UPDATE, October 29, 2020: Halloween is available to stream via Netflix, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. The boogeyman is back, and his warped face mask, stolen mechanic's overalls and gleaming kitchen knife too. But Michael Myers' return isn't the entire point of the latest (and second greatest) Halloween. While the creepy convicted killer stalks the streets of Haddonfield, Illinois as if he's never left, Jamie Lee Curtis' resourceful and determined Laurie Strode is back as well — and in the current version of events, she's spent four decades preparing for this very moment. Once a 17-year-old babysitter targeted by an escaped criminal asylum patient on October 31, Laurie is now a silver-haired, gun-toting grandmother. Living in a compound-like property in her hometown, she's so intent on facing her attacker that she has dedicated years to this very purpose. Laurie's now-adult daughter Karen (Judy Greer) resents her for the impact that it had on her childhood, while teenage granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) is caring but concerned. Regardless, Laurie knows that Michael will come for her — and when he again breaks free en route to a new psychiatric facility, she's proven accurate. Carnage ensues, just as it did in John Carpenter's original slasher classic. As Haddonfield trick-or-treats like it's any other Halloween in any other place, Michael adds more notches to his body count, Laurie lies in wait and Allyson follows in her grandmother's footsteps like it's 40 years earlier. Directed by David Gordon Green (Stronger) and co-written with frequent collaborator Danny McBride, 2018's Halloween knows how to incite bumps, jumps and screams, many of which will be gloriously familiar to seasoned Halloween buffs. But, with Carpenter's blessing and a new musical score from the horror maestro and composer, this take on the franchise also knows how to carve its own path. Now reaching its 11th instalment, Halloween unleashes the series' fourth different timeline, ignoring everything else except the initial 1978 flick. Black Mirror just announced that it's making a choose-your-own-adventure episode, but this franchise has been doing it for decades. Viewers can pick the cultish thread that eventually connects the first five sequels (including the Michael-free Halloween III: Season of the Witch), Laurie's first big return in Halloween: H20 and its terrible follow-up Halloween: Resurrection, or Rob Zombie's two remakes, however the series' next chapter is the most thrilling, perceptive and satisfying. Green and McBride are clearly fond of Carpenter's seminal work, stripping the saga's underlying suburban nightmare back to its terrifying basics, while contemplating the consequences of terrible trauma. Their film recognises the scariest fact of life: that truly awful things happen for absolutely no reason, and that they cast a dark shadow. That makes 2018's Halloween a powerful account of the ways that horrific acts shape the lives of survivors, as well as a celebration of women rallying to reclaim their own story. Nothing robs inexplicable terror of its potency quite like its intended victims refusing to be defined by fear. Thankfully, this Halloween isn't just thoughtful — it's thoroughly entertaining, even when it's hitting recognisable notes. Balancing the old and the new is a game that this sequel plays as well as Michael plays cat-and-mouse, from subverting genre tropes initially established by the series, to lovingly nodding to its many predecessors. When the true crime podcasters (played by Jefferson Hall and Rhian Rees) who kickstart the film's narrative visit Haddonfield's cemetery, and when Laurie calls new doctor Sartain (Haluk Bilginer) the "new Loomis", franchise devotees will want to cheer. When the movie turns Laurie into Michael's boogeyman, rather than vice versa, everyone will want to applaud. Of course, as plenty of horror shockers have demonstrated over the last 40 years — including a few Halloween follow-ups — it's not enough to simply work through the Halloween checklist. While 2018's Halloween does that with finesse and fondness that goes beyond mere fan service,it also feels the part thanks to its unsettling atmosphere and ample blood splatter. There's lingering menace in Michael Simmonds' (Nerve) cinematography, both when it's mirroring old shots from the original and bringing its own flourishes. Collaborating with his son Cody and godson Daniel Davies, Carpenter's score reworks the iconic synth and piano-heavy music that has served the series so well, but with a suitably bleaker tone. They both contribute to the sequel that Carpenter's seminal picture has deserved for all of these years. That said, 2018's Halloween does present a conundrum. It's the perfect culmination to the long-running franchise but, more than any other chapter, it leaves the audience pumped for more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL_I2vNwkXQ
Humans spend roughly a third of their life sleeping. Aside from the occasional drunken night or camping trip, most of this sleeping is done in a bed. So why, then, are such important objects in our lives often so commonplace and dull? Beds can be used to express our inner self, to represent our deepest loves or simply help us wake up and get going in the morning. Here are 20 of the most creative and eccentric designs that are sure to put a smile on your face. 1. The Stand Up Bed Thanks to this novel bed, which resembles a large vertical bean bag, sleeping while standing is apparently very possible. 2. The Floating Bed This magnetically charged floating bed by Janjaap Ruijssenaars not only looks incredibly chic and contemporary, but also would make it very hard for any monsters to hide underneath it. 3. The Rocking Bed The 'Private Cloud' is a a patented rocking frame designed by Manuel Kloker, which will be sure to lull you into a serene sleep every night. 4. The Sonic Bed Kaffe Matthew's Sonic bed probably isn't exactly designed to provide a good night's sleep, created with 12-channel surround sound speakers encased around the edges to cover every cell of your body with musical beats. 5. The Forest Bed For those who want to have a sense of being out in the wild whilst remaining in the comfort of their own bed, this exotic wooden bed would be the one for you. 6. The Safe Bed This 'Quantum Sleeper' is the ultimate in protection for those paranoid about the threat of natural disasters, terrorist attacks, kidnappers or any variation therein. 7. The Starfish Bed Known as the 'Hold Me Bed', this structure will ensure that you overcome those restless nights of tossing and turning because, well, you won't be able to move a muscle. 8. The Hay Bed Some people have such an affinity for hay they simply want to be surrounded by it when awake and asleep. 9. The Yin and Yang Bed If you believe you've found your absolute soulmate but can't handle sleeping next to them for whatever reason, perhaps this next bed will provide the solution to your problems. 10. The Sandwich Bed You are what you eat, right? 11. The Hammock Bed Everybody loves the tranquil and relaxing sensation induced by the gentle swinging and folding of a hammock. 12. The Pull-Down Bed If you are crammed for space due to a small apartment or want another handy spare bed that doesn't waste the space of a whole room, then this innovative and nifty pull-down bed is the way to go. 13. The Molecular Bed Scientists, sportspeople or ball-lovers will be sure to enjoy this bed made of 120 soft and pleasant balls. 14. The Cinderella Bed Perfectly suited to little princesses with large imaginations and a love for fairytales. 15. The Foetal Position Bed This bed doesn't leave much margin for movement - that is unless you want to end up snuggling up with the floorboards. 16. The Bird Nest Bed This large pit of soft pillows encased in a brown, nest-like structure is a novel way to help kids nod off to sleep. 17. The Geometric Bed If you want to keep the brain cells flowing even when getting some shut-eye, perhaps this bed with a modern geometric structure attached to it is the perfect way to achieve just that. 18. The Brush Bed This bed looks like it would be jabbing uncomfortable protrusions from every angle. 19. The Book Bed Let imaginations soar with this creative life-sized book that also doubles as a bed. 20. The Napping Pod Cure that threethirtyitis by grabbing a quick nap in one of these high-tech napping pods.
Something delightful is happening in cinemas across the country. After months spent empty, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are starting to reopen — spanning both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney and Brisbane (and, until the newly reinstated stay-at-home orders, Melbourne as well). During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made over the past three months, including new releases, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLV63nrXYSY&feature=youtu.be DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: A LIFE ON OUR PLANET Since the early 1950s, David Attenborough's stunningly shot documentaries have been awash with revelatory sights and detailed insights from the natural world, sharing the kind of wonders that eager audiences would be unlikely to see or discover themselves otherwise. Seven decades later, after becoming a constant, respected and beloved presence in the field, the now 94-year-old's passionate and vibrant work has earned its place in history several times over — but it might also become a record of a world, and of natural history, that's lost due to climate change. With this in mind, and to motivate a response to combat both global warming and the catastrophic loss of biodiversity blighting the environment, the great broadcaster presents David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet. On offer: an urgent and far-ranging exploration of how our pale blue dot evolved to its current state, what might be in store if we continue down this path, and how and why things could and should change. Determined in his tone, the veteran natural historian calls the documentary his witness statement several times within its frames, and it's as powerful and devastating as intended. Bookended by scenes in Chernobyl that are initially designed to illustrate what can happen ecologically when bad planning and human error combine — a situation that, Attenborough posits, applies to climate change as well — A Life On Our Planet is both broad and intricate, and personal and political too. Cycling through the earth's life to-date to provide a snapshot of the planet's predicament, it delivers a comprehensive overview, a raft of telling facts and figures, and a plethora of reflections from its central figure. It also features the now-requisite array of eye-catching footage that Attenborough's hefty body of work has long become known for, served up here to not only revel in its glory and showcase his exceptional career, but to demonstrate what's fading away due to humanity's impact upon the globe. Accordingly, it's impossible not to be moved by the film. If viewers won't listen to Attenborough on this topic, and as he explains what he's seen and where he sees things heading, then they probably won't listen to anyone. In the documentary's latter third, A Life On Our Planet follows in the footsteps of Australian doco 2040, too, by pondering how the world might adapt for the better — and again, if that doesn't motivate action, what will? David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet opens in Australian cinemas on Monday, September 28, with a chat between David Attenborough and Michael Palin screening with the film. The documentary only hits Netflix on Sunday, October 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAxtH_xwlnM THE HIGH NOTE With 2019's Late Night, filmmaker Nisha Ganatra stepped inside the world of television, contrasting the journeys of a hardworking woman just starting out and a celebrated but stern female veteran of the field who is unsure of what she wants for the future. Switch the setup to the music business, then swap Mindy Kaling's smart Late Night screenplay for a thoroughly by-the-numbers affair by first-timer Flora Greeson, and The High Note is the end result. In this overtly formulaic feature, lifelong music buff Maggie Sherwoode (Dakota Johnson) is a committed and overworked personal assistant to 11-time Grammy-winning R&B superstar Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross). She's also an aspiring producer who's working on a record with up-and-coming musician, David Cliff (Kelvin Harrison Jr), on the side. Maggie toils away at a demanding gig, albeit for a legend, but clearly dreams of more than merely ferrying her idol around town, picking up her dry cleaning and administering enemas on tour. With Grace's latest string of shows wrapping up, a live greatest hits album in the works and no new music released for some time, the singer herself also wants something different; however long-time manager Jack (Ice Cube) is trying to push Grace towards the easy money of a ten-year Las Vegas residency. There's much that's likeable here, including the soundtrack and the cast. The former spans both new tracks and vintage hits (including an appealing singalong to TLC's 'No Scrubs', and Harrison Jr crooning 1957 classic 'You Send Me' by the king of soul Sam Cooke), while the latter is The High Note's best asset. If only the impressive roster of on-screen talent were working with better material. As well as hitting every obvious note and delivering an awful (and predictable) soap opera-esque twist late in the game, The High Note lacks the resonant commentary that made Late Night as clever and savvy as it was amusing and affecting. The fact that it isn't easy being a woman in music isn't ignored here, but it's pointed out via generic lines of dialogue that simply sound like throwaway soundbites. The reality that both ageism and racism blight the industry too, and that a hugely successful Black woman over 40 still gets ignored by those calling the shots, receives the same cursory treatment. Indeed, The High Note is more content to keep any statements as superficial and easy as a disposable pop song, and to serve up as standard a feel-good fairy tale about chasing one's dreams as an algorithm would probably spit out. Read our full review. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas, check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on July 2, July 9, July 16, July 23 and July 30; August 6, August 13, August 20 and August 27; and September 3, September 10 and September 17. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Personal History of David Copperfield, Waves, The King of Staten Island, Babyteeth, Deerskin, Peninsula, Tenet, Les Misérables, The New Mutants, Bill & Ted Face the Music, The Translators and An American Pickle.
The most famous building in Australia is about to hit a huge milestone, with the Sydney Opera House turning 50 when October 2023 rolls around. Over those five decades, the iconic arts venue has hosted a dream lineup of shows, productions and gigs on its stages — and it has another in store to help mark its massive anniversary. An occasion this huge was never going to pass without plenty of celebrations, so the Opera House is planning a hefty lineup that'll serve up just that. Kicking off in October this year, the 50th-anniversary season will run for an entire 12 months. And while the bulk of it won't be announced until later in 2022, the venue has just revealed its first show: Amadeus starring Michael Sheen. The Welsh actor boasts a resume spanning everything from Masters of Sex and Tron: Legacy to The Queen and Twilight — Frost/Nixon, the Underworld flicks, Alice in Wonderland and Good Omens, too — and, from 1998–99 in London and also on Broadway, this very play. Back then, he took on the role of Mozart; however, this time he'll step into Antonio Salieri's shoes, aka the Italian composer posited to be the titular figure's bitter adversary. [caption id="attachment_860816" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Amadeus by Peter Shaffer. Directed by Peter Hall, with David Suchet as Antonio Salieri and Michael Sheen as Motzart. Performed at The Old Vic in London in 1998. Credit: Geraint Lewis / ArenaPAL.[/caption] Sheen's stint at the Opera House comes as part of Amadeus' Australian-exclusive season, which'll take over the site's newly revamped Concert Hall from Tuesday, December 27, 2022–Saturday, January 21, 2023. He'll play opposite Rahel Romahn (Here Out West) as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, plus Lily Balatincz (Constellations) as Constanze Mozart, all bringing a fierce — and fictitious — classical music rivalry to life. If you're new to Amadeus, which first hit the stage in 1979 in London — six years after the Opera House opened its doors — it reimagines Mozart and Salieri's lives as the latter struggles to come to terms with the former's talent. In 1981, for its first Broadway run, it nabbed the 1981 Tony Award for Best Play. In 1984, after being turned into a movie, it also won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture. And, Baz Luhrmann also mentioned it to Concrete Playground as one of the influences that helped him on the path to making Elvis. Including Sheen, Romahn and Mozart, the Sydney cast will feature 40 performers, spanning actors, opera singers and musicians from The Metropolitan Orchestra who'll be worked into the onstage drama. Director Craig Ilott (Smoke & Mirrors, American Idiot, Betty Blokk Buster Reimagined) will be on helming duties, while Australian fashion house Romance Was Born is directing the costumes. [caption id="attachment_860821" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Daniel Boud[/caption] And, for theatregoers keen to turn a night watching Amadeus into quite the special occasion, the Opera House is also doing impressive — albeit expensive — dinner-and-show option called Amadeus: Primo Atto. Starting at $440 per person, it includes a three-course dinner with paired wines in one of the venue's most intimate spaces, plus a private tour beforehand, and then tickets to the production. As for what else will be on the 50th-anniversary lineup, watch this space. Based on this first announcement — and the fact that the full program of events and performances is supported by the NSW Government's Blockbuster Funding initiative — the Opera House's year-long festivities looks set to be big. [caption id="attachment_681696" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hamilton Lund[/caption] Amadeus will play Sydney Opera House's Concert Hall from Tuesday, December 27, 2022–Saturday, January 21, 2023. Pre-sales start at 9am on Wednesday, July 13, with general ticket sales from 9am on Monday, July 18. For more information, head to the Sydney Opera House website. For more information about Amadeus: Primo Atto, also head to the Sydney Opera House website. Top image: Faith Healer by Brian Friel, rehearsals, Michael Sheen as Frank Hardy. Directed by Warchus, set designed by Howell, lighting designed by Lutkin and Brown. Old Vic Theatre, London, UK; 21 September 2020. Credit: Manuel Harlan / ArenaPAL.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. THE FRENCH DISPATCH Editors fictional and real may disagree — The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun's Arthur Howitzer Jr (Bill Murray, On the Rocks) among them — but it's easy to use Wes Anderson's name as both an adjective and a verb. In a sentence that'd never get printed in his latest film's titular tome (and mightn't in The New Yorker, its inspiration, either), The French Dispatch is the most Wes Anderson movie Wes Anderson has ever Wes Andersoned. The immaculate symmetry that makes each frame a piece of art is present, naturally, as are gloriously offbeat performances. The equally dreamy and precise pastel- and jewel-hued colour palette, the who's who of a familiar cast list, the miniatures and animated interludes and split screens, the knack for physical comedy, and the mix of high artifice, heartfelt nostalgia and dripping whimsy, too. The writer/director knows what he loves, and also what he loves to splash across his films, and it's all accounted for in his tenth release. In The French Dispatch, he also adores stories that say as much about their authors as the world, the places that gift them to the masses, and the space needed to let creativity and insight breathe. He loves celebrating all of this, and heartily, using his usual bag of tricks. It's disingenuous to say that Anderson just wheels out the same flourishes in any movie he helms, though, despite each one — from The Royal Tenenbaums onwards, especially — looking like part of a set. As he's spent his career showing but conveys with extra gusto here, Anderson adores the craftsmanship of filmmaking. He likes pictures that look as if someone has doted on them and fashioned them with their hands, and is just as infatuated with the emotional possibilities that spring from such loving and meticulous work. Indeed, each of his features expresses that pivotal personality detail so clearly that it may as well be cross-stitched into the centre of the frame using Anderson's hair. It's still accurate to call The French Dispatch an ode to magazines, their heyday and their rockstar writers; the film draws four of its five chapters from its eponymous publication, even badging them with page numbers. But this is also a tribute to everything Anderson holds The New Yorker to stand for, and holds dear — to everything he's obsessed over, internalised and absorbed into the signature filmmaking style that's given such an exuberant workout once again. One scene, in the first of its three longer segments, crystallises this so magnificently that it's among the best things Anderson has ever put on-screen. It involves two versions of murderer-turned-artist Moses Rosenthaler, both sharing the boxed-in frame. The young (Tony Revolori, The Grand Budapest Hotel) greets the old (Benicio Del Toro, No Sudden Move), the pair swapping places and handing over lanyards, and it feels as if Anderson is doing the same with his long-held passions. Before Moses' instalment, entitled The Concrete Masterpiece, the picture's bookending story steps into Howitzer's offices in the fictional French town of Ennui-sur-Blasé. Since 1925, he's called it home, as well as the base for a sophisticated literary periodical that started as a travel insert in his father's paper back in Kansas. Because Anderson loves melancholy, too, news of Howitzer's death begins the film courtesy of an obituary. What follows via travelogue The Cycling Reporter, the aforementioned incarcerated art lark, student revolution report Revisions to a Manifesto and police cuisine-turned-kidnapping story The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner is The French Dispatch's final issue turned into a movie — and an outlet for both Howitzer's and the director's abundant Francophilia. Read our full review. DON'T LOOK UP Timing may be everything in comedy, but it's no longer working for Adam McKay. Back when the ex-Saturday Night Live writer was making Will Ferrell flicks (see: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Step Brothers), his films hinged upon comic timing. Ensuring jokes hit their marks was pivotal to his scripts, crucial during editing, and paramount to Ferrell and his co-stars. Since 2015, McKay has been equally obsessed with timeliness. More so, actually, in his latest film Don't Look Up. As started with The Big Short, which nabbed him a screenwriting Oscar, his current breed of politically focused satires trade not just in laughs but in topicality. Skewering the present or recent state of America has become the filmmaker's main aim — but, as 2018's Vice so firmly illustrated, smugly stating the obvious isn't particularly funny. On paper, Don't Look Up sounds like a dream. Using a comet hurtling towards earth as a stand-in, McKay parodies climate change inaction and the circus that tackling COVID-19 has turned into in the US, and spoofs self-serious disaster blockbusters — 1998's double whammy of Deep Impact and Armageddon among them — too. And, he enlists a fantasy cast, which spans five Oscar-winners, plus almost every other famous person he could seemingly think of. But he's still simply making the most blatant gags, all while assuming viewers wouldn't care about saving the planet, or their own lives, without such star-studded and glossily shot packaging. Although the pandemic has certainly exposed stupidity on a vast scale among politicians, the media and the everyday masses alike, mining that alone is hardly smart, savvy or amusing. Again, it's merely stating what everyone has already observed for the past two years, and delivering it with a shit-eating grin. That smirk is Don't Look Up's go-to expression among its broad caricatures — in the name of comedy, of course. Trump-esque President Orlean (Meryl Streep, The Prom) has one, as does her sycophantic dude-bro son/Chief of Staff Jason (Jonah Hill, The Beach Bum). Flinging trivial banter with fake smiles, "keep it light and fun" morning show hosts Brie Evantee (Cate Blanchett, Where'd You Go, Bernadette) and Jack Bremmer (Tyler Perry, Those Who Wish Me Dead) sport them as well. But PhD student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence, X-Men: Dark Phoenix) and her astronomy professor Dr Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) aren't smiling when she discovers a Mount Everest-sized comet, then he realises it's on a collision course with earth and will wipe out everything in six months and 14 days. And they aren't beaming when, with NASA's head of planetary defence Dr Teddy Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan, The Unforgivable), they try to spread the word. The world is literally ending, but no one cares. Conjuring up the premise with journalist/political commentator David Sirota, McKay turns Don't Look Up into a greatest-hits tour of predictable situations bound to occur if a celestial body was rocketing our way — and that've largely happened during the fights against climate change and COVID-19. The President's reactions stem from her clear-cut inspiration, including the decision to "sit tight and assess" until it's politically convenient or just unavoidable, and the later flat-out denial that anything is a problem. The character in general apes the same source, and bluntly, given Orlean is initially busy with a scandal surrounding her next Supreme Court nominee, and that her love life and the porn industry also spark headlines. The insipid media and social media response, favouring a rocky celebrity relationship (which is where Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi come in), is also all too real. The list goes on, including the memes when Dibiasky gets outraged on TV and the worshipping of Mindy as an AILF (Astronomer I'd Like to Fuck). Read our full review. DEAR EVAN HANSEN Dear Dear Evan Hansen: don't. If a movie could write itself a letter like the eponymous figure in this stage-to-screen musical does, that's all any missive would need to communicate. It could elaborate, of course. It could caution against emoting to the back row, given that cinema is a subtler medium than theatre. It could advise against its firmly not-a-teenager lead Ben Platt, who won one of the Broadway hit's six Tony Awards, but may as well be uttering "how do you do, fellow kids?" on the big screen. It could warn against shooting the bulk of the feature like it's still on a stage, just with more close-ups. Mostly, though, any dispatch from any version of Dear Evan Hansen — treading the boards or flickering through a projector — should counsel against the coming-of-age tale's horrendously misguided milk-the-dead-guy narrative. When the most interesting thing about a character is their proximity to someone that's died, that's rarely a great sign. It's the realm of heartstring-tugging illness weepies and romances where partners or parents are bereaved, sweeping love stories are shattered and families are forever altered, and it uses the sickness or death of another person purely as a prop to make someone that's alive and healthy seem more tragic. That's worlds away from engaging sincerely with confronting mortality, loss, grief or all three, as so few movies manage — although Babyteeth did superbly in 2020 — and it's mawkish, manipulative storytelling at its worst. Dear Evan Hansen gives the formula a twist, however, and not for the better. Here, after a classmate's suicide, the titular high schooler pretends he was his closest friend, including to the dead kid's family. A anxious, isolated and bullied teen who returns from summer break with a fractured arm, Evan (Platt, The Politician) might be the last person to talk to Connor Murphy (Colton Ryan, one of the Broadway production's understudies). It isn't a pleasant chat, even if Connor signs Evan's cast — which no one else has or wants to. In the school library, Evan prints out a letter to himself as a therapy exercise, but Connor grabs it first, reads it, then gets furious because it mentions his sister Zoe (Kaitlyn Dever, Dopesick). Cue days spent fretting on Evan's part, wondering if he'll see the text splashed across social media. Instead, he's soon sitting with Cynthia Murphy (Amy Adams, The Woman in the Window) and her husband Larry (Danny Pino, Fatale), who inform him of Connor's suicide — and that they found Evan's 'Dear Evan Hansen' note on him, and they're sure it's their son's last words. With his high school misery amply established through catchy songs, and his yearning to connect as well, Evan opts to go along with the Murphys' mistaken belief, including the idea that he and Connor were secretly the best of pals. As penned for both theatre and film by Steven Levenson (Tick, Tick... Boom!) — with music and lyrics by Benji Pasek and Justin Paul (The Greatest Showman) — this plot point is meant to play with awkwardness and longing, but it's simply monstrous. Indeed, the longer it goes on, with Evan spending more time with Connor's wealthy family than with his own mum Heidi (Julianne Moore, Lisey's Story), a nurse always working double shifts, the more ghastly it proves. It's lazy writing, too, because this isn't just a tale that defines its lead by their connection to a deceased person; it's about someone who intentionally makes that move themselves, then remains the recipient of all the movie's sympathies. Read our full review. RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY It's the franchise about zombies that just won't die. The series with a disdain for big corporations and the chaos they wreak that keeps pumping out more instalments, too. After six movies between 2002–16 that consistently proved a case of diminishing returns — and the original horror flick was hardly a masterpiece to begin with — welcoming viewers back to the Resident Evil realm smacks of simply trying to keep the whole saga going at any cost. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City does indeed extract a price from its audience, stretching their fondness for the video game-to-film franchise, their appetite for John Carpenter-inspired riffs and their penchant for overemphasised 90s nostalgia. Primarily set in 1998, and endeavouring to reboot the series without its previous star Milla Jovovich, it strenuously tests patience as well. After an orphanage stint filled with familiar Resident Evil figures — siblings Claire and Chris Redfield as kids, plus nefarious Umbrella Corporation scientist Dr William Birkin (Neal McDonough, Sonic the Hedgehog) — Welcome to Raccoon City first gets gory en route back to its titular town. The now-adult Claire (Kaya Scodelario, Crawl) hitches a ride with a trucker, who then hits a woman standing in the road. The victim still gets up afterwards, because unnaturally shuffling along after you've been killed comes with the territory. The walking dead are a new phenomenon in the desolate locale, however, following Umbrella's decision to shut up shop and leave the place a crumbling shell. Of course, the night that Claire arrives back to reunite with Chris (Robbie Amell, Upload), who's now a local cop, is the night that a virus zombifies Raccoon City's residents. Any movie that features besieged police officers trying to fend off attackers will always tread where Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 has already stomped, and Welcome to Raccoon City writer/director Johannes Roberts knows it — just as he splashed his awareness of shark horror flicks gone by across both 47 Metres Down and 47 Metres Down: Uncaged. Restarting a well-known series by blatantly taking cues from another filmmaker, and from 80s and 90s horror overall, isn't the path to success, though. As this dispiritingly generic feature keeps proving, it's about as smart as constantly splitting up while fending off the undead and navigating labyrinthine spaces, which Claire, Chris, and the latter's fellow cops Jill Valentine (Hannah John-Kamen, Ant-Man and the Wasp), Albert Wesker (Tom Hopper, Terminator: Dark Fate) and Leon Kennedy (Avan Jogia, Zombieland: Double Tap) unsurprisingly keep doing. Welcome to Raccoon City fares better with action over logic and originality, although nodding so forcefully to the filmmaker behind Halloween and The Thing stands out within the Resident Evil franchise. When it comes to Raccoon City's infected inhabitants, plus foes more frightening — their onslaughts, and Claire and company's attempts to evade them — Roberts finds a balance between stripping things back to ramp up the suspense and trying to imitate the video games that started it all. In the film's midsection, it all gets monotonous nonetheless, even while switching between first- and third-person perspectives and going big on monstrous creature design. Callouts to technology gone by, such as Nokia phones with Snake and VHS tapes (and, the flipside, marvelling over whiz-bang new tech by 90s standards like Palm Pilots and chat rooms), get repetitive and old fast, too. All things Resident Evil have as well, something this movie can't change despite its overt angling for a certain-to-eventuate sequel. NEW ORDER If only one word could be used to describe New Order, that word would be relentless. If just two words could be deployed to sum up the purposefully provocative film by writer/director Michel Franco (April's Daughter), savage would get thrown in as well. Sharing zero in common with the band of the same name, this 2020 Venice Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winner dreams up a dystopian future that's barely even one step removed from current reality. And, in dissecting class clashes, and also examining the growing discontent unsurprisingly swelling worldwide at the lavish lives indulged by the wealthy while so much of the world struggles, the mood and narrative are nothing less than brutal. Screens big and small have been filled with eat-the-rich stories of late — Parasite, Us, Candyman, Ready or Not, The White Lotus, Nine Perfect Strangers and Squid Game among them — but New Order is its own ravenous meal. The place: Mexico City. The setup: a wedding that goes undeniably wrong. As the ceremony gets underway at a compound-style residence that's jam-packed with the ultra-wealthy and ultra-corrupt, the chasm between the guests and the staff is glaring. Case in point: bride-to-be Marianne (Naian González Norvind, South Mountain) couldn't be more stressed when she's asked for money to help ex-employee Rolando's (Eligio Meléndez, La Civil) ailing wife, who also worked at the house, and plenty of her family members are dismissive, arrogant and flat-out rude about their former servant's plight. Then activists start making their presence known outside, as well as further afield in the city's streets — and interrupting the nuptials by storming the mansion, too. The military respond swiftly and brutally, sparing no one in their efforts to implement the movie's telling moniker. Franco doesn't want any second of New Order to be easy to watch. The film's opening foreshadows the bloodshed and body count to come, but even when it then gets immersed in a ridiculously lavish but characteristically chaotic upper-class wedding — as such events stereotypically are — all the slick excess so rampantly on display remains positively ghastly. There's a sense of insidiousness in the air that the filmmaker lets fester amid all the gated home's glass and steel, then pushes into overdrive as the violent uprising gathers steam. There's an utter lack of hope as well, because nothing can or will turn out well in this situation. It can't end nicely for the bourgeoisie previously oblivious to or cruelly uncaring about the 99 percent and, as authoritarianism kicks in to a savage degree, the ideals of fairness and equality being championed by protestors aren't shared by their government. One word that can't be used to describe New Order: subtle, or any synonym denoting a delicate approach. Franco wants the parallels between his fictional situation and reality, and the unsparing critique of the latter he's making with the former, to be noticed — and to be not only unavoidable, but searingly, blisteringly haunting. He's brash and bold with the film's style as a result, as well as blunt. He's forceful, but also masterful, and makes every image and sound resound with palpable anger. Franco's also trading in obvious concepts as he tears down the rich, greedy, powerful and unscrupulous, lays bare the ease with which a fascist nightmare can take hold and posits that the fight against both is never easy, but he's still moulded all those notions into an emotionally dynamic whirlwind. New Order is screening in Melbourne only. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on August 5, August 12, August 19 and August 26; September 2, September 9, September 16, September 23 and September 30; October 7, October 14, October 21 and October 28; November 4, November 11, November 18 and November 25; and December 2. For Sydney specifically, you can take a look at out our rundown of new films that released in Sydney cinemas when they reopened on October 11, and what opened on October 14, October 21 and October 28 as well. And for Melbourne, you can check out our top picks from when outdoor cinemas reopened on October 22 — and from when indoor cinemas did the same on October 29. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Suicide Squad, Free Guy, Respect, The Night House, Candyman, Annette, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Streamline, Coming Home in the Dark, Pig, Big Deal, The Killing of Two Lovers, Nitram, Riders of Justice, The Alpinist, A Fire Inside, Lamb, The Last Duel, Malignant, The Harder They Fall, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, Halloween Kills, Passing, Eternals, The Many Saints of Newark, Julia, No Time to Die, The Power of the Dog, Tick, Tick... Boom!, Zola, Last Night in Soho, Blue Bayou, The Rescue, Titane, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, Dune, Encanto, The Card Counter and The Lost Leonardo.
