Brisbane is already home to two mini-golf bars, multiple arcade bars, several axe-throwing bars and a digital ping pong bar — and now it boasts a huge new two-storey darts hangout, too. Usually the domain of old-school pubs, the projectile-flinging sport is the main attraction at Oche Brisbane, though it's had a thoroughly 21st-century update. Originally launching in Oslo in Norway, Oche (pronounced ockey) has opened its first Australian digs in Fortitude Valley. Lining the walls are dart boards that look exactly how you remember — but they all have an electronic component. Each board comes with dozens of games built in, so you can pick between the knockout-style Killer, high-scoring High Striker and points-accumulating 201, among other options. The boards also keep score, so there's no need for a pencil and paper (and no room for arguments). And, for unknown reasons, some of them chat to you as well. Nestled within the brick walls of the 115-year-old Old Flour Mill Building on Constance Street, Oche's darts sessions run for 85 minutes, and are designed to get patrons to do something that's definitely not common these days: put down your phone. The idea is that you'll head along with your mates, get drinking, throw a heap of darts, and forget about your emails, Insta feed, DMs and the like. (You'll probably keep picking up your phone to take and post snaps, but hey, getting folks to switch off is a noble aim). Inside the 700-square-metre, heritage-listed spot, Oche also features an outdoor terrace and two separate bars, with one dedicated to local beverages. It'll spotlight different local breweries, distillers and winemakers each month, starting with Green Beacon in December. Or, you can sip your way through the regular beer and wine list, or opt for six types of G&Ts, seven kinds of spritzes, or other cocktails that pay tribute to Brisbane. Food-wise, Ben Williamson (Gerard's Bar) has overseen the menu — with highlights including fried prawns with tom yum dust, charred lamb cutlets, Middle Eastern-style pizzas and charcuterie boards, plus four types of tacos, salt blocked cobia, mojito and limoncello gummy bear bowls, flavoured popcorn (with seasoning varieties changing daily), and mango and coconut macadamia ice creams. So you can hurl darts and eat simultaneously, everything is designed to be eaten with one hand. In fact, Oche doesn't stock cutlery. Expect to have plenty of company while you're throwing darts at boards for bragging rights — Oche can accommodate 360 people. And Oche Brisbane is just beginning of the company's Australian plans, with venues in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide in the pipeline. Find Oche Brisbane at 111 Constance Street, Fortitude Valley — open from 12pm–12am Sunday–Thursday and 12pm–2am Friday–Saturday.
Long before cozzie livs entered Australia's vocabulary, the Sunnybank Food Trail was serving up bargains. The one-day culinary event previously included a $2 price in its moniker, because that's how much everything that you could eat cost per plate. That gold-coin amount isn't stuck to as firmly these days, but it's still a cheap feast, including when the self-guided foodie adventure returns in 2024. This year marks the tenth iteration of this beloved excuse to hit up its namesake Brisbane suburb's shopping hubs, then delight in dining in quite the affordable fashion. Pre-pandemic, around 22,000 people showed up annually to satisfy their tastebuds, so expect to have plenty of cost-of-living-conscious company from 2–8pm on Saturday, July 13. [caption id="attachment_962394" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Zennieshia[/caption] While 2023 saw the Sunnybank Food Trail was make its long-awaited return, hosting its first event since 2019 following a break for COVID-19 reasons, 2024's run will be all about celebrating turning ten with discounted bites. Some of this year's dishes will still cost $2, while others will set you back $3 or $5. Either way, that's a whole heap of your change being put to excellent (and tasty) use. As in previous years, both Sunnybank Plaza and Sunny Park will play host to the trail. How does it work? Attendees walk between a heap of local cafes and restaurants, all at their own pace. The range of eateries taking part is usually hefty — in 2018, more than 45 places served up dishes. [caption id="attachment_962390" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Zennieshia[/caption] Covering everything from deep-fried dumplings, noodles and curries to hot cakes, cream buns and bubble tea, every participating joint will feature a range of authentic Asian cuisines. You'll feast on Chinese, Japanese, Hong Kong-style, Vietnamese, Korean, Malaysian and Taiwanese food — and, with such an array of steaming soups and sizzling stir-fries on offer, we don't recommend eating lunch or dinner first. In fact, you'd best arrive feeling as hungry as possible. Snacking on signature dishes is the main course — or several — but there's also plenty of non-edible appetisers, too. Enjoy live music, watch traditional lion dancers, and and check out the roaming entertainment as you feast and wander, adding the perfect garnish to every meal by setting the mood. [caption id="attachment_962391" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Zennieshia[/caption] [caption id="attachment_962392" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Zennieshia[/caption] [caption id="attachment_962393" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Zennieshia[/caption] Sunnybank Food Trail will pop up at Sunnybank Plaza and Sunny Park from 12–8pm on Saturday, July 13 — head to the Experience Sunnybank website for further details. Top image: Zennieshia.
The next email you receive from Netflix mightn't be telling you what to watch. Instead, beginning Wednesday, May 24, the streaming platform is contacting all of its Australian customers about its new password sharing rules. Promised for a few years now, and originally expected to kick in by the end of March this year, the service is cracking down on letting people from different households use the same account — effective immediately. Accordingly, if you've been enjoying someone else's Netflix subscription to get your Stranger Things, Squid Game and Wednesday fix or work your way through its hefty slate of movies — or letting your mates or siblings use your logins — your current streaming situation is changing. The password-sharing functionality will still exist; however, it'll come at an extra cost, involving paying $7.99 per month to add an extra member to your account. Netflix now advises that "a Netflix account is meant to be shared by people living together in one household" — and you can set up and define your household in the platform's settings. If you don't set one yourself, it'll do so for you based on your IP address, device IDs and account activity, which is what it'll also use to monitor if someone is using your details from elsewhere. That said, for folks who don't actually watch Netflix via a TV, you won't need to worry about the household requirement, but the password-sharing change still applies. To add people outside your household to your account, you'll buy an extra member slot. The caveats: they have to be activated in the same country where the account owner created their account, and you can't add them to ad-supported plans (or Netflix-included packages or third-party billed accounts). So, if you've opted for the service's cheaper option since it rolled out in late 2022, your pals won't be able to share — but they can transfer their profile on your account to their own new account. That transferring functionality applies to everyone who decides to sign up themselves after sharing someone's password, and will port over recommendations, viewing history, My List, saved games and settings. Clearly, the main motivation is to increase subscriptions. The new password-sharing block was called "paid sharing" by Netflix in a letter to shareholders, after all. "Today's widespread account sharing (to 100 million-plus households) undermines our long-term ability to invest in and improve Netflix, as well as build our business," the company states in that shareholder letter, which is dated January 19, 2023. "While our terms of use limit use of Netflix to a household, we recognise this is a change for members who share their account more broadly. So we've worked hard to build additional new features that improve the Netflix experience, including the ability for members to review which devices are using their account and to transfer a profile to a new account. As we roll out paid sharing, members in many countries will also have the option to pay extra if they want to share Netflix with people they don't live with." Of course, logging into your Netflix account from a place outside of your own household doesn't automatically mean you're sharing your password. You might be travelling and still want to get your streaming fix. Initially, needing a temporary access code was floated — but at the time of writing, the platform simply says that you can still "use Netflix as usual to watch on your portable devices — like a tablet, laptop, or mobile phone — or sign into a new TV, like at a hotel or a holiday rental" without explaining if or how the new password rules will have an impact. The company does specify that if you have a second home or frequently travel to the same location, you'll need to connect to the internet and open the Netflix app on your mobile device in both the main spot you watch the service and in the second location Netflix's password-sharing crackdown is coming into effect in Australia from Wednesday, May 24. Head to Netflix for more details.
The late, great Jim Henson gave the world many things, including the Muppets in general, Sesame Street's loveable puppet characters, Kermit the Frog's memorable voice and all things Fraggle Rock. He also turned filmmaker three times, creating three of the great puppet movies of the 1980s — The Great Muppet Caper, The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. While Labyrinth still earns plenty of attention for plenty of reasons — David Bowie being one of them, obviously — The Dark Crystal also deservedly holds a place in fans' hearts. Co-directed with his Muppets colleague Frank Oz, the fantasy-adventure flick follows a Gelfling called Jen, who is trying to bring back balance to his own world by finding and returning a broken shard from a powerful gem. Henson and Oz also worked their puppeting magic on the movie, of course. Over the years, a sequel has been mooted more than once, including one with Australian Daybreakers, Predestination and Winchester filmmakers Michael and Peter Spierig at the helm. No follow-ups have ever come to fruition, but Netflix has done the next best thing, reviving the beloved film for a ten-part series. Set to release at the end of August, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is a prequel to the movie — and yes, it uses puppets for its protagonists, not CGI, as the just-dropped first teaser shows in stunning detail. Seemingly picking up where the film left off, it's based on Dark Crystal companion novels Shadows of the Dark Crystal and Song of the Dark Crystal. Age of Resistance also boasts quite the cast, with Rocketman's Taron Egerton, Glass' Anya Taylor-Joy and Game of Thrones' Nathalie Emmanuel voicing three elf-like Gelflings. They're joined by a hefty list of names, so prepare to hear the vocal tones of Helena Bonham Carter, Natalie Dormer, Eddie Izzard, Theo James, Toby Jones, Shazad Latif, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mark Strong, Alicia Vikander, Mark Hamill, Jason Isaacs, Keegan-Michael Key, Simon Pegg, and Andy Samberg as well. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KYLwTGx7uU The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance hits Netflix on August 30.
