As anyone who's ever ridden a bike that's too big or too small for them knows, it inevitably ends in bruises and/or some kind of chronic knee problem (and you just look kinda silly). The problem is that, unlike clothes, bikes usually operate on a two-size scale — so if you don't fit into the pre-defined categories of small or large, you're going to have a bit of a problem finding an affordable two-wheeled baby to comfortably ride around in. To combat this problem, Hungarian designer Tamás Túri has come up with the 3BEE: a bicycle that can be fully customised to your body and its abilities. By using a 3D printing technique, he's able to personalise the bike to your height, measurements, age and physical abilities. So it's made just for you. And before we forget to mention it, this bike is bloody beautiful. It's sleek like a racing bike, but operates as a functional fixie commuter. Its frame is actually hollow, so it's super lightweight, and the curved design means it's easy to pick up and put over your shoulder if you need to carry it inside or up some stairs.
Aaron Hobson has taken some breathtaking landscape photographs of remote locations scattered across the globe, and all without leaving the comfort of his own computer screen. From the haunting energy of undisturbed forests in France to roads that wrap around mountainous Spain, Hobson has captured each of these picturesque moments using Google Street View. Hobson says that he began using Google Street View to discover possible shooting locations for a film, but soon found himself clicking away for miles along deserted roads, all for his own pleasure. He also says that he uses Google Street View in High Definition, so that the photographs only require a few minutes of editing before they are put on show. His work has garnered so much attention that last week his website buckled under the pressure of 50,000 views in one day. This isn't the first time that Google Street View has been used to create an artistic work. Last week we featured the remarkable Address is Approximate, a stop motion animation film by Tom Jenkins. This film uses a clever combination of Google Street View and everyday objects to create a quirky sense of travel and distance. The use of Google Street View by these online explorers proves that the world is now literally in the palm of our hands. [via Mashable]
A Sydney institution, White Rabbit Gallery has been running free exhibitions showcasing contemporary Chinese art for over a decade. But visitors to the Chippendale space between now and Sunday, August 1 can expect a particularly luminous experience, with its latest eye-catching multimedia exhibition centred around the wonders of light. Showcasing works from 30 artists, Lumen's lineup stretches from interactive light pieces and frozen copper sculptures to video projections and rooms full of LEDs. As well as grabbing attention, each work on display uses light in a thought-provoking, awe-inspiring or fully immersive fashion. The boundary-pushing Zhang Peili, dubbed the father of video art in China, is displaying 2012 Portraits, a series of 14 portraits in which the both the subject and the viewer are blinded by light. Or, there's Yao Chung-Han's DzDz, which invites the audience to stand under movement-sensitive beams of light and create music by using their bodies. And, thanks to Wu Daxin's Ashley's Heart, you'll see copper tubes suspended in the shape of a heart and gradually frozen over the course of the day, creating a unique ice sculpture. Art collective Luxury Logico is presenting two works as part of the exhibition. The first is Solar, a twinkling representation of the sun created using donated desk lamps — while the second, Miniature, is one of the exhibition's showstoppers. The display of LED lights draws upon images from a video reel, with each LED corresponding to a pixel. Both vivid and architectural in its appearance, the work is designed to remind viewers of celestial bodies in the sky, all while cycling through everything from reality TV and ads to soap operas and Adam Sandler movies. Lumen is running over all four levels of the White Rabbit Gallery. As usual with the site's exhibitions, entry is free and there are no bookings, so folks can just rock up and enjoy the art. And, free guided tours are available at 11am, 1pm and 3pm Wednesday–Sunday. Top image: Miniature by Luxury Logico.
Some bands are born from skill, passion and a garage strewn with beer cans, but others are born from the shrewd minds of television producers (or at least a combination of the two). Flight of the Conchords might be the one of the biggest players in guitar-based digi-bongo a cappella-rap-funk-comedy folk spheres, but they're not the first great band to have emerged from behind a television screen (via stage and radio, to be fair). To celebrate the Conchords' upcoming tour, here are ten made-for-TV bands that have rocked the tube in decades gone by. https://youtube.com/watch?v=ehJNw-T3gpo 1. THE MONKEES Three No. 1 singles, six Top 10s, 12 Top 40s and a total of 20 Hot 100 singles. The Monkees weren't just made for television — they were made for world domination. Commanding the charts during one rock 'n' roll's most significant periods and staging a showdown against the producers who banned them from actually playing any instruments on early records, The Monkees helped define authenticity in rock. R.I.P. Davy Jones. https://youtube.com/watch?v=kFohA6mKFjc 2. MISSION CONTROL (FREAKS & GEEKS) Before James Franco was a multi-talented actor/director/writer/grad student he was a small-time guitarist (and a bit of an asshole) on NBC's Freaks and Geeks. The short-lived cult TV show was excellent for many reasons, one of the best being the quote "Rock 'n' Roll don't come from your brain! It come from your crotch!" https://youtube.com/watch?v=27EVNiKDR4k 3. ZACK ATTACK (SAVED BY THE BELL) Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris was involved in a range of extra-curricular activities, but none were so memorable as his role as lead singer and lead guitarist in Zack Attack. The band never achieved the success that it did in Zack's dreams, but it definitely made the show that much more awesome. https://youtube.com/watch?v=B7-IoFyp_68 4. DINGOES ATE MY BABY (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) Can't think of a name for your band? Why not turn to notorious stories involving the death of small children for inspiration? Pushing past the awkward name, Dingoes Ate My Baby weren't actually that bad for a post-grunge, pre-emo rock band. Probably because the more tastefully named Four Star Mary provided all their music. https://youtube.com/watch?v=8ti8-vEM3U8 5. JESSE AND THE RIPPERS (FULL HOUSE) It's not every made-for-television band that still has a frequently updated Facebook page 17 years after the demise of the television show, but it's not every made-for-television band member who had hair like Jesse Katsopolis. Hit songs included "Forever", and several hundred Beach Boys cover songs. https://youtube.com/watch?v=qCIKg3YREHY 6. FROZEN EMBRYOS (MY SO-CALLED LIFE) Also living on through Facebook are Frozen Embryos from ABC's My So-Called Life. The lead singer is the elusive Tino, who isn't actually seen in any episode. He is, however, mentioned in Juno when Ellen Page's character says her band should be ready to rock "once Tino gets a new drumhead". Rock lives! https://youtube.com/watch?v=IXMFKmiNyvk 7. DR TEETH AND THE ELECTRIC MAYHEM (THE MUPPETS) You know you've struck the right chord when your band inspires the name of a hipster dive in San Francisco's Mission district. Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem mostly stick to rock music, but it's arguable that they do a better rendition of Chopin than Chopin. https://youtube.com/watch?v=0B9wJ7EwcN4 8. SCRANTONICITY (THE OFFICE) A Police cover band with Kevin as the drummer and lead singer. This has "magnificently awkward" written all over it. https://youtube.com/watch?v=8sITlZo5r84 9. MYSTIK SPIRAL (DARIA) The fictional grunge rock band from Daria helped confirm one of lyricisms irrefutable truths: coherence is no way near as important as a good rhyme. Okay so that might not always be true, but Mystik Sprial were way cool and totally would have scored the big break they deserved had they only managed to agree upon the perfect band name. https://youtube.com/watch?v=rXWaVz4yogI 10. DETHKLOK (METALOCALYPSE) Say what you will about virtual melodic death metal as a whole, but you have to hand it to Dethklok for achieving such widespread commercial success that they were ranked as the world's seventh largest economy by the end of Metalocalypse's second season. And while the real-life version of the band hasn't achieved quite this level of success, they do still play regular shows.
When Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced Queensland's latest stage of eased COVID-19 restrictions, she gave cinephiles a particularly exciting piece of news. Movie theatres have been closed around the country since mid-March; however, as of Monday, June 1, projectors have been allowed to start whirring again in the Sunshine State. And, while that doesn't mean that it's popcorn-munching business as usual quite yet, local cinemas are gradually beginning to reopen. The first to start welcoming movie buffs back into darkened rooms was New Farm Cinemas, which opened its doors on Friday, June 5. It's now showing flicks on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, including movies that were screening in March when cinemas shut, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, 1917, Dark Waters, Emma, Honey Boy, Jojo Rabbit, Richard Jewell, The Lighthouse, The Way Back, The Current War and The Gentlemen. It's also playing new films that were originally slated to hit cinemas during their closure, then switched to video-on-demand releases, and are now brightening up the big screen anyway. That means that if you haven't yet caught the Hugo Weaving-starring Hearts and Bones at home, or watched Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan eat and banter their way through The Trip to Greece, you can now do so in a theatre. While New Farm is currently open — and Yatala Drive-In, which is also run by Five Star Cinemas, too — the company's other sites remain closed. No general relaunch dates have been announced as yet for the Elizabeth Picture Theatre or Red Hill Cinemas, but they are both taking bookings for private hires from Friday, June 12. Also getting back into action is Cineplex Cinemas, with the discount chain's Hawthorne, Hawthorne Deluxe and Victoria Point venues reopening on Friday, June 12 — and screening The Invisible Man, The Trip to Greece and Dolittle. It's also keeping some locations closed for the time being, so don't go heading to Balmoral, South Bank, Nerang or Redbank just yet. And, come Thursday, July 2, Palace's two Brisbane locations at Barracks and James Street will also relaunch. Even better — they'll do so with brand new movies that haven't screened in Aussie cinemas or hit VOD as yet. On that date, film fans will be able to check out The Booksellers and bakery-set British drama Love Sarah. The week after, Waves and A White, White Day will follow suit, before (hopefully) Christopher Nolan's Tenet hit the following week. If Tenet does release on Thursday, July 16 as planned — which depends not only on Australian cinemas, but whether enough US and worldwide cinemas have reopened — it's safe to expect that plenty of other Brisbane picture palaces will relaunch on or around then. In fact, that's the date that the local industry has been working towards. At the time of writing, big chains such as Event, Hoyts and Reading haven't revealed their reopening dates, nor smaller groups like Dendy, or independent Brissie sites such as Blue Room Cinebar, Eldorado or the Regal — but, again, expect that to change as mid-July creeps up. And, like attending any business reopening in the time of COVID-19, patrons can also expect significant changes to the movie-going experience — including online bookings, allocated seating, gaps between patrons, contactless payment, social-distancing requirements and extra cleaning. For more information about what's screening in Brisbane, or to book tickets, visit the websites for New Farm Cinemas or Cineplex. For details about Palace's reopening from July 2, visit the chain's website
Melburnian and Sydneysiding bartenders take their craft truly seriously. Twisting limes, straining shakers and floating on spoons in their sleep, these lovers of a good muddle are a proud, dedicated hoard. But which city owns the mad skills: the salty sea dogs of Sydney or the metropolitan marauders from Melbourne? The convolutedly titled but cleverly programmed World Class World Cocktail Week has had enough of shouting over the fence. In a momentous stately exchange, Sydney and Melbourne will front up their finest three bartenders from two celebrated cocktail bars and swap venues for two evenings of pure exhibitionist swagger. Melbourne’s Black Pearl will take over Sydney bar The Rook on Tuesday, May 13, to sprinkle a little Victorian savvy on the lobster-loving CBD bar. On Saturday, June 17, The Rook will return the visit, with bartenders Cristiano Beretta, Jason Williams and Rollo Anderson venturing south to claim the Black Pearl as their own. Both carefully crafted teams will be whipping up their own concoctions from the stores of each venue, undoubtedly provoking some smuggery at where certain bits and pieces are kept behind the bar. Throwing down every last twist and roll, the grudge match forms part of the neat libation-loving event program of WCWCW. Carnivores will be able to pair their love of meat and liquor at the Newtown Hotel for ‘Meat Meets Whiskey’ (May 6 – May 13), where you can consume Bulleit Bourbon via bone luge, as well as many other meat-inflected concoctions. Vegetarians should probably avoid like the plague. Sydney's Hinky Dinks and Melbourne's Belle's Diner will both be tempting their fair share of nostalgics with 'Pimp Your Shake'. That entails Zacapa rum-spiked milkshakes paired with heady American desserts — the Plenty a Platano is served with warm banana doughnuts and the Peanut Buttered Rum Shake with a slice of pecan pie ($22 each). There's also a nationwide #garnishoff happening on Instagram, and your dinky orange slice ain't going to cut it. To brush up on your cocktail terminology and know what you’re looking for in an Old Fashioned, have a tipple with the bartenders in your city here and here. The end of Prohibition has never tasted so good. World Class World Cocktail Week runs a series of Australia-wide events from May 6-13, curated by celebrated Sydney foodie Ms Darlinghurst. Check out the website for more information.
Kina Grannis is causing a huge fuss across the globe with her adorable, imaganitave tunes. The gifted singer-songwriter is famous for her live/video performances and original compositions alongside popular acoustic covers. Celebrating the release of her debut album Stairwells, the American lass will embark on her first Australian tour. Her highly anticipated arrival comes in sync with her latest single, 'In Your Arms', a song that's video comprised almost 25000 frames constructed out of 288,000 jelly beans. If that doesn't intrigue you to YouTube, i'm not sure what will! In fact, Kina's claim to fame was actually YouTube, winning her over over half a million subscribers to date. Named one of the most prolific acoustic musicians to come out of the video hosting website, there's no surprises when it comes to her engaging and interactive performances. Responding to the demand of her Australian fan base, Kina will grace The Powerhouse this Wednesday with special guest, ‘Australia’s Best Busker’, Ollie Brown. Obviously the boy got that title for a reason. She won over American and Ellen and soon arrives to dapple us too.Don't miss Kina Grannis in all her harmonic glory.
