilya Wilberforce (Thomas Weatherall, Heartbreak High) — also all go to school together. Those connections sit at the heart of the series — and, as almost everything that the Bissetts, Buis and Wilberforces know starts to change, their neighbourly ties couldn't be more pivotal. Mitchell and Spencer are more than a bit familiar with this type of situation on-screen. While their careers have taken them overseas for decades — Mitchell has Phone Booth, The Crazies, two Silent Hill films, Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen on her resume; Spencer featured in 173 episodes of House before his Chicago Fire stint; both also co-starred with a 00s-era Dakota Fanning in Man on Fire and Uptown Girls, respectively — they share a past on Neighbours. Last Days of the Space Age is Spencer's big return to homegrown TV, in fact, and his first major Australian small-screen role since playing Billy Kennedy. Ramsay Street's antics aren't set in 1979, of course. Spencer can see the symmetry with the Aussie television role that brought him to fame in the 90s and his latest show, however, he tells Concrete Playground. "The writing quality is a little bit more involved, but that's up to you to decide," adds Mitchell. As Last Days of the Space Age's Judy and Tony, the pair play not just a married couple but also colleagues at the Doull Power Plant, where Tony has been leading the worker strike for six months. When Judy is promoted and tasked with negotiating an end to the union action, their family dynamic is unsurprisingly shaken up. Aided by directors Bharat Nalluri (Boy Swallows Universe), Rachel Ward (Rachel's Farm) and Kriv Stenders (Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan), creator David Chidlow (Hidden, Moving On) unfurls the Bissetts' upheaval alongside the Bui family's efforts to build a new life after arriving from Vietnam. With the Wilberforces — and with 1979 marking 150 years since Perth was founded — the series also confronts the impact of colonisation. Game of Thrones fans will spot Iain Glen (Silo) among the cast as well, as Judy's father Bob. Also included in the clearly ambitious series, which enthusiastically embraces its era and its tonal rollercoaster: Tony's journalist brother Mick (George Mason, Exposure) covering the beauty pageant, where USSR contestant Svetlana (Ines English, Dead Lucky) is a frontrunner under close watch by her KGB minder Yvgeny (Jacek Koman, Prosper). With Last Days of the Space Age available to stream via Disney+ since Wednesday, October 2, we chatted with Mitchell, Spencer and and French Vietnamese actor Pham about what excited them about the show's bold mix of elements, the fight to be treated fairly that thrums through the series, balancing its tones, Mitchell and Spencer's homecoming, Pham connecting to her roots, Neighbours and more. On What Excited Mitchell, Spencer and Pham About Starring in Last Days of the Space Age Jesse: "I was in the States, I just had my first child and this script came across my desk — and I love period dramas. It was my first chance to play a father with two daughters, so I felt like I was looking into my future a little bit. I knew nothing really about unions or the history of unions, but my character's a very passionate union leader, so I researched that — and there's a whole pretty awful history of treatment of workers back in the day, and workers' rights. But the whole project felt like a really interesting ensemble. It was quite quirky, but it was ultimately about families, and families fighting for each other — and societal change and how they coped with that. And it was really well-written. Then I got to Australia and it was a great cast, and it was a great experience to bring it off the page and bring it to life on the screen." Linh-Dan: "I think when I choose projects, there's always something personal, somehow, unconsciously. And this one was very clear: it was about reconnecting with my roots, basically. Even though my parents didn't go through what the Bui family has gone through, I managed to talk to some of my relatives about it, and it reopened the conversation — and also discovering the hidden pain, the trauma, was my way to get into Sandy. The script was actually so amazing anyway, and period pieces are so interesting. To go back: first of all, Australia, I love traveling; 70s outfits, hello disco. So it was a no-brainer for me." Radha: "There's so much in all of the storylines, and this sense of community, and all different parts of the fabric of the Australian identity being reviewed, in a way, because we have an opportunity to have a bit of distance between now and 1979. I thought that was really an interesting mirror to history, how we've constructed our sense of identity and where we're going to go with it now. Looking through the lens of that period, I thought was really interesting. And I liked all the characters. I felt it was written with a really compassionate, kind perspective. There's so much snarky nastiness in the media lately, that it was nice to just be involved in a story that was trying to put something positive into the world. So I felt very aligned to all those aspects of the script." On Mitchell and Spencer's Homecoming — and the Joy of Not Needing to Imitate US Culture Radha: "It was a little bit of a sense of coming back home, maybe, for me and Jesse — that we were able to bring some of where we've come from to where we are now. It felt like a bit of a contribution for me, being able to come home and do something that I felt aligned to." Jesse: "Every Australian actor I know — because a lot of work is international, and for a lot of actors too — but every actor I know always loves to go home and try to do a project. Because you spend a lot of time learning about throwing yourself into other cultures, and more or less trying to imitate authentically who they are, and where they are in certain points in time and stuff. So to bring it back to something that's much more familiar is just a pleasure. Things are much, much more tangible. It's accessible. There's still challenges, but it makes it very, very fun. And especially when there's good writing and good casting — I know a lot of actors who are always trying to go back to their home countries and do it. And this was an opportunity to do that. So I grabbed it." Radha: "It's interesting — an imitation. That is true when you're working in the US." Jesse: "I mean, you don't think about it. You don't want to think about that." Radha: "Yeah, but you're imitating the culture, whereas here, I feel like this is our culture, talking about things that we're part of." On Whether Making a Show About Neighbours After Acting on Neighbours Feels Like a Full-Circle Moment Radha: "I think Jesse would say so." Jesse: "Yeah, a little bit. There was a little bit of that. Although, yes and no, because the dynamics, the themes that run through the show, the dynamics between the characters, is just a little different to Neighbours, but there is a similarity there." Radha: "We are neighbours in the show." Jesse: "I mean, we're next door to each other." On the Series' Resonant and Repeated Focus on Fighting to Be Treated Fairly Jesse: "I think it's a human trope. Everyone's fighting a hard battle against themselves and in society. It's something everyone can relate to. And it's enjoyable to watch, I think, characters have obstacles — to come up against them, sometimes fail, but sometimes find a way around that and breakthrough for a transformation. That's what this show is all about. It's about transformation, courage and ultimately hope." Radha: "But it's subverted, I guess, in a great way by this crazy stuff that's going on in history, and the crazy costumes. And all this stuff, there's a sincerity to it, but there's also an irreverence about the storytelling, which I think attracted me to it." On Balancing the Mix of Warmth, Tragedy, Humour and History Radha: "That's the challenge in the discovery. I think we were on set thinking 'what is this? Is this a comedy?'." Jesse: "Right. Right." Radha: "'Look at your outfit, man. I can't even look at you without laughing' — but here we are, we're doing this very serious scene." Jesse: "But that's life as well, when it's this tragedy but it's also kind of funny — a bit of black humour or quirky sort of humour. There's always a million shades of grey, which is better than just one colour. And yeah, that was a challenge. And we were always trying to figure out what the tone is in the scene and where you were with the character." Radha: "Even Bharat [Nalluri], who was the first director for the series, was like 'wow, okay, we're really going to create this together, the tone'. And we felt comfortable that he had recognised that that was part of what we were doing — that it couldn't be just taken for granted. I think that's what makes the series unique, that it's got its own tone, its own voice — and I think that was what we created." On How Pham Approached Playing a Character Caught Between Making a New Life and Grappling with Trauma Lin-Danh: "Well, you go deep. I think somehow what your parents instil in you, your family, your surroundings, you feed yourself from all of that, and it's the mystery also of acting, sometimes. Actually, my aunt had written a story about her side of the family, a book she self-published. I did read about that. And it was ups and down all the time, her first few years in France where she lost everything and she refused to go back to Vietnam, and had to fend for herself with her three kids. They were boat people, met some pirates. So, you just talk to these people and you feed off it. It feels a bit selfish and sometimes like I'm forcing a little bit. But they were very generous and we had great conversations with my family that I had not really had kept in touch with. So that's how I got through Sandy." On Mitchell's Take on Judy Being Pulled in Every Direction Both at Work and at Home — and Finding Herself in the Chaos Radha: "I just wanted to keep her really real. And I felt maybe what was charming about her is that she didn't want to do all these things. They were just happening and she was discovering her talents in action, but she wasn't ambitious at all. It was just happening, it was her nightmare that she was going to be doing all these things, and yet she was discovering herself in them. I thought that was really interesting about her. She wasn't this empowered woman — she was somebody discovering her power. And the conflict around that at home, and the challenges of having teenage daughters that just don't want to listen to you, I think it sort of played itself out. And maybe even my own personal bias against it — just feeling that I like these emancipated female characters, so to cut my own wings in the role was really interesting for me. I think those were the challenges, and I was lucky enough to be working with great actors, and we created this wacky little family together. And then the friendships around that, I think layered it with this — I think Linh-Dan was saying it was a feminist show in a way, and I don't think it is only, but it certainly celebrates the relationships between women and the details of women's lives in a kind of intimate way. I think that's one of the beautiful parts of the storytelling." Last Days of the Space Age streams via Disney+ from Wednesday, October 2, 2024. Images: Joel Pratley, Tony Mott and Mark Rogers.
"Superheroes, they're just like us" has been an unspoken refrain humming beneath what feels like millions of caped-crusader tales that've reached screens in recent decades. Possessing great powers doesn't mean inherently and instantly knowing how to wield power, or greatness, or how to navigate the daily elements of life that don't revolve around possessing great powers, as movies and TV shows in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DC Extended Universe and beyond have kept stressing amid their planet-saving, evil-vanquishing, existence-defending battles. Even as it dispenses a much-needed antidote to superhero worship's saturation of big- and small-screen entertainment — even as it has made distrusting the spandex-clad and preternaturally gifted its baseline — The Boys has also told this story. Across the entire extent of human history, what's more recognisable than power and dominance bringing out the worst in people? As brought to Prime Video from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's comics series of the same name by showrunner Eric Kripke (Supernatural) since 2019 — with season two arriving in 2020, season three in 2022 and now season four streaming from Thursday, June 13, 2024 — The Boys has stared unflinchingly at the grimmest vision of a world with tights-adorned supposed saviours. This is a series where murder at the hands of supes, which is then covered up by the company profiting from elevating them above the masses, is an everyday reality. It's a dark satire. It's gleeful in its onslaught of OTT violence and sightings of genitals. But with what it means to grapple with the struggle to hold onto humanity firmly at its core since its first episode — and likely right until its last, which will hit with its fifth season, Kripke has announced — The Boys remains a mirror. It has never been hard to see where art imitates life in this account of its namesake rag-tag crew saying "enough is enough" to the US' downward spiral. With flying, laser-eyed, super-strong, supernaturally speedy and otherwise-enhanced beings commercialised by a behemoth of a company called Vought International, The Boys has never been subtle at pointing its fingers at the many ways in which pop culture and the corporations behind it hold sway. The show's parallels with American politics in its portrait of a factionalised nation torn apart over a polarising leader who considers himself above the law are equally overt. Of course, the series is just as blatant in unpacking the consequences of letting the pursuit of power run riot. In its narrative, in chasing supremacy above all else, humans and supes really are just like each other — a truth season four doesn't ever let slip from view. At the end of 2022's batch of episodes, Vought's invincible leader Homelander (Antony Starr, Guy Ritchie's The Covenant) — the chief of its prime superhero team The Seven, but also calling the shots everywhere — unleashed his fiery gaze upon a supporter of his ex-colleague Starlight (Erin Moriarty, Captain Fantastic). The watching world saw the fatal ramifications, as well as the shattered pretence that caped crusaders can do no harm. But in a culture war, most folks' downright murder is Homelander and his devotees' justified act and fuel for more horrors. While there's no humanity in the Captain America-esque figure's quest to rule — and to his son Ryan (Cameron Crovetti, Boy Kills World), who is just learning to use his abilities, the unhinged ringleader is scathing in his perspective of people as disposable toys — does battling back by Butcher (Karl Urban, Thor: Ragnarok), Hughie (Jack Quaid, Oppenheimer), MM (Laz Alonso, Wrath of Man), Frenchie (Tomer Capone, One on One) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara, Bullet Train) need to entail resorting to the same mindset? As it thrusts its reflection of IRL US politics even further into focus not just via Homelander's trial, but also a presidential election and the certification of its results, The Boys season four proves as bleak and brutal as the series can get (although this is a show that treats every season as a challenge to top the last, so expect season five to double down again when it surfaces). Can only oblivion await? Again, as The Boys tells of a fight for control where the media is weaponised, fascism threatens democracy, billionaires pull strings and an oligarchy is the preferred outcome for many — a dictatorship for some, too — the comparisons with today outside the screen couldn't be more glaring. There's also an urgency to this season above and beyond its predecessors. Taking Homelander's sadistic lead is the status quo within Vought, where the ultra-brainy Sister Sage (Susan Heyward, Hello Tomorrow!) and conspiracy theorist Firecracker (Valorie Curry, The Lost Symbol) are the fresh faces among The Seven. The former is charged with masterminding a new world order, and the latter is enlisted to corral the internet public to the cause. Among The Boys themselves, Butcher now has mere months to live and encouragement (via Jeffrey Dean Morgan, The Walking Dead) egging him on to take the most-drastic actions. For the whole gang, death, trauma and past mistakes haunt their every move. And if Hughie and co stick to the path that they're on, what they're rallying for — and against — could fade out of sight. If it sounds as if the fourth season of The Boys is as jam-packed as one of the series' orgies — with characters, including returning The Seven members A-Train (Jessie T Usher, Smile) and The Deep (Chace Crawford, Gossip Girl), Vought PR head-turned-CEO Ashley (Colby Minifie, I'm Thinking of Ending Things), and supe-in-hiding politician Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit, Where'd You Go, Bernadette); with storylines weaving them all in, too — that's because it is. And, it's that full to the brim before connecting to the events of college-set spinoff Gen V, which dropped its first season in 2023 and has already been renewed for season two, becomes part of the plot. The Boys has never been short on ambition, either, as is especially the case the bigger that the franchise and its stakes get. For all of its similarities with real life, the buzzing chaos pulsing through its scripts and vibe, and the feverish determination to emphasise the point with raucous, gross-out violence and comedy, The Boys as a show practices what it preaches: it doesn't forget the humanity coursing through its frames itself. Staring into a mirror is an empty gesture if you don't feel like you truly see a person staring back, after all. From the most-empathetic traits to the most-sociopathic, this cast takes its job of reflecting what makes us human — for better and so often for worse — seriously. Its two acting MVPs haven't changed, however, including as big names continue to make cameos. Starr and Urban are exceptional once more, still tussling to prove the idea beating at The Boys' heart: that Butcher and Homelander, and their respective crews and crusades, aren't fated to be two sides of the same coin. Check out the trailer for The Boys season four below: The fourth season of The Boys streams via Prime Video from Thursday, June 13, 2024. Read our reviews of The Boys season three and Gen V.
