Music lovers and festival fans, get excited: Spilt Milk is back for 2023, hitting up Ballarat's Victoria Park on Saturday, December 2. Post Malone leads the lineup, with Dom Dolla and Latto also topping the bill. So, expect to hear everything from 'Sunflower' and 'I Like You' to 'Rhyme Dust' and 'Big Energy'. Tkay Maidza and Aitch also rank among Spilt Milk's impressive 2023 names, with Chris Lake, Dermot Kennedy, Budjerah, Cub Sport, Lastlings, Partiboi69, Ocean Alley, Peach PRC, Royel Otis similarly set to hit the stage. Also, because this fest is also about food, there'll be bites to eat from Chebbo's Burgers, 400 Gradi, Chicken Treat, and the BBQ and Beer Roadshow. Originally only held in Canberra, then expanding to Ballarat, then the Gold Coast and now also Perth in 2023, the multi-city one-dayer has cemented its spot as a must-attend event for a heap of reasons — with this year's lineup clearly one of them. While Ballarat's general-release tickets have sold out, pre-loved and VIP tickets are available. [caption id="attachment_851187" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jordan Munns[/caption] SPILT MILK 2023 LINEUP: Post Malone Dom Dolla Aitch Budjerah Chris Lake Cub Sport Dermot Kennedy Djanaba Grentperez Jessie Murph Lastlings Latto Lime Cordiale May-A Mincy Ocean Alley Pacific Avenue Partiboi69 Peach PRC Poolclvb Redhook Royel Otis The Buoys The Dreggs Tia Gostelow Tkay Maidza Ango Ben Gerrans Blue Vedder Reefrats Sami Srirachi Yorke Top image: Billy Zammit.
If we had kept going with the stone age, bronze age, iron age system, we would be probably be somewhere in the plastic one, so it is little wonder that so many artists are passing over paintbrushes and kilns to experiment with the possibilities of inflation. In a case of perfect irony, plastic might just be the most digestible of contemporary art ingredients. At home and abroad artists are taking full advantage of your inner child that knows all good parties need a jumping castle and dreams of seeing Woody Woodpecker at the Thanksgiving Parade in NYC (remember Mr Pitt?). Or, if you were a serious eight-year-old, the arguments for making art with a human-made material that is choking the planet practically write themselves. Inspired by the current Mobile M+: Inflation! exhibition in Hong Kong, here is a mini-retrospective of our favourite inflatables. Inflatable Guantanamo Bay prison cell, 2008 Starting at the serious end of the scale, let's go back to 2008 when Bush and Cheney were still kicking around the White House and Phillip Toledano released his online installation, America the Giftstop. "We buy souvenirs at the end of a trip, to remind ourselves of the experience. What do we have to remind ourselves of the events of the last eight years?" Toledano said. An artist and photographer, Toledano's satirical selection of souvenirs from the War on Terror included this life-sized inflatable Guantanamo bay bouncy prison cell. You can imagine his satisfaction in creating a hard-hitting piece of art that is ostensibly a bouncing castle, but then again, that is probably the point. Complex Pile, 2007 Statement on art? A screw-you to exhibition organisers? Paul McCarthy's idea of a gag? Or, a case of beauty where you least expect it? The house-sized inflatable dog turd that caught everyone's attention in Hong Kong is testament to the permission new materials give the artist. This work is currently showing as 'Complex Pile', but certain corners of the internet remember when it had a four letter name. This is not a one-off for McCarthy, whose other inflatable works include a disembodied head of George W. Bush and pigs mid-coitus. Jumping Castle War Memorial, 2010 Aussie artists have also been dragging out the old air-pump. Remember Brook Andrews' Biennale offering a few years ago? Paying tribute to the humble jumping castle, this highly politicised artwork broke the hearts of Sydney’s children by reversing the age restriction to 16+ and popping in a sneaky nod to the old habits of the British Museum — Aboriginal heads — in the turrets. Jumping Castle War Memorial poses some harrowing questions: who would jump on a war memorial? Who can resist a jumping castle? And, where should the memorial end? Baby Ruth, 1966 Forget your definition of art, or decent human beings; Andy Warhol had a knack for picking trends. So, here is our nod to the father of Pop Art and his inflatable Baby Ruth bars. These bad boys also served as his wedding present to the bride and groom of Mod Wedding, part of his 1966 multimedia event Exploding Plastic Inevitable. Subway Sea Monster (The Lochness), 2008 Gorilla art and inflatables seem like a natural match, but the logistics must be alluding some of the smaller-scale art makers out there. NYC street artist Joshua Allen Harris has come up with his own solution: building sculptures with everyday plastics, like garbage bags, and then taping them to subway vents. Like Marilyn before them, Harris's pieces blow up as trains pass below them. Cool, huh? In an added bonus Harris also has a conscience and has used the attention payed to his Polar Bear piece to raise support for the fight against global warming. Rubber Duck, 2007 This international bath time adventurer had its first outing in 2007 and shows no signs of stopping, unless you count this pancake performance in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour. Artist Florentijn Hofman describes his Rubber Duck as an exercise in ice breaking, a destroyer of barriers that knows no discrimination. He could be right: it is extremely accessible, and how much hate mongering could you do with a six-storey, bright yellow duck bobbing behind you? Hofman's Rubber Duck in happier times.
It might've taken three years, but Netflix has finally produced its first original Aussie series. Shot entirely in Queensland, and providing fuel for your summer binge-watch sessions, Tidelands is a supernatural crime drama series about a fictional fishing village, dubbed Orphelin Bay, with strange inhabitants: a group of dangerous half-Sirens, half-humans called 'Tidelanders'. Cal McTeer (Charlotte Best), a young women who returns to the small village after a stint in jail, discovers the body of a local fisherman and must navigate the town's drug smuggling history while also investigating the Tidelanders, who are led by Adrielle Cuthburt (Elsa Pataky). Eight episodes, each running for 50 minutes, have been made by Brisbane's Emmy Award-Winning production company Hoodlum Entertainment. Available on Netflix since Friday, December 14, Tidelands doesn't just gift Australian users with a new favourite series, with the show landing in all 190 countries that the streaming platform is available in. Thinking you've seen plenty of Aussie stuff on Netflix already? You're not wrong; however there's a difference between throwing old sitcoms and standup specials into a range inexplicably overflowing with new Adam Sandler movies, and actually funding brand new Australian material. Last year, it was announced that they'd join forces with the ABC to co-produce a second season of Glitch, which showed them dipping a toe in the water — but now they're completely diving in. Before watching the entire series, check out the full trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhsjoQLKaiY Tidelands is now available on Netflix.
When a hit show comes to an end, the network behind it often tries to fill the gap with something similar. It's the situation that HBO found itself in last year when Game of Thrones wrapped up, with the US cable channel quickly launching new fantasy series His Dark Materials and committing to making a GoT spinoff called House of the Dragon. And, with Big Little Lies looking like it's also all done and dusted, the station seems to be in the same predicament in the star-studded murder mystery genre as well. Enter The Undoing. Starring Nicole Kidman, and written and produced by Big Little Lies' David E. Kelley, it's definitely a case of HBO sticking with what they know. Kidman plays a successful therapist who appears to have the perfect life, with a loving husband (Hugh Grant), a son (Honey Boy's Noah Jupe) attending an elite school and her first book about to be published. Then a violent death sparks a chain of revelations that shatters her life as she knows it. Also part of the plot, as seen in the show's first teaser, its second teaser as well and now its just-dropped new full trailer: a missing spouse, plenty of public attention, a heap of interrogations and a plethora of tough choices for Kidman's Grace Fraser. It'll all play out as a once-off limited series — although that was originally the case with Big Little Lies before it came back for a second season. Based on the novel You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Undoing also features The Burnt Orange Heresy's Donald Sutherland and American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace's Edgar Ramirez — with Bird Box director Susanne Bier behind the camera on every episode, just as she was on excellent Emmy-winning mini-series The Night Manager. As for when you'll be able to watch it, it was originally set to premiere sometime in May; however now it'll launch on Monday, October 26. In Australia, it'll screen via Foxtel, Foxtel Now and Binge. Check out the latest teaser below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWoiNlLqLR8&feature=emb_logo The Undoing will screen in Australia via Foxtel and Binge, with episodes airing weekly from Monday, October 26. Top image: Niko Tavernise/HBO.
When Paul Kelly has taken his Making Gravy tours across Australia around Christmas in past years, the gigs have proven a hot ticket. That shouldn't come as a surprise given how beloved 'How to Make Gravy' is, so much so that there's a movie inspired by it heading to streaming this festive season. But only the songwriting legend's 2025 tour will see him reach a huge milestone, playing his biggest-ever live shows not only at home but in New Zealand as well. The August and September tour will also feature Kelly's only gigs for the year, so consider them a chance to get excited about Gravy Day 2025 — which falls on December 21 — early. He's heading to nine cities, starting in Perth before hitting Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide and Melbourne in Australia, and then crossing the ditch to play Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. The Aussie icon will be celebrating his new album Fever Longing Still, which releases on Friday, November 1, 2024, but he'll also be busting out beloved tracks from his 40-year-plus career. Accordingly, expect to hear everything from 'Dumb Things', 'To Her Door', 'Before Too Long' and 'From Little Things Big Things Grow' through to 'Leaps and Bounds', 'From St Kilda to King's Cross' and 'When I First Met Your Ma'. It was back in 1981 that Kelly's first studio album Talk hit record stores — and the ARIA- and APRA-winner has been a mainstay of the Australian music scene ever since, whether unpacking the nation in his tunes, giving everyone a Christmas tradition, singing about well-known figures or anything in-between. Kelly is hitting the road with Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit on his Australian shows, as well as Fanny Lumsden as the opening act on home soil and Reb Fountain doing the same in Aotearoa. And, of course, Kelly's band will be performing with him, with Peter Luscombe on drums, Bill McDonald on bass, Dan Kelly and Ash Naylor on guitar, Cameron Bruce on the keys and Jess Hitchcock contributing vocals. Paul Kelly Australia and New Zealand Tour 2025 Tuesday, August 26 — RAC Arena, Perth Friday, August 29 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane Saturday, August 30 — Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Tuesday, September 2 — MyState Bank Arena, Hobart Thursday, September 4 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide Saturday, September 6 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Tuesday, September 9 — Christchurch Town Hall, Christchurch Wednesday, September 10 — Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington Friday, September 12 — Auckland Town Hall, Auckland Paul Kelly is touring Australia and New Zealand in August and September 2025. Ticket presales start from 3pm local time on Monday, October 28, 2024, with general sales from 3pm local time on Wednesday, October 30, 2024 — head to the tour website for more details. Top image: Mona Foma, Moshcam.
Netflix might've stopped adding new Mindhunter episodes to our streaming queues, sadly, but the platform isn't done exploring true crimes or serial killers yet — not by far. From The Serpent to the Conversations with a Killer series, and including everything from The Ripper to The Raincoat Killer: Chasing a Predator in Korea as well, there's no shortage of options if you type 'serial killer' into the service's search function, including whether you're looking for dramas or documentaries. Soon, DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story will join that hefty and growing list. Very soon, in fact: from Wednesday, September 21, with the ten-part miniseries featuring WandaVision, Mare of Easttown and American Horror Story actor Evan Peters as the titular IRL murderer. In doing so, the inherently unsettling show sees its star reunite with the latter's creator and prolific TV producer Ryan Murphy, this time getting creepy in a different way. When the Monster drops its full run in one go, ready for nightmarish midweek binging, expect to be perturbed. Unsurprisingly, the just-dropped first trailer is chilling. It's meant to be, both given the tale it's telling and the tone. In a sneak peek heavy on mood, evoking that reaction and giving viewers a look at Peters in the part are the clear aim — consider both well and truly achieved. Dahmer's story is particularly gruesome; between 1978–1991, he murdered and dismembered 17 boys and men. There's more to his crimes, including cannibalism — and accepting a meal from Dahmer isn't something that anyone takes lightly, or willingly, in Monster's trailer. Alongside Peters, Netflix's dramatised step back into Dahmer's murders features Richard Jenkins (Nightmare Alley) as the serial killer's father Lionel and Penelope Ann Miller as his mother Joyce — and the full cast includes Niecy Nash (Never Have I Ever) and Molly Ringwald (Riverdale) as well. And yes, getting well-known faces to play horrific killers is also part of Netflix's true-crime trend — which, if you watched Zac Efron play Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile a few years back, you'll already know. Check out the trailer for DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story below: DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story will be available to stream via Netflix on Wednesday, September 21.
Turn it back up to 11: 41 years after the members of Spinal Tap were first immortalised on film, David St Hubbins (Michael McKean, The Diplomat), Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer, The Simpsons) and Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest, Mascots) are scoring their second big-screen moment. As announced in 2022, iconic 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap is getting the sequel treatment. And if this felt like one of those "I'll believe it when I see it" follow-ups, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues has just dropped its first trailer ahead of hitting cinemas Down Under this spring. Filmmaker Marty DiBergi is also back to chronicle the group's latest antics — which means that IRL director Rob Reiner (The Princess Bride, A Few Good Men) is as well, both playing the fictional part on-camera and helming Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. As the sneak peek shows, he's pointing the camera at a reunion concert and its preparations, including efforts to find a new drummer, merchandising ideas and waxing lyrical about Spinal Tap's journey so far. Elton John, Questlove and Paul McCartney are also sighted in the first glimpse at the new film, as Spinal Tap's estranged bandmates reform, grapple with their past and contemplate their mortality — and ponder how the latter might help bring in fans. Viewers will be able to watch along with their efforts from Thursday, September 25, 2025. If you're new to all things Spinal Tap, the fictional English heavy metal band initially debuted on American TV in 1979; however, it was This Is Spinal Tap that made them legends. With this trio, there is indeed a fine line between stupid and clever. The group behind 'Lick My Love Pump', 'Sex Farm' and 'Hell Hole' have reformed in reality a number of times, too, and released albums. This Is Spinal Tap isn't just an 80s comedy gem that everyone needs to see at least once, and actually several times more than that. Every music documentary since for the past four decades has followed in its footsteps, straightforward and satirical alike. Also, Spinal Tap's name has become shorthand for OTT bands who take themselves too seriously. The OG film is also hitting picture palaces in 2025, re-releasing in 4K from Thursday, August 7. Check out the trailer for Spinal Tap II: The End Continues below: Spinal Tap II: The End Continues releases Down Under on Thursday, September 25, 2025. Images:Bleecker Street & Authorized Spinal Tap LLC.
If keeping your eyes glued to a screen comes as naturally to you as breathing, then awards season brings plenty of news that you already know. You watched the best movies and TV shows of the past year, and now they're winning awards. Sometimes there's surprises. Sometimes everything that everyone expects to nab a shiny trophy does. Sometimes something deserving misses out, or wasn't even nominated. That comes with the territory, including at the Golden Globes, which usually kicks off the year in gleaming pop-culture accolades — and did again in 2024. Hearing everything that you already know in the opening monologue, though? That's something that no one wants. Were you aware that Oppenheimer is long? That Saltburn includes nudity? That Robert De Niro is an icon? So went the first few jokes from this year's host Jo Koy, amid mentioning that he "got the gig ten days ago" — which isn't too far off the mark. Thankfully, while the ceremony's hosting fell flat, as did Jared Leto's gags about himself while co-presenting the first awards with Angela Bassett, the gongs weren't short on highlights. You just had to look to the award recipients and presenters for the gold. So, let's remember the 2024 Golden Globes for Australia's Margot Robbie, Sarah Snook and Elizabeth Debicki all emerging victorious; Lily Gladstone's historic win and unforgettable speech; and Anatomy of a Fall winning Best Screenplay, a category that rarely goes to films in languages other than English. Succession's Matthew Macfadyen dubbing Tom Wambsgans a "human grease stain", then Kieran Culkin winning over Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong; Ayo Edibiri's excitement, including while thanking her managers' and agents' assistants for answering her emails, when she won for The Bear; Kevin Costner reciting America Ferrara's Barbie monologue; The Boy and the Heron getting the nod for Best Animation: they're all standout moments as well. Also worth sitting through this year's first night of nights for all things film and television: Emma Stone ribbing Australia's Poor Things screenwriter Tony McNamara about her attempts to do an Aussie accent, Christopher Nolan calling Cillian Murphy his partner-in-crime for 20 years and Murphy's just-as-touching acceptance speech. Your questions from here? What'll happen when Oppenheimer and Barbie face off at the Oscars, which doesn't separate dramas from musicals and comedies? Will the TV winners be mirrored when the delayed 2023 Emmys hand out its trophies later in January? How many more shades of pink can Margot Robbie don? And if your biggest query now is "who else won?", here's the full list of winners and nominations — and you can also check out our picks for the eight best winners you can watch right now. GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEES AND WINNERS: BEST MOTION PICTURE — DRAMA Anatomy of a Fall Killers of the Flower Moon Maestro Oppenheimer — WINNER Past Lives The Zone of Interest BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE — DRAMA Annette Bening, Nyad Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon — WINNER Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall Greta Lee, Past Lives Carey Mulligan, Maestro Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE — DRAMA Bradley Cooper, Maestro Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon Colman Domingo, Rustin Barry Keoghan, Saltburn Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer — WINNER Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers BEST MOTION PICTURE — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Air American Fiction Barbie The Holdovers May December Poor Things — WINNER BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple Jennifer Lawrence, No Hard Feelings Natalie Portman, May December Alma Pöysti, Fallen Leaves Margot Robbie, Barbie Emma Stone, Poor Things — WINNER BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction Joaquin Phoenix, Beau Is Afraid Matt Damon, Air Nicolas Cage, Dream Scenario Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers — WINNER Timothée Chalamet, Wonka BEST MOTION PICTURE — ANIMATED The Boy and the Heron — WINNER Elemental Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse The Super Mario Bros Movie Suzume Wish BEST MOTION PICTURE — NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE Anatomy of a Fall — WINNER Fallen Leaves Io Capitano Past Lives Society of the Snow The Zone of Interest BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers — WINNER Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer Jodie Foster, Nyad Julianne Moore, May December Rosamund Pike, Saltburn BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE Charles Melton, May December Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon Robert Downey Jr, Oppenheimer — WINNER Ryan Gosling, Barbie Willem Dafoe, Poor Things BEST DIRECTOR — MOTION PICTURE Bradley Cooper, Maestro Greta Gerwig, Barbie Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer — WINNER Martin Scorsese, Killers of The Flower Moon Celine Song, Past Lives BEST SCREENPLAY — MOTION PICTURE Anatomy of a Fall — WINNER Barbie Killers of the Flower Moon Oppenheimer Past Lives Poor Things BEST ORIGINAL SCORE — MOTION PICTURE The Boy and the Heron Killers of the Flower Moon Oppenheimer —WINNER Poor Things Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse The Zone of Interest BEST ORIGINAL SONG — MOTION PICTURE Bruce Springsteen, 'Addicted to Romance', She Came to Me Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt, Dua Lipa and Caroline Ailin, 'Dance the Night', Barbie Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, 'I'm Just Ken', Barbie Jack Black, Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Eric Osmond and John Spiker, 'Peaches', The Super Mario Bros Movie Lenny Kravitz, 'Road to Freedom', Rustin Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell, 'What Was I Made For?', Barbie — WINNER CINEMATIC AND BOX OFFICE ACHIEVEMENT Barbie — WINNER Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 John Wick: Chapter 4 Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One Oppenheimer Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse The Super Mario Bros. Movie Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour BEST TELEVISION SERIES — DRAMA 1923 The Crown The Diplomat The Last of Us The Morning Show Succession — WINNER BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES — DRAMA Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us Emma Stone, The Curse Helen Mirren, 1923 Imelda Staunton, The Crown Keri Russell, The Diplomat Sarah Snook, Succession — WINNER BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES — DRAMA Brian Cox, Succession Kieran Culkin, Succession — WINNER Gary Oldman, Slow Horses Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us Jeremy Strong, Succession Dominic West, The Crown BEST TELEVISION SERIES — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Ted Lasso Abbott Elementary The Bear — WINNER Barry Only Murders in the Building Jury Duty BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary Ayo Edebiri, The Bear — WINNER Elle Fanning, The Great Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Bill Hader, Barry Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building Jason Segel, Shrinking Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso Jeremy Allen White, The Bear — WINNER BEST TELEVISION LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION All the Light We Cannot See Beef — WINNER Daisy Jones & The Six Fargo Fellow Travellers Lessons in Chemistry BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION Ali Wong, Beef — WINNER Brie Larson, Lessons in Chemistry Elizabeth Olsen, Love & Death Juno Temple, Fargo Rachel Weisz, Dead Ringers Riley Keough, Daisy Jones & the Six BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION David Oyelowo, Lawmen: Bass Reeves Jon Hamm, Fargo Matt Bomer, Fellow Travellers Sam Claflin, Daisy Jones & the Six Steven Yeun, Beef — WINNER Woody Harrelson, White House Plumbers BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE ON TELEVISION Abby Elliott, The Bear Christina Ricci, Yellowjackets Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown — WINNER Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso J. Smith-Cameron, Succession Meryl Streep, Only Murders in the Building BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE ON TELEVISION Alan Ruck, Succession Alexander Skarsgård, Succession Billy Crudup, The Morning Show Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear James Marsden, Jury Duty Matthew Macfadyen, Succession — WINNER BEST PERFORMANCE IN STANDUP COMEDY ON TELEVISION Ricky Gervais: Armageddon — WINNER Trevor Noah: Where Was I Chris Rock: Selective Outrage Amy Schumer: Emergency Contact Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love Wanda Sykes: I'm an Entertainer The 2024 Golden Globes were announced on Monday, January 8, Australian and New Zealand time. For further details, head to the awards' website.
