Brisbanites, meet your latest arts festival. Yes, it covers visual arts, theatre, music, dance and film. Yes, it takes place over four days and features more than 80 artists. No, it's not your usual event. As devised by Brisbane-based theatre collective The Stan Dup Ensemble, the DIY Festival doesn't even adhere to the norm when it comes to the acronym in its name, actually. That D doesn't stand for do, but for devise, though it could also reference diversity. Emerging creatives have been encouraged to craft their own innovative and original works, and to go wherever their imaginations take them. Everything from a dance about how to be an adult to a short film about the struggles of those coping with a family member's active duty comprises the end result, and meditative art pieces and psychedelic rock mixed with space-funk, too. If it's fresh and inventive, you'll find it here, in the city's newest showcase of the next generation of artists.
Not all that long ago, the idea of getting cosy on your couch, clicking a few buttons, and having thousands of films and television shows at your fingertips seemed like something out of science fiction. Now, it's just an ordinary night — whether you're virtually gathering the gang to text along, cuddling up to your significant other or shutting the world out for some much needed me-time. Of course, given the wealth of options to choose from, there's nothing ordinary about making a date with your chosen streaming platform. The question isn't "should I watch something?" — it's "what on earth should I choose?". Hundreds of titles are added to Australia's online viewing services each and every month, all vying for a spot on your must-see list. And, so you don't spend 45 minutes scrolling and then being too tired to actually commit to anything, we're here to help. We've spent plenty of couch time watching our way through this month's latest batch — and, from the latest and greatest through to old and recent favourites, here are our picks for your streaming queue from March's haul. Brand-New Stuff You Can Watch From Start to Finish Now Girls5eva One of the funniest TV comedies of the 2020s is back with its third season, and as hilarious as ever. So what are you waiting five? If that question doesn't make any sense, then you clearly haven't yet experienced the wonder that is Girls5eva. It starts with a numerical pun-heavy earworm of a theme tune that no one should ever skip, then bounces along just as catchily and sidesplittingly in every second afterwards. A move to Netflix for season three — after streaming its first and second seasons via Peacock in the US and Stan in Australia — might just see the Tina Fey-executive produced music-industry sitcom switch from being one of the best shows that not enough people are watching to everyone's latest can't-stop-rewatching comedy obsession. In other words, this a series about a comeback and, thanks to its swap to the biggest player in the streaming game, now it's making a comeback itself. If it becomes a Netflix smash, here's hoping that it'll be famous at least one more time. Two years have passed for longterm fans since Girls5eva last checked in with Dawn Solano (Sara Bareilles, Broadway's Waitress), Wickie Roy (Renée Elise Goldsberry, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and also a Hamilton Tony-winner), Summer Dutkowsky (Busy Philipps, Mean Girls) and Gloria McManus (Paula Pell, Big Mouth), but the gap and the change of platforms haven't changed this gem. Consider the switch of streamer in the same way that Dawn and the gang are approaching their leap back into their girl group after two decades: as an all-in, go-hard-or-go-home, whatever-it-takes relaunch. Now firmly reunited, the surviving members of Girls5eva have taken to the road. So far, however, their big Returnity tour has been happy in Fort Worth. In the Texan city, their track 'Tap Into Your Fort Worth' keeps drawing in crowds, even if that's all that concertgoers want to hear. Also, the Marriott Suitelettes for Divorced Dads has become their home away from home, but resident diva Wickie isn't content just playing one place. Always dreaming huge, massive and stratospheric, she sets the band's sights on Radio City Music Hall, booking them in for a gig at a fee of $500,000. Cue a six-month timeline to sell it out — a feat made trickier by the fact that the show is on Thanksgiving — or risk ruin. Girls5eva streams via Netflix. Read our full review. 20 Days in Mariupol Incompatible with life. No one should ever want to hear those three devastating words. No one who is told one of the most distressing phrases there is ever has them uttered their way in positive circumstances, either. Accordingly, when they're spoken by a doctor in 2024 Oscar-winner 20 Days in Mariupol, they're deeply shattering. So is everything in this on-the-ground portrait of the first 20 days in the Ukrainian port city as Russia began its invasion, with the bleak reality of living in a war zone documented in harrowing detail. Located less than 60 kilometres from the border, Mariupol quickly segues from ordinary life to an apocalyptic scene — and this film refuses to look away. Much of its time is spent in and around hospitals, which see an influx of patients injured and killed by the combat, and also become targets as well. Many of in 20 Days in Mariupol's faces are the afflicted, the medics tending to them in horrendous circumstances, and the loves ones that are understandably inconsolable. Too many of the carnage's victims are children and babies, with their parents crushed and heartbroken in the aftermath; sometimes, they're pregnant women. Directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mstyslav Chernov, and narrated by him with the grimness and soberness that can be this movie's only tone, 20 Days in Mariupol even existing is an achievement. What it depicts — what it immerses viewers in with urgency, from shelled hospitals, basements-turned-bomb shelters and more of the city destroyed day after day to families torn apart, looting, struggling to find food and bodies of the dead taken to mass graves — needs to be viewed as widely as possible, and constantly. His footage has also featured in news reports, but it can and must never be forgotten. Doctors mid-surgery demand that Chernov's camera is pointed their way, and that he shows the world the travesties taking place. The Ukrainian reporter, who has also covered Donbas, flight MH17, Syria and the Battle of Mosul for the Associated Press, does exactly that. He's doing more than ensuring that everyone bears witness, though; he makes certain that there's no way to watch 20 Days in Mariupol, which shows the vast civilian impact and casualties, and see anything but ordinary people suffering, or to feel anything other than shock, anger and horror. 20 Days in Mariupol streams via DocPlay. STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces To do justice to Steve Martin's life, career and impact requires more than just one movie. So, the engagingly and entertainingly in-depth, intimate, affectionate and informative STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces explores the comedian and actor's existence in a pair of parts. The first is subtitled 'Then', honing in on his childhood and early stand-up days. The second, aka 'Now', jumps in when he made the leap to movies in the late 70s, which is where The Jerk, Pennies From Heaven, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Parenthood and LA Story comes in — and, of course, includes his tours with his ¡Three Amigos! co-star Martin Short, as well as their murder-mystery-comedy TV hit Only Murders in the Building. The initial half gets Martin narrating, sharing reflections personal and professional as accompanied by archival footage aplenty (and ample tapes of his stints in front of audience). The latter section treats him as an interviewee, with his wife Anne Stringfield, Short, Jerry Seinfeld (who has had Martin as a guest on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee) and Tina Fey (who also co-starred with Martin in Baby Mama) among the talking heads. Behind it all is documentarian Morgan Neville, an Oscar-winner for 20 Feet From Stardom, as well as a filmmaker who is clearly taking his stylistic cues from his subject. That's noticeable in STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces' moniker, for starters — it throws caution to the winds of grammar and title formats just as Martin has to comedy rules, as the two-part film makes plain again and again. No matter how well-acquainted you are with Martin, insights flow freely in this fascinating way to spend three hours surveying the ways that he's made people laugh over decades upon decades, beginning with doing magic tricks and working at Disneyland on his school holidays in the 50s. Revelations bound through about Martin as a person, too; more than once, he notes that his life has felt as if it has played out backwards, and not just because he only first became a father in his 60s. Clips of his stand-up act, and the response to it in the 60s and 70s, are gold. Hanging out with the man who originally was only going to create Only Murders in the Building, not star in it, when he's bantering with Short are as well. STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces streams via Apple TV+. Spaceman Should astronaut become a dictionary-certified synonym for melancholy? Cinema believes so. Its latest case in point comes via Spaceman, where life temporarily lived above and beyond the earth replaces gravity with loneliness and disconnection for Jakub Prochazka (Adam Sandler, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah). He's six months into a solo trip past Jupiter to investigate an eerie phenomenon in the heavens when this adaptation of Jaroslav Kalfař's 2017 sci-fi novel Spaceman of Bohemia kicks off. His quest is both time-sensitive and celebrated. South Korea is in close pursuit, he's frequently being told by Peter (Kunal Nayyar, Night Court), his contact at ground control — and Commissioner Tuma (Isabella Rossellini, Cat Person) happily keeps dialling him in for PR opportunities. As he soars through a strangely purple sky, however, endeavouring to fulfil his mission while pleading for maintenance approval on his crumbling ship, all that's really on his mind is his wife Lenka (Carey Mulligan, Maestro). Pregnant and left at home alone, she's no longer taking his fast-as-light-speed phone calls. Then Hanus (Paul Dano, Mr & Mrs Smith) scurries in beside Jakub, demanding attention — as a giant spider in space is always going to. For the best part of a decade now, seeing a live-action movie starring Sandler has meant heading to Netflix. In Australia, even Uncut Gems, his greatest-ever performance, arrived via the streaming platform. Alongside The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) and Hustle, add Spaceman to the list of such features that give their star worthy parts and would've made welcome cinema releases. It isn't new news that Sandler is an excellent actor in dramatic and/or weightier roles, or that his career is more than the Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore-style comedies that he first became known for. Spaceman director Johan Renck (Chernobyl) has cast him expertly, in fact, in this tale of isolation, arrested development, otherworldly arachnids and amorous entanglements. Sending Sandler on an Ad Astra-, First Man- and Solaris-esque trip proves contemplative and empathetic — and, amid spider's-eye flashbacks to his complicated childhood in the Czech Republic, time spent with Lenka on the ground and floating around the film's claustrophobic main setting, also brimming with raw and resonant emotion. Spaceman streams via Netflix. The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin Who needs facts when you can have a ball with irreverently riffing on history? It worked for Blackadder, then with The Great and Our Flag Means Death, and now does the same for The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin. It was evident from the concept when it was announced, and the trailer afterwards as well: this series is firmly in the same mode as the pirate comedy that gave streaming two wonderfully funny and heartfelt seasons, then was cancelled. The similarities don't stop being apparent now that Noel Fielding's latest stint of silliness is here with its six-instalment first season. Accordingly, viewers looking for something to help with their Our Flag Means Death heartbreak have somewhere to turn. Everyone who loves The Mighty Boosh's Fielding when he's getting surreal — something that his The Great British Bake Off hosting gig can't quite offer, even with his outfits — is also catered for. Awaiting in The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin is an entertaining jaunt that's exactly what anyone should expect given its premise, star, his fondness for whimsy and flamboyant outfits, plus Britain's love of parodying its own past. Fielding co-writes and executive produces, alongside leading — and his brother Michael is among the fellow The Mighty Boosh alum on-screen. Dick jokes abound, because who could pass up the opportunity given its protagonist? A who's who of English comedy also features. The year is 1735. The place is the UK, obviously. The subject is a real-life highwayman. If Dick Turpin isn't familiar, he's the son of a butcher, he was his father's apprentice, but then took on a different career as part of the Essex gang. In reality, he was executed by hanging at the age of 33. In The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, standing on the gallows provides the opening. From there, the series steps through his time as a thief after being a vegan pacifist didn't gel with the family business. The key things that Dick takes with him when he leaves home, when his father John (Mark Heap, Significant Other) quickly replaces him with his cousin Benny (Michael Fielding, Merry Little Batman): eye-catching purple boots and a sewing machine. Soon enough, he has a crew by his side — and an instantly amusing revisionist history about Britain's equivalent of Ned Kelly is the result. The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. 3 Body Problem How do you follow up Game of Thrones? So asks one of the biggest questions in pop culture over the past decade. HBO's hit adaptation of George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series ended five years ago, but the network behind it, the TV industry in general, and everyone involved in it on- and off-screen has been grappling with that query since the series became a worldwide smash. For the cable station that made it, more Game of Thrones shows is the answer, aka House of the Dragon, the upcoming A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight and other floated spinoffs. For Hollywood, leaning in on fantasy franchises has been a solution. And for David Benioff and DB Weiss, the showrunners on the Westeros-set phenomenon, bringing another complex book saga to the small screen is the chosen path. Those novels: Liu Cixin's Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, which arrives as 3 Body Problem, with 2008 book The Three-Body Problem as the basis for its eight-episode first season. Invasions, feuds, jumping timelines, a hefty cast of characters: they're all still in place. So are John Bradley (Marry Me), Liam Cunningham (Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter) and Jonathan Pryce (Slow Horses) among the cast, answering the "what comes next?" question for three Game of Thrones actors. Also, that composer Ramin Djawadi (Jack Ryan) is on music duties again isn't difficult to notice. With 3 Body Problem, which sees Benioff and Weiss team up with True Blood and The Terror's Alexander Woo to bring Cixin's text to the screen, sprawling high fantasy gives away to time- and space-hopping hard sci-fi, however. The danger to global stability still springs from a battle for supremacy, but one where countdowns start dancing in front of some people's eyes, particle accelerators stop functioning properly, other folks can't be seen in security footage, scientists seem to be killing themselves and aliens linger. The series begins with a physics professor being beaten to death in front of a crowd containing his daughter during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Then, it flits to London today to watch the entire sky wink, gleaming helmets spirit whoever dons them into a complicated and intricate virtual-reality game, and what lurks beyond the earth — and who — play a significant part. 3 Body Problem streams via Netflix. Read our full review. Road House It's a brave actor who tries to follow in Patrick Swayze's footsteps. The late, great star was one of a kind, other than the fact that the 80s and 90s screamed out for him to team up with Kurt Russell on-screen. But folks persist in attempting to take his lead, including Diego Luna (Andor) in the also Swayze-starring Dirty Dancing prequel Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Édgar Ramírez (Dr Death) in the terrible 2015 Point Break remake and now Jake Gyllenhaal (Guy Ritchie's The Covenant) in Road House, another do-over of a Swayze hit. Gyllenhaal fares best in a film that isn't its predecessor in a swathe of ways — there's less sleaze to the titular establishment, and in general; less heat to its central romance; less zen about its protagonist; and no throats being ripped out — but is aided immensely by its key casting. No one needed a Road House remake, let alone one where its cooler is a former UFC fighter who has fallen on troubled times in and out of the octagon. Surely no one wanted to witness a strutting Conor McGregor make his acting debut, and so gratingly, as one of the new Road House's villains. But Gyllenhaal leaning into eccentricity as Dalton works a charm. The plot remains largely the same, albeit shifted to Florida, which sees director Doug Liman (Chaos Walking) also take a few stylistic cues from Miami Vice. In the eponymous venue, Dalton — Elwood, not James — is recruited to take over security by Frankie (Jessica Williams, Shrinking), with her bar suffering from a violence problem. Thugs keep smashing up the place, and patrons. Also, bouncers are constantly leaving the job. There's a cool, calm and collected air to Dalton's quest to clean up the joint, which contrasts with his inner turmoil. Soon, though, he's being threatened in an attempt to run him out of town. Daniela Melchior (Fast X) co-stars as the doctor that becomes his love interest, Billy Magnussen (Lift) as the drug-peddling nepo-baby baddie with designs on The Road House's land, Arturo Castro (The Vince Staples Show) as a motorcycle-gang henchman who genuinely appreciates Dalton's approach and Hannah Love Lanier (Special Ops: Lioness) as a bookshop-running teenager, but Road House circa 2024 is Gyllenhaal's show. This isn't the first attempt to capitalise upon the original Road House's success — even if it was nominated for five Razzies — thanks to 2006's Road House 2. Being better than that is a low bar, but this Road House clears it. Road House streams via Prime Video. Apples Never Fall On the page and on the screen, audiences know what's in store when Sydney-born and -based author Liane Moriarty's name is attached to a book or TV series. Domestic disharmony within comfortable communities fuels her tales, as do twisty mystery storylines. When they hit streaming, the shows adapted from her novels add in starry casts as well. Indeed, after Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, it might come as a shock that Nicole Kidman (Expats) is nowhere to be found in the seven-episode Apples Never Fall. The Australian actor will be back in another version of Moriarty's tomes, also with a three-word title, with The Last Anniversary currently in the works. Fresh from an Oscar nomination for Nyad, Annette Bening is no mere stand-in right now. Also, where Kidman has co-starred with Reese Witherspoon (The Morning Show), Laura Dern (The Son) and Alexander Skarsgård (Mr & Mrs Smith), and also Melissa McCarthy (The Little Mermaid), Michael Shannon (The Flash) and Luke Evans (Good Grief), Bening is joined by Sam Neill (The Twelve), Alison Brie (Somebody I Used to Know) and Jake Lacy (A Friend of the Family). If Lacy's involvement brings The White Lotus to mind, he's again at home playing affluent and arrogant — but no one is on holiday in Apples Never Fall. Rather, in West Palm Beach, the tennis-obsessed Delaney family finds their well-off existence shattered when matriarch Joy (Bening) goes missing, leaving just a banged-up and blood-splattered bicycle, a strewn-about basket of apples and her mobile phone behind. Her adult children (Lacy, Brie, Thai Cave Rescue's Conor Merrigan Turner and The Speedway Murders' Essie Randles) are worried, while husband Stan (Neill) first advises that his spouse is merely ill, a choice that does nothing to stop suspicion rocketing his way. In addition to charting the search for Joy, the Queensland-shot Apples Never Fall bounces through ample backstory. After its introductory instalment, each episode focuses on one of the family; across them all, the timeline is split into "then" and "now". It soon becomes apparent that the doting Joy and determined Stan were talented players, then established the Delaney Tennis Academy when his aspirations were cruelled by injury, and she sidelined hers to support him and have their kids. Another person looms large over the narrative, too: Savannah (Georgia Flood, Blacklight), who graces the Delaneys' doorstep in its flashbacks, fleeing from domestic abuse — or so she claims. Apples Never Fall streams via Binge. Read our full review. Breeders Sitcoms about raising a family are almost as common as sitcoms in general, with the antics of being married with children up there with workplace shenanigans as one of the genre's go-to setups. Thanks to the OG UK version of The Office, Martin Freeman knows more than a little about employment-focused TV comedies. Courtesy of The Thick of It and Veep, actor-turned-director Chris Addison and writer Simon Blackwell also fall into that category. But Breeders, which the trio created and thrusts them into the world of mining parenting for laughs, isn't your standard take on its concept. As became immediately evident when the British series began in 2020, and remains the case now that it's wrapping up with its current fourth season — which aired overseas in 2023 but is only hitting Down Under in 2024 — this show does't subscribe to the rosy notion that being a mother or a father (or a son or daughter, or grandmother or grandfather) equals loveable chaos. There's love, of course. There's even more chaos. But there's also clear eyes, plus bleakness; again, this is largely helmed and scripted by alumni of two of the best, sharpest and most-candid political satires of the 21st century, and always feels as such. Season four begins with a time jump, with Breeders' overall path tracking Paul Worsley (Freeman, Secret Invasion) and Ally Grant's (Daisy Haggard, Boat Story) journey from when their two kids were very young — including babies, via flashbacks — to their teenage and young-adult years now. Consequently, five years on in the narrative from season three, another set of actors play Luke (Oscar Kennedy, Wreck) and Ava (debutant Zoë Athena) in this farewell run as the first is moving in with his girlfriend and the second explores her own love life, as well as grappling with the inescapable reality that her elder brother's ups and downs have always monopolised her family's attention. Paul and Ally also have the ailing health of Paul's parents Jim (Alun Armstrong, Tom Jones) and Jackie (Joanna Bacon, Benediction) to manage, in addition to the ebbs and flows of their own often-fraught relationship, plus just dealing with getting through the days, weeks, months and years in general (Ally turning 50 is one of this season's plot points). That this all sounds like standard life is part of the point; watching Breeders is like looking in a mirror, especially in its unvarnished and relatable all-you-can-do-is-laugh perspective. Freeman's knack for swearing will be especially missed. Breeders streams via Disney+. New and Returning Shows to Check Out Week by Week Palm Royale More things in life should remind the world about Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, 2021's wonderfully goofy (and just wonderful) Florida-set comedy starring Kristen Wiig (MacGruber) and Annie Mumolo (Barbie), plus Jamie Dornan (The Tourist) singing to seagulls. The also Wiig-led Palm Royale is one such prompt. Thankfully, watching the page-to-screen dramedy doesn't cause audiences to wish that they were just viewing Barb and Star, though. The two share the same US state as a locale, too, alongside bright colour schemes, a bouncy pace and a willingness to get silly, especially with sea life, but Palm Royale engages all on its own. Adapting Juliet McDaniel's Mr & Mrs American Pie for the small screen, this 60s-set effort also knows how to make gleaming use of its best asset: Saturday Night Live, Bridesmaids and Ghostbusters alum Wiig. In its ten-episode first season, the show's storyline centres on Maxine Simmons. A former beauty-pageant queen out of Chattanooga, Tennessee, she thinks nothing of scaling the wall to the titular country club, then breezing about like she's meant to be there — sipping grasshoppers and endeavouring to eavesdrop her way into a social-climbing friendship with Palm Beach's high-society set — and Wiig sells every second of the character's twist-filled journey. Even better: she heartily and entertainingly conveys the everywoman aspects of someone who has yearning for a better life as her main motivation, and isn't willing to settle for anything less than she thinks that she deserves, even in hardly relatable circumstances. There's no doubting that Maxine is both an underdog and an outsider in the milieu that she so frenziedly covets. When she's not swanning around poolside, idolising self-appointed bigwig Evelyn Rollins (Allison Janney, The Creator) and ambassador's wife Dinah Donahue (Leslie Bibb, About My Father) among the regulars — their clique spans widow Mary Jones Davidsoul (Julia Duffy, Christmas with the Campbells) and mobster spouse Raquel Kimberly-Maco (Claudia Ferri, Arlette) — and ordering her cocktail of choice from bartender Robert (Ricky Martin, American Crime Story), she's staying in a far-from-glamorous motel. Funding for her quest to fit in with the rich and gossip-column famous comes via pawning jewellery owned by her pilot husband Douglas'(Josh Lucas, Yellowstone) comatose aunt Norma Dellacorte (Carol Burnett, Better Call Saul), the plastics and mouthwash heiress who ruled the scene until suffering an embolism. Palm Royale streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. High Country The role of Andie Whitford, the lead part in High Country, was written for Leah Purcell. It's easy to understand why. There's a quiet resolve to the character — a been-there-seen-that air to weathering tumult, too — that's long been a part of the Indigenous Australian star's acting toolkit across a three-decade career that started in 90s TV shows such as GP, Police Rescue and Water Rats, and has recently added The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart and Shayda to her resume (plus much in-between). Andie is a seasoned police detective who takes a job back in uniform overseeing the town of Broken Ridge, which is located in the mountainous Victorian region that gives the mystery series its name. A big reason for the move: stability and work-life balance, aka relocating for the sake of her personal life with spouse Helen (Sara Wiseman, Under the Vines) and daughter Kirra (Pez Warner, making her TV debut). An existence-resetting tree change is meant to be on the cards, then. But her arrival, especially being installed as the new police chief, doesn't earn the sunniest of welcomes. Then there's the missing-person cases that swiftly start piling up, some old, some new, some previously explained by pointing fingers in specific directions. High Country's framework, down to its character types, is easily recognisable. Creators Marcia Gardner and John Ridley, who worked with Purcell on Wentworth, know what everyone does: that a great story can make any whodunnit-driven procedural feel different. So, also part of the series are Andie's retiring predecessor (Ian McElhinney, The Boys in the Boat), who is fixated on a past disappearance; the former teacher (Henry Nixon, The PM's Daughter) he's certain is responsible, who has become the town outcast; a local ranger (Aaron Pedersen, Jack Irish), one of the few other Indigenous faces in town; the financially challenged proprietor (Linda Cropper, How to Stay Married) of a haven for artists; cop colleagues of varying help and loyalty (Romance at the Vineyard's Matt Domingo and Wyrmwood: Apocalypse's Luke McKenzie); and rabble-rousing siblings (Boy Swallows Universe's Nathaniel Dean and The Clearing's Jamie Timony). Crucially, where the show takes them always feels like its own journey. This might also be the second Aussie effort in two months to use this part of the country as a backdrop, following Force of Nature: The Dry 2, but High Country is similarly no mere rehash there. High Country streams via Binge. The Regime After past wins for Mildred Pierce and Mare of Easttown, Kate Winslet might just add another Emmy to her mantle for The Regime. When the British actor turns her attention to TV for HBO, she unveils spectacular performances — something that she does everywhere anyway (see also: the 30-year-old Heavenly Creatures, 20-year-old Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and more-recent Ammonite, for instance), but this working relationship has been going particularly well for her. Winslet's latest small-screen stint for the US network takes her into the realm of satire, and to a Central European country under authoritarian rule. Nothing for the nation's current leadership is quite going to plan, though. This is a place where Chancellor Elena Vernham singing 'If You Leave Me Now' to open an official dinner, keeping her deceased father in a glass coffin, and overhauling the palace that she calls home due to fears of moisture and black mould are all everyday occurrences. Each of the above happens in The Regime's first episode, as does hiring a soldier linked to a scandal involving the deaths of protestors at a cobalt mine — with his new gig initially requiring him to monitor the air quality in every room that the Chancellor enters. Winslet (Avatar: The Way of Water) is mesmerising as Vernham, who takes her cues from a range of IRL world leaders — it's easy to glean which — in a show that's as captivating as its lead performance. She has excellent company, too, spanning the always-ace Matthias Schoenaerts (Amsterdam) as said military man-turned-Vernham's new advisor, Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie) as her regular offsider, plus everyone from Hugh Grant (Wonka) to Martha Plimpton (A Town Called Malice) popping up and making the most of their supporting parts. The Regime's creator Will Tracy wrote The Menu and also episodes of Succession, so he has experience being scathing; his time on the staff of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver also shows its influence. If he'd been watching Armando Iannucci's The Death of Stalin while dreaming up this (including nabbing Riseborough from the cast), that wouldn't come as a surprise, either. With Stephen Frears (The Lost King) and Jessica Hobbs (The Crown) behind the camera, The Regime is a probingly directed effort as well as it works through its six chapters. The Regime streams via Binge. Need a few more streaming recommendations? Check out our picks from January and February this year, and also from January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December 2023. You can also check out our running list of standout must-stream shows from last year as well — and our best 15 new shows of 2023, 15 newcomers you might've missed, top 15 returning shows of the year, 15 best films, 15 top movies you likely didn't see, 15 best straight-to-streaming flicks and 30 movies worth catching up on over the summer.
