This summer, your nearest beach will transform into an international food market. And it doesn't matter where you live — be it near St Kilda, Bondi or Broadbeach. How? As of now, Deliveroo, the food delivery service that transports tasty meals from your favourite eateries directly to your door, can travel to the sand. And, more specifically, right to your beach towel. That's right, next time you're sprawled out on the beach catching some rays and hunger pangs, you won't have to go anywhere. Jump on your phone, make your order and, somehow or other, your faithful Deliveroo driver will be at your side. Yes, this is going to be very, very interesting to watch on Bondi Beach on a stinking hot day in January when beachgoers number in the thousands and thousands. The food delivery app is now delivering to 150 beaches around the country, having recently launched its services in Hobart, the Sunshine Coast, Cairns and Newcastle. Deliveroo is now delivering to 150 beaches around the country. To see if it delivers to you, check your app.
The Brisbane International Film Festival is back again — with more than 100 films over 11 days, and with the Gallery of Modern Art at the helm. Organised by GOMA for the first time, this year's BIFF boasts local and international features, an array of special events and guests, and the Australian premiere of one of 2018's most controversial titles. The festival kicks off on Thursday, October 11 with the already-announced Celeste, an operatic drama set within north Queensland's lush greenery, before coming to close on Sunday, October 21 with Debra Granik's empathetic father-daughter drama Leave No Trace. In-between, high-profile highlights include Hotel by the River, the latest film by prolific Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo, and the Melissa McCarthy-starring Can You Ever Forgive Me?, a twisty effort about a real-life writing scandal. And then there's Lars Von Trier's ultra-violent The House That Jack Built, which is set in the 1970s, stars Matt Dillon as a serial killer, and prompted considerable walk-outs when it debuted at at Cannes. Other notable titles span festival circuit favourites such as Cannes Palme d'Or-winner Shoplifters, Nuri Bilge Ceylan's The Wild Pear Tree, and Jia Zhangke's crime romance Ash is the Purest White, plus Jafar Panahi's 3 Faces, Christian Petzold's Transit and the Paul Dano-directed Wildlife. This year's Berlinale Golden Bear winner Touch Me Not also features, as does the experimental and immersive Madeline's Madeline, the gloriously lurid Knife + Heart, and Guy Madden's entrancing The Green Fog. Or, there's M.I.A. documentary Matangi/Maya/ M.I.A., as well as a doco about the making of David Lynch's Blue Velvet — a nice remember that Lynch himself went to GOMA just a few years ago, in his first and only visit to Australia. On the local front, Australian standouts include the excellent Acute Misfortune, about artist Adam Cullen and journalist Erik Jensen; [CENSORED], featuring film clips excised by the country's censorship board between 1958–71; Terror Nullius, Soda Jerk's Aussie movie mashup; and Ghosthunter, which relays a strange tale that can only be true. Keeping things very local is The Picture Show Men, a documentary about the Sourris family — aka the folks behind New Farm Cinemas, the Elizabeth Picture Theatre and the potential new cinema slated for Red Hill. Events-wise, viewers can see documentary Ex Libris: The New York Public Library at a special screening at the State Library of Queensland, or catch a blend of virtual reality with live performance courtesy of the inventive thriller Frogman. Live music will accompany sessions of classics The Cameraman and The Passion of Joan of Arc, while the soundtracks of Japanese composer Teiji Ito will also be thrust into the spotlight. As previously unveiled, BIFF is training its gaze on movies either involving or considered inspiring by festival patrons Bruce Beresford and Sue Milliken — who've worked together on a number of titles, including this year's Ladies in Black. As well as featuring in an in-conversation session about their careers, they'll join Queensland Ballet Artistic Director Li Cunxin for a chat about Mao's Last Dancer, Beresford's adaption of Li's autobiography. The list goes on, with strands dedicated to African and Iranian cinema, plus a mystery movie in a secret location. With the latter, the details won't be revealed until you get there, but it's a new, buzz-worthy film that you won't see elsewhere in BIFF's 2018 program. The 2018 Brisbane International Film Festival will take place from October 11–21 at the Gallery of Modern Art, Event Cinemas Myer Centre, New Farm Cinemas, the Elizabeth Picture Theatre, Reading Cinemas Newmarket, the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane Powerhouse and the State Library of Queensland. For full program details and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
If you've got hungry eyes for one of the most popular movie soundtracks of all time, have practised your dance moves with watermelons and fancy getting lifted up into the air Patrick Swayze-style, then make a date with The Triffid on Saturday, January 18. From 8pm, that's when Cheap Fakes will be living out every 80s film fan's romantic dreams and playing the entire Dirty Dancing soundtrack live. Obviously, you'll have the time of your life. Prepare to hear the Brisbane and Gold Coast band belt out their rendition of the Swayze-crooned and co-written 'She's Like the Wind', too. From the sultry sounds of Eric Carmen's 'Hungry Eyes' to The Ronettes' classic 'Be My Baby', if it's on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, it'll be echoing through the Stratton Street venue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU9p1WRfA9w The gig will be accompanied by visuals from the movie and the appropriate dance moves, naturally — and dressing the part is encouraged. Tickets cost $35.10, and remember — no one will be put in a corner here.
Some days, don't you just want to grab a drink, make a few shiny spheres zigzag around a table, and enjoy the soothing blend of booze and pinball? If so, Melbourne's Pinball Paradise is your new hangout — as well as Australia's first dedicated pinball and whiskey bar. Lighting up the first floor at 213 Franklin Street, and accessed via a secret entrance in ground-floor bar Island Somewhere, Pinball Paradise is basically a beverage-serving pinball arcade for adults. And if that sounds like the kind of space that every pinball lover dreams of, wait until you clock the themed machines you'll be flipping balls in. Prepare for a pop culture bonanza, including Game of Thrones, Dracula, The Wizard of Oz, Dirty Harry, Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Popeye, The Creature from the Black Lagoon and Maverick pinball. Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, The Addams Family, Star Trek — they're all likely to give your button-smashing, flipper-controlling fingers a workout as well, alongside a range of rare, classic machines. Drinks-wise, expect whiskey aplenty, with Japanese varieties a favourite. A selection of food is also on offer to help you keep up your pinball-playing energy levels. As well as becoming the new home of all of your spare change, Pinball Paradise might just be the future of your fun nights out. Indeed, with mini golf and arcade watering holes popping up around the country, simply going to a bar, grabbing a drink and chatting with your friends is quickly becoming a pre-2016 concept. Find Pinball Paradise on the first floor at 213 Franklin Street, Melbourne. Check out their Facebook page for more information.
Are you the kind of bar-goer who likes sipping drinks, hanging out with your mates and soaking in the atmosphere, but absolutely hates having to get up to grab another beverage? Even if you're not, every group has one. You know the type — they stay comfy when it's time for a refill, and they're always asking you to get their next round. The Parlour's new martini trolley experience solves this issue. No one minds nabbing a beverage for their friends, but this Wednesday–Saturday special means you won't have to. So, you'll sit in the Fortitude Valley bar, and you'll have your cocktails made right in front of you — without getting up from your seat — because the trolley brings the bevvies to you. Expect gin concoctions including your choice of martini— you can curate it however you like — as well as cocktails such as The Refined Australian (with gin, a vermouth blend, toasted macadamia and wattle seed, black walnut bitters, lemon zest and macadamia praline) and The London Cup (with gin, ginger-infused Pimms, clarified quince juice and orange bitters). Expect to turn your regular stint of drinks with pals into a far fancier experience, too.
While most people tend to give the coast a wide berth during the cooler months, there's something especially romantic about the beach on a winter's day. Whether it's the lack of people or the misty sky, winter on the coast is a time to indulge, with candlelit meals and long, warming lunches. Enter By the Sea, a two-day dining experience hosted by Halcyon House featuring a collaboration between chefs Danielle Alvarez and Andrew Milford. By the Sea will take place over two days, with a candlelit dinner on Saturday, July 5, and a long lunch on Sunday, July 6. Returning to Halcyon House following her sell-out gourmet weekend in 2018, Danielle Alvarez will unite with Andrew Milford, Executive Chef of Halcyon House's award-winning hatted restaurant, Paper Daisy. The event will showcase a rare city-meets-regional chef collaboration through a thoughtfully curated three-course menu. Upon arrival, guests can expect a glass of Roederer champagne, followed by a soulful menu made with seasonal ingredients that celebrate the region's range of local producers and sustainable food sources. Guests will also take home a Halcyon candle as a keepsake, perfect for remembering the weekend long after they leave. Located a scenic two-hour drive from Brisbane and just 15 minutes south of Gold Coast Airport, the boutique hotel and spa in Cabarita Beach is the perfect setting for a weekend of good food, delicious wine and quality time with family and friends. The weekend is also one of a handful of experiences planned throughout the year to mark Halcyon House's tenth anniversary. With limited seats available for both sittings, bookings are essential. For reservations and further details, visit the website. Images: Supplied.
Since 2010, Sydney has been home to the Korean Film Festival in Australia. While 2025's main fest hits the Harbour City in August, you can also join in without leaving Queensland. Your destination: The Strand Cinemas in Toowoomba on Sunday, September 14. One pivotal difference between the regular festival and the regional KOFFIA Touring Program, other than the fact that it's making the trip to the Sunshine State: head to the latter and everything that you see from its four-title lineup is free. Catch About Family, a dramedy about a chef discovering that he might have grandchildren — and The Noisy Mansion focusing on a tenant and her neighbours trying to discover why their building is plagued by strange sounds. Toowoomba audiences can also watch Forbidden Fairytale, about a children's book author who starts ghostwriting online erotica. Plus, Hear Me: Our Summer is one of the highlights, with the romantic drama co-starring former Iz*One member Kim Minju, remaking Taiwan's Hear Me and seeing a love story blossom via Korean Sign Language.
It kicked off more than four decades ago with one of the best horror movies ever made; however, the Halloween franchise has been through quite a few ups and downs over the years. Clocking up ten follow-ups and 11 movies in total so far, the slasher series initially created by the great John Carpenter has delivered excellent and terrible sequels, veered into remake territory, both killed off and brought back its heroine, and completely erased parts of its own past several times. And, like its mask-wearing villain Michael Myers, it always finds a way to go on. Since 2018's Halloween, that's been especially great news — with the Jamie Lee Curtis-starring, Jason Blum-produced 11th flick in the franchise proving a smart, thrilling horror delight, and ranking second only to the movie that started it all. Indeed, the film was such a success that two more sequels are set to come from the same team (aka Blum, writer/director David Gordon Green and co-scribe Danny McBride): Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends. Originally, Halloween Kills was due to hit screens last year, in October — when else? — but, as announced in 2020 by franchise creator John Carpenter, it moved back its release to October this year. That's now fast approaching, with fans soon able to make a return trip to Haddonfield. Yes, that means that Curtis' spirited Laurie Strode will have another altercation with her lifelong nemesis, too — because, when it's at its best, that's what this franchise is all about. Picking up where its immediate predecessor left off, Halloween Kills will also take a few cues from another movie in the series, as its just-dropped first trailer shows. Not one but two sneak peeks last year set the scene for the saga's 12th entry, but this full trailer dives deep into the storyline. Following the events of the last film, Laurie ends up in hospital with life-threatening injuries just as Michael starts stalking through Haddonfield again — which is the same storyline that Halloween II followed exactly 40 years ago. Thankfully, if the last flick is any guide, Halloween Kills shouldn't prove a needless remake. Green and McBride did a stellar job of nodding to the past while finding a new way forward with 2018's Halloween, after all — and leaving horror fans definitely wanting more. This time, too, Laurie and her daughter Karen (Judy Greer, Valley Girl) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak, Son) team up with other survivors of Michael's rampages and decide to hunt down their attacker. Check out the full Halloween Kills trailer below: Halloween Kills will release in Australian cinemas on October 14, 2021. Top image: Ryan Green/Universal Pictures.
