Brisbane Lions fans, 2020 AFL grand final attendees, cricket aficionados, anyone who has ever seen a gig at the Brisbane Cricket Ground: the Woolloongabba venue that you know and love is being torn down. In its place, ready for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, a new stadium will be built as part of what's being called a "major urban renewal project". This plan was first floated back in 2021, but with a big caveat given that it was contingent upon the River City scoring the Olympic Games hosting gig. That was locked in in that same year, but the issue of funding the Gabba rebuild has been a topic of conversation ever since. Now, today, Friday, February 17, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have confirmed that the Gabba demolition is going ahead. The venue will become the main stadium for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032, and will be rebuilt with that in mind. But it's obviously also a year-round site for other sports events — Aussie rules and cricket use it for an average of 40 weeks a year — so supporting the stadium's long-term professional sports requirements is also a priority. The rebuild will also ensure it still functions as a top-notch entertainment venue, too. Chosen after assessing four options, including a refurbishment of the existing stadium, plus just tearing down and rebuilding part of the Gabba, the new stadium will seat 50,000 — an increase from the current 42,000-patron capacity — and is estimated to cost $2.7 billion. On the list of new features: change room facilities for female athletes, lifts and escalators instead of the imposing stairs, and a larger entry concourse. In a venue aiming for a six-star green-star rating, the dining options and member spaces will also get a makeover, and feature kitchens and food and beverage outlets. Part of the redevelopment will focus on improved disability access, too, plus better transport connection. With the latter, get ready to mosey across a new pedestrian walkway, via a bridge over Main Street, that'll connect the Gabba to the new Cross River Rail station and the future Metro station. To make space for the larger stadium, East Brisbane State School next door will be relocated within two kilometres from December 2025. That said, the heritage buildings within the school won't be torn down — rather, they'll be refurbished and repurposed into the new Gabba. "We know hosting the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to accelerate the infrastructure and housing we need to support a growing Queensland," said the Premier, announcing the news. "The Gabba has hosted sport for more than a century and is home to cricket and AFL most weeks of the year. But it's no secret that Queensland is losing out on major sporting events already — and the tourism, jobs and investment that come with them because The Gabba is not up to scratch." "It must be upgraded to maintain our competitiveness for international sport and events. When it's done, this stadium will shine for Queensland, and so will the area surrounding it," Palaszczuk continued. The Gabba will become the focal point for the major urban renewal project, which will extend the existing Woolloongabba Priority Development Area to cover more of the inner-city suburb, complete with the Stanley Street precinct going over to South Bank. Spanning beyond just the stadium, the development will also provide more social and affordable housing. If you're an AFL or cricket fiend wondering how long it'll take, the whole Gabba revamp is expected to run over four years, starting in 2026 and welcoming in sports fans again in 2030. Brisbane Lions games and cricket matches will need to move elsewhere, obviously, while the site is out of action, with the Premier advising that talks are ongoing about other grounds the two sports could use. The Gabba has been a permanent cricket ground since 1895, and has undergone several revamps over that time, including the refurbishment of its entrances and amenities in 2020. For more information about the plans for the Gabba, head to the Queensland Government website.
To hear the latest new tunes by Flume, you'll need to make a date with the Art Gallery of New South Wales' Volume music series when it returns for 2024. The Australian talent won't be performing at the event. There's no word of him popping up with Tkay Maidza, who is already on the festival's bill, following their 2023 single 'Silent Assassin'. But he has composed the soundtrack for a world-premiere installation in AGNSW's old Second World War oil tank that's been turned into a performance and art space. Featuring sound, projections, lighting and lasers, Every dull moment (EDM) hails from Flume and multidisciplinary artist Jonathan Zawada, and shows its inspiration right there in its name — EDM festivals, specifically. It has been designed for the unique site in Naala Badu, AGNSW's $344-million extension that opened in late 2022. Comprised of sequences spanning between ten and 90 seconds, the piece goes on continuously and randomly without repeating, paired with Flume's new compositions. It's also on the free portion of Volume's lineup. Not just Zimbabwean Australian singer-songwriter Maidza, but also André 3000's Australian-exclusive shows with his experimental jazz project André 3000 New Blue Sun LIVE, Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and Ghanaian Australian talent Genesis Owusu were previously announced as the event's headliners — all at ticketed gigs. Now comes the rundown of events that won't cost you a cent to enjoy between Friday, July 5–Sunday, July 21. Every dull moment (EDM) has company from a heap of excuses to see live tunes for free, featuring more than 30 local and international artists in total. Another huge highlight: Blak Country, a celebration of Aboriginal country music which will take place during 2024's NAIDOC Week. On the bill: Roger Knox, Kyla-Belle Roberts, Loren Ryan, Frank Yamma, Jarrod Hickling and Kathryn Kelly, as well as a playlist from musical talents from incarcerated First Nations communities as part of the Songbirds project. [caption id="attachment_957075" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Matt Day[/caption] Volume is devoting another night, dubbed Extasis, to experimental sounds curated by Lawrence English, with Jim O'Rourke, Eiko Ishibashi and Hand to Earth among the artists featured. And, at Future Tilt, it'll spend an afternoon getting creative with salllvage, Lydian Dunbar, DeepFaith and more in experimental pop and electronic drone. Fennesz, amby downs, Jules Reidy, Seaworthy and Matt Rösner will be world-premiering new compositions across both AGNSW buildings — the new north building Naala Badu and the OG south building Naala Nura — in a program called Threshold, while Play on, play again, play forever will see musicians from Asylum Seeker Centre play tunes in response to the site's artworks each weekend. Volume initially premiered in 2023 with Solange and Sampa The Great taking to its stages. As the above lineup shows, the fest is using its 2024 program to build upon its first-year successes — and to give everyone plenty of motivation to experience the blending of music and art this winter. [caption id="attachment_957076" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Emma Luker[/caption] [caption id="attachment_957077" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jim O'Rourke [/caption] [caption id="attachment_957078" align="alignnone" width="1920"] James Hadfield[/caption] Volume 2024 Lineup: Headliners: Friday, July 5–Saturday, July 6 — Genesis Owusu Saturday, July 13 — Tkay Maidza Thursday, July 18–Friday, July 19 — Kim Gordon Saturday, July 20–Sunday, July 21 — André 3000 New Blue Sun LIVE Free program: Saturday, July 6 — Future tilt Saturday, July 6—Sunday, July 21 — Threshold Sunday, July 7—Sunday, July 21 — Every dull moment (EDM) Wednesday, July 10 — Blak Country Wednesday, July 17 — Extasis Dates TBA — Play on, play again, play forever [caption id="attachment_954053" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dexter Navy[/caption] [caption id="attachment_954055" align="alignnone" width="1920"] @trippydana[/caption] [caption id="attachment_954056" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Bec Parsons[/caption] Volume 2024 runs from Friday, July 5–Sunday, July 21 at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, with general ticket sales from 11am on Wednesday, May 22 — head to the festival website for further details.
Fancy getting an early start on a big citywide festival? And, while you're at it, celebrating Vietnamese Lunar New Year? Before BrisAsia Festival takes over Brisbane for ten days from Friday, January 31–Sunday, February 9, filling as much of this town of ours with as many events as it can — as it does every year — it's marking the changing of the lunar calendar at the Hội chợ Tết Vietnamese Lunar New Year Festival. Your destination: Richlands. Running from 5.30–10pm on Friday, January 24, this LNY celebration is organised by the Queensland Chapter of the Vietnamese Community in Australia, takes place at CJ Greenfield Complex Park, and includes food stalls, lion dances, music performances and a traditional costume parade. Drop by for Vietnamese cuisine aplenty, arts showcases and possibly even learning a new skill — calligraphy is on the lineup, too. Also on offer: firecrackers, fireworks, a martial-arts performance and an official festival photo booth to snap some memories while you're there.
Pre-COVID, world-renowned Melbourne artist Rone proved a game-changer when it came to street art installations, pushing the envelope with his large-scale multi-room works engulfing abandoned cottages (The Omega Project), deserted mansions (Empire) and derelict office blocks. While it's been a minute since his last foray of this kind, now, Rone is back with what's set to be his most expansive project yet — he's taking over Melbourne's iconic Flinders Street Ballroom to stage his next immersive masterpiece, Time. More than three years in the making, this ambitious new work will completely transform Flinders Street Station's hidden third floor and ballroom, and it's open to explore from Friday, October 28–Sunday, January 29. [caption id="attachment_871518" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rone, by Tony Mott Photography[/caption] As is Rone's way, Time is a masterclass in storytelling and imbued with history. Like a sentimental love letter to mid-century Melbourne, it invites audiences to time-travel back to post-WWII, its 11 themed rooms sharing fictional histories that shine a light on the working class. Each chamber is brought to life via a curation of original — and carefully recreated — heritage artifacts, lighting, soundscapes and historic architectural features; with the haunting female portraits that have become Rone's trademark gazing down from above. Prepare to be transported back to the public libraries, typing pools and machine rooms of yesteryear as you wander through the intricately designed spaces, pondering the meaning of time, progress and loss. The major installation has taken a team of over 120 people several months to deliver, including long-time Rone contributors such as interior set decorator Carly Spooner and sound composer Nick Batterham. [caption id="attachment_708994" align="alignnone" width="1920"] From Rone's 'Empire'[/caption] Time follows similar large-scale transformations from Rone's famed back catalogue, including fleeting Alphington work The Omega Project, and Empire, which presented imagined stories of the wealthy upper class of old. The mysterious, long-closed Flinders Street Ballroom has enjoyed an artistic revival these past few years, having recently played host to Patricia Piccinini's otherworldly exhibition A Miracle Constantly Repeated. [caption id="attachment_630072" align="alignnone" width="1920"] From Rone's 'The Omega Project'[/caption] Find Rone's 'Time' at Level Three, Flinders Street Station, Melbourne, from October 28–January 29. Tickets are available online from 10am Thursday, September 29. Top image: The Clock Room, part of 'Time', photo by Rone.
2024 started with Donald Glover on-screen in the TV remake of Mr & Mrs Smith. 2025 Down Under will begin with Childish Gambino returning to Australia and New Zealand on his The New World tour. The rapper and hip hop star has announced five dates across the two countries, starting in January and running into February, on what will be his first trip to these shores since 2019. On the agenda, then: summertime magic, when the musician/actor/writer/director plays not just his latest album Atavista — the finished version of 2020's 3.15.20 — but tracks from a career behind the microphone that dates back to 2011. Accordingly, expect to hear 'This Is America', 'Redbone', 'Sweatpants' and other songs from his past records Camp, Because the Internet and Awaken, My Love!. The Down Under leg of the tour will kick off at Spark Arena in Auckland, Gambino's only Aotearoa show. From there, he's hitting up the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena, Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena and RAC Arena in Perth. When he last headed this way — complete with a headline spot at Splendour in the Grass — it was after initially announcing a 2018 Australian tour, then cancelling it due to an ongoing injury. Before that, he performed at Falls Festival in 2016. [caption id="attachment_955317" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Eli Watson via Flickr.[/caption] Gambino mightn't have been on Aussie and NZ stages for a spell, but Glover had the final two seasons of Atlanta — both in 2022 — reach screens since he was last Down Under. Voice work on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, producing TV series Swarm, the aforementioned Mr & Mrs Smith: they've all joined his resume as well. He'll also be heard as Simba again in Mufasa: The Lion King, the prequel to 2019's photorealistic version of The Lion King, before 2024 is out. On all Australian and New Zealand shows, Gambino will be supported by Amaarae. Childish Gambino 'The New World' Tour 2025 Australia and New Zealand Dates Tuesday, January 28 — Spark Arena, Auckland Saturday, February 1 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane Tuesday, February 4 — Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Friday, February 7 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Tuesday, February 11 — RAC Arena, Perth Childish Gambino is touring Australia and New Zealand in January and February 2025 — with ticket presales from Thursday, May 16, 2024 at staggered times, and general sales from Monday, May 20, 2024 at staggered times. Head to the tour website for further details. Top image: Eli Watson via Flickr.
Parking in Sydney is, well, a bit of a nightmare. There are some 10,483 council parking spaces available to share between a population of over 4 million. The average price for the privilege of plonking your vehicle in the CBD for two-hours is up around the $40 mark. That's if you even manage to find a spot. It's double that for a parking infringement, unless of course you avoid getting caught thanks to geo-location app Park Patrol. Other cities resort to stacking cars vertically, while privately-owned spaces can be crowd-sourced on sites like YourParkingSpace. Perhaps we should take a leaf from San Francisco's book. Recently launched SFPark is a website and mobile app which uses sensors, new meters, and real-time parking data to improve parking in eight test neighbourhoods in the inner city. Around 7,000 of San Fran's 28,800 metered spaces and 12,250 public garage spaces are covered in the program. Accessing real-time information about the availability of parking, drivers can quickly zip into open spaces. Parking meter pricing gets adjusted according to supply and demand, which helps balance availability of popular spaces while subtly encouraging commuters to opt for more sustainable travel options, like a bike or a bus. https://youtube.com/watch?v=bzUGs02Zy40 [Via Fast Company]
If you're a lover of contemporary art, there are two things you've probably found yourself in repeated fights over. Firstly, why a canvas with naught but a single monotone colour deserves to hang in a gallery and, secondly, why live art is more than just 'crazy for the sake of crazy'. So, the artist nailed his arm to a wall? It's about politics. She had all her clothes cut off by strangers? Gender. It's an artist's job to test the bounds of acceptance and cover unchartered ground, but some artists are notorious for taking that extra step into the unknown. We thought we'd take a look into the extreme history of the artform — the highs, the lows, and all the wilfully mutilated body parts. (TW: self harm and sexual content.) Pyotr Pavlensky nailed his testicles to some cobblestones November last year saw millions of men sympathetically shift in their seats as Russian performance artist Pyotr Pavlensky drove a decent-sized nail through his scrotum and into Red Square. After receiving worldwide attention (that headline is clickbait in any language), Pavlensky stated his actions were a form of political protest against Russia's ever-increasing "police state". "The performance can be seen as a metaphor for the apathy, political indifference and fatalism of contemporary Russian society," he said. Such tactics were not new to this ballsy artist either as 2012 saw him sew his mouth shut in support of the recently imprisoned Pussy Riot. It's one way to get people talking, but at what cost? Vito Acconci hid under gallery floorboards while masturbating While we're on the topic of male genitals, it's definitely worth bringing up American artist Vito Acconci and his seminal work 'Seed Bed' (pun entirely intended). First performed in 1972 at New York's Sonnabend Gallery, this controversial and generally well-regarded work involved the artist hiding under a makeshift ramp in the gallery space and masturbating for eight hours a day. While it outwardly seems like the engineered scheme of a sexual deviant, the work is famous for being enormously effective on its audience members. While standing in the desolate gallery space, gallery-goers could hear Acconci murmuring explicit sexual thoughts via a loudspeaker, and were uncomfortably conscious of his presence under their feet. 'Seed Bed' has since been re-performed by Marina Abramovic in a very welcome inversion of the original work's testosterone overload. Marina Abramovic stared at thousands of strangers in silence until they cried This woman is the queen of all things performance art. Aside from taking on 'Seed Bed', she has a wealth of her own legendary artworks including 'The Artist is Present', a piece that inspired a documentary in its own name. For 736 hours and 30 minutes, Abramovic sat in silence at the Museum of Modern Art staring at whoever sat opposite her. The piece proved so cathartic for audience members it has spawned not only a film, but a fan blog called Marina Abramovic Made Me Cry — the artwork had this effect on the artist herself too when her ex-lover came to visit. Don't be fooled though; Abramovic is tough as guts. In her work 'Rhythm 0' she had audiences inflict pleasure and pain on her body with objects including honey, a scalpel, a rose, and a loaded gun; and in 'Rhythm 10' she played a Russian knife game dodging her fingers with 20 knives in quick succession. There are a lot of men in live art, but this woman may be the most hardcore there is. Tehching Hsieh punched a time clock every hour, on the hour, for a year Abramovic has described Hsieh as a "master" of the form. He's done the dirty stuff — he lived alone in a wooden cage unable to read, write, or listen to radio or TV for an entire year. He then went the other way — wilfully living outside for another whole year. But in the time in-between, he undertook 'Time Clock Piece'. From 1980-1981, Hsieh punched a factory-style time clock every hour, on the hour. After shaving his head at the outset, the artist took a photo of himself each hour and the subsequent documentary evidence, as the hair grows and grows, shows a passing of time equal parts beautiful and woefully depressing. Santiago Sierra tattooed these women's backs in exchange for heroin It's impossible to be indifferent to the kind of work that Sierra does. With most pieces including people from disadvantaged backgrounds in less than desirable positions, to many the art looks a lot like exploitation. In '160cm Line Tattooed on 4 People', Sierra found four heroin-addicted sex workers who were willing to have their backs tattooed in exchange for a single shot of heroin. While on the surface this seems outright despicable, the self-aware nature of the act did serve as a counter-point for many. After all, structures of power can never change if they aren't first exposed. Taras Polataiko had women contractually obliged to marry strangers In the live art piece 'Sleeping Beauties', Ukrainian artist Taras Polataiko found five female volunteers to feign sleep in an art gallery and endure the kisses of thousands of strangers. And here's the kicker: if they ever opened their eyes after a smooch, they were contractually obliged to marry the kisser. The agreement stood for gallery-goers too — in order to gain kissing privileges you had to present a valid ID and sign a legal document promising you to marriage. The performance ended on a meaningful note however, as the beauty opened her eyes to find a woman's lips. As Ukraine still hasn't legalised same-sex marriage, the work raised important questions about the issue and thankfully gave the participants a loophole to wriggle out of . Chris Burden was crucified to a Volkswagen There's nothing artists love more than a good crucifixion to dredge religion up in their work. If you thought Madonna jumping on a cross for a music video was out there, in his 1974 work 'Trans-fixed', American artist Chris Burden actually crucified himself to a Volkswagen Beetle. For no immediately apparent reason, either. The car came out of a garage for two minutes, revved a little, then returned inside. Obviously he was never one to shy away from pain. In 1973's 'Through the Night Softly' he got down to his underwear and crawled through glass, and in his aptly-titled 1971 work, 'Shoot', he was shot point blank in the arm with a rifle. More power to him. Joseph Beuys spent three days in a small room with a coyote The creeper to inspire all creepers, Joseph Beuys was an influential German artist whose 1974 work 'I Like America and America Likes Me' consisted of him skulking around a gallery in New York with naught but a coyote, some straw to sleep on, and a disturbing get-up that made him look like a gothic shepherd. He was taken from the airport via ambulance, never having stepped on American soil and stated of the work, "I wanted to isolate myself, insulate myself, see nothing of America other than the coyote." Once his time was up, he shared an awkward hug with the somewhat domesticated creature and boarded a plane home. Mike Parr had his lips, eyes, and ears sewn together The only Australian addition to this list, Parr has made a name for himself in the field of self-mutilation. This six-hour endurance piece, 'Close the Concentration Camps', was done in protest to the prolonged detention of asylum seekers during the Howard era, and has a disquieting resonance to this day. In 2002 there were reports some detainees had sewed their mouths shut in protest, but the trauma felt very distant to many Australians. Parr's act of solidarity at the Monash University Museum of Art brought this violence uncomfortably to the fore. Francis Alys enlisted the help of 500 volunteers to move a sand dune 10cm to the left One of the main arguments people have against modern art is that it's inconsequential, and Francis Alys' work certainly makes a good case for them. In his most-famous piece, 'When Faith Moves Mountains', this Belgian artist took to the outskirts of Lima and recruited 500 people to move a sand dune, one shovel at a time, slightly to the left. In response to intense confusion from everyone in the world, he responded, "Sometimes making something leads to nothing, sometimes making nothing leads to something." Artists are nothing if not riddlers, I guess.
