Even if you're not that fond of cold weather — even if you live in Brisbane, basically — everyone has a favourite thing about winter. Maybe you love rugging up and wearing every woolly item you own. Perhaps you just like a short respite from summer. Or, you could love the crisp feeling in the air, the excuse to drink mulled wine or tucking into hearty menus. Love fondue? That's one of winter's big drawcards, too — 'tis the perfect season for it. Woolloongabba's Ooh La La Rooftop at C'est Bon clearly agrees, because it's dedicating an entire night to making supremely gooey and cheesy dreams come true. At WTF! Where's the Fondue? from 6.30pm on Thursday, July 21, you'll obviously get dipping. A masterclass is part of the evening, showing you the ins and outs of fondue — and, naturally, there'll be plenty to eat. As well as the complete traditional fondue setup with all the accompaniments, you'll get a cocktail upon arrival. And, there'll be a post-cheese dessert, plus a nightcap picked by by C'est Bon sommelier Sebastian Langkamer. This is a gather-the-gang type of event, too, with tickets costing $135 per person — but four guests needed for each fondue setup. Ooh La La images: Mitch Lowe.
When the time arrived to spread its footprint to Brisbane, the Gemelli Group decided to do something different. First, it stuck with what it knows, opening Gemelli Italian James St — but it also paired it with a new watering hole. Bar Tano is the company's first bar, and pairs snacks, drinks and people-watching over James Street. At this 55-seater, owners James and Alec Carney have gone dark and moody; think green marble, polished concrete and plenty of mirrors. They've also designed the street bar-style hangout as an aperitivo spot — not just for a happy hour, though, but for catching up with friends over a beverage. "Italy has such a rich culture and we're incredibly passionate about bringing that to Australia in a way that respects our heritage and the customs we love," explains James. "Bar Tano is inspired by Milan which is the birthplace of aperitivo and we wanted it to be a destination where you meet friends to reconnect over a refreshing aperitif and complimentary small bites." Drinks-wise, Italian wines and cocktails feature, as well as bespoke house tipples — like the Drive Me Nuts, which blends the negroni and the old fashioned; and the Better Than Butter, which gives whisky sours a buttery spin. For something to eat, there's ricotta dip, burrata, gnocco fritto and polpettini, plus a rotating selection of salumi and cheeses.
In a dining world of charcuterie boards, micro herbs and croquettes, sometimes it is refreshing to find a restaurant not swaying to trends — sticking to the classics and doing it well. I guess being yourself is easier when your name is Romain Bapst — the man famed for the spanner crab lasagne he created during his 13 years at the helm of Il Centro. That dish is always in the list of 'must-do' dining experiences in Brisbane, and the good news is he has brought it along to his new French restaurant, Lutece. Unsuspectedly situated in Bardon, Lutece will first take your breath away with its view. With sweeping views out south west and to Mount Warning, at our lunchtime setting we were treated to a light fantastique as the usual summer storm rolled across the skies. You could imagine sunsets would be quite something too. First up treat yourself to some fresh baguette with truffled butter — this stuff is what dreams are made of and it will give you time to salivate over the menu. Naturally, we couldn't walk past an entree size of the famed spanner crab lasagne with crustacean sauce ($23). Words can't describe how fantastic this is; it must be tried to be believed and we'll be heading back for the main size. When it comes to French fare, it can be hard to go past duck on the menu, and if you do you should regret it. The slow-roasted portion of free-range duck ($40) is a hugely generous serve (both breast and leg) with a crispy skin and is plated up with a pea puree and creamed potato gratin. Traditional French cuisine has something both very fancy and and yet very comforting about it — the best way to be perhaps; no designer dress is much fun if you can't breathe while wearing it. Food shouldn't be pretentious, but satisfying. And satisfied indeed was I, the woman who ordered the duck. Food philosophy aside, it's time for dessert. Creme brulee ($12) is my sweet dream, but if you'd like a fluffier alternate, the souffle ($16) is a spectacle to be had. It changes daily; we were treated to a white chocolate and passionfruit morsel with passionfruit ice-cream accompanying. If Lutece sounds a little higher than your budget will stretch, don't stress. They do three-course lunches with wine for $45 Tuesday-Saturday. Yes, three courses. Or if money is no object, go all out with the exclusive duck press. Essentially a fancy 19th-century contraption squeezes the juice from bits of duck in front of your eyes ($120 per couple). Why not?
You've heard about starting something how you plan to go on. Now, here's another approach — ending something with the same spirit, excitement and enthusiasm that you'll be taking with you. When this year's Valley Fiesta comes to a close, that's the only way to handle it, particularly when you're listening to live tunes on a Chinatown rooftop. To finish up the 2018 with a big ol' bang, 4ZZZ are letting the masses onto 31 Duncan Street's upper level for one massive blowout from 2pm on Sunday, September 2. Gabriella Cohen, Sweater Curse, Whalehouse and The Ancient Bloods will be doing the musical honours, rocking on through until 6pm in what promises to be quite the Sunday session. And, because this little shindig is called the 4ZZZ Rooftop Oasis Party, it'll be tropical-themed with lilos, palm trees and tiny umbrellas. Entry is free, but bring some cash to grab a bev from the bar — it'll be raising money for 4ZZZ and Backbone Youth Arts.
Twelve fine-diners and casual eateries run by former MasterChef Australia judge George Calombaris have closed their doors as his restaurant group Made Establishment goes into voluntary administration. While Yo-Chi — the group's frozen yoghurt company — will continue trading as usual, seven Jimmy Grants, as well as Hotel Argentina, Gazi, Hellenic Republic Brighton and the newly opened Crofter Dining Room and Elektra have all "stopped trading immediately". The move comes months after Calombaris' restaurants were rocked by wage scandals, with the company admitting employees were underpaid by $7.8 million. While hundreds of workers will be impacted by the closures, Made Establishment's newly appointed administrators, KordaMentha, said in a statement that "employees have been paid all outstanding wages and superannuation up to the date of the appointment". According to KordaMentha, "declining trade across venues" and "difficult trading conditions in the hospitality industry...due to the expansion of the on-demand economy via services such as UberEats and Deliveroo" were also reasons for Made Establishment's voluntary administration. Calombaris himself responded to the appointment and closures via a post on Instagram, in which he said "I truly regret it has come to this". "The last few months have been the most challenging I have ever faced," Calombaris said in the post. "At this time, while personally devastated, I remain thankful to my family, friends, the MADE team, our loyal and regular customers". https://www.instagram.com/p/B8YEzVgFVgR/ All 12 of Made Establishment's restaurants and eateries will remain closed while the administrators seek alternative operators for the venues.
If you need a reason to see Blanc de Blanc, it's this: it comes complete with a human champagne fountain. Of course, given that the acrobatic cabaret is the latest production from Brisbane Festival favourites Strut & Fret (aka the folks behind LIMBO, Fear & Delight and Cantina) that shouldn't be the only enticing factor. It's a show that's heavy on vintage glamour and agile acts, as well as foam and giant bubbles. Heading to Brissie straight from London's West End, it's also the most indulgent, seductive and cheeky night out you're likely to have in some time — but hey, isn't that what festivals are all about? Image: Ken Leanfore.
The realisation that eventually comes to everyone underscores Once My Mother, one that dawned slowly upon filmmaker Sophia Turkiewicz. She grew up listening to stories her mother, Helen, would tell of her life, but could only see as far as the intersection with her involvement. More immediate family history weighed upon Sophia, driving a desire for distance as she grew from a girl into a woman. Unforgiving about time spent in an orphanage, she also demonstrated an unwillingness to look past the emotional scars of her upbringing. It follows that Once My Mother takes a universal process — that of discovering the real personality of our parents, of understanding the true impact of their past not just upon their lives but our own, and of showing compassion for any missteps along the way — and relates it to the audience in the only way possible: as a personal journey. Turkiewicz's documentary is dedicated to dissecting Helen's resilience through decades marked by difficulties of destruction, discrimination and displacement; however, it is also shaped by a daughter's burgeoning awakening to things only age and experience could help her appreciate. Many laudatory words are directed towards Helen in the film's narration, written by and told from Sophia's perspective as a letter from the latter to the former but actually voiced by another. The extolling of virtues is justified by the accounts of Helen's epic ordeals in Poland and Siberia during the Second World War, then in Africa in the aftermath, and finally in Australia in an attempt to establish a new life as a single mother. The language remains lyrical and love-fuelled, sensitive and sentimental, even if the revelation that it is uttered by someone else (Jen Vuletic) somewhat skews the sense of intimacy. Of course, the spoken component is just one part of the documentary, with the visual complement impressive in its detailed assemblage. Starting with Helen in an aged care centre, then going back to the beginning, Sophia combines archival footage and photographs with contemporary-shot interviews and visits. The most fulfilling and fortunate element comes from work filmed many years ago, in the fledgling days of her career and with the flame of inquiry into her maternal genesis just beginning to spark, of earlier chats with Helen. Turkiewicz's career has spanned a significant slice of Australian film and television since the early 1980s, most notably the AFI-winning feature Silver City. It is fitting that it similarly took stock of familiar circumstances, albeit in fictionalised form. Here, she confronts the true tale with obvious emotion, but also insight and information. Once My Mother is a time capsule of a unique bond, and a testament to the impact of tenacity, both resonant and relatable. https://youtube.com/watch?v=-fos7dm2inE
To look at John Shipton is to see the obvious, even if you've never laid eyes upon him before. The family resemblance is immediately clear, and the traits that've likely been passed down from father to son — determination and persistence, blatantly — become apparent within minutes. Shipton needs to be resolute for the battle that documentary Ithaka captures. It's a fight that's been waged for a decade now, publicly, and not just in embassies and courtrooms but across news headlines worldwide. He's visibly Julian Assange's dad, and he's been helping spearhead the campaign for the WikiLeaks founder's release. Assange fell afoul of US authorities in 2010, when his non-profit whistleblower organisation published documents about the American military's war crimes leaked by army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. As Ithaka makes plain, The Guardian, The New York Times and Der Spiegel revealed the same information at the same time; however, only Assange now sits in London's Belmarsh prison. Plenty about the past 12 years since Manning's leaks were exposed to the world is filled with numbers. Plenty about the ten years this June since Assange first took refuge in the Embassy of Ecuador in London is as well. The Australian editor and publisher spent almost seven years in that diplomatic space, seeking political asylum from sexual misconduct allegations in Sweden that he contended would be used to extradite him to America. If the US succeeds in its efforts, and in its espionage charges against him, he faces up to 175 years in incarceration. The list of figures goes on, but filmmaker Ben Lawrence (Hearts and Bones) makes two pivotal choices. Firstly, he surveys Assange's current struggle not through the Aussie himself, but through both Shipton and Stella Moris, his South African-born lawyer and now wife. Secondly, although those aforementioned numbers are inescapable, the riveting and affecting Ithaka brings humanity to this well-publicised plight. Moris herself sums up the movie's position best at the unveiling of a statue of Assange in Geneva. "I'm here to remind you that Julian isn't a name, he isn't a symbol; he's a man and he's suffering," she says. It's a reminder that Ithaka's audience might need, given how ubiquitous Assange's tale has become, including on-screen — in fellow docos We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks and Risk, and in dramas Underground: The Julian Assange Story and The Fifth Estate — and how polarising he has proven. Risk attempted to grapple with his contradictions, but Ithaka almost deems them irrelevant. Lawrence doesn't dismiss, excuse or pander; rather, he knows that Shipton and Moris' point remains regardless: that how Assange has been treated for receiving and publishing information is a human rights abuse, as well as an attack on the freedom of the press. That notion echoes again and again in Ithaka alongside its rousing soundtrack by Brian Eno, and with passion; to look at both Shipton and Moris is to see the fervour blazing tirelessly in their eyes, too. Making his second documentary after 2018's Ghosthunter, Lawrence fills the bulk of his naturalistically shot frames with the pair working against Assange's possible extradition, and for justice, with that avid gleam given ample opportunities to keep burning. Again, among the litany of opinions that he's evoked over the years, the idea that the Australian deserves life in prison for distributing Manning's intel to the world — or that anyone does — shouldn't have a place. Ithaka's allegiances are never in doubt, even without knowing that Assange's brother Gabriel Shipton is one of its producers, but giving time to the WikiLeaks creator's critics wouldn't and couldn't have changed its core position. Lawrence knows what everyone watching knows, though: that the mantra behind the movie isn't a new one. Accordingly, the film shows as much as it tells — leaving the telling to Shipton, Moris and talking-head interviewees; and having cinematographer Niels Ladefoged (an assistant editor on the original Swedish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) deeply and carefully observe the minutiae around Ithaka's core duo. The documentary can veer towards the procedural as a result, including when Moris works through a desperate and ultimately unsuccessful plan to get then-US President Donald Trump to issue a pardon. It's always personal, of course; that Assange is primarily present as a voice on the phone, aka exactly how his father and wife have interacted with him during his time at Belmarsh, especially after the pandemic hit, only makes that feeling all the more evident. Shipton and Moris have long stressed the stakes for Assange — Moris' Geneva remarks are just one such instance captured in the feature — but Ithaka is equally concerned with the impact upon the pair. It doesn't just use the two as a different access point into this now-familiar story, but to illustrate the emotional and psychological burden that falls upon them as they crusade, lobby and also worry. As Assange's legal battles are prolonged, septuagenarian Shipton loses time with his five-year-old daughter in Australia, while Moris raises her two children with Assange alone. Alongside tenacity, weariness lingers in their eyes as well. It's there, noticeably, when Shipton rankles against pointless or ill-thought-out questions, and when he's ceaselessly direct in response. Assange's case continues; he awaits the latest ruling in his efforts to avoid extradition, a matter that's been before the courts for years now. Previously, it was decreed that his mental health would suffer, and he'd be a suicide risk in the conditions that'd greet him in America; however, the US government has kept pressing, winning a High Court judgement in its favour in late 2021, while Assange's team keeps fighting back. Ithaka overtly aims to raise awareness; the documentary is an act of activism as much as a portrait of Shipton and Moris. It's engrossing and fascinating, too, plus powerful viewing on a subject, and a person, that's rarely been far from the media's gaze for the bulk of this century — but not like this.
