It's safe to say that 2020 has been a strange and surreal year. In fact, as we all know, that's quite the understatement. Prefer to get your weird and wonderful fix watching the big screen, rather than reading the news? That's perfectly acceptable — and that's what Monster Fest is all about. Returning to Event Cinemas Myer Centre from Thursday, October 29–Sunday, November 8, this fest is all about out-there cinema. In 2020, it's even taking on an apocalyptic theme. That means that film fans can expect flicks about dystopian scenarios; however, it'll also be serving up a selection of the latest and greatest genre and horror movies in general. If you're only going to add two films to your must-see list, make them Possessor and Synchronic. The former is the latest vivid and engrossing sci-fi/horror mind-bender from Brandon Cronenberg, son of iconic filmmaker David Cronenberg, and it stars Andrea Riseborough (Mandy) and Christopher Abbott (Vox Lux) in a thriller about corporate espionage via mind control. As for the latter, it's the stellar new movie from The Endless duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead, and features Anthony Mackie (Avengers: Endgame) and Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades of Grey) as paramedics who keep being called out to cases involving a trippy, reality-shifting new drug. Also on the bill: documentary Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist, which features the legendary director talking about his big horror hit; Occupation: Rainfall, the world-premiering sequel to Australian sci-fi film Occupation; and new 4K restorations of retro favourites Total Recall and Event Horizon. The list goes on, and this year's fest comes with a difference: nothing in its program screens against each other, so you can head along to absolutely everything if you're super keen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl_kzTQvPVw
Sydney newcomer Wildflower Brewing and Blending is bringing things back to basics, creating barrel-aged, blended wild beers that focus on balance, approachability and natural ingredients. Owner Topher Boehm has an innate fascination with crafting and learning — his previous preoccupations include book binding and bespoke shoe-making, as well as, most recently, brewing at Batch Brewing Company. "When I got into brewing I loved working with the raw materials, but when I found out yeast was available everywhere I had a desire to take it one step further, to source more materials from Australia and what is naturally found around me," says Boehm. "This same beer could have been made 150 years ago." In this naturalist vein, Boehm cultivates wild yeast found in New South Wales and uses Australian malts and hops where possible. Though barrel aging, especially with wild yeast, can add a tart characteristic to the brews, Wildflower is not a sour beer facility. On the contrary, Boehm is focused on producing balanced, easy-drinking beers that are closer to farmhouse or saison-style ales than sours. Blending newly brewed beer with existing barrel-aged beer is what gives this balance between fresh and funky. In a Marrickville warehouse that's rumoured to have a once acted as a rivet factory for the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Wildflower's space is very bare bones and is clearly all about the French oak barrels, fifty of which currently line one wall. Boehm sourced these ex-wine barrels from Orange, working with such heavyweight wineries as De Salis, Ross Hill and Canobolas~Smith. The beer is initially contract brewed at Batch and then transported to the Wildflower barrels for blending. Wildflower's core range includes a Table Beer, the Gold Blend #1 and the Amber Blend #1. The Table Beer was inspired by the brewing culture Boehm experienced in France. "We would always have beer with lunch, and I love the idea of stopping during the day and having a table beer that is light and refreshing," he says. He is specifically fond of beers you can pair with food, and describes his gold and amber ales as white wine versus red wine for this purpose. "The most important thing for me is that people just enjoy the beer and don't over-analyse it," says Boehm. "I want the beer to be approachable and simple so it's just a nice brew to enjoy with friends and have a chat over without any pretension." The first Wildflower deliveries went out in mid-April, with venues including Automata, Bitter Phew and The Dolphin Hotel wine room, plus bottle shops including Oak Barrel, Bucket Boys and Paddington's Five Way Cellars, all snagging this batch. A few venues have already sold out, but if you missed out on this round, there will be more where that came from soon enough. Wildflower Brewing and Blending is located at 11-13 Brompton St, Marrickville. The tasting room will open to the public for Saturday tastings and takeaway in the near future, so keep an eye on their website for updates.
When cheese is placed between two slices of bread, and then warmed to its edible oozing point, it becomes a gooey force that cannot be contained. That's exactly what's happened at dedicated cheese toastie joint Melt Brothers. Their love of the best thing you can do with sliced bread knows no bounds, and so it's spreading, with a second store opening in Mt Gravatt. Less than a year after setting up their first CBD outlet, Melt Brothers is now slinging their cheesy concoctions at Garden City. Bringing their dairy-filled delights to the shopping centre's ground floor food precinct, they're serving up the same delicious menu in a whole new spot — because, let's face it, who wants to be more than a 20-minute drive away from melted cheese? That means fans in the city's south can grab all-day fare like the three-cheese Mouse Trap and the bacon and egg-filled Morning Glory, or stop by for a M.C. Cheesy (with macaroni and cheese) or BFC (with buttermilk fried chicken) for lunch. And, while their dessert offering doesn't actually feature cheese, smashing some vanilla ice cream, Nutella, and hundreds and thousands between a toasted sweet bun makes for a great after-cheese cap-off. Plus, to celebrate the new store's opening, they're launching with a a half-price deal that'll either save you some pennies or encourage you to buy twice as much. Drop by on October 14 and receive 50 percent off a grilled cheese toastie as long as you buy a side and a drink. It goes without saying, but arrive hungry. Find Melt Brothers' second store at Westfield Garden City. Head to their website and Facebook page for further details.
While some social distancing and public gathering rules are still in place across the country — and Melbourne it preparing to go into lockdown again — some festivals are starting to look to the less-restricted future. Falls Festival has announced it's powering ahead with plans for its New Year's festival and, today, Wednesday, July 8, Bluesfest has just announced the first 50 acts for its 2021 festival. The festival's biggest-ever first lineup announcement, it features many artists who were set to perform at the 2020 festival, which was cancelled — like many — because of COVID-19. Famed American singer and repeat Bluesfest offender Patti Smith and Her Band, as well as the multi Grammy Award-winning George Benson and British trip-hop band Morcheeba are all set to headline the fest once again. Some of the artists new to the lineup include Aussie icon and the human scream Jimmy Barnes, Justin Vernon-led American indie folk band Bon Iver and blues-rock quintet The Teskey Brothers. https://www.facebook.com/bluesfestbyronbay/photos/a.154558221251307/4356464721060615/?type=3&theater The festival is set to return to Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm — just outside Byron Bay — for its usual Easter time slot, from Thursday, April 1 to Monday, April 5. This is dependent, however, on the continued relaxing of public gatherings restrictions. Under NSW's current laws, music festivals are prohibited. When the festival was cancelled earlier this year, it was the first time in 30 years it had not run, but the second year in a row it had come under threat. In 2019, the Festival Director threatened to move the festival to a spot outside of NSW because of the State Government's strict music festival licensing regime. Here's hoping it goes ahead — if save to do so — as planned in 2021, because tickets are already on sale. Time to start making Easter plans. Anyway, here's the full lineup (so far). BLUESFEST 2021 LINEUP Bon Iver Patti Smith and Her Band Jimmy Barnes George Benson The Teskey Brothers John Butler Xavier Rudd The Cat Empire Kool & The Gang The Gipsy Kings Kasey Chambers The Waifs Troy Cassar-Daley Michael Franti & Spearhead The Wailers Perform Songs from 'Legend' LP Morcheeba The Black Sorrows Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue Tori Kelly Buffy Sainte-Marie The Marcus King Band Christone "Kingfish" Ingram Jimmie Vaughan John Mayall Melbourne Ska Orchestra Chain Larkin Poe Weddings. Parties. Anything Backsliders Harts Play Hendrix Ash Grunwald The Wars & Treaty Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles Walter Trout The Bamboos Mick Thomas' Roving Commission Dami Im Pierce Brothers Emily Wurramara Roshani Ray Beadle Henry Wagons Hussy Hicks Pacey, King & Doley Daniel Champagne Nathan Cavaleri Little Georgia Byron Busking Competitions & Winners + more to come Bluesfest 2021 will run Thursday, April 1–Monday, April 5 at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, Byron Bay. Tickets are on sale now via Moshtix.
Need to find your way from The House That Jack Built to Hotel California? Or maybe you got lost on the Highway to Hell trying to find Penny Lane? This is what the world would look like if you could build a city from your iTunes library. A map of song titles, made by the creative collective Dorothy, is more than worthy of hanging on your wall. Song Map
Despite what The Rolling Stones think, time really isn't on our side. The term 'work-life balance' is constantly thrown around, and juggling work, health, and happiness is no easy feat. Luckily for the share economy generation, life altering services are created everyday, cutting down time and costs on cooking, cleaning, travelling – you name it. Give your chores to your smart appliances and hit the beach instead; get your fresh, healthy meals delivered and say goodbye to the mess of a chef. We're bringing you the best time hacks out there, simplifying 'must-dos' to make so much more time for 'want-to-dos'. TIME DRAINER: COOKING HEALTHY DINNERS Let’s be honest — who wants to cook after working eight hours a day?! The struggle to maintain a healthy lifestyle is real. Foodie geniuses, Youfoodz, have found a way to save time cooking, by not cooking. They deliver fresh, ready-to-eat meals to your door that are healthy, delicious and affordable. With no shopping, cooking or cleaning, this means you can save 15 hours a week and have more time for the things that really matter in life. TIME DRAINER: GOING TO THE GYM Heading to the gym is one of the healthier things you can do with your time, but it can take a little chunk out of your day (making you less likely to actually go). Save time on journeying to inner city gyms and just use the time you have between places to get a little workout in — walk briskly instead of bussing it and track your progress with wearables. From smartwatches created by Apple and Samsung to the Smart Belt that adjusts for you, the future of clothing is all tech-based. Concern for your health has never been so easy to manage with companies like Heddoko making performance tracking workout clothing and Misfit creating the Swaroviski's Shine — a solar-powered, bling version of the Fitbit. The ultimate in bracelet technology, though, is easily the Nixie — a wearable droid that is literally revolutionising the selfie. TIME DRAINER: CLEANING, ALL OF THE CLEANING If you're planning a party but don't have time to clean, no worries — your appliances have you covered in a . With iRobot's Roomba, vacuuming is one less chore to think about — and if you strap an iPod to it, behold the immortal DJ Roomba. The newest in home cleaning, LG's HomeChat allows you to essentially iMessage all of your smart technology. With their instant messenger app, you can tell your dishwasher to run for a second cycle or put that load of laundry on from your phone. Having a party is now stress free — even if someone breaks a glass. TIME DRAINER: DATING Conventional speed dating is such a foreign concept to tech savvy daters. Apart from the ever-popular Tinder and slightly more romantic Missed Connections, the online dating scene is continuing to get faster and easier (pun partially intended). Whether you're into GPS tracking your meetups on Happn or pre-planning your first date with How About We, your dating game can be done in a heartbeat, making it easier to meet Mr/Mrs. Right, or Mr./Mrs. Right Now. On the other hand, this service will make your breakups easier, quicker and more profitable. TIME DRAINER: BUYING PRESENTS With Christmas around the corner, who has time to deal with the holiday rush? While Amazon delivers discounted goods from eBooks to Doctor Who paraphernalia and everything in between, creative sites like Etsy, Hunting for George, Sorry Thanks I Love You and RedBalloon have you covered on unique gift-giving. If you're going for really fast and cheap, the free delivery schemes with The Iconic and Asos are go-tos. Whichever gift you're after, you can spend that extra time with your loved ones, instead of shopping for them. Otherwise, try Concrete Playground's ultimate gift guide. TIME DRAINER: GETTING ACROSS THE CITY Waiting in taxi lines is a thing of the past. With Uber now (almost, almost) legalised by NSW and (definitely) ACT, you'll be hard-pressed to find someone without a 'personal driver'. The rideshare economy hasn't stopped there — startups like Airtasker have plenty of people waiting to drive you across town for a minimal fee, and international projects like New York's Via takes shared rides to the true sense and offers a five dollar ride anywhere in Manhattan. European-based BlaBlaCar even pairs road trip partners by how chatty you are. The only way travelling could get easier and more convenient is if jetpack technology takes off and the dream of the '90s classic The Rocketeer is realised — or if someone calls Elon Musk. TIME DRAINER: GETTING READY IN THE MORNING There's no place like home, especially when your home is smarter than you are. Amazon Echo makes your entire wake-up routine easier and even makes Siri seem obsolete. The cloud-based system is voice responsive and will recite any request on command, from the weather and traffic conditions to sports news and music preferences. This is one step in many voice-activated home systems, leading all the way up to the world's first personal robot, Jibo. The closest thing to Wall-E out there, Jibo is positioned as a loveable, 'hands free helper'. The bot independently taking photos and videos, connects to all home appliances and interacts personally to each member of the family. TIME DRAINER: LIFE ADMIN Nothing sucks the fun out of the day like personal, life admin, and with most businesses open only during office hours, you could be stuck using your sickie for the bank instead of the beach. Luckily, errands are becoming increasing web-based – you've probably used things like CommBank's cardless cash and apps with cheque scanning technology. But even doing your taxes is no longer a bore, with services like Etax that reduce the process to minutes. Being able to avoid these chores is a modern luxury like no other. Massive time-saver Youfoodz is doing a special offer for CP readers. If you order by Wednesday for delivery this week, they'll throw in their new spinach and ricotta tortellini for free. Yep, free food. Head over to Youfoodz and order your next meal. Images: Youfoodz, Dollar Photo Club, Fitbit.