The end of the world is happening in Hollywood. This North American summer has already seen Tom Cruise meet Oblivion, Seth Rogen and co scream This Is the End and all of us embrace our wildest apocalyptic fears in our terrible movie heavens. Now with Elysium, the director of District 9, Neill Blomkamp, turns his sights from apartheid South Africa to the interplanetary concern of undocumented immigrants. In the 22nd century, Earth is overpopulated, polluted and diseased. The Third World is now the world, and the rich have fled and founded a new off-planet habitat, Elysium, a floating disc of palm trees and daiquiris where the idyll sun-bake in oblivion and 'medbays' cure all sickness in seconds. The ruined Earth is just in sight over the horizon, where Matt Damon toils away making the terrifying robot policemen that oppress him and the other proles. A cruelly unnecessary industrial accident exposes him to lethal radiation, and now he's the classic John Connor-style everyman hero with nothing to lose. He needs a medbay, and the only solution is to wage an all-out war on Elysium, opening it up to all Earthly "illegals". His war armour transforms him into a man-robot fighting machine — if Aldous Huxley rather than Marvel designed Ironman. Let's face it, Matt Damon is a boss. Not only is he the most bankable actor in Hollywood, he has not given one dud performance, ever. Think about it. The day he does will be the day I weep and quit movie reviewing with a heavy heart and wistful glance in Brad Pitt's direction. Jodie Foster is our steel eyed, fluorescent-toothed and impeccably tailored Bad Ass Neo-Con, Delacourt. Foster is in full-tilt Nicholas Cage mode here, dispensing with naturalism to give a presentation-style performance as a heartless Hawk whose sole job is to keep those pesky illegals at bay and the squeaky clean wealth of Elysium safe. Her henchman Kruger (Sharlto Copley) is a no less than a demented sadist, screeching outrageously abusive one-liners in a full-blooded South African accent. While his boss is the ostensibly civilised policymaker pushing the sleek buttons of war from afar, Kruger is the brutal, gloves-off and knives-out psycho, and together they form both sides of the conservative coin. This gleeful bastard must surely be one of the best baddies in recent movie history, and a hysterical one at that. He injects the film with a blood-red jab of dark humour, and that sense of humour is something that is sorely lacking from the surging majority of Hollywood blockbusters. His one-liners are wonderfully gruesome, real Old Testament stuff. Best of all, it's this Hannibal-style character that allows Blomkamp to really reach beyond the formulaic sameness that characterises most films of this hi-tech genre and deliver some proper twists in the final act. If you've wondered why recent big-shot Hollywood flicks like the $200 million-plus World War Z have been oddly bloodless, in a way that doesn't gel with their ADHD violence, it's because rocketing production budgets ensure that these films need to be rated PG to attract the largest possible spectrum of paying cinema-goers, and that has to mean high school-aged boys and their parents. Elysium has no such qualms — with an MA15+ stamp, it has gross blood to spare and it's all the more satisfying as a result. If there ever was going to be a contemporary director to hijack Hollywood, it's Blomkamp. He delivers blockbusters based in empathy and political smarts that actually aspire to be more than insulting filmic pollution. The state of Elysium suffers from a serious "political sickness, a moral tumour that must be removed". It's an especially crucial message in the weeks leading up to this country's joke of an election and the more open-ended atmosphere of unhooked xenophobic psychosis. Increasingly, being Australian is like having a totally obnoxious and embarrassing mother who's vocally and publicly racist. And homophobic. And sexist. And completely without social skills. The towering blockbusters of the literary realm have often been piercingly thoughtful and critical (here I'm thinking of Brave New World and The Road. It's more than time for movie blockbusters to be the same, to linger in an afterburn of ideas. Elysium is the blockbuster for me. And these mad times. https://youtube.com/watch?v=oIBtePb-dGY
One of the funniest TV comedies of the 2020s is back with its third season, and as hilarious as ever. So what are you waiting five? If that question doesn't make any sense to you, then you clearly haven't yet experienced the wonder that is Girls5eva. It starts with a numerical pun-heavy earworm of a theme tune that no one should ever skip, then bounces along just as catchily and sidesplittingly in every second afterwards. A move to Netflix for season three — after streaming its first and second seasons via Peacock in the US, Stan in Australia and TVNZ+ in New Zealand — might just see the Tina Fey-executive produced music-industry sitcom switch from being one of the best shows that not enough people are watching to everyone's latest can't-stop-rewatching comedy obsession. In other words, this a series about a comeback and, thanks to its swap to the biggest player in the streaming game, now it's making a comeback itself. Two years have passed for longterm fans since Girls5eva last checked in with Dawn Solano (Sara Bareilles, Broadway's Waitress), Wickie Roy (Renée Elise Goldsberry, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and also a Hamilton Tony-winner), Summer Dutkowsky (Busy Philipps, Mean Girls) and Gloria McManus (Paula Pell, Big Mouth), but the gap and the jump to Netflix haven't changed this gem. Consider the change of streamer, which kicks off on Thursday, March 14, in the same way that Dawn and the gang are approaching their leap back into their girl group after two decades: as an all-in, go-hard-or-go-home, whatever-it-takes relaunch. For new viewers, seasons one and two of Girls5eva are also now available on Netflix — and bingeing through all 22 episodes, with season three providing six of them, is the best way to spend a day, weekend or few evenings right now. With its non-stop jokes that reward multiple viewings because you're likely laughing too hard to catch all of them on the first go-around, deep-cutting pop-culture references, satire that's always both razor-sharp and raucously ridiculous, and supremely stellar cast, the series is a quintessential Fey-produced comedy. If her post-Saturday Night Live efforts were songs, 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Great News, Mr Mayor and Girls5eva couldn't make a better record. (Meredith Scardino, who created Girls5eva, is also an Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Mr Mayor alum.) The riff for Girls5eva: parodying the pop-music realm as the titular group endeavour to stop wondering what might've been after their career fizzled out 20 years earlier, aided by their single 'Famous 5eva' getting thrust back into the spotlight via another artist. The takedown of the entertainment world that was at the heart of 30 Rock hums along here, too, as does calling out the treatment of women, especially by the media, that also fuelled Fey's first sitcom hit alongside Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Great News. Whether via Liz Lemon's dating life and quest to have a family, or in Mr Mayor's experienced deputy played by Holly Hunter (Succession), unpacking how women are perceived the moment they're out of their 20s and beyond has also echoed through the Feyniverse — and Girls5eva croons that tune with force and feeling. Now firmly back together, the surviving members of Girls5eva — Ashley Gold (Ashley Park, Only Murders in the Building) died in an infinity pool accident — have taken to the road. So far, however, their big Returnity tour has been happy in Fort Worth. In the Texan city, their track 'Tap Into Your Fort Worth' keeps drawing in crowds, even if that's all that concertgoers want to hear. Also, the Marriott Suitelettes for Divorced Dads has become their home away from home, but resident diva Wickie isn't content just playing one place. Always dreaming huge, massive and stratospheric, she sets the band's sights on Radio City Music Hall, booking them in for a gig at a fee of $500,000. Cue a six-month timeline to sell it out — a feat made trickier by the fact that the show is on Thanksgiving — or risk ruin. When season three commences in Fort Worth, and among weekend-only fathers buying forgotten birthday presents for their kids out of vending machines, the quality of Girls5eva's writing proves as gleaming as ever. Here, the pregnant Dawn can put pancakes from the breakfast buffet in her robe, and also get cosy watching The Crown, which has a storyline about Prince Andrew's stuffed-toy obsession. Gloria is on a mission to hook up with all 178 types of women, complete with a spreadsheet tracking her progress, which is a riotous source of amusement. "Always gonna never stop restarting, never gonna end not un-beginning, don't un-try to un-stop us now" aren't just lyrics for Girls5eva the band and Girls5eva the show, though. So, into the van the group hops, with Percy (John Lutz, 30 Rock) as their tour manager. Girls5eva's big joke energy doesn't slow down when Wickie and company are drumming up cash at private concerts, battling with a state senator (John Early, The Afterparty) who doubles as a "Fetal Citizen Advocate" or trying to capitalise upon the fame of pop's current megastar (Thomas Doherty, Gossip Girl) — or when the series charts Summer's attempt to work out who she is without her ex-husband Kev (Andrew Rannells, Invincible) through a multi-level marketing scheme for teeth-whitening gummies. As that snapshot of season-three elements makes plain, the show's love of loopiness, hijinks and hysterical bits doesn't fade out, either. Flashbacks to the band's late-90s, early-00s fame continue to deliver gold, too, including Gloria and *NSYNC's Lance Bass trying to make a sex tape. Girls5eva isn't afraid of silliness for the comical sake of it, but it's also as savvy as comedy gets in lampooning the state of the world and fleshing out its characters while sparking never-ending chuckles. Holding back or taking a beat isn't Girls5eva's style; if it was an album itself, it'd be wall-to-wall singles. (Its tunes, which continue to showcase the musical-comedy prowess of Fey's husband Jeff Richmond after 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and the like, already make ace records.) Giving anything but 100 percent isn't Bareilles, Goldsberry, Philipps or Pell's style, either — and the series keeps benefiting. Bareilles' ability to ground every type of chaos remains essential but, away from New York and Dawn's family, that's no longer her main remit. Always at home when the show is at its most absurd, Goldsberry, Philipps and Pell have also never been funnier. ("Hi, this is Gloria, from sex!" is one of Pell's all-time great lines.) The only issue with season three: that this stint with Girls5eva's glorious on-screen talents is too short, just like forever versus 5eva. If it becomes a Netflix smash, here's hoping that it'll be famous at least one more time. Check out the trailer for Girls5eva season three below: Girls5eva season three streams via Netflix from Thursday, March 14. Read our reviews of season one and season two. Images: Netflix.
Long before its new sequel declared so in its title, The Craft already had a legacy. A horror-thriller about teen witches using and abusing magic to cope with high school's troubles, the 1996 Neve Campbell-starring cult favourite is the quintessential movie of that exact description. It's supremely 90s. It has the cast, look, soundtrack and mood to match. In using the occult to explore adolescent angst, it splashes everything from stormy skies and candle-lit rooms to hordes of rats and snakes across the screen, filling its frames with trusty genre imagery. And, it leans into the torment and toil of being a young woman finding one's way in the world, and of dealing with sleazy schoolboys, racist prom queens, society's obsession with appearance and the tyranny of class differences, too. The overall film has its struggles, but it has always stood out — and retained its place in pop culture. Written and directed by actor-turned-filmmaker Zoe Lister-Jones (Band Aid), The Craft: Legacy is clearly the product of someone who already knows all of the above. It's also the work of someone keen to pay tribute to the original, embrace what she sees as its strengths, redress its wrongs, and update it for a new time and a new generation. But it's possible for a 24-years-later follow-up to show affection, make some smart changes, move with the times and still feel like the remnants left in a cauldron. Or, for it to recall one of its predecessor's famed moments — one it recreates, briefly — in an unintended fashion. When this feature's coven play with levitation, the words "light as a feather, stiff as a board" aren't heard; however, by the end of the movie, they best describe everything that's just happened. Starting as its inspiration did, The Craft: Legacy begins with the arrival of a teen in a new town. Lily (Cailee Spaeny, Devs) and her mother Helen (Michelle Monaghan, Saint Judy) move in with the latter's boyfriend and his three sons — and if the in-car sing-along to Alanis Morrisette's 'Hand in My Pocket' doesn't nod firmly enough in the 90s' direction, the casting of The X-Files' David Duchovny as Adam, the author of a self-help book called 'The Hallowed Masculine' and the object of the head-over-heels Helen's affection, does. Navigating a new school, Lily soon finds herself taunted by resident jock and bully Timmy (Nicholas Galitzine, Share) in an unpleasant classroom incident. But she's also found by Lourdes (Zoey Luna, Pose), Frankie (Gideon Adlon, Blockers) and Tabby (Lovie Simone, Selah and the Spades), who are looking for the west to their north, south and east. They become fast friends, trifling with spells and testing their abilities. They also sneak into Timmy's room and enchant him into becoming the best version of himself. While Timmy provides an early source of nastiness, it's hardly a spoiler to note that he isn't The Craft: Legacy's antagonist. Instead, he's transformed from a jerk that makes fun of menstruation to a sensitive soul who waxes lyrical about Princess Nokia's politics. Any movie that does that was never going to let its darkness spring from its central quartet, either. Lily and her new friends must learn to use magic responsibly, but their mistakes are lessons rather than cautionary tales. The Craft: Legacy also gets its witches to turn a homophobic classmate's coat into a rainbow-hued statement piece, and burn slut-shaming slurs off of lockers. It has Lourdes stand up for trans women like herself, correcting Frankie when she says that giving birth is one of the fairer sex's strengths. It verbally and visibly champions inclusivity at every turn, so it finds its enemy in a glaring source — that'd be toxic masculinity — and the creepy character who personifies it. Often, when a sequel, remake or reboot gestures forcefully at the movie it's based on, it can prove convenient, blatant and overt all at once. Alas, that's how the bulk of The Craft: Legacy plays. In fact, in mimicking setups, scenes or specific lines, Lister-Jones is generally canny and even economical about references to her film's predecessor — so they're frequently the only parts that don't feel bland and routine. If only the same amount of effort had gone into fleshing out the main characters, who are nearly interchangeable, even with their racial and gender diversity. If only the same care had be expended in giving them personalities (loudness is one of the gang's defining traits), backstories and any weirdness, actually. If only the same thoughtfulness had been afforded its villain and all that he stands for, too. Rather than seeing young women become consumed by their blossoming power, and also punishing those who refuse to conform, it's a welcome shift that The Craft: Legacy calls out the patriarchal norms and attitudes that put teenage girls in that situation. And yet the film just seems happy enough to have made that switch, instead of giving it any true weight or substantial depth. The Craft: Legacy is light thematically, and also in plethora of other ways. Visually and tonally, it views witchcraft as fun and colourful. Emotionally, there are few stakes and horrors, so almost everything feels unimportant and anticlimactic. As a result, there's also a stiffness to the film — as though it's trying so hard to be loose, open, breezy and upbeat that it actually proves strained and wooden instead. A likeable cast of women can't change that. Neither can a late plot inclusion that's predictable, but possesses more intrigue than the rest of the movie. It's fitting that The Craft: Legacy's witches treat their abilities like superpowers, because the film recalls oh-so-many caped crusader flicks in one inescapable regard: by focusing its energies on laying the groundwork for a sequel that isn't guaranteed, and failing to conjure up much more than the bare minimum in the process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxZ774gziwU
The last bastion of the phone-free two hours, the theatre, might be about to crumble. Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre this week announced that they'll be trialling special seating for social media users, internationally dubbed 'tweet seats', at select shows. Carlton indie theatre La Mama is already all over it, having set aside four tweet seats per show for their upcoming work RAT, and they're even free. Considering we've been live tweeting everything else — from films to talks, concerts and dinners — is the distinction around theatre an artificial one that's been destined to fall away? And is there any benefit to be gained from allowing us to whip out our phones mid-show? The Malthouse announcement has met with some backlash, even on Twitter. Popular opinion is, if you're live tweeting a performance, you're living the kind of hollowed-out half-life that means you may as well stay home and plug into the Matrix. But this is a personal value judgement and not a reason, practically or conceptually, against allowing others to make Twitter a part of their theatre experience. I struggle to express coherent thoughts for half an hour after a film or movie, let alone have any desire to do so while it unfolds and trade away the sense of immersion that comes with live performance. But that's just me, and that's just the shows I've seen. How about a small show built to feed off real-time responses? How about a big, bombastic opera that can't count on the nosebleed section being highly engaged? The LA Times technology blog attributes the first instance of live theatre tweeting to a 2009 staging of Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore in Kansas — and it was a more constructive affair than you might assume. Audience members in the 100 special seats of the final performance could access tweets from the show's artistic director about the production, scenery and story unfurling on stage while tweeting their own questions and comments. It was an aid to their enjoyment of the piece, not unlike an audio tour of an art exhibit. Or the special features on a DVD. Or a post-show Q&A, during the show. It's since become common in the US and UK, mainly for ballets, operas and symphony concerts. With conditions tightly controlled — you don't want to distract the real-life cast and crew who need darkness to do their jobs properly — and the agreement of the individual creative team, theatre might continue to become a road more tweeted. But then there's this argument from Alex Roe, artistic director of New York's Metropolitan Playhouse, perhaps the most focused takedown of how your tweeting might affect other people's enjoyment: "Part of the whole theatrical experience is the thought of being present in the company of the rest of the audience and the actors," Roe said to NPR. "To me, the thought of encouraging people to tweet during a performance is necessarily a violation of that agreement." That might just be the tweet-seat deal-breaker.