The inimitable terrain of Julio Torres' mind. Japan from centuries ago. Italy in black and white. Brisbane in the 80s. Another multiverse. Another wasteland, too. These are some of the places that 2024's best new television shows across its first six months have taken viewers — be it with laughs, heart, thrills, scheming, bloodshed, ghouls or multiple Joel Edgertons. No one can say that there's been nothing that's new and good to watch between January–June, then. In today's streaming age, no one can make that claim anyway at any time, because there's always something joining a platform somewhere. So if you don't already have your own list of 2024 highlights, you must've been avoiding the small screen. Don't worry — we're here with 15 recommendations. Do you feel like slinking into a spectacular spy series that's also about a relationship, and puts a Brangelina movie to shame? That's also among our cream-of-the-crop TV picks for 2024's first half. So is the based-on-a-true-story Netflix surprise that got everyone talking — and that no one will forget after they've seen it. Here's the full list, ready for you to binge your way through now or help fill the rest of the year's couch time, whichever suits you. Fantasmas With Fantasmas, creator, writer, director and star Julio Torres welcomes viewers into a world that couldn't have been conjured up by anyone else but the former Saturday Night Live scribe, who then became the co-guiding force behind Los Espookys and filmmaker responsible for Problemista. Torres also leaves his audience grateful that they exist in this particular world, where HBO has given him the means and support to make a comedy series so singular, so clearly the work of a visionary and so gloriously surreal. Fantasmas has no peers beyond Torres' work, other than the patron saint of spilling the contents of your mind and heart onto the screen with zero willingness to compromise or hold back: David Lynch. That said, even that comparison — and the utmost of praise that comes with it — can't prepare viewers for a show where clear crayons are one idea whipped up by the on-screen Julio, another sees Steve Buscemi (Curb Your Enthusiasm) playing the letter Q as an avant-garde outsider, Santa Claus is taken to court by elves (including SNL's Bowen Yang), and series-within-a-series MELF riffs on 80s and 90s hit sitcom ALF but starring Paul Dano (Spaceman) and featuring quite the twist on its alien-adopting premise. As the sets appear like exactly sets but with a DIY spin, star-studded cameos stack up, and absurdist vignettes pop in and out to flesh out Julio's mindscape as much as the futuristic realm imagined by the IRL Torres, there is an overarching narrative at the core of Fantasmas. The series' take on Julio trades in concepts, plus in being unflinchingly himself, but doing anything is impossible without a Proof of Existence ID card in this dystopia. He's on a quest to secure one, which isn't straightforward. In the process, he's also searching for a tiny gold oyster earring, and pondering whether to upload his consciousness and jettison his body. By his side: robot companion Bibo (Joe Rumrill, The Calling) and agent Vanesja (Martine Gutierrez, returning from Los Espookys and Problemista), who is really just a performance artist playing an agent. As phantasmagorical as everything that the show flings at the screen can get, which is very, it also tears into relatable issues such as societal status, class clashes, housing, capitalism's many woes and inequities, and the treatment of immigrants. As purposefully eager as it is to show its crafting and creativity, too, it does so to stress the fact that it's being made by people chasing a dream rather than corporations bowing to an algorithm. Fantasmas streams via Binge. Read our full review. Shōgun Casting Hiroyuki Sanada (John Wick: Chapter 4), Cosmo Jarvis (Persuasion) and Anna Sawai (Monarch: Legacy of Monsters) as its three leads is one of Shōgun's masterstrokes. The new ten-part adaptation of James Clavell's 1975 novel — following a first version in 1980 that featured Japanese icon and frequent Akira Kurosawa collaborator Toshiro Mifune — makes plenty of other excellent moves, but this is still pivotal. Disney+'s richly detailed samurai series knows how to thrust its viewers into a deeply textured world from the outset, making having three complex performances at its centre an essential anchoring tactic. Sanada plays Lord Yoshii Toranaga, who is among the political candidates vying to take control of the country. Jarvis is John Blackthorne, a British sailor on a Dutch ship that has run aground in a place that its crew isn't sure is real until they get there. And Sawai is Toda Mariko, a Japanese noblewoman who is also tasked with translating. Each character's tale encompasses much more than those descriptions, of course, and the portrayals that bring them to the screen make that plain from the moment they're each first seen. As Game of Thrones and Succession both were, famously so, Shōgun is another drama that's all about fighting for supremacy. Like just the former, too, it's another sweeping epic series as well. Although it's impossible not to see those links, knowing that both battling over who'll seize power and stepping into sprawling worlds are among pop culture's favourite things right now (and for some time) doesn't make Shōgun any less impressive. The scale is grand, and yet it doesn't skimp on intimacy, either. The minutiae is meticulous, demanding that attention is paid to everything at all times. Gore is no stranger from the get-go. Opening in the 17th century, the series finds Japan in crisis mode, Toranaga facing enemies and Blackthorne among the first Englishmen that've made it to the nation — much to the alarm of Japan's sole European inhabitants from Portugal. Getting drawn in, including by the performances, is instantaneous. Shōgun proves powerful and engrossing immediately, and lavish and precisely made as well, with creators Justin Marks (Top Gun: Maverick) and Rachel Kondo (on her first TV credit) doing a spectacular job of bringing it to streaming queues. Shōgun streams via Disney+. Read our full review. Ripley Boasting The Night Of's Steven Zaillian as its sole writer and director — joining a list of credits that includes penning Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York and The Irishman, and also winning an Oscar for Schindler's List — the latest exquisite jump into the Ripley realm doesn't splash around black-and-white hues as a mere stylistic preference. In this new adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 book, the setting is still coastal Italy at its most picturesque, and therefore a place that most would want to revel in visually; Anthony Minghella, The Talented Mr Ripley's director a quarter-century back, did so with an intoxicating glow. For Zaillian, however, stripping away the warm rays and beaches and hair, blue seas and skies, and tanned skin as well, ensures that all that glitters is never gold or even just golden in tone as he spends time with Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers). There's never even a glint of a hint of a travelogue aesthetic, with viewers confronted with the starkness of Tom's choices and actions — he is a conman and worse, after all — plus the shadows that he persists in lurking in and the impossibility of ever grasping everything that he desires in full colour. On the page and on the screen both before and now, the overarching story remains the same, though, in this new definitive take on the character. It's the early 60s rather than the late 50s in Ripley, but Tom is in New York, running fake debt-collection schemes and clinging to the edges of high-society circles, when he's made a proposal that he was never going to refuse. Herbert Greenleaf (filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan, who has also acted in his own three features You Can Count on Me, Margaret and Manchester by the Sea) enlists him to sail to Europe to reunite with a friend, the shipping magnate's son Dickie (Johnny Flynn, One Life). As a paid gig, Tom is to convince the business heir to finally return home. But Dickie has no intention of giving up his Mediterranean leisure as he lackadaisically pursues painting — and more passionately spends his time with girlfriend Marge Sherwood (Dakota Fanning, The Equalizer 3) — to join the family business. Ripley streams via Netflix. Read our full review. Mr & Mrs Smith 2005 movie Mr & Mrs Smith isn't the first time that title adorned a spy caper about a literally killer couple. That honour goes not to the Brad Pitt (Babylon)- and Angelina Jolie (Eternals)-starring, Brangelina-sparking film, but to a 90s TV series. No one remembers 1996's Mr & Mrs Smith, where Scott Bakula (who was not long off Quantum Leap at the time) and Maria Bello (Beef) took on the eponymous parts. It didn't last, with just nine episodes airing and a further four made but left unseen. But its existence gives 2024's Mr & Mrs Smith a full-circle vibe, with Donald Glover (Atlanta) and Maya Erskine's (PEN15) now both adopting the monikers and ushering the premise back to episodic storytelling. Bakula and Bello's Mr & Mrs Smith didn't inspire Pitt and Jolie's; however, the latter did give rise to Glover and Erskine's — and any history isn't mere trivia. Instead, it speaks to a concept that's so appealing that it keeps being reused, whether coincidentally or knowingly, and to an idea that's now being given its full Mr & Mrs Smith due, in line with True Lies and The Americans: that relationships are mysteries, missions and investigations. The backstory behind Glover and Erskine bringing glorious chemistry to John and Jane Smith doesn't stop there, because Mr & Mrs Smith circa 2024 has been in the works for three years. When announced in February 2021, it was with Atlanta-meets-Fleabag hopes, with Glover co-starring and co-creating with Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny). Then creative differences with Glover saw Waller-Bridge — who also co-wrote the No Time to Die screenplay and created Killing Eve — leave the project within six months. While it's impossible to know how that iteration of Mr & Mrs Smith would've turned out, whether with more overt comedy, talkier or boasting a darker tone, Glover's interpretation with fellow Atlanta alum Francesca Sloane lives up to the promise of two creatives from one of the 21st century's best dramedies turning their attention to espionage and romance. There's an intimacy, a lived-in feel and hangout charm to this Mr & Mrs Smith, even as it swaps Brangelina's already-wed pair discovering that they're assassin rivals for a duo only tying the knot for the gig. Mr and Mrs Smith streams via Prime Video. Read our full review. Baby Reindeer A person walking into a bar. The words "sent from my iPhone". A comedian pouring their experiences into a one-performer play. A twisty true-crime tale making the leap to the screen. All four either feature in, inspired or describe Baby Reindeer. All four are inescapably familiar, too, but the same can't be said about this seven-part Netflix series. Written by and starring Scottish comedian Richard Gadd, and also based on his real-life experiences, this is a bleak, brave, revelatory, devastating and unforgettable psychological thriller. It does indeed begin with someone stepping inside a pub — and while Gadd plays a comedian on-screen as well, don't go waiting for a punchline. When Martha (Jessica Gunning, The Outlaws) enters The Heart in Camden, London in 2015, Donny Dunn (Gadd, Wedding Season) is behind the counter. "I felt sorry for her. That's the first feeling I felt," the latter explains via voiceover. Perched awkwardly on a stool at the bar, Martha is whimpering to herself. She says that she can't afford to buy a drink, even a cup of tea. Donny takes pity, offering her one for free — and her face instantly lights up. That's the fateful moment, one of sorrow met with kindness, that ignites Baby Reindeer's narrative and changes Donny's life. After that warm beverage, The Heart instantly has a new regular. Sipping Diet Cokes from then on (still on the house), Martha is full of stories about all of the high-profile people that she knows and her high-flying lawyer job. But despite insisting that she's constantly busy, she's also always at the bar when Donny is at work, sticking around for his whole shifts. She chats incessantly about herself, folks that he doesn't know and while directing compliments Donny's way. He's in his twenties, she's in her early forties — and he can see that she's smitten, letting her flirt. He notices her laugh. He likes the attention, not to mention getting his ego stroked. While he doesn't reciprocate her feelings, he's friendly. She isn't just an infatuated fantasist, however; she's chillingly obsessed to an unstable degree. She finds his email address, then starts messaging him non-stop when she's not nattering at his workplace. (IRL, Gadd received more than 40,000 emails.) Baby Reindeer streams via Netflix. Read our full review. Such Brave Girls If Such Brave Girls seems close to reality, that's because it is. In the A24 co-produced series — which joins the cult-favourite entertainment company's TV slate alongside other standouts such as Beef, Irma Vep, Mo and The Curse over the past two years — sisters Kat Sadler and Lizzie Davidson both star and take inspiration from their lives and personalities. Making their TV acting debuts together, the pair also play siblings. Josie (Sadler) and Billie (Davidson), their on-screen surrogates, are navigating life's lows not only when the show's six-part first season begins, but as it goes on. The entire setup was sparked by a phone conversation between the duo IRL, when one had attempted to take her life twice and the other was £20,000 in debt. For most, a sitcom wouldn't come next; however, laughing at and lampooning themselves, and seeing the absurdity as well, is part of Such Brave Girls' cathartic purpose for its driving forces. If you've ever thought "what else can you do?" when finding yourself inexplicably chuckling at your own misfortune, that's this series — this sharp, unsparing, candid, complex and darkly comedic series — from start to finish. Creating the three-time BAFTA-nominated show, writing it and leading, Sadler plays Josie as a bundle of nerves and uncertainty. The character is in her twenties, struggling with her mental health and aspiring to be an artist, but is largely working her way through a never-ending gap year. Davidson's Billie is the eternally optimistic opposite — albeit really only about the fact that Nicky (Sam Buchanan, Back to Black), the guy that she's hooking up with, will eventually stop cheating on her, fall in love and whisk her away to Manchester to open a vodka bar bearing her name. Both girls live at home with their mother Deb (Louise Brealey, Lockwood & Co), who also sees a relationship as the solution to her problems, setting her sights on the iPad-addicted Dev (Paul Bazely, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves) a decade after Josie and Billie's father went out for teabags and never came home. With actor-slash-director Simon Bird behind the lens — alongside first-timer Marco Alessi on one episode — if Such Brave Girls seems like it belongs in the same acerbically comedic realm as The Inbetweeners and Everyone Else Burns, there's a reason for that, too. Such Brave Girls streams via Stan. Read our full review. Boy Swallows Universe A magical-realist coming-of-age tale, a clear-eyed family drama, a twisty crime and detective thriller, a time capsule of Brisbane in the 80s: since first hitting the page in 2018, Trent Dalton's Boy Swallows Universe has worn its happy flitting between different genres and tones, and constant seesawing from hope to heartbreak and back again, as confidently as readers have long envisaged Eli Bell's wide grin. That hopping and jumping, that refusal to be just one type of story and stick to a single mood, has always made sense on the page — and in the excellent seven-part adaptation that now brings Australia's fastest-selling debut novel ever to the screen, it also couldn't feel more perfect. As played by the charmingly talented Felix Cameron (Penguin Bloom), Eli's smile is indeed big. As scripted by screenwriter John Collee (Hotel Mumbai), and with Dalton among the executive producers, the miniseries embraces its multitudes wholeheartedly. Like style, like substance: a semi-autobiographical novel penned by a writer and journalist who lived variations of plenty that he depicts, learned and accepted early that everyone has flaws, and patently has the imagination of someone who coped with life's hardships as a child by escaping into dreams of an existence more fanciful, Dalton's tome and every iteration that it inspires has to be many things in one bustling package. Its characters are, after all. Seeing people in general, parts of a city usually overlooked, and folks with complicated histories or who've made questionable choices — those forced in particular directions out of financial necessity, too — in more than just one fashion flutters at the centre of Boy Swallows Universe. In the Australian Book Industry Awards' 2019 Book of the Year, Literary Book of the Year and Audio Book of the Year, and now on streaming, Eli's nearest and dearest demand it. So does the enterprising Darra-dwelling 12-year-old boy who knows how to spy the best in those he loves, but remains well-aware of their struggles. His older brother Gus (Lee Tiger Halley, The Heights) hasn't spoken since they were younger, instead drawing messages in the sky with his finger, but is as fiercely protective as elder siblings get. Doting and dedicated mum Frankie (Phoebe Tonkin, Babylon) is a recovering heroin addict with a drug dealer for a partner. And Lyle Orlik (Travis Fimmel, Black Snow), that mullet-wearing stepfather, cares deeply about Eli and Gus — including when Eli convinces him to let him join his deliveries. Boy Swallows Universe streams via Netflix. Read our full review, and our interview with Bryan Brown. Exposure When the words "DO NOT MESSAGE" greet someone that's looking through their friend's phone, curiosity kicks in. When that mysterious contact is spied, plus a list of deleted texts and apologies for unintended hurt, immediately after your best mate has taken her own life and left you to find their body, uncovering the person on the other end of the thread becomes an obsession. Twenty-seven-year-old photographer Jacs (Alice Englert, Bad Behaviour) is all impulse and immediate gratification when Exposure begins, when she's at a rave hooking up with a stranger and dancing with her lifelong BFF Kel (Mia Artemis, Anyone But You). The next morning, everything changes forever, except a haunting truth that no one likes realising when tragedy strikes: our worst moments alter us forever, but they can't fix our worst traits or paper over our other traumas. So Jacs keeps being Jacs as she heads home from Sydney to Port Kembla, where she'll barely let her mother Kathy (Essie Davis, One Day) and Kel's ex Angus (Thomas Weatherall, Heartbreak High) lend their support, and where her self-sabotaging spiral only gains momentum as she attempts to turn amateur, fixated, dogged detective. Pain ran in the family in the aforementioned Bad Behaviour, the 2023 New Zealand film — not to be confused with the 2023 Australian miniseries that streamed via Stan, as Exposure also does — that Englert made her feature directorial debut with, plus penned and co-starred in. The movie told of a former child actor (Jennifer Connolly, Dark Matter) and her stunt-performer daughter working through their baggage around the former's attendance at a new-age retreat. Filmmaking talent also ran in the family, given that Englert is the offspring of Oscar-winner Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog). While she's solely on-screen this time, with Lucy Coleman (Hot Mess) scripting and Bonnie Moir (Love Me) helming, Englert is superb again, including at excavating life's agonies once more. Exposure's moniker applies in multiple ways, spanning the controversial contents of an award-winning snap, facing past distresses, playing sleuth and confronting your own chaos — and it equally fits the raw and rich performance at the centre of this six-parter, which also showcases Davis and Weatherall's typically excellent work. Exposure streams via Stan. The Vince Staples Show It was true when Seinfeld made a series about a real-life standup comedian playing a fictionalised version of himself one of the world's biggest sitcoms in the 90s. It remained accurate when Larry David started riffing on his own existence in Curb Your Enthusiasm — and also when Pete Davidson leapt from making his life movie fodder in The King of Staten Island to turning it into TV in Bupkis. Donald Glover wasn't directly referencing his own career in Atlanta, and neither The Other Two nor Girls5eva bring exact replicas of real-life figures to the screen, but the same idea pumps through them as well: fame or proximity to it doesn't stop anyone from grappling with life's frustrating minutiae. Add The Vince Staples Show to the list, with the five-part series featuring its namesake as a take on himself. Whether or not you know who he is is part of the show's joke. On- and off- screen, he's a rapper and actor. Staples' very real single 'Norf Norf' gets quoted to him in the TV comedy. The fact that he's been in Abbott Elementary is referenced in the debut episode. But just attempting to have an ordinary day doing everyday things in an average way — driving home, heading to the bank, attending a family reunion, visiting an amusement park and returning to his old school — is as impossible for him as it is for us all. Sometimes, Staples' celebrity complicates matters in The Vince Staples Show. It also never helps. Usually, he's stuck navigating Murphy's law, so asking for a loan ends up with him caught up in a robbery, while endeavouring to source something decent to eat at a theme park takes him on an absurdist odyssey that winks at David Lynch and the Coen brothers. Having an entertainment career doesn't stop him from being confused for someone else by the police (Killing It's Scott MacArthur, You People's Bryan Greenberg and The Menu's Arturo Castro) — the same cops who ask for free tickets to his shows while they're locking him up — or ensure that cashiers treat him politely. If it assists with anything, it's with giving Staples a deadpan acceptance that anything and everything might come his way. Twice asked if something interesting happened during his day by his girlfriend Deja (Andrea Ellsworth, Truth Be Told), his