First, the bad news: if you don't already have a ticket to Laneway Festival 2025 in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to see Charli XCX, Djo, Beabadoobee, Clairo, Barry Can't Swim, Remi Wolf and more, they've completely soldout. Now, some good news: in each of the three east coast cities, Laneway has just announced official afterparties. The small club shows will feature STÜM, RONA. and Fcukers, plus others, with the lineup varying per location — and it's your next chance to get in on the Laneway action. The dates for the three shindigs are obviously the same as the Laneway dates in each destination. Accordingly, Brisbane's turn comes on Saturday, February 8, then Sydney's on Sunday, February 9 and Melbourne's on Friday, February 14. As for venues, River City revellers are headed to The Brightside, Harbour City residents to Oxford Art Factory and folks in the Victorian capital have a date with The Night Cat. In Brissie, STÜM, DJ Ivan Berko, nate sib and Cyber DJs will be taking to the stage. Sydney's gig features RONA., Fcukers doing a DJ set, DJ Ivan Berko popping up again, and both Loosie Grind and BEMAN. And in Melbourne, RONA. and DJ Ivan Berko are back, as is nate sib, alongside Laneway Festival's own DJs. Tickets are limited — so, like all things Laneway, getting in fast is recommended. As for the festival itself, if you've been lucky enough to nab tix, its lineup also features BICEP doing their CHROMA AV DJ set, Olivia Dean, Eyedress, Skegss, Hamdi, Joey Valence & Brae, 2hollis, Ninajirachi, Julie, Girl and Girl, and more. For its 2025 season, the event started by Danny Rogers and Jerome Borazio in the mid-00s is also headed to Bonython Park in Adelaide and Wellington Square in Perth in Australia — but without afterparties. Laneway Festival 2025 Afterparties Saturday, February 8 — The Brightside, Brisbane, with STÜM, DJ Ivan Berko, nate sib and Cyber DJs Sunday, February 9 — Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, with RONA., Fcukers, DJ Ivan Berko, Loosie Grind and BEMAN Friday, February 14 — The Night Cat, Melbourne, with RONA., DJ Ivan Berko, nate sib and Laneway Festival's DJs Laneway Festival 2025 Dates and Venues Thursday, February 6 – Western Springs, Auckland / Tāmaki Makaurau Saturday, February 8 — Brisbane Showgrounds, Brisbane / Turrbal Targun Sunday, February 9 — Centennial Park, Sydney / Burramattagal Land & Wangal Land Friday, February 14 — Flemington Park, Melbourne / Wurundjeri Biik Saturday, February 15 — Bonython Park, Adelaide / Kaurna Yerta Sunday, February 16 — Wellington Square, Perth / Whadjuk Boodjar [caption id="attachment_975321" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Harley Weir[/caption] Laneway Festival 2025 Lineup Charli XCX Beabadoobee Clairo Barry Can't Swim BICEP present CHROMA (AV DJ set) Djo Remi Wolf Olivia Dean Eyedress Skegss STÜM RONA Hamdi Joey Valence & Brae 2hollis Fcukers Ninajirachi Julie Girl and Girl + Triple J unearthed winners [caption id="attachment_975961" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Guido Gazzilli[/caption] St Jerome's Laneway Festival is touring Australia in February 2025. Head to the festival's website for further details and tickets. Afterparties are being held at the fest's east coast stops — with tickets on sale for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane's events now. Laneway festival images: Charlie Hardy / Daniel Boud / Maclay Heriot / Cedric Tang.
Looking for a rainy day activity? Here are five. Five of the most electric and immersive exhibitions to hit Aussie shores, and they're all happening this winter. From 100 artworks by Picasso to a showcase of MoMa works — featuring Dalí, Andy Warhol and more — and a field of 3000 flowers to an electric ode to the radical artists of post-war Germany, it's all happening down under. The only catch is that they're spread across the country, so keep an eye on cheap flights or plan an epic road trip and hit them all up. It'll cost you much less than flights to Europe, but will still transport you to an alternative world — whether that's New York, post-war Germany, a fictional flower-filled land or Alice's Wonderland.
If you could only choose one word to sum up Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, 'intense' would fit. It's also a term that describes Mike Ehrmantraut, the ex-Philadelphia cop who became a fixer for Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito, The Boys) and Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk, Lucky Hank) in their criminal endeavours. As played by Jonathon Banks for over a decade between the two shows, the private investigator, hitman and security head was one of the Breaking Bad realm's formidable forces. In a franchise where no one characterisation ever fit anyone — it all started with a high-school chemistry teacher who became a methamphetamine cook, after all — Mike could also be one of the deservedly acclaimed saga's most vulnerable figures. Ask Banks what it's been like to move on from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul after such a lengthy stint — and after featuring so prominently in two of the best shows of the 21st century — and he first brings up another stretch that's worlds away from award-winning crime dramas. "It wasn't quite a decade that I spent in Melbourne and Sydney, and in Auckland in New Zealand at one time, with Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar — and a failed production that I directed of Grease, way before you were born," he tells Concrete Playground as we start to discuss his latest project, darkly thrilling new Apple TV+ sci-fi series Constellation. Banks is best-known of late for his time as Ehrmantraut; with five Emmy nominations and a 2023 Screen Actors Guild Award nod for his efforts, rightly so. But as bringing up his theatre background makes plain, there's so much more to Banks than his now-iconic recent part. Emmy love came his way back in the 80s, too, for his breakthrough role in crime procedural series Wiseguy. Before that, he has everything from spoof movie Airplane! and Gremlins to the Eddie Murphy (Candy Cane Lane)-starring 48 Hrs. and Beverly Hills Cop on his resume. Since then, there's barely a TV show that hasn't benefited from his presence, including beloved comedies Community and Parks and Recreation, while his movie appearances are as varied as Horrible Bosses 2, Mudbound and The Commuter. Constellation sees Banks star alongside Noomi Rapace, who is no stranger to famous characters herself thanks to Lisbeth Salander in the original Swedish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo films. Here, the show's two biggest names trade illicit dealings for astronauts, plus the fact that venturing into the heavens, then trying to come back, might have consequences. Rapace plays Jo Ericsson, who is at the International Space Station when the series begins, returning to earth after a tragedy. As Henry Caldera, Banks is a former space traveller who has been there, done that, also weathered a disaster above our pale blue dot and now has ISS residents oversee his quantum physics experiments. Doing double duty as Bud Caldera as well, Banks similarly steps into Henry's fellow ex-astronaut twin's shoes. At the heart of Constellation is the search for truth, with the series joining Apple TV+'s many mysteries, a genre that the streaming platform keeps gravitating towards (Criminal Record, The Changeling, The Crowded Room, Hijack and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters are just some of its efforts of late that also fit the bill). As its narrative twists, turns and plunges into conspiracies, it's also a series about grappling with the full reality of being alive, facing mortality and confronting the enormity of the universe. And, as well as being stellar all-round, it's home to Banks' latest great performance — or, to be accurate, performances. Constellation premieres on Wednesday, February 21 — and in the leadup, we explored the series with Banks, including its place in his filmography and, to get here, the process of farewelling Mike Ehrmantraut. "Mike was a great character, but you've got to leave Mike behind. Mike's got to go away," he notes, as Breaking Bad viewers knew going into prequel series Better Call Saul. What that means for Banks, what appeals to him after playing Mike and his take on Constellation also featured in our chat. [caption id="attachment_757254" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Better Call Saul[/caption] On What Banks Was Looking for After Over a Decade in the Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul World "I'm pretty open. You know, I wouldn't mind playing a fop in a restoration comedy, as far as that goes. But I think with Constellation, Michelle MacLaren [who was one of Breaking Bad's executive producers and directors, and also a director on Better Call Saul] sent me the script, which I totally was bewildered by when I read it the first time. Then, because I wanted to work with Michelle and definitely Noomi — I very much respect Noomi's work — so then I'm all in. And then I get to meet Peter Harness [Constellation's creator] and I get to meet the other actors, and it's been a joy. It's been really good." On Taking on Dual Roles in Constellation — and Preparing to Step Into an Astronaut's Shoes "Well, one's bad and the other one's worse. Henry is driven by the power, and the need and the ego to succeed. The other one wallows in self-pity, and is arguably more talented and more intelligent than his brother, who has been successful. It's fun. I approach it with the respect. When I was very young, I thought these people, their intelligence — which is indeed, they are so intelligent. They're also motor geniuses physically, in what they go through and what they're faced with. So, my first take on it is, I try to do it with respect, and respect to who they are — and I hope I pull that off in some small way." [caption id="attachment_941930" align="alignnone" width="1920"] El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, Ben Rothstein/Netflix[/caption] On Banks' Knack for Playing Both Formidable and Vulnerable "It's in all of us. It's in you. It's in me. But if I can call on those emotions and bring them forth a little bit easier than some people, how lucky I am to be able to do that? And how lucky I am to have the chance to be able to do that? I love being an actor. It's the only thing I ever wanted to do — ever, ever — as long as I can remember." On What Banks Makes of His Five-Decade Career "Pretty nice, huh? Pretty lucky. Beyond lucky. I'll tell you what happens: I am 77 years old, and it becomes a huge reflection on a lifetime. I can out-poor most people when I was very young, raised by a single mum back when there wasn't that a lot of that around — or at least to my knowledge. And I am stunned at my good fortune in my life, about how well I'm treated. And I try, and I do remind myself, that all of us have moments when we feel down or whatever. I think Noomi — who fights about where and what, and where she comes and where she ends up — is trying to be a good person, which makes it such a pleasure to be around her. And you watch Michelle, with her daughter. Michelle is a force of nature that's coming at you. She is so involved in trying to do a good job. And what's fun is with her young daughter, when her young daughter goes 'mummy can giraffes dance?' and it just stops her, and there she is dealing with the child, and all that energy goes, turns and becomes the loving and the nurturing of a child. Now I'm telling you that because that's what I'm surrounded by all through this project. How many people get to experience such a thing in their life? You've got to pay attention to it. Because most of us would recall bad things that have happened, times we've been hurt, times our heart was broken, times we were broke, times we were hungry. But for me, the reality is — god, I sound like a maudlin asshole — I've been gifted. What can I tell you?" [caption id="attachment_941937" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Breaking Bad, Ursula Coyote/AMC[/caption] On Revisiting Mike Ehrmantraut Again If the Possibility Came Up — and Making More Constellation "I love Mike. But you know what, we were left with the mystery of Mike. We have been left with that taste. For me, it's like reading that good book that you never want to end. I remember reading Les Miserables and getting about 40 pages from the end, and going 'no, no, I can't, this can't end' and starting it all over again. And now I'm going 'no, you can't do that'. I think it's time to let Mike go. As far as Constellation, I'm all in. Let's do it. Let's just keep doing it." Constellation streams via Apple TV+ from Wednesday, February 21. Read our review.
Tamborine Mountain is Queensland's proud emerald escape, offering a hinterland experience rich in subtropical rainforests, reflective swimming holes and plunging gorges. Now this lush destination has an elemental bathhouse to match, with the long-awaited arrival of SOL Elements launching as the first floating relaxation experience of its kind in Australia. Four years in the making, the spa's uncompromising vision has made the wait more than worth it. Inspired by earth, air, fire and water, the spa's lean into the elemental isn't lighthearted. Centred around a contemporary circular structure, the bathhouse rests on a tranquil lake's edge immersed in nature. Think turtles in the water and native birds in the trees. Then, hidden within the structure's external form, a 16-sided hexadecagon design offers a sacred bridge between the earth and the divine, ensuring your relaxation experience is even more transcendent. Stepping inside, a spiritual encounter takes shape. At the botanical scrub bar, 111 hand-carved bowls allow guests to prepare their bodies for the bathing experience ahead. That includes three outdoor communal magnesium thermal pools heated to 38 degrees, two cold plunges at a refreshing 12 degrees and two bookable magnesium float caves infused with 39% salt. Meanwhile, a cedar wood sauna features a glass-fronted perch to admire the lake, as well as a steam room and a Himalayan salt cave. With the communal space limited to 30 guests at a time, soaking up Tamborine Mountain's blissful natural beauty is never an issue. To help you dry off, there's also an outdoor firepit, set just below water level as part of the bathing experience. Listen to the gentle crackling of the fire while you connect with yourself or other guests. Just know, this sanctuary is completely distraction-free, so leave your devices behind. "No element of SOL has gone without conscious creation and planning. The location and design are just the beginning — the real magic happens when you experience the SOL ethos and philosophy — driven by community, connection and the immersion of all senses," says SOL Elements co-founder Russell Raven, who guided the project alongside his wife, Shae. Soaking in this sensory experience is made even better from one of SOL Element's two refined suites. Designed for couples or small groups seeking secluded relaxation, both feature thermal mineral baths on private balconies, alongside indoor infrared saunas, ice baths and panoramic views of the glistening lake. Guest stays are also elevated through access to exclusive botanical scrubs and wellness-inspired mini bars stocked with 'spatinis' and ceremonial teas. While you're welcome to self-guide your relaxation journey, SOL Elements also offers alchemy spa rituals, designed for extra indulgent encounters. Lasting up to 2 hours, each treatment blends energetic, alternative, and traditional healing techniques, using advanced wellness methods. Says Russell: "This has been four years in the making — a journey filled with challenges, breakthroughs, tears and laughter. Every detail has been considered, every element crafted with intention, to create something we believe hasn't been seen before in the Australian wellness space." SOL Elements is now open at Cedar Creek Falls Rd & and Tamborine Mountain Rd, Tamborine Mountain. Head to the website for more information.
When Valley Hops Brewing was first announced a few months back, we noted that it combined two of Brisbane's favourite current hospitality trends. When this city loves something, it really loves it — and, now that rooftop bars seem to soar over street corner and craft breweries have popped up all around town, it's clear that Brisbanites adore sipping their beverages with a sky-high view and getting our beers straight from the source. Fortitude Valley's new rooftop brewery, Valley Hops sits atop Cloudland — and yes, it was only a matter of time until a venue like this graced Brisbane's skyline. Now open, the leafy brewpub looks like a garden in the sky, towers over Ann Street below and makes its own beers in a two-vessel 15BBL brewing setup. It's also designed to be the Valley's new lofty neighbourhood hangout, complete with brews named after people, places and moments in the the suburb's history. Here, you'll drink those beers that nod to the location — as Valley Hops' name makes plain, that's a big influence — while peering out over the inner-city spot. So, get ready to knock back a light-bodied lager called Diehards, which references the local rugby league team, as well as Exhibitionist tropical ale, Fiesta Mango and Passionfruit sour, Herbalist IPA, Interloper Hazy IPA and 21 Pubs pale ale. Those beers benefit from Josh Warren's (ex-Green Beacon) touch, too, with Valley Hops' Head Brewer adding another local venue to his list. "The Valley's awesome and I'm excited to see people from the community coming up to the rooftop. It feels great to be open, to see people trying new varietals and enjoying the beers," says Warren. "I can't wait to try some new recipes out and see what people like." This might be a brewery, but those yeasty beverages are clearly only part of the attraction. The decor does plenty of heavy lifting, thanks to its blend of metalwork, stone, brick and plants. Vines creep over the metal arbour; wooden picnic-style, booth and high bar seating is peppered around the place; and there's also a large fire pit with built-in benches — not that that'll need much of a workout for a few months. Launching just in time for sunlight summer sessions, Valley Hops also features a bespoke multi-coloured glass leadlight sat behind the entire length of the bar itself — because, from the decor to the view, there's plenty here that catches the eye. Patrons can get up to the brewery via lift, and pair all those beers with woodfired pizzas, skewers from the charcoal grill and cheeseboards, as well as salt and vinegar chicken wings, chicken and spiced cabbage spring rolls and pineapple fritter. The culinary focus is on bite-sized options, with the entire menu designed to be eaten without cutlery. Valley Hops Brewing is now open on Cloudland's rooftop at 641 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley — operating from 4pm–12am Monday–Tuesday, 11am–12am Wednesday and 11am–late Thursday–Sunday.
A new, family-run distillery in Byron Bay is committed to two important missions. The first is to bring you an outstanding gin, made with native rainforest botanicals under the watchful eye of master distiller Jim McEwan. The second is to regenerate the rainforest that provides these very ingredients. For you, this is a win-win situation. You get to sit back and linger over a world-class drop, while doing your bit for the environment. And, even more exciting is that the distillery's first release was made possible thanks to crowdfunding dollars raised via Pozible. Cape Byron Distillery's home is a family property in Byron Bay's hinterland. It's where co-founder Eddie Brook grew up and where his parents, Pam and Martin, have been regenerating rainforest for years. "[The land] used to be part of a giant rainforest that stretched from Lismore in the south, past Byron Bay, up to the Nightcap Ranges. Today there is less than one percent of that rainforest left," Martin says. A few years ago, Eddie, who's worked in alcohol and hospitality all his life, ran a sold-out Australian whisky tour starring Jim McEwan. The two got chatting about the Brook's passion for rainforest and came up with the idea of creating a rainforest-infused gin. "I'd idolised Jim McEwan. I learned about whisky, watching his YouTube videos," Eddie says. "It was amazing to develop a friendship with him." Fast forward to 2016. McEwan and Eddie have a built a distillery and – after numerous trials and tastings – put their first bottle on the market. It's a signature gin called Brookie's Byron Dry Gin. "We're passionate about creating products that really represent our area," Eddie says. "We used 18 native botanicals, including Davidson plum, aniseed myrtle and cinnamon myrtle. They're not just native to Australia, but to the Northern Rivers region." A percentage of profits from every sale goes to rainforest regeneration efforts, as well as to Big Scrub Landcare. Eddie describes it as a "great foundation", which is "protecting remnants of rainforest ... bringing corridors back to life". Brookie's Byron Dry Gin is currently available in and around Byron Bay. For online orders, go mybottleshop.com. UPDATE 25 JULY 2017: Cape Byron Distillery has just opened up its doors for public tours every Friday and Saturday. It includes a gin tasting of Brookie's two gins, a G&T and a tour of the surrounding rainforest. Tours cost $35 and can be booked here.
