Brisbanites, your autumn plans just got bigger, because the Queensland Government is easing a heap of pandemic restrictions. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced today, Tuesday, February 22, that caps on the number of folks you can have over to your house will lift, density limits will be scrapped in a number of public places, and masks will no longer be required in a heap of indoor settings from 6pm on Friday, March 4. The rules will relax more than two months after restrictions were tightened around Christmas in response to the Omicron wave. But now, thanks to decreasing community transmission and hospital admission numbers, Queenslanders can get ready to do more things in more places with more people again. BREAKING: Masks will no longer be required workplaces, schools and shops from 6pm on Friday 4 March. Hospitality staff and patrons won't be required to wear them at cafés, pubs or restaurants. pic.twitter.com/gdWrSA8BTc — Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) February 21, 2022 If you're most excited about having friends and family over, you'll be able to have as many people at your house as you like. And yes, the new rule kicks in just as a weekend starts. For those eager to spend more time out and about, density limits will be ditched in food courts, hairdressers, gyms, private venues and universities — and at weddings and funerals. Regarding masks, they'll no longer be required in workplaces, schools and shops. Hospitality staff and patrons won't be required to wear them at cafés, pubs or restaurants, either. That said, you will still have to mask up on public transport, in airports and on planes, as well as in hospitals, disability care, prisons and aged care. Queensland's COVID-19 case numbers for today, Tuesday, February 22, hadn't been announced at the time of writing, but the state recorded 4114 new cases yesterday, Monday, February 21. Queensland's density, gathering and mask rules will ease at 6pm on Friday, March 4. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in Queensland, head to the QLD COVID-19 hub and the Queensland Health website. Top image: Kiff and Culture.
Blissfully kayaking down a crystal-clear mountain stream between Queensland's two highest peaks and stopping along the way to swim and snorkel sounds pretty idyllic to us. Thankfully, the team at Babinda Kayaking can make this dream your reality. Choose between a kayak or stand-up paddleboard tour that'll weave along the beautiful Babinda Creek. Then, look out for fish, turtles and the elusive platypus as the current gently encourages you downstream toward secluded beaches that you can stop at along the way. The trip is self-guided so you can take your time exploring the creek. We recommend packing a picnic lunch to enjoy at one of the picturesque sandy patches you'll discover along the way. Image: Tourism Tropical North Queensland.
Spring has arrived in southeast Queensland, thawing out 2022's surprisingly frosty winter chill and heralding sunny days aplenty for the next nine months. Fond of all things floral as far as the eye can see? This is your time to shine, obviously — and a trip west of Brisbane to the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers should be on your September itinerary. Every year when winter says farewell, Toowoomba becomes the brightest place in the region — and the state. Blooms blossom, greenery sprouts and flora reaches towards the sun, with the colourful floral fiesta taking over every space it can in the Darling Downs city. In 2022, as it did in 2021, the Carnival of Flowers is also sticking around for an entire month. That means that from Thursday, September 1–Friday, September 30, colourful petals and Toowoomba go hand in hand, with the program taking over a variety of locations — including Laurel Bank Park and the Botanic Gardens of Queens Park — to showcase all of the gorgeous florets, growths and gardens around town. This year marks the fest's 73rd year, and it has a big attraction to celebrate: more than 190,000 blossoming bulbs. Clearly this huge (and free) carnival won't be short on natural splendour. If simply wandering around to take in the bright sights is your idea of an ace spring outing, kaleidoscopic arrays of tulips, petunias and poppies included, you won't be disappointed. But the festivities range further, covering everything from park tours to food trucks slinging bites to eat, a series of talks in local pubs, both guided and non-guided walking tours, pinot and painting sessions, and a floral parade. Key highlights include the #trEATS regional food trail which showcases local eateries, and this year sees participating cafes, restaurants and bars serve up floral-inspired dishes priced between $10–20. In total, there are 43 bites to tuck into, such as tiramisu with Persian rose fairy floss, coconut cherry bloom gelato with edible flowers and flower petal lollipops. [caption id="attachment_867569" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Luke Marsden[/caption] Still on the culinary side, the three-day Festival of Food and Wine returns from Friday, September 9–Saturday, September 11 — and alongside celebrating regional produce, it'll feature The Whitlams playing their entire Eternal Nightcap album, as well as further live tunes from Vera Blue, Ash Grunwald and more. Elsewhere on the lineup, dog lovers can also take their pup to the pooch-friendly program, which covers more than 20 dog-friendly activities and 27 off-leash parks. Or, film fans can scope out cinema under the stars sessions on Saturday, September 24, courtesy of a double featuring FernGully: The Last Rainforest and 10 Things I Hate About You. The illuminated night garden is back as well from 6–8.30pm nightly, and so is the ferris wheel with a blooming great view in Queens Park from Friday, September 16–Sunday, September 25. Basically, there's no bad time to visit throughout September — and you might want to make the trek more than once. Indeed, when it comes to scenic spring sights, there's no prettier place to be. And, given it takes less than two hours to head up the mountain from Brisbane, it's perfect for a weekend day trip. The 2022 Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers runs from Thursday, September 1–Friday, September 30 across Toowoomba. For further information, head to the event's website.
Cinema lovers of Brisbane, if you've been hanging out to see some of the past year's most significant international, art and experimental movies, your wait is about to come to an end. While the latest iteration of the city's annual major film festival, the Brisbane International Film Festival, won't return until October and and November, a new Brisbane film society is about to start screening flicks that've wowed overseas fests every fortnight. Meet Container, which'll welcome in cinephiles every second Tuesday from July 12. Generally screening at the CBD's Elizabeth Picture Theatre — with potential jaunts elsewhere to screen 3D, 35-millimetre and other film formats — it's a curated program delivered in single-screening servings. As well as offering an alternative to the usual festival rush, where cramming in as many movies as your eyes and body can handle is always the name of the game, it's giving Brisbane a fortnightly substitute for the standard multiplex and arthouse programming. On the bill: primarily movies that aren't likely to screen in Brisbane cinemas otherwise, spanning everything from acclaimed titles from festivals such Cannes, Venice and Berlin through to experimental showcases and live expanded cinema performances. The program kicks off with Peter Strickland's Flux Gourmet, the latest from the inimitable Berberian Sound Studio, The Duke of Burgundy and In Fabric filmmaker, and will also include Joana Pimenta and Adirley Queirós' Dry Ground Burning, Rhayne Vermette's Ste. Anne, Lucile Hadžihalilović's Earwig, João Pedro Rodrigues' Will o the Wisp and Gasper Noé's Lux Æterna before the end of September. If you're a Brisbane-based movie buff, you'll know the type of flicks that Container will be showcasing — aka the kinds of festival fare that, if BIFF doesn't screen them, don't enjoy a local big-screen showing. If that idea sounds familiar, that's because Container has taken a few cues from Victoria's long-running Melbourne Cinematheque. Also, it's guided by the same idea behind Queensland Film Festival, albeit via an annual film fest rather than a year-round lineup. Brissie film fans with decent memories will recall that when Brisbane's film festival scene found itself lacking a place for such movies back when BIFF was temporarily replaced by the Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival in 2014, QFF arrived to fill that gap. Now, the latter has spawned Container, which has been dubbed QFF's cousin. Behind both is curator and programmer John Edmond, Container's director. "We are delighted to reveal our plans for Container and its initial lineup," said Edmond. "Strong support, particularly from The Elizabeth Picture House, New Farm Cinemas, as well as conversations and feedback from our city's cinephiles, art and movie lovers, have helped make this society happen." "What we heard from people was a desire to see amazing and important films that they would otherwise not be able to see, and in a way that would help create a community through regular catchups," Edmond continued. "It also allows people to see new festival-circuit films without the crush and mad rush of watching innumerous films at a festival. Container also has Michelangelo Frammartino's Il Buco, Qiu Jiongjiong's A New Old Play, Albert Serra's Pacifiction and Ben Rivers' Urthworks on its upcoming list, plus Thai Memoria director Apichatpong Weerasethakul as well. "With our programming and curation, we wanted to do three things. We wanted to show the breadth of film happening now. We wanted to present striking and singular films that let you know why they stand out. And we wanted to respect Brisbane and our audience's intelligence; to not be cynical or second guess the public but use our knowledge and research to present important films being talked about," Edmond advised. Entry is via membership, either paying for six- ($60 full/$30 concession) or 12-month ($100/$50) access in advance. Plus, there's also a $250 solidarity membership, which includes three single-use guest passes as well, and helps Container make its screenings more available to the rest of the community. Container: Brisbane Film Society kicks off its monthly screenings at 7pm on Tuesday, July 12 at The Elizabeth Picture Theatre, and will run fortnightly afterwards. For more information or to join, head to the Container website.
If you want to get properly warmed up before jumping into fresh rainforest water this summer, take the track through Behana Gorge to discover the impressive swimming spot that is Clamshell Falls. Situated 30 minutes drive south of Cairns, the track winds its way alongside a babbling creek for 3.5 kilometres before opening up to a dreamy dip destination. The waterfall itself acts as an active backdrop to the gentler swimming hole that sits below. The incline of the walk can be challenging in parts which means it's likely there won't be too many people around. Just make sure you take all your essential items with you as there are no amenities when you're this deep into the jungle.
