Our traveller's impulse to escape hordes of obnoxious tourists often sends us on wild goose chases in search of untouched, undiscovered beauty. We crave the chance to find the real heart and soul of a new land and not just the sanitised, postcard version. This is the great joy of seeing the world by train. With their routes often built to service even the most remote of locations, train travel allows tourists to see a side of the world that often remains unseen to your average Lonely Planet traveller. So in the interests of getting off the well-beaten track - and for people who know that the journey is always greater than the destination - here are eight of the world's most spectacular train journeys. Glacier Express Route: St Moritz to Zermatt, Swiss AlpsDuration: 7.5 hourswww.glacierexpress.ch While the Glacier Express holds the title as the world's slowest express train, it's hard to complain when the views are this spectacular. Connecting two major Swiss Alps resorts, the Glacier Express reaches a whopping altitude of 6,670 feet travelling across 291 bridges and weaving through 91 tunnels in its ascent through one of the world's most stunning winter wonderlands. The Flam Railway Route: Flam to Myrdal, NorwayDuration: 1 hourwww.visitflam.com This trip takes you into the very heart of the world's longest fjord and one of Scandinavia's great wonders, the Sognefjord. Beginning in a quaint, idyllic village, the Flam Railway mounts the world's steepest non-cog, normal-gauge railroad climb before taking a hair raising turn through raging rapids and waterfalls. With its perilously narrow passages and the sound of crashing water on all sides, the Flam Railway is as enthralling as it is beautiful. Pride of Africa Route: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and TanzaniaDuration: 14 dayswww.rovos.com If the majesty and mystery of the African plains entices you but your idea of a safari doesn't involve chasing wildebeest and constantly swatting flies then you can hardly do better than The Pride of Africa. The epic expedition takes you across some of the most awe-inspiring parts of Southern and Central Africa, revealing the hidden, often untouched beauty of the world's poorest continent. And the train itself? Pure luxury. The sumptuous interior has been painstakingly created to resemble an exclusive Victorian-era train, boasting the world's most spacious sleeping quarters, handsome wood panelling and first-class dining. Trans-Siberian Railway Route: Moscow to Vladivostok, Russia Duration: 19 dayswww.trans-siberia.com The big kahuna of rail journeys, the Trans-Siberian Railway is already engraved in travel folklore due primarily to its bewildering length. The 10,000 kilometre trip from the Russian capital to the Pacific Ocean crosses eight time zones coming to a distance just shy of one-third of the planet. While it takes a brave traveller to tackle the Cold War capital from side-to-side, those that do are richly rewarded not only by the great variety of beauty Russia has to offer but also by the famous hospitality of the Trans-Siberian commuters, who are always more than happy to share a shot of $3/litre vodka with you. Eastern & Oriental Express Route: Singapore, Malaysia and ThailandDuration: 3 dayswww.orient-express.com The Eastern & Oriental Express stretches from Singapore to Bangkok and provides a whirlwind tour of the range of tropical beauty that South-East Asia has to offer. The bustling modernity of Singapore soon gives way to the natural wonders of Malaysia and Thailand with the train zigzagging through dense rainforests, towering mountains and fields of frangipanis and sunflowers. The rich tapestry of South East Asian life can also be seen at the various stops the train takes, giving travellers the chance to explore golden temples and fascinating farm villages. The Eastern & Oriental Express is also reputed as one of the world's premiere luxury trains with fine dining and cocktails in the open-air observation car; this trip is perfect for those that like the finer things in life. Narrow Gauge Railroad Route: Durango to Silverton, ColoradoDuration: 3.5 Hourswww.durangotrain.com The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad twists and turns up winding canyons through the stunning and secluded wilderness of the San Juan National Forest - and all on narrow rails a mere three feet apart. The 45 mile track traverses upwards 3000 feet, eliciting breathtaking views of the surrounding scenery. The 1920s coal-fired, steam-powered locomotive was originally built to transport gold and silver ore and thus travels at the leisurely pace of 18 miles per hour, making the magnificent views all the more easier to take in. West Coast Wilderness Railway Route: Strahan to Queenstown, TasmaniaDuration: 4.5 hourswww.puretasmania.com.au The rich history of the West Coast Wilderness Railway in Tasmania is only the beginning of this mystifying and alluring adventure. Running from the port of Strahan to the mining town of Queenstown, this magnificent railway right here on our own turf provides a gateway to the untouched wilderness of Tasmania's heritage listed area. It acts as a window back to the year of 1896 when the pioneers laboured arduously through rain and mud to create this unique track and pinion system. The 35km journey travels through a number of stations of the past, crosses waters of the renowned King River and spans jaw-dropping rainforest gorges. Machu Picchu Train Route: Cusco to Machu Picchu, PeruDuration: 3.5 hourswww.machupicchutrain.com Departing from Cusco and passing through the ancient stone-built Incan village of Ollantaytambo, the Machu Picchu train then only goes up from there - both figuratively and literally. The three-foot wide track wraps around the steep gorges of the valley and wanders over the torrents of the marvellous Rio Urubamba. Originally constructed as a commercial line to exploit the lumber, cacao and coffee of the valley, the train is today used as a highly popular tourist trip to reach the extraordinary peaks of the infamous ancient Incan site, Machu Picchu.
If nothing says romance to you like a classic movie, a picnic and a night under the stars, then we've found your February plans: a week of romantic films at Moonlight Cinema. The summertime event in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide or Perth unveils its lineup in batches each season, with the flicks for next month freshly announced — including swooning over 10 Things I Hate About You, Twilight and The Notebook, plus a preview screening of Force of Nature: The Dry 2 among the broader program. Consider this your latest piece of motivation to sit on a bean bed under the evening sky while feasting your eyes on the big screen and filling your stomach — with your special someone if that's how you'd like to mark Valentine's Day. The Ryan Gosling (Barbie)- and Rachel McAdams (Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret)-starring tear-jerker will do the honours on Wednesday, February 14, capping of a run of love-focused pictures that also features A Cinderella Story, The Princess Diaries, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Anyone But You. Away from getting hearts aflutter, Moonlight's February bill also spans Taika Waititi's Next Goal Wins, animation Migration, plus Wonka and Ferrari in all cities — and that sneak-peek session of Force of Nature is happening everywhere as well. In Sydney and Melbourne only, All of Us Strangers with the internet's boyfriends Paul Mescal (Foe) and Andrew Scott (Fleabag) is back on the lineup. And in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, so is wrestling biopic The Iron Claw. Sydney will also host a Mamma Mia pride celebration screening. Other films doing the rounds, depending on the city, range from Poor Things, Barbie and Dicks: The Musical to Priscilla, Saltburn and the Joel Edgerton-starring The Boys in the Boat. Folks in Brisbane and Adelaide, take note: this is your last chance to head along for this summer, with the Queensland season in Roma Street Parklands ending on Sunday, February 18 and the South Australian stint wrapping up on Wednesday, February 14, 2024 in Botanic Park. The lineup always varies per place, as do the dates, and the films and the setting are just two parts of the Moonlight Cinema setup. Also on offer: an official Aperol spritz bar, which is new for 2023–24. Nosh-wise, the event lets you BYO movie snacks and drinks (no alcohol in Brisbane, though), but the unorganised can enjoy a plethora of bites to eat onsite while reclining on bean beds. There's also a VIP section for an extra-luxe openair movie experience, plus a platinum section that levels up a night at the movies even further in Sydney and Melbourne. A beauty cart is handing out samples, too. And, dogs are welcome at all sites except Perth — there's even special doggo bean beds, and a snack menu for pooches. MOONLIGHT CINEMA 2023–24 DATES: Brisbane: until Sunday, February 18, 2024 in Roma Street Parklands Sydney: until Sunday, March 24, 2024 in Centennial Parklands Perth: until Sunday, March 24, 2024 in Kings Park and Botanic Garden Adelaide: until Wednesday, February 14, 2024 in Botanic Park Melbourne: until Saturday, March 30, 2024 in Royal Botanic Gardens Moonlight Cinema runs through until March 2024, with dates varying per city. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the cinema's website — and we'll update you with further program details when they're announced.
Nicolas Cage is sorely missed in Five Nights at Freddy's, not that he was ever on the film's cast list. He starred in 2021's Willy's Wonderland, however, which clearly took its cues from the video-game franchise that this attempt to start a corresponding movie series now officially adapts. Willy's Wonderland wasn't great, but a near-silent Cage battling demonic animatronics was always going to be worth seeing. Unsurprisingly, he's mesmerising. In comparison, the actual Five Nights at Freddy's feature stars Josh Hutcherson deep in his older brother phase, bringing weary charm to a by-the-numbers horror flick that's as routine as they come no matter whether you've ever mashed buttons along with its inspiration — which first dropped in 2014 and now spans nine main games, a tenth on the way and five spinoffs — or seen everyone's favourite Renfield, Pig and Color Out of Space actor give an unlicensed take a go. Writer/director Emma Tammi (The Wind), the game's creator Scott Cawthon (Scooby Doo, Where Are You? In... SPRINGTRAPPED!) and co-screenwriter Seth Cuddeback's (Mateo) movie iteration of Five Nights at Freddy's doesn't just arrive after a Cage film got there first; it hits after season 16 of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia wreaked havoc on a comparable setting already in 2023. If you're looking for a pitch-black comedic skewering of eateries in the style of Chuck E Cheese, the IRL pizzeria-meets-arcade chain that Freddy Fazbear's Pizza is patently based on, that's the best of the year. So, the Five Nights at Freddy film lingers in multiple shadows. There's symmetry on- and off-screen as result: shining a torchlight around in the movie uncovers sights that its characters would rather not see, and peering even just slightly through recent pop culture shows that this picture isn't alone, either. The concept in Five Nights at Freddy's whether you've got a controller in your hand or you're watching a flick: at the once-popular Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, which was big with families in the 80s, working the night shift at the restaurant's long-shuttered base has killer consequences. That's when the life-sized singing-and-dancing furry robots that performed shows for kids when the place was operational now go menacingly a-wandering, and also make their lack of fondness for visitors brutally known, causing a high staff turnover. Five Nights at Freddy's does explain why, but everything from what's going on to the reason behind it is horror movie 101. The film may take place in an eatery rather than a home — a creepy one, of course — but it's basically a haunted house affair, and happily ticks all of the most standard of genre boxes. Taking the gig from career counsellor Steve Raglan (Matthew Lillard, Scream) reluctantly, Mike Schmidt (Hutcherson, Futureman) doesn't want to be anywhere but his own abode come dark, let alone in a dilapidated old funhouse restaurant with anthropomorphic animal figures as one of its main attractions. But he's in need of work after being fired from his mall security job because he wrongly thought that a dad scolding his son was a man kidnapping a child, and reacted violently — and he has his ten-year-old sister Abby (Piper Rubio, Unstable) to look after. They're all that each other have left since the death of their parents and the abduction of their brother Garrett (Lucas Grant, The Patient) years before that, which Mike feels responsible for, other than the overbearing aunt (Mary Stuart Masterson, Blindspot) who is maliciously suing for custody. Mike normally spends his evenings attempting to find out what happened to Garrett via his dreams, a task he continues at Freddy's, with his preoccupation elsewhere giving the animatronics free rein. The place is inherently eerie in a dusty, overlooked, caught-out-of-time way — and also if you just think that giant teddy bears like Freddy can be ominous anyway — but Five Nights at Freddy's lead hasn't noticed until local cop Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail, You) drops by one night while patrolling her beat. Fuelled by his tragic past and ignoring the key 'don't fall asleep' rule of his overnight gig, he's too busy yawning his way to some shuteye to put dream theory to work to unlock his memories of the incident that shattered his family forever. Constructing a film around an oft-snoozing protagonist can be a double-edged sword, and cuts the wrong way here, reminding viewers that they might prefer to be slumbering as well. All that's endeavouring to keep most of the audience awake is predictable circuitry, from horror's current obsession with examining trauma's impact (and the genre's undying love of overusing any trend in flicks great, average and terrible) to overt nods in Stephen King and Scooby Doo's directions. That Scooby Doo vibe is telling, though: rather than just trying to evoke nostalgia in viewers who can remember their days as kids in arcades, family-themed restaurants or combos of both, Five Nights at Freddy's is as much aimed at adolescents now. Accordingly, Tammi hasn't taken a Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey approach — not that that's a worthy example of blending cuddly critters with horror at all — with her film focusing on mood, anticipation, suggestion and jump scares over anything gory or terrifying. Younger audiences still deserve better than a movie this generic. Everyone deserves something other than a film where more time is expended on the build-up and backstory than with Freddy Fazbear, Foxy, Chica, Cupcake and Bonnie. Created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, the mechanised mascots look the part, but are both under-deployed and then stuck going through the murderous motions. Winking casting that gives away too much is also part of the Five Nights at Freddy's film experience. So is the pointless aunt subplot, which couldn't be more cartoonish. Scenes that do nothing but gush exposition — and ensure that there's zero mystery around who knows more than they're letting on — similarly bog down the movie. Hutcherson and Rubio nonetheless do well enough with pixel-thin characters, especially in a feature that frequently seems as if it has spliced an unrelated flick about sibling trauma into the Five Nights at Freddy's premise. A picture based on the gaming series was always bound to happen, and Blumhouse adding another established well-known horror name to a stable that also includes Black Christmas, Fantasy Island, The Invisible Man, The Craft's sequel, three Halloween movies, Firestarter and the latest The Exorcist entry was just as likely, but it shouldn't play like everything within it and about it is dully inevitable.
Mono are coming. No, I'm not referring to the kissing disease here; I mean the Japanese post-rock legends Mono. Duh. The band are in the country to perform at Hobart's DARK MOFO festival but were kind enough to arrange a few sideshows for their adoring Australian fans. The band have been performing and releasing material since the early 2000s, and their career has risen in profile every year. Their latest effort, For My Parents, was released in 2012, so their performance will surely contain a set list of new material as well as numerous soaring epics from previous albums. The band will be heading up and down the east coast to play shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane before jetting off into the sunset. I can't emphasise how important it is that you get a ticket; these guys might not be back for a while. Curious about what the band sounds like? Have a listen to this 15-minute epic, 'Yearning'. https://youtube.com/watch?v=zAleQ79UlT8
Some cocktails sport names that just scream 80s, even if you weren't around then — or of drinking age at the time. What other decade could've loved a tipple called sex on the beach? Or, there's the Miami Vice, which does indeed share the moniker of a TV show of the era. And while it wasn't invented then, the mix of lemonade and beer that is the good ol' shandy sure did enjoy a mighty fine heyday back when shoulder pads were everywhere. With nostalgia for four decades back having quite the moment right now, of course some of the top drinks of the 80s are in the spotlight again as well. In fact, they're the beverages of honour at Brisbane's new disco-inspired cocktail pop-up The 86 Club, which'll make its debut in May to celebrate the period in question. This boozy addition to the River City's social scene actually takes its title from the hospitality term "86", which refers to something that's no longer available; however, it does a nice double duty with its nod to 80s as well. Bartenders and The 86 Club creators Andie Bulley, Blade Deegan, Liam Murphy and Martin McConnell definitely want you to revel in the decade — although, given that their new pop-up also takes its cues from disco, it's clearly gleaning inspiration from the 70s as well. [caption id="attachment_897131" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Max MacInnes (@__highlandermax)[/caption] The quartet have branched out from their jobs mixing drinks at Savile Row, The Gresham and Frog's Hollow Saloon, and are teaming up with brands such as Bacardi, Bombay Sapphire, Grey Goose, Patron, Marionette and Range Brewing on this side venture. The 86 Club will launch from 7pm till late on Sunday, May 7 at Black Bear Lodge, with entry free but wallets required to sip your way through five reimagined 80s cocktails — sex on the beach, Miami Vice and the shandy obviously among them. For a soundtrack, DJ collective QUIVR will be on the decks spinning house and disco tunes. And yes, dancing beneath the disco ball with a cocktail in your hand is firmly on the menu. [caption id="attachment_707293" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Black Bear Lodge[/caption]
With its pools, gardens, restaurants, bars, array of events and riverside views, calling South Bank a multi-sensory playground isn't a stretch. But since September 2021, the inner-city precinct has been home to Imaginaria, an immersive series of installations that firmly earns that term. Bringing light-filled mazes, inflatable spaces, electronic hall of mirrors and more to town will do that. Haven't had a chance to head by yet? Keep meaning to make a date with the pop-up underneath the Goodwill Bridge next to Queensland Maritime Museum? Brisbanites, you now have another chance. Because it proving so popular, Imaginaria has extended its Brisbane stay yet again, ditching its plans to wrap up at the end of January and sticking around until Sunday, April 30 instead. Wondering why it's been proving such a hit? The installation is made up of different structures, each filled with lights, sounds and smells. First, you take your shoes off — and then you wander through a space filled with artificial intelligence projections, sensor-triggered LED waves and giant silk parachute canopies. Also included: cosmic gardens, an anti-gravity sunset, an electronic hall of mirrors and a digital wishing well that whispers your greatest desires. Entering a serene white bubble, touching a digital eclipse, engaging with an interactive constellation — they're all featured, in an event that was always going to prove popular in Brisbane. When Imaginaria first set up in Melbourne before making its way north, more than 100,000 people went along. Open for patrons to wander through at their own pace, and filled with chairs and lounges so you can stop wherever you want to linger, Imaginaria spans ten rooms in total — and the choose-your-own-adventure setup means you can spend 15 minutes skipping through or take your time. An all-ages-friendly event, it still has capacity limits and strict hygiene measures — and tickets start at $23.95 a pop for adults. Imaginaria will remain underneath the Goodwill Bridge, next to Queensland Maritime Museum at South Bank, until Sunday, April 30 — with tickets on sale now for all dates until then. Images: Annette Dew / William Hamilton-Coates.
Donning a costume, going door to door and chirping "trick or treat" is a tried-and-tested way to celebrate Halloween. Watching spooky movies is another. Tucking into themed bites to eat while sipping cocktails to match is one more method of getting into the spirit of the occasion. And then there's simply putting pumpkins all over the place. In one manner or another, all of the above are part of Trick or Treat Little Stanley Street, the Halloween event that turns a stretch of South Bank into one of Brisbane's go-to spots to mark October 31. The annual street party first debuted before the start of the pandemic, then took a break, then returned in 2023 — and it's back again in 2024. This year's event runs across Friday, October 25–Saturday, October 26, from 5–9pm on both days, so you can begin your Halloween shenanigans before the eeriest date on the annual calendar. There's a trick-or-treat trail for kids — this is a family-friendly fest — but also plenty for adults, including hitting the precinct's eateries. Little Stanley Street's restaurants and bars will be serving up themed specials. The menu details haven't been revealed as yet, but past years have seen spooky sangria, bloody margaritas and a heap of pumpkin dishes on offer. If Halloween to you means scary movies — or films with horror themes that aren't necessarily fright-inducing — then you'll want to hit up the Little Stanley Street South Lawn during Trick or Treat Little Stanley Street. A big screen will be playing all-ages-appropriate titles such as Scooby-Doo, Monster Family, The Addams Family and Casper. Also part of the festivities: Halloween decorations everywhere, a ghost train, roving entertainment and craft workshops for the little ones. Attendance is free, but registering in advance is recommended if you're keen to head along. Trick or Treat Little Stanley Street takes place from 5–9pm on Friday, October 25–Saturday, October 26 on Little Stanley Street and the surrounding area. Head to the South Bank website for further details.