"Most people say don't meet your heroes, but she exceeded all my expectations," Cailee Spaeny tells Concrete Playground. The Priscilla star's idol? Sofia Coppola. In the Devs, Mare of Easttown and The Craft: Legacy actor's biggest role yet, and the Lost in Translation, Somewhere and On the Rocks' filmmaker's latest moving, mesmerising and meticulously made picture, Spaeny plays the movie's namesake for the director that she's loved since she was a teenager. Winning her Venice International Film Festival's Volpi Cup for Best Actress, she's teamed up with her dream helmer to explore the teen experience and beyond of one of the most-famous women in the world, who was also in one of the best-known romances, marrying and divorcing a music superstar whose celebrity is virtually peerless: Priscilla Presley. Coppola knows how to bring tales about teenage girls to the screen, and to do so with the emotion, care and lived-in specificity that makes audiences feel like they're being seen — as Spaeny once did. Priscilla joins a directing resume that initially moved into features with 1998's The Virgin Suicides, and has spanned The Bling Ring and The Beguiled as well. In Marie Antoinette, the filmmaker's only other biopic to-date, she also took a name that everyone knows, jumped into her story when she was just 14 years old, then charted her complicated time by the side of a man with influence and power. Spaeny co-stars with Marie Antoinette's lead Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog) in the upcoming Civil War, in fact, and suspects that she put in a good word to help her get her Presley part. A performer who made her film debut in 2018's Australian-shot Pacific Rim Uprising, which was one of four movies that she had in cinemas that year (the others: Bad Times at the El Royale, On the Basis of Sex and Vice), Spaeny also believes that the right work finds you at the right period. That's especially the case with leading Priscilla, where Jacob Elordi (Saltburn) co-stars as Elvis, and which sees the two portray the blue suede shoes-wearing singer and the woman who fell for him when they were in West Germany — she was a schoolgirl residing there because her dad was in the army, while Elvis had been drafted — so swiftly after Baz Luhrmann's Elvis had Austin Butler (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Olivia DeJonge (The Staircase) do the same. "I always think roles come to you in your life at certain times to sort of help you in your own personal life, in your own journey," Spaeny shares. "I was just getting out of a really intense relationship that went on for about five years. I was in it very young. And I was trying to process those emotions and where I gave a piece of myself up, and how I grew from that. I processed all that and put it into the movie and her story, and the decisions that she made, and the mistakes she made, and where she got it right, where she got it wrong. It's always cathartic playing roles, but this one especially hit me in a real way that I'll always take with me." What was it like to physically transform into Priscilla? "It was something. I didn't look like myself. I think I just looked at myself in the mirror and I went 'okay girl, get it together, you've got to pull this off," Spaeny advises. "Everyone had put so much hard work into it. You see the hours and the sleepless nights. All the blood, sweat and tears that goes into every department: costumes, hair, makeup, production design. All the work Sofia put in, that Jacob put in. So when I saw myself in those costumes, I think it's just like 'okay, it's game time'." "It was fun. It was stressful. It was life-changing. There were lots of tears. There were lots of laughs. It was an experience that I will take with me for the rest of my life, and it's given me so much — much more than I ever thought it would. And I feel really lucky and I hope that everyone enjoys it when they go and see it, and they see all the heart that we put into our film," continues Spaeny. The movie opened in Australia on Thursday, January 18, then does the same in New Zealand on Thursday, February 1. Also covered in our round-table chat with Spaeny: preparing to play Priscilla, including meeting the woman herself; getting the part, and her past experiences auditioning for the filmmaker; why Coppola is her dream director; being born to love Elvis by being born in Tennessee; and seeing Priscilla for the first time while sitting next to Presley. ON HOW SPAENY PREPARED TO PLAY PRISCILLA PRESLEY "I tried to do as much as I could do preparing for this role. Taking on playing a real person, especially one who's still around, there is enormous responsibility. And also working with my dream director Sofia Coppola — she's been my dream director since I was 14 years old — I felt a lot of pressure. I mean, I always I hope that I always work hard on every project that I do, but this was another level. So you just do everything you can. You have as many conversations as you can with the director. The script is based off of her [Priscilla Presley's] book that she wrote in 1985, and I had that on me the entire time. Then I got the honour to sit down with Priscilla Presley herself, so I got to take in the woman herself and look into her eyes, and hear her tell these stories about this chapter in her life. That gave me more than I could have ever imagined. Taking that with me, and also having her support and having several conversations down the line during prep, and asking her all different kinds of questions and just getting to be around her in general, gave me so much. And then, taking time to have conversations with Jacob Elordi, who plays Elvis, and making sure we were on the same page and just making sure we felt comfortable around each other — that was a big part of the process, too. You just try to get everything you could possibly get into your brain in the amount of time you have, and you've got to cross your fingers and jump out of the plane and hope for the best, hope that you'll land on your feet. But also to have the level of collaborators and artists that we had on this set in terms of cast and crew was extraordinary. I think anyone who works with Sofia, because of the environment she creates, everyone brings their A-game and wants to work really hard for her and do their best. I think you really see that in this film." ON WHAT MAKES COPPOLA SPAENY'S DREAM DIRECTOR — AND THE PROCESS OF WORKING WITH HER ON PRISCILLA "I think the thing that really struck me, especially living in the Bible Belt in America being a young girl, a church girl, trying to navigate myself and my emotions — you've got so much going on inside you when you're a 14-year-old girl, and I think I'd never seen teen girls depicted in the way that Sofia represents them. The way that she doesn't underestimate young women, and how she gives them a voice to have wants and needs, and dark sides and be sexual — I just felt like everything that was in my brain just got unlocked, and that I had permission to be complicated. I think that was something that really stuck with me and cracked me open. I think that working with her was just a lot of pressure to get it right. I'm thinking in my head 'am I going to be the reason this is going to be the first bad Sofia Coppola film?'. I mean, it's just very overwhelming, but she's kind and had my back every step of the way." ON GETTING THE PRISCILLA ROLE AFTER AUDITIONING FOR PAST SOFIA COPPOLA FILMS "I know that Sofia wanted to find one actress who was going to be able to play from 14 to 27 — and I was 24 when I filmed the movie, but I look really young. I think that it was really important. You see it sometimes where you see films push the age, like they don't really look that young, but it's fine. Or they really don't look that old, but it's fine. But I think it was really important, especially in the beginning, for her to feel 14. I think she had to genuinely feel that age. So I think from a casting standpoint for Sofia, that was something that she was looking for. It's not really something I think about too much, but I'm glad it worked in my favour. I've been auditioning for her — she gave me my one of my first callbacks ever when I was 16 years old. So I think her casting director knew of me for a long time, and Sofia knew of me for a bit. I don't know if she even remembers that. I don't know. But I knew her casting directors remembered me and one of her producing partners remembered me. And then I auditioned for two other things for Sofia. Then this project came up and I got a call [saying] 'hey, can you meet Sofia in New York for coffee?'. Didn't know what it was, met her there, was really nervous. We started talking and I had no idea — I was just like 'what is this about?'. Then she pulled out her iPad and started showing me photos of Priscilla Presley, and asked me if I knew the story. I didn't, which was surprising because I was such a huge Elvis fan growing up. But then I went away and I was filming a movie with Kirsten Dunst, and Kirsten is such a longtime friend and collaborator and muse for Sofia. And I think Kirsten put in a good word for me. So there were talks about maybe doing a chemistry read with whoever was going to be playing Elvis, but that didn't end up happening. She just locked this in. She locked me and Jacob in, and said 'we're going for it'. We didn't have any read. We didn't do any sort of chemistry test. We just hit the ground running. I think that's the one thing about Sofia: she's really soft-spoken and kind, but when she knows what she wants, she knows what she wants. And when she sees it, she has it in her head. Everything is in her head. That's what makes her so brilliant and also exciting to work with." ON THE CHALLENGES OF STEPPING INTO PRISCILLA'S SHOES — AND WHAT MAKES HER STORY SO RELATABLE "The biggest challenge for me, obviously, is having to play a real person who at the end of this is going to watch the film. I had that time with Priscilla, and something funny happens — it's like at first, the movie's first, [and] how you're going to play this, [and] making this movie for Sofia. Then you sit down in front of the woman herself, you're right across from Priscilla, and almost all of that goes to the back burner. You just are like 'I want to protect this person. I want them to feel safe. I want them to feel like they identify with this story. I just want to protect them'. She's been through so much in her life, and you just want this to be done right by her. So that was the biggest challenge. In terms of the things that I related to, I think that what's so interesting about this story, and what I found so surprising, is that you think 'well, I'm not going to relate to Priscilla Presley, she's lived this one-of-a-kind life that no one could ever really compare with' — but she goes through such an emotional journey. Falling in love and doing everything she can, giving everything up to try to make that work, and [being] desperate to find a path and a way out to be with the love of her life, and then realising that that's not going to happen, and all the pain that he's going through and the confusion he's dealing with, and how that then transfers to her, and then she realises she wants something more for her life — I think those moments are universal. And there's some milestones that she goes through that I think a lot of young women can relate to. I think that's why it's gotten the response that it has, is because of that — because I think young women or women in general, or anybody, can see this story and find themselves somewhere." ON FIRST DISCOVERING ELVIS "I think the second I was born, Elvis was just playing. My mum had a shrine of Elvis in her home. She named one of her kids' middle names after Elvis. We went to Graceland growing up. We had his number-one hits on the CD in the car. It was just always around. In America, Elvis really is such a symbol — especially, especially in the South. And I was born in Tennessee. You just know Elvis. You're born, you know Elvis. I think especially where I came from, you just didn't have a choice: it was Jesus and Elvis." ON SITTING NEXT TO PRISCILLA AT THE FILM'S WORLD PREMIERE AT THE VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL "I had a couple opportunities to watch the movie before Venice, but I was just too nervous to watch myself in this movie. There's too much pressure and I just knew that if I would see the film, I knew I was going to spiral, so I didn't want to. I kept putting it off. Then I got to Venice and I asked them 'hey, can you pull me out when the movie starts? I don't want to see it'. And then I just had a voice in my head and I'm going 'Cailee, what are you doing? You're at the Venice Film Festival. You're with your dream director. Priscilla's here. You're celebrating this movie with these people that you care about. This is such a dream come true'. I brought my sister with me. I'd never been to Venice before. I'd just rode a gondola earlier in the day. It was such a dream moment. And I was like 'what am I doing? I'm going to not watch the film cause I'm scared? That's so lame'. So I told them 'okay, yes, I'll watch it'. But then they sat me right next to Priscilla Presley. Then I'm watching the movie going 'oh my god, what have I done? How am I going to watch this film while I'm sitting right next to the person who I'm playing?'. It was so bizarre and so surreal, and I was white-knuckling it the entire time I was watching the film. Sometimes I'd close my eyes during some scenes. But then the movie ended. We got the reception that we did. Then it was the first time that Priscilla turned to me and said 'you did it, that was my life and that was a great performance'. So to get that feedback from her was everything." Priscilla opened in Australian cinemas on Thursday, January 18, then does the same in New Zealand on Thursday, February 1. Read our review.
In The Hunger Games and its sequels and prequels, a post-apocalyptic totalitarian state enforces order by murder, picking children via lottery to compete until just one remains standing. Before it reached pages and screens, The Running Man, Battle Royale and Series 7: The Contenders were among the stories that got there first, always with kill-or-be-killed contests at their cores. Now Boy Kills World enters the fray, but in a city ruled over by despot Van Der Koy matriarch Hilda (Famke Janssen, Locked In), with a group of candidates chosen annually, then slaughtered at big televised display that is The Culling no matter what. The titular Boy (played by the US Goodnight Mommy remake's Nicholas and Cameron Crovetti as a kid) is the rare exception: after witnessing his sister and mother's execution in this nightmarish realm, he's simply left for dead. Making his feature debut, director Moritz Mohr (TV's Viva Berlin!) holds tight to another big-screen staple: a revenge mission. As an adult, that the role of Boy falls to Bill Skarsgård fresh from John Wick: Chapter 4 says plenty. The vengeance that's always fuelled that Keanu Reeves (The Matrix Resurrections)-led franchise, and fellow influence Oldboy as well, mixes with cinema's wealth of fight-to-the-death tales. Also thrown in with the fervour of a fan mixing together his favourite things — which is Mohr's unapologetic approach from start to finish — is a colour scheme that Kill Bill also deployed, Deadpool-style humour and violence, notes cribbed from Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman movies and Argylle with its carnage, and nods to video games and Hong Kong action fare plus Looney Tunes and anime. Accordingly, the make-what-you-adore school of action filmmaking gets another spin with a first-time helmer in 2024, alongside Dev Patel's Monkey Man. Revelling in cartoonishness is unique to Mohr's flick, however — right down to enlisting H Jon Benjamin, aka the voice of Sterling Archer and Bob Belcher in Archer and Bob's Burgers, respectively, as Boy Kills World's narrator. He's Boy's voice, in fact. When we said that Skarsgård's casting says much, it has to; his steps into the red vest of a protagonist who is deaf and mute, and his is a physically expressive instead of vocal performance. Cue Benjamin to utter Boy's explanatory inner monologue, and cue the makings of a modern-day silent-film star in Skarsgård (his next part is a remake of silent classic Nosferatu by Robert Eggers, who directed his brother Alexander in The Northman, and it has the perfect lead if ditching dialogue like the OG movie was on the cards). As penned by Tyler Burton Smith (2019's Child's Play remake) and Arend Remmers (Oderbruch) — based on a story by Remmers and Mohr, and also a proof-of-concept short that helped the pair get iconic Evil Dead filmmaker Sam Raimi (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) onboard as a producer — Boy Kills World's script is as busy as the movie's list of influences. Mostly, it's packed with characters, and mainly with adversaries for Boy to smash, crash and bash his way through. After experiencing the life-changing trauma of losing his kin at such a young age, he gets set on his course for retaliation by training in the forest with the Shaman (and yes, that The Raid, The Raid 2 and John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum's Yayan Ruhian is in the role is also telling about Mohr's inspirations). Boy is primed for clash after clash (after clash after clash), then, as his campaign for eye-for-an-eye retribution kicks into gear. Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey: A New Era) as Hilda's sister Melanie, Sharlto Copley (who was also in Monkey Man) as Melanie's husband Glen, Jessica Rothe (the Happy Death Day franchise) as family enforcer June27: they're all in Boy's way. By his side, he has a hallucination of his sister Mina (Punky Brewster), as well as resistance fighter Basho (Andrew Koji, Warrior) in the flesh. A knack for casting also pumps through Boy Kills World beyond its star, but this is always Skarsgård's show. Bill kills. He's traversed dystopias before in Allegiant, grappled with the complexities of a ruling class in Anna Karenina, been immersed in a single-minded mission in Atomic Blonde, given the Deadpool vibe a spin in Deadpool 2, and conveyed everything through his eyes as IT and IT: Chapter Two's Pennywise — and, sporting an action-star physique, he's a find-someone-who-can-do-it-all lead as Boy. If you need an actor to play a literally silent-type hero and play the hell out of it, Skarsgård is clearly your man. Three questions linger at the heart of Mohr's film, though, two within the storyline and themes, and one for audiences. The first: what makes the action archetype at Boy Kills World's centre truly tick? The second: in a bloodthirsty crusade for reprisals, what's genuinely right and what's wrong? And the third: although this is an impressively choreographed affair that values stunts as much as The Fall Guy (Black Widow and Kingsman: The Golden Circle alum Dawid Szatarski is responsible for the flick's spectacle as its action director and designer, and also fight co-ordinator), would its genre mashup work without Skarsgård's magnetism? The initial pair of queries are thought starters rather than inquiries that receive a firm answer; they're Boy Kills World's efforts to note that revenge tales and their unspeaking protagonists could use some unpacking. The third question, unsurprisingly, earns a hearty no. Skarsgård gives Boy Kills World its strongest element, and leaves it with a calling card as both an action force and a silent wonder. Mohr ends the feature with his own as an enthusiastic filmmaker giving his all to a highly stylised and slapstick love letter. And for viewers? The quippy humour is spotty, as is the relentlessly frenetic cinematography (by Dark Satellites' Peter Matjasko) that can swing from feverish to exhausting — and, while jam-packed, the film feels its 111-minute length. Still, being entertained by the sheer delirious display of it all, with the picture's B-movie energy, love of gore and unwillingness to hold back, is as easy as inserting coins into an arcade machine.
