For thousands of shoppers, the processed, packaged, poor excuses for food offered by supermarket giants no longer promise culinary, or nutritional, satisfaction. Organics, grow-your-own and farmers’ markets are experiencing a surge in popularity akin to that of permaculture in the 1970s. In Australia, Jan Powers Farmers Markets have become one of the most important contributors to the shift. Having provided a platform for south-eastern Queensland's farmers, fisher people, butchers, bakers and bottlers to present their produce at Mitchelton, Powerhouse, Queen Street and Manly, they’ll be setting up in Brisbane's Albion Mill Village on Sunday, 22 September. For residents of the city's inner north, it's definitely welcome news. Home to the local flour mill for nearly 80 years, Albion is now being developed to the tune of $330 million, according to a 'Village Masterplan' worked out by the FKP Property Group. "The Jan Powers Farmers' Markets were voted no. 22 in Australian Traveller Magazine's 100 Greatest Australian Gourmet Experiences, and it's a privilege to be working in close collaboration with such a well-known operator and famed foodie," said FKP's Gary Kordic, executive general manager of developments in Queensland. "Everything on offer at our markets is made, caught, dug, plucked, picked, bottled or baked by the person serving you and their families," added Jan Power. "Our aim for Albion is to provide a great balance between farm-fresh produce and delicious, ready-to-eat goodies so that a visit on a Sunday can include shopping for the week ahead, as well as something a little bit wonderful to eat and enjoy with family and friends." The Albion Mill Village markets will include a sit down cafe under the Heritage building, so you can put your feet up in between all that stocking up. Easily accessible from the Albion Train Station, the Markets will be held on the second and fourth Sunday of every month, between 7.30am and 2pm.
UPDATE, July 5, 2021: Following Brisbane's lockdown, Lifeline Bookfest reopened on Sunday, July 4, and will now run for an extra two days. The event will finish up on Tuesday, July 6, and masks are mandatory for all attendees. This winter, the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre is hosting a sales event of most peculiar stock. Strange things they are, full of pages, rampant with words and with covers of the most beautiful colours. You can't charge them, they don't run out of battery, their brightness is unalterable, and they won't smash when you drop them. Yes, after sitting out 2020 due to the pandemic, Lifeline Bookfest is finally back for another round of vintage bargains. It's where you'll find everything from Australian Women's Weekly Cookbooks to a bit of cheeky erotica, as well as games, DVDs and puzzles. If you've been before, you'll know there are warehouse quantities of books for sale – your grade five diary is probably hidden under a copy of Shantaram, and you'll come across at least three copies of Cooking with Days of Our Lives. Prices range from $2.50 to the big bucks — with no $1 selection on offer this year so that the sale can spread out in these social-distancing times. Don't go thinking you won't have plenty to choose from, though. Bookfest hasn't hit Brisbane for more than 18 months, so 900 crates of reading materials are coming our way. You'll still want to bring a trolley and your glasses, obviously, and to clear some space on your shelves at home. And, you'll want to bring your cards, because this Bookfest is cashless. Also, you'll need your own bags, as books won't be wrapped for you this year. Head along from 7.30am–6pm on Saturday, June 26; 8.30am–6pm between Sunday, June 27–Thursday, July 1; 8.30am–9pm on Friday, July 2; and 8.30am–6pm between Saturday, July 3–Tuesday, July 6. Images: Bookfest.
In Sydney, across Australia and around the globe, Maybe Sammy has earned quite the reputation. That's always going to be the case when the annual World's 50 Best Bars ranking shows a Harbour City watering hole plenty of love, including the venue in its list in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. For Brisbanites heading to Sydney, sips at Maybe Sammy should be on your agenda. What if you didn't need to venture south to enjoy its drinks, however? Enter: W Brisbane. Getting Brisbanites tasting top-notch cocktails from award-winning venues around the world has been this hotel's game at its Living Room Bar for a few years now. In the past, acclaimed Barcelona bar Paradiso — aka the best bar on the World's 50 Best Bars list for 2022 — has whipped up a special menu featuring the Spanish spot's globally famous beverages. Enlisting bartending talents closer to home, Matt Whiley from Sydney's Re (which placed 46th on the World's 50 Best Bars list in 2021) also created a Conscious Cocktails lineup, heroing a low-waste approach. Now comes the brand-new Bar Swap Series, making a habit out of bringing acclaimed bars to Brisbane on a regular basis. It all kicks off from 6pm on Thursday, February 27, 2025 with Maybe Sammy making the jump north. The venue's mixologist and Venue Manager Giorgio Gervasoni will be behind the bar, assisted by W Brisbane's own Francesco Squillacioti, the Bar Manager of Living Room Bar. Perhaps you'd like to try the Check In, a gin-based highball that's inspired by the Americano a twist. Or, the vodka-based, sour-flavoured, shaken Sauna Room might tempt your tastebuds. On the four-drink menu, another option features agave, kalamata olives distillate, seaweed dry vermouth, and capsicum vinegar, while there's also a blend of vodka, lacto-fermented strawberries, sencha tea and mango soda. Whatever tempts your tastebuds, walk-ins are welcome at the series' first one-night affair. Can't make it on the evening? W Brisbane is also adding the Maybe Sammy sips to its in-room menu from February, which is a great excuse for a staycation in the River City's CBD. There's no word yet which other bars from beyond Brisbane will feature in the Bar Swap Series in the future, but stellar cocktails from further afield joining the menu in the Queensland capital, even if only temporarily, is worth saying cheers to. [caption id="attachment_831071" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marriott International Hotel[/caption] The first event in W Brisbane's Living Room Bar's Bar Swap Series is taking place from 6pm on Thursday, February 27, 2025 at 81 North Quay, Brisbane. Maybe Sammy cocktails are on the hotel's in-room menu from February 2025. Head to the venue's website for further details.
Feeling worked up about the bushfires currently raging across the country? Perhaps chucking an axe at a target will help. Actually, if you book a session at 11am on Sunday, January 26, we know it will. Hurling hatchets is Lumber Punks' usual gambit, with the venue letting Brisbanites throw bladed weapons — at a target, in controlled circumstances — since it opened back in 2018. On Australia Day, however, it's donating 100-percent of all fees for its 11am session to the Rural Fire Services in New South Wales and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services in Western Australia. That's what Throw for the Firies is all about. For $45, you'll spend 90 minutes flinging axes and assisting a worthy cause. Just remember that you'll need to wear enclosed shoes that cover your toes, because safety is paramount. Lumber Punks is booze-free, but there'll non-alcoholic beverages and snacks available.
Fish Lane Bistro occupies the old Meatball Company space in The Fox Hotel. While much remains the same — the black chevron benches, red plaid tables and graffiti covered ceilings — you'll be hard pressed to find any meatballs. These days the space is full of quality pub fare at a decent price. Satisfying gourmands and the straight-up hungry, Fish Lane Bistro delivers mains for under $30. And, though it may not win any awards, it will keep you, your stepmother, neighbour and colleagues happy as Larry. We recommend you kick things off with the twice-baked manchego cheese soufflé entree ($16). Fluffy as a cloud, and comparable to a savoury cheesecake in texture, the dish is balanced with sweet pear, balsamic figs and walnuts. But, if cheese ain't your thing, the salmon tartare with cucumber salad ($17) may be up your alley. Mains wise, I can never walk past lamb and, fortunately the lamb rump with charred broccolini and spiced labnah ($29) goes down a treat. If lamb isn't your cup of tea, the sticky wagyu short rib with a mountain of leafy greens ($30) is tender and filling and rivals others elsewhere. For those with hearty appetites, we recommend you add a side or two to your main. Choices range from hand-cut duck fat chips or steamed greens, to spiced cauliflower with chickpeas, cranberries and coriander yogurt or haloumi with sweet corn, pearl couscous and lemon. Then, of course, round it all out with Fish Lane's signature espresso martini with salted caramel and shortbread ($16). Located close to the Cultural Centre, Fish Lane Bistro makes for a perfect pre-show meal and even has a menu to accommodate theatre-goers with two courses for $40.
Queer intergenerational relationships lie at the heart of The Foundation, a major film installation by renowned UK/USA artist Patrick Staff. A combination of passive, historical footage and created contemporary dance sequences explore the exhibition’s themes from different angles. The footage revolves around the Tom of Finland Foundation, a Los Angeles organisation devoted to preserving the work of erotic artist and gay icon Touko Laaksonen (1920–1991), known as Tom of Finland. Largely observational in nature, the footage paints a picture of the foundation as a space that serves many different roles: an archive of homoerotic art, a private home, a business place and the heart of a community. The people associated with the foundation, and the work of the artist himself, represent the different generations that responded to Tom of Finland’s legacy. The Foundation exhibits at the Institute of Modern Art from 8 August to 10 October. Image: Patrick Staff, The Foundation (still from HDV, 28 mins, 2014). Co-commissioned by Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane; Chisenhale Gallery, London; Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver; and Spike Island, Bristol. Co-produced by Chisenhale Gallery and Spike Island. Courtesy of the artist.
Feeling a little chilly, Brisbanites? There's a reason for that. We're only halfway through autumn, but a significant drop in temperature has been making the city shiver today, Monday, April 12 — with this morning marking not only Brissie's coldest of 2021 so far, but also its frostiest since September 2020. At 6am this morning, the mercury sat at 13.4 degrees. The minimum temps so far in April have hovered between 17.7–20.9 degrees, so it's quite a bit colder than usual. And, the Bureau of Meteorology reports that the apparent temperature was 11.8 degrees, so it felt even chillier still. While the mercury will hit the 24-degree maximum mark today — and continue to sit between 14–29 degrees right through until Sunday, April 18 — expect that frostier sensation to remain early in the week. BOM advises that the apparent temperatures will be lower than the official digits for a few days, as a result of dry and windy conditions in southeast Queensland. Today, Monday, April 12, isn't expected to feel above 20 degrees, in fact. https://twitter.com/BOM_Qld/status/1380712423389331459 To put the colder temperatures in context, Brisbane's mean April minimum is 17.4 degrees. Typically, the mercury doesn't start dropping much further until May, which sports a 13.8-degree average minimum temperature. Obviously, we're at the point of the year when saying "winter is coming" is warranted, but the first arrival of cooler weather after a Brissie summer is always a shock to the system. Rest assured that it has been genuinely colder than normal to start today, though. For more information about Brisbane's weather forecasts and recent temperatures, head to the Bureau of Meteorology's website.
On December 8, 1975, Brisbane history was made. That's when community radio station 4ZZZ transmitted its first broadcast, and the independent and alternative media outlet has been doing its thing on the city's airwaves ever since. Yes, it has now clocked up a whopping 45 years, in fact. That a big milestone. And, obviously, it's one worth celebrating. 4ZZZ itself is marking the occasion, of course, including via a big week of programming from Friday, December 4 — but it is also getting a big cheers from Young Henrys as well. They Sydney-based brewery is throwing some love up north via its new limited-edition H4ZZZY West Coast IPA, which is only available in southeast Queensland. Brisbanites can find the brew on tap in select venues around town, and also in long necks at some bottle shops, but only for a short period. Drinking a brew that pays tribute to a Brissie icon is all well and good. It's particularly great, in fact. But Young Henrys' H4ZZZY is going one step further — with the brewery donating 50 percent of the proceeds from the beer to 4ZZZ. Yes, having a sip means that you'll be helping support the community station, and helping to keep it on the air for decades to come. [caption id="attachment_793010" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] 4ZZZ. Image: John Robert McPherson via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Young Henrys' H4ZZZY West Coast IPA is available in select bottle shops and venues across southeast Queensland.
Most folks will tell you that there's no bad time for a margarita, and they'd be right. But there is a particularly great time to grab a glass and enjoy a sip or several: February 22, also known as National Margarita Day. To celebrate the occasion in 2022, the Osbourne Hotel is throwing a Tuesday fiesta. It's a two-stage affair — head by from 5pm when the party really gets going, or drop by during the day to get the drinks and Mexican snacks started early. Four different types of margs will be on offer for $15 a pop, including a classic, a coconut variety, a spicy concoction that pairs cranberry and jalapenos, and one that goes heavy on watermelon. There'll also be tacos and nachos, aka the exact right kind of snacks for the occasion. Those making a night of it will also find themselves dancing to a mariachi band — combine their music with a few salty tipples, and you'll be making shapes in no time.
If you've been following the Aussie strawberry scandal and want to do your part to help the farmers impacted by it, then there's a beer with your name on it. Following Ekka's strawberry sundae fundraiser, the folks behind Spring Hill's Archer Brewing are launching a Strawberry Ale and giving the proceeds back to the fruit growers. The launch will happen at Fortitude Valley's Bloodhound Bar on Friday, October 5, from 5pm, where Archer is providing a karma keg of its seasonal Patch Strawberry Ale — Patch is one of the brewery's sister brands that specialises in fruit beers and cider using only fresh, local ingredients. At the party, patrons will pay what they wish for a pint (while considering it's for charity, not a cheap booze handout) and all proceeds from the keg will go to the strawberry growers that made the beer possible. In this case, it's the Sunshine Coast's Piñata Farms. The team drove to the farm just this week to nab some seriously fresh picks for brewer Gavin Croft to throw into the batch. Also available on the night will be some of Patch's other seasonal releases, like the Pine Lime, Pomegranate and Mandarin Ales, along with a few from Archer's core range (a lager, pilsner, pale ale and IPA). Keep on eye on the Facebook event where the complete tap list will soon be revealed. When the event is over, you'll be able buy Patch's Strawberry Ale at local bars and at Archer's Bunker.
Port Douglas is packed with resorts but for all-out luxury with your special someone, nab one of the two-person bungalows at Thala Beach Nature Reserve — you can take your pick of a room overlooking the coral sea or positioned within a eucalypt forest. Staying here also includes a number of complimentary experiences such as wildlife and stargazing tours and private access to the two-kilometre Oak Beach. Image: Tourism and Events Queensland
THE Rodriguez is coming back to Australia. Touring nationally this October and November, the 72-year-old enigmatic legend was last here in 1981 playing with Midnight Oil, after touring in the late '70s to small success. Now he's riding a wave of newfound support back to our biggest venues, thanks in part to two South African fans. Most people had no idea who Sixto Rodriguez was until the Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man dropped in 2012, prompting longtime fans to shake a fist and spin a bitter "I told you so." A self-taught guitarist, Rodriguez played around the traps in Detroit during the '60s but saw no real success in the States with his two albums Cold Fact (1969) and Coming from Reality (1971). Different story in South Africa, where he was pretty much bigger than Elvis — inspiring South African anti-Apartheid activists and musicians alike (unbeknownst to Rodriguez himself). One of music's most mysterious heroes, Rodriguez was even thought to have died until two Cape Town fans in the late 1990s, Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman and Craig Bartholomew Strydom went to find out if the rumours were true (cue Oscar-winning doco). The man also has a cheeky bachelor's degree in philosophy from Wayne State University, he ran for political office and he's had to work construction jobs to support his family. Undeniable and relatively unknown legend. Rodriguez will play Brisbane Convention Centre, Sydney Opera House, Melbourne's Palais Theatre, Adelaide's AEC Theatre and Perth's Kings Park and Botanic Garden. Tickets on sale on Thursday August 28 at 12pm local time. Members of the Niche mailing list and ticket agent mailing lists can purchase pre-sale tickets on Tuesday 26 August at 12pm until Wednesday 27 August at 5pm. For further details or to sign up to the mailing list please visitwww.nicheproductions.com.au. Rodriguez Australian Tour Dates: Sunday October 19 — Convention Centre, Brisbane. Tickets via Ticketek or 132 849. Tuesday October 21 and Thursday October 23 — Sydney Opera House. Tickets via Opera House Box Office or 02 9270 7111. Saturday October 25 — Palais Theatre, Melbourne. Tickets via Ticketmaster or 136 100. Wednesday October 29 — AEC Theatre, Adelaide. Tickets via Ticketek or 132 849. Friday November 7 — Kings Park & Botanic Garden, Perth. Tickets via Ticketmaster or 136 100. https://youtube.com/watch?v=qyE9vFGKogs
Beer lovers, waiting for a bartender to get your drink is now a thing of the past. Following in the footsteps of make-your-own burger joints and self-service checkouts, pouring your own pints is now a reality. We mean at a bar, of course — and at one place in particularly. That'd be the aptly named Taps. Taps started out in Mooloolaba, and after almost two years of letting Sunshine Coast locals freshen their own schooners, they've brought the concept to Brisbane. It's as straightforward as it sounds, and uses tokens called iButtons to track your consumption. You purchase an iButton, add enough credit to cover what you think you'll drink, then place it on your tap — or taps — of choice. Here, you pay by the millilitre, meaning that you can sample as many brews as you like. Food, music and other events also feature — but let's be honest, it’s the beer everyone is interested in. Best practice your pouring, because you'll want your self-served drinks to be a no foam zone.