Since premiering on Broadway in 2015, winning 11 Tony Awards and nabbing the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Hamilton has become a pop culture phenomenon. As a result, it was always going to make the leap to the screen in some shape or form. So, it's no wonder that Disney has jumped at the opportunity, albeit via a filmed version of the stage production rather than a traditional theatre-to-film adaptation. An actual Hamilton movie might still happen — creator, writer and star Lin-Manuel Miranda has talked about it, and apparently the first draft of a script has been written — but that's not the case just yet. Originally, the Mouse House intended to bring this recording of Lin-Manuel Miranda's historical hip hop musical to cinemas in late 2021. Then, as we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic came along. Doing everyone a solid, the company has instead fast-tracked Hamilton to its streaming platform — with this vibrant, whip-smart and immediately dazzling tale of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton available from today, Friday, July 3, on Disney+. If you haven't been lucky enough to catch the popular all-singing, all-dancing production in New York, as it toured the US or on London's West End, this "live capture" version is here to fill the gap. Now, everyone who missed out on the opportunity to see the musical's initial run live can experience the next best thing. Shot at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway back in 2016, the recording features the show's original Broadway performers, including Miranda in the eponymous role. Also seen on-screen as part of the production's colour-blind approach to casting (including enlisting actors of colour to play white historical figures): Daveed Diggs (Snowpiercer) as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson, Leslie Odom Jr (Murder on the Orient Express) as Aaron Burr, Christopher Jackson (When They See Us) as George Washington, Jonathan Groff (Mindhunter) as King George III, Renee Elise Goldsberry (The House with a Clock in Its Walls) as Angelica Schuyler and Phillipa Soo (the Broadway version of Amelie) as Eliza Hamilton. The story, for those who aren't intimately acquainted with US revolutionary history, chronicles the Caribbean-born "bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman" from his arrival in New York in the early 1770s. As the musical's informative opening number explains, Alexander Hamilton will go on to become "the ten-dollar Founding Father without a father", with the production charting how he "got a lot farther by working a lot harder, by being a lot smarter and by being a self-starter". It's a tale that, unlike those of US Presidents Washington and Jefferson, you mightn't have heard before — which is one of the themes that the musical addresses. Just who is charged with recalling and immortalising the past, and who is remembered in the process, is a significant factor in shaping a nation's vision of itself. Hamilton isn't the first stage show to release a filmed version, of course; however it arrives on streaming after half a decade of buzz, chatter, acclaim, awards and cultural obsessiveness — and instantly demonstrates why it's been the most talked-about production of the past five years. Infectiously exuberant from its first moments, and not only lively but frequently funny, Miranda's rich, dense but always accessible words and songs interrogate US history with passion, intelligence and energy. Via an array of tunes that prove as clever as they are catchy, Hamilton ponders America's battle for independence from the British, the situation the fledgling country finds itself in afterwards, and what it truly means to start a new nation. Along the way, it also casts a light on political wheeling and dealing, the framing of the American Constitution, as well as Hamilton's complicated personal life. When the musical isn't turning discussions about debt into rap battles, for example, it's letting Groff's scene-stealing King George III sing absolute show-stoppers about imperialism, then breaking up the politics with yearning ballads sung by Goldsberry and Soo that also unpack the plight of women at the time. By now, the fact that Hamilton is excellent really isn't news — but, if you haven't already seen it for yourself, prepare to be wowed. Miranda, Groff, and Tony-winners Diggs and Odom Jr couldn't turn in better performances and, as directed for the screen by the stage production's helmer Thomas Kail, this filmed version gets up close to their potent and compelling portrayals. Visually, viewers always know they're watching a recording of a live theatre show, too. Pretending otherwise just wouldn't do the production justice. That said, this on-screen presentation of Hamilton is also engagingly shot and edited, not only cutting between different angles, but successfully capturing the rhythm of the choreography, actors and moving set. Getting swept up by Hamilton's wonders is easy. Recognising its added weight, importance and resonance now, as Black Lives Matter protests continue to take place across the globe and America finds itself at another crossroads, is just as straightforward, too. Once you've watched the small-screen version, Australians can also get excited about seeing the stage production, as it's finally set to arrive Down Under in March 2021. Under present circumstances, though — and with international travel still banned for the foreseeable future — it's possible that this could be delayed. Check out Disney+'s Hamilton trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSCKfXpAGHc The filmed version of Hamilton is available to stream worldwide from Friday, July 3, via Disney+. Images: Hamilton filmed version courtesy Disney+.
Twin Peaks: you either love it or you love it, right? Don't just take our word for it — take Janey-E's, with her reaction expressing every Peaks-loving TV fan's as well. Indeed, both a quarter of a century ago and now, there's just absolutely nothing like David Lynch's most wonderful and strange television series. And, thanks to the music stylings of Angelo Badalamenti, there's nothing like its score and soundtrack either. In fact, the composer won a Grammy for the Twin Peaks theme, and since 1990 many a muso has tried to follow in his footsteps. Xiu Xiu have toured a stunning rendition of the show's tunes, and now it's time for a bunch of Brisbanites to try their hand at Brisbane Powerhouse's Fire Walk With Us: The Music Of Twin Peaks. As they've done in previous years at The Junk Bar, Electric Moon will assemble a 12-piece ensemble of musicians to reinterpret Badalamenti's compositions, this time for the Wonderland festival. Together, they'll be belting out new renditions of Twin Peaks' minimalist, atmospheric tracks, channelling their inner Julee Cruise, and maybe even imagining they're making like "the Nine Inch Nails" and taking to The Roadhouse's stage. Booking now for 6pm show on Sunday, November 24 is recommended, because these tickets usually sell out quicker than damn fine cherry pie.
The weather outside may be frightful, but the banter with your mates is always delightful. It's well past time to invite your favourites over for a catch-up and a tipple. Want to impress your mates with your cocktail prowess? Check out these twists on classic cocktails — an ideal way to elevate your evening in. Pick your spirit and let's get mixing. TEQUILA — TEQUILA AND CHILL Instead of the classic paloma or tequila mockingbird, surprise your guests with a sophisticated spin on both with the addition of Chambord to your tequila of choice. Ingredients - 45ml Herradura Plata Tequila - 15ml Chambord - Cranberry juice - Lemonade/lemon soda - Mint leaves - Fresh lime Method Add Herradura Plata, Chambord, mint leaves and two squeezed lime wedges to a tall or highball glass. To increase the mint flavour, clap the leaves in your hands first — you might look silly, but it works. Fill the glass with ice and top with equal parts cranberry juice and lemonade. Stir to combine and garnish with a sprig of fresh mint, rosemary and lime wheel or go the extra mile with a dehydrated lime wheel. To make the dehydrated lime wheel, either use a dehydrator (obvious) or place lime wheels in a low-temperature oven for a few hours until all the juice has evaporated and you're left with a crisp garnish. GIN — EURO SUMMER Everyone seems to be jetting off for their European summer. Bring a taste of the Mediterranean to your chilly apartment with this cocktail. The secret is using a gin that is made with botanicals that evoke tastes of the Italian coastline. Gin Mare fits the bill as it uses olives, basil and other fresh herbs for its botanicals. Pair with some bruschetta and tiramisu and rug up with your blanket and imagine you're summering in Europe with your mates. Ingredients - 60ml Gin Mare - 30ml Lemon juice - 20ml Sugar syrup - Fresh basil and rosemary Method Grab your cocktail shaker and add all the ingredients. Shake and strain using a fine mesh strainer into a chilled glass filled with ice. Garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary and enjoy. RUM — WINTER SWIZZLE Rum is a dark spirit that showing up more and more on drinks lists in the city. It's a sweet alternative to peaty scotch or fragrant gin and is perfect for cooler nights. You could go for a classic dark 'n stormy or Moscow Mule, but if you want to elevate your evening, try this spin on a swizzle. Ingredients - 60ml Diplomático Rum - 10ml sugar syrup - Two dashes of aromatic bitters - 15ml cloudy apple juice Method Rum Swizzle recipes vary, but most have three ingredients in common: rum, fruit juice and a sweetener. To make this wintry version, add all ingredients to a chilled rocks glass, add ice and stir to combine. Top with fresh ice and a twist of orange peel or cinnamon stick. WHISKY — SCOTCH CITRUS SODA Sometimes the answer isn't a hot toddy, although they are always a good call when the winter chill sets in. If you have a scotch in your collection that you've been looking for a nice way to enjoy, why not opt for this citrusy take on a whisky soda? Perfect for cooler arvos on your (or your mate's balcony). Ingredients - 45ml Glendronach 12 yo - Fever Tree Clementine (orange tonic water) - Two dashes of aromatic bitters Method Get your highball glass and add ice. Pour in your scotch, orange tonic water and a couple of dashes of bitters. Stir to combine and garnish with a fresh orange slice. Go a step further and pair with baked brie with marmalade and walnuts. BOURBON — CANDY CANE Bourbon is a great cocktail base. Arguably some of the best and classic cocktails came from the States and so it isn't a surprise that their spirit is perfect for the practice with its smooth vanilla notes and slightly sweet characters. Instead of going down the savoury cocktail route, ramp up the sweetness and toast to your mates with this tasty, fruity and sweet spin on a whisky sour. Ingredients - 45ml Jack Daniel's Bonded - 15ml Chambord - 30ml lemon juice - 20ml sugar syrup - 15ml egg white or aquafaba (aka the juice from a can of chickpeas) - Two dashes of chocolate bitters Method Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker without ice and shake vigorously to get the egg white or aquafaba nice and foamy. Add ice and shake again. Strain through a fine strainer into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a dehydrated lemon wheel, or amp up the berry flavours of the Chambord with fresh raspberries. Top Image: Gin Mare.
