The Thredbo Freestyle Series is one of the few comps on the planet that calls for skiers of all levels. Whether you carve it up like Lindsey Vonn or you’re still experiencing pride at your newly acquired snow ploughing skills, you can get in on the action. And let’s face it: the more variety there is, the more fun the spectators will have. Five events make up the series — Slopestyle, Ridercross, Big Air, Banzai off the Bluff and Rails — and they’ll be happening over the course of July and August. Winners will be announced in every event, and, at the end, an overall, out-of-control Freestyle champion will be crowned. To be a part of the first chapter of the affair — Rails — rock up at the Thredbo Tennis Courts on Thursday, July 17. At 3.30pm, you’ll be handed your bib; from 4pm, training will begin; and, at 5pm, skiers of all abilities, shapes and sizes will head to Friday Flat for the starting gun. Once darkness starts to fall, spotlights will take over, keeping visible the array of specially built course features and the athletes attempting to conquer them. Live DJs will be supplying the tunes. Don’t fancy competing? Just come along and watch — it's a visual spectacle worth dragging yourself out of the Rekorderlig Hot Pool for.
Victoria's Hot Chocolate Festival is back again this August. And, like last year, it's also bringing the decadence to you. Whether you're a Melburnian who can't make it to one of the three venues outside of town, or you're located elsewhere and you really love hot chocolate, Yarra Valley Chocolaterie is churning out boxes filled with creative hot choccie flavours. Like this year's physical fest, the flavour range is being released weekly — so you have an excuse to order more than a few boxes. To kick things off, there's the Tim Tam caramel bomb, which turns caramel Tim Tams into a ball and serves it with a caramel hot chocolate. Also tempting: the Devonshire kronut version features a berry hot chocolate topped with — you guessed it — a kronut. And, the Snickertini includes shots of Baileys and vodka, while the Dreamtime hot chocolate features lemon myrtle. Fingers crossed that fan favourite flavours like Tim Tam Slam and Golden Nutella Spoon will pop up throughout the month, along with the more adventurous likes of If You Like Piña Colada, Zingy Chilli and Cherry Matcha. All limited-edition hot chocolates come with an extra shot of hot couverture chocolate and handcrafted marshmallow, too. Plus, in previous years, some of the highlights arrived with exploding marshmallows, melting chocolate discs and truffle balls. If the eight-flavour pack each week is a little much — it'll set you back $49.95 — you can also order individual varieties for $6.50 a pop. The boxes are available to order until the end of August, and there's a flat-rate shipping fee of $15 to anywhere in Australia.
Sometimes it festers in the hearts of killers. Sometimes it's the reason that villains keep stalking heroes. Sometimes, otherworldly forces are at play. However it graces the big screen, evil is a complicated concept — but cinema also frequently handles it in a muddled and simplistic fashion. Increasingly, as seen in origin stories like Joker and Cruella, profound wickedness has a relatable, almost-excusable reason. Acknowledging that bad things can just happen and unpleasant people can just exist without explanation (so, opting for something far more sinister and also much more realistic) is becoming rare. The other frequently deployed movie rationale, especially in horror, sits at the heart of one of the biggest cash-earning current franchises there is. In The Conjuring films and their spinoffs, evil lurks because literal demons also lurk. Different tactic, same result. Starting in 2013 with The Conjuring, expanding with 2014's Annabelle, and also including The Conjuring 2, both terrible and much better sequels to Annabelle, the dismal The Nun and the formulaic The Curse of the Weeping Woman, The Conjuring Universe now spans eight evil-fighting flicks — and they're all as straightforward as it gets regarding battling the nefarious. Circling around real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, the franchise posits that the supernatural exists, darkness preys upon the innocent and its central couple usually has the tools to combat everything untoward. That template remains firmly in place in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. That said, the third Conjuring flick within the broader Conjuring realm does attempt a few changes. Rather than getting creeped out by haunted houses, it gets spooked by a kid and then a teenager who are both possessed. True to form, bone-shakingly horrific things can't simply occur without some kind of excuse and entity at play. The Warrens (Patrick Wilson, Aquaman, and Vera Farmiga, Godzilla: King of the Monsters) are first tasked with saving eight-year-old David Glatzel (Julian Hilliard, WandaVision) from a demon after his family moves to stereotypically sleepy Brookfield, Connecticut. Their efforts seem successful, even if Ed has a heart attack mid-exorcism, but the evil force they're fighting has really just jumped ship. Arne Johnson (Ruairi O'Connor, The Spanish Princess), the boyfriend of David's sister Debbie (Sarah Catherine Hook, NOS4A2), is quickly besieged by strange occurrences. He's soon also covered in blood after stabbing his landlord to Blondie's 'Call Me'. The death penalty beckons; however, the Warrens convince Arne's lawyer to plead not guilty by reason of demonic possession — the first time that ever happened in the US — and then commit to unearthing whatever paranormal details they can to save his life. The trailer for The Devil Made Me Do It teases legal thrills, but in a bait-and-switch way — because this film is barely concerned with Arne's court case. The true tale, which was previously dramatised in a 1983 TV movie starring Kevin Bacon, merely provides an easy setup here. Sticking to the facts hardly bothers director Michael Chaves (The Curse of the Weeping Woman) and screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (Aquaman). Instead, the pair focus on the usual bumps, jumps and scares that have haunted this franchise since day one. Taking their cues from James Wan, the Australian Saw and Insidious co-creator who helmed the first two Conjuring flicks, The Devil Made Me Do It has all the eerie noises and sudden frights down pat, in fact. More of them are just splashed across the screen, attempting to unnerve the movie's audience with the gusto of a well-oiled machine. As the series' creator and producer, if Wan had opted to call this one The Conjuring 3: Conjuring Harder, the title would've fit. There's a difference between nailing the technical basics and making them engaging, though. This many movies in, The Conjuring Universe should be aiming for more than the former. It definitely shouldn't be cribbing from The Exorcist as gleefully as The Devil Made Me Do It does. Chaves and Johnson-McGoldrick — and Wan, who has a story credit — also forget that if you repeat something too often, it stops being unsettling. In comedy, some gags grow the more they go on, such as The Simpsons' classic Sideshow Bob rake sequence, but the same doesn't prove true in horror when shadowy figures loiter, things keep moving that shouldn't and sounds blast suddenly. All three use the element of surprise, and yet there's no chance anyone watching will be caught unawares by the The Devil Made Me Do It's souped-up demonic antics. And, don't go expecting a meaningful examination of satanic panic, or the way that conservative sections of society need something to blame for life's ills. In this movie, it's just a given that some folks stray from faith, become evil occultists and commit dastardly deeds. As this series has done over and over, it's also a given that femininity draws the short straw. An accused witch, a Raggedy Ann doll, a nun and the ghost of a mother have all symbolised evil in The Conjuring Universe's eyes, but the franchise does look fondly at one woman: Lorraine Warren. As played by Farmiga, she's depicted as the unwavering maternal presence always by Ed's side, and almost the clairvoyant Scully to his demonologist Mulder. It's that dynamic, and the investment that Farmiga and Wilson put into their roles, that keeps prolonging the series. It gives the Conjuring films, including this one, a centre to clutch onto — no matter how much Hollywood sheen has been buffed over the real-life figures, which is plenty. The Devil Made Me Do It needs them, even emphasising their love story, but that feels as standard as everything in the movie. Nonetheless, alongside Australian actor John Noble (Fringe) as a priest, Farmiga and Wilson are the best things about this routine, happily by-the-numbers, never remotely terrifying threequel. Indeed, the fact that more flicks will undoubtably still follow is the scariest thing about the film.
They're taking the hobbits to Isengard at Palace James Street this March, with one movie marathon to rule them all. Round up the Fellowship, stock up on lembas bread for sustenance and hide your finest pipe-weed from the Southfarthing for one sitting of all three of Peter Jackson's beloved OG Tolkien film adaptations. Kicking off with The Fellowship of the Ring and ending with The Return of the King, this cave troll of a marathon clocks in at over nine hours plus intermissions — with the journey starting at 12pm on Saturday, March 13. If you make it through breakfast and second breakfast to the final handful of endings, you can pat yourself on the back and smash a ringwraith screech at the nearest person on your way home (note: do not actually screech at people). Tickets are the precious and come in at $25–30 for the whole ordeal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_WZxJpHzEE
A Month of Sundays tells a familiar tale of middle-aged unhappiness. Think family struggles, work troubles, regrets and attempts at redemption. Yet there's an undercurrent of dry Australian comedy apparent in the latest feature from writer-director Matthew Saville (Noise, Felony). In the same way that other recent local releases The Dressmaker and Looking for Grace traversed darker territory with a wry smile, A Month of Sundays doesn't quite try to look on the bright side of life, but it does understand the way laughter can disarm bleak, tense and even routine situations. Here, amusement lurks quietly, always present in Anthony LaPaglia's lead performance. As Adelaide real estate agent Frank Mollard, the actor is rarely without a look of bemused resignation on his face or a droll tone in his voice. Frank is surrounded by the misery of a fresh separation from his actress wife (Justine Clarke), a strained relationship with his teenage son (Indiana Crowther) and a strong feeling of professional dissatisfaction. Perhaps that's why Frank believes he's talking to his deceased mother when a stranger dials a wrong number, and why he then forges a bond with the woman, retired librarian Sarah (Julia Blake), on the other end of the phone. It's the kind of situation that could only occur in a movie, though courtesy of the film's blend of empathy and comedy, it's never as far-fetched as it sounds. That's the film all over: slightly too convenient in its story, but still realistic in its emotions. More often than not, Saville finds the balance between the two, courtesy of a lighthearted touch and warm sense of humour. Indeed, as thoughtful as the movie's treatment of its gloomier themes proves, A Month of Sundays is at its best when it's cultivating chuckles. In fact, the entire film could've easily been set around Frank, his boss Phillip Lang (John Clarke), and their shared scenes. Their one-liners, about selling houses and installing Flash to view the company website, not only raise a few giggles, but also reveal plenty about their characters. The old adage, that every joke contains a grain of truth, clearly hasn't been lost on Saville. Neither has the need for a slow and patient approach in letting both the amusing and moving sides of every exchange play out. That it all builds slowly and subtly might feel a tad anticlimactic, but that's the point. Just as life creeps up on Frank Mollard, so to does this modest Aussie film creep up on all who watch it.
Brisbane-based painter Archer Davies is bringing his well-travelled collection to West End to exhibit his latest works. Archer recently completed a residency in Philadelphia, which inspired many works, which will also be available for viewing. The impressionistic works of Davies are celebrated the world over, and at the young age of 24 his works are even more remarkable. He incorporates themes of modernity throughout his pieces, from familiar celebrity iconography, to the fears and anxieties that may burden younger generations as a result of differing social values. One thing is for certain: his paintings are larger than life. They capture the essence of daily scenes while also embellishing and rearranging, the result is an image that is both new and familiar. The exhibition will run from the November 20-30; come and celebrate the exhibition on its opening night on Friday November 22. Proceedings will commence from 6pm.
