If pink drinks are your favourite beverages to sip — and basking in stunning river views is your favourite way to spend an afternoon, too — then a waterside date filled with tipples by Brisbane's ol' brown snake should definitely be in your future. That's all on the agenda at Customs House, which is celebrating the warmer weather by turning its terrace into a Moet & Chandon-pouring pop-up rosé garden. It's the Queen Street venue's latest seasonal makeover, and it comes complete with greenery and flowers aplenty (with pops of pink, of course) for you and your mates to hang out in — while peering at the river and knocking back a range of beverages. The drinks list heroes the rosé — sparkling, flat and in creative concoctions, but it isn't the only thing on the menu. You can also enjoy white and red wine, beer and boozy ginger beer. And those cocktails? One pairs sparkling rosé with Dom Bénédictine liqueur, lemon and honey; the other goes with vodka, lychee liqueur, raspberries and lychees. Open Thursdays–Sundays weekly throughout spring from Thursday, September 21 — from 4pm on Thursdays and Fridays and 1pm on Saturdays and Sundays — the walk-in-only pop-up is also serving up a selection of bites to line your stomach. Customs House's beloved Moreton Bay bug croissant is back, as it is every time these gardens return. Or, there's caviar with blinis, wagyu tartare, shellfish platters, oysters, duck terrine and scallop ceviche — and, to match all the rosé, a heap of cheeses.
When Babylon Brisbane opened its doors at the end of December 2022, it didn't just mark the first Sunshine State outpost for the eatery that's been serving up dishes and drinks in Sydney since 2019. It also saw 145 Eagle Street gain the first of two new venues, the second of which has just launched as well: waterfront bar Babylon Garden. Initially announced back in November, too, Babylon Garden is the 500-person, 645-square-metre outdoor hangout space accompanying Babylon Brisbane's sitdown indoor 120-person setup. So, you can head inside for a restaurant meal with river views, or spend your afternoon or evening right by the water on two tiers of terraces, sipping beverages in the open air. As with indoors, Babylon Gardens' design is overseen by Brisbane's Hogg and Lamb, the architects behind the Sydney venue. This time, pale bricks are a big feature, plus timber furniture, leather banquettes, and palm trees and plants aplenty. You'll sit at green marble tabletops at high and low tables, and your drinks come from a ten-metre brass bar. On the menu amid that greenery, and while soaking in the fresh air: Middle Eastern and East Mediterranean bites and cocktails. The food lineup is a collaboration between Babylon Brisbane's Head Chef Ferdinand Sariin and Babylon Sydney's Head Chef Robert Taylor, with standout options including crispy chicken wings with Baharat spice, harissa and labneh; homemade falafel with tahini sauce, dukkah and lemon; and pumpkin kebabs with coriander, muhammara and Aleppo chilli. For something sweet, there's also assorted baklava, plus three-piece servings of Turkish delight. Drinks-wise, the range of beers on tap and by the bottle heroes brews from around the world, as does the hefty wine list. With bubbles, the focus unsurprisingly falls heavily on French champagne. Folks keen on a cocktail will find Middle Eastern-meets-East Mediterranean flavours shining through here, too, as tasted in the Semiramis' Throne (made with Tanqueray Sevilla, mastic liqueur, apricot, lemon, falernum and orange blossom), Devine Levanthyme (limoncello, lemon gin, thyme, sugar and egg white) and Turkish espresso martini (with Turkish coffee and cardamom-infused Metaxa 7, chocolate liqueur, orgeat and cold brew). Find Babylon Garden at 145 Eagle Street, Brisbane — open 11am–11.30pm Sundays–Tuesdays, 11am–12am Wednesdays, 11am–1.30 Thursdays and 11am–2am Fridays–Saturdays. Images: Markus Ravik.
UPDATE, Wednesday, May 15, 2024: After two new Olivia Rodrigo shows for October were added at midday today, another two have been announced at 4pm. This article has been updated to reflect all four new gigs — two each in Sydney and Melbourne. Great news if you're a fan of Olivia Rodrigo and the first four tour dates announced for her first-ever Down Under visit didn't suit: four more shows have just been added to the singer and former Disney talent's Australian itinerary. She's still only playing Sydney and Melbourne, adding a third and fourth gig in both cities — and doing so before punters can even buy general tickets, which starts on Thursday, May 16. Big-name acts have a habit of doing this; see also: Taylor Swift, blink-182, Lizzo and The Weeknd, for some recent examples. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise — but it will give you more chances to head along to Rodrigo's huge GUTS world tour Rodrigo has a date with Australia in October, and will now take to the stage at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena from Wednesday, October 9–Thursday, October 10, and also from Sunday, October 13–Monday, October 14. In Sydney, you can catch her at Qudos Bank Arena dates from Thursday, October 17–Friday, October 18, and also from Monday, October 21–Tuesday, October 22. When we say that this tour is big, we mean it. With the Aussie dates alongside gigs in Bangkok, Thailand, Seoul, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore, the tour spans more than 80 concerts around the globe. Fans Down Under who aren't in Sydney and Melbourne, however, you'll be needing to travel. In support of her second studio album that's also called GUTS, this marks three-time Grammy-winner Rodrigo's first arena tour. The 'Drivers License', 'Good 4 U' and 'Vampire' singer will have her debut album SOUR to work through as well. The GUTS tour started in Palm Springs in February, saw Rodrigo do four shows at Madison Square Garden in April, and is currently making its way around the UK before heading to Europe, back to the US, then to Asia and Australia. Olivia Rodrigo GUTS World Tour 2024 Australian Dates: Wednesday, October 9–Thursday, October 10 + Sunday, October 13–Monday, October 14 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Thursday, October 17–Friday, October 18 + Monday, October 21–Tuesday, October 22 – Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Olivia Rodrigo is touring Australia in October 2024. Ticket presales start at 1pm on Wednesday, May 15, and general sales at 1pm on Thursday, May 16 — head to the tour website for further details. Images: Chris Polk, Polk Imaging.
True crime and Cluedo collide when CluedUpp comes to Brisbane. The interactive detective game is coming our way on Saturday, December 7, bringing the classic board game to life on the streets of the city — with a slight twist. The outdoor adventure will take you back to 1960s London to solve the double murder of the famous Kray twins. While the Kray twins were very real, very notorious British gangsters, they were not murdered IRL, just in this murder mystery. Forget Colonel Mustard with the candlestick in the study — this event will bring you and your friends closer to reality and out onto the streets to solve the case. The game will kick off at a secret Brisbane location between 10am–1pm and, depending how good of a detective you are, will finish sometime before 5pm. The best news of all, however, is that the event is dog friendly — and there are prizes to be won by both human and canine detectives. All you need to play is some friends and your phone. Dressing up as 1960s gangsters is encouraged, so you can really get yourself into character. A ticket will set you back $67 per team of six, but you only need two humans to play. With only 100 teams available, get in quick for your chance to solve the mystery.
Erotica fans Australia-wide are celebrating the return of World Movies Channel's adults only program, Summer of Sin. Starting in December, it's a 62-night festival of all things intimate, with a sexually charged film screening at 9.30pm every single night until January 31. Before you ask, yes, Christmas Day's included. 2011 Spanish film The Sex of the Angels has that one covered. Moreover, New Year's Day will see a coital marathon kicking off at midnight, with 24 hours of films played back-to-back. In December 2012, the initiative saw a 49 percent increase in the channel's audience. This year, the formula that proved so irresistible to so many is being reapplied — a combination of classics and new international films, never-before-seen in Australia. In the words of the organisers, "We've scoured the darkest and dirtiest corners of the cinematic world for a line-up of the sexiest premiere films." Pretty much every fantasy or fetish gets a look-in, from swingers' parties to alien abduction. Here's our top 5. Young and Wild (Chile, 2012) When: Friday, 13 December 2013 (Australian television premiere) & Wednesday, 15 January 2014 This playful, raunchy, stylish film centres on 17-year-old Daniela (Alicia Rodriguez), who can't stop thinking about sex. Raised in a strict, wealthy, religious family, she expresses herself through her blog, Young and Wild, where she records her most outrageous desires and experiences. Call Girl (Sweden, 2012) When: Wednesday, 18 December 2013 (Australian television premiere) Inspired by true events involving Swedish politicians and prostitutes, this crime film is one of the more serious items on the Summer of Sin menu. A teenage girl's entry into prostitution exposes widespread hypocrisy at governmental level. Intimacy (France, 2000) When: Thursday, 26 December 2013 (Australian television premiere) & Saturday 18 January Every Wednesday afternoon, Jay (Mark Rylance), a failed-musician-turned-bar-tender, meets a woman (Kerry Fox) for brief, rough, wordless sex. One day he follows her home and discovers more than he bargained for. Kiss Me (With Every Heartbeat) (Sweden, 2011) When: Wednesday, 8 January 2014 Mia has always lived a straight life, and is about to enter an engagement with her partner, Tim, when she falls in love with her stepmother's gay daughter, Frida. An irrepressible mutual attraction develops between the two women, leading to a sensual affair. Elles (France, 2011) When: Friday, 31 January 2014 (Australian television premiere) Obsessive, middle-aged, unhappily married journalist, Anne (Juliette Binoche), receives an assignment that carries her into the risky yet seductive world of Parisian student prostitution. She gets to know two independent young women whose erotic adventures carry them into dangerous and unpredictable territory. Read our review here.
Sitting down to watch Cat Person isn't a passive experience. It isn't an interactive movie, but the bulk of the film's audience isn't coming to it as a blank slate. They've read Kristen Roupenian's viral New Yorker short story from 2017, because everyone has. They've seen the discourse that it started, and potentially engaged in the debate that's swelled ever since, too. They remember how the 7000-word piece arrived at the ideal #MeToo moment, capturing the intricacies of modern dating, gender power dynamics, text-first communications, and mediating not just our lives but our loves through screens one jokey SMS and flirty emoji at a time. As a feature, Cat Person isn't just about bringing the tale of 20-year-old college student Margot and 33-year-old Robert, who she first meets serving him snacks at her cinema job, to the screen, then. Six years have passed since Roupenian's story became the only thing that anyone was talking about, especially online, with the whole Cat Person phenomenon now about more than just the tale itself. In her third movie as a director after 2014's Life Partners and 2018's The Spy Who Dumped Me — and also helming episodes of Utopia, The Flight Attendant and The Wilds, plus writing Booksmart as well — that's also what filmmaker Susanna Fogel set out to capture with Michelle Ashford's (Masters of Sex, The Mayfair Witches) script. "There's always a fear with anything that people feel strongly about, and would get really passionate about, that you're going to let them down. I think that with this in particular, I had to release myself a bit from the notion that everyone is going to love this adaptation — because the truth is not everybody loved the story, and not everyone loves any movie, really," Fogel explains to Concrete Playground. "I also have to take my best shot of trying to bring this story into the next generation for a group of people who many of whom were too young to read the story. The Margots of today were 13 when the story came out, so this is a moment that I wanted to share the story with them in this format." "But there's always a fear of it. You of have to let it go. You have to say 'I'm going to do my best to honour the material, and if I can create the feeling that I got reading the story in an audience, then that's what I can do'," Fogel continues. "There are going to be details that aren't what people pictured. Some people are going to want it to be a faithful adaptation of the story because they just want to see that story the same way. And Michelle and I, and ultimately Kristen, really believed that there's another chapter to the story that's happened culturally since 2017 — people exhausted themselves debating the merits of this story and revealed things about themselves culturally — that became part of the story. So to us, the only reason to adapt it was to build upon the narrative and not just render it directly." The film version of Cat Person expands beyond the narrative that Roupenian relayed with such galvanising precision. The aim: capturing how it felt to read the short story, as well as the conversation swirling around it since. The focus is still "concession-stand girl" Margot (Emilia Jones, CODA) and customer Robert (Nicholas Braun, Succession). Everything from their first meeting to their texts, and also their age gap, dates and rampant awkwardness, remains. But Fogel's film not only adds details, but also complexities and perspectives, seeing the tale's ambiguity and clashing perceptions. The 2023 Sundance Film Festival first witnessed the end result, and now audiences in Australia and New Zealand can as well, with the movie opening in both countries Down Under in November. We chatted with Fogel about the process of bringing Cat Person to the screen — her first reactions to the short story, her thoughts on the response, the unique opportunity that is turning a viral short story into a movie, casting and continuing the Cat Person conversation all included. ON READING CAT PERSON WHEN KRISTEN ROUPENIAN'S SHORT STORY FIRST ARRIVED "I did see it. I was hard to not see. It was everywhere. It was something that people talked about a lot. It was very explosive in the culture. At the same time, I didn't see it as a movie. It's hard for me not to see things as movies just because I live in LA, and whenever something is viral or captures anybody's attention, there's going to be a stampede of people trying to make it into a film. But this one, I thought this is so brilliantly internal that I don't really know how it becomes cinematic, and how it becomes external, and how you capture what really resonated for people in a film — much less a film that people are going to see if they're men or people of all ages, which the story did have a bigger reach than just than just women. I was concerned that a film wouldn't be able to harness that somehow. And then two years later, I read Michelle Ashford's script. I realised that there was a there was a vision behind doing that that made so much sense to me — I just would never have thought of it myself." ON THE INITIAL RESPONSE TO CAT PERSON AS A SHORT STORY "The story itself, by the time I came to it, I was aware that it was very explosive and controversial. And when I read it, I wasn't sure why, because I thought that this is such a perfectly observed short story. It's so specific to this woman's experience. Why are people debating it? Why are people accusing the writer of man-hating? What is what is really like triggering to people about the story? And over time, that narrative around it became so explosive that it kind of hijacked the narrative — the narrative around the narrative became what was the most interesting thing about it. There's this undercurrent of male rage that courses through the subtext of the story, and that male rage was manifested in a very overt way among all of the people on Twitter who were arguing about the story. So, in a weird way, it kind of proved the concept of the story itself, and that to me was what was so interesting. And when we tried to expand upon the original format of the story, that anger and the male perspective on that was something that we tried to enhance and show cinematically, just because it was so much a part of that cultural moment. It eclipsed anything about the original story itself." ON BRINGING A SHORT STORY THAT'S GONE VIRAL TO THE SCREEN "It was a very unusual opportunity. I've always looked for ways to tell stories about women — granular, observant, emotionally driven, relationship-driven movies and TV shows. That's kind of my sweet spot. But it's so often that those feel small, and they always have to be combined with another genre or a mystery or something that feels like it gives them reason to be — stories that justify their telling, in a way. This one, obviously we did expand it genre-wise, but the fact that the story existed and was viral was a great opportunity to tell a really intimate, granular story about a woman's experience, and have a little bit of name recognition buoying the release of it, and the public interest in it. That was a really lucky — that was a real opportunity. There's name recognition and a curiosity about something that is ultimately so personal and would normally just go in the bucket of tiny movies that five women see at a women's film festival." ON TACKLING A TALE THAT'S STRUCK SUCH A CHORD FOR BEING SO RELATABLE "A different medium is always a challenge. When you take a short story that women project their experiences onto — so women are picturing themselves as Margot, women are picturing their own Robert from their own life as Robert, they're not picturing actors that I cast — trying to honour that and execute something that would resonate with women the same way as whatever was in their mind's eye when they read the story is a tall order. I just did my best to try to pick versions of both characters that made them human enough that whatever felt really realistic and grounded to women would would be manifested here, and it wouldn't feel like we took it in this crazy direction. It definitely escalates at the end, but from a starting point of relatability was the goal. I mean, that's always the challenge, I think. But I think from moment to moment, [it was] just making sure those performances felt grounded, making sure to cast somebody who felt really relatable to women, and felt smart and substantial — so that if she makes some dumb mistakes, you can still be rooting for her instead of dismissing her as a victim. And just making choices that I think try to keep threading the needle with nuance was something that was important to me, so that people couldn't really dismiss either side, or come down on one extreme side or another — just to try to maintain the ambiguity of the original story." ON THE VISION FOR CAT PERSON AS A FILM FROM SCRIPT ONWARDS "Michelle had this brilliant idea to take a lot of what Margot was going through internally and make it manifest in a really extreme multi-genre experience of being a young woman. So, Margo's experience is that she walks through her life, and she's very pop culture savvy. She's seen movies where young women are victimised. She's seen movies where young women fall in love. She's seen movies where young women come of age. So she's seen all the reference points, and she's trying to figure out where she belongs and what her story is. What excited me about Michele's adaptation was really that she opened the door to explore a lot of different genres, as if to say that being a young woman is a multi-genre experience. There's always a base level of fear, because we're when we're coming of age and even when we're not, we're aware that we could be overpowered on a physical level. That's always a fear that sits underneath our lives, and is ready to poke its head out at any point in time that it's triggered. But all of the things that Michelle wrote were so vivid. And then the fears and fantasies and violence felt like I just tried to capture those as viscerally as I've experienced them myself, in the hopes that other women have also had those fears if I've had them, I hope. I don't hope other women have had them, but I hope that I'm a good ambassador to tell their story in a way that feels relatable to as many women as possible." ON FINDING THE RIGHT MARGOT AND ROBERT "Casting is always easy and hard. What's easy is if you're the filmmaker and you have a sense of who those people are in your mind, there's actors that you know you want. The challenge is that they're not always the actors who you know are the most famous or the most bankable. Luckily we worked with StudioCanal, who were pretty open minded being a European company — they weren't as algorithm-obsessed and so they let me cast these two actors who were really on the cusp of fame and had recognition but weren't overexposed on a level where people would bring too much baggage into the viewing experience. By the time the movie came out, people have an association with Cat Person. They're expecting to be mad. They're expecting to be relating. They're just expecting a lot going in. And I didn't want that to have a toxic alchemy with some outrage about me casting the wrong super-famous person. So I wanted it to be a little bit like these characters, these are interesting actors, maybe you've seen them but you haven't seen them in everything. You don't know who they're dating. It's not a situation where you're rolling your eyes before you even walk into the theatre. Emilia has a real soulfulness and gravitas to her that I wanted Margot to have despite her youth, so that it wouldn't be just a simple story of a young woman and an older man, and she's naive and he's inappropriate. I wanted it to be a bit more [that] he has some arrested development, but also she is presenting herself with as much maturity as she can, and she has a presence that doesn't feel adolescent to him. Zooming out, it's inappropriate that he pursues her. But zooming into it, it sort of makes sense that she's presenting herself in a way that it would be overreaching past the bounds of her experience level or her actual maturity level. Emilia seems mature, and I thought that was important to keep Robert defensible as well. If she seemed really flighty and really young, it would be more egregiously only about her being young and not about the fact that they do have this connection, even though it's dysfunctional. I didn't audition either of them, but I spoke to them, and they get it. They got it. They understood what was weird about the dynamic, and they were so intellectually able to do it — and I knew how talented they were on screen, that I just kind of took the leap of faith that they could do it. They're both actors who have great comic timing, but they're not broadly comedic. They have an interesting presence, but they haven't done this role before. So it felt like they would really like invest in that challenge. And in Nick's case, he has like a base level of likeability, especially to other men who watch Succession, that I thought that would be a good place for Robert to start — a place where men are relating to him, even if they think he's kind of a loser or whatever, they're inclined to root for him because of because of who he is." ON FOGEL'S HOPES FOR THE MOVIE'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE CAT PERSON CONVERSATION "I would like for this movie to invite men and women to talk about their own experiences, and the differences in perception that go into relationships. I think that everybody has a story where they relate to one or both of the characters — that's why my hope is that everyone who's ever been on a date can watch that movie and say 'oh, I've been him' or 'I've been her' or 'I've been both'. To me, I think that the movie challenges people to think about their own relationships and be more authentic with the other person, however they can be — and really give themselves permission to not know what they want, take a minute to figure out what they want, not be sure what they want, change their mind. Those are all really important parts of dating and consent, and I'm hoping that this movie, by making people feel like they're not alone, makes people feel like 'it's okay for me to figure this out on my own timeline'." Cat Person opened in cinemas in Australia on November 23 and in New Zealand on November 2. Read our review.
