The CBD has welcomed the ultimate winter hideaway, with late-night cocktail den Trinket now open on Flinders Lane. An oversized jewellery box of grown-up delights, it's a glamorous two-level space, full of art deco styling and old-world charm. Through the hidden entrance, you'll discover a fireplace and lounge primed for cocktail sessions, while another secret basement bar awaits downstairs. In keeping with the vibe, both the food menu and cocktail lineup have a dark edge. The bar has reimagined classic creations such as the sherry cobbler — made here with pineapple, almond syrup, absinthe spray and a smoked rosemary garnish — and a piña colada daiquiri, featuring pineapple-infused white rum, lime, pineapple and coconut syrup. In the kitchen, Head Chef Telina Menzies is delivering a menu of bites designed to be enjoyed with a cocktail in hand. Find gems like the charred black pudding with goat's cheese, Turkish figs and a lemon zest flatbread; three cheese cigars matched with honey pearls and a smoked ash aioli; and an Aperol spritz-cured kingfish topped with pomegranate. Food is on offer until the bar closes, seven days a week, with DJs and live acts setting the tone every Friday and Saturday night.
Taking to the skies soon? The food might be a little more delicious than you remember. That's because Virgin Australia has just launched new winter menus in both its economy and business classes, so you can embark on a culinary journey at 35,000 feet. Made fresh daily, those in the cheap seats can now tuck into Italian and Aussie dishes crafted by St. Food Co., with options ranging from creamy spinach and ricotta tortellini to savoury sausage rolls. Plus, you can now pair these satisfying flavours with an Archie Rose Gin & Peach Soda. As for business class travellers, a new globally inspired menu is being served from Wednesday, May 28. Think Japanese-style soba noodles with grilled chicken, a three-bean Mexican quesadilla with sour cream and salsa, and an Indian-inspired chickpea masala with herbed jasmine rice. Whether you're flying first thing in the morning or catching the red-eye, the business class menu also features fancy rotating options for breakfast and dessert. Start the day with a blueberry pancake stack topped with mascarpone and boysenberry, blackcurrant and apple compote, or round things out with strawberry cheesecake or sticky date cake. "At Virgin Australia, we believe flying should be as enjoyable as the destination, right down to what's served onboard. Our new winter menu embodies our passion for bringing personality to the skies, featuring fresh, flavour-packed options designed to add value and delight at every bite," says Kyler Chong, Virgin Australia's General Manager Product & Customer Strategy. That's good news if you're a white-knuckled flyer looking to distract yourself, or just someone keen to pass the time with food that doesn't make you regret your life choices. Featuring a thoughtful balance of variety, value and flavour, these winter menus mean your next departure date just got better. Virgin Australia's new winter menu is now being served in economy class, while the business class menu launches on Wednesday, May 28. Head to the website for more information.
When an actor adds new movies to their resume quickly — popping up in new flicks every couple of months or so, and never proving far from their next film — there's a chance they might run out of worthy on-screen opportunities. The one actor that'll never apply to: Nicolas Cage. He's prolific, he stars in far too many terrible flicks, when he's at his best he's downright brilliant, and he always has something interesting around the corner. In 2021 alone, he's shouted expletives from Netflix, battled demonic animatronics and teamed up with one of Japan's most out-there filmmakers. He also played a truffle hunter on a quest for revenge after his pet pig is stolen, in the aptly named Pig, which is one of the year's definite movie highlights. The latter saw him turn in one of the best performances of his career, in fact, but Cage has been preparing his entire life to play his next part: himself. Yes, we've seen Cage break out of Alcatraz, sing Elvis songs, run around the streets convinced that he's a vampire, let his long hair flap in the wind and swap faces. He's voiced a version of Spider-Man, driven fast cars, fought space ninjas and stolen babies as well. Staying in his own shoes stands out, though, which is exactly what The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent will serve up in April next year. Announced earlier in 2021, and just dropping its first trailer now, the movie will follow the on-screen, fictionalised Cage as he accepts an offer to attend a super fan's birthday. Getting paid $1 million is just too much to pass up. He needs the money, but he also has to save both himself and his loved ones along the way. Yep, that sounds about right. As well as Cage playing Cage — not to be confused with his work in Adaptation, where he played two characters — The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent features Pedro Pascal (Wonder Woman 1984) as the aforementioned Cage devotee, and also Tiffany Haddish (The Card Counter), Sharon Horgan (This Way Up) and Neil Patrick Harris (It's a Sin). Are We Officially Dating? filmmaker Tom Gormican sits in the director's chair, because if there's anything this story needs, it's the director of a Zac Efron and Michael B Jordan-starring rom-com pivoting to total Cage worship. And yes, whether this'll be one of Cage's undeniable delights or pure cinematic chaos won't be discovered until the film hits cinemas — but he's clearly having a ball based on this sneak peek, and seeing him play and parody himself really does demand everyone's eyeballs. Check out the trailer for The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent below: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent will release in Australian cinemas on April 21, 2022.
In the latest example of movie land crossing over into reality, a Japanese team has created a four-metre-tall Transformers-style robot that can switch between walking mode and vehicle mode in about a minute. The work of robot software company Asratec, a prototype of the J-deite RIDE robot was unveiled last week, and will be on show at the GoldenWeek DOKIDOKI Festa All Working Cars Assemble in Tokyo on May 5. The design is operated both by wireless network remote control and by a steering wheel in the cockpit, with two people able to ride inside at once. Asratec's unique V-Sido robot control systems allow the robot to transform from a driveable car to a walking humanoid giant, though clocking in at around 60 seconds, it's fair to say the process isn't quite as speedy as in the movies. A group called Sansei Technologies is now looking to develop the technology for 'robot-type amusement rides' — it sounds like transforming go-karts could be just around the corner.
The next time a date night dumpling session is on the cards, there's one spot that should definitely be on your romance radar. Teahouse, retail store and restaurant Oriental Teahouse is encouraging patrons to get extra steamy this winter, unveiling a new supercharged edition of its board-game-meets-dining experience 'Dumplings for Dating'. Available to all bookings made from July 13 onwards at both its CBD and South Yarra outposts, the dine-and-play offering is suited to groups of two to four and is filled with flirty questions designed to bring out your cheeky side. Oriental Teahouse first launched the concept in 2018, but this latest version is pegged to be the sauciest yet. Dumplings for Dating is a four-stage game that clocks in at $82 per person, and includes both drinks and a slew of shared dishes for your table. You'll roll dice and make your way around the game board, answering fun — and often revealing — questions throughout the various rounds, which feature names like 'Break the Ice', 'Foreplay', 'Deep and Meaningful' and 'Happily Ever After'. While your table bonds over embarrassing confessions and shared stories, you can also feast on an array of signature dishes — think, handmade dumplings stuffed with the likes of lemongrass chicken, chilli wagyu beef, or pork and chive, plus dreamy sides and the kitchen's white chocolate dumplings for dessert. Matching cocktails promise to help calm any jangly nerves — you'll get both the lychee-infused Pink Panther and the Hello Vera concoctions, as well as a choice of beer, wine or bubbly. Got a date with dietaries? The Dumplings for Dating menu caters to vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free requirements. Dumplings for Dating 3.0 is now available to play at both Oriental Teahouse outposts: 455 Chapel Street, South Yarra, and 378 Little Collins Street, Melbourne. Reservations are a must and you'll need to mention Dumplings for Dating when you book your table.
If you've ever picked up a loved one at the airport, sometimes you might get caught up in the sheer beauty of the moment and simply not know what to say. Those in Amsterdam don't have to worry about becoming a stuttering emotional wreck anymore, as the Schiphol Airport Bannerxpress now allows people to print welcome home signs from a vending machine at the airport. The machine has been under development for the past three years, and recently made its debut at Schiphol Airport. Vending machines now house much more than your standard soft drink, as you can customise these signs with different sizes, fonts, artwork and themes. Depending on how fancy you banner is, this will set you back between 4 and 15 Euros. Depending on the popularity of the machine, Bannerxpress co-founder Thibaud Bruna says that there are plans to place the machines at sporting events and concerts. [via Trendhunter]
If you're feeling a tad jealous of seeing half the people you know living their European dream holiday (where do these people get the money?), you're in luck. The Europa Night Market is making its much-anticipated to Queen Victoria Market for 2023, brightening up Wednesdays from September 27–October 25. Bellissimo. The market will host a vibrant Euro-style bazaar that will teleport you to a different European destination each week, with food, drinks, entertainment and market stalls to match. Kicking things off on Wednesday, September 27, the market will be saying 'ciao' to the flavours and sounds of Italy, with bites like Sicilian-style fried arancini, woodfired 400 Gradi pizza and homemade panzerotti. Wednesday, October 4 will see the market transform into a little Oktoberfest for Bavarian night. Then, Wednesday, October 11 will be a celebration of all things French with an evening of oozy raclette and decadent traditional French crepes — with your choice of fillings including Nutella and Biscoff. Oh, and keep an eye out for the French mime artists. The Iberian Peninsula gets a look-in on Wednesday, October 18, with paella and Portuguese street food from Portuguese Churrasqueira BBQ complete with entertainment by Spanish and Portuguese flamenco dancers. Wrapping things up on Wednesday, October 25 is a celebration of all things Mediterranean, with melodies of Greek folk songs acting as the perfect soundtrack for sipping a Greek Blue Spritz from Spritz Bar (made from ouzo and spiced rum). Partner that with a souvlaki from Greek Trojan Yiros and the late spring air and you may as well really be on a Greek Island somewhere on the Aegean Sea.
Google unwrapped a gift for all Internet music fans in the form of their new streaming platform Google Play Music All Access. The new service is Google’s attempt to stake a claim on the music streaming market, which now has a customer base in the hundreds of millions, and steal some of the users of already popular apps Spotify and Grooveshark. The product not only offers the streaming of music and radio online but also allows users to merge their existing music libraries with the millions of tracks available on Google Play (minus The Beatles of course who are digitally exclusive to iTunes), with new tracks suggested based on their similarity to your own music. Users can then create playlists from their amalgamated music log that can also be accessed offline. Whilst these features are very similar to platforms like Spotify, it is their unique radio features that Google is hoping will prove the difference. The primary selling point is that you can reorder and skip tracks at will. That’s right, you can organise the radio that you are listening to. Unlike many other products that offer a free version, the service is subscription-only with a fee of $10 a month. However, Google are offering a 30-day free trial to sweeten the deal. You can also purchase tracks to keep forever if you want to. It can all be popped into your cloud as well, meaning you can access it anywhere, anytime, even on your Android. Google have tried to cover all needs of the online music user here and whilst the service is only available State side at the moment, it will be soon be accessible to all World Wide Webbers. The announcement wasn’t the only reward offered by the Internet moguls at Google I/O, every tech developer’s favourite annual conference. The giants are also upgrading their maps, removing the sidebar from the platform to concentrate activity on the map itself. Maps are also set to be personalized, with your favourite restaurants and hangouts appearing so that you can find you way there quickly no matter where you are. Public transport directions are also improved, meaning all we bus users can finally find out exactly where to hop off, instead of being left with an unplanned walk resembling a marathon. Plus it just looks cooler — you can even go underwater. Having a verbal conversation with Google is about to get a whole lot easier too, with the new Conversational Search feature employing data about you to create a more relevant search result. Other announcements include a new API that will sync your notifications so that if you dismiss one on your tablet, it won’t annoyingly set your phone off too; Google Now Cards to remind you about appointments and Game of Thrones episode releases; as well as other more minor developments and upgrades. Like Google Play Music All Access, these features may not be immediately accessible in Australia and New Zealand but they should be on their way soon. [Via Gizmodo]
Don't be fooled by the petite shopfront and narrow entryway — this new South Yarra cafe may be but tiny, but it's packing in some big flavours. Perched near the busy corner of Toorak Road and Chapel Street, Tom Dick & Harry has been busily cementing its status as one of the area's better coffee spots. Even if you haven't been in yet, social media has undoubtedly introduced you to their takeaway cups, which are stamped distinctively with the face of a French bulldog named Harry. All day long, those cups — holding a well-handled Illy blend and boasting a nugget of homemade biscotti on the side —are sailing out of the cafe's street-side coffee nook. But delve in deeper and you'll find there's plenty more than just good coffee on offer. For nine-to-fivers, the lunch cabinet is gold, brimming with the day's fresh mix-and-match salads ($8-14) and virtuous breakfasts-to-go. You might find a fruit-infused chia pudding ($8) or toasted muesli, layered with pear, orange blossom and vanilla bean yoghurt ($8). Less healthy, but every bit as Instagram-worthy, are the fresh-baked, big-as-your-head muffins, positioned craftily beside the coffee machine. The pace slows a bit come the weekend, when the 2XU-clad crowd and inner city brunchers make their nests in the small rear dining area, curing hangovers, sharing newspapers and sipping on ginger, pear and lime tonics ($5.50). The eat-in menu is concise, and yet holds something for everyone, harnessing plenty of fresh flavours and hinting at some thoughtful kitchen minds behind the scenes. Build your own breakfast of eggs and sides, or opt for one of three tasty, all-day kitchen creations. For instance, white beans, crushed with lemon and a good dose of chilli, come piled atop toast, with grilled chorizo, blistered vine cherry tomatoes and a perfectly poached egg ($19.50). Even more impressive is this cafe's version of Melbourne's perennial favourite: the avocado smash. Here, it's served on chia seed toast and surrounded by a riotous quinoa salad ($17.50). Diced zucchini, cauliflower, green beans, pomegranate, corn, currants, seeds and goats' cheese all play off each other for a lively, yet well-balanced breakfast creation that'll leave you feeling pretty damn good about yourself. For lunch, there's some Asian-inspired brioche sliders, a big salad of miso glazed salmon and soba noodles, or the slightly more decadent, Harry's Reuben: a fat brioche bun holding thick slices of corned beef, sauerkraut, swiss cheese and a housemade special sauce. With a side of with chilli-salted fries ($20.50) for good measure. A modern fit-out, a bit of whitewash and some cheery staff have transformed a narrow, windowless space into an inviting little spot that’s just as great for quick weekday lunching as it is for lazy weekend brunching.