Planning to begin the year as you mean to go on? That doesn't just mean having a great time when the clock strikes midnight. Come morning on January 1, it also means having a splendid — read: not seedy or sleeping — start to the day. Two words: cocktail brunch. Whether you roll out of bed to get there, or don't make it to snooze town to begin with, make a very important date with Victoria Park. From 9am until 11am, they're serving up beverages with mid-morning meals, all for $25. That price will get you one of each on the Bistro Terrace, while overlooking the city. Food choices include croissants with ham, chutney and eggs; waffles with mangoes, strawberries and vanilla bean ice cream; and Mt Cotton mushrooms with baba ganoush. When it comes to tipples, there'll be Bloody Marys, peach bellinis, froze with French orange liqueur and more. And if you're in need of a bigger hair o' the dog boost, extra glasses are $12 — or share a jug for $22.
Lost Paradise is back for the fourth year in a row, after selling out its past three incarnations. Returning to Glenworth Valley from December 28 to January 1, the event will host 76 local and international artists, including local electronic goalkickers RÜFÜS, Sweden's Little Dragon, Aussie folk favourites Matt Corby and Meg Mac, Sydney lads DMAs, dynamic Melburnian duo Client Liaison and more. There'll be two new stages this year, My Mum's Disco, where, in between retro beats and '80s kitsch, you'll be playing bingo and banging out karaoke, and K-Sub Beach Club, to be run by Kraken, a collective dedicated to all things Victorian. Main stage Arcadia will host what's been designated as 'indie', while techno and dance will settle into the Lost Disco stage. Meanwhile, the Paradise Club will take care of late night shape-throwers with DJs and surprise guests. If you've blissed your way through previous New Year's Eves at Lost Paradise's Shambala Fields, you'll be glad to know they're making a return, with their cornucopia of yoga classes, dance workshops and meditations. Teachers on the schedule include Ana Forrest, Jose Calarco, Mark Whitwell, Simon Borg Olivier, Nicole Walsh and Mark Breadner. In between dancing and getting mindful, you can fuel up in Lost Village, where a herd of food trucks will be dishing out all sorts of tasty morsels. Look out for Eat Art Truck's hot smoked pulled pork buns, Agape's organic goodies, The Dosa Deli's handmade samosas, Maverick Wings' crispy chicken and kimchi coleslaw, Harvest Life as Tsuru's poke bowls and Cuba Cantina's street food from Havana. Here's what you're in for this year: LOST PARADISE 2017 LINEUP: RÜFÜS Little Dragon Matt Corby Meg Mac DMA's Client Liason Cut Copy San Cisco Tourist Stephen Bodzin Cigarettes After Sex Patrick Topping Jon Hopkins (DJ Set) Jackmaster FKJ Middle Kids Âme (Live) Skeggs Palms Trax Apparat Nadia Rose Sampa The Great Koi Child Mall Grab Dean Lewis B.Traits Roland Tings My Nu Leng Cut Snake Human Movement Billy Davis & The Good Lords CC:Disco GL Tiny Little Houses Alex The Astronaut Nyxen Sloan Peterson Mammals The Ruminators Motorik Vibe Council Robongia Krankbrother Thunderfox Gypsys of Pangea Uncle Ru Ariane Ben Nott Brohn Dibby Dibby Soundsystem DJ Gonz Elijah Something Foreigndub Inner West Reggae Disco Machine Kali and more... Lost Paradise returns to Glenworth Valley from December 28 to January 1. Tickets are on sale now from the festival website. Image: Dave Anderson and Boaz Nothham.
Sydney's rambunctious leotard-loving lads, Bluejuice, are calling it a day. The beloved pop/rock/dance/errrthang ratbags Jake Stone, Stavros Yiannoukas, Jamie Cibej and James Hauptmann have announced their final national tour and an upcoming greatest hits tour to wrap everything up by the end of 2014. "After 13 years of broken bones, broken hearts, sore heads, passive aggression, regular aggression, several arrests, questionable skin infections, and a busload of infuriated tour managers, Bluejuice are announcing they are calling it quits at the end of 2014," says today's press release. Abercrombie-going Purple Sneakers alumni are shedding many a tear today. Since 2001, the beloved Sydney outfit have had one heck of a ride, keeping the chin of Australian music up with three celebrated albums (Problems, Head of the Hawk and Company) on the shelf and still holding the position of most played track on triple j ever ('Vitriol'). https://youtube.com/watch?v=ldBhDmvWFXE Bluejuice have decided to part ways to test the waters in other projects, with the sad intention of giving those leotards a rest. Before they take their final bows, the team will release a big ol' greatest hits album — a retrospective ride dubbed Retrospectable, with all your favourite mid-2000s sticky-floored party go-tos, best bits from their three albums, extra rare content and new single 'I'll Go Crazy', produced by Dann Hume (Sticky Fingers/Alpine). Bluejuice will kick it on their final national tour this September/October. Starting at Adelaide's Uni Bar, the pair will meander through the capitals and rural centres before finishing up where it all started — Sydney (at the Metro Theatre, where many a drunken Bluejuice escapade has roamed before). In one of the most emotionally-charged press releases we've ever seen, Bluejuice's legacy is laid down. "They shall leave behind a body of work of which they are all very proud, and they look to the future with a mix of hope and fear of starvation, not unlike the chick at the end of Children Of Men." Top notch. Bluejuice — Retrospectable: The Farewell Tour (with special guests to be announced) Tickets on sale August 9 THU 25 SEPT — Uni Bar, Adelaide. Tickets via Oztix. FRI 26 SEPT — Capitol, Perth. Tickets via Oztix. SAT 27 SEPT — Red Earth Arts Festival, Karratha. Tickets via REAF. THU 02 OCT — Hi-Fi, Brisbane. Tickets via Oztix. FRI O3 OCT — Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta. Tickets via Oztix. SAT 04 OCT — Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay. Tickets via Oztix. FRI 10 OCT — Hi-Fi, Melbourne. Tickets via Oztix. SAT 11 OCT — Hi-Fi, Melbourne. (Under 18's only Matinee show 12-3pm) Tickets via Oztix. SAT 11 OCT — Village Green Hotel, Mulgrave. Tickets via Ticketmaster and Village Green Hotel. SUN 12 OCT — Barwon Club, Geelong. Tickets via Oztix. FRI 17 OCT — Waves, Wollongong. Tickets via Moshtix. SAT 18 OCT — ANU Bar, Canberra. Tickets via Ticketek. THU 23 OCT — Bar on the Hill, Newcastle. Tickets via BigTix. FRI 24 OCT — Metro Theatre, Sydney. (LIC/ALL AGES)? Tickets via Ticketek.
There’s only one thing better than a free gig, and that’s a free gig for a band who will be charging whatever they want for tickets in a year’s time. The Furrs are Brisbane’s up-and-coming band well on the road to becoming our next big musical export, and they've got the paperwork to prove it. They’ve been featured in Rolling Stone Australia, have just signed with High Road Touring in the States, and have a pretty addictive new single called '66'. So to celebrate everything coming up Furrs, they’ll be headlining a free show/party at Black Bear Lodge on Friday, December 5. The Trotskies and Soviet X-Ray Record Club will be playing support, and a gentle reminder: entry won’t cost you a cent. The gig kicks off at 8pm, and you better get in early if you want a front-row spot, plus plenty of leg room to dance along to these Queensland rockers.
If you've been to a few music festivals around southeast Queensland over the years, then you've been to plenty of go-to patches of grass and pavement, spanning the likes of Brisbane Showgrounds and the Riverstage, Gold Coast Parklands and Doug Jennings Park, and the Big Pineapple and Woodfordia as well. Here's another to add to your list: Coochin Fields, a whopping 150-hectare site that's about to start hosting major music and camping fests. Located on the Sunshine Coast — 35 minutes south of Maroochydore and 80 minutes north of Brisbane — Coochin Fields hails from a few folks who know a thing or two about festivals, and gigs in general. The company behind it: Comiskey Group, which also runs the Eatons Hill and Sandstone Point hotels, and have now added this massive spot to its portfolio. Of course, 150 hectares sounds huge — and it is — but if you need another reference point, that's the same size as 22 football fields. Sat five minutes off the Bruce Highway in the Coochin Creek area, the site is home to turf and strawberry farms year-round, which'll also remain operational. Exactly when you'll be able to head there for a music festival — to see big-name acts over a multi-day setup and camp overnight, of course — hasn't yet been revealed. Announcing the new site, Comiskey Group advised that it is currently in discussions to host iconic Australian festivals, including events that'll be expanding into Queensland for the first time. You can start guessing which fests that might include but, whatever they are, Coochin Fields now marks one of the biggest privately owned festival and camping sights in Queensland. "I am excited to bring something special to the Sunshine Coast," said Director Rob Comiskey in a statement. "The natural festival site is a similar size to North Byron Parklands, so there is plenty of opportunity to host both small and large-scale events with international artists and multiple stages." Coochin Fields is located 35 minutes south of Maroochydore and 80 minutes north of Brisbane. For more information about Coochin Fields and Comiskey Group, head to the latter's website.
Beer lovers of Brisbane, the drinking equivalent of Christmas is just around the corner. While the festive season delivers plenty of reasons for a tipple, Brewsvegas serves up ten whole days dedicated to little more than enjoying the nectar of the gods: beer. It's no wonder the festival has become one of the city's must-attend events since it first started in 2014. Indeed, the 2017 program boasts an array of experiences that'll prove just why that's the case — and make you thirsty just reading about them. Here, from March 10 to 19 at almost every Brissie pub, bar and place with beer in the fridge, a hard-earned thirst needs whatever type of bev is on the menu. That includes blending your own brews, trying duelling ales, tasting one-off concoctions, and swapping beer for cider and mead. There are many, many other excuses chances to grab a glass of something, or several — such as beer-flavoured ice cream, for example. Other highlights from the lineup span everything from the exact type of pub crawl we predicted last year (even if the Milton watering holes in question are calling it a beer trail), to every type of booze-appropriate sport or activity you can think of (putt putt, golf, a scavenger hunt, BASEketball, NES, a cartoon drawing competition, bowls, Japanese game shows, trivia, RPGs, live painting, beerlympics, an art tour and a chilli cook-off, just to name a few). For anyone worrying about lining their stomach, food also features heavily. Degustation, pizza pairings, oh-so-much poultry, a curated food lab, brekkie boozing and root-to-leaf antics are all on the menu. And then there's something from the state-proud drink-lover in all of us: the festival within a festival that is Pint of Origin. Seven pubs each showcase the beer of seven different states and territories, experts chat, everyone drinks — and, just like at Brewsvegas in general, everyone imbibing and indulging all prove the real winners. Brewsvegas 2017 runs from March 10 to 19. For more information, visit the festival's website.
Brisbane cyclists are in for a serious treat, with Brisbane City Council planning a new $11 million bikeway that'll run through Woolloongabba. First announced in 2016, the 2.5-kilometre stretch will improve what is currently one of the city's most dangerous cycling routes, extending from Stanley Street in Woolloongabba through to Dutton Park. Full final plans were revealed in March, with construction currently underway — and set to be completed by June this year, Brissie's weather permitting. The project will incorporate two permanent bike lanes along Annerley Road and Stanley Street, as well as a series of floating bus stops and audible line markings to help protect those on two wheels. Currently, the transport corridor is used by over 45,000 vehicles each day. The plans also include a new City Cycle station installed on Annerley Road, for anyone who needs to hire a set of wheels to enjoy the new bikeway. Bicycle Queensland chief-executive Anne Savage told Brisbane Times that the project would inspire lots more locals to jump on their bikes. "There can be no doubt that the Woolloongabba Bikeway will enhance cycling uptake and increase levels of cycling," she said. "This project will be a game-changer for Brisbane drivers and riders." For more information, visit the Woolloongabba Bikeway project website. Images: Brisbane City Council via Flickr.