A Queenslander on Main Street is Kangaroo Point's new fish 'n' chip destination, whether you're keen for some paper-wrapped takeaways or a serving of the ocean's finest to eat in. Run by owners Daniel and Amelia Miletic — with the former bringing plenty of seafood expertise from his time at Burleigh Heads' The Fish House — One Fish Two Fish serves up familiar dishes, new takes on old favourites and plenty of booze. Think oysters, crumbed calamari rings, battered cod and baby whiting, all fish 'n' chippery staples — soft-shell crab sliders, cajun fish taco nachos, Thai green curry with prawn dumplings, and a seafood risotto packed with fish, shellfish and crustaceans. Or, in the traditional camp, the trusty fish burger has been dubbed the 'Quarter Flounder' and comes with panko-crumbed flounder goujons, lettuce, cheese, house-made tartare and fries. Also a highlight is the whole salt-baked fish of the day, as well as a potato-centric range of fries, chips, scallops and potato bake with your pick of sea salt, chicken salt, vinegar salt or cajun powder seasoning. Or, if you're stopping by on a Sunday, you'll find a $69 seafood and bottomless rosé package on offer. Tuck into a 'seacuterie' platter and your choice of a main, and sip endless pink drinks for two hours. As for the rest of the beverage list, the full range includes 30 wines, five beers and ciders on tap — and seven by the bottle or can — plus espresso martinis, peach spritzes and Pimm's. And the aforementioned 'seacuterie' platter is also available for $35 every day of the week, which includes two glasses of wine.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME In Spider-Man: No Way Home, everyone's favourite friendly neighbourhood web-slinger still does whatever a spider can. (Don't expect the catchy cartoon theme song, though.) To be precise, Spidey's latest outing — starring Tom Holland (Chaos Walking), as every live-action film in the ever-sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe that's featured the superhero has — sees him do whatever spider-men have for decades. The masked crusader shoots webs, flings them about New York and swings around the city. He helps people, battles crime, literally hangs out with his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya, Dune) and saves the world, too. As the movie's trailers revealed, Spider-Man also fights whoever his on-screen predecessors fought. The twist that isn't a twist because it's part of the flick's marketing: that villains from Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's stints as Spidey show up here. Those familiar faces, including Willem Dafoe (The Card Counter) as the Green Goblin, Alfred Molina (Promising Young Woman) as Doctor Octopus and Jamie Foxx (Soul) as Electro, aren't Peter Parker's initial problem, as viewers of 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming and 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home will already know. No Way Home picks up immediately after the latter, after Spidey's secret identity has been blasted across the internet by online conspiracist J Jonah Jameson (JK Simmons, Ride the Eagle). The media swiftly make Peter "the most famous person in the world", the public get hostile and his college prospects — and MJ and Ned's (Jacob Batalon, Let It Snow) as well — take a hit. The only solution he can see: asking Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog) to cast a spell to make everyone forget who he is. With drastic magic comes drastic consequences, hence those recognisable nefarious folks who know Spidey — and definitely know that he's Peter Parker — yet don't recognise the MCU's version. Marvel's next flick after this one is Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, so the franchise is about to go big on alternate worlds, but No Way Home still doesn't actually jump into that domain first. It's a curious choice on the whole huge saga's part to take cues from the animated delight that is Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which relished having multiple spider-realms, got inventive with both its concept and visuals, won an Oscar and is easily the best spider-flick to-date, all without sitting within the MCU itself. Indeed, the live-action franchise's third stand-alone Spider-Man movie can't shake the feeling that it's playing catch-up. Directed by Jon Watts, as all three recent web-slinging films have been, No Way Home does more than give flesh, blood and spandex to an ace idea already brought to the screen a mere three years back. It also delivers the heftiest helping of fan service that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever dished up. The franchise has long enjoyed hitting all the obvious crowd-pleasing notes, but Martin Scorsese's 2019 comment that compared MCU fare to theme parks rings particularly true here — unsurprisingly given this Spider-Man outing wants to elicit the loudest of screams and shouts from its audience. Buy the ticket, take the cinematic ride, ooh and aah over every clear spin and foreseeable twirl: amid the stock-standard CGI-packed action scenes and triple-layered Spidey nods to iterations past, not all that long ago and present, that's what No Way Home seeks from its viewers. And, it takes the rollercoaster approach to evoking that reaction, rolling its story down the most glaring of tracks. Read our full review. THE LOST DAUGHTER Watching Olivia Colman play a complicated woman is like staring at the ocean: it's never the same twice, even just for a second; it couldn't be more unpredictable, no matter how comfortable it appears; and all that surface texture bobs, floats, swells, gleams and glides atop leagues of unseen complexity. That's always been true of the British actor's absolute best performances, which could fill any body of water with their power and resonance. It's there in her acidic work in The Favourite, which won her an Oscar, and also in The Crown's more reserved turn as a different English monarch. It flowed through the devastating Tyrannosaur, which perhaps first truly showed the world exactly what Colman could do — and has marked her Academy Award-nominated supporting part in The Father, plus TV standouts Peep Show, Broadchurch, The Night Manager and Fleabag. It's fitting, then, that The Lost Daughter tasks Colman with glaring at the sea, and doing so both intently and often. A necessity of the narrative, as penned on the page by My Brilliant Friend's Elena Ferrante and adapted for the screen by actor-turned-filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal, it's a touch that washes through the movie with extra force due to its star. Colman plays comparative literature professor Leda, who fills much of her time peering at the ocean as she summers on a Greek island — and also people-watching thanks to the loud, entitled Queens family that keep invading her chosen patch of sand. While both gazing at the waves and taking in the onshore domestic dramas, Leda sees her own ebbs, flows, thorns and flaws reflected back. Vacationing alone, Leda isn't on a getaway as much as she's escaping — not actively, but because that's her default mode. She's never willing to stray far from her work, shuffling through papers as she sunbathes and flirtatious young resort manager Will (Paul Mescal, Normal People) moves her lounger to keep her in the shade; however, as flashbacks show, the urge to flee all markers of apparent normalcy has long gushed in her veins. Leda tells anyone who asks that she has two daughters (Bianca is 25 and Martha is 23, she frequently offers), but they're heard via phone calls rather than seen as adults. She's prickly when mum-to-be Callie (Dagmara Domińczyk, Succession), of those noisy interlopers, asks if her extended group can take over Leda's beach umbrella. But in Nina (Dakota Johnson, The Nowhere Inn), the raven-haired mother of frequently screaming toddler Elena (debutant Athena Martin Anderson), she spies more of herself than she's been willing to confront for decades. The Lost Daughter's title references an incident one sunny day when Elena disappears as Callie, Nina and company — the latter's shady husband Toni (Oliver Jackson-Cohen, The Invisible Man) as well — idle by the water's edge. The Americans react with distress, but Leda calmly strides forth amid the chaos, all while battling memories of being a young mum (Jessie Buckley, I'm Thinking of Ending Things) searching for her own absent child. Indeed, loss and escape are serpentine concepts here, winding through Leda's past, her affinity for the clearly unhappy Nina and the second wave of mayhem that erupts when Elena's beloved doll also goes missing. The concept of trouble in paradise proves just as layered, infecting idylls scenic and, in pondering the supposed bliss that we're all told motherhood brings, societally enforced. Read our full review. THE SCARY OF SIXTY-FIRST When Succession roves over New York's skyline — in its opening credits, as set to that bewitching theme tune, or just during its episodes — it gleams with wealth and privilege. Depiction doesn't equal endorsement, however, with the stellar HBO satire sharply cutting into its chosen world at every chance it gets. As one of the show's supporting cast members, Dasha Nekrasova slides into that realm, too, but that's not her only dalliance with the city's architecture, power brokers and all that both represent. The Scary of Sixty-First, the Red Scare podcast host's feature directorial debut, also savages the rich and seemingly consequence-free. It clasps onto a real-life story that's made that case inherently, abhorrently and monstrously. There's no gentle way to put it, but the fact that Nekrasova plays a woman investigating if a bargain Upper East Side duplex was one of Jeffrey Epstein's "orgy flophouses" says much about this purposefully provocative conspiracy thriller horror-comedy. College pals Addie (Betsey Brown, Assholes) and Noelle (the film's co-screenwriter Madeline Quinn) can't believe their luck when they find the cheap property, even if it does visibly need a clean — and have mirrored ceilings, as well as some questionable lock choices — and even if they don't appear completely comfortable with committing to live together. But from night one, the literal nightmares begin. Soon they're spying blood stains, scratched walls and eerie tarot cards, and feeling unsettled in a variety of ways. Enter Nekrasova's stranger, who comes sporting a dark-web rabbit hole's worth of paranoia and bearing the Epstein news. Addie and Noelle take the revelation in vastly different fashions, with the former seeming possessed by one of Epstein's child victims, and the latter diving deep into potential theories with her unnamed new friend. Letting a headline-monopolising sex offender loom large over the plot is an instant attention-grabber — and, while The Scary of Sixty-First doesn't lunge straight down that path, it feels like Nekrasova and Quinn's starting point. Their movie smacks of conjuring up a controversial premise, then fitting parts around it; thankfully, they have more than one target in their sights, plenty to ponder, and Nekrasova's bold vision bringing it all together. From the outset, there's much to mine about the hellishness of finding somewhere to live in your twenties, and in NY especially. The things you'll settle for in that situation clearly also earns the feature's focus. The same rings true of post-college life and its intrinsic awkwardness in general — and being expected to act like a fully functioning adult, and make pivotal decisions, without yet amassing the experiences to match. By contemplating the hostile real-estate market and the ordeal that is trying to find your place in the world (emotionally, intellectually and physically), The Scary of Sixty-First immediately unpacks power, money and privilege. If Addie and Noelle could afford somewhere else or had other support at their disposal, there wouldn't even be a story. When Nekrasova appears and drops Epstein's name, that excavation digs down several levels. Again, there's no shortage of ideas, directions or tangents to explore, and the script explodes as many as possible. This is a movie about a dead billionaire paedophile, the wealth of theories that've sprung up around him and the 24-hour news cycle that's made his tale inescapable. It's also about how doomscrolling has become routine, the grim routes incessant web searches can take you down, the normalisation of true-crime obsession, the proliferation of conspiracy-driven rhetoric and relentless chaos as the natural state of the world. Read our full review. UNDINE For the second time in as many films, German writer/director Christian Petzold teams up with Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski, but you could never accuse the trio of doing the same thing twice. Back in 2018, they turned Transit into a war-torn romance that mused on conflict's lingering scars. With Undine, they reinvent a German myth about a water spirit who can only turn human via love, but has to kill her paramour if he's unfaithful. A familiar chemistry lingers, though, as it's meant to. Whenever directors and actors keep collaborating — especially when directors retain multiple actors across different movies — that's built into the fabric of the film. As viewers, we can't help recalling our knowledge of their shared history, as that's just how we respond to art, people and connections. A movie not only about romance, longing, obsession and their consequences, but about the impact of the past on the present, Undine provokes and rewards this reaction. In her 2020 Berlinale Silver Bear-winning role — taking home the prize for for Best Actress — Beer (Never Look Away) plays the film's titular character. Before the influence of folklore kicks in, this Undine is a historian who guides museum tours about Berlin's origins. When her boyfriend Johannes (Jacob Matschenz, Babylon Berlin) breaks up with her suddenly before work one day, however, she warns that she'll have to kill him. It sounds like a heat-of-the-moment threat, a plea to get him to change his mind and the kind of exaggeration that arises when romance ends in tears, but there's more to her words than mere histrionics. Indeed, even as a new love blossoms with industrial diver Christoph (Rogowski, Great Freedom), who she meets that very day at the same cafe where her relationship with Johannes ends — in a spectacular meet-cute involving an aquarium, fittingly — Undine's past isn't easily overcome. Petzold is no stranger to pondering the tides of history that just keep ebbing, flowing and swelling. His filmography is filled with contemplations of the subject, including in the Nina Hoss-starring Barbara and Phoenix, and also with Beer and Rogowski in Transit. In Undine, he's at his most haunting, with recognising the fluidity of life — and that it keeps repeating, alongside humanity's most inherent instincts — a key point of interest. While the movie never drops its shroud of mystery, Petzold is also at his most overt with another of his familiar fascinations: the way that love provides the trusty banks that both ordinary and seismic woes keep rushing across. That's literally Undine's tale, as drawn from fable. Without romance, she loses her place on dry land; as she notes in a lecture about the Berlin Palace, and about the evolution of the city over its lifespan, it's as if "progress were impossible". When he's enraptured with an actor or several, no one should want Petzold to move too far forward. Bathing in Beer and Rogowski's rich chemistry is an experience to linger in, and linger Undine does. Always a meticulous filmmaker, Petzold soaks in every second his two stars spend in each other's company, with the pair's magnetism so potent that it almost drips through the movie. He luxuriates in Beer's presence in general, too, letting her cast her spell over the audience as Undine does with Christoph — and once did with Johannes. She's one of cinematographer Hans Fromm's favourite points of focus, unsurprisingly. A Petzold regular, he gifts the film not just an enchanting and beguiling look to suit its mood, but the chance for viewers of this giddy fantasy to fall head over heels for its blend of the surreal, sweet, supernatural and soul-stirring. Undine is screening in Sydney and Melbourne. ONE SECOND Any new film by Zhang Yimou deserves eyeballs the world over, but One Second, the Raise the Red Lantern, Hero and House of Flying Daggers director's latest, hasn't charted the smoothest route to screens. Pre-dating the filmmaker's Cliff Walkers, which reached Australian cinemas earlier in 2021, it was originally scheduled to show at the 2019 Berlinale. But after the festival began, it was removed from the lineup — and while a "technical problem" was cited as the official reason, Chinese censorship was floated as the real cause. One Second eventually surfaced on home soil late in 2020, and elsewhere around the globe in the last few months of 2021. It's now an immensely timely movie, although purely by coincidence. Every great feature by a great director inherently pays tribute to the medium of film, so that's hardly new for Zhang — but celebrating the silver screen, and the pandemic-relevant yearning to bask in its glory when life conspires to get in the way, isn't just a side effect here. It's 1975 when One Second begins, and crowds are flocking to makeshift small-town picture palaces to see propaganda films. The specific movie drawing in the masses: 1964's Heroic Sons and Daughters, which prison-camp escapee Zhang Jiusheng (Zhang Yi, Cliff Walkers) is desperate to catch. Alas, after finding his way into one village through mountains of sand that wouldn't look out of place in Dune, the fugitive discovers that he's already missed the showing that the night. Worse still, the film's canisters are being packed onto a motorbike to be driven to their next destination. And, he isn't the only one keen to make the movie's acquaintance, with the orphaned Liu (Liu Haocun, another Cliff Walkers alum) swiftly stealing its sixth reel before it departs town. An unlikely pair seeking the same thing for different reasons — he's heard that his estranged daughter appears in newsreel footage in the feature, while she wants the celluloid to make a lamp for her younger brother — Zhang and Liu are soon following the rest of the film through the desert to its next stop. That's where Mr Movie (Fan Wei, Railway Heroes) awaits, courting profit and glory compared to Zhang's desperation to glimpse his family and Liu's resourcefulness (that said, sporting a mug calling himself the 'World's Greatest Projectionist', the man behind the travelling cinema that's screening Mao-approved fare to entertainment-starved locales does still love his a clear fondness for his job). But the reels don't return intact, sparking a homemade restoration campaign that needs the entire town's help. Yes, loving film is also a tactile experience here. Zhang has always been able to make any kind of movie he's put his mind to, and has the four-decade-long resume to prove it. With 2009's A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop, he even remade the Coen brothers' Blood Simple. One Second sees him masterfully blend film-adoring melodrama with a Cultural Revolution-era portrait that's laced with just the amount of commentary that managed to escape the censors. He revels in sight gags and chases that could've been lifted out of silent comedy greats from a century back as well, giving cinema yet another ode. The end result mightn't be Zhang's absolute best — his resume isn't short on highlights — but it easily ranks among his most endearing. One Second makes exceptional use of its dust-swept setting, too, and its trio of chalk-and-cheese main players; plus, in celebrating an artform that's both tangible and an illusion, Zhang still makes a clear statement. One Second is currently screening in Melbourne, and will release in Sydney and Brisbane on January 20, 2022. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on August 5, August 12, August 19 and August 26; September 2, September 9, September 16, September 23 and September 30; October 7, October 14, October 21 and October 28; November 4, November 11, November 18 and November 25; and December 2 and December 9. For Sydney specifically, you can take a look at out our rundown of new films that released in Sydney cinemas when they reopened on October 11, and what opened on October 14, October 21 and October 28 as well. And for Melbourne, you can check out our top picks from when outdoor cinemas reopened on October 22 — and from when indoor cinemas did the same on October 29. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Suicide Squad, Free Guy, Respect, The Night House, Candyman, Annette, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Streamline, Coming Home in the Dark, Pig, Big Deal, The Killing of Two Lovers, Nitram, Riders of Justice, The Alpinist, A Fire Inside, Lamb, The Last Duel, Malignant, The Harder They Fall, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, Halloween Kills, Passing, Eternals, The Many Saints of Newark, Julia, No Time to Die, The Power of the Dog, Tick, Tick... Boom!, Zola, Last Night in Soho, Blue Bayou, The Rescue, Titane, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, Dune, Encanto, The Card Counter, The Lost Leonardo, The French Dispatch, Don't Look Up and Dear Evan Hansen.
Think of all of the amazing events Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art has hosted over the past decade. Now, imagine what it'd be like if they put on a heap of similar art, film, music, performance and culture happenings, but over the course of five days. That's what the GOMA Turns 10 Summer Festival is all about from January 18 to 22. There's 117 entries on the fest's calendar, in case you needed convincing. Sound sweet? Well, before you even take a look at the lineup, so will another part of the program. Their first-ever Brisbane store is still in the works, but in the meantime Gelato Messina will be joining the GOMA fun with a four-flavour pop-up, with Robert Brownie Junior (milk chocolate gelato with chocolate brownie and chocolate fudge), red velvet (cream cheese gelato with red velvet cake), salted caramel and white chocolate, and salted coconut mango sorbet on the menu. Artistic highlights? We've got a few, starting with the bright horse costume mania that is a repeat instance of Nick Cave's HEARD·Brisbane, plus oh so much music. As far as the latter is concerned, Regurgitator, The Goon Sax, The Grates and I Heart Hiroshima are all on the bill, with the weekend the best time to get your rocking fix. Tours and talks-wise, you can hear a ten-minute chat about the gallery hitting the big one-oh, take a guided wander throughout the day, or join the likes of Benjamin Law and Patience Hodgson as they reveal their favourite pieces and spots. Plus, you can get creative with an Arts & Crafts After Dark, which is also the only ticketed event in the otherwise completely free program. For those that prefer to sit and watch, there'll also be screenings of gorgeous all-ages fare Wall-E, Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest and Song of the Sea, as well as a three-film community shorts program. And because all of this fun is thirsty work, the level two lounge will be turned into a Yerling Station wine bar, while a Buddhist Tea Master will also conduct a daily tea ceremony.
A snowy camp, crosses, bad dreams, creepy houses, lurking shadows, ringing phones and an immensely unsettling mask: welcome to the world of Black Phone 2. Four years after writer/director Scott Derrickson (The Gorge) adapted a short story by Joe Hill — an author with a hefty horror pedigree as the son of Stephen King — into The Black Phone to box-office success, he's now helming his first sequel to his own work. Derrickson began his feature career on follow-up flicks courtesy of 2000's Urban Legends: Final Cut (which he co-penned) and Hellraiser: Inferno (which he directed), but was absent from the hot seat when his Sinister and Doctor Strange continued their stories. A second Black Phone film wasn't originally the plan, though. For fans of the first feature, 2025's return to the movie's world also raises a question within its narrative. In the just-dropped first trailer for Black Phone 2, however, Ethan Hawke's (Leave the World Behind) villainous The Grabber utters a pivotal line to Mason Thames' (Monster Summer) Finney Blake, who survived his clutches the first time around: "you of all people know that dead is just a word". How important is that sentiment to Black Phone 2? "Very essential and fundamental is my answer to that," Derrickson tells Concrete Playground. Audiences will find out how and why for themselves in the best horror-movie month on every annual calendar, with the film set to reach cinemas Down Under on Thursday, October 16, 2025. For now, though, the picture's initial trailer teases snowball fights, a stint at the Alpine Lake Youth Camp, photos of other kids and blood. Also featured: The Grabber asking "did you think our story was over?" before stating "vengeance is mine". In The Black Phone, The Grabber did what his name suggests: he snatched up children. Circa 1978, Finney, his sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw, The Curse of the Necklace) and their friends were already scared of his insidious presence, too, before Finney became his next target. Back to things living up to their monikers: yes, there was a black phone, disconnected yet still ringing, offering a link to The Grabber's prior victims. It wasn't just Hawke getting nefarious that made the movie a hit and piqued viewer interest for more, but also its full impressive cast, immersive tale, and the expert sense of tension cultivated by The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Deliver Us From Evil alum Derrickson. With Black Phone 2, a few years have passed on-screen as well — which meant that Derrickson could find his ideal way into a Black Phone sequel. He wasn't interested in the kind of next effort that just repeats the first, so the fact that Thames and McGraw are now older was pivotal. Black Phone 2 is "a high-school coming-of-age movie instead of a middle-school coming-of-age movie", then, he explains. Now that he's focusing on teenage characters, that does indeed enable him to heighten some of the horror elements, including gore. "Absolutely. All true. That's very perceptive. And yeah, I think a high-school horror film requires a certain degree of intensity and violence that a middle-school horror film really doesn't want or need," Derrickson told us. Alongside Hawke, Thames and McGraw, Jeremy Davies (Adventures of the Naked Umbrella) and Miguel Mora (So Help Me Todd) are also back. Getting Hawke onboard in the beginning, even after Derrickson had directed him in Sinister, wasn't assured, but The Black Phone was all the better for his efforts. For Thames, Black Phone 2 arrives in what's already a huge year, given that he plays Hiccup in the live-action How to Train Your Dragon. We also chatted with Derrickson about the franchise's core casting, how the second movie came about, his essentials for the sequel, the approach when you're stepping back into a film's world and that oh-so-key skill of dripping unease through a horror flick. On Whether Making Sequel to The Black Phone Was Initially the Plan "After the first movie, I didn't feel obliged to make a sequel. The studio, as soon as the movie was a hit, was asking me 'will you please make a sequel?'. And I didn't feel necessarily that I wanted to do that. I didn't have any ideas at that point. And it started, the idea for Black Phone 2 started, with an email from Joe Hill — with my friend Joe, he sent me an email and he said 'hey, I have an idea for a sequel', and he wrote out this pitch. I didn't respond to all of it, but there was an idea, a central idea in it, that I thought was fantastic that I'd never thought of. So I began to sort of noodle on that idea — and then, as I was toying with the idea, I started to realise that if I went and made another movie first, then by the time I finished that film these kids that I've had loved so much, and did such a good job in the in the first movie, would be in high school. And so I thought 'I'm going to go do that'. So I told the studio I would do the sequel, but I'm going to go make another movie first — because I wanted to make a high-school coming-of-age movie instead of a middle-school coming-of-age movie. And so it's been a little bit of a wait, but that was intentional, because I wanted these kids to be older. Mason, when we shot this, was 17 — and Maddie was 15. And both are in high school, and that's a very different kind of film and a very different genre to work in." [caption id="attachment_861837" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Black Phone[/caption] On Casting Ethan Hawke as The Grabber — and Getting Him to Agree to Play a Villain "I wrote the first movie without him even knowing anything about it. And I sent him the script, and he told me before he read it, he said 'look, I don't really do villains. I don't play villains. I probably won't do this'. And then that night, he left me a voicemail saying one of the lines of The Grabber in The Grabber's voice. And I thought 'oh, that's all it was'. I knew that that was his way of saying he was going to do it. And I think he really loved the movie. So when it came to doing a sequel, I did the same thing. I sent him the script, and he told me he was very nervous to read it because he had never done a sequel. And I said 'what about the Before Sunrise movies? You made three of those'. He goes 'yeah, but I wrote those. That doesn't count'. But he read the script and was so excited afterwards. And it was just a very similar story — he read it, and called me immediately after and said 'I love this. I think it's great'. And we scheduled the movie right away." On the Importance of This Being a Sequel That Continues the Story with the Same Characters, Not One That Basically Remakes the First Film "I didn't want to make the same movie again. And I think that sequels that disappoint are sequels that try to do the same thing, only bigger — or the same thing, only more. I knew that I would want to make a very different kind of movie, but I also probably wouldn't have considered doing a sequel of any kind if it didn't involve those characters. Because I love those characters. I love those kids. They're all really good actors, and the idea of being able to make a movie with characters who are in a different stage of life and played by actors who were in a different stage of life — Mason was 17 when we shot this and Maddie McGraw was 15. And Miguel Mora comes back as well in this movie. And it was really a delight to be able to, again, tell a different kind of story about a different stage of life. And I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't with all those same characters." On How Mason Thames' Career Has Blossomed Since The Black Phone, Including Black Phone 2 and Playing Hiccup in the Live-Action How to Train Your Dragon "It's so wonderful to watch. And part of the reason that it's so wonderful is because Mason is a kid who really has his head on his shoulders. He's not seduced by the fame. He's not interested in celebrity. He told me, he said 'if I could get rid of all my social media, I would'. He said 'the only reason I keep it is because it's important to studios for the marketing of their movies'. He's just got such a solid perspective and grounded point of view for such a young man — for somebody who's, I think he's 18 now. It couldn't happen to a better kid is what I'm saying. So it's wonderful to know that I gave him, I just sort of discovered his raw talents and gave him the shot that I did. He did such a good job and he does an amazing job in this movie as well." On What Goes Into Cultivating Unease, Dread and Disquiet in a Horror Film for Derrickson "I think that's the essential thing about the horror genre. It's not gore. It's not acts of violence. Ultimately, what makes a horror film a horror film is tone. There are some horror films that are very, very scary without any violence. And there are some very violent movies that aren't very scary. And the difference is that dreadful tone. I think that I'm interested in that aspect of horror more than jump scares, more than gore. The horror films that I love are films that crawl under my skin and have a captivating tone. And the best ones stay with me after the movie. I remember when I saw The Witch — it took me three days to shake the feeling of that movie from me." [caption id="attachment_861838" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Black Phone[/caption] On the Approach When You're Stepping Back Into an Existing World with a Horror Sequel "I think that, including those early things that I did, the goal is to try to bring something fresh and original while maintaining the elements that our audience wants to see return. And that's always a tough thing to do as a director, but you have to be in tune with your audience and understand 'well, these are the things they definitely want to see. They want to see this. They want to see that. They want this to happen. They want these elements from the original film within their franchise picture'. [caption id="attachment_873778" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Black Phone[/caption] But at the same time, what they can't tell you is that they want most of it to be fresh. They want to be surprised. They don't want to watch the same movie again. And so as a director, it's about threading that balance. And in this movie, I think it was the characters that they wanted to see returning. And the fact that the movie has a kind of tonal shift, I think is something they're going to find satisfying." Black Phone 2 opens in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, October 16, 2025.