Adapting The Narrow Road to the Deep North was always going to require a dream cast and crew. More than that, any attempt to bring Richard Flanagan's acclaimed 2013 novel to the screen was always set to demand a roster of creatives dedicated to doing the book justice, and to honouring the very real history that the work of fiction draws upon. The author didn't spin a true tale on his pages; however, much is shared with reality. Flanagan's text is steeped in the experience of Australian POWs during World War II, specifically those forced to work on the Burma Railway by the Japanese military. IRL, his own father was one of them. A cream-of-the-crop lineup is the aim for every screen project, of course, whether it's destined to grace cinemas or television. Streaming via Prime Video from Friday, April 18, 2025, The Narrow Road to the Deep North's talents should make other TV shows envious, Australian and international alike. For the first time in his career, filmmaker Justin Kurzel plies his skills on the small screen. For the five-part miniseries, he adapts a Booker Prize-winning novel again, as he did with True History of the Kelly Gang. Kurzel collaborates with screenwriter Shaun Grant once more, and unpacks complicated Aussie history again in the process as well, as the pair previously navigated with their take on Ned Kelly, plus Snowtown beforehand and Nitram afterwards. Standing before the lens for the duo: Jacob Elordi (Oh, Canada) on a rare return Down Under, Odessa Young (My First Film) falling into the same category, plus everyone from Irish great and Belfast Oscar-nominee Ciarán Hinds, as well as Japan's Shô Kasamatsu (Tokyo Vice), through to the Aussie likes of Olivia DeJonge (Elvis), Thomas Weatherall (Heartbreak High), Simon Baker (Boy Swallows Universe), Heather Mitchell (Love Me) and Essie Davis (One Day). In one of only five Australian texts to ever claim the prestigious literary award — Thomas Keneally's Schindler's Ark, DBC Pierre's Vernon God Little, and Peter Carey's aforementioned True History of the Kelly Gang and Oscar and Lucinda are the others — Flanagan charts the path of Dorrigo Evans. Before the Second World War, he has a future in medicine calling. Afterwards, he carves out a career as a respected surgeon. The Narrow Road to the Deep North jumps between the two, as well as his ordeal while being held captive as a prisoner of war. Elordi plays the younger Dorrigo in the series' 40s-era sequences. Hinds steps into the character's shoes in its 80s-set segments. The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a character study, as well as an exploration of multiple sides of war. It delves into culture clashes, interrogates heroism and steadfastly stresses the importance of remembering horrors gone by so that they aren't repeated. It's as much a love story, and a portrait of a long-lasting marriage, though — and yet those two aren't quite one and the same. As a young man, Dorrigo's future is also tied to Ella (DeJonge), whose family have ties back to drafting the Australian constitution. Decades later (played by Mitchell), she remains by his side. But before shipping out, before his medical prowess is needed in Syria, before being transported like cattle through Thailand to the jungle and before the compulsory strenuous labour that will claim the life of some of his friends, Dorrigo spends a summer embarking upon a secret affair with Amy Mulvaney (Young), the wife of his uncle Keith (Baker). It's this romance that he thinks of as he endures war's cruelties, and that also stays with him long afterwards. Casting Elordi and Young as the youthful Dorrigo and Amy are the best choices that The Narrow Road to the Deep North's guiding forces could've made for the two roles. For both actors, it also brought them home. Since 2018's Swinging Safari marked Elordi's first film, he's largely been busy overseas, meaning that Australian projects have been rarities his your resume. With Young, since The Daughter and Looking for Grace each made a splash in 2015, the same has also proven true. On the path from there to The Narrow Road to the Deep North, the pair have amassed an array of credits: The Kissing Booth trilogy, The Mortuary Collection, Deep Water, The Sweet East, Saltburn and Priscilla among them for Elordi; Sweet Virginia, A Million Little Pieces, Shirley, The Stand, Mothering Sunday, The Staircase (with DeJonge), Manodrome and more for Young. They also each have Sam Levinson projects to their name; as the world knows, Elordi is one of Euphoria's stars, while Young led the film Assassination Nation. "There couldn't be a better opportunity to come home," Elordi tells Concrete Playground about The Narrow Road to the Deep North. In fact, he responded so strongly to Flanagan's novel when Kurzel sent it his way that he started advising his family that the book was the key to understanding him, a statement that "I kind of regret saying", he also notes now. The Macbeth and Assassin's Creed filmmaker's involvement was crucial for him, too, as "an enormous fan of his work for my whole conscious movie life". [caption id="attachment_1000037" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Graham Denholm/Getty Images for Prime Video[/caption] That's similarly the case for Young, who reteams with Kurzel for the second time in two years, after featuring alongside Jude Law (Skeleton Crew) and Nicholas Hoult (Nosferatu) in the director's excellent 2024 crime-thriller The Order. "I would do anything that he asked me to do. I would love to work with him for the rest of my life, because I believe that he makes me a better performer," she shares. In our chat with Elordi and Young, we also dug into why Elordi felt such a powerful connection to The Narrow Road to the Deep North, and how infrequent that reaction is for him; Kurzel's penchant for difficult stories; and how Elordi and Young built chemistry together, as characters that Flanagan has compared to stars exploding in galaxies in real time. Covered as well: Elordi and his co-stars' commitment to authenticity in the POW scenes, and the sense of responsibility to the real-life men who worked on the Burma Railway that came with it — and what the two make of their respective journeys from starting out at home to overseas success, then coming back for a series they're clearly both proud of. On Why The Narrow Road to the Deep North Was the Right Project to Bring Both Elordi and Young Home After Their International Successes Jacob: "For me, it was Justin Kurzel. I've been an enormous fan of his work for my whole conscious movie life. So it was just the opportunity to be able to work with him." Odessa: "Yeah, me too. Sorry to copy." Jacob: "No, no, no. But of course, then you double down when it's Richard Flanagan's text. It's just there couldn't be a better opportunity to come home and try to make some cinema." On Elordi's Strong Reaction to the Novel, So Much So That He Told Family Members That the Book Was the Key to Understanding Him Jacob: "I kind of regret saying that now, because if you read the book, like it doesn't remind me of myself at all." Odessa: "You've changed." Jacob: "I think there's so many parts, there so many bits of him that are so inherently Australian, that it reminded me so much of a lot of the men in my life and the people that I know, and things like that. But it is a rare thing — but I feel like those things always happen for a reason. The right thing does find you at the right time, and you read it at a moment in time when it speaks to you. And that's always such a great treat." On Young Working with Justin Kurzel on Two Projects in a Row, with The Narrow Road to the Deep North Following The Order Odessa: "I think sometimes you just meet directors who make you a better actor, and he's one of them. I feel like I got a really lovely introduction to him working on The Order, because for me it was a low-pressure environment. I kind of got to be a bit of the relief from the very, very difficult story. He likes difficult stories, does Justin. And it was lovely. We just got to know each other under really low-pressure circumstances. And I just really, really love the way he works. It feels very natural to me. I would do anything that he asked me to do. I would love to work with him for the rest of my life, because I believe that he makes me a better performer." On the Importance of the Series Being Many Things, Including a Love Story, a Character Study, a Look at Multiple Sides of War, an Interrogation of Heroism and a Reminder Not to Forget Past Horrors Jacob: "I think that's what makes for great cinema, is all of those human elements and the minutiae in those moments. I think all of them compounded, especially in a piece about memory — it is what cinema is about. It's a whole life compressed and contained and examined and looked at and explored. And I think having them all is what makes it such a complete piece." On Building the Type of Chemistry That Author Richard Flanagan Compared to Stars Exploding in Galaxies in Real Time Odessa: "I think we just both probably sensed in each other quite early on in the rehearsal process that we were both ready to just put it all there. And, I don't know, we were just going to take it seriously. We're going to give as much as we could. Sorry, I'm using like sports terminology. Leave it all on the field." Jacob: "Full credit to the other side." Odessa: "Yeah, everyone was a great player today. No, but I think we got very lucky. I think we have just a natural understanding and trust in each other. You never know if that's going to work out that way, but it did." Jacob: "Yeah." Odessa: "And I think that for me — I won't speak for you, but I do sense this in you — there's no point in doing it if you're not doing it fully." Jacob: "Yeah." Odessa: "And I think we're both that kind of actor." Jacob: "Which is really just — it's either casting from Justin or just some profound luck." On Committing to Authenticity in the Series' Prisoner-of-War Scenes, and the Sense of Responsibility to the Real-Life Men Who Went Through It That Comes with It Jacob: "It would probably be the most-important thing. We're talking about real men, and we're talking about Richard Flanagan, the writer's, father — and Shaun Grant's grandfather. These are real people and the history, it's still there. And the trauma of it lives on generationally. So it's not about entertainment. It's not about shooting guns and making some great spectacle. It's about telling the truth and immortalising something as best that you can." On What Elordi and Young Make of the Journeys That They've Each Taken Since Their Early Australian Breakthrough Roles Odessa: "It's hard to characterise it. I think it's actually helpful not to think about it, and not to try to maybe intellectualise — at least for me — why I've chosen the things that I have. I think so much of the course of a career happens on instinct, and some of it's also dumb luck. But I feel incredibly proud and incredibly lucky, and I guess I haven't done so bad if I'm here celebrating this." Jacob: "It's an immense amount of luck — and I would say probably shared with a deep love for movies. And if you love movies and you love cinema, it's not so deliberate but you seek out the things that hopefully move you and mean something to you in that moment." The Narrow Road to the Deep North will stream via Prime Video from Friday, April 18, 2025. Images: Prime Video.
Move over, cheese and wine — it's cheese and tea's time to shine. If you've ever wondered what to drink with your dairy when you don't feel like a vino, or it's the middle of the day, then this pairing has the answer. Still skeptical? Love tea and cheese separately, but aren't quite sure how they'll go together?When you sip one and then eat the other, the warmth from the tea make the cheese literally melt in your mouth — and The Steepery, cheese shop Emile and Solange and Shawty's Espresso are ready to show you how over five brews paired with five slices of dairy. A regular event, the Tea and Cheese Pairing Night is set to take place at Shawty's on June 5, June 27 and July 25, with tickets costing $60 plus booking fee. That's less than you'd pay for five cuppas and five pieces of cheese — and you'll get expert advice about your new food and beverage combo.
If you're one of the scores of Aussie teens who devoured smash-hit flick 10 Things I Hate About You when it first came out — and then about a million times on VHS since — prepare to feel positively elderly. This year, the 1999 movie celebrates its 21st anniversary. Yep, the modern day retelling of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew that had us all swooning over Heath Ledger is more than two decades old. And what better way to mark that occasion than a special drive-in screening of the timeless high school tale? Yatala's movies-on-wheels site is hosting a special throwback showing of 10 Things I Hate About You to its schedule for Valentine's Day, with the film gracing its big screen on Friday, February 14. Prepare to revisit all those late 90s feels as you catch those classic movie moments — from the cheer-worthy smashing of Joey Donner's car to that pre-formal pregnancy suit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVHxKeFZU1s You can pack your own food for the session — Ms Perky would definitely recommend bratwurst — but BYO booze obviously isn't allowed. Otherwise, you can make the most of Yatala's 50s-style diner. Tickets cost $35 per carload, which covers up to six people.
Neil Perry and Rockpool have been inextricably linked since 1989, but they won't be for much longer, with the famed restaurateur announcing his sudden retirement from the Rockpool Dining Group earlier this week. Perry has stepped down from his role as culinary director for the hospitality group, which began as Rockpool Est. 1989 in Sydney's CBD. While the inaugural Rockpool restaurant closed its doors after 30 years in 2016, it spawned Rockpool Bar & Grills in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, and grew into the Rockpool Dining Group, which currently has over 80 venues across the country under 16 different restaurant brands. The fast expansion of the group in recent years has been partially thanks to its merger with the Thomas Pash-led Urban Purveyor Group (UPG) in 2016. From 2017–2020, the group grew from 17 venues and $150 million in revenue to 85 and $400 million. Despite the group's success, Perry and Pash were set to part ways this year. Perry, with the help of financial backers, planned to reacquire the premium restaurants in the group's portfolio — Rockpool Bar & Grill, Rosetta, Spice Temple and R Bar, under the name Rockpool Group — while the remaining casual brands, including El Camino Cantina and The Bavarian, were maintained by UPG under the new name Pacific Concepts. [caption id="attachment_689482" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rockpool Bar & Grill in Sydney[/caption] That decision, however, was announced on March 2 — just weeks before the COVID-19 hit Australia, forcing the mass closure of restaurants across the country and crippling the hospitality industry. As a result, according to The Australian Financial Review, Perry's plan fell apart. While staying on as consultant and a major shareholder of the Rockpool Dining Group, Perry will no longer be an active part of the company, a statement on the chef's departure said. Instead, he'll be focusing on his charitable endeavours, including the recently launched Hope Delivery, which provides meals for those in need. "It will never be easy to move on from the restaurants I founded, and I do so with a heavy heart, but as the business and the sector set their sights on new beginnings, it is the right time for the next generation to have the opportunity afforded to me over 40 years ago," Perry said in a statement. For more information about Rockpool Dining Group and which restaurants have reopened, head to the group's website. Top image: Neil Perry and Tom Pash
The more time that anyone spends in the kitchen, the easier that whipping up their chosen dish gets. The Bear season two is that concept in TV form, even if the team at The Original Beef of Chicagoland don't always live it as they leap from running a beloved neighbourhood sandwich joint to opening a fine-diner, and fast. The hospitality crew that was first introduced in the best new show of 2022 isn't lacking in culinary skills or passion. But when chaos surrounds you constantly, as bubbled and boiled through The Bear's Golden Globe-winning, Emmy-nominated season-one frames, not everything always goes to plan. That was only accurate for Carmen 'Carmy' Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White, Shameless) and his colleagues on-screen, however; for viewers, the series' debut run was as perfect a piece of television as anyone can hope for. Excellent news: season two is better. Streaming via Disney+ Down Under from Wednesday, July 19 — arriving a month after it hit the US, making Australian and New Zealand audiences wait for a repeat reservation just like last year — The Bear season two serves up another sublime course of comedy, drama and "yes chef!"-exclaiming antics across its sizzling stretch. Actually make that ten more courses, one per episode, with each new instalment its own more-ish meal. A menu, a loan, desperately needed additional help, oh-so-much restaurant mayhem: that's how this second visit begins, as Carmy and sous chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson) endeavour to make their dreams for their own patch of Chicago's food scene come true. So far, so familiar, but The Bear isn't just plating up the same dishes this time around. At every moment, this new feast feels richer, deeper and more seasoned, including when it's as intense as ever, when it's filling the screen with tastebud-tempting food shots that relish culinary artistry, and also when it gets meditative. For Carmy, Syd, the former's sister Natalie aka Sugar (Abby Elliott, Indebted), and lifelong pal Richie aka Cousin (Ebon Moss-Bachrach, No Hard Feelings) — plus The Beef and now The Bear's baker-turned-pastry chef Marcus (Lionel Boyce, Hap and Leonard), veteran line cooks Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas, In Treatment) and Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson, Fargo), and resident Mr Fixit Neil Fak (IRL chef Matty Matheson) — it's all systems go from the instant that the show's second season starts. With his James Beard Award and experience at the world's top restaurants, Carmy has never been one to take things slowly or calmly. Relaunching the space that he inherited after his brother Mikey's (Jon Bernthal, We Own This City) death is no different, even after Carmy found $300,000 in cash sealed tins of tomatoes to close out season one. In cooking, money just buys ingredients and equipment. Here, while The Beef team has scored itself a hefty stash, those funds can't quite purchase enough. Swiftly, Carmy and Syd enlist Sugar as their project manager so that they can focus on conjuring up the new restaurant's customer-courting spread — and they're asking the Berzattos' uncle Cicero (Oliver Platt, Chicago Med), their main investor, for extra aid just as promptly. Creator Christopher Storer (Ramy, Dickinson and Bo Burnham: Make Happy), also the dramedy's frequent writer and director, brings the heat and the bedlam early. He tests and stresses his kitchen-obsessed characters in their favourite surroundings, where they spent the opening season just surviving. Season two pushes them towards thriving by growing and learning, though, complete with new insights into Carmy and company, plus new ways to drizzle out their hopes, wants, fears and hungers. The Bear's smorgasbord of havoc continues, then, but paired with savouring what quieter moments everyone can manage to stick on their forks. When Carmy runs into his old friend Claire (Shiva Baby and Booksmart's Molly Gordon), who is now a doctor, he finds something to enjoy beyond being a chef for the first time in far too long (certainly the first time in the show's narrative). Their relationship blossoms, taking the workaholic's focus away from his about-to-open restaurant. That causes struggles, too, but The Bear has always appreciated life's unexpected alchemies. When Carmy ditches plans to hop around town with Syd to glean culinary inspiration for the menu, for instance, she's initially peeved. Then her tasting tour of the Windy City, which is also a visual tour of some of its famous places and names for viewers, proves both revelatory and rewarding. The clock keeps ticking, with Cicero's extra cash speeding up the opening date. The deadline: 12 weeks. Whenever The Bear is at The Bear, the non-stop pressure-cooker energy blisters like grabbing a steel-handled saucepan off the stove with your bare hands. Season one was exceptional at thrusting its audience into the hustle and bustle of working in hospitality as if they were really there, warts, woes and all. Season two doesn't falter on that front. But when The Bear isn't at The Bear, it lets its usually frantic figures make themselves over, including by sending Marcus to a Noma-esque venue in Copenhagen under the tutelage of Luca (Will Poulter, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) and getting Richie to spend a week learning the upscale ropes at one of the city's best restaurants. This season's performances as a result: exquisite. Marcus' trip to Denmark spans an entire episode, the only chapter in the show's 18 across both seasons to-date that isn't directed by either Storer or executive producer Joanna Calo. Instead, Ramy Youssef steps in, invests the lived-in feel that's so much a part of his own impressive series, and revels in the eye-opening minutiae of being a visitor in a new place learning fresh skills. Storer is back at the helm of Richie's dedicated instalment, but it too benefits from broadening its horizons and getting out of its comfort zone. So does Cousin. In his typically abrasive way, he isn't happy about being sent away, taking it as punishment. In one of The Bear's finest exchanges yet, however, he has his entire perception altered in a touching conversation that adds Oscar-winner Olivia Colman (Secret Invasion) to the season's guest stars. Well-known names must've been lining up to join The Bear: fellow Academy Award-recipient Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween Ends) also features, likely nabbing herself a 2024 Best Guest Actress Emmy, alongside Bob Odenkirk (Lucky Hank), Sarah Paulson (Ratched) and John Mulaney (Bupkis). That smattering of talent appears in a double-lengthy episode that jumps back to the past, demonstrates how chaos would've been in Carmy's blood regardless of if he became a chef — including when food is involved — and is as nerve-shredding and brilliantly acted as the series gets. You can't just taste the same bites over and over again, season two's detours advise. You're chomping into history whenever you sink your teeth into anything, this particular episode also conveys. The Bear burns brighter thanks to both trains of thought and, even with season one stetting such a high bar, couldn't be more appetising and satisfying. Long may it keep spending time in streaming's kitchen, bettering something that's already proven perfect. Check out the trailer for The Bear season two below: The Bear season two streams via Disney+ Down Under from Wednesday, July 19. Read our full review of season one. Images: Chuck Hodes/FX.