Everyone needs to start somewhere, whether it's running an event, performing at or attending one. Organised by Backbone Youth Arts, that's the aim of the 2high Festival. It offers an unofficial training ground for festival workers, artists, administrators and leaders in the industry — and you get to share in the entertaining and informative results. See what this year's team has put together under the theme 'Vital Signs' — with its roster of talent promising to show plenty. Spanning all the art forms you can think of and more, 2high has assembled a diverse array of up-and-comers to revel in all things creative, including the usual endeavours and the not so. Everything takes place at Metro Arts, and there's a heap of activities and shows to choose from, ensuring everyone can join in the fun. Learn about the history and science of glitter, discover the optimal conditions for intimacy, and listen to the always excellent advice about not reading the comments — and yes, as always, that's just the beginning. Or better yet — get a festival pass and try them all.
Fresh from curating Laneway's gourmet food menu, acclaimed Longsong chef David Moyle will join Flinders Island residents for the inaugural Food and Crayfish Festival. Taking place across April 14 and 15, the weekend festivities will focus on a special long lunch, celebrating the wealth of fresh produce and ingredients available on the island. To cook up a storm, Moyle has invited fellow chefs James Viles from Biota, Mark LaBrooy from Three Blue Ducks, and Matt Stone and Jo Barrett from Oakridge Wines to join him in creating the April 14 beachside feast. In line with the festival's first theme —Mother Nature + Human Nature — the quintet will spend a week on the island visiting local producers, foraging and diving to create the perfect menu. "It is such a great treat as a chef to be able to cook dishes directly from the location and connected to the land you are standing on" Moyle noted. Because all great meals need a nice drop to go with them, sommelier Alice Chugg from Hobart bar and bottleshop Ettie's will join the chefs, matching their culinary delights with a selection of Tasmanian wines and beverages. Fish for the festival will come from the island's only crayfish fisherman, 74-year-old Jack Wheatly, who captures the ocean's bounty like his father and grandfather before him. Other celebrated ingredients to be incorporated into the festival include saltgrass lamb, wallaby and mutton bird. The exact beach location of the lunch will be revealed 48 hours before the event, taking into account the microclimate. Islanders will lend chairs from their own dining tables for the event, and the local 'Men's Shed' is crafting the long tables for the lunch. Open to only 100 'off-islanders', tickets for the lunch — which has a dress code of barefoot cocktail — are currently available for the grand price of $240. Flinders Island Food and Crayfish Festival takes place across April 14 and 15 on Flinders Island. Visit www.visitflindersisland.com.au for tickets and further details. Image: Kara Hynes.
UPDATE, April 1, 2021: The Personal History of David Copperfield is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video, Google Play and YouTube Movies. He's skewered British, American and Russian politics in The Thick of It, In the Loop, Veep and The Death of Stalin. This year, in the eerily prescient Avenue 5, he pondered what would happen if a group of people were confined on a cruise of sorts — a luxury space voyage — for an extended stretch of time. But, made in period comedy mode, The Personal History of David Copperfield might just be Armando Iannucci's most delightful affair yet. Indeed, playfully trifling with a Charles Dickens classic suits the writer/director. It should; he's a huge fan of the 19th-century author, and a staunch believer that Dickens' body of work "isn't just quality entertainment for a long-dead audience" (as he told viewers in his 2012 BBC special Armando's Tale of Charles Dickens). And so, taking on the acclaimed scribe's semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story, Iannucci tinkers, massages and re-envisages David Copperfield with ample love for the literary source material. In the process, he also crafts a still Victorian era-set yet unmistakably modern — and fresh, very funny and sharp-witted — big-screen adaptation. The eponymous character's tale begins in the film as it does on the page: with Copperfield determined to discover whether he shall turn out to be the hero of his own life "or whether that station will be held by anybody else". On-screen, the hopeful aspiring writer (Dev Patel) delivers that statement from a stage while speaking to a crowd. Then, in one of the many inventive visual flourishes that mark Iannucci's lively retelling, Copperfield strolls through the background to revisit his experiences from the moment of his birth. Though he enters the world to a doting mother, Clara (Morfydd Clark), his isn't a childhood filled with unfettered happiness. The joy he feels in his earliest days (as played by Ranveer Jaiswal and Jairaj Varsani) — and when his beloved nanny Peggoty (Daisy May Cooper) takes him to visit her family, who live in an upturned boat that doubles as a beach house — subsides quickly when Clara remarries. Not only is his new stepfather (Darren Boyd) stern, cruel, violent and accompanied by an equally unpleasant sister (Game of Thrones' Gwendoline Christie), but he sends the boy off to London to work in his factory. As episodic on the screen as it is in the book, Copperfield's life then navigates a rollercoaster of ups and downs — starting with the drudgery of child labour, as well as time spent lodging with the poverty-stricken, law-skirting but always kindly Mr Micawber (Peter Capaldi) and his family. After tragedy strikes, Copperfield moves in with his donkey-hating great-aunt Betsey Trotwood (Tilda Swinton) and her equally eccentric houseguest Mr Dick (Hugh Laurie); however, though his situation appears to improve, the cycle from wealth to poverty and back again just keeps turning. As Dickens was, Iannucci and his frequent co-scribe Simon Blackwell (Peep Show, Breeders) are well aware of class chasms, the tough plights endured by the masses to benefit the better-off, the dog-eat-dog nature of capitalism in general and humanity's selfish, self-serving nature. The Personal History of David Copperfield may be largely upbeat in tone, visibly bright and dynamic, and take a few shrewd liberties with the story, but the darker elements of the narrative never escape view. Nor, as is to be expected given Iannucci's political satire prowess, do The Personal History of David Copperfield's contemporary parallels and relevance evade attention. Watching the twists and turns of Copperfield's life, it's easy to see how little some things have changed (attitudes towards everyone who isn't rich, white, powerful and male, especially, particularly in Brexit-era Britain) even 170 years after David Copperfield was first published. Heightening this perception is the movie's colour-blind casting, which not only extends to Patel's leading role, but to Doctor Strange's Benedict Wong, Harlots' Rosalind Eleazar and Avenue 5's Nikki Amuka-Bird in key parts (among other on-screen performers). No one mentions race; however, as also seen in the other recent and exceptional example of purposefully inclusive casting — musical sensation Hamilton — reframing this story to include and champion diverse backgrounds leaves a firm imprint. That makes The Personal History of David Copperfield as perceptive as it is jovial, jaunty, hilarious and spirited. In other words, it makes it a classic addition to Iannucci's resume. He's never shown as much visual creativity as he does here — deploying split-screen imagery, rear-projecting memories on giant tarpaulins, brandishing colourful costumes, favouring theatrical wide-angle lensing and even harking back to 1920s silent cinema — but he's astute as he's always been across his career. As always, that extends to his choice of actors in general, with the perfectly cast Patel as charming and thoughtful as he's ever been; Swinton, Capaldi and Laurie all put to stellar comic use; and Ben Whishaw suitably shady as the conniving Uriah Heep. With this gem of a sharp, savvy and supremely entertaining film, Iannucci doesn't just update Dickens for a modern audience or show that the author's work is still pertinent, but creates one of the great page-to-screen adaptations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqO25i-XNEU
Gelato Messina is about to become a place both wonderful and strange. With Twin Peaks finally happening again in the form of an eagerly anticipated third season, the gelato kings are getting in on the action by turning two of their stores — one in Sydney and one in Melbourne — into the show's iconic Double R Diner for one day. Naturally, there'll be themed frozen goodness aplenty, as well as free scoops. It's going to be damn fine indeed. In what will be Messina's first ever store transformations, the Double R Diner is set to take over the Newtown store on May 22 and Richmond on May 25. There mightn't be staff called Norma and Shelly on-hand, but there will be custom-made cherry gelato 'pie'. If that's your idea of dessert heaven, then here, the ice cream is what it seems. This must be where pies go when they die. In addition to the limited edition pie — there will only be 50 slices available per store — Messina has created three custom Twin Peaks flavours. They'll be served up for free (yes, free) between the hours of 12pm and 4pm, and then again from 5pm to 10pm. Just what those varieties will be, if they'll be wrapped in plastic, and whether there'll be a jukebox on-site playing tunes you just want to click your fingers to — well, you'll have to head along to find out. You can probably expect good, hot, black coffee too. Let's just hope there isn't a fish in the percolator. Unless you've been trapped in the Black Lodge for the past 25 years, you'll know that the whole thing is timed to coincide with the start of new Twin Peaks season, which will drop on Stan in Australia at 2pm on Monday, May 22. All 18 episodes have been directed by David Lynch, so we're in for quite the treat. Celebrating with pie and gelato is something Special Agent Dale Cooper would approve of — remember his wise words of advice: "every day, once a day, give yourself a present". The Double R Diner will pop up at Gelato Messina Newtown on Monday, May 22 and at the Richmond store on Thursday, May 25 from 12–4pm and 5–10pm. For more information, visit the Sydney and Melbourne Facebook event pages.
Australia's states have been known to serve each other some pretty stiff competition when it comes to world-class boozing and bartending. We've usually got a handful of cocktail haunts vying to take the top Aussie spot in the annual World's 50 Best Bars list (last year, that was Sydney's Maybe Sammy coming in at number 22) and innovative new venues are emerging on the scene all the time. In May, global bartending competition Diageo World Class ignited even more of that interstate drinks rivalry when it named its Top 100 Australian Bartenders for 2022, who would go on to compete for the coveted title spot. And now, after a few rounds of fierce contest and some exceptional mixology, we have a winner — Nick Tesar from Melbourne's Bar Liberty has been crowned this year's Diageo World Class Australian Bartender. Held in Sydney overnight, the final stage of the annual drinks competition saw five Aussie finalists battle it out behind the bar, as they showed off their skills across three whisky-focused challenges. Joining Tesar in the ring were fellow Victorian, Black Pearl's Kayla Saito, as well as Maybe Sammy's Sarah Proietti, Eduardo Conde from Glebe's No.92 GPR and Samuel Cocks from Western Australia's Bar Rogue. The night's challenges included a mystery box-style task centred on Talisker Scotch, which Tesar owned with a cumquat-based cocktail creation, and a speed round during which the winner managed to smash out 12 show-stopping drinks in just five minutes. [caption id="attachment_623310" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Bar Liberty, by Brook James[/caption] The newly-crowned bartending king will now go on to compete in the Diageo World Class global final in September, where he'll shake and stir up a storm alongside 55 other international hopefuls in a bid to be named World Class Global Bartender of the Year. He'll have a home-field advantage, too, with the competition to be held in Australia for the first time ever. It'll descend on Sydney as part of the World Class Cocktail Festival, from September 9–18. For full details on the Diageo World Class Australian Bartender competition and more info on Diageo World Class, check the Diageo Bar Academy website.