Move over Walking Dead, Zombatland has arrived. Set in Blue Lagoon Caravan Park, a tranquil paradise situated in the middle of the Australian outback, things just aren't right. Something goes wrong amongst the local wombats. Terribly wrong. A mysterious disease sweeps though the population turning the wombats into blood-thirsty demons. The Guardian described Suitcase Royale's new show, Zombatland, as, “Tom Waits meets the Mighty Boosh ” - that's one big call Guardian. But when you hear the premise of this new performance, as well as the abundance of similar reviews, pretty hard not to agree. This show is founded on Suitcase Royale's recognisable twisted humour, with a combination of live music, junkyard sets and hilariously innovative concepts and ideas. It's hard to find a show that provides a new twist on the classic Zombie story, but Suitcase Royale nail it pretty perfectly with Zombatland.
"This is not about getting back at dad. But, if it hurts him, it doesn't bother me." So announces Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook, Pieces of a Woman) in the just-dropped new teaser trailer for Succession season four, although it could've been any one of the Roy family's adult children uttering such words. If there's one thing that viewers of this award-winning HBO drama know, it's that this brood is big on insults and scheming against their father, and each other — and on grudges and feuding over who'll run the family company as well. Expect this soon-to-drop fourth season to be no do different, clearly; the more things change for the Roys, which also includes patriarch and business titan Logan Roy (Brian Cox, Remember Me), plus Shiv's siblings Kendall (Jeremy Strong, Armageddon Time), Connor (Alan Ruck, The Dropout) and Roman (Kieran Culkin, No Sudden Move), the more that volatile underlying dynamic stays the same. And, expect to start seeing the results this autumn Down Under. That timeframe had already been announced, but HBO has now revealed an exact release date — Monday, March 27 in Australia and New Zealand — along with another sneak peek at the upcoming episodes. This is the third glimpse at what's in store in Succession season four, following on from an initial sneak peek in a broader HBO trailer in mid-October last year, plus another in late 2022 when that autumn timing was confirmed. In the entire trio of teasers, Shiv, Kendall, Roman and Connor have banded together to form a rebel alliance against their dad. In the new trailer, they're asked to call him to try to start mending their rift. No, that isn't a simple request. All of the current the chaos stems from the season-three move to sell the Roy's company Waystar Royco to a tech visionary played by Alexander Skarsgård (The Northman), who also returns in season four. Unsurprisingly, not everyone is thrilled. When an entire series is about who'll take over the lucrative and powerful family business, removing that option for everyone is going to cause some hefty fallout. Also included in this sneak peek: Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen, Operation Mincemeat) trying to stay on Logan's good side following his own actions at the end of season three, and his betrayal of his Shiv. And, also Tom inappropriately comparing the Roys' battle to world politics — talking to cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun, Zola), naturally. It was back in 2021 when HBO announced that Succession would return for a fourth run, after its Emmy-winning third season proved that exceptional — and popular. Viewers are clearly in for more power struggles and more savaging of the one percent, aka more of what Succession has always done best. Indeed, if you're a fan of twisty TV shows about wealth, privilege, influence, the vast chasm between the rich and everyday folks, and the societal problems that fester due to such rampant inequality, there have been plenty of ace examples of late, including The White Lotus and Squid Game. No series slings insults as savagely as this tremendous series, however. No show channels feuding and backstabbing into such an insightful and gripping satire, either. Check out the latest teaser for Succession season four below: Succession season four will start streaming from Monday, March 27 Down Under, including via Foxtel, Binge and Foxtel On Demand in Australia and Neon in New Zealand. Check out our review of season three. Images: Claudette Barius/Macall B Polay, HBO.
Whenever a new true-crime tale arrives, audiences fall into three camps: those who are well aware of all of the case's ups and downs, folks who remember the headlines but are vague on the details, and others that come to the whole saga and its specifics brand new. With The Staircase, it's highly likely that more viewers will fall into the first two categories. The eight-part HBO miniseries isn't just based on an IRL crime, after all, but also on a French documentary series of the same name. For those learning about the story afresh, it all started in 2001, when novelist Michael Peterson reported the death of his wife Kathleen. He said that she had fallen down the stairs at their North Carolina home — yes, hence the name — but the authorities weren't convinced. Given that occurred more than two decades ago, how it all turned out is now a matter of history. So, you'll either know it and be intrigued to see how it plays out on-screen with Colin Firth (Supernova, 1917) and Australian star Toni Collette (Nightmare Alley, Dream Horse) as the central couple, or you'll want to discover the intricacies for yourself while watching. Plunging famous faces into a twisty miniseries is firmly HBO's approach of late, with The Staircase following everything from Big Little Lies and The Undoing to Mare of Easttown. Joining the high-profile duo when the US network's latest hits Binge in Australia and Neon in New Zealand from Thursday, May 5: an all-star cast that also features Juliette Binoche (How to Be a Good Wife), Michael Stuhlbarg (Call Me By Your Name), Parker Posey (Lost in Space) and Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones), as well Rosemarie DeWitt (Little Fires Everywhere), Dane Dehaan (Lisey's Story), Patrick Schwarzenegger (Moxie), and Aussie actors Olivia DeJonge (Better Watch Out) and Odessa Young (Shirley). There are clearly plenty of moving parts to this narrative, which comes to TV courtesy of writer/director Antonio Campos (The Devil All the Time, The Sinner). As the just-dropped full trailer shows, there's plenty of drama as well. That's true both before and after the Peterson family find themselves immersed in a heartwrenching tragedy. Indeed, the sneak peek starts with happy times — with saying cheers to happy folks sat around the dinner table, in fact — but that isn't how it ends. Given that it's hitting screens 18 years after the original The Staircase, this dramatised version even mentions the film crew eager to start recording the details after Kathleen's death. So, when it starts airing in May — dropping three episodes at once to kick things off, then going weekly — the show will cover a well-known true-crime case as well as the just-as-well-known TV show that's already been made about it. Check out the trailer for The Staircase below: The Staircase will start streaming via Binge in Australia and Neon in New Zealand from Thursday, May 5.
UPDATE, May 20, 2022: Candyman is available to stream via Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Who can take tomorrow and dip it in a dream? 'The Candy Man' can, or so the suitably sugary earworm of a song has crooned since 1971. What scratches at the past, carves open its nightmares and sends them slicing into the present? That'd be the latest Candyman film, a powerful work of clear passion and palpable anger that's crafted with tense, needling thrills and exquisite vision. Echoing Sammy Davis Jr's version of the tune that virtually shares its name across its opening frames, this new dalliance with the titular hook-handed villain both revives the slasher franchise that gave 90s and 00s teen sleepovers an extra tremor — if you didn't stare into the mirror and utter the movie's moniker five times, were you really at a slumber party? — and wrestles vehemently and determinedly with the historic horrors that've long befallen Black Americans. It'll come as zero surprise that Jordan Peele produces and co-penned the screenplay with writer/director Nia DaCosta (Little Woods) and writer/producer Win Rosenfeld (The Twilight Zone). Candyman slides so silkily into Peele's thematic oeuvre alongside Get Out and Us, plus Peele-produced TV series Hunters and Lovecraft Country, that his fingerprints are inescapable. But it's rising star DaCosta who delivers a strikingly alluring, piercingly savage and instantly memorable picture. Alongside bloody altercations and lashings of body horror, razor blade-spiked candy makes multiple appearances, and her film is equally as sharp and enticing. In a preface that expands the Candyman mythology — and savvily shows how the movie has everyday realities firmly on its mind — that contaminated confectionery is thrust to the fore. In 1977, in the Cabrini-Green housing estate where the series has always loitered, Sherman Fields (Michael Hargrove, Chicago PD) is suspected of handing out the laced lollies to neighbourhood kids. Sent to do laundry in the basement, pre-teen Billy (Rodney L Jones III, Fargo) soon comes face-to-face with the man everyone fears; however, after the boy screams and the police arrive, he witnesses something even more frightening. Jumping to the present (albeit absent any signs of the pandemic given Candyman was initially slated to release in mid-2020), Cabrini-Green is now Chicago's current poster child for gentrification. It's where artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Watchmen) and curator Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris, WandaVision) have just bought an expansive apartment, in fact. They're unaware of the area's background, until Brianna's brother Troy (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Generation) and his partner Grady (Kyle Kaminsky, DriverX) start filling them in on the legend that's long been whispered across the local streets — and, struggling to come up with ideas for a new show, Anthony quickly clasps onto all things Candyman for his next big project. The feeling that springs when you discover that something isn't what it seems, and that its murkiness run so deep that it's devastatingly inescapable? That's the sensation that Anthony experiences as he plunges down the rabbit hole of learning everything he can about Candyman. Laundromat owner William Burke (Colman Domingo, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) helps fill some gaps, and the events of the original 1992 film also guide the artist's research — with all that backstory conveyed via seductively gothic shadow puppetry — but fans with strong memories of the initial movie will already understand why Anthony is so thoroughly consumed. DaCosta also builds towards his jittery and obsessed mental state stylistically from the get-go. Urgency seethes through the feature's fidgety, nervy score, with composer Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe (aka Lichens, a musician with credits on It Comes at Night and Mother!) turning restlessness and anxiousness into jostling notes. In Candyman's stunningly vivid imagery, as lensed by Happiest Season and An American Pickle cinematographer John Guleserian, every visual choice further solidifies the feverishly unsettling mood. Shots involving mirrors stand out, aptly, but bold framing decisions, careening camerawork through hallways, and clever use of placement, angles, and zooming in and out all prove expertly calibrated. Again and again, DaCosta gives cinematic flesh to Anthony's emotional and mental states. She apes his inner turmoil in her external flourishes; so much of Candyman is about reflections, given that's where its eponymous boogeyman arises, after all. That notion also shimmers across the film's heftier layers and heaving social critique, as it muses on the cycle of violence against people of colour that keeps being mirrored in generation after generation — upping the ante from the flick that started it all. Back then, the franchise's fearsome force was 19th-century artist Daniel Robitaille (Tony Todd, The Flash), who was brutally attacked and murdered for loving a white woman. His hand was severed, and he was smeared with honey that attracted bees to dispense fatal stings. Now, he's not the only ghostly victim of such ghastly racial injustice. This fourth instalment in the saga, following terrible initial sequels in 1995 and 1995, isn't subtle about the picture it's painting; however, it is intense, ardent and shrewd at almost every moment. And, while it sometimes tasks characters with too overtly making blatant statements (a critic's dismissiveness of Anthony's latest creations is just too neatly scripted, for instance), Candyman usually finds the right balance, stressing but rarely overcooking its message. That its central figure's new artwork is called Say My Name provides one such example; it's obvious, in both its links to uttering Candyman's moniker and to the #SayHerName movement that raises awareness for black women subjected to violence, but it's also wounding. From Abdul-Mateen II leading the show, to stellar supporting work by Parris, Domingo and Todd, casting is another of DaCosta's painstakingly perfect touches. In The Get Down, Aquaman and The Trial of the Chicago 7 — and, of course, in Watchmen — Abdul-Mateen II has already shown that he knows how to make his presence felt, and Candyman wouldn't burn as searingly or buzz as stingingly without his performance. He's front and centre in a movie that excavates, contemplates and ravages the past, rather than tries to simply construct something new from its ashes. Helping the film cut its own path while remaining fully aware that it'll always swarm into its cult-favourite predecessor's hive, he never merely plays the always-sympathetic and dutifully heroic protagonist, either. Nor is Anthony just an emblem of reckoning with prejudice and fighting back, even in a feature that adores its symbolism. Indeed, his name is worth saying multiple times, as is DaCosta's — en route to her next gig directing Marvel Cinematic Universe project The Marvels — and this haunting and entrancing movie's moniker as well.
By now, we're all well and truly in the festive mood. The big day is inching closer by the moment, too, and trying to get ready early is no longer an option. That said, even the most organised among us always have a few last-minute things to pick up. It really wouldn't be Christmas otherwise. While the Milton Markets has already hosted its usual festive shindig, it isn't done helping you out with your festive shopping just yet. On Thursday, December 23 from 7am–12pm, it's hosting a last pop-up pre-Christmas morning market. Mark your calendars accordingly. Gourmet food, artisanal wares, farm-fresh produce, gift ideas — they'll all be available. It isn't just your final chance to get market goodies before Christmas, but one of your last opportunities to avoid shopping centres, their crowds, and their rush and chaos. As always with markets, arriving early is recommended.
Bond and big-name festival hits. Everyone from Paul Mescal and Lily James and to Olivia Colman and Colin Farrell. Established and up-and-coming filmmakers from across the UK. That's the British Film Festival's 2022 lineup, which'll hit Brisbane's Palace James Street and Palace Centro from Wednesday, October 19–Wednesday, November 16. Get ready to catch Mescal's latest post-Normal People role, Aftersun, then check out a rom-com starring James (Pam & Tommy) with Shazad Latif (Toast of Tinseltown), before seeing the Australian premiere of Colman's (Mothering Sunday) newest movie Joyride. As always, it's a star-studded affair, including opening with Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, as set in the world of French fashion, with Oscar-nominated Phantom Thread actor Lesley Manville in the titular role. At the other end, that aforementioned rom-com What's Love Got to Do With It? will wrap things up, with James and Latif joined on-screen by Emma Thompson (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande). Other standouts include The Banshees of Inisherin, which reunites In Bruges writer/director Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) and his stars Farrell (After Yang) and Brendan Gleeson (The Tragedy of Macbeth); plus the Bill Nighy (The Man Who Fell to Earth)-starring Living, about a terminally ill man in the 1950s. Also on the complete bill, and a huge inclusion: Empire of Light, the new film from 1917, Skyfall and Spectre's Sam Mendes. Skyfall will also play as part of the Bond retrospective, but the director's latest has been called a love letter to cinema — because charting a romance in an old picture palace in the 1980s was always going to earn that description. An Emily Brontë biopic, aptly named Emily, and directed by Australia actor-turned-filmmaker Frances O'Connor (The End), also sits on the lineup — as do more sea shanties in song-filled sequel Fisherman's Friends 2: One and All. Or, there's Rogue Agent, which dramatises conman (and fake undercover MI5 agent) Robert Freegard's IRL story; In From the Side, about an affair between two members of a fictional South London gay rugby club; and Aisha, focusing on a young Nigerian woman seeking asylum in Ireland. As for that shaken-not-stirred contingent, it celebrates six decades since Dr No, the first movie in the 007 franchise, initially graced cinemas — and includes 14 films, with tickets $13 for each. The title that started it all is well and truly on the lineup, as are the fellow Connery-led You Only Live Twice, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger and Thunderball; Roger Moore-era titles Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun; On Your Majesty's Secret Service with Australia's Bond George Lazenby; Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill; Goldeneye and The World Is Not Enough with Pierce Brosnan; and Daniel Craig's Casino Royale and Skyfall.
This winter, Carseldine's markets aren't celebrating Christmas in July — but they are still celebrating. And, they're popping up later in the day, too. There mightn't be an overt emphasis on festive cheer at this stint of browsing, buying and eating, but you'll still be feeling merry when the weekly northside market makes a one-off move to twilight from 4–9pm on Saturday, July 23. Dubbed CarselDINE Twilight Markets, this event is putting food firmly in the spotlight, with more than 40 culinary stalls and trucks serving up their best. Shopping is still on the agenda, of course — and, if you want to go home with all your present-buying taken care of well in advance of Christmas, that's an option. There'll be a sizeable array of handmade wares to peruse, including Carseldine's usual array of vendors. In total, there'll be more than 200 stalls to check out. Entry costs $2, and you'll also score a soundtrack to your eating, drinking and shopping thanks to two stages filled with live music.
The arrival of spring means you'll have more motivation to leave the house more — even if it's just to get into a gallery. Luckily, the array of exhibitions currently on display in Brisbane are anything but static. You'll be able to get your steps up as you check out street art, peer at portraits and explore the city's music history. Just remember to take a breather between each one as you gallery hop around the city.
It's a great time to be a horror film fan. Get Out won an Oscar earlier this year, scary franchises — such as Insidious, The Purge and Unfriended — keep piling up the sequels and movies like Truth or Dare and Upgrade hit the big screen almost every month. And, of course, this October has seen iconic slasher franchise Halloween return with its 11th instalment — and it's a welcome return to form. That's because the film's producer, Jason Blum, is experienced in this kind of stuff — in fact, he's the person to thank for the current big-screen scary movie revival. Since he worked on 2007's surprise found-footage hit Paranormal Activity, Blum's name has been attached to many of the genre's big hits, including everything that we've just mentioned. The Joel Edgerton-directed thriller The Gift is also on his resume, and not-so obvious efforts like TV series The Jinx, Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman and Whiplash (which, Blum jokes is the "Sundance version of a horror movie"). During a recent trip to Australia to promote Halloween's release, we chatted to the prolific producer about different types of horror, helping to bring the genre back to prominence and restoring the Halloween series to its former glory — and what he'd like to revive next as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL_I2vNwkXQ BRINGING BACK HALLOWEEN 40 YEARS AFTER THE ORIGINAL "The first movie was one of the great horror movies of all time, and there've been nine sequels — some better than others, none too great. We make movies in a very specific way at Blumhouse, and I wanted to see if our system would work on this intellectual property that's been around for so long, and produced one spectacular movie and nine less spectacular movies. I wanted to see if we could make something great, so that was kind of a challenge that I was excited about. And in terms of now, I think because the first movie was so good, there's just been a desire from fans to try to see another Halloween that is as good as that one. I don't think ours is better than the first movie — I think no one's going to beat John [Carpenter, the writer and director of 1978's Halloween]. But I think ours is definitely second, and that's obviously very satisfying to me." AND BRINGING BACK JOHN CARPENTER AND JAMIE LEE CURTIS "I didn't want to do the movie unless John would agree to executive produce it. That was the only requirement for me — that I wasn't going to go forward unless John agreed to do the movie. I really don't believe that you can make successful sequels to movies without the person who made the success in the first place involved. And I went to John, and we had a meeting, and I got him to say yes — he initially said no, for quite a while, but I'm very convincing and persuasive so I twisted his arm and got him to agree. When he came on board, we hired David [Gordon Green, Halloween 2018's director and co-writer] and Danny [McBride, Halloween 2018's co-writer]. And they came up with the idea for what the movie is, which is this continuation of the story from 40 years ago. Then David met with Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jamie also was kind of reticent to join us. But I think it was the combination of John being back, and of her really responding to David's take on the movie, and that her godson in Jake Gyllenhaal — and Jake had just done Stronger, which David had directed, and Jake gave it very very high marks. It was all those things that got Jamie involved in the movie." FINDING THE RIGHT APPROACH TO MAKING THE 11TH FILM IN THE FRANCHISE "The storytelling is a continuation to the first movie, but there's a lot of nods in the movie to the other nine movies. I think the trick with making a sequel is making it feel original and entertaining to fans who've never seen a Halloween movie before, but also having it share enough DNA with the first movie so there's a reason to call it Halloween, and so that fans who've seen all other ten movies are also satisfied. The way that we approached that was to get John and Jamie involved — Jamie not just as an actress, but as an executive producer. So getting them involved as creative sources in the mix — and then add the new generation, which is David and Danny, who are very super talented guys in their own right but have never done a Halloween movie before. I really thought that by mixing those four creative forces together, you really get the best of both worlds. And I really think that they achieved it, so I'm very proud of that." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHEl7Pji0f8 WHERE BLUM FINDS HIS SCARES "I like to define the work that Blumhouse Productions does through the lens of what scares us. Clearly, mostly that's horror movies, but that isn't all that scares us. There's nothing scarier, certainly to me, than the Klu Klux Klan, and that's what BlacKkKlansman is about. Sharp Objects is not horror, but it's a clearly super dark-themed subject matter about a psychotic, overbearing mother. And even Whiplash — to me, these movies squarely fit under the umbrella of what scares us. That's what I look for — first and foremost, things that are great, but I like them to fit under the moniker of what's scary to us, and what's scary to me." HIS PART IN RESTORING HORROR TO GREATER MAINSTREAM PROMINENCE "I think our approach to the way that we make these movies has resulted in horror being more in vogue. I think there are directors who would have never done horror movies, who are now looking at horror as a way to reach young people through movies in a movie theatre — and to get what they want to say out to younger audience. But I think the thing that did the most for it was kind of the Academy's recognition of Get Out. That changed people's idea of what horror can be currently. Horror goes in and out of fashion, and has since the beginning of cinema, but I think right now it's getting more and more in fashion — and if I think there's one biggest reason, I would say it is because of Get Out." "I think we kind of have a unique way that we approach filmmaking, and I think it pays off. I think that cynical people approach horror movies by reverse engineering — they think about what should the scares be, and then figure out the story after that. We do it the opposite way. I really impress upon the executives at the company and the filmmakers we work with to be storytellers first and scary movie makers second, and I think as a result of that the movies are much more scary." SO, DOES HE HAVE PLANS TO RESURRECT OTHER HORROR ICONS? "I'd love to resurrect Friday the 13th. I have a pretty specific idea about it, but I haven't tried yet. I'm waiting for Halloween to come out, but after Halloween comes out I'm going to talk to the rights holders of Friday the 13th and see if I can talk them into it." Halloween is in cinemas now. Read our full review here. Top image: Alex J. Berliner, ABImages.