It's not an overstatement to say that our environment and the delicate ecosystems within it are extremely important to us all, and especially right now, so any effort to preserve our world is an effort worth making. In partnership with certified compostable coffee pod company, Tripod Coffee, we've come up with a list of five easy adaptations centred around your daily coffee routine — so you can go easy on the environment while still enjoying your morning brew. SWITCH TO COMPOSTABLE COFFEE PODS If you have a Nespresso machine at home, you may have noticed a by-product of all that convenience: a lot of pods ending up in the bin. Instead of ditching the machine and further adding to landfill, you could make the switch to coffee pods that are more sustainable. Tripod Coffee is an Australian company that creates compostable coffee pods. This means, you still get an excellent, cost-effective coffee each day, but without the waste. And, as the pods are made from fairly sourced beans, roasted by local coffee maestros, you've got a sustainable sip available in your kitchen every morning. How do you know if a coffee capsule is compostable? You can check the Australian Bioplastics Association list here, or look for the Australian Certified Compostable symbol on the packaging. Tripod Coffee pods are made of a bio-polymer and are sealed with a paper lid. You can place the entire capsule in your green bin, if your council accepts organic waste. If not, you can return the packing using Tripod's Pod-to-Plant returns program. [caption id="attachment_766152" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lisa Fotios[/caption] COMPOST YOUR COFFEE GROUNDS Australians generate 67 million tonnes of waste each year, and we chuck 5 million tonnes of food into landfill — which can be easily avoided. Not only can we buy food more responsibly, but we can also learn how to make the most of our organic waste. Composting works twofold to help the environment, first by keeping waste out of landfill, and second by creating a garden-nourishing by-product (aka compost tea). Coffee grounds are packed with potassium and are great to add to compost bins. If you don't know where to start with creating your own compost, check out these tips from Planet Ark, which includes using a Bokashi bucket to ferment food scraps if you live in an apartment. If you don't have outdoor space for a composting bin, or consume lots of coffee and want to make sure your organic waste goes to good use, check out ShareWaste, which connects people who are recycling their kitchen scraps with local people who are already composting, worm-farming or keep chickens. Alternatively, connect with your favourite cafe and ask if you can add your used coffee grounds to its Closed Loop bins, or other organic recycling scheme organised by your council. [caption id="attachment_766122" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Chevanon Photography[/caption] EXPLORE DIFFERENT MILK OPTIONS There are approximately 270 million dairy cows producing milk for human consumption around the globe. Milk production impacts the environment in various ways, according to World Wildlife Fund, including production of greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change. It also has impacts on water supply, deforestation, loss of wetlands and issues of animal welfare. So there are many people around the world who are looking at plant-based milks or mylks. A glass of dairy milk produces almost three times more greenhouse gas than any plant-based milk according to a study by Oxford University in 2018, and earlier this year The Guardian investigated the varying impacts of soy, almond, macadamia or oat — with oat milk coming out, generally speaking, on top. Oat milk is super creamy and froths well for a cappuccino, while almond milk goes down well with a tiny bit of maple syrup, some ice cubes and a shot of coffee for an iced latte. The most important takeaway from those reports is that whatever alternative you choose, it has a lesser environmental impact than dairy. However, it's worth noting that Australia's dairy industry accounts for around 7 percent of the gross value of agricultural production and around 7 percent of agricultural export income. So a cultural shift away from dairy milk is not without its casualties. [caption id="attachment_766125" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nathan Dumlao[/caption] KNOW WHERE YOUR BEANS ARE SOURCED By getting to know where your coffee beans come from, you can make a choice that values ethics and sustainability (with the bonus of tasting great, too). Fair trade coffee means the land the beans are sourced from is treated with care, as are the farmers who work on it. It's a win-win — and a step you can take to make a difference. If you want to ensure your coffee is fairly produced, look for the Fairtrade Australia markings; Tripod Coffee's Great Gatsby coffee uses 100-percent certified fair trade organic coffee from Central America. [caption id="attachment_766149" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Andrea Piacquadio[/caption] BUY FROM LOCAL BUSINESSES DOING GOOD Knowing your daily habits are having a positive impact elsewhere in the world is not only good karma, but also a way of ensuring the money you spend is going directly to people who are actively creating positive change. Tripod Coffee has created the world's only pod-to-plant program, which means that the pods you've used end up as nutrient-rich fertiliser. It also commits one percent of its profits to restoring the Daintree Rainforest through Rainforest Rescue. There are also coffee roasters promoting coffee bag recycling programs and ones that donate to global research to protect coffee plants from extinction — something that nobody wants. Research the companies that are giving back on a global scale, and spend your money locally to keep supporting the little businesses that do good in big ways. Tripod Coffee produces Australian certified-compostable coffee pods. Find out more about the range and delivery options, here.
No matter your feelings on the ideal timeline between Boxing Day shopping and Easter treats hitting the shelves, March has arrived and those babies are coming in hot like a certain glazed fruit bun. And this year, you've got a boozy new offering to add to your Easter shopping list — a Hot Cross Rum from family-run Margaret River distillery The Grove. The small-batch sip has been hand-crafted using The Grove's four-year barrel-aged dark rum, then housed in an American Oak former bourbon barrel. Raisins, oranges and a bunch of warm spices are left to steep, before the rum's given a final infusion of classic hot cross bun flavours including cinnamon, vanilla and cloves. [caption id="attachment_845050" align="alignnone" width="1920"] By Freedom Garvey-Warr[/caption] At the end, you've got a warm, rich, festive-tasting spirit, packed with notes of caramelised raisin, vanilla and cinnamon, with a lingering fruity finish. A 40-percent ABV hot cross bun in a glass, if you like. The Grove team recommends you sip their new creation neat; with a hot buttered Easter bun on the side for full effect, of course. Word is, it's also a solid match to a cheese board or dessert. Just 240 bottles of the Hot Cross Rum have been made, available now to pre-order with Australia-wide delivery happening this month, just in time for Easter. The Hot Cross Rum marks the first of The Grove's new Collector's Series of limited-edition spirits, so expect plenty more creative rum releases to follow. The Grove's Hot Cross Rum is available to pre-order via the website, at RRP $100 for a 500ml bottle.
Anything can happen at Dark Mofo. One of two massive arts festivals run by Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art, the winter event has always prided itself on being a fest where the dark, sinister, confronting and boundary-pushing come together, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. So, for its first program announcement for 2023, a wild dance theatre performance inspired by Dante's The Divine Comedy sounds completely in the event's wheelhouse. That production is A Divine Comedy, hailing from Austrian choreographer and performance artist Florentina Holzinger, and hitting Dark Mofo as both an Australian premiere and an Aussie exclusive. Playing for three days throughout the festival's Thursday, June 8–Thursday, June 22 dates for 2023, it dives into the hell, purgatory and paradise of Dante's classic work, all to explore how humans negotiate life and death. "We are thrilled to present Florentina Holzinger's A Divine Comedy for Dark Mofo 2023. She is a super-talented artist who is brazenly contemporary and culturally relevant," Creative Director Leigh Carmichael said, announcing the news. "This is the most incredibly wild theatre performance that we have presented in the history of Dark Mofo. Its scale is unprecedented and bold, a fitting highlight for our tenth festival. We can safely say the audience will be anything but bored." Holzinger is known for making challenging and provocative theatre, and for exploring gender relations — including how women's bodies are represented in art and media. For A Divine Comedy, she's staging the whole show as a giant autopsy room, in fact, then unleashing choreography that dances with existence, mortality, the end that awaits us all, and our struggle to cope with what that all means. Dark Mofo attendees will watch a cast of all-female-identifying performers spanning all ages, as well as a variety of physical, musical and athletic disciplines, take to the stage for the work. And, they'll see nude performers, slapstick acts, bodily substances and references to slasher movies as well — plus a jam-packed selection of nods to art and dance's respective histories. A Divine Comedy will play Dark Mofo from Friday, June 16–Sunday, June 18, with the rest of the fest's program set to be revealed this autumn. Whatever else joins the bill to help the event officially hit ten years, it'll be part of Carmichael's last at the helm. He'll step down after Dark Mofo 2023, making way for a new Artistic Director from 2024 onwards. [caption id="attachment_846523" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Winter Feast, Dark Mofo 2021, Dark Mofo/Jesse Hunniford, 2021. Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.[/caption] Wondering what else might be in store? Previous years' lineups have seen a fantastical combination of musical performances, performance art and large-scale installations come together. In 2019, the program featured the likes of artists Ai Weiwei and Mike Parr, American musician Sharon Van Etten and one of the world's largest glockenspiels, for instance. In 2022, patrons were treated to performances by The Kid LAROI, and the sounds of Chernobyl and Candyman — plus rainbow installations, and signature festivities such as the Nude Solstice Swim, the City of Hobart Winter Feast, Night Mass: Transcendence in the In The Hanging Garden precinct and the Reclamation Walk. Already keen to get booking? Fancy a Tasmania trip in the interim? Our Concrete Playground Trips Hobart getaway might also be of interest. [caption id="attachment_800592" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lusy Productions[/caption] Dark Mofo 2023 will run from Thursday, June 8–Thursday, June 22 in Hobart, Tasmania. The 2023 program will be announced in autumn — check back here for further details. A Divine Comedy will play Dark Mofo from Friday, June 16–Sunday, June 18. A ticket ballot for the show is open until 12pm AEST on Friday, February 10. A Divine Comedy images: Nicole Marianna Wytyczak. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
That wide-open highway between Melbourne and Sydney has so much to offer. So, why settle for the routine route when you can have a rural adventure? In partnership with Canadian Club and Empty Esky, we want folks to make the great Aussie road trip even better. We've plotted the perfect itinerary, spotlighting regional towns that have had a rough go lately but are back to welcoming tourists with open arms. The next time you hit the bitumen, make it a mission to do some good and discover cool new things. Brave a haunted house, explore Aboriginal cultural heritage, splurge on a boutique hotel, treat yourself with sweets and a bakery pilgrimage and admire a really big sheep. WANGARATTA Your first stop should be for a hearty lunch with a side of cultural education in Wangaratta. Hit the all-day breakfast menu at Cafe Prevue — is there ever a wrong time of day for pancakes? Or, opt for fried chicken bao, mushroom arancini or a trusty toastie. Afterwards, wander down to the river and along the Bullawah Cultural Trail. This project was a collaboration between over a dozen Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and organisations to acknowledge and celebrate the Pangerang people and their long heritage and continued connection to Country. Through artworks, info boards and a bush tucker garden, discover the ways of living and stories that belong to this place and its people. [caption id="attachment_801899" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Victoria[/caption] BEECHWORTH If you're passing through Beechworth, hit Beechworth Bakery for the lunch of champions: the signature Ned Kelly Pie, stuffed with steak, bacon, cheese and egg. You'll find "Australia's Greatest Bakery" in one of the beautiful historic buildings typical of this picturesque gold rush town. Room for dessert? We suggest the classic vanilla slice or one of its famous Beestings: a fluffy, filled bun spilling custard into your hands with each bite. You'll need some treats for the road, too, so visit The Beechworth Sweet Co for the whimsy of an old-timey sweet shop. Admire the glass jars of boiled sweets, sherberts and jellies, and sample some of its handmade fudge. JUNEE You haven't really explored the country unless you've picked up some bric-a-brac and local handicrafts. The Olde School T-House in Bethungra is crowded with curios and collectibles, so stop in for a browse and some morning tea. Then, steel yourself with an ice-cold Canadian Club and Dry at Junee Hotel before you dine with the dead (maybe) at Monte Cristo Homestead. Test your nerve at this grand homestead, which was once the Crawley family's (the town's founding family) seat of power. The homestead ghost tour includes a three-course dinner, accommodation and breakfast — a friendly touch for what's considered Australia's most haunted house. Oh, and there's an additional gift "if you make it through the night". For some comfort the next day, head to the Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory. You can pick up organic chocolates, take a tour around the old mill (currently on hold due to COVID restrictions) or stop at the cafe for a decadent hot chocolate laced with turkish delight, butterscotch or even chilli. [caption id="attachment_795809" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] GUNDAGAI You know it for The Dog on the Tuckerbox, now discover Gundagai's fancier attractions. Heritage meets stylish minimalism at the boutique hotel, Flash Jacks. Starting life as a convent in 1891, these Victorian bricks have been born again as the ultimate luxe retreat, where you can splurge on a room with a bay window daybed. The perfect accompaniment to this top-notch stay is one of the best coffees you can get between Melbourne and Sydney. The Coffee Pedaler is a bright, cheery cafe that punches well above its weight. Sit outside for a pretty street view towards the hills, and tuck into a city-worthy brunch with generous country portions. [caption id="attachment_801901" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Public Art Walk, Destination NSW[/caption] GOULBURN Is it an Aussie road trip if it doesn't include at least one Big Thing? Goulburn's Big Merino (Rambo to his mates) celebrates the great Australian wool industry. If you're a dyed-in-the-wool art lover, take a free tour of Goulburn Regional Art Gallery, which showcases some of the best regional contemporary and emerging artists, then wander the Public Art Walk from there to the Information Centre. Afterwards, join the locals at the Goulburn Workers Club for a Canadian Club and Dry and a game of pool. Recover the next morning at Grit Cafe with an espresso and get your granola on. Or, grab a homemade bagel, artisanal sausage roll or brekkie burrito to see you through to Sydney. For more road trip inspiration, check out these guides from Canadian Club and Empty Esky. Top image: Monte Cristo Homestead, Destination NSW
American food has experienced a surge in popularity in Brisbane in the past year or so, but the Smoke BBQ (formerly Blue Smoke) is far from a mere bandwagon jumper, having been around since 2004. The interior does not call to mind the stereotypical American diner or food hall, instead it’s all rather understated and a bit chic. Though it does display its roots through a few decorative touches – an American flag plaque hangs behind the cow hide upholstered bar, and gridiron matches are screened on the television. If you’ve ever spent time wistfully watching Travel Channel shows where fortunate hosts travel the US, indulging in all manner of comfort food along the way, then you will be very happy to read the Smoke BBQ menu. So many speciality items that at one time Brisbanites may have had a hard time getting their mitts on: North Carolina pulled pork, cheese steak subs, fried shrimp po’ boy sandwiches, hickory chicken, beef brisket, buffalo wings with blue cheese dipping sauce and banana cream pie. It’s hard not to get excited. If you’re going to make the effort of going out for American smoked BBQ, then you really should be getting some ribs. The Big Rib Combo (Texas beef short rib, Memphis pork belly & North Carolina pulled pork for $50) and the ‘New’ Signature Rib Combo (Texas beef ribs, Bourbon lamb ribs & thick cut pork ribs for $65) are designed for sharing and come with basic accompaniments. If for some reason ribs just aren’t for you, then the Pork & Chicken Platter will do (Memphis pork belly with a side of Memphis sauce, North Carolina pulled pork & a half hickory chicken with a side of Memphis BBQ for $50). The ribs are tender, with distinctive smoke rings – a result of quality time in the restaurant’s in-house smoker. With a Sam Adams or Brooklyn Lager it goes down very nicely. You may be expecting huge platters overladen with smoky bounty, however, portions are definitely on the small side, especially for the price. That said, you won’t leave hungry, but if you plan to go all out, prepare to spend some money.
Celebrating both the latest and greatest must-see movies is what film festivals are all about — and Brisbane's returning New Farm Queer Film Festival couldn't be more committed to that remit. The River City's annual showcase of new and classic LGBTQIA+ flicks, the event began back in 2022, proved a hit, and keeps returning year after year with an impressive lineup. On 2024's program from Thursday, October 3–Sunday, October 13: movies starring Elliot Page, Tilda Swinton, Murray Bartlett, Dylan O'Brien and Evan Rachel Wood, plus Gregg Araki's Teen Apocalypse trilogy. 2024 marks seven years since Page (The Umbrella Academy) last featured on the big screen Down Under. Close to You brings that absence from local cinemas to an end, with the film boasting the actor's first male movie role, as a trans man heading home to his family for the first time since transitioning. Swinton (The Killer) features in Problemista, as directed by and also starring Fantasmas and Los Espookys' Julio Torres; The White Lotus' Bartlett and Fantasmas guest star O'Brien are part of the cast for closing night's Ponyboi, which follows an intersex sex worker on the run from the mob; and Wood (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story) plays a cheerleading coach in Backspot, with Devery Jacobs (Echo) as the squad's newcomer. This year's NFQFF kicks off with Georgian film Crossing, about a teacher looking for her long-lost niece — and, as another of its big titles, boasts Caught by the Tides from Jia Zhangke (Ash Is the Purest White), which premiered at Cannes back in May. If you haven't caught The Devil's Bath on the small screen yet (or even if you have), a big-screen session of the Austrian standout by Goodnight Mommy and The Lodge's Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala is guaranteed stellar viewing. Plus, including supervillain parody The People's Joker, which gives the caped-crusader realm a queer coming-of-age spin, is perfect timing. Another highlight, Scala!!! tells of the London cinema in the same name. The rest of the documentary's moniker is Or, The Incredibly Strange Rise and Fall of the World's Wildest Cinema and How It Influenced a Mixed-up Generation of Weirdos and Misfits, which gives viewers an idea of the kind of tale it's telling — with iconic filmmaker John Waters among its interviewees. NFQFF's 2024 lineup also features not just one retrospective trio, but two. Araki's Totally F***ed Up, The Doom Generation and Nowhere sit on the bill alongside François Ozon's Criminal Lovers, Water Drops on Burning Rocks and Sitcom. New Farm Queer Film Festival returns for 2024 to New Farm Cinemas, 701 Brunswick Street, New Farm, from Thursday, October 3–Sunday, October 13. Head to the festival website for tickets and more details.
Melbourne-born furniture label Jardan now has a new space in which to showcase its covetable designs, this week opening the doors to its stunning Sydney flagship store on Paddington's Oxford Street. IF Architecture — the Melbourne firm responsible for the likes of wine bar Marion, Cutler & Co's recent makeover and Jardan's Melbourne and Brisbane stores — has transformed the two-storey art deco building once home to Ariel Booksellers into a seriously good-looking showroom, where colour reigns supreme. Reflecting Jardan's own 30-year connection with Australian home life, the interiors of the new store pay homage to the country's most influential art and design families, inspired by their iconic interpretations of Sydney's ever-changing colour palette. To that end, expect tones that speak to the vivid blues of Brett Whiteley's Sydney Harbour painting, the oranges, blues and greens synonymous with Louise Olsen and Stephen Ormandy's Dinosaur Designs, and the bold colours favoured by celebrated interior designer Marion Hall Best. The store — which is their first in Sydney — will leave design buffs with their jaw on the floor. Even if you're not in the market for some expensive new designer furniture, if you're in Sydney, it's well worth dropping in for a peek. Jardan's new Sydney flagship store is located at 42 Oxford Street, Paddington. For more info, visit jardan.com.au.