Maybe you jumped on the Saltburn bandwagon early, catching Promising Young Woman filmmaker Emerald Fennell's second feature when it was in cinemas. Perhaps you saw the Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin)- and Jacob Elordi (Euphoria)-starring thriller when it hit streaming over Christmas. Either way, once you watched the movie, you were probably as obsessed as Oliver Quick is about Felix Catton — and after you've ordered your Jacob Elordi's bathwater candle, you can hit up a party that's all about paying tribute to the instant cult-favourite flick. A series of shindigs is touring Australia, including to Brisbane. Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 2, when you'll be heading to The Wickham from 8pm. What does celebrating one of 2023's best movies at a boozy party entail? Dressing like it's Oliver's birthday party, for starters. From there, you'll enjoy a 'Murder on the Dancefloor' sing-along — even though you won't be dancing naked around a mansion — as well as crooning karaoke and hearing 'Mr Brightside', all while sipping Bathtub Brew, Grave Grinding Gulp and Felix's Fangirl Fizz drink specials. If you're keen to add some sparkle to your look while you're there, there'll be a free glitter bar. And the best-dressed attendee at each shindig will win a prize. Tickets start at $21.59.
There are two tried-and-tested ways to respond to winter in Brisbane: ignore it, because the warmer weather is never all that far away; or make the most of it by bouncing between getting cosy indoors and rugging up outdoors. This year, after a supremely chilly start to the frosty season, the first option definitely isn't recommended. Looking for something to do while you're heading inside or donning all your layers outside? Get an art fix. This winter, Brisbane is a haven for blockbuster exhibitions and installations that'll have your eyes marvelling while you either escape or embrace the season — here are ten must-sees to visit.
The aptly named Milk channels an old school milk bar with a touch of American diner atmosphere. The interior has obvious throwbacks to the 1950s achieved through the striped awnings, a charming photo feature wall of three men in newsboy hats and the milk bar menu itself. Its bold yellow colour palate and sleek finishing ensures Milk is firmly cemented in the chic retro category avoiding a dated and daggy look. Milk stands out on Ashgrove Avenue because of its bright yellow exterior and like bees to honey, it was our chosen cafe for a weekend treat. Before you could say, "oh my god, they make spiders!" quite a few team members had already said hello with genuine warm smiles. As Milk is counter service, joining growing line of hungry diners and ogling the stocked cabinets which were filled with sweet and savoury baked goods seemed like a good idea. Along with the caramel vanilla malted milkshake, the chocolate brownie was also sending telekinesis messages that screamed, "eat me". The chocbanana malted milkshake and red lentil and pumpkin vegie burger with satay sauce, fresh lettuce and tomato on a toasted bun were also selected from the lunch menu. The presentation of the milkshakes is noteworthy as they arrive on your table in a milkshake's rightful home, a large metal cup. At $5.50, their malted milkshakes are fairly reasonably priced and are absolutely delicious. The deluxe thickshakes, however, attempt to upstage the humble milkshake and are presented in a retro glass with a chunky rim of chocolate encrusted with hundreds and thousands. While the food was served up relatively quickly and the staff were faultless in their service, sadly, the brownie was not quite up to the standard of the heavenly milkshakes as it was a little dry. The veggie burger had a generous filling and the thick red lentil and pumpkin pattie was a nice lighter option to regular beef. Basically, it was just a tasty, well-done burger. But alas, the cafe is called Milk for a reason. So, if you love a home-made milkshake you'll leave the place feeling warm and fuzzy and rocking one hell of a milk moustache. If you haven't yet checked out our list of the Best Milkshakes in Brisbane, do yourself a favour and have a squizz. Or, head to Milk yourself and find out why it earned it's place amongst the milk-gods of our town.
For plenty of Brisbanites, the Brisbane Tramway Museum is one of those places that you know exists, but you mightn't have ever been there. If you have a cute pooch in tow — or you just like scoping out other people's and getting your pet fix vicariously — then here's a reason to head to the Ferny Grove spot: the Street Paws Festival. Anyone that's ever been to a doggo celebration knows what's on the agenda — adorable puppers, stalls devoted to them, canine competitions and just generally wagging your tale at humanity's best friend. This fest will woof at all of those boxes, running from 10am–2pm on Saturday, September 3. Accordingly, you can pick up goodies for your barking bestie from the market setup, make a beeline for a few giveaways, and see who'll be named the cutest pooch. Entry is free and, for humans, there'll be food trucks serving up bites to eat — to purchase.
"Shaken, not stirred." At Le Martini, those three words are bound to be uttered frequently. Shaken martinis are indeed on the menu. If you prefer your cocktail stirred, that's fine, too. Wet, dry, whatever else takes the watering hole's guest bartenders' fancy: that's what you'll find at the world's first-ever Grey Goose martini bar. James Bond is a fictional character, but if literature and cinema's super-suave spy was real, he'd be interested in this spot — and he'd have to head to Australia to check it out. When Le Martini opens its doors on Friday, May 24, Melbourne will the bar's home, giving the city martini-swilling bragging rights over everywhere else on the planet. Initially announced back in March, this 34-seat watering hole on the ground floor at Crown Melbourne isn't just heroing one kind of tipple. It's also about one variety of vodka. The aforementioned visiting bartenders will whip up their favourites, starting with New York's Dale DeGroff, whose career dates back to the Rainbow Room in the 80s. Accordingly, head by from 5pm–late Thursday–Sunday and DeGroff's Harry's Original, Grey Goose Millennium Dry and Grey Goose Martinié Speciale are your choices. The first takes its cues from the 1888 Harry Johnson martini, which was the first martini recipe with five ingredients to ever make it to print. The second serves up a crisp taste, while the third uses blanc vermouth, sauternes and a Sicilian olive. Don't know which type of martini suits you best? Le Martini's bartenders will assist. And to pair with the martinis, martinis and more martinis, French bites using local Victorian produce are on offer, with Bistro Guillaume at Crown Melbourne responsible for the culinary range. Oysters come with a mignonette, whipped cod roe baguettes and gildas are among the options, and so is a caviar with blinis and creme fraiche. While sitting beneath glass chandeliers, you'll definitely know that this is a Grey Goose bar; a window displaying the brand's bottles will remind you even when you don't have the taste of your martini on your lips. The space also splashes around blue on its walls, as well as its velvet curtains and banquette seats, and includes geese etched into its mirrors. Find Le Martini on the ground floor at Crown Melbourne, Southbank from Friday, May 24, 2024 — open from 5pm–late Thursday–Sunday. Head to the venue's website for more details.
Grabbing a bite from a restaurant is great. Buying clothes from shopping centres is fine. Ordering gifts on the internet works. And picking up a new plant for your home at Bunnings is okay (well, it's pretty good if you get a snag). But there's nothing quite like perusing rows and rows of food stalls, vintage wares, handmade goods and leafy greenery at markets — and just-picked produce, too — especially when it's spring. 'Tis the season, obviously. Whether you're interested in culinary specials, picking up something for your house or seasonal local produce, you have options. Whatever you're after — even if it's just browsing and having a bite to eat in the process — here are our must-attend markets happening around Brisbane (and sometimes a bit further afield) during September, October and November 2024. Top image: Lachlan Douglas.
"I love it here. I fucking love it!" Same, Logan Roy, same. Those words are yelled with fiery passion by Brian Cox as Succession's patriarch, and they're part the first sneak peek that HBO has just dropped at the award-winning series' upcoming fourth season. "This is not the end. We're tearing the opposition. I'm going to build something better, faster, leaner, wilder," Cox also shouts. So, season four will clearly see Logan Roy doing what Logan Roy does, all while navigating the sale of his media conglomerate Waystar Royco to a tech visionary played by Alexander Skarsgård (The Northman). Unsurprisingly, that business move is going to cause some Roy family angst. It was back in 2021 when HBO announced that Succession would return for a fourth run, after its third season proved that exceptional — and popular. Set to arrive sometime in 2023, with an exact date yet to be announced, season four will also see the Roys working out how their lives will look after the Waystar Royco deal goes through. Given that the whole show has always been about Logan's children Kendall (Jeremy Strong, The Trial of the Chicago 7), Connor (Alan Ruck, Gringo), Shiv (Sarah Snook, Pieces of a Woman) and Roman (Kieran Culkin, Infinity Baby) trying to be named his successor, no one is going to adjust to the new status quo easily. For viewers, it'll mean more power struggles — aka more of what Succession has always done best. If you're a fan of twisty TV shows about wealth, privilege, influence, the vast chasm between the rich and everyday folks, and the societal problems that fester due to such rampant inequality, there's been plenty of ace examples of late, including The White Lotus and Squid Game. No series slings insults as savagely as this Emmy, Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics' Choice, Writers Guild and Directors Guild Award-winner, however. No show channels feuding and backstabbing into such an insightful and gripping satire of the one percent, either. HBO's brief sneak peek at Succession season four, running for just ten seconds, can be found in the US network's latest promotional video to showcase its upcoming slate — and there's plenty more to get excited about. That includes The White Lotus' soon-to-release second season, which starts airing on Monday, October 31; game-to-TV adaptation The Last of Us; a four-part documentary about Shaquille O'Neal; and season four of Barry. And, there's The Idol, from The Weeknd and Euphoria creator Sam Levinson; more Perry Mason, Gossip Girl and The Sex Lives of College Girls; another season of Winning Time — The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty; Larry David's latest antics in the long-running Curb Your Enthusiasm; and the Elizabeth Olsen (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness)-starring Love & Death. Also on the list: the return of Our Flag Means Death, Starstruck and Hacks, as well as Tokyo Vice and Minx — and newcomer Full Circle, which is directed by Kimi and Magic Mike's Steven Soderbergh. Check out the HBO clip below: I fucking love it here. New originals, returning series, and more are coming soon to HBO Max. pic.twitter.com/7P2oOSu7CD — HBO Max (@hbomax) October 17, 2022 Succession season four will arrive sometime in 2023, including via Foxtel, Binge and Foxtel On Demand in Australia and Neon in New Zealand — we'll update you with exact details when they're announced. Check out our review of season three.
It's that time of year, Brisbanites. Yes, it's spring — but it's also time for Brisbane Festival. Every September, the huge annual event takes over the city, serving up every kind of creative performance that artistic director David Berthold can think of. In 2019, that's a hefty list. Get ready to walk through fire, lose yourself in a maze of doors, watch theatre in a warehouse, see a classic ballet completely reimagined and listen to a bedtime story — when you're not celebrating the birthday of a Brisbane icon, worshipping at the altar of house music and watching a saucy cabaret, that is. The program goes on, as it always does, spoiling fans of art, music, performance, comedy, cabaret, installations and culture for choice in a very big way. From Brisbane Festival's 2019 lineup, which features 454 performances of 83 shows over 23 days between September 6–28, here are our must-see highlights.
UPDATE, September 1, 2020: Fighting with My Family is available to stream via Stan, Foxtel Now, Google Play and iTunes. A word to the wise: should you find yourself watching wrestling with the Bevis family, don't go claiming that their favourite sport isn't real. While the in-ring entertainment is staged, its narratives are scripted and its rivalries areas fabricated as any soap opera, the difference between fixing matches and faking them is as hefty as The Rock's hulking biceps. The same sentiment rings true in Fighting with My Family, in a fashion. Playing producer as well as appearing as himself, Dwayne Johnson ushers this British tale onto the screen with a clear awareness of its tropes and cliches, which anyone who's ever seen a rousing sports drama or underdog movie will spot. But the former WWE pro also knows that a fantastic story can make a mark even when it's swinging every expected blow — and in terms of emotional impact, Fighting with My Family packs a mighty punch. The driving force behind Norwich's World Association of Wrestling, the Bevis crew first came to broader attention in the 2012 documentary The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family. It's easy to see why they've now inspired not just a TV doco, but a dramatised film that shares most of its predecessor's moniker. Patriarch Patrick Bevis (Nick Frost) turned to the spandex as a respite from a life of crime, then founded his own wrestling organisation with his wife Julia (Lena Headey). Better known as Rowdy Ricky Knight and Sweet Saraya in the ring, the two were soon bringing their kids in on the action, including a daughter named after Julia's stage persona. When the big leagues came calling for the younger generation in 2011, Saraya (Florence Pugh) and her brother Zak (Jack Lowden) couldn't get to their audition fast enough. While the above details could've filled a movie by themselves, here they're just the starting point. The jump from scrapping around England's east to earning fame and fortune doesn't come without ample hard work — and many doubts. Training montages rumble across the screen, but so does plenty of contemplation, with Fighting with My Family never shying away from the difficulties of trying to make it in wrestling. Some members of the Bevis clan are forced to realise that dreams don't always come true. Some learn to stop living vicariously through others. Thrust out of her comfort zone and struggling with her sense of identity, Saraya discovers the challenges and costs of even trying to take the next step. Indeed, Fighting with My Family might champion a broader focus in its title, but this is Saraya's show. Or Paige's, as she's been known to her adoring WWE fans since 2012. The film correctly notes that she took her new name from her favourite childhood TV show, Charmed, and it's that kind of earnestness that helps transform a straightforward tale into a resounding crowd-pleaser. Devotees and newcomers alike will know where the movie is going, however this feel-good comedy charts its path with genuine affection for its characters, their chosen pastime and the quirks of each. It immerses viewers in the wild, weird and wonderful world of wrestling, embraces the sport's theatricality and pageantry, and never serves up an ounce of judgement. As a result, the film deserves every laugh and fist pump that it inspires. Of course, it's easy to go along with the movie's flow when there are such engaging figures at its centre. The picture's pitch-perfect tone feels like an extension of its central motley crew, who love everything about wrestling even when the sport is kicking their arses. Segueing from an initially reluctant fighter to one of the field's female superstars, Pugh puts in a powerhouse performance as Paige, switching the scheming steeliness of 2016's Lady MacBeth for a completely different type of fierceness and fortitude. Credit should also go Lowden, Frost and Headey's way, all playing multifaceted characters who could've devolved into caricatures in other hands. As the no-nonsense WWE scout with dominion over the family's hopes and dreams, Vince Vaughn similarly leaves an imprint among Fighting with My Family's impressive cast. As for The Rock, he cameos as his usual likeable self — the kind of tough but tender guy viewers have basically welcomed into their families for decades now, and that the Bevis' mob incredulously yet excitedly welcomes into theirs. Like his former profession, his well-cultivated persona shares much in common with this flick: big-hearted, sturdy, sincere, relatable and relentlessly charming. Stylistically, the film earns comparable terms, with writer-director Stephen Merchant rarely dazzling with his visuals, but crafting a delight of a movie nevertheless. And yes, it's the same Merchant who's best known for palling around on-screen and off with Ricky Gervais. Devoid of snark or awkwardness, the sweat, stress, tears and cheers of this wrestling comedy suit him nicely. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFew9cpWijc
In the first season of Severance, which was one of the best new shows of 2022, celebrations were marked with waffle parties, egg bars and melon bars. In the upcoming second season of the Apple TV+ sci-fi mindbender, there must be more festivities on the way. The streaming platform has finally unveiled its debut glimpse at the series' return, with Adam Scott's (Loot) Mark — well, his innie — holding blue balloons in Lumon Industries' labyrinthine hallways. There's no full trailer for Severance season two as yet, but snippets of footage are included in a just-dropped compilation trailer for Apple TV+'s upcoming slate. While the segments relating to the series don't give away much about what's going on in the biotech company that has a drastic way to enforce work-life balance, they do represent a step closer to the show returning. No release date for the second season has been locked in so far, however. Science fiction has proven one of Apple TV+'s strengths, with Silo in 2023 also one of the best new shows of that year. The first new footage from the Rebecca Ferguson (Dune: Part Two)-starring dystopian series' second season is also included in the platform trailer, putting a big focus on Tim Robbins' (Castle Rock) IT head Bernard addressing a crowd inside the titular structure. As with Severance, there's no confirmed release date for Silo season two, but you can start getting excited about another plunge into an underground chamber with 10,000 inhabitants anyway. Apple TV+'s new teaser covers the second season of page-to-screen drama Pachinko as well, and of Shrinking with Jason Segel (Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty) and Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny). The first will return in August, with the second still yet to reveal when it'll be back. Season four of Gary Oldman (Oppenheimer)-led British spy dramedy Slow Horses also received a sneak peek. Among the service's upcoming new shows, Bad Monkey and Lady in the Lake both feature. Vince Vaughn (Curb Your Enthusiasm) leads the former an ex-Miami cop who is now a health inspector, but thinks he's found a way back to his old job. Natalie Portman (May December) stars in the latter, which puts the disappearance of a young girl in Baltimore in 1966 at its centre. Also scoring a glimpse: movies Fly Me to the Moon with Scarlett Johansson (Asteroid City) and Channing Tatum (Magic Mike's Last Dance), Wolfs with George Clooney (Ticket to Paradise) and Brad Pitt (Babylon), and The Instigators with Matt Damon (Drive-Away Dolls) and Casey Affleck (Oppenheimer). The first two have a date with cinemas before making their way to Apple TV+, while The Instigators will be available to stream in August. Check out Apple TV+'s new trailer for its upcoming slate below: New TV shows and movies will continue to hit Apple TV+ throughout 2024 — head to the streaming platform for its current catalogue.