Sydney has Vivid. Melbourne boasts Rising. In Adelaide, it's all about Illuminate. And most years in Tasmania — although not in 2024 — Dark Mofo arrives. We're talking about winter festivals that are all about dazzling sights, often twinkling lights, plus culture, music and design, that is. The Gold Coast added to the list in 2022 with Big City Lights*, too, and that southeast Queensland event has now locked in its return. When Big City Lights* debuted two years back, it ran as a four-day pilot program. Now, after proving a success, it's making a comeback from Friday, June 21–Sunday, July 7, 2024, running Friday–Sunday each week. The location is still Southport. The focus remains experience stunning art via a self-guided program that gets you walking around the Goldie. You'll just have longer to enjoy it. And, Big City Lights*will still be free — making the price right to head along, including to scoot down the highway from Brisbane. Attendees will get immersed in audio-visual experiences, such as projections popping up in unexpected locations, towering large-scale digital works and 3D mapping. You'll also see the Southport CBD's facades and laneways in a whole new light quite literally. Who'll be providing the art is yet to be revealed, but Big City Lights*will call upon a roster of talents in light, installation and architecture, as well as digital design, as hailing both locally and nationally. Who'll be taking to the stage to provide the family-friendly fest's live performances also hasn't been announced yet. The full program is set to drop on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. "We're thrilled to be bringing Big City Lights back to Southport in winter next year. The 2024 festival will illuminate more buildings and streets with video projections, lighting installations and world class art," said Rosie Dennis, Executive Director of both Bleach* and Big City Lights*. "It's a fantastic festival which boosts the night-time economy in Southport. It will once again deliver a direct and positive impact to businesses in the CBD. The inaugural festival attracted more than 13,000 people and we hope the 2024 festival will attract tens of thousands of visitors during the winter school holidays." 2022's event took over rooftops, building facades, alleyways, car parks and shopfronts, splitting Southport into five separate art zones: in Nerang Street, Scarborough Street, Young Street, Regent Lane and Davison Lane. Artists involved the first time around included Michaela Gleave, Buchan Group, Jacob Leary, IKONIX, Claudio Kirac, Kirsten Baade and Peter Thiedeke all set to feature. Big City Lights* will run from Friday, June 21–Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Southport on the Gold Coast. For more information, head to the festival's website. Images: Claudio Kirac, Art Work Agency.
Disney+'s live-action small-screen Star Wars empire started back in 2019 with The Mandalorian. Since then, everything from The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi to Ahsoka, The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew have followed, but it's Andor that's proven the best series in the space-set saga in this very galaxy. The good news: season two arrives in April 2025. The other news: you'd best savour it, because this will be the last of the prequel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. If you've seen that 2016 movie, you'll know why this the new 12-episode season is not just Andor's second but its final season — because you know where this tale is heading. But audiences being aware of what's coming didn't stop the show's first season from being riveting and thrilling. Based on both the first sneak peek at season two and the just-dropped new trailer, that doesn't look like it's changing from Wednesday, April 23, 2025 Down Under. "I came with you to be part of something". "It's a different kind of mission." "The Empire cannot win." These statements filter through the latest look at Andor's second season. The first trailer offered similar sentiments. "We're in a war. You wanna fight?", it noted, as the show treads the path to rebellion. If you missed the first season, Andor takes a favourite big-screen character and steps back into their story before the events that viewers have already seen — so, like Obi-Wan Kenobi. As its title makes plain, the series focuses on its namesake, Cassian Andor, with Diego Luna (La Máquina) reprising his Rogue One role. Star Wars fans have already seen him as a Rebel captain and intelligence agent, and also watched how his story wraps up, hence the show's need to jump backwards. The focus: following Andor as he discovers how he can play a part in battling the Empire. Indeed, charting the rebellion, and how people and planets joined in, is the series' whole remit. In season two, as the end we all know is coming gets closer, expect higher stakes — and also Ben Mendelsohn (The New Look) as his Rogue One character Orson Krennic, plus Alan Tudyk (Grimsburg) as K-2SO. The first season of Andor saw filmmaker Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Legacy) — who co-wrote the screenplay for Rogue One — rejoin the Star Wars franchise as the series' creator and showrunner. He's back for season two. On-screen, so are Stellan Skarsgård (Dune: Part Two), Genevieve O'Reilly (Tin Star), Denise Gough (Who Is Erin Carter?), Kyle Soller (Bodies), Adria Arjona (Blink Twice), Faye Marsay (Ten Pound Poms) and Forest Whitaker (Emperor of Ocean Park) . You'll be watching along via four chapters comprising of three episodes a piece, with a new chapter hitting your streaming queue each week. Check out the first trailer for Andor season two below: Andor season two streams via Disney+ from Wednesday, April 23, 2025 Down Under. Read our review of season one. Images:© 2025 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
When a movie premieres at the Cannes Film Festival, the literal applause it receives makes headlines. It happens every year — and at fellow major international film fests such as Berlin and Venice, too — with reports detailing the number of minutes that the audience put their hands together for while on their feet. Back in May 2024, The Apprentice was no different. While the time spent clapping varied depending on the source, this was still a story. But there was also another tale that followed swiftly after the feature's debut, as it was likely always bound to: the response from its subject to this unofficial biopic, or at least from his campaign, including a cease-and-desist letter attempting to stop anyone else from seeing it. The Apprentice's title tells everyone the who and the why of this situation. Before he was America's 45th president, Donald Trump spent over a decade hosting the reality-TV series that shares its moniker with Ali Abbasi's new film. This isn't a chronicle of Trump's time on the show, or in the Oval Office afterwards, however. It isn't just an unsanctioned big-screen Trump biography, either. Making his first English-language feature after 2016 Danish horror film Shelley, the Oscar-submitted 2018 Swedish standout Border and 2022's Persian-language serial-killer thriller Holy Spider, Copenhagen-based Iranian Danish filmmaker Abbasi also doesn't simply step through Trump's origin story in the 70s and 80s — although it chronicles his start in real estate, his relationship with his father and his marriage to Ivana. The movie's pitch-perfect name hones in on the most-crucial element of the picture: that this is a portrait of chasing power seen through a mentor-protege relationship. Trump is the apprentice. His guide: New York City attorney and political fixer Roy Cohn, who first came to fame in the 50s investigating suspected Communists with Senator Joseph McCarthy. Abbasi digs into how Cohn helped shape Trump, including the three rules of winning passed down from the former to the latter. Those tenets: first, attack, attack, attack. Then, admit nothing and deny everything. And lastly, claim victory while never ever admitting defeat. It's impossible to watch these rules outlined in The Apprentice — or even read them on the page — and not spot how they still dictate Trump's actions today. That's one of the film's many astute moves. Another: casting Sebastian Stan (Dumb Money), who gives one of his two phenomenal performances for 2024 alongside A Different Man, as Donald Trump. Seeing him anchor the familiar Trump mannerisms, speech patterns, talking points and attitudes — details that anyone who has even just spotted the IRL figure on the news across his political career in passing will instantly recognise — in the younger version of the man, an iteration brought to the screen with complexity, is both haunting and uncanny. Equally exceptional: a can't-look-away Jeremy Strong in his first post-Succession part as Cohn, in another of the film's performances that demands awards attention. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Oscar-nominee and Bodies Bodies Bodies star Maria Bakalova also leaves an impression as Ivana. And Abbasi remains one of the most-exciting directors working today in every choice that he makes throughout The Apprentice, including deploying a visual approach that scrapes away any gleam from his take on Trump at every moment. "I think we've been quite restrained," Abbasi tells Concrete Playground about the movie, talking about the instant backlash and the complicated response he knows it will continued to receive. "If we wanted to be controversial, we have ample, ample opportunities to be so." We also chatted with the director about the quest to get the film made and seen, building a portrait of someone that everyone in the world has an opinion of, why he wanted to bring this tale to the screen, getting Stan onboard, and the importance of diving into Trump and Cohn's relationship. On the Diverse Responses to the Film's Premiere, Including the Cannes Standing Ovation and the Trump Campaign's Reaction "It's sort of the same in a way. What do they say, you have to grab a compliment whenever, wherever you find it, whichever way you find it, in whatever form you find it? I think if the Trump campaign thinks that this is the worst — they have an actually really funny formulation, they're saying this is 'pure fictionalised trash'. And I'm like, that's a very general sentence you can basically write in the beginning of every feature film. It's pure fictionalised trash — that's a punk-rock way of saying 'this is the movie'. And look, I think we've been quite restrained. I think this is a quite a restrained movie. I do not understand where people talk about controversy, controversial. If we wanted to be controversial, we have ample, ample opportunities to be so and to do so, and include stuff. I mean, with this guy, the sky is the limit, right. And therefore it's a little bit difficult for me to understand. Of course, we're the underdogs in this game. We just want to get the movie released. So any help, any publicity is appreciated. I don't mind. But on the intellectual level, when people talk about this as being controversial, provocative and the Trump campaign bashing us, I'm like 'have you actually seen the movie? You know, you come out, I would say, much better than you might have'." On Building a Complex, Three-Dimensional Portrait of Someone That Everyone in the World Has an Opinion Of "There's this fable about this father and son, and they have this donkey and they want to go over a river or something like that. They try one way and then someone comes and says 'no, no you can't tie the donkey like that. You have to do it upside down'. And they do it upside down and they say 'no, no, it if you do it upside down, it's going to drown and die in water. You have to do it from the side'. And anyway, it ends up that the donkey goes in the water anyway and drowns. It's a little bit like this movie. It's impossible to get that balance because everyone has an opinion about this donkey. And especially, I think, I really see this acutely in the US. Because I feel like it's impossible, almost, for the Americans — at least, for the critics — to see this as a movie. They either hate the idea of a Trump movie or they think it's not enough — or they think there's nothing new about him that they couldn't read about. So it's a vicious cycle. It feeds itself. And in in reality, I think the only balance that matters is the balance of three dimensionality of character and the authenticity of character. Do I deeply care if we hurt Donald Trump? No, I don't give a fuck, you know. He doesn't care. Why would I care? But I do care about what I feel is fairness. I don't want us to either work for him or work against him. Everyone has different agendas around him and around this sort of political minefield we're living in, and I'm this one guy who actually does not have an agenda either way for against. My agenda is a humanist agenda. I think it's interesting to investigate these people, and the time and the political apparatuses which they're part of." On What Appealed About Bringing This Story to the Screen After Abbasi's Past Films Shelley, Border and Holy Spider "I think what was exciting about this project was the fact that it it's not an American movie — it's about America. And as someone who grew up in Iran, I have this really special relationship to America. I mean, Iran was an American colony until 79. And then after that, we became the archenemy and America became the great satan. And we had this very tense relationship. I think that if you grow up in the Middle East, you have a different view of American politics. You don't really see the difference between Democrats and Republicans in the same way. The outcome is the same. The outcome would end up being a bomb on your head anyway. So I think this this sort of tension and fascination got me curious about American politics, obviously, and the American political system, and this social Darwinism that sort of runs through a lot of things in in American society — this sportifying of everything, so to speak. Even the debates, I don't know if anyone can come up with any single substantive point from the last Trump-versus-Harris debate, but everyone was like 'who won? By what margin did they win?'. But I think there's also something more, there is another complexity in in this story — it's not a Trump movie. It's about this very formative relationship, which Trump is obviously part of. But it's also equally about Roy Cohn, who's as colourful character and as exciting a character, and not as in plain sight as Trump is. And how through this relationship, Trump becomes the person he is. In that way, again, it's also my chance of studying or investigating the system they're operating." On Finding the Right Actor to Play Donald Trump — and Getting Sebastian Stan Onboard "I think for me, casting is like 80 percent of my job. That's also why I am really, really picky and it takes very long time for me to cast my movies, because really once you cast someone, there is not a whole lot you can do about that choice on set either way. And I meant this in a sincere way. It's not a criticism, it's not a problem, but it's something — it's a commitment, I guess. That's a good way of putting it. And that commitment was something that Sebastian definitely paid to this. We start talking about this 2019. And then movie evolved and fell apart few times. It fell apart right after January 6, I remember, as an example of the times. And I think in a way, it is a difficult part to prepare for — not only on a technical level, not only in terms of research and all that, but also mentally. I think I went through a version of this with Holy Spider myself. I was like, the movie itself is one thing, the consequences of making the movie is something else. So I had to mentally prepare to do Holy Spider for many years before I actually made it. I think it's the same for Sebastian. I think maybe the one good thing that came out of all these years of waiting and rebuilding the project was he had time to mentally prepare for the fact that he is doing this person who's extremely polarising — and the aftermath, which is also going to be polarising — and it hasn't even started yet. I think we're going to see the real reactions when the movie comes out. It's different for me. I'm an outsider to this political system, to the US. I can't say I'm an outsider to Hollywood anymore, because now I'm part of it. But I have a sort of a safety distance. If everything goes wrong, if shit hits the fan, I'm still in Copenhagen — and that's not the case for Sebastian. That's not the case for Amy [executive producer Baer, Purple Hearts] and Gabe [screenwriter Gabriel Sherman, Alaska Daily], who started the project. These are people who are taking real risks with this. As much as I don't understand the controversiality and the risk of it, I do know that I'm not the audience. I'm not the masses — that would be seen very differently." On The Apprentice Living Up to Its Name by Unpacking Roy Cohn's Influence on Donald Trump "It's a little bit of a Frankenstein story in a way, like how the monster is created by the master. But in that case, I think politically speaking, I think it's very wrong to refer to Donald as a monster. Because that would also imply that there's a monster in town and there are some other innocent people who are not. And in fact, that's really not the case. I think anything that the opponents are accusing Trump of doing, they have done themselves in some degree, one way or the other. The argument is here is not that 'oh, there are some fine people on both sides' or everything is relative. I don't think it's relative. I think there's some stuff, like when he comes and says 'people are eating dogs', that's a despicable, stupid, racist, fascist thing to say. That's not relative. That's black and white. But in terms of the dynamics of it, back to Roy Cohn, I think that in the movie as in reality, he had an outsized influence on how Donald became the person he is, and how he learned to navigate and pull the levers of power. And also, most importantly, maybe, how to deal with media. Once you know the rules, you can see how he's on a daily basis using those rules. And there's something interesting about these characters, because in a way, they are pretty punk rock. Punk rock is not something you associate with the right that much — mostly anarchist leftwing, that vibe of it. But when you look at these people, they do what the fuck they want. They establish rules. They tear the rule book. They're colourful. They don't care. And I think that maybe in terms of mentality, that was maybe also a big contribution from Roy. You know, you don't have to give a shit about people. If you say something wrong in an interview, double down, triple down, quadruple down. Who cares? Fuck them, you know?" The Apprentice opened in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, October 11, 2024.
When roaming along Given Terrace, Lorna Jane bag in one hand, Fundies tote in the other, trying to pick a cafe to brunch at can be one of the most stressful experiences for any Paddington shopper. This strip is awash in cosmopolitan cafes, yet Tall Short Espresso is the one sit-down or takeaway safety net, where you can go, eat, pay and not feeling like you've been fleeced of quality and cash. Once upon a time Tall Short was a lone nomadic red VW Kombi that popped up around Brisbane serving A-grade coffee at a price that wasn't painful. Now in its fixed position on Given Terrace — just down from the hardware store — Tall Short has given itself an umbrella-shaded sidewalk and cafe-space to move, and boy has it stretched its legs. Whether you want to sit in and have some brekkie, nab a takeaway coffee, overdose on baked goods, or drink until dawn, Tall Short has the goods to deliver. They do the classics excellently; there's avo on toast ($4.50 a slice), croissants ($4 for jam, $6 for ham and cheese), baked beans on sourdough ($6 for one slice, $10 for two) and ham and cheese toastie ($6). If you're really out for a treat, try one of their bagels — the bacon and egg surpasses any other in the area (besides Scout) and their New York bagel is so richly laden in cream cheese it could have any American swooning. There's always a selection of brownies, carrot cakes, muffins and banana bread if you're in the market for something a little sweeter. While the coffee is rich and delicious, the sweetest bit about Tall Short is every cup comes with a gingerbread man — a smiling little bickie that can throw a silver lining around even the most solemn of days. You've got to admire a cafe that adds a little spice to the ordinary, and does it with crunch and smile. And if coffee, gingerbread, cakes and bagels aren't really your scene, Tall Short transforms into a bar Fridays from 5pm, Saturdays from 3pm and Sundays from 2pm. The beer selection is crafty, and the atmosphere is rife with conversation and cheer. Simply put, Tall Short caters to everyone and anything — it's family friendly, open enough to have the wildest of conversations, and dishes up food and coffee in tune with what you would expect from Paddington. If you're ever confused, coffee-starved, and searching the streets of Paddington for a little relief, Tall Short is your answer.