Close out the summer with a wild and wacky bang at Mona's annual festival of boundary-defying culture, music and art. The iconoclastic Hobart gallery, performance space, and purveyor of beer and wine, is known for subverting expectations so you can expect an eccentric and unforgettable few days down south at Mona Foma. Now in its 16th year, the 2024 incarnation of the festival runs from Thursday, February 15 to Sunday, February 25 in nipaluna/Hobart and from Thursday, February 29 to Saturday, March 2 in Launceston. There are morning meditations with cross-cultural musical collaborations and captivating art exhibits for those after a more reflective experience. On the flip side of fun, there are gigs galore and late-night bashes for those keen for a boogie. The program features everything from Taiwanese artist Yahon Chang painting with a human-sized brush and Emeka Ogboh's gin-centred exhibit to musical headliners Queens of the Stone Age, Courtney Barnett, Paul Kelly and cult favourites TISM in a rare live show. Check out our picks of the program below to kick-start your festival planning or get you inspired to book your Tassie getaway. Mona Sessions If you can only make it to one event, the quintessential Mona Foma experience can be found at the Mona Sessions. On the evenings of Friday, February 23 to Sunday, February 25, you can enjoy live music from international artists on the sprawling museum lawns. Suitable for all ages, Mona Sessions features performances by Scottish space-rock stalwarts Mogwai; Kutcha Edwards and The Australian Art Orchestra; Japanese punk-pop band Shonen Knife; Canadian quartet Holy Fuck; French-Korean siblings (both under the age of 15) Isaac et Nora; and Lonnie Holley with Moor Mother and Irreversible Entanglements. [caption id="attachment_939340" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Amniote Editions[/caption] Faux Mo Keep the grooves flowing after the Mona Sessions at Faux Mo. The Granada Tavern opposite Mona will become abuzz with late-night beats and boogies from 10.30pm until 2am on Friday, February 23 and Saturday, February 24, with a more chill afternoon sesh on Sunday, February 25. Catch sets from POOKIE, Soju Gang and m8riarchy, along with melodic beats by Mama Snake from Denmark, Afrobeats by Nigerian-born Emeka Ogboh, and mellow house by Kiwi brothers Chaos in the CBD. [caption id="attachment_939338" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Amber Haines[/caption] Wayfinder Queensland dance collective Dancenorth is known for compelling performances which weave together contemporary dance and powerful storytelling. Wayfinder is no exception. Viewers will be immersed in Dancenorth's spellbinding choreography, set to a score by Grammy award-nominated Hiatus Kaiyote with a stage and costumes designed by visual artist Hiromi Tango. The performance will only run for three nights from Thursday, February 22 to Saturday, February 24, so be sure to book in quick. [caption id="attachment_829589" align="alignnone" width="1920"] MONA and Jesse Hunniford[/caption] Boats (a gin and art experiment) Multifaceted artist Emeka Ogboh will not only be spinning a DJ set at Faux Mo, but has also developed an immersive exhibit. Boats explores themes of migration and belonging through a bespoke gin blended by the Nigerian-born creative. Festival-goers can sample the gin and snacks accompanied by a sound installation at Detached. If that's not enough, Ogboh is collaborating with Mona's executive chef to incorporate the gin and West African flavours at various Mona restaurants during the festival. [caption id="attachment_939336" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Courtesy of Filastine & Nova[/caption] Arka Kinari It wouldn't be Mona Foma without show-stopping, thought-provoking works — and what's a bigger statement than a 70-tonne sailing ship moored at the waterfront to spread awareness about climate change? The boat, named Arka Kinari, is musical duo and married couple Filastine and Nova's home, creative work, transport and travelling stage. The pair are inviting visitors aboard to learn about the ship's sustainable resources — which include water desalination, solar power, wind travel and waste management — and will also be performing their music against a backdrop of cinematic visuals on the deck of the ship. Don't miss it. [caption id="attachment_939339" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Gabriel Comerford[/caption] Dekoor In Launceston, gym and rave bros collide at the adults-only Dekoor. Local Tasmanian artists ROOKE will put on an exciting dance, theatre and circus performance in a working gym, where audience members can wander through the space throughout the show. For some added fun, consent tokens will be available if you're open to being touched, carried or led away by performers. These tokens can of course be removed or passed on if you change your mind during the event. After the show, stick around for a party with DJs and performances across three levels of the gym until 1am. The Shruti Sessions Journey across musical borders at The Shruti Sessions, where musicians from Hindustani and Rajasthani backgrounds collaborate and experiment with Australian instrumentalists. Experience something new at each performance, whether you drop in for a Morning Meditation or catch the action at the Mona Sessions. Performers include notable tabla player Bobby Singh, percussionist Benjamin Walsh, OAM recipient and saxophonist Sandy Evans, sarangi player Asin Khan Langa and renowned slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya. [caption id="attachment_831323" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jason Charles Hill via Tourism Tasmania[/caption] The Gorge How about a lazy day of lounging and swims followed by an evening concert at the spectacular Cataract Gorge? And what's more, this live show — featuring the elusive TISM, Mulga Bore Hard Rock, FFLORA x Grace Chia and Cash Savage and The Last Drinks — is completely free. If you'd like to level up your experience, you can opt for the Peacock Pass which grants you access to the Peacock Bar, a private entrance and a viewing area with seating. Find out more and book your tickets at the Mona Foma website.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas across the country. After months spent empty, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are back in business — spanning both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TG-Mxzl88Q LOCKED DOWN Sparked by the pandemic, lockdown films aren't just an exercise in adapting to stay-at-home conditions — or a way to keep actors, directors and other industry professionals busy and working at a challenging time. The genre also provides a window into how the creatives behind its flicks view everyday life and ordinary people. Arising from a global event that's placed many of the planet's inhabitants in similar circumstances, these features tell us which stories filmmakers deem worth telling, which visions of normality they choose to focus on and who they think is living an average life. With Malcolm & Marie, a hotshot young director and an ex-addict were the only options offered. In Language Lessons, which premiered at this year's virtual Berlin Film Festival, a wealthy widower and a Spanish teacher were the movie's two choices. Now Locked Down directs its attention towards a CEO and a courier, the latter of which stresses that he's only in the gig because his criminal record has robbed him of other opportunities. Yes, these films and their characters speak volumes about how Hollywood perceives its paying customers. That's not the only thing that Locked Down says. Directed by Doug Liman (Chaos Walking) and scripted by Steven Knight (Locke), this romantic comedy-meets-heist flick is verbose to a farcical degree — awkwardly rather than purposefully. The repetitive and grating misfire is primarily comprised of monologues, Zoom calls and bickering between its central couple. Well-off Londoners Linda (Anne Hathaway, The Witches) and Paxton (Chiwetel Ejiofor, The Old Guard) are weeks into 2020's first lockdown, and their ten-year relationship has become a casualty. Whether chatting to each other or virtually with others, both commit a torrent of words to the subject. Linda has decided they're done, which Paxton has trouble accepting. She's also unhappy with her high-flying job, especially after she's forced to fire an entire team online, but gets scolded by her boss (Ben Stiller, Brad's Status) for not telling her now-sacked colleagues they're still like family. Tired of driving a van, Paxton is willing to do whatever his employer (Ben Kingsley, Life) needs to climb his way up the ladder. That said, he's still tied to the road, with the ex-rebel's decision to sell his beloved motorbike — a symbol of his wilder youth, and its fun, freedom and risks — hitting hard. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GC--RZ3jOo THE PERFECT CANDIDATE With 2012's Wadjda, Haifaa al-Mansour became the first female filmmaker from Saudi Arabia to make a full-length movie. Fittingly, she achieved the feat via a powerful tale about a girl breaking boundaries — by fighting to ride a bicycle in the street, an activity that's by no means routine in the Middle Eastern country. A hopeful yet truthful film that depicts the present-day reality for Saudi women, while also remaining committed to dreaming of a different future, al-Mansour's directorial debut marked the first-ever feature shot entirely in her homeland, too. Accordingly, she smashed barriers in multiple ways, including both on- and off-screen. Nine years later, she demonstrates the same spirit again with The Perfect Candidate. After exploring another female trailblazer in 2017 biopic Mary Shelley, then pondering the beauty standards imposed upon women in 2018 rom-com Nappily Ever After, al-Mansour delivers the ideal companion piece to her applauded first picture — this time focusing on a young Saudi doctor who tackles her town's misogynistic and patronising attitudes by running for local council. No matter the day or situation, the ambitious Maryam (debutant Mila al-Zahrani) is repeatedly reminded that women aren't considered equal in her community. In one of The Perfect Candidate's early scenes, an elderly male patient writhes in agony, but is more upset about the fact that she'll be treating him — until Maryam's condescending boss proclaims that male nurses can easily step in and do the job for her. When her recently widowed musician father Abdulaziz (Khalid Abdulraheem) goes away on tour, she attempts to fly to Dubai for a medical conference and subsequent job interview that would see her move to Riyadh. Alas, she's stopped from departing because her dad hasn't updated her travel permit, and she can't leave unless he rectifies the paperwork. A male cousin (Ahmad Alsulaimy) in a role of authority within the government might be able to assist, but even the bonds of blood aren't enough to get her through the door to his office. He's interviewing and approving candidates for the municipal election, so Maryam puts her name forward just to progress past his secretary. That still doesn't help her make her flight, but it does send her in a different direction. While already struggling to convince her employers to pave the road to the town's emergency medical clinic, she decides to run to fix that specific problem — and the more backlash she receives for putting herself in contention, the more determined she is to campaign for change. The Perfect Candidate is currently screening at Sydney's Randwick Ritz cinema, and will play at ACMI in Melbourne from May 13–25. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv72JDeSaXY DE GAULLE Paris' international airport is named after him, so even if you know nothing else about Charles de Gaulle, you know that his chapter in French history turns out well enough to be immortalised in one of the country's most pivotal sites. The new biopic that also shares his name endeavours to help explain why by focusing on a specific period during the Second World War — the few weeks in June 1940 when France's powers-that-be were contemplating kowtowing to Germany rather than continuing to lose men in their battles against the Nazis. As Prime Minister Paul Reynaud (Olivier Gourmet, The Midwife) attempts to decide how to proceed, de Gaulle (Lambert Wilson, The Translators) ranks among the government's key voices. But support for capitulating to their enemy keeps growing stronger, including via Philippe Pétain (Philippe Laudenbach, Ad Vitam), who would become the Chief of State of Vichy France shortly afterwards. Trying to thwart his nation's submission to and collaboration with the Germans, the movie's eponymous figure heads to London to meet with Winston Churchill (Tim Hudson, A Very English Scandal). Swiftly, and while causing ire at home, he becomes a driving force behind the Free France movement — which would lead the resistance against occupation during the remainder of the war. De Gaulle's audience doesn't need to have an intimate awareness of France's involvement in WWII before they start watching this sombre drama, with writer/director Gabriel Le Bomin (Our Patriots) and his co-scribe Valérie Ranson-Enguiale (who also co-wrote his 2008 short film L'occupant) routinely demonstrating their fondness for using dialogue to deliver exposition. Indeed, much of the feature is dedicated to talk describing the situation — as intertwined with glimpses of de Gaulle's home life, and of the efforts of his wife Yvonne (Isabelle Carré, Moving On), elder children Elisabeth (Lucie Rouxel, Rascal) and Philippe (Félix Back, Black Tide), and younger daughter Anne (debutant Clémence Hitten), who has Down Syndrome, to flee France as the Nazis invade. The end result, while never short on intrigue, always seems more interested in explaining history than depicting it. The ceaselessly worshipping tone doesn't help flesh out the movie's subject as a person, either; again, viewers already know that he's worthy of celebration going in. And, while De Gaulle's urgent efforts to save his country and his family's quest to escape should be tense and suspenseful, much of the feature feels like a by-the-numbers mashup of Second World War film tropes. Wilson's performance is solid, and the period detail catches the eye, but De Gaulle is never more than standard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXn0ryXxfak JUNE AGAIN The third film about dementia to reach Australian cinemas in little over a month, June Again starts as The Father did: with its elderly protagonist losing time, and her sense of her place within it, as moments, days and life in general all seem to rush by. The titular June (Noni Hazlehurst, Long Story Short) barely greets her daughter Ginny (Claudia Karvan, Bump) or grandson Piers (Otis Dhanji, Aquaman) when they visit the aged care centre she has lived in for five years, rarely passes her doctor's (Wayne Blair, Rams) cognitive tests and constantly feels disoriented due to vascular dementia that's been caused by a series of strokes. But, one otherwise ordinary morning, she wakes up lucid, annoyed, and wondering where she is and why. So, as Supernova did, this Aussie feature then follows June's quest to make the most of the time she has left as herself. Here, however, that involves trying to set right the many wrong choices she thinks her adult children have made, and also attempting to snatch a last grasp at happiness. Dramas ensue, with Ginny thrilled to have her mum back as she once was, but frustrated with her meddling — and her sibling Devon (Stephen Curry, Mr Love) mainly falling into the latter category. But June's window of clarity doesn't simply allow her to be herself again; it lets her address her mistakes, follow paths not taken, and try to become the woman that life and raising a family never her let her be. For 23 years on Play School, Hazlehurst helped guide young minds and teach pre-schoolers about the world that they were only just beginning to explore. Accordingly, there's a feeling of synergy about her role in June Again. Playing a woman slipping out of a world that she's navigated for a lifetime, she tackles a condition unlikely to have been directly experienced by many of the viewers who grew up peering through square, diamond, round and arched windows with her — and looking at rocket and flower clocks, too — but might now be touching those that watched with them. And, alongside fellow familiar faces Karvan and Curry, Hazlehurst is one of the best things about June Again. First-time feature writer/director JJ Winlove keeps things comfortable and predictable in his warm-hearted narrative and warm-hued stylistic choices, but every scene, emotional moment, and insight into life, love, loss, ageing, forgetting and farewelling those dearest to us is improved by his all-star cast. That's never more accurate than when Hazlehurst is cherishing June's renewed lease on life, reminding viewers how delightful she always is on-screen, and selling the film's sentimental but heartfelt message about the importance of chasing what you love in the time you're given. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=civOp5c5GM0 FATALE Only 14 women have ever won more than one Academy Award for Best Actress, and Hilary Swank is one of them. When she earned the Oscars double for 1999's Boys Don't Cry and 2004's Million Dollar Baby, she beat both Meryl Streep and now three-time recipient Frances McDormand to the feat — but her career hasn't brought the coveted accolade her way again since. Fatale isn't going to change that recent trend. It hasn't earned Swank a Razzie either, but she could've easily been in the running. Playing a Los Angeles cop who has a one-night stand in Las Vegas with an ex-college basketball star turned high-profile player manager, then starts stalking her way through his life while also trying to intimidate her politician ex-husband into giving her back access to her young daughter, she has one mode here: stern-faced yet unbalanced. Even when her character, Detective Valerie Quinlan, is first seen flirting, Swank plays her as if something isn't quite right. That's accurate, plot-wise, but it robs Fatale of any semblance of tension it might've possessed. The film is meant to be an adultery-focused thriller in the Fatal Attraction mould — with even its title blatantly nodding that way — but it just ends up recycling tired, simplistic, overused cliches about unhinged women into a monotonous and unnecessarily convoluted package. Valerie and Derrick (Michael Ealy, Westworld) hit it off at a Vegas bar, then get physical; however, the next morning, he heads home to his wife Tracie (Damaris Lewis, BlacKkKlansman), who he actually suspects of being unfaithful herself. Before Derrick can meaningfully process either his infidelity or his fears about his crumbling marriage, his swanky home is broken into one night — and, because director Deon Taylor (Black and Blue) and screenwriter David Loughery (The Intruder) are content to hit every expected beat there is (and because they've seen every 80s and 90s erotic thriller ever made, too), Valerie is the investigating officer. Despite being woefully predictable from the outset, Fatale doesn't dare have fun with its cookie-cutter narrative. It doesn't evoke thrills, bring anything more than surface style or prove particularly sexy, and it never gets its audience invested in its obvious twists, one-note characters or rote dialogue. And, although having its badge-toting stalker use excessive force and exploit her power to target a person of colour could've been a choice that said something about America's current reckoning with law enforcement, race and police brutality, Fatale doesn't even contemplate anything other than clunky formula. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on January 1, January 7, January 14, January 21 and January 28; February 4, February 11, February 18 and February 25; March 4, March 11, March 18 and March 25; and April 1, April 8, April 15, April 22 and April 29. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Nomadland, Pieces of a Woman, The Dry, Promising Young Woman, Summerland, Ammonite, The Dig, The White Tiger, Only the Animals, Malcolm & Marie, News of the World, High Ground, Earwig and the Witch, The Nest, Assassins, Synchronic, Another Round, Minari, Firestarter — The Story of Bangarra, The Truffle Hunters, The Little Things, Chaos Walking, Raya and the Last Dragon, Max Richter's Sleep, Judas and the Black Messiah, Girls Can't Surf, French Exit, Saint Maud, Godzilla vs Kong, The Painter and the Thief, Nobody, The Father, Willy's Wonderland, Collective, Voyagers, Gunda, Supernova, The Dissident, The United States vs Billie Holiday, First Cow and Wrath of Man.