Before the pandemic, when a new-release movie started playing in cinemas, audiences couldn't watch it on streaming, video on demand, DVD or blu-ray for a few months. But with the past few years forcing film industry to make quite a few changes — widespread movie theatre closures will do that, and so will plenty of people staying home because they aren't well — that's no longer always the case. Maybe you haven't had time to make it to your local cinema lately. Perhaps you've been under the weather. Given the hefty amount of titles now releasing each week, maybe you simply missed something. Film distributors have been fast-tracking some of their new releases from cinemas to streaming recently — movies that might still be playing in theatres in some parts of the country, too. In preparation for your next couch session, here are seven that you can watch right now at home. Dune: Part Two Revenge is a dish best served sandy in Dune: Part Two. On the desert planet of Arrakis, where golden hills as far as the eye can see are shaped from the most-coveted and -psychedelic substance in author Frank Herbert's estimation, there's no other way. Vengeance is just one course on Paul Atreides' (Timothée Chalamet, Wonka) menu, however. Pop culture's supreme spice boy, heir to the stewardship of his adopted realm, has a prophecy to fulfil whether he likes it or not; propaganda to navigate, especially about him being the messiah; and an Indigenous population, the Fremen, to prove himself to. So mines Denis Villeneuve's soaring sequel to 2021's Dune, which continues exploring the costs and consequences of relentless quests for power — plus the justifications, compromises, tragedies and narratives that are inescapable in such pursuits. The filmmaker crafts his fourth contemplative and breathtaking sci-fi movie in a row, then, after Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 as well. The vast arid expanse that constantly pervades the frames in Dune: Part Two isn't solely a stunning sight. It looks spectacular, as the entire feature does, with Australian cinematographer Greig Fraser (The Creator) back after winning an Oscar for the first Dune; but as Paul, his widowed mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson, Silo), and Fremen Stilgar (Javier Bardem, The Little Mermaid) and Chani (Zendaya, Euphoria) traverse it, it helps carve in some of this page-to-screen saga's fundamental ideas. So does the stark monochrome when the film jumps to Giedi Prime, home world to House Harkonnen, House Atreides' enemy, plus Arrakis' ruler both before and after Paul's dad Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) got the gig in Villeneuve's initial Dune. People here are dwarfed not only by their mammoth surroundings, but by the bigger, broader, non-stop push for supremacy. While there's no shortage of detail in both Part One and Part Two — emotional, thematic and visual alike — there's also no avoiding that battling against being mere pawns in an intergalactic game of chess is another of its characters' complicated fights. Dune: Part Two streams via YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review, and our interview with Greig Fraser. Immaculate Add screaming to the ever-growing list of things that Sydney Sweeney can do spectacularly well. Indeed, thanks to Immaculate, which gets the Euphoria and The White Lotus star putting her pipes to stellar bellowing use, the horror genre has a brand-new queen; long may she reign if this is what audiences have to look forward to. This film about a nun who moves to a convent in the Italian countryside, then mysteriously becomes pregnant without having had sex, isn't just a job for Sweeney. She auditioned for the movie a decade back, it didn't come to fruition, but she strove to make it happen now. She stars. She produces. She enlisted Michael Mohan, who she worked with on Everything Sucks! and The Voyeurs, as its director. The passion that drove her quest to bring Immaculate to viewers is just as apparent in her formidable performance, too, including echoing with feeling — and blistering intensity— when she's shrieking. No one should just be realising now how versatile an actor that Sweeney is. Her portrayal of Sister Cecilia, who found her way to becoming a bride of Christ after a traumatic near-death incident in her younger years, is exactly what the film's title suggests: immaculate. It's also a showcase of a role that requires her to be sweet, dutiful, faithful, ferocious, indefatigable, vengeful and desperate to survive all in the same flick — and she kills it — but adaptability, resourcefulness and displaying a multitude of skills has been her on-screen wheelhouse beyond just one movie. Take Sweeney's last four cinema releases, for instance, all of which hail from 2023–24. Reality, Anyone But You, Madame Web and Immaculate couldn't be more dissimilar to each other, and neither could the actor's parts in them. Throw in her Saturday Night Live hosting stint, and she's firmly at the "is there anything that she isn't capable of?" stage of her career. Immaculate streams via YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review, and our interview with Michael Mohan. The Zone of Interest Quotes and observations about evil being mundane, as well as the result when people look the other way, will never stop being relevant. A gripping, unsettling masterpiece, The Zone of Interest is a window into why. The first film by Sexy Beast, Birth and Under the Skin director Jonathan Glazer in more than a decade, the Holocaust-set feature peers on as the unthinkable happens literally just over the fence, but a family goes about its ordinary life. If it seems abhorrent that anything can occur in the shadow of any concentration camp or site of World War II atrocities, that's part of the movie's point. It dwells in the Interessengebiet, the 40-square-kilometre-plus titular area that comprised and surrounded the Auschwitz complex, to interrogate how banal genocide was to those in power; commandant Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel, Babylon Berlin), even gloats that his name will be remembered and celebrated for its connection to mass extermination. Höss was a real person, and the real Nazi SS officer overseeing Auschwitz from 1940–43. His wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall) and five children are similarly drawn from truth. But The Zone of Interest finds its way to the screen via Martin Amis' fiction novel of the same name, then hones its interest down from the book's three narrators to the Höss family; a biopic, it isn't, even as it switches its character monikers back to reflect actuality. This is a work of deep probing and contemplation — a piece that demands that its viewers confront the daily reality witnessed and face how the lives of those in power, and benefiting from it, thrived with death not only as a neighbour but an enabler. Camp prisoners tend the Höss' garden. Ashes are strewn over the soil for horticultural effect. Being turned into the same is a threat used to keep the household's staff in line. All three of these details, as with almost everything in the feature, are presented with as matter-of-fact an air as cinema is capable of. The Zone of Interest streams via YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. How to Have Sex Movies don't have pores, but How to Have Sex might as well. Following a trip to Greece with three 16-year-old best friends who want nothing more than to party their way into womanhood — and to get laid, too — this unforgettable British drama is frequently slick with sweat. Perspiration can dampen someone when they're giddily excited about a wild getaway, finishing school and leaving adolescence behind. It can get a person glistening when they're rushing and drinking, and flitting from pools and beaches to balconies and clubs. Being flushed from being sozzled, the stickiness that comes with expending energy, the cold chill of stress and horror, the fluster of a fluttering heart upon making a connection: they're all sources of wet skin as well. Filmmaker Molly Manning Walker catalogues them all. Viewers can see the sweat in How to Have Sex, with its intimate, spirited, like-you're-there cinematography. More importantly, audiences can feel why protagonist Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce, Vampire Academy) is perspiring, and the differences scene to scene, even when she's not quite sure herself. How to Have Sex also gets those watching sweating — because spying how you've been Tara, or her pals Em (debutant Enva Lewis) and Skye (Lara Peake, Halo), or lads Badger (Shaun Thomas, Ali & Ava) and Paddy (Samuel Bottomley, The Last Rifleman) in the neighbouring resort unit, is inescapable. Walker has been there herself, with parts of her debut feature as a writer and director drawn from her own time as a Tara, Em or Skye while also making the spring break and Schoolies-like pilgrimage from England to the Mediterranean. When the movie doesn't lift details directly from her own experience, it shares them with comparable moments that are virtually ripped from western teendom. One of the feature's strokes of genius is how lived-in it proves, whether Tara and her mates are as loud and exuberant as girls are when their whole lives are ahead of them, its main character is attempting to skip her troubles in a sea of strobing lights and dancing bodies, or slipping between the sheets — but not talking about it — is changing who Tara is forever. How to Have Sex streams via YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review, and our interview with Molly Manning Walker. Bob Marley: One Love There's no doubting who Bob Marley: One Love is about, but the Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard)-directed biopic also brings two other big-screen portraits of music superstars to mind. There's always a dance through a legend's history flickering somewhere, or close to it, with the initial dramatised look at the reggae icon arriving after Bohemian Rhapsody and Elvis both proved major hits in recent years. Where the first, which focused on Freddie Mercury, had Live Aid, Bob Marley: One Love has the One Love Peace Concert. Both are gigs to build a movie around, and both features have done just that. Baz Luhrmann's portrait of the king of rock 'n' roll wanted its audience to understand what it was like to watch its namesake, be in his presence and feel entranced by every hip thrust — and, obviously without the gyrating pelvis, Bob Marley: One Love also opts for that approach. Enter Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob Marley, in a vital piece of casting. Although it may not earn him an Oscar as Bohemian Rhapsody did Rami Malek (Oppenheimer), or even a nomination as Elvis scored for Austin Butler (Masters of the Air), the British actor turns in a phenomenal performance. He's worlds away from being a Ken in Barbie. He isn't in wholly new territory seeing that he played Malcolm X in One Night in Miami and Barack Obama in TV series The Comey Rule. He's also magnetic and mesmerising — and, in the process, expresses how and why Marley was magnetic and mesmerising. Ben-Adir's vocals are blended with Marley's. Accordingly, you're largely listening to the singer himself. But there's a presence about Ben-Adir in the part, perfecting Jamaican patois, getting kinetic and uninhibited in his movement while he's behind the microphone, radiating charisma, but also conveying purpose and self-possession. It's a portrayal that's as entrancing and alive as the music that's always echoing alongside it; with Marley's discography, that's saying something. Bob Marley: One Love streams via YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review, and our interview with Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, James Norton and Reinaldo Marcus Green. Riceboy Sleeps When Riceboy Sleeps charts the passage of time from 1990 to 1999 partway into the movie, the Canadian film does so with Dong-hyun at its centre. As a six-year-old (played by debutant Dohyun Noel Hwang) navigating his initial taste of school from behind his large round glasses, he's shy, sensitive, and constantly reminded that he's different by teachers and classmates. As a 15-year-old (Ethan Hwang, The Umbrella Academy) with bleached-blonde hair and faux blue eyes, he's adopted a coping mechanism: trying to blend in. Riceboy Sleeps isn't just about Dong-hyun, who takes the anglicised name David in his attempts to assimilate. It's as much about his mother So-young (fellow feature first-timer Choi Seung-yoon), who relocates him from South Korea to North America after his soldier father's suicide. Writer/director Anthony Shim's sophomore release after 2019's Daughter hones in on the act of seeing, too — gleaning what's around you, who, why, the past that lingers, the stories that echo — as Dong-hyun and So-young survey where they are, where they've been, and how their history keeps dictating their present and future. In that aforementioned time jump, Shim — who helms, pens, edits and acts — and cinematographer Christopher Lew (Quickening) make eyes the focus. When Riceboy Sleeps dwells in the first year of the 90s, Dong-hyun's spectacles are frames within the frame, giving the boy his own windows to the world that he fidgets with, seems burdened by and, in an act of bullying by his peers, has dinged up and taken away. When the movie hits the end of the decade, Dong-hyun is putting in his contacts, therefore making the lens with which he perceives his existence invisible. Semi-inspired by his own childhood as a South Korean arrival to Vancouver Island in the 90s, including attending a school where he was the only Asian student, Riceboy Sleeps is this thoughtful at every level. The movement, and later lack thereof, of Lew's camerawork is just as loaded with meaning: in Canada, it's restless in long wide shots, careening around gracefully but noticeably and finding points to fixate on; back across the Pacific Ocean in the picture's bookending segments, it's still but just as observational. Riceboy Sleeps streams via YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. The Boys in the Boat The Social Network isn't a rowing film, but the Henley Royal Regatta sequence in David Fincher's (The Killer) 2010 triumph quickly became one of cinema's most-famous oar-sweeping moments. Prestige, money, tradition, opulence, power, competition, determination: they all wash through the tightly shot segment, which gleams with the water of the River Thames, the sweat on the crew's faces and, just as importantly, with status. Definitely a rowing film, The Boys in the Boat paddles into the same world; however, a commentator's line mid-movie sums up the focus and angle of this old-fashioned underdog sports flick. "Old money versus no money at all" is how the usual big and rich names in the field and the University of Washington's junior varsity team are compared. George Clooney's (The Tender Bar) ninth feature as a director doesn't just spot the class-clash difference there — his entire picture wades into that gulf. Drawn from 2013 non-fiction novel The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown, reuniting Clooney with his The Midnight Sky screenwriter Mark L Smith in the process, The Boys in the Boat is about the UW's rowing efforts, rower Joe Rantz and coach Al Ulbrickson, too — plus an against-the-odds quest, bold choices, the struggles of the Great Depression, the reality of an Olympics held under the Nazi regime and the looming shadow of war. But thrumming at its heart like a coxswain is setting the pace is the mission to keep afloat one stroke at a time, and not merely in the pursuit of glory and medals. What rowing means to Rantz (Callum Turner, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore), the character at its centre, as well as to the classmates-turned-crewmates catching and extracting with him under the guidance of the stoic Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton, I'm a Virgo), is pure survival first and foremost. The Boys in the Boat streams via Prime Video. Read our full review, and our interview with Joel Edgerton. Looking for more viewing options? Take a look at our monthly streaming recommendations across new straight-to-digital films and TV shows — and fast-tracked highlights from January, February and March 2024 (and also January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December 2023, too). We keep a running list of must-stream TV from across 2024 as well, complete with full reviews. And, we've also rounded up 2023's 15 best films, 15 best straight-to-streaming movies, 15 top flicks hardly anyone saw, 30 other films to catch up with, 15 best new TV series of 2023, another 15 excellent new TV shows that you might've missed and 15 best returning shows.
Forget everything you thought you knew about eating schnitzel. Forget whatever ideas you have about which other food items can sit atop them, too. Now isn't the time for plain old parmas/parmis/parmys (whichever you prefer), as great as they are — because The Bavarian has dropped a limited-time loaded schnitzel menu that's as OTT as schnitties come. On offer from Monday, March 7–Saturday, April 30, this chicken schnitty range takes the loaded concept super-seriously. There are six different varieties, and they all stack a whole heap of toppings and sauces upon a crumbed piece of chook. Plenty of them also turn this good schnit into another beloved meal — like the avo smash version, which comes slathered with smashed avocado, cherry tomatoes, feta and sesame seeds, plus fries. There's also a bangers and mash version with cheese kransky, creamy mash, caramelised onion and gravy; a pizza-style option with spicy salami, kalamata olives, roasted capsicum, mozzarella and fries; and a nachos option with corn chips, chilli con carne, salsa, jalapenos, cheese and sour cream. Or, go for schnitty topped with cheddar cheese, fries and lashings of gravy — a choice that's been dubbed a hangover cure — or a schnitty decked out with fried calamari, chorizo, roasted pumpkin, crispy potatoes and jalapeno sauce. Prices range from $26–28 for just one schnitty loaded with any of the above options, but you can also go for a one-kilogram schnitzel snack if you really do love this schnit. That'll set you back $80, and put you in the running to win either a $1000 if you finish it faster than anyone else — with winners announced on Monday, May 2 — or one of nine $100 dining vouchers for runners up. Hungry? You can head to any The Bavarian venue to tuck in. There are ten in Queensland — including everywhere from Chermside and The Barracks to Eagle Street Pier and Robina — so you've got options.
One of Brisbane's finest adult playgrounds, Cloudland, is hosting a luxe lunch series every weekend in its fabulous foliage-filled Garden Restaurant this spring. Think vibrant, Mediterranean-inspired share plates, bottles of premium wine, and a stylishly verdant backdrop that's perfect for lounging and lingering. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon, you and your crew can dive into a selection of share-style dishes, like aged kingfish crudo with a zesty yuzu koshu dressing or King River wagyu tri-tip with bordelaise, Jerusalem artichoke and artichoke crisps. Also on the menu is bruschetta with local buffalo mozzarella, wild mushroom and taleggio arancini with truffle mayo side and crispy potatoes with spring onion cream. And for every three guests at your table, there's a bottle of your choice of Maison AIX Rosé or Mumm Marlborough Brut Prestige to keep the vibes high and the glasses full. Cloudland's sprawling Garden Restaurant offers a chic setting with sunlit spaces, plush pods and a sparkling glass waterfall, making it the perfect place to sip, savour and stay a while. Whether you're catching up with friends or celebrating something special, this isn't just a lunch; it's a luxe experience. Book your spot now. Images: Markus Ravik
Brisbanites, if you can remember back to the beginning of 2020, then you might recall that Jet Black Cat Music marked its ninth birthday to start off that year — and, to celebrate, the West End store hopped over to the other side of the inner city and threw a huge block party. That festival, Nine Lives, clearly has to keep coming back. Yes, that includes in 2023. Once again, the River City's music lovers will need to head to The Tivoli, with Fortitude Valley's Costin Street set to overflow with tunes and food on Saturday, March 4. Thanks to the pandemic, this marks the third edition of the festival, after also going ahead in 2022. Here's hoping that there's at least six more to come. Leading the bill in 2023: Angel Olsen, Crumb, Drugdealer and Mdou Moctar, giving Nine Lives an impressive lineup of overseas headliners. They'll be joined by 1TBSP, Baby Cool, Bones & Jones, Felivand and Folk Bitch Trio, as well as Girl and Girl, Loose Fit Mylee Grace, No Zu and Platonic Sex. The tunes will take over two stages — and festival-goers also hit up the array of food trucks serving bites to eat, and go trawling the crates for records. "Nine Lives started and was inspired by the record shop's ninth birthday a few years ago — something extra special to bring our local and surrounding music loving communities together, stemming from the stuff we love and get behind at Jet Black Cat Music," said Nine Lives co-founder and Jet Black Cat Music owner Shannon Logan, announcing the 2023 lineup. "It's a tastemaker's curation of fantastic music from Australia and around the world. We are thrilled to have all of these acts playing Nine Lives 2023 and can't wait for the audience to leave with some new favourites!" NINE LIVES 2023 LINEUP: Angel Olsen Crumb Drugdealer Mdou Moctar 1TBSP Baby Cool Bones & Jones Felivand Folk Bitch Trio Girl and Girl Loose Fit Mylee Grace No Zu Platonic Sex Nine Lives returns to The Tivoli, 52 Costin Street, Fortitude Valley, on Saturday, March 4, 2023. Ticket pre-sales start at 10am AEST on Wednesday, December 7, with general sales from 10am AEST on Thursday, December 8. Top image: Bianca Holderness.
