Practise your Cockney accent, rehearse your favourite drunken London tale and prepare for high tea: the British Film Festival has arrived in Australia for the first time ever. There'll be a dozen contemporary features, five 20th-century classics (The Third Man and Lawrence of Arabia among them) and a chance to quiz Eric Bana during a live Q&A session, and a simply smashing opening night party. One film not to miss is Jump, a massive hit at the Toronto International Film Festival that captures the stories of three troubled individuals, who find themselves entangled by doomed romance, theft and revenge. Another much-talked-about feature is eccentric rock movie Good Vibrations, which comes to the British Film Festival following sold-out sessions at the 2013 Melbourne International Film Festival. Set against Ireland's Troubles of the 1970s, it follows the story of rebellious, maverick music lover Terri Hooley, Belfast's 'godfather of punk', and his determination to show the world the power of the seven-inch single. The star power is in Dom Hemingway, a gangster film in the style of Sexy Beast. It stars Jude Law as the outrageous, volatile Dom and Richard E. Grant as his best friend, Dickie. Following Dom's release after 12 years of imprisonment, the two travel from London to the south of France, encountering all number of misadventures along the way, from a car accident to an inevitable femme fatale. There's also the latest offering from Uberto Pasolini (producer of The Full Monty), Still Life, a drama in the British humanist tradition. The British Film Festival is on in Melbourne (November 20 to December 1), Sydney (November 21 to December 1), Brisbane (November 27 to December 8) as well as other cities around Australia. Thanks to the festival, we have 15 double in-season passes to give away. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email us with your name and address. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au
Foggy skies are causing plenty of drama in Melbourne — and around the country — today, especially for those travelling to or from the airport. As The Age reports, the heavy haze has disrupted flights going in and out of Melbourne Airport and has caused delays of up to two hours. Virgin has already cancelled one flight from Sydney to Melbourne this morning, with more Tiger and Jetstar flights on the same route also set to experience delays. Two of Jetstar's return flights to the Gold Coast have also been cancelled, along with eight Qantas flights scheduled to fly out of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. But a spokesman from the airport told Fairfax that skies were set to clear by later this morning, saying "we are also hearing predictions that the fog will lift earlier than expected". Even if you're not travelling to the airport, it goes without saying that you should take caution on and near the road this morning as visibility is low. The Bureau of Meteorology has tweeted about the 'pea soup', suggesting northerly winds will help push it away in the next few hours, giving Melbourne clear, sunny skies for the rest of the day. For the 4th day in a row #Melbourne has woken up to a thick blanket of fog, will clear later this morning - unlikely to see another pea souper around the city tomorrow, as northerly winds pick uphttps://t.co/POnouPMIRA pic.twitter.com/c0SECqDebB — Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) April 22, 2018 Via The Age. Image: Bureau of Meteorology via Twitter.
Melburnians love to proudly — and loudly — lament the city's ever-changing weather conditions. It's the ultimate water cooler talking point and the 'four seasons in a day' gimmick is thrown around at least once a day. We love to talk about the weather so much we now have a building dedicated to the topic. Melbourne's newest high-rise 888 Collins isn't your standard apartment block — the 15-storey exterior is fitted with 58,000 lights which, from dusk until midnight, perform an hourly light show for the masses. The show isn't just for spectacle, though. The colours indicate the real-time weather conditions outside and so are, like the weather, constantly changing. This feat was accomplished by artist Bruce Ramus, whose experience as a lighting designer includes work for the likes of R.E.M, U2 and David Bowie. It was easy for Ramus to notice the city's obsession with the weather and he felt creating an artwork that "interprets how the weather feels" was the best homage to locals, he told The Age. The building is located on the corner of Collins and Bourke Streets, down the Docklands end of the CBD. In order to predict the weather accurately, the roof is fitted with a weather station and fed data from the Bureau of Meteorology. The building is also solar powered, which provides power both for the lights and the building itself. While the idea of an eco-friendly building that depicts our love/hate relationship with the weather is right up our alley, we're not sure how keen we'd be to live in it. But Ramus has ensured residents that he has considered them in the design; the light output is far below the city's guidelines and the show "is very gentle". If you want to head down to Docklands and check it out for your self, Ramus has put together a handy guide for how to 'read' the building. Though the show ends at midnight, the building's lights will remain on throughout the night, depicting images of the moon straight on to morning. Now isn't that just dreamy. Via The Age. Image: LendLease.
UPDATE, January 13, 2022: Yotam Ottolenghi's Australian tour has been postponed again due to the pandemic. New dates have not yet been announced — we'll update you when they are. If you're a vegetarian, worshipper of eggplant or just a keen home cook, chances are Yotam Ottolenghi has had some impact on your life. In fact, we bet you've got at least one of his bestselling cookbooks in your cupboard. Next year, you'll be able to learn a few more tips and tricks from the renowned Israeli chef as he heads to Australia for a speaking tour. The trailblazing chef, author, TV personality and restaurateur whose name has become its own cooking style is touring the country in 2022 off the back of his recent book Ottolenghi Flavour, which builds on his love for innovative vegetable-based recipes. And yes, this'll sound familiar, as he was planning to head Down Under in 2021 — but we all know how this year turned out. Yotam Ottolenghi — Flavour of Life will hit Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne and the Gold Coast in January — and, as well as dishing up a few spicy secrets behind mouthwatering hits like miso butter onions and spicy mushroom lasagne, the show will provide an opportunity to hear directly from the man himself about his influences and experiences. It also promises to delve into Ottolenghi's experience as the owner of famed London restaurants Nopi and Rovi, how he approached home cooking during the COVID-19 pandemic and how you can dial up the flavour in your own kitchen. [caption id="attachment_768174" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Flickr/Stijn Nieuwendijk[/caption] YOTAM OTTOLENGHI 2022 AUSTRALIAN TOUR: Sunday, January 16 — Darling Harbour Theatre, ICC, Sydney Monday, January 17 + Wednesday, January 19 — Canberra Theatre Centre Tuesday, January 18 + Tuesday, January 25 — Adelaide Convention Centre Thursday, January 20 + Monday, January 24 — QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane Friday, January 21 — Wrest Point Entertainment Centre, Hobart Saturday, January 22 — Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne Sunday, January 23 — The Star, The Gold Coast The Yotam Ottolenghi — Flavour of Life will tour Australia in January 2022. For further details or to buy tickets, head to the tour website.
In great news for online streaming fans who feel as though their options are limited now that Netflix has cracked down on that whole VPN thing, there's now another streaming service to add to your rotating repertoire. After quietly and somewhat inexplicably making their Prime Video streaming service available to Aussie customers in mid-November, Amazon has gone and made it all official, with the online shopping behemoth last night launching their film and television streaming platform in 200 countries including Australia and New Zealand. So if you signed up for a Prime Video account last month, it now has the offical stamp of approval from Amazon — but don't expect the number of titles that you can watch to change dramatically just yet. Amazon's first round of titles represent their efforts to dip a toe in the waters of online streaming, but the company still has to navigate around existing local rights deals for some of their original content. Basically, if it's already available on another platform — such as the most recent seasons of Mozart in the Jungle and Transparent, which are linked to Stan in Australia and Lightbox in NZ — then you won't find it on Prime. What you will find is an introductory deal of USD$2.99 per month for the first sixth months, with the cost rising to USD$5.99 monthly after that. And yes, Amazon is keeping their prices in US currency. So, go forth and stream, film and television fiends, whether car-focused banter on the highly anticipated The Grand Tour, catching up with the first seasons of Amazon Original Series such as Red Oaks and The Man in the High Castle, or diving through a host of movies takes your fancy. Next year, additional efforts such as Woody Allen's Crisis in Six Scenes, David E. Kelley's Goliath featuring Billy Bob Thornton, and Sneaky Pete, which is produced by Bryan Cranston and stars Giovanni Ribisi, will join the global lineup. Amazon Prime Video also boasts offline downloads, which Netflix only recently introduced. Alas, as for how you can watch it, you'd best get used to viewing on it on a phone or tablet (sorry, anyone who likes watching television actually on their television). At the time of writing, the service is supported by Android and iOS phones and tablets, plus Amazon's own Fire Tablets, but only on LG and Samsung smart TVs. For more information about Amazon Prime Video, visit PrimeVideo.com.
If dropping by your local car wash makes you want to unleash your inner kidult, then you'd better get yourself to the National Gallery of Victoria's Grollo Equiset Garden from October 14. That's when M@ STUDIO Architects will be setting up a pretend car wash, which you'll be welcome to treat as one giant playground. Their brilliant idea is called Haven't you always wanted...?, it's the winner of the 2016 NGV Architecture Commission — and it's free to check out. You'll be able to find your fun easily — just look out for the old-school, glittering sign. Head inside to discover a true-to-size car wash replica, based on an actual existing one in Blackburn. But you can forget your run-of-the-mill cement and nasty fluoro lights. Instead, you'll be surrounded by walls of cricket netting, looking up at a pretty translucent ceiling, frolicking in bright pink AstroTurf and kicking back on rubber speed bumps. There'll be five 'bays' altogether, two hung with red plastic curtains and one equipped with a mist diffuser. So, though you probably won't be able to go for an all-out water fight, you won't escape totally dry (should that be your car wash wish). Plus, at night, the whole scene will light up, letting you have nocturnal adventures galore. To celebrate this epic creation, the NGV is organising a slew of events. In what seems similar to the Queen Victoria Gardens' MPavilion, this outdoor structure will host talks, live music and performances over both spring and summer. But, if you're not in the mood for shows, you can head along to hang out with friends anytime. "We are thrilled to be selected as the winner of the 2016 NGV Architecture Commission," said M@ STUDIO Architects. "Open competitions such as this provide a vital platform for architects to experiment and facilitate public discourse around the broader ideas that motivate the specific design explorations." The annual NGV Architecture Commission invites architects to come up with clever, clever installation ideas for the Grollo Equiset Garden. Entries are judged for their originality, their new ideas concerning architecture and design, and their innovation in material use, fabrication, sustainability and recyclability. Find Haven't you always wanted...? in the NGV Garden at NGV International from 14 October 2016 to April 2017. For more information, visit the NGV website.
Make a trip to the Sunshine Coast for Yundina's annual Ginger Flower and Food Festival, taking place from Friday, January 17, to Sunday, January 19, 2020. The festival is three days of food, garden walks, floral displays, cooking demonstrations, talks, entertainment, market stalls and more, held each year among the sub-tropical gardens of the Ginger Factory. Rides, honey tastings, a boutique shopping village, a Buderim Ginger shop, play areas — and that's just the Ginger Factory on a normal day. Things are kicked up a gear for the festival, where you can learn about garden design, making honey, regrowing food from kitchen scraps, and how to keep that balcony garden of yours alive. It goes without saying that you'll also get to try a variety of sweet and savoury ginger-based creations, including a gingerbread parfait from the ice creamery.
