New Year's Eve is a great time to reflect on the weirdest and most wonderful trends of the year. There's some we'd quite happily leave behind (Baby Shark, we're looking at you). But one that we're very much on board with is activity-based nights out. Gone are the days of just sitting at the pub for a few hours — the time we spend with friends now comes with a side of fun (and perhaps a little competitiveness). A prime example: Topgolf. This worldwide phenomenon opened its first Aussie location on the Gold Coast in 2018. It's essentially a modernised driving range — guests have the choice of seven 'games' to play from a private, climate-controlled hitting bay, and all the golf balls are microchipped, allowing you to track and gain points for accuracy and distance. It doesn't matter if you're a complete novice or a burgeoning Tiger Woods — the aim of the game is to have a good night out with your mates. And if you're looking to up your New Year's Eve game, Topgolf has special NYE-only packages for groups of up to six available. The standard package, at $780 per bay (or $130 per person for a group of six), includes four hours of unlimited play from 9pm–1am, unlimited soft drinks and food platters, featuring shrimp cocktails, pork belly and chicken pot stickers. The premium package, at $1200 per bay (or $200 per person for a group of six) includes all of the above, plus three hours of beers, wine and spirits and a glass of sparkling for the countdown. Great company in a cool setting — sounds like the ultimate double eagle to us. Get ready to par-tee. To book your NYE party, make an enquiry via the website.
When the working week is done, folks just wanna have fun. We're paraphrasing Cyndi Lauper because she knows what she's singing about. If your idea of taking her advice involves listening to ace musos belt out a few tunes, then QPAC's returning Green Jam is the Friday afternoon session you're looking for. All about live music, tasty bites to eat and kicking back in a grassy spot a stone's throw from the inner city, the regular event offers an ace start to your weekend from 5.30–7.30pm. This year's season will run between Friday, July 30–Friday, August 20, so you can warm up your winter with an outdoor songfest at the Melbourne Street Green (aka that vibrant patch of turf just past the Cultural Centre walkway). The music lineup changes weekly and, food-wise, you can tuck into pizzas and arancini — while sipping wine and beer, including of the non-alcoholic variety. Entry is free, but you'll obviously have to pay for the eating and drinking part of the evening.
Getting creative is a tried-and-tested way to de-stress. Sometimes, you don't just want to whip up a masterpiece, though — you also want to blow off steam. Enter splatter rooms, aka the paint-flinging alternative to smash rooms such as Rage Cage, which lets you hit stuff with a baseball bat. At this imaginative activity, you can throw colours at the canvas in the name of art and catharsis. Keen to get a-splattering? Meet The Splatter Room, which is part of Portside Wharf's new Art Month in May. You'll find it next to the Dendy cinema from Friday–Sunday across the month, letting you get messy in a space that'll be white when you enter, then covered in paint when you leave. The paid activity costs $60 per session, which includes all of the supplies that you'll need and an hour to use them. An obvious word of warning: don't wear something that you're not comfortable with getting covered with paint, even though you'll be donning a protective garment over the top. The Splatter Room sits on the Art Month lineup alongside a big street party at the Hamilton precinct, and also dedicating the month's markets to local creatives and artists. At the first, which takes place from 1–6pm on Saturday, May 4, there'll be free art activations, plus pop-ups serving up bites to eat and sips to drink. At the second, more than 35 stalls will sling their wares. The street party will also include free splatter sessions at 3, 4 and 5pm four groups of ten — until booked out. And, away from the paint, there'll be live tunes thanks to a roving brass band, Caribbean percussion and a DJ. The folks from Pink Flamingo, which opened in Hamilton late 2023, will also be family-friendly circus shows. Fancy lawn games instead? That's also on the bill. As for the food, Fosh, Rise Bakery, Bird's Nest Yakitori, Byblos and Gusto Da Gianni are among the venues taking part. Then, when it's time for the Portside Wharf Creative Market on Saturday, May 18, free splatter sessions will be on offer again at the same times — and for the same group sizes. You'll also be able to shop for pottery, homewares and art. Pet portraits will be available, too, for free for the first 25 folks or for $10 afterwards. You'll either need to bring your furry best friend or a photo of them. Your dog can also get creative via peanut butter lick painting, which is exactly what it sounds like. [caption id="attachment_819236" align="alignnone" width="2560"] Claudia Baxter[/caption] [caption id="attachment_867714" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Claudia Baxter[/caption] Portside Wharf Art Month runs from Wednesday, May 1–Friday, May 31 at Portside Wharf, Hamilton — head to the precinct's website for more details.
You've turned your recurring morning alarm off. Your work outfits have been pushed to the back of your wardrobe. Your mood: Christmas casual. You've survived the big day itself, including the family shenanigans that go with it, and now the holiday break spans before you. Yes, it's that supremely chilled period between Christmas and New Year's Day. Your agenda is flexible — but you're staying close to home. Thankfully, Brisbane doesn't become a ghost town just because it's that time of year. Yes, there's less hustle and bustle around the place, but there's still plenty to do. To help fill out your post-Christmas, pre-normality period, we've teamed up with Jacob's Creek to suggest five impromptu options, because no one wants to do too much planning at this time of year. PAINT A NEW ARTWORK FOR YOUR APARTMENT Every time a new year hits, we all have big plans to learn new skills, try different things and be more creative. But life usually gets in the way — so the time between Christmas and New Year's Day is perfect for getting a jumpstart on your 2021 resolutions. Always wanted to show off your artistic side, or cultivate it? Cork and Chroma can help. You'll be given everything you need to paint a picture of pancakes, vineyards or a twilight scene. Well, almost everything, because it's a BYO affair. Grab a bottle of Jacob's Creek Classic (sauvignon blanc or shiraz, depending on your preference) to share with mates, pick up a brush and let the magic happen. GET SLURPING AT TARO'S RAMEN No one wants to cook after Christmas. Your mum probably piled you up with leftovers that'll last for days, but it's possible to have too much of a good thing. So, your tastebuds will be hankering for something completely different — and we're betting that you didn't have ramen on December 25. With locations in the CBD, South Brisbane, Stones Corner and Ascot, Taro's is the city's number one go-to ramen joint. In fact, once you've tried its soupy noodles, you'll start dreaming about your next visit. It'll take care of your big brothy bowl, so all you need to do is pick up a bottle of Jacob's Creek Le Petit Rosé to split with some friends. RING IN THE NEW YEAR AT A 1920s-STYLE SPEAKEASY Deciding how to see out one year and start the next isn't the easiest feat. After everything that 2020 has thrown our way, wanting a hassle-free night that'll make you feel like you're escaping in multiple ways is completely understandable. The Tivoli's NYE festivities ticks that box. The Fortitude Valley venue is transforming into a 1920s speakeasy, and it's enlisting Brisbane Immersive Ensemble, the team behind the popular Cluedo: The Interactive Game nights, to make you feel like you've been whisked back a century. Your ticket covers entertainment, drinks and canapes, so you just have to sort out your 20s-style outfit. TREAT YOURSELF TO ONE FINAL DECADENT MEAL THIS YEAR If there's ever a time to treat yourself to a lavish lunch or dinner, it's the last few days of the year. And if there's ever a place to tuck into a 30-day dry-aged New York strip steak, half a dozen oysters topped with maple bacon, and dutch potatoes with paprika and wholegrain mustard, it's Walter's Steakhouse. The CBD restaurant and bar is open on select days between Christmas and NYD in Old Mineral House, opposite the Brisbane City Botanical Gardens. Yes, that means you can add a pre- or post-meal stroll through the greenery and by the inner city stretch of the river to your itinerary as well. VISIT GOMA, THEN HAVE LUNCH AT THE ON-SITE RESTAURANT No one visits Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art just once. Thanks to its ever-changing exhibitions, there's a new reason to stop by every few months. Your current excuses: a ticketed showcase of historic and modern motorbikes that celebrates their artistry and design, a lineup of free movies on the same topic, more than 200 artworks by Gordon Bennett, a selection of Indigenous Australian video art, and a special focus on collages and memes. Wandering GOMA's halls is certain to help you work up an appetite, too, so book yourself in for lunch at the onsite GOMA Restaurant to break up your visit. Reconnect with your friends and family this summer with a bottle of Jacob's Creek. Discover the Jacob's Creek range and purchase a bottle today from all good liquor retailers. Top image: Installation view The Motorcycle: Design, Art, Desire 28 November 20 – 26 April 21 Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane Photograph: Chloë Callistemon, QAGOMA Please drink responsibly.
While most of us were urged to "stay home" by our Prime Minister (and have done so by kicking back on the couch and doing puzzles), Australia's healthcare workers were called to the frontline of COVID-19 — and have been working nonstop since. We all can't wait for our next holiday, but those in our hospitals probably need the biggest break of all. Helping out in a small way is Aussie startup Unyoked, which is offering 100 free getaways to Royal Prince Alfred ICU workers and has launched the Prescription to the Wilderness gifting initiative. The latter lets you buy a friend, family member or neighbour working on the frontline a stay at one of its off-grid cabins — once travel restrictions are lifted, of course — at a 20-percent discount. You just need to add in their place of work at checkout. The idea came about when Unyoked founders Cam and Chris Grant got off the phone with their mate Dr Jack Purcell at the RPA, knowing that, right now, our emergency services and hospital workers are working round the clock in very tense environments. So, once the crisis is over — or at least dialled down — they'll need a (very) well-deserved break. The discounted stays start at $178.4 for one night or $356.8 for two and can be used for any of Unyoked's 13 cabins across NSW, Vic and Queensland, including one designed by Matthew McConaughey. Unyoked's ethos is to connect back with nature to help unplug, alleviate stress and anxiety, which is something we're guessing many health workers are in need of right now. All properties have been placed in secret patches of wilderness, in the middle of nowhere, allowing you to escape all the hustle and bustle of the city. The off-the-grid experience brings you the convenience and comforts of four solid walls, alongside the adventure, spontaneity and closeness-to-nature of camping. Each cabin is designed to make you feel like you're part of the surrounding landscape, too. Think timber, oversized windows, solar power, composting toilets and a blissful lack of wi-fi. At the same time, though, simple comforts are taken care of, so you get a cosy bed, kitchen appliances, firewood, coffee, milk, herbs and the like. So, even if you're not working in on the frontline, you may want to consider booking yourself a remedial weekend away once allowed. Unyoked cabins are located across NSW, Vic and Queensland. While you shouldn't book just yet, you can check them out here.
If an arts festival is happening in Brisbane, Hiromi Tango is normally a part of it. The Japanese Australian artist's work has featured on a heap of Brisbane Festival lineups over the past decade — including in 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2023 — as well as at Botanica in the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, plus other events around town. Usually, then, checking out her work means rushing along during an extremely limited window; however, that isn't the case with Tango's current Museum of Brisbane residency. Brisbanites have five months, until Sunday, August 11, 2024, to not only enjoy Tango's colourful creativity but to get involved themselves. Her time at the King George Square gallery includes 花弁 Hanabira (Gentle Petal), a public installation that everyone is invited to contribute to. In order to take part, you'll need to help fill MoB's Adelaide Street Pavilion with sculptural flowers. Onsite, upcycled textiles and foraged local materials await. Attendees can fashion them into blooms, then add them to the artwork. If you'd benefit from some guidance, drop-in sessions are taking place from 10am–1pm on Thursdays and Saturdays throughout Tango's residency. Or, you can just head by whenever suits you within the 10am–5pm daily opening hours. 花弁 Hanabira (Gentle Petal) takes inspiration from Brisbane's florals, as well as the changing seasons. The idea of the piece is to turn its home into a temporary flower-filled sanctuary. If it all sounds incredibly relaxing and gorgeous, it's also designed to be a meditative experience, with healing and wellness among the concepts that Tango is exploring with the work. When the Japan-born interdisciplinary artist contributes flowers to the installation herself, she does so in her usual cumulative style, which involves taking everyday objects and materials, then weaving and wrapping over them, then joining them together. The healing garden is free to attend, and to participate in — and adds to the array of Aussie pieces that the Tweed Heads-based artist keeps whipping up. It also pairs perfectly with MoB's Rearranged: Art of the Flower exhibition, which is on display until September. [caption id="attachment_927875" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rearranged: Art of the Flower, Katie Bennett[/caption] [caption id="attachment_927876" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rearranged: Art of the Flower, Katie Bennett[/caption] [caption id="attachment_927874" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rearranged: Art of the Flower, Katie Bennett[/caption] Hiromi Tango's residency at the Museum of Brisbane, Level 3, City Hall, King George Square, Brisbane is taking place until Sunday, August 11, 2024 — head to the museum's website for further details. Images: Joe Ruckli.