Whether you tuned in the 90s and early 00s as it aired — staying up late in Australia to catch it on free-to-air TV on a weeknight, or taping it to view afterwards — or binged it via DVDs or streaming later, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has never been a television series that audiences watch casually. Jane Schoenbrun and Brigette Lundy-Paine, writer/director of A24 hit I Saw the TV Glow and one of its stars, have both OG fandom and more-recent obsessions covered. Schoenbrun calls the show their "first love", they explain to Concrete Playground. Lundy-Paine only started viewing it for I Saw the TV Glow but misses it now when they're not watching it, they also tell us. Schoenbrun, Lundy-Paine and audiences everywhere have Buffy to thank for a movie that's cast its own glow since its Sundance Film Festival premiere — and across stops at the Berlin International Film Festival, SXSW in Austin, Sydney Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival since, too, before reaching Australian theatres in general release. Earning its praise as an instant trans cinema cult classic, the pair's collaboration doesn't just take inspiration from Schoenbrun's affection for a pop-culture phenomenon about a high schooler that the undead feared. One of the standout films of 2024, and from A24's adored roster of flicks overall, it's the source of all-consuming passions itself, while also contemplating that very topic. With their 2021 debut feature We're All Going to the World's Fair, Schoenbrun has already pondered how screen fixations can help mediate identities. Two movies in, they have a niche — and a pivotal one. Their films examine the space where fandom and pop-culture obsessions overlap with alienation, dissociation and dysphoria. They explore how they filtering who you are through an internet or TV fixation can assist in processing those emotions and states, and aid in unlocking something that you mightn't have had the tools to recognise otherwise. Two features in, Schoenbrun has earned their own adjective as well: their films are positively Schoenbrunian. It isn't just the common themes that mark We're All Going to the World's Fair and I Saw the TV Glow as works from the same inimitable voice, but also a shared dreamlike aesthetic, plus a knack for poetic and revealing dialogue. Watching their movies feels like plunging in, being enveloped and experiencing everything that their characters do; it's no wonder that the filmmaker's fare, especially their sophomore picture, is so easy to obsess over. Where We're All Going to the World's Fair follows a teenage girl making connections through an online horror challenge, with the feature digging into dysphoria along the way, I Saw the TV Glow does indeed have a television show at the centre of its plot. In the 90s, teens Owen (Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves' Justice Smith, plus Let the Right One In's Ian Foreman as the younger version) and Maddy (Lundy-Paine, Atypical) strike up a friendship over the Buffy-meets-Goosebumps style supernatural series The Pink Opaque. The show is their escape from their adolescent reality, and a coping mechanism — one that Owen, especially, didn't know that he needed. It's also where these new friends feel like they finally see their real selves. Then Maddy disappears suddenly, The Pink Opaque is cancelled just as abruptly, and the 00s come calling. I Saw the TV Glow jumps further forward, too, as it uncovers the different ways that Maddy and Owen embrace — or don't — their authentic identities. The parallels with the egg-crack moment, the term used when someone realises that they're trans, are as bright and clear as the light emitted from every screen that bathes the movie's main duo in The Pink Opaque. Schoenbrun is always about showing rather than telling, though, and about viewers stepping into Maddy and Owen's emotional state with them rather than simply being informed about it. Again basking in 90s nostalgia on the big screen after 2020's Bill & Ted Face the Music — where they played Billie Logan, daughter to Keanu Reeves' (John Wick: Chapter 4) Ted — Lundy-Paine was drawn to the raw feeling evident in Schoenbrun's script, as well as their shared perspectives and experiences. We spoke with both Lundy-Paine and Schoenbrun about TV devotions, inspirations, Schoenbrun thematic and stylistic go-tos, telling personal tales, 90s nostalgia and more. On Falling in Love with Buffy the Vampire Slayer — Then and Now Jane: "I was just obsessed. I had other TV obsessions, but Buffy was the biggest one that I'll ever have. When I think back a bit on it, and I mean this quite literally, I think of Buffy as my first love. The amount that I put into that show emotionally, the amount of headspace it took up, each week waiting for the next episode to air, reading about it online — it was just a total obsession. And in many ways, I think — and the film is exploring this as well — it was a coping mechanism, a way for me to express myself in fiction, in a place that felt safe and outside of the quote-unquote real world. How did I fall in love with Buffy? I was flipping channels on the TV in my parents' bedroom, where I would be relegated when they were watching something on the main TV. And I remember coming across a rerun of the episode from the first season called 'The Pack'. It was the summer after the first season aired, and I was like 'I'm watching this show again next week' — and it just developed from there. I'd say by the second season, it was my favourite TV show. And by the third season, I was spending a lot of time with Buffy. I had tapes. I made my own tapes. I had the episode guides. I posted online about it. It really became almost this like space for me to hide and I just loved it so much. I remember when it was ending, thinking 'oh my god, this is like losing family'." Brigette: "I watched up to season five of Buffy before we started [I Saw the TV Glow], and I just totally fell in love with it. I miss it when I'm not watching it now. I fell in love with the community, and the idea that magic was real — that there was no question. I feel like I watched it kind of as Maddy, but I'll always love it as Brigette with the respect of it isn't mine completely, because I didn't watch it when I was young, but I really love it." On How Schoenbrun Obsessing Over Buffy — and Also Admiring Twin Peaks — Inspired I Saw the TV Glow Jane: "I think the experience that the film is trying to talk about — and it's doing this not only in a plot about 90s television, but through the aesthetics and tropes of 90s genre television — is a youth spent in front of the screen. I was a young queer kid growing up in the American suburbs, and the main thing that got me through that, or the main source of romance and mystery and joy in my life in this place where I think I not only couldn't be myself but I wasn't really being given any information to help me understand myself, the main place that I went looking for myself was in the screen. This is ultimately why I think like a show like Buffy or Twin Peaks became an obsession, because it was somewhere where I could catch a flicker of something more mysterious, something more magical. And I do think in many ways this was a queer experience. The movie, I think, talks about this very specific kind of parasocial relationship with fiction about fandom, about obsession, about searching for truth in fiction before you're ready to look inside yourself. And it's doing this using these genre cues that I learned from rewatching my Buffy tapes obsessively. It's a movie about people who love a show like that, but it's also very much a movie that's set in the heightened world of a Buffy or a Twin Peaks or an X-Files." On Lundy-Paine's Equivalent of Buffy or The Pink Opaque Brigette: "I think the first show that I really loved the way that Maddy and Owen loved The Pink Opaque was The OC. I watched it after it had been released, so I would record reruns from the soap channel. But I was really obsessed with the characters, and I felt like they were my friends — and it was the most devastating thing I've experienced when Marissa died in season three." On Making Films About Mediating Our Lives, and Coping with Alienation and Dysphoria, Through Fandom and Pop-Culture Fixations Jane: "I remember feeling like I've always been an artist, and I've always told myself stories and written screenplays or fan fiction, or anything that I could to be creative. It's a need that I have. But I had so much shame for the longest time about what kind of art I could make that would be authentic and not just a rip off of the things that I love, that would speak from a perspective in a place that that was deeply personal, and that could only come from who I was and where I came from. And a lot of that shame was repression. But there was this moment that was sort of in tandem with my coming out and my artistic awakening, where I kind of realised this cheat — which was they say 'write what you know', but what I know is watching. What I know is staring at a screen. And I think I'm enough of a self-reflective person to understand that that experience isn't all good or all bad, but that it is rife with mystery and ambiance and loneliness, and connection and love and sadness. And it can feel scary and alienating. It has political resonance, and it has personal resonance — and it's sort of the thing that we all do that we don't talk about in our art. It mediates our lives so deeply at this point, that in exploring that and not just exploring that from a political perspective but from my own life staring at a screen, and the way that it intertwined with who I was and what I was hiding from in myself, this just became, like I said, a cheat code of sorts to finally unlock my personal voice as an artist. I find the screen as a symbol just very compelling, both thematically and aesthetically, and it's something that I can return to over and over again without repeating myself so far. I find myself just wanting to dig deeper and deeper into that abyss." On Starring in a Movie That Is So Personal and Specific to Its Filmmaker Brigette: "One of the things about Jane that is so exciting is that they're able to communicate these really, really deep experiences and personal feelings in a way that other people feel a part of. I think that was one of the reasons the film was able to get made, was that in meeting after meeting they told their story, and they talked about what it meant for an egg to crack, which is the term of a trans person realising that they're trans. But also for myself, I had been experiencing the same things or very similar things to Jane, and that was one of the things we connected on when we first spoke — and I think one of the reasons that we trusted each other to make this movie together and to be fully vulnerable for it." On How Lundy-Paine Came to Be Involved in I Saw the TV Glow Brigette: "My good friend for a long time, Sam Intill, they sent me the script because they'd met Jane after seeing Jane's first film at Sundance, and they'd come on to produce this second one in its very, very early stages. And Sam connected Jane and I, and Jane and I just got along really, really well right away. We have a very similar sense of humour and experience, our perspectives of what making movies and what Hollywood meant to us — and the rules that we both wanted to break, and the experiences that we both wanted to help convey to the audience. So that was, I think, maybe two years before production. And then it was pretty locked in for Jane and I that we wanted to work together, and it was just a long process of Jane convincing A24 that that I would play the part. I had done a TV show, but I'm not a huge name and I think that was tricky for A24 to believe. But Jane was like 'no, it it has to be us. It has to be me and Brige'. And I was very grateful for that. And I had the script for a long time because of it, so I was able to like get really deep and comfortable with the words." On Lundy-Paine's First Reaction to the Script, What Resonated the Most and What They Saw That They Could Bring to the Film Brigette: "I think I was just so moved by how real it felt — and how it almost felt like mythology. The emotions of it were coming from such a raw place. And I really liked the way that Jane plays with the sort of shallow, cliched teen dialogue and then moves into a realm of almost subconscious communication to explore the actual meanings of what they're talking about. I think I felt the colours of the film really strongly. I felt this blue and pink neon electric sensation, and I also just knew that it was a character that I really wanted to have in my body, and I was really anxious to get to know her. I think I knew that arc very well. If I was different than Maddy myself — but I know, and I really wanted to free myself in the same ways that she did. So I was able to pull from my own angst and fear and love, and obsession with the stories and the worlds that that Maddy finds safety in." On Schoenbrun's Dreamy, Hazy, Like-You're-in-the-Characters'-Heads Aesthetic Jane: "Film as a dream was something that I was really interested in from the earliest stages of thinking about a language as an artist, like the idea of the experience of sitting in a dark room and seeing this thing — the only thing you can see. I had and still have these recurring dreams where I'll be watching something and then all of a sudden I will be inside of it. There were just these repetitions of interest in the process of travelling from watching something to being synonymous with the screen. There's a shot in We're All Going to the World's Fair where we slowly zoom in on a screen until the screen is no longer a screen, and it's our screen. This feels very trance-like to me. This feels like the process of falling asleep or dreaming. It feels very oneiric, and it's just fascinating to me because I think film is a medium so interested in time and space. Another big influence is the experimental film Wavelength, where we spend the entire movie just slowly moving across the room towards a painting. I find it like such a simple reminder of the power of the medium and perspective in the way that the third eye of the screen can help us understand space in a way that our own eyes can't. I just like it. There's a deepness and a mystery to it that I find myself continuing to chip away at. I could speculate about why I'm drawn to it. I read a really great book of queer trans film theory called Shimmering Images — Eliza Steinbock, I believe. I read this after I had made We're All Going to the World's Fair and it was an entire book of theory written about trans people's aesthetic connection to the shimmer, to liminality, to a space that is very transitory in its essence, and that we find some comfort in that space of transitory self because we relate to it. But I think there are so many resonances and so many reasons why I'm fascinated by haze, and by the screen and liminality and lo-fi aesthetics." Brigette: "I had so much fun with it because it's rare to work with a director who has a vision of such specific pacing and tone. And so we would do these scenes with, as I mentioned, sometimes the dialogue almost feels like canned or cliched, but because of Jane's style and the way that they're playing with that type of dialogue, it's about the pace and the rhythm. So we would have rehearsed a lot, but even when we got to set, we would do the scenes too fast. And so Jane had to continuously slow us down and remind us that it was almost as if we were existing in separate universes from each other, Owen and I. And so Jane would say 'this time, do it and don't even expect him to respond'. And I think that brings out some of that eerie, dreamlike quality." On Lundy-Paine's 90s Nostalgia Bent with Bill & Ted and Now I Saw the TV Glow Brigette: "I think it's something that interests me because it's something that activates a real personal and vital process for the directors or for the people who are making these films. I was born in 94, so I didn't experience too much of the 90s, but I obviously understand what it feels like to be nostalgic for, say, 2010. And so I think working on projects that are set in the 90s, it means a lot because it's the childhood, because it's a real place for the people creating these worlds. And also it just feels iconic. I remember I watched like Fight Club and Donnie Darko while we were filming, just randomly, and both times I was like 'I want to make a movie set in the 90s'. And realised 'ohh we are making a movie set in the 90s right now'." I Saw the TV Glow is screening in select Australian cinemas now, after opening on Thursday, August 29, 2024. Images: A24.
BTS ARMY unite: you've got a new must-visit getaway spot, and Airbnb wants to make your dreams a reality. Fancy getting a dream glow because you're holidaying in the dynamite South Korean estate where BTS filmed season two of their reality show In the Soop? Of course you do — and, if you nab the overnight stay, you obviously have permission to dance. The series' second season dropped back in 2021, so if you always have 'Butter', 'Heartbeat' or 'Fake Love' on rotation in your head, you've probably been eyeing off a stay in PyeongChang for a while. Your chance now comes via Airbnb, with the accommodation service adding to its lengthy list of pop culture-themed one-off experiences — which also includes the Bluey house, the Moulin Rouge!, the Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine and The Godfather mansion in the past few months. The idea with this listing: letting two BTS fans relax in the South Korean countryside like their idols did. Even if you're not a diehard devotee, it looks like a mighty luxe place to stay. Clearly, you'll get more out of it if you live, breathe and worship the band, given that it's largely decked out as it was during their time there. That includes some of the furniture seen on the show, so you can kick back with a book like RM, float on a unicorn in the pool like Jin and hit the trampoline like Jung Kook. Also included: a karaoke machine, sound system and all of BTS' songs and albums, right up to their latest record Proof; and a specially catered menu, including charcoal grilled Korean beef and tteokbokki. And, because there's seven BTS members, the one-night stay costs just US$7 — which is just over AU$10 / around NZ$11. Sadly, if you score the booking, you'll just miss out on the best spring day ever, with the trip taking place on August 29. If you're keen to make it right all night and stay gold in the scenic estate, you'll need to try to nab the reservation at 12pm AEST on Tuesday, August 2. As with all Airbnb special listings like this, you need to take care of your own travel costs there and back, including airfares — although this one does cover the round trip by car from KTX PyeongChang station to the BTS In the Soop property. For more information about the BTS In the Soop estate listing on Airbnb, or to apply to book at 12pm AEST on Tuesday, August 2, head to the Airbnb website. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy. Images: Time of Blue.
If your Easter routine usually involves a seafood feast, then you might want to make a date with a certain Kangaroo Point fish 'n' chippery this year — and for the last time before it closes down. From Friday, April 18–Sunday, April 20, 2025, One Fish Two Fish is serving up plenty of the ocean's finest for the occasion, all as part of a $125 four-course meal that starts with seafood platters and remains just as indulgent from there. In the past, One Fish Two Fish has called this yearly feast Great Friday; however, in 2025 it's keeping the specials going for three days. Cue more chances to head along. Those platters are made to share, and come stacked with pacific oysters, Moreton Bay bugs, cooked Mooloolaba prawns, sand crab toast topped with caviar and green-lip mussels. Next, you'll enjoy apple and blackcurrant granita as a palette cleanser, then grilled goldband snapper with fries and garden salad. We've only listed three rounds so far, with the fourth course getting sweet. To wrap things up, you'll be tucking into hot cross bun bread and butter pudding with vanilla ice cream and baked white chocolate crumble. If you're keen to eat in, you'll need to book a spot for one of eight sittings: 11.30am, 2.30pm and 6.30pm on Friday; and 12pm, 2.30pm and 6.30pm on Saturday; and 12pm and 2.30pm on Sunday. A la carte dining is still available if you're keen on a date with One Fish Two Fish, but want to choose your own dishes. There's also a takeaway menu featuring fish 'n' chip fare, complete with a different Easter treat: lobster croissants.
If your mental manilla folder marked 'Yoko Ono' only has that old Simpsons episode in it, read on. For a woman who once inspired so much hate, Yoko Ono has a lot of love to give. Today the 80-year-old is cherished as an artist, musician and peace activist with global influence, but she was, when most first heard of her, Beatles fan enemy number one. She spiked John Lennon's morning English Breakfast with her boho voodoo, they said, and changed the band forever. That's how she was portrayed in that Simpsons ep, too, as the kooky banshee who seduced Barney Rubble away from the barbershop quartet. It's a testament to Yoko's talent, energy and batshit crazy charisma that her legacy transcends that nonpareil historical record. An exhibition of her work is opening next month at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. She's an enigmatic figure, containing multitudes, so here are some facts and figures that might help order your Ono thoughts. She Survived World War II In 1933 Yoko was born into a prosperous family descended from a Japanese emperor. She shuttled between San Francisco and New York as her banker father was transferred, but lived mainly in Tokyo. She was 12 when the city was fired-bombed by the Americans. As many as 130,000 people were killed in two days. I suspect this might be why she doesn't like war so much. She Studied at Sarah Lawrence Like that other eminent feminist Kat from Ten Things I Hate About You, Yoko enrolled at the east coast liberal arts college Sarah Lawrence, studying music. She'd transferred from Tokyo's Gakushuin University, where she was the first woman to enter the philosophy department. It seems she didn't attend many classes though; she was busy writing radical poetry and lying on top of John Cage's piano during his performances in New York. Some of Her Early Artworks Sound Really Cool And some of it sounds crap, but who cares? It was New York in the '60s, what's not to like? John Lennon first met Yoko at a preview of her exhibition in London in 1966. He was taken in by one particular work, in which a ladder leads up to a black canvas on the ceiling; up there was a spyglass on a chain, which revealed the word 'yes' written on the roof, which is great. More recently, she's been installing Wish Trees around the world and inviting visitors to hang wishes, written on little cards, on the trees' branches. It's a bit naff, as evidenced by this note left by Pharrell on the New York installation: "Wishing 4 all who seek to experience the shift of widespread illumination will have the inner stillness to share in the most momentous aspect of the ether." What? Her Honeymoon Was Spent in Bed, Away from War That earnest positivity pulses through most of her pieces, and perhaps none more so than the infamous honeymoon 'Bed-In for Peace'. After they married in Gibraltar, Spain, in 1969, Yoko and Lennon curled up on white fluffy sheets in an airy Amsterdam hotel room and smiled for the cameras. The couple were protesting against the Vietnam War, they told the assembled media, and they thought they could change the world ("start a revolution from [their] bed," is how Oasis put it). The image probably had more artistic impact than political, but that, of course, counts for something. She's still campaigning for peace, on the macro and micro levels; at the MCA exhibition you're invited to write your most honest love letter to your mum. She's a Really, Really Nice Lady, It Seems Asked which artists inspired her today, Yoko gave a big shout out to, well, all artists working today. "I just love anybody that does anything in the art world and the artistic world," she said in an interview. "We just have to keep working and I want everyone in the field to know that we support them." That said, she does single out Lady Gaga for some love. "She has a very lovely bottom," Yoko said of Gaga, after it graced the stage with her. "I think she's wonderful. John would have loved her, because she's an artist, she's fearless and she pushes every limit, which we both always adored. She has played on John's white piano and I think that's wonderful. Life moves on and you embrace it." Yes She Did Design These Pants See you at the merch table at the MCA, boys. Bonus! Just this week Yoko released her hypnotically bizarre and instantly viral music video, 'Bad Dancer', starring her pals the Beastie Boys, Questlove, Ira Glass, Roberta Flack, Cibo Matto and more. One more life achievement down. https://youtube.com/watch?v=d3mvEfON2CI War Is Over! (If you want it), an exhibition of Yoko's work across multiple disciplines, will be on at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art Australia from November 15, 2013, to February 23, 2014. The artist herself will also be present.
If you've been walking around Sydney in the last week, you may have noticed the fancy new plaques at most street crossings. But what you probably didn't know is that these signs now make up the most comprehensive network of braille and tactile signs in the world. That's right: the entire world. Thanks to the major effort by Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, the signs were officially launched on Monday, July 4, with more than 2100 braille and raised-letter signs installed at pedestrian crossings in the city. The aluminium panels, which denote street names and building numbers, have been placed next to push buttons at crossing areas. These plaques improve signage and accessibility for the blind and vision impaired, and will allow them to navigate the city streets much more easily. A champion for the vision impaired, Moore is aiming to make Sydney more accessible for both locals and tourists. "The signs make it easier and safer for people who are blind or have low vision to use their city — to have the freedom and the independence of movement that most of us can take for granted," she told Concrete Playground. Basically, she rules. Both Vision Australia and Guide Dogs NSW/ACT are giving this act two thumbs way up and were integral in the program launch. "The design and installation arose from extensive consultation with the community and on-site testing with Guide Dogs NSW/ACT and Vision Australia," says Moore. "My sincere thanks to them for their help in this significant step towards an even more open and inclusive city." Making sure Sydney is accessible to the vision impaired is becoming increasingly important by the year — it is estimated that around 100,000 people suffer from non-correctable vision loss in NSW alone, and that number is predicted to increase by more than 20 percent by 2020. We've been truly impressed with Sydney's initiatives of late – like the fact that we're getting our own entrepreneur school and a permanent School of Life. This new braille network is a massive leap forward for the city's planning and an overall ace move. Nice one, Sydney. Image: Clover Moore via Instagram.
If you like beer and you live in Brisbane, then you've probably noticed a trend in recent years. In fact, you've probably been making the most of it. That's to be expected when a certain patch of turf starts welcoming new drinking spots with frequency. Thanks to Ballistic Beer Co and Hiker Brewing Co in Salisbury, as well as Helios Brewing Company and Slipstream Brewing Company in Yeerongpilly, there's no shortage of breweries to have a beer at on the southside. And, while you've likely been hopping between them all anyway, Beermuda gives the area's boozy crawl an official spin. Head to any of the quartet from 1pm on Saturday, March 29, 2025, get sipping, then catch a courtesy bus to the other three — and drink more frothy ales at each, obviously. Entry is free, and there'll also be food and live music at each brewery. Plus, you'll be able to just generally soak in the boozy Salisbury and Yeerongpilly vibes. If you remember the event from previous years, you'll know that it was originally called Beermuda Triangle — taking inspiration from the Bermuda Triangle, of course — but when Hiker Brewing joined in 2023, there was no longer just three venues on the route. Buses run from 1–7pm, starting at Helios, then hitting Slipstream, Hiker and Ballistic, then repeating. Beer-wise, there'll be more than 60 brews on offer — and each venue is doing its own thing with food and entertainment.
If you're lucky enough to score tickets to Meredith Music Festival in any year via the event's ballot, one of Australia's best fests awaits no matter the lineup. 2025's roster of acts is characteristically impressive, however. On the just-dropped bill: TV on the Radio, Atarashii Gakko! and Perfume Genius, for starters, as well as Thee Sacred Souls, Pa Salieu, HAAi, Bar Italia, Colin Hay and Mildlife. And, there's still more where the came from. Folk Bitch Trio, Saya Gray, RONA. and Omar Souleyman are on the lineup, too. So are Dames Brown, Radio Free Alice, Sam Austins RP Boo, Wax'o Paradiso, Florist and Jack J. Add in Drifting Clouds, Dr Sure's Unusual Practice, Central Australian Aboriginal Women's Choir, Mouseatouille, Brown Spirits and Lazy Susan on MC duties, and expect a jam-packed three days across Friday, December 5–Sunday, December 7, 2025. [caption id="attachment_1017126" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sumner Dilworth[/caption] How is the fest crew describing this year's event? "One of the best places on earth to spend a weekend, the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre has been natured and nurtured and then natured again, for the singular purpose of hosting the time of your life," organisers advise. So, expect "a permanent and purpose-built underground wunderland that provides optimal conditions for rarefied reverie", as well as to get "lost in music, lost in one another, for three days and two nights of Sup'ed up saucery". 2025 marks the beloved festival's 33rd year, with this three-decade-plus tradition taking over its namesake Victorian locale to kick off summer. The first round of the ticket ballot for the three-day BYO camping festival opened in July and ended on Monday, August 11, 2025, but you still have a chance to enter. The second round is now open, and you've got until 10.33pm AEST on Tuesday, August 19, 2025 to put your name in. So, book that long weekend, go in the running for tickets, then cross your fingers that you'll be spending a trio of days at The Sup with Tunde Adebimpe and company. [caption id="attachment_1017128" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cody Critcheloe[/caption] Meredith Music Festival 2025 Lineup TV on the Radio Atarashii Gakko! Perfume Genius Thee Sacred Souls Pa Salieu HAAi Bar Italia Colin Hay Mildlife Folk Bitch Trio Saya Gray RONA. Omar Souleyman Dames Brown Radio Free Alice Sam Austins RP Boo Wax'o Paradiso Florist Jack J Drifting Clouds Dr Sure's Unusual Practice Central Australian Aboriginal Women's Choir Mouseatouille Brown Spirits Lazy Susan Meredith Music Festival returns to Meredith from Friday, December 5–Sunday, December 7, 2025. To put your name in the second round of the ballot to get your hands on tickets, head to the festival's website before 10.33pm AEST on Tuesday, August 19. Meredith Music Festival images: Chip Mooney, Leah Hulst, Ben Fletcher, Chelsea King and Steve Benn.
"The bear, it fucking did cocaine. A bear did cocaine!" That's it, that's Cocaine Bear. This based-on-a-true-story caper's title really does say it all, and those understandably concerned words in the trailer sum it up perfectly, too. Meet one of 2023's instant must-sees, complete with a ridiculously entertaining sneak peek that utterly perfects the mood a bear doing cocaine deserves. "Apex predator. High on cocaine. Out of its mind." There's another way to sum up this 80s-set flick, which does indeed follow the chaos that ensues when an American black bear unwittingly ingests a hefty package of cocaine in a Georgia forest. Everyone's exclaiming things in response, really — adults, kids, cops and drug dealers in the trailer, and you while you're watching. "It kind of seems like a thing that stays with a man forever," the sneak peek tells us. It's not wrong. Cocaine Bear marks the third feature stint behind the lens by Call Jane actor Elizabeth Banks, after previously directing Pitch Perfect 2 and Charlie's Angels. And yes, the story behind it very much happened back in 1985, after a drug-running plane crashed. Forget Yogi Bear and his penchant for picnic baskets — this growling 500-pound critter is doing blow, then seeking blood. Among those screaming on-screen about a bear doing coke: a stacked cast featuring Keri Russell (Antlers), O'Shea Jackson Jr (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story) and Margo Martindale (The Watcher), and also including Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family), Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project) and Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones). Cocaine Bear also marks one of the last films starring the late, great Ray Liotta (The Many Saints of Newark) — and if there's ever been a time for Isiah Whitlock Jr (Da 5 Bloods) to bust out one of his famous "sheeeeeeeit"s, this is it. Cinemagoers Down Under can see the results in February, in what looks like a jaw-on-the-floor kind of good time — from the trailer and the whole 'bear does cocaine' concept, at least. Until then, the film's sneak peak is the wildest thing you'll see all day. Watching it more than once comes with the territory. Check out the trailer for Cocaine Bear below: Cocaine Bear releases in cinemas Down Under on February 23, 2023.