Anyone in the arts knows that getting projects off the ground is a notoriously difficult task. From finding the time to create outside of paid work to simply keeping a roof over your head, following your dreams isn't always easy. Melbourne-based director, animator, and stop-motion specialist Sammy Lewis knows this reality all too well. "I'd been struggling to find work for most of last year and was on the verge of a career shift or at least finding a day job outside of animation," they told Concrete Playground. Over three and a half months in their studio, Sammy created Garbologist, a stop motion short film inspired by Specsavers' iconic "Should've Gone to Specsavers" ad format. Garbologist was submitted as part of Specsavers' annual competition in partnership with the leading short film festival, Flickerfest. A judging panel selected five finalists before the public voted on their favourite. The creativity and dedication of Garbologist stood out and Sammy was crowned the winner, scoring a $70K cash prize as well as a screening of their film at Flickerfest. "The prize has changed everything, and now I'll be able to focus on my own ideas full-time and hopefully develop a short film or series concept," they said of the career-changing prize money. We spoke with Sammy from the UK, where they're working at famed animation studio Aardman (the team behind Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep), to learn more about their prize-winning animated short film and what's next for the artist. Concrete Playground: Your winning entry reimagines the Specsavers ad through stop motion animation. What was the original creative spark behind Garbologist? Sammy Lewis: The idea for Garbologist came from a mix of things and is actually quite nostalgic for me. I was a truck-obsessed kid who would wait on the footpath to watch the bins get collected. My life peaked at three years old when I got to sit in the driver's seat and operate the claw. The first bin that gets collected in Garbologist is 22, which is the number of my childhood home. I also grew up with classic stop motion shows like Fireman Sam and Postman Pat and wanted to pay homage to their influence on my animation career. How did you get started in your career? A childhood obsession with plasticine turned into studying a Bachelor of Animation at The Queensland College of Art. That then led to moving from Meanjin/Brisbane to Naarm/Melbourne to find anyone else who was doing stop motion. That seems to have worked out, and I've animated on music videos, commercials, short films, kids' television and two feature films. How did you approach balancing brand storytelling and constraints with your creative voice? My whole aim for this ad was to tell a good joke, and I kept refining ideas until I thought I'd landed on a solid visual gag. Time was my biggest constraint, as stop motion is a notoriously slow process. I tried to keep things as simple as possible at every stage, but unfortunately, this meant cutting out a bin chicken character from my original draft. Tell us about the production process for this film. How long did it take, and what were the challenges? From initial idea to final export, the whole process took about three and a half months. My studio at the time was very small, and I had to fit everything on a set that was only 1.2 metres wide, and the scale of the puppets had to be about half the size of what I usually work [with]. I didn't have much of a budget and tried to recycle and reclaim as many materials as I could. 90% of Garbologist is cardboard and acrylic paint. The puppets have oven-bake clay heads with plasticine hands, the grass is made from two painted bath towels, and the garbage truck is a toy I bought second-hand and added the claw. Building all the puppets and sets took two months. Animation was two weeks and I outsourced music and sound design at the last minute so I could focus on editing and compositing. Everything is real, handmade and full of hot glue. What do you love about working with stop motion and animation? I love how stop motion and animation in general force you to collaborate or otherwise be lonely and sad and take four times longer to complete anything. I had a wonderful little crew of creatives in Lucy (Art Department), Mack (Art Department / Crochet Artist), Goldy (Colour Grade), Ryan (Sound Design/Music) and Seamus Spilsbury (Development). Check out their work. Flickerfest has long been a launching pad for emerging filmmakers. How important is this platform to you? I've been incredibly lucky to have worked on some amazing productions in my career, but it feels like I'm still searching for my own voice as a filmmaker. Flickerfest is such an important festival in providing a platform to do this, as well as opportunities like the Specsavers competition. I really hope to come back in the next few years with a film in competition. Often, creators don't want to touch commercial work for fear it's not "real" art. What do you say to these people, and what are the pros of commercial filmmaking? I understand why some people would feel that way about commercial gigs, and it can be stifling to work for brands when they give you minimal creative freedom. As a freelancer, I've never really had the luxury of picking and choosing what I work on and just try to catch the next thing that falls out of the sky. I've certainly learnt a lot from working on commercial jobs, and it's improved my communication, problem-solving and decision-making skills. What's your advice for filmmakers wanting to break into the industry? I'm not really one to give career advice, as everyone's path will be different. For me, it was finding my people, persistence and quite a bit of luck. What's next for you? What are you working on at the moment? I'm currently in the UK at Aardman, working on the new Shaun the Sheep movie, The Beast of Mossy Bottom, which is a dream come true, and after that, I'll be back to my default of making it up as I go. Image Credit: Supplied
Few countries are as geographically diverse as Australia. We have snow-capped mountains, tropical rainforests, red deserts and long-stretching beaches. At these idyllic locations are some of the country's most luxe experiences, letting us explore all that our country has to offer. With the holiday season fast approaching, why not give the gift of travel to the luxury lover in your life? After all, you can't really top a trip away. We've partnered with Tourism Australia to round up ten of indulgent experiences to get your mate (or whoever, really) who loves a fabulous gift. Whether you book them in for a high-flying feed at Australia's most boundary-pushing museum or get them a voucher to a five-star hotel, these experiences provide a much-needed dose of escapism. Play your cards right and you might score an invite, too.
UPDATE, September 16, 2021: Streamline opened in Brisbane cinemas on Thursday, September 2, and is also available to stream via Stan from Thursday, September 16. Chasing a dream can feel like swimming through cool water on a hot summer's day — gliding, splashing and laidback paddling all included — with each refreshing stroke propelling you closer towards your own personal finish line. That's when everything is going well, of course, and when whatever your heart and mind desires seems as if it's waiting at the end of the pool. Otherwise, when you're bogged down by everyday minutiae and nothing seems to inch forward, working towards a set goal can also resemble treading water. It can mirror repetitively doing laps, too, when your destination seems out of sight despite all the hard work you're putting in. And, if you're tired and fed up with all the effort needed to even keep afloat — and when your heart is no longer in it — it can feel like floundering and drowning. In Streamline, all of these sensations and emotions bubble up for 15-year-old Benjamin Lane (Levi Miller, A Wrinkle in Time), as he pursues a professional swimming career, a spot in a prestigious squad in Brisbane and, ideally, an Olympics berth and all the glory that goes with it. Indeed, one of the delights of this Australian movie, which boasts Ian Thorpe as one of its executive producers, is how evocatively it sprinkles these swashes of feelings across the screen. Written and directed by feature first-timer Tyson Wade Johnston, Streamline is a sports drama as well as a small town-set family drama — and it's also a portrait of that time when you're expected to dive headfirst into adulthood, and into knowing what you want to do with the rest of your life, but you're also inescapably wracked with uncertainty and apprehension. Teenage awkwardness and angst aren't simple states to capture on-screen, although enough coming-of-age movies have been buoyed by both; however, Streamline opts to plunge deep into the existential stress that goes beyond feeling out of place with your peers or being annoyed at your parents. Its protagonist, who everyone just calls Boy, only really connects with his girlfriend and best friend Patti (Tasia Zalar, Mystery Road) at school. And, he's definitely mad at his mother and father. He resents his single mum Kim's (Laura Gordon, Undertow) efforts to keep him focused, which he sees as controlling rather than nurturing. He's doing tumble turns internally over his dad Rob (Jason Isaacs, Creation Stories), who's just been released from prison and has never been a positive influence in his life. Boy is also furious at his surrogate father figure, Coach Clarke (Robert Morgan, The Secrets She Keeps), for all the cajoling that coaches tend to give. But, mostly the swimming prodigy is unsure — about what he wants, what he's been told he wants and what to do next. Streamline takes ample cues from sports flicks and the usual formula behind them, with big races, the pressure to succeed and the push to impress the right people to score the best opportunities driving much of the narrative alongside training and its tussles. But as this emotionally astute film explores the tension and trepidation swelling inside Boy — the kind that only worsens whenever his dad is mentioned, let alone turns up, and also ramps up as he spends time self-destructing with his hard-drinking, loutish older half-brothers Dave (Jake Ryan, Savage) and Nick (Sam Parsonson, Operation Buffalo) — it taps into themes that've been washing through Australian cinema with increasing frequency over the past decade or so. In movies such as Animal Kingdom, Snowtown, Buoyancy and 1%, young men struggle to carve their own paths, or even just to survive or avoid following in damaging footsteps, all in the lingering shadow of violence. Shades of late-90s great The Boys also filter through when Streamline's Boy is with his siblings, but this measured and moving picture is never merely the sum of its influences, even as it adds more flawed and fractured males to the nation's cinematic canon. Navigating this sea of toxic masculinity, Miller manages to convey many traits that fit the mould — Boy can be arrogant, reckless, careless with other people's feelings, moody, unwilling to express what's simmering within and combative — and also show his character's pain, conflict, yearning and vulnerability. It's a stellar performance, as well as a difficult one; the best work of the young actor's career so far, it's also likely to keep the Pan, Better Watch Out and Jasper Jones star in weightier roles moving forward. There isn't a weak link among the cast, though, but the film's standout moments all come when Miller is in front of the lens. A particular sense of power emanates in his scenes with Isaacs, and therefore with the man that Boy has been devastatingly hurt by and yet still finds himself drawn to. The two actors both played the same person but at varying ages in the vastly dissimilar Red Dog: True Blue, but now they play different points on a spectrum that neither wants Boy to slide down. Contrasting the rigours of seeking perfection with the toll it takes, Streamline submerges itself in its lead character's journey visually as well. This is a melancholy movie in tone and appearance, with hues of blue hovering in frame after frame. Those shades often emanate from the water, obviously, given that it has such a pivotal part in Boy's days and dramas — but when they continue to pop up elsewhere, they also exude the sorrow of a teen who realises he doesn't know how to either keep or to stop doing what he's doing. Cinematographer Michael Latham shot the aforementioned Buoyancy, too, and gave The Assistant, Island of the Hungry Ghosts, Strange Colours and Casting JonBenet their exacting, evocative and also piercing looks, with his efforts here continuing the trend. Indeed, watching Streamline feels like plummeting into a brooding well not only emotionally, thematically and narratively, but aesthetically. Sometimes chasing a dream is like that, too, as this excellent Aussie drama also recognises.
Is this the Nordic design collaboration to end all Nordic design collaborations? For a new limited-edition collection that'll hit stores worldwide on Thursday, March 9, Swedish furniture retailer IKEA and Finnish design house Marimekko are joining forces. Even better: when this duo teams up, they're taking inspiration from Nordic nature, sauna culture and self-care rituals, and giving off big treat yo'self vibes. Actually, the best news of all might be that nothing in this 26-product range will cost more than $119. That price will get you a birch bench or a birch mirror, but everything from towels and shower curtains to glassware and candles is also on offer — all either featuring or inspired by Marimekko's prints, naturally. The range's name, BASTUA, gives away its focus: the term means sauna in Småland, the region in Southern Sweden where IKEA originates from. And, this gorgeous teamup marks a first for Marimekko — the first time that it has designed a set of prints exclusively for a brand collaboration. "Collaborating with Marimekko was a natural choice for IKEA as we are both committed to enabling a better everyday life at home, and with the BASTUA collection, it begins with focusing on wellness first," said Henrik Most, Creative Leader at IKEA, announcing the new range. "The collaboration encapsulates the sensations of endless summers and the simple and aesthetic beauty of Nordic nature in furniture and accessories for the home." To answer perhaps the most important question that arises every time that IKEA unveils a new collection, yes, the iconic FRAKTA bag has also been given a Marimekko makeover — as it has with rainbows and pink frills in the past. With the BASTUA collection heroing a print inspired by the large rhubarb leaves that are often found growing next to Finnish saunas, IKEA's trusty carrier will spot that image in red, green and pale blue hues. Wondering what else you'll be filling that FRAKTA with? The towels, robes and IKEA's first-ever sauna bucket obviously take the theme as seriously as possible, as do the elderflower-, rhubarb- and sweet vanilla-scented candles. Elsewhere, the range also gleans inspiration from Nordic furniture design, which is where the side table, bench, trays and glasses come in. Unsurprisingly, this is a while-stocks-last collection — so getting in fast on launch day, with items on sale in-store from 10am and online from 9pm AEDT, is highly recommended. IKEA and Marimekko's BASTUA collection will hit IKEA's shelves on Thursday, March 9 — in-store from 10am and online from 9pm AEDT.
There’s whisky and then there’s whisky — but can you tell the difference? Jim McEwan certainly can. A veteran of over 50 years in the business, working his way up to Bruichladdich’s master distiller, he knows cheap liquor from the top-of-the-line, put-hairs-on-your-chest tipples certain to get mouths watering. McEwan is stopping by The Gresham to share knowledge from a life lived with delicious amber spirits — accompanied by a sampling menu, of course. For two hours, one of the best-known figures in the industry will discuss whiskies many aficionados have only dreamed of, including the experimental Octomore 6.1, distilled from the most heavily peated barley humanly possible. It is little wonder, then, that The Jim McEwan Whisky Experience is being dubbed a once-in-a-lifetime treat. When else will the only three-time winner of the Whisky Distiller of the Year award impart his tricks of the trade, after all, with drinks to match?
It has been four years since Brisbane Powerhouse added a new festival to their events calendar, giving the Brisbane Queer Film Festival a multi-arts sibling celebrating all things LGBTIQ+ beyond the screen. And while BQFF and MELT no longer coincide, they're both still going strong — with the latter back for another round of diverse theatre, comedy, dance, art, circus, music, burlesque and more from May 17 to 27. Taking place a little later in the year compared to previous fests, 2018's MELT actually kicks off on IDAHOT, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. To mark the occasion, it'll unleash 11 days filled with more than 20 different events, making Brissie an even more vibrant place than it already is. Prepare for pop, drag, parties, pride and plenty of fun. Top image: Savannah van der Niet.