When it comes to this cheap way to get a bite brought to your door across Friday, August 25–Sunday, August 27, Larry Emdur and Ian 'Turps' Turpie spring to mind: the price is indeed right. Across the three days, DoorDash is bringing back its $1 Weekend. Not that you'll be paying with actual gold coins, but that's all you'll need denomination-wise for a heap of dishes. Running across the country, this weekend special has enlisted Fishbowl, Lord of the Fries, Betty's Burgers and San Churro — and Soul Origin, Pizza Hut, Red Rooster and Oporto, too. Prefer Ribs and Burgers instead? That's also on the list, as is The Yiros Shop, Burrito Bar and Broken Hearts Burger Club. Each state has more than 2000 offers available across the three days, including Queensland. Of course, as there always is, there are caveats. The big one: the deal is available from 2–5pm AEST each day, so you'll either want a late lunch or early dinner. Another crucial point: there's a unique promo code for each day displayed on the DoorDash app for each store, which you need to use at checkout. And, you will 100-percent need to order via that app. Also, you can only get one $1 menu item per order — and one $1 special per day, too. Unsurprisingly, only some menu items are available for $1. And, some places will only let you get one $1 special across the whole weekend. Delivery and service fees are still applicable, and an order fee will be added if your subtotal is less than $15. Still, in this economy, a bargain is a bargain.
Another week, another Gelato Messina special. That's been the dessert chain's contribution to making lockdown a little more bearable over the past 18 months, and it isn't changing that tactic now. So, if you're under stay-at-home conditions in Sydney and Melbourne, you now have another decadent sweet treat to look forward to. For folks in southeast Queensland, you've got an excuse to eat dessert even now that the region's latest lockdown is over. On the menu this time: the return of the brand's sticky brioche snails, complete with plenty of caramel. Basically, it's Messina's interpretation of a Cinnabon-style scroll, and it's another limited release. It also comes paired with a tub of cheesecake gelato — because Messina always likes to team up its baked goods with the frosty dessert it's known for, obviously Wondering what exactly Messina's latest sticky snail entails? It comes stuffed with caramel custard and choc chips, and covered in malt caramel — and the latter is oh-so-gooey. As for the accompanying tub, it's filled with layers of vanilla custard gelato and cheesecake mousse, and then topped with cheesecake crumble. Dubbed a 'lockdown snack pack', this special can only be ordered online on Monday, August 16. It will set you back $69 for both the snail and the tub of gelato — and, because Messina's specials always prove popular, the brand is staggering the on-sale times. Accordingly, folks in Queensland and the ACT are able to purchase at 9am, Victorians at 9.30am, and New South Wales customers split across three times depending on the store (with pies from Circular Quay, Surry Hills, Bondi, Randwick and Miranda on sale at 10am; Brighton Le Sands, Tramsheds, Parramatta and Darlinghurst at 10.30am; and Darling Square, Newtown, Rosebery and Penrith at 11am). The catch? You'll have to peel yourself off the couch and head to your local Messina store to pick up your order. They'll be available for collection between Friday, August 20–Sunday, August 22. Sydneysiders, remember to abide by lockdown restrictions when it comes to picking up your pie — with a ten-kilometre limit in place for picking up food in most lockdown areas, and a five-kilometre limit in place in Local Government Areas of concern. Melburnians, if lockdown is extended again until then, you'll also only be permitted to travel within a five-kilometre radius to pick up food. Then, after you've got the sticky snail safely home, you just need to whack it in the oven for 20–25 minutes at 160 degrees and voila! You can preorder a Messina lockdown snack pack from Monday, August 16, to pick up from Friday, August 20–Sunday, August 22.
If Pitch Perfect 2 taught us anything, it's that bigger isn't always better. The so-so 2015 sequel didn't exactly make the original look like a one-hit wonder, but in trying to repeat the same beats (only louder), it couldn't find quite the same catchy refrain. Still, it's a toe-tapping triumph compared to the third instalment in the a cappella-focused franchise. Like mid 2000s-era Britney Spears, whose 'Toxic' the film trots out more than once, Pitch Perfect 3 is desperately trying to recapture some old magic with very little success. Britney's track is actually the best thing about the movie, which is why it keeps popping up. As the Barden Bellas sing, dance and channel their inner pop star, they're doing what they love — and it shows. Sadly, director Trish Sie (Step Up 5), returning screenwriter Kay Cannon and franchise newbie/co-writer Mike White (Brad's Status) insist on overcomplicating matters again and again. And so it is that our heroes find themselves belting out the tune on a boat that's suddenly besieged with action and explosions. If you're thinking that the franchise has completely run out of ideas, then you're right. The singing silliness starts when record producer Beca (Anna Kendrick), pals Chloe (Brittany Snow) and Aubrey (Anna Camp), outspoken Australian Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) and the rest of the gang wrangle their way into a gig entertaining American troops — which then turns out to be a competition to support DJ Khaled at the finale of the tour. Unhappy in their adult lives now that college is but a distant memory, the experience sees the group back in their aca-element, hopping across Europe and riffing off against bands with actual instruments. Commentators John (John Michael Higgins) and Gail (Elizabeth Banks) tag along to make a documentary, while Fat Amy also has to deal with her estranged Aussie father (John Lithgow). While Britney gives Pitch Perfect 3 its high point, it heads in the opposite direction every time Lithgow opens his mouth. Like Quentin Tarantino in Django Unchained, it's another case of an American actor completely missing the mark when trying out an Australian accent — not that he seems to be trying that hard. The fact that it'll stick in your mind says just as much about the film around it, however, with the movie brightly shot and zippily paced but unable to rise above a bland screenplay. It doesn't help that the main cast seem barely interested, as they trot through the expected motions, jokes and character tics. At least they give the various jukebox-like musical numbers the requisite energy. Everything else in the film feels like exactly what it is: filler. The end product is a movie that, much like its characters, is happy just to relive past glories. Ironically, the film's message — about moving on and letting go of the past — is one that it seems incapable of taking on board. As a result, while Pitch Perfect 3 is packaged as the Bellas' last hurrah, no one will be surprised if we end up with a fourth instalment. If it forces the group onto a reality TV singing show — and, really, where else can they go? — then it really will be scraping the bottom of the barrel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rv_aNPMRv0
If you haven't yet made the trip to Agnes in Fortitude Valley for dinner or a drink, Brisbane's current lockdown obviously isn't the time to start. You can't anyway, as the city's restaurants are only presently allowed to open for takeaway and delivery orders. But, if you'd like to load up on baked goods — and you live within ten kilometres of the venue — you are still able to hit up the restaurant's pop-up bakery. A lockdown favourite, after making appearances during previous stay-at-home stints, the eatery's bakery is back up and running between Wednesday, August 4–Sunday, August 8. You'll need to head along to 22 Agnes Street from 7am, and you'll likely want to get in early, as its tasty pastries — including danishes — are only available until stocks last each day. Social distancing is in effect for those queuing up, so prepare to stand two metres apart from your fellow baked goods fans. Whether the pop-up will continue if Brisbane's lockdown is extended again is yet to be revealed. [caption id="attachment_801126" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Chatfield[/caption]
The Inchcolm Bar loves a leisurely meal. Serving up two-course spreads paired with three martinis is on the venue's menu six days a week, every week, in fact. But World Margarita Day is upon us, taking place on Thursday, February 22 — and to celebrate, the Spring Hill watering hole is unleashing its new Three-Margarita Menu for six days. The setup is the same, giving patrons three drinks and two plates, but the focus switches to a different kind of cocktail. Running from Monday, February 24–Saturday, February 24, the special is available for dinner nightly (including live jazz from 6pm on the Thursday and Saturday evenings) and lunch Friday–Saturday. The cost: $79 per person. The trio of sips spans The Inchcolm Bar's classic spicy margarita, watermelon margarita, and blueberry and basil Tommy's margarita. Yes, the humble 'rita is a versatile tipple. Food-wise, entrée options include buffalo mozzarella salad; freshly shucked rock oysters with blood orange mignonette; and steak tartare with mustard, gruyere, melba toast and egg yolk. And for your main, pick between gnocchi primavera, crispy-skin barramundi with kohlrabi purée and baby leeks, and roasted chicken with black garlic salsa.
Scott McDougall's paintings are a reflection of the small stories and people who weave through his travels. Through colours, textures and formal composition, the most exciting elements of countries he has visited are transferred to canvas. Signs of Life is McDougall's latest exhibition, partially detailing his trip to Cuba. He takes inspiration from the iconic propaganda billboards that previously dominated its landscape, and are now fast disappearing through neglect as well as the changing priorities of a new regime. McDougall has exhibited throughout Australia as well as London, Bristol, Glasgow and Paris. His previous works have explored the landscapes of Havana, Vietnam, Australia and Italy — specifically the dislocation of European architecture to foreign lands and the dramatic contrasts between their buildings and people. Across an art career spanning 30 years, McDougall has won dozens of awards, has pieces in private collections all over the world and is one of Australia's most accomplished artists. Signs of Life exhibits at Lethbridge Gallery from November 7 to 19.
Master sommelier Madeline Triffon describes pinot noir as 'sex in a glass'. Winemaker Randy Ullom calls it 'the ultimate nirvana'. Broadway wannabe Titus Andromedon loved it so much he compares it to 'caviar, Myanmar, mid-size car' (see below). No wonder the good folk at Revel — who bring Malbec Day and Mould our way, too — created Pinot Palooza, an epic travelling wine festival celebrating all things peeeno noir. The event usually hits up Aussie capitals each year and lets wine connoisseurs sample more than 200 drops, direct from Australia and New Zealand's best producers. But in 2020, like many things, it's going virtual. Whether you're a newbie who likes something light and inviting, or a pinot pro fond of the biggest, most complex drops there are, prepare to get sipping at Pinot Palooza Side B. From 4pm on Saturday, November 21, you'll simply be tuning in digitally. As part of the stream, there'll be winemakers talking about the business and guest DJs spinning tracks — turning the whole event into a party in your dining room. Drinks-wise, you have a couple of options. If you know exactly what type of pinot you like, you can nab a free event-only ticket, grab your own vino and get pouring. Or, you can order a '12-track pinot pack' for $85 — which includes a dozen 150-millilitre cans of wine from regions such as Gippsland, Northern Tasmania and Central Otago that you can taste while you're streaming the shindig. https://youtu.be/A6yttOfIvOw
When Dario Argento, Mario Bava and Lucio Fulci turned celluloid dreams into nightmares, they did so in vivid, visceral, blood-splattering fashion — and helped shape an entire genre, giallo, in the process. Whether taking on witches and zombies, depicting murders by literary fans and attacks at art galleries, or stepping into sinister and supernatural territory, the three influential Italian filmmakers transformed stylised horror cinema into art. Their output sits at the centre of the Gallery of Modern Art's Gothic, Giallo, Gore: Masters of Italian Horror program, Brisbane Festival's nod to the kind of frightening flicks that other horror movies want to be when they grow up. Come for '60s, '70s and '80s masterworks such as Argento's Deep Red and Tenebrae, Bava's Blood and Black Lace and A Bay of Blood, and Fulci's Zombi 2 and The House by the Cemetery. Stay for a masterclass in unnerving filmmaking. If you're eager for an extra special treat, here's two: one for your tastebuds, and one for your eyes and ears. Firstly, Gelato Messina's Smooth Criminal chocolate gelato bars will be on offer at GOMA for the duration of the season. Secondly, giallo classic Suspiria has its very own session at The Tivoli, with Claudio Simonetti's Goblin coming over from Italy to play their iconic score live.