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, streaming on Binge from Thursday, July 13 and Neon from Friday, July 14, gripping New York-set kidnapping miniseries Full Circle. Soderbergh will always be the filmmaker who won Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or at 26 for Sex, Lies and Videotape. He's the talent who earned two Best Director Oscars in the same year for Traffic and Erin Brockovich, winning for the former, too. He brought the Ocean's franchise back to cinemas in 2001, and eerily predicted the COVID-19 pandemic with 2011's Contagion — and he's 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. It also couldn't feel more relevant to now, both in its understanding of how pivotal technology is to daily life — Soderbergh shot the aforementioned Unsane, plus High Flying Bird, solely on iPhones, after all — and its unpacking of today's attitudes on class, race, power and capitalism. Full Circle starts with a murder, then a revenge plot, then a missing smartphone. As the show's name makes plain, 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. As a filmmaker frequently obsessed with heists — see: not just Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen, but Out of Sight, Logan Lucky and No Sudden Move — Soderbergh is well-versed in the reality that little about stealing and swindling goes smoothly. Full Circle's kidnapping is quickly botched, the Brownes' attempts to pay the $314,159 ransom become a mess and everyone from the perpetrators to law enforcement makes questionable choices. Soderbergh and Solomon also know how to toy with tropes and expectations, as illustrated so devastatingly and delightfully in their staging of the suspense-dripping snatching itself. Viewers think they're seeing clearly what's happening, only to then discover what's actually occurred, and also how cleverly Full Circle has stitched together the whole incident to comment on perception, misdirection, mistruths and people acting without gleaning the full picture. This is an intelligent and precise series in every detail, making connecting the dots both addictive and satisfying — for viewers, that is, but rarely for the show's characters. None of Full Circle's key figures are ever being completely honest, and each time that truth is revealed, more arcs appear, questions are posed and tangents sparked. There's a savvy statement echoing, too, about how everyone who thinks they're intelligent and precise, be it a detective, crime matriarch, business leaders, famous folks, rebellious teens, people chasing a dream or those endeavouring to do the right thing, so rarely are. Again, it's right there in the title that all of these complications will come full circle — and, visually and within the narrative, Soderbergh and Solomon find shrewd ways to play up the spherical motif — but less expected is the emotional weight that spins along with the labyrinthine storyline. That Full Circle is terrifically performed isn't a surprise for a second; Julia Roberts and Benicio del Toro both won Oscars in the same year for different Soderbergh films, and the director's way with actors has been a hallmark of his work since the 80s. Here, there's no weak link, even among stars who remain in comfortable territory. Danes and Olyphant's involvement is dream casting for that very reason — she just played highly successful and highly stressed in Fleishman Is in Trouble, and is equally as stunning in this; whether in Deadwood, Justified or Santa Clarita Diet, he's always excellent at weathering and navigating crumbling facades. Jerome seems worlds away from I'm a Virgo, and Pounder from The Shield, and Beetz from Atlanta, yet each brandishes some of their best traits in those projects and now: yearning and desperation, potency and determination, and wiliness and playfulness, respectively. An intriguing premise, astute scripting, admirable actors, outstanding filmmaker: combine them and an all-round superb series results. There's a circular element to the way that each of these core aspects feeds the other; without Soderbergh's virtuoso craftsmanship in everything from probing closeups to sharp editing, or the cast's commitment in examining complex characters and their motivations, or a knotty script that might just owe a debt to Akira Kurosawa's High and Low, Full Circle mightn't have swirled so rivetingly. The one query that it leaves viewers with, particularly those outside of the US: why the postal service needs cops? Of course, that's a minor concern in a taut, tenseand intoxicating major must-see. Check out the trailer for Full Circle below: Full Circle streams via Binge from Thursday, July 13 and Neon from Friday, July 14.
December might be nine months away, but it's beginning to look a lot like an ice cream-lover's version of Christmas in Brisbane. The city's first festival dedicated to the sweet treat is only days away from descending upon West End, and they're bringing in the big guns: Gelato Messina. With Messina's permanent Brisbane digs finally expected to open its doors by the end of the month, it really is a great time to like all things creamy and frosty — and, for those who can't wait, their Brisbane Ice Cream Festival menu delivers quite the mouth-watering appetiser. Topping the bill is a custom-made dessert made just for the fest, the Crack Monster. Made from cereal milk gelato, coco pop clusters, warm crack pie and salted golden syrup, it's certain to get your tastebuds tingling. And if you're wondering what crack pie is, think dense, both salty and sweet, made with ample cream and sugar on an oat cookie base, and (as the name suggests) utterly addictive. Rolling out some old favourites, Messina will also be serving up their popular Cremino choc tops, aka chocolate-lined waffle cones filled with Italian meringue, chocolate hazelnut ganache and salted caramel gelato, then dipped in dark chocolate and rolled in amaretti biscuits. And, for those just after a few scoops of the good stuff, Robert Brownie Jnr (milk chocolate gelato, chocolate brownies and chocolate fudge sauce), salted caramel and white chocolate, and salted coconut sorbet and mango salsa flavours will also be on offer. Wear something stretchy. The Brisbane Ice Cream Festival takes place on March 11 at West Village, 97 Boundary Street, West End. For more information, visit the festival website.
Life has been a cabaret for one of the world's inimitable designers since 2018, when Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show first premiered in Paris. Couture, colour, flair, excess, passion, a larger-than-life attitude: they're all channelled into this fashion show-meets-musical revue that steps through its namesake's career and promises a time at the theatre like nothing else. More than 200 original Gaultier pieces feature. His 50 years making threads are in the spotlight. Unsurprisingly, the whole thing also plays out like a party. So far, London, Tokyo, Munich, Porto, Lisbon, Milan, Barcelona and Osaka have also revelled in the Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show experience. Next, it's Brisbane's turn. The River City will welcome the Australian debut of the show — and the Aussie-exclusive season, too — during Brisbane Festival 2024. Donning attire that Gaultier would approve of isn't a prerequisite of attending the production, but you know that you want to dress the part if you're heading along. Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show will kick off with Brisbane Festival itself, starting on Friday, August 30. The Australian season runs until Sunday, September 15, taking over the South Bank Piazza — which forms part of the Festival Garden for the duration of Brisbane Festival. Of course Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show emphasises its titular figure's boundary-pushing work, his focus on individual expression, and his championing of queer aesthetics and LGBTQIA+ causes. Alongside the hefty range of outfits, it also features a suitable genre-defying soundtrack of disco, funk, pop, rock, new wave and punk tunes as actors and dancers — plus circus artists as well — take to the stage. The diverse cast of faces bringing the show to life spans even further, too, with celebrities and other special guests filming cameos that play during the production.
Day in, day out, Pig 'N' Whistle Brunswick Street serves up beer. Every day of the week until at least 11pm, in fact. But only Saturday, January 28 will see the long-standing Fortitude Valley venue turn its love of yeasty, hoppy beverages into an afternoon-long beer festival. That fest? Beer Festival on Brunswick. Here, beer lovers can sip plenty of brews, obviously. While the full beer lineup is being revealed gradually, you can start looking forward to tipples from Gage Roads Brewing co, Last Man Standing, Newstead Brewing Co, BrewDog, Young Henrys, Balter Brewing, Sea Legs and Big Drop Brewing Co — aka some of the best breweries that Australia has to offer. Beer Festival on Brunswick kicks off at 12pm, running through till 6pm, with listening to the Triple J Hottest 100 followed by live music on the bill as well — because what's a festival without a soundtrack? Entry is free, although you'll need your wallet to buy more than a few drinks, which are available via tokens. Buy three in advance for $25, pair them with a bowl of wings for $40, or nab five for $45 or ten for $85.
Bloody excellent news, gin lovers: Four Pillars' bloody season is back for 2023. Since 2015, the Healesville-based distillery has turned its winter sip into one of the most coveted tipples of the year, and this year is no different. But, instead of just one limited-edition wine-infused concoction, there's two on offer: the cult-favourite Bloody Shiraz Gin and new sibling Bloody Pinot Noir Gin. Spirits fiends familiar with the shiraz version will know that it is ridiculously popular for a reason. Also, it's gin infused with shiraz grapes. That blend gives the drop its cerise hue, and provides sweet undertones — but means that it avoids a higher sugar content. It is boozier, though, with an alcoholic content of 37.8 percent (compared to an average 25 percent in regular sloe gin). Initially it came about when Four Pillars came into possession of 250 kilograms of Yarra Valley shiraz grapes, did some experimenting, and bet that steeping those grapes in its OG Rare Dry Gin for eight weeks — then pressing the fruit and blending it with the gin — would end tastily. The 2023 Bloody Shiraz Gin follows that process again, while the Bloody Pinot Noir Gin sees Four Pillars try another grape variety. If the distillery is bottling it and selling it, clearly it turned out well, too. This newcomer also sources its fruit from Yarra Valley again. The end result is softer and lighter but with a heavier gin taste, and with aromas of rose petals, strawberries and cherries. Both gins go on sale on Saturday, June 10 for $88 each at the brand's website, and from Thursday, June 1 if you're a Four Pillars subscriber. The shiraz version will also be available at the Four Pillars Healesville Distillery and Four Pillars Sydney Lab, plus selected bottle-os. Bloody Shiraz Gin fans over the years will also know that it always comes in a limited-edition bottle, with year's featuring artwork by Australian illustrator Luke Lucas. Plus, the full bloody range includes gin and tonic cans and a Bandwagon booze-free shiraz option — so even if you're not partaking in alcohol, you can still enjoy a drink. Also bloody brilliant: to celebrate not one but two bloody gins, and bloody season overall, Four Pillars is hosting a midwinter gin fest. Running from Thursday, June 1–Sunday, July 31 in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, the festival is actually 15 events, offering each city something a little different (while always heroing the two tipples in the spotlight, of course, and getting everyone saying "bloody" over and over). In Sydney, the Four Pillars Lab will celebrate World Gin Day with a weekend-long party filled with drinks, snacks, DJs, workshops and free tastings. The venue is also doing a Golden Century BBQ takeover, teaming pork, duck and dumplings with Bloody Shiraz Gin drinks; putting on a big feast with North Bondi Fish; popping up at North Sydney's Rafi and the Harbour View Hotel; and bringing back the Gin & Film Fest at Golden Age Cinema with a focus on slasher sirens. [caption id="attachment_902042" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Wes Nel[/caption] In Melbourne, the Healesville distillery is doing comparable World Gin Day festivities, and also hosting a Fireside Festival that's all about hot cocktails. Also, Yakimono is doing a feast, there'll be takeovers at Dessous and Goldilocks, and the Gin & Film Fest is back at Thornbury Picture House. Last but not least, Brisbane gets a feast as well at Newstead's Stratton. And, the venue is hosting a month-long takeover with a special Bloody Shiraz Gin drinks menu. [caption id="attachment_851598" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anson Smart[/caption] The 2023 Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin and Bloody Pinot Noir Gin will go on sale around the country on Saturday, June 10, or on Thursday, June 1 if you're a Four Pillars subscriber. Head to the Four Pillars website to make a purchase — or hit up the Four Pillars Distillery at Healesville, Victoria and the Four Pillars Lab in Surry Hills, Sydney. Four Pillars bloody range images: Benito Martin.
Brisbanites, it's time to grab your binoculars. And, to grab a beachside spot with a view over Moreton Bay. In other words, it's whale-watching season. The migration period is upon us, so expect to see our coastal waters dotted with the majestic sea creatures as they swim their way to warmer pastures. As well as offering an ace way to spend any weekend afternoon for the next few months, the annual occurrence is the reason to head to Scarborough Beach Park on one particular arvo, thanks to their Welcome to the Whales shindig. A family-friendly affair on Sunday, May 27, it'll combine food trucks, sand sculptures, fire pits, live music and outdoor cinema, as well as a mini science festival. When you're not watching environmental doco A Plastic Ocean or grabbing a bite — or eating your own, if you go the picnic basket route — then you can take part in the whale wishes ceremony. It just involves lighting a candle and offering good tidings to the ocean giants, in keeping with the spirit of the occasion.
Come the really raw bits of winter, our gut instinct generally tells us to bunker down in our own homes with blanket forts and hot comforting stews. Nothing says 'let's stay home in our pyjamas tonight' like frosty air and something trashy on TV. But don't fret — mini-holidays are still achievable (even in winter) and in Melbourne weekends away are at your fingertips. All you have to do is jump into your car and go for a little spin. Cold places can make for beaut weekends away, and Melbourne's Dandenong Ranges are a very valid option. Only 35 kilometres east of the CBD, The Hills, as they're affectionately known, will make you feel like you're in a tiny European village at the best of times, or lost in the forest at the worst (hint: take a map with you). Stretching from the southern ranges to Belgrave, the foothills and hilltop villages like Sassafrass and Mount Dandenong, here are some tips for a weekend away in the area filled with woodfires, ferns and a plethora of dessert options. [caption id="attachment_581918" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Hideaway Cottage[/caption] STAY Heading up to stay a few nights? Feeling cosy in Airbnb cottages are what it's all about up there, so have yourself a gander at this one. Hideaway Cottage is right up the top of the mountain in the area actually called — fittingly enough — Mount Dandenong, and it's a sweet little stone cottage house embodying all things quaint. There's a loft bedroom up a spiral staircase, a fireplace for those wintry times and even a veranda as an added bonus. You'll be sitting out the front wrapped in your blanket cocoon saying things like "this is what life is all about" before you know it — not even minding that your toes have gone a bit numb. If you want to step it up a notch and go full forest, head up to the Linden Rainforest Retreat; it's also in Mount Dandenong, but a whole level above when it comes to indulgence. You can choose from one of four 'designer suite' retreats, there's room service, and you can even pre-order a cheese platter and/or rose petals to be strewn about your bed before you arrive. It's prime fare for a couple celebrating something special, or just for a single really going for it in the treat yo'self stakes. 100 points for you. Alternatively, just go bush and camp somewhere in the basically enormous expanse of green camping possibility that the Dandenong Ranges are. There are a bunch of well-equipped camping grounds dotted around the ranges — here's a list to start you off. But a warning to you, the Dandenongs do tend to hover a few degrees lower than the mainland down below at all times, so nights outdoors in winter will be frosty indeed. [caption id="attachment_581920" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Ripe Sassafrass[/caption] EAT AND DRINK Contrary to popular opinion, it's not all about scones up here. Okay, it is a little bit. A hot tip is avoiding the over-touristy and over-priced Miss Marple's Tearoom in Sassafras and heading a few doors down to Ripe. The café has a produce store attached, a heated deck so you can sit amongst the ferns, and a Devonshire tea that includes a hot drink in the price (unlike Miss Marple's). For those who aren't all about lashings of cream and jam, Ripe also does a solid baguette menu — and it almost goes without saying that the prosciutto, quince paste and brie is the winner over here. [caption id="attachment_581922" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Cafe de Beaumarchais[/caption] If you've done a fair whack of walking around the mountainous surroundings, it could be high time for some sweet treats. Café de Beaumarchais (also in Sassafras) has you sorted with a fairly hectic cake display and great coffee, and a general vibe making you feel like you're in a tiny village in France. For heavier fare head to Woods Sherbrooke — the Sri Lankan chef and owner's contemporary Asian menu will warm your belly on a cold winter's night. Drinking holes are a little harder to come by in the hills, so our first suggestion would be to make a big vat of your own mulled wine and drink it by the fireplace in your cottage. If you're very keen to venture on out, Belgrave is probably the place to go. Sooki Lounge on Burwood Highway isn't the hallmark that the bar it replaced, the famous Ruby's Lounge, once was, but it still does live music and organic tapas. Oscar's Alehouse, also just down the road, is a bit of Brunswick in Belgrave — there's a heap of different craft beers and you can even BYO pizza in. [caption id="attachment_581933" align="alignnone" width="1280"] RJ Hamer Aboretum, Matthew Paul Argall via Flickr[/caption] SEE AND DO Getting around in the Dandenongs can be slow-going — thanks to the one-lane Mount Dandenong Tourist Road starting at Tremont and running all the way up to Montrose — so don those old runners, flex your feet and set off on foot. It's like the hills are urging you to go a-hikin' through them, and there's plentiful walks to be done. A tip is avoiding the tourist-saturated 1000 Steps Walk on a weekend because it ends up being more of a shuffle/whoops-avoid-the-family-of-five-plus-their-dog type affair. Instead, head to the huge RJ Hamer Arboretum in Olinda. Here stand over 150 different types of trees and, when the leaves start to fall in cold weather, it has a real resemblance to Narnia. The National Rhododendron Gardens nearby are also beautiful, covered in colour, and quite hilly so you can get a bit of cardio in at the same time. [caption id="attachment_581935" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Ashim D'Sliva[/caption] Rainier days might see you heading into Belgrave's Cameo Cinemas, an eight-screen effort showing arthouse and cult hits as well as blockbusters, with an outdoor cinema in the warmer months. But if you want some more R&R (that is, if watching the new Tarzan isn't relaxing enough for you), the Japanese Mountain Retreat in Montrose has more mineral springs and massage therapies than you could have time for over a single weekend. Shopping-wise, Sassafras has options that range from homey and fragrant (Tea Leaves) to tasty pantry things (Cream), to kooky wooden puppets (Geppetto's), if that's your jam. Or, if you're up there between November and April, take home some edible souvenirs from Blue Hills Berries & Cherries by picking your own strawberries, raspberries, or cherries as fresh as they come. [caption id="attachment_548957" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Sherbrooke Falls Trail[/caption] ALRIGHT, LET'S DO THIS Public transport is sparse, but you can jump on a train and take the Belgrave line out to Upper Ferntree Gully Station, then wait for the 688 bus (every half hour or so), which runs along the Mt. Dandenong Tourist Road up the mountain. The drive is quicker — about 50 minutes from the CBD. The Burwood Highway and Mount Dandenong will take you up there pretty swiftly. Top image: Adrian Mohedano via Flickr.
If you're dedicated to avoiding meat and animal products, then you probably became an instant regular at Brisbane Vegan Markets when they first popped up a couple of years back. And, now that 2021 is here, it's time to remake your acquaintance for another year. Mark Sunday, January 24 in your diary, which is when Brisbane Vegan Markets unleashes its first monthly gathering dedicated to animal-free wares for 2021. Celebrating ethical eating choices is the name of the game, and in the best way that anyone can: bringing together all of the stalls selling all of the vegan products. Whatever type of cruelty-free food you're after, there's a very good chance you'll find it here — from 9am–3pm. Stallholders always change each time, but attendees can expect guilt-free grab bites from a rotating range of top spots. Based on past markets, expect guilt-free grab bites and wares from a rotating range that has previously included I Should Coco, Grassfed, Tibetan Momo, Kings Indian Fusion, Fire & Dough, Tapioca Traders, Organic Frog Doughnuts, Chai Cart, Vegan Van, Vurger, Green Street Foods, Flour of Life and Popcorn Downunder — and they're just some of the Brissy traders known to sell their animal-free goods. [caption id="attachment_755499" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brisbane Vegan Markets[/caption] Top image: Grassfed.
