UPDATE, August 27, 2021: From Friday, August 27, Cruella will be available to stream via Disney+ — and as part of your regular subscription. A killer dress, a statement jacket, a devastating head-to-toe ensemble: if they truly match their descriptions, they stand the test of time. Set in 70s London as punk takes over the aesthetic, live-action 101 Dalmatians prequel Cruella is full of such outfits — plus a white-and-black fur coat that's suspected of being made from slaughtered dogs. If the film itself was a fashion item, though, it'd be a knockoff. It'd be a piece that appears fabulous from afar, but can't hide its seams. That's hardly surprising given this origin tale stitches together pieces from The Devil Wears Prada, The Favourite, Superman, Star Wars and Dickens, and doesn't give two yaps if anyone notices. The Emmas — Stone, playing the dalmatian-hating future villain; Thompson, doing her best Miranda Priestly impression as a ruthless designer — have a ball. Oscar-winning Mad Max: Fury Road costume designer Jenny Beavan is chief among the movie's MVPs. But for a film placed amid the punk-rock revolution, it's happy to merely look the part, not live and breathe it. And, in aiming to explain away its anti-heroine's wicked ways, it's really not sure what it wants to say about her. Here, the needle drops have it. If compiling Cruella's soundtrack involved more than typing "60s, 70s and 80s hits" into Spotify, it doesn't show. A snarling rendition of The Stooges' 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' proves as blatant as it sounds. When a plan comes together to The Beatles' 'Come Together', you'll wonder if the laziest algorithm in the world made that choice. And would it really be a film about someone called de Vil — a naming choice that's spelled out with such force, you could spot it from the moon — if The Rolling Stones' 'Sympathy for the Devil' wasn't given a spin? As the Mouse House keeps exploring its antagonists' nefarious urges (see also: the two Maleficent movies), it routinely just covers the bare necessities, story-wise. Here, it takes that approach in as many places as it can. Indeed, in telling viewers that Cruella is saddled with childhood traumas, too, it seems to think that two-plus over-stretched hours of 70s cosplay will suffice. Before she becomes the puppy-skinning fashionista that remains among Glenn Close's best-known roles, and before she's both a wannabe designer and the revenge-seeking talk of the town played by Stone (Zombieland: Double Tap), Cruella is actually 12-year-old girl Estella (Tipper Seifert-Cleveland, Game of Thrones). Sporting two-toned hair and a cruel that streak her mother (Emily Beecham, Little Joe) tries to tame with kindness, she's a target for bullies, but has the gumption to handle them. Then tragedy strikes, an orphan is born, loss haunts her every move and, after falling in with a couple of likeable London thieves, those black-and-white locks get a scarlet dye job. By the time that Estella is in her twenties, she's well-versed in pulling quick heists with Jasper (Joel Fry, Yesterday) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser, Songbird). She loves sewing the costumes required more than anything else, however. After years spent dreaming of knockout gowns, upmarket department stores and threads made by the Baroness (Thompson, Last Christmas), she eventually gets her chance — for fashion domination, as well as vengeance. It worked for director Craig Gillespie in I, Tonya, but the wry narration that guides Cruella's story quickly overstays its welcome. The knowing tone, obvious observations and taunts of a death that can't stick in a prequel all purely hit the expected beats, as almost everything here does. Co-screenwriter Dana Fox also penned Isn't It Romantic, but trades satirising one genre's tropes for leaning into another's (yes, villain origin stories are their own genre now). Fellow scribe Tony McNamara was nominated for an Oscar for The Favourite and an Emmy for The Great, so the fact that Stone often feels like she has stepped out of the former and into this — right down to her subterfuge and scheming beneath the Baroness' feet — is no surprise. The Devil Wears Prada's Aline Brosh McKenna gets a story credit, too, because Disney isn't attempting to conceal its inspirations. Cruella may stem from Dodie Smith's book, then the cartoon, then the live-action remake, but it has been cut from a clear pattern. There's zero vampishness in the end result, but plenty of botched ideas and muddled themes. When Estella is driven to succeed, rebel against being treated poorly at work and punish the person responsible for her pain, they're far more fascinating aspects of her character than the movie meaningfully examines — perhaps because they don't quite fit her journey to the monochrome side. Empathising with her plight is easy several times over. After an early incident, understanding why she doesn't love dalmatians is as well. Gillespie and company don't come close to selling the leap from ambitious and avenging to future animal cruelty, though. The latter isn't actually a part of Cruella, but in giving its central figure the Joker treatment, the film's character arc is always a stretch. It also undercuts the much more potent notion that some people are just evil, and don't need a sob story as an excuse. If, in all of their eagerness to stick to a template, Cruella's powers-that-be just wanted to pair Stone up with another English acting titan — swapping The Favourite's Olivia Colman for the on-screen treasure that is Thompson — and then let them have at it, that's understandable. It's also as a good enough reason as any for this or any movie to exist. Alongside Beavan's Vivienne Westwood- and Alexander McQueen-influenced costumes, plus Nicolas Karakatsanis' (another I, Tonya alum) constantly moving camerawork, the acerbic Oscar-winning Emmas are the reason that the film has any bite to go along with its empty barks. But the duo's gleeful cartoonishness, flamboyance and winning ability to wear the hell out of their outfits only takes Cruella so far. Even with their obvious commitment, this intellectual property-extending exercise is more filler than killer. After you give it a whirl, you'll put it back on the rack and rarely spare it another thought. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgZgFHDGHrY&feature=youtu.be Top image: Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2021 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Nothing warms the heart like the company of those you love, and with these cooler temps, we could all use a little extra warmth. Also, with the sun setting so early these days, you've probably found yourself cold, in the dark but still looking for something to do after work. So, take the social coordinator role this month, hit up your group message and let the gang know you're all heading out. You don't have to do the usual dinner and drinks either. In fact, to help you plan, we've teamed up with RACQ to round up some top after-dark activities to do with your mates. RACQ offers some pretty decent discounts on Brissie activities for their members — and even if you're not a member, you can still join as a Lifestyle member just to gain access to all those sweet, sweet discounts. Time to keep spirits high as we enter the thick of winter this July; here are our five picks of things to do once the sun goes down. NIGHT NOODLE MARKETS July in Brisbane gets a little colder than we Queenslanders are typically comfortable with. Luckily, we have Brisbane Good Food Month to warm our bellies and compensate for this chilly weather. As part of the tasty month, the Night Noodle Markets pop up with twinkling fairy lights, a stunning riverside location and a massive amount of incredible Asian dishes to try. Grab the gang and head down to South Bank to indulge in a night of bao, gyoza, pad thai, something called a 'phorrito' (where pho meets a burrito) and even more dishes from abroad. This year, there'll be 23 food stalls to choose from, so you may even plan a few visits to the markets to eventually make your way through all the eats on offer. Pull up some grass, enjoy the live music and feast on all the treats, washed down with a refreshing brew from the pop-up bar. And maybe after, why not take it all in from above with a cheeky ride on the Wheel of Brisbane? NIGHT KAYAKING Get out and see Brisbane from a whole new perspective on a night kayaking tour. Kayak under a starry night, as the lights of Brisbane's skyline glitter across the water. The evening kayaking tour goes for an hour and half, taking you from Kangaroo Point Cliffs, up to the iconic Story Bridge, to Mowbray Park and past the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Maritime Museum and South Bank Parklands. And once you've finished, reward yourself for all that arm effort and opt in to the big Aussie barbecue complete with prawns, lamingtons and Aussie beer, all to be enjoyed while overlooking the beautiful Brissie River. THURSDAY NIGHT KARAOKE Are you that person who's always singing along to the radio and secretly wishing you were Mariah Carey? Well, maybe it's time to find out what your vocal chords are made of by heading along to the Brunswick Hotel's Thursday night karaoke. Grab a few friends and head to this New Farm local early to grab a prime spot in the sports bar. Flag down the karaoke masters, make your request and wait your turn to flaunt your vibrato for all to hear. If you're truly stuck on which tune to choose, drag some friends up with you to take turns belting out verses from No Scrubs, or play it safe with basically anything by Queen. GLOW WORM TOUR If you and your mates are the type of people who are always up for an adventure, consider journeying into the Gold Coast hinterland for an evening tour of the mesmerising glow worm caves within Springbrook National Park. Like a real life tour through Pandora or Ferngully, you'll wander through lush rainforest, past a beautiful cascading waterfall and into the illuminated caves. As a bonus, you'll also get to learn about the history, culture and lifestyle of the traditional Aboriginal landowners. A wintry adventure into a World Heritage-listed rainforest with magical sights and a rich history, how could you lose? NIGHT ROCK CLIMBING Fire up that competitive streak by challenging your mates to an evening rock climb; book the crew in for a night of scaling up Kangaroo Point Cliffs. Forgo the indoor, colour-coded, plastic 'rocks', for an outdoor climb up the 20-metre rocky facade. Once you've made it to the top, take a long moment to look out over sweeping views of our fine city and river at sunset. Remember to pack a picnic (and maybe a few blankets) so you and your friends can cook up a dinner under the stars with onsite barbecues after. Want more after-dark activities? RACQ offers its members access to a huge selection of deals from night kayaking to glow worm cave tours. Check out their full offering here. Words: Arabella Anderson and Laura Dawson.
You've just sat down on the couch with Aunty Donna's new $30 bottle of wine. You're done reading the Always Room for Christmas Pud picture book, however, and you've already watched Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun — aka one of 2020's best new shows — more times than you can count. What's a comedy fan left to do while they sip their $30 vino, other talk about it a heap? From sometime early in 2023, you can feast your eyes on new ABC sitcom Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe. Morning brown, morning brown, this bit of news is better than a cup of morning brown — because Aunty Donna is heading back to your TV, and to the ABC, as initially announced earlier in 2022. Yes, Mark Samual Bonanno, Broden Kelly and Zachary Ruane are heading to Aunty, in a return of what just might be Aussie television's most fitting pairing. This isn't the first time that the two have joined forces, after all, with Aunty Donna's Fresh Blood hitting iView back in 2014. This time, though, Bonanno, Kelly and Ruane are starring in a Melbourne-set comedy. The premise: three best mates run a cafe in one of Melbourne's laneways. Their coffee-slinging establishment is trendy, but the stretch of pavement it's in on isn't. You can expect cups of morning brown to be served, clearly. Hopefully, the song about them will get a whirl. Will the cafe be open on Christmas and serve up a little bit of pud, too? You'll have to watch to find out. From the just-dropped sneak peek, which sees Bonanno, Kelly and Ruane chat through what's in store and also includes snippets of footage, Aunty Donna's absurd sense of humour is firmly intact. Sniffing pastries, wearing Batman costumes, donning crowns, jumping on counters, cults, and guest appearances by Miranda Tapsell (Christmas Ransom), Pia Miranda (Mustangs FC) and Richard Roxburgh (Elvis) — they're all included. "This is a heightened, ridiculous sitcom about three friends who are trying to run a cafe. They get up to bizarre adventures, and we really hope it's going to be the latest, greatest addition to Australia's incredible history or ridiculous, stupid comedies," Bonanno says in the clip. "We cannot wait to make you laugh on ABC and ABC iView early next year" adds Ruane, before cutting a clip of him in-character asking "how is this going to sit on a Wednesday night on ABC"? Exactly when the show hits hasn't been revealed, other than that early 2023 timeframe, but you can check out the first teaser for Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe below: Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe will hit ABC and ABC iView sometime in early 2023 — we'll update you when an exact release date is announced.
When you live in a city that's usually streaming with sunshine all year round, the onset of colder weather can be a shock. Fear not, brrrrrrrr-yelling Brisbanites — the frosty season comes bearing gifts. Indeed, at Riverbar and Kitchen's Winter Festival, there's plenty of things to heat you up. In June, there's negronis in six varieties, including hot mulled negronis. Throughout July, hot mulled cider, red wine sangria and porter punch are on the menu, as are pizza cob loaf every day and the decadent dessert that is s'mores dip. And in August, there'll be Sunday lamb roasts, baked camembert, rum punch and hot buttered rum. Because the last month of winter also marks Ekka time, Winter Festival is also adding a chillier component — a strawberry overdose thanks to strawberry margaritas and strawberry ice cream sandwiches. No matter the weather, it wouldn't be show time without them. Winter Festival kicks on every day until the end of August, complete with open flames, fire pits and faux fur loungers. Entry is free, as is the warm, fuzzy feeling you'll get when you've been heated head-to-toe by hot cocktails, hot food and hanging out by the fire. Updated July 31.
These days we take a lot of things for granted. For most of us there is always something to enjoy on a night out; places where we can fit in. Although we have a vibrant party community, sometimes we forget that there are those who find themselves unable to find a place that is welcoming or where they feel they belong. Cheated Hearts is a monthly party night aimed at bringing together the queer community (and everyone else, they don't discriminate) for a good time. Playing alternative music choices and all the new genres, the crew behind CH have found huge success with each night getting bigger and better. The team is about to launch their third party brand, Lucky, this Sunday at Oh Hello. We spoke to mastermind Roxy Burt about how everything came together and what we can expect in the future. When did the idea for Cheated Hearts come about? I've been running events for over five years now and I felt like I needed to come up with a new idea. The event that I organised before Cheated Hearts was very similar to a lot of the events that were already happening so I scrapped that and started fresh. What was the Brisbane scene missing that you thought you could bring to the table? In the queer scene, it was definitely the music. A lot of the gay venues and events play mainstream/commercial music and my friends and I wanted to be able to go out somewhere that didn't play that music. We play so many different genres other than mainstream/commercial to try and cater to those people who don't like that particular type of music. How has the response been over the past year or so? The response has been beyond amazing. Cheated Hearts has grown so much in the last year. We started out at a 200-capacity venue and now have three different events in three separate venues. Our crowds usually reach 400-500 people. The support has been incredible as well — people have really responded well to what we stand for. You have a new event, Lucky, to go alongside your other events. What sets each one apart? We've been wanting to kick off a Sunday event for a while now and fortunately Oh Hello wanted to as well, so we've teamed up! All three events are different in terms of music. At Lucky, we play deep house and disco, Poetic Justice is hip hop- and R&B-focused and Cheated Hearts is trap, indie remixes and electro. What is the key to your longevity? What do you do to keep things fresh? Change things up! It's boring if we do the same thing every month so we like to have themes. People love dressing up. We've had so many in the past. We've had a Mexican theme, a moustache party, a prom (which we're doing again in June), Halloween and Christmas themes. I also like to book different DJs who always bring something fresh to the events. Each of your events are queer-friendly, which is awesome. What would you say Cheated Hearts has done for the queer community in Brisbane since it began? As I said before, it's definitely about giving the scene more of a choice in where they choose to go out. Cheated Hearts has also brought people together like a family. A lot of people message me and tell me how they love to be able to come to Cheated Hearts and feel comfortable and at home. I have transgender friends who feel the same way too. Because they are in the middle of transitioning, it might be harder for them to go out to an event or venue that's not queer-friendly. What are your plans for the future? So many plans! We applied for a government grant to run a festival so we'll find out in July if we've been successful! I'm also in the middle of organising to take Cheated Hearts to Sydney as well. We have lots of cool parties in Brisbane coming up too! What you do think about the Brisbane cultural scene these days? I think it's grown a lot but we still have a bit of a way to go before we're on par with Sydney or Melbourne. I still think people are too scared to go outside their comfort zones and are afraid to try something new because the scene has been the same for a really long time. In saying that though, it's great to see people actually come and experience Cheated Hearts for the first time and they always come back! What are your favourite places to go out in Brisbane? Where do you eat, drink and party? I'm really digging Southern food at the moment so Tippler's Tap is up there. I need to go and check out the Wickham since it's been renovated, and I only party at Cheated Hearts, of course. Lucky is taking place at Oh Hello this Sunday. Read more about it here. The next Cheated Hearts party is taking place on May 10 at Coniston Lane and Poetic Justice is happening on May 23 at Ellement Lounge. Images by Claudia Ciapocha, Thomas Oliver and Logan Shaw.
Considering there are film festivals for the French, and the German, and for Australia and New Zealand, and for pretty much any country imaginable, I have no idea why I’d never thought to ponder the existence of a Japanese Film Festival. Luckily, someone rectified my naïve ways and I can happily confirm that there is one that occurs annually in most capital cities of Australia. Now, I can’t promise that there will be an unlimited buffet of sushi, gyoza and sake, nor can I say with authority that everyone who works at the festival will be wearing kimonos and socks with sandals. However, what I can guarantee is that the movies showing at the 2011 Japanese Film Festival will be an even bigger insight into their culture than clichéd food options and stereotypes. Over the four days it runs in Brisbane, your options are Railways, Yamakoshi: The Recovery of a Tiny Japanese Village, Space Battleship Yamato and Arrietty. These films span the genres so whether you’re after a fun Studio Ghibli movie or an inspiring documentary, this festival’s got you set. On top of that it’s free upon booking, so organize tickets, embrace another culture, and maybe enjoy some (stereotypical but enjoyable) sushi afterwards.
While we may not envy the Spanish economy at the moment, it is hard not to covet their history of great architecture and innovative design. And that envy is sure to continue with the recent completion of the Metropol Parasol, not only the world's largest wooden structure but also one of the most beautiful. Designed by Berlin-based architecture Juergen Mayer H, the inspiration for the building came from a 2004 design competition brief which aimed to provide the people of Seville with an architectural heart and a distinctly urban space for the 21st century. The design also had to take into account some recently unearthed ancient roman ruins in the ground beneath. Mayer's winning structure does all of this, as well as housing a market place, a restaurant, walkways and panoramic views of the city, becoming a mecca for locals and architectural buffs alike. New technology was integral in both the design and production processes. The light sculptural curves and flow of the building were largely influenced by digital technology, while the interconnecting wooden panels used to create this effect are held together by a new — and one would imagine — some very strong glue. Marrying aesthetics and functionality, the Metropol Parasol has provided the city of Seville with a new focal point. And some much needed shade.