Is it a balloon? Is it a giant beach ball? No, it's (This is) Air, the National Gallery of Victoria's 2023 Architecture Commission. Thanks to the St Kilda Road arts institution's annual commitment to livening up its garden by celebrating design, a towering sphere is making Melbourne home until June 2024. This isn't just any old 14-metre-tall globe: as everyone can see while in its presence, it breathes, inhaling and exhaling to draw attention to air. When the NGV International hosts this yearly architecture commission, almost anything can grace the venue's grounds. In the past, that's meant a colourful mini Parthenon, a bright pink pool to wade through, a bamboo garden with its own deck and a pink carwash, all memorable. Among a series of pieces all literally designed to stand out, (This is) Air might just have them beat. A lofty sphere that expands with air, then releases it — doing so all day from Thursday, November 23 — isn't easily forgotten. One of (This is) Air's aims: to make the invisible substance that's there in its name visible. Australian architect Nic Brunsdon has joined forces with ENESS — the art and technology company behind public artworks such as Sky Castle, Airship Orchestra, Cupid's Koi Garden, Lost Dogs' Disco and more — on the work that promised to make quite the sight when it was announced back in July, and proves the case now that it has been installed. No one in the vicinity will be able to miss it, either, thanks to that 14-metre height when it's fully inflated. To get to that measurement, it uses air as a building material. And when it breathes out, it does so by releasing gusts, forming different cloud-like shapes, then filling back to capacity again. Brunsdon and ENESS also want everyone taking in (This is) Air to think about humanity's need for and relationship to air. While you're peering at the commission, you'll see air in action and notice how essential it is. Also highlighted: how dependent we all are upon the element, how finite it is and how its quality is being impacted. "The idea for this project was conceived by the architect during the global pandemic, when the air we breathed was suddenly at the forefront of everyone's mind. Taking the form of a giant inflatable sphere, this living structure inhales and exhales before our eyes, giving presence to that omnipresent yet invisible element that connects us all," said Ewan McEoin, the NGV's Senior Curator, Contemporary Art, Design and Architecture. "Air can be understood as part of our global economic, social and ecological realities. And yet, the quality of air we breathe varies depending on where and how we live. Air is universal, yet clean air is not." As (This is) Air gets viewers pondering, it's also designed to be uplifting. As is always the case with the NGV's yearly commission, it'll provide a place for accompanying performances and other public programs in the NGV Garden, too. (This is) Air also forms part of this year's NGV Triennial exhibition, which will display from Sunday, December 3, 2023–Sunday, April 7, 2024. On the agenda: robot dogs, a room-sized ode to plants, Yoko Ono's work and more, with 75 works set to feature, including more than 25 world-premiere projects. The art showcase will respond to the themes magic, matter and memory, with (This is) Air fitting in with the matter strand. (This is) Air displays at NGV International, St Kilda Road, Melbourne from Sunday, December 3, 2023–June 2024 — head to the NGV website for further details. Images: Installation view of the 2023 NGV Architecture Commission: (This Is) Air designed by architect Nic Brunsdon in collaboration with ENESS. (This Is) Air is on display from 23 November 2023 until June 2024 at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Ben Hosking
Does this represent a work of genius, or has Frankenstein lost control of the monster? In the eyes of Harvey Moon, 'drawing machines' are fascinating, not only for the work they produce, but also for the processes involved in their acts of creation. 'That loss of communication and that failure for a machine to communicate properly is what I find exciting and the randomness in which it produces these results,' he told the creators' project last month. Made of motors and servomechanisms, Harvey's machines act according to algorithms. However, despite our expectations that robots follow logical sets of rules, the responses are not always reliable. Unpredictable artworks are often the result. With one particular machine, titled 'Bugs draw for me', Moon has taken the concept further, by adding a cricket to the mix. Yes, one of those lively, chirping, hopping creatures that you wouldn't invite to your picnic. As a camera records the insect's movements, the machine lays them down visually. Apart from enjoying the suspense involved, Moon has also developed an interest in what the machines reveal about human behaviour. 'It plays with a different way of producing work, where we don't have to rely on our own physical bodies to produce art,' he explains. 'We can extend our system beyond our own hands.' [via the creators' project]
It takes just over 50 seconds for the Cat Person trailer to get Margot (Emilia Jones, CODA) uttering nine glaringly accurate words: "this is the worst life decision I've ever made". She's talking about dating Robert (Nicholas Braun, Succession), a regular at the cinema where the 20-year-old college student works — and she's speaking a line that everyone read in 2017, in the viral short story to end all viral short stories from the past decade. Six years back, when the December issue of The New Yorker arrived, Kristen Roupenian's tale of a nightmare relationship instantly went viral. That's where the world first met Margot and Robert, and stepped into this wild story. Cat Person was then printed as a book, and of course Hollywood came calling as well. The movie that's resulted debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier in 2023, has locked in an October 26 release in Australia and also just dropped its trailer. There are bad dates, and then there's this bad date, as Jones and Braun bring to the screen in the film's first sneak peek. "Listen, concession stand girl, why don't you give me your number?" Robert asks while Margot is slinging popcorn. From there, a flurry of texts springs, then terrible kissing, then massive discrepancies that become evident the more time that the pair spend together IRL. And, when Margot decides to break things off, in comes a change in his behaviour. As Cat Person sinks its claws into modern dating, the role that technology now plays and the gender divide, Susanna Fogel (the director of The Spy Who Dumped Me and one of Booksmart's writers) helms, Michelle Ashford (Operation Mincemeat) and adapts Roupenian's text. Featuring on-screen alongside Jones and Braun: Geraldine Viswanathan (Miracle Workers), Isabella Rossellini (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On), Hope Davis (Asteroid City), Fred Melamed (Barry), Liza Koshy (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and Michael Gandolfini (Beau Is Afraid). "Like the short story that stirred so much controversy, Cat Person will call upon you to reflect on romantic encounters you've had in the past, and to question the role (or multiple roles) you may have played," said Fogel about the film. "We've all been the victim in some narratives and the villain in others, and I hope you'll walk out of this film with a strong opinion, ready to debate." Check out the trailer for Cat Person below: Cat Person will release on October 26, 2023 Down Under.
Pick a genre, any genre, and the following statement will always prove true: no one does it like Steven Soderbergh. Now 36 years on from his Cannes Palme d'Or-winning narrative feature debut Sex, Lies, and Videotape, he's long been one of Hollywood's most-reliable filmmakers. The word 'reliable' can't capture the spark of a Soderbergh project, though — whether the ever-prolific director, cinematographer, editor and screenwriter is in heist mode in Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen and Logan Lucky; predicting the COVID-19 pandemic via Contagion and then diving into its daily reality (and technology's hellscape) in Kimi; spinning a franchise out of Channing Tatum's IRL origin story with Magic Mike and Magic Mike's Last Dance; reimagining medical TV shows in stunning fashion courtesy of The Knick; or telling a haunted-house story from the ghost's perspective in Presence. Spies battling spies: as familiar as that setup is on screens big and small, no one does that as Soderbergh has with Black Bag, either. With his second cinema release of 2025 after Presence, and his third film out of his past four that's penned by fellow veteran David Koepp (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) — kicking off with Kimi, and again including Presence — he's in Mr and Mrs Smith and True Lies territory, but this take is a particular gem. Black Bag is a twisty and witty espionage thriller filled with secrets, interrogations, surveillance, polygraphs, redirected satellites and not knowing who is on the level. It's as much a smart and sexy relationship drama as well, however. How can any romance work, even a long-established marriage, when either party can explain away anything as part of their clandestine jobs — and when deceit is what each does for a living? Aptly, the picture's title references spy code for confidential missions and details that can't be shared. An especially great line of dialogue also sums up the scenario: "when you can lie about everything, how do you tell the truth about anything?". In Black Bag's opening scene, courtesy of a sublime tracking shot lensed by Soderbergh himself — who directs, shoots and edits the film, as he regularly does on his flicks — George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender, Kneecap) winds from London's streets to an underground club to receive a new task. A well-experienced and highly regarded operative at the National Cyber Security Centre within Britain's Government Communications Headquarters, he now needs to ascertain who has betrayed the country by stealing a cyberworm called Severus, which can destabilise nuclear facilities. There's five names on his list, all his colleagues: Kathryn St Jean (Cate Blanchett, Disclaimer), Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga), Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela, Back to Black), Colonel James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves) and Dr Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris, The Man Who Fell to Earth). Among the six NCSC employees, George included, there's three couples; Kathryn is his wife. The quest to ascertain who's behind the betrayal starts with a dinner party at George and Kathryn's home — one that's really an interrogation, aided by not just food and wine but truth serum. Clarissa is the youngest of the bunch and the newest to the job, with her relationship with the older, fond-of-a-drink Freddie already chaotic. Zoe is everyone's psychiatrist at NCSC, and the fact that James is both her patient and her lover is patently complicated. George and Kathryn seem to enjoy the ideal marriage, one revered by their co-workers and friends, yet he's suspicious of movie ticket stubs and sudden trips. Loyalties aren't just tested over the course of Black Bag's snappy 93-minute running time; so is love's resilience. For George, choosing between his wife and his nation threatens to become a real possibility. [caption id="attachment_995111" align="alignnone" width="1920"] David Dettmann/StillMoving.Net for Universal Pictures[/caption] Soderbergh and Fassbender first collaborated on 2011's Haywire, another sinuous (and ace) thriller with intelligence ties. Take that, mix it with Out of Sight's slinkiness and the filmmaker's long-established love of a caper, then throw in a bit of The Agency — Fassbender's recent and also-excellent TV series set in the spy realm, where personal and professional crises equally overlap — and that's Black Bag's wheelhouse. This is a fun film, too, and often very funny, as its guiding force perfects its balancing act with style, skill and supreme precision. (Part of the picture's sense of humour: casting former Bond Pierce Brosnan among its agents.) It puts Fassbender into another high-stakes workplace situation as well, as is clearly the case with The Agency. While Industry, aka one of the best shows the 2020s, plunges into the world of finance, it too dwells in cut-throat employment circumstances, so Abela is in somewhat familiar terrain herself. Again, of course, whenever Soderbergh is making a film or TV show, similarities elsewhere are superficial. Any parallels across the 12 Years a Slave and Steve Jobs Oscar-nominee's resume of late — after the Hunger, Fish Tank, Inglourious Basterds, Shame, Macbeth, two-time Alien saga and four-time X-Men franchise star's absence from acting from 2020–2022, as broken by 2023's The Killer — is "just the way it sort of fell", Fassbender tells Concrete Playground. For Abela, adding Black Bag to a filmography that also includes Cobra, Rogue Agent and Barbie began with being hooked by and "whizzing through" Koepp's entertaining screenplay, she advises. Fassbender jumping back in front of the camera for Soderbergh, the "I need to be in this" moment for Abela, the importance of this being a relationship drama as much as a spy flick, interrogation scenes, back-and-forth banter for a director supremely skilled at bringing it to the screen: we also chatted with Fassbender and Abela about it all. On Whether There's Something That Draws Fassbender and Soderbergh Together for Twisty Thrillers with Espionage Ties Michael: "No, it just happened that way. It was such a joy for me to get to work with him, especially so early on for me. And just to see that knowledge of film, and how to have an all-encompassing understanding of what a film is, how to make it, what makes a good film, the architecture of it all — that was clear from the first time when I was working with him. How he enters a room and scans the room, it's almost birdlike. His precision and the confidence. And now internally, he might have that, but it definitely permeates on set. You can see that all the other crew members love working with him as well — that's not exclusive to actors. [caption id="attachment_995112" align="alignnone" width="1920"] David Dettmann/StillMoving.Net for Universal Pictures[/caption] It's a very relaxed atmosphere, and he just lets you do whatever you're going to do. And it's quite intimidating at first — you're thinking 'I hope he, is he happy with this? We're moving on after two takes. Does he think that he's just not going to get anything better?'