If you're a devourer of books and words, you can look forward to feasting on a hefty lineup of talks, workshops, panels and more, when the Emerging Writers' Festival returns for 2022. After all-digital instalments in 2020 and last year, the fest will be back to hosting a jam-packed program of IRL events, though handily, a stack of them will also be accessible online. Running from Wednesday, June 15–Saturday, June 25, this year's edition has events for all varieties of lit-lover and writing enthusiast, featuring over 150 artists. EWF favourite Amazing Babes will see a cast of familiar faces sharing stories about the women, real and imagined, who've helped shape their lives; while the return of the National Writers' Conference will deliver a day of panels, workshops and pitching sessions headlined by the likes of Yassmin Abdel-Magied, and award-winning author and editor Jennifer Down (Bodies of Light). On Friday, June 17 and 24, you can head to State Library Victoria to be serenaded by stunning soundscapes and spoken word for Bodies of Sound, while on June 23, the Scienceworks Planetarium hosts a special full-dome screening of Starlight followed by the sharing of responsive works by two emerging writers. You can also up your own writing skills with an array of masterclasses and workshops covering everything from zines to narrative audio, catch inspiring exhibitions and readings, and celebrate all things mateship at performance-meets-speed-friending event Best Bookish Friends.
When Dirty John and The Case Against Adnan Syed leapt from audio to television, it was a floodgates moment. The true-crime genre definitely isn't new, but more shows based on grim real-life stories — and inspired by the podcasts that cover them, to be specific — were always going to follow. Dr Death is the latest, sporting a moniker that speaks volumes from the outset. Even if you know nothing about Christopher Duntsch going in, and you've also never heard the Wondery podcast that shares the series' name, that title really doesn't bode well for the surgeon's patients. Working in Dallas during the past decade, Duntsch was originally a rising neurosurgery star. Then, as the series charts, his patients started leaving the operating theatre either permanently maimed or dead. If you've ever faced going under the knife, this is pure, unfettered and deeply disturbing nightmare fuel — and it all really happened. Joshua Jackson plays Duntsch, and is bound to shed any lingering Dawson's Creek-era affection audiences might have for him in the process (and fondness from The Mighty Ducks and Fringe, too). He's joined by Alec Baldwin (Pixie) and Christian Slater (Dirty John) as fellow surgeons who raise the alarm, and also by AnnaSophia Robb (Words on Bathroom Walls) as the Dallas prosecutor who takes the case. As the just-dropped first trailer for the series show, this is quite the bleak story. Whether you already know how it all turns out or you'll be discovering the details fresh, you'll be able to watch Dr Death on Stan sometime this year — although exactly when it'll start streaming hasn't yet been announced. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYWEAWFONSw Dr Death will be available to stream via Stan sometime in 2021 — we'll update you with a release date when further details are announced.
UPDATE, AUGUST 23: Urban Cocktail Trail: Fortitude Valley has been postponed from Saturday, August 28 to Saturday, October 9. This article has been updated to reflect that change. By now, every Brisbanite should've heard of the Urban Wine Walk, aka your excuse to mosey around town and drink vino at various bars across a mighty fine afternoon. Prefer hopping around a particular patch of the city to drink cocktails instead? Meet the Urban Cocktail Trail, which is exactly what it sounds like. This time, from 2–6pm on Saturday, October 9, you'll make your way around the Fortitude Valley to sip cocktails. Dutch Courage Officer's Mess, The Parlour, Bisou Bisou, The Prince Consort and Gerard's Bar are some of the places involved, with the list topping out at nine bars. They'll each be making their own special cocktail for the occasion, so you'll basically be venturing to them all and catching those different drinks like Pokémon. Tickets cost $79.99 and are on sale now, with places limited. You can choose where you kick off, and you'll get a glass of bubbles and something to eat at your initial port of call. After that, you'll be able to redeem six vouchers for six mini cocktails at whichever participating places you feel like visiting.
Picnic season is upon us, the time of year when sitting outside with a basket full of cheese is the only place to be. Throwing a few beverages into the mix always is always recommended, but Brisbane is sadly lacking when it comes to legal spots to drink outdoors. You won't have that problem at Pinknic, however. A spin-off from the popular Rosé Revolution, which has already sold out its main 2017 event, Pinknic is the relaxed rosé lunch ready to brighten up one particular summer Sunday. Come 11.30am on December 3, pink drink lovers will descend upon The Osbourne Hotel to sip their favourite tipple and eat a hamper full of goodies. Tickets cost $35, which includes a rosé on arrival, plus smoked salmon, duck paté, a baguette, cold cuts, grilled vegetables, cheese, and a macaroon to munch on. More than 12 other fruity, not-quite-red vinos will be available to purchase if you're keen on more pink fun as well.
Whisky lovers, rejoice — we've just found your next 80 drops and perhaps even more. The Queensland Whisky Expo doesn't just serve up a few drams or ten or several dozen, after all. It reaches for the 150 mark, actually, and comes mighty close. Returning for 2022, the two-day event is split into two sessions, although both offer attendees the same thing. You'll taste as many whiskies as you can, and you'll nab your own whisky glass just for that purpose. On the menu: newcomers, old favourites and everything whisky-wise in-between. You'll even get a free pen so that you can take notes about all of your favourites. We know, we know, free pens aren't exciting at all — but there is more than whisky on the menu, including a meal to line your stomach and chats with informative whisky experts. It all takes place from 6–9pm on Friday, July 15 and 1–4pm on Saturday, July 16, with the expo taking over Rydges South Brisbane. Tickets cost $125, and prepare to leave with plenty of new varieties on your must-drink list. And the event is hosted by the Queensland Malt Whisky Society — so you know they know their stuff. It's also the first expo after a two-year gap, due to the pandemic, so expect everyone to be mighty pleased to be there.
All good things evolve and change, and regular chances to browse and buy are no different. Since 2015, Metre Market has been setting up shop around town and hosting curated markets — and now it has gone and had a makeover. It's time to bid farewell to Metre Market and say hello to The Market Folk — and to head along to the latter on Sunday, November 3, Sunday, November 17 and Sunday, December 1, too. Run by Brisbane entrepreneur Sarah Malengret, the event's focus is the same, but the change of name reflects its growth over the years. First started as a rack sale, letting stallholders sell their pre-loved clothes in a metre of space, it now features everything from fashion and food to arts, homewares and design items. Eastsiders will find all of the above at Coorparoo Square from 10am–2pm, plus plants, skincare, accessories, bespoke jewellery and a soundtrack of live tunes. Fashion still features heavily, as does the chance to clear out your wardrobe, send your old outfits off to a new home and make some cash. Of course, if all you want to do is scour the tables for the best things money can buy from local up-and-coming designers, artists and makers, there's plenty of that on offer too.
Twenty-six years ago, "do you like scary movies?" stopped being just an ordinary question. Posed by a wrong-number caller who happened to be a ghostface-masked killer with a fondness for kitchen knives, it was the snappiest and savviest line in one of the 90s' biggest horror films — a feature filled with snappy and savvy lines, too — and it's now one of cinema's iconic pieces of dialogue. It also perfectly summarised Scream's whole reason for being. The franchise-starting slasher flick didn't just like scary movies, though. It was one, plus a winking, nudging comedy, and it gleefully worshipped at the altar of all horror films that came before it. Wes Craven helmed plenty of those frightening features prior to Scream, so the A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Hills Have Eyes director was well-equipped to splash around love for the genre like his villain splashed around entrails — and to eagerly and happily satirise all of horror's well-known tropes in the stab-happy process. If you've seen the 1996 film or its three sequels till now, you've bathed in all that scary movie affection. You might've gleaned the horror basics from their rules and references; the OG film even had its characters watch Halloween and borrows the 70s classic's stellar score for key scenes. Geeking out over spooky cinema is the franchise's main personality trait, to the point that it has its own saga-within-a-saga, aka the Stab movies, and its fifth entry — also just called Scream — wouldn't dream of making that over. The famous question gets asked, obviously. Debates rage about the genre, enough other horror films are name-checked to fill a weekend-long movie marathon, cliches get skewered and dissected, and there's a Psycho-style shower scene. 'Elevated' horror standouts The Babadook, It Follows, The Witch and Hereditary earn a shoutout as well, but Scream itself just might be an elevator horror flick. It isn't set in one, but it crams in so much scary movie love that it always feels like it's stopping every few moments to let its nods and nerding-out disembark. In other words, you'd really best answer Scream's go-to query with the heartiest yes possible, and also like watching people keep nattering about all things horror. Taking over from Craven, who also directed 1997's Scream 2, 2000's Scream 3 and 2011's Scream 4 but died in 2015, Ready or Not's Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett task their next generation of slasher fodder with showing their devotion with all the subtlety of a masked murderer who can't stop taunting their prey. It's playful, irreverent, loving and meta but also overdone, even as the film has something savage to say about internet-era fandom and its non-stop demands (especially with big, popular and ongoing franchises like this). A little too often, the new Scream resembles chatting to that one person at a party who won't stop going on about the sole thing they adore, even if you love it with equal passion. One of those cinephile titbits that gets mentioned over and over: that the film considers itself a requel, aka a flick that keeps the same context as its predecessors — same timeline, same world and some legacy characters, too — but introduces fresh faces to give the original a remake. So it is that this Scream dispatches Ghostface upon today's Woodsboro high schoolers, because the fictional spot is up there with Sunnydale and Twin Peaks on the list of places that are flat-out hellish for teens. Scream 4 did the same, but the first new attack by the saga's killer is designed to lure home someone who's left town. Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera, In the Heights) hightailed it the moment she was old enough, fleeing a family secret, but is beckoned back when her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega, You) receives the feature's opening "do you like scary movies?" call. Soon, bodies are piling up, Ghostface gives Woodsboro that grim sense of deja vu again, and Tara's friends — including the horror film-obsessed Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown, Yellowjackets), her twin Chad (Mason Gooding, Love, Victor), his girlfriend Liv (Sonia Ammar, Jappeloup), and other pals Wes (Dylan Minnette, 13 Reasons Why) and Amber (Mikey Madison, Better Things) — are trying to both survive while basically cycling through the OG feature again, complete with a crucial location, and sleuth out the culprit using their scary movie knowledge. Everyone's a suspect, including Sam herself and her out-of-towner boyfriend Richie (Jack Quaid, The Boys), and also the begrudging resident expert on this exact situation: ex-sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette, Spree). The latter is the reason that morning show host Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox, Cougar Town) and initial Ghostface target Sidney Prescott (Skyscraper) make the trip back to Woodsboro again as well. Working with a script by Murder Mystery's James Vanderbilt and Ready or Not's Guy Busick, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett are in familiar territory several times over — their ace last release was all about attempting to outwit disturbed murderers, too — and they're well-aware that their audience knows it. "I've seen this movie before," Sidney slyly comments in one pivotal scene, which is this Scream's most telling moment. Just like the thin line between intriguing and unhinged in all those gravelly-voiced phone chats, the line between fun and repetitive is oh-so-slight here. Because this kind of sequel is currently Hollywood's favourite thing, Scream splits the difference between Ghostbusters: Afterlife and The Matrix Resurrections; it's never anywhere near as dull and grating as the first, but it's not as smart and ambitious as the second, either. It is gloriously gory, though. Blood, like horror movie references, flows thick and fast. Indeed, Scream 2022 is at its best when it's doing two things: staging those teased-out kills with stylish flair, which is where the flick's self-referential obsession gets its finest time to shine, and taking another slice at its three franchise mainstays' stories. Sidney and co are supporting players this time, as per requel rules, but they're the callbacks that are worth the price of admission over the Stab chatter and obligatory 'Red Right Hand' needle-drop. The new cast members put in a fair effort — Barrera and Savoy Brown especially; both have had a killer on-screen past 12 months anyway — but the bulk of the movie's first-timers always feel too disposable. Yes, this slasher sequel falls victim to unshakeable tropes far more than it successfully subverts them. It's still mostly entertaining enough, and the franchise had endured other average-at-best chapters (see: Scream 3 and Scream 4); however, looking self-satisfiedly backwards instead of leaping forwards, it's basically running up the stairs when it should be heading out the front door.
New years and treating yo'self go hand in hand, including on lunar new year. So, for an indulgent way to welcome the year of the tiger, CBD fine diner Donna Chang is putting on a feast — and you have six days to head along and make the most of it. From Tuesday, February 1–Sunday, February 6, the eatery is whipping up a special banquet for both lunch and dinner. Donna Chang is known for its Sichuan and Cantonese-style cuisine, and it'll be serving up Sichuan pickles, snapper sashimi, sweet 'n' sour noodles, tea-smoked duck, lobster dumplings, red braised pork, mandarin tarts and more as part of this LNY feast. Arrive hungry, obviously. This isn't a cheap meal, setting hungry folks back $128 per person — and an extra $50 if you'd like your food paired with matched wines. There'll also be lion dances livening up the inner-city restaurant on Friday, February 4 and Saturday, February 5.