Throw a stone in Brisbane's inner city, and it'll likely hit a bar. But try to find somewhere that doesn't just pour wine, but makes it, and it's a completely different story. Come early 2019, that'll change with the opening of the Brissie's first urban micro-winery: City Winery Brisbane. Making its home in the old Campos Coffee in Fortitude Valley, City Winery Brisbane clearly won't boast its own sprawling vineyard on-site. But, after sourcing grapes from around the country, it will be stomping, barrelling, bottling and serving vino in Wandoo Street. Brisbanites will even be able to help with all of the steps in the process (and drink it too, obviously). As well as a barrel room and winery that'll double as a function space when each year's vintage is complete, and a cellar that will also be used as a 20-person private dining room, the site will feature a 70-seat restaurant highlighting modern Australian cuisine. Chef Travis Crane is heading up the kitchen, whipping up a menu that revolves around an open fire. While the exact dishes won't be revealed until closer to City Winery Brisbane's opening, Crane will be sourcing fresh produce from the establishment's own market garden in Rosewood. A collaboration between winemaker Dave Cush and City Winery Brisbane's managing director Adam Penberthy, the venture has been more than 18 months in the making — largely due to the difficulties of finding the right warehouse-style location. When the venue opens its doors, it'll actually nod to the city's winemaking history. "In the 1800s, there were over 350 acres of grape vines planted throughout the city," Cush explains. "The Lamberts had a vineyard along Lambert Road in Indooroopilly, there was substantial vineyards throughout Mitchelton, and of course Carl Gerler who had a 14 acre vineyard along the Brisbane River where Kingsford Smith Drive is today." In honour of the latter, City Winery Brisbane's own wine label will be named Gerler. Find City Winery Brisbane at 11 Wandoo Street, Fortitude Valley from early 2019. To keep an eye out for further details, visit the winery's website.
In 2011, in this very country and galaxy, a pop culture favourite gained a singing, stripping burlesque parody. It's the mash-up that was bound to happen. Who hasn't looked at George Lucas' space opera, its sprawling drama and ample spectacle, and wondered what a steamier, funnier version with more visible butt cheeks would look like? Russall S. Beattie clearly did, and had a good feeling that other people would give it a shot. The Empire Strips Back was the end result. It became a hit around Australia, then took itself overseas to much acclaim. Now, after a successful 2019 tour back on home turf, it's coming back next year — once again showing local audiences that lightsabers aren't the hottest thing in the Star Wars galaxy. The saucy show promises "seriously sexy stormtroopers, a dangerously seductive Booba Fett, some tantalising Twi'leks, a delightfully lukewarm Taun Taun, a lady-like Skywalker [and] the droids you are looking for", according to its website. Apparently Yoda doesn't get the sexed-up treatment, but there is plenty of song, dance, acrobatics and — because it's burlesque — the removal of clothing. A dancing Chewie and Han is just the beginning of this cheeky take on Star Wars cosplay. Given that it's got an upbeat soundtrack, the costumes are extremely detailed and the show throws out lots of references to George Lucas' original plot, it's not surprising that local audiences — presumably the same ones that pack out Star Wars parties and large-scale screenings with a live orchestra — have latched onto the production. Heading to The Tivoli between Thursday, February 6 and Saturday, February 8 , The Empire Strips Back sits alongside Dame of Thrones in Beattie's pop culture parody stable — so if you've already seen one of your fantastical screen obsessions get the burlesque treatment, then you know what you're in for. If you're super keen, you can also nab a Wookieerotica magazine online: a 116-page, 70s-style men's mag, just casually featuring all of your favourite jedis, siths, ewoks and other Star Wars characters. Either way, it could be a great introduction to burlesque or Star Wars, depending on which way you're coming at it. Tickets for The Empire Strips Back's 2020 shows go on sale at 9am on Tuesday, November 12. Images: Jon Bauer, Leslie Liu and Josh Groom.
Getting your culture fix in Brisbane shouldn't come at the expense of your bank balance. From brilliant deals to free exhibitions, there are endless things to do in the River City on any budget — you just have to know where to look. That's where we come in. In collaboration with Great Southern Bank, we've compiled a list of eight ways to explore Brisbane's cultural side while still sticking to your savings goals. In fact, with its clever tool The Boost, you can automatically top up your savings account with a small amount of money every time you use your debit card. So, when you spend on art exhibitions and fabulous drag brunches, you can simultaneously put a bit of cash towards those long-term financial goals. Or if you're a bit of an impulse buyer, The Vault lets you hide your savings account from yourself, meaning you can't easily dip into it. What are you waiting for? Hit the pavement and get a big ol' dose of culture, stat — without spending all your hard-earned bucks. [caption id="attachment_677201" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Gallery of Modern Art Exterior South & East face James Turrell artwork[/caption] CHECK OUT SOME AFTER-HOURS ART South Bank is arguably even more beautiful as the sun sets — and thanks to some after-dark art shows, there are even more reasons to explore. QAGOMA's series of after-hours events, which usually coincide with its major exhibitions, offers both free and ticketed experiences in and around the galleries to soak up world-class art after dark. Night is also the best time to experience American artist James Turrell's permanent light installation that adorns the building's eastern and southern façades. Down the road, Queensland Museum also runs semi-regular nighttime sessions, with the next adults-only event allowing you to enter the wonderful world of Lego. [caption id="attachment_780268" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Van Gogh Alive[/caption] BANK ON LAST-MINUTE TICKET DEALS The thrill of watching a live performance is that extra bit thrilling if you know you've scored an epic deal. For nights when you're feeling frivolous (but frugal), Lasttix is your one-stop shop for last-minute discounted concert tickets. Keep an eye on the website — it's updated regularly with cheap tickets for all manner of shows — from dazzling magic acts to thought-provoking conversation panels and more. Here's hoping Lasttix includes some cheap tickets to the much-anticipated multi-sensory exhibition Van Go Alive, which is set to land in Brisbane from October 29. [caption id="attachment_791909" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Queensland Ballet[/caption] USE YOUTH TO YOUR FINANCIAL ADVANTAGE Turns out that discounts aren't limited to students and seniors. In fact, if you're still of a certain age, you could be in line to claim a cheeky discount, too. Queensland Theatre offers discounted season passes to people under 35, while Queensland Ballet offers cut-price tickets to its world-class performances to anyone under 30. With Brisbane's performing arts scene back in full force, there's never been a better time to support local creative talent — and you can do so without breaking the bank. SIT DOWN AND WATCH SOME STAND-UP A surefire way to boost your mood is sharing a laugh with friends. Thankfully, Brisbane is home to a number of excellent comedy clubs hosting local and international talent to get those ribs tickled. Paddington's legendary Sit Down Comedy Club hosts regular comedy nights at various venues around town, including three free gigs per week. It's hosted the likes of Trevor Noah, Hannibal Buress, Josh Thomas and more, so it's no stranger to some top talent. Nearby, Good Chat Comedy Club hosts a regular lineup of laughs in its Petrie Terrace digs, with some tickets sure to leave you change from a $10 note. After something a little more unpredictable? Leading improv studio Big Fork Theatre hosts regular shows with ticket prices that won't blow the budget. If you're feeling inspired, you can even sign up to an improv class— they're open to all experience levels, and your first class is free. GO ON A CULTURAL TOUR For an eco-friendly and low-cost way to explore the crystal blue waters, pods of majestic dolphins and sandy stretches of Minjerribah — AKA North Stradbroke Island — book a ride with Yura Banji Scooters. The First Nations-owned and -run business is committed to respecting and caring for its Quandamooka Country and sharing rich cultural and historical knowledge with visitors via guided island tours. If you want to explore on your own, you can hire electric scooters for $20 an hour or level up to an electric bike for an extra tenner. CATCH A CHEAP FLICK With so many streaming platforms at our fingertips nowadays, it's easy to forget about the magic of going to the movies. But a night at the pictures doesn't have to eat into your savings thanks to a range of great deals around town. First up, you can head to Palace Barracks or Palace James St on Monday for its Cheap Mondays deal. With all tickets less than $10, you can get that upsized popcorn, too. If you don't want to be confined to Monday movies, Cineplex offers cheap tickets at its seven Brisbane locations every single day, with tickets ranging from just $6–14. [caption id="attachment_784635" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cloudland[/caption] BE DAZZLED AS YOU DINE AT CLOUDLAND Brunch with a side of razzle-dazzle? Sign us up. Fortitude Valley mainstay Cloudland hosts glitzy drag brunches every Sunday (and the occasional Saturday), featuring Italian-inspired dishes, cocktail jugs and riotous performances by some of the city's most fabulous queens for $75 per person. If it's evening entertainment you're after, book a seat at the Big Band Cabaret. Taking place on Friday nights, this lively event combines a three-course menu and three hours of free-flowing drinks with swinging big bang and vocal performances, punctuated with captivating burlesque shows. [caption id="attachment_641267" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Triffid[/caption] KICK BACK AT A FREE LIVE GIG As we enter the warmer months, the idea of setting up a picnic and enjoying live music in the sunshine is beginning to sound like an ideal afternoon. And picnic backdrops don't get much dreamier than the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, especially with its free-to-enter Gigs & Picnics program that sees great local musos take to the outdoor stage. As the name suggests, picnics are encouraged here — you can pack your own basket or treat yourself to a bite from one of the food trucks parked around the grounds. There are more free gigs to be found around town, too. Cure your hump day blues by kicking back at Acoustic Wednesdays at Newstead's The Triffid, or end the weekend on a high note at Brisbane Powerhouse for Livespark, its monthly Sunday sesh of free live tunes. Great Southern Bank is empowering Aussies to get clever with their banking. Whether you want to stick to your savings goals with The Boost or hide your house deposit fund from yourself with The Vault, Great Southern Bank helps you get there. For more information on savings tools and home loan options, head to the Great Southern Bank website. Top image: Van Gogh Alive
At W Brisbane's Living Room Bar so far in 2024, treating yo'self to high tea has also meant embracing fairy tales and Easter. Up next: thinking, drinking and eating pink. From Wednesday, May 1–Sunday, June 23, the venue's signature spread is being rebadged the Pretty in Pink High Tea, other than over Mother's Day weekend. This new excuse to kick back over small bites and hot beverages — plus a cocktail or some champagne if you like — is on offer every Friday–Sunday. Forget lunch, because you'll need to head by between 11am–3pm, which is when everything from red velvet cupcakes with rose petals and raspberry opera cake with ruby pearls to mac 'n' cheese croquettes and shredded chipotle chicken are on the menu. This is always an interactive event, getting you playing with your food — yes, literally. For the Pretty in Pink theming, you'll decorate your own vanilla buttercream cake before you eat it. The icing is coloured pink, obviously. W Brisbane's high teas whip up a signature cocktail for the occasion as well, this time using pink-hued Archie Rose gin, raspberry cordial, lychee liqueur, lavender, honey and lime juice. You'll pay $79 per person for the food, plus endless tea and barista-made coffee. Add a cocktail and the price is $99. For a glass of champers instead, it's $109. And there's a $45 version for kids, which features bottomless juice, tea, babycinos and hot chocolates.
Have you spent the last 15 years popping your colleagues' staplers in jelly, or covering their desks in gift wrap? When someone makes a comment — any comment — do you answer "that's what she said"? Do you have a soft spot for paper company employees, or for anyone who gets married at Niagara Falls? As soon as you meet people who work in HR, do you expect them to be called Toby? If so, then The Office — the US version — has changed your life, and now it's time to put your secret skills to the test. Michael Scott won't call a virtual conference on Thursday, April 16; however Isolation Trivia will dedicate its next online trivia night to the beloved sitcom, so it's almost the same thing. Because Australia loves trivia evenings based on sitcoms that Mike Schur had a hand in (think Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine) more than it loves pulling pranks, it's certain to be a popular evening — even when you're just taking part from your couch. The quiz session will run from 6.30pm, and you'd better be ready to break out Jim and Pam's wedding dance — and eat something beetroot-flavoured, ideally from Schrute Farms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryxUeWEcUqE Playing is free, and there's no need to register. Just head to the event Facebook page on the night. And if ever you needed an excuse to hit up Stan and binge your way through the whole series again, this is it.
Putt putt fans of Brisbane — so, everyone in Brisbane — it's time to do the monster mash while you're tap, tap, tapping your way around a mini golf course. This city of ours is home to more than a few places to unleash your short game, but only one of them keeps busting out seasonal theming and giving you a reason to celebrate special occasions with a putter in your hand. For the past two Christmases, the Victoria Park Putt Putt Course has given itself a festive revamp. Mini golf is more fun with reindeer, obviously. Earlier in 2021, the venue celebrated Easter as well, courtesy of a candy-themed course. Now, it's getting into the Halloween spirit by giving its greens a spooky makeover. No, missing a hole in one won't be the most terrifying thing about your next stint on the course. From Friday, September 17–Sunday, October 31 (naturally), the site will become home to all things frightening. If a haunted house was to meet up with a mini golf course, this is what it'd look like. So, you'll be putting around greens with names like Pumpkin Patch, Witch's Way, The Freaky Forest and Skeleton's Graveyard. Obviously pumpkins will feature heavily — plus skeletons, spiderwebs, grave headstones, ghosts and all the usual scary paraphernalia. Bookings are essential, with the course open from 6am–10pm daily. Fancy a few holes before work? Want to add some fun to your lunch break? Need something to look forward to come quitting time? They're all options. Just remember that it's a family-friendly affair, so you'll likely have plenty of company. Halloween Putt Putt takes over the Victoria Park Putt Putt Course at 309 Herston Rd, Herston from Friday, September 17–Sunday, October 31, open from 6am–10pm daily — with tickets costing $22 for adults. For more information, head to the venue's website. Images: Pandora Photography.
When your nine-to-five plays out like a well-oiled machine, it can sometimes feel like each week is a little same-same. But Brisbane is brimming with a fine bounty of things to experience and explore each and every day. So aside from casual laziness and a little lack of inspiration, there's really nothing stopping you from squeezing some adventure and spontaneity into your schedule. We've teamed up with Mazda3 to help you celebrate the little things that bring a sense of adventure to life. Shake things up, as we give you seven different detours to take each week in Brisbane. From Monday to Sunday, enrich your everyday with one completely achievable activity that inspires you to take the scenic route as you go about your daily routine. This week, go swimming on your lunch break, find a bar doing $1 oysters and settle in for a Sunday session of live jazz and cheese. Plus, we've got your future detours sorted for the new few weeks here. All require no more effort than a tiny break from the norm — what's your excuse for not trying them all?