Wool&Prince, the team that brought us 'The Better Button-Down' shirt, which you can wear for 100 days straight without washing, is back. This time, they're tackling the humble T-shirt. They've come up with a 100 percent wool garment that's odour-resistant, offers 'natural climate control' and is super-soft. To get it on the market in a way that maximises quality and minimises prices, though, they need to submit a US$35,000 initial factory order. So they're looking for help via Kickstarter. The Wool&Prince crew spent eight months investigating and experimenting with hundreds of fabrics, trying T-shirt styles and testing out various fits. The rigorous research process involved putting the three final prototypes through stressful situations, including a 20,000km road trip across 45 US states, a 23-day cycling and camping trip in Alaska, a messy week at Oktoberfest, Germany and an extended feel test/vox pop with New Yorkers. In the end, they decided on 16.5 superfine micron Merino wool. Its extreme sweat-absorption capacity prevents the odour created by the breakdown of sweat via bacteria. Plus it's both naturally insulating and naturally breathable, meaning that the wearer is kept warm in cold weather yet cool in hot weather. The Wear-More, Wash-Less T-Shirt is currently available in crew-neck and v-neck styles, and in two different colours: black and heather-grey. If the stretch goals are reached, the repertoire will extend to include a polo and the palette to include bright navy and red. According to Wool&Prince, the fit is neither too baggy nor too tight, being akin to the T-shirts sold at American Apparel. Fifteen days remain in the Wear-More, Wash-Less campaign. Of the US$35,000 goal, just over US$26,000 has been pledged by 225 backers (as of 14 January). US$58 buys you one T-shirt, US$108 buys two, US$158 buys three and US$208 buys four.
After six years of inspiring plant-based living among a growing vegan community in Brisbane, Vegan Expo is taking its final bow. For one last weekend at the Exhibition Building in the Brisbane Showgrounds, celebrate the biggest and boldest Vegan Expo yet. Expect to see more than just delicious food, but a vast array of cruelty-free fashion, natural wellness products and sustainable homewares. Not to mention, a special appearance by MasterChef finalist Simon Toohey, known for his plant-based and zero-waste recipes. Wander through endless stalls and find local favourites, Vega Cafe, known for specialising in vegan comfort food with a Thai twist. Then, for the best meat alternatives, head to the Lamyong stall and enjoy their plant-based beef, chicken and more. There will also be stalls from Grassfed Burgers offering melt-in-your-mouth plant-based patties, and Asian-fusion flavours from Chef 365. Over the years, Vegan Expo has donated $50,000 worth of free sites to animal sanctuaries, rescues and charities. This has allowed those groups to raise vital funds, connect with the community and amplify their life-saving work. It's this kind of generosity that has defined the expo from the beginning. "This event has helped shape a kinder, more sustainable Brisbane," says Leizl Estioko, organiser of the Brisbane Vegan Expo. "Now we're inviting everyone to join us for one last time and make this farewell something truly special." On Saturday, August 30 from 10am–5pm and Sunday, August 31 from 10am–4pm, head to the Vegan Expo one last time and celebrate the wonderful plant-based community of Brisbane. Tickets start at $11, but be sure to get in quick as they are expected to sell out fast.
While social distancing and public gathering rules are still in place across the country, some companies are starting to look to the less-restricted future. Qantas yesterday said interstate travel could be back on the cards by July, Restaurant and Catering Australia wants hospitality venues reopened in June and, now, Falls Festival has announced it's powering ahead with plans for its New Year's festival — with some big changes. In a statement released this morning, Falls Co-Producers Jessica Ducro and Paul Piticco said they'd decided to push ahead with the end-of-year festival. "As Australia heads towards the recovery phase of COVID-19 we have decided to move forward with optimism, and work towards presenting our Dec 2020/Jan 2021 event in a way that will best bolster Australia's live music industry," the statement said. Details of the summer festival, which usually takes places at Tassie's Marion Bay, Lorne in Victoria, North Byron and Fremantle, are scarce for now, but the duo has announced one big change: an all-Aussie lineup. With Australia's borders currently closed and even travel between just Australia and New Zealand "still some time away", keeping the lineup local does seem the smart choice — and it has the added bonus of helping Aussie musicians, many of which have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown. According to website I Lost My Gig, Australian music industry workers have lost approximately $340 million worth of income since the crisis began. Falls Festival hopes it'll be able to help support some of those impacted with its locally focused festival. "We have some of the most exciting acts in the world and this special 'home grown' edition of Falls will ensure that money stays in our local economy, providing maximum financial benefit for the Australian music community – artists, management, crew, agents, roadies, production etc — as well as the thousands of contractors and suppliers who rely on our events for their income," Ducro and Piticco said in the statement. The festival will also help raise funds for Support Act, a charity delivery crisis relief services to those in the music industry. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_04sZGhybw/ It's positive news for those in the industry and music fans alike, but the the festival is not yet set in stone. Two-person public gathering rules are still currently in place in Victoria, NSW and Queensland, and Australia's ban on non-essential mass gatherings of over 500 people was one of the first restrictions implemented — way back on March 13, 2020 — so could, if we're to work backwards, be one of the last lifted. The Australian Government has also said some level of social distancing measures will need to remain in place until a vaccine is found, which Federal Science Minister Karen Andrews told the ABC earlier this week was still 10–15 months away. So, if the festival is to go ahead, it could look a little different — and a have a lot less punters in tow. Falls Byron usually has around 25,000 attendees, while Falls Lorne has 9000. Last year, the music festival was impacted by the bushfires, with the Lorne leg cancelled one day in because of extreme and hazardous weather. Falls Festival is hoping to go ahead in December 2020/January 2021. We'll let you know if and when more details are announced.
Wake up, Prime Video viewers: in 2023, your streaming queue is getting nostalgic. If The Wiggles can top the Hottest 100, take their rainbow-hued skivvies to Mardi Gras and make a date with Falls Festival (and maybe Little Nas X), then of course they can be the subject of a new documentary that'll hit the online service next year. Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles will tell exactly the tale you think it will, following the group's career over more than three decades, including the new levels of fame and popularity that 2022 has thrown their way. Sure, Dorothy the Dinosaur mightn't need an origin story, but OG Wiggles Anthony Field, Murray Cook, Greg Page and Jeff Fatt are getting one, with Sally Aitken (Valerie Taylor: Playing with Sharks, David Stratton: A Cinematic Life) directing. Prime Video is promising never-before-seen behind-the-scenes footage, too, as part of the feature-length film. "When we first formed The Wiggles more than three decades ago, our aim was to educate and inspire children through music, and that continues today," said Field. "Looking through the archives has brought back so many incredible and emotional memories, from our first shows for 30 children to touring America and the world, playing to arenas. It's been such an incredible and evolving journey and we can't wait to share our story with everyone." Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles forms part of Prime Video's 2023 slate of original Australian content, with the streaming platform running through all the Aussie-made efforts you'll be able to watch next year — some newly revealed, others already announced. Sitting in the latter category but certain to be a must-see is Deadloch, the latest series from The Kates. This time, The Katering Show and Get Krack!n's Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney are writing, executive producing and showrunning a mystery-comedy starring Kate Box (Stateless) — yes, another Kate — as a Tasmanian cop. When a local man turns up dead on the beach, the sleepy titular town is thrown into chaos. (And no, it won't be by accident that Deadloch subverts the usual dead girl trope that's such an engrained part of these kinds of TV series.) Also on Prime Video's 2023 list: five-part doco series Dance Life, following students at Brent Street; plus movie The Defenders, a documentary about Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi's arrest while honeymooning in Thailand, and former Socceroos captain Craig Foster's efforts in response. And, similarly among the highlights, there's Class of '07, about the mayhem that follows when an apocalyptic tidal wave hits during an all-girls college's 10-year reunion; and The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, an adaptation of Holly Ringland's debut Australian novel starring Leah Purcell (The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson), Asher Keddie (Nine Perfect Strangers), Alycia Debnam-Carey (Fear the Walking Dead), Tilda Cobham-Hervey (Hotel Mumbai), Alexander England (How to Please a Woman) and none other than Sigourney Weaver (Ghostbusters: Afterlife). Comedians Joel Creasey, Rhys Nicholson, Dave Hughes, Tommy Little and Lizzy Hoo will score specials, too. And if you're wondering exactly when you can get watching, release dates for the whole slate still to be revealed. The just-announced titles Prime Video's 2023 Australian slate don't yet have exact release dates. Keen an eye out on the streaming service itself for further details.
First, in its initial fourth-season sneak peek back in May, Westworld called upon Lou Reed's 'Perfect Day'. Now, dropping the full trailer for the dystopian drama's next batch of episodes, it enlists Nine Inch Nails' 'The Day the World Went Away'. Big things are coming in the hit HBO series, clearly — and if those music cues mean anything, so is quite the eventful day, or several. Also leaving an impression in the new Westworld trailer is a chilling statement: "we're not here to transcend, we're here to destroy." Actually, the entire glimpse at the upcoming season — which finally starts arriving from Monday, June 27 via Foxtel, Binge and Neon Down Under — is filled with eerie and creepy pieces of dialogue and images. Here's another: "maybe it's time you questioned the nature of your own reality." That's classic Westworld for you. Since it first hit HBO back in 2016 — and made its way to Australia and New Zealand as well — the series has been unnerving from the get-go. It's all there in the concept, which first unfurled on-screen back in 1973 thanks to the Michael Crichton-directed movie of the same name. Here, in the eponymous android amusement park, humans pay to live out their fantasies while surrounded by supremely realistic-looking androids. What could go wrong? Everything, obviously. Across its second season in 2018 and third batch of episodes in 2020, the TV version of Westworld has built upon this premise, twisting in wild, strange, violent and surreal directions. Naturally, when season four hits, that's only going to continue. Neither trailer so far is particularly big on plot, but they do set a huge mood — or reinforce the tone that Westworld fans already know and love, to be more precise. While narrative details are scarce, the show is bound to keep wading through the fallout that's been shaping its story from day one, after some of the robot theme park's electronic hosts started to break their programming, make their own decisions and question their creators. What the show's season four trailers lack in plot specifics, they make up for in atmosphere and recognisable faces, including Evan Rachel Wood (Kajillionaire), Thandiwe Newton (All the Old Knives), Ed Harris (The Lost Daughter), Jeffrey Wright (The Batman), Tessa Thompson (Passing), Luke Hemsworth (Young Rock), Aaron Paul (Truth Be Told) and Angela Sarafyan (Reminiscence). Joining them as a newcomer this season: newly minted West Side Story Oscar-winner Ariana DeBose. If you feel like you've been hanging out for new Westworld for years, that's because the show always seems to bring its android dramas back in two-year intervals. Still, it's worth remembering that the first season of the show arrived 43 years after the Michael Crichton-directed movie that it's based on, and 40 years after the film's sequel Futureworld. If you haven't done so already, both are worth viewing while you're waiting for the TV series to return. Check out the full trailer for Westworld's fourth season below: Westworld's fourth season will start streaming via Binge in Australia from Monday, June 27 — and via Neon in New Zealand. Images: Photograph by John Johnson/HBO.
Australians, it's time to roll up your sleeves — because the nation's slow-moving COVID-19 vaccine scheme has just been given a crucial boost. In a newly announced change, all Australian adults of any age can now get the AstraZeneca jab. All you need to do is go to your GP and specifically request the AZ vaccine. Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed the news during a late-night press conference yesterday, Monday, June 28, in which he addressed several aspects of the country's vaccine rollout. Specifically, he announced a new no-fault indemnity scheme for general practitioners who administer COVID-19 vaccines, so they're covered if their patients have any adverse reactions. Australia's current health advice notes that the AZ vaccine is preferred for folks over the age of 60, and that anyone younger should have the Pfizer vaccine; however, if you're below that cutoff and would still like the AZ jab, your doctor can now give it to you. "This relates to encouraging Australians to go and chat to their GP about their vaccination, and to have their vaccination administered," said the Prime Minister. "The advice does not preclude persons under 60 from getting the AstraZeneca vaccine, and so if you wish to get the AstraZeneca vaccine, then we would encourage you to go and have that discussion with your GP," he explained. "We are also providing the indemnity scheme for those general practitioners so they can actively engage with you and you can make the best decision for your health." While that part of the Prime Minister's press conference didn't mention age limits, he was specifically asked about under 40s, and confirmed that any Aussie adult of any age can now go to their GP to get the AZ shot. "If they wish to go and speak to their doctor and have access to the AstraZeneca vaccine, they can do so," he said. That's welcome news for everyone under 40 that's keen to get jabbed, but hasn't been able to due to Australia's staged vaccine rollout. Until last night, adults aged between 16–39 weren't eligible to get vaccinated unless they fell into a number of specific categories. You had to either be of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent; work in quarantine, border or healthcare roles; work or live in an aged care or disability facility; work in a critical and high-risk job such as defence, fire, police, emergency services and meat processing; have an underlying medical condition or significant disability; or participate in the NDIS, or care for someone who does. Aussies under 40 who'd prefer the Pfizer vaccine will still need to fall into one of the aforementioned groups. Since Thursday, June 17, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation has recommended the use of AstraZeneca vaccine in people aged over 60 only due to the risk of rare blood clotting disorders that've been linked to the vaccine when given to younger folks. That change followed an early recommendation back in April, which noted the AstraZeneca vaccine wasn't preferred for anyone under 50. But anyone of any age, including those under 60, can now still get the AZ jab — after making an informed decision by talking to their doctor. For further information about Australia's vaccine rollout, head to the Australian Department of Health website.
Brisbane's Eat Street Northshore is following in the footsteps of culinary big-wigs like Brae, Biota and Dunkeld's Royal Mail Hotel, now boasting its very own onsite kitchen garden. Thought that was a little unlikely, given the precinct's lack of free space? Well, it's all thanks to Canada's Modular Farms Co, which has chosen the precinct as the first Australian location to host one of its state-of-the-art vertical hydroponic farms. With inner-city space at a premium these days, this little beauty is a bit of a game-changer, able to grow food cleanly and sustainably no matter where it's placed or what the climate might be. Eat Street's new addition will allow market vendors to tap into a consistent supply of fresh herbs and veggies from right there on site, minimising food miles and wastage in the process. It doesn't get much fresher than that. What's more, the farm's modular design fits right in with the rest of Eat Street's vibe, working perfectly against that backdrop of repurposed shipping containers. The new vertical farm will supply produce to both Eat Street Northshore and OzHarvest. Images: Chris Jack
However you identify, we hope your feed is filled with rainbows and eco glitter this week as we gear up to celebrate Mardi Gras on Saturday, March 6. Whether you're going to events in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane — or staying home to watch the parade on SBS — you can share the love and pride with the LGBTQIA+ community on TikTok. We've teamed up with the social media platform to bring you these six pride-filled videos to help get you pumped for the parade. [embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@itsbybrandon/video/6921305046323842306[/embed] Epic transformations are par for the course on TikTok, so how do you stand out from the crowd? @itsbybrandon does it time and time again with their colourful, creative and often unexpected makeup transitions. And, they lip sync like a pro. Take inspiration from this rainbow effect eyeshadow for your Mardi Gras celebrations this weekend. [embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@dom.skii/video/6930381557991542017[/embed] Proving that exceptional makeup talent isn't in short supply, @dom.skii brings us a second inspirational transformation clip full of pride. As Lady Gaga puts it, "Don't be a drag, just be a queen." [embed]https://www.tiktok.com/foryou?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v2#/@emmahorn/video/6929595838914186497[/embed] Emma Horn jumped on the Domino Lovers TikTok Challenge with her girlfriend, and how can you not beam with pride watching them dance together? Emma's TikTok is full of hilarious reaction videos and relatable content, so if you're in need of a pick-me-up, check out her channel. [embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@the_dancing_farmer/video/6928677043387272450[/embed] Bretty G, aka @the_dancing_farmer, says they're here to spread love and positivity. Here they do it with an enviable pair of pins and a fabulous strut in the countryside dirt. [embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@tomi.queen/video/6930570843546209538[/embed] In one of our favourite videos in the 'I'm So Pretty' makeup transition trend, Sydney drag queen Tomi shows us how it's done. If Reyanna Maria isn't on your Mardi Gras playlist for this weekend, rectify that now. [embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@kevininthecity/video/6931856237550193921[/embed] Sydney's Glitter King, @kevininthecity, isn't afraid to shine like a mirror ball. Here, they give us a masterclass in standing out from the crowd in one bold block of colour. Look out for Kevin in the City at this year's Mardi Gras Parade, as their face will be part of TikTok's official float alongside singer-songwriter G Flip. Download TikTok to watch more, and use the hashtag #JoinOurFloat to be part of TikTok's Mardi Gras float. Top image: Jeffrey Feng; Destination NSW
When Chloé Zhao adds her contribution to the Marvel Cinematic Universe later this year, the history-making Oscar-winner won't merely be leaping into a blockbuster franchise. With Eternals, the Nomadland filmmaker will unveil Marvel's next crew of superheroes — ancient and immortal alien beings who've been working in the shadows for thousands of years after arriving on earth via an eye-catching spaceship. Led by Ajak (Salma Hayek, Like a Boss), these heroes are now forced to band together again to save the world from an evil threat. The catalyst: the events of a little film called Avengers: Endgame. So, it's standard MCU stuff, at least on paper. But with Zhao the helm, the film doesn't look or feel like your average Marvel movie — at least based on the very brief sneak peek at the flick a few weeks back, as well as the movie's just-dropped first trailer. Also battling it against an enemy called The Deviants: Ikaris (Richard Madden, Game of Thrones), Sersi (Gemma Chan, Captain Marvel), Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani, Stuber), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff, Sound of Metal), Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry, Godzilla vs Kong), Sprite (Lia McHugh, Songbird), Gilgamesh (Don Lee, Ashfall), Druig (Barry Keoghan, Calm with Horses) and Thena (Angelina Jolie, Those Who Wish Me Dead). One GoT star is never enough for any movie, so Kit Harington also features, presumably knowing little. Ajak and her pals might've spent much of their past trying to blend in — "throughout the years, we have never interfered," she notes in the trailer's voiceover — but when they're not disguising themselves as humans, they certainly don superhero outfits and unleash quite the array of superpowers. Eternals is one of four MCU movies set to drop in 2021, alongside Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the latest Spider-Man flick. It's also Zhao's first feature after the vastly different film that's been winning her so much praise this year, as well as her first leap into the blockbuster realm. And, the filmmaker's visual sensibilities definitely shine through so far — even though she's working on a far bigger scale than seen in her first three movies. Check out the trailer below: Eternals opens in cinemas Down Under on November 4.