There's a difference between embracing the fantastical and making fantasy. As a book since 2018, then a stage production and now a seven-part Netflix series, Boy Swallows Universe knows how to fly in the first direction without becoming the second. Author and journalist Trent Dalton spins a semi-autobiographical 80s-set story, which surveys his childhood and its challenges with clear eyes, but also brims with hope and zero judgement. That's protagonist Eli Bell's (Felix Cameron, Penguin Bloom) approach to everything, including his recovering addict mother Frankie (Phoebe Tonkin, Babylon), his heroin-dealing stepfather Lyle Orlik (Travis Fimmel, Black Snow), his alcoholic and agoraphobic dad Robert (Simon Baker, Limbo), and his elder brother Gus (Lee Tiger Halley, The Heights), who hasn't spoken since a traumatic incident in the siblings' past. It's also how he sees family friend, babysitter, father figure, and no-nonsense but supportive source of wisdom Slim Halliday, as played by Australian acting icon Bryan Brown in Boy Swallows Universe's leap to the screen. The character is one of Dalton's great inclusions and, as with much in the novel, doesn't merely stem from Dalton's imagination. The name, that he spent decades in the Queensland capital's Boggo Road Gaol for the death of a taxi driver, his multiple escapes from the notorious prison: they're all 100-percent real. So is the fact that the young Dalton knew the convicted murderer when he was a boy growing up in Brisbane's west. Casting Brown is like most talent choices in Boy Swallows Universe: a dream pick. Chatting with Concrete Playground about the part and the Brisbane-made series, he's full of praise about Cameron as 12-year-old force-of-nature Eli. "He's a fabulous young kid and he's done a fabulous job," he advises. But Brown's own inclusion, like Tonkin, Fimmel, Baker, Halley, Totally Completely Fine's Zac Burgess as the older Eli, Talk to Me's Sophie Wilde's as Caitlyn Spies and more, is just as pitch-perfect. To Eli, Slim is a man with answers, encouragement and no sugarcoating — someone who believes in him, wants the best for him, but won't skip over life's realities. Try to picture an Aussie actor who'd nail the role and Brown is alone in springing to mind. Boy Swallows Universe joins his almost five-decade-long resume, at a time when Brown jokes that "someone asking me to do a job now is quite a good thing". In the past five months, he's been on-screen almost constantly — in fellow streaming series C*A*U*G*H*T, the recut of Baz Luhrmann's Australia as miniseries Faraway Downs and in US-produced but Sydney-shot rom-com Anyone But You. His career has followed the same path since the mid-70s, and reads like a history of Aussie film and television. For both 1980's Breaker Morant and 1999's Two Hands, he has Best Supporting Actor Australian Film Institute Awards. In the latter as with Boy Swallows Universe, he was paired with up-and-comer: there, it was Heath Ledger. [caption id="attachment_935699" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jono Searle/Getty Images for Netflix[/caption] Brown's credits also span The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, Newsfront, The Shiralee, Dirty Deeds, Beautiful Kate, Red Dog: True Blue and Sweet Country. The list goes on. Over in Hollywood in the 80s, after TV's A Town Like Alice was a hit overseas as well as at home, he earned Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for The Thorn Birds, led action-thriller F/X, famously mixed drinks with Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One) in Cocktail and starred opposite Sigourney Weaver (The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart) in Gorillas in the Mist. In 2004, he featured in the Ben Stiller (Locked Down)-led Along Came Polly as well. With Boy Swallows Universe, Brown was drawn in as everyone who has come across it in any form has been: by the story. Initially introduced via screenwriter John Collee's (Hotel Mumbai) scripts, he found it as astonishing as readers, theatre patrons and viewers keep doing. The series that results is now streaming — and we spoke with Brown about his first responses to Dalton's tale, his eagerness to play Slim, taking on someone with layers both on the page and in reality, mentoring Cameron, why everyone loves Boy Swallows Universe and more. ON BROWN'S FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH THE BOY SWALLOWS UNIVERSE STORY "The scripts. I hadn't read the book, and the producer Troy Lum (Palm Beach) sent me John Collee's — at that stage — eight one-hour scripts, and I thought they were quite wonderful, the scripts. That then led me to go get the book and read the book, and to thoroughly enjoy it and go 'this is a remarkable story this', given it was basically true. And so to be able to be a part of it, I was only too willing." ON WHAT APPEALED TO BROWN ABOUT PLAYING SLIM HALLIDAY "I think the fact that he was a crim, but we don't meet him doing anything criminal. We hear about what a crim he was, and how he'd been in jail for 30 years and how he'd escaped, but we see him as someone that really wants to help the boys not go the way that he did. So I think it's the fact that he's not as you would expect him to be. When someone says 'I've got a part for you to play, it's a crim, love you to do it' — [but] basically I'm babysitter in this." ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR A PART THAT ISN'T JUST A CHARACTER IN TRENT DALTON'S BOOK, BUT A REAL-LIFE PERSON "Basically I can only play the scripts. So if there's something missing in the scripts, then I go 'this conflicts with something else, I need to know more about it'. But the scripts were so well done, the character was so well-outlined, the relationship with the boy was so clear and it felt quite instinctive to be able to play — I didn't have to research his criminal activity. None of that came into the playing of this piece. So it was about trying to understand why he wanted to be with the boy and behave as he did, and pretty well the scenes answered that for me." ON PLAYING SLIM AS NO-NONSENSE BUT SUPPORTIVE, AND A FATHER FIGURE FOR ELI "Once again, I come back to how well something's written. If a character is written well, you're just pulling the glove on and getting on with it. It's where something comes into conflict or it doesn't make sense that you're at sixes and sevens in trying to play something. But this was so well-written on the page that I was able to play it pretty easily. It was a part that was enjoyable to play." ON HOW BROWN SEEES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SLIM AND ELI "I guess it is a bit father-son, but it's better than that. It's like he doesn't have to be the parent and exercise certain disciplines — he just has to be there as someone that appreciates and would always be there for the boy. And just that knowledge that he gives to the boy, there is someone solid here that believes in me, that's the relationship that I think that Slim brings." ON HOW THAT MENTORING RELATIONSHIP TRANSLATED WITH FELIX CAMERON OFF-SCREEN "People would probably say it did. We got on very well. We had a lot of fun together. He's a cheeky little bugger, and I really enjoyed mucking around with him. But behind all that there's a very bright young fella — and there's a fella who, obviously he's got wonderful parents. There's a boy that appreciates pretty well everything that's going on here. He appreciated doing this. It never went to his head in any way. I'm sure there were areas of confusion for him, but he never brought that to the table." ON WHY BOY SWALLOWS UNIVERSE CONTINUES TO STRIKE SUCH A CHORD "I think it is a story of hope. The boys want and hope that their life will be better, and do everything — they don't judge their parents, there's no judgement in this show about people, but there is the boys who just see that there's a life out there, and hope that they can have a life that's different to the ones that their parents are experiencing. I think that there's a joy in that. It's not a dour story. It's not a dark story. There's darkness in things that happen with the characters, but it's not a dark story. It's a story of hope and desire from the boys to have a real life, and I think you can't help but get affected by it." [caption id="attachment_935703" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Chris Hyde/Getty Images for Netflix[/caption] ON WHAT BROWN LOOKS FOR A ROLE "It's pretty easy. I read it. I go 'do I like the story?'. If I don't like the story, there's no point even thinking about the part. And if I do like the story, then I look at the character and I go 'how does this character contribute to the story?' and 'can I do something of value with that character that makes that story live?'. It's pretty straightforward. I know pretty well straight away if I don't want to something. But if I'm a bit intrigued, then I have to ask myself more questions as I go through it. Once again, it's instinct. I look at it and I go: 'am I there? Can I be there?'. And if I can, the other side of it is, I like to know who else is doing it, and I like to know who the production company is and who the director will be to make me feel confident about that it can be done well." Boy Swallows Universe streams via Netflix, arriving on Thursday, January 11, 2024. Read our review. Images: courtesy of Netflix © 2023.
Anyone can pour orange juice and vodka into a glass and call it a screwdriver. But if you're after a cocktail more sophisticated and complicated than that, that's where top-notch bartenders come in. They're the folks who mix up drinks that you definitely don't feel like you can make at home — or know you have (again, see that OJ and vodka combo) — and they're as crucial a part of hitting a bar as the menu, vibe and company. Australia isn't short on fine folks whipping up brilliant beverages; however, if you're after the best of the best, there's now a rundown naming the country's top 100 bartenders. Consider it your next excuse to work through a boozy list, if you already started 2022 sipping the 100 best brews. Created by global bartending competition Diageo World Class, the Top 100 Australian Bartenders for 2022 list spans every state and territory — with New South Wales particularly well-represented, and Victoria and Queensland as well. Here's another way to think of it: you now have a list of bartenders to seek out on your next few holidays. [caption id="attachment_714471" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cantina OK![/caption] Standouts include folks from Sydney favourites such as Maybe Sammy and Cantina OK!, Melbourne's Nick and Nora's and Black Pearl, and Brisbane's The Gresham and Agnes. This is just part one of the contest, though. From here, these 100 bartenders will compete by mixing up impressive, boundary-pushing tipples at their venues, which'll be available for patrons to sip from Monday, May 30–Monday, June 13. Then, a top five will be announced — also on Monday, June 13 — before finals in July. The winner will be deemed the Diageo World Class Australian Bartender of the Year for 2022, and fly the flag for Aussies at the comp's global final, which is happening here for the first time, in Sydney, between Monday, September 12–Friday, September 16. [caption id="attachment_795641" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Gresham, Millie Tang[/caption] Whoever emerges victorious will take over the title from Evan Stroeve from Sydney's no-waste bar Re, 2021's winner. Here's 2022's full top 100 rundown: DIEGO WORLD CLASS TOP 100 AUSTRALIAN BARTENDERS FOR 2022: NEW SOUTH WALES: Alex Gondzioulis, The Rover Behzad Vaziri, The Star Elisa Rodgrigues, Paloma Wine Bar Hunter Gregory, Maybe Sammy Matthew Dale, Re Ryan Bickley, Cantina OK Siôn Roberts, Re Storm Evans, Cantina OK Sanghyun Park, Will's Wen Wang, Maybe Sammy Albert Rust, Eileen's Bar - Four Pillars Andrew McCorquodale, Charlie Parker's Beaux Donelan, Charlie Parker's Ashley Miller, Blue Kahunas Ben Hardy, Bar Planet Brianna Aboud, Ramblin' Rascal Tavern Chloe Natterer, The Lobo Claudio Bedini, Sammy Junior Daniel Hilton, The Lobo Eduardo Conde, NO 92 GPR Dominic Causley-Todd, Dead Ringer Emma Bernardi, Bar Planet Eoin Kenny, Long Chim Hamish Mitchell, Charlie Parker's Harrison Kenney, Bar Planet Helen Yu, The Lobo James Russell, Apollonia Jenna Hemsworth, The Gidley Koby Harris, Dean and Nancy on 22 Krisztian Csigo, Dean and Nancy on 22 Sara Rinaldo, Dean and Nancy on 22 Sarah Proietti, Maybe Sammy Judith Zhu, KittyHawk Kalisha Glover, Apollonia Kat Scibiorski, Long Chim Kate Gale-Re, The Gidley Michal Wowak, The Gidley Kiaran Bryant, Earl's Juke Joint Liam Gavin, Door Knock Marco Rosati, Grain Bar Samuel McWilliams, The Lobo Thomas Opie, Births and Deaths VICTORIA: Aiden Rodriquez, EDV Melbourne Alejandro Archibald, NOMAD Melbourne Kane Smith, Nick and Nora's Melbourne Darren Leaney, Aru Cameron Parish, Gimlet Elisabetta Luppi, LUI Bar Francesca Camilli, Beneath Driver's Lane James Armstrong, The Cloakroom Bar Josephe Kourmouzis, Above Board Julien Wurtlin, LUI Bar Kayla Saito, Black Pearl Nicola Dean, Black Pearl Max Allison, Good Measure Miriam Wahlhütter, LOVER Nick Tesar, Bar Liberty Olivia Devlin, Capitano Tioni Naslund, LUI Bar Taylor Matthews, Frederic Tom McHugh, Hazel Restaurant QUEENSLAND: Dino Francia, Rosella's Bar Jack Connor, Rosella's Bar Aidan Perkins, Agnes Restaurant Daniella Darakis, The Gresham Edward Quartermass, Maker Ellery Low, Maker Jamie Fleming, Alba Bar & Deli Jenny Wang, Sono Japanese Restaurant Joe Steadman, Alba Bar & Deli Kate Bartlett, Cobbler Bar Liam Murphy, Frogs Hollow Saloon Liam Shepherd, Bar Brutus Martin McConnell, Frogs Hollow Saloon Peter Hollands, Frogs Hollow Saloon WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Dyllan Balm, Foxtrot Unicorn Max Guidice, Republic of Fremantle Nicola Herbert, Foxtrot Unicorn Shirley Yeung, Foxtrot Unicorn Samuel Cocks, Bar Rogue SOUTH AUSTRALIA: Al Simmons, Maybe Mae Alfonso Lizana, Maybe Mae Anabel Rowe, Long Story Short Georgia Edmonds, Maybe Mae Grace Rawlins, Memphis Slim's House of Blues Jack Somers, Memphis Slim's House of Blues Talis Heggart, Memphis Slim's House of Blues Michael Keogh, Memphis Slim's House of Blues Lachlan Gunner, Long Story Short Oscar Butler, Maybe Mae TASMANIA: Rachel Mynczywor, Rude Boy Rohan Massie, Rude Boy Hobart Jack Turner, Void Bar at Mona Mateo Ortiz, The Den Salamanca NORTHERN TERRITORY: Anneliese Grazioli, Hanky Panky Lounge Katerina Kosta, Hanky Panky Lounge Matt Zarimis, Smoke and Oak Darwin ACT: Cameron Abercrombie, Zaab Street Food Jack Sandeman, Zaab Street Food Liv Kelly, Bar Rochford For more information about Diego World Class, head to the competition's website. Top image: Maybe Sammy, Paolo Maffietti.
In 2021, within the space of mere months in the middle of the year, viewers who love watching things going awry at lavish resorts on super-scenic getaways — and digging into star-studded small-screen mysteries as well — were spoiled for choice. First, the debut season of The White Lotus hit. Then, the first season of Nine Perfect Strangers followed. Four years later, The White Lotus is a season ahead of Nine Perfect Strangers, but they're both back. Indeed, as the former wraps up its third season, you don't have long to wait until the latter arrives for its second run. Mark Thursday, May 22, 2025 in your diary, as that's when you'll be able to start watching Nicole Kidman (Holland) in wellness guru mode again. As with the first season, the Australian actor plays Masha Dmitrichenko. Also, her character is back at a retreat with a group of folks that she's invited, and getting through the week is likely to prove a twisty experience again. While the first season of Nine Perfect Strangers was shot in Byron Bay, the second definitely wasn't, given that it is set in the Austrian Alps — and Byron can't double for that. The cast around Kidman has also changed, starting with Henry Golding (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare), Lena Olin (The Darkness), Annie Murphy (Fingernails), Christine Baranski (The Gilded Age), Dolly de Leon (Jackpot!) and Mark Strong (Dune: Prophecy). Murray Bartlett (The Last of Us) also features, after starring so memorably in The White Lotus' first season. Also joining him and the above actors: Lucas Englander (The Day of the Jackal), King Princess, Maisie Richardson-Sellers (Wolf Hall) and Aras Aydin (To Betray). David E Kelley (Presumed Innocent) remains one of the driving forces behind the series — and author Liane Moriarty (The Last Anniversary), who wrote the novel that the first season was based on, is one of Nine Perfect Strangers' executive produces again. Accordingly, Kidman continues her link with both. Kelley was also behind Big Little Lies, which, like Nine Perfect Strangers, also adapted a book by Moriarty. While The Undoing didn't initially stem from the Australian writer's pen, it did also connect Kidman and Kelley. The new on-screen lineup follows in the footsteps of Melissa McCarthy (Only Murders in the Building), Michael Shannon (The Bikeriders), Luke Evans (Weekend in Taipei) and Asher Keddie (Fake), plus Bobby Cannavale (Unstoppable), Regina Hall (O'Dessa), Samara Weaving (Azrael), Melvin Gregg (Fight Night), Grace Van Patten (Tell Me Lies), Tiffany Boone (Mufasa: The Lion King), Manny Jacinto (The Acolyte) and Zoe Terakes (The Office), who all starred in season one. An important note: season two of Nine Perfect Strangers is dropping weekly episodes, so you won't be binging it unless you wait until they've all been released There's no trailer for the second season as yet, but you can check out more images from it below: Nine Perfect Strangers season two will start streaming in Australia and New Zealand on Thursday, May 22, 2025 via Prime Video. Images: Prime Video / Reiner Bajo.
Something completely new is set to join Australia's skyline: a Skystand overlooking the Brisbane Cricket Ground, aka the Gabba. Located atop 20-storey development Silk One in Woolloongabba's Trafalgar Street, it's exactly what it sounds like: a rooftop terrace that peers over the stadium, allowing residents to see whatever might be happening on the ground — namely Brisbane Lions AFL matches during winter and cricket games over summer. A handful of concerts also take place at the Gabba, with Adele playing there in 2017 and Taylor Swift slated for later in 2018. The idea is that people who live one of the complex's 178 apartments (or people who are friends with people who live in the apartments) will get access to these events without really leaving home, all while hanging out on a sky-high timber deck, underneath a pergola, with a big screen TV and a dining and barbecue area at their fingertips. The rooftop will also include a gym, pool, spa and sun lounges, in case whatever's on in the stadium doesn't pique your interest. Of course, an obvious question has to be asked: how much will you really be able to see from 20 levels up? Sure, there'll be a television on hand so that you can watch all of the ins and outs of the game in detail, and you'll save yourself the cost of a ticket. But the Gabba is more likely to provide a glossy backdrop as you hang out in the Skystand, rather than letting you actually enjoy the game or concert. Still, we're guessing the sound of the crowd, or whoever is on stage crooning, will echo up that far. Given that the area around the Gabba is currently filled with both new high-rises and construction sites in the process of erecting new high-rises, it wouldn't be surprising if other buildings follow suit. That said, the folks behind Silk One say their Skystand has been "strategically designed to maximise the birds-eye views of the Gabba stadium". Silk One in Woolloongabba and its Skystand are slated for completion in mid-2020.
When you live in the River City, knocking back drinks right by the water never gets old — but Eagle Street's Riverland wants to make that experience feel brand new again. Back in 2022, the Australian Venue Co-owned bar announced that it was undergoing a hefty revamp, spending $3.5 million to level-up its drinking and dining spaces and options. Come Monday, May 22, Brisbanites will be able to head in to lap up the results, including while kicking back on a new 800-square-metre deck extension. Riverland's prime river frontage hasn't just scored a larger deck. That hangout space now sprawls across three tiers, and can accommodate 1000 people. Up top, there's the sky deck, which boasts uninterrupted views of the Story Bridge, plus a new container bar. Then there's the promenade deck with direct Eagle Street Pier access, as well as a space with a new live music stage, plus a large screen that'll show sports. Expect a talented lineup to jump behind the microphone or on the decks from Wednesday–Sunday, giving Riverland's latest guise an acoustic and DJ-spun soundtrack. Expect an array of new food options to tuck into, too, with Riverland 2.0 also featuring two new kitchen concepts. Given the name, it's no surprise that Sunshine State produce and dishes shine brightly at The Queenslander. Place your order here and you'll be tucking into pub fare such as chicken wings in a pineapple rum barbecue glaze, mango salad, cured Tin Can Bay cuttlefish paired with a brioche doughnut, Mooloolaba prawn san choy bow, fish and chips using Queensland seafood, and the usual burgers and parmigianas. [caption id="attachment_648037" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anwyn Howarth[/caption] Over at The Traveller, the culinary range takes its cues from international street food. On a seasonally changing menu, the first stop is Mexican eats; think: fried tortillas with guacamole, roasted tortilla soup, jalapeño poppers, cured red emperor tostadas and a variety of soft-shell tacos — and churros for dessert. Also changing at Riverland, which has been open since 2017 and remained trading through its renovations, is the beverage menu. Your new sips include spicy watermelon margaritas, a signature cocktail alongside the gin, lemon, apple and raspberry number that's called Burst My Bubble. There'll be more spirits-heavy concoctions, plus 16 beers and ciders on tap, and a sizeable wine list. With its makeover, Riverland will now span seven different function spaces — adding plenty of areas for parties to an ever-changing Eagle Street, which has also welcomed seafood restaurant Tillerman and the combination that is Babylon and its outdoor bar Babylon Garden in the past year. Riverland similarly joins the growing list of AVC sites getting a do-over, after The Wickham in Fortitude Valley unveiled its own revamp back in March, and Cleveland Sands Hotel, Salisbury Hotel, Koala Hotel, the Crown Hotel in Lutwyche and Bribie Island Hotel before that. Next, Nundah's The Royal is also getting the same treatment. Find Riverland at 167 Eagle Street, Brisbane, relaunching from Monday, May 22 — operating from 11.30am–12am Sunday–Thursday and 11.30am–3am Friday–Saturday.