You don’t call a movie 10 Cloverfield Lane without trying to get your audience guessing. With JJ Abrams in the producer's chair, there's an immediate game afoot. Just how will it connect to Cloverfield, the 2008 found footage creature feature he was also involved in? That's just one of the questions the movie inspires, though in truth it might be the least interesting. Given that the film spends the bulk of its time in a bunker with a suspicious Mary Elizabeth Winstead and a possibly hostile John Goodman hiding from what may or may not be an apocalyptic attack, there are plenty of other things to contemplate. Here's two: is Howard (Goodman) telling the truth when he tells Michelle (Winstead) that he's keeping her underground for her own safety? Or is the paranoid doomsday fanatic using his survivalist obsession for more nefarious means? When an accident brings the two together, Michelle can't help doubting Howard's true motives after she wakes up injured, semi-clad and chained to the wall. He spins a story about global devastation, which fellow cellar dweller Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.) backs up. However, even when the trio settles into a tentative routine of dinners and board games, she can't shake the feeling that something isn't right. Indeed, Michelle might pretend otherwise — and prove determined and resourceful when needed — but there's no mistaking her anxiety and uncertainty. Those emotions aren't hers alone, with 10 Cloverfield Lane forcing viewers to share in her uneasiness. Hiding as much as they make plain, first-time director Dan Trachtenberg and writers Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken and Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) sustain a pressure-cooker atmosphere and an air of mystery. Through canny camera placement, fine-tuned framing, savvy editing, a foreboding score and a willingness to take its time, the claustrophobic thriller has great fun teasing its audience. Maintaining a balance of playfulness and suspense also helps counter any similarities to Room or even The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt — and while shades of everything from Psycho to War of the Worlds are also evident, the film's path is its own. Forget the shaky visuals and sprawling nature of its predecessor, too. In an effort Abrams has labelled a "spiritual successor" to Cloverfield rather than a sequel, the images are stable, the focus tight and confined, and the menace more psychological than monstrous. Of course, Goodman ensures the threat of physical terror never quite dissipates, in his most substantial role in years. His richly textured performance is only one part of the on-screen equation though, with Winstead's reactions equally as precise and persuasive. Watching the two face off over what's going on and why they're there — with a mostly affable Gallagher in the middle — makes it easy to forget that there's the bigger puzzle of the feature's name to ponder. They're so effective, as is the film in keeping the mood tense and the surprises coming, that 10 Cloverfield Lane proves gripping irrespective of any monster movie ties.
Back in simpler times, say about 30 years ago, it felt like every special occasion was topped off with a slice of Viennetta. Call it nostalgia, but this frozen treat seemed like the height of culinary indulgence, at least compared to the usual scoop of the most generic Neapolitan ice cream imaginable. However, things have changed in the world of dessert, especially since serious ice creameries like Gelato Messina hit the big time. Now that most of us have somewhat higher expectations when it comes to rounding out our meals, inspired creations like the Milo Messinetta offer a throwback bite with a lot more quality. Conceived as the ultimate Aussie summer dessert — and playing on the once-loved Viennetta — the experts at Messina have teamed up with the malt-based favourite to serve a reimagined frozen dessert featuring Milo gelato layered with Milo fudge and chunks of baked Milo cheesecake, finished with Milo crème chantilly. As malty as it sounds, the Milo Messinetta is available for pre-order online from Tuesday, October 14, or for pick up in stores from Friday, October 17–Sunday, October 19. For those seeking even more Messina-Milo goodness, the crew has also whipped up a decadent Milo Dinosaur Sundae for its Keng Eng Kee collaboration.
Not every film that wins an Oscar, earns a nomination for Hollywood's night of nights or gets selected by its country to go in the running for the coveted accolades makes it to cinemas Down Under beyond festivals. A movie can have international fests buzzing as well, yet still bypass a big-screen release in Australia. That's the fate for plenty of features; however, gone are the days when skipping a date with picture palaces was a sign of a bad movie. The streaming era means that a new flick is always dropping on one of the many platforms that are available to Aussie audiences. While they can't all be excellent, that's no different to what does make it to the silver screen. The gems that go straight to home viewing are up there with the gems that do get the movie-theatre treatment — as the highlights from January–June 2024 make clear. There are indeed Academy Award-winners on this list, as well as nominees. Films that'll compete next year, festival favourites, movies with big-name stars or from high-profile directors: they all feature as well. If you haven't caught them on the couch already alongside fellow straight-to-streaming standouts from 2024's first six months, take this as your motivation, whether you're after shattering documentaries, truth-is-stranger-than-fiction comedies, affecting dramas, gorgeous animation or plenty of horror. 20 Days in Mariupol Incompatible with life. No one should ever want to hear those three devastating words. No one who is told one of the most distressing phrases there is ever has them uttered their way in positive circumstances, either. Accordingly, when they're spoken by a doctor in 2024 Oscar-winner 20 Days in Mariupol, they're deeply shattering. So is everything in this on-the-ground portrait of the first 20 days in the Ukrainian port city as Russia began its invasion, with the bleak reality of living in a war zone documented in harrowing detail. Located less than 60 kilometres from the border, Mariupol quickly segues from ordinary life to an apocalyptic scene — and this film refuses to look away. Much of its time is spent in and around hospitals, which see an influx of patients injured and killed by the combat, and also become targets as well. Many of in 20 Days in Mariupol's faces are the afflicted, the medics tending to them in horrendous circumstances, and the loves ones that are understandably inconsolable. Too many of the carnage's victims are children and babies, with their parents crushed and heartbroken in the aftermath; sometimes, they're pregnant women. Directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mstyslav Chernov, and narrated by him with the grimness and soberness that can be this movie's only tone, 20 Days in Mariupol even existing is an achievement. What it depicts — what it immerses viewers in with urgency, from shelled hospitals, basements-turned-bomb shelters and more of the city destroyed day after day to families torn apart, looting, struggling to find food and bodies of the dead taken to mass graves — needs to be viewed as widely as possible, and constantly. His footage has also featured in news reports, but it can and must never be forgotten. Doctors mid-surgery demand that Chernov's camera is pointed their way, and that he shows the world the travesties taking place. The Ukrainian reporter, who has also covered Donbas, flight MH17, Syria and the Battle of Mosul for the Associated Press, does exactly that. He's doing more than ensuring that everyone bears witness, though; he makes certain that there's no way to watch 20 Days in Mariupol, which shows the vast civilian impact and casualties, and see anything but ordinary people suffering, or to feel anything other than shock, anger and horror. 20 Days in Mariupol streams via DocPlay. Society of the Snow It was meant to be a fun trip to Chile with friends and family for a game. When the Old Christians Club rugby union team boarded Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 in Montevideo on October 13, 1972, destination Santiago, no one among them knew what would happen next. The plane didn't make it to its destination, as 1976 Mexican film Survive!, 1993 American movie Alive and now Spanish-US co-production Society of the Snow each cover. All three features boast apt titles, but only the latest sums up the grim reality and existential dilemma of crashing in the Andes, being stranded for 72 days in snowy climes with little resources against the weather — or for sustenance — and attempting to endure. Taken from the memoir by Pablo Vierci, aka La sociedad de la nieve in Spanish, only this phrase adorning JA Bayona's (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) picture encapsulates the tremendous effort that it took to find a way to persist, as well as the fact that trying to remain alive long enough to be rescued meant adapting everything about how the survivors approached each second, minute, hour, day, week and month — and also links in with how a catastrophe like this banded them together, doing whatever it took to find a way off the mountains, while reshaping how they contemplated what it meant to be human. Society of the Snow isn't just a disaster film detailing the specifics of the flight's failed trip, the immediate deaths and those that came afterwards, the lengthy wait to be found — including after authorities called the search off — and the crushing decisions made to get through. Bayona, who also helmed the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami-focused The Impossible, has made a weighty feature that reckons with the emotional, psychological and spiritual toll, and doesn't think of shying away from the most difficult aspects of this real-life situation (including cannibalism). This is both gruelling and meaningful viewing, as crafted with technical mastery (especially by Don't Breathe 2 cinematographer Pedro Luque, plus Cinco lobitos' Andrés Gil and Cites' Jaume Martí as editors), built upon brutal candour, and paying tribute to resilience and then some. Its feats extend to its hauntingly acted performances from a cast that includes Enzo Vogrincic (El Presidente), Agustín Pardella (Secrets of Summer) and Matías Recalt (Planners), all contributing to an account of camaraderie and sacrifice that deserves its Best International Feature Film Oscar nomination. Society of the Snow streams via Netflix. The Devil's Bath Suspense and tension, how to cultivate such a strong atmosphere of unease that it feels as if it drips from the screen, the darker side of human nature, sheer existential exasperation: writer/directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala know these things. The Austrian filmmakers are just as well-aware of how to make movies that crawl under your skin as much as distress does with their characters. For that sensation at its very best, see: Goodnight Mommy, their Oscar-submitted 2014 debut (which was then remade in America in 2022). The Devil's Bath earns the same description, too. The duo's first feature since 2019's Riley Keough (Under the Bridge)-starring English-language horror flick The Lodge, it needles deep as it follows new bride Agnes (Anja Plaschg, Axolotl Overkill), who is thrilled to be starting her married life to Wolf (David Scheig, Heribet), even if that joy doesn't seem completely reciprocated. Relationship disharmony bubbles at the heart of this 18th century-set film, but that's not the only force bearing down on a woman that no longer has any agency — and, soon, little hope left simmering as well. Franz and Fiala begin The Devil's Bath with a different scene of domestic struggle. They haunt their viewers from the outset, too. First up, a woman throws a baby over a waterfall, then turns herself in for punishment, knowing that she'll meet her end via decapitation. With that scene as a prologue, it hardly appears strange that Agnes is thrilled to receive a severed finger as a wedding gift — a digit that's meant to bring luck for starting a family. But nothing in the way of good fortunes spring when she's soon away from her other loved ones, left alone in a woodland cottage as Wolf works by day, stuck navigating his disinterest in the bedroom each evening and frowned upon constantly by her new mother-in-law (Maria Hofstätter, Andrea Gets a Divorce). There's history to Franz and Fiala's screenplay, which draws upon real events, and the mood of despair that seeps from returning Goodnight Mommy cinematographer Martin Gschlacht's grey-toned frames sports a can-only-be-true bite to it. There's little sunshine shed on the imagery, or on the way that people treat each other — and there's even more terror in realising that the lines between this arresting picture's vision of the past, even as set within a deeply superstitious and puritanical community, and today are far from faint. The Devil's Bath streams via Shudder and AMC+. Hit Man The feeling that Glen Powell should star in everything didn't start with Top Gun: Maverick and Anyone But You. Writer/director Richard Linklater (Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood) has helped the notion bubble up before as early back as 2006's Fast Food Nation, then with 2016's Everybody Wants Some!! — and now he riffs on it with Hit Man. When viewers want an actor to feature everywhere, they want to see them step into all sorts of shoes but bring their innate talents and charm each time. So, Linklater enlists Powell as Gary Johnson, a real-life University of New Orleans professor who wouldn't be earning the movie treatment if he didn't also moonlight as a undercover police operative with a specific remit: playing hitmen with folks looking to pay someone to commit murder, sting-style. Johnson doesn't just give the gig the one-size-fits-all approach, though. Once he gets confidence in the job, he's dedicated to affording every target their own personal vision of their dream assassin. So, Powell gets to be a polo shirt-wearing nice guy, a long-haired master criminal, a besuited all-business type and more, including the suave smooth-talker Ron, the persona he adopts when Madison Figueroa Masters (Adria Arjona, Andor) thinks about offing her odious husband. Hit Man is as a screwball rom-com-meets-sunlit film noir, and an excellent one, as well as a feature based on a situation so wild that it can only stem from fact. Alongside charting Gary's exploits in the position and the murkiness of falling for Madison as Ron, it's also an acceptance that the kind of darkness and desperation needed for a person to want to hire a stranger to kill to make their life better isn't a rarity — if it was, Gary's services wouldn't have been needed. Linklater has been in comparably blackly comic but also clear-eyed territory before with Bernie, the past entry on his resume that Hit Man best resembles. The also-ace 2011 Jack Black (Kung Fu Panda 4)-led picture similarly told a true tale, and also sprang from an article by journalist Skip Hollandsworth. This time, Linklater penned the script with Powell instead of Hollandsworth, but the result is another black-comedy delight brimming with insight. Hit Man is a movie about finding one's identity, too, and Powell keeps showing that he's found his: a charismatic lead who anchors one of the most-entertaining flicks of the year. Hit Man streams via Netflix. Frida For almost a century, the art-loving world has peered at Frida Kahlo. Her self-portraits have stared steadfastly back. You can glean much about a person from how they commit their own likeness to canvas; whether donning a velvet dress, reclining in a hospital bed, standing between curtains, sitting opposite herself, or accompanied by a black cat and a monkey, Kahlo was unflinching. Exhibitions have adored her work, whether she's taking centre stage in her paintings or not, for decades upon decades. Creatives in other mediums have shown the same affection, be it via books (1983's Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo), biopics (2002's Frida, with Black Mirror's Salma Hayek as the artist; before that, 1983's Frida Still Life), operas (as first hit the stage in 1991) or ballets (Broken Wings debuted in 2016). 2024's Frida brings Kahlo back to the screen with a new approach that she'd surely approve of: making her directorial debut with this portrait of the iconic Mexican painter, editor-turned-director Carla Gutierrez (who spliced fellow biodocs RBG and Julia) lets her subject speak for herself and her own complexity. Actor Fernanda Echevarría (Ella Camina Sola) actually does the talking, because the treasure trove of materials that Gutierrez has gained access to — illustrated diaries, essays and letters, photos and footage, plus interview transcripts by Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo's Hayden Herrera — doesn't include Kahlo's voice. But the impact remains: this is Kahlo as she saw herself and as she was herself, as she always fought to convey when she was living. Drawing upon Kahlo's art, Gutierrez also uses animation by Sofía Inés Cázares (Daughter From Another Mother) and Renata Galindo (A la mala) to accompany Kahlo narrating her childhood, her medical studies, her life-changing accident at the age of 18, her marriage to fellow artist Diego Rivera, her other romantic liaisons, and her thoughts about all of the above and more. It's an inspired touch, and not just in breaking up the black-and-white archival visuals with dances of colour. Seven decades since her death in 1954, Kahlo still feels alive in her work, but the latest raw, rich and deeply resonant documentary to pay tribute to her finds its own way to express and honour that sensation. Frida streams via Prime Video. American Fiction Here's Thelonious 'Monk' Ellison's (Jeffrey Wright, Rustin) predicament when American Fiction begins: on the page, his talents aren't selling books. Praise comes the Los Angeles-based professor's way for his novels, but not sales, nor attendees when he's part of writers' festival panels. And even then, publishers aren't fond of his latest manuscript. Sick of hearing that his work isn't "Black enough", and also incensed over the attention that fellow scribe Sintara Golden (Issa Rae, Barbie) is receiving for her book We's Lives in Da Ghetto, he gets a-typing, pumping out the kind of text that he vehemently hates — but 100-percent fits the stereotype of what the world keeps telling him that Black literature should be. It attracts interest, even more so when Monk takes his agent Arthur's (John Ortiz, Better Things) advice and adopts a new persona to go with it. Soon fugitive convict Stagg R Leigh and his book Fuck are a huge hit that no one can get enough of. Because of the story spun around who wrote the bestseller, too, the FBI even wants to know the author's whereabouts. Deservedly nominated for five 2024 Oscars — including for Best Picture, Best Actor for Wright and Best Supporting Actor for Sterling K Brown (Biosphere) as Monk's brother Clifford — American Fiction itself hails from the page, with filmmaker Cord Jefferson adapting Percival Everett's 2001 novel Erasure. Wright is indeed exceptional in this savvy satire of authenticity, US race relations and class chasms, and earns his awards contention for his reactions alone. Seeing how Monk adjusts himself to a world that keeps proving anything but his dream is an utter acting masterclass, in big and small moments alike. As the film dives into the character's personal chaos, that's where Brown's also-fantastic, often-tender performance comes in, plus Leslie Uggams (Extrapolations) as Monk's mother and Tracee Ellis Ross (Candy Cane Lane) as his sister, and also Erika Alexander (Run the World) as a neighbour who is a fan of his — not just Stagg R Leigh's — work. Don't discount how excellent American Fiction is beyond its literary hoax setup, in fact; as a character study, it's equally astute. American Fiction streams via Prime Video. Fancy Dance Lily Gladstone might've won the Golden Globe but not the Oscar for Killers of the Flower Moon, but her exceptional resume shows every sign of more awards coming her way. Fancy Dance, the other movie to join her filmography in 2023 — it premiered at Sundance that year, but only makes its way to streaming worldwide now — is yet another example of how the Certain Women and First Cow star is one of the very-best actors working right now. Where Gladstone's time in front of Martin Scorsese's lens showcased her mastery of restraint, playing an aunt trying to do what's best for her niece and a sister searching for her absent sibling benefits from her equal command of looseness. Jax, her character, is a pinball. When she bounces in any direction, it's with force and purpose as well as liveliness and determination, but the choice of where she's heading is rarely her own. All she wants is to find Tawi (debutant Hauli Sioux Gray) and protect 13-year-old Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson, Three Pines), but set against the reality that law enforcement mightn't look as enthusiastically for a missing Indigenous woman — or treat one with a record attempting to do right be her family with consideration — that's far from an easy task. Writer/director Erica Tremblay hails from the Seneca–Cayuga Nation, where much of Fancy Dance is set. As Gladstone is, she's also an alum of Reservation Dogs — including helming two episodes — and so is experienced at depicting everyday reservation life with authenticity. Accordingly, her first fictional feature after documentaries Heartland: A Portrait of Survival and In the Turn takes a social-realistic approach in its details, especially when it's simply surveying the space and empathy that First Nations versus white Americans aren't given. Because Jax has a criminal history, child services deems her unfit to look after Roki, or even to take the teen to the powwow where the girl is certain her mum will attend to again steal the show in the mother-daughter dance competition; instead, Jax's white father (Shea Whigham, Lawmen: Bass Reeves) and stepmother (Audrey Wasilewski, Ted) are their choice of guardians. Fancy Dance's protagonist isn't one to simply acquiesce to that decision, and Gladstone makes both her fire and her pain palpable — and her tenderness for Roki, who is weightily portrayed by her Under the Bridge co-star Deroy-Olson, as well. Fancy Dance streams via Apple TV+. Infested For those firmly of the idea that there's no new stories in horror, just fresh takes on well-established sources of fear, Infested isn't here to change minds. Rather, the French movie is the latest poster child for what looking at a tried-and-tested concept anew can do, including while pairing it with up-to-the-moment social commentary. The genre staple here: spiders. When writer/director Sébastien Vanicek begins his feature debut — which he co-scripts with Florent Bernard (Meet the Leroys) — it's with a specific breed of the venomous eight-legged scurrying nightmares unearthed, literally, in a Middle Eastern desert. Within moments of emerging from the earth, the critters make the smugglers that are attempting to capture them pay. Horror fans should clock that Infested nods to classic ways to kickstart a scary flick from the outset, then, bringing The Exorcist's opening scene to mind. Prayer won't help the Parisian banlieue residents soon fighting arachnids for their lives, however, after Kaleb (Théo Christine, Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story) innocently purchases a new addition to his bedroom menagerie of exotic pets from a local convenience store. As he disagrees with his sister Manon (feature first-timer Lisa Nyarko) about selling the apartment that they've inherited from their mother, grapples with his grief, trades in sneakers to his neighbours to stump up a buck and is faced with small-minded prejudice just by stepping outside his door, what happens when Kaleb soon has a spider (and quickly, more than one) to track down? The critter he calls Rihanna was always going to escape, so havoc unsurprisingly eventuates. That's not to say that Infested goes through the motions. With energy and style as well as needling suspense, Vanicek makes a creature-feature equivalent of British alien-invasion gem Attack the Block, with shades of Les Misérables — the 2019 crime-thriller, not Victor Hugo-penned tale — and 2022's fellow standout Athena. He also gets his audience squirming. He filters his recognisable setup through welcome eyes. He knows how to make a heightened situation feel real to the deep distress of arachnophobics, and to get terror and tension scuttling through veins. And, he ensures that desperately rallying against forces that won't let you escape, in a setting that embodies that exact notion, proves both urgent and immediate. Infested streams via Shudder and AMC+. Stopmotion One of the most-haunting performances in Australian cinema belongs to Irish Italian actor Aisling Franciosi. She's acted in The Fall and Game of Thrones, I Know This Much Is True and Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter, and Jimmy's Hall and the upcoming Speak No Evil remake before and since, but her deservedly AACTA Award-winning work in The Nightingale — the second feature from The Babadook's Jennifer Kent, which follows a former convict's quest for revenge against a British officer in 1820s Tasmania — is stunning, searing and unforgettable. Also stellar half a decade later: Franciosi's turn in Stopmotion, which hails from the UK, has her playing the daughter of an animation genius and again tasks the immensely talented actor with confronting trauma. It's the product of a filmmaker in Robert Morgan with an uncompromising vision, too, with the English writer/director making his feature debut almost a decade after helming the D Is for Deloused segment in The ABCs of Death 2 with a movie that's never afraid to commit to its eerie chills, psychological thrills and macabre sense of wonder. Franciosi's Ella Blake has spent her entire life being told that her mother Suzanne (Stella Gonet, Breeders) is an unparalleled master at making the dead appear alive — because that's one way to see Stopmotion's eponymous art form. She's also spent much of her existence assisting rather than pursuing her own dreams, including after arthritis robs her mum of being able to use her hands to craft the exacting movements that their chosen medium requires. When the film begins, overwork has Ella fraying. Emotional cruelty has her internally raging, although she won't admit it. Suzanne has a project to finish, demanding her daughter's utmost commitment. When tragedy compounds her stress, Ella escapes into own creative vision instead, conjuring up a twisted fairy tale aided by a girl (Caoilinn Springall, The Midnight Sky) from an apartment neighbouring her new makeshift studio. Saying what Morgan unleashes from there is inventive, powerful and extraordinary — in live-action and animation alike — is an understatement. Stopmotion streams via Shudder and AMC+. Lumberjack the Monster Spanning big-screen releases, TV and straight-to-video fare, Takashi Miike has notched up 115 directorial credits in the 33 years since making his helming debut. Lumberjack the Monster isn't even the latest — it premiered at film festivals in 2023, which means that miniseries Onimusha and short Midnight have popped up since — but it is Miike back in horror mode, where 1999's Audition and 2001's Ichi the Killer famously dwelled. Here, the inimitable Japanese filmmaker and screenwriter Hiroyoshi Koiwai (Way to Find the Best Life) adapt the eponymous 2019 Mayusuke Kurai novel. Its namesake character also exists on the page in the movie itself, in a picture book. This is a serial-killer picture, though, and with more than one person taking multiple lives. A mass murderer wearing a bag over their head and swinging an axe is on