What's better than one place where you can blow off steam by slinging sharp blades at a target? Two such establishments, obviously. Not that long ago, Brisbane didn't have any axe-throwing joints — and now it's welcoming its second thanks to Maniax. Three months after Lumber Punks expanded from the Gold Coast to Brissie, fellow weapon-flinging outfit Maniax has added a Queensland venture to its existing Sydney and Melbourne empire. Maniaxmight be playing catch-up in Brisbane; however it was actually in the Australian axe-throwing game first, launching its original Sydney venue back in 2014. Finally making its way up north, it brings its range of blade-hurtling activities along with it — think solo or small group sessions, axe-throwing events for larger parties, date night options (because the couple that hurls hatchets together stays together, clearly) and even an eight-week competitive league. The different events all run for at least two hours, but take place on different nights. Every second Friday evening is all about couples, Monday to Wednesday will be dedicated to league comps, while solo and small group sessions are held on the last Saturday of every month. Bookings are essential — in fact, you can't just walk in and take part without a reservation — and as for how it all works, it's comparable to darts. Basically, you chuck axes at a board and try to hit a bullseye. Don't even know the first thing about picking up a hatchet? That's completely to be expected, with lessons included in every session, as well as in the league competition. Axe-throwing experts will also be on hand to help even when you think you've mastered the basics. The venue also features safety barriers to protect everyone — and, to the surprise of no one, is a completely alcohol-free affair at all times other than Maniax's opening party. You can buy soft drinks, water and some snacks onsite, and you're welcome to bring your own too. And if you suddenly become an axe-throwing fanatic, Maniax also has its own line of merchandise.
Summertime at Given Terrace staple Darling & Co is all about hangs in the venue's breezy space, and every Aussie knows that a weekend party isn't complete without a little (or a lot of) bubbly. Happy to oblige, the Paddington spot has launched bottomless prosecco and spritz picnics, which are now on offer every Sunday. And the restaurant isn't simply offering the standard two hours of bottomless booze, either. Instead of table service, patrons have unlimited access to a fountain, which comes complete with a carved lion that has a prosecco tap for a mouth. You'll be able to pour your own bubbly from that tap throughout the two hours, while enjoying an extensive spread. Find a comfy spot while enjoying the grazing menu — it includes brisket and smoked cheddar croquettes, freshly shucked oysters and buttermilk crocodile, along with fried baby squid and chicken caramel glaze with blue cheese sauce. Sides include garlic and herb crostini and breads, plus a selection of charcuterie and cheese. Sparkling Springs costs $60 per person, with sittings at 2pm every Sunday until December 22. Bookings are essential and can be made through the website.
Good news, Trainspotting fans — aka anyone who spent their teenage years watching and rewatching the first film, pored over the book and its sequels, and enjoyed a dose of nostalgia when T2: Trainspotting reached cinemas last year — Irvine Welsh, the author who first came up with the tale of four Scottish addicts and their substance-fuelled antics, is coming to Brisbane for this year's Brisbane Writers Festival. Choose life, and to go along, naturally. In town to chat about Dead Men's Trousers, his latest novel set in the Trainspotting universe, Welsh leads the festival's busy 2018 lineup — and he's not the only high-profile writer headed our way between September 6 and 9. If bleak young adult novels were more your thing circa 2011 to 2013, then you'll want to hear Divergent series author Veronica Roth discuss dystopian futures (what else?). Or, if you're keen on books and films about the fashion magazine industry, then pencil dinner with The Devil Wears Prada's Lauren Weisberger into your diary. Across a program that spans 155 events and features more than 200 writers, other highlights include human rights barrister Geoffrey Robertson delving into his career and life story, South African writer Sisonke Msimang exploring tales of hope and home, English scribe Philip Hoare diving into his sea-themed works and The Woman in the Window's A.J. Finn chatting about his best-seller. On the local front, Tim Rogers will discuss his new memoir with fellow music great Robert Forster, and Dr Karl will be on hand to jump into all things science — of course — as well as give the closing address. Plus, everyone from Miles Franklin Award winner Sophie Laguna and prolific author Nikki Gemmell to childhood favourites Alison Lester and Morris Gleitzman are also on the bill. If you're the type of reader who grabs a book based on its subject rather than its scribe, then the four-day lineup has plenty of other topics to pique your interest — think sessions on matters as varied as Expo '88, getting ecological in your own backyard, the history of Fortitude Valley's McWhirters Building, and how the world talks about women in the public eye, to name a few. Events-wise, the program also boasts a live-action role-play session, should you need something to do when you're not reading, listening or generally nattering about books. The 2018 Brisbane Writers Festival runs from September 6 to 9. To check out the full program and purchase tickets, check out the festival's website.
It's slime time on the big screen in Brisbane this spring. Expect toxic ooze, plenty of goo and even ectoplasm to feature at New Farm Cinemas, too. Continuing to prove that there's a film festival dedicated to everything, the River City's own BORLFF is back, but with a difference for its second year. In 2022, that acronym referred to the Brisbane Only Rotoscoped Lightning Film Festival. In 2023, it means the Brisbane Only Repulsive Liquids Film Festival. So, movie lovers hitting Brunswick Street from Friday, September 22–Sunday, October 1 won't be seeing flicks with hand-drawn lightning effects this time around. Instead, sludge and its fellow liquids are in the spotlight, as is viscera as well. And yes, there are enough features to flesh out a film fest that solely focuses on repulsive liquids — starting with not only an ooze-filled classic, but a film that comes with its own smells. BORLFF is opening its 2023 season with the world's most fearsome fighting team — or so the catchy theme tune goes — and their live-action 1990 film. At this session of the OG Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, the audience will catch Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael (and Sam Rockwell in a blink-or-you'll-miss-it part) in stink-o-vision. Everyone will receive scratch 'n' sniff cards, which they'll then use to emit appropriate scents as they watch. From there, the 11-film lineup is presenting themed double features on five nights. Most evenings will let you come along to just one session, other than the Troma lineup of The Toxic Avenger and Class of Nuke 'Em High — or you can get comfortable for the full oozy 80s, green gunk, sickly science and putrid pink experience. On the lineup: David Cronenberg's The Fly paired with John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness, complete with a Q&A with veteran special effects artist Chad Atkinson (The X-Files, Alien Resurrection, Starship Troopers) — and also experiments gone awry in Australia's own Body Melt (with director Philip Brophy in attendance) and the Frankenstein spin that is Re-Animator. Or, see plenty Kermit's hue in a new light in Japanese American co-production The Green Slime and fantasy-horror effort Troll 2, then go pink with 1988's The Blob remake and Ghostbusters II. BORLFF stems from Netherworld, Two Bit Movie Club — aka the regular cult and classic movie event that often screens at the arcade bar — and will also feature an art show via Feature Presentation that showcases new interpretations of movie posters for the fest's films. They're on display at the bar throughout September, and you can buy prints of them, too. The Brisbane Only Repulsive Liquids Film Festival runs from Friday, September 22–Sunday, October 1 at New Farm Cinemas. For more information, head to the festival's website.
Family-owned and -run Junction Yoga is a haven for yogis on Brisbane's southside. The Sullivan family has been running businesses and supporting their community here since 1952 and this studio has been in the works for them since 2008. Here, you can zen out or challenge yourself with a range of classes to suit your experience and skill levels. Primarily focussing on vinyasa, yin and meditation, this studio is excellent for those who want to dip their toes in for the first time or perfect their flow in a calm and supportive environment. BYO mat and props to class or hire and buy from the studio when you arrive. Junction Yoga is located on Cavendish Road (just off Old Cleveland Road), making it an easy stop on the way home for locals to pop in for a class.
There's a pretty decent chance that you've spent a hefty chunk of time indoors over the past few months. So, with vitamin D levels plummeting, and laptops getting showered with crumbs, there's no better time to move your lunch plans from al desko to al fresco. But, there's a little hiccup. You don't own a fancy picnic set, do you? Unless you're planning on staging an impromptu photoshoot, you really don't need an extravagant set of outdoor accessories to enjoy your leisurely meal. Just toddle off to your nearest park with a blanket (even a beach towel will do), and let DoorDash do the rest. All of these meal options are designed to be super portable, so that you have a free hand to pat any dogs that might cross your path. See? Innovation at its absolute finest.
Almost a week after reimplementing at-home and public gathering caps in the Greater Brisbane area in response to a cluster of cases linked to the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre in Wacol, the Queensland Government has today, Friday, August 28, announced that the new rules will be extended down to the Gold Coast. While folks living in the Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan City, Scenic Rim, Somerset, Lockyer Valley, Moreton Bay and Redlands local government areas are already only allowed to have ten people inside their homes and at meetups outside of the house, that'll expand to everywhere between Brisbane and the Goldie — including all of the Gold Coast — from 8am on Saturday, August 29. Yes, that means that house parties and mass hangouts both indoors and outside are off the cards on the coast, and your weekend plans might now change. For gatherings at home, you can have a maximum of ten people in your house — which includes people who don't normally live with you and residents. For gatherings in public, the maximum number of people that can be in one group is ten, including you and other members of your household. https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1299137064122773504 Restrictions currently in place in hospitals, aged care facilities and disability accommodation facilities in Greater Brisbane — restricting visitors, and requiring the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) including face masks and gloves to treat all patients and residents — will also extend to the Gold Coast. Like the Greater Brisbane area, however, venues and events that have put in place COVID-Safe Industry Plans can keep operating as they presently are — which spans cafes, restaurants, clubs, pubs, weddings and funerals. Revealing the latest Goldie developments, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk also announced a related piece of news: that this year's Schoolies celebrations have been cancelled. In a Twitter statement, the Premier explained that "the Chief Health Officer has designated mass gatherings over several days of Schoolies a high risk event. That means organised events like concerts won't proceed". Because Schoolies doesn't just take place on the Goldie, Queensland will also specifically implement a statewide ten-person in-residence gathering cap throughout the event's usual period. So, between Saturday, November 21–Friday, December 11, no matter where in the Sunshine State you live — and even if you're staying at a holiday unit — you won't be able to have more than ten people in one residence. https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1299125461553872897 Across the rest of Queensland — everywhere outside of the Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan City, Scenic Rim, Somerset, Lockyer Valley, Moreton Bay and Redlands local government areas at present, and the Gold Coast from 8am tomorrow — residents are also subject to limits. As introduced last week, folks in these areas can only have 30 visitors over to their homes, and can only gather in groups of 30 in public areas. The latest changes come as Queensland announced three new confirmed COVID-19 cases today. As always, even with increased restrictions on gatherings, the usual advice applies. Queenslanders should maintain social distancing and hygiene measures, stay home where possible, and get tested at the first sign of even the most minor of coronavirus symptoms. For more information about southeast Queensland's COVID-19 gathering restrictions — including on the Gold Coast from 8am on Saturday, August 29 — or about the status of COVID-19 in Queensland, visit the QLD COVID-19 hub and the Queensland Health website.