Rebecca Ferguson will never be mistaken for Daveed Diggs, but the Dune, Mission: Impossible franchise and Doctor Sleep star now follows in the Hamilton Tony-winner's footsteps. While he has spent multiple seasons navigating dystopian class clashes on a globe-circling train in the TV version of Snowpiercer, battling his way up and down the titular locomotive, she just started ascending and descending the stairs in the underground chamber that gives Silo its moniker. Ferguson's character is also among humanity's last remnants. Attempting to endure in post-apocalyptic times, she hails from her abode's lowliest depths as well. And, when there's a murder in this instantly engrossing new ten-part Apple TV+ series — which begins streaming from Friday, May 5 — she's soon playing detective. Leaping to the screen from Hugh Howey's novels, Silo might share a few basic parts with other shows and movies — Metropolis, Blade Runner and The Platform also echo, as do the corrupt world orders at the core of The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner flicks — but this series isn't simply scouring its genre for useful parts. In a year that's made a hit out of the TV version of The Last of Us, it too ponders humanity's survivalist instincts, as well as how we shape our societies when the worst occurs. And, as fellow Apple TV+ sci-fi mystery Severance did so grippingly in 2022, it also contemplates what people are willing to accept to get through their days. Ferguson's Juliette is particularly adept at tinkering; however, the show she's in is always a complete piece in and of itself, and never just cobbled together from other sources. Silo captivates from the outset, when its focus is the structure's sheriff Holston (David Oyelowo, See How They Run) and his wife Allison (Rashida Jones, On the Rocks). Both know the cardinal rule of the buried tower, as does deputy Marnes (Will Patton, Outer Range), mayor Ruth (Geraldine James, Benediction), security head Sims (Common, The Hate U Give), IT top brass Bernard (Tim Robbins, Dark Waters) and the other 10,000 souls they live with: if you make the request to go outside, it's irrevocable and you'll be sent there as punishment. No matter who you are, and from which level, anyone posing such a plea becomes a public spectacle. Their ask is framed as "cleaning", referring to wiping down the camera that beams the desolate planet around them onto window-sized screens in their cafeterias. No one has ever come back, or survived for more than minutes. Why? Add that to the questions piling up not just for Silo's viewers, but for the silo's residents. For more than 140 years, the latter have dwelled across their 144 floors in safety from the bleak wasteland that earth has become — but what caused that destruction and who built their cavernous home are among the other queries. So is when it'll be safe to venture out again and whether everything the stratified community has been told, as documented in a book of decrees called The Pact, is 100-percent accurate. Along with giving wanting to leave such finality, other rules span how people can use remnants from the before times (called relics, and covering Pez dispensers, watches hard drives and more) and the lottery that allows couples to procreate (with women otherwise implanted with birth control). Here, breaking the indoors-only mandate, being too curious and challenging the status quo all have serious consequences, as Holston, Allison and Juliette learn. Brought to streaming by Justified creator, Speed writer, and The Americans and Slow Horses executive producer Graham Yost, Silo has twists in store for all three — but Juliette earns the bulk of its attention. In the "down deep", as the lower levels are dubbed, she's an engineer overseeing the generator that keeps things whirring. She's also sparked to do more than mechanics by her lover George (Ferdinand Kingsley, Mank), who has a fascination with relics and an obsession with exposing the truth about silo life. Sims isn't fond of her snooping, or of her rise from the bottom ranks in general, while she isn't impressed when she's paired with The Pact-worshipping Paul (Chinaza Uche, Dickinson). If the premise wasn't absorbing enough, with its setting, questions, arbitrary regulations, and conflict between those who've grasped power and everyone forced to live under their authority — and it is absorbing — Silo is a feat of world-building from its first moments. With kudos to the show's production designer Gavin Bocquet (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance), entire art department and special effects team, it's visually entrancing in its location alone. As this confined existence spreads up and down around a striking central spiral staircase — because there's nothing as advanced as an elevator to scale and plunge through the silo's floors — it does so with Soviet-era hues and a steampunk vibe to the show's retro technology. Discovering new spaces, be it the engine room where the intense ticking-clock third episode is set, or the floors devoted to crops and cattle, or the medical bay, is constantly a thrill, albeit never more so than the dramas playing out within each place. Within Apple TV+'s stable, both Severance and Hello Tomorrow! also benefited from blast-from-the-past looks while getting viewers puzzling. They each knew, too, that aesthetics and enigmas can't do all the heavy lifting. As they both proved, Silo is dedicated to its characters first and foremost — so much so that when some slip away earlier than their casting has audiences expecting, it feels like a genuine loss. That's not a criticism of the always-excellent Ferguson, who anchors the show with flinty determination, but praise for how well minor figures are fleshed out. She's magnetic, thoroughly deserving of her lead role and riveting in it, and she has stellar support, with Iain Glen (The Rig) and Harriet Walter (Succession) also welcome inclusions. Rich concept, stacked cast, immersive visuals, dripping intrigue: given how well Silo's first season pans out, it's no surprise that a second is already in the works. This strange new world doesn't come close to resolving every question it poses in this debut go-around, instead continually inspiring more, yet never feeling like it doesn't have an endgame or it's stretching out its story to prolong getting there. Cliffhangers are part of its storytelling process, but skilfully. The big reveal that ends the season is catnip for more to follow. Silo is just as involving when it's exploring its underground city, diving into its main players' histories, solving mysteries and inciting more — and worth digging deep into. Check out the trailer for Silo below: Silo streams via Apple TV+ from Friday, May 5.
Humid nights, the constant humming of cicadas, sunny mornings and an afternoon southerly – it can only mean one thing – summer has arrived. To make the most of the warmer months, stocking up with all the products to survive and thrive is crucial. Or, given that summer in Australia is also the Christmas (and party) season, some of these goodies could also make the perfect summer gifts. Luckily, Amazon has heaps of cool stuff perfect for summer break. Here are some of our top choices. 1. Pool Torpedo We're sorry to break it to you, but whoever didn't have one of these as a kid was missing out. But it's never too late. The Triggerfish Torpedo is the pool toy of all pool toys, designed for an underwater shootout or dodge-the-torpedo, you're bound to have endless hours of fun with this little thing. Plus, it will quite literally last forever. 2. Sand-Free Beach Towel If you've been living under a rock, allow us to introduce the latest craze – sandless beach towels. If there is one thing we don't love about the beach, it's the fact that the sand gets everywhere, and somehow, you can never seem to get it all out of your towel, no matter how ferocious you shake. This sand-free towel from BonGu is extra-large, super soft, won't fade and is made from eco-friendly material. With a range of colourful designs, it also makes for a pretty snazzy beach accessory. Plus, it comes with a travel bag, so you can easily store it away when you're not using it. 3. Underwater Camera The AKASO Brave 4 Action Camera is one of the ultimate summer gifts for those who spend most of their summer in the water. With this little thing, you can still get all the good shots without worrying about getting your camera getting wet. Don't be fooled, the quality is as good as any other camera. It features ultra HD 4K 30fps and 2K 30fps video recording, 20MP. It's a great gift for your friends or family who love diving, surfing and snorkelling, or even for yourself. 4. Aperol Spritz 4 Pack Everyone's favourite summer drink, stocking up the fridge with Aperol Spritz's for summer is basically a rite of passage at this point. Perfect for summer gifts or those days you are short on time or are too busy lazing at the beach, this Ready-to-Serve pack of 4 is our go-to. Just as good as mixing an Aperol Spritz yourself, enjoy the blend straight from the bottle. 5. Snorkel For those who seek adventure, this snorkel from Yakiter is a good accessory to keep in the car for those unexpected moments when you come across the perfect spot. With a single-layer lens, panoramic view and tempered glass with anti-fog treatment, you will never miss a beat. The comfortable design and flexible breath tube also means it's super easy to breathe and drain, so you can focus on the fish. 6. Bucket hat We're all for a fun bucket hat no matter the season and come summer; you can never have too many hats. A fun summer gift or a playful addition to your hat collection, the Taidor Cotton Bucket Hat comes in a range of funky designs, and it's reversible, so you can switch it up depending on how you're feeling. The 100 per cent cotton material means the hats are lightweight and breathable (perfect for hot days.) 7. Picnic Basket Not your everyday picnic basket, the Hap Tim Wicker Picnic Basket Set comes with everything you need just in time for picnic season. In the wicker basket, you will find a foldable picnic table, an insulated cooler bag, two sets of cutlery, two plastic wine glasses, a bottle opener, and salt and pepper shakers. It's cute and it's practical, what more could you want? It even comes gift-wrapped with ribbons – it's simply screaming to be one of those special summer gifts. Or, if you love it too much, keep it for yourself – we don't blame you. 8. Beach Umbrella There's nothing worse than that fresh winter-skin-summer burn. The best way to avoid it? The AMMSUN Boho Outdoor Umbrella is the way to go. With a simple boho design and cute tassels, it makes the perfect, practical and aesthetic beach or backyard accessory. The canopy provides UPF50+ protection and will block over 98% of UV rays, keeping you cool and protected. Plus, a steel pole means this thing won't go blowing away when that southerly comes around. 9. Neck Fan Sometimes, it's just too hot to leave the comfort of the fan or air-con. But, for those days you can't get away with staying at home, we've got the next best thing – the JISULIFE Portable Neck Fan. Simply place it around your neck and enjoy a contrast, hands-free fanning of air so you can get along with your day. It will run for over four hours, depending on the speed, and it's quiet enough to hear your own breath. With the hot summer that's been predicted, we will definitely be grabbing one of these. 10. Wine Cooler When it comes to summer gifts, you can't get much better than this. Forget wine buckets. The Huski Wine Cooler is bound to be one of our most-used summer goodies. This stainless steel gadget keeps your wine chilled for up to six hours and the adjustable height means it fits most wine or champagne bottles. Plus, a flexible-lock expandable design means your bottle will stay firmly in place while pouring. Perfect for any occasion, and as we all know, there's nothing worse than warm wine. Images: Supplied by Amazon. Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links, Concrete Playground may earn a commission when you make a purchase through links on our site.
When a film is called Dope, you really hope that it is. Telling a hip hop-infused high school tale complete with a '90s-leaning soundtrack to match, writer/director Rick Famuyiwa's movie comes close — and when it's not quite hitting the titular mark, it is having a rather good time trying to. Malcom (Shameik Moore) acts as the feature's guide through his teenage antics, geek-style. He's from a poor, crime-filled part of Los Angeles, and he's a straight-A student in a school where being so isn't cool, but he always has best pals Jib (Tony Revolori) and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons) for company. Their movement up the social ladder comes on account of a drug dealer (A$AP Rocky), who demands that Malcolm passes on a message to a neighbourhood girl, Nakia (Zoë Kravitz). Attraction springs, and so do adventures of the drugs, delinquency and coming-of-age variety. Welcome to this decade's latest version of a 'nerds on top' comedy, as filtered through the pop culture ephemera of the past 30 years. The formula of '80s teen movies, the sounds and clothing of the '90s, and the style and interconnectivity of '00s efforts combine in a film that not only relishes each element but obviously and overtly adores stringing them all together. Indeed, Dope screams enthusiasm, be it for its episodic storyline or for its gleeful mix of genres. Laughs abound, yet so does a caper, a heist and ample race-relations drama, as well as nostalgia. In fact, there's more to Dope than amalgamating its influences: there's also both cultural specificity and ambiguity. Famuyiwa creates a movie that attempts to express both a realistic and exaggerated version of what living in crime-ridden Inglewood as the Harvard-aspiring son of single mother is really like; realistic in showing the many shades of experiences evident, and exaggerated in heightening the complexities, contradictions and differences between seemingly typical inhabitants to stress the film's point about diversity. Malcolm may seem straight outta the Bottoms, but he also likes BMX riding and playing in a punk band — or as he puts it, "white stuff". His friends prove just as multifaceted and stereotype-defying, with Jib (aka The Grand Budapest Hotel's lobby boy) refusing to identify his ethnicity, and Diggy celebrating her sexual and aesthetic androgyny. Accordingly, Dope aims high with its statement, and skews fun in its packaging. Alas, the latter sometimes lessens the former, as enjoyable as the movie proves. Chaotic is the nice way to put it; however, messy and cartoonish also fit, even though the film is always sleek, fast-paced and energetic. It's an offering where the vibe reigns, and the overall sharpness and smartness of its message and dialogue often gets swept up in it.
Australian fashionistas no longer have to pay a fortune in shipping (or travelling) if they want to get their hands on COS — representatives of the Swedish fashion retailer have confirmed they'll be opening their first store in Australia. The chosen spot? That would be Melbourne, again, with the The Strand on Elizabeth Street the locale du jour. COS is the slightly higher-end arm of the more well-known retailer H&M, but with a simpler, more stripped-back aesthetic. As yet, they haven't announced an opening date for the COS store, but H&M is set to open their flagship Australian store later this year in Melbourne's GPO building, taking over three floors. H&M and COS are joining the Australian high street market at an extremely competitive time. In the past couple of years, a lot of big-name retailers have started to realise that not only do Australians want to buy their clothes but we also came out of the GFC looking pretty good. Sydney currently boasts the recently opened Topshop and Zara, and overseas brands H&M, Uniqlo (Japan), Marks & Spencer (UK) and Forever 21 (US) are all on their merry way over. Via Vogue.
There is no denying Brisbane is going through somewhat of a beer renaissance period. Breweries are popping up left right and centre, and the punters are embracing them with a schooner in each hand. The birth and growth of small bars has changed the way we think, and the craft beer revolution is making us view beer as an artform with the same respect that coffee gains. Brewsvegas is here to celebrate the joys of better beer and to deeper carve Brisbane’s unique identity on the brew scene. Embrace Brewsvegas, let beer serve its purpose — bringing people together — and let the good times roll. We’ve rounded up a rough guide to the six-day fiesta. Better hops to it. Pick your fight As the founding fathers of beer discovered, the best brews are made on hops, sweat and testosterone. In somewhat of Brewsvegas trend, The Scratch are pitting themselves against Tipplers Tap in a battle of bars, beer and barbecue pork ribs (not once, but twice). Also entering the boxing ring will be 10 of Brisbane’s best brewers for Untapped. The brews are coming together to put the city of map, but there can only be one winner. Learn something new So you think you know your beer? Think again. Newstead Brewing Co are letting punters dive into the science behind brewing at Get Flawed. Using professional craft brewer sensory kits, Newstead Brewing will be spiking beer with the major flavour compounds and flaws found in brewing. Learn about why beer tastes that way and sharpen your craft tasting skills. Or, if coffee and craft beer are your two true loves, join this degustation event and explore the similarities in practice of tasting and appreciating these two artisan beverages. Mix four beers, two coffees and five courses for an excellent Saturday afternoon. Beer is a food group Beercaroons: You guessed it – limited edition Beard and Brau beer-flavoured macaroons. Beerkary are selling them in four-packs with a Golden Paw (Malt and Hop Biscuit with a Lemon, Malt Cream and Lychee Jelly), Red Tail Ale (Hops Biscuit with a Bitter Caramel filling and a Chocolate and Passionfruit core), Bon Chiens (Honey, Beer biscuit with Honey, Hops, Orange cream, Crystal malt and Champagne Jelly) and Black Snout (Stout and Dark Malt biscuit with Milk Chocolate, Vanilla, Coffee Cream and Caramelised milk core). Look out Adriano Zumbo. Eau de Beer When a man decides it’s time he upgraded from a trusty spray of Lynx for the ladies to a more unique scent, it opens a dangerous world of possibility and who better to turn to than his trusty friend, beer. You heard. Brewski have teamed with Damask Perfumery to create Eau de Brewski. A four-part collection of single-hop infused colognes, choose to smell like Riwaka, Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy or Saaz. When in Brewski, match your fragrance to one of four single-hop pale ales by Bacchus Brewing Co and come home smelling like your favourite brew. Beer cocktails Whoever said cocktails were girly drinks was wrong. Super Whatnot is making cocktail drinking more socially acceptable for men by using Green Beacon beer. Some of Brisbane’s best bartenders at Super Whatnot are stepping up to challenge and are inviting you to come test them out. There will be a judging panel, but will you agree with their top pick? And will your taste buds be able to accept a beer cocktail? Broga, beer, bacon The Mill on Constance knows what boys want, they know what boys like. And so, they’ve taken the best things that start with ‘B’ and invite you start your Sunday with a stretch, brew and feed. Broga is yoga for bros, by bros, and beginners and newbies are welcome. Finish off your session with a craft beer and bacon sandwich – if only exercise always concluded with a nice brew. Craft night And here you were thinking Broga, beer and beards were all the man things Brewvegas cared about. This one’s for the ladies (and men who aren’t scared to macrame). Drink Craft Make Craft is a hands-on craft night at The Mill that will teach you how to make beer crate coffee tables, bottle top art, and other crafts. Your $15 ticket includes all craft material, a tap beer, cider, ginger beer or wine on arrival and nibbles throughout the evening. No previous hot glue gun experience required. Floristry smackdown If you prefer to sit back and let the magic happen around you, head to The Scratch for the inaugual Scratch Hop Floristry Smackdown. Some of Brisbane’s finest florists will go head-to-head for a live, in-house arrange-off. Beer and flowers? Their challenge is to use harvested hops as the floral centrepiece. The Scratch will also be offering “Hoptical Infusions” – four different beers each infused through four different varieties of fresh hop flowers. The great outdoors Sports and beer go hand-in-hand. What is backyard cricket without a coldie in one hand and a bat in the other? Brewsvegas are realising the dream a mighty Table Tennis Battle at Archive. It’s brewers and reps Vs punters, your move. Alternatively, for a day on the green join brisbane’s Chicks With Ales and Tipplers Tap for an afternoon of croquet and bocce. Brewsvegas is on March 23-29.
When Inside popped up on Australia's film festival circuit in 2024, including at the Melbourne International Film Festival, SXSW Sydney Screen Fest and Brisbane International Film Festival, it was instantly one of the must-see homegrown titles doing the rounds. If you didn't catch it then, the Guy Pearce (The Clearing)-, Cosmo Jarvis (Shōgun)- and Toby Wallace (The Bikeriders)-starring thriller should be at the top of your to-watch list in 2025 when it hits local cinemas in February — and it has just dropped its trailer to demonstrate why. Fresh from earning a well-deserved Golden Globe nomination for The Brutalist — and likely on track for an Oscar nomination for the same role, too — Guy Pearce (The Clearing) leads the prison-set film as Warren Murfett, an inmate on the cusp of parole. As he's preparing for potentially earning his freedom, he's asked to take Mel Blight (Vincent Miller, Plum) under his wing after the latter is transferred from juvenile detention to adult prison. Also giving the newcomer a guiding hand is the infamous and widely despised Mark Shepard (Cosmo Jarvis, Shōgun). Inside doesn't just bring the three men together in a powderkeg of a location; it immerses them in a violent plot that could change each of their lives forever, all while thoughtfully and empathetically pondering choices, repercussions, and the impact of inherited damage and trauma. Also among the cast: Toby Wallace (The Bikeriders), Chloé Hayden (Heartbreak High) and Michael Logo (Colin From Accounts), with the film boasting impressive names on- and off-screen. Inside marks the feature debut of writer/director Charles Williams, who won the 2018 short film Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for the also-excellent All These Creatures. The Stranger and Acute Misfortune filmmaker Thomas M Wright is onboard, too, as an executive producer. "Inside is a movie that's been with me in some form or another for the better part of a decade. I wanted to make the kind of film that resonated with me growing up. Movies that you could get lost in, often uncovering very specific worlds and complicated characters," explains Williams. "They felt very real but also oddly transporting and almost spiritual — while still being visceral, cinematic experiences for the big screen. It's been such an honour to collaborate with this incredible cast and crew to bring Inside to life." Check out the trailer for Inside below: Inside releases in Australian cinemas on Thursday, February 27, 2025. Images: Mathew Lynn.
When Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art's (MONA) hosts an arts and music festival, it doesn't just compile a standard lineup of shows and events. It curates talents that will hit other bills in other cities, of course, but it also hunts down the kind of gigs and experiences that you generally won't see elsewhere. Take 2023's just-dropped Mona Foma program as a prime example. It was already packed with Pavement, Bon Iver, Bikini Kill, Angel Olsen and Peaches (and Perturbator, The Chills and Kae Tempest), as announced back in October, but now it includes a tunnel of light, 'Complaints Choir' and punk bunker — because of course it does. MONA's summer fest — aka its sunny alternative to its sinister winter arts and culture festival Dark Mofo — will return in February 2023 in a big way. How big? With 370 artists across two weekends. The dates to get excited about: Friday, February 17–Sunday, February 19, 2023 in Launceston, and Friday, February 24–Sunday, February 26, 2023 in Hobart. Now, here's what you'll be seeing. [caption id="attachment_875442" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Debi Del Grande[/caption] Launceston's weekend-long Mona Foma stint will feature a free three-day party at a new hub in the city's decommissioned old TAFE called the reUNIÓN district, which is where those unusual vocals — singing local Launceston grievances — will echo. It's also where there'll be queer woodchopping in the quad, Soccer Mommy taking to the stage and that punk bunker featuring, yes, punk tunes played loud a bunker. Also on the list in Launceston, where Mona Foma has been hitting up since 2019: underwater electronica by Leon Vynehall in the Basin Pool; dance work Body Body Commodity from Jenni Large; James Webb's Prayer, where you will indeed need to kneel while listening to recordings of prayer, song and vocal worship; and Van Diemen's Band and Ensemble Kaboul teaming up for Afghanistan-meets-baroque music. [caption id="attachment_880157" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Prayer, 2012, James Webb. Photo credit: Anthea Pokroy. Image courtesy of the artist and Mona Foma.[/caption] Plus, there's a Fantastic Futures exhibition, a late-night book club overseen by 'sonic librarians', Kenneth Tam's Breakfast in Bed theatre experiment — featuring seven guys he found on Craigslist — and the delightfully named Anthem Anthem Revolution, where you're asked to beat a robot at a game of table tennis. A certain highlight is Hyperbolic Psychedelic Mind Melting Tunnel of Light, with Robin Fox letting attendees take over the light, sound and motion controls one person at a time. Also set to stun is CHANT, with Tasmanian women's sporting clubs performing historic and contemporary feminist protest chants; Lost in Place, a pairing of electro-ambient psychedelic jazz with live dance; Arnhem Land documentary Christmas Birrimbirr; and Martina Hoogland Ivanow's film Interbeing, which only used thermal cameras to shoot human interactions and capture the heat behind them. [caption id="attachment_880156" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Christmas Birrimbirr, (Christmas Spirit), (video still), 2011, Miyarrka Media. Image courtesy of the artist and Mona Foma.[/caption] MONA's summer event was initially held in Hobart, as seasoned fans will remember, and the fest hasn't forgotten its OG home. If that's where you're getting your Mona Foma fix in 2023, you have a stacked lineup in store as well. Many of the fest's big-name acts are playing there — Bon Iver, Bikini Kill, Peaches and Pavement all included — and the MONA lawns will also host a show featuring songwriters from the Pilbara town of Roebourne singing for freedom on the 40th-anniversary year of John Pat's passing in custody, as guided by Ngarluma and Yinjibarndi Elders. Also, Amber McCartney and Tasdance's dance performance Baby Girl will enjoy its world premiere, Nico Muhly takes over the fest as an artist in residence, and the Theatre Royal's program includes IHOS Amsterdam's time travel-inspired PRIMORDIAL For Piano and Diverse Media and film noir opera A Deep Black Sleep. [caption id="attachment_880154" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Climate Notes, Anna McMichael and Louise Devenish. Photo credit: Lucian Fuhler. Image courtesy of the artist and Mona Foma.[/caption] Or, see Climate Notes in Rosny Park, playing five new works for violin and percussion that all take inspiration from scientists' handwritten letters about global warming — and explore Tomas' Garden by Cici (Xiyue) Zhang, where monsters and spirits will feature in an immersive magical landscape. The list goes on, complete with Morning Meditations in both cities — and Chloe Kim doing 100 hours of public drumming over ten days. [caption id="attachment_784488" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Robin Fox laser installation at the Albert Hall, Launceston, Mona Foma 2019. Photo Credit: MONA/Jesse Hunniford. Image courtesy of the artist and MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.[/caption] Already keen to get booking? Fancy a Tasmania trip in the interim? Our Concrete Playground Trips Hobart getaway might also be of interest. Mona Foma will take place from Friday, February 17–Sunday, February 19, 2023 in Launceston, and from Friday, February 24–Sunday, February 26, 2023 in Hobart. Tickets go on sale at 11am on Tuesday, November 29 — head to the festival website for further details. Top image: Regurgitator & Seja & Mindy Meng Wang on guzheng perform The Velvet Underground & Nico. Photo Credit: Mona/Rémi Chauvin. Image Courtesy Mona, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
If you still feel like cooking after midnight, take the party to Funny Funny Korean and whip up a hotpot or barbecue the whole squad can enjoy. Funny Funny's grill-ready meat and vegetables platters, including a pork intestine special — don't knock it till you've tried it — lets you do a late-night meal your own way. For those who'd rather just eat, try the famous KFC — Korean Fried Chicken — with beer, a bibimbap or stir fry noodles. Or, just split some dumplings and a shallot pancake for a satiating snack. Funny Funny also has daily specials, like pork stews and sashimi, and provides the usual kimchi and banchan (side dishes). Relaxed but vibrant, the Korean eatery is open from Monday to Saturday, serving the nighttime crowd until 1.30am every night.
When an art and design festival sweeps into Brisbane, as Brisbane Art Design is throughout May, checking out exhibitions and browsing for impressive wares comes with the territory. There's more to this fest than just the basics, however, no matter how stunning its showcases are — and how much perusing and purchasing you're keen to do. Fancy learning about ceramics, then tucking into a two-course banquet with paired wines? That's also on the BAD agenda. For one night only, Southside and Mas & Miek are teaming up on a dinner that'll showcase the former's food and vino, plus the latter's hand-crafted items, and also celebrate the link between tableware and the feasts adorning them. Across two sittings on Thursday, May 25 — at 5.30pm and 7.45pm — mother-daughter duo Mieke and Charlie from Mas & Miek will first unpack their hand-building process during a masterclass. You'll put your hands all over fine white porcelain, and you'll discover how 'pinch pot' vessels are created. After that, this Southside x Mas & Miek dinner will use Mas & Miek's wares to plate up hiramasa kingfish, wasabi chicken and chives dumplings, and wakame potato and truffle spring rolls, as well as wok-fried pork belly and macadamia steamed market fish. In addition to the class, food and wine, your $169 ticket also includes a handmade glazed and fired plate that'll be used while you dine, and that you can take home afterwards.
Five years ago, a new addition to St Lucia asked Brisbanites a crucial question: why did the fried chicken fan cross Hawken Drive? The answer: to eat all the greasy chook they could handle at poultry buffet restaurant KaiKai Chicken. Since then, the eatery has helped solve another crucial query faced by hungry chook fiends, aka whether to have one finger lickin' good piece, several, or more than anyone should actually admit to. It serves up an endless array of poultry in a dozen different flavours, plus all-you-can-eat fries, rice, other sides and desserts to round out the meal. A la carte orders are also available, but who wants that when there's bottomless fried chicken at arms reach? To indulge in all of the above, likely while wearing your stretchiest outfit, you've needed to head to Brissie's inner west — but now, thanks to the chain's second venue, you can also venture south. Now open and serving customers, KaiKai has launched its second yellow-hued store in Springwood, complete with its beloved all-you-can-eat fried chicken buffet. That means that you currently have twice as many spots to hit up for the chain's affordable — albeit hardly healthy — $24.95 bottomless package, which includes those 12 flavours of chicken, six types of loaded fries, steamed rice, mashed potatoes and gravy, bread rolls, and cinnamon jelly doughnut sandwiches for dessert. Also on the menu at the new Kaikai spot: a $75 option that also includes a 90-minute alcohol package spanning bottled beers, mimosas and soju jugs. If it sounds too good to be true, we're here to tell you that it's a clucking reality — as it has been in St Lucia for half a decade now. That said, visits to Kaikai do have a time limit. Just like sipping that aforementioned bottomless booze, flocking customers are asked to get their chicken fix within 90 minutes due to the demand — and, let's be honest, after an hour and a half of seeing how much chook you can feast upon, you're probably be ready to fly the coop anyway. [caption id="attachment_640449" align="alignnone" width="1620"] Atlanta Bell[/caption]
The anticipation is building for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023™. Seeing as we are hosting the iconic occasion Down Under, Sydney is set to witness some exhilarating matches. Meaning the city will be bursting with football fever and a plethora of vibrant events and experiences to enjoy. So, if you're planning a trip to the city, be sure to witness the best of what Sydney has to offer. From art and culture to music and culinary delights, Sydney is poised to showcase its dynamic spirit during the month-long World Cup celebration. Luckily for you, we've rounded up some top picks that you should not miss during your stay.
Call it wild, weird and wonderful. Call it surreal and sublime, too. Whichever terms you want to sling Dark Mofo's way, there's no other event quite like it on Tasmania's cultural calendar — or Australia's. 2024 felt the winter arts festival's absence, after it sat out the year to regroup for the future ahead. Get excited about 2025, however, because Dark Mofo has confirmed that it'll be returning in June. "Dark Mofo is back. For our 11th chapter, once more we'll bathe the city in red and deliver two weeks of inspiring art, music and ritual," said Dark Mofo Artistic Director Chris Twite, announcing the event's 2025 dates, and advising that limited pre-release tickets for Night Mass, which fills downtown Hobart with art and music, will be on offer from 10am on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. "Night Mass is a beast, and this year it will evolve once more — worming its way through the city with new spaces, performances and experiences to dance, explore or crawl your way through," Twite continued. Not only Night Mass is returning, but so is the full Dark Mofo setup, largely taking place across Thursday, June 5–Sunday, June 15, 2025. The one exception: the Nude Solstice Swim, one of the festival events that still went ahead in 2024. Next year, it'll get everyone taking a dip on Saturday, June 21. Winter Feast, which also took place in 2024, will be back in 2025 as well — as will the Ogoh-Ogoh, plus a yet-to-be-announced (but sure to be jam-packed) art and music program that'll be revealed next year. If you spent a few days in 2023 attending a Twin Peaks-inspired ball and seeing a giant teddy bear with laser eyes — watching a stunning new take on Dante's classic examination of hell, purgatory and paradise, too — then you went to Dark Mofo's most-recent full run. Organised by Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art, the winter arts festival fills Hobart with all manner of surprises every year, other than its gap year in 2024. When the break was announced, it was done to ensure that event could "move forward in a viable manner", said Twite at the time. "The fallow year will enable us to secure the future of Dark Mofo and its return at full force in 2025" was the promise, and it's being lived up to. The year off came after a hit 2023 run that saw Dark Mofo smash it with attendances and at the box office — notching up record figures, in fact. Despite the event's success, the crew behind it have been working towards "a more sustainable model for a full return in 2025, and set the foundation for the next ten years", taking rising costs and other changing elements into consideration. Dark Mofo returns from Thursday, June 5–Sunday, June 15, 2025 and for the Nude Solstice Swim on Saturday, June 21. Head to the festival's website for further details. Winter feast images: Jesse Hunniford, 2023, courtesy of Dark Mofo 2023. Nude Solstice Swim images: Rémi Chauvin, 2023, courtesy of Dark Mofo 2023.
Imagine sitting under the gentle glow of candlelight, enjoying a live performance of Coldplay's "Sky Full of Stars." Thanks to The Concert by Candlelight series, this could soon be true. Returning for its fourth year, the series will host The Music of Coldplay by Candlelight across three locations, Sydney, Perth and the Gold Coast. While it may not be the band itself, world-class vocalists and a live band from London's West End will honour legends Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman, and Will Champion with powerful performances. The performers will kick things off at 7.30pm Darling Harbour Theatre at ICC Sydney on Saturday, September 13. The show will take over The Star Theatre on the Gold Coast on Friday, September 19, before making the journey west to Perth's Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday, September 27. Given that Coldplay visited fans down under relatively recently in 2024, it's unlikely they'll be gracing us with their presence anytime soon. So, The Music of Coldplay by Candelight may be the closest thing to the real deal Aussies can get, at least for a while. Each concert is a one-night-only event, and they're coming up faster than you think. So get in quick; tickets are likely to sell out fast. The Music of Coldplay by Candlelight will be held in September in Sydney, Perth, and the Gold Coast. Performances start at 7.30pm. For more information or to book tickets, visit the website. Images: Supplied.
Whether you're buying flowers for your nearest and dearest, such as your mum or your partner, or you'd just like to have something floral brightening up your house, the real kind always come with an expiry date. Fake flowers exist, of course, for those who like permanent petals — but they're not as fun as the block-built type in Lego's new Botanical Collection. Part of the brand's growing range for adults — because we're all well past pretending that Lego is just for kids — the Botanical Collection currently features two items. For a bouquet that'll never die, the 756-piece flower bouquet kit includes a number of different blooms that you can bunch together however you like. If you're more of a bonsai kind of person, an 878-piece set that features one of the miniature trees is also available. For those keen on vibrant flowers, the flower bouquet box includes pieces to make blooms based on roses, snapdragons, poppies, asters, daisies and grasses, all in different colours and shapes. In fact, because this is the first kit of its type, it features blocks in hues and shapes — including 17 realistic-looking petal pieces — that Lego hasn't ever used before. The stems come in different lengths, measuring up to 36 centimetres, and you choose which flowers sit at which height. The petals and leaves are also customisable; however, if you want a vase to put them all in, you'll have to find that elsewhere. In the bonsai tree set, you'll obviously build a bonsai. Yes, it's that self-explanatory — but you'll also make a black pot for it to sit in and a wooden stand for it as well. You can pick between green leaves and cherry blossoms while you're putting it together, and it's up to you how you arrange them as well. If you fancy a bit of pink in warmer months and something earthier when winter hits, you can do that as well. Both kits cost $89.99, although the bonsai one is temporarily out of stock after they both launched on January 1 this year. Lego is also moving towards being more green with its pieces, not just with the designs they can be used to make — and announced that it was starting to produce sustainable blocks made from plant-based plastic back in 2018. You'll find some in the Botanical Collection sets, fittingly, as made from sustainably sourced sugarcane. Plus, as well as catching the eye, Lego's newest products are designed to help you destress and get mindful — something that the brand has been promoting for adults for a few years now. For more information about Lego's new Botanical Collection, including the flower bouquet and bonsai tree kits, head to the company's website.
Plan a trip to South Australia, and spending time surrounded by grapes is probably on your agenda. This year, you can pair all those winery visits with plenty of pumpkins, too, because Yayoi Kusama's pumpkin-focused infinity room The Spirits of the Pumpkins Descended into the Heavens will display at the Art Gallery of South Australia from Friday, April 1. Australia just keeps going dotty for Kusama. Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art's hosted a kaleidoscopic exhibition dedicated to the Japanese artist back in 2017, her Obliteration Room has proven a hit in the Sunshine State several times and, going one better, Canberra's National Gallery of Australia acquired The Spirits of the Pumpkins Descended into the Heavens back in 2018. While the latter is a permanent addition to the NGA's collection, it's also going on the road on — which is why Adelaide is your next place to see oh-so-many dots. The piece was first exhibited in 2015. Comprised of a mirrored cube filled with yellow, dot-covered pumpkins, it's a quintessential Kusama work. Whether you're a devoted fan who considers visiting the artist's own Tokyo museum a bucket-list moment, or someone who has simply placed stickers around one of her obliteration rooms, you would've noticed that dots and the concept of infinity are crucial to her art — "our earth is only one polka dot among a million stars in the cosmos," she says. Inside the cube, the bulbous vegetables appear to create an endless field thanks to the shiny surface. On the outside of the cube, the structure's mirrored exterior reflects the yellow-and-black walls in the surrounding installation room — again, making it appear as though the pattern stretches on forever. The NGA's acquisition was made possible via a gift from Andrew and Hiroko Gwinnett, which is also supporting the infinity room's tour. AGSA hasn't revealed how long it'll be on display, but entry will be free — and it's obviously a must-visit addition to any Adelaide itinerary. Images: Installation view, THE SPIRITS OF THE PUMPKINS DESCENDED INTO THE HEAVENS by Yayoi Kusama, 2017, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. © Yayoi Kusama, courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/Shanghai.
A tribute to Los Angeles in film. Dreaming about somewhere over the rainbow and defying gravity with Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo singing the house down. 2025 ceremony host — and four-time Oscar-viewer — Conan O'Brien making a The Substance-inspired entrance, then regaling the crowd and the watching world with a genuinely funny opening monologue. A Real Pain winner Kieran Culkin telling Jeremy Strong how phenomenal he was in The Apprentice when collecting the first award of the night. Parks and Recreation favourite Nick Offerman announcing the presenters. That's how the 97th Academy Awards began. As they went on, this year's Oscars made dreams come true for the folks behind some of the best movies of the past 12 months. Flow, Wicked, Anora, Conclave, The Substance, Emilia Pérez, No Other Land, Dune: Part Two, The Brutalist, I'm Still Here: with A Real Pain, they're now all Academy Award-winners. Accordingly, 2025 is the year that an independent, dialogue-free film about animals — a movie that marked the first-ever Latvian title nominated for an Oscar, and to make good on that nod — won Best Animated Feature, and Flow couldn't be a more-worthy victor. Wicked costume designer Paul Tazewell made history as well, his award for the stage-to-screen musical making him the first Black man to ever take out the category. Best Supporting Actress Zoe Saldaña is the first American of Dominican origin to collect an Oscar statuette, too. I'm Still Here's Best International Feature prize makes it the first Brazilian flick to win that field. For Anora, Tangerine, The Florida Project and Red Rocket's Sean Baker, one of American cinema's great champions of otherwise untold tales, now has multiple Academy Awards — including for directing, writing and editing. Adrien Brody is now a two-time Best Actor winner, nabbing his second trophy 22 years after his first, again for grappling with the horrors of the Holocaust. By the numbers, this was a night of sharing the love, however. Best Picture's Anora wasn't the only film to get a shoutout more than once, even if it was the big winner with five awards. Also victorious multiple times: The Brutalist, Wicked, Dune: Part Two and Emilia Pérez. And, from the Best Picture nominees, only A Complete Unknown and Nickel Boys went home empty-handed — although both deserved better. Among the ceremony's fun, the 2025 Oscars also delivered an ode from Morgan Freeman to the late, great Gene Hackman to start the in-memorium segment, worked in a Bond song-and-dance spectacle, nodded to Kill Bill, honoured Quincy Jones and saw Mick Jagger receive a standing ovation for presenting the award for Best Original Song. When Quentin Tarantino announced Best Director, he was rewarded with thanks from Baker, noting that Anora wouldn't exist if QT hadn't first cast Mikey Madison in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The Oscars featured a pitch for a building dedicated to watching streaming movies on the big screen as well, and a Dune and Dune: Part Two sandworm playing various musical instruments. If you needed a reminder of who was hosting, O'Brien wasn't afraid to skew silly, clearly — and savage in some of his jokes, including about standing up to Russians. Wondering what and who won what, and the films and talents that were also contending, at this year's Academy Awards? Check out the full list below — and if you're curious, you can also see what we predicted would and should win, plus our full list of where most of this year's nominees are screening or streaming in Australia right now. Oscar Winners and Nominees 2025 Best Motion Picture Anora — WINNER The Brutalist A Complete Unknown Conclave Dune: Part Two Emilia Pérez I'm Still Here Nickel Boys The Substance Wicked Best Director Anora, Sean Baker — WINNER The Brutalist, Brady Corbet A Complete Unknown, James Mangold Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard The Substance, Coralie Fargeat Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Cynthia Erivo, Wicked Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez Mikey Madison, Anora — WINNER Demi Moore, The Substance Fernanda Torres, I'm Still Here Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Adrien Brody, The Brutalist — WINNER Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown Colman Domingo, Sing Sing Ralph Fiennes, Conclave Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown Ariana Grande, Wicked Felicity Jones, The Brutalist Isabella Rossellini, Conclave Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez — WINNER Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Yura Borisov, Anora Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain — WINNER Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown Guy Pearce, The Brutalist Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice Best Original Screenplay Anora, Sean Baker — WINNER The Brutalist, Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg September 5, Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum and Alex David The Substance, Coralie Fargeat Best Adapted Screenplay A Complete Unknown, James Mangold and Jay Cocks Conclave, Peter Straughan — WINNER Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard in collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi Nickel Boys, RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes Sing Sing, Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin and John 'Divine G' Whitfield Best International Feature Film I'm Still Here — WINNER The Girl with the Needle Emilia Pérez The Seed of the Sacred Fig Flow Best Animated Feature Flow — WINNER Inside Out 2 Memoir of a Snail Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl The Wild Robot Best Documentary Feature Black Box Diaries No Other Land — WINNER Porcelain War Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat Sugarcane Best Original Score The Brutalist, Daniel Blumberg — WINNER Conclave, Volker Bertelmann Emilia Pérez, Clément Ducol and Camille Wicked, John Powell and Stephen Schwartz The Wild Robot, Kris Bowers Best Original Song 'El Mal', Emilia Pérez, Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard — WINNER 'The Journey', The Six Triple Eight, Diane Warren 'Like A Bird', Sing Sing, Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada 'Mi Camino', Emilia Pérez, Camille and Clément Ducol 'Never Too Late', Elton John: Never Too Late, Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin Best Cinematography The Brutalist, Lol Crawley — WINNER Dune: Part Two, Greig Fraser Emilia Pérez, Paul Guilhaume Maria, Ed Lachman Nosferatu, Jarin Blaschke Best Film Editing Anora, Sean Baker — WINNER The Brutalist, David Jancso Conclave, Nick Emerson Emilia Pérez, Juliette Welfling Wicked, Myron Kerstein Best Production Design The Brutalist, Judy Becker, Patricia Cuccia Conclave, Suzie Davies, Cynthia Sleiter Dune: Part Two, Patrice Vermette, Shane Vieau Nosferatu, Craig Lathrop, Beatrice Brentnerová Wicked, Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales — WINNER Best Visual Effects Alien: Romulus, Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin and Shane Mahan Better Man, Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft and Peter Stubbs Dune: Part Two, Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer — WINNER Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story and Rodney Burke Wicked, Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk and Paul Corbould Best Costume Design A Complete Unknown, Arianne Phillips Conclave, Lisy Christl Gladiator II, Janty Yates and Dave Crossman Nosferatu, Linda Muir Wicked, Paul Tazewell — WINNER Best Makeup and Hairstyling A Different Man, Mike Marino, David Presto and Crystal Jurado Emilia Pérez, Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier and Jean-Christophe Spadaccini Nosferatu, David White, Traci Loader and Suzanne StokesMunton The Substance, Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli — WINNER Wicked, Frances Hannon, Laura Blount and Sarah Nuth Best Sound A Complete Unknown, Tod A Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey and David Giammarco Dune: Part Two, Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill — WINNER Emilia Pérez, Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Maxence Dussère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta Wicked, Simon Hayes, Nancy Nugent Title, Jack Dolman, Andy Nelson and John Marquis The Wild Robot, Randy Thom, Brian Chumney, Gary A Rizzo and Leff Lefferts Best Documentary Short Subject Death by Numbers I Am Ready, Warden Incident Instruments of a Beating Heart The Only Girl in the Orchestra — WINNER Best Animated Short Film Beautiful Men In the Shadow of the Cypress — WINNER Magic Candies Wander to Wonder Yuck! Best Live-Action Short Film A Lien Anuja I'm Not a Robot — WINNER The Last Ranger The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent The 2025 Oscars were announced on Monday, March 3, Australian and New Zealand time. For further details, head to the awards' website.