The New York City Public Library is one of the most instantly recognisable buildings in the world. The grand entrance to its marble halls has been guarded majestically by twin stone lions, Carrere and Hastings, for nearly a hundred years. This weekend, the building and the lions celebrate their centenary. Although it is the fifth largest library in the United States, to celebrate its centenary the Library is proving it’s more than just books. The Library’s artifact collection is absurdly steeped in historical importance and draws on four main themes - Observation, Creativity, Contemplation and Society - and includes items such as Charles Dickens’ letter opener, Charlotte Bronte's desk, Thomas Jefferson’s copy of the Declaration of Independence, Jack Kerouac's personal affects and Christopher Columbus’ first letter from the Americas. In recent years, the Library has come across hard times. Recently, New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg has tabled over $40 million in cuts. Paul Gunther of the Huffington Post sees the greatest hurdle for the library as not budgetary but a question of relevance, stating that ‘the challenge for its second century is that this thriving architectural masterpiece not fossilize into merely an historic monument to some greater yet abandoned neo-classical past.’
Move over dive bars and gastropubs — there's a new kind of watering hole in town. That'd be the alehouse, home to foamy alcoholic liquids aplenty, plus all the delicious bites to eat that help the craft brews go down. Indeed, Mr Edward's Alehouse & Kitchen champions its food as much as its drinks, as the venue's early morning opening hours and Euro-centric, share plate focused and slow-cooked-heavy menu makes plain. The charcuterie board of artisan cured meats and cheeses is the cream of the crop, and the perfect partner for the biggest selection of Coopers beer in Queensland, a special selection of Bacchus Brewing Co's dessert concoctions, or their signature sour pale ale cocktail (made with pale ale, of course). The new addition to Edward Street — where else? — is also fond of creating a relaxed, rustic atmosphere in its little corner of the Botanic Gardens end of the CBD. Witness their tables made from wood recycled from old Queenslanders and wall covered in photos of its location more than a century ago for further laidback evidence as you're enjoying an ale or several. Find Mr Edward's Alehouse & Kitchen at 46 Edward Street, Brisbane. For more information, visit their website and Facebook page.
Childhood snaps aplenty are filled with Australia's big things, including pictures with The Big Pineapple as a backdrop if you've ever visited the Sunshine Coast. As an adult, there's another way to make memories at the famous Woombye site: hitting up The Big Pineapple Festival, which is finally returning in 2024 after a three-year absence and has just dropped its jam-packed lineup. The Queensland fest announced its comeback earlier this year, and also its 2024 date: Saturday, October 19. Now comes who'll be taking to the stage while you dance in the shadow of a giant piece of tropical fruit. The Amity Affliction, Bliss n Eso and Peking Duk lead the bill, alongside Tones and I, Golden Features, Vera Blue, Thornhill and Dune Rats doing a DJ set. There's a heap more acts where they came from, too, on what's set to be a massive spring day in the Sunshine State. [caption id="attachment_964826" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Tom Barnes[/caption] 2024's event will also add a World Eats and Beats precinct, which is where you can grab a bite and listen to global tunes; the Lantern Parade lighting up the site, aka pineapple fields; the Skate Jam, where top Aussie skaters will on their decks; and Burlesque L'amour doing a festival stint. Or, you can enter the Best Dressed at the Fest contest, with prizes for both solo and team attire — and likely a range of pineapple-inspired outfits getting a workout — or try your stuff at The Great Australian Pineapple Toss competition. On the nation's list of big things, The Big Pineapple is among the most famous. It's big. It's a pineapple. It's heritage-listed Queensland icon. It's surrounded by those pineapple fields. It now has a new cafe and viewing platform. Basically, what's not to love? Since 2013, however, it's no longer merely a reason to go to Nambour to gawk at over-sized fruit — because that's when it also became home to a music festival, which ran annually until its current three-year break. As well as live music, the fest includes two days of camping. Accordingly, if you hadn't already, start looking forward to an event that'll take over its iconic location's natural amphitheatres, get folks pitching a tent at the 4000-person campground, and also span workshops and art installations in a relaxed setting, too. The Big Pineapple Festival's return is welcome news at a time when the Australian music scene has been seeing cancellations, rather than comebacks. Tasmania's Mona Foma said farewell forever after its 2024 event, both Splendour in the Grass and Groovin the Moo scrapped their 2024 festivals mere weeks after announcing their lineups, Falls Festival took summer 2023–24 off, Summergrounds Music Festival at Sydney Festival was cancelled and This That hasn't gone ahead for a couple of years now. The Big Pineapple Festival 2024 Lineup: The Amity Affliction Tones and I Bliss n Eso Golden Features Peking Duk Vera Blue Thornhill Dune Rats (DJ set) The Dreggs Drax Project SLUMBERJACK Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers Ocean Grove Kinder South Summit No Money Enterprise Day We Ran Betty Taylor Toby Hobart Hellcat Speedracer Raw Ordio Ishan Larynx Karlou Rhino Tess Fapani Earth Sign Unearthed winner [caption id="attachment_964825" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Billy Zammit[/caption] [caption id="attachment_944026" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Big Pineapple, Alpha via Flickr[/caption] The Big Pineapple Festival will return on Saturday, October 19, 2024. Ticket presale signups start from 8am on Monday, July 8, with presales beginning at 8am on Wednesday, July 10 and general sales from 8am on Thursday, July 11 — head to the fest's website for more information. Images: Claudia Ciapocha / Charlie Hardy.
With You &Proud is an initiative launched by American Express as part of the brand's ongoing activity as a major sponsor for Sydney WorldPride. The campaign invites Australians to nominate the loved ones in their life who deserve to be celebrated for their support of and commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community. If you know a legend who fits the bill, you can nominate them here and go in the running to win a phenomenal WorldPride experience for you and the one you've nominated. Fifteen winners will score a package that includes tickets to the sold-out opening ceremony featuring Kylie (no surname necessary) and Charli XCX, VIP viewing access of the Mardi Gras Parade, and dining and entertainment vouchers at top Sydney venues. Flights and accommodation will also be provided for interstate recipients. So as prizes go, this one is a certified banger. Scroll for the full details. Speaking of certified bangers, it is apt that the campaign is fronted by Lisa and Jess Origliasso of The Veronicas. The mighty pop queens have consistently used their platform to support and celebrate the rights and spirit of the queer community throughout their career. The duo launched their involvement with the following statement: "For Jessie, as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, and for both of us as passionate allies, we're honoured to bring American Express' With You &Proud initiative to life — we can't wait to celebrate this incredible community and share our personal stories of pride together." "Having grown up deeply connected and involved with the LGBTQIA+ community from a young age and creating safe space for all at our shows for 18 years, representing Australia for WorldPride and being part of this incredible initiative will be an absolute personal and career highlight." The Veronicas join NBL player Isaac Humphries and MasterChef alum and beloved food personality Khanh Ong as With You &Proud ambassadors. Full Prize Details Recipient packages will include curated experiences made up from the below: 2x tickets to Sydney WorldPride Opening Concert featuring Kylie Minogue 2x tickets to Kinky Boots performance Double pass Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb Experience Merivale dining experience voucher Saint Peter dining experience voucher 2x Club Cindy Parade viewing passes Hair styling experience or make up experience House of Priscilla voucher for costume shopping Flights and accommodation at Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel at Circular Quay, for interstate travellers Nominations are open until 11:59pm AEDT on Sunday, 29 January. For T&Cs visit the website.
Picking up just seconds from where the last Muppets film left off, Muppets Most Wanted opens with a rousing song that explains: "Everybody knows a sequel is never quite as good". A few famous exceptions notwithstanding, the in-joke is right on the money, and even though it's definitely true of this film as well, thankfully the follow up to James Bobin's 2012 hit is only slightly poorer than its predecessor. This time round, the gang is talked into embarking upon a world tour by Ricky Gervais's smooth-talking yet unscrupulous talent manager, Mr Badguy ("Its...French. It's pronounced...Bad Geeee"). The tour is, however, just a front to enable Badguy and his boss Constantine (aka Evil Kermit) to conduct a series of high-end museum robberies and steal England's Crown Jewels. Key to the plan is Constantine's escape from a Siberian gulag and an ole switcheroo that sees him trade places with the real Kermit. "Eeets...dee Marrr-pet shaow" practices the heavily accented villain as he reviews file footage of Kermit in what's just one of dozens of charming imposter-Kermit based jokes. As always, the film is packed with self-referential humour (one Muppet complains that it's actually the seventh movie in the franchise), cameos (Usher plays an usher, Celine Dion takes the absolute piss out of herself and James McAvoy appears as a 'blink and you'll miss him delivery man', to name just a few), and — of course — musical numbers. None of the songs come close to matching The LEGO Movie's impossibly catchy 'Everything Is Awesome', but several of them are good enough to gets the toes tapping. Constantine's 'I'm Number One', for example, is amusing in its constant forcing of Gervais to reply 'I'm number two', and the disco-inspired 'I'll Get You What You Want' is just crying out for a Pharrell cover. The highlight of Muppets Most Wanted, however, is the subplot involving the partnership of Sam the Eagle and Interpol's Jean Pierre Napoleon (in an outrageously cliched swipe at the French by Ty Burrell). Their dogged pursuit of the thieves leads to some fantastic scenes involving muppet interrogations, crime scene analysis and police badge oneupmanship. Tina Fey also impresses as the gulag's warden Nadya, whose determination to put on the prison's annual revue sees Kermit end up directing a terrifically funny all-male A Chorus Line. I'm also told Ms Piggy's wedding dress (designed by Vivienne Westwood...no, seriously) is to die for. Based on the laughter of the kids attending the screening, kids will laugh at screenings of this movie, and so too will adults, though not in the same way or with the marked regularity of, say, a Pixar film. It's a little light on plot, and begins to feel a little repetitive by the end, yet the pacing is rarely in danger of lagging and the jokes come often enough to keep everyone entertained. Empire Strikes Back it 'aint, but it's not a bad sequel to what was always going to be a hard act to follow. https://youtube.com/watch?v=wXfLrt90CHM
Nick Cave, skateboarding? Nick Cave, skateboarding? NICK CAVE, SKATEBOARDING? Any way you say it, it sounds more like a metaphor than something that happens in real life. But according to Aussie skateboarding company Fast Times, the 57-year-old singer-songwriter is a "good friend and customer". And so, the poet and the skater have teamed up for a next level (and rather odd) merch project: the official Nick Cave skateboard. Rock art illustrator Chuck Sperry, who hails from San Francisco, is the man behind the design. Drawing on 'Nature Boy' for inspiration, a song from Cave's 2004 album Abattoir Blues, Sperry has created a female figure with wild blonde hair surrounded by flowers. Cave's lyrics are included: "She moves among the flowers, she floats upon the smoke, she moves among the shadows, she moves me with just one look." If you've been too busy sitting at home poring over poetry to learn to skate, you could always use it as a pretty striking wall hanging. And the good news for art collectors is that it's a limited edition. Alternatively, you could just settle for the t-shirt. By way of spreading the word on their collaboration, Cave and Fast Times have released a promo video, soundtracked by 'Nature Boy' and featuring some super-slick moves. Via Pitchfork.
Your mates at Concrete Playground know how much you guys love Nutella. Sydney went nuts over those damn Tella Ball milkshakes, Melbourne eats so much of the stuff they caused a temporary nation-wide shortage back in 2015, and Australia lost its collective shit when, last year, a toaster-shaped Nutella food truck started rolling around the country. Long story short, the food truck will be hitting the road again this month, this time embarking on a road trip from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast. We figured you'd want to hear about it — especially since all the goodies on board will be free. Alistair Fogg, the man behind Sydney's Nighthawk Diner, must have had excess Nutella lying around, because he's once again devised the menu for the food truck. This time, he'll be drizzling Nutella on crumpets, pancakes, granola, bagels, egg waffles and, most interestingly, smashed sweet potato on brioche. And, yes, it's all free — although there is a limit of only one item per customer per day, unfortunately. The 12-stop road trip begins in Sydney's Henry Deane Plaza in Haymarket on Thursday, June 22, before heading to Manly Wharf on the Friday and Penrith the day after that. From there the truck will head up to the Central Coast, through Newcastle, Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay and the Gold Coast before pulling up in Brisbane's Reddacliff Place on Monday, July 3. It will round out the trip in on the Sunshine Coast the day after. As for everywhere else, well, cross your fingers and hope you might be added to the itinerary. If not, we'll send you a Nutella-smeared postcard. Find the complete list of dates, times and locations for the Nutella Road Trip at their website.
Fan of hop hop? Love poetry? Well Black Bear Lodge have a treat for you. Head along on Wednesday night for some hump-day fun provided by the incredibly talented Omar Musa. Omar will be celebrating the release of his debut novel, Here Come the Dogs and has a killer set prepared. Here Come the Dogs is a tale of three troubled and violent young men navigating their way through contemporary Australia. Omar uses clever prose and interesting rhythms to capture the audiences imagination and take them on a journey. Omar has more than just street cred for his poetry and hip hop performances as he has entertained audiences on Q&A and TEDx. Omar's novel is available from Riverbend Books as are tickets to the event. Joining Omar will be fellow slam poet, DJ Butch Daddy.