Most of us associate printers with ink and paper, but a new 3D printer has more to do with chocolate cupcakes and other delicious desserts. Using syringe technology, the Imagine 3D printer from Essential Dynamics can be filled with a vast array of elements, including plastics, silicone, concrete, and most importantly, chocolate. A representative from the company claims that a cupcake can be made before your eyes in one minute. If you're more of a savoury type, never fear. The Imagine 3D printer can also be filled with cheese. Regular fondue parties will seem tame when compared to the wonders you can create with this. 3D printing has undergone a rise in popularity in the last decade, but I predict that this revelation will soar it into supstardom. Standing at $3000, the Imagine 3D Printer will soon accompany the fridge and the stove as a quintessential kitchen applicance. https://youtube.com/watch?v=_27rOWq61hk [vis PSFK]
When the Victorian Government last year announced a huge new citywide arts festival was set to launch in winter 2020, they didn't expect it to fall in the middle of a global pandemic. As that is what happened, though, the new annual festival — merging Melbourne International Arts Festival and arts all-nighter White Night — will not go ahead this year, with the inaugural festival now set to take over Melbourne in 2021. Called Rising, it'll kick off on the May 26 full moon and run until June 6, 2021, encouraging the audience to "celebrate the night with a surge of art, music and ceremony in the heart of the city". Pulling the strings are co-Artistic Directors Gideon Obarzanek and Hannah Fox, who are both practising artists and former Artistic Associates of Melbourne Festival. Fox was also the Creative Director at Tasmania's winter festival Dark Mofo, while Obarzanek founded dance company Chunky Move and was a resident artist at the Sydney Theatre Company. [caption id="attachment_770990" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Chinatown at night courtesy of the City of Melbourne[/caption] As this year's festival cannot go ahead, Fox and Obarzanek have instead announced a $2 million fund for local artists to create shows, exhibitions and events for 2021's program. And the duo are encouraging ideas that are as boundary-pushing as possible. "Rather than prescribing specific outcomes, we are seeking ideas that are ambitious, unusual and that could only happen in a festival context," explained Obarzanek in a statement. "Whether these respond to the times or reach beyond them, we invite ideas that are radical and critical; ideas that are absurd and bombastic; ideas that are contemplative and philosophical; and ideas that are celebratory and unifying." Victorian artists have until Monday, June 8 to submit their idea and bid for a piece of the $2 million pie, via a 300-word or two-minute video proposal. While details about this year's festival — and next year's program — are fairly under wraps for now, The Age reported leaks suggesting the 2020 lineup would've included transforming Chinatown "into a 'sensory wonderland' of lighting, video art and music, open late into the night" and a 400-metre light installation on the Yarra River. Rising is set to support Victoria's tourism and hospitality industries in the quieter months and, no doubt, provide a Melbourne equivalent to Sydney's popular Vivid festival, Rising will take place in Melbourne from May 26–June 6 2021. Top image: 'A Purple Poem for Miami' by Judy Chicago.
We've all been disappointed by express post services at one time or another. But your own bureaucratic blip falls into perspective when you see Sameday Service or Sooner (2008), a life-size TARDIS flat-packed for shipping. The mobility of the Doctor Who police box, capable of travelling anywhere in time and space, has been absurdly inverted upon contact with our current best method of conveyance. Like so much of the work of Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro, it makes you laugh, then it makes you think, and then it makes your brain hurt a little. This is the first major museum survey of the two Sydney-based artists, who have developed a rich catalogue of work since starting their collaboration in 2001, while fresh out of art school. It's one room that captures their probing spirit and insists on the relevance of contemporary art to our everyday lives. You don't need to have written or even read a thesis on conceptual art to relate to their playful works, which commonly use found objects that have iconic status in ways that render the items foreign, ridiculous, or redundant. Typical is Future Remnant (2011), an arrangement of IKEA furniture assembled beneath the bones of a replica dinosaur fossil. The colourful tower is suggestive of our culture of disposability and impermanence as well as of the potentially bizarre archaeological legacy we will leave for someone to one day dig up. The idea of archaeologising the present, and so viewing it from a distant perspective, recurs in Healy and Cordeiro's work, starting with their very first, Cordial Home Project (2003), which took apart a whole suburban house and rearranged it into layers of like materials reminiscent of geological strata. The looming family home, it turns out, is surprisingly small. IKEA is a constant source of inspiration and materials here, but the duo's most impressive works are the large-scale installations that defy the allen key. Don't miss Stasis (2012), the new commission on the quayside lawn that points an orange aircraft at the MCA. This review was written about this exhibition's installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in Sydney in October-December 2012.
That's right, it's already November. And after the year we've had, mental health amongst men, both young and old, definitely needs some attention. Whether it's an ironic 70s pornstar moustache or a cracking handlebar, sporting a bit of luscious lip hair for Movember is not just a fun way to be involved but it's also a great way to raise money and awareness for men's health. But if your ability to grow a mo is a little, well, lacking, there are plenty of other ways to get involved — from pledging to walk 60 kilometres to hosting a get-together with your mates. If you opt for the latter, you're going to want to brainstorm some creative ways to get your mates to cough up some cash, so we've put together some suggestions to get you started. HOST A NOSTALGIC KIDS' BIRTHDAY PARTY So what if you or your friends don't have kids? Eating fairy bread, getting your face painted as Spiderman, whacking a piñata and play a few rounds of good ol' pass the parcel never gets old. And after the year we've had, switching off and pretending we're little kids just playing with our friends sounds pretty good to us. Something else we loved doing when we were younger? Playing dress-ups. So combine your kids' party with Movember's Shit Shirt Saturday on November 28. Rally the troops, ask everyone for a donation to the cause, then hit the op shops and find a shit shirt to party in. [caption id="attachment_783596" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anna Shvets[/caption] HOST A (VIRTUAL) TRIVIA NIGHT Everyone loves a good pub trivia night. And it's much easier to be the host because you have all the answers written down. Invite a couple of mates round, divide them up into teams, grab a slab and put your thinking hats on. If iso has afforded you plenty of time to research a particular subject or subjects, now could be your time to shine. Be it film, music, history, general knowledge or sport, everyone is bound to have a good time flexing their brains and either showing off or learning new facts. Movember even has a six-round, mo-themed trivia guide ready to go. Recreate the pub atmosphere at home, or, like we did many a time in lockdown, host your trivia night online, so you can involve your mates from across the country (or globe). And, get creative. Award extra points for the best (or worst) mo of the evening — or get your mates to donate a certain amount of money for every wrong answer. HOST A BEACH GAME TOURNAMENT Summer is (almost) upon us, and after what feels like an eternity of being cooped up inside, we're finally allowed out to see each other. So why not take advantage of the countless beautiful beaches Australia has to offer and plan an oceanside hang? Recently-free Melburnians could make a trip to Brighton (don't worry, we're pretty sure Karen has moved) or St Kilda Beach. Sydneysiders are blessed with Manly, Redleaf or the quaint harbourside Balmoral. And Brisbanites could venture to Suttons, Margate or Pandanus for a day of beachside fun. And to get your mates donating cash, plan some beach games with a buy-in. Beach cricket, beersbie, and Finska in the sand are just a few games to while away a day in the sun and surf — or even a sandcastle building competition. If you're not near the beach or don't fancy braving the hordes of people flocking to them, host a barbecue. Most of these games can be easily adapted to suit a backyard or local park, too. HOST A PAINT AND SIP CLASS If you're after a great socially distanced event idea, grab a few friends to a smash few wines while flexing your artistic side to raise contributions for Movember. If the gang is feeling particularly confident and comfortable, try life or figure drawing. For something a bit more accessible you could do the classic bowl of fruit, or think outside the box and capture the fine detail and intricate angles of a case of your favourite beer. Or, of course, paint your mates' kooky Movember moustaches. The list goes on. If you can assemble some really talented friends, try a low-key art auction with the proceeds going to Movember. Even if you think you can't paint, you can still get involved, particularly on the 'sip' side of things. There's still time to sign up to Host a Moment for Movember, and change the face of men's health. To learn more or register as a host, visit the website.
In March this year, Lin-Manuel Miranda's game-changing musical Hamilton made its way to Australia. Yes, finally. Until then, local fans had to be content with obsessing over the 11-time Tony-winning show from afar — or, since mid-2020, enjoying the filmed version of its Broadway production. But thankfully that all changed when the blockbuster production hit the Sydney Lyric Theatre, where it has been unfurling its tale of 18th-century American politics for a few months now. That's obviously a great situation for Sydneysiders, and for anyone willing to make the trip to the New South Wales capital for a night of rousing theatre. If you're in those two categories, you can currently be in the room where it happens. But if you're a Melburnian, it looks like even better news is coming. Sometime in 2022 — perhaps as early as March — Melbourne residents might get their shot to see Hamilton on home turf. Although an official announcement hasn't yet been made, the production is expected to make its way to Victoria next year, The Age is reporting. If it does debut in March as suggested, it'll do so a year after it premiered in Sydney, with Her Majesty's Theatre its likely home in Melbourne. It's anticipated that official word will come soon — possibly by the end of this month, in fact. If you're up to date on the Australian theatre scene's recent announcements, though, you might've anticipated this news. Other big musicals, such as The Book of Mormons, have toured the country after their big local premiere seasons. Also, earlier this week, it was announced that the Mary Poppins musical would float into the Sydney Lyric Theatre from May next year — and obviously the venue can't host two shows at once. Haven't become a Hamilton obsessive yet? Not quite sure why it has been one of the most-talked about theatre shows of the past six years? The critically acclaimed hip hop musical, for which Miranda wrote the music, lyrics and the book, is about the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, as well as inclusion and politics in current-day America. As well as its swag of Tony Awards, which includes Best Musical, it has nabbed a Grammy Award and even a Pulitzer Prize. This won't be Miranda's first musical to come to Melbourne, with his take on the classic 2000s film Bring It On: The Musical hitting the city in 2018. In the meantime, Melburnians can watch the filmed version of Hamilton with the original Broadway cast on Disney+ — and yes, it's as phenomenal as you've heard. Sydneysiders, if you haven't yet booked yourself in to see the musical, you might want to get in quickly. And Brisbanites, start crossing your fingers that Hamilton plans a move up north after its Melbourne season. Hamilton is expected to stage a Melbourne season in 2022. We'll update you with further details if and when they're announced — and you can keep an eye on the musical's website in the interim. Via: The Age. Images: Hamilton, Broadway. Photos by Joan Marcus.
Before the pandemic, when a new-release movie started playing in cinemas, audiences couldn't watch it on streaming, video on demand, DVD or blu-ray for a few months. But with the past few years forcing film industry to make quite a few changes — widespread movie theatre closures and plenty of people staying home in iso will do that — that's no longer always the case. Maybe you've been under the weather. Perhaps you haven't had time to make it to your local cinema lately. Given the hefty amount of films now releasing each week, maybe you simply missed something. Film distributors have been fast-tracking some of their new releases from cinemas to streaming recently — movies that might still be playing in theatres in some parts of the country, too. In preparation for your next couch session, here are 20 that you can watch right now at home. MOONAGE DAYDREAM Ground control to major masterpiece: Moonage Daydream, Brett Morgen's kaleidoscopic collage-style documentary about the one and only David Bowie, really makes the grade. Its protein pills? A dazzling dream of archival materials, each piece as essential and energising as the next, woven into an electrifying experience that eclipses the standard music doco format. Its helmet? The soothing-yet-mischievous tones of Ziggy Stardust/Aladdin Sane/The Thin White Duke/Jareth the Goblin King himself, the only protective presence a film about Bowie could and should ever need and want. The songs that bop through viewers heads? An immense playlist covering the obvious — early hit 'Space Oddity', the hooky glam-rock titular track, Berlin-penned anthem 'Heroes', the seductive 80s sounds of 'Let's Dance' and the Pet Shop Boys-remixed 90s industrial gem 'Hallo Spaceboy', to name a few — as well as deeper cuts. The end result? Floating through a cinematic reverie in a most spectacular way. When Bowie came to fame in the 60s, then kept reinventing himself from the 70s until his gone-too-soon death in 2016, the stars did look very different — he did, constantly. How do you capture that persistent shapeshifting, gender-bending, personal and creative experimentation, and all-round boundary-pushing in a single feature? How do you distill a chameleonic icon and musical pioneer into any one piece of art, even a movie that cherishes each of its 135 minutes? In the first film officially sanctioned by Bowie's family and estate, Morgen knows what everyone that's fallen under the legend's spell knows: that the man born David Jones, who'd be 75 as this doco hits screens if he was still alive, can, must and always has spoken for himself. The task, then, is the same as the director had with the also-excellent Cobain: Montage of Heck and Jane Goodall-focused Jane: getting to the essence of his subject and conveying what made him such a wonder by using the figure himself as a template. Moonage Daydream is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies and Prime Video. Read our full review. BODIES BODIES BODIES The internet couldn't have stacked Bodies Bodies Bodies better if it tried, not that that's how the slasher-whodunnit-comedy came about. Pete Davidson (The Suicide Squad) waves a machete around, and his big dick energy, while literally boasting about how he looks like he fucks. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan Oscar-nominee Maria Bakalova plays the cautious outsider among rich-kid college grads, who plan to ride out a big storm with drinks and drugs (and drama) in one of their parents' mansions. The Hunger Games and The Hate U Give alum Amandla Stenberg leads the show as the gang's black sheep, turning up unannounced to zero fanfare from her supposed besties, while the rest of the cast spans Shiva Baby's Rachel Sennott, Generation's Chase Sui Wonders and Industry's Myha'la Herrold, plus Pushing Daisies and The Hobbit favourite Lee Pace as a two-decades-older interloper. And the Agatha Christie-but-Gen Z screenplay? It's drawn from a spec script by Kristen Roupenian, the writer of 2017 viral New Yorker short story Cat Person. All of the above is a lot. Bodies Bodies Bodies is a lot — 100-percent on purpose. It's a puzzle about a party game, as savage a hangout film as they come, and a satire about Gen Z, for starters. It carves into toxic friendships, ignored class clashes, self-obsessed obliviousness, passive aggression and playing the victim. It skewers today's always-online world and the fact that everyone has a podcast — and lets psychological warfare and paranoia simmer, fester and explode. Want more? It serves up another reminder after The Resort, Palm Springs and co that kicking back isn't always cocktails and carefree days. It's an eat-the-rich affair alongside Squid Game and The White Lotus. Swirling that all together like its characters' self-medicating diets, this wildly entertaining horror flick is a phenomenal calling card for debut screenwriter Sarah DeLappe and Dutch filmmaker Halina Reijn (Instinct), too — and it's hilarious, ridiculous, brutal and satisfying. Forgetting how it ends is also utterly impossible. Bodies Bodies Bodies is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. FIRE OF LOVE What a delight it would be to trawl through Katia and Maurice Krafft's archives, sift through every video that features the French volcanologists and their work, and witness them doing their highly risky jobs against spectacular surroundings. That's the task that filmmaker Sara Dosa (The Seer and the Unseen) took up to make this superb documentary about the couple's lives — although, as magnificent as this incredibly thoughtful, informative and moving film is, it makes you wonder what a sci-fi flick made from the same footage would look like. There's a particular sequence that cements that idea, set to the also-otherworldly sounds of Air, and featuring the Kraffts walking around against red lava in their futuristic-looking protective silver suits. The entire enchanting score springs from Air's Nicolas Godin, and it couldn't better set the mood; that said, these visuals and this story would prove entrancing if nary a sound was heard, let alone a note or a word. For newcomers to the Kraffts, their lives make quite the tale — one of two volcano-obsessed souls who instantly felt like they were destined to meet, then dedicated their days afterwards to understanding the natural geological formations. More than that, they were passionate about analysing what they dubbed 'grey volcanos', which produce masses of ash when they erupt, and often a body count. Attempting to educate towns and cities in the vicinity of volcanoes, so that they could react appropriately and in a timely way to avoid casualties, became a key part of their mission. This isn't the only doco about them — in fact, German director Werner Herzog is making his own, called The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft — but Fire of Love is a gorgeous, sensitive, fascinating and affecting ode to two remarkable people, their love, their passion and their impact. It also benefits from pitch-perfect narration, too, courtesy of actor and Kajillionaire filmmaker Miranda July. Fire of Love is available to stream via Disney+. Read our full review. THE STRANGER No emotion or sensation ripples through two or more people in the exact same way, and never will. The Stranger has much to convey, but it expresses that truth with piercing precision. The crime-thriller is the sophomore feature from actor-turned-filmmaker Thomas M Wright — following 2018's stunning Adam Cullen biopic Acute Misfortune, another movie that shook everyone who watched it and proved hard to shake — and it's as deep, disquieting and resonant a dance with intensity as its genre can deliver. To look into Joel Edgerton's (Thirteen Lives) eyes as Mark, an undercover cop with a traumatic but pivotal assignment, is to spy torment and duty colliding. To peer at Sean Harris (Spencer) as the slippery Henry Teague is to see a cold, chilling and complex brand of shiftiness. Sitting behind these two performances in screentime but not impact is Jada Alberts' (Mystery Road) efforts as dedicated, determined and drained detective Kate Rylett — and it may be the portrayal that sums up The Stranger best. Writing as well as directing, Wright has made a film that is indeed dedicated, determined and draining. At every moment, including in sweeping yet shadowy imagery and an on-edge score, those feelings radiate from the screen as they do from Alberts. Sharing the latter's emotional exhaustion comes with the territory; sharing their sense of purpose does as well. In the quest to capture a man who abducted and murdered a child, Rylett can't escape the case's horrors — and, although the specific details aren't used, there's been no evading the reality driving this feature. The Stranger doesn't depict the crime that sparked Kate Kyriacou's non-fiction book The Sting: The Undercover Operation That Caught Daniel Morcombe's Killer, or any violence. It doesn't use the Queensland schoolboy's name, or have actors portray him or his family. This was always going to be an inherently discomforting and distressing movie, though, but it's also an unwaveringly intelligent and impressive examination of trauma. The Stranger is available to stream via Netflix. Read our full review. THE QUIET GIRL When Normal People became the streaming sensation of the pandemic's early days, it made stars out of leads Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones, and swiftly sparked another Sally Rooney adaptation from much of the same behind-the-scenes team. It wouldn't have been the hit it was if it hadn't proven an exercise in peering deeply, thoughtfully, lovingly and carefully, though, with that sensation stemming as much from its look as its emotion-swelling story. It should come as no surprise, then, that cinematographer Kate McCullough works the same magic on The Quiet Girl, a Gaelic-language coming-of-age film that sees the world as only a lonely, innocent, often-ignored child can. This devastatingly moving and beautiful movie also spies the pain and hardship that shapes its titular figure's world — and yes, it does so softly and with restraint, just like its titular figure, but that doesn't make the feelings it swirls up any less immense. McCullough is just one of The Quiet Girl's key names; filmmaker Colm Bairéad, a feature first-timer who directs and adapts Claire Keegan's novella Foster, is another. His movie wouldn't be the deeply affecting affair it is without its vivid and painterly imagery — but it also wouldn't be the same without the helmer and scribe's delicate touch, which the 1981-set tale he's telling not only needs but demands. His focus: that soft-spoken nine-year-old, Cáit (newcomer Catherine Clinch), who has spent her life so far as no one's priority. With her mother (Kate Nic Chonaonaigh, Shadow Dancer) pregnant again, her father (Michael Patric, Smother) happiest drinking, gambling and womanising, and her siblings boisterously bouncing around their rural Irish home, she's accustomed to blending in and even hiding out. Then, for the summer, she's sent to her mum's older cousin Eibhlín (Carrie Crowley, Extra Ordinary) and her dairy farmer husband Seán (Andrew Bennett, Dating Amber). Now the only child among doting guardians, she's no less hushed, but she's also loved and cared for as she's never been before. The Quiet Girl is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. DON'T WORRY DARLING Conformity rarely bodes well in cinema. Whenever everyone's dressing the same, little boxes litter the landscape or identical white-picket fences stretch as far as the eye can see, that perception of perfection tends to possess a dark underbelly. The Stepford Wives demonstrated that. Pleasantville, Blue Velvet and Vivarium all did as well. Yes, there's a touch of conformity in movies about the evils of and heralded by conformity; of course there is. That remains true when Florence Pugh (Black Widow) and Harry Styles (Eternals) navigate an ostensibly idyllic vision of retro suburbia in a desert-encased enclave — one that was always going to unravel when the movie they're in is called Don't Worry Darling. Don't go thinking that this handsome and intriguing film doesn't know all of this, though. Don't go thinking that it's worried about the similarities with other flicks, including after its secrets are spilled, either. It'd be revealing too much to mention a couple of other movies that Don't Worry Darling blatantly recalls, so here's a spoiler-free version: this is a fascinating female-focused take on a pair of highlights from two decades-plus back that are still loved, watched and discussed now. That's never all that Olivia Wilde's second feature as a filmmaker after 2019's Booksmart is, but it feels fitting that when it conforms in a new direction, it finds a way to make that space its own. That's actually what Pugh's Alice thinks she wants when Don't Worry Darling begins. The film's idealised 1950s-style setting comes with old-fashioned gender roles firmly in place, cocktails in hand as soon Styles' Jack walks in the door come quittin' time and elaborate multi-course dinners cooked up each night, with its protagonist going along with it all. But she's also far from keen on having a baby, the done thing in the company town that is Victory. It'd curtail the noisy sex that gets the neighbours talking, for starters. Don't Worry Darling is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video . Read our full review. AMSTERDAM There's only one Wes Anderson, but there's a litany of wannabes. Why can't David O Russell be among them? Take the first filmmaker's The Grand Budapest Hotel, mix in the second's American Hustle and that's as good a way as any to start describing Amsterdam, Russell's return to the big screen after a seven-year gap following 2015's Joy — and a starry period comedy, crime caper and history lesson all in one. Swap pastels for earthier hues, still with a love of detail, and there's the unmistakably Anderson-esque look of the film. Amsterdam is a murder-mystery, too, set largely in the 1930s against a backdrop of increasing fascism, and filled with more famous faces than most movies can dream of. The American Hustle of it all springs from the "a lot of this actually happened" plot, this time drawing upon a political conspiracy called the White House/Wall Street Putsch, and again unfurling a wild true tale. A Russell returnee sits at the centre, too: Christian Bale (Thor: Love and Thunder) in his third film for the writer/director. The former did help guide the latter to an Oscar for The Fighter, then a nomination for American Hustle — but while Bale is welcomely and entertainingly loose and freewheeling, and given ample opportunity to show his comic chops in his expressive face and physicality alone, Amsterdam is unlikely to complete the trifecta of Academy Awards recognition. The lively movie's cast is its strongest asset, though, including the convincing camaraderie between Bale, John David Washington (Malcolm & Marie) and Margot Robbie (The Suicide Squad). They play pals forged in friendship during World War I, then thanks to a stint in the titular Dutch city. A doctor, a lawyer and a nurse — at least at some point in the narrative — they revel in love and art during their uninhabited stay, then get caught in chaos 15 years later. Amsterdam is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE WONDER "We are nothing without stories, so we invite you to believe in this one." So goes The Wonder's opening narration, as voiced by Niamh Algar (Wrath of Man) and aimed by filmmaker Sebastián Lelio in two directions. For the Chilean writer/director's latest rich and resonant feature about his favourite topic, aka formidable women — see also: Gloria, its English-language remake Gloria Bell, Oscar-winner A Fantastic Woman and Disobedience — he asks his audience to buy into a tale that genuinely is a tale. In bringing Emma Donoghue's (Room) book to the screen, he even shows the thoroughly modern-day studio and its sets where the movie was shot. But trusting in a story is also a task that's given The Wonder's protagonist, Florence Pugh's nurse Lib Wright, who is en route via ship to an Irish Midlands village when this magnetic, haunting and captivating 19th century-set picture initially sees her. For the second time in as many movies — and in as many months Down Under as well — Pugh's gotta have faith. Playing George Michael would be anachronistic in The Wonder, just as it would've been in Don't Worry Darling's gleaming 1950s-esque supposed suburban dream, but that sentiment is what keeps being asked of the British actor, including in what's also her second fearless performance in consecutive flicks. Here, it's 1862, and 11-year-old Anna O'Donnell (Kíla Lord Cassidy, Viewpoint) has seemingly subsisted for four months now without eating. Ireland's 1840s famine still casts shadows across the land and its survivors, but this beatific child says she's simply feeding on manna from heaven. Lib's well-paid job is to watch the healthy-seeming girl in her family home, where her mother (A Discovery of Witches' Elaine Cassidy, Kila's actual mum) and father (Caolan Byrne, Nowhere Special) dote, to confirm that she isn't secretly sneaking bites to eat. The Wonder is available to stream via Netflix. Read our full review. YOU WON'T BE ALONE Sometimes, a comparison is so obvious that it simply has to be uttered and acknowledged. That's the case with You Won't Be Alone, the first feature from Macedonian Australian writer/director Goran Stolevski, who also helmed MIFF's 2022 opening-night pick Of an Age. His debut film's lyrical visuals, especially of nature, instantly bringing the famously poetic aesthetics favoured by Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life, A Hidden Life) to mind. Its musings on the nature of life, and human nature as well, easily do the same. Set centuries back, lingering in villages wracked by superstition and exploring a myth about a witch, You Won't Be Alone conjures up thoughts of Robert Eggers' The Witch as well. Indeed, if Malick had directed that recent favourite, the end product might've come close to this entrancing effort. Consider Stolevski's feature the result of dreams conjured up with those two touchstones in his head, though, rather than an imitator. The place: Macedonia. The time: the 19th century. The focus: a baby chosen by the Wolf-Eateress (Anamaria Marinca, The Old Guard) to be her offsider. The feared figure has the ability to select and transform one protege, but she agrees to let her pick reach the age of 16 first. Nevena (Sara Klimoska, Black Sun) lives those formative years in a cave, in an attempt to stave off her fate. When the Wolf-Eateress comes calling, her initiation into the world — the world of humans, and of her physically and emotionally scarred mentor — is jarring. With Noomi Rapace (Lamb), Alice Englert (The Power of the Dog) and Carloto Cotta (The Tsugua Diaries) also among the cast, You Won't Be Alone turns Nevena's experiences of life, love, loss, desire, pain, envy and power into a haunting and thoughtful gothic horror fable. To say that it's bewitching is obvious, too, but also accurate. You Won't Be Alone is available to stream via Google Play and YouTube Movies. Read our full review. SEE HOW THEY RUN As every murder-mystery does, See How They Run asks a specific question: whodunnit? This 1950s-set flick also solves another query, one that's lingered over Hollywood for seven decades now thanks to Agatha Christie. If this movie's moniker has you thinking about mouse-focused nursery rhymes, that's by design — and characters do scurry around chaotically — however, it could also have you pondering the famed author's play The Mousetrap. The latter first hit theatres in London's West End in 1952 and has stayed there ever since, other than an enforced pandemic-era shutdown in COVID-19's early days. The show operates under a set stipulation regarding the big-screen rights, too, meaning that it can't be turned into a film until the original production has stopped treading the boards for at least six months. As that's never happened, how do you get it into cinemas anyway? Make a movie about trying to make The Mousetrap into a movie, aka See How They Run. Was it actor Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickinson, Where the Crawdads Sing), his fellow-thespian wife Sheila Sim (Pearl Chanda, War of the Worlds), big-time movie producer John Woolf (Reece Shearsmith, Venom: Let There Be Carnage) or his spouse Edana Romney (Sian Clifford, The Duke) getting murderous in the costume shop at the backstage party celebrating The Mousetrap's 100th show? (And yes, they're all real-life figures.) Or, was it the play's producer Petula Spencer (Ruth Wilson, His Dark Materials), the proposed feature adaptation's screenwriter Mervyn Cocker-Norris (David Oyelowo, Chaos Walking) or his Italian lover Gio (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, The Queen's Gambit)? They're among See How They Run's other enquiries, which Scotland Yard's Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell, Richard Jewell) and Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan, The French Dispatch) try to answer. After the death that kicks off filmmaker Tom George (This Country) and screenwriter Mark Chappell's (Flaked) mostly entertaining game of on-screen Cluedo, the two cops are on the case, working through their odd-couple vibe as they sleuth. See How They Run is available to stream via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE GOOD NURSE It isn't called CULLEN — Monster: The Charles Cullen Story. It doesn't chart the murders of a serial killer who's already a household name. And, it doesn't unfurl over multiple episodes. Still, Netflix-distributed true-crime film The Good Nurse covers homicides, and the person behind them, that are every bit as grim and horrendous as the events dramatised in DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Such based-on-reality tales that face such evil are always nightmare fodder, but this Eddie Redmayne (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore)- and Jessica Chastain (The Forgiven)-starring one, as brought to the screen by Danish filmmaker Tobias Lindholm (A War, A Hijacking), taps into a particularly terrifying realm. The culprit clearly isn't the good nurse of the movie's moniker, but he is a nurse, working in intensive care units no less — and for anyone who has needed to put their trust in the health system or may in the future (aka all of us), his acts are gut-wrenchingly chilling. Hospitals are meant to be places that heal, even in America's cash-driven setup where free medical care for all isn't considered a basic right and a societal must. Hospitals are meant to care for the unwell and injured, as are the doctors, nurses and other staff who race through their halls. There is one such person in The Good Nurse, Amy Loughren, who Chastain plays based on a real person. In 2003, in New Jersey, she's weathering her own struggles: she's a single mother to two young girls, she suffers from cardiomyopathy to the point of needing a heart transplant, and she can't tell her job about her health condition because she needs to remain employed for four more months to qualify for insurance to treat it. Then enters Cullen (Redmayne), the newcomer on Loughren's night shifts, a veteran of nine past hospitals, an instant friend who offers to help her cope with her potentially lethal ailment and also the reason that their patients start dying suddenly. The Good Nurse is available to stream via Netflix. Read our full review. GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE People have orgasms every day, but for decades spent closing her eyes and thinking of England in a sexually perfunctory marriage, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande's lead character wasn't among them. Forget la petite mort, the French term for climaxing; Nancy Stokes' (Emma Thompson, Cruella) big wrestling match with mortality, the one we all undertake, has long been devoid of erotic pleasure. Moments that feel like a little death? Unheard of. That's where this wonderfully candid, intimate, generous and joyous sex comedy starts, although not literally. Flashbacks to Nancy enduring getting it over with beneath her now-deceased spouse, missionary style, aren't Australian filmmaker Sophie Hyde (Animals) or British comedian-turned-screenwriter Katy Brand's (Glued) concern. Instead, their film begins with the religious education teacher waiting in a hotel room, about to take the biggest gamble of her life: meeting the eponymous sex worker (Daryl McCormack, Peaky Blinders). For anyone well-versed in Thompson's prolific on-screen history, and of Brand's work before the camera as well, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande inspires an easy wish: if only Nancy had a different job. Back in 2010, the pair co-starred in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, a title that'd also fit their latest collaboration if its protagonist cared for kids rather than taught them. Jokes aside, the instantly charming Leo is used to hearing that sentiment about his own professional choices. Indeed, Nancy expresses it during their pre- and post-coital discussions, enquiring about the events that might've led him to his career. "Maybe you're an orphan!" she says. "Perhaps you grew up in care, and you've got very low self-esteem," she offers. "You could have been trafficked against your will — you can't tell just by looking at somebody!" she continues. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. BLAZE In the name of its protagonist, and the pain and fury that threatens to parch her 12-year-old existence, Del Kathryn Barton's first feature scorches and sears. It burns in its own moniker, too, and in the blistering alarm it sounds against an appalling status quo: that experiencing, witnessing and living with the aftermath of violence against women is all too common, heartbreakingly so, including in Australia where one woman a week on average is killed by her current or former partner. Blaze has a perfect title, with the two-time Archibald Prize-winning artist behind it crafting a movie that's alight with anger, that flares with sorrow, and that's so astutely and empathetically observed, styled and acted that it chars. Indeed, it's frequently hard to pick which aspect of the film singes more: the story about surviving what should be unknown horrors for a girl who isn't even yet a teen, the wondrously tactile and immersive way in which Blaze brings its namesake's inner world to the screen, or the stunning performance by young actor Julia Savage (Mr Inbetween) in its central part. There are imagined dragons in Blaze, but Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, this isn't — although Jake (Josh Lawson, Mortal Kombat), who Blaze spots in an alleyway with Hannah (Yael Stone, Blacklight), has his lawyer (Heather Mitchell, Bosch & Rockit) claim that his accuser knows nothing. With the attack occurring mere minutes into the movie, Barton dedicates the feature's bulk to how her lead character copes, or doesn't. Being questioned about what she saw in court is just one way that the world tries to reduce her to ashes, but the embers of her hurt and determination don't and won't die. Blaze's father Luke (Simon Baker, High Ground), a single parent, understandably worries about the impact of everything blasting his daughter's way. As she retreats then acts out, cycling between both and bobbing in-between, those fears are well-founded. Blaze is a coming-age-film — a robbing-of-innocence movie as well — but it's also a firm message that there's no easy or ideal response to something as awful as its titular figure observes. Blaze is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. HIT THE ROAD How fitting it is that a film about family — about the ties that bind, and when those links are threatened not by choice but via unwanted circumstances — hails from an impressive lineage itself. How apt it is that Hit the Road explores the extent that ordinary Iranians find themselves going to escape the nation's oppressive authorities, too, given that the filmmaker behind it is Panah Panahi, son of acclaimed auteur Jafar Panahi. The latter's run-ins with the country's regime have been well-documented. The elder Panahi, director of Closed Curtain, Tehran Taxi and more, has been both imprisoned and banned from making movies over the past two decades, and was detained again in July 2022 for enquiring about the legal situation surrounding There Is No Evil helmer Mohammad Rasoulof. None of that directly comes through in Hit the Road's story, not for a moment, but the younger Panahi's directorial debut is firmly made with a clear shadow lingering over it. As penned by the fledgling filmmaker as well, Hit the Road's narrative is simple and also devastatingly layered; in its frames, two starkly different views of life in Iran are apparent. What frames they are, as lensed by Ballad of a White Cow cinematographer Amin Jafari — with every sequence a stunner, but three in particular, late in the piece and involving fraught exchanges, nighttime stories and heartbreaking goodbyes, among the most mesmerising images committed to celluloid in recent years. Those pictures tell of a mother (Pantea Panahiha, Rhino), a father (Mohammad Hassan Madjooni, Pig), their adult son (first-timer Amin Simiar) and their six-year-old boy (scene-stealer Rayan Sarlak, Gol be khodi), all unnamed, who say they're en route to take their eldest to get married. But the journey is a tense one, even as the youngest among them chatters, sings, does ordinary childhood things and finds magic in his cross-country road trip, all with zero knowledge of what eats at the rest of his family. Hit the Road is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. FLUX GOURMET Flickering across a cinema screen, even the greatest of movies only engage two senses: sight and hearing. We can't touch, taste or smell films, even if adding scratch-and-sniff aromas to the experience has become a cult-favourite gimmick. British director Peter Strickland hasn't attempted that — but his features make you feel like you're running your fingers over an alluring dress (In Fabric), feeling the flutter of insect wings (The Duke of Burgundy) or, in his latest, enjoying the smells and tastes whipped up by a culinary collective that turns cooking and eating into performance art. Yes, if you've seen any of his movies before, Flux Gourmet instantly sounds like something only Strickland could make. While it's spinning that tale, it literally sounds like only something he could come up with as well, given that his audioscapes are always a thing of wonder (see also: the sound-focused Berberian Sound Studio). And, unsurprisingly due to his strong and distinctive sense of style and mood, everything about Flux Gourmet looks and feels like pure Strickland, too. The setting: a culinary institute overseen by Jan Stevens (Gwendoline Christie, Game of Thrones), that regularly welcomes in different creative groups to undertake residencies. Her guests collaborate, percolate and come up with eye-catching blends of food, bodies and art — hosting OTT dinners, role-playing a trip to the supermarket, getting scatalogical and turning a live colonoscopy into a show, for instance. Watching and chronicling the latest stint by a 'sonic catering' troupe is journalist Stones (Makis Papadimitriou, Beckett), who also has gastrointestinal struggles, is constantly trying not to fart and somehow manages to keep a straight face as everything gets farcical around him. Asa Butterfield (Sex Education), Ariane Labed (The Souvenir: Part II) and Strickland regular Fatma Mohamed play the three bickering artists, and their time at the institute get messy and heated, fast — but this is a film that's as warm as it is wild, and stands out even among Strickland's inimitable work. Also crucial: riffing on This Is Spinal Tap. Flux Gourmet is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. TICKET TO PARADISE Here we go again indeed: with the George Clooney- and Julia Roberts-starring Ticket to Paradise, a heavy been-there-done-that air sweeps through, thick with the Queensland-standing-in-for-Bali breeze. The film's big-name stars have bounced off each other in Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve and Money Monster before now. Director Ol Parker has already sent multiple groups of famous faces to far-flung places — far-flung from the UK or the US, that is — as the writer of the Best Exotic Marigold flicks and helmer of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Enough destination wedding rom-coms exist that one of the undersung better ones, with Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder, is even called Destination Wedding. And, there's plenty of romantic comedies about trying to foil nuptials, too, with My Best Friend's Wedding and Runaway Bride on Roberts' resume since the 90s. Hurriedly throw all of the above into a suitcase — because your twentysomething daughter Kaitlyn Dever, Dopesick) has suddenly announced she's marrying a seaweed farmer (Maxime Bouttier, Unknown) she just met in Indonesia, if you're Clooney (The Midnight Sky) and Roberts' (Gaslit) long-divorced couple here — and that's firmly Ticket to Paradise. As The Lost City already was earlier in 2022, it too is a star-driven throwback, endeavouring to make the kind of easy, glossy, screwball banter-filled popcorn fare that doesn't reach screens with frequency lately. It isn't as entertaining as that flick, and it certainly isn't winking, nodding and having fun with its formula; sticking dispiritingly to the basics is all that's on Parker's itinerary with his first-timer co-scribe Daniel Pipski. But alongside picturesque vistas, Ticket to Paradise shares something crucial with The Lost City: it gets a whole lot of mileage out of its stars' charisma. Ticket to Paradise is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. CLEAN "It's a shock to the system. It's a change to the everyday, regular routine. It's where the unhappy gene comes out — and it's a sign of the times today." That's the gloriously candid and empathetic Sandra Pankhurst on trauma, a topic she has literally made her business. Later in Clean, the documentary that tells her tale, she describes herself as a "busy nose and a voyeur"; however, that's not what saw her set up Melbourne's Specialised Trauma Cleaning. For three decades now, her company has assisted with "all the shitty jobs that no one really wants to do," as she characterises it: crime-scene cleanups, including after homicides, suicides and overdoses; deceased estates, such as bodies found some time after their passing; and homes in squalor, to name a few examples. As she explains in the film, Pankhurst is eager to provide such cleaning services because everyone deserves that help — and because we're all just a couple of unfortunate turns away from needing it. The 2008 movie Sunshine Cleaning starring Amy Adams (Dear Evan Hansen) and Emily Blunt (Jungle Cruise) fictionalised the trauma-cleaning realm; if that's your touchstone at the outset of Clean, prepare for far less gloss, for starters. Prepare for much more than a look at a fascinating but largely ignored industry, too, because filmmaker Lachlan Mcleod (Big in Japan) is as rightly interested in Pankhurst as he is in her line of work. Everything she says hangs in the air with meaning, even as it all bounces lightly from her lips ("life can be very fragile", "every dog has its day, and a mongrel has two" and "life dishes you out a good story and then life dishes you out a shit one" are some such utterances). Everything feels matter of fact and yet also immensely caring through her eyes, regardless of the situation that her Frankston-headquartered employees are attending to. Clean is available to stream via SBS On Demand. Read our full review. SMILE If high-concept horror nasties get you grinning even when you're squirming, recoiling or peeking through your fingers, then expect Smile to live up to its name — in its first half, at least. A The Ring-meets-It Follows type of scarefest with nods to the Joker thrown in — even though it springs from debut feature writer/director Parker Finn's own 2020 short film Laura Hasn't Slept — it takes its titular term seriously, sporting one helluva creepy smirk again and again. The actual face doing the ghoulish beaming can change, and does, but the evil Cheshire Cat-esque look on each dial doesn't. Where 2011's not-at-all spooky The Muppets had a maniacal laugh, Smile does indeed possess a maniacal, skin-crawling, nightmare-inducing leer. In the film, the first character to chat about it, PhD student Laura Weaver (Caitlin Stasey, Bridge and Tunnel), explains it as "the worst smile I have ever seen in my life". She's in a hospital, telling psychiatrist Rose Cotter (Mare of Easttown's Sosie Bacon, daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick), who clearly thinks she's hallucinating. But when the doctor sees that grin herself, she immediately knows that Laura's description couldn't be more accurate. Toothy, deranged, preternaturally stretched and also frozen in place, the smile at the heart of Smile isn't easily forgotten — not that Rose need worry about that. Soon, it's haunting her days and nights by interrupting her work, and seeing her act erratically with patients to the concern of her boss (Kal Penn, Clarice). Rose upsets a whole party at her nephew's birthday, too, and makes her fiancé Trevor (Jessie T Usher, The Boys) have doubts about their future. There's a backstory: Rose's mother experienced mental illness, which is why she's so passionate about her work and her sister Holly (Gillian Zinser, The Guilty) is so dismissive. There's a backstory to the diabolical frown turned upside down also, which she's quickly trying to unravel with the help of her cop ex Joel (Kyle Gallner, Scream). She has to; Laura came to the hospital for assistance after her professor saw the smile first, then started beaming it, then took his own life in front of her — and now Rose is in the same situation Smile is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. ON THE COUNT OF THREE What happens outside an upstate New York strip club at 10am on an ordinary weekday? Nothing — nothing good, or that anyone pays attention to, at least — deduces the unhappy Val (Jerrod Carmichael, Rothaniel) in On the Count of Three. So, he's hatched a plan: with his lifelong best friend Kevin (Christopher Abbott, The Forgiven), they'll carry out a suicide pact, with that empty car park as their final earthly destination. Under the harsh morning light and against a drably grey sky, Carmichael's feature directorial debut initially meets its central duo standing in that exact spot, guns pointed at each other's heads and pulling the trigger mere moments away. Yes, they start counting. Yes, exhaustion and desperation beam from their eyes. No, this thorny yet soulful film isn't over and done with then and there. There are many ways to experience weariness, frustration, malaise and despair, and to convey them — and On the Count of Three surveys plenty, as an unflinchingly black comedy about two lifelong best friends deciding to end it all should. Those dispiriting feelings can weigh you down, making every second of every day an effort. They can fester, agitate, linger and percolate, simmering behind every word and deed before spewing out as fury. They can spark drastic actions, including the type that Val and Kevin have picked as their only option after the latter breaks the former out of a mental health hospital mere days after his last self-harming incident. Or, they can inspire a wholesale rejection of the milestones, such as the promotion that Val is offered hours earlier, that everyone is told they're supposed to covet, embrace and celebrate. On the Count of Three is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE HUMANS If you're the kind of cinephile who likes to theme their viewing around the relevant time of year — holiday-related, primarily — then you're clearly always spoiled for choice. Christmas movies, horror flicks at Halloween, Easter-relevant films: you can build a binge session out of all of them (several in fact, depending on the occasion). The same applies to Thanksgiving, all courtesy of the US, and The Humans is the latest addition to the November-appropriate list. But while it ticks a few easy boxes, including bringing a family together to celebrate the date, steeping their get-together in awkwardness, and having big revelations spill out over the course of the gathering, this A24-distributed release is far creepier and more haunting than your usual movie about America's turkey-eating time of year. Based on Stephen Karam's Tony-winning play, and adapted and directed for the screen by Karam himself, it's downright unsettling, in fact, and for a few reasons. There's the tension zipping back and forth between everyone in attendance, of course; the bleak, claustrophobic, rundown setting, in a New York apartment close to ground zero; and the strange sounds emanating from other units. As a result, seasonal cheer is few and far between in this corner of Manhattan, where the Blake family congregates in Brigid (Beanie Feldstein, Booksmart) and her boyfriend Richard's (Steven Yeun, Nope) new abode. Also making an appearance: parents Deirdre (Jayne Houdyshell, Only Murders in the Building) and Erik (Richard Jenkins, Nightmare Alley), Brigid's older sister Aimee (Amy Schumer, Life & Beth), and their grandmother Momo (June Squibb, Palmer), who has dementia. No one is happy, and everyone seems to have something that needs airing — but there's always the feeling that, in any other location, this might've truly been a joyful affair. Discussions about dreams and nightmares prove revealing, but The Humans points out the thin line between both, whether we're slumbering or waking, several times over in its talky frames. The Humans is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies and Prime Video. Read our full review. Looking for more at-home viewing options? Take a look at our monthly streaming recommendations across new straight-to-digital films and TV shows — and our best new TV shows, returning TV shows and straight-to-streaming movies from the first half of 2022.
Brisbane, it's official. As a city, we clearly have an art and alcohol obsession. Boozy creative sessions keep popping up all over the place, with Pastels & Plonk the latest. At this rate, you could almost spend every night of the week picking up a brush, pencil or crayon over a wine or beer — and no, we're not complaining. Work-Shop Brisbane's newest beverage-fuelled class mixture get your hands dirty, but in a brightly hued manner, while also giving you some liquid inspiration. Delicious Art's Jeanne Cotter will teach you to everything you need to know, including the fact that you can both paint and draw with pastels. The session joins the likes of Cork & Chroma, Boozy Board Art, Botanical Drawing with Drinks and Pub Painting when it comes to unleashing your inner plonk-loving Picasso (and serving up a dose of alliteration as well). Tickets cost $60, and include supplies and drinks.