Everyone knows the rule: when you go to someone's house for dinner, you bring something (even when they insist you shouldn't). After all, they've just spent hours slaving away in the kitchen — or ordering takeaway and putting it on nice plates to pretend they cooked it. No need to panic purchase a lame box of choccies or spend hours staring dumbly at the bottle-o shelves to end up picking something based on how nice the label is. In partnership with BWS, we've got you covered for top-notch drops to take along. Whether it's refreshing summertime favourites, easy-drinking Aussie brews or lesser-known wine varieties, this crowd-pleasing list ensures success — and we'll even let you take all the credit. XPA — BALTER Balter's XPA is one of the most popular beers in Australia. It's remained in the top five of the GABS Hottest 100 list since launching in 2016 (including two consecutive years in top billing). Chances are your mates have had it, they love it, and they'll love you for bringing a six-pack along to dinner. On the off chance they haven't tried this brew, we can guarantee everyone at the party will enjoy it because, well, everyone does. Easy-drinking with tropical and floral notes, this hopped beer won't take over your taste buds and will accompany pretty much any cuisine. PASH THE MAGIC DRAGON — BATCH BREWING CO Never seen dragon fruit in a beer before? Well, Sydney's Batch Brewing Co is more than happy to oblige. The brewers here are always thinking up something unusual to throw in the tank — former oddball concoctions include a polarising pickle beer and another inspired by the legendary Marrickville Pork Roll. But Pash the Magic Dragon is hands down one of the brewery's tastiest creations yet. This fruity sour ale contains heaps of fresh dragon fruit and passionfruit, and the combination is just delightful. It's perfectly balanced between sour and sweet, and the peachy colour makes it just a little more fun to drink, too. It can easily be paired with fruit-based desserts like pavlova, or alongside the main course, especially if it's a spicy dish. CÔTE DES ROSES ROSÉ — GÉRARD BERTRAND Showing up at your mate's house with a bottle of rosé is a no-brainer during the warm weather months. If you want to set your summertime favourite apart from the pack, go for Gerard Bertrand's Côte des Roses Rosé. It blends floral notes with summer fruits and is full-bodied yet balanced with a dry finish. And it's just oh-so-refreshing. This French wine also looks fancy in its pretty glass bottle with a rose-shaped bottom. Plus, it won't break the bank. PHENOMENAL FIANO — ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM If you want to impress your friends with your wine knowledge, bring along a lesser-known variety that they'll absolutely love. We suggest this fiano by Elephant in the Room. This South Australian winery is known for its full-bodied drops, and the fiano doesn't disappoint. The white wine expresses notes of citrus, apple and spice, with a crisp minerality that offers the perfect finish. It's undoubtedly a bold wine and is best shared with those who want something a little different. PINOT NOIR — RAMBLING ROSES As the nights start to cool, it's just about time to get back on those reds. A decent pinot noir is a good place to start — it's lighter, it isn't too heavy for autumn evenings. If you're looking for something that'll impress, but is accessible, Rambling Roses' version is the way to go. It presents as a typical pinot noir, but, for a discerning palate, is much more than that. Expect notes of red and black currants with juicy strawberries on the nose and an overall depth of flavour. That being said, it's also exceptionally sessionable and works well paired with dinner. On warmer nights, be sure to give it a quick chill to ensure it's thoroughly enjoyed. Update: Due to the current situation, we understand that throwing or attending parties may not be a possibility right now. But there's a silver lining — you can still order all of these drinks online to enjoy at home. Head to the BWS website to browse the full range.
A week after new COVID-19 cases were identified, new exposure sites were named and new restrictions came into effect, Brisbane's COVID-19 rules are changing. Yes, again. Following a run of days with low case numbers, including zero new cases today, Friday, October 8 — and after completely avoiding a lockdown in response to the latest outbreak — Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has just announced that Brisbane's restrictions will ease again effective at 4pm this afternoon. As tends to happen every time that the rules either tighten or relax, the new settings will be familiar. We've been cycling back and forth between different sets of rules for a few months now, in fact. Indeed, the restrictions coming into effect today are the same conditions that were in place before last Thursday. And, these eased restrictions will apply not only in the Brisbane Local Government Area, but also in the Gold Coast, Moreton Bay, Logan, Townsville and Palm Island LGAs. BREAKING: Some restrictions will ease in parts of Queensland following another day with no cases detected in the community. We will continue to monitor the situation carefully to keep Queenslanders safe.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/EfELiDqj5X — Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) October 8, 2021 Accordingly, there'll no longer be any limits on how many people can gather outdoors in public spaces. And, at home, the 100-person cap will be back. For indoor premises — including hospitality businesses such as clubs, pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants, as well as galleries, museums, convention centres and places of worship — the one person per two-square-metres density limit is in effect once more. Where these types of venues are ticketed and have allocated seating, they can fill those areas to 100 percent, too, as can cinemas, theatres and live music venues. Also, eating and drinking standing is allowed — hello, vertical consumption — so there's something else to say cheers to. And, you always know things are getting loose when dancing is allowed (goodbye, Footloose), as it is under the new rules. Stadiums are back to 100-percent capacity for ticketed events with allocated seating. Indoor events can also either fill to 100-percent if seated and ticketed, or stick to the one person per two-square-metres rule if not. Here's the latest roadmap to easing restrictions in Queensland👇 pic.twitter.com/SX7u8KVqOh — Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) October 8, 2021 Masks are still staying for now, but the rules are easing there, too. So, you can now take off your mask while sitting down indoors in public, reverting back to the status quo before the rules tightened last week. At hospitality venues, you'll actually only need to mask up when you're entering and exiting, in another relaxation of the restrictions. You will still need to always carry a mask with you, of course. Queensland's standing mask mandate for flights, airports and stadiums remains in place as well, so you'll always need to mask up there. And, they remain mandatory on public transport, in ride shares and while waiting for both; outdoors if you can't remain 1.5 metres away from people who aren't part of your household; and indoors in public if you're not sitting or you're not inside a hospo venue. As always, Queenslanders are asked to keep social distancing, maintaining the hygiene practices that have been in place since March 2020, and checking the state's list of exposure sites — and to get tested if you're feeling even the slightest possible COVID-19 symptoms. Exactly how long the new relaxed restrictions will remain in place hasn't been announced, but when case numbers are low or at zero, the state reviews the rules every fortnight. Southeast Queensland's COVID-19 restrictions will ease again at 4pm on Friday, October 8. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in Queensland, head to the QLD COVID-19 hub and the Queensland Health website.
Almost a year after settling into South Bank, Brisbane's new Emporium Hotel has finally launched its culinary centrepiece — the aptly named Signature restaurant. With the kitchen overseen by the husband and wife duo of executive chef Chris Norman and executive sous chef Alex Liddle, the 60-seater venue joins the hotel's other luxe eating and drinking options, including rooftop spot The Terrace, just-opened lobby bar Piano Bar and relocated French patisserie Belle Epoque. Three features stand out at Signature: its eye-catching decor, its hefty wine collection and, of course, its food. Design-wise, it's impossible to miss the restaurant's bespoke lighting fixture, which includes 1000 hand-blown glass baubles. Elsewhere, pale pink and burnt orange tones, coloured marble surfaces, a backlit white onyx bar and a 150-year-old Parisian stained-glass window all stand out — the window is part of a 12-person private dining room. Signature's sizeable vino list also has its own space, called The Library. More than 6000 bottles are housed inside on floating racks, as are 200 magnums — with the range spanning drops from Australia and around the world, including limited editions and rare vintages. Order a particularly special tipple and it'll come in one of the bar's bespoke decanters. To eat, Signature has a menu championing modern Australian cuisine across a variety of options. Start with oysters and caviar at the bar, order your meal a la carte — including from a separate vegan menu — or go for a five- or seven-course tasting menu. Meaty highlights include kangaroo tartare, blueberry-cured ocean trout, Brisbane Valley quail paired with corn, hazelnut and wattle seed granola, plus Flinders Island lamb with artichokes and shallots, while the animal-free lineup includes tomato and saffron consommé, chargrilled cauliflower with gnocchi, and black fig and guava cheesecake. Signature also shakes and stirs its own range of cocktails (yes, they're Signature's signature cocktails), including a martini with kahlua and creme de cacao, as well as a spicy blend of pepper bourbon, mint and jalapeños. Find Signature on Level 1, Emporium Hotel, 267 Grey Street, South Bank, open from 5.30pm Tuesday–Saturday.
'The mormons are coming', posters popping up all around Brisbane started promising this week. Come March 2019, they'll officially be here. If you didn't make it to Melbourne to catch The Book of Mormon, and haven't headed down to Sydney yet either, don't worry — Trey Parker and Matt Stone's hit musical is bringing its hilariously irreverent self to QPAC's Lyric Theatre. After playing most of the last two years down south, with the show's Sydney run due to end in October, the multi-award-winning production will settle in for a Brisbane season from March 16, 2019. Tickets go on sale on Tuesday, August 7 for its third Australian stint, and given that both Melbourne and Sydney experienced sell-outs, it's certain to prove a hot ticket. Written by South Park and Team America's notoriously puerile creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, together with Robert Lopez of genius grown-up muppet show Avenue Q, The Book of Mormon is probably one of the most lauded comedies ever to have centred on the Church of Latter Day Saints, African missions, AIDS, bum jokes and super ironic racism. If it wasn't so smart and so funny, few would forgive it. But since it is, The Book of Morman has picked up nine Tonys, four Olivier Awards and a Grammy since it debuted in 2011, and has been called "one of the most joyously acidic bundles Broadway has unwrapped in years". If you've been envious of the throngs seeing the musical in New York, Chicago, London or elsewhere in Australia, then you'll be plenty excited that you'll now get the chance to go learn all the idiosyncratic details of Mormonism, meet war criminal General Butt-Fucking Naked and know the true meaning of the hakuna matata-like saying 'Hasa Diga Eebowai'. The Book of Mormon plays QPAC's Lyric Theatre from March 16, 2019. Tickets go on sale on Tuesday, August 7, with the waitlist now open at BookOfMormonMusical.com.au. Image: Ryan Bondy, Zahra Newman, Nyk Bielak and company in The Book of Mormon, AUS 1411. (c) Jeff Busby.