We've scored giant slip 'n' slides, trampoline gyms and bouncing castle obstacle courses. Now, it's time to get on board the latest kidult craze to hit our shores, as Australia's biggest game of hide and seek takes over a cruise ship on Sydney Harbour next month. That's right: hiding and seeking is no longer just child's play. In fact, Australia's even got its own national hide and seek adults team, the Nascondingos, who took out eighth place at the most recent world championships, which are a thing. And on Sunday, February 18, these guys will be honing their finding skills, playing a team of 'seekers' as locals of all ages hide onboard one of the world's biggest cruise ships, Ovation of The Seas. It's thought to be the largest official game of hide and seek ever played at sea — and, yeah, it probably is. Applications to compete in the game are open to just about everyone, with one game for kids aged 8–14 and another for adults aged over 15. There's a solid prize pool, too, with the last person to be found in the adult's game taking home a cool $10,000 and a cruise. Of course, it's all part of a huge promo for Royal Caribbean, but that shouldn't stop it being a bit of fun. If you fancy yourself a hide and seek pro, don't be shy about it — enter here by February 5.
A weekend at the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre is the ultimate way to start the summer. One stage, two nights, three days: that's the setup when the regional Victorian town that gives both the venue and Meredith Music Festival its name welcomes the warm weather. For more than three decades now, this event has become a tradition — and it'll be back in 2024 to do it all again. When Meredith returns across Friday, December 6–Sunday, December 8, it'll celebrate its 32nd festival. Who'll be helping, aka the lineup, hasn't yet been revealed. But something just as important is on the cards already: the ticket ballot opening as at Wednesday, July 17. Book that long weekend now, pop your name in the running, then cross your fingers that you'll be spending three days at The Sup. Meredith has long stopped being the kind of festival where attendance is dictated by whoever is taking to the stage. Whatever the bill holds, it's a must-attend event anyway. So, now's your chance to attempt to nab your ticket. To obtain a pass to the beloved three-day BYO camping festival, you've got until 10.32pm AEST on Monday, August 12 to enter the ballot. And as for the lineup, anything could happen. 2023's festival featured Kraftwerk, as well as Caroline Polachek, Alvvays, Alex G, Eris Drew & Octo Octa, Flowdan, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Sneaky Sound System, No Fixed Address and Souls of Mischief — and more. In 2022, Meredith's first festival since 2019 due to the pandemic, Caribou, Yothu Yindi and Courtney Barnett led the roster. The full lineup is usually announced in mid-August. We'll update you when details drop. Meredith Music Festival will return to Meredith from Friday, December 6–Sunday, December 8, 2024. To put your name in the ballot to get your hands on tickets, head to the festival's website before 10.32pm AEST on Monday, August 12. Images: Chip Mooney, Ben Fletcher, Chelsea King and Steve Benn.
Tim Burton is back — and, regardless of how you feel about the filmmaker's output of late, that's a good thing. While indulging his love of all things weird and wonderful has seen the likes of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows annoy rather than endear, the director is still capable of crafting enchanting efforts when he finds just the right level of quirkiness. Sure, they were made decades ago, but Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood and his two Batman movies all remain classics for a reason. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children mightn't quite take Burton back to his strange, spirited heights, however it shares much more in common with his earlier work than his more recent fare. Of course it helps that the source material couldn't be a better fit. Boasting a title that champions its oddness, a story filled with outsider characters embracing their individual traits, and an unusual journey through both dark and delightful territory, the first book in the three-strong young adult series by author Ransom Riggs feels like it was destined to end up in Burton's hands. 16-year-old Jake (Asa Butterfield) has heard about Miss Peregrine (Eva Green) and her unusual abode from his doting grandfather Abe (Terence Stamp) ever since he can remember — although as he grew up, he stopped believing that the fantastical tales were true. Then tragedy strikes, leaving Jake with many questions — which a trip to Wales to seek out the house from his childhood stories just might be able to answer. There, with the help of the lighter-than-air Emma (Ella Purnell), the fire-starting Olive (Lauren McCrostie), the necromantic Enoch (Finlay MacMillan) and many more, Jake discovers the other side of his reality. What would happen if Burton made a mashup of X-Men, Harry Potter and The Matrix? Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, that's what. In fact, screenwriter Jane Goldman worked on X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past, as well as Kingsman: The Secret Service. Once the 127-minute-long movie moves past its dragging, world-building first half, the director and scribe prove a well-matched pair, blending both eccentricity and adventure to mostly charming effect. And while the film follows a very familiar path and ponders recognisable themes, it does so with an ideal dose of Burton's distinctive sensibilities. Think visions of reanimated critters, gas mask-wearing kids, sunken ships and stalking monsters – to name but a few of the movie's more memorable sights. Crucially, however, the striking imagery doesn't overpower the narrative. Instead, it helps add depth and texture, and immerses viewers in the story. Cast-wise, the youthful talent proves uniformly up to the task, although if there's ever an actor that can convey Burton's bewitching brand, it's Green. Move over, Johnny Depp, there's a new muse in town.
Since Sally Rooney's Normal People first hit bookshelves in 2018, big things have followed. As well as becoming a bestseller, the Irish author's second novel was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won 2019's Book of the Year at the British Book Awards. The next step: bringing this tale of two teens and their complicated romance to the small screen, all courtesy of a new 12-part drama of the same name. In particularly excellent news for fans of the book, Normal People's TV adaptation is penned by Rooney herself — alongside fellow screenwriters Alice Birch (Succession) and Mark O'Rowe (Boy A). And, it boasts some other significant talent in the director's chair, too, with helming duties shared by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Lenny Abrahamson (Room) and BAFTA winner Hettie Macdonald (White Girl, Howard's End). Of course, it's the tale playing out on-screen that's the main attraction, as readers will already be aware — and as the just-dropped first teaser shows. Cold Feet's Daisy Edgar-Jones and newcomer Paul Mescal step into the shoes of the novel's Marianne and Connell, high school classmates in their west Ireland small town who weather all manner of ups and downs as they attend Dublin's Trinity College. At school, she was lonely and aloof, while he was outgoing and popular. At college a year later, their roles have reversed. That sets the scene for an intimate, complex love story — which will unravel in full when Normal People drops on Stan on Monday, April 27. Check out the teaser trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDpWEA2rMB4&feature=youtu.be All 12 episodes of Normal People will be available to stream on Stan on Monday, April 27.
One of modern art's most argued-about works has been sold. Tracey Emin's famously debated 1999 work My Bed went under the hammer for the very first time, complete with dirty sheets, cigarette butts and condoms — and taking away a cheeky £2.2 million. Emin, who showed up to the auction yesterday, gained notoriety when her work Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995 debuted at a 1997 Charles Saatchi's Sensation exhibition at London's Royal Academy. After getting drunk, going on national TV and getting all sweary, she'd release My Bed two years later to colossal debate. One of modern art's classic "Is this art? What is art? Is this bag of wrenches art?" generators, My Bed was expected to sell between £800,000 and £1.2 million (roughly $1.4 million to $2.2 million) at auction — instead raising the bar to £2.2 million. With the buyer's premium, My Bed really went for £2,546,500; a world record for Emin at auction. Francis Bacon's Study For Head Of Lucian Freud was also put under the hammer, fetching a quiet little price of £10.2 million. The highly-scrutinised installation is a recreation of Emin's actual bed during a rough time — the artist spent days in the bed during relationship difficulties and dealt with suicidal thoughts. Scattered with paraphenalia from the artist's own bedroom (condoms, menstrual-stained underwear, slippers), My Bed caused controversy not for the collective sum of confrontingly personal items but for the stains on the sheets. Gallery-goers saw the traces of bodily secretion as a little too human. "It's a self-portrait, but not one that people would like to see," Emin said. "I took everything out of my bedroom and made it into an installation," Emin said. "And when I put it into a white space, for some people it became quite shocking. But I just thought it looked like a damsel in distress, like a woman fainting or something, needing to be helped." The new owners (who haven't been revealed yet) might be able to recreate the work of two performance artists, Yuan Chai and Jian Jun Xi, who jumped on Emin's bed in a performance creatively titled Two Naked Men Jump into Tracey's Bed. Most interestingly will be the conditions under which the new owner must actually display My Bed. Previously (when not displayed in a gallery setting) the work has been on display at the home of its owner Charles Saatchi. As The Guardian reports, the work — a flurry of seemingly random miscellany — has very meticulous installation instructions. "It's a very complicated piece to put together," Director of Cadogan Tate Fine Art Stephen Glynn says. "It comes with a dossier of photographs of every object, and a list of where exactly everything needs to go." A bit like an Ikea instruction manual, then? "A bit. You're certainly trying to make sure that everything goes in the right place." Displayed at the Tate Modern in 1999, My Bed was shortlisted for the Turner Prize that year. Saatchi can now count its sweet, sweet Emin pennies, with proceeds going straight back to the Saatchi Gallery — the team are moving to make the gallery have free admission. Via BBC, Reuters and The Guardian.
Does anyone love biscuits as much as dads love biscuits? Probably not. But when Gelato Messina is making bikkies, everyone's tastebuds should be tempted. Each Father's Day for the past few years, the sweet-treat fiends have turned their attention from ice cream to tasty wares that don't require freezing — and 2023's haul is a trio of baked goods. Are mint slice biscuits a staple of your parents' pantry? Do they make you feel nostalgic for that exact reason? Well, now you can get your dad the Messina version again. But that isn't all that's on this year's menu, with the dessert chain also doing salted caramel and rum and raisin biscuits, combining the trio into one pack. The gelato brand does love taking other beloved desserts and giving them its own spin; see also: red velvet cake, honey joys, Bounty and Chokito bars, Iced VoVos, Viennetta and Golden Gaytimes, just to name a few. Messina's choc mint bikkies feature a chocolate base, mint centre and then 65-percent single-origin Messina dark chocolate over the top. The salted caramel goes with a salted caramel filling, of course, then, Messina caramelised white chocolate. And what's inside the rum and raisin biscuits is also obvious, with Messina milk chocolate doing the encasing. All three types are whipped up in-house by the the Messina Chocolatier team, and are being sold together in boxes of 12 — four of each — for $29. You can only purchase them up online from 9am on Monday, August 21. Then, they'll be sent to your door in advance of Father's Day on Sunday, September 3. Gelato Messina's Father's Day biscuit packs are available to order from 9am on Monday, August 21 — head to the Messina website for further details.