a rampage, and lawyer Akira (Kazuya Kamenashi, Destiny) and surgeon Sugitani (Shôta Sometani, Sanctuary) aren't averse to dispensing death themselves. A clash is inevitable, not that the slick Akira expects it, or that his costumed attacker anticipates that their current target will survive his blade, sparking a cat-and-mouse game. Lumberjack the Monster doesn't just weave in fantasy boogeyman stories, offings upon offings, and characters with dark impulses going head to head. The police are on the case, giving the film a procedural layer, as well as Akira motivation to hunt down his assailant first. Science fiction also washes through, with brain-implanted chips and modifying human behaviour both for worse and for better part of the narrative. There's also a moral-redemption element weaved in. Consequently, it's no wonder that this tale is Miike joint. As well as being prolific, Miike loves making his resume the ultimate mashup. To name just a few examples, see: the yakuza action of Dead or Alive, superhero comedy Zebraman, titular genre of Sukiyaki Western Django, samurai efforts 13 Assassins and Blade of the Immortal, period drama Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, video-game adaptation Ace Attorney, romance For Love's Sake, thriller Lesson of the Evil, vampire movie Yakuza Apocalypse and the crime-driven First Love. Unsurprisingly, Lumberjack the Monster is specifically the engrossing — and bloodily violent — Frankenstein's monster of a flick that Miike was always going to relish making when splicing together such an array of elements came his way. Lumberjack the Monster streams via Netflix. The Kitchen He has an Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe for Judas and the Black Messiah. He was nominated for all of the above accolades for Get Out, and should've won them all then, too. His resume spans Skins, one of Black Mirror's most-memorable episodes, plus Sicario, Widows, Black Panther, Queen & Slim and Nope as well. But The Kitchen marks a first for Daniel Kaluuya: his first movie as a director. Hopefully more will follow. Co-helming with Kibwe Tavares — who also notches up his feature debut behind the lens after shorts including Jonah and Robot & Scarecrow, which both starred Kaluuya — and co-penning the screenplay with Calm with Horses' Joe Murtagh, the actor makes a stunning arrival as a filmmaker. The Kitchen's setup: in the year 2044 in London, with class clashes so pronounced that not being rich is basically treated as a crime, a man (Top Boy's Kane Robinson, aka rapper Kano) living in the titular housing development crosses paths with a 12-year-old boy (newcomer Jedaiah Bannerman) who has just lost his mother, with the pair discovering that they have no one but each other as they endeavour to find a way to survive. Robinson's Izy has bought into the social-climbing dream when The Kitchen begins. He'll do so literally if he can come up with the cash for an apartment in a swankier tower away from everything he's ever known within 21 days, a dream that he's been working towards at his job selling funerals. It's at the latter that he meets Bannerman's Benji, who has nowhere to live after his mother's death and no one else to turn to for help. The film's scenario is pure dystopia, reflecting the inequities, oppressions and realities of today as all great sci-fi should. Its intimate emotional core hones in on people attempting to persist and connect, as the genre's best always does as well. Accordingly, this is an impassioned and infuriated portrait of society's gaps as everyone watching can recognise, a nightmarish vision of what might come and a thoughtful character study. As directors, Kaluuya and Tavares excel at world-building, at bringing such rich detail and texture to the screen that viewers feel like they could step straight into its social realist-leaning frames, and at guiding affecting performances out of both Robinson and Bannerman (who adds to the feature's impressive first efforts). The Kitchen streams via Netflix. Orion and the Dark Learning to face life's chaos, or even just recognising that life is chaos, has a particular term when Charlie Kaufman is making movies and audiences do the confronting. Describing something as Kaufmanesque sprang from the screenwriter and filmmaker's stunning run at the end of the 90s and beginning of the 00s — the Spike Jonze (Her)-helmed Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, plus the Michel Gondry (Microbe & Gasoline)-directed Human Nature and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — and it's stuck ever since. Joining the trio of Synecdoche, New York, Anomalisa and I'm Thinking of Ending Things as well, all three of which he penned plus helmed, is new family-friendly animation Orion and the Dark. A Kaufmanesque kid-appropriate flick? It exists, and it's wonderful. Feature first-timer Sean Charmatz (TV movie Trolls Holiday in Harmony) directs, and Emma Yarlett's 2014 children's book provides the source material; however, this account of a boy afraid of the dark who then meets the literal Dark (voiced by The Afterparty's Paul Walter Hauser) is a Kaufman affair through and through. Also, iconic German filmmaker — and one-time Parks and Recreation star — Werner Herzog (The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft) pops up. Loaned the vocal tones of Jacob Tremblay (The Little Mermaid) as a child and Colin Hanks (The Offer) as an adult, Orion is petrified of sleeping without the lights on. And, just like the kids in Monsters, Inc that are scared of creatures in their cupboards, Orion and the Dark's protagonist is frightened of something real. Dark exists and, alongside Orion's parents (The Fall of the House of Usher's Carla Gugino and Bull's Matt Dellapina), is exasperated by the boy's response to nighttime. He can't help taking it personally, in fact, then offers to assist. For one 24-hour period, as darkness falls around the world, he gets Orion to accompany him on his travels with friends Sleep (Natasia Demetriou, What We Do in the Shadows), Insomnia (Nat Faxon, Our Flag Means Death), Quiet (Aparna Nancherla, The Great North), Unexplained Noises (Golda Rosheuvel, Bridgerton) and Sweet Dreams (Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) to demonstrate that being distressed is unfounded. It isn't just Herzog's involvement and a joke about David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest that prove that this is a movie as much for adults as kids; amid its gorgeous animation, its understanding of existential dread is also that astute. Orion and the Dark streams via Netflix. Spaceman Should astronaut become a dictionary-certified synonym for melancholy? Cinema believes so. Its latest case in point comes via Spaceman, where life temporarily lived above and beyond the earth replaces gravity with loneliness and disconnection for Jakub Prochazka (Adam Sandler, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah). He's six months into a solo trip past Jupiter to investigate an eerie phenomenon in the heavens when this adaptation of Jaroslav Kalfař's 2017 sci-fi novel Spaceman of Bohemia kicks off. His quest is both time-sensitive and celebrated. South Korea is in close pursuit, he's frequently being told by Peter (Kunal Nayyar, Night Court), his contact at ground control — and Commissioner Tuma (Isabella Rossellini, Cat Person) happily keeps dialling him in for PR opportunities. As he soars through a strangely purple sky, however, endeavouring to fulfil his mission while pleading for maintenance approval on his crumbling ship, all that's really on his mind is his wife Lenka (Carey Mulligan, Maestro). Pregnant and left at home alone, she's no longer taking his fast-as-light-speed phone calls. Then Hanus (Paul Dano, Mr & Mrs Smith) scurries in beside Jakub, demanding attention — as a giant spider in space is always going to. For the best part of a decade now, seeing a live-action movie starring Sandler has meant heading to Netflix. In Australia, even Uncut Gems, his greatest-ever performance, arrived via the streaming platform. Alongside The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) and Hustle, add Spaceman to the list of such features that give their star worthy parts and would've made welcome cinema releases. It isn't new news that Sandler is an excellent actor in dramatic and/or weightier roles, or that his career is more than the Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore-style comedies that he first became known for. Spaceman director Johan Renck (Chernobyl) has cast him expertly, in fact, in this tale of isolation, arrested development, otherworldly arachnids and amorous entanglements. Sending Sandler on an Ad Astra-, First Man- and Solaris-esque trip proves contemplative and empathetic — and, amid spider's-eye flashbacks to his complicated childhood in the Czech Republic, time spent with Lenka on the ground and floating around the film's claustrophobic main setting, also brimming with raw and resonant emotion. Spaceman streams via Netflix. STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces To do justice to Steve Martin's life, career and impact requires more than just one movie. So, the engagingly and entertainingly in-depth, intimate, affectionate and informative STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces explores the comedian and actor's existence in a pair of parts. The first is subtitled 'Then', honing in on his childhood and early stand-up days. The second, aka 'Now', jumps in when he made the leap to movies in the late 70s, which is where The Jerk, Pennies From Heaven, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Parenthood and LA Story comes in — and, of course, includes his tours with his ¡Three Amigos! co-star Martin Short, as well as their murder-mystery-comedy TV hit Only Murders in the Building. The initial half gets Martin narrating, sharing reflections personal and professional as accompanied by archival footage aplenty (and ample tapes of his stints in front of audience). The latter section treats him as an interviewee, with his wife Anne Stringfield, Short, Jerry Seinfeld (who has had Martin as a guest on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee) and Tina Fey (who also co-starred with Martin in Baby Mama) among the talking heads. Behind it all is documentarian Morgan Neville, an Oscar-winner for 20 Feet From Stardom, as well as a filmmaker who is clearly taking his stylistic cues from his subject. That's noticeable in STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces' moniker, for starters — it throws caution to the winds of grammar and title formats just as Martin has to comedy rules, as the two-part film makes plain again and again. No matter how well-acquainted you are with Martin, insights flow freely in this fascinating way to spend three hours surveying the ways that he's made people laugh over decades upon decades, beginning with doing magic tricks and working at Disneyland on his school holidays in the 50s. Revelations bound through about Martin as a person, too; more than once, he notes that his life has felt as if it has played out backwards, and not just because he only first became a father in his 60s. Clips of his stand-up act, and the response to it in the 60s and 70s, are gold. Hanging out with the man who originally was only going to create Only Murders in the Building, not star in it, when he's bantering with Short are as well. STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces streams via Apple TV+. Am I OK? The question in Am I OK?'s title is indeed existential: is Lucy (Dakota Johnson, Madame Web) coping with being a thirtysomething in Los Angeles treading water emotionally, romantically and professionally? From there, more queries spring. Can she — or, more accurately, will she — shoot for more than not quite dating the smitten Ben (Whitmer Thomas, Big Mouth), right down to shaking his hand at the end of their evenings out together, and also for something beyond working as a day-spa receptionist while putting her passion and talent for art on the back burner? Is she capable of breaking free of a comfort zone padded out with spending all of her spare time with her best friend Jane (Sonoya Mizuno, House of the Dragon), including being so predictable that she always orders the same thing at their brunches at their favourite diner? Regarding the latter, she gets a push when Jane agrees to a lucrative transfer to London, splitting the pair for the first time since they were teenagers. Am I OK? is an arrested-development coming-of-age movie, then, and a film about being honest about who you are and want to be. Change comes for us all, even when we've built a cocoon to protect our happy status quo — and, at the heart of this romantic drama, change clearly comes for Lucy. She's forced to consider a path forward that doesn't involve solely being defined as half of a platonic duo. She also confronts the feelings for her coworker Brittany (Kiersey Clemons, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters) and the truth about her sexuality that she's never previously admitted. Am I OK? is a coming-out tale, too, but it treats Lucy's stuck-in-a-rut existence and at-first-tentative attempts to embrace how she truly feels holistically, seeing how life's passage inevitably shifts how we see ourselves. If the movie feels more honest than it might've been, that's because screenwriter Lauren Pomerantz (Strange Planet) spins a semi-autobiographical story. Also, the directing team of real-life couple Tig Notaro (2 Dope Queens) and Stephanie Allynne (who helmed Notaro's 2024 special Hello Again) — who met making 2015's In a World… — demonstrate the ideal light-but-delicate touch. Plus, Johnson and Mizuno exude genuine BFF chemistry, with the former again showing why fare such as this, Cha Cha Real Smooth, How to Be Single, The Peanut Butter Falcon, A Bigger Splash, Suspiria and The Lost Daughter, a diverse group of pictures, is a better fit than the Fifty Shades trilogy or a Spider-Man spinoff. Am I OK? streams via Binge. Looking for more viewing highlights? We picked the best 15 films that've reached cinemas in 2024's first half, too, plus the 15 best new TV shows of 2024 so far and the 15 best returning TV shows. We also keep a running list of must-stream TV from across the year so far, complete with full reviews. And, you can check out our list of film and TV streaming recommendations, which is updated monthly.
While it may be a household name in Australian aviation, Jetstar hasn't exactly made waves within the LARPing community until now. Not sure what LARPing means? To get you up to speed, it's live-action role-playing. Similar to cosplaying, it involves dressing as historical or fictional characters with a fantasy theme, but it goes a step further by encouraging participants to play the role of their character as an actor would, often partaking in a friendly duel or battle. It might sound like a big commitment to get into this community, but with the oh-so-tempting offer of winning a share in a $50,000 flights voucher on the cards, now is the best time to give it a go. 21st birthdays often involve a lot more alcohol and live music than this, but historically, a 21st birthday marks a transition into adulthood and a time when a squire can earn the honour of knighthood. Jetstar isn't subverting expectations of birthdays with ancient traditions just to have a laugh — it's taking its 'Knights of the Skies' tournament on Sunday, May 25, very seriously. To put together this contest of champions, it's partnered with Swordcraft, Australia's largest LARPing organisation, who are lending trained LARPer warriors to bolster the ranks of the competition. And since every battle needs an overseer, radio host Liam Stapleton will play host… and a wizard, too. On the day, each participant will be divided into one of two teams. The last eight participants not to be felled by a mightier opponent will get the chance to claim a share in the prize: a $50,000 flight voucher, while runners-up can claim $1,000 vouchers. To enter, all you need to do is craft a medieval costume, the more DIY the better, and share it on Instagram, tagging @jetstaraustralia and #KnightsOfTheSkies, or sharing it via Instagram DM. The field of battle is yet to be decided, but will be somewhere within the kingdom of Melbourne, so keep an eye on Jetstar's social media to find out more. Jetstar's Knights of the Skies tournament will take place at an as-of-yet undecided location on Sunday, May 25. Follow Jetstar Australia on Instagram for more information.
Under current COVID-19 restrictions in Australia, there are various interstate border restrictions in place. Up-to-date information on restrictions are available at your state's health websites (click through for NSW, Victoria and Queensland). Of course, even border closures don't mean you can't start dreaming — bookmark this for when you can explore freely once again. Australia's hugely diverse landscape means there's plenty of choice when it comes to finding an off-road experience, no matter how you like to get around. From twisting turns across the Australian Alps to tropical rainforest descents, epic all-terrain mountain biking adventures can be discovered in every corner of the country. When you're ready to hit the road, don't forget to pack the new Sonos Roam. Designed to withstand a rough-and-tumble lifestyle, this lightweight and portable smart speaker is drop-withstanding and waterproof, making it the perfect device to soundtrack your journey. [caption id="attachment_812642" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ain Raadik Photography[/caption] THE AUSTRALIAN ALPINE EPIC, VICTORIA When it comes to the Alpine Epic, everything you need to know is in the name. The first trail in the southern hemisphere to be designated, quite literally, 'epic' by the International Mountain Bicycling Association, this exhilarating cross-country trail begins from the lofty Mt Buller Alpine Village. From there, you'll pedal through 40 kilometres of incredible alpine terrain, including many of the region's most picturesque destinations. Passing through snowgum groves and wildflowers via Soul Revival, One Tree Hill and Gang Gangs on this challenging descent, the Australian Alpine Epic is suited to experienced riders, and takes around seven hours to complete. The trail is open from December to April. [caption id="attachment_818224" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ready Aim Media[/caption] OURIMBAH STATE FOREST, NSW Situated at the southern end of the Watagan Mountains, just west of Wyong, Ourimbah State Forest is a popular destination for outdoor adventure activities near the Central Coast. As well as stellar hiking and ziplining experiences through the treetops, mountain biking is high on the agenda for many visitors with a series of well-maintained downhill and cross-country trails suitable for both beginner and experienced riders. You'll find plenty of obstacles and jumps to test your skills, with many of the routes designed with progression in mind. Plus, a convenient shuttle bus ensures you get a break on the way back to the top of the mountain. [caption id="attachment_818229" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] SMITHFIELD MOUNTAIN BIKE PARK, QUEENSLAND The dense, lush landscape of tropical north Queensland makes for the perfect destination when you're looking for some serious thrills. Featuring more than 60 kilometres of trails set deep within the rainforest, Smithfield Mountain Bike Park is considered one of the top all-terrain trail systems anywhere in the world. It hosted the 1996 and 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships — and it's also the oldest mountain bike park in Australia. You can bounce your way across craggy hillsides and fast-flowing streams as you ride through vine-covered jungle and jagged ridges overlooking the Great Barrier Reef. While experienced riders flock to Smithfield for its great selection of quick technical routes to test their skills, beginners will discover a series of spacious, smooth trails that skirt the lower edges of the park. [caption id="attachment_812640" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Victoria[/caption] ARTHURS SEAT PARK, VICTORIA Surrounding the 314-metre summit of Arthurs Seat State Park is a striking network of mountain biking trails that wind through the region's native bushland and rocky terrain. There are suitable off-road adventures for every experience level here, with 14 trails of varying difficulty. Beginners will prefer the well-connected Pink Line Trail, Slippery Gypsy Trail and East Link Trail with their low gradients and minimal obstacles. More accomplished riders can take on the highly technical Deadwoods Trail or the sharp drops of the Pins and Needles Trail. [caption id="attachment_812638" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] THREDBO MOUNTAIN BIKE PARK, NSW Alpine mountain biking doesn't get much better than what's on offer at the Thredbo Mountain Bike Park. The trails are open from November to May each year and offer an evolving network of cross-country adventures that ensure you can find a path to match your skillset. Featuring Australia's only chairlift-accessed gravity trails open throughout summer, Thredbo is a great place for riders with a bit of experience to test themselves on berms, rock drops and other technical obstacles. For those who'd prefer a more relaxing off-road experience, Easy Street and the Thredbo Valley Track offer a stellar combination of thrills and alpine scenery. Thredbo Mountain Bike Park also offers clinics for all ages and skill levels. [caption id="attachment_812641" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Victoria[/caption] BIG HILL MOUNTAIN BIKE PARK, VICTORIA Situated atop the appropriately named Mount Beauty, Big Hill Mountain Bike Park is widely regarded as one of Australia's best mountain biking destinations. This labyrinth of downhill and cross-country trails spans more than 40 kilometres, with over 50 trails to choose from ranging in terrain and difficulty. Big Hill is home to the National Mountain Bike Championships, but there are a number of trails suited to less experienced riders including the Dart Spur Track and Sesame Street. With the charming town of Bright located within close proximity of this track, you can round out your outdoor adventures with a visit to the Bright Brewery or one of the many cafes in town. [caption id="attachment_818518" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Stromlo Forest Park[/caption] STROMLO FOREST PARK, ACT Stromlo Forest Park is the best place for mountain biking when you don't want to totally leave civilisation behind. Just a 15-minute drive from the centre of Canberra are over 40 kilometres of world-class trails that are suited to a wide range of riding abilities and age groups. Cemented in Australian mountain biking folklore thanks to its hosting numerous national championships and professional competitions, Stromlo Forest Park offers highly technical routes, including log rides and bridges, alongside easier trails with long, flowing descents. Stash away your lunch and Sonos for a relaxing post-ride picnic amongst the trees. [caption id="attachment_818267" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] NOOSA TRAIL NETWORK, QUEENSLAND Spanning a vast section of Queensland's rural landscape, the Noosa Trail Network encompasses eight distinct hinterland trails ideal for biking, hiking and horse riding. While these scenic journeys are slightly more focused on the incredible vistas that make up this part of the world, there are still plenty of challenges to be found. The 25-kilometre Kin Kin to Lake Macdonald Trail, for example, delves from wide-open countryside into the rainforest, while the Kin Kin Countryside Loop is a leisurely ride linking peaceful picnic spots with bird watching opportunities. Find out more about the new Sonos Roam at the official website. Top image: TBC
Everyone needs a holiday to look forward to. With 2025 now officially into its second month, and everyone's Christmas breaks feeling like a lifetime ago, planning your next getaway is a self-care essential. Fancy heading overseas, but not too far, to either laze around on a beach or see some mountainous sights? Enter Virgin's latest sale, which focuses on short-haul international flights. Trips to Bali, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu and New Zealand this year just got cheaper — and you've got five days to grab a bargain. So, get your suitcases ready and book that annual leave. Fares start at $439 return, and are available until midnight AEST on Friday, February 7, 2025, unless sold out earlier. The cheapest option is Melbourne–Queenstown return, but you can also head there and back from Sydney for $469. Next comes Brisbane to Port Vila in Vanuatu from $479, while trips to Bali from Melbourne start at $499 and kick off at $509 from the Gold Coast. Or, get to Queenstown and back from Brisbane from $549 — or to Fiji from Sydney for $569, from Brisbane for $589 and from Melbourne for $599. Other deals include Sydney–Bali from $619, Brisbane–Bali from $659 and Brisbane–Samoa from $689. This sale began at 12.01am AEST on Monday, February 3, 2025, with prices covering Virgin's Economy Lite option. If you're wondering when you'll need to travel, these deals are for periods between Monday, February 17, 2025–Friday, December 12, 2025, with all dates varying per route. As always, inclusions also differ depending on your ticket — and, as usual when it comes to flight sales, you'll need to get in quick. Virgin's February 2025 international flight sale runs until midnight AEST on Friday, February 7, 2025 — unless sold out earlier. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
Fancy scoring some new Aussie-made threads at the price of your choosing — and earning some much-needed funds for an eco charity in the process? Well, for the next few days, you can, thanks to a clever new initiative by local brand Assembly Label. The Sydney-based brand is best known for its minimalist aesthetic, but now it's also hoping to help minimise ocean pollution by adding a 'choose what you pay' option to its online store between June 20 and 23. It works like this. A range of Assembly's designs (both womens and mens) are currently available at up to 50 percent off. When you go to add something to your cart, you have the option of adding on a donation — you can pay what's on the pricetag, or add on $5, $10 or $15 more. Any extra amount is then donated to the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS), with each customer donation matched equally by Assembly Label. So, if you fork out an extra $15 for those linen pants, $30 will go to the charity. View this post on Instagram Beachside essentials, our Crossover Pool Slide will be included in our Choose What You Pay promotion alongside a selection of men's and women's apparel and accessories. Online tomorrow from 9am and proudly supporting @marineconservation.au A post shared by Assembly Label (@assemblylabel) on Jun 19, 2019 at 12:21am PDT AMCS is an independent charity focused on the big issues affecting the sea, from improving the sustainability of Australia's fisheries, to protecting threatened species. The extra funds raised through the 'choose what you pay' program will go towards supporting its campaign against plastic pollution in the ocean. The sale is the latest in a number of moves Assembly Label is making to reduce its environmental impact and encourage others to jump on board. It's now using 100 percent biodegradable material for its packaging, has cut down on plastic waste wherever possible, and is working towards full transparency with all of its manufacturing processes. Assembly's also aiming to become a certified B Corporation, which'll require hitting the highest standards of ethical measurement across all aspects of its business. Needless to say, if you're in need of some new basic tees or a labelled sweater, now is the time to grab them. Assembly Label's Choose What You Pay sale will run from June 20–23 through its online store.
