When news broke last month that Dominos had invented a $30,000 delivery robot, we thought we'd reached the apex of pizza-related technology. Turns out we couldn't have been more wrong. In a development that threatens to shatter the very fabric of existence, a pizzeria in Williamsburg, Brooklyn has invented...a pizza box. No, not a pizza box. A pizza box. A pizza box. Made from pizza. Behold. Introducing The PIZZA BOX PIZZA! A pizza box made entirely out of pizza! No waste, 100% pizza and 100% delicious. pic.twitter.com/2KxxndlK4Z — Vinnie's Pizzeria (@vinniesbrooklyn) April 27, 2016 Rendering all other modes of food transport and storage obsolete, this glorious edible container is the brainchild of Vinnie's Pizzeria owner Sean Berthiaume, who might actually be Thomas Edison reincarnated as a guy who really, really likes pizza. Having previously caught our attention after photos of his pizza with pizza topping went viral online, Berthiaume came up with this new creation while trying to think of ways to reduce waste. "I thought 'what if you can make something that you can eat every part of,'" he told NBC 4 New York. The pizzeria is still working out the finer points of delivery – for the time being, anyone who orders one will have it delivered to them wrapped in foil. A pizza delivered in a pizza box will run New Yorkers up a bill of around $40. Unfortunately we suspect that even if they did deliver internationally, both the box and its contents might go a bit stale in the time it takes to get to Australia. Via NBC. Header image via Dollar Photo Club.
Are you the kind of person who loves surprise parties? Or, are you the first to run when someone even mentions the words? There are few events that divide public opinion more than the surprise party. Maybe you think they're a little passé, or maybe you've developed negative associations from memories of being crouched in a dark lounge room for half an hour longer than you wanted to be. But when they're done right, everyone will agree that a surprise party is always something worth doing. There's a reason this type of party has stood the test of time – it's exciting, exhilarating, and it makes the surprisee oh-so happy that all their friends have come together just for them. In partnership with Rekorderlig, here's our guide to getting all your friends together and throwing the ultimate surprise party. THE SURPRISE The key to a great surprise party is making sure the big surprise moment is one to remember. You can do this by doing a double down on your surprise by having a room full of the nearest and dearest surprise first, but then bring out a secret interstate guest or family member as a secondary surprise. Otherwise, you could throw them a party when it's not their birthday. Pick a date a month or week prior and get the jump on them. General rules for a good surprise are handing out glitter or streamers, having people hiding in all sorts of random places and leaping out, and having loads of balloons drop from on high as they arrive. [caption id="attachment_589828" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Wendy's Secret Garden.[/caption] THE LOCATION Make the location as special as the surprise itself by hiring a really incredible waterfront venue in the city, a rooftop bar, or throwing the party on a beach. You could hire the penthouse of an awesome Airbnb (providing parties are permitted, of course) or have a party in Wendy's Secret Garden, one of Sydney's finest hidden parks. The venue could make your party one to remember, so be sure to give it plenty of thought. THE DECORATIONS Having a theme will make things easier for you. Give a gentle nod in the direction of a cuisine or idea, and choosing food, drinks and décor will become a whole lot easier. If you have a backyard, a failsafe option is to turn it into a garden-party wonderland by winding fairy lights around trees, popping tea light candles into mason jars and having lots of outdoor seating. Lighting is integral to a good party, and can't be forgotten. Too bright and people will feel like they're getting drunk in a 7-11. Too dim and they won't be able to find the chips and dip. Get it right. THE FOOD Make sure that there's plenty to eat and plenty to drink. Head to the deli and lay out a few cheese boards or antipasti platters, and don't forget fairy bread (it's a classic for a reason) and and party pies and sausage rolls. For party drinks, make sure you're catering to all tastes – so cider for those who aren't partial to beer, wine, and soft drink for those who don't drink. Getting creative and making punch is a nice little twist, or you could grab a few Rekorderlig Cocktail Cans to keep it interesting. Make sure you have ice, plenty of eskies and plenty of fridge space. [caption id="attachment_592224" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Image: Parlour Gigs.[/caption] THE UNEXPECTED EXTRAS Why not go all out and throw a live gig in your backyard? You can, thanks to Parlour Gigs. This live music initiative from Melbourne musician Matt Walters came about after playing a house concert where he had such a great time that he started up Parlour Gigs to share the love. With over 800 musicians signed up and available to perform you can pretty much be guaranteed of finding the perfect musical act for your party. Other notable mentions for fun things to do are: hire a karaoke machine and sing a bunch of 80s hair metal, have your friend with good music taste DJ for the night, have a bouncy castle (they're surprisingly affordable), or just play a massive game of pass the parcel.
Drop whatever it is that you're doing: the ticket ballot for the 26th Meredith Music Festival is officially open. Running from December 9-11, the latest edition of the much-loved dickhead-free music festival will take place at its usual digs, Meredith's Supernatural Amphitheatre, which has gone and gotten itself a brand new sound system "tailor-made for the dynamic undulations of the Amphitheatre at all times of Magic O'Clock". Other changes for this year's festival include additional camping space, hundreds of new trees planted as part of Uncle Doug's Native Planting, and – perhaps most importantly – extra dunnies in the campground. Aunty, meanwhile, has been working hard on the lineup, which she promises will be announced "soonish". Standouts from last year included Father John Misty, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Ratatat, The Thurston Moore Band, Tkay Maidza, Neon Indian and Big Daddy Kane. The Meredith Ballot will be open from now until 10.26pm on Monday, August 8. Head on over to the festival website to sign up.
The Finders Keepers Markets have become a staple for those who are into design, creativity and supporting local artists. Treat yourself to a stroll around the market – it has over 100 stalls featuring fashion, ceramics, jewellery and food – while drinking wine or sipping specialty coffee. Returning to Brisbane's The Old Museum for two days for the second time this year, you'll be able to nab some marvellous treats that are difficult to find anywhere else. The designer-centric, come-one-come-all mini-festival has managed to bridge the gap between local market and exclusive exhibition, creating a space for independent designers to engage with the wider community. This time around, keep an eye out for Felicity Cooney's leather sandals and bags, Ginny Reynders for beautiful silver jewellery, and Timber & Co. for interiors. As usual, there will be a healthy amount of food. Allpress Espresso will be there, as will Spotted Cow Cookies if you need a little treat. Finders Keepers will run over two days, Saturday, November 5 from 9am-4pm, and Sunday, November 6 from 9am-4pm. For more information and a full list of designers, visit their website.
What would you do if you were a little less freaked out by consequences? Would you talk to more new people, fear a bit less, dance a little more like FKA Twigs, quit your desk job and dedicate yourself to the hobby or interest you've always wanted to turn into a career? Some sparkling young Australians are already flinging their inhibitions into a ziplock bag and seizing this little ol' life with both hands. Concrete Playground has teamed up with the Jameson crew to give you a sneak peek into the lives of bold characters who took a big chance on themselves. They've gone out on a limb and rewritten their path, encapsulating 'Sine Metu', the Jameson family motto which translates to 'without fear' — getting outside your comfort zone and trying something new. After all, we only get one shot at this. Take notes. Every kid fills their schoolbooks with sketches, but few actually consider turning their doodling into a career. In fact, Sydney-based illustrator Barry Patenaude certainly didn't think that his squiggles and scribbles could take him into the hectic freelance world of illustrating for big brands — even Concrete Playground (thanks Barry) — let alone illustrating his highly popular series Beers in the Sun. Instead, he followed the same path most of us do, progressing from high school to university, studying architecture and drafting, and then getting an office job. But sometimes, our true passions just can't be ignored; in fact, that's what embracing the 'Sine Metu' mindset is all about. WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU TOILETS TO DRAW, DRAW THEM WELL There's a reason most job choices — the ones that stem from a couple of years at uni, then lead to the 9-to-5 grind — are considered sensible choices. They're the kind of careers that provide security, as well as a clear plan for the future. If you'd met Barry when he was a child, he wouldn't have mentioned being an illustrator. "I did draw a lot," he says. "I did art at school, but I never really thought illustration could be a career path." There's such a thing as being too sensible, however — and if you ever find yourself using your artistic talents to sketch toilets, you might just come to this realisation. After pursuing all the practical options, Barry worked in an architecture office, designing buildings and delving into the ever-fascinating task of drawing toilets. That he found it a bit monotonous is stating the obvious. But, breaking away from the path you're already on is easier said than done, of course. And sometimes you need to experience all the boring stuff to shatter that mindset and discover what you really want to do. As Barry explains, "I finished school and was like, 'So the path is: you study, you get a job and then you work.' That's the mindset I had for ages, but over time it just didn't appeal to me. I didn't want to be an office jockey." SOMETIMES YOU'VE GOT TO SKIP TOWN FOR AN INTERNSHIP Like many big life decisions, it was a change of scene — and a change of city — that helped alter Barry's perceptions about just what his chosen profession should be. He had spent a few years travelling overseas and enjoying working holidays, but it was the move from Brisbane to Sydney that proved the true catalyst, or at least got the ball rolling. Not that that's actually what he was thinking about when he headed interstate with his girlfriend so that she could secure an internship. Sometimes, though, you just have to go where the moment takes you. As Barry started calling New South Wales home, "that's when I started drawing a lot more in my spare time," he advises, "and it was something I didn't realise that I had missed until I started doing it again". Illustrating became the thing he did on the side for a few years, leading to an art show in 2011, as well as paid freelance opportunities. Then, three years ago, his regular job switched from full to part time. It's the kind of news most employees dread, but he took it as an opportunity and royally bit the bullet. "I wouldn't have thought that I'd be in this position six years ago when I moved here, but it has worked out for the best I think," he says. "Like a lot of people, I was questioning what I was doing with my life. Now, I do have a path and I like where it is going, and it is definitely better than drawing toilets." ILLUSTRATE, INSTAGRAM, THEN LET THE BUSINESS COME TO YOU Today, Barry's decision to give illustrating a proper go might seem-like a no-brainer, but trying to make a living doing what you love is tricky, particularly when that involves a creative field, cultivating a gig-based resume, and never knowing what's going to come next. While his artwork is now featured on everything from bar walls to websites, getting to this stage wasn't an easy — or quick — process. Starting with a safety net — his part-time drafting job — certainly helped. So did just going for it; as Barry puts it, "you don't really have anything to lose. I mean, apart from your finances." He doesn't shy away from just how tough making his mark has been, but he also recognises the importance of self-belief and perseverance. "The first year was super hard. I was so poor. I just kept at it, and that's what I'm doing now — keeping at it. But it's definitely an evolution and a slow process. You've just got to have patience, and believe in your work, and let people realise that it's good." Take the project he has probably become best known for, Beers in the Sun. It actually started as a hobby and a way to unwind — and the fact that it combined two of his biggest passions certainly made it plenty of fun. It seems that people quite like pictures of their favourite beverages, with a flock of Instagram followers leading to media attention, more interest in his illustrations, gigs with booze brands, and yes, a few free brews to drink as well. When it comes to what will help kick your career into gear, "you just never know," says Barry. Want to experience a little bit of 'Sine Metu' yourself? Thanks to Jameson and The Rewriters, one extremely fortunate Concrete Playground reader (and their even more fortunate mate) will get the chance to 'fear less' and go on a big ol' adventure to Ireland. In addition to two return flights departing from your choice of Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, this epic giveaway comes with five night's accommodation and $500 spending money you can use to paint the Emerald Isle red. ENTER HERE. For more about how 'Sine Metu' influenced John Jameson's journey visit Jameson's website. Images: Andy Fraser.
Heading to Northshore Hamilton's Eat Street for a food fix has become a weekend staple for many Brisbanites; however, everyone's favourite evening markets have just gotten even better. No, they're not adding even more delicious bites to eat. Yes, they want you to hang around while you're digesting their tasty wares. From November 6, you won't just be hanging around — you'll be jumping in your car, driving down the road, then parking and peering up at a big screen with a riverside, city view. You'll also be taking all the edible morsels you've bought at Eat Street and devouring them while enjoying a movie at their pop-up drive-in. Films will run every Friday and Saturday night, spanning recent releases like Trainwreck and Everest, as well as classic fare. Fast & Furious 7 jumpstarts the program, because there's no better movie to watch while sitting in a vehicle, obviously. Just make sure your engine remains switched off, because no one needs to add to the feature's sound effects. If you're only interested in the movie, not the markets, don't distress — you won't go hungry. An American-style, retro-themed diner will be on site, or you can flag down the drive-in's Segway crew to deliver snacks, ice creams and non-alcoholic drinks to your car window. Yep. Segway delivery. Those with not-so-short memories might recall that the Brisbane International Film Festival did the same thing in the same spot back in 2011 and 2012. The current iteration is a limited time deal, only running until Eat Street moves into the space from its current site. When that happens, outdoor cinema will become a feature of the markets, just sans cars. All tickets must be purchased online and in advance, whether you're going with the romantic option (two people in a car for $32), coasting along on a double date (four people in a car for $44), or bringing every pal you can (seven people in a car for $54). Those without a set of wheels can get comfy in one of 200 moon chairs for a real under-the-stars viewing experience for only $13. For more information about the Eat Street Drive-In, visit their website.