Once you see the wallpaper in Decision to Leave, it's impossible to forget it. That patterned surface, nodding to both the mountains and the sea, isn't why Park Chan-wook's film is the best of 2022 — except that it is in a way. The level of detail shown, how perfectly it encapsulates and expresses almost everything about the immaculate and evocative thriller, the stunning shots that rove over it: this is masterful, powerful, sensual and sensational cinema. This is filmmaking at its greatest, too. As every year does — sans worldwide shutdowns and lockdowns, of course — 2022 saw hundreds of movies make their way to cinemas Down Under. Some were downright terrible. Oh-so-many were average. But more than a few were truly exceptional, like Decision to Leave. This year's cream of the cinematic crop spanned everything from spectacular music documentaries through to multiverse madness, and included volcano love stories and a cannibalistic Timothée Chalamet as well. Formidable talents doing what they do best, beloved veterans getting astonishing showcase roles, the best action-musical of this and many other years, not one but two ace Colin Farrell flicks: they're all included as well. Here's our overview of the year's silver-screen wonders — aka 2022's 15 best movies. DECISION TO LEAVE When it's claimed that Decision to Leave's Detective Hae-joon (Park Hae-il, Heaven: To the Land of Happiness) needs "murder and violence in order to be happy", it's easy to wonder if that statement similarly applies to Park Chan-wook, this stunning South Korean thriller's filmmaker. The director of Oldboy, Thirst, Stoker and The Handmaiden doesn't, surely. Still, his exceptional body of on-screen work glows when either fills its frames — which, in a career that also spans Joint Security Area, Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Lady Vengeance and English-language TV miniseries The Little Drummer Girl, among other titles, is often. To be more accurate, perhaps Park needs to survey the grey areas that loiter around death and brutality, and surround love, lust, loss, and all matters of the brain, body and heart that bind humans together, to find cinematic fulfilment. Certainly, audiences should be glad if/that he does. In Decision to Leave, exploring such obsessions, and the entire notions of longing and obsession, brings a staggering, sinuously layered and seductively gorgeous movie to fruition — a film to obsess over if ever there was one. In this year's deserved Cannes Film Festival Best Director-winner, reserved insomniac Hae-joon is fixated from the outset, too: with his police job in Busan, where he works Monday–Friday before returning to Ipo on weekends to his wife (Lee Jung-hyun, Peninsula). That all-consuming focus sees his weekday walls plastered with grim photos from cases, and haunts the time he's meant to be spending — and having sex — with said spouse. Nonetheless, the latest dead body thrust his way isn't supposed to amplify his obsession. A businessman and experienced climber is found at the base of a mountain, and to most other cops the answer would be simple. It is to his offsider Soo-wan (Go Kyung-Pyo, Private Lives), but Hae-joon's interest is piqued when the deceased's enigmatic Chinese widow, the cool, calm but also bruised and scratched Seo-rae (Tang Wei, The Whistleblower), is brought in for questioning amid apologising for her imperfect Korean-language skills. Read our full review. MOONAGE DAYDREAM Ground control to major masterpiece: Moonage Daydream, Brett Morgen's kaleidoscopic collage-style documentary about the one and only David Bowie, really makes the grade. Its protein pills? A dazzling dream of archival materials, each piece as essential and energising as the next, woven into an electrifying experience that eclipses the standard music doco format. Its helmet? The soothing-yet-mischievous tones of Ziggy Stardust/Aladdin Sane/The Thin White Duke/Jareth the Goblin King himself, the only protective presence a film about Bowie could and should ever need and want. The songs that bop through viewers heads? An immense playlist covering the obvious — early hit 'Space Oddity', the hooky glam-rock titular track, Berlin-penned anthem 'Heroes', the seductive 80s sounds of 'Let's Dance' and the Pet Shop Boys-remixed 90s industrial gem 'Hallo Spaceboy', to name a few — as well as deeper cuts. The end result? Floating through a cinematic reverie in a most spectacular way. When Bowie came to fame in the 60s, then kept reinventing himself from the 70s until his gone-too-soon death in 2016, the stars did look very different — he did, constantly. How do you capture that persistent shapeshifting, gender-bending, personal and creative experimentation, and all-round boundary-pushing in a single feature? How do you distill a chameleonic icon and musical pioneer into any one piece of art, even a movie that cherishes each of its 135 minutes? In the first film officially sanctioned by Bowie's family and estate, Morgen knows what everyone that's fallen under the legend's spell knows: that the man born David Jones, who would've been 75 when this doco hit screens if he was still alive, can, must and always has spoken for himself. The task, then, is the same as the director had with the also-excellent Cobain: Montage of Heck and Jane Goodall-focused Jane: getting to the essence of his subject and conveying what made him such a wonder by using the figure himself as a template. Read our full review. THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN In The Banshees of Inisherin, the rolling hills and clifftop fields look like they could stretch on forever, even on a fictional small island perched off the Irish mainland. For years, conversation between Padraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell, After Yang) and Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson, The Tragedy of Macbeth) has been similarly sprawling — and leisurely, too — especially during the pair's daily sojourn to the village pub for chats over pints. But when the latter calls time on their camaraderie suddenly, his demeanour turns brusque and his explanation, only given after much pestering, is curt. Uttered beneath a stern, no-nonsense stare by Gleeson to his In Bruges co-star Farrell, both reuniting with that darkly comic gem's writer/director Martin McDonagh for another black, contemplative and cracking comedy, Colm is as blunt as can be: "I just don't like you no more." In the elder character's defence, he wanted to ghost his pal without hurtful words. Making an Irish exit from a lifelong friendship is a wee bit difficult on a tiny isle, though, as Colm quickly realises. It's even trickier when the mate he's trying to put behind him is understandably upset and confused, there's been no signs of feud or fray beforehand, and anything beyond the norm echoes through the town faster than a folk ballad. So springs McDonagh's smallest-scale and tightest feature since initially leaping from the stage to the screen, and a wonderful companion piece to that first effort. Following the hitman-focused In Bruges, he's gone broader with Seven Psychopaths, then guided Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell to Oscars with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, but he's at his best when his lens is trained at Farrell and Gleeson as they bicker in close confines. Read our full review. DRIVE MY CAR Inspired by Haruki Murakami's short story of the same name, Drive My Car's setup couldn't be simpler. Still recovering from a personal tragedy, actor and director Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima, Silent Tokyo) agrees to helm a stage version of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima — but the company behind it insists on giving him a chauffeur for the duration of his stay. He declines, yet they contend that it's mandatory for insurance and liability reasons, so Misaki (Toko Miura, Spaghetti Code Love) becomes a regular part of his working stint in the city. Friendship springs, slowly and gradually, but Murakami's name is one of the first signs that this won't follow a standard road. The other: Japanese filmmaker Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, who makes layered, thoughtful and probing reflections upon connection, as seen in his other efforts Happy Hour, Asako I & II and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy. Drive My Car doesn't hurry to its narrative destination, clocking in at a minute shy of three hours, but it's a patient, engrossing and rewarding trip. It's a gorgeously shot and affectingly performed one, too, whether taking to the road, spending time with its central pair, or chronicling Yusuke's involving auditions and rehearsals. Another thing that Hamaguchi does disarmingly well: ponder possibilities and acceptance, two notions that echo through both Yusuke and Misaki's tales, and resonate with that always-winning combination of specificity and universality. Drive My Car is intimate and detailed about every element of its on-screen voyage and its character studies, and also a road map to soulful, relatable truths. Read our full review. PETITE MAMAN Forget the "find someone who looks at you like…" meme. That's great advice in general, but it's mandatory if you've ever seen a film by Céline Sciamma. No one peers at on-screen characters with as much affection, attention, emotion and empathy as the French director, with her talent for truly seeing into hearts and minds shining again in Petite Maman. In Sciamma's latest delicate and exquisite masterpiece after Tomboy, Girlhood and Portrait of a Lady on Fire, she follows eight-year-old Nelly (debutant Joséphine Sanz) on a trip to her mother's (Nina Meurisse, Camille) childhood home. Nelly's grandmother (Margot Abascal, The Sower) has just died, and the house needs packing up. While her parents work, the curious child roves around the surrounding woods — and discovers Marion (fellow newcomer Gabrielle Sanz), who could be her twin. Sciamma is exceptionally talented at many things, creating richly detailed and intimately textured cinematic worlds high among them. She doesn't build franchises or big fantasy realms, but surveys faces, spaces, thoughts and feelings — exploring them like the entire universes they are. That approach pulsates through every frame of Petite Maman like a heartbeat. The film itself resembles a gentle but soul-replenishing breeze in its rustic look and serene pacing, but it thrums with emotion and insight at every moment. It's a modern-day fairy tale, too, complete with a glorious twist, with this radiant, moving, smart and perceptive movie musing deeply on mothers, daughters and the ties that bind. Read our full review. EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Imagine living in a universe where Michelle Yeoh isn't the wuxia superstar she is. No, no one should want to dwell in that reality. Now, envisage a world where everyone has hot dogs for fingers, including the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon icon. Next, picture another where Ratatouille is real, but with raccoons. Then, conjure up a sparse realm where life only exists in sentient rocks. An alternative to this onslaught of pondering: watching Everything Everywhere All At Once, which throws all of the above at the screen and a helluva lot more. Yes, its title is marvellously appropriate. Written and directed by the Daniels, aka Swiss Army Man's Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, this multiverse-hopping wonder is a funhouse of a film that just keeps spinning through wild and wacky ideas. Instead of asking "what if Daniel Radcliffe was a farting corpse that could be used as a jet ski?" as their also-surreal debut flick did, the pair now muses on Yeoh, her place in the universe, and everyone else's along with her. Although Yeoh doesn't play herself in Everything Everywhere All At Once, she is seen as herself; keep an eye out for red-carpet footage from her Crazy Rich Asians days. Such glitz and glamour isn't the norm for middle-aged Chinese American woman Evelyn Wang, her laundromat-owning character in the movie's main timeline, but it might've been if life had turned out differently. That's such a familiar train of thought — a resigned sigh we've all emitted, even if only when alone — and the Daniels use it as their foundation. Their film starts with Evelyn, her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's Short Round and The Goonies' Data) and a hectic time. Evelyn's dad (James Hong, Turning Red) is visiting from China, the Wangs' daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) brings her girlfriend Becky (Tallie Medel, The Carnivores) home, and IRS inspector Deirdre Beaubeirdra (Jamie Lee Curtis, Halloween Ends) is conducting a punishing audit. Then Evelyn learns she's the only one who can save, well, everything, everywhere and everyone. Read our full review. NOPE Kudos to Jordan Peele for giving his third feature as a writer/director a haters-gonna-hate-hate-hate name: for anyone unimpressed with Nope, the response is right there. Kudos, too, to the Get Out and Us filmmaker for making his third bold, intelligent and supremely entertaining horror movie in a row — a reach-for-the-skies masterpiece that's ambitious and eerie, imaginative and expertly crafted, as savvy about cinema as it is about spectacle, and inspires the exact opposite term to its moniker. Reteaming with Peele after nabbing an Oscar nomination for Get Out, Daniel Kaluuya utters the titular word more than once in Nope. Exclaiming "yep" in your head each time he does is an instant reaction. Everything about the film evokes that same thrilled endorsement, but it comes particularly easily whenever Kaluuya's character surveys the wild and weird events around him. We say yay to his nays because we know we'd respond the same way if confronted by even half the chaos that Peele whooshes through the movie. As played with near-silent weariness by the always-excellent Judas and the Black Messiah Oscar-winner, Haywood's Hollywood Horses trainer OJ doesn't just dismiss the strange thing in the heavens, though. He can't, even if he doesn't realise the full extent of what's happening when his father (Keith David, Love Life) suddenly slumps on his steed on an otherwise ordinary day. Six months later, OJ and his sister Emerald (Keke Palmer, Lightyear) are trying to keep the family business, which dates back to the 1800s, running. The presence lurking above the Haywoods' Agua Dulce property soon requires just as much attention, though. Just as Get Out saw Peele reinterrogate the possession movie and Us did the same with doppelgängers, Nope goes all in on flying saucers. So, Emerald wants the kind of proof that only video footage can offer. She wants her "Oprah shot", as well as a hefty payday. Soon, the brother-sister duo are buying new surveillance equipment — which piques the interest of UFO-obsessed electronics salesman Angel Torres (Brandon Perea, The OA) — and also enlisting renowned cinematographer Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott, Veni Vidi Vici) to capture the lucrative image. Read our full review. BONES AND ALL To be a character in a Luca Guadagnino film is to be ravenous. The Italian director does have a self-described Desire trilogy — I Am Love, A Bigger Splash and Call Me By Your Name — on his resume, after all. In those movies and more, he spins sensual stories about hungry hearts, minds and eyes, all while feeding his audience's very same body parts. He tells tales of protagonists bubbling with lust and yearning, craving love and acceptance, and trying to devour this fleeting thing called life while they're living it. Guadagnino hones in on the willingness to surrender to that rumbling and pining, whether pursuing a swooning, sweeping, summery romance in the first feature that put Timothée Chalamet in front of his camera, or losing oneself to twitchy, witchy dance in his Suspiria remake. Never before has he taken having an insatiable appetite to its most literal and unnerving extreme, however, but aching cannibal love story Bones and All is pure Guadagnino. Peaches filled with longing's sticky remnants are so 2017 for Guadagnino, and for now-Little Women, Don't Look Up and Dune star Chalamet. Biting into voracious romances will never get old, though. Five years after Call Me By Your Name earned them both Oscar nominations — the filmmaker for Best Picture, his lead for Best Actor — they reteam for a movie that traverses the American midwest rather than northern Italy, swaps erotic fruit for human flesh and comes loaded with an eerie undercurrent, but also dwells in similar territory. It's still the 80s, and both hope and melancholy still drift in the air. The phenomenal Taylor Russell (Lost in Space) drives the feature as Maren, an 18-year-old with an urge to snack on people that makes her an unpopular slumber-party guest. When she meets Chalamet's Lee, a fellow 'eater', Bones and All becomes another sublime exploration of love's all-consuming feelings — and every bit as exquisite as Guadagnino and Chalamet's last stunning collaboration. Read our full review. RED ROCKET It might sound crazy, but it ain't no lie: Red Rocket's *NSYNC needle drops, the cost of which likely almost eclipsed the rest of the film's budget, provide a sensational mix of movie music moments in an all-round sensational picture. A portrait of an ex-porn star's knotty homecoming to the oil-and-gas hub that is Texas City, the feature only actually includes one song by the Justin Timberlake-fronted late-90s/early-00s boyband, but it makes the most of it. That tune is 'Bye Bye Bye', and it's a doozy. With its instantly recognisable blend of synth and violins, it first kicks in as the film itself does, and as the bruised face of Mikey Saber (Simon Rex, Scary Movie 3, 4 and 5) peers out of a bus window en route from Los Angeles. Its lyrics — "I'm doing this tonight, you're probably gonna start a fight, I know this can't be right" — couldn't fit the situation better. The infectiously catchy vibe couldn't be more perfect as well, and nor could the contrast that all those upbeat sounds have always had with the track's words. As he demonstrates with every film, Red Rocket writer/director/editor Sean Baker is one of the best and shrewdest filmmakers working today — one of the most perceptive helmers taking slice-of-life looks at American existence on the margins, too. His latest movie joins Starlet, Tangerine and The Florida Project on a resume that just keeps impressing, but there's an edge here born of open recognition that Mikey is no one's hero. He's a narcissist, sociopath and self-aggrandiser who knows how to talk his way into anything, claim success from anyone else's wins and blame the world for all his own woes. He's someone that everyone in his orbit can't take no more and wants to see out that door, as if *NSYNC's now-22-year-old lyrics were specifically penned about him. He's also a charismatic charmer who draws people in like a whirlwind. He's the beat and the words of 'Bye Bye Bye' come to life, in fact, even if the song wasn't originally in Red Rocket's script. Read our full review. AFTER YANG What flickers in a robot's circuitry in its idle moments has fascinated the world for decades, famously so in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049. In writer/director/editor Kogonada's (TV series Pachinko) After Yang, one machine appears to long for everything humans do. The titular Yang (Justin H Min, The Umbrella Academy) was bought to give Kyra (Jodie Turner-Smith, Queen & Slim) and Jake's (Colin Farrell, The Batman) adopted Chinese daughter Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, iCarly) a technosapien brother, babysitter, companion and purveyor of "fun facts" about her heritage. He dotes amid his duties, perennially calm and loving, and clearly an essential part of the family. What concerns his wiring beyond his assigned tasks doesn't interest anyone, though, until he stops operating. Mika is distressed, and Kyra and Jake are merely inconvenienced initially, but the latter pledges to figure out how to fix Yang — which is where his desires factor in. When a feature so easily recalls other films and television shows, and so emphatically — Ex Machina and Black Mirror also come to mind here — it isn't typically a positive sign. That isn't the case with After Yang. Adapting Alexander Weinstein's short story Saying Goodbye to Yang, Kogonada crafts a movie that resembles a dream for the overwhelming bulk of its running time — it's softly shot like one, and tightly to focus on interiors rather than backgrounds — and that makes it feel like a happily slumbering brain filtering through and reinterpreting its wide array of influences. Another picture that leaves an imprint: Kogonada's own Columbus, his 2017 wonder that also featured Haley Lu Richardson (The White Lotus), who pops up here as a friend of Yang's that Jake, Kyra and Mika know nothing about. It isn't the shared casting that lingers, but the look and mood and texture, plus the idea that what we see, what we choose to revel in aesthetically and what makes us tick mentally are intertwined; yes, even for androids. Read our full review. HAPPENING It's hard to pick which is more horrifying in Happening: the graphic scenes where 23-year-old literature student Anne Duchesne (Anamaria Vartolomei, How to Be a Good Wife) takes the only steps she can to try to regain control of her life, or the times she's repeatedly told by others, typically men, to accept a fate that only ever awaits her gender. Both hit like a punch, by design. Both are wrenching, heart and gut alike, and neither are surprising for a second. Also leaving a mark: that few care that Anne's future is now threatened in this 2021 Venice Film Festival Golden Lion-winner, because that's simply a consequence of having sex for women in France in 1963, the movie's setting. There's another truth that lingers over this adaptation of author Annie Ernaux's 2001 memoir of the same name, which uses her own experiences at the same age, time and in the same situation: that in parts of the world where pro-life perspectives are entrenched in law or regaining prominence, Happening's scenario isn't a relic of the past. Late in the movie, Anne describes her circumstances as "that illness that turns French women into housewives". It's a blunt turn of phrase, but it's accurate. It also speaks to how writer/director Audrey Diwan (Losing It) and co-scribe Marcia Romano (Bye Bye Morons) approach the film with the clearest of eyes, declining to indulge the idea that forcing unwanted motherhood upon young women is a gift or simply a duty, and likewise refusing to flinch from showing the reality when the personal freedom to choose is stripped away. This is a feature made with the fullest of hearts, too, compassion evident in every boxed-in Academy ratio frame that rarely leaves Anne's face. It spies the appalling options before her, and sees the society that's okay with stealing her choices. And, it stares deeply at both the pain and determination that've understandably taken up residence in Anne's gaze. Read our full review. THE STRANGER No emotion or sensation ripples through two or more people in the exact same way, and never will. The Stranger has much to convey, but it expresses that truth with piercing precision. The crime-thriller is the sophomore feature from actor-turned-filmmaker Thomas M Wright — following 2018's stunning Adam Cullen biopic Acute Misfortune, another movie that shook everyone who watched it and proved hard to shake — and it's as deep, disquieting and resonant a dance with intensity as its genre can deliver. To look into Joel Edgerton's (Thirteen Lives) eyes as Mark, an undercover cop with a traumatic but pivotal assignment, is to spy torment and duty colliding. To peer at Sean Harris (Spencer) as the slippery Henry Teague is to see a cold, chilling and complex brand of shiftiness. Sitting behind these two performances in screentime but not impact is Jada Alberts' (Mystery Road) efforts as dedicated, determined and drained detective Kate Rylett — and it may be the portrayal that sums up The Stranger best. Writing as well as directing, Wright has made a film that is indeed dedicated, determined and draining. At every moment, including in sweeping yet shadowy imagery and an on-edge score, those feelings radiate from the screen as they do from Alberts. Sharing the latter's emotional exhaustion comes with the territory; sharing their sense of purpose does as well. In the quest to capture a man who abducted and murdered a child, Rylett can't escape the case's horrors — and, although the specific details aren't used, there's been no evading the reality driving this feature. The Stranger doesn't depict the crime that sparked Kate Kyriacou's non-fiction book The Sting: The Undercover Operation That Caught Daniel Morcombe's Killer, or any violence. It doesn't use the Queensland schoolboy's name, or have actors portray him or his family. This was always going to be an inherently discomforting and distressing movie, though, but it's also an unwaveringly intelligent and impressive examination of trauma. Read our full review. CRIMES OF THE FUTURE It takes a brave filmmaker to see cancer and climate change, and think of art, evolution and eroticism in a possible future. It takes a bold director to have a character proclaim that "surgery is the new sex", too. David Cronenberg has always been that kind of visionary, even before doing all of the above in his sublime latest release — and having the Scanners, Videodrome and The Fly helmer back on his body-horror bent for the first time in more than two decades is exactly the wild and weird dream that cinephiles want it to be. The Canadian auteur makes his first movie at all since 2014's Maps to the Stars, in fact, and this tale of pleasure and pain is as Cronenbergian as anything can be. He borrows Crimes of the Future's title from his second-ever feature dating back 50-plus years, brings all of his corporeal fascinations to the fore, and moulds a viscerally and cerebrally mesmerising film that it feels like he's always been working towards. Long live the new flesh, again. Long live the old Cronenberg as well. In this portrait of a potential time to come, the human body has undergone two significant changes. Three, perhaps, as glimpsed in a disquieting opening where an eight-year-old called Brecken (debutant Sotiris Siozos) snacks on a plastic bin, and is then murdered by his mother Djuna (Lihi Kornowski, Ballistic). That incident isn't unimportant, but Crimes of the Future has other departures from today's status quo to carve into — and they're equally absorbing. Physical agony has disappeared, creating a trade in "desktop surgery" as performance art. Also, a condition dubbed Accelerated Evolution Syndrome causes some folks, such as artist Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen, Thirteen Lives), to grow abnormal organs. These tumours are removed and tattooed in avant-garde shows by his doctor/lover Caprice (Léa Seydoux, No Time to Die), then catalogued by the National Organ Register's Wippit (Don McKellar, reteaming with Cronenberg after eXistenZ) and Timlin (Kristen Stewart, Spencer). Read our full review. FIRE OF LOVE What a delight it would be to trawl through Katia and Maurice Krafft's archives, sift through every video that features the French volcanologists and their work, and witness them doing their highly risky jobs against spectacular surroundings. That's the task that filmmaker Sara Dosa (The Seer and the Unseen) took up to make this superb documentary about the couple's lives — although, as magnificent as this incredibly thoughtful, informative and moving film is, it makes you wonder what a sci-fi flick made from the same footage would look like. There's a particular sequence that cements that idea, set to the also-otherworldly sounds of Air, and featuring the Kraffts walking around against red lava in their futuristic-looking protective silver suits. The entire enchanting score springs from Air's Nicolas Godin, and it couldn't better set the mood; that said, these visuals and this story would prove entrancing if nary a sound was heard, let alone a note or a word. For newcomers to the Kraffts, their lives make quite the tale — one of two volcano-obsessed souls who instantly felt like they were destined to meet, then dedicated their days afterwards to understanding the natural geological formations. More than that, they were passionate about analysing what they dubbed 'grey volcanos', which produce masses of ash when they erupt, and often a body count. Attempting to educate towns and cities in the vicinity of volcanoes, so that they could react appropriately and in a timely way to avoid casualties, became a key part of their mission. This isn't the only doco about them — in fact, German director Werner Herzog has made his own, called The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft — but Fire of Love is a gorgeous, sensitive, fascinating and affecting ode to two remarkable people, their love, their passion and their impact. It also benefits from pitch-perfect narration, too, courtesy of actor and Kajillionaire filmmaker Miranda July. Read our full review. RRR The letters in RRR's title are short for Rise Roar Revolt. They could also stand for riveting, rollicking and relentless. They link in with the Indian action movie's three main forces, too — writer/director SS Rajamouli (Baahubali: The Beginning), plus stars NT Rama Rao Jr (Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava) and Ram Charan (Vinaya Vidheya Rama) — and could describe the sound of some of its standout moments. What noise echoes when a motorcycle is used in a bridge-jumping rescue plot, as aided by a horse and the Indian flag, amid a crashing train? Or when a truck full of wild animals is driven into a decadent British colonialist shindig and its caged menagerie unleashed? What racket resounds when a motorbike figures again, this time tossed around by hand (yes, really) to knock out those imperialists, and then an arrow is kicked through a tree into someone's head? Or, when the movie's two leads fight, shoot, leap over walls and get acrobatic, all while one is sat on the other's shoulders? RRR isn't subtle. Instead, it's big, bright, boisterous, boldly energetic, and brazenly unapologetic about how OTT and hyperactive it is. The 187-minute Tollywood action epic — complete with huge musical numbers, of course — is also a vastly captivating pleasure to watch. Narrative-wise, it follows the impact of the British Raj (aka England's rule over the subcontinent between 1858–1947), especially upon two men. In the 1920s, Bheem (Jr NTR, as Rao is known) is determined to rescue young fellow villager Malli (first-timer Twinkle Sharma), after she's forcibly taken by Governor Scott Buxton (Ray Stevenson, Vikings) and his wife Catherine (Alison Doody, Beaver Falls) for no reason but they're powerful and they can. Officer Raju (Charan) is tasked by the crown with making sure Bheem doesn't succeed in rescuing the girl, and also keeping India's population in their place because their oppressors couldn't be more prejudiced. Read our full review. Looking for more 2022 highlights? We've picked plenty. Check out our thoughts about 15 exceptional films that hardly anyone saw in cinemas in 2022, add 30 other 2022 big-screen highlights to your catch-up list and see which 15 straight-to-streaming movies were this year's best. From 2022's TV offerings, we've also thrown some love towards the 15 best returning TV series of the year, 2022's 15 best new shows and 15 other excellent TV newcomers from the past 12 months that you might've missed.
We all joke about pulling a 'don't you know who I am' card on a joint, but when Big Time rockers pull it on a tiny, tiny Seattle cafe there's some dramatic head-shaking to attend to. After finishing a gig this weekend in Seattle, Rage Against the Machine's guitarist Tom Morello attempted to skip the queue at Seattle's 5 Point Cafe — to no avail. According to Grub Street, 5 Point was at capacity when the Rage legend waltzed up to the front of the line and demanded entrance, after the cafe team "who's told bigger rock stars than him no," gave him the ol' hell no. Like any self-respecting, hospitality-burned celeb, Morello decided to get on his 4am Twitter soapbox. Having long supported worker's rights and wage raises, Morello thought now was the perfect, out-of-context time to drop this rant: Five Point restaurant in Seattle is the WORST. Super rude & anti-worker. Shittiest doorman in the Northwest. Prick. Spread the word. — Tom Morello (@tmorello) September 27, 2014 After his early-morning "so, ner" went rampaging online for a spell, restaurant owner David Meinert didn't let the guitarist have the last say, taking to Facebook with a response to the "tweet from our pal": "For the record Tom Morello — The 5 Point is totally pro-worker. We try to pay more than any other small restaurant, and on top of the higher pay, we offer health insurance, paid sick days, paid time off, retirement and profit share. Sorry if you had an issue with our staff, but typically our staff is awesome, and when they are not, it's usually a reflection of the customer. Act like a prick = get treated like a prick. "I have to say, your attacking a small business without knowing anything about it, or addressing your problem with them directly before you go on a public rant, pretty much sucks. Just lost a ton of respect for you, and I've been a fan for years, both of your work in Rage and your work for workers rights since. "PS — rock stars don't get special treatment at The 5 Point. We couldn't give less of a shit. Sorry. "And PSS — I'm the owner of the 5 Point and have worked to raise the minimum wage in Seattle and support the same nationally, worked to get paid sick days law in Seattle, and am supporting a City sponsored retirement plan for employees of small businesses. I hope you do the same for your employees on the road..." "PSSS — turns out he and his crew didn't get let in as the place was at capacity and there was a line. No one was being let in. According to our doorman who I totally trust, Tom and his crew were all totally rude. Quote from the door guys "I knew who he was, we had no room, his whole party was being rude. He wanted a special room in the back. Clearly had no ideas what it is like inside. I've told bigger rock stars than him no." Since his kneejerk reaction, Morello had time to come up with some kind of 'forgiveness' — with conditions. Willing to forgive the Seattle Evil (Egg) Empire 5 Points Cafe doorman powertrip if good guy owner D Meinert fully embraces #15Now min wage — Tom Morello (@tmorello) September 29, 2014 Meinert has somewhat relented and offered this on Facebook an hour ago: "Hey all, about this Tom Morello thing... I think Tom was in the wrong, and his tweet was offensive and pissed us off, BUT, Tom stands up for workers and uses his fame for some very good causes, almost always for those most in need. Yes he's very rich, yes he was on a big corporate record label. But every other interaction I've had with him has been cool. I would far rather people be enraged about the issues Tom is trying to bring up than wish Tom ill. So if you want to get pissed, be pissed that companies like iHop or Darden are spending millions to fight raising the minimum wage, and are supporting politicians who want to oppress women, minorities and workers, in order to get higher corporate profits. If everyone spent as much time posting about these issues as they have about Tom, we'd all be better off." Pancake Gate update: Luv&respect the workers.Glad to sit down w/owner next time in Sea, happy about his commitment to pay raise for workers — Tom Morello (@tmorello) September 30, 2014 So Morello's put his manners back in and Meinert's smoothed things over. And we can absolutely get behind Morello's famously Damn The Man activism, any day of the week. Perhaps next time ranting about workers' rights and equality is best done when you're not rock-starring your way past a queue? Via Grub Street and Stereogum.
Turning trash into treasure is the aim of the game here, and there’s certainly ample bounty to reward the curious. The gift shop located within Woolloongabba’s Reverse Garbage Queensland headquarters stocks items made from salvaged odds and ends, everything transformed from their original state into beautifully crafted objects of all shapes and sizes. Lego rings, watch part earrings, and other types of trinkets line the store, celebrating timber, scrap metal, textiles and more taking on new forms and meanings, and illustrating the possibilities for the reuse of otherwise wasted and discarded materials. Embrace the unwanted this festive season – someone else’s garbage could be your perfect gift. Image: Yan Chen
It seems like we've been talking about the live action remake of Ghost in the Shell for a really long time. Now that it's finally here, we're not going to waste time weighing up the quality of the source material. It's proven itself in the manga iteration, as well as the cult anime film that followed. Instead, the question is this: does the remake add anything to the discourse? And as such, should you bother paying to see it or should you give it a miss? Ghost in the Shell, in case you're not familiar, is based on a 1989 manga by Masamune Shirow. Protagonist Major Mira Killian (played here by Scarlett Johansson) is a member of Section 9, a unit of elite officers tasked with fighting cyber criminals. Major has a human brain and consciousness (a 'ghost') inside a fully cybernetic body. Her previous life is a mystery, even to herself. But when a delinquent hacker known only as Kuze (Michael Pitt) starts to infiltrate the network to which all humans are connected, a series of events are set in motion that lead Major on a classic origin chase, punctuated with shadowy memories ('glitches') from her past. Let's start with the good: the visuals in this new version of Shirow's story are stunning. Director Rupert Sanders has crafted a really good looking film, with many rich scenes and compositions. It's literally a smorgasbord of sci-fi aesthetics. But, like the model children of celebrities, it was always going to look great, because the source material is spectacular. Many of the film's most memorable images are taken almost shot for shot from the original. It's great to look at, sure, but no points for originality here. Moreover, this Americanised take on Ghost in the Shell feels decidedly more commercial (read: dumber) than its Japanese counterpart. Many of the same philosophical ideas are present, but you can't help but feel as though they're being fed to you with a spoon. Likewise, the mood here is less melancholy, less isolating. The eerie, disconcerting quality of the anime has been diluted, and the film feels weaker for it. The filmmakers have woven in extra content from the manga, shed a few of the more ambiguous scenes to resolve the narrative, and maximised Johansson's screen time. On the plus side, the score absolutely holds up, with composer Clint Mansell building on what came before while also bringing something fresh to the table. Finally, let's get to the big white elephant in the room: why was Scarlett Johansson, a Caucasian woman, cast in a role that many have said should have gone to an Asian or Asian-American actor? Sadly, whitewashing is a very real problem in the film industry, where cultural whiteness (and often white actors) is inserted into films where it simply doesn't belong. Did Scarjo bring something that a Japanese actor couldn't? Quite simply, the answer is no. Still, the sad truth is that all the controversy and talk of whitewashing in the lead up to the film may well be the most interesting about it. It may look pretty, but look any deeper and Ghost in the Shell is a bit of a fizzer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4VmJcZR0Yg
Wanting a little romantic indulgence? Make a bee-line straight for Onsen Hot Pools where there aren't even the words to describe how heavenly it is. Located just ten minutes from Queenstown, perched on the cliffs within a stunning mountain range, this onsen gives you a chance to soak in the breathtaking scenery while you soak in warm 38-degree waters. As you recline in the cedar pool with your choice of tipple, the retractable roof will open up to reveal cascading views across the Shotover River by day or the mesmerising star-filled sky by night. It's the epitome of relaxation. Each pool room can accommodate up to four adults, so you can share with family and friends or keep it strictly 'lovers only', just you and bae. For extra indulgence, book in for an onsite massage. We suggest the 120-minute experience which includes a massage and facial followed by herbal teas and raw-pressed refreshments in the lounge. Go on, you deserve it.