As a nation girt by sea, as our anthem tells us, Australia boasts plenty of water. We're surrounded by it thanks to our scenic shorelines, picturesque harbours and cosy coastal inlets. And courtesy of the gobsmackingly gorgeous pools, curvy rivers and splash-tacular waterfalls found inland as well. Indeed, it's particularly easy to take a dip if you're in Melbourne, whether you're roaming around close to home or roving further afield when the weather's warm. Sea spray, refreshing swimming holes and even crystal-clear public pools are usually only a stone's throw away. Here's where you'll find them — and cool down.
Along with Glastonbury, Coachella is one of the biggest, most famous and highly coveted music festivals in the world — the type of fest that everyone wishes they could nab a ticket to at least once. While this year's festival has been postponed — from April till October — come next week, you'll be able to relive highlights from its 20 year history. Hitting YouTube at 5am AEST on Saturday, April 11 (12pm PT Friday, April 10 — when the 2020 festival was scheduled to start), Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert will feature behind-the-scenes stories, never-before-seen footage, interviews and performances from some of the world's most famous musicians. While Coachella hasn't announced exactly what performances will make it into the doco, its website does tease some highlights from every year. Jane's Addiction 2001 reunion show, MIA asking fans to storm the stage; Daft Punk debuting their pyramid stage; Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg performing with a hologram of 2Pac; Beyoncé famous 2018 show; and Amy Winehouse, Jay-Z , Björk, Tame Impala, Kendrick Lamar and so many more big-names hitting the stage. With music festivals across the world — and Australia — cancelled and postponed, and people self-isolating and social-distancing, the doco will be a great way to escape — virtually. And, if you've ever wanted to head to the Cali festival, but haven't been able to snag tickets or afford to go, it's free way to experience it. While you wait for Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert to drop, you can watch Netflix's Homecoming — a doco about that Beyoncé set — and eyeball the trailer below: https://youtu.be/pflR5xxx0bQ Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert hits YouTube at 5am on Saturday, April 11 AEST.
The Italian Dolomite region of the European Alps is dotted with mountain huts called rifugi, simple lodgings that serve hearty food and drink after a long day on the slopes. The Alps — Commercial Road's cosy neighbourhood wine bar — channels that same spirit, offering Melburnians an inviting rifugio of their own, whether on a lazy afternoon or a chilly evening. Run by the team behind hatted Richmond wine bar Clover, The Alps recently unveiled a thoughtful revamp, complete with an expanded food menu and a new-look courtyard. The once snack-heavy offer has made way for a heartier — yet no less shareable — menu by new Head Chef Miller Cowie (ex-Freddy's and Zita's) and Charley Snadden-Wilson (Co-owner and Executive Chef of Clover) that's now anchored by thin-based Roman-style pizzas with sauce that reaches right to the edges. The menu will feature a mix of permanent signature pies and seasonally rotating specials. Wine remains a core part of the experience — and on the 400-strong list, you'll find a cleverly curated selection spanning alpine producers, natural trailblazers and old-world icons. There's also a smart selection of local beers, Alpine-inspired cocktails and a strong showing of amari behind the bar, for those after something different. Out the back, an updated courtyard is now an all-weather affair thanks to a retractable awning and heaters, making it primed for year-round catch-ups. Inside, a newly integrated open kitchen brings the action to the bar, while the venue's warmth remains intact thanks to the open fire in The Cabin, which continues to host The Alps' signature Cabin Conversations — a fortnightly dinner and conversation series led by winemakers, importers and wine journalists. Plus, Thursday nights host complimentary wine tastings, with a different producer spotlighted each week. Images: Jack Carlin.
Regina George would salute a rumour-fuelled US high school, with news of a gossip app running amok in classrooms in Connecticut. Creating havoc in the small town of Westport, the Yik Yak app functions like a Mean Girls meets Gossip Girl trolls-only Twitter: a stream of anonymously posted insults about the students of Staples High School. Developed under the tagline "spread the word, grow the herd," the Yik Yak app has been described by the unrelated developers as "acting like a local bulletin board for your area by showing the most recent posts from other users around you. It allows anyone to connect and share information with others without having to know them. News, funny experiences, shout outs, and jokes spread faster than ever through Yik Yak's tight-knit community". Nice idea, but in the hands of high school students, things have turned predictably nasty. Individuals can post 'yaks' anonymously and read horrible things about themselves in turn, as if high schools weren't already great stages for bullying and rumour mongering. In a candid, first-person account from current student Will Haskell, published in New York Magazine, he explains the cinematic reaction of the student body. "When you watch stupid movies about teenagers in high school, you roll your eyes at the classic fallout scene in which the hallways are filled with whispering students all gossiping about the same thing. This was exactly what Thursday afternoon looked like at Staples," he says. "In the course of a few periods, the most private, deplorable thoughts of the Staples student body had been put into writing. And the worst part was that no one knew who was writing this stuff — maybe the asshole you’d expect it from, or maybe the quiet girl in the back of Spanish class." Scrolling through the Yik Yak news feed, students could read and post anonymous comments about their classmates — inevitably resulting in a sea of racist, sexist and homophobic hogwash. "L. M. is affiliated with Al Qaeda." "The cheer team couldn’t get uglier." "Nobody is taking H. to prom because nobody has a forklift." Even the principal was targeted. Haskell hadn't taken his school for a gossip hive, although Snapchat sexting and Facebook cyber bullying had done a good job of making students uneasy about school-based online shenanigans. "It's a good, medium-sized public school in Westport, Connecticut. We don’t walk through metal detectors on our way to class, and the main job of our school "security force" is to hand out tickets when students' Jeeps and Audis park in staff parking spaces," he says. "I've found Staples to be a happy, functional, though complexly hierarchical place. The three most popular senior girl groups are the Bots, the Bedfords, and Acrimonious. There are Albone and the Rowdies, both popular senior boy groups. There are the Amigos (popular junior girls), the Cool Asians (none of whom are actually Asian), the Fairies (the soccer team, not the theater kids), the Players (the theater kids, not the soccer team), and many others." Haskell explains the Yik Yak app found its way to Staples from the neighbouring town of Fairfield, after students from both schools had come across the app on a trip to the Dominican Republic. Fairfield had already been hit hard by the app, now it was Staples' turn. "Yik Yak gave everyone a chance to take down enemies, reveal secrets, or make shit up in order to obliterate reputations," says Haskell. "You didn’t need internet popularity in order for your post to be seen; you just needed to be within a 1.5-mile radius of your target and your audience." Yik Yak has been available for download since November and has only now been blocked on Staples grounds after students began avoiding school to dodge the physical and online bullying barrage. But the app has also raised $1.5 million in funding and remains anonymous. For now, the Yik Yakkers on campus can take some advice: Via New York Magazine.
Overnight, the Victorian Government's latest public health directive came into effect, making face masks mandatory for those living in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire. While the two regions have been in Stage 3 lockdown since July 7, residents are now required to don a protective face covering whenever they leave home for one of the four government-approved reasons: for work or school (if you can't do this from home), for care or care giving, for daily exercise or for food and other essentials. As of 11.59pm yesterday, Wednesday, July 22, anyone over the age of 12 must follow the new face covering rule, or risk being hit with a $200 fine. The change was announced three days earlier at Premier Daniel Andrews' press conference, to give people some time to stock up on masks or alternatives. But it's also thrown up a bunch of questions for locals who now have to worry about a brand-new accessory whenever they venture out their front door. Are there any exemptions? What actually counts as a face covering? What the heck is the point? We've broken it down. What exactly is a face mask and why do I need to wear one? The Department of Health and Human Services has published a handy info sheet online that leads by saying: "A face covering needs to cover both your nose and mouth. It could be a face mask or shield." It doesn't need to be medical grade and you can make your own — from paper, scarves and old clothes — but we'll get to that in detail shortly. According to the Department, face coverings add an extra physical barrier between people, by limiting the spread of water droplets released by coughing, sneezing and talking. You should continue to follow social distancing guidelines and hygiene measures, too. Who has to wear one? And when? Everyone that lives in metropolitan Melbourne or Mitchell Shire must wear a face covering when leaving their home. Under the current stay-at-home orders, which are set to be in place until Wednesday, August 19, you can only leave home for one of the four aforementioned reasons. When you do leave home, you must stay as local as you can — and visit your closest park, cafe, bottle shop, for example — and not travel across town. So, when you do leave home for allowed activities like buying groceries at the supermarket, going for a walk and grabbing a takeaway coffee you must wear a mask at all times, and the people working at those places should be masked-up, too. Phone, keys, wallet, mask — that's your new mantra. In what situations do I not need to wear one? Exemptions to the face mask rule apply to those with a relevant medical condition, those communicating with someone who is hearing impaired, kids under 12 and people whose job requires them to have clear enunciation or a visible mouth, such as teachers and live broadcasters. People are also exempt in instances when wearing a mask could cause OH&S issues. As for everyone else, there might be certain circumstances where you can go mask-free, though you'll still need to carry one with you at all times, ready for use, or risk copping a fine. For example, you're allowed to remove your face covering while eating or drinking, but you'll need to reapply it straight after. The same deal goes for people smoking or vaping. You can ditch the mask when driving in a car alone or with other members of your household, though you'll likely need to pop it on when you reach your destination. Those working from home can also do so without a face covering, unless caring for someone in their house that has COVID-19. Even when I'm exercising? If you're getting in a jog, or any exercise that leaves you out of breath or puffing, you can do so without a mask on your face. However, you'll need to have one on you to wear before and after the strenuous bit. According to the DHHS, walking doesn't fit the above category and requires a face covering to be worn at all times, even if you're social distancing. What should I do if I don't have a mask? If you don't have a legit face mask, you can use something like a bandana or scarf as an alternative. Or, get crafty and make your own version — the DHHS has handy instructions for whipping up a DIY mask here. There are also a stack of retailers and online stores selling both disposable and reusable options, many of which will deliver to your door. You can check out some we found here. Need some guidance on wearing the mask? The WHO has released a series of videos and infographics showing how to properly wear a mask, and covering the dos and don'ts. What happens if I go outside without a mask? If you don't have a valid reason for not wearing one, you could be slapped with a $200 fine. For more information about wearing face masks, and the Victorian Government's advice for metro Melbourne and Mitchell Shire residents, head to the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services website.
Flinders Lane seems to be the place for happening restaurants in Melbourne at the moment, and the Meatball and Wine Bar is no different. A dedicated artisan meatball venue, they know a thing or two about simplicity done just right. It's a small yet warm space where exposed brick, communal tables and quiet booths make it inviting for day and night. The menu starts with a range of cured meats, including capocollo (14.50 for 40gm) and truffle salami (14.50 for 40gm) as well as a selection of mozzarella from fior de latte ($12.50) to mozzerella de bufala ($14.50). But let's be honest: the real draw card here is the balls. You can stay simple with your choice of balls (pork, beef, chicken, fish and vegetable) with either red, white or green sauce ($15) or add any side including Italian beans, creamy polenta, handmade pasta or a market special vegetable ($18) for something a little heartier. It has to be said here, the meatball sliders are a little bit special ($16 for three). Local and fresh produce are important to these guys and they are using Lilydale chicken, Black Berkshire pork and beef from O'Connor in Victoria. The dessert menu keeps in theme with the 'whoopie mac', where a ball of ice cream — flavour of your choice, of course — is sandwiched between two cookies. No meatball and wine bar would be complete without a wine list. With a heavy Italian focus sip on Prosecco Farra de Soligo, Veneto ($10 a glass), or a 2010 sangiovese from Tuscany ($10). 250ml and 500ml sizes are served up, in true Italian spirit. The Meatball and Wine Bar now do breakfast. While we were expecting some wordplay and innuendo around balls in the morning, what we weren't expecting was their new and innovative way of slow cooking their scrambled eggs. They then shape the eggs into a ball, serving up three perfectly round morsels of breakfast-appropriate balls. The balls, either creamy egg, egg with charred corn and aged cheddar or green eggs are paired with red, white or green sauce ($9) and a range of sides from smoked salmon ($4.50) to something green ($4). Sliders ($12 for three), avocado and caprese salad on quinoa bread ($9.50) and muesli with milk, yogurt and honey ($8) round out the breakfast menu. There is nothing wrong with good tucker served up with an innuendo or two. It's fun, give it a go.
If you live with your significant other, it's likely you've already reached the stage where you dine together in PJs with unwashed locks and something distracting playing in the background. And while there's no shame in being comfortable, perhaps you'd like to bring a sense of occasion back to your date nights? And, if you're visiting your date for dinner, maybe you'd like to take the pressure off your partner by ordering takeaway for one night during lockdown. While ordering-in share dishes like tacos, curries and decadent desserts will bring you both back to the dining table for some all-important eye contact time and fresh conversation (we bet your chat game is starting to dry up), you might want to spice things up a little more. If you usually reach for a white wine to pair with your takeaway pizza, or a beer to wash down those dumplings, we've got some more unexpected drinks to match with your meals. We've teamed up with Pernod Ricard to bring you four at-home dining suggestions that you can order (booze included) to your door, so you can pop that well-worn cookbook back on the shelf and try your hand at boozy iced tea or whisky highballs next time date night rolls around. [caption id="attachment_744418" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Baja[/caption] SHARE CITRUSY-SWEET TACOS AND BOOZY ICED TEA You may not be able to plan a casual weeknight date at one of your favourite Mexican restaurants right now, but you can recreate the experience at home. Instead of cracking into a tropical lager to knock back with your fiesta-worthy feast, try making a jug of spiked iced tea that you can share along with a selection of meaty or vegetarian tacos. Include a squeeze of lime or a side like pineapple salsa, as the citrus pairs particularly well with the zesty fruit flavours of a single malt whisky in that iced tea. What to order: In Melbourne, you can get Mamasita's DIY taco packs via Mr Yum with prawn, jackfruit and barbacoa beef options, or El Sabor's nachos and burritos via Deliveroo. In Sydney, order the chargrilled chicken or beef brisket tacos from Mejico via Deliveroo, or takeaway vegan and gluten free cauliflower or stir fried oyster mushroom corn tortillas from Bad Hombres. Brisbane's The Burrito Bar has pulled pork, steak and crispy fish tacos, which you can order in from Deliveroo, or swing by Baja, which has takeaway set up for its Mexican-inspired menu. Pair with: The Glenlivet Founder's Reserve and T2 Iced Tea. Order a packet of Packs a Peach loose leaves as it creates a fruity cocktail that's naturally sweet, so there's no need to add sugar. [caption id="attachment_745926" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mary's Burgers by Nikki To[/caption] PAIR A JUICY BURGER WITH WHISKEY DRY AND LIME Just because it's date night, doesn't mean you have to use cutlery. If you're feeling the call of comfort food, and want to move onto that episode of Unorthodox without having to stack the dishwasher, make your date night feed a handheld treat. Order a couple of new-to-you burgers and go splitsies, that way you can taste-test beyond your go-to patty and (as no one else is around to judge you) go large on the sides. A simple whiskey cocktail, such as a classic ginger and lime mixer, helps cut through the fat with a refreshing aftertaste. What to order: In Brisbane, you can order a wagyu or soft shell crab burger from Yuzu Burger and Co in Milton, or a vegan and gluten free Biggie from Lord of the Fries, both on Deliveroo. In Melbourne, you can get Huxtaburger's Andrew (grilled or fried chicken, bacon, cheese, jalapeños) for $14, or Royal Stacks has its Prince Harry, Queen Bey or Regina George patties — both available on Deliveroo. In Sydney, Ume Burger is slinging its karaage, fish katsu and cheeseburgers to your door, as is Mary's with its signature beef patties, plus mushroom and chicken options. Pair with: a highball glass of Jameson Irish Whiskey, dry ginger ale and a wedge of lime. [caption id="attachment_728897" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Colonel Tso's cauliflower at Daughter in Law by Peter Tarasiuk[/caption] COSY UP WITH CABERNET SAUVIGNON AND A CURRY Feeling that wintery chill? Warm yourself from the inside out with an elegant Indian takeaway. Though a cold beer or creamy lassi is a more traditional pairing for a spicy subcontinental feed, you might want to try matching a fruity, full-bodied red wine with a mild lamb-based curry, such as rogan josh. The backbone of tannins and subtle oakiness makes for a wine you can take from the dining table to the couch after your belly-warming banquet. What to order: In Sydney, Indu delivers a Kashmiri-style lamb shoulder curry, and Darlinghurst's Malabar has lamb shank rogan josh as well as a creamy lamb khurumah made with cashew nuts and a touch of mint. In Brisbane, Halims Indian Taj Restaurant has madras, vindaloo, nariyal and korma, which can all be made with lamb as the hero ingredient. All three of which can be ordered to you door via Deliveroo. And, in Melbourne, you can get Daughter in Law's Kashmiri-style lamb rogan josh (or its famed Colonel Tso's cauliflower dish, pictured), or lamb biryani from Mukka in Fitzroy. Pair with: a bottle of St Hugo Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon — expect mint and blackcurrant aromas with a silky mouthfeel. [caption id="attachment_716965" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lukumades[/caption] INDULGE IN PLAYFUL CHOCOLATE DESSERTS AND GROWN-UP HIGHBALLS If you're snatching meals between Zoom calls, or bickering over whose turn it is to do the supermarket run, it's possible that you've lost some childlike joy in your day-to-day life with your partner. We get it — there's a lot to juggle right now. To bring back some of that fun and frivolity, make your date night especially decadent with a chocolatey dessert (or, forget the mains altogether). If a boozy nightcap is in order, match your malty or dark, bitter chocolate snacks — such as a warm chocolate brownie — with a whisky highball. The spirit's nutty and vanilla flavours are a grown-up complementary tipple to your otherwise nostalgic sugary snack. What to order: In Melbourne, go all out with handmade Greek doughnuts from Lukumades, including oreo, twix and tella classics. In Brisbane, Cakes & Sh!t has oreo cheesecake and double choc brownies with toasted marshmallows. Sydneysiders and Melburnians can stock up on Koko Black choccies, and diners in every city can have Gelato Messina's tiramisu tarts delivered to your door. Pair with: a classic highball made with Chivas Regal Extra, which has a toffee and milk chocolate flavour. Right now, Pernod Ricard is offering a $10 Deliveroo voucher for every $50 spent on a select range of its wine and spirits — bought online or in-store at its partner liquor stores. Find out more, here. Top image: Bad Hombres.