Get the bacon and whisky ready, and start making your own canoe — Nick Offerman is coming to Australia in mid-2019. After last venturing to our shores in 2016, the Parks and Recreation star is headed back for with his all new All Rise show. Yes, Ron effing Swanson will be in the country again from June 2–21. All Rise sees Offerman do what he does best, other than star in beloved sitcoms and whip up items in his woodshop. Here, here'll be comedically contemplating life in a show that's described as "an evening of deliberative talking and light dance". If you've just started thinking about drunk Ron Swanson letting loose, that's understandable; however expect plenty of witty, reflective chatter as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrLZgP-OR6s It's been a big few years for the actor and comedian, with Offerman popping up in everything from Fargo, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Curb Your Enthusiasm to The Founder, Hearts Beat Loud and the forthcoming The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part since Parks and Rec ended. If you're a dedicated fan of not only Offerman, but his wife Megan Mullally, you might've noticed that his tour of Australia coincides with hers. With her band Nancy and Beth, Mullally is hitting up a spate of venues across the country between June 6–19, typically within days of Offerman's stops in each city. ALL RISE DATES June 2 — Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide June 5 — Crown Theatre, Perth June 8 — Palais Theatre, Melbourne June 12 — Canberra Theatre, Canberra June 14 — Wrest Point Casino, Hobart June 18 — State Theatre, Sydney June 21 — QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane Tickets go on sale at 2pm on Thursday, February 7, via Live Nation.
Sun, surf and sand aren't the only things the beach has to offer. If you're Courtney Norris, founder of new Newstead co-working hub The Cove, it might also inspire a new business idea. Running past the Sunshine Coast's Little Cove while training for a half-marathon, the word and its meaning stuck in her head. As did the drive to create a hub for Brisbane entrepreneurs and small businesses. The Cove's seaside inspiration doesn't mean working in beach-like surroundings (sorry), but members will find a relaxed space designed to foster collaboration and creativity. And while that might all sound like a standard co-work space spiel — it comes with the usual inclusions like collective and dedicated desks, offices, break-out areas and a communal kitchen — it also has a few ace additions sparked by Norris's time touring similar sites in Europe and Asia. As well as an event space hosting cocktail functions and masterclasses, The Cove boasts its own curated mentoring program, holds wellness sessions, offers a business concierge and provides access to an electric BMW i3 vehicle. Since opening its doors in September, it has formed partnerships with Institute of Modern Art and The Design Conference, held rooftop public exercise classes at Eleven Rooftop Bar and started planning an entrepreneurship retreat for this coming September/October. Norris says the aim is "to create a work environment that is welcoming, warm and modern — taking inspiration from a well-executed boutique hotel or private members club, where every detail has been thought through from the best in high-end finishes, custom-designed furniture, high speed wifi throughout, custom lighting and excellent customer service." The Cove also features a coastal-inspired aesthetic, created by Norris and Brisbane's Collectivus interior team with assistance from local and national designers. Membership options include premium office suites, collaborative desks for teams and dedicated desks in an open-plan environment. Find The Cove at 59 Doggett Street, Newstead. For further details, head to covecowork.com.au/cove.
One of Australia's most redeeming qualities is its ability to give good afternoon sun. There's something about its familiar glow that almost demands casual drinks – whether it's cracking open a cold beer after a day out, heading to the pub after a long day of work, or deciding on a whim that your backyard is perfect for having friends over. We love summer afternoons, and we've partnered with Heineken 3 so you can get the most out of them. We've spoken to a few of our favourite chefs, musicians and artists to get their insights on creating the perfect balmy afternoon. Having colourful paper backyard decorations may not be essential, but it's sure to take your casual backyard gathering to the next level. We asked the incredible paper engineer Benja Harney to help us out with some tutorials for easy backyard decorations. The first is a burger piñata, the second is a lantern covered in colourful streamers, the third is a string of sandwich bag bunting. Harney has done some incredible work in the past, so these simple projects are maybe a bit of an insult to his skills. He's worked on window installations for Hermès, he's made paper versions of Adidas shoes, and makes paper vegetables, grass and furniture for clients on the regular. His studio space is Surry Hills is filled to the brim with coloured paper and intricate paper sculptures. Not only is he good at his job, he's also really good at teaching. Follow the instructions below and make your backyard a little more fancy (and fun) the next time you have people over for a Heineken 3. BURGER PINATA When was the last time you whacked a piñata? It's fun, and even more fun when your piñata is shaped like a novelty version of your favourite food. This one is a little more tricky, so Benja has kindly drawn up some templates of the shapes you'll need to cut out to make your burger ingredients out of coloured cardboard. Print off the PDF in A3 and trace. Easy. You'll need: Thin cardboard (in the colours of your burger ingredients, and A3 size), thin corrugated cardboard, tape, scissors, glue, lollies, string. Method: Cut out your coloured cardboard into the shape of lettuce, tomato, burger bun and any other ingredients you want to pop in your burger. Use four strips of corrugated cardboard (about 15cm wide) and tape to make a square frame. Place a large piece of corrugated cardboard over the top, so it resembles a shallow open box. Glue your pieces of coloured cardboard to the box — it should now look like a burger. Flip the box over and fill it with lollies. Then, cover the box with a piece of thinner cardboard and tape it together. If you want to make it a little easier on your guests, you could glue this piece down instead of taping it, so it comes apart easier when you start to smash. Pop a piece of string onto the top and hang. SANDWICH BAG BUNTING This brown paper bag bunting is the easiest backyard decoration you'll ever make. Who knew that some scissors and string could turn the humble sandwich bag into a classy decoration for your backyard? You'll need: PVA glue, scissors, string, brown paper sandwich bags. Method: Grab yourself some brown paper sandwich bags from your local supermarket (they'll set you back a maximum of $2 — cheapest project you'll ever do). Cut each bag into a triangle shape like the one above, making sure that the 'seam' of the bag isn't at the triangle's point. Place a long piece of string inside the fold and glue it there. Repeat, repeat and repeat until your bunting has reached the length you want it to be. A LANTERN OF STREAMERS This is a simple way to spice up those cheap paper lanterns most people have in their backyards. It's colourful, looks like a jellyfish and blows in the wind. Make multiples and hang them in a row for maximum effect. You'll need: A cheap lantern from a discount store, string to hang it up, glue, scissors, three colours of streamers. Method: Cut the three colours of your streamers into pieces, all different lengths. Glue the top of each piece of streamer around the lantern in layers, starting from the bottom and repeating until the whole lantern is covered. Enjoy your summer afternoons with the new low-carb Heineken 3 — we're helping you make the most of them. Images: Kimberley Low.
In concurrence with the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Referendum, The National Gallery of Australia, in partnership with Wesfarmers Arts, is hosting its 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial. This major exhibition, titled Defying Empire, will run from May 26 through September 10 and brings together both established and emerging Indigenous artists from across Australia in a showcase that focuses on themes of identity, racism, displacement and country. Among the 30 participating artists are Brenda L. Croft, whose art looks at themes of home, Fiona Foley, who focuses on race relations, Tony Albert, who examines war and its aftermath and Brook Andrew, who explores themes of ancestry. Other artists delve into heavy issues of nuclear testing, sovereignty and the stolen generations, using a mix of media from canvas painting, video and photography to weaving, sculpture, metalwork and glasswork. The exhibition reinforces the significance of Indigenous art in Australia's cultural identity and the ongoing struggle for equality. Image: Daniel Boyd by Nikki To, Megan Cope by Pat Scala/Fairfax Media.
Thirty years since Expo 88 lit up the Brisbane River's southern banks, the area we all know as South Bank still has a few luminous tricks up its sleeves. Flowstate is one of them, a new temporary creative space taking over the former Arbour View Café precinct, featuring an immersive digital art installation, an open-air performance pavilion and a grassy relaxation zone. It's the first aspect, JEM by design studio ENESS, that'll immediately capture the city's attention — and have Brisbanites rushing to the South Brisbane parklands. A glowing arc-like structure fashioned from LEDs, it responds to movement, meaning that everyone can influence its display of light and sound. Or, to put it another way, it emits a symphonic and visual experience when approached. In addition to JEM's eye-catching wonders, the 3000-square-metre space will also boast an array of performances, including a year-long free program during its first year of operation. On the just-announced 20-show-plus bill: CIRCA showing off their acrobatic skills in Aura, Dead Puppet Society unleashing their roving installation Megafauna and live, immersive, moonlit orchestra event Song to the Earth. Other highlights include participatory dance performance Planets, South Bank art tour What I'm Here For, and whispered storytelling from Brisbane writers, poets and artists in These Frozen Moments. Also on offer are talks, classes and workshops, from an evolving lineup that features Magda Szubanski, Luke Ryan and Margi Brown Ash. And, because South Bank's grassy areas are made for relaxing, Flowstate Green will host a resident DJ set every Friday evening. Officially opening on January 29, Flowstate has been planned as interim-use site by Australian architecture and performance design firm Stukel Stone. It's intended to be in place for between 18 months and three years. Find Flowstate at South Bank Parklands near the Epicurious Garden, and visit flowstate.southbankcorporation.com.au for further information. Image: Tony Gwynn Jones.
The term ‘boutique’ has accrued a lot of synonyms since coming into common parlance in recent years. When attached to a festival, it usually means ‘overpriced’, ‘obscure’ and ‘painfully hip’. But in a depressing festival landscape of hot, sticky summer sameness, one Brisbane crew is restoring the glory to the boutique festival name. The second Jungle Love is coming in November and they’ve carried on the integrity that defined their debut 2014 festival. So how does a festival do ‘boutique’ justice? Oh let us count the ways. Despite a relatively limited budget, the two-day lineup is impressive and mostly locally-sourced (all power to homegrown produce). It currently includes The Cairos, The Belligerents, Baskervillain, The Bombay Royale, The Cactus Channel, Bullhorn, The Durries, Resin Dogs, The Tommyhawks plus a fair few more and there’s still another artist announcement coming. Jungle Love's lineup was chosen not necessarily for their ability to court triple j airtime but their stage presence, crowd-wooing tricks and the quality of the music they make. It’s a refreshing change from the standard festival shuffle of the top-played radio darlings and a return to what the summer festival should be: just a small group of people, hanging out in nature and enjoying some quality tunes. And don't forget the nosh — local culinary crews Lost Boys and Kettle and Tin will be there serving up organic chow to the happy masses. Location-wise, Jungle Love also solves the whole deadly-summer-heat thing (something most festivals overlook) by picking a spot with an onsite swimming creek. So bring your cutest togs and inflatable ring for dips between sets. It's just two hours' drive north of Brisbane, at Borumba Deer Park. But the best thing about Jungle Love, the thing that will melt hearts and draw crowds? It’s BYO, as nature intended. No more $10+ cans of Smirnoff Festival Edition™ that taste like sugary nuclear runoff. No more waiting in bar lines and missing important sets and feeling obliged to give your dog mates front cutsies. No more! All good things happen from the ground up, and you can have a hand in making Jungle Love a reality. The festival's Pozible campaign is running for another 22 hours and they’re close to their funding target. You can buy your tickets through the Pozible page or just donate some love to a worthy cause. Jungle Love Festival runs November 27-28 at Borumba Deer Park, 1133 Yabba Creek Road, Imbil (Sunshine Coast Hinterland). For more info, visit Jungle Love's website. Images: Chelsea Heaney, Freya Lamont and Irie Langlois.