On the big screen since late June, Baz Luhrmann's Elvis Presley biopic has already proven one for the money, and currently sits among the top ten box-office drawcards for 2022 so far. But if you've already seen it in cinemas and you're keen for a repeat date with Austin Butler as the king of rock 'n' roll, you can now get all shook up from your couch — yes, Elvis is the latest high-profile flick to release on digital while it's still showing in movie theatres. As always, the silver screen is the best possible setting for Luhrmann's step back into Presley's life. Butler's swinging hips and slicked-back pompadour deserve to be projected onto the largest surface possible. The film's unsurprisingly enormous playlist of tunes sounds a treat echoing out of cinema speakers, too. Still, giving audiences more choice when it comes to how, where and when they see movies — and catering for everyone who hasn't been able to make it to a big-screen showing so far — is always a great thing. Elvis follows in some pretty hefty footsteps this year alone, with everything from Dune, The Matrix Resurrections and Spencer through to West Side Story, Everything Everywhere All At Once and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent doing the same thing. Yes, fast-tracking from the big to the small screen is that common. That doesn't make Elvis entering the building — your building — any less welcome. Thank you, thank you very much indeed. If you've somehow missed everything to do with Luhrmann's film, it sees Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and The Dead Don't Die actor Butler slip into Presley's blue suede shoes to play the music icon from his teenage years through to his death — covering everything from the singer's days on the carnival circus through to his Las Vegas residency. Fame, love, scandal, Graceland, drugs, stress, all those songs: yes, they're all included. Shot in Australia, Elvis also stars Tom Hanks (News of the World) as Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker, alongside a wealth of local talent — including Olivia DeJonge (The Staircase) as Priscilla, Richard Roxburgh (Fires) as Presley's father Vernon, Oscar-nominee Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog) as singer Jimmie Rodgers and David Wenham (The Furnace) as country artist Hank Snow. Charting its namesake's rise not just to popularity, but to icon status; exploring the role that manager Parker played in that journey; showing the toll that such a life took, and what it says about America and pop culture: that's all in the movie's remit as well. That and some phenomenal live performance scenes that'll test out your home speakers. Check out the trailer for Elvis below: Elvis is currently screening in Australian cinemas, and is also available to stream online via video on demand — including via Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Read our full review.
Chances are you already know something about Tonya Harding. Even if you don't know her name off the top of your head, you've probably heard it used as a punchline. Oh yeah, Tonya. She's that figure skater who took a police baton to her arch-rival's leg, right? That Tonya? Well, yes. But also, not quite. The infamous incident that made headlines around the world almost 25 years ago has been the subject of more misinformation than whether or not you can actually swallow chewing gum. In I, Tonya, filmmaker Craig Gillespie does his best to unpack the myth while crafting a darkly humourous and ultimately tragic narrative about a brilliant skating career gone irreversibly awry. Gillespie and screenwriter Steven Rogers want you to know for certain that Tonya Harding is not a joke. Nor is she a violent bludgeoner who schemed to take out her main competition, fellow skater Nancy Kerrigan. The way they tell it – albeit in a film they admit up front is based on "wildly contradictory interviews" – Harding was a troubled skater who perhaps surrounded herself with the wrong type of person, and ended up caught in something she couldn't stop; a fateful scenario which could have been avoided had she made different choices, but which has defined her public image ever since. Margot Robbie offers up an incredible performance, playing Tonya right through from teenage years in all her redneck, tough girl, middle-fingers-up glory. The Australian learnt to skate specifically for the role, and the months she put in certainly paid off. Credit must also be given to stunt doubles Heidi Munger and Anna Malkova. Harding is one of the only female skaters to ever pull off the triple axel – and the editing, stunt work and special effects that go into recreating the notoriously difficult manoeuvre are likewise superb. Also clever is the format of the film itself: we are introduced to Tonya and her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan) via documentary-style talking heads. It's years after the fact, and both parties tell a very different story of what happened and who was responsible (Jeff and his friend Shawn Eckhardt were ultimately accused of colluding to hire an assailant to attack Kerrigan; both men served time in prison). We then jump back to the 1970s as a three-year-old Harding is put into skating lessons by her abusive mother LaVona Golden (Allison Janney), and watch as she quickly makes a name for herself on the ice. It isn't long before Harding is a teenager and competing at a national level. But while her technical ability is close to flawless, her image soon proves to be a problem. Not ladylike or sweet enough for the world of skating, she constantly runs up against judges who she sees as not marking her how she deserves. Spectacular choreography sees Harding's routines recreated down to the very last detail. Just as spot on is the film's casting, with Allison Janney particularly brilliant as Golden – complete with fur coat, perpetual cigarette and a bird perched on her shoulder. Where the film stumbles is in its tonally inconsistent depiction of the physical abuse allegedly inflicted on Harding, first by her mother and later by her husband. In a number of stomach-churning scenes, we watch as she is slapped, punched, thrown against a wall and has her head smashed into a mirror. At one point Harding breaks the fourth wall, addressing the abuse as it is happening to her – she thought it was normal, she says rather glibly. But that's all that is said, and there needed to be more. Gillespie and Rogers simply don't give the brutality the time or the serious treatment it deserves, pushing past the shocking violence in order to keep the plot moving forward. In doing so, they fail to explore the way Harding was made to feel everything was her fault – by her mother, by her husband and ultimately by the entire country. I, Tonya seems intent on reversing the popular consensus around its title character. The real Harding appeared at premieres of the film in the US, standing alongside Margot Robbie on the red carpet. But while she might finally have gotten the chance to prove she's not just the butt of a joke, you can't help but feel that the filmmakers – intentionally or not – treat her abuse as exactly that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXZQ5DfSAAc
Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? At Sydney Film Festival's 2024 closing night, that'll be the question of the evening. The query sits at the heart of The Substance, which premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival, got the movie world talking instantly and now has a date with the Harbour City on Sunday, June 16 to wrap up SFF with a dose of body horror. If you've being seeing Demi Moore's name pop up a heap lately and were wondering why, this film is the reason. After recently adding Feud, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Please Baby Please and Brave New World to her resume, the actor leads The Substance as celebrity Elizabeth Sparkle. When the character uses a black-market drug in an effort to cling on to her image and fame, it creates a younger version. "More beautiful" and "more perfect" is also how the first official clip from the film describes the temporary clone. If everything went swimmingly, however, there wouldn't be much of a movie. The Substance is also the long-awaited second feature from writer/director Coralie Fargeat, who made a spectacular debut with 2017's Revenge, and just picked up the Best Screenplay award on the Croisette for her sophomore effort. And, alongside Moore, Margaret Qualley (Drive-Away Dolls) and Dennis Quaid (Lawman: Bass Reeves) also star. "We are thrilled to close this year's Sydney Film Festival with the Australian Premiere of The Substance. Coralie Fargeat's film, featuring an outstanding performance by Demi Moore, promises to leave a lasting impression," said Sydney Film Festival Director Nashen Moodley. While the festival announced its full lineup in early May, the event always keeps adding to the program afterwards. Elvis' Austin Butler also joined the bill, coming to Sydney for a screening of his new film The Bikeriders. Plus, normally before the fest kicks off, it reveals a few more straight-from-Cannes titles. Accordingly, keep watching this space. Check out the teaser trailer for The Substance below: Sydney Film Festival 2024 takes place from Wednesday, June 5–Sunday, June 16 at various cinemas and venues around Sydney. For more information and tickets, head to the festival's website.
When a new year starts, so does a whole new lineup of movies reaching the big screen, including at Moonlight Cinema. This summertime tradition may screen a heap of flicks that debuted a few months back, and classic titles as well, but its program is also filled with fresh releases. Take its just-announced January bill, for instance, which includes preview screenings of five big newcomers before they hit general release. Those titles: Steven Spielberg's coming-of-age filmmaking ode The Fabelmans, Guy Ritchie's latest Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, the Margot Robbie-starring jazz age Hollywood-set Babylon, British rom-com What's Love Got To Do With It and Brendan Fraser-led awards contender The Whale. The January lineup comes after Moonlight cinema revealed its December programming back in November, and also started its 2022–23 season. As always, one piece of advice bears repeating: pack your picnic basket and get ready to watch a heap of flicks under the summer evening sky. While the outdoor cinema runs until different dates in different parts of the country — till mid-February in Brisbane and Adelaide, and the end of March in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth — this latest announcement focuses on its January films. So if you're keen to catch a movie under the stars over the break, take note. Other highlights include James Cameron's 13-years-in-the-making sequel Avatar: The Way of Water, Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody and Irish comedy The Banshees of Inisherin, as well as recent hits The Menu, Top Gun: Maverick and Ticket to Paradise. The exact roster varies per city, but the national retro programming includes Twilight, My Best Friend's Wedding, The Princess Diaries, Con Air, Magic Mike and the OG Top Gun. So, that's sparkly vampires, 90s rom-coms, royal hijinks, Nicolas Cage, barely clad men and a need for speed taken care of. Nosh-wise, Moonlight Cinema is letting you bring BYO movie snacks and drinks (no alcohol in Brisbane, though), but the unorganised can also enjoy a plethora of bites to eat from food trucks — perfect, messy treats made for reclining on bean beds. There's also a VIP section for an extra-luxe openair movie experience, a beauty cart handing out samples, and dogs are welcome at all sites except Perth — and there's even special doggo bean beds, and a snack menu for pooches. MOONLIGHT CINEMA 2022–23 DATES Brisbane: Thursday, November 24–Sunday, February 19 in Roma Street Parkland Sydney: Thursday, November 24–Sunday, March 26 in Centennial Park Perth: Friday, November 25–Sunday, March 26 in Kings Park and Botanic Garden Adelaide: Thursday, December 1–Sunday, February 19 in Botanic Park Melbourne: Thursday, December 1–Sunday, March 26 in Royal Botanic Gardens Moonlight Cinema runs through until March 2023, with dates varying per city. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the cinema's website — and we'll update you with further program details when they're announced.
Last time I went down to Wollongong the driver announced that the last carriage of the train would be a quiet zone. No loud conversations, no chatting on the phone, no music without headphones. This was followed by a loud, automated announcement saying the same thing again, but louder. While a quiet carriage would have to be pretty appealing for the weary reader struggling to beat Game of Thrones to the end of voluminous original A Storm of Swords, you also have to wonder what else you could mandate the end of a train carriage be used for, if only the power was at your command. In places like India and Japan, there are women-only carriages (and there were some calls for that here not long ago) and in Sydney, a group is already taking this idea into its own hands with on-train, flash mob-style music sessions. In the Czech Republic, though, they’re putting space aside for flirting. According to the ABC, commuters in Prague will soon have the option of riding in a dedicated singles carriage. Flirting on the subway in Prague is nothing new — the Prague Frommers guide even has a dedicated guide to the best lines for kissing on — but a dedicated hooking-up space still makes for a first. The planned carriage is part of a drive to convince more locals to abandon their cars for public transport. People whose hooking up is already done won't be asked to leave, nor forced do sit-ups, but it does raise the prospect of Ashley Madison-ing some already committed commuters. Or maybe making for some really awkward rides with home with colleagues during those crowded peak hours. Via ABC / Reuters. Image by Brad Hammonds.