This winter may not have been excruciating, but you can't help admitting that you're a little bit happy it's over. Sure, the nights spent in front of the fireplace and snuggled up under a cosy blanket were nice. And yes, you had a fair crack at your Netflix queue — your office small talk is all the better for it, too. But you can do that anywhere. What makes living in Brisbane so special is how the city comes alive as the seasons change. You've got a cracking few months of beach visits, backyard barbecues and outdoor adventures ahead of you — and we know just the thing to get you in the mood. We've teamed up with the award-winning BATI & RATU by RUM Co of Fiji to throw a huge summer party at a luxe Sydney beachside house on Saturday, November 30. And, to help you score a spot at this exclusive shindig, RUM Co. of Fiji has teamed up with a handful of bars across Brisbane to serve up a very special cocktail. The Fijian daiquiri is a take on the Caribbean classic, which uses the spiced Fijian rum, coconut water, falernum syrup and lime. Between September 13 and October 13, order the cocktail at any of these spots and you can enter the draw for tickets to the shindig. Hope to see you there. WALRUS CLUB AT REGATTA HOTEL, TOOWONG When you want to get in the tropical mood, getting yourself waterside is a good first step. Brisbane may not have beaches, but it does have the river — and this spot is so close, it's flooded four times. Following the 2011 floods, the Regatta Hotel got a neat $10 million restoration, and is now a go-to spot for relaxing drinks in the sun. You're spoiled for choice here in terms of dining options, so depending on what you're feeling, you can pair your daiquiri with a charcuterie board in the courtyard, a flame-grilled steak in the boatshed or in the cocktail bar, affectionately named Merle's. HOPE ISLAND TAVERN, HOPE ISLAND This one is a little further afield, but road trips are what the warmer months are all about. Plan a weekend adventure south of the city to hit the Gold Coast beaches. Then, top off a day in the sun with a cocktail or two at Hope Island Tavern. In the main sports bar, you can enjoy your tipple alongside a selection of pub favourites — think southern fried chicken burger, salt and pepper calamari or hand-stretched pizza. FRIDAY'S, BRISBANE CITY This longstanding spot is a go-to all year round. But when the weather is fine, nabbing a spot outside here and sipping cocktails under the glow of Story Bridge is a nice way to spend a balmy evening. Our recommendation is to head to Friday's not on a Friday — but rather on a Thursday evening. Between 5–9pm, all bar snacks are $10, so you can enjoy your daiquiri with smoked beef brisket croquettes, salt and pepper squid and baked brown sugar chicken wings with salsa and sour cream. Feeling Adventurous? Start planning for the warmer seasons and learn more about the RUM Co. of Fiji range here.
They can't all be treats. That's true each time October 31 hits, sending children scurrying around the streets in search of sweets, and it's true of the film franchise that owns the spookiest time of year. Since debuting 43 years ago, the Halloween series has delivered both gems and garbage — and off-kilter delights such as Halloween III: Season of the Witch — but its latest and 12th entry carves a space firmly in the middle. Halloween Kills ticks plenty of boxes that a memorable Halloween movie should, and is also a horror sequel on autopilot. Somehow, it's also a Halloween movie lacking purpose and shape. It has The Shape, of course, as Michael Myers is also known. But it's more an exercise in spending extra time in Haddonfield, in its boogeyman's presence and in world inhabited by franchise heroine Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis, Knives Out) than a compelling slasher flick on its own. After giving the Halloween realm its second-best chapter in 2018, it's easy to see why returning writer/director David Gordon Green (Stronger) and his frequent collaborator Danny McBride (The Righteous Gemstones) have taken this approach. When you've just made a classic follow-up to a stone-cold classic — again, only John Carpenter's iconic franchise-starter is better — you keep on keeping on. That's not quite how Halloween Kills turns out, though. It picks up immediately where its predecessor left off, lets Michael stab his way through small-town Illinois again, and brings back Laurie's daughter Karen (Judy Greer, Where'd You Go, Bernadette) and teenage granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak, Son) from the last spin. It also pads things out with a vengeance storyline that endeavours to get political, yet proves about as piercing as a butter knife. In the last film — called Halloween, like the flick that started it all — Laurie faced the man who turned her into a victim back when she was a 17-year-old babysitter. She unleashed four decades of rage, fear and anxiety during a moment she'd been preparing for across all of that time, and it proved cathartic for her and for viewers alike. This saga was always going to add another sequel, however. As the second part of a trilogy under Green and McBride's guidance, Halloween Kills will also gain its own follow-up in a year's time. When it arrives in 2022, Halloween Ends won't actually live up to its name. No horror movie lover would want it to. Still, it already haunts Halloween Kills — because, like the townsfolk that the latex mask-sporting, overall-wearing Michael just keeps stalking, it feels uncertain about where it should head. First, Halloween Kills sends its three generations of Strode women to hospital, riffing on 1981's Halloween II. Sadly, it also replicates one of the latter's missteps, leaving Laurie there as her nemesis keeps slicing — and splitting its attention around Haddonfield. Here, both Karen and Allyson have also had enough of Michael's nonsense. So has Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall, The Goldbergs), one of the kids that Laurie babysat on that fateful night all those years ago. So, he rallies a mob and transforms the grieving and scared locale into a haven for vigilante justice; "evil dies tonight!" is their cheer. Evil won't die tonight, which isn't a spoiler. Again, Halloween Ends is coming — and evil won't end there, either. As this franchise has kept looping, twisting and constantly resetting its prior timelines every few films or so, the fact that its source of evil keeps slashing in movie after movie has been one of its strongest thematic weapons. Indeed, Halloween circa 2018 keenly understood that trauma such as Laurie's doesn't fade. It festers; its survivors might learn to cope beneath their PTSD, but their lacerations still pulsate with pain. Halloween Kills tries to expand the idea by focusing on communal rather than individual wounds, and on its setting's shared past; however, thanks to heavy-handed insurrection-style imagery, it plays less as a musing on its underlying suburban nightmare and the distress rippling from it, and more as a weak comment on America today. They can't all slay, obviously — Halloween movies, that is. Michael clearly can and does keep slaying, his body count rising swiftly. When it comes to his murders, Halloween Kills is gory, bloody and gruesome, with Green at his best when he's honing in on the mechanics of its masked maniac's reign of terror. It'd be repetitive if it wasn't so effective, even if it's packaged with smaller doses of tension and suspense. The OG Halloween spawned a spate of imitators for a reason, and still does, but this latest successor lacks its slasher elegance and economy — because Green also enjoys getting flamboyant with Halloween Kills' kills for the sake of it. Perhaps he's trying to make up for sidelining his star, the white-haired Curtis, for so long. Steely as ever, she remains the film's undisputed highlight in the screen time she has, but Halloween Kills doesn't feel like Laurie's story. Or, perhaps Green is trying to distract from the bold move he didn't make. Even in a franchise that plays so fast and loose with its continuity, not managing to bring back Paul Rudd, aka Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers' version of Tommy, is a huge missed opportunity. Halloween Kills re-enlists other familiar faces, spanning both 1978's and 2018's Halloween flicks. It adds backstory all over the place, much of it filler. It gets Carpenter, his son Cody and godson Daniel Davies to rework the synth and piano-heavy tunes that've served the series so well, after they did the same last time around. Like its predecessor, it slinks and stalks with unease. It pushes women to the fore again, too — women who refuse to simply be mere final girls. But it's also the jack-o'-lantern of Green's trilogy within the broader Halloween franchise: there's enough light flickering in its carved-out pumpkin eyes, but there's also an inescapable by-the-numbers emptiness as well.
Have you ever wondered why the Mad Hatter is so mad? No, of course you haven't. One of the wonders of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is that it doesn't try to explain the headwear enthusiast's mental state — it just accepts him for who he is and lets him get on with his tea party. Movie adaptations have done the same to date, including Tim Burton's 2010 live-action effort Alice in Wonderland. Alas, Disney is intent on sharing the origin stories of every classic literary figure it can think of, leaving Alice Through the Looking Glass to explore Hatter's background. In fact, with Alice (Mia Wasikowska) out in the real world, sailing the seas and attempting to save her mother's house, it's the plight of Hatter (Johnny Depp) that actually brings her back to the fantastical Underland. This time he's the one who's lost much of his muchness, thanks to his newfound belief that his long-gone family might still be alive. To help her truest friend, Alice visits Time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen), then goes jumping back through Hatter's history. His past isn't his alone, with his tale intertwined with the feuding antics of Red Queen Iracebeth (Helena Bonham Carter) and her White Queen sister (Anne Hathaway). As such, Alice Through the Looking Glass is both a prequel and a sequel. Given that its predecessor made more than a billion dollars at the global box office, the reason for the film's existence is obvious — as is the determination of director James Bobin (The Muppets) to follow in Burton's footsteps wherever he can. More peculiar is the decision of writer Linda Woolverton to turn Alice into a little more than an observer in the story, making her character the least interesting part of the movie in the process. As a result, Wasikowska is left largely watching on, even if she does ensure Alice seems suitably older and wiser. And while Depp receives top billing, he's carefully deployed — a little of his all-too-familiar wackiness goes a long way. With Bonham-Carter cartoonish and Hathaway mostly placid, it's left to Baron Cohen to bring the liveliness the film so badly needs. Sadly, despite his best efforts and never-ending supply of time-based puns, Alice Through the Looking Glass is never the energetic adventure it so desperately wants to be. That said, Bobin's movie is never boring — only misguided. Trying to ape Burton's over-the-top sensibilities was always going to be difficult, but simply shifting focus to the kookiest figure, throwing together similar set-pieces and asking most of the cast to repeat their previous performances isn't the way to go about it. Even the candy-coloured visuals don't shine as brightly this time around. That the film's most striking imagery stems from scenes of decay says more than it probably should.
In 2006’s Night at the Museum, the exhibits and dioramas of New York City's Museum of Natural History sprang to life, surprising freshly hired evening security guard Larry Daley (Ben Stiller). In 2009’s Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Larry returned to save enlivened treasures being shipped off to storage in Washington, D.C., stumbling upon a power battle between magically resurrected pharaohs in the process. The films, mixing an everyman protagonist with an exaggerated situation, established an easy formula of heroics and humour, history and fantasy, and quests and chaos, as suitable for all ages. Now, once more adhering to the blueprint but transporting the action to London, the trilogy crawls towards its conclusion with Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. Here, the perpetually bumbling Larry is thrust into trouble once more when an important event goes awry as a result of his animated mannequin friends. The tablet that endows the appearance of life into the museum’s trinkets is starting to corrode, courtesy of an Egyptian curse. Only specimens housed in Britain hold the answers to stopping the rot, reinstating the spell and rescuing the likenesses of famous figures from reverting to a permanent state of wax. Adding to the antics are Larry’s English counterpart, nightwatchwoman Tilly (Rebel Wilson), and an arrogant Sir Lancelot (Dan Stevens), both endeavouring to thwart the visitors’ efforts for their own reasons. Returning director Shawn Levy (This Is Where I Leave You) and new scribes David Guion and Michael Handelman (Dinner for Schmucks) aren’t concerned with offering any unexpected detours in the events that follow, repeating the beats of the earlier films with a heightened emphasis on outdated pop culture jokes. Indeed, that the feature’s biggest source of laughs — and its best surprise cameo – stems from an internet meme gives an indication of the level of comedy cultivated, as does the prominence of online cat videos to the plot. Even the usual reliance upon slapstick wavers, for worse, not for better. The odd-couple banter of Owen Wilson as an old west cowboy and Steve Coogan as a Roman soldier is similarly toned down. Elaborate staging aside (best manifested in Secret of the Tomb in an uncharacteristically excellent M.C. Escher-inspired sequence), the biggest lure of the Night of the Museum series has always been its extensive cast. Performers express enough energy to keep the movie bubbling along; however, for reasons inconsequential to the content itself, it is Robin Williams’ return as Teddy Roosevelt that stands out. His last on-screen appearance evokes both sweetness and sorrow that far exceeds the average franchise swansong he is saddled with.