Cinemas may be closed around the world at present but, thanks to the proliferation of streaming platforms over the past few years, film buffs can still get their movie fix from the comfort of their own couches. If you're a fan of going to your local picture palace for more than just the flicks, though, you might be currently missing some of the other elements that come with heading out to see a movie — enjoying the communal viewing experience, attending premieres and listening to Q&A sessions afterwards, for example. Enter FanForce TV, the new streaming offshoot of theatrical distributor FanForce, which usually organises screenings of new films as driven by community demand. If you're part of a local group looking to screen a particular movie to support a specific cause, it also helps you host your own sessions. Like plenty of other businesses, FanForce has been forced to adapt to the current COVID-19 situation — so it's now shifting its setup online. Just launched — and available not just Down Under, but globally — FanForce TV lets you rent movies you'd like to watch on a pay-per-view basis. So far, so standard; however the streaming platform will also live stream Q&As, complete with live chats so you can join in from home. You'll be able to talk to fellow viewers, and direct your questions at filmmakers and expert panellists — and, if you're still eager to host your own virtual screening of a specific flick for a particular group, you can do so via FanForce TV's 'Home Premiere' function. Film-wise, the current FanForce TV range includes Oscar-winner Parasite, eco-conscious documentaries 2040 and The Biggest Little Farm, and Aussie music flicks Mystify: Michael Hutchence and Gurrumul — plus Adam Goodes-focused doco The Australian Dream, the puppy-fuelled Pick of the Litter, eerie true-crime tale Ghosthunter and even Banksy's Exit Through the Gift Shop. The list goes on, spanning docos on college sexual assault The Hunting Ground, organ transplant Dying to Live and outback dirt-racing Finke: There and Back as well, among other titles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmahNqD3Dvw More films are set to join the service, too, such as Sydney-shot comedy Standing Up for Sunny, whales in captivity documentary Blackfish and — with accompanying Q&A sessions — moving Aussie doco In My Blood It Runs. If you not only like watching movies, but recommending them, FanForce TV also boasts an affiliate program that'll pay customers cash for directing their friends to watch a particular film. For further details — or to stream a movie or organise your own online community screening — visit the FanForce TV website.
Brisbane's near year-round balmy weather, climbing up high and drinking all go hand-in-hand. That's true in general, and true at Brisbane's latest sky-high seasonal shindigs: The Society Spring Series. Yes, the rooftop fun was such a hit over summer and autumn it's back for another run. Every Saturday in September, Eagle Farm Racecourse's rooftop bar is throwing open its doors and throwing quite the celebration. Think weekend afternoon hangouts, general revelry and enjoying a couple of hours worth of beverages with a view. Plus, it wouldn't be a party without DJs spinning tunes to set the mood. Tickets cost $75 plus booking fee, with drinks and food included. Attendees will sip their way through Chandon Sparkling Rosé, house beers, red and white wines, and a selection of soft drinks for two hours, and snack at charcuterie stations as well, while eating cured meats, roasted vegetables, dolmades, dips, olives, breads, grissini and cheese. Arrive hankering for a bev, and hungry.
What do a twisted woodland, enchanted big-screen stories, the best new art that the Asia-Pacific region has to offer, movies about mad science, the work of Queensland artist Judy Watson, the fashion designs of Iris van Herpen, and an exploration of the importance of plants to Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander peoples all have in common — and with Brisbane, too? They're each featured on the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art's big 2024 program. GOMA's tribute to fairy tales was announced in 2022, and arrives before 2023 is out; however, as the newly announced full lineup for next year shows, it's just one of many reasons to visit South Brisbane — and, if you're making the trip from elsewhere in Australia, Brisbane in general — before 2025 rolls around. Running from Saturday, December 2, 2023–Sunday, April 28, 2024, Fairy Tales is quite the blockbuster, and comes with movie program Fairy Tales: Truth, Power and Enchantment at Australian Cinémathèque to match. The 100-plus-piece showcase and its corresponding flicks will focus stories that we all lapped up as kids, telling us about otherworldly critters, wishes, spells and more. From venturing into the woods to peering through the looking glass, and also pondering what happily ever after means — while featuring works by Henrique Oliveira, Patricia Piccinini, Jana Sterbak, Kiki Smith, Abdul Abdullah and Ron Mueck along the way, plus a costume worn by David Bowie in all-time classic Labyrinth, pieces from Where the Wild Things Are as both a book and a movie, and threads from 2012's Mirror Mirror by Eiko Ishioka, and more — this showcase is primed to entrance. [caption id="attachment_919713" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Henrique Oliveira / Brazil b.1973 / Baitogogo 2013 / Palais de Tokyo, Paris / Plywood and tree branches / 6740 x 1179 x 2076cm / Courtesy SAM Art Projects, Galerie GP&N Vallois, Galeria Millan / © Henrique Oliveira / Photograph: André Morin / This work is indicative of a new commission by Henrique Oliveira for the exhibition 'Fairy Tales' at QAGOMA.[/caption] Set to arrive while Fairy Tales is still working its magic are both Seeds and Sovereignty and mudunama kundana wandaraba jarribirri: Judy Watson. The first will run from Saturday, March 2–Sunday, September 8, 2024 also at GOMA, and feature artworks about not only Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander peoples bond with plants, but with Country. The second will take over Queensland Art Gallery to celebrate the Queensland artist's career, spanning four decades and highlighting her emphasis on Waanyi Country in northern Queensland, where her family is from. Also on display at GOMA until Sunday, September 8, 2024: sis: Pacific Art 1980–2023, which centres on contemporary pieces from the titular region — with Lisa Reihana, Yuki Kihara and Latai Taumoepeau among the artists with works on display. [caption id="attachment_923891" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Iris van Herpen / Netherlands b.1984 / Hydrozoa dress, from the 'Sensory Seas' collection 2020 / Collection: Iris van Herpen / Photograph: David Uzochukwu / © David Uzochukwu.[/caption] Midyear, Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses will head to GOMA as well, in an Australian exclusive for the massive exhibition about the Dutch fashion designer, as organised by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. It visits Down Under after displaying in Paris. "Set in direct dialogue with a selection of contemporary works of art, installations, videos, photographs and objects from natural history, the exhibition brings together more than 100 garments created by van Herpen, seeking new forms for femininity and challenging our notions of haute couture. It will include a recreation of van Herpen's Amsterdam studio and a space dedicated to her fashion shows, accompanied by a sound work by Dutch artist Salvador Breed," said curator Cloé Pitiot. "Iris van Herpen is one of the most avant-garde figures of her generation and Sculpting the Senses, organised by Musée des Arts Décoratifs, offers a sensory exploration of the pioneering Dutch designer's multidisciplinary practice. It's a creative universe that merges fashion, contemporary art, design and science," added QAGOMA Director Chris Saines. [caption id="attachment_923890" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mit Jai Inn / Thailand b.1960 / Planes (Electric) (detail) 2019 / Oil on canvas / Dimensions variable / Installation view, 'Encounters', Art Basel Hong Kong, 2019 / Image courtesy: The artist and Silverlens, Manila & New York / © Mit Jai Inn.[/caption] Then, come Saturday, 30 November 2024–Sunday, April 27, 2025, it'll be time for The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (aka APT11) at both GOMA and Queensland Art Gallery. While it's too early for specifics, artists and collectives hailing from Australia, Asia and the Pacific will have pieces on display — and a cinema lineup, events, live performances and the like will also be on the agenda. As well as its fairy tale flicks, the Australian Cinémathèque has plenty in store. The Magic of Monty Python will celebrate the obvious for two January weeks, then the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger — so The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus, for instance — will be in the spotlight from February–April. When May hits, those movies about mad science will start rolling until late June, such as The Bride of Frankenstein and The City of Lost Children. [caption id="attachment_923889" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Production still from The Bride of Frankenstein 1935 / Director: James Whale / Image courtesy: Universal Pictures.[/caption] QUEENSLAND ART GALLERY AND GALLERY OF MODERN ART 2024 PROGRAM: GOMA and Queensland Art Gallery: Saturday, December 2, 2023–Sunday, April 28, 2024 — Fairy Tales at GOMA Saturday, March 2–Sunday, September 8, 2024 — Seeds and Sovereignty at GOMA Saturday, March 23–Sunday, August 11, 2024 — mudunama kundana wandaraba jarribirri: Judy Watson at Queensland Art Gallery Saturday, June 29–Monday, October 7, 2024 — Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses at GOMA Until Sunday, September 8, 2024 — sis: Pacific Art 1980–2023 at GOMA Saturday, 30 November 2024–Sunday, April 27, 2025 — The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT11) at GOMA and Queensland Art Gallery Australian Cinémathèque: Saturday, December 2, 2023–Sunday, April 28, 2024 — Fairy Tales: Truth, Power and Enchantment Saturday, January 13–Saturday, January 27, 2024 — The Magic of Monty Python Wednesday, January 31–Wednesday December 11, 2024 — For the Love of It: A Curator's Pick Saturday, February 3–Saturday, April 27, 2024 — Technicolor Dreams and Transcendent Reality: The Films of Powell & Pressburger Friday, May 3–Sunday, June 23, 2024 — Mad Science For more information about the Gallery of Modern Art and Queensland Art Gallery's 2024 exhibitions, plus Australian Cinémathèque's 2024 lineup — all of which will occur at Stanley Place, South Brisbane — visit the venue's website. Top image: Still from 'Cinderella' (1922) dir. Lotte Reiniger, courtesy British Film Institute.
Before August 2024, it was normal to spend at least $5 per day to get to and from work via public transport in Queensland. Now, for all trips there and back across a five-day week, no one should be forking out more than $5 in total. As promised during the state's election, the 50-cent fare trial that's been in place since midyear is no longer just a pilot — it's sticking around permanently. What do you have more cash for when each journey on your commute to and from your job only costs 50 cents (and to get to wherever else you might need) via the Sunshine State's Translink public transport? Queensland residents will keep finding out. The bargain fares were introduced as cost-of-living relief measure, discounting tickets to a shiny dodecagonal coin. Unsurprisingly, they've proven so much of a hit that the move is now here to stay. Slashing the price of public transport was always going to be popular. In its first month, the 50-cent fare trial saw more than 15-million trips taken across southeast Queensland alone, increasing patronage by 2.4 percent on pre-COVID-19 levels. Up until the end of October 2024, patronage went up 5.1 percent on the same pre-COVID-19 period. During the election campaign, the then-Labor Queensland Government committed to keeping the reduced price. So did the Liberal party, which won power. Now, the Crisafulli government has locked in cheap public transport on Translink's buses, trains, ferries and trams on an ongoing basis. The price-slashing move is also an effort to reduce traffic congestion, and impacts a hefty range of travel options. Translink, which falls within Queensland's Department of Transport and Main Roads, runs trains, buses, ferries and trams in southeast Queensland, for starters. So for Brisbanites, whether you ride the rails as part of your daily commute, hit the road or hop on a CityCat, you're now scoring a hefty discount, getting there and home for just $1 a day. This is a statewide measure. Translink also runs buses in Bowen, Bundaberg, Cairns, the Fraser Coast, Gladstone and Gympie — and in Innisfail, Kilcoy, Mackay, Rockhampton, Yeppoon, the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, Toowoomba, Townsville, Warwick and The Whitsundays. The 50-cent price applies to everyone, including concession cardholders, but is only available on Translink services. As such, privately operated transport services aren't doing the cheap fares. [caption id="attachment_958247" align="alignnone" width="1920"] John Robert McPherson via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] [caption id="attachment_857365" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kgbo via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] [caption id="attachment_796727" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] [caption id="attachment_703636" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Philip-Mallis via Flickr[/caption] [caption id="attachment_754201" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kgbo via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] [caption id="attachment_630654" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Andrew Thomas via Flickr[/caption] [caption id="attachment_749921" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] John via Flickr[/caption] All fares across Translink's Queensland public transport services only cost 50 cents on an ongoing basis. To find out more about Translink's services, head to the company's website.
Spooky season has returned, a time of ghosts and ghouls, flirting with lolly-based diabetes and getting into the spirit by bingeing all things horror. Generally the impulse is to line up a movie marathon of monsters and murderers, but why not mix a little interactivity into your goosebump-inducing genre consumption this year? With horror being such a beloved creative territory there's a boundless wealth of frightening indie games around, but to help you dip your toe into the terrifying here's a list of six (aka 1/111th of the spookiest number possible) to try… if you dare. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF3ZIJccpj8[/embed] MUNDAUN Folk horror is not a genre that shows up much in the gaming world which seems to have an overwhelming preference for sci-fi scares and general supernatural gore. Swiss developers Hidden Fields decided to buck trends with Mundaun, a first-person exploration game rendered in hand-pencilled fashion. You play as Curdin, a man visiting a small village in the alpine foothills to pay his post-funeral respects to his grandfather after the old man perished in a barn fire. Only problem is, grandpa's grave is empty. As you delve into the mystery of what happened to gramps, you uncover a historical deal made under the duress of war that has cursed the village, and it's up to you to do something about it by poking around the town of Mundaun and its surrounds, speaking with its inhabitants, and indulging in some light puzzle solving. There's a pinch of survival horror mixed in too, so you'll need to manage limited ammo and weapons to deal with a variety of enemies, from animated straw men to undead soldiers. The game's striking aesthetic lends an uneasy air that feeds excellently into the surreal, foreboding setting, steeped in a confluence of Christianity and Paganism. There's nothing else quite like it, so make sure you play with the lights off for the best experience. Spookiness Rating: 7/10 Available on: PC, Playstation 4/5, Xbox One/S/X, Nintendo Switch [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBuh9afznMg[/embed] YUPPIE PSYCHO If you've ever drawn a salary as a corporate wage slave, Yuppie Psycho is going to speak to you on another level. This survival horror game, developed by French/Spanish team Baroque Decay, puts you in the shoes of Brian Pasternack, a nervous young man on his first day at Sintracorp. His job? Kill the witch that has cursed the company for years. You'll spend your time roaming the 10 floors of the company's headquarters, rendered in gloriously retro pixel art. Almost from the get-go, it's clear that something is deeply, deeply wrong. Most of your coworkers are slack jawed and dead eyed, responding with gibberish when you try to talk to them. Someone keeps painting messages on the wall in blood. There's a cemetery in the woods on the 8th floor, and a spider monster in the archives. Alongside all of this standard horror, the game deftly mixes in the anxiety and imposter syndrome that accompanies starting a new job, as well as the existential despair that comes from mandatory motivational meetings, dealing with the spectrum of irritating co-workers and navigating the forced, two-faced jollity of a professional environment. With multiple endings based on choices you make, and even two vastly different paths to get to the end, it's a game you can pick up and play again and again. Spookiness Rating: 6/10 Available on: PC/Mac, Playstation 4/5, Xbox One/S/X, Nintendo Switch [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe4gVfZ1Q2I[/embed] WORLD OF HORROR 'A little bit of HP Lovecraft, a little bit of Junji Ito' is a great recipe for the vibe of a horror game. WORLD OF HORROR by Polish solo dev panstasz takes place at the cusp of the apocalypse. The Old Gods are awakening, panic and madness are spreading, and monsters are stalking the streets of Shiokawa, the small Japanese town where the action takes place. The primary thrust of the game sees you investigating a series of strange occurrences. It's a roguelike, so the changing raft of cases means no two runs are exactly the same which gives the game great replayability. The turn-based combat leans towards the challenging side (hey, no one said the end of the world would be easy), but an RPG-esque upgrade system will help ease the stress of late-stage runs — provided you make smart choices. Plus it's primarily an adventure game, so if you fear fast-twitch gameplay there's nothing to worry about here... beyond everything else happening. The Junji Ito inspiration comes through heavily in the lineup of monsters, mirroring the manga artist's off-putting creations in throwback 1-bit graphics that look like they came straight off the page. Fans of Japanese horror will definitely want to give this one a whirl. Spookiness Rating: 9/10 Available on: PC/Mac, Console release coming October 26th [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naCeKfdPbTs[/embed] CRITTERS FOR SALE Critters For Sale is weird, man. No other way to put it. Created by solo developer Sonoshee, this blend of point-and-click adventure and visual novel is a heady, paranoid time, as compelling as it is mildly repulsive. Play through five nonlinear short stories linked by broad themes of good vs evil, time travel and black magic, with woozy, grainy 1-bit graphics that help to heighten the general feelings of discomfort and discombobulation. Some feature multiple endings based on choices you make, which encourages multiple playthroughs supported by quality-of-life features that skip you to key story points so you don't have to start at the beginning every time. Others hide secrets that will only make sense once you've explored all the stories. Each tale comes from the perspective of a different character, so you're never quite able to find a stable narrative footing as you navigate between them, boosting your sense of unease. It's a highly-advanced horror game that bucks the modern trend of blood and brutality for an ineffable surrealism, leaving an impression on you long after you've completed its twisted paths. The faint-of-heart need not apply. Spookiness Rating: 9/10 Available on: PC [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrRWb7tFxR8[/embed] DREDGE Oceans are terrifying. Out where the water is an almost-black blue, where anything could be lurking below... that's nightmare territory. This is the niche in which Dredge, by New Zealand's Black Salt Games, floats. You're a nameless fisherman, freshly arrived to the island town of Greater Marrow after a shipwreck left you with no memories. The mayor gives you a boat and a job as the community angler and off you go to complete missions for a variety of characters, some with more sinister motives than others. The crux of the game is its day/night cycle. When the sun is up, you can roam the waves with relative impunity. Once the dark arrives your panic metre starts to fill, which can lead to reality-altering hallucinations and death if you push your luck. That's not to mention the sea monsters that inhabit the archipelagos you'll visit, which will have you navigating coastlines in frenzied fear, searching for escape. Mix all the above with a raft of compelling gameplay mechanics, such as a variety of fishing mini-games, the Tetris-like cargo management system and 128 different types of fish to catch and catalogue, and you've got an experience will truly hook you in. Spookiness Raiting: 6/10 Available on: PC, Playstation 4/5, Xbox One/S/X, Nintendo Switch [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI9zBBTyX-E[/embed] LITTLE NIGHTMARES II The decision to include a sequel over the original game took a lot of soul searching. But ultimately, since the focus here is spooks and scares, Little Nightmares II takes the cake (it's also technically a prequel, but let's not get bogged down in details here). Developed by Swedish team Tarsier Studios, Little Nightmares II is a 2.5D puzzle platformer that is packed with peril. You're Mono, a young boy in a paper bag mask who, along with a mysterious young girl as a sidekick, must make your way through the decrepit, dank Pale City to uncover what lies inside the Signal Tower at its heart. Along the way you'll have a lot to deal with, such as the television-addicted inhabitants who fly into an incoherent rage if you sever their connection to the cathode ray tube. The strength of the game lies in its set pieces, each of which is a polished jewel of terror. Talk to anyone who has played Little Nightmares II previously and they can wax lyrical about the School, the Hospital, or the end sequence, which features a twist that will slap a gasp out of you. The character design is also outstanding, with the adult inhabitants of the world represented as twisted grotesqueries, exactly what you'd expect from the point of view of a child. With a gameplay loop centred on dying, learning and dying again, and an atmosphere that will keep your anxiety levels at a roiling boil, Little Nightmares II is a key addition to the game library of any horror fan. Spookiness Rating: 8/10 Available on: PC, Playstation 4/5, Xbox One/S/X, Nintendo Switch
Were Daniel and Amelia Miletic always destined to set up shop in South Brisbane's Fish Lane? As the owners of fish 'n' chippery One Fish Two Fish in Kangaroo Point, they're certainly keeping the ocean theme going. Midtown, their newest venture, isn't just about dishes from the sea, though. What the Miletics have dubbed "seacuterie" is on the menu, plus mini versions One Fish Two Fish's lobster croissants; however, this is venue is a martini bar. Midtown takes over an already-luxe space: the site previously home to Butler Wine Bar, Lune Croissanterie's boozy sibling, which launched in July 2022 but closed in March 2023. There must be something about the location playing host drink-focused offshoots to beloved eateries, given that that's what the Miletics are serving up as well. Loving martinis is the number-one thing on offer at Midtown, with nine set alcoholic types available, such as olive leaf, elderflower, apple and rhubarb, espresso and pornstar varieties. There's actually a tenth option, too, that lets you tell the bar how to make it your way — so anything is possible. If you're having trouble choosing, that's where the three-drink flights come in. They're designed to share, and include half serves of elderflower, espresso and the signature Midtown martini (made with Patient Wolf Pink Lakes gin, Cinzano dry vermouth and red onion). And, if you're not partaking in the hard stuff, go with a no-booze espresso, lychee or French martini. The sips do extend past James Bond's favourite drink (that said, we assume that the vesper martini comes shaken, not stirred). Two types of margaritas, plus a negroni, old fashioned, daiquiri, spritz and Charlie Chaplin sit on the rest of the cocktail list, but the bar will whip up anything it's able to if you ask. Beer-wise, the range is highly curated with Australian brews from Balter, Moondog and Little Creatures. Wine devotees will find a page of choices, from sparkling, amber and rosé to whites, reds and even a fortified drop to go with cheese. And for snacking while you drink, the seacuterie (oysters, prawn croquettes, salmon sashimi and more) and lobster croissants are joined by charcuterie, cheese plates, caviar, and a raw bar that also does steak tartare cigars. Gildas, octopus and subs made with cevapi pork sausage are on the menu as well, while Fraser Isle spanner crab tortellini and ten-hour barbecue bourbon brisket are among the mains. For dessert: yuzu brûlée with walnut biscotti and a pina colada tartlet. The whole place is called Midtown, and its digs are firmly on the intimate side, but the Miletics have split it into three areas. The main space that shares the watering hole's name is a 20-seater bar, Uptown is a 6–8-seat dining room and Downtown takes patrons outside for a tipple. Another drawcard: a late-night supper club from 10pm–12am every Friday and Saturday night, doing live music and its own food lineup.
In his guise as Benoit Blanc in both 2019's Knives Out and 2022's Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Daniel Craig has pointed the finger at an array of well-known faces. With third film Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery officially on the way, that list is set to grow. The first three folks joining it: Andrew Scott (Ripley), Josh O'Connor (Challengers) and Cailee Spaeny (Civil War). If you weren't already excited about Blanc's next case, which is set to arrive on Netflix in 2025, then you should be now. The news that Wake Up Dead Man is on its way still relatively fresh, with the sleuthing saga's writer and director Rian Johnson announcing it via social media on Saturday, May 25 — and casting details have started arriving mere days later. [caption id="attachment_868527" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Courtesy of Netflix © 2022.[/caption] As reported by Variety, there's no word yet as to who Scott, O'Connor and Spaeny are playing opposite No Time to Die's Craig. But joining Wake Up Dead Man's suspect pool comes in a big year for fans of all three Down Under, with Scott's All of Us Strangers, O'Connor's La Chimera and Spaeny's Priscilla all reaching screens this year — plus the aforementioned Ripley, Challengers and Civil War, too. With the third Knives Out flick locking in a date with the small screen next year, the series continues its three-yearly pattern. Who else the filmmaker that also brought audiences Brick, The Brothers Bloom, Looper, Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi and TV's Poker Face (which has been renewed for a second season) will get Blanc investigating hasn't been revealed, and neither has much else about the movie. "I love everything about whodunnits, but one of the things I love most is how malleable the genre is. There's a whole tonal spectrum from Carr to Christie, and getting to explore that range is one of the most exciting things about making Benoit Blanc movies," Johnson did note. [caption id="attachment_951454" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Challengers, Niko Tavernise © 2024 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.[/caption] Exactly when in 2025 the flick will hit, and also whether it will reach cinemas before arriving on Netflix, also hasn't been announced. But, the streamer is teasing that this will be Blanc's "most dangerous case yet". So far, Johnson has plunged his detective into a familiar scenario twice, but always ensured that the end result was anything but routine. His trusty setup: bring a group of people together in a family home, mode of transport or lavish vacation setting, then watch on when one thing that always occurs in a whodunnit happens. That'd be a murder, in a formula that Agatha Christie also loved, as book-to-film adaptations Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile and A Haunting in Venice have shown. The author's play The Mousetrap and recent flick See How They Run, which riffs on it, make the same point. And, so does this clearly Christie-inspired franchise. [caption id="attachment_936946" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Priscilla[/caption] The cast across Knives Out and Glass Onion has been impressive. Chris Evans (Pain Hustlers), Ana de Armas (Ghosted), Jamie Lee Curtis (Haunted Mansion), Michael Shannon (The Flash), Toni Collette (Mafia Mamma), Don Johnson (The Collective), Lakeith Stanfield (The Changeling), Christopher Plummer (Departure), Katherine Langford (Savage River) and Jaeden Martell (Mr Harrigan's Phone) all featured the first time around. In the second flick, Edward Norton (Asteroid City), Janelle Monáe (Antebellum), Kathryn Hahn (Tiny Beautiful Things), Leslie Odom Jr (The Exorcist: Believer), Jessica Henwick (The Royal Hotel), Madelyn Cline (Outer Banks), Kate Hudson (Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon) and Dave Bautista (Dune: Part Two) all co-starred. If you saw either — or any murder-mystery involving a motley crew of characters brought together in one location when someone turns up dead — then you'll know how this movie series works from there. There's a standout setting, that big group of chalk-and-cheese folks, threats aplenty and just as much suspicion. Check out the title announcement video for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery below: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will release sometime in 2025 — we'll update you with an exact date when one is announced. Read our reviews of Knives Out and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Via Variety. Top image: All of Us Strangers, photo by Chris Harris, courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 Searchlight Pictures.