Electric scooters may be Brisbane's flavour du jour for zooming about the city streets, but there's no substitute for the pedal-pushing rush and endorphin high of a good old-fashioned gumption-powered velocipede adventure. We're talking about hopping on your two-wheeler for a bike ride around Brisbane. As well as being a great way to get that fresh air and exercise doctors seem so keen on, you can also explore the city and its surrounds up-close and personal, all while setting your own pace. Whether you're looking for waterside views, off-road challenges or a route with opportunities for food and shopping pit-stops, Brisbane has cycling trails for every inclination (and of every incline). So, on yer bike — your journey awaits with the best bike rides in Brisbane. Recommended reads: The Best Walks in and Around Brisbane The Best Hiking Trails Within 50 Kilometres of Brisbane The Best One-Day Hikes to Conquer in and Around Brisbane The Best Snorkelling Spots Near Brisbane [caption id="attachment_711839" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Paul Giggle/Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] RIVERSIDE BIKEWAY FROM HAMILTON For a riverside ride that'll take you from suburbs to the city skyline, start at the Portside Wharf in Hamilton and follow the trail south. It's all smooth sailing along a flat and leisurely route with cooling river breezes and smatterings of mangrove growth. Watching the lazy river traffic float by, you'll get a tour of Brisbane's eclectic waterside architecture, including heritage buildings like the historic Newstead House, mansions, high rises and ex-industrial spaces. When you reach the mighty vista of the Story Bridge and CBD, you can stop in at Howard Smith Wharves for a breather before heading back. Or you can continue on along the river, over the Goodwill Bridge, and eventually hit West End. BRISBANE VALLEY RAIL TRAIL If you're yearning for country roads, head rural and check out the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail, which follows the path of the old steam train railway line. Running its entire length from Wulkuraka Station in Ipswich to Yarraman, it's a full 161 kilometres — and the longest rail trail in Australia. But you are under no obligation to take on the whole thing in one go. For a bite-sized segment, start near Fernvale Memorial Park, winding through the countryside to end in Ipswich. The terrain varies, but it's not too challenging. The full epic trail offers a vision of rural Queensland life, running past paddocks and dams, fields and farm animals, patches of bushland and wide open space, stopping in at country towns that would have been stations on this historic railway. [caption id="attachment_711821" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Matthew Taylor/Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] MT COOT-THA If you're more of a Brisbane mountain biker – and keen for a bit of a challenge — Mt Coot-Tha offers a range of trails to tackle in Brisbane's bushland oasis. Depending on where you start your journey, you can set off along any of the 31 kilometres of multi-use tracks, or 23 kilometres of cyclist-only trails. Take in the vast swathes of open eucalypt forests at your own pace, whether you're starting out on the 'easy' Rocket Frog Trail for a little 2.2-kilometre ride or pushing yourself on the ten-kilometre Coot-Tha Circuit. As many of the trails intersect, you can map out your bush exploration any way you like. If you factor in the summit lookout, you'll also be rewarded with the best views of any Brisbane bike ride as you gaze out over the city, Moreton Bay and Stradbroke Islands. Plus, the cafe provides a welcome snack break before you descend the mountain. [caption id="attachment_711822" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ezra Patchett/Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] SHORNCLIFFE TO SCARBOROUGH Looking for a way to while away a Sunday by the sea? Take in a scenic stretch of Moreton Bay starting out at Shorncliffe Pier and following the cycle route all the way up to Scarborough. It's a Brisbane cycling trail with numerous points of interest. Crossing the Ted Smout Memorial Bridge, you'll pass the parks along Woody Point, including Gayundah Coastal Arboretum. You can hop off the bike and quickly dip your toes in at Suttons Beach, or check out the Bee Gee's Way in Redcliffe, a laneway tribute to the pop group. [caption id="attachment_711834" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brisbane City Council[/caption] KEDRON BROOK BIKEWAY Running from Mitchelton to Nundah, this green corridor offers an easy family-friendly jaunt. At around 20 kilometres, it's a pleasant afternoon ride along a well-maintained path through salt marshes, mangroves and creek-side grassland. Although you're not that far from roads, this meandering waterway feels a whole world away from busy city motorways. It's a popular route with picnic areas and places to stop and rest. This trail can connect to the Boondall Wetlands up towards Nudgee, if you're looking to tack on about seven kilometres through some pretty wonderful native mangrove and paperpark wetlands. Despite being a well-used bike path, native bird populations live happily alongside the thoroughfare, and can be spotted by the attentive observer. Top image: Kenny Smith/Tourism and Events Queensland
It's been a long, long year, but the borders between Queensland and New South Wales are finally open again. If you're as desperate as we are for a holiday, it's time to book a little summertime break for yourself. Instead of hopping on a flight to Sydney, why not hit the road and explore new territory? Boasting over 28 signature road trips covering its diverse landscape — from the beautiful beaches and rainforests to the rugged outback — New South Wales is primed for your great escape down south. Not only will you be able to meet locals and discover some hidden gems along the way, but you'll also be helping the regional areas that have been hit hard by the past year. Here are seven pit stops you should make on a road trip from Brisbane to Sydney — think aqua waters, stunning headlands, food-filled hippy towns and countryside galore. Please stay up to date with the latest NSW Government health advice regarding COVID-19. [caption id="attachment_793906" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Fingal Head, Destination NSW[/caption] SEEK OUT THE AQUA WATERS OF TWEED HEADS For the first stop on your epic road trip, we recommend visiting the less crowded — but equally beautiful — Tweed Heads, located just 40 minutes away. The aqua blue waters of Duranbah and Fingal Head Beaches — and Kingscliff and Casuarina Beaches a little further south — will call you to the coast. The area has also become known as a food lover's destination. Our picks include Next Door Espresso for quality cuppas, Baked at Ancora for Parisian-style baked goods and Farm & Co for farm-to-table fare. Want to stay a little longer? Book into glamping retreat The Hideaway at Cabarita Beach (the best beach in Australia). That way, you'll be able to visit Husk Distillers and Red Earth Brewery without worrying about assigning a designated driver. [caption id="attachment_793871" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Clarence River, My Clarence Valley[/caption] FIND MORE THAN JACARANDAS IN GRAFTON Though it's home to the oldest floral festival in Australia, Grafton shouldn't just be on your hit list during jacaranda season. The inland riverside town offers outdoor activities aplenty, whether that's canoeing through rapids down Clarence River, hiking through the largest old-growth forest in northern New South Wales, or checking out the historic tunnel along the picturesque Old Glen Innes Road. When you get hungry, head for The Clarence Kitchen Collective. Part wholefoods cafe, part bulk food store and part yoga studio, it's a must-visit on any trip to Grafton. Afterward, stop by Sanctus Brewing Co for a tipple. [caption id="attachment_793890" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Crystal Shower Falls, Destination NSW[/caption] DISCOVER LUSH FORESTS AND LOCAL PRODUCE IN BELLINGEN Located just off the Coffs Coast, Bellingen is a little hippy town known for its friendly locals, impressive restaurants and charming main street lined with heritage buildings. You could easily spend a full day visiting the shops and sampling locally made goods, from fresh organic produce at Kombu Wholefoods and craft brews at Bellingen Brewery Co to cold treats at Bellingen Gelato. If you're looking for more than a wander, drive inland for about 30 minutes to Dorrigo National Park, where you can hike around Crystal Shower Falls. Or, drive 20 minutes out to the coast and walk along the Urunga Boardwalk. For dinner, enjoy impeccable Japanese cuisine and sake at Qudo Cafe and Sake, or order a pie from Perfect Pizza. Eat your pizza next door in the old service station space, now People of Coffee cafe. Keen to spend the night? Get cosy in this wooden barn or one of The Tiny Hideaway's options. Or, if you're after true luxury, splurge on a stay at the newly opened Hermes Estate. [caption id="attachment_793903" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Armidale, Destination NSW[/caption] TAKE A SELF-GUIDED HERITAGE WALK IN ARMIDALE Based in the New England High Country of NSW, Armidale is almost halfway between Brisbane and Sydney on the inland route. Go on a self-guided heritage walk of the town, which will take you down tree-lined streets past grand cathedrals and colonial buildings. While you're at it, stop at the local Aboriginal Culture Centre and Keeping Place, or check out the famed art at the New England Regional Art Museum. Once your legs are tired, stop at The Welder's Dog to taste craft brews at their best — including a purple-hued pea blossom hard lemonade. And set aside time for a meal at historic pub The Wicklow Hotel, which boasts its very own boutique lager and a sunny courtyard. Also while you're in the area, explore some of the nearby historic towns. Uralla offers vineyards aplenty, like Merilba Estate Wines, where cool-climate wines reign. [caption id="attachment_794814" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Goonoo Goonoo Station, Destination NSW[/caption] GO FOR A DRIVE THROUGH THE COUNTRY IN TAMWORTH On this road trip, it isn't all about the coast. Well known for its annual Country Music Festival, Tamworth is a countryside escape that'll show you the green beauty of inland New South Wales. Outdoorsy types will love the nearby Warrabah National Park, where the Namoi River offers a range of activities, including swimming, fishing, canoeing and bird watching. After you're done exploring, enjoy a true country pub experience at The Tamworth, where you can also spend the night in the art deco hotel. Alternatively, you could check in to the heritage-listed Goonoo Goonoo Station or the recently renovated, five-star Powerhouse Hotel. [caption id="attachment_794794" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brokenwood, Destination NSW[/caption] SIP YOUR WAY THROUGH THE HUNTER VALLEY On any road trip from Brisbane to Sydney, a stop in Hunter Valley is a must. Offering some of the most awarded drops in the country, this wine region is chock-a-block with vineyards. One of our favourites is Tatler Wines, which offers stunning grounds, wine tasting at its cellar door and a popular onsite restaurant dubbed The Brunch Society. Tatler also hosts sundowner sessions and long lunches all summer long. If you want to ditch your car and walk between a few wineries instead, head to Pokolbin, where Brokenwood, Tempus Two and McGuigan are all just a few minutes apart by foot — and there are a few hotels to crash at, too, including Scandi-style cottage Blackwood at The Woods, Spicers Vineyards Estate and Enzo Cottage. [caption id="attachment_777124" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tropicana Pizza Pizza, Kitti Gould[/caption] GO BEACH HOPPING IN THE CENTRAL COAST For your final stop, take in the laidback beaches of the Central Coast. Start off at Avoca Beach, where you can enjoy a surf, a swim or just a relaxed day on golden sands. When you're ready for a meal, head to Erina's Bar Botanica for lunch and a wander in the gorgeous garden surrounds. After you eat, walk down to the distillery's outdoor tent and indulge in a free gin tasting. And be sure to grab a cone of Mr Goaty Gelato on your way out. Stay overnight in one of these luxe Airbnbs, then the next morning you can either trek the Maitland Bay Track or opt for a relaxing swim at Copacabana Beach. Either way, don't miss brekkie at Copa's Burnt Honey Bakery, which offers some of the tastiest baked goods around. Before you leave the coast, make sure to stop by Tropicana Pizza Pizza in Woy Woy, which is hands down the best pizza shop on the coast. Start planning your great escape to New South Wales this season by visiting the Visit NSW website. Top image: Dorrigo Skywalk, Destination NSW
Are Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally comedy's funniest couple? Both together and apart, their resumes make a strong case for it. Here's another way to make that call: catching them live onstage together in Australia in their first-ever shared in-conversation session. It's a one-night-only date for the Parks and Recreation co-stars, happening to close out Vivid Sydney 2025. If you're as obsessed with one of the best American sitcoms of the 21st century as everyone should be, you will have spotted a trend at Vivid in the past two years. At 2024's festival, Amy Poehler was on the lineup, also getting chatting. Fingers crossed for Adam Scott or Rob Lowe in 2026. Yes, you should get the bacon and whisky ready for Offerman and Mullally. You should also prepare your ears for some high-pitched laughter. Making your own canoe? If you can, that's an appropriate way to celebrate, too. Taking place on Saturday, June 14, 2025 at the International Convention Centre Sydney, Offerman and Mullally's exclusive Vivid show is called Unscripted & Unfiltered with Nick Offerman & Megan Mullally, and falls into the Harbour City event's Global Storyteller series — which is also bringing Martha Stewart to the New South Wales capital in 2025, was why Poehler was on 2024's lineup, and has also seen The White Lotus' Jennifer Coolidge and Mike White, filmmakers Baz Luhrmann (Elvis) and Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods), and Australia singer Troye Sivan get talking in past years. Parks and Recreation's on-screen Ron and Tammy Swanson were meant to tour to Australia together in 2016, but Mullally had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict, so Offerman came solo. When they finally make the trip by each other's side, the husband-and-wife duo have everything from their multi-hyphenate individual careers to collaborating as creative and real-life partners to dig into, alongside their LGBTQIA+ and environmental activism. Top image: Emily Schur.
Australia's most prestigious portrait award, the Archibald Prize is one of the country's most anticipated annual arts events, making a huge splash across the Aussie creative scene each year. For the past few years, the event has announced its finalists in early May, then revealed its winner around a week later — and unveiled its exhibition at the Art Galley of NSW at the same time. In 2020, however, the Archibald has been postponed, with new dates yet to be revealed. It's the latest event affected by the growing spread of COVID-19, as well as Australia's various efforts to stop the illness — including banning outdoor gatherings with more than 500 people, banning indoor gatherings with more than 100 people, and implementing a limit of one person per four square metres in inside spaces and venues. In a statement on the Art Gallery of NSW website, the venue announced that "due to COVID-19, the gallery intends to hold the 2020 exhibition later this year". That applies not just to the Archibald, but to the Wynne and Sulman Prizes — which recognise the best landscape painting of Australian scenery, or figure sculpture and the best subject painting, genre painting or mural project, respectively. At present, entries have been suspended for all three prizes, with dates for submission and delivery of entries to the prizes postponed. [caption id="attachment_721079" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Lindy Lee by Tony Costa.[/caption] In 2019, Sydney painter Tony Costa took out the Archibald with his oil painting of fellow artist Lindy Lee — marking the first time in the award's 98-year history that a portrait of an Asian Australian has taken out the coveted prize. The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prize exhibitions will no longer open on May 9 at the Art Gallery of NSW. For further details, visit the gallery's website. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website.
Early in Phoenix, Nelly (Nina Hoss) wakes up after facial reconstruction surgery and follows another bandaged woman into an office. There, she spots a noticeboard featuring a few photos from her past — and discovers that she's not only trailing someone in a hallway, but confronting the ghost of her former self. Yes, the film tells a tale of duality and doppelgangers, but it's not quite what that description might lead you to expect. Set amidst the rubble of post-war Berlin, it is haunted by the difficulties of moving forward when the past remains ever-present. Of course, getting a makeover, righting previous wrongs, seeking revenge and starting life anew are all familiar film tropes. Luckily, there's little that's routine or commonplace about the way writer-director Christian Petzold and his frequent co-scribe Harun Farocki bring Hubert Monteilhet's 1961 detective novel The Return from the Ashes to the screen. Their effort is part atmospheric drama, part slow-burning thriller. Phoenix is composed and compelling, rather than pulpy or clichéd. In other hands, it might've been exaggerated and cheesy; here, it's understated and moving. WWII is over and cabaret singer Nelly has survived not just a German concentration camp but a bullet to the head, though her nearest and dearest — including her husband Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld), who might've sold her out to the Nazis — think otherwise. Despite her friend Lene (Nina Kunzendorf) urging her to escape her troubles and move to Palestine, Nina is determined to return home. Alas, when husband and wife cross paths at the nightclub that gives the film its name, Johnny doesn't recognise her; instead, he thinks she merely resembles Nelly, and asks for her assistance in obtaining his wife's hefty inheritance. Forget Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, and Wes Anderson and Bill Murray: Petzold and Hoss are this generation's quintessential director-star duo. Here they reteam for their sixth film together and once again make movie magic, conjuring up strong reminders of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo in the process. His choices — the smoke and shadows that linger around Nelly, the repeated sounds of the song 'Speak Low', the gradual build to a quietly powerful ending — are masterful. Her performance — conveying so much conflict with little more than a look or a gesture — is equally as commanding. Indeed, taking your eyes off of Hoss proves close to impossible, though Phoenix is a polished affair all round. Zehrfeld, who also co-starred in Petzold and Hoss' last pairing, Barbara, is equally hypnotic in a far less sympathetic but just as complicated role. Together, they help convey two sides of a nation struggling with its identity in the aftermath of a great tragedy — a recurrent topic for Petzold. That's not a cause for concern; his characters might be toying with the past, but his layered, lingering film does much, much more than just recreate his former glories.
Music venues across Melbourne and regional Victoria are set to take part in a pilot anti-sexual harassment and assault program, launched by the State Government this week. To begin, staff members in nine venues will receive training in identifying and responding to incidents. This will be followed in late April with the distribution of posters and related materials. Officially titled the Sexual Harassment and Assault in Licensed Live Music Venues Pilot Program, the initiative was created by a taskforce and working group convened in mid-2015. Members include representatives of LISTEN, SLAM (Save Live Australian Music), Music Victoria, Live Music Office and Victorian Police. The Victorian Government, under Labor Premier Daniel Andrews, provided funding. Venues taking part in the pilot, which will run for twelve weeks, are Corner Hotel, Richmond; Howler, Brunswick; Revolver Upstairs, Prahran; The Toff in Town, Melbourne CBD; The Gasometer, Collingwood; The Croxton Bandroom, Thornbury; The Chelsea Heights Hotel, Chelsea Heights; The Workers Club, Geelong and Karova Lounge, Ballarat. "This ground-breaking program will enable staff and patrons to step in and better respond to sexual harassment when it happens, and to prevent it from happening in the first place," said Minister for Gaming and Liquor Regulation Marlene Kairouz. In 2012, UNSW researcher Dr Bianca Fileborn surveyed 230 women and found that 96 percent "thought harassment happened in bars and clubs", with 80 percent describing it as common.
New Year's Eve is a night that calls for celebration. And, if you want to dance, eat and drink your way into 2019, while also enjoying one of Brisbane's best views, Jade Buddha's Shadow Lounge is throwing a sparkling party that fits the brief. To make sure your tummy and tastebuds are well catered to, grab a standard ticket ($95) and for three hours, you'll be served sliders and skewers along with bottomless tap beer, wine and Thai bucket cocktails. Or, you could up the stakes with a VIP ticket ($135), which will add spirits to the mix. Both these packages offer the goods between 6–9pm. Packages aside, the doors will be open for all to join the bash (free before 9pm) and take advantage of the waterfront views for prime firework watching. Just make sure to rest your feet in the days prior because DJs will be playing all night long and tearing up the dance floor is a non-negotiable. For more information and to grab your tickets, visit the website.
Upon returning from a winter escape to sunny Vietnam, my response to the obligatory "how was it?" was consistent in message, and in enthusiasm. "THE FOOD! Oh my God!", pretty much sums it up. Most surprising was just how regional the cuisine is and how it can differ from the north to the south, east to the west. Of course, if you go along looking for pho, spring rolls and banh mi, you will indeed find — and no doubt enjoy — them everywhere. However, if you open your eyes and mind a little wider, you'll discover each region has a set of specialties, and an approach to food that differs slightly from everywhere else. What does consistently run through the entire country is a commitment to freshness and flavour; fragrant fresh herbs liven even the simplest of meals, and local dishes are borne from what's available to be caught from the sea or picked from the ground. In one reasonably short trip you can experience vast differences in not only the food, but also in the scenes and 'scapes. From city madness — which mostly entails throngs of scooters careering around the roads and tourists closing their eyes and hoping for the best when crossing the street — to beautiful beaches, and mountain peaks to rice fields in the valley. Here are a few highlights to be discovered with eyes, mind and mouth wide open. HANOI Hanoi in the north is the country's capital, and yet seems a touch more modest and visitor-friendly than Ho Chi Minh (Saigon). The traffic system will leave you aghast for the first day, and after that you must embrace it, roll with it and trust in the controlled chaos of the road when you close your eyes and run towards the other side. Taking the city on foot will let you discover hidden laneways, a hint of French architecture, buzzing street food stalls, plenty of cheap fake goods for sale, and a snippet of local life. The Old Quarter and area around Hoan Kiem Lake is the perfect base to explore the city. Hit the lake early one morning to get a glimpse of what keeps the locals so happy, healthy and vibrant: plenty of Tai Chi, stretching, breathing and all manner of interesting morning rituals. HANOI FOODNOTE Here it seems nearly all to do with rice noodles and soup (yes, you will find pho aplenty in Hanoi). One of the local specialties here is bun bo nam bo — which is not only delicious, but incredibly fun to pronounce. This is a beef noodle dish of vermicelli, barbecued beef strips, a tasty stock sauce, chopped peanuts and lashing of fresh herbs on top. At Bun Bo Nam Bo (67 Hang Dieu – be careful of imitators who have popped up nearby), you need only to walk in and tell them how many serves and you will be presented with a bowl of this tasty meal for all of about $2.50. Similar local options include bun cha (pork and noodles) and bun ca (crispy fish and noodles, this time served in a soup), while cha ca is a slightly different local treat – barbequed fish with chilli and lemongrass, served with dry rice paper, fresh salad and peanuts, and a dipping sauce all to be wrapped, dunked and downed. An unsung hero of Hanoi cuisine, cha ca will prove its worth if you seek it out. MAI CHAU Mai Chau lies about four hours south-west of Hanoi and is home to a White Thai community of people. There are small villages that can be reached by wandering through the rice fields (among the song of frogs, geese and cows), where you'll find homestay options, stalls selling woven scarves, bags and clothing, and even a few traditional looms on display or in use. It's a beautiful change from the city and a real taste of rural life. If you stay at Mai Chau Lodge, there are plenty of activities to book, such as walking tours with local guides, cave explorations, market trips and cooking classes. MAI CHAU FOODNOTE Because this area is inhabited by White Thai people, the food is highly varied and pulls strong influences from Chinese and Thai cuisines. So while dishes such as tom ka ghai and fried noodles might have you wondering if you've strayed from traditional Vietnamese cuisine, just think of how little you worried about the 'Frenchness' of that banh mi baguette. The cuisine here holds a very interesting identity, and that is precisely thanks to the different influences. Of course, being in the rice fields, the ubiquitous white grain features heavily, and is served with pretty much everything. As are the flavours of lemongrass, lime, garlic, chilli and salt. And, somewhat surprisingly, sweet potatoes that are grown in the fields and sold at the local markets in abundance. HOI AN Hoi An in central Vietnam is a quaint little delight of a town that seems highly geared towards tourism, yet still retains some element of small-town charm. Lanterns hang outside the shops and the old town's cobbled streets are filled with wanderers of the non-motorised variety, in very European fashion. Don't be overwhelmed by all the clothes tailors and shoemakers. Save time and energy and head straight to Miss Forget-Me-Not (37 Phan Chu Trinh Street) for clothes and shoes, and Tu Chi (24 Phan Boi Chau Street) for bags — they come highly recommended by many travellers, including this writer. Then find respite from it all at An Bang Beach, about four kilometres out of town. My recommendation is to base yourself out there, in one of the few homestay properties (there are no hotels, per se, but Beach Hideaway and Seaside Village both offer glorious villa-style cottages), and cycle into town when the days calls for dining or shopping. For the other times, the beach provides long stretches of white sand dotted with traditional fishing coracles, warm calm water to float about in, and a stretch of bars and restaurants with shaded beach lounges for their customers. Watch the local families descend on the beach as the sun recedes — they bring tables, chairs, big pots of rice and grilled meats, make a fire and settle in for an evening on the sand. It's quite a sight. HOI AN FOODNOTE Perhaps the jewel in Hoi An's food crown is cao lau, a traditional dish of noodles made using water from the well to give them a heavier, chewier texture. These noodles are sandwiched between rich, salty stock at the bottom and grilled pork and fresh leaves on top. It's served at breakfast time (although you can find it any time of the day) and is a surprisingly great way to start the day of eating. Other treats specific to Hoi An include white rose (rice paper dumplings filled with minced prawns) and com ga, shredded chicken with yellow rice. Of course, being by the sea, fresh seafood also features heavily. Ordering the fish special often means whatever the local fishermen have brought back in their coracles that morning, so you can guarantee it will be fresh, and local. Beyond all that, wherever you are in Vietnam, remember to wear sunscreen, cross the road with bravery, barter with a smile, look for regional specialties and try ca phe sua da (Vietnamese iced coffee) at least once, if not daily. Photography by Greg George and Julia Gaw.