Telstra announced some pretty exciting news yesterday. As part of their $100 million, five-year Wi-Fi Nation plan, the telecommunication giants are transforming 1000 of Australia's shitty old phone boxes from disgusting petri dishes of technological obsoleteness into actually useful free Wi-Fi hotspots. From November 1, you can log onto this glorious free internet while cruising through any of our nation's major cities. If you're a tourist or a cheapskate who's maxed out your iPhone data, it's time to rejoice. For everyone else, you might like to take a better look at the issue first. First off, this isn't a permanent thing. Telstra's gift of free lolcats and Facebooking will only last until the end of the year; after that, those who aren't Telstra fixed-line customers will have to buy passes to access the service. Though a similar phone box system has been implemented in New York and London, Australia's will be the only one that isn't free for all. It's hard to imagine who's going to be paying for Wi-Fi while sitting on the street, when it's cheaper to just go get a coffee and awkwardly ask the barista for the cafe's Wi-Fi password. As long-time supporters of public wi-fi, this is hard for us to write. Seeking to install two million hotspots around the country, the full Wi-Fi Nation plan is exciting; it's everything we've wanted! But with restrictions and mandatory costs in place, it looks a lot more like a giant PR push than something actually useful in the real world. Where broader municipal Wi-Fi networks try to build the economy by giving everyone equal access online, Telstra hotspots attempt to convert you to Telstra. Anything else is just a bonus, really. Of course, city-wide free Wi-Fi is the dream. State governments in both New South Wales and Victoria have been flirting with the idea for years now, but the only city to get it together has been Perth. Launching last year, Perth's blanket free Wi-Fi covers the entire CBD and cost $300,000 to implement. Not too shabby. After dumping plans in 2008, it was reported that Melbourne was to trial a similar program this year, but the news has been disappointingly sparse. Sydney's hopes were also dashed in 2008, though the City of Sydney are currently investigating the introduction of Wi-Fi into the city's parks and public squares. Alternatively, Brisbane are doing pretty well. Brisbane City Council currently offer free internet access in many parks, malls and areas of the CBD. It's safe to assume not many people will be paying Telstra to jump on a hotspot in Brisbane if they can surf for free while they shop. Importantly, all of these free networks are government initiatives. Internet access is, after all, a human right. So, will our governments now be less inclined to fight for a larger system if it seems as though payphones have the problem sorted? They definitely have one less commercial telco to partner with. When Sydney were considering free Wi-Fi in 2008, Telstra were the first to cast doubt anyway. "There's no such thing as a free lunch anymore so it will be interesting to see how it is proposed to be paid for," a decidedly catty spokesperson told SMH. Now, the City of New York hope to make $17.5 million in digital advertising from their phonebooth project. Times have changed. For all its other problems, even Tel Aviv has a better system than us. So, let's just live it up while we can. This two months of free internet will be great. After that, make sure to be nice to your baristas. Photo credit: Indigo Skies Photography via photopin cc.
It was already apparent from afar, which is where Australians watched all things SXSW from before 2023. Now that the tech, innovation, screen, music, games and culture festival has expanded Down Under, it's even more evident: this is one enormous event. How big? The inaugural SXSW Sydney spanned more than 700 speakers and talents, covered in excess of 300 sessions and hosted over 300 gigs across 25 venues. 2024's follow-up might just top those numbers, announcing another 500-plus additions to a lineup that even now hasn't revealed a third of the full program yet. This is the second round of speakers and sessions named for SXSW Sydney 2024 so far, after this year's first lineup details were revealed back in May (and after it was announced in late 2023 that the event would return for a second year, too). Like the initial program drop ahead of the fest's seven-day run between Monday, October 14–Sunday, October 20, this one features a bit of everything. On the list: folks who'll be getting talking, additions to the music roster, flicks that'll be hitting the big screen and studios that'll be showcasing their games, for starters. That aforementioned 500-plus figure includes speakers, screenings, artists, workshops, games and experiences, meaning that there's already a reason on the program for everyone to head along. At the SXSW Sydney Conference, benefiting from the response to the fest's Session Selects — where the public both submits and then votes on what they'd to see at SXSW — additions among the topics range from advances in medicine, how biotech will change our lives, and the threat of deepfakes and fake news through to odd spots in the cosmos, the power of dressing, trend analysis and companion robots. If you're interested in learning more about how tech can make a social impact, milk, AI and intimacy, neurotechnology, smart cities and constantly being watched, that's all on the bill as well. So is a session on brand trust with Bunnings Managing Director Mike Schneider (but there's no word yet if there'll be a sausage sizzle involved). For those keen on hitting as many gigs as possible, the SXSW Sydney Music Festival has added 60-plus artists. Accordingly, when you're not catching Voice of Baceprot, the first Indonesian band to take to the stage at Glastonbury, you can check out artists from Australia, Colombia, India, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and the UK — such as Phoebe Rings, I'mdifficult, Clara Benin, The Grogans, JESHI, The Buoys, Mincy, RINSE, Mulga Bore Hard Rock, ixaras and Death of Heather. Screen obsessives who also love tunes, or vice versa, can look forward to the SXSW Sydney Screen Festival playing a heap of music-related films. Documentary The Most Australian Band Ever! about the Hard-Ons sits on the lineup alongside S/He Is Still Her/e: The Official Genesis P-Orridge, which is executive produced by Against Me!'s Laura Jane Grace — and also Alien Weaponry: Kua Tupu Te Ara, about thrash metal in the Māori language. The fest will also show music videos, such as 'U Should Not Be Doing That' from Amyl and The Sniffers, 'See You Tomorrow' from BAD // DREEMS and 'Settle Petal' from The Buoys. Or, if you're eager to get nostalgic and maybe crave a slice or several with your SXSW movie date, there's Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts. The latest documentary from Barbecue and We Don't Deserve Dogs' Matthew Salleh and Rose Tucker, who are no strangers to SXSW in Austin, it sees the Australian-born, Brooklyn-based duo explore the US today through former Pizza Hut buildings. At the SXSW Sydney Games Festival, studios from 16 different countries are now on the program — and, beginning with HORSES, Wild Bastards and Fishbowl, so is half of the Games Festival Showcase. Also, the Games Investment Forum will include Raw Fury, Null Games, Team17, Whitethorn Games, Playside Publishing, Critical Reflex, Astra Logical Games, Landfall Games, PQube, Headup Games, UltraPlayers, Fellow Traveller and WINGS Interactive among its publishers and funding bodies. Given that the 2024 program already boasts Australian astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg, TikTok marketing head Sofia Hernandez, Heartbreak High star Ayesha Madon, human rights lawyer and barrister Jennifer Robinson, cricketer David Warner, Mortal Kombat director Simon McQuoid, Def Jam-signed Australian talent SAHXL, a game about turning fruit into your own menu and a short film about a housewife trying to get a free pizza, plus plenty more, it's worth saying it again: SXSW is massive, including in Sydney. If you missed it, 2023's inaugural SXSW Sydney welcomed everyone from Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker and Chance The Rapper to Future Today Institute founder and CEO Amy Webb and Nicole Kidman to its stages. In the process, and via not just its talks but also its concerts, films, TV shows and games as, it notched up 287,014 attendances from 97,462 unique attendees. Those figures came from 34,975 total tickets, with folks from 41 countries heading along to 1178 sessions. SXSW Sydney 2024 will run from Monday, October 14–Sunday, October 20 at various Sydney venues. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details. Images: Jami Joy, Ian Laidlaw, Jess Gleeson, Katje Ford and Paul McMillan.
A quarter-million people have signed a petition calling for the NSW Government to reverse its decision to allow a horse race to be advertised on the sails of the Sydney Opera House. Premier Gladys Berejiklian told the arts institution that its sails must be lit up with colours, numbers and a trophy to promote the upcoming $13 million Everest horse race — the world's richest race on turf — after a controversial 2BG radio interview between Opera House CEO Louise Herron, Racing NSW CEO Peter V'landys and radio presenter Alan Jones. During the interview, Herron rejected plans to use the World Heritage-listed building to promote the race, saying "it's not a billboard". While she had agreed to V'landys' request of projecting jockeys' colours on the sales, Herron said they would not "put text or videos of horses running or horses' numbers of names or the Everest logo on the Opera House". Jones responded by calling for Herron's resignation, saying that he could be "speaking to Gladys Berejiklian". While Herron did not lose her job, her decision to not project the Everest advertising was overturned by Ms Berejiklian later that day. Concerns have been raised by both Herron and the National Trust that this decision could be in breach of the Heritage Act, and could possibly jeopardise the iconic building's heritage status. It also sets a dangerous precedent for other brands to pay — or pressure the government into allowing — advertising on the Opera House. This morning, Ms Berejiklian did not show up to accept the Change.org petition after being invited to do so by Change.org Executive Director Sally Rugg and Mike Woodcock, who started the petition. Instead the petition was accepted by NSW Greens MP Jenny Leong, who said she would deliver it to Ms Berejiklian. At this stage, the promotional light projection will still be going ahead at 8pm tonight, but a light-based protest — dubbed, Defend the Sydney Opera House — has also been organised. It is expected to see over 3000 protesters using torches and camera lights to disrupt the projection. The event organiser has suggested against the use of drones and laser pointers. We'll update if any changes are made during the day. Images: Cole Bennetts
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. ETERNALS It's the only Marvel movie by an Oscar-winning director. Focusing on a superhero squad isn't new, even if everyone here is a Marvel Cinematic Universe newcomer, but it's the lone instalment in the franchise that's about a team led by women of colour. It's home to the MCU's only caped crusader who is deaf, and its first openly gay superhero — and it doesn't just mention his sexuality, but also shows his relationship. It happens to be the first Marvel flick with a sex scene, too. Eternals is also the only film in the hefty saga with a title describing how long the series will probably continue. And, it's the sole MCU entry that features two ex-Game of Thrones stars — Kit Harington and Richard Madden, two of the show's Winterfell-dwelling brothers — and tasks them both with loving a woman called Sersi. (The name isn't spelled the same way, but it'll still recalls Westeros.) When you're 26 movies into a franchise, as the MCU now is, each new film is a case of spotting differences. All the above traits aid Eternals in standing out, especially the empathetic, naturalistic touch that Chloé Zhao brings to her first blockbuster (and first film since Nomadland and its historic Academy Award wins). There's a sense of beauty and weight rippling through almost every frame, as well as an appreciation for life's struggles. Its namesakes are immortal aliens sent to earth 7000 years ago to battle intergalactic beasts, and yet Eternals shows more affinity for everyday folks who don't don spandex or have superpowers than any Marvel flick yet. It's also largely gorgeous, due to its use of location shoots rather than constantly stacking CGI on CGI. But everything that sets the film apart from the rest of Marvel's saga remains perched atop a familiar formula. Perhaps that's fitting; thematically, Eternals spends much of its lengthy 157 minutes contemplating set roles and expectations, and whether anyone can ever truly break free of either. Spying an overt statement in these parallels — between the movie's general adherence to the MCU template and the ideas bubbling within it — might be a little generous, though. Of late, Marvel likes giving its new instalments their own packaging, while keeping many of the same gears whirring inside. That's part of the comic book company-turned-filmmaking behemoth's current pattern, in fact. Still, even after Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals finds its own niche. It both intrigues and entertains, and it's ambitious — and it's often more than the sum of all those MCU firsts and onlys it's claimed. As opening text explains, Eternals' central group were dispatched by a Celestial — a space god, really — called Arishem. With the monstrous Deviants, another alien race, wreaking havoc, the Eternals were tasked with fighting the good fight — and were forbidden to interfere otherwise, which is why they've been absent in the last 25 movies. But now, a new Deviant attacks Sersi (Gemma Chan, Raya and the Last Dragon), her human boyfriend Dane Whitman (Harington) and fellow Eternal Sprite (Lia McHugh, The Lodge). That gets the gang back together swiftly, including the flying, laser-eyed Ikaris (Madden), the maternal Ajak (Salma Hayek, The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard), Bollywood star Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani, The Lovebirds), the super-strong Gilgamesh (Don Lee, Ashfall), warrior Thena (Angelia Jolie, Those Who Wish Me Dead), the super-speedy Makkari (Lauren Ridloff, Sound of Metal), tech wiz Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry, Godzilla vs Kong) and the mind-manipulating Druig (Barry Keoghan, The Green Knight). Read our full review. THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK So much about The Many Saints of Newark is a matter of when, not if: when familiar characters will show up looking younger, when well-known New Jersey locations will be sighted and when someone will eat ziti. This all occurs because it must; it wouldn't be a prequel to The Sopranos otherwise. Servicing fans is a key reason the movie exists, and it's far more resonant if you've already spent 86 episodes with Tony Soprano and his mafia and blood families while watching one of the best TV shows ever made. This is a film with a potent air of inevitability, clearly. Thankfully, that feeling reaches beyond all the obligatory nods and winks. That some things are unavoidable — that giving people what they want doesn't always turn out as planned, and that constantly seeking more will never fix all of life's woes, too — pulsates through this origin story like a thumping bass line. And yes, on that topic, Alabama 3's 'Woke Up This Morning' obviously gets a spin. Penned by The Sopranos' creator David Chase and series alum Lawrence Konner, and helmed by veteran show director Alan Taylor, The Many Saints of Newark doesn't merely preach to existing devotees, even if they're the film's main audience. Marking the last of the big three 00s-era prestige US cable dramas to earn a movie spinoff — following El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie and Deadwood: The Movie — the feature is aware of its own genesis and of gangster genre staples in tandem. Casting Ray Liotta, who'll forever be associated with Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, was always going to show that. Travelling back to the 70s, when The Godfather franchise electrified cinema, does also. Indeed, The Many Saints of Newark plays like a hybrid of pop culture's three most influential and essential mob stories. A bold move, it also explains what works and what falters in a film that's powerful and engaging but firmly baked in a well-used oven. The first detail that Sopranos fans should've picked up when this flick first got a title: in Italian, many saints translates as moltisanti. While The Many Saints of Newark spends time with young Tony as a pre-teen in the late 60s (played by feature first-timer William Ludwig) and a teen in the early 70s (when The Deuce's Michael Gandolfini, son of the late, great James Gandolfini, steps into the character's shoes), its protagonist is Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola, The Art of Self-Defense). He's seen as an uncle and mentor by Tony, who'll eventually hold the same roles for Dickie's son. The Sopranos mainstay Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli, One Night in Miami) turns narrator here, in fact, offering knowing voiceover that occasionally channels the show's dark humour — calling out Christopher's death at Tony's hands, for instance. Dickie was recalled with reverence in the series, yet threw a shadow over Tony's middle-aged mob-boss malaise — as seen in his duck obsession, panic attacks and reluctant chats with a psychiatrist. Here, Dickie falls into a similar pattern with his dad 'Hollywood' Dick (Liotta, No Sudden Move), who returns from Italy to subject his new, much-younger bride Giuseppina (Michela De Rossi, The Rats) to domestic violence. One of The Many Saints of Newark's finest traits is its layering, honing in on cycles that keep echoing through generations as it examines Dickie's role in turning Tony into the man viewers watched from 1999–2007. Its greatest stroke of casting plays with the same notion as well, and the younger Gandolfini is a soulful yet primal revelation. To call his performance lived-in is the epitome of an understatement, and it's never a gimmick. Read our full review. JULIA Call it the SNL effect: in two of their past three films, Julie Cohen and Betsy West have celebrated pioneering women who've been parodied on Saturday Night Live. They've referenced those famous skits in RBG and now Julia, in fact, including their subjects' reactions; Ruth Bader Ginsburg was seen howling with laughter when she first saw Kate McKinnon slip into her robes, and Julia Child reportedly played Dan Aykroyd's blood-soaked 1978 impersonation to friends at parties. Cohen and West clearly aren't basing their documentaries on their own sketch-comedy viewing, though. Instead, they've been eagerly unpacking exactly why a US Supreme Court Justice and a French cuisine-loving TV chef made such a strong impact, and not only in their own fields. Julia makes an exceptional companion piece with the Oscar-nominated RBG, unsurprisingly; call it a great doco double helping. Julia arrives nearly two decades after its namesake's passing, and 12 years since Meryl Streep earned an Oscar nomination for mimicking Julia in Julie & Julia. If you've seen the latter but still wondered why Julie Powell (played by The Woman in the Window's Amy Adams) was so determined to work her way through Julia's most famous cookbook — first published in 1961, Mastering the Art of French Cooking completely changed America's perception of printed recipe collections — let this easy-to-consume doco fill in the gaps when it comes to the culinary wiz's mastery and achievements. Let it spark two instinctual, inescapable and overwhelming reactions, too: hunger, due to all the clips of Julia cooking and other lingering shots of food; and inspiration, because wanting to whip up the same dishes afterwards is equally understandable. In their second film of 2021 — after My Name Is Pauli Murray, another portrait of a woman thoroughly deserving the spotlight — Cohen and West take a chronological approach to Julia's life. The two filmmakers like borrowing cues from their subjects, so here they go with a classic recipe that's been given slight tweaks, but always appreciates that magic can be made if you pair a tried-and-tested formula with outstanding technique. Julia's entire cooking career, including her leap to television in her 50s, stirred up the same idea. Her take on French dining was all about making delectable meals by sticking to the right steps, even while using supermarket-variety ingredients, after all. Julia boasts a delightful serving of archival footage, as well as lingering new food porn-esque sequences that double as how-tos (as deliciously lensed by cinematographer and fellow RBG alum Claudia Raschke), but it still embodies the same ethos. Born to a well-off Pasadena family in 1912, Julia's early relationship with food is painted as functional: the household's cooks prepared the meals, and wanting to step into the kitchen herself was hardly a dream. In pre-World War II America, the expectation was that she'd simply marry and become a housewife, however, but a hunger for more out of life first took her to the Office of Strategic Services — the US organisation that gave way to the CIA — and overseas postings. While stationed in the Far East, she met State Department official Paul Child. After a berth in China, he was sent to France, where the acclaimed Cordon Bleu culinary school eventually beckoned for Julia. From there, she started her own cooking classes in Paris, co-penned the book that made her famous, turned a TV interview into a pitch for her own show and became an icon. Read our full review. RED NOTICE When Interpol hunts down the world's most wanted international criminals, it issues red notices — and for anyone who isn't already aware of that fact, Red Notice starts by spelling out the details. If the film world circulated the same kinds of warnings about bland, cliched, charmless and tedious movies, this Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot-starring supposed action-comedy would earn several. That it bears far too much in common at times with two of its stars' most recent features — Johnson's likeable-enough Jungle Cruise and Reynolds' excruciatingly terrible The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard — says plenty about this by-the-numbers affair. If only they were the sole instances that it conjured up other movies; Reynolds does a Borat impression, whistles the Indiana Jones tune and verbally references Jurassic Park, and it's all as dated as it sounds. Also tired and trying: Reynolds' performance in general, which is permanently stuck on the same kind of schtick at the heart of both Deadpool and Free Guy. This time, however, he's playing the globe's second-best art thief — and his character, Nolan Booth, desperately wants the top spot. But a couple of people stand in his way, which is where Red Notice's other big names come in. Firstly, FBI profiler John Hartley (Johnson) interrupts Booth's latest heist, which involves tracking down three golden eggs that were once owned by Cleopatra (the third of which has never been found before). Secondly, the planet's number one art thief, The Bishop (Gadot, Wonder Woman 1984), is on the same hunt for the same $30 million payday. She's also constantly one step ahead of not just her professional competitor, but also the man pursuing both criminals. Red Notice plays like the result of watching 80s and 90s hits, its three leads' filmographies and the National Treasure flicks, then throwing their basic ideas into a blender and pouring the jumbled mess onto the screen. It's Netflix's most expensive movie yet, and it's also shiny-coated garbage. That its opening scene involves a decoy egg doused in Coca-Cola to reveal an empty shell inside is far more telling than it's meant to be. Also landing with a thud: a dance between Hartley and The Bishop at an Eyes Wide Shut-styled party that's supposed to herald this as the next True Lies, but just makes viewers wish they were watching that instead. That's the thing with shovelling in reference after reference instead of penning a decent and coherent script, even when around half of those winks are done with writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber's (Central Intelligence, Skyscraper) tongue firmly in his cheek: constantly calling attention to better movies but failing to live up to them is like punching yourself the face. They're three of the highest-profile names in blockbuster cinema, but Johnson, Reynolds and Gadot all sleepwalk through their parts here — not that the screenplay asks much more. Not a single gag lands, either, and neither does any tension, chemistry, timing or reason to care about its lead trio, their characters' globe-hopping quest and all the chaos they leave in their wake. Of course Nazis are involved, even though it's now 2021 and not 1981 when Raiders of the Lost Ark did the exact same thing. Of course the whole film looks like the dullest kind of CGI onslaught, with green screens standing in for Rome, Russia, London, Egypt and more. Of course it also plays like something an algorithm would spit out — and one that thinks Ed Sheeran is the height of stunt cameo casting after Game of Thrones already proved that idea oh-so wrong four years ago. Red Notice screens in select Australian cinemas from Thursday, November 4, and streams via Netflix from Friday, November 12. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on June 10, June 17 and June 24; July 1, July 8, July 15, July 22 and July 29; August 5, August 12, August 19 and August 26; September 2, September 9, September 16, September 23 and September 30; and October 7, October 14, October 21 and October 28. For Sydney specifically, you can take a look at out our rundown of new films that released in Sydney cinemas when they reopened on October 11, and what opened on October 14, October 21 and October 28 as well. And for Melbourne, you can check out our top picks from when outdoor cinemas reopened on October 22 — and from when indoor cinemas did the same on October 29. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Herself, Little Joe, Black Widow, The Sparks Brothers, Nine Days, Gunpowder Milkshake, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Old, Jungle Cruise, The Suicide Squad, Free Guy, Respect, The Night House, Candyman, Annette, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Streamline, Coming Home in the Dark, Pig, Big Deal, The Killing of Two Lovers, Nitram, Riders of Justice, The Alpinist, A Fire Inside, Lamb, The Last Duel, Malignant, The Harder They Fall, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, Halloween Kills and Passing. Top image: Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
When A League of Their Own hit cinemas back in 1992, it didn't just claim that there's no crying in baseball. More importantly, it told a spirited story about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League back in the 1940s — and it hit a home run with audiences in the process. It should come as no surprise, then, that it's getting the remake treatment, this time with Broad City's Abbi Jacobson leading the show. Jacobson also co-created and executive produced Prime Video's new version of A League of Their Own, which'll slide into your streaming queue on August 12. If you've seen the movie — which starred Geena Davis, Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell as members of a women's baseball team, plus Tom Hanks as their manager (and the person who famously decided that tears didn't have a part in the bat-swinging game) — you'll know the general gist of what's in store. As seen in the show's initial teaser trailer back in June, as well as the just-dropped full trailer, the series again jumps back to World War II to follow a group of women who dream of playing professional baseball. That said, it also promises to expand its story further that the film, charting a whole generation of baseball-loving ladies with that dream, including beyond the AAGPBL — and looking at both race and sexuality on and off the field in the process. Jacobson plays Carson, while Chanté Adams (Voyagers) plays Max — and they're joined by The Good Place's D'Arcy Carden among the players, plus Parks and Recreation favourite Nick Offerman as well. Also appearing on-screen: Gbemisola Ikumelo (The Power), Roberta Colindrez (Vida), Saidah Arrika Ekulona (Better Call Saul), Kate Berlant (Search Party), Kendall Johnson (Sexless), Kelly McCormack (George & Tammy), Alex Désert (Better Things), Priscilla Delgado (Julieta), Aaron Jennings (Grand Crew), Molly Ephraim (Perry Mason), Melanie Field (The Alienist) and Dale Dickey (Palm Springs). Charting its characters' efforts to make their way onto the field — and not only be part of a team, but also discover who they really are along the way — the new A League of Their Own marks Jacobson's first ongoing on-screen TV role since Broad City said goodbye. If you're in need of a weekend-long binge in August, all eight episodes of the show will drop at once, too. Check out the full trailer for A League of Their Own below: A League of Their Own will start streaming via Prime Video on August 12.