Movie buffs in Melbourne's west are getting a new cinema to call their own, with a 12-screen complex on its way to Moonee Ponds. Due to open on busy Puckle Street in 2019, the theatre will be owned and operated by arthouse chain Palace Cinemas. The space will include three 'platinum' screens as well as an outdoor cinema space, and will presumably feature the same extensive bar offerings as other Palace locations. The cinema will be just one aspect of a new retail, leisure, hospitality and residential development from Giancorp Property Group, which will also boast a 50-room residential hotel and a rock-climbing wall. "We have longed for a home in Melbourne's west for a while now," said Palace CEO Benjamin Zeccola in a statement announcing the new venture. "Our audiences had expressed that there was a real market gap in cinemas delivering a premium experience and offering quality film in that area, so when the opportunity arose to be part of a stylish new development in Puckle Street, it was perfect." The Moonee Ponds site is one of two new Melbourne locations currently in the works for Palace, with the company also set to open a 15-screen complex inside Coburg's former Pentridge Prison, also in 2019. Footscray, meanwhile, is getting an eight-screen cinema courtesy of the team behind Yarraville's iconic Sun Theatre.
The expert green thumbs behind online plant store and travelling pop-up The Plant Runner are taking a little break over winter. But before they get stuck into hibernation mode, they're having one last hurrah, heading bayside for a huge indoor plant sale. This Saturday, April 10, The Plant Runner is set to take over the car park at Hampton Bowls Club with its travelling greenhouse Fern in tow, creating a lush plant oasis where you'll be able to browse and buy a stack of new plant babies. Head in from 1.30pm to shop a wild array of indoor plant varieties, including lots of rare and unique flora. What's more, they'll be going cheap, with everything marked down by a hefty 20 percent to help clear out the stock before winter. Company founders Dominic Hooghuis and Duncan Hilder will be there to dish out some of their expert horticulturalist advice, in case you've got any burning questions. And if you're in the market for some products to help your plants live their best life, there'll also be a range of The Plant Runner's specialty potting mixes, oils and plant care items for purchase. [caption id="attachment_806718" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Plant Runner's Dominic Hooghuis and Duncan Hilder by Samee Lapham[/caption]
Lives don't just thrive in New York City apartment buildings. As Only Murders in the Building keeps showing, sometimes they end, too. Folks connected to the fictional Arconia complex haven't been having a good run in the hit mystery-comedy series, but neighbours and podcasters Mabel Mora, Charles-Haden Savage and Oliver Putnam — as played by Selena Gomez (Emilia Pérez), Steve Martin (It's Complicated) and Martin Short (Grimsburg) — keep investigating their untimely demises, and talking about it. Audiences keep watching, too. You'll next be viewing the trio's antics and sleuthing along with the series' latest whodunnit scenario from spring Down Under, with Only Murders in the Building setting a Tuesday, September 9, 2025 premiere date for its fifth season. There's no trailer as yet, but the show has unveiled its first-look image, and also enlisted Gomez, Martin and Short in a clip announcing the day to pop in your calendar. [caption id="attachment_972138" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Disney/Eric McCandless)[/caption] Yes, it's happening again: to continue to live up to its title, there's been another murder in the building. This time, Charles, Oliver and Mabel refuse to accept that the death of a beloved figure was accidental. As they endeavour to prove that's the case, mobsters and powerful billionaires all become involved, as do more Arconia residents. Michael Cyril Creighton (American Horror Stories) is back among the cast as well, as are Meryl Streep (Extrapolations), Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Bride Hard), Richard Kind (Poker Face) and Nathan Lane (The Gilded Age). Season five also features Bobby Cannavale (Unstoppable), Renée Zellweger (Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy), Logan Lerman (We Were the Lucky Ones), Christoph Waltz (Old Guy), Téa Leoni (Death of a Unicorn), Keegan-Michael Key (Dear Santa), Beanie Feldstein (Drive-Away Dolls), Dianne Wiest (Apartment 7A) and Jermaine Fowler (Sting). [caption id="attachment_912213" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Patrick Harbron/Hulu[/caption] By now, everyone should already well-aware of Only Murders in the Building's setup. Each season, a new murder takes place in the apartment tower that its main sleuthing trio call home. It was true in 2021's season one, then 2022's season two, 2023's season three and 2024's season four. Also accurate in every season: when Mabel, Charles and Oliver are on the case, a heap of fellow big-name talent both help and hinder their investigations. There's no trailer yet for Only Murders in the Building season five, but check out the date announcement video below: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Only Murders in the Building (@onlymurdershulu) Only Murders in the Building streams Down Under via Disney+, with season five premiering on Tuesday, September 9, 2025. Read our reviews of season one, season two and season three. Top image: Disney/Patrick Harbron.
For over a century now, HOYTS has been connecting Aussie audiences with all the big screen hits they've ever needed, and for the cinema chain's 116th birthday, it's giving a little something back to weekend moviegoers. In every HOYTS cinema around Australia this weekend, all day and night, tickets will be going for just $8, or $25 for HOYTS LUX tickets — now's the time to try watching a movie in recliner seating with cocktails, wine and gourmet food delivered straight to your seat. With 49 cinemas across the country, this is a treat we can all make the most of. HOYTS General Manager of Customer Engagement Brad Eaton said "We're extremely proud of our long legacy in cinema and this weekend is all about celebrating with our loyal guests. Whether you're after a new blockbuster or a fun experience with the family, there's something for everyone so all can take advantage of this exceptional offer." [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkgMaS5gbaA[/embed] So what's worth watching? New releases include Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman at their dysfunctional best in The Roses, Austin Butler getting caught in a crime caper in Caught Stealing and Liam Neeson saving the world (absurdly) in The Naked Gun. Not one but two small-screen series are getting big-screen finales at the moment, with Downton Abbey: The Final Chapter and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba- Infinity Castle both screening this weekend. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAtUHeMQ1F8[/embed] Prefer something to get your pulse pounding? Settle in for The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Long Walk or Weapons. If you've got kiddos in tow, they might be keen for Sketch or The Bad Guys 2. And if you missed any of this year's winter blockbusters — Superman, F1 The Movie, The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Jurassic World: Rebirth are all still wrapping up their theatrical runs. Find your nearest HOYTS cinema and get tickets to a screening of your choice here.
When mid-February rolls around each year, a specific feeling starts to sink in: the yearning for these sunny, summery days to keep on stretching on. But autumn will soon be upon us, and cooler weather, too — unless you decide to chase an endless summer by spending time anywhere from the Gold Coast up to Cairns while it gets frosty down south. After a chaotic couple of years due to the pandemic, Queensland holidays have been back on the agenda since late 2021. Just last month, the Sunshine State also ditched all of its remaining domestic border restrictions. And, if you're keen to make an autumn date with plenty of sun, surf and sand — or even to book in a winter getaway, too — Virgin Australia has just dropped a huge Queensland flight sale. Running until midnight AEST on Sunday, February 20 or sold out, whichever arrives first, this sale is solely about trips to and from the Sunshine State — with more than a 1.5 million fares on offer. It might be focused on one part of the country, but you still have options in terms of departure points and destinations. Within Queensland, you can leave or arrive in Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, Hamilton Island, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Emerald, Gladstone, Mackay, Mt Isa and Proserpine. And, around the rest of the country, flights to and from Adelaide, Alice Springs, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth and Sydney are all covered. One-way fares start at $59 — which'll get you from Sydney to the Gold Coast, Launceston to Brisbane, Newcastle to Brisbane and Brisbane to Prosperine (and vice versa). Other sale flights include Sydney–Sunshine Coast from $65, Melbourne–Gold Coast from $69, Melbourne–Townsville from $99 and Sydney–Hamilton Island from $109. If you're wondering when you'll need to travel, the travel periods depend on the leg — but some span up till spring. Only some fares cover seat selection and checked baggage, however, with the airline announcing back in August that it is now splitting its economy flights into three types. Economy Lite doesn't include checking any baggage or picking your seat, but Economy Choice does — and Economy Flex gives you extra flexibility (hence the name) if you have to change your plans later. As we are still in the middle of a pandemic, flying is little different to normal. Virgin has introduced a range of safety measures, including hand sanitisation stations, contactless check-in and face masks provided to all passengers. Wearing masks on flights also became mandatory in Australia in January. Virgin's Great Queensland Getaway sale runs from today, Monday, February 14–midnight AEST on Sunday, February 20 — or until sold out.
There's nothing like watching a film at the planetarium, but it's something most of us don't do all that often. Daytime sessions cater to school groups — and in the years that the Melbourne International Film Festival has hosted a fulldome program, it's only been for a few sessions. Thankfully, Scienceworks' late-night series changes that. Every Friday evening, once the planetarium's usual working day is done, adults can have some after-hours fun in the venue's impressive space. That means sitting in the reclining chairs, looking up at the 16-metre domed ceiling, listening to the 7.1 surround-sound system and soaking in the best the fulldome video projection system has to offer. In November, the Planetarium's Friday night program will be exploring where water can be found in our solar system during the 7.30pm session, thanks to a fulldome film called Where's the Water. Then, at 9pm, Particle/Wave will serve up a multimedia exploration of gravitational waves. Making things even better is the fact that the whole thing is boozy, so you can grab a drink from the bar, take it into the auditorium and sip while you watch.
Wander down Malvern Road and you'll come across a set of shop windows that are a little bit brighter than most. That's The Fresh Flower Man, aka Ian Sparkes, who, across a long career, has earned a stellar reputation for producing some of the most beautiful bouquets anywhere in the city. Working with a kaleidoscope of native and exotic species, The Fresh Flower Man is on-hand to provide you with some great advice for freshening up your home or planning a special event. The colourful jungle emerging from the green store is tough to miss. Images: Parker Blain.
The iconic corner site at 2 Acland Street in St Kilda is no stranger to change, having taken on many incarnations and debuted an array of new offerings over its many, many decades of life. Existing as the Ryan Hospitality Group's multi-faceted venue The Prince since 2018, it's just unveiled its latest addition — a brand-new iteration of second-level restaurant Prince Dining Room. The diner has entered a new phase of life, complete with an overhauled food offering and refreshed approach. While the space's aesthetic remains largely unchanged with its crisp white walls, art deco features and signature curved booths, the kitchen has upped the sophistication factor, debuting a refined menu anchored in technique and driven by fire. Executive Chef Dan Cooper (ex-Aria, Circa) has the reins, pairing Mediterranean flavours with local produce and giving more than a nod to the coast. Start with the likes of yellowfin tuna tartlets, beef tartare with bottarga and a gruyère puff, and burrata sided with smoked tomato jam and pollen. The day's fish is done with clams, fennel and nduja butter, hand-cut tagliatelle shines bright with citrus butter and golden trout roe, and a saddle of Tassie lamb comes matched with smoked eggplant. You can even sit down to half a crayfish, elevated with garlic butter and 'charcuterie XO'. The adjacent drinks offering is now known as The Bar at Prince Dining Room, backing the venue's award-winning wine list with a fresh crop of beers, booze-free sips and cocktails — from the likes of a burnt orange highball to a Black Manhattan crafted on bitter amaro. The site's other elements are kicking along as usual, including the Prince Public Bar downstairs, the Prince Bandroom, Little Prince Wine and the 39-room Prince Hotel. [caption id="attachment_758266" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kristoffer Paulsen[/caption] Find the updated Prince Dining Room on Level 2 at 2 Acland Street, St Kilda. It's open from 4pm–late Wednesday–Thursday and from 12pm–late Friday–Sunday.
Endings have always been a part of Succession. Since it premiered in 2018, the bulk of the HBO drama's feuding figures have been waiting for a big farewell. The reason is right there in the title, because for any of the Roy clan's adult children to scale the family company's greatest heights and remain there — be it initial heir apparent Kendall (Jeremy Strong, Armageddon Time), his inappropriate photo-sending brother Roman (Kieran Culkin, No Sudden Move), their political-fixer sister Siobhan (Sarah Snook, Pieces of a Woman), or eldest sibling and now-presidential candidate Connor (Alan Ruck, The Dropout) — their father Logan's (Brian Cox, Remember Me) tenure must wrap up. He's stubborn, though. He's proud, too, of what he's achieved and the power it's brought. Whenever Logan has seemed nearly ready to leave the business behind, he's held on. And if he's challenged or threatened, as three seasons of the Emmy-winning series have done again and again, he shows no signs of ever letting go. Succession has always been waiting for Logan's last stint at global media outfit Waystar RoyCo, but it's never been about finales quite the way it is in its fourth season, which starts streaming from Monday, March 27 Down Under (including via Foxtel, Binge and Foxtel On Demand in Australia, and on Neon in New Zealand). This time, there's a ticking clock not just for the show's characters, but for the stellar series itself. In late February, in an interview with The New Yorker a month out from season four's premiere, Succession's creator and showrunner Jesse Armstrong advised that this is its last go-around. Nothing can last forever, not even widely acclaimed hit shows that are a rarity in today's TV climate: genuine appointment-viewing. So, this one is going out at the height of its greatness — yes, its final batch of episodes begins out that strongly — which is how Logan should've always wanted to as well. That Succession won't be tearing into its ultra-rich squabblers again after these ten episodes casts a shadow over the new season, unsurprisingly. That said, given that it commences with the Roys as fractured as ever in the aftermath of 2021's season three — with Kendall, Roma and Shiv all estranged from and actively working against their dad, who has badged them "rats" with his usual venom — there's a higher sense of tension, greater stakes and a firmer feeling of finality anyway. This bickering brood has split, backstabbed, betrayed, undermined and reunited many times before. They've overcome health scares, accidental killings, high-strung weddings, legal troubles, hostile attempted takeovers, dark scandals, political scrutiny and more. Armstrong and his writing team could've kept the cycle going, but there's an unshakeable sense of hurt to this round of tussles that feels like the last the Roys can endure. In season three, Waystar went from trying to buy streaming service GoJo to entertaining a buyout from it — and from its tech visionary Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård, The Northman) — instead. And, as Kendall, Roman and Shiv kept trying to lock in their futures, Logan found a way to cut them out that couldn't have cut deeper. Accordingly, when season four kicks off with Logan's birthday just as season one did, a party that he's characteristically miserable at, only Connor shows up among his kids. The other three are busy trying to secure financing for The Hundred, the new media venture they're pitching as "Substack meets Masterclass meets The Economist meets The New Yorker". What they really want to do, of course, is stick it to their old man above all else. Money, which the Roys have much more of than most, aren't afraid to splash about and are always chasing, sure can't buy a reprieve from good old-fashioned pettiness. That's always been a glaring truth at the heart of the series, just like its fantasy equivalent Game of Thrones, because boasting immense control and hefty fortunes can't make anyone a decent person. No one watches this takedown of unfettered power, wealth and entitlement for hugs and smiles, but for Shakespearean dramedy and tragedy that rips brutally and ravenously into the one-percent. However it concludes and whoever thinks they've won — make no mistake, Succession is always a battle — no one is likely to be living happily ever after, or even managing to be content enough with where things wind up. Still, Roman will probably be smirking, Shiv shooting a steely glare and Kendall wearing the intense gaze that never wholly masks his inner sadness. They all sport exactly those expressions to begin season four, all while building their plans to simultaneously cement their next step and topple Logan. As sycophantic grins beam noxiously around his birthday, he's as caustic as ever even in just his eyes — more so with Shiv's husband Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen, Operation Mincemeat) playing middleman in a crucial deal, and when cousin Greg's (Nicholas Braun, Zola) love life taints the festivities. Yes, the more that things change in Succession, the more that they stay the same, including with general counsel Gerri (J Smith-Cameron, Fleishman Is in Trouble), CFO Karl (David Rasche, Swallow) and vice-chair Frank (Peter Friedman, She Said) hovering around while looking like they'd rather be anywhere else. Family malaise is a dime a dozen on TV, and workplace struggles as well. Succession is so sharp and scathing — so devastatingly well-cast and delicious with its incisive insults, too — that it's in a stratosphere of its own. With this compelling ensemble and the cracking dialogue they're gifted, the show's directors could just point cameras at the former in glass-walled rooms as they spout the latter and the series would gleam from every angle. That isn't how the handsomely staged and executed effort fills its episodes, but both its actors and writers remain at the top of their games. Indeed, watching Succession in such savage vintage form in everything from Strong's concentration to Culkin's way with witty slights, plus Braun's cluelessness and episode-one helmer Mark Mylod's (The Menu) tonal mastery, viewers will never want it to end. There'll be much to miss when the show severs its final ties at the end of May, glorious episode titles included (the fourth season's opener is aptly called 'The Munsters'). It's going out how it's always gone on, though — without losing its bite, or its taste for blisteringly dark, pointed and funny family-feud chaos. Logan is pondering farewells again, too. Succession hasn't lost its ability to astonish, and its fearsome white-haired patriarch waxing lyrical about whether death is just an abyss over a diner dinner with his chief security guard is one such delight. There'll certainly be a chasm left in the show's wake but, like its most formidable figure won't stop doing, audiences will just have to make the most of it while it's here. Check out the full trailer for Succession season four below: Succession season four starts streaming from Monday, March 27 Down Under, including via Foxtel, Binge and Foxtel On Demand in Australia and Neon in New Zealand. Check out our review of season three. Images: Claudette Barius, Macall B Polay / HBO.