A few people are saying the Simon Pegg/Nick Frost/Edgar Wright partnership is getting tired. There might be some truth to that, but it isn't tired yet. The World's End — the third film in their 'Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy', a series of comic genre mash-ups that also happen to feature a random Cornetto ice-cream in each one — is a whirlwind of exuberant humour it's easy to get swept up in. Sure, some of the surprise of the mash-up twist has faded since 2004's breakthrough Shaun of the Dead, but the team has also matured as actors, filmmakers and observers of the human condition. The particular human condition they're concerned with this time around is the sad state of being stuck in one's halcyon days, particularly when they're situated in high school, particularly when you're now nearing 40. Pegg plays the thusly afflicted man-child, and it's far from the loveable, self-effacing type of loser character we're used to seeing him be. As Gary King, he is a real loser, still sporting his teenage sludgy black hair and greatcoat, still driving 'The Beast' registered in someone else's name, still embarrassingly overconfident and still sleazing onto women in the loos. He's so close to being unlikeable, yet there's just enough good in him — and just a smidge of relatability — that we want him to win on his ridiculous quest to unite his high school buddies and claim the victory that should have been theirs 20 years earlier: completion of a 12-stop pub crawl known as the Golden Mile. Gary's more capably adult friends — Andrew (Frost), Steven (Paddy Considine), Oliver (Martin Freeman) and Peter (Eddie Marsan) — want out of the caper not long after arriving back in their insular home town, Newton Haven. But then they discover the place has gone Invasion of the Body Snatchers in their absence, and fighting off invading alien robot hordes takes precedence over fighting each other. All the while, following some spectacular drunk-person reasoning, they continue the course of their pub crawl to the mythic World's End bar. In some ways, The World's End doesn't feel like the final movie of the trilogy; it has the anarchic, careening, appropriately drunken energy of an early oeuvre picture, but one suspects that mood is actually harder to control than it looks. The movie is also unexpectedly mature in its human drama, teasing out the fraught relationship we have with our histories and ultimately encouraging us to go a little less hard on our past selves. There's great joy in watching The World's End, and plenty of rewards in the team's signature brand of comedy. Maybe it is time to move on from the genre mash-up, but this is a thundering way to go out. https://youtube.com/watch?v=7ibQvQUpMTg
Back at the beginning of December, life in Australia seemed like it was largely returning to normal after a tough year spent coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. Then Sydney experienced a cluster of cases in the northern beaches region, cases popped up in Victoria as well, and now Brisbane is responding to the country's first local case of the new, more contagious coronavirus strain. Due to the latter situation — with a hotel quarantine worker testing positive to COVID-19 — the nation has been reacting at both the state and federal government levels. The Greater Brisbane area is going into lockdown for three days, and New South Wales is requiring anyone who has been in the region since January 2 and is now down south to also stay at home under the same conditions for the same period. In the latest announcement on the news-filled day that is today, Friday, January 8, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has made a similar statement, covering the whole country. Firstly, following the first Australian national cabinet meeting for 2021, the Prime Minister revealed that the Greater Brisbane area has been declared a COVID-19 hotspot at the commonwealth level. That applies to the Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Moreton and Redlands local government areas. Secondly, the PM has said that anyone who is in the rest of Australia but has visited Greater Brisbane should "treat yourself as if you are in those places". "Our message to Australians who are in those areas is — stay where you are," the Prime Minister said. "Don't go anywhere. Don't go home to another state or any other part of your state. Over the next few days, stay where you are. If you're somewhere else and you are planning to go there, don't. You should get tested. You should monitor your symptoms. And until you've gone through the testing process, you should remain isolated." https://twitter.com/ScottMorrisonMP/status/1347311954625396737 Queensland Health has made a similar statement about travellers from the state itself, announcing that anyone from Queensland who has been in the Greater Brisbane area since January 2 but is now elsewhere must quarantine wherever they are. They'll also need to wear a mask when they leave their homes — for one of the four reasons permitted during Greater Brisbane's lockdown. Other states and territories around the country have also been implementing their own restrictions on folks from Greater Brisbane, or who've visited there recently — and on the entirety of Queensland in some instances. As has been the case for much of 2020, the rules vary depending on the state and territory. As today's development's have shown, they're changing fast. At the time of writing, Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services advises that anyone who has arrived in Victoria from Greater Brisbane since January 2 should get tested, and remain at home or wherever they're staying until Monday, January 11, when a further assessment about the situation will be made. Tasmania has declared the Greater Brisbane region a high-risk area. Anyone who has arrived in Tasmania after spending time in Greater Brisbane since January 2 must immediately self-isolate and contact the state's Public Health Hotline, while anyone who has been in the area and intends to travel to Tassie won't be allowed to enter, unless they receive an exemption. In the Northern Territory, travel limits have also been put in place, affecting folks from the Greater Brisbane area. The hotspot declaration came into effect this morning, on Friday, January 8, and means anyone entering the NT from the region will have to go into quarantine for two weeks. South Australia is bringing in a quarantine requirement, too, from midnight as Saturday, January 9 begins, which means that arrivals from Greater Brisbane will need to isolate for two weeks. Anyone currently in SA who has been in the Greater Brisbane area since January 2 must get tested immediately. The Australian Capital Territory will require anyone who has been in the Greater Brisbane area since January 2 to go into isolation for 14 days from when they were last in the area. That comes into effect from 3pm on Friday, January 8. https://twitter.com/MarkMcGowanMP/status/1347373468585660417 Over in Western Australia, a hard border has been brought back in with all of Queensland. At midnight tonight, the border will close to anyone who has been in the Sunshine State since January 2, and anyone who receives an exemption to still enter WA will have to go into quarantine for 14 days and undertake COVID-19 testing at two different points. Those currently in WA who have been in Queensland since January 2 must self-isolate until they have spent 14 days in WA, and must get tested by January 12 and then have another test on day 11 of their quarantine. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in Australia, visit the Australian Government Department of Health website.
Pairing hot dumplings with cold beer is one of life's simple pleasures, and it's one of the reasons that Harajuku Gyoza has become one of Brisbane and Sydney's go-to Japanese joints. When their sixth venue joins the fold in May, it won't just be bringing gyoza and brews to a 150-seat space in Broadbeach on the Gold Coast — it'll be setting up a microbrewery. Given the name Harajuku Gyoza Beer Stadium, it's the first restaurant of its type for the chain, and Australia's first Japanese microbrewery as well. And, it'll be offering plenty of tempting tipples for booze-loving dumpling fiends. Say hello to four 1200-litre red, black, silver and gold beer tanks pumping out six core Japanese craft beers from the Yoyogi Japanese Craft Beer range. Harajuku Gyoza has been brewing its own craft Yoyogi Pale Ale since 2015, but now they'll do so on-site at Broadbeach — and add five others to their regular menu. In addition to quenching Gold Coast diners' thirsts with their year-round selection and special seasonal releases, the new microbrewery will serve up yeasty brews that'll be sent to other stores, and sold wholesale. For anyone wanting more than just a pint, Harajuku Gyoza Beer Stadium will feature an entertaining table that comes with its own ten-litre keg, allowing you to fill up your own drinks as you sit and eat. And while the focus might be on beer, glorious beer, whiskey fans will find a range of rare Japanese varieties, available to purchase by the nip or individual bottle. If that's not enough booze and dumpling fun, the Broadbeach restaurant will also be Harajuku Gyoza's first to have a breakfast menu. Sounds smart — if you've been drinking fresh-made Japanese brews all night, you might want to head back the next morning for a gyoza pick-me-up. Find Harajuku Gyoza Beer Stadium at The Oasis Centre, Broadbeach from later in May. Head to their website and Facebook page for more information.
The Baroque Room is one of the multiple venues located within The Carrington Hotel, the Blue Mountains institution on Katoomba Street. Soon, it will play host to Ngaiire. The singer is undoubtedly a creative force of nature, as well as the first Papua New Guinean to feature in Triple J's Hottest 100. Since her Australian Idol appearance back in 2004, Ngaiire has been working on her unique brand of R&B and neo soul, which has seen her tour alongside acts as diverse as Flume and Alicia Keys. Her live performances are renowned for their theatricality, attention-grabbing costumes and incredible vocals — it's no exaggeration to say the mountains won't know what's hit them this spring. If you're keen to head along, you best get in quick as her later performance has already sold out. For the latest info on NSW border restrictions, head here. If travelling from Queensland or Victoria, check out Queensland Health and DHHS websites, respectively.
Working from home has its perks, like more snacks on-hand and wearing your comfy clothes. By now though, wearing the same baggy tee and pyjama pants day-in, day-out might be growing a little old. Plus, as we move into cooler autumn days, a new cosy jumper and some non-threadbare trackies are pretty much essentials. Online shopping go-to The Iconic has put together a collection of its best loungewear and accessories, so you can upgrade your wardrobe without leaving the house. Because dressing up with nowhere to go is the new norm — and you might as well be comfy. For clothes, you'll find a bunch of Aussie labels all known for their super-comfy athleisure and loungewear. Camilla and Marc and its elevated streetwear label C&M currently have some super-warm knitwear and pullovers available via The Iconic, alongside wardrobe staples such as t-shirts, denim and tailored pants. Sustainable brand AERE has a bunch of flowy linen items for both men and women, including shorts, shirts and dresses. And menswear labels Staple Superior and Academy Brand have a range of hoodies, tees, chinos and track pants. If you're wanting to stock up your own balcony-gym or living room-yoga wardrobe (or another WFH outfit, if we're totally honest), you'll also find a bunch of fashionable activewear. Expect leggings, shorts, crops and more from local labels such as P.E. Nation, eco-conscious label Nimble, Jaggad and Cotton On Body, plus international brands Champion and Puma. And, if you've recently taken up running (or plan to), you can buy some running shoes here. You'll also find everything from slippers to sleek sneakers. Ultimate cosy shoe brand UGG has several styles of slippers, including some extra-fluffy yellow ones, as does Birkenstock. Sneaker-wise, there's an extensive selection of Veja and Puma designs, from simple white leather to multicoloured ones. Or, if you feel like walking around in a pair of stilletos for whatever reason, there are those, too. Best of all, The Iconic is giving Concrete Playground readers $30 off on all orders of $120 or more. All you have to do is head here then enter CPLOUNGE at checkout. The Iconic's loungewear range can be found here. For $30 off your order, enter CPLOUNGE at checkout (offer available until Sunday, April 26). 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.
It's been 15 years since The Notebook made everyone fall in love with Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams and locking lips during a downpour, and the Nicholas Sparks-penned effort isn't done spreading its sappy brand of romance just yet. Soon, the book-turned-movie will make another leap, bringing its lovestruck drama to Broadway. As reported by Variety, the first bestseller from the author also responsible for A Walk to Remember, Dear John, The Last Song and The Lucky One is being turned into a stage musical. Expect singing in the rain, obviously, as well as crooned declarations of love in a rowboat. Expect a song-filled account of an heiress falling in love with a poor quarry worker, too. Producers Kevin McCollum and Kurt Deutsch — plus Sparks himself — are behind The Notebook's jump from tear-soaked pages to weep-inducing celluloid to a stage version that should probably just hand out tissues with every ticket. McCollum has earned Tony awards for In the Heights, Avenue Q and Rent, while Deutsch is the founder of both Sh-K-Boom and Ghostlight records, which both have a theatre and cast-recording focus. While a production timeline hasn't been announced (so don't go booking your New York flights just yet), the script and songs are being handled by Bekah Brunstetter and Ingrid Michaelson respectively. The former a writer and producer on TV show This Is Us, and the latter is best known for singles 'The Way I Am' and 'Girls Chase Boys'. It's way too early to talk about casting, but if Gosling can sing in La La Land, then you can start dreaming that he belt out a tune again. Of course, it's almost 100-percent guaranteed that that fantasy won't go any further than your head. If you've been keeping track, The Notebook's musical adaptation taps into a trend that just keeps growing, aka singing-and-dancing versions of beloved movies. In recent years, everything from Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Bring It On, Mean Girls and Clueless has made the leap to the stage, plus The Bodyguard, Amelie, Waitress, Muriel's Wedding and Moulin Rouge!. A stage version of The Devil Wears Prada is also in the works, as well as Empire Records, Mrs Doubtfire and Aussie classic Starstruck. Via Variety.
When your nine-to-five plays out like a well-oiled machine, it can sometimes feel like each week is a little same-same. But Brisbane is brimming with a fine bounty of things to experience and explore each and every day. So aside from casual laziness and a little lack of inspiration, there's really nothing stopping you from squeezing some adventure and spontaneity into your schedule. We've teamed up with Mazda3 to celebrate the landmark 40th anniversary of their iconic small cars, and in turn, help you celebrate the little things that bring that sense of adventure to life. Shake things up, as we give you seven different detours to take each week in Brisbane. From Monday to Sunday, enrich your everyday with one completely achievable activity that inspires you to take the scenic route as you go about your daily routine. This week, play tourist in your own city, plan a staycation at a street art hotel and reconnect with nature at the top of Mt Tamborine. Plus, we've got your future detours sorted for the new few weeks here. All require no more effort than a tiny break from the norm — what's your excuse for not trying them all?
When lunar new year arrived earlier in February, the year of the tiger kicked into swing — but 2022 just might be the year of the red panda, too. Pixar's next animated flick about a girl who turns into a red panda, called Turning Red, hits streaming in March, and Taronga Zoo has just announced that it's now home to a couple more of the IRL critters. And if you'd like to spend your time checking out the latter right now, no matter the weather or where you live, the Sydney spot has also launched a red panda cub cam. The word you're looking for? Or the sound, to be more accurate? Yes, it's "awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww". The two cubs were born back on December 8 to mum Amala and dad Pabu, and don't yet have names, but you can now watch them from home whenever you like. Taronga's red panda cub cam is free, too, and features videos of the little cuties being born, plus weekly highlights showcasing what they've been up to. So, you can't live-stream them all day every day, but you can still get a huge dose of adorableness. The camera is currently trained on the cubs' purpose-built, soundproof nest box, where they've been living with Amala since birth. Expect to see plenty of mum as well, with Taronga's Carnivore Keeper Rebecca Baldwin advising that she's usually on hand looking after her little ones. "Amala is very attentive and nurturing. Through the monitoring of our CCTV cameras, we can see that she is constantly grooming and cleaning the cubs and is encouraging them to take their first wobbly steps within the security of their nest box," said Baldwin. "Whilst they are still small and weighing only a couple of hundred grams, the cubs are spending their time within the security of their nest box which makes for great viewing. They won't start to venture out under the cover of darkness until they're about 12 weeks old," said Baldwin. Taronga already lets you fill your time staring at capybaras, seals, meerkats, otters, sumatran tigers, lions and elephants, all without leaving your home, thanks to its online TV channel — but if it keeps adding cameras, we'll keep watching. Taronga Zoo Sydney and Taronga Western Plains Zoo Dubbo started their online streams in 2020 for obvious reasons, and also releases regular videos across its Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channels — and makes keeper talks and other clips available online as well. To watch Taronga Zoo's red panda cub cam, head to the zoo's website. To check out Taronga TV, head to the channel's website — or keep an eye on its videos on its Facebook, Instagram and YouTube pages.