Usually, for one week each September, Brisbane becomes Australia's live music capital — even if a Melbourne survey generally claims otherwise. When BIGSOUND hits the city, it typically seems like every venue in Fortitude Valley is packed to the rafters with bands, industry folks and music-loving punters, all enjoying the latest and greatest tunes and talent the country has to offer. There's nothing usual about 2020, though. And, yes, that applies to this beloved music-fuelled celebration. In fact, after announcing back in July that it would still forge ahead this year as a physical, BIGSOUND switched to a virtual-only affair. Rather than four days of conferences, live festival showcases, secret shows and official parties, music fans can look forward to keynote addresses, online workshops, panels, discussions and an Australian artist showcase called The BIGSOUND50, all across a condensed two-day online program — on Wednesday, October 21 and Thursday, October 22. Announcing the change in an emailed statement, BIGSOUND management advised that the shift in direction stems from "ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and domestic border closures"; however the festival will adjust. It'll also address the challenges of 2020 and what that means for the industry moving forward by focusing on three specific themes: community, survival and re-futuring. [caption id="attachment_636254" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Waax, BIGSOUND 2017. Image: Bec Taylor.[/caption] Overseeing the virtual program are Janne Scott, BIGSOUND's creative director (and Splendour In The Grass' senior creative manager); Alethea Beetson, the event's First Nations producer and programmer; and conference programmer Tom Larkin. Beetson, as well as festival co-programmers Dominic Miller and Ruby-Jean McCabe, will select the artists featured in The BIGSOUND50. Past BIGSOUNDs have showcased everyone from Gang of Youths, Flume, Tash Sultana and Courtney Barnett to San Cisco, Violent Soho, Methyl Ethel and The Jungle Giants, so its program is usually a very reliable bellwether of current and up-and-coming talent. Top image: Keynote speaker Mo'Ju at BIGSOUND in 2019
Kids do and say the funniest things, with no opportunity spared in reminding us of this fact. We were all children once, so we’ve been there and done that — and an endless parade of movies and TV shows, fictional and otherwise, just wants to keep bringing it up. What We Did On Our Holiday is the latest, the first feature written and directed by the folks behind British child-centric sitcom Outnumbered. Writer/director duo Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin have found what they think is a winning formula, and they’re sticking to it — but should they? Or should audiences? That’s the more pressing question, particularly for those without their own offspring in tow. Showing the amusing side of having a family while managing more than just nodding at those exasperated at their own kids is a far trickier feat than it seems. It’s the entertainment equivalent of a social media feed filled with someone’s proud photos of their children; there needs to be something more than just smiling baby faces for others to have fun. What We Did On Our Holiday brings a likeable, recognisable cast and broad sentiments about not sweating the small stuff along for its journey out of English suburbia and into the Scottish Highlands, in an attempt to package the pitter-patter of tiny feet into something more universally relatable. Recently estranged couple Doug (David Tennant) and Abi (Rosamund Pike) try to keep up the appearance of happiness at the 75th birthday bash of Doug’s cancer-stricken father Gordy (Billy Connolly). Their kids — the sensible older daughter, the cheeky son and the curious youngster — have other plans. Doctor Who and Gone Girl’s Amazing Amy Tennant and Pike are not, instead bickering over their emotional baggage and left looking uncomfortable with their jaws agape at the antics they can’t stop their brood getting up to. Connolly is as charming as ever, even toned-down and waxing lyrical with nostalgia, but the film’s sights are constantly aimed at the trio of tykes under ten spouting semi-improvised dialogue to wring the biggest laughs. To be fair, children can be cute and they can utter hilarious yet insightful pearls of wisdom, particularly in silly situations — which What We Did On Our Holiday has plenty of. Social-climbing relatives and eccentric neighbours provide some of the drama, all of the stereotypical, easily predictable type, of course. Needlessly trying to keep secrets — about a marriage, an illness and from the police after a particularly ridiculous, darker twist — takes care of the rest. The film’s tone of sweet, simple, observational humour is certainly well intentioned, as are the picturesque country and beachside settings. However, 95 minutes of kids stumbling into contrived adult chaos against a pretty backdrop also acts as a test of patience, and some will find their limits exceeded long before the Hollywood ending.
On the night of the 12th, the incident that makes that date worthy of a movie's moniker happens quickly, heartbreakingly and horrifyingly so. It's October 2016, in the French Alps-region city of Grenoble, and Clara Royer (Lula Cotton-Frapier, Mixte) is walking home alone after an evening at her best friend Nanie's (Pauline Serieys, Grown Ups). It's 3am, the streets are quiet, and she's giddy with affection, sending a video message telling her pal how much she loves her. All it takes is a hooded figure emerging from the dark, whispering her name, dousing her with liquid and sparking a lighter, and Clara will never arrive home. Before this occurs in The Night of the 12th's opening scenes, director and co-writer Dominik Moll (Only the Animals) shares details just has distressing and dismaying: the French police are tasked with solving 800 murders a year, 20 percent of them never can be and, sadly, the case in this feature is among the latter. It might seem a strange decision, giving away the film's ending before it even begins; however, while The Night of the 12th is about the search for Clara's killer, it's never about the murderer. Instead, as it adapts 30 pages from Pauline Guéna's non-fiction book 18.3 — A Year With the Crime Squad, takes a Zodiac-style procedural approach and opts for a Mindhunter-esque survey of interrogations as well, it makes clear how easy and common it is for situations like this come about, especially in a world where women are slain at men's whims with frequency (then typically blamed if any of their own actions can be wrongly perceived to have put themselves in danger). Alongside David Fincher's serial killer fare, Bong Joon-ho's Memories of Murder casts a shadow, too, as detective Yohan Vivès (Bastien Bouillon, Jumbo) and his partner Marceau (Bouli Lanners, Nobody Has to Know) scour the area for suspects and answers. "The problem is that any one of them could have done it," Yohan observes after potential culprit after potential culprit fields their queries and flouts their engrained misogyny. Was it the bartender boyfriend (Baptiste Perais, The Companions), who saw Clara as nothing more than a fling on the side? The gym buddy (Jules Porier, Simone Veil, a Woman of the Century) that's guffawing seconds after the cops bring up the killing, all while bragging about a friends-wth-benefits setup? A rapper (Nathanaël Beausivoir, Runaway) knew the police would come calling because he wrote a song about setting Clara alight, while an awkward local squatter (Benjamin Blanchy, Spiral) welcomes the attention. By the time that her dalliance with an older man (Pierre Lottin, Les Harkis) with a violent past and convictions for domestic abuse comes up, one of Yohan and Marceau's colleagues is joking about Clara's taste in men. Judgemental views about women don't just fester among the interviewees; how many cases have been hindered by such prejudiced perspectives, The Night of the 12th silently gives viewers cause to wonder. Played as meticulous and passionate by Bouillon, the newly promoted Yohan isn't one of those chauvinist officers. More prone to splashing his feelings around in Lanners' hands, neither is Marceau. The film's central duo is dutiful and dedicated, and their efforts turn The Night of the 12th into a chronicle of devoted and hard-working people doing what they're supposed to — and well, and with care — even if viewers instantly know they won't achieve their desired outcome. In the script by Moll and his regular co-scribe Gilles Marchand (Eastern Boys), both men find the case impacting them in different ways, though, including the fact that their obsessive endeavours don't and won't wrap up the case. Amid chasing leads, making enquiries and sitting down with the men in Clara's life, Yohan lives a spartan existence in his spick-and-span apartment and in his relationships. Marceau is navigating a marriage breakdown, and his emotions run high personally and professionally. It might seem strange, too, crafting a movie about a murdered young woman that's actually about men. (If that one word hadn't already been used as a film title this year, also for a Cannes-premiering flick about the terrors that haunt a patriarchal society, it would've fit here). But as Moll puts it, and as won't come as a surprise to anyone watching for a second, The Night of the 12th's focus on male cops and assailants is simply and mournfully realistic. Still, his feature is as committed to ensuring that Clara is never a mere statistic as its main duo are to trying to find the person responsible for her death. The reality this story is based on has made her one of many unsolved cases, but that Clara lived, loved and was loved is never in doubt within the movie's frames. (Among the picture's many supporting performances, Cotton-Frapier's leaves an imprint.) Also indisputable: Nanie's contention that her friend only died, and in such an appalling manner, because she was female; plus Yohan's reflection to a magistrate (Anouk Grinberg, Deception) overseeing the proceedings years later that "there is something seriously amiss in the relationship between men and women." The Night of the 12th's details express these sentiments anyway, and Moll prefers to let the story and its minutiae do the talking, but overtly stating such notions never feels forceful. That's the film from start to finish, in fact, because this is a richly elaborate piece of cinema that lets its presence be known in a lived-in way, including via Patrick Ghiringhelli's (Only the Animals) crisp cinematography and Olivier Marguerit's (Méduse) brooding score. The Night of the 12th is a feature to sleuth along with, as Moll's second whodunnit in a row, but it's also a picture to sink into as its stark truths inhabit everything seen and heard. Three choices, all contributing to much of the striking imagery, perhaps encapsulate this patiently powerful affair best — and all that it aims to convey. Yohan and Marceau's interrogations span a varied lineup of spaces, from dank bedrooms and crumbling shacks to bars and airy apartments, inherently stressing how pervasively threats to Clara's existence have lurked. A moodily lit velodrome gives Yohan his sole outlet from the case, offering a much-needed physical coping mechanism, and all that pedalling around and around is innately symbolic. Then there's the mountainous Grenoble and the Maurienne valley setting overall, moved from Versailles where Guéna spent a year in the Criminal Investigation Department, and not just naturally gorgeous but picture perfect and easy fodder for scenic French holiday dreams. Something atrocious, complex and unsolvable happens there, just as it can and does anywhere — and shaking that, and the tightly wound, deeply piercing movie overall, isn't easy.