Keen to see Oasis onstage Down Under when Liam and Noel Gallagher reunite for the reformed band's 2025 tour? Don't look back in anger at paying more than you should for a ticket to their Melbourne shows. As it did with Taylor Swift's Eras tour — and with the 2024 Meredith Music Festival, too — the Victorian Government has declared the British group's upcoming trip to the state a major event, meaning that the gigs now fall under anti-scalping laws. Under Victoria's major-event ticketing declarations, tickets to the two concerts must legally be available for a fair price, not the hefty costs that they can be flogged off for on the resale market. There's a specific figure specified under the law, in fact, with tickets to a declared major event unable to be resold for more than ten percent more than their original value. [caption id="attachment_975202" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Simon Emmett[/caption] Other requirements include ticket package sellers needing authorisation from the event organiser, plus individual ads for tickets including both ticket and seating details. If a ticket seller flouts the rules, the penalties are steep, ranging up to more than half-a-million dollars. [caption id="attachment_975640" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Batiste Safont via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] While the major-event declaration clearly benefits Melbourne Oasis devotees eager to get a ticket to see the band play at Marvel Stadium, it's also great news for fans elsewhere that are hoping to head to the Victorian capital for the Friday, October 31–Saturday, November 1 shows. Oasis are only making two stops on their visit Down Under, two doing gigs in Melbourne and two in Sydney. So, also like the Eras tour, there'll be plenty of concertgoers flying and driving in from interstate. 2025 marks 20 years since Oasis last toured Australia, but that's where the lengthy gap between the band's Down Under shows is ending. There's comeback tours and then there's Britain's most-famous feuding siblings reuniting to bring one of the country's iconic groups back together live — aka the biggest story in music touring of 2024 since Liam and Noel announced in August that they were reforming the band, and also burying the hatchet. Initially, Oasis locked in a run of shows in the UK and Ireland. Since then, they've been expanding their tour dates, also confirming visits to Canada and the US. From London, Manchester and Dublin to Toronto, Los Angeles and Mexico City, the entire tour so far is sold out. Oasis broke up in 2009, four years after their last Australian tour, and following seven albums from 1994's Definitely Maybe through to 2008's Dig Your Soul — and after drawing massive crowds to their live gigs along the way (see: documentary Oasis Knebworth 1996). If you're feeling supersonic about the group's reunion, you can likely expect to hear that track, plus everything from 'Live Forever', 'Cigarettes & Alcohol', 'Morning Glory' and 'Some Might Say' through to 'Wonderwall', 'Don't Look Back in Anger' and 'Champagne Supernova' when they hit Australia. Oasis Live '25 Australian Dates Friday, October 31–Saturday, November 1 — Marvel Stadium, Melbourne Friday, November 7–Saturday, November 8 — Accor Stadium, Sydney Oasis are touring Australia in October and November 2025, with Melbourne tickets on sale from 10am AEDT and Sydney tickets from 12pm AEDT on Tuesday, October 15. Head to the tour website for more details. Top image: Raph_PH via Flickr.
Which film can boast besting a Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone collaboration, a Silver Bear-winner at Berlinale, and the 2023-defining duo of Barbie and Oppenheimer? Only one: Italy's There's Still Tomorrow. First, the melodrama defied the Barbenheimer phenomenon to top the box office in its homeland last year. Now, the hit flick has beaten Kinds of Kindness — aka Lanthimos and Stone getting weird again after The Favourite and Poor Things — and ten other movies for 2024's coveted Sydney Film Festival Prize. Actor Paola Cortellesi (Petra, Don't Stop Me Now) both stars and makes her directorial debut with SFF's cream of the crop for 2024, earning the event's $60,000 cash prize for her efforts. Set in post-Second World War Rome, There's Still Tomorrow follows a wife and mother who dreams of a different future, with the feature no stranger to accolades. At the David di Donatello Awards, Italy's equivalent of the Oscars, it took home six gongs in May. (And if you missed it during's SFF official dates, it's among the fest's encore screenings between Monday, June 17–Thursday, June 20.) Tasked with rewarding "audacious, cutting-edge and courageous" filmmaking, the 2024 jury comprised of Bosnian writer and director Danis Tanović (The Hollow), Indonesian director Kamila Andini (Before, Now and Then), US producer Jay Van Hoy (The Lighthouse), Australian producer Sheila Jayadev (Here Out West) and Aussie director Tony Krawitz (Significant Others) picked There's Still Tomorrow for welcoming "audiences into one of the historic cradles of cinema". "Set in post-war Italy, Paola Cortellesi's debut feature C'è ancora domani (There's Still Tomorrow) feels intensely relevant today. We relive every woman's struggle for equality through Cortellesi's Delia, we face the brutal cycles of domestic violence with an immense empathy that ultimately proclaims and affirms the virtues of democracy," they continued in a statement. "C'è ancora domani deftly weaves humour, style and pop music into a dazzling black-and-white cinematic event, then it delivers an ending that will take your breath away." There's Still Tomorrow joins an impressive list of past SFF Prize-winners, including Moroccan documentary The Mother of All Lies in 2023, Lukas Dhont's Close in 2022, Mohammad Rasoulof's There Is No Evil in 2021 and Bong Joon-ho's Parasite in 2019. Before that, The Heiresses (2018), On Body and Soul (2017), Aquarius (2016), Arabian Nights (2015), Two Days, One Night (2014), Only God Forgives (2013), Alps (2012), A Separation (2011), Heartbeats (2010), Bronson (2009) and Hunger (2008) have all taken out the accolade since its inception. 2024's recipient was announced at this year's closing event, where body-horror The Substance made its Australian premiere and the rest of the film festival's annual prizes were handed out. Another big winner: 11-minute short film First Horse. Hailing from New Zealand filmmaker Awanui Simich-Pene, it received SFF's first-ever $35,0000 First Nations Award. "Members of the jury were thrilled with the quality and variety of the works programmed for the inaugural First Nations Competition, noting the power and beauty in the collection of these storytellers' films which represent all types of cinematic art. The jurors also celebrate the launch of this meaningful prize and congratulate the Festival for making it a reality," said producer and programmer Jason Ryle (Amplify), Australian First Nations producer Erica Glynn (True Colours) and Aussie producer Kath Shelper (The New Boy). "In awarding the winning work, the jury recognises its originality, elegance, and cinematic achievement in story and form. In a few short minutes, the talented creative team has crafted a deeply impactful film with a resonant emotional punch." The fest's annual shower of love also covers films focused on sustainability, Australian documentaries and shorts. SFF's fourth-ever Sustainable Future Award, which now hands out $40,000, went to documentary Black Snow about the Siberian eco-activist who has earned the nickname the "Erin Brockovich of Russia". The Feast and Wilding received high commendations. Welcome to Babel, which puts Chinese Australian artist Jiawei Shen at its centre, took out the $20,000 Documentary Australia Foundation Award for Australian Documentary. In the Dendy Short Film Awards, Die Bully Die won Best Australian Live Action, while the Yoram Gross Animation Award for Best Australian Animation went to Darwin Story. Say picked up two prizes, the AFTRS Craft Award for Best Practitioner for screenwriter Chloe Kemp and the Event Cinemas Rising Talent Award for lead actor Bridget Morrison. And the Rouben Mamoulian Award for Best Director went to Pernell Marsden for The Meaningless Daydreams of Augie & Celeste. The 2024 Sydney Film Festival ran from Wednesday, June 5–Sunday, June 16, with the festival screening four days of encores until Thursday, June 20.
At skate parks around the world — and on consoles in lounge rooms, too — many an hour has been spent kickflipping and ollieing because of Tony Hawk. He's the professional skateboarder who became a household name, and the man whose licensed video game series had everyone sliding and grinding just by furiously mashing buttons. And, come 2024, he's coming to Australia to chat about his career. The skater icon is taking part in a talkfest aptly called An Evening with Tony Hawk. If you've ever wondered how he landed his famous '900', becoming the first skateboarder to complete two-and-a-half mid-air revolutions — or if you just want to know why Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, its sequels and spinoffs are so damn addictive — head along to the Enmore Theatre in Sydney on Friday, January 19, or The Athenaeum in Melbourne on Monday, January 22 and The Triffid in Brisbane on Thursday, January 25 to find out. Hawk's Brissie trip comes with a caveat, however: his discussion has already sold out, but he's also going to turn the Fortitude Music Hall into an immersive Tony Hawk's Pro Skater experience for one day only on Saturday, January 27. [caption id="attachment_924147" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Joshua Cutillo[/caption] In the chats, as well as discussing life, turning skating into a job, career highlights, his pop culture prominence and more — and maybe even his on-screen appearances in everything from the first xXx movie to Sharknado 5: Global Swarming — Hawk will be joined by Birdman: Or the Unexpected Virtue of a Tony Hawk Pro Skater Cover Band. Setting the vibe through tunes from the games, their setlist includes Rage Against the Machine, Millencolin, Goldfinger and more. In Brisbane only, Hawk's THPS25 event will drop in to celebrate a quarter century of the games series, with Fortitude Music Hall turned into a replica of one of the levels from the game. Yes, Hawke will hop on a board on an 11-foot-plus vertical ramp that'll sit in the centre of the venue. Joining him from the Birdhouse skate crew, including Lizzie Armanto, Elliot Sloan Felipe Nunes and Reese Nelson. The THPS25 event will be split into two sessions, with the daytime slot an all-ages affair and the evening session only for over 18s. Birdman: Or the Unexpected Virtue of a Tony Hawk Pro Skater Cover Band will pick up their instruments at both, too, as joined by DZ Deathrays doing a DJ set at each. Yours Truly and Teenage Joans will also take to the stage during the day, and Bodyjar and Alex Lahey at night. If you're keen to play Tony Hawk's Pro Skater while you're there, that's understandable and will also be an option. Show off your moves on a five-metre video wall, plus console stations set up around the venue. [caption id="attachment_924146" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Vans[/caption] [caption id="attachment_576145" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Tony Hawk's Pro Skater[/caption] TONY HAWK AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2024: Friday, January 19 — An Evening with Tony Hawk, Enmore Theatre, Sydney Monday, January 22 — An Evening with Tony Hawk, The Athenaeum, Melbourne Thursday, January 25 — An Evening with Tony Hawk, The Triffid, Brisbane — SOLD OUT Saturday, January 27 — THPS25, Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane Tony Hawk is touring Australia in 2024. Head to the tour website for further details and tickets for An Evening with Tony Hawk. For the THPS25, join the waitlist at the event website, with tickets presales from 9am AEST on Wednesday, November 1. Top image: Victor Solanoy via Flickr.
In a year already filled with huge tour news Down Under, Abel 'The Weeknd' Tesfaye dropping plans to hit both Australia and New Zealand before 2023 is out is up there with the biggest — and concertgoers clearly agree. The Canadian singer-songwriter and The Idol star only announced his Aussie and Aotearoa dates on Tuesday, August 22, and general tickets aren't due to go on sale until Friday, September 1, but he's already doubled the number of shows that he'll be playing in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland. This arena spectacular will now play two nights apiece in each of the four cities across November and December, with the second dates immediately after the first in every spot. The extra gigs will join a tour that's been notching up soldout shows far and wide. In the UK, The Weekend saw 160,000 folks head to London Stadium across two nights, smashing the venue's attendance record. And in Milan, he became the first artist to sell out the Ippodromo La Maura for two nights. Those feats are just the beginning. In Paris, he scored Stade de France's biggest sales this year — and in Nice, the 70,000 tickets sold across his two shows are the most in the city's history. Will his Down Under dates add to his record-breaking run? Australia in particular has been loving the return of huge international tours. See: the Taylor Swift frenzy. And, if more shows are already being added to the 'Starboy', 'I Feel It Coming', 'Can't Feel My Face', 'The Hills' and 'Blinding Lights' artist's visit before the general on-sale date, fans are obviously mighty excited. The reason for the extra Aussie and Aotearoa gigs is the massive demand during the Vodafone pre-sale. And the reason for the whole tour, other than just because, is to celebrate The Weeknd's 2020 record After Hours and its 2022 followup Dawn FM. Obviously, he'll be playing tracks from 2013's Kiss Land, 2015's Beauty Behind the Madness and 2016's Starboy as well. In support across The Weeknd's four Down Under shows: Mike Dean and Chxrry22. The tour will help a good cause, too, other than your need to see The Weeknd live. The artist has been contributing funds for his shows to the United Nations World Food Programme's XO Humanitarian Fund, as one of the organisation's Goodwill Ambassador, raising over $1 million from his Europe run alone. THE WEEKND'S 'AFTER HOURS TIL DAWN TOUR' 2023: Monday, November 20–Tuesday, November 21 — Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Friday, November 24–Saturday, November 25 — Accor Stadium, Sydney Friday, December 1–Saturday, December 2 — Marvel Stadium, Melbourne Thursday, December 7–Friday, December 8 — Eden Park, Auckland The Weeknd is touring Australia and New Zealand in November and December 2023. For more information, and for pre-sale tickets for the second shows on Thursday, August 31, then general tickets from Friday, September 1 — all at staggered times depending on the city — head to the tour website.