Escaping to Tasmania has long been a popular way to get away from it all, especially if you're keen to swap the Australian mainland's hustle and bustle for the Apple Isle's stunning surroundings for a brief spell. Vacationing in a tiny house has also become a beloved way of leaving the daily grind, your usual routine and everyday stresses behind — so a tiny house in Tassie is clearly a holiday dream. Make that two tiny houses, actually, thanks to eco-friendly tiny house company Tiny Away. Good things definitely come in small packages here — and in scenic locations, too, with the accommodation network making its first leap to Australia's southern-most state. The two new spots join Tiny Away's 120-plus tiny house lineup, with each small-scale home architecturally designed, set on private land in rural and regional locations, and available for short bookings. If you're keen for a getaway in a fishing village around 45 minutes from Hobart, then Quirindi in Dunalley is your ideal destination. It sits on an eight-acre property, in the middle of wildlife-filled bush and grassland, that's been in the same family for three generations. The small abode even comes with its own nine-hole putting course — which, yes, you can use amid warming up by the fire pit, cooking on the barbecue or exploring the area. Nearby drawcards include the coastline at Eaglehawk Neck, plus seafood joints The Cannery and Bangor Wine & Oyster Shed. If you're eager to venture to Launceston — well, around half an hour away — then Cottesloe in the small town of Hagley is for you. This tiny house sits among a small farming operation on the edge of Meander Valley, which means that green pastures and farm animals come with the territory. Here, local highlights include Georgian and Victorian buildings in the town of Deloraine — and bakeries for a snack — plus the Western Tiers Distillery and the limestone caves at Mole Creek Karst National Park. With not only getting back to nature but respecting the natural environment a key part of Tiny Away's ethos, each of the company's homes is fashioned out of sustainable materials, and also includes waterless compost toilets, rainwater collection tanks for showers, plus solar panels. Checking that leave balance already? Scouring your calendar for a free weekend getaway slot? We understand. Tiny Away's new Quirindi and Cottesloe tiny houses are available to book online. For more information, head to the company's website.
To really get a feel for a country, you have to experience its cuisine. And that doesn't just mean eating in nice restaurants—it means learning about the history, stories, sources, recipes and love that goes into creating dishes that have endured for centuries. If you're seeking inspiration for experiences like that, we've teamed up with Intrepid Travel and picked out eight of the best culinary holidays Asia has to offer. You get the best of both worlds: sightsee like a tourist but live and eat like a local. South Korea When thinking of South Korea, do you think of fried chicken, bibimbap, Korean barbecue and, of course, kimchi? You can get the chance to explore all these tasty treats on an eight-day loop of the country. Start in Seoul with a trip to Gwangjang Market (as seen on Netflix's Street Food) before attending a kimchi-making session in Jeonju. Other highlights include a dive into the burgeoning microbrewery scene, a home-cooked meal in Busan and a celebratory barbecue experience back in Seoul. South Korea's rich and diverse food scene offers much to explore, and this tour is an ideal taster of what the country has to offer. Sri Lanka The beautiful island nation of Sri Lanka is known for both its culture and its food, and you can experience the best of both on this twelve-day tour. Be part of the action at the famous Negombo fish market, tuck into traditional curries and dosas cooked by Tamil families and enjoy a local snack of buffalo curd and treacle. While the food isn't to be missed, there's much to do besides. Lion Rock is a picturesque climb with ancient frescoes, and the journey from Kandy to Bandarawela is a breathtaking scenic train ride. For the grand finish, you'll hit Colombo, the country's capital, where you can take in the city buzz and enjoy a meal celebrating the area's Dutch heritage. Thailand You probably enjoy a pad Thai now and again, and there's a decent chance you can whip up a fairly decent Thai curry (if armed with a jar of paste and a tin of coconut milk), but have you ever experienced a khan tok dinner? A Northern Thailand speciality, this eleven-dish meal has long been a traditional welcome, and the opportunity to prepare, cook and eat this customary feast is arguably the highlight of Intrepid's eight-day excursion to Thailand. Elsewhere, there are trips to Chiang Mai temples, an overnight train ride across the country, and a visit to Tha Kha Floating Market. You'll be blown away by the vibrancy and beauty at every turn. India Far too often, we make the mistake of thinking of Indian food as one single cuisine while, in reality, it's one of the most rich and varied food cultures on the planet. That's why you need half a month for a trip stretching all the way from Delhi to Goa. The itinerary reads like a spice lover's dream. You'll hit the 'Lane of Parathas' in Delhi, a chaat crawl in Agra, Rajasthani desserts in Jaipur, thali in Udaipur, a street crawl in Mumbai, and a cooking class in Goa. That's without even mentioning the Taj Mahal, Sikh temples and the Bollywood movie experience that will punctuate your time away from everyday life. [caption id="attachment_970029" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Yana Tatevosian via iStock[/caption] Georgia Located on the edge of Asia on the banks of the Black Sea is the gateway to Europe: Georgia. Australia may be pretty good for overseas cuisine these days, but you'd struggle on these shores to find dishes like nigvziani badrijani (eggplant and walnuts), zhizhig galnash (noodles and lamb) or khinkali (traditional Georgian dumplings). All these dishes and more are available on this circuit of the country, starting in the capital, Tbilisi, and also taking in Telavi, the Pankisi Valley and Gudauri. And it's not just food. There's also the opportunity to hike up to Gergeti Trinity Church and catch a glimpse of Mt Kazbegi, a glacier that stands over 5,000m tall. Vietnam Banh mi, pho and bao are high-street staples here in Australia, but there's nothing like the real thing. You'll get to sample the genuine article on this tour of Vietnam, which also includes a cooking class in Hoi An that's preceded by a trip to the local market to find ingredients. There's also plenty of travelling and a bunch to see as part of this itinerary. There are two overnight train journeys, boat cruises, picturesque drives and even a sightseeing trip aboard a motorbike. This holiday comes to an end in Ho Chi Minh City, where you can soak up the atmosphere of the busy markets and marvel at the incredible produce on offer. Japan The Land of the Rising Sun has something for everyone, from skiing and sightseeing to cherry blossoms and huge city metropolises. But what we're talking about here is food and, more accurately, damn good food. Sushi is obviously a must, and in this Tokyo tour you'll be schooled in the art of sushi — which includes its history, how to choose the best cuts and, of course, how to prepare it. Additionally, there's a home cooking class in Kanazawa on the north coast, a visit to a green tea farm in Uji, a sake tasting in Kyoto, and more besides. Cambodia This diverse southeast Asian country has a rich heritage and vibrant food culture. This organised trip will show you the best this gem of a country has to offer. You'll see where reportedly the world's finest pepper is grown and taste pepper ice cream. You'll get to experience a traditional Khmer cookery class in Phnom Penh. You'll even get the chance to make cocktails in Siem Reap using local fruits and herbs. There's also plenty of opportunity for sightseeing, and you'll come away from your trip feeling like you've got to know Cambodia and perhaps even planning your next trip back. Get out, explore, dive into adventure and find your WOW with Intrepid Travel. Find out more on the website.
UK rocker Yungblud has announced he'll bring his Idols world tour to Australia next January, marking his biggest local shows to date. The Doncaster-born singer and songwriter — real name Dominic Harrison — will kick off the tour at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion on Saturday, January 10, before hitting Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rolling Stone AU/NZ (@rollingstoneaus) The run celebrates Yungblud's fourth studio album, Idols, which dropped in June and went straight to number one in the UK and number four in Australia. Known for his high-energy performances and fiercely loyal fan base, the tour promises the kind of chaotic, cathartic shows that have earned him global acclaim. Speaking to Rolling Stone AU/NZ earlier this year, Yungblud teased "massive plans" for the Australian leg of the tour and hinted that his self-created festival Bludfest — which launched in the UK last year — could eventually make its way Down Under. "I know the Australian festival market has been struggling," he said. "I really want to try my best to implement a new idea with Bludfest because it worked in the UK." Tickets go on sale from Tuesday, October 21, with pre-sales for Telstra Plus members opening Thursday, October 16 and Frontier Members from Monday, October 20. Yungblud's 2026 Australian tour kicks off in Sydney on January 10. Visit Frontier Touring for ticket details and dates.
If you haven't attended SXSW Sydney yet, then you've missed on not one but two Down Under iterations of the annual massive music, technology, screen and gaming festival, which made the leap to the Harbour City in 2023, then returned in 2024. For the event's third year, organisers have announced a number changes, all designed to give more folks more reasons to head along. One: additional free programming. Another: more flexibility with ticketing. It was in late 2024 that SXSW Sydney confirmed that it'll be back in 2025, continuing to prove a highlight of not just the Harbour City's cultural calendar, but also Australia's. The dates for its third iteration: Monday, October 13–Sunday, October 19, 2025. There's still no lineup details as yet, but being able to attend more of the fest without paying a cent — and, for ticketed parts of the program, being able to buy single-day conference passes and single-session movie tickets — is great news. Free sessions have always been a component of SXSW Sydney, but adding more is always going to be a welcome move. Again, the specifics lineup-wise haven't been unveiled; however, the event has promised a significant expansion of its free programming, including in its brand and partner experiences, and its music showcases. On the fest's Sunday date this year, Darling Harbour will become a hub of family-friendly entertainment, in one new move. Fancy hitting up the Innovation Expo without bothering your wallet? That'll now be on offer on the Saturday. As for ticketing, the single-day conference pass will set you back $295 and get you access to more than 75 sessions. The full-week pass to the conference and festival starts at $495. Movie lovers, if you just want to see one flick, you can do so for $25. SXSW Sydney's festival wristbands will be back, though, giving access to either the screen, music or games showcases — and the early-bird price this year is $100. 2024's SXSW Sydney, the second-ever Down Under, featured 1400 conference sessions, 95 screenings, 315 performances and 150 games. It also hosted more than 92,000 unique visitors, with folks attending from 56 countries. In terms of total visits, the seven-day festival notched up 300,000 — including 190,000-plus people heading along to the 163 events as part of the free programming in Tumbalong Park. Whatever graces the bill in 2025, it'll follow on from Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker, Chance The Rapper, Future Today Institute founder and CEO Amy Webb and Nicole Kidman in 2023, plus The Kid LAROI, human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson, author Johann Hari, The New Boy filmmaker Warwick Thornton, The Babadook composer Jed Kurzel, Grace Tame and Tim Minchin in 2024 — and heaps more. SXSW Sydney 2025 will run from Monday, October 13–Sunday, October 19 at various Sydney venues. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details. Images: Paul McMillan, Jess Gleeson, Jordan Kirk, Jaimi Joy, Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for SXSW and Nina Franova/Getty Images for SXSW Sydney.
One of my most vivid childhood memories occurred when I was around seven years old. School had just started back from term break and a lot my mates were talking about how great a time they had camping over the holidays. Wondering why I was missing out on all the fun, I asked my mum when she got home from work that evening why we'd never been camping before. Her response? A deadpan, and completely earnest: "But we have been camping, darling – remember that time we stayed at a Best Western?" Not only is this one of my earliest memories — it turned out to be one of my most formative, too. Mine wasn't a particularly outdoorsy family, which is a legacy I have stubbornly (or proudly, depending on the day of the week) kept going. I can't swim — in fact I only started enjoying even getting into a pool just a few years ago. I never managed to master riding a bike. And hiking? I am yet to be convinced that it's anything other than a mind-numbing and utterly pointless endeavour. If I wanted to experience nature, I'd drive through it on paved and well-signed roads in a climate-controlled vehicle, thank you very much. So imagine my surprise when I arrived in Cairns. [caption id="attachment_854603" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jarrad Shaw[/caption] I felt like David Rose. It's safe to say that a trip to regional Queensland had never been on my radar. But, as a guest of Tourism Tropical North Queensland, I was duty-bound to wholeheartedly embrace the itinerary put together by my incredible colleague and Mission Beach local Courtney Ammenhauser. Yes, it was going to put me well beyond my comfort zone, but that was entirely the point — could this part of the world appeal to someone who can count on one hand the amount of times he's voluntarily been in nature? The short answer is yes, it bloody well can. Over a jam-packed three days, I was shown just some of what the region has to offer by Cairns local Katie Purling. At the risk of being hyperbolic, I was lucky enough to see and do things that I never thought I would see or do. Sure, I didn't have to cosplay as Bear Grylls, but it turns out I didn't have to. There are plenty of ways to explore the spectacularly diverse and truly beautiful tropics that would appeal to even the most discerning of travellers, from luxe, carbon-neutral accomodation set among the rainforest canopy to excellent fine-dining venues that showcase the richness of produce available in Australia's tropical north and First Nations-owned and operated tours offering immersive cultural experiences that offer a fascinating look at Indigenous protected land. [caption id="attachment_854604" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jarrad Shaw[/caption] While the videos in this feature do a far better job than my words ever could of illustrating the beauty of the tropics, there were some highlights that will stay with me for a while. Swimming (well, wading, really) in the Great Barrier Reef after a very comfortable yacht trip with Sailaway was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I'll not soon forget. Reef conservation is something that is, understandably, taken quite seriously in the region. Dipping my toes into the Coral Sea's crystal-clear waters dotted with an infinitesimal fraction of its fascinating coral formations was a truly humbling experience that afforded me an almost tangible perspective (beyond my existing but more conceptual one) around just how important it is to keep the Reef thriving. As a regional leader in ecotourism, Sailaway not only gets visitors up close to the Great Barrier Reef in a responsible way with trips that are 100-percent carbon neutral, but is also an active participant in coral planting and monitoring initiatives — trips are also offset with a portion of each ticket price invested back into rainforest reforestation projects. If nature walks aren't your thing, the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, located just 15 minutes north of Cairns, is an incredible way to experience the world's oldest continually surviving rainforest. It's a strange combination of fear and awe as you enter your cable car and ascend up to 90 metres above ground, the ideal spot from which to enjoy sweeping views of the rainforest canopy below and the beautiful blue ocean beyond. I can confirm, though, that the awe quickly consumes the fear as you take in the incredibly diverse sea of green underneath you, especially when the mighty Barron Falls comes into view. A one-way journey on Skyrail is 7.5-kilometres long, with three legs that are broken up with stops featuring stunning lookout points, complimentary ranger-guided boardwalk tours and informative discovery zones. An EarthCheck-certified operator, Skyrail is part of the Wet Tropics Management Authority, which works to protect and conserve this World Heritage area, while its own Skyrail Rainforest Foundation raises and distributes funds to support research and education projects for the tropical wonder. But the biggest takeaway was something I couldn't quite put my finger on until I was discussing my time up north with Courtney upon my return. There's an almost palpable sense of time slowing right down — the days somehow feel longer but you never get the sense that they're dragging on. Whether it's down to the humidity, the warm hospitality of the laidback locals or really more of a general vibe, that, for me, truly felt like the biggest money-can't-buy luxury of all. And even writing this from the far more familiar surrounds of the big smoke, I can't wait to experience that again soon. Nik Addams travelled to Cairns as a guest of Tourism Tropical North Queensland. Top image: Jarrad Shaw
The name might not ring a bell, but his creations would certainly be familiar. Yoram Gross is the man behind classic cartoons such as Blinky Bill and Dot and the Kangaroo. Now, rather than telling the tale of a mischievous koala, he is publishing his own memoirs. As is often the case, fact can be more interesting than fiction. As a Jewish boy in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II, Gross was forced to move between over 70 hideouts, even passing himself off as a séance host. After the war he settled in Israel, where he became an award-winning film maker, and in 1968 he was on the move again, this time heading to Australia with his family where he would eventually create some of the country’s most iconic cartoon characters. Looking back on the films — if you need a recap Blinky Bill has his peaceful bush home destroyed by invading humans and must rescue his mother from captivity, Dot is lost in the bush and must rely on her new animal friends to find her way home — it is enlightening to see the stories with adult eyes, recognising that the light-hearted adventures that entertained us as children have much more serious layers with their roots in Gross’ own experiences. As his life, and his films show, you can always make the best of a bad situation. And you should enjoy the kangaroo rides while you can! My Animated Life is published by Brandl & Schlesinger.
If you've looked at a television lately or headed in search of the golden arches to get a feed, then you've probably already realised that 2021 marks 50 years since McDonald's first started serving burgs in Australia. To celebrate, the fast food chain has been splashing advertisements all around the place, and whipping up specials — including 50-cent cheeseburgers and new McFlurrys so far. Up next: Macca's PJs. Obviously, you'll be lovin' them. Teaming up with Peter Alexander, McDonald's has launched a collection of sleepwear that features burgers, fries, golden arches, the chain's red and yellow colour scheme, and its famous figures such as Ronald, Grimace, Birdie and the Hamburglar. Do people wearing burger-covered pyjamas dream of Big Macs? That's the question you can now put to the test. You can clearly expect a big dose of nostalgia as well and, thanks to Ronald and company's presence, to have a fierce hankering for happy meals. Given that McDonald's opened here in the 70s, there's a huge retro feel to the entire range. If, while wearing them, you wake up and start watching cartoons, that's understandable. Ten different items are available now at Peter Alexander stores and via the sleepwear brand's website until stocks last — including PJ pants and sweaters for men and women, and four different matching sets for the latter. Prices start at $69.95 for kids, and span up to $129.95 for long-sleeved women's flannelette pyjamas covered in Macca's well-known characters. The McDonald's x Peter Alexander sleepwear collection is on sale now via Peter Alexander stores and the sleepwear brand's website.