We're lucky to have access to Clarice Beckett's work today. Beckett painted hundreds of paintings during the 1920s and 30s, before passing away in 1935 at the age of 48. Following her death, her artworks disappeared for decades before being rescued by Dr Rosalind Hollinrake, who salvaged 369 of Beckett's paintings from a shed in rural Victoria. From Saturday, February 27 until Sunday, May 16, the Art Gallery of South Australia is presenting the most comprehensive Clarice Beckett retrospective ever, exhibiting nearly 130 of the artist's works, including pieces from the private collections of Russell Crowe and Ben Quilty. Beckett's work focuses on capturing the everyday world through muted and pastel tones and with a focus on natural light. In The Present Moment, these works are thematically displayed to chart the chronology of one single day — starting with sunrise and ending with nightfall. Accompanying the exhibition is an workshop for those wanting to learn about Beckett on Saturday, March 27 and a series of mindfulness workshops offering tai chi, yoga and relaxation classes while surrounded by artworks every Wednesday in April. Tickets to the exhibition run from $20, while the workshops will set you back $35. Images: Installation view: Clarice Beckett: The present moment, Art Gallery of SouthAustralia, Adelaide, 2021. Photo: Saul Steed.
By this point in the year, a certain three words have been overused and then some. That trio? 'Tis the season. That said, it truly is the season for booking in cheap holidays for the year ahead, starting with Black Friday sales and now going into Boxing Day sales. If you're after discounted flights to a heap of places — including around Australia and the globe — yes, Virgin is getting into the post-Christmas spirit and slashing prices again. For Boxing Day — starting at 12.01am AEDT on Monday, December 26 and running till midnight on Thursday, December 29, or earlier if sold out — there's a hefty 800,000 discounted domestic and international fares up for grabs. Sticking with home turf, you can head to Byron Bay, Cairns, the Gold Coast, Darwin, Hobart and more. And, if you're eager to journey overseas, you can hit up Bali, Vanuatu and Tokyo. With discounts of up to 30-percent off, one-way domestic fares start at $55, which'll get you from Sydney to Byron Bay. As always, that's cheapest route. Yes, we say that every time one of these sales drop, but it's genuinely always the case. Other cheap flights include Brisbane to Cairns for $89, Melbourne to Hobart from $79, Adelaide to Darwin from $139 and Perth to Sydney from $209. Internationally, return deals include Brisbane to Vanuatu from $539, the Gold Coast to Denpasar from $479 and Cairns to Tokyo from $699. If you're wondering when you'll need to travel, there's a range of dates across 2023, all varying depending on the flights and prices. As usual when it comes to flight sales, you'll need to get in quick. Actually, given how much everyone loves a Boxing Day sale — in-person or online — setting an alarm to make your New Year's travel resolutions come true isn't outlandish. Virgin's Boxing Day sale runs from 12.01am AEDT on Monday, December 26 until midnight on Thursday, December 29 — unless sold out earlier. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
On any given day at Netherworld, absolutely anything could pop up — and on Saturday, September 28, that something is a vegan bake sale. Running from 10am–12pm, this once-off feast of cakes, cookies, scones and the like will serve up all of the tastiness and none of the animal products, with the venue's in-house Hellmouth Diner leading the charge. Like your baked goods of the savoury variety? You'll find those on offer. Substituting vegetables into recipes is one of the joys of vegan baking, after all. So is stuffing tarts and pies with them, too. And if you happen to possess the sweetest of teeth — or just need something on that end of the taste spectrum after a big Friday night out — you'll obviously be catered for. Any event at Netherworld usually comes with two added bonuses as well: games and brews. Indulge in both while you're munching on muffins, and you're in for a good morning.
Whether you're somewhere near or somewhere far, there are scores of ways to acknowledge just how incredible your mother (or grandmother or aunt) is with some good old-fashioned spoiling. But, fellow mama-lovers, if you've let the annual celebration of maternity known as Mother's Day (Sunday, May 9 btw) slip your mind this year, we're here to help out. We've picked out our favourite mum-worthy gift ideas—from the reliable candles and cocktails, to personalised luggage and DIY pottery classes—so you can just stick to worrying about what you're going to write in the card. After all, this is your once-a-year opportunity to show your ma how much she means to you, so the pressure is absolutely on. [caption id="attachment_785836" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NRMA Glamtainer by Shan Rose Photography.[/caption] FOR THE TRAVELLING MUM After last year's lockdowns, we've all got some missed travel opportunities to make up for, mum included. So what better time to treat her to a little getaway? If she's a snow bunny or beach-lover, NRMA's new luxury 'glamtainers' should do the trick — there are now four of the beautifully repurposed shipping container stays operating, with the original two located at Ocean Beach Holiday Resort and the other pair landing at Jindabyne in time for the winter season. Or perhaps she'd fancy a trip to the Gold Coast for a couple of nights in this gin-themed caravan, from Camplify and The Botanist Gin. Weekend stays include a bottle of gin and all the trimmings for whipping up some dreamy cocktails. If wine's more her thing and a jaunt to the Mornington Peninsula is on the cards, you could treat her to this memorable Red Balloon experience, involving a vineyard tour, wine tasting and five-course lunch at the renowned Montalto Estate. And no matter where she's headed, you can ensure your mum's holiday-ready with a piece of personalised luggage from July. Right now, the brand's including a complimentary Mother's Day card with each order and offering free personalisation, too, so you can get mum gifted all at once. FOR THE FOOD (AND BOOZE) LOVING MUM She's cooked countless dinners and birthday cakes for you and the rest of the fam—now, it's mum's turn to be treated to a little culinary indulgence. The minds behind the annual Mould Cheese Festival are slinging a range of home-delivered offerings that'd have any dairy fiend salivating—from curated cheese boxes filled with top Aussie picks, to a DIY cheesemaking kit. If mum's a fan of variety, swing past Good Day People's online store and order one of their non-boring hampers to be dropped to her door. There are lots of fun curations for food-loving folks here, catering to palates both sweet and savoury with treats from the likes of chocolate brand Hey Tiger, Wondaree nuts and Drunken Sailor condiments. Meanwhile, for those who can't take mum out for a drink IRL, the cocktail experts at the Everleigh Bottling Co have a range of classy pre-batched libations available for delivery. Choose from sips like the classic martini, a chic Manhattan, or maybe one of the new spritzed French 75 cocktails. [caption id="attachment_810524" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Active Truth's new Brolga range.[/caption] FOR THE OUTDOORSY MUM If some great outdoors action is on the cards, have mum looking her best, with one of the new activewear pieces from Active Truth. The Aussie label has teamed up with Indigenous artist Bobbi Lockyer for this limited-edition Brolga collection, featuring high-waisted leggings and crop tops in a gorgeous hand-painted print. For more rugged outdoors adventures, take a peek at these latest offerings from Kathmandu—the nature-loving mum always has room in their collection for a new rain jacket, cosy down vest or pair of hiking boots. Once you've sorted her wardrobe, she can check out our pick of must-try Aussie mountain hikes—perhaps with her favourite child (aka you) along for company. And for the adrenaline junkie, there's plenty of high-flying fun to be had on a skydiving adventure; like this heart-pumping Red Balloon experience that'll have mum enjoying a tandem freefall over stunning coastline off Wollongong, 90 minutes south of Sydney. [caption id="attachment_810528" align="alignnone" width="1920"] tbh. skincare products.[/caption] FOR THE SELF-CARE MUM A spot of self-care and mindful pampering never goes astray, and we're sure mum would agree. You can help brighten up her skin and her bathroom cabinet with a few of the latest colourful goodies from cult skincare brand tbh. The sustainability-focused company is only young, but it's already causing a big splash with its innovative, science-driven products. If you want her to think of you when she's curled up with a good book and a cuppa, try one of these very cuddly customisable cushions from Hommey. There are over 160 colours, fabrics and shapes to choose from, plus you can score an extra 20 percent off for Mother's Day (use MOTHERSDAY20). And that relaxing bath is sorted thanks to a new limited-edition collaboration from booze-free winemaker Non and luxe candle label Maison Balzac. The gift pack features a bottle of exclusive Non wine, a specially matched scented candle and a QR code linking to a curated playlist—all designed to be enjoyed simultaneously for an immersive sensory experience. Find it at Blackhearts & Sparrows stores nationwide, as well as Winona Wine in NSW and Wine Republic in Melbourne. Or for a twist on the classic Mother's Day bouquet, check out this clever match from LVLY—a locally-grown flower arrangement paired with a pack of Rise and Shine yoga cards illustrated by Georgia Perry. FOR THE CREATIVE MUM Say thanks for all the decades of motherly support by helping her indulge her own creative side. For a bit of at-home fun, you can treat her to one of Crockd's DIY pottery kits, available for delivery Australia-wide. The classic box comes with enough clay and equipment for two (so you can join her), and whatever pieces you make can be air-dried at home, without the need for any fancy kiln. Otherwise, sign her up for one of Class Bento's sprawling list of creative workshops and classes, running both online and at various locations across Australia. You'll find everything from perfume-making and mosaic workshops, to a class that teaches you how to create your own botanical-infused phone case. And if mum's got a creative eye, we're betting she'll also appreciate these sweet new designs from Aussie jewellery label Elle Haitch. Expect hoops, necklaces and chic rings for all tastes. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy. Top image: The Everleigh Bottling Co by Gareth Sobey.
When you've ushered the world into Vincent van Gogh's work — getting them not just peering at it but stepping through it thanks to an immersive 360-degree experience — what comes next? For the folks at Melbourne-based Grande Exhibitions, it's now Claude Monet and his impressionist peers' turn. Hot on the heels of Van Gogh Alive touring the country, and even hitting up some cities multiple times, Monet in Paris is set to dazzle from winter 2023. This exhibition will enjoy its world premiere in Brisbane, hitting Northshore Hamilton for two months from Wednesday, June 7–Sunday, August 6. While further stops haven't yet been announced, the River City stint is being hailed as its global debut — and it will tour Australia afterwards. Art lovers can look forward to wandering around the 2500-square-metre Grand Palais, a marquee custom-designed by Australian theatre designer Anna Cordingley, with the venue set to feature six breakout spaces, a cafe, multiple bars and a gift shop. Of course, it's Monet and his pals' creations that's the big drawcard. Featuring Monet's Water Lilies, getting attendees dancing with Edgar Degas' ballerinas and just whisking visitors into 19th-century Paris' bohemian vibe — with detours to the French countryside — there'll be plenty to see. Fans of Van Gogh Alive know how it works from there, with iconic paintings projected large — pieces not just by Monet and Degas, but also from Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt and more. Once again, that means using Grande Experiences' state-of-the-art technology, which is behind those beamed images. And, there'll also be a classical score soundtracking the experience. "The team at Grande Experiences are absolutely thrilled to premiere Monet in Paris in Brisbane in June," said Founder and CEO Bruce Peterson. "Produced in the same immersive multi-sensory format as the hugely successful Van Gogh Alive, this very new and unique experience will captivate and enthral audiences young and old as we enjoy many of the colourful works of art from the French masters of the 19th century, combined with a wonderful musical score and special aromas permeating throughout the venue," he continued. If Monet in Paris sounds familiar, that's because Grande Exhibitions also run Melbourne's digital-only gallery The Lume, which has been hosting the similar Monet & Friends Alive since October 2022. Monet in Paris' debut season will run from Wednesday, June 7–Sunday, August 6 at Northshore, Brisbane, with ticket pre-sales from Thursday, March 9 and general sales from Tuesday, March 14. For further details, head to the event's website. Images: Grande Experiences.
There's no opera quite like Wagner's Ring Cycle. Totalling 15 hours of brilliance, the lengthy production is being split into four nights of powerful, operatic wonder at QPAC later this year — all ticket packages include tickets to all four parts. Even if you've seen it before, we're sure you've not seen anything like this upcoming rendition, which is brought to Brisbane by Opera Australia. From Friday, December 1– Thursday, December 21, the production from Chinese director Chen Shi-Zheng will bring together performers from here and abroad. The version places Wagner's classic interpretation of Germanic mythology into a futuristic, parallel-universe setting, using digital art to create virtual landscapes. Breathtakingly original, the music is led by French conductor Philippe Auguin, who has headed up The Ring Cycle on numerous occasions. If you're an opera buff or just a fan of fantasy, futurism, timeless tales and truly epic theatre, this is an unmissable cultural event.
Things are getting creepy at Fortitude Valley's Institute of Modern Art, with a horror movie marathon taking over the Brunswick Street venue for a whole day. Just because it'll still be light outside, that doesn't mean this feast of fear-inducing cinema won't scare up a few frights. Get things started at 11am on Saturday, April 18 with a bona fide classic — and a film that is a whopping 98 years old. Silent German Expressionist masterpiece Nosferatu isn't quite Dracula, but Count Orlok is clearly inspired by the world's most famous vampire. And what better to pair it with than another absolute pioneer of the genre (and based on another seminal gothic horror text, too), aka the 1931 version of Frankenstein at 12.30pm? That's the black-and-white part of the proceedings. When 2.30pm rolls around, colour will hit the IMA's big screen via buckets of blood. That's what Brian de Palma's adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie splashes about — and its supernatural story will be followed at 4.30pm by the series of Australian Indigenous ghost stories that is Tracey Moffatt's BeDevil. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VggXS-6_-YU Entry is free — and you can settle in for the whole marathon or just drop by whenever suits you. Image: Carrie, 1976, Director. Brian de Palma, courtesy of NFSA.
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. BULLET TRAIN Buy the ticket, take the ride, strap in for an onslaught of frenetic locomotive-bound fights: that's high-octane action-comedy Bullet Train on- and off-screen. Set on a shinkansen hurtling from Tokyo to Kyoto, in as stylised a vision of Japan that anyone not named Quentin Tarantino has ever thought of, this neon-lit adaptation of Kōtarō Isaka's 2010 page-turner Maria Beetle couldn't be more onboard with its central concept. That premise isn't snakes on a plane, but rather assassins on a train — plus one snake, one of nature's hitmen, actually. Cramming all those killers onto a single engine sparks mayhem, banter and bodies, not to mention chaotic frays in the quiet car and almost every other space. And when it works, with John Wick and Atomic Blonde's David Leitch steering the show, Tarantino and Guy Ritchie alum Brad Pitt as his main passenger, and a lifetime's worth of references to Thomas the Tank Engine slotted in, Bullet Train is as OTT and entertaining as it overtly wants to be. It doesn't always completely work, however; every journey, zipping along on a high-speed train or not, has its dips. Still, there are plenty of moving parts trying to keep the movie in motion — and plenty of plot, for better and for worse in both instances. In his second 2022 action-comedy after The Lost City, Pitt plays Ladybug, who is back riding the hired-gun rails after a zen break packed with new-age self-help platitudes. That's what he spouts to his handler (Sandra Bullock, The Unforgivable) by phone, in-between rueing his bad luck, as he tries to carry out what's supposed to be an easy job. All that Ladybug needs to do is take a briefcase, then disembark at the next station. But that piece of luggage is being transported by British assassin double-act Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, The King's Man) and Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry, Atlanta), as they escort a Russian mobster's son (Logan Lerman, Hunters) home. To up the hitman ante, the shinkansen is also carrying The Prince (Joey King, The Princess) and Kimura (Andrew Koji, Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins), who have their own beef, as well as the revenge-seeking Wolf (Benito A Martínez Ocasio aka Bad Bunny, Fast and Furious 9). As is always the case whenever anyone asks "are we there yet?" IRL, there's more: more twists and turns to the narrative, more bickering, more familiar names facing each other down, and a mass of flashbacks to events minutes, hours, days and months earlier, most of which make the leap from the page via Zak Olkewicz's (Fear Street: Part Two — 1978) screenplay. Wondering if the scribe and Leitch have seen Kill Bill, or the Pitt-starring Snatch, or the 90s attention-grabbers that were Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels as they bring Isaka's novel to the screen is thoroughly pointless. But, after The Gray Man, Bullet Train is the second big, star-studded, midyear action flick that's pieced together from familiar components, only to boast the cast and visual spectacle to carry it off more often than not. What a treat Pitt is, and has been for more than three decades — because that's how long it's been since Thelma & Louise thrust him to fame. Bullet Train draws upon his Ocean's Eleven brand of chattering, casual, happy-go-lucky charisma, even with Ladybug grappling with an existential crisis over his chosen profession. Pitt is comic, but never reaches Burn After Reading's goofiness. Amid the navel-gazing and bromides, he's still calm, collected and supremely capable at holding his own, but never to a Once Upon a Time in Hollywood extent. Although Leitch doesn't give Pitt his own John Wick or Atomic Blonde, it's as crucial a piece of casting. Neither of those two flicks would be the gems they are without their specific stars, and Bullet Train similarly wouldn't have hit the marks it does without its bucket hat-wearing biggest name and his detailed performance. Read our full review. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on May 5, May 12, May 19 and May 26; June 2, June 9, June 16, June 23 and June 30; and July 7, July 14, July 21 and July 28. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Petite Maman, The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Firestarter, Operation Mincemeat, To Chiara, This Much I Know to Be True, The Innocents, Top Gun: Maverick, The Bob's Burgers Movie, Ablaze, Hatching, Mothering Sunday, Jurassic World Dominion, A Hero, Benediction, Lightyear, Men, Elvis, Lost Illusions, Nude Tuesday, Ali & Ava, Thor: Love and Thunder, Compartment No. 6, Sundown, The Gray Man, The Phantom of the Open, The Black Phone, Where the Crawdads Sing, Official Competition, The Forgiven, Full Time and Murder Party.