The London Riots have left us all a bit gobsmacked. On the 6th of August in Tottenham in the North of London what started out as peaceful demonstration against a recent police shooting turned into something quite different and unexpected — an outbreak of violence and the destruction of cars and homes and local businesses. And then the looting began. Over the next two to three days copycat riots and looting broke out over London, most notably in Peckham, Clapham and Brixton and then around the country in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham resulting in five related deaths and the worst rioting the country has seen since the 1980s. As large parts of the city were shut down and boarded up, the rest of the world looked on in shock as footage and information streamed out via mainstream and social media. The mainstream media questioned the politicians, the police response and the rioters motivations. A YouTube video, which has received in excess of four millions hits, was uploaded of a Malaysian student, bleeding and distressed, being 'helped up' by the crowd around him only then to be mugged by his supposed 'helpers'. A Tumblr site, Photshoplooter, sprang up, providing some much needed humour in a time which is anything but funny. In the aftermath of the riots, as the public, the politicians and the newspapers debate everything from increasing police powers to the impact the government's recent austerity measures have had on young people, the good people of London (and yes, there are quite a few of them) have got down to the business of cleaning up and rebuilding. RiotCleanup started as a twitter account in the early hours of the 9th of August and by the morning it was a website helping to organise an army of volunteers who wanted to help with the clean up. Building on its success, two recent architecture students, Lee Wilshire and Nick Varney, have set up Riotrebuild, which is dedicated to connecting people who have been affected by the riots with professional architects, builders and handyman to assist them to rebuild their homes, business and communities.
Ah 21st century, you’re just flying along these days aren’t you? Bringing Mos Burger to the Queen Street Mall, inventing cars that can parallel park themselves, and arming every Gen Y with an internet connection the power to comment on society. Recognising this recent phenomena are the latest bunch of talented students studying at the Queensland College of Art. Outlining the intrinsic relationship between humans and their need to constantly celebrate their life online, this group of artists have put together a collection of artwork showcased under the title NOWstalgia. Highlighting how interesting it is having access to amazing technology and depicting how the present is somehow resulting in a sense of loss, the eighteen emerging artists have created a varied and eclectic amount of work that is sure to intrigue, cause wonderment and definite dialogue. It also wouldn’t be commentary on the 21st century if Twitter wasn’t involved. As part of the lead up to the opening date, NOWstalgia has launched their own twitter feed which all 18 artists are contributing to anonymously. It can be considered a preview artwork of sorts, and with comments such as “my eyeballs are cold” and “just ate that whole pizza. It was pretty great” you be can guaranteed NOWstalgia will be entertaining.
Well, not really. But aggregated search data can be used to track some economic trends, and can do so better than official economics surveys. The logic behind it is pretty simple: what does the average person do when confronted by something new in their life? Google it, of course. By using Google Insights to measure search terms like 'real estate agent' or 'unemployment' it's possible to get an idea of how much activity there will be in the property market, or how many people might be signing up for benefits soon. The Bank of England is doing exactly that to supplement their official figures to gain a better picture of the UK economy. The search engine figures aren't 100% accurate, but they are available much faster than government reports. It's not the first time individual search activity has been aggregated and used to measure large-scale trends. Google Flu Trends uses the same idea: by measuring the frequency of searches for flu symptoms, they can measure levels of flu activity and report it much faster than hospital reported cases. In fact, Google could have spotted the 2009 swine flu outbreak... if they had been monitoring Mexico at the time. [via Guardian UK]
The age of anything and everything available online is extending its reach to even the most humanitarian of acts: charity. Lending a hand to New Zealand's earthquake victims has been made simple with the development of the Christchurch Cafe, a virtual coffee shop that donates 100% of its profits to survivors suffering from severe income loss. The inspirational site was created by the workers at Crafted Coffee, a Christchurch shop that was fortunate enough to escape the wrath of the devastating quake in February. The virtual cafe aims to aid business owners that were not so lucky by offering a menu of virtual coffee beverages, beans and equipment, priced from $2 to $300, that can be purchased in the form of a donation by a mere click of the mouse. Each item is linked to a Paypal site, making the process that much easier. Victims in need apply for aid online and Christchurch Cafe offers $200 per month, per person for as many as they can support with the money raised. Although you may not get the kick of caffeine that comes with any other flat white at a cozy coffee shop, every dollar contributed to the Christchurch Cafe helps the struggling New Zealanders afford food and housing that is difficult to come by in the horrific aftermath of the earthquake. Now, let us not rule out boxing up unwanted clothes or extra canned goods to help out victims of natural disasters, but hopefully skipping your morning brew and donating a virtual flat white instead will catch on as a means of giving aid, and the altruistic buzz should more than make up for the missed caffeine kick.
Just like toilet paper, pasta and cans of tuna, tampons and pads in the time of COVID-19 are becoming increasingly hard to find on supermarket shelves. Which is a less-than-ideal situation to be in when that time of the month rolls around. And, sure, you may have heard about period-proof undies — and maybe even thought about making the switch for sustainability and economical reasons — but have you actually used them? No? Well, perhaps now is the time to give them a go. Since starting back in 2013, Australian label Modibodi has been shipping its colourful, comfy and functional undies to folk around the globe, with the aim of empowering them with a more eco-friendly option to tampons and pads — and, in the long run, it's lighter on the wallet. Plus, if you're self-isolating or trying to cut down your visits to the shop at the moment — kudos to you — then undies, which you can order online and delivered straight to your door, might be the way to go. Modibodi's undies use fabrics such as bamboo, merino wool and microfibres and have built-in absorbent, breathable (and stain- and odour-resistant) liners. After two years of testing, trialling and fine-tuning the designs with textile engineers and companies in Australia and the US, Modibodi became one of the world's go-to period-proof undies. The liners are about three-millimetres thick and can absorb anywhere between five and 20 millilitres (about four tampons' worth). So, while you're stuck at home, you can parade around in a pair of underwear — and not worry about any discomfort or leaks when wearing them. As these undies are designed to be thrown in your washing machine to be worn again and again, they're a far more sustainable solution than single-use items such as tampons, pads and liners, too. So, not only are they good for you, they're good for the planet. It doesn't hurt that it works out cheaper in the long run, too. They're designed for people of all ages, shapes and sizes, too, with more than ten different styles — from a classic brief cut to bikini, seamless, boyleg, boy short, high-waisted, maternity, swim, activewear and even vegan ones — in a range of colours. Plus, there are four different absorbency levels available: superlight, light-moderate, moderate-heavy and heavy-overnight. There are designs for pee, sweat and pregnancy, too. Prices start from $23.50 and there are packs of five, seven and ten, too, which will save you some pennies if you're looking to buy more than a couple of pairs. Modibodi is currently offering contactless delivery across Australia and New Zealand, with free shipping on orders over $100 AUD and NZD. If this is your first time buying them, you can score ten percent off when you sign up here. For more information on period-proof undies — and to buy yourself a pair (or few) — head to Modibodi's website. 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.
You never can predict what Thom Yorke will do next. He seems to be constantly popping up from out of nowhere yelling "Surprise! Look what I've done this time!" Dropping in to London radio station Rinse FM for a chat this week, he casually announced, and then proceeded to premiere, his new collaboration with electronic producers Burial & Four Tet. The Radiohead frontman has made a bit of a habit of announcing things last minute lately, what with the spontaneous release of King of Limbs last month. Yorke has been at the cutting edge of electronic music for a long while, and so coming together with Four Tet & Burial is an electro marriage made in heaven. The tracks are being released as a 12" split single, entitled 'Ego' and 'Mirror.' Fans didn't even have time to get themselves a copy before the official release date on March 21, with pre-orders inexplicably selling out before the announcement of its release. Thom Yorke has previously produced amazing work outside of Radiohead, with his chart-topping solo album Eraser, incredible collaborations with artists such as PJ Harvey, and 2010's launch of new band Atoms For Peace, alongside members of Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Forro In The Dark. This collaboration with Burial and Four Tet follows the trend, with the ethereal sounds and haunting vocals prompting something close to sensory overload. https://youtube.com/watch?v=MOwD67BIPMA [Via One Thirty BPM]
Parks in urban places are often considered sacrosanct. They are a haven where one can escape from the mass urbanisation and technological transformations surrounding them. Development remains outside whilst nature dominates the metropolitan Eden. Until now. Invisible Structures, a London-based design and engineering company, is transforming this train of thought into a train of innovation as it seeks to integrate public parks and the modern technologically developed city in an attempt to enhance the environment, rather than harm it. The implements for this idea are ingenious biophilic structures constructed from a creative combination of sustainably sourced timber 'ribs' and a range of eco-friendly 'skins'. They use elements found in nature to create constructions that camouflage into their surrounds. These organic architectural works thus mimic the natural world and Invisible Works hopes to plant them in Central London parks in the upcoming summer, pulling people out of urbanity and into nature. "The idea, in a simple way," Invisible Structures owner Edward Shuster says in an interview with Fast Company, "is that they'd look like they'd grown there." Shuster and Claudia Moseley, the other half of the team behind Invisible Structures, hope to create a new interactive space within London, with the structures housing an ampitheatre, an exhibition space and dining 'seeds', amongst other things. Moseley and Shuster believe the semi-permanent structures will improve the interaction between urban populations and nature as they provide unique arenas to enhance artistic performances. "The fundamental problem that we think we're tackling is the lack of how people who live in cities are able to interact with green spaces and interact with nature," says Shuster. They are hoping the project resides in London for 10 years. If not, though, the structures can also be easily dismounted and flat-packed to move to new cities and shared around the world, transforming the way humans interact with nature. Via PSFK.
Wandering around a market while the sun shines is all well and good, but there's something extra appealing about the nighttime variety. Happening every Friday and Saturday night in Brisbane's north BITE Markets fits the bill. And, it serves up plenty of food, because that's what every night market attendee really wants. A trip to Nolan Drive in Morayfield comes with a little something extra from 4pm on Saturday, October 29, however — because that's when the BITE Markets Halloween Spooktacular is adding some scares to the place. This is a family-friendly affair with scavenger hunts and a monster-themed disco, but if you were thinking about hitting up a market anyway and you love Halloween, consider it a two-for-one kind of event. Expect the usual array of food, and likely some Halloween-themed treats. Opting for the sweets lineup — cakes, doughnuts, churros and poffertjes and the like — will get your tastebuds in the right mood anyway. A shipping container setup like Hamilton's Eat Street — complete with landscaping and a dining precinct — BITE Markets showcases local talents, so prepare to feast on meals whipped up by the best producers, food creators and artisans in the area, too. Entry costs $3 for adults — and for those driving north, there's more than 600 car parks onsite.
Victoria has fully reopened to the entire country, and Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia have all announced when they'll relax their border rules, too. Now, it's Western Australia's turn. Today, Friday, November 5, WA Premier Mark McGowan revealed that the state will start welcoming back travellers sometime early in 2022, once it hits the 90-percent double-vaccinated mark. That means that there's no exact reopening date right now, but McGowan said he expects it to occur sometime in late January or early February. Once WA hits the 80-percent double-dose threshold, the Premier will announce exactly when folks from other states will be able to head west again at that 90-percent mark. And, people travelling from overseas destinations, too — because the reopening will apply to both WA's domestic and international borders. There'll be different rules in place depending on where you're entering from, and other health measures such as wearing face masks in high-risk settings and requiring proof of vaccination at large events and nightclubs will also be put into effect statewide. Today we can announce Western Australia's Safe Transition Plan to ease our controlled border. It sets out an approach which will allow us to safely ease our border controls with other States and resume international travel - while limiting the impact of COVID when it reaches WA. pic.twitter.com/z8mSPlppsf — Mark McGowan (@MarkMcGowanMP) November 5, 2021 Now planning a trip to WA from elsewhere in Australia? You'll need to be double-vaccinated to enter, and also to get a negative PCR test result within 72 hours of departing. At first, there'll be tests upon arrival as well, but they will eventually be phased out. For those making the journey from an international location, there'll be no quarantine for double-vaxxed arrivals — and the same testing requirements will be in place for both domestic and overseas travellers. If you haven't had two jabs, you'll still need to go into hotel quarantine for 14 days. "The decision to target a 90-percent vaccination rate is based on extensive modelling which shows us the rates of community infections, hospitalisations and deaths are far lower if we make this change at 90-percent, when compared with an 80-percent target," said the Premier. And, while that 90-percent threshold will apply statewide, "if there are regional areas with low vaccination rates, then pending the health advice at the time, restrictions on travel within WA to protect these specific regions may need to be introduced," McGowan continued. [caption id="attachment_770353" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Western Australia[/caption] The just-announced plan will see WA reopen while having no COVID-19 in the state's community, too. "This plan sets out how WA will transition in a safe manner and provides a soft landing, with minimal impact on WA's unique way of life," said the Premier. "Transitioning with zero COVID in the community has never been done before and that's why our transition is unique and will require us to all work together." Western Australia has had a hard border and strict quarantine requirements in place for much of the pandemic, meaning that people who don't normally reside in WA have only been able to visit the state if they're classified as an exempt traveller, apply for a G2G Pass and, if approved, then self-isolate for 14 days. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Western Australia, and the state's corresponding restrictions, visit its online COVID-19 hub.