When word arrived that Brisbane Powerhouse was starting a twice-yearly neon-lit night market that'll pop up for a month at a time with food, booze and art installations, the River City rejoiced. And, as Night Feast kept announcing and adding to its debut lineup, excitement grew. That's all got nothing on the response to the event now that it's finally here, though, with its debut outing kicking off back on Wednesday, March 1 and running until Sunday, March 26. The fact that this event takes place via evening is all there in its name — but it's proven so popular that organisers are adding a bit more daylight to its season. For its final two March weekends, so on Saturday, March 18–Sunday, March 19 and Saturday, March 25–Sunday, March 26, Night Feast will now kick off at 2pm instead of 4.30pm. Closing time remains 9.30pm. Thousands of folks have been visiting the Powerhouse forecourt each evening, which is hardly surprising; given how much Brisbane loves the Night Noodle Markets when they hit each year, the River City was always going to adore Night Feast. Arriving early in the day won't just take care of your lunch plans, but might help you avoid heaving crowds. The event's culinary bill includes Longrain's Martin Boetz, e'cco Bistro's Philip Johnson, Lyndon Tyers at Donna Chang and Tuan Nguyen at Ngon, plus Lek Senee from Lek's Thai and Patricio Sarno from Mary Mae's Kitchen & Bar — and City Winery's vino thanks to winemaker Dave Cush. And, dishes from Taro's Ramen and Ham on Rye are also on the menu, as well as from Saison Salumi and Wine & Dine Em. Chef Anchalee Kasurin is whipping up poffertjes pancakes as part of an international array, too, which surveys Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Middle Eastern, Italian, Greek, modern Australian cuisine and more at 20-plus gourmet food stalls. Communal feasting is one of Night Feast's big focuses also, and having the restaurants taking part in Night Feast to dish up the absolute top thing on their menus is another. That means tucking into their signature dishes, but by the river in New Farm. Night Feast also features an open fire pit for roasting and a dedicated dessert bar, plus cocktails and a top-notch wine list to wash it all down with. And, the food side of the program is just one of the highlights. The arts and music program is just as impressive, giant illuminated humanoids via Amanda Parer's Fantastic Planet and laser beams that look like intergalactic events included. After its March season, the market will take place again from Wednesday, October 4–Sunday, October 29, 2023, then return each March and October moving forward. Night Feast runs until Sunday, March 26 — operating 4.30–9.30pm Wednesday–Friday and 2–9.30pm Saturday–Sunday. For more information, head to the event's website. Night Feast will then return again from Wednesday, October 4–Sunday, October 29 — plus twice a year after that. Images: Markus Ravik / Lachlan Douglas.
UPDATE, November 04, 2020: Good Time is available to stream via Netflix, Google Play and YouTube Movies. Robert Pattinson. New York City. One wild night. What could possibly go wrong? In Good Time's account of a petty crook trying to rustle up some cash to get his brother out of jail, the answer is plenty. The title is tongue-in-cheek, for the characters at least. For the audience, it's more of a promise. A good time is all but guaranteed as you watch Benny and Josh Safdie's grubby, energetic heist movie unfold. Gritty but vivid is an unlikely blend, and yet that's Good Time from start to finish. In the siblings' hands, the film is so grimy that you can almost feel the dirt, blood and blonde hair dye getting under your fingernails (full credit to cinematographer Sean Price Williams and his constantly roaming camera). Amplifying the sense of immediacy even further is Oneohtrix Point Never's pulsating electronic soundtrack, which proves so urgent and exhilarating in its mood and rhythm that you'll feel as riled up as the figures on screen. When a bank robbery leaves Connie (Pattinson) and his mentally challenged brother Nick (played by Benny Safdie) covered in telltale red paint from head to toe, the particularly crafty crim is quick to search for a solution. After the cops spot them and detain Nick, he's desperate and determined to rustle up the cash for his bail — sweet-talking his sometimes-girlfriend (Jennifer Jason Leigh), staging a hospital rescue, fooling around with a teenager (Taliah Webster), trying to find some stashed acid, and tussling with an amusement park security guard (Barkhad Abdi) in the process. This eclectic series of events would be played for laughs in any other movie, but that's not Good Time's angle. Likewise, a lesser film might have wallowed in its protagonist's backstory, making him a sympathetic underdog with a thousand reasons for breaking bad. That's not what the talented Safdies are up to either. Like their last picture, the excellent heroin addict drama Heaven Knows What, the duo plunge into marginalised worlds that many of their viewers won't have experienced, and from there let their characters do the talking. The siblings' distinctive on-the-street style never fails to set the tone, or demonstrate their eye for rich texture and grungy detail. That said, the filmmakers are also aided by their high-profile star giving what might just be the finest performance of his career — and with a growing array of great non-Twilight turns on his resume, that's saying something. Armed with peroxide locks, a greasy complexion and a jittery demeanour, in Good Time Pattinson wears his character's confident, quick-thinking guise like a second skin. The charm to always get his way, the resourcefulness to constantly find a path forward, the smarts to get the best of almost everyone he encounters: thanks to this former teen heart-throb, the scheming, scamming, never-stopping Connie is magnetic, dynamic, complicated and compelling. In one of the year's best films, Pattinson is having a very good time indeed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsQBe3BlMMk
If the beginning of your year is always all about Mardi Gras but you live in Brisbane or Melbourne, you're likely currently considering a trip to Sydney across the end of February and beginning of March. Here's something that might sweeten the deal: as it first did from Brisbane in 2021, Virgin Australia is running glitter-filled flights from both the Queensland and Victorian capitals that'll be full of drag and DJs — and bottomless drinks. The pride flights are one-way legs from to Sydney that will include those non-stop beverages, DJs spinning classic pride tunes, pride flags a-waving constantly, and mid-air drag performances hosted by Ru Paul's Drag Race Down Under stars Maxi Shield and Coco Jumbo. As you would expect, passengers will also be travelling on Virgin's most bright and colourful aircrafts, which'll be decked out in glitter and rainbows. After pre-departure parties (because this fabulous trip starts at the airport), the flights will leave from both cities around lunchtime on Friday, March 4, just in time for the final weekend of Mardi Gras 2022, including the parade — which'll be hosted at the SCG again this year to abide by COVID-19 restrictions. An array of parties, talks and performances are all also scheduled for the first weekend of March. Check out Mardi Gras' full program at its website. Tickets for the flight went on sale today, Wednesday, February 2, and are sure to be snatched up quickly. An economy seat on the flight will set you back $150 one-way or you can upgrade to business for $399. Whichever you opt for, $30 from the sale of each ticket will be donated to Australian charity Minus18, which works to improve the lives of LGBTQIA+ youth. The one caveat: passengers will have to organise their own far less glitter-filled flight home following the weekend's celebrations. Of course, Sydneysiders wanting to experience the one-off flight can also head up to Brisbane or Melbourne prior to the Friday event, then use the pride flight to return home. Virgin Australia's Pride Flight will fly from both Brisbane and Melbourne to Sydney on Friday, March 4. Tickets are on sale now from the Virgin Australia website.
Ever since Freddie Mercury teamed up with Brian May and company back in the 70s, Queen has never been out of fashion. And, thanks to Bohemian Rhapsody and the band's current members touring Down Under, the UK group has been grabbing plenty of attention again in recent years. You could call it a kind of magic. You could say that their songs must go on. Either way, if you're happy to let the British band keep rocking you, then you'll want to catch London's Queen by Candlelight when it debuts in Australia. While Queen tribute nights aren't rare — and neither are ones lit by flickering flames — this is the OG West End production, which features a live rock band and a cast of singers from London busting out the group's famous tracks. Been feeling a crazy little thing called love for Freddie and his bandmates? Then you'll clearly be in the right spot, with Queen by Candlelight playing the QPAC Concert Hall at 8pm on Wednesday, February 1. If your approach to the group's music is "I want it all!", that's what you'll hear. For one night, the event will break free so that Queen lovers can celebrate with their fellow champions. The aim: to make you feel like you're hearing the real thing, in a venue glowing with candles. In the UK, the gigs — which feature more than 20 Queen tracks — have proven sellouts.
If you like to fill your time staring at a screen, small or big, there's never a bad year to do it. Great shows and films, terrible ones, everything in-between — they all arrive every single year. That said, if you're a fan of savvy TV series with something to say — and plenty about the world to savage, skewer or expose — then 2021 has been a particularly excellent year. Some of the absolute best series of the past 12 months took a look at the chasm between the wealthy and everyone else, the way women in entertainment are treated, or sitcom and rom-com tropes, and turned it into exceptional television. Other 2021 standouts transformed true crime and podcasting obsessions into an amusing murder-mystery, examined race relations in America in a searing fashion, stepped back to the AIDS crisis of the 80s and early 90s, and spun a slice-of-life comedy around Indigenous American teenagers. And yes, the list goes on. Thankfully, all of the year's highlights are also now available to stream — so here's your catch-up viewing for the summer. THE WHITE LOTUS With Enlightened, his excellent two-season Laura Dern-starring comedy-drama from 2011–13, writer/director Mike White (Brad's Status) followed an executive who broke down at work. When she stepped back into her life, she found herself wanting something completely different not just for herself, but for and from the world. It isn't linked, narrative-wise, to White's latest TV miniseries The White Lotus. The same mood flows through, however. Here, wealthy Americans holiday at a luxe Hawaiian resort, which is managed by Australian Armond (Murray Bartlett, Tales of the City) — folks like business star Nicole (Connie Britton, Bombshell), her husband Mark (Steve Zahn, Where'd You Go, Bernadette), and the teenage trio of Olivia (Sydney Sweeney, Euphoria), Paula (Brittany O'Grady, Little Voice) and Quinn (Fred Hechinger, Fear Street); newlyweds Rachel (Alexandra Daddario, Songbird) and Shane (Jake Lacy, Mrs America); and the recently bereaved Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge, Promising Young Woman). From the outset, when the opening scene shows Shane accompanying a body on the way home, viewers know this'll end with a death. But as each episode unfurls, it's clear that these characters are reassessing what they want out of life as well. In The White Lotus, a glam and glossy getaway becomes a hellish trap, magnifying glass and mirror, with everyone's issues and problems only augmented by their time at the eponymous location. In terms of sinking its claws into the affluent, eat the rich-style, this perceptive, alluring and excellently cast drama also pairs nicely with the White-penned Beatriz at Dinner, especially as it examines the differences between the resort's guests and staff. The White Lotus is available to stream via Binge. Read our full review. THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD Two words: Barry Jenkins. Where the Oscar-nominated Moonlight director goes, viewers should always follow. That proved the case with 2018's If Beale Street Could Talk, and it's definitely accurate regarding The Underground Railroad, the phenomenal ten-part series that features Jenkins behind the camera of each and every episode. As the name makes plain, the historical drama uses the real-life Underground Railroad — the routes and houses that helped enslaved Black Americans escape to freedom — as its basis. Here, though, drawing on the past isn't as straightforward as it initially sounds. Adapting Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same moniker, the series dives deeply into the experiences of people endeavouring to flee slavery, while also adopting magic-realism when it comes to taking a literal approach to its railroad concept. That combination couldn't work better in Jenkins' hands as he follows Cora (Thuso Mbedu, Shuga), a woman forced into servitude on a plantation overseen by Terrance Randall (Benjamin Walker, Jessica Jones). As always proves the case in the filmmaker's work, every frame is a thing of beauty, every second heaves with emotion, and every glance, stare, word and exchange is loaded with a thorough examination of race relations in America. Nothing else this affecting reached streaming queues in 2021 — but even one series like this made it a phenomenal year for audiences. The Underground Railroad is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video. KEVIN CAN F**K HIMSELF There's never been a show on TV quite like Kevin Can F**k Himself, but there have been too many series that resemble half of this clever and cutting dark comedy. Whenever Allison Devine-McRoberts (Annie Murphy, Schitt's Creek) is around her manchild of a husband Kevin (Eric Petersen, Sydney to the Max), she's clearly in a sitcom. The lights glow brightly, her home looks like every other cosy abode in every other apparently amusing show about an obnoxious man and his put-upon wife — including all the ones starring Kevin James — and multiple cameras capture their lives. Also, canned laughter chuckles whenever something supposedly funny (but usually just cringeworthy) occurs between Kevin, his ever dimwitted best pal and neighbour Neil (Alex Bonifer, Superstore), Neil's one-of-the-guys sister Patty (Mary Hollis Inboden, The Righteous Gemstones) and Kevin's ever-present dad (Brian Howe, Chicago Fire). We've all seen this setup before, and Kevin Can F**k Himself's creator Valerie Armstrong (Lodge 49) definitely knows it. But, whenever Allison is blissfully free from her horrible hubby, murkier tones and a much more realistic vibe kick in. Just one camera films her struggles, and she's clearly in a premium cable drama. This is when Allison starts trying to do something about her terrible marriage, including a plot not just to leave Kevin, but to ensure that she'll be free of him forever. On paper, the creative decisions behind Kevin Can F**k Himself's two halves are a high-concept gimmick, and purposefully so. They're deployed devastatingly on-screen, however. Thankfully, Kevin Can F**k Himself has been renewed for a second season, too, so more of its savvy charms and astute social commentary — and Murphy and Inboden's memorable performances — await. Kevin Can F**k Himself is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video. Read our full review. HACKS It sounds like an obvious premise, and one that countless films and TV shows have already mined in the name of laughs. In Hacks, two vastly dissimilar people are pushed together, with the resulting conflict guiding the series. Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder, North Hollywood) and her new boss Deborah Vance (Jean Smart, Mare of Easttown) couldn't be more different in age, experience, tastes and opinions. The former is a 25-year-old who made the move to Hollywood, has been living out her dream as a comedy writer, but found her career plummeting after a tweet crashed and burned. The latter is a legendary stand-up who hasn't stopped hitting the stage for decades, is approaching the 2500th show of her long-running Las Vegas residency and is very set in her ways. They appear to share exactly one thing in common: a love for comedy. They're an odd couple thrust together by their mutual manager Jimmy (Paul W Downs, Broad City), neither wants to be working with the other, and — to the surprise of no one, including each other — they clash again and again. There's no laugh track adding obvious chuckles to this HBO sitcom, though. Created by three of the talents behind Broad City — writer Jen Statsky; writer/director Lucia Aniello; and Downs, who does double duty in front of and behind the lens — Hacks isn't solely interested in setting two seemingly mismatched characters against each other. This is a smart and insightful series about what genuinely happens when this duo spends more and more time together, what's sparked their generational conflict and what, despite their evident differences, they actually share beyond that love of making people laugh. And, it's a frank, funny and biting assessment of being a woman in entertainment — and it's also always as canny as it is hilarious. Hacks is available to stream via Stan. Read our full review. RESERVATION DOGS Not content with just having two of the best current sitcoms on his resume — that'd be Wellington Paranormal and What We Do in the Shadows — Taika Waititi has gone and added a third. If you didn't know that he was one of Reservation Dogs' creators, executive producers and writers, you'd likely guess from the laidback tone; however, this is firmly a case of Waititi helping to get an exceptional show off the ground, and also lending his star power to assist emerging voices and under-represented communities. The 'reservation' part of this comedy's title is literal. In rural Oklahoma, that's where Indigenous American teenagers Bear (D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Beans), Elora (Devery Jacobs, Rutherford Falls), Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis, also seen in Beans) and Cheese (debutant Lane Factor) live, spend their days and meander about while dreaming of being somewhere else. Their ideal destination: California. Their number-one pastime: rustling up cash by whatever means they can to fund their big getaway, including by hijacking a delivery van filled with potato chips in the show's first episode. It's that heist and the aftermath that gives this quartet their Quentin Tarantino-style nickname, but Reservation Dogs isn't about bold and flashy moments. It's about the daily reality as Bear and his pals navigate their present existence and hope that they can soon escape it. In other words, this is a series that's deeply steeped in conveying the small details in its characters' lives, and giving audiences the chance to spend time with them. It's a show that's as much about hanging out as propelling a plot forward and, in the hands of Waititi and fellow co-creator/executive producer/writer Sterlin Harjo (Mekko), it's a coming-of-age gem. Reservation Dogs is available to stream via Binge. IT'S A SIN More than two decades after creating Queer as Folk, Russell T Davies has given the television landscape another excellent queer drama. The screenwriter and television producer has been busy over the intervening period thanks to everything from Doctor Who to Years and Years — and he also has 2015's Cucumber to his name, too — but It's a Sin is one of the very best things on his lengthy resume. Stepping back to the AIDS crisis of the 80s and early 90s, the five-part miniseries follows a group of friends chasing their dreams in London. Ritchie (Olly Alexander, Penny Dreadful) heads to the city to become an actor, and to avoid telling his stern parents that he's gay. Roscoe (Omari Douglas) flees his parents' home when they keep threatening to take him back to Nigeria. Colin (Callum Scott Howells) arrives for an apprenticeship at a high-end tailor shop, but soon finds himself seeking an escape from his lecherous boss. Given the era, there's no doubting where the story will head. It's a Sin is as joyous and vibrant as it is soulful and heartbreaking, though. Ritchie, Roscoe and Colin not only cross paths, but form a makeshift family in their modest flat, with the former's college friends Jill (Lydia West, Dracula) and Ash (Nathaniel Curtis) rounding out the quintet. Neil Patrick Harris and Stephen Fry also feature, but they're never It's a Sin's stars — because, in series that looks and sounds the period part at every moment, the show's five main players are simply phenomenal. It's a Sin is available to stream via Stan. MARE OF EASTTOWN Kate Winslet doesn't make the leap to the small screen often, but when she does, it's a must-see event. 