There’s something special about going out in the evening during summer - the longer hours of daylight, the steamy weather and the bountiful excess of people – all of these elements seem to nights you’ll remember fondly in the dreaded middle of winter. However, finding appropriately interesting activities to do during this time can be a chore. You need to be able to accentuate the positives of the humid weather without overdoing it and burning out early. Luckily, someone in the event department of GoMA got the memo and went to work. Matisse Up Late is the next in their series of night time entertainment, and it has been designed perfectly. The evenings begin at 6.30pm, when doors open and you are ushered in to have a drink and meal (or two drinks plus more and a meal), whilst listening to classic jazz tunes as the sun goes down. GoMA’s amazing air conditioning will then accompany you around the building as you are free to admire Matisse’s work at your leisure, listen to contemporary artists talk about their craft, with the night culminating with a performance by the likes of Sam Amidon, Eleanor Friedburger (of Fiery Furnaces fame), or Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. Matisse Up Late runs every Friday between 20 January and 2 March, with varying speakers and artists per week. Don’t get lazy just because current temperatures are in the high 30s - this exhibition has everything you need; air con, food, drink, art, music and Matisse.
In 2020, Netflix's Enola Holmes asked a question: what if Sherlock Holmes had a teenage sister who was just as good at sleuthing as he is? Now, in 2021, the streaming platform has another query for fans of the famed detective: what if there was actually a team of teens who were tasked with solving his mysteries, all while Sherlock gets the credit? That latter train of thought provides the premise for The Irregulars, Netflix's next dalliance with the character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Set in Victorian London, the eight-part series meets its motley crew of adolescents as they're asked by Doctor Watson (Royce Pierreson, The Witcher) to work for Holmes (Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Killing Eve). As the just-dropped trailer shows, they're also enlisted for their new gig as the city and the world comes under threat from insidious supernatural forces — which only they can stop. Yes, it sounds like something that an algorithm would concoct (and probably has) after seeing how many people stream both Stranger Things and the multiple other iterations of Sherlock Holmes that have reached screens over the years. But at least part of the concept does tie back into Conan Doyle's work, with the Baker Street Irregulars even popping up in 1887's A Study in Scarlet, the first novel to feature Holmes and Watson. When the series hits Netflix on Friday, March 26, you'll be watching Thaddea Graham (The Letter for the King), Darci Shaw (Judy), Jojo Macari (Sex Education), Mckell David (The Gentlemen) and Harrison Osterfield (Catch 22) as Irregulars members Bea, Jessie, Billie, Spike and Leopold — and Clarke Peters (His Dark Materials) as The Linen Man. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTE5MAGpflw The Irregulars starts streaming via Netflix from Friday, March 26.
If you're familiar with sunglasses brand Colab, then you know they put out some pretty amazing designs. As suggested by its name, the company collaborates with independent artists, musicians, filmmakers and designers to create limited edition lines. In the past they've created killer shades with the likes of Toro Y Moi, Elke Kramer, and Kill Pixie. Their latest project with Sydney-based artist, Beastman is no exception. Beastman, personally known as Brad Eastman, is best known for his amazing street art murals in Australia and around the world. Eastman has since expanded to include gallery work, apparel design and skateboard graphics. His partnership with Colab was not his first artistic merger, but certainly proved to be new challenge. When Eastman was approached by Colab to do the collection two years back, he admits that he "didn't know anything about making sunglasses". But with a background in graphic design and a fully capable team of Colab engineers, Beastman set about bringing his vision from paper to plastic. "I drew everything," said Eastman. "I redesigned [the shape] and Colab helped with the whole process." Working closely with the Colab's (now ex) creative director, Carl Tindall, Eastman went through an 18-month process of forwards and backwards steps. He described the process as, "do something, send it to Carl, and then hear nothing for three months. Then he'd ring me, show me some sample and I'd say 'no that's shit, let's try this' and then another six months would go by." Seems like an exorbitant amount of time, but making the perfect frames proved to be quite challenging. "I gave him an idea and said 'I want get these three different colour waves of patterns,'" said Eastman. Carl would travel to factories in China, Italy and Japan searching for acetate colours that hadn't been used before. Then came the endless amounts of tweaking, shaving and adjusting to create the ideal shape. If you're familiar with Beastman's art, then you know it's pretty loud. Intricate patterns, swirling lines, and bright colours make up his dreamlike designs of mythical gods and creatures. Now you're wondering 'how that could possibly translate onto a pair of plastic frames?' Beastman's trio of wayfarer-shaped sunnies are comfortably subdued. "I wanted to make something that was unisex and subtle," said Eastman- and he succeeded in accomplishing just that. Made in brown, blue, and green, the swirly-printed acetate frames show an organic side to Beastman's art. He explained, "all my work is about patterns in nature; and how different natural elements combine and work together." The symbols of these elements, which vary by frame colour, are slyly marked on the arms. Notice a tiny leaf on a green pair or dainty orange triangles on the brown. Beastman's iconic prints weren't all lost in this project. His famous bright, geometric patterns were incorporated onto the sleeve and poster that come with every pair. Maintaining his signature style, Eastman said, "I wanted to include something for people to see the relation between the sunglasses and my work." Only 1000 people will be able to get their hands on this sweet deal. "I like doing limited edition things," said Eastman, "I don't like doing super mass-produced products." Functional products seem to be the direction Beastman's art is moving towards. Prior to his project with Colab, he's done apparel design and skate deck graphics for labels like Element. Now, he and his wife are working on a limited-edition line of furniture and homewares. Designing for everyday products is important to Eastman because, "It's not something you hang on your wall and look at; It's something you can use and wear ... that's (the theme) of all of the stuff I'm doing." We can agree with that, because who wouldn't want a coffee table or a pair of sunnies designed by a baller artist? The new Colab + Beastman sunglasses will be launched at the exhibition and end-of-year bash on Wednesday, December 11, from 6-8pm at Somedays store/gallery, 72B Fitzroy Street, Surry Hills, NSW. It will feature a limited edition print release. Join the party by RSVPing to media@somedays.com.au. Thanks to Colab + Beastman, we have one pair of their new sunglasses to give away. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email us with your name and address. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au
Prepare yourself for a night of whimsy, wonder and a weird, scaly, hermaphroditic fish man named Old Gregg. Noel Fielding, the androgynous co-lead of the surreal British comedy series The Mighty Boosh, is bringing his live show, An Evening with Noel Fielding, to a capital city near you. Combining stand-up comedy with animation and original music, as well as special appearances from some of Fielding's most beloved and baffling characters, including Fantasy Man and The Moon, the April 2015 show marks Fielding's first time in Australia since his sold-out tour in 2012. This time he'll also be joined by his younger brother Michael, best known for his recurring role on The Mighty Boosh as Naboo the Enigma, an alien shaman from the planet Xooberon. Fielding previously played the part of Richmond in The IT Crowd, appeared as a team captain on the music comedy panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks, and helped create the comedy sketch program Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy. He is also a member of the band Loose Tapestries along with Kasabian guitarist Sergio Pizzorno, whose music will be featured in the tour. Tickets to An Evening with Noel Fielding go on sale at 9am on Wednesday, December 17. The show begins in Auckland on Monday, April 6, following by Wellington on Friday, April 10, and Christchurch on Sunday April 12. Fielding then crosses the ditch, first to Melbourne on Wednesday April 15, then Adelaide on Friday April 17 and Canberra on Monday April 20. He'll be at the State Theatre in Sydney on Wednesday April 22, before finishing up with Perth on Friday April 24 and Brisbane on Monday April 27. For more information, head to the promoter website.
The popular 4ZZZ radio show, A Guilt, prides itself on bringing some of the best weird-punk and experimental music to our ears. By taking it upon themselves to raise some of their beloved tunes from obscurity, the team have made it their mission to touch on everything that might be considered abrasive, confronting and impactful. A Guilt also put on the odd showcase of music from around Australia; these shows are called the Guilt Retreat. Guilt Retreat is a haven for the weird, the odd and the sonically diverse; it’s a place where you can experience the visceral elements of the music that you hear on the Guilt slot on 4ZZZ, live. This month, Guilt Retreat is on at The Hideaway, and will feature Big Yawn, #459, Michael Donnelly and the Fun Police DJs. All it will cost is 5 big ones, that is a fair price for some of Australia’s best underground noise makers.
The tradition of O-Week is an annual phenomena involving the welcoming of new students to the tedious traditions of uni' life. Often celebrated with drinking, sporting and themed events, it is always a great excuse for a party and a great goodbye to the amazing four month holiday you just endured. QUT are doing things a bit classier in their Creative Precinct. Instead of drunken mixed volley ball, wet t-shirt comps' and the standard intoxicated campus parties they are hosting an exhibition to showcase the critical connections across diverse disciplines to uncover future trends for their new generation of practitioners. Translation - a showcase of art and creative works by students and designers. It's a chance to enjoy some amazing student work, welcome the fresh meat and catch up with the friends that have been M.I.A since last November. If your uni (like mine) doesn't have a flashy O-Week celebration to kick start the semester, there is definitely no harm in attending this event. Let's get all multi-institutional and bask in each others greatness. Image Credit: Emma Jane Gray
As live music venues in Brisbane seem to disappear left, right and centre it is heartening news to discover that a new hot spot for live music, fresh songs and song writing has appeared on the Brisbane scene. The Round is a new ‘venue’ which pops up each Wednesday night at the Dowse Bar in Paddington and brings together three to four songwriters to share the stage. Rather than doing their own set one at a time, the musicians take turns performing songs, allowing them to share the energy on stage and support each other. With musicians booked in until the start of August, there are new voices on the scene, as well as some old favourites with a new venue to play!
Each year, the folks at Sydney-based film festival organisers Queer Screen ask an excellent question, and answer it in the best way possible. That query: what's better than one queer-focused film festival popping up every 12 months? The response: two, of course. Here's another train of thought that the crew have been posing, too: what's better than two celebrations of LGBTQIA+ cinema in Harbour City picture palaces? The solution here: sharing the love by taking the movie-worshipping online nationally. Queer Screen runs the Mardi Gras Film Festival during the first half of every year, so that's been and gone for 2023. It also gives cinephiles the Queer Screen Film Fest later each year — and that's next on the agenda. This isn't any old QSFF, either. It's the event's tenth anniversary, and the fest is marking that milestone with more than 30 films, plus that online component for audiences across Australia. For those playing along in-person, the physical fest runs from Wednesday, August 23–Sunday, August 27 at Event Cinemas George Street. For people on the couch, you'll have until Sunday, September 3 to get streaming. And that 30-plus films includes ten narrative features, three documentary features, four retrospective flicks getting encores, two TV shows and 19 shorts from 11 different countries. There's more range if you hit up a cinema rather than your television, but it's a mighty impressive lineup all the same. Opening the Sydney sessions is Blue Jean, a four-time British Independent Film Award-winner about a lesbian teacher in Thatcher's England — and, at the other end of the fest, Theatre Camp will close out QSFF 2023 with a crowd-pleasing comedy about loving the stage, as starring and co-written and co-directed by Booksmart and The Bear's Molly Gordon. Elsewhere, the lineup includes Cannes Palm d'Or-winning Shoplifters filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda's Monster, which picked up this year's Queer Palm; Marinette, about soccer legend Marinette Pichon (and, yes, arriving just after the Women's World Cup); Busan International Film Festival hit Peafowl, about a Korean trans woman's homecoming; and Medusa Deluxe, which jumps into a hairstyle competition. There's also the Berlin-set Drifter, page-to-screen drama Lie with Me and Indigo Girls doco It's Only Life After All, plus the AIDS in Hollywood-focused Commitment to Life. Or, heading back into sports, Equal the Contest follows regional women's Australian rules football team Mount Alexander Falcons in an exploration of the barriers still faced for women and gender-diverse people on the field. And those retro titles? They span Anchor & Hope, about a trio's complicated relationship; German coming-of-age romance Centre of My World; rom-com Nina's Heavenly Delights, focusing on a woman reuniting with her Indian family in Scotland; and the southern Chile-set The Strong Ones. "Queer Screen is celebrating not only its 30th year of existence, but also the tenth edition of our mini festival. It's an incredibly exciting year and I'm thrilled to be bringing such an outstanding selection of films to Sydney to continue the celebrations," said Festival Director Lisa Rose. "Ten years ago, when the first Queer Screen Film Fest began, we only screened seven films and the whole thing was run by volunteers. This world-class program is a very fitting tribute to how much we have grown and to how LGBTIQ+ stories have found their place, front and centre, on the international stage." Queer Screen Film Fest 2023 runs from Wednesday, August 23–Sunday, August 27 at Event Cinemas George Street in Sydney — and online nationally until Sunday, September 3. For more information, visit the festival's website.