Forget the host's monologue, when there is one. Jimmy Kimmel was on MC duties for the 2023 Academy Awards, and he did indeed start the show by making jokes about a heap of nominees — and about Batgirl being the first superhero taken down by studio accountants, and what'll happen if someone tried to follow in Will Smith's 2022 footsteps this year. But each Oscars ceremony truly begins when winners start being announced and those recipients give barnstorming speeches. With that in mind, the 2023 festivities began with a bang. If you didn't have tears in your eyes watching Guillermo del Toro, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan, then you weren't watching. As predicted, the latter's speech about never giving up on your dream — and how he almost did, but his wife told him his time would come — was an all-timer. He even gave a shoutout to Jeff Cohen, his co-star from The Goonies and his entertainment lawyer now. Of course, the excited words kept flowing from there. The An Irish Goodbye team singing happy birthday to star James Martin was another early highlight. So was the arrival of Jenny the donkey from The Banshees of Inisherin, and the thrilled look on Colin Farrell's face when it happened. When Everything Everywhere All At Once kept adding to its awards, you could see the joy among the film's team. And when records were made — the first Best Actress winner who identifies as Asian (Michelle Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All At Once), the first song from India to win Best Song (for 'Naatu Naatu' from explosive action-musical RRR), and the first Black woman to win two Oscars (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's Ruth Carter) — it was tremendous. Among the many deserving winners, there were missed opportunities as well. Kimmel's opening joke about James Cameron not getting a Best Director nomination just as plenty of women didn't called out a glaring ongoing struggle with the Oscars. Also, the awards couldn't find a way to make Elvis' Mandy Walker the first woman to win Best Cinematographer in its 95-year run. Great work is great work — and great films are great films — no matter whether they earn shiny trophies. Some movies and talents end up with statuettes to their names, some come close and miss out, others don't even get nominated. All are worthy of attention. Here's the latest round of winners batch to join the Oscars' ranks — and who they were up against as well. You can also check out our rundown of the ten winners you should watch right now as well, plus our full lists of where most of this year's contenders are screening or streaming in both Australia and New Zealand. OSCAR WINNERS AND NOMINEES 2023: BEST MOTION PICTURE All Quiet on the Western Front Avatar: The Way of Water The Banshees of Inisherin Elvis Everything Everywhere All At Once — WINNER The Fabelmans Tár Top Gun: Maverick Triangle of Sadness Women Talking BEST DIRECTOR Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All At Once — WINNER Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans Todd Field, Tár Ruben Östlund, Triangle of Sadness PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE Cate Blanchett, Tár Ana de Armas, Blonde Andrea Riseborough, To Leslie Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All At Once — WINNER PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE Austin Butler, Elvis Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin Brendan Fraser, The Whale — WINNER Paul Mescal, Aftersun Bill Nighy, Living PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Hong Chau, The Whale Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All At Once — WINNER Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All At Once PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin Brian Tyree Henry, Causeway Judd Hirsch, The Fabelmans Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All At Once — WINNER BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY The Banshees of Inisherin, Martin McDonagh Everything Everywhere All At Once, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert — WINNER The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner Tár, Todd Field Triangle of Sadness, Ruben Östlund BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY All Quiet on the Western Front, Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Rian Johnson Living, Kazuo Ishiguro Top Gun: Maverick, screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks Women Talking, Sarah Polley — WINNER BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM All Quiet on the Western Front — WINNER Argentina, 1985 Close EO The Quiet Girl BEST ANIMATED FEATURE Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio — WINNER Marcel the Shell With Shoes On Puss in Boots: The Last Wish The Sea Beast Turning Red BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE All That Breathes All the Beauty and the Bloodshed Fire of Love A House Made of Splinters Navalny — WINNER BEST ORIGINAL SCORE All Quiet on the Western Front, Volker Bertelmann — WINNER Babylon, Justin Hurwitz The Banshees of Inisherin, Carter Burwell Everything Everywhere All At Once, Son Lux The Fabelmans, John Williams BEST ORIGINAL SONG 'Applause', Tell It Like a Woman (Diane Warren) 'Hold My Hand', Top Gun: Maverick (Lady Gaga and BloodPop) 'Lift Me Up', Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; lyrics by Tems and Ryan Coogler) 'Naatu Naatu', RRR (music by MM Keeravaani, lyrics by Chandrabose) — WINNER 'This Is a Life', Everything Everywhere All At Once (music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski, lyrics by Ryan Lott and David Byrne) BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY All Quiet on the Western Front, James Friend — WINNER Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, Darius Khondji Elvis, Mandy Walker Empire of Light, Roger Deakins Tár, Florian Hoffmeister BEST FILM EDITING The Banshees of Inisherin, Mikkel EG Nielsen Elvis, Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond Everything Everywhere All At Once, Paul Rogers — WINNER Tár, Monika Willi Top Gun: Maverick, Eddie Hamilton BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN All Quiet on the Western Front, Christian M Goldbeck and Ernestine Hipper — WINNER Avatar: The Way of Water, Dylan Cole, Ben Procter and Vanessa Cole Babylon, Florencia Martin and Anthony Carlino Elvis, Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy and Bev Dunn The Fabelmans, Rick Carter and Karen O'Hara BEST VISUAL EFFECTS All Quiet on the Western Front, Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar Avatar: The Way of Water, Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett — WINNER The Batman, Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R Christopher White and Dan Sudick Top Gun: Maverick, Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R Fisher BEST COSTUME DESIGN Babylon, Mary Zophres Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ruth Carter — WINNER Elvis, Catherine Martin Everything Everywhere All At Once, Shirley Kurata Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, Jenny Beavan BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING All Quiet on the Western Front, Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová The Batman, Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Camille Friend and Joel Harlow Elvis, Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti The Whale, Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley — WINNER BEST SOUND All Quiet on the Western Front, Viktor Prásil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte Avatar: The Way of Water, Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges The Batman, Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson Elvis, David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller Top Gun: Maverick, Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor — WINNER BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT The Elephant Whisperers — WINNER Haulout How Do You Measure a Year? The Martha Mitchell Effect Stranger at the Gate BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse — WINNER The Flying Sailor Ice Merchants My Year of Dicks An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM An Irish Goodbye — WINNER Ivalu Le Pupille Night Ride The Red Suitcase
Next time you pour yourself a gin and tonic or start sipping a martini, you can say cheers to one of Australia's best-known architectural wonders in the process. With its latest release, Archie Rose Distilling Co is paying tribute to a building that's become an international symbol not only for its city, but for the whole country: the Sydney Opera House. There's plenty to celebrate when it comes to the Jørn Utzon-designed structure, so Archie Rose has whipped up two gins — or, in terms that suit its inspiration, two acts. Outside Gin nods to the Sydney Opera House's design, coastal location and the contrast of its man-made elements with nature, while Inside Gin is an ode to the acts and all-round creativity that've graced the venue's stages since 1973. Launching this month to mark the building's 46th birthday, the two tipples hero distinctive flavours. If you're keen on a heavy juniper taste with a mix of salty, sweet and citrus notes (aided by lemon-scented gum, South Australian yuzu, finger limes, white grapefruit, seablite and native seaweed), then you'll find it in the Outside Gin. For those who like their drinks fruity and summery — and with botanicals such as native thyme, Australian apricot, raspberry and strawberry gum — Inside Gin has you covered. Both are on sale now, individually for $99 each or as a gift-boxed pair for $179. And while their names don't mention the Sydney Opera House, their labels certainly do, with a stylised representation of the structure featuring on each 700ml bottle — against a sea-toned background for the Outside Gin, and contrasting against a dark mix of purple, red and black with the Inside Gin. Naturally, you'll also be able to sip the two spirits at the Sydney Opera House, with the venue's Opera Kitchen, Portside Sydney and theatre bars all slinging curated seasonal cocktails using both gins. Bennelong Restaurant is also stocking the duo, as are a selection of other bars and restaurants around Circular Quay. Archie Rose x Sydney Opera House Outside and Inside Gins are currently on sale.
Brisbane is a foodie city. It has that perfect mix of vibrant new restaurants (it seems like there's another popping up every weekend) and the tried and true favourites of long-time locals. There's never been a more exciting time to dive headfirst into the Brisbane hospo scene. Not sure where to start? We've got eight must-try dishes that'll change the way you think about Brisbane as a food destination. Here, chefs are slinging some wild flavour combos, pulling no punches and adding signature flourishes that make it utterly Queensland — and delicious. Wear your stretchy pants. We're going on a gourmet adventure.
If you're dedicated to avoiding meat and animal products, then you probably became an instant regular at Brisbane Vegan Markets when they first popped up a couple of years back. And, now that Brisbane's COVID-19 lockdowns are easing, we're guessing you've remade your acquaintance. Mark every second and fourth Sunday of the month in your diary, which is when Brisbane Vegan Markets unleashes its regular gathering dedicated to animal-free wares. Celebrating ethical eating choices is the name of the game, and in the best way that anyone can: bringing together all of the stalls selling all of the vegan products. Whatever type of cruelty-free food you're after, there's a very good chance you'll find it here — from 9am–3pm, with the next market taking place on Sunday, October 25. Stallholders always change each time, but attendees can expect guilt-free grab bites from a rotating range of top spots. Based on past markets, expect guilt-free grab bites and wares from a rotating range that has previously included I Should Coco, Grassfed, Tibetan Momo, Kings Indian Fusion, Fire & Dough, Tapioca Traders, Organic Frog Doughnuts, Chai Cart, Vegan Van, Vurger, Green Street Foods, Flour of Life and Popcorn Downunder — and they're just some of the Brissy traders known to sell their animal-free goods. [caption id="attachment_755499" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brisbane Vegan Markets[/caption] Brisbane Vegan Markets take place on the second and fourth Sunday of each month from 9am. Top image: Grassfed. Updated October 16.
Like most major cities, there are some well-known must-dos when you visit Canberra for the first time. The Australian War Memorial? Check. The National Gallery of Australia? Obviously. A paddleboat on Lake Burley Griffin? Of course. But once all those major attractions are ticked off the list, what's next? Well, there is more to Canberra than meets the eye. The capital is teeming with hidden gems — think social enterprise cafes, farmers markets and teeny tiny galleries — that locals love to frequent on their days off. And now you can, too. Make the most of your next Canberra adventure with this list of lesser-known spots. Please stay up to date with the latest ACT Government health advice regarding COVID-19.
If burgers are your thing then you must head along to the Red Robin Supper Club's latest pop-up night out. Chef Rory Doyle hosts ridiculously delicious nights out where he takes over a venue for the night and provides lucky Brisbanites with a taste of his favourite fare. Usually cooking with a homestyle American influence, the latest Red Robin Supper Club is certain to please burger aficionados. The food is so good that it brings a tear to the eye, and is also incredibly reasonably priced so if you're looking for a top feed and a unique experience on Saturday night head along to the Southside Tea Room for some mouth-watering morsels.
When a band is just starting out, with just one album to its name, you're treated to most — if not all — of it live in the early days. To get the full-record experience again, though, you normally have to wait for big anniversaries. Bloc Party are celebrating two on their just-announced 2025 tour of Australia and New Zealand: two decades of the group and the same since their debut album Silent Alarm. Hitting up Sydney's Hordern Pavilion, John Cain Arena in Melbourne, Adelaide's AEC Theatre, Perth HPC, Riverstage in Brisbane, Christchurch Town Hall and Auckland's Spark Arena between Friday, August 1–Tuesday, August 12, Bloc Party will play Silent Alarm from start to finish. 'Banquet', 'Helicopter', 'This Modern Love', 'Like Eating Glass': yes, they'll all be on the setlist on this seven-city trip. Bloc Party aren't leaving their other tunes out, though, with the tour featuring not just Silent Alarm's tracks but the band's greatest hits. They do have five other albums to their name, after all: 2007's A Weekend in the City, 2008's Intimacy, 2012's Four, 2016's Hymns and 2022's Alpha Games. If you're a fan, you'll know that it has been more than 20 years since the group first formed, and since the British band scored some hefty approval in 2003 via Franz Ferdinand's lead singer Alex Kapranos — but 20 is a nice round number to commemorate. This makes two Aussie tours in a row now with a point of difference for Bloc Party, after 2023 trip with Interpol. Before that, they last rocked Aussie stages in 2018. Supporting Kele Okereke and company this time are Young The Giant, who'll be playing Australia for the first time in 14 years. Bloc Party 2025 Australia and New Zealand Tour Friday, August 1 — Hordern Pavilion, Sydney Sunday, August 3 — John Cain Arena, Melbourne Monday, August 4 — AEC Theatre, Adelaide Wednesday, August 6 — Perth HPC, Perth Friday, August 8 — Riverstage, Brisbane Sunday, August 10 — Christchurch Town Hall, Christchurch Tuesday, August 12 — Spark Arena, Auckland Bloc Party are touring Australia and New Zealand in August 2025, with presales from 9am local time on Wednesday, March 19 and general sales from 9am local time on Friday, March 21. Hit up the tour website for further details. Images: Bruce Baker via Flickr / James Kellegher.
He's going to Newport: Johnny Cash, that is. Twice in A Complete Unknown, the iconic singer-songwriter graces the lineup at the famous folk festival in Rhode Island in the 60s. Twice in the Bob Dylan biopic, he crosses paths with the film's subject at the event. The details depicted are in the service of Dylan's story — while James Mangold is in the director's chair, he's not remaking Walk the Line — but these wouldn't be the moments that they are, and nor would A Complete Unknown be the movie that it is, without Boyd Holbrook (The Bikeriders) as Cash opposite Timothée Chalamet's (Dune: Part Two) Dylan. The term "goes electric" will always be synonymous with Dylan at 1965's Newport Folk Festival, where he dared to play an electric guitar in one of his sets — and the response as much as the act ensured that it went down in history. Cash helped him get there, not only by picking up the same type of instrument at the same place the year before, but through his pen-pal friendship with and encouragement of Dylan. The eight-time Oscar-nominated picture makes clear how much that Cash's words, and the effort of him taking time to commit them to paper, meant to Dylan. It goes electric, too, when Chalamet and Holbrook share scenes. A Complete Unknown is a movie with Chalamet as Dylan, Monica Barbaro (Fubar) as Joan Baez, Edward Norton (Asteroid City) as Pete Seeger and Scoot McNairy (Speak No Evil) as Woody Guthrie. So, it's a flick filled with impressive actors portraying music greats. Given that this a film by Walk the Line director Mangold, however, it's also a picture that gives Holbrook a completely different job to his co-stars, since he's portraying Cash. What happens when the filmmaker behind an Academy Award-winning Man in Black biopic asks you to be the next actor to slip into the legend's shoes? Holbrook had been keen on a different role in the feature, he tells Concrete Playground, at a time when Cash wasn't even in the script — then found himself with a "daunting task". Still, for anyone who has charted Holbrook's career since his 2008 big-screen debut in Milk — a span that's taken him through Behind the Candelabra, The Skeleton Twins, Gone Girl, Jane Got a Gun, The Predator, Narcos and The Sandman, just to name a few projects — it should come as no surprise that he feels like he's been preparing for this part for more than a decade. It helped that he'd made two previous films with Mangold, Logan (which uses a Cash song over its closing credits and in its trailer) and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. In fact, he sees his relationship with the filmmaker as similar to Dylan and Cash's, but with Mangold as the mentor and Holbrook the protégé. And, it equally assists that he'd also perfected swagger on-screen, which can be an elusive trait, including in his two prior roles in The Bikeriders and Justified: City Primeval. Yes, his A Complete Unknown performance meant facing "the Joaquin element", Holbrook explains — with Joaquin Phoenix (Joker: Folie á Deux) Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated, and the winner of a Golden Globe, for playing Cash two decades back for Mangold. But he also knew that the filmmaker, who worked with fellow screenwriter Jay Cocks (Silence) to adapt Elijah Wald's 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties, had a fresh angle into Cash here. As Mangold himself also told us about the pair's relationship as pen pals, "this correspondence suddenly became central to me, because as I was trying to assemble — as much as I was trying to tell Dylan's story, he is a bit inscrutable, and I felt like you could learn more by also telling the story of those that surrounded Dylan, and the way his genius affected each of them differently". "And what was so necessary about bringing Johnny into the story was that he's the devil on that shoulder. If you have Pete and Lomax and Joan Baez all on this shoulder saying 'stick with the team; don't cross over to that dangerous, suspicious popular music', you had Johnny Cash on the other shoulder who was saying 'track mud on someone's carpet'," Mangold continued. "Which was literally one of Johnny's lines in his letters to Bob. And that he made it his business to encourage Dylan to stay bold and to stay on the leading edge, was so wonderful to me." For Holbrook, taking on the part meant exaggerating his music skills to Mangold to begin with; however, the quest to make good on that promise became a key part of his preparation process. We also chatted with Holbrook about his repeat collaborations with Mangold, perfecting swagger on-screen, drunk acting as Cash in one of the movie's standout scenes, and what excites him about working on a new movie or TV show — next he'll pop up in season four of The Morning Show — at this stage of his filmography. On Having a Cash-and-Dylan Relationship with Director James Mangold After Logan, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Now A Complete Unknown "I don't think I would have gone anywhere near the Johnny Cash character unless it was Jim making the movie. And it was odd, because I'd read the script before we did Indiana Jones together, and I was angling at a part that I was probably too young for, but the Johnny Cash role wasn't even in there yet at the time. And so we went off and did Indiana Jones, and then I got a call, like maybe six months before we made it. And he said 'hey, I want you to play Johnny Cash'. And I said 'how's that possible? He's not in the script'. And so he had added him because he didn't know that when he made Walk the Line that him and Bob Dylan were these pen pals. And so by his research into Bob, he found out this because Bob had kept the letters and Johnny hadn't kept the letters. So he really just let me go off and do what I had to do, which is conjure up a character and an impression in the daunting task of playing Johnny Cash. Jim really gives you a lot of space. And the great thing about when you get to work with Jim, on the day, if you come in prepared, he enhances your performance in a very cinematic way." On Exaggerating His Music Skills Going Into the Film — and How Learning to Make Good on That Promise Helped Holbrook Step Into Cash's Shoes "I knew at the end of the day that they could shoot from here up [Holbrook motions to his mid-chest] and we could get by. But it feels like I've been preparing for the last 15 or ten years to play this part. Because I played guitar. I couldn't count music. I couldn't hold a tune. I couldn't play and sing at the same time. But there is this awesome opportunity where if I just eat, breathe and sleep this character, I can pull it off. And I think there's something really exciting about that amount of pressure, being a performer — I want to have a performance and I want to build this thing. So it almost bottlenecks down into the day of this, like 'well, you're going to sink, or you're going to swim'. And I think that's pretty exciting. So yeah, I think the week of it all started like 'okay, I can do it at the tempo' — and it wasn't just hanging on. I was able to control the song and control the voice, control the pacing." On Bringing Swagger to the Screen — as Johnny Cash, and Across Holbrook's Career "Film acting is really different from theatre acting, and there's also the practical of being relaxed enough that, you know, there's this 800-pound gorilla being the camera staring at me at all times. Like, how do I just relax and embody this? And really it's from a bunch of stuff of the art of not giving a fuck — being really adamant that 'this is who I am, take it or leave it'. And having a sense of humour about yourself. And doing all this so many times that it's just become existence. I'm not even thinking about it anymore. I'm sort of lost in what I'm doing. It comes down to that. It comes down to a lot of rehearsals, a lot of preparation. I almost prefer the preparation to making a movie than making the movie." On What Went Into Capturing Not Just the Essence of Cash, But the Essence of Drunk Cash "It was from one line in particular, 'I saw the ocean', that I just knew how. I just knew where he was in a daydream. You catch yourself doing laundry or whatever around the house and you are just in a dream, and you kind of see the performance, or I do — and you just understand it. So now it's a real idea. Then it just takes the physicalisation of staying on a word and just finding it, or whatever it is. The super subtlety of that is difficult to verbalise, but comes down to playing around with it. I definitely wouldn't recommend going method on a long work day like that." On Whether the Unique Task of Playing an IRL Figure for a Filmmaker Who Has Already Made a Separate Movie About Him Helped Holbrook Prepare "I was concerned that I had to portray someone who was an iconic person and so people, so many people, have strong memories of him and who he is. Then there's the Joaquin element, facing his great performance and following that up. But I think that Jim and I made the film, and he really understood the importance of Johnny's role in Bob's life at that time, because Johnny had been so — he's doing 200 shows a year on the road. I mean, you are a road dog. You have so much experience in this. And when you're becoming the most-famous person in the world within a year's time, Johnny was able to meet him at that fork in a road where 'hey, it's going to get weird if you don't keep your voice' or 'it's going to be okay if you just stay true to who you are'. And I think in commerce and industries and stuff like that, when a lot of money is on the table, your voice can be compromised — and I think it's really all about that moment in the film where Bob is choosing what his voice is telling him, what he wants to say, how he wants to express himself. And that's going electric in that particular time, because he's just skyrocketing with creativity. And so I think Johnny was able to nudge him in the right direction, remind him who he is." On What Excites Holbrook About a New Project, Including A Complete Unknown, at This Stage in His Career "The performance element. I never really have never sang in front of a bunch of people before. There is a sensation that goes along with that that's exciting. I just did The Morning Show and I found out that the guy was a stand-up comic. I don't know how funny I am, but I like to be funny. I like to practice being funny. But I'd never been onstage and done a set in of people. So that's exciting. That's like 'wow', that's slightly — not terrifying at all, but I want to know what that feels like and to do that. And I think there's all an art and a craft to how the instrument of our humanness can be used. So I just love seeing which way I can bend and which way I can go — and how different I can sound, how different I can look? 'What is this character? What is this character going to go through? At what level? Is it kind of like he's going through like a number-two heartbreak?' But no, I want a number ten on everything. And so I really look for that highest value of expression." A Complete Unknown released in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, January 23, 2025. Images: courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
Memories of family holidays up and down Australia's coastlines are treasured by most of us. Stopping at roadside lookouts, lemonades in country pubs, wallabies hopping around campsites and kookaburras laughing us awake. The brief: classic charm meets no-frills fun. A staple in these trips is a classic motel. A clean and comfortable spot to rest your head, a warm welcome, a folder stuffed full of brochures from local businesses and a minibar complete with snacks and libations. You might have noticed a resurgence in these often family-owned establishments, but with one new element sticking out like a sore thumb: standout styling. Fresh paint, linen bedding, social-driven marketing and artful umbrellas offering shade by figure-eight shaped pools — it's a formulaic trend, and it works. What better way to add that dreamy nostalgic charm to your holidays this year than a night or two in a revamped motel? Together with The Bottle-O, the store slinging your favourite boozy sips all over Australia, we've curated a list of our favourites. Book in, grab your drinks and soak up the serenity of days gone by.