Wake in Fright and Mad Max 2 have a lot to answer for. While one remains a flat-out Australian masterpiece after almost half a century and the other belongs to our best dystopian action franchise, they've spawned more than their fair share of imitators. Many Aussie films have aped their visions of broken, isolated, male-dominated worlds. Quite a few have also used their shooting location, Broken Hill. It's easy to understand why: examining toxic masculinity's extremes is a juicy subject, and the outback town on the far-western edge of New South Wales' dusty expanse cuts a striking sight on the big screen. When layered one over the other, the seemingly endless array of scrubby nothingness that encircles the remote spot appears to pulsate with oppressive desolation. The third film in four years from director Heath Davis (after 2016's Broke and 2018's Book Week), grimy crime thriller Locusts is happy to trot out the above template once again. There's another thoroughly recognisable element at play as well, one that also pops up in Wake in Fright and other Aussie flicks like The Cars That Ate Paris and Welcome to Woop Woop: the outsider wandering across this desert landscape and discovering its hostility for himself. Here, that task falls to slick technology bigwig. Ryan Black (Ben Geurens), who returns to the drought-stricken ex-mining town of Serenity Crossing after the death of his estranged dad. Complete with a far-from-cosy reunion with his brother (Nathaniel Dean) and the old girlfriend-turned-single mum and stripper (Jessica McNamee) he long left behind, everything about this scenario ticks a heap of familiar boxes. Thugs, drugs, broken dreams, family secrets — throw in Cold Chisel on the pub radio (they sang about Broken Hill, aka the Silver City, in 'Khe Sanh'), and Locusts always plays out as expected. When a group of inhospitable locals make it clear that Ryan isn't welcome, but still demands he settle his father's debts, it seems as if first-time screenwriter Angus Watts is stamping squares on a generic movie bingo card. The more twists and turns that pop up, the more that this feels true, with Locusts' various plot developments wavering between convenient and flimsy. Flashes of a man yelling at a kid with a gun earn the same description, although they're clearly designed to ramp up the tension. And as for a hefty late revelation that tries to keep things topical, it feels tacked-on rather than meaningful. Why do films continually wade through such well-worn terrain? It makes for easy, B-movie-style genre fare and, in Australia, we sure do have the backdrop for it. In Locusts and Heath Davis' case, the movie also taps into a theme that the director keeps pondering across his career. While they're set in vastly different circumstances and brandish incredibly different tones, Broke and Book Week also follow men thrown out of their depth by the vagaries of life, then scrambling to recover. Locusts is his least convincing example to-date, however. That said, Geurens' somewhat dull lead performance aside, the film does overflow with suitably scruffy, stern, grizzled men (including Peter Phelps, Broke's Steve Le Marquand, Book Week's Alan Dukes and late actor Damian Hill in one of his final screen performances) who look and feel as rough and tough as all the dirt and bush that's constantly in sight. Filling the movie with sun-dappled shades of earthy reds, murky browns and parched yellows, cinematographer Chris Bland (another Broke and Book Week alum) not only has Locusts' best job, but does Locusts' best job. While Broken Hill doesn't look anywhere near as captivating in real life as it frequently does on the screen, it's hard to point a camera at its rusty vistas without finding a fittingly moody shot. So, Bland does this often. Once again, this fits the picture's contemplation of struggling men laid bare in forbidding surroundings, but the heavy emphasis on the landscape does stand out. For the film's characters, the town's post-apocalyptic scenery is a barrier that stops them from moving on. For the film itself, it's yet another crutch used by an inescapably familiar feature that repeatedly leans on obvious elements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD_gvewa9JU&feature=youtu.be
When someone mentions staring at the stars, life on mars, the ocean's deeps, volcanoes or fossils, do you instantly start paying attention? Are futuristic visions your catnip? Do you love hearing smart people explore how everything works, and why? Being curious about the world we live in and beyond isn't just the realm of kids — and it's also the reason that World Science Festival exists. The New York-born event dates back to 2008 globally, then started its Brisbane offshoot in 2016. Accordingly, for almost a decade in Queensland's capital, it has been celebrating all things science and technology. That's on the agenda again from Friday, March 15–Sunday, March 24, alongside its fellow focus on where art and science collide, as the just-dropped lineup unveils. If you're keen on installations and interactive creativity, WSFB's past fest-within-a-fest Curiocity Brisbane has evolved into the Art/Science program, swapping a trail of works for heroing large-scale pieces. One certain highlight is Karina Smigla-Bobinski's ADA, with the German Polish artist bringing the three-metre helium sphere to Australia for the first time. It's a piece that you can play with, pushing and spinning the globe — which comes covered in 300 charcoal spikes — to make impressions upon the surrounding walls. Want to see sand rumble? Snooks+Harper and Philip Samartzis's Tectonic Resonance will allow just that using sand 3D printing and geophone recordings from the Pilbara region, all while musing on how humans use geological resources. Svenja Kratz and Bill Hart's Simulated Selves features an AI-filled room with two human forms representing the artists, and chatting with visitors. And with Drawing on Complexity: Experiment 9, Briony Barr wants attendees to contribute to a work that uses coloured paper tape. You'll add your own lines over eight days, helping to create patterns, as complex adaptive systems are in the spotlight. Art's intersection with science is just one part of the full World Science Brisbane 2024 program, of course. Elsewhere across the Queensland Museum-hosted event, talks abound. A reliable headliner, physicist Professor Brian Greene is back, this time for a multimedia trip through the cosmos, diving into artificial intelligence and its implications for humanity, and chatting about what space rocks and moon rocks can tell us about the evolution of our solar system. Also on the bill: Craig Reucassel presenting a session about waste and climate change, enlisting scientists to share practical ways that we can all make a difference; ABC weather presenter Nate Byrne delving into volcanoes, and Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb leading a panel about scientific discovery. First Nations takes on science will be the focus in a session overseen by Rhianna Patrick — and Mark Humphries hosts the returning Night of the Nerds, where two teams of scientists and comedians do battle, featuring Reucassel, Byrne and astrophysicist Kirsten Banks, as well as a band comprised of The Grates' Patience Hodgson, Velociraptor's Georgie Browning, Ball Park Music's Jen Boyce and Paul Furness, and Simi Lacroix. Obviously Dr Karl pops up, with great moments in science his wheelhouse for 2024's fest. For a great moment in sci-fi cinema history, Fritz Lang's iconic and influential 1927 masterpiece Metropolis is screening at the Gallery of Modern Art, complete with a live score. The overall program also spans the future of food, where medicine is heading, looking back on what Australia has learned since Black Summer, animal consciousness, parasites, shipwrecks and the red planet. If The Abyss isn't just a movie to you, there's a panel that'll pique your interest. And if insect superpowers get you thinking, there's one on that as well. Cocktail-fuelled social science sessions, the pop-up City of Science at South Bank, fighting robots, a walking tour of Brisbane's green infrastructure, fulldome film Earth Above: A Deep Time View of Australia's Epic History at the planetarium and the always-popular (and cute) turtle hatching are also included. And, so is the chance to step inside the Queensland Academy of Sport, Queensland Herbarium, Griffith Sea Jellies Research Lab and QIMR Berghofer. World Science Festival Brisbane 2024 runs from Friday, March 15–Sunday, March 24. For more information and to buy tickets, head to the World Science Festival Brisbane website. Top image:
Usually when you're at a bar choosing which kind of cocktail to sip, you're picking between multiple different styles. That's still the case at Sasso Italiano, the new Woolloongabba bar and trattoria in the inner east suburb's South City Square precinct — but selecting one of the 11 different negronis on the list is the most tempting option. Now open on Logan Road, this newcomer pours classic negronis ($19), fig negronis ($22), negroni sodas ($16) and negronis made with Campari and orange sorbet ($18) — and they're just some of the options. There's also the vintage birthday negroni ($49–99), which features a different gin, vermouth and Campari from between the 60s and the 00s, depending on the year you were born. Sasso Italiano does more than drinks, of course — although its beverage lineup also spans a tiramisu martini made with mascarpone and amaretto foam ($20), a G&T that features peach bitters ($18), and the venue's own take on manhattans ($24) and margaritas ($19). There's also three types of spritzes (all $18), three non-boozy cocktails ($11–16), and a sizeable range of natural wines. And, beer-wise, it's serving a bespoke Birra Cazino from Aether Brewing that's made exclusively for the bar. With former Ovolo and QT Food and Beverage Directors Vincent Lombino and Jared Thibault behind the eatery, and Head Chef Gabriele Di Landri (ex-Dolphin Hotel, Chiswick Restaurant and Aria) leading the open-plan kitchen, Sasso Italiano's food menu is also a big drawcard. Think: 11 types of pizza ($21–27), pastas including spaghetti cacio e pepe ($29)and linguine marinara ($39), and a one-kilogram bistecca alla fiorentina ($95), Tuscan steak ($42) and Mediterranean-style half roast chicken ($39) among the mains. For those after a smaller bite, the starters selection includes gnocco fritto ($12) and arancini ($15), while the crudo lineup features oysters ($5 each), king salmon ($21) and and yellow fin tuna tartare ($22). Or, opt for 50-gram charcuterie servings ($11–13), house-pickled sardines ($14), confit octopus ($26) and the trusty favourite that is burrata ($19). Desserts span tiramisu ($15) — to pair with one of those aforementioned tiramisu martinis, perhaps — plus cannoli ($8 each), bomboloni ($6 each), a range of gelato and sorbet ($12), and a cheese selection ($21). And, if plenty of Sasso Italiano's dishes sound like classics, that's because the restaurant and bar is going for an old-school, neighbourhood-style, 70s-inspired feel. Dim lighting suits the mood, as does the warm-hued colour palette and wraparound seating.