Every great exhibition should make you feel like you're surrounded by the artist's work, whether or not it includes giant fairy tale forests or a towering spider. Melbourne-based outfit Grande Experiences takes that idea to heart, turning peering at masterpieces into an immersive 360-degree experience. Fancy seeing Italian Renaissance works, including the Mona Lisa, get the multi-sensory treatment? That's on the company's list in Australia next. When you've ushered the world into Vincent van Gogh's art — getting them not just peering at it but stepping through it — and Claude Monet's as well, what follows? Showcasing Michelangelo, da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli, Caravaggio, Titian, Veronese and their peers. Van Gogh Alive proved a smash hit when it toured the country, even hitting up some cities multiple times. Monet in Paris dazzled Brisbane in 2023. Now, come 2024, Italian Renaissance Alive will become everyone's new reason to visit HOTA, Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast. The idea remains the same as Grande Experiences' other art must-sees, but the works being splashed across the walls, floors and ceilings will now hail from Italy from around the 15th and 16th centuries. And yes, that includes some of the big ones. The Sistine Chapel, The Last Supper, The Birth of Venus: they're all part of Italian Renaissance Alive in a huge way. Given the large-than-life manner in which they're presented, we really do mean huge, too. From Friday, March 29–Sunday, August 4, 2024, you'll mosey around, spy iconic art surrounding you everywhere you look, and be part of not just a showcase but an experience. So, there'll be light and colour, obviously, but also sound and scents. Providing the soundtrack: Puccini, Verdi and other Italian operatic tunes. This excuse to spend some time on the Gold Coast, whether that means taking a trip down the highway or flying up from down south (or west), is part of HOTA, Home of the Arts' just-announced 2024 program. Also on the bill: the currently showing Sneakers Unboxed: From Studio to Street, a southeast Queensland stint for Elvis: A Musical Revolution and the latest tour for Agatha Christie's stage whodunnit The Mousetrap. HOTA attendees will also be able to see catch Queensland Ballet's Coppélia, a stage version of Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach for the young and young at heart, a one-night-only performance of New Zealand's Wild Dogs Under My Skirt, Stunt Double by The Farm and more. Italian Renaissance Alive will display at HOTA, Home of the Arts, 135 Bundall Road, Surfers Paradise Gold Coast from Friday, March 29–Sunday, August 4, 2024. For further details, head to the venue's website. Images: Grande Experiences.
One of Sydney Festival 2017's most Instagrammed events was The Beach, an enormous ball pit inside a human-made cave, as created by Brooklyn-based design studio Snarkitecture. Tonnes of you spent at least some part of January diving, cannonballing and floating about in a sea of plastic bliss. Understandably. If you've been fretting about how this summer could possibly measure up, here's your answer. Another ball pit, this time called The Ballpit!, is on its way. And, like The Beach, it'll be a behemoth, made up of one million balls. However, rather than filling up just a single space, they'll be arranged across several, creating a kind of playground — but for adults. On top of that, the balls are of the glow-in-the-dark variety, illuminated by LED lights that will pulsate to a soundtrack provided by some of Sydney's best DJs. There'll also be an onsite cocktail bar, to let you rest and refuel in between dips and dives. Just when and where The Ballpit! will pop up is yet to be revealed, but expect it in early 2018. Entry will be via ticket, available online. Sessions are likely to sell out pretty quickly, so get in early by registering on The Ballpit!'s website. Image: The Beach, Sydney Festival 2017 by Shannon Connellan.
February 14 means different things to different people — but if you're a fan of Yellowjackets, that date in 2025 is now all about just one thing. Two years after its second season, the survivalist thriller will return on Valentine's Day to kick off its third round, again following the survivors of a plane crash both in the immediate aftermath and a quarter of a century later. As viewers discovered when it debuted in 2021 and became one of the best new shows of that year, the instantly intriguing (and excellent) series follows a New Jersey high school's girls soccer team in the 90s after their plane plummets into the forest, and also checks in with everyone that's left 25 years later. Across two seasons so far, life and friendship have proven complex for Yellowjackets' core quartet of Shauna (The Tattooist of Auschwitz's Melanie Lynskey as an adult, and also No Return's Sophie Nélisse as a teenager), Natalie (I'm a Virgo's Juliette Lewis, plus MaXXXine's Sophie Thatcher), Taissa (Law & Order's Tawny Cypress, and also Scream VI's Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Misty (Wednesday's Christina Ricci, as well as Atlas' Samantha Hanratty). The full setup: back in 1996, en route to a big match in Seattle on a private aircraft, Shauna, Natalie, Taissa, Misty and the rest of their teammates entered Lost territory. The accident saw everyone who walked away stranded in the wilderness — and those who then made it through that ordeal stuck out there for 19 months, living their worst Alive-meets-Lord of the Flies lives. As well as announcing the show's return date, Yellowjackets dropped a first teaser trailer for season three, although it's brief at just 15 seconds in length. In quick flashes, the sneak peek does feature violent altercations, screaming and mask-wearing figures among the 90s-era group, however. So, business as usual, then. [caption id="attachment_894499" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Colin Bentley/SHOWTIME.[/caption] After swiftly getting picked up for a second season because its first was that ace, Yellowjackets was then renewed for a third season before that second group of episodes even aired. In Australia, viewers will be heading to Paramount+ come Friday, February 14, 2025. In New Zealand, the series streams via Neon. In season three, the returning cast — which includes Simone Kessell (Muru) as the older Lottie and Lauren Ambrose (Servant) as the older Van, characters played in their younger guises by Australian actors Courtney Eaton (Mad Max: Fury Road) and Liv Hewson (Party Down) — will be joined by Hilary Swank (Ordinary Angels) and Joel McHale (The Bear). Check out the first teaser trailer for Yellowjackets season three below: Season three of Yellowjackets will start streaming from Friday, February 14, 2025 via Paramount+ in Australia — and streams via Neon in New Zealand. Read our review of season one and review of season two, plus our interview with Melanie Lynskey. Via Variety.
If every trailer started with narration by Taika Waititi, we'd all spend our entire lives solely watching sneak peeks at upcoming movies. They all don't, of course — but, unsurprisingly, the just-dropped second glimpse at Thor: Love and Thunder definitely does. Arriving a month after the superhero sequel's first teaser back in April, the new trailer begins with an unseen Waititi — who directs again as he did with Thor: Ragnarok, co-writes with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Sweet/Vicious), and appears on-screen as Korg — giving viewers a few instructions. "Kids, get your popcorn in. Let me tell you the story of the space viking," he utters. The tale he unfurls steps through Thor's (Chris Hemsworth, Extraction) years spent saving the world, the aftermath, and his evolution from "dad bod to god bod" post Avengers: Endgame — plus his efforts to reclaim his title "as the one and only Thor". But if you watched the film's first trailer, you'll know that his task doesn't end as he expects. Now, his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman, Vox Lux) is in possession of Mjolnir. This new look at the upcoming movie — the 29th MCU film overall, following Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and also the fourth to focus on Thor — dives deeper into Thor and Jane's woes, gets Chris Hemsworth in the buff, and unveils two of the feature's big new additions. That'd be Russell Crowe (Unhinged) as Zeus and Christian Bale (Ford v Ferrari) as Gorr the God Butcher, a galactic killer with a world-changing plan: eradicating the gods. Also covered: goofy vibes, as that Waititi-voiced narration makes plain; a firmly comedic mode, obviously; and general caped crusader chaos. Thor has to give up his search for inner peace to stop Gorr the God Butcher, and call upon help from King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson, Passing) and Korg — plus Jane, who seems to be settling into her new role quite nicely. Shot in Australia, clearly looser in mood than most MCU entries, and arriving in what's already a huge year for Waititi — after getting streaming viewers swooning over warm-hearted pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death, and also featuring in a portrait that won the Archibald's Packing Room Prize — Thor: Love and Thunder hits cinemas Down Under on Wednesday, July 6. It marks Portman's return to the MCU after appearing in the first Thor flick back in 2011, but sitting out the rest. And, also set to pop up are the Guardians of the Galaxy crew (as played and/or voiced by Chris Pratt, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel). Check out the new trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder below: Thor: Love and Thunder opens in cinemas Down Under on Wednesday, July 6. Images: photos by Jasin Boland. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.
With 64 days until the lights are on, Vivid has announced its 2013 lineup. And as the festival turns five it's vastly extending its brightly coloured reach to cover more physical ground and generate more creative ideas. In 2013 Fort Dennison, Walsh Bay and the Inner West will also get a heavy splattering of neon light and artistic innovation as the festival adds more precincts to the Vivid family. Sydney's own Spinifex Group will be the artists behind the Lighting of the Sails, the jewel in Vivid's dazzling crown, with the rest of the foreshore welcoming a global assemblage of lighting designers to the walkable stretch spanning Campbells Cove to Walsh Bay. Interactivity is key this year, with Customs House featuring a dance floor so visitors can make the building move. The festival's LIVE section will celebrate the Opera House's increasingly enthusiastic approach to popular music, populating the Kraftwerk-headlined lineup with homegrown and international acts. Empire of the Sun are premiering their second album Ice on the Dune, which was announced in true theatrical style with a bizarre video last week. Other acts include legendary soul crooner Bobby Womack, Underworld's Karl Hyde, the Sunnyboys, Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon, folk-rock tribute Sounds of the South and the 45-piece Heritage Orchestra — performing the Bladerunner score. More will be announced in the upcoming weeks. And hosting a mammoth 136 events this year is the Jess Scully-curated Vivid Ideas. Level six of the MCA will be taken over by 100 of them, with further talks and workshops spread through the Overseas Passenger Terminal, Seymour Centre, Sydney Museum and more. Semi-Permanent, Sydney Writers’ Festival and the Australian International Design Festival are getting involved in 2013, along with a slew of events supporting this year's film and photography motif. Reportage and Sydney Film Festival are two exciting additions, and a talk by Chris Ying of Momofuku-McSweeney's foodie mag Lucky Peach should give discerning ramen enthusiasts plenty to get psyched about. Check out the Vivid website for the full lineup.
If Colin From Accounts won you over as quickly as a cute dog in the street when it first arrived in 2022 — when it became one of that year's best new TV shows in the process — then you've probably been hanging out for the Aussie rom-com sitcom's second season. The show was unsurprisingly renewed in 2023, and now has an official return date: Thursday, May 30. When it debuted, Colin From Accounts had everyone bingeing their way through this tale of an awkward but memorable meet-cute, which began when a medical student and a microbrewery owner crossed paths in Sydney, ended up with an injured dog between them, then went from strangers to pet co-owners almost instantly. This time, however, the series will be dropping its episodes weekly on Binge instead of in one batch. If you're new to the show, which won Best Narrative Comedy Series at the 2024 AACTAs and a trio of Logies — Most Outstanding Comedy Program, Most Outstanding Actor and Most Outstanding Actress — in 2023, it's the latest collaboration between real-life couple and No Activity stars Harriet Dyer (The Invisible Man) and Patrick Brammall (Evil). Story-wise, the first season of Colin From Accounts charted what happened after Brammall's Gordon was distracted by Dyer's Ashley one otherwise ordinary morning, then accidentally hit a stray dog with his car. The pair took the pooch to receive veterinary treatment, then committed to look after him — and, yes, named him Colin From Accounts — causing their already-messy lives to intertwine. In season two, Ashley and Gordon are living together, which brings its own chaos — including the quest to get Colin From Accounts back from his new owners. A heap of fresh faces are joining the series for its second date, such as Celeste Barber (Wellmania), Virginia Gay (Mother and Son), Justin Rosniak (Wolf Like Me), Lynne Porteous (Frayed) and John Howard (Bump). Season two of Colin From Accounts doesn't yet have a sneak peek, but you can check out the trailer for season one below: Colin From Accounts season two will stream via Binge from Thursday, May 30, 2024. Read our review of season one. Images: Lisa Tomasetti.
Anyone who’s spent a frosty morning commuting on the Underground would know that London’s not exactly the world’s friendliest city. Well, not before a beer or five, anyway. In fact, a quarter of city siders report feeling lonely often, if not all the time. But a group of talkative types has decided that it needn’t be this way. They’ve come up with a project called Talk to Me London. The aim is to encourage a friendlier culture by helping strangers to talk to one another. The first assignment is a Kickstarter campaign, raising money for London’s first ever ‘Talk to Me’ day. The initial goal of £6,000 ($10,700) has been reached. So, one day this summer, thousands of Londoners will receive ‘Talk to Me’ badges to wear, indicating that they’re ‘up for a chat’. There’ll also be events held in public spaces, like dinner parties in parks and book discussions on tube carriages, lectures on wellbeing and community, conversation-prompting public art, flash mobs to break awkward silences, ‘talk bars’ on train platforms and busking acts that depend on interaction. Mayor Boris Johnson is a keen supporter. “I love the idea behind Talk to Me London,” he said. “What an innovative and fun way to encourage Londoners to talk to each other. Conversations are a great way to share experiences and stories, increase wellbeing, and bring a greater sense of community in the capital.” Via Springwise.