Two years in the making — as anyone that spotted the constant construction site on James Street will know — the seven-storey, this 175-room spot is calling itself 'Australia's first urban resort'. Yes, that means that going for a splash in the central pool, lazing around in cabanas or on a sun lounge, and eating on the hotel's outdoor deck are all on the agenda. So is hanging out at the spa, which is also open to the general public, and just making the most of Brissie's climate. The white brick design, by architects Richards and Spence, certainly highlights the tropical side of things. Think open-air spaces and breezeways, natural ventilation and plants aplenty, as well as a cool, soothing colour scheme. Inside the rooms, guests will find oak furniture, cork floors and sisal matting in the bathrooms, day beds for afternoon naps, linen robes and a mini bar stocked from local suppliers. Recognising how sunny the city gets, every room is also fitted with motorised blackout blinds. If you need to escape the glow, the in-suite Chromecast and sound bar will help as well. Rooms start from just over $200, with The Calile also featuring nine suites and two premier suites, complete with poolside and terrace-style balconies as well as two private rooftop terraces — for when you're feeling like splashing some cash around. Operated by TFE Hotels Collection, other drawcards include the all-day Lobby Bar, the opening of Hellenika's first Brisbane digs — bringing the Gold Coast's favourite Greek eats to town — and meeting and function rooms that can cater for up to 500 people, including an outdoor amphitheatre.
Sonic Masala is a long-running, Brisbane-based music blog that has earned a cult following from serious music fans and musicians alike. With a local lens and truly Australian flair, Sonic Masala has been a long-time favourite in the music blog scene, even branching out and fostering the community with their own brand of live shows. After launching their own record label this year, the Sonic Masala team decided to hold their own music festival, with a highly curated list of local and interstate bands that are favourites of the tastemakers themselves. Sonic Masala Fest is taking place at the Greenslopes Bowls Club on June 21. We caught up with Sonic Masala founder and man about town Brendan Telford to find out what it is all about. For those who don't know, what is Sonic Masala? Sonic Masala is a music blog primarily, which has been going for over four years, but has also included putting gigs on monthly and recently branching out to become a record label. What made you want to start such a project? The blog started with a "why not?" sort of epiphany. I was at the My Bloody Valentine-curated ATP in England back in 2009 with a mate, Paul Marsh, and around 4am we started cooking up this curry, listening to music, still drinking. We thought we spent so much of our lives doing this (listening and talking about music mostly, but drinking and eating curry too) why not do something a little more proactive about it? So, Sonic Masala was born. Paul dropped out within the year, but I kept hacking away, then I moved back to Australia in 2011. I had heard a few horror stories from local bands about struggling to find good venues and shows, being promised things and then not getting paid, I thought, "How is this still happening? It's 2011!" So when The Waiting Room in West End opened up I booked a night and that was how the gigs were born. The label has been a distant dream of mine, and through dumb luck, some hard graft and a lot of lunacy, Sonic Masala Records was born. What did you want to do with Sonic Masala in the beginning? Write about music. I was going to about three shows a week anyway, why not? It's changed over time, but initially it was just about music I liked. I've pared it back so its more Australian-oriented and focusing on bands that aren't really needing (or even wanting) my critical approval. I used to write about Grinderman or Neil Young releases, and I still love that stuff, but don't write about it. The gig nights were about bands playing regular shows and (hopefully) getting paid for it, and the record label is all about putting out albums that I love that wouldn't see the light of day otherwise — at least in vinyl form. This year you've started putting out records through Sonic Masala. Was this always a goal? Yes and no. It has been something of a dream of mine, but not one I actually thought I'd be stupid enough to actualise. I have wanted to continue pushing quality music, both popular and outlier acts, here in Brisbane since returning from London in 2011, and that passion has only grown over time. I attempted to get a label thing off the ground in 2012, pretty much on a whim; I wanted to put out Gazar Strips' first EP, Happy Valley. Due to crossed wires the band thought I wanted to be their manager and that all fell flat. Then when they started recording their second EP I asked again, this time we were on the same page — at the same time Roku Music asked me about help with their album. How has the response been so far? Are you happy with what you've accomplished this year? To be honest I think the response has been great. Most people understand what it is Nathan [Pickels, of Tape/Off fame] and I are attempting to do with Sonic Masala Records, and that is to breathe life into projects, releases and bands we really believe in, with a particular focus on Australian acts, especially Brisbane. Also, releasing on vinyl — there is an emphasis on that fact. It was always "we make records or we don't do it at all". It's a true labour of love. So far we have had the jackets screenprinted by good friend #7thdisaster, we have had friends and family help out with putting the jackets together, creating the special edition releases and the postage and handling. That DIY feel also evokes a sense of authenticity, diligence and care that I always love about a strong label no matter how big or small. We put in lengthy unpaid hours every day, but I think it is well worth it. So yeah, we are super happy with how things are going! For a while there has been a live component to Sonic Masala (small scale shows), when did you decide you wanted to putting on something bigger, like Sonic Masala Fest? Man, this is a big ticket dream! Everyone dreams of sitting down and putting together a festival, don't they? I wanted to pay homage to some of the biggest and best bands that have graced a Sonic Masala showcase since kicking it off in 2011. I also feel like we need to continually celebrate the music that exists here in Brisbane right now. Many of the stone-cold classic acts here do not get the love and crowds they deserve, and I'm hoping something like Sonic Masala Fest will be an opportunity for the bands to sell merch and play to appreciative people. It's a celebration of Brisbane. There are a few interstate bands — with Scul Hazzards and Narrow Lands, they have played Sonic Masala Record-oriented shows in Melbourne and Sydney respectively (and in Scul's instance they have strong Brisbane ties). Plus there is so much bitching about festivals these days, some of which comes from me also, so I thought I'd put my money where my mouth is. What is the biggest challenge you've faced with putting on SM Fest? Money. I wanted the festival to also promote a local venue that I feel needs more support and love, and so I'm anxious that there is a good showing for the Greenslopes Bowls Club too. Also, I wasn't able to get all the bands I wanted. Probably the biggest challenge is getting started. The idea sounded great, but like most of my "great" ideas involved alcohol and drunken verve. It's the morning after when you groggily wake and think "What did I promise I'd do?" But I try to follow through on these crazy ideas, and that is the fun part. Got any big plans for the future? More releases. We have Cobwebbs out shortly, and some planned releases for later in the year including a split album between a local band and an interstate band that might become a regular 'thing'. We also have a compilation in the works, again with the idea of combining artists who have played a Sonic Masala showcase over the years, which is very exciting. There are also some plans afoot that takes Sonic Masala even further afield in the world. What are some Brisbane bands that you think are doing great things at the moment? There are way too many to mention; every band that are playing the Sonic Masala Fest, for a start. As for new stuff, No Sister, even they are on an indefinite hiatus, showed something truly special in their starburst tenure. Multiple Man are still the best idiotic nihilists in town. Barge With An Antenna On It are just getting stronger and stronger, the loveable lugs that they are. Woodboot, The Wrong Man, Unpeople, Occults, X Wave and so many more are on the cusp of doing something absolutely incredible. Seriously, people talk about Melbourne, and it's an incredible melting pot of music, but there is something more visceral and ridiculous about Brisbane music these days that makes it worth hanging around in the sun for ten months of the year to take part in. Where are your favourite places to eat, drink and party around Brisbane? One of the biggest downfalls of Brisbane that Melbourne has us perennially pinned to the canvas over is that we have very few good actual pubs — they are what I love about life, and not having many to visit (and the continual downward spiral that is the Valley) kills me daily. So the Underdog gets that by default, but again I only go there when gigs are on. I do love beer though, so places like Newstead Brewing, Tipplers Tap, Brisbane Brewhouse, The Scratch, The Burrow (who also do pretty sweet pizza) all work for me. I do love eating. Sitar Indian in Albion is great, London-rivalling Indian, with a consummate host. I love breakfasts and there are heaps of great places to visit in Paddington and New Farm for that. There are new places opening all the time, it's crazy but I can't complain. Partying is all about gigs or house parties for me. These are my favourite pastimes actually — music kills my eardrums, drinking kills my liver, eating kills my health and partying kills my brain. All in excess. Sonic Masala Fest will be on Saturday the 21st of June at the Greenslopes Bowls Club. Tickets are $10 on the door. The full line-up can be found here. There will be a Pre-Fest party on Thursday at The Bearded Lady with performances from Scul Hazzards, Frown and Occults.
Everyone loves a good read. Embarking on a new, exciting journey to a paper page reality is inspiring, educational, and sometimes just what you need to get you through the ups and downs of our existent reality. But finding the best books in our busy town can be hard. Where do you buy them? Who will give the best recommendations? Which stores stock more than just Nicholas Sparks and Jodi Picoult? Which books can I actually afford? We've got all the answers for you. Behold, Concrete Playground's guide to the top ten bookstores in Brisbane. 1. Avid Reader Where: 193 Boundary Street, West End Avid Reader is one of two stalwarts in the West Brisbane bookstore scene. Most people in the know would recommend it highly to you and with very good reason. The store is exceptionally satisfying and ticks all the book necessity boxes you can imagine. It’s very easy to find the bricks and mortar location on West End’s Boundary Street, however finding the exit once you’re inside is another story. With shelves galore stacked high with everything from Penguin Classics to guides on every topic imaginable (fashion school, geeky dads and eco living) Avid Reader’s selection is ridiculously comprehensive. They also have a large variety of magazines, DVDs and glorious knick-knacks, meaning it’s almost impossible to leave without purchasing something you love. They have a sweet little café where you can enjoy good coffee and food nestled amongst the glorious paperbacks you’ve just been perusing. Avid Reader also has various book clubs and specialist talks, making the store a very customer inclusive and friendly place. 2. Bent Books Where: 205 Boundary Street, West End Bent Books is another West End baby but is by no means lacking in comparison to it’s neighbour, Avid Reader. They live on the same street making it easy for customers to do a 2-for-1 book shopping expedition. The eye-catching colour scheme of bright blue and yellow make the shop front impossible to miss, whilst doubling as a great indication of the vast and eclectic selection of second hand books that exist inside. Quite frankly, the store’s speciality is their variety and range – literally if you can imagine it, they have it, and if not they’ll do their best to help find something similar. Win win! Witchcraft, gay and lesbian history, and mythology are all part of the Bent Books package, so don’t hesitate to look for rarities or diverse genres here. They also have a gorgeous courtyard out the back of their store, perfect for opening a new purchase and starting Chapter One. 3. Folio Books Where: 80 Albert Street, Brisbane Watch out, the winner of Queensland Specialist Book Store 2008, 2009 and 2010 is coming at you! Folio Books is a long time favourite of those who tend to loiter more in the streets of Brisbane than those of West End, but it’s most definitely worthy of a trip across the river and into town for everyone. They fit into the Brisbane book scene by being the everyman for specialist topics. That is to say, for niche creative industries esque topics look no further than this location on Albert Street. Fashion, interior design, and digital art are just three small examples of the topics sprawled across shelves. It seems their aim is to cover topics as extensively as possible, which is admirable and makes for large amounts of crowd-pleasing. They’ll also order in rare or out of print books that take your fancy, or at least try their best to accommodate your arty and intelligentsia needs. 4. Archives Fine Books Where: 40 Charlotte Street, Brisbane If vintage books are your bread and butter, look no further than Charlotte Street’s hidden treasure, Archives Fine Books. With shelf upon shelf stacked high with millions of books on every topic you can possibly imagine, it’s guaranteed you’ll find something you had once given up searching for. Although the shelving and organisation of stock may not be the easiest to sort through, it stands more like a much-loved library. The staff that roam Archives tend to the printed words like book hawks. It’s almost freaky how they just know what book you’re looking for. This bookstore is the place to visit just before you give up hope on finding an out of print novel. Or, alternatively the first place – it would save you a lot of time after all! 5. Riverbend Books Where: 193 Oxford Street, Bulimba For anyone that’s ever passed through Bulimba, it’s probable Riverbend Books ended up playing a big part in the itinerary. Because really, for locals and travelers alike, the charming combination of good books and a tea house is too good to miss. The shop front has graced Oxford Street for many years and is now as familiar as Cineplex Cinema and Oxford 152. Their selection of reading material is vast and spread over two levels, meaning hours can be wasted away perusing. There are also chairs littered around the store inviting readers to go the next step after purchasing and begin a new adventure. As well as their variety of books, Riverbend is also famous for it’s Tea House that features prominently at the front of their store on a beautiful Queenslander deck. It is so renowned that many consumers visit purely for the Tea House and their distinct menus. However it’s much better for your stomach and your imagination if you see them as a complementary pair, rather than separate entities. 6. Comics Etc Where: 79/81 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane Seth Cohen may not appreciate the name of this joint – “they’re graphic novels obviously” – but he sure would love the general premise, enough to work here probably. With an obvious predilection toward the world of cartoons, fantasy and manga, this particular store is heaven for those who prefer their visual stimulation drawn. With an exceptionally large collection of comics from a wide range of series’, authors and publishers, the store gets weekly stock updates meaning it’s super easy to stay on top of your favourite comic. Whether you prefer the classic and loveable storylines that have been around for years, or something a bit off the beaten track, Comics Etc is your new best friend. They also stock a heap of action figures and statures making it a one stop shop for any comic fan looking to live out his or her super hero fantasy, be it Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne or Wonder Woman. 7. Pulp Fiction Where: Anzac Square Arcade, Edward Street, Brisbane If science fiction, fantasy, crime and mystery novels float your boat and you’re a resident of Brisbane you’re probably already aware of this gem. Then again, if you’ve never had to run to Central to catch a train there’s a chance you’ve been missing out due to its underground nature and secretive location. Situated in the Anzac Square Arcade, Pulp Fiction has been kicking around for years serving those with a particular interest in the aforementioned genres. They house a very large range of content within them, and are happy to order stock in should they not already have it. Perfect if you’re looking for a specific Sherlock novel or coffee table book on the universe, this shop knows its strength lies in its niche offerings and plays to them. If you’re one of the many people who seek their entertainment in the far away worlds of aliens and space cowboys, those who prefer their fantasy to involve epic battles, or love getting stuck into a good murder mystery, this is the place for you. 8. Title Where: u2/60, James Street, Fortitude Valley For those of you who spend more of your time wandering around James Street wining and dining or people watching, Title is the bookshop for you. Tucked away down the far end of Fortitude Valley, it’s a very well stocked store that includes enough books, CDs, DVDs and vinyl’s to cater to anyone’s predilection. It’s gorgeous exterior will suck you in off the street whether you mean it to or not, and it’s interior will keep you perusing for hours. Slightly geared towards music enthusiasts, it’s still well worth your time even if that’s not your regular forte. With a fabulous inside layout to rival any of its fancy neighbours, Title is perfectly designed to wander aimlessly without a specific purchase in mind. It’s a guaranteed you’ll come away with a new favourite author to covet. 9. Annerley Community Bookshop Where: 12/478 Ipswich Road, Annerley Although city centric people like to believe it, not everything revolves around them and occurs within Translink’s first zone. Plenty of good stuff happens elsewhere, and the caliber is just as high, no matter how high your brow. Take for example the Annerley Community Bookshop. It has sophistication, it has the physical goods, and it has a feel good factor. The only bookstore of it’s kind in Australia and it’s a not-for-profit community project that has an overall aim of funding literacy classes for refuges and migrants. It’s run by volunteers who are literally working for free in order to benefit your book collection. They have some real treasures hidden amongst their shelves, though it must be said that their best sections include classic literature and Australian literature. Once you’ve selected a bundle of potential purchases, there is a bunch of armchairs located in-store so you can sit down, peruse and make your final choices. Considering how reasonable prices are, you’ll be sure to take home several bargains. 10. Coaldrakes Where: 5-61 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane Coaldrakes is one of the few independent bookstores left in Brisbane that have more than one location. Which in general is a sad fact about the state of people’s relationships with books versus technology. However in terms of Coaldrakes, the more the merrier! The charming mix of bookshop and café may be common, but if it ain’t broke why fix it? Although they stock a healthy range of printed goods that cover the requisite bases for a successful bookstore, it must be mentioned though that they really excel in their children’s section. If you’re after something for a special little sibling or relation, this is the place to go searching. Equally as mesmerizing are their selection of gifts and knick-knacks. The variety is so wide and appealing that it’s hard not to buy a gift for yourself as well. With locations at The Barracks and Emporium, they’re surrounded by hip neighbours who only add to their draw card and make Coaldrakes perfect both as a stop along the way and as a destination.
With plenty of summer left to soak up, finding the ideal coastal backdrop to admire should be high on your agenda. But if you're really looking to live large, the team at InterContinental Sanctuary Cove Resort has just launched Coast Into Summer, a new package made for an effortless luxury escape. Bookable until Tuesday, March 31, 2026, this experience is all about relaxed indulgence, where couples, friends and families relish five-star bliss complete with undeniably European vibes. Think shimmering palm-fringed pools, stellar dining and, yes, the $2.5-million Lagoon Beach Club that appears straight from Positano or Mykonos. So, what perks do guests score? Starting from $295 per night (minimum two nights), Coast Into Summer includes a stacked daily breakfast, $50 Lagoon Beach Club credit and two signature cocktails. Plus, there's no need to hurry, with the package also offering 1pm late checkout and complimentary parking. For those bringing the whole fam, kids under 12 stay for free with complimentary breakfast and a slushie. All in all, this sanctuary tucked into the northern end of Goldie is ripe for an easygoing holiday, jam-packed with family-friendly activities that make this destination-inspired venue perfect for guilt-free lazing in the sun.
Were Daniel and Amelia Miletic always destined to set up shop in South Brisbane's Fish Lane? As the owners of fish 'n' chippery One Fish Two Fish in Kangaroo Point, they're certainly keeping the ocean theme going. Midtown, their newest venture, isn't just about dishes from the sea, though. What the Miletics have dubbed "seacuterie" is on the menu, plus mini versions One Fish Two Fish's lobster croissants; however, this is venue is a martini bar. Midtown takes over an already-luxe space: the site previously home to Butler Wine Bar, Lune Croissanterie's boozy sibling, which launched in July 2022 but closed in March 2023. There must be something about the location playing host drink-focused offshoots to beloved eateries, given that that's what the Miletics are serving up as well. Loving martinis is the number-one thing on offer at Midtown, with nine set alcoholic types available, such as olive leaf, elderflower, apple and rhubarb, espresso and pornstar varieties. There's actually a tenth option, too, that lets you tell the bar how to make it your way — so anything is possible. If you're having trouble choosing, that's where the three-drink flights come in. They're designed to share, and include half serves of elderflower, espresso and the signature Midtown martini (made with Patient Wolf Pink Lakes gin, Cinzano dry vermouth and red onion). And, if you're not partaking in the hard stuff, go with a no-booze espresso, lychee or French martini. The sips do extend past James Bond's favourite drink (that said, we assume that the vesper martini comes shaken, not stirred). Two types of margaritas, plus a negroni, old fashioned, daiquiri, spritz and Charlie Chaplin sit on the rest of the cocktail list, but the bar will whip up anything it's able to if you ask. Beer-wise, the range is highly curated with Australian brews from Balter, Moondog and Little Creatures. Wine devotees will find a page of choices, from sparkling, amber and rosé to whites, reds and even a fortified drop to go with cheese. And for snacking while you drink, the seacuterie (oysters, prawn croquettes, salmon sashimi and more) and lobster croissants are joined by charcuterie, cheese plates, caviar, and a raw bar that also does steak tartare cigars. Gildas, octopus and subs made with cevapi pork sausage are on the menu as well, while Fraser Isle spanner crab tortellini and ten-hour barbecue bourbon brisket are among the mains. For dessert: yuzu brûlée with walnut biscotti and a pina colada tartlet. The whole place is called Midtown, and its digs are firmly on the intimate side, but the Miletics have split it into three areas. The main space that shares the watering hole's name is a 20-seater bar, Uptown is a 6–8-seat dining room and Downtown takes patrons outside for a tipple. Another drawcard: a late-night supper club from 10pm–12am every Friday and Saturday night, doing live music and its own food lineup.