UPDATE, November 9, 2020: Sweet Country is available to stream via Netflix, SBS On Demand, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. In Sweet Country, the sun streams down on Australia's ochre-hued landscape, its scorching presence felt in every frame. At the helm of just his second narrative feature, director and cinematographer Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah) lets his images swelter with the outback heat, crafting a film where stifling temperatures and skyrocketing tempers go hand in hand. Indeed, if a movie could drip with beads of dusty, angry sweat, this one surely would. It's hot, rough and tough in the Northern Territory in the 1920s, but the real source of conflict and oppression — the real fire boiling in the movie's belly — is the nation's racial disharmony. Discrimination, intolerance and the turmoil ignited by both sit at the centre of the Indigenous western, which Thornton fashions after the genre's greats while ensuring that its local heart always beats strong and true. If the film's gold-and-rust sights paint a beautiful yet blistering picture, then its accompanying perspective proves not just fiery but positively searing. Though Sweet Country peers back almost a century, to a time when Australia was caught between its colonial past and the gleaming promise of a modernised future, the attitudes and struggles it explores remain painfully relevant today. In three distinctive parts comprising an astonishing whole, strained relations between white settlers and Aboriginal workers bubble to the fore — firstly, as confrontation brews across a trio of remote properties; then, in a chase through the region's vast surroundings; and finally in a law-and-order showdown. It all begins when black stockman Sam Kelly (Hamilton Morris) kills cruel, violent station owner Harry March (Ewen Leslie) in self-defence. With little chance of a fair trial, he's forced to flee through the scrub and desert with his wife Lizzie (Natassia Gorey-Furber). Sergeant Fletcher (Bryan Brown) is soon on their trail, with assistance from Indigenous tracker Archie (Gibson John), kindly preacher Fred Smith (Sam Neill) and his neighbour Mick Kennedy (Thomas M. Wright). As the slow-building tale unfurls, screenwriters Steven McGregor (Redfern Now) and David Tranter (Thornton's previous sound recordist) insert memories and foreboding glimpses of events to come. Here, playing with the movie's timeline provides emotional context, a crucial touch in a film that tackles race relations head on yet never colours with just black and white. Sweet Country might dive into a climate of pervasive prejudice and persecution in a quietly confronting and sometimes brutal fashion, but it also knows there's no simple way to fix Australia's still-evident divide. That awareness doesn't make the end result any less impassioned; in fact, it makes it even more so. That said, while the movie's message echoes loudly, Thorton lets his images do much of the talking. From views spied through doorways to shadows falling on furrowed brows, every ravishing shot seethes with harsh truths. Like fellow great Indigenous filmmaker Ivan Sen (Mystery Road, Goldstone), Thornton is a master at layering Aussie scenery with heartbreak and fury that speaks volumes. When dialogue is called for, the cast more than delivers — though none more than exceptional first-timer Morris. Leslie, Brown and especially Neill all play their parts to perfection, but the hurt, sorrow, terror and resignation flickering across Morris' calm face lingers long after the end credits roll. In a piercing, powerful film that deserves to be hailed as a major achievement, that is no mean feat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYKBG1znk4A
A subterranean vault smack bang in the middle of the CBD filled with pasta and a bazillion different types of cider — what's not to love? Cool and dim in the hot summer months, and warm and cosy throughout the winter, Verve is a restaurant for all seasons. It's an old favourite among the CBD folk, who skulk down for a surreptitious lunchtime wine or cruise on in after work for a hearty meal and a happy hour cider. Verve is truly a refuge from the outside world. Once you reach the bottom of the staircase (which you will find on Edward Street, next to Metro Arts), you're in a completely different world; upstairs it could be day or night, sunny or stormy, hot or cold, and you would be none the wiser. The restaurant itself has a rustic feel thanks to its basement setting, exposed brick walls and various nooks and crannies. But, rightly so, the real attraction here is the food, which is served in generous portions and is consistently delicious. It would be criminal to start the meal without a serving of Verve's beloved pan bread, topped with olives, feta and basil ($7.90). Meals include mouthwatering pizzas and main plates, but the real stars of the show are the pastas and risottos. The pork belly linguini ($22.90) is made with olive oil, chilli, garlic and wilted spinach and packs a flavoursome punch. If you are looking for a more traditional dish, then maybe the bolognese conchiglia ($19.90) with sticky balsamic is for you. The moreish blue cheese and chicken risotto ($22.90) augments the strong flavour of blue cheese with rosemary and white wine, while the vodka and artichoke risotto ($18.90) with caramelised onion, vodka and rosé sauce is a decadent choice for vegetarians. All of this rich food is best washed down with a refreshing cider, which is available in torrents at Verve. Different varieties are categorised according to their dryness or sweetness, so all tastes can be ably catered to, and the friendly staff are always happy to give advice and make suggestions according to your preferences.
At this time of year, humanity is forced to do one of two things. The happily partnered generally celebrate the fact in a sea of commercialism-fuelled romantic expression. Everyone else hides, ignores the revelry or comes up with an alternative. When it comes to the latter, we're talking about anti-Valentine's Day parties of course — and doesn't The New Globe Theatre have quite the shindig for anyone looking for something other than love in the lead up to February 14. At Illicit, they'll stage ten acts of theatre, cabaret, burlesque and performance art that definitely aren't about hearts and flowers. Or, if they are, they're not going to adhere to traditional notions of either. Expect dark, diverse, subversive, stereotype-defying pieces, as told across two acts, and with time at the end for dancing. Everyone is expected to dance. "We dare you to bring your Tinder date," the event taunts patrons. If you do, there'll be a bar as part of the show, in case that's something you both find you need.
One of the most celebrated novelists of our time delivered the keynote address 'Freedom to Write' and joined a playful panel discussion 'Television has Replaced the Novel' at this weekend's Festival of Dangerous Ideas. Across the two-day festival held at the Sydney Opera House, he offered some amusing insights. What entertaining snippets and truth nuggets did we learn from the irreverent Rushdie over the weekend? 1. The closest Salman Rushdie has ever come to death was the last time he was in Australia. He was in an accident on the highway between Sydney and Milton where his car was hit by a lorry carrying fertiliser; he jokingly claims to have been "literally hit with a truck load of shit" (for which he kindly thanks Australia). 2. He says that we have no idea what the future will remember, for all we know they might remember Twilight. He claims to not want a poor opinion of the future, but if Fifty Shades of Grey is what is remembered, he's glad he won't be part of it. 3. He REALLY doesn’t like Fifty Shades of Grey. 4. Instead, he is optimistic that novels, such as The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, will be remembered in the future. 5. He believes we must allow for freedom of speech, as it's better for ideas to be expressed and not repressed. 6. People’s feelings are hurt all the time, however speech should not be limited because of people getting offended. His advice: just get over it. You have to have skin that’s a little bit thick if you’re going to live in an open society. 7. He thinks religion is boring and hopes people will get sick of it. 8. He believes religion is about what didn’t happen. Unlike fiction, it doesn’t say on the cover of the Bible, a novel. 9. On the topic of inventing games with Christopher Hitchens, Rushdie claims he and Hitchens invented the clean ones — while Hitchens and Martin Amis invented the dirty ones. 10. One game they invented had the premise of "titles that don’t quite make it", with a inexhaustible list: Mr Zhivago, Toby Dick, Two Days in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, The Big Gatsby, Mademoiselle Bovary… Having squandered a day playing this myself, it comes with a warning of being a highly addictive form of literary procrastination. 11. He can understand why children's writers walk around with smiles on their faces — except Roald Dahl, who he claims was an arsehole. 12. His eldest son inspired him to write Haroun and the Sea of Stories because he asked the question, "Why don’t you write books that I want to read?". 13. His son, around nine years old at the time, offered Rushdie some of the best literary criticism he has ever received. Upon reading the first draft of Haroun and the Sea of Stories, his son said with an apparent lack of enthusiasm, "Yeah, it’s good." When Rushdie probed for further feedback, his son responded slowly, "Some people might be a bit bored." His final criticism, "It doesn’t have enough jump." With this, Rushdie rewrote the story. 14. He doesn’t believe that the television has replaced the novel, stating, "I'm so not on the death of the novel team." 15. He is not such a fan of shows like Lost, or any reality TV show starring anyone whose name starts with K. Unless, it was about Kafka. 16. However, Rushdie enjoyed Homeland season one, and is currently watching Game of Thrones. In terms of comedy, he’s a fan of The Big Bang Theory. 17. He liked the ending of The Sopranos. 18. He decided to dabble in writing for television, as TV series these days push the limits of weird, and he thought, "I do weird." He spent a year and a half writing a sci-fi television series pilot that was never made. He joked it was about a flesh-eating unicorn. (We hope that one day it will be produced). 19. He was a little chuffed to have been unknowingly featured in episodes of iconic sitcoms — Seinfeld, The Golden Girls and Cheers. 20. He recounts cute jokes. For example, two goats break into the projection room of a cinema. Whilst munching on the spools, one says to the other, "So, how's the movie?" The second goat replies, "The book was better." 21. He would like to see the works of Proust adapted into a television series. That might explain why he’s a novelist and not a cable TV executive. FODI images: Daniel Boud
If your love for our national spread goes far beyond merely smearing it onto your toast every morning, this may be the perfect getaway for you. A Vegemite jar-shaped tiny house, called the Vegemite Villa, is popping up in NSW for two nights this December. The four-metre-high and two-metre-wide cabin can sleep two and is filled with some Mitey-fine paraphernalia — think Vegemite-themed socks, slippers, eye masks and an alarm clock, shelves lined with jars of actual Vegemite and even a bed that looks like Vegemite on toast. Spend a night here and you'll be a very happy little Vegemite. The jar-shaped cabin will pop up in Brogo, NSW, near the home of Vegemite's parent company and Aussie dairy giant Bega Cheese. If you do manage to snag one of the two nights here — December 6 and 7, available to book exclusively through Booking.com — you'll need to prepare yourself for a decent drive. Brogo is located a 5.5-hour drive south of Sydney or a 7.5-hour drive north of Melbourne. This isn't the first time Booking.com has created an OTT getaway, either, with the digital travel company previously setting up an Avo-Condo (yes, a tiny home shaped like an avocado) in Circular Quay last July. The Vegemite Villa is popping up at 610 Warrigal Range Road, Brogo, NSW from December 6–7, 2019. A night in the villa will set you back $89, with bookings opening at 10am AEST on Wednesday, December 4 via Booking.com.
Whether you missed out on a Splendour ticket or are gearing up to see your fave acts twice, you'd better be quick if you want to get your mitts on some sideshow tix. Splendour has made its final gig announcements and sales to the general public kick off at 9am sharp on Wednesday, 27 April. In other words, right now. All up, eleven official shows are planned, mainly in Sydney and Melbourne (but there are a few locked in for Adelaide and Perth too). You'll be able to catch James Blake, who exploded onto global stages at the wee age of 22 with he debut EP CMYK and is now working on his third album, Radio Silence. For some post-hardcore action, you'll want a spot booked for when Texan titans At The Drive-In hit town. It was 16 years ago that Relationship of Command was released and these gigs are the band's first since 2012. You might well want to spend some time at the arenas (Sydney Olympic Park and Hisense Arena) finding out why The 1975 is one of the world's most sought after acts. Their second album I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It surmounted its extraordinarily cheesy title to top the ARIA and iTunes charts and secured the band gigs all over the place, from Coachella to Glastonbury. Next up is Jake Bugg, who became the youngest ever bloke to enter the UK charts at number one back in 2012 when he was just 18 — and four years later, is three albums into his career, with On My One due for release on June 17. Just lately, he's been on the road with Mumford & Sons. For some super smooth electro anthems, go see London-based Jack Garratt. This is the kind of guy you want to take camping with you – not only can he sing (in an incredible falsetto), he can also write, record, produce and play several instruments. You'll want your whistling skills handy for this next one. Peter, Bjorn and John (they're a Swedish trio, if you hadn't guessed), are responsible for one of 2006's catchiest tunes, 'Young Folks' and, in April 2015, they made a come back with 'High Up (Take Me To The Top)'. And for an escape from today's ubiquitous pop and electro, save your money for Mark Lanegan. He's 50 years of age and has been involved in the recording of just as many albums, nine of which are studio solo creations. You might well know him better as the front man of '90s rockers Screaming Trees. He brings his epic, Nick Cave-esque baritone to penetrating lyrics and bluesy melodies. So hop to it. SPLENDOUR 2016 SIDESHOWS James Blake SYDNEY: Tuesday, July 26, Hordern Pavilion MELBOURNE: Wednesday, July 27, Margaret Court Arena At The Drive-In SYDNEY: Sunday, July 24, Enmore Theatre MELBOURNE: Friday, July 22, The Forum The 1975 SYDNEY: Saturday, July 23, Sydney Olympic Park MELBOURNE: Sunday, July 24, Hisense Arena Jake Bugg w/ Blossoms SYDNEY: Tuesday, July 26, State Theatre MELBOURNE: Wednesday, July 27, Palais Theatre Jack Garratt w/ Kacy Hill SYDNEY: Thursday, July 21, Metro Theatre MELBOURNE: Wednesday, July 20, 170 Russell Peter, Bjorn & John SYDNEY: Wednesday, July 20, Metro Theatre MELBOURNE: Thursday, July 21, The Corner Hotel Mark Lanegan Band SYDNEY: Saturday, July 23, Factory Theatre MELBOURNE: Friday, July 22, Croxton Bandroom Beach Slang / Spring King SYDNEY: Wednesday, July 20, Oxford Arts Factory MELBOURNE: Sunday, July 24, The Corner Hotel For the full list of sideshows and to book tickets, visit secretsoundstouring.com.