Earlier this year, when events worldwide started cancelling, postponing and rescheduling due to COVID-19, the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA)'s Dark Mofo was sadly one of many that had to pull the plug. It's also just one of the annual festivals that the venue holds and, thankfully, MONA's summer event will be forging ahead — with the venue announcing dates and locations for Mona Foma 2021. Come January, arts and music fans will be able to soak in the fest's eclectic sights and sounds across two weekends — and in two locations. Although Mona Foma was originally held in Hobart, where MONA is located, the event made the move to Launceston in 2019. In 2021, however, it'll split its program between both Tasmanian cities. Launceston will be up first, from January 15–17, with Hobart getting the nod the next week from January 22–24. Just what'll be on the bill hasn't been announced as yet, and won't be until later this year, but the fact that the festival is happening at all is the kind of great news that 2020 has been lacking. As Mona Foma curator Brian Ritchie explained, "Mona Foma thrives on reinvention and we are compelled to do that big time in January 2021. One weekend in Launceston, and one weekend in Hobart, to spread the love. Great Tasmanian artists, unusual venues, and an irrepressible creativity". Focusing on Tassie artists isn't new for the fest, with 61 percent of creatives involved in the 2020 event hailing from the state. [caption id="attachment_784488" align="aligncenter" 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] Of course, before you go making big plans for a weekend getaway down south, you'll want to keep an eye on Tasmania's current border restrictions — which, at the time of writing, requires 14 days in quarantine in government-designated accommodation for non-Tasmanian residents who aren't classified as essential travellers, and additionally requires pre-approval from the Deputy State Controller if you're entering from a location considered high-risk, such as Victoria. Mona Foma will take place from January 15–17, 2021 in Launceston, and from January 22–24, 2021 in Hobart. We'll update you when the full program is announced later this year — but head to the festival website in the interim for further details. Top image: The Flaming Lips, Mona, Hobart, Mona Foma 2016. Photo Credit: MONA/Rémi Chauvin. Image Courtesy Mona, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
Since November 2024, 200,000 people have enjoyed an IRL Bluey experience in Brisbane, wandering through the immersive installation dedicated to the series in the city that the animated hit sprang from. That number is set to grow. Due to its unsurprising success, Bluey's World is sticking around the Queensland capital, extending its season until February 2026. On- and off-screen, Bluey is inseparable from Brissie. For its setting, the hit animated series takes inspiration from the Sunshine State spot. It also hails from a studio based in the River City. The Heeler home resembles Brisbane's Queenslanders, too. And back in 2022 when a replica of the Bluey house popped up temporarily, there was only one place for it. It always made sense, then, that stepping inside the famous show would happen in the exact right location. Announced in 2023, Bluey's World gets attendees walking around life-sized sets that recreate the beloved family-friendly staple. Yes, the Heeler house and yard are part of the setup — for real life. Yes, you can expect to hear "wackadoo!" more than once while you're there. Movie World might've badged itself as Hollywood on the Gold Coast, but it's no longer the only big tourist hotspot giving visitors to southeast Queensland — and locals as well — a chance to explore their on-screen favourites IRL. Sprawling across 4000 square metres, Bluey's World features the Heelers' living room, playroom, kitchen, backyard (poinciana tree included) and more. Alongside bringing the global TV sensation's sets into reality, it also boasts familiar interactive games such as Keepy Uppy and Magic Xylophone, plus other activities for both kids and adults. Haven't accompanied your own little ones, or your nieces and nephews, to Bluey's World yet? Perhaps you know that appreciating the adorable Aussie show about a family of blue heelers isn't just for children, but you still haven't made the trip. Either way, this addition to Northshore Pavilion in Northshore Brisbane is big — literally thanks to its sizeable floor plan. And yes, as seen in the series, you can arrive via CityCat, including right through until early next year. "The response to Bluey's World has been phenomenal. Seeing families laugh, play and explore the attraction firsthand has been incredibly rewarding. We set out to create a truly special experience, and it's wonderful to watch it become a must-visit Brisbane destination for fans of all ages," said Bluey's World Producer Andrew Kay. "We're so proud of the one-of-a-kind experience we've created, and with the season now extended, we can't wait to welcome even more fans to Bluey's World. Reaching 200,000 visitors in just a few months is a testament to the love and enthusiasm for Bluey. It's been amazing to see families from all over the world step into Bluey's home and immerse themselves in the Heeler family's adventures," added BBC Studios ANZ Head of Commercial Scott Modra. Visitors should plan to spend 70 minutes bounding through the experience — and will also find an indoor playground that nods to Bluey's Brisbane neighbourhood, plus spring rolls and pizza on offer at the cafe. There's a soundscape to match, plus a gift shop. Bluey's World is exclusive to Brisbane, making it a tourist attraction to fans not only locally and nationally but worldwide. Unsurprisingly, that's a big part of the push from both the Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council, who are supporting the BBC Studios- and HVK Productions-produced experience. Find Bluey's World at Northshore Pavilion, 281 MacArthur Avenue, Northshore Brisbane until February 2026 — head to the attraction's website for more information and tickets.
We all enjoy a quiet night at home every now and again — but we never expected this year to involve quite so many. So, if you're starting to feel a little restless, we've teamed up with Miller Design Lab to highlight some alternatives to spice up your next night indoors. Miller Design Lab is the home of creativity and self-expression built by Australia's leading minds in design, art, technology and fashion (and now you). Together, we're celebrating our nightlife and its impact on culture with exceptional moments brought to you at home. Keep reading to discover four ways you can easily experience parts of Melbourne's epic nightlife — from live music and cultural events to world-class food and drinks — without leaving your pad. LIVE-STREAM A GIG FROM A LOCAL DJ When you're confined to the same four walls for most of the day, you can spend an awful lot of time sitting down. Rather than spending another evening working on that imprint in the couch, get on your feet and turn your lounge room into a makeshift d-floor. Sure, the feeling of being out at a club surrounded by all your mates is pretty hard to replicate, but there are some positives — for starters, nobody can judge you for your terrible moves. Have a crack at creating your own playlist or, if you want to leave it to the professionals, check out one of the virtual club nights that are happening online. For a dose of nostalgia, tune into Hot Dub Time Machine's biweekly parties, which cover six decades of musical bangers, from mid-50s rock 'n' roll to the latest dance hits. And, if you've been a regular attendee of gay club night Poof Doof, you'll be pleased to hear it's now jumped online, too, with a weekly live-stream. See also: Room 2 Radio's Friday night streams and Club Quarantine's nightly offering. For a night of throwing shapes, you'll want to prep with something filling but not too heavy. Vegetarian joint Sister of Soul is a worthy contender with a selection of hearty delivery dinners that are loaded with veggies and grains — like a bibimbap nutrition bowl loaded with marinated tofu, shiitake mushrooms, seaweed salad and brown rice. Pair your dinner with one of the epic 1.5-litre bagnums of espresso martini from Footscray bar Mr West to get the party started. [caption id="attachment_710997" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Daniel Lidmila[/caption] LEARN A NEW PARTY TRICK We can only hope that when normal life resumes, there'll be an onslaught of parties and nights out. So, if you want to have something to show for your time in isolation, use this downtime to pick up a new party trick. If the above DJ live-streams have inspired you, head over to Ableton's website. There, you'll find a bunch of free resources to kick off your music making journey, including ebooks and a 90-day free trial period of its Live 10 interface. Or, if you're more concerned about improving your moves, try an online dance course. Sydney Dance Company has currently shifted its entire class program online, including hip hop beginners classes, and they cost just $12 a pop (or you can get an unlimited membership for $28 a week). Or you could check out Groove Therapy's online courses. There's a very suitable Party Dance course (USD$89), which includes bite-sized video tutorials, curated playlists and bonus resources on dance history. Whichever you choose, it'll add a little flavour to your house parties — both pre- and post-lockdown. To keep you both well-fuelled and inspired while you study, order in some class party staples. Order a woodfired pie from 400 Gradi, which has been consistently voted to have some of the best pizza in Oceania, to keep you striving for greatness and wash it down with an easy-drinking beer like Miller Genuine Draft. VIRTUALLY CELEBRATE YOUR MATE'S BIRTHDAY Poor ol' autumn babies. They're currently all experiencing one of childhood's biggest fears: nobody coming to their birthday party. So, make sure the birthday guy or gal's special day isn't forgotten in all the madness by organising an isolation-style bash with the entire crew over Houseparty. Play some games that'll get everyone up and moving — think good ol' charades or Heads Up — or challenge yourselves with a virtual escape room. And end the evening the way every birthday night out should end: karaoke. You can blame your bad vocals on your mate's shitty laptop speakers. Of course, it isn't a true birthday party without some cake so splash out on the Celebration Cake from award-winning fine diner Attica — it's a rich vanilla cake filled with white chocolate ganache cream and topped with whipped yoghurt cream icing and berries. And you'll need a drink to raise a toast to your mate, too. So get some cocktails delivered, like the freshly shaken Silver Fox, with gin, amaretto, lemon and vegan egg white, from The Everleigh. The Fitzroy bar has hot buttered rum and a selection of classic bottled cocktails — think negronis, manhattans and old-fashioneds — available, too. [caption id="attachment_767870" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Reuben Gibbes[/caption] CREATE YOUR OWN LIGHT FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE INDOORS While small gatherings and dining out may return to our lives in the near future, it's looking like we'll be waiting a little longer for large-scale cultural events. But even though Vivid, Sydney's legendary festival of lights, art and ideas, isn't happening this year, there is a movement swelling to recreate the magic on a smaller scale. Kicking off on May 22, DIY Vivid will encourage Aussies to transform their isolation pads into a makeshift light festival using coloured light bulbs and strobe machines. There'll also be a DJ simulcast stream happening on the launch night. You could take it a step further and — just like the epic animated light projections that happen on buildings across Sydney during Vivid — project one of Nema Adel's digital art loops onto your living room wall, or tune into Hobart museum Mona's live-stream of Ryoji Ikeda's Spectra. It's a 15-kilometre tall tower of beaming white light that stands over the city's skyline, and the stream is accompanied by music specially curated for the exhibit. In homage to the buzzing festival, pair your arty activities with some colourful tipples and street food. Check out Mexican joint Trippy Taco, which has vegetarian tacos, burritos and quesadillas available for takeaway and delivery from its Fitzroy and St Kilda stores. Team your feast with some readymade cocktails, like the peach negroni or passionfruit daiquiri from CBD spot Romeo Lane. For more ways to celebrate your city's nightlife and recreate its energy in your own space, head this way. Image: Reuben Gibbes
Hit the 'invite all' button on Facebook. Friends, Melburnians, countrymen — lend us your eyes. It's the time of year where parties can spill outdoors and nobody chips their front tooth on their beer from chattering molars in the cold. It's also the time for a whole bunch of annual occasions (Christmas, New Year's Eve, Uncle Steve's birthday) so it might just be that you're in need of a venue to fit you and your 30 or so other friends/Uncle Steve's bowling mates. We know there's nothing worse than organising a night out in a group only to have it foiled by lack of space and long queues for the loos. So, we thought we'd do you a solid and give you a list of places that will provide ample space for drinking bubbly and celebrating. In partnership with Oyster Bay Sparkling Cuvée, here's a list of roomy venues in Melbourne that you can look into booking out this silly season. THE WATER RAT HOTEL, SOUTH MELBOURNE The deck at The Water Rat might be your pick for warm nights this summer — head to South Melbourne's Moray Street to find a spacious gastropub with enough room outside (comfy enclosed deck) and in (big lounges scattered around) for all. Fairy lights outside and a fire roaring when it's colder make a big space feel cosy, so bring your mates and it'll be oysters ($3 a piece) and bubbly all round. THE PENNY BLACK, BRUNSWICK The fact that The Penny Black has an enormous beer garden with heaps of booths is the least of the reasons you should go there. There are also a couple of large rooms inside to house your party, VGPS's (Very Good Pizza Specials), and a photobooth if you want to attempt to jam your whole group in to commemorate your occasion. Located in a restored post office, The Penny Black also clocks gigs and nightlife (there's a regular R&B night on Saturdays called 'Swick, because Brunswick), so your beery afternoon celebration might become a music infused night — with plenty of room to dance it on out. FITZROY SOCIAL, FITZROY Excuse us, but frosé is $6 a pop on Thursdays at the Fitzroy Social. Don't walk, run. The Fitzroy Social is fairly new about town but it doesn't show its young age — its roomy layout and nice-but-not-too-noisy vibe make it a valid Brunswick Street option for you if you're wandering around with a big group in tow. Try the aforementioned frosé or some of their punchbowl drinks, perfect for big groups — and there's a full vegan menu alternative to suit trickier eating preferences too. GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL, CARLTON NORTH The Great Northern has long been the venue of choice for loose Sunday sesh goers hanging out in Carlton North looking for a place to drink, eat, and maybe even pat a dog out the front. A bottle shop also adjoining, the Great Northern has one of the biggest beer gardens in Melbourne — so there's plenty of room to move and celebrate. THE REVERENCE HOTEL, FOOTSCRAY The locals out west have a certain amount of reverence — as it is so named — for this trusty pub, and it's easy to see why. Stumble in at any hour with just yourself or a big group and you'll be taken care of, either inside or in their big beer garden. The Reverence hosts the popular Taco Tuesday where tacos are $3 from 6-9pm. Kick it whatever the day with the resident pool and foosball tables. THE LEVESON, NORTH MELBOURNE You can't spell the word 'pub' without 'parma'. Well, you can, but they don't advise it at The Leveson. Famous for its huge (but correct in ratio of toppings to chicken) parmas, The Leveson is a prime spot to bring a big group thanks to its big dining room indoors and grassy courtyard outside. There's space for whatever your party might need to do and then some. GARDEN STATE HOTEL, MELBOURNE The Garden State is a fairly swish addition to the CBD pub scene, boasting a pretty buzzed atmosphere come Friday and Saturday nights (or really any other night to be honest). A huge venue, Garden State is split over four levels and incorporates a real live garden into the middle of things, with a beer garden, saloon and grill all thrown into the mix too. You won't have to leave the party as toasties and chips can be self-ordered at a kiosk near the bar. You might however have to leave wherever you're situated in the Garden State to find the stragglers of the party as the place is so large. PALACE HOTEL, CAMBERWELL Perhaps somewhere a little off your beaten track could be an option for your 40-head stamp collecting group Christmas do, what say you? The Palace Hotel in Camberwell may not be in Chapel or Brunswick Streets, but it certainly has its own benefits. It's large, relaxed, and has a range of food specials, so your friends can be fed for cheap. There are also pool tables for when that mid-party competitive sports urge hits your group. Play fair. TOWN HALL HOTEL, NORTH MELBOURNE The Town Hall Hotel in North Melbourne is an A+ place to watch the sports, and an even A+-er place to bring your whole group of mates to celebrate at when your team manages to win the sports. Nestled in Errol Street, there's a lovely little beer garden out the back for hot days and cold bevvies, and their website says that they're open "eight days a week". Guess you can't lose. WOOLSHED PUB, DOCKLANDS Docklands normally might not be the most convenient option for fun times at night, but we urge you to spend the extra time getting there (or spring for a maxi taxi) and pop into The Woolshed. Once an old wool storage facility and now a beaut venue sitting right on the waterfront, it is a) large, and b) does $15 cocktails during their Sunday sessions. Closed now for repairs (there was a fire earlier this year), they'll hopefully be open early 2017 in time for you to make use of long summer nights around the January/February celebration period. Celebrate this season with Oyster Bay Sparkling Cuvée — available at your local supermarket or liquor store.
Film fans, your spider-senses should be tingling: there's a new batch of Spider-Man-adjacent characters swinging onto the big screen. Get ready to meet Dakota Johnson (Cha Cha Real Smooth) as Madame Web, aka clairvoyant paramedic Cassandra Webb. Get ready, too, for Sydney Sweeney (Reality) as Julia Carpenter, who has a stint as Spider-Woman in her story in the comic books. Johnson and Sweeney lead Madame Web, the fourth film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe. That's the name for the studio's franchise of flicks that have been spun off from its Spider-Man movies — so from Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home — but aren't part of the the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hitting cinemas on Wednesday, February 14, 2024, it slings in alongside Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Morbius, plus the delayed Kraven the Hunter when it arrives later the same year, to spread another web of superhero-related pictures. Given its name, there's no chance of thinking that Madame Web would be subtle about its Spidey links. The just-dropped first trailer for the film makes that plain not just in multiple Spider-Woman sightings, but in an explanatory line from Johnson designed to drop some backstory: "he was in the Amazon with my mum when she was researching spiders right before she died". In the first SSU movie with a female lead, the man that Webb is talking about is Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim, Extrapolations), a character who also hails from the page. He factors into a narrative that has Webb almost drowning, then discovering that she can see the future, with not just Sims but Carpenter linked to her fortunes. Also, would this be a Spider-Man-related movie, or a comic book movie in general, if a complicated past didn't also play a part? Also featuring on-screen in Madame Web: Celeste O'Connor (Ghostbusters: Afterlife), Isabela Merced (Rosaline), Mike Epps (I'm a Virgo), Emma Roberts (American Horror Story) and Adam Scott (Party Down). Veteran TV helmer SJ Clarkson (Succession, Vinyl, Jessica Jones) directs, and also co-wrote the script with producer Claire Parker (Life on Mars). Check out the trailer for Madame Web below: Madame Web opens in cinemas Down Under on Wednesday, February 14, 2024.