reply is "not really", even though viewers have just witnessed the exact opposite in both instances. The Vince Staples Show streams via Netflix. Read our full review Dark Matter When an Australian actor makes it big, it can feel as if there's more than one of them. Joel Edgerton, who has been on local screens for almost three decades and made the leap to Hollywood with the Australian-shot Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones, is such a talent. He's usually everywhere and in almost everything (such as The Stranger, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Thirteen Lives, Master Gardener, I'm a Virgo, The Boys in the Boat and Bluey in just the past two years), and viewers would follow him anywhere. Dark Matter wasn't written to capitalise upon that idea. Rather, it hails from the page of Blake Crouch's 2016 novel, with the author also creating the new nine-part sci-fi series that it's based on. But the show's lead casting leans into the notion that you can never have too much Edgerton by multiplying him in the multiverse. For the characters in Dark Matter, however, the fact that there's more than a single Jason Dessen causes considerable issues. The series' protagonist is a former experimental physics genius-turned-professor in Chicago. He's married to artist-turned-gallerist Daniela (Jennifer Connelly, Bad Behaviour), a father to teenager Charlie (Oakes Fegley, The Fabelmans) and the best friend of award-winning college pal Ryan Holder (Jimmi Simpson, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia). And, he's been happy living the quiet family life, although pangs of envy quietly arise when he's celebrating Ryan's prestigious new accolade. Then, when another Jason pops up to pull off a kidnapping and doppelgänger plot, he's soon navigating a cross between Sliding Doors and Everything Everywhere All At Once. Everything is a multiverse tale of late, but Dark Matter is also a soul-searching "what if?" drama, exploring the human need to wonder what might've been if just one choice — sometimes big, sometimes small — had veered in a different direction. While a box is pivotal mode of transport like this is Doctor Who, as are all manner of worlds to visit, this is high-concept sci-fi at its most grounded. Neither version of Jason wants to hop through parallel worlds in the name of adventure or exploration — they're simply chasing their idea of everyday perfection. Dark Matter streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. Fallout A young woman sheltered in the most literal sense there is, living her entire life in one of the subterranean facilities where humanity endeavours to start anew. A TV and movie star famed for his roles in westerns, then entertaining kids, then still alive but irradiated 219 years after the nuclear destruction of Los Angeles. An aspiring soldier who has never known anything but a devastated world, clinging to hopes of progression through the military. All three walk into the wasteland in Fallout, the live-action adaptation of the gaming series that first arrived in 1997. All three cross paths in an attempt to do all that anyone can in a post-apocalyptic hellscape: survive. So goes this leap into a world that's had millions mashing buttons through not only the OG game, but also three released sequels — a fourth is on the way — plus seven spinoffs. Even with Westworld' Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy as executive producers, giving Fallout the flesh-and-blood treatment is a massive and ambitious task. But where 2023 had The Last of Us, 2024 now has this; both are big-name dystopian titles that earned legions of devotees through gaming, and both are excellent in gripping and immersive fashion at making the move to television. Fallout's vision of one of the bleakest potential futures splits its focus between Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell, Yellowjackets), who has no concept of how humanity can exist on the surface when the show kicks off; Cooper Howard aka bounty hunter The Ghoul (Walton Goggins, I'm a Virgo), the screen gunslinger who saw the bombs fall and now wields weapons IRL; and Maximus (Aaron Moten, Emancipation), a trainee for the Brotherhood of Steel, which is committed to restoring order by throwing around its might (and using robotic armour). The show's lead casting is gleaming, to the point that imagining anyone but this trio of actors as Lucy, Howard-slash-The Ghoul and Maximus is impossible. Where else has Walton's resume, with its jumps between law-and-order efforts, westerns traditional and neo, and comedy — see: The Shield, Justified, Sons of Anarchy, The Hateful Eight, Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones, as a mere few examples — been leading than here? (And, next, also season three of The White Lotus.) Fallout streams via Prime Video. Read our full review, and our interview with Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell and Aaron Moten. The Sympathizer Fresh from winning an Oscar for getting antagonistic in times gone by as United States Atomic Energy Commission chair Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer, Robert Downey Jr gets antagonistic in times gone by again in The Sympathizer — as a CIA handler, a university professor, a politician and a Francis Ford Coppola-esque filmmaker on an Apocalypse Now-style movie, for starters. In another addition to his post-Marvel resume that emphasises how great it is to see him stepping into the shoes of someone other than Tony Stark, he takes on multiple roles in this espionage-meets-Vietnam War drama, which adapts Viet Thanh Nguyen's 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name. But Downey Jr is never the show's lead, which instead goes to Australian Hoa Xuande (Last King of the Cross). The latter plays the Captain, who works for South Vietnamese secret police in Saigon before the city's fall, and is also a spy for the North Vietnamese communist forces. It's his memories, as typed out at a reeducation camp, that guide the seven-part miniseries' narrative — jumping back and forth in time, as recollections do, including to his escape to America. As the Captain relays the details of his mission and attempts to work both sides, The Sympathizer isn't just flitting between flashbacks as a structural tactic. The act of remembering is as much a focus as the varied contents of the Captain's memories — to the point that rewinding to add more context to a scene that's just been shown, or noting that he didn't specifically witness something but feels as if he can fill in the gap, also forms the storytelling approach. Perspective and influence are high among the show's concerns, too, as the Captain navigates the sway of many colonial faces (making Downey Jr's multiple roles a powerful and revealing touch) both in Vietnam and in the US. Behind it all off-screen is a filmmaker with a history of probing the tales that we tell ourselves and get others believing, as seen in stone-cold revenge-thriller classic Oldboy, 2022's best film Decision to Leave and 2018 miniseries The Little Drummer Girl: the inimitable Park Chan-wook. He co-created The Sympathizer for the screen with Don McKellar (Blindness) and it always bears is imprint, whether or not he's directing episodes — he helms three — with his piercing style, or getting help from Fernando Meirelles (who has been busy with this and Sugar) and Marc Munden (The Third Day). The Sympathizer streams via Binge. Read our full review. Constellation If a great getaway to a beach, island or faraway city can be life-changing, what does a journey to space do? So ponders Constellation, among other questions. Inquiries are sparked instantly, from the moment that a mother in a cabin in northern Sweden, where there's snow as far as the eye can see but a frost infecting more than just the temperature, leaves her pre-teen daughter to follow a voice. The screams that she seeks out are yelling "mama!" — and what they mean, and why she's abandoning one girl to find another, is just one of the matters that Constellation interrogates. The woman is Jo Ericsson, as played by Noomi Rapace with the maternal devotion that also marked her turn in Lamb, plus the protective instincts that were key in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant as well — and the fierceness that helped bring her to fame as Lisbeth Salander in the original Swedish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo films. Jo, an astronaut, is Europe's representative on the International Space Station when Constellation jumps backwards from its opening icy horror to a different kind of terror. Not long out from returning back to earth, she FaceTimes with her nine-year-old daughter Alice (Rosie and Davina Coleman, The Larkins) and husband Magnus (James D'Arcy, Oppenheimer). Then, something goes bump in the sky. Trauma leaves people changed, too; what if this incident, during which setting foot on our pale blue dot again is anything but assured, isn't the only distressing facet of travelling to the heavens? On the at-risk ISS, on a spacewalk to locate the source of the collision, Jo finds the mummified body of what looks like a 60s-era Russian cosmonaut. There'll soon be another astronaut dead inside the station, destroyed infrastructure, the first escape pod shuttling her three remaining colleagues back to terra firma and Jo left alone trying to repair the second so that she herself can alight home. Where both Gravity and Moon spring to mind in Constellation's initial space-set scenes, plus Proxima in the show's focus on mother-daughter connections (Interstellar, Ad Astra and First Man have dads covered), it's the earthbound Dark that feels like a touchstone once Jo is back among her loved ones. There's a similar moodiness to this series, which also features Nobel Prize-winning former Apollo astronaut Henry Caldera (Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul), who has had his own incidents in space — and there's a feeling that characters can't always trust what they think is plainly apparent to the show, too, plus a certainty that nothing is simply linear about what's occurring. Constellation streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review, and our interview with Jonathan Banks. Sugar Colin Farrell's recent hot streak continues. After a busy few years that've seen him earn Oscar and BAFTA nominations for The Banshees of Inisherin, collect a Gotham Awards nod for After Yang, steal scenes so heartily in The Batman that TV spinoff The Penguin is on the way and pick up the Satellite Awards' attention for The North Water, Sugar now joins his resume. The Irish actor's television credits are still few — and, until his True Detective stint in 2015, far between — but it's easy to see what appealed to him about leading this mystery series. From the moment that the Los Angeles-set noir effort begins — in Tokyo, in fact — it drips with intrigue. Farrell's John Sugar, the show's namesake, is a suave private detective who takes a big Hollywood case against his handler Ruby's (Kirby, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off) recommendation. He's soon plunged into shadowy City of Angels chaos, bringing The Big Sleep, Chinatown, LA Confidential and Under the Silver Lake to mind, and loving movie history beyond sharing the same genre as said flicks. Softly spoken, always crispy dressed, understandably cynical and frequently behind the wheel of a blue vintage convertible, Sugar, the PI, is a film fan. The series bakes that love and its own links to cinema history into its very being through spliced-in clips and references elsewhere — and also foregrounds the idea that illusions, aka what Tinseltown so eagerly sells via its celluloid dreams, are inescapable in its narrative in the process. Twists come, not just including a brilliant move that reframes everything that comes before, but as Sugar endeavours to track down Olivia Siegel (Sydney Chandler, Don't Worry Darling). She's the granddaughter of worried legendary film producer Jonathan (James Cromwell, Succession); daughter of less-concerned (and less-renowned) fellow producer Bernie (Dennis Boutsikaris, Better Call Saul); half-sister of former child star David (Nate Corddry, Barry), who is on the comeback trail; and ex-step daughter of pioneering rocker Melanie (Amy Ryan, Beau Is Afraid). Trying to find her inspires heated opposition. Also sparked: an excellently cast series that splashes its affection of film noir and LA movies gone by across its frames, but is never afraid to be its own thing. Sugar streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review, and our interview with Kirby and Simon Kinberg. Criminal Record It was accurate with side-splitting hilarity in The Thick of It, as dripping with heartbreak in Benediction and in the world of Doctor Who in-between: Peter Capaldi is one of Scotland's most fascinating actors today. Criminal Record uses his can't-look-away presence to excellent effect, casting him as DCI Daniel Hegarty, one of the eight-part series' two key detectives. By day, the no-nonsense Hegarty is a force to be reckoned with on the force. By night, he moonlights as a driver, seeing much that lingers in London as he's behind the wheel. In his not-so-distant past is a case that brings DS June Lenker (Cush Jumbo, The Good Fight) into his orbit — a case that she's certain is linked to a distressed emergency call by a woman trying to flee domestic abuse, and who says that her partner has already committed murder, gotten away with it and sent another man to prison for the crime in the process. Hegarty contends otherwise, and gruffly, but Lenker is determined to discover the truth, find her potential victim, ascertain whether someone innocent is in jail and learn why every move she makes to dig deeper comes with professional retaliation. This is no odd-couple cop show. It's largely a two-hander, however — and saying that it couldn't be better cast is an understatement. Capaldi is already someone who makes every moment that he's on-screen better. So is Jumbo, which makes watching them face off as riveting as television gets. Passive aggression oozes from the frame when Hegarty and Lenker first confront each other. Tension drips throughout the series relentlessly, but do so with particular vigour whenever its key cops are in close proximity. Criminal Record doesn't waste time keeping audiences guessing about who's dutifully taking their role as part of the thin blue line and who's part of policing at its most corrupt; instead, it lets those two sides that are both meant to be on the upstanding end of the law-and-order divide clash, surveying the damage that ripples not just through the fuzz but also the community. While twists and mysteries are also layered in, they regularly come second to Criminal Record's extraordinary performances, plus its thematic willingness to tear into what policing should be, can be and often is. Criminal Record streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. Looking for more viewing highlights? Check out our list of film and TV streaming recommendations, which is updated monthly. We also keep a running list of must-stream TV from across the year so far, complete with full reviews.
It was a great idea back in 2021, when Brisbane's dining scene was struggling through the early part of the pandemic. Returning for its fourth event in 2024, it's still an ace concept now. Dine BNE City is all about getting folks out and about to eat and drink around town, enticing diners with a month of specials and deals — so mark the entirety of June in your calendar (plus the day before) and prepare to get feasting. The just-dropped lineup is a choose-your-own-adventure affair. You can make plans for every lunchtime, after-work drinks and dinner across the month — or you can pick and choose your favourites, or make a date with the headline events. Whichever works for you, no one in Brisbane can claim not to have dining options in June. Some involve igloos. Others require blindfolds. Some are just about budget-friendly options. Eight big-ticket sessions sit on the 2024 Dine BNE City program, the first of which will kick off the culinary festival on Friday, May 31. That's when you'll be heading along to outdoor dining event Fireside at St Stephen's Cathedral to make the most of the last night of autumn. Also happening before winter officially rolls in, chalets will be back at Customs House from Tuesday, May 14. From there, the rest of Dine BNE City's key events only take place in June, such as Gather Bistro giving its rainforest garden bar a workout, Brisbane Quarter putting on a progressive dinner that'll take you between various restaurants, and Madame Wu doing a wine and cocktail dining experience. Or, there's as Tasmanian wine dinner at Tillerman, Walter's Steakhouse and Wine Bar hosting a Sunday roast special and The Boom Boom Room's International Sushi Day feast. If you're looking to liven up your midday breaks, that's where the Let's Do Lunch program comes in. Some places are doing meals for $25, and others for $35. Some specials include drinks, others don't. At the first price point, Santa Monica has lobster rolls, Riverland Brisbane is doing spanakopita with house wine and The Walnut will give you a southern fried chicken burger with a beer, for starters. And at the second, Frog's Hollow Saloon is pairing toasties and house cocktails, Brisbane Phoenix has a Cantonese roasted lunch on offer, Malt Dining is serving up brisket burgers with fries and a pint, and bento boxes come with a beverage at Bar 1603 — and the list keeps going on. At quittin' time, you can undertake a bar safari — because that's what this part of the lineup is called. Prices vary, but you can go for oysters and mini martinis at Alba Bar & Deli, meze and mimosas at Babylon Brisbane, bug bánh mi and champagne at Cuvee, and bug sliders and beer at Wet Deck. Then, for something more substantial for dinner, Vintaged Bar + Grill has a tomahawk experience for two, Tenya Japanese Restaurant & Bar is doing set menus, there's a salaryman banquet at Harajuku Gyoza in Albert Lane and Settimo is plating up supper menu just for the month. Over at The Lex, evenings are all about steak, salad and sips. Or, hit up Donna Chang for mini banquet featuring the restaurant's signature dishes. Dine BNE City runs from Friday, May 31–Sunday, June 30, 2024. Head to the festival's website for further details.
Adoration opens with the seaside funeral of Theo, an event which doesn't seem to have particularly bothered anyone. His wife, Lil (Naomi Watts), and her best friend, Roz (Robin Wright), are altogether content with their lot; they live in a Garden of Eden-like seaside town and enjoy a friendship so enduring and close that people in the small community whisper that they are "lezzoes". When Roz's husband, Harold (Ben Mendelsohn), leaves for a job teaching drama in Sydney, the path is clear for them to give into temptation as each takes the other's gym-toned surf-loving son, Ian (Xavier Samuel) and Tom (James Frecheville), as lovers. At a preview screening, there were scattered laughs throughout, a worry for a film aiming for thoughtful adult drama rather than comedy. Adoration takes itself very seriously, though there are some potentially interesting ideas bubbling away underneath the slick surface, not least a sense that Lil and Roz are taking up these younger lovers for deeper reasons than a simple desire for their attractive sons — they are grasping at the memory of their own faded youth and seeking to be even closer with each other, the young men acting as substitutes for their own sublimated love. But too often the film wastes the dramatic potential of its material and settles for clunky symbolism rather than nuance; a scene where the characters sit down to eat an apple for no particular reason apart from the obvious biblical symbolism is particularly galling. Perhaps a director as versed with melodrama as Pedro Almodóvar could have made a great film out of Adoration, but this version stubbornly refuses to embrace the essential soapy silliness at its core, instead stretching for serious drama. Cue Lil looking off into the middle distance and intoning "We've crossed a line here" as she and Roz ponder their latest transgressions. A baffling development sees Tom, previously a monosyllabic lunk, declare his ambitions of working in theatre and temporarily move to Sydney, where he meets an aspiring actress, Mary (a scene-stealing Jessica Tovey), who also gets dragged into their web of adultery and deceit. Meanwhile, Lil's hapless suitor Saul (Gary Sweet) trails after her like a despondent puppy, dimly unaware of the fraught emotions of the group he longs to be part of. Blessed with a paradisiacal backdrop and shot with a stylish malevolence, Adoration is a kind of interesting failure. It isn't as bad as unintended guffaws would suggest, but it's hard to escape the feeling of missed opportunity here. https://youtube.com/watch?v=4xYrRsZpoxI
Since the first-ever Valley Fiesta back in 1997, one of Brisbane's favourite events has popped up in all shapes and sizes. Its suburb remains the same, obviously, but how many days it runs for, exactly where in Fortitude Valley that it sets up its stages, who is on the bill and whether there's more than just tunes involved can change from year to year. Accordingly, whenever the program drops, Valley Fiesta's surprises span more than just the lineup. In 2024, this massive street party is returning as a one-day affair — and heading along is free. From 1.30–10pm on Saturday, October 26, the all-ages event will take over Brunswick Street, Winn Lane and Bakery Lane, setting up four stages featuring 20 local and national acts. On headlining duties: Meg Mac, May-a and The Buoys. Attendees will find the QMusic-produced roster of talent's key trio on the main stage in the Brunswick Street Mall, joined by Daste, Velvet Trip, Porpoise Spit, Deafcult and 01 Thurman. Valley Fiesta's primary location will also feature a DJ stage, with Zed Mero, Danyon, Eve and Eljae on the decks. Or, Brisbanites can hit the laneways to enjoy tracks spun by a QUIVR lineup of Patricia, DJ EmGem, Kodos, First Beige DJs, Sophie McAlister and Andras in Winn Lane. Bakery Lane isn't missing out on the action, either, thanks to a DJ stage with Luke Brazier and Jimmy Ellis. Valley Fiesta 2024 Lineup Brunswick Street Main Stage: Meg Mac May-A The Buoys Daste Velvet Trip Porpoise Spit Deafcult 01 Thurman Brunswick Street DJ Stage: Zed Mero Danyon Eve Eljae Winn Lane QUIVR Stage: Patricia DJ EmGem Kodos First Beige DJs Sophie McAlister Andras Bakery Lane DJ Stage: Luke Brazier Jimmy Ellis Select images: Dave Kan, Tom Sue Yek.