. But that's how he likes to go, I think — to find that first freshness of whatever was given, and what was captured in that fresh one or two or three takes. I'm so happy that we got together to work on it on something like this, with an ensemble cast. It's kind of like a play in certain respects — certainly the dinner table scenes." On How Abela Knew That She Wanted to Add Playing the Strong, Determined But Also Sensitive Clarissa to Her Resume Marisa: "I think that it was honestly with the script at the very beginning. It's quite rare, I think, to get a script where you're just whizzing through it and it's kind of reading itself — and you just feel by the end of it how much fun it would be to be a part of a project like that. And when I realised who else was involved — and obviously I knew that Steven was directing, but when I heard about Michael and Cate and everyone attached — I was just so excited to be a part of it. [caption id="attachment_995110" align="alignnone" width="1920"] David Dettmann/StillMoving.Net for Universal Pictures[/caption] And I think that Clarissa really spoke to me on the first read of the script. As you say, I think that she's incredibly, she cuts through anything that's going on because she's able to speak honestly from a place of strength — but also, I think from a place of innocence and wanting to find out what is at the heart of this world for all of these people. I think she's still figuring out, at the beginning of this movie, whether this is a world that she wants to be a part of or not — whereas I think everyone else is quite entrenched into it. So I think that that discovery is an interesting place to come to from her." On How Important It Was That Black Bag Is a Relationship Drama as Much as a Spy Film Michael: "It's all about the relationships. That's why it always makes me think of a play as well. You're watching these relationships play out, and each of them are connected to one another, whether they want to be or not. He says early on 'this isn't necessarily the dinner party that you would choose'. These people aren't necessarily going to go out and socialise with one another, but they've been brought together — and then through the course of the movie, you start to figure out how they're all entangled in one another and how messy it is. And it's so right what Marisa is saying about the character of Clarissa, is that she's looking at it as the new person coming in, the youngest person in the room, going 'this is bullshit — can't you all see it?'. And they're looking at her going 'give it time, you'll see'. And it's all those dynamics going on, which make it interesting. But for sure it happens to be set, which also makes it interesting, in the espionage world. But it's just about relationships." On Black Bag's Commonalities with Fassbender and Abela's Other Recent Roles Michael: "That just happened to me on the same week, Black Bag and The Agency came, actually. And it wasn't — that's just the way it sort of fell, and there were two interesting projects that I wanted to do. I didn't sit down and go 'okay, I'm going into spy territory now for the next few years'. It just happened that way, as it often does. And it's just about finding material that stimulates — and you feel like 'okay, this is for an adult audience that would enjoy sitting down, going on this journey'." Marisa: "I guess it's the same with Industry in a sense, in that it is kind of in a workplace environment,, but you probably couldn't get two more different places of work. Especially for my character, for Yasmin in Industry. I think she would make the world's worst spy, probably. It's quite interesting to play two young women in probably what are quite male-dominated environments. I've never had an office job, but neither of them are particularly regular jobs anyway, so maybe I'm just enticed into that world in some way." On the Keys to Making an Interrogation Scene Sing Michael: "I think the setup. A certain form of repetition. Humour. And then, of course, somebody in the room is lying and everybody knows that, so the tension builds from that." Marisa: "Steven is so brilliant at building the tension in those moments. And what's nice is that then that gives you the freedom, as the actors, to just play your reality of the scene. Obviously every character is playing to win in that moment, which is playing to tell the truth or to find out the truth — or to cover up a lie. But they should all hopefully be as good at looking like they're telling the truth as one another, no matter who is telling the lie, because it's what they do for a living. So you have this built-in tension into it, but we're just focused on playing to win. And then it's up to Steven to linger on whoever for however long and make the audience think whatever it is that they think in those moments." Michael: "And the foreplay to the actual interrogation itself. The rigging up of the equipment, increasing pressure on the blood-pressure armband. The fact that sweat is being read. The pulse in the fingers. The machine is scribbling constantly. And the camera's set on a particular face, where the camera goes for reaction — then it's the camera placement and what Steven does." On Bringing Back-and-Forth Banter to Life for a Director Who Has Made It a Hallmark of His Films Marisa: "I think he's really great at casting. That is a massive part of it. I think that he knows each of these individual six characters are so different and so distinctive, but there's a real chemistry when we're all together — and having a scene like that, or two scenes like that in our movie, where everyone actually does get the opportunity to play together, I think the chemistry just speaks for itself in that moment. We're really lucky that that happened. And then I think in terms of, like I said, you're just really playing those moments. I think something that, in that first scene, lends a hand for all of us is that we've taken this truth serum. So there's a freedom in that conversation. Especially with, that was my first scene with Clarissa, where she's able to be quite brazen with George specifically at that table. I think there's a freedom in knowing that she's taken this serum and she's intoxicated and she's not quite adhering to social norms and boundaries, as she should do. So there's a freedom that comes with that." Black Bag released in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, March 13, 2025. Film stills: Claudette Barius/Focus Features © 2025 All Rights Reserved.
2019 represents one giant milestone for humanity's space exploits, marking half a century since astronauts first walked on the moon. That's just one of the achievements that the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, aka NASA, is known for — and it's just one of the events that'll feature in a new exhibition chronicling the organisation's jaunts beyond the earth's surface, which heads to Australia this year NASA – A Human Adventure will display at the Queensland Museum in not only its first trip to our shores, but its only Aussie season. It's set to be huge in a number of ways. The exclusive showcase will bring more than 250 historically significant items to Brisbane, and it'll run for a whopping seven months. It'll also be the largest exhibition ever hosted by the newly refurbished South Bank spot, taking over two levels. Gracing QM's walls and halls between March 15 and October 9, NASA – A Human Adventure will feature everything from objects that actually have flown through space, to high-fidelity models, to both small-size and full-scale replicas. Think real rocket engines, space food, space suits, lunar cameras and moon boots, plus miniature versions of NASA's Space Shuttle, Lunar Rover, and Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space crafts. Touching on the Soviet contribution to space travel as well, it'll also display a replica of the robotic lunar rover Lunokhod. Australia is the latest stop in the exhibition's tour, which aims to showcase the story of space travel, as well as the history of rocket science and space flight. It comes to Brisbane after previously venturing to Milan, Singapore, Taipei, Seoul, Bangkok, Tokyo, Istanbul, Madrid, Utrecht, and both Stockholm and Norrkoping in Sweden.
Who knew that the next great Australian film would actually be a constellation of 17 smaller ones? The term 'producer' seems insufficient for Robert Connolly, the driver of this daring and innovative cinema project. He has pulled together the most visionary creative artists, filmmakers, cinematographers, choreographers and theatre-makers to bring Tim Winton's The Turning to the screen. Connolly's brief to his collaborators was simple: choose a short story from Winton's book and develop it in any style you wish. It's a bold and crazy concept. A curated, anthology film shouldn't work, but here it is. This film is about the crossroads, the moments when we turn to face ourselves and force ourselves to change track. The returning patterns of self-realisation are alcoholism, Christianity, Indigenous culture and identity, our relationship with the land and air and water, and the inability to put the past to rest. Video artist Shaun Gladwell and actors Mia Wasikowska and David Wenham make their directorial debuts. Justin Kurzel (Snowtown) directs an especially creepy episode. And every story turns on sharp moments of awakening: Rose Byrne's battered, trailer-park wife encounters God, Hugo Weaving's alcoholic hermit reunites with his estranged son, Cate Blanchett's suburban everywoman finally clicks with her mother-in-law. Until these moments, our characters are moving forward, but still in the past, and they all come together with unexpected narrative unity that balances open-endedness with diamond-cut clarity. In these plaited stories, I found a film of rare adult complexity, and strands of hope and trauma woven together with a compassionate, humane thread. I found moments of astonishingly troubling beauty. And with a sensitive touch, The Turning does all this without overdosing on dark-night-of-the-soul melodrama. Rarely do we see a film with such a startlingly singular and confident mandate, and this is all the more courageous given the pressure on Australian filmmakers to dedicate themselves to producing more 'entertaining' commercial product. Some viewers will feel The Turning's three-hour length. I did at times, and I thought some of the early chapters could have been omitted with little impact. But what the hell, go with it. It's not easy viewing but it is beautiful viewing. While you're watching it, this is a film to zoom in and zone out to. After you're finished, it's a film to dissect and discuss and linger on. Yes, this is an art film, but it's not the one you think it will be. So bold is Connolly's vision, he's designed a new distribution strategy to accommodate it: The Turning will play for only two weeks in special-event screenings — some with Q&As with the creative contributors — and audiences receive a luxe little full-colour booklet to help make sense of the braided narrative structure. The Turning will probably make you cry and you probably won't know why. It will stay with you. And I think it will claim a place in cinema history — for the innovation of its style, and the frankness of its substance. https://youtube.com/watch?v=rGVweOZA2zg
Saving your loved ones from medical emergencies, reuniting with school friends, using AI in filmmaking, revisiting memories: whether or not you've ever wondered how these situations could turn into technological nightmares, you're about to find out how Charlie Brooker thinks that they can. When the seventh season of Black Mirror arrives, all of the above scenarios will feature across its six episodes, which viewers can check out from Thursday, April 10, 2025. Also included: sequels to season four's Star Trek-riffing USS Callister and choose-your-own-adventure movie Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. Grabbing everyone's attention with one shiny promise, then delivering something else as well: if you've ever watched the dystopian franchise, then you've seen that exact situation play out several times. Soon, you're about to again. And yes, that does apply to the fact that following up USS Callister has long been promised, but doing the same with Black Mirror: Bandersnatch only started being teased in March when the first glimpse at season seven dropped. Netflix has now unveiled another trailer, which also includes episode titles. If you need more information on what's ahead, the streaming platform has revealed more details about each chapter in the new season as well. 'Common People' with Rashida Jones (Sunny), Chris O'Dowd (The Big Door Prize) and Tracee Ellis Ross (Candy Cane Lane) is where that life-saving storyline comes in, for starters, while 'Bête Noire' features Siena Kelly (Domino Day) and Rosy McEwen (Apartment 7A) in a tale of an unnerving reunion. To dive into the impact of artificial intelligence of making movies, you'll be watching Issa Rae (American Fiction), Awkwafina (Jackpot!), Emma Corrin (Nosferatu) and Harriet Walter (Silo) in 'Hotel Reverie'. Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers) and Patsy Ferran (Mickey 17) star in 'Eulogy', about a man looking back with photorealistic detail. Then there's 'Plaything', where Bandersnatch's Will Poulter (The Bear) and Asim Chaudhry (Industry) return — this time joined by Peter Capaldi (Criminal Record) and Michele Austin (Hard Truths). In USS Callister sequel USS Callister: Into Infinity, Cristin Milioti (The Penguin), Jimmi Simpson (Pachinko), Billy Magnussen (The Franchise), Milanka Brooks (The Windsors), Osy Ikhile (All American) and Paul G Raymond (Deadpool & Wolverine) are all back and stuck dealing with another problem. The latest episodes in Brooker's can't-look-away take on how humanity's use of gadgets and innovations can go devastatingly awry are hitting two years after 2023's sixth season, which is a short gap in Black Mirror terms given that there was a four-year wait after season five. Season seven's batch of Black Mirror episodes is also bigger than the past two seasons, thanks to its six instalments — which only season three and four have done in the past. Check out the latest trailer for Black Mirror season seven below: Black Mirror season seven will stream via Netflix from Thursday, April 10, 2025. Read our review of season six, and our interview with Charlie Brooker.