If you've been looking to keep your wardrobe choices as ethical as possible, then shopping local just got a little easier. Long-running fashion not-for-profit Ethical Clothing Australia (ECA) has launched a new online map that pinpoints all the Aussie stores featuring ECA-accredited brands on their racks. The new digital tool currently maps out over 300 accredited ethical retail destinations, allowing shoppers to easily hunt down ethically conscious fashion with just a few clicks on their smartphone or other device. In order to nab that all-important ECA accreditation, a business must be able to show that all workers involved in its manufacturing operations are being paid properly, working in safe conditions and receiving all the necessary legal entitlements. ECA conducts these audits looking deep into the whole manufacturing process, from design to dispatch. [caption id="attachment_800970" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Clothing the Gap[/caption] Some of the ethical businesses to have earned themselves a spot on the map include 53-year-old brand Cue, popular jeans label Nobody Denim and high-end designer favourite Manning Cartel. And Victoria especially looks to be flying the flag for conscious fashion, with 120 store mapped in that state alone, including The Social Studio, Vege Threads, Remuse Designs and the newly opened Clothing the Gap store. The new map comes as more and more Aussies are choosing to hunt down ethical producers when they shop. A recent ECA survey showed that a huge 70 percent of local textile, clothing, and footwear manufacturers reported their customers were asking more questions about the labour rights of their workers than ever before. On its website, the ECA also has a comprehensive directory listing all of its ethically accredited fashion businesses. To check out the ECA Digital Shopping Map, jump over to the website. Image:
Yatala Drive-In's big screens have long provided an ace way to see a movie, but they've been particularly enticing since the pandemic hit. The lineup here: recent flicks and retro favourites, as every Brisbanite has likely made the trip down the highway to experience at least once. And at 7pm on Saturday, February 26, one of the outdoor cinema's fields is going green thanks to a dress-up session of animated favourite Shrek. Rediscover why it really isn't easy being an ogre, all while watching vibrant CGI animation and listening to the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz. And, as no one who has ever seen Shrek before can manage to forgeta, you'll also get a whole lot of Smashmouth — aka 'All Star' and their version of 'I'm a Believer' — stuck in your head as well. As always, your night at the flicks will cost $40 per car, which covers up to six people. Donning a costume isn't necessary, and neither is simply wearing green — but it will help you get into the Shrek spirit.
Actually going to a store's main place of business is so 2010. If our favourite eateries aren't delivering us goodies, then they're popping up all over the place. On the latter front, Gramercy knows what we're talking about. Last year, the Wintergarden cafe brought their doughnuts to the Queen Street Mall. This year, they're bringing those tasty treats and more to James Street. And this time, much to the delight of New Farm snack-lovers, it isn't just a one-day affair. Bakehouse by Gramercy will be taking over the space next to Sass & Bide from 8am to 3pm every Tuesday to Sunday between February 18 and April 30. That's more than two whole months' worth of pastries, danishes, cakes, tarts and housemade jams and preserves, aka the items that will make up Bakehouse's daily rotating menu. A word of warning: these scrumptious baked goods will be available individually as well as by the box, because one really isn't enough.
Even if you're not the biggest fan of frights and scares, Halloween still caters for everyone. Perhaps you love eating nauseating amounts of lollies, flexing your arts and crafts skills to fashion yourself a costume, or pulling that five-piece (mask included) Batman get-up out of storage and donning it to feel like the superhero you really are? Or, you could just like themed cocktails and an excuse to party. Trick or treating isn't as big here as it is in the US, but we'll be damned if we won't use the occasion as an excuse for a spooky time. And, thankfully, there are plenty of eerie events and horror-themed nights happening around town for you to dive into. Here's a list of some of the best things going on in and around Brisbane for Halloween this year, ranging from the not-so scary (night markets and a spooky-themed game of mini golf) to the truly unsettling (an old favourite: eerie movies) — and including the wild (partying on a yacht in costume) and wonderful (Halloween music gigs), too.
Head to GPO's new 1920s-themed lounge bar, which is fittingly called The Gatsby, and you won't be able to miss the venue's old vault. It's a reminder of the distinctive building's history, with the structure starting its life back in 1887 as the Fortitude Valley General Post Office. It's also a symbol of GPO's reopening, which feels like reclaiming an iconic Brisbane location after a stint of safekeeping — or, to be more accurate, following the 136-year-old site's hefty $9-million revamp. The Gatbsy is a late-night, walk-in-only cocktail and whisky bar on the building's upper level. The mood here is lavish and upscale, as the name makes plain, including velvet booths, leather accents and brass features as part of the design. As well as featuring the building's original, now-restored vault, The Gatsby soundtracks the sipping with DJs and a live saxophonist. Also, as demonstrated by the 74-page menu, the bar well and truly prides itself on its drinks. Menu highlights include the chilli-infused tequila and mango gasper, a Gatsby bellini using peach tea-infused vermouth, one cocktail made with edible citrus paint, and another that can be served either hot or cold. All of the classic sips are taken care of, too, or you can build your own manhattan, negroni, martini or old fashioned — each chosen because they're the most popular concoctions of F Scott Fitzgerald's era.
While Queensland is miles away from the UK, this riverside Brissie pub encapsulates true Thames-side drinking. Established in 2002, the award-winning Pig 'N' Whistle Riverside is Brisbane's Home of Football, the go-to British pub for expats and sport-enthusiasts alike, particularly those looking to watch the UK/EU games live with a passionate crowd. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the Pig 'N' Whistle serves up substantial gastropub meals, including British specialities like steak and Guinness pie and yorkshire pudding with gravy, alongside modern Australian standards like parmigiana and schnitzel with chips. Located near the financial district, it's the perfect place for an after-work wind-down, with a wine list, cocktails and a well-stocked selection of international and craft brews. Images: Grace Smith.
Back in 2017, a new kind of glamping experience arrived on the scene about 2.5 hours from Sydney. That'd be Bubbletent Australia: three off-grid, inflatable and transparent domes overlooking the picture-perfect Capertee Valley by day and offering boundless stargazing by night. Now the company has returned, adding two new celestial-inspired tents, Pisces and Ophiuchus. Set on a ridge opposite the original trio, this slightly more remote expansion faces east, meaning unbeatable sunrise views. Beyond your bubble retreat, Pisces and Ophiuchus both come with extra hideaways, with the former featuring a netted bed strung between trees and the latter an elevated treehouse that captures the last sunrays of the day. After the light is long gone, it's the perfect time to peer through the provided telescopes to see what kind of interstellar formations you recognise. However, there are plenty more surprises in store. While Pisces and Ophiuchus are noticeably larger than their predecessors, both are equipped with rotating queen-size beds that make for the ultimate star-gazing experience. With two speeds available, you can drift off to sleep with a gentle spin or send the sky into a swirl as you ramp up the tempo. Once you wake up, you can convert your bed into a ping-pong table (yes, really) or even open up a hidden nook to reveal a pull-out dining table and a built-in wine cellar. What will they think of next? Outside, you've got a separate rain shower and eco-friendly Japanese toilet, set in recycled concrete pipes. But don't think you have to miss a second of the sky-show – each features a transparent roof so you can stargaze on the loo. Though this remote parcel of countryside can get a little chilly at night, a Swedish-style wood-fired hot tub surrounded by native trees ensures you keep the cold at bay. Plus, cosying up on your outdoor sofa won't hurt either. When it's time to hit the hay, your room is adorned with organic cotton linens, woollen blankets and natural bathroom amenities, as well as cosy slippers, outdoor shoes, lanterns, speakers and even an in-room iPad to set the soundtrack. As for dining, the facilities don't miss a beat. Both tents are equipped with all-weather outdoor Bushbuck kitchen stations, with bar fridges, gas burners, pizza stones and a rotisserie. Then you've got a popcorn maker, a sandwich press, and marshmallows for roasting on the fire. This being such a pristine spot, you'll be happy to know that sustainability is factored into just about every aspect of Bubbletent's setup. From solar power and cutting-edge geothermal-powered air conditioning to the elimination of single-use plastics, admiring the night sky and – surprise, surprise – the world's second-largest canyon is made possible without harming the earth. Bubbletent Australia is located in the Capertee Valley. Head to the website for more information.
In news that won't surprise Melburnians, the city has been ranked Australia's number one night-time economy hotspot. From Fitzroy's buzzing bars to the fine dining restaurants in the CBD, Melbourne is doing its part for the economy by enjoying life after dark. This is according to the Visa Australia Night-time Economy Index 2025, a new in-depth analysis measuring data such as spending, vibrancy, venues open and even the amount of nightworkers boosting the economy after dark. Trailing just behind Melbourne is Sydney's CBD, which came in with a night-time Vibe Score of 74.3. So close. [caption id="attachment_1029745" align="alignleft" width="1920"] Martin Vlnas[/caption] The Visa Vibe Economy report, commissioned by Visa and conducted by McCrindle, reveals that the Victorian capital is dining out at restaurants more frequently than other cities after dark. The report surveyed 2,009 Australians to learn how we spend our evenings (and how much cash we splash on a night out). [caption id="attachment_912072" align="alignleft" width="1920"] Nick & Nora's[/caption] Who's going out after dark? While Australians may be proponents of morning run clubs and coffee catch-ups pre-work, it turns out that there are a few of us who still make the most of the evenings. According to the report, nearly half of Australians are going out at night at least once a week, with an average of 5.8 night-time outings per month. Not bad. Gen Z is at the head of the pack, with 73 per cent of the demographic making it out at least once a week. Millennials are right behind their younger siblings with an average of 7.2 nights out per month. Melbourne and Sydney may be leading the night-time charge, but other cities aren't glued to their couches all week. People in Wollongong and the Gold Coast are keeping the night alive, with an average of 6.3 nights out per month, followed closely by Brisbane at 6.1 nights a month. [caption id="attachment_868653" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kate Shanasy[/caption] What are we up to on a night out? In good news for business owners, the majority of nights out are spent in our world-class restaurants. While most Australians prefer to keep their dining local, Gen Z is maintaining its adventurous reputation by being the demographic more likely to try cuisine in a new suburb. Outside of restaurants, 46 per cent of Australians are heading to the cinema to watch a movie after dark, with night markets and bars and pubs also ranking high on our evening activities. How much are we spending? With so many Aussies enjoying a night out with friends, the report finds that the majority of us are factoring evening activities into our spending. More than half of Gen Z actually consider spending after dark an essential part of their budgets. According to the report, the average we're forking out for an evening on the town is $120 or less per person. On the other hand, 66 per cent of respondents reported that cost is one of the main barriers to heading out for the evening. Feeling safe is also a major factor in shaping how, when and where Australians go out. [caption id="attachment_1026041" align="alignleft" width="1920"] Ennui[/caption] The future of the evening economy Sadly, many Australians feel their local nightlife isn't as vibrant as it could be—and want to see councils and businesses invest in making it better. Whether it's the after-effects and behavioural changes post-pandemic or the cost of living crisis, the report shows that nearly half of Australians believe their local nightlife needs investment to feel more vibrant. The report notes that Australians are asking for more night markets and festivals, affordable night-time options, and safer public spaces over the next two to five years. Despite Australians' reputation for being morning people, it's clear we're doing our bit for the economy by seeing our friends for a meal out, sipping on a pet nat in a Collingwood wine bar and enjoying the night markets in Sydney. So, consider this your sign to do your part and book an after-dark experience this weekend. Discover the vibe near you. Lead image: Getty/ Prasit Photo
Before the pandemic, we all had a friend who has moved to our neck of the woods from interstate or overseas, and then spent far more time exploring the state than we ever had. Back then, we all thought we'd follow in their footsteps one day, at some point, somewhere in the future. Thanks to COVID-19 restrictions and Australia's closed international border — the latter of which is expected to remain that way until at least mid-2022 — that has changed, of course. Queenslanders, your time is now. At the moment, we're all holidaying locally. Instead of planning big European getaways or Japanese jaunts, Queenslanders are making the most of our own backyard. With The Whitsundays part of the state, we obviously have plenty of supremely scenic choices — and, come September, we'll now have another way to get there if heading north is on the cards. From Friday, September 17, Qantas will start flying from Brisbane to The Whitsundays, adding a new route to its operations. It'll run seven return trips a week to and from Proserpine, which'll add more than 1000 seats on the route each week — all on a 74-seat Q400 turboprop aircraft. Other airlines already make the trip, but you now have more options. Until Saturday, July 10, you can also nab $109 direct flights if you're now thinking about your next holiday. [caption id="attachment_785976" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Whitehaven Beach in The Whitsundays[/caption] "With international borders still largely closed, we're pleased to be making it easier for Australians to experience the world-famous beaches of the Whitsunday region and access the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef," said QantasLink CEO John Gissing — with the new flights falling under the QantasLink banner. For Brisbanites who'd rather jet off to colder climes, Qantas has already added new routes to the Snowy Mountains and the Victorian Alps this year. Keen on leaving the mainland? It has been flying from Brisbane to Norfolk Island, too. Qantas' new flights to Brisbane to The Whitsundays will start flying from Friday, September 17. For more information, or to book, head to the airline's website.
The winter cold snap might have you feeling a little glum. But this cold and dark time of year does come with a significant upside — it's time again for Messina to release its latest bake-at-home cookie pie. Last year, the gelato aficionados teamed up with Tony's Chocolonely to serve up a supremely gooey creation. Now, Messina is ramping up the indulgence even further, with a Biscoff cookie pie featuring copious amounts of Biscoff-infused dulce de leche, topped with crunchy Biscoff crumb. What's more, this seasonal invention doesn't have to be a one-and-done treat. Available all winter long at Messina stores nationwide, you're welcome to place your first order from Friday, May 29, either in-store, via the Messina app or delivered right to your door. Like past creations, Messina says it would be criminal not to top this convenient bake-at-home pie with a solid scoop of gelato. And it's hard to disagree. So, when it's time to check out, you can add a discounted gelato bundle to make sure you get the most from every bite. Priced at $28, each pie is big enough for six servings — depending on how serious your sweet tooth is. Plus, if you're keen to bundle, you're welcome to add 500ml, 1L or 1.5L tubs of Messina gelato, ranging from $44 to $60. Made for storing in the freezer, it won't be long before you're digging into this decadent Biscoff number. Simply let your pie thaw for 90 minutes, then bake it in the oven for 18 minutes or so. Just know it's recommended you let it rest for 10 minutes before taking a bite — no doubt an immense challenge that might just prove impossible. Messina's Biscoff Cookie Pie is available for order nationwide from Friday, May 29–Monday, August 31. Head to the website for more information. Like what you see? Subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter to get stories just like these straight to your inbox. Images: Supplied.
If you've ever watched a David Attenborough documentary about the planet and wished it was sillier and stupider, to the point of being entertainingly ridiculous and ridiculously entertaining alike, then Netflix comes bearing wonderful news. Actually, the BBC got there first, airing history-of-the-world mockumentary Cunk on Earth back in September 2022. Glorious things come to waiting viewers Down Under now, however — and this gleefully, delightfully absurd take on human civilisation from its earliest days till now, spanning cave paintings, Roman empires, Star Wars' empire, 1989 Belgian techno anthem 'Pump Up the Jam' and more, is one of the best shows to join Netflix in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 so far. This sometimes Technotronic-soundtracked five-part series' beat? Surveying how humanity came to its present state, stretching back through species' origins and evolution, and pondering everything from whether the Egyptian pyramids were built from the top down to the Cold War bringing about the "Soviet onion". The audience's guide across this condensed and comic history is the tweed-wearing Philomena Cunk, who has the steady voice of seasoned doco presenter down pat, plus the solemn gaze, but is firmly a fictional — and satirical — character. Comedian Diane Morgan first started playing the misinformed interviewer in 2013, in Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe, with Black Mirror creator Brooker behind Cunk on Earth as well. Over the past decade, Cunk has brought her odd questions to 2016's one-off Cunk on Shakespeare and Cunk on Christmas, and 2018's also five-instalment Cunk on Britain. Then, in Brooker's Death to 2020 and Death to 2021, two annual looks back at life during the pandemic, Morgan played Cunk-like everywoman Gemma Nerrick — aka the spoof specials' average person among its comic experts. That's Cunk's remit as well. She poses enquiries and makes observations that academics on various branches of history, plus archaeologists, biologists, engineers and others, wouldn't expect to be asked by their peers or serious interviewers. In fact, they wouldn't anticipate being asked Cunk's questions by anyone, really, except perhaps very young children. "If you want to talk about Russian Soviet vegetables, we can," is one response that Cunk's incorrect queries garner, this one after accusations of mansplaining when she's told she likely means the Soviet Union. When she isn't uttering outlandish questions, she's often simply demanding OTT statements that'll help the show go viral, such as an exchange with another boffin where she requests a pithy soundbite stating that Jesus Christ was "the first celebrity victim of cancel culture". Or, in classic history doco style, Cunk is walking and talking, her eyes trained on the camera and scenic and/or important locales stretching out behind her — and, elsewhere, narrating while remaining unseen over the same type of images. Much of Cunk on Earth's hilarity comes from its take on the past, and on humanity, as well as the series' love of the ludicrous — as delivered with Cunk's dry, droll and unflappable demeanour (unless she's learning that Laika, the first dog in space, didn't make it home). She posits with the straightest of faces that the human brain is made of pipes, and that Beethoven's 'Symphony No 5' has lyrics that just repeat the word "dumb" over and over. She has thoughts on the worst Romans, in ancient times and now; connects hieroglyphics to emojis and likens mummification to Gwyneth Paltrow's spa treatments; and asks "was early man made out of the same sort of meat as us?" while then wondering if human flesh ever had a pork- or beef-like moniker. Morgan's performance is a marvel, and a perceptive portrait of couldn't-care-less arrogance, ignorance and certainty that plays as an easy-but-still-smart caricature of a growing attitude prevalent online today. With one character, she's as much of a canny and cutting comedic force as Sacha Baron Cohen has proven with Ali G, Borat, Bruno and the various figures in 2018 mockumentary series Who Is America?. Cunk, in all of her on-screen appearances, adopts the same basic format as Baron Cohen's alter egos — proposing the absurd to both parody and interrogate. Her throwaway comment about the pyramids being designed the way they are to "stop homeless people from sleeping on them" says plenty about society's treatment of folks doing it tough, and she skewers the overuse and misattribution of quotes by stating that Aristotle said "dance like no one is watching". As brilliant as Morgan's deadpan turn is, and as committed as the Inside No 9, Motherland and Mandy actor is, Cunk on Earth is equally reliant upon its interviewees. They each take their task seriously — the real-life experts aren't here to court laughs — but they're also willing to use Cunk's silly queries and comments as a jumping-off point. The question about the brain's pipes inspires a considered and accessible explanation of two different schools of philosophical thought, for instance. Often, Cunk's naive musings spark tidbits and corrections that do exactly what an Attenborough-style show like this sincerely and earnestly would: inform. Of course, for every enlightening answer offered — whether recounting something that's common knowledge anyway or diving deeper — Cunk on Earth has Cunk being Cunk. She asks about ancient Greeks before declaring she couldn't give a shit, segues off on tangents about her ex-boyfriend Paul to counter her panel of experts, and pronounces words incorrectly to humorous effect (even if nothing beats her butchering of Camelot in Cunk on Britain, which begets questions about King Arthur's semen production). A series like this is a masterclass in juggling, with everything from a Black Mirror-leaning skit about Beethoven resurrected inside a smart speaker to a recreation of a Dark Ages fray purely through sound also thrown in. Here, this very series is flat-out masterful — and tremendously funny. Check out the trailer for Cunk on Earth below: Cunk on Earth streams via Netflix. Images: Jonathan Browning.
Visit Balmoral Beach in 2023 and you'll be splashing around in one of the nation's top beaches for this year, no matter when you head by. Make a date with the Sydney patch of sand this winter, however — and with Balmoral Beach's Bathers' Pavilion, to be specific — and you'll also be able to enjoy a meal from a three Michelin-starred English restaurant, with Simon Rogan's L'Enclume making the trip Down Under for the first time ever. For five weeks between Wednesday, July 19–Sunday, August 20, in what marks L'Enclume's debut venture away from its Northern England home, it'll set up shop at Bathers' Pavilion for a residency. British chef and restaurateur Rogan, who is known for his farm-to-table focus, will bring a number of the restaurant's famed dishes our way. In fact, he'll transport a version of the L'Enclume experience beachside from its base in the village of Cartmel in The Lake District in Cumbria, where it resides in a former 13th-century blacksmith workshop. L'Enclume will still operate as usual in the UK during its Sydney residency, too, giving the world two L'Enclumes running at the same time. If you're new to L'Enclume, and to Rogan, both favour the idea of the perfect ingredient. So, in each small and meticulously constructed bite served up, that concept comes to the fore. Across an eight-course menu, plus snacks and petit fours, patrons can expect L'Enclume's favourites — but adapted to use ingredients from New South Wales and Australian producers. The residency is committed to having a traceable menu, and Rogan is already contacting locals, seeking folks who can grow supplies specifically for his time at Balmoral Beach. And yes, Rogan himself will overseeing the Bathers' Pavilion stay, leading the kitchen for every single service. Oli Marlow, Executive Chef of Roganic and Aulis London and Hong Kong, and Sam Ward, Managing Director of Simon Rogan restaurants around the globe, will join him, plus a team from the UK that'll feature up to eight chefs, four front of house staff and a sommelier. Only welcoming in a maximum of 80 attendees per sitting, the intimate residency will also bring over L'Enclume style of service, and have diners eating off of a version of its preferred crockery that'll be handmade in Australia. To help wash down Rogan's precisely fashioned dishes, Rogan's sommeliers are crafting a sizeable wine list, complete with wine pairings to match the food. And, there'll also be a cellar list, with folks with cash to splash on budget-breaking vino able to pre-arrange rare vintages and bottles before their bookings. Setting guests back $420 each for eight courses plus snacks and petit fours, and either $190, $290 or $750 per person for wine pairings on top (or $70 for non-alcoholic sips), this clearly isn't the kind of culinary experience that Aussies get every day — and it's also one that's worth travelling for. If you don't normally call Sydney home, you'll only need to book a jaunt to the Harbour City, rather than the other side of the world. Announcing the residency, Rogan said that "winning three Michelin stars at L'Enclume is a culmination of 20 years of work and evolution by a group of dedicated chefs and front of house specialists". L'Enclume notched up that feat in 2022, when it also hit that 20th anniversary. "The Sydney residency marks a big milestone for us as we enter our third decade and our boundary-pushing team could not be more excited to share our strong sustainability ethos and serve up some of our favourite L'Enclume dishes using the outstanding local ingredients unique to New South Wales and Australia," Rogan continued. "For me, it's all about layers and complexity of flavour, creative produce sourced with a sustainable ethos, and warm and knowledgeable service. It's not just the restaurant which makes the L'Enclume experience, it's the surroundings too, and even though the setting at Bathers' Pavilion on Balmoral Beach couldn't be more different to Cartmel, it feels so similar in its sense of beauty and uniqueness." Find L'Enclume at Bathers' Pavilion, 4 The Esplanade, Balmoral Beach, Mosman from Wednesday, July 19–Sunday, August 20 — open for lunch Tuesday–Sunday and dinner Tuesday–Saturday. Head to the Bathers' Pavilion website for bookings from Tuesday, February 14, or sign up to the Bathers' Pavilion newsletter for updates.
It's been over a year since Sweat Social started giving Brisbane and the Gold Coast a workout in nightclubs, gyms, studios and even on rooftops. Now, to get 2019 into full swing, the active-minded outfit is slinging a heap of classes together across one big day — and calling it a Sweatathlon. Don some lycra and get your stretch on at an array of studios, then enjoy a post-workout party at the end. From 7am–2pm on Sunday, February 24, there'll be sessions dedicated to pilates, yoga, boxing, crossfit and more at six fitness studios, all thanks to Fitstop Newstead, Harlow Hot Pilates & Yoga, CrossFit Newstead, Total Fusion Platinum, Facilities Fitness and KX Pilates. It's your choice how much or how little you sweat, with tickets ranging from $45 for two classes and $75 for four sessions at early bird prices — and from $50–80 after January 31. You can also pick your timeslots, with 11 classes held across the day. Then, once it's all over, hop on over to Total Fusion Platinum where a shindig — and acai bowls from Kiss the Berry — await.
Everyone has heard about — or tried to eat their way through — KitKat's famed range of weird and wonderful Japanese flavours. A cough drop version once existed, and it really wasn't great. The sake version, a perennial favourite, is absolutely delicious. But if you're vegan, none of these varieties will have tempted your tastebuds. KitKats in general won't have either, actually. That changed back in 2021 for Aussies who follow a plant-based, dairy-free and cruelty free diet, and were also keen to sink their teeth into a KitKat. The brand launched a vegan-certified KitKat, as made with a rice-based milk alternative. The result: a KitKat covered in a smooth plant-based milk chocolate — not dark chocolate — which is then layered over the usual crisp wafers. The original run of plant-based KitKats was a limited-time deal; however, they're now back in Australian supermarkets again. This time, they've hit Coles stores — and only for a short period. That means that everyone can now have a break — and a KitKat — with KitKat Plant Based joining other plant-based alternatives among Nestle's products. So, if you'd like to crack open a few fingers while tucking into a glass of plant-based Milo, you'll be able to. The 41.5-gram bars cost $3 and, if you're super keen, they can also be ordered from the KitKat Chocolatory website. When your next sugar craving hits, add them to your list alongside vegan Natural Confectionery Co fruit lollies, vegan choc tops, and vegan Magnums, Cornettos and Weis Bars. KitKat Plant Based is available now at Coles stores around Australia — or you can them from the KitKat Chocolatory website.