Music festivals are back, following a chaotic couple of years for reasons that we all know and lived through. That's great news in general — and particularly ace news if you've been hanging out for the return of Listen Out, which hits Brisbane Showgrounds on Sunday, October 2. Fuzzy's national electronic-meets-hip hop festival will make a huge comeback for its first gigs since 2019, complete with a hefty lineup led by Disclosure and The Jungle Giants. Also on the bill: everyone from BARKAA and Electric Fields to BBNO$ and Tove Lo. [caption id="attachment_626784" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mitch Lowe[/caption] The lineup goes on — however, in just as excellent news, Brisbane's leg is also timed across the October long weekend. Spending a Sunday dancing in a crowd, then still having a day off afterwards? That's the perfect way to dive back into festival life. LISTEN OUT 2022 LINEUP: 24kGOLDN AJ Tracey BARKAA BBNO$ Blanke Bru-C Central Cee Chris Lake Culture Shock Dameeeela Disclosure Electric Fields James Hype JID The Jungle Giants Kito Louis The Child LP Giobbi Meduza Memphis LK Miiesha Nia Archives Pirra Pretty Girl Qrion Stace Cadet and KLP Roddy Ricch Tove Lo Trippie Red Top image: Mitch Lowe.
This 007-inspired spy flick is sending critics into a frenzy, for all the right reasons. Director Matthew Vaughn (the mastermind behind Kick-Ass and X-Men First Class) is at it again, this time reworking the beloved 2012 comic-book series The Secret Service into a fast-paced and tongue-firmly-in-cheek tale of crime, action and adventure. Kingsman: The Secret Service stars Colin Firth (as you've never seen him before), Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Caine. It follows street kid Gary Unwin (Taron Egerton) as he attempts to join the highly contested ranks of an underground spy ring. And the initial verdict? It's one to watch. With 100% approval so far on Rotten Tomatoes, Kingsman has been labelled "a thoughtful, exciting, whip-smart spy adventure that doesn't let its smart-ass post-modernism overwhelm its playfulness or its heart" (by Andrew Taylor for The Playlist). Kingsman is in cinemas on February 5. Thanks to Twentieth Century Fox, we have 20 double passes up to a January 28 VIP preview screening to give away in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter and then email us with your name and address. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au
Remember coming home from school with your latest vibrantly coloured artwork, then beaming with pride when your parents stuck it on the fridge for all the world to see? The Creative Generation Excellence Awards in Visual Art do the same, just on a larger scale. The exhibition takes a selection of outstanding pieces from senior students from schools across Queensland, then places them on display at GOMA. For the best and brightest teenage artists, their childhood dream has become a reality. They haven't even made it to university yet, and their work is already hanging in the state's premier gallery. For everyone else, it's the chance to sneak a peak at the next generation of creative geniuses, before they go on to even bigger and better things. Who knows — one day, you might even be able to say that you saw the early creations of an art superstar before they made it big. Image: Sophie Raymond / Goondiwindi State High School / Sucked In 2015 / Digital print / © The artist
Come October 2023, Disney fans Down Under can enter a whole new world, hitting the sea on the Mouse House's cruise line on its first voyages from Australia and New Zealand. Fancy sailing further afield, from Sydney to Honolulu or vice versa? In 2023 and 2024, the company is also launching its first-ever South Pacific cruises — one coming to Australia, the other heading to Hawaii. These legs are known as repositioning cruises, aka the journeys that ships take when they've finished their stints in one area and need to make their way to another for a new season. Of course, vessels don't make those trips without passengers, so if you're keen on spending a couple of weeks floating around the South Pacific surrounded by all things Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars, now you can. Tickets go on sale at 8am AEDT on Thursday, October 13, with two voyages scheduled around the Mouse House's maiden 'Magic at Sea' Australian and NZ cruises: a 13-night voyage from Honolulu to Sydney departing on October 13, 2023, then a 15-night trip the other way leaving on February 16, 2024. Unsurprisingly, the 'Magic at Sea' legs between Australia and Aotearoa have proven as popular as Disney movies with, well, everyone, so expect these legs to attract plenty of interest. And yes, these lengthy South Pacific trips are only sailing to and from Sydney — so if you live elsewhere, you will need to factor that into your travels. Disney has been running cruises for nearly a quarter-century, taking fans of its ever-growing array of pop culture wares on themed vacations, all thanks to its Disney Cruise Line. Alas, setting sail to and from Down Under hasn't been a possibility until now. Onboard, you'll watch live musical shows, see Disney characters everywhere you look and eat in spaces decked out like Disney movies. Those musicals include a Frozen show; another production dedicated to the company's old-school favourites like Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Cinderella and Aladdin; and a Golden Mickeys performance, which is obviously all about Mickey Mouse. Or, there's a Mickey party set to DJ beats, nightly fireworks and a pirate shindig on the vessel's deck. The entertainment also includes Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Moana, Tiana, Cinderella, Woody, Jessie and more wandering around the ship. Plus Chewbacca, Rey, Spider-Man, Captain Marvel and Thor as well, if you like hanging out around folks in costumes. The dining setup rotates, so each day of the cruise takes you to a different location with a different theme. One day, you'll hit up the Animator's Palate, which focuses on bringing Disney characters to life — including getting patrons to draw their own characters — and on the next, you'll get munching in a restaurant inspired by The Princess and the Frog, and serving up New Orleans-inspired dishes. Or, there's also Triton's, which offers an under the sea theme given it's named after Ariel's father, and serves four-course French and American suppers. For folks travelling with young Disney devotees, there's also a whole range of activities just for kids — but adults without littlies in tow are definitely catered for, complete with a dedicated pool for travellers aged 18 and over, an adults-only cafe, the Crown & Fin pub, cocktail bar Signals, Italian eatery Palo, and a day spa and salon. Room-wise, there's ten different types to choose from — some with private verandahs, and some with ocean views through portholes. Disney Cruise Line's 'Magic at Sea' cruises will sail from Honolulu to Sydney in October 2023, then from Sydney to Honolulu in February 2024, with bookings open from 8am AEDT on Thursday, October 13, 2022. For more information, head to the cruise line's website. Images: Matt Stroshane / Kent Phillips / Todd Anderson. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
In an attempt to bring back to our vocabulary some long-forgotten words, a blog called The Dead Words is using thematically appropriate typography to breathe new life into them. Curator of the project, Karen To, is attempting animate lost words which have slipped from our tongues, bringing them back into everyday language. Senticous, for example, means ‘prickly or thorny’ and is thus captured in green vine-like letters interlinked with one another. Sagittifero (suh-jit-uh-fer-oh) adj.1656 -1858; bearing arrows Celeberrimous (sel-uh-ber-ee-imuhs) adj.1768 -1768; very or most highly celebrated Bonifate(boh-nee-feyt) adj.1656 -1656; lucky; fortunate [Via Flavorwire]
Sorry, everyone who has written and sung a catchy and funny tune over the past 15 years or so. When it comes to getting hilarious songs instantly stuck in everyone's heads, Flight of the Conchords has all other candidates beat. And, when it comes to charting the exploits of two New Zealand shepherds-turned-folk musicians trying to make it in New York, too, the cult HBO series of the same name wins hands down as well. By now, everyone in Australia is well acquainted with FOTC — and with Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie's musical and comedic genius, of course. But, in addition to letting the talented duo play fictionalised versions of themselves and belt out their very amusing ditties, this sitcom introduced us all to the wonders of Rhys Darby as the pair's over-eager manager Murray, and to Kristen Schaal as their ultra-devoted (and only) fan Mel. And the Bowie episode, where the singer appears to Bret in a dream sequence (as played by Jemaine), is simply sublime.
When That's Not Me begins, it's with a black screen and an Oscar speech — and then a toilet and a can of air freshener. Polly Cuthbert (Alice Foulcher) is practicing for the acclaim and awards she hopes will come, but it's clear the aspiring actress still has a way to go. But hey, she's determined. Working at a cinema, turning down soap operas, and waiting to audition for Jared Leto's new HBO show are part of her slow-and-steady approach to carving out a serious career. And it might've worked, if her identical twin sister Amy hadn't started living out Polly's wildest acting fantasies instead. That's Not Me is more than just the title of this smart, funny and perceptive Australian comedy from writer-director Gregory Erdstein and writer-star Foulcher. It's also what Polly finds herself telling her sibling's fans when they start accosting her wherever she goes. Moreover, in a movie that explores the reality that lifelong dreams don't always work out as planned, it offers audiences a clever reminder: there's nothing wrong with not having the life and job you thought you would when you were a kid. Call it a quarter-life-crisis portrait, a faking-it-without-making-it character study, or a not-quite-slacker story. Whichever label you choose, they all fit the bill. As familiar as all of that may sound, the film also deserves to be described as earnest, astute, insightful and thoroughly amusing. Brimming with well-observed scenarios, characters and emotions, it's the kind of movie that makes you feel like you might've seen it all before, only to delight you as you realise you haven't. Frankly, it's the type of flick you could easily imagine remade around an unhappy New Yorker. And yet despite that, it wears its local-and-proud-of-it heart on its sleeve — even while making jokes about the stereotype that no one watches Aussie films. Indeed, this is a movie that is both universal and unmistakably Australian – and that's just one of many delicate balancing acts that That's Not Me achieves. Gags about Jared Leto and the superficial nature of the film industry sit alongside jabs at Neighbours and Home and Away, as well a brief appearance from Andrew O'Keefe. It takes a similar amount of skill to plot a story filled with highs and lows, while maintaining an awareness that life usually exists somewhere in between. The movie's look and feel further blends a variety of elements, from a fond but never rosy view of Melbourne, to music that leans towards the '80s without wallowing in nostalgia, to pacing that feels brisk but never rushed. Of course the biggest juggling task sits with Foulcher, and not just because she's playing twins. Rather than filling the movie with sisters in the thick of sibling rivalry, this is really a flick about Polly's unrealised dreams, and Foulcher gives her character all of the dimensions you'd expect — plus some you might not. Her character's not always sympathetic, but she's certainly relatable, with the actress delivering an immensely likeable and layered turn. If there's any justice, this gem of a film will be remembered in the exact same way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C-78QW3xq8
We could probably all do with some more phone-free time, what with today's always-connected society, not to mention the cancer scares. But sometimes it's handy to have a functional phone even when you're trying to get away from it all. Music festivals are a prime example: you're out in a paddock enjoying music all day and when the speakers fall silent you need to call your friends to find your tent. So, UK phone company Orange teamed up with renewable energy experts gotwind to develop some new ideas for Glastonbury this year: wellies with thermocouples that harness the funky heat of your feet after throwing shapes all day, and a shirt that charges your phone by converting soundwaves into electricity. And if you're getting back to nature by going camping, you might just need that phone to make a call if something goes wrong... or to post a photo of what a great time you're having away from all your facebook friends. Japan's TES New Energy have come up with what is basically a cooking pot with a power cord, so that you can harness the extra heat from boiling the billy to charge your smart phone. [via PSFK]
After opening several German-themed beer halls around the city, plus a colourful Mexican cantina, Rockpool Dining Group continues to expand its Brisbane footprint — this time, with a European and American-inspired joint that'll specialise in wings. Named Winghaüs by Bavarian, seating 240 both inside and out, and headed to Edward Street in the CBD, the new concept is an offshoot of the hospitality empire's popular Bavarian spots. When it opens in either late September or early October, it'll be the first venue in the country. Chicken is main culinary attraction — buffalo wings specifically — although you'll also be able to tuck into fried wings dusted in either chipotle or habanero powder, or opt for boneless chicken tenders. They'll all be available in servings of ten, 15, 20, 50 or 100 pieces, with eight hot sauces and five dips on offer, including teriyaki, blue cheese, ranch dressing, and honey and mustard. For folks hankering for other US-style bites, think burgers slathered with Texas barbecue sauce, sides such as onion rings, potato gems and deep-fried pickles, plus New York-style cheesecake. And if you like your desserts both sweet and warm, a selection of deep-fried chocolate bars are likely to prove a highlight, with patrons able to choose from hot, gooey Mars, Snickers and Picnics. [caption id="attachment_739499" align="alignnone" width="1920"] A render of the Winghaüs interior.[/caption] While the menu skews American, European influences will come through in the drinks and decor. Like The Bavarian, Winghaüs will feature a stein chandelier made from 200 one-litre glasses, and will serve German brews such as Löwenbräu, Paulaner, Franziskaner, Spaten and Hofbräu. US tipples like Budweiser, Stella Artois and Goose Island will also feature, plus Aussie beers like Pines and Pirate Life. And, cocktail-wise, the bar's taps will pump out margaritas, old fashioneds, spritzes, negronis sand espresso martinis. Brisbanites can also expect plenty to keep them entertained at the diner-style spot, whether you're settling in at the long bar or getting cosy in a leather booth beneath neon signs. Given that sports memorabilia will line the walls, it should come as no surprise that big-screen TVs will play up to 30 live sports attempts at a time — and that you'll be able to use your phone to listen into your game of choice. If you're not interested in whatever match happens to be on — or sport in general — you can hit the pinball machines and arcade games instead. Find Winghaüs by Bavarian at 144 Edward Street, Brisbane from late September or early October — we'll update you with an opening date when we have one.
Since it was first staged on Broadway back in 1947, Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire has always been stellar. And, every time it has been staged — and turned into a Marlon Brando-starring movie in 1951, too — someone has always yelled "Stellaaaaaaaaa!". If that's all you know about the classic play, then La Boite's new version offers the ideal opportunity to rectify that (but don't worry, seasoned fans will find plenty to enjoy, too). You'll hear the story of small town belle Blanche DuBois, who has always depended on the kindness of strangers, as well as her younger sister with the infamous, oft-exclaimed name and Stella's husband, Stanley. Bridie Carter leads the cast, while La Boite's artistic director sits at the helm. Together, they're part of a production that also features a distinctive New Orleans cultural blend of live music onstage. No word yet if the La Boite bar is selling Stella Artois beverages.
It was first announced last year as part of the Howard Smith Wharves redevelopment, and now Jonathan Barthelmess' new Brisbane venture has a name: Greca. Set to open by December 2018, Greca brings a taverna-style restaurant to the city's new waterfront precinct underneath the Story Bridge. Taking over a heritage warehouse space, it'll fill its spartan timber and concrete fit-out with an open kitchen and a fire pit — and it'll take full advantage of its prime location with both indoor and outdoor seating. This isn't Barthelmess' first Greek eatery, with the chef and restaurateur known for The Apollo in both Sydney and Tokyo. For his Queensland spot, he'll even bring a few of The Apollo's favourites to town in remixed versions. That said, Greca will be its own overall creation. Diners can expect a share-friendly menu filled with dishes cooked over fire and wood and in stone-baked ovens, all focused on heroing simple Greek flavours with local produce. Alongside a largely Mediterranean wine list, of course. Originally from Queensland but making his name down south, Barthelmess describes Greca as "the perfect chance" to come back to his home state. Greca will join a host of other restaurants and bars at the Howard Smith Wharves precinct, including a Hong Kong-inspired Chinese eatery, a Japanese-style haunt, an octagonal bar and Brisbane's first riverside brewery. Greca will open at Howard Smith Wharf Precinct, 5 Boundary Street, Brisbane sometime in December. We'll keep you updated on the opening. Image: The Apollo Sydney by Nikki To.
Excellent news, marshmallows. In fact, if you're a Veronica Mars fan, this past year just keeps delivering. First, we found out that the beloved series was coming back for a fourth season. Then, not one, not two, but three teasers and trailers showed us just what kind of sleuthing fun we were in for. Now, Australian streaming platform Stan has announced that it'll become Ms Mars' new home for the fictional private eye's upcoming run of episodes. This news isn't minor — until now, just when and where Aussie were going to be able to watch Veronica Mars' fourth season was unknown. And if you've got a long-enough memory, and can recall how poorly the original first three seasons were treated by local TV back in the mid 2000s, you might've been worried. With the show launching on Friday, July 26 in the US, it'll hit Stan here on Saturday, July 27 — at the same time, thanks to the time difference. In America, it appears that all eight new episodes are dropping at once, so expect that to be the case here as well. Story-wise, the fourth season sees Veronica (Kristen Bell) back in her hometown of Neptune, still in the P.I. game with her dad Keith (Enrico Colantoni) and still solving mysteries. This time, a series of bombings and a shady ex-con turned businessman (JK Simmons) are on her radar. As well as plenty of twists and turns to follow, expect a heap of other familiar faces in the form of Jason Dohring as Veronica's on-again, off-again love interest Logan, Percy Daggs III as her bestie Wallace and Ryan Hansen as her sleazy ex-classmate Dick. Check out the full trailer, from US network Hulu, below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt0QuaQ0huk Veronica Mars will hit Stan on Saturday, July 27, with an exact launch time yet-to-be announced. We'll update you when it is.