In a year that's brought news that more Ted Lasso is on the way and is also delivering a 29-years-later sequel to Happy Gilmore, Stick is the right series for the right moment. There's no American in the UK at its core. None of its characters would prefer to be playing ice hockey, either. It's a golfing underdog story about attempting to score a pivotal tournament spot, however, and hails from the streaming platform that made the world now think of soccer whenever Jason Sudeikis pops up. Stick also knows that warmhearted, big-feeling comedies about the supportiveness of found families make for must-see viewing when they find the right swing — and, with that task, it hits the TV equivalent of a hole in one. The show's namesake is Pryce 'Stick' Cahill, a professional golfer-turned-golf store salesman — and a figure with the type of laidback yet vulnerable demeanour that Owen Wilson (Loki) excels at. He's not the person trying to make it into the sport's big leagues, though. Pryce has been there and done that, reaching number 18 in the world until his career ended unceremoniously with an on-the-green meltdown. Little has looked up for him since, and he starts the series mid-divorce from but still yearning for Amber-Linn (Judy Greer, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever) while living in their old shared home. Then, at a driving range, Pryce spies teenager Santi (Peter Dager, Insidious: The Red Door) smashing golf balls off the turf with pure raw talent. Stick, the show, now has its prodigy. Stick, the character, has a mission to help him unlock his talent. Initial roadblocks come courtesy of Santi's disinterest in Pryce's plan, the latter's fondness for a hustle, and needing to convince the 17-year-old's doting single mother Elena (Mariana Treviño, Caras Vemos) that the three of them should take to the road to chance a shot at getting into the amateur championships. Requiring wheels, Pryce then enlists his gruff ex-caddy Mitts (Marc Maron, The Order) to join them, RV in tow. Soon, this quartet adds a fifth member as well, when Santi befriends golf-club bartender Zero (Lilli Kay, Yellowstone). What appealed to Wilson about starring in Stick? "I really liked the idea of a second chance and the idea of needing people to believe in you. And Santi needs that, but Pryce certainly needs it," he tells Concrete Playground. "I find that a moving dynamic and something that I really believe in in real life, that people benefit so much when somebody has some confidence in them. And I just see that — even learning to drive, my dad was uptight and I was more likely to make a mistake with my dad driving because I could feel his energy. And then sometimes you have somebody like my grandmother, just loved me and I could do no wrong, and you'd sometimes do better with that. So I just like that part of the story." Series creator Jason Keller, who also co-penned the screenplays for films Mirror Mirror and Ford v Ferrari, has described Pryce as being at "a place in his life where the story he tells himself no longer works anymore". Wilson quickly came to mind for the part — as did Maron for Mitts — but as the former flags, he's not the only one in need of a new start in Stick. Accordingly, this ragtag crew's journey shares a key commonality with the path of every ball hit on a green: trying to find where they fit. Grief, loss, disappointment, unreasonable expectations and life's unfair twists have haunted this group, leaving them searching for their own niche. Stick is also about caring, even if that means that sometimes that heartbreak or other negative emotions arise as a result. Greer's only experience of the show's main sport going in was "watching my father come home after playing golf in the worst mood I've ever seen a man be in in his life", and so would think to herself "as a child, 'why would anyone do this to themselves? Why?'," she explains. Wilson has the perfect take on that. "Is it that thing of 'it's better to feel bad than not feel anything at all?'. So, rather than just being kind of an automatron, like sometimes we can get into, maybe feeling terrible is good?" he notes. "Because the idea that you care about something, that something has the ability to make you feel that way — because if it can make you feel that bad, well, there's going to be a day where you do connect and it's going to make you feel really good." That insight is indicative of a series lead who Maron notes is "a collaborative guy" and "always willing to work with you and elevate the scene", Treviño describes as eager to "engage emotionally and in the level of comedy that we had to do it, but also on the human level" — and who Dager, who secured the part of Santi via a self-tape audition after the producers had looked at around 600 other actors, advises that he learned from in a similar way that his character does from Pryce. We also spoke with Wilson, Dager, Maron, Treviño and Greer about everything from Dager's pivotal casting to golf's lessons (and golfing lessons), underdog stories, RV life, intergenerational tension and more. On What It Meant to Dager to Score Such a Key Role in Stick Peter: "I couldn't quite believe it. I still remember the day — I got cast the day after my 21st birthday. I was with my dad and I got the call from Jon and Val [Ruby Sparks and Battle of the Sexes' Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris], the directors and executive producers, and I just really couldn't believe it. But it was such a long audition process. I think there were six rounds. And so by the time I had finished the audition process, I'm like 'I know I did good work. If it goes my way, it does. And if it doesn't, I did what I could'. And so I was also just, when I got it, I was kind of like 'okay, cool'. I couldn't believe it, but then there was another part of me that was like 'cool, I feel like I earned this one, and they saw what they needed to see'. And I was excited to get started. I was so excited to get started, really, more than anything." On How Wilson Approached Portraying Someone Who Is at a Place in His Life Where the Story He Tells Himself No Longer Works Anymore Owen: "You know, Jason didn't say that exactly to me, but that sounds really nice, and I feel it when you say it. And I don't know — I know that initially I was sort of nervous about playing a golfer, because my dad was a good golfer, I'd never learned the game and 'oh, how do you make it seem kind of real?'. But of course, golf's just the backdrop for the story and Jason really had a lot of faith in me that gave me confidence that maybe I could do it and play the character. And there's a lot of stuff with Pryce that I could kind of relate to — that wanting a second chance or feeling that you need somebody to believe in you, that you can't do it alone. I think that's a powerful message. And so I really like that part of the story, because I find it funny and also moving." On Maron Being Thought of Quickly as Stick's Ideal Mitts Marc: "I think I have a fairly varied and broad personality, but I think one of the more compelling elements is my ability to be pretty cranky and irritated. And I think people find that entertaining. So he clearly locked in on that. But I do think he also sensed that there was a depth to it, in that I was able to handle the emotional side of this guy, along with being my cranky self. And I appreciate that. But I'm not as cranky as Mitts. I'm not." On What Dager Was Excited to Bring to the Role of Stick's Teenage Golf Prodigy Peter: "I think the first thing that I really was excited to dive into was the idea of greatness and playing a prodigy — playing somebody who's spoken about as the next Tiger Woods, somebody with all this potential and all this talent. And so the idea of what greatness is and what it takes, the sacrifices you make to achieve it, the negative impacts that it can have once obtained — all of that was super interesting to me. And so I started to examine my own life and see the similarities, what I could take. The rest, I had to imagine. And then beginning to study golf, and the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and Jack Nicklaus and all the greats, that was just so exciting. And then the rest of it, everything else that came after that was a plus — meeting everybody, meeting Owen, Lilli, Marc, Mariana, Tim [Olyphant, Havoc]. But at first, the exciting thing was the idea of greatness — playing somebody great." On What You Learn About Not Just Golf But Life When You're Trying to Pick Up the Sport Owen: "Oh gosh, we were joking — we've joked a lot today about golf being a metaphor for life. And I think doesn't it seem like everything that you say is a metaphor for life is always something hard, and is frustrating and challenging? And so I think that it's a game that you can't seem to master — so someone like Tiger Woods, as great as he was, can still feel that he needs to redo his swing. And so it's like chess — you can't kind of ever totally figure it out. And the thing for me was learning that this thing, this sport that I was kind of intimidated by, that I actually can do it. But it's two steps forward, one step back — or one step forward, two steps back — because there's some days where I just can't do it. But it's definitely something that I will be playing the rest of my life. And so I'm so happy that I learned for this show." On the Keys to Portraying Determination for Treviño When That's Such a Pivotal Character Trait for Elena Mariana: "I think it's just the force that is with a mother that wants to make her son go in the right path — to save the family, and to save and to keep moving. I think they're in kind of a desperate moment when the show starts. Maybe not desperate, but they're a little stuck and stagnant because they don't know where to pull after a big loss that they had as a family. So I think that the mother's instinct just says 'this is not right, we are not living as we should and he's not owing up to a talent, the natural-given talent that he has'. So I think that determination is not even rational with Elena. It just is a force working inside of her, just because she has her son's best interest in heart and she's going to do whatever — even if she doesn't understand, if she doubts what she's doing is right, the determination is stronger than her doubts, and it's what makes this force of movement, and to embark on this journey and this adventure of self-discovery." On What It Takes to Believably Portray a Phenomenal Golfing Talent, to the Point of Doing Golf Scenes Yourself, When You've Never Played Before — and Only Had Baseball Experience to Go On Peter: "It took a while. It took a while. I don't think I felt — I don't think I saw my progress until maybe three weeks in. And it wasn't because I was hitting the ball good, because I would go out and play with my first trainer named Beau Lardner. It was moreso because I felt the swing feel comfortable. I felt it becoming a fluid motion. And it wasn't always there. I was still going outside in, instead of inside out, but I was getting the rhythm of the swing, the club speed. So three weeks into it, I was starting to see the progress. But I didn't feel ready up until maybe two months into it, so we had already started filming. But by the time we get to episode five, six and seven — and really eight and nine, where you see Santi playing golf for two whole episodes — a lot of those shots are my own because that was done with like five months of training, four months of training. And by then, my club speed was up, the striking distance was sort of increasing and I felt really good with my swing. And yeah, actually a lot of the baseball, that sort of inside out that you have naturally when swinging a baseball bat, it really lends itself to the process of swinging a golf club." On Why Sports-Centric TV Comedies Telling Underdog Stories Keep Popping Up on Maron's Resume Marc: "No, I didn't seek out any of it. GLOW was this a random audition that I put on my phone. I think those two guys are slightly different types of cranky. I think that Sam in GLOW had no real self-awareness around his swagger, his ridiculous swagger, and he wasn't really neurotic at all. And I think that Mitts is a very reflective guy, and a guy who sits in a certain amount of sadness. But I guess they are of the same spectrum of bravado on some level — of kind of slightly futile bravado, you know." On How Dager Learned From His Co-Stars Like Wilson, Greer, Maron, Treviño and Kay Peter: "Everybody has their own process with acting, which was really cool, because I have my own — and I can think it's so special, and you're like 'oh my god, they don't work like I do', but everybody's different process and encountering it and being around it for four months straight, it's a lesson in perspective. And you start to really question your own process, and you see the benefits of other people's. So you learn a lot without even having conversations about it. You just learn a lot by watching these people who have worked for so long approach the work the way they approach the work. But yeah, then there were moments with Owen specifically, where that Pryce-Santi relationship really became real off camera. Especially early on when — Owen's a great leader, he knew exactly when to give me a talk, and it always felt natural because he wanted to. He was compelled to. It never felt forced. And he wasn't absent either. It was a sort of perfect mix of both. Yeah, him especially, it was truly a treat to work with him because of that, that mentorship." On What Treviño Learned From Working with Dager Mariana: "A lot. Of course, as an actor, we're always constantly learning from each other. It doesn't matter your experience, your age, because it's a human interchange of emotions and contents that sometimes you're not even very conscious of. So many things come into play when you are making a scene come alive that it's really beyond what you think of experience. It is about experience, because it's the contents of your soul that are being exchanged and shaped into this reality. But Peter, he's a lovely young man. He's super mature. He's very outspoken. He has a wonderful, joyful personality. And he's really, really smart — and he was really keen into getting into something with all his heart. He played golf all the time while we were in Vancouver. His determination as an actor to get it right — to not play confidence, but to experience it doing golfing himself — I love that. So I learned that from him, among many other things. And how you have to be very approachable, because you don't know where the exchange is going to happen. And he's like that — he's a very approachable person and actor, he's very open, and that I think sometimes it's important for things to be discovered." On How Wilson Worked Through the Emotional Journey of Playing Ex-Spouses with Greer Owen: "I know that Judy and I, that we had no problem connecting — just we were sort of on the same wavelength with sense of humor. And I think when you're on the same wavelength sense of humour-wise, it means that you're also same wavelength sensitivity-wise. And so I think it was easy for us — or not easy, but when we had to do some of the emotional stuff, because I'm clearly still in love with her, she's kind of moved on, it was easy for me to feel those things and to see that in her. So it was just, for us, lucky casting that we had Judy doing it." On Dager's Task Juggling the Many Facets of Santi, Including His Talent, Growing Up Fast, Being Temperamental and His Coming-of-Age Journey Peter: "I think it's just taking the moment as it is. Being in each moment, exploring that moment to your fullest as an actor, just finding everything you can in that moment. And with TV and film, it's a luxury because you get to repeat the moment, so you find things and you can find a way to put them into the next take. But rather than worrying about a general story arc, if you just can concentrate on the moment that you're trying to execute and explore and bring to life, you've just got to hope and pray that when you see the final cut, every moment was explored to its possibility, and when they're all cut together you see the whole thing pan out. But yeah, that's the sort of mindset I would approach it with, focusing on the moment rather than feeling 'man, I have to play with all these things and have a balancing act'. Now, there are things that you have to remember that you've said in other scenes, but that's more than nitty gritty and very specific moments. But focusing on the moment is the more general approach that I had." On Stick's Intergenerational Tension — and Why That Clash Is Such a Go-To On-Screen Owen: "Well, with working with Peter and with Lilli, who play Santi and Zero, I think it's that familiar generational argument — that one generation thinks the other generation doesn't get it, had it too easy, and so that plays out with how I am struggling to connect with Santi. And with Zero. And I think it's hopefully funny, their inability to connect. And then I think there's some moving stuff when any human beings try to connect. And so that's certainly there, and that struggle for us that we have to kind of connect — and that's good." Judy: "I think it's always funny to watch two different generations duke it out, and argue with each other and try to decide who is more right. I don't know why. I just think that's universal comedy to me." On the RV Having Such a Pivotal Part in the Series Marc: "I feel like just the idea of a confined space with people who were relative strangers brought up the stakes of their ability to connect and interact — and overcome minor obstacles, because you are in this space. And I think the RV, for my character, carried a lot of emotional weight. And I think that the nature of the RV as a character was really taking Mitts out of his grief. There's a lot of reference to it being a mausoleum to his wife, who passed away. I don't think that spoils anything. So it was pretty loaded for Mitts. But it was also like it was an adventure, and you were being taken to all these different places and all these different environments. So it was a fairly complex character in the show." Mariana: "And it's also the idea of the moving home. These characters decide to embark on this journey in this car that is really becoming a home for them. And that is like a tiny home — they all sleep there, they cook. So it becomes, without them knowing, their place of safety and comfort during this whole journey. And it becomes a home for this new found family that is being created. And so of course it's a really important character, a really important presence in the show, because of the symbolic meaning of this — the idea that even if you're out there in the wilderness, you can find a family and they will all unite with a common purpose. And they become your allies in this confined space. All of a sudden we're all here — and you see that on top of the RV, we're allies, and outside we become allies, too." Stick streams via AppleTV+.
Don't let anyone ever tell you that audiences aren't fond of kick-ass women doing spectacular things. And, if someone ever dares to try, refer them to the two biggest phenomenons in Australia right now: Barbie and the Matildas. In cinemas, the former has been busting records both locally and worldwide. On TV, the national women's soccer team has been making history, too. The latter has also being doing the same on the field, as everyone knows — because we've all been watching the Sam Kerr-led team, helping their 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup matches kill it in the ratings. When Australia played France on Saturday, August 12, Australia's eyeballs followed every move from the first whistle through to the 7–6 penalty shootout in the Matildas' favour. How many eyeballs? Every single one belonging to more than 7.2-million people according to the Seven Network's ratings data. The Matildas' Women's World Cup games are available to watch via the Seven Network and 7plus, and also Optus Sport, so exact figures get a bit tricky — and also OzTAM, which captures broadcast audience numbers, doesn't factor in folks watching in pubs, clubs, sports venues, at AFL grounds before Aussie rules matches and at other out-of-home venues. Plus, at the time of writing, OzTAM hasn't yet covered the game's 30 minutes of extra time or penalty kicks, thanks to the nil-all draw when regulation time was up. Still, Seven has made an educated estimation, starting with the fact that an average of 4.17-million people watched the match either via its free-to-air station or its streaming service. Thanks to the latter, the network also advises that the game was the country's biggest streaming event ever. View this post on Instagram A post shared by CommBank Matildas (@matildas) To put the Matildas' TV feat in context, 2022's AFL and NRL grand finals didn't hit the 4.17-million figure — or come close. Last years' AFL numbers? 3.06-million viewers nationally. Unsurprisingly, as the ABC reports, Australia's quarter-final defeat of France enjoyed the biggest TV audience of the year. The Guardian notes that it was likely the biggest audience since Cathy Freeman's iconic 400-metre race at the 2000 Olympics. All up, Seven advises that its coverage of the Women's World Cup so far has reached 11.9-million broadcast viewers, then another 2.3-million folks via 7plus — all while the bulk of the tournament's games, especially those that don't feature the Matildas, are only on Optus Sports. How many people will watch the Australia v England game at 8pm on Wednesday, August 16? We're a competitive nation — surely we want to not only beat the Lionesses, but smash the France match's ratings as well. The Matildas' 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup games are available to watch via the Seven Network and 7plus, and also Optus Sport — with select other games also on Seven, and the entire tournament streaming via Optus Sport. The FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 runs from Thursday, July 20–Sunday, August 20 across Australia and New Zealand, with tickets available from the FIFA website. Top image: Liondartois via Wikimedia Commons.
Winter has a tendency to increase appetites and leave us hankering for good food, good wine and good company (all in large quantities). Whether you're catching up with old friends, celebrating a special occasion or you're simply hungry enough to eat several plates of food in one sitting, the classic banquet is a fantastic option for those wanting to eat a lot of good food for a good price. And thanks to the Suncorp Platinum Credit Card*, you can earn points for every dollar you spend on everyday essentials like that birthday card you should probably get, that bouquet for mum or the dinner you're about to plan. Read on and add these five eateries with set menus to your list — bonus: each spot will cost you less than $100 a head.
In 2022, Melbourne's Axil Coffee became the envy of caffeine-slinging joints around the country, officially being recognised as the home of Australia's National Barista Champion. That's no minor feat, and the Victorian-based chain has now backed it up, earning the same gong in 2023. Fresh from receiving this year's accolade, with Jack Simpson joining 2022 winner Anthony Douglas, this coffee brand is now heading north. What does a Brisbanite do when the home of Australia's best barista for two years in a row steams into the River City for a five-day trip from Wednesday, May 24–Sunday, May 28? Prepare to get caffeinated, obviously. [caption id="attachment_869967" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anthony Douglas[/caption] Douglas was also named the 2022 World Barista Champion, and he'll be coming to Brisbane to make coffee and for a meet-and-greet session from 4–7pm on Thursday, May 25. Yes, there'll be coffee samples at that event, focusing on Axil's signature series. The place to head: InterSection Project, also known as Coffee Anthology, in the Brisbane CBD. Axil will take over the guest coffee bar from 7.30am–3.30pm on weekdays and 7.30am–2pm on weekends. Make a date from 4–7pm on Friday, May 26 and there'll also be a latte art smackdown to give all that coffee-sipping an extra buzz. [caption id="attachment_888452" align="alignnone" width="1920"] James Butler[/caption] Top image: James Butler.
A wardrobe staple gets its time to shine, and a group of Brisbane creatives get their chance to showcase their creativity. In the former camp, we have the trusty denim jacket. In the latter, 11 locals up-cycle and re-design an item of clothing everyone has. A collaboration between The Brisbane Collective, SWOP Clothing Exchange and Crowbar, Battle Jackets: An Exhibition of Denim Expression is the end result, with the eclectic mix of designed denim available to both view and purchase. The show takes its name from heavy metal and punk subcultures, but you can expect more than cut-off sleeves and ironed-on patches here. These jackets are works of wearable art. This one-night-only event isn't just a chance to check out some cool threads — it's also a party. Jud Campbell, Dane Adamo and QMusic award winner Leanne Tennant will provide the sounds for your browsing, and if there was a dress code, you know what it would call for. Here, double denim can only be a good thing. Image: Bec Todd.