Imagine if you could feast on the tasty flavours that have made Belles Hot Chicken so renowned, without having to feel a pinch of regret about the harming of a bird. Well, that day has come. On Sunday, December 10, for one magnificent animal-friendly day, Shannon Martinez of vegan institution Smith & Daughters will be taking over Belles' Fitzroy joint. She'll be drawing on the tips, tricks and recipes of Belles' head chef Morgan McGlone, but applying them to 100 percent plant-based dishes. The menu is yet to be revealed, but, going by her previous vegan creations, we can't wait to see what Martinez comes up with. Meanwhile, in the drinks hot seat will be James Erskine, who has selected some top drops from Jauma Wines, a boutique winery based in McLaren Vale, South Australia. It's not possible to book a table or a ticket. If you want to make sure you don't miss out, then your best bet is to turn up early.
Sofia Coppola is not the first director that comes to mind when you think Disney. In fact, with her consistent focus on complicated and dreamy sadness — see Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides and Somewhere — she seems like the perfect buzzkill to all the joy and greatness that Sebastian the crab worked for all those years ago. Nonetheless, this divisive filmmaker is currently in negotiations to direct a live-action adaptation of the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale. Deadline reports that the script has already gone through multiple drafts from Kelly Marcel (Fifty Shades of Grey) and Abi Morgan (Shame) and is currently in the hands of Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands). With that in mind, it's safe to assume the film will in fact be a darkly sexual story that may or may not feature either Johnny Depp in BDSM gear or Michael Fassbender in no clothes. Although this will Coppola's first feature where she didn't write the screenplay, it's easy to see how her brand of 'beautiful and bothered young things' will work seamlessly with the original story. Ariel is, after all, a girl with problems. She's besotted with a boy she can't have, she's split between two worlds, and the story finishes with her taking the less than lovely form of sea foam (I'd warn for spoilers but, hey, you've had over 100 years to read it). As ridiculous as it first sounds, we're actually excited by the news. Now all that's left is to decide whether Kirsten Dunst or Scarlett Johansson would make the better hipster Ariel.
The group of competitors vying for drag glory isn't the only thing that's changing when RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under returns for its fourth season in 2024. That very moniker is also getting a makeover, with the series now called Drag Race Down Under — because the Drag Race franchise's namesake is sashaying away from hosting duties. When Australian and New Zealand queens next battle it out to become Down Under's Next Drag Superstar — which will happen sometime in 2024 — they'll do so with Michelle Visage fronting the proceedings. Visage has been involved in the Drag Race world as a judge since the OG show's third season, and also been a producer on the series since season 11. Down Under, she continued her judging role from the spinoff's debut in 2021, but will now host season four. RuPaul will remain an executive producer on Drag Race Down Under. "It has been my great honour to bring Drag Race to Australasia. I can't wait to see the franchise flourish under the leadership of the incredible Michelle Visage," RuPaul advised. "Thank you RuPaul for entrusting me with one of your beloved shows. The colour, humour and outrageousness of Down Under drag holds a special place in my heart. I'm ready to do everything in my power to encourage these beautiful queens to believe in themselves and let their inner light shine through," said Visage. There's no exact return date for Drag Race Down Under yet, but season four will hit streaming — via Stan in Australia and TVNZ in New Zealand — later this year. RuPaul mightn't be back, but Rhys Nicholson will be — again as a judge. He'll be joined by drag royalty from across Australia and Aotearoa, which marks the first time that the show has enlisted Down Under queens to mentor contestants. The fellow judges will rotate, with details of who'll be taking to the stage also still to be announced. Similarly in that category: which drag queens will strutting their stuff in 2024, and also which special celebrity guests will also pop up. Of course, there's no trailer yet for Drag Race Down Under season four, but check out clips from past seasons below: Drag Race Down Under season four doesn't yet have a release date, but will stream via Stan and TVNZ when it returns — we'll update you with an exact date when one is announced.
Having been around longer than most readers of this masthead, it's safe to say the team at Tandoori Den, founded in 1981, know how to cook a good curry. Self-proclaimed culinary guides Prakash Mirchandani and Gaurav Khanna pride themselves on having created a suburban restaurant with a touch of class. It's the kind of place you can bring the whole family without having to settle for flavourless fare to please the kids. Dishes such as the beef kashmari honour their northern heritage while all curry sauces are prepared individually using only the freshest, most authentic ingredients. Tandoori Den also has a healthy selection of entrees including Indo-Chinese specials – the Vegetarian Manchurian and the Chilli Paneer. The tandoor gives us everything from battered fish cooked in onion and tomato to goat meat on the bone cooked with the chef's secret chill sauce. Vegetarians aren't forgotten, with garlic and chilli vegetables cooked with leeks and another of the chef's secret sauces. For a chicken dish, try the boneless chicken cooked in mustard seeds, coconut and curry leaves. The mustard pickle lamb with vinegar and a green spicy sauce is another winner. This Melbourne Indian restaurant doesn't shy away from the chilli, and while not every dish is going to blow your head off, it's good to have a drink within reach for the others. There's a selection of lassis to try, with the Tandooriden Special Lassi, made with strawberry, vanilla, peach, rose or passionfruit, particularly refreshing.
If a pizza delivery guy was to accidentally wander into a cryogenic chamber back in July 2013, get stuck frozen inside for ten years, then wake up in July 2023, plenty that he knows about the world will have changed. But one thing would remain a constant: Futurama. Back then, the Matt Groening-created show about life in the 31st century was still on-screen — and this winter, it'll finally be defrosted after a decade off the air. Good news, everyone! — it's back, baby, after US streaming platform Hulu first announced plans to go back to the future in 2022. When that welcome revelation hit, Futurama was renewed for a 20-episode run. Now, the platform has revealed that the first ten new instalments will arrive from Monday, July 24 in the US. Down Under, Disney+ will be reteaming with the 20th-century's Philip J Fry (voiced by Billy West), distant uncle to Planet Express cargo company Professor Hubert J Farnsworth (also voiced by West), plus the rest of the outfit's crew. Yes, that means more antics with one-eyed ship captain Turanga Leela (Katey Sagal); fellow employees Hermes Conrad (Phil LaMarr), Amy Wong (Lauren Tom) and Zoidberg (also West); and everyone from self-obsessed starship captain Zapp Brannigan (West again) and his amphibious 4th Lieutenant Kif Kroker (Maurice LaMarche) through to scheming corporation owner Mom (Tress MacNeille). And, yes, it Bender Bending Rodríguez will be causing chaos, with John DiMaggio also back with the cast. When the revival was first announced, that wasn't the case — but it wouldn't be Futurama without its constantly sauced robot exclaiming "bite my shiny metal ass!". You can put a beloved animated series into stasis, but someone is going to thaw it out one day — and more than once. Initially airing from 1999–2003, the futuristic animated series then returned from 2008–2013, before now being given another run. Hulu is calling this comeback season 11, even though Futurama spans a past seven seasons and four direct-to-DVD movies so far. As for what it'll be about, other than satirising life in the year 3000 and beyond, the streaming service is promising more about Fry and Leela's love story, what's in Nibbler's litter box, evil Robot Santa's secret history, and Kif and Amy's tadpoles. That, and a pandemic, plus gags about the future of vaccines, bitcoin, cancel culture and streaming TV. Check out the first teaser trailer below: Futurama's latest season will return on Hulu on Monday, July 24 Down Under — we'll update you with Australian and New Zealand specifics via Disney+ when they're announced.
Whether or not you've ever splashed in its wave-filled waters or taken a selfie around its edge, where the pool borders the ocean — or even if you've simply seen images of it everywhere, including sometimes featuring Margot Robbie in Barbie mode — feeling the urge to plunge into Bondi Icebergs is a side effect of watching Ian Darling's The Pool. The yearning to take a dip in your nearest body of water also strikes. Equally radiating from the screen as the Sydney landmark receives a cinematic tribute: the sensation that just by viewing the latest documentary from the filmmaker behind The Final Quarter and Paul Kelly — Stories of Me, you've enjoyed the next best thing to hopping in. Everyone knows Bondi Icebergs, thanks to about as many photographs as there are grains of sand on Bondi Beach, or perhaps more. It's the most-snapped pool in the world, in fact, The Pool notes. Darling's film explores its allure beyond its scenic aesthetic, even if the movie is stunningly gorgeous to look at (how could it not be?) and perfectly set to a 60s-inspired soundtrack. This is a doco about community, and about why one has formed around the haven of blue at the southern end of Bondi Beach that's been welcoming in swimmers for almost a century. Some come to Icebergs to relax. Others come to train and compete. Some head along with friends and/or family. Others arrive solo, knowing that their fellow swimmers are their friends and family. Some do indeed fill their Instagram feeds with photos, and The Pool sees them. But the film spends its time largely observing the immense cross-section of folks who frequent Bondi Icebergs, from daily devotees to casual weekenders, newcomers to veterans, young to old, and lifeguards and swimming coaches to baristas as well, as they congregate, revel in the spectacular tidal pool's gifts no matter the weather and discover a place to belong in the process. That's how Darling overcame what might've been a challenge for other filmmakers: diving beneath the surface of a place that is so instantly recognisable, and for good reason. It's also how he's made a movie that is meditative to watch, mirroring what many of its interviewees say about the body of water. And, it's why The Pool has been getting the love flowing from audiences around the country — not just in Sydney, where it fittingly world-premiered at the 2024 Sydney Film Festival; which "was actually quite emotional, because three of the key characters had died in only the month or two beforehand, and this was the first time that a lot of the audience had seen them again," Darling tells Concrete Playground; not only among swimmers as well. "We've been doing a lot of the film festivals, and so just meeting people all over — after launching at Sydney Film Festival, we went over to CinefestOZ in Margaret River, and then Byron, Sunshine Coast, Adelaide Film Festival. Then we've been doing a few pre-cinema release screenings up at Noosa when the triathlon was on, and Brisbane and Gold Coast," the director notes when we chat in the lead up to the film's release nationwide. "What I'm especially pleased about is that we weren't sure whether it was such a Sydney-centric film that it wasn't going to speak to other audiences, but it it's been wonderful seeing that there are so many common themes in it that it's speaking to people not only all across Australia, but to swimmers and non-swimmers. Which I was surprised about. Coming out of COVID, people are still hurting and yearning for a community, and really putting a greater value on any community they're a part of. And so it's had a much more emotional response than we than we expected." "I was especially pleased at the screening over at the Orpheum, where a number of people came up — and a couple of ladies who were very emotional said 'we don't swim, but we're part of a book club. And we feel that you've spoken the same language in terms of what we do in our book club. And we value it even more, it's about community and it's about a shared language'," Darling continues. "I was asking them exactly what they mean. She said 'well, we talk about a book and we could see here people were just talking about swimming'. And the penny dropped, and it made me realise that's so much about what we look for in a community — whether it's a film festival where we're all talking the same language, or a book club, or even at a pool. It never ceases to amaze me how long people can talk about swimming. But it is a shared language, and everyone comes from all different walks of life and they have this common link." Where inspiration strikes as a filmmaker, the 'I need to make a movie about this' moment with Bondi Icebergs, his own first experience with the pool, choosing interviewees, finding the doco's ebb and flow, the importance of community, what Bondi Icebergs both says about and means to Sydney: we also spoke with Darling about all of the above. On Darling's First Bondi Icebergs Moment "I came up from Melbourne in the early 90s, and my wife and I were swimming in the middle of winter at the beach, and suddenly realised how many people were swimming — and coming from Melbourne, I'd never swim in winter. And I was thinking 'how long does this happen?'. I saw this building down the end — and I wasn't familiar with the Icebergs. And I always was intrigued by it. I actually thought that it was more of a private club. Actually, for the whole of that decade, I never went to it. When someone told me that it was a public pool in the early 2000s, I remember walking in and it just blew me away. I suddenly actually did feel like I was in a 60s film, and it was one of the most-beautiful places and pools I'd ever swum in. There are so many pools I've swum in and I don't have any recall, but I remember walking in and just feeling like I was in this time warp, and it was a very positive experience." On When the 'I Need to Make a Film About This' Moment Came with The Pool "I think it was post-lockdown, and I think when we have something taken away from us — we're social creatures and we all realised that that we do need a sense of community. Also having come out of The Final Quarter and The Department on child protection, I wanted to give myself permission to actually make a happy film and a feel-good film, and a film where people could just meditate and contemplate their own life. I was sitting down at Icebergs with a friend of mine, Marg Simpson-Lee, who's a swimmer. And I was saying 'I'm really looking for something which is a connected story about a community that is uplifting'. And she said 'well, what about here?'