Remember Stones Corner, that little pocket of weird shoe shops and depressing facades? It's the new West End of the east side — and it's all grown up, looking fine and you're invited to its birthday party. The Stones Corner Festival is happening on May 29 from 12pm to 8pm and entry is free. As always, the focus is on craft beer, cider and wine from a glut of excellent breweries, which makes it completely acceptable to get your day drink on. The festival also puts on live music throughout the day and a wide selection of local market stalls. Of course, all that drinking, dancing and browsing is certain to get your stomach grumbling, which is where the fest's array of food options comes in. As well as helping you get to know the local eateries, this year's event will host a convoy of food trucks courtesy of the World Food Markets.
Chopsticks may rank among the most popular eating utensils on the planet; however the act of turning their disposable casings into art isn't quite as common. Well, not into something meaningful, and as a gesture of thanks. One Japanese waiter started noticing interestingly shaped pieces of paper left behind after meals, decided they were being left as a token of appreciation and started collecting them. That was in 2012 — and now he has more than 15,000 examples. Meet Japanese Tip, the art project that has flowered from Yuki Tatsumi's time working in restaurants. Flowers feature among his collection, but they're just some of the shapes that feature. From bow ties and birds to seahorses and people, the range is as varied as the colours printed on the paper sleeves, which have been found from a similarly diverse array of bars, izakayas, restaurants, cafes, sushi eateries, diners and ramen joints from around the country. Indeed, in the year leading up to March 2017, Yuki visited 47 prefectures around Japan to collect origami wrappers and enlist eateries happy for him to collect the objects that would otherwise be thrown away. An exhibition of 8000 of his pieces was staged in Tokyo this month, with another to follow in 2018. To view a selection from Japanese Tip's collection, head to the project website. Via Lonely Planet. Image: Japanese Tip.
Wu-Tang Clan are hip hop royalty. Their debut album Enter the Wu-Tang defined the sound of an entire generation and still holds high rotation at dirty house parties and the playlists of every independent vinyl store with a tough music snob behind the counter. Any self-respecting music fan knows the quality and skill of this iconic group, and now, RZA, GZA and Ghostface Killah are collaborating with Cher — the diamante clad diva who believes in life after love and has spent the past few years rambling nonsensically on Twitter. Luckily for Wu-Tang fans (and their much-cherished street cred), the collaboration with Cher only extends as far as contributing vocals on two tracks of the group's upcoming album. But this is no ordinary LP. Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is a 31-track double LP that Wu Tang has been developing in secret over the past six years. Just one copy of the album will be produced, and it will only be available to the public via private listening sessions at museums, galleries and festivals. After this tour, for which dates have not yet been released, the singular copy will go up for sale. It will be encased in a "hand-carved nickel-silver box designed by the British Moroccan artist Yahya," and is expected to reach an auction price "in the millions". Suffice to say, this is an important album. One which RZA has produced in an effort to break down the boundaries between music and art; redefining the nature of our contemporary listening practices. And what's Cher's contribution? "Wu-Tang, baby. They rock the world." In an exclusive preview this week, a journalist from Forbes picked up on this small cameo from the iconic singer. Cher belts out these few words in signature diva style at the end of a song featuring Ghostface Killah. Though the collaboration has been confirmed, apparently Cher didn't have much involvement with the famed hip hop group. "She recorded her parts separately, so I don't believe there was direct interaction," said her representatives. Though unsurprising, it's a little disappointing. Imagine a post-recording afterparty with RZA and GZA blasting 'Protect Ya Neck' while Cher tries to harmonise and pin velvet tassels on everyone. The world isn't ready for it. Via Rolling Stone.
Waiting in slow-moving lines has to be one of the least-loved parts of overseas travelling, but it could soon prove a whole lot less hassle, with Sydney Airport set to start trialling biometric testing from May this year. As The Sydney Morning Herald reports, the trial will be available to those flying internationally with Qantas who've registered their involvement with the Australian Border Force. It'll reduce the usual airport adventure to a breezy six-step process — from checking in, to border processing, to boarding — requiring just one flash of your passport along the way. Instead of the usual fussing around, face and fingerprint scans will be used as verification, as Sydney Airport looks at ways to ease congestion and make travelling easier. Facial-recognition technology is already in place at Australian airports, which has, at Sydney Airport, knocked the average time spent by people passing through customs from around four minutes to a speedy 23 seconds. Exactly what information and data the Border Force will need from individuals is not yet known, but it's likely to be extensive. Sydney Airport told The Sydney Morning Herald it would make sure "relevant privacy issues are managed" and that if the trial's successful, there are plans to roll it out across other international airlines. Via The Sydney Morning Herald.
Brisbane-based artist, Alice Lang, has had a pretty impressive career to date. Since graduating from QUT in 2004, Alice has “developed a wide-ranging practice concerned with the emotions and latent memories or meanings imbued in material.” During a residency at RAID Projects in Los Angeles, Alice developed the pieces for her current collection, OM NOM NOM NOM. This series of work focuses heavily on contemporary trends and popular internet culture. The exhibition includes paintings and drawings that draw inspiration popular internet culture domains such as tumblr, and google – incorporating slang from the virtual world and refining it into something more tangible, physical, and less fragmented. The exhibition is currently running at Boxcopy and will finish on the 27th of July.
Since airing a year ago, The Handmaid's Tale has become the most watched series in the history of SBS On Demand, with over 26-million chapter views. It has also nabbed eight Emmy and two Golden Globe awards, including one for Best Television Series and Best Actress in a Television Series Drama. Now, the wildly popular and horribly disturbing series is back for season two. The 13-episode season will premiere on Thursday, April 26 at 8.30pm with a special double episode airing on both SBS and SBS On Demand. Thankfully, this is only hours after season two hits Hulu in the US. For those who somehow managed to avoid binge watching season one, here's a bit of background — but beware, there are spoilers ahead. Created by Bruce Miller (Eureka, The 100), the series is based on the award-winning novel by Margaret Atwood. It follows a dystopian near-future New England where a totalitarian Christian theonomy has overthrown the US government, now called the Gilead. The series centres around the life of Offred (Elisabeth Moss), who, along with the country's few remaining fertile women, is forced into sexual servitude as a 'handmaid' to the ruling elite. The end of season two sees Offred falling pregnant and being dragged off to the back of a van — quite the nail-biting cliffhanger. This season will focus on Offred's pregnancy and her ongoing fight against the Gilead. The provoking and disturbingly relevant series explores themes of women's rights and governmental control, which are all too timely and downright believable for comfort right now. If you haven't managed to watch season one yet, it's currently available to binge on SBS On Demand. Get watching.
783 million people in the world still lack access to clean water. Nearly 2.5 billion live without adequate sanitation. And it’s only going to get worse with continued climate change. So an Italian designer by the name of Arturo Vittori has come up with part of a solution: the WarkaWater tower. By harvesting water from the air, the 9 metre-high construction can collect more than 94 litres per day. Like many ingenious devices, it works incredibly simply. Stalks of bamboo or juncus are bound together to create a semi-rigid shell. Inside, a nylon and polypropylene mesh traps moisture. These form dewdrops and travel downwards, settling in a basin at the tower’s base. The design is inspired by the Warka tree, an Ethiopian native that bears figs and serves as a site for local meetings. Vittori invented the WarkaWater tower after a visit to north-eastern Ethiopia. “There, people live in a beautiful natural environment but often without running water, electricity, a toilet or a shower,” he tells Wired. Women and children walk for hours to collect water from ponds contaminated with human waste and full of worms. Not only does this mean serious exposure to disease and hard labour, it also means that children are kept from school. “WarkaWater is designed to provide clean water as well as ensure long-term environmental, financial and social sustainability,” Vittori explains. “Once locals have the necessary know-how, they will be able to teach other villages and communities to build the WarkaWater towers.” Four people can build one in a few days at a cost of US$550. All necessary materials are available locally. Vittori is intending on having two towers built in Ethiopia by 2015. In the meantime, he’s seeking out financial support for their expansion. Another water-harvesting invention was launched in Lima last year. Via Inhabitat.
Show me a plant that you can use to make medicine, soap, a mean green curry, alcohol (and a requisite hangover cure), and bikinis from, and i'll show you a coconut. Now, the water from the 'tree of a thousand uses', long the drink of choice for sunburned tourists the world over, is making a name for itself in more temperate climes as it becomes increasingly popular as a health drink. Coconut water is said to be more isotonic, thus hydrating, than water, as it contains naturally occurring electrolytes similar to high energy sports drinks. There's also no fat or cholesterol in it, and there's more potassium in it than a banana. Not a bad CV. A new local brand, C Coconut Water, launched just in time for summer, and is Australia's first pure organic coconut water, bringing the natural liquid from the centre of young coconuts. The folks at C are giving one lucky Concrete Playgrounder the chance to win an entire summer's worth of coconut water. For a chance to win yourself five cases of 12 cartons, just make sure you're a Concrete Playground subscriber then email us with your name and postal address at hello@concreteplayground.com.au
It’s always inspiring to hear about the successes of our local Brisbane folk. When it comes to inspiration, 24-year-old fashion designer Ana Diaz takes the cake. The 2010 fashion graduate is the guest speaker at the Brisbane Beginnings segment of Fashion Talks at QUT. Discussing her experience in the industry and her amazing achievement of debuting in the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival, Diaz is a shoe in to captivate an audience of eager fashion folk. Already in its second month of seminars for 2011, Fashion Talks is fast becoming a popular source of first hand information and insight into the fashion industry. Wanna find out what it takes to get your collection on the catwalk? Wanna be in on the secrets of the working fashion world? Let the experts fill you in. It’s the perfect opportunity for any students, artists, designers, writers and all fashion enthusiasts to look through the eyes of our successful achievers to understand the ways of the contemporary fashion field.
Even saying Yayoi Kusama’s name makes me happy – try it, I swear it will do it for you too. On top of this we now get to see this highly esteemed and innovative artist’s happy, colourful work on display at GOMA. The new exhibition titled ‘Look Now, See Forever’ is immersed in style, with GOMA being taken over by Kusama’s dramatic sculptures and paintings, as well as film projection and installation. Kusama uses colour, pattern, form and space in a most interesting way, challenging the viewer to see the world completely differently. The artist herself sees the world in a different way – she suffers from severe OCD; dots are her major obsession, and art is her therapy. Kusama lives in Tokyo in a psychiatric hospital, moving each day between the studio and the facility, finding peace in this way of living. Her brilliant 80 year-old mind has created some of the most significant art in the last hundred years. My favourite Kusama work ever is her dotty penis couches: basically couches with stuffed penises all over them and covered with dots (although I’m not sure how relaxing it would be to lie on the couch among a sea of penises). We can only wait with baited breath to see what she has created for this intense exhibition.
Ben Stiller won't be there. None of the exhibits will come to life. But you can still spend a night at the museum at Brisbane's own Queensland Museum in 2024. The South Brisbane venue is currently hosting the Jurassic World by Brickman exhibition, which it knows is popular — so it is staying open late on a heap of dates, largely clustered around weekends. While you won't be sleeping over, you will be able to enter the dinosaur-themed Lego showcase between 5–6.20pm on the relevant days. In January, that includes Friday, January 19–Saturday, January 20. In February, mark Friday, February 2–Saturday, February 3, then Friday, February 23–Saturday, February 24 in your diary. There's also a Valentine's Day session on Wednesday, February 14. March's dates are Friday, March 1–Saturday, March 2 — and April's are Friday, April 5–Saturday, April 6, then Saturday, April 13. From there, options include Friday, May 3–Saturday, May 4, Friday, June 7–Saturday, June 8, Friday, June 28– Saturday, June 29, Friday, July 5–Saturday, July 6 and Saturday, July 13. Although you'll be able to see what happens when more than 50 dinosaurs, props and scenes from the Jurassic World movies are fashioned out of the popular plastic bricks — more than six million of them, in fact, making the four-metre-tall park gates, the lab where the dinosaurs are genetically engineered, those instantly recognisable jeeps and more — everywhere else at Queensland Museum South Bank will shut at the normal time of 5pm. If it all sounds rather sizeable, that's because Jurassic World by Brickman is the largest Lego exhibition in Australia. It also lets Lego aficionados get building while they're there, with 2.5 million bricks to play with. Images: Anna Kucera.