It's happening again. Another year, another round of shiny trophies being handed out throughout Hollywood. Indeed, before Monday, March 13 comes to a close Down Under, Tinseltown will have anointed a new batch of Oscar winners. The nominations dropped in late January, speculation over who'll emerge victorious dates back well into 2022, and now it's time for the Academy Awards to name its latest greats at its 95th ceremony. Here's hoping that the focus will be on the films rather than mid-ceremony mayhem in 2023. The past year boasts no shortage of exceptional flicks deserving plenty of love — whether multiverse chaos, war epics, high-soaring sequels, music biopics or Irish gems end up scooping the pool, sharing the attention or going home empty-handed. Plus, in a bonus for movie lovers in Australia, you can watch 37 of this year's nominated features right now. Some are playing in cinemas, others are streaming, and a few give you options for either big- or small-screen viewings. Here's your pre-Oscars binging rundown on where to see them all. ON THE BIG SCREEN: AFTERSUN Nominations: Best Actor (Paul Mescal) Our thoughts: The simplest things in life can be the most revealing, whether it's a question asked of a father by a child, an exercise routine obeyed almost mindlessly or a man stopping to smoke someone else's old cigarette while wandering through a holiday town alone at night. Following the about-to-turn-31 Calum (Paul Mescal, The Lost Daughter) and his daughter Sophie (debutant Frankie Corio) on vacation in Turkey in the late 90s, this astonishing feature debut by Scottish writer/director Charlotte Wells is about the simple things — but Aftersun is always a movie of deep, devastating and revealing complexity. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED Nominations: Best Documentary Feature Our thoughts: Nabbing the Golden Lion at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, this documentary by Citizenfour Oscar-winner Laura Poitras is a film about many things: photographer Nan Goldin, her complicated history, her work, her chronicles of the LGBTQIA+ community and the 80s HIV/AIDS crisis, and her efforts to counter the opioid epidemic all included. Flitting between her images, recollections, and ongoing battle to bring the company and wealthy family behind OxyContin to justice by targeting their ties with galleries, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed is also a passionate, empathetic and piercing emotional epic. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER Nominations: Best Picture, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Our thoughts: When James Cameron's second dip in what's now officially a franchise manages to be as involving as he wants it to be, and has audiences eagerly awaiting its third, fourth and fifth instalments in 2024, 2026 and 2028, it's an absolute visual marvel. When that's the case, it's also underwater, or in it. Yes, Avatar: The Way of Water takes its subtitle seriously, splashing that part of its name about heartily in as much magnificently detailed 3D-shot and -projected glory as its director, cinematographer Russell Carpenter (a True Lies and Titanic alum) and hard-working special-effects team can excitedly muster. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. CLOSE Nominations: Best International Feature Film Our thoughts: When 13-year-olds Léo (debutant Eden Dambrine) and Rémi (first-timer Gustav De Waele) dash the carefree dash of youth in Close's early moments, rushing from a dark bunker out into the sunshine — from rocks and forest to a bloom-filled field ablaze with colour, too — this immediately evocative Belgian drama runs joyously with them. Girl writer/director Lukas Dhont starts his sophomore feature with a tremendous moment, one that sees his two leads bolting from the bliss that is their visibly contented childhood to the tussles and emotions of being a teenager, and it only gets better from there. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. EMPIRE OF LIGHT Nominations: Best Cinematography Our thoughts: 1917, director Sam Mendes jumps back to 80s for this ode to cinema — to the coastal town of Margate in Kent, where the Dreamland Cinema has stood for 100 years in 2023. In Empire of Light, the art deco structure has been rechristened The Empire, and is where a small staff under the overbearing Donald Ellis (Colin Firth, Operation Mincemeat) all have different relationships with their own hopes and wishes. But duty manager Hilary (Olivia Colman, Heartstopper) and new employee Stephen's (Micheal Ward, Small Axe) stories are thankfully far more complicated than simply paying tribute to a medium. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. LIVING Nominations: Best Actor (Bill Nighy), Best Adapted Screenplay Our thoughts: Somehow, Bill Nighy made it all the way into his 70s before receiving a single Oscar nomination; his nod for Living isn't a career nod, however, but thoroughly earned by his sensitive turn as a dutiful company many facing life-changing news. Set in 50s-era London, it's an adaptation several times over — of Akira Kurosawa's 1952 film Ikiru, which takes inspiration from Leo Tolstoy's 1886 novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich. At all times, Nighy, director Oliver Hermanus (Moffie) and screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro (also the author of The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go) live up to that lineage. Where to watch: Living officially opens in Australian cinemas on Thursday, March 16, with preview screenings from Friday, March 10–Sunday, March 12. TÁR Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Todd Field), Best Actress (Cate Blanchett), Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing Our thoughts: The least surprising aspect of Tár is also its most essential: Cate Blanchett being as phenomenal as she's ever been, plus more. The Australian Nightmare Alley, Thor: Ragnarok and Carol actor — "our Cate", of course — best be making space next to her Oscars for The Aviator and Blue Jasmine as a result. Playing a celebrated, pioneering maestro who plummets to a personal and professional low just when it seems her fortunes can't soar higher, Blanchett is that stunning in Tár, that much of a powerhouse, that adept at breathing life and complexity into a thorny figure, and that magnetic and mesmerising. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. TO LESLIE Nominations: Best Actress (Andrea Riseborough) Our thoughts: Forget the controversy that's surrounded Andrea Riseborough's inclusion among this year's Oscar nominees. A stunning performance is a stunning performance no matter whether other famous names advocate for accolades on its behalf or not — and the Possessor and Amsterdam star is indeed stunning in To Leslie. There's such weight and soul to her titular portrayal in this tale of redemption, after single mother Leslie wins the lotto, drinks and parties away the proceeds, then tries to reconnect with her now-adult son (Owen Teague, The Stand) six years latter, plus face a town with a long memory. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. TRIANGLE OF SADNESS Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Ruben Östlund), Best Original Screenplay Our thoughts: Beware the luxurious worlds of Ruben Östlund's films. Beware any feelings of ease, opulence or awe that spring at ski resorts, in art museums, or, in Triangle of Sadness, within the fashion industry and on high-end holidays, too. The Swedish filmmaker isn't interested in keeping his characters comfortable regardless of their lavish surroundings, which proves true with his second feature in succession to win Cannes Film Festival's prestigious Palme d'Or. Here, he has modelling, influencers and the super-rich in his sights, plus unpacking societal structures and the divides they rely on (and cause). Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. THE WHALE Nominations: Best Actor (Brendan Fraser), Best Supporting Actress (Hong Chau), Best Makeup and Hairstyling Our thoughts: The actors have it: in The Whale, Brendan Fraser (No Sudden Move), Hong Chau (The Menu) and Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) are each masterful, and each in their own way. For viewers unaware that this drama about a reclusive 600-pound English professor stems from the stage going in, it won't take long to realise — for multiple reasons. As penned by Samuel D Hunter from his award-winning semi-autobiographical play, The Whale's script is talky and blunt. It also favours one setting. But the performances that Darren Aronofsky (mother!) guides out of his cast are complicated, masterful and powerful. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. WOMEN TALKING Nominations: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay Our thoughts: Get Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand and more exceptional women in a room, point a camera their way, let the talk flow: Sarah Polley's Women Talking does just that, and the end result is phenomenal. The actor-turned-filmmaker's fourth effort behind the lens does plenty more, but its basic setup is as straightforward as its title states. Adapted from Miriam Toews' 2018 novel of the same name, it draws on events in a Bolivian Mennonite colony from 2005–9, where a spate of mass druggings and rapes of women and girls were reported at the hands of some of the group's men. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. IN CINEMAS OR AT HOME: BABYLON Nominations: Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design Our thoughts: What happens when aspiring 1920s actor Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie, Amsterdam), veteran leading man Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt, Bullet Train) and eager show business everyman Manny Torres (Diego Calva, Narcos: Mexico) navigate Golden Age Hollywood, starting at the same decadent soirée? That's what jazz-loving, La La Land Oscar-winning, Tinseltown-adoring writer/director Damien Chazelle charts in Babylon — and how. This is a relentless and ravenous movie that's always a lot, not just in length, but is dazzling (and also very funny, and sports an earworm of a Justin Hurwitz score) when it clicks. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas, and streaming via Google Play, YouTube Movies and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Martin McDonagh), Best Actor (Colin Farrell), Best Supporting Actress (Kerry Condon), Best Supporting Actor (Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan), Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing Our thoughts: The rolling hills and clifftop fields look like they could stretch on forever in In Bruges writer/director Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inisherin, even on a fictional island perched off the Irish mainland. For years, chats between Padraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell, After Yang) and Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson, The Tragedy of Macbeth) have sprawled similarly — and leisurely, too — especially during the pair's daily sojourn to the village pub over pints. But when the latter calls time on their camaraderie suddenly, his demeanour turns brusque, and nothing for these characters will ever be the same. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas, and streaming via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE FABELMANS Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Steven Spielberg), Best Actress (Michelle Williams), Best Supporting Actor (Judd Hirsch), Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Production Design Our thoughts: "Movies are dreams that you never forget," says Mitzi Fabelman (Michelle Williams, Venom: Let There Be Carnage) early in Steven Spielberg's autobiographical The Fabelmans. Have truer words ever been spoken in any of the director's 33 flicks? Uttered to her eight-year-old son Sammy (feature debutant Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord), Mitzi's statement lingers, providing the film's beating heart even when the coming-of-age tale it spins isn't always idyllic — which is often, as Sammy hits his teen years (played by The Predator's Gabriel LaBelle), chases his movie dreams and navigates his family. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas, and streaming via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH Nominations: Best Animated Feature Our thoughts: Who doesn't want to see a kitty swashbuckler voiced by Antonio Banderas (Official Competition), basically making this a moggie Zorro? Based on the 2011 Puss in Boots' $555 million at the box office, that concept is irresistible to plenty of folks — hence, albeit over a decade later, sequel Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Pairing the right talent to the right animated character doesn't instantly make movie magic, of course; however, The Last Wish, which literally has Puss seeking magic, is among the best films that the broader Shrek saga has conjured up so far. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas, and streaming via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. VIA STREAMING: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Nominations: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Sound Our thoughts: Helming and co-scripting, All My Loving director Edward Berger gives All Quiet on the Western Front its first adaptation in German, its native tongue. The film focuses on 17-year-old Paul Bäumer (debutant Felix Kammerer) and his ordeal after naively enlisting in 1917, thinking with his mates that they'd be marching on Paris within weeks. This is a movie haunted: by the callous disregard for human lives by power-seekers far removed from any fatal consequences, the wide-eyed fervour and blind faith with which boys pledge themselves to war, the desperation in the thick of the fray, and oh-so-much death. Where to watch: Streaming via Netflix. Read our full review. ALL THAT BREATHES Nominations: Best Documentary Feature Our thoughts: Pictures can't tell all of All That Breathes' story, with Delhi-based brothers Nadeem Shehzad and Mohammad Saud's chats saying plenty that's essential. Still, the images that Shaunak Sen (Cities of Sleep) lets flow across the screen — and, befitting this poetic documentary's pace and mood, they do flow — in this Sundance- and Cannes-winner are astonishing. The pair adore the black kites that take to India's skies and suffer from its toxic air quality, tending to the creatures' injuries. As Sen watches, this film trills about urban development, its costs and consequences, and caring for others both animal and human. Where to watch: Streaming via Binge. ARGENTINA, 1985 Nominations: Best International Feature Film Our thoughts: As reliable a screen presence as cinema has ever been blessed with, The Secret in Their Eyes, Truman and Everybody Knows-starring Argentinian actor Ricardo Darín is magnetic in this weighty and important courtroom drama. Filmmaker Santiago Mitre (15 Ways to Kill Your Neighbour) dramatises the Trial of the Juntas, focusing on public prosecutor Julio César Strassera (Darín) and his deputy Luis Moreno Ocampo (Peter Lanzani, Maradona: Blessed Dream) as they attempt to bring military officials who led the country under its 1976–1983 dictatorship to justice for crimes against humanity. Where to watch: Streaming via Prime Video. BARDO, FALSE CHRONICLE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTHS Nominations: Best Cinematography Our thoughts: Everyone wants to be the person at the party that the dance floor revolves around, and life in general, or so Alejandro González Iñárritu contends in Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths. Everyone wants to be the filmmaker with all the fame and success, records, winning prestigious awards and conquering Hollywood, he also asserts. Alas, when you're this Mexican director, that isn't as joyous or uncomplicated an experience as it sounds. On-screen, his blatant alter ego is a feted documentarian (Daniel Giménez Cacho, Memoria) applauded at home and overseas, and also a man conflicted again and again. Where to watch: Streaming via Netflix. Read our full review. THE BATMAN Nominations: Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Sound Our thoughts: The elder Waynes are still dead, and have been for two decades. Bruce (Robert Pattinson, Tenet) still festers with pain over their loss. And the prince of Gotham still turns vigilante by night, cleaning up the lawless streets one no-good punk at a time with only trusty butler Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis, Long Shot) in on his secret. Still, as directed by Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes' Matt Reeves, and co-scripted with The Unforgivable's Peter Craig, The Batman offers a more absorbing version of the character than seen in many of the past Bat flicks that've fluttered through cinemas. Where to watch: Streaming via Netflix, Binge, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER Nominations: Best Supporting Actress (Angela Bassett), Best Original Song, Best Visual Effects, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling Our thoughts: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever isn't the movie it was initially going to be, the sequel to 2018's electrifying Black Panther that anyone behind it originally wanted it to be, or the chapter in the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe that it first aimed to be — this, the world knew once Chadwick Boseman passed away. That vast void isn't one this film can fill, but returning director Ryan Coogler still has a top-notch cast — Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke, plus new addition Tenoch Huerta, most notably — drawing eyeballs towards his vibrant imagery. Where to watch: Streaming via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. BLONDE Nominations: Best Actress (Ana de Armas) Our thoughts: Usually when a film leaves you wondering how it might've turned out in other hands, that isn't a great sign — but Blonde, the years-in-the-making adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' fictionalised Marilyn Monroe biography of the same name, demands a watch. It's a fascinating movie, including for what works astoundingly well and what definitely doesn't. In the first category: Ana de Armas (The Gray Man) as Norma Jeane Mortenson, the woman who'd become not just a star and a sensation during her life, but an icon across the six decades since. Where to watch: Streaming via Netflix. Read our full review. CAUSEWAY Nominations: Best Supporting Actor (Brian Tyree Henry) Our thoughts: Trauma is a screenwriter's best friend; however, few films are happy to sit with trauma in the way that (and as well as) Causeway does. Starring Jennifer Lawrence (Don't Look Up) as a military veteran sent home from Afghanistan after being blown up, working her way through rehab and determined to re-enlist as soon as she has medical sign-off — plus Atlanta and Bullet Train's Brian Tyree Henry as a New Orleans mechanic with his own history — this subtle, thoughtful and powerful movie grapples with the fact that some woes do genuinely change lives, and not for the better. Where to watch: Streaming via Apple TV+. Read our full review. ELVIS Nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor (Austin Butler), Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Sound Our thoughts: Making a biopic about the king of rock 'n' roll, trust Baz Luhrmann to take his subject's words to heart: a little less conversation, a little more action. The Aussie filmmaker's first feature since The Great Gatsby isn't short on chatter. It's even narrated by Tom Hanks (A Man Called Otto) as Colonel Tom Parker, the carnival barker who thrust Presley to fame. But this chronology of an icon's life is at its best when it's showing rather than telling. That's when Elvis is electrifying, in no small part due to its treasure trove of recreated concert scenes — and Austin Butler (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) as the man himself. Where to watch: Streaming via Google Play, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Best Actress (Michelle Yeoh), Best Supporting Actress (Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu), Best Supporting Actor (Ke Huy Quan), Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design Our thoughts: Imagine living in a universe where Michelle Yeoh isn't the wuxia superstar she is. No, no one should want that reality. Now, envisage a world where everyone has hot dogs for fingers, including the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon icon. Next, picture another where Ratatouille is real, but with raccoons. Then, conjure up a sparse realm where life only exists in sentient rocks. An alternative to this onslaught of pondering: watching Everything Everywhere All At Once, which throws all of the above at the screen and a helluva lot more thanks to the Daniels, aka Swiss Army Man's Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. Where to watch: Streaming via Binge, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Read our full review. FIRE OF LOVE Nominations: Best Documentary Feature Our thoughts: What a delight it would be to trawl through Katia and Maurice Krafft's archives, sift through every video that features the French volcanologists and their work, and witness them doing their highly risky jobs against spectacular surroundings. That's the task that filmmaker Sara Dosa (The Seer and the Unseen) took up to make superb documentary Fire of Love about the couple's lives — and, as set to the otherworldly sounds of Air, her magnificent effort is an incredibly thoughtful, informative and moving film from start to finish. Where to watch: Streaming via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay Our thoughts: This murder-mystery opens with a puzzle box inside a puzzle box. The former is a wooden cube delivered out of the blue, the latter the followup to 2019 hit Knives Out, and both are as tightly, meticulously, cleverly and cannily orchestrated as each other. With writer/director Rian Johnson (Poker Face) back at the helm and Daniel Craig (No Time to Die) playing southern detective Benoit Blanc again — alongside