Sometimes the shape changes, in length or width. Sometimes the colour does, too. And, there are many, many ways that it can be served. But everyone generally knows what the humble sausage looks like — even though it's quite the versatile dish. Snags come in all kinds of flavours, and plenty of them will be thrown onto plenty of grills at South Bank across the weekend of Saturday, November 7–Sunday, November 8. The inner-city spot is hosting a Sausage and Beer Fest, after all, which'll take your tastebuds on a tour of different snags from around the world. Brooklyn Depot will be cooking up pork and cheese kranskies with pickled chilli, while Hop & Pickle will be opting for British-style cumberland sausages. Fritzenberger has picked buffalo chicken sausages with blue cheese, Tippler's Tap is sizzling up Chicago sausages with American mustard, and The Charming Squire is going with wild boar and kangaroo snags. From Gnocchi Gnocchi Brothers, prepare to tuck into a pork and fennel variety — of sausage, not pasta — and at Tai Tai, it's doing Taiwanese pork and rice sausages. There's also soujouk sausages from Shysh and makanek Lebanese sausages from Baba Ganouj. Your $30 ticket includes a sampler snag pack featuring three of the above sausages, plus chips and slaw. You can spend an extra $9 for a flight of three brews to go with it, or buy your drinks as you go. If all of this chat about snags is making you hungry (understandably), getting in quickly is recommended, as only 300 tickets are available for each two-hour session on the Little Stanley Street southern lawn — at 11am, 2pm and 5pm each day.
Dinosaur Designs began in 1985 as a stall in Sydney's Paddington Markets. Since its humble beginnings, it has gone on to open stores in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane as well as New York and London. Over the years, the independent designer has gained a loyal following thanks to its colourful, chunky and bold jewellery and homewares that remain instantly recognisable in the market. Everything Dinosaur Designs produces is made in Australia using sustainably and responsibly sourced materials like resin, brass, pearls, leather and, most recently, clay. In Brisbane, based on the corner of James and Arthur Street, you'll find a bricks-and-mortar boutique for the artistic brand, which is open seven days and stocks all of the latest collections. A second store can also be found at the Wintergarden in the CBD.
During the pandemic, we all sorely missed the experience of catching live tunes in heaving venues. To get musicians back onstage, the New South Wales government and ARIA launched Great Southern Nights. Following two blockbuster years that saw thousands of gigs pop up across the state, the series is returning in 2024 with a massive 300-plus shows over 17 nights. Live music will ring out throughout NSW between Friday, March 8–Sunday, March 24, with some of the country's biggest musicians and the hottest emerging talent performing in Sydney live music institutions as well as regional hubs including Newcastle, Wagga Wagga, Wollongong, Tamworth and the Northern Rivers. With such a huge lineup, it's hard to know where to start — but let's break it down. ROCK LUMINARIES If you love the classics and have a penchant for the singular sound that is Australian rock, you'll be able to catch sets from Peter Garrett & The Alter Egos, The Church, You Am I, Yothu Yindi, The Whitlams, Black Stump Band, Hoodoo Gurus and Kate Ceberano. BEATS AND BOPS Local hip hop heads can hit up gigs from Barkaa, 360, JK-47, Bliss n Eso, L-Fresh the Lion, Illy, Drapht, YNG Martyr and Jesswar. And if your prerogative is to dance, The Presets, Havana Brown, Tigerlily, Sneaky Sound System, Hermitude and Anna Lunoe are all performing. INDIE FAVES If you're an indie-rock aficionado, Ball Park Music, Sarah Blasko, King Stingray, The Buoys, Ruby Fields, Budjerah, Alex Lahey, Gordi, Gretta Ray, The Vanns, and Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers will be coming to a stage near you. AND A WHOLE LOT MORE Plus, there will be shows from Becca Hatch, Cub Sport, Dune Rats, Vika and Linda, A.Girl, Xavier Rudd, David Campbell, Fanny Lumsden, Kasey Chambers, Kate Miller-Heidke, Redhook and Northlane — and also a special tribute to Rowland S Howard. Check where your faves are playing and what shows are happening near you via the full gig guide, then start planning an epic 17 nights of music stat. Great Southern Nights 2024 will run from Friday, March 8, to Sunday, March 24, throughout New South Wales. Tickets are on sale now via the festival's website. Images: Enmore Theatre, Destination NSW
Helping kick off 2019's host-free Emmy awards, Bryan Cranston might've uttered the most obvious line of the night: "television has never been this damn good". You'd expect an event dedicated to celebrating and rewarding the year's best TV shows to make that claim, of course — that's really the whole message behind the glittering annual gala. Still, it doesn't render the Breaking Bad star's statement any less accurate. This year's newly minted crop of Emmy winners definitely make that point, and what a crop they are. Sure, the ceremony itself always serves up plenty of its own highlights — Phoebe Waller-Bridge's complete and utter shock at winning not once, not twice, but three times; Jharrel Jerome's earnest excitement at winning over his big-name fellow nominees; and Michelle Williams' impassioned and inspiring speech about women being respected in their profession, for example — but it's their TV programs that we'll all be talking about for years to come. Indeed, from hitman comedies, to multiple depictions of historical tragedies, to everyone's favourite dragon-filled epic fantasy series, this year's winners are reason enough to spend a week or several on your couch. Or, to be more realistic, to add all of the below shows to your various streaming queues and eventually work your way through them. (We haven't told you to watch 2019 Drama Series recipient Game of Thrones, though, because we're sure you've already done that.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX2ViKQFL_k FLEABAG What it's about: When Fleabag's eponymous London resident turns to the camera, talks about her messy life and just generally looks exasperated, she's one of the most relatable characters ever committed to the screen. Unhappy, uncertain and surrounded by chaos in all of her relationships — romantic, platonic and with her family members — she's the complicated, charismatic protagonist for today's frenzied times. Not only creating and writing the series based on her one-woman Edinburgh Festival show, but starring as Fleabag as well, Phoebe Waller-Bridge is simply revelatory. And while the British comedy only spans two six-episode seasons, it packs more into its short run than most shows manage with twice, thrice or even ten times as many instalments. Won: Comedy Series, Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Writing for a Comedy Series (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Directing for a Comedy Series (Harry Bradbeer). Where to watch it: Amazon Prime. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9APLXM9Ei8 CHERNOBYL What it's about: Venturing back 33 years to the worst nuclear disaster the world has ever seen, Chernobyl is a horror story of the most gripping and galvanising kind. The central explosion, caused when the titular power plant's reactor became unstable, is terrifying. The fallout — both in terms of radioactive debris falling from the sky, and the intangible ramifications — is just as fear-inducing. What truly cuts to the bone in this exceptional miniseries, however, is the bureaucratic arrogance and wilful ignorance that follows. There's nothing more chilling than seeing people hold others' lives in their hands and choose to do absolutely nothing. To convey that message, the five-part series also benefits from superb writing, direction and performances, including from Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård and Emily Watson. Won: Limited Series; Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or a Dramatic Special (Johan Renck); Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or a Dramatic Special (Craig Mazin). Where to watch it: Foxtel Now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3F9n_smGWY WHEN THEY SEE US What it's about: Another huge true tale. Another huge cast, including Emmy-winner Jharrel Jerome, Michael K. Williams, Joshua Jackson, Blair Underwood, Vera Farmiga and John Leguizamo. Another powerful mini-series. When They See Us steps through the story of Central Park Five — a case that's endlessly infuriating and shocking. In April 1989, Trisha Meili was raped while jogging, while eight other people were attacked across New York. In the aftermath, five African American and Hispanic American teenagers were prosecuted, convicted and jailed, only for their charges to be vacated when the real culprit confessed more than a decade later. From Selma to 13th, director Ava DuVernay has become one of the most crucial voices in interrogating America's oppressive and unjust past, and this stellar drama proves a worthy addition to her resume. Won: Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie (Jharrel Jerome). Where to watch it: Netflix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir1_hjemxNA BARRY What it's about: Airing its second season this year — and thankfully already renewed for a third — Barry boasts one of the best comedy premises on television. An ex-soldier and sharpshooter still haunted by his overseas military experience, Bill Hader's titular character has been putting his skills to use as a hitman since he returned from active duty. It's a natural fit, but then he heads to Los Angeles and discovers acting. Watching Barry try to leave his death-dealing past behind, and watching the chaos that springs for both his new thespian pals (including Henry Winkler) and his old gangster contacts (such as scene-stealer Anthony Carrigan) continually makes for both hilarious and dramatic viewing. Won: Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Bill Hader). Where to watch it: Foxtel Now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVTZhOLpXjI KILLING EVE What it's about: At the Golden Globes back in January, Sandra Oh picked up a shiny prize for British spy thriller Killing Eve. At the Emmys, it was her co-lead Jodie Comer's turn to nab a gong. One plays an MI5 investigator charged with tracking down a psychopathic killer, while the other portrays the seductive assassin that she's chasing — and where their interactions go from there is best discovered by watching. Twisty, innovative and unafraid to do what it damn well likes with a well-worn genre, the highly acclaimed adaptation of Luke Jennings' Codename Villanelle novellas is also the second of this year's winning shows to bear Phoebe Waller-Bridge's fingerprints (she's an executive producer, and wrote four of the first season's episodes). Won: Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Jodie Comer). Where to watch it: Stan (season one) and ABC iView (season two). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_5fqDZCjQo THE ACT What it's about: Perhaps you've heard about Dee Dee Blanchard and her daughter Gypsy Rose. Perhaps you even read Buzzfeed's piece about them, 'Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter To Be Sick, Gypsy Wanted Her Mom To Be Murdered'. You'd remember if you have — while true-crime tales are far from uncommon at the moment, especially on-screen, this one definitely stands out. Drawing upon on the aforementioned article for its first season, The Act steps into a story of abuse, death and Munchausen syndrome by proxy that really has to be seen to be believed. Patricia Arquette picked up an Emmy for playing the abusive Dee Dee; however, she's in exceptional company, with the series also starring Joey King, AnnaSophia Robb, Chloë Sevigny and Calum Worthy. Won: Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie (Patricia Arquette). Where to watch it: Google Play. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hAXVqrljbs OZARK What it's about: Just a couple of months ago, when the final batch of episodes from Arrested Development's fifth season dropped, no one really cared. That might sound harsh; however, it's a case of sad but true. Don't worry — star Jason Bateman certainly has enough to keep him busy elsewhere. Since 2017, he's been leading, executive producing and sometimes even directing Netflix crime drama Ozark. In fact, he just won an Emmy for the latter. Following a financial advisor who moves his family from Chicago to a quiet Missouri town after a money-laundering scheme goes wrong, this is one of Netflix's quiet achievers. That it also features the always-exceptional Laura Linney, as well as this year's Supporting Actress in a Drama Series winner Julia Garner, also helps. Won: Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Julia Garner), Directing for a Drama Series (Jason Bateman). Where to watch it: Netflix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXd_1FXw6TI POSE What it's about: New York's drag ballroom scene comes to the small screen in Pose, and the result is one of the liveliest shows on television. As energetic and inclusive as you'd expect given its setting, it's the latest series created by Nip/Tuck, Glee and American Horror Story's Ryan Murphy — although it clearly owes its biggest debt to seminal 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning. Story-wise, Pose follows a motley crew of queer and nonconforming African American and Latin American characters as they they vogue, dance and pose their way through performances, with each competitor vying for glory for their house. After diving into the community during the 80s in its debut run, the show's second season jumped forward to the 90s. No matter what decade he's in, as the resident emcee, Tony winner and now Emmy recipient Billy Porter continually steals the show. Won: Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Billy Porter). Where to watch it: Foxtel Now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9TKHvvaMfE SUCCESSION What it's about: Meet the Roy family. Patriarch Logan (Brian Cox) started a media and entertainment conglomerate, turned it into a huge success and now wields considerable wealth and power; however, his health is failing. Because this is a family business, his children Siobhan (Aussie actor Sarah Snook), Roman (Kieran Culkin), Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Connor (Alan Ruck) are all waiting in the wings — although Logan still needs to work out who'll do what when he's no longer working. If this sounds more than a little like the real-life Murdochs, well, you won't be the first to make that connection. Satirical as well as dramatic (and a compelling example of both genres, too), it's the latest series from Peep Show, The Thick of It and Black Mirror writer Jesse Armstrong. Won: Writing for a Drama Series (Jesse Armstrong). Where to watch it: Foxtel Now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_w3UNHPIXQ FOSSE/VERDON What it's about: It might be based on the biography Fosse by Sam Wasson, but this eight-part series focuses on two pivotal real-life figures, as the show's different moniker makes plain. It's impossible to explore the career of director and choreographer Bob Fosse without telling the tale of actor and dancer Gwen Verdon, after all, with their lives linked both professionally and personally. The ups, the downs, the enormous commitment to their work, and the huge productions such as Cabaret, Chicago and All That Jazz — they all form part of Fosse/Verdon. So do exceptional performances by Sam Rockwell as Fosse and Michelle Williams as Verdon, as well as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood standout Margaret Qualley as another dancer pivotal to their stories. Won: Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie (Michelle Williams). Where to watch it: Foxtel Now.
Knocking back a few gins at someone's home might be something you can do any night of the week; however we're betting your martini-fuelled house parties aren't usually like this. They probably don't boast a couple of chanteuses and a pianist, for starters. And we're guessing said performers don't turn a stranger's place into a Manhattan-style salon, either. Leave all that to Miss Laine and Alicia Cush as they transform a Carina residence into the ultimate suburban speakeasy. They'll take care of the mood and music; you just need to bring your fun-loving self wearing your best jazzy outfit.