Short Grain marks a return to Brisbane for chef Martin Boetz, whose Longrain restaurants helped shape modern Thai dining in Australia. Inside Fortitude Valley's heritage Stewart & Hemmant building, he's created a space that's relaxed but serious about flavour – a restaurant built around punch, balance and decades of experience. The room is warm and light-filled, with exposed brick, arched windows and banquette seating, but the real energy is on the plate. The menu shifts seasonally while staying anchored in Thai technique: bright, herb-laced salads, hot and sour seafood, rich curries and slow-cooked meats designed for sharing. Flavours are layered and unapologetic. Sweet, sour, salty and spicy work in concert rather than competing. The wine list, largely Australian with thoughtful international additions, is calibrated to handle spice and intensity rather than overpower it. Short Grain isn't trying to reinvent Thai food. It's refining it with confidence.
In 2020, we've all been staring at our own patches of turf for what feels like a lifetime. Fancy a change of scenery, even without physically going anywhere? Welcoming a few new pieces of greenery into your home could do just the trick — and there'll be plenty on offer at Brisbane's newest plant market. Next taking place on Saturday, November 14, The Plant Lovers' Market will be jam-packed with indoor plants, tropical plants, cacti and succulents, plus handmade pots to put them in. Head by from 8am–3pm, and also expect to spend some time perusing artwork and jewellery, all at Aspley Central. Actually, if you're a music fan, you might just end up leaving with some extra listening material for you and your new green babies. The Plant Lovers' Market is happening right next to the Brisbane Record Fair, because who doesn't want to rifle through vinyl and leafy marvels at the same time? Updated November 8.
William Robinson is one of South East Queensland’s – nay, Australia’s – best-loved living artists and there is little doubt as to why. His massive, magical, multi-perspective landscape paintings suck their audiences into an ethereal and uniquely Australian world of rainforest canopies, twisted tree roots, shiny mountain springs, vast, swirling oceans, sculpted sand dunes, drifting clouds and graded light. In celebration of the artist, and coinciding with his 75th birthday, QUT is hosting a retrospective of Robinson’s work across two installation spaces – the QUT Art Museum and the William Robinson Gallery at Old Government House. The exhibition, entitled The Transfigured Landscape, will feature works from both public and private collections including Robinson’s famed landscape works as well as Archibald winning self-portraits, Equestrian self-portrait 1987 and Self-portrait with stunned mullet 1994. If you have never seen a William Robinson exhibition, you are in for a real treat; his works are not only paintings, but visual excursions that stick in your mind for years after they have been experienced.
If you only managed to watch a handful of 2021's best new TV shows, odds are that you still saw one knockout newbie starring Jean Smart. The veteran actor turned in two stellar performances in two exceptional television series last year, starting with murder-mystery drama Mare of Easttown, then following it up with comedian-centric comedy Hacks. Clever, hilarious and insightful, the latter earned her both an Emmy and a Golden Globe, too, and deservedly so. And, if the about-to-drop season season of Hacks proves anywhere near as great, she might just repeat both feats in the next 12 months. It's obviously impossible — and also flat-out ridiculous — to pick whether someone will nab a shiny trophy for their work based on a trailer alone. Smart was that phenomenal in Hacks' first season, though, so it's a fair prediction even without seeing any upcoming footage. In the just-released full sneak peek for season two, she's once again playing seasoned Las Vegas comic Deborah Vance, of course, who viewers saw notch up 2500 shows in last year's episodes. Now, after taking stock of her career, the character is headed out on the road. Still by the acerbic Deborah's side: Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder, North Hollywood), who started as her assistant last time around. As the first season charted, the chalk-and-cheese pair hardly got along. Deborah is a comedy legend, while Ava is a 25-year-old who made the move to Hollywood, has been living out her dream as a comedy writer, but found her career plummeting after a tweet crashed and burned. That said, the series is far, far more than just an odd-couple comedy. Season two's eight episodes will follow the duo as they workshop Deborah's new standup set around the US — and will start dropping Down Under on Friday, May 13 via Stan. They'll arrive the same day as they air in America, in fact, which means that you'll be watching two episodes per week rather than binging on all of Hacks' next season in one go. Also returning: Broad City's Paul W Downs as Deborah and Ava's mutual manager Jimmy, Megan Stalter (The Megan Stalter Show) as his clueless assistant Kayla, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Kaitlin Olson as Deborah's daughter DJ, Carl Clemons-Hopkins (The Chi) as Deborah's Chief Operating Officer Marcus and Christopher McDonald (Ballers) as casino owner Marty. They'll be joined by Hacks newcomers Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird), Martha Kelly (Euphoria), Ming-Na Wen (The Book of Boba Fett) and Susie Essman (Curb Your Enthusiasm), as well as guest stars Margaret Cho (The Flight Attendant) and Devon Sawa (Chucky). And if you're wondering why Hacks has proved so ace so far — other than Smart and her co-stars — it was created by three of the talents behind Broad City: writer Jen Statsky; writer/director Lucia Aniello; and Downs, who does double duty in front of and behind the lens. Check out the trailer for Hacks season two below: Season two of Hacks will start streaming via Stan from Friday, May 13. Season one is available to stream now. Read our full review of season one.
When an actor adds new movies to their resume quickly — popping up in new flicks every couple of months or so, and never proving far from their next film — there's a chance they might run out of worthy on-screen opportunities. The one actor that'll never apply to: Nicolas Cage. He's prolific, he stars in far too many terrible flicks, when he's at his best he's downright brilliant, and he always has something interesting around the corner. In 2021 alone, he's shouted expletives from Netflix, battled demonic animatronics and teamed up with one of Japan's most out-there filmmakers. He also played a truffle hunter on a quest for revenge after his pet pig is stolen, in the aptly named Pig, which is one of the year's definite movie highlights. The latter saw him turn in one of the best performances of his career, in fact, but Cage has been preparing his entire life to play his next part: himself. Yes, we've seen Cage break out of Alcatraz, sing Elvis songs, run around the streets convinced that he's a vampire, let his long hair flap in the wind and swap faces. He's voiced a version of Spider-Man, driven fast cars, fought space ninjas and stolen babies as well. Staying in his own shoes stands out, though, which is exactly what The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent will serve up in April next year. Announced earlier in 2021, and just dropping its first trailer now, the movie will follow the on-screen, fictionalised Cage as he accepts an offer to attend a super fan's birthday. Getting paid $1 million is just too much to pass up. He needs the money, but he also has to save both himself and his loved ones along the way. Yep, that sounds about right. As well as Cage playing Cage — not to be confused with his work in Adaptation, where he played two characters — The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent features Pedro Pascal (Wonder Woman 1984) as the aforementioned Cage devotee, and also Tiffany Haddish (The Card Counter), Sharon Horgan (This Way Up) and Neil Patrick Harris (It's a Sin). Are We Officially Dating? filmmaker Tom Gormican sits in the director's chair, because if there's anything this story needs, it's the director of a Zac Efron and Michael B Jordan-starring rom-com pivoting to total Cage worship. And yes, whether this'll be one of Cage's undeniable delights or pure cinematic chaos won't be discovered until the film hits cinemas — but he's clearly having a ball based on this sneak peek, and seeing him play and parody himself really does demand everyone's eyeballs. Check out the trailer for The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent below: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent will release in Australian cinemas on April 21, 2022.
When the end of the year hits, do you get 'Christmas is All Around', as sung by Bill Nighy, stuck in your head? Have you ever held up a piece of cardboard to tell the object of your affection that, to you, they're perfect? Does your idea of getting festive involve watching Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley, Rowan Atkinson and Martin Freeman, all in the same movie? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you clearly adore everyone's favourite Christmas-themed British rom-com, its high-profile cast and its seasonal humour. And, you've probably watched the beloved flick every December since it was first released in cinemas back in 2003. That's a perfectly acceptable routine, and one that's shared by many. But this year, you can do one better. A huge success during its 2017 and 2018 tours of the UK (to the surprise of absolutely no one), 'Love Actually' in Concert is finally making its way to Australia — and, to the festive delight of Brisbanites, to the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre at 7.30pm on Thursday, December 12. Revisit the Richard Curtis-written and -directed film you already know and treasure, step through its interweaved Yuletide stories of romance, and hear a live orchestra play the movie's soundtrack. Tickets aren't on sale as yet, but you can sign up for the wait list — and, yes, Christmas (and love) will be all around you.
For what seems like forever, locals and visitors alike have asked themselves: why doesn't Melbourne Airport have a rail link? Having been promised and walked back over, and over, and over again since the 1960s, this lack of convenience hasn't gone unnoticed, at least according to a just-released study from travel comparison website iSelect. Based on a specially created index, Melbourne Airport is now officially considered Australia's least convenient airport, with its high transport costs and long distance from the city to blame. To arrive at their conclusion, the stats boffins at iSelect ranked our major airports on the average cost of airport parking, transport and taxi costs, as well as distance from the city's CBD, number of daily passengers and time spent queuing. Now, before anyone from the Harbour City leans too far into intercity rivalries, Sydney Airport placed second to last on the index. It lost marks for having the highest average weekly parking costs at $343. Unsurprisingly, it also receives the most daily passengers, at more than 113,000. At the same time, the airport offers flights to 99 destinations around the globe, making sure departing and arriving tend to be more than a little congested. As for the airports that make heading away on a holiday a breeze, Townsville and Canberra shared top honours. Travellers can expect cheaper weekly parking costs at $178 and $190, respectively. Meanwhile, Canberra Airport had the most affordable transport costs to get to the airport. At just 7.4 kilometres from the CBD, a taxi journey should cost around $28. Both airports also scored four out of five stars for queueing times, as ranked by travellers. But with these smaller centres having a bit of an advantage, you might wonder which major capital airport performed best in terms of convenience. The answer would be Adelaide, landing fourth on the list behind Darwin and just pipping Perth. Featuring some of the cheapest average public transport and taxi costs at $15.48, the airport's distance from the city centre is third-best at 6.8 kilometres. While the convenience of your nearest airport might not change your travel plans, the journey to reach the runway could dampen your holiday vibes before they've even begun. And for those Melburnians hanging out for an airport rail link, the good news is that plans are moving ahead. Yet with no publicly announced timeline or completion date, don't expect Melbourne Airport to climb the convenience rankings any time soon. Head to iSelect to read the full report on Australia's best and worst airports for convenience.
Before donning a face covering became a regular part of life for everyone during the pandemic, one of the most famous mask-wearing figures in popular culture was doing it first. And, the fictional character will be doing so again in Australia — in Sydney from August next year, and then in Melbourne from October. The Phantom of the Opera was actually set to head to Sydney from September this year, and then to Melbourne from November; however, the famed musical's 2021 dates were postponed due to lockdowns in both cities. Now, the production's schedule for next year has been confirmed, so get ready for the music of the night to croon its way into both cities. Kicking off at the Sydney Opera House from Friday, August 19 and then heading to the State Theatre at Arts Centre Melbourne from Sunday, October 30, 2022, these new seasons of the acclaimed Tony-winner will arrive in Down Under after breaking records in the UK — and touring the US for seven years. Australia will become just the third country to witness this take on the tale, in fact. Obviously, all of the familiar songs are part of it, such as 'All I Ask of You', 'Masquerade' and the titular number. You'll also be lapping up Maria Björnson's original costumes, too. But, if you've seen the show before, expect the chandelier to look a little different. Australian musical theatre performer Josh Piterman is set to play the Phantom, after first wearing the character's mask in London pre-pandemic. He'll be joined by Amy Manford and Blake Bowden as Christine and Raoul, as part of a cast and orchestra of 65 people — which'll make The Phantom of the Opera one of the largest musical productions in Australia. If you need a refresher on the musical's story, it follows soprano Christine Daaé and the masked musical genius who lives beneath the Paris Opera House — and the latter's obsession with the former. Although first turned into a stage musical in the 80s, it's based on Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel. And yes, you might've seen the 2004 movie, which starred Gerard Butler as the Phantom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jpaw9dft2Y Opera Australia is also putting on a run of The Phantom of the Opera earlier in 2022, in March in Sydney, as part of its annual Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour event. The Phantom of the Opera will tour Australia in 2022, starting at the Sydney Opera House from Friday, August 19 and then heading to the State Theatre at Arts Centre Melbourne from Sunday, October 30, 2022. For further information and to buy tickets, head to the musical's website. Images: Michael Le Poer Trench.