A giant gumball machine that you can climb inside. An adult-sized ballpit in bubblegum-pink hues. A dedicated fairy floss room with its own swing. Throw in ice cream, sweet and snack tastings, plus the ability to jump out of a giant birthday cake — and Brisbane's new pop-up dessert museum sounds like the kind of place that Willy Wonka might own. Called Sugar Republic and heading our way now that its Melbourne season has wrapped up, it's actually a short-term exhibition at Valley Metro on Brunswick Street. Running from September 23, the pop-up brings sugary delights to folks with a sweet tooth, boasting an array of spaces filled with all things chocolate, confectionery and dessert-oriented. When you're not making yourself a soft serve and showering it in sprinkles, you'll be spinning a wheel o' treats. Other highlights include a sherbet-filled rainbow bridge, a 'press for confetti' button, an interactive sprinkles wall, a neon art wall and other dessert-centric art. And it wouldn't be a celebration of all things sweet without a huge lolly store, of course. Basically, if you missed out on visiting New York's Museum of Ice Cream back in 2016, this is Australia's equivalent. Typically these kind of places are designed to be as photogenic as possible, so expect plenty of pics to clog your Instagram feed. If you're keen to take some of your own, tickets cost $35 for adults, which includes tastings over your 60-minute stay. Find Sugar Republic at Valley Metro, 230 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley from September 23. For more information, visit the museum's website.
If poetry is something that makes you groan, question your intelligence, and bang your head against a wall, then you’ve been stuck in a highschool mindset for too long. In 2014 poetry isn’t all Keats, Lawson, “shall i compare thee to a summers day” and toupes– this is a time of rich and radical free verse. And there’s no better way to celebrate poetry than to sport your favourite black turtle neck and head along to the final of the 2014 Riverbend Poetry Series as launch for the Queensland Poetry Festival program. This evening will kick of at 6pm, and showcase some of the finest poetic voices of our time. Long time activist, post-surrealist writer and poet Lionel Fogarty is the sure highlight of the night. With words that have reformulated the understanding of poetic discourse and its roles in both black and white communities, he’s a master of the written word, and a leader in politically aware poetry. He’ll be joined by The Bell Divers, winner of the 2013 Queensland Literary Award for Emerging Author Rebecca Jessen, local poets Vanessa Page and John Koenig, and Zenobia Frost. Poetry is something Brisbane should always be proud of. We’re the city that bred David Malouf, Graham Nunn and The Brisbane Bard, and have a blossoming generation of up and comers ready to sport their quills and show of some a-grade verse. Buy a ticket to the Riverbend Poetry Series final, and show a little support.
The Valley's about to get pretty damn loud. Celebrating its second year, The Blurst of Times festival will see the likes of DZ Deathrays, Dick Diver and Hard Ons creating some bonafide chaos in Brisbane this October. Sporting a kickass Simpsons-lovin' title, the returning festival will see 28 bands take over three venues in the Valley for Saturday, October 18. The Blurst of Times lineup sees Brisbane's thrash pop favourites DZ Deathrays at the top, with Sydney punk rock legends Hard Ons and beloved Melbourne indie foursome Dick Diver. Brisbane's Blank Realm, Orphans Orphans, Major Leagues, Babaganouj and Rolls Bayce will also throw down sets alongside Canberra's TV Colours, Sydney's Day Ravies and Melbourne’s The UV Race and High Tension. Celebrating its second year of tomfoolery this October, The Blurst of Times has already cemented itself as a surefire Good Time on the Brissy calendar. The 2013 edition took over Alhambra Lounge, Coniston Lane and Black Bear Lodge with Violent Soho, Velociraptor, Scott and Charlene's Wedding, Drunk Mums and The Cairos among a solid lineup. This year, the festival will make The Brightside home, as well as the Brightside carpark and The Zoo. The Blurst of Times 2014 Lineup (first announcement): DZ Deathrays Hard-Ons Dick Diver Blank Realm Orphans Orphans The UV Race Major Leagues TV Colours High Tension Babaganouj Rolls Bayce Day Ravies High-Tails I, A Man Dollar Bar Roku Music The Good Sports The Upskirts Born Lion Salvadarlings The second Blurst of Times lineup announcement is due on September 8, with eight more bands to be revealed.
Cancel your Saturday afternoon plans as nothing could possibly trump free music. Head to Jet Black Cat Music and help local act, Major Leagues, celebrate the release of their debut EP entitled, Weird Season. This February marks the band's first ever Australian headline tour and they are eager to celebrate with you. Joining them on the tour will be The Ocean Party, but sadly these guys won't be making an appearance this Saturday. The Brisbane group will be performing songs from their EP and also fresh tunes. All purchases of Weird Season will also be accompanied by a free handmade zine. Get in the zone and check out 'Silver Tides', one of the tracks from Weird Season. The EP as a whole is a carefree summer soundtrack full on garage goodness. If the free gig doesn't quite satisfy your Major Leagues craving, catch them at Alhambra Lounge on Thursday 20 February.
Bunnings Warehouse is supercharging its usual sausage sizzle, to support a community of Aussies doing it pretty tough. Next Friday, August 10, all of the hardware giant's Queensland stores will host a special pre-weekend edition of their legendary snag sessions, raising coin for the Buy A Bale initiative, supporting drought-affected farmers. The initiative, part of the charity Rural Aid, lets you buy essentials — such as, yes, hay, as well as water, diesel and hampers — for farmers doing it rough. Which a lot of farmers are. Some areas of the country have been struggling with a years-long drought, and, more recently, farmers have been dealt an "unforgivingly dry winter". All of the day's sausage profits will go towards helping struggling farming families across Australia, at a time when bushfires, a lack of rain and changes to live exports have made life on the land seriously hard. Grab a snag in bread and show them some love. Buy a Bale sausage sizzles will run from 9am–4pm across all Bunnings Warehouses in Qld.
I only have a couple of regrets from uni. Not reading Shaun Tan's The Arrival is one of them. It was a set reading for one of my writing subjects and I couldn't get my paws on a copy. But not to worry, I have recently acquainted myself with Shaun's work and have fallen in love with his amazing visual landscapes. Shaun Tan? Who be that, I hear you non-educated (joking) folk say? He is not a recurring character in Nelly/Snoop songs (Sean John), like I heard yelled out in a lecture. No, no, he is an Oscar-winning illustrator and author known for his meticulous attention to detail and ability to tell stories with his astonishing drawings. The Art of Story is a chance for you to see Shaun's illustrations for free, and unlike my library dilemmas, you'll be able to see these uninterrupted for 2 weeks. There'll be limited edition prints from many of his well-known books: The Rabbits, The Red Tree and The Arrival to name a few. Also featured will be The Lost Thing, which put a hot little golden statue in Mr Tan's hands. Power on down to the 'House from June 28 and be truly amazed. You won't regret it!
Minimalist Aussie clothing designer Assembly Label is currently hosting a massive online charity sale so you can upgrade your WFH wardrobe with linen pants, baggy tees and a big cosy jumpers — and help Aussies doing it tough. With both men's and women's wear on offer, you'll find winter essentials such as denim, basic tops, jumpers and jackets, plus swimwear, dresses and shorts if you're already dreaming of hitting up the beach once the cold months pass. Best of all, you can nab it all at up to 70 percent off — and with free shipping across Australia, too. Because the label is known for its chic-yet-comfy casual staples, it'll now take you from going to grab your morning coffee, working in your living room and lounging around on weekends — really, you won't need much else while you're spending more time at home. If you've been shivering through the current cold snap, you'll probably want to snap up something like this super warm turtle neck ($90). As part of the sale, Assembly Label has a choose-what-you-pay initiative raising money for the Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund. When you buy a sale item, you can choose to pay an extra $5, $10 or $15, with that amount then matched by Assembly Label and donated to The Red Cross. So, you can grab some new threads and feel good about it too.
Quick pop quiz! 1. Who likes and uses the internet? 2. Who would call themselves creative (out loud or not)? 3. Who would like a rewarding career path that combines these two? Bonus round – who plays Fruit Ninja? If these questions piqued your interest in a ‘yes-sir-I-am-a-creative-internet-user-trying-to-launch-my-career-whilst-also-playing-addictive-iPhone-games’ manner then Portable Designs has heard about you. Bringing together three intensely creative individuals for a conversation about “making it” in a very 21st century career path, Portable has teamed up with The Edge and the Asia Pacific Design Library to present Product Design 2012. In a series that will run throughout the year, the first event features talks on developing online and international content by Leni Mayo, Shainiel Deo and Simon Goodrich. The creative-internet powerhouse of a world spans a large spectrum, so to maintain some balance Portable’s speakers have been chosen from opposite ends. Leni Mayo knows how to recognize talent from afar and has invested in many very successful sites like 99 designs, whereas Shainiel Deo has been a successful game designer for over 10 years and is no CEO of Half Brick Studios (he made Fruit Ninja! See, it was relevant). Concluding the threesome is Simon Goodrich, co-founder of Portable. With this trio’s combined talent, power and knowledge of the industry, you can be sure you’ll walk away feeling that little bit more confident in developing, designing and launching that patent-able idea you have at the back of your mind.