So if you're lonely, Franz Ferdinand will be here waiting for you across Australia before 2025 is out. Fresh from releasing their sixth album in January, the Scottish band have announced a visit Down Under in November and December, with five gigs on the itinerary. Their stops: Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, Thirroul and Sydney. It's been more than two decades since the Alex Kapranos-led group made a helluva splash with the catchy second single from their self-titled debuted album. Even just reading the name 'Take Me Out' is enough to get the number-one tune in Triple J's 2004 Hottest 100 stuck in your head. The song was also nominated for two Grammys, while the record that it springs from won the Mercury Prize. Franz Ferdinand's latest trip to Australia kicks off in Perth at Red Hill Auditorium on Wednesday, November 26, before heading across the country to Brisbane's Riverstage on Saturday, November 29. Next destination: Melbourne, playing Live at the Gardens at the Royal Botanic Gardens on Friday, November 28. Then comes a Tuesday, December 2 date with Anita's Theatre in Thirroul in New South Wales, before wrapping up on Wednesday, December 3 at On the Steps at the Sydney Opera House Forecourt. On every stop, Melbourne's Delivery will be in support — and everywhere except Thirroul, so will the Mornington Peninsula-born Teenage Dads. Since the huge success of 'Take Me Out' and their 2004 Franz Ferdinand album, the band have dropped records in 2005 (You Could Have It So Much Better), 2009 (Tonight: Franz Ferdinand), 2013 (Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action), 2018 (Always Ascending) and this year (The Human Fear). Touring-wise, their past Aussie trips have included sets at Big Day Out, Splendour in the Grass and Falls Festival. Franz Ferdinand's 2025 Aussie visit comes just a few months after Bloc Party, who benefited from Kapranos' approval when they were starting out, do the same in August. Franz Ferdinand Australian Tour 2025 Wednesday, November 26 — Red Hill Auditorium, Perth Saturday, November 29 — Riverstage, Brisbane Friday, November 28 — Live at the Gardens, Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne Tuesday, December 2 — Anita's Theatre, Thirroul Wednesday, December 3 — On the Steps, Sydney Opera House Forecourt, Sydney Franz Ferdinand are touring Australia in November and December 2025, with ticket presales from 10am local time on Monday, May 12 and general sales from the same time on Wednesday, May 14. Head to the tour website for more details. Select images: Raph PH via Flickr.
It's been 14 years since Danny Rogers and Jerome Borazio decided to fill a Melbourne alleyway with tunes in 2005. Thankfully, Laneway Festival has just confirmed it will be heading back to its collection of unconventional venues for another year, revealing its jam-packed 2019 lineup. Returning to Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Fremantle, Auckland and Singapore next January and February, Laneway will raise a plastic cup to the middle of summer with one heck of a lineup. This year's eclectic program is headlined by two huge Aussie names: indie rock group Gang of Youths and acclaimed singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett — while New Zealand audiences will also be treated to UK indie rock band Florence + The Machine and teen sensation Billie Eilish. A few big artists are heading Down Under for the first time, too, including English R&B superstar Jorja Smith, neo-soul singer Rex Orange County and American rapper Denzel Curry. You'll also be able to get down to Camp Cope, Middle Kids and Mitski and sway along to Mansionair, What So Not and Skeggs. If you want to catch Jorja Smith and NYC rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, you'll have to head along to Laneway — they'll both be playing exclusively at the festival, with no sideshows. This year, the Melbourne leg of the festival will be heading to its new location for the first time: Footscray Park. Its a bigger space, but, supposedly, won't have an increased capacity — so, hopefully that'll mean less lines and more room for dancing. But, enough chit-chat — here's the full 2019 lineup. LANEWAY 2019 LINEUP Gang of Youths Courtney Barnett Florence + The Machine** A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie (exclusive) Baker Boy Bene** Billie Eilish** Camp Cope Charlie Collins* Clairo Cosmo's Midnight Crooked Colours* Denzel Curry* DJDS G Flip High Beams** Imugi** Jon Hopkins Jorja Smith (exclusive) KIAN Lontalius** Mansionair Masego Methyl Ethel Middle Kids Miss June** Mitski* Parquet Courts Ravyn Lenae Rex Orange County Ruby Fields Skeggs Smino The Dead C** What So Not Yellow Days *East Coast only ** New Zealand only LANEWAY FESTIVAL 2019 DATES Auckland — Monday, January 28 Brisbane — Saturday, February 2 Sydney — Sunday, February 3 Adelaide — Friday, February 8 Melbourne — Saturday, February 9 Fremantle — Sunday, February 10 Singapore — Dates TBC Visa pre-sale tickets go on sale at 9am this Thursday, September 20 — you can register here — and the rest of the tickets going on sale at 9am on Tuesday, September 25 from Laneway Festival. Laneway Image: Anthony Smith; Courtney Barnett: Pooneh Ghan.
Nothin' says NOPE like the idea of a wine milkshake. Flipping the bird to the haters, US burger chain Red Robin has made the bold, unstoppable move toward the unchartered territories of wineshakes. Yup. We'll give you a minute while you see that lunch of yours again. Abominably but probably fittingly titled 'Divalicious Red Wine Shake' has been created by Red Robin in a furiously horrible attempt to bring all the boys to the yard. Ingredients? Little Black Dress "red wine", Pinnacle whipped vodka, raspberry puree and vanilla soft serve ice cream — the stuff underage backyard party and Poor Life Decision dreams are made of. The best bit? Your red wine shake comes with a free dangly wine charm thingy because you're fancy like that. According to Red Robin's website, the shakes are designed "for 21-and-over guests in need of some 'me' time." If you're kicking it around the States, the wine shakes are available as part of Red Robin's holiday collection — along with a more logical and less vom-inducing menu item, the gingerbread milkshake. But this isn't the first time Red Robin have released the ungodly blend of wine and dairy products — the crew revealed a 'Mango Moscato Shake' earlier this year. Yeah alright, that one doesn't sound or look so bad. "The sky's the limit at Red Robin," says the campaign. Just... fly over there and away from my glass. Via Grub Street. Images: Red Robin and CamEvans via photopin cc.
Head On Photo Festival is back for its 11th year — but, this time, it's digital. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the (normally) citywide photography festival will be a predominately online event for 2020. The internationally acclaimed festival is running from May 1–17 as planned but with the entire program launching as a digital platform on the Heads On website, including all photography and other interactive events. Overall, there are 110 exhibitions, plus over 80 artists talks, panel discussions and webinars which you can check out for free. As usual, the exhibition features contemporary photography, portraiture and photojournalism. This year, artists from more than 12 countries are exhibiting, including France, Guatemala, Japan, Greece, Germany, South Korea, The Netherlands, the USA, the UK, China, Canada and (of course) Australia. On Friday, May 1, The Head On Photo Awards were announced, with Australian photographer Marcia Macmillan's 'Whimsical Warrior' taking home the landscape award and 'The Gift' by Fiona Wolf-Symeonides awarded the 2020 Portrait Prize. Australian photographers Jon Frank and Nick Moir and international artists Jouk Oosterhof and Paul Carruthers also took home prizes. [caption id="attachment_769244" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marcia Macmillan, 'Whimsical warrior'[/caption] Other highlights include Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Renée C Byer, who travelled across four continents and captured the faces of people living on $1USD per day; mythological imaginings by Guatemalan economist and artist Astrid Blazsek-Ayala; a documentation of Melbourne's violent race rallies between 2014–2018 by photojournalist Jake Nowakowski; images of the Athens's drag queen scene by Greek photographer Nikolaos Menoudarakos; and snaps of Bondi's underwater marine life by Australian photographer Matt Smith. Work by heaps of other award-winning artists will be on display, too, including British photographer Professor Richard Sawdon Smith, German documentarian Robert Harding Pittman and two-time Walkley Award-winner Dave Tacon. As far as catching the festival in person, Head On also plans to launch a scaled-back version across venues in November, so keep an eye on this space. Images: Dave Tacon, 'Cirque le Soir'; Nick Moir, 'Run'; Nikolaos Menoudarakos; Matt Smith, 'The Martian'; ; Janie Barrett; Renée C Byer; and Fiona Wolf-Symeonides, 'The Gift'. All images courtesy of Head On Photo Festival. Updated May 4, 2020.
Surf, sun, sand and ice skating? It's not as far-fetched as it might seem. While most holidaymakers headed for hot climes plan to cool off with a dip in the ocean — and not with a roll around the ice — one Maldives resort is offering a little from column A and a little from column B. Now open at the Jumeirah Vittaveli, it's the Maldives' first ice rink, which is hardly surprising given the South Asian country's year-round 25 to 31-degree weather. When it is warm and sunny every single day, the only glistening white surface you'd expect to see by the sea is made of sand; however even folks in the tropics need a dose of winter fun. Due to launch just before Christmas — aka, in the coming days — the rink is comprised of special artificial ice plates that stay cool regardless of the temperature. Made by a company by the name of Glice, the synthetic surface also functions without water and doesn't use any energy. While Sydney has its own beachside ice-skating rink in Bondi Beach each winter, no one would ever have contemplated going for a dip, strolling across the shore and hitting the ice in the middle of a blazing Australian summer. Of course, that's not the only bright idea the Maldives boasts when it comes to novelty beachside activities; think floating golf courses and a waterslide straight into the ocean.
Every time that the opening riff from 'Seven Nation Army' echoes from speakers — or around football stadiums, where it's frequently chanted by crowds at soccer tournaments — the world partly has Australia to thank. In 2002, The White Stripes were touring the country when Jack White penned the iconic beginning to the anthemic track. Its birthplace: The Corner Hotel in Richmond, giving Melbourne another reason to brag about its status as a haven for live music. Once you know this fact, hitting the Swan Street pub means having 'Seven Nation Army' stuck in your head. See White bust out the tune at the venue that helped spawn it at Always Live 2024, however, and you'll never forget this pop-culture tidbit. On a lineup that's brimming with highlights, this is up there with the must-attend standouts. White is not only doing an intimate gig at The Corner Hotel, but will also be playing Ballarat's Civic Hall, with both shows part of the festival's new effort to celebrate the state's live music venues. Victoria's Always Live debuted in 2022 with an aim that's still relevant now: supporting gigs in what continues to be a tough time for the industry. With government backing, the program has courted huge names over its past two years, including launching with Foo Fighters; welcoming Dua Lipa, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Yothu Yindi and Sampa the Great for its first event; and returning for a second year with Christina Aguilera, Eric Prydz, Jai Paul and Jessie Ware. For its third stint across Friday, November 22–Sunday, December 8, it's keeping the high-profile acts coming, with Aussie-exclusive shows by The Offspring and St Vincent also on the bill. Ready to come out and play, punk icons The Offspring will hit The Forum Theatre for one night only. St Vincent is doing three gigs, also heading to Ballarat — at Her Majesty's Theatre — alongside playing The Palais Theatre in St Kilda and The Aviary at Crown. Equally massive, and literally: Anyma, making his Australian debut fresh from a six-show residency at Sphere in Las Vegas, complete with the largest screen in the southern hemisphere being built just for the Flemington Racecourse show. In total, 289 artists will take to the stage at 65-plus events around the state. Baker Boy leading the First Nations-focused BLAKTIVISM; a 30th-anniversary Tina Arena gig celebrating her Don't Ask album with help from Richard Marx, Daryl Braithwaite and Kate Ceberano; Missy Higgins also in anniversary mode for 20 years since The Sound of White first hit at Sidney Myer Music Bowl: they're on the lineup as well. The new Live at the Gardens series at Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens will see Chet Faker and Tash Sultana join Always Live, too, while the Jamaican Music and Food Festival is back, as is Luliepalooza at Lulie Street Tavern and End of the Line Belgrave. From there, the hefty roster features everyone from Sarah Blasko, Andy Shauf, Bôa and INKABEE x FLEWNT through to Rico Nasty, Bimini and Jaguar — plus Keiynan Lonsdale, Birds of Tokyo, Didirri, Anees and Emma Donovan. "This year's Always Live program not only reinforces our status as the music capital of Australia but brings an extraordinary array of unique and exclusive experiences to audiences across the state," said the event's Chair Matt Gudinski, announcing the bill. "I am incredibly proud to be part of delivering this year's program, and continuing to build the legacy of Always Live. It's a privilege to contribute to Victoria's rich music history and to support our live music sector." [caption id="attachment_969967" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Michael Drummond[/caption] Always Live 2024 runs from Friday, November 22–Sunday, December 8. For more information, and to get tickets, head to the festival website. Top image: David James Swanson.