Formerly known as Beechworth Honey Experience, the Honey Shop by Beechworth Honey is where you can buy locally made honey, taste test more than 30 100-percent Australian honey varieties, see live working bees up close. Following this devastating bushfires of 2019/2020, Beechworth Honey has created a Bee Rebuild and Recovery Fund to support bees and beekeepers over the next decade as they recover from the crisis. The generations-old beekeeping company is always worth a visit to stock up on its award-winning honey, honey-based sodas and honeycomb chocolate bars, and to learn about the importance of bees to our agricultural system. It's open daily and, though unstaffed, the Bee School also welcomes visitors for drop-in opportunities to learn more buzzy facts. Image: Robert Blackburn, Visit Victoria
There's nothing shameful about texting back "nah can't, busy" when it's basically three degrees outside and you can't feel your toes. There's also nothing shameful, we say, in embracing the part of you that yearns for cosy nights in. That part that is more than happy to spend weekends wrapped in a blanket, comfort food in hand — or better yet, a nip of something stronger to help keep you warm. Spend this winter with Jimmy. No, not that Hinge dude you went on a date with last year, but Jimmy Brings, the alcohol delivery service/a cold winter night's best friend. Not only will the service deliver your prefered drops to your door, but this season, it's also running a doppelganger competition till Thursday, August 8. If you or a mate happen to look like Jimmy himself, enter the competition via Instagram, and you might find your face plastered on the service's vans. And with such fame, you and a friend of your choice will both get a six-month supply of Jimmy Brings ($150 per month). Start checking out your friends with glasses and scruff, stat, and in the meantime, here's how to have a good time this winter without leaving your home. CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY + THE PARTY STARTER BUNDLE Possibly the greatest party game (and often most incendiary right after Monopoly), Cards Against Humanity isn't for the faint-hearted, your nan or anyone who isn't prepared to have their dating life, political beliefs and general being thrown under the bus. But as long as you know that nobody you're playing with is a flat-earther or anything, Cards Against Humanity might be just the ticket to kicking off a fun night of hibernating (a hibernight, if you will). Pair it with Jimmy Brings' party starter bundle to really get your creative juices flowing. Complete with one chardonnay, one pinot noir, a six-pack of Coronas, two bottles of coke, chips and nuts, the pack will have you carding 'til the wee hours (or until the first person storms out). [caption id="attachment_609970" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Fonda by Brook James.[/caption] MEXICAN FOOD + THE SPARKLING JIMMARITA BUNDLE Forget about your numb lil toes and rewarm your hands by getting them around some spicy Mexican eats. Order yourself some tacos from Fonda in Melbourne or Sydney or the chilli con carne from Pepe's Mexican, all available on UberEats for maximum hibernation points (boss level unlocked by getting your housemate to answer the door instead of you). Pair your muy bien feast with Jimmy's Jimmarita bundle: one bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila, one bottle of prosecco and two limes, which can also be used to dress your tacos a little more. [caption id="attachment_716662" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Colleen Hayes.[/caption] WINE COUNTRY ON NETFLIX + THE CRISP WHITE BUNDLE Netflix, aka Our Winter Lord and Saviour, is currently streaming Wine Country, the new film from Amy Poehler. The Parks & Rec funny lady brings her mates along for the ride, too, with Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch and even Tina Fey showing up to help her guzzle wine at a weekend getaway she throws for her friend's 40th birthday. There's a lot of day drinking and scheduled fun — and women living their best lives — and you can join 'em from the comfort of your own home. Order in Jimmy's Crisp Whites bundle, featuring four greatest hits of sauvignon blanc and pinot gris, and invite over four of your galpals (or boypals). [caption id="attachment_729110" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The National: 'I Am Easy to Find' cover art.[/caption] THE NATIONAL'S LATEST ALBUM + A PINOT NOIR American rockers The National are high in moodiness and low in fi, making them the perfect band to spend a cold night in with — so why not let Jimmy join you? Maximise the broody, rainy vibes with a bottle of medium-bodied South Island pinot noir from Central Otago, with "sagacious tannins"; let Matt Berninger's resonating vocals wash over you by listening to the band's new album, I Am Easy To Find. Nothing like doing some solid introspection by getting yourself lost in the flood of A. red wine, B. the rain outside and C. emotions from the very emotion-inducing indie rock band. (Every person has at least one break-up song from the back catalogue, surely). Feeling things can be living your best life, too; here's to solo bedroom therapy. [caption id="attachment_729109" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Shetland still.[/caption] BINGE WATCH SHETLAND + A DRAM OF GLENLIVET WHISKY Atmospheric TV show Shetland is set in the wild Scottish Isles and follows a detective inspector investigating murders on the island of Shetland. Set off the longing in your heart to retire to an obscure island by binging the first three seasons (they're all on Netflix, with season four currently showing on ABC iview) and resolutely ignoring the "are you still watching?" question the streaming giant will ask you when you get elbow deep in murder mystery. Pair your binge with a neat Glenlivet — Jimmy will bring you an entire bottle for sipping as you try to figure out whodunnit. If you're hibernating this winter, do it right with good entertainment, your mates and Jimmy Brings. Download the Jimmy Brings app to get started, and keep your eyes peeled for that Jimmy doppelganger. It could land you and a mate a six-month supply of Jimmy Brings. To enter the competition, follow @jimmybrings on Instagram and tag your doppelganger photo with #jimmybrings before Thursday, August 8, 2019.
With money to burn, the folks at Crown Casino are hosting one seriously lavish party. Set up along Crown Riverwalk by the Yarra, this three-day festival includes tons of great food and cooking demonstrations, as well as music and arts and crafts. Performers will be roaming the crowd during daylight hours, while a fireworks display on the Saturday evening should guarantee you a happy and prosperous New Year.
When Bong Joon-ho makes a new movie, the world takes notice. It has never paid quite as much attention as it has to Parasite, though. Since premiering at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, the twisty Korean thriller has picked up the Palme d'Or, the Sydney Film Festival Prize, a Golden Globe, plenty more awards and nominations, rave reviews and an enormous cult following. And rightly so. It's best movie of the past year — a call we don't make lightly. It seems that no one can get enough of this dark and devious film, its class war between rich and struggling families, and the scathing mayhem that follows. Case in point: more than six months after the film first released in Australian cinemas, it's still showing on big screens around the country. And in the near future, Parasite will be flickering across small screens, too — not just via DVD or streaming, but adapted into a new limited TV series for HBO. As revealed by The Hollywood Reporter, the US network is set to join forces with Bong to turn Parasite into a television show, winning the rights over Netflix. Bong will adapt and executive produce alongside Adam McKay — the director of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, its sequel and a heap of other Will Ferrell-starring comedies, who then made the jump to more political and topical fare with The Big Short, Vice and TV's Golden Globe-winning Succession. The final deal on HBO's iteration of Parasite hasn't been done as yet, so there's no word on whether it'll be an English-language remake or a Korean-language follow-up to the film. Casting and timing haven't been revealed either. Parasite marks the second of Bong's stellar flicks to earn a small-screen version, with an American TV show-based Snowpiercer due to hit screens this year — although Bong himself isn't involved with that adaptation. Need a reminder of Parasite's greatness? Check out the film's trailer below or go see it in cinemas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEUXfv87Wpk Via The Hollywood Reporter.
The motto at Big Boy BBQ is 'Slow Food… Fast', meaning that the meat is generously rubbed with spices and slow-cooked for up to 16 hours — but the crew can still dish them out quick sticks once orders start coming in. The Caulfield South restaurant had an overhaul in 2019 and this new concept, Southern Grace Diner, is an homage to the traditional 'meat and three' eateries that are dotted all over the US deep south. The menu is straightforward enough. First, choose between juicy smoked meat or ribs, then select up to three sides to enjoy with it — think salads, fries, coleslaw, crackling, vegetable gratin, mash and gravy or mac 'n' cheese. Be sure to save room for sweet potato pie for dessert, too. This spot offers BYO beer and wine for only $5 surcharge per person, and if you fall in love with the addictive southern-style barbecue sauces, glazes and vinegar dips, the restaurant sells takeaway jars for $13. Southern Grace Diner offers BYO beer and wine.
Just like that, it's footy finals time again. It feels like yesterday we were excitedly kicking off the season. Now, the eight finalists are locked in, which means you need to start thinking about your game day plans across the 2025 Toyota AFL finals series. If you're contemplating hosting your own watch party, here are some tips for gathering the crew (without opening a packet of chips and calling it a day). Patricia Nahuelhual/ Getty Images Footy Colours If you're hosting a game day party, you've got to set the tone. Buy napkins and cups in the team's colours, hang streamers, and pull out your favourite AFL beanies and scarves (even if your team's not playing). We're not doing half measures here. By putting effort into the aesthetics, your guests are sure to appreciate your hosting abilities and crown it the "best game day party ever". [caption id="attachment_1019239" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Raquel Arocena Torres[/caption] Up The Food Ante Have you ever hosted a last-minute watch party and panic-bought $7 chips from the bottle-o? Us too. Consider this article your formal warning. Don't stress, though. Most of your mates will be there for the game rather than the hors d'oeuvres. Ensure your guests are well fed with a decent meal like homemade tacos, pizzas, or even a good old sausage sizzle. [caption id="attachment_1019273" align="alignleft" width="1920"] Maskot/ Getty Images[/caption] Stock The Bar Cart While most good house guests will BYO booze, ensure you have a wide range of mixers, non-alcoholic beverages, and a backup bottle of wine or carton of beers. No one wants to miss the goal of the match because they took one for the team and ducked into the bottle shop. If you have time, create an at-home bar space to make your guests feel like they're at the local pub (although that is another good watch option if you don't want the clean up). Mood Lighting While some AFL games kick off in the afternoon (including the Grand Final), the festivities can stretch well into the evening. No one wants to feel like they're under the floodlights at their local footy ground while watching the game. Once the sun dips, switch out the overhead glare for warm lamps or fairy lights — something that feels more cosy lounge bar than training oval. It'll keep the mood mellow and give your mates zero reason to call it a night early. [caption id="attachment_1019274" align="alignleft" width="1920"] Getty Images[/caption] Comfy Watching Spots No one wants to ride out four quarters on a wobbly plastic chair that feels one snack plate away from collapse. You don't need a massive lounge room or futon to make this happen. Pull in any spare armchairs from other rooms, throw a few comfy pillows and blankets onto the floor and let your mates sink in. The goal: make it feel less like a waiting room and more like your own private footy lounge. Afterparty Options The night doesn't have to end at the final kick. While some punters may be nursing their footy wounds post-game, others may be ready to head to the dancefloor. Scope out the bars and clubs running post-match parties so you've got somewhere to keep the good times rolling. It's the end of the season after all, and we need to farewell an epic match before doing it all over again in 2026. Still trying to find some grand final tickets? Test your Footy IQ and go in the draw to win tickets to the 2025 Toyota AFL Grand Final here. T&Cs Apply. Lead image: Getty Images
There's no end to innovative musical apps, but one of the most successful we've seen must be John Lennon: The Bermuda Tapes, a new iPad app that gorgeously visualises the creative process of a true legend. Made with input from Yoko Ono and with all proceeds going to the Imagine No Hunger campaign, the app is an interactive musical journey resurrecting Lennon’s unreleased demos from his mysterious trip to Bermuda in 1980. Here, he began writing material for the first time in five years and reworking earlier demos, cultivating inspiration from his new surroundings. It is this inspiration that director Michael Epstein has sought to harness, inviting you to steer Lennon’s yacht as he battles thrashing waves solo (in fact, he almost lost his life voyaging through these treacherous waters). Perhaps venture through Bermuda’s gardens and record your own musical fancies, or witness Lennon’s moment of realisation when he recognises Ono’s wailing vocals influencing the music of the B-52’s, pumping through '70s disco speakers. What has been referred to here as 'The Bermuda Tapes' blossomed into John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s final studio album, Double Fantasy. Released in 1980, the album received largely negative reviews for its perceived lapse into sentimentality and familial bliss. However, the shock murder of Lennon three weeks after the album’s release swiftly transformed these criticisms into tributes and reflections on a staggeringly influential career cut short. The fact that the album became coloured by the murder is something Epstein hopes to counter, aiming to reclaim some of the music and spark fresh appreciation untainted by the tragic circumstances. Contemplating what makes a successful album app, Catherine Moore, an associate professor of music business at New York University, told Time magazine.,“My feeling is that unless the app is visually really engaging, really fits with the music, that there’s better ways to spend your creative resources.” It may just be that John Lennon: The Bermuda Tapes meets this criteria. It is an impressive feat of digital storytelling, consisting of six chapters driven by interviews with Lennon and Ono, who comment on their being apart and how this impacted their artistic process. It is a searing portrait of the intimacy and dynamism of their relationship. The app errs more on the side of interactive storytelling than gameplay. There is a profound sense of nostalgia imbued in the gentle and harmonious rhythm of images constantly forming and reforming. Epstein has also achieved a skillful balance between narration, music and interaction — there is no one component that feels intrusive or overbearing. It is an appropriately exploratory aesthetic in accommodating these fragments of lost music and commentary. Epstein also insists upon the need to experience music in a new way, telling Fast Co.Create, "I think this is the logical evolution of the digital platform for music." John Lennon: The Bermuda Tapes offers the industry a much-needed injection of warmth and vitality. It is a technological revival and revamping of one of our most beloved artists and musicians — the best of the past and the future moulded into one. See more of Yoko Ono's works at her exhibition War Is Over! (If You Want It) is on at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art Australia until February 23, 2014. Via Fast Co.Create.
So, you want to save some money. Perhaps you're looking to finally put a deposit down on your first home. Or maybe your ol' clunker of a car is on its last kilometres. Or do you simply want to treat yourself to that pair of Gucci sunnies you know you don't actually need but you can't stop thinking about? Often, while we're in savings mode, we switch to totally denying ourselves the things we love, making ourselves miserable in the process. But the good news is you don't have to give up everything. Save smarter, not harder. And have fun doing it. To help get you started, we've partnered with Great Southern Bank to come up with some easy ways to save without having to live a totally joyless existence. From chopping your weekly food bill to a banking hack that'll have you adding to your savings without even noticing, these tips will keep you on track. BECOME YOUR OWN BARISTA We know, we know. You need your caffeine fix. We're not saying to cut that double-shot oat milk latte altogether, but buying one or two a day adds up really quickly. Keen to crunch some numbers? Let's say your average coffee costs $4 and you buy two every day — that's $2920 spent on java every year. Add that up over five years and it's a whopping $14,600. Instead, invest in a bit of kit to get your coffee hit at home. Proper espresso machines are great, but also pricey. Keep an eye out for a secondhand one and you might be able to score a bargain. Alternatively, get a good percolator and some quality beans. You can score a percolator for as little as $12 (that's three coffees) that'll last for years to come. For beans, you can get your fix from top Aussie coffee roasters. While price varies due to blends, beans and all sorts of things, beans from local roasters will usually cost somewhere between $15–23 for 250 grams (about 35 cups worth). You might even want to throw a milk frother into the mix, then you'll be whipping up deluxe coffee at home in no time. Best of all, you can do it all in your dressing gown. Then, once a week or so, treat yourself to the real deal at that local cafe with the cute barista. You're only human, after all. DITCH THE CROWDED COMMUTE This one is kind of a no-brainer for inner-city dwellers. Why go through the hassle of being packed onto hot and crowded public transport, especially in the age of social distancing? The same goes for driving — nobody wants to waste time (and petrol) sitting in traffic. Even if it means starting half an hour sooner than you would normally, walking to your destination means you're getting exercise and saving money. For longer trips look into getting a bike, scooter or skateboard (again, secondhand bargains are everywhere). If you have to travel quite the distance, electronic bikes are a godsend. Whether you're already in the office or are going back when restrictions further ease, ditching the public transport life even once or twice a week is better for the bank, the environment and your physical and emotional wellbeing. MEAL PREP LIKE A PRO Meal prepping: it sounds tedious at first, but once you get into the swing of it, it's really not that much of a hassle. And, spoiler alert, it can actually be fun — or, at least, it'll give you a sense of achievement on an otherwise unproductive Sunday. If you're a novice, start simple: try roasting a whole chook with veggies. You'll easily get a couple of dinners out of it, and the leftover meat can be used for sandwiches, salads and burrito bowls. Oh, and don't bin the carcass — it'll make a great homemade stock that you can portion out and freeze for later. Don't eat meat? Dust of that slow cooker and make a huge dhal for an easy-yet-nourishing feed. The more prep you do, the better and more inventive you'll get with it. Soon your homemade lunches will easily surpass that underwhelming $18 toastie you ordered on Uber Eats. FOLLOW THE SEASONS Now that you're on the way to becoming a whiz in the kitchen, you'll want to know how to cut down that grocery bill. It's just simple supply and demand, really. Shopping seasonally means that if you're buying something that's readily available the price is lower as there are fewer costs going into acquiring it. We're incredibly fortunate in Australia to have amazing fruit and veg available all year round, but certain things grow in abundance in summer rather than winter and vice versa. So, embrace shopping and cooking seasonally. You'll eat well and expand your repertoire while saving so that it feels almost natural. [caption id="attachment_737580" align="alignnone" width="1920"] SWOP Clothing Exchange, Trent van der Jagt[/caption] GET THRIFTY Thrift shops, Salvos, Vinnies, Depop, Facebook Marketplace — there's no end to the bargains and unique pieces you can find without the hectic price tags. More often than not, op shops are located near other op shops so you can make a day of traversing a few and seeing what you can find. Pro tip: go to affluent suburbs, where you're more likely to uncover some rare gems in top condition. And while you're mindlessly doomscrolling on your phone at night, try browsing on Depop. You'll be surprised and delighted by the great designer pieces you can find from the likes of 3.1 Phillip Lim, Acne Studios, Zimmermann and more. EMBRACE THE GREAT OUTDOORS Spring is here, so it's time to get outside and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine. And it'll be lighter on the wallet than a night on the town. Pack a picnic and head to the park for a long-awaited catch-up with your mates. If you're lucky, you'll be able to snag a public barbecue to have a cook-up and embrace the simple pleasures of a DIY outdoor feast. Toss a frisbee or a football, challenge your buds to a game of Finska, and stuff sausages into your pockets so all the dogs come to play with you. Okay, maybe not that last one, but you get the idea. BANK BETTER Knowing where your money is and why you're choosing to put it there is important in terms of goals and improving your overall financial literacy. If you're clamouring to get your first home, choose a bank that maximises your saving potential, such as Great Southern Bank. Great Southern Bank is empowering young Aussies with their banking to get them to their savings goals faster. Whether you're saving for a house deposit or just want to develop better banking habits, Great Southern Bank has a number of smart tools and features to get you there. One is The Boost, where you can set a predetermined amount (between $0.01 and $5) from your everyday transaction account to be automatically transferred to your savings account every time you make a purchase. That means every sambo, short black and schooner is subtly boosting your savings. Once you've got that all set up, you'll want to keep your savings fund from shrinking. For instance, if you get a bit tap happy when you're out having a good time (who doesn't), your bank balance can take quite the hit. This is where having a spending cap on your account can come in handy. Be realistic about how much you'll need depending on the activity. And, here's the tricky part: don't transfer more. You'll thank yourself later. Great Southern Bank is empowering Aussies to get clever with their banking. Whether you want to stick to your savings goals with The Boost or hide your house deposit fund from yourself with The Vault, Great Southern Bank helps you get there. For more information on savings tools and home loan options, head to the Great Southern Bank website. Top image: SWOP Clothing Exchange, Trent van der Jagt