Can you feel a tingling in your toes as your feet start to defrost? That’s the feeling of winter slipping away (or maybe you’ve been sitting cross-legged for too long) and with its demise comes the return of the 20th season of Australia's beloved Moonlight Cinema. Ahhh balmy nights on the grass, we have missed you. Heralding the coming of the warmer months, Moonlight Cinema is a summertime tradition and they always nail the balance between new releases and cult classics. While the film program is yet to be announced, the team have revealed they're bringing back one of their favourite, adorably novelty events. Moonlight Cinema fully understand that while your pooch may not be able to recite Mean Girls the way you want him to, you still want to bring him to the flicks with you. Now you can! The puntastically-named Doggie Nights is a night you can bring pooch along (ideally dressed as Regina George). Nosh-wise, Moonlight Cinema will again let you BYO movie snacks and drinks, but the unorganised can also chow down on a plethora of US style food trucks — the perfect, messy treat made for reclining on bean beds. Bean beds, doggies and snack trucks, is there anything better? This season includes screens in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth, running through December to March. Get your pens out and jot down these dates. MOONLIGHT CINEMA 2016 DATES: Sydney: Dec 3 – Mar 27 (Belvedere Amphitheatre in Centennial Park). Adelaide: Dec 3 – Feb 14 (Botanic Park) Brisbane: Dec 16 – Mar 6 (New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse) Melbourne: Dec 3 –Mar 27 (Central Lawn at the Royal Botanic Gardens) Perth: Dec 5 – Mar 27 (Kings Park and Botanic Garden) The Moonlight Cinema kicks off on December 3. For more information and bookings here.
You may have heard that Chinese artist and political commentator Ai Weiwei's work will be hitting Australia for the huge blockbuster summer exhibition Andy Warhol Ai Weiwei at the National Gallery of Victoria in December. But in a bizarre twist, the artist's work and freedom of speech is being threatened by none other than Lego, the Danish toy company that has brought delight to kids dads everywhere for generations. In a move that shocks nobody who’s ever stood barefoot on a tiny plastic brick, Lego have revealed themselves to be pretty damned villainous. Weiwei announced via Instagram on Saturday that Lego refused his studio’s order for bulk bricks on the grounds that Lego “cannot approve the use of Legos for political works”. The order was going to be used to build a room-sized installation of portraits of Australian activists who fight for human rights and free speech. Weiwei sardonically adds that Britain is opening a Legoland in Shanghai as a direct result of the special political relationship between the UK and China, which most definitely falls under the category of 'political works'. In September Lego refused Ai Weiwei Studio's request for a bulk order of Legos to create artwork to be shown at the National Gallery of Victoria as "they cannot approve the use of Legos for political works." On Oct 21, a British firm formally announced that it will open a new Legoland in Shanghai as one of the many deals of the U.K.-China "Golden Era." A photo posted by Ai Weiwei (@aiww) on Oct 23, 2015 at 6:04am PDT As expected, the resultant internet furore has been A+. One plucky Twitter user @dgatterdam astutely reused an Ai Weiwei quote “Everything is art. Everything is politics.” to generate debate while others proceeded to give in to their baser instincts and gave the (in some cases literal) middle finger to Lego. @aiww Uh oh, no one tell @LEGO_Group I used my Legos to make a political statement! #legosforweiwei pic.twitter.com/euOyW86xrP — Mila Johns (@milaficent) October 25, 2015 Both approaches worked in spreading the word however and it wasn’t long before the good people of the internet were offering up their own Legos for Weiwei's use instead. Weiwei made a statement yesterday that his studio will be collecting donated Lego in different cities to create the exhibition anyway (suck it, Lego, may you walk on a sea of thousands of your jagged blocks for eternity). He also said that he would be changing his exhibition piece to reflect the events and defend (more fervently) the tenants of free speech. In September 2015 Lego refused to sell Ai Weiwei Studio a bulk order of Lego bricks for Ai's artworks to be exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne on the basis of the works' "political" nature. Ai posted this notice on his Instagram on Friday, October 23rd. Lego's position triggered a torrent of outrage on social media against this assault on creativity and freedom of expression. Numerous supporters offered to donate Lego to Ai. In response to Lego's refusal and the overwhelming public response, Ai Weiwei has now decided to make a new work to defend freedom of speech and "political art". Ai Weiwei Studio will announce the project description and Lego collection points in different cities. This is the first phase of the coming projects. A photo posted by Ai Weiwei (@aiww) on Oct 25, 2015 at 10:37am PDT So how can you stick it to Lego and send your own blocks to the cause? We expect the Weiwei studio to announce collection points in the coming weeks and we’ll keep you updated. In the meantime, follow Weiwei's tweets, check the studio website and collect up all your old Lego pieces because soon enough they’ll be going down in history. Via New York Times/NPR. UPDATE OCTOBER 28, 2015: National Gallery of Victoria has been announced as the first international Lego collection point for the Ai Weiwei project. The artist today confirmed that the NGV will become the first Lego collection spot outside of Beijing. From Thursday, October 29, a car will be placed in the NGV sculpture garden in Melbourne as a repository for the Lego blocks. Donors are encouraged to bring in their Lego blocks and drop them through the sunroof of the vehicle.
After a successful 2013 collaboration between Dion Lee and angel-voiced Sarah Blasko on the killer show De Novo, the Sydney Dance Company is once again bringing to the stage a fusion of music, choreography and high fashion. This year the talent comes from costume designer Toni Maticevski and soprano Katie Noonan, who will weave their magic around a trio of dances by Rafael Bonachela, appropriately titled Triptych. Maticevski is better known for his red-carpet gowns than anything, but he’s turned his considerable talent towards interpreting the mood and music of the three pieces of choreography, and his designs range from pale nude chiffon twists for Simple Symphony to black and mesh for the “darker, sexier and more suggestive” mood in Les Illuminations. Rafael’s world premiere work, Variation 10, will feature the entire ensemble of the Sydney Dance Company swathed in shades of grey and silver, sheer ruffles, frayed edges and outlined cut-outs. Maticevski describes the look as “distressed ballerina”. It’s not the first time Maticevski has collaborated with the Sydney Dance Company. He crafted the costumes for the premiere 2013 season of Les Illuminations, which has been reimagined for the 2015 season. The images above are some sneaky shots of the as-yet-unfinished products in action. Triptych plays at the Roslyn Packer Theatre from September 25 – October 10. Book tickets via the Roslyn Packer Theatre website.
The Australian art industry's most talked about face for 2017 has been revealed, with the announcement of this year's Archibald Prize. This year's winner is Camden artist Mitch Cairns, who painted a stunning portrait of artist (and Cairns' partner) Agatha Gothe-Snape. He'll receive a cheeky cash prize $100,000 and bragging rights for life — and hey, when you've been shortlisted in the Archibald Prize four times already, you're already there. The subject of the portrait, Gothe-Snape is a celebrated artist in her own right, exhibiting at the 20th Biennale of Sydney and recently opening a solo exhibition at Tokyo's Mori Art Museum — a first for an Aussie artist. Her work constantly engages with the way the public engages with contemporary art, how we read it, understand it, and debate it. "In this painting, Agatha is both an active subject and a recalcitrant muse embracing and resisting simultaneously any idea of what it is to be fixed. Ultimately this is what is most attractive about Agatha. She embodies an uncompromising agency whilst having the grace to accept the ready complications inherent within our life as artists," says Cairns. "I composed this portrait with love in the full knowledge of its inevitable and palpable quake." Here's the work in full: South Australia's Betty Kuntiwa Pumani is the winner of the 2017 Wynne Prize with her striking ode to her mother country, and Joan Ross is the winner of the 2017 Sulman Prize for her mixed media work Oh history, you lied to me. See the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prize exhibition, including Mitch Cairns' winning work, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from July 29 to October 22. More info here.
One of Australia's most redeeming qualities is its ability to give good afternoon sun. There's something about its familiar glow that almost demands casual drinks — whether it's cracking open a cold beer after a day out, heading to the pub after a long day of work, or deciding on a whim that your backyard is perfect for having friends over. We love summer afternoons, and we've partnered with Heineken 3 so you can get the most out of them. We've spoken to a few of our favourite chefs, musicians and artists, to get their insights on creating the perfect balmy afternoon. For a summer playlist, who better to ask for advice than Ned East, a.k.a Kilter? His genre-spanning tropical electronic beats scream summer, and he's been making waves playing his tunes around Australia — performing at Falls, Field Day and Southbound. This year he followed the sun into European waters, playing shows and festivals across France, Germany, Malta and the UK. We asked him for some tips on how to create the perfect party playlist for a summer afternoon. Because he's a nice guy, he provided one of his own. It's good. Listen to this and get inspired, then follow his tips in creating your own. YOUR PLAYLIST NEEDS TO BE CAREFULLY CURATED It's important to remember that your playlist should be delicately crafted — it shouldn't just be a bunch of tracks thrown together. It should be designed to be listened to in one fell swoop, just like Kilter's. That means no skipping, no jumping and absolutely no shuffling (tracks, that is). TAKE YOUR LISTENERS ON A JOURNEY There needs to be an effortless flow. Kilter's playlist has a strong dance tinge to it, cruising through a few downtempo tracks, moving into a house-centred, upbeat party vibe. Things get a bit crazy towards the end, but what else can you expect from a summer session? PICK A FEW BANGER TRACKS TO GET STARTED Kilter tells us to "start with the tracks you really want to play, then think about their order and how they'll be consumed". Choose a few of your favourite tracks that you know you'll definitely want to include, and use those as your base. That way, it's easy to get inspired, ensure you get a variety of music and make sure your playlist has some direction. Kilter's starting point tracks were Kwesta's 'Ngud' (featuring Cassper Nyovest), as well as 808INK's 'Suede Jaw' and Hayden James' 'Just a Lover' (Karma Kid remix) — he recommends if you're in need of some inspiration. CONSIDER YOUR SITUATION, AND LEARN TO LIFT THE VIBES Music has the magical ability to dictate someone's mood. It's essential to a summer afternoon when you're throwing back a Heineken 3, because it'll lift the vibes. "If it's a rainy day and you're playing summertime jams, it's going to make you feel a little bit better," Kilter says. "If it's a sunny day and you've got sunny music on, it's really going to take your vibes to another level". In his own words: "Get some friends over and have some beers in the sun. Let the music do its thing while you do your thing." Enjoy your summer afternoons with the new low-carb Heineken 3 — we're helping you make the most of them.
White knuckle thrillers, sun-dappled love stories and fish out of water comedies — you'll find them all in the lineup at this year's Spanish Film Festival. Taking over the screens at select Palace Cinemas around the country, the latest edition of this much-loved festival features 39 titles in total, including a loose remake of a recent Australian effort that will double as the opening night film. A kinky, sex-positive comedy inspired by Josh Lawson's The Little Death, Paco Leon's Kiki, Love to Love should get things off to a smoldering start. Other standouts on the program include crime thrillers such as The Bar and Smoke and Mirrors, and a retrospective stream dedicated to the works of iconic actor and singer Ana Belen. The festival will conclude with an early screening of The Trip to Spain, the much anticipated third chapter in the big screen travels of comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. Below, check out our list of the five must-see films of this year's Spanish Film Festival. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ywx8kAviZA MAY GOD SAVE US The title of Rodrigo Sorogoyen's new film is a little on the ominous side, but then from all reports that's rather fitting. Set in Madrid during a fiercely hot summer against the backdrop of anti-austerity protests and a visit by the pope, May God Save Us tracks a pair of veteran cops on the trail of a violent serial killer. A classic cat-and-mouse thriller, the picture won Best Screenplay at last year's San Sebastian International Film Festival, and has been compared by critics to the blood-spattered films of David Fincher. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm9QiTqOUdI SUMMER 1993 This year's centerpiece film arrives at the Spanish Film Festival on the back of considerable critical acclaim. Directed by Carla Simon Pipó, who won Best First Feature at the 2017 Berlinale, Summer 1993 follows six-year-old Frida, who after the death of her parents is swept from Barcelona to the Catalan provinces to begin a new life with her aunt and uncle. A simple, sensitive coming-of-age story, the film is a must-see for cinephiles, and might well be our number one pick of the entire festival. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f5La9q2_k8 THE DISTINGUISHED CITIZEN The latest effort from directorial double act Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, The Distinguished Citizen earned major plaudits at last year's Venice Film Festival, including a Best Actor gong for its leading man Oscar Martínez. A familiar face to Argentinean audiences, here Martínez plays Daniel Mantovani, a taciturn novelist who returns to his tiny hometown in order to accept an award and maybe find some inspiration. What follows has been billed as a biting big screen farce about jealousy, creativity and the perils of success. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B2x5XLbQhk THE QUEEN OF SPAIN In terms of star power, this sumptuous period piece from Oscar winner Fernando Trueba is likely the biggest title on this year's Spanish Film Festival program. Reprising her role from Trueba's 1998 film The Girl of Your Dreams, Penelope Cruz plays Macarena Granada, a Hollywood movie star who returns to her native Spain for a film shoot, only for the production to run afoul of Franco's regime. Both a send-up of fascism and a loving tribute to 1950s Spanish cinema, with supporting turns by The Princess Bride co-stars Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin, The Queen of Spain shapes up as a surefire crowdpleaser. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSDZ7IiYb_A THE TRIP TO SPAIN After touring the finest restaurants that England and then Italy had to offer, comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are back for their latest gastronomic adventure. Directed once again by Michael Winterbottom, The Trip to Spain promises more of the same for fans of the previous two Trip films, with charming vistas, mouthwatering food and free-flowing banter. Although it's due to receive a theatrical release later in the year, closing night is your chance to see one of the year's funniest films before any of your friends. The Spanish Film Festival tours Australia from April 18, screening at Sydney's Palace Norton Street and Palace Verona from April 18 to May 7; Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth and Kino Cinemas from April 20 to May 7, and Brisbane's Palace Barracks and Palace Centro from April 27 to May 14. For more information, visit the festival website. Image: Summer 1993.