Before the pandemic, when a new-release movie started playing in cinemas, audiences couldn't watch it on streaming, video on demand, DVD or blu-ray for a few months. But with the past few years forcing film industry to make quite a few changes — widespread movie theatre closures will do that, and so will plenty of people staying home because they aren't well — that's no longer always the case. Maybe you haven't had time to make it to your local cinema lately. Perhaps you've been under the weather. Given the hefty amount of titles now releasing each week, maybe you simply missed something. Film distributors have been fast-tracking some of their new releases from cinemas to streaming recently — movies that might still be playing in theatres in some parts of the country, too. In preparation for your next couch session, here are eight that you can watch right now at home. FOE Pondering the end of the earth also means pondering the end of people. When the planet that we live on withers to the point of becoming uninhabitable, humanity doesn't just suffer big-picture consequences as a species — existentially, the basic facets of being human are upended as well. So explores and interrogates Foe, the haunting third feature from Australian director Garth Davis (Lion, Mary Magdalene), as well as the latest adaptation of Canadian author Iain Reid's books after 2020 movie I'm Thinking of Ending Things. The pair teamed up to pen the script to a dystopian thriller that looks every inch the stark sci-fi part, using Victoria's Winton Wetlands as its shooting location to double for America's midwest circa 2065, and yet is always one thing above all else: like Killers of the Flower Moon, too, this is a relationship drama. This time, in his second film in a row made Down Under alongside Carmen, Paul Mescal (All of Us Strangers) plays half of Foe's key couple, opposite his Irish compatriot (plus Atonement, Brooklyn, Lady Bird and Little Women Academy Award-nominee) Saoirse Ronan. The pair trade their natural lilts for American accents as Junior and Hen, holdout farmers in a world and at a time where there's little hope in the field, their actual fields or for the future. As a title card explains, days on the third rock from the sun are numbered. Also noted in that opening text is the setup moving forward, relocating the population to space stations. And, as Blade Runner did decades ago, simulated humans are also entwined in this new status quo. Junior and Hen's marriage is one of lived-in routine, concise exchanges and loaded looks, then — of resignation and malaise, with life's realities tampering down the high-school sweethearts' spirits mere years into their wedded bliss. He works at a poultry factory, she waits tables at a diner, and the bleak expanse surrounding their farmhouse sports rows of symbolism; Foe's central couple cling to the wish that the inherited land and their love alike hasn't turned fallow, no matter the signs otherwise. With such barrenness lingering, car lights outside their home one night and then a sharp knock at the door were always going to feel like more than just an ordinary visitor. The cause is anything but an average passerby: government consultant Terrance (Aaron Pierre, Old) has come with conscription orders for the OuterMore project, which is building the off-world installation that earth's residents will soon need to live on. Foe streams via Prime Video. Read our full review, and our interview with Garth Davis. THE MARVELS More Marvels, less Marvel: that could've, would've, should've been the path to making The Marvels more marvellous as it teams up Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel (Brie Larson, Lessons in Chemistry), Ms Marvel's Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani in her big-screen debut) and WandaVision's Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris, They Cloned Tyrone). Unsurprisingly for a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie that goes heavy on the first word in the ever-sprawling franchise's moniker, this 33rd cinematic instalment in the series has a glaring Marvel problem. Thankfully, as it proves fun enough, likeable enough and sweet, but also overly saddled with the routine and familiar, it never has any Captain Marvel, Ms Marvel or Monica Rambeau issues. When there's too much Marvel-ness — too much been-there-done-that formula, too hefty a focus on smashing pixels together over spending time with people and too strong a sense that this is merely another chapter in the saga's assembly line, and also dutifully setting up what's next — The Marvels struggles, even as the shortest MCU feature yet. When the main trio get the luxury of being together, just seeing them revel in and react to each other's company is a delight. When there's also singing, dancing, a hearty sense of humour and/or Flerkens involved, the film soars. Perhaps befitting a movie with three lead characters, this is a Goldilocks attempt at a picture that tries as overtly as a fairy-tale figure to get its balance just right. Filmmaker Nia DaCosta (Candyman) and her co-scribes Megan McDonnell (also WandaVision) and Elissa Karasik (Loki) can't quite find and keep their midpoint, however, due to all of the weight and demands that come after 15 years of the MCU, those 32 prior flicks, plus nine seasons of eight Disney+ TV shows since 2021 — and the many nods and references required in those directions. Marvel has cottoned on to how clunky this can be, and how exhausting to watch; the company has marketing streaming series Echo under the banner 'Marvel Spotlight' to signal that viewers can enjoy the story as a standalone experience without needing to have done copious amounts of MCU homework. If only The Marvels had been allowed to spin its tale the same way, even with Carol, Kamala and Monica's established histories across the franchise, and permitted to lean further into what makes it stand out from the rest of the Marvel crowd. The Marvels streams via YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. NAPOLEON When is a Ridley Scott-directed, Joaquin Phoenix-starring trip to the past more than just a historical drama? Always, at least so far. Twice now, the filmmaker and actor have teamed up to explore Europe centuries ago, initially with Gladiator and now 23 years later with Napoleon — and where the Rome-set first was an action film as well, the second fancies its chances as a sometimes comedy. This biopic of the eponymous French military star-turned-emperor can be funny. In the lead, Phoenix (Beau Is Afraid) repeatedly boasts the line delivery, facial expressions and physical presence of someone actively courting laughs. When he declares "destiny has brought me this lamb chop!", all three coalesce. Scott (House of Gucci) not only lets the humour land, but fashions this muskets-and-cannons epic as a satire of men with authority and dominance, their egos, and the fact that ruling a country and defeating other nations doesn't cancel out their pettiness and insecurities. As it's off with Marie Antoinette's (Catherine Walker, My Sailor, My Love) head, it's in with Napoleon's revolutionary stirrings in Scott and screenwriter David Scarpa's take (with the scribe returning to cut the powerful down to size after the director's All the Money in the World, just as Walker apes another famous figure after playing Anna Wintour in House of Gucci). Also in: Napoleon's tinkering with facts, which'll later see its namesake and his troops fire at the pyramids. Devotion to historical accuracy isn't the movie's aim. Like The Castle of blasts from the French past, it's more interested in the vibe of the thing — said 'thing' being how Napoleon Bonaparte, later Napoleon I, follows his yearning for glory and adoration above all else. Scott stitches together a selection of his own recurrent obsessions, too, such as Phoenix sulking, savaging the quest for command and influence, Gallic days of yore as seen in his debut The Duellists and the unrelated The Last Duel, and unfettered ambition's consequences as per The Martian and Prometheus, then tops it with the requisite bicorn hat. Napoleon streams via YouTube Movies and Prime Video. Read our full review. CAT PERSON "Margot met Robert on a Wednesday night toward the end of her fall semester." So starts the only thing that everyone was reading, and also talking about, in December 2017. Published by The New Yorker, Kristen Roupenian's Cat Person is a short story unparalleled in its viral fame. A piercingly matter-of-fact account of a dating nightmare, the piece of fiction became a literary and online phenomenon. Cat Person didn't just spark discourse about modern romance, relationship power dynamics, 21st-century communication, age gaps and more; it monopolised them, as fuelled by the internet, of course, and arriving as the #MeToo movement was at its early heights. Releasing it as a book, still as a 7000-word piece, came next. Now there's the film that was always bound to happen. As a movie lead by CODA's Emilia Jones, Cat Person can count the Twitter-to-cinema Zola as a peer in springboarding from digital phenomenon to picture palaces, and it too aims for a specific vibe: the feeling that the world experienced while first roving their eyes over the details on their phone, tablet or computer screen. Cat Person and Zola have another glaring similarity: enlisting Succession's Nicholas Braun to infuse his Cousin Greg awkwardness into a wild tale. Here, he's the Robert that Margot encounters while "working behind the concession stand at the artsy movie theatre downtown when he came in and bought a large popcorn and a box of Red Vines", as Roupenian's story explains in its second sentence — and as filmmaker Susanna Fogel, the director of The Spy Who Dumped Me and one of Booksmart's writers, shows on-screen. Actors' performances don't exist in a vacuum for audiences. Unless you somehow missed the four-season Roy family shenanigans, plus all the rightly deserved attention around it, going into Cat Person unaware of Braun's best-known role is impossible. Self-consciousness, haplessness and discomfort are expected twice over of the man that Margot sells snacks to, then. Much follows. Cat Person streams via YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review, and our interview with Susanna Fogel. DICKS: THE MUSICAL When it starred Lindsay Lohan (Falling for Christmas) making her film debut in dual roles in the late 90s, and when Hayley Mills (The Wheel of Time) was doing double duty back in the 60s as well, The Parent Trap told of identical twins who were separated at birth when their mother and father divorced. Each parent gained custody of a baby, then raised the child separately. Never did the sisters cross paths until a summer camp years later, where they realised their connection, then hatched a plan to reunite their family by posing as each other back home. The tale springs from the page, with German novel Lisa and Lottie also inspiring adaptations in its homeland, Japan, the UK, India and Iran. The Olsen twins' It Takes Two owes it a debt, too. But there's never been a version of this story like Josh Sharp (Search Party) and Aaron Jackson's (Broad City) iteration, as first seen onstage in Fucking Identical Twins and now in cinemas as Dicks: The Musical. So absurdly its own ridiculous, raucous, irreverent and raunchy thing, calling Dicks: The Musical exuberantly unhinged — or anything, really — doesn't do it justice. Before this A24 release brought its sibling antics to the big screen with singing, dancing, Megan Mullally (Party Down) and Nathan Lane (Beau Is Afraid) as its long-split parents, Borat and Brüno director Larry Charles behind the camera, Brisbane-born Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang as drama-loving gay God and Megan Thee Stallion busting out a mid-movie tune, Fucking Identical Twins was a two-man production that premiered in 2014 to must-see success. Created at Upright Citizens Brigade, which was co-founded by Amy Poehler (Moxie), the then half-an-hour affair first filled a basement and now rises to share its delirium with the film-watching world. Leading the way in every guise: Sharp and Jackson, who definitely aren't twins let alone brothers, don't look a thing alike, yet know how to take audiences on a helluva wild ride. Dicks: The Musical streams via YouTube Movies and iTunes. Read our full review. SILENT NIGHT There's no swapping faces in John Woo's latest English-language action-thriller. Instead, the iconic Hong Kong filmmaker brings guns, chases and a quest for revenge to the festive genre. As anyone who rightly considers Die Hard among the pinnacle of Christmas movies already knows, seasonal cinema offerings don't need to drip in schmaltz, holiday humour, or Santas and reindeers to be an end-of-year present. Still, in making his first Hollywood effort since 2003's Paycheck, the director behind Hard Target, Broken Arrow and Face/Off in the 90s — plus Mission: Impossible II in 2000 — keeps the ties of family gleaming in Silent Night. That said, from the moment that the picture opens with a man in a Rudolph-adorned jumper, fuzzy red pom-pom and all, in a battle on Texan back streets with gang members who've just torn his brood apart on Christmas Eve, Woo also goes the brutal route. Silent Night's name echoes in several ways. Recalling a tune that's all about the jolliest time of the year is just one. Setting scenes in a period when halls are decked with boughs of holly is merely another. If protagonist Brian Godlock (Joel Kinnaman, The Suicide Squad) gets his wish, there'll be no more noise — let alone violence and bloodshed — from the criminals responsible for killing his young son (Alex Briseño, A Million Miles Away) with a stray bullet from drive-by crossfire as the boy rode his new bike in the front yard. Woo's main stylistic conceit comes to fruition instantly, however, because Silent Night largely avoids dialogue. Aided by meticulous sound design, that choice isn't a gimmick purely for the sake of it. Rather, Robert Archer Lynn's (Already Dead) script has Brian lose the ability to speak in the introductory sequence's fallout. Silent Night streams via YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. NYAD When most sports films bring real-life exploits to the screen, they piece together the steps it took for a person or a team to achieve the ultimate in their field, or come as close as possible while trying their hardest. Nyad is no different, but it's also a deeply absorbing character study of two people: its namesake Diana Nyad and her best friend Bonnie Stoll. The first is the long-distance swimmer whose feats the movie tracks, especially her quest to swim from Cuba to Florida in the 2010s. The second is the former professional racquetball player who became Nyad's coach when she set her sights on making history as a sexagenarian — and reattempting a gruelling leg she'd tried and failed when she was in her late 20s. It helps that Annette Bening (Death on the Nile) plays the swimmer and Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian) her offsider, with both giving exceptional performances that unpack not only the demands of chasing such a dream, but of complicated friendships. Also assisting: that Nyad is helmed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, directors making their feature debut beyond documentaries after The Rescue, Meru and winning an Oscar for charting Alex Honnold's El Capitan climb in Free Solo. Extraordinary efforts are this filmmaking pair's wheelhouse, clearly. Nyad and Stoll fit that description easily, as do Bening and Foster. With the latter, who brings shades of Michael J Fox (Still: A Michael J Fox Movie) to her portrayal, Nyad also provides a reminder of how phenomenal the Taxi Driver, The Silence of the Lambs and Panic Room star is on-screen, how charismatic as well, and how missed she's been while featuring in just four films in the past decade (the just-arrived fourth season of True Detective thankfully places Foster at its centre). Understandably, the movie's main actors have been earning awards attention. The picture around them never stops plunging into what makes both Nyad and Stoll tick — and keep shooting for such an immense goal, even as setback after setback comes their way — with Chin and Vasarhelyi experts in conveying minutiae. Whether or not you know the outcome, Nyad is rousing and compelling viewing, floating on excellent work by its four key creative talents. Nyad streams via Netflix. THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER When they were making All the Real Girls, Pineapple Express and Your Highness together, plus Eastbound & Down, Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones as well, did filmmaker David Gordon Green and actor Danny McBride chat about creating their own versions of all-time horror masterpieces, in flicks that act as direct sequels to the OG films and ignore all of the past sequels, and also work as reboots sparking a new trilogy? Thanks to the recent Halloween films, this natter seems likely. In fact, now that Green and McBride have also given The Exorcist a spin, this kind of talk appears a certainty. So, writer/director Green was possessed with a new demonic screen story with McBride and Halloween Kills' Scott Teems, then penned a devil-made-me-do-it script with Camp X-Ray's Peter Sattler. The result is The Exorcist: Believer, a 50-years-later return to head-twisting dances with evil — this time with a prologue in Haiti rather than Iraq, the bulk of the action set in Georgia instead of Washington, DC's Georgetown, and two girls not one in need of faith's help to cast out malevolent fiends. Green and McBride's swap from Michael Myers to Pazuzu also already has its own trinity in the works. As it apes the original movie's structure, there's a touch of trickery in starting The Exorcist: Believer in Port-au-Prince: the city's 2010 earthquake is used to get the plot in motion, a move that lands queasily, clunkily and exploitatively. Perhaps Green and company thought that slipping into a real-life tragedy's skin then wreaking havoc was a fitting piece of mirroring; instead, that choice should've been exorcised. Photographer Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery) is holidaying with his heavily pregnant wife Sorenne (Tracey Graves, On Ten) when the earth rumbles, leading to him becoming a single father — but not before the baby is blessed in utero by a local healer. Cut to 13 years later, where teenager Angela (Lidya Jewett, Ivy + Bean) is introduced rifling through her mother's belongings, then convincing her grief-stricken dad to let her have an after-school date with her classmate Katherine (debutant Olivia O'Neill). She doesn't tell him that they'll be trying to contact Sorenne via a seance in the woods, though, an event that ends with a disappearance, something unholy afoot and needing help from Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn, Law & Order: Organised Crime). The Exorcist: Believer streams via YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. Looking for more viewing options? Take a look at our monthly streaming recommendations across new straight-to-digital films and TV shows — and fast-tracked highlights from January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December 2023, too. We kept a running list of must-stream TV from across 2023 as well, complete with full reviews. And, we've also rounded up 2023's 15 best films, 15 best straight-to-streaming movies, 15 top flicks hardly anyone saw, 30 other films to catch up with, 15 best new TV series of 2023, another 15 excellent new TV shows that you might've missed and 15 best returning shows.
Remember when the Beast won Belle's heart with his impossibly beautiful personal library in Beauty and the Beast? How easy it is seduce a nerd. Now that animated library has a real-life rival in the spectacular Waanders in de Broeren, a converted 15th-century Dominican church in Zwolle, the Netherlands, that houses what must be one of the world's most gorgeous bookstores. Designed by architectural firm BK. Architecten, the development was carried out in exactly the right way. It was mandated that all the building's original features be preserved. This meant keeping the 547-year-old colossal pipe organ and huge stained glass windows just as they were. The firm took to the challenge with gusto: only three hues of building material were used, to reflect the pre-existing look of the church, and the three-level, 700-square metre retail space which frames its central nave is built so as to be easily removable in future, maintaining the church's essential structure beneath. The result is a distinctly light and airy bookstore, with shelves lining the walls and unobtrusive, contemporary stairways leading up to the upper reaches of the arches. If only all shopping venues could be so elegant. Sometimes opulent buildings are given over to unlikely retail tenants — for example New York's Chelsea has one of the most ridiculously fancy pharmacies ever, a CVS inside a grand old bank building on 8th Avenue. This makes buying condoms at 3am seem slightly more classy for locals. But books seem an extra worthy ware: picture yourself browsing in Waanders in de Broeren, imagination set aflame as soon as you enter the space with its lofty and ornately painted ceiling. There's also a wine bar and other shopping available, making this one of the loveliest spaces and best design ventures we've seen in ages — an attractive and respectful fusion of old and new. Via Colossal.
Whether you're sipping a flat white in a sun-drenched cafe or working from a stylish, art-filled office, great design has a way of elevating everyday moments. That's exactly what the Australian Interior Design Awards sets out to celebrate — and the 2025 shortlist, which has just dropped, is here to inspire some serious interior envy. For its 22nd year, the awards have nominated 195 standout projects that showcase the best of Australian interior design across residential, hospitality, retail and public spaces. Presented by the Design Institute of Australia and Architecture Media's InteriorsAu, the awards continue to spotlight spaces around the country that don't just look good — they feel good, too. [caption id="attachment_973588" align="alignnone" width="1920"] National Communication Museum, Casey Horsfield[/caption] So, where can you find the year's most boundary-pushing interiors? If you're in Victoria, you can head to sleek Fitzroy hotel The StandardX, Exhibition Street spot Juni, as well as luxe boutique hotel Melbourne Place and its subterranean bar Mr Mills. Other south-of-the-Murray venues that made the shortlist include Hawthorn's National Communication Museum (pictured above) and the revamp of 120 Collins Street, while Victoria's retail nominations run the gamut from Melbourne Airport's new-look Terminal 1 dining and retail precinct to hole-in-the-wall smoothie, yoghurt and açai bar Bitterjoy. A number of new Sydney restaurants and dining precincts headline the NSW contingent, including Wunderlich Lane's contemporary Greek spot Olympus (pictured below), Sofitel Sydney Wentworth's Bar Tilda, Neil Perry's Cantonese diner Song Bird and multi-venue Japanese dining destination Prefecture 48. Sydney nominees for public design include the revamped City Recital Hall, as well as Bondi Junction adaptive reuse project The Boot Factory. The Sunshine State is also well represented on AIDA's shortlist. Leading the charge are Queen Street diners Supernormal and Central, while moody West End hangout +81 Aizome Bar has also been recognised. Elsewhere, luxe wellness space The Bathhouse Albion and the pared-back, brick-and-mortar Newstead home of Brisbane jeweller BrownHaus are among the hospitality and retail nominees, respectively. This year's winners across all categories will be revealed at a gala dinner at the Sofitel Melbourne on Collins on Friday, June 6. [caption id="attachment_966315" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Supernormal Brisbane, Earl Carter[/caption] [caption id="attachment_962736" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Melbourne Place, supplied[/caption] [caption id="attachment_973981" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Prefecture 48, supplied[/caption] [caption id="attachment_984056" align="alignnone" width="1920"] +81 Aizome Bar, supplied[/caption] For the full Australian Interior Design Awards 2025 shortlist, head to the AIDA website. Top image: The StandardX.
The announcement of Shane Delia's debut Queensland restaurant made more than a few waves, with Brisbane diners excited to experience a glimpse of Melbourne favourite Maha Restaurant and its many offshoots: Maha North, Maha East and Jayda. Arriving in the form of Layla at the back end of March, guests have been flooding in since. Tucked into a heritage-listed section of West End's Thomas Dixon Centre, Layla continues Delia's focus on Middle Eastern cuisine, offering bold, spice-fuelled dishes shaped by some of the best Queensland produce. With the team settled into its new home, the time has come for Layla to take its weekly offering to the next level. Bringing a little more warmth to the cooler months, Spice & Sound takes over Sunday afternoons with an outdoor hibachi grill, live DJ sets and much-loved Layla cocktails. Suitably rich in theatre — the Thomas Dixon Centre is also the home of Queensland Ballet — guests can expect a menu designed for easygoing sharing and grazing. For instance, grilled dishes like chicken shish or eggplant are paired with soft and springy flatbread. Then, smaller plates span wagyu empanadas, butter chicken and grilled Fremantle octopus. Layla's cocktail menu is also a highlight. Elevated through Middle Eastern spices and aromatic botanicals, refreshing drinks combine classic concoctions with innovative mixology. The Winter Bloom is a go-to option, featuring whisky, arak, apple and spiced honey. Launching from Sunday, August 3, don't overlook the second ingredient of Spice & Sound. DJ Alex will get behind the decks from 1.30pm in Layla's leafy terrace, serving up a sun-kissed set that adds a little more kick to the end of your week. Spice & Sound is happening every Sunday from 1.30–5.30pm at Layla throughout winter — walk-ins are welcome, but bookings are encouraged. Head to the website for more information.
There is plenty to see and do in Canberra at any time of year, but a strong case can be made for visiting between September and November. The city really blossoms in spring (see what we did there?) — so there's no wonder why it's home to one of Australia's biggest and best annual flower festivals. Can't make it to Floriade this year? Never fear, there are still plenty of epic experiences to have in the nation's capital during spring. Whether you're planning a trip with mates, a significant other or solo, this list of activities will help you emerge from your winter hibernation with a spring in your step. Please stay up to date with the latest ACT Government health advice regarding COVID-19.
When Vivid Sydney took place in 2016, wearing pyjamas was acceptable. As Max Richter performed Sleep at the Sydney Opera House, the composer did so while attendees slumbered, which is what the eight-hour performance is specifically designed for. Did anyone taking a kip to the music dream up a future idea for a Vivid event? Audiences might find out when the festival returns in 2025 for its 15th year across Friday, May 23–Saturday, June 14. It's save-the-date time, with Vivid locking in its next winter return, aka when it'll next take over the Harbour City with its showcase of tunes, luminous sights, culinary events and conversation. Also revealed: 2025's theme, which is where dreaming comes in again. "Dreaming is something we all do. It's as old as time and as universal as life itself. Dreams don't discriminate — they are borderless, ageless and endless. They can be personal or public. When shared, our dreams can become a movement. They can inspire, motivate, spark excitement and connection," explains Vivid Sydney Festival Director Gill Minervini about the event's next focus. "The whole world dreams, it is something we have in common, something that unites us. Our human story is embedded in dreams, they help explain our existence and our past," Minervini continued, also opening the call for expressions of interest to take part in 2025's Vivid. "We want the very best in homegrown talent to be part of our vibrant Vivid Sydney event program, with a unique opportunity to foster community connection, spark imagination and showcase the multitude of ways creativity can enrich our lives." "Each year, Vivid Sydney aims to deliver unparalleled artistic brilliance, and we look forward to welcoming the inspirations within our community that will help shape Vivid Sydney 2025 into a show-stopping cultural phenomenon." Vivid's lineup won't be announced until 2025, but you can lock in one venue: Taronga Zoo. Whatever pops up at the iconic spot can link into light, music, ideas and food, the four pillars that Vivid has at its core. If you're excited about which events will follow in past years' footsteps — 2024's lineup included Amy Poehler, Air, Budjerah, Yasiin Bey, Tekno Train by Paul Mac, a fan of light from Sydney Tower, artwork by Archibald Prize winner Julia Gutman on the Sydney Opera House's sails and plenty more, all ruminating on the theme 'humanity' — then mark your diaries accordingly. If you have a dream-inspired idea that you'd love to see come to life at Vivid 2025, no matter whether you're an artist, musician, chef, speaker or something else, then head to the fest's website to go through the expression of interest process. Vivid Sydney will run from Friday, May 23–Saturday, June 14, 2025 at various locations around Sydney. We'll update you when the program is announced next year — head to the festival website for further details in the interim. Images: Destination NSW.
No matter your feelings on the ideal timeline between Boxing Day shopping and Easter treats hitting the shelves, March has arrived and those babies are coming in hot like a certain glazed fruit bun. And this year, you've got a boozy new offering to add to your Easter shopping list — a Hot Cross Rum from family-run Margaret River distillery The Grove. The small-batch sip has been hand-crafted using The Grove's four-year barrel-aged dark rum, then housed in an American Oak former bourbon barrel. Raisins, oranges and a bunch of warm spices are left to steep, before the rum's given a final infusion of classic hot cross bun flavours including cinnamon, vanilla and cloves. [caption id="attachment_845050" align="alignnone" width="1920"] By Freedom Garvey-Warr[/caption] At the end, you've got a warm, rich, festive-tasting spirit, packed with notes of caramelised raisin, vanilla and cinnamon, with a lingering fruity finish. A 40-percent ABV hot cross bun in a glass, if you like. The Grove team recommends you sip their new creation neat; with a hot buttered Easter bun on the side for full effect, of course. Word is, it's also a solid match to a cheese board or dessert. Just 240 bottles of the Hot Cross Rum have been made, available now to pre-order with Australia-wide delivery happening this month, just in time for Easter. The Hot Cross Rum marks the first of The Grove's new Collector's Series of limited-edition spirits, so expect plenty more creative rum releases to follow. The Grove's Hot Cross Rum is available to pre-order via the website, at RRP $100 for a 500ml bottle.
When we were kids, spending time with our favourite people — our mates — was a regular occurrence. Nowadays, with different schedules and responsibilities, catching up is trickier to coordinate. And organising a group trip? Even harder. Trust us when we say the slog — juggling competing preferences and calculating budgets — is worth it once you're all together. The sense of belonging you'll experience when surrounded by people with shared passions or history is simply unmatched. To minimise holiday admin and finally get your gang on the road, we've investigated destinations around New South Wales that are ideal for a getaway with friends. Whether you're part of an outdoorsy circle or you hang with folks who prefer to spend their leisure time at a constant recline, there's something here to satisfy every taste in vacay.
Do you usually leave your gift purchasing until the last minute? Have you vowed to finally do better this year? Would you like to buy Christmas presents for all of your friends and family members all at once, and in the one spot — even if you currently have zero idea of what you'll get them? Enter The Made Local Market, which is like Etsy IRL — and is hitting Brisbane this spring to lend a hand with your festive shopping. Get a jump on Christmas more than a month early or treat yo'self; whichever fits, you'll have plenty to browse and buy. In the spotlight here: artisans, makers, artists and designers in local communities, with The Made Local Market giving them the opportunity to sell their creations in a physical space. So, whether you're on the hunt for handmade wares or vintage goods, these guys have got you covered. The market will take place in the Exhibition Building at the Brisbane Showgrounds from 9am–4pm on Saturday, November 9 and 9am–3pm on Sunday, November 10 — so spreading across two days. Because it focuses on the best local talent, every market is filled with different stallholders and unique creations, but there'll be more than 120 stalls at this one. Supporting creative small businesses and scoring a killer gift for your loved ones is a win for everyone involved, so head along and get your shopping sorted. Entry costs $2 — and, the whole thing will be cashless, so don't forget your cards. There'll also be craft workshops, maker demonstrations, food trucks slinging bites to eat and plenty of places to get caffeinated.