If you don't believe that Fast X will be one of the Fast and Furious franchise's last films, which you shouldn't, then it's time to face a different realisation. Now 22 years old, this family-, street racing- and Corona-loving "cult with cars" saga — its own words in this latest instalment — might one day feature every actor ever in its always-expanding cast. Dying back in 2013 hasn't stopped Paul Walker from regularly appearing a decade on. He's the first of the core F&F crew to be seen in Fast X, in fact, thanks to a flashback to 2011's Fast Five that explains why the series' flamboyant new villain has beef with the usual Vin Diesel (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3)-led faces. Playing said antagonist is Jason Momoa (Dune), who adds another high-profile name to a roster that also gains Brie Larson (Ms Marvel), Rita Moreno (West Side Story), Daniela Melchior (The Suicide Squad), Alan Ritchson (Reacher) and Walker's daughter Meadow this time around. It's no wonder that this 11th flick in the franchise (yes spinoff Hobbs & Shaw counts) clocks in at an anything-but-swift 141 minutes. It's also hardly surprising that living on-screen life a quarter mile at a time now seems more like a variety show than a movie, at least where all that recognisable talent is involved. There are so many people to stuff into Fast X that most merely get wheeled out for their big moment or, if they're lucky, a couple. Some bring comedy (the long-running double act that is End of the Road's Ludacris and Morbius' Tyrese Gibson), others steely glares and frenetic fight scenes (The School for Good and Evil and Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves' always-welcome Charlize Theron and Michelle Rodriguez, respectively), or just reasons to keep bringing up Walker's retired Brian O'Conner (which is where Who Invited Charlie?'s Jordana Brewster still fits in). When more than a few actors pop up, it feels purely obligatory, like the F&F realm just can't exist now without a glimpse of Jason Statham's (Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre) scowl or getting Helen Mirren (Shazam! Fury of the Gods) going cockney. Do too many drivers and offsiders spoil the Point Break-but-cars hijinks? Not completely, but the high-octane saga's jam-packed cast is now a roadblock. It certainly can't have helped screenwriter Justin Lin, the director of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, F9 and initially Fast X until leaving a week into production, and his co-scribe Dan Mazeau (Wrath of the Titans). Their script sports an overarching plot, with Momoa's Dante Reyes avenging the death of his drug-lord father five films back, but it's really about servicing the required parts. Oh-so-many folks require some screentime; all the usual heist, chase and race antics have to drop in; everyone needs to jet between the US, Italy, Brazil, the UK, Antarctica and Portugal; family must be mentioned approximately 423,000 times; and Diesel's Dominic Toretto demands a few of beats to act as if Brian is dead even though he remains alive in the series' storyline. That's the to-do list that Lin, Mazeau, and Statham's The Transporter and The Transporter 2 filmmaker-turned-Fast X helmer Louis Leterrier tick through — and tick they do. Dom and the fam, including his abuelita (Moreno) and son Little Brian (Leo Abelo Perry, Cheaper by the Dozen), get an early backyard barbecue, waxing lyrical under the Los Angeles sun about the ties that bind. Then Roman (Gibson), Tej (Ludacris), Han (Sung Kang, Obi-Wan Kenobi) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel, The Invitation) go to Rome for a job that goes wrong, and ex-adversary Cipher (Theron) shows up bruised and bloody on Dom and Letty's (Rodriguez) doorstep talking about the devil. The common factor: Reyes, who has declared war on the extended Toretto brood without them knowing he exists. They should've expected him, though, given that battling family members — of past enemies and, when John Cena (Peacemaker) joined in F9 as Dom's brother Jakob, their own — is another box-checking saga staple. Almost every newcomer to the franchise, both here and in general, is related to someone else. That's how deep the series' family values go. And yet, for a saga that started embracing its ridiculousness when Dwayne Johnson (Black Adam) jumped aboard — also in Fast Five; you can't have Diesel, Johnson and later Statham bashing their sweaty heads together without having a sense of humour about it — it plays the soap opera-esque parade of kin (and the well-known actors being them) too straight. Fast X knows how outlandish it and its predecessors are with stunts, even if no one rockets to space this time. It says cheers over Mexican beers to its established cliches as well. And it joyfully has Momoa get giddily OTT as the scrunchie-wearing, "awesome!"-spouting, Joker-esque Dante, visibly having a ball doing so. But the so-earnest-it's-playful deliriousness that should always hum through these tales of petty thieves-turned-international spies is often revved over by needing to shoehorn in another character, then another, then more, whether they've been fam since day one or they're making their debut. It's doubtful that it's on purpose, but Fast X practises what Dom preaches, making its audience appreciate the simple things. There's nothing uncomplicated about the movie's hyper-stylised stunt choreography, with its giant pinballing bombs and reggaeton drag racing — the latter soundtracked by Daddy Yankee's 'Gasolina', of course — but the film is lighter and livelier when it strips itself down to its pedal-to-the-metal and fist-throwing basics. That's when there's an energy to now seven-time F&F cinematographer Stephen F Windon's whooshing and whirling lensing, too, especially when he's gliding through windshields while engines are purring in a Rio-set moment. Smartly, Theron and Rodriguez are gifted an impressively staged fray that screams for them to have their own spinoff. And when helicopters are being flung at each other by a Dodge Charger, it's pure dumb action-flick fun. While those choppers are swooping and crashing, revhead-in-training Little Brian can't help exclaiming with excitement. Fast X isn't ready to usher the saga's big-screen entries into Fast and Furious: The Next Generation just yet — it will eventually, sometime after this chapter's one confirmed sequel and likely second follow-up get motoring, although animated Netflix series Fast & Furious Spy Racers got there first — but that glee is exactly what Diesel and company want their audience to share. This is a thrill ride in fits and starts, however. At its worst, including with its stop-mid-scene cliffhanger, it's franchise-extending filler that never-ending sagas like the Marvel Cinematic Universe have made the gear-grinding norm. But when Fast X pumps the gas on turbocharged vehicular lunacy rather than playing connect-the-dots and spot-the-famous-face, giving four Oscar-winning actresses too little to do and dropping in hardly surprising guest appearances, it's an entertaining-enough spin down a well-driven road.
Can't make it to Venice any time soon? Don't worry — a taste of the Italian city is coming to Australia. At the beginning of every year, the canal-heavy locale erupts into a colourful festival complete with elaborate costumes and masks. It's a tradition dating back to the 12th century, and it's making its first trip to our shores. The Carnevale Australia Masquerade Ball will brighten up The Peninsula at Docklands on February 11, 2017, asking attendees to don their fanciest threads and best facial covering in the name of the most appropriate theme imaginable in mid February: amore, or love. Indeed, the event certainly plans to share plenty of affection, and not just through its elaborate theming and food. The ball will also include a live silent auction, with proceeds going towards earthquake victims in the Italian village of Amatrice. If that sounds like your kind of shindig (and who doesn't want to dress up, party and pretend they're in Venice?), be prepared: masks are mandatory, and with tickets starting at $450, your masquerade fun doesn't come cheap. In good news for anyone that doesn't have that kind of spare cash, it's also a taster for things to come, with the ball acting as a launch event for Carnevale Australia's full two-week celebration, slated to be held in late October / early November 2017. The Carnevale Australia Masquerade Ball takes place on February 11, 2017 at The Peninsula, Docklands. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the event website and Facebook page. Image: L G.
We drink it, wash with it and bathe in it. More than any other substance, our bodies and our planet are made of it. But, how do we really relate to, what do we really think about, and how are our lives shaped by the clear, flowing substance known as water? Expect to splash around in those questions and plenty of other H20-inspired pools of thought at Chris Bennie's latest exhibition, Mood Swings. Popping up at the appropriately named POP Gallery in Woolloongabba, the Gold Coast artist continues his fascination with all things wet after explore what water does to caravans after Bundaberg's floods and nuclear reactor control rooms after Japan's tsunami. This time, rather than taking inspiration from a catastrophic event, Bennie looks inwards to probe just how he makes sense of the substance that springs from our seas, rivers, skies, taps and showers. Combining performance and manipulated video, he swims through his feelings and ponderings. Whether that happens in a literal sense is something you'll have just to drop by and see. Image: Chris Bennie "Lotus Pond" 2017,
It's always a good idea to wear sneakers when you're walking around a gallery, but they're the only kicks that'll do when Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street arrives Down Under. First staged by The Design Museum in London, this exhibition pays tribute to the footwear's origins and evolution — through sports to fashion, surveying iconic brands and names, and obviously touching upon basketballers Chuck Taylor and Michael Jordan's relationships with the shoes. In total, more than 200 sneakers will be on display during Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street's Australian-premiere and Australian-exclusive season at the Gold Coast's HOTA Gallery. The six-level spot will give over its walls and halls to shoes, shoes and more shoes over the summer of 2023–24, starting on on Saturday, November 25, and marking the site's first major design exhibition since opening in 2021. While a hefty amount of trainers will feature, the entire showcase will span 400-plus items. The other objects at Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street include photos, videos, posters, artworks and process material, all helping to explore the journey that the footwear style has taken in its design and culturally. Expect to learn more about sneakers that were initially made specifically for getting sweaty, which is where the Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars and Nike Airs come in (and, with the latter, to add to a year that's already seen the movie Air step through the story behind them). Also set to feature: the shoes that've become cultural symbols (such as the Vans Half Cab and Reebok InstaPump Fury), future advancements in making kicks (as seen with Biorealize for Puma) and big-name collaborations (Jordan, of course, plus Run-DMC and more). Attendees will also check out sneakers that've made a splash on the runway (Comme des Carçons and A-Cold-Wall*, for instance), find out more about plant-based sneakers (such as Veja and Native Shoes) and customisable kicks (as Helen Kirkum and Alexander Taylor are doing), and dive into celebrity endorsements (Travis Scott with Nike, Pharell for Adidas and the like). Laid out in chapters called 'STYLE' and 'PERFORMANCE', the exhibition's first part goes big on aesthetics and its second on the act of making the best trainers — covering Chuck Taylor's basketball clinics, sneaker culture in New York City and everything that's happened since. Images: Ed Reeve, Design Museum London.
In showbusiness, nepotism is as inescapable as movies about movies. Both are accounted for in The Souvenir: Part II. But when talents as transcendent as Honor Swinton Byrne, her mother Tilda Swinton and writer/director Joanna Hogg are involved — with the latter working with the elder Swinton since her first short, her graduation piece Caprice, back in 1986 before Honor was even born — neither family ties nor filmmaking navel-gazing feel like something routine. Why this isn't a surprise with this trio is right there in the movie's name, after the initial The Souvenir proved such a devastatingly astute gem in 2019. It was also simply devastating, following an aspiring director's romance with a charismatic older man through to its traumatic end. Both in its masterful narrative and its profound impact, Part II firmly picks up where its predecessor left off. In just her third film role — first working with her mum in 2009's I Am Love before The Souvenir and now this — Swinton Byrne again plays 80s-era filmmaking student Julie Harte. But there's now a numbness to the wannabe helmer after her boyfriend Anthony's (Tom Burke, Mank) death, plus soul-wearying shock after discovering the double life he'd been living that her comfortable and cosy worldview hadn't conditioned her to ever expect. Decamping to the Norfolk countryside, to her family home and to the warm but entirely upper-middle-class, stiff-upper-lip embrace of her well-to-do parents Rosalind (Swinton, The French Dispatch) and William (James Spencer Ashworth) is only a short-term solution, however. Julie's thesis film still needs to be made — yearns to pour onto celluloid, in fact — but that's hardly a straightforward task. As the initial movie was, The Souvenir: Part II is another semi-autobiographical affair from Hogg, with Swinton Byrne slipping back into her on-screen shoes. This time, the director doesn't just dive into her formative years four decades back, but also excavates what it means to mine your own life for cinematic inspiration — aka the very thing she's been doing with this superb duo of features. That's what Julie does as well as she works on the film's film-within-a-film, sections of which play out during The Souvenir: Part II's running time and are basically The Souvenir. Accordingly, viewers have now spent two pictures watching Hogg's protagonist lives the experiences she'll then find a way to face through her art, all while Hogg moulds her two exceptional — and exceptionally intimate and thoughtful — movies out of that exact process. Julie's graduation project is also an escape, given it's patently obvious that the kindly, well-meaning but somehow both doting and reserved Rosalind and William have been pushed out of their comfort zone by her current crisis. Helping their daughter cope with her heroin-addicted lover's passing isn't something either would've considered might occur, so they natter away about Rosalind's new penchant for crafting Etruscan-style pottery instead — using small talk to connect without addressing the obvious, as all families lean on at some point or another. They provide financing for Julie's film, too, in what proves the easiest part of her concerted efforts to hop back behind the lens and lose herself in her work. Elsewhere, an array of doubt and questions spring from her all-male film-school professors, and the assistance she receives from her classmates is quickly steeped in rivalries, envy and second-guessing. More than once, queries arise about why Julie makes particular choices — and seeing how Swinton Byrne responds under Hogg's meticulous direction is one of the key reasons that The Souvenir: Part II is as powerful and compelling as it is. Like everything in the film, it's a revelation in layers, which unpeel far deeper than merely asking Swinton Byrne to be her director's on-screen surrogate. An introvert, Julie is visibly unaccustomed to the scrutiny that comes with her ambitious project, and with needing to handle her inner hurt under a spotlight. Swinton Byrne makes that plain quietly but repeatedly, all while conveying how Julie's self-hesitation slowly dissipates the longer she goes on, the more she struggles with, and the more mistakes she makes and solves. How this process echoes through her work, shaping both it and Julie herself, ripples through to a disarmingly intense degree — and with crucial aid from cinematographer David Raedeker (Swimming with Men) and production designer Stéphane Collonge (God's Own Country). There's no shaking the grief of it all, of course. As a musing on mourning, plus a perceptive glimpse at how the bereaved are expected to soldier on despite placating words offered otherwise, The Souvenir: Part II is shattering. Amid movie-within-movie sequences that'd owe thanks to David Lynch and Charlie Kaufman if they weren't so clearly diffused through Hogg's own lens — and after the other glimpse at the industry that comes via Richard Ayoade's (The Electrical Life of Louis Wain) returning Patrick, now successful, pompous AF, helming a huge movie musical and an enormous scene-stealer — the all-encompassing chaos that loss begets is laid bare. It's what drives Julie into bed with one of Patrick's stars (Charlie Heaton, Stranger Things), and sees her place perhaps too much on her own film's leading man (Harris Dickinson, The King's Man). In another of the feature's standout moments, it's also what causes her to misunderstand the sympathies of her editor (Joe Alwyn, Mary Queen of Scots) when support becomes hard to find. The Souvenir was a fated romantic tragedy. It was a vehicle for its director to work through her memories, too, and immortalise what she's now decided to keep; yes, that title is oh-so-telling. The Souvenir: Part II is a meditation upon loss, heartbreak and life's worst existential and inevitable woes, and also a way for Hogg to sift through her memories about all those memories, not to mention the new ones she conjured up when she first turned them into a movie a few years back. It's as smart, sensitive and stacked as an immensely personal piece of cinema can be, and it's also thrillingly savvy about how subjective everything it shows and interrogates needs to be by necessity. Cinema isn't short on memoirs, many of them wonderful — recent Oscar-winners Roma and Belfast, for example — but The Souvenir and its just-as-phenomenal sequel are in a bold and brilliant realm all of their own.