Every September and October, Germany erupts with brews, food and lederhosen-wearing revellers for its annual Oktoberfest celebrations. When that time rolls around Down Under, Australia follows suit. One such festivity is Oktoberfest in the Gardens, which has been throwing big Bavarian-themed celebrations around the country for 13 years — but will only bring the fun to Brisbane for the first time in 2023. The River City lost its own Oktoberfest Brisbane this year, with the long-running local event announcing that it was saying auf wiedersehen after 15 years of steins, schnitties and German shindigs. Enter Oktoberfest in the Gardens, which will hop into Brisbane Showgrounds for its Brissie debut on Saturday, October 14. The RNA site will serve up the same kind of beer- and bratwurst-fuelled shenanigans that Germany has become so famous for. So, if you're a Brisbanite with a hankering for doppelbock and dancing to polka, it's the next best thing to heading to Europe. Oktoberfest in the Gardens boasts a crucial attraction, too — as well as serving a variety of pilsners, ciders, wine and non-alcoholic beverages, it constructs huge beer halls to house the boozy merriment. When you're not raising a stein — or several — at the day-long event, you can tuck into pretzels and other traditional snacks at food stalls, or check out the hefty array of entertainment. Live music, roving performers, a silent disco, rides and a sideshow alley are all on the agenda. Oktoberfest in the Gardens will also hit the Gold Coast on Saturday, September 30. And, with another new stop in Newcastle and return visits to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth similarly on its itinerary, it expects to welcome in over 70,000 people across its seven stops. "Australia loves Oktoberfest. COVID was a tough time in the events industry and saw the demise of other events such as Oktoberfest St Kilda and Oktoberfest Brisbane. Our team was very fortunate to be able to run successful events in some parts of the country when others were in lockdown and this allowed us to make it through," said Ross Drennan, co-founder of Nokturnl Events, which runs Oktoberfest in the Gardens. "We're now going all in to really ramp up Oktoberfest in the Gardens and take it to the next level with events all around the country." OKTOBERFEST IN THE GARDENS 2023 DATES — QUEENSLAND: Saturday, September 30 — Broadwater Parklands, Gold Coast Saturday, October 14 — Brisbane Showgrounds Oktoberfest in the Gardens hits the Gold Coast in September and Brisbane in October — head to the event's website for tickets and further details.
Who doesn't like a trip to Tassie? The riesling is crisp, the oysters are fresh and the landscapes are stunning. It's a popular destination, with eager travellers regularly making the trip across the Bass Strait in search of rolling vineyards, empty beaches and contemporary art. This weekend, an adventure down to the island state will be a lot more affordable thanks to Spirit of Tasmania's first ever Black Friday sale, with 30 percent off passenger fares. Over the Black Friday weekend sale, starting Friday, November 29, and ending at midnight on Monday, December 2, you can secure tickets for the ship from just $62 per adult, or $21 for kids, each way. All you have to do is select travel dates between February 3 and June 30, 2020 (with exceptions over the Easter period). Those of you planning on going to Dark Mofo 2020 will notice those dates cover the 12-day winter festival. So, round up the crew to bag a Mofo bargain — well, at least on the travel. Perks of travelling with Spirit of Tasmania include the ability to drive your car onto the ship, so you can embark on a dream Tassie road trip without the hassle of hire car fees and luggage restrictions on planes. Plus, your holiday starts as soon as your feet hit the deck. If you're looking to save on accommodation costs, book a night voyage and make the most of the three bars, restaurant, two cinemas and live music on board, too. If you don't want to let this offer sail you by, jump online between Friday, November 29 and Monday, December 2 to snap up tickets.
It doesn't snow in Brisbane. It doesn't really get all that cold in winter, either. And, it obviously doesn't even resemble cooler weather at Christmas, given that summer is always in full swing. But, as all things festive take over the city for this year, Brisbanites can still walk through snow, build a snowman and make snowballs. Your destination: a pop-up Snow Village at Toombul. No, the weather won't be unseasonably frosty just in the northside suburb. No, we're not living in a Hollywood disaster movie. Rather, Snow4Kids is back with a new setup. The idea is simple: this merry wonderland will bring a heap of real snow to the Toombul Shopping Centre, then let anyone with a $22 ticket frolic through it — with the space first welcoming in patrons on Saturday, November 27, but open daily from 10am–5pm between Saturday, December 4–Sunday, January 9. This is a family-friendly event. In fact, it's a family-focused activity, so if you have littlies to bring along, that'll be welcome news. If you're an adult without any kids in tow, you're still able to head along — but the organisers ask that you be mindful of the fact that you'll have plenty of pint-sized company. Also: no snowball fights, although this pop-up does boast its own snowball arcade, complete with at targets, for you to throw them (you just can't hurl them at other people). Kids — not adults — can also take indoor snowboarding lessons for $30 each.
Prepare to stare at the moon in all of its glory — up close, without a telescope and without zooming into space. Measuring seven metres in diameter and featuring renderings of the celestial body's surface based on NASA imagery, the Museum of the Moon is a detailed installation by UK-based artist Luke Jerram. The giant sculpture has been touring the world since 2016, displaying in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai and plenty of spots around Europe. Between December 1, 2018 and April 28, 2019, it'll add Melbourne to its orbit. Inspired by Jerram's time living in Bristol and "noticing the huge tidal variation as he cycled over the Avon Cut each day" according to the Museum of the Moon's website, the artwork recreates the moon at a scale of approximately 1:500,000, with each centimetre equating to five kilometres of the lunar surface. And if you're wondering just how intricate the 120dpi imagery is, the high-resolution NASA photograph that it uses is 21 metres wide, and was taken by by a satellite carrying the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera. The spherical sculpture is lit from within, so it'll add a glow when it comes to Scienceworks for five months. It also combines its imagery and light with a surround sound piece created by composer and sound designer Dan Jones, and just how each venue displays it is up to them. Basically, it's never the exact same installation twice. Jerram has multiple moons, with several touring simultaneously — so the Museum of Moon will also be on display in Newcastle in the UK across some of the same period. Its stint at Scienceworks will mark the Museum of the Moon's second visit Australia, following 12-day showing on the Gold Coast during the city's Commonwealth Games-adjacent arts festival earlier this year. Museum of the Moon comes to Melbourne's Scienceworks from December 1, 2018 to April 28, 2019. Keep an eye on the sculpture's website for further details.
Every autumn, a the Eta Aquarid meteor shower sets the sky ablaze. It might not be as famous as Halley's Comet, but the Eta Aquarids are actually a distant relation — the bits and pieces you see flying around were on Halley's path a really, really long time ago. And, rather than only being visible every 75 years (the next Halley's Comet sighting is in 2061), you can catch the Eta Aquarids annually. This year, the shower will be at its most spectacular this weekend — here's how to catch a glimpse. WHEN TO SEE IT The shower will reach a peak in the early morning of Saturday, May 6, but will still be able to be seen for the another day or two. The best time to catch an eyeful is just before dawn after the moon has set, so around 4am. At that time, you'll be in the running to see as many as 30 meteors every 60 minutes. Each will be moving at about 225,000 kilometres per hour, shining extraordinarily brightly and leaving a long wake. The shower's cause is, essentially, the Earth getting in the comet's way, causing stardust to fry up in the atmosphere. WHERE TO SEE IT Being in the southern hemisphere, we get some of the best views in the world. So, if you're living in the city, it could be time for a last minute trip to a clear-skied camping spot. The trick is to get as far away from light pollution as possible. For Sydneysiders who don't mind a long drive, this could mean a trip to the Far South Coast. We reckon Picnic Point campsite in Mimosa Rocks National Park might be a winner. Or, if that sounds too far away, Booderee National Park in Jervis Bay is pretty light-free. Alternatively, head west — after all, you'd be hard pressed to find better views than at The Dish, just outside of Parkes. Melburnians might consider a journey to Wilsons Promontory or along the Great Ocean Road, as far as Killarney Beach. For somewhere closer, there's Heathcote, which is just an hour from the city, but is an excellent vantage point. For a real escape, head to Snake Valley in the Central West, where there's hardly a light in sight. For a quick trip out of Brisbane, try Lake Moogerah, Lake Wivenhoe or Lake Somerset, which are all rather dark, considering their proximity to the city. If you have a bit more time, head two-and-a-half hours west to Leyburn, which has come of the busiest skies in Queensland, or eight hours west to the tiny town of Charleville in the outback. HOW TO SEE IT The shower's name comes from the star from which they appear to come, Eta Aquarii, which is part of the Aquarius constellation. So that's what you'll be looking for in the sky. To locate Eta Aquarii, we recommend downloading the Sky Map app — it's the easiest way to navigate the night sky (and is a lot of fun to use even on a non-meteor shower night). If you're more into specifics, Time and Date also have a table that shows the direction and altitude of the Eta Aquarids. They've been updating this daily. Apart from that, wear warm clothes, take snacks and be patient. Happy stargazing.
Next time you peer at the Sydney Harbour Bridge — whether you're a local who passes it daily, or just an occasional visitor to the city — you'll spot the Australian Aboriginal flag flying atop the iconic structure. The New South Wales Government has today, Monday, July 11, announced that the flag is now in place permanently on the landmark. The flag was already waving above the structure for NAIDOC Week which, historically, has been among the rare occasions that it has graced the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Indeed, before now, tje Aboriginal flag was only on display above the harbour for 19 days annually, including on Australia Day, Sorry Day and during Reconciliation Week. "From today, one of Australia's most recognisable landmarks will celebrate our Indigenous people and provide an everyday reminder of our nation's rich history," said NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, announcing the news. "Our nation's story is rich and enduring, and flying the Aboriginal flag permanently above the Sydney Harbour Bridge is a celebration and acknowledgment of that. Honouring this commitment is part of our ongoing commitment to recognise the history, culture, excellence and achievements of Aboriginal people, and is a fitting end to NAIDOC Week 2022." [caption id="attachment_858129" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Boyd159 via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] To fly atop the bridge permanently, the Aboriginal flag replaces the NSW State flag, which'll be relocated "to a place of prominence as part of the revitalisation of the Macquarie St East precinct redevelopment," the NSW Government advised. The move comes after an eventful few months involving the Aboriginal flag, after the NSW Premier originally pledged to give it a permanent berth atop the country's most famous man-made structure back in February, then announced in June that it'd become a reality by the end of 2022. Last month, when that last promise was made, it was also revealed that a third flagpole would be added to the bridge, allowing the Australian flag, NSW State flag and Aboriginal flags all to top the structure side by side. But, that was set to come with a hefty price tag, with $25 million committed in the 2022–23 NSW budget. Instead, those funds will now be allocated towards Indigenous initiatives. "This builds on the NSW Government's commitment to improve outcomes for Aboriginal people across NSW, following a $716 million investment in this year's budget to prioritise Closing the Gap initiatives," said NSW Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Ben Franklin. "I am proud to be part of the government that will permanently fly the Aboriginal flag above the Sydney Harbour Bridge and I am happy that a further investment will be made to deliver real outcomes for Aboriginal people across NSW." VICTORY!!! A proud moment & a powerful ending. I want to extend appreciation for everyone fighting injustice. Don't stop until you're proud & stay persistent 👊🏽@MayorDarcy @IWCouncil @david4wyong @AIA_SydneyCBD Aboriginal flag to replace NSW flag https://t.co/A1q26dx3lR — Cheree Toka (@Chereetoka) July 10, 2022 The move to fly the Aboriginal flag permanently follows a five-year-long campaign by Kamilaroi woman Cheree Toka, who also launched a Change.org campaign in 2020 to continue to call on the NSW government to make this exact move. "The Aboriginal flag is a reminder that the country has a history before European arrival," Toka said two years ago. "I think it's really important to have a symbolic gesture on the bridge that identifies the true history of Australia, which is a starting point for conversation around greater issues affecting the Indigenous population." After the first three years of Toka's campaign, she had amassed more than 157,000 digital signatures and the required 10,000 paper-based signatures to bring the issue to NSW parliament. However, when it was debated in the final NSW parliamentary session of 2019, the result then was that it would cost too much to construct a third flagpole to see the Aboriginal flag flying daily — which was what sparked her crowdfunding campaign to raise the $300,000 quoted by the government to 'fund the flag'. Also in Aboriginal flag news this year, the Australian Government unveiled a copyright deal at the end of January with Luritja artist Harold Thomas, who designed the symbol, to make it freely available for public use. The Aboriginal flag is now flying permanently on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, effective Monday, July 11. Top image: Mary and Andrew via Flickr.