. And so it was right under my nose. The more I thought about it, I thought 'actually, it is going to give me a platform to tell these stories about community and connection'. So it was as simple as that. I wasn't sure what it meant. And it took us a while to get a sense of how to make it and why we, in the end, decided to make the pool the central character, and let all the other characters, almost like 30 sets of arms and legs, give us context of to what was in there. But I think I was ready myself as well — I think we often wear the hair shirt as documentary filmmakers, and I had to give myself permission to say 'actually, it's okay to make a film where we just actually sit back and think and observe and hopefully feel happy at the end of it'. So that was the the intent." On Digging Into What Makes the Most-Photographed Pool in the World Special Beyond Its Aesthetics "It's a good question, because I think with the notion of it being the most-photographed pool in the world, with that comes all the connotations of Instagram and body image, and all of that. And we almost wanted the film to be the antithesis of that. One of the things we weren't sure of was how people would feel when we were down there with cameras, because people are perhaps at their most vulnerable when they're just in their swimmers. And we were very aware and respectful of it. So we had signs up everywhere, and we made sure, our producers went around, that anyone who didn't want to be in the film could come and tell us, and we'd make sure that they weren't and absolutely honour that. On the first morning, about three people came up and I thought 'wow, this is going to be challenging over the course of the year'. And then over the the whole year, I think only one or two other people came up and said that they didn't want to be in it. So we gained the trust, but it also made me realise that the people down there were actually very comfortable in their own skin, and all different body shapes and all different, all different types. I think that is very different from the notion of it being the most-photographed pool in the world. It was a very grounded experience, and the pool jumps out as something very beautiful — but I think whenever we were there on weekends, we'd see people doing selfies and everything, and we wanted to reflect that in the film but also highlight that it wasn't the story we were telling." On the Process of Choosing Interviewees From the Bondi Icebergs Community "On the website, we did 100 full-length interviews — because we never wanted to make the film about the history of the club, but we thought 'well, let's grab a time capsule of history and get the full stories'. And from that, we got a lot of clues. It was almost like an audition. A lot of the characters jumped out, and the stories. We didn't want to make it a character-based film. We said 'let's make the pool the central character, but let's define them by themes'. So what we saw was the characters were around things like friendship and routine — there are a couple of friends that get there at 13 minutes to seven every morning, and that's a very important thing about commitment. And then there are stories around mental health and physical sickness and endurance, and volunteering and perseverance and fear. A number of the characters were fearful of the water and learning to swim. So it was more 'how do we represent all those themes?' rather than characters. And so the two went sort of hand in hand. We had so many people that unfortunately we couldn't fit in, more because they told the same story rather than not having a great story. And I think that was the thing, as I was saying before, very few people didn't want to be in it but we I think we upset a number of people who desperately wanted to be in it but didn't make the final cut." On the Film's Crew Swimming at Bondi Icebergs Themselves for 99 Days of the 100 Day-Shoot "I think it was an important part. So the only day we didn't swim was the one when the huge storms were there. And I think people at the start of any film are wary when these outsiders come in, and we just we started very gently, but right from the start, we got in. And we started in May when the water was getting really cold. I think that helped with the locals, when they saw that we were prepared to get in the cold water and that we actually swam ourselves, and that we could speak the same language. I've never really asked them, but I know we were always observed — and I think just in a quiet sort of way that that enabled us to get even closer to everyone. But also, I thought if we're making a film at a place like this, if we don't actually get in and enjoy ourselves — because when we were at the homeless shelter, that was a three-year film shoot and that was all hours of the night. And when we were there at three o'clock in the morning, I was thinking 'hmm, we're certainly earning our stripes as documentary filmmakers here'. So unashamedly, we thought if we're doing a fun film, let's enjoy it." On Making a Meditative Film to Match the Mindset That Bondi Icebergs Can Inspire "I think we had two intents. One, sometimes we'd jump into a scene of a storm or the word of the coach and everything — it's quite bracing when you jump in the cold water. But also, the meditative nature we thought was really important. I think we've forgotten sometimes just to sit when we're on top of a mountain, just to look out and not look at our phone. And I thought it's really important for us just to have a feeling of what it's like just to sit and look at the waves, and that it's actually okay to sort of — bored is not the word I'd want to use in a film, but it's actually okay to do nothing. So we have an unusually long opening-credit sequence, but we wanted to play the whole of the Cream song 'I Feel Free' and just get people into the rhythm. Sometimes, I certainly know at the theatre when I'm there, sometimes I go 'wow, ten minutes has gone and I haven't been concentrating'. It can take us a while to get into it, so we thought let's just try and set up the rhythm of the film so that audiences give themselves permission just to sit and get into that meditative state. It felt like it was in sync with the intent of when you're swimming, because we wanted to make it immersive. But also I think sometimes it is good to let audiences — and a number of them have said during those meditative sort of scenes, the swimming or a storm or the purple tumble turns scene, that that's where they're actually thinking about their own place in a community. Or they're yearning for it. And so people have been doing a lot of self-reflection during the film as well, and that's really pleasing, because that was the intent as well." On What Darling Learned About the Importance of Community From Making The Pool "I think it really is that sense that we all need to be a part of a community and we all need to find people that share a common language — and, as I say, it means we can talk for hours about swimming or films or whatever. That, as a community, we deeply have this yearning to connect. And when it's taken away from us, we really miss it. If we haven't got it, we're yearning for it. It's such an important part of — at a pool, our physical health, but I think the most important thing is around our mental health. And as time goes on, we've got to ensure that cinemas remain open as a shared experience and that pools remain open. So many pools are closing, and we're going to do a bit of a campaign to try to get every mayor and council to come to watch the film, and actually see the importance that a local pool has on a community. As I say, so much of it is just around that connection, a meeting point, the importance of being with others. And I think that was very much the intent of the film, just to show how we do have to keep working hard at creating these gathering points, because the health of the community is very much dependent on them." On What Bondi Icebergs Means to Sydney — and Says About It "It says 'look at me', which is one of the things that, coming from Melbourne, where there are different seasons and everything, Sydney seems to have one season and it's sort of saying 'look at me' — which can be positive, but also I can be cynical about it. So that's on the surface, but I think it also says 'have a look below the surface and you'll find something that's far more profound and grounded — and if you are looking for a community, you'll find people with a common language there;. At the outset, it's a shining beacon and a tourist destination. The amount of times we've heard people go 'oh, I've had that swim. It's been on my bucket list'. People like to go to Bondi Beach. They'd like to go to the Opera House. In Queensland they love to go to the Gold Coast or the Barrier Reef. As a destination for Australians, but also as tourists, I think it's very much an important part of — unashamedly Australia has a strong beach culture, and I think it reflects that as a piece of beach history." On Where Inspiration Strikes for a Filmmaker with Documentaries About Everything From Bondi Icebergs, Adam Goodes and Paul Kelly to Capitalism and the Welfare of Homeless Youth on His Resume "Because I've had so many films that have fallen over, answering this way, typically the films that have fallen over are ones where I haven't had a strong-enough contact or connection with the subject matter. I'm a pretty slow filmmaker, most of the film shoots have been at least a year, and we take a long time in the edit suite. And I think to go on that long journey, I have to have a real interest in it. So with this one, The Pool, swimming's my main physical activity. I'm not a member of Icebergs, but I like cold-water swimming, so that gave me clues. With Adam Goodes, I'm a huge AFL fan and I go out every week — and we were thinking before he retired, actually, because he was one of my favourite all-time footballers, of making a film on him in his twilight years. So it ended up being a very different one, but having been so aware of it and been in the crowds when he was being booed, and being there when he was celebrated, suddenly he retired and I thought 'wow, are we going to' — I was just confused — 'are we going to let history be rewritten?'. So it took a few years but it just never left me, I think because I'd had such an intimate relationship with watching him as a player. I hadn't met him at all until we spoke about the film, but he was certainly present. [caption id="attachment_715066" align="alignnone" width="1920"] 29th September 2012, The Age Sport, Picture by Wayne Taylor[/caption] And then with Paul Kelly, I grew up in Melbourne — and in the 80s, just the Melbourne band scene was just extraordinary, and Paul Kelly spoke to me like no other sort of musician had. And again, I hadn't met him until we sought his approval, but he was my favourite musician — which can be dangerous, making films about your hero, as such. Then with the homeless, I'd spent a lot of time volunteering at this homeless shelter in Sydney and really got to know a number of the street kids, and just saw that homelessness was totally off the agenda, and felt it was really important to bring it back and try and put it into every home. We got a lot of philanthropic funding to present a report to the government. It's those sort of things, where I've had a connection and felt that I was in a place to be able to tell a story." The Pool opened in Australian cinemas on Thursday, November 7, 2024.
The world's most famous plumber siblings wearing colour-coded matching outfits? Tick. Earworm tunes? Tick again. Mushrooms aplenty, castles, tunnels, blocks that need bumping and flowers that let you shoot fireballs? Just keep ticking. All of the above are accounted for in the second and full trailer for The Super Mario Bros Movie, aka the animated flick that's bringing Mario, Luigi and all of the Nintendo-created gang back to cinemas. Also on that hefty list of inclusions: a rainbow road, and racing along it Mario Kart-style. This just-dropped sneak peek at The Super Mario Bros Movie arrives after an initial teaser back in early October, and gives Nintendo fans a bigger look at the world of the film and its characters — all of which look very faithful to their gaming counterparts. And yes, basically everyone's a fan of Mario. We've all played Nintendo's Mario games, including on Google Maps and mobile phones. We've tried our hands at Mario Kart in reality, too. And, we've made plans to hit up the Super Nintendo theme park in Japan, or perhaps the upcoming second site in Hollywood. (Also, if everyone hasn't watched 1993's live-action Super Mario Bros, which starred Bob Hoskins as the titular figure, John Leguizamo as Luigi and Dennis Hopper as King Koopa, then they need to at least once.) Come March 2023, however, cinemas will be pressing start on the new The Super Mario Bros Movie, which has enlisted Chris Pratt (The Terminal List) to voice the Italian plumber. Clearly, the former Parks and Recreation star doesn't have enough big franchises on his resume already; see: Guardians of the Galaxy, Jurassic World and The Lego Movie. So far, there's only one new Super Mario Bros, but predicting there'll be more if it does well at the box office is as easy as collecting mushrooms in the games. This new full trailer includes a heap of other nods to Mario and the crew's time behind all of our controllers, sees Bowser (Jack Black, Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood) proclaim his desire to rule the world and casts Luigi (voiced by Charlie Day, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) as the Mushroom Kingdom's comedic sidekick. Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy, The Menu) is determined to take on the challenge, and dispense words of advice in general, while battling Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen, Pam & Tommy) also features. The Super Mario Bros Movie's voice cast also includes Keegan- Michael Key (Wendell & Wild) as Toad, plus Fred Armisen (Wednesday) as Cranky Kong. And, it hails from directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies), is penned by Matthew Fogel (Minions: The Rise of Gru) and is produced by Illumination Entertainment (aka the studio behind the Despicable Me and Minions flicks, and the Sing films). Check out the full trailer below: The Super Mario Bros Movie releases in cinemas Down Under on March 30, 2023.
In Melbourne we are known for our coffee and our laneway cafes. The latter, which can often be very tricky to find, regularly serve up the aforementioned tasty coffee. Here, we select our favourite laneway spots to grab a latte or two in the shade. League of Honest Coffee From the team behind Padre and the Brunswick East Project, these guys know a thing or two about coffee. You can expect a few choices when deciding on your single origin for the morning. The menu is small, offering a range of noisette pastries for a start. But the real drawcard here is the brew and the relaxed atmosphere that the staff and the space offer. 8 Exploration Lane, Melbourne, padrecoffee.com.au Silo by Joost Joost Bakker, the passionate eco-entrepreneur that he is, has created Silo by Joost and has done so with no waste. Food scraps and napkins don’t go into the bin here, they go into the on-site dehydrator out the back. The menu is small and to the point. Toast, oats, and coddled hens eggs sum it up. Snacks and local alcohol are served into the night. If you are looking to do your part for the environment, you can start with a breakfast at Silo. 123 Hardware Street, Melbourne, byjoost.com Journal Cafe Located in the same building as the City Library, this little cafe is sure to make you want to delve into some Austen or Fitzgerald as you sip your espresso. It’s very cozy here, and with the big communal table in the middle it can feel like everyone is a friend of a friend. The menu offers simple breakfast fare done well. They also have six bruschettas on offer, both sweet and savoury. 253 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, journalcafe.com.au Bar Americano Known for its serious cocktails, little sister of Der Raum – and we do mean little – is also a great stop for a quick coffee and bite to eat. There is only standing room for 10 so don’t plan to linger here. As homage to Harry’s Bar in Venice, Bar Americano embraces the Italian way of sipping on the run. If you can find it, down not one but two laneways; they will sort you out, day or night. 20 Presgrave Place, Melbourne, baramericano.com Hardware Societe Hardware Lane is nothing if not bursting with cafes and restaurants, and down the end on Hardware Street, you’ll find Hardware Societe. With a French and European influence, you’ll find more than just your typical breakfast fare. You are likely to have to wait on the weekends, as this bad boy is no well-kept secret. Get there early if you’re in a rush. 120 Hardware Street, Melbourne Jungle Juice This one is small, and as the name suggests they do know their juices. Changing regularly, you’ll often land something different. If you can get a seat, grab a bagel with your juice, or takeaway if all the seats in this little one are occupied. 20 Centre Place, Melbourne Manchester Press Good coffee, serious legroom and delicious bagels, what more could you want really? Manchester Press, once a gallery is open and spacious and a great retreat from the chaos that is Little Bourke Street. With about 10 bagel varieties to choose from, they are your best bet. Venture through the roller door and take your time. 8 Rankins Lane, Melbourne Chez Dre Laneway cafes don’t always have to be found in the CBD. Chez Dre, located in a converted warehouse down a little alley at the rear of Coventry Street in South Melbourne, is where you can find some of the best pastries in Melbourne. With a pastry chef who spent years in Paris honing her art, expect a French influence. If you’re not in the mood for something sweet, hot breakfasts and a range of baguettes are also available. Rear of 285-287 Coventry Street, South Melbourne, chezdre.com.au View all Melbourne Cafes.