Before the pandemic, when a new-release movie started playing in cinemas, audiences couldn't watch it on streaming, video on demand, DVD or blu-ray for a few months. But with the past few years forcing film industry to make quite a few changes — widespread movie theatre closures and plenty of people staying home in iso will do that — that's no longer always the case. Maybe you've had a close-contact run-in. Perhaps you haven't had time to make it to your local cinema lately. Given the hefty amount of films now releasing each week, maybe you simply missed something. Film distributors have been fast-tracking some of their new releases from cinemas to streaming recently — movies that might still be playing in theatres in some parts of the country, too. In preparation for your next couch session, here are 20 that you can watch right now at home. THE NORTHMAN Satanic goats don't talk in The Northman. Heartthrobs don't masturbate while fondling mermaid figurines, either. Still, within ten minutes, pre-teen Viking prince Amleth (Oscar Novak, The Batman), his glory-seeking warrior father King Aurvandil War-Raven (Ethan Hawke, Moon Knight) and jester-meets-shaman Heimir (Willem Dafoe, Nightmare Alley) descend into a fire-lit cave to take hallucinogens, growl, grunt, bark like wolves and fart like it's a god-given superpower. If viewers didn't know who's behind this bold, brutal, brilliant, and blood- and guts-strewn Scandinavian opus before then, there's no doubt from this trippy scene onwards: after The Witch and The Lighthouse, writer/director Robert Eggers' touch, approach and style have become that distinctive just three remarkable features into his helming career. In Eggers' new untamed and laid-bare portrait of the past, something is rotten in the state of Iceland — as it was in Denmark via William Shakespeare, and in the Pride Lands of Africa in both versions of The Lion King. "I will avenge you, father. I will save you, mother. I will kill you, Fjölnir," says Amleth as a boy on a north Atlantic island in 895, when he witnesses the latter's (Claes Bang, Locked Down) treachery. He flees after hearing his uncle bay for his head, too, and seeing him carry off Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos) as a spoil of his victory. Two decades later, Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård, Succession) is a hulking, wolfskin-clad Viking berserker, living life flinging whatever weaponry he can find while viciously pillaging through the lands of the Rus. But amid the bloodlust, gore and piling-up body count, the intense marauder is thrust back onto his vengeance-seeking path. A Slavic seeress (Björk, in her first film role since 2005) whispers stark truths about his current savagery and lapsed mission against Fjölnir, reigniting his yearning for that promised slaughter — and the single-minded behemoth learns that his uncle is now sheep-farming in Iceland, having lost the kingdom in another coup. The Northman is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE GRAY MAN It's been four years since Ryan Gosling last graced screens, rocketing to the moon in First Man. No, Barbie set photos pored over on every internet-connected device don't count. Since he played Neil Armstrong, much has happened. There's the obvious off-screen, of course — but then there's Chris Evans farewelling Captain America, and also appearing in Knives Out with the scene-stealing Ana de Armas. After co-starring in Blade Runner 2049 with Gosling back in 2017, she leapt from that Evans-featuring whodunnit to palling around with 007 in No Time to Die. Also during that time, Bridgerton pushed Regé-Jean Page to fame, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood earmarked Julia Butters as a young talent to watch. This isn't just a history lesson on The Gray Man's cast — well, some of them, given that Billy Bob Thornton (Goliath), Jessica Henwick (The Matrix Resurrections), Dhanush (Maaran), Wagner Moura (Shining Girls) and Alfre Woodard (The Lion King) also pop up, plus Australia's own Callan Mulvey (Firebite) — for the hell of it, though. Back in 2018, before all of the above played out, it's unlikely that this exact film with this exact cast would've eventuated. Making an action-thriller about attempting to snuff out hyper-competent assassins isn't new — both John Wick and Atomic Blonde have already been there and done that, and the Bourne and Bond movies — but the combination of this collection of current actors and that familiar setup isn't without its charms. Gosling plays Court Gentry, aka Sierra Six; "007 was taken," he jokes. Before he's given his codename and paid to do the CIA's dirty work, he's in prison for murder, then recruited by Donald Fitzroy (Thornton). Fast-forward 18 years and Six is a huge hit at two things: being a ghost, because he no longer officially exists; and covertly wreaking whatever havoc the government tells him to, including knocking off whichever nefarious figure they need gone. But one stint of the latter leaves him in possession of a USB drive that his arrogant new direct superior Carmichael (Page) will ruthlessly kill to destroy. Actually, to be precise, he'll pay Lloyd Hansen (Evans) of Hansen Government Services to do just that, and to do the dirty work that's too dirty for the criminals-turned-government hitmen in the Sierra program, with Six the number-one target. The Gray Man is available to stream via Netflix. Read our full review. PETITE MAMAN Forget the "find someone who looks at you like…" meme. That's great advice in general, and absolutely mandatory if you've ever seen a Céline Sciamma film. No one peers at on-screen characters with as much affection, attention, emotion and empathy as the French director. Few filmmakers even come close, and most don't ever even try. That's been bewitchingly on display in her past features Water Lillies, Tomboy, Girlhood and Portrait of a Lady on Fire, any of which another helmer would kill to have on their resume. It's just as apparent in Petite Maman, her entrancing latest release, as well. Now 15 years into her directorial career, Sciamma's talent for truly seeing into hearts and minds is unshakeable, unparalleled and such a lovely wonder to watch — especially when it shines as sublimely and touchingly as it does here. In Sciamma's new delicate and exquisite masterpiece, the filmmaker follows eight-year-old Nelly (debutant Joséphine Sanz) on a trip to her mother's (Nina Meurisse, Camille) childhood home. The girl's maternal grandmother (Margot Abascal, The Sower) has died, the house needs packing up, and the trip is loaded with feelings on all sides. Her mum wades between sorrow and attending to the task. With melancholy, she pushes back against her daughter's attempts to help, too. Nelly's laidback father (Stéphane Varupenne, Monsieur Chocolat) assists as well, but with a sense of distance; going through the lifelong belongings of someone else's mother, even your spouse's, isn't the same as sifting through your own mum's items for the last time. While her parents work, the curious Nelly roves around the surrounding woods — picture-perfect and oh-so-enticing as they are — and discovers Marion (fellow newcomer Gabrielle Sanz), a girl who could be her twin. Petite Maman is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Read our full review. THIS MUCH I KNOW TO BE TRUE How do you make a concert film when no concerts can be held to film? Australian director Andrew Dominik (Chopper, Killing Them Softly) and his now two-time subjects Nick Cave and Warren Ellis have the answer. How do you create a personal documentary that cuts to the heart of these Aussie music icons when, whether stated or implied in their vibe, both are hardly enamoured with having their lives recorded? Again, see: Dominik's new Cave and Ellis-focused This Much I Know to Be True. Performances in cavernous empty British spaces fill the movie's frames but, via stunning lighting, staging and lensing, they're as dazzling as any IRL gig. The interludes between tunes are brief, and also intimate and revealing. The result: a phenomenal doco that's a portrait of expression, a musing on an exceptional collaboration and a rumination upon existence, as well as a piece of haunting cinematic heaven whether you're an existing Cave and Ellis devotee, a newcomer or something in-between. Dominik, Cave and Ellis initially teamed up when the latter duo scored the former's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Later this year, when upcoming Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde hits screens, the same arrangement will provide its soundtrack. But in the middle sits 2016 doco One More Time with Feeling and now This Much I Know to Be True, as entrancing a pair as the music documentary genre has gifted viewers. The first factual flick found Cave and Ellis recording the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album Skeleton Tree, as Cave also grappled with the death of one of his sons. Here, its follow-up is shaped by the first performances of Cave and Ellis' latest albums — the Bad Seeds 2019 release Ghosteen, and Cave and Ellis' 2021 record Carnage — plus the pandemic and the lingering effects of grief. This Much I Know to Be True is available to stream via Mubi. Read our full review. DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS Somewhere in the multiverse, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is terrific. In a different realm, it's terrible. Here in our dimension, the 28th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe teeters and twirls in the middle. The second movie to focus on surgeon-turned-sorcerer Dr Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog), it's at its best when it embraces everything its director is known for. That said, it's also at its worst when it seems that harnessing Sam Raimi's trademarks — his visual style, bombast, comic tone and Evil Dead background, for instance — is merely another Marvel ploy. Multiverse of Madness is trippy, dark, sports a bleak sense of humour and is as close as the MCU has gotten to horror, all immensely appreciated traits in this sprawling, box office-courting, never-ending franchise. But it stands out for the wrong reasons, too, especially how brazenly it tries to appear as if it's twisting and fracturing the typical MCU template when it definitely isn't. Welcomely weirder than the average superhero flick (although not by too much), but also bluntly calculating: that's Multiverse of Madness, and that's a messy combination. It's apt given its eponymous caped crusader has always hailed from Marvel's looser, goofier and, yes, stranger side since his MCU debut in 2016's plainly titled Doctor Strange; however, it's hard to believe that such formulaic chaos was truly the plan for this follow-up. The last time that audiences saw Stephen Strange, he reluctantly tinkered with things he shouldn't to help Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Those actions had consequences, and recalling Raimi's time with Spidey came with the territory. Strange's reality-bending trickery has repercussions here as well, because Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen, Sorry for Your Loss) isn't thrilled about her fellow super-powered pal's exploits. Yes, Multiverse of Madness assumes viewers have not only watched all 27 past MCU movies, but also its small-screen offshoots — or WandaVision at least, where the enchantress that's also Scarlet Witch broke rules herself and wasn't still deemed a hero. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is available to stream via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. MEN Since popping up over the last decade, the term 'elevated horror' has always been unnecessary. Used to describe The Babadook, It Follows, The Witch, Get Out, Hereditary, Us, Midsommar and more, it pointlessly claims that such unsettling flicks have risen above their genre. Each of these movies is excellent. They all boast weight and depth, trade in metaphors with smarts and savvy, and have style to go with their creeps and thrills. But thinking that's new in horror — that pairing unease with topical woes or societal fears is as well — is as misguided as dubbing Michael Myers a hero. With a name that makes its #MeToo-era point plain, Men has been badged 'elevated', too, yet it also does what horror has at its best and worst cases for decades. That the world can be a nightmare for women at the hands of men isn't a fresh observation, and it's long been a scary movie go-to. Still, Men stresses that fact in an inescapably blunt but also unforgettable manner. Hailing from Ex Machina, Annihilation and Devs' Alex Garland, Men's setting is an English manor, where Harper Marlowe (Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter) hopes for a solo stint of rest, relaxation and recuperation. Processing a tragedy, shattering memories of which haunt the movie as much as its protagonist, she's seeking an escape and a way to start anew. The initial hint that she won't find bliss comes swiftly and obviously, and with a sledgehammer's subtlety. Arriving at an idyllic-looking British countryside estate, Harper is greeted by an apple tree. She plucks one from the abundant branches, then takes a bite. Soon, she's told by her host Geoffrey (Rory Kinnear, Our Flag Means Death) that it's forbidden fruit. He also says he's joking — but in this garden, a woman will again shoulder a society's blame and burdens. Men is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. NUDE TUESDAY Relationships are all about communication. So much about life is, too. And, so is storytelling. With absurdist comedy Nude Tuesday, expressing emotions, connections and narrative details all boils down to two things, though: gibberish and bodies. This extremely amusing New Zealand film from writer/director Armagan Ballantyne (The Strength of Water) and writer/star Jackie van Beek (The Breaker Upperers) does indeed strip its performers bare, as its name makes plain — but it saddles them with conveying almost everything about their characters via body language long before that. The reason: every piece of dialogue spoken in the movie is uttered in gibberish, with completely made-up and wholly improvised words that take a few cues from The Muppets' Swedish Chef in cadence. While they're subtitled in English by British comedian and writer Julia Davis (Camping), that text was penned after shooting, in one of the film's other gleefully silly twists. The result is patently ridiculous, and marvellously so — and hilariously, too. It's such a clever touch, making a movie about marital disharmony and the communication breakdown baked within that's so reliant upon reading tone and posture, as couples on the prowl for the tiniest of micro-aggressions hone in on. Van Beek and Australian The Tourist actor Damon Herriman play that pair, Laura and Bruno. Living on the fictional pacific island of Zǿbftąņ, they're as stuck in a rut as any married, middle-class duo can be, and they're gifted a getaway to ẄØnÐĘULÄ to help. But this mountainside commune, run by the charismatic and lustful sex guru Bjorg Rassmussen (Jemaine Clement, I Used to Go Here), wants them to bare all in multiple ways. The film doesn't live up to its moniker until its last third, but its perceptive and side-splittingly funny from the get-go. Nude Tuesday is available to stream via Stan. Read our full review. THE DROVER'S WIFE THE LEGEND OF MOLLY JOHNSON Leah Purcell's resume isn't short on highlights — think: Black Comedy, Wentworth and Redfern Now, plus Lantana, Somersault and Last Cab to Darwin (to name just a few projects) — but the Goa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka Murri actor, director and writer clearly has a passion project. In 2016, she adapted Henry Lawson's short story The Drover's Wife for the stage. In 2019, she moved it back to the page. Now, she brings it to the big screen via The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson. Only minutes into her searing feature filmmaking debut, why Purcell keeps needing to tell this 19th century-set tale is patently apparent. In her hands, it's a story of anger, power, prejudice and revenge, and also a portrait of a history that's treated both women and Indigenous Australians abhorrently. Aussie cinema hasn't shied away from the nation's problematic past in recent times (see also: Sweet Country, The Nightingale, The Furnace and High Ground); however, this is an unforgettably potent and piercing movie. In a fiery performance that bristles with steeliness, Purcell plays the eponymous and heavily pregnant Molly. In the process, she gives flesh, blood and a name to a character who wasn't ever afforded the latter in Lawson's version: a 19th-century Indigenous Australian woman left alone with her children on a remote property for lengthy stretches while her husband works. During his latest absence, new sergeant Nate Clintoff (Sam Reid, The Newsreader) and Aboriginal fugitive Yadaka (Rob Collins, Firebite) separately venture Molly's way. From there, this sometimes-stagey but always blistering western digs sharply into issues of race, gender and identity — and eagerly, shrewdly and ferociously draws cinematic blood. The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE BOB'S BURGERS MOVIE Across its 12-season order to-date, the best episodes of Bob's Burgers have always resembled exactly what they should: a delicious serving of the meat-and-bread combination that shares the hit sitcom's name. There's a knack to a great burg — to a tastebud-thrilling, so-appetising-I-need-more-now example of this extremely accessible culinary art — and it's all about perfecting the absolute basics. No matter what else gets slotted in (and plenty of other ingredients can), every burger's staples should be the stars of the show. Indeed, a top-notch burg needn't be flashy. It definitely mustn't be overcomplicated, either. And, crucially, it should taste as comforting as wrapping your hands around its buns feels. On the small screen since 2011, Bob's Burgers has kept its version of that very recipe close to its animated, irreverent, gleefully offbeat heart. Unsurprisingly, the show's creators whip up the same kind of dish for The Bob's Burgers Movie, too. It's a winning formula, and creator Loren Bouchard knows not to mess with it while taking his beloved characters to the big screen. As always, the action centres on the film's namesake — the diner where patriarch Bob (H Jon Benjamin, Archer) sizzles up punningly named burgs to both make a living and live out his dream. And, as the show has covered frequently, financial woes mean that Bob and his wife Linda (John Roberts, Gravity Falls) have more to worry about than cooking, serving customers, and their kids Tina (Dan Mintz, Veep), Gene (Eugene Mirman, Flight of the Conchords) and Louise (Kristen Schaal, What We Do in the Shadows). Their solution: a burger, of course. But their bank manager isn't munching when they try to use food to grease their pleas for an extension on their loan. That mortgage also involves their restaurant equipment, leaving them out of business if they can't pay up. As their seven-day time limit to stump up the cash ticks by, Bob sweats over the grill and Linda oozes her usual optimism — only for a sinkhole to form literally at their door. The Bob's Burgers Movie is available to stream via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. HATCHING With a savvily sinister-meets-satirical blend, Hatching begins by unpacking a fallacy as fractured as Humpty Dumpty after the nursery-rhyme character's fall — and that still keeps being lapped up anyway. In suburban Finland, among homes so identical that the song 'Little Boxes' instantly pops into your head, 12-year-old gymnast Tinja (debutant Siiri Solalinna), her younger brother Matias (fellow first-timer Oiva Ollila), and their mother (Sophia Heikkilä, Dual) and father Jani Volanen, Dogs Don't Wear Pants) are living their best lives. More than that, as the soft lensing and music that helps open the movie establishes, they're also beaming that picture of pink, white and pastel-hued domestic perfection to the world. Tinja's unnamed mum is a vlogger, and these scenes are being captured for her cloyingly named blog Lovely Everyday Life. Naturally, showing that this family of four's daily existence is anything but enchanting is one of Bergholm's first aims. In Finnish writer/director Hanna Bergholm's bold and memorable body-horror, twisted fairy tale and dark coming-of-age thriller, the initial crack comes from outside, crashing through the window to ruin a posed shot alight with fake smiles and, of course, being filmed with a selfie stick. Soon, broken glass, vases and lamps are strewn throughout a lounge room so immaculately arranged that it looks straight out of a supermarket-shelf home-and-garden magazine — and the crowning glory, the chandelier, has descended from a luminous pièce de résistance to a shattered mess. A garden-variety crow is the culprit, which Tinja carefully captures. She hands it to her mother, thinking that they'll then release it outside. But her mum, placid but seething that anything could disrupt her manufactured picture of bliss, ignores that idea with a cruel snap and instructions to dispose of the animal in the organic waste. When Tinja disobeys that order, taking the egg into her care, nurturing it tenderly and placing it inside a teddy bear for safe keeping, she gains her own little universe to dote over. Then the egg keeps growing, and a human-sized chick emerges. Hatching is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE INNOCENTS Thanks to his Oscar-nominated work co-penning The Worst Person in the World's screenplay, Eskil Vogt has already helped give the world one devastatingly accurate slice-of-life portrait in the past year. That applauded film is so insightful and relatable about being in your twenties, and also about weathering quarter-life malaise, uncertainty and crisis, that it feels inescapably lifted from reality — and it's sublime. The Innocents, the Norwegian filmmaker's latest movie, couldn't be more different in tone and narrative; however, it too bears the fingerprints of achingly perceptive and deep-seated truth. Perhaps that should be mindprints, though. Making his second feature as a director after 2014's exceptional Blind, Vogt hones in on childhood, and on the way that kids behave with each other when adults are absent or oblivious — and on tykes and preteens who can wreak havoc solely using their mental faculties. Another riff on Firestarter, this thankfully isn't. The Innocents hasn't simply jumped on the Stranger Things bandwagon, either. Thanks to the latter, on-screen tales about young 'uns battling with the supernatural are one of Hollywood's current favourite trends — see also: the awful Ghostbusters: Afterlife — but all that this Nordic horror movie's group of kids are tussling with is themselves. Their fight starts when nine-year-old Ida (debutant Rakel Lenora Fløttum) and her 11-year-old sister Anna (fellow first-timer Alva Brynsmo Ramstad), who is on the autism spectrum, move to an apartment block in Romsås, Oslo with their mother (Blind's Ellen Dorrit Petersen) and father (Morten Svartveit, Ninjababy). It's summer, the days are long, and the two girls are largely left to their own devices outside in the complex's communal spaces. That's where Ida befriends Aisha (Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim) and Ben (Sam Ashraf), albeit not together, and starts to learn about their abilities. The Innocents to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. ITHAKA To look at John Shipton is to see the obvious, even if you've never laid eyes upon him before. The family resemblance is immediately clear, and the traits that've likely been passed down from father to son — determination and persistence, blatantly — become apparent within minutes. Shipton needs to be resolute for the battle that documentary Ithaka captures. It's a fight that's been waged for a decade now, publicly, and not just in embassies and courtrooms but across news headlines worldwide. He's visibly Julian Assange's dad, and he's been helping spearhead the campaign for the WikiLeaks founder's release. Assange fell afoul of US authorities in 2010, when his non-profit whistleblower organisation published documents about the American military's war crimes leaked by army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. As Ithaka makes plain, The Guardian, The New York Times and Der Spiegel revealed the same information at the same time; however, only Assange now sits in London's Belmarsh prison. Plenty about the past 12 years since Manning's leaks were exposed to the world is filled with numbers. Plenty about the ten years this June since Assange first took refuge in the Embassy of Ecuador in London is as well. The Australian editor and publisher spent almost seven years in that diplomatic space, seeking political asylum from sexual misconduct allegations in Sweden that he contended would be used to extradite him to America. If the US succeeds in its efforts, and in its espionage charges against him, he faces up to 175 years in incarceration. The list of figures goes on, but filmmaker Ben Lawrence (Hearts and Bones) makes two pivotal choices. Firstly, he surveys Assange's current struggle not through the Aussie himself, but through both Shipton and Stella Moris, his South African-born lawyer and now wife. Secondly, although those aforementioned numbers are inescapable, the riveting and affecting Ithaka brings humanity to this well-publicised plight. Ithaka is available to stream via ABC iview. Read our full review. ABLAZE A documentary that's deeply personal for one of its directors, intensely powerful in surveying Australia's treatment of its First Peoples and crucial in celebrating perhaps the country's first-ever Aboriginal filmmaker, Ablaze makes for astonishing viewing. But while watching, two ideas jostle for attention. Both remain unspoken, yet each is unshakeable. Firstly, if the history of Australia had been different, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta man William 'Bill' Onus would be a household name. If that was the case, not only his work behind the camera, but his activism for Indigenous Aussies at a time when voting and even being included in the census wasn't permitted — plus his devotion to ensuring that white Australians were aware of the nation's colonial violence — would be as well-known as Captain Cook. That said, if history had been better still, Bill wouldn't have needed to fight so vehemently, or at all. Alas, neither of those possibilities came to a fruition. Ablaze can't change the past, but it can and does document it with a hope to influencing how the world sees and appreciates Bill's part in it. Indeed, shining the spotlight on its subject, everything his life stood for, and all that he battled for and against is firmly and proudly the feature's aim. First-time filmmaker Tiriki Onus looks back on his own grandfather, narrating his story as well — and, as aided by co-helmer Alec Morgan (Hunt Angels, Lousy Little Sixpence), the result is a movie brimming with feeling, meaning and importance. While Aussie cinema keeps reckoning with the nation's history regarding race relations, as it should and absolutely must, Ablaze is as potent and essential as everything from Sweet Country, The Nightingale and The Australian Dream to The Furnace, High Ground and The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson. Ablaze is available to stream via ABC iview, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA The movies have come to Downton Abbey and Violet Crawley, the acid-tongued Dowager Countess of Grantham so delightfully played by Maggie Smith (The Lady in the Van) since 2010, is none too fussed about it. "Hard same," all but the most devoted fans of the upstairs-downstairs TV drama may find themselves thinking as she expresses that sentiment — at least where Downton Abbey: A New Era, an exercise in extending the series/raking in more box-office cash, is concerned. Violet, as only she can, declares she'd "rather eat pebbles" than watch a film crew at work within the extravagant walls of her family's home. The rest of us mightn't be quite so venomous, but that's not the same as being entertained. The storyline involving said film crew is actually one of the most engaging parts of A New Era; however, the fact that much of it is clearly ripped off from cinematic classic Singin' in the Rain speaks volumes, and gratingly. A New Era begins with a wedding, picking up where its predecessor left off as former chauffeur Tom Branson (Allen Leech, Bohemian Rhapsody) marries Lucy Smith (Tuppence Middleton, Mank) with everyone expected — the well-to-do Crawleys and their relatives, plus their maids, butlers, cooks, footmen and other servants — in attendance. But the film really starts with two revelations that disrupt the Downton status quo. Firstly, Violet receives word that she's inherited a villa in the south of France from an ex-paramour, who has recently passed away. His surviving wife (Nathalie Baye, Call My Agent!) is displeased with the arrangement, threatening lawsuits, but his son (Jonathan Zaccaï, The White Crow) invites the Crawleys to visit to hash out the details. Secondly, a movie production wants to use Downton for a shoot, which the pragmatic Lady Mary Talbot (Michelle Dockery, Anatomy of a Scandal) talks the family into because — paralleling the powers-that-be behind A New Era itself — the aristocratic brood would like the money. Downton Abbey: A New Era is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. FIRESTARTER Would the latest big-screen adaptation of Stephen King's Firestarter have been better or worse if it had included The Prodigy's hit of the same name, aka the most obvious needle-drop that could've been chosen? Although we'll never know, it's hard to imagine a film with less personality than this page-to-screen remake. Using the 1996 dance-floor filler would've been a choice and a vibe — and a cliched one, whether gleefully or lazily — but it might've been preferable to the dull ashes of by-the-numbers genre filmmaking from director Keith Thomas (The Vigil) that's hit screens instead. Zac Efron looking so bored that blood drips from his eyes, dressing up King's 1980 story as a superhero tale (because of course) and having its pyrokinetic protagonist say "liar liar, pants on fire" when she's torching someone aren't a recipe for igniting movie magic, or for even occasionally just lighting a spark. As the first version of Firestarter in 1984 did, and King's book as well, Firestarter follows the McGee family, whose lives would blaze brighter if they didn't have abilities most folks don't. After volunteering for a clinical trial in college, Andy (Efron, Gold) and his wife Vicky (Sydney Lemmon, Fear the Walking Dead) have telepathic and telekinetic powers; being experimented on with mind-altering chemical compounds will do that. And, from birth, their now 11-year-old daughter Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong, It: Chapter Two) has been able to start fires with her mind. Unsurprisingly, the McGees have spent years attempting to blend in, hiding their powers and fleeing the shady government department, The Shop, that's responsible for their situation — and now sports a keen interest in using Charlie as a weapon. Then she literally explodes at school, The Shop head honcho Captain Hollister (Gloria Reuben, City on a Hill) puts bounty hunter John Rainbird (Michael Greyeyes, Rutherford Falls) on their trail and the heat is on. (No, that track from Beverly Hills Cop, which reached cinemas the same year that the OG Firestarter did, doesn't feature here either.) Firestarter is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. HOW TO PLEASE A WOMAN When Magic Mike stripped its way into cinemas a decade ago, it didn't just turn Channing Tatum's IRL background into a movie and give his chiselled torso oh-so-much attention; it understood that women like sex, boast libidos and have desires, too. Its sequel, Magic Mike XXL, doubled down on that idea, and winningly so — even if the saga dances with a notion so blatant that it definitely shouldn't feel revelatory to see it thrust front and centre in a big-budget Hollywood film. There's no trace of Tatum in How to Please a Woman, and it has nothing to do with the saucy franchise that has a third flick on the way, but this Aussie comedy nonetheless follows in Magic Mike's footsteps. Here, women also like sex, boast libidos and have desires, and that's something that the stuck-in-a-rut Gina (Sally Phillips, Off the Rails) turns into a lucrative business. When first-time feature writer/director Renée Webster begins her sunnily shot, eagerly crowd-pleasing leap to the big screen — following helming gigs on TV's The Heights and Aftertaste — Gina's relationship with sex is non-existent. She has long been wed to lawyer Adrian (Cameron Daddo, Home and Away), but he still thinks that having a tumble on their last holiday years ago is enough bedroom action to keep their marriage going. Gina's resigned to that fact, too, until her ocean swimming club pals book her a stripping surprise for her birthday. Tom (Alexander England, Little Monsters) shows up at her door, starts gyrating and undressing, and says he'll do whatever she wants. Although her friends are later horrified, Gina asks him to clean her house instead — and its their eagerness to truly take Tom up on his offer that inspires a plan to turn a removalist company she thinks she can save into a male escort service, covering scrubbing and shagging alike. How to Please a Woman is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. HELMUT NEWTON: THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL One of the great treats in Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful stems from perhaps the film's simplest move: letting viewers peer at the often-provocative photographer's works in such a large format. Being able to do just that is the reason why the Exhibition On Screen series of movies exists, surveying showcases dedicated to artists such as Vincent van Gogh, David Hockney and Frida Kahlo over the years — and this documentary isn't part of that, but it understands the same idea. There's nothing like staring at an artist's work to understand what makes them tick. Writer/director Gero von Boehm (Henry Miller: Prophet of Desire) fills The Bad and the Beautiful with plenty more, from archival footage to recent interviews, but it'd all ring empty without seeing the imagery captured by Newton's lens firsthand. Every word that's said about the German photographer, or by him, is deepened by roving your eyes across the frequently contentious snaps that he sent Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Playboy and other magazines' ways. Those photos aren't run-of-the-mill fashion pics. Largely, the highly stylised images are of naked women — naked famous women, if not then then now, such as Isabella Rossellini, Charlotte Rampling, Grace Jones and Claudia Schiffer — and they're as fetishistic as the artform gets. They're the kinds of snaps that saw Susan Sontag call Newton out for being a misogynist to his face, as seen in a French TV clip featured in the film. The Bad and the Beautiful is an affectionate doco, but it also dives headfirst into the trains of thought that his work has sparked for decades. Anna Wintour explains that when someone books Newton, "you're not going to get a pretty girl on a beach". Women who posed for him, including the aforementioned stars, plus Marianne Faithfull, Arja Toyryla, Nadja Auermann and Hanna Schygulla, all talk through their differing experiences as well — and the portrait painted is varied. Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. LAST SEEN ALIVE Perhaps the most positive thing that can be said about Last Seen Alive is this: it's definitely a Gerard Butler-starring kidnapping thriller. That isn't meant as praise, though; rather, the film simply manages to be exactly what viewers would expect given its star and premise. There's clearly far less cash behind it than the also-terrible trio of Olympus Has Fallen, London Has Fallen and Angel Has Fallen — or Geostorm, Den of Thieves, Hunter Killer and Greenland among the Scottish actor's career lowlights over the past decade, either. There's visibly less effort, too, and more of a phoning-it-in vibe. The second collaboration between actor-turned-filmmaker Brian Goodman (What Doesn't Kill You) and producer/writer Marc Frydman after 2017's Black Butterfly, it plays like something that a streaming platform's algorithm might spit out in an AI-driven future where new movies are swiftly spliced together from pieces of past flicks. Yes, among Butler's output and with its abduction storyline, it's that derivative. Butler plays Will Spann, a real estate developer who already isn't having a great day when the film begins — but it's about to get worse. He's driving his unhappy wife Lisa (Jaimie Alexander, Loki) to her parents' home, where she's keen to decamp to find herself and take a break from their marriage, and Will is desperate to convince her to change her plans en route. His charm offensive isn't working when they stop at a petrol station mere minutes away from their destination, and he has zero charisma for anyone when Lisa unexpectedly disappears while he's filling the tank. Fuming that local police detective Paterson (Russell Hornsby, Lost in Space) hasn't just dropped everything immediately, and that he also has questions about their relationship, Will decides to chase down any lead he can himself. Meanwhile, Lisa's unsurprisingly wary parents (Queen Bees' Cindy Hogan and Master's Bruce Altman) direct their suspicions his way. Last Seen Alive is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. INTERCEPTOR Four decades back, Interceptor would've happily sat on a crowded video-store shelf alongside a wealth of other mindless, machismo-fuelled action thrillers. It would've been the epitome of one of the genre's straight-to-VHS flicks, in fact. Don't just call it a throwback, though; instead of testosterone oozing from every actor within sight, except perhaps a token wife worrying at home, this nuclear attack movie from Australian author Matthew Reilly focuses on a woman making waves in a male-dominated world. That's firmly a 2022 move, reflecting today's gender politics. So too is the fact that said protagonist, US Army Captain JJ Collins (Elsa Pataky, Tidelands), has just been reassigned after putting in a sexual harassment complaint against one of her past superiors. Don't go thinking that Interceptor doesn't tick every other box its 80s counterparts did, however. It couldn't lean harder on all of the cliches that've ever been involved with world-in-peril, military-driven movies, and with action fare at its most inane in general. A global success for his airport novels, writer Reilly doesn't just turn screenwriter here — with assistance from Collateral, Tomorrow, When the War Began and Obi-Wan Kenobi's Stuart Beattie — but also jumps behind the lens for the first time. Alas, his directorial instincts prove as flat and by-the-numbers as Interceptor's wanly boilerplate plot, as well as its clunky-as-clunky dialogue. And, that storyline really couldn't be more formulaic. In her new post on a remote platform in the Pacific Ocean, Collins soon finds herself under attack by terrorists led by the grating Alexander Kessel (Luke Bracey, Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan). Her sea-surrounded station is one of two sites, alongside Alaska's Fort Greely, that can intercept a nuclear warhead launch on the US. Naturally, Kessel and his men have already taken out the other one, and have also pilfered nukes from the Russians in their possession. Interceptor is available to stream via Netflix. Read our full review. FATHER STU The last time that Mark Wahlberg played a real-life boxer, The Fighter was the end result. The last time that Mel Gibson played the burger-chain owner's father, the world was forced to suffer through Daddy's Home 2. Combine this mismatched pair and you don't quite get Father Stu, the former Marky Mark's first step into faith-based films — but even watching the latter, the second instalment in his woeful comedy franchise with Will Ferrell, is preferable to this mawkish true tale. Drawn from the IRL Stuart Long's life, it's meant to be an inspirational affair, covering the familiar religious-favourite beats about sinners being redeemed, wayward souls seizing second chances and learning to accept physical suffering as a chance to get closer to the divine. First-time feature writer/director Rosalind Ross is earnest about those messages, and her film visibly looks more competent than most sermon-delivering recent cinema releases, but what preaching-to-the-choir sentiments they are. How ableist they are as well. When Wahlberg (Uncharted) first graces the screen as Long, he could've stepped in from plenty of his other movies. In his younger days, the titular future priest is a foul-mouthed amateur boxer from Montana, but he has big dreams — and when he hits Los Angeles with acting stars in his eyes, viewers can be forgiven for thinking of Boogie Nights. Porn isn't Long's calling, of course, although salacious propositions do come his way in the City of Angels, in one of the film's hardly subtle efforts to equate the secular and the sordid. It's actually lust that pushes the feature's protagonist on the path to the priesthood, however, after he spies volunteer Sunday school teacher Carmen (Teresa Ruiz, The Marksman) while he's working in a grocery store. To have a chance with her, he even gets baptised. Then, a drink-driving accident brings a vision of the Virgin Mary, sparking Long's determination to make Catholicism his calling. Next, a shock health diagnosis both tests and cements his faith. Father Stu is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. Looking for more at-home viewing options? Take a look at our monthly streaming recommendations across new straight-to-digital films and TV shows — and our best new TV shows, returning TV shows and straight-to-streaming movies from the first half of 2022. Or, check out the movies that were fast-tracked to digital in January, February, March, April, May and June.