Record Store Day might only come once a year, but every second Saturday of each month, Brisbane gets into the spirit of the occasion. That's when a treasure trove of vinyl descends upon a specific spot in this fair city of ours, showering music fiends in the stuff collectors' dreams are made of. Brisbane Record Fair is the type of event that gives aficionados reason to salivate, deliberate, negotiate, and then spend, spend, spend — after rifling through crates and crates of rare material, obviously. Post COVID-19 lockdowns, it's also popping up in a brand new place, with the monthly event moving from West End to Aspley. Thousands of items are for sale, with Brisbane Record Fair taking over the Aspley Central Shopping Centre at 1368 Gympie Road. Expect a smorgasbord of sounds — offering up music of all types — when you head along to the next event from 8.30am–3pm on Saturday, November 14. It also takes place at the same time and at the same place as The Plant Lovers' Market, too. Vinyl-wise, whether you're after a decades-old gem or something newer on an LP or a 45, chances are you'll find it here. Sellers come from far and wide to share their wares, including private collectors parting with their sonic pearls. And no matter the time of year, a selection from their stash would make a perfect present, whether for someone else, or for yourself. Updated November 8.
Definitely kill 164 people, or potentially see casualties of up to 70,000? It's a choice no one wants to make, but what's the better option? And if you were faced with passing judgement on a man who chose the former over the latter, what would you decide? At Terror, you can find out, with the international smash coming to Australia for the first time. In its exclusive Brisbane Festival-only run, the debut play by German defence lawyer and author Ferdinand von Schirach runs through the trial of a fighter pilot who thought he was thinking about the greater good. Audiences will be asked to vote on his sentence, with the creative team adhering to their choice. The narrative changes accordingly, and has been performed in more than 70 theatres around the world since 2015. Image: Stephen Long.
Like commemorating the birth and life of famous figures? Like multicultural festivities that shed a light on diversity and harmony? If so, it's party time. Brisbane's annual Buddha Birthday Festival is back for its 26th festival, once again taking place at the Chung Tian Temple in Priestdale. Running from Friday, April 28–Sunday, April 30, the 2023 program is serving up three jam-packed days of lion dances, calligraphy, art, performances and more. While it might not cater to 200,000 people as it did in pre-pandemic years, you still won't find yourself lacking in either company or something to watch. Drum demonstrations, storytelling, kung fu: they're all on the agenda as well. The festival isn't just about seeing other people strut their stuff, though. With a vegetarian food fair serving up culinary delights — think curries, katsu, dumplings, noodles, bao, shaved ice and matcha ice cream — you won't go hungry. With tea ceremonies keeping you hydrated, meditation sessions taking care of your mental bliss, lasers set to dazzle and red lanterns on display, this isn't just a feast of entertainment. Instead, think of it as a complete mind and body experience. Images: Buddha Birthday Festival.
There's one thing that all wine festivals have in common: vino, and plenty of it. But this returning rosé fest hosted by Brisbane's inner-city winery adds something extra to the mix. When it hits up its home base on Sunday, February 4, 2024 after previously popping up at The Tivoli, on King Street and at Westoria, the event's attendees will be able to help make rosé between knocking back glasses of the pink stuff. At Rosé Festival by City Winery, stomping and pressing grapes is one of the big attractions. And, the results of all that jumping up and down are usually bottled for the company's rosé release for the year, too. So, down the track, you'll be able to grab one, add it to your wine rack and know that you had a hand — or two feet — in making it. If you'd rather just sip the rosés already on offer, that's obviously also part of the festival, which is taking a more intimate approach in 2024. So, instead of a sprawling event, this is a limited-edition affair. Tickets cost $150, which includes a drinks package, bites to eat and learning more than you ever thought you needed to know about rosé. City Winery winemaker Dave Cush will lead a blending workshop as well — and everyone gets to take home a bottle that you create in the class.
Perched on Sydney Harbour and boasting an iconic design, the Sydney Opera House always makes a stunning sight. That's especially true when the sun goes down, with the world-renowned landmark lighting up its sails every night. When the venue uses its evening light show for a cause, though, the luminous display is extra special. That proved the case last night, on Saturday, January 11, when the famed venue illuminated its sails to support bushfire relief. Images of firefighters were projected on the eye-catching structure, in a show of support to the communities affected by the blazes, as well as the men and women fighting the flames across the country. The striking photos were sourced from Agence France-Presse (AFP), Australian Associated Press and The Sydney Morning Herald. As Sydney Opera House CEO Louise Herron explained, "we are lighting the Opera House sails to show our collective support for everyone affected by these devastating fires and to express our deepest gratitude to the emergency services and volunteers for their incredible efforts and courage. As difficult circumstances continue, we want to send a message of hope and strength to the people of Australia." In a further effort to assist — and raise funds — the Opera House is also hosting a huge comedy gig on its steps and forecourt on Monday, March 16. Called Comedy Steps Up for Bushfire Relief, the outdoor gala performance will see Arj Barker, Tim Minchin, Becky Lucas and The Simpsons star Harry Shearer take to the stage, as well as Carl Barron, Urzila Carlson, Joel Creasey, Kitty Flanagan and Julia Morris — with more acts to be announced. All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery fund, the NSW Rural Fire Service, Wildlife Victoria and WIRES Images: Ken Leanfore.
Now in its 19th year, Share the Spirit is an annual festival that takes place on January 26. The event is a celebration of the survival of Australia's First Nations people through music, art and culture. In previous years, Share the Spirit has taken place at Treasury Gardens, but it has been moved to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl this year as part of the Live at the Bowl series. Presented by Songlines Aboriginal Music and supported by Arts Centre Melbourne, the event features an impressive lineup of First Nations talent. Following an Opening Ceremony with Joy Murphy, N'arweet Carolyn Briggs and the Djirri Djirri dancers, musicians such as Archie Roach, Alice Skye, Andy Alberts and Kee'ahn will all take to the stage while Shelley Ware and Shiralee Hood co-handle the hosting duties. Due to having a limited COVID-safe capacity, Share the Spirit 2021 is already sold out, however, it will be live streamed in a few places so you have plenty of opportunities to tune in. Fed Square will be showing the festival live on its big screen — if you would like to head along to an in-person showing — or you can tune in on the Share the Spirit Facebook page or listen to a special broadcast of the festival from 2pm on 3RRR. [caption id="attachment_796726" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jason Lau[/caption] Share the Spirit 2021 runs from 12–8pm. Top image: James Henry
Stranger Things is almost back, there's more than a demogorgon to battle and every aspiring monster fighter needs a little sustenance. For the series' heroine Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Eggo frozen waffles are the food of choice. For Australian fans who love the show and free sweet treats, ice cream waffle sandwiches will keep you going. With Stranger Things' third season set to drop on Netflix next week, Baskin-Robbins outlets around the country are marking the occasion by giving away freebies. Free ice cream waffle sandwiches, that is. To get your hands on yours, you'll just need to visit the chain's virtual Scoop Alley on Uber Eats on Thursday, July 4. It's an online recreation of the ice cream parlour that features in the show's new batch of episodes, where Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) works — complete with his towering head of hair, obviously. If you're one of the first 1985 people to hit the site on the day — 1985, because that's the year the third season is set in — a home-delivered 'Eleven's Waffle Sandwich' will be yours. And, while you won't need buy anything else to get your delicious dessert, you will need to pay for delivery. The giveaway also celebrates Baskin-Robbins' new Stranger Things-themed ice cream range, which will be available to devour from Monday, July 1. As well as the aforementioned ice cream waffle sando, you can buy concoctions called 'The Shadow Cone' (which comes covered in red sprinkles), 'The Mind Flayer Macaron' and 'The Demogorgon Sundae' (which, yes, actually looks like the creepy critter) — in-store, or via Uber Eats. Find Baskin-Robbins' Stranger Things-themed range in stores and on Uber Eats from Monday, July 1, or visit the ice creamery's virtual Scoop Alley on Uber Eats on Thursday, July 4 to nab a free ice cream waffle sandwich. To find your closest Baskin-Robbins store in NSW, Vic, Qld or WA, head to the website.
Tibet is the type of place that everyone wants to visit at least once — and the kind of destination few of us will actually make it to. Don't worry, the Festival of Tibet offers up the next best thing. It'll either help ease the pain of not jumping on a plane, or make you book a ticket overseas as soon as you can. 2022's festival lineup is a little different from normal, however, adapting to the world we now find ourselves in. So, you can head to Brisbane Powerhouse on Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2 for two different concerts — one from Tibetan Grammy-nominated artist Tenzin Choegyal alongside Matt Hsu's Obscure Orchestra, the other pairing Choegyal with Camerata – Queensland's Chamber Orchestra — and then enjoy the rest of the event online. The virtual program is still being finalised, but the Festival of Tibet usually hosts sessions on how to practice meditation and do yoga, all Tibetan-style; celebrates Tibetan songs; and finds other ways to showcase of the country's way of life. This year's fest will run from that first gig on Friday, April 1 through to Sunday, April 10. [caption id="attachment_761351" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Brisbane Powerhouse[/caption] Top image: Festival of Tibet.