Before writing anything else, we first want to promise that this article is spoiler free. So if you haven't yet had your weekly dose of Game of Thrones then you can still read on safely. Meanwhile, if you have watched Monday's harrowing episode, then you are probably in need of a pick-me-up. Whichever category you fall into, you will enjoy the following artworks from graphic designer Mike Wroebel, who this week provided us with a 20th-century reimagining of the epic HBO fantasy. "I grew up with Fresh Prince, Saved by the Bell," Wroebel says in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter. "I just thought it would be funny ... to appropriate the characters and turn them into something quirky that reflected their personalities". His contemporary appropriations are surprisingly uncanny, so if you are concerned about Joffrey suddenly becoming cool, then you need not worry. "I focused a lot on still making him look like a douchebag," says Wroebel. As you can see, he certainly succeeded. Other characters are also perfectly represented. The broody nature of Jon Snow is captured in his adoption of grunge, Jaime Lannister oozes cool in a Miami Vice suit, Brienne keeps her armour as she takes to the football field, and Sansa Stark portrays Saved by the Bell's Kelly as if she was her double. Our personal favourite, though, is Daenerys Targaryen. Of course there were no dragons in the 1990s, so obviously the Mother of Dragons becomes the Mother of Ferrets. Khaleesi? More like Cooleesi. Check out the others below. Via HuffPost Arts & Culture.
After shining a spotlight on films that engage with social justice and human rights issues for the past decade, the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival has announced yet another packed lineup of topical titles for 2017. Screening in Melbourne from May 4 to 18 before touring a selection of highlights to Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth and Hobart, HRAFF's tenth anniversary program boasts 32 features, 31 shorts, four forums and eight events in the festival's arts-focused component. HRAFF 2017 will open with The Opposition, the debut effort from Australian filmmaker Hollie Fifer — and a film tackling content so controversial that legal disputes and injunctions have attempted to block its release. Also screening at the Sydney Film Festival after its HRAFF berth, the documentary steps through the struggles of Papua New Guinea's Paga Hill community. In 2012, their homes were bulldozed by developers to make way for a luxury resort, sparking a battle of David vs Goliath proportions. Highlights from the rest of the program include closing night's Quest, which heads to HRAFF from Sundance to chronicle the efforts of the Rainey family to create a musical sanctuary for their North Philadelphia community, as well as the world premiere of the Australian-made, Manilla-set documentary Happyland, about street artist Kaff-eine and her team's attempts to turn slums into something creative. Elsewhere, Nowhere to Hide takes a paramedic's-eye view of Iraq, An Insignificant Man follows the politician becoming known as "the Bernie Sanders of India", Plastic China tells the tale of the recycling workshop workers and their families that literally live in mountains of plastic, and Tempestad goes on a road trip to explore the victimisation of women in Mexico. For those after a piece of gripping fictional filmmaking, War Book delves into British civil servants practising crisis protocol for a fictional nuclear attack on Mumbai. HRAFF also gives audiences the chance to catch up with other festival standouts that have already done the rounds, such as Berlinale's 2016 Golden Bear winner Fire at Sea, Cannes Film Festival's 2015 Palme d'Or recipient Dheepan, and the crowd-pleasing, Afghan rapper-focused Sonita. Going local, Australia's freshly minted best foreign language Oscar nominee Tanna, rousing documentary Zach's Ceremony and magical realist fable Satellite Boy also feature. With arts also part of the program, attendees can hear discover the experiences and knowledge of Koorie Elders, hear accounts from people detained while trying to seek asylum in Australia, and view portraits of the persecuted Rohingya people in Western Myanmar. The Human Rights Arts and Film Festival screens at Melbourne's Australian Centre for the Moving Image from May 4 to 18, Sydney's Dendy Newtown from May 23 to 27, and Brisbane's Palace Barracks from June 1 to 3. For more information, check out their website. Image: Zach's Ceremony.
If it's ethereal indie folk you're after, Dustin Tebbutt is your man. His music is described by his record label as "the music for your autumns and winters" which, in our opinion, couldn't be more accurate. The haunting isolation that comes through his high echoey vocals and crisp acoustic guitar certainly create feelings of isolation and introspection. Well, it's a good thing he's coming to town as the temperature is starting to drop. Tebbutt's latest national tour is for his latest EP, Bones, and it's gorgeous. First single 'Bones' is much like what we saw on debut EP The Breach; incredibly entrancing music that has the ability to transport its listeners far away from anyone or anything. If you enjoy the thoughtful sounds of Bon Iver or Sigur Rós, then Dustin Tebbutt is a local boy you definitely shouldn't miss. https://youtube.com/watch?v=OysNiYXWga0
The Heiresses, a Paraguayan film featuring a first-time actress and hailing from a debut feature writer and director, has emerged victorious at this year's Sydney Film Festival. After picking up two awards at this year's Berlinale — including best actress for star Ana Brun — Marcelo Martinessi's moving drama beat out 11 other contenders to win the 2018 Sydney Film Prize. That's no mean feat in any year, but given that this year's competition included Cannes prizewinner BlacKkKlansman; Sundance hits Leave No Trace and The Miseducation of Cameron Post; and fellow Berlin standouts Transit, Aga and Daughter of Mine, it's quite the considerable achievement. Telling the tale of Chela, who is forced to adjust when her girlfriend of more than three decades is imprisoned due to the couple's mounting debts, The Heiresses became the 11th feature to nab the festival's $60,000 award. Again, it's in fine company, with previous winners including On Body and Soul (2017), Aquarius (2016), Arabian Nights (2015), Two Days, One Night (2014), Only God Forgives (2013), Alps (2012), A Separation (2011), Heartbeats (2010), Bronson (2009) and Hunger (2008). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD_LxrE9vVA Comprised of Australian artist and filmmaker Lynette Wallworth, Aussie actor Ewen Leslie (The Daughter), Filipino producer and writer Bianca Balbuena (Season of the Devil), South African film composer and songwriter Chris Letcher and Tokyo Film Festival programming director Yoshi Yatabe, the jury dubbed The Heiresses a "provocative, layered and surprising film". "The film we chose carried us with restraint and confidence into a world still shielded by entitlement even as its structures crumble," explained Wallworth at SFF's closing night ceremony. "It revealed a delicately unfolding courage to release what we cling to, even when it is all we know, and let change come — within ourselves and within this collective frame that we build, that is society." The fest's other big 2018 prize — the $10,000 Documentary Australia Foundation Award for Australian Documentary — went to Aussie doco Ghosthunter by another first-timer, Ben Lawrence. In the kind of story that has to be seen to be believed, the documentary starts out as a portrait of Sydney security guard Jason King and his after-hours gig as an amateur ghost hunter. That's not how it ends up, however, with the film evolving over the course of its seven-year shoot to delve into King's troubled family history.
Ever said something you wish you hadn't? Or gone home from a party when things were starting to get interesting? Like a swift punch to the stomach regret can be gut-wrenching. Whether it be utter embarrassment, not seizing an opportunity or ignoring your heart in favour of your head, regret is familiar to us all. Performance collective, The Good Room, have designed an event to exhibit regret in all of its cringe-worthy forms. In February the team asked strangers to anonymously share their biggest regrets. Over 500 secrets were collected and now, it's time for them to see the light of day as part of, 'I Should Have Drunk More Champagne'. In Metro Arts' basement you will find a tangle of tales from wallflowers, outspoken drunks and victims of lost love. Some will make you squirm, others will make you laugh but they will all remind you that each of us is prone to a good old face palm.
Over the past few months, the Queensland Government has been trying to entice the state's residents out of the house by handing out travel vouchers. First came 15,000 to use in the state's north, then 30,000 for Greater Brisbane and 6000 for The Whitsundays, then another release of 5000 for folks already holidaying in the Cairns region. That's a hefty batch of incentives — and more are coming. Next up: 30,000 vouchers for Queenslanders to put towards getaways on the Gold Coast. Whether you'd like to spend a few nights in Surfers Paradise, you haven't been to a theme park for a while or you're keen to explore more of what the Goldie has to offer, you'll be able to apply to nab one of the 30,000 $100 vouchers for tourism experiences and accommodation in the area. Like the past voucher drops, the concept has two obvious aims: enticing Queensland residents to go venturing throughout the state, and helping support tourism businesses. The new scheme, called Gold Coast Holiday Dollars, was revealed today, Thursday, June 3, by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. And if you're wondering what you can spend the money on, when you can spend it and exactly how you can get your hands on the vouchers, that was announced, too. From 12pm AEST on Monday, June 7, the draw for the Gold Coast vouchers will be open to Queensland residents over the age of 18 — and you'll need to head to queensland.com to nab one. You'll register before 11.59pm AEST on Thursday, June 10 and, if you're successful, you'll be notified via text and email from Wednesday, June 16. As happened last time, there's likely to be more interested folks than there are available vouchers, so they'll be handed out at random. Those who manage to score a voucher will then be able to use it to book until Wednesday, July 21, for travel up until Friday, September 17. The vouchers can only be spent on tourism experiences — such as tours and attractions — and accommodation, and they'll enable you to get up to 50 percent off your booking, maxing out at $100. https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1400182934020100104 When the Cairns scheme was announced back in March, Premier Palaszczuk said that it could be rolled out across the rest of the state if the vouchers are popular. That's obviously happened a few times now, but there's no word as yet about whether other parts of Queensland might be covered in the future. Applications for the 30,000 $100 Gold Coast Holiday Dollars travel vouchers will be open between 12pm AEST on Monday, June 7–11.59pm AEST on Thursday, June 10. For more information, or to apply during the aforementioned window, head to the Gold Coast Holiday Dollars website.