2011's Mildred Pierce was simply astonishing, a description that both Winslet and her co-star Guy Pearce also earned — alongside an Emmy each, plus three more for the HBO limited series itself. The two actors and the acclaimed US cable network all reteamed for Mare of Easttown, and it too is excellent. Set on the outskirts of Philadelphia, it follows detective Mare Sheehan. As the 25th anniversary of her high-school basketball championship arrives, and after a year of trying to solve a missing person's case linked to one of her former teammates, a new murder upends her existence. Mare's life overflows with complications anyway, with her ex-husband (David Denman, Brightburn) getting remarried, and her mother (Jean Smart, Hacks), teenage daughter (Angourie Rice, Spider-Man: Far From Home) and four-year-old grandson all under her roof. With town newcomer Richard Ryan (Pearce, The Last Vermeer), she snatches what boozy and physical solace she can. As compelling and textured as she always is, including in this year's Ammonite, Winslet turns Mare of Easttown into a commanding character study. That said, it's firmly an engrossing crime drama as well. Although yet again pondering the adult life of an ex-school sports star, The Way Back's Brad Ingelsby isn't just repeating himself by creating and writing this seven-part series, while The Leftovers and The Hunt's Craig Zobel takes to his directing gig with a probing eye. Mare of Easttown is available to stream via Binge. GIRLS5EVA First, a word of warning: the hit song that brought fictional late 90s/early 00s girl group Girls5eva to fame is such an earworm, you'll be singing it to yourself for weeks after you binge through the sitcom that bears their name. That's to be expected given that Jeff Richmond, the composer behind 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's equally catchy and comedic tunes, is one of the talents behind it. Tina Fey and Robert Carlock produce the series, too, so you also what type of humour you're in for. Starring Sara Bareilles (Broadway's Waitress), Busy Philipps (I Feel Pretty), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton) and the great Paula Pell (AP Bio), Girls5eva follows four members of the eponymous band two decades after their heyday. Their initial success didn't last, and life has left the now-fortysomething women at different junctures. Then a rapper samples their hit, they're asked to reunite for a one-night backing spot on The Tonight Show, and they contemplate getting back together to give music another shot. As well as being tremendously well-cast and immensely funny, the series is also bitingly perceptive about stardom, the entertainment industry and the way that women beyond their twenties are treated. Also, when Fey inevitably pops up, she does so as a dream version of Dolly Parton — and it's as glorious as it sounds. Girls5eva is available to stream via Stan. Read our full review. SQUID GAME Exploring societal divides within South Korea wasn't invented by Parasite, Bong Joon-ho's excellent Oscar-winning 2019 thriller, but its success was always going to give other films and TV shows on the topic a healthy boost. Accordingly, it's easy to see thematic and narrative parallels between the acclaimed movie and Netflix's highly addictive Squid Game — the show that's become the platform's biggest show ever (yes, bigger than everything from Stranger Things to Bridgerton). Anyone who has seen even an episode knows why this nine-part series is so compulsively watchable. Its puzzle-like storyline and its unflinching savagery making quite the combination. Here, in a Battle Royale and Hunger Games-style setup, 456 competitors are selected to work their way through six seemingly easy children's games. They're all given numbers and green tracksuits, they're competing for 45.6 billion won, and it turns out that they've also all made their way to the contest after being singled out for having enormous debts. That includes series protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae, Deliver Us From Evil), a chauffeur with a gambling problem, and also a divorcé desperate to do whatever he needs to to keep his daughter in his life. But, as it probes the chasms caused by capitalism and cash — and the things the latter makes people do under the former — this program isn't just about one player. It's about survival, the status quo the world has accepted when it comes to money, and the real inequality present both in South Korea and elsewhere. Filled with electric performances, as clever as it is compelling, unsurprisingly littered with smart cliffhangers, and never afraid to get bloody and brutal, the result is a savvy, tense and taut horror-thriller that entertains instantly and also has much to say. Squid Game is available to stream via Netflix. YELLOWJACKETS When Yellowjackets begins, it's with an intriguing mystery, a killer cast — led by the compulsively watchable Melanie Lynskey (Mrs America), Juliette Lewis (Breaking News in Yuba County) and Christina Ricci (Percy vs Goliath) — and a deep valley full of trauma. In their high-school years, Shauna Sheridan (Lynskey, and also The Kid Detective's Sophie Nélisse as a teenager) and Natalie (Lewis, plus The Tomorrow Man's Sophie Thatcher) were key players on the titular high-achieving New Jersey soccer team, while Misty (Ricci, as well as Shameless' Samantha Hanratty) was the squad's frequently bullied student manager. Then, en route to a big match in Seattle on a private plane in 1996, they entered Lost territory. That crash saw the survivors stranded in the wilderness for 19 months, and living their worst Lord of the Flies lives, too. As established in a stellar first episode directed with the utmost precision by Destroyer's Karyn Kusama, Yellowjackets isn't simply interested in an inherently disturbing experience that'd change anyone's life. It's just as obsessed with that transformation itself — with how, after falling from the sky, learning to endure in such remote surroundings and plummeting into a horror movie, someone copes when normality supposedly comes calling afterwards. Flitting between the two 25-years-apart time periods, it's about tragedies endured, paths taken, necessities accepted and the echoes that linger from all three. Its first season isn't over yet, but this instant must-see is already chilling, perceptive, resonant and potent. Yellowjackets is available to stream via Paramount+. ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING If you've ever listened to a true-crime podcast, decided that you'd make a great Serial host yourself and started wondering how you'd ever follow in Sarah Koenig's footsteps, then you should be watching Only Murders in the Building. The Disney+ series follows three New Yorkers who follow that exact same process. Actor Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin, It's Complicated), theatre producer Oliver Putnam (Martin Short, Schmigadoon!) and the much-younger Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez, The Dead Don't Die) are all obsessed with a series hosted by the fictional Cinda Canning (Tina Fey, Girls5eva), to the point of bonding over it as strangers. Then, when someone turns up dead in their building, they decide that they can sleuth their way through the case — by getting talking themselves, naturally. But being a true-crime podcast diehard and making a true-crime podcast clearly aren't quite the same thing, and turning amateur detective isn't clearcut either. Entertaining and exceptionally well-cast, Only Murders in the Building makes makes the most of its main trio's mismatched vibe. It's filled with hearty affection for everything it jokes about, resulting in an upbeat satire of true-crime obsessions, podcasting's pervasiveness and the intersection of the two. It adores its single-setting Agatha Christie-lite setup, it's always empathetic, and it also loves peppering in highly recognisable co-stars and guest stars such as Fey, Nathan Lane (Penny Dreadful: City of Angels), Amy Ryan (Late Night) and even Sting. The series is also written and acted with enough depth to pair relatable character insights with its bubbly, clownish fun. If Knives Out was a sitcom, and also a little goofier, it'd turn out like this — and that's a delight, obviously. Only Murders in the Building is available to stream via Star on Disney+. Read our full review. STARSTRUCK When Rose Matafeo last graced our screens, she took on pregnancy-centric rom-coms in 2020's Baby Done. Now, in Starstruck, she's still pairing the romantic and the comedic. In another thoughtful, plucky and relatable performance, she plays Jessie, a 28-year-old New Zealander in London who splits her time between working in a cinema and nannying, and isn't expecting much when her best friend and roommate Kate (Emma Sidi, Pls Like) drags her out to a bar on New Year's Eve. For most of the evening, her lack of enthusiasm proves astute. Then she meets Tom (Nikesh Patel, Four Weddings and a Funeral). He overhears her rambling drunkenly to herself in the men's bathroom, they chat at the bar and, when sparks fly, she ends up back at his sprawling flat. It isn't until the next morning, however — when she sees a poster adorned with his face leaning against his living room wall — that she realises that he's actually one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Yes, Starstruck takes Notting Hill's premise and gives it a 22-years-later update, and delivers a smart, sidesplittingly funny and all-round charming rom-com sitcom in the process. When a film or TV show is crafted with a deep-seated love for its chosen genre, it shows. When it wants to do more than just nod and wink at greats gone by like a big on-screen super fan — when its creators passionately hope that it might become a classic in its own right, rather than a mere imitation of better titles — that comes through, too. And that's definitely the case with this ridiculously easy-to-binge charmer. Starstruck is available to stream via ABC iView. Read our full review. Looking for more viewing highlights? We also rounded up 12 of 2021's best TV highlights that you might've missed. And you can also check out our list of film and TV streaming recommendations, which is updated monthly. Plus, we picked 12 standout new 2021 series in the middle of the year, too.
Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of entertainment; it is also how history and knowledge has been passed through from generation to generation and at one point was a primary form of learning. On the topic of learning, school can almost be seen and a transference of knowledge from teacher to student by story telling. Well, maybe that is a bit of a reach, but it gives me a nice segue to an interesting event taking place at Black Bear Lodge this week. Yarn is a night dedicated to story telling. Seeing as school holidays are coming to an end, the theme of this night is ‘Back To School’. Tales from the classroom, playground, 'behind the bleachers' (heh heh heh); there are stories everywhere. People of every level of the school social order spectrum are encouraged to come and share their tales of their learning years, perhaps there is still more to learn about ourselves through the stories of others.
On the small screen, 2023 started by showing the world exactly how a beloved video game should be turned into a television series. By the time the year had reached its midpoint, it had delivered one of the best TV murder-mysteries ever — from Australia, too, and also a smart and savvy comedy. Now that 2024 is almost upon us, a cringe-inducing parody of reality home-improvement programs, among a wealth of other targets, has proven a late-in-the-year stunner. So, as the best new TV shows of 2023 illustrate, no one can say that there hasn't been anything new to watch over the past 12 months. This year's television slate also gave viewers a subversive social satire, a David Cronenberg body-horror masterpiece turned into TV and a calming show about friendship in Japan. They're all among the best of the top brand-new arrivals, as are an eat-the-rich horror gem, a telemarketing true tale that has to be seen to be believed and a side-splitting history-of-the-world mockumentary. Here's an even better piece of news: not only has the past year been exceptional for television, but summer is a glorious time to reflect, revisit and, if you need to, work through your catch-up list. After filling 2023 viewing and rounding up TV highlights — and first selecting the must-sees midyear — we've now whittled down the results of all that couch time to the 15 best small-screen newcomers. THE CURSE It has always been impossible to watch TV shows by Nathan Fielder, including Nathan for You and The Rehearsal, without feeling awkwardness gushing from the screen. The films of Josh and Benny Safdie, such as Good Time and Uncut Gems, are such masterclasses in anxiety and chaos that viewers can be forgiven for thinking that their chairs are jittering along with them. From Easy A, La La Land and Maniac to The Favourite and Poor Things, Emma Stone keeps proving an inimitable acting force. Combine Fielder, the Safdies and Stone on one series, then, and whatever sprang was always going to be a must-see. Dark satire The Curse is also as extraordinary in its brilliance as it is excruciating in its discomfort. As well as co-creating the ten-part series, Fielder and Benny Safdie co-star, co-write and co-direct. Stone joins them on-screen and as an executive producer, with Benny's brother Josh doing the latter as well. And the Safdies' regular collaborator Oneohtrix Point Never, aka Daniel Lopatin, gets the show buzzing with atmospheric agitation in one of his best scores yet. Yes, The Curse is everything that the sum of these parts promises. It flows with disquiet like a burst hydrant. It fills each almost hour-long episode with a lifetime's worth of cringe. It's relentless in its unease, and also a marvellous, intense and hilarious black comedy that apes the metal Doug Aitken-esque houses that Stone and Fielder's Whitney and Asher Siegel like to build, reflecting oh-so-much about the world around it. The Curse takes the show-within-a-show route, with the Siegels eager to grace the world's screens as reality TV hosts spruiking environmentally sustainable passive homes in New Mexico's Española. The newly married pair have American pay TV network Home & Garden Television interested in Fliplanthropy, as well as their efforts to green up the community, create jobs for locals, and revitalise a place otherwise equated with struggling and crime stats. Lurking between the couple and HGTV is producer Dougie Schecter (Safdie, Oppenheimer), Asher's childhood friend with a nose for sensationalism — particularly as disharmony lingers among his stars as they try to start a family, get their show on the air, build their gleaming houses, find ideal buyers, honour the area's Indigenous history and overcome The Curse's title. The Curse streams via Paramount+. Read our full review. DEADLOCH Trust Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan, Australia's favourite Kates and funniest double act, to make a killer TV show about chasing a killer that's the perfect sum of two excellent halves. Given their individual and shared backgrounds, including creating and starring in cooking show sendup The Katering Show and morning television spoof Get Krack!n, the pair unsurprisingly add another reason to get chuckling to their resumes; however, with Deadloch, they also turn their attention to crime procedurals. The Kates already know how to make viewers laugh. They've established their talents as brilliant satirists and lovers of the absurd in the process. Now, splashing around those skills in Deadloch's exceptional eight-episode first season lead by Kate Box (Stateless) and Madeleine Sami (The Breaker Upperers), they've also crafted a dead-set stellar murder-mystery series that ranks among The Kates' best work in almost every way. The only time that it doesn't? Not putting the tremendous pair on-screen themselves. Taking place in a sleepy small town, commencing with a body on a beach, and following both the local cop trying to solve the case and the gung-ho blow-in from a big city leading the enquiries, Deadloch has all the crime genre basics covered from the get-go. The Tasmanian spot scandalised by the death is a sitcom-esque quirky community, another television staple that McCartney and McLennan nail. Parody requires deep knowledge and understanding; you can't comically rip into and riff on something if you aren't familiar with its every in and out. That said, Deadloch isn't in the business of simply mining well-worn TV setups and their myriad of conventions for giggles, although it does that expertly. With whip-smart writing, the Australian series is intelligent, hilarious, and all-round cracking as a whodunnit-style noir drama and as a comedy alike — and, as Box's by-the-book Senior Sergeant Dulcie Collins and Sami's loose and chaotic Darwin blow-in Eddie Redcliffe are forced to team up, it's also one of the streaming highlights of the year. Deadloch streams via Prime Video. Read our full review, and our interview with Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan. I'M A VIRGO No one makes social satires like Boots Riley. Late in I'm a Virgo, when a character proclaims that "all art is propaganda", these words may as well be coming from The Coup frontman-turned-filmmaker's very own lips. In only his second screen project after the equally impassioned, intelligent, energetic, anarchic and exceptional 2018 film Sorry to Bother You, Riley doesn't have his latest struggling and striving hero utter this sentiment, however. Rather, it springs from the billionaire technology mogul also known as The Hero (Walton Goggins, George & Tammy), who's gleefully made himself the nemesis of 13-foot-tall series protagonist Cootie (Jharrel Jerome, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse). Knowing that all stories make a statement isn't just the domain of activists fighting for better futures for the masses, as Riley is, and he wants to ensure that his audience knows it. Indeed, I'm a Virgo is a show with something to say, and forcefully. Its creator is angry again, too, and wants everyone giving him their time to be bothered — and he still isn't sorry for a second. With Jerome as well-cast a lead as Atlanta's Lakeith Stanfield was the last time that Riley was behind the lens, I'm a Virgo also hinges upon a surreal central detail: instead of a Black telemarketer discovering the impact of his "white voice", it hones in on the oversized Cootie. When it comes to assimilation, consider this series Sorry to Bother You's flipside, because there's no way that a young Black man that's more than double the tallest average height is passing for anyone but himself. Riley knows that Black men are too often seen as threats and targets regardless of their stature anyway. He's read the research showing that white folks can perceive Black boys as older and less innocent. As Cootie wades through these experiences himself, there isn't a single aspect of I'm a Virgo that doesn't convey Riley's ire at the state of the world — that doesn't virtually scream about it, actually — with this series going big and bold over and over. I'm a Virgo streams via Prime Video. Read our full review. DEAD RINGERS Twin gynaecologists at the top of their game. Blood-red costuming and bodily fluids. The kind of perturbing mood that seeing flesh as a source of horror does and must bring. An exquisite eye for stylish yet unsettling imagery. Utterly impeccable lead casting. When 1988's Dead Ringers hit cinemas, it was with this exact combination, all in the hands of David Cronenberg following Shivers, The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome and The Fly. He took inspiration from real-life siblings Stewart and Cyril Marcus, whose existence was fictionalised in 1977 novel Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland, and turned it into something spectacularly haunting. Attempting to stitch together those parts again, this time without the Crimes of the Future filmmaker at the helm — and as a miniseries, too — on paper seems as wild a feat as some of modern medicine's biggest advancements. This time starring a phenomenal Rachel Weisz as both Beverly and Elliot Mantle, and birthed by Lady Macbeth and The Wonder screenwriter Alice Birch, Dead Ringers 2.0 is indeed an achievement. It's also another masterpiece. Playing the gender-swapped roles that Jeremy Irons (House of Gucci) inhabited so commandingly 35 years back, Weisz (Black Widow) is quiet, calm, dutiful, sensible and yearning as Beverly, then volatile, outspoken, blunt, reckless and rebellious as Elliot. Her performance as each is that distinct — that fleshed-out as well — that it leaves viewers thinking they're seeing double. Of course, technical trickery is also behind the duplicate portrayals, with directors Sean Durkin (The Nest), Karena Evans (Snowfall), Lauren Wolkstein (The Strange Ones) and Karyn Kusama's (Destroyer) behind the show's lens; however, Weisz is devastatingly convincing. Beverly is also the patient-facing doctor of the two, helping usher women into motherhood, while Elliot prefers tinkering in a state-of-the-art lab trying to push the boundaries of fertility. Still, the pair are forever together or, with unwitting patients and dates alike, swapping places and pretending to be each other. Most folks in their company don't know what hit them, which includes actor Genevieve (Britne Oldford, The Umbrella Academy), who segues from a patient to Beverly's girlfriend — and big-pharma billionaire Rebecca (Jennifer Ehle, She Said), who Dead Ringers' weird sisters court to fund their dream birthing centre. Dead Ringers streams via Prime Video. Read our full review. THE LAST OF US If the end of the world comes, or a parasitic fungus evolves via climate change, spreads globally, infests brains en masse and almost wipes out humanity, spectacular video game-to-TV adaptation The Last of Us will have you wanting Pedro Pascal in your corner. Already a standout in Game of Thrones, then Narcos, then The Mandalorian, he's perfectly cast in HBO's blockbuster series — a character-driven show that ruminates on what it means to not just survive but to want to live and thrive after the apocalypse. In this smart and gripping series (one that's thankfully already been renewed for season two, too), he plays Joel. Dad to teenager Sarah (Nico Parker, The Third Day), he's consumed by grief and loss after what starts as a normal day, and his birthday, changes everything for everyone. Twenty years later, he's a smuggler tasked with tapping into his paternal instincts to accompany a different young girl, the headstrong Ellie (Bella Ramsey, Catherine Called Birdy), on a perilous but potentially existence-saving trip across the US. Starting to watch The Last of Us, or even merely describing it, is an instant exercise in déjà vu. Whether or not you've played the hit game since it first arrived in 2013, or its 2014 expansion pack, 2020 sequel or 2022 remake, its nine-part TV iteration ventures where plenty of on-screen fare including The Road and The Walking Dead has previously trodden. The best example that springs to mind during The Last of Us is Station Eleven, however, which is the heartiest of compliments given how thoughtful, empathetic and textured that 2021–22 series proved. As everything about pandemics, contagions and diseases that upend the world order now does, The Last of Us feels steeped in stone-cold reality as well, as spearheaded by a co-creator, executive producer, writer and director who has already turned an IRL doomsday into stunning television with Chernobyl. That creative force is Craig Mazin, teaming up with Neil Druckmann from Naughty Dog, who also wrote and directed The Last of Us games. The Last of Us streams via Binge. Read our full review, and our interview with Melanie Lynskey. THE MAKANAI: COOKING FOR THE MAIKO HOUSE At the beginning of The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, 16-year-old best friends Kiyo (Nana Mori, Liar x Liar) and Sumire (Natsuki Deguchi, Silent Parade) leave home for