Fans of Marcel Duchamp are in for a serious treat, with the Art Gallery of New South Wales named as the sole Australian stop for a huge exhibition celebrating the acclaimed artist's life and work. Kicking off in Tokyo on October 2, to mark the 50th anniversary of the artist's death, it's set to be the most comprehensive Duchamp exhibition to ever hit the Asia-Pacific region. The Essential Duchamp will open in Sydney in April 2019, showcasing an impressive 150 works and related documentary materials from throughout the art legend's 60-year career. It'll offer a rare glimpse at Duchamp's seriously fascinating life and a body of work that's considered one of the 20th century's most artistically influential. Some pieces, like Chocolate Grinder (No 2) from 1914 and 1910's Portrait of Dr. Dumouchel, have never before been seen in this part of the world. The exhibition's on loan from, and organised by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which boasts the definitive collection of Duchamp artwork. Director Dr Michael Brand said the Art Gallery of NSW's excited to be part of this important collaboration. "The Philadelphia Museum of Art is an encyclopedic museum of the highest order with a grand tradition of both research and innovative exhibitions," he explained. "The Gallery is delighted to introduce to Australian audiences for the first time, the full creative accomplishment of this maverick artist who changed the way we look at art." The Essential Duchamp will be on show at the Art Gallery of NSW from April 2019 to August 2019. For more info, visit the AGNSW website. Image: Gary Stevens via Wikimedia Commons.
One wrote novels that explored the loves and lives of well-to-do Britons during the 18th century. The other makes films that provide sharp, humorous looks at specific, highly interconnected sections of society. And yet, while Whit Stillman took inspiration from Jane Austen's Mansfield Park for his 1990 debut feature Metropolitan — which the filmmaker himself notes is considered "a stealth adaptation" by some Austen fans — it has taken him 26 years and five features to craft an official screen version of one of the author's works. Based on Austen's unfinished epistolary novella Lady Susan, the end result is Love & Friendship, a comedy of manners, match-making and possible marriages. Kate Beckinsale plays the recently widowed Lady Susan Vernon, who won't let rumours about her romantic entanglements get in the way of securing her next husband — or finding a suitable paramour for her teenage daughter, Frederica (Morfydd Clark). When she's not trying to win the affections of the young and handsome Reginald DeCourcy (Xavier Samuel) and setting up Frederica with the buffoonish Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett), she's confiding her schemes to her close friend Alicia (Chloë Sevigny). A sparkling satire of societal expectations ensues — and from the witty banter between characters to the light yet insightful way the story unravels, Love & Friendship feels like the film Stillman was destined to make. In the lead up to the movie's Australian release, we spoke with the writer/director about taking the time to see the project come to fruition, balancing his own sensibilities with the source material, and reuniting with after Beckinsale and Sevigny after his 1998 effort The Last Days of Disco. ON ADAPTING JANE AUSTEN "I happened upon the material, the story of Lady Susan Vernon — which her nephew, when he published it a century after her death, gave it the title Lady Susan, which is not Jane Austen's title. I thought it was really funny and different. And I had sort of not entirely admired all the Jane Austen adaptations because a lot of them lost the humour and her true perspective, and so I thought this is a way of having something very funny and very entertaining — a sort of pre-Oscar Wilde sort of comedy by Jane Austen and in her world. It intrigued me. "I wanted to take my time on it, and work on it when I didn't have paying jobs and could just do it at my own pace, just exactly as slow as it needed to be done. This kind of thing is like cooking — when you have a thing that is going to take a lot of time, it is going to take 12 hours of simmering something down. And so I knew that this was the 12 years of simmering something down. Well, maybe not that many years. But I knew it would take an amount of time." ON TACKLING A LESSER-KNOWN AUSTEN STORY "It was hugely liberating. Hugely liberating. A real benefit. But I also noticed that the film adaptations I liked best were often of non-masterpieces. So flawed novels sometimes make really, really good adaptations. And I was hopeful that this would fall into that category where there's enough things to be done to give the people working on the film a canvas to work on. What's really challenging and frustrating is to take a masterpiece and reduce it to a film, because it is an issue of reduction." ON CHANGING THE TITLE FROM LADY SUSAN TO LOVE & FRIENDSHIP "For me, it was a big thing. It was the first decision I made. I wouldn't have done the film as Lady Susan — it was the first thing I thought of. I hated the title Lady Susan, it wasn't Jane Austen's title. And I know that these character name titles don't work in most translation territories. "I really think that Love & Friendship is a wonderful Jane Austen title that she thought of herself, and she wasted it on a story I don't take seriously at all. There was a good title on an unimportant story, so let's put the good title on the good novella." ON BALANCING AUSTEN'S TRADEMARKS WITH STILLMAN'S OWN STYLE "Everything is tricky. Everything is a balancing act to the very end. When we were putting in the sound, at the very end, the laughter in the dancing scene, it's like, 'Do we have too much of James Martin laughing? Are we making this too broad, too ridiculous?' And we actually dialled that back. And so, yeah there's always this balance. I had been so immersed in this novel for so long, so immersed in the period — it's a lifelong interest — that it sort of felt that we could handle that and do that balancing." ON CASTING AUSTRALIAN ACTOR XAVIER SAMUEL "Woody Allen and other directors have talked about this — it is almost impossible to find good romantic leading men and this sort of classic mould, and Xavier was a godsend when we found him. "We almost lost him to a competing Australian film — his agent wanted him to take this higher-paying job in Australia. And, my gosh, I was so upset at the possibility of losing him that I told him that I didn't want to make the film if he wouldn't be in it. He is really important for the film." ON REUNITING KATE BECKINSALE AND CHLOË SEVIGNY AFTER THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO "That was really inadvertent. Chloë was actually in the film before Kate Beckinsale. I started so far back that I was actually in touch with Elizabeth Hurley, I think, about this when I first started thinking of it. Kate was far too young then, she was still in her twenties. But I always thought it was a lovely idea for Kate Beckinsale, but at the very start she was too young. And then, I think Sienna Miller was attached to the film as Lady Susan for a while. And then the clouds parted, the sun came out, and we were able to get Kate to play the part — and it is the part for which she was destined, and she was actually wonderful in it, and she was great to work with." Love & Friendship opens in Australian cinemas on July 21.
If you, like us, have been struggling to maintain your bank balance this Christmas (the shopping, holiday plans and festival tickets all take their toll), we feel ya. To help you out, we've teamed up with Melbourne's biggest and best inner city festival, Sugar Mountain, and V MoVement, to give you the chance to win an epic festival experience. The stress of the festive season will melt away when you're grooving to Blood Orange with an 8bit burger in one hand and a beer in the other. Bliss. Up for grabs here are two VIP Sugar Mountain passes (yes), return flights to Melbourne from any major capital city (yessss) and we'll even put you up for two nights at QT Melbourne (a thousand times yes!). Prepare yourself for fluffy-robed luxury. But that's not all. Thanks to our buds at V MoVement, you'll be their VIP too with two side of stage passes to get up close and personal with the line-up on their own personal stage. V MoVement, just FYI, is an initiative by (you guessed it) V energy drink that aims to support grass roots dance music so it's no surprise they're popping up at the weird and wonderful Sugar Mountain. If you're a fan of EDM, this is the prize for you. Check out the line-up and read up on last year's Sensory Lab to yourself excited. We're even throwing in a year's worth of V energy drinks to bolster your energy levels after such an intense weekend. Damn. Not sure if anything under the tree can top this present. Head here to enter.
Cinderella horrifically mangled in a pumpkin car crash. Dodgem cars run by the Grim Reaper. Model boat ponds filled with dead bodies. Welcome to Banksy's Dismaland. Banksy has unveiled his biggest show to date, a family theme park that's highly unsuitable for children, a festival of "art, amusement and entry-level anarchism". Opened on a 2.5 acre site on the Weston-super-Mare seafront in the UK, Banksy's largest project has been kept under wraps for months, until today. According to the Guardian, locals and tourists were convinced the disused '30s lido space was being used for a Hollywood film set — fake crime thriller Grey Fox. Wander through cardboard airport security and you'll find a frankly terrifying theme park — a huge flip of the bird to Disneyland, even though Banksy banned any imagery of Mickey Mouse on site. Banksy personally selected 58 artists including Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, Julie Burchill, Jimmy Cauty (former KLF) and more, most of whom never met the elusive legend. The theme park's 'attractions' are another world of messed-up. Banksy's own ten works include Cinderella's pumpkin crashed in a large castle, a grisly recreation of the death of Princess Diana, surrounded by paparazzi (and you get a souvenir photo on the way out, lovely). The Grim Reaper rides the dodgems. There's a Punch and Judy show, rewritten with a nod to Jimmy Saville. Yeesh. There's a model boat pond, filled with dead bodies and overcrowded asylum seeker boats. There's cute little model village, swarmed by 3000 riot police following civil conflict. There's a Jeffrey Archer Memorial Fire Pit, locked in for daily book burnings, and an armour-plated riot control car used in Northern Ireland, with a slippery dip. For the kids, there's a 'pocket money loans' shop, handing out sweet sweet junk change with a 5000% interest rate to land them in debt for life. There's an 'advice bureau' where you can buy tools to break into bus stop ads and replace them with propaganda. "Are you looking for an alternative to the sugar-coated tedium of the average family day out? Or just somewhere a lot cheaper?" says Banksy. "Then this is the place for you. Bring the whole family to come and enjoy the latest addition to our chronic leisure surplus." #Dismaland #dismaland_park #banksy #streetart #dismalanbeamusementpark # A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 6:21am PDT #dismaland #banksy A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 8:39am PDT Dismaland Park #dismaland #banksy #dismaland_park #streetart #banksyart #disney #ladydi #paparazzi A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 11:56am PDT Banksy's dismaland park #dismaland #banksy #dismalanbeamusementpark #disney #england #streetart A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 5:20am PDT #streetart #dismaland_park #dismalanbeamusementpark #dismalandpark #dismaland #banksy #fuckthepolice A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 5:53am PDT #dismaland #banksy @dismaland_park A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 6:33am PDT Dismaland park #dismalandpark #dismaland #banksy #dismalanbeamusementpark #disney @dismaland_park A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 5:36am PDT Dismaland bemusement park @banksy @dismaland_park A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 5:02am PDT #dismaland #banksy A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 6:47am PDT #dismaland_park #dismalanbeamusementpark #dismalandpark #Dismaland #banksy #england A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 5:42am PDT Banky's Dismaland is open until September 27. There'll be 4000 tickets available each day at £3 each at dismaland.co.uk. Via Guardian, Huffington Post, NY Daily News. Top image: Yui Mok.
The adverse effects of climate change have already been well-documented. Rising sea levels. An increase in extreme weather events. Hundreds of millions of people potentially displaced. Yet the most disturbing cost of environmental degradation is only now being driven home. We don't mean to alarm you, but the verdict is in: global warming is going to change the taste of your beer. Commissioned by Earth Hour and produced by the good sports at Willie the Boatman craft brewery, Drought Draught is a brand new beer brewed under drought-affected conditions. Made using poor quality barley and hops, along with artificial supplements standing in for cost prohibitive natural alternatives, the result has been described as "average tasting beer," one that lets beer lovers "actually taste the effects of climate change." Lucky for Sydneysiders, the intentionally sub-par brew will debut at Feather and Bone in Marrickville this Saturday, as part of Earth Hour's Save the Ales campaign. The event is part of a broader Earth Hour initiative that draws attention to the impact of global warming on Australian farmers. People are also being encouraged to upload their #NoBeerSelfie to social media, with the best entries winning a beer tasting event in Sydney, Adelaide or Perth, along with a bunch of other prizes courtesy of craft brewers Young Henrys. More than 500 community events are expected to take place around the country this Saturday March 28 as part of Earth Hour 2015, in the lead-up to the annual 'lights out' at 8.30pm. For an event near you, visit the Earth Hour website.