Due to COVID-19 shutdowns and restrictions throughout the year, the big screens at the Gallery of Modern Art's Australian Cinematheque haven't been shining as brightly as usual in 2020. That's changing with the venue's next retrospective program, with Life's a Drag spending a month celebrating drag in cinema. Screening for free between Friday, October 23–Sunday, November 22 — with sessions on Friday and Wednesday evenings, and Saturday and Sunday during the day — this curated movie lineup flits between stone-cold classics, movies you should be keen to discover (or rediscover) and a selection of more recent flicks. Drag Kids, a Canadian documentary from 2019, firmly falls into the latter category. Following four kids with a love of performing in drag (yes, as the title suggests), it opens the program. Other highlights include John Waters' Pink Flamingos and Multiple Maniacs, each starring the inimitable Divine; the Berlin-set, Liza Minnelli-starring Cabaret; seminal 1990 ball culture doco Paris is Burning; and rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. And, if you're wondering about the obvious, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is on the bill because of course it is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SqvD1-0odY
In the late 60s, a decade after first slinging slices in America's midwest, Pizza Hut started taking the second part of its name seriously. Thanks to a design by architect Richard D Burke, who agreed to a $100 fee for each location that opened — a hugely lucrative deal, it turned out — everyone knows the fast-food chain's famous silhouette. From 70s, 80s and 90s childhoods in particular, that angular roof instantly brings to mind family feasts, birthday parties and all-you-can-eat pizza specials that gave Sizzler a run for its money in Australia, dessert bar included. Brooklyn-based Aussie filmmakers Matthew Salleh and Rose Tucker, who previously made Barbecue and We Don't Deserve Dogs, are well-are of this history. In fact, they've made a documentary that's partly about it: Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts. They're equally cognisant of the nostalgic feeling that old Pizza Huts bring. "I kept thinking back to the soft-serve machine. As a kid, I was just drawn to that machine. I just wanted the soft serve with the sprinkles, the coloured sprinkles on top — my Pizza Hut dream was the soft-serve machine," Tucker tells Concrete Playground, chatting about the film that'll premiere at 2024's SXSW Sydney in October. Audiences will indeed remember their own experiences in Pizza Hut's distinctive buildings while watching Slice of Life. Craving pizza comes with the territory, too. Salleh and Tucker haven't tucked into Pizza Hut while making the movie, purely "because they're not in New York", Salleh advises, but they still understand the urge. "Occasionally we're editing and we'll see shots of pizzas, and I'll be like 'we need pizza'. Luckily, living in Brooklyn, you only have to walk about 150 metres to find some pretty awesome pizza. So if anything, it's just made me eat a lot more pizza in New York," he continues. Recalling times gone by for a global chain is just one of this doco's ingredients, however. Consider it a topping; at its heart, this film's main focus is right there in its title. While they weave in the Pizza Hut origin story, and that of those huts known around the planet, Salleh and Tucker are interested in how such immediately recognisable structures have lived on in new guises in the US once the brand left plenty of those buildings. Be it a Texan karaoke bar, a LGBTQIA+ church in Florida or a cannabis dispensary in Colorado, what made-over former Pizza Huts say about the pursuit of the American dream today is also as pivotal to their documentary as dough is to the world's most-beloved Italian dish. The pair boast a tried-and-tested approach, as their first two feature-length films also capitalised upon. Take one thing — barbecue cooking, canines, ex-Pizza Huts — then dive deep, building a portrait of what humanity's interaction with said subject explains about the world, people in general and/or a specific country. All three titles have also enjoyed a relationship with SXSW. Barbecue premiered at SXSW Austin in 2017, and was picked up by Netflix as a result. Then, We Don't Deserve Dogs was selected for the pandemic-affected US event in 2020. Now, after being one of the first films announced for this year's lineup, Slice of Life will bow at SXSW Sydney's second year. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Urtext Films (@urtext) If there's a spark of familiarity to Salleh and Tucker's latest concept, that's because the Used to Be a Pizza Hut blog has also been operating in this territory. It was a helpful resource for them, with its founder Mike Neilson among their interviewees. Wondering if the duo ever thought of expanding their remit beyond US Pizza Huts, as the site covers? They've dubbed their American focus "geographical discipline". Explains Salleh: "this is our documentary version of the great American road movie, I guess. We were tempted to to make this thing global, but then we knew we'd be probably making it for the next 20 years." Adds Tucker: "we really could, they built these things all over the place." What does having SXSW's support mean to the pair? "It's amazing. As an independent filmmaker, it's really, really tough to even get into a festival, so to do it with SXSW now three times is pretty special," says Tucker. "We're basically independent DIY, and so to be able to go to a festival that also has a little bit of a market and business side to it as well, and tries to bring those elements together is, I guess, what we try to do on a daily basis — bringing together the business of what we do and the creativity of what we do. So it's been a good fit over the years," advises Salleh. When you hone in on a specific topic per documentary, where does inspiration come from? Also, how do you know that you're onto a winner of an idea, and then get your subjects onboard? From the way that they handle to on-the-road projects to finding their former Pizza Huts and what they learned about America while making Slice of Life, we chatted through the details with Salleh and Tucker. On Where Salleh and Tucker Find Inspiration Rose: "I guess you could say we're just chronic people-watchers, and we're just interested in things that people get passionate about. So with Barbecue, that one's a fairly obvious one: people get really fired up about cooking and gathering with their family. There's a little bit of patriotism involved in that as well — everyone thinks they have the best barbecue — so it's a thing that gets people talking and gets people passionate. And similarly with dogs. People love their dogs and that's a global phenomenon." Matthew: "We have a scribble board of hundreds of ideas, and it's a survival of the fittest. It's when we can see that an idea will play out in a in a whole film, rather than be a short or something like that. I often say there's a taxi or Uber driver test, where an Uber driver will ask what you do for a living and you explain the film you're making, and they go 'ohh you have to go interview my best friend' — or if they know someone or if they can tell their passionate story. It was a similar thing with this new film, we would talk about it with people and they go 'ohh back in my town, the old Pizza Hut used to be ...'. There was either nostalgic remembrance of what it used to be or 'ohh now it's a mattress store', 'now it's a Hertz car rental' or any sort of interesting thing. So it seems to have really gotten people interested in talking passionately. And it's interesting as well, because there's a lot going around at the moment with people re-examining pop culture nostalgia and stuff like that. But then it just presented this amazing opportunity for us where we were actually able to go 'well, here's something pop culture and nostalgic, but it still exists in this strange way now'. So it was a way that we could combine the nostalgic memories of old Pizza Huts with this entrepreneurial spirit of people starting up businesses potentially in buildings they never thought they would, but making it work somehow." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Urtext Films (@urtext) Rose: "There's this idea of community that flows through these buildings. So when they're a Pizza Hut, they're a community hub. And it would be a really big deal if your small town got a Pizza Hut. It was a big, big deal. Then when they close down, that hub goes away. But now they're sprouting up again in these second, third, fourth, fifth lives, and those places are now similarly hubs for the community. They're the places that we were really focusing on trying to find — those places that still are that gathering point, or that third place that that people are drawn to and want to spend time with people in." Matthew: "And in a world where those sort of places are dying away, making this film coming out of the pandemic, where we had to eliminate that third place, those gathering places in the community‚ and even the fact that a lot of these businesses survived through some of those tougher times so that they can flourish now — that was very much part of our mind when we were making this. It's places where people can just get together, whether it's a church or whether it's a restaurant …" Rose: "Or a karaoke bar." Matthew: "… and just be part of their community." On Finding Slice of Life's Old Pizza Huts in Small Towns Across America Where Having the Chain in Town Was Originally a Source of Pride Rose: "We were actively seeking small towns. The most-rural town we visited is Walsenburg, Colorado — and that is in the middle of the country, small town, and it was a big deal. From memory, I think that the only other fast food they currently have is a Subway." Matthew: "Much less romantic." Rose: "But it was a huge deal to get this big building, this big Pizza Hut, that was right on the edge of town — it was a massive deal. And it was where all the sports teams would go on the weekend after finishing their game, it's where kids would go after their prom for their after party. Like, this was the place." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Urtext Films (@urtext) Matthew: "And I think it was this idea that the town over didn't get the Pizza Hut — we got the Pizza Hut. We're all very hip and cosmopolitan now, we might almost chuckle a little at a chain store having meaning, something important to a community — but back in the 60s, 70s and 80s, when towns, especially towns across America, were trying to grow and trying to be something, these were the test of having made it, as it were. So that seemed to be a big part of it. And then there's also a practical consideration, because we basically had to become world experts in these old Pizza Hut buildings — and they survive more in small towns, because I think the ones that were in big cities have just gotten levelled with the passage of time." Rose: "Or they were never built in the first place. This is a building that worked in suburbia and out on the highways. I don't think there were any traditional Pizza Hut buildings built within New York City, where we live at the moment. So you're not going to find one here. But you go out a little bit, you go down into Long Island, suddenly they start popping up." On Salleh and Tucker's Two-Person Approach to Filmmaking Matthew: "The main thing is the incredibly small footprint. It's basically just myself and Rose, and we do pretty much the whole movie. So I direct and Rose produces. I do the shoot. I do the cinematography. Rose does the sound. We both edit it. We do a surround-sound mix and picture work on the film in our one bedroom apartment." Rose: "In the room we're sitting at now." Matthew: "We just basically do the whole film from a technical point of view by ourselves. And, one, it makes it cheaper and more versatile — but the most-important thing is that versatility in that we don't need to have bosses that we get approval from when we come up with an idea, and we can just stay in a place until we get the story, and we can move around and be this very intimate film crew. When we film, it's not this giant truck with 20 people turning up. It's me and Rose and a backpack. And that familiarity that people have with us it just gives a gives our film something else, I hope." On How Having Such a Small Filmmaking Footprint Helps Get Subjects Onboard Rose: "We love the intimacy that we can create with it just being the two of us. The fact that we're a couple as well, I think a lot of the people we're working with, a lot of people running these businesses are little husband wife teams as well. So there's definitely a connection that we just have. We run our own business. We understand the challenges of running a small business, and we like to think we're quite entrepreneurial as well. I think we have a lot in common with the people who we are filming with." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Urtext Films (@urtext) Matthew: "When you run your own business, when you want to be sustainable and have your arts career that works as a business, you have to know as much about cinematography as you do about filing tax returns. We met with a lot of people that had a passionate thing they wanted. I think instantly of Ed running Big Ed's BBQ, who had this passion for barbecue and then instantly realised he was in over his head — and that very much resonated with me as a person that got way in over my head when I decided to start a film company however many years ago. That part of the storytelling also reminds me of my dad, who started his own business after working in government for many years. I think everyone that knows someone that's an entrepreneur, a sort of self-starter, it's a sort of crazy type of person. It was a lot of fun to hear those stories." Rose: "But we definitely had to win people over. And we'd always have a few conversations over the phone before we turn up with cameras and really explain what we were trying to do. I think particularly in this day and age, people can be a little hesitant with documentary, like 'ohh, are you making fun of me or is this a hit piece?'. And we would have to assure people that was not the case." Matthew: "Something we weren't sure about: people operate their businesses and lives out of these former Pizza Huts, and it's kind of a humorous concept. I'm like 'do they think it's humorous as well?'. And they certainly did. I remember our first phone call with everybody from the church in Boynton Beach that we filmed, and the first thing they wanted to tell us is that they'd given themselves a nickname of the Church of the Pepperoni. They think it's very funny as well. There's something about that sense of humour, it's a little wry smile when they know that they run out of an old Pizza Hut. But then you go beneath that and you go look through the window, effectively, and there's these amazing lives, and these really powerful and interesting people. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Urtext Films (@urtext) I would say that with a lot of pop culture and nostalgia, people try to remember the old thing. But for us to be able to actually go into those buildings, it was fascinating that you have a really diverse set of people — and America's an incredibly diverse country — and all of these people had one thing in common: the floor plan of their businesses were exactly the same. And it was kind of odd. A few months into filming, we'd be walking into like the fifth Pizza Hut and there'd be this weird déjà vu that would kick in — and I'd be like 'ohh, in Colorado, they put the door over that side, but I see you guys put it over here'. And there's this one bit where some of the old Pizza Huts, they always leak in the same spot — and they all go 'oh yeah, the leak'. Maybe there's something comforting in knowing that people around the world might have a common experience with you, even though you will never meet them. So that was very powerful for us." On the Research Process and Criteria for Picking the Former Pizza Huts Featured Matthew: "There were a couple that we'd heard about. You start Googling, and lots of people have documented a lot of these old buildings. But only the building. It was hard to know anything more about it. So we'd start with that process — it just started with conversations." Rose: "I would dive in and take a look at a business. You can tell a lot from their social media and things like that. You can tell when a place is a community hub, and they were the places we were looking for. And honestly, I would just shoot them a message or an email, and get on the phone and chat. I remember we called the owner of the Bud Hut in Colorado, and we talked to her for I think two hours. She was just so clearly so passionate and cared so much about her community, and we were like, 'well, that's an instant yes'." Matthew: "This is something that we've always believed as a core part of the films we make, that everyone's got an interesting story to tell. So in a way, I wasn't even really worried, because I'm like 'well, everyone's got an interesting story to tell'. Our job is to listen and find those stories. We try not to have too many preconceptions. We had ideas — as soon as we heard that there was a church down in Florida, we're like 'well that sounds amazing'. So there's ones like that. One of the interesting ones was Taco Jesús, a Taco restaurant in in Lynchburg, Virgina — not necessarily a place known for its Mexican cuisine. But funnily, that restaurant didn't even exist when we started shooting the movie. We only shot that a few months ago because we were looking back over some notes, and one of them was something that was closed down." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Urtext Films (@urtext) Rose: "I have a list of addresses and every few months I would sweep through them just to see if a new place had popped up. I was looking at this place in Lynchburg, Virginia, which, after it was a Pizza Hut, it was a another pizza restaurant — and I noticed they were permanently closed. And I was like 'that's interesting, I wonder who's going in there?'. I did a little online research and realised it was going to be this brand-new taco restaurant, and it looked beautiful." Matthew: "I think we saw a story that Jesús and his father-in-law were running it together, and I'm like 'there's a story that'. Then just your journalistic instincts kick in and you go 'oh, there's something interesting there'. I think, to be honest, as we spoke to people, it confirmed more than anything that all these are really fascinating stories that we have to capture." Rose: "There'll always be a few on the wishlist that we didn't get to, mainly just because we felt like we had a complete film. But there's always be the long list of places that maybe we could have visited — like there is a funeral home in Texas which would have been pretty interesting." Matthew: "There's actually two." Rose: "We could've kept filming forever." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Urtext Films (@urtext) Matthew: "It's interesting when we talk about when you're completely independent and you've got to do it yourself, how do you get started — but how do you finish? That's almost as much the challenging question and it's usually, with us, through exhaustion. Usually it's desperately editing into the night. I remember with We Don't Deserve Dogs and a little bit with this film, you just stop eventually and go 'I think the movie is finished'. And you almost don't want to admit it's finished, because then you've got to work out what to do next. You've got to distribute and market the film, and all the rest of it. But this one was definitely one where we had a lot of the film down, and then we took a bit of a break. Then we went and filmed with Taco Jesús, and we just slotted that in." Rose: "It was the missing thing." Matthew: "It was the different side of the story that brought it all together. So it's nice, it's been a lot of fun, because at the moment we're doing all the technical stuff, the sound and the music and all of that, and it's really lovely to be able polish up this thing that we've been putting together for a few years now." On What You Learn About the US Today on a Cross-Country Road Trip That Examines How an Incredibly Nostalgic Symbol Has Been Reborn Rose: "I think we managed to capture a pretty hopeful version of humanity. I'd like to think that. I think you realise that if you watch the news a lot …" Matthew: "Which we all do." Rose: "… which everybody does, there's maybe an impression of America and what middle America is like, and I think we wanted to challenge that expectation a little bit. There definitely are, I think, more good people than bad everywhere we went. We were met with open arms in communities of all shapes and sizes and political persuasions." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Urtext Films (@urtext) Matthew: "And we're just a bunch of hipsters from New York, so they should be very guarded. But no, to be serious, I think it's this thing where we came in to listen and hear their story, and so we didn't come in with this ulterior motive of 'we want to set up the story'. That's been a really important thing about the films we do. We film with multiple subjects, multiple locations and people, and we don't have this scribbled-out script that we want to fit. We go where the story takes us. If the story revealed a much angrier America, then we would have gone 'okay, well, what is that story?'. But for us, everyone was quite hopeful, quite proud — quite proud of being American, quite proud of their entrepreneurial side — which, by focusing just on that, was really interesting. We had this criteria for this movie: we want to meet people from all across America, but they have to be operating out of an old Pizza Hut restaurant. That limits you a little bit, and yet we found such diversity, such different people, different opinions, different lives, different stories. So it was nice, even with such limitations on your sample size, you can still find a very diverse America." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Urtext Films (@urtext) Rose: "I think Mark from the Yupp's Karaoke in Fort Worth, Texas, puts it best: 'our diversity is our strength'. And this is coming from a bartender in Fort Worth, Texas. It's pretty beautiful stuff. " Matthew: "I must admit that Yupp's Karaoke Bar was a lot of fun to film." Rose: "It was raging on a Tuesday night. It was just packed. And from what I understand, they now have lines on Saturdays — you can't get in. They are going absolute gangbusters." Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts. premieres at SXSW Sydney 2024, which runs from Monday, October 14–Sunday, October 20 at various Sydney venues. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details.
This summer, the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre is hosting a sales event of most peculiar stock. Strange things they are, full of pages, rampant with words and with covers of the most beautiful colours. You can't charge them, they don't run out of battery, their brightness is unalterable, and they won't smash when you drop them. After being forced to shake up its usual schedule over the past few years due to the pandemic, Lifeline Bookfest is coming back for another round of vintage bargains between Saturday, January 14–Sunday, January 22, 2023. It's where you'll find everything from Australian Women's Weekly cookbooks to a bit of cheeky erotica, as well as games, DVDs and puzzles. If you've been before, you'll know there are warehouse quantities of books for sale – your grade five diary is probably hidden under a copy of Shantaram, and you'll come across at least three copies of Cooking with Days of Our Lives. In fact, over this year's nine-day summer run, more than one million items will be up for grabs. Prices range from $2.50 to the big bucks, and you'll have plenty to choose from. Whenever Bookfest hits Brisbane, it always brings hundreds of crates of reading materials with it. You'll still want to bring a trolley and your glasses, obviously, and to clear some space on your shelves at home. And, you'll want to bring your cards, because this Bookfest is cashless. Also, you'll need your own bags, as books won't be wrapped for you this time around. Head along from 7.30am–6pm on Saturday, January 14; 8.30am–6pm between Sunday, January 15–Thursday, January 19; 8.30am–9pm on Friday, January 20; and 8.30am–6pm between Saturday, January 21–Sunday, January 22. Images: Bookfest.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE People have orgasms every day, but for decades spent closing her eyes and thinking of England in a sexually perfunctory marriage, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande's lead character wasn't among them. Forget la petite mort, the French term for climaxing; Nancy Stokes' (Emma Thompson, Cruella) big wrestling match with mortality, the one we all undertake, has long been devoid of erotic pleasure. Moments that feel like a little death? Unheard of. That's where this wonderfully candid, intimate, generous and joyous sex comedy starts, although not literally. Flashbacks to Nancy enduring getting it over with beneath her now-deceased spouse, missionary style, aren't Australian filmmaker Sophie Hyde (Animals) or British comedian-turned-screenwriter Katy Brand's (Glued) concern. Instead, their film begins with the religious education teacher waiting in a hotel room, about to take the biggest gamble of her life: meeting the eponymous sex worker (Daryl McCormack, Peaky Blinders). For anyone well-versed in Thompson's prolific on-screen history, and of Brand's work before the camera as well, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande inspires an easy wish: if only Nancy had a different job. Back in 2010, the pair co-starred in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, a title that'd also fit their latest collaboration if its protagonist cared for kids rather than taught them. Jokes aside, the instantly charming Leo is used to hearing that sentiment about his own professional choices. Indeed, Nancy expresses it during their pre- and post-coital discussions, enquiring about the events that might've led him to his career. "Maybe you're an orphan!" she says. "Perhaps you grew up in care, and you've got very low self-esteem," she offers. "You could have been trafficked against your will — you can't tell just by looking at somebody!" she continues. There are plenty of "if only" thoughts and feelings pulsating through Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, a film where its namesake's tongue couldn't be more important — yes, in that way, and also because talk is as crucial as sex here. If only Nancy hadn't spent half of her existence in a pleasure-free marriage. If only a lifetime of being middle class and socially conservative, and of internalising Britain's stereotypical 'keep calm and carry on' mentality, hadn't left her adrift from her desires. If only being a woman in her mid-50s wasn't seen as a libidinous void by society at large, a mindset that's as much a part of Nancy as the wrinkles and ageing body parts she can barely look at in the mirror. If only prioritising her sensual needs wasn't virtually taboo, too, especially in her mind — even after, two years since being widowed, she's booked an expensive rendezvous with Leo. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande unpacks those if onlys — not the Nanny McPhee one, obviously, but the idea that Nancy's life is immovably stuck in the same rut it has always been. As played by Thompson at the height of her acting powers, at her absolute splintery, finicky yet vulnerable best even with Last Christmas, Years and Years, Late Night and The Children Act on her recent resume, she's nervous, anxious, uncertain and always on the cusp of cancelling, including once Leo strolls into the room, beams his easy magnetism her way and starts talking about what she wants like it's the most natural thing in the world. Slipping into the sheets and knowing what excites you is the most natural thing in the world, of course, but not to Nancy. As her four appointments with Leo progress, she comes up with a lineup of carnal acts she'd like to experience — and she may as well be reading from her grocery list. But getting her to shed her inhibitions is as much his focus as shedding her clothes, and the twentysomething won't let Nancy keep getting in the way of herself. Read our full review. CRIMES OF THE FUTURE It takes a brave filmmaker to see cancer and climate change, and think of art, evolution and eroticism in a possible future. It takes a bold director to have a character proclaim that "surgery is the new sex", too. David Cronenberg has always been that kind of visionary, even before doing all of the above in his sublime latest release — and having the Scanners, Videodrome and The Fly helmer back on his body-horror bent for the first time in more than two decades is exactly the wild and weird dream that cinephiles want it to be. The Canadian auteur makes his first movie at all since 2014's Maps to the Stars, in fact, and this tale of pleasure and pain is as Cronenbergian as anything can be. He borrows Crimes of the Future's title from his second-ever feature dating back 50-plus years, brings all of his corporeal fascinations to the fore, and moulds a viscerally and cerebrally mesmerising film that it feels like he's always been working towards. Long live the new flesh, again. Long live the old Cronenberg as well. In this portrait of a potential time to come, the human body has undergone two significant changes. Three, perhaps, as glimpsed in a disquieting opening where an eight-year-old called Brecken (debutant Sotiris Siozos) snacks on a plastic bin, and is then murdered by his mother Djuna (Lihi Kornowski, Ballistic). That incident isn't unimportant, but Crimes of the Future has other departures from today's status quo to carve into — and they're equally absorbing. Physical agony has disappeared, creating a trade in "desktop surgery" as performance art. Also, a condition dubbed Accelerated Evolution Syndrome causes some folks, such as artist Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen, Thirteen Lives), to grow abnormal organs. These tumours are removed and tattooed in avant-garde shows by his doctor/lover Caprice (Léa Seydoux, No Time to Die), then catalogued by the National Organ Register's Wippit (Don McKellar, reteaming with Cronenberg after eXistenZ) and Timlin (Kristen Stewart, Spencer). When Crimes of the Future stages one of Saul and Caprice's gigs, it drips not with blood but spectacle and seduction. Indeed, it's no wonder that a curious Timlin utters that catchy observation about medical slicing and intimate arousal shortly afterwards. Alluring, eerie, grotesque and enthralling — and the epitome of the feature's sparse yet entrancing look and mood in the process — it's a powerhouse of a scene, with a self-autopsy pod at its centre. Saul lies still, Caprice uses an eXistenZ-esque fleshy video-game controller to get the contraption cutting, and an enraptured audience hang on every incision. Saul and Caprice do, too, although their visibly aroused reactions have nothing on their time later in the suite alone. (Cronenberg does love eschewing traditional ideas about what titillates; see also: his 1996 film Crash, about characters excited by car crashes. It's a clear precursor to this, and the movie that purred so that 2021 Palme d'Or winner Titane, by filmmaker Julia Ducournau, could rev.) Crimes of the Future's scalpel-equipped coffin is just one of Saul and Caprice's Lifeform Ware gadgets; if eXistenZ, Naked Lunch and Dead Ringers procreated, these are the devices the three flicks would spawn. HR Giger could've conjured them up as well, and thinking of the biomechanical artist's contribution to Alien, which saw him share an Oscar for visual effects, is as natural as feeling spellbound and perturbed by Cronenberg's movie in unison. This is a grimy world where a bed covered with skin and tentacles floats in Saul's home, calibrated to cater to his "designer cancer"-riddled body's needs as it slumbers — and where a chair that looks like a skeleton reassembled as furniture contorts Saul as he's eating, something he is having increasing trouble with otherwise. In other words, it's a world where the old flesh isn't doing what it always has, new flesh is sprouting in a changing and devastated reality, and technology fills in the gaps as it is always designed to. Read our full review. BOSCH & ROCKIT Remember the name Rasmus King. Based on 2022's slate of Australian films and television shows, that shouldn't be hard. The Byron Bay-born newcomer hadn't graced a screen, large or small, before this year — and now he has no fewer than four projects pushing him into the spotlight before 2023 arrives. Most, including surfing TV drama Barons, capitalise upon the fact that he's a pro on the waves IRL. Two, 6 Festivals and the upcoming sci-fi featurette What If The Future Never Happened?, get his long blonde locks whipping through the Australian music scene. The latter is based on Daniel Johns' teenage years, actually, and has King playing that pivotal part. If he's half as impressive in the role as he is in father-son drama Bosch & Rockit, Silverchair fans will have plenty to look to forward to. When writer/director Tyler Atkins opens his debut feature, it's in the late 90s, along Australia's east coast, and with King as eager surfer Rockit — son to weed farmer Bosch (Luke Hemsworth, Westworld). Sometimes, the titular pair hit the surf together, which sees Rockit's eyes light up; however, Bosch is usually happy tending to his illicit business, making questionable decisions, and coping with splitting from his son's mother Elizabeth (Leeanna Walsman, Eden) with the help of other women. Then a couple of unfortunate twists of fate upend Rockit's existence, all stemming from his father. Begrudgingly, Bosch is pushed into stepping outside his drug-growing comfort zone by an old friend-turned-cop (Michael Sheasby, The Nightingale) and his corrupt partner (Martin Sacks, Buckley's Chance). When a bushfire sweeps through the region shortly afterwards, he's forced to go on the run to stay alive. Bosch & Rockit approaches Bosch's absconding from Rockit's perspective, adopting the line that the former gives his boy: that they're going to Byron for an extended holiday. Atkins doesn't feed the same idea to its audience, but ensures that viewers understand why a bright-eyed teenager would take his dad at his word — not just because he doesn't know what Bosch does for a living, which he doesn't; or he's naïve, which he is; but also because he's eager to hang onto his biggest dream. There's sorrow in King's spirited performance, with Rockit more affected by his parents' split, bullying at school and the isolation that comes with finding solace in the sea, usually alone, than Bosch has the shrewdness to spot. There's earnestness as well, because what struggling kid who's desperate for the kind of love that genuine attention signifies, as Rockit visibly is, won't blindly believe whatever fantasy their dad or mum sells them for as long as possible? King does a magnetic job of conveying Rockit's inner turmoil, and expressing his uncertainty, too. There's an effortlessness to his portrayal, whether Rockit is lapping up Bosch's presence like a plant swaying towards the sunlight, listlessly left to his own devices when his dad decides he'd rather chase Byron local Deb (Isabel Lucas, That's Not Me), or finding a kindred spirit in Ash (Savannah La Rain, Surviving Summer), another restless and yearning teen vacationing under less-than-ideal circumstances and feeling like she's alone in the world. Avoiding formulaic plotting isn't Bosch & Rockit's strong suit, however, as the film makes plain at every turn. That's evident in both of its namesakes' trajectories, for starters — with Bosch a small-time crim falling afoul of the wrong people, with help from bad luck, then trying to start anew; and Rockit an innocent kid stuck with subpar parents, forced to grow up faster than he should, but hanging onto whatever he can. Read our full review. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on May 5, May 12, May 19 and May 26; June 2, June 9, June 16, June 23 and June 30; and July 7, July 14, July 21 and July 28, and August 4 and August 11. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Petite Maman, The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Firestarter, Operation Mincemeat, To Chiara, This Much I Know to Be True, The Innocents, Top Gun: Maverick, The Bob's Burgers Movie, Ablaze, Hatching, Mothering Sunday, Jurassic World Dominion, A Hero, Benediction, Lightyear, Men, Elvis, Lost Illusions, Nude Tuesday, Ali & Ava, Thor: Love and Thunder, Compartment No. 6, Sundown, The Gray Man, The Phantom of the Open, The Black Phone, Where the Crawdads Sing, Official Competition, The Forgiven, Full Time, Murder Party, Bullet Train, Nope, The Princess and 6 Festivals.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas across the country. After months spent empty, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are back in business — spanning both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngy7grwzFTw NOBODY As both a comedian and a dramatic actor, Bob Odenkirk has earned a lifetime's worth of well-deserved praise. Writing for Saturday Night Live and starring in Mr Show with Bob and David each sit on his resume, as does his pivotal part in Breaking Bad and lead role in the exceptional Better Call Saul. But in Nobody, Odenkirk highlights a facet of his work that's easy to overlook. Jumping into a new genre, he makes viewers realise a truth that cuts to the heart of his talents. Every actor wants to be the person that can't be replaced, and to turn in the type of performances that no one can emulate; however, only the very best, including Odenkirk, manage exactly that. A movie so forged from the John Wick mould that it's penned by the same screenwriter — and boasts the first film's co-director David Leitch (Atomic Blonde) as a producer, too — Nobody could've featured any existing action go-to. It could've been an easy knockoff of well-known hit, joining the swathe of direct-to-video and -streaming titles that use that very template. It could've given Bruce Willis his next role to sleepwalk through, added yet another Taken-style thriller to Liam Neeson's resume or proven one of Nicolas Cage's more straightforward vehicles of late. Thankfully, though, Nobody is all about the ever-watchable Odenkirk and his peerless and compelling ability to play slippery characters. When Nobody begins, Hutch Mansell's (Odenkirk) life has become such a routine that his weeks all unfurl in the same fashion. Plodding through a sexless marriage to real estate agent Becca (Connie Nielsen, Wonder Woman 1984), and barely paid any notice by his teenage son Blake (Gage Munroe, Guest of Honour) and younger daughter Abby (debutant Paisley Cadorath), he catches public transport to his manufacturing company job every weekday, always puts the bins out too late for the garbage truck on Tuesday mornings, and usually earns little more than polite smiles from his family while he's cooking them breakfast that they fail to eat. Then, the Mansells' suburban home is randomly burgled. Hutch confronts the thieves in the act, has a chance to swing a golf club their way, yet holds back. But when Abby notices that her beloved cat bracelet is missing in the aftermath, he decides to take action — a choice that leads him to an unrelated bus filled with obnoxious guys hassling a female passenger, and eventually sees unhinged Russian mobster Yulian Kuznetsov (Aleksey Serebryakov, Leviathan) threatening everything that Hutch holds dear. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0ox9ExOA1M&feature=youtu.be THE FATHER Forgetting, fixating, flailing, fraying: that's The Father. Anthony's (Anthony Hopkins, Westworld) life is unravelling, with his daughter Anne (Olivia Colman, The Crown) springing the sudden news that she's about to move to Paris, and now insistent that he needs a new carer to replace the last home helper he's just scared off. He also can't find his watch, and time seems to jump suddenly. On some days, he has just trundled out of bed to greet the morning when Anne advises that dinner, not breakfast, is being served. When he brings up her French relocation again, she frostily and dismissively denies any knowledge. Sometimes another man (Mark Gatiss, Dracula) stalks around Anthony's London apartment, calling himself Anne's husband. Sometimes the flat isn't his own at all and, on occasion, both Anne (Olivia Williams, Victoria and Abdul) and her partner (Rufus Sewell, Judy) look completely different. Intermittently, Anthony either charms or spits cruel words at Laura (Imogen Poots, Black Christmas), the latest aide hired to oversee his days. She reminds him of another daughter, one he's sure he had — and preferred — but hasn't heard from for years. When he mentions his other offspring, however, everyone else goes silent. More than once, Anthony suspects that someone has pilfered his beloved timepiece, which just keeps disappearing. Largely, The Father remains housebound. For the bulk of its 97 minutes, it focuses on the cardigan-wearing Anthony as he roams around the space he calls home. But this is a chaotic film, despite its visual polish, and that mess, confusion and upheaval is entirely by design. All the shifting and changing — big and small details alike, and faces and places, too — speak to the reason Anne keeps telling Anthony they need another set of hands around the house. His memory isn't what it used to be. In fact, it's getting much worse than that. Anthony knows that there's something funny going on, which is how he describes it when his sense of what's happening twists and morphs without warning, and The Father's audience are being immersed in that truth. Anthony has dementia, with conveying precisely how that feels for him the main aim of this six-time Oscar-nominated stage-to-screen adaptation. As overwhelming as The Father can be as it wades through Anthony and Anne's lives, its unflinching and unsparing approach is anchored in kindness and compassion, which novelist and playwright turned first-time director Florian Zeller has brought to the screen in a stunning fashion from Le Père, his own play. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bb2d6DVY28 THE COURIER In 1960, in the thick of the Cold War, British businessman Greville Wynne was recruited by MI6. Chosen because he frequently travelled to Eastern Europe for work — and also because he wouldn't stand out in general — he was asked to visit Moscow numerous times, then return with information about the Soviet nuclear program as supplied by a contact within the Russian government. That's the true tale that The Courier explores, and it's an intriguinng one. Working together until around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, Wynne and Oleg Penkovsky, his source, helped change the course of history. And yet, in a film that looks backwards not just for its content but also in its old-school style, director Dominic Cooke (On Chesil Beach) and screenwriter Tom O'Connor (The Hitman's Bodyguard) seem to have taken the wrong cue from the story they're telling. As everything from years of Bond flicks to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Bridge of Spies have shown, Cold War spy movies have comprised their own genre for decades. The Courier knows this, and remains happy to blend in among its peers. It's solid but straightforward, always proving just engaging and rousing enough. It also boasts an excellent performance from Benedict Cumberbatch in his latest historical drama (see also: The Imitation Game and The Current War), but this espionage thriller still has less of an impact than it should. Indeed, Cumberbatch's efforts as an ordinary man in an extraordinary situation rank among The Courier's biggest highlights, alongside the real-life details it delves into. He's calm, flattered and even a little perplexed in early scenes, as Wynne is asked by the CIA's Emily Donovan (Rachel Brosnahan, I'm Your Woman) and MI6's Dickie Franks (Angus Wright, Official Secrets) to do his country and the world a favour. Soon, Cumberbatch is both confident and jumpy as Wynne travels back and forth, strikes up a genuine friendship with Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze, Homeland) and tries to keep the reality of his trips from his increasingly suspicious wife Sheila (Jessie Buckley, Misbehaviour). And, later, he's vulnerable but still determined. He takes the feature's biggest theme — loyalty — firmly to heart, and ensures that it seeps from his pores whether Wynne is in an easy, tricky or brutal scenario. It's still impossible not to notice how standard and risk-averse almost everything around Cumberbatch is, though; however, The Courier is never plodding. Still, there's a difference between skewing classic to do a narrative justice and boxing a true story into a template, with this film frequently leaning more towards the latter than the former. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP9TfCWaQT4 TOM & JERRY Before Itchy and Scratchy started terrorising each other well beyond the bounds of normal cat and mouse antagonism, another feline and rodent pair got there first. Of course, The Simpsons' adversarial four-legged critters were designed to parody the characters created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera more than 80 years ago, but they've long since supplanted Tom and Jerry as popular culture's go-to fighting animal duo. Perhaps the new Tom & Jerry movie is an attempt to push its titular creatures back to prominence. Perhaps it's just the latest effort to cash in on nostalgia while hoping that a new generation of children will be interested enough to warrant more big-screen outings, and therefore more chances to make some cash. Watching this all-ages-friendly hybrid of cartoon and live-action, it doesn't seem as if anyone involved knows quite why the film exists — not director Tom Story (Ride Along and Ride Along 2), who cares more about stressing the feature's hip hop soundtrack than paying much attention to its eponymous figures; not screenwriter Kevin Costello (Brigsby Bear), who pens a dull and derivative script about celebrity wedding chaos; and definitely not a cast that spans Chloë Grace Moretz (Shadow in the Cloud), Michael Peña (Fantasy Island), Rob Delaney (Catastrophe), Ken Jeong (Boss Level), Colin Jost (Saturday Night Live) and Pallavi Sharda (Retrograde), all of whom will forever have this misfire on their resumes. The animated animal action starts with Tom's latest vendetta against his long-time rival Jerry, after the latter destroys the former's keyboard and his music stardom dreams along with it. In his quest for revenge, the cat follows the house-hunting mouse to his newest abode at Manhattan's upmarket Royal Gate hotel, where the pair soon wreak havoc. Story and Costello prefer to focus on the resourceful and human Kayla (Moretz) at almost every turn, though. After talking her way into a job onsite, she's soon given two important tasks. The first: help ensure that the nuptials of two nondescript celebs (Jost and Sharda) go smoothly, which of course doesn't happen. The second: track down Jerry, which involves hiring Tom to assist. Somehow, Tom & Jerry is both lazy and overcomplicated. It does the bare minimum with its flesh-and-blood and pixel characters alike, all while completely forgetting that viewers have always loved Tom and Jerry for its fast, smart and entertaining slapstick antics (and definitely not because one day the duo might become bit-players in yet another flick about bland wedding dramas). When the film starts with pigeons rapping A Tribe Called Quest's 'Can I Kick It?' in its entirety, it begs an obvious question: who is this for? No one that's brought this movie to fruition seems to know the answer there, either — and they certainly haven't expended any energy on trying to make the feature funny, because laughs are absent from start to finish. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on January 1, January 7, January 14, January 21 and January 28; February 4, February 11, February 18 and February 25; and March 4, March 11, March 18 and March 25. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Nomadland, Pieces of a Woman, The Dry, Promising Young Woman, Summerland, Ammonite, The Dig, The White Tiger, Only the Animals, Malcolm & Marie, News of the World, High Ground, Earwig and the Witch, The Nest, Assassins, Synchronic, Another Round, Minari, Firestarter — The Story of Bangarra, The Truffle Hunters, The Little Things, Chaos Walking, Raya and the Last Dragon, Max Richter's Sleep, Judas and the Black Messiah, Girls Can't Surf, French Exit, Saint Maud, Godzilla vs Kong and The Painter and the Thief.
The skirts were short, hippies were groovy, and if you didn’t love The Beatles, then you loved The Rolling Stones. Teens danced on television shows, and everyone wanted to be a star. Or at least that’s what movies about the '60s have told us. One film in particular has shaped the views of those who weren’t alive at the time, one made in the 1980s yet set two decades prior. Hairspray has been restaged on Broadway and remade featuring Zac Efron, but there’s nothing like the original. John Waters’ cult classic made a star out of Ricki Lake, and also featured the one and only Divine, plus Debbie Harry and Sonny Bono. Don’t miss this rare chance to see the movie on the big screen — and if you can’t resist the urge to tap your toes, you’re in for a treat afterwards. Stick around for more swinging sounds, and music clips too. It’ll be just like stepping back in time, minus the time machine.
School's back — and so is the escalating battle between humans and folks with superpowers, no shortage of chaos and gore, and nothing being quite what it seems at Godolkin University. Also returning at the centre of all of the above, as seen in the just-dropped full trailer for Gen V season two: the blood-bending Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair, Please Baby Please), her size-changing roomate Emma Meyer (Lizze Broadway, Kinda Pregnant), gender-shifting Jordan Li (Never Have I Ever's London Thor and Shining Vale's Derek Luh), the persuasive Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips, Overcompensating), super-strong Sam Riordan (Asa Germann, Monsters) and superhero Polarity (Sean Patrick Thomas, High Potential). This college-set spinoff from The Boys — which takes the latter's caped-crusader satirising to the next generation — first debuted in 2023 and was quickly renewed for a second run. Season four of The Boys arrived in 2024, and now it's time for Gen V's comeback from Wednesday, September 17, 2025, ahead of the Vought Cinematic Universe's OG series wrapping up with its upcoming fifth and final season. What if dealing with possessing superpowers turned higher learning into absolute mayhem? That's one of the concepts at the heart of Gen V — although the impact of part of the population having extraordinary abilities has always been at the core of the entire franchise. As the VCU's characters cope with the fallout from Homelander's (Antony Starr, G20) actions in The Boys, what if the Godolkin gang could rival him in strength? That's where Gen V is heading, too, the new sneak peek teases. As also seen in an earlier teaser for season two, there's a new uni head, Cipher (Hamish Linklater, Nickel Boys), on the scene with a far-from-trustworthy vibe. Indeed, he wants his pupils to be more powerful than ever. Marie's stint at the Elmira Adult Rehabilitation Centre, her home since the events of season one — and for some of her friends, too — comes to an end as well; however, going back to class isn't the same as it once was, including in a "Make America Super Again" world. Then there's the discovery of a secret program dating back to God U's founding. For those who missed Gen V 's initial season, Godolkin University is the college for superheroes that's meant to help prepare the best of the best for caped-crusader life — until exploding classmates, creepy secret facilities and unnerving professors complicate matters, that is. Season one spent its time with Marie, who knows that attending God U is a pivotal opportunity. After a traumatic experience when her powers kicked in, this is her chance to completely change her life, as well as achieve her dream of becoming the first Black woman in The Seven. Then, nothing turns out as planned. Also, things on campus (and underneath it) get shady, fast. The pair of glimpses at season two so far also dive into how the show is addressing an off-screen tragedy, after season-one talent Chance Perdomo (After Everything), who portrayed the magnetic Andre Anderson, passed away in 2024. Familiar faces from across the franchise feature in the new footage as well, alongside Ethan Slater (Wicked) joining the cast as Thomas Godolkin. Check out the full trailer for Gen V season two below: Gen V streams via Prime Video, with season two releasing from Wednesday, September 17, 2025. Read our review of season one.
The always-popular Hearts of Gold series is back for its 10th showcase at Bleeding Heart. Head along to the Ann Street venue to see the works of local artisans, including Ali Bezer, Sophie Bottomley, Mitchell Donaldson, Liana Evans, Maya Walker and Taya Lindner. In keeping with Hearts of Gold tradition, all of the profits made from the opening night celebrations will be donated to the worthwhile charity, Givit. It is an online match making service with a twist, pairing those in need with individual charities, who provide needed items by way of volunteer delivery persons. Bleeding Heart will aim to buy a selection of required items, plus a cash donation, so attendees will be assisting in a commendable cause. The exhibition itself runs from September 10th to the 16th, and is supported by Wise Foundation and Little Creatures Brewing.
When your nine-to-five plays out like a well-oiled machine, it can sometimes feel like each week is a little same-same. But Brisbane is brimming with a fine bounty of things to experience and explore each and every day. So aside from casual laziness and a little lack of inspiration, there's really nothing stopping you from squeezing some adventure and spontaneity into your schedule. We've teamed up with Mazda3 to help you celebrate the little things that bring a sense of adventure to life. Shake things up, as we give you seven different detours to take each week in Brisbane. From Monday to Sunday, enrich your everyday with one completely achievable activity that inspires you to take the scenic route as you go about your daily routine. This week, cuddle some cats at a dedicated cat cafe, cool off at some old-school baths just outside the CBD and get someone else to cook Sunday roast for you. Plus, we've got your future detours sorted for the new few weeks here. All require no more effort than a tiny break from the norm — what's your excuse for not trying them all?
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. DRIVE MY CAR More than four decades have passed since Haruki Murakami's debut novel reached shelves, and since the first film adaptation of his work followed, too; however, the two best page-to-screen versions of the author's prose have arrived in the past four years. It's easy to think about South Korean drama Burning while watching Drive My Car, because the two features — one Oscar-shortlisted, the other now the first Japanese movie to be nominated for Best Picture — spin the writer's words into astonishing, intricately observed portraits of human relationships. Both films are also exceptional. In the pair, Murakami's text is only a starting point, with his tales hitting the screen filtered through each picture's respective director. For Drive My Car, Japanese filmmaker Ryûsuke Hamaguchi does the honours, taking audiences riding through another of the Happy Hour, Asako I & II and with Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy helmer's layered, thoughtful and probing reflections on connection. Using Murakami's short story from 2014 collection Men Without Women as its basis, Drive My Car's setup is simple. Yes, the film's title is descriptive. Two years after a personal tragedy, actor/director Yūsuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima, Silent Tokyo) agrees to bring Chekhov's Uncle Vanya to the stage in Hiroshima, and the company behind it insists on giving him a chauffeur for his stay. He declines— he'd asked to stay an hour away from the theatre so he could listen to recorded tapes of the play on his drive — yet his new employers contend that it's mandatory for insurance and liability reasons. Enter 23-year-old Misaki Watari (Tôko Miura, Spaghetti Code Love), who becomes a regular part of Yūsuke's working stint in the city. Drive My Car doesn't hurry to its narrative destination, clocking in at a minute shy of three hours. It doesn't rush to get to its basic premise, either. Before the film's opening credits arrive 40 minutes in, it steps through Yūsuke's existence back when he was appearing in a version of Uncle Vanya himself, married to television scriptwriter Oto (Reika Kirishima, Japanese TV's Sherlock) and grappling with an earlier heartbreak. His wife is also sleeping with younger actor Takatsuki (Masaki Okada, Arc), which Yūsuke discovers, says nothing about but works towards discussing until fate intervenes. Then, when he sits in his red 1987 Saab 900 Turbo just as the movie's titles finally display, he's a man still wracked by grief. It's also swiftly clear that he's using his two-month Hiroshima residency as a distraction, even while knowing that this exact play — and Oto's voice on the tapes he keeps listening to — will always be deeply tied to his life-shattering loss. This prologue does more than set the scene; there's a reason that Hamaguchi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Takamasa Oe (The Naked Director), directs so much time its way. Where tales of tragedy and mourning often plunge into happy lives suddenly unsettled by something catastrophic or the process of picking up the pieces in the aftermath — typically making a concerted choice between one or the other — Drive My Car sees the two as the forever-linked halves of a complicated journey, as they are. The film isn't interested in the events that've forever altered the plot of Yūsuke's life, but in who he is, how he copes, and what ripples that inescapable hurt causes. It's just as fascinated with another fact: that so many of us have these stories. Just as losing someone and soldiering on afterwards are unshakeably connected, so are we all by sharing these cruel constants of life. Read our full review. BENEDETTA What do two nuns in the throes of sexual ecstasy gasp? "My god" and "sweet Jesus", of course. No other filmmaker could've made those divine orgasmic exclamations work quite like Paul Verhoeven does in Benedetta, with the Dutch filmmaker adding another lusty, steamy, go-for-broke picture to his resume three decades after Basic Instinct and more than a quarter-century since Showgirls. His latest erotic romp has something that his 90s dives into plentiful on-screen sex didn't, however: a true tale, courtesy of the life of the movie's 17th-century namesake, whose story the writer/director and his co-scribe David Birke (Slender Man) adapt from Judith Brown's 1986 non-fiction book Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy. For anyone that's ever wondered how a religious biopic and nunsploitation might combine, this is the answer you've been praying for. Frequently a playful filmmaker — the theories that Showgirls is in on its own joke keep bubbling for a reason — Verhoeven starts his first film since 2016's Elle with that feature's more serious tone. The screen is back, the words "inspired by real events" appear and the score is gloomy. When Benedetta's titular figure appears as a girl (played by Elena Plonka, Don't Worry About the Kids), she's the picture of youth and innocence, and she's also so devoted to her faith that she's overjoyed about joining a convent in the Tuscan village of Pescia. But then villains interrupt her trip, and this pious child demonstrates her favour with the almighty by seemingly getting a bird to shit in a man's eye. It isn't quite as marvellous as turning water into wine, but it's its own kind of miracle. As an adult (Virginie Efira, Bye Bye Morons), she'll talk to strapping hallucinations of Jesus (Jonathan Couzinié, Heroes Don't Die), too, and use her beloved childhood statuette of the Virgin Mary as a dildo. There is no line between the sacred and the profane in Benedetta: things can be both here, and frequently are. Case in point: on her first night at the convent, after a bartering session between her father (David Clavel, French Dolls) and the abbess (Charlotte Rampling, Dune) over the girl's dowry for becoming a bride of christ, a statue of the Virgin Mary collapses upon Benedetta, and she shows her sanctity by licking the sculpture's exposed breast. So, 18 years later, when she's both seeing Jesus and attracted to abused newcomer Sister Bartolomea (Daphné Patakia, Versailles), they're the most natural things that could happen. To Benedetta, they're gifts from god, too. She does try to deny her chemistry with the convent's fresh novice at first, but the lord wants what he wants for her. Unsurprisingly, not everyone in the convent — the abbess' daughter Sister Christina (Louise Chevillotte, Synonyms) chief among them — agrees, approves or in believes in her visions. Verhoeven puts his own faith in crafting a witty, sexy, no-holds-barred satire. That said, he doesn't ever play Benedetta as a one-note, over-the-top joke that's outrageous for the sake of it. His protagonist believes, he just-as-devoutly believes in her — whether she's a prophet, a heretic or both, he doesn't especially care — and he also trusts her faith in her primal desires. His allegiance is always with Benedetta, but that doesn't mean that he can't find ample humour in the film or firm targets to skewer. The hypocrisy of religion — "a convent is not a place of charity, child; you must pay to come here," the abbess advises — gets his full comic attention. Having the always-great Rampling on-hand to personify the Catholic Church at its most judgemental and least benevolent (at its money-hungry worst, too) helps considerably. Indeed, what the veteran English actor can do with a withering glare and snarky delivery is a movie miracle. Read our full review. DEATH ON THE NILE Some folks just know how to rock a moustache. When Kenneth Branagh (Tenet) stepped into super-sleuth Hercule Poirot's shoes in 2017's Murder on the Orient Express, he clearly considered himself to be one of them. The actor and filmmaker didn't simply play Agatha Christie's famously moustachioed Belgian detective, but also directed the movie — and he didn't miss a chance to showcase his own performance, as well as that hair adorning his top lip. You don't need to be a world-renowned investigator to deduce that Branagh was always going to repeat the same tricks with sequel Death on the Nile, or to pick that stressing the character's distinctive look and accompanying bundle of personality quirks would again take centre stage. But giving Poirot's 'stache its own black-and-white origin story to start the new movie truly is the height of indulgence. Branagh has previously covered a superhero's beginnings in the initial Thor flick, and also stepped into his own childhood in Belfast, so explaining why Poirot sports his elaborately styled mo — how it came to be, and what it means to him emotionally, too — is just another example of the director doing something he obviously loves. That early hirsute focus sets the tone for Death on the Nile, though, and not as Branagh and returning screenwriter Michael Green (Jungle Cruise) must've intended. Viewers are supposed to get a glimpse at what lies beneath Poirot's smarts and deductive savvy by literally peering beneath his brush-like under-nostril bristles, but all that emerges is routine and formulaic filler. That's the film from its hairy opening to its entire trip through Egypt. At least the moustache looks more convincing than the sets and CGI that are passed off as the pyramids, Abu Simbel and cruising the titular waterway. It's 1937, three years after the events of Murder on the Orient Express, and Poirot is holidaying in Egypt. While drinking tea with a vantage out over the country's unconvincingly computer-generated towering wonders, he chances across his old pal Bouc (Tom Bateman, Behind Her Eyes) and his mother Euphemia (Annette Bening, Hope Gap), who invite him to join their own trip — which doubles as a honeymoon for just-married heiress Linnet Ridgeway (Gal Gadot, Red Notice) and her new husband Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer, Crisis). Poirot obliges, but he's also surprised by the happy couple. Six weeks earlier, he saw them get introduced by Linnet's now-former friend and Simon's now ex-fiancée Jacqueline de Bellefort (Emma Mackey, Sex Education). That awkward history isn't easily forgotten by the central duo, either, given that Jackie has followed them with a view to winning Simon back. Boating down the Nile is initially an escape plan, whisking the newlyweds away from their obsessive stalker. But even as the group — which includes jazz singer Salome Otterbourne (Sophie Okonedo, Wild Rose), her niece and Linnet's school friend Rosalie (Letitia Wright, Black Panther), the bride's own ex-fiancé Linus Windlesham (Russell Brand, Four Kids and It), her lawyer Andrew Katchadourian (Ali Fazal, Victoria and Abdul), her assistant Louise Bourget (Rose Leslie, Game of Thrones), her godmother Marie Van Schuyler (Jennifer Saunders, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie) and the latter's nurse Mrs Bowers (Dawn French, The