Father's Day is around the corner (Sunday, September 7), and it's time to get a little creative this year. You can do better than another pair of socks and a run-of-the-mill brunch to celebrate your dad, granddad, uncle, brother, or other father figure in your life. We've rounded up the best things to do this Father's Day, whether it's a cooking class with the kids, a barbecue among furry friends, a free haircut accompanied by a cold beer, or an all-you-can-eat yum cha feast. If you're looking for more, check out Melbourne's best set menus under $100, top spots to BYO, or venues that are perfect for group bookings. Whatever you choose, be sure to make Father's Day a memorable one this year. Recommended reads: The Best Restaurants in Melbourne The Best Wine Bars in Melbourne The Best Pubs in Melbourne The Best Yum Cha in Melbourne [caption id="attachment_945738" align="alignnone" width="1920"] David's Prahran[/caption] For a Bottomless Feed: David's Yum Cha Head to David's (in Prahran or the CBD) this Father's Day to treat the family to bottomless yum cha, which includes a selection of more than 16 dim sum dishes. Think san choi bao, peking duck pancakes, spring rolls, shu mai, fried chicken and pork buns. The easy part is not having to choose because you can taste it all. The hard part is trying not to get full too quickly so you can get your money's worth. Hot tip: Always save room for the white chocolate dumplings. [caption id="attachment_801858" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Queen Victoria Market[/caption] For an Interactive Activity with the Kids: a Cooking Class at Queen Victoria Market If you're looking for a way to get the kids to spend some quality time with the father figure in their life this Father's Day, give a hands-on cooking class at the Queen Victoria Market a go. Chef Tobie Puttock and his daughter will guide participants (suitable for kids ages ten and above) through a cooking class that focuses on a zero-waste philosopy. The class will take place in the Moving Feast Kitchen, an initiative led by social enterprise STREAT. This program aims to drastically reduce the amount of produce that goes to waste each year at the market. Over three tonnes of food have been saved since May 2024, and initiatives such as the Father's Day cooking class will contribute to improving this already impressive statistic. For an Italian Party: Marameo If you're looking to kick off your shoes this Father's Day, head to Marameo's one-off Sunday session this September. Doors will open at noon, and bookings are available until 3:45 pm. Marameo prides itself on being Italian-born but Melbourne-bred. It boasts a bold menu with dishes such as Italo disco lamb ribs, wagyu tartare cannoli and pork cotoletta with chilli salsa verde. Special mention must be made of the coveted cacio e pepe pasta with black truffles and the 10-cheese lasagna with mushrooms. Dine à la carte or go for Head Chef Geoff Martin's Father's Day set menu. For a Spot of Shopping: the Makers & Shakers Market If you're looking for something different to do this Father's Day, why not head to the Makers & Shakers Market at the Melbourne Royal Exhibition Building for a spot of retail therapy. The market is proudly made up of all-Australian stallholders, with more than 180 makers, designers and producers showing off their goods. It's a good thing the market is running from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, September 6, and Sunday, September 7, as there is much to see and do. Try the newly crowned winner of Ballarat's Best Pie, head to Awkward Portraits for a family photo, get creative at a collage workshop, drop the littles off at the Kids Zone, join an hour-long guided spirits tasting session and treat yourself to a hot Italian sub from Rocco's Bologna Discoteca. For Gourmet Catering at Home: Ruben's Deli If you plan to stay in this Father's Day but want to take the stress out of entertaining, let Ruben's Deli do the hard work for you with their gourmet catering options. Signature boxes include the pastrami box, toasted Reuben sandwich box, bagel box, roast chicken box, blini box, antipasti box and smoked fish box. There are also a variety of mains, sides and desserts to choose from, such as Ruben's famous cinnamon babkas and chiffon cakes. Catering orders should be confirmed at least 36 hours before pick up, however, if you are more of a last-minute host, the Armadale store is stocked daily with their gourmet goodies. For a Vegan Feast: Lona Misa For the modern dad who has moved beyond meat and three veg, head to Lona Misa this Father's Day for an all-out vegan feast. The Latin-leaning set menu curated for Father's Day includes the likes of watermelon ceviche, chargrilled shiitake mushroom skewers with aji amarillo and fried sweet potato, and Peruvian-style chicken a la brasa. Lona Misa's signature punny cocktails will take your celebrations up a notch. Try the Panic at the Pisco! with vermouth, passionfruit and lime, or the Rye, Rye, Miss American Chai with rye whiskey, chai syrup and Aztec chocolate bitters. The four-course tasting menu is available from 2–6 September. For a Sunday Roast and Free Pint of Guinness: the Ganley Group Pubs You can't go wrong with a Sunday Roast and a pint of Guinness for Father's Day. Especially when said pint is free. This Father's Day, head to the Bay Hotel Mornington, the Fifth Province or the Windsor Castle (all of Ganley Group) for a special King Island Roast Beef Sirloin served with all the trimmings. Liam Ganley, Director of the Ganley Group, says that their "venues are built on creating moments that matter, and Father's Day is the perfect chance to gather around the table, share a great meal, and show appreciation in the most classic way possible." Sounds pretty good to us. The complimentary Guinness is on offer for all pre-booked Father's Day reservations, so go ahead and make your booking now. For Great Beer and Free Haircuts: Pirate Life Brewery The much-loved Father's Day celebration returns to Pirate Life in South Melbourne this September. The crew at Pirate Life are going the extra mile to make the father figure in your life feel like a legend this Father's Day. There will be a pop-up barber shop offering free cuts and trims, a free can cooler given away with Dad's first pint, and complimentary four-packs handed out to tables booked in advance. We don't have to tell you that the beer will be cold and flowing generously, and the food will be hearty and plentiful. For a Wholesome Family Outing: Father's Day Barbecue at Healesville Sanctuary Tickets are on sale now for the fluffiest, most wholesome Father's Day barbecue at the Healesville Sanctuary. You can expect a buffet lunch, live music, face painting, lawn games and other activities designed to make this a memorable family day out. Kids will be enticed with marshmallow roasting stations, and dads will be rewarded with a complimentary beer on arrival. For Sunday Roasts and Steins of Beer: Molly Rose There are stacks of restaurants that cater for big groups, but Molly Rose is gunning for the top spot this year with its pork knuckle lunch special. The Father's Day set menu is packed with hearty roast favourites such as gravy, roast potatoes and cabbage salad. And as this is a brewery, you best expect a few cheeky beer deals. First off, you and your dad can get $22 steins of the team's Lager #3 throughout the day, and they'll even throw in a free Michelada for dad. With a kids' menu and vegetarian and vegan options, the whole family will be well looked after. [caption id="attachment_966939" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Suxzie Q[/caption] For Set Menu Deals: MAMAS Dining Group MAMAS Dining Group (Hochi Mama, Straight Outta Saigon, Kiss and Tell, Windsor Wine Room and Suzie Q) is getting on the Father's Day banquet train this year, offering special set menus at all six of its venues. Head to Hochi Mama for snapper sashimi and massaman curry, Windor Wine Room for chilli crab spaghetti and tiramisu, Straight Outta Saigon for lamb skewers and pork belly, or Suzie Q for barbecue pork buns and black sesame cheesecake. So many options, so little time. For a Special Sweet Treat: Pidapipo Pidapipo welcomes back their viral Papamisu dessert to make Father's Day extra sweet this year. The tub of tiramisu is filled with layers of mascarpone gelato, Savoiardi biscuits, espresso and sweet cherry syrup, gianduja ganache and chocolate shavings. Head in store to grab one before they are all gone, or try your luck on Uber Eats or Doordash. Top image: Ashley Ludkin
When all else fails, escape into cinema: that's the movie-lover's mantra. There's nothing quite like staring at the silver screen in a cavernous theatre, soaking in its shimmering sights with nothing else but darkness around you and communing with the artform as it flickers by at 24 frames per second. And, that's a truth that remained intact in 2021, even with temporary pandemic-induced cinema closures once again part of our reality for another year. As anyone who yearned to watch a film somewhere other than their own couch knows — to revel in the escape that only these celluloid dreams bring, too — absence definitely makes the heart grow fonder. Whether picture palaces near you were up and running or affected by lockdowns, they still screened a wealth of fantastic movies in 2021. They showed terrible ones as well, but that always comes with the territory. We watched and reviewed them all each week no matter what, exceptional and terrible alike, and somehow managed to whittle all the standout flicks down to this: our picks for the year's 12 absolute best movies. 2021 might've been another swirl of chaos in general, but movie magic always delivers. THE POWER OF THE DOG Don't call it a comeback: Jane Campion's films have been absent from cinemas for 12 years but, due to miniseries Top of the Lake, she hasn't been biding her time in that gap. And don't call it simply returning to familiar territory, even if the New Zealand director's new movie features an ivory-tinkling woman caught between cruel and sensitive men, as her Cannes Palme d'Or-winner The Piano did three decades ago. Campion isn't rallying after a dip, just as she isn't repeating herself. She's never helmed anything less than stellar, and she's immensely capable of unearthing rich new pastures in well-ploughed terrain. With The Power of the Dog, Campion is at the height of her skills trotting into her latest mesmerising musing on strength, desire and isolation — this time via a venomous western that's as perilously bewitching as its mountainous backdrop. That setting is Montana, circa 1925. Campion's homeland stands in for America nearly a century ago, making a magnificent sight — with cinematographer Ari Wegner (Zola, True History of the Kelly Gang) perceptively spying danger in its craggy peaks and dusty plains even before the film introduces Rose and Peter Gordon (On Becoming a God in Central Florida's Kirsten Dunst and 2067's Kodi Smit-McPhee). When the widowed innkeeper and her teenage son serve rancher brothers Phil and George Burbank (Spider-Man: No Way Home's Benedict Cumberbatch a career-best, awards-worthy, downright phenomenal turn, plus Antlers' Jesse Plemons) during a cattle-run stop, the encounter seesaws from callousness to kindness, a dynamic that continues after Rose marries George and decamps to the Burbank mansion against that stunning backdrop. Brutal to the lanky, lisping Peter from the outset, Phil responds to the nuptials with malice. He isn't fond of change, and won't accommodate anything that fails his bristling definition of masculinity and power, either. Read our full review. FIRST COW Gone are the days when every image that flickered across the screen did so within an almost square-shaped frame. So, when a director today fits their visuals into a much tighter space than the now-expansive norm, it's an intentional choice. They're not just nodding to the past, even if their film takes place in times gone by. With First Cow, for instance, Kelly Reichardt unfurls a story set in 19th-century America, but she's also honing her audience's focus. The Certain Women filmmaker wants those guiding their eyeballs towards this exquisite movie to truly survey everything that it peers at, to see its central characters — chef Otis 'Cookie' Figowitz (John Magaro, Overlord) and Chinese entrepreneur King-Lu (Orion Lee, Zack Snyder's Justice League) — and to realise that neither are ever afforded such attention by the others in their fictional midst. There's much to take in throughout this magnificently told tale, which heads to Oregon as most of Reichardt's movies have. In its own quiet, closely observed, deeply affectionate and warm-hearted fashion, First Cow is a heist movie, although the filmmaker's gentle and insightful spin on the usually slick and twist-filled genre bucks every convention there is. It first meets Cookie as he's searching for food, and meets King-Lu when Cookie helps him evade a group of Russians. The seeds of friendship are sown and, when the duo next crosses paths, they spend an alcohol-addled night sharing their respective ideas for the future. Those ambitious visions get a helping hand after the Chief Factor (Toby Jones, Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom) ships in the region's highly coveted first cow, with Cookie and King-Lu secretly milking the animal in the dark of night, then using the stolen liquid to make highly sought-after — and highly profitable — oily cakes. Read our full review. LICORICE PIZZA A Star Is Born has already graced the titles of four different films, and Licorice Pizza isn't one of them. Paul Thomas Anderson's ninth feature, and his loosest since Boogie Nights — his lightest since ever, too — does boast a memorable Bradley Cooper performance, though. That said, this 70s- and San Fernando Valley-set delight isn't quite about seeking fame, then navigating its joys and pitfalls, although child actors and Hollywood's ups and downs all figure into the narrative. Licorice Pizza definitely births two new on-screen talents, however, both putting in two of 2021's best performances and two of the finest-ever movie debuts. That's evident from the film's very first sublimely grainy 35-millimetre-shot moments, as Alana Haim of Haim (who PTA has directed several music videos for) and Cooper Hoffman (son of the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman, a PTA regular) do little more than chat, stroll and charm. The radiant Haim plays Alana Kane, a Valley dweller of 25 or 28 (her story changes) working as a photographer's assistant, which brings her to a Tarzana high school on yearbook picture day. Enter the smoothly assured Hoffman as 15-year-old Gary Valentine, who is instantly smitten and tries to wrangle a date. From there, Licorice Pizza charts the pair's friendship as it circles and swirls, and as they often sprint towards each other — chronicling everything else going on in the San Fernando Valley, where PTA himself grew up, too. The result is a shaggy slice-of-life film that Anderson has penned partly based on stories shared by Gary Goetzman, an ex-child talent turned frequent producer of Tom Hanks movies. Spanning everything from waterbed sales to high-tension truck drives — and child-acting stardom, gasoline shortages and mayoral campaigns as well — Anderson lets Licorice Pizza saunter along leisurely like it's just stepped out of the 70s itself, and coats it in that anything-can-happen vibe that only comes with youth. Read our full review. PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Promising Young Woman would've made an excellent episode or season of Veronica Mars. That's meant as the highest compliment to both the bubblegum-hued take on the rape-revenge genre and the cult-status private detective series. Writer/director Emerald Fennell clearly isn't blind to the parallels between the two, even casting Veronica Mars stars Max Greenfield (New Girl) and Chris Lowell (GLOW) in her feature debut. Don't go thinking the Killing Eve season two showrunner and The Crown actor is simply following in other footsteps, though. At every moment, the brilliant and blistering Promising Young Woman vibrates with too much anger, energy and insight to merely be a copycat of something else. It's a film made with the savviest of choices, and provocative and downright fearless ones as well, in everything from its soundtrack to its weaponised pastel, peppy and popping Instagram-friendly imagery. Played by Carey Mulligan, and drawing upon her near-peerless ability to express complex internalised turmoil, Cassie Thomas is inebriated and alone at a nightclub when she's introduced. Three men discuss women over beverages by the bar, and notice Cassie while talking, with one commenting, "they put themselves in danger, girls like that". No woman brings sexual assault upon themselves, with this whole intelligent and astute revenge-thriller rebuffing the bro-ish bar guy's early observation in every way possible, and meting out punishment to those who think similarly. Cassie won't stand for such attitudes and, as she embarks upon a vigilante quest, the movie takes her to bold places. Boasting a relentlessness that mirrors the persistence of grief and pain after trauma, Promising Young Woman never lets its protagonist's rage subside, proving furious from start to finish — and sharing that feeling even in the film's most overt setups and obvious scenes (which are also some of its most entertaining) is a foregone conclusion. Read our full review. ANNETTE Dreamy and dazzling from its first moments, rock opera Annette bursts onto the screen with a question: "so may we start?". "Please do", fans of Holy Motors director Leos Carax should think to themselves, and devotees of Ron and Russell Mael as well — and yes the later, aka art-pop duo Sparks, are clearly having a moment in 2021 (see: The Sparks Brothers below). All three appear on-screen in Annette's opening, joined by Adam Driver (Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker), Marion Cotillard (We'll End Up Together) and Simon Helberg (The Big Bang Theory). In a glorious, song-fuelled, sing-and-walk scene, no one is playing a character yet, but they're all still playing a part. They're setting the vibe in a sensational way, and the tune is pure Sparks, with the pair both composing the movie's music and writing the feature itself with Carax. The tone bubbles with the duo's avant-garde sensibilities, too, and the whole song echoes with the promise of remarkable things to come. Nine years ago, Carax gave the world a once-in-a-lifetime gem. Annette is a different film to Holy Motors, obviously, but it gleams just as brightly and with the same beguiling, inimitable, all-encompassing allure. There's an ethereal, otherworldly quality to Carax's work — of heightening reality to truly understand how people feel and act, and of experimenting with artforms to interrogate them — and that sensation seeps through every second of his gleefully melodramatic musical, which deservedly won him the Cannes Film Festival's Best Director award. Everything about Annette has been turned up several notches on every setting, from its lush and lavish imagery to its cascade of toe-tapping, sung-through tunes that keep propelling the narrative forward. Every detail of that story has been amplified, too, as this tragic fairy tale follows standup comedian Henry McHenry (Driver), opera star Ann Defrasnoux's (Cotillard), their mismatched but passionate and all-consuming love, and their titular daughter — with the latter played by a marionette. Read our full review. NITRAM It's terrifying to contemplate something so gut-wrenchingly abominable as the bodies-in-barrels murders, which director Justin Kurzel and screenwriter Shaun Grant depicted in 2011's Snowtown, and to face the fact that people rather than evil were behind them. Nitram courts and provokes the same response. Exploring the events preceding the Port Arthur massacre, where 35 people were murdered and 23 others wounded in Tasmania in 1996, it focuses on something equally as ghastly, and similarly refuses to see the perpetrator as just a monster or a Hollywood horror movie-style foe. It too is difficult, distressing, disquieting and disturbing, understandably. In their third collaboration — with 2019's blazing True History of the Kelly Gang in the middle — Kurzel and Grant create another tricky masterpiece, in fact. That Nitram is about a person is one key reason for its brilliance. The film's core off-screen duo don't excuse their protagonist. They don't justify the unjustifiable, explain it, exploit it or provide neat answers to a near-unfathomable crime. Rather, they're careful in depicting the lone gunman responsible for Australia's worst single-shooter mass killing, right down to refusing to name him. In an exacting movie in every way possible, they also benefit from exceptional performances by Caleb Landry Jones (Finch) as the film's namesake, Judy Davis (Mystery Road) as his wearied mother, Anthony LaPaglia (Below) as his father and Essie Davis (The Justice of Bunny