Just a cheeky heads up for local legends like Liquorun, Jimmy Brings, Friday Beers, LiquorDrop, Dial-A-Drink, QuickBottle and WineRun — the big guns have jumped on the booze delivery bandwagon. Online shopping behemoth Amazon is trialling one-hour alcohol delivery, starting in Seattle. Announced by Amazon this week, Prime Now will take human laziness and demand for things now to the next level, dropping wine and beer at your doorstep within 60 minutes. From burger delivery by drone to ordering pizza with one emoji, humans just want things faster, faster, faster now. The Prime Now service, which is Amazon's fastest yet, will be exclusively available to members of Amazon Prime — and it's not just for booze. Tens of thousands of items will be available for one-hour delivery, from wine and beer to milk and ice cream, televisions, Kindles, paper towels, you name it. Throwing a last minute party or treating yourself to one heck of a night in just got pathetically easier. Local startup booze delivery crews, don't freak out just yet. Prime Now is currently only available Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland in the States, but the company has plans to expand the service to localities across the country and worldwide, eventually. Via CNET. Images: Dollar Photo Club and Walnut Studio.
Calling all architecture fans, folks keen to explore another side of Brisbane and just anyone who likes to peek behind closed doors. Open House Brisbane is back for 2019 and is once again showcasing the city's buildings and structures, letting you peer beyond their facades, and even welcoming you into nooks and crannies that aren't usually open to the public. Celebrating its tenth year in Brisbane, the event will feature 119 buildings across the weekend of October 12–13, which marks its biggest program yet. Get ready to wander through places that you probably walk past every day, spots you've always wondered about and everything in between. They include The Montague pub in West End, the Spring Hill Baths and The Shingle Inn in City Hall, plus the Fort Lytton Military Precinct (and Lytton Quarantine Station), the Old Windmill Tower and the always-popular homes inside Indooroopilly's Walter Taylor Bridge. A selection of architecturally distinctive residential buildings also feature, if you'd like a tour of other people's houses. Many require bookings, so planning ahead is recommended. Other highlights include seemingly every important space along the river at South Bank — Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Queensland Museum, State Library of Queensland, Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art and ABC Brisbane — plus other city-wide favourites such as The Tivoli, Breakfast Creek Hotel, Brisbane Powerhouse, Parliament House, the Treasury Hotel, 4ZZZ's studios and the Queensland Herbarium. Fancy stepping inside the 90-storey Brisbane Skytower in Margaret Street, or the historic Howard Smith Wharves? They're also on the bill. [caption id="attachment_741064" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Queensland Herbarium by Sheena Cheema[/caption] While plenty of this year's locations were on the program in 2018, newcomers include All Hallow's Convent, Brisbane Racing Club, 25 King Street, the William Terrace carpark and one of West End's best-kept secrets: the Ryan Street Library. It's a footpath spot where locals can stop by, borrow a book, exchange their own or donate reading material — and it's inspired, architecturally, by a similar setup in Stockholm. Open House Brisbane isn't just about walking through spaces, whether you mosey at your own leisure or take a guided tour. It also boasts a program of talks and events running from September 26, including a new signature lecture on Singaporean architecture. Last year's special after-dark section also returns, taking place between September 30–October 11 — complete with everything from art exhibitions to laneway tours. Brisbane Open House runs over Saturday, October 12 and Sunday, October 13 at a variety of places around Brisbane. For the full program, head to brisbaneopenhouse.com.au. Top images: Walter Taylor Bridget by Jake Churches, Port of Brisbane by Kim Williams, Government House Fernberg, Spring Hall Baths by Cieran Murphy and Old Windmill Tower by Paul Knie.
What would you do if you were a little less freaked out by consequences? Would you talk to more new people, fear a bit less, dance a little more like FKA Twigs, quit your desk job and start that independent photography career? Some sparkling young Australians are already flinging their inhibitions into a ziplock bag and seizing this little ol' life with both hands. Concrete Playground has teamed up with the Jameson crew to give you a sneak peek into the lives of some bold characters who took a big chance on themselves. They've gone out on a limb and rewritten their path, encapsulating 'Sine Metu', the Jameson family motto which translates to 'without fear' — getting outside your comfort zone and trying something new. After all, we only get one shot at this. Take notes. From a very young age, we're all asked the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" We're told to pick one path, one profession, to neatly label the rest of your life. Our responses change as we grow up, from astronaut to engineer, princess to PR, and for Sydney-based Cole Bennetts, from Penguin Boy to renowned photographer taking the Prime Minister's portrait. Now he's shot the likes of Sticky Fingers, Hermitude, Horrorshow, One Day and more, and you can find his work published in TIME, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Irish Times and Rolling Stone to name a few. Not bad for a Penguin Boy. WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU PENGUINS, BECOME THEIR KING Cole's origin story reads like a Mark Twain book, a tale from a time before life happened on the screen and people went out to seek their fortunes. Initially for Cole, the end goal was never photography. His start in the industry came from a pretty unlikely place — as a way to weasel out of participating in the swimming carnival. "I'd never been the most athletic of people but I discovered that if I had a camera in my hand I didn't have to swim in the swimming carnival. I was like 'there's something to this'." A self-proclaimed science nerd, Cole's formative years were spent studying biology at university and eventually found him monitoring the behavioural patterns of seagulls and penguins in Bass Strait. The documentation process again stirred his interest in photography and, strangely, penguin care. "When that wound up [at Bass Strait] I found myself in Canberra with the zoo there. I spent about 18 months within the zoo as a penguin keeper. I managed to get the nickname 'Penguin Boy'. I can't believe I'm saying this." SOMETIMES YOU'VE GOT TO SPEND SIX MONTHS IN THE WILD The antics of Penguin Boy became an attraction at the zoo, from lining up the penguins for feeding time to putting them to bed. Eventually, the prestigious title wore thin and Cole stumbled across an opportunity that would make most of us hurtle in the opposite direction. "I got offered a job on a really remote island… There was no water, there was nothing. We'd have to have supplies brought in by shark fishermen. It was a six-month stint living like a wild man." Just after quitting his role as Penguin Boy, Cole found out funding for the project had been cut and he was without a job. After a series of fortunate events, he founded a music business in Canberra and set about promoting. But Cole didn't have the budget for a photographer, someone you're kind of going to need for promo. So, having 'made do' in those six-months on the island, he improvised. "I bought a cheap camera set up and quit my job and told people I was a photographer. And I was awful. I was so bad. Within four weeks of doing it, I had $2.20 and half a loaf of bread to my name. "If you're going to do something, you throw yourself into it. I'm a big believer in sink or swim. And fake it till you make it. There's no better situation to learn than when you have no option; it's do or die." FAKE IT TILL YOU TAKE THE PRIME MINISTER'S PORTRAIT There's not a lot to do in Canberra outside of politics and partying, so Cole had a lot of fodder to snap. A crash course in how to work a camera when there's no natural light and your subjects are swaying was just what he needed to get a start in the world of photography. Fast forward a few years, he's made a name for himself as a portrait photographer and has jacked a gig taking the PM's portrait. "It's a fine line when you're shooting... Your subjects may be celebrities, they may be artists but you've got to stand in front of them with a camera […] and do them right," he says. "So I was down on my knees in front of Julia Gillard's desk and I was having trouble getting the right feel and I was starting to panic and I was like 'OK, Prime Minister, what I need you to do is close your eyes and I want you to go to your happy place'. That was crazy." He got the shot in the end though and, true to form, bossing the PM around becomes just one of his weird work stories to tell. CHANGE THE GAME — NOT EVERY HIP HOP ARTIST NEEDS TO RAP SQUAT Cole soon moved from Canberra to Sydney, the land of creative opportunity, to try and break into music photography. One day while working in his Camperdown studio, he left to pick up some lunch and walked smack bang into Omar Musa, his friend and collaborator, and Morgan Jones of the Thundamentals. "A couple of weeks later I bumped into Morgs in the cafe and he had this new group called Jones Jnr. I said I'll do your pictures, I'll do them for free but if you go anywhere and you become successful, then I'm your guy," he says. It was a smart gamble, as Morgan was in the process of writing Step On Sleep, Jones Jnr's successful debut album. From this handshake agreement, Cole has built a career photographing Australian musicians including Sticky Fingers, Hermitude, Horrorshow, Hilltop Hoods, One Day, Spit Syndicate, Tuka, Jackie Onassis, The Rubens, Angus Stone, Left and more, alongside international stars like The 1975. His proclivity for shooting hip hop royalty has changed the game and shifted music portraiture away from the cheesy and the cliché. "These guys are super intelligent, they've got good stories to tell," he says. "It's not doing rap squats in front of graffiti walls." And who better to tell someone else's tale than a guy with a killer story to tell? When you wake up a Penguin Boy one day, unemployed the next, Kirribilli House soon after, you stop fearing change and start to embrace a Sine Metu mindset because it might lead to the best shot of your life. "It doesn't matter if I'm shooting the biggest name in Australian music or I'm shooting someone having a dance, if I get the frame that captures that moment… I get just as excited. It's about storytelling." Want to experience a little bit of 'Sine Metu' yourself? Thanks to Jameson and The Rewriters, one extremely fortunate Concrete Playground reader (and their even more fortunate mate) will get the chance to 'fear less' and go on a big ol' adventure to Ireland. In addition to two return flights departing from your choice of Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, this epic giveaway comes with five night's accommodation and $500 spending money you can use to paint the Emerald Isle red. ENTER HERE. For more about how 'Sine Metu' influenced John Jameson's journey visit Jameson's website.
Grab your wetsuit and hightail it to California, the not-so-secret home to Kelly Slater's game-changing wave pool. Surf fans have been scrambling to uncover the location of the facility since Saturday, when Kelly posted a video on Facebook (below) that showed him surfing what he called "the first truly world class, high performance, human-made waves." The world champion surfer was coy about the pool's precise coordinates, even as the video racked up more than four million views. In the end, it was Sydney-based surf writer Craig Brokensha who channelled his inner Miss Marple and cracked the case. Brokensha, who writes for Swellnet, began his investigation on Reddit, where numerous other amateur detectives had already begun cobbling together clues. Cross-referencing photos from Google with telltale landmarks visible in Kelly's video, Brokensha soon narrowed the location down to an old water ski lake near Leemore, around 50 kilometres south of Fresno. "With all the tools freely available to us in this day and age (Google, Google Earth, Google Streetview) it only took an hour or so to confirm the likely location of the test facility," wrote Brokensha. Well isn't someone a bit of a clever pants? Assuming the new technology is everything Slater claims it to be, its impact on the surf world could be enormous. There have been other attempts to create consistent, cost-effective waves in the past, but success has to this point proved elusive. Slater has promised to reveal more information in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the World Surf League have released a statement declaring that "the ramifications of this reveal are immeasurable at this point, but certainly will change the face of surfing as we know it." Here's hoping Slater opens the pool up to the public... although that's probably still a ways off yet. Now that the world title has been decided and events for the year have finished, I’m excited to show you what I’ve been... Posted by Kelly Slater on Friday, 18 December 2015 Via SMH.
Spread out over a huge dining space in The Rydges Hotel, Fortitude Valley, Six Acres is a restaurant that prides itself on offering up some of the best cuts of beef in the country. Executive chef Francesco Trucco has forged a career of over twenty years on the grill, and you can sit back and relax knowing he is at the flame. Trucco is careful only to order what is fresh and in season, meaning that everything that hits your plate will taste as if it were plucked from the ground just yesterday. Entrees include slow-cooked grilled octopus with caviar, wasabi mayo and gazpacho; peppered eye-fillet beef carpaccio with truffle mayo and lime; crispy zucchini flowers stuffed with cream cheese, saffron and sweet corn; and teriyaki sesame seed baby quail with sour cream, lime and coriander. Moving on the pork chop schnitzel makes a satisfying main, and comes served with cabbage and soybean salad and herb butter; while the fresh spinach ravioli is a lighter option and is served in a slow-cooked cherry tomato salsa with manchego cheese. If you're vegan, they've got you covered too — think vegan ravioli stuffed with vegan cheese, kale, mushrooms and truffle and covered in a spicy Napoli sauce. If you're after something from the grill, the Imperial Blossom wagyu scotch fillet MB 9+ is a mean cut at 200 grams, and comes with a choice of sauces including a shiraz-infused red wine jus. Other cuts include a 300-gram scotch fillet and a 450-gram rib eye. If you've left room for dessert, we're frankly impressed, and there is a smokey toasted almond and passionfruit cheesecake with vanilla bean ice cream awaiting you. When it comes to a drink, let the talented staff guide you through the wine options, or order a classic cocktail — we always love pairing a top-quality cut of steak with a cheeky old fashioned. And they do a mean old fashioned at Six Acres.