Vicar of Dibley) — adjust to the change of schedule, two things were always going to happen. The pouty Jacqueline can't be thwarted that easily, of course. Also, the fact that there'll soon be a murder for Poirot to solve is right there in the movie's moniker. Read our full review. MARRY ME Romantic comedies are all about timing. Whoever pairs up in whichever film, they share moments: meeting-cute at just the right time, going on life-changing dates, coming to big realisations in tandem and such. Marry Me lives for those kinds of incidents, but the film's timing itself is also unfortunate. Based on Bobby Crosby's webcomic and subsequent graphic novel of the same name — with the former dating back to 2006 — it arrives on the big screen at a time when Starstruck has already delightfully riffed on Notting Hill's tale about an everyday person falling for someone super famous, and when reality TV's Married at First Sight has been making people who've just met get hitched since 2013 (and in versions made in multiple countries), too. If Marry Me managed to transcend its Starstruck/Notting Hill-meets-MAFS premise, it could reach cinemas whenever and it wouldn't matter; however, even Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson's charms can't make that happen. Releasing a rom-com starring Lopez and Wilson in 2022 does toy with time a little, though. Its source material doesn't date back 25 years, to when its stars were both in Anaconda, but its broad strokes could've still fuelled a late-90s addition to the romantic-comedy genre. That's how creaky it feels; of course, that timing would've meant spinning a story without livestreamed concerts — and livestreamed lives, outside of films such as The Truman Show and EdTV — but it also would've rid the movie of one of its biggest crutches. Marry Me finds it too easy to blame too many character choices on the always-online, always-performing, always-oversharing mentality that's now the status quo. It too lazily uses the divide between constantly broadcasting one's every move via social media and happily living life offline to fuel its opposites-attract setup as well. It's no wonder that the movie always feels shallow, even for an obvious fairytale, and even as the script attempts to layer in knowing nods to how women like its central popstar are treated by the world whether or not they record and share every moment they're awake. That singing celebrity is Kat Valdez, aka Lopez playing a part that could've easily been originally penned with her in mind. Kat is a global superstar who, to her dismay, is known as much for her hits as for her personal life. That said, she also willingly combines the two in the track 'Marry Me', a duet with her fiancé Bastian (Colombian singer Maluma) that the pair plan to get married to during a show livestreamed to 20 million people. But moments before Kat ascends to the on-stage altar, news that Bastian has been unfaithful spreads across the internet. Sick of being unlucky in love — and just as fed up with being publicly ridiculed for her romantic misfortunes — she picks out Owen's middle-school maths teacher Charlie Gilbert from the crowd and weds him instead. He's just holding a banner with the movie's title on it for his pal and fellow educator Parker Debbs (Sarah Silverman, Don't Look Up), and he's accompanied by his daughter Lou (Claudia Coleman, Gunpowder Milkshake), but he still says yes. Director Kat Coiro (A Case of You) knows the kind of glossy, crowd-pleasing, comfort-viewing fare she's making and has a feel for that exact niche, but no one is served well by John Rogers (The Librarians), Tami Sagher (Inside Amy Schumer) and Harper Dill's (The Mick) paper-thin script. Worlds away from their last respective big-screen roles in Hustlers and The French Dispatch, Lopez and Wilson do what they can with the fluffy, frothy material, but make viewers wish they had something better to work with. Charismatic casting can keep formulaic rom-coms afloat, and this pairing frequently does, but it can't hide Marry Me's surface-level skimming of anything that could've given it depth. What's expected of women, especially in the public eye; the struggle to keep believing in love when past relationships have silenced your hope; the chasm between the dream of fame and the reality: fleshed out, they all could've helped make Marry Me sing something more than the same old romantic-comedy tune. SIMPLE PASSION To watch Laetitia Dosch in Simple Passion is to watch a woman flipped and flung about by the forces of love and lust, sometimes literally, while proving steadfastly willing to flail and even flounder in the pursuit of her desires. After appearing in films such as 4 Days in France, Gaspard at the Wedding and Of Love and Lies, the French Swiss actor plays Hélène Auguste, a Parisian university lecturer caught in the throes of her most profound sexual relationship yet. Alas, Russian diplomat Aleksandr Svitsin (ballet star Sergei Polunin, The White Crow), the man she can't get enough, has a wife and another life in a different country. He also alternates between showing up unannounced for marathon lovemaking sessions, ghosting her texts and standing Hélène up on hotel rendezvous, a dynamic that leaves her as tussled and tumbled as their rumbles between the sheets. Passion is the perfect word for what she feels, as the movie's moniker proclaims — but the other term in its title couldn't be more loaded. Hélène's attraction to and obsession with Aleksandr is simple in its most primal form. Whenever the couple are in bed — or on whatever other surface fits the task in her sunny home, as writer/director Danielle Arbid (Parisienne) eagerly depicts — everything just clicks. But when more than flesh against flesh is involved, it isn't merely complicated; the infatuated Hélène may as well be an errant rose petal caught in a gusty breeze on a glorious day. The passion that she holds so dear, that makes her feel like something other than a single mother with a straightforward life, and that seems so perfect when coloured by post-coital bliss, is also a whirlwind that can thrust her in any direction at any time without notice. She wants to bask in the glow that her affair with Aleksandr ignites, not just internally and emotionally but in the way it makes everything about her existence seem brighter, and yet that happiness is always at his mercy. Arbid adapts Annie Ernaux's novel of the same name with a key, calm and clear-eyed aim: steeping her film deep within Hélène's mindset so that every frame reflects her longing and desire, and her passion at its most simple and complex alike. As its lengthy sex scenes linger on Polunin's body, the feature firmly sports a female gaze — the yearning that Hélène feels for Aleksandr filters through every image, whether the couple is getting physical, she's peering at the stoic face that so infrequently betrays what he's thinking, or she's taking her time cataloguing his tattooed torso. Simple Passion is explicit, and often, including with Hélène's ecstatic moans as its soundtrack. It's sensual, soulful and emotional, though, traits that equally apply in the dead space between the dates that its protagonist anticipates breathlessly. Indeed, Arbid and cinematographer Pascale Granel (The Wild Boys) capture the way that she stares around her house as she keenly awaits any sign from Aleksandr with the same intimacy and delicacy. That's a pivotal touch; stylistically, Hélène is never defined by Aleksandr, but by her own feelings. Dosch is remarkable as Hélène, turning in a rich and subtle performance that's both physically expressive and deeply internalised, and usually at the same time. Her body speaks its own language when she's with Aleksandr, while her face coveys everything that bubbles inside — sometimes hope and joy, sometimes despair and listlessness — whether she's revelling in his presence or rueing his absence. In fact, she so sensational that she helps the film patch over easy choices that, in hands less meticulous and careful than Arbid's, would threaten to put Simple Passion in the 50 Shades of Grey and After franchises' company. Of course Hélène is a literature professor, because female-focused features about thorny affairs that spring from the page to the screen love the field. Of course the movie's pop-music cues are heavy-handed. Of course Polunin operates in one register, even if his off-screen infamy lends more texture to his character. Nonetheless, when Simple Passion rises to its seductive and astute peaks, it showers the screen in sparks. WYRMWOOD: APOCALYPSE Add The Castle to the list of influences flavouring Australian zombie franchise Wyrmwood: here, as in the beloved homegrown comedy, it's the vibe of the thing. Starting with 2014's low-budget labour of love Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead and now continuing with Wyrmwood: Apocalypse, this bushland-set saga has atmosphere to spare. Free-flowing gore, a crash-and-bash urgency and a can-do attitude splatter across the screen in abundance, too. They're key factors in all movies about a dystopian future ravaged by the undead, but filmmaking siblings Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner ask that mood and tone to do much of their series' heavy lifting. The Wyrmwood films blast away with affection for all of the zombie flicks that've preceded them, and all of the outback thrillers, Ozploitation fare and mad scientist-fuelled tales as well — and they couldn't be more blatant about it — but, even with that teeming passion and prominent energy, they still prove less than the sum of their evident sources of inspiration. As its predecessor did, Wyrmwood: Apocalypse nonetheless makes a smart move or two within its sea of well-worn concepts and overt nods. The strongest and savviest here: casting Shantae Barnes-Cowan and Tasia Zalar, and pointing the camera at them at every chance possible. The former takes on the shuffling, brain-munching masses fresh from battling vampires in the outback in Aussie TV series Firebite, and turns in another fierce and formidable performance. The latter arrives with The Straits, Mystery Road and Streamline on her resume and, while playing a character who needs rescuing — a half-human, half-zombie at that — she could never be described as a damsel in distress. Indeed, Barnes-Cowan and Zalar help set this sequel's ferocious tone as much as the gritty, go-for-broke aesthetics that the Roache-Turner brothers and their returning cinematographer Tim Nagle gleefully and eagerly covet. Writer/director/editor Kiah and writer/producer Tristan still stick with the most obvious protagonist, however: Rhys (Luke McKenzie, Wentworth), a special forces soldier who also happens to be the twin of a crucial figure from the prior film. He weathers dystopian life by holing up in a fenced-in compound where he uses a pen full of zombies to his advantage — aided by various contraptions, plenty of chains and shackles, plus blood-dripping carcasses as incentives — and by driving a Mad Max-style vehicle to round up undead test subjects for The Surgeon (Nicholas Boshier, The Moth Effect). In fact, after crossing paths with Zalar's Grace, he delivers her for military-approved experiments, but Barnes-Cowan's Maxi soon demands that he help set her free. Rhys has been operating under the assumption that The Surgeon and his armed pals had humanity's best interests in mind, despite all glaring appearances otherwise, a misguided belief that Maxi quickly vanquishes. Wyrmwood: Apocalypse also weaves in ex-mechanic Barry (Jay Gallagher, Nekrotronic) and his sister Brooke (Bianca Bradey, The Pet Killer), survivors of the first film, and toys with zombies controlled by virtual reality, too. Just like its heaving pile of influences, Wyrmwood: Apocalypse doesn't lack in moving parts — although that isn't the same as telling an engaging story, which the sequel doesn't ever muster up. Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead already echoed too loudly with been-there, done-that touches; this follow-up positively screams, especially for fans of both horror and science fiction who've seen all the same movies that the Roache-Turners clearly have. Unsurprisingly, while Bosher steals scenes by pure force in his attempt to one-up even the craziest of past on-screen mad scientists, everything around Barnes-Cowan and Zalar — McKenzie's supremely standard leading role included — frequently feels like filler in an familiar wasteland. BLACKLIGHT In most movies, Liam Neeson's Blacklight character wouldn't be the protagonist. Secret FBI fixer Travis Block likely wouldn't even be given a name. Instead, he'd merely be a brief presence who popped up to help other on-screen figures — the federal agents he gets out of tricky situations, for instance — as they went about their business and connected the script's necessary plot points. Turning someone who'd usually be seen as disposable into its lead is this action-thriller's one good idea, but the flattened henchman scene in Austin Powers gave the notion more thought than the entirety of Blacklight demonstrates. There's a difference between thrusting a character to the fore and fleshing them out, especially when a film is happy to define them solely by the actor in their shoes. Here, Travis Block is another prosaic entry on Neeson's action resume first and foremost. When Blacklight begins, Block has spent his career doing whatever FBI Director Gabriel Robinson (Aidan Quinn, Elementary) has asked. Typically, that's assisting on-the-books operatives struggling with off-the-books missions — and Block is great at his job. But when he's tasked with aiding the suddenly erratic Dusty Crane (Taylor John Smith, Shadow in the Cloud), he begins to see more in the rogue agent's story than his old Vietnam War pal Robinson wants to share. Crane has quite the wild tale to tell, tied to the assassination of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-style politician Sofia Flores (Mel Jarnson, Mortal Kombat) and filled with dark government secrets, and he's eager to share it with scoop-chasing reporter Mira Jones (Emmy Raver-Lampman, The Umbrella Academy). That's exactly what Block is supposed to stop, with his new crisis of conscience putting his daughter Amanda (Claire van der Bloom, Palm Beach) and granddaughter Natalie (debutant Gabriella Sengos) in peril. Spotting similarities between Blacklight and Neeson's other recent work isn't just a sign of spending too much time watching the Irish actor's features of late. His latest release shares a filmmaker with Honest Thief, which reached cinemas less than 18 months ago — and writer/director Mark Williams doesn't stretch himself or his star in their second collaboration. Another flick that's solely about getting Neeson to deploy the no-longer-special set of action skills he's been trotting out since the Taken films became such hits, Blacklight is dispiritingly bland and by the numbers, even within the growing pile of movies that fit the same description (see also: The Marksman and The Ice Road in the past year). It isn't just that first-time co-scribe Nick May's formulaic script ticks every expected box, and that Williams' every directorial choice sticks to the easy and obvious as well. Flatter than the weary gaze emanating from Neeson at every turn, the film persistently suffers from a lack of life and energy. Melbourne dubiously stands in for Washington DC, and the conspiracy-fuelled action that takes over its streets and buildings is even less convincing; whether tracking foot chases or crashing along roadways, the movie's set pieces are perfunctory at best. And while the subplot involving Travis' yearning to spend more time with Amanda and Natalie is meant to add depth amid the routine blows, it's as flimsy and implausible as everything else in the narrative (especially when Amanda can't fathom why her dad, whose personality is solely defined by his work, family and having OCD, has a paranoia problem). The twists surrounding Robinson prove just as laboured, and Neeson and Quinn's long-standing on-screen rapport — dating back to 1986's The Mission — can't bolster the dialogue or the dynamic between their. Indeed, when Neeson utters resigned lines about making poor career choices, it rings with truth for all of the wrong reasons. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on October 7, October 14, October 21 and October 28; November 4, November 11, November 18 and November 25; December 2, December 9, December 16 and December 26; January 1, January 6, January 13, January 20 and January 27; and February 3. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Alpinist, A Fire Inside, Lamb, The Last Duel, Malignant, The Harder They Fall, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, Halloween Kills, Passing, Eternals, The Many Saints of Newark, Julia, No Time to Die, The Power of the Dog, Tick, Tick... Boom!, Zola, Last Night in Soho, Blue Bayou, The Rescue, Titane, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, Dune, Encanto, The Card Counter, The Lost Leonardo, The French Dispatch, Don't Look Up, Dear Evan Hansen, Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Lost Daughter, The Scary of Sixty-First, West Side Story, Licorice Pizza, The Matrix Resurrections, The Tragedy of Macbeth, The Worst Person in the World, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, House of Gucci, The King's Man, Red Rocket, Scream, The 355, Gold, King Richard, Limbo, Spencer, Nightmare Alley, Belle, Parallel Mothers, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Belfast, Here Out West and Jackass Forever.
There ain't no party like a BIGSOUND party — and there ain't no party like a free BIGSOUND party, either. As a warm up to the real deal, indie record labels Spunk and Rice is Nice are teaming up to throw one heck of a free-for-all. Not only will walking in the door cost you zilch, but enjoying a beer won't bother your wallet either. For those more concerned about the music, get excited about a lineup that features Angie, Aldous Harding, Darts, Donny Benet, Gold Class, The Ocean Party, Shining Bird and Us The Band. This event is one of our top five picks of BIGSOUND. Check out the other four here. Image: Damien Melchiori
When news arrived that Brooklyn Nine-Nine is coming to an end after its upcoming eighth season, did it hit you a little harder because you've spent the past year binging and re-binging its latest batch of episodes? According to a rundown of Australia's most-rented and -bought video-on-demand titles from 2020, plenty of TV lovers spent the last chaotic year watching comedic cop antics. The show ranks second on the television list — and, across both film and TV, it has a heap of company. The Australian Home Entertainment Distributors Association (AHEDA) has released four top ten lists, all detailing exactly what Aussies were hiring and buying to watch online in 2020. Netflix did something similar late last year, when it reminded us all that we'd feasted our eyeballs on Cobra Kai, The Haunting of Bly Manor to Enola Holmes and Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness; however, this new rundown focuses on things you would've headed to digital purchase and rental stores to see (so, to services such as Google Play, YouTube Movies, Amazon Video, Apple TV, the Foxtel Store, Telstra Box Office and Fetch). With cinemas closed for months, a number of recent flicks then fast-tracked online, it's hardly surprising that movies that quickly jumped to digital proved popular. Jumanji: The Next Level topped the best-selling list, followed by Sonic the Hedgehog. Also now sitting in virtual movie collections around the country: Frozen 2, Joker, Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise Of Skywalker, Bad Boys For Life, The Gentlemen, Bloodshot, Scoob! and Ford v Ferrari. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyYgDtY2AMY Some of the above films also feature on the most-rented list, which Joker topped. Sonic the Hedgehog came in second again, with The Gentlemen, Jumanji: The Next Level and Gemini Man rounding out the top five. They were followed by 1917, Knives Out, Ford v Ferrari, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood and Hustlers. And, if you made an effort to support local fare while Australia's creative sector was affected by the pandemic, AHEDA has detailed which ten Aussie-produced movies received the most love. Ride Like a Girl came out on top, The Invisible Man took second spot and Miss Fisher and The Crypt of Tears nabbed third. Then came Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan, 100% Wolf, Go!, Peter Rabbit, Black Water: Abyss, Carl Barron — Drinking with a Fork and The Nightingale. On the TV front, Brooklyn Nine-Nine's seventh season was only pipped by Outlander's fifth season. On the rest of the televisio list: The 100's seventh season, Vikings' sixth season, The Undoing, Supernatural's 15th season, Big Little Lies' second season, Game of Thrones' eighth season, Chernobyl and the first season of Succession. AHEDA also noted that the Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter franchises were popular (unsurprisingly), and that digital purchases and rentals soared in April and May (again, to the surprise of of no one) by between 29–55 percent. To rent or buy any of of the above titles online, head to services such as Google Play, YouTube Movies, Amazon Video, Apple TV, the Foxtel Store, Telstra Box Office and Fetch.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas across the country. After periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are back in business — at present, spanning both big chains and smaller independent sites in Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. OLD Ageing in a privilege. It's certainly better than the alternative. But what if life's physical ravages were condensed and accelerated? What if you were a six-year-old one moment, a teenager a few hours later and sporting middle-aged wrinkles the next morning? That's the premise of the insidious, moving, effective and also sometimes too neat Old, which boasts a sci-fi setup that could've come straight from The Twilight Zone, a chaotic mid-section reminiscent of Mother!'s immersive horrors, and a setting and character dynamics that nod to Lost. It slides in alongside recently unearthed George A Romero thriller The Amusement Park as well and, with M Night Shyamalan behind the lens, indulges the writer/director's love of high-concept plots with big twists. No one sees dead people and plants aren't the culprits — thankfully, in the latter case — however, surprise revelations remain part of this game. That said, unlike earlier in his career, when the filmmaker might've made the rapid passage of time the final big shock, Shyamalan isn't just about jolts and amazement here. Old has another sizeable reveal, naturally. Shyamalan is still the director behind The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village, The Visit, Split, Glass and more, and he likes his bag of tricks. This time, though, he wants to play with and probe his scenario, and the emotions it inspires, rather than primarily tease his audience and keep them puzzling. That's what echoes as the about-to-separate Guy (Gael García Bernal, Ema) and Prisca (Vicky Krieps, Phantom Thread) arrive at a luxe resort on a remote island with six-year-old Trent (Nolan River, Adverse) and 11-year-old Maddox (Alexa Swinton, Billions). Their kids have conflicting ideas about how to spend the getaway, but the hotel's manager (Gustaf Hammarsten, Kursk) tells the family about a secret beach, which they're soon heading to by mini-bus (driven by Shyamalan, in one of his regular cameos). Alas, with arrogant surgeon Charles (Rufus Sewell, The Father), his younger wife Chrystal (Abbey Lee, Lovecraft Country), their daughter Kara (debutant Kylie Begley) and his elderly mother Agnes (Kathleen Chalfant, The Affair) — and with famous rapper Mid-Sized Sedan (Aaron Pierre, The Underground Railroad), and couple Patricia (Nikki Amuka-Bird, The Personal History of David Copperfield) and Jarin (Ken Leung, a Lost alum) as well — Guy, Prisca, Trent and Maddox quickly discover that time ticks by at a much speedier pace on this supposedly idyllic patch of sand. The bulk of Old charts their reactions, plunging viewers into the confusion and heartbreak that results. Not only do the kids grow up fast (which is where Jojo Rabbit's Thomasin McKenzie, Jumanji: The Next Level's Alex Wolff and Babyteeth's Eliza Scanlen come in) in this vividly shot film, but any of the beachgoers' ailments are expedited, too. Read our full review. ROSA'S WEDDING The idea that a middle-aged woman might put her own interests first shouldn't be worthy of a movie. It should just be a given, as it is with men. But that still isn't the world we live in, so films like Rosa's Wedding keep offering cinematic slices of empowerment — here, in a feel-good, crowd-pleasing, but still smart and enjoyable way. This Spanish two-time Goya Award-winner gets savvy and playful with its title, too. Writer/director Icíar Bollaín (Yuli) and her coscribes Alicia Luna (Viva la vida) and Lina Badenes (also one of the feature's producers) know that mentioning matrimony usually brings a certain kind of rom-com to mind, because countless other flicks have gone down that path. And, there is indeed a ceremony in Rosa's Wedding. An extended family descends upon a scenic spot, relatives fuss and stress, and almost anything that can go wrong does, all in classic wedding movie style. The difference: 45-year-old Rosa (Candela Peña, Kiki, Love to Love), a constantly put-upon seamstress who is taken advantage of at her film industry job, always asked to watch her brother Armando's (Sergi López, Perfumes) young kids, tasked with keeping her widowed dad Antonio (Ramón Barea, Everybody Knows) company, and expected to always be at her daughter Lidia's (Paula Usero, Love in Difficult Times) beck and call, has decided to move back to the coastal town Benicassim that she grew up in to start her own dressmaking business. Also, to cement her commitment to her new future, she's also going to marry herself. When they receive her wedding invite, Rosa's nearest and dearest are shocked and surprised to learn that she'll be walking down the aisle, but no one registers that she'll be the sole focus of the ceremony. Given how reliant they are on Rosa to run their errands and keep their messy lives in order — Armando is on the verge of divorce, Lidia has two newborns and an unhappy life in Manchester, and Rosa's sister Violeta (Nathalie Posa, Julieta) is an interpreter with a penchant for a drink — they couldn't fathom that she might be unhappy with the status quo anyway. Rosa's Wedding isn't subtle about how women of a certain age are thrust into set roles, even by those closest to them. It isn't big on nuance as it watches its titular figure claim her life back, either. But it's always spirited and astute regardless, not to mention likeable and engaging. And, there's also zero point in holding back when it comes to celebrating women breaking outdated and oppressive boundaries. Also, there's understatement in Peña's wonderful performance. It takes strength and courage for Rosa to first realise how miserable she is, then pledge to make a change, and finally to follow through. As shot in warm, naturalistic tones against its picturesque but never glossy backdrop, Rosa's new future isn't always assured, either, especially when everyone turns up for her big day and brings their baggage with them, and the misunderstandings and chaos only multiplies. SNAKE EYES: GI JOE ORIGINS Every film doesn't have to spawn a franchise, and most shouldn't; however, when a Hollywood studio teams up with a toy manufacturer to turn action figures into a movie, and then wants to keep using the latter to sell the former, apparently that stops being the case. That's why cinema audiences have been forced to suffer through the Transformers movies over the years, and why we also now have Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins, the latest addition that no one wanted to a dull saga that started with 2009's GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra and then continued via 2013's GI Joe: Retaliation. Channing Tatum isn't part of the story this time around, with the focus shifting to the eponymous Snakes Eyes (Henry Golding, Monsoon). Before the character becomes a member of the GI Joe team, he's a man out to avenge the murder of his father (Steven Allerick, Westworld) from back when he was a kid. That quest first leads him into the employ of yakuza kingpin Kenta (Takehiro Hira, Girl/Haji), where he helps smuggle guns in giant dead fish. From there, he gets his shot with the Arashikage clan — a family-run enclave of Japanese powerbrokers that the ambitious Tommy (Andrew Koji, Warrior) thinks he'll lead next, is unsurprisingly wary of outsiders, but eventually and after much suspicion from head of security Akiko (Haruka Abe, Cruella) lets Snake Eyes undertake its secretive testing process to become a member. It's a credit to director Robert Schwentke (Insurgent and Allegiant), and to writers Evan Spiliotopoulos (The Unholy), Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse (Rebecca), that Snake Eyes isn't obsessed with obnoxiously stressing its franchise ties. It does all lead up to uttering a well-known GI Joe adversary's name, other recognisable characters such as Scarlett (Samara Weaving, Bill & Ted Face the Music) and Baroness (Úrsula Corberó, Money Heist) pop up, and nefarious terrorist organisation Cobra plays a part, but none of these links ever feel like the movie's primary purpose. Still, that half-heartedness speaks volumes about a movie that displays that trait again and again, is fine with remaining a generic Tokyo-set ninja revenge movie — complete with gratingly obvious shots of Mount Fuji, the Shibuya scramble crossing and Tokyo Tower — and also works giant snakes rendered in visually abhorrent CGI into the mix. The best element: Golding, who has never been less than charismatic in any of his on-screen roles (see also: Last Christmas, A Simple Favour and Crazy Rich Asians). He can't lift this formulaic franchise-extending slog, though, and neither can his rapport with both Koji and Abe, Schwentke's eye for his settings or the movie's often eye-catching costuming. The film's unenthused action scenes prove an apt weathervane, because they're by-the-numbers at best, even when The Raid's Iko Uwais is involved. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on January 1, January 7, January 14, January 21 and January 28; February 4, February 11, February 18 and February 25; March 4, March 11, March 18 and March 25; and April 1, April 8, April 15, April 22 and April 29; May 6, May 13, May 20 and May 27; June 3, June 10, June 17 and June 24; and July 1, July 8 and July 15. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Chaos Walking, Raya and the Last Dragon, Max Richter's Sleep, Judas and the Black Messiah, Girls Can't Surf, French Exit, Saint Maud, Godzilla vs Kong, The Painter and the Thief, Nobody, The Father, Willy's Wonderland, Collective, Voyagers, Gunda, Supernova, The Dissident, The United States vs Billie Holiday, First Cow, Wrath of Man, Locked Down, The Perfect Candidate, Those Who Wish Me Dead, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, Ema, A Quiet Place Part II, Cruella, My Name Is Gulpilil, Lapsis, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Fast and Furious 9, Valerie Taylor: Playing with Sharks, In the Heights, Herself, Little Joe, Black Widow, The Sparks Brothers, Nine Days, Gunpowder Milkshake and Space Jam: A New Legacy.
It's that time of year again, Brisbanites — and for the first time since 2019. August is here and the Ekka is back with it, after not one but two years of pandemic-related cancellations. Also returning: those famed strawberry sundaes, as well as Stone and Wood's brew inspired by it. For the third year running, the brewery has brought back its Ekka-inspired Strawberry Sundae Kisses beer. Yes, it's a boozy version of iconic dessert, and it tastes like strawberries and cream. Stone and Wood whip it up in the traditional Berliner Weisse style, using 60 kilograms of strawberries, with the brew also featuring lactose and vanilla, This year, the beer will be available in two places around town — at the Ekka itself for the first time, and also at Stone and Wood's Brisbane brewery in Fortitude Valley. Head to the latter, and you can get sipping early, starting from Thursday, August 4. Originally, the brew came about as a way to help support charity The Common Good, which uses the sundaes as a fundraising effort for The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation. And, that's exactly where Stone and Wood is directing proceeds from the beer, too — so having a few pints will mean helping a great cause. One note: 2022's batch of Strawberry Sundae Kisses is around for a good time, not a long time, and will only be available at the brewery until sold out. In past years, it has lasted just three weeks, so getting in quickly is recommended.