Japanese food is one of the most popular cuisines worldwide, and it's no wonder. It's flexible, healthy, often served fresh, presented beautifully and perhaps most importantly, it tastes fantastic. You can get a box of takeaway sushi or a bowl of ramen all over the world, but certain elements and specialties of Japanese cuisine have yet to take off worldwide. Whether it's down to unique ingredients, well-guarded local knowledge or a certain…flair that turns away more conservative palates, these dishes you need to seek out in the land of the rising sun itself. So, should you be planning a Japan jaunt, save this guide for some of its lesser-known treats and where to find them. Goya Chanpuru, Okinawa Prefecture Starting in the summery and tropical south of Japan, we have the regional specialty of goya chanpuru hailing from sunny Okinawa. Chanpuru itself is an Okinawan stir fry of vegetables and fresh tofu, but the most popular variety comes with a helping of a bitter gourd called goya. The summer vegetable is sliced and stir-fried in oil with pork, eggs and, crucially, Okinawan tofu (which is prepared differently from other tofu). The result is a bitter but healthy meal, rich in vitamin C. [caption id="attachment_991975" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Hanasunrise via iStock[/caption] Buri Daikon, Kagoshima Prefecture Moving north to the island of Kyushu and Kagoshima Prefecture, a popular at-home winter dish made with vegetables and fish, takes our eye. Buri daikon is specifically made with yellowtail, commonly fished in Kagoshima Prefecture, and thick slices of daikon, a Japanese radish — especially a sweeter cultivar called Sakurajima daikon. The daikon is chopped and stewed with yellowtail, sake and ginger, then served with shredded ginger — making for a fantastic winter warmer. [caption id="attachment_991976" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Stossi Mammont via iStock[/caption] Horakuyaki, Ehime Prefecture Ehime Prefecture is home to one of Japan's three major tidal flows, the Kurushima Strait. The fresh seafood that's the main ingredient in horakuyaki is almost exclusively caught in this very strait. Popular in Imabari, horakuyaki is a luxurious dish that's innately connected to the rich maritime culture of the region and is fairly simple to prepare. Commonly made with bream, octopus, shrimps and clams caught in the strait — the catch is prepared, lightly salted, then steamed and roasted in a flat pan called a horaku nabe. It's tender, rich in seafood flavour and a common sight at banquets and celebrations year-round. [caption id="attachment_991978" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] ES3N via iStock[/caption] Fuku Sashi, Yamaguchi Prefecture Fuku sashi is Yamaguchi Prefecture's regional spin on the internationally known dish of fugu, sashimi of the highly poisonous pufferfish. It's a dish that can only be prepared by accredited chefs since one wrong cut can make the meat of the fish fatal when consumed. When a chef in Yamaguchi Prefecture is qualified to serve fugu, it's used in this locally popular dish. The fish is sliced so it's translucently thin, then served with ponzu sauce — made with soy sauce and citrus juice. It's also popular with sliced chives or grated radish. While popular, a decline in fugu stock has made the dish reserved for special occasions. [caption id="attachment_991983" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] TokyoViews via Flickr[/caption] Tekonezushi, Mie Prefecture Local meals often have a simple origin, and that's the case with tekonezushi, tracing its origins to being a simple meal that fishermen could prepare while still out on their boats. Not far from Japan's largest cities, the waters of Mie Prefecture are busy with fishing boats, often hunting skipjack tuna. Hence, local fishermen and now restaurants often prepare tekonezushi. All it takes is tuna or bonito sashimi marinated in soy sauce and placed on a bed of vinegared rice with a sprinkle of nori (dried seaweed) and shiso (perilla) on top. [caption id="attachment_991985" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Hideya Hamano via Flickr[/caption] Hotaruika no Sumisoae, Toyama Prefecture In central Japan where the mountains meet the Sea of Japan, Toyama Bay is home to a population of stunning firefly squid, which is the centrepiece of hotaruika no sumisoae. Traditionally residents of deep water, these luminescent cephalopods make quite the sight in the shallows. Often served in early spring, coinciding with the fishing season, this dish is prepared by boiling the squid in salted water and then serving with leeks and a generous pour of vinegared miso (miso, vinegar, hot pepper and sugar). Kiritanpo Nabe, Akita Prefecture Nearby in Akita Prefecture is kiritanpo nabe, a local take on hot pot that dates back to when loggers used to climb the region's mountains in search of timber. The key carbohydrate base is kiritanpo — rice that has been boiled, mashed and grilled on a cedar skewer. Cooked in a cylindrical shape, they're added to a boiling hot pot with chicken bone broth and a mix of ingredients. Typically, you'll see sliced root vegetables, mushrooms, thin noodles and chicken as well as sake, salt and soy sauce. It's often served for celebrations and is the star dish in local festivals in the region. Milk and Dairy Products, Hokkaido Prefecture Japan's northernmost island (and prefecture) of Hokkaido might be most famous for its snow resorts, but the area is also home to Japan's dairy industry. The climate is ideal for dairy production and is where over 50% of Japan's milk originates. Supposedly, the milk has a rich, vanilla-esque flavour. As such, there are all sorts of treats to try. Lavender soft serve ice cream, cheese, butter, bread and milk jam (the Japanese equivalent of dulce de leche) are some of the most popular treats, all served in restaurants and the regions working dairy farms. Discover more and start planning your trip to Japan at the Japan National Tourism Organization website. Header image: Green Planet World via iStock. Body images courtesy of the Japan National Tourism Organization unless specified otherwise.
UPDATE, Monday, March 18, 2024: Asteroid City is available to stream via Netflix, Binge, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. In 1954, one of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest thrillers peeked through a rear window. In Wes Anderson's highly stylised, symmetrical and colour-saturated vision of 1955 in Asteroid City, a romance springs almost solely through two fellow holes in the wall. Sitting behind one is actor Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson, Black Widow), who visibly recalls Marilyn Monroe. Peering through the opposing space is newly widowed war photographer Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), who takes more than a few cues from James Dean. The time isn't just 1955 in the filmmaker's latest stellar masterpiece, but September that year, a month that would end with Dean's death in a car crash. Racing through the movie's eponymous setting — an 87-person slice of post-war midwest Americana with a landscape straight out of a western, the genre that was enjoying its golden age at the time — are cops and robbers speeding and careening in their vehicles. Meticulousness layered upon meticulousness has gleamed like the sun across Anderson's repertoire since 1996's Bottle Rocket launched the writer/director's distinctive aesthetic flair; "Anderson-esque" has long become a term. Helming his 11th feature with Asteroid City, he's as fastidious and methodical in his details upon details as ever — more so, given that each successive movie keeps feeling like Anderson at his most Anderson — but all of those 50s pop-culture shoutouts aren't merely film-loving, winking-and-nodding quirks. Within this picture's world, as based on a story conjured up with Roman Coppola (The French Dispatch), Asteroid City isn't actually a picture. "It is an imaginary drama created expressly for the purposes of this broadcast. The characters are fictional, the text hypothetical, the events an apocryphal fabrication," a Playhouse 90-style host (Bryan Cranston, Better Call Saul) informs. So, it's a fake play turned into a play for a TV presentation, behind-the-scenes glimpses and all. There Anderson is, being his usual ornate and intricate self, and finding multiple manners to explore art, authenticity, and the emotions found in and processed through works of creativity. Those windows that Midge and Augie keep chatting through belong to neighbouring bungalows in the only motel in Asteroid City, the town. (Not only is the setting not actually a city, but the asteroid that caused its famous crater back in 3007 BC is really a meteorite.) Although the pair arrive at the isolated desert spot as strangers, their respective kids in tow, they don't remain that way for long. Midge's daughter Dinah (Grace Edwards, Call Jane) and Augie's son Woodrow (Jake Ryan, Uncut Gems) are among the star attendees at a Junior Stargazer convention, each being feted by the US Military for their scientific inventions. As the kids talk and cultivate crushes, so do the adults. Those windows aren't just one of Asteroid City's several framing devices, either. Visually, Anderson reminds that we're all our own separate boxes, interacting with other separate boxes. He also ponders art's many boxes — screens included, naturally — in a film that dispenses everything from martinis to real estate from boxy vending machines. Each tiny speck of Asteroid City is that elaborate, intelligent and attentively chosen. Amid such diligent minutiae, however, Anderson goes out-of-this-world on emotion. Warm, insightful and funny, his new film features all of his hallmarks — think: the jam-packed starry cast spanning almost every famous face that's ever been in his frames, but adding more just-as-well-known talents; the exquisitely balanced compositions; the playfulness and whimsy of its on-screen world; the deadpan humour; the melancholy — and also contemplates life, death, grief, alienation, loneliness, love, dreams, connection, hope, wonder and what matters when we're all tiny specks existing ever-so-fleetingly in an expansive universe. As the filmmaker's first release made in pandemic times (The French Dispatch was shot in 2018 and 2019, initially due to premiere at Cannes 2020, then delayed to late 2021 when the globe shut down), it's also a clever, canny and brilliantly comic musing on the unexpected shaking up daily life, the ins and outs of quarantine and lockdown, and humanity's coping mechanisms when everything radically shifts and turns. Doing the writing in Asteroid City's boxed-in black-and-white segments: playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery), who immediately takes a shine to actor Jones Hall (also Schwartzman), casting him as Augie. Doing the directing: Schubert Green (Adrien Brody, Poker Face), who moves in backstage when his wife Polly (Hong Chau, The Whale) leaves him. Life in monochrome is messy; this is when method acting reigned supreme, too, and Earp and Green's cast have much to draw upon. Of course, while existence within the colourful widescreen sections that represent the play itself might look neat, it's also anything but. As General Gibson (Jeffrey Wright, The Batman) oversees the stargazers — and astronomer Dr Hickenlooper (Tilda Swinton, Three Thousand Years of Longing) has them looking up — there's loss, romance, a teacher (Maya Hawke, Stranger Things) with inquisitive pupils, cowboys a-singing (such as High Desert's Rupert Friend and Pulp's Jarvis Cocker), ashes in Tupperware, a starstruck father-in-law (Tom Hanks, A Man Called Otto) and otherworldly interlopers. Anderson also finds time for Steve Carell (The Patient), Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic World Dominion), Tony Revolori (Servant), Liev Schreiber (A Small Light), Matt Dillon (Proxima), Willem Dafoe (The Northman) and more to pop up. (Much of life's chaos is bodies, faces and lots of them, his films constantly note.) And, with both Margot Robbie (Barbie) and mushroom clouds making an appearance, he even goes all Barbenheimer. (As Christopher Nolan obviously recently demonstrated, the billowing results of atom-bomb tests instantly put human fragility into context.) Asteroid City sports an Anderson retrospective as well, with precocious kids à la Rushmore and Moonrise Kingdom, trains traversing plains like The Darjeeling Limited, family woes as The Royal Tenenbaums perfected, an insular setting akin to The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and The Grand Budapest Hotel and The French Dispatch's nesting structure. Never one to hold back, the present most-aped and -memed director levels up everything, including the crater-sized impact. That Anderson's movies are impeccably styled and scored can now almost go without saying. Back from The French Dispatch, his regular cinematographer Robert D Yeoman and composer Alexandre Desplat make every moment sparkle and twinkle with beauty. That his casts understand the Anderson method is also that self-evident now. Here, wading through yearning, mourning, disappointments and the unknown, Schwartzman and Johansson in particular are astronomically spectacular. Asteroid City assembles all the Anderson pieces that audiences expect exactly so — and repeatedly probes what we see, feel and discover when we surrender to art or anything beyond ourselves, his with its giddy, gleeful, oh-so-gorgeous artifice over naturalism as well. He keeps his audience staring at boxes because, whether windows or Broadway or screens, they reflect living. "You can't wake up if you don't fall asleep," Asteroid City's play actors chant offstage; that you can't appreciate existence's wonders and mysteries if you don't look for them, be it IRL or through the stories and works and pictures that reflect our lives, the film doesn't utter aloud but conveys equally as spiritedly, lovingly and rousingly.
When home video, the internet and mobile phones with inbuilt cameras each arrived, six words could've been uttered: get ready to look at dicks. New HBO comedy Minx is set the early 70s, so before all three, but the same phrase also applies here. It's true of the show itself, which isn't shy about displaying the male member in various shapes and sizes. It also stands tall in the world that Minx depicts. When you're making the first porn magazine for women — and, when you're making a series about it, even if it's all purely fictional — penises are inescapable. Also impossible to avoid in Minx: questions like "are erections consistent with our philosophy?", as asked by Vassar graduate and country club regular Joyce Prigger (Ophelia Lovibond, Trying). Idolising the magazine industry and unhappily working for the dispiritingly traditional Teen Queen, she has long dreamed of starting her own feminist publication — even penning a bundle of articles and making her own issues — but centrefolds splashed with male genitalia don't fit her ideal pitch. No one's buying what Joyce is selling, though; The Matriarchy Awakens, her dream mag, gets rejected repeatedly by the industry's gatekeepers. Only one is interested: Bottom Dollar Publications' Doug Renetti (Jake Johnson, Ride the Eagle), but he's in the pornography business. In Minx's premiere — which is now streaming alongside its second via Stan in Australia, with future episodes dropping in pairs weekly — Joyce and Doug are poised as opposites. When they first meet at the Southern California Magazine Pitch Festival, they contrast so forcefully in a visual sense that the show's Los Angeles-set frames may as well be screaming. She's buttoned up in a three-piece pantsuit, while he hasn't seen fit to fasten his shirt above his navel. Her gaze is steely and resolute; his couldn't be more casual. As created by Ellen Rapoport (Clifford the Big Red Dog) and executive produced by Paul Feig (Last Christmas), Minx plays up this clear and blatant contrast, and gleefully so, but little that follows is ever as easy and obvious. A streaming series about feminism, penises and 70s porn for women: that's Minx. A program about all of the above that unpacks and subverts Joyce and Doug's initial impressions: that's Minx as well. Indeed, it uses that first interaction as a spark for everything it carves into once it truly kicks into gear. Together, the pair pledge to create a feminist erotica magazine, and a savvy yet breezy workplace comedy results. The fact that nothing is ever just one thing — be it people, ideas, or everything that feminism and porn encompass — is a straightforward observation, but it's laid bare in a winning way in this quickly likeable show. Joyce is many things, in addition to being Minx's editor, driving force and sole doubter about male centrefolds. She worships Gloria Steinem, hands out The Kinsey Report to her colleagues, and is committed to giving the mag depth and intelligence — marital rape and contraception for single women rank among her ready-to-go article topics — but she's also prudish about nudity and sex toys, and incurious about her own desires. And, as the series points out, she benefits from a layer of white privilege and financial comfort that's given her the space to even fantasise about her passion project in the first place. Doug is equally multifaceted; a slacker on par with Johnson's New Girl claim to fame, he isn't. He's laidback, naturally, but he's astute about business, great at reading people, eager to make bold leaps and values having talented folks around him. Just as Joyce isn't merely a patriarchy-smashing go-getter stereotype, Doug isn't a sleazy but charming peddler of porn, either. Teamwork makes the Minx dream work, of course, and the crew assembled to get the magazine into the hands of women keeps challenging archetypes, too. Blonde and perky, Bambi (Jessica Lowe, Miracle Workers) models for Doug's other publications, has a knack for the creative side of the business and could never be dismissed as a bimbo — and sees nothing wrong with everything the term typically describes. Shelly (Lennon Parham, Veep), Joyce's sister, is more open about sex and its place in print, all while slotting into the conventional homemaker role expected of her gender. There's also Tina (Idara Victor, Shameless), Doug's whip-smart righthand woman, who rightly won't stand for being underestimated because she's Black— but isn't simply around to offer that reminder — and gay Latino photographer Richie (Oscar Montoya, Final Space), who is never a best friend-type sidekick. If Minx, the series, sounds a little like The Deuce meets Mrs America — but lighter, sweeter and funnier — that's because the comparison fits. Pick a beloved workplace sitcom, make it about feminism and porn, and Minx would slide in there, too, especially with its pitch-perfect ensemble cast. Of course, TV comedies aren't normally filled with so many phalluses, but this series knows that it can't tell a tale about embracing the female gaze if it doesn't embody the very concept. It's thoughtful about it at every turn as well; when Joyce rationalises the mag's first centrefold by flipping a real-life situation that women have endured too often, it's part of Minx's ongoing conversation on a range of essential topics. The many forms that feminism takes, how women have been conditioned to view sex, the stigma surrounding porn: they all bubble up in Minx's first five episodes (from a ten-instalment debut season). So too do sexism within advertising and in life in general, boys' club mentalities, censorship, the wowser-driven political war against anything salacious, the way that women judge each other and the power dynamics at the heart of romance. Obviously, the list of subjects that could fall into Minx's remit is lengthy — and, like its two lead characters, it sports the ambition to keep spreading its message far and wide. It's also as determined and unapologetic as Joyce, charismatic and flirty like Doug, and as layered as everyone in its frames. Minx's dicks don't talk — that's left to Pam & Tommy — but this newcomer is a full-frontal delight. Check out the trailer for Minx below. The first two episodes of Minx are available to stream via Stan, with two new episodes dropping weekly.
When Kirra Beach Hotel reopened in November 2023, a Gold Coast favourite made a comeback in a brand-new guise. And when the similarly named Kirra Beach House also launched in Coolangatta's Kirra Point Precinct in December the same year, the site welcomed a fresh spot to enjoy a bite and sip. Both are about dining and drinking beachside with ocean views and cruisy vibes; however, only one will let you and 19 mates hang out in a cabana on its northward terrace. Kirra Beach House is perched on the precinct's second level. Here, patrons can find a 1200-square-metre venue by SITE Hospitality's Dave Galvin (Kōst, Mozza Mozza) — and a spot that boasts a number of spaces within its one big space. There's a wine bar, two cocktail bars (one, Preston's, is for intimate soirées), indoor spots to drink, outdoor places to settle in, a seafood barbecue area, and room for events such as weddings and shindigs. The views at Kirra Beach House naturally feature the sea and sky — so, plenty of blue — from almost everywhere within its walls. Obviously, when you're out on the terrace cocktail bar, seeing the beach is a given (also expect to spy Broadbeach and Surfers Paradise's skylines). While you're soaking in the vistas, you can listen to DJs and acoustic tunes, and get comfortable in those three 20-person cabanas. Head around to the western terrace and a kitchen, bar and asado barbecue await, as well as foliage as a backdrop. The Mediterranean-skewing food menu by Kōst Executive Chef Sebbie Kenyon includes seafood platters both raw and cooked, plus steaks, burgers, flatbreads and pizzas. Patrons can enjoy kingfish ceviche in a citrus dressing, smoked ham hock croquettes, fried fish burgs with pickled zucchini, and burrata featuring yellow peach, aged balsamic and smoked salt. The tempura bug roll comes on a milk bun and is paired with smoked cocktail sauce — and those platters feature everything from the kingfish ceviche, bug tails and rock oysters to spanner crab remoulade and king prawns. As for the cocktails, they fittingly take their cues from holidays, with a Bahamas champagne piña colada and a Cancun spicy watermelon margarita among the options. Also on offer: house-made spritzes and Aussie wines.