2020 has thrown many tough questions our way but, for Queenslanders, quite the conundrum is currently upon us. When the state's indoor dance floors reopen — which is allowed to happen from midday on Monday, December 14, as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk just announced — what fancy footwork will you bust out? Which go-to dance move will you use? And what song to do you want to make shapes to? For much of this year, as we've noted several times before, Queensland has resembled the town from Footloose. Kevin Bacon wasn't here, sadly, but dancing was forbidden. That's been changing in recent months, though, with outdoor dancing at music festivals and in beer gardens — and at weddings — permitted since mid-November. Being able to cut a rug indoors is the next step, however, and it is finally here. Whether you want to shake a leg at a pub, club or nightclub, it doesn't matter — they're all allowed to reopen their dance floors. There is a caveat, though, with the one person per two-square-metres rule applying. So you'll be tripping the light fantastic in a socially distanced fashion. https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1336798511791140864 And if you're wondering about the timing of the news — and of dancing inside making a comeback — yes, the fact that it's the most festive and celebratory part of the year has something to do with it. Health and Ambulance Services Minister Yvette D'Ath said that "it is because of everyone's hard work and cooperation with public health directions that we will now be able to can-can at Christmas parties and rock around the clock as it strikes 12 on New Year's Eve". Obviously, you can choose other dance styles (and other ways to describe your dancing), if you prefer. Queensland has now hit 86 days without community transmission of COVID-19, and currently has 22 active cases. For more information about southeast Queensland's COVID-19 restrictions, or about the status of COVID-19 in the state, visit the Qld COVID-19 hub and the Queensland Health website.
At Boho Luxe Market (the event's term, not ours), Byron Bay comes to Brisbane. Well, the beachy New South Wales spot's general vibe does at least. Forgoing the trappings of the city for bohemian fashion, jewellery, homewares and the like is on the market's agenda, and has been since it made the jump from Melbourne to Brisbane in 2019. Clearly we responded well to three days of dreamcatchers and flower crowns, because it keeps coming back again and again. If that sounds like your kind of thing, then block out Friday, July 8–Sunday, July 10 in your diary for the market's winter dates. The Boho Luxe Market will head to The Old Museum for a weekend of browsing and buying, food trucks, live music and more. Usually there's also be a dedicated vegan section, plus a kombi display and glamping providers tempting you into booking your next holiday — so fingers crossed they'll return. Entry costs $5 per day or $10 for all three. Drop by and pretend you're somewhere quiet and coastal on Friday from 5pm–9pm, Saturday from 9am–5pm, and Sunday from 9am–3pm.
Apologies to your usual streaming queue — and to everything from the past month you're still trying to catch up with, too — but if you're a horror fan, there's only one acceptable way to spend your viewing time during October. Filling every spare second with unnerving flicks new and old is what the lead up to Halloween is all about. Scary movies work all year round, of course, but this is their season. Here's one to add to your list for your next couch session: Jordan Peele's Nope, the comedian-turned-filmmaker's third stint behind the camera, and a movie that's just as great as his Oscar-winning Get Out and equally exceptional Us. Yep, when it comes to making the leap from an iconic sketch comedy series to helming horror fare — and having a hand in bringing everything from BlacKkKlansman and the ace latest Candyman flick to Hunters and Lovecraft Country to our eyeballs, too — the former Key & Peele has been having a helluva time of it. Nope only hit cinemas in mid-August, and it's actually still showing on the big screen — so it joins the list of films that've been fast-tracked to digital while still gracing picture palaces. That's no longer a rarity, given that everything from Dune, The Matrix Resurrections, Spencer and West Side Story through to Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and Elvis have done the same thing this year. Still, the timing of this digital release couldn't be better, especially if you've spent the first few days of October working out which chilling movies you're going to enjoy all month. The film reteams Peele with Get Out star and Judas and the Black Messiah Oscar-winner Daniel Kaluuya, with the latter playing Haywood's Hollywood Horses trainer OJ. His family ranch is proudly run by the only Black-owned horse trainers in show business (with Hustlers' Keke Palmer as his sister Emerald), with their connection to the industry dating back to the very birth of cinema. But their remote patch of inland California soon becomes home to a disturbing discovery — and the fact that everyone spends a fair amount of time either looking up in horror or running away from something chilling in the sky in the trailers says plenty. Emerald decides that they need to capture what's happening on film, which is where Michael Wincott (Veni Vidi Vici) and Brandon Perea (The OA) come in — one charged with standing behind the lens, the other selling tech equipment. And, the Haywoods aren't the only California residents seeing this uncanny presence in the sky, with neighbour, rodeo cowboy and former child star Ricky 'Jupe' Park (Steven Yeun, The Humans) also peering upwards. As with all of Peele's celluloid nightmares so far, the less you know going in, the better. Get ready for a whirlwind of unsettling imagery, though, including fields of colourful inflatable tube men waving in the breeze, the creepiest of clouds and shadows, and a big leap into X-Files territory. Check out the full trailer for Nope below: Nope is currently screening in Australian cinemas (and NZ cinemas), and is also available to stream online via video on demand — including via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video in Australia, and Neon, Google Play and iTunes in NZ. Read our full review.
Australia's toast game just levelled up with a little help from our neighbours across the ditch. If you're a fan of slathering nut butters across slices of heated bread, then you've likely heard of cult-favourite Wellington brand Fix & Fogg — and instead of stuffing your suitcases with their products when you're coming back from a New Zealand holiday, you can now head to Woolworths to pick up ten different types. Woolies already stocked two Fix & Fogg products: Everything Butter, which combines a bit of everything as the name suggests (aka hemp, chia, sesame, sunflower, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts and almonds), plus granola butter (which is made with toasted South Island oats, cashew nuts, coconut, sunflower seeds, chia seeds and peanuts). Joining them are multiple types and sizes of peanut butter, plus a range of other creative flavours. Peanut butter and jelly in a jar, anyone? If you're all about the OG peanut butter by itself, you can go smooth or crunchy in either 375-gram and 750-gram jars. Or, there's the chilli and paprika-spiced Smoke and Fire peanut butter in 275-gram containers, as well as choc berry and almond-heavy versions of the Everything Butter. In Australia, you'll now find the ten Fix & Fogg varieties at all 990 Woolies locations nationwide from today, Monday, August 15. For folks new to Fix & Fogg, it makes the type of nut butters that you'll easily want to eat by the spoonful, sans toast — which is one of the reasons that the company has evolved from selling its wares at Wellington markets to picking up a huge homegrown and now international following. Fix & Fogg's expanded presence at Woolies comes after the brand hit the US in a big way in 2021, getting stocked at 3500 Whole Foods stores around the country. Find ten of Fix & Fogg's nut butters on Woolworths shelves from Monday, August 15.
Beach culture is such an integral part of Australian life, but so many of our nation's most iconic and celebrated coastal areas aren't really at their best during the cooler months. Luckily, Brisbane doesn't suffer such issues, particularly the suburb of Manly, located just half an hour from the CBD. Here, there are plenty of attractions to keep you entertained, from The Manly Hotel (fresh off a multimillion renovation) to the group of performers making a song and dance on a tiny island. Intrigued? Keep reading to find out the best Manly has to offer. Where To Eat: The Manly Hotel, Frankie's Coffee Bar, The Arsonist Just a stone's throw from the Royal Esplanade and Manly Boat Harbour, The Manly Hotel has everything you could want from a modern pub, dishing out elevated classics and local produce by the plate. The Brisbane institution has been serving schooners and schnitties since 1960 and has three areas that each offer a slightly different vibe, all recently refreshed with a $7 million renovation to elevate the offering to any diner. The restaurant has all the trappings of a sit-down meal — think chilled Moreton Bay bugs, Coffin Bay oysters and prawn spring rolls to start and pub classics for mains. The courtyard is filled with light and atmosphere to soak up as you sip local brews (like a glass of Green Beacon) and specialty cocktails — take the Lavender Collins; made with Bombay Sapphire gin, Husk Ink gin, lemon juice, sugar syrup and lavender syrup garnished with lavender sticks. For a third option, the inner terrace has three giant screens playing a live sport, ideal for cheering on the Maroons during State of Origin season. You'll probably want to start your day with a coffee, though, and a short hop north of Manly is the suburb of Wynnum, where you'll find Frankie's Coffee Bar. This cosy oasis offers single-origin pours, cold brew on tap, and beetroot, turmeric or matcha lattes alongside the more traditional offerings you'd expect. There's also a range of pastries, toasties and muffins if you're feeling peckish. Who is Frankie, you might wonder? Well, Frankie is the cafe dog — an American staffy cross rescued from the pound by cafe owners Ross and Sarah. Unsurprisingly, your own four-legged friend is also more than welcome. Caffeine in the morning and casual beers in the late arvo are pretty much the cornerstones of Aussie culture, but if you want to take it up a notch, then Manly has you covered. Slightly intimidatingly named, The Arsonist is a fine-dining experience unlike anything you've experienced before. All food is cooked over a custom-made fire pit (hence the restaurant name), meaning you're hit with the comforting aroma of smoky flames as soon as you walk into the restaurant. There's a smoke-themed cocktail menu where you can sample delights such as a short rib old fashioned with smoked honey, and the food options are just as inventive. Even the most cursory glance at the menu reveals mouth-watering treats like rye sourdough with smoked brisket butter, coal-roasted lamb rump with smoked eggplant, and suckling pig with fig relish and celeriac rémoulade. As you'd expect, bookings are essential. [caption id="attachment_957691" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] SaintM Photos via iStock[/caption] What To Do: Markets by the Sea Aside from the formidable sand and surf, where Manly really excels is its markets and there are two must-sees on the beachfront: the Jan Powers Farmers Markets and the Manly Creative Markets. Queensland food icon Jan Powers founded Brisbane's first farmers markets at the tail-end of the 20th century, and they can now be found in three separate locations across Brisbane. The Manly iteration takes place year-round on the first and third Saturday morning of the month and fulfils Powers' passion for connecting local people to local produce. Manly Creative Markets has called Manly's Esplanade home since it first opened in the 90s. Running every Sunday morning, the markets offer you the chance to browse art, fashion, and artisanal products locally made by talented creators. There's also live music and kids' attractions to add to the feel-good ambience, as well as a range of pop-up food stalls to ensure you're well-fed. [caption id="attachment_957692" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Saint Helena Island — Kgbo via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] What To See: Wynnum Manly Yacht Club, St Helena Island At Wynnum Manly Yacht Club, there's far more on offer than just sailing. Yes, as the name suggests, you can certainly engage in yacht racing on the big blue if that's your bag, and there's arguably nowhere better to do it in Brisbane. But for the more casual day-tripper who might not know their starboard from their port, there are activities with a slightly lower barrier to entry. Fishing, kayaking and dragon boats are all possible from the marina and that's before you even mention the purest and best form of recreation there is: a good, old-fashioned dip in the ocean. If you're feeling ambitious on your visit and want to venture slightly further afield, then St Helena Island is the place for you. Just a 30-minute ferry ride from Manly, St Helena Island has a museum on the site of the former 19th-century penal colony and Queensland's first passenger tramcar service. There are also beautiful areas to relax, picnic and enjoy the sea views. There are guided tours to give you the full and fascinating history of the island, but what's not quite so expected is the theatre troupe that provides a dramatic retelling of island history for a truly unique and immersive experience. The Manly Hotel is open for dining every day from 11.30am. Accommodation is currently undergoing renovations but will reopen for bookings in late 2024. For more information, visit the website. Top image: The Manly Hotel
Some voices could utter anything and make it sound interesting, and David Attenborough's is one of them. That said, that's not why the iconic British broadcaster has become such a trusted and beloved figure in the nature documentary world. His involvement in any project that roves over, probes and ponders the planet we all live on is the ultimate stamp of approval. Whether he's narrating Planet Earth, The Blue Planet, their sequels, a stampede of other series or film David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet, his participation always means more than merely his vocal tones echoing across exceptional imagery — it means astute science-backed insights paired with a first-rate spectacle. When it initially arrived in 2022, becoming one of the year's best new shows and giving nature doco fans the five-episode series they didn't know they'd always wanted — and simultaneously couldn't believe hadn't been made until now — Prehistoric Planet followed that formula perfectly. And it is a formula. In a genre that's frequently spying the wealth of patterns at the heart of the animal realm, documentaries such as The Living Planet, State of the Planet, Frozen Planet, Our Planet, Seven Worlds, One Planet, A Perfect Planet, Green Planet and the like all build from the same basic elements. Jumping back 66 million years, capitalising upon advancements in special effects but committing to making a program just like anything that peers at the earth today was never going to feel like the easy product of a template, though. Indeed, Prehistoric Planet's first season was stunning, and its second is just as staggering. Again, Prehistoric Planet 2 streams via Apple TV+. Again, it's also dropping its five instalments over five nights, this time screening across Monday, May 22–Friday, May 26. And, each chapter again heroes a different environment and the ancient creatures that called it home. This second go-around starts with the inhabitants of earth's islands during the Cretaceous age, then moves to the badlands, primarily focusing on areas with volcanic activity. Next, hopping between continents, the show gets swampy. After that comes a dive into the oceans, followed by a journey to one particular patch of terrain: North America. The catch, in both season one and this return trip backwards: while breathtaking landscape footage brings the planet's terrain to the Prehistoric Planet series, the critters stalking, swimming, flying and tumbling across it are purely pixels. Filmmaker Jon Favreau remains among the show's executive producers, and the technology that brought his photorealistic versions of The Jungle Book and The Lion King to cinemas couldn't be more pivotal. Seeing needs to be believing while watching, because the big-screen gloss of the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World sagas, the puppets of 90s sitcom Dinosaurs, and the animatronics of Walking with Dinosaurs — or anything in-between — were never going to suit a program with Attenborough as a guide. Accordingly, to sit down to Prehistoric Planet is to experience cognitive dissonance: viewers are well-aware that what they're seeing isn't real because the animals seen no longer exist, but it truly looks that authentic. Still set to a rousing score by acclaimed composer Hans Zimmer (now fresh from Top Gun: Maverick) with Bleeding Fingers Music's Anže Rozman and Kara Talve, Prehistoric Planet 2 also expands its focus beyond season one's creatures, aka all the regular dinos that everyone grew up knowing. Familiar beasts still walk through the series' frames, accompanied by new titbits about their lives and behaviour — feathered raptor babies prove both cute and clever, for instance — but honing in on new animals feels as revelatory as it's meant to. One such critter earns episode two's attention, with the Indian sauropod isisaurus first observed as mothers-to-be trekking through gas and avoiding lava to lay eggs in volcanic ash, then seen as hatchlings navigating the treacherous spot to return to the herd. Visually, with painterly backdrops that look otherworldly because fiery mountains always do (see also: Oscar-nominated documentary Fire of Love), the time spent with these plant-eating, long-necked dinos is as beautiful as anything the show has ever delivered. The isisaurus boasts ample company, each making their moments and episodes gleam in different ways. When the island-centric first season-two episode shows the dance-like mating ritual of the hatzegopteryx — the heaviest animal to ever fly — against pristine white sands and an ocean backdrop, it too stands out. So do the towering pterosaurs anyway with their 12-metre wingspans, of course. Also on the list: the pachycephalosaurus with their colourful dome-shaped skulls, as often seen butting against each other, and the displays of combat between clashing triceratops. Dinosaurs, they're just like people: always trying to leave an impression, claim their turf and find companionship. During the chapter dedicated to swamps, prehistoric frog beelzebufo — also known as devil toad — croaks to find love, too. As its presence demonstrates, and the hatzegopteryx as well, dinos aren't the only creatures in Prehistoric Planet's jam-packed return. The ocean instalment is especially fond of ammonites, devoting much of its running time to the molluscs' life cycle and graceful movements through the underwater deep, while mammals, bony fish, flightless seabirds, primitive ducks, million-strong swarms of flies and vegetarian crocodiles all make an appearance. Surveying a broader range of the animals calling earth home before the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction event doesn't just help prolong the program and ideally open the doors for even more seasons to follow; it's an aptly thoughtful touch. Every episode may begin with Attenborough surrounded by fossils, but there's far more to prehistoric life and to scientific learnings about the period than the familiar — artefacts and critters alike. In season two, context isn't only relegated to each chapter's introduction. Moving season one's post-show forays into the facts behind the imagery into the show itself, every nightly segment now ends with expert talking heads — from Prehistoric Planet's consultants, London's Natural History Museum and beyond — chatting through the data and discoveries backing up everything viewers have just seen. That too is an intelligent move, because the longer anyone watches this series, takes in its Attenborough-voiced insights and becomes immersed in life oh-so-far back, the more they want to learn. Move over Jurassic Park — this is the best dino franchise now. Check out the trailer for Prehistoric Planet's second season below: Prehistoric Planet season two premieres via Apple TV+ across Monday, May 22–Friday, May 26, with a new episode available to stream each day. Read our full review of Prehistoric Planet season one, and read our interview with executive producer Mike Gunton and series producer Tim Walker about season two.