Following Brisbane’s recent flood disaster it’s important to remember to value of community. The Ideas Festival is focused on uniting community involvement through inspiring people to delve a little deeper into their thinking. With a huge line up of guest speakers hosting conferences and events, The Ideas Festival invites Brisbane to come along and dissect ideas new and old. Tackling many global and local issues such as sustainability, sexuality, gender, education, youth homelessness, global warming and politics, Ideas Fest’ have really gone the extra mile to cover almost anything you may be concerned about. But it’s not only the hard-hitting issues that will be discussed! Why not converse about your interests too? There will be events on gaming, television, blogging, cooking, design, and fashion. If you do decide to attend ideas festival there is one event that must not be missed. For the first time in seven years the presenters of Cheez TV, Jade and Ryan will be reunited. If you’re a member of the Gen Y cohort, you may have just pee’d your pants. Calm down; change your shorts and mark in down in your diary.
Buzzing at the heart of Blue Beetle are two contrasting notions: fitting in and standing out. Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña, Cobra Kai) wants to feel at home not just in his own slice of El Paso-esque Texan spot Palmera City, but beyond his neighbourhood. When he assists his sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo, Hocus Pocus 2) working at the well-to-do's houses, he searches for opportunities, especially given that he's in need of a steady job to help his family save their home as gentrification swoops in. Thanks to a run-in with Kord Industries, its warmongering CEO Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon, Maybe I Do) and an ancient artefact known as the scarab, however, the recent Gotham Law University graduate will soon be his hometown's most distinctive resident. Getting covered in blue armour, being able to fly — wings and other bug appendages come with the suit — and hearing a robotic voice (Becky G, Power Rangers) chatting in your head will do that, as will having a multinational company try to swat you down because it wants to deploy the technology RoboCop-style. So scampers the latest entry in the DC Extended Universe — a movie that grapples with the same concepts as the ever-earnest Jaime beyond its storyline. It slots into its franchise while providing something new 14 entries in, before the DCEU comes to an end with the upcoming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (under fresh DC leadership, a different silver-screen saga is coming, which might still link in with Blue Beetle). Directed by Ángel Manuel Soto (Charm City Kings), this is the superhero genre's first live-action flick with a Latino lead, be it from DC or Marvel. It's a family drama as much a caped-crusader affair. It's a story about immigrants striving to thrive and retain their own culture. And, it revels in an 80s sheen and sound. Blue Beetle battles enthusiastically to claim its own space, then, as almost constantly seen and felt. Alas, that doesn't stop it from getting generic as well, as much save-the-world fare is. When it soars in its own direction, Blue Beetle does indeed make an impression. When it marches dutifully in the standard superhero line, it can play like another by-the-numbers movie about great powers and great responsibilities in an ever-sprawling on-screen realm. Mostly, the former outweighs the latter — and Blue Beetle's charms go a long way. Accordingly, this initially made-for-streaming picture serves up a case of taking the struggles with the highlights, which is another of its messages. And there are highlights, particularly whenever Soto's feature feels like it's in a world away from Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash (just to name 2023's other DC movies so far) and the like. That approach worked for Joker and The Batman, two DC films that aren't in the DCEU or new DC Universe, and are each scoring sequels. Jaime's journey to becoming Blue Beetle is instantly familiar: Marvel's also insect-focused Spider-Man and Ant-Man flicks have spun similar origin stories. Here, alien biotech-slash-treasure sparks his big change, as given to him for safekeeping by Victoria's niece Jenny (Bruna Marquezine, God Save the King) because she disagrees with her aunt's combat-for-profit ways. Thanks to Blue Beetle's dedicated, warmhearted embrace of cultural specificity, Jaime's family are always along for the ride, adding a Spy Kids vibe to Soto's film. His mother Rocio (Elpidia Carrillo, Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities), father Alberto (Damián Alcázar, Acapulco), Nana (Adriana Barraza, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels) and uncle Rudy (George Lopez, Lopez vs Lopez), an inventor with a firm individualist streak, are swiftly immersed in the chaos — and Milagro, too — as Victoria keeps valuing the scarab, suit and cash she thinks they'll inspire over any human fallout. Although Blue Beetle has an 84-year history on the page, the eponymous figure's solo live-action cinema debut is as much for newcomers as devotees. Soto's love letter to inclusion isn't only about shining a spotlight on Latinx characters and their experiences, or putting the full Reyes crew at its core — or delivering a clash between the one percent and everyone else, blending the eat-the-rich trend with caped crusaders. It's about accessibility as well; at a time where big film franchises have become so serialised that they're akin to ongoing TV shows on the big screen (and with bigger budgets), and so laden with fan service that the off-screen cheers are virtually choreographed, Blue Beetle doesn't require hours and hours of viewing homework or years and years of devotion to jump in. Again and again, it's plain to see how Soto and screenwriter Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (Miss Bala) clearly want their feature to stand apart, even when it leans into the superhero template. Also easy to spot: how Blue Beetle would've stuck much closer to the usual mould without such warmth showered upon its characters and its committed performances. Affection goes two ways here, raining down from Soto and Dunnet-Alcocer, then beaming back up from Maridueña and his co-stars. Jaime and his relatives could've stepped into Blue Beetle from a heartfelt TV series that charts the ins and outs of their lives as a loving and hardworking migrant family in a place brimming with prejudice and corruption. They could take the opposite route now instead and it'd feel just as fitting. It's hardly surprising that Sarandon is cartoonish by their side — but, other than giving the plot a threat while personifying corporate and American evil, plus the lust for power and wealth at any cost, she's not being asked to do much else. The respect, detail and authenticity that's evident in Blue Beetle's cultural homage, family focus and casting help give Blue Beetle its gleam. It still becomes a sea of smashed-together pixels late in the piece, though, just with well-portrayed characters that the audience cares about, and also ample splashes of neon and synth like this is Tron with superheroes. What does a twentysomething who's undergone a Peter Parker/Miles Morales-esque life shift with a Venom-meets-Iron Man technology end up physically fighting? Something comparable and visually bland, even if said nemesis gets a backstory rife with suffering at Victoria's hands. Blue Beetle isn't without aesthetic flair beyond its nostalgic riffs, with one scene that's shot to resemble an immigration department raid both grabbing attention and making a statement. It also doesn't lack heart anywhere. And, it's fun with something meaningful to say, neither of which are givens in this genre. That said, finding the balance between being oneself and having another force and its influence flittering around isn't only an issue for Blue Beetle's likeable protagonist.
You've seen the TV series, following an incredibly relatable tale of trying to balance work, life, love and the like. Now, see the play that inspired the show. Before Fleabag was winning TV awards all over the UK, including a BAFTA for best female performance in a comedy for writer/creator/star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, it was a similarly applauded one-woman stage piece. And it's heading to small screens across the country. From Friday, April 10 till Sunday, May 31, you can watch Phoebe Waller-Bridge stepping through the story of Fleabag's titular character online via Soho Theatre's on-demand streaming site. Recorded at London's Wyndham's Theatre and broadcast as part of National Theatre Live in 2019, the show will cost £4 (about $8 AUD and $8.30 NZD) to stream, with all proceeds going to charities supporting those affected by COVID-19. Funds will be split across the National Emergency Trust, NHS Charities Together, Acting for Others and the Fleabag Support Fund, which provides grants to out-of-work freelancers in the theatre industry, If you're unfamiliar with the theatre or TV show, Fleabag's existence is perhaps best described as chaotic. Friends, family, job interviews, keeping a guinea pig-themed café afloat...they're just the beginning. The idea behind it came at one of Waller-Bridge's pal's storytelling nights, as a challenge to create a character for a ten-minute slot. If you're a fan, you'll want to see where it all began. If you've just heard everyone talking about Fleabag, and haven't watched it yet, here's your chance to jump on board. Top image: Fleabag at National Theatre Live by Matt Humphrey Updated May 11.
To mark the return of spring, Bannisters has opened its much-anticipated third NSW hotel in Port Stephens. With two already in Mollymook, the chain's latest outpost is perched on absolute beachfront in Soldiers Point. The brand spanking new luxury digs includes 50 rooms with stunning views (78 in total), four super-luxe suites and, for very special occasions, a penthouse. Depending on where you choose to stay, you'll be looking out at either the tranquil waters of Nelson Bay or dense forest – or both. Wherever you sleep, you can look forward to light-filled spaces, Hamptons-inspired whites, king-sized beds and decadent touches. Among the common facilities are an infinity pool — looking out across the river — and the Terrace Bar, where you can enjoy ocean vista while feasting on light bites, such as steamed bao, fish tacos and an Archie Rose gin and tonic cheesecake. If you're keen to indulge, be sure to book a table at Rick Stein at Bannisters, also on the water. Stein, together with head chef Mitchell Turner, has come up with a menu big on premium seafood – from local king prawns and Sydney rock oysters to sand whiting and snapper. Tuck into the fruits de mer platter, oysters Charentaise or the legendary fish pie. Stein and his wife Sarah have also collaborated with Brokenwood winemaker Iain Riggs AM to create an exclusive wine for the restaurant. Sarah also worked with designer Romy Alwill on the restaurant, whose earthy yet breezy interior is splashed with terracotta, brass, timber, Japanese water colour and Pacific blue. Bannisters Port Stephens is now open at 147 Soldiers Point Road, Soldiers Point, NSW. Standard rooms start at $290 (and the penthouse starts at $740).
In what resembles a scene from a high-end gangster rap video, guests at London's Cadogan Hotel will be able to bathe in 122 hand-poured bottles of Dom Pérignon. Since cleaning yourself with water is for plebs and commoners, a range of champagnes will be avaliable for guests to bathe in. These include Louis de Custine Brut, Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut, and other alcoholic beverages with extravagantly opulent European titles. This bathing option will be available from Valentine's Day, and will run for a year at the Cadogan. Purchasing this cleansing experience will also give you the benefit of a butler to serve you complimentary champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries. Customers may also choose to have the champagne set at whatever temperature they prefer. The Dom Pérignon bath will set you back a mere £25,000 for two people. Lee Jones, the sales and marketing director for the Cadogan, states that one customer has already placed a deposit for this super-expensive soak. Slightly less rich people can opt for a bath as cheap as £4,000. Chump change. Replacing water with champagne in traditional cleaning rituals is a definitive sign that you have officially achieved ultimate baller status. If you grab a bath for two for Valentine's Day, you better be sure that she's the one. https://youtube.com/watch?v=XK-KFfYA2Vk [via PSFK]
Not many bands can say they have survived and thrived in the Australian music scene for the past 15 years; even fewer can rave their latest album is available on a wearable button - but Regurgitator can. Yes, I mean a button you pin to your shirt which connects to a pair of earphones, delivering you optimum, fresh Regurg’ tunes whenever you feel like listening. Look out Steve Jobs, Regurgitator and their new attire attachable album are back in town with their Annual Sale tour and they’re a damn lot cooler than the iPod. If you were lucky enough to get ticket to their flood appeal show at the Hi-Fi earlier this year, you will know the importance of pre-booking tickets. Every man and his dog will be there, hanging out for beers, bands and buttons so make sure you get in like Flynn and get those tickets early! Supported by NZ artist, Disasteradio, plus locals Oh Ye Denver Birds and Ponyloaf, it’s sure to be a night to connect with your inner rock electronica. Maybe you'll even get a chance to see the gravy rainbow.