Not all that long ago, the idea of getting cosy on your couch, clicking a few buttons, and having thousands of films and television shows at your fingertips seemed like something out of science fiction. Now, it's just an ordinary night — whether you're virtually gathering the gang to text along, cuddling up to your significant other or shutting the world out for some much needed me-time. Of course, given the wealth of options to choose from, there's nothing ordinary about making a date with your chosen streaming platform. The question isn't "should I watch something?" — it's "what on earth should I choose?". Hundreds of titles are added to Australia's online viewing services each and every month, all vying for a spot on your must-see list. And, so you don't spend 45 minutes scrolling and then being too tired to actually commit to anything, we're here to help. We've spent plenty of couch time watching our way through this month's latest batch — and, from the latest and greatest through to old and recent favourites, here are our picks for your streaming queue in December. BRAND NEW STUFF YOU CAN WATCH IN FULL GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery opens with a puzzle box inside a puzzle box. The former is a wooden cube delivered out of the blue, the latter the followup to 2019 murder-mystery hit Knives Out, and both are as tightly, meticulously, cleverly and cannily orchestrated as each other. The physical version has siblings, all sent to summon a motley crew of characters to the same place, as these types of flicks need to boast. The film clearly has its own brethren, and slots in beside its predecessor as one of the genre's gleaming standouts. More Knives Out movies will follow as well, which the two so far deserve to keep spawning as long as writer/director Rian Johnson (Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi) and Benoit Blanc-playing star Daniel Craig (No Time to Die) will make them. Long may they keep the franchise's key detective and audience alike sleuthing. Long may they have everyone revelling in every twist, trick and revelation, as the breezy blast that is Glass Onion itself starts with. What do Connecticut Governor and US Senate candidate Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn, WandaVision), model-slash-designer-slash-entrepreneur Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon), scientist Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr, The Many Saints of Newark) and gun-toting, YouTube-posting men's rights activist Duke Cody (Dave Bautista, Thor: Love and Thunder) all have in common when this smart and savvy sequel kicks off? They each receive those literal puzzle boxes, of course, and they visibly enjoy their time working out what they're about. The cartons are the key to their getaway to Greece — their invites from tech mogul Miles Bron (Edward Norton, The French Dispatch), in fact — and also perfectly emblematic of this entire feature. It's noteworthy that this quartet carefully but playfully piece together clues to unveil the contents inside, aka Glass Onion's exact modus operandi. That said, it's also significant that a fifth recipient of these elaborate squares, Andi Brand (Janelle Monáe, Antebellum), simply decides to smash their way inside with a hammer. As Brick and Looper also showed, Johnson knows when to attentively dole out exactly what he needs to, including when the body count starts. He also knows when to let everything spill out, and when to put the cravat-wearing Blanc on the case. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery streams via Netflix. Read our full review. KEVIN CAN F**K HIMSELF Not once, not even jokingly, does Annie Murphy utter the words "ew, David" in Kevin Can F**k Himself. She's never ever just a little bit Alexis, either. Murphy is just as exceptional and awards-worthy here, however, in a superb show that's a clever and cutting dark comedy — and, perhaps more accurately, offers a clear-eyed unpacking of what sitcoms usually mean (Schitt's Creek excluded, obviously) for women. In its first season in 2021, Kevin Can F**k Himself cast its star as Allison Devine-McRoberts, wife to the manchild of a titular figure (Eric Petersen, Sydney to the Max), and clearly in the kind of TV show about obnoxious husbands and their put-upon spouses that've been a small-screen mainstay for far too long. In those segments of the series, the lights glow, the McRoberts home looks like every other abode in every other program of its ilk, multiple cameras observe the action and viewers can be forgiven for expecting Kevin James to show up. Also, canned laughter chuckles — always unearned. Consider the above setup Kevin Can F**k Himself's starting point, though, because the show itself does. From there, creator Valerie Armstrong (Lodge 49) exposes what life is truly like for Allison — who is considered Kevin's wife first and foremost by almost everyone around her — including by switching looks, hues and camera arrangements whenever its namesake isn't around. The visible change is smart and effective, with this two-season show keeping digging into Allison's bleak situation from there. In the spirit of the series' title, she's trying to rid herself of her horrible marriage, including with help from neighbour Patty (Mary Hollis Inboden, The Righteous Gemstones). Alas, as this second and sadly last batch of episodes shows — as its first did as well — nothing is ever that easy. In a better world, Kevin Can F**k Himself would've had more time to unfurl and interrogate its story, but in this world it doesn't put a foot wrong with the time it's been given. Murphy and Inboden make one of TV's best duos, too; fingers crossed that someone reteams them again sometime soon. Kevin can F**k Himself streams via AMC+. Read our full review of 2021's season one. LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER Neither Emma Corrin's nor Jack O'Connell's resumes lack past highlights — The Crown for the former, and Skins, Starred Up, '71 and The North Water among the latter's — but the two actors scorch up the screen in Lady Chatterley's Lover. There'd be a problem if they didn't, given that the film adapts DH Lawrence's famously steamy and even banned 1928 novel. (In Australia, even a book about the British obscenity trial that the tome inspired was censored.) To tell this tale about an upper-class wife, her unfulfilling marriage to a Baronet injured in World War I, and the sexual and emotional yearning she quenches with the family property's gamekeeper, chemistry has to drip from the images, sparks need to fly so furiously that the movie's frames almost ignite, and a feverish and all-encompassing mood is a must. Along with actor-turned-director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (The Mustang), Corrin and O'Connell bring all of the above to the latest take on Lady Chatterley's Lover, and help the sumptuous erotic period drama itself not just bubble but boil. As lensed with a sensual eye by cinematographer Benoît Delhomme (At Eternity's Gate), this achingly romantic film sees its titular Lady Connie (Corrin, My Policeman) meet her also-eponymous paramour Oliver Mellors (O'Connell, Seberg) following the war, after Clifford Chatterley (Matthew Duckett, A Confession) has returned paralysed and moved his bride into his stately estate. Talk of an heir remains — pre-injury, it was the first thing mentioned in their wedding toast — but Clifford's condition, as well as his focus on writing a novel and then modernising the local mine, prove obstacles. Connie could have a discreet affair for the sole purpose of getting pregnant, however, as Clifford suggests. But it isn't just a head-over-heels clandestine love that springs with Mellors, who's also a veteran. Connie and Oliver are bowled over by the kind of adoration, affection and lust that inspires frolics in the fields and stripping down in the rain, all while their romance also helps interrogate class clashes. As well as woozily heady, vibrantly performed and handsomely shot, Lady Chatterley's Lover also enjoys eating the rich; yes, that's sexy, too. Lady Chatterley's Lover streams via Netflix. NANNY In Nanny, Aisha (Anna Diop, Us) is haunted, both when she's asleep and awake. Her slumbers are disturbed by nightmares, but seeing rising waters and unwelcome spiders isn't just relegated to when the Senegalese woman in New York closes her eyes. A gut-wrenching sense of unease also lingers while she works, after securing a childminding job for rich Upper East Side residents Amy (Michelle Monaghan, Echoes) and Adam (Morgan Spector, The Gilded Age). Their five-year-old daughter Rose (Rose Decker, Mare of Easttown) adores Aisha — more than her parents, it often seems. And, the nannying gig helps Aisha distract herself from missing her own son, who she's desperately trying to bring over to the US. She's haunted by his absence, too, and by the stolen snippets of conversation she gets with him on the phone, constantly juggling the time difference. The supernatural disturbances plaguing Aisha and her feelings about leaving her child in Senegal to chase a better future for them both are clearly linked, although Nanny is atmospheric and insightful rather than blunt and overt. The first horror film to win Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize, this evocative effort hails from writer/director Nikyatu Jusu, who makes her feature-length debut with quite the calling card. 2022 isn't short on affectingly moody and evocative female-focused thrillers with a maternal bent — see: Resurrection, which also debuted at Sundance — but Nanny's addition to the fold is deeply steeped in Aisha's immigrant experience. Thanks to all that otherworldly water, it feels like it's always steeping, in fact, soaking in the troubles and struggles of trying to snatch even a piece of the American dream when you're not wealthy, white and originally from the so-called land of the free. Also prominent: the dispiriting minutiae of Aisha's day, aka exactly what she has to endure to even have a chance of gaining what comes easily and obliviously to her employers. Like its central figure, Nanny is haunted several times over, too. Nanny streams via Prime Video. COLIN FROM ACCOUNTS A girl, a guy and a meet-cute over an adorable animal: that's the delightful and very funny Colin From Accounts' underlying formula. When medical student Ashley (Harriet Dyer, The Invisible Man) and microbrewery owner Gordon (Patrick Brammall, Evil) cross paths in the street one otherwise standard Sydney morning, they literally come to an impasse. He lets her go first, she flashes her nipple as thanks, then he's so distracted that he hits a stray dog with his car. As these circumstances demonstrate, Colin From Accounts isn't afraid to get awkward, much to the benefit of audiences. There's a syrupy way to proceed from the show's debut moments, intertwining sparks flying with idyllic dates, plus zero doubts of a happy ending for humans and pooches alike. If this was a movie, that's how it'd happen. Then there's Dyer and Brammall's way, with the duo creating and writing the series as well as starring in it, and focusing as much on ordinary existential mayhem — working out who you want to be, navigating complex relationships and learning to appreciate the simple pleasure of someone else's company, for example — as pushing its leads together. Just like in the Hollywood versions of this kind of tale, romance does blossom. That Dyer and Brammall are behind Colin From Accounts, their past chemistry on fellow Aussie comedy No Activity and the fact that they're married IRL means that pairing them up as more than new pals was always going to be on the show's agenda. It's how the series fleshes out each character and their baggage — including those who-am-I questions, Ash's difficult dynamic with her attention-seeking mother Lynelle (Helen Thomson, Elvis), and the responsibility that running your own business and committing to care for other people each bring — that helps give it depth. Colin From Accounts lets Ash and Gordon unfurl their woes and wishes, and also lets them grow. Sometimes, that happens by peeing and pooping in the wrong place, because that's also the type of comedy this is. Sometimes, it's because the show's central couple have taken a risk, or faced their struggles, or genuinely found solace in each other. Always, this new Aussie gem is breezy and weighty — and instantly bingeable. Colin From Accounts streams via Binge. Read our full review. DREAMING WALLS: INSIDE THE CHELSEA HOTEL Part of Manhattan since the 1880s, the Chelsea Hotel is as much a New York City icon as the Statute of Liberty or the Empire State Building, and as influential over the cultural landscape as well. It's where 2001: A Space Odyssey was written by Arthur C Clarke and Stanley Kubrick, where Janis Joplin and Allen Ginsburg have resided — Patti Smith, Madonna, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Leonard Cohen as well — and a key factor in the Andy Warhol co-directed 1966 film Chelsea Girls. It's the last place that poet Dylan Thomas stayed, and where Nancy Spungen, girlfriend of the Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious, was found dead. All of these details could fuel a documentary, or several, but that's not the approach that the Martin Scorsese-produced Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel takes. As the building undergoes extensive renovations that've been happening for years, upending long-term inhabitants and transforming historic apartments, filmmakers Amélie van Elmbt (The Elephant and the Butterfly) and Maya Duverdier spend time with the people determined not to leave. Everyone who still calls the Chelsea home knows the ins and outs of its past; "the ghosts who haunt it," as one puts it. But Dreaming Walls considers those everyday dwellers — most linked to creative fields in one way or another, of course — the life and soul of the current joint. That might be easy when so much of the place, and its gorgeous gothic architecture, is a construction site in the documentary's frames. The contrast between stripped-bare walls and jam-packed apartments that've been occupied by the same people for decades is haunting as well. It's no wonder that this ethereal and evocative film is largely content to loiter, to listen and to bear witness to the folks who've been there, seen it all, heard what they didn't personally experience and aren't willing to simply move just because a boutique spot is poised to take over. Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel streams via DocPlay. BUMP Time-jump alert: when Bump returns for its third season, four years have passed in this supremely bingeable Aussie dramedy's on-screen world. Oly (Nathalie Morris, Petrol) and Santi (Carlos Sanson, Sweet As) are no longer high schoolers, or even teenagers. They're also no longer the couple that took a big leap at the end of season two by moving into their own apartment, away from both of their chaotic families, while Oly finished her HSC, Santi started working full-time and both juggled all of the above with caring for baby J. Indeed, this new batch of Bump episodes begins with its central pairing taking the now almost five-year-old Jacinda (Ava Cannon) to her first day of kindergarten. All three are both excited and nervous amid the awkward co-parenting energy between the now-split Oly and Santi — and as Oly's mother Angie (Claudia Karvan, Moja Vesna) surprises them en route. Times and ages may have changed, and situations and appearances as well, but the warmth this series feels for its characters — and the complexity it works through in well-worn scenarios — steadfastly remains. We said it when the first ten-episode season dropped at the end of 2020, and we still stand by it today: Heartbreak High fans, Bump is for you, too. That isn't just because Karvan starred in The Heartbreak Kid, the movie that the OG Heartbreak High spun off from, but due to its dedication to chronicling the ins and outs of growing up and parenting in Sydney — yes, with school a focus as well. Bump has matured as Oly and Santi also have, however, even if the same can't always be said about Angie, Oly's dad Dom (Angus Sampson, The Lincoln Lawyer) and her older brother Bowie (Christian Byers, Between Two Worlds). A key theme in season three: what it means when life already hasn't turned out as planned when you still have so much of it left ahead of you. The show is called Bump, after all, and finds plenty of them paving everyone's paths. With the series also devoting its time to Santi's stepmother Rosa (Paula Garcia, Thirteen Lives) and best friend Vince (Ioane Saula, Preppers) among its broader look at Oly and Santi's support network, it also finds an array of ways to contemplate hopes, dreams, loves, losses, joys and disappointments. Bump streams via Binge from December 26. NEW AND RETURNING SHOWS TO CHECK OUT WEEK BY WEEK ABBOTT ELEMENTARY The Office did it, in both the UK and US versions. Parks and Recreation did so, too. What We Do in the Shadows still does it — and, yes, there's more where they all came from. By now, the mockumentary format is a well-established part of the sitcom realm. Indeed, it's so common that additional shows deciding to give it a whirl aren't noteworthy for that alone. But in Emmy-winner Abbott Elementary, which is currently streaming its second season, the faux doco gimmick is also deployed as an outlet for the series' characters. They're all public school elementary teachers in Philadelphia, and the chats to-camera help convey the stresses and tolls of doing what they're devoted to. In a wonderfully warm and also clear-eyed gem created by, co-written by and starring triple-threat Quinta Brunson (Miracle Workers), that'd be teaching young hearts and minds no matter the everyday obstacles, the utter lack of resources and funding, or the absence of interest from the bureaucracy above them. Brunson plays perennially perky 25-year-old teacher Janine Teagues, who loves her gig and her second-grade class. She also adores her colleague Barbara Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph, Ray Donovan), the kindergarten teacher that she sees as a mentor and work mum. Actually, Janine isn't just fond of all of the above — she's so devoted to her job that she'll let nothing stand in her way. But that isn't easy or straightforward in a system that's short on cash and care from the powers-that-be to make school better for its predominantly Black student populace. Also featuring Everybody Hates Chris' Tyler James Williams (also The United States vs Billie Holiday) as an apathetic substitute teacher, Lisa Ann Walter (The Right Mom) and Chris Perfetti (Sound of Metal) as Abbott faculty mainstays, and Janelle James (Black Monday) as the incompetent principal who only scored her position via blackmail, everything about Abbott Elementary is smart, kindhearted, funny and also honest. That remains the case in season two, where Janine is newly single and grappling with being on her own, sparks are flying with Williams' Gregory and James' Ava can't keep bluffing her way through her days. Abbott Elementary streams via Disney+. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN Is every vampire film destined to become a television series? Where Buffy the Vampire Slayer, What We Do in the Shadows and Interview with the Vampire have already tread — the latter just this year, too — Let the Right One In now follows. Originally a devastatingly haunting Swedish novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, then an entrancing 2008 film in its original language, then an American big-screen remake called Let Me In, this one just keeps drawing audiences in. In its present guise, it takes its tale to New York, where Mark Kane (Demián Bichir, Godzilla vs Kong) and his daughter Eleanor (Madison Taylor Baez, Selena: The Series) are trying to live as normal a life as they can when the latter is a member of the bloodsucking undead. Other changes abound, including the fact that Ellie has been blighted by her condition for just a decade; that NYC is being plagued by a series of brutal but strange killings; and that former pharmaceutical executive Arthur Logan (Željko Ivanek, The Last Duel), his estranged daughter Claire (Grace Gummer, Dr Death) and afflicted son Peter (Jacob Buster, Colony) factor into the narrative. Because everything is a murder-mystery of late — see: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery above, and fellow recent streaming hits Only Murders in the Building, The Afterparty, Bad Sisters and Black Bird — so is Let the Right One In circa 2022 in its way. When Ellie befriends a boy, as has happened in every version of this tale so far, his mother happens to be a police detective investigating those aforementioned deaths. So, while the show chronicles Ellie and Isaiah Cole's (Ian Foreman, The Holiday Switch) affinity as outsiders, with the magic-loving neighbour kid bullied at school, it also charts his mum Naomi's (Anika Noni Rose, Maid) time on the job. And, this Let the Right One In is also a survival quest, chasing a cure for Ellie's predicament. In other words, creator and writer Andrew Hinderaker (Away) has taken the source material, filtered it through thoroughly 2022 obsessions, conjured up there requisite moody vibe and filled it with weighty performances. Sinking your teeth in is recommended. Let the Right One In streams via Paramount+. 2022 CINEMA HIGHLIGHTS WORTH CATCHING UP WITH AT HOME FLUX GOURMET Flickering across a cinema screen, even the greatest of movies only engage two senses: sight and hearing. We can't touch, taste or smell films, even if adding scratch-and-sniff aromas to the experience has become a cult-favourite gimmick. British director Peter Strickland hasn't attempted that — but his features make you feel like you're running your fingers over an alluring dress (In Fabric), feeling the flutter of insect wings (The Duke of Burgundy) or, in his latest, enjoying the smells and tastes whipped up by a culinary collective that turns cooking and eating into performance art. Yes, if you've seen any of his movies before, Flux Gourmet instantly sounds like something only Strickland could make. While it's spinning that tale, it literally sounds like only something he could come up with as well, given that his audioscapes are always a thing of wonder (see also: the sound-focused Berberian Sound Studio). And, unsurprisingly due to his strong and distinctive sense of style and mood, everything about Flux Gourmet looks and feels like pure Strickland, too. The setting: a culinary institute overseen by Jan Stevens (Gwendoline Christie, Wednesday), that regularly welcomes in different creative groups to undertake residencies. Her guests collaborate, percolate and come up with eye-catching blends of food, bodies and art — hosting OTT dinners, role-playing a trip to the supermarket, getting scatalogical and turning a live colonoscopy into a show, for instance. Watching and chronicling the latest stint by a 'sonic catering' troupe is journalist Stones (Makis Papadimitriou, Beckett), who also has gastrointestinal struggles, is constantly trying not to fart and somehow manages to keep a straight face as everything gets farcical around him. Asa Butterfield (Sex Education), Ariane Labed (The Souvenir: Part II) and Strickland regular Fatma Mohamed play the three bickering artists, and their time at the institute get messy and heated, fast — but this is a film that's as warm as it is wild, and stands out even among Strickland's inimitable work. Also crucial: riffing on This Is Spinal Tap. Flux Gourmet streams via Shudder. Read our full review. STREAMING HIGHLIGHTS FROM EARLIER IN THE YEAR WORTH CATCHING UP ON THE LAST MOVIE STARS Filmmakers adoring filmmakers is basically its own on-screen genre. Six-part documentary limited series The Last Movie Stars gives that idea a different spin: actors loving actors. Here, Ethan Hawke turns director, not for the first time — see: films Blaze, Seymour: An Introduction, The Hottest State and Chelsea Walls — to show his affection for the inimitable Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Unsurprisingly, he has a wealth of company, some chatting through their fondness for two Hollywood talents like no other and some contributing by giving voice to interview transcripts. For a memoir that didn't eventuate, Newman and Woodward compiled chats by a who's who of showbusiness during their careers; however, they also had the tapes destroyed. Cue George Clooney voicing Newman's chats, Laura Linney doing Woodward's, and everyone from Oscar Isaac, Sam Rockwell and Mark Ruffalo to Rose Byrne and Zoe Kazan also subbing in for other famous names. That's where The Last Movie Stars' audio comes from, echoing with insightful discussions given the emotion they deserve. Hawke also includes new zoom chats with his players, as well as with Martin Scorsese, his daughter and Stranger Things star Maya and more, but his engrossing and probing series is head over heels for pairing those recreated interviews with archival footage. Staring at Newman and Woodward is easy, as is celebrating them and their relationship. This isn't just a case of deserved worship, though, but shows its subjects as real people rather than just stars — all while exploring Hollywood at the time, stepping through their careers and contemporaries, and overflowing with clear-eyed warmth. Hawke doesn't avoid tricky traits or truths, and this in-depth doco is all the more enlightening and compassionate for it. Whether you already treasure Newman and Woodward or you've always wanted to know more about the two legends, this is a movie buff's pure and utter dream. The Last Movie Stars streams via Binge. MO For three seasons on Ramy, Mohammed Amer has played Mo, the diner-owning cousin to the show's namesake. For those three seasons, including 2022's batch of episodes, he's also been part of one of the best and most thoughtful shows currently streaming, especially when it comes to the immigrant experience and telling Muslim American stories. Instead of just co-starring in an art-imitates-life dramedy inspired by someone else's existence, however, Amer has taken a leaf out of Ramy Youssef's book with Mo — a show with the same underlying concept, as co-created by Amer and Youssef. This time, the pair draw upon Amer's background rather than Youssef's. So, Amer's on-screen alter-ego is a Palestinian living in America. He's a refugee, in fact, who fled the Middle East when he was a child and sought asylum with his family. His US home: Houston, Texas. IRL, every one of these points is drawn from Amer's existence, as fans of his Netflix standup specials Mo Amer: The Vagabond and Mo Amer: Mohammed in Texas will recognise. That's the history behind Mo, with the series' eight-episode first season honing in on its protagonist's attempts to gain US citizenship. Mo Najjar (Amer, Black Adam), his mother Yusra (Farah Bsieso, Daughters of Abdul) and brother Sameer (Omar Elba, Limetown) have been waiting two decades to have their cases heard — another detail ripped from reality — and trying to forge new lives while remaining in legal limbo has long since taken a toll. Spanning losing jobs, trying to find a new one as an undocumented American resident, the Najjars' family dynamic, pain from back home they haven't processed, the weight of cultural traditions and expectations, and Mo's relationship with Mexican and Catholic mechanic Maria (Teresa Ruiz, Father Stu), there's no shortage of detail and drama to Amer's passion project. Indeed, every second of the series feels as personal and authentic as it clearly is, and does far more than merely give Amer his own Ramy. Mo streams via Netflix. Need a few more streaming recommendations? Check out our picks from January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October and November this year. You can also check out our running list of standout must-stream 2022 shows as well — and our best 15 new shows of the year, top 15 returning shows over the same period, 15 shows you might've missed and best 15 straight-to-streaming movies of 2022.