If you've been looking to keep your wardrobe choices as ethical as possible, then shopping local just got a little easier. Long-running fashion not-for-profit Ethical Clothing Australia (ECA) has launched a new online map that pinpoints all the Aussie stores featuring ECA-accredited brands on their racks. The new digital tool currently maps out over 300 accredited ethical retail destinations, allowing shoppers to easily hunt down ethically conscious fashion with just a few clicks on their smartphone or other device. In order to nab that all-important ECA accreditation, a business must be able to show that all workers involved in its manufacturing operations are being paid properly, working in safe conditions and receiving all the necessary legal entitlements. ECA conducts these audits looking deep into the whole manufacturing process, from design to dispatch. [caption id="attachment_800970" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Clothing the Gap[/caption] Some of the ethical businesses to have earned themselves a spot on the map include 53-year-old brand Cue, popular jeans label Nobody Denim and high-end designer favourite Manning Cartel. And Victoria especially looks to be flying the flag for conscious fashion, with 120 store mapped in that state alone, including The Social Studio, Vege Threads, Remuse Designs and the newly opened Clothing the Gap store. The new map comes as more and more Aussies are choosing to hunt down ethical producers when they shop. A recent ECA survey showed that a huge 70 percent of local textile, clothing, and footwear manufacturers reported their customers were asking more questions about the labour rights of their workers than ever before. On its website, the ECA also has a comprehensive directory listing all of its ethically accredited fashion businesses. To check out the ECA Digital Shopping Map, jump over to the website. Image:
When naming the world's highest-pressure occupations, one traditionally thinks of heads of state, air traffic controllers and emergency room surgeons. Kindergarten teachers would probably put their hands up, too, but one area that’s generally overlooked — mostly because it’s hidden away by design — is the kitchen of any Michelin-rated restaurant. These temples of fine dining and avant garde cuisine play host to the most talented chefs in the world, and to cook alongside them is — as one character in Burnt explains — like working with Yoda. But the privilege comes at a cost. Their genius seems almost inextricably bonded with arrogance and rage, an exacting expectation of excellence that permits no error or half-measures. Egos clash, tempers flare, reputations are made and ruined and all the while the wealthiest one percent sits just metres away, oblivious and impatient. To see Burnt is to finally peer behind this temple’s curtain and experience just a semblance of the chaotic magic within. The film stars Bradley Cooper as Adam Jones, a disgraced chef in search of his third Michelin star — the highest rating a restaurant (and hence its chef) can secure. Penniless and jobless, Jones is at rock bottom; a recovering addict of every imaginable vice and shucking one million oysters as part of a gruelling personal penance. Redemption beckons, however, so he procures a London restaurant from his friend Tony (Daniel Brühl) and attempts to assemble a team of the most talented cooks and sauciers available. The stakes may seem low, but placing an addict in a high-pressure environment haunted by both the demons of his past and the debilitating fear of future failure creates levels of Sicario-like tension throughout this film that rarely drop below ten. To make a non-wanky movie about a chef is an achievement in itself, but to also make it suspenseful is definitely worthy of praise. For the food lovers, Burnt features an absolute bucket load of cooking, mixing, sharpening, experimentation and close-up food porn — perhaps more than any other recent offering along similar lines (including, for example, Jon Favreau’s Chef). It’s also guilty of more montages than Teen Wolf 2, but — in its defence — they’re not making two minute noodles here. To watch beef brisket cooked sous-vide would be like watching water boil, in that — well — that’s exactly what it is, so the editing choices are forgivable. The dialogue is mostly snappy and the kitchen scenes are fast-paced and volatile, making the delicate creations they produce seem all the more inconceivable. In all, Burnt is something of a culinary action movie, and while several of its characters are admittedly lacking in narrative depth (most notably Sienna Miller as Jones’s gifted saucier), it’s still a cracking film and a fascinating glimpse into a rarely-seen world.
Before Instagram there was Hipstamatic - an app for your iPhone that transformed your boring and ordinary 21st century photos into dreamy capsules from a bygone yesteryear with vignetting, light leaks and nostalgically ethereal shades and tints. Hipstamatic promised the 'look, feel, unpredictable beauty and fun of plastic toy cameras from the past' and now, in a bid to regain their popularity and get one up on Instagram, Hipstamatic is offering a new dimension to their faux-analogue photography experience: a digital disposable camera. No, they're not encouraging you to throw your iPhone in the bin each time you've shot a roll of 'film', but what they are doing - cheeky buggers - is hiding your photos from you until you have taken 24 shots. The intention behind the app is questionable. Does this really provide you with a new avenue to experience the fun and anticipation of when you were 12 and brought a chunky yellow Kodak for your geography excursion, when you were so enthralled by this novel device and so enamoured by the gentle clicking sound as you wound back the wheel, that when you finally picked up your prints you realised that half of your photos were pure white flash and the other half were of lizards tails and your friends' noses? Or is using Hipstamatic and the like really an analogous experience akin to that of playing around with a Holga or Diana? I remember the first time I discovered the world of toy cameras, and my heart exploded. One year and at least a dozen rolls of film later, I still have no idea how to use my little 135mm Holga, nor my Polaroid 300, nor my (nominally oxymoronic) reusable disposable. However, in my vain and valiant attempts to try, I have discovered new techniques, unearthed the aesthetic magnificence of accident, and had a hell of a lot of fun too. Hipstamatic could be seen to be taking the whole 'new-technology-that-looks-like-old-technology-but-without-the-inconveniences' mode too far, and in doing so it begs the question: does snapping away with your ol' Hipstamatic - changing lens, flash and film with the effortless swipe of a finger - have something to offer, something to genuinely fill that yearning in all of our hearts for our sun-drenched, sepia-toned childhoods? Or is it a facade wrapped in authenticity wrapped in a marketing facade? The sheer, paradoxical irony of having a 'digital disposable' camera suggests that perhaps in our quest to replicate bygone artifacts and sentiments, too much use has been made of synthetic and spurious techniques and tools for the end product to ever achieve the cultural authenticity that we crave. Perhaps we should concentrate, instead, on embracing the here and now - because, after all, in five or ten years we may well find ourselves looking back on our iPhones and our DSLRs while we shake our heads in nostalgia, ruing those days of focused, instant and digital photography. Either way, Hipstamatic's digital disposable is yours for only $1.99. Now, that is like the good old days.
Frustrated, complacent or intrigued with the current state of Sydney's nighttime culture, following the NSW Government's controversial lockouts? For the last few years, Sydney has become somewhat of a cornerstone of debate around nighttime economies, how they work, how they and what could be done differently. But it's not the only city in the world with a story to tell, regarding nighttime culture. So, this November, Sydney will play host to a brand new international event focused entirely on what happens in cities after dark. Global Cities After Dark is a one-day forum where delegates from around the world will come together to discuss the future of nighttime culture and economy. It's an ambitious, timely collaboration between the Electronic Music Conference and experienced night culture expert Mirik Milan, Night Mayor of Amsterdam, who was EMC's keynote speaker in Sydney in November 2016. Because it's a significantly broad and polarising topic, the event will see a broad range of stakeholders, including city planners, local and state governments, cultural organisations, and the creative community. Night culture presents its own unique constraints, with questions such as public safety, access, service provision, infrastructure and urban planning all ready for the unpacking at Global Cities After Dark. "Being a part of Global Cities After Dark is like a dream come true, because by sharing ideas for a safe and vibrant nightlife, it empowers bottom up initiatives after dark that contribute and strengthen creative cities around the world," said Milan. "It will be one of the most innovative forums from a city planning perspective because global thought leaders will gather in Sydney to discuss what strategies can be put in place for creating liveable inclusive cities with high quality of life and culture for everyone." There'll be surprise guests from Berlin, Long, Amsterdam, Seattle and Ibiza, announced in September. They'll be specialists from various fields that are essential to positive nighttime culture — creative industries, gastronomy, health and safety, mobility and public transport, legislation, urban planning, art and music. Furthermore, the forum will return every year in November for the next three years and tickets will be by invite only. Register your interest for Global Cities After Dark, November 28, here. Further information to be released in September. Until then, learn how to build a nightlife-friendly city with night mayor Mirik Milan.
Whether sprawling across a Tokyo warehouse, taking over a Japanese castle, turning old oil tanks into waterfalls or even popping up in Melbourne, the digital art made by creative collective Teamlab can make you feel like you're in another world. That's a sensation we could all use this year, even if visiting the group's overseas sites is currently off limits due to international travel restrictions. Enter Teamlab's latest project: the online-only Flowers Bombing Home. Like the bulk of Teamlab's work, Flowers Bombing Home is interactive; however, as its name suggests, art lovers can take part from their own couch. The collective is asking its audience to draw and colour-in pictures of geraniums, orchids, willowherbs, thistles and other flora — either on paper or on your phone — then take a photo and upload it to the group's site. Your pics will then be added to the bright, kaleidoscopic, constantly moving and evolving piece. That's the participatory part of the project. When it comes to watching — whether you've gotten arty first, or you just want to view the piece without breaking out your colouring pencils — you can head to Teamlab's YouTube channel. Flowers Bombing Home is live streaming constantly, joining together flowers created by folks all over the world. While viewing, you'll notice petals scattering, then coming together to form new images. Unsurprisingly given the sensory nature of its physical installations, Teamlab recommends viewing Flowers Bombing Home on your television set, "or as large a device as possible". The project will be available for the foreseeable future, too, with the collective advising that it "will bloom until the end of the coronavirus" — and that it'll also stick around afterwards "for people to remember this era". For more information about Teamlab's 'Flowers Bombing Home' — or to add your own drawing — visit the art collective's website. To watch the live-streamed artwork, head to its YouTube channel.
USB sticks are stripped back to basics with Flashkus, an innovative design by Russian company Art Lebedev Studio. Reflecting on the disposable nature of electronic storage, the design team foresaw a near future in which "all electronics will be contained on the tip of a detachable cardboard module." Each Flashkus is created from thin strips of recyclable cardboard, allowing for easy disk-labeling and the potential to recycle the body of the disk once you're done. The Flashkus is eco-friendly, no-nonsense and minimalistic. The team behind its creation predict it "is going to be an even more convenient storage device than the floppy disk was back then."
If there's one thing that every art exhibition needs, it's art, obviously. But no gallery's walls and halls can be filled without artists, too. At its latest exhibition, the State Library of Queensland knows, understands and celebrates this fact — pairing pieces with chats with the folks behind them, plus treasures that mean something to them. First, those interviews. Courtesy of the James C Sourris AM Collection of Artist Interviews, SLQ has a treasure trove of chats with top art world figures with ties to Queensland, all of which you can watch online as well. Spanning discussions from the last 12 years, this is the first time that these chats have been exhibited — and with Vernon Ah Kee, Judith Wright, Sandra Selig, Eugene Carchesio and more involved, there's quite the lineup of talent. Meet the Artists also pairs those to-camera talks with a selection of items — think: artworks usually held in private collections, studio materials and personal objects — to deepen its conversations, and help art aficionados better get inside each artist's head. Brisbanites can check out the end result daily from 10am–5pm between Saturday, February 24–Sunday, July 9. Images: State Library of Queensland's Meet the artists exhibition. Photo by Joe Ruckli, courtesy of State Library of Queensland.
It landed in Melbourne last year and is currently showing in Sydney theatres, and now it looks like Trey Parker and Matt Stone's hit musical The Book of Mormon is finally bringing its hilariously irreverent self to Brisbane. At least, that what's all the signs are pointing to, with a series of vague posters popping up on bus shelters across Brisbane this week, including ones near South Brisbane station. The Book of Mormon also posted this teaser on its Facebook page, with some readers saying the building in the top right corner is Brisbane's Meriton. https://www.facebook.com/BookOfMormonAU/photos/a.440788296092223.1073741828.408949012609485/1018654428305604/?type=3&theater Announcing simply that 'the mormons are coming', the teasers are pretty short on facts, though they've inspired plenty of locals to jump over to the website and sign up to the email list for first dibs on any info that does surface. Even The Book of Mormon's publicity company is keeping hush and refusing to comment on the prospect of a Brisbane run. Looks like we'll just have to sit tight and wait for confirmation. Written by South Park and Team America's notoriously puerile creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, together with Robert Lopez of genius grown-up muppet show Avenue Q, The Book of Mormon is probably one of the most lauded comedies ever to have centred on the Church of Latter Day Saints, African missions, AIDS, bum jokes and super ironic racism. If it wasn't so smart and so funny, few would forgive it. But since it is, The Book of Morman has picked up nine Tonys, four Olivier Awards and a Grammy since it debuted in 2011, and has been called "one of the most joyously acidic bundles Broadway has unwrapped in years". If you've been among the throngs to see the musical in New York, Chicago or London, then you'll be plenty excited that your Melbourne friends will now get the chance to go learn all the idiosyncratic details of Mormonism, meet war criminal General Butt-Fucking Naked and know the true meaning of the hakuna matata-like saying 'Hasa Diga Eebowai'. The Book of Mormon is due to wrap up in Sydney on October 21. We'll keep you updated on any official announcements.
Every time you sing along to The Little Mermaid, you nod to Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. If you grew up reading The Little Match Girl, Thumbelina, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Princess and the Pea and The Ugly Duckling, you've been familiar with his work on the page, too. And, when Frozen became a huge cinema hit, it took inspiration from the writer's 1844 fairytale The Snow Queen. Basically, Andersen's stories have been a big part of everyone's childhoods — in recent decades and, in written form, for nearly two centuries. So, you've already spent plenty of time escaping into the author's narratives. Once the middle of 2021 rolls around (and once international travel starts returning to normal, of course), you can also wander through a brand new museum inspired by his fairytale world. Set to open in Odense in Denmark, which is where Anderson was born, HC Andersen's House has a hefty aim: to make visitors feel as if they've stepped right into his tales. That's the immersive dream at these types of venues, after all, as also seen in Disney's theme parks, the new Super Mario-themed amusement parks and Studio Ghibli's upcoming site as well. "We have to dive into the fairytales as the very first thing, because they are what everyone knows. The idea is not to retell the stories, but rather to communicate their familiarity and inspire further reading of Andersen," says Torben Grøngaard Jeppesen, the head of Odense City Museums. Accordingly, HC Andersen's House will reflect its inspiration however it can — in its architecture, in the imagery and sounds it puts on display, in the way it uses light throughout the venue, and in the experiences visitors can dive into while they're there. Across a 5600-square-metre site, that'll include a children's house and an underground museum, as well as a sprawling garden that, from the concept images, resembles a labyrinth. And, in a nod to The Little Mermaid, attendees will also be able to look up through a pool of water and peer at the people in the grounds above them. Japanese architect Kengo Kuma leads the design, fresh from his work on the Japan National Stadium for the Tokyo Olympics. For HC Andersen's House, "the idea behind the architectural design resembled Andersen's method, where a small world suddenly expands to a bigger universe," he explains. Odense is already home to a smaller site dedicated to Andersen, which'll be included in the new venue. When HC Andersen's House opens, it'll also incorporate the building where the author was born. HC Andersen's House will open at HC Andersen Haven 1, DK-5000, Odense sometime in the middle of 2021. For further details, head to the venue's website. Images: Kengo Kuma & Associates, Cornelius Vöge, MASU planning.
The mere uttering of “Italian Week” is enough to get the taste buds salivating and the stretchy pants out of the wardrobe in preparation for excessive amounts of pasta that are to be consumed. Now in its 5th year, Italian Week is just that – a week’s insight into modern Italy. It is your chance to enjoy Italy without the airfare. The theme for this year’s celebrations is Sapori e piaceri, translating to “taste and pleasure”. Yes please. Taking place across various locations around Brisbane, between May 23 and June 2, are an array of Italian-themed events. Acoustic guitar specialist Andrea Valeri will be playing shows, an Italian motor vehicle exhibition is to line the Queen Street Mall and celebrity chef Stefano Manfredi will be whipping up an Italian al fresco dinner for a selection of lucky Brisbane-ites. Italian Week would not be complete without the Jan Powers Italian Food Market at Reddacliff Place. Think Italian cooking demonstrations, traditional Italian dance shows and Murano glass. Italian Week is designed to showcase all things Italian all while promoting a culture that has played a definitive cornerstone role in Australia. But be careful: you may end up tricking yourself into thinking you’ve stumbled La Dolce Vita.