A day of revelry is coming to Woolloongabba — and despite the suburb's most prominent landmark, it has nothing to with sport. Instead, The End of the Line Festival is returning for another massive outdoor outing. It's free, it'll be jam-packed with music, performance and art, and it also aims to showcase the best restaurants and eateries the area has to offer. In its fifth year, the fest is keeping its boutique setup and an afternoon-to-evening format. In a lineup curated by West End's Jet Black Cat record store, Body Type leads the cohort heading to Jurgens Street from 2pm on Saturday, November 10. They'll play alongside Fraser A. Gorman, Jade Imagine, Gabriella Cohen, Handsome, Moreton, The Butter and Gooby Jim & The Goobs, with the rest of the arts and events bill yet to be revealed. Food-wise, local eateries always get in on the fun — so expect to feast on dishes and beverages from the likes of Pearl Cafe, Canvas, Sorelina, Enoteca, ABFab and Electric Avenue. And while entry won't cost you a thing, and neither will the performances, you will need your wallet for the food and drink part of the street party. Image: The End of the Line Festival.
A backstage tribute to an iconic TV series. The sequel to a huge horror hit. Amy Adams transforming into a dog. A portrait of an indie band as unique as the group itself. Disquieting filmmaking becoming a family affair. If you're heading to SXSW Sydney in 2024, you'll be able to tick all five of the above boxes, all in the SXSW Sydney Screen Festival's headline slots. When it returns for its second year, the film- and TV-focused fest within the broader SXSW Sydney will feature Saturday Night, Smile 2, Nightbitch, The Front Room and Pavements. Everything except the latter is a new addition to a program that's been unveiling titles on its roster for a few months, so you've now got more movies to fit into your schedule across Monday, October 14–Sunday, October 20. Directed by Juno, Young Adult, Tully and Ghostbusters: Afterlife's Jason Reitman, Saturday Night recreates how SNL's first-ever episode came to be. The Fabelmans' Gabriel LaBelle plays Lorne Michaels, leading a cast that includes Dylan O'Brien (Fantasmas) as Dan Aykroyd, Ella Hunt (Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1) as Gilda Radner, Matthew Rhys (IF) as George Carlin and Matt Wood (Instinct) as John Belushi as well. Also featuring in Saturday Night: Finn Wolfhard (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire), Rachel Sennott (The Idol), Kaia Gerber (Palm Royale), JK Simmons (The Union), Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza), Lamorne Morris (Fargo), Nicholas Braun (Dream Scenario) and Willem Dafoe (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice). And yes, at SXSW Sydney, the film is indeed screening on a Saturday evening. If you got creeped out by Smile back in 2022, you won't be surprised that the unnerving flick has spawned a new chapter. This time, Naomi Scott (Anatomy of a Scandal) stars as a pop star caught up in the chaos around the worst grin you can see. To chat about it, returning director Parker Finn is heading to the fest to present the film, too. Nightbitch hails from The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Can You Ever Forgive Me? and A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood filmmaker Marielle Heller, and stars Amy Adams (Dear Evan Hansen) as a stay-at-home mum who turns canine. And as for the already-announced Pavements, it sees filmmaker Alex Ross Perry (Her Smell) focus on the band Pavement via an experimental blend of documentary, narrative, musical and more. Then there's The Front Room, aka one of two upcoming pictures from the Eggers family. While The Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman's Robert Eggers has his own take on Nosferatu on the way, his siblings Max and Sam have made their feature directorial debut with this A24-backed and Brandy (Best. Christmas. Ever!)-led affair about a pregnant woman doing battle with her mother-in-law (Kathryn Hunter, Poor Things). One of Saturday Night, Smile 2, Nightbitch, The Front Room and Pavements will screen nightly across the fest's Tuesday–Saturday dates. Wondering about the Monday? There's more news to come, with SXSW Sydney's 2024 Screen Festival opening-night film still to be announced. Elsewhere, as seen in past lineup announcements, 2024's SXSW Sydney Screen Festival spans cults, cat-loving animation and Christmas carnage thanks to Azrael, Ghost Cat Anzu and Carnage for Christmas. Movie lovers can also look forward to Ilana Glazer (The Afterparty)-led mom-com Babes; Audrey starring Jackie van Beek (Nude Tuesday); coming-of-age tale DiDi; the maximum-security prison-set Sing Sing with Colman Domingo (Drive-Away Dolls); and Inside, which features Guy Pearce (The Clearing), Cosmo Jarvis (Shōgun) and Toby Wallace (The Bikeriders). There's also doco Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird, spending time with At the Drive-In and The Mars Volta's Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala; Teaches of Peaches, which goes on tour with its namesake; the Lucy Lawless (My Life Is Murder)-directed doco Never Look Away about CNN camerawoman Margaret Moth; Peter Dinklage (Unfrosted) and Juliette Lewis (Yellowjackets) lead western-thriller The Thicket; and Aussie documentary Like My Brother, about four aspiring AFLW players from the Tiwi Islands. The list goes on, with The Most Australian Band Ever! about the Hard-Ons, That Sugar Film and 2040 filmmaker Damon Gameau's Future Council, and Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts from Barbecue and We Don't Deserve Dogs' Matthew Salleh and Rose Tucker also set to screen. SXSW Sydney 2024 runs from Monday, October 14–Sunday, October 20 at various Sydney venues. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details.
The ingredients you will need The dough250g flour12g waterPinch of table salt Pork mince filling1 thumb sized portion grated ginger3 pieces green shallots100ml water300g Chinese cabbage300g pork mince2 tbsp soy sauce1 tbsp sesame oil1 tsp sugar2 tsp corn flour How to make the dough Mix water, flour and salt together to form dough then knead for 3 minutes or until firm and elastic. Spray or drizzle with vegetable oil and cover with plastic. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes. Ideally, the dough should be thinker in the centre and thinner around the edges. When you fold the edges together it shouldn't be too think. The Chinese usually roll the dough individually by dividing it into smaller portions. It is generally easier, however, to roll the dough out with a pasta machine or rolling pin to 2mm thick before cutting it with a round pastry cutter on a floured workbench. How to make the filling Grate the ginger and finely chop the shallots. Mix these ingredients into 100ml water and rub the shallots between your fingers to extract the juice. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes. Blanch the cabbage leaves for 1 minute in boiling water then strain. Dice the cabbage. Mix cabbage, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, corn flour and the ginger shallot mixture into pork mince. To finish Put 1 full teaspoon of filling in the middle of the portioned dough and wet edges with water to prevent sticking. Fold the dough working outwards in. Dust dumpling with flour to prevent sticking. To cook, simply boil for 5 minutes. Serve hot with combination of vinegar and soy sauce. This recipe is based on the traditional Jiao-zi dumpling originating in northern China, interpreted by Zachary Ng. Image: Andrea Nguyen.
Ruben Guthrie, like a lot Australians, enjoys a drink. And, like a lot of Australians, believes that it is ‘un-Australian’ not to join in the festivities on every occasion, large or small by downing a drink - or twelve. As creative director for an advertising agency he attends an industry awards night at a major hotel, and after a big night at the event he comes to the sensible conclusion that he has the ability to fly, and proceeds to jump off the hotel roof. This somewhat flawed decision is the tipping point for Guthrie’s mother, who hauls her son off to Alcoholics Anonymous, an event which makes him face some harsh realities and has a life changing impact. Ruben Guthrie was the brainchild of actor/writer extraordinaire Brendan Cowell who wrote the play after a year of sobriety. During the year off the grog Cowell realised that his life had become very dependent on and surrounded by drinking - he socialised, networked and relaxed with a drink in his hand (a reality most of us would have to face if we did some reflecting). Out of this realisation was born the character and story of Ruben Guthrie, a man forced to face his alcoholic demons and change the course of his future.
Not content with doing big business in cinemas over the past decade, Marvel is bringing its superhero tales to the small screen, as part of Disney's already-announced plans to broaden out the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That was always going to be the case once the Mouse House moved into the streaming realm. In fact, producing a slew of high-profile titles for Disney+ was on its agenda right from the beginning. But, while Star Wars fans have already been able to enjoy The Mandalorian — which aired one season in 2019, and launched its second season last month — Marvel aficionados have had to hold out a little longer to get their episodic caped crusader fix. And, that wait isn't over yet. Back in September when a trailer for WandaVision dropped, the show was slated to come out by the end of this year. Disney+ has now updated that timing to 2021 — with the show premiering on Friday, January 15, to be specific. When it does start streaming, WandaVision will become Disney+'s first MCU show. Yes, plenty more are on the agenda. In this spinoff series, however, Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) take centre stage. Story-wise, the show follows its titular characters in their home lives. As a sneak peek back in February initially teased, and the recent trailer demonstrated in a little more detail, that premise definitely isn't as straightforward as it seems. At first, Wanda and Vision appear to be stranded in a classic 50s sitcom and experiencing the epitome of suburban living. To really stress that feeling, these scenes are rendered in black and white, too. Of course, as anyone who remembers the path the characters' arcs took on the big screen will guess, this seeming domestic bliss will come with a twist. As well as Olsen and Bettany, the trailer also features Kathryn Hahn (I Know This Much Is True) — while Kat Dennings is set to reprise her Thor and Thor: The Dark World character of Darcy Lewis; Randall Park will step back into his Ant-Man and the Wasp role as FBI agent Jimmy Woo; and Teyonah Parris (Mad Men) will play Monica Rambeau, an older version of Maria Rambeau's daughter from Captain Marvel. WandaVision's six-episode season was actually originally due to hit Disney+ after The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which focuses on Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), but it appears that plan has changed. The latter doesn't currently have a release date — and as for Loki, starring Tom Hiddleston, it's supposed to drop in 2021. Check out the WandaVision trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy0DLVQfL_I&feature=youtu.be WandaVision will hit Disney+ on Friday, January 15, 2021.
For a glorious month this winter, the Matildas were everywhere. When the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup took place Down Under in July and August, Australia's national women's soccer team made history on the pitch and on TV screens, and the country revelled in every moment. Been missing that time, living and breathing all things Sam Kerr and Mackenzie Arnold, being on calf watch, and donning green and gold? For the next week, the squad is back on home turf to play three matches. The Tillies' players have been busy since August, of course, thanks to their regular club seasons around the world. Some of the Matildas ply their trade year-round in England, in the Women's Super League; some hit the turf on home soil; and others are in teams everywhere from France and Spain to Sweden and Mexico. But, kicking off on Thursday, October 26 — and then also taking to the field on Sunday, October 29 and Wednesday, November 1 — this is the first time that the squad is back together since their Women's World Cup campaign. [caption id="attachment_912896" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Disney+[/caption] The reason? Qualifying matches for the 2024 Paris Olympics, with the Tillies playing all three games in Kerr's hometown of Perth. First up at 10pm AEDT / 9pm AEST / 7pm AWST on Thursday is Iran, followed by The Philippines at 6pm AEDT / 5pm AEST / 3pm AWST on Sunday and then Chinese Taipei at 10pm AEDT / 9pm AEST / 7pm AWST on Wednesday. If you're in the Western Australian capital and want to go along, or you're keen to head over, you'd best already have tickets as all three games are sold out. The match against The Philippines had already been moved to the 60,000-seat Optus Stadium to fit more fans in. The other two games are being played at the 20,000-capacity HBF Park — so that's 100,000 seats sold, a feat that's given the Matildas 11 soldout games in a row. [caption id="attachment_913693" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rovena Rosa/Agência Brasil[/caption] To watch along from home, 10Play, 10Bold and Paramount+ are your destinations — plus Network 10 on regular TV. As for the squad, Kerr, Arnold, Alanna Kennedy, Ellie Carpenter, Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Katrina Gorry, Hayley Raso, Cortnee Vine, Emily van Egmond and Tameka Yallop are among the team. After this, you have a few more chances to get your Matildas fix this year. The team will play two friendlies against Canada in Canada on Saturday, December 2 and Tuesday, December 5 — and, in Sydney, Arnold, Fowler and Kennedy are doing a live fan stadium event on Thursday, December 21. MATILDAS OLYMPIC QUALIFYING MATCHES IN PERTH: Thursday, October 26 — versus Iran at 10pm AEDT / 9pm AEST / 7pm AWST Sunday, October 29 — versus The Philippines at 6pm AEDT / 5pm AEST / 3pm AWST Wednesday, November 1 — versus Chinese Taipei at 10pm AEDT / 9pm AEST / 7pm AWST The Matildas' Olympic qualifiers in Perth take place from Thursday, October 26–Wednesday, November 1 — and you can watch via 10Play, 10Bold and Paramount+.