One of the iconic movie musicals ever made has been adapted beyond cinemas, as a stage show that last hit Brisbane back in 2016. But now Singin' in the Rain is returning to the city in a new guise. The Gene Kelly-starring 1952 flick has scored an onstage concert version, which'll see theatre production company Prospero Arts play through all of the movie's hit tunes. Set to echo through QPAC's Concert Hall from Friday, November 11–Sunday, November 13: all of the tracks that helped make the movie such a winner, including 'Good Morning', 'Make 'em Laugh', 'Gotta Dance' and, of course, the titular 'Singin' in the Rain'. They'll be accompanied by dance choreography, because trying not to tap your toes to this film and everything inspired by it — which also spans La La Land, in fact — is impossible. For those who've somehow missed the 1920s-set big screen classic so far, Singin' in the Rain charts a story of romance and stardom, as silent film star Don Lockwood (Kelly) tries to adjust to the age of talking pictures, and aspiring actress Kathy Selden (the great Debbie Reynolds) tries to make her big break. It was actually crafted around a heap of existing songs, such the eponymous track, 'Make 'Em Laugh' and 'Good Morning'. And yes, the recent Downton Abbey: A New Era definitely took inspiration from it as well. Singin' in the Rain – In Concert will feature including Bobby Fox (Jersey Boys, Hot Shoe Shuffle) as Don, Angelique Cassimatis (A Chorus Line, Strictly Ballroom) as Kathy Selden and Mark Hill (West Side Story, Muriel's Wedding the Musical) as Cosmo Brown, Don's best friend. Just four shows will splash into QPAC for this brief season — and, while there's no trailer for the concert, you can check out the trailer for the film that sparked it all below:
First it was Korean food, then it was ramen and sake, and now the folks at Nom Nom have turned their attention to bao. Quietly launching back in August, but celebrating its official opening on Friday, September 7, Nom Nom Bao will join Nom Nom Korean Eatery and Nom Nom Ramen & Sake in Bakery Lane. Thanks to its name, you know what's on the menu: fluffy, stuffed bite-sized buns. Patrons can not only feast on savoury varieties — including pork belly with hoisin sauce, galbi beef with kimchi slaw, fried chicken teriyaki and miso cured cod — but also on a dessert bao made with ice cream and seasonal fruit. To wash it all down, there's Green Beacon beer on tap, plus cocktails, wine and bubble tea. And, as the Nom Nom crew did when they added ramen to the mix, Nom Nom Bao's opening festivities will also include a free feed. Just head by at 6pm on Friday, September 7, with the first 100 people nabbing a free chicken, pork or vegetarian bao. Getting in early is recommended, as there's a limit of one per person. Find Nom Nom Bao in Bakery Lane, 680 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley. Visit the eatery's website and Facebook page for further details.
Any plans for Bali escapes, treks across Mexico or food-filled Japanese getaways have been put on ice for 2020, but that doesn't mean you can't indulge in a bit of escapism. And, no, we're not just talking about daydreaming and spending hours scrolling through Pinterest. Australian Venue Co is helping to ease the wanderlust a touch by transforming more than 20 of its pubs and restaurants into some of the world's most popular holiday destinations for summer. So, you'll be able to sip frozen margaritas surrounded by cacti, eat dumplings under cherry blossom trees and wear flower crowns (if that's your thing) on Coachella-inspired rooftops. Called Summer Staycations, the transformations will be taking place from November to February at the likes of the The Provincial Hotel and The Smith in Melbourne, Manly Wine and Bungalow 8 in Sydney, and Kingsleys and Riverland in Brisbane. Of course, the visual makeovers — which will include giant teepees, citrus trees and flowers aplenty — will be paired with appropriate food and drink menus. On the Amalfi Coast, you'll find bottomless pizza and sorbet spritzes; in Mexico, there are unlimited tacos and many margaritas; and in Bali, you'll find brunch and many frozen cocktails. For a taster of what to expect, look to The Rook. The Sydney rooftop has been filled with cherry blossoms and bottomless dumplings since March — but, come November, it'll become an Italian summer haven. More information about the staycations is set to drop on Monday, October 19, with pop-ups set to go live on Friday, November 2 in all states but Victoria. Melbourne's will kick off — restrictions allowing — in December. [caption id="attachment_785121" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jasper Avenue[/caption] SUMMER STAYCATION LINEUP Amalfi Coast Prince Alfred, Vic Provincial, Vic The Rook, NSW Kingsleys, Qld Payneham Tavern, SA Spring in Tokyo The Smith, Vic The Duke, Vic Manly Wine, NSW Fridays, Qld Sweetwater Rooftop, WA Mexico Fiesta College Lawn, Vic Perseverance, Vic Riverland, Qld Cleveland Sands, Qld Waterloo Station, SA Coachella, Palm Springs Fargo and Co, Vic Cargo Bar, NSW The Aviary, WA Hope Inn, SA Beach Club, Bali Bungalow 8, NSW The Globe, WA For more information about Australian Venue Co Summer Staycations, head to the website. Top image: The Rook by Jasper Avenue
Not all that long ago, the idea of getting cosy on your couch, clicking a few buttons, and having thousands of films and television shows at your fingertips seemed like something out of science fiction. Now, it's just an ordinary night — whether you're virtually gathering the gang to text along, cuddling up to your significant other or shutting the world out for some much needed me-time. Of course, given the wealth of options to choose from, there's nothing ordinary about making a date with your chosen streaming platform. The question isn't "should I watch something?" — it's "what on earth should I choose?". Hundreds of titles are added to Australia's online viewing services each and every month, all vying for a spot on your must-see list. And, so you don't spend 45 minutes scrolling and then being too tired to actually commit to anything, we're here to help. We've spent plenty of couch time watching our way through this month's latest batch — and, from the latest and greatest through to old and recent favourites, here are our picks for your streaming queue from June's haul. Brand-New Stuff You Can Watch From Start to Finish Now The Bear Serving up another sitting with acclaimed chef Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White, The Iron Claw), his second-in-charge Sydney (Ayo Edebiri, Inside Out 2) and their team after dishing up one of the best new shows of 2022 and best returning shows of 2023, the third season of The Bear is a season haunted. Creator and writer Christopher Storer (Dickinson, Ramy) — often the culinary dramedy's director as well — wouldn't have it any other way. Every series that proves as swift a success as this, after delivering as exceptional a first and second season as any show could wish for, has the tang of its prior glory left on its lips, so this one tackles the idea head on. How can anyone shake the past at all, good or bad, the latest ten episodes ruminate on as Carmy faces a dream that's come true but hasn't and can't eradicate the lifetime of internalised uncertainty that arises from having an erratic mother, absent father, elder brother he idolised but had his own demons, and a career spent striving to be the best and put his talents to the test in an industry that's so merciless and unforgiving even before you factor in dealing with cruel mentors. Haunting is talked about often in this third The Bear course, but not actually in the sense flavouring every bite that the show's return plates up. In the season's heartiest reminder that it's comic as well as tense and dramatic — its nine Emmy wins for season one, plus four Golden Globes across season one and two, are all in comedy categories — the Faks get to Fak aplenty. While charming Neil (IRL chef Matty Matheson) is loving his role as a besuited server beneath Richie aka Cousin (Ebon Moss-Bachrach, No Hard Feelings), onboard with the latter's commitment to upholding a Michelin star-chasing fine-diner's front-of-house standards and as devoted to being Carmy's best friend as ever, he's also always palling around with his handyman brother Theodore (Ricky Staffieri, Read the Room). They're not the season's only Faks, and so emerges a family game. When one Fak wrongs another, they get haunted, which is largely being taunted and unsettled by someone from basically The Bear equivalent of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Boyles. For it to stop, you need to agree to give in. In Storer's hands, in a series this expertly layered as it picks up in the aftermath of sandwich diner The Original Beef of Chicagoland relaunching as fine-diner The Bear, this isn't just an amusing character-building aside. The Bear streams via Disney+. Read our full review. Hit Man The feeling that Glen Powell should star in everything didn't start with Top Gun: Maverick and Anyone But You. Writer/director Richard Linklater (Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood) has helped the notion bubble up before as early back as 2006's Fast Food Nation, then with 2016's Everybody Wants Some!! — and now he riffs on it with Hit Man. When viewers want an actor to feature everywhere, they want to see them step into all sorts of shoes but bring their innate talents and charm each time. So, Linklater enlists Powell as Gary Johnson, a real-life University of New Orleans professor who wouldn't be earning the movie treatment if he didn't also moonlight as a undercover police operative with a specific remit: playing hitmen with folks looking to pay someone to commit murder, sting-style. Johnson doesn't just give the gig the one-size-fits-all approach, though. Once he gets confidence in the job, he's dedicated to affording every target their own personal vision of their dream assassin. So, Powell gets to be a polo shirt-wearing nice guy, a long-haired master criminal, a besuited all-business type and more, including the suave smooth-talker Ron, the persona he adopts when Madison Figueroa Masters (Adria Arjona, Andor) thinks about offing her odious husband. Hit Man is as a screwball rom-com-meets-sunlit film noir, and an excellent one, as well as a feature based on a situation so wild that it can only stem from fact. Alongside charting Gary's exploits in the position and the murkiness of falling for Madison as Ron, it's also an acceptance that the kind of darkness and desperation needed for a person to want to hire a stranger to kill to make their life better isn't a rarity — if it was, Gary's services wouldn't have been needed. Linklater has been in comparably blackly comic but also clear-eyed territory before with Bernie, the past entry on his resume that Hit Man best resembles. The also-ace 2011 Jack Black (Kung Fu Panda 4)-led picture similarly told a true tale, and also sprang from an article by journalist Skip Hollandsworth. This time, Linklater penned the script with Powell instead of Hollandsworth, but the result is another black-comedy delight brimming with insight. Hit Man is a movie about finding one's identity, too, and Powell keeps showing that he's found his: a charismatic lead who anchors one of the most-entertaining flicks of the year. Hit Man streams via Netflix. Fancy Dance Lily Gladstone might've won the Golden Globe but not the Oscar for Killers of the Flower Moon, but her exceptional resume shows every sign of more awards coming her way. Fancy Dance, the other movie to join her filmography in 2023 — it premiered at Sundance that year, but only makes its way to streaming worldwide now — is yet another example of how the Certain Women and First Cow star is one of the very-best actors working right now. Where Gladstone's time in front of Martin Scorsese's lens showcased her mastery of restraint, playing an aunt trying to do what's best for her niece and a sister searching for her absent sibling benefits from her equal command of looseness. Jax, her character, is a pinball. When she bounces in any direction, it's with force and purpose as well as liveliness and determination, but the choice of where she's heading is rarely her own. All she wants is to find Tawi (debutant Hauli Sioux Gray) and protect 13-year-old Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson, Three Pines), but set against the reality that law enforcement mightn't look as enthusiastically for a missing Indigenous woman — or treat one with a record attempting to do right be her family with consideration — that's far from an easy task. Writer/director Erica Tremblay hails from the Seneca–Cayuga Nation, where much of Fancy Dance is set. As Gladstone is, she's also an alum of Reservation Dogs — including helming two episodes — and so is experienced at depicting everyday reservation life with authenticity. Accordingly, her first fictional feature after documentaries Heartland: A Portrait of Survival and In the Turn takes a social-realistic approach in its details, especially when it's simply surveying the space and empathy that First Nations versus white Americans aren't given. Because Jax has a criminal history, child services deems her unfit to look after Roki, or even to take the teen to the powwow where the girl is certain her mum will attend to again steal the show in the mother-daughter dance competition; instead, Jax's white father (Shea Whigham, Lawmen: Bass Reeves) and stepmother (Audrey Wasilewski, Ted) are their choice of guardians. Fancy Dance's protagonist isn't one to simply acquiesce to that decision, and Gladstone makes both her fire and her pain palpable — and her tenderness for Roki, who is weightily portrayed by her Under the Bridge co-star Deroy-Olson, as well. Fancy Dance streams via Apple TV+. Exposure When the words "DO NOT MESSAGE" greet someone that's looking through their friend's phone, curiosity kicks in. When that mysterious contact is spied, plus a list of deleted texts and apologies for unintended hurt, immediately after your best mate has taken her own life and left you to find their body, uncovering the person on the other end of the thread becomes an obsession. Twenty-seven-year-old photographer Jacs (Alice Englert, Bad Behaviour) is all impulse and immediate gratification when Exposure begins, when she's at a rave hooking up with a stranger and dancing with her lifelong BFF Kel (Mia Artemis, Anyone But You). The next morning, everything changes forever, except a haunting truth that no one likes realising when tragedy strikes: our worst moments alter us forever, but they can't fix our worst traits or paper over our other traumas. So Jacs keeps being Jacs as she heads home from Sydney to Port Kembla, where she'll barely let her mother Kathy (Essie Davis, One Day) and Kel's ex Angus (Thomas Weatherall, Heartbreak High) lend their support, and where her self-sabotaging spiral only gains momentum as she attempts to turn amateur, fixated, dogged detective. Pain ran in the family in the aforementioned Bad Behaviour, the 2023 New Zealand film — not to be confused with the 2023 Australian miniseries that streamed via Stan, as Exposure also does — that Englert made her feature directorial debut with, plus penned and co-starred in. The movie told of a former child actor (Jennifer Connolly, Dark Matter) and her stunt-performer daughter working through their baggage around the former's attendance at a new-age retreat. Filmmaking talent also ran in the family, given that Englert is the offspring of Oscar-winner Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog). While she's solely on-screen this time, with Lucy Coleman (Hot Mess) scripting and Bonnie Moir (Love Me) helming, Englert is superb again, including at excavating life's agonies once more. Exposure's moniker applies in multiple ways, spanning the controversial contents of an award-winning snap, facing past distresses, playing sleuth and confronting your own chaos — and it equally fits the raw and rich performance at the centre of this six-parter, which also showcases Davis and Weatherall's typically excellent work. Exposure streams via Stan. Under Paris Creature features are often humanity-did-wrong features. Under Paris doesn't have Godzilla stomping around as a scaly, fire-breathing, Tokyo-destroying embodiment of nuclear devastation's reach and impact, but it does set a giant shark on the loose beneath the French capital due to pollution, specifically the Great Pacific garbage patch, making its natural saltwater terrain uninhabitable. This genre of film doesn't restrict its badly behaving people to merely causing the source of their misery, either, often surveying a range of terrible reactions that exacerbate the issue as well. Underestimating the situation is one such response, which has a well-known history in flicks about killer sharp-toothed fish. The mayor of New England's Amity Island in Jaws wasn't great, and now the the City of Light's equivalent (Anne Marivin, Rebecca) is just as uncaring when she refuses to shut down the city's waterways — despite the pleas of marine researcher Sophia Assalas (Bérénice Bejo, The Movie Teller), police chief Angèle (Aurélia Petit, Saint Omer) and law-enforcement diver Adil (Nassim Lyes, All-Time High) — because it'll disrupt a billion-dollar triathlon with its swimming leg in the River Seine. The chomping shadow of Steven Spielberg's (The Fabelmans) summer blockbuster lingers over Under Paris heavily, as it has over all shark movies for almost five decades now. Rare is the film that lives up to the Hollywood great as well as this, however, even though oh-so-much of the story plays out as expected. As Sophia first witnesses calamity when her research crew falls victim to Lilith, the shark they've been tracking, and then is forced to help save Paris three years later when environmental activist Mika (Léa Léviant, Mortel) advises that the creature has made its way to the city, it helps immensely that this shark-in-the-Seine picture isn't a Snakes on a Plane-esque comedy. Fresh from directing episodes of Lupin, Farang and Budapest director Xavier Gens is firmly making a thriller, not playing the scenario for laughs. The setpieces, many in the Parisian catacombs, are both efficient and effective. The film's visuals overall earn the same description. And while nodding to Free Willy as well is a touch clunky, The Artist Oscar-nominee Bejo is never anything less than committed. Under Paris streams via Netflix. Am I OK? The question in Am I OK?'s title is indeed existential: is Lucy (Dakota Johnson, Madame Web) coping with being a thirtysomething in Los Angeles treading water emotionally, romantically and professionally? From there, more queries spring. Can she — or, more accurately, will