At the beginning of each year, many of us vow to be more health-conscious and eco-friendly, but life gets in the way and it's often too tempting to pick up additive-laden, mass-produced snacks without thinking about the consequences. Ever since the industrial age, convenience has been put above the environment. Not to mention the popularisation of quick 'n' easy foods in the 40s and 50s, with the likes of McDonald's, Spam and TV dinners. But now, with increasing awareness of how our diets impact the planet, it's time to shake up our snack habits for the better. That's why we've teamed up with the folks at Glad and its Glad to be Green range to come up with some oh-so-convenient — and sustainable — snack hacks, so you can better look after yourself and the planet. [caption id="attachment_742407" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Trent van der Jagt[/caption] BUY IN BULK When you're at the supermarket, it's all too easy to just buy what you feel like eating that evening. But, this is a surefire way to spend half your life trudging the aisles looking for inspiration. If you plan out what you need for the week, you only need to make one trip rather than several (which, you know, is also good for the environment), and you'll also reduce waste by planning a schedule that makes optimal use of your food. Even better, head on over to an environmentally conscious, waste-free outlet, such as The Source Bulk Foods stores across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, to get the exact volume of pantry staples you need. MEAL PREP LIKE A PRO This one might not seem like a timesaver when you're doing it, but we guarantee you it is — and you'll be thankful that you took the time for days afterward. Cooking multiple portions of food doesn't necessarily mean it takes more time than preparing for just one dish. It also means you will have midweek meals prepped and ready for a quick reheat on those busy days when time seems to get away from you. Also, some dishes can taste better a couple of days later — think curries, stews and soups — so it's a win-win. And, for any baking you're doing, be sure to make the switch to Glad's compostable baking paper. It's certified home compostable, and it even breaks down in a worm farm. PALM OFF PALM OIL Due to its versatility and the relatively low cost of its production, palm oil's use skyrocketed in the 20th century. However, such a quick expansion has been at a huge environmental cost, with native forests in the tropics bulldozed and burned to make way for new plantations. The knock-on effect is huge, with everything from loss of animal habitats to the warming of the atmosphere and the violation of indigenous land rights all attributed to palm oil's so-called popularity. It's an ingredient found in plenty of ready-made food, so, if you care about the environment, you may want to rethink that choccy bar. Thankfully, it's quick and simple to make your own planet-savvy, palm oil-free bites. Think bliss balls, granola bars, savoury muffins, veggie chips — you name it, there are plenty of recipes out there. And, think of the bragging rights when you bring your own homemade snacks to work. SAY HELLO TO SMOOTHIES We've all been down to our local cafe and bought our favourite smoothie or juice without giving a second thought to how easily we can make them at home. Not only do we usually spend too much money on store-bought smoothies, but we're letting all those browning apples, wilted kale bunches and slightly bruised avos go to waste. Instead, save your pennies and throw in any bruised and browned fruit and veg in a blender. Smoothies and juices take no time at all to make, and you'll have a tasty, healthy and filling snack (or brekkie). And, if you're really keen, you can pre-chop your fruit and veg, pop them in Glad's plant-based sandwich bags and throw them in the freezer for those mornings when you hit snooze too many times. TRY OUT ALTERNATIVE PROTEIN SOURCES Australia is a country concerned about over-farming and the environmental impact of agriculture — according to Animals Australia, about 12.1 percent of us are now eating a fully or mostly vegetarian diet, which is up from less than ten percent in 2012. So, if you want to steer clear of the industry while still getting your protein fix, there are plenty of alternatives — from lentil patties and vegetarian sausages to bush tucker. And you can incorporate this ethos into your morning flat white, too. All alternative milks are better for the planet than dairy, with oat milk widely considered the best of the bunch from an environmental impact standpoint. SOUPER SUNDAYS Weekends are great — we get to sink into the sofa, catch up with friends and get to tick off some of the fun things on our to-do lists. But, Sundays always roll around too quickly, with Monday looming ever-closer. Didn't make it to the shops or local farmers market this weekend? We get it, sometimes living your best life gets in the way of chores. But, you probably do still have some food in your fridge and cupboard that needs to be used, and you need lunch for the week. This is where soup is your friend. Get your biggest pot, put all your veg in, add water, stock, herbs, spices and whatever else you fancy and, bingo, you've got a cheap, waste-free meal. Plus, Glad to be Green's, plant-based bags — which are made with 50 percent sugarcane (a renewable resource) and have a smaller carbon footprint — are great for when you want to split your soup into portions and freeze for later. Not only that, but they also have a handy space to date and name the contents to avoid any mix-ups (and potential sore tummies). Go green and visit the Glad website for more tips and tricks.
Heroing Eastern Mediterranean-meets-Middle East cuisine, Babylon started serving up dishes and drinks in Sydney back in 2019, pairing its bites and sips with a prime rooftop location. Making the leap north, the chain has opted for a similarly stellar destination for its Brisbane debut: a riverside spot on Eagle Street in the CBD. Meet Babylon Brisbane, which started welcoming in diners on Wednesday, December 14 after announcing its arrival back in November. This newcomer is opening in stages, giving the city multiple launches for one venue — starting with the now-up-and-running 120-seat restaurant and 14-person private dining room. Before summer is out, the 400-square-metre eatery will also be joined by three levels of cascading bars and terraces, which is a massive addition to both Brisbane's inner city and Eagle Street's riverside stretch. Still an eye-catching waterside restaurant is a huge drawcard already, especially going into holiday season. The place to head: around the back of 145 Eagle Street. Brisbanites can now tuck into lunch and dinner at Babylon's Sunshine State locale, which hails from Mantle Group Hospitality (aka the Queensland-based company behind the Pig 'N' Whistle pubs, The Charming Squire, Jimmy's On the Mall, The Sound Garden, The Summit, Tai Tai, Milano and more). The kitchen is overseen by Head Chef Ferdinand Sari, who has put together a share-heavy menu with his Babylon Sydney counterpart Robert Taylor. On the Levantine cuisine-inspired lineup: meze, gozleme and house-made breads, plus a heap of dishes cooked over wood and charcoal on a three-metre-long mangal (aka a Turkish grill) — or on two rotisseries — and a big focus on seafood. Sari and Taylor have split Babylon Brisbane's menu into three sections: flora, fauna and ocean. The first includes wood-fired pumpkin kebabs with coriander, lime, Aleppo chilli and muhammara; spiced fried cauliflower with Ras el Hanout, lemon, black tahini, almond and parsley; and wood-roasted broccolini with harrisa tarator, walnuts and pomegranate molasses — as well as everything from pan-fried haloumi to baked rice pilaf. Among the fauna selection, highlights range from wood-fired chicken skewers with kisir, tomato and yoghurt to slow-cooked lamb shoulder with garlic labneh — and also wood-fired angus beef hunkarbegendi-style with chilli butter and radish. And, that seafood lineup features locally sourced king prawns with harissa, raki, lemon and soft herbs; wood-grilled Fraser Coast squid with muhammara, yoghurt dill and lime; and half-shell scallops with salmon caviar. Folks dining in groups can also choose from two set menus, sharing either nine or 12 dishes (for either $75 or $95 per person). For dessert, sweets options span chocolate tahini with caramel sponge, sesame and Turkish coffee ice cream; a range of house-made baklava with walnut pistachio and chocolate; and Turkish delight. If you're keen on a drink, pick between 12 beers on tap and ten by the bottle, a hefty lineup of wines and a 12-strong cocktail list that's filled with standouts. The spritz choices feature elderflower, grapefruit, peach and apricot, and Babylon has even turned baklava into a boozy concoction. Or, try its twists on the sour (made with Yeni Raki), margarita (with mezcal, agave, chilli and green capsicum) and espresso martini (a Turkish take featuring Turkish coffee and cardamom-infused Metaxa 7 brandy, chocolate liqueur, orgeat and cold brew). As overseen by Brisbane's Hogg and Lamb, the architects behind the Sydney venue, the design vibe riffs on the Babylon look and feel already established down south while still taking its influences from the titular metropolis of old. Think: terracotta brick screens, red marble tabletops, mahogany chairs and pink banquettes, plus a ten-metre green marble bar. Although the exact launch date is yet to be announced, the site will also welcome Babylon Gardens in the new year — sometime early in 2023, before summer is out — as part of its next stage. Yes, that's where all of those outdoor bars and terraces come in. If you're keen on a drink with a view, you'll have multiple spots to grab a beverage and hang out across the venue's trio of levels, which will cascade down along the river. In total, Babylon Gardens will boast an almost 1000-person capacity, so expect it to be busy. Find Babylon Brisbane at 145 Eagle Street, Brisbane — open 11am–11pm Sunday–Wednesday and 11am–12am Thursday–Saturday. Images: Steven Woodburn.
The beauty of a degustation is in the surprise. Eating this way is a roller-coaster of emotion — the excitement of each dish arriving, and the sorrow as you polish it off. Thrills like these keep the foodies coming back for more. In Brisbane's two-hatted restaurant Urbane, the menu consists of just two options. Diners can choose between set menus of either five or eight courses, with the option of matched wines available. If you're looking to sample just one one or two dishes, you're out of luck. This place is degustation only, baby. Everything about Urbane is very clean and minimalist — from the decor, to the menu — it all has a luxurious subtlety about it. But for somewhere with such a regimented menu it was a nice surprise to see a completely vegan menu on offer. The waitress even picked up on a throw-away comment I made about a food intolerance and made the effort to cater. The menu read 'snacks' to start, and what proceeded was a micro degustation. If you're new to this kind of thing, the snack dishes will be hard to wrap your head around, but trust me, they're as delicious as they are slightly comical sounding. Before the five courses even start to come out we're presented with kombucha (a kind of fermented tea), wafer thin, long and skinny potato crisps coated in sesame seeds, avocado and capsicum on a quinoa cracker, what we can only describe as tomato water — surprisingly delicious and incredibly refreshing — a bowl of nicely balanced silken tofu, buckwheat mousse and parfait. Then, finally, we're on to the first true dish — burnt quinoa stacked inside delicate cucumber bowls were a great mix of salty and refreshing — best mixed with the apple, buckwheat and micro herbs for maximum effect. On to the octopus with Jerusalem artichoke and finger lime. These unusual ingredients pull together for a stunning dish, with perfectly crisp and tender octopus. Third, the veal sweetbreads, completed by caramelised leek, onion and a smoked eel broth. Somehow in my long love affair with both steak and oysters, I have never thought to combine the two. How I mourn those wasted years. Urbane's wagyu steak with an oyster, oyster emulsion, bone marrow and sorrel is simply a triumph. The steak was melt-in-your mouth perfect, and elevated first by the the thick sauce. And last but not least was another delicious cold treat with a twist — a citrusy dessert of freeze-dried mandarin with honeycomb sourced from Urbane's rooftop hives, and fresh grapefruit at the bottom. Tiny leaves of bush basil scattered on top send the occasional blast of unique flavour through your mouth, both balancing out and awakening it further to the sweetness in the rest of the dish. A native fruit tea infusion and some surprisingly traditional but well-executed petit fours were the perfect finisher for a delicious experience. Urbane uses seasonal produce with a constantly evolving menu. Executive chef Alejandro Cancino produces an every-changing degustation of east meets west eats that will delight and surprise, and we think the restaurant certainly deserves the accolades it has earnt.
By now, it feels like no stone has been unturned by Sydney's big developers. But you know where they haven't developed yet? Underground. So perhaps that's why the NSW Government has set its sights below street level — today it announced its plans to turn the St James tunnels, a large subterranean space that adjoins St James Station, into an underground attraction. The tunnel is, after all, just sitting there. It was built back in the 1920s as part of a plan to connect the CBD with eastern suburbs, but the project was never realised. Since then, it's been used as an air raid shelter during World War II, an operations bunker for the air force and as a location for The Matrix Revolutions. Tours used to run, but now there's no way for the public to access the tunnels. The NSW Government is opening this one up to the floor, and is seeking expressions of interest from both local and international developers. Ideally, it would like something that would turn the tunnel and its platform into a "world-renowned attraction" — perhaps restaurants, bars, shops, or cultural and entertainment spaces. "Spaces like the St James tunnel are rare," said Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance in a statement today. "Around the world, hidden spaces are being converted into unique experiences and we want St James Station to be part of that." Expressions of interest will close November 6 — after they've been received, the process will be managed by Sydney Trains and real estate company CBRE. We'll keep you updated on the next stage of the process.
At this Newstead cafe, coffee isn't just made, served and drunk by eager caffeine fiends — it's also grown and roasted, too. In its first Brisbane outpost, Melbourne's beloved Industry Beans has combined a coffee spot, roastery, greenhouse and event space into one sprawling inner-city venue, converting a Proe Street warehouse into its flagship location. If you're serious about your caffeine, you'll already be hankering for a cuppa. Founded by brothers Trevor and Steven Simmons, Industry Beans has picked up quite a following in its hometown since 2013, before launching in Sydney in 2019 to much fanfare and then hitting Brisbane in 2020. And if you're a newcomer to the coffee outfit, expect state-of-the-art equipment, specialty brews, an impressive range of brunch-style food and minimalist interior design flourishes. Given that Industry Beans' Melbourne joint was the first Aussie cafe to use the La Marzocco Modbar — a coffee machine that sits under the bench, rather than on the countertop — the equipment is an integral part of its first Brisbane venue. Like their interstate counterparts, Brisbanites can watch as their coffees are whipped up on the Italian machine, with customers able to view the whole coffee-making process. As for what you'll be drinking, Industry Beans has created a new concoction for its Brisbane outpost: the Newstead espresso blend. It also serves limited seasonal blends, offers up two new single origins each fortnight, and is particularly well-known for its cold brews. Choose between the tapioca pearl-filled specialty bubble coffee and the wattleseed Fitzroy Iced. Food-wise, the menu incorporates coffee in creative ways — try the coffee-rubbed wagyu burger (with chilli jam, cheddar and pickled zucchini on a brioche bun) or the chilli barramundi folded eggs (with sambal oelek and bonito flakes). Other highlights include porcini-dusted eggs with duxelles, kale and truffle oil, as well as the tea-soaked overnight oats with caramelised ginger foam. While you're sipping your cuppa or tucking into your daytime meal, you'll be doing so in sleek surroundings. White and timber feature heavily in the cafe and its enclosed courtyard, as does natural light and greenery, including a full-grown tree in the main dining area. On the roastery side of things, the Newstead site covers the company's entire wholesale and cafe roasting operations in Queensland — and several varieties of coffee plants grow in the greenhouse, too.
Awarded Unearthed Artist of the Year at the 10th annual J Awards last night, Meg Mac — or Megan McInerney to her folks — is the Melbourne-based soul-pop artist making a serious name for herself in the indie music scene. The 23-year-old singer songwriter has come a long way from recording lyrics on her phone while still in high school. If her fast-growing fan-base, sell-out performances and distinctive, soulful sound are anything to go by, McInerney is definitely one to watch. Here are the top five things you should know about her. She's no one-hit wonder Though you may have already heard her powerful first single 'Known Better' played on triple j in the lead-up to the J Awards, don't overlook McInerney's more recent tracks. These songs showcase her bold, rich vocals – think 'Roll Up Your Sleeves' – as well as her talent for raw, personal lyrics — check out 'Every Lie'. 'Turning' also highlights the soul-meets-electronica sound she's developing, a unique style that has already captivated audiences. She takes cues from Motown, Irish folk and French chansons McInerney recently admitted to triple j Unearthed that, when she was nine, "I could not get enough of Vanessa Amorosi… please don't judge me. 'Absolutely Everybody' was my favourite." Lucky, then, that her dad introduced her to soul, primarily Motown, while her mum would sing her Irish folk ballads from an early age. It wasn't until she was 17 that she started writing her own songs and working on a personal style, inspired by her love of "big voices and a bit of that drama — [artists who] sing because they have to or they would die sort of thing, like Edith Piaf". She also counts Ray Charles and Sam Cooke among her primary influences, and more recently, James Blake and Frank Ocean. She's going from strength to strength It's an understatement to say 2014 has been a big year for the up-and-coming artist. In September she released her first EP, the self-titled MEGMAC, featuring four original tracks plus an impressive cover of a classic Bill Wither's song, 'Grandma's Hands'. The EP launch kicked off a national tour, with Melbourne and Sydney shows selling out in days, and Brisbane and Perth following soon after. Later nominated as Breakthrough Independent Artist of the Year, McInerney opened the Australian Indie Music Awards in October. #dogswearinghats A photo posted by MEGMAC (@megmacmusic) on Oct 10, 2014 at 12:11am PDT Her second favourite thing to do is dress up animals in human clothing When she isn't performing or making music, McInerney likes nothing better than to play dress ups with her dog. She told Music Feeds that she and her sister sent a photo of their pet to the Facebook page Dogs Wearing Hats, where "she got more Facebook likes than my whole music page in one hour." Following her knock-out live performances, its safe to say this is about to change. . @megmacmusic @kcrw So very welcome — Jason Kramer (KCRW) (@kcrwkramer) August 13, 2014 An international career is on the horizon While McInerney is gaining a serious fan base here, she's also making waves internationally, with 'Roll Up Your Sleeves' recently played on independent US radio station KCRW. The singer is already considering a trip to the US, where, she told Music Feeds, she'll "catch up with some label type people [who] want to meet me. It is exciting to think I can reach people away from my home." You can catch her at Falls Festival for NYE But before she jets off, McInerney will be taking on her first major festival as winner of the Falls Festival competition. Next to the likes of John Butler Trio, La Roux, Vance Joy and Empire of the Sun, she'll be performing some newly written songs with her sister as backing vocalist. Expect more bold piano sounds, big vocals and electronic elements from this promising young artist with a big future ahead of her.
In what has proven a particularly sad month for Brisbane cinephiles, another mainstay of the city's film scene is ending its run. Earlier in April, the Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival — which took over from the cancelled Brisbane International Film Festival, and staged three events between 2014 and 2016 — announced that it wouldn't be hosting any more fests. Now St Lucia's Schonell Theatre has revealed that it's ceasing its regular film sessions. From June 5, the University of Queensland Union-operated Schonell will stop operating as a cinema, and will instead become a venue for hire. In a statement sent out via email and placed on the Schonell's website, UQ Union President Gabii Starr advised that, "whilst the weekly film sessions will cease, the cinema will be available for private hire and the Schonell Theatre will continue to operate as normal with live shows and special events running throughout the year." That means that Brisbane loses yet another cinema, with Tribal Theatre still gathering dust and the former Regent still a hole in the ground. While the city isn't short on new venues — New Farm Cinema is going strong and will be joined by the inner-city Elizabeth Picture Theatre later this year, and Dendy is opening a new Coorparoo site — it also loses a place that genuinely shows films that wouldn't otherwise make their way to Brisbane, and gives others a longer run when they've disappeared from other cinemas. The Werner Herzog-directed, internet-focused documentary Lo and Behold: Reveries Of The Connected World, which sees the iconic German filmmaker explore the technology we all use but he clearly isn't that impressed with, is currently gracing the Schonell's screens, for example, as is Aussie effort Jasper Jones. Those with long memories might be aware that this isn't the first time that the venue has stopped its cinema program. Constructed in 1970, it last shut up shop in 2006, before starting again in 2008. Whether this closure sticks is yet to be seen, of course, but here's hoping that Brisbane's bleak current spate of losing cinema icons comes to an end.
Forget scones, jam and cream, as delicious a combination as that is — at The Lab's Easter high teas throughout April, it's ditching the classic setup. Instead, you'll tuck into seasonal treats to celebrate one of the sweetest times of year, with the spread available every Saturday and Sunday from 1pm throughout the month. On the menu: ribbon sandwiches, petite quiches and frittatas, colourful macarons, earl grey and orange tartlettes, chocolate and caramel hats, and more. Your sweet tooth won't go hungry here. Also a big feature: bottomless sparking wine, although it's up to you if you add that to all the cakes and chocolates. So, you can make Eggstravagant Easter High Tea a non-boozy affair for $50, which includes non-stop La Maison Du Thé French hand-crafted tea. Or, you can go for the Chandon package for $70, which comes with endless Domaine Chandon brut rosé, sparkling pinot shiraz and sparkling Chandon brut across two hours. Whichever you opt for, just take note of the public holidays. Although this high tea is still on then, there's a surcharge (taking the price to $57.50 sans alcohol and $80.50 with the hard stuff).