If you call yourself an art-appreciator or an Australian, and don’t know Arthur Boyd, you best be getting out of town quick. Even if you know the name, and don’t have a small shrine set up in the corner of the living room dedicated to his work, hang your head in shame right now. Arthur Boyd is one of our finest, most talented, artists who created some of the most haunting, detailed and internationally appreciated works of his and all time – and that’s reason enough to celebrate his name with an exhibition. QUT Art Museum’s An Active Witness is exactly that – an ode to Boyd, that asks viewers to consider the social consciousness that infused his life and his artwork. A collection of paintings, prints, ceramics and other materials, will be on display, exploring how this great artist defined humanity through his craft. With help from the Bundanon Trust Collection, and loans from public and private collections, the quantity of this exhibition is a testament to the quality it’s subject produced in his time. Attend and appreciate.
The best types of magazines are the ones that pucker up and tackle the real issues. The one’s that don’t dabble in celeb-gossip, provide Kardashian-laced crosswords or provide a definitive guide on how to drive your boyfriend wild. The BEST types of magazines are the ones that don’t take smack, show a bit of grunt and make a reader think about issues of legitimate substance and meaning. That’s why Lip is one of the best types of magazines. Self-published by women in Melbourne from 1976 to 1984, Lip’s life in the press has held a track record of performance pieces, feminist preachings, ecological statements, social engagement and Labor politics – all deeply intersecting the other making pieces of writing unrivalled by those under the thumb of Uncle Rupert. To celebrate and rediscover Lip’s raw approach to journalism, they’re releasing an anthology of their greatest pieces as chosen by editor Vivian Ziherl. Brisbane's Institute of Modern Art will be hosting the Brisbane leg of the Lip Anthology Launch this Thursday at 6pm – jog along and admire a creative work that changed Australian mindsets for the better.
What a difference fleshed-out characters and a committed cast can make. This shouldn't really be news, but plenty of movies seem happy to overlook both — especially in the popular sub-genre that is the big night out comedy. "Who needs more than stereotypes when everyone's drinking, partying and acting like a lunatic?" appears to be the usual line of thinking. "And why bother with good performances when the script is a bundle of cliches?" The answer to both questions is on display in Girls Trip, a genuine and largely entertaining film that'll help wipe Rough Night and the recent Hangover sequels from your brain. As certain as it's a fact that no good can come from drinking absinthe, Girls Trip follows a tried-and-tested path involving four friends, a raucous weekend away and a crazy amount of alcohol. It's not hard to predict what will happen as self-help guru Ryan (Regina Hall), gossip columnist Sasha (Queen Latifah), single mother Lisa (Jada Pinkett Smith) and wild child Dina (Tiffany Haddish) head to New Orleans for the annual Essence festival. Once close college pals dubbed the Flossy Posse, they've lost touch of late, becoming caught up in their own lives and troubles. A lavish vacation and a let-loose attitude might be just what they need. We're not going to reveal exactly what the gang gets up to, since that would spoil the fun. The point is, the details don't really matter. Viewers have seen most of it before and director Malcolm D. Lee knows it — although to their credit, writers Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver still find a few unique inclusions. Even so, Girls Trip is unmistakably the latest in the recent string of ladies-behaving-badly flick (think Bridesmaids, Bad Moms and Fun Mom Dinner), and it doesn't do much differently, plot-wise. If anything, one of the reasons that the movie stands out is because it isn't pretending to tell a new story. Rather, it's happy evoking laughs while also feeling authentic. And it's that authenticity that's key. Plenty of the gags swing and miss, and some are downright cringeworthy. How much you'll chuckle in certain parts of the film might depend on your threshold for gross-out humour, while other scenes definitely overstay their welcome. Yet there's an energy and intimacy to Girls Trip that's inescapable. As silly, crude and debauched as the antics get, the warmth and joy surrounding the four protagonists continually sets the movie apart from its predecessors. These gals are written and played like real women who are actually friends, instead of bland female figures being humiliated to prove they're just as unruly as men. Kudos, too, to Hall, Latifah, Pinkett Smith and Haddish. Depicting characters who not only seem like they want to hang out with each other, but that audiences want to spend time with, isn't as easy as it sounds. Doing it within a bawdy comedy is all the more difficult still. The quartet repeatedly hit the mark, with Pinkett Smith a particular delight as the tightly wound mum learning to be herself again, and Haddish not only stealing every scene she's in but putting her stamp all over the film. To say that her delivery of bedroom tips will stick with you is definitely an understatement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnqkPpSn94Y
70s-era porn, but make it a slasher flick: when Ti West's X marked the big-screen spot in 2022, that's one of the tricks it pulled. The playful, smart and gory horror standout also arrived with an extra spurt of good news, with West debuting it as part of a trilogy. 30s- and 40s-period technicolour, plus 50s musicals and melodramas, but splatter them with kills, genre thrills and ample blood spills: that's what the filmmaker behind cult favourites The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers now serves up with X prequel Pearl. Shot back to back with its predecessor, sharing mesmerising star Mia Goth (Emma), and co-written by her and West — penned during their two-week COVID-19 quarantine period getting into New Zealand to make the initial movie, in fact — it's a gleaming companion piece. It's also a savvy deepening and recontextualising of a must-see scary-movie franchise that's as much about desire, dreams and determination as notching up deaths. In one of her X roles, Goth was magnetic as aspiring adult-film actor Maxine Minx, a part she'll reprise in the trilogy's upcoming third instalment MaXXXine. As she proved first up and does again in Pearl, she plays nascent, yearning, shrewd and resolute with not just potency, but with a pivotal clash between fortitude and vulnerability; when one of Goth's youthful X Universe characters says that they're special or have the X factor, they do so with an astute blend of certainty, good ol' fashioned wishing and hoping, and naked self-convincing. This second effort's namesake, who Goth also brought to the screen in her elder years in X, wants to make it in the pictures, too. Looking to dance on her feet instead of horizontally, stardom is an escape (again), but Pearl's cruel mother Ruth (Tandi Wright, Creamerie), a religiously devout immigrant from Germany turned bitter from looking after her ailing husband (Mathew Sunderland, The Stranger), laughs at the idea. This franchise hones in women who know what they want, aren't afraid to attempt to get it and snap after their fantasies as hungrily as an alligator (handily, the Texan ranch that both films so far are set on sports a lake with a large ravenous reptile). That said, the X-Pearl-MaXXXine realm also focuses on women who aren't just one thing, not for a second — being adamant about what they'd like to with their lives included. That's a key reason why X and Pearl alike offer more than merely well-executed carnage, although they each deliver that in visceral spades. West's screenplays, no matter who he is or isn't scripting with, see innocence and insidiousness lurking in the same pools, and spot them with the same clear eyes. In Pearl, they see them peering out from the same peepers as well. Indeed, this saga unpacks the fine line between competing forces, impulses, emotions and outcomes whenever and however it can. One such conflict: the existence that Pearl is told she should be happy with versus the lure of being a chorus girl that she can't shake. Actually, to say that Ruth wants her to be content with her lot in life is overstating it: Pearl's mum doesn't care if her daughter finds any joy in dutiful drudgery. So, the young woman steals away to the local cinema when she can, where the projectionist (David Corenswet, We Own This City) screens the dancers that she wants to be. When they're alone — when she warms to a rare dose of attention — he also screens an early skin flick. And, at home, Pearl works through her sexual appetite with a scarecrow (The Wizard of Oz, this isn't) and her bloodlust by feeding farm animals to said gator. But it's news of auditions for a travelling dance revue, which she pledges to try out for with her sister-in-law Mitsy (Emma Jenkins-Purro, One of Us Is Lying), that truly gets her desires pumping. Like X before it, Pearl's narrative is deeply steeped in its chosen era. This time around, it's 1918 rather than six decades later — a choice of year that isn't just about the maths needed to link to X. As the COVID-19 pandemic ensured that everyone knows, influenza was wreaking havoc. In a detail that mightn't be as well known, it was first recorded just two states up from Pearl's homestead. Also, the First World War was still being waged until November. Pearl's life is touched by both, with sickness an ever-present worry in her town — face masks are sighted — and its men, her husband Howard (Alistair Sewell, The Power of the Dog) among them, off in combat. Confronted by life's grimness several times over, and by a persistent fantasy of breaking free, how's a repressed and downtrodden gal to cope? This one does so with murder and mayhem. Back in the 50s, Douglas Sirk made an art out of 'women's pictures', as they were derisively called — pictures that surveyed the emotional turmoil simmering within unfulfilled female protagonists, and understood how such complex inner chaos could be tied to the times, class and societal structures, and the expectations and restrictions placed upon the fairer sex. The legacy that films like All That Heaven Allows and Imitation of Life have left is immense, and Pearl slots right in beside everything that's followed in those footsteps. Sirk definitely didn't make slashers, though. Neither did Carol's Todd Haynes when he crafted 2002's wonderful Far From Heaven, a drama firmly in the Sirkian mould. West and Goth pay loving tribute to all that cinema has allowed in these past greats, while also getting savagely subversive; their portrait of Pearl's namesake is a horror movie and a tragedy. Pearl is glorious on both Goth and returning X cinematographer Eliot Rockett's parts, too, with a lead performance and a look that could've wowed audiences in the mid-20th century. Goth isn't just the feature's star — she's its pulse, with every electrifying change of mood, expression and pace, often within the same scene, rippling through the film like a gusty farmyard breeze. Rockett unsurprisingly adores staring her way, making Goth as sumptuous a sight as the saturated colour palette around her (not that the High Life, Suspiria and A Cure for Wellness talent needs any help). Composers Tyler Bates (the John Wick films) and Tim Williams (Brightburn) provide a sweeping orchestral score that's equally as rich, harking back to old Hollywood in its swelling notes. West, doing his own editing as he usually does, winks with his use of retro wipes and dissolves as much as the movie's title font. There's grit to this flick, of course, thanks to its devilish rampages and making-of-a-villain origin story, but this is indeed a gem.