One of the most stylish hotel chains there is has finally opened its doors Down Under, ready for sleek-as-hell winter Sydney staycations and interstate getaways. Ace Hotel has built itself up a cult following since opening in 1999, with the boutique chain going for a luxe-vintage vibe — and now, after announcing its first Australian site back in 2019, dropping a sneak peek in 2021, and revealing its food and drink lineup earlier this year, the brand's 18-storey Surry Hills outpost is open for business. This isn't just the US chain's first Aussie location. It's also its first in the Southern Hemisphere. The brand kicked off in Seattle, then spread to Portland, New York, Los Angeles, London, Pittsburgh, New Orleans and Chicago in the US, and opened its first international location in London in 2013. And, before the pandemic, it was probably on your must-stay list thanks to its great bars, pools, cool branding and merchandise, and quirky locations — such as a converted Denny's and a historic YMCA building. Each Ace Hotel is individually designed to reflect its surroundings. In Sydney, its new venue has been designed in partnership with Flack Studio — and it's making the most of its Surry Hills location. That spot: the site of Australia's earliest kiln discovery, where convict potter Jonathan Leak produced domestic pottery as early as the 1820s. It then became the Tyne Building, with the brick structure constructed in 1916 as the factory and distribution centre of Washington H Soul Pattinson Chemists. Decor-wise, think: minimalist designs, warm and earthy tones, and cues aplenty taken from them Australian landscape. Standout touches include an ochre-red marble staircase reaching up from the lobby, burnt orange and tan hues in the ground-floor sunken lounge and a heap of greenery. And, an impressive art collection. On display, you'll find pieces by everyone from Tony Albert, Sydney Ball, Glenn Barkley, Karen Black, Barbara Cleveland, Laith McGregor and Sanné Mestrom through to Julia Gutman, Nadia Hernandez, Joanna Lamb, James Lemon, Nabilah Nordin, Jahnne Pasco-White, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran and Justene Williams. The venue also boasts an artist-in-residence program, which'll launch soon, as curated by Nina Fitzgerald of The Impact Lab. Ace clearly boasts plenty to look at as soon as you walk in its doors — and it's also home to a number of spaces to hang out in, too. Open now is the site's lobby cocktail bar in that aforementioned sunken lounge, plus ground-floor neighbourhood restaurant Loam. In the coming weeks and months, they'll be joined by laneway cafe and bar Good Chemistry; Kiln, a rooftop restaurant and bar by chef and partner Mitch Orr; and a wine program by P&V Wine's Mike Bennie. Obviously, staying in impressive surroundings is the main drawcard — and the cosy yet chic rooms here fit the bill. There's 257 of them, with some allowing pets. Among the features: custom lighting, furniture and fixtures; an in-room vinyl collection curated by Efficient Space's Michael Kucyk; Deiji Studios robes; and minibars packed with wares from local providers. Already planning for your first Ace Hotels experience? Under high-season rates, rooms start at $359. Find Ace Hotel at 47–53 Wentworth Avenue, Sydney.
In the Queensland summer, there’s nothing better than enjoying a meal and good company in the great outdoors. A gentle breeze, a pleasant view and perhaps a tasty beverage are just the icing on the al fresco cake. Here are some of Brisbane’s best al fresco dining options. South Bank Surf Club The South Bank Surf Club is al fresco dining at its finest; in fact - you can't dine inside. The lower level, with the bar and kitchen, is the perfect place for a quick drink or meal. The upper level houses a massive wooden deck with views over Streets Beach and across the river at the city. For something more intimate, dine alfresco on 'the catwalk’. This strange and thin architectural platform will give you a bird's eye view over punters below and views out to Streets Beach and Brisbane city. 30aa Stanley Plaza Parklands, South Brisbane Merthyr Bowls Club Whether you’re a lawn bowls pro or simply a patient observer, it’s impossible to avoid being charmed by the ambience and beautiful location of Merthyr Bowls. Set right on the Brisbane River and backing on to Oxlade Drive, New Farm, the food is affordable, the beer is cold, and if the weather’s right, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better place to spend a leisurely afternoon. 60 Oxlade Drive, New Farm Beach Burrito Company Beach Burrito Company opened their first Brisbane restaurant earlier this year, introducing their summery vibe and casual dining to Fortitude Valley. Best of all, they’ve made the most of the space behind their Brunswick Street store and created a beach-style courtyard (beware: it’s tough on shoes) for patrons to enjoy while chowing down on tacos, burritos and jalapeno poppers, and sipping a ghetto can beer. The endless summer has arrived. Shop 2/320 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley Next Door Kitchen & Bar Like a side of 1920’s Speakeasy glam with your lunch? Then Next Door Kitchen and Bar is for you. While you might expect to find a venue like Next Door in a hidden basement, this one is located on Little Stanley Street, where you can relax with a decadent cocktail while the hustle and bustle of South Bank passes you by. Pair that ambience with a menu perfect for shared dining, and you’ve got yourself sorted for the afternoon or evening. Shop B11 Little Stanley Street, Southbank The Balfour Kitchen The team behind The Balfour Kitchen have managed to transform a house in suburban New Farm into a resort-style dining haven. You can eat inside, but why bother when the balcony and front garden are so perfectly appointed? Greenery including bamboo lines the driveway and garden, giving a tropical feel that goes perfectly with the Asian-influenced menu. 37 Balfour Street, New Farm
Hailey Bieber's minimalist skincare brand Rhode is officially making its way Down Under. The cult label, which helped define the "glazed doughnut skin" aesthetic and has since expanded into colour cosmetics, will launch across Australia and New Zealand from Thursday, February 12, 2026. The move marks a major milestone in Rhode's global expansion — and it's not a small one. According to the brand, Australia leads the world in total sign-ups on Rhode's international waitlist, making this one of its most anticipated rollouts yet. From mid-February, Rhode's full lineup will ship directly to both countries via rhodeskin.com, while its exclusive retail partnership with MECCA will see the brand debut online and in flagship stores — including MECCA Bourke Street in Melbourne and MECCA George Street in Sydney — from Thursday, February 12, followed by most stores on Friday, February 13. [caption id="attachment_1016016" align="alignnone" width="1920"] MECCA's Bourke St Flagship.[/caption] The arrival brings Rhode's signature pared-back aesthetic to local shelves: think glossy grey displays, soft lines and the brand's cult lineup of peptide-powered skincare and hybrid makeup. Fans can expect to shop everything from its viral Peptide Lip Treatment to its barrier-boosting moisturisers, blushes and serums. "We are proud to announce our global expansion to Australia and New Zealand, bringing the world of Rhode to even more places and faces," said Hailey Rhode Bieber, Founder, Chief Creative Officer and Head of Innovation. "When launching into the Australian market, we looked for a globally aligned partner — and MECCA was that perfect fit." Since launching in 2022, Rhode has quickly become a category-shifting force in beauty, topping EMV (earned media value) charts and inspiring countless product dupes. Its formulas are science-driven yet stripped back — an antidote to the overcomplicated, 12-step routines that have dominated the skincare conversation. "Rhode isn't just a bestselling brand, it's a cultural force shaping how a new generation thinks about skincare," said Marita Burke, MECCA's Chief MECCA-MAGINATIONS Officer. "We couldn't be more excited to welcome Rhode to MECCA and to our incredible beauty-obsessed community." The brand's philosophy centres on accessibility, efficacy and barrier health — formulated for all skin types and designed to simplify, not overwhelm. "We wanted to create products that really work, in a way that's accessible to everyone," Bieber has said previously. Founded in 2022 and acquired by e.l.f. Beauty in 2025 for USD$1 billion, Rhode's expansion signals a new chapter in global reach — and for Australian skincare fans, an end to the import waitlist era. Rhode launches in Australia and New Zealand from February 12, 2026. Explore the full range via rhodeskin.com or in-store or online at MECCA. Images: Supplied | Getty
Ladies ahoy! It’s about time to don your Mother’s Best dress and your highest heels as SlutWalk is coming to Brisbane! Forget any implied offensive nuances you might usually associate with the word, the friendly walk is to protest against the blaming of victims of sexual assault. SlutWalk originally started in Toronto in response to a member of the Toronto police force advising that “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised”. His words have since catapulted a global movement into existence aptly titled SlutWalks. The first march took place in Toronto in April where over 3,000 women came to show their support. From uber-feminists, to the ‘sluts’ who just enjoyed their sex, and to the women speaking out against rape, the walks drew women of all backgrounds underneath one banner. The movement has swept the world since. From Canada, the US, the UK and Australia women are speaking out, publically demonstrating their outrage and their comfortableness with a term that would usually be deemed as derogatory through these very walks. The hope isn’t for ‘slut’ to ever become a term of endearment, rather for women and men alike to actively work towards re-appropriating the term ‘slut’. Australia’s got a lot on its hands when local Brisbanites march this Saturday at King George Square for Brisbane’s very own SlutWalk.
Brisbane CBD nine-to-fivers: your grim desk salad just got a wholesome upgrade. Located in the foyer of One Eagle (the building formerly known as Waterfront Place, for those with longer memories), FORM is on a mission to change the way city workers eat between meetings with clean, unprocessed meals designed to nourish the body and sharpen the mind, all without compromising on flavour or convenience. Global hospo veteran Jared Lawler dreamed up the concept after a life-altering health scare, and he's enlisted a head chef who's also a qualified nutritionist to create a menu free of refined sugar, seed oils and ultra-processed ingredients. Instead, you'll find the likes of house-made chia pudding with seasonal fruit, fermented yoghurt with maple macadamia granola, and a chilli jam-spiked bacon and egg roll on an organic olive oil bun for breakfast. Lunch is a choose-your-own-adventure of protein and plant-packed bowls, where you can mix and match elements like miso-roasted cabbage, 18-hour lamb shoulder, and a beetroot and lentil salad flecked with orange, feta and dates. These hearty bowls are good for the gut and for the wallet — prices start at $12.50. The drinks offer is just as considered. You can spike your Cavalier coffee with a range of alternative milks, pouring cream or house-made flavoured sweeteners, while the herbal tea menu includes an impressive selection of caffeine-free options. The drinks menu is rounded out with nutrient-rich smoothies, which can be elevated with optional enhancers like L-theanine, creatine and lion's mane. FORM also offers office catering for larger groups and the option to order via its dedicated app — so even if you don't have time for a full lunch break, you can still enjoy a wholesome, satisfying meal to fuel your afternoon.
All things considered, there's never been a more socially acceptable time to build a pillow fort and stay in your pyjamas all weekend. If anything, it's heartily encouraged. Throw in some chillier temps, and a smattering of rain, and you wouldn't have the slightest chance of removing us from our assumed position on the couch. We will, of course, make a special exception for drink refills and answering the door for food deliveries. Priorities, of course. As you make your way through your Netflix queue, there is a high probability that you'll start craving something sweet, and that half-melted tub of ice cream in the freezer just won't cut it. In partnership with DoorDash, we've pulled together some of Brisbane's most OTT, direct-to-doona desserts. BYO stretchy pants.
Lorde is back. After five years away from music, the New Zealand pop sensation returned in 2021 with third studio album Solar Power. And, if you've been hanging out to hear it live, her delayed tour is finally heading our way in March. The Solar Power World Tour was meant to hit in 2022, but was postponed due to New Zealand's COVID-19 situation and border rules at the time. When it makes its way to Brisbane's Riverstage on Wednesday, March 6, fans will still be in for a treat, of course — and three albums worth of Lorde tunes. [caption id="attachment_816623" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Come Up Show[/caption] On the Solar Power tour, expect to have plenty of company belting out all the words to 'Ribs' and 'Green Light'. The last time that Australia was treated to Lorde's live set was her headline set at Splendour in the Grass 2018, a full-circle moment for the singer as she returned to the stage of one of her first ever performances as a last-minute replacement for Frank Ocean back in 2013. A year prior, in 2017, Lorde also toured some of Australia's largest and most iconic outdoor venues including the Sydney Opera House Forecourt. Top image: Liliane Callegari via Wikimedia Commons.
We're in the thick of summer festivals, and organisers of Splendour in the Grass and Falls Festival have launched a brand newie: Sydney City Limits. A sister festival for Texan mega-fest Austin City Limits, Sydney's version will be a one-day all-ages event full of music, food, art and market stalls aplenty. Gracing four stages in Sydney's Centennial Park will be a serious lineup of Australian and international artists. Over 30 huge names — including international acts Justice, Beck, Phoenix and Grace Jones, and local artists Gang of Youths, Tash Sultana, Vance Joy, Dune Rats and Allday — will converge on the inner-city park for the festival. Not a bad debut lineup. You'll also be nourished by a handful of Sydney's top chefs, restaurants and food trucks, all curated by the team behind Mary's and The Unicorn. And just like the festival's American counterpart, the creative arts will get a strong representation here, too. You'll be able to explore an openair art space that showcases snapshots of the city through painting, street art, photography, video and performance art by Sydney artists. There will also be artisan markets, with the opportunity to bring home fashion, jewellery, art and merchandise.