Kicking off at high noon, triple j's rebranded digital offshoot Double J will start broadcasting today. Heralded by central presenter Myf Warhurst, the rebooted ABC Dig will hit play today on the first track to air — excepting a certain NWA track that's been playing nonstop since Monday. Double J has been on repeat for the last few days, playing the same 'Express Yourself' track in various versions. The stunt, which hit play on Monday, is a throwback to triple j presenters who went on strike in 1989. After a complaint in federal parliament forced LA rap legends NWA's 'F--- Tha Police' off the triple j playlist, disgruntled presenters hit repeat on the 1988 track 'Express Yourself' for 24 hours straight on air. The new station will give 'Express Yourself' a rest at midday when Double J officially begins programming. So what tunes can we expect to wrap our ears around? Myf Warhurst told triple j's Matt and Alex this morning that the first song on Double J has been chosen very carefully. "There'll be a few tears, I think we've nailed it," she said. Triple j station director Meagan Loader told FasterLouder, “Our research showed that people wanted a station that played great new music as well as all the classic triple j tunes they’ve grown up with. We’re not just playing old music, it’s something like 70 percent new music.” "We have wanted to build a station like this for a number of years and now, with your help, we are really proud to deliver Double J," says Triple J manager Chris Scaddan. "While it won’t be a throwback to the music of the original Double J, it will be a station that takes the best elements of triple j’s past - a name, a presenter and the incredible archives, thrown headlong into the future with the best new sounds around." Double J will be available via the ABC Radio App, online at www.doublej.net.au, or on digital radio/TV from midday.
Going into 2024, no one knew that Baby Reindeer was about to become one of the most talked-about new shows of 2024. When Richard Gadd's next series arrives, however, it won't be taking audiences by surprise. In news worth sending to your mates from your iPhone, the Scottish writer, actor and comedian has locked in another drama series, this time with HBO and the BBC behind it. Lions doesn't yet have a release date, but it'll span six episodes and also dive into a complicated relationship. Gadd will be telling the tale of two men in Scotland who reunite at one of the pair's wedding. Niall is getting married. Ruben shows up unexpectedly. Cue violence, and also dive into a connection with ups and downs, plus highs and lows, from the 80s until today. The duo have been called 'brothers' by the official synopsis, but with those quote marks in place — so expect why that's the case to factor into the series as well. Meeting as teens, dropping out of each other's life as adults, how the world is changing around them: they're all set to be covered as well. So is a specific question: what does it mean to be a man? While Gadd is creating Lions, as well as writing and executive producing it, he hasn't been announced as one of its stars. Who'll play Niall and Ruben hasn't yet been revealed, and neither has when viewers can expect to see the show — or, Down Under, where, although plenty of HBO content usually heads to Binge and Neon. But, the series' directors have been unveiled: Alexandra Brodski (Somewhere Boy) and Eshref Reybrouck (Ferry: The Series). "Ordering a HBO boxset of The Sopranos, The Wire or Oz and watching it from start to finish were some of the happiest moments of my childhood. Since then, it has always been a dream of mine to work with HBO and be part of their iconic roster of shows," said Gadd about Lions. "I am so grateful to Francesca Orsi [HBO's Head of HBO Drama Series and Films], Kara Buckley [Senior Vice President HBO Drama Programming] and Clint LaVigne [Vice President, Drama Programming at HBO] for taking this chance on the show and on Ruben and Niall too, who — despite growing up in a dead-end Scottish town — would be absolutely pinching themselves at this! I cannot wait to get started." There's obviously no trailer for Lions yet, but check out the trailer for Baby Reindeer below: Lions doesn't yet have a release date on HBO — or Down Under, where plenty of HBO content usually heads to Binge and Neon — but we'll update you when more details are announced. Read our review of Baby Reindeer. Baby Reindeer images: Ed Miller / Netflix.
SXSW (occasionally still known as South by South West) is an annual celebration of independent music, film and technology, held in Austin, Texas. Unlikely, challenging projects are born there and all the brightest of the creative world (plus Selena Gomez) attend. Midway through the festival, we take stock of what we've missed. A NASA Space Social Happens Basically nerd porn come to life, NASA's Space Social brought real-life astronauts Ron Garan, Nicholas Skytland, John Yembrick and others face to face with fans of Princess Leia and Neil Armstrong for socialising and space-related chats. We can only imagine that the hors d'oeuvres were served floating through the air by waitresses wrapped in aluminum foil. Interactive Vending Machine Stage Lets You Tweet at It Annoying party iPod DJs are set to rejoice this week at the Doritos vending machine stage, where onlookers are invited to tweet in their (hip hop- and rap-specific) song requests using the hashtag #BoldStage. Taking the choose-your-own adventure shtick one step further, the six-storey machine's LCD screen interface flashes simulated confetti, smoke machines and lasers in accordance with more Twitter directions. Control freaks need to let their hair down too, right? Grumpy Cat Upstages Everyone Kendrick Lamar, Justin Timberlake, Dave Grohl and James Franco were also in town for the festival, but really who are they to compete with Grumpy Cat? After queuing in earnest, fans got what they wanted — the inimitable feline looking characteristically unimpressed before curling into a ball and retreating. This kitty is more diva than Kimmy K and Lindsay Lohan combined. Meow! Hater App Launches to Bring Balance to the Social Media Force Despite its obvious benefits (stalking and empowering minority groups) social media unfailingly makes you hate society and your loved ones. Somewhere between #instabrag and your part-time model friend's profile picture number 300, it became difficulty to feel genuinely happy for the success of others. The world might need the new Hater app, a tool that allows users to dislike status updates, rant enthusiastically and band together over shared misery and disdain. If you don't have anything bad to say, don't say anything at all. https://youtube.com/watch?v=v01h6BsUgTY Shaq Attack is Well Tall Shaquille O'Neal looked down on everyone while still being really humble as he walked the trade show. A towering god amongst men. Google Village Is Like Willy Wonka's Factory for Tech Intent on achieving world domination, Google has morphed out of the computer screen and into the real world with the grown-up's answer to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Apparently the future will be a utopia filled with food trucks, free forums that teach people how to read HTML, Google pinball machines aplenty and even an Adidas talking shoe that can be programmed to give the wearer constant positive chatter. Sounds annoying. Images via SXSW and Grumpy Cats. Google Village image by Leimdorfer.
Colourise Festival is bringing together Aboriginal artists and creative minds to create an interactive, mixed-media experience like no other. The festival aims to reimagine Brisbane through the eyes of Indigenous Australians, transforming several parts of the city into a live art experience. eARTh is the name of the mixed media element of the Colourise Festival. Two separate tracks will work their way from the start point at Musgrave Park, through the city, where walkers will experience a "reimagining of the city — imprinting images, sounds, dance, people and music of the land onto the streets of Brisbane". Attendees are welcome to join at any part of the walk, with performance times and maps available on the website. Path one will be open from 5.30pm on July 8-10, while path two will open from 5.30pm from July 9-11. Each path will showcase different works and ideas, imprinted on different parts of Brisbane. The Colourise Festival has many more events to check out: head over to their website for more details.
Having them take care of our more mundane tasks is one thing, but teaching them to make art? That's quite another. e-David, developed by computer scientists at the University of Konstanz (Baden-Wurttemburg), can create scarily detailed drawings and paintings from both photographs and real life. As extraordinary as his powers might seem, e-David is actually an every day kind of robot, of the 'welding' variety. They're the type that are used in automobile manufacturing. A combination of sensors, a camera and a control computer (which gives the drawing commands) enables him to roll it out like Rembrandt. In fact, e-David's 'style' is very much like that of the Dutch legend. He creates detail through the gradual build up of translucent layers, with each painting taking about ten hours to complete. Unsurprisingly, though, the end effect still tends towards the digitally-manipulated-photo-look, rather than that of the work of a genius. Art students, breathe a sigh of relief. Oh, and in case you're wondering (or concerned), e-David, as far as we know, isn't named after Michelangelo's masterpiece. It's an acronym for 'Drawing Apparatus for Vivid Image Display). e-David Robot Painting from eDavid on Vimeo. [via the creators project]
Australia's first urban surf park is one step closer to reality, with the team behind URBNSURF this morning confirming they've scored $28.3 million in funding for their much-anticipated Melbourne facility. Billed as the world's first full-size Wavegarden Cove surfing lagoon, URBNSURF Melbourne is set to transform a 2.1-hectare space near Melbourne Airport into a surfer's wet dream, churning out as many as 1000 two-metre waves each hour. The lagoon itself will boast six different state-of-the-art surf zones, catering to newbies, professionals and everyone in between, with enough room for around 84 surfers every hour. What's more, it'll be open year-round, which means you won't be forced to battle the freezing waters of Port Phillip Bay to get your surf fix come winter. Backing up the beach-style breaks, there'll be a concept retail space, a fully-equipped surf hire shop, a beach club and a plethora of food and drink options for those post-surf appetites. URBNSURF Melbourne will also play host to a surfing academy, fitness classes and high performance coaching and training options. Construction on the lagoon is set to kick off next month, with the hope Melburnians will be riding waves there by April 2019. URBNSURF's Sydney surf park, which was given the go ahead last year, is slated to be up and running by late 2019. URBNSURF Melbourne is slated to open in April 2019 at 394 Melrose Drive, Tullamarine. We'll keep you updated on its progress and you can visit urbnsurf.co for more info.
Celebrating all things LGBTQIA+ in Australia is easy this summer. In fact, it's historic. For the first time ever both Down Under and the southern hemisphere, WorldPride is heading our way, joining Sydney's already jam-packed lineup of queer events. That's the cultural landscape the returning Mardi Gras Film Festival slides into in 2023 — and it's marking the occasion with a massive lineup of movies to celebrate its own 30th-anniversary milestone. Fans of queer cinema, rejoice: this annual Sydney film fest is screening 166 films at eight venues around the city, running from Wednesday, February 15–Thursday, March 2 at locations such as Event Cinemas on George Street and in Hurstville, Dendy Cinema Newtown, the Hayden Orpheum, Ritz Cinemas, Casula Powerhouse, the Westpac Open Air Cinema and the Alumni Green at the University of Technology. Not in the Harbour City but still want to watch along? As it has done in past years, MGFF is also streaming part of its program online around the country — because catering to movie lovers Australia-wide is fast, and welcomely, becoming a pandemic-era film fest staple. For in-person attendees, the festival kicks off with coming-of-age film Of an Age, which heads to Sydney after also opening 2022 Melbourne International Film Festival, and marks the latest from Australian You Won't Be Alone director Goran Stolevski. Joining it as a MGFF bookend is closing night's The Venus Effect, with the Danish movie about two young women in love enjoying its Aussie premiere. And, just as huge is All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, 2022's Venice Film Festival Golden Lion-winning documentary about queer artist Nan Goldin, her life and career, and her battle against the billionaire Sackler family. With the full fest program including 100-plus sessions in cinema, outdoors and on-demand — as well as panel discussions, workshops, networking events and parties — other highlights include two world-premiere screenings, glimpses back to the past and free sessions. Documentary Trans Glamore and camp comedy The Winner Takes It All will make their bows at MGFF; Vegas in Space and an episode of Aussie soap Number 96 will hit the big screen; retro sessions of Pride and Raya and the Last Dragon also get a spin; and new queer comedy specials by Joel Creasy and Rhys Nicholson will nab a run, without attendees needing to pay a cent. Or, there's a special Westpac Openair session of the Cate Blanchett-starring Tár, which looks set to score the homegrown talent another Oscar; doco The Giants, about Dr Bob Brown becoming Australia's first openly gay member of parliament; Cannes Un Certain Regard Jury Prize-winner Joyland, a Pakistani effort about a romance between a trans woman and a married man; and moving Moroccan drama The Blue Caftan. Plus, other standouts include The Longest Weekend, about three siblings in Sydney's Inner West; inner-city cowboy love story Lonesome; Uýra: The Rising Forest, focusing on trans-indigenous artist Uýra; In From the Side, about an affair between two members of a fictional South London gay rugby club; and My Emptiness and I, honing in on a young trans call-centre worker. Plus, for cinephiles watching on from home, there are 21 features on offer, including Black as U R, a doco about the lack of attention paid to the black queer community; Icelandic spoof Cop Secret; Blitzed!, about the eponymous London nightclub, with Boy George, Princess Julia and Spandau Ballet sharing their memories; Youtopia, which explores the inadvertent formation of a hipster cult; and In Her Words, an ode to 20th-century lesbian fiction. Mardi Gras Film Festival 2023 runs from Wednesday, February 15–Thursday, March 2 at eight venues around Sydney — and online nationally. For more information, visit the festival's website.