a new star-studded cast — long may this franchise keep sleuthing. Long may it have everyone revelling in every twist, trick and revelation, as the breezy blast that is Glass Onion does. Where to watch: Streaming via Netflix. Read our full review. GUIILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO Nominations: Best Animated Feature Our thoughts: Guillermo del Toro hasn't yet directed a version of Frankenstein, except that he now has in a way. Officially, he's chosen another much-adapted story, but there's no missing the similarities between the Nightmare Alley filmmaker's stop-motion Pinocchio and Mary Shelley's ever-influential horror masterpiece. Both carve out tales about creations made by grief-stricken men consumed by loss. Both see those tinkerers help gift existence to the inanimate because they can't cope with mortality's reality. Both notch up the fallout when those central humans struggle with the results of their handiwork, too. Where to watch: Streaming via Netflix. Read our full review. A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS Nominations: Best Documentary Feature Our thoughts: A House Made of Splinters premiered at Sundance in January 2022, with Danish documentarian Simon Lereng Wilmont returning to Eastern Ukraine after The Barking of Distant Dogs to tell of the residents at The Lysychansk Center for The Social and Psychological Rehabilitation of Children. That timing saw his latest film debut before the Russian invasion, but the war's impact since 2014 make itself felt as the kids in the doco's frames step through their experiences — and grapple with a fraught reality — in a facility that's only meant to house them for nine months until their paths from there can be plotted. Where to watch: Streaming via Docplay. MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON Nominations: Best Animated Feature Our thoughts: It started as an in-joke, thanks to a voice put on by Parks and Recreation Jenny Slate for her now ex-husband Dean Fleischer-Camp. Then came their 2010, 2011 and 2014 shorts, plus two best-selling children's picture books. On- and off-screen, the world's cutest talking shell has taken the internet-stardom path from online sensation to more — and the sweet, endearing, happily silly, often hilarious and deeply insightful Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is a touching meditation upon loss, change and valuing what's truly important, as well as an all-round gem. Where to watch: Streaming via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. MRS HARRIS GOES TO PARIS Nominations: Best Costume Design Our thoughts: The title is accurate: in Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, war widow and hardworking cleaner Ada Harris (Lesley Manville, The Crown) takes a surprise windfall to the French capital in the 50s to buy her very own Christian Dior dress. Cue class-clash snootiness (personified by The Godmother's Isabelle Huppert as a disapproving fashion house bigwig) and unexpected kindness (including from a model, accountant and Marquis played by Warrior Nun's Alba Baptista, Ticket to Paradise's Lucas Bravo and Benedetta's Lambert Wilson), in the kind of tale that plays out exactly as expected, albeit nicely. Where to watch: Streaming via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. NAVALNY Nominations: Best Documentary Feature Our thoughts: In August 2020, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned while flying from Tomsk to Moscow. The toxin: a Novichok nerve agent. That's just one aspect of the Vladimir Putin opponent's story in recent years, which filmmaker Daniel Roher (Once Were Brothers) shot as it unfolded for his documentary Navalny. The details are astonishing and infuriating, with Navalny a candid and determined interviewee. No matter whether you know the details from copious news headlines or you're stepping through his tale for the first time, this doco couldn't be more gripping. Where to watch: Streaming via Docplay, SBS On Demand, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE QUIET GIRL Nominations: Best International Feature Film Our thoughts: This tender, affecting and resonant Gaelic-language coming-of-age film sees the world as only a lonely, innocent, often-ignored child can. Devastatingly moving and beautiful, The Quiet Girl also spies the pain and hardship that shapes its titular figure's world — and yes, it does so softly and with restraint, but that doesn't make the feelings it swirls up any less immense. Filmmaker Colm Bairéad, who directs and adapts Claire Keegan's novella Foster, makes a stunning feature debut. Also exceptional is newcomer Catherine Clinch as pivotal nine-year-old Cáit. Where to watch: Streaming via SBS On Demand, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. RRR Nominations: Best Original Song Our thoughts: The letters in RRR's title are short for Rise Roar Revolt. They could also stand for riveting, rollicking and relentless. They link in with the Indian action movie's three main forces, too — writer/director SS Rajamouli (Baahubali: The Beginning), plus stars NT Rama Rao Jr (Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava) and Ram Charan (Vinaya Vidheya Rama) — and could describe the sound of some of its standout moments. What noise echoes when a motorcycle is used in a bridge-jumping rescue plot, as aided by a horse and the Indian flag, amid a crashing train, after all? Where to watch: Streaming via Netflix. Read our full review. THE SEA BEAST Nominations: Best Animated Feature Our thoughts: One of the undying ideas about monsters is also one of the most humane: perhaps what we perceive as monstrous doesn't always deserve that label. Set centuries back in prime seafaring times — but, thanks to the eponymous creature, clearly a work of animated fiction — The Sea Beast ponders this notion after seasoned beast-hunter Jacob Holland (voiced by The Boys' Karl Urban) pledges to slay a critter dubbed the Red Bluster. Here, eye-catching animation and a familiar but still potent story combine in Big Hero 6 and Moana co-director Chris Williams' hands. Where to watch: Streaming via Netflix. TOP GUN: MAVERICK Nominations: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Song, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Our thoughts: Top Gun: Maverick flies high when its jets are soaring. The initial Top Gun had the perfect song to describe exactly what these phenomenally well-executed and -choreographed action scenes feel like to view; yes, they'll take your breath away. Thankfully, this time that Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible — Fallout)-led adrenaline kick is accompanied by a smarter and far more self-aware film, as directed by TRON: Legacy and Oblivion's Joseph Kosinski. Top Gun in the 80s was exactly what Top Gun in the 80s was always going to be — but Top Gun in the 2020s doesn't dare believe that nothing has changed Where to watch: Streaming via Paramount+, Binge, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. TURNING RED Nominations: Best Animated Feature Our thoughts: What'd happen if the Hulk was a teenage girl, and turned into a giant, fuzzy, super-cute red panda instead of going green and getting ultra-muscular? Or, finding a different riff on the ol' werewolf situation, if emotions rather than full moons inspired a case of not-quite-lycanthropy? These aren't queries that most folks have thought of, but writer/director Domee Shi certainly has — and they're at the core of Pixar's Turning Red, her debut feature after winning an Oscar for 2018 short Bao, and a movie with particularly astute and endearing results. Where to watch: Streaming via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review.
Making the leap from computer screens to gallery walls, digital art is here to stay. Tokyo has a whole museum dedicated to it, and now Brisbane Powerhouse is following suit for a month-long showcase. Displaying in the Visy Foyer and other exhibition spaces, Power to the Pixel runs from Tuesday, January 15 to Sunday, February 17, highlighting the eye-catching work of some of the world's best artists in the medium. Australia, the US, the UK, Brazil and Israel are all represented, with Brisbane games whiz Wren Brier on curation duties. If you've played Jetpack Joyride or Fruit Ninja, then you're familiar with her work. Other featured artists include Melbourne's Paul Robertson, who's particularly fond of geometry and fractals; American Jubilee, who reinvents landscape images in 8- and 16-bit form; and Brazil's Bruno Moraes, who features characters travelling through space heavily in his work. Getting up close and admiring every aspect of these pieces is highly recommended — they've been created one pixel at a time, after all. Image: Paul Robertson.
Stuffing wall-to-wall ABBA songs into a flimsy rom-com story, 2008's Mamma Mia! always felt like it was mere seconds away from two things happening. "Have you met my friend Fernando?" Meryl Streep's overalls-clad hotel owner might say, before asking if he can hear the drums. Or Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Stellan Skarsgård's trio of long-lost exes might compare their romantic plight to history, starting with the words "my my, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender". Neither actually occurred in the original big-screen jukebox musical, which adapted the successful stage production of the same name. But if they had, and in such a groan-inducing, eye-roll-worthy fashion, they wouldn't have felt out of place. Shameless cheesiness and trying to shoehorn in as many of the Swedish pop group's tracks as possible was the name of the game the first time around — and it's a tune that sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is still blasting. Thankfully, there's slightly more nuance, plot and comedy in this repeat spin. Slightly. Crucially, as returning and new cast members alike croon and swoon against the movie's bright, breezy Greek island setting, there's also a boost in singing talent. First things first: 'Fernando' and 'Waterloo' do get a whirl in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, and in situations very close to those described above. The off-screen team is mostly new here, but it still feels like these films write themselves. In fact, while writer-director Ol Parker (Now Is Good) works with a story also credited to romantic-comedy maestro Richard Curtis (Love Actually) and Mamma Mia! playwright Catherine Johnson, he's basically rehashing the same tale. In the first movie, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) sent wedding invitations to the three men (Firth, Brosnan and Skarsgård) that her mother Donna (Streep) had flings with when she was conceived. This time around, the movie jumps between Sophie's present-day preparations to relaunch her mum's hotel and Donna's (Lily James) amorous exploits with the guys in question (Hugh Skinner, Jeremy Irvine and Josh Dylan) 25 years ago. Here we go again, indeed. The line in 'Waterloo' about history repeating itself also springs to mind — and if you start framing your thoughts in ABBA lyrics minutes into this follow-up, then the film has done its job. Collecting fans' money, money, money, taking few chances, and asking viewers to cheer and sing along when their favourite songs pop up, the Mamma Mia! franchise does what lazy pop culture celebrations tend to do. In the most superficial, crowd-pleasing, fan-service manner, it mistakes recognising something exists for actually engaging with it. Ready Player One did the same thing earlier this year, just with a different focus — throwing sci-fi and gaming references at the screen to nod to beloved characters, movies and titles, but without ever delving any deeper. Still, in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again much more than in its predecessor, the approach hits a few melodic notes. Or rather, the exuberant James does, alongside the other series newcomers that play younger versions of existing characters, and Cher as Sophie's grandmother. It helps that the story feels a little less like dead air between songs in this second outing, that the film has a pronounced rhythm rather than just smashing tracks together, and that the song-and-dance choreography is more polished. That said, having energetic talent who can hold a tune helps even more. Battling it out with Christine Baranski (playing one of Donna's life-long best friends) as the franchise's true star, you'll thank James for the music. Courtesy of her performance, you'll also be able to somewhat overlook the fact that the flick is mostly just famous faces making ABBA music videos amidst gorgeous scenery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcSMdhfKga4
The BrisStyle team is a rather busy bunch. A few times a year, it puts on twilight markets in King George Square, but that isn't its only regular event. If you're particularly after a treasure trove of handmade goodies — and who isn't? — it hosts another opportunity to browse and buy that's dedicated to exactly those kinds of objects over at the Queensland Museum. And, because it's that time of year, it's putting on a Christmas version of the latter. Fashion, art, jewellery, homewares — if someone's been using their nimble fingers to make it, then you can probably trade your hard-earned cash for their hard work. In fact, there'll be a long list of artisans selling their wares. And, while you're shopping, you'll also be able to grab a bite at the onsite cafe and listen to live tunes from local musos. The BrisStyle Handmade Christmas Markets take place on Saturday, December 11, so that's when you can take care of your gift-buying needs. Head along from 9am–3pm, with it all taking place in the Queensland Museum's whale mall. Image: BrisStyle.
Head interstate to see a big show, or cross your fingers that it comes to Brisbane? When it comes to huge theatre productions, that's the regular dilemma. Thankfully, the musicals and plays that don't premiere on our turf tend to make their way here eventually — and West End and Broadway hit Girl From the North Country is about to become one of them. For Bob Dylan fans, that name will be familiar. It's the title of one of the legendary folk singer's 1963 songs — a tune that features in this musical, naturally. Indeed, the entire show uses Dylan's tracks, including everything from 'Like a Rolling Stone' and 'Hurricane' to 'Slow Train' and 'I Want You', all weaved throughout a story of American life during the Great Depression. After playing down south, Girl From the North Country is coming to Brisbane as part of this year's Brisbane Festival. So, block out Thursday, September 8 in your diary, as that's when its season will kick off at QPAC's Lyric Theatre — running through until Sunday, September 18. Story-wise, the musical is set in a guesthouse in the US state of Minnesota in 1934. The narrative revolves around owner Nick, who is deeply in debt; his wife Elizabeth, whose mind is fraying; and their pregnant daughter Marianne — as well as a bible-slinging preacher and a boxer endeavouring to make a comeback. Overseas, Girl From the North Country has enjoyed sell-out seasons since it first debuted in London in 2017 — heading from The Old Vic to West End, next leaping to the US for an off-Broadway run, and then hitting up Toronto, returning to West End and premiering on Broadway before the pandemic in early 2022. And locally, the debut Aussie season stars Lisa McCune (The King and I, South Pacific), Peter Kowitz (Janet King) and Helen Dallimore (Wicked, Legally Blonde). Images: Tristram Kenton.
How do you make a concert film when no concerts can be held to film? Australian director Andrew Dominik (Chopper, Killing Them Softly) and his now two-time subjects Nick Cave and Warren Ellis have the answer. How do you create a personal documentary that cuts to the heart of these Aussie music icons when, whether stated or implied in their vibe, both are hardly enamoured with having their lives recorded? Again, see: Dominik's new Cave and Ellis-focused This Much I Know to Be True. Performances in cavernous empty British spaces fill the movie's frames but, via stunning lighting, staging and lensing, they're as dazzling as any IRL gig. The interludes between tunes are brief, and also intimate and revealing. The result: a phenomenal doco that's a portrait of expression, a musing on an exceptional collaboration and a rumination upon existence, as well as a piece of haunting cinematic heaven whether you're an existing Cave and Ellis devotee, a newcomer or something in-between. Dominik, Cave and Ellis initially teamed up when the latter duo scored the former's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Later this year, when upcoming Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde hits screens, the same arrangement will provide its soundtrack. But in the middle sits 2016 doco One More Time with Feeling and now This Much I Know to Be True, as entrancing a pair as the music documentary genre has gifted viewers. The first factual flick found Cave and Ellis recording the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album Skeleton Tree, as Cave also grappled with the death of one of his sons. Here, its follow-up is shaped by the first performances of Cave and Ellis' latest albums — the Bad Seeds 2019 release Ghosteen, and Cave and Ellis' 2021 record Carnage — plus the pandemic and the lingering effects of grief. Chatter precedes tunes to begin This Much I Know to Be True — talk, a revelation and a mini art exhibition, in fact. To the camera, Cave quips that he's "retrained as a ceramicist, because it's no longer viable to be a musician, a touring artist". He's joking about giving up music, of course, but serious about his foray into porcelain. Donning a white lab coat, he walks the audience through his workshop, sharing a series he's dubbed The Story of the Devil in 18 Figurines. That'd make a phenomenal title for one of his tracks, but it isn't. One piece's individual moniker, The Devil's Last Dance, also sounds like a song title. Unsurprisingly, Cave unfurls the same kinds of tales while explaining his ceramics — about a figure he's clearly long been fascinated with, and about choices, family, loss, redemption and mourning — as he always has behind the microphone. This attention-grabbing introduction serves several purposes, from pointing out the English government's patently ridiculous advice to artists during COVID-19 to setting the film's tone. There's always been a bewitching blend of the ethereal, mysterious and dark to Cave's music, and a sense of poetic preaching to his lyrics; his early musings here about the devil at various moments in his life earn the same description, and establish the movie as a type of spiritual experience. Fans of any star are guilty of seeing their hero's work in that light. It's especially true of musicians, who innately turn concert venues into altars for their disciples to worship their output. Still, when This Much I Know to Be True hones in on Cave at his piano, or behind the mic, spotlights casting him in a hypnotic glow while bathing his surroundings in blackness, that feeling couldn't be more blatant — and earned. This Much I Know to Be True takes its name from lyrics from Cave and Ellis' 'Balcony Man', the final track on Carnage — their first-ever solo record together beyond their many film-score collaborations — and ponders belief, gratitude and acceptance. Those same themes flicker through the movie, but largely while immersing viewers in Cave and Ellis' songs rather than addressing that trio of notions directly. And what performances they are, stripped back and gloriously theatrical at once, with Dominik, extraordinary cinematographer Robbie Ryan (C'mon C'mon, Marriage Story, The Favourite) and lighting designer Chris Scott crafting a mesmerising visual experience. Watching the camera circle, bulbs pop and dim, and shadows and shine make Cave's distinctive face look like a spectacular work of art, it's impossible not to surrender to the film's thrall. Layer in Cave and Ellis' grand sounds, as backed by singers, a string quartet and a brief appearance by Marianne Faithfull, and it's simply transcendent. Faithfull also gets the film's funniest line: "did he just call you Waz?". Usually seen prowling around Cave as he croons — conducting, playing instruments and sometimes singing himself — Ellis explains Australia's fondness for shortening words in such a fashion, and also happily becomes the film's scamp, a part he's obviously enjoyed for decades with his long-standing creative partner. While This Much I Know to Be True isn't short on standout moments, including whenever Cave and Ellis perform, the separate but intercut discussions between Dominik and the pair about their working relationship is a delightful highlight. Ellis is mischievously candid about his disdain for order. Cave is frank about the chaos that happens between them in the studio. He's also a game interviewee about Ellis' growing influence; "he took a subordinate role and slowly, one by one, took out each member of the Bad Seeds," Caves notes. "I'm the next to go. He's singing a lot more, I've noticed." There's tenderness and openness in these conversations; introspection, existential musings, bold self-insights and joy, too, and tussling with simply getting on with each day as it comes. Moviegoers and music aficionados alike haven't lacked chances to see Cave in cinemas recently — including in 2014 docudrama 20,000 Days on Earth and 2020 concert film Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace — but there's a particular perceptiveness and poignancy pulsating through This Much I Know to Be True. Cave captures it when he talks through his responses to his The Red Hand Files website and emails, where anyone can ask him anything. The questions he receives cut deep and, advising that he has to force himself to consider them carefully and with empathy, his answers do as well. He approaches them not as a star, musician or writer, but as a person, husband, father and friend who makes stuff, which is also how he now prefers to describe himself, he says. As much as anything else — and this sublime, vivid and potent doco is many things — This Much I Know to Be True is a heartfelt ode to that truth. Top image: Nick Cave Productions.