In 2026, a brick hall perched on Wynnum Road in Brisbane's east will turn 100. That place: Morningside School of Arts. The art deco structure is no longer operating as a place to enhance your creative talents, but it has been everything from a library to a market site over the years. Ballet, karate, gymnastics, life drawing, line dancing: classes on each still pop up within its walls, too. A year before it reaches its centenary, Morningside School of Arts is getting celebrating by joining a different party: Brisbane Open House. This is the first time that it'll be on the event's lineup, letting folks head by to peer behind the scenes — which is what this architecture-loving weekend is always all about. Taking place across Saturday, July 19–Sunday, July 20, 2025's Brisbane Open House is embracing its usual agenda to not only let Brisbanites play tourist in their own town, but to take them exploring the River City's key buildings and landmarks. In total, 91 structures and sites are on the itinerary, spanning returning favourites that welcome in sticky beaks every year and newcomers. Among the second group, Morningside School of Arts is joined by Milton House, Rivière by Aria at Kangaroo Point, St Laurence's College and Bradbury Park Playscape in Kedron. Historical and heritage-listed spots, apartment towers, schools, playgrounds: even just Brisbane Open House's brand-new additions for this year give a decent glimpse at the variety of buildings that attendees can meander through. In the returning camp, Newstead House, Brisbane Arcade, ABC Brisbane at South Bank, Queensland Ballet's Thomas Dixon Centre, Centenary Pool and Roma Street Fire Station are just some of the other locations to hit up. Speaking of Roma Street, it's also on the program a second time, but taking visitors underground. Thanks to the Cross River Rail works, you can venture 30 metres beneath the road to where the new station is set to sit. Brisbane Airport is 100 years old this year, so one tour on Brisbane Open House's agenda commemorates that milestone. Still on huge pieces of infrastructure, Wivenhoe Dam and Port of Brisbane are on the itinerary, too. Plus, 2025's lineup marks the first time since 2020 that private homes are back on the program, letting the public into ten architect-designed houses, thanks to a collaboration with the Australian Institute of Architects. As well as tours and guided walks — such as one through Kurilpa — the program also features an exploration of ancient Egypt's architecture at Queensland Museum, Brisbane Open House's photography competition making a comeback, live tunes and performances, film screenings, a PechaKucha night at ARUP and more.
When you knock off after a long work week and need of a cruisy spot to help get you into weekend mode, look no further than Boundary Street Night Markets in West End. Zip there after work and wander around a veritable bazaar of stalls and traders. And if you're hungry, you're certainly in the right place. The market boasts treats and delights from all over the world — Turkey, Romania, Sri Lanka, Korea and Japan, just to name a few places. Definitely save room for dessert, too, with I Should Coco serving up vegan soft serve, and Organic Frog on doughnut duty. Formerly located on the corner of Boundary Street, you can now find the markets up the road, on the corner of Russell and Boundary Street every Friday and Saturday night from 4pm to 10pm.
Dear Pluto finally arrived in Brisbane in 2018 — and for its first speed-dating event of 2019, it's giving people what they love. Pizza. Oh-so-much pizza. If you can't bond over a slice of flat, cooked dough piled high with toppings, then perhaps there's just no hope. Love at First Slice combines meeting a bunch of folks you might want to spend more time with (up to 20, in fact)i, munching on pizza and drinking negronis, all on the night before the (supposedly) most romantic day of the year. Mark the occasion by indulging in the cheesiness that comes with forced celebrations of love. And by eating cheese on your pizza, obviously. The pizza — the main attraction alongside the speed-dating, let's be honest — is included in your $20 ticket price, but you'll need your wallet for a few drinks. Aimed at straight and straight-ish 20–35-year-olds, the event takes over Barbara from 7–10pm on Wednesday, February 13, and tickets are on sale now.
Home to restaurants, bars and nightclubs — and ace views out over the river, too — Eagle Street Pier has been a key part of the Brisbane CBD for three decades. But within six months, it'll no longer be a waterside go-to for food, drinks and a night out. As initially announced back in 2018, the complex is set to close and be torn down to make way for a new $2.1 billion precinct. Work on Waterfront Brisbane, as the new development has been dubbed, was meant to kick off in 2020; however, we all know how the past few years have turned out. Instead, construction is now set to commence before 2022 is out — and that means that Eagle Street Pier's retailers have been given six months to vacate the premises. The list of venues given notice to leave is a sizeable one, including Naga Thai, Coppa Spuntino, Rico Bar and Dining, Fatcow Steak and Lobster, and City Winery, as well as Saké, George's Paragon and Mr & Mrs G Riverbar. The complex is also home to a Grill'd, Guzman y Gomez, The Coffee Club and The Bavarian, plus Jade Buddha. Accordingly, Brisbanites now have until around July to say farewell to all of the above spots — although exactly when each venue will close around midyear will be up to the individual retailers. Once Eagle Street Pier has been demolished, construction will start on Waterfront Brisbane's sprawling precinct. In the works: two new office towers, a revamped riverwalk, more views over the river and 9000 square metres of sprawling public space right by the water. There'll also be new hospitality venues, as well as large public plazas that open out to the river. The riverwalk will be wider, reaching six metres in width for its whole length, and giving cyclists and pedestrians more room to share the path. And, it's gaining a new 280-metre span to replace that'll connect Waterfront Place to the Riparian Plaza, replacing an existing path. It'll also be designed to connect to the upgrades being made to the Botanic Gardens riverwalk, as well as the planned Kangaroo Point green bridge — and it's expected to reopen by 2024. The rest of the precinct is slated to begin welcoming in the public around 2026, which is when the first tower is set to open. In the interim, heritage-listed Naldham House will house a dining venue from later in 2022, as run by DAP and Co, who already operate Popolo, Walter's Steakhouse and The Gresham. Expect this patch of Brisbane to look a whole lot different, though, in what'll be the biggest change to this part of the river since Eagle Street Pier was built back in 1989. Waterfront Brisbane is expected to reopen the Eagle Street riverwalk by 2024, and complete its first tower by 2026. For more information, head to the Dexus website.
Back in the late 90s, there was a period when every second film was a disaster film, or so it seemed. Independence Day, Daylight, twin volcano flicks Dante's Peak and Volcano, Hard Rain, duelling death-from-above movies Deep Impact and Armageddon: they all kept unleashing chaos upon the earth on the big screen. Also among them, and proving a whirlwind box-office hit: Twister. Come July 2024, that tornado-chasing picture starring Helen Hunt (Blindspotting) and Bill Paxton (The Circle) will no longer be a once-off. Cue Twisters, a sequel that arrives 28 years after the initial feature to turn it into a franchise — because everyone knows that if this followup swirls up huge audience interest, more will likely follow. Alongside Deadpool & Wolverine and Wicked: Part One, Twisters unveiled its first trailer during the 2024 Super Bowl, introducing Glen Powell's (Anyone But You) character as a "tornado wrangler" in the process. There's also twin twisters, plenty of chasing them and a whole heap of fellow familiar faces getting swept up in the action Story-wise, the film follows an ex-storm chaser played by Where the Crawdads Sing's Daisy Edgar-Jones, who has to join forces with a cavalier colleague (Powell) thanks to an intense season that sparks weather that no one has seen before. They each have teams by their side, and both end up on a path to central Oklahoma, where the bulk of the chaos looks set to converge. Also featuring on-screen: Anthony Ramos (Dumb Money), Kiernan Shipka (Totally Killer), Sasha Lane (How to Blow Up a Pipeline), Daryl McCormack (Bad Sisters), Brandon Perea (Nope), Nik Dodani (Atypical) and Maura Tierney (The Iron Claw). The fact that Lee Isaac Chung is behind the lens is no small detail, either, marking the filmmaker's first feature since Minari, which nabbed him Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Check out the trailer for Twisters below: Twisters will release in cinemas Down Under on July 18, 2024.
As we come into the cool winter months, it warms the heart to look forward to one of the flagship events on the Sydney calendar. Vivid Sydney will be back for its twelfth year from May 27 to June 18 — and the 2022 iteration promises to be bigger than ever. The range of attractions on offer are many and varied but, at its core, Vivid Sydney is a light festival that gives colour and glow to the night sky and every conceivable canvas the city can provide. From illuminating some of Sydney's most famous landmarks to immersive exhibitions that seek to alter your perception of reality, here are ten must-see light installations on this year's program. Prepare to be dazzled. [caption id="attachment_853123" align="alignnone" width="1920"] 'Sharing the Same Life Essence', Rhoda Roberts AO and Deon Hastie, Destination NSW[/caption] 'FIRST LIGHT' First Light, the piece which kicks off the 2022 program on Friday, May 27, promises to be a stunning beginning that celebrates our rich Indigenous and First Nations culture. Vivid Sydney takes place on Gadigal land and waters, and as an acknowledgement of this, the Harbour Bridge pylons will be lit up with Sharing the Same Life Essence (Wayne Quilliam), a projection celebrating the Traditional Owners. First Light will also feature a Welcome to Country, Smoking Ceremony and performance by NAISDA dancers, culminating in a powerful and poignant opening work. Find out more here. [caption id="attachment_853125" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Spinifex Group, Destination NSW[/caption] SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE 90TH BIRTHDAY The iconic coathanger has already had its own birthday party this year but, as one of the key landmarks of Vivid Sydney, you just know there had to be something special happening to mark the Sydney Harbour Bridge entering its tenth decade. Suitably, there's a storytelling angle to this year's light extravaganza, with the Historical Archive and Digitisation Team at Transport for NSW looking back into its comprehensive photo archive to tell the tale of one of the world's most famous man-made structures through the people and places it connects. The light show will be brought to life on the bridge's giant pylons by animation experts Spinifex — and it's on repeat every night of the festival. [caption id="attachment_846473" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mandylights, Our Connected City[/caption] 'OUR CONNECTED CITY' The bright lights of Sydney are impressive all year round, but it doesn't compare to the illumination of Vivid Sydney. This year, the creative festival will be taking advantage of that already expansive canvas with Our Connected City, an installation from the creative minds at Mandylights. Hundreds of colour-changing lights will pulse through The Rocks, Circular Quay and across the harbour, lighting the CBD in a ribbon of light that spreads from the Opera House all the way to the northern pylon of the Harbour Bridge. There will also be 150 searchlight beams shining into the night sky like a series of beacons connecting the clouds to the people and land below. To add to the effect, all of these lights will be perfectly synchronised — a representation of connection come to life before your eyes. [caption id="attachment_853126" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Glenn Turner, Oracle-Liquid, Destination NSW[/caption] 'SYDNEY INFINITY' There's no doubt that one of the biggest selling points of Sydney is the incredible harbour, so it's only fitting that it will be celebrated at Vivid Sydney 2022. Glenn Turner, of internationally renowned special-effects company Oracle-Liquid, is putting the waterway front and centre with Sydney Infinity, a site- and festival-specific installation billed as the largest liquid and light show ever seen in Australia. At Darling Harbour, water and light will combine in a spectacular, infinity-shaped floating installation consisting of compressed-air water cannons, robotic fountains and thousands of LEDs (plus, the dazzling display will be synced to a soundtrack from Peewee Ferris). The sheer scale will be something to behold — the cannons will blast water 80 metres into the air and the fountains will disperse nine tonnes of water in the air per second. It's thanks to this pumping power that the exhibition can be viewed from around the city, including Pyrmont Bridge, nearby high-rises, and the harbour's floating walkway. [caption id="attachment_854523" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Temple of Joy, Elliot Routledge, Destination NSW[/caption] VIVID HOUSE Taking over Darling Quarter, Vivid House is an immersive experience that combines light and sound to stimulate your senses over three