Two decades ago, Bill Nighy won two BAFTAs in the same year for vastly dissimilar roles: for playing a rock 'n' roll singer belting out a cheesy Christmas tune in Love Actually, and also for his turn as a journalist investigating a political scandal in gripping miniseries State of Play. The beloved British actor has achieved plenty more across his career, including collecting an eclectic resume that spans an uncredited turn in Black Books, a pivotal part in Shaun of the Dead, and everything from Underworld and Pride to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I (plus stepping into David Bowie's shoes in the TV version of The Man Who Fell to Earth). Somehow, though, Nighy made it all the way into his 70s before receiving a single Oscar nomination. He didn't emerge victorious at 2023's ceremony for Living, but his recognition for this textured drama isn't just a case of the Academy rewarding a stellar career — it's thoroughly earned by one of the veteran talent's best performances yet. Nighy comes to this sensitive portrayal of a dutiful company man facing life-changing news with history; so too does the feature itself. Set in London in 1953, it's an adaptation several times over — of iconic Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's 1952 film Ikiru, and of Leo Tolstoy's 1886 novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich, which the former also takes inspiration from. That's quite the lineage for Living to live up to, but Nighy and director Oliver Hermanus (Moffie) are up to the task. The movie's second Oscar-nominee, Nobel Prize-winning screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro, unsurprisingly is as well. Also the author of The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, he's at home penning layered stories with a deep focus on complicated characters not being completely true to themselves. When those two novels were turned into impressive pictures, Ishiguro didn't script their screenplays, but he writes his way through Living's literary and cinematic pedigree like he was born to. A man of no more words than he has to utter — of no more of anything, including life's pleasures, frivolities, distractions and detours, in fact — Williams (Nighy, Emma.) is a born bureaucrat. Or, that's how he has always appeared to his staff in the Public Works Department in London County Hall, where he's been doing the same job day, week, month and year in and out. He's quiet and stoic as he pushes paper daily, overseeing a department that's newly welcoming in Peter Wakeling (Alex Sharp, The Trial of the Chicago 7). It's through this fresh face's eyes that Living's audience first spies its central figure, adopting his and the wider team's perspective of Williams as a compliant and wooden functionary: a view that the film and its sudden diagnosis then challenges, as Williams does of himself. As Ikiru was as well, and as The Death of Ivan Ilyich's name made so apparent, this is a tale of a man dying — and, while confronting that fact, finally living. In Hermanus and Ishiguro's hands, sticking close to Kurosawa and his collaborators before them, this story gets part of its spark from a simple request by local parents for a playground. Before learning that he has terminal cancer, Williams behaves as he always has, with the women making their plea sent from department to department while he does only as much as he must. Afterwards, grappling with how to capitalise upon the time he has left, he wonders how to leave even the smallest mark on the world. Living isn't about a big, impulsive response to one of the worst developments that anyone can ever be saddled with during their time on this mortal coil, except that it is in Williams' own way; when your reaction to hearing that you have mere months left to live is "quite", any break from routine is radical. This isn't a cancer weepie, not for a second. It also isn't an illness-focused film where someone's health struggles come second to the feelings and changes experienced by those around them. Williams' colleagues notice his absence when he stops showing up to the office, of course. One, the young Margaret Harris (Aimee Lou Wood, Sex Education), accompanies him on unexpected away-from-work outings and advises that she'd nicknamed him 'Mr Zombie'. Living is about those instances — the fancy lunches that Williams treats himself to, the nights out drinking with new pals (Tom Burke, The Wonder) he never would've contemplated before, the flouting of his lifelong monotonous routine, and the efforts to go above and beyond that he's now willing to take — rather than about an ailing man's family and acquaintances facing loss. Indeed, given that Williams doesn't want to interrupt his son (Barney Fishwick, Call the Midwife) and daughter-in-law (Patsy Ferran, Mothering Sunday) with his condition, Living is firmly invested in someone navigating their swansong on their own terms. At the heart of this ruminative film, and Williams' post-diagnosis behaviour, sits one of the most fundamental existential questions there is. Knowing that death is looming so soon and so swiftly, what can possibly provide comfort? That's a query we all face daily, most of us just on a longer timeline — context that makes Williams' way of coping both resonant and highly relatable. Life is filling each moment with anything but reminders that our here and now is fleeting, albeit not in such a conscious and concerted manner. Living's boxed-in imagery, constrained within Academy-ratio frames and gifted a handsome, period-appropriate but almost-wistful sheen by Hermanus' Moffie and Beauty cinematographer Jamie Ramsay (also the director of photography on See How They Run), helps visually express a crucial feeling: of being anchored within a set amount of space and discovering how to make the most of it. When Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo and Ran great Kurosawa stepped through this terrain, he did so with one of his frequent players: Takashi Shimura. There's a particular sense of potency in telling this tale with a familiar figure, as Nighy also is, hammering home how truly universal this plight is no matter the specifics. Nighy's performance toys with what viewers have come to know and expect from him, however. He's in reserved rather than twinkling and instantly charming mode — still, muted and melancholy, too — a facade for his character that says oh-so-much about the dedicated life that Williams has weathered, the solace he's found in it, his handling of his current situation and also the film's post-World War II setting. Conveying the difference between being and relishing so effortlessly and also so heartbreakingly, Nighy is a marvel, and one that the movie around him lives for.
David O. Russell clearly knows when he's onto a good thing. Over the last few years, the writer/director has found a formula that works and it seems like he's sticking with it. He casts actors Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, tells stories of ordinary folks trying to escape dysfunction and chase better lives; and adopts a tone that shifts between harsh reality and fairytale. First Silver Linings Playbook. Then American Hustle. Now, his latest effort, Joy. This time around, Russell offers up a fictionalised account of the rise of a real-life home shopping network star. In the early 1990s, Joy Mangano (Lawrence) was a Long Island divorcee coping with caring for her two young children while living in a house with her daytime TV-loving mother (Virginia Madsen), ailing grandmother (Diane Ladd), singer ex-husband (Edgar Ramirez) and thrice-married father (De Niro). Then, while cleaning up spilled wine, she came up with the idea for the first-ever self-wringing mop. Enter an Italian investor (Isabella Rossellini), and, eventually, a television executive (Cooper). Yes, Joy is a rags-to-riches tale of a battler trying to improve herself and her situation; however it's also something more. It wrestles Russell's current patterns and preferences into a canny character study, watching on as a woman fights for agency and control, despite constantly being told that she should take care of others and reign in her go-getting ways. Weaving in surreal soap opera segments — and at its best when it's following its protagonist on the small screen or in the studio — the film becomes an astute and engaging dissection of the power of selling a fantasy. Of course, the latter works so well because that's exactly what the movie does, with Joy's success never in doubt (the film notes at the outset that it's inspired by stories of brave women, including one in particular). Indeed, Joy sells its namesake's journey from domestic unhappiness to business domination by making everything seem equally authentic and fanciful. The movie casts a dream-like sheen over crumbling interiors, proceeds at a lively pace through tough moments, and favours an upbeat soundtrack, all to create a purposefully wavering mood. In doing so, it manages to remain sincere, not satirical. That's where Lawrence proves pivotal too. When the going gets tough, she's determined rather than defeated; when everything appears to be coming together, she never patches over Joy's struggles. Her co-stars mightn't all fare as well, particularly De Niro's disapproving dad. Still, Madsen and Rossellini have their comic moments, and Ramirez and Cooper benefit from less chaotic roles. Besides, such a mix of performances feels fitting. Joy pairs a filmmaker's usual tricks and tendencies with a mostly-true tale of tenacity, serving up amusement and insight in the process.
It’s called Dracula Untold — a curious title in light of the fact that an IMDB search shows it’s already been told over 200 times. But perhaps there’s something new here? Nope. Did you know Dracula was originally Vlad the Impaler? Yep. Did you know his dastardly turn to darkness was a result of the death of his beloved Mina? Yep. Did you know he ‘vonts to sarrrrk your blaaaard’? Of course you did. Here’s the critical thing: a guy whose nickname includes the words “the Impaler” is not a nice guy. He’s an impaler. He impales people. Yet Dracula Untold sets out with the task of humanising a monster for the purposes of... what, exactly? There isn’t an ‘evil bias’ that needs to be redressed for the sake of balance. Nobody's crying out for Pol Pot to get a heartwarming movie of the week to ensure ‘his side of the story’ is told. Some people are simply savage wretches and wretches they will remain. In short: let villains be villains. Here, the villain isn’t Dracula, but instead the Turkish sultan ‘Mehmed', determined to claim 1000 young Transylvanian boys for his army. Sultan ‘Meh’ would be far more appropriate. He, like the rest of the film, is bland and unthreatening, afforded only a smattering of flavourless lines to occasionally remind us he’s a cold and unfeeling dictator. In response, Vlad opts to become a cold and unfeeling vampire to stop him and save Transylvania’s people. He’s a 19th-century Batman in that he’s a night-time vigilante capable of literally morphing into bats when he needs to get anywhere. The special effects are good, but who cares? This is a film that — lame pun absolutely intended — sucks.