she — shoot for more than not quite dating the smitten Ben (Whitmer Thomas, Big Mouth), right down to shaking his hand at the end of their evenings out together, and also for something beyond working as a day-spa receptionist while putting her passion and talent for art on the back burner? Is she capable of breaking free of a comfort zone padded out with spending all of her spare time with her best friend Jane (Sonoya Mizuno, House of the Dragon), including being so predictable that she always orders the same thing at their brunches at their favourite diner? Regarding the latter, she gets a push when Jane agrees to a lucrative transfer to London, splitting the pair for the first time since they were teenagers. Am I OK? is an arrested-development coming-of-age movie, then, and a film about being honest about who you are and want to be. Change comes for us all, even when we've built a cocoon to protect our happy status quo — and, at the heart of this romantic drama, change clearly comes for Lucy. She's forced to consider a path forward that doesn't involve solely being defined as half of a platonic duo. She also confronts the feelings for her coworker Brittany (Kiersey Clemons, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters) and the truth about her sexuality that she's never previously admitted. Am I OK? is a coming-out tale, too, but it treats Lucy's stuck-in-a-rut existence and at-first-tentative attempts to embrace how she truly feels holistically, seeing how life's passage inevitably shifts how we see ourselves. If the movie feels more honest than it might've been, that's because screenwriter Lauren Pomerantz (Strange Planet) spins a semi-autobiographical story. Also, the directing team of real-life couple Tig Notaro (2 Dope Queens) and Stephanie Allynne (who helmed Notaro's 2024 special Hello Again) — who met making 2015's In a World… — demonstrate the ideal light-but-delicate touch. Plus, Johnson and Mizuno exude genuine BFF chemistry, with the former again showing why fare such as this, Cha Cha Real Smooth, How to Be Single, The Peanut Butter Falcon, A Bigger Splash, Suspiria and The Lost Daughter, a diverse group of pictures, is a better fit than the Fifty Shades trilogy or a Spider-Man spinoff. Am I OK? streams via Binge. Lumberjack the Monster Spanning big-screen releases, TV and straight-to-video fare, Takashi Miike has notched up 115 directorial credits in the 33 years since making his helming debut. Lumberjack the Monster isn't even the latest — it premiered at film festivals in 2023, which means that miniseries Onimusha and short Midnight have popped up since — but it is Miike back in horror mode, where 1999's Audition and 2001's Ichi the Killer famously dwelled. Here, the inimitable Japanese filmmaker and screenwriter Hiroyoshi Koiwai (Way to Find the Best Life) adapt the eponymous 2019 Mayusuke Kurai novel. Its namesake character also exists on the page in the movie itself, in a picture book. This is a serial-killer picture, though, and with more than one person taking multiple lives. A mass murderer wearing a bag over their head and swinging an axe is on a rampage, and lawyer Akira (Kazuya Kamenashi, Destiny) and surgeon Sugitani (Shôta Sometani, Sanctuary) aren't averse to dispensing death themselves. A clash is inevitable, not that the slick Akira expects it, or that his costumed attacker anticipates that their current target will survive his blade, sparking a cat-and-mouse game. Lumberjack the Monster doesn't just weave in fantasy boogeyman stories, offings upon offings, and characters with dark impulses going head to head. The police are on the case, giving the film a procedural layer, as well as Akira motivation to hunt down his assailant first. Science fiction also washes through, with brain-implanted chips and modifying human behaviour both for worse and for better part of the narrative. There's also a moral-redemption element weaved in. Consequently, it's no wonder that this tale is Miike joint. As well as being prolific, Miike loves making his resume the ultimate mashup. To name just a few examples, see: the yakuza action of Dead or Alive, superhero comedy Zebraman, titular genre of Sukiyaki Western Django, samurai efforts 13 Assassins and Blade of the Immortal, period drama Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, video-game adaptation Ace Attorney, romance For Love's Sake, thriller Lesson of the Evil, vampire movie Yakuza Apocalypse and the crime-driven First Love. Unsurprisingly, Lumberjack the Monster is specifically the engrossing — and bloodily violent — Frankenstein's monster of a flick that Miike was always going to relish making when splicing together such an array of elements came his way. Lumberjack the Monster streams via Netflix. New and Returning Shows to Check Out Week by Week Fantasmas With Fantasmas, creator, writer, director and star Julio Torres welcomes viewers into a world that couldn't have been conjured up by anyone else but the former Saturday Night Live scribe, who then became the co-guiding force behind Los Espookys and filmmaker responsible for Problemista. Torres also leaves his audience grateful that they exist in this particular world, where HBO has given him the means and support to make a comedy series so singular, so clearly the work of a visionary and so gloriously surreal. Fantasmas has no peers beyond Torres' work, other than the patron saint of spilling the contents of your mind and heart onto the screen with zero willingness to compromise or hold back: David Lynch. That said, even that comparison — and the utmost of praise that comes with it — can't prepare viewers for a show where clear crayons are one idea whipped up by the on-screen Julio, another sees Steve Buscemi (Curb Your Enthusiasm) playing the letter Q as an avant-garde outsider, Santa Claus is taken to court by elves (including SNL's Bowen Yang), and series-within-a-series MELF riffs on 80s and 90s hit sitcom ALF but starring Paul Dano (Spaceman) and featuring quite the twist on its alien-adopting premise. As the sets appear like exactly sets but with a DIY spin, star-studded cameos stack up, and absurdist vignettes pop in and out to flesh out Julio's mindscape as much as the futuristic realm imagined by the IRL Torres, there is an overarching narrative at the core of Fantasmas. The series' take on Julio trades in concepts, plus in being unflinchingly himself, but doing anything is impossible without a Proof of Existence ID card in this dystopia. He's on a quest to secure one, which isn't straightforward. In the process, he's also searching for a tiny gold oyster earring, and pondering whether to upload his consciousness and jettison his body. By his side: robot companion Bibo (Joe Rumrill, The Calling) and agent Vanesja (Martine Gutierrez, returning from Los Espookys and Problemista), who is really just a performance artist playing an agent. As phantasmagorical as everything that the show flings at the screen can get, which is very, it also tears into relatable issues such as societal status, class clashes, housing, capitalism's many woes and inequities, and the treatment of immigrants. As purposefully eager as it is to show its crafting and creativity, too, it does so to stress the fact that it's being made by people chasing a dream rather than corporations bowing to an algorithm. Fantasmas streams via Binge. Presumed Innocent When Presumed Innocent begins, Rusty Sabich (Jake Gyllenhaal, Road House) has devoted his career to putting away Chicago's criminals. He isn't expecting to be soon treated the same way. Audiences with an awareness of both film and literary history know what's coming, though, with the eight-part Apple TV+ series the latest page-to-screen show from David E Kelley — and also another program with a story that already made the leap from bookshelves to the big screen before getting the television treatment. In recent years, Kelley has ushered A Man in Full, Anatomy of a Scandal, Nine Perfect Strangers, The Undoing and Big Little Lies down the first route. He's taken The Lincoln Lawyer down the second as well. His pedigree spinning legal narratives dates back to LA Law, The Practice, Ally McBeal and Boston Legal, too. Now, he's adapting author Scott Turow's debut 1987 novel, which initially became a hit 1990 Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny)-starring feature. Turning the tale into a series and the passage of more than three decades are a gift to Presumed Innocent's complexity; there's more time, obviously, to fill out the intricacies of a scenario where a hotshot prosecutor is now a suspected murderer, and to ensure that the misogyny of the 80s and 90s doesn't still shine through. At a time when being chief deputy under District Attorney Raymond Horgan (Bill Camp, who also appeared in A Man in Full) is already a fraught scenario — aka an election year — Sabich's life is turned upside down when his colleague Carolyn Polhemus (Renate Reinsve, 2021's Cannes Best Actress-winner for The Worst Person in the World) is found dead. The circumstances closely resemble a case that the two had previously worked on, so Rusty takes the lead. What only his supportive wife Barbara (Ruth Negga, Good Grief) knows is that the pair had an affair, which almost tore apart the Sabichs' marriage. A secret like that doesn't stay quiet for long, though, especially with Horgan's adversary Nico Della Guardia (O-T Fagbenle, Loot) and Rusty's ambitious counterpart Tommy Molto (Peter Sarsgaard, Memory) looking to appease the electorate, and quickly. Presumed Innocent hasn't skimped on casting, to its benefit — in a show that isn't painting its protagonist as a hero or anything as clearcut, Gyllenhaal is at his slippery best, while both Reinsve and Negga flesh out the women caught up in his mess, and Sarsgaard eats up the screen, especially when Rusty and Molto face off in court. Presumed Innocent streams via Apple TV+. The Boys "Superheroes, they're just like us" has been an unspoken refrain humming beneath on-screen caped-crusader tales in recent decades. Possessing great powers doesn't mean knowing how to wield power, or greatness, or how to navigate the daily elements of life that don't revolve around possessing great powers, as movies and TV shows in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DC Extended Universe and beyond have kept stressing. Even as it dispenses a much-needed antidote to superhero worship's saturation of big- and small-screen entertainment — even as it has made distrusting the spandex-clad and preternaturally gifted its baseline — The Boys has also told this story. Across the entire extent of human history, what's more recognisable than power and dominance bringing out the worst in people? As adapted from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's comics series of the same name by showrunner Eric Kripke (Supernatural) since 2019, this series has stared at the grimmest vision of a world with tights-adorned supposed saviours. It's a show where murder at the hands of supes, which is then covered up by the company profiting from elevating them above the masses, is an everyday reality. It's a dark satire. It's gleeful in its onslaught of OTT violence and sightings of genitals. What it means to grapple with the struggle to hold onto humanity has firmly been at The Boys' core since its first episode, however, making it a mirror. It has never been hard to see where art imitates life in this account of its namesake rag-tag crew (Thor: Ragnarok,'s Karl Urban, Oppenheimer's Jack Quaid, Wrath of Man's Laz Alonso, One on One's Tomer Capone and Bullet Train's Karen Fukuhara) saying "enough is enough" to the US' downward spiral. With flying, laser-eyed, super-strong, supernaturally speedy and otherwise-enhanced beings commercialised by a behemoth of a company called Vought International, The Boys has never been subtle at pointing its fingers at the many ways in which pop culture and the corporations behind it hold sway. The show's parallels with American politics in its portrait of a factionalised nation torn apart over a polarising leader who considers himself above the law are equally overt. Of course, the series is just as blatant in unpacking the consequences of letting the pursuit of power run riot. In its narrative, in chasing supremacy above all else, humans and supes really are just like each other — a truth season four doesn't ever let slip from view. The Boys streams via Prime Video. Read our full review. House of the Dragon It's a chair made out of swords. So notes Daemon Targaryen's (Matt Smith, Morbius) description of the Iron Throne. Not one but two hit HBO shows have put squabbles about the sought-after seat at their centre so far, and the second keeps proving a chip off the old block in a fantasy franchise where almost everyone meets that description. If the family trees sprawling throughout Game of Thrones for eight seasons across 2011–19 and now House of the Dragon for two since 2022 (with a third on the way) weren't so closely intertwined in all of their limbs, would feuding over everything, especially the line of succession, be such a birthright? Set within the Targaryens 172 years before Daenerys is born, House of the Dragon keeps the black-versus-green factionalism going in season two, to civil war-esque extremes over which two offspring of the late King Viserys the Peaceful (Paddy Considine, The Third Day) should wear the crown and plonk themselves in the blade-lined chair. The monarch long ago named Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy, Mothering Sunday) as his heir. But with his last breaths, his wife Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke, Slow Horses) claims that he picked their eldest son Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney, Rogue Heroes) instead. In King's Landing, the response was speedy, with Rhaenyra supplanted before she'd even heard over at Dragonstone that her father had passed away. Based on George RR Martin's Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon has also long painted Rhaenyra as the preferred type of chip off the old block. She too wants peace, not war. She also seeks stability for the realm over personal glory. If Viserys spotted that in her as a girl (Milly Alcock, Upright) when he chose her over Daemon, his brother who is now Rhaenyra's husband, he might've also predicted the dedication that she sports towards doing his legacy, and those before him, proud. Conversely, Aegon, also the grandson of Viserys' hand Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans, The King's Man), sees only entitlement above all else. Martin's tales of dynasties trade in the cycles that course through the bonds of blood, especially in House of the Dragon. Everyone watching knows what's to come for the Targaryens in Daenerys' time, right down to an aunt-nephew romance as the counterpart to Daemon and Rhaenyra's uncle-niece relationship. (No one watching has started this prequel series, the first spinoff of likely many to Game of Thrones, without being familiar with its predecessor). Ice-blonde hair, ambition that soars as high as the dragons they raise and fly, said flame-roaring beasts of the sky, the inability to host happy reunions: these are traits passed down through generations. Some are a matter of genes. Martin continues to explore why the others persist. House of the Dragon streams via Binge. Read our full review. The Acolyte When you've just made two seasons of a time-loop TV show about reckoning with the past, what comes next? For Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland, another jump backwards beckons. The Star Wars franchise has been telling tales set not just in a galaxy far, far away but also a long time ago for almost five decades; however, across its 11 movies and five live-action Disney+ TV shows until now, it hasn't ever explored the events of as long a time ago as Headland's The Acolyte brings to the screen. Welcome to the High Republic era a century before Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace — and into a thrilling new angle into one of pop culture's behemoths. Stepping through the events before the events that it has already relayed to audiences isn't new for Star Wars, as went the prequels, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Andor, but so now goes The Acolyte as well. The key aspect of the latter isn't just that this eight-instalment series gains the space to jettison familiar faces and spin its narrative anew — it's also that it's traversing more of the world that George Lucas first envisaged in the 70s, and what the force means to more than the usual faces and those tied to them. And, it isn't afraid to question the heroes-versus-villains divide that's as engrained in all things Star Wars as lightsabers, having a bad feeling and droids. Taking place in a period of peace and prosperity — well, for some — The Acolyte is still home to heroes. Villains are part of the tale, too. But the idea that the Jedi always fall into the first camp and their enemies can only sit in the second is probed. Similarly queried is the notion that anything in the Star Wars realm, let alone everything, is that binary. The premise: Jedi are being eliminated by a mysterious warrior, a setup that is pushed to the fore immediately and initially aligns its emotional response as audiences since 1977 know to expect. But as gets uttered three episodes in, "this is not about good or bad — it's about power and who gets to wield it". The Acolyte's opening showdown unfolds in the type of cantina that's hardly new to the saga, but the battle itself is. From beneath a mask, a warrior (Amandla Stenberg, Bodies Bodies Bodies) isn't afraid to throw down, throw knives and throw around her ability to use the force, with a Jedi her target. In the aftermath, the robe-adorned head honchos have ex-padawan Osha in their sights. Now working as a meknik, which entails undertaking dangerous spaceship maintenance tasks that robots are legally only supposed to do, she fits the description. Her old Jedi mentor Sol (Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game) isn't so sure, though, especially knowing her past. The Acolyte streams via Disney+. Read our full review. Need a few more streaming recommendations? Check out our picks from January, February, March, April and May this year, and also from January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December 2023. You can also check out our running list of standout must-stream shows from last year as well — and our best 15 new shows of 2023, 15 newcomers you might've missed, top 15 returning shows of the year, 15 best films, 15 top movies you likely didn't see, 15 best straight-to-streaming flicks and 30 movies worth catching up on over the summer. Top images: FX, Brian Roedel/Netflix, Apple TV+, HBO and Stan.