Enjoying dinner and a show is a time-honoured theatre-going tradition, but when winter arrives in the Harbour City in 2023, one menu item mightn't prove so popular. If you've seen Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street on the stage before, or caught the 2007 Tim Burton-directed movie adaptation, then you'll know which dish to avoid when it comes to the Sydney Opera House. In this Steven Sondheim-penned musical thriller, meat pies are packed with quite the unwanted ingredients. This murderous tale of slitting throats, then stuffing body parts into baked pastries will play the famed waterside venue from Saturday, July 22–Sunday, August 27, in a production by the Victorian Opera and New Zealand Opera. Sydneysiders have had to wait for their chance, with the show already unleashing its gothic story upon Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide, as well as touring New Zealand. Whether you're a local keen to spend time with music theatre's iconic villain and his partner-in-crime Mrs Lovett, or you're an interstate resident eager to see it again, expect a killer show. [caption id="attachment_899819" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Daniel Boud[/caption] As part of an 18-person cast, Ben Mingay is taking up the razor and polishing people off as the titular Sweeney, while Antoinette Halloran will join him as Lovett. The production also includes a nine-piece orchestra helping to perform classic tracks such as 'No Place Like London', 'The Ballad Of Sweeney' and the always-fitting 'The Worst Pies in London'. Current State Opera South Australia Artistic Director Stuart Maunder, who is destined for the same role at the Victorian Opera from October 2023, will direct this season of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. "We've wanted to bring this musical thriller to Sydney for a very long time, so premiering it at the Sydney Opera House is an experience every bit as thrilling as the musical itself," he advises. "There's no doubt that Sydneysiders will embrace this most theatrical tale of horror, which for all its blood and gore, tells a universal human story; revenge, obsession and lust, yes, but also of pain, yearning, even love." Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street doesn't just date back to the late, great Sondheim's Tony-winning Broadway and West End smash. Before that, it was a play in 1973 — and it had hit stages, screens and pages, prior, too. The homicidal barber first appeared in the 19th century, in 1846–47 penny dreadful serial The String of Pearls: A Romance, and has just kept slashing his way through popular culture since, novels, ballets, radio plays, comics and TV shows included. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street plays Sydney Opera House's Drama Theatre from Saturday, July 22–Sunday, August 27. Head to the Sydney Opera House website for further details — and pre-sale tickets from 8am on Tuesday, May 9, then general sales from 9am on Friday, May 12. Production images: State Opera South Australia.
You've heard about the awesomeness of nap desks. But what about a whole nap bar? In a move that has us turning green with envy, French furniture company Smarin recently held a pop-up in a Dubai warehouse where visitors could stop in for a much needed snooze. Part of the Art Dubai and Design Days Dubai events, the temporary installation featured various foam lounge chairs of different shapes and sizes, along with pillows, herbal teas, essential oils and woolen ponchos. The space was lit by circular lamps that would switch on and off at five-second intervals in a manner designed to resemble slow, relaxed breathing. "I had the idea for the Nap Bar because when I'm walking in big cities, sometimes I take a break with a coffee but actually I need more of a real break," Smarin founder Stephanie Marin told Dezeen. Now before you quit your job and book a flight to the UAE, you should know that the nap bar pop-up actually finished up last week. Hopefully some clever entrepreneur was paying attention, because there is definitely a market for this kind of thing here in Australia. But until that becomes a reality (Virgin Active's sleep pods are a little too clinical for us), check out our list of creative ways to nap on the job. And now if you'll excuse us, all this typing has worn us out. Via Dezeen.
Are you the kind of person who starts plotting your next meal before you've even finished the last? Love eating more than anything else? Well, you can get right to the guts of our global food obsession when culinary legend Nigella Lawson returns to Aussie shores for her new show, An Evening with Nigella Lawson. One of the most successful food writers of all time, cooking up more than ten million book sales worldwide with her 11 culinary bibles, Lawson was in the country last December for a series of talks discussing the concept of food and its link to pleasure, creativity and belonging, and now she's back — direct from London's West End. An Evening with Nigella Lawson is a new show where the celebrity chef shares her own culinary story, live on stage. The show has been floated as interactive and intimate. Culinary questions will be taken from the audience, while Nigella shares her thoughts about the role food plays in life, plus what she is eating and cooking. Before becoming a household name, Nigella worked as a book reviewer and restaurant critic, going on to become the deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times. She is responsible for numerous award-winning books, including How to Eat, How to Be a Domestic Goddess, Nigella Bites and At My Table. AN EVENING WITH NIGELLA LAWSON 2019 DATES Perth — Riverside Theatre, January 29 Sydney — Sydney Opera House, February 2 Canberra — Royal Theatre, February 4 Melbourne — Hamer Hall, February 9 Brisbane — QPAC Concert Hall, February 10 An Evening with Nigella Lawson tickets go on sale Monday, October 29. You can signup to be notified when they're released here.
Pedro Almodóvar has made many a fantastic film over the past four decades. In 2019, however, the Spanish director added one of his greatest movies yet to his resume. We're talking about Pain and Glory. If you saw it, you likely loved it. And, if you hadn't already watched your way through the inimitable auteur's back catalogue before then, the Academy Award-nominee should've inspired you to do just that. You've had a couple of years to start your viewing, of course — and plenty of time over the past 12 months, in fact. But whether you still have some gaps or you're fond of the big-screen experience, Dendy Coorparoo is giving you a chance to check out eight of Almodóvar's standouts in a cinema. Until Wednesday, April 7, you can swoon over his emotionally charged dramas and rove your eyes over his colourful frames. No one makes movies quite like him, as this retrospective shows. Get ready to spend plenty of time staring at two of his favourite actors, too, with Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz each popping up regularly in the director's work. On the lineup: Banderas being exceptional in Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, The Skin I Live In and the aforementioned Pain and Glory, plus Cruz at her stellar best in Volver, Broken Embraces and Oscar-winner All About My Mother. Almodóvar's second most recent movie, Julieta, is also on the bill, so you'll be getting an impressive cross-section of his career. As always with Dendy's retrospectives and film seasons, different movies play on different dates and at various times — so head to the cinema's website for the full session details. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jtrl8Ei15AE
At the beginning of July, when Greater Sydney's lockdown had been hanging around for a few weeks, Taronga Zoo did everyone a solid by releasing videos of its latest wombat joey. Even if you weren't under stay-at-home conditions then — because you don't live in the area — the footage was heartwarmingly cute. Thankfully, the zoo has more where that came from. This time around, you can take a peek at another baby animal: a koala joey named Humphrey. He's just over 12 months old, he's only been out of his mother Willow's pouch since he was around six months old — because that's what koala's do — and yes, he's as endearing as you'd expect. He's just as fluffy as well. In the video, which was captured by one of Taronga's koala keepers, Humphrey is keen to climb, eat and cuddle. His little eyes light up with curiosity as he scurries about, too. When he entered the world in 2020, Humphrey was the first koala joey born at Taronga Zoo in over a year — so he's obviously been able to garner plenty of attention. That's enough words about this loveable little critter, because we all know that you're here to get a glimpse. Check out Taronga Zoo's footage below: [video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://cdn.concreteplayground.com/content/uploads/2021/07/Taronga-Media-Alert-Humphrey-the-koala-joey.mp4"][/video] Taronga has also been spoiling animal lovers with cuteness via its online television station, which was initially established by in 2020, and it is back now for obvious reasons. It's also releasing regular videos across its Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channels, and making keeper talks and other clips available online as well. Taronga Zoo is currently closed during Sydney's lockdown, but you can check out more videos of its cute animals via its online Taronga TV channel.
As Bruce Wayne's private jet streaks through the skies high above Gotham, Jeremy Irons' steadfast butler Alfred quips: "One misses the days when one's biggest concerns were exploding wind-up penguins." "The good old days" replies a burly, sentient frown in the shape of Ben Affleck. "THEN PLEASE GOD BRING THEM BACK!" screams the audience's frustrated internal monologue from within its collective skull. Welcome to Justice League, the least bad entry in the DC movie universe after this year's smash hit Wonder Woman – not that that's saying a whole lot. Given how low the bar has been set by the likes of Suicide Squad and Batman vs Superman, this superhero team-up flick would have to be truly abysmal not to offer some kind of improvement. Just like its special-effects-laden trailer, Justice League feels like a CGI showreel shot almost entirely in front of a green screen. Its strongest scenes are also its quietest ones: a battered Bruce Wayne being assisted by a sympathetic Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot); Martha Kent and Lois Lane (Diane Lane and Amy Adams) brave-facing their way through hardships in a staff-room cafeteria; The Flash (played by a scene-stealing Ezra Miller) speaking with his incarcerated father. It's in these rare, intimate moments that the film's characters actually begin to feel like characters, each possessed of complicated personal histories, private anxieties and meaningful relationships. Sadly, it's soon back to aliens with lasers, fear-eating bugs, and buildings crashing down in clouds of debris. With a story that feels like it's been lifted from Ghostbusters II, Justice League depicts an earth where hatred and cynicism have reached such heights that it compels the return of a great evil determined to enslave mankind. So arrives Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds), a CGI-monster of such poor quality he wouldn't cut the mustard in a cut scene from Gears of War. Steppenwolf is bent on reuniting three powerful Mother Boxes, magic cubes which, when combined, permit him to reshape any planet to resemble his barren home-world. The origins and power of these otherworldly McGuffins actually offers an enticing mystery to be solved in the film's early stages – which is why it's so disappointing when it's all explained away in a single expository scene. The same applies to each of the film's new heroes. Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) arrive with such little fanfare or backstory that even comic book fans already in the know may end up feeling robbed. The exception is The Flash, who imbues the franchise with a long-overdue dose of comedy. The character, as played by Miller, is endearingly awkward, enthusiastic yet timid, and note-perfect in his fanboying around the other superheroes. Likewise, his action sequences are thrilling, amusing and innovative in what is otherwise a highly derivative film. Perhaps the most egregious failing of Justice League, however, is its treatment of Batman. Weary, joyless and stammering, Affleck's Dark Knight acts more like a corporate recruiter than a caped crusader. A joke about his powers stemming from his wealth might get a laugh, but it also wholly undermines what makes the Batman character so compelling: a mortal, unexceptional being who still proves himself capable of holding his own in a world of gods and monsters thanks to his intelligence, discipline and unassailable belief in justice. In Justice League he spends most of the fights on the periphery, and quite often on his back; the superhero version of Lethal Weapon's Danny Glover complaining of being too old for this shit. It's a sad relegation for such a DC icon and speaks volumes as to how mishandled this franchise has been from the moment Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight trilogy) handed over the reigns. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiAmnKUaNmc
What's more spectacular than spending time in Brisbane's great outdoors? Heading outside for an event dedicated to the city's multicultural community. Taking place at Roma Street Parklands from 10am–5pm on Sunday, September 17, that's the MOSAIC Multicultural Festival through and through — and in 2023, it's part of Brisbane Festival as well. The returning event will unleash a feast of world music, dance and food. Multiple stages will showcase performances, songs and cultural storytelling, including a Welcome to Country to kick off proceedings, plus a new program of workshops weaved into the fun. When you're not paying your respects, listening to live tunes or learning a new skill, hit up the Cultural Kitchen for cooking demonstrations — it'll see refugee and migrant community cooks whipping up a traditional dish while sharing their settlement stories. Markets will be selling handmade wares, and an array of international cuisine will also be on offer. So, in-between checking out the stages and demos, you can eat and drink your way through a range of food stalls. Entry is free, but bring your wallet for the markets and culinary offerings.
UPDATE, September 27, 2021: The Big Bounce has changed its Brisbane dates to January 2022, and will now take place from January 14–16. This article has been updated to reflect that change. No longer confined to children's birthday parties, bouncy castles, inflatable obstacle sources and blow-up labyrinths have become hot property for adults (and their inner kids, of course). And the next blow-up event to return to Brisbane is big. Really big. Dubbed 'The Big Bounce Australia', it's an inflatable theme park made up of the world's biggest bouncy castle — as certified by the Guinness World Records — plus a 300-metre long obstacle course, a three-part space-themed wonderland and a sports slam arena. You're going to need a lot of red cordial to bounce your way through all of this. Set to take over the Eagles Sport Complex in Mansfield between Friday, January 14–Sunday, January 16, The Big Bounce is open to both littl'uns and big'uns, but there are a heap of adults-only sessions — so you don't have to worry about dodging toddlers on your way through. Tickets for adults will set you back $59, which gives you a whole three hours in the park. Yes, you'll need it. Inside, you'll encounter the aforementioned bouncy castle — aptly named The World's Biggest Bounce House — covering a whopping 1500 square metres and, in some spots, reaching ten metres off the ground. In this house, you'll encounter a heap of slides, ball pits, climbing towers, basketball hoops and (if you can believe it) a stage with DJs, confetti cannons and beach balls. Then, there's The Giant, with 50 inflatable obstacles, including giant red balls and a monster slide. Before you hit the next, three-part section of the extremely OTT theme park, you may need to pause, down some red frogs and maybe even have a nap. Or not, as you do only have three hours to explore it all. Either way, at Airspace, aliens, spaceships and moon craters collide with a five-lane slide, some more ball pits and an 18-metre-tall maze. After that, you'll certainly need a nap. And, new for 2022, there's also the Sport Slam, which is rather self-explanatory — and will be a must of you're keen to add a competitive spin to all that bouncing. [caption id="attachment_825374" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Sarasota Experience[/caption]
Australian summers aren't known for their mild temperatures, but the past three months have been especially toasty. Sydney experienced a record-tying hot spell to kick off 2018. Melbourne endured its hottest day in five years, and then went and almost immediately smashed that top temperature by surviving its hottest day in ten years. A mid-January heatwave rolled across the country, hitting scorching maximums, while the entire first month of the year was deemed Australia's hottest ever. If you've been feeling particularly hot and steamy, there's a good reason — all of the above instances of sweltering weather helped lead to the nation's warmest summer on record. The period from December to February also earned that label in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, while Tasmania and South Australia persisted through their second-hottest summers ever. In Queensland, it was the state's fourth-warmest summer. Both mean and maximum temperatures for the season were exceeded by significant margins, with each reaching nearly one degree higher than the past record, which was set over the summer of 2012–13. Even minimum temperatures soared, with New South Wales hitting its highest on record for summer away from the northeast and far west — and parts of southern inland Queensland, and central northern and eastern Victoria, doing so as well. Here's how maximums looked across the country: [caption id="attachment_710118" align="aligncenter" width="680"] Bureau of Meteorology[/caption] The findings were announced in the Bureau of Meteorology's official summer summary, which also notes that Greater Sydney's daytime temperatures were generally one to three degrees warmer than normal, that Greater Melbourne's maximums were between 1.5–2.5 degrees warmer than the long-term summer average, and that Brisbane experienced a record run of 46 days at or above 30 degrees, spanning from 10 January to 24 February. In short, your three months of seeking solace in beaches, pools and air-conditioning were completely justified. According to Bureau climatologist Dr Lynette Bettio, "the heat we saw this summer was unprecedented". And as for reprieves from above, "rainfall was also well below average for many places, apart from areas in northern Queensland". Summer might now be over; however that doesn't mean that it's time to pull out your jumpers — most of Australia is forecast to score a hotter-than-average autumn. How hot? For mainland Australian residents, there's an 80 percent chance you'll experience autumn temperatures that are a whole lot warmer than the median. Don't go packing away your pedestal fan just yet either. Image: Tourism and Events Queensland