A drama released in 1989 that saw its premiere cut short because of the fall of the Berlin Wall. A tale of corruption in the sporting arena. A documentary about perhaps the greatest German director that ever lived. A lengthy father-daughter comedy that no one can stop talking about (us included). Yes, they're all part of the 2016 German Film Fest's 36-title lineup, which roams around Australia from November 15 to 30. In a nutshell, it's a great year to get your fix of the country's cinematic offerings. In fact, there's so much packed into the festival's heaving program that the aforementioned movies haven't even made our must-see list, which is a great indication of the wealth of choices available. So, just what should you ensure you get in front of your eyeballs? Here's our top tips, spanning everything from beloved filmmakers to movies made by ordinary people. EVERY THING WILL BE FINE We've said it before, and we'll say it again: James Franco really will pop up everywhere he can, even when you least expect it. Like in a German film. This time, he's starring in the latest one from iconic director Wim Wenders, alongside Rachel McAdams and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Every Thing Will Be Fine tells the tale of a writer faced with a life-changing experience; transformation is a common theme in the filmmaker's works. And don't go thinking Wenders' trademark fondness for breathtaking visuals will be sidelined in his first dramatic film in seven years; here, the Buena Vista Social Club, Pina and The Salt of the Earth helmer explores both the heartbreaking tragedy at the centre of the story and the aftermath via 3D visuals. DER NACHTMAHR It takes confidence to call your film Der Nachtmahr, or The Nightmare in English. Other horror movies have boasted about their terrifying dream-like status in their names to mixed results, aka the entire Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Director and visual artist Achim Bornhak aims for a more consistent scare rate in an effort ten years in the making. Given that the feature explores a teenager blighted with visions of a grotesque creature, here's hoping it hits the mark. GERMANY IN A DAY Back in 2011, Touching the Void and The Last King of Scotland filmmaker Kevin Macdonald took on another ambitious project. Life in a Day endeavoured to capture just what everyday existence is like by crowdsourcing its footage, accruing more than 80,000 clips submitted via YouTube. Five years later, Germany in a Day is the Deutschland-focused equivalent, as overseen by director Sönke Wortmann. If you've ever wondered what life was like for residents of the European nation on June 20, 2015, as captured by ordinary folks, this is your chance to find out. GOODBYE BERLIN In Goodbye Berlin, Turkish-German filmmaker Fatih Akin says hello to the road. Adapting Wolfgang Herrndorf's coming-of-age story Tschick (or Why We Took the Car in Australia), it's a feature filled with friendship, discovery, scenic sights and striking revelations after two unlikely pals steal a car one summer. And if it sounds like you've seen this before, Akin's previous filmography should convince you otherwise. Head On twisted the usual mid-life malaise drama, Soul Kitchen did more than cook up delicious-looking food and The Cut found insights in a portrait of resilience and endurance. VARIETÉ Step back in time thanks to 1925 film Varieté. Not only is it a circus fairytale of the kind that isn't often made these days, but it reportedly features the first documentation of unicycle hockey. Other claims to fame come thick and fast for the '20s film, partly due to its enchanting tale of a trapeze artist, the dancer he leaves his wife for, and the artist his lover then has an affair with — and partly due to the fact that the silent feature's score was lost long ago. In its place, The Tiger Lillies have a new soundtrack in their very own style to accompany the new digitised restoration. The German Film Fest Australia tours the country from November 15, screening at Sydney's Chauvel Cinema and Palace Norton Street from November 15 to 29, Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como, Kino Cinemas and Palace Westgarth from November 17 to 30, and Brisbane's Palace Barracks from November 25 to 30. For more information, visit the festival website.
The best of the best of local interior design has been announced by the judges at this year's Australian Interior Design Awards. Held in Sydney on Friday June 10, the 2016 ceremony – co-presented by the Design Institute of Australia and Artichoke Magazine – once again celebrated the most innovative new design projects in the country, from a waterfront apartment in Sydney to a boutique hotel in WA. Regardless of where they're located, however, all of this year's winners have one thing in common: we want to go to there. Taking home the Premier Award for Australian Interior Design was Darling Point Apartment (pictured below), a wood-panelled apartment overlooking the Sydney Harbour that was described by the jury as "an inspirational piece of interior design." The apartment also won an award for Residential Design, along with the Fitzroy Loft in Melbourne. The gong for Sustainability Advancement went to the North Shore Office fit out by Nielsen Workshop and Morgan Jenkins Architecture; the offices also won for Workplace Design. The award for Public Design, meanwhile, went to Our Lady of Assumption Primary School in Sydney, with the space having found new life from its original use as a Telstra training centre. Among the remaining winners were Sydney butcher shop 1888 Certified for Retail Design, and Perth's Alex Hotel for Hospitality Design. For the full list of Australian Interior Design Award winners, go here. Header Image: Alex Hotel, WA.
The mercury is rising and things are getting steamy, with the hotly anticipated return of World Movies Summer of Sin. Featuring only the most scandalous and salacious titles that the international film world has to offer, this four-week-long, adults-only program is sure to get pulses racing. Here listed are five of our favourite films from the lineup. From critically acclaimed French melodramas and German erotic comedies to James Franco making a documentary about his favourite BDSM porn site, these are the titles that consenting adults simply can't afford to miss. BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR (2013) The winner of top honours at last year's Cannes Film Festival, Blue Is the Warmest Colour gained notoriety for its extremely graphic lesbian sex scenes, as well as director Abdellatif Kechiche's tyrannical behaviour on set. Controversy notwithstanding, the sex is actually the least interesting part of this film, a devastating portrayal of the lifespan of a relationship featuring absolutely phenomenal performances from actresses Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux. Friday, December 19, at 9.30pm KINK (2013) Produced by James Franco (because of course he did), Kink takes viewers inside the daily workings of Kink.com, one of the world's leading producers of BDSM-themed pornography. Through interviews with directors and models, documentarian Christina Voros dives into the ins and outs of the adult entertainment world, exploring both the appeal of bondage pornography and the practical considerations involved in shooting it. Tuesday, December 23, at 9.30pm EMMANUELLE (1974) Yuletide revellers, ring in the festive season with this Christmas Eve screening of a classic soft-core porno. Marketed to mainstream moviegoers as an arthouse flick, Emmanuelle follows the Bangkok sexual odyssey of its titular heroine, the young, naive wife of a French diplomat. The film helped turn Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel into a sex symbol, and spawned dozens of sequels and spinoffs, a number of which will also be screened as part of the Summer of Sin program. Wednesday, December 24, at 9.30pm IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES (1976) Hugely controversial upon its release both in its native Japan and around the world, Nagisa Oshima's In the Realm of the Senses dramatises the violent sexual affair between a hotel manager and a maid in 1930s Tokyo. The film is inspired by the real-life case of Sada Abe, a woman who sparked a media sensation in Japan after strangling her lover and cutting off his penis. You'll have to watch the film yourself to see how closely it sticks to reality. Friday, January 2, at 9.30pm WETLANDS (2013) Although it's just a graphic as anything on this list, it's hard to think of a recent film less sexy than David Wnendt's Wetlands. Adapted from Charlotte Roche's novel of the same name, the film is a punk-rock feminist satire about 18-year-old Helen, a self-described "living pussy hygiene experiment", who falls in love with her attractive male nurse after landing in the hospital with haemorrhoids. Gleefully disgusting, it's sinful in a whole other kind of way. Monday, January 5, at 9.30pm
Americans afraid of a Donald Trump presidency are using websites and apps in order to trade votes with people in other states, in an effort to keep the Republican candidate out of the White House. Websites like Trump Traders are aimed at Republicans in so-called swing states, such as Florida and North Carolina, who are opposed to Donald Trump but don't wish to vote directly for Hillary Clinton, so intend to vote for a third party candidate instead. "We get it. Secretary Clinton is not your favourite," explains the website. "But at this point she is the only one standing between Trump and the White House. If you are #NeverTrump but want to support Gary Johnson or another third party candidate in a swing state, don't do it. You may toss the election to Trump. Instead, find a friend in a state that's safely blue or red — they'll vote for your third party candidate in exchange for your vote for Clinton." According to Trump Traders co-founder John Stubbs, more than 15,000 people had enrolled to swap their votes on the site. Apps such as NeverTrump functions in a similar fashion, allowing voters in swing states to swap votes with those in states that are considered safe. Vote trading is perfectly legal, although it does rely on the honour system — that is, you have to trust that the random stranger that you're trading votes with will actually vote for who they say they will. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTUe04et4EQ Via ABC.
In case you needed more proof that Hollywood is scraping the bottom of the barrel, audiences will soon be getting not one but two Uber-themed comedies. Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox will be racing to see who can get their flick into theatres first, after both studios unknowingly purchased Uber-centric scripts within 24 hours of each other. Honestly, this is just like Antz and A Bug's Life all over again. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal Pictures threw down a seven figure sum on an untitled pitch from Bad Neighbours screenwriter Brendan O'Brien, with Will Ferrell set to produce and star. The script isn't actually finished yet, but sources say it will concern an unfortunate Uber driver (Ferrell) whose fare turns out to be an escaped convict. Fox, meanwhile, purchased Tripper Clancy's completed script Stuber, which in an amusing twist of fate follows an Uber driver whose passenger is a cop, working what THR calls "the most dangerous case of his career." Is it just us, or does it sound like these two films are ripe for an Avengers-style crossover? No word yet on when either film will be released. It does make you wonder whether movies based on apps could be the next big thing, especially with The Angry Birds Movie hitting cinemas in the next few weeks. Surely it's only a matter of time before we get a romantic comedy and/or serial killer film based on Tinder. Via THR.
At long last SPECTRE — the 24th film in the iconic James Bond franchise — has made its way to screens around the country, and to mark the occasion, Heineken is giving fans a bunch of prizes to make them sharper than Bond himself. To help celebrate its long-standing partnership with Bond, Heineken has teamed up with the boutique experience cultivators over at Mr Aristotle for a brand new project, The Catch. Throughout November and December, Heineken will be hosting exclusive SPECTRE 007 events that are so mysterious participants won’t know what’s in store until they’re suddenly whisked away and thrown right into the middle of the action right as it happens — like this one, where you and your mates head off on an exclusive personal tailoring adventure through some of Brisbane's premier male fashion outlets and stores. Winners secure the expert advice of a top-tier fashion consultant to accompany you around town for a full three hours. You'll have what every indecisive shopper dreams of: your very own personal stylist advising on your needs, style and personality. They won't tell you how to dress — they'll tell you how to dress perfectly for you. No time-wasting, no queues and, most importantly, no buyer's remorse. It doesn't matter if you're keen for a complete overhaul or the simple addition of a few key pieces, your consultant will be there to offer their years of experience and VIP access to some of Brisbane's fashion meccas. You'll finish up at celebrated men's clothing establishment Calibre — fitting name. To be in the running for prizes like this, sign up via the Heineken's The Catch website and have your mates locked, loaded and ready to move at a moment’s notice. Then dive into your wardrobe and get cracking on that long overdue stocktake review — because if you win, you'll need to make some space.
“Will you be ready for THE CATCH?" This is the intriguing question posed by Heineken just one week out from the release of the 24th James Bond film SPECTRE, and it’s referring to something pretty darn special. To celebrate Heineken's 18-year partnership with the iconic 007 franchise, they're offering a select group of lucky fans a chance to experience the intriguing and prestigious world of James Bond. Sure, that could technically mean you have to infiltrate villain lairs and have various tuxedo scuba suits on hand for 24 hours, but we’re pretty confident it’s referring to the fun stuff: parties filled with glamour, prestige, special guests and VIP performances. Throughout November and December, Heineken will be hosting exclusive SPECTRE 007 events that are so mysterious participants won’t know what’s in store until they’re suddenly whisked away and thrown right into the middle of the action right as it happens. You won’t know where. You won’t know when. Will you be ready? To be in the running, fans need to sign up via the Heineken's The Catch website and have your mates locked, loaded and ready to move at a moment’s notice. Helipads and jet skis aren’t essential, but they’ll certainly come in handy...
We know you guys are probably tiring of the food truck trend, but hear us out on this one. Now, we're not entirely sure how to feel, so we're just gonna lay out the facts. There's a new food truck doing the rounds that specialises in… gourmet dog food. The Canine Wellness Kitchen (heh) is Australia's first food truck for dogs — which, honestly, is a sentence we never thought we'd write. Founders and 'canine chefs' Katie Crandon and Laura Yeomans aren't new to this game — they founded 'dog superfood' (apparently a thing) label Because I Luv My Dog, specialising in healthy pooch snacks for on-the-go doggos. It'll be the first food truck of its kind in Australia, offering a range of dog-friendly goods including dehydrated snacks, raw food, chicken necks and organic bone broth. And… again, not sure how to take this… a beer for dogs. It's named Freddie's Froth and it's not actual beer guys, it's bone broth, geez. The whole venture is a little tongue in cheek and pokes fun at the food truck revolution. This is a little snippet from the menu: "Forget the super smoothies, our bone broth is the ultimate detoxifier. Get your active wear on, this is all the warm up you need for a workout." Look, in your heart of hearts, you know this is one business that'll go incredibly well. We're on board. Canine Wellness Kitchen will be making their first appearance on September 24 at the Hank Marvin Markets in St Kilda.