Before the days of Simple Plan and Avril Lavigne, the average '90s kid was prone to resort to the listening likes of Nada Surf for their teenage angst release. Along with their iconic 1996 anti-high school clique ballad 'Popular', this New York band has produced an incredible range of music in their 16 years of rocking that has capitvated an audience far beyond that of adolescent musos. As part of the Brisbane Festival, Nada Surf will be returning to Australia for the first time in ten years to showcase their recent work. The band has just released a new album 'The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy', but has assured fans that their setlist will contain songs from their entire 16-year career. Nada Surf will be gone quickly, performing only three shows while on our shores. As a band that has produced a number of spotless indie-rock numbers, this rare experience is sure to be one of the musical highlights of the Brisbane Festival. Check out Nada Surf's 1996 hit 'Popular'
Australia has so much wonderful wilderness that spending a few days trekking up hills and down mountains is something everyone should try at least once. But doing so is not something that anyone should take lightly — from safety steps, to preparing food and drink, to having the ideal gear, being suitably prepared for your journey is a must before heading off. Since 1973, Macpac has been ensuring that both new and experienced hikers get the most out of their overnight treks, all thanks to a range of technical clothing and outdoor gear that can handle any type of climate. So, we teamed up with the brand — in celebration of the opening of its new Adventure Hubs — to help you get properly kitted out and put your plan in place. It's time to go trekking. HIKE AT THE RIGHT TIME It probably doesn't come as much of a surprise, but Australia's weather can be pretty temperamental. So when it comes to overnight hiking, it's important to choose a track that's going to have the right conditions for when you're planning to set off. Throughout the year, many hikes can change dramatically thanks to heavy rain or snow, with some becoming inaccessible altogether. Ensure that you're not caught out in the wrong place at the wrong time by researching exactly where you're heading — and by keeping an eye on the weather forecast so you always have the appropriate gear. Pack this: Less is Less Rain Jacket in women's and men's styles ($329.99) MAKE A PLAN AND STICK TO IT Whenever you set out for an overnight trip into the hills, having a travel plan that you can stick to is the best way to avoid a bad situation. There are plenty of things to consider but, if it's possible, you should seek advice from the local Parks Victoria office or experienced local hikers so that you know what to expect when you arrive. (Plus, this way you may get some hints to some epic sights and views.) But bear in mind that if conditions change and any dangers arise, it's better to scrap the plan and cut your trip short than to keep pushing forward. Also crucial: making sure that you leave a detailed itinerary for someone at home, who can then raise the alarm if you don't return by your expected time. Include where you're going, the route you plan to take and how long you think you'll be gone for. You can also head to the Macpac website to make use of its helpful planning tool. Pack this: Suunto Spartan Sport Watch ($699) TAKE EXTRA FOOD AND WATER — JUST IN CASE More is more when you're heading off on an overnight hike — that is, it's always advisable to take more food and water than you think you'll need. And while packing food can be a bit of a challenge, you'll be thanking yourself if you largely opt for lightweight, dehydrated and non-perishable foods. As a general guide, you'll want to try to consume around 12,500 kilojoules or more per day; for water, it's recommended that you drink 250 millilitres for every 30–45 minutes of hiking. In terms of what to pack, many hikers prefer simple products that are easily stored like muesli bars, oatmeal sachets and basic pasta. But if you're feeling ambitious, here are a host of awesome camp food ideas that you can try if you consider yourself a bit of a chef around the fire. Pack this: Hydration Reservoir 3L ($59.95) PICK YOUR GEAR WISELY Bringing all of the right gear is going to make your overnight hike smoother and more enjoyable — plus, you'll feel like a seasoned adventurer. If you're the forgetful type, pack early and have a checklist of all the things you know you'll need. One thing that people often don't remember is just how useful a headlamp is, especially if you've ever tried cooking in the dark with one hand occupied by a torch. That also means bringing along some spare batteries, while sunscreen, a first aid kit and a paper map are always good ideas as well. Next, you need to consider if the gear you currently own is going to be suited for the climate that you're heading into. Consider upgrading your tent, sleeping bag or winter clothing if you think things might get a little chilly. Many popular hiking destinations also have online packing lists, so checking them out will also help. Pack this: Petzl Headlamp ($59.99) LEAVE NO TRACE Everyone loves Australia's pristine nature, so we all need to work together to keep it that way. Always plan to leave no trace when you go out hiking — that means carrying your rubbish with you and staying respectful of any wildlife you come across. Also, make sure that you're aware of any local camping regulations or environmental concerns in the area. One particular warning to take note of: total fire bans. While everyone wants a campfire when they set up their tent for the night, bans are commonplace across Australia and must be followed. If having a fire is allowed, try to keep it small while also using fire pans or mounds, which help keep the flames safely under control. Pack this: Scarpa Kailash Boots in women's and men's styles ($399.99) DON'T FORGET ENTERTAINMENT If storm clouds roll through and you find yourself stuck in your tent for a few hours, you might find that the conversation becomes a little stale. That's why bringing some light form of entertainment to keep yourself and others occupied never goes amiss. A deck of cards weighs next to nothing and is easy to carry, while paperback books (or a Kindle), magazines and audiobooks are other great ways to pass the time before you can hit the track again. Top image: Visit Victoria.
Sweet birthday babies, the big dose of déjà vu you've long been waiting for is finally almost here. It's been three years since Russian Doll first brought its Groundhog Day-meets-The Good Place vibes to Netflix, proved a hit and got renewed for a second season — and if you've been hanging out to rehash the smart and twisty Natasha Lyonne-starring series all over again, it'll drop new episodes in April. Orange Is the New Black, Irresistible and The United States vs Billie Holiday star Lyonne plays New Yorker Nadia, who had a 36th birthday she'd never forget in Russian Doll's first season — although she desperately wished that she could. While getting stuck at a celebration in your own honour will sound like a literal party to most folks, that wasn't Nadia's path. So, after a couple of go-arounds, she went searching for answers. Indeed, being trapped in a loop featuring her closest pals (Sisters' Greta Lee and Werewolves Within's Rebecca Henderson), friendly ex (Yul Vazquez, Severance), wise aunt (Elizabeth Ashley, Ocean's 8), a cute roaming cat and a determined but neurotic guy (Charlie Barnett, You) who lives around the corner wasn't quite bliss for the show's acerbic, misanthropic lead character. Co-created and co-written by Lyonne, the one and only Amy Poehler, and filmmaker Leslye Headland (Bachelorette, Sleeping with Other People), the show's eight-episode first run was one of the highlights of 2019 — and fingers crossed that its second season proves the same in 2022. As well as announcing that Russian Doll's second season will drop on Wednesday, April 20, Netflix also released a first sneak peek at the new episodes, although little is given away story-wise. Examining fate, logic, life's loops and wading through limbo in a clever and compelling way is this show's wheelhouse, though — and proving dark, heartfelt, hilarious and inventive all at once, too, even though the do-over premise has become a well-established trope on both the big and small screens. So, if any series was well-placed to serve up a savvy second season — a do-over in a show that's already about do-overs — it's this one. NYC's subway system does feature prominently in the season two trailer, so there's one big clue. Also, Barnett is back as Alan. A graveyard is seen, too, as so is Nadia providing her latest advice: "when the universe fucks with you, let it." Plus, although they're not glimpsed in this first sneak peek, Schitt's Creek and Kevin Can F**k Himself star Annie Murphy and District 9's Sharlto Copley also join the cast. Check out the first teaser trailer for Russian Doll's second season below: The second season of Russian Doll will be available to stream via Netflix on Wednesday, April 20. Image: Netflix.
Activewear fans, we've got some big news: P.E. Nation is bringing back its warehouse sale — and it's all online. The athleisure experts hosted their first ever sample sale in 2016, and everything sold out in the first day. But, luckily, you don't have to worry about being crushed in a throng this year. You just need to have your mouse at the ready. Whether you're stocking up your own balcony-gym wardrobe (or WFH outfit, if we're totally honest) or doing a solid for sporty loved ones, you'll find an extensive array of swim, activewear, accessories, sweaters and jackets now available — and all for up to 60 percent off. That spans tops from $49, bottoms from $59, hoodies from $69 and jackets from $129 (because yes, cold weather really is just around the corner). Remember the age-old advice of when it comes to sample sales: you need to get in quick. Given the following the label has amassed since General Pants Co. design director Pip Edwards and former senior Sass & Bide designer Claire Tregoning joined forces, its functional, fashionable bits and pieces are bound to be popular. So, keep an eye on the website — and you'll need to be signed up as a member to access the deals.
We made it through 2020. We're in the throes of a new year, with two months of summer still ahead of us. The holidays are done and dusted, and as we get back into the swing of work it can be easy to get swept up in all the chaos and miss out on the good stuff — like outdoor cinemas, gigs, beer festivals and food pop-ups. It's time to make the most of the summertime events you probably meant to check out in 2020 but didn't. New year, new you. And that means getting outside and embracing the best of Brisbane life. Here are seven things to do this summer and autumn to help lift your mood. Get out there and enjoy it.
A spoonful of sugar isn't needed to make this medicine go down: the Mary Poppins musical is coming to Brisbane. Umbrellas at the ready for the most supercalifragilisticexpialidocious news that you'll hear all day, and all year as well, with the tale of the singing nanny set to take over QPAC's Lyric Theatre from Saturday, October 22. Mary Poppins comes to Brissie fresh from its Australian-premiere Sydney season, and marks a homecoming for two if its stars. Brisbane performers Stefanie Jones and Jack Chambers, who've been acting together since childhood, play Mary Poppins and Bert, respectively. Hailing from Disney and theatre producer Cameron Mackintosh, this current version of the show tells the same enchanting tale that everyone knows from the hugely popular, five-time Oscar-winning 1964 film — which, as well as inspiring this stage adaptation, also gave rise to big-screen sequel Mary Poppins Returns in 2018. Everything to do with the English governess harks back to PL Travers' books about the character, of course, and pop culture has been thankful for and downright delighted with her stories for almost six decades now. When it soars through its Brisbane season between Saturday, October 22–Sunday, December 11, local theatre fans can look forward to a new version of the show that last graced Australia's stages — and won eight Helpmann Awards — back in 2011. Since Mackintosh first teamed up with writer Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey) to bring Mary Poppins to the theatre in 2004, the production has won four Olivier Awards and a Tony as well. A Cinderella musical is coming the city's way this winter, too — and Frozen started off 2022 as well — so it's clearly a great year to love stage musicals based on beloved tales. If you'd been crossing your fingers that a date with Poppins, the Banks family and their Cherry Tree Lane abode might also come Brissie's way, consider that wish granted. Consider 'A Spoonful of Sugar', 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious', the Oscar-winning 'Chim Chim Cher-ee' and 'Let's Go Fly a Kite' stuck firmly in your head until October blows in, too. Check out the musical's trailer below: Mary Poppins will play QPAC's Lyric Theatre from Saturday, October 22–Sunday, December 11. To sign up for the ticket waitlist, head to the musical's website — with presales from 10am on Monday, August 1 and general sales from 9am on Monday, August 8. Images: Daniel Boud.
There’s nothing better than local produce, espescially when it comes to art. Brisbane-based Reframed has long made it their agenda to keep eagle eyes on Brisbane’s best creatives and put them in a gallery space to show off their flying colours. Now, in their fifth annual exhibition,Reframed14, they’ve curated an array of styles and mediums across painting, photography, objects, installation and jewellery, all from artists with postcodes begin with four. The exhibition will feature the work of 17 artists such as Belinda Giddins, Tessa Brown, Ari Fuller, Kerryn Lane, and a dozen more. From the extraordinary and whimsical pen and collage images of Rachael Sedgman, to Alithea Josaphine's finely balanced blends of geometry and nature (pictured), Refreamed14 will be showing work that will please even the fussiest of artistic palate. The opening night for Reframed14 will be the 3rd of July, kicking off at White Canvas Gallery at 5pm. But if you’re not a party kind of person, then you’ve got until the 13th of July to check out the exhibition during the day.