the first time with smiles as wide as their hearts are open. Departing the rural Aomari for Kyoto in the thick of winter, they have internships as maiko lined up — apprentice geiko, as geishas are called in the Kyoto dialect. Their path to their dearest wishes isn't all sunshine and cherry blossoms from there, of course, but this is a series that lingers on the details, on slices of life, and on everyday events rather than big dramatic developments. Watch, for instance, how lovingly Kiyo and Sumire's last meal is lensed before they set out for their new future, and how devotedly the camera surveys the humble act of sitting down to share a dumpling soup, legs tucked beneath blankets under the table, while having an ordinary conversation. Soothing, tender, compassionate, bubbling with warmth: that's The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House from the outset. There's a key reason that this cosy and comforting new treasure overflows with such affection and understanding — for its characters, their lives and just the act of living. Prolific writer/director Hirokazu Kore-eda simply isn't capable of anything else. Yes, Netflix has been in the auteur game of late, and The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House is unmistakably the work of its rightly applauded creative force. One of the biggest names in Japanese cinema today, and the winner of the received Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or back in 2018 for the sublime Shoplifters, Kore-eda makes empathetic, rich and deeply emotional works. His movies, including the France-set The Truth and South Korea-set Broker, truly see the people within their frames. On the small screen, and hailing from manga, the nine-episode The Makanai is no different. It's also as calming as a show about friendships, chasing dreams and devouring ample dumplings can and should be. The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House streams via Netflix. FULL CIRCLE Whether on screens big and small, when an audience watches a Steven Soderbergh project, they're watching one of America's great current directors ply his full range of filmmaking skills. Usually, he doesn't just helm. Going by Peter Andrews and Mary Ann Bernard — aliases from his parents' names — he shoots and edits as well. And he's prolific: since advising that he'd retire from making features after Side Effects, he's directed, lensed and spliced nine more, plus three TV shows. Among those titles sit movies such as Logan Lucky, Unsane, Kimi and Magic Mike's Last Dance; the exceptional two seasons of turn-of-the-20th-century medical drama The Knick; and now New York-set kidnapping miniseries Full Circle. The filmmaker who won Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or at 26 for Sex, Lies and Videotape, earned two Best Director Oscars in one year for Traffic and Erin Brockovich, brought the Ocean's franchise back to cinemas in 2001, and eerily predicted the COVID-19 pandemic with 2011's Contagion is in his element with his latest work. Six-part noir-influenced thriller Full Circle reunites Soderbergh with Mosaic and No Sudden Move screenwriter Ed Solomon, boasts a starry cast, involves money and secrets and deception, and proves a twisty and layered crime tale from the get-go. Full Circle starts with a murder, then a revenge plot, then a missing smartphone. These early inclusions all tie into an intricate narrative that will indeed demonstrate inevitability, cause and effect, the repercussions of our actions, and decisions looping back around. The pivotal death forms part of a turf war, sparking a campaign of retaliation by Queens-based Guyanese community leader and insurance scammer Savitri Mahabir (CCH Pounder, Avatar: The Way of Water). She enlists freshly arrived teens Xavier (Sheyi Cole, Atlanta) and Louis (Gerald Jones, Armageddon Time) to do the seizing under her nephew Aked's (Jharrel Jerome, I'm a Virgo) supervision; one of the newcomers is the brother of the latter's fiancée Natalia (Adia, The Midnight Club), who is also Savitri's masseuse. The target: Manhattan high-schooler Jared (Ethan Stoddard, Mysteries at the Museum), son of the wealthy and privileged Sam (Claire Danes, Fleishman Is in Trouble) and Derek Browne (Timothy Olyphant, Daisy Jones & The Six), and grandson through Sam to ponytailed celebrity chef Jeff McCusker (Dennis Quaid, Strange World). Savitri is convinced that this is the only way to stave off the curse she's certain is hanging over her business — a "broken circle", in fact. But, much to the frustration of the US Postal Inspection Service's Manny Broward (Jim Gaffigan, Peter Pan & Wendy), his go-for-broke agent Melody Harmony (Zazie Beetz, Black Mirror) is already investigating before the abduction. Full Circle streams via Binge. Read our full review. RAIN DOGS In 2019's Skint Estate, Cash Carraway told all; A memoir of poverty, motherhood and survival completes the book's full title. Penned about working-class Britain from within working-class Britain, Carraway's written jaunt through her own life steps through the reality of being a single mum without a permanent place to live, of struggling to get by at every second, and of being around the system since she was a teenager. It examines alcoholism, loneliness, mental illness and domestic violence, too, plus refuges, working at peep shows, getting groceries from food banks and hopping between whatever temporary accommodation is available. Rain Dogs isn't a direct adaptation. It doesn't purport to bring Carraway's experiences to the screen exactly as they happened, or with slavish fidelity to the specific details. But this HBO and BBC eight-parter remains not only raw, rich, honest and authentic but lived in, as it tells the same story with candour, humour, warmth and poignancy. Slipping into Carraway's fictionalised shoes is Daisy May Cooper — and she's outstanding. Her on-screen resume includes Avenue 5 and Am I Being Unreasonable?, as well as being a team captain on the latest iteration of Britain's Spicks and Specks-inspiring Never Mind the Buzzcocks, but she's a force to be reckoned with as aspiring writer and mum (to Iris, played by debutant Fleur Tashjian) Costello Jones. When Rain Dogs begins, it's with an eviction. Cooper lives and breathes determination as Costello then scrambles to find somewhere for her and Iris to stay next. But this isn't just their tale, with the pair's lives intersecting with the privileged but self-destructive Selby (Jack Farthing, Spencer), who completes their unconventional and dysfunctional family but tussles with his mental health. Including Costello's best friend Gloria (Ronke Adekoluejo, Alex Rider), plus ailing artist Lenny (The Young Ones legend Adrian Edmondson), this is a clear-eyed look at chasing a place to belong — and it's remarkable. Rain Dogs streams via Binge. Read our full review. SILO Rebecca Ferguson will never be mistaken for Daveed Diggs, but the Dune, Mission: Impossible franchise and Doctor Sleep star now follows in the Hamilton Tony-winner's footsteps. While he has spent multiple seasons navigating dystopian class clashes on a globe-circling train in the TV version of Snowpiercer, battling his way up and down the titular locomotive, she just started ascending and descending the stairs in the underground chamber that gives Silo its moniker. Ferguson's character is also among humanity's last remnants. Attempting to endure in post-apocalyptic times, she hails from her abode's lowliest depths as well. And, when there's a murder in this instantly engrossing new ten-part series — which leaps to the screen from Hugh Howey's novels, and shares a few basic parts with Metropolis, Blade Runner and The Platform, as well as corrupt world orders at the core of The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner flicks — she's soon playing detective. Silo captivates from the outset, when its focus is the structure's sheriff Holston (David Oyelowo, See How They Run) and his wife Allison (Rashida Jones, On the Rocks). Both know the cardinal rule of the buried tower, as does deputy Marnes (Will Patton, Outer Range), mayor Ruth (Geraldine James, Benediction), security head Sims (Common, The Hate U Give), IT top brass Bernard (Tim Robbins, Dark Waters) and the other 10,000 souls they live with: if you make the request to go outside, it's irrevocable and you'll be sent there as punishment. No matter who you are, and from which level, anyone posing such a plea becomes a public spectacle. Their ask is framed as "cleaning", referring to wiping down the camera that beams the desolate planet around them onto window-sized screens in their cafeterias. No one has ever come back, or survived for more than minutes. Why? Add that to the questions piling up not just for Silo's viewers, but for the silo's residents. For more than 140 years, the latter have dwelled across their 144 floors in safety from the bleak wasteland that earth has become — but what caused that destruction and who built their cavernous home are among the other queries. Silo streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. BEEF As plenty does, Beef starts with two strangers meeting, but there's absolutely nothing cute about it. Sparks don't fly and hearts don't flutter; instead, this pair grinds each other's gears. In a case of deep and passionate hate at first sight, Danny Cho (Steven Yeun, Nope) and Amy Lau (Ali Wong, Paper Girls) give their respective vehicles' gearboxes a workout, in fact, after he begins to pull out of a hardware store carpark, she honks behind him, and lewd hand signals and terse words are exchanged. Food is thrown, streets are angrily raced down, gardens are ruined, accidents are barely avoided, and the name of Vin Diesel's famous car franchise springs to mind, aptly describing how bitterly these two strangers feel about each other — and how quickly. Created by Lee Sung Jin, who has It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Dave and Silicon Valley on his resume before this ten-part Netflix and A24 collaboration, Beef also commences with a simple, indisputable and deeply relatable fact. Whether you're a struggling contractor hardly making ends meet, as he is, or a store-owning entrepreneur trying to secure a big deal, as she is — or, if you're both, neither or anywhere in-between — pettiness reigning supreme is basic human nature. Danny could've just let Amy beep as much as she liked, then waved, apologised and driven away. Amy could've been more courteous about sounding her horn, and afterwards. But each feels immediately slighted by the other, isn't willing to stand for such an indignity and becomes consumed by their trivial spat. Neither takes the high road, not once — and if you've ever gotten irrationally irate about a minor incident, this new standout understands. Episode by episode, it sees that annoyance fester and exasperation grow, too. Beef spends its run with two people who can't let go of their instant rage, keep trying to get the other back, get even more incensed in response, and just add more fuel to the fire again and again until their whole existence is a blaze of revenge. If you've ever taken a small thing and blown it wildly out of proportion, Beef is also on the same wavelength. And if any of the above has ever made you question your entire life — or just the daily grind of endeavouring to get by, having everything go wrong, feeling unappreciated and constantly working — Beef might just feel like it was made for you. Beef streams via Netflix. Read our full review. THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER Of the many pies that Succession's Roy family had their fingers in, pharmaceuticals wasn't one of them. For virtually that, Mike Flanagan gives audiences The Fall of the House of Usher. The horror auteur's take on dynastic wealth gets a-fluttering through a world of decadence enabled by pushing pills legally, as six heirs to an addiction-laced kingdom vie to inherit a vast fortune. Flanagan hasn't given up his favourite genre for pure drama, however. The eponymous Usher offspring won't be enjoying the spoils of their father Roderick's (Bruce Greenwood, The Resident) business success, either, in this absorbing, visually ravishing and narratively riveting eight-parter. As the bulk of this tale is unfurled fireside, its patriarch tells federal prosecutor C Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumbly, SWAT) why his children (including Pet Sematary: Bloodlines' Henry Thomas, Minx's Samantha Sloyan, The Peripheral's T'Nia Miller, iZombie's Rahul Kohli, The Wrath of Becky's Kate Siegel and The Midnight Club's Sauriyan Sapkota) came to die within days of each other — and, with all the gory details, how. As with The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor before it, plus The Midnight Club as well, Flanagan's latest Netflix series finds its basis on the page. The author this time: Edgar Allan Poe, although The Fall of the House of Usher isn't a strict adaptation of the iconic author's 1840 short story of the same name, or just an adaptation, even as it bubbles with greed, violence and paranoia (plus death, loss, decay and the deceased haunting the livin)g. Character monikers, episode titles and other details spring from widely across Poe's bibliography. Cue ravens, black cats, masks, tell-tale hearts, pendulums and a Rue Morgue. What if the writer had penned Succession? That's one of Flanagan's questions — and what if he'd penned Dopesick and Painkiller, too? Hailing from the talent behind the exceptional Midnight Mass as well, plus movies Oculus, Hush, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Gerald's Game and Doctor Sleep, the series that results is a gloriously creepy and involving modern gothic horror entry. The Fall of the House of Usher streams via Netflix. Read our full review. POKER FACE Cards on the table: thanks to Russian Doll and the Knives Out franchise, Natasha Lyonne and Rian Johnson are both on a helluva streak. In their most recent projects before now, each has enjoyed a hot run not once but twice. Lyonne made time trickery one of the best new shows of 2019, plus a returning standout in 2022 as well, while Johnson's first Benoit Blanc whodunnit and followup Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery were gems of the exact same years. The latter also saw the pair team up briefly — Lyonne and Johnson, that is, although getting a Russian Doll-meets-Knives Out crossover from the universe, or just the Netflix algorithm, would be a dream. Until that wish comes true, there's Poker Face. It's no one's stopgap or consolation prize, however. This new mystery-of-the-week series is an all-out must-see in its own right, and a gleaming streaming ace. Given its components and concept, turning out otherwise would've been the biggest head-scratcher. Beneath aviator shades, a trucker cap and her recognisable locks, Lyonne plays detective again, as she did in Russian Doll — because investigating why you're looping through the same day over and over, or jumping through time, is still investigating. Johnson gives the world another sleuth, too, after offering up his own spin on Agatha Christie-style gumshoes with the ongoing Knives Out saga. This time, he's dancing with 1968–2003 television series Columbo, right down to Poker Face's title font. Lyonne isn't one for playing conventional detectives, though. Here, she's Charlie Cale, who starts poking around in sudden deaths thanks to an unusual gift and a personal tragedy. As outlined in the show's ten-part first season, Charlie is a human lie detector. She can always tell if someone is being untruthful, a knack she first used in gambling before getting on the wrong side of the wrong people. Then, when a friend and colleague at the far-from-flashy Las Vegas casino where Charlie works winds up dead, that talent couldn't be handier. Poker Face streams via Stan. Read our full review. TELEMARKETERS No one likes it when their phone rings from an unknown number, whether "no caller ID" or digits that you don't recognise flash up on your mobile's screen. Telemarketers isn't going to change that response. It won't dampen the collective ire that the world holds towards the pushy people on the other end of the line, either. HBO's thrilling three-part docuseries doesn't just reinforce what viewers already feel about the nuisance industry that thinks it can interrupt your day and life with a spiel that no one wants, and impact your bank balance in the process. In addition, it spins a true tale that demonstrates why a deep-seated dislike of telemarketing is so well-founded, and also why cold-calling operations can be so insidious. This true-crime story about the New Jersey-based Civic Development Group surpasses even the most call centre-despising audience member's low expectations of the field — and it's gripping, can't-look-away, has-to-be-seen-to-be-believed stuff. In fact, it's also an account of a tenacious duo revealing a billion-dollar fraud, and bringing this staggering whistleblower documentary to the masses. "Every other telemarketer who drives you crazy in the whole world is because of CDG," advises one of the series' interviewees. That might seem like a big claim, but co-directors Sam Lipman-Stern (Live From the Streets) and Adam Bhala Lough (The New Radical) step through its truth. The former knows the outfit's approach from experience, working there for seven years from the age of 14 after dropping out of high school, while the latter is the filmmaker cousin he wasn't aware of. Lipman-Stern is Telemarketers' on-screen guiding hand, too, but his ex-colleague Patrick J Pespas is its heart and soul. As seen early, Pespas is called a "telemarketing legend". Although he's happy snorting heroin on-camera in 2000s-era footage, he's switched on to CDG's shonkiness; more than that, he's determined to expose it even if it takes two decades. Everywhere that Lipman-Stern and Pespas look from there, this tale gets worse. It's no wonder that Uncut Gems and Good Time filmmakers Benny and Josh Safdie are among Telemarketers' executive producers, plus Eastbound & Down's Danny McBride, Jody Hill and David Gordon Green. Telemarketers streams via Binge. Read our full review. SWARM Becky with the good hair gets a shoutout in Swarm. Facial bites do as well, complete with a Love & Basketball reference when the culprit flees. This seven-part series about a global pop sensation and her buzzing fans and stans also has its music icon unexpectedly drop a stunner of a visual album, ride a white horse, be married to a well-known rapper, become a mum to twins and see said husband fight with her sister in an elevator. Her sibling is also a singer, and plenty of folks contend she's the more interesting of the two. Still, Swarm's object of fascination — protagonist Dre's (Dominique Fishback, Judas and the Black Messiah) undying obsession — sells out tours, breaks Ticketmaster and headlines one of the biggest music festivals there is. And, while they call themselves the titular term rather than a hive, her devotees are zealous and then some, especially humming around on social media. Donald Glover and Janine Nabers, the show's creators and past colleagues on Glover's exceptional, now-finished Atlanta — Nabers also worked on Watchmen, too — couldn't be more upfront about who they're referring to. No one says Beyoncé's name, however, but Swarm's Houston-born music megastar is the former Destiny's Child singer in everything except moniker. In case anyone watching thinks that this series is trading in coincidences and déjà vu, or just failing to be subtle when it comes to Ni'Jah (Nirine S Brown, Ruthless), the Prime Video newcomer keeps making an overt opening declaration. "This is not a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or events, is intentional," it announces before each episode. From there, it dives into Dre's journey as a twentysomething in 2016 who still adores her childhood idol with the same passion she did as a teen and, instalment by instalment, shows how far she's willing to go to prove it. Swarm streams via Prime Video. Read our full review. CUNK ON EARTH If you've ever watched a David Attenborough documentary about the planet and wished it was sillier and stupider, to the point of being entertainingly ridiculous and ridiculously entertaining alike, then Netflix comes bearing wonderful news. Actually, the BBC got there first, airing history-of-the-world mockumentary Cunk on Earth back in September 2022. Glorious things come to waiting viewers Down Under now, however — and this gleefully, delightfully absurd take on human civilisation from its earliest days till now, spanning cave paintings, Roman empires, Star Wars' empire, 1989 Belgian techno anthem 'Pump Up the Jam' and more, is one of the best shows to hit Australia in 2023. This series is a comedy masterclass, in fact, featuring everything from a Black Mirror-leaning skit about Beethoven resurrected inside a smart speaker to a recreation of a Dark Ages fray purely through sound also thrown in. It's flat-out masterful, too, and tremendously funny. This sometimes Technotronic-soundtracked five-part show's beat? Surveying how humanity came to its present state, stretching back through species' origins and evolution, and pondering everything from whether the Egyptian pyramids were built from the top down to the Cold War bringing about the "Soviet onion". The audience's guide across this condensed and comic history is the tweed-wearing Philomena Cunk, who has the steady voice of seasoned doco presenter down pat, plus the solemn gaze, but is firmly a fictional — and satirical — character. Comedian Diane Morgan first started playing the misinformed interviewer in 2013, in Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe, with Black Mirror creator Brooker behind Cunk on Earth as well. Over the past decade, Cunk has also brought her odd questions to 2016's one-off Cunk on Shakespeare and Cunk on Christmas, and 2018's also five-instalment Cunk on Britain. After you're done with the character's latest spin, you'll want to devour the rest ASAP. Cunk on Earth streams via Netflix. Read our full review, and our interview with Charlie Brooker. Looking for more viewing highlights? We also rounded up the 15 best returning TV series of 2023, as well as 15 excellent new TV shows of 2023 that you might've missed — plus the 15 top films, another 15 exceptional flicks that hardly anyone saw in cinemas this year and the 15 best straight-to-streaming movies of the year as well. And, we've kept a running list of must-stream TV from across the year, complete with full reviews. Also, you can check out our regular rundown of film and TV streaming recommendations, which is updated monthly.