There's an air of inevitability about Escape Room. A strong feeling of familiarity, too. Hollywood was always going to turn the popular pastime into a scary movie — a matter of when, not if — but this first major attempt just rebadges a horror film staple. Long before people were paying to sleuth their way out of a locked space, audiences have been watching the same concept on the big screen. It's there in countless haunted house flicks, in 1997's stylish and twisty thriller Cube, and in the gore of the Saw franchise as well. All that Escape Room adds to the mix is an obvious moniker, and a clear desire to start a new Final Destination-style series. The setup is as straightforward as expected, with six strangers receiving mysterious invitations to visit a new Chicago space. If they can find their way out of the high-tech escape room, which no one has been able to manage so far, they'll win $10,000 for their troubles. But as shy college student Zoey (Taylor Russell), supermarket slacker Ben (Logan Miller) and finance whiz Jason (Jay Elis) wait to enter the puzzle alongside dedicated gamer Danny (Nik Dodani), the high-strung Amanda (Deborah Ann Woll) and the older Mike (Tyler Labine), it becomes apparent that this isn't any old immersive experience. From the moment that the lobby starts getting warmer than it should be, these competitors aren't just angling for a cash prize — they're endeavouring to stay alive. Thanks to an unrelated, barely seen 2017 film that's also called Escape Room, plus a 2018 TV movie called No Escape Room, director Adam Robitel (Insidious: The Last Key) and screenwriters Bragi Schut (Season of the Witch) and Maria Melnik (TV's Counterpart) aren't treading new filmic ground in any sense. Rather, they're merely jumping into territory that's recognisable in several ways, just with a bigger budget and audience reach. Still, while there's much that remains well-worn about 2019's Escape Room, Robitel and company don't always stick to painting by the numbers. Although their picture won't wow viewers with its twists, or surprise many with its tricks and riddles, it does succeed in the most crucial area: making its escape room sequences stand out. There's more than one literally killer space to flee here, and each proves inventive and clever — whether stranding Zoey, Ben and the gang in an upside-down pool bar, or thrusting them into a place that resembles a hellish acid trip. Indeed, watching the group navigate each complicated chamber never fails to entertain and impress, with full credit due to the movie's production designers. It's a strange sensation, to view characters fighting for their lives as their surroundings attempt to assassinate them, and to completely understand the appeal of the escape room craze. This isn't an ad for the real thing or an accurate representation of it, obviously, however by making its spaces so intriguing and engaging, the film aptly conveys why they've become so popular. Alas, at almost every other turn, Escape Room is a rare picture that could've benefited from fewer details, not more. When you're filling your film with stereotypical characters, giving them standard personality traits and cliched traumatic backstories doesn't add depth — it just highlights how paper-thin everyone is. Similarly, while witnessing the sextet's battle for survival is suitably unsettling and suspenseful, attempting to explain why they're stuck in this predicament feels overly contrived, even for such a high-concept premise. It also feels utterly unnecessary, and smacks of attempting to set up a sequel. When Escape Room lures audiences into its murderous maze, more of the same may sound like a treat. But when the movie is happily ticking boxes, it serves up a firm reminder that many horror flicks can barely sustain their own running time, let alone a franchise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dSKUoV0SNI
If there’s one thing the movies of Noah Baumbach tell us — including the college exploits of Kicking and Screaming, the teenage unhappiness of The Squid and the Whale and the midlife crisis of Greenberg — it’s this: growing up doesn’t come easily. Sure, we all get older as the days, months and years pass, but that doesn’t mean we feel our age. While We're Young lives and breathes this sentiment, and its characters as well. “For the first time in my life, I've stopped thinking of myself as a child imitating an adult,” says documentarian Josh Srebnick (Ben Stiller) to his producer wife Cornelia (Naomi Watts), to which she replies, "you feel that way too?" It's an easy way of expressing the feature's theme in dialogue — a little too easy, in fact — but it rings true. They're trapped by expectations they can't fulfil and ambitions they haven’t achieved, and they're not ready for that realisation. Two events start Josh and Cornelia thinking that maybe their mid-forties life isn't what they think it is. First, friends their own age (Maria Dizzia and the Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz) have a baby and tell them constantly that they should do the same. Then they meet wannabe filmmaker Jamie (Adam Driver) and his wife, Darby (Amanda Seyfried), twenty-somethings they can nostalgically see decades-earlier versions of themselves in. Cue a whole heap of generational contrasts, of the young-folks-like-retro-trinkets versus older-people-prefer-technological-gadgets variety. Again, it's simple shorthand for a divide that looks obvious, but the film isn't just trying to show how things are different. Focused on a couple who don't feel in synch with their age group yet soon learn that they don't really fit in with younger friends and trends either, While We're Young is trying to understand why. That's a big challenge for a 97-minute comedy; however, it is one that the ever-perceptive Baumbach accepts. As he did with the delightful Frances Ha before this, the writer/director homes in on details so specific, they might as well be ripped from many of the audience's lives. And if his last film was his attempt at combining such wry observations with a French New Wave coming-of-age tale, this is him revelling in Woody Allen, comedy-of-manners territory. Though a Bowie song is again in the mix, While We're Young doesn't quite bounce along with the same zest as its predecessor, but it does roll with the punches of a story that morphs into a contemplation of authenticity. Thankfully, the film's bright frames boast that in spades, as it juxtaposes both sides of the age divide but, crucially, never judges. Everyone — Josh, Cornelia, Jamie and Darby alike — just wants to reconcile their dreams with their reality. Performance-wise, the good stuff keeps on coming, gifting Watts her best work in years, letting Stiller show a more chilled version of his Greenberg persona and playing with Driver's natural charm. That said, if there's one thing that doesn't sit right in the whole movie and its musings on getting older, it's one piece of casting. Seriously, who wouldn't want to hang out with Ad-Rock, baby or not, at any age?
A decadent dinner. One of Brisbane's newest, hottest restaurants. Parisian theming a plenty. Red velvet, dark lighting and a cruisy atmosphere galore. Combine all three, and you get the sit-down dinner to end all sit-down dinners — and all years, like this one. Madame Rouge might be a fresh addition to Fortitude Valley, but it's already pulling out all the stops. And their New Year's Eve dinner might just be their usual a la carte menu, with diners seated at two specific times (5.30pm and 8.30pm); however, once you've tried their cheese soufflé, steak frites, and creme caramel — and washed them all down with a few French sours — you won't want to spend your last night of 2016 anywhere else.
In one of the best local comedies of the past decade, members of a Chinese Australian family go about their lives on the Sunshine Coast. In one of the most engaging Aussie game shows of the last few years, Indigenous comedians, actors, musicians and artists hang out in a gallery and test their knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. The first program comes courtesy of The Family Law, while the second arrives in the form of Faboriginal — and if you haven't seen either by now, it's time to rectify that. Both series are streaming as part of SBS On Demand's Australian Made collection, which is being showcased on the free platform in partnership with Sydney Festival — and was curated by the fest's artistic director Wesley Enoch, too. The full lineup includes ten television shows that explore the diversity of Australian culture. They're great to watch at any time of the year, but they're also an excellent way to reflect upon the nation on and around January 26. Other titles include documentary series Untold Australia, which steps through Aussie tales you don't normally hear about; First Australians, which tackles the country's history from a First Nations perspective; and Future Dreaming, where four young Aboriginal Australians ponder what their lives might hold. In addition to animated series Little J and Big Cuz, the full lineup also features two Ray Martin-fronted factual programs: Is Australia Racist?, which interrogates that very question; and First Contact, which takes six non-Indigenous people into Aboriginal Australia for the first time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXpwQw_QaNI
New media and Shakespeare are not things that one would usually associate together. That is until Kereen Ely-Harper and Andrew Burrell got their hands on Macbeth. A modern twist and fresh approach to a classic is refreshing every now and then! Director Ely-Harper and new media artist Burrell felt passionate enough about combining Shakespeare with technology to create Making The Green One Red, a virtual performance of Macbeth set to bring the Bard into the twenty-first century. Showing at QUT’s The Block from 24 April to 5 May, this unique event is certainly something to witness. Whether you’re a longtime fan of Shakespeare or not. Accessing modern techniques like voiceovers, lighting effects, and video screens, Making the Green One Red is undoubtedly a new way of looking at a classic text. Combined with live actors performing the piece, albeit in an adapted format to fit the scene, the experience is sure to be full body for the audience and a truly unique way of looking at Macbeth.
When the pandemic first hit, binge-watching movies about contagions, outbreaks and infections became everyone's go-to pastime. Some were eerily prophetic (yes, we're talking about Contagion, obviously); however, even when flicks in the genre didn't resemble our reality, they still lured us in. There's a sense of comfort in watching these worst-case scenarios. We watch for the same reason that we watch horror movies, because seeing these things play out on-screen helps us confront our fears in a safe space. The dystopian genre looks a little different through our weary eyes now, of course, but we're still viewing away. The next thing to add to your streaming queue: Y: The Last Man, the long-awaited TV adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name. On the page between 2002–8, the comic book series stepped into a post-apocalyptic world where an eerie illness wipes out everyone with a Y chromosome, humans and other mammals alike. And yes, it does all sound a little like a reverse version of The Handmaid's Tale and Children of Men — with a few twists, clearly. In this fictional scenario, only Yorick Brown and his Capuchin monkey Ampersand manage to survive — alongside the planet's women, all of whom are now endeavouring to find a new status quo. So, that's what the Y: The Last Man TV series will chart, as teased in its trailer. Brian K Vaughan and Pia Guerra's graphic novel has actually been slated for the TV treatment for more than a decade — and before that, a film version was even floated but it didn't eventuate — and now the television series will start hitting Australian streaming service Binge from Tuesday, September 14. Ben Schnetzer (Pride, Warcraft, The Grizzlies) plays Yorick, and he's joined on-screen by Diane Lane (Let Him Go) as his mother — and the new US President — plus Olivia Thirlby (Goliath) as his sister. The cast also includes Amber Tamblyn (The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret), Ashley Romans (NOS4A2) and Elliot Fletcher (The Fosters), while The Killing and Animal Kingdom's Eliza Clark is on writing and showrunning duties. Check out the trailer below: Y: The Last Man starts streaming in Australia via Binge from Tuesday, September 14.
NYE got you feeling a little weary? The New Year's Bash delivers the ideal tonic that not only offers boundless excitement, but keeps your holiday party going. This Wednesday, January 1, the Brisbane Heat face off against the Melbourne Stars in a thrilling encounter featuring some of the world's best T20 batters and bowlers. UK superstar Example will be performing at the game with his iconic dance tracks that'll lift the mood even if your team if down and out. Set the tone for 2025 in the best way possible from the stands, with awesome live music, fireworks displays and top-notch sporting action wowing the crowd. Enter the game-day charity raffle to contribute to the KFC Youth Foundation's fundraising efforts or donate directly through Ticketek when your purchase your ticket for more good feels and bonus karma to start the New Year.