Australian Venue Co — one of the country's largest hospitality groups which operates 94 venues in Queensland, 70 in Victoria, 26 in Western Australia, 18 in South Australia, 10 in New South Wales and 2 in the Northern Territory — announced on Monday, December 2, that it will no longer host Australia Day celebrations on January 26 at any of its more than 200 outposts. January 26 is a contentious date for many. Commemorating the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and the beginning of European settlement on the Australian continent, it is a day of enduring collective trauma for First Nations communities and their allies who know it as Invasion Day or Survival Day rather than its traditional name. [caption id="attachment_908540" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Morris House, Melbourne[/caption] In a statement supplied to The Herald Sun, an Australian Venue Co spokesperson said of the decision to bar events on January 26: "Australia Day is a day that causes sadness for some members of our community, so we have decided not to specifically celebrate a day that causes hurt for some of our patrons and our team," Since 1994, all Australian states and territories have enjoyed a public holiday on January 26, but calls to move the country's national day to another less controversial date have gained momentum in recent years. In 2017, radio station Triple J made the decision to move its annual Hottest 100 rankings to January 25 and earlier this year, major supermarket brands Woolworths and Aldi both pledged to no longer stock Australia Day merchandise in its stores. Across Australia, January 26 has also created opportunities to show solidarity with First Nations communities. More than 80 councils around the country no longer hold citizenship ceremonies on January 26 and Invasion Day rallies attract thousands of peaceful protesters every year. For a full list of the Australian Venue Co venues effected by the January 26 event ban, visit the Australian Venue Co website.
Taylor Swift's Australian Eras tour month is finally here. Nabbed tickets in the frenzy, but want more than the memories to celebrate? Missed out, but still keen for a souvenir to remember the occasion? Here's your mantra for February: look what you made me buy. Concert tours and merchandise always go hand in hand, but Swift's involves an official merch pop-up, plus days of presales prior to her gigs at the MCG in Melbourne and Accor Stadium in Sydney. And in the case of the one-day-only pop-up, you even need to reserve your place. [caption id="attachment_939192" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Paolo Villanueva via Wikimedia Commons.[/caption] If you're in the Victorian capital, mark Tuesday, February 13 in your diary, then make a date with Crown Melbourne. From 9am–6pm, you'll be able to pick up everything from t-shirts and hoodies to totes and water bottles. Yes, bracelets are also on the merch list. Only folks with a reservation, which can be made from midday AEDT on Wednesday, February 7, can attend, however. The other must-know pieces of info for the official merch pop-up: reservations are being allocated on a first-come-first-served basis, are free and can cover two people per booking. Once you've got yours, which come in half-hour lots, it's non-transferrable. [caption id="attachment_939193" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ronald Woan via Wikimedia Commons.[/caption] For Sydneysiders, those heading to the Harbour City for their Eras fix or folks in Melbourne who can't hit up Crown on the day in question, merchandise presales will start on the Wednesdays before Swift's gigs in each location. So, the MCG will be up and running from 10am–6pm between Wednesday, February 14–Thursday, February 15, and also during the concert dates from 12pm on Friday, February 16–Sunday, February 18. Accor Stadium will do the same in advance from 10am–6pm between Wednesday, February 21–Thursday, February 22, then from 12pm during the show dates from Friday, February 23–Monday, February 26. There's no reservations needed to get merch from the MCG and Accor Stadium. [caption id="attachment_939194" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ronald Woan via Wikimedia Commons.[/caption] When Sydney and Melbourne stops for Swift's career-spanning showcase were announced back June 2023, it sparked a rush for seats. Before general sales even started, the 'We Are Never Getting Back Together', 'Shake It Off' and 'Bad Blood' musician had announced an extra gig in both cities. And, the Victorian Government even declared her Melbourne stint a major event so that anti-scalping legislation would apply to tickets. At all gigs, Swift will have Sabrina Carpenter in support before she breaks out a showcase that steps through her entire career so far, playing tracks from each of her studio albums in a three-hour, 44-song, ten-act spectacular. If you saw Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour as a movie, aka a concert film of her latest shows that hit cinemas Down Under last October, you'll know what you're in for. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Australian Merchandise Locations and Dates 2024: Tuesday, February 13 — Australia official merchandise pop-up, Crown Melbourne, Melbourne Wednesday, February 14–Thursday, February 15 — merchandise presale, MCG, Melbourne Friday, February 16–Sunday, February 18 — merchandise presale and show merchandise, MCG, Melbourne Wednesday, February 21–Thursday, February 22 — merchandise presale, Accor Stadium, Sydney Friday, February 23–Monday, February 26 — merchandise presale and show merchandise, Accor Stadium, Sydney Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Australian Dates 2024: Friday, February 16–Sunday, February 18 — Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Friday, February 23–Monday, February 26 — Accor Stadium, Sydney Taylor Swift is bringing The Eras Tour to Australia in February 2024. Head to the tour website for further details. Crown Melbourne's official Australian merchandise pop-up takes place on Tuesday, February 13 from 9am–6pm, with reservations required — and bookings open from 12pm AEDT on Wednesday, February 7. Head to the booking website for more information. Top image: Paolo Villanueva via Wikimedia Commons.
If Johnny Di Francesco is anxious about the opening of Gradi at Crown, he isn't showing it. The bright lights of Southbank are a bit different to that of Brunswick East (where his first restaurant, 400 Gradi, resides), but in the kitchen it seems it's all the same. The pizza is still cooked in the same way — at 400 degrees for just 90 seconds — and even though he is now catering for the masses at this riverfront venue, it still tastes just as great. After all, he does make the best in the world. That prestigious title — the best margherita in the world, according to the official pizza assessors Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana — has blown up the Gradi empire. From the humble Lygon Street outpost to the Crown complex (taking up the space where GAS used to be), this is Gradi 2.0: it's bigger, shinier and totally on show. And on a Tuesday night, all 300 seats are full. And yep, the pizza is outstanding. You know how it is: crisp and charcoaled, but still chewy when you take a bite. Simple is best, and with all the credentials, it's hard to go past a margherita. But if you don't fancy paying $21 for the bare bones, the caserta will be more satisfying. It comes with the addition of rocket and an 18-month superfine prosciutto on top ($25.50). Not giving into the hype? There are adequate pasta, risotto and main meal options (think seafood, veal and a rack of lamb) as well. Italians know how to do antipasti like no one else, and Gradi has the start of the meal down to a tee. Fresh imported Italian salumi and cheese (including a flaky raspadura that comes in a bag) is served atop a crispy plate of Sardinian carasau bread. The seafood is fried, and best balanced out with a carpaccio of beef or fish. Fried balls of dough — the montanare fritte — are beacons of light, tasting like savoury doughnuts, served with a 'filling' of mozzarella, gorgonzola, tomato and basil ($15 for three). It's all very filling stuff — but, please, save room for dessert. There's no shame in sticking to the classics — a jar filled with some extremely stunning tiramisu ($15) awaits — but once you see the calzone, it's game over. This big hunk of sweet-and-savoury is beautiful and dangerous; go for the coffee over the Nutella and ricotta, and as you cut into it, the ooze of coffee cream might see you forget all about award-winning pizzas. Because when every dish is better than the last, it's a special experience. And whether it's in Brunswick East, Crown or Essendon (where a new outpost is soon to open), Gradi tastes just as good.
Biding your time until the next season of Stranger Things drops, or just looking for a fun new procrastination technique? Thanks to Netflix's latest addition, you can now do both. The streaming platform has just jumped into the mobile games realm, adding five titles to its Android app — and two of them are Stranger Things-themed, because of course they are. If you have an Android device (and the Netflix app installed on it, obviously), you'll now be greeted with the option to play Stranger Things: 1984 and Stranger Things 3: The Game — as well as the non Stranger Things-related Shooting Hoops, Card Blast and Teeter Up. Mashing buttons obviously isn't why you normally open up Netflix on your phone, but clearly the streaming behemoth is hoping that'll change. The company is aiming to leap into mobile gaming in a big way, in fact, offering the same kind of mix that it's launching with — so, titles linked to its streaming content, plus a range of others. While Netflix's gaming options are only available on Android for now, they'll be rolled out to iOs as well in the near future. If you now know how you're going to spend your public transport trips to and from work, you'll be able to access Netflix's new games as part of your existing subscription — and there's no in-app purchases, either. Netflix is offering its games in multiple languages, too, and on all devices linked to each account — but not via kids profiles. Here are the five games available to download and play, with a whole lot more coming! 🕹Stranger Things: 1984 🎮Stranger Things 3 🏀 Shooting Hoops 🃏 Card Blast 🎱 Teeter Up — Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) November 2, 2021 This isn't the first time that the streaming service has flirted with gaming, if it all sounds a little familiar. Back in 2017, it released a retro-style, side-scrolling online video game that also nodded to Stranger Things — and in its streaming content itself, it's given viewers choose-your-own-adventure style movie specials such as Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend. Also, we've all clearly just watched Squid Game. Yes, you can probably expect a mobile game linked to the hit Korean series to pop up at some point as well. Netflix's mobile games are now available via its Android app. For more details, head to the Netflix website.