Future Totoros and Ponyos may not eventuate; Studio Ghibli have announced a hiatus to their animation feature film department. Surrounded by rumours of an outright closure, Studio Ghibli's general manager, Toshio Suzuki, announced the movements on Japanese television today as a "brief pause". Responsible for the likes of Spirited Away, Grave of the Fireflies, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, Ponyo and My Neighbour Totoro among many, many other beloved tales, the animation studio is reassessing its filmic future. The news comes just under a year after legendary, Oscar-winning director Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement in September 2013 and released his final film The Wind Rises in February this year. Differing translations of Suzuki's announcement caused minor havoc online (notably fuelled by so-called Ghibli insiders at Japanese website News Cafe and subsequently quashed by Kotaku). Although most thought the studio was closing its doors for good, newer, more accurate translations cleared things up. "On what to do with Studio Ghibli’s future, it is by no means impossible to keep producing [movies] forever," said Suzuki on the TBS program Jonetsu Tairiku. "However, we will take a brief pause to consider where to go from here." Producer and co-founder Suzuki stepped into Miyazaki's shoes and became general manager when the director retired from Ghibli last year, joining forces with other Studio half, director Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies). So why is Ghibli shutting up shop? It seems to be a matter of money, a fair reason to reassess in a Michael Bay-peppered, box office landscape. According to Anime News Network, Studio Ghibli's latest film,When Marnie Was There opened at number three over the first weekend (July 19 - 20) with 378,790,697 yen (US$3,721,297) on 461 screens. That seems like a whole bunch, but the international market isn't so kind to arthouse-designated Ghibli. Marnie is set to hit US cinemas some time next year, with Australian release dates still TBC. Ghibli haven't covered up their financial struggle, most notably considering 2013's The Tale of Princess Kaguya a flop with tiny box office numbers (a huge step down from 2002's Acadamy Award-winning hit Spirited Away, which took US$274,925,095 worldwide). Suzuki said the studio is considering "housecleaning" or restructuring internally. While this doesn't entirely rule out a future shutdown, it seems the pause is centred around rebuilding the studio, managing copyrights and trademarks and possibly freelancing out projects — a good sign for Ghibli fans. But Kotaku has assured fans that Studio Ghibli is not dead yet, so we'll keep those good vibes delivered via Kiki and keep fingers crossed. Via Anime News Network, Kotaku and Hypable.
Much to every Wes Anderson fan's delight, 2023 delivered not one, not two, and not even just three or four new films by the acclaimed director — it treated audiences to five. In cinemas, Asteroid City brought the filmmaker's symmetry- and pastel-heavy style to the big screen again. On streaming, the rest of his efforts for the year arrived as shorts The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, The Swan, The Ratcatcher and Poison. When Netflix dropped Anderson's quartet of Roald Dahl-inspired shorts in September 2023, each arriving a day after the last, it inspired a question: why not package them all together and give the world another full-length Wes Anderson movie? Perhaps it was waiting for the director to win his first-ever Oscar for The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar — for Best Live-Action Short, in fact — to make that happen, but it is indeed now happening. Accordingly, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More hits the streaming platform on Friday, March 15. Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) talking directly to the camera. Symmetrical shots after symmetrical shots. Dazzlingly gorgeous patterns as far as the eye can see. Yes, they're all in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. That part of what's now an anthology film tells of a wealthy man who is so fond of wagering that he comes up with a crafty plan — after discovering a guru who can see without using his eyes, he decides to learn to the same to cheat while having a bet. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar itself springs from one of the seven tales in Dahl's 1977 book The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More. Soon on Netflix, it'll be packaged with Anderson's other three shorts from Dahl's work. The whole anthology cycles through a few core cast members, all of which play multiple roles. Stepping in front of the camera for Anderson: Cumberbatch, Dev Patel (The Green Knight), Ben Kingsley (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Richard Ayoade (The Souvenir: Part II) and Rupert Friend (High Desert). And in glorious news for The Grand Budapest Hotel fans, Ralph Fiennes (The Menu) also reteams with the director. The Swan also takes inspiration from a tale from the same book, this time about a small and smart boy being bullied. As for The Ratcatcher, it adapts a lesser-known story of the same name — not from the same text this time — which is unsurprisingly about a rodent exterminator. Then, Poison dates back to 1950, focusing on a man finding a venomous snake. In 1958, the same tale was adapted for TV by none other than Alfred Hitchcock, in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. All up, that's 90 minutes of new Anderson work. So, as we said multiple times in 2023, watching them all together turns them into an anthology feature. With Netflix's new release, you'll no longer have to press any buttons to get from one film to the next. Check out the trailer for The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More below: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More will be available to stream via Netflix from Friday, March 15. Read our review. Images: courtesy of Netflix.
For Australian TV viewers, your familiarity with various US cable networks will depend upon which of their television shows you happen to watch. HBO has become a household name thanks to everything from The Sopranos and The Wire to Game of Thrones and Succession, for instance — and if you're a fan of Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and The Walking Dead, you'll have noticed AMC's moniker more than once or twice. Get ready to watch more of AMC's shows, actually, as the American network has just brought its AMC+ streaming bundle to Australia. Rather than existing as a separate platform, it's an add-on that's available via the Apple TV channels on the Apple TV app and, also for Prime members thanks to its Prime Video channels. You'll need to pay extra to access it — to the tune of $8.99 per month — but that'll add both new and classic AMC shows to your streaming queue. So, you'll be able to watch six-part series The Beast Must Die, which stars Chernobyl's Jared Harris and follows the aftermath of a hit and run; Swedish series The Restaurant, which kicks off with a kiss amid end-of-WWII celebrations; and Dutch miniseries The Swell, about the most powerful storm in history heading towards The Netherlands and Belgium. There's also stop-motion comedy Ultra City Smiths, which uses animated baby dolls to stand in for a grown-up cast of characters — and a heap of true-crime titles, including docuseries Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders, about the chilling killings that Truman Capote turned into the acclaimed book In Cold Blood. In terms of new arrivals, the South Australian-shot Firebite might just be the most exciting show on AMC+'s lineup. It won't start dropping episodes until Thursday, December 16; however, it's created by Aussie Samson and Delilah, Sweet Country and The Beach filmmaker Warwick Thornton. Following two Indigenous Australian hunters who battle the last colony of vampires in the middle of the SA desert, it stars Rob Collins (The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson) and newcomer Shantae Barnes-Cowan (Total Control), as well as Yael Stone (Orange is the New Black) and Callan Mulvey (Shadow in the Cloud). Also set to hit in the coming weeks: dystopian drama series Anna, about a world plagued by a virus which kills adults but spares children; the first three seasons of documentary mockumentary series Documentary Now!; and sketch comedy Sherman's Showcase. Subscribers to AMC+ also get access to the network's two other forays into local streaming, horror platform Shudder and the British TV-focused Acorn TV — all at no extra cost. Plus, the streaming bundle will gain a heap of AMC's high-profile existing shows throughout November, such as Mad Men, Riviera, Portlandia, Comedy Bang! Bang! and Eli Roth's History of Horror, as well as of a number of indie movies from IFC Films and horror flicks from Shudder. If you're keen — and your streaming queue has a few gaps in it — AMC+ is doing seven-day free trials for Prime members, too. The AMC+ streaming bundle is now available via the Apple TV channels on the Apple TV app and, also for Prime members thanks to its Prime Video channels. For more information, head to the AMC+ Facebook page. Top image: Ian Routledge/AMC+.
Since the first Iron Man film in 2008, Marvel has trained superhero fans well. Notching up 33 movies in its enormous cinematic universe with 2023's The Marvels and showing zero signs of stopping, the comic book company has basically taken over the big screen, with this year delivering Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, too — and, as always, there's plenty more flicks on the way. Marvel hasn't just taken over picture palaces. Via Disney+, the small screen is also home to many a MCU story, including Secret Invasion and season two of Loki in 2023. Keen to see your favourite spandex-clad crime-fighters try to save the world in person as well? Along with splashing Marvel's heroes and villains across every screen it can find, that's also coming — and soon. Marvel Universe LIVE! is exactly what it seems — and if it sounds familiar, that's because it was meant to head Down Under in 2020, but then the pandemic hit. So, when it makes the trip to Australia in April 2024, it'll be unveiling its show to Aussie audiences for the first time. Brisbane's season takes place from Thursday, April 4–Sunday, April 7 at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. The production takes more than 20 characters such as Spider-Man, The Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, teaming them up on stage and letting audiences marvel (pun intended) at their exploits. Featuring everyone from Iron Man, Thor, Black Panther and the Hulk to Captain America, Doctor Strange and Black Widow, it tasks the beloved superheroes with facing off against some of Marvel's infamous villains, including Nebula, Loki and Green Goblin. And, it packages their antics with video projections, special effects, pyrotechnics, martial arts, and both aerial and motorcycle stunts. The performance is aimed at all ages and, in news that's about as unsurprising as most wisecracks that Tony Stark ever uttered, the show has proven a massive success in the United States, Latin America and Europe. As a result, it was only a matter of time until it hit Australia after its pandemic delay. Obviously, attendees won't be watching Robert Downey Jr (Oppenheimer), Chris Hemsworth (Extraction II), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar), Scarlett Johansson (Asteroid City) and Tom Hiddleston (The Essex Serpent) — or any of the many, many other high-profile stars who feature in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, because that list truly seems endless. But, if you're happy to get your Marvel fix however you can, add this to your 2024 calendar.
Feel like you've experienced every date option that Brisbane has to offer? Run out of new ways to spend an ace night with your mates? If glitz, glamour, drinks, dinner and feeling like you're in a speakeasy several decades ago sound like your idea of a good time, then make a beeline to Cloudland's Big Band Cabaret dinner and show. Taking place in the Valley venue's Rose Room, the decadent shindig will have you and your loved one tapping your toes to live tunes, and lapping up burlesque performances. And, you'll do all of the above while eating your way through a three-course meal and enjoying a three-hour package of beer, wine and sparkling. The event has been such a hit over the last couple of years, it's no wonder that Cloudland keeps bringing it back. The next dinner-and-show combos happen from 6.30pm on Friday, February 4 and Friday, March 4 — with Lulu Lemans and Swing Central on the bill. Tickets are limited, in line with current COVID-19 restrictions. They aren't cheap either, at $119 per person. Still, this party is certain to liven up your Friday night with something more than a little different. Top image: Cloudland.
At the 2024 British Film Festival, when you're not watching movies starring Saoirse Ronan, Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh and Barry Keoghan, you'll be catching the latest performances from Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law, Pierce Brosnan and Helena Bonham Carter. There's never any lack of big-name talents gracing the screen at Australia's annual celebration of the UK's latest and greatest contributions to cinema, but this year's is particularly jam-packed — so much so that there's not just one feature boasting Ronan among its cast, but two. Blitz, which sees the Foe, Little Women and Ammonite actor team up with 12 Years a Slave, Widows and Small Axe filmmaker Steve McQueen, is the British Film Festival's 2024 opening-night film. Playing Down Under fresh from also launching the London Film Festival, the period drama heads back to World War II, and starts the fest's month-long run from Wednesday, November 6–Sunday, December 8 with one of the year's must-see movies. At the other end of the festival, the also highly anticipated We Live in Time will close out the event's seasons in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Byron Bay and Ballarat. Pugh (Dune: Part Two) and Garfield (Under the Banner of Heaven) lead the romance from Brooklyn filmmaker John Crowley, which follows a couple's relationship across a decade. The second Ronan-led flick on the full 2024 British Film Festival comes courtesy of page-to-screen adaptation The Outrun, where the four-time Oscar-nominee plays a recovering addict — and there's plenty more highlights on the program from there. Hard Truths sits in the fest's centrepiece slot, reuniting iconic director Mike Leigh (Peterloo) with his Academy Award-nominated Secrets & Lies star Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Surface). Also boasting the coveted pairing of an impressive helmer and an exceptional on-screen talent: Bird from Andrea Arnold (American Honey), which is where Keoghan (Saltburn) pops up. As for Fiennes (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar), he stars with Juliette Binoche (The New Look) in The Return, a British spin on Homer's Odyssey — and also in papal thriller Conclave with Citadel's Stanley Tucci, Killers of the Flower Moon's John Lithgow and Spaceman's Isabella Rossellini. Law (Peter Pan & Wendy) plays King Henry VIII opposite Alicia Vikander (Irma Vep) as Katherine Parr in Firebrand, while Brosnan (The Last Rifleman) and Bonham Carter (One Life) feature in romance Four Letters of Love. Other standouts include the century-hopping dark comedy Timestalker from Garth Marenghi's Darkplace alum Alice Lowe, the Gillian Anderson (Scoop)- and Jason Isaacs (Archie)-led The Salt Path, Julia Louis-Dreyfus (You Hurt My Feelings) facing death in Tuesday, and Kelly Macdonald (Operation Mincemeat) and Damian Lewis (Billions) in vampire comedy The Radleys. For music fans, there's a dedicated themed sidebar featuring both Blur: To the End and Blur: Live at Wembley Stadium — one about the band's most-recent chapter, the other a two-hour concert film — as well as the Led Zeppelin-focused The Song Remains the Same and The Rolling Stones-centric The Stones and Brian Jones. This year's British Film Festival is also peering backwards via retrospective sessions of Ratcatcher, the debut feature from You Were Never Really Here's Lynne Ramsay; the Bonham Carter- and Dame Maggie Smith (The Miracle Club)-starring A Room with a View; and classic British historical dramas such as A Man for All Seasons, Heat and Dust, The Lion in Winter and Kenneth Branagh's (A Haunting in Venice) Henry V. British Film Festival 2024 Dates and Venues Wednesday, November 6–Sunday, December 8 — The Astor Theatre, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, Palace Penny Lane, The Kino and Pentridge Cinema, Melbourne Wednesday, November 6–Sunday, December 8 — Palace Regent Ballarat Wednesday, November 6–Sunday, December 8 — Palace Electric Cinemas, Canberra Wednesday, November 6–Sunday, December 8 — Palace Barracks and Palace James Street, Brisbane Wednesday, November 6–Sunday, December 8 — Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas and Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas, Adelaide Wednesday, November 6–Sunday, December 8 — Palace Raine Square, Luna on SX, Leederville and Windsor, Perth Wednesday, November 6–Sunday, December 8 — Palace Byron Bay Thursday, November 7–Sunday, December 8 — Palace Norton Street, Palace Moore Park, Chauvel Cinema and Palace Central, Sydney The 2024 British Film Festival tours Australia in November and December. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
When you're starring in a survivalist drama about humanity's attempts to keep life going 219 years after nuclear bombs destroyed existence as everyone knows it, do you start thinking about how you'd cope in a similar situation? As Fallout's three leads tell Concrete Playground, the answer is yes. But for Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell and Aaron Moten, that question always comes back to their characters — as disparate a trio that anyone could ever imagine trying to eke it out in post-apocalyptic times, ranging from the literally sheltered to the centuries-old and mutated, and also a wannabe soldier in a military where robotic armour is the best protection against a living nightmare. Goggins (I'm a Virgo) helps usher the game-to-screen series, which dropped its eight-episode first season on Prime Video Down Under on Thursday, April 11, into its premise. First he's seen as Cooper Howard, an actor who was once a western star, but is initially introduced getting paid to show up a a child's birthday party. That's where he is, alongside his young daughter Janey (Teagan Meredith, The Calling), when Los Angeles is devastated. Next, what should've been several lifetimes have passed and Goggins is now The Ghoul, with a look to suit his name (including a hole where his nose should be) and the fact that his character is still kicking after so much time. In her latest series with a survivalist angle — see also: her turn as Jackie in Yellowjackets — Purnell plays Lucy MacLean, who wasn't even a twinkle in anyone's eye when life was a picture of retrofuturistic normality for Howard. Her status quo is Vault 33, one of several underground facilities where a blue uniform-clad mission to keep civilisation alive is underway. Her first goal is simply to marry and help perpetuate the species; a wedding to a neighbouring vault dweller, as overseen by her father and Vault 33's leader Hank (Kyle MacLachlan, Lucky Hank), is her initial fate. Soon, however, she's venturing out into wasteland, where there's more going on than she's been taught to believe — and a place that both The Ghoul and Maximus (Aaron Moten, Emancipation) have no choice but to call home. The latter has a clear aim, too, when Fallout begins: becoming a knight for the Brotherhood of Steel, which means donning Pacific Rim and Gundam-esque suits. Even being a squire for a knight would be a step up from being terrorised by his fellow trainees. As brought to streaming by series creators and showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel) and Graham Wagner (The Office, Silicon Valley) — plus Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy as executive producers — Lucy, The Ghoul and Maximus' journeys will see them cross paths, of course, but nothing is simple in the show's hellish realm. Fallout has the three lead performances to make that plain, and both the vibe and the world-building design (plus no shortage of carnage, whether from people doing battle or mutated animals leaping out of toxic waters). [caption id="attachment_950361" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anna Webber/Getty Images for Prime Video[/caption] Goggins, Purnell and Moten are each sublimely cast. For viewers, enlisting Goggins as The Ghoul is especially perfect, after a three-decade career that spans everything from The Shield, Justified, Sons of Anarchy and The Hateful Eight to Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones. No one has the same kind of swagger, or flair with dialogue. He's just as mesmerising when he's stepping into Howard's past, too, where his soft-spoken tones match his own in-person. Purnell's Lucy and Moten's Maximus both navigate coming-of-age stories amid Fallout's dystopian realm, albeit from vastly different beginnings. Plucky from the get-go, Maleficent, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and Sweetbitter's Purnell segues from perennial optimism to toughened-up realism. Haunted from the outset, The Night Of, Mozart in the Jungle and Next's Moten is tasked with searching for somewhere to belong, but stops letting his yearning cloud reality. Fallout is about ascertaining who you want to be — what you're willing to do, and face, and put up with — in such grim times as well, with its main trio constantly unpacking that weighty idea. What does it take to step into Fallout's wasteland, and to bring a gaming series beloved since 1997 to television? How do the show's stars see the heart of its survivalist story? What does the inimitable Goggins look for in a part, and what appealed to him about taking on The Ghoul? We chatted to Goggins, Purnell and Moten about all of the above, and also found out how much they adored the job at hand, how Goggins saw the setup as a "good, the bad and the ugly" situation, and the fact that this marks Moten's first-ever project shot on celluloid. On Whether the Fallout Cast Think About How They'd Respond in the Same Dystopian Situation — and How That Influences Their Take on Their Characters Aaron: "I think sometimes." Ella: "Yeah." Walton: "Yeah." Aaron: "I do think that, I feel like we all have specific details that are different, actually, about that answer, though. Because as Maximus, I'm playing a person who was born and raised in the wasteland, versus a person born and raised in a vault underground, and a person who lived before the bombs happened. So for me, yes, I think there's an essence of 'what would I do in this moment?'. But at the same time, I think Maximus has lived a harsh reality. A major challenge for me is how to change my thought pattern to match one of someone who would have been born and raised in the wasteland. What that means, usually it's about his moral compass; how survival has, I guess, evolved people; and their choices, and their right and wrong parameters. That to me, there's an element of 'what would I do?' — but I usually then am using that as a springboard, and sometimes landing on the 180 opposite then, as of what to do in in a situation." Walton: "I think we would all go about it in a very different way. The thing about the question that sparked a thought in my mind is what I love about this show — I think so often over time, over the last eight decades, shows that dealt with this type of end-of-the-world event, so much of the time is dedicated to showing the end of the world, right. That happens in the first five minutes of this experience. And the moderator last night [at Fallout's London premiere] brought up the fact that there's an inherent kind of hope and optimism even in this bleak landscape — whether that's coming from Lucy, or whether that's built into the show. For me, I was thinking about that today, and I thought last night after she asked it, and I thought 'well, no', because really, the world that we knew is over. So the only thing that we have left to do once you know the deck has been reshuffled is to build. It's about recreating the world. And Maximus brings that up in a in a just a great line in the pilot. And I think at the onset of any great human endeavour, hope or optimism springs eternal — and that's a cool part of this show. I like it. I'm watching it. It's really exciting to me." On Unpacking Fallout's Survivalist Themes Ella: "For me, one of the most exciting parts about the role was you take this very — at the start of the show — privileged, sheltered, innocent, clean (literally) young woman, and put her in this horrible, horrific situation that you would never hope to be in. And you really see her explore the extent of what humans are capable of. She gets to the very brink of her limits. I think that she really gets put through it, and you see this deterioration happening in front of your eyes. And I think she has to dig really deep inside her to find that place of wanting to survive. Because you want to give up. And there has to be a point where you make the choice that 'I am a survivor, I am going to get through this no matter what it takes'. And then that's where the theme of morality and identity come in. I find survival stuff really interesting, just seeing how desperate a human can get — how they pave the way, how they put one foot in front of the other." Walton: "I think the relationship between the two of us [The Ghoul and Lucy], I was thinking about that, too, after that conversation last night. The Ghoul in some way is a metaphor for life and tragedy. And he's saying in our relationship between Lucy and The Ghoul, it's as if he's sadistically saying: 'Come with me. Let me show you what the world is really like. You'll see this and you'll see this'. And that loss of innocence is tragic, but inevitable in life." On What Gets Goggins Excited About a Role, Including Playing Cooper Howard/The Ghoul Walton: "For me, it's just money at this stage of my life. I'm just kidding. I'm joking. That's a very big joke." Ella: "I always wanted someone to answer a question like that." Walton: "It's just money. No, no, no. I've never taken a job for money, actually. I've believed in everything that I've been a part of. I think all of us would say this — I don't want to speak for anyone else, but Jonathan Nolan is number one. Geneva, who's an old friend of mine, and we did Tomb Raider together. Graham, I've been a fan of for a very long time. And so you get that out of the way. And then you look at the story. [caption id="attachment_950363" align="alignnone" width="1920"] JoJo Whilden/Prime Video ©Amazon Content Services LLC[/caption] When I read the first two scripts, I was blown away by my journey, by The Ghoul's journey — but also blown away by Lucy's journey and Maximus' journey. And really saw it as kind of this good, the bad and the ugly, this strange configuration of these three people that come from very, very different backgrounds, and the way in which they meet up. But the thing that got me more than anything is Cooper Howard is two people at different parts of the story, and understanding Cooper Howard — Cooper Howard was a movie star, a western kind of movie star. And he was the perfect protagonist, if you will, or the perfect hero for a time of eternal American optimism, for that specific time and the history in our country. And in some ways, I think The Ghoul is not an anti-hero. I think he's the perfect hero in a cynical fallen world. He is someone who survived for 200 years. And for those of us that were left on the surface, it's a game of struggle, of daily survival. And I think it was the juxtaposition between those two different journeys that was most fascinating to me." On the Responsibility of Bringing Fallout to the Screen Given the Enormous Fandom for the Games Aaron: "I think we feel a great deal. There's a weight to it, for sure. I know that, for myself, it comes from care as well. You cherish the material and you want to do it justice. A big part of acting, ultimately, I think for all of us is about getting yeses sometimes in a world of moving through scripts. And so there's a validation that you do hope to achieve taking on something that is beloved. But at the same time, every day for me — and [turning to Walton and Ella], I don't know if you guys were different — Howard Cummings [Fallout's production designer] and his team, and what they were building and putting together, and the detail that they were just preparing every set, every location, really made a lot of that fall away. It was just such a joy to get such a great playground. It's like being the kid that's nervous to go to school, but then 'ohh man, they've got a swirly slide!'. It really felt like how could I not just jump in and enjoy it and really just go there. Jonah [Jonathan Nolan] as well, helped a lot with that. And getting to shoot on film, just real celluloid, which is the first time for me. But hearing that camera." [caption id="attachment_950367" align="alignnone" width="1920"] JoJo Whilden/Prime Video ©Amazon Content Services LLC[/caption] Walton: "Amazing." Aaron: "Yeah. First time." Walton: "Wow. I never heard that." Aaron: "A life of digital. A life of 'it's rolling, just play'." Walton: "I didn't know that. Wow." Aaron: "It makes us more economical, I think. You hear the rolls start, and you know we just reloaded, we've got seven or eight minutes." Ella: "Yeah." Aaron: "And if action is called, I'm doing it." Ella: "Yeah, more intensely." Aaron: "We're going for it." Ella: "I'd say it's also the anticipation that's the scariest part. I don't know about you guys [turns to Aaron and Walton], but the two weeks leading up to beginning, I think I lost my mind. And then as soon as you start, it's, like you say, you get taken in by the characters and the costumes and the collaboration and the sets — and all of that goes away because it's fun. It's just so fun. We're so lucky." Walton: "Yeah, we really are." Fallout streams via Prime Video from Thursday, April 11, 2024. Read our review. Images: courtesy of Prime Video.