Remember Who Framed Roger Rabbit? 1988's mismatched buddy comedy about a washed-up private eye (Bob Hoskins) and an animated rabbit was (and remains) a remarkable piece of cinema: groundbreaking in its special effects, hilarious in its comedy and note-perfect as a noir pastiche. It set the standard for movies that seamlessly entertained both adults and children alike, almost as if there were two separate audio tracks where only those over a certain age could hear the gags about sex, drugs and violence. Watching the trailers for Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, it was hard not to get excited that we might be on the verge of another Roger Rabbit-esque classic. Sumptuous special effects, a murky detective story, mismatched buddies and, as the pièce de résistance, master of deadpan Ryan Reynolds providing the voice of the eponymous Pikachu. Whether as a newcomer or a die-hard fan of the Pokémon franchise (which began as a video game and collectable-card craze), it seemed there was ample room for everyone to get beside the wise-cracking chubby rodent with the eyes of an angel and the mouth of a pirate. Alas, no. A convoluted plot, countless first-draft jokes and constant exposition dumb down the film to a level that even kids will find silly. It's not without its merits, but the overwhelming feeling is one of frustration at what might have been had they either embraced the world of Pokémon in earnest, or gone all-in on the detective story. Instead, it's a bit of everything and not a whole lot of anything. And to think, it all started so well. Detective Pikachu kicks off dramatically with a secret laboratory meltdown of sorts, prompting a prisoner escape, a car chase and a spectacular crash. The action then pivots to a delightful sequence involving a young man in a field, Tim (Justice Smith), attempting to catch and bond with a grumpy little Pokémon named Cubone. If the dynamics of human/Pokémon relations mean nothing to you, however, you'll quickly find yourself floundering from this point onwards, as the film all but glances over the details of what, for the franchise, were its core principles, rules and objectives. In fact, the film almost dismisses them entirely, setting its main story in Ryme City where the traditional sport of Pokémon combat is outlawed and humans and Pokémon instead live, work and play alongside each other as equals. Tim is there to finalise the affairs of his late father, Harry, whose death from the crash at the beginning of the film raises numerous unanswered questions. It's here where he also encounters Pikachu, and, to their mutual surprise, they discover they can communicate with each other. Pikachu has amnesia, remembering nothing except that he was Harry's former partner, and that he's convinced the death was fabricated. The stage is hence set for some classic sleuthing — but instead of going down that road, or even just following the story of the video game from which the film is based, Detective Pikachu simply jumps from one half-explored plotline to the next in a narrative that feels increasingly disjointed and rushed. It's such a shame, too, because in addition to the stunning visuals, Detective Pikachu boasts a pretty solid cast. Alongside Reynolds and Smith, there's Bill Nighy, Ken Watanabe and Kathryn Newton, all of whom receive either far too little screen time, or not nearly enough character development. Being a kids movie doesn't mean its leads have to be basic or cliched (consider, for example, the complexities of some of Pixar's leading characters). Yet here only Pikachu and Smith get anything even close to resembling a back-story. From the audible gasps at various stages of the film, it's clear there's some joyous content for the true Pokémon fans out there, but for the uninitiated Detective Pikachu doesn't offer nearly enough to sink your teeth into. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1roy4o4tqQM
In preparation for the release of her super-hyped, internet-breaking personal memoir Not That Kind of Girl, your spirit animal Lena Dunham has created a 12-part web series. Taking the whole 'voice of her generation' thing to its logical conclusion, Dunham poses as an agony aunt for people's personal and relationship problems and dishes out some stellar advice. Namely, don't date garbage men and don't yell 'vagina' in inappropriate public places (at home is obviously fine). Though Dunham has worked hard to differentiate herself from her on-air persona Hannah Horvath, it's interesting to note the similarities. For all her faults, the narcissistic Girls character is at least a feminist and a thinker. Here's how the two compare: Takeaway advice: Wear booty shorts and rock on with your bad self. Takeaway advice: Don't bother counting almonds, love your size and rock it in a romper. Takeaway advice: Don't waste time with bad friends. Takeaway advice: Don't fuck garbage people (or something like that). Takeaway advice: The personal is political. Write about whatever you want. Takeaway advice: Ask for help. Mental illness is just as serious as any other disease. Takeaway advice: Bullies are just sad ol' meanies. Takeaway advice: Eating your own stockings doesn't necessarily lead to lots of orgasms. Takeaway advice: Sometimes people just aren't right for each other. Takeaway advice: We're all going to die and Lena Dunham's life is much better than yours. Takeaway advice: We can all be successful, just make a fatty to-do list and hit that shit hard. Takeaway advice: Screaming 'vagina' in a chocolate store is apparently a bad thing. Not That Kind of Girl is released in the US on September 30. Expect overanalysed excerpts on Gawker not long after that.
Do you have a friend in Wellington who likes writing, and going to cafes where the baristas are knee-deep in tattoos and serve organic ethnic blend coffees? A friend who knows what a cold brew is, can stomach eating fine cuisine on a weekly basis, and gets enthused about going to the latest Bats plays and being 'in the know'? Would that friend enjoy getting paid to do all of the above and more? Well, good. We're looking for writers in Wellington city and need someone like your friend (you can subscribe here to read about it soon). So pass this message on to them and get them to send us through their name and wee bit of their writing (no personal postcard to your aunt or your Mills & Boon-esque short fiction piece, please) to wellington@concreteplayground.co.nz We'll be waiting.
Masters of putting unlikely things together, Ikea, have kicked off a smart design initiative to connect thousands of homeless dogs with potential families. Shelters are overcrowded and homestarters want that little extra addition to their pad, so the US-based Animal Lovers League and Singapore's Save Our Street Dogs have teamed up with the Swedish furniture giants for a very simple marketing project. Dubbed Home for Hope, the campaign uses the ol' cardboard cut out routine in the best possible way. Home renovators wander through Ikea displays picturing every thoughtfully-placed item in their own abodes (we've all entertained 'friends' around an Ikea display kitchen once, right?), a state of mind the furniture heavyweights are harnessing with life-size cardboard cut outs of the adoptable dogs merrily chillin' out in the lounge room. Customers visualise themselves 'completing their home' with throw rugs, patterned curtains and kitchen blackboards, then attach the same sentiment to a scruffy little face. https://youtube.com/watch?v=tBka2eF4OAI Ikea's team headed to the involved shelters, photographed the homeless pooches and created life-size cardboard cut outs of legends like Momo, Lady and Pampam. Then the team went to work, perching the 'dogs' on lounge chairs, begging at dinner tables, snuggling at the end of beds. Shoppers can scan the QR codes on the cardboard dogs' collars to register their interest in adoption, with each scruffy mutt having their own bio and individual video on the Home for Hope website (watching dogs have their own photoshoots is actually The Best Thing Ever). Alongside Ikea, Home for Hope will work with other big furniture players like Grafunkt, Foundry, Commune, Journey East and Noden Collective. The idea was borne from a lack of budget and a subsequent need to market the poor pooches creatively. "Home for Hope was borne out of a pressing issue," the foundation says. "With a limited budget, most animal shelters can only afford to voice their messages using social media. Problem is, their followers are pet lovers, and most already own pets. Hence, adoption rates are low." Via Fast Co.Design.
In celebration of her highly anticipated debut album Nightswim, Owl Eyes is back for a national tour throughout May and June. She’ll be visiting all major cities for the first time since her sold-out tour in May 2012, this time being the first opportunity for fans to hear her new material. Owl Eyes, otherwise known as Brooke Addamo, is no stranger to the stage, having supported the likes of The Wombats among others in the early years of her career. However, she shines in her own light, with her surprisingly mature and definitive sound crafting a well-rounded fanbase for herself. Her song ‘Raiders’ attracted mass attention, as did her pairing with Illy for ‘It Can Wait’ and her cover of ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ by Foster the People. Owl Eyes is bringing along some of the country’s biggest upcoming acts – Collarbones, heralding from Sydney and Adelaide, and Sydney’s own Mammals. The tour is sure to be a slice of homemade, synthpop heaven – grab your tickets before they surely sell out.
As much as we might want to be, we can’t all be on the other side of the world when 2015 commences — but we can certainly pretend we are. For the folks at The Fox, ignorance is bliss at London Calling, the best British celebration outside of Britain. Themed spaces get into the English groove, including the Tanqueray Centre Stage, Our House, The Pimms Palace and London Mega-Club, as well as the Kate Moss Rooftop Bar for high-fliers. Wearing the union jack and summoning your inner James Bond or Spice Girl is optional, but prepare for this party to leave you shaken, not stirred.
Whether you're too young, too old or just too cool for Laneway, The New Globe Theatre is throwing together a Saturday night lineup for a reason that isn’t so cheery. Brisbane-based music press Audio Collective are calling it quits, but not before they throw a huge party to celebrate the memories. There will be prizes, a raffle and two stages hosting some Audio Collective’s bestest pals who want to say goodbye with a few boppy tunes. Local superstar Jeremy Neale will have everyone forgetting this is pretty much a funeral for one of Brisbane’s music heroes, and The Missing, Youth Allowance and a heap more bands will be putting on a brave face in this time of loss. Bat away the tears, and try your best to dance, drink and win the raffle. Tickets are only $15, available on the door on online here. If you are under 18 but still really want to pay your respects, then tickets are $25 and you need to bring a parent. That's not entirely a bad thing; a hug from mum might be quite nice when you're farewelling a friend.
To Valhalla, George Miller went: when Mad Max: Fury Road thundered across and shone upon the silver screen in 2015, and it did both, it gave cinema one of the greatest action movies ever made. It has taken nine years for the Australian filmmaker to back up one of the 21st century's masterpieces with another stunt-filled drive through his dystopian franchise — a realm that now dates back 45 years, with Mad Max first envisaging a hellscape Down Under in 1979 — and he's achieved the immensely enviable. Fury Road and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga's white-hued, silver-lipped war boys pray to gain entry to a mythological dreamscape just once, but Miller keeps returning again and again (only 1985's Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, in a now five-film series that also includes 1981's Mad Max 2, is anything less than heavenly). "The question is: do you have what it takes to make it epic?" Miller has Chris Hemsworth (Thor: Love and Thunder) ask in Furiosa as biker-horde leader Dementus, he of the post-apocalyptic Thor-meets-Roman gladiator look and chariot-by-motorcycle mode of transport. Returning to all things Mad Max after an affecting detour to 2022's djinn fable Three Thousand Years of Longing, the writer/director might've been posing himself the same query — and he resoundingly answers in the affirmative. An origin story-spinning prequel has rarely felt as essential as this unearthing of its namesake's history, which Fury Road hinted at when it introduced Furiosa (then played by Charlize Theron, Fast X) and made her the movie's hero above and beyond Mad Max (Tom Hardy, Venom: Let There Be Carnage). Discovering the full Furiosa tale felt imperative then, too, and with good reason: Miller had already planned the figure's own film to flesh out her background before her celluloid debut, and that she existed well past her interactions with Max was always as apparent as the steely glare that said everything without words. Now with both Anya Taylor-Joy (The Super Mario Bros Movie) and Alyla Browne (The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart) playing the lead, Furiosa is an act of seeing how sands shift. Time, terrors and tragedy sweep through Furiosa's life, moulding her into Fury Road's formidable figure — and the grains blasted around by the years, and the trials and tribulations, assist with the shaping. As exceptional as Theron was, owning her time in the role and the film that she was in, Miller was smart to recast with Taylor-Joy rather than deploying digital de-ageing. His new Furiosa doesn't mimic her predecessor, but evolves into her take on the character, including via fierce and anxious eye emoting beneath slicks of grease in a frequently wordless performance. Browne is also excellent, and equally as determined. Furiosa has chosen all of its key talents wisely; in a showcase turn, Hemsworth peacocks and drips evil like he's never had so much fun on screen, while Tom Burke (Living) is commandingly stoic as Praetorian Jack, a war rig pilot and a thoughtful mentor. When Browne begins the film as Furiosa, The Green Place of Many Mothers and the Vuvalini, its matriarchal custodians, are the character's safe haven and guiding forces — blissfully so. But she's resourceful, knowing to sever the fuel line on the bike of roving scavengers to stop them from finding her home. The girl that audiences already know will become an Imperator under The Citadel warlord Immortan Joe (Three Thousand Years of Longing's Lachy Hulme, taking over from the now-late Hugh Keays-Byrne) — and will then secret away his captive wives, each treated as little more than human breeding stock — can't stop the raiders from snatching her up, however. Their hope: impressing the volatile Dementus, who rides across the desert with a teddy bear strapped to him, with living proof that more than the wasteland's dust and savagery exists. Furiosa's world-building first hour spends its time with its protagonist as a plucky pre-teen trying to escape back to her mother Mary Jabassa (Charlee Fraser, Anyone But You) — who is in swift pursuit — and then internalising the trauma of becoming her captor's adoptee as he plots dominance guided by sheer arrogance, entitlement, cruelty and buffoonery (Hemsworth wears his bluster as well as he does red capes, which he amusingly isn't done with in this move away from Marvel). She's still a girl when Dementus and his gang arrive at The Citadel, where she's traded into Immortan Joe's care. Fifteen years pass in Miller and Fury Road co-scribe Nick Lathouris' new narrative, but Taylor-Joy's step into Furiosa's shoes leaves the character no less enterprising and consumed by anger at a world where everything that she loves has been taken from her. Max Rockatansky was a vigilante, after all — and, as shot in Australia for the first time since Beyond Thunderdome, Miller is still making a vengeance story here. "We are the already dead, Little D, you and me," Dementus will tell Furiosa later. This remains a movie where speeding along dirt roads in the vehicular equivalents of Frankenstein's monster — tinkered together road trains ferrying arms from the Bullet Farm and petrol from Gas Town — is an eye-popping high-octane spectacle, but it's also one where pain, grief and, yes, fury run deep. With Aussie accents everywhere, and a sunburnt country that's inching closer to reflecting reality every day baking parched sights into the Simon Duggan (Disenchanted)-lensed frames, Furiosa doesn't forget that it's in a franchise about ecocide, what humanity robs from itself by committing it and what it takes to endure afterwards. Fury Road didn't, either, but by adding more room between the on-the-road chaos, its prequel buzzes and thrums with the urgency and immediacy of survival, and also lets the weight of Furiosa's plight land. With Oscar-winning editor Margaret Sixel (Happy Feet) and costume designer Jenny Beavan (Cruella) both back — the first working with Eliot Knapman (a second assistant editor last time) and whipping up action sequences as frenetic as ever, the second in vintage form — Miller has top-notch help etching stunning sights into cinema history again. Although Furiosa isn't just one long pedal-to-the-metal display, it's still filled with them. A mid-movie 15-minute setpiece is as tremendous as Mad Max flicks get. While CGI leaves bigger tyre marks this time, there's an apt air to the glossier look versus Fury Road's lived-in aesthetics, reflecting Furiosa's journey. The wasteland and its horrors greet her afresh in this film, but they're as caked on as mud when she's an Imperator. It also feels fitting that Furiosa arrives, finally, in a year that sand has already stretched across screens as far as could be seen in Dune: Part Two, and also revenge has fuelled Love Lies Bleeding and Monkey Man and Boy Kills World. Making the vast, primal and eternal feel vivid and shiny and new keeps proving Miller's 00s-era Mad Max wheelhouse — and what a treat, what a lovely treat, it makes for viewers.