To fall in love and start a travelling folk band seems the impossible, unticked box on every romantic's bucket list. He wields a banjo, she sings, photos are taken, albums are released and life becomes one big beautiful folk ballad. It's impossibly unlikely for most, but for musical duo Those Folk it came quite naturally — as will your jealousy upon learning their story. He, Lawrence, was from California; she, Clare, was from Brisbane. They met in Scotland and before Nicholas Sparks had a chance to steal their story, they were up and away, writing tunes and performing for those who couldn't help but fall in love with their sound. You could listen to their songs with no context of their journey and still feel the heart of the story that precedes their sound. Between Clare's howling voice, and Lawrence's knack for just about everything with strings, keys and buttons, the talent that orbits around these two is rather unbelievable — talk about landing a catch. Now, for what seems like once in their career, they're keeping within 100km radius of home, as they tour their first album, Pacific Passages. We had a chat to Clare in Brisbane and Lawrence in England, about the creation of Those Folk, making their first album and what happens when Australian and Zydeco folk become one. Clare, Lawrence, could you paint us a picture of Those Folk and how you came together? Clare: Those Folk are a musical duo, comprised of myself, Clare Quinn and Lawrence Menard. I'm a Queensland local, whereas Lawrence hails from USA; he was born in the state of Louisiana and grew up in Southern California. In 2012, I took a year off from my music degree in Brisbane to go backpacking through Europe. I met Lawrence at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in Scotland in August of 2012. He has spent a lot of time in the UK as he studied music over there and is in an English band called The Buffalo Skinners. Since then we've travelled around a lot together between the UK, Europe, USA and Australia, making music all along the way. You've both been unbelievably busy, and trotting all around the globe this year — what's been a highlight of 2014 so far? Lawrence: 2014 has been full of producing two albums, and doing a lot of gigging and world travel. I recorded an album with The Buffalo Skinners last summer in California. Then a month later, Clare arrived and we decided to record an album as well. Once all of the recording was done which took about a month, I began a nearly ten month long mixing and mastering process which carried over into 2014. A lot of that time was spent in Brisbane with Clare where we continued to gig and polish our sound. I then headed to the UK in May to begin touring the new Buffalo Skinners album, and have been on the road since! Now back to Australia to release Pacific Passage. Clare: My highlights of the year would have to be spending the month of January in Tasmania, where we played a few gigs and a intimate festival called Forest Festival, as well as visiting Lawrence and The Buffalo Skinners in the UK in June and July. It was great to tag along with that band and experience life on the touring road with a bunch of good people, playing shows, making friends, attending festivals. We even got to spend a week in France where I performed a bit — and the French hospitality was superb. https://youtube.com/watch?v=JBr3Bm_Z-14 Congratulations on the album — tell us about Pacific Passage and the process of making it? Lawrence, would you be able to tell us about your analogue approach to sound production? Lawrence: Thank you! Well, when Clare first arrived to California, we spent a lot of time passing guitars around and sitting at the piano. Then one day we just said, "Should we record an album?" So upon realising that we had enough songs for a full length album, we headed to my studio. First we recorded all of the main parts to a four-track tape machine. So, if it was a song with ukulele and piano, we'd record those instruments onto two channels, then our vocals on the other two. I really like how analogue tape reacts to the human voice and acoustic instruments, so to have the main foundation of the song on tape is important to me. Also, it removes the computer screen from the early stages of the song — so we can really just listen and focus on the song in our heads rather than seeing it as a waveform on a screen right off the bat. But then, so we can build the song and overdub more instruments and harmonies, I record the tape into the computer. We can then listen to the analogue recordings and make unlimited overdubs in the computer. However, I still use vintage tube pre-amps and analogue EQs to stay consistent with the warmth and sparkle of the tape. So once all of the recordings are in the computer, I can travel with them and mix just about anywhere. Do you each have a favourite track on Pacific Passages? Lawrence: I think that Clare's voice in 'Higher' sounds magical (laughs). And the drums were recorded at twice the speed by our friend Anders, which is very hard to do for a drummer. I then slowed the tape down to half the speed, which pitched the drums down and dragged each beat out making it feel extra heavy. It's a highlight for me. Clare: Personally I'm really enjoying the final track, 'Willow Tree'. It's a gentle song about accepting death and the notion of reincarnating to become a beautiful tree. I think that this track gives some nice closure to the end of the album. Clare, your roots lie in Australian folk and Lawrence, your music is described as English 'Zydefolk and Roll'. How have you found each of your styles have combined? Lawrence: I think it's a pretty nice mix. The style of music that the Buffalo Skinners play is only one outlet I suppose of music that I strive to create. Even within that band there are songs that some of us present and everyone says, "No, it's not really a Buffalo Skinners song." But with Clare, there aren't any limitations. Because there are only two of us, anything that we play still sounds like 'us'. So I really enjoy exploring other styles and pulling from some other musical influences. I also think we blend well because we complete a lot of each other's ideas. We truly write music and lyrics together, rather than "here's my song, here's your song" etc. Clare: I am thoroughly enjoying sharing music with Lawrence and swapping skills and ideas in regards to the creation of chord structures, melodies, lyrics and performance techniques. It's great because Lawrence is teaching me a lot about the music side of things and I like to call myself the vocal coach, so between us we have all bases covered. What else have you got in store once you've finished the Pacific Passage tour? Lawrence: America! Come late November, Clare and I finally get to enjoy being in the same country without having to watch the calendar and renew visas. So we will be planning a West Coast release and tour of Pacific Passage, with support from some of our friends who are already doing great things musically in California. We're really excited to jump on board and be a part of it all. Also I'll be running my recording studio full time, which means plenty of new music by Those Folk coming right up. Those Folk will play at Black Bear Lodge this Wednesday, October 8 for their Pacific Passages tour. More info here.
Dust off your best bling bling and scour your wardrobe for something Anna Wintour would approve of, because James Street's RESORT is back for its fifth year. It's all about eating, drinking and shopping like you're on holidays, with emphasis on the last part when the annual extravaganza brings yet another fashion frenzy to New Farm. Across Thursday, October 11 and Friday, October 12, James Street will transformed into a desert oasis and shopping mirage, with exclusive collections and presentations by the local boutiques on the strip. Highlights include designers from Camilla and Marc, Dinosaur Designs and more, a spring showcase from Eurowalls and a sneak peek at tomorrow's best talents thanks to QUT's fashion graduates. You can also check out the new Calile Hotel, hear a talk about the future of luxury travel, sip resort-style sundowners from eight bars along the roadway or indulge in a scoop of ice cream thanks to a Gelato Messina pop-up. Sounds oh-so-chic, doesn't it? And, it sounds like fun. Regardless of how many Hadids you follow on Instagram or how big your wardrobe is, this is the event of events for anyone interested in the contemporary and future states of Australian fashion. Splash out on an outfit you can't afford and enjoy! Image: Resort 2017 via James Street.
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.
The best and brightest in new queer cinema is coming to Melbourne cinemas — and to couches around the country as well. When the Melbourne Queer Film Festival returns from Thursday, November 18–Monday, November 29, it's embracing big-screen sessions via a huge 145-film lineup. And, for folks who can't make it along in person, including everyone outside of Melbourne, it's also screening more than 40 flicks online. That's the film festival dream these days, giving movie lovers the flexibility to sit in a darkened theatre or watch along from home. You'll need to attend in person to make the most of MQFF's opening night, however, with the 2021 fest — the event's 31st, in fact — kicking things off with a gala screening of powerful animated documentary Flee at The Jam Factory. Other highlights include moving drama Great Freedom, which hits MQFF after picking up a prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival; closing night's Fanny: The Right to Rock, about female rock band Fanny; the Los Angeles-set Summertime, which focuses on 25 of the city's residents as their lives intersect; French romance Anaïs in Love; and the Udo Kier-starring Swan Song. Or, there's also striking Albanian drama The Hill Where Lionesses Roar; Dramarama, a coming-out comedy about theatre kids; the St Vincent and Carrie Brownstein-starring The Nowhere Inn; and South Korea's A Distance Place.
Brisbane's influx of breweries continues — this time, with Stone & Wood revealing plans to set up shop in Fortitude Valley. The Byron Bay-based outfit will soon boast a Brisbane outpost in Bridge Street, featuring a small brewery that'll make a range of beers to be consumed onsite, a tasting room for indulging in said beverages, and an event space — as well as offices for Stone & Wood's Brisbane team. "We believe we can add value to the emerging good beer scene in Brisbane and continue to grow the market by adding our beer experience into the mix," the company announced. Enhancing beer aficionados' love of their chosen beverage is also one of the motivating factors behind the new digs; "a big part of what we do in our existing Byron Bay tasting room is centred around education and developing people's appreciation for good beer," Stone & Wood explained. As for specifics, Brisbanites can expect a 90-seat venue attached to the 600-litre facility, according to Australian Brews News; however just what else is in store has yet to be revealed. Stone & Wood join Brisbane's increasingly bustling craft beer scene, becoming the latest in a long line of both new and established breweries pouring brews in Brisbane. Indeed, residents can also look forward to the arrival of Scotland's BrewDog in 2019, with the company building its only Australian site in Murarrie. In the inner-city, Felon's Brewing Co. will launch in October this year as part of the Howard Smith Wharves development. Find Stone & Wood on Bridge Street, Fortitude Valley in late 2019. We'll let you know when an opening dat has been confirmed
Imagine starting the day with a spot of yoga and one of the best views of the city. That's the new weekly promise at Eleven Rooftop Bar, with the Ann Street venue adding a spring and summer season of sky-high wellness sessions to its lofty repertoire. And each class is free. From 6am every Tuesday between October 17 and December 12 — other than Melbourne Cup day on November 7 — early risers can stretch their limbs at a great height with yoga and Pilates sessions, or get the blood pumping with some boxing or circuit training. With all of that on offer, you'll probably want to take the lift up to the 11th-floor rooftop — best save your energy for working out while staring at the city below. The appropriately named Rooftop Wellness at Eleven is a collaboration between the Fortitude Valley spot and The Cove Workplace, with Facilities Fitness, Studio Pilates Newstead and Eka Shakti Yoga all pitching in as well. Registration is required, and if you'd like to hang around afterwards, an optional breakfast session will serve up juice and a chia bowls after each class for $17.
Run-DMC did it. Outkast, Kanye, Eazy-E, Snoop, Puff Daddy and Ludacris too. We're talking about rap and hip hop stars channelling the Christmas spirit into their very own festive songs, of course. There's Christmas wrap, and then there's Christmas rap, you see. It's the latter that The Foundry is celebrating at Rap Christmas, as the name really does give away. spacecowboy 4005, Sammrai Samwise, The Archaeologists, Skrub and Syntax Junkies will be slinging words, flinging verse and just being merry, one festive rap at a time. And, because everyone wants to make a night of it at this time of year, that's not all. If you're keen to wet your whistle, there'll also be beer, glorious beer, thanks to the beverage-loving bunch at Young Henry's. Now that's how you put the hops into hip hop.
A horde of local and international joke makers will be descending on our fair city over the next few weeks as part of the 3rd annual Brisbane Comedy Festival. If you are yet to bare witness to the festival, our advice is to make sure you leave your nanna at home (naughty words are well and truly part of the vocab here) and bring your funny bone because this is Queensland's largest comedy festival and laughing is the name of the game. Topping the bill for 2011 will be American actress Lily Tomlin, Scottish sensation Danny Bhoy, British comedian Stephen K Amos, Australian wise cracker Wil Anderson and Brisbane's favourite Gen Y boy, Josh Thomas. Australia's adopted son Arj Barker will also be joining the festival for the first time this year with his show Let me do the talking. If you've bared witness to Barker's laid back and witty stand up before, or caught him on the hilarious HBO series Flight of the Concords, you'll know he's one comedian you won't want to miss. Other Brisbane favourites including Tom Ballard, Denise Scott, Tom Gleeson and Dave O'Neill will also be hot shows on the festival line up this year. And for those looking for a night of shameful inappropriateness, Heath Franklin will be appearing as Chopper for one hilarious night of Chooper's F**kin Bingo.