Much like its seemingly ageless leading man Keanu Reeves, the tale of The 47 Ronin is both several centuries old and beloved in Japan. Combining some of the most startling exemplars of courage, loyalty and honour, it's a sort of Kelly Gang meets Custer story in which a group of disavowed and banished Samurai (known as Ronin) stoically vow to avenge their master despite its absolute promise of death. From a production standpoint, 47 Ronin unexpectedly delights, with the costumes in particular showcasing the very best union of imagination and authenticity. Alongside some extraordinary set design, the extravagant armour of the Samurai, ornate dresses of the concubines and opulence of the Shogun all inject dazzling colour into an otherwise entirely dark affair. Even the cinematography feels more dramatic and dour than might be assumed for an action movie, which largely represents both 47 Ronin's strength and failing. That's because this is an entirely joyless film, and while no one should expect a story about retribution and mass suicide to be a laugh riot, there's almost always a little wriggle room for fun in an epic tale of witchcraft and warriors such as this. Truly, there is perhaps only one moment of levity in the entire movie and it comes at the expense of a fat man's 'moobs'. As a result, there's a certain lifelessness to 47 Ronin which saps it of the potential to be a tremendously enjoyable movie. It is, instead, a bleak and brooding affair that plods from scene to scene instead of gallopping. Much is made up for in the final battle which, to be fair, is excellent and one of the better set pieces seen in recent times; however, it leaves you wishing the rest of the film had been delivered in a similarly spectacular manner. https://youtube.com/watch?v=47_-pqoPDVQ
2022 has been a massive year for one of Fortitude Valley's favourite music venues — a place that, for most of its three-decade lifespan since 1992 so far, hardly seemed like it changed at all. Firstly, The Zoo added an in-house pizzeria, aka Zoopreme Pizzeria. Then, the team branched out with cocktail spot Stranded in Winn Lane. Now: Booze, which does indeed sling exactly what its name promises. Booze isn't just a bottle shop — although it definitely sells high-end wines, artisan spirits, both craft and mainstream beers, and sake. The vino lineup focuses on natural wines from Australian producers, stocking a rotating range, with Jauma, Sven Joschke, Dormilona, Koerner Brothers and Dr Edge among the showcased labels. In addition, the space on Winn Street doubles as a takeaway pizza joint, a coffee spot and a providore. Head by to stock up your liquor cabinet, grab a slice, nab some speciality caffeine, and support local producers and artisans making chocolate, relish, pickles, hot sauce and charcuterie. In the lead up to Christmas, there'll also be gift hampers up for sale. That isn't the end of the list, either, with Booze badging itself as Brisbane's new home for "cool shit". That includes vinyl and band merchandise, covering a wide array of genres from punk to country, and spanning international and local acts. It is setting up shop in the perfect spot for it, taking over the space previously home to the beloved Tym Guitars. Yes, consider this an icon taking over an icon. The coffees will be on offer from 12pm — and if you're after a pizza, there'll be six on offer from Zoopreme Pizzeria from 5pm Wednesday–Sunday.
If you haven't nabbed tickets to see Kendrick Lamar when he tours Australia at the end of 2025, you now have more chances to head along. First, in news worth exclaiming "DAMN"- and "LOVE" about, he was announced as Spilt Milk's 2025 headliner. Then, not content with taking to the stage Down Under in Ballarat, Perth, Canberra and on the Gold Coast, the acclaimed hip hop artist locked in two solo Aussie stadium shows — one each in Melbourne and Sydney. Now Lamar has expanded those standalone gigs on his Grand National tour, adding an extra date in each city. Accordingly, after making its way around North America and Europe, Lamar's latest string of live dates now spans two nights apiece in the Victorian and New South Wales capitals. First up: Melbourne, at AAMI Park across Wednesday, December 3–Thursday, December 4, 2025. Then comes Allianz Stadium in the Harbour City over Wednesday, December 10–Thursday, December 11, 2025. [caption id="attachment_1008775" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Gregory Shamus/Getty Images[/caption] Lamar's Aussie stadium shows still kick off before his Spilt Milk dates, then slot in-between the festival's two weekend runs. The fest hits Ballarat on Saturday, December 6; Perth on Sunday, December 7; Canberra on Saturday, December 13; and the Gold Coast on Sunday, December 14. For company at his solo gigs, he'll have ScHoolboy Q in support on Wednesday, December 3 and Wednesday, December 10, as previously announced. On the new dates — so on Thursday, December 4 and Thursday, December 11 — Doechii will be doing the honours. December clearly suits Lamar for a jaunt Down Under — that's when the Pulitzer Music Prize-winning musician also made the trip in 2022. Lamar is one of the most-critically acclaimed and successful hip hop artists of our generation. He currently has 22 Grammys to his name, plus an Academy Award nomination for one of his contributions to the Black Panther soundtrack. He won the 2017 Triple J Hottest 100 and, when he nabbed his Pulitzer in 2018, he also became the first ever artist to take out the prestigious award for contemporary music. GNX, his most-recent studio album, dropped in November 2024 — with his extensive catalogue also spanning 2011's Section.80, 2012's good kid, m.A.A.d city, 2015's To Pimp A Butterfly, 2017's DAMN and 2022's Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. Kendrick Lamar Grand National Tour 2025 Australian Dates Wednesday, December 3–Thursday, December 4 — AAMI Park, Melbourne Wednesday, December 10–Thursday, December 11 — Allianz Stadium, Sydney Spilt Milk 2025 Dates Saturday, December 6 — Victoria Park, Ballarat Sunday, December 7 — Claremont Showground, Perth Saturday, December 13 — Exhibition Park, Canberra Sunday, December 14 — Gold Coast Sports Precinct, Gold Coast Kendrick Lamar is touring Australia in December 2025, with ticket presales for his second Melbourne gig kicking off at 11am on Thursday, August 7, and for his second Sydney gig at 12pm on Thursday, August 7 — with general sales from 1pm on Monday, August 11 in Melbourne and 2pm on Monday, August 11 in Sydney. Head to the tour website for further details. Top image: Timothy Norris/Getty Images for pgLang, Amazon Music, & Free Lunch.
Arguably the worst part of travel is the bit where you actually have to travel. Sitting in an over-cramped, over-air-conditioned metal tube for 20+ hours almost makes post-pasta swims in the Mediterranean seem too much trouble than it's worth (almost). But until we're at The Fifth Element stage where we can just hop in a capsule and get knocked out cold for the duration of the journey, we'll just have to be content with airlines' attempts at cutting down flight times and transfers. In huge news for Aussie travellers, Qantas over the weekend announced they will start operating a direct flight from Australia to Europe from March 2018. Thanks to their new Dreamliner 787-9 aircraft — which is set to start flying in October 2017 — the airline's non-stop flights from Perth to London will take approximately 17 hours. It will be considerably quicker than their current route, which, with their partnership with Emirates, includes a rather hellish stopover in Dubai (as all stopovers are). It would be the first and only direct flight from Australia to Europe. "This is a game-changing route flown by a game-changing aircraft," Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said in a Qantas press release. "Australians have never had a direct link to Europe before, so the opportunities this opens up are huge." We first reported on this back in October, when Qantas were still in negotiations with the Western Australian Government and Perth Airport to lock down the new route. It seems they managed to reach an agreement, as the new Perth-London flight will operate from Qantas' domestic terminal at Perth Airport, to make the stopover as smooth as possible for travellers coming from other states. The airline recently revealed the layout for their new Dreamliner fleet, which will be two-thirds the size of the 747s they will eventually replace and have only 236 seats (as opposed to the 747's 364 seats). Economy will have a 3:3:3 seat situation (as opposed to the 3:4:3), as well as USB ports and an extra inch of leg room. Hurrah for leg room! Plus, they also revealed some new branding, which includes new typography on the side of their planes. The Perth to London route will start operating in March 2018, and flights will go on sale from April 2017.
They say humans only use 10 percent of their brain capacity. Of course, 'they' are idiots, because even someone operating at just 10 percent would be able to plug that persistent non-fact into Google and discover: it's utter rubbish. Speaking of rubbish, Lucy — the new film by French director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, The Professional — opens this week. Here's the gist: Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) is a no-hope American student in China who ingests a new party drug that inexplicably boosts her brain capacity from 1 percent to 20 percent. The initial symptoms include: pain, inverted roof crawling and the (again inexplicable) immediate development of expertise in martial arts, small arms fire and quantum mechanics. She also gets shot and doesn't care. Kids: stay in school, because — apparently — smart people don't feel bullets. With her now enhanced brain, Lucy concludes she'll need more of the drug to stay alive and hence comes to blows with the Korean drug baron determined to instead spread it on the streets. And...that's...pretty much it. Lucy gets smarter, drug baron gets stabbier and the police remain phenomenally absent and/or ineffectual. Lucy begins by posing a question to the audience: "Life was given to us a billion years ago. What have we done with it?" 89 minutes later it concludes in a similar fashion: "Life was given to us a billion years ago. Now you know what to do with it". Wrong. Seriously, I've no idea what the message of this film was. Assuming it wasn't 'take drugs', then it could only have been the line driven by Morgan Freeman's philosopher character Professor Norman: that people with knowledge should pass it on. However, that's already what we do as humans, so actually, we've not learned anything from this film at all. The concept of wildly enhanced cerebral activity is an excellent one, and was similarly explored in 2011's Limitless. However, neither it nor Lucy felt confident enough to let the science or ethics of the issue be the sole focus. Both kept the chemistry to a minimum and instead padded their scenes with periodic action sequences and flashy special effects. It's precisely what Dustin Hoffman was referring to several years ago when he publicly bemoaned the lack of intelligent science fiction films and called for smarter scripts. The irony of movies like Lucy is that studios believe the only way to ensure box office success for stories about intelligence is to dumb them down to an almost unintelligible level. https://youtube.com/watch?v=MVt32qoyhi0
Oysters are the kind of seafood that you either love or hate; maybe their salty taste and slimy texture tantalises your tastebuds, or maybe it doesn't. If you fall into the first category and you happen to be fond of beer, too, then Green Beacon has the event you've been dreaming about. That'd be the brewery's annual Oyster Showcase, which returns for a sixth round of saltwater clams and some of Brisbane's best brews. From midday on Sunday, November 25, the Teneriffe-based bar and brewery will source the best and freshest oysters in Australia, shuck them to order, and offer up an ocean's worth of specials. When it comes to washing it all down, you can choose from Green Beacon's usual brews, of course, or you can treat yo'self to something more in line with the occasion. A keg of the limited edition Oyster Stout will be running through the taps, should you be feeling adventurous. We say: when at an oyster festival, and all that.
Giggles, guffaws, chuckles so forceful you feel it in your stomach — whatever kind of laugh you have, the past few years haven't been too big on hilarity. But after Brisbane Comedy Festival was forced to adapt to the pandemic in both 2020 (when it was cut short due to lockdowns) and 2021 (when it had to cancel some shows, again thanks to lockdowns, and then reschedule what it could throughout the rest of the year), it's already planning its 2022 event. That's great news for your funny bone; however, it won't be getting tickled until April and May next year. Pre-COVID-19, BCF was an end of summer/beginning of autumn activity — but given that 2021's fest happened in July and August, 2022's will arrive a bit later than usual as well. Brisbane Comedy Festival 2022 dates announced! 📅 Fri 29 April – Sun 29 May 1st drop includes @nazeem_hussain and @meladoodle plus new tix released for festival favourites including @realrossnoble, @natswhatireckon and more!https://t.co/km65RKh3qk pic.twitter.com/KpIwzuu2Jk — Bris Comedy Fest (@BrisComedyFest) November 24, 2021 The full lineup hasn't yet been announced, but you can expect to get giggling from Friday, April 29–Sunday, May 29 — and to Nazeem Hussain, Ross Noble, Tom Ballard and Melanie Bracewell, as well as Josh Earl, Jude Perl, Wil Anderson, Lizzy Hoo, Nat's What I Reckon and Peter Helliar. A heap of these names will sound familiar not just because they've had you laughing before, heartily and often, but because some are doing shows that were postponed from this year. As always, BCF will takeover Brisbane Powerhouse, filling as many of the New Farm spot's spaces with comedians as it possibly can. So far, both The Tivoli and Fortitude Music Hall are also on the venue list, and you can likely expect that to expand as the program does — so, keep your eyes peeled in the coming months. The 2022 Brisbane Comedy Festival will take place between Friday, April 29–Sunday, May 29. For further details, including tickets for already-announced acts, head to the festival's website. We'll update you with the full program when it is revealed.
If you’re not a regular of The Tiller, it’s because you don’t live anywhere near Newmarket train station. If you did, you’d be there every morning. Staff (who are lovely) operate out of a battered old orange storage container, serving up cups of liquid gold. Chemex, AeroPress and cold drip methods are used, as are single origin coffees and a variety of ethically sourced blends; however, if you want the best of The Tiller’s coffee experience, we recommend the house espresso blend. Courtesy of Wolff Coffee Roasters, Three Mile Scrub (Newmarket’s former name) is smooth and rounded, a definite crowd-pleaser. Tiller Coffee has a stated commitment to sustainability, and therefore their house blend is often tweaked according to seasonality and availability. Buzzwords like ‘sustainable’, ‘seasonal’, ‘ethical’ and ‘local’ are tossed around these days, but The Tiller appears to follow through. This is particularly evident in the number of local small businesses to feature on their menu. Their traditional kettle boiled bagels ($12) are sourced from The Bagel Boys, their bread and croissants are freshly baked daily by Crust & Co and their relishes and jams are made by Taringa’s Love and Provisions. An assortment of goodies is also available for takeaway, including canisters of Mörk hot chocolate mix and handmade chocolate from Bahen & Co. The food offerings are few, but that’s because there is no padding or filler; the menu is thoughtfully curated to serve the atmosphere and ethos of the cafe and, of course, the coffee. That said, though some other brew bars’ non-coffee options can seem a bit perfunctory, The Tiller really comes through for the non-coffee drinker. In addition to looseleaf teas, they serve up Mörk hot chocolate ($4) and ginger chocolate milkshakes ($6). A brew bar housed in a shipping container with upturned zabuton-topped plastic crates for seating and tree stumps for tables might sound like something of a hipster cliche to the more cynical among us, but rest assured that The Tiller is as much substance as style. A unique establishment, they successfully exercise their philosophy, and come off as sincere in their commitment to coffee and community.