In Locke, the improbable proves possible — and in more ways than one. The second film from director Steven Knight (best known as the screenwriter of Dirty Pretty Things, Eastern Promises and The Hundred-Foot Journey) takes the simple and routine and turns it into the complex and compelling. Never before has a one-man effort, set solely in a car, structured around a series of phone calls and ostensibly concerning the machinations of the largest concrete pour in history become so engaging and immersive. As the titular figure and only on-screen presence, Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy) is the lynchpin in the spoken drama. He leaves work one evening, but rather than head for a home that boasts a wife (Ruth Wilson) and two sons (Tom Holland and Bill Miner) waiting to watch a soccer match with him, or even for a good night's rest before the important day that awaits, the building site foreman drives away from his usual responsibilities. Conversations crystalise the details, sentiments escalating as he informs all those relying upon his dependable nature of the departure from his duties as an employee, husband and father. Increasingly upset altercations with a co-worker (Olivia Colman) in hospital are revelatory, as Locke faces the repercussions of an ill-thought-out act from his past. Of course, the central conceit of a single protagonist within a lone location is far from new; however, Knight does more than merely follow a formula. Avoiding easy comparisons with the likes of classics Lifeboat, Rope and Rear Window and recent thrillers Cube, Phone Booth and Buried, the filmmaker explores a situation marked by its modesty rather than its gimmick. The stakes are far from life and death, the crux of the story is akin to those seen in a soap opera, but tension radiates from the mundane and relatable. What results is the juxtaposition of several layers of confinement: physically, in a car careening towards London; emotionally, amid the reactions of all immersed in the mess; morally, in doing the right thing in the wrong circumstances Accordingly, Locke succeeds via the astute intersection of terse scripting, inventive filming and an exceptional performance. Knight's war of words never falls victim to complacency, every exchange adding to the pile of punishing problems and pulsating pressure. Cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos's (Thor) slick gaze offers a shiny veneer peppered with imperfections, creating imagery that matches the film's thematic thrust. But it is Hardy, Welsh-accented and stone-faced, that makes the scenario leap from the screen as he simmers under the strain of his character's choices. The feature's greatest achievement may stem from eliciting interest from its story, style and structure; however, it is its lead that sears its exploration of the inescapable inexplicably into memory. https://youtube.com/watch?v=HxLPXMEYGeI
One building, four different places to grab a drink: that's what the space lurking behind a 132-year-old facade on Brunswick Street now serves up. Already home to rooftop bar Cielo, restaurant and bar La Costa, and wine bar and bottle shop La Valle, the location that started its life as Foresters' Hall back in 1889 has now welcomed yet another new watering hole, all thanks to the opening of The Parlour. Just like its sibling venues, The Parlour takes its cues from the Italian riviera. It has a specific far-flung destination in mind, though: the Gulf of La Spezia. Also known as the Gulf of Poets, the region has links to literature greats such as Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf and Lord Byron. It's also where Percy Bysshe Shelley, husband of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley, drowned — although that's probably not the kind of tidbit you'll want to discuss while you're sipping cocktails. Instead, you might prefer to chat about The Parlour's drinks list itself, which has been curated by the folks at Sydney's acclaimed Maybe Sammy. Cielo can claim the same, too, so you now have a couple of choices if you want to knock back beverages by a venue that was named one of the top bars in the world last year (ranking 11th on the 2020 World's 50 Best Bars list). From the 'signatures' section of the cocktail list, you can enjoy the Fenhurst — a mix of Tanqueray No. 10, Massenez Crème De Pêche, Lillet Rouge, citrus and coconut that also comes topped with a citrus bubble. Or, from the literary-inspired 'Classics', The Tilted World pairs Johnnie Walker Black, Domaine De Canton ginger liqueur, citrus, egg white, pear and spiced red wine ice. Every cocktail has been crafted to provide a multi-sensory experience, but you can also opt for wine, beer and spirits if you're after something a little less theatrical. Open evenings until late from Wednesday–Sunday, the bar also serves up a small range of bites, such as beef carpaccio with parmesan, pine nuts and truffle oil; cheese and charcuterie boards; and arancini specials, which change daily. Decor-wise, The Parlour favours a glam retro look; think: dim mood lighting, marble tiles, framed vintage photos, curved booths and cocktail trolleys. And if you head by on a Saturday night, DJs will soundtrack your drinks. Find The Parlour at 209 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley — open Wednesday–Sunday.
They call it Tina — The Tina Turner Musical, oh Tina — The Tina Turner Musical — and, while it finally arrived in Australia in May 2023, premiering in Sydney, it's now playing Brisbane. After debuting in London in 2018, this stage ode to the music icon that's had Aussies dancing to 'Nutbush City Limits' for decades is touring Down Under, making a date with Queensland Performing Arts Centre's Lyric Theatre from Saturday, June 29, 2024. No, it isn't taking to the stage in a church house, gin house, school house or outhouse — or on highway number 19, either. But Tina — The Tina Turner Musical will obviously have the QPAC crowd enjoying Turner's greatest hits in one massive show. The list of musical numbers includes 'Nutbush City Limits', naturally, as well as everything from 'River Deep, Mountain High' and 'Proud Mary' through to 'Private Dancer' and 'What's Love Got to Do with It?'. For its Aussie run, The Lion King, We Will Rock You, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Ragtime and Moulin Rouge! The Musical star Ruva Ngwenya plays Tina, with In the Heights, Fame: The Musical and fellow Moulin Rouge! The Musical alumni Tim Omaji as Ike Turner. Penned by Tony Award-nominee and Pulitzer Prize-winner Katori Hall, plus Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, and directed by fellow Tony-nominee Phyllida Lloyd, Tina — The Tina Turner Musical clearly has quite the story to tell. The show steps through Turner's life and fame, including growing up in Nutbush, Tennessee, the hard work that led to her career, all of those aforementioned hits, her 12 Grammy Awards, her volatile time with Ike and her huge solo success. If you're a fan, Turner herself summed it up — yes, it's simply the best. Images: Daniel Boud. Updated Wednesday, June 19, 2024.
Most years, the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre becomes a culinary, boozy wonderland for three jam-packed days. An alley dedicated to cheese, wine almost as far as the eye can see, an array of food and beverage stalls serving up samples — yep, it's a reality. That's the Good Food and Wine Show in a nutshell, with the next event hitting the city from Friday, October 27–Sunday, October 29 in 2023. If you've been before, you'll be eager to head along again. Basically, it's the Ekka of food and wine, just without the rides, dodgems and goldfish . Each year's show notches up big numbers; think: 250 producers, 600-plus wines to taste and more than 60 types of cheese this year. It also dedicates a whole section to a section dedicated to small Australia producers, too, so you can share some love with homegrown outfits. Big-name culinary stars make appearances, complete with workshops and masterclasses. Some cost extra; however if you're just keen to wander and enjoy samples, don't worry — that's all included in the regular admission. A word from the wise: you'll be eating and drinking all day, but do make sure you have a light breakfast beforehand. Lining the stomach is always a good idea, and you'll thank us later. Images: Joseph Byford / J Wyld / L Riley.
2023's working year might've only just begun, but it's already time to book in a big overseas holiday. Put in that leave request ASAP. Block out your calendar. Bust out your suitcase, too, and make sure your passport is up to date. Your destination: the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, because Coachella is back for 2023 with a characteristically impressive roster of acts. Mark April 14–16 and April 21–23 in your diaries — including if you you're just keen to check out the livestream. (Remember, Coachella was livestreaming its sets long before the pandemic.) The full bill is a jaw-dropper, as usual, with Bad Bunny headlining the Friday nights, BLACKPINK doing the Saturday nights and Frank Ocean on Sunday nights. Also on the bill: a stacked array of acts that also spans everyone from Calvin Harris, Gorillaz, The Chemical Brothers, ROSALÍA and Blondie through to The Kid LAROI, Björk, Fisher, Charlie XCX, Porter Robinson and Idris Elba. Whether you're after new tunes, the biggest music names right now or dripping nostalgia, it's on offer at Coachella 2023. Anyway, let's be honest, you haven't truly read any of those words — you'll be wanting this: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Coachella (@coachella) For music lovers planning to watch along from home, Coachella will once again team up with YouTube to livestream the festival. That's no longer such a novelty in these pandemic times but, given the calibre of Coachella's lineup, it's still a mighty fine way to spend a weekend. For those eager to attend in-person, you can signup for access to tickets over at the festival's website — with pre-sales starting at 11am PT on Friday, January 13 (aka 5am AEST/6am AEDT on Saturday, January 14). At the time of writing, the festival advises that there are very limited passes left for weekend one, so your best bet is the second weekend. COACHELLA 2023 LINEUP: $uicideboy$ ¿Téo? 070 Shake 1999.ODDS 2manydjs A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie Adam Beyer AG Club Airrica Alex G Ali Sethi Angèle Ashnikko Bad Bunny Bakar Becky G BENEE Big Wild Björk BLACKPINK Blondie Boris Brejcha boygenius BRATTY Burna Boy Calvin Harris Camelphat Cannons Cassian Charli XCX Chloé Caillet Chris Stussy Christine and the Queens Chromeo Colyn Conexión Divina DannyLux Dennis Cruz + PAWSA Despacio Destroy Boys Diljit Dosanjh Dinner Party featuring Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper and Kamasi Washington DJ Tennis + Carlita Doechii Dombresky Domi & JD Beck Dominic Fike Donavan's Yard DPR LIVE + DPR IAN DRAMA EARTHGANG El Michels Affair Eladio Carrión Elderbrook Elyanna Eric Prydz presents HOLO Ethel Cain Fisher + Chris Lake FKJ Flo Milli Fousheé Francis Mercier Frank Ocean Gabriels GloRilla Gordo Gorillaz Hiatus Kaiyote Horsegirl Hot Since 82 IDK Idris Elba Jackson Wang Jai Paul Jai Wolf Jamie Jones Jan Blomqvist Joy Crookes Juliet Mendoza Jupiter & Okwess Kali Uchis Kaytranad Keinemusik Kenny Beats Knocked Loose Kyle Watson Labrinth Latto Lava La Rue Lewis OfMan Los Bitchos Los Fabulosos Cadillacs LP Giobbi Maceo Plex Magdalena Bay Malaa Marc Rebillet Mareux Mathame Metro Boomin Minus the Light MK Mochakk Momma Monolink MUNA Mura Masa NIA ARCHIVES Noname Nora En Pure Oliver Koletzki Overmono Paris Texas Pi'erre Bourne Porter Robinson Pusha T Rae Sremmurd Rebelution Remi Wolf Romy ROSALÍA Saba Sasha & John Digweed Sasha Alex Sloan Scowl SG Lewis Shenseea Sleaford Mods Snail Mail SOFI TUKKER Soul Glo Stick Figure Sudan Archives Sunset Rollercoaster Tale Of Us TESTPILOT The Blaze The Breeders The Chemical Brothers The Comet Is Coming The Garden The Kid LAROI The Linda Lindas The Murder Capital Tobe Nwigwe TSHA TV Girl Two Friends UMI Uncle Waffles Underworld Vintage Culture Wet Leg Weyes Blood WhoMadeWho Whyte Fang Willow Yaeji Yung Lean YUNGBLUD Yves Tumor Coachella runs from April 14–16 and April 21–23 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Find out more information and register for tickets at coachella.com — with pre-sales starting at 11am PT on Friday, January 13 (aka 5am AEST/6am AEDT on Saturday, January 14).