Spring has arrived in southeast Queensland, thawing out 2022's surprisingly frosty winter chill and heralding sunny days aplenty for the next nine months. Fond of all things floral as far as the eye can see? This is your time to shine, obviously — and a trip west of Brisbane to the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers should be on your September itinerary. Every year when winter says farewell, Toowoomba becomes the brightest place in the region — and the state. Blooms blossom, greenery sprouts and flora reaches towards the sun, with the colourful floral fiesta taking over every space it can in the Darling Downs city. In 2022, as it did in 2021, the Carnival of Flowers is also sticking around for an entire month. That means that from Thursday, September 1–Friday, September 30, colourful petals and Toowoomba go hand in hand, with the program taking over a variety of locations — including Laurel Bank Park and the Botanic Gardens of Queens Park — to showcase all of the gorgeous florets, growths and gardens around town. This year marks the fest's 73rd year, and it has a big attraction to celebrate: more than 190,000 blossoming bulbs. Clearly this huge (and free) carnival won't be short on natural splendour. If simply wandering around to take in the bright sights is your idea of an ace spring outing, kaleidoscopic arrays of tulips, petunias and poppies included, you won't be disappointed. But the festivities range further, covering everything from park tours to food trucks slinging bites to eat, a series of talks in local pubs, both guided and non-guided walking tours, pinot and painting sessions, and a floral parade. Key highlights include the #trEATS regional food trail which showcases local eateries, and this year sees participating cafes, restaurants and bars serve up floral-inspired dishes priced between $10–20. In total, there are 43 bites to tuck into, such as tiramisu with Persian rose fairy floss, coconut cherry bloom gelato with edible flowers and flower petal lollipops. [caption id="attachment_867569" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Luke Marsden[/caption] Still on the culinary side, the three-day Festival of Food and Wine returns from Friday, September 9–Saturday, September 11 — and alongside celebrating regional produce, it'll feature The Whitlams playing their entire Eternal Nightcap album, as well as further live tunes from Vera Blue, Ash Grunwald and more. Elsewhere on the lineup, dog lovers can also take their pup to the pooch-friendly program, which covers more than 20 dog-friendly activities and 27 off-leash parks. Or, film fans can scope out cinema under the stars sessions on Saturday, September 24, courtesy of a double featuring FernGully: The Last Rainforest and 10 Things I Hate About You. The illuminated night garden is back as well from 6–8.30pm nightly, and so is the ferris wheel with a blooming great view in Queens Park from Friday, September 16–Sunday, September 25. Basically, there's no bad time to visit throughout September — and you might want to make the trek more than once. Indeed, when it comes to scenic spring sights, there's no prettier place to be. And, given it takes less than two hours to head up the mountain from Brisbane, it's perfect for a weekend day trip. The 2022 Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers runs from Thursday, September 1–Friday, September 30 across Toowoomba. For further information, head to the event's website.
Brisbane is gearing up for another balmy season, and, at the city's busiest new food precinct, Tex Mex hot-spot El Camino Cantina is set to join the party on the first weekend of summer. Even better — when this loud venue flings open its doors, starts pouring its giant cocktails and beings serving up its lively Tex-Mex fare, it's doing so with a party. The venue will launch on Friday, November 30 with a weekend-long fiesta, starting with a ticketed party on Friday night and continuing with $2 tacos, 10-cent wings, free tortilla chips and $7.50 margaritas across Saturday and Sunday. What else is in store in general? Well, eight slushie machines signal big nights and brain freezes — El Camino's margaritas come in a swag of flavours and multiple sizes, including a group-friendly two-litre tower. From the food lineup, think fiery buffalo wings, sizzling fajitas, plump burritos, soft shell tacos loaded with punchy flavour combinations and unlimited complimentary corn chips and salsas. Images: El Camino Cantina Manly by Tom Ferguson.
UPDATE, July 31, 2022: Wash My Soul in the River's Flow is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. A silent hero and a rowdy troublemaker. That's what Ruby Hunter calls Archie Roach, her partner in life and sometimes music, then characterises herself. She offers those words casually, as if she's merely breathing, with an accompanying smile and a glint in her eyes as she talks. They aren't the only thoughts uttered in Wash My Soul in the River's Flow, which intersperses concert and rehearsal clips with chats with Hunter and Roach, plus snippets of biographical details from and recollections about their lives as intertitles, and then majestic footage of the winding Murray River in Ngarrindjeri Country, where Hunter was born, too. Still, even before those two-word descriptions are mentioned, the film shows how they resonate within couple's relationship. Watching their dynamic, which had ebbed and flowed over three-plus decades when the movie's footage was shot in 2004, it's plain to see how these two icons of Australian music are dissimilar in personality and yet intertwine harmoniously. Every relationship is perched upon interlocking personalities: how well they complement each other, where their differences blend seamlessly and how their opposing traits spark challenges in the best possible ways. Every song, too, is a balance of disparate but coordinated pieces. And, every ecosystem on the planet also fits the bill. With Hunter and Roach as its focus, Wash My Soul in the River's Flow contemplates all three — love, music and Country — all through 2004 concert Kura Tungar — Songs from the River. Recorded for the documentary at Melbourne's Hamer Hall, that gig series interlaced additional parts, thanks to a collaboration with Paul Grabowsky's 22-piece Australian Art Orchestra — and the movie that producer-turned-writer/director Philippa Bateman makes of it, and about two Indigenous stars, their experience as members of Australia's Stolen Generations, their ties to Country and their love, is equally, gloriously and mesmerisingly multifaceted. When is a concert film more than a concert film? When it's Wash My Soul in the River's Flow, clearly, which is named for one of Kura Tungar's tracks. Bateman could've just used her recordings of the legendary show, which won the 2005 Helpmann Award for Best Australian Contemporary Concert, and given everyone who wasn't there the chance to enjoy an historic event — and to bask in the now-late Hunter's on-stage glories more than a decade after her 2010 passing — but that was clearly just the starting point for her movie. With Roach as a producer, the documentary presents each of its songs as a combination of five key elements, all weaved together like the feather flower-dotted, brightly coloured headpiece that Hunter wears during the performance. With each tune, the film repeats the pattern but the emotion that comes with it inherently evolves, with the result akin to cycling through the earth's four seasons. First, a title appears on-screen, overlaid across breathtakingly beautiful images of the Murray and its surroundings, and instantly steeping every song in a spectacular place. From there, the Kura Tungar rendition of each tune segues into practice sessions with Grabowsky and the AAO of the same track, plus both text and on-the-couch chatter between Hunter and Roach that speaks to the context of, meaning behind and memories tied to each piece. Hunter's 'Daisy Chains, String Games and Knuckle Bones', which springs from her childhood, gets that treatment. Roach's unforgettable 'Took the Children Away' does, too. 'Down City Streets', as written by Hunter and recorded by Roach, also joins the lineup. The list goes on, and the power that each song possesses alone — which, given the talent and topics involved, is immense — only grows when packaged in such a layered manner. What a story this symphony of tunes and its entwined materials tells, spanning Hunter's recollections about being taken from her family under the guise of a trip to the circus; the coin flip that saw Roach head to South Australia from Mildura after a season spent grape-picking, where he'd meet Hunter when both were teenagers; and Hunter's certainty before that, when she spied Roach on television as a kid, that she'd marry him. The Ngarrindjeri, Kokatha and Pitjantjatjara woman's way with words continues throughout the film, including when she explains how that stroke of fate that brought Roach to Adelaide's People's Palace when they were both homeless adolescents saw her stop "her gambler from his rambling". For the Gunditjmara and Bundjalung man, he shares snippets of his own past alongside his overflowing love for Hunter. Indeed, when he marvels about how she can remember everything in her life, the Murray River's pelicans and the Dreamtime among them, it's a statement of pure and joyous affection. Along the way, Bateman ensures that her documentary tackles a dark chapter of the country's history head on, because it's impossible to relay Hunter and Roach's tales without exploring the nation's Stolen Generations. Her film is a tribute to her subjects and their work first and foremost — a tribute from Roach to Hunter overwhelmingly, too — but the resilience and fortitude that it's taken to weather everything that the government policy sent their way shines just as vividly. Both of Wash My Soul in the River's Flow's main figures are candid although, true to her own self-description, Hunter repeatedly takes the lead. Still, Roach's striking admission that, until the pair met, he thought it was just him and his siblings that'd been forcibly removed from their home, is nothing short of heartbreaking. Also intensely affecting: getting the chance to spend an intimate 90 minutes in Hunter and Roach's company, especially the former, the first Aboriginal woman to be signed to a major record label, following her death; and those awe-inspiring shots of Ngarrindjeri Country, as shot by cinematographer Bonnie Elliott (The Furnace), that keep returning with each soulful song. Combined with the movie's music, plus its dedication to unflinchingly diving into the problematic past, Wash My Soul in the River's Flow becomes a quintessential portrait of Australia. Championing two First Nations icons, their culture and their connection to Country; exploring the injustice they've endured at the hands of the government, and how they've ultimately thrived and healed together and through their talents; and showcasing the art they've made and the land they love — this moving movie couldn't ask for anything more. Letting it wash over you, and its silent hero and rowdy troublemaker with it, is simply inescapable.
Activewear fans, we've got some big news: P.E. Nation is bringing back its warehouse sale — and it's all online. The athleisure experts hosted their first ever sample sale in 2016, and everything sold out in the first day. But, luckily, you don't have to worry about being crushed in a throng this year. You just need to have your mouse at the ready. Whether you're stocking up your own balcony-gym wardrobe (or WFH outfit, if we're totally honest) or doing a solid for sporty loved ones, you'll find an extensive array of swim, activewear, accessories, sweaters and jackets now available — and all for up to 60 percent off. That spans tops from $49, bottoms from $59, hoodies from $69 and jackets from $129 (because yes, cold weather really is just around the corner). Remember the age-old advice of when it comes to sample sales: you need to get in quick. Given the following the label has amassed since General Pants Co. design director Pip Edwards and former senior Sass & Bide designer Claire Tregoning joined forces, its functional, fashionable bits and pieces are bound to be popular. So, keep an eye on the website — and you'll need to be signed up as a member to access the deals.
The weather might be heating up in sunny Queensland, but that doesn't mean you can't all spend a day pretending you're somewhere much, much cooler. How does an imaginary visit to Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia and Iceland sound? All you need to do is head along to the Scandinavian Festival Brisbane. Now in its eighth year, the annual showcase of countries with colder climates offers a smorgasbord of authentic food, entertainment and shopping that'll make you think you're on the other side of the world. Think Norwegian waffles, Finnish beer, Swedish meatballs, Danish hot dogs — and that's just for starters. Taking place at Bowen Hills' Perry Park from 10am–4pm on Sunday, September 8, it also includes a showcase of Nordic products and other goodies, plus traditional folk dancing and music. Fancy making a floral crown? You can buy a bucket of flowers for $10, then get taught how as well. 15,000 people attend each year, so arriving early is recommended — more Viking-themed street food, Scandinavian sweets and balled pancakes for you.
It's that time again: to wish that you're in Germany for the next month, or to do your best to pretend you are even while you're right here at home. That's the kind of response that Oktoberfest inspires, because we can't all always head over to Europe just for the annual brew-fuelled celebration. Brisbanites can hit up The Bavarian's various locations around town between Friday, September 16–Sunday, October 9 instead, though. On the menu: parties, German-style beers, schnapps, giant pretzels, pork-heavy menus, Sunday sausage sizzles and, at Barracks, Oompah bands providing a soundtrack. So, everything you could want and need to mark the occasion. The venues will sport all the Oktoberfest trimmings — greenery, ribbons and bright tables cloths included — and staff will be decked out in dirndls and lederhosen. Yes, you're encouraged to dress up as well. If you're most excited about the drinks, there'll be eight types of beers, plus tasting paddles to sample them all. Also, the final week of the fun — so, from Monday, October 3 onwards — has been dubbed Big Beer Week to ramp up the brews. Fancy living your best Oktoberfest life all year round afterwards? You can purchase one of The Bavarian's one-litre steins to take home with you and— for $40, which includes a beer that you'll drink onsite first. Food-wise, options start with the OktoberBoss set menu, which serves up a feast of pork knuckle, pork belly, sausages, schnitzels and sides (plus a schnapps on arrival) for groups of four-plus for $49 per person. If it's just you and one mate / your date, there's the Oktoberfest Mate set menu is for two-plus diners for the same price, spanning pretzels, pork belly, sausages, schnitzels and sides. Brews can be added to each menu for an extra $45 per person — and you can cap things off with an apple strudel for $7 a pop. Love pretzels? A special lineup of giant versions is on offer for the first few days of The Bavarian's Oktoberfest shenanigans, from Saturday, September 17–Friday, September 23 — including ones topped with bacon, filled with cheese and covered in sprinkles (no, not all at once). Or, there's a black forest doughnut pretzel. The word for that is yum. Snag fans can make a date with those sausage sizzles, which are available at Chermside on Sundays in October. There'll be six types of traditional bangers, served solo in a roll (from $10) or via a sausage wheel on a stick.