As well as being strikingly shot with neon hues aplenty, British thriller We Hunt Together boasts quite the memorable concept. Its title refers to two sets of characters. Firstly, detectives Lola (Eve Myles) and Jackson (Babou Ceesay) are trying to track down a couple of murderers terrorising London. If that sounds rather standard, the series also spends a significant amount of time with former child soldier Baba (Dipo Ola) and his new girlfriend Freddy (Hermione Corfield) — who go on a revenge-seeking, kill-happy spree, sparking the police's investigation. Consequently, this is a show that willingly lurks in murky terrain — especially where Baba and Freddy are involved. He's trying to gain asylum in the UK to avoid being sent back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and their first encounter involves him saving her from an attempted sexual assault.
When the Victorian government committed to funding the Melbourne Metro Rail project, easing inner-city congestion was the topic on everyone's minds. With new transport infrastructure comes new names, however. With five new underground train stations set to join the city's network from 2026, suggesting those monikers has now been tasked upon the state's residents. If you've always wanted to name a piece of Melbourne, here's your chance. Naming is now open for stations at Arden, Parkville, Domain, and under the northern and southern ends of Swanston Street, with a deadline of October 22 for submissions. Entries can be lodged online, must be no longer than three words or 25 characters unless they're in an Indigenous language, and should be relevant to the geography or heritage of the place in question. Names of people held in high regard by the community will also be accepted, although participants are asked to avoid those of people who are still living. Alas, before you go thinking what we're all thinking, one idea has already been ruled out: Station McStationface. "Try to come up with something more original," the Premier posted on Facebook, clearly hoping to stop a repeat of the British Boaty McBoatface situation. That said, Trainy McTrainface was ruled a perfectly fine name in Sweden. "We want as many Victorians as possible to have their say on what they'd like the five new underground stations to be named," is the Premier's official statement, but entries will go through a vetting committee according to The Age. As for the new Metro Rail itself, it will includes two new tunnels as well, and create a new path into the city that doesn't rely on (but connects to) the City Loop. Here's what it will look like: Image: Binayak Dasgupta via Flickr.
Hailed as kings of the cold-press, Blackstar don't take short cuts when it comes to providing their rich and earthy blend. In a story that has become a Brisbane legend, the Blackstar boys returned from a coffee-excursion in New Zealand, and with little more than flavour memory tried to replicate the finely crafted coffee they left overseas. Needless to say, success ensued and these days you can you can grab a brew from Blackstar in West End, Contessa in the City, or at the Queen Street markets.
Drift, written and directed by Morgan O'Neill (Solo), carries us into the world of Australian surfing in the 1970s, when 'the dream' began its transformation into an industry. In remote coastal areas, surfers reluctant to trade their freedom for the drudgery and exploitation of dull, nine-to-five jobs started selling surf gear from their backyards, giving birth to (now) household names like Billabong and Rip Curl. Tiny towns became hotbeds for tensions between maintaining authenticity and 'selling out', and as the money rolled in, so too did heavy drugs and hard-nosed competitive interests. The tale of a family fleeing domestic abuse propels the film's storyline. Desperate to escape her violent husband, Kat Kelly (Robyn Malcolm) throws her sons Andy (Myles Pollard) and Jimmy (Xavier Samuel) in her beat-up secondhand car and drives across Australia. Their journey ends in idyllic Seacliffe, a fictional village in Western Australia's Margaret River region, where life moves at an easy pace and the break is never crowded. As the boys undergo the difficult business of becoming men, each develops his own set of troubling traits. Jimmy, despite displaying the potential of a pro surfer, is lured into theft and deceit by Miller (Steve Bastoni), chief thug of a local bikie gang. Andy, on the other hand, decides to start a home-run surf gear enterprise, but his hotheaded stubbornness gets him into strife. Meanwhile, Kat, struggling to pay the mortgage, is perpetually on the brink of eviction. Whether or not Andy will 'make it' is the central hook, and a sequence of traumatic twists and turns in the plot aims to heighten dramatic tension: With the bikies comes heroin, to which a close friend falls victim. A Kombi-driving hippie, JB (Sam Worthington), arrives, challenging the notion of the commercialisation of surfing. His attractive female travelling companion, Lani (Lesley-Ann Brandt), draws the attention of both brothers, threatening heartbreak. Andy clashes with a surf comp sponsor, and there are even a handful of near fatal accidents. All of these stories are valid. Each of them is relevant to the era. They are told against a stunning backdrop — the cinematography is breathtaking. However, in trying to touch on such a plethora of misadventures, Drift has a hard time giving each the depth of treatment required to give it weight. We walk away with a broad brush impression of the flavour of the period, but our connection with the characters is minimal and the approach taken to their concerns is simplistic. Moments of laboured dialogue do not help. While Drift's intention to present a grand fraternal-driven narrative is admirable, the film falls short on delivery. O'Neill's skillfully directed, intelligently written, classy debut, Solo, showed that he is capable of so much more.
Sometimes, when one of Stephen King's books is adapted for the screen, movie magic is made. At other times, an intriguing TV show awaits. And, average and awful films and series have taken inspiration from his pages, too — which, given the huge number of flicks and programs that are based on his novels, is hardly unsurprising. Of course, fans of the famed author will be hoping that the latest page-to-screen adaptation of one of his books has more in common with The Shining and Misery — more than with IT: Chapter Two and the recent TV version of The Stand, at least. The next novel getting the audio-visual treatment: Lisey's Story. And, it isn't just based on King's 2006 tome. This time around, King is penning the whole eight-episode series himself, too. He's just one of the show's big names, with plenty more in store when it starts airing on Apple TV+ from Friday, June 4. Julianne Moore (After the Wedding) stars as the eponymous Lisey, while Clive Owen (Gemini Man) plays her deceased husband — a famous novelist, because plenty of writers pop up in King's works. Joan Allen (Room), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Possessor), Dane DeHaan (Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets) and Ron Cephas Jones (Dolemite Is My Name) also co-star, and so does Sung Kang (Fast and Furious 9). And, behind the lens is Pablo Larraín, the exceptional Chilean filmmaker responsible for No, The Club, Neruda, Jackie, Ema and the upcoming Kristen Stewart-starring Spencer about Princess Diana. Narrative-wise, Lisey's Story follows its central figure two years after her spouse Scott's death. She's blocked some memories of their time together from her mind, but a series of events brings them back to the fore. And yes, chills and thrills then result. Lisey's Story will premiere its first two episodes on Apple TV+ on Friday, June 4, with new instalments following weekly afterwards.
Every gig should be its own distinctive experience, even if a band is hitting city after city on a massive national or international tour. But there's unique concerts and then there's Sigur Rós' latest run of shows. While there's nothing quite like seeing the Icelandic band live in general, they'll be doing something different on their next trip to Australia: taking to the stage with live orchestras. Jónsi Birgisson, Georg Hólm and Kjartan Sveinsson will play with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and more when Sigur Rós' current orchestral tour makes its way Down Under. Across the rest of 2024, fans across the US and Nordic countries can catch the group joining forces with a 41-piece orchestra. Then, come May 2025, it's Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane's turn to witness quite a few new members temporarily join the band. Sigur Rós have a one-night date locked in in Adelaide to kick off their Australian visit, and then will play Melbourne for two nights, Sydney for three and Brisbane for one. ÁTTA, their 2023 album, will be in the spotlight, as the last time they toured Down Under was in 2022, before it was released — and it was was recorded with arrangements featuring a 32-piece orchestra. Fans can expect tracks from their 1997 debut Von onwards, however, spanning tunes from fellow records Ágætis byrjun, ( ), Takk..., Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, Valtari and Kveikur. [caption id="attachment_974235" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alive87 via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] That last — and soldout — trip this way was part of the group's first tour in five years, but clearly they haven't left the same gap go by between then and their next tour. Sigur Rós first started doing the rounds with an orchestra in 2023, playing a limited number of gigs, before expanding the experience further. Next stop: Australia. [caption id="attachment_974239" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Goatling via Flickr.[/caption] Sigur Rós Australian Orchestral Tour 2025 Saturday, May 17 — AEC Theatre, Adelaide Monday, May 19–Tuesday, May 20 — Hamer Hall, Melbourne Friday, May 23–Sunday, May 25 — venue to be announced, Sydney Tuesday, May 27 — QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane Sigur Rós is touring Australia in May 2025, with presale tickets available from 10am local time on Wednesday, October 2, 2024 and general sales from 10am local time on Friday, October 4. Head to the band's website for further details. Top image: Kathryn Parson Photography via Flickr.
Move over The Last of Us and The Super Mario Bros Movie — when it comes to turning video games into TV shows and films, there's another must-see dropping our way in 2023. This one focuses on a button-mashing favourite that also drips with tension and boasts a ridiculously catchy theme tune. That title? The one and only Tetris. The king of all puzzle games, the best way to spend your time obsessing over tumbling blocks and an addiction for many, Tetris first arrived in 1984 courtesy of Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov. How did it become the global phenomenon it is and always will be? That's the tale that the movie also called Tetris will tell when its line itself up on your streaming queue via Apple TV+ on Friday, March 31. This film knows the truth about Tetris, too: that once you play it even for a few minutes, it haunts your brain and never departs. Early in the just-released trailer for the flick, star Taron Egerton (Black Bird) gives voice to something what every Tetris player has experienced. "I still see falling blocks in my dreams," he says as Henk Rogers, the man who secured the rights to the title for distribution on video game consoles like Nintendo's Game Boy. The path from Pajitnov (played by Six Empty Seats' Nikita Efremov) creating the puzzle favourite and everyone everywhere playing it isn't straightforward or smooth. In fact, Tetris, the movie, looks set to unfurl as a wild Cold War-era thriller. When Rogers discovers the game, he makes the trip to the Soviet Union to meet Pajitnov — but the story from there involves far more than just four-piece blocks raining down on a screen. Filmmaker Jon S. Baird (Stan & Ollie) directs, working with a script by Genius' Noah Pink, while Toby Jones (The English) also features among the cast. To answer three crucial questions about the film flick from its trailer: yes, it features the requisite music; yes, it'll get that tune stuck in your head; and yes, you'll want to play Tetris ASAP. Check out the trailer for Tetris below: Tetris will be available to stream via Apple TV+ from Friday, March 31.