Oh we love cities. Make no mistake. But venture beyond the borders and go further out and you'll discover a haul of destinations rich with unique events and adventures worth road tripping for. Whether your interests are culinary, cultural or the creative arts, we've teamed up with Destination NSW to curate a guide to the biggest regional events and festivals to keep you entertained during the cooler months. From floral displays to food-packed fiestas, fruit picking and free live music performances, it's time to fuel up the car, fire up your Spotify playlist and settle in to discover the best that New South Wales has to offer. Explore the best of NSW's Regional Events and Festivals at the Destination NSW 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. COUSINS Early in Cousins, lawyer Makareta (Briar Grace Smith, The Strength of Water) walks Wellington's streets, chatting to her cousin Missy (Rachel House, Baby Done) by phone about the latest threat to appropriate their family's land to build a highway. As they talk, a woman with a shrub-like bob of hair and a well-worn green coat almost crosses Makareta's path — and, unbeknownst to her, it's her long-lost cousin, Mata (Tanea Heke, Waru), that she's spent most of her years desperately looking for. In another movie, this near miss would be cutesy, convenient, and spark an onslaught of superficial wisdom about opportunities, coincidences and connections. Cousins isn't that film, thankfully. Here, Makareta and Mata come oh-so-close to finding each other because that's what life entails for a Māori woman who was taken from her family as a child. Stolen away by her white father, left with an uncaring guardian and schooled in a grim home for desolate children, Mata has spent too long at arm's reach from her nearest and dearest, as the film's fractured timeline loops back to explain. She's never all that far away physically — indeed, when she's allowed to stay with her relatives during one youthful summer, a much-younger Makareta (Mihi Te Rauhi Daniels) is shocked to learn that her cousin has been living locally — but by being stripped of her culture, her ties to the past and even the name her mother gave her, Mata may as well have been sent to the other side of the world. Based on Patricia Grace's 1992 book of the same name — and brought to the screen with exceptional performances, including from House, both Keyahne Patrick Williams and Hariata Moriarty (Savage) as younger versions of Missy, and Te Ao Marama Baker, Te Raukura Gray and Ana Scotney (The Breaker Upperers) as Mata at various ages — Cousins explores how Mata's removal from her family leaves a permanent mark. Following her years in institutionalised care and the abhorrent way she's treated by her guardian (Sylvia Rands, Top of the Lake) as well, it's a story and film about colonial trauma, systemic racism and the ills of history that have affected too many First Nations people in too much of the world, and it's a heartbreakingly moving and compelling piece of cinema. Co-directing as well as acting, Grace-Smith teams up with fellow Māori woman and Waru collaborator Ainsley Gardiner to tell a tale that's intimate, impassioned and unflinchingly brought to the screen. Cousins dives headfirst into the pain that removing Indigenous people from their land and culture sparks, and doesn't ever downplay how that hurt, loss, isolation and alienation causes ripples that never subside. And yet, with its calm gaze, as well as its penchant for lingering over brief but vibrant pops of colour and greenery, this is also a movie about fighting for what matters, valuing what you can when you can, and remaining both adaptable and resilient out of both necessity and unyielding fortitude. JOSEE, THE TIGER AND THE FISH With its eye-catching pastel hues and soul-stirring affinity for water, it'd be easy to accuse Josee, the Tiger and the Fish of following in Weathering With You, Children of the Sea and Ride Your Wave's footsteps — or in Ponyo's as well. But this charming and moving Japanese delight finds its origins in a 2003 live-action film of the same name, which itself was adapted from author Seiko Tanabe's short story. The new Josee, the Tiger and the Fish still slides in seamlessly beside its aforementioned anime peers, though. That isn't a criticism by any means. These movies aren't otherwise overtly connected, but Japan's affection for gorgeously animated tales of the heart, of hope and of H2O keeps giving rise to features that may as well be different volumes in a beloved series. Present here, too, is a clear sense of melodrama as two twentysomethings literally collide — physically, more than once, in fact — and try to work out what their futures might hold. Tsuneo (Taishi Nakagawa, Samurai Marathon) has always dreamed of becoming a marine biologist, while Josee (Kaya Kiyohara, Wish) has rarely been given room to think of anything other than the present. Once the pair's paths intertwine, though, they begin to find themselves in far more similar circumstances than either could ever have foretold. The meet-cute here is really a crash-cute: thanks to Josee's hurtling wheelchair and its speedy decline down a hilly Osaka street, she goes flying into his arms. Her grandmother (Chiemi Matsutera) invites him home, and then to join them for a meal — and while Josee is unhappy about the arrangement to the point of being outwardly rude, Tsuneo soon finds himself with a job offer to be her part-time caregiver. He also works in the local dive shop, as part of his studies and quest to earn a scholarship to Mexico. But even with his friend and coworker Mai (Yume Miyamoto, The Misfit of Demon King Academy) pining for him quietly, he's drawn to the impudent Josee. The film strands its titular character in her wheelchair, in peril and in need of help more than once, but Tsuneo is adamant that she needn't ignore her dreams or resign herself to escaping the world around her. Directing his first feature after credits on TV series such as Negima! Magister Negi Magi and Noragami, filmmaker Kôtarô Tamura tells not only a love story, but a tale about embracing life's chaos. His film celebrates the importance of understanding perspectives other than your own, and of fighting for your own choices. Add it to the list of sweet, charming, empathetic and heartwarming anime doing the same — although not one of them simply wades in familiar waters. HEROIC LOSERS Thanks to the vagaries of fate — and, of late, the havoc that the pandemic has played on cinema releases — films with similar elements sometimes brighten up the big screen at the same time. Heroic Losers is one of two movies debuting in Australian cinemas this week that unites a group of small-town locals around a shared cause (the other: Dream Horse; see below). It's also one of two features out this week that pits ordinary hardworking folks against the overwhelming forces making their lives more difficult (the second: Percy vs Goliath; again, see below). Heroic Losers also boasts much in common with the treasure trove of heist flicks that have come before it. Writer/director Sebastian Borensztein (Chinese Take-Out) even includes clips of 1966's How to Steal a Million, and has the 55-year-old classic influence some of its characters' antics, too. But, premiering in Argentina almost two years ago before hopping its way around the festival circuit, including at Australia's Spanish Film Festival, this affable movie ranks among the best kind of formulaic fare. It makes you remember what you love about the genres it warmly falls into, as well as the pictures it fondly recalls — and it never leaves its viewers merely ticking through all of its standard-issue inclusions, then wishing they were watching one of those other pictures instead. The ever-reliable, always charming Ricardo Darín (Everybody Knows) plays Fermín Perlassi, a retired ex-footballer who wants to reopen a grain storage cooperative that stumbled in his small-town home of Villa Alsina a decade earlier. It's 2001, and he manages to encourage his pals and locals to support his dream. Alas, just days after Fermín deposits their life savings — and is manipulated into putting them into an account, rather than in a safe deposit box —Argentina's financial crisis sees the country's banks and their funds all frozen. This isn't the last crisis involving their money, but the group comes up with a plan. Again, as mentioned above, How to Steal a Million helps. So does the eagerness of Fermín and his gang — including Verónica Llinás (So Long Enthusiasm) as his wife, Darín's own son Chino (The Queen of Spain) as his son, and Luis Brandoni (You Only Live Once), Rita Cortese (Wild Tales) and Marco Antonio Caponi (Nobody's Watching) as well — to take their destinies into their own hands. Unravelling their heist antics, Borensztein helms a lively and likeable film that pairs its affection for their efforts with a matching affinity for the characters themselves. It all turns out as anyone can predict, but the good-natured journey is rarely anything less than pleasant. DELIVER US FROM EVIL Whether he's on screenwriting duties or he's behind the camera, a film that involves Hong Won-chan is always worthy of attention. The South Korean filmmaker penned the scripts for Na Hong-jin's gripping The Chaser and The Yellow Sea, then made his directorial debut with the entertainingly savage Office — and now, both as a writer and a helmer, he's added engaging action-packed gangster thriller Deliver Us From Evil to his growing resume. A big box office hit on home turf, this kinetic, frenetic and exceptionally choreographed affair charts the failed last hurrah of cop-turned-hitman In-nam (Hwang Jung-min, The Wailing). In Tokyo, he pulls off his final job without a hitch, but it turns out that his yakuza target has an unhinged brother that his bosses forgot to mention. And, as well as being unhappy about this turn of events to the point of seeking bloody and ruthless revenge, said sibling Ray (Lee Jung-jae, The Housemaid) shares a past with In-nam. That's enough to derail the latter's plans to live the good life in Panama for the rest of his days; however, it's not the only drama that pushes him off course. In Bangkok, his ex-girlfriend has been killed in a bungled kidnapping and extortion scheme, but her nine-year-old daughter Yoo-min (Park So-yi, Pawn) still needs rescuing. Deliver Us From Evil isn't short on plot, but it isn't needlessly overcomplicated or convoluted, either. As a storyteller, Hong has always been efficient above all else. Indeed, when multiple storylines weave through his scripts — as they usually do — they're always unfurled with exactly the flair and detail each needs and deserves. Here, he threads together In-nam's search for Yoo-min and his attempts to evade Ray, and does so with the same precision his two main characters show in their gruesome work. In this 108-minute movie, not a scene or second is wasted, in fact. While much of the minutiae, narrative-wise, hardly reshapes Hong's chosen genre, he firmly knows the difference between blandly sticking to a formula and deploying familiar elements in their best and most spirited forms. His keen eye for dynamic, slick but never mindlessly over-the-top action helps, including in frenzied chase scenes and brutal fist-to-fist battles. His willingness to let the camera linger upon its person of focus a beat longer than usual — whether In-nam, Ray or the transgender Korean woman, Yui (Park Jeong-min, Time to Hunt), In-nam teams up with to locate Yoo-min — also gives the movie its own pace. And, in its casting, Deliver Us From Evil is first-rate. Lee gets the more cartoonish role, but no scene featuring his menace, Hwang's blend of determination and desperation, or both, could ever wear out its welcome. DREAM HORSE Life-changing conversations can happen in bars — as Jan Vokes well and truly knows. Played in Dream Horse by Toni Collette (I'm Thinking of Ending Things), the Welsh supermarket employee and pub barmaid overheard Howard Davies (Damian Lewis, Billions) chatting about his past success as a racehorse owner. In his beer-fuelled boasting, he doesn't discuss how it almost left him bankrupt and divorced, but Jan is still inspired to both follow his lead and enlist his help. Having bred whippets and racing pigeons before, and won prizes for doing so, she decides she'll turn her attention to horses. Husband Brian (Owen Teale, Game of Thrones) isn't initially convinced, but soon she's studying guides, finding a mare and then a stallion, and convincing her friends and neighbours to put away a tenner a week to pay for this little endeavour. The syndicate's focus: a foal they name Dream Alliance, who spends his early days being raised on the Vokes' allotment, and eventually ends up with racing hotshot Philip Hobbs (Nicholas Farrell, The Nevers) as its trainer. Dream Horse wouldn't exist if success didn't follow, and it leaves no doubt that that's the case; however, director Euros Lyn (The Library Suicides) and screenwriter Neil McKay (Mad Money) chart lows as well as highs, and always ensure their characters are their primary focus. Dream Alliance was always going to gallop into cinemas, of course — and not just via 2015 documentary Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance. His is a story too crowd-pleasing for filmmakers to ignore, especially given the UK's penchant for against-the-odds tales about motley crews of struggling salt-of-the-earth characters who band together over an unusual but swiftly shared interest that ends up revitalising their lives in more ways than one. That's the template Dream Horse plays to, even though it's based on a true tale and an actual horse. The Full Monty, Calendar Girls and similar feel-good flicks provide as much inspiration here as the actual real-life details, in fact. Accordingly, this is a movie that's easy to get caught up in. It's almost impossible not to, really. That said, it's also a film that wears its warmth, sentimentality and shameless heartstring-pulling as a badge of honour. As a result, it's also impossible to ignore the buttons the movie keeps gleefully pushing, and the parts of the tale that must've been smoothed out to elicit the desired cheer-inducing response — even around Collette's committed performance. But this happily mawkish feature and its characters are all doing it for the "hwyl", a Welsh term that means "emotional motivation and energy", and neither is willing to let that mission dwindle even for a second. PERCY VS GOLIATH Not once but twice in Percy vs Goliath, snippets of news footage utter the three words that no one needs to speak aloud. Given its title, no one needs to spell out that seed-saving Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser (Christopher Walken, Wild Mountain Thyme) is locked in a David vs Goliath battle with agriculture and agrochemical behemoth Monsanto. By the time the biblical face-off is first mentioned in this underdog drama, it's well and truly clear that this is the case — whether or not you're familiar with the real-life story, or you've seen the 2009 documentary Percy Schmeiser — David Versus Monsanto. But actor-turned-director Clark Johnson (Juanita) and screenwriters Garfield Lindsay Miller (The Devil You Know) and Hilary Pryor (Moosemeat & Marmalade) go there anyway. They make a plethora of choices that are just as blatant and unnecessary, and it robs their film of its potency. Unexpectedly accused of stealing Monsanto's Roundup-resistant canola seeds, and determined to do whatever it takes to demonstrate his innocence and fight for the rights of his fellow farmers, Schmeiser's tale is rousing enough without needing to resort to obvious cliches. Undoubtedly, his quest was described in such terms by media at the time, and definitely would've been since as well, but Percy vs Goliath's viewers don't need to be spoon-fed so forcefully to understand why his battle matters. Thankfully, this by-the-numbers movie has Walken at its centre, which is usually a smart