When Midnight Special starts, TV news reports splash Roy Tomlin's (Michael Shannon) face across the screen. He's wanted for kidnapping eight-year-old Alton Meyer (Jaeden Lieberher), with the film swiftly showing him and his accomplice Lucas (Joel Edgerton) holed up in a motel with the kid. They're about to leave, but when Roy picks up the goggle-wearing Alton to carry him outside, the boy clings to him lovingly. That's not typical abductor-captive behaviour — and this isn't your typical film. A host of questions spring up, as audiences find themselves asking who, why and what's really going on. A cult leader (Sam Shepard) gives two men four days to find Alton shortly before FBI agents interrupt his evening sermon. By the time beams of light shine from Alton's eyes, and a storm of fiery space debris showers down upon him, it's clear we're in entirely uncharted territory. That's by design. Midnight Special asks its characters and viewers alike to wonder, but refuses to flesh out too many details or offer up easy solutions. Indeed, as filmmaker Jeff Nichols tells Roy and Alton's tale — tracking their drive through America's south, picking up Alton's mother (Kirsten Dunst) along the way, and attracting the attention of NSA officer Paul Sevier (Adam Driver) — he seems to have stolen Fox Mulder's catchphrase. He wants to believe, or, more accurately, he wants to tell tales about people who place their faith in something, in the hope that audiences will too. His three previous features may appear a diverse bunch; however 2007's Shotgun Stories, 2011's Take Shelter and 2012's Mud all focused on figures who chose to trust in a force other than themselves, be it vengeance, apocalyptic dreams or the power of love. Now, with Midnight Special, he veers into science-fiction to explore the conviction that comes from a parent's bond with their child. It's an ambitious task, but if anyone is up to it, it's Nichols. With a command of visual and emotional storytelling, he crafts a film that's a road movie, chase thriller, intimate drama and otherworldly adventure all in one, yet remains united in tone and mood. Everything from the cinematography to the evocative score feels heartfelt and mysterious. And then there's the pitch-perfect performances, particularly from the filmmaker's continued main man Shannon, who provides yet another quietly haunting portrayal. Of course, Nichols' latest offering doesn't just follow in his own footsteps, even though he's clearly carving out his own niche. Courtesy of its supernatural narrative, it also conjures up thoughts of '70s and '80s sci-fi fare. Think John Carpenter's Starman and Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. A lingering sense of awe emanates from not only the writer-director's material, but from the genre greats that inspire him. It's no surprise that the movie that results proves as enigmatic as it is enchanting, delivering Nichols' fourth knockout in a row.
It's a workday. You're rushing from one meeting to another, the Blackberry won't stop bleeping at you, the morning's caffeine fix is wearing off, and then you feel it: that familiar rumble in the stomach. Lunchtime has arrived. If your ability to plan ahead has failed you and you haven't brought your lunch with you, it's time to decide what's your going to put in your belly. To achieve the holy trinity of lunch, you need to find something that is healthy, delicious and affordable. And if you're in the Brisbane CBD, you're in luck. There has been a lot of noise in recent years about the health and environmental benefits of plant-based diets. Vege Rama (which earned a place in our Five Best Vegetarian Cafes in Brisbane) is committed to the health of people and the planet, serving up a smorgasbord of plant-based dishes, ranging from nutrient-packed salads to nourishing curries. The 100% vegan café is located at Post Office Square (there is also a 100% vegetarian café located in the Myer Centre food court) – and it is 100% delicious. There are a few mainstays on the hot food menu – think enchiladas ($9), lasagna ($9) and dahl with rice ($5) – but the rest of the hot dishes vary from day to day. Inspired by cuisines such as Indian, Thai, Italian and Greek, options on offer may include veggie korma, split pea soup, spinach and mushroom pasta bake, satay vegetables or Thai pumpkin curry. Keep an eye on the Vege Rama Facebook page to find out what's cooking each day. Salad lovers will also be in heaven, with a range including mustard & dill, pad Thai noodles, chickpea pesto, falafel, and Moroccan quinoa. And for healthy food masquerading as dessert, who can go past a slice of vegan cheesecake? Best of all, most meals will cost you $10 or under. So there you have it: healthy, delicious and affordable. This could very well be Brisbane's best workday lunch.
Queenslanders, it's vacation time again. For Brisbanites, it's staycation time, too. Back in March, the State Government gave residents an excuse to enjoy a getaway via its Holiday Dollars scheme. Now, it's bringing the initiative back for another round, with both $100 and $200 vouchers up for grabs across two regions. Last time, the vouchers were available for travel to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. This time, you have two options: hang around Greater Brisbane or once again head north. Under the Brisbane Holiday Dollars offering, 30,000 $100 vouchers will be available tourism experiences and accommodation in the Greater Brisbane region (which includes Brisbane, Scenic Rim, Moreton Bay, Redlands Coast, Somerset, Logan and Ipswich). As part of the Whitsunday Holiday Dollars package, 6000 vouchers are available — but only for folks who are already staying in the region during a set period. The idea has two obvious aims: enticing Queensland residents to go venturing both locally and further afield throughout the state, and helping support tourism businesses in the highlighted areas. The move was announced today, Thursday, April 22, by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, including the details of what you can spend the money on, when you can spend it and exactly how you can get your hands on the vouchers. From Tuesday, April 27–Friday, April 30, the draw for the Brisbane vouchers will be open to Queensland residents over the age of 18 — and you'll need to head to queensland.com to nab one. You'll register for a voucher code and, if you're successful, you'll be notified from Thursday, May 6. As happened last time, there's likely to be more interested folks than there are available vouchers, so they'll be handed out at random. Those who successfully receive a voucher for Brisbane will then be able to use it to book between Thursday, May 6–Friday, June 4, for use up until Sunday, August 15. The vouchers can only be spent on tourism experiences and accommodation, and they'll enable you to get up to 50 percent off your booking, maxing out at $100. https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1384957613188820998 The Whitsundays vouchers, which will be on offer in conjunction with Tourism Whitsundays, will work quite differently. Value-wise, they'll cover 50 percent off your booking for tours and attractions up to $200, but Queensland residents over the age of 18 will need to already be in the region between Tuesday, May 4–Wednesday, June 30 to get their hands on one. Once you're up north, you'll claim your voucher through participating hotels, Visitor Information Centres and the campaign website. They're activated once you make a booking, and will operate on a first in, best dressed basis — and will be available until the quota of vouchers is exhausted. When the Cairns scheme was announced back in March, Premier Palaszczuk said that it could be rolled out across the rest of the state if the vouchers are successful. That's what's happening now, but there's no word as yet whether other parts of Queensland might be covered in the future. You can apply for one of the 30,000 $100 Brisbane Holiday Dollars travel vouchers between Tuesday, April 27–Friday, April 30 at queensland.com. The Whitsunday Holiday Dollars vouchers will be available to folks in the region between Tuesday, May 4–Wednesday, June 30, with further details available via Tourism Whitsundays. Top image: Tourism and Events Queensland.
During the past two months of lockdown, we've done plenty of solo dancing in our lounge rooms, with online nightclubs, virtual DJ sets and charity music festivals providing the tunes. But, from today, Wednesday, May 27, you can round up nine of your mates and head out for a night of dinner and dancing at your own private event at The Tivoli. In line with Queensland's recently eased restrictions, which came into force on May 15, restaurants and venues serving food have been allowed to reopen to ten dine-in customers at a time. The Tivoli doesn't usually fit that description, but it's adapting to the situation — and allowing Brisbanites to have the place to themselves for a four-course shared meal, all while listening to a live band or making shapes to a DJ set. "COVID19 has changed the way people are allowed to gather and experience live music, so instead of focusing on what we can't do during this time, we're focusing on what we can," explains The Tivoli co-owner and creative director Dave Sleswick. "For the first time ever, we're opening up The Tivoli to intimate groups for an evening of decadence, incredible food and excellent music. This is a fantastic time to diversify our offering and get creative." You and your nine pals will pay at least $165 each, which includes exclusive access to the venue for four hours, a tour of the place (including backstage), and picking your own music playlist to be pumped through The Tiv's sound system. The basic package also features a glass of champagne on arrival, then four courses of dinner with matched wines. Your meal will start with cheese and charcuterie, with truffled mushroom pâté and duck dumplings among the entree options, pork belly porchetta and braised wagyu beef cheeks on the mains list, and petit fours served up for dessert. If you're after a live band or DJ, that can be arranged as well — although you'll have to pay extra. You can also turn the occasion into a poker game or murder-mystery night, get a professional photographer to come along and get snapping, or level up your food to include caviar and oysters, too. To make a booking, you will need to have ten people. You'll also need to pay a 50-percent deposit at the time. Bookings are available from Wednesday, May 27–Friday, June 12, after which The Tivoli expects to be allowed to permit groups of 20 to enjoy all of the above — contingent on Queensland's COVID-19 restrictions easing further, as outlined in the state's roadmap. During the pandemic, The Tivoli has also launched a bottle shop and cafe, should you be looking to pick up some booze to take home — or have it delivered. Records from Jet Black Cat Music are also available, with The Tiv-themed merchandise coming soon as well. The Tivoli is open for private bookings from Wednesday, May 27, with a minimum spend of $165 per person for a group of ten people required. To make your reservation, visit the venue's website.
Moosejaw, an online shop that sells outdoor recreational apparel, has created the X-Ray Catalog App, available at their website. Once the app is downloaded, the user holds their smartphone over photos of models sporting ski parkas and other fairly unsexy items, only to see the app 'strip' them through the use of augmented reality technology, revealing what they are wearing underneath their clothes. It's true that a lot more people (probably men) are suddenly going to be a lot more interested in this catalogue. If you wanted to look at soft porn in a public place or avoid embarrassment when your mum finds your stash under the bed - she'll just think you really love camping - this technology might just hold the answer. Or maybe it's about giving people the chance to feel as if they have superhero skills. Either way, if you see people reading the catalogue on the train with a little too much interest, you can either tsk them or give them a knowing wink, depending on whether you think this is creepy or brilliant.
HECS debt getting you down? Desperate to brush up on Marxian Class Analysis Theory, Astrobiology and Space Exploration or even Roman Architecture? Featuring classes from top universities, Open Culture lets you learn about nearly every topic imaginable from schools like Harvard and Berkeley, without racking up Ivy League levels of debt. Sure, you won't get a pretty certificate but you will get a brighter mind, which is arguably just as shiny. Free online access to top notch classes is an emerging trend, with other sites like Lecture Fox and iTunes U opening up the possibilities of education and learning. [Via Trend Hunter]
Pretending you're somewhere far away from Brisbane without hopping on a plane, train, boat or in a car isn't a pandemic-era novelty. This city of ours has been hosting events that promise to do exactly that for much, much longer — even if some have been on hold over the past few years. One such shindig: the always-hefty, always-boozy, always-merry Oktoberfest Brisbane, which is finally set to return in 2022 after a two-year hiatus. Brisbanites, dust off your lederhosen or dirndl — and make plans to visit Brisbane Showgrounds between Friday, October 7–Sunday, October 9 and Friday, October 14–Sunday, October 16. Oktoberfest Brisbane will run over two weekends, giving the city six days to celebrate all things German. Usually, more than 35,000 people head along, so prepare to have plenty of company. The sizeable German culture festival will span traditional live music tents, Munich-style biergartens and carnival rides, as always. An all-day lineup of live music — including an Oompah band, yodelling and dance — will keep visitors entertained while they eat, drink and celebrate all things Bavaria. There'll also be plenty of food stalls offering hearty German cuisine when hunger strikes, including gravy-doused schnitties, candied apples, pork knuckle with sauerkraut, wursts and pretzels. And, when it comes to beer, the festival likes to keep things traditional: all beer served on-site has been brewed specifically for the event, following the Bavarian Purity Law, and all brews are served in steins. Not a big beer-lover? There'll be classic German wines and non-alcoholic drinks available, too. Because organisers are expecting crowds, this year's Friday sessions will kick off at 12pm for the first time — giving you an excuse to ditch work early. And, on Sundays, there'll be $25 tickets that include unlimited free rides. Perhaps don't take advantage of that after a few steins, though. Oktoberfest Brisbane will run from Friday, October 7–Sunday, October 9 and Friday, October 14–Sunday, October 16, 2022, at Brisbane Showgrounds. For more information or to buy tickets, head to the event's website.
When it comes to all things gaming, Brisbane has been levelling up this year. Among the wave of themed establishments opening their doors — think Netherworld, Super Combo, Cafe de SOYT and newcomer Pincadia — Morningside's 1UP Arcade made retro-style freeplay gaming their domain. Now, after operating since May, they're adding a few expansions. From December 16, patrons won't just be able to mash buttons on 90-plus arcade machines, although that's still well and truly on the agenda. If playing the likes of NBA Jam, multiple versions of Street Fighter and rarer finds like Garou: Mark of the Wolves isn't enough fun, then visitors can flip out in the new pinball section — and get comfy with old school consoles in a new lounge. A wide array of both will be available, with the former spanning tables from the '70s onwards, and the latter including 8-bit and 16-bit classics like Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Sega Master System and Sega Mega Drive all on CRT televisions. Sending a few balls whizzing around attracts a separate entry fee of $15 — or $25 to access both the pinball and arcade spaces — while the console hangout is included in the standard price. The freeplay concept applies to the new additions — that is, you can enjoy all the gaming fun you can handle without needing to continually reach for your wallet. Weekly ($29), monthly ($79) or quarterly ($129) memberships are also available. Yep, if you've been having Timezone lock-in withdrawals, you'd best start stretching your fingers now because you'll be in your element. Find 1UP Arcade at 230 Lytton Road, Morningside, open from 2pm to 10pm from Wednesday to Sunday. For more information, head to their website.
"Like Fishbowl but with fruit." That's the phrase adorning a door at Fruitbowl, and it couldn't sum up the eatery's concept better. When the craving for vegetable-filled bowls strikes, Fishbowl has the answer, launching in Brisbane in 2022 six years after opening its first-ever store in Sydney. Now, next door to its original Queensland venue at Gasworks in Newstead, its new sibling Fruitbowl is doing the same with another healthy food group. On the menu here: fruit, obviously, as topping acai and froyo. Like its neighbour, Fruitbowl is all about building your own dishes, starting with your pick of base — or both if you like — then whichever fruit and toppings that you'd like. If you're after granola, that's homemade and roasted in-house. With the fruit range, obviously the freshest produce reigns supreme. And the vibe and ethos mirror Fishbowl, including the bright but casual setting and a focus on sustainability. The idea is that you'll head to Fishbowl for a meal, then to Fruitbowl for dessert, although no one will know if you skip the former. New to all things Fishbowl? Before it branched out into fruit, the chain began by heroing fast but healthy vegetable-filled bowls, all revolving around its range of house favourites. So, you can enjoy Fishbowl's original salmon sashimi number, its coconut chicken bowl and a warm 12-hour braised brisket option — among other varieties — but personalise it by choosing from brown rice, sushi rice, glass noodles, mixed cabbage, mixed leaves and soba noodles as bases. Down south, where Fishbowl operates stores across Sydney and Melbourne as well, the company serves up more than 10,000 bowls of its most popular dish — The OG, that salmon sashimi bowl with kale, savoy, beets, shallots, edamame, red onion, roasted sesame dressing, seaweed salad, tobiko and crispy shallots — every week. Since first making its name in Bondi in 2016, back when founders Nathan Dalah, Nic Pestalozzi and Casper Ettelson were all uni students, the brand has clearly expanded its footprint considerably. But it's not just about tucking into bowls, be it vegetables or fruit; Fishbowl has also set up run clubs and created its own surf team, and also opened smoothie and salad bar Side Room, seafood eatery Fish Shop and takeaway joint FSH MKT. Find Fruitbowl at Gasworks, 76 Skyring Terrace, Newstead — next to Fishbowl.
A Twitter-famous writer with a bestseller to her name and plenty of online fame, Arabella (Michaela Coel) has a deadline. Overnight, she needs to finish the first draft of her second book or her publishers won't be happy. But when her mates suggest that she comes out for a couple of drinks, the London-based scribe quickly acquiesces. The next morning, though, she doesn't feel okay — and it isn't just a hangover, with Arabella slowly realising that she has been the victim of sexual assault. It's best to take I May Destroy You's title literally from the get-go — in reference to how this show will make you feel, that is. Turning a traumatic experience into blistering television, the 12-part series is easily 2020's best, and it is definitely a phenomenal effort from creator/writer/co-director/star Coel. Watching Arabella come to terms with what's happened to her, and to regain her sense of self, isn't easy viewing — but it's absolutely must-see TV.
Botellón's leafy Graceville corner is ripe for a lazy weekend afternoon, especially when it has the feast to match. With that in mind, the team is bringing back its beloved Paella Sunday for a special session from 12–3pm on Sunday, June 8. For $35 per person, Head Chef Matt Woodhouse will cook a massive serve of chicken and chorizo paella before your eyes. Plus, you'll also tuck into fresh seasonal salad from Ramarro Farm, along with charred sourdough and house-made churros. As for the drinks, expect another Spanish classic as sangria jugs — red, white or rosé — are available for $60. Combine this feed with the restaurant's sunny al fresco area and the good times should flow effortlessly. Supported by live music throughout the afternoon, this lively celebration of Spanish cuisine is a great way to make the end of the week an easygoing one. Bookings are available through the website, but walk-ins are welcome.