What is personal style? For many of us, it's about the clothes we wear or the accessories we pick — the impression we give of ourselves when heading out the front door each day. But for many creatives, it's about all that alongside the personal artistic expression they reveal to the world through their work. This concept has been captured by Danish jewellery design house Georg Jensen in its new campaign Art of Style, giving insight into how some of our favourite creative personalities let their style trickle into their artistic process — and vice versa. One such featured personality is Australian artist Amanda Shadforth, who revealed in a video for the campaign that she unleashes her creativity both in her art studio and through her chosen jewellery. She even created a bespoke art piece inspired by the retailer's collection. The two go hand-in-hand — similar to Georg Jensen's core design values, Shadorth's style is classic and understated, and her artistic inspiration comes from nature. In collaboration with Georg Jensen, we've delved deeper into some of the key characteristics of Shadorth's style and handpicked some of our favourite pieces from the Offspring, Mercy, Reflect and Curve collections that work together to reflect it. EMBRACE THE IMPERFECT Any fan of Shadforth's work knows she has an eye for organic shapes drawn from nature — her bespoke art piece for Georg Jensen does away with traditional fine art techniques and digital influences. Shadforth says that's one of the main things that draws her to the design house: the perfectly imperfect, organic shapes that feel like they're a natural expression of the human body. "Some of the pieces actually feel like they could have been part of nature once," says Shadforth. If you're also a fan of wearing pieces that reflect the calm dynamism of nature, opt for Georg Jensen's Mercy collection. This range, by acclaimed American designer Jacqueline Rabun, uses sterling silver and 18k gold to create unique pieces reflecting the shifting sculptural forms of nature and the human experience. Our pick: The Mercy Double Ring in sterling silver. This piece at first gives the appearance of two rings, but on closer inspection reveals itself to be one continuous, flowing shape. The curve of this double ring almost appears like ocean waves or the essence of time, captured on the wearer's fingers. RRP: $475 Pair it with: The Mercy Earrings in 18k yellow gold Another Rabun design, these striking earrings are made from one organic flowing shape, twisting through the ear hole and hugging the lobe — almost acting as an extension of the ear. According to the designer, the strands are inspired by the twists and turns of time. RRP: $1175 DON'T BE AFRAID TO MIX AND MATCH Shadforth reveales she uses everything from giant stainless steel trowels to tiny delicate brushes to create depth and texture in her artworks — she even makes her own equipment when she needs a particular way of applying paint. Her affinity for mixing and matching is echoed in her favourite pieces from Georg Jensen's collections, where style 'rules' are made to be broken. If you've previously considered yourself a solely silver or gold girlie, change things up and create a fresh, contemporary look by mixing metals, stacking and layering pieces from different collections — perhaps a mix of delicate understated pieces and striking standouts. The classic chain designs seen in Rabun's new Reflect collection for Georg Jensen can be paired with her larger statement forms of the egg-shaped Offspring collection, or Regitze Overgaard's bold and sculptural Curve bangles, earrings, pendants and rings. Our pick: The Large Offspring Ring in sterling silver: an eye-catching conversation starter in the Offpsiring collection's signature oval shape, this chunky piece lends itself perfectly to stacking with more delicate shapes and offsetting with different metals. RRP: $345 Pair it with: The Medium Curve Bangle in 18k yellow gold and sterling silver. The line dividing the gold and silver in this statement bangle contrasts with its soft, organic shape — and proves that any outdated rules you might have about mixing gold and silver can be nixed. Instead, combining different metals creates a look as individual (and striking, of course) as the wearer. RRP: $7700 PAIR FEMININE AND MASCULINE STYLES Again showing that mixing and matching is key, Shadforth describes her style as a paradox between masculine and feminine. She has a "tomboyish" tendency to gravitate towards trousers and blazers, which she pairs with classic, understated pieces. Jewellery is an effective way to achieve such a mix — since the dawn of civilisation, it's been used as a tool by both sexes to embellish and stand out. Achieve it yourself by taking classically unisex shapes like the chains and striking rings from Georg Jensen's Reflect collection and pair them with the feminine shapes celebrated in the Curve collection or the egg-shaped Offspring collection. Our pick: The Reflect Ring in sterling silver. Designed by Rabun and formed by two ends of a piece of sterling silver wrapped around each other, this striking unisex ring can be a bold statement piece or used to stack with other forms. RRP:$375 Pair it with: The Offspring Bangle in sterling silver. Delicate silver bangles are, of course, always in vogue, but this one adds a modern, feminine twist on a classic shape thanks to its wave-like curve. Combine it with the Reflect Ring for a contemporary mix of thick and thin metals. RRP:$475 SHE'S SO GOLDEN There's no doubt that chunky gold jewellery is having a moment — but loyal fans of this glittering shade know that it never really goes out of style. Shadforth opts for gold in both her artistic and fashion expressions — her art piece in collaboration with Georg Jensen uses a thick application of dark ochre, amber and gold tones that give the piece real warmth. And you only have to take a look at some of Shadorth's other stunning works to know it's a theme that carries through much of her oeuvre. If you're keen to give gold a go, opt for timeless pieces in yellow gold that can be easily stacked with other metals and shapes. Our pick: The Mercy Earrings in 18k yellow gold with diamonds — because when is that combination ever not fabulous? Inspired by the passage of time, these delicate twisted hoops manage to be both classic and contemporary — and can be passed down through generations. RRP: $3350 We'd pair them with: The Large Reflect Bracelet in 18k gold. The classic link bracelet has been given a modern and luxurious makeover with this Rabun-designed gold chain piece. With a bit more 'tude than other chain bracelets tanks to its interlocking links, it definitely doesn't come cheap, but again is timeless enough to be passed down from mother to daughter over many years. RRP: $14,000 Feeling inspired? You too can express your own art of style through Georg Jensen's Mercy, Reflect, Curve and Offspring collections — the pieces are designed to be layered and stacked together, across collections and combined with different metals. For more information, head to the website.
When South by Southwest revealed two key pieces of news back in 2022 — that it would be held outside of the US for the first time ever, and that it was heading to Sydney to make that happen — the end result was always going to be big. SXSW Sydney is still more than two months away, taking place from Sunday, October 15–Sunday, October 22, but it just keeps adding to its hefty lineup. The latest? Queer Eye star Tan France and Coachella CEO Paul Tollett as headline speakers. France joins the bill as part of SXSW Sydney's focus on screens. The Yorkshire-raised, fashion-loving star has plenty to talk about, including Queer Eye, his New York Times best-selling memoir, YouTube's Dressing Funny, fellow Netflix series Next In Fashion and his own gender-neutral clothing line. The screen fest within the fest is yet to announce what it'll be showing, but it also named filmmakers Leah Purcell (The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson), Kodie Bedford (Mystery Road: Origin) and Jub Clerc (Sweet As) among its speakers earlier in July. Tollett clearly connects to SXSW Sydney's music festival, given that he has experience with one of the biggest such events in the world. As CEO of Goldenvoice, the promoter behind Coachella, he's also spearheaded the Stagecoach country fest — and he started his career in the 80s working in rock. Also joining the speaker lineup as a headliner Cal Henderson, who your workplace might owe a debt to. He's Slack's co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, and ties into SXSW's Sydney's technology strand. And, as already announced back in February, American futurist, The Genesis Machine author, and Future Today Institute founder and CEO Amy Webb is both a keynote speaker and headliner. France, Tollett, Henderson and Webb will feature among 700-plus speakers, and more than 300 panels and events, at the Austin-born festival's Down Under debut. So far, the fest has also unveiled a batch of music highlights and must-attend parties, plus details of its gaming strand, with more program details still to come. On the music front, over 400 artist performances will take over Sydney's venues, with the entire event happening within a walkable precinct in the Sydney CBD, Haymarket, Darling Harbour, Ultimo, Chippendale and more — aka a huge hub. [caption id="attachment_910712" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brittany Hallberg[/caption] SXSW's setup includes packing festivals within the bigger fest, plus exhibitions, talks, networking opportunities and streetside activations popping up everywhere. So far, venues named include Powerhouse Museum, ICC Sydney, UTS, Central Park Mall, the Goods Line Walk, The Abercrombie and Lansdowne Hotel. Attendees can hit up the SXSW Sydney Conference, which is where those keynotes, presentations, panels, workshops and mentor sessions come in. And, there's the SXSW Sydney Technology & Innovation Exhibitions, which is all about innovative and emerging tech and entertainment companies from across the Asia-Pacific region. Plus, at the Startup Village, up-and-comers from all industries and sectors will have space to meet, present and chat. [caption id="attachment_910713" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brittany Hallberg[/caption] SXSW's arts fests will span the SXSW Sydney 2023 Music Festival, which will be focused on live music venues in central Sydney — and the SXSW Sydney Gaming Festival, complete with more than 100 local and international independent games to play at venues (alongside demonstrations, launches performances, exhibitions and social gatherings). Movie and TV lovers, get excited — because the SXSW Sydney Screen Festival isn't just a film fest. There'll be flicks to see, including at red-carpet premieres; episodic content; and digital, XR and social content. Expect Q&As and panel discussions with the folks behind them as well. [caption id="attachment_910714" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jordan Kirk[/caption] SXSW Sydney will run from Sunday, October 15–Sunday, October 22 at various Sydney venues — head to the festival's website for further details. Top image: Netflix. If you're keen to make the most of Australia's first SXSW, take advantage of our special reader offer. Purchase your SXSW Sydney 2023 Official Badge via Concrete Playground Trips and you'll score a $150 credit to use on your choice of Sydney accommodation. Book now via the website.
Sometimes, drinking beer can be a bit of a lucky dip: one person's favourite tasty ale or refreshing lager is another's least-preferred brew. But what if you could down a yeasty beverage that you were guaranteed to like, such as a tipple that had been crafted to suit your specific, distinctive tastes? Following in the footsteps of gastronomy wizards Bompas and Parr and their bespoke cocktails tailored to your DNA, London's Meantime Brewing Company are doing the same thing with beer. Meantime Bespoke uses a saliva sample to assess whether your tastebuds prefer the sweet or bitter side of things, with personal genetics company 23andMe probing down to the genetic and hereditary levels. Then, the service maps out a flavour profile for what should you be favourite drink (thanks science!). Once Meantime has come up with a proposed style of beer, you get to head into the brewery to help make your unique tipple come to fruition. Yep, that's the fun part — other than the drinking. Sounds like the solution to making a wrong choice at the bottle-o or having to stomach whatever beer your mate bought off the tap, doesn't it? Yes, but it comes at a very hefty price. Expect to pay a minimum of £25,000 for 12 hectolitres, or the equivalent to over 2000 pints. The fee also includes a course on the brewing process, and — although this isn't officially stated — the knowledge that you've spent a whole lot of money to ensure that your next drink is just right. Via Mental Floss.
When Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead hits cinemas this Friday (and only this Friday), do yourself a favour and remain indoors. The feature film debut of the Sydney-born Roache-Turner brothers, this is a gruesome zombie apocalypse movie with a grungy, DIY aesthetic — the duo spent three-and-half-years on the project, and their hard work and enthusiasm can be felt in every frame. But enthusiasm alone doesn’t excuse derivative storytelling. Nor does it make the film’s casual racism and leering misogyny any less unpleasant to watch. The movie begins — as such movies tend to do — with the downfall of civilisation. Specifically, a meteor shower, which for some unknown (possibly biblical) reason turns a majority of the population into zombies. It’s especially bad news for blokey auto mechanic Barry (Jay Gallagher), who’s forced to execute his wife and daughter before they make him a meal. Armed to the teeth — and with a homemade armoured vehicle to match — Barry and a group of survivors make their way down the outback highway, in an attempt to rescue his sister Brooke (Bianca Bradey) from a similarly grizzly fate. Wyrmwood is being sold as a cross between Mad Max and Dawn of the Dead. It should probably go without saying that it doesn’t hold a candle to either. This is bargain-bin horror filmmaking, and although the brothers endeavour to throw in a few new twists on the zombie genre, ultimately the formula remains the same. It’s a movie more focused on interesting kills than interesting characters; Barry has less personality than a reanimated corpse, while his sidekick Benny (Leon Burchill) is a cartoonish collection of belittling Aboriginal stereotypes. Even more distasteful is Wyrmwood’s handling of its only significant female character. While Barry and Benny slice their way through the zombie hordes, the scantily clad Brooke finds herself chained up in a laboratory, at the mercy of a syringe-wielding mad scientist. Dull and repetitive, the subplot serves zero purpose in the film, other than to give pervy male audience members ample opportunity to star down Bradey’s top. This kind of sexism is all too common in the low-fi horror world, and frankly, it needs to be stamped out. Technical specs are solid, particularly given the film’s presumably minuscule shooting budget. The camerawork recalls the madcap energy of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead film, although with next to none of that series’ ingenuity or humour. Credit also to the effects and makeup teams for credibly bringing the film's monsters to (un)life. Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead will have its Australian premiere at Moonlight Cinemas around the country on Friday, February 6. These screenings will be followed by a one-day theatrical engagement on Friday, Feburary 13.
In 2022, West End became home to a new Friday night market, spanning all the food, drinks and stalls you'd expect, plus live music as well, and also fire twirlers, stilt walkers and fortune tellers — and a neon forest. The destination for all of the above: Westoria, which takes place weekly from 4–10pm on Jane Street next to the regular West End Markets site. Getting weird, wild and wonderful is the vibe here every time that it's on; however, with Halloween upon us for 2023, the Westoria crew is ramping things up a few notches. So on Friday, October 27, it's hosting The Wicked Witches of Westoria, complete with spooky stalls, street food and sips. Also on offer: a dance class to teach you 'Thriller' moves, roving entertainers getting into the theme, bites to match the occasion and cocktails. Entry is free — and if you embrace the time of year and get witchy, you might be treated to the best-dressed witch title.