When HBO's static-filled logo plays, something excellent typically follows. The voters in the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences certainly think so. In 2023, the folks who decide which shows will score some Emmys love have awarded a massive 74 nominations to three HBO series: Succession, The Last of Us and The White Lotus. TV's best case of family feud earned 27 nods, including for almost every actor who appeared in its fourth and final season in leading, supporting and guest roles. In the Best Actor category alone, Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin are going head to head. The most spectacular game-to-screen adaptation yet nabbed 24, while vacation chaos brought about 23 nominations. The other show that racked up a comparable tally? Apple TV+'s Ted Lasso with 21 nods. 2023's Emmy nominations were announced on Thursday, July 13 Australian and New Zealand time, ahead of the winners being anointed on Tuesday, September 19 — and, although a handful of series garnered the bulk of attention, plenty more got in on the action. Similarly in the running: everything from Andor, Better Call Saul, House of the Dragon and Yellowjackets (all in the drama fields) to Abbott Elementary, Barry, The Bear, Only Murders in the Building and Wednesday (the comedy categories), plus the likes of Beef, Daisy Jones & the Six and Fleishman Is in Trouble (limited series) as well. Among the homegrown highlights, Australia's own Sarah Snook is in the running for Succession, as is Anna Torv for The Last of Us. Murray Bartlett has a double chance: for Best Supporting Actor in the limited series and television movie field for Welcome to Chippendales and Best Guest Actor in the dramatic category for that stunning episode of The Last of Us. And, Aotearoa's Melanie Lynskey also got the nod twice: for Best Lead Actress for Yellowjackets and Best Guest Actress — both in the drama camps — for, like almost everyone else, The Last of Us. Other standout noms include acting recognition for Better Call Saul's exceptional Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn, who should each have houses filled with awards by now; all the love for Barry's phenomenal last season; plus Bad Sisters' Sharon Horgan, Poker Face's Natasha Lyonne and Swarm's Dominique Fishback getting a look in. That said, all of the above shows could've and should've earned more attention (and the fact that Barry's Sarah Goldberg missed out is a particularly big gap). Also noticeable: that the outstanding Dead Ringers was completely overlooked, and The English; the lack of affection for Harrison Ford in Shrinking; just one acting nom for Yellowjackets; and leaving out Steve Martin and Selena Gomez for Only Murders in the Building. As always, of course, ace shows still exist without awards — whether or not they get nominated, or win. The 75th Emmy Awards will take place on Tuesday, September 19, Australian time. Here's a rundown of the major nominations — and you can check out the full list of nominees on the Emmys' website: EMMY NOMINEES 2023 OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES Andor Better Call Saul The Crown House of the Dragon The Last of Us Succession The White Lotus Yellowjackets OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES Abbott Elementary Barry The Bear Jury Duty The Marvelous Mrs Maisel Only Murders in the Building Ted Lasso Wednesday OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES Beef Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Daisy Jones & the Six Fleishman Is in Trouble Obi-Wan Kenobi OUTSTANDING TELEVISION MOVIE Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas Fire Island Hocus Pocus 2 Prey Weird: The Al Yankovic Story OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES Jeff Bridges, The Old Man Brian Cox, Succession Kieran Culkin, Succession Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us Jeremy Strong, Succession OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES Sharon Horgan, Bad Sisters Melanie Lynskey, Yellowjackets Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's Tale Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us Keri Russell, The Diplomat Sarah Snook, Succession OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES Bill Hader, Barry Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building Jason Segel, Shrinking Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso Jeremy Allen White, The Bear OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES Christina Applegate, Dead to Me Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face Jenna Ortega, Wednesday OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE Taron Egerton, Black Bird Kumail Nanjiani, Welcome to Chippendales Evan Peters, Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Daniel Radcliffe, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story Michael Shannon, George & Tammy Steven Yeun, Beef OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE Lizzy Caplan, Fleishman Is in Trouble Jessica Chastain, George & Tammy Dominique Fishback, Swarm Kathryn Hahn, Tiny Beautiful Things Riley Keough, Daisy Jones & the Six Ali Wong, Beef OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES F. Murray Abraham, The White Lotus Nicholas Braun, Succession Michael Imperioli, The White Lotus Theo James, The White Lotus Matthew Macfadyen, Succession Alan Ruck, Succession Will Sharpe, The White Lotus Alexander Skarsgård, Succession OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown Meghann Fahy, The White Lotus Sabrina Impacciatore, The White Lotus Aubrey Plaza, The White Lotus Rhea Seehorn, Better Call Saul J. Smith-Cameron, Succession Simona Tabasco, The White Lotus OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES Anthony Carrigan, Barry Phil Dunster, Ted Lasso Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso James Marsden, Jury Duty Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary Henry Winkler, Barry OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel Ayo Edebiri, The Bear Janelle James, Abbott Elementary Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary Juno Temple, Ted Lasso Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso Jessica Williams, Shrinking OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE Murray Bartlett, Welcome to Chippendales Paul Walter Hauser, Black Bird Richard Jenkins, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Joseph Lee, Beef Ray Liotta, Black Bird Young Mazino, Beef Jesse Plemons, Love & Death OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE Annaleigh Ashford, Welcome to Chippendales Maria Bello, Beef Claire Danes, Fleishman Is in Trouble Juliette Lewis, Welcome to Chippendales Camila Morrone, Daisy Jones & The Six Niecy Nash-Betts, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Merritt Wever, Tiny Beautiful Things OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES Hiam Abbass, Succession Cherry Jones, Succession Melanie Lynskey, The Last of Us Storm Reid, The Last of Us Anna Torv, The Last of Us Harriet Walter, Succession OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES Murray Bartlett, The Last of Us James Cromwell, Succession Lamar Johnson, The Last of Us Arian Moayed, Succession Nick Offerman, The Last of Us Keivonn Montreal Woodard, The Last of Us OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES Becky Ann Baker, Ted Lasso Quinta Brunson, Saturday Night Live Taraji P Henson, Abbott Elementary Judith Light, Poker Face Sarah Niles, Ted Lasso Harriet Walter, Ted Lasso OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES Jon Bernthal, The Bear Luke Kirby, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel Nathan Lane, Only Murders in the Building Pedro Pascal, Saturday Night Live Oliver Platt, The Bear Sam Richardson, Ted Lasso
Australia's festival scene keeps delivering heartbreak, with Mona Foma the latest major event to announce that it's no longer going ahead. 2024's fest has already taken place, running back in February, but it will now go down in history as the last-ever Mona Foma. Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art, aka Mona, has called time on its summer festival after a 16-year run of showcasing music and art — and giving Dark Mofo a sunny counterpart — during the Apple Isle's warmer months. Mona owner and founder David Walsh revealed the end of Mona Foma in a statement, bidding farewell to the event because "it's been magical, but the spell has worn off". [caption id="attachment_784488" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mona/Jesse Hunniford. Image courtesy of the artist and Mona Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia[/caption] "At Mona Foma — Mofo — at the Peacock Theatre, we joined the Zen Circus, and Italian punk came to live, rent free, in my head," starts Walsh's missive, which begins by running through past festival highlights. "In 2023 Peaches turned us all on with her sexy songs, but the thing that turned me on the most was the sign language interpreter signing 'peg'," he continues. "Guy Ben-Ary in 2017, wiring living neurons to speakers and cajoling them to scream. Gotye playing the ondioline. Robin Fox's beacons. David Byrne and Philip Glass. Wire and Cale. The Saints and St Vincent. Dresden Dolls and Dan Deacon. Sun Ra and Neneh Cherry. Kate Miller-Heidke and Vieux Farka Touré." "And the finches playing guitar. From Here to Ear. That was the first one, in 2009. We bought that work, but we've never shown it again. It was too much the first time." [caption id="attachment_880158" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mona/Rémi Chauvin. Image Courtesy Mona, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.[/caption] "Mona Foma took us around the world. But it ends here. Maybe the end started at COVID. Maybe it's because the last festival was a poorly attended artistic triumph. But those aren't the reasons I killed it," Walsh notes. "I know that we live for experience but, more and more, I seek permanence, a symbolic immortality. At Mona, I'm building this big thing, hopefully it'll be a good thing, but it's a costly thing. I'm addicted to building, and my addiction got out of hand. Some things have to go before I'm too far gone." "Mona Foma is one of those things. It's been magical, but the spell has worn off. Only these words, from Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, remain: 'live by the Foma that makes you brave and kind and healthy and happy.'" [caption id="attachment_832077" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jesse Hunniford, Mona[/caption] Ending Mona Foma is the latest big change for Mona's festivals. As announced in 2023, Dark Mofo is taking a breather in 2024. A number of the latter's regular events, such as Winter Feast, the Nude Solstice Swim, Night Shift and the Mona Gala are still happening this year, however. With Dark Mofo, the plan is to press pause for 12 months to take stock and come back even better. "The fallow year will enable us to secure the future of Dark Mofo and its return at full force in 2025," said Dark Mofo Artistic Director Chris Twite in 2023. The Mona Foma news comes after both Splendour in the Grass and Groovin the Moo cancelled their 2024 festivals mere weeks after announcing their lineups. Falls Festival took summer 2023–24 off, Summergrounds Music Festival at Sydney Festival was cancelled and This That hasn't gone ahead for a couple of years now. [caption id="attachment_926552" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Amy Brown, image courtesy of Street Eats @ Franko Hobart and Mona Foma.[/caption] 2024's Mona Foma featured Queens of the Stone Age, Courtney Barnett, TISM, Paul Kelly, Mogwai, Shonen Knife, and Cash Savage and The Last Drinks, for starters — and Holy Fuck, Wednesday, Michael Rother and Friends (playing Neu! songs), and Lonnie Holley with Moor Mother and Irreversible Entanglements. The lineup goes on from there. "Gratitude to all of you that came. And to those who didn't, a silver lining: you'll no longer suffer from FOMO for FOMA. And anyway, repetition is regimentation. And regimentation is ridiculous," said Walsh in his announcement. "Greatest gratitude to those who helped put it together. I hope it was as good for you as it was for me." [caption id="attachment_830704" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Remi Chauvin, Mona.[/caption] Mona Foma's last festival took place in February 2024. Head to the MONA website for further details. Top image: Mona/Jesse Hunniford. Image courtesy of the artist and Mona Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
It may not end with a fade to black, with questions hanging over its characters' fates, or the revelation that it's all been a dream — but, however it happens, Atlanta is definitely wrapping up. Since 2016, the Donald Glover-created series has been one of the best things on TV; however, it's about to say farewell with a fourth and final batch of episodes. That isn't new news — Atlanta's end was revealed earlier this year — but that last go-around now has a trailer. In typical Atlanta style, it's cruisy and a tad surreal, and also still full of anxious and probing situations. This is the show that just had Alexander Skarsgård (The Northman) pop up and masturbate furiously, ventured into cannibalism and also delivered a wild Amelie parody in its third season, after all. That last round of instalments only arrived earlier this year, airing from March–May, after a four-year wait since season two. Clearly, the gap this time is vastly shorter — so if you're sad about the series ending, at least it's going out with a huge double dose. Exactly what creator and star Glover, who frequently writes and directs the series as well, has in store for his on-screen alter ego Earnest 'Earn' Marks isn't revealed in this first sneak peek at Atlanta's endgame — but Earn says he's in a good place, work-wise. Along with his ex Vanessa (Zazie Beetz, The Harder They Fall), rapper cousin Alfred 'Paper Boi' Miles (Brian Tyree Henry, Eternals) and Nigerian American pal Darius (Lakeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah), he's back in the titular US city after the last season followed the group around Europe. But, being the show it is, coming home won't be simple. Exactly how Atlanta follows up each and every season — all of them insightful, exceptional and unafraid to take big leaps — is always a thrill to discover. As it ventured around Europe, the show's third season went all in on white bullshit, and also on the way that the white-centric world will forever be haunted by how it still treats and has historically treated people of colour. What comes next will arrive for the final time in mid-September, with the show due to start its last run on Thursday, September 15 in the US. It streams via SBS On Demand in Australia and Neon in New Zealand, and will hopefully hit day and date Down Under, so on Friday, September 16, as season three did. Check out the trailer for Atlanta's fourth season below: The fourth season of Atlanta will release in the US on Thursday, September 15 — with the series streaming via SBS On Demand in Australia and Neon in New Zealand. We'll update you with an exact date Down Under when it comes to hand. Read our full review of Atlanta season three.
An opportunity for amateur runners to give it a go, and for professionals to let their hair down, the PUMA Glow Run is part marathon, part party, and wholly fun. Participants are encouraged to “glow your own way” – this is a race without times, starting in waves, soundtracked by Brisbane’s favourite DJs to keep you motivated and excited. Glow Run will take place in the picturesque Botanical Gardens, beginning and ending at the Riverstage. This is a night time event which may add to the challenge and party atmosphere, the location is likely to be familiar to many a participant. All entry fees are used to stage this elaborate event; Headspace is the official Glow Run community partner, and will be present at the event to raise awareness for the help they can provide young people in difficult times. Runners, the cut-off for registration is 12 noon on Wednesday, August 21. For more information on race kits and how to collect them, visit the Glow Run website.
Everyone has seen a TV show about renovating homes, buying real estate, blitzing backyards and building dream houses, even if they're not your preferred kind of viewing. But no one has watched an entry in the home renovation genre quite like The Curse, a spoof arriving this spring that gets Emma Stone (Cruella) and Nathan Fielder (The Rehearsal) playing a couple hosting their own home improvement series — and having some bad luck. Unsurprisingly, Fielder doesn't just star but also co-created, co-writes and co-directs. And, also to the astonishment of no one, the end result looks like far from your average series. A home makeover show, but eerie: that's the vibe in the just-dropped first teaser trailer for The Curse, complete with unsettling tunes to match. There's also Stone's opening line in the sneak peek at the ten-part series: "did you know you can put out fires with the sun?". Spoken with the cheery tone that's only ever used by people hosting TV shows, those 11 words are as disquieting as the score by the Safdie brothers' collaborator Oneohtrix Point Never. And, yes, not just the talent that made Good Time and Uncut Gems sound so unnerving but the sibling filmmakers behind them are also involved in The Curse. Benny Safdie (Oppenheimer) co-stars, co-created, co-writes and co-directs, with Josh Safdie an executive producer. Fielder and Stone play Asher and Whitney Siegel, who host a show on HGTV — American pay TV network Home & Garden Television — called Fliplanthropy. Newly married, they're trying to have a baby, but find their plans disrupted. Cue The Curse's title, obviously. [caption id="attachment_920385" align="alignnone" width="1920"] (L-R): Emma Stone as Whitney and Nathan Fielder as Asher in THE CURSE, Season 1. Photo Credit: Beth Garrabrant/A24/Paramount+ with SHOWTIME.[/caption] Benny Safdie plays their producer, with Barkhad Abdi (Little America), Corbin Bernsen (White House Plumbers) and Constance Shulman (Search Party) also featuring. Like everything almost everything of late, it seems — Close, Beau Is Afraid, You Hurt My Feelings, Past Lives, smash-hit Australian horror movie Talk to Me, fellow TV series Beef, the return of iconic Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense to cinemas, the Nicolas Cage-starring Dream Scenario — The Curse hails from A24. In Australia, it'll stream from Saturday, November 11 via Paramount+. Check out the first teaser trailer for The Curse below: The Curse will stream from Saturday, November 11 via Paramount+. Images: Beth Garrabrant and John Paul Lopez/A24/Paramount+ with SHOWTIME.
When you've just won one of the international film world's most-prestigious prizes, where do you head next? For Iranian writer/director Jafar Panahi, who took home the Palme d'Or at 2025's Cannes Film Festival for his new feature It Was Just an Accident, this is the answer: a trip to Australia to attend Sydney Film Festival. His latest picture was already on the Harbour City event's program. The fest is also celebrating his entire body of work with its featured retrospective Jafar Panahi: Cinema in Rebellion. What better special guest, then, than the man himself? "From Cannes to Australia" has been an ongoing theme of Sydney Film Festival's 2025 program announcements. See: its main lineup drop, adding Eddington to the bill, closing-night pick Splitsville, and a late round of newcomers primarily comprised of Cannes award-winners and hits that was revealed just two days in advance of the event raising its curtains. Panahi's surprise trip to Australia is the stuff of Festival Director and cinephile dreams, however. The filmmaker is already in Sydney, as SFF's Nashen Moodley announced to the opening-night crowd at the State Theatre on Wednesday, June 4. There's launching with a bang, as every major film festival aims to — and then there's kicking things off with not just a highly anticipated opening-night pick (body-horror flick Together) but with this kind of news. Panahi attending fests around the world or even having any freedom at all has not been assured across his time as a filmmaker. Throughout his career, Iran's ruling regime has banned him from making movies, forbidden him from leaving his homeland, and placed him both under arrest and imprisonment. Accordingly, the significance of Panahi being present at Sydney Film Festival cannot be understated. As he's made the reality of life in Iran today under censorship and oppression the focus of his pictures, persevering with his acts of resistance through cinema regardless of the repercussions that've come his way, the importance of Panahi's work has been clear to moviegoing audiences for decades. His films have a long association with SFF, including across the fest's program whenever his new pictures drop and in a 2011 retrospective that also highlighted his compatriot Mohammad Rasoulof (The Seed of the Sacred Fig). That said, every single one of Panahi's features is playing at Sydney Film Festival in 2025, with the filmmaker set to introduce a number of retrospective sessions and also get chatting at a free talk at the event's Festival Hub. It Was Just an Accident is part of SFF's official competition, and therefore in the running to collect another huge film festival prize. Indeed, Panahi's filmography is filled with award-winners, a term that applies to every feature that he's ever crafted. The White Balloon gave Panahi his first Cannes accolade, for best first film. Then 1997's The Mirror took home the Locarno International Film Festival's Golden Leopard, 2000's The Circle nabbed Venice's Golden Lion, 2003's Crimson Gold earned an Un Certain Regard prize back at Cannes and 2006's Offside collected a Silver Bear in Berlin. More Cannes love came for 2011's This Is Not a Film (the Carrosse d'Or at the Director's Fortnight) and 2018's Three Faces (for best screenplay), plus more Berlin recognition for 2013's Closed Curtain (another Silver Bear) and 2015's Tehran Taxi (the Golden Bear), and more again from Venice for No Bears (a Special Jury Prize). Sydney Film Festival 2025 takes place from Wednesday, June 4–Sunday, June 15 at various cinemas and venues around Sydney. For more information and tickets, head to the festival's website.