choice. The veteran actor might've been poorly served by his past two big-screen roles — his Irish accent in Wild Mountain Thyme is awful, and the less said about the never-funny all-ages exploits in War with Grandpa, the better — but he's reliably compelling here as Schmeiser. His character's troubles begin when he's sent a letter demanding $15,000 in payment for his supposed unlicensed use of Monsanto's patented technology. Schmeiser's wife (Roberta Maxwell, Hungry Hearts) is initially sceptical about enlisting legal help, his son (Luke Kirby, The Marvellous Mrs Maisel) is steadfastly against it and even their chosen lawyer (Zach Braff, The Comeback Trail) recommends settling; however, this farmer doesn't take kindly to being told he's a thief when he isn't, or being bullied by the big end of his industry. He initially isn't too fond of the environmental activist (Christina Ricci, Around the Block) who pops up to crowdfund for his cause, either, but sometimes he needs her bigger-picture thinking. Yes, everything in Percy vs Goliath unravels as expected, and Johnson, Miller and Pryor's choices emphasis that unmissable truth. The film didn't need to be as routine and drama-free as it is, but Walken gives it far more spirit than it possesses otherwise. THE MEDDLER In The Meddler, it doesn't take long for German Cabrera to admit the obvious: he has an addiction. By day, the Guatemala City resident works as a mechanic, a trade he's keen to teach to his four sons. By night, he leaves his family at home while he trawls the streets until dawn, doggedly searching for whichever splashes of blood, crime and drama that he can capture with his always-recording camera. Cabrera is compelled to document the city's chaos so that he can expose it, he explains. As the block of text that opens the film notes, 2100 homicides were reported in Guatemala City in 2013, making it the 12th most violent place in the world. Cabrera records everything that he can — nightly fights, drunken behaviour, medical emergencies and dead bodies alike — with TV networks airing his footage, and even eventually dedicating an entire segment called The Night Watcher to his visuals. He's proud about the fact that he doesn't get paid for his efforts. As The Meddler watches him as he watches on, he seems to enjoy what he's seeing, too. In fact, Cabrera takes his role as a self-appointed observer to heart, simply standing by camera in-hand while scenes and events scream for someone's intervention, and often just recording anyone who happens to stumble into his view. Directed by feature first-timers Alex Roberts and Daniel Leclair, The Meddler has charged itself with a complicated task — because its subject and his actions and motivations are equally complex. When the documentary spends time driving around with Cabrera, peers at him while he's on the road and hears him talk about his desires to better the city, it purposefully brings Taxi Driver to mind. When it spies his eagerness to voyeuristically seek out and shoot Guatemala City's nocturnal chaos night after night, it summons up Nightcrawler as well. Neither comparison paints Cabrera in a favourable light, or a straightforward one. The Meddler thrusts him to the fore and its filmmakers don't interject in his monologues, question his statements or try to explain his choices; however, the doco's aesthetic and editing choices don't wholly land on his side, either. Indeed, this is a knotty character study that appreciates Cabrera's stated quest, and also acknowledges all of the thorniness that comes packaged with him and his after-dark hustle. When the film uses his footage, it's chilling and unsettling. When it forces viewers to contemplate his presence in the night and accompanying penchant for sensationalistic imagery, it's just as eerie. GREAT WHITE When a giant shark chomps its way through the cinematic ocean, audiences are meant to side with its scared human prey. But some creature features give viewers multiple reasons to do the opposite — and to find their own way to liven up a dull and formulaic movie. Perhaps the film's non-fish characters are woefully one-note or unlikeable, or both. Maybe the script is so simplistic, even in a well-worn genre, that a shark munching random keys on a typewriter probably could've written something better. Or, it could be that every plot development, performance, visual, and score choice is so overwhelmingly predictable that tension is as rare as a vegan great white. Actually, there's no maybes about any of the last three statements when it comes to horror's latest shark-centric outing, which turns Queensland's waters into a buffet for a ravenous critter. Great White marks the feature debut of director Martin Wilson, and only the second movie script for screenwriter Michael Boughen (Dying Breed); however, that its producers have 2010 Aussie shark film The Reef and its now-in-production sequel The Reef: Stalked on their resumes — plus homegrown 2007 crocodile flick Black Water and its 2020 sequel Black Water: Abyss — will surprise absolutely no one. Great White's setup will be familiar to anyone who has even heard of a shark movie before, let alone watched one. The twist: despite reassurances by marine biologist-turned-seaplane pilot Charlie (Aaron Jakubenko, Tidelands) that the time just isn't right for teeth-gnashing ocean predators to fill their empty stomachs, climate change seems to have changed the titular species' habits. So, on a lucrative charter gig that'll help keep his business financially afloat, Charlie, his girlfriend Kaz (Katrina Bowden, 30 Rock), their cook Benny (Te Kohe Tuhaka, Love and Monsters), and their paying customers Joji (Tim Kano, Neighbours) and Michelle (Kimie Tsukakoshi, The Family Law) find themselves under threat. They've headed to a remote island of personal significance to Michelle, and Joji is clashing with Benny before they even spot the resident great white's last victim. To ramp up the stakes, Kaz is telling Charlie that she's pregnant, too. Quickly, the quintet become the creature's next targets, including while cast adrift in a life raft that could use Life of Pi's Richard Parker for company. Just as speedily, Great White's audience will wish that something — anything — that hasn't previously graced Jaws, The Shallows, 47 Metres Down or even The Meg's frames would happen in this thrill-free bob into been-there, done-that waters. SPIRIT UNTAMED The first time that a Kiger Mustang named Spirit cantered across the silver screen, it was in 2002's Oscar-nominated Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Back then, the film marked just the sixth theatrical feature that Dreamworks Animation had brought to cinemas — following Antz, The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Chicken Run and Shrek — and if anything stood out, it was the movie's hand-drawn animation. Almost two decades later, Spirit Untamed returns the energetic and determined horse back to theatres. The movie he's in still looks gorgeous, even if computers have replaced pencils in bringing him to life. That said, this isn't actually the franchise's second step, with Netflix series Spirit Riding Free also telling the apple-loving animal's story across 78 episodes since 2017. In both look and feel, Spirit Untamed has more in common with its streaming counterpart than its big-screen predecessor, unsurprisingly. It's happy to primarily court the show's young audience, too. Indeed, while voice work by Jake Gyllenhaal (Spider-Man: Far From Home), Julianne Moore (Lisey's Story), Walton Goggins (Fatman), Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Eiza González (Godzilla vs Kong) is designed to appeal to adults, there's little else but scant traces of nostalgia and pastel-hued imagery to keep anyone past their teens interested. Her vocals stem from a different actor — with Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) doing the honours — but Fortuna Esperanza "Lucky" Prescott still sits at the heart of Spirit Untamed. Like Spirit Riding Free, the new film tells of Lucky's arrival in the frontier town of Miradero, her connection with Spirit and her efforts to save him from wranglers (led by Goggins). Also covered: her budding friendship with fellow horse-lovers Pru (voiced here by Little's Marsai Martin) and Abigail (Mckenna Grace, Annabelle Comes Home). They're the pals she needs when Spirit and his wild companions are snatched up by the nefarious rustlers, who plan to ship the horses off and sell them. Together, the pre-teen trio then sets off across the dangerous plains, determined to save the galloping animals and do the right thing. There's an obvious but still welcome and powerful message in Lucky's story, as she ignores her worried dad's (Gyllenhaal) warnings and her doting aunt's (Moore) fussing, choosing to follow her own heart and path instead. (Her father frets because her mother, voiced by González, worked as a horse-riding stunt performer and died during a show.) Similarly pleasing, even if the movie basically just remakes the TV show's first episode: that this all-ages wild west tale heroes women, although it pales in comparison to the recent Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary. 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; May 6, May 13, May 20 and May 27; and June 3. 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, Wrath of Man, Locked Down, The Perfect Candidate, Those Who Wish Me Dead, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, Ema, A Quiet Place Part II, Cruella, My Name Is Gulpilil, Lapsis and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
Each year, at the turn of winter to spring, Hindus celebrate Holi, a festival exalting colour that leaves participants saturated in bright hues. Holi serves as the inspiration behind the Color Run, a unique 5k race that has taken the U.S. by storm and is now headed to Australia. Runners are invited to join the "3.1 miles of color madness" that comprise the untimed Color Run purely for the sake of a good time. The only race requirements are that all participants wear a white t-shirt and be willing to be greeted with a blast of coloured pigment upon completing every leg of the race. The pigment, made of 100% natural food-grade cornstarch, is colour-specific for each portion of the race. After the first kilometre, runners are splattered with yellow; after the second, they are doused in blue. And so it continues until the end of the 5 kilometres, when each runner is covered head-to-toe in a brilliant mish-mash of every hue imaginable. So far only three Australian dates have been announced, but organisers have promised events for most Australian states in late 2012 and early 2013 The Color Run Australia dates:Melbourne - November 25, 2012 (Register)Sydney - February 10, 2013Perth - February 17, 2013Adelaide - TBCBrisbane - TBCCanberra - TBCGeelong - TBCGold Coast - TBCNewcastle - TBC Stay up to speed with further announcements via The Color Run Australia Facebook page. https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZWsfHC-0d6A
How often do you think about the Roman Empire? So asked the much-memed question of 2023, as no one could avoid. With Gladiator II reaching cinemas to give 2024 one of its big blockbusters for the year, another query, also Roman Empire-related, springs to mind: how often do you think about Ridley Scott's 2000 epic Gladiator — the film that won five Oscars, including Best Actor for Russell Crowe as general-turned-arena combatant Maximus — whenever you're thinking about the Roman Empire? The first Gladiator is that influential. For more than two decades since its release, the swords- and sandals-heavy movie has proven an enduring pop-culture touchstone when it comes to contemplating its specific chapter of history through a Hollywood lens, and just in epic cinema overall. Are we not entertained? Audiences the world over were at the turn of the century, so it has never been surprising that talk of a follow-up has been buzzing since 2001. How a second feature would play out has shifted, changed and evolved several times since — Nick Cave even wrote a script — but the film that's transporting viewers back to the Colosseum still boasts exactly what it always needed: the now-octogenarian Scott at the helm. Audiences should be thankful that the iconic Alien, Blade Runner and Thelma & Louise filmmaker has added another Gladiator flick to his resume, returning to one of his hits again as he last did with the Alien realm with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant (and that he's continuing to be prolific, helming his fourth film of the 2020s after The Last Duel , House of Gucci and Napoleon). Paul Mescal (All of Us Strangers), Connie Nielsen (Origin) and Fred Hechinger (Thelma), three of Gladiator II's stars, aren't just grateful that Scott is behind the camera on the film; speaking with Concrete Playground when they were in Australia for the movie's premiere in Sydney, the trio couldn't have been more inspired by their time working with the director. "Basically I want to be like Ridley when I grow up. That's the root of it for me," Mescal shared with us. Nielsen described returning to one of Scott's sets, and stepping back into the Colosseum in particular, as feeling "like I was coming home". And Hechinger summed up the enthusiastic trio's communal sentiments about collaborating with the filmmaker, when asked what they had each learned from him at the end of our chat — which sparked eager answers. "I know this was your last question and you had a minute, but clearly if you asked this at the beginning of the interview, we could have talked the entire interview for five months about all the things that we learned from him." [caption id="attachment_979923" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures[/caption] As Lucius, Mescal is Gladiator II's focal point, with the Aftersun Oscar-nominee, plus The Lost Daughter, Carmen and Foe talent, leading his first Tinseltown blockbuster just four years after the Irish actor became a global obsession courtesy of Normal People. He slides into Crowe's (The Exorcism) shoes in terms of starring in a Gladiator picture, and also into Spencer Treat Clark's (Salem's Lot), who portrayed the same character as a boy in the first film. Lucius' path is familiar, too, taking him from military command to slavery and fighting for his life in front of Roman crowds. As Gladiator viewers know, his mother, aka Nielsen's Lucilla, has seen this situation occur before as well — but this time, it's Hechinger and Joseph Quinn (A Quiet Place: Day One) as sibling Emperors Caracalla and Geta who are lording over the empire, rather than Joaquin Phoenix (Joker: Folie à Deux) as her brother Commodus. Scott's knack for casting remains exceptional with Gladiator II, which also boasts Pedro Pascal (Drive-Away Dolls) as Roman general Marcus Acacius and Denzel Washington as power broker Macrinus. Mescal ensures that Lucius is a determined, devoted and unflinching leader, whether he's literally guiding an army or battling as a gladiator — and also warm, vulnerable and open. Nielsen, who has featured in everything from the Wonder Woman films and Nymphomaniac to TV's Boss and The Following between stints as Lucilla, keeps unpacking how women, even those seen to have some influence and status, can sometimes only be permitted to inhabit a certain space in their worlds. And for The White Lotus, Fear Street and Pam & Tommy alum Hechinger, playing Caracalla means being hedonistic, ruthless, reckless, power-hungry and blood-thirsty opposite not only Quinn but also Caracalla's pet monkey Dundus. With Mescal, Nielsen and Hechinger, we also discussed the present-tense nature of Scott's sets, finding space for Lucilla's political instincts, stepping beyond Crowe's shadow and turning in unpredictable performances — alongside unpacking male psychology, Gladiator II's rallying against the control of the one percent and the devil-may-care abuse of power, and more. On What Nielsen Was Most