If you've ever fantasised about sleeping over in the hallowed grounds of the MCG, get ready to make those dreams a reality. For one night only — and for just two lucky guests — the iconic sports stadium will moonlight as a unique overnight stay. It's all thanks to booking.com, which is transforming one of the MCG's lofty guest boxes into the Unforgettable Legends Lounge — a special private guest suite for two, which is popping up for just one night to coincide with the final match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022. Two guests will get to experience the stay on Sunday, November 13, enjoying a full VIP package with all the trimmings. That includes return flights to Melbourne, an indulgent pre-game massage in the suite, and a top-shelf food and drink offering courtesy of a personal bartender (making cocktails on demand) and personal chef. Guests will also score a gift pack featuring personalised cricket merchandise for the ultimate memento. The suite itself is a little slice of sophistication, overlooking the ground from on high. It's decked out with a large double bed, a kitchen and a living area with sweeping views across the famed turf below. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — but of course, you'll have to put up a fight to make it yours. The exclusive stay will go to the first person to jump online and book with their speedy little fingers from 9am AEST on Friday, October 28. So yes, you'll want to be quick — cue the madness. The Unforgettable Legends Lounge and VIP experience is available to book exclusively for one person and their guest, for $30, with reservations opening at 9am AEST on Friday, October 28 at booking.com. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
"Time is an open-ended narrative — there's no right or wrong way to experience the space. People make their own story and every person will experience it differently." This is how international street artist Rone (Tyrone Wright) describes his latest and most expansive beauty-meets-decay exhibition, which opens to the public tomorrow, Friday, October 28. More than three years in the making, Rone's ambitious new work will completely transform Flinders Street Station's hidden third floor and ballroom. "Flinders Street Ballroom is one of those urban legends — you hear people talk about it, rarely could you find a photograph of it, and access to it was near impossible," Rone says of Time's location. "When I began the process back in 2019, no one had really been up here for 40 years." [caption id="attachment_875111" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image: Switchboard Room, RONE's Time[/caption] Running with newly-announced extended exhibition dates until Sunday, April 23, 2023, Time is a masterclass in storytelling and imbued with history. Like a sentimental love letter to mid-century Melbourne, it invites audiences to time-travel back to post-WWII, its 11 themed rooms sharing fictional histories that shine a light on the working class. "I let the space and architecture inform the installation. For each building, I try to do something that feels like it has always been there — or belongs," Rone tells Concrete Playground. [caption id="attachment_875112" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image: The Classroom, RONE's Time[/caption] "One of the biggest challenges was just the logistics — it's up on the third level, it's five flights of stairs, everything has to come through a very narrow doorway on an active train platform — so you can only move things when there's not a train at the station," Rone explains. "From the very beginning, I wasn't able to be onsite because of COVID — so I've only been in the space for about eight weeks ... I had to do it all offsite and on the computer in 3D before we actually constructed anything. So I designed something that could be built, and then taken apart into small pieces, and then reassembled." Each chamber is brought to life via a curation of original — and carefully recreated — heritage artifacts, lighting, soundscapes and historic architectural features; with the haunting female portraits that have become Rone's trademark. Prepare to be transported back to the public libraries, typing pools and machine rooms of yesteryear as you wander through the intricately designed spaces, pondering the meaning of time, progress and loss. [caption id="attachment_875121" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image: The Typing Pool, RONE's Time[/caption] The major installation has taken a team of over 120 people several months to deliver, including long-time Rone contributors such as interior set decorator Carly Spooner and sound composer Nick Batterham. "Nick, who is the composer and did the sound — he engaged 12-15 musicians to record the composition, plus there's a sound engineer who designs the speaker layout and installation. Then there are five or six people who install all that — so there ends up being 20 people just for sound." [caption id="attachment_875120" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image: The Work Room, RONE's Time[/caption] "There's been a couple of pieces that have really surprised me — that have been quite simple but come out really well, and quite beautiful," Rone says. Time follows similar large-scale transformations from Rone's famed back catalogue, including The Omega Project, which took over an abandoned Alphington cottage, and Empire, which transformed a deserted mansion in the Dandenongs. Both of these works presented imagined stories of the wealthy upper-class of old. The mysterious, long-closed Flinders Street Ballroom has enjoyed an artistic revival these past few years, having recently played host to Patricia Piccinini's otherworldly exhibition A Miracle Constantly Repeated. Find Rone's 'Time' at Level Three, Flinders Street Station, Melbourne, from October 28, 2022—April 23, 2023. Tickets are available online. Top image: The Glasshouse, part of 'Time', photo by Rone.
So far the Trashbags club night may have only occurred once, but those in charge certainly know how to create a lasting and memorable impression on picky Brisbanites. Following on its success at the Oxford Arts Factory in Sydney, it's not surprising that Trashbags Brisbane already looks to be a prominent fixture on the 2011's club night lineup. From the location choice of Monastery Nightclub through to the international star DJs, every selection for the nights are made to create the best possible experience. Lucky for those who missed out last time, Trashbags is back on Saturday 4 June with GTRONIC headlining and it’s sure to be a big one. Currently touted as one of the world’s best producers, GTRONIC is bringing his DANCE MACHINE WORLD TOUR to Brisbane for the very first time. In a class of his own, his work is instantly recognisable as soon as he drops the first beat. On the night he’ll be supported by K.Oh!, Noy, Jmac, Killafornia, Alex Terrell & Wil E.
Brisbanites, if you've been seeing this fair town of ours in a completely different light this year, that's to be expected. After spending so much time at home and indoors during lockdown, even the most familiar places around the city look a little different. So, you're probably paying them more attention than usual. While you're peering around the place, you might just spot some great art. Brisbane City Council runs a free outdoor gallery program, and it has been busy in 2020. First came Razzle Dazzle — and, next, Sunny Side Up will be brightening up a heap of public spaces, all while pondering Brissie's sunny and subtropical identity. From Monday, November 30–Sunday, April 18, you'll be feasting your eyes on pieces by Monica Rohan, Charlie Hillhouse, Julia Scott Green, Parallel Park, Jordan Azcune, Phoebe Paradise, Holly Anderson, Kinly Grey, Amelia Hine and Hailey Atkins. They're all emerging Brisbane artists under the age of 35, and the whole show has been curated by fellow up-and-comers Alex Holt and Sarah Thomson. It's all free, obviously, and includes everything from photography, sculpture and video to animation and illustration. Fish Lane, Edward Street, Irish Lane, Queen Street — they're just some of the places to head to.
If your 2024 resolutions involve seeing stunning art and travelling, here's one of the best ways to tick both boxes: a visit to digital-only art gallery teamLab Borderless in Tokyo. Not only is the Japanese venue finally set to reopen in a new location, but it'll welcome folks back in with a spectacular array of never-before-seen installations. If you fancy being surrounded by bubbles, jelly, flowers and oceans, you'll be especially thrilled. When it initially launched in 2018, teamLab Borderless instantly became one of the most spectacular must-sees on any Tokyo trip; however, the venue has been closed for a year and a half while shifting to its new site at Azabudai Hills. Come Friday, February 9, it'll reopen its doors with another dazzling array of artworks — pieces that epitomise terms like breathtaking, kaleidoscopic, glorious and delightful, and are worth a trip to Tokyo to see all by themselves. The new teamLab Borderless will span both evolved and brand-new artworks. So, even if you've been before at its old digs, you won't just be seeing the same things — even though they're definitely worth enjoying more than once. While the full range of works that'll feature at teamLab Borderless 2.0 still hasn't yet been revealed, the list keeps growing — and impressing. Pieces announced so far include the jaw-dropping Light Sculpture series, which cycles through an array of light formations and colours, as well as an eye-catching mirrored infinity room-style space that's tentatively been titled Microcosmoses. Among the world-premiere installations, there's also Bubble Universe: Physical Light, Bubbles of Light, Wobbling Light, and Environmental Light, which is comprised of spheres that look like soap bubbles and jelly, and will move through various colours. With Flowers and People — Megalith Crystal Formation, you'll spy florals bud and blossom, then wither and decay, repeating that pattern endlessly. And thanks to Black Waves — Megalith Crystal Formation, the sea gets a nod. Attendees can also enjoy Giant Solidified Spark, which is a sphere made from rays of light — plus Wall Without a Wall, which you'll see as a wall even though nothing physical exists. In its original guise, teamLab Borderless was also anointed the most-visited single-artist museum in the world during its first year of operation. Expect that to happen again in central Tokyo, where it's relocating to from its past Odaiba base. That means that you'll no longer be crossing over Tokyo's gorgeous Rainbow Bridge to get there — but your eyes will have much to feast on inside. If you were lucky enough to mosey around the OG spot before the pandemic, you'll know that the Borderless experience involves vibrant, constantly moving, always-changing interactive digital art keeps that keeps glowing and rearranging before your eyes. As the name makes plain, nothing is fixed or static here. Pieces move from one space to the next, and interact with other works. Sometimes, several different projections and installations mingle together. For attendees, peering at the end results isn't merely a passive experience, with the venue encouraging patrons to "wander, explore and discover". teamLab might be best-known for its Tokyo site, but it doesn't only operate in Japan. A second teamLab Borderless has already been open in Shanghai since 2019, and others are slated for Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Hamburg in Germany — the former without an exact opening date, the latter slated to launch in 2025. The organisation also operates a different museum in Macao, and has its first teamLab Phenomena on the way for the Saadiyat Cultural District in Abu Dhabi, again targeting a 2024 launch. The list goes on, with teamLab's works a drawcard wherever they pop up. teamLab Borderless Tokyo: MORI Building Digital Art Museum will reopen at its new location at Azabudai Hills, Garden Plaza B B1F, 1-2-4 Azabudai, Minato-ku, Tokyo sometime on Friday, February 9, 2024, with tickets on sale from Tuesday, January 16 — for more information, visit the museum's website. Images: teamLab, Exhibition view of teamLab Borderless: MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM, 2024, Azabudai Hills, Tokyo © teamLab, courtesy Pace Gallery.
Before the Titanic collided with an iceberg, became one of modern history's most famous tragedies and inspired one of cinema's biggest box-office hits, a different cross-Atlantic liner sailed into chaos. So says Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar, with the German pair's new — and wholly fictional — Netflix series 1899 taking place onboard the steamship Kerberos 13 years before the sinking that everyone knows about. This vessel is travelling from England to America with 1400 crew and passengers, filling everywhere from stately rooms to jam-packed halls, when it receives word of a missing craft. Owned by the same company, the Prometheus took the same route four months prior, and was thought to have disappeared without a trace until that distress signal beckons. Friese and bo Odar love a mystery, and 1899 has a hefty one right from the outset. Friese and bo Odar also love making labyrinthine puzzle-box shows that keep dropping clues, twists, and philosophical ideas about the meaning and point of existence in aid of the bigger picture — aka an approach that made their 2017–20 German-language effort Dark such a massive and deserving success. Over its three-season run, that series probed fate and destiny in a woodland town, not only diving into its residents' deepest secrets but charting the looping consequences backwards and forwards in time. Friese and bo Odar love grand ambitions as well, clearly, and Dark didn't just have them but fulfilled them, proving one of Netflix's best originals yet. How do the TV-making duo — Friese writes and co-writes, bo Odar directs and they both produce — ensure that sparks ignite twice? By diving even deeper into their favourite themes, tactics and flourishes, all in a series that couldn't spring from anyone else. If anyone familiar with Dark started watching 1899 without knowing their shared origins, they'd guess immediately. Everyone unacquainted with the former should end the latter desperate to seek it out ASAP. The one sizeable departure: inconsistent pacing, with 1899's first four season-one episodes glacial in setting the scene, and its last four busy to pack in as many revelations as possible. Still, taking the voyage comes with a boatload of thrills, suspense and intrigue; if Dark met Titanic, Snowpiercer, Black Mirror and Lost, and showed a ship's worth of love for the Alien franchise, it still wouldn't be close enough. Extra-terrestrials aren't the answer to this sci-fi/horror/mystery series, but the first Alien film started in the exact same way as 1899. Cue an unexpected transmission interrupting a trip, the crew committing to investigate, a derelict ship awaiting and a surprise making its way over from the abandoned vessel. Back on the Kerberos, like the Nostromo before it, cue crawling through passageways in search of answers, away from threats and to escape the discontent festering in the craft. In more than just the name of its other key ship, 1899 nods to the Alien saga's Prometheus as well — and for fans of the iconic Ridley Scott-created big-screen series, spotting the references adds a whole other game to a show that already has viewers sleuthing from the outset. Chasing clues is a prime pastime on the Kerberos, too — 1899's two ships draw their monikers from myth, aptly — with everyone from doctors, captains and sudden interlopers to enigmatic children and relocating Europeans trying to solve the show's puzzles. Chief among them are Maura Franklin (Emily Beecham, The Pursuit of Love), a rare female medical practitioner at the time; Kerberos' leader Eyk Larsen (Dark alum Andreas Pietschmann); and Daniel Solace (Aneurin Barnard, The Goldfinch), who climbs aboard while everyone's focusing on the Prometheus. As well as being perplexed by their situation, Maura and Eyk are haunted by their respective pasts; her brother is missing and her father (Anton Lesser, Andor) provides a firm presence in her dreams, while the captain can't stop thinking about, and believing he's seeing, the family he lost in a heartbreaking fashion. Traumatic histories are a common thread among the other passengers, too, as 1899 explores by beginning its early episodes honing in on a different character. Also onboard: Spaniards Ángel (Miguel Bernardeau, Everything Else) and Ramiro (José Pimentão, Teorias da Conspiração), one flouting wealth and the other posing as a priest; Ling Yi (newcomer Isabella Wei), who dresses like a geisha but speaks Cantonese with her travelling companion Yuk Je (Gabby Wong, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story); and Virginia Wilson (Rosalie Craig, The Queen's Gambit), who has more than a passing interest in the ship's Asian commuters. Then there's French couple Clémence (Mathilde Ollivier, A Call to Spy) and Lucien (Jonas Bloquet, Marie Antoinette), newlyweds hardly in the throes of marital bliss; stowaway Jérôme (Yann Gael, Saloum) and stoker Olek (Maciej Musial, The Witcher), found among the vessel's bottom levels; and a Danish family that includes religious fanatic Iben (Maria Erwolter, Outlaw), her husband Anker (Alexandre Willaume, The Wheel of Time), their pregnant daughter Tove (Clara Rosager, Morbius), scarred son Krester (Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen, Borgen) and youngest child Ada (Vida Sjørslev, Carmen Curlers). And, thanks to the Prometheus, there's a mute boy (Fflyn Edwards, The Snow Spider) as well. With Friese and bo Odar pulling the strings, Dark and now 1899 instantly grab attention with their riddles, nightmarishly brooding mood and — as one series put right there in its name — their willingness to get and stay dark. Throw in the pair's penchant for existential musings, trippy setups and premise-shattering revelations, and both shows are catnip for mystery lovers. This one sports a heavy eat-the-rich vibe as well (although nowhere near as strong as 2022's also ship-set Cannes Palme d'Or-winner Triangle of Sadness), and contemplates how the unwanted turns that everyones' lives take shape our future choices and selves. With a moniker from the past, 1899 understands that no one can ever truly evade theirs, with our own personal histories causing not just ripples but waves and tsunamis. Friese and bo Odar have another crucial skill, however: casting. 1899 features an international collection of characters, each speaking their own tongue, all adding to the show's exploration of immigration and played by a stellar lineup of actors. The series has its on-screen talent act against a virtual studio, with special effects-created sets and locations made during the shoot — crafting 1899's effects in-camera, rather than afterwards — and the resonant performances that result bear the benefits. A Cannes Best Actress Award-winner for 2019's excellent Little Joe, Beecham is always potent to watch, but alongside fellow leads Pietschmann and Barnard she helps ensure that this mind-bender is as emotional as it is cerebral. All aboard, obviously. Check out the trailer for 1899 below: 1899 streams via Netflix.
Brisbane is known for its glorious sunny days and blue skies, so when it rains, we can be caught off-guard — even with storms and wet weather a regular part of spring and summer. But when the heavens do open, this shouldn't be an excuse to hide in bed under your doona all day. Thankfully, our city is teeming with wet weather-friendly activities, so don't let a bit of drizzle keep you from making the most of Brisbane. Here are some ideas to keep you entertained and sufficiently dry before you consider hiding under your doona forever — binge-watching streaming not included. [caption id="attachment_966493" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Markus Ravik[/caption] Hole Up in a Cosy Bar — and Do More Than Just Drink At the first sign of threatening weather, gather your best group of drinking buddies and head straight for your local watering hole. Nab a cosy corner, order a few rounds and stay put until the skies clear. Quality booze, food and friends are really all you need, but to take your rainy day pub game up a notch, choose a bar with something to do other than just sit and drink. Mini golf awaits at Holey Moley's CBD, Fortitude Valley, Chermside and Mt Gravatt spots. Or, you can fling electronic darts at Oche. Plus, there's plenty of games at bars-slash-arcades Netherworld, B. Lucky and Archie Brothers. Hurling hatchets is even on offer at Maniax, while Hijinx Hotel at Chermside and Mt Gravatt will get you sleuthing — and endless hours of rain-less fun are guaranteed. [caption id="attachment_820625" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Chloë Callistemon[/caption] Get Cultured in a Nice Dry Gallery A rainy day is the perfect opportunity to finally catch that exhibition you've been meaning to see. Escape the elements and step into a haven of vibrant and colourful artworks that will surely take your mind off the wild weather. Some of our go-to inner Brisbane galleries include Artisan, Milani Gallery, Jan Murphy Gallery and the Institute of Modern Art — and the South Bank double that is the Gallery of Modern Art and the Queensland Art Gallery, of course. Spend all day browsing the talent and leave with some newfound inspiration to pick up a paintbrush. Or, if you're eager to marvel at a museum's wares, rather than a gallery's, check out the latest displays at the Queensland Museum. Snuggle Into a Cinema Seat Is there anything better on a rainy day than snuggling up to watch a movie, popcorn in one hand and a glass of wine in the other? The next time it starts to drizzle, swap your streaming queue for a new release at one of Brisbane's best cinemas — whether a new flick is on the agenda, or a retro one. The art deco stylings and warm atmosphere of New Farm Cinemas make it the perfect place to while away a rainy afternoon, beginning with a drink before enjoying an movie on the big screen — and both the CBD-located Elizabeth Picture Palace and the inner west's Red Hill Cinemas from the same folks are worth a visit too. Still on that side of town, Cinebar's cosy Rosalie surroundings make big films feel boutique. Brisbane is the only place in Australia with an Angelika Film Centre — and, with every seat a recliner, you kick back no matter what movie you're keen on. Also among the city's best moviegoing spots: Newmarket's Readings, Coorparoo's Dendy, and Palace's Barracks and James Street venues. Curl Up in a Cafe One of the best places to be on a rainy day is in a window seat at a cosy cafe, where you can watch the rain from a safe, dry distance. Add a cup of steaming coffee (or a glass of wine), a hearty meal and a good book, and you're all set for a delightful day indoors. With Brisbane's cafe scene constantly expanding, there's no shortage of options to choose from. Key requirements include lots of natural lighting, a chilled-out soundtrack and friendly staff. If they're also serving all-day breakfast, you know you've found a winner. And if the vibe is just right, like at moody all-day spot Bar Miette, Picnic's Camp Hill and West End locations, restaurant-meets-garden shop The Green, Lune Croissanterie's first-ever Brisbane site, Doughcraft in Bowen Hills and Mary Street, and perennial favourite Morning After, there's nothing better for a drizzly day. Treat Yourself to a Spa Day Treating yourself every now and then is essential for your health, so use the next rainy day as an excuse to sneak off to the spa for a little dose of zen. Relax and rejuvenate with a facial and massage, or even rope your significant other in for a couple's treatment. Brisbanites looking for spa experiences can pick from The Bathhouse Albion, Contro Wellness, Away Spa at W Brisbane, The Healing Stone at South Bank and Kailo Wellness Medispa at Fortitude Valley — and that's just for starters. Nothing is more luxurious than spending the day wrapped up in a robe, with cucumbers on eyes to complete the experience, of course. For more, check out our full guide to the city's extraordinary spa spots to fill the wet, miserable hours. [caption id="attachment_994860" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Daniel Boud[/caption] Make a Date with the Theatre There's a certain element of romance to the theatre, which always seems to heighten on a drizzly night. The next time it's forecast to rain, book tickets to a show and you'll see what we mean. Whether you prefer the classics or are a fan of more contemporary productions, there's bound to be a theatre in Brisbane with shows suited to your tastes. Our favourites include Queensland Theatre, La Boite and Brisbane Arts Theatre, plus whatever's playing at Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane Powerhouse and the Judith Wright Arts Centre — but they're not the only places worth visiting. Check out Concrete Playground's events guide for what's on this week. Be a Big Kidult Don't let the rain put a dampener on your spirit. Take a break from your busy week of adulting and let your inner kid run wild for a day with some of the best kidult activities in Brisbane. Surely you can't resist a friendly game of laser tag at nostalgic favourite Laserforce or a visit to Timezone that will inevitably stir up some nostalgia (yep, Timezone still exists at Garden City, Indooroopilly and Springfield). Or, you can bring your Mario Kart skills into real life at Slideways. Another way to spend a day inside: trying to sleuth your way out of an escape room. Brisbane has a few options, including Escape Hunt at West End and Arcadium Adventures in Spring Hill. Take a Class If you've been meaning to pick up a new skill for a while — and you didn't perfect everything you hoped to during various lockdowns — a dreary day is your chance to make it happen. Finally learn how to cook your dream dish at Newstead's Golden Pig, get your creative juices flowing with a drink in hand at Cork & Chroma, add some pottery to your life at Mas & Miek Ceramic House or get floral at Soul Pantry. Fancy revamping your exercise routine instead? Get stretchy at Stretch Yoga or hit the skating rink at Rollerfit. Your rainy day activity may even breed a lifelong hobby. Top image: Installation of Haus Yuriyal's artwork including (front to back) Bopa, 2024, Kalabus, 2024, Kamkau Ike (Haus Toktok) 2024 with Yuriyal Bridgeman's Yuri Alai Eagles (ceiling shield paintings) 2024 and Kuman (shield) paintings 2024. 'The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery / Photograph: C Callistemon © QAGOMA.