distinct installations. In A Floating World (Stephen Ferris), musicians and visual artists combine to create a sonic painting that evokes imaginary landscapes. With Progressum (aFX Global), subtlety is key as flickers of light permeate the darkness and gradually build to become one with sound. Finally, Temple of Joy (Elliott Routledge) is a tribute to the halcyon days of Sydney's nightlife. Take in all three for the full, unforgettable Vivid House experience. [caption id="attachment_853127" align="alignnone" width="1920"] James Dive, Destination NSW[/caption] 'BUMP IN THE NIGHT' While Australia isn't quite as full of terrifying, life-threatening creatures as the rest of the world seems to think, you do tend to hear unidentifiable sounds of nature on a regular basis. Was that mad cackling a cockatoo, a kookaburra, or your neighbour watching Kath & Kim reruns again? Bump in the Night (by installation artist James Dive) is an interactive exhibition that looks like a genteel campsite (complete with muffled snores coming from inside the tents) but you get to play the strange creatures in the dark, with any noise you make potentially stirring the campers. This might be one of Vivid Sydney's strangest experiences but it's also one of the most fun. [caption id="attachment_853130" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Isabel Hudson and Trent Suidgeest, Destination NSW[/caption] 'A MIRRORED CITY' A Mirrored City creates a city within a city at The Goods Line. Conceptualised by artists Isabel Hudson and Trent Suidgeest, the installation brings shimmering surfaces to reflect the rich tapestry of Sydney life. As darkness falls, lights hidden within the surfaces create a larger Sydney, one that goes far beyond the confines of the station. From some of the city's most recognisable urban landscapes to stunning beachside vistas, A Mirrored City will take you on a tour of the city, telling stories about the people and places that make it what it is, all while you stay in one place. [caption id="attachment_853131" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Michaela Gleave, Destination NSW[/caption] 'ENDLESS LOVE' The concept here — from contemporary artist Michaela Gleave — is pretty simple, but sometimes the simplest ideas are the most powerful. The words 'endless love' will be displayed as part of a giant, lit-up arch at Circular Quay. Because who doesn't want endless love — and what could be bigger and better than an enduring promise of never-ending adoration? Endless Love is Vivid Sydney's gift to the city, and it's also a message from our city to the rest of the world. Every morning, the sun rises above Sydney to herald a new day and, throughout Vivid Sydney, this message will be shining too. Oh, and you'll look great standing beneath it on Instagram, which is also important. [caption id="attachment_853132" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Atelier Sisu, Destination NSW[/caption] 'EPHEMERAL OCEANIC' For this year's festival, Walsh Bay will be turned into a floating, bubble-laden playground courtesy of Atelier Sisu artists Zara Pasfield and Renzo B Larriviere. A floating boardwalk weaves between 150 giant orbs, lit from the inside and changing colour throughout the night, projecting ever-changing patterns onto the water below. Remember the pure glee you'd get from blowing bubbles as a child? This is the grown-up version of that, but it's also a reminder that you're never too old to have fun and lose yourself in life's simple pleasures. The inherent ephemerality of this piece is also encouragement for you to consider your environment and how easily things can change. [caption id="attachment_853134" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sinclair Park, Destination NSW[/caption] 'FRANKLY, MY DEAR...' When Vivid Sydney rolls round, everything is a canvas — iconic buildings and structures offering more surfaces and interesting angles for light to hit. The UTS School of Business is known for the paper bag-like aesthetic given to it by seminal architect Frank Gehry. Sinclair Park, the light artist behind Frankly, My Dear, noted the building is "unique and playful... an irresistible canvas", and created a site-specific work that will allow viewers to see the structure from a whole new perspective. Using lights in changing hues in the building's windows, he accents the exposed brick and unusual shapes, turning one of Sydney's most distinctive buildings into one of its most undeniably beautiful. Vivid Sydney takes place at locations citywide from May 27–June 18. For the full program and to find out more, head to the website. Planned your visit already? Remember to get social and use the hashtag #vividsydney or tag Vivid Sydney in your shots. Top image: Yarrkalpa — Hunting Ground (2021), by the Martu Artists and Curiious with soundtrack by Electric Fields and Martu Artists (inspired by Yarrkalpa — Always Walking Country, 2014), Destination NSW
When the first and second seasons of Sex and the City spinoff And Just Like That... started streaming, a famous setting made an appearance Down Under. If you'd always wanted to hang out on Carrie Bradshaw's (Sarah Jessica Parker, Hocus Pocus 2), stoop, that became a temporary reality in Sydney and Melbourne. For season three, which is currently working through its episodes on HBO Max, a different spot from the show is on its way to Australia. We hope you're hungry, be it for something sweet or savoury, because Hot Fellas Bakery is about to hit Sydney. Yes, this purveyor of baked goods is usually fictional. The brainchild of character Anthony Marentino (Mario Cantone, Better Things), it lives up to its name in the series. It'll also exist IRL at Darlinghurst's Taylor Square in the Harbour City, but only for one weekend: from Friday, June 27–Sunday, June 29, 2025. Hot Fellas Bakery first made the leap from the screen in New York — where else? — and will do the same in Australia just two weeks after its Big Apple debut. The pastries on offer won't cost you a thing. Neither will the coffee. There'll be limited-edition merchandise up for grabs as well. Equally doing its moniker proud is set to be part of the pop-up, too. On the menu: Vegemite babka, Golden Gaytime cream puffs and AP buttermilk croissants. While Hot Fellas Bakery has locked in a three-day Sydney run, you do only have a brief window of time each day to head by, however. It's operating from 10am–12pm on Friday, June 27, then from 8am–12pm on Saturday–June 28–Sunday, June 29, 2025 — and will close earlier each day if everything is already sold out. [caption id="attachment_1009739" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Craig Blankenhorn/Max[/caption] And if you haven't kept up with the Sex and the City world, And Just Like That... debuted in 2021 to continue Carrie, Miranda Hobbes' (Cynthia Nixon, The Gilded Age) and Charlotte York Goldenblatt's (Kristin Davis, Deadly Illusions) stories — with Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall, How I Met Your Father) largely sitting it out, except for a brief cameo in season two. Other familiar faces abound, including John Corbett (To All the Boys: Always and Forever) reprising his role as Aidan Shaw from season two onwards, plus David Eigenberg (Chicago Fire) and Evan Handler (Power) also returning. Check out the trailer for Just Like That... season three below: Hot Fellas Bakery is popping up at Taylor Square, 191–195 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney from 10am–12pm on Friday, June 27, plus 8am–12pm on Saturday–June 28–Sunday, June 29, 2025 (or until sold out). And Just Like That... streams in Australia via HBO Max. Head to the platform's website for more details.
As Brisbane's largest antique centre, Camp Hill Antique Centre is a vibrant cluster of collectors and dealers, stocking over 70 dealers under one roof. It's the second venture for former TV and film assistant director, Sarah Jane Walsh, and ARIA-nominated Paul Butler. The duo is also responsible for Woolloongabba Antique Centre and Cafe. If all the trawling through exquisite antiques leaves you in need of a caffeine hit, the on-site cafe, Tart, is certain to hit the spot.
Spandex leotards, chunky leg warmers and feathered hair at the ready, Brisbanites: it's time to get sweaty 80s-style. Sydney favourite Retrosweat is finally bringing its throwback aerobics class our way, making its debut appearance more than ten years after setting up shop down south in 2011 — all for one fitness-fuelled evening. If you're new to Retrosweat, it was founded by Shannon Dooley, who studied at the Fitness Institute Australia and also at NIDA (learning from Baz Luhrmann's official choreographer John 'Cha Cha' O'Connell, among other teachers). The vibe really is all there in the name, combining bending, stretching and all the usual aerobics moves to 80s tunes — aka a fitness-fuelled step back in time. So, if you turned to streaming Aerobics Oz Style during pandemic lockdowns to keep fit, you'll know the drill — or you might've actually checked out Retrosweat's own at-home workout, including its VHS workout club, too, or its recent Olivia Newton-John tribute. None of the above fits? Perhaps you became obsessed with aerobics as a form of exercise thanks to that phenomenal Key & Peele sketch. Or, the ace Rose Byrne-starring Physical might've done it for you. You could just like the attire, and might've been waiting for an excuse to bust it out. In Sydney, Retrosweat hosts several weekly sessions; however, for its first-ever Brisbane class, it's holding a one-off hour-long stint from 6.30–7.30pm on Monday, October 10 at the Bombshell Burlesque Academy Studios in Bowen Hills. Fingers crossed that this 80s-loving motivation to get active comes back Brisbane's way again, because everyone deserves to star-jump, flick-kick and grapevine to tunes by Prince, Madonna, David Bowie, Bananarama, Pat Benatar, WHAM! and more. Retrosweat's first-ever Brisbane class will take place at 6.30pm on Monday, October 10 at the Bombshell Burlesque Academy Studios, 12 Jamieson St, Bowen Hills. Head to the Retrosweat website for further details and to book.
A weekend away in the Hunter Valley is often pure bliss, what with its 150-plus wineries, abundant scenic adventures and burgeoning gourmet food scene. However, a new announcement is set to elevate the luxury side of the region to unprecedented heights, as Laval — a landmark 65-key resort and tourism destination — is officially scheduled to open its doors in the second half of 2027. Situated on 165 pristine acres amid Pokolbin's historic Lindeman Estate, the arrival of Laval is the first new-build luxury resort to launch in the Hunter Valley in more than two decades. Behind the project is private hotel owner and developer HVL Hotels, with Managing Director Dominic Lambrinos knowing a thing or two about luxury stays, having already led developments in Poland and Oman before turning his attention homewards. This experience will help Laval achieve its concept — "an international hotel, made in Australia" — seeking to attract both pleasure-seeking domestic and international travellers to the standout development. With this in mind, expect lavish pavilion-style villas, 360-degree vineyard views, outstanding dining and, yes, fly-in, fly-out access via a private helicopter landing facility, in case you want to shorten your commute. "Laval is more than the answer to a longstanding gap in the Hunter Valley's luxury accommodation segment. It represents an ambition to do something that hasn't been done before, on the most magical piece of land within the valley. Building from the ground up, we have complete freedom to shape our vision for Laval without constraint," says Lambrinos. Designed as a villa-to-vine premium experience, the accommodation won't skimp on the extravagance. Think uninterrupted vistas, bold interiors, fully integrated Bang & Olufsen sound systems — the only resort to do so in the Southern Hemisphere — and a tech-enabled arrival system that supports anywhere guest check-in and a personal butler service. The culinary program will also build upon the region's esteemed reputation for food and wine. Led by leading chef and culinary advisor Justin North, Laval will highlight regional provenance with international contrast. For instance, the signature restaurant, Vallery, will blend Med-inspired cuisine with subtle Japanese influences, complemented by an on-site kitchen garden. Then, La Vida will explore Cali-Mex flavours from a poolside bar and restaurant setting. In addition, a Lobby Bar will serve as the social heart of Laval, while a specially curated wine program will draw on the site's 185-year winemaking traditions. Conceived by respected Sydney wine merchant Jon Osbeiston, a 10,000-bottle cellar and a 1000-strong wine list celebrate the Hunter Valley's viticultural heritage alongside global producers, featuring private collections, Coravin by-the-glass pours and a love for local shiraz and semillon. Beyond great dining, Laval will also feature extensive wellness facilities, including the 1000-square-metre Veraia Spa, a two-level sanctuary equipped with 15 treatment rooms, a sauna, a salt room, sensory gardens and rejuvenative therapies. What's more, a sense of creativity extends throughout the grounds, with 13 Gillie and Marc sculptures dotted throughout the landscape, and a 175-year-old fig tree that hosts interactive dining experiences, complete with a monumental bronze installation. Laval is expected to open in the second half of 2027 on the former Lindeman Estate in Pokolbin. Head to the website for more information. Like what you see? Subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter to get stories just like these straight to your inbox. Images: Supplied.