King) as his lottery heiress friend. Read our full review. THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD Sometimes, a performance just flat-out shakes and startles you — in a good way, that is. In her 2021 Cannes Film Festival Best Actress-winning role, Norwegian actor Renate Reinsve (Phoenix) turns in that type of complex, layered, no-holds-barred and relatable portrayal. She's magnificent, and thoroughly deserves all of the shiny trophies sent her way. She plays Julie, a young Oslo resident who doesn't ever earn The Worst Person in the World's title, but nonetheless pinballs through the mess of her millennial life. Across 12 chapters, plus a prologue and epilogue, almost everything about the character's existence changes within the mere four years that the movie focuses on: dreams, goals, studies, careers, loved ones, boyfriends (including Bergman Island's Anders Danielsen Lie), apartments, friends and her perception of herself. That aforementioned moniker stems from a comment that Julie spits her own way, actually, because she's often aware of her own chaos. Writer/director Joachim Trier (Thelma) is just as cognisant of how romantic dramedies like this tend to turn out, which both feeds and enables Reinsve's astonishing performance — because this isn't the usual cliche-riddled affair. Every rise and fall that comes Julie's way transcends tropes to contemplate what growing up, being an adult and forging a life is really like, including at both the sunniest and the most heartbreaking extremes. As a character study, The Worst Person in the World is a masterpiece. As a snapshot of an age and life stage, it's just as canny, insightful and excellent. Read our full review. TITANE Eye roll-inducingly terrible bumper stickers be damned; no one honks if they're horny in Titane. Revving when aroused is more this petrol-doused body-horror film's style, spanning characters both flesh and chrome. When she's seen writhing in fishnets atop a flame-adorned vintage Cadillac, the stony-gazed Alexia (debutant Agathe Rousselle) is working. She's titillating a Fast and Furious-style car crowd with her sexed-up display, but the car model still seems to hum with every gyration. After wrapping up, murdering a grab-happy fan with the metal chopstick keeping her hair up and then showering off the gooey, gory evidence, she's soon purring rhythmically inside that gleaming vehicle. Yes, in a plot detail that spilled the instant Titane premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival, where it won the prestigious Palme d'Or, this is the French car sex flick. How does someone fornicate with an automobile? In her sophomore effort after the also-phenomenal teen cannibal film Raw, writer/director Julia Ducournau isn't too interested in those specifics. Instead, she's more concerned with shrewdly linking mechanophilia with agency and control, particularly over one's feelings and body. Her narrative starts its drive in Alexia's childhood, then speeds forward to her time as a fugitive posing as a fire chief's (Vincent Lindon, At War) long-missing son — and proves not just the French car sex film, nor merely a car sex movie about a woman partly forged from titanium (and with a penchant for piercing her way through those who block her road), but a ferocious and unflinching thriller that's also beautiful, tender and compassionate. If Ducournau had made her script out of metal, she'd be moulding it in its molten form. If her feature was a car instead, it'd be that libidinous, fire-emblazoned Cadillac, which arrives with a bang, lures Alexia in and then lets loose. Read our full review. THE SPARKS BROTHERS "All I do now is dick around" is an exquisite song lyric and, in Sparks' 2006 single 'Dick Around', it's sung with the operatic enthusiasm it demands. It's also a line that resounds with both humour and truth when uttered by Russell Mael, who, with elder brother Ron, has been crafting art-pop ditties as irreverent and melodic as this wonderful track since 1969. Sparks haven't been dicking around over that lengthy period. They currently have 25 albums to their name, and they've taken on almost every genre of music there is in their highly acerbic fashion. That said, their tunes are clearly the biggest labour of love possible, especially as the enigmatic duo has always lingered outside the mainstream. They're the band that all your favourite bands, actors and comedians can't get enough of, but they're hardly a household name — and yet, decade after decade, the Maels have kept playing around to make the smart, hilarious and offbeat songs they obviously personally adore. Everyone else should love Sparks' idiosyncratic earworms as well — and, even for those who've never heard of the band before, that's the outcome after watching The Sparks Brothers. Edgar Wright, one of the group's unabashed super fans, has turned his overflowing affection into an exceptional documentary. It's the Shaun of the Dead, Baby Driver and Last Night in Soho director's first factual effort, and it's even more charming and delightful than the films he's best known for. That said, it'd be hard to mess up a movie about Sparks, purely given how much material there is to work with. Russell and Ron, the former sporting shaggier hair and the latter donning a pencil-thin moustache rather than the Charlie Chaplin-style top lip he's brandished for much of his career, are also heavenly interviewees. That's the thing about these now-septuagenarian siblings, every Sparks tune they've ever blasted out into the world, and this comprehensive yet always accessible film that's instantly one of 2021's best: they're all joyously, fabulously, eccentrically fun to an infectious and buoyant degree. Read our full review. THE LOST DAUGHTER Watching Olivia Colman play a complicated woman is like staring at the ocean: it's never the same twice, it couldn't be more unpredictable, and all that surface texture bobs, floats, swells, gleams and glides atop leagues of unseen complexity. It's fitting, then, that The Lost Daughter tasks The Favourite Oscar-winner with glaring at the sea, and doing so both intently and often. A necessity of the narrative, as penned on the page by My Brilliant Friend's Elena Ferrante and adapted for the screen by actor-turned-filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal, it's a touch that washes through the movie with extra force due to its star. Colman plays literature professor Leda, who fills much of her time peering at the water as she summers on a Greek island — and getting caught up in the lives of Nina (Dakota Johnson, The Nowhere Inn) and her frequently screaming toddler. While both gazing at the waves and taking in the onshore domestic dramas, Leda sees her own ebbs, flows, thorns and flaws reflected back. The idea that bringing life into the world isn't the existence-defining triumph of femininity it's sugar-coated as doesn't simply sit at the heart of Ferrante's novel and Gyllenhaal's debut stint behind the lens; from the instant that Colman is seen collapsing on the pebble-strewn shoreline in the picture's opening, it laps over The Lost Daughter's every moment. As seen in its present-day storyline and its flashbacks to the past (with I'm Thinking of Ending Things' Jessie Buckley as Leda), its protagonist is a woman haunted by everything having kids has brought, as well as guilt-stricken by all that's followed — and this bold and affecting movie confronts that rocky truth. For any director, this is audacious and intricate terrain, but Gyllenhaal proves as exceptional and daring a filmmaker as she is a performer. Read our full review. BAD LUCK BANGING OR LOONY PORN Banging is the certainly word for it; when Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn begins, it's with high school teacher Emi (Katia Pascariu, Beyond the Hills) and her camera-wielding husband Eugen (first-timer Stefan Steel) having loud, enthusiastic, pink wig-wearing sex — and filming it. Romanian writer/ director Radu Jude (I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians) shows the explicit three-minute snippet of footage as others will see it, because others will indeed see it: the students at Emi's school, their parents and her fellow teachers among them. All genitalia and thrusting and lustful talk (and shouted queries through the door from whoever is looking after the couple's child), this graphic opening also makes a firm statement. So many people within the film's frames will take issue with it as vocally as Emi and her partner are enjoying themselves — and they're unmistakably enjoying themselves — but Jude definitely isn't one of them. What follows is a razor-sharp satire of a world that's so indifferent to so much, but so unaccepting of carnality. The film wields that notion as a weapon, all as Emi and Bucharest's other residents also navigate the pandemic. In the cinema verite-style first section, Emi rushes around the city on foot, learning of the sex tape backlash while surrounded by everyday hostilities and vulgarities. Next, Jude unleashes scathing and playful cine-essay snippets about Romania's past, the planet's present, human behaviour, and how porn is used as both a scapegoat and anaesthetic. Then, Emi is interrogated by parents and teachers, their judgement and hypocrisy on full display — in the climax to an already brilliant, biting and bleakly hilarious achievement. Read our full review. DUNE A spice-war space opera about feuding houses on far-flung planets, Dune has long been a pop-culture building block. Before Frank Herbert's 1965 novel was adapted into a wrongly reviled David Lynch-directed film — a gloriously 80s epic led by Kyle MacLachlan and laced with surreal touches — it unmistakably inspired Star Wars, and also cast a shadow over Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Game of Thrones has since taken cues from it. The Riddick franchise owes it a debt, too. The list goes on and, thanks to the new version bringing its sandy deserts to cinemas, will only keep growing. As he did with Blade Runner 2049, writer/director Denis Villeneuve has once again grasped something already enormously influential, peered at it with astute eyes and built it anew — and created an instant sci-fi classic. This time, Villeneuve isn't asking viewers to ponder whether androids dream of electric sheep, but if humanity can ever overcome one of our worst urges and all that it brings. With an exceptional cast that spans Timothée Chalamet (The French Dispatch), Oscar Isaac (The Card Counter), Rebecca Ferguson (Reminiscence), Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Josh Brolin (Avengers: Endgame), Javier Bardem (Everybody Knows), Zendaya (Spider-Man: No Way Home) and more, Dune tells of birthrights, prophesied messiahs, secret sisterhood sects that underpin the galaxy and phallic-looking giant sandworms, and of the primal lust for power that's as old as time — and, in Herbert's story, echoes well into the future's future. Its unpacking of dominance and command piles on colonial oppression, authoritarianism, greed, ecological calamity and religious fervour, like it is building a sandcastle out of power's nastiest ramifications. And, amid that weightiness — plus those spectacularly shot visuals and Hans Zimmer's throbbing score — it's also a tale of a moody teen with mind-control abilities struggling with what's expected versus what's right. Read our full review. These are our 12 favourite films of 2021 — but the year was filled with plenty of other excellent movies. We've also put together lists of the best films hardly anyone saw this year, the best straight-to-streaming movies and the other standouts from 2021 that you should catch up on over summer. Don't say you don't have anything to watch.
Only one show on TV starts in a haunted house, then jumps to an asylum for the criminally insane, then follows a coven of descendants of the Salem witch trials. And, from there, it also steps inside a travelling freak show, explores the twisted history of an LA hotel, gets caught up in a small-town cult, sees the Antichrist unleash the apocalypse and sets a serial killer upon an 80s-era summer camp as well. That series: American Horror Story. Every season, it tells a different story, anthology-style. The creepy details change, as do the narratives and characters, but the eeriness remains. Also staying the same: many of the faces seen in American Horror Story's tales, including Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, Frances Conroy, Kathy Bates, Jessica Lange, Emma Roberts and Lady Gaga. The show is the brainchild of writer/producer/director Ryan Murphy (Glee, Pose) and, yes, it definitely takes audiences on a wild ride each and every season.
From the team who brought you northside favourites Wide Open Road and Heartattack and Vine comes Bedford St, an all-day eatery and the newest addition to your Merciful Gods, We MUST Eat Here list. And, to the delight of the Carlton cafe and wine bar's avid fan base, there isn't even a wait time — Bedford St is already open. Sitting in the old Heart of Europe space on Johnston Street, the bar will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, seven days a week. It's a joint venture between Wide Open Road and Heartattack and Vine proprietors Hootan Heydari and Jono Hill, their long-time employee Mark Jacobson and chef Daniel Dobra, who's magicked up a menu described as contemporary Australian with a twist. But don't think this means sub-par pub grub covered in pork floss. Dobra's (ex-Brutale, The Beaufort) menu is very twisty indeed, with dishes like a gourmet peameal bacon sandie with house-made sauce on white bread, a taco salad, and mac and cheese pancakes (with a side of maple syrup and bacon, of course). They'll also offer the standards of any good 2016 establishment: fried chicken (for which Dobra is famous) and burgers. Thanks to the full kitchen, the team have been able to expand on the all-day Heartattack and Vine concept in an ambitious way at Bedford Street, says Heydari. "You can come in for breakfast, for a snack or come back at nighttime and have a full meal," he says. "They're very simple dishes, but with the amount of detail that goes into it, you get a very simple dish that's out of this world." Speaking of out of this world, dessert includes indulgent options like a salted caramel lamington, toasted Wagon Wheel pie (!!) and toffee apple fritters served with crème fraîche. These guys aren't messing around — they're serving grown up versions of your childhood faves and it sounds goddamn delightful. The space looks pretty delightful too. Heydari says that, when it came to dressing up the interior with architect and collaborator Nicky Adams, they let the space inform the design. Their inspiration? The '90s neo-noir classic Blade Runner. "It's a step away from what Heartattack is," says Heydari. "We don't want to rehash the same thing — we want to be a bit more ambitious with this one. It's a beautiful space." Yep, you really have to pay the venue a visit now. So while you shouldn't expect a carbon copy of Heartattack and Vine, you can expect Bedford St to be equally as considered, elegant and off-centre. They've opened this week — just in time for the weekend. Bedford St is located at 11-13 Johnston Street, Collingwood. It's open Monday to Friday from 7am till 11pm and Saturday to Sunday 8am till midnight. For more information, visit their Instagram.
We cannot even count the number of times the Rose St Artists' Market has come up with the goods when it comes to last-minute present shopping. From mini terrariums to vibrant clay-beaded jewellery to Able and Game cards, they've got what you need. On top of that, you're supporting local artists and designers, so they make for great presents for out-of-towners who want something 'very Melbourne'. The Rose St Artists' Market is open every Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 5pm, so grab a basket/calico tote bag and head to Fitzroy.
Have you spent the last 15 years popping your colleagues' staplers in jelly, or covering their desks in gift wrap? When someone makes a comment — any comment — do you answer "that's what she said"? Do you have a soft spot for paper company employees, or for anyone who gets married at Niagara Falls? As soon as you meet people who work in HR, do you expect them to be called Toby? If so, then The Office — the US version — has changed your life, and now it's time to put your secret skills to the test. Michael Scott won't call a virtual conference on Thursday, April 16; however Isolation Trivia will dedicate its next online trivia night to the beloved sitcom, so it's almost the same thing. Because Australia loves trivia evenings based on sitcoms that Mike Schur had a hand in (think Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine) more than it loves pulling pranks, it's certain to be a popular evening — even when you're just taking part from your couch. The quiz session will run from 6.30pm, and you'd better be ready to break out Jim and Pam's wedding dance — and eat something beetroot-flavoured, ideally from Schrute Farms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryxUeWEcUqE Playing is free, and there's no need to register. Just head to the event Facebook page on the night. And if ever you needed an excuse to hit up Stan and binge your way through the whole series again, this is it.
When Josh Hodges (Feral Brewing Co, Cookie) and Caleb Baker (Greenhouse by Joost, Meatball & Wine Bar) began planning their dream venue, the drinks focus was never going to be a narrow one. Having racked up a combined 20 years of experience working with everything from craft beer and artisan spirits to cocktails and fine wines, the boys were set on embracing it all. And so, their first solo venture is born — Mr West Bar & Bottleshop is a multifaceted drinking destination celebrating all booze in equal measure. Set to join Footscray's ever-booming drinking scene in mid-August, this newcomer promises to tick all the boxes with its two-level, 500-square-metre space. It's will include an upstairs bar, lounge, pool room, rooftop courtyard and even a ground-floor bottle shop, stocked with a solid collection of rare and interesting drops. Get excited for an impressive 24 taps showcasing craft brews, local wines, and batch cocktails, alongside a well-traveled curation of bottled wines and spirits. Bar staff will be shaking up a gutsy, yet approachable, range of cocktails, or you can grab something interesting from the bottle shop to quaff in house. The food menu will consist of snack-happy drinking fare, with the option of bringing in your own eats from one of the nearby takeaway joints. And, if you're after more than just great sipping, keep your eyes peeled for the regular program of tastings, masterclasses, and product releases to come. Mr West Bar & Bottleshop will open mid-August at 106 Nicholson St, Footscray.
Life doesn't stop in Melbourne in the wintertime after dark. On the contrary, that's when it comes into its own. Pubs, bars and live music venues really kick into gear at night: think good hearty pub food, fireplaces, red wine and free music to make you forget about the disastrous weather outside (just cop it and get an Uber home). If you're floating around Fitzroy or Collingwood, in particular, there are myriad venues to ensconce yourself in for a warming drink and some free entertainment. Plus, Samsung's new Galaxy S9 and S9+ have a new low light camera, if you're the type that likes to capture all the magic on your phone to relive later (or make your mates jealous) but needs a bit of help when the lights are dim. THE EVELYN, FITZROY Ah, The Evelyn. There's something to be said for tradition, and there are few better than grabbing a cheap meal on Brunswick Street, popping into The Ev's on-site bottle shop, and then kicking back with whatever you bought right there in the pub. The smokers area is always full and buzzing, although on a cold night you might be better off in the bandroom. It's one of the best places on the street for live music and a big part of what makes the venue such a Fitzroy institution. THE OLD BAR, FITZROY As the old saying goes: the stickier the floor, the better the tunes. Or something like that? The Old Bar certainly has both of those attributes in spades, so you'll know where to get down next time you're wearing your winter boots and craving a night of free live music. A stalwart of Melbourne nightlife, Old Bar is open late every night, the music line-up varies from evening to evening, and there's a nice cosy fire. Oh, and their football league is called The Unicorns, so you know you're onto something rare. THE TOTE, COLLINGWOOD An undisputed home of live music in Melbourne's north, The Tote's corner (Johnston St x Wellington St) might be one of the busiest this side of the Yarra, especially on the weekend. You've no doubt walked, rode or rolled down the hill on your way to a gig at The Tote: they've been showcasing the loudest bands Australia has to offer since 1980. There's upstairs or the front bar to choose from, and a constant stream of rock and punk (and other) bands on the lineup. Browse their huge gig guide on their website – there's something on pretty much every night, and it's often free. THE GRACE DARLING, COLLINGWOOD With a plant-filled atrium that'll almost fool you into thinking you're outside (also prime place to take your new Tinder profile pic), the first thing you'll want to do at the Grace Darling is tuck into their famous Sunday roast. Alternatively, you can warm up by the fireplace and grab a $7 pint (at Happy Hour, 4-6pm Monday to Friday) or one of their Bombay Sapphire G&T twists. Once you're sorted? Head upstairs to the bandroom, where the music is often free and always a good time. THE CATFISH, FITZROY There's beer, there's music, there are cheesesteaks. If those don't equal three big ticks on your itinerary for a winter night, then we don't know what else to tell you. The Catfish is small in size but big in heart – come for the lengthy tap list, stay for the good feels and the free music. With a relaxed vibe, more beers than you can poke a stick at, and shows in the front bar as well as upstairs, you'll be staunching a table and really kicking back and taking your time here. After all, who says you can only have one cheesesteak? Instead of spending your winter nights on the couch, discover all the after-dark happenings in your city here — and don't forget to document it all on the new Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+, designed especially for low light so you can capture your best moments no matter what. Images: Cole Bennetts.