"Luke, I am your father" might just be one of the most famous line ever uttered in a movie — except, of course, that's not actually what Darth Vader said. If you're pedantic about the exact phrasing of iconic Star Wars dialogue, or just brimming with Jedi-focused tidbits, then here's your chance to put those skills to the test. Come Monday, May 4 (when else?), Isolation Trivia is hosting an evening of fun that no one can have a bad feeling about. The live-streamed quiz night is delving into the series that has not only spanned 11 films to date — including last year's The Rise of Skywalker — but also inspired a host of new instalments yet to come. If you have a Chewbacca costume in your wardrobe, you're destined to hop online and play along. Sure, your house isn't quite the Mos Eisley Cantina, but you can pretend — may the force be with you, and all that. The night gets underway from 6.25pm, which is when you can start arguing over whether Han shot first. And playing along won't cost you a cent.
Wake in Fright and Mad Max 2 have a lot to answer for. While one remains a flat-out Australian masterpiece after almost half a century and the other belongs to our best dystopian action franchise, they've spawned more than their fair share of imitators. Many Aussie films have aped their visions of broken, isolated, male-dominated worlds. Quite a few have also used their shooting location, Broken Hill. It's easy to understand why: examining toxic masculinity's extremes is a juicy subject, and the outback town on the far-western edge of New South Wales' dusty expanse cuts a striking sight on the big screen. When layered one over the other, the seemingly endless array of scrubby nothingness that encircles the remote spot appears to pulsate with oppressive desolation. The third film in four years from director Heath Davis (after 2016's Broke and 2018's Book Week), grimy crime thriller Locusts is happy to trot out the above template once again. There's another thoroughly recognisable element at play as well, one that also pops up in Wake in Fright and other Aussie flicks like The Cars That Ate Paris and Welcome to Woop Woop: the outsider wandering across this desert landscape and discovering its hostility for himself. Here, that task falls to slick technology bigwig. Ryan Black (Ben Geurens), who returns to the drought-stricken ex-mining town of Serenity Crossing after the death of his estranged dad. Complete with a far-from-cosy reunion with his brother (Nathaniel Dean) and the old girlfriend-turned-single mum and stripper (Jessica McNamee) he long left behind, everything about this scenario ticks a heap of familiar boxes. Thugs, drugs, broken dreams, family secrets — throw in Cold Chisel on the pub radio (they sang about Broken Hill, aka the Silver City, in 'Khe Sanh'), and Locusts always plays out as expected. When a group of inhospitable locals make it clear that Ryan isn't welcome, but still demands he settle his father's debts, it seems as if first-time screenwriter Angus Watts is stamping squares on a generic movie bingo card. The more twists and turns that pop up, the more that this feels true, with Locusts' various plot developments wavering between convenient and flimsy. Flashes of a man yelling at a kid with a gun earn the same description, although they're clearly designed to ramp up the tension. And as for a hefty late revelation that tries to keep things topical, it feels tacked-on rather than meaningful. Why do films continually wade through such well-worn terrain? It makes for easy, B-movie-style genre fare and, in Australia, we sure do have the backdrop for it. In Locusts and Heath Davis' case, the movie also taps into a theme that the director keeps pondering across his career. While they're set in vastly different circumstances and brandish incredibly different tones, Broke and Book Week also follow men thrown out of their depth by the vagaries of life, then scrambling to recover. Locusts is his least convincing example to-date, however. That said, Geurens' somewhat dull lead performance aside, the film does overflow with suitably scruffy, stern, grizzled men (including Peter Phelps, Broke's Steve Le Marquand, Book Week's Alan Dukes and late actor Damian Hill in one of his final screen performances) who look and feel as rough and tough as all the dirt and bush that's constantly in sight. Filling the movie with sun-dappled shades of earthy reds, murky browns and parched yellows, cinematographer Chris Bland (another Broke and Book Week alum) not only has Locusts' best job, but does Locusts' best job. While Broken Hill doesn't look anywhere near as captivating in real life as it frequently does on the screen, it's hard to point a camera at its rusty vistas without finding a fittingly moody shot. So, Bland does this often. Once again, this fits the picture's contemplation of struggling men laid bare in forbidding surroundings, but the heavy emphasis on the landscape does stand out. For the film's characters, the town's post-apocalyptic scenery is a barrier that stops them from moving on. For the film itself, it's yet another crutch used by an inescapably familiar feature that repeatedly leans on obvious elements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD_gvewa9JU&feature=youtu.be
Our city is bubbling with creative talent, if you know where and when to find it. It can be an issue for Brisbane artists, musicians and writers to make contact with the wider public, so, that's where the Papergirl Project comes in. This ingenious community project involves everyone in Brisbane in the aim of spreading the incredible and inspiring pieces Brissie locals have created. The talented team behind this project gather art and writing from the local creative community, exhibit the fruits of their labour and then distribute art and writing to random passers-by. If you wish to help spread colour and creativity across Brisbane, all you need is a bicycle and a bag to carry the rolled up artworks. The Papergirl Project exhibition will be held on March 15 and the brilliant bike army will be heading out in full force on March 16. It's not about giving the artwork to the 'right' people; it's about sharing wonderful works with people who are in the right place at the right time.
It's hard to find sculptures that focus just as much on the internal as they do the exterior. The work of Sophie Bottomley does just this however, with pieces that explore their own guts while showing off visually seductive frames. With lush, repetitive surfaces, alluding to the artists hand, Bottomley places her attention on what lies underneath, in and around her pieces - check some out here. Now you can see Sophie Bottomley's work for yourself at Spiro Grace Art Room for her exhibition The Shape of the Mouth. The pieces on show will be transformed everyday materials that investigate the relationship between interior and exterior, form, scale, colour, light and surface, and do so in a way that invokes a strong corporeal and visceral response. The opening night for The Shape of the Mouth will be Thursday August 7, kicking off at 6pm, and the exhibition will run until August 30.
I won’t lie to you, dear readers, I was considering trying to define the surrealist art movement as a beginning to this article. But after several hours of perusing the GoMA website’s background and history on the period, I decided the adjectives were best left to the experts; avant-garde, experimentation, liberation of desire, reproduction of dreams. Instead I will say this: the artists from this period were crazy in the best possible way. They include people like André Breton, Giorgio de Chirico, May Ray, Joan Miró and Salvador Dali who were all known for being a little out there. The latter in particular who was known to regularly take his anteater for walks. As I’ve already realised, the best people to give you the 101 on these fabulous folk are the art world experts. Amazingly, GoMA are offering up their most experienced curators to guide visitors around the exhibition for no extra fee! Do pay attention though, each curator focuses on a different element of surrealism from film to an artist’s psyche. Depending on your interests, make sure you peruse the website before wandering into town with your own unusual animal on a leash.
Feeling kind of basic today? Feel like you’d be better off in a High Fidelity scene, channelling John Cusack, Jack Black or just your run-of-the-mill rock snob? Then head to QAGOMA and get a healthy dose of pop culture, art and multimedia crossovers at their latest exhibition, Seen + Heard. The exhibition draws on major artworks, installations and multiples from the gallery’s collection which address the intersections, clashes and marriages of pop culture, music, sound and visual art. It’s like a super-dooper Venn diagram expressed by physical representations, rare records and art work that will have you crackling. Seen + Heard will draw on the work of sculptural sound pioneer Nam Jun Paik, publisher Francesco Cons, Philip Corner, Emmett Williams and Milan Knizak. It will also feature musical score, performance and sound installations, including Candice Breitz’s King, a portrait of Michael Jackson. Plus, a bundle of fancy LPs that will have you swooning and sulking with jealousy all at once. So whether you’re a creative type of not, head to QAGOMA and learn that pop culture isn’t all Andy Warhol and Simpsons references. Supposedly.
There's treating yo'self, and then there's treating yo'self. On one side sits grabbing a sneaky doughnut on your way home from work; on the other, taking yourself out for a five-course truffle degustation dinner. Just as everyone deserves the former every once in a while, everyone should get to enjoy the latter, too — even if it's a limited-time-only kind of deal. If you want to indulge in a hefty Truffle Degustation dinner, Bacchus has the goods, but only until June 22. This year, there's two options available — so feeling decadent without blowing a fat stack of cash on just one meal is on the menu. For $99, the petite truffle degustation includes three courses, including handmade tagliolini with parmigiano reggiano, butter and dry yeast; beef with smoked eggplant and camel cheese; and a textured chocolate ice cream dessert. All come with truffles, obviously. Or, for $169 for food only and $259 with paired wine, you can eat your way through the truffliest meal you've ever eaten (and convince yourself that truffliest is a word). Champagne lobster with truffles and Chardonnay white sauce; handmade tagliolini with truffles; beef with smoked eggplant, camel cheese and truffles; more truffled cheese and walnut bread— yes, that's some of what you'll be devouring. To top it all off, there's also chocolate ice cream with truffles, and petite fours. You'll think you're in truffle heaven.
Contemporary music ensemble “Kupka’s Piano” are taking their talents far and wide throughout 2013, in the search of exciting composers of younger generations worldwide. The Brisbane-based outfit will be exploring new developments and musical concepts while premiering the latest Australian works commissioned just for this series. Each of their concerts will showcase a selection of international works that are innovative and intriguing, and link to those that Australia have to offer. Taking its name from Bohemian painter František Kupka’s iconic 1909 painting “The Piano Keys”, the ensemble aims to entice audiences into hearing new sounds, new structures, new musical ideas. It fills a gap in Brisbane’s music scene where the members, all in their 20s, focus on the works of their contemporaries. The concerts will be hosted throughout the year, from March to September, and so subscription passes are available for those who wish to see all four at a discounted rate.