With his first feature, Samoa-born, New Zealand-based writer/director Miki Magasiva is living the filmmaking dream, all by championing what's important in his culture. Tinā, about a grieving mother who takes a job at a private school after the Christchurch earthquakes change her life forever, premiered at the Hawai'i International Film Festival late in 2024. Just over six months later, it's a homegrown hit that's earned so much affection from audiences in Aotearoa that the picture is now one of the most-successful NZ films in history. Sitting in sixth place as at mid-April 2025, Tinā is behind only Taika Waititi's Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Boy, then The World's Fastest Indian, Once Were Warriors and Whale Rider. For the year so far overall, it's second to A Minecraft Movie at the New Zealand box office. Taking on her first lead role after decades as an actor — on-screen, see: The Market, One Thousand Ropes, The Changeover, Filthy Rich, The Breaker Upperers, The Justice of Bunny King, Our Flag Means Death, The Rule of Jenny Pen and more — Anapela Polataivao wasn't envisaging this reaction, after she initially came onboard Tinā to help with the movie's development process without knowing that Magasiva had plans for to star. "Let's just say I did not anticipate this kind of response," she tells Concrete Playground. "You do the work and then you walk away and hope for the best, but this has been a continual — the response has been incredible, and mainly from our people, who are so appreciative of the work. And also a lot of the comments also are about their pride in the work, and visibility and for them being seen in our stories. So that's a great compliment." Did Magasiva foresee that Tinā, which takes its title from "mother" in Samoan, would strike such a chord? "Yes and no," he advises. "We were confident we had an initial script that people would enjoy watching. And then once we did the first round of edits, we knew we were onto something good that people would want to go and watch. However, having said that, the eventual response that we've gotten so far has been far beyond what we expected." "Touching on what Bels has just said before, you make these films and then you think 'that's it, my job's done. I'll just send it off — and if people go watch it, great. And if people don't go watch it, well, that's fine, too. We can't help that.' But having people come up to us and talk about their experiences, transformational experiences with family members and themselves, having gone through watching the film, is just way beyond what we ever expected. And so it's just been this really massive surprise for us that we're just so overwhelmed by and thankful for." Screening in Australian cinemas since Thursday, May 1, following its NZ release on Thursday, February 27, Tinā's origins mirror plenty of other movies in one regard: art imitating life. That said, Magasiva combined inspiration from IRL choir contest The Big Sing, the New Zealand choral festival for high schools that's been running for over 30 years, with not only tapping into Samoan culture but paying tribute to both the importance of connection and the leadership role of mothers. Mareta Percival, the heartwarming film's fictional protagonist, dotes on her daughter when the feature begins, encouraging her to make the most of her singing talents. Then tragedy strikes. While grappling with her loss, substitute teaching at a wealthy school becomes a necessity — and starting a choir that croons Samoan tunes proves a much-needed move for Mareta and her new pupils alike, even if some in the privileged community that's barely letting her in are vocal in their opposition. Tinā sits on Magasiva's resume after decades in the business as well, including earning acclaim for his shorts — Rites of Courage arrived in 2005, then Uso in 2006 — and working in television. The Panthers, of which he helmed two episodes, was the first-ever New Zealand TV drama series to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival. On We Are Still Here, an anthology feature directed by Indigenous filmmakers from New Zealand and Australia that opened the 2022 Sydney Film Festival, he was one of the behind-the-camera talents. His success with Tinā is far from overnight, then, but it might not have happened if he hadn't been so moved by online The Big Sing footage. With Magasiva and Polataivao, we also explored the journey from Tinā's first sparks to the tale that viewers are now being so touched by in cinemas — a story that puts the importance of moving forward collectively at its core; that is shaped by grief, and understands how mourning is so personal yet universal; and that also centres navigating cultural differences as a warm, hopeful film, while not shying away from the impact of attitudes of prejudice. And, we unpacked how Polataivo came to be its lead, what that achievement means to her, how Magasiva built Tinā's cast around its star and more. On Finding Inspiration for the Film in Online Footage of High School Choirs Miki: "It was hearing the choir performing. We grew up in churches, Samoan churches, listening to choirs, so we know it well. We have this sort nostalgic memory anytime we hear all of our old church choir songs. And so when I saw that, I was just so emotionally moved. I almost cried watching that video or that YouTube clip. I just thought that would make a great premise. I thought 'if I can just recreate some of the emotion that I'm feeling at the moment, I think we're on to something really special here' — and so I think luckily we've done a little bit of that." On the Path From Watching New Zealand's The Big Sing Competition to a Story About a Grieving Samoan Mother Getting a Job in a Private School in Post-Earthquake Christchurch Miki: "Well, it's a story process, much like you go through when you when you create stories. And what's always good is we had the end in mind, and so we wanted just to build towards that moment, that end. We were always working our way towards the end. So it's about 'who's the main character?'. And it's a drama, and so we try to create situations and journeys for her to get to that end — and put her into situations that challenge her, and put her into situations where she has relationships with others that really drives her towards the end there. And then when you're piercing these things together, you source techniques that you like yourself. There's a lot of comedy in the film, and so I wanted to infuse the storyline with a bit of comedy. And it seemed to work well, because it has this sort of mother-teacher relationship that I always find funny, and I think that that can be a really rich ground for comedy. Add into that a bit of emotion, add into that music, and then just drive the story towards the end — it's a really fun part of the process." On Polataivo's Initial Response to the Project — and Being Asked to Help Develop the Film Without Knowing That Magasiva Wanted Her to Play the Lead Anapela: "Yes, this guy — let's not go there." Miki: "I tricked her." Anapela: "He did. Because these things, I'm just so used to working as part of the team, being the assistant or coach or stuff like that. So when I come in to help, I don't have any other thoughts or any other preconceived anything. It's just like 'I'm going to help my friends'. So when these guys got the green light, and then I get the call saying 'hey, we had you in mind for it' — gosh, I was just like 'you little ...', all of the things. And then, of course, I think we did our first read — I had said yes after that, and then we did our first read where everyone was a mess and we were all in tears. And that's just when you know it's a family affair and it's going to work." On Polataivo Scoring Her First Lead Film Role After Decades as an Actor Anapela: "I think this is different. This was a different one, because it was more personal — so it wasn't like 'oh my goodness'; it was really like 'okay'. I didn't even think about being in the lead, either. I just felt like I was just part of the fabric of the story. There's so many moving parts. Yes, you may be driving the thing, but you understand, well I understand, you'll be able to play that — and to be helpful and to assist in the purpose of it. So it was not an 'oh my goodness' moment. It was an 'oh my gosh', because it's personal, it's family, and you just know. My partner would always say to me 'Bels, it's one shot, one shot for Miki, let's go' — with that tone. And I get it. It is. Any shot we get, it is a shot. And we don't take those things lightly, either. So we go and you pour all of yourself in there. And we do have a big sense of responsibility, as well, to continue." On the Importance of This Being a Movie About Community and About Moving Forward Collectively Miki: "It's everything. It is what we are to be Samoan or Pacific. It's just how we see the world. So right from the way we run our sets to the way we run our production, to the themes of our story, that's how we communicate — and that's how we see the world, and that's how we work. So it is everything to us. And so to have a film reflect those themes, it's really important and allows us to highlight our culture in a way to the world that communicates what it is like to be Samoan and what it is like to be a Pacific Islander, what it's like to live in New Zealand and Aotearoa. And I think a lot of communities around the world can resonate with that, can see something in that, that they connect with as well. So I think it's a very human condition." On Making the Specific and Personal Universal Through the Film's Story of Grief and Connection Anapela: "It's not a thing — it just is. It's only when we talk about these things and analyse, but they are just a way of being. It's like with Miki talking about in Samoan, we're talking at very young age about sharing, and also that you're not the most-important person in the line. If anything, you're the last, you're supposed to help. It's never ever about you. There's this quote that says 'I is we always in a Samoan village'. So it's that mentality. That's how we're born. We're born into religion. We're born into all these things that make us Samoan. That goes more into the nitty gritty of what it's like. But when you try to find all those nuances in her, to not only explore but to allow those things about her being Samoan to breathe on-screen, to bring life and to evoke — let's just say, some of the comments that I've read, and I know it's from non-Samoan viewers, are 'we get a window, we kind of understand now what that means to be a Samoan just through that story'." Miki: "And it is things that we think about when we're piercing it together as well, so that will be the heart of it. But we've tried to create a story that does feel universal, that everybody can connect with. So we're telling a story from a Pacific perspective, but we're telling a story that's a universal story. Those who go and watch the film will see that it's not all about just being a Pacific Islander. And we've had great success back home in New Zealand because the entire country has found something to connect with. And we've tried to build that into the story, when we pieced it all together — that it is about community and coming together, and cultural acceptance. A large part of our European community back home have connected with the film because it has those things in it, and it does deal with things that they can connect with and they find funny, and they can find some sort of connectivity back to how they grew up as well. So hopefully it is a universal story for everyone." On the Movie's Approach to Navigating Cultural Differences Miki: "I tried to put it this way: we're not trying to hide from our past, and we are saying that these things did happen — and actually continue to happen, let's face it. And we've dealt with a lot of that stuff both on the nose, both directly and a little bit more subtly in the film, too. But you have to have that backdrop to it. You have to have some sort of setup for the entire film to end up in a place that we hope everybody ends up, which is inclusiveness and working together and coming together despite our differences — that we can celebrate a culture and the richness of it, we can say that we have been through this and some of us continue to go through these, but we can work our way through it through cultural acceptance and working together as a community." On Building the Cast and the Choir Around Polataivo Miki: "It's an exciting part of it. So, all of our students had to sing in their auditions. They all sung songs to audition for it. We went through the natural casting process. But we got really lucky when we came across Antonia [Robinson, Mystic], who has a musical background herself. She's a great singer anyway. She sings in her real life. But she's also a wonderful actress. We absolutely love Antonia. She's very hard-working, she's super talented. We know she's going to go on to great stuff after this. And then we managed to also find and create students next to her, in Zac [O'Meagher, Uproar] and Talia [Pua, Happiness Is the Path] and Tania [Nolan, The Convert] who had their own unique traits that they could bring to the group as a whole. Outside of that, we also have lots of wonderful New Zealand actors in there. Beulah Koale [Next Goal Wins] is in there, and Nicole Whippy [Shortland Street] is in there. Jamie Irvine [Literally Dead] is in there." Anapela: "Alison Bruce [The Gone]." Miki: "Alison Bruce as well. So we've got all of these well-known and really experienced New Zealand actors that not only are around Bels, but also help support and stand next to Bels." Anapela: "And our guy from Perth." Miki: "And Dalip Sondhi [Better Man] as well, who I think is a wonderful Australian actor — from England originally as well, the UK. So it was just special to be able to build a cast to support that. And they were all just so wonderful and embracing the community spirit of what we were trying to create. They're all amazing in the film, so it's quite lucky — super lucky and grateful." Tinā opened in Australian cinemas on Thursday, May 1, 2025, and in New Zealand cinemas on Thursday, February 27, 2025.
Only one movie about a Griswold family getaway has ever hit the screen without Lindsay Buckingham's 'Holiday Road' echoing. What does the Nobody 2 trailer boast that National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation doesn't, then? That earworm of a tune, plus plenty more. The sequel to 2021's Nobody, aka the film that enlisted Mr Show with Bob and David, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul great Bob Odenkirk in a John Wick-esque part — its screenwriter Derek Kolstad created the Keanu Reeves (Sonic the Hedgehog 3)-played character, in fact — this is still a movie about a seemingly mild-mannered family man who had a previous life as an assassin. It's another chapter in a tale that acknowledges that those skills aren't just in the past, too. But it also takes Odenkirk's Hutch Mansell on holiday. "Let's just say the first film was a moody winter — this one will be a colourful summer," Timo Tjahjanto tells Concrete Playground. The Indonesian filmmaker is in the director's chair on Nobody 2, which is still an action-thriller. That said, it adapts to its protagonist and his loved ones — including his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen, Gladiator II), children (Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent's Gage Munroe and Harland Manor's Paisley Cadorath) and father (Christopher Lloyd, Hacks) — going on a getaway, as the just-dropped sneak peek demonstrates. The resort setting, the tropical attire, arcades, pool noodles and boat rides: they're all part of it, as is Hutch trying not to let discovering that the Mansells' destination is an old bootlegging route ruin their break. "I love moody winter. My films have always been very moody and very often depressive," Tjahjanto advises. "But I think a good challenge for me right now is 'how do we make this violent world of Hutch Mansell collide with this burst of summer vacation — like this burst of 'the family wants to have fun in this water park'?". He continues: "that's our approach to it, visually and tonally". Again, that comes through in the picture's debut glimpse, which features a number of sights that could've sprung from a Vacation or any other holiday-set movie, except for the frenetic fights everywhere from elevators to those aforementioned arcades and boats. The first time around, Nobody also operated as a character study. When you have multiple Emmy-nominee Odenkirk in the lead — and partly riffing on events that happened to him, with the franchise coming to fruition after his own home was broken into — that's the ideal approach. In Nobody 2, set four years after his altercation with the Russian mob, now the story broadens its focus to Hutch's nearest and dearest as well. The setup: the Mansells head away because Hutch begins to realise that his children are growing up and he's barely spending any time with them, so making the kind of memories that only family time can conjure up is in order. Nobody 2 is Tjahjanto's first full Hollywood picture. He's no debutant, though. For more than a decade and a half, Tjahjanto has been adding features to his resume, both solo and as part of the Mo Brothers with fellow Indonesian filmmaker Kimo Stamboel (Dancing Village: The Curse Begins). Together, they're behind 2009's Macabre, 2014's Killers and 2016's Headshot. Tjahjanto on his lonesome also contributed segments to American horror anthology flicks The ABCs of Death, V/H/S/2 (co-helming with The Raid, The Raid 2 and Havoc's Gareth Evans) and V/H/S/94. Plus, he's directed Indonesian pictures May the Devil Take You and its sequel May the Devil Take You Too, alongside The Night Comes for Us, The Big 4 and The Shadow Strays. He's also been attached to Train to Busan remake The Last Train to New York, and is helming The Beekeeper 2. How has that charting that path assisted Tjahjanto with hopping onboard Nobody 2? How did being able to ask Odenkirk's advice along the way — and co-star Sharon Stone's (The Flight Attendant) as well — help, too? And, like audiences watching, was seeing his lead in action-hero mode part of the appeal of the job? Tjahjanto spoke with us about all the above, plus his approach to stepping into a world already established by the initial Nobody, the action setpiece he's particularly keen on viewers to enjoy on a big screen, the theme of duality flowing through the feature, balancing tone and more. On Whether Seeing Bob Odenkirk as an Action Hero Was Part of the Appeal of Directing Nobody 2 "Yes — and also, in a way, we even try to dig deeper than that. So basically, look, we know by now, in the first film, that Bob can do action, right? But I think what's appealing to me is also that when Bob becomes an action man, he doesn't specifically transform himself into this one-dimensional action hero. He's not the all-knowing, the guy who thought about ten steps ahead — or like 'this is what I'm going to do'. He's not a fully in-control hero. And that's what I like about this character, Hutch Mansell. It's really, yes, he was on top of his game at some point. But now that he is a father of two kids, he's a husband, how does he juggle all these things? And often the greatest moment comes from the time in the film — especially in the second film, you'll see — when things are becoming out of control. And I love that. I never have any interest to make a protagonist who doesn't have any flaws. As a matter of fact, the more the protagonists have all these cracks, and sitting on a ship that is slowly sinking and he's trying to throw away all the water with a little cup, that's when it appeals to me. And that's pretty much what happens to the character here in this film." On How Tjahjanto Approached Taking on a World That Was Already Established in the First Film "The easy answer will be to sit very closely with Bob. Not a lot of people know that the first film is also sort of based on what happened to Bob in real life — the whole idea that he was confronting this thing that happened in his house, when somebody broke into his house. So he exorcised that sort of, I guess, trauma, by writing a script or writing a story. And in this one, he knows Hutch Mansell more than anybody else. And I think it's always good to sit with him and just really be like 'Bob, I don't want to overstep you, but how do we evolutionise Hutch Mansell as a character?'. And we found the fine line between 'well, in order for us to make him grow, we also need to make the family grow — we also need to sort of put the family at the centre of it all'. So that's what we did with this second film. We no longer tell a story about just Hutch Mansell. We also tell a story about Becca Mansell and Brady and Sammy, his kids. And then there's also grandpa and the brother Harry [RZA, Problemista]. So it's really a family affair in the end. " On the One Particular Nobody 2 Action Scene That Tjahjanto Is Most Excited for Audiences to See on a Big Screen "I think they definitely will have a smorgasbord, a buffet, a buffet table of different action setpieces in this film. But I'm definitely proud of the boat fight, just because how technical it is to achieve. We really shot that fight scene inside that boat, in a real location. When we read it in the script, we all had the unison sort of talk, like 'yeah, we're going to do it in the studio with the green screen'. But by the end of it, we decided that 'you know what? Let's torture ourselves further, let's really shoot it in a boat by down by the river'. So that's what we did. And sometimes we'll watch it on post, we'll watch it and Bob will say 'can you imagine this Timo, like we really did this?'. So it's great. I'm proud of that scene and I hope people will enjoy it, too." On the Kind of Direction You Give an Actor Like Bob Odenkirk When They're So Linked to a Film — Not Just Starring, But Writing and Producing as Well "I think the beauty is, I think I always think 'you know what, I'm a much darker person than Bob, I feel'. So I think sometimes there will be times when 'Bob, can I make you do this?'. And then he'll ask me 'aren't we being a bit too much, Timo?'. And then it's like 'you know what, Bob, let's do your take first, and after that, let's do a couple steps darker, you know?'. And that's always fun, just because we'll find the balance of like 'aaah all right, there you go'. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. And it's fine. I think the beauty will come when we both realise why I want things to be in a certain way — because, especially a lot of this film, it's about duality. So there's the doting father and husband who's trying so hard to please his family; to have this beautiful, magnificent memory; to be on a vacation. Because he realised his son's getting older, his daughter as well. Soon they'll be going to college and all that stuff. So there is that real-life issue that he's facing. But at the same time, we've got to remember this is also a man capable of violence. So I think the whole Jekyll-and-Hyde sort of play, it's really something that we both were kind of like 'okay, let's see where's the fine line between the father and the seasoned killer'. On How Tjahjanto's Decade and a Half-Plus of Directing, Both Solo and as Part of the Mo Brothers, Has Led Him to Nobody 2 "I would say I always approach every new project as if I haven't done anything before. I think that's my best preparation, just because that way I'll be very prepared. It's like a kid who's going to a chemistry test for the first time — you better bring the whole table and all that stuff. Because that's the only approach that I feel will prepare you for being from a small pool, suddenly jumping into this Olympic-size, ocean-size pool that is the Hollywood industry. And I always say it's always good to be very prepared. And when I talk to somebody who's in such a different calibre, such as Bob Odenkirk or Sharon Stone, it's always good to realise being a director, yes, you have to know a lot of things, but you should never be afraid to be sort of like 'hey Sharon, what do you think about this? Do you think there's a take that you think is interesting?'. Or even to Bob. These people have been around for decades, and sometimes it's also a situation where, as a director, I'm learning from them." Nobody 2 releases in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, August 14, 2025.
Utes are as ubiquitously Australian as Vegemite, meat pies and nicknames abbreviated to capitulate in the letter O. This is what makes a trip to the legendary Deni Ute Muster a perfect excursion for those keen to experience a classic Australian road trip. The annual event held in the NSW Riverina town of Deniliquin (a 3.5-hour drive from Melbourne) is a celebration of the iconic vehicle. But you don't need to be a rev-head or even own your own ute to get amongst this uniquely Australian shindig. Parked between the Commodores and Falcons, Rangers and Hiluxes, will be a lineup of some of the country's biggest names in music, tasty food pop-ups and the opportunity to do two nights of camping on Friday, 29 and Saturday, 30 September. Expect to spot Jess Mauboy, John Williamson, Missy Higgins and Lee Kernaghan belting out hits over the weekend. Off-stage, entertainment will be provided courtesy of activities like an ice skating rink, Bogan Bingo, camel rides, monster truck rides and a muster sandpit. Tickets start at $310 which also covers camping, so you can bring your own tent or caravan — or simply roll out a swag in the back of your ute. Deni Ute Muster is on from Friday, September 29 to Saturday, September 30 2023. For further details, head to the website.
CONCRETE PLAYGROUND: In The Guest Edit, we hand the reins over to some of the most interesting, tasteful and (or) entertaining people in Australia and New Zealand. For this instalment, we've enlisted help from Sheet Society founder and interior design extraordinaire Hayley Worley. The Melbourne-based owner and creative has put pen to (digital) paper, outlining the biggest colour and pattern trends of the year, as well as tips on how to incorporate them around your home. HAYLEY WORLEY: The best part of my job is that I get to surround myself with inspirational fashion, interiors and design. While I'm a big fan of staple colours that will never go out of style, I'm equally excited by new, fresh and fashionable prints. It's really important to me and for my creative and design process, that I love and find joy in the things I surround myself with. There's nothing quite like putting on your favourite dress or jumping into a new bed of fresh sheets as a moment of pleasure. My picks for Concrete Playground are all things that have recently made me happy — including making my kids happy too! CHECKERBOARD PRINT This is a huge trend that we don't see going anywhere, anytime soon. If you're looking for an easy place to start, the Sheet Society Margot print is the perfect fashionable update to your bed in a really easy-to-style Camel colour. I've got lots of Sheet Society colours (as you can imagine!) and Margot pairs with pretty much anything. I've currently got it on my bed with Sage and Blush. HAND-PAINTED MOTIFS Sheet Society collaborated with Annie Everingham last year on a beautiful bedding collection, and her latest collaboration with Alemais is such a goodie. Her hand-painted motifs have been used across a wide range of fashion styles and I wore this pink one to my birthday a few weeks ago. It's currently out of stock on Alemais, but is available on Selfridges & Co here. Sheet Society also releases a limited edition collaboration each year and this year we partnered with local artist Lahni Barass, on a collection called Sleep Patterns. It's available here. BLUSH We have a one- and a three-year-old and it's often hard to find kids clothes that are bright or have loud prints. I adore the Aussie brand ByBillie, they've got a really great palette to choose from and a strong range of styles. I recently bought both kids matching Joey Jackets in blush and they are just so adorable. SAGE I've currently got our Sage blanket on, which not only looks great, but it's the extra cosiness I need (and grab for) in the middle of the night. Right in the middle of Melbourne winter, I definitely need to add a few extra layers. It has two layers of our French Flax Eve Linen with a plump quilted wadding inside and feels super lush. Pictured here with a divine Ella Reweti vase. OFF-WHITE I had an absolute blast picking out furniture for our new store in Armadale. Our interior designers, Golden, worked really well and collaborated closely with us to develop a soft furnishing plan that spoke to the Armadale customer, while staying true to Sheet Society. This Gatto lamp, designed by Floss, was one of our 'splurge' items. We also used it in our latest winter campaign, styled with our new-season teal colour. Perfection!
Taylor Swift is inviting fans around the world to step inside her new era with Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl, an 89-minute cinematic event celebrating the launch of her 12th studio album The Life of a Showgirl. The feature offers a mix of firsts — including the debut of the 'The Fate of Ophelia' music video, new lyric videos, behind-the-scenes footage and personal reflections from Swift herself. The global release kicks off at 3pm US time on Friday, October 3, which translates to early morning on Saturday, October 4 in Australia. Screenings will run nationwide across the long weekend, from Saturday through Monday, October 6. Australian Swifties can catch the film at Event Cinemas, Hoyts, Dendy, Village Cinemas and Palace Cinemas, with both city and regional locations taking part. Demand has been so high that Event Cinemas has already added extra sessions. "We've got our Swifties covered with screenings of Taylor Swift: The Life of a Showgirl across our Event Cinemas in both Australia and New Zealand this coming weekend," a spokesperson said. "Tickets are flying faster than a Reputation track drop, with presale numbers already at number one for the upcoming long weekend." It follows the blockbuster success of The Eras Tour film, which became the highest-grossing concert film of all time after earning more than £260 million globally. Find your nearest screening and tickets to Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl Images: Getty Images
Between them, Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, JRR Tolkien, Bram Stoker, the Brontë sisters, Virginia Woolf and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are responsible for a wealth of literary treasures. So are Oscar Wilde, Harold Pinter, William Blake, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Lord Byron, TS Eliot, Thomas Hardy, James Joyce, DH Lawrence, John Keats, William Wordsworth and Rudyard Kipling, plus AA Milne, Beatrix Potter, Dylan Thomas, Sir Kazuo Ishiguro and Zadie Smith. HOTA, Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast mightn't seem like the usual place to celebrate them all, but it is until the start of August 2025, all thanks to Writers Revealed: Treasures From the British Library and National Portrait Gallery, London. Announced earlier in the year, open since mid-April and running till Sunday, August 3, this exhibition is all about paying tribute to great authors and writers — beyond libraries, bookstores, and your own bookshelf or Kindle. Indeed, getting the chance to revel in the talents behind some of the finest works of literature ever committed to paper in a stunning showcase across a gallery's walls is rare. Writers Revealed is a world-first. What features at an exhibition devoted to wordsmiths? Eager word nerds can see author portraits, plus rare handwritten manuscripts and first editions. More than 100 literary artefacts and portraits span the likenesses of the writers responsible for Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet, The Lord of the Rings, Dracula, Wuthering Heights, Sherlock Holmes and other masterpieces, as well as texts themselves, with five centuries of literature covered. As the exhibition's full name states, this is a collaboration between the British Library and the National Portrait Gallery, London. If you're wondering why the two institutions are pairing portraits with books, one of the showcase's aims to explore how literature and visual expression are linked. Also in the spotlight: the legacy of influential writers, plus digging into their creative processes. A draft of Dracula, what's thought to be the only Shakespeare portrait to be painted while he was alive, a picture of Austen by her sister, John Milton's publishing contract for Paradise Lost, letters from both Smith and Ishiguro: they're among the highlights that can be found across 1000 square metres in HOTA's Gallery 1. "We are thrilled to collaborate with the National Portrait Gallery on Writers Revealed, a truly unique exhibition that brings together some of the most exceptional objects from our collections. Visitors will experience rare first editions and exquisite manuscripts alongside celebrated portraits of the writers who created them," said Alexandra Ault, Lead Curator of Modern Archives and Manuscripts at the British Library, announcing the exhibition. "Featuring treasures that rarely leave our gallery in London, this major new exhibition will bring HOTA's visitors closer to some of the most-important figures in English literary history," added Catharine MacLeod, Senior Curator of 17th Century Collections at the National Portrait Gallery. "Encountering these displays, visitors will discover what is revealed and what is hidden when life, writing and portraiture intersect." Writers Revealed: Treasures From the British Library and National Portrait Gallery, London displays at HOTA, Home of the Arts, 135 Bundall Road, Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast until Sunday, August 3, 2025. Head to the gallery's website for further details and tickets.
On four upcoming Mondays, if you travel by train, your commute to and from work won't impact your Go Card balance. To start each week between November 18 and December 9, Queensland Rail is giving everyone free trips on what it's calling 'free train travel days'. If you don't have your calendar app open, you'll be able to ride the rails for free on November 18 and 25, as well as December 2 and 9. Translink advises that you won't need to tap on and off (or buy a paper ticket) — instead, just stroll on through the fare gates, which'll be open at all stations. All Citytrain services are included, which means all services on the Gold Coast, Beenleigh, Caboolture, Ipswich/Rosewood, Springfield, Cleveland, Doomben, Ferny Grove, Shorncliffe, Sunshine Coast and Redcliffe Peninsula lines. If you happen to be heading out of town via plane — or arriving back from elsewhere — on one of the four Mondays, Airtrain services are also included. Wondering why Queenslanders are getting four days of train travel without spending a cent? Announcing the plan, the Queensland Government said that it's to "thank customers for their loyalty as Queensland Rail worked to restore services earlier this year". Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey is referring to the government's efforts to increase driver and guard numbers, as well as services — but given how unreliable Brisbane's trains can be sometimes, his sentiment really could apply in general. Of course, QR's staff will still need to be paid on the free train travel days, so the costs will be covered by funding that had previously been allocated for the company's senior managers. Queensland Rail's free train travel days will take place on November 18 and 25, as well as December 2 and 9. Top image: John via Flickr. UPDATE, NOVEMBER 17: Translink has revealed how rail commuters can take advantage of the four free train travel days across November and December. This article has been updated to include these details.