Ice cream season is upon us and so is another Brisbane spot to eat it, with La Macelleria once again growing its gelato empire. Just over a year since doubling its dessert joints from one to two, the gelateria chain has added a third location in Coorparoo. Joining La Macelleria's existing Newstead and West End joints, the new Coorparoo Square digs boasts the same creamy artisanal Italian gelato that has made the brand such a hit — think flavours such as tiramisu, salted caramel, raspberry cheesecake, mandorla al caffe (aka roasted almond and roasted coffee beans) and bacio Australiano (white chocolate with caramelised macadamia chips). And, in a first, it's also slinging customisable gelato shakes. Just pick your two favourite flavours, choose your homemade sauce, and add everything from hazelnuts to whipped cream to a shot of coffee. If gelato in Coorparoo sounds familiar, that's because La Macelleria has taken over the centre's corner spot, which used to be home to the now-closed La Mimosa Gelateria. La Macelleria isn't done expanding yet either, with a fourth store in Bowen Hills in the works, targeting a mid-January opening date. For now, to celebrate scooping up dessert in Brisbane's east, the chain is throwing an opening shindig in its usual fashion — that is, with $1 gelato. While the fun kicks off at noon on Saturday, October 27, you'll need to drop by from 5–7pm to grab your small-sized bargain. From 7pm, gelato espresso martinis and bellinis will also be on offer at La Macelleria's new neighbour, Beyond the Pale. Find La Macelleria at Coorparoo Square on the corner of Old Cleveland and Cavendish Roads, Coorparoo.
There are plenty of ways to describe something that's fun while it lasts, but finishes up prematurely. And yes, many of them could be followed by "title of your sex tape". So, with US TV network NBC announcing a few months back that beloved sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine will come to an end after its next season, we're sure you've been thinking about Jake Peralta's favourite retort for a while now. We're sure the phrase will be uttered at least once in the show's final batch of episodes, too — which will air in America in August. B99 is due to wrap up its police-focused comedic antics with a ten-episode eighth season, which will launch following the Tokyo Olympics, NBC has just announced. Just when the show's latest instalments will surface Down Under hasn't yet been revealed, though. In Australia, SBS has fast-tracked recent seasons — so fingers crossed that we'll be farewelling the Nine-Nine crew at the same time as our overseas counterparts. When those final episodes hit screens, it'll be your last chance to spend time in Brooklyn's fictional 99th police precinct, and with Peralta (Andy Samberg), Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero), Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz), Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio), Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews) and Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher) — and even Hitchcock (Dirk Blocker) and Scully (Joel McKinnon Miller). Well, other than binging your way through the show's entire run again and again, a pastime that will never get old. Whenever any B99 news arrives — happy or sad — there are plenty of appropriate ways to mark this development. You could break out a sorrowful yoghurt, Terry Jeffords-style. If you're more like Captain Raymond Holt, perhaps you'd like to treat yourself to a trip to a barrel museum. You could also channel your inner Gina Linetti (Chelsea Peretti) and dance about your distressed feelings, organise your entire house as you know Santiago would, or say cheers to Peralta by watching Die Hard over and over. And, to fill the time until the new episodes drop, you can also watch this cool cool cool B99 training video below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaoBN_e9Om0 Brooklyn Nine-Nine's eighth and final season is set to air in the US from August 2021. We'll update you when an air date Down Under is announced.
There are two highly misconstrued clauses about exhibition openings. Firstly, that you have to know a lot about art to go to them. Secondly, that you need an invitation. To set things straight, you actually need neither. Most openings are come one, come many so we've enlisted the experts to help us brave our debut into the commercial art world with A Bluffer's Guide to Art Parties. Who goes? "Exhibition openings are celebrations of art and welcome community participation through discussion," says Nicky Ginsberg, Director of NG Art Gallery in Sydney. "Openings serve to promote awareness and support in the contemporary art scene." Openings are about engaging with art, the artists, gallerists, artsy types and non-artsy types. They are exciting events where guests are in the privileged position of being able to actually meet the artist and talk to them in person about their work and practice. Don't shy away from openings because you 'don't fit the mould' – there's no such thing. Rhianna Walcott, Manager at Artereal Gallery in Sydney, is another oracle we asked. "Exhibition openings in commercial spaces attract a very diverse mix of people including the artist's friends, family and supporters. You also find a mix of the gallery's regular clients and ongoing supporters, as well as collectors and arts industry professionals," she says. What to expect And what should we expect from the evening's festivities? Well, ordinarily, guests are given ample time to browse the art on offer, chat with artists and soak up the atmosphere. Next there's normally a formal speech from either the gallery's director or a guest speaker who will declare the exhibition open. And yes. Complimentary wine and canapés are the norm. But remember not to over indulge. No one enjoys the token drunk kid in the corner who has suddenly become an expert on all things contemporary art. Needless to say you're there for the art and engagement, not the free booze. Art criticism 101 Now that we've covered the who and what, we should probably discuss the how and when. The question of how to navigate your way around an opening can be a tricky one. For first timers, Ginsberg offers the advice: "Don't be shy, on arrival survey the room; if in doubt, go clockwise. Take in the art by asking yourself: do I like it? Why don't I like it? How was it made?" "Spend the first ten minutes or so looking at all the work and reading through the available information on the exhibition – curatorial text, artist biography etcetera. If you are serious about engaging with the work in the exhibition it is best to read up on the artist via the gallery's website in advance. This gives you some context and prior knowledge, which will allow you a better appreciation of the work when you do see it in the flesh," adds Walcott. The when of exhibition openings varies. Most, however, are hosted during the week, after hours, from around 6-8pm. Talking art Before presenting our fast fact manual, we'd like to leave you with a few crucial words of departure from the experts. "If in a conversation about the art on offer, it is advised to engage your companion's opinion and relationship to the artist before slandering harsh criticism," offers Ginsberg. And from the Walcott camp: "The art world is not as uptight as it is made out to be. Never be afraid to approach people whether it is the artist or the gallerist, or just the person standing next to you. Galleries feel a responsibility to create a welcoming environment where anyone can come to experience and learn about the work." Fast facts Who: Commercial exhibition openings welcome all and it is not necessary to RSVP. What: An exhibition opening is an event hosted by an art gallery/institution to formally open an exhibition. You go to them to be educated, to celebrate and to congratulate. When: Varied, but usually on a weekday evening from 6-8pm. Where: All galleries on the commercial circuit host exhibition openings to expose artists' work to the public. How much: Usually free, with the exception of invite-only openings or ticketed launch events (usually reserved for major public art institutions). Mingle like a pro: Don't: Use fancy words you don't know the meaning of when discussing a work just to impress someone. Do: Try descriptive words like 'costly', 'historic', or 'monotonous' rather than 'rip off', 'big', or 'boring'. Don't: Overlook the art nearest the bar. Do: Use the art near the bar as a conversation starter in the likely event there is a queue. Don't: Assume you know everything about the artist just because you've read the catalogue essay. Do: Read up on the artist before the show if you want to get the most out of the opening. Don't: Forget that 'modern' and 'contemporary' are different genres in art history. Do: Be inquisitive if other guests start dropping art historical terms, mid-conversation, that you don't understand. Don't: Say 'I could do better than that'. Do: Say you've been inspired to create your own art.
Two sets of unsavoury characters meet in a Boston warehouse in the dead of night to exchange a suitcase full of money for a truck full of guns. It should be a simple swap, but inevitably the deal goes pear-shaped and bullets begin to fly. As premises go, the one at the heart of Free Fire could hardly be any simpler. But it's that simplicity, in part, that makes this pitch-black action comedy work as well as it does. Taking the glamour, if not the glee, out of violent big-screen gun battles, Free Fire draws more on slapstick comedies than it does Hollywood shoot 'em ups. No one here is a particularly good shot, with the characters spending the bulk of their time huddled behind makeshift barriers nursing flesh wounds and screaming obscenities. Every injury is another punch line, as foot chases slow to a stumble and eventually a crawl. At times, you may wish director Ben Wheatley did a better job maintaining a sense of visual geography – it's not always clear which character is where or who it is they're shooting at. Then again, the film is fundamentally about confusion, so perhaps that's the point. A percussion heavy jazz score accentuates the sense of chaos, while driving home the fact that the shooters are making things up as they go. But more important than being able to keep track of who did the shooting is whether you actually care about the people getting shot. The script is a little thin when it comes to character development, but a strong cast helps flesh out what's on the page. Armie Hammer as a smooth talking sales rep, Brie Larson as an inscrutable mediator, Cillian Murphy as a soulful IRA lieutenant and Michael Smiley as his uptight comrade lead an ensemble that also includes Sam Riley, Jack Reynor and Noah Taylor. Only Sharlto Copley, as an ostentatious arms dealer, crosses the line into caricature, although thankfully he's funny more often than he's annoying. Ultimately though, how entertaining you find Free Fire will largely depend on how much you can laugh at people getting killed and/or maimed. Although considerably less nasty than some of Wheatley's earlier films such as Sightseers and A Field in England, this is still a decidedly dark affair. It's probably for the best than it only runs for an hour and a half. You can only go so long with a concept like this before the laughs are replaced with a sense of unease that's not anywhere near as fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDD3I0uOlqY
Since kicking off its weekly Friday evening event at the beginning of the year, Brisbane Night Markets has been jumping at any excuse to throw a party, including winter and mango season. Come the end of October, the folks behind the scenes really don't need to think too hard — 'tis the time to don spooky costumes and carve pumpkins, after all. The Halloween-themed Brisbane Fright Market will also feature a haunted house, face painting and a trick-or-treat trail, plus prizes for the best-dressed. This frightful event isn't just for kids either. The adult with the best costume will also win something terrifying (well, their prize mightn't actually be horrifying, but they won't go home empty-handed), and all adult attendees will be able to knock back plenty of wicked cocktails. Live bands are also part of the fun, so here's hoping that they play 'Monster Mash' more than a couple of times. Brisbane Fright Market takes place not once, but twice — from 4pm on October 25 and November 1. As always, there'll be around 40 street food vendors onsite, too, probably serving suitably themed bites to eat.