Every standout moment in life needs a soundtrack, and there's no reason that a boozy brunch session shouldn't be one of them. Starting imbibing early in the day might be celebration enough, not to mention that delicious combination of breakfast and lunch dishes that passes for brunch — but add some old-school R&B tunes and, yes, you've got a party going on. That's exactly what's on the menu at Botany Newstead's new R&B brunch sessions, which are kicking off on Saturday, March 19, then returning on the third Sunday of each month afterwards. For $50, you'll start your weekend with a margarita upon arrival, plus a food platter that includes pancakes, avocado on sourdough, bacon and eggs, and brie and crackers — and fresh fruit, potato gems, mushrooms, cheddar, pita bread and more, too. And, the kicker: the DJ-spun tracks that'll get your toes tapping. You will need to purchase your drinks as you go after that first marg, but there'll be a Patron cart doing the rounds to top up your glass — with classic, spicy, watermelon, and peach and jalapeno varieties available. And if you have a partner and/or some mates who love 90s and early 00s R&B as much as you do — everyone does — that's perfect, because heading along in groups of at least four is recommended.
It's been a busy few weeks for new eateries on and around James Street, with both Essa and The Green opening their doors. And, they aren't the only new kids on the block. The bustling Fortitude Valley precinct has also welcomed in Gemelli Italian and Bar Tano — with the former setting up its first Brisbane location, and also launching the latter as a neighbouring watering hole. You might've eaten at Gemelli's Gold Coast spots, which include a restaurant in Broadbeach and a trattoria in Nobby Beach; however, now it has made the trip up north. Settling into the McLachlan and James street corner site that was previously home to Bucci, it's serving up pizza, pasta, antipasti and sweet dishes such as deep-fried dessert gnocchi and Nutella calzones, all inside a three-level dining space. Here, you can start with the cherry tomato, buffalo mozzarella and parmesan-topped bruschetta, then move on to a black olive and black anchovy pizza or the carbonara, or opt for bistecca or saltimbocca. The drinks list favours Italian beers and wines, too, and you can sip classic Italian cocktails — negronis, bellinis, rossinis and the like — or try house concoctions such as the Sicilian margarita. Those pizzas? They're cooked in a bespoke oven from Naples. Those tipples? They hail from the bar at the back. Fancy some salumi? There's a display fridge filled with it. Decked out with timber arches to break up the space, and featuring large windows as well, Gemelli's James Street eatery has a light and airy feel. That vibe particularly stands out compared to Bar Tano, which marks the Gemelli Group's first bar — and pairs snacks, drinks and people-watching over James Street. At this 55-seater, owners James and Alec Carney have gone dark and moody; think green marble, polished concrete and plenty of mirrors. They've designed the street bar-style hangout as an aperitivo spot — not just for a happy hour, though, but for catching up with friends over a beverage. "Italy has such a rich culture and we're incredibly passionate about bringing that to Australia in a way that respects our heritage and the customs we love," explains James. "Bar Tano is inspired by Milan which is the birthplace of aperitivo and we wanted it to be a destination where you meet friends to reconnect over a refreshing aperitif and complimentary small bites." Drinks-wise, more Italian wines and cocktails feature, as well as bespoke house tipples — like the Drive Me Nuts, which blends the negroni and the old fashioned; and the Better Than Butter, which gives whisky sours a buttery spin. For something to eat, there's ricotta dip, burrata, gnocco fritto and polpettini, plus a rotating selection of salumi and cheeses. Find Gemelli Italian and Bar Tano at 15 James Street, Fortitude Valley. Gemelli Italian is open Wednesday–Sunday 12–3pm for lunch and Tuesday–Sunday 5pm–late for dinner. Bar Tano operates from 3pm–late Wednesday–Thursday and from 12–late Friday–Sunday.
A character drama about a West Texas woman who wins the lottery, but six years later has nothing to show for it except pain, alcoholism and burned bridges, To Leslie is all about English talent Andrea Riseborough's remarkable performance — famously so thanks to her Best Actress Oscar nomination for an indie film widely underseen until that nod of approval. Nothing can take away the power of the Mandy, Possessor and Amsterdam star's stunning portrayal. A spectacular performance is a spectacular performance regardless of what surrounds it. So, Riseborough's work in the debut feature from seasoned TV director Michael Morris (Better Call Saul, 13 Reasons Why, Brothers & Sisters) remains a gut-punch no matter the controversy around the campaign by high-profile names to help get her the Academy's recognition, with Kate Winslet, Edward Norton and Jennifer Aniston among those advocating for accolades. To Leslie remains Riseborough's movie despite comedian and actor Mark Maron uttering the words that sum it up best, too. In his latest compassionate performance — with a less-gruff edge than he sports in GLOW — he plays Sweeney, the co-proprietor of a roadside motel in Leslie's hometown. That's where she ends up again after the money runs out, plus her luck and everyone she knows' patience with it. As scripted by Ryan Binaco (3022), Sweeney is another of To Leslie's flawed characters. The movie teems with such folks because everyone of us is flawed, and it sees that truth with the clearest of eyes. In a sincere but awkward chat, Sweeney explains how his now ex-wife's drinking helped end his marriage; however, he catches himself afterwards, making a point to say that just because his story turned out like that, that doesn't mean Leslie's will as well, or that he thinks it that'll occur. One person's tale can be everyone's — cinema, and storytelling in general, thrives on the fact that the deeply specific can be profoundly universal — but no one's experiences ever play out exactly as another's have. That's an essential message at the heart of To Leslie, and it's one that asks for understanding but not judgement. While watching the film's very fictional namesake on-screen, it's easy to spy parallels, to relate, and to feel what it is to be in Leslie, Sweeney or the feature's other figures' shoes. Movies are empathy machines, after all. That said, battling assumptions about what the course that Leslie's story has to follow, and what that says about her and other people who've struggled with addiction and poverty, is as important to Morris and Binaco's picture as Risebourgh's awards-worthy performance. There's such weight and soul to the actor's titular portrayal in this tale of redemption — when Leslie is at her best, worst, hovering in-between and splashing between the two extremes alike. In early footage that's repeated later, Riseborough is giddily ecstatic holding a giant cheque for $190,000 and hollering in a local news interview about what an impact it'll make (and promising to spoil her young son). She cuts a still-wiry, still-determined sight, but now fraught rather than euphoric, in the hard jump to after the cash has been drunk away, which is when she's being kicked out of her The Florida Project-style digs for not paying her bill. There's a visible difference between the two Leslies, as her grown-up boy James (Teague, The Stand) notes without saying when she reunites with him next — but much of Riseborough's efforts are about what's churning inside Leslie moment by moment, whether inebriated, desperate for whatever she can sip or stone-cold sober. When she turns up carting a pink suitcase containing all of her worldly belongings, James has one rule for Leslie's attempts to reconnect: no booze. Part of the heartbreak of To Leslie, and of Riseborough's performance, is foreseeing what might happen while witnessing how Leslie endeavours to battle against it. Similarly, part of the film's joys and surprises spring when addiction doesn't win out. With James, though, Leslie can't keep her promise. When she's sent home to Dutch (Stephen Root, Barry) and Nancy (Allison Janney, Breaking News in Yuba County), pals she was once as close as family with, she's met with the spite and bitterness of former friends rather than a son's disappointment and hurt. The bulk of the small town's residents similarly have long memories, largely treating her as a joke. And Sweeney's colleague Royal (Andre Royo, Truth Be Told) is hesitant when the former sees her sleeping outside their motel, initially runs her off, but then generously offers her both a place to stay and a cleaning job. Country music echoes within the film, heard and spoken about, in a telling choice for a movie about second, third, fourth and fifth chances (and more). Notes of Wild Rose, another feature about a woman piecing her life back together, filter in with that in mind; the two pictures have plenty of dissimilarities, too, but share exceptional leads. Indeed, simply watching Riseborough sit at a bar nursing a drink and listening to a twang-filled tune makes for an astonishing scene, with Morris shrewdly holding the moment, and cinematographer Larkin Seiple (Everything Everywhere All At Once) lighting a lengthy closeup like it's extraordinary and ordinary all at once. In what might be her biggest acting feat in a deservedly well-regarded career, Riseborough knows how to be Leslie, not play her — in this scene and from start to finish. This isn't a performance courting attention, but one committed to conveying what's swishing and swirling within a tumultuous character whose strengths and missteps are both always in view. To Leslie's least impressive trait is its fondness for neat and conventional beats, although Riseborough ensures that even the most predictable plot developments never feel like a standard pour (as does Morris' ability to recognise what he has with Riseborough as the narrative's anchor). Stories can turn out like this, traversing the highs as well as the lows, and To Leslie certainly isn't afraid of getting messy through its protagonist and her lifetime's worth of tussles before it starts letting hope loiter. It definitely isn't scared of showing what's worth striving for, either, be it the tenderness of Leslie and Sweeney's blossoming bond, the yearning of a mother who wants to finally be able to do right by her son, or a path to a future that's safe and sustainable. Riseborough is striving, of course, but her every move and expression — alone, and when paired with the also-excellent Teague, Maron and Janney — couldn't be more raw, complex and lived in.
Fast food doesn't seem all that speedy when you're sat in your car, queued nine vehicles deep and trying to get through a drive-through that's at a standstill. For folks who want their finger lickin' good fried chicken as soon as possible, with minimal waiting and hassle, KFC is set to trial a new solution — its first drive-through-only store. Moving away from the usual one-lane drive-through model — that is, a drive-through that's attached to a restaurant where you can also dine inside — the chain is launching a five-lane drive-through-only concept in Newcastle. The first spot of its kind in the world, it'll feature separate areas for online and app purchases, as well as regular drive-through transactions. Customers will be able to order in advance, then whiz through and pick up their food, or choose on the spot and and then collect their chicken. If it's successful, expect more drive-through-only sites to pop up. As reported by The Sydney Morning Herald, the pilot store is currently under construction on Lambton Road in Broadmeadow, with a November opening slated. The idea reflects the growth on online ordering, and endeavours to respond to the rise of home delivery services such as Deliveroo and UberEats. It also admits to a blatant fact — that, for many folks, eating in at a suburban KFC doesn't often cross their minds. For Broadmeadow customers who choose to order by app, they'll receive a code with their transaction, which they'll then enter on a touchscreen when they drive up. Whichever way Newcastle residents decide to ask for their fried chook, they'll still need to wait for it to be cooked — but the whole concept is designed to speed up the time between asking for a two-piece feed and snatching those drumsticks through the drive-through window. Of course, if you need something to listen to in your car while you wait, KFC has that covered as well. Last year, it launched KFChill, a wellness website that lets you unwind to the sound of chicken frying, gravy simmering or bacon sizzling away in a pan. Yes, it'll make you hungry. Via The Sydney Morning Herald / news.com.au
These days most of us have a certain something we avoid while eating — whether it's a personal preference or an allergy. Gluten, get out. Dairy? No thanks. So, it comes as no surprise that more and more restaurants have become more tolerant of our intolerances. Now, a new health-focused, dietary requirement-friendly chain — called The Good Place — is set to open across NSW and Queensland. Former My Kitchen Rules finalist Scott Gooding has channelled his nourishing, paddock-to-plate ethos into a bricks-and-mortar example of how healthy, dietary-accommodating food can be done, launching the first Good Place in Miranda, in Sydney's south. With more stores to open in Blacktown and Central Park in Sydney and Buddina and Surfers Paradise in Queensland in the coming months, The Good Place is completely gluten- and soy-free as well as low in carbs and sugar. Plus, it's open all day, every day. Breakfast dishes such as the Kakadu Smoothie Bowl with coconut cream, MCT oil, peanut butter and Kakadu plum and the pesto omelette with chargrilled greens are evidently nutritious (and hopefully just as tasty). And while the Bubble & Squeak with pork belly, cabbage, roast potatoes, fried egg, peas and parsley with pumpkin bread is heartier and just as nutrient-packed. [caption id="attachment_717888" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Raspberry Floater[/caption] For dinner, there's everything from a creamy vegan curry to tender ox cheeks in a sticky sauce with chargrilled greens or the 12-hour slow-cooked lamb with roast potatoes and cafe de paris butter. Sweets are covered, too, and include a semi freddo made with raspberries, dark chocolate, coconut, macadamia and coconut kefir and the Raspberry Floater — hemp organic raspberry kombucha with house-made chocolate ice cream. There are also smoothies and coffee, health-conscious cocktails and a selection of certified organic and biodynamic wines for you to sip. Gooding's food is also made using organic produce that has been sustainably and ethically sourced wherever possible. The Good Place is conscious dining and, whether the name is a misaimed reference to the acclaimed Netflix show about a 'utopia' (that's actually hell) or a riff on Gooding's name, we reckon Gooding's done good. The Good Place Miranda is now open from 9am—10pm daily at level 4, Westfield Miranda, 600 Kingsway, Miranda. Outposts in Blacktown and Central Park in Sydney and Buddina and Surfers Paradise in Queensland are slated to open in coming months. We'll update you when they do.
Home to brews, bands and giant-sized board games since 2014, Ann Street's Woolly Mammoth Alehouse is getting an in-house sibling venue: a tropical-themed watering hole called Ivory Tusk. Slated to open on Thursday, August 22, the new bar is taking over Woolly Mammoth's Mane Stage area and giving it a Palm Springs-inspired revamp, complete with plenty of pastels. As well as transforming the Fortitude Valley's site's existing garden terrace into a tequila-focused party space, Ivory Tusk will boast three bar areas, all serving up cocktails on tap. Expect eight different concoctions made from fresh ingredients and botanicals, plus a range of craft brews. Food-wise, the venue will champion Mexican cuisine, with the kitchen overseen by Executive Chef Graeme McKinnon (Covent Garden) and Head Chef Jack Thompson (The Line & Label, Port Lincoln). Think gazpacho tequila shooters, lamb barbacoa and roast pork, as well as vegan-friendly and gluten-free options. With the site also doubling as an events space — and catering for between 20-1000 people — set menus will be a feature. Visitors will also spy plenty of colour, new furnishings and a lighter, airier feel to suit the 'tropicali' vibe, thanks to renovations led by Luis Nheu of BSPN Architects. In the garden terrace, that means pendant lighting and a stencilled terrazzo floor. Back inside, Woolly Mammoth's band room has also been given a makeover. Ivory Tusk's entertainment lineup will span regular DJs, live bands and rockaoke — aka karaoke, but with a live band playing as you sing. And if you're fond of Woolly Mammoth in its current guise, its Mane Stage will still be hanging around — just smaller, and on the site's upper level. Find Ivory Tusk at 633 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley from Thursday, August 22.
If you're serious about bacon, then there's only one place to be over the weekend of Friday, August 16–Sunday, August 18, 2024. That's the town of Kingaroy, about two-and-a-half hours north-west of Brisbane. As it does every year, it's dedicating three whole days to one glorious type of foodstuff. Whether you're keen on eating it or buying a heap of it, if there's bacon involved, it's on offer during Kingaroy BaconFest. Browse the bacon market, watch bacon cooking demonstrations, catch pork masterclasses or try your hand at the tastiest eating contest there is. Yes, it's about bacon, obviously. Getting cooking: a range of well-known chefs. 2024's talents haven't yet been revealed, but Miguel Maestre and Alastair McLeod were involved in 2023. There's usually also a big bacon breakfast and a wine-and-swine party. Live music is also on the bill, plus bacon ice cream. And, you can get jogging at the running event called Rasher's Fun Run, then have your tastebuds tempted again a barbecue pork smoke-off competition.