Audible is the world's largest creator and retailer of audiobook content, so you can be sure they know a thing or two about great stories. During Vivid Sydney, Audible is hosting three separate events with some of the city's best names in audio entertainment. On Wednesday, June 1, former MasterChef Australia champion Adam Liaw will be speaking about how the food we cook and eat shapes the world around us. Wednesday, June 8, sees TV presenter Melissa Doyle examine how the world handles – or rather, doesn't handle – the concept of women ageing. Finally, on June 15, writer Laura Nagy and journalist Marc Fennell uncover some of pop culture's more unusual and niche trends.
Chart-topping UK grime MC Stormzy is finally set to return to Australian and New Zealand before the end of 2022, with a slew of previously postponed tour dates being given new dates. Originally scheduled for 2020 before being pushed back multiple times for obvious reasons, the H.IT.H World Tour will make its long-awaited arrival across Australian and New Zealand from Wednesday, November 23. That's when the tour will begin at Perth's HBF Stadium, before continuing on to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Wellington — and concluding in Auckland on Sunday, December 11. Folks that purchased tickets to the original tour and held onto them for the past two years need not worry, as their purchase is still valid, while limited extra tickets are on sale now. Stormzy last graced our shores for Splendour in the Grass 2018. In the following half a decade, the rapper has released his second UK #1 album Heavy Is The Head, which was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize; made history by becoming the first black British solo artist to headline Glastonbury; and set up multiple social enterprises including the #Merky Foundation and the Storzmy Scholarship at the University of Cambridge. The tour will mark the first time audiences down under will have the opportunity to catch Heavy Is The Head hits like 'Vossi Bop', 'Own It' and 'Crown', alongside favourites from Stormzy's back catalogue. With many of the tickets already snatched up back in 2020, the remaining spots are sure to fill up fast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ClYy0MxsU0 STORMZY AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND TOUR DATES 2022 Perth — Wednesday, November 23, HBF Stadium Sydney — Sunday, November 27, Hordern Pavilion Sydney — Monday, November 28, Hordern Pavilion Brisbane — Wednesday, November 30, Riverstage Melbourne — Friday, December 2, John Cain Arena Adelaide — Thursday, December 8, AEC Theatre Wellington — Saturday, December 10, TBS Arena Auckland — Sunday, December 11, Trusts Arena Stormzy will tour Australia and New Zealand in November and December 2022. For further information and to buy tickets, head to Handsome Tour's website. Top image: Raph_PH.
This suburban gem has been keeping Tarragindi locals in breakfast, brunch and lunch since October 2016, but since they launched their dinner menu it's given us a whole new reason to venture southside. An imaginative menu greets diners every Friday and Saturday night from 5pm, where new dishes meet the classics. Creamy pumpkin rotolo ($14) rubs shoulders with that omnipresent dinner stalwart, the beef burger — except Bruno's is served with a twist: with Korean BBQ beef, radish and slaw on a brioche bun ($18). If you're the sharing kind you'll find plenty to keep you happy; an inspired mushroom bibimbap comes with kale, lentils and kimchi ($25), or maybe pork belly tacos and guacamole ($28) are more your bag. Heck, you might even want to settle in for the night and try everything on the menu, because the buttermilk calamari and haloumi hot dog (both $14) are both hard to say no to. Oh, and be sure to save room for dessert — they whip up a pretty mean Turkish delight panna cotta ($14).
A holiday at a luxurious resort in Thailand is usually relaxing. For Walton Goggins (Fallout), Carrie Coon (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire), Jason Isaacs (The Crowded Room), Michelle Monaghan (MaXXXine), Leslie Bibb (Palm Royale), Parker Posey (Mr & Mrs Smith) and more in The White Lotus season three, however, getaway bliss might prove elusive. In 2025, TV viewers will find out what the hit anthology series has in store for its latest batch of travellers. Fancy a sneak peek now? HBO has dropped a new teaser trailer for its upcoming slate. The latest glimpse at what the US network has on the way covers a heap of series, so The White Lotus season three only features briefly. But Goggins peers at the sights, Bibb and Monaghan mosey through a crowd, and Posey and returning cast member Natasha Rothwell (How to Die Alone) also pop up, while Lisa from BLACKPINK welcomes guests. Exactly when The White Lotus returns hasn't been revealed as yet, other than sometime in 2025. Also arriving next year, and also debuting never-before-seen footage in the clip: IT prequel series Welcome to Derry, season four of Hacks, season two of The Rehearsal, a new show led by Bottoms and Saturday Night's Rachel Sennott, two-part documentary Pee-Wee as Himself, The Righteous Gemstones season four, Peacemaker season two, The Pitt with ER veteran Noah Wyle, Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)-led FBI series Task and Tim Robinson (I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson) comedy The Chair Company. The second season of The Last of Us, new Game of Thrones prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, season three of And Just Like That... and season three of The Gilded Age also feature in the trailer, albeit without any new material, with each series joining the list for 2025. You can spot scenes from Dune: Prophecy, season three of The Sex Lives of College Girls, the animated Creature Commandos and limited series Get Millie Black, too, each of which are 2024 releases. From 2025's lineup, newcomer Duster with Lost's Josh Holloway and season two of Conan O'Brien Must Go score a look as well. Where Australians will be watching all of the above is yet to be revealed, however, given that HBO has confirmed that its own streaming service Max will launch here sometime in the first half of 2025. Watch HBO's new 2024–25 roundup trailer below: The shows highlighted in HBO's new trailer will arrive across the end of 2024 and in 2025. At present, the bulk of the network's programs stream via Binge in Australia and on Neon in New Zealand. Images: HBO.
Padre in Woolloongabba is commencing a week-long celebration of all things Murray. Matching Murray brews to Bill Murray films at 7pm every night of Brewsvegas, head along to sip a Whale Ale while watching The Life Aquatic, or laugh along to Groundhog Day with the IPA you could drink again and again and again. If you prefer your movie marathons straight up, all in a row, then drag your sleeping bag along to Newstead Brewing’s Quintet Tarantino event. There will be you in your jim-jams, five Tarantinos, five beers, a pizza and your new best mates.
Say ‘adios’ to humdrum and ‘hello’ to ten hotels that are so fresh and so cool, they’ll have you reaching for the thermostat. Boutique hotel experts Mr & Mrs Smith have the lowdown on where the trendsetters sleep. La Maison Champs Elysees - Paris What: Classic couture, Haussmann heritage Where: 8 rue Jean Goujon In the heart of the Golden Triangle, where fashion and sophistication reign supreme, La Maison Champs Elysées showcases design icon Martin Margiela’s impeccable aesthetic. A canvas of muted hues and eclectic artworks, the soothing colour palette extends into the monochrome restaurant, elegant White Lounge and darkly seductive Cigar Bar – exclusively for guest use, with staff not permitted inside. The Terrace, a lush green haven in the heart of Paris, is the perfect spot for taking breakfast or reinvigorating exploration-weary muscles. Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort & Spa - Bora Bora What: Turquoise tryst Where: Motu Tevairoa, BP 169 Vaitape, Bora Bora, French Polynesia A recipe for tropical perfection, Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort & Spa is a stunner — luring in loved-up honeymooners and glamorous jetsetters with its white-sand beaches and idyllic lagoon setting. Take in spectacular views from every angle on this island paradise; they're especially beautiful from the Overwater Bungalows, which have direct access to the water, or the Beach Suites with Jacuzzis that are set directly on the sand. If lazing on the beach or dining on lavish buffets suddenly becomes all too much, make a beeline for Manea Spa, whose menu includes Vichy showers or massages with ‘dancing feet’. For a souvenir with serious style — and that will never collect dust — the in-house tattooist Tuhei, from the Tuamotus islands, can help create a permanent reminder of your stay. Sal Salis - Ningaloo Reef What: Seaside safari Where: Yardie Creek Road, Cape Range National Park, Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia Snugly nestled in the sandy dunes of the Cape Range National Park, Sal Salis flaunts a decidedly luxurious spin on camping. Leave your swags and camp kitchens at home; there’s no need for bush basics when there are heavenly pillows and organic 500-thread cotton sheets waiting at the end of the day. The lapping Indian Ocean is only metres from your doorstop, so while away hours dreamily swinging in your hammock or mingling with whale sharks, manta rays and shoals of fish. And when it comes time for a feast, bush tucker is banished as Sal Salis serves contemporary Australian cuisine under the star-speckled night sky, watched inquisitively by visiting kangaroos and wallaroos. Claska - Tokyo What: Too cool for school Where: 1-3-18, Chuocho, Meguro, Tokyo Sleek and fresh in its contemporary architecture, Claska is at the apex of Tokyo’s cultural hotspot, and in the hub of what is considered to be the coolest suburb in the city. Beautiful in its elegant simplicity, Claska retains the hallmarks of traditional Japanese hospitality. We love the Tatami Rooms, designed by c, with pretty paper lanterns and contemporary furniture. The gallery and boutique, Do, offers innovative designs, creative products and bespoke souvenirs that reflect Claska’s innovative design philosophy. Commandeer one of Claska’s free ‘tokyobikes’ to enjoy a pleasant 10-minute pedal to the attractions featured on the hotel’s ‘Tokyo by Tokyo’ iPhone app. King & Grove - Williamsburg What: Urban jungle retreat Where: 160 North 12th Street, Brooklyn, New York City In the city that never sleeps, King & Grove Williamsburg offers a welcome change of pace – without sacrificing on style and street cred – by seducing guests to venture into Brooklyn. A creative hub, Williamsburg’s collection of eateries, bars and indie boutiques is ripe for exploration (on the hotel’s hipster-approved red bicycles, of course). The open-air rooftop lounge of the Upper Elm overlooks McCarren Park and has snacks, cocktails, music and a view of the city skyline that takes some trumping. Leisure-lovers should snag a prime position in a day-bed by the backyard-style saltwater pool – one of the largest in the city – or spend an afternoon unwinding over a drink with fellow guests. Taveuni Palms - Fiji Islands What: Private paradise Where: Matei, Taveuni Island, Fiji Islands Ever dreamed of retreating to the seclusion of a private island? With only three exclusive-hire villas, understated luxury is the name of the game at Taveuni Palms. Flanked by its own private plunge pool, day-beds and panoramic Pacific views, each villa comes with seven staff including a manager, two chefs, barman, housemaid and nanny. If you can tear yourself away from your villa, Taveuni Palms offers guided snorkelling and kayaking trips, cooking lessons and local excursions. The hardest thing you will have to do is leaving – a burden made lighter by instantly booking your return visit. Das Stue - Berlin What: Animal magnetism Where: 1 Drakestrasse, Berlin, Germany Withdraw from playing tourist into a place so hip, so cutting edge and so darned cool, it could only be in Berlin. Housed in the former lodgings of the Royal Danish Embassy, Das Stue is a heritage heavyweight with a serious dose of style. Everything from the impressive entrance, marble staircase and scattered artworks is impeccable – and enough to make even the most blase of hipsters twiddle their moustache with excitement. Backing onto Berlin Zoo, Das Stue guarantees a room with a view – feathery, furry or otherwise. Catalan chef Paco Pérez is at the helm of the restaurant, Cinco, and with four Michelin stars up the sleeves of his chef’s whites, he delivers outstanding gastronomic creations inspired by the rich produce of his native Spain. Kahanda Kanda - Galle What: Serene Sri Lanka Where: Angulugaha, Galle, Southern Province Monkeys, mongooses and bright-feathered birds are your neighbours at Kahanda Kanda. Surrounded by a 12-acre tea estate, each of the eight villas has been impeccably styled by the villa’s British owner and has its own distinct feel; Peacock, Tamarind and Mango each have a private balcony overlooking the garden, and the only room with a TV, the Dubu Suite, is set into the hillside with large, private lawn and pool — just be prepared to share paradise with any tree-swinging visitors. Classic Sri Lankan curries and contemporary fusion dishes are crafted using fruits, vegetables and herbs exclusively grown on the estate. Cooking classes with Kahanda Kanda’s resident chefs are available for those wishing to learn the secrets of Sri Lankan or Thai cuisine. Kurá - Costa Rica What: Sustainably stylish Where: Uvita de Osa, Calle Bejuco, Osa/Bahia Ballena, Puntarenas, Costa Rica Six teakwood villas blend harmoniously into the lush backdrop at Kurá. Reflecting the hotelier’s passion and vision for eco-friendly accommodation that doesn’t skimp on luxury, the bungalows are minimalist in style but lavish in feel. Each contemporary, open-plan villa includes a floating bed, open-air showers and a balcony that ushers in views of the jungle and Pacific Ocean. Dive into the rectangular, saltwater infinity pool that offers bird’s-eye ocean views, calming underwater music and sun loungers tailor-made for spending an afternoon getting lost in a book or enjoying a cocktail. The Sky Lounge, which has 360-degree vistas of the Costa Rican jungle and ocean, is the prime position to whale-watch and specialises in tamarind margaritas, fruit coladas and inventive mojitos. Soneva Fushi - Maldives What: Desert-island indulgence Where: Kunfunadhoo Island, Baa Atoll Shed your shoes and worries the moment you step onto this private island and into Soneva Fushi. Only missing Fabio riding a white stallion, Soneva Fushi has all the makings of a Harlequin romance: white sand, blue seas, an observatory, a wicked chocolate room and ice-cream parlour, a wine cellar and a private butler service. Bordered by imposing walls of untouched jungle and slices of too-turquoise ocean, the island is a playground of hot stone massages and Japanese watsu treatments, liquid thrills and fresher than fresh beachside feasts. As the day dwindles and sun descends, popcorn and tropical cocktails are served in the open-air cinema beneath a twinkling night sky. Ready to leave? We thought so. Scoot over to Mr & Mrs Smith to book your own stylish stay or call the expert Travel Team on 1300 896 627.
We've all heard the term 'airport novel', which refers to fast-paced, easy-to-devour fiction that's perfect to read when you're on a long flight and you've watched everything on the onboard entertainment system — or, to flick through while you're waiting to hop on the plane. If you're the kind of traveller who always starts your trip with a visit to the airport newsagency to pick up new reading material to help while away the hours, then you probably have a stash of paperbacks that fit the bill. And, because its name and premise are oh-so-perfect for the genre, you might even have The Flight Attendant on that pile. Chris Bohjalian's novel was first published in 2018. Two years later, at a time when we'd all love to be flying far more than we've been able to of late, it makes the leap to the screen as an eight-part miniseries. On the page and on streaming platform Binge, The Flight Attendant unfurls a pulpy, twisty tale that starts high in the sky, bounces around the globe and delivers a hectic murder-mystery — all with the eponymous Cassie Bowden (The Big Bang Theory's Kaley Cuoco) at its centre. Cassie likes sipping mini bottles of booze as much as she likes pouring them for the travellers on her flights — and she also loves her jet-setting lifestyle. When she's at home in New York between trips, she parties away her time in bars and via her vodka-packed fridge. When she's stopping over in overseas cities between legs, she's known to do the same. In Bangkok, though, she does something that she's not supposed to. After flirting with first-class passenger Alex Sokolov (Game of Thrones' Michiel Huisman) throughout the flight, she makes an excuse to ditch drinks with her coworkers and takes up his dinner offer. The next morning, she feels the repercussions. Also, she finds herself confronted by a dead body, trying to outsmart the authorities both in Thailand and back in the US, and endeavouring to work out just what's going on. The Flight Attendant's many ups and downs are best discovered by watching, of course, with the series aligning viewers with Cassie as she embarks upon a very turbulent ride. Her life in general fits that bill — it's chaotic and, in depicting that reality as Cassie slowly begins to explore why she's so drawn to her job and to boozy benders, the show itself is as well. Think sudden revelations and reversals, multiple points of interest playing out across a split-screen setup, and cliffhangers to end every episode (and keep viewers keen to watch more). Also noticeable, and crucial: the fact that Cassie is unreliable in general, and was blackout drunk on the night in question so she can't remember what happened. This is a tightly and glossily made whodunnit; however, it's also a thorny thriller that tasks its key figure with scrambling around not only trying to investigate the case, but also to work out her role within it. In topic, themes and tone, Cuoco leaves The Big Bang Theory far behind. She's still engagingly erratic as Cassie, though — but in a different and deeper way. As the character's personality, background and present situation calls for, she finds the fine line between messy and likeable, and poignant and even slapstick on occasion. Cassie makes so many terrible decisions that they become her defining trait but, thanks to Cuoco in career-best form, she never feels like she's just being driven by the plot's many machinations. The always-charming Huisman gets more screen time than viewers might initially expect, too, and the series is better for it. Plus, post-Girls, Zosia Mamet is also a welcome inclusion as Cassie's steely, no-nonsense best friend and lawyer Annie, who eventually calls out her pal on her baggage. Airport novels frequently require readers to simply go with the flow. As a slick, swift-moving TV series that knows exactly the kind of story it's telling and goes for broke, The Flight Attendant is no different. The fact that it's filled with intrigue, often of the implausible and even ridiculous yet still instantly addictive type, will surprise no one — it's what such tales are supposed to serve up, after all. But there's darkness, weirdness, pathos and plenty of twisty comedy on offer here as well. It's easy to get immersed in, and to be entertained by. And, it'll help vicariously indulge your wanderlust and plunge you into a bingeworthy mystery at the same time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rWnlXbnQLk&feature=youtu.be The Flight Attendant is available to stream via Binge — with the first seven episodes online now, and the series finale available from the evening of Thursday, December 17. Images: Phil Caruso, HBO.