Going into Scream VI, viewers know who the killer definitely isn't: the horror franchise's OG final girl Sidney Prescott. Neve Campbell's (The Lincoln Lawyer) character has been a pivotal part of every Ghostface-stalked flick from 1996's initial Scream through to 2022's fifth entry Scream, but famously isn't in the stab-happy saga's latest chapter due to a pay dispute. That's one big change for returning filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett to grapple with in their second slice of the blood-splattering, scary movie-loving action. À la Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan — which gets an early nod, naturally — they also move said action to New York. But even if you take Ghostface and the murderer's targets out of Woodsboro, and shake up who the masked maniac swings a knife at, Scream is going to Scream in a screamingly familiar fashion. It has before in Ohio in Scream 2 and Hollywood in Scream 3, and the series knows it. New movie, new city, same setup, same gravelly Roger L Jackson voice, same 'Red Right Hand' needle drop, same overall formula: throw in the same winking, nodding, self-referential attitude, plus the same penchant for mentioning horror movies, their tropes and cliches, and general film theory, and that's Scream VI's easy cut. Once again, someone dons Ghostface's ghost face, of course, and uses whichever blade happens to be in the vicinity (and a shotgun) to terrorise teens and long-victimised targets. Murder Mystery's James Vanderbilt and Ready or Not's Guy Busick haven't taxed themselves with the screenplay — their second Scream effort, after the previous flick — but the franchise's pattern keeps making a comeback for a reason. While intrepid reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox, Shining Vale) notes the world's current "true-crime limited series" obsession, whodunnits and murder-mysteries date back further, and that's where every Scream instalment has also carved a niche since the late, great Wes Craven and Dawson's Creek creator Kevin Williamson started things off. With Sidney happily explained away, Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera, In the Heights) is Ghostface's present obsession. She was last time, too, which didn't end well for some of her friends and acquaintances. A year later, she's in the Big Apple because that's where younger sister Tara (Jenna Ortega, Wednesday) goes to college, and Sam isn't keen to let her out of her sight. Horror movie fanatic Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown, Yellowjackets) and her twin Chad (Mason Gooding, Love, Victor) are also new-ish ex-Woodsboro kids on campus. And, when bodies start piling up, starting with the saga's obligatory and engagingly effective cold open — with Samara Weaving (Babylon) reuniting with her Ready or Not directors to follow in Drew Barrymore (Santa Clarita Diet), Jada Pinkett Smith (The Matrix Resurrections) and the like's footsteps — Scream VI's core four have another date with a psychopath. Sam, Tara, Mindy and Chad also have fresh-faced NYC company, adding to the suspect pool. Sam and Tara are bunking with sex-positive roommate Quinn Bailey (Liana Liberato, A Million Little Things), who has a police detective (Dermot Mulroney, Umma) for an overprotective father. Chad does the same with the studious Ethan Landry (Jack Champion, Avatar: The Way of Water), while Mindy is dating Anika Kayoko (Devyn Nekoda, Sneakerella). Plus, Sam is enjoying a secret fling with neighbour Danny Brackett (Josh Segarra, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law). Because they're all well and truly in a franchise — when Mindy gives her obligatory lecture about what movie conventions dictate should happen next, she expands beyond just horror films to ever-sprawling sagas — Gale hightails it to campus when murders start occurring, and Scream 4's Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere, Nashville) also finds reason to drop by. Sadly, when Mindy does get a-babbling about "the rules", she mentions a word that no one who saw 2022's Scream should ever want to hear again: requel. At least that term for do-overs that stick with an established timeline, bring back legacy characters, but pump in new blood to also give the original a remake doesn't then get splashed around as frenetically as Ghostface splashes gore in this followup. Scream VI doesn't get to insufferable levels of geeking out, either — that its predecessor did even for the most adoring horror-movie fans, aka the series' main audience, was an unwanted feat but a feat nonetheless — instead satirising itself by literally asking "who gives a fuck about movies?". Still, Mindy's whole speech, surveying her pals, assessing who is likely to kill or be killed, and waxing irreverent about scary film and franchise lore, shows how beholden Scream VI is to the saga's standard formula. Accordingly, don't believe Mindy when she says this isn't a requel sequel: it is. Also don't believe her when she states that old rules no longer apply: they patently do. Don't believe Mindy when she starts talking about subverting expectations as well, claiming that franchises will only keep on keeping on if they do just that. The horror genre gushes with ongoing series — some namechecked in Scream VI — that've proven the exact opposite because viewers showed up anyway, and little in this Scream entry upends the saga's basics. In fact, the big reveal is dispiritingly by-the-numbers, lacking the smart and savage commentary that helped improve the last Scream's choice of culprit in the process. Noting the wearing nature of living with trauma is a meaningful touch, but never deeply explored. The shoutout to franchise fatigue is also far more superficial than any Ghostface-caused gash. Plus, though focusing on Sam's inner turmoil has the potential to get the inevitable seventh flick to truly try something different, the callback that comes with the storyline is already clunky and played out. Scream VI is still fun enough as a slasher-comedy-slash-whodunnit; staging that slashing, plus the suspense and sleuthing around it, remains Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett's best Scream-relevant skill. That was never in doubt after Ready or Not, and their aforementioned cold open here is entertaining, playful and expertly executed. The New York setting sparks stabbings in alleyways, subways and bodegas, all impressively and tensely shot — although Montreal makes a particularly unconvincing Big Apple. And if you're going to stick with business as usual no matter what the sassy dialogue promises, Barrera, Savoy Brown, stalwart Cox, eagerly anticipated returnee Panettiere, and especially growing scream queen (see also: X and Studio 666) Ortega and always-welcome The Other Two star Segarra, are killer company.
New Zealand entrepreneur Hamish Dobbie is in the final rounds of a Kickstarter campaign to fund Yolkr, a rather nifty egg yolk separator. 'Finally', I hear you say, a simple and incredibly good looking kitchen tool for separating those whites from the yolk, without scattering shells throughout your 'egg'cellent kitchen creation. Having been tested by his 90 year old Grandfather, who has one eye, wears glasses and shakes somewhat, along with numerous others, the Yolkr project reached its Kickstarter goal within 5 days, and there are still 54 days remaining. Move over Number 8 wire, a new and revolutionary Kiwi invention has arrived. And it will change the way you make your omelette forever.
This year is flying by at rapid pace and that means summer is just around the corner — and we all need to get our warm weather wardrobes in order. Ready-to-wear and swimwear label Tigerlily is offering something very relevant to your interests: a big 29-hour online clothing sale to get you some much-welcome bargains. There's never a bad time to treat yourself to some new clothes, especially when you're saving a heap of money in the process. The Aussie brand is known and loved for its timeless prints and unique patterns, so getting your mitts on some of the goods at up to 80 percent off is a major win. You'll be able to get a brand new threads for a steal, including dresses, shorts, kaftans and sample pieces to help you prep for the summer months. The sale starts at 7pm on Tuesday, November 12 and ends at 11.59pm on Wednesday, November 13, so you'll have to get in quick. To check out what's up for grabs, head here. The Tigerlily click frenzy sale will kick off at 7pm on Tuesday, November 12 and end at 11.59pm on Wednesday, November 13.
Being spoilt for choice can be overrated. Sometimes, like when deciding which wine varieties you feel like at any given moment, it's easier to have someone else do the picking for you. Enter Pinot Palooza, which celebrates exactly the type of vino that's in its name, and has also locked in when you'll be able to spend a day sipping pinot noir in 2024. Here, the sound of a light- to medium-bodied red wine sloshing around a glass is the standard soundtrack. And you'll hear that noise a whole heap — before the pandemic, the Melbourne-born wine-tasting festival had notched up an estimated 65,000 tickets sold globally. In 2024, Pinot Palooza has spring dates locked in for Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, all for a two-day stint. So far, venues are yet to be announced. Also, tickets will go on sale in early July. The vino-sipping fun will play out similarly to before, although exactly who'll be doing the pouring is also yet to be revealed. Whoever it is, Pinot Palooza's lineup always spans drops from Australia, New Zealand and further afield. Last year, more than 50 winemakers came to the party. As always, attendees will spend their session swirling and sampling that huge array of pinot noir, and hitting up pop-up bars and food stalls between drinks. And, while Pinot Palooza as a standalone fest only has east coast dates for 2024, in Perth and Adelaide it's part of an already-announced collaboration with cheese festival Mould. Pinot Palooza 2024 Dates: Friday, October 4–Saturday, October 5: Sydney, venue TBC Friday, October 18–Saturday, October 19: Brisbane, venue TBC Friday, November 22–Saturday, November 23: Melbourne, venue TBC Pinot Palooza will tour Australia's east coast in October–November 2024. For more information, and for tickets from early July, head to the event's website.