Nine months after Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu's passing, the Indigenous musician has posthumously achieved a historic feat with his final album. Released this week, Djarimirri (Child of the Rainbow) now sits at the top of the Australian charts, becoming the first record in an Indigenous language to do so. A project that took over four years to come to fruition — and was completed only weeks before Yunupingu's death — Djarimirri presents 12 traditional Yolngu songs and harmonised chants with orchestral arrangements, with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra providing the latter. "This album is a testament to this great Australian and his family, all Yolngu and the greater Aboriginal population," said Skinnyfish Music's Michael Hohnen, Yunupingu's friend, collaborator and producer. "The history he has made taking a true Australian language and heritage to number one proves the strength of the underlying cultural identity of this nation." Born blind on Elcho Island off the coast of Arnhem Land, Yunupingu was already Australia's highest-selling Indigenous artist before Djarimirri's release. His three previous studio albums — 2008's Gurrumul, 2011's Rrakala and 2015's The Gospel Album — all peaked at third position on the ARIA album charts, with Gurrumul earning triple-platinum status and Rrakala also going platinum. A documentary about Yunupingu's life, which premiered at last year's Melbourne International Film Festival and also screened at this year's Berlinale, opens in Australian cinemas on April 25. Image: 6 Seasons Productions.
"We were just saying, we love an Aussie." When you're My Old Ass writer/director Megan Park and Australia's own Margot Robbie has produced your latest film, it's easy to understand why. Gleaning why she greets Concrete Playground that way isn't hard, either. "We do," adds Maisy Stella, the movie's star. "Yeah, we really, really do," Park chimes back in. Robbie's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, which has I, Tonya, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) and Barbie to its name as well — and, among flicks that don't boast its co-founder on-screen, Promising Young Woman and Saltburn, too — is also onboard for Park's next release after this marvel of a coming-of-age tale. Viewers of My Old Ass have more from Park to look forward to, then. Right now, though, they already have a must-see to enjoy courtesy of her second feature as a filmmaker. Actually, that also applies to her debut. An actor herself, Park initially jumped behind the lens on 2021's excellent Jenna Ortega (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice)-led The Fallout, which plunged into the aftermath of a school tragedy. Now, the former The Secret Life of the American Teenager star has penned and helmed a picture set as its protagonist gets ready to leave her small-town home behind for college. [caption id="attachment_974458" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alex J. Berliner/ABImages[/caption] For her second movie about teens making sense of their world, too, Park embraces a high-concept setup — and one that heads down a universal path that resonates with viewers of all ages. Have you ever wanted to get life advice from your future self? Or, conversely, to give your younger self some words of wisdom, whether about what not to worry about or who to avoid? Focusing on Nashville's Stella as the just-turned-18 Elliott — and featuring Parks and Recreation, The White Lotus and Agatha All Along favourite Aubrey Plaza as the older version — that's My Old Ass' storyline. If you're wondering how the two Elliotts come to meet, the film uses a mushroom trip to head into magical-realism territory. When they come face to face, Plaza's 39-year-old Elliott has a specific piece of advice for the girl that she once was: stay away from Chad (Wednesday's Percy Hynes White). We all know what happens when you tell someone not to do something, especially a carefree teenager, so of course Stella's Elliott doesn't heed that warning. This is a film, however, that understands the urge to want to send your former self in a certain direction, because it understands what it's like to live with the ups and downs that life takes us on just as firmly. It equally appreciates that it's those ebbs and flows — and joys and hurts as well, so our course for better and for worse — that make us who we are. [caption id="attachment_974462" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marion Curtis / Starpix for Amazon MGM Studios[/caption] What would Stella do if the Sundance Film Festival-premiering movie's premise became an IRL possibility for her? It depends on which way the advice was flowing. Park is of the same opinion. They'd each be keen to talk to their younger selves, but not their older guises. "I've decided that I reject it. I really reject it. I've been asked this and every time I try to think of something, and I think the reason that I don't have anything is because I would not take the opportunity. I would take the opportunity to meet younger self. But the older, it just feels a little scary to me," Stella tells us. "It gets dicey. See, it goes dark quick. I mean, it really takes a turn," she continues. "Yeah, it's a it's a scary one," agrees Park. "I think I'm going to hard pass on it too, probably. I'd want to go back and meet my younger self." Thinking about these questions is unavoidable after watching My Old Ass, no matter whether you decide that you'd seize or shirk the chance that Elliott is given. Also part of the viewing experience: wishing that Plaza could pop up in your life either way. We also chatted with Park and Stella about where the idea for the film sprang from, what Park was interested in exploring with it, Stella's excitement about playing Elliott, how she approached the character, and working with both Plaza and Robbie. On What Inspired My Old Ass, and What Park Was Interested in Exploring Megan: "I think the themes that I really wanted to explore were grief and time passing, and nostalgia — and motherhood, truthfully, was a big one that I wanted. I was a new mum when I wrote this script, so it was those feelings that were really the entry point into this idea that's so universal, I think, of wanting to talk to your older or younger self. Or regrets. Regret is another big one. I think I'm such an emotionally driven writer that I'm not thinking about necessarily the structure of the story, and what's going to happen and what are people going to take from the movie — I'm just driven from that emotional place, at least I have been so far in the two movies I've written. It's all I really know how to do it. So those were the themes I wanted to explore. And then as I didn't know where it was going, as soon as Elliott came to me, and older Elliott, I just followed that lead and figured out the story as I went." On Stella's Initial Reaction to the Script, and What She Thought That She Could Bring to the Younger Elliott Maisy: "My first reaction to it was just beaming with excitement. It was funny, because I had been auditioning for so long and I really enjoy auditioning, and I really enjoy reading scripts and I read a lot of scripts at that time, and it was just my favourite thing I'd read in forever. And I was immediately met with anxiety. The second I started reading it, the thought of it being taken from me, I was like 'no!'. And it wasn't even mine at all. But the thought of not getting to be a part of this amazing project was so scary to me. So yeah, my initial reaction to it was deeply, deeply moved; really excited and inspired by it; and would have just been so grateful and lucky to have been a part of it. And it worked out for me. I'm very grateful and lucky." [caption id="attachment_974461" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marion Curtis / Starpix for Amazon MGM Studios[/caption] On the Journey to Realising That Aubrey Plaza Was the Ideal Older Elliott Megan: "Truthfully, I'd written the role for somebody to be much older, like in their late 40s, early 50s. And we cast the film around Maisy, and so we were really stuck on who looks the most like her, who's in that age range and who's available to come to Canada to film the movie. And there just was never anybody that came up that was the right match for the tone of the movie, for energetically with Maisy, for the comedy. It wasn't until there was a list of names that somebody had suggested, and Aubrey was on there. It was like 'wait a second, I'm such a fan of hers' — and I knew Maisy was a fan of hers. She was not even 40 and doesn't look anything like Maisy really, but we were like 'wait a second', and for some reason the energy and the chemistry was just such a connection. And it just made the whole movie make sense in a whole new way for me. I'm close to age to Aubrey and I thought 'wow, I've actually never felt older than hanging out with all the 18 year olds'. And there was something so funny to me about this idea that she thinks she's so old and she's not even 40. And even the title became funnier when it was Aubrey." Maisy: "Yes!" Megan: "So then, luckily we sent it to her, and only her, and she read it and loved it and wanted to be a part of it. So once we got it to her, the stars really aligned quickly, but it was kind of me getting out of my own way and being like 'wait, instead of worrying about who looks the most like Maisy, who fits into the movie?'." Maisy: "Instead of worrying about who's blonde?" Megan: "Yeah, exactly." On Collaboration When You're Playing the Younger Version of a Character While Sharing Scenes with the Older Version Maisy: "It was quick. What happened, I was filming for like two weeks when Aubrey was officially attached. So my younger Elliott was already kind of established. On anything else, if this was any other situation, I would have been meeting Aubrey — and she kind of had to meet me because I was filming. So it was a quick thing, she came for like a week and we just went for it." [caption id="attachment_974460" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marion Curtis / Starpix for Amazon MGM Studios[/caption] Megan: "She'd been watching dailies and studying Maisy a bit before." Maisy: "And then when we met, I felt Aubrey staring and filming me with her eyes, and getting the mannerisms and physicality. I think that was probably more what we focused on. And also just creating a friendship and a nice connection was probably the most important part, rather than mimicking each other. It felt more enjoyable." Megan: "I remember Aubrey asking me 'do you want me to mimic her? How deep do you want me to go with this?' And I was like 'I feel like that's not the most important part of it. I'd rather we just build the chemistry and the rapport'. And that was totally what I think was the main thing. We just spent the weekend together, talked through stuff." Maisy: "100 percent." Megan: "And it was just about building that chemistry — which, they're both genius actors, they can build chemistry so quickly. That's a skill that I think the best actors can do. And the two of them together were just able to connect so quickly." [caption id="attachment_974459" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alex J. Berliner/ABImages[/caption] On Having Margot Robbie as a Producer, and How That Helped Shape the Film Megan: "As we were saying, we love an Aussie. Our other producer, Bronte Payne at LuckyChap, is also Australian. It happened really organically. I had a general meeting with the company, with Bronte, who had seen The Fallout — and she really loved the film, and she just wanted to sit and chat. And she was the one, honestly, who was like 'do you have any other ideas?'. And I was like 'I mean, there's this one thing I'm thinking about'. And she was like 'we'd love to hear more about that. We think that's a great idea'. Then she introduced me to the rest of people at the company, Tom [Ackerley, also one of LuckyChap's founders] and Margot and Josey [McNamara, another LuckyChap founder]. And they are just so — it's really hard to find good people in this industry who are really honest and smart and hardworking, and treat everybody, no matter if it's the star of the movie or the PA, they're just so consistent. And they're so grounded and down to earth, and there's a reason why they get so much repeat business with their directors. It's because it's genuine, and they're obviously very smart. So they were incredibly helpful, not only helping me build the script, but every step of the way — they've just been so invaluable and so easygoing. And just lovely, lovely human beings. I'm doing my next film with them, and I hope to work with them over and over again. They're incredible." On Balancing Playing a Carefree 18-Year-Old with Their Whole Life Ahead of Them with Elliott Getting to Take Stock of Her Existence Decades Before Anyone Usually Expects To Maisy: "Preparing-wise, I honestly read the script so many times. That was really my prep, just reading it. I didn't do too much, I didn't practice the deliveries." Megan: "We just talked through the scenes." Maisy: "We'd just talk it through. And on my own time, I had months before I went to film — but after I booked it, I enjoyed reading it so I would obsessively just read it and think about it a lot. I really lived with the concept and with the message. I thought about it a lot. I think was my preparation." [caption id="attachment_974457" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alex J. Berliner/ABImages[/caption] Megan: "And you believed in it." Maisy: "And I believed in it and I meant it. I really meant it. Everything that Elliott says, I ended up meaning on the day. Even if I was learning from her and trying to mean it, I did end up meaning it." Megan: "Yeah." Maisy: "And with an indie, with the director like you [talks to Megan], where you really like things to feel like you press record and you're just like watching people exist, there's only so much you can do for prep to keep it feeling natural and real and sparky." My Old Ass opened in Australian cinemas on Thursday, September 26, 2024. My Old Ass images: Marni Grossman © Amazon Content Services LLC.
Can't stop, addicted to the shindig? Then you'll be excited about the latest huge music tour heading Down Under. Get ready to give it away, give it away, give it away now, too — your money, obviously, to see Red Hot Chili Peppers when they hit up Australia and New Zealand in early 2023. The Los Angeles-based rockers have announced that they're bringing their new global stadium tour our way, making six stops across both countries. First up, Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Chad Smith and John Frusciante will hit up Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium and Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium in January, plus Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium. Then, in February, they'll be singing songs to you beneath the marquee at Sydney's Accor Stadium, Melbourne's Marvel Stadium and Perth's Optus Stadium. The band's dreams of Californication are zipping around the planet as part of a hefty tour that kicked off in June in Spain, and will also make its way to London, Paris, Dublin, LA, Chicago, New York and more alongside its Down Under stops. And yes, the Chili Peppers have a record to plug in the process, aka Unlimited Love — their 12th studio album, which dropped back in April. [caption id="attachment_859838" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Clara Balzary[/caption] Both Unlimited Love and the tour mark the return of guitarist Frusciante, who left the Chilis back in 2009, then rejoined the band in 2019. And, the tour will see the group head to this part of the world for the first time since 2019, too — and playing plenty of hits from their almost four-decade run so far, obviously. There's a hefty number of songs to choose from. Since their self-titled first EP in 1984, the band has sold more than 80 million albums, won six Grammys and entered the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. They've also released tracks spanning 'Under the Bridge', 'Scar Tissue', 'Breaking the Girl', 'By the Way' and 'The Zephyr Song', as well as 'Otherside', 'Soul to Squeeze', 'Around the World', 'My Friends' and 'Suck My Kiss'. Red Hot Chili Peppers will be joined Down Under by someone else who's sold just as many records: Post Malone. Yes, it's a two-for-the-price-of-one kind of tour — two massive music names, that is. Post Malone heads our way fresh from releasing his fourth studio album Twelve Carat Toothache in June. RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS 2023 DOWN UNDER TOUR DATES — WITH POST MALONE: Saturday, January 21 — Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland Thursday, January 26 — Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin Sunday, January 29 — Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Thursday, February 2 — Accor Stadium, Sydney Tuesday, February 7 — Marvel Stadium, Melbourne Sunday, February 12 — Optus Stadium, Perth Red Hot Chili Peppers and Post Malone are touring Australia and New Zealand in January and February 2023. Tickets for Australian shows go on sale online on Monday, July 11 — at 12pm in Brisbane, 1pm in Melbourne and Perth, and 2pm in Sydney, with pre-sales via Telstra from Wednesday, July 6 and from Live Nation on Friday, July 8. For more information, head to the tour website. Tickets for New Zealand shows go on sale online at 12pm on Monday, July 11, with pre-sales via Vodaphone from Wednesday, July 6 and from Live Nation on Friday, July 8. For more information, head to the tour website. Images: Pavel Suslov / Clara Balzary.
There's no one way to choose which airline to fly with, or what time to take to the skies. Pure and simple necessity might leave you without options anyway. But if you're the kind of traveller who loves saying cheers to your flight with a wine or beer in your hand, Qantas has poured out some great news just as the holidays are about to hit. That free drink that everyone usually scores from 4pm in economy on the carrier's routes? It's now kicking in at midday. So, effective immediately, travellers flying with Qantas on all domestic and regional flights from 12pm onwards will be offered a complimentary beverage. Your options: a red or white wine, with Aussie drops getting the nod, or a One Fifty Lashes Premium Pale Ale. This is the first time that the Australian airline is bringing forward the opening time for its onboard economy wine bar — which, of course, isn't a part of the plane where everyone hangs out with a drink in their hand, but the name that Qantas has given its vino-slinging offering. Your drink will come with either lunch or snacks, depending on the time that you're flying — or even dinner, because the free beverage still applies after 4pm. Fancy a quiet sip by yourself? Remember that Qantas also now lets you pay for neighbour-free seating, purchasing the middle seat so you have a gap between you and the next person. For more information about Qantas' onboard dining options, head to the airline's website.