Originally, Scarlett Johansson (Asteroid City) and Chris Evans (Pain Hustlers) were set to reteam for Fly Me to the Moon, sans Marvel heroes but with championing America — the country rather than the Captain — still on the itinerary. Every movie can play the "what if?" casting game, whether through attached stars that left for various reasons (scheduling conflicts after the director changed here) or via audiences simply offering their own picks, yet this one isn't helped by the shadow of what might've been. On paper, Johansson and Channing Tatum (Magic Mike's Last Dance), who are also reuniting after the Coen brothers' Hail, Caesar!, are a winning pair. One succeeds more than the other in this 60s-set space-race screwball rom-com that's also about selling US exceptionalism, and joins Operation Avalanche and Capricorn One among cinema's fake missions into the heavens, too. The picture's entertaining-enough fate runs in parallel to its plot: there, for the shadowy government operative who pushes Johansson and Tatum's characters into each other's orbits, a good-enough approximation of the moon landing over the real thing will do. A delight as ever in comic mode with depth, Johansson turns in the type of charming performance that Hollywood could build a series around, on screens either big or small. She's Kelly Jones, a Manhattan advertising executive with the gift of knowing how to pitch whatever she needs to get the client, and then to also get the masses to consume. Director Greg Berlanti (Love, Simon) and first-time screenwriter Rose Gilroy, working with a story by Bill Kirstein (Mean Girls circa 2024's cinematographer) and Keenan Flynn (a producer on Beyoncé's Lemonade), introduce her putting on the whole show. Kelly has dismissive and misogynistic automotive executives in her sights, who think that she's present for refreshments. Aided by a baby bump that augments the act, she has soon convinced them on the merits of spruiking seat belts in sports cars. With backing from the very top of the country, aka Nixon, Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson, Suncoast) has other plans for Kelly: serving her nation by gifting NASA her spin. Fondness for the fat stacks of cash being spent on all things astronomical are falling out of favour with politicians and the public alike, hence the request — a demand that she can't refuse, really — for Kelly's services. Johansson gleams in Fly Me to the Moon, nailing the boldness that keeps driving her character forward and the banter no matter who she's talking to, while also ensuring that impact of Kelly's shady backstory feels genuine. With Party Down, Hacks and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia alum Anna Garcia as supportive assistant Ruby Martin, she scores her best double act of the movie. But even when he's not breaking into the tune that everyone has stuck in their head just from reading this feature's title, Harrelson is having a ball, far more so than Tatum. As Cole Davis, the straight-arrow hero war pilot-turned-mission commander at Cape Kennedy as the Apollo 11 launch nears, Tatum is instantly in a more-serious register than his co-stars. The job on-screen is literally rocket science — and Cole too has baggage, the details of which crib from actuality with a near-flippancy that borders on tasteless. Sincerity shimmers when Cole initially crosses paths with Kelly at a diner, telling her that she's the most-beautiful woman he's ever seen, and also that she's on fire (again, literally), but there's little room for it when they start butting heads as new colleagues with different agendas. Tatum plays his part like he'd be far happier in a romance without the comic battle. In contrast, Johansson relishes channelling Doris Day against Rock Hudson in the repartee. If this was a TV series, there'd be time for Cole to warm up and settle in; however, the film doesn't boast it even clocking in at a lengthy-and-feels-it 132 minutes. Thankfully, there's still an inherent spark just by getting Johansson and Tatum in the same frame, which keeps Fly Me to the Moon rolling although never soaring. If the idea by Berlanti, Gilroy and company was to make the plot busy to compensate for anything that doesn't fully ignite, they've committed to the concept with thruster-level gusto as the narrative unfurls. Kelly doesn't just have to weave her PR wonders with Cole zipping between glowering and flirting — a gig that's filled with faux engineers and astronauts stepping in for interviews (Henry Smalls, played by Bupkis' Ray Romano, is one scientist who's replaced) and product placement galore — or merely help schmooze naysayers who might scrap the space agency's budget. In secret, in a ploy that she's told to keep that way from Cole, she's also tasked by Moe with the stuff that conspiracy theorists' fantasies have been made of for 55 years: going all Tinseltown, complete with the egomaniacal "Kubrick of commercials" Lance Vespertine (Jim Rash, Loot), to stage the events of July 20–21, 1969 in case history doesn't happen the way it's meant to. It's clear why the movie has magicked up a movie-magic angle, and not only because cinema loves paying tribute to itself. Without it, there's no tension in a will-it-won't-it riff on Apollo 11. Viewers know how the attempt to make one giant leap for mankind eventuated, so whether or not Kelly can retain NASA's funding isn't a suspenseful section of the story. With its showbiz farce, Fly Me to the Moon does more than add drama beyond Kelly and Cole's own will-they-won't-they, though — it has a blast executing the chaos that springs. That said, Berlanti also cements the sensation that he's smashing together competing tones, and also making huge jumps between them. It's easy to see how Fly Me to the Moon would've fared solely with an inside-filmmaking spoof vibe, as 2024's Down with Love or just following opposites-attracting affairs of the heart against a shooting-for-the-moon backdrop, for instance, but its array of elements are haphazardly duct-taped to each other. There's a dream at the heart of the film, of course, which Kelly knows that she's slinging and the feature's dialogue isn't afraid to utter with frequency: the dream of hope, of aiming high and even of dreaming itself, given the realities of the era's wars and political situation. Half a century later, in a world just as uncertain, these notions aren't relics of the past. To those watching, Fly Me to the Moon tries a similar feat as it peers upwards with plenty of Dariusz Wolski's (Napoleon) glossy cinematography — and as Johansson's outfits prove a sight to behold, and also her Saturday Night Live-star husband Colin Jost pops up briefly — by asking audiences to buy into the dream of being affably swept away. While saying that something is so isn't the same as making it so, as the narrative is well-aware, Johansson's efforts come closest to securing liftoff.
If you're a fan of watching smart, rewarding, deep-thinking science fiction, then you're probably a fan of Alex Garland's. Originally an author, he initially came to fame as the writer of 90s bestseller The Beach, before moving into screenwriting with the script for 28 Days Later. More screenplays followed, including Sunshine, Never Let Me Go and Dredd — but it was his 2014 directorial debut Ex Machina that showed the extent of his filmmaking prowess. Annihilation proved a highly worthy addition to his resume in 2018, too, even after it was shuffled onto Netflix rather than screening in cinemas in much of the world. Given his track record so far, any new project by Garland is cause for excitement. In 2020, direct your enthusiasm towards new eight-part series Devs. The writer/director is making the leap to television with a cast led by Nick Offerman — and with Ex Machina's Sonoya Mizuno, Love's Karl Glusman, American Horror Story's Alison Pill and Bad Times at the El Royale's Cailee Spaeny also featuring. Due to start streaming in the US in March — with availability Down Under yet to be confirmed — Devs begins with a premise that doesn't sound all that different from Ex Machina. At a quantum computing company called by Amaya, which is run by an unnerving CEO called Forest (Offerman), things don't seem quite right. That especially seems the case to computer engineer Lily Chan (Mizuno), who believes that Amaya is responsible for the disappearance of her boyfriend. The more she investigates, the stranger and more sinister it all appears, as seen in the show's first trailer. Expect conspiracies, futuristic tech thrills, dark yet vivid images and Offerman sporting a long-locked hairstyle that Ron Swanson surely wouldn't approve of — plus, as the series' sneak peek demonstrates, killer set design. Naturally, the bulk of Devs' mysteries are being kept close to Garland's chest until the show premieres, but the initial teaser still paints an immensely intriguing picture. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8klax373ds Devs starts streaming in the US on March 5 via Hulu, with the series' air date Down Under yet to be revealed. Image: Miya Mizuno, FX Networks.
For many beer drinkers, opting for a craft creation isn’t just about taste. It’s also about supporting the little guys and choosing microbreweries over multinationals. But the fact that more and more consumers are spending their dollars on local produce is not going unnoticed by big companies. And they’re responding by bringing out beverages that might look, smell and taste like craft beers, but are, in fact, macrobrewed masqueraders. So, a team of US-based entrepreneurs has come up with an app that can tell the difference between beverages from "real craft breweries" and those from "assembly line multinationals". It’s called Craft Check and its motto is "Drink Craft — Not Crafty". Using an iPhone, the user scans the bottle’s barcode or searches by brewery name. The app responds by communicating whether the brewery meets the Brewers Association’s definition of ‘American Craft Brewery’. Thousands of producers are included and records are updated monthly, incorporating new businesses and buy-outs. Findings can be shared via Twitter and Facebook, meaning that friends can be kept in the loop. The only catch for Antipodean drinkers is that ‘Craft Check’ is pretty much only applicable in the US. That’s because most other nations in the world don’t have a definition for ‘craft brewery’. It’s such a subjective term that deciding exactly what it means is pretty tough. Luckily, our team has taken out some of the guess work for you. Via PSFK.
In multiple different web-slinging franchises across multiple decades, everyone's favourite friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man has been on quite the on-screen journey. He's been played by different actors, faced a whole heap of different foes, and spun his way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, too — and in Spider-Man: No Way Home, all this chaos is set to converge. The third Spider-Man movie starring Tom Holland (Chaos Walking) in the role, Spider-Man: No Way Home already teased plenty of multiverse madness in its first teaser trailer. Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog) plays a pivotal part this time around, too, ahead of the character's own dedicated next flick — Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — which is set to arrive in 2022. But the just-dropped new Spidey sneak peek shows just how far the movie is willing to go when it comes to all those other Spider-Man films that've reached screens over the years. No, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield don't show up, but some of the villains they fought make an appearance. Get ready to get reacquainted with Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin from 2002's Spider-Man, as well as Alfred Molina's Otto Octavius from 2004's Spider-Man 2 and Thomas Haden Church's Sandman from 2007's Spider-Man 3. Also re-emerging: Rhys Ifans' the Lizard from 2012' The Amazing Spider-Man and Jamie Foxx's Electro from 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2. If you're wondering how this all works, it stems from the big reveal at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, where Peter Parker's secret identity was unveiled to the world. No Way Home picks up with Parker struggling to deal with the fact that everyone now knows who he is, and that he can't now just be an ordinary high schooler when he's not acting the hero. So, he asks Doctor Strange to spin a time- and space-twisting spell, which tears a whole in the world and sparks all of this multiverse mayhem. So far, there's still no sight of Maguire or Garfield — but that could be the kind of surprise that's being saved for cinemas. And, whether the film gets playful as the phenomenal animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is obviously still yet to be seen. No Way Home will feature a heap of other familiar faces, including Zendaya (Space Jam: A New Legacy), Marisa Tomei (The King of Staten Island) and Jacob Batalon (Let It Snow). Behind the lens, Jon Watts returns after previously helming both Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home as well. In a nice piece of symmetry, when Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness does hit cinemas next year, it'll be directed by Sam Raimi — who also directed the Maguire-starring Spider-Man movies in 2002, 2003 and 2007. Check out the full No Way Home trailer below: Spider-Man: No Way Home opens in Australian cinemas on December 16. Images: ©2021 CTMG. All Rights Reserved. MARVEL and all related character names: © & ™ 2021 MARVEL.
When Spilt Milk announced that it wasn't taking place in 2024, instead delaying its next festivals until 2025, it looked like fans of the event were in for a hefty wait till they could next hear live tunes echo from its stages. But if you're in Newcastle, the Gold Coast or Perth — or can get there — that's no longer the case. Spilt Milk's regular fests remain postponed until next year; however, it's hitting up those three cities this November for a new gig series. Meet Spilt Milk House Party, aka the shindigs you throw when you're not throwing your regular shindig. If the tactic sounds familiar, that's because Yours and Owls is deploying it in 2024, too, calling it a pre-party instead. The idea is the same, though: get a bunch of acts to play at a smaller event, rather than the usual big festival rollout. For its version, Spilt Milk hasn't skimped on talent. In addition to his already-announced Australian tour, Troye Sivan leads the Spilt Milk House Party lineup. For company, he'll have Glass Animals, G Flip, Artemas and Sycco. The quintet have a date with usual Spilt Milk stops Perth and the Gold Coast, before also taking the event to Newcastle. While the fest proper normally takes place in Canberra — where it first started — and Ballarat as well, they're not getting their own House Party shows. [caption id="attachment_655626" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anthony Smith[/caption] Given the smaller size, there's limited tickets available for the trio of parties, which will pop up at Kings Park Botanic Garden in Perth on Sunday, November 17; head to Broadwater Parklands on the Gold Coast on Saturday, November 23; and call Newcastle Entertainment Centre home on Sunday, November 24. When Spilt Milk cancelled its full fest experience for 2024, it did so because it "couldn't get you the Spilt Milk you deserve this year," it announced via social media. "Sooo imma dip for a bit and come back when I can make all ur dreams come true. i miss u xx," the statement continued. [caption id="attachment_967435" align="alignnone" width="1917"] F Fawkes via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Spilt Milk House Party Lineup: Troye Sivan Glass Animals G Flip Artemas Sycco Spilt Milk House Party Dates: Sunday, November 17, 2024 — Kings Park Botanic Garden, Perth Saturday, November 23, 2024 — Broadwater Parklands, Gold Coast Sunday, November 24, 2024 — Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Newcastle Spilt Milk House Party will hit Perth, the Gold Coast and Newcastle in November 2024, with presale tickets available from 10am local time on Wednesday, September 11 and general sales from 10am local time on Friday, September 13. Head to the festival website for more details.
If you've ever said "XOXO" aloud, you've obviously seen Gossip Girl, the glossy, quickly addictive drama about Manhattan teens, their hectic lives and their glam outfits that initially aired between 2007–2012. It's the show that introduced the world to Blake Lively, Chace Crawford, Leighton Meester and Penn Badgley, and made everyone want to sit on the steps of The Met. It also demonstrated that you can never have too many headbands, and had us all wishing that Kristen Bell could narrate our every move, too. Gossip Girl is getting a follow-up series with a brand new cast that's also heading to Binge, because nothing says goodbye forever these days — and because all that drama was never going to subside for too long. But there's still nothing quite like the original, which starts with the return of Serena van der Woodsen (Lively) to the Upper East Side and the fallout within her inner circle, as constantly chronicled by an all-knowing blogger.
If there's anyone in Sydney who knows where to find the best street art, the smartest galleries and the most fun art gatherings, it's Scott Marsh. Even if you don't know his name, chances are, you know his work. His most famous piece is undoubtedly Kanye Loves Kanye, a seven-metre-tall mural of two Kanyes kissing one another, which appeared in Teggs Lane, Chippendale, in April 2016. Within a month, someone paid Marsh $100,000 to buff (graffiti-speak for paint over) it. Also among his international headline-grabbing works are Casino Mike, a satirical portrait of former NSW premier Mike Baird painted as a protest against the lockout laws, and Tony Loves Tony, an image of Tony Abbott marrying himself. In partnership with Pullman Hotels and Resorts, we're helping you explore more on your next holiday and make sure you get those experiences that the area's most switched-on residents wouldn't want their visitors to miss. In Sydney, we've called in Scott, whose favourite spots range from Wendy Whiteley's dreamy harbourside garden to the best shops for premium spray paint. A stay in one of Pullman's two locations in central Sydney — Hyde Park and Quay Grand Sydney Harbour (there's also two more at Sydney Airport and Sydney Olympic Park) — will not only put you in the thick of all this action, it will let you contemplate all you've seen in five-star luxury at the end of the day. Read on for Scott's perspective on Sydney's artistic hot spots, and check out the rest of our Explore More content series to hone your itinerary for some of Australia's best holiday destinations. SUNDAY WALLS AT THE LORD GLADSTONE Since June 2015, artists and musicians have been gathering once a month at the Lord Gladstone in Chippendale for Sunday Walls. From 2 until 10pm, an emerging or established graffiti artist works on a temporary mural with a stack of spray cans, while live hip hop DJs provide a soundtrack. Punters hang around to watch, eat $10 fried chicken and share $15 jugs of Frank Strongs. The Lord Gladstone attracts a pretty laidback, eclectic crowd, and watching a new art work appear before your eyes can't not be fun. GOODSPACE GALLERY OPENINGS Goodspace Gallery gives Chippendale a weekly art fix with exhibition openings on Wednesday evenings from 6pm–9pm. Artists score a good deal because the space doesn't charge rent or take commissions. Plus, both local and international talent features. In early November, Sydney-based photographer James Simpson exhibited Endless Summer, a collection of photos influenced by French and Italian cinema of the '60s and '70s. The week before, photographer Joshua Valageorgiou, who splits his time between Sydney and Athens, took over the space with Cluster, a black-and-white analogue series. [caption id="attachment_644404" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] by Luke Shirlaw[/caption] IRONLAK ART AND DESIGN About a year ago, this graffiti-dedicated retail space opened on the ground floor of Central Park, Broadway. It's the Sydney flagship of Ironlak, a premium spray-paint brand founded in the early 2000s by Australian graffiti artist Luke Shirlaw, in collaboration with brothers Levi and Heath Ramsay, and now sold internationally. Not only is Ironlak Art and Design a great place to check out quality products and meet artists, the walls are covered in street art. Plus, it's open until 8pm 363 days a year, so even if you're in a full-time job, you can drop by and get what you need to start your next project. REDFERN AND NEWTOWN GRAFFITI AND STREET ART There's a few great street art spots around Redfern and Newtown that I check out whenever I can. More often than not, I find something new to see. In Redfern, expect to catch me around The Block or Phillip Lane, where there's a lot of Indigenous street art, including works by Reko Rennie and Hego, telling stories of history, identity and resistance. When I'm in Newtown, I take a wander down Wilford and Gladstone Streets. Young Henrys is nearby, which means it's pretty tempting to stop for a beer sample or two. FINTAN MAGEE'S HOUSING BUBBLE MURAL This is my favourite mural in Sydney. It's called The Housing Bubble and it's on the side of the Urban hotel, on the corner of Enmore and Station Streets. Fintan Magee, an artist who was born in Lismore and grew up in Brisbane, painted it over the course of four days during Marrickville Council's Perfect Match street art festival in July 2015. Every year, the event brings a bunch of new works to Sydney, by providing artists with spaces and encouraging crowds to watch as they sketch, paint and spray. [caption id="attachment_644637" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] by Newtown Graffiti[/caption] SYDNEY STEEL ROAD, MARRICKVILLE Found just a short walk from Sydenham Station, Sydney Steel Road puts a whole lot of excellent art, colour and vibrancy into an otherwise industrial area. There's everything from realistic portraits to political statements to giant, surrealist murals. When you're done here, wander across Camdenville Park to May Lane, which gives you a stack more work to see. A shopkeeper started a graffiti wall there more than 15 years ago because he wanted to create a space where artists could work legally. May Lane is a fixture on the Perfect Match program, so major new works are added each year. 567 KING Newtown's graffiti writers have been stocking up here since August 2005, and these days, artists of all kinds drop by. Whether you want spray paint, pencils, paints or paper, you can get it. Plus, if listening to a bit of hip hop on vinyl or CD while you're working is your thing, you can make your picks in the shop and ask the crew to deliver them to your door. There's also a handy commissioning service: get in touch with a request for an artwork and 567King will hook you up with the right artist for the job. BRETT WHITELEY STUDIO When Brett Whiteley died in Thirroul in 1992, he left behind this studio in Surry Hills, where he'd worked and lived since 1985. Walking in here is a bit like stepping back in time, into Whiteley's private and artistic life. There are paintings he started but never finished, piles of books that gave him inspiration and quotes scrawled across the wall. In the adjoining gallery, temporary exhibitions showcase works owned by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Whiteley Estate and private collectors, so there's always a new reason to visit. WENDY'S SECRET GARDEN Across the harbour, in Lavender Bay, is the creative work of the other half of the legendary Whiteley partnership: Wendy Whiteley's Secret Garden. From 1970, for the best part of 20 years, the Whiteleys lived in a house nearby. When Brett passed away, Wendy coped with her grief by setting to work on the land, which back then, was disused railway property, covered in rubbish and weeds. Now, it's a haven of blood leaf, ginger, angel's trumpets, palms, fig trees and sandstone walls overhung with rambling vines, where I come to escape, sketch and drink coffee. MCA ARTBAR MCA ARTBAR combines art with music and live performance to create something entirely new. The happening takes over various parts of the gallery on the last Friday of every month, and even if you've checked out the program, you never can tell quite what you're in for. In July 2017, Latai Taumoepeau curated Archipela_GO ....this is not a drill, a mix of live performances and interactive works exploring climate change. Before that, in May, Vivid 2017 artist Julia Gorman brought together samba dancers, DJs, artists and a pop-up jewellery stall for a night of colour and light. Explore more with Pullman. Book your next hotel stay with Pullman and enjoy a great breakfast for just $1.
Waiting in line at the game for a measly beer has driven many a tormented, forward-shuffling queuer to madness. Sweating brows, heavy tsking and dancing tip toes are the marks of those desperate to balance missing chunks of team victory and avoiding sobriety. But those purveyors of everything fast and novelty, the US, have solved that pesky problem of waiting in line for your frosty beverage. Concessionaire Delaware North and Anheuser-Busch have created Draftserv, a self-serve beer vending machine because BASEBALL. Although regular beer vending machines have been a Thing for some time now, this one's a draft pourer. The slightly gaudy machines appeared at a Minnesota Twins baseball game on the weekend and caused spontaneous jigs and raised eyebrows across the joint. You pay by the ounce (per 28 grams) and the machine cuts you off if it knows you've chugged too much. Bonafide genius. Thirsty beer lovers flash their ID and buy a preloaded $10, $20 or $50 card, then head on over to the Draftserv and scan it for frothy goodness via touchscreen. The machines serve Bud and Bud Light for 38 cents an ounce (about US$4.50), which is almost, almost, almost considered beer but quintessential for sportswatching. Fancy beer drinkers can up it to 40 cents an ounce for Shock Top Lemon Shandy and Goose Island 312 Pale Ale (just under US$5). You can even order half beers. But if you try to pass that 48-ounces-every-15-minutes limit you'll be cut off, because The Machine Knows. "It's a way to engage with the customer and allows the fan to have greater control of what they're drinking," said Jerry Jacobs Jr., principal of Delaware North. "There's obviously some novelty value to this, but it also allows people to pour what they want. If they want half of a cup, that's all they will pay for." Whether or not the machines will make it to Australia remains to be seen, we'll just have to chug a few self-serve beer slushies while we're waiting in line. Via ESPN and Gizmodo.