What it means to leave and live up to a legacy comes up often in Creed. Ryan Coogler's boxing drama resurrects the Rocky saga, bringing back the aging fighter synonymous with the series and introducing the offspring of another beloved character. No surprises there. But what is less expected is how well the feature succeeds in doing all three. That, and just how rousing the drama proves, both as the next instalment in a series and as a movie in its own right. Cast 2006's lacklustre Rocky Balboa from your mind: this is a continuation that fans can warm to, as can those without four decades of fondness for the franchise. That, on its own, is no easy feat. As the last jump back into Sylvester Stallone's knockabout world confirmed, revisiting the Italian Stallion in the years since the 1976 original can be rather hit-and-miss. Enter director Ryan Coogler and leading man Michael B. Jordan to show that the sixth sequel/spinoff can be the charm. The Fruitvale Station duo reteams to bring the writer-director's passion project to fruition, and in doing so gift the young actor with another knockout part. Jordan plays Adonis "Donnie" Johnson, a boxing wannabe with a pedigree he's struggling with. Though his early years were spent in foster care and juvenile detention, he's the illegitimate son of famed fighter Apollo Creed — and while he shares the same sporting ambitions, he wants to make it on his own terms. Heading from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, he seeks out his dad's repeated opponent turned pal Rocky (Stallone), eventually convincing him to become his trainer, and tries to follow in his father's footsteps. Cue the story of an underdog scrapping his way to the top despite several setbacks, more than a few montages and inspirational speeches, some high stakes and blistering bouts, plus an on-again, off-again relationship between Adonis and his neighbour, aspiring singer Bianca (Tessa Thompson), as well as a surrogate father-son bond blossoming with Rocky. Little happens in Creed that isn't easily foreseen. And yet the film doesn't feel like another formulaic follow-up. In fact, just as it sprinkles the familiar score from the original offering throughout its soundtrack and references events from movies gone by, Creed finds the right balance between looking backwards and starting a new future. Combining sincere nostalgia with a clear path forward, the feature achieves exactly what its protagonist is aiming for as he endeavours to do justice to his predecessor while making his own way. Coogler's direction – emphasizing the grit of the streets and the urgency of the ring, and shooting every fight close and tight for maximum tension – is certainly influential. His indie stylings are an ideal fit for the material, and for enlivening a genre seen so many times before that much of its content has become cliched. And yet, his technique often takes second place to the stars that grace the screen. That's not a criticism of Coogler — it's just a reflection of how engaging both Jordan and Stallone prove. The former once again demonstrates his charisma, complexity and versatility, while the latter benefits from stepping away from the main fray, and the rapport they share is moving. With mentor-protégé tales common movie fodder, it's rare for such an on-screen pairing to really hit the emotional marks. Crucially, Creed isn't a comeback for Stallone, but a film that keeps him connected to the iconic series he started. It plays upon his ambling acting strengths and passes on the baton to a worthy successor. And yes, it both leaves and lives up to a legacy.
There are some people in this world who are freaks of nature, e.g. people who can do any job, read any book, or pick up any instrument and play it. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is one of these people and he is here in Brisbane this week with his group to tour their 38-track monster Telestrion – a double disc CD collection of Omar's numerous releases. Akin to Prince, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is a - wait for it - composer, artist, writer, director, songwriter, actor and producer, and can play over ten instruments. If his name sounds familiar, that's because he is the guitarist (as well as producer and composer) for the Mars Volta. Omar has also collaborated with John Frusciante (of Red Hot Chili Peppers fame) and although he may be in a prog-rock band, he also digs reggae and has been known to be quite experimental in his solo work. It's of no surprise that someone of this immense talent and skill would feel claustrophobic in a band setting and would be dying to break free, which is why Omar has decided to spawn his own avant-garde style of music and do it on his own. His musical style is so complex that there is no way of describing the perplexing composition this incredible musician uses, so you pretty much need to see him to comprehend it all. Even then, I'm not sure if any of it would make sense to us common folk. I'd go just to see Mr Rodriguez play the guitar left handed, all the other stuff's a bonus!
Whiplash is a film about a drummer, and it might just be the scariest thing you see all year. It's not Annabelle scary, as in paranormal pant-soiling scary, nor is it Silence of the Lambs scary, aka psychological pant-peeing. It's more disturbing, a sort of 'do whatever it takes', Talented Mr Ripley kind of film, chronicling the terrifying lengths people will go to in pursuit of a goal. It's a 'jazz thriller', really, and it's an exceptional, engrossing movie. Narrow in its focus, Whiplash concerns an ambitious young drummer named Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller), a first-year student at a prestigious New York music academy. When the school's premier conductor, Terence Fletcher (JK Simmons), invites him to join the marquee jazz ensemble, Neyman quickly finds himself embroiled in a gripping, exhausting, unsettling and even violent clash of egos driven by Fletcher's unyielding pursuit of excellence and Neyman's own determination to be the next musical great. Chairs are thrown, punches are thrown, and in any given practice session the trinity of 'blood, sweat and tears' becomes almost mandatory. The one small mercy for panic-stricken viewers who found The Exorcist to be an exercise in endurance rather than enjoyment was that the terror occurred predominantly within the confines of the bedroom. You knew when to be afraid, and in Whiplash that room is Fletcher's rehearsal space. What ought to be the epitome of cool is instead the Roman colosseum, with Fletcher its sitting Emperor. One of the bad ones. More Caligula than Caesar. He rules through fear and exploits his students' aspirations as a means of ensuring his own reputation remains one of excellence and achievement. A few minor roles notwithstanding (Paul Reiser has a nice turn as Neyman's softly spoken father), this is a movie focussed on the performances by Teller and Simmons, and they're both first rate. Teller spent hours on the kit every single day rehearsing for the role, and his percussive skills are as impressive as his acting ones. Both arrogance and insecurity bubble just beneath his character's surface, and his descent into physical and mental ruin is painfully believable. Opposite him, Simmons is a powerhouse of brute force and bravura; a fedora-wearing, baton-wielding drill-sergeant right out of Full Metal Jacket. He bullies, he abuses and he hurls bigoted slanders so often it's almost as though that's how he breathes. The explanation he offers is as unapologetic as it is simple: greatness only comes from being pushed beyond the comfort zone and penetrating the unknown. For a jazz movie there's surprisingly little of it, and while the final performance is nothing short of extraordinary, the lack of jam sessions and gigs feels at odds with Neyman's professed love of the art and his dogged pursuit of pre-eminence. The film's conclusion, too, is troubling, for while it delights on the musical front, conceptually it appears to reinforce what is plainly a flawed and dangerous approach to nurturing talent. Still, this a showcase of two outstanding performances and a clear standout in what has otherwise been a largely mediocre run of films in 2014. Must see. https://youtube.com/watch?v=8J6JH-R-TN0
Last year, when Stranger Things became everyone's favourite Netflix series, one Fortitude Valley bar was pretty darn happy. They mightn't force patrons to fight a demogorgon, but Barbara sure does have one of the best possible names for celebrating the fictional town of Hawkins, its curious kids and their '80s antics. So, they threw a party. When you share your moniker with one of the show's most beloved characters, that's what you do. And when the program is slated to come back for another season just in time for Halloween, you plan a second shindig. Behold: Stranger Things at Barbara — Part 2. Taking place from 9pm on October 28 — aka the weekend before the year's scariest date — expect a whole host of weird and wonderful fun, again, including craft beverages, chats about '80s-inspired pop culture, a soundtrack of synth-heavy tunes and general Barb love. Once more, your pal Nancy won't even have to drag you there. BYO Eggo waffles.
On Sunday night, March 22, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that all non-essential indoor venues had to close the following day at midday. Gyms, cinemas, casinos, and places of worship were some of the venues on that list, as were pubs, club, bars, restaurants and cafes. And while restaurants and cafes were allowed to continue offering food via takeaway and delivery, if they're located in Queensland and hold a current liquor licence, they can now also supply alcohol using those two means as well. Implemented by the Queensland Office of Liquor and Gaming, the change comes with one big caveat, however — which explains why it applies to restaurants and cafes, but not bars. Booze can only be added to takeaway and delivery orders that also include food, so you'll need to buy something to eat to go along with your beverage. Also, only bottled and canned beer, wine, cider and ready-to-drink tipples such as premixed spirits are available for takeaway and delivery — and a maximum of 2.25 litres of alcohol can be sold with any one food order. [caption id="attachment_659857" align="aligncenter" width="1620"] E'cco Bistro by Atlanta Bell[/caption] In New South Wales, a similar move also allows bars to sell cocktails and other boozy beverages for consumption at home. At present, however, that isn't the case in Queensland — and there's no word as yet as to whether it is under consideration. There's also no word regarding how long this change will be in effect, but it's reasonable to expect that it'll remain in place until the non-essential indoor venues are allowed to reopen, which, according to the Prime Minister, could be another six months. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website. Top image: Billykart West End.
While the country is in lockdown, there are still animals that need caring for. RSPCA NSW currently has more than 2000 dogs, cats, chickens, guinea pigs and even goats that it's feeding, playing with and providing medical care for. And to help raise funds for these animals in need, it's hosting a trivia night fundraiser — virtually, of course. Running from 7.30–8.30pm on Thursday, May 21, the fundraiser will feature 50 questions covering topics such as creates of the deep blue, animals in the spotlight and insects and reptiles, as well as some general knowledge. It'll set you back just $10 to partake, which all goes straight to looking after the furry (or not-so-furry) boys and girls. If your life is missing a furry friends — and you're ready to make a lifelong commitment, of course — RSPCA centres across the country are still open for adoptions. The process now, though, is mostly online. The charity is also looking for foster parents, if you're able to have a temporary friend in your home.
Parisian label Kitsune is coming back to hang. As cool and sharp as a post-toothpaste drink of lemonade, the record and fashion label know what's up well before it's up. Specialising in eclectic electronic and minimalist dance music as clean and tailored as a French cuff, the label have been taking their Kitsune Club Nights worldwide to dance lovers in Tokyo, Berlin and London. The crew cranked some serious parties in Australia last year, with the likes of Jerry Bouthier, Clubfeet, RUFUS and Softwar. Returning for the second edition this May, Kitsune are heading back to Australia to throw down a whole lot of excellent beats, fronted by one of their favourite dudes, Pyramid. One heck of a laptop wizard, the French producer won his way into Kitsune hearts and compilations after winning a remix contest. The 22-year-old DJ will be promoting his new EP, The Phoenix, out now through the label itself. He'll be joined by Aussie electronic alt-popster Chela, who linked arms with Melbourne outfit Clubfeet for the Kitsune club series last year. There'll be five stops on the Kitsune Australian tour, creating a ruckus in Fitzroy's Laundry Bar, Fortitude Valley's Chinese Whispers, The Bakery in Northbridge and Sydney's Civic Underground before heading on to Warehouse 82 in Seminyak, Bali. So if you're fan of disjointed nu-disco (which, everybody clearly is), get amongst it in May. Tour dates: Fri 9 May - Laundry Bar, Fitzroy Sat 10 May - Chinese Whispers, Fortitude Valley Fri 16 May - The Bakery, Northbridge Sat 17 May - Civic Underground, Sydney Image by BAM.