Each of Australia's capital cities has a different shtick. Melbourne's just happens to be a 24-hour culture — or, at least, the closest Australia has to it. It's got all-night public transport on weekends, late-night opening hours for the National Gallery of Victoria's new Triennial and the city's White Night festival will return for its annual all-nighter in 2018. If you haven't been down to White Night before, here's how it works. From 7pm, much of Melbourne's CBD is closed to cars. From then on, the streets give way to pedestrians, who are free to wander between temporary installations, live music and on-street projections — as well as in and out of galleries and cultural institutions — up until the sun comes up at 7am the next day. It's the Australian version of Nuit Blanche, which was founded in France in the 80s. Next year's festival — which will shut down the city for 12 hours on the evening of Saturday, February 17 — features work from a tonne of both local and international artists. Expect to see neon pups, two Burning Man installations and one laneway covered in snow. There are far too many works to list, but here are a few highlights you'll want to look out for. A giant shimming silver net that will hover above Federation Square for White Night (and two weeks afterwards). Drag queens singing from balconies above Collins Street. A laneway filled with virtual neon 'dogs' and another filled with falling 'snow'. A tree that lets you write temporary messages on it with the light from your phone Two installations straight from Burning Man: a fire-breathing serpent outside Melbourne Museum and a giant mechanical insect that doubles at a DJ booth. Mini gigs performed from multiple balconies above Swanston Street. A 360-degree dome in Alexandra Gardens that will feature mesmerising projections. Stories from Australian detention centres projected onto the NGV's façade. White Night will also head out to Victoria's regional centres. It will return to Ballarat on March 17 for a second year, and will take to the streets of Bendigo and Geelong for the first time later in 2018.
Watching cat videos online is about to get a whole lot more intense, with Google revealing plans to enable virtual reality content on YouTube. The announcement, made at the Google I/O 2015 developer conference, is one of a slew of new innovations the global tech giant has in the works, as it slowly furthers its plan for total world domination. Your move, Bing. According to the announcement made in San Francisco overnight, YouTube will be able to host specially-created, immersive VR videos as early as this July, viewable through any virtual reality headset including Google’s own budget option, Google Cardboard. In order to ensure there’s plenty of VR content to choose from, Google will supply select YouTube partners with its new 360° Jump camera rig, developed in partnership with GoPro. The extreme sports-friendly camera company has actually been developing and selling multi-directional camera rigs for some time now, and recently acquired a company that specialises in panoramic video software — so the partnership certainly makes sense. Check out GoPro's VR demo video posted yesterday. Use the top left directional buttons to peruse: As they did with Google Cardboard, Google will be making the blueprints for the Jump rig public, meaning that anyone can theoretically build one. The rig will be compatible with consumer grade cameras, although you’ll need 16 of them to get the full effect. Google also announced upgrades to its cardboard VR headset, which can now be assembled in just three steps and fits phones up to six inches in size. The low-tech hardware, which offers an inexpensive alternative to the likes of Oculus Rift, has already racked up more than one million users since debuting at I/O last year. Between Google Cardboard and the new Jump platform, Google is clearly trying to push VR content into the mainstream. Next up: hoverboards! (Fingers crossed.) Via Gizmodo. Images: Google.
Each year, the Berlin International Film Festival premieres a treasure trove of flicks that movie buffs will be talking about for months to come, and longer, including when said titles make their way to Australia. It also understandably goes big on new German cinema, which often heads Down Under via the German Film Festival — and that touring event now has the 2023 program to prove it. Heading to Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Byron Bay throughout May, this year's German Film Festival sees Palace Cinemas team up with German Films, which is devoted to promoting the nation's movies internationally, on an impressive lineup. Here, recent and retro features sit by side, including five new efforts that debuted at Berlinale back in February, all of which are now making their Australian premieres. Film lovers can look forward to The Teacher's Lounge with Babylon Berlin's Leonie Benesch, which follows a teacher struggling over a series of thefts at her school; Sisi, the latest take on Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary after Corsage, this time featuring Toni Erdmann's Sandra Hüller as her lady-in-waiting; and Ingeborg Bachmann — Journey into the Desert, as led by Corsage star Vicky Krieps as the titular writer. And, there's also the 1990-set Someday We'll Tell Each Other Everything, which stems from the page — plus crime-thriller Till the End of the Night, which won actor Thea Ehre Berlinale's Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance. The German Film Festival kicks off with A Thousand Lines, hailing from Balloon filmmaker Michael Herbig, and diving into the IRL 2018 fake news scandal involving a journalist disgraced from Der Spiegel. At the other end, it'll close with Over & Out, Germany's addition to the spate of flicks about women reuniting with their old pals years later (see also: Off the Rails). Another hefty highlight: big focuses on the glorious city that is Berlin and also music, both via retrospective picks. So, add Christiane F, which follows the eponymous 14-year-old through 70s-era West Berlin and features David Bowie as himself, to your must-see list on the big screen. Add Wim Wenders' stunning Wings of Desire, about angels observing daily life but unable to interact with it, too. And, B-Movie: List & Sound in West Berlin 1979–1989 belongs in the same category with its archival footage and interviews, complete with Nick Cave, Joy Division and '99 Luftballons' band Nena. Other standouts include In a Land That No Longer Exists, as based on director Aelrun Goette's experiences in the 80s; documentary Merkel, about Germany's first female chancellor; crime comedy The Peacock; and body swapping in sci-fi Skin Deep. The German Film Festival is also celebrating Austrian and Swiss films, such as World War II drama The Fox and Vienna-set love story First Snow of Summer from the former, as well as And Tomorrow We Will Be Dead, about two Swiss citizens held hostage by the Taliban, from the latter. GERMAN FILM FESTIVAL 2023 DATES: Tuesday, May 2–Wednesday, May 24 — Palace Norton Street, Chauvel Cinema and Palace Central, Sydney Wednesday, May 3–Wednesday, May 24 — Palace Electric, Canberra Wednesday, May 3–Wednesday, May 24 — Palace James St and Palace Barracks, Brisbane Wednesday, May 3–Wednesday, May 24 — Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas and Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas, Adelaide Thursday, May 4–Wednesday, May 24 — Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema, Palace Westgarth and The Astor Theatre, Melbourne Thursday, May 4–Wednesday, May 24 — Luna Leederville, Luna on SX and Palace Raine Square, Perth Thursday, May 4–Wednesday, May 24 — Palace Byron Bay The German Film Festival Australia tours the country from throughout May 2023. For more information, visit the festival website.
A brand new streaming service could change the way you watch new release movies — assuming you're willing to fork over the cash. The latest online endeavour from Napster co-founder Sean Parker, Screening Room wants to bring movies into your living room on the same day they hit cinemas. The idea has already received backing from several major Hollywood filmmakers, including Peter Jackson, Martin Scorsese, J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg. But hostile theatre chains and prohibitive costs could mean the service remains a way off yet. The biggest hurdle, it would seem, is the cost of the service. Subscribers would need to purchase a US$150 set top box, after which they'd be charged $50 per film, which would remain available to them for 48-hours. Admittedly, you're paying for the convenience of not having to leave the house, and if you get enough people to chip in, it could easily work out cheaper than going to the cinema. But by the same token, if you're willing to wait a few months, you'll be able to watch the exact same movie on Netflix for a fraction of the price. The reason for the cost is in part to placate theatre owners, who might understandably be none too pleased about Parker trying to muscle in on their territory. According to Variety, as much as $20 out of each $50 rental fee would be paid to exhibitors, in return for two free tickets to see the given film in theatres, should Screening Room subscribers so choose. Film studios would also get a substantial slice of the pie, with Universal, Sony Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox all expressing interest in getting on board. There have, however, been several prominent naysayers, including filmmakers James Cameron and Christopher Nolan, who reaffirmed their commitment to theatrical presentation. It's easy to see their point: films are designed to be viewed on the big screen with the best possible picture and sound, something that cannot be replicated at home. On the other hand, it only takes one jerk on their phone in front of you to ruin the whole experience. Of course regardless of what happens with the Screening Room, we'd wager it'll still be quite a while before it makes its way to Australia. Looks like movie night is still a go, for now. Via Variety.
Look, in our book, every single day is gin day. But this Saturday, June 11, the drink that launched a thousand drunk texts (and counting) will be officially celebrated the world over. It's World Gin Day. And considering the experimental foodie age we live in, it doesn't seem appropriate to celebrate with just another gin and tonic — not when you can have it infused with ants or steeped in red wine grapes, anyway. So we've found two new weird Australian gins that won't only make for an unconventional G&T, but will spark a few conversations and raised eyebrows too. ANGRY ANT GIN — BASS AND FLINDERS Up and coming gin barons often differentiate themselves and their product by distilling the botanicals of the local area to give a distinctive, but familiar, flavour and scent. Australian species lend themselves perfectly to the task — but for the chaps down at Bass and Flinders Distillery in Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, that simply wasn't weird enough. They've distilled a gin made with a special ingredient: ants. Like all gin, Angry Ant is made up of a selection of botanicals. But along with the usual juniper berries and lemongrass, the essence of ants has also been thrown in. That's because ants release a pheromone during the distillation process, which produces a flavour that complements the other botanicals to create a damn fine gin. While they're not the first people to use the tiny insects in gin — Copenhagen's Nordic Food Lab produces an Anty Gin that costs a bomb per bottle — they're certainly the first in Australia, with the ants sourced from Wooleen Station in WA. Grab a bottle here, if you dare. BLOODY SHIRAZ GIN — FOUR PILLARS Ron Swanson may say that "clear alcohols are for rich women on diets" and while we usually take his word as gospel, we couldn't disagree more with him on this one. But if you want to add some colour (and kick) to your 5pm G&T, look no further than Four Pillars' brand new Bloody Shiraz Gin. The revolutionary gin created by Victorian gin legends Four Pillars is exaaactly what it sounds like — a Shiraz and gin blend. To create this bloody monster, they steeped Yarra Valley Shiraz grapes in their high-proof dry gin for eight weeks before pressing the fruit and blending it with the gin, and hoped like hell it would turn out well. It did. The pretty, deep purple hue combined with a potent alcoholic content (37.8 percent, compared to an average 30 percent in sloe gin) and sweet undertones make the Bloody Shiraz Gin a near perfect specimen. Four Pillars are releasing the mix on World Gin Day — you can head down to their Healesville distillery to try it or buy it on their website. And on that day, we'll raise a toast to all the gins that were and to all the weird, delicious gins that will soon be. Cheers to you gin, you glorious bastard!
Uber's switched on marketing team are at it again. Less than a week after teaming with Optus on an Australia Day stunt that saw cricket umpires dispatched to backyards around the country, the ridesharing service have announced their latest promotion. From 11am on Sunday January 31, Uber users will be able to summon a driver to collect unwanted gifts and second-hand clothes for donation to the Red Cross. The promotion is being run in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Geelong, Adelaide, Perth, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast, in partnership with local Red Cross Shops. Users wishing to donate can simply log in to the app between 11am and 4pm and select the 'Clothing Drive' option. The Red Cross asks that people bag up their donations, and only include items that can be resold. "The more donations we receive the more we are able to support the work of Red Cross around Australia," said Red Cross Shops Marketing Manager Kate Dear. Proceeds from sales at Red Cross Shops go directly to support the daily work of the organisation. Here's hoping people respond to this Uber promotion with the same enthusiasm that they did to ones involving kittens and ice-cream. Sure, helping people in need might not be as exciting as cats on demand, but you'd be hard pressed to argue it isn't a little bit more worthwhile. For more information visit the Uber newsroom.