There's almost nothing that's bold about Haunted Mansion, but making the Disney family-friendly horror-comedy about moving on from the past is downright audacious. What the film preaches, the company behind it isn't practising — with this specific movie or in general. This flick isn't the first that's based on the Mouse House's The Haunted Mansion theme-park attraction, thanks to a 2003 Eddie Murphy (You People)-starring feature. In 2021, the entertainment behemoth also combined the Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland highlight with The Muppets in streaming special Muppets Haunted Mansion. And, no matter how Haunted Mansion circa 2023 fares at the box office, there's no doubting that the idea will get another spin down the line. Nearly everything Disney does; this is the corporation that keeps remaking its animated hits as live-action pictures (see: The Little Mermaid), revelling in sequels even decades later (see: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), and getting franchises sprawling as films and TV shows alike (see: Marvel and Star Wars). Disney also adores stretching its well-known properties across as many parts of its business as possible, sometimes taking its movies and brands into its amusement parks — Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar have all received that treatment — and, of course, repeatedly doing the reverse. Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Tomorrowland, Tower of Terror, Mission to Mars, The Country Bears: they've all charted the path that Haunted Mansion has three times now. Accordingly, while grappling with and learning how to move forward from grief isn't an amusing topic, that letting go sits at the latest Haunted Mansion's centre is the funniest thing about the new film. The first word in the picture's moniker couldn't be more spot on — not just due to the ghosts that terrorise the titular home, but via the unnerving reality that this is another by-the-numbers entry in a long line of attempts to hero existing name recognition first, foremost and forever. When Dear White People and Bad Hair filmmaker Justin Simien begins his Haunted Mansion, it's with backstory that explains why astrophysicist Ben Matthias (LaKeith Stanfield, Atlanta) is himself so unwilling to embrace the future. He meets Alyssa (Charity Jordan, They Cloned Tyrone), falls in love, then understandably falls apart when he's suddenly a widower — and, once he's consumed by mourning he's committed to staying that way. Then priest and exorcist Father Kent (Owen Wilson, Loki) ropes him into a gig at the movie's central abode, enlisting not just his help but the use of his specially developed camera that photographs dark matter and, ideally, spectres. The gadget was a labour of love for Alyssa, who worked as a ghost tour guide around New Orleans, a job that Ben has swapped science and the lab for after her passing. There's a difference between truly believing in the supernatural and wanting to feel connected to the person you love, however; Ben is in the second category. So, when he gets snapping to help Gracey Manor's new inhabitant Gabbie (Rosario Dawson, Ahsoka), a doctor who has just relocated with her son Travis (Chase W Dillon, The Harder They Fall), he's as sceptical as he can be and just in it for the hefty payday. Then, two things eventuate: he connects with the shy and introverted boy, who is treated like an outcast at school; and, no matter how much he tries, he can't leave the home's spirits behind. Cue a notion straight from Disney's IRL playbook: being unable to cut ties. In Ben's case, the only solution is taking the haunted mansion's eeriness seriously, discovering what's going on, and calling in psychic Harriet (Tiffany Haddish, The Afterparty) and college historian Bruce Davis (Danny DeVito, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) to also lend a hand. Haunted Mansion's unspoken motto: if you're going to make a movie based on a theme-park favourite, you might as well make a theme park-style movie. So, something chaotic pops up around every corner, be it more nods to the feature's origins, more otherworldly bumps and jumps, more famous faces or more weak attempts at laughs. There's a bigger sense of experience to an amusement-park attraction, though, rather than just something happening, then something else, then another thing and so on as occurs here. Screenwriter Katie Dippold has one of the best-written — and best overall — sitcoms of the 21st century on her resume in Parks and Recreation, and also penned 2016's smart and funny female-led Ghostbusters, and yet her current script largely sticks to the rails. While there's emotional depth to Ben's journey, as well as to his bond with Travis, Haunted Mansion is rarely eager to veer there, preferring formulaic cursed-dwelling hijinks to sincerity everywhere it can. Still, viewers should be grateful for the film's casting — especially Stanfield. The Judas and the Black Messiah Academy Award-nominee brings his roaming, restless Atlanta energy, melancholy and charm to Ben, aiding the film in conjuring up what little weight it has. It's through him, in fact, that it's possible to see the shadows of a better movie that Haunted Mansion sadly isn't. Around Stanfield, the bulk of his colleagues appear to be having enough fun with each other, including Dan Levy (Schitt's Creek) and 2023 Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween Ends). That's another of Haunted Mansion's theme park-esque strategies: filling its frames with folks who look like they're enjoying themselves, even among an onslaught of stock-standard special effects that lengthen hallways, get people disappearing through walls and the like, in the hope that the vibe will be contagious. Alas, it sorely isn't. It's easy to want to spend time with Stanfield and co: Wilson could've just skipped through time from 1999's The Haunting, but makes it work; Haddish amps up the mood whenever it's needed; and playing a figure that everyone is trying to flee perfectly suits Jared Leto (Morbius), who gets malicious as The Hatbox Ghost. A few spooks and scares hit the mark as well, but too few in an over-long-and-feels-it 123-minute movie. There's another presence lingering over Haunted Mansion, however: the ghost of genuinely excellent all-ages efforts, some with chills and others more with thrills, that are still beloved from years gone by. When this lacklustre effort is the newest entry in the field, no one is quickly moving past prior classics that still hold up wonderfully, such as Gremlins and The Goonies in the 80s; The Addams Family and Addams Family Values in the 90s; The Witches in that same decade; and the animated efforts of Coraline, ParaNorman and Frankenweenie.
Flow Athletica's super-popular silent disco yoga classes have, in the past, seen up to 800 yogis shavasana-ing together. This time, it's aiming for 10,000. Obviously, in the current COVID-19 climate, this won't feature people in one physical room, but thousands of people all logging on together for a virtual version of the class. First up, taking place at 7pm AEST on Thursday, April 9, the 90-minute all-level vinyasa class will be hosted by Flow Athletic co-founder Kate Kendall — and beamed across the world to Hong Kong, London, Singapore and New York. In true Flow style, there'll be beats from Sydney DJ James Mack. And lots of neon. Then, at 7pm AEST on Wednesday, May 6, there'll be a slower vinyasa class, focusing more on relieving stress and tension and accompanied by mellow tunes. Expect 40 minutes of flowing movement, followed by 20 minutes guided rest. Tickets are only $10, which is a bargain considering physical classes usually set you back $50. You will, however, need to BYO yoga mat.
People dream of finding someone who looks at them they way that Michael Fassbender looks at Alicia Vikander in The Light Between Oceans. A World War I soldier turned lighthouse keeper, Tom Sherbourne (Fassbender) has swapped the horrors of combat for the routine and simplicity of his new life — and he never glances anything less than adoringly at Isabel Graysmark (Vikander), the woman who'll become his wife. In a film that is unashamedly a weepie, his stare tells a sometimes heart-swelling, sometimes heartbreaking story, and silently speaks of the ups and downs of life that everyone wants to weather with someone by their side. An intimate tale working with big, sweeping feelings as well as notions of guilt and forgiveness, The Light Between Oceans is a melodrama through and through. Not that that's a bad thing, necessarily. This adaptation of Australian author M. L. Stedman's 2012 novel is not what might derisively be labelled merely a chick flick. Yes, it may tug at the heartstrings, and focus its plot around marital life and motherhood, but the sentiments this period-set romantic drama stirs up remain unflinchingly real. The aforementioned couple meet, wed and forge a life together in and around Janus Rock off the coast of Western Australia. They're the only inhabitants living off the mainland, though it seems they'll be joined by the pitter-patter of tiny feet until tragedy strikes on multiple occasions. Then, a lifeboat — or a rowboat, to be exact — brings them a lost baby girl. Keeping her will help them become a family. But unbeknownst to them, it will also tear the child's real mother (Rachel Weisz) apart. After exploring the complications of romance in the raw and resonant Blue Valentine, and pondering the ties between parents and children in The Place Beyond the Pines, writer-director Derek Cianfrance combines the two in The Light Between Oceans, as though he's been building up to this all along. It may not be the strongest of the three features, but it's as astute in matters of the heart as it is picturesque. Indeed, as far as the latter is concerned, Australian cinematographer Adam Arkapaw, who gave the recent version of Macbeth such an icy, compelling gleam, will have you gazing at the soft, glowing, frequently pink-lit images in the same way that the film's characters gaze at each other. Cianfrance provides ample space for Fassbender and Vikander to flesh out their loving but troubled characters. There's no mistaking the actors' chemistry, or the hard-earned range of emotions they cultivate, often in no more than their expressions. He conveys Tom's doting affection as well as the war-inspired melancholy he can't quite hide, while she paints Isabel as vibrant and determined, both in happiness and in pain. Even when the film's efforts to evoke tears are a little too evident, Fassbender and Vikander ensure that everything feels, and looks, utterly genuine. [competition]598626[/competition]
With summer upon us and Christmas on the horizon, it's the perfect time to treat yourself and sort out your sleep. If you're tossing and turning at night it might not just be because of the state of the world, it could be your mattress and pillow as well. Luckily, premium homewares brand Ecosa wants to help you get a good night's sleep. All items on the Ecosa website are 25 percent off from Monday, November 23 to Monday, November 30. That's right, a whole week of deals in which you can save up to $350 on everything you need for a sleek, comfortable nights sleep. If you've been complaining about a crook neck, maybe head off to the physio and get yourself fancy new memory foam pillow. The ergonomic pillow boasts an adjustable height, a curved shape that suits side and back sleepers and a compressible foam that supports the natural shape of your head. Plus, two compression bags so you can pack it up and take it with you everywhere. Yep, it's one helluva pillow. If that's not enough, Ecosa also offers free shipping and returns Australia-wide, plus a 100-day free trial period. And, with everything on sale, get in early for some Christmas shopping. Ecosa is your one-stop sleep shop, with luxe bamboo sheets, silk pillowcases, wooden bed base, memory foam mattress and weighted blanket all available at the discounted price. So, you can treat yourself, your friends and your whole family to a better night's sleep. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
If sunning yourself on a beach, surrounded by palm trees and crystal blue waters, sounds like total bliss, we'd say you're not alone. Most of us have a pang of wanderlust from time-to-time and, after a pretty stressful year, kicking back in a bikini or boardies with a cocktail in hand sounds like paradise. Sure, you can't yet jet off to the sandy white shores of Puerto Rico, the turquoise seas of the Maldives or the buzzing streets of Havana, but you can still get plenty of vacay vibes in Australia. We've teamed up with our friends at go-to rum label Bacardi to bring you four cruisy cocktails that you can whip up fuss-free over summer. We bet these tasty tipples will transport you to a tropical island in no time. So, don your favourite holiday outfit, whack on some bossa nova tunes and get ready makes some next-level drinks. THE COOL ONE: FROZEN DAIQUIRI Serves one Aussie summers are hot, so you'll want an ice-cold beverage on those days where the cicadas thrum and the air is thick and sticky. Enter the frozen daiquiri, a cool riff on the classic daiquiri. Basically, it's summer in a glass. To make it, you'll need a blender, so you can make multiple serves at once, meaning it's the perfect party drink. Just be sure to stick to the ratios to ensure you're serving up a sweet-but-equally-tangy concoction. Ingredients 60ml Bacardi Carta Blanca 30ml sugar syrup 30ml fresh lime juice 1 lime wedge (optional) 3/4 cup ice Method Combine all ingredients and ice in blender and blitz until a slushie consistency is achieved. Serve in a highball glass, or, if you're feeling fancy, a martini glass. Garnish with lime wedge and serve. THE PARTY STARTER: SPICED PIÑA COLADA Serves one If you like this fun drink and getting caught in the rain on a sweltering summer evening, then you should be making yourself one stat. Originating from Puerto Rico, the piña colada is typically made with white rum, coconut cream and pineapple juice aplenty. But this version, using Bacardi Spiced to hints of vanilla and cinnamon, is sure to get any party going. It has a surprisingly smooth finish, too, and the coconut water instead of cream or milk keeps things fresh. Ingredients 60ml Bacardi Spiced 30ml fresh pineapple juice 30ml coconut water 2 teaspoons castor sugar 3–4 cubes of fresh pineapple 1 pineapple slice (optional) 1 tropical leaf (optional) Ice Method Place pineapple cubes and castor sugar in cocktail shaker and slightly crush using a muddler or spoon. Add pineapple juice and coconut water to mixture and stir to dissolve the sugar, then add Bacardi Spiced. Half fill cocktail shaker with ice and shake until chilled (about 30 seconds). Strain into a highball glass and add ice cubes. Top with crushed ice and garnish with pineapple slice and leaf to serve. THE COOL ONE'S FUN COUSIN: FROZEN STRAWBERRY DAIQUIRI Serves one This frosty, fruity take on the daiquiri is pretty much an adult slushie. Again, to make this frozen delight you'll be using a blender, meaning you can easily make it in batches. Not only is it delicious, but its vibrant colour makes it an ideal go-to throughout the holiday season. Best of all, it is easy as a Sunday morning to whip up. Ingredients 45ml Bacardi Carta Blanca 20ml sugar syrup 30ml fresh lime juice 3–4 strawberries 1 partially sliced strawberry (optional) 1 cup ice Method Combine all ingredients and crushed ice in blender and blitz until a slushie consistency is achieved. Serve in a highball glass or any glass, really. Garnish with sliced strawberry and serve. THE CLASSIC: MOJITO Serves one If there's one drink that has you dreaming of salsa dancing in Cuba upon first sip it's the mojito. It's got all the ingredients for a refreshing summer drink without being utterly dull. There's zesty citrus, the freshness of mint, a slight sweetness and some fizz to keep things light and bubbly. Of course, there's also the rum. If you want to keep things old-school opt for Bacardi Carta Blanca, or you can spice things up a bit by using Bacardi Spiced. Either way, it's an A-class cocktail. Ingredients 60ml Bacardi Carta Blanca or Bacardi Spiced 4 lime wedges 2 teaspoons castor sugar 6–8 mint leaves 15–30ml soda water 1 mint sprig (optional) Method Squeeze lime into a highball glass, add sugar and stir until dissolved. Add mint leaves and muddle. Half fill glass with crushed ice, pour Bacardi Carta Blanca, or Bacardi Spiced if you're making a spiced mojito, then stir to combine. Top up with more crushed ice, add a dash of soda (to taste) and garnish with mint sprig. Do what moves you this summer with these super-easy tropical cocktails from Bacardi. Once you've mastered the art of rum cocktails, check out Bacardi's competition, where you and 20 mates could win the chance to attend Australia's smallest music festival. Top image: Mushroom Creative House
This winter, the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre is hosting a sales event of most peculiar stock. Strange things they are, full of pages, rampant with words and with covers of the most beautiful colours. You can't charge them, they don't run out of battery, their brightness is unalterable, and they won't smash when you drop them. Lifeline Bookfest is coming back for another round of vintage bargains between Saturday, June 17–Tuesday, June 20. It's where you'll find everything from Australian Women's Weekly cookbooks to a bit of cheeky erotica, as well as games, DVDs and puzzles. If you've been before, you'll know there are warehouse quantities of books for sale – your grade five diary is probably hidden under a copy of Shantaram, and you'll come across at least three copies of Cooking with Days of Our Lives. In fact, over this four-day run, more than one million items will be up for grabs. In a first, this round will also feature more than 10,000 comics, manga and graphic novels. Also, a heap of special guests like sports stars Alastair Lynch and Ian Healy will be popping up. Prices range from $2.50 to the big bucks, and you'll have plenty to choose from. Whenever Bookfest hits Brisbane, it always brings hundreds of crates of reading materials with it. You'll still want to bring a trolley and your glasses, obviously, and to clear some space on your shelves at home. And, you'll want to bring your cards, because this Bookfest is cashless. Also, you'll need your own bags, as books won't be wrapped for you this time around. Head along from 7.30am–7pm on Saturday, June 17 and 8am–7pm between Sunday, June 18–Tuesday, June 20. And if you're wondering why this Bookfest is shorter than usual, that's because BCEC is jam-packed with other events. Images: Bookfest.