For playing Princess Diana in Spencer, Kristen Stewart earned an Oscar nomination. For doing the same in Diana the Musical, Jeanna de Waal just won a Golden Raspberry Award. Given out the day before the Academy Awards and rewarding the worst in cinema for the past year — rather than the best and brightest like their counterparts — the Razzies have named their picks from 2021's flicks. And yes, singing through the life of Princess Di wasn't considered movie magic. A filmed version of the stage production, Diana the Musical earned five awards in total — after leading the nominations with nine. The Golden Raspberries also considered it the Worst Picture of the year, and gave it the Worst Director, Worst Supporting Actress and Worst Screenplay prizes as well. If you haven't seen it yet, you might to stick with The Crown. Also winning big: needless Space Jam sequel Space Jam: A New Legacy, which picked up three awards from four nominations. It received the Worst Actor prize for LeBron James, as well as the Worst Remake, Ripoff or Sequel award, plus Worst Screen Couple. With those two movies scoring eight awards between them, there wasn't much room for many other winners at the 42nd Razzies (although, are Razzie recipients really considered winners?). But Jared Leto's awful efforts in House of Gucci still scored him the Worst Supporting Actor prize, even over Diana the Musical's Gareth Keegan. One person who was always going to end with a Razzie to his name this year was Bruce Willis. The awards even created their own category for him — because he released eight flicks last year, and all of them were terrible. Wondering which one was deemed the worst of the lot? That'd be Cosmic Sin, which saw Willis pick up the accolade for Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie. Ahead of likely winning an Oscar today, Will Smith also earned some love from the Razzies as well. The former Fresh Prince received the only Golden Raspberry anyone ever wants to get, though: the Razzie Redeemer, for actors who've come back from a spate of Razzie-worthy roles. Smith's win came for King Richard, the part he's expected to get that Academy Award for. Check out the full list of nominees and winners below: GOLDEN RASPBERRY NOMINEES AND WINNERS 2022: WORST PICTURE Diana the Musical — WINNER Infinite Karen Space Jam: A New Legacy The Woman in the Window WORST ACTOR Scott Eastwood, Dangerous Roe Hartrampf (as Prince Charles), Diana the Musical LeBron James, Space Jam: A New Legacy — WINNER Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen Mark Wahlberg, Infinite WORST ACTRESS Amy Adams, The Woman in the Window Jeanna de Waal, Diana the Musical — WINNER Megan Fox, Midnight in the Switchgrass Taryn Manning, Karen Ruby Rose, Vanquish WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR Ben Affleck, The Last Duel Nick Cannon, The Misfits Mel Gibson, Dangerous Gareth Keegan (as James Hewitt, the muscle-bound horse trainer), Diana the Musical Jared Leto, House of Gucci — WINNER WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Amy Adams, Dear Evan Hansen Sophie Cookson, Infinite Erin Davie (as Camilla), Diana the Musical Judy Kaye (as both Queen Elizabeth and Barbara Cartland), Diana the Musical — WINNER Taryn Manning, Every Last One of Them WORST PERFORMANCE BY BRUCE WILLIS IN A 2021 MOVIE Bruce Willis, American Siege Bruce Willis, Apex Bruce Willis, Cosmic Sin — WINNER Bruce Willis, Deadlock Bruce Willis, Fortress Bruce Willis, Midnight in the Switchgrass Bruce Willis, Out of Death Bruce Willis, Survive the Game WORST SCREEN COMBO Any klutzy cast member and any lamely lyricised (or choreographed) musical number, Diana the Musical LeBron James and any Warner cartoon character (or Time-Warner product) he dribbles on, Space Jam: A New Legacy — WINNER Jared Leto and either his 17-pound latex face, his geeky clothes or his ridiculous accent, House of Gucci Ben Platt and any other character who acts like Platt singing 24-7 is normal, Dear Evan Hansen Tom and Jerry (aka Itchy and Scratchy), Tom & Jerry WORST DIRECTOR Christopher Ashley, Diana the Musical — WINNER Stephen Chbosky, Dear Evan Hansen Coke Daniels, Karen Renny Harlin, The Misfits Joe Wright, The Woman in the Window WORST REMAKE, RIPOFF or SEQUEL Karen (inadvertent remake of Cruella deVil) Space Jam: A New Legacy — WINNER Tom and Jerry Twist (rap remake of Oliver Twist) The Woman in the Window (ripoff of Rear Window) WORST SCREENPLAY Diana the Musical, script by Joe DiPietro, music and lyrics by DiPietro and David Bryan — WINNER Karen, written by Coke Daniels The Misfits, screenplay by Kurt Wimmer and Robert Henny, screen story by Robert Henny Twist, written by John Wrathall and Sally Collett, additional material by Matthew Parkhill, Michael Lindley, Tom Grass and Kevin Lehane, from an "original idea" by David and Keith Lynch and Simon Thomas The Woman in the Window, screenplay by Tracy Letts, from the novel by AJ Finn RAZZIE REDEEMER Will Smith for King Richard
Surveying the best the inner city has to offer, the Spring Hill Alive Festival is bringing revelry back to the CBD’s outskirts. Markets, food trucks, pop-up bars and more will see Boundary Street erupt into an 11-hour feast for all ages. It's at the historic Spring Hill Baths, recently reopened, where the festival is making a real splash. Take advantage of the increasingly warm Brisbane weather with a pool party there. followed by a 'dive-in' movie. Cool off with a screening of fun 1950s classic Singin’ in the Rain, then steam back up again with Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot. A packed roster of local talent will be on hand to entertain up and down Boundary Street, headlined by a DJ set by Sampology and including Cutloose and Deejaye Katch. Fuel up with food stalls from the likes of Little Mykanos, Bishamon, Sisco Cafe and Spring Hill Deli Cafe, plus all the food trucks parked on Boundary Street for the day.
A familiar face on panel shows like Would I Lie To You? and Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Paul Foot is one of the most unique voices on the stand-up circuit today. His strange, ranty, stream-of-consciousness comedy has made him a favourite with festival audiences around the world. An Evening With Mr Paul Foot at the Brisbane Powerhouse features highlights from some of his best shows in years gone by, making it a perfect primer for those unfamiliar with his work, and a must-see trip down memory lane for his fans.
What would it take for you to part with your phone while you're in a cafe? And would you be more willing to stop texting, tweeting and swiping while you're eating and drinking if you received a free beverage to ease your pain? My Place at Coolum on the Sunshine Coast certainly thinks you might be swayed by this offer — so much so that they're putting the plan to the test. If you give up that little electronic device that's usually glued to your hand when you drop by the bar-restaurant for lunch or dinner, they'll hook you up with a complimentary beer or glass of wine. Getting something for nothing has never been so easy. Right? Sure, your fingers will get a bit restless while they're not tapping, typing and swiping away and your eyes might not know where to look; however, after a bevvy, you'll probably start enjoying your newfound device-less freedom — as well as your conversation with your dinner companion, or making friends with the person sitting next you. And no, you can't try to sneak in something similar to get your online fix. Laptops are banned as well. So, if you're sick of catching up with friends and watching them stare at their screens — or just don't want to hear that recognisable buzzing sound while you're having something to eat — this is your type of place. And don't worry, you won't be deprived of your phone forever — you'll get it back when you leave. Find My Place at 1768 David Low Way, Coolum Beach, or check out their Facebook page for more information.
No one needs an excuse to slurp their way through a brothy bowl of ramen, especially in winter, but Motto Motto Gasworks has a good one: $1 serves. The chain's Gasworks Plaza store is celebrating its official opening in the 4006 postcode with 406 super-cheap meals on Saturday, July 29. Gold coins at the ready. For $1 Ramen Day, only this store will be serving up the deal, and you will need to get in early. If you're the 407th person to rock up from 11am, sadly you'll be too late. That's your Saturday lunch sorted, while stocks last — so having an early bite to eat will be a smart plan. Also, there's a limit of one $1 bowl per person. You'll be tucking into Motto Motto's signature classic tonkotsu, which obviously features pork broth, plus shoyu kaeshi, freshly made noodles, a marinated soft-boiled egg, fresh shallots and seaweed.
If you spend your free time binging on true crime, then you would've watched I'll Be Gone in the Dark last year. The HBO docuseries honed in on the Golden State Killer, who terrorised California between 1974–1986, committing more than 100 burglaries, over 50 home-invasion rapes and at least 12 murders. More than that, the show explored the case through writer Michelle McNamara, who had been kept wondering about the culprit over the years and decades — because, astonishingly, no one was sentenced for the Golden State Killer's crime spree until August 2020. McNamara's own tale is filled with intrigue, too, which the series also explored. She'd spend her nights spent sleuthing through unsolved crimes and penning the blog True Crime Diaries while her family slept. Fixating on the Golden State Killer actually led McNamara to writing an article for Los Angeles Magazine, plus a book deal. But before she could finish her manuscript, McNamara — who was also married to comedian Patton Oswalt — died of an accidental prescription drug overdose in her sleep. Her book I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer was published two years after her death, and before an arrest was made in the case, with the six-part HBO series stepping through this whole scenario. I'll Be Gone in the Dark's central figure was interested in other cold cases, too — and, because seemingly everything can return these days (and not just beloved sitcoms), the show is now coming back for a special follow-up episode to delve further into her obsessions. Viewers can expect to hear more about McNamara's work on cold cases in general, and to dive into one that affected her deeply: the rape and murder of Kathy Lombardo back in 1984, which happened in McNamara's hometown of Oak Park, Illinois. Once again, McNamara's own archival research and voice recordings will play a big part. The one-hour special episode will also feature interviews with residents of present-day Oak Park, all as part of a broader musing on how unsolved crimes cause their own traumas. In Australia, it'll be available to watch on streaming service Binge on Tuesday, June 22 — in line with when it airs in the US on HBO. Check out the trailer below: I'll Be Gone in the Dark's special follow-up special will be available to stream via Binge on Tuesday, June 22. Top image:HBO.
Fancy some art with your shopping and dining? Thanks to the Institute of Modern Art and James Street, that’s exactly what’s on offer. The IMA’s latest exhibition takes up residence at New Farm’s hub of glitz and glamour for a month of locally focused work from Queensland-based contemporary practitioners Clark Beaumont, Louise Bennett, Anastasia Booth, Megan Cope, Sam Cranstoun, Caitlin Franzmann, Alice Lang, Archie Moore, Stephen Russell, Haruka Sawa, Sancintya Simpson, Athena Thebus, and Elizabeth Willing. The term “subtropic” is at the heart of the project. It's commonly thrown around to describe the city’s warm weather. But what does the expression mean in a cultural sense, in contemplating Brisbane attitudes and considering what it means to make art here and now? As curated by Tess Maunder, that’s the question 14 creatives all ponder. Visit Gail Sorronda, Bailey Nelson, Gerard’s Bistro, Camargue, Sass and Bide, Optiko, Maryon’s, Pistols at Dawn, Blonde Venus and Scrumptious Reads to see the results. Art and heat combine in a celebratory showcase that gets to the very heart of the Brisbane climate.
Dig out those once-a-year novelty gumboots, Groovin the Moo has unveiled its 2018 lineup. Taking the large-scale music festival out of the city and into regional centres for another year, GTM will kick things off on Friday, April 27 in South Australia and travel through Maitland, Townsville, Bendigo and Canberra before finishing up in Bunbury on May 12. This year sees local talent new and established taking the stage, with the lineup spanning up-and-comers like Alex Lahey, Baker Boy and Winston Surfshirt right through to favourites Flight Facilities and Australian legend Paul Kelly. International talent like Portugal. The Man, Royal Blood and Duke Dumont will make their way to the Moo too. Here's the full lineup. GROOVIN THE MOO 2018 LINEUP Alex Lahey Aminé (USA) The Amity Affliction Baker Boy Ball Park Music Claptone (Ger) Confidence Man Cosmo's Midnight Dean Lewis Duke Dumont (UK) Flight Facilities Grinspoon Lady Leshurr (UK) Mallrat Ocean Alley Paul Kelly Portugal. The Man (USA) Public Service Broadcasting (UK) Royal Blood (UK) Sampa The Great Skegss Superduperkyle (USA) Tkay Maidza Vera Blue Winston Surfshirt Image: Jack Toohey.