If you're all about thinking green, living in a more eco-conscious way and doing your utmost for the planet — as we all should be — then you likely already know about Brisbane's Green Heart Fair. This event regularly takes over a leafy public space to celebrate sustainability, all by giving away plants, teaching attendees about relevant topics and serving up plant-based food truck dishes. For 2024, mark 9am–3pm on Sunday, May 26 in your diary, with all of the above is on the agenda once again. Also part of the fair, which'll be settling into the 64-hectare expanse that is Victoria Park / Barrambin in Herston: markets selling pre-loved threads, wildlife displays, taking test rides in electric vehicles, and learning more about sustainability and gardening (plus other related subjects). If adding some greenery to your yard has particularly piqued your interest, there'll be native plants on offer — all for free. They're available on a first-come, first-served basis, so arriving early is recommended. And, the fair also spans live tunes, plus activities for kids. This time around, the latter includes a Bluey show — for real life.
Enjoying a Cantonese meal with cracking river views at Stanley, the Howard Smith Wharves restaurant that pairs the two in fine style, is an all-year-round treat. That said, stopping by to celebrate Lunar New Year is obviously a must. And, to mark the Year of the Snake, Head Chef Louis Tikram is adding special dishes to the menu. The sample menu includes mixed seafood and black truffle dumplings, giant Skull Island king prawns, an XO dish pairing the ocean's finest with crispy noodles, whole Queensland coral trout done Chongqing-style, Shandong chicken, five-spice roast duck, wagyu striploin in kung pao sauce, and truffle and spanner crab egg fried rice with caviar. Whatever ends up on offer, your tastebuds won't be disappointed based on how delicious Stanley's regular spread always proves. The LNY specials will be available alongside the usual a la carte and banquet offerings, too, so you can enjoy the best of both worlds — as long as you make a date between Wednesday, January 29–Sunday, February 2, with seatings for lunch and dinner. At 6.30pm and 8.30pm each evening, there'll also be lion dances. And before or afterwards, you can extend the fun upstairs at the new Stan's Lounge bar.
Big names from Australia and overseas. A new stage dedicated to dance music. A health and wellness zone with guided meditation and ice baths. With the returning lantern parade, too, as well as Steven Bradbury hosting the Great Australian Pineapple Toss and the onsite ferris wheel offering a helluva view, that's how The Big Pineapple Festival is making the most of its 2025 event. Taking place on Saturday, November 1, the Sunshine Coast is marking its ten-year anniversary with Hilltop Hoods, The Cat Empire, The Jungle Giants and PNAU leading the bill, as well as Polaris, SIX60, Hands Like Houses, MKTO, Rum Jungle and Thelma Plum. Superlove Arena, that purpose-built haven for electronic tunes, will feature Baauer, Bushbaby, Anna Lunoe B2B Nina Las Vegas, KLP B2B Mell Hall, Little Fritter B2B Wongo, Paluma B2B Kessin, Shimmy and Raw Ordio. And Betty Taylor, Beckah Amani, HEADSEND and IVANA are also on the fest's lineup as well, all helping the event back up being named the Festival of the Year for the fourth time at the 2025 Queensland Music Awards. For those keen to dance in the shadow of a giant piece of tropical fruit — and one of Australia's most-famous big things — hitting Pineapple Fields in Woombye also comes with the option of camping, whether you'll be bringing your own tent, hiring one onsite or glamping. The Big Pineapple Festival 2025 Lineup Hilltop Hoods The Cat Empire The Jungle Giants PNAU Polaris SIX60 Hands Like Houses MKTO Rum Jungle Thelma Plum Baauer Bushbaby Anna Lunoe B2B Nina Las Vegas KLP B2B Mell Hall Little Fritter B2B Wongo Paluma B2B Kessin Shimmy Raw Ordi Betty Taylor Beckah Amani HEADSEND IVANA Select images: Claudia Ciapocha / Charlie Hardy.
This time last year, Sampa the Great was the first artist named on the Vivid 2021 lineup; however, due to the pandemic, the Sydney festival didn't go ahead. Now, the Zambian-born musician is giving her new stage show An Afro Future another run, including setting up a new Vivid stint — and hitting up Melbourne and Brisbane as well. Sampa will tour the east coast capitals this May and June, starting at The Tivoli in Brisbane. From there, she's headed to Sydney for two Vivid gigs in the Joan Sutherland Theatre at the Sydney Opera House, and then to Melbourne for two concerts at its own citywide arts festival, Rising. Joining her across all five shows will be Zimbabwe-born, London-raised, Australian-based singer KYE and Sampa's younger sister Mwanjé, plus sounds by C.Frim. And, while that's all mightily impressive, the tour will also mark the first time that audiences can see Sampa live with her full band from Zambia. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sampa The Great (@sampa_the_great) Sampa's 2022's tour marks her return to Vivid after supporting Hiatus Kaiyote in 2016 and performing as part of The Avalanches' Since I Left You Block Party back in 2017. It'll also finally let her show An Afro Future to fans, after it was originally set to premiere over the summer of 2020–21 as part of Live at the Bowl in Melbourne, Summer in the Domain in Sydney and Womadelaide, but was forced to cancel due to border restrictions. As for what's in store now that An Afro Future is hitting Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, attendees can expect to be treated to songs from Sampa's critically-acclaimed debut album The Return. Released in 2019, the album received universal praise at the time, winning Best Hip Hop Release and Best Independent Release at the 2020 ARIA Awards, and being named the eighth best Australian debut album of all time by Double J. And, Sampa will be playing new tunes, too — because a lot's been going on over the past few years. SAMPA THE GREAT 'AN AFRO FUTURE' TOUR 2022: Wednesday, May 25 — The Tivoli, Brisbane Friday, May 27–Saturday, May 28 — Vivid, Sydney Opera House, Sydney Wednesday, June 1–Thursday, June 2 — Rising, The Forum, Melbourne Sampa the Great's An Afro Future tour will head to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne in May and June. For more information or to buy tickets, visit Sampa's website. Top image: Sampa the Great, Lucian Coman.
Don't dig pickles on your burger? Well, that's one thing you've got in common with rap sensation The Kid LAROI. How do we know? Because the award-winning artist has just revealed to the world his go-to Macca's meal, teaming up with the fast-food giant on the first-ever Aussie edition of its Famous Orders collaboration series. It means that for a limited time, you can rock up to any McDonald's in the country, make like a celeb and order The Kid LAROI special — a cheeseburger without pickles, plus medium fries, a medium frozen Coke and a six-piece McNuggets with barbecue sauce. Hitting the menu from Thursday, May 26, the Famous Orders meal will also be available via the MyMacca's app and McDelivery. The launch of the pickle-free feed comes as The Kid LAROI returns Down Under for his sold-out Aussie tour. The Sydney-born artist and proud Kamilaroi man has made huge waves overseas in the past couple of years, thanks to a slew of chart-topping songs, including collaborations with Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus. While this marks the first local Famous Orders release, Macca's already has a swag of international versions under its belt. This time last year, the series saw famed K-pop group BTS touting their signature order — fries, a large soft drink and a 10-piece chicken McNuggets with sweet chilli and Cajun dipping sauces. The Kid LAROI Famous Order will be available at McDonald's stores nationwide, from May 26, for a limited time.
Brisbane's annual show serves up many things, from fireworks and showbags to dagwood dogs and oh-so-many strawberry ice creams. But you won't find strawberry cocktails 21 floors up and strawberry sundaes in a French patisserie at the Ekka. Instead, you can score them both at Emporium Hotel South Bank while the exhibition takes over Brisbane Showgrounds. Head here and you can avoid the Ekka crowds, plus get a sweet treat. Until Sunday, August 20, Brisbanites can mosey upstairs at The Terrace for a Strawberry Pavilion cocktail. It combines strawberry gin, rhubarb and sherry, comes topped with vanilla foam, and also includes a white chocolate lollipop — and it's the Ekka-related treat that you didn't know you needed until now. If that's not enough Royal Queensland Show-themed fun for you, you have another choice downstairs at Belle Epoque. The Parisian-style purveyor of baked goods and desserts has whipped up its own take on a pink-hued dish, featuring a tropical cheesecake as a base inside a chocolate cup coated in wafer flakes. A strawberry mousse popsicle also sits within, and then cream is dolloped on top. You'll pay $24 for the cocktail and $12 for the sundae — and both venues are open daily.
Haven't seen The Last Jedi yet? Been waiting until the Boxing Day rush dies down to see the last batch of 2017 flicks? If so, and you're a Melburnian headed to a Village Cinema, you might want to keep an eye on ticket prices. During the summer holidays, the cinema chain is trialling dynamic pricing at selected sites. In other words: if you go during peak times, you'll pay more for the privilege. As first reported on Reddit, after 5pm on Fridays and Saturdays, customers can expect to spend between 50 cents and $1 more to watch whichever feature takes their fancy, and to see candy bar costs rise by between 30 cents and $1 per item. Yes, it's the same concept that Uber users hate during busy periods, now showing at multiplexes including Crown, Fountain Gate, Doncaster, Jam Factory, Southland and Werribee. The idea of variable movie ticket prices isn't new — student discounts, cheap Tuesdays and the like — but charging more during peak cinema-going slots isn't going to be well-received given that Aussie ticket costs rose 31 percent in the decade to 2016. Interestingly enough, while Village Cinemas is ramping things up in popular periods, it's not decreasing them for slow sessions and times. It might be school holidays, but we're guessing that some titles on their schedule aren't selling out to weekday morning crowds, particularly if they're not aimed at kids. In 2017, an app called Choovie proposed the same concept, calling themselves "Uber for movies" and offering up bargains in quiet spots. It currently features deals at selected times in selected locations, all for less than the regular multiplex ticket prices. Going to the cinema hasn't died out as many have predicted over the years, and isn't likely to. The thrill of seeing a new film on a big screen in a darkened room with (hopefully) no distractions is something that your huge TV and Netflix just can't beat, and nor can piracy. Still, with Aussie attendance in decline, charging viewers more for seeing a flick at times when most people like to go to the movies is up there with the rumour that Apple would introduce a 'theatre mode' option for mid-movie texting — that is, it's a downright terrible idea. Via news.com.au
If you like venues with punning names, the Gold Coast is already home to an ace one thanks to Chinese restaurant Miami Rice. Also taking its moniker from the same source of inspiration: newcomer Tropic Vice, which you'll now find sporting big summer vibes on a Mermaid Beach rooftop. In this instance, the nod to a certain 80s TV crime drama — and 2006 Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx-starring movie remake — stems from the bar's Palm Springs-meets-Miami vibe. And with pastel hues almost as far as the eye can see, umbrellas aplenty, oh-so-much greenery and even neon flamingos around the place, it certainly looks the part. Patrons have multiple sunny spaces to choose between — starting with the grassy-heavy garden bar with its brollies, and also including a deck covered with creeping vines and high tables, as well as a neon-lit podium space. And yes, almost every surface here is either pink, teal, green, white, or covered in tropical prints and/or plants. While you're pretending you're on a holiday without actually going on holiday — although, for Brisbanites, a night or two on the Gold Coast definitely counts as a getaway — you can tuck into a menu that takes its cues from Caribbean and South America. Highlights span oysters topped with watermelon chilli vinaigrette, kingfish ceviche, fish and potato balls, jackfruit and black bean salsa tacos, as well as chilli and garlic prawns paired with fresh mango salsa. For dessert, you can pick between coconut rice with homemade dulce de leche and fried bananas. The cocktail list sticks to the venue's theme, starting with the Miami Spice (with whisky, vanilla liqueur, lemon juice and spice syrup), Flamingo Spritz (pink gin, prosecco, blood orange seltzer and soda water) and Vice Martini (vodka, passionfruit puree, pomegranate syrup and mint leaves). Three kinds of margaritas are on offer, too — guava and goji, coconut and mandarin, and lychee and chilli — plus boozy slushies and salted caramel espresso martinis. And if you're keen to stick around for the long haul on a Sunday, there's both $79 and $89 boozy bottomless brunches from midday each week. Images: Mondae Studio.
Step inside the heritage-listed Rothwell's building on Edward Street and, thanks to the new bar and grill that now shares its name, you can be forgiven for feeling like you're on the other side of the world. There's a firmly classic look and vibe to the space that previously housed Jamie's Italian — think: gleaming chandeliers that'd make Sia sing, white marble aplenty, leather booths decked out with vintage table lamps, and silver trays and carafes. The latest venue from 1889 Enoteca's Dan Clark, Rothwell's Bar and Grill might call a 136-year-old Brisbane building home, but it takes its cues from hospitality institutions much further afield. London's The Savoy Grill and The Wolseley are two of them. Musso & Frank Grill in Los Angeles is another — as well as New York's entire dining scene. For Brisbanites, the result is the kind of venue that aims to make you forget you're in the busiest part of the city — even if you've just made the dash from the Queen Street Mall or Central Station. Joining Clark is chef Ben Russell (ex-Aria, Est Est Est) and, together, they've shaped the newcomer after their favourite eateries from around the globe, following a quarter-century of scoping out the best dining rooms and bars the international scene has to offer. The Rothwell's sit-down experience takes patrons to the 90-seat Marble Bar area, where all that Italian marble — and those aforementioned leather banquettes — provide a light yet intimate atmosphere. If you're just stopping by for a drink, however, the 40-seater Foyer Bar will be your destination. And, for bigger dinners and events, the private dinning room caters to 50 seated guests, or 100 folks standing. It's found in the building's cellar, so you'll be surrounded by 2000-plus bottles of wine, plus eye-catching sandstone walls. Menu-wise, Russell has opted for "classic cooking techniques and European sensibilities — all the things I learned early in my career that I've returned to," he advises. That shines through in a produce-centric lineup that also goes heavy on local seafood, Aussie beef and handmade pasta. Standout dishes include prawn cocktails and steak tartare among the starters; Moreton Bay bugs with café de Paris butter, tagliarini with sea urchin and caviar, and beef wellington from the mains; and chocolate trifle, pistachio brûlée with chocolate gelato, and berry salad with brown-butter ice cream from the dessert offerings. Drinks options span martinis, old fashioned, negronis and Hemingway daquiri — again, the feel here is classic — which, at the bar, are paired with food choices such as oysters, niçoise salad and a club sandwich. Wine lovers can also take advantage of that stacked cellar — which you can visit, and which also houses and sells wines bought from all around the world from Clark's own collection. If your bank balance doesn't quite let you afford a cognac from the 1890s (understandably so), you'll find tipples from all the usual producers, as well as from smaller names from regions such as Burgundy, Chablis, Bordeaux, Champagne and Barolo. And, for digestifs, there's a dedicated armagnac cart, complete with bottles collected from Europe and dating back to the 1920s. Find Rothwell's Bar and Grill at 235 Edward Street, Brisbane — open 12–2.30pm and 5.30pm–late Tuesday–Saturday. Images: Dean Swindell.
If your pet pup firmly thinks that he or she can do everything that you can do, then the four-legged critter mightn't be so thrilled when you head out of the house without them. One place that you can't always take your barking bestie: the movies. Every Sunday at Dendy Powerhouse Outdoor Cinema, however, they can indeed accompany you — and wag their tail in delight at a big-screen outing. It's now been almost two years since Brisbane scored a new place to watch movies under the stars all year round — and not just in summer. That's when Brisbane Powerhouse, which had played host to openair picture palaces before, permanently became home to Dendy's outdoor setup. It doesn't screen every single night, but it will give you an outside moviegoing experience every weekend. Only Sundays are for pooches, no matter what's on the big screen. If your dog always wants a snack when you have one, too, there's bites on offer just for them. There are a few conditions of entry, so you'll need to as keep your pup on a leash of two metres or under, pick up after them, and bring both water and a drinking container so that they don't get thirsty.