"It is with the reading of books the same as with looking at pictures; one must, without doubt, without hesitations, with assurance, admire what is beautiful." These are the words of one Vincent van Gogh, part-time ear surgeon, all-time famous artist, declaring the artistic beauty inherent within books. Some artists have elected to take his words literally, adopting literary works as their medium and through careful artistic surgery have constructed intricate and engrossing works that put even the greatest of pop-up books to shame. The best of these have now been collated together by Laura Heyenga in the new book Art Made From Books: Altered, Sculptured, Carved, Transformed. The volume features the varied book-based work of 27 different artists, each with their own technique of sculpting. Whether it is transforming a hardback book into a miniaturist tableaux of surgical precision or carefully operating with scalpel and tweezer to encapsulate a new literary work like the one below, each artist has their own means of message-construction. "Some of these artists are making comments about the role of reading in contemporary culture, others find that books are a handy art form," says Alison Kuhn, author of the introduction to Art Made From Books: Altered, Sculptured, Carved, Transformed, in an interview with Fast Co.Create. "They see books as a backdrop for their creativity." Whilst some may think of these works as vandalism, many are merely breathing new life into tired books or outdated telephone directories. "The information is outdated, the paper is probably yellowed or worse, so the fact that a book can become something charming and creative and valuable in a new light is kind of great." Amidst the depths of the digital age and the advent of the Kindle, these works just go to show that van Gogh was right; there is no replacing the enchanting aura of a book. Let the bookception begin. BRRRRRRRAAAAAWWWWRWRRRMRMRMMRMRMMMMM!!! Via Fast Co.Create
Let's be honest. Buying something for your dad gets harder every single year. He doesn't need another hardware store gift voucher and he's probably still working his way through the bottle of whisky you got him three years ago. What he does want is to see you happy and to spend more time together. Now, you can do both at once. That's the beauty of an experience over a gift. You get to do it together, talk about it for years — and secretly — you get to choose the thing you've actually been wanting to do. Dad will be happy just to come along for the ride. So, whether he's a rev head, a big softie, or somewhere in between, these dad-approved ideas in and around Brisbane are the perfect way to spend the day. Here are seven experiences you can gift for Father's Day. Take a V8 for a Spin at Queensland Raceway This one's for the dads who claim to have taught you everything you know about driving. With this experience, you can let him prove it. At Queensland Raceway, he'll get to drive five solo laps in a real V8 race car — then switch seats and hold on tight as a pro driver takes over for three full-speed passenger laps. It's fast, loud and exactly the kind of Father's Day gift your dad won't be expecting. And if you're up for it too? You can book back-to-back sessions and make it a full family showdown. Book a V8 race car drive experience here. Spend Half a Day Learning to Drift If your dad wants even more adrenaline, this drifting experience (also at Queensland Raceway) will take things up a notch. It's a half-day session where he'll learn the art of controlled chaos in a purpose-built drift car, including skills like high-speed slides, tyre smoke and plenty of sideways action. With pro instructors guiding him through each step, he'll be pulling off smooth drifts in no time. If you want to see him go full fast and furious, this one's a must. Book a drifting experience here. [caption id="attachment_961956" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] default[/caption] Climb Brisbane's Story Bridge at Twilight For a change of pace, skip the cars and take dad to the top of Story Bridge instead. This twilight climb is something you can enjoy doing together, and gives you panoramic views of the Brisbane River, CBD and beyond — with the golden-hour glow making it even more special. The climb is guided, safe and surprisingly peaceful, with just enough height to feel like an adventure. Plus, the view from the summit makes for a pretty unbeatable photo together. Book a story bridge climb here. Grab Breakfast at Farm House, Kedron For a proper Father's Day breakfast before a day of adventures, head to Farm House in Kedron. It's a local favourite for big brekkies, specialty coffee and country-style charm without going too far from the city. Here you'll find eggs benedict, hash browns and fresh juice all made with ingredients from local family farms and food producers. It's also dog-friendly, so dad can bring along his fur baby too. Go on a Fishing Charter If adrenaline spikes aren't really your dad's vibe, maybe fishing is. Queensland has heaps of options when it comes to getting out on the water. You can choose from half-day or full-day fishing experiences on the Sunshine Coast or the Gold Coast, which will see you and dad head out on a boat for a few relaxed hours of casting lines, meeting new friends and, if you're lucky, reeling in something for dinner. Book a fishing charter here. Watch the Sunrise From a Hot Air Balloon This hot air balloon experience ticks every box for a great Father's Day gift. You'll take off just before sunrise from Ipswich, then spend 60 blissful minutes floating above the Scenic Rim, Great Dividing Ranges and Moreton Bay. Your pilot has over 32 years of experience and will spend the trip telling you all about the balloon and surrounding areas. Once you've landed, breakfast and coffee is served for some good quality time with dad. Book a hot air balloon here. Book Dinner at Agnes in Fortitude Valley Finish strong with a booking at Agnes, one of Brisbane's most acclaimed restaurants and a guaranteed way to impress dad. The entire menu is cooked over open flame, including meats, seafood and even desserts, which gives everything a smoky flavour that always hits the spot. There's also a great wine list and impeccable service. If your dad loves good food (who doesn't?) then this is the move. This Father's Day, skip the shops and choose an experience you'll both remember. Whether it's a surprise flight, a hot lap or a bridge climb, the most important thing is that you get to spend time together. Book dad an adventure with Adrenaline — five-year validity, instant delivery and memories made together.
UPDATE, October 18, 2020: Bombshell is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube and iTunes. Playing two women caught in the climate of sexual harassment that engulfed Fox News under former CEO Roger Ailes, Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie both turn in stellar — and now Oscar-nominated — performances in Bombshell. Aided by noticeable facial prosthetics, Theron steps into the shoes of real-life TV personality Megyn Kelly, serving up a pulsating vein of steeliness in every scene. As a fictional producer who calls herself an "influencer in the Jesus space" and an "evangelical millennial", Robbie's Kayla Pospisil possesses softer edges but still sports plenty of inner grit — especially when she summons up the guts to put her self-respect first, rather than her desire to feature on-camera on the right-wing network. But much like the unease that plagues both women until they decide to speak out, something definitely isn't right in the film that tells their tales. Bombshell is the slick, shiny version of this ripped-from-the-headlines story, which earned global attention when it broke back in 2016. Airbrushed to buffer away blemishes and avoid tricky spots, it's watered down to deliver an easy, glossy, simplified narrative. It doesn't help that 2019's Russell Crowe-starring The Loudest Voice already brought the same minutiae to the small screen — and in far greater detail, as you'd expect in a seven-part mini-series compared to a 109-minute movie. That said, Bombshell really isn't interested in diving as deep as its predecessor. Instead, it wants to make a feisty flick about kick-ass women fighting back in a male-dominated realm. Fight back, Kelly did — although not at first. As the film unpacks, fellow anchor Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) leads the charge and initially suffers the consequences, going public about her inappropriate dealings with Ailes (a cartoonish John Lithgow) by suing him personally. Despite the head honcho's protests of innocence to Rupert Murdoch (Malcolm McDowell) and sons Lachlan and James (Ben and Josh Lawson), more women share their stories. Director Jay Roach (Trumbo) and screenwriter Charles Randolph (The Big Short) explore this, as well as Kelly's apprehension to join the chorus and Pospisil's experiences as a young, ambitious woman eager to score her big on-screen break. And yet, by championing these efforts but barely delving into Fox News' status as a conservative propaganda machine, Bombshell proves an empty shell of a #MeToo movie. The treatment that Kelly and Carlson (and the real-life women that Pospisil represents) received at the hands of Ailes — yes, literally — is infuriating and unacceptable, as all accounts of men exerting power over women for their own gratification are. Their ordeal doesn't just hark back to one man, though; it's inescapably intertwined with Fox News and the agenda it serves — notions that are scarcely considered here. Roach and Randolph hint at the network's public standing, illustrating the wider world's reaction to its political leanings via a woman who insults Carlson in a supermarket. The film paints Ailes as feverish about pushing the Republican party's perspective and currying favour with Donald Trump during the lead up to the 2016 election, even when the future president tweets sexist comments about Kelly. And, it lays bare the TV station's misogynistic internal culture, where women are forced to wear short skirts and sit behind clear desks. Still, it all feels like lip service in a movie that merely depicts, rather than dissects. If one was feeling generous, you could assume the film's powers-that-be just expect that everyone already knows Fox News' reputation, and the perspectives it pedals. Being realistic, however, Bombshell seems happy to brush past the network's toxic on-air views — because contemplating them in-depth means adding shades of grey that this visually bright feature is keen to avoid. Ailes is a clearcut villain, and deserves the scorn he's served, of course. But ignoring the fact that Kelly, Carlson and their fellow female Fox News employees all buy into a conservative agenda where behaviour like Ailes' continually festers, and do so because they share the same political views, means that Bombshell ignores the broader context that helped lecherous acts prosper at the network. Yes, it's an immensely complicated situation — but Bombshell rarely treats it as such, or recognises much in the way of texture. While Kate McKinnon is memorable as a Hillary Clinton-supporting lesbian who remains closeted about both preferences at Fox News, that's another case of the movie barely dipping its toes into more complex territory. Perhaps the film's skin-deep approach shouldn't come as a surprise, seeing that Roach also directed all three Austin Powers flicks and the first two Meet the Parents movies. Bombshell certainly tries to keep its tone light and sometimes even farcical, even though it deals with such heavy matters. Alas, what results is the kind of movie you'd expect given this tellingly glib piece of closing voice-over — one where its unambiguously heroic protagonists "got the Murdochs to put the rights of women above profits, however temporarily". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjOdDd4NEeg
The team behind Trainspotters have been putting on some great live music shows for a few months now and are looking like they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. This weekend they have a great line-up of musicians to keep any Australia Day revellers partying! Headlining this week’s bill is Grand Atlantic (pictured), who are jumping back into a series of shows after taking time off to record their third album, Constellations. The band, which formed in 1996, have toured the world and have gained a steady following. They will surely be entertaining at Trainspotters. Supporting Grand Atlantic Sabrina Lawrie & The Hunting Party and The Ninjas.