Millions of Aussies flock to Sydney's sparkling shores each year — and, now that the borders are open, it's time to book your great escape to the city. But often, it seems, not many make it past the main attractions. That's why we're here to help. If you're considering a trip to the Harbour City, there's plenty to add to your itinerary beyond the usual highlight reel of CBD sights. Once you've made the pilgrimage to our cultural institutions and culinary heavyweights, make tracks to the neighbourhood watering holes, independent shops and small galleries locals love. We've joined forces with Destination NSW to show you how. Live like a local and uncover the hidden gems that make Sydney's inner city suburbs worth a visit. Please stay up to date with the latest NSW Government health advice regarding COVID-19. [caption id="attachment_652518" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Grounds of Alexandria, Destination NSW[/caption] WHERE TO BRUNCH You've probably been to: Visitors are known to flock to the beloved Grounds of Alexandria (as well as its city outpost, The Grounds of the City) and the well-known Bills establishments in Surry Hills, Darlinghurst and Bondi — and we don't blame them. Besides being the perfect spot for your next Instagram photo, The Grounds of Alexandria offers a cafe, restaurant, bar, bakery, patisserie, coffee roastery, florist and markets to explore. And at Bills, it almost goes without saying that those corn fritters, creamy scrambled eggs and ricotta hotcakes are huge drawcards. But when you're ready to try something new (and avoid the queues), join the locals for the morning meal. [caption id="attachment_708584" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Reuben Hills[/caption] Next, you should go to: Nestled in the leafy streets of Surry Hills (and just a ten-minute walk northeast from Central Station), Reuben Hills delivers South American-inspired eats and house-roasted specialty coffee. Its soft-baked eggs with ranchero and kale are made to warm bellies and the chorizo brekkie roll is possibly the best spin on a classic B&E sanga you'll find in the city. Or, head slightly further out to Redfern Station, walk five minutes down Eveleigh Street, and you'll find Henry Lee's, a charming courtyard cafe with an ever-changing menu of local produce. Don't miss Henry's Dream toast with avocado, pesto, heirloom tomato, pomegranate molasses and a poached egg, and make sure to nab a batch brew made with locally roasted beans from The Little Marionette. [caption id="attachment_785522" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lindy Lee 'No Up, No Down, I Am the Ten Thousand Things', 'Lindy Lee: Moon in a Dew Drop', MCA. Image credit: Anna Kucera[/caption] WHERE TO SEE ART You've probably been to: The Art Gallery of NSW brings together centuries of international and local talent to create one of the world's most beautiful art museums, while the Museum of Contemporary Art celebrates the work of modern artists from Australia and abroad. With rotating exhibitions, there's always something new to discover on a return trip, but if you're looking for something off the beaten track, read on. [caption id="attachment_770817" align="alignnone" width="2000"] White Rabbit 'And Now', Kimberley Low[/caption] Next, you should go to: On the hunt for something one-of-a-kind? Meet Firstdraft, Woolloomooloo's premier space for emerging and experimental art. Expect to be challenged and inspired here by ambitious art making. Next up is Chippendale's Galerie Pompom, a venue as playful as its name suggests. Stop by and explore mixed-media works from young and emerging Sydney- and Melbourne-based artists. Then from there, you can go on a gallery crawl of sorts to surrounding art spaces, including Nanda\Hobbs, Harrington Street Gallery, Goodspace Gallery at The Lord Gladstone pub and, of course, White Rabbit Gallery. [caption id="attachment_721571" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nikki To[/caption] WHERE TO DINE You've probably been to: When on the hunt for an indulgent feast in the inner city, the Sydney Opera House sails prove a popular destination. Bennelong offers a dining experience as unique as the building it sits within, with views across the harbour and a fine-dining menu from celebrated chef Peter Gilmore. Then there's Surry Hills' queue-inviting Thai eatery, Chin Chin. Its trademark neon glow, loud music and industrial design make it a go-to for visiting food lovers. But if you've tried these big names, this is your chance to explore Sydney's neighbourhood gems — and we've got a lot. [caption id="attachment_784794" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Sunshine Inn, Cassandra Hannagan[/caption] Next, you should go to: First and foremost, head to cosy Italian eatery Kindred in Darlington for a homely feed. It's as inviting as Nonna's kitchen, featuring house-made pasta, bread and cultured butter and it serves almost exclusively organic, bio-dynamic or natural wines. For a memorable feast in vibrant surroundings, make tracks to Surry Hills' rule-breaking Indian restaurant Don't Tell Aunty. Opt for chef Jessi Singh's set menu for $65 per person, and you'll get to try almost all the curries on the menu with the thali (curry platter). And, to really indulge in local flavours, head to The Sunshine Inn, Redfern's new restaurant and cocktail bar from the Golden Gully crew. Alongside a drinks list packed with nearby producers — including Yulli's Brews, Batch Brewing Co and Mr Black — it serves a selection of all-vegetarian, seasonal snacks. [caption id="attachment_637643" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Frankie's, Katje Ford[/caption] WHERE TO DRINK You've probably been to: The laneways of Sydney's CBD are a goldmine for a post-dinner tipple. Revellers will be well acquainted with late-night, rocker joint Frankie's Pizza. It's part dive bar, part New York-style pizza parlour, part blast from the past in 80s metal form. Then, of course, there's The Baxter Inn, the underground bar known for its 800-plus whisky offering, endless bowls of free pretzels and speakeasy vibe. But as great as Frankie's and The Baxter Inn are, they're just the tip of the small bar iceberg. [caption id="attachment_725315" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Arcadia Liquors, Kitti Gould[/caption] Next, you should go to: Down the road, you'll find one of the CBD's best courtyard bars, Since I Left You — which just so happens to hold one of the first small bar licenses ever issued in the city. Sip a hard lemonade, dig into a cheeseburger toastie and catch one of the many live gigs the bar hosts. Plus, every Saturday it offers beats, bottomless cocktails and themed brunches. A little further out in Redfern, you'll find neighbourhood stalwart Arcadia Liquors. Sample a selection of Sydney-brewed beers or sip a martini made with local gin. Continue on to Newtown, in the direction of Corridor. The name of this joint says it all — it's a slim, cosy bar with a rooftop area that offers an ace happy hour where you can sip $7 pints of local brews and $14 cocktails. [caption id="attachment_725960" align="alignnone" width="1920"] State Theatre[/caption] WHERE TO CATCH A SHOW You've probably been to: Seeing a show at Sydney Opera House is a bucket-list item. With shows ranging from cabaret and comedy to symphony and ballet — and everything in between — it's easy to find something to pique your interests. Beyond the iconic sails, you'll find Haymarket's historic Capitol Theatre, which often hosts world-class musicals, ballet and opera, as well as the heritage-listed State Theatre, which brings film, theatre and music performances to the masses. But, that's just the start of what Sydney has to offer. [caption id="attachment_637702" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Venue 505, Katje Ford[/caption] Next, you should go to: Live music comes alive at inner west gem Venue 505. Brimming with talented musicians, this spot plays host to excellent live jazz, roots, reggae, funk, instrumental and vocal entertainment Monday to Saturday — and often for free or less than $50. Down the road, the historic Vanguard has a full program showcasing local and international talents from a mixed bag of genres, including rock, soul, blues and tribute bands. When it comes to theatre, Griffin Theatre Company offers a celebration of local playwrights and actors. Stop by to see the next Cate Blanchett or David Wenham take the stage (both of whom started their careers with this iconic company). [caption id="attachment_739630" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Strand Arcade, Destination NSW[/caption] WHERE TO SHOP You've probably been to: You've probably roamed the ornate halls of the historic Queen Victoria Building, boasting 170 boutiques plus several drinking and dining options — including a spot dedicated entirely to champagne. And you've probably wandered through The Strand Arcade, with its high-end fashions. The heritage Victorian building is the place to go for something fancy and bespoke (like a hat steamed and fitted to your head) or for a swish meal at Pendolino, the decadent Italian restaurant on level four. But outside of these dazzling arcades, you'll get to experience the boutiques and purveyors the locals frequent. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Lunatiques, Kitti Gould[/caption] Next, you should go to: Venture out of the CBD and head to one of the many shopping streets around the inner city suburbs. Antique lovers will adore Mascot's vintage warehouse, Lunatiques. Brimming with pre-loved furniture, art, clothes and more, this is a destination for collectors and interiors aficionados alike. Trendsetters, head to picturesque Paddington and make a beeline for Di Nuovo, which offers racks of hand-picked, secondhand pieces from local and overseas high-end labels. And if you're looking for a good read for your trip, pay a visit to Glebe's Gleebooks to track down new and secondhand books. The bookshop has been a local favourite for over 40 years. You can also stop by neighbouring Sappho's, another secondhand bookshop with many hard-to-find or out-of-print titles, plus a cafe-bar in the courtyard out the back. Make your great escape to Sydney now and traverse it like a local. Discover more around the city here. Top image: Since I Left You
If you're all about thinking green, living in a more eco-conscious way and doing your utmost for the planet — as we all should be — then you likely already know about Brisbane's Green Heart Fair. This event regularly takes over a leafy public space to celebrate sustainability, all by giving away plants, teaching attendees about relevant topics, serving up plant-based food truck dishes and hosting artisan markets selling locally made wares. And, when it returns for autumn 2023, it's hosting its 15th event. Mark 9am–3pm on Sunday, May 28 in your diary, with all of the above is on the agenda once again. Also part of the fair, which'll be settling into the 64-hectare expanse that is Victoria Park / Barrambin in Herston: an art installation that celebrates the site; learning about the park's Indigenous history; an educational walking tour; and workshops on sustainability, gardening and other related subjects. If adding some greenery to your yard has particularly piqued your interest, there'll be native plants on offer — all for free. They're available on a first-come, first-served basis, so arriving early is recommended. And, the fair also spans live tunes, plus activities for kids. This time around, the latter includes a Bluey show — for real life.
Brisbane's busy market scene loves an occasion. Mother's Day markets, winter markets, Christmas in July markets, spring markets, festive markets — this city has seen them all, including in 2024, and will continue to do so. Accordingly, it should come as zero surprise that Halloween markets are also on the list. Redcliffe Markets Festival of Frights is one of them. Only this spooky event will take you trick-or-treating by the Redcliffe jetty. Fancy an eerie theme and a killer waterside location? That's on offer from 4–9pm on Saturday, October 26. Also on the bill: fireworks, a scavenger hunts, Halloween-appropriate decorations all over the place, and music and live entertainment to fit the mood — including roving pirate entertainers. And, a heap of food stalls serving up bites to eat, and drinks, also likely with a theme. Entry is free, but you'll want your wallet for all that browsing and buying — there'll be more than 200 stalls to peruse. And yes, dressing up is welcome for this wander along Redcliffe Parade till 9pm.
Soon, in North Sydney, smokers mightn't just have to stub out their cigarettes in public areas — rather, puffing away in the entire central business district could be banned. At a meeting this week, the North Sydney Council moved to create a smoke-free CBD, prohibiting smoking in all public spaces within the North Sydney local government area. The motion received the unanimous support of attending councillors, with determining community support listed as the next step in the meeting minutes. North Sydney, Sydney's second largest CBD, already boasts a number of smoke-free zones at Brett Whiteley Place and Elizabeth Plaza. Both are self-regulated, which is how the council proposes that the new CBD-wide ban would work — and with participating restaurants, bars and cafes placing council-produced and -providers stickers in their windows to help raise awareness. "Council's creation of self-regulated, no smoking zones has been well received by the community and I believe a push to expand this policy would be widely welcomed," North Sydney Mayor Jilly Gibson states in the minutes. The mayor advised the ABC that fines won't be issued for those who flout the ban — and if locals supported the smoke-free plan, it could be in place by Christmas or early 2019. And, Gibson told the Sydney Morning Herald, the eventual aim is to make the entirety of North Sydney's shared public spaces smoke-free, including streets, plazas, parks and outdoor seating. Throughout New South Wales more broadly, smoking in enclosed areas of licensed premises has been illegal since 2007, while lighting up in outdoor spaces such as public transport stops and stations, the entrances to public buildings, around children's playgrounds and near spectators at sporting facilities has been banned since 2012. In 2015, the state prohibited smoking in outdoor dining areas as well, including on on footpaths outside licensed cafes and pubs. And, since September 2016, Pitt Street Mall Place in the Sydney CBD has been smoke-free. Queensland outlawed smoking in outdoor dining areas in 2006, while Victoria followed suit in 2017. And both Brisbane and Melbourne have designated smoke-free areas in their CBDs — either through state-wide restrictions on smoking in outdoor pedestrian malls, or through specific smoke-free sites. Hobart also has a number of designated smoke-free sites.
In any given month in Brisbane, finding an excuse to eat, drink, dance, listen to live tunes and party on a rooftop isn't hard. But only February — and, in 2023, a few select dates in January — heralds the annual BrisAsia Festival, where all of those events focus on celebrating the city's ties with Asia, the many cultures that originated from the continent and Lunar New Year. Running from Wednesday, February 1–Sunday, February 19 — with events also on January 13, 14 and 22 — the 2023 program boasts old favourites, new additions, and the fest's trademark mix of traditional and contemporary Asian arts. In fact, it includes 27 events across 12 suburbs, and 400-plus artists. It all begins with those festivities before the official kickoff, with the TET Festival marking Vietnam's Hội chợ Tết across two days, then Fortitude Valley going all in for Lunar New Year on Sunday, January 22. From there, last year's laneway tea festival is back, this time in Burnett Lane in the CBD, and so is the Southside by Night event that combines street food with a car meet (yes, think Fast and Furious vibes). Pre-pandemic, the Lunar New Year Rooftop Party at Sunnybank Plaza was always a highlight, complete with traditional lanterns and fireworks — and the 2023 lineup builds from there. Fortitude Music Hall will host the launch party, which'll feature lion dancers, martial arts displays, Sydney-based DJ Nick Kim and local drag star Crimson Coco; Soul Gazing: A Journey through the Cosmic Skydome will take over the Mt Coot-tha Observatory; the BrisAsia Beats sessions return as well; and a big summer party will pop up at the South Bank Piazza. Elsewhere, you can check out an intercultural creative residency at Brisbane Powerhouse, dance in the Queen Street Mall for BrisAsia Dance Day, break out your K-pop moves and listen to stories about Brisbane's cultural evolution. Plus, Brissie's Asian Australian comedians will also take to the stage for a night of standup comedy, and the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens will host a night of love songs from around the globe in the lead up to Valentine's Day. After debuting in 2022, digital storytelling initiative Mother's Table is also back to showcase another round of local restaurant owners, all chatting about their eateries and signature dishes.
One lavish estate. A reunion filled with dysfunctional relatives. The sudden death of the family patriarch. Combine them all together, and you have a good ol' fashioned murder mystery — as well as the plot for Rian Johnson's latest star-studded film, Knives Out. The fifth feature from the writer/director, as well as his first since 2017's Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi, Knives Out steps into quite the chaotic situation. Just after his 85th birthday, crime novelist Harlan Thrombin (Christopher Plummer) is found dead, all while his manor happens to be filled with both family members and staff. Eager to discover just what's behind the old man's demise, Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is soon on the case. Yes, Agatha Christie would be proud. And, like all of her famous whodunnits, Knives Out's sleuth has plenty of suspects. Indeed, the list of potential culprits is jam-packed with familiar faces, including Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon and LaKeith Stanfield, as well as 13 Reasons Why's Katherine Langford, IT: Chapter Two's Jaeden Martell and Blade Runner 2049's Ana de Armas. Basically, think Cluedo come to life, filled with high-profile talent, and packaged with both twists and laughs. Johnson's love of on-screen puzzles was well-established in both Brick and Looper, so the filmmaker seems like he's in his element. Check out the latest trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw6L1mu-Nss Knives Out releases in Australian cinemas on November 28.
When HBO managed to get the cast of Friends back on the same couch and chatting to camera about their time on the hit sitcom, the US cable network clearly found itself a new niche. That'd be big reunion specials that reteam the stars of beloved pop culture favourites to talk about their experiences — so it's going down the same route with the Harry Potter franchise. If you've been chanting "accio more Harry Potter" to yourself for the past decade since the eight-film series wrapped up, it seems that your wishes have finally come true. Like the Friends special, Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts won't feature anyone in-character — but, if you're a fan, spending more time with the movies' stars still promises to be magical. There'd be no point going ahead if Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson weren't all involved, so they're definitely on the lineup. So is filmmaker Chris Columbus, who directed the franchise's first two movies. Joining them is a huge list of other actors from across the movie series' history, including Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Isaacs, Gary Oldman and Tom Felton, plus James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Mark Williams, Bonnie Wright, Alfred Enoch, Matthew Lewis, Evanna Lynch and Ian Hart. You'll spot some missing names — Maggie Smith and Robert Pattinson, for instance, to name just two — but clearly there'll be a whole lot of HP cast members reminiscing about their time in the wizarding world. As the special's name makes plain, Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts is popping up to celebrate 20 years since Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone first reached cinemas back in 2001. That said, whether you're a muggle, a wannabe wizard and witch, or someone who spent far too much of their childhood reading the books and watching the flicks, you'll actually be checking out the new special in 2022. In the US, it'll stream on January 1 on HBO Max. Viewing options Down Under haven't yet been revealed, so there's something to start trying to summon sooner rather than later. Check out the teaser trailer for the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts special below: HBO's Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts special will be available to stream in the US on January 1, 2022 — we'll update you with viewing details Down Under when they're announced.