Anyone who has ever watched a horror movie before knows that you should never, ever go into the woods. Yet that's exactly what the people behind Australia's coolest new immersive cinema experience are asking you to do. Horror Movie Campout is a blood-soaked overnight camping trip held in a secret Blair Witch-style forest an hour from the city. Just please, leave the machete at home. Coming to Melbourne in December and Sydney next year, this uniquely scary take on outdoor movie-going will treat campers to two classic horror films, along with a number of gory shorts. The first is 1973's head-spinner The Exorcist – enjoy the serenity of fear while roasting marshmallows and munching on popcorn (or spilling it) into the early hours of the morning. The second popular horror feature will be voted for by HMC campers via Facebook. But it's not just the movies. Beyond the comfort of your cosy cinema spot, surprises lurk in the forest. Is someone following you? Is that a person’s shadow, or just your imagination playing tricks? Horror Movie Campout promises to put your heart – and your bladder – to the test. Each $180 ticket includes a tent to sleep three mates. Glamping options are also available for $240, offering luxury horror-goers VIP perks such as express entry and primo spots in front of the screen. Just don't think you're exempt from the special horror surprises. Melbourne’s Horror Movie Campout is being held at Point Cook Homestead on December 4 and 5, while the Sydney event will be held in early 2016. It should also probably go without saying that this is strictly an R18+ event. Image via Dollar Photo Club.
As of today, you can put Jay-Z in charge of your music. That’s right, TIDAL, the streaming service that the rapper bought from Scandinavian platform Aspiro in February, has been relaunched in 31 countries, Australia included. Oodles of artists are pretty thrilled about it, having replaced their Twitter profile shots with turquoise squares and splashed #TIDALforALL all over the place. On Sunday night, Jay-Z went so far as to co-opt one of Bob Dylan’s most famous lyrics: Not quite, perhaps, what the singer-songwriter had in mind when he was asking ‘senators’ and ‘congressman’ to ‘heed the call’, but anyway. With the likes of Coldplay, Madonna, Usher, Nicki Minaj, Daft Punk and Alicia Keys championing the service with the vehemence and coordination redolent of a charity campaign, we’re taking a good look into what’s causing all the excitement. What exactly is TIDAL promising, when compared with its chief rival, Spotify? HIGHER QUALITY SOUND (AND A HIGHER PRICE TAG) The biggest drawcard for TIDAL is sound quality. By subscribing to TIDAL’s premium service, at US$19.99 a month, you get to access 'lossless high fidelity' sound, which none of its competitors offer. What this means is that, instead of being compressed into MP3 or WAV formats (often referred to as 'lossy'), the music is streamed to you almost exactly as it was recorded. For audiophiles, this is a massive win, even it does mean a higher price tag. If 'lossless' means nothing to you, think of it like choosing between standard and high definition Netflix. Still not convinced? Trial TIDAL premium free for thirty days and see how your ears go. For those uninterested in lossless, high def sound, TIDAL does offer a standard tier at US$9.99 month. However, unlike Spotify, there’s no free option. For people who’ve become accustomed to accessing music gratis, this might seem pretty unattractive. But for a start, it keeps TIDAL ad-free. MORE DOSH FOR MUSICIANS And how about giving a thought to songwriters? For 43 million spins on Pandora last year, Pharrell made only $2700. Sure, in Pharrell’s case, that might not matter too much — he’s obviously rolling in it and can charge mountains for appearing live — but for unknown, indie artists or dedicated songwriters who don't perform, it’s nothing short of exploitation. That’s why Mark Holden’s talking to Federal Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull about it. We're still waiting for the exact numbers Jay-Z's going to pop in artist wallets, but with only paid membership available it's bound to be decent. TAY TAY Low artist royalties is one of the reasons why Taylor Swift pulled her songs from Spotify and why her label Universal has been pressuring the streaming service to abolish free music, which leads to another point — if Tay has been missing from your stream, you can now Shake It Off, because she’s making her music available on TIDAL. There's no skirting the truth, higher fees for users mean better royalties for songwriters. EXTRA CONTENT Finally, TIDAL will be alluring subscribers with a whole bunch of exclusive material, including studio sessions and demo tracks. Spotify’s been doing this, too, but given Tidal's vocal artist support base, we can bank on expecting the unexpected.
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has established a studio on the Greek Island of Lesbos, where he and his students will create works relating to the ongoing European refugee crisis. Ai made the announcement while visiting the island, which has become one of the main entry points into Europe for hundreds of thousands of refugees, many of whom are fleeing the conflict in Syria. "As an artist, I have to relate to humanity’s struggles...I never separate these situations from my art," Ai told reporters. "I think that good art only comes out from when we have strong beliefs in aesthetics and human dignity. This can never be separated." The 58-year-old hopes to return to the island several times this year. He also plans to create a memorial on the island for refugees who lost their lives at sea. Ai, whose art frequently deals with human rights issues, has only recently begun travelling internationally again, having had his passport confiscated by Chinese authorities in 2011 when he was imprisoned for 81 days. Since its return he has visited London, where he snapped a selfie with Julian Assange, and Melbourne, where he attended the opening of the Andy Warhol / Ai Weiwei exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria. He has chronicled his experiences in Lesbos via social media, posting images of himself with refugees and volunteers. Happy new year #refugees #lesvos A photo posted by Ai Weiwei (@aiww) on Dec 31, 2015 at 8:56am PST A photo posted by Ai Weiwei (@aiww) on Dec 30, 2015 at 11:42am PST Engines of refugees boats #refugees #lesvos A photo posted by Ai Weiwei (@aiww) on Dec 31, 2015 at 1:57am PST In related news, volunteers for Greenpeace and Medecins San Frontieres recently created an enormous peace sign in Lesbos using discarded refugee life jackets, in an attempt to bring more attention to the crisis. More than half a million migrants have passed through the Greek Islands in the past 12 months alone. Via The Guardian.
Well, this is rather excellent branding. Britpop kings and experts in cheesemaking Blur are selling its own ice cream for their latest album tour. Coinciding with Blur's newest album The Magic Whip, the new edible merch is an attempt to recreate the neon sign on the cover; taking something like Gelato Messina's Jack White flavour next level. Damon Albarn and the lads teamed up with UK based ice cream company The Licktators, whose previous music-themed flavours include 'John Lemon' and 'Jiggy Pop'. But the company really made its headline-worthy reputation after releasing 'Baby Gaga' for the royal baby — an ice cream flavour made with human breast milk. Yep. Really. Blur's own escapade into iced confection will, of course, be called 'Magic Whip' after the new album. Attempting to mimic the cover art, the ice cream will be vanilla custard flavour with raspberry sauce. Unfortunately, 'Magic Whip' will be available exclusive at the legendary foursome's concerts and at a few London co-ops this year. We're not sure whether the ice cream will make it to Australia for their highly anticipated Splendour appearance and stadium tour, but until we're sure we'll be cooking up our own Blur dessert using the recipe hidden within the video for lead album single 'Go Out'. Via AV Club.
What would you do if you were a little less freaked out by consequences? Would you talk to more new people, fear a bit less, dance a little more like FKA Twigs, quit your desk job and make that film you've always wanted to? Some sparkling young Australians are already flinging their inhibitions into a ziplock bag and seizing this little ol' life with both hands. Concrete Playground has teamed up with the Jameson crew to give you a sneak peek into the lives of some bold characters who took a big chance on themselves. They've gone out on a limb and rewritten their path, encapsulating 'Sine Metu', the Jameson family motto which translates to 'without fear' — getting outside your comfort zone and trying something new. After all, we only get one shot at this. Take notes. Sydney's Jason Perini knows all about the anti-comfort zone. He's a man standing on the precipice of an opportunity so monumental it's overwhelming — a fully loaded-career with seriously big names already sitting in his credit roll. Alright, so it's not quite as dramatic as all that but he has recently found himself hurtling from struggling up-and-comer to directing Oscar nominated Maggie Gyllenhaal in a film he wrote himself in the space of a few short weeks. One of three winners of Jameson's 2016 First Shot competition, an international short film comp giving aspiring writers and directors their 'first shot' in the film industry, Jason's channelling 'Sine Metu' all the way to Hollywood with his film The New Empress. But how the heck did he get there? GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS/AWESOME WIFE Jason started his directing career, as all great directors do, on the other side of the camera. Graduating from the Actors Centre Australia in 2009, he starred in a few short films, episodes of Underbelly, and a few plays for the likes of Belvoir, RockSurfers and NIDA. Highly sought after as a voice over artist, he churned out ads for KFC, Sony and Samsung before taking a little more creative control over his film career. He wrote and starred in multiple award-winning short films including 2012 Tropfest finalist and Best Comedy winner at NYC's BrownFish International Film Festival Kitchen Sink Drama, and the Cannes-screened short A Little Bit Behind. Being a director, writer and actor was paying off. In his new arrangement though, the scales are loaded. On one side is his family (wildly supportive wife Susan, three young kids and preschool fees stacking up), fear and niggling self-doubt. On the other side is the pure joy of making films and a fair dollop of entrepreneurial spirit. In the end, they balance each other out — but it doesn't come easy. "My wife reassures me to keep moving in this direction and making short films because… I think she just sees the joy it brings me," he says. "And that it brings me a level of satisfaction." Perini doesn't fit into any preconceived notions you might have about actors and directors. He could be your brother, your mate, your neighbour, your uncle — there's not a skerrick of Tinseltown pretentiousness in him and he seems acutely aware of that. What he lacks in old Hollywood gravitas he more than makes up for in relatability. He's not a polished protagonist and seems to have no faith in things working out for him. For some, that fear might be calcifying, but for Perini, it makes him cautious, calculated and hardworking. His approach isn't razzle-dazzle, it's a hard slog, and maybe that insight is why Trigger Street Productions president Dana Brunetti, Kevin Spacey and Maggie Gyllenhaal, chose his script out of hundreds to win First Shot. FYI, this is the straight-up baller way Jameson, Trigger Street and Spacey told the three First Shot winners they'd won (get the tissues ready): EAT HUMBLE PIE FOR EVERY MEAL There's nothing glamorous about clawing your way up the film industry ladder. Like most of the creative professions, there's a dearth of funding and a saturation of hungry mouths to feed. Putting a dollar value on creative ideas can be challenging but not as difficult as going hand-to-mouth to potential investors and supporters. But that's the reality for most filmmakers. There's no fat stack of Hollywood money, no personal assistants and no safety net. Making it work means calling in a lot of favours. "Constantly having to approach people I don't know and say, 'I don't have much money, my idea is probably not very good but would you be willing to come along and help out with this thing,' you think, 'I don't want to do this, it's out of my comfort zone.' But in five years, if I hadn't given it a shot, I would kick myself. "I'm not getting any younger. I get nervous calling anyone on the phone, I can't stand it. I get weirded out by emailing people [the same as] approaching people cold. But the more you do it, you still don't like it but you know that's what you have to do." Herein this simple admission lies the crux of Perini's appeal – he's you. He's all of us, unpolished and goofy and cringing about having to pick up the phone and ask a favour. He's a man with the same hang-ups, the same road blocks we all have (age, time, money, warring responsibilities), who's managed to somehow close his eyes, steel himself and awkwardly run screaming into the fray 'without fear'. FAKE IT TILL THE HOLLYWOOD HEAVYWEIGHTS NOTICE YOU Perini quickly discovered that for him, being an actor was far easier than being an everything else (don't throw anything at us, actors). As director, producer and writer, he finds himself holding a lot of threads which threaten to unravel at any moment and ruin everything. "What's nice about it is that you get more of a vision but then if it comes crashing down, it sucks," he says. "If I was acting it I'd just go, 'Oh they cut it badly, the director was a jerk.' But there's nowhere to hide once you start producing, directing and writing." His approach to his craft is one of self-assured humility; an oxymoron that blends equal parts ability and uncertainty. When asked if he thinks he's a good filmmaker, he's characteristically self-deprecating. "No I don't," he says quickly. "I think I'm a baby in it. Now that I've made two films completely on my own, in the sense that I produced them and wrote them, I think I learned the hard way really quickly. I look back at both those films and would do them completely differently. But I've learnt so much… that's kind of helpful." Trigger Street and Maggie Gyllenhaal evidently disagree. Perini's script, which he nearly didn't submit, was chosen out of hundreds as a co-winner of First Shot. The prize is a filmmakers' dream Your script is brought to life with you as the director, Kevin Spacey as creative director, Trigger Street as producers and Maggie Gyllenhaal in front of the camera. As you may guess, Perini is dealing with it in a characteristically low-key way. "They're gonna have a rude shock when I turn up and don't know what I'm doing... I'm just thankful and I want to learn from them as much as I can. I want to be as ignorant as I can and soak it all up." Want to experience a little bit of 'Sine Metu' yourself? Thanks to Jameson and The Rewriters, one extremely fortunate Concrete Playground reader (and their even more fortunate mate) will get the chance to 'fear less' and go on a big ol' adventure to Ireland. In addition to two return flights departing from your choice of Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, this epic giveaway comes with five night's accommodation and $500 spending money you can use to paint the Emerald Isle red. ENTER HERE. For more about how 'Sine Metu' influenced John Jameson's journey visit Jameson's website. Images: Michael Ciccone, Jameson, Trigger Productions.