Excited About in Returning to the World of Gladiator After More Than Two Decades Connie: "The fact that this is a mature woman of experience and of intellectual weight. You don't see many women like that in the theatre kind of ever. And so the way they wrote her, they really made her, yes, the heart and the big mother in the film, but they also made so much space for her political instinct and also for her dreams. You don't really see that much, and so it was very exciting to see and expand on a woman that I played as a young girl." On Mescal Always Being in the Moment Despite the Pressures and Responsibilities of Following in Russell Crowe's Footsteps Paul: "You feel a sense of pressure and responsibility with every single film that you ever make — this being different in the sense that Gladiator, the first Gladiator, is absolutely adored, as it should be. Russell is absolutely adored for that performance, as he should be. But the idea of legacy or pressure is a fundamental problem — it's directly in conflict with trying to carve out your own performance. You can't really lean into it all that much, because the words used to describe the first one and Russell are applied over time, and with the act of making the film — Gladiator II or any film — it has to be utterly present-tense. You have to go to work and build it beat by beat, block by block, day by day. And Ridley's sets are wonderfully, wonderfully present-tense. There's no time to breathe or think about the past or think about the future. You are carving out your own plot of land and desperately trying to protect it." On How Hechinger Crafted a Hedonistic, Ruthless, Reckless and Utterly Unpredictable Character Like Caracalla — and One of a Pair Fred: "I think you want a genuine feeling of danger and ..." Connie: "Unpredictability." Fred: "... Unpredictability. I guess it's a little bit of a conundrum. How do you craft unpredictability? But I think you have to put so many things in there that you can find how to get out of your own way, or at least you have enough tools and elements that you not only surprise others but yourself. What Paul is speaking to in terms of Ridley's set is a true gift in that regard. He's building an environment that is utterly convincing, and also hurtles forward whether you interact with it or not. So the urgency and the full-body need to be heard, and to carve some space, as Paul was telling you about, I think really mixes with my character and all the characters in the film. You have to reckon with the space and there's no shortcut for you. You realise on other sets how many shortcuts are built in, and sometimes the disservice to the work that that does. I think, in this case, there's a real challenge every day — and that as an actor is a gift, because if you're playing someone who's impulsive and dangerous, the environment matches that level of danger and sense of possibility." Connie: "And also Fred, you weren't getting any rehearsals, really." Fred: "Yeah, there is no rehearsal. I mean, Ridley doesn't do rehearsals." Connie: "So you guys basically had to make up a lot of choices prior to even coming to set." Fred: "Joe Quinn and I did work closely on certain aspects of their brotherhood. There's a quality to their relationship that is a double act — at least in public they are. And so some of those Colosseum days felt like we were preparing for the Colosseum. We were preparing for a public thing. We're thinking 'how do we as a duo speak to Rome today?'. And so that it mirrored the story in a lot of ways there. And then I would say that the private side of them, that dynamic was something that was less prepared and spoken about with Joe — but implicitly by not talking about it, we were sort of secretly preparing the opposite side of it, in terms of the public and the private of their relationship." Connie:" I think for the rest of us, who were sitting around and watching them start up this whatever dog-and-pony show you guys are doing that day, I was like 'that is so cool'. It was really cool for us to watch. You guys had really worked hard to get things ready and I just love that. It's so professional." Fred: "Thank you, it means a lot." On What It Feels Like to Step Into Scott's Colosseum — for the First Time and When You're Returning Connie: "For me, it was so strange. It really felt like I was coming home. I know this place — what is it called, the prodigal daughter, returning to daddy's home?" Fred: "I felt — I think I said this to you in person — I felt that Connie was such a leader to all of us. I do remember this first days when you were talking about the experience of returning to the Colosseum, what the Colosseum was like then versus now. It not only made us feel more comfortable as people on the set, it also was really intelligent in terms of continuing to build the world for us. I think it was really creatively generous and additive." Connie: "Well, also because the first Colosseum was kind of like golden and bronzey just very sort of sun-drenched and gorgeous. And this one had a lot of red and black, and a lot of soot, a lot of homeless people at the arches outside of it. There was just a completely different set this time. And so it was both home, but it was also very clear that Ridley had told the story that 18 years had passed since we last left the Colosseum in Gladiator. And that was just very impressive for me to watch how all of the tools that he as a master plays on. And no one tells you. You have to really look. And when you're looking, you realise 'oh my god, he's playing on that and that thing', and it's like he's this master weaver." Paul: "100 percent." Fred: "I really think it's the time. It's the end of an empire. It's where greed goes to die. My first conversation with Janty Yates, our costume designer, I said to her 'I want Caracella to feel like rotting gold'. And when you looked around ..." Paul: "It felt that way." Connie: "It was rot everywhere. Social rot." Fred: "Yeah." On Mescal's Determination to Unpack Male Psychology in His Roles — and to Find Warmth, Vulnerability and Openness While Playing a Gladiator Paul: "I think it's this whole conversation about actors being transformative, which I think is so important, but it's also like if you look at painters that you really admire or any other form of artist, there is a template in the form that we admire about, say, van Gogh or Vermeer or something like that. We're not asking them to change their style every time. Acting is slightly different if you're wanting to play different characters, but there is something that I'm drawn to in terms of the complexities of male psychology. Like, what is it about the way that we think is as young men in the world? That ultimately feels like, when I'm acting, that's my job to kind of allow an audience into to our psychology. And I think when you're playing somebody who is brutalised and uses violence as a weapon in order to survive, that's one thing, but I think that you would grow tired of that as an audience if that was two-and-a-half hours of somebody expressing their life through violence. And I'm glad that you referenced that there is vulnerability there, because all of that anger isn't a means of being — it's a symptom that is built from the hurt that he's experienced. And also it's a fun lens to get to play with. Like, how are you trying to let that version of the vulnerability creep through? So I think the kind of performance style that I'm interested in, both in doing and watching, is not when you hit an audience over the head — you're trying to slowly invite them in to be suspicious or curious about what's going on underneath the surface for every character I play, and it was no different with Lucius." On Whether Gladiator II's Class Clashes Make It Feel Like a Movie for the Moment Connie: "I think it's more subtle than that. I think I can understand why there is this experience of it, because we inevitably mirror ourselves in the stories that we watch. I also know that for sure this was part of what Ridley was playing on but. But as always with Ridley, it's very subtle. I think that this is universal. It doesn't just belong to this moment. It belongs throughout history, that we consistently have to work at achieving that balance. I think maybe when I was younger, when I was like 20, 30, even 40, I still believed that we were moving towards universal democracy. When Tiananmen happened, I thought …" Paul: "That's surely going to be a moment." Connie: "For sure, that's going to be freedom for so many people. And then now we're in the position that you don't feel like we're consistently moving towards that universal freedom. And I would even say that international rule of law has really taken a step back over the last five, six years, seven years. And so I think that it's understandable that people read into it. But I do think it's subtle and I also don't think it's the main cause of the film." Paul: "I agree." On What Mescal, Nielsen and Hechinger Learned From Working with Ridley Scott Paul: "The thing that always strikes me about Ridley is if Ridley decided to never make a film again, he will go down as one of the greatest. But the thing that has struck me on a daily basis is that he could be so entitled as a man and a director, and he's one of the least-entitled people I know. His appetite for work ..." Connie: "Is total." Paul: "... is total. And I think as much as I have enjoyed everybody else that I've worked with, it's something that myself and everybody else included would probably say — that everybody else's work ethic pales in comparison to what he brings just innately as a human being. So to get to watch that from somebody in their 80s is exactly what I would dream of having when I'm — basically I want to be like Ridley when I grow up. That's the root of it for me." Connie: "For me, I look at him as a teacher at all times. I remember on the first film, I came on set in England, we were shooting the Germania battle, and I walk on set and I'm seeing 3000 soldiers on this giant open field that has literally been created by cutting and burning trees. Of course, completely sustainably. And I asked him 'but how are you going to make sure that the audience understands that Russell is coming from behind the enemy lines? How are you going to make sure they understand that?'. And then he was just like 'alright, let me show you'. And he just showed me how all of the battle cameras were turning from left towards right. And then he said 'with all of these cameras where I am filming Russell galloping behind the lines, I am sending that camera from right to left. Intrinsically people will understand that this is what's happening'. He also just drew up a diagram in three seconds and described exactly what it would look like from cut to cut to cut, like that, off the bat. When we were on stage at a screening in London just a few days ago, he started describing how he was building, for example, an action sequence that involved baboons. And the way in which he described his choices, going from 'oh, I once met that one little baboon and that baboon had alopecia' — and the creativity of his brain, and then followed by his ability to then create a way of doing it, which literally did not exist probably technically before. But he's leaning on the amazing people that he hires, and who are able to read into what he's trying to create. Then he is able to describe probably better than anyone what it is that he wants. He's able to say to me 'say that line' and I say it. And he's like 'no, not like that. Give me another line'. I'll come up with another line, and he's like 'no, too much description. Go there. Say it this way'. I'll come up with a line where, I'll go for that third time or fourth time, it'll be the right line. 'Okay, keep that line'. You just are willing to bend over backwards for him and come up with 20 different lines. I'll have written out literally 20 different versions of what I'm trying to say, and he will tell me which one that will work, and he will then, with the greatest respect, incorporate it." Fred: "His work ethic is an expression of his infinite love of cinema and the collaborative act of movie-making. I just think seeing Ridley on a film set is like is like seeing the most-perfect combination of the two." Connie: "He's like a conductor." Fred: "He shares his love in the most-infectious way. And it's funny because I know this was your last question and you had a minute, but clearly if you asked this at the beginning of the interview, we could have talked the entire interview ..." Connie: "Yep." Paul: "Just like that." Fred: "... for five months about all the things that we learned from him. He teaches a million things every day and the things that he teaches you, sometimes he doesn't even need to tell you. They're just happening. He lives through action." Connie: "But also he's amazing at actually directing without judging, which is a unique difference. He's not judging what you're doing." Fred: "Yeah." Connie: "He's directing from this open space." Fred: "Conducting." Gladiator II opened in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, November 14, 2024. Images: © 2024 Paramount Pictures.
UPDATE: July 17, 2020: Aquaman is available to stream via Netflix, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube and iTunes. Not since the screaming spider of Arachnophobia has there been something so ridiculous as a shark that roars. Then again, this is a film that also gives a bedazzled octopus a drum solo, so where does one draw the line? Welcome to Aquaman, a movie that chooses all the wrong places to play it safe, and all the weirdest ones to, well, be weird. It's a shame, too, because DC had a good opportunity here to turn things around for its ill-fated Universe. The ingredients were solid: a charismatic and sexy leading man (Jason Momoa), an unconventional hero with an appealing no-fucks-given attitude and, best of all, a generous amount of distance between itself and the woeful Justice League that preceded it. Add to that the relegation of DC veteran director Zack Snyder to a producer credit and Aquaman was neatly positioned to carve out another potentially lucrative sub-franchise in the vein of Wonder Woman. Instead, it delivers another special effects-laden delirium whose plot is both convoluted and dull. It's an origin story of sorts, albeit one set after Aquaman's formal introduction in Justice, with the film's opening scenes providing an engaging balance of history and action. We learn Aquaman (born Arthur) is the result of a star-crossed romance between lighthouse keeper Tom (Temuera Morrison) and self-exiled Atlantean royal Queen Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), whose semi-literal fish out of water routine offers the film both some amusing and tender moments (as well as a kick-arse fight scene from out of nowhere). Arthur's burgeoning powers are seldom explored, however, and the occasional training or education flashbacks offer none of the excitement or moral dilemmas that are custom-built for superhero origin stories (Clarke Kent not beating up his bullies in Man of Steel but then saving a busload of kids, including the bullies, being a prime example of the device done properly). Aquaman's powers are extreme, and extensive, yet they're rarely explained. How is it, for example, that in addition to his aquatic properties he's essentially bullet-proof? Doubtless all answers lie in the comic books, but a movie can't rely so heavily on its source material that it obviates at least some screenplay hand-holding. The problem is, Aquaman chooses to do its exhaustive exposition not for the fun stuff like talking to fish, but for dry factional politics between its secondary characters (a near-identical mistake to that made by George Lucas in The Phantom Menace). It also falls into the ridiculous trap of establishing a world full of aliens and monsters, then denying their very existence for the sake of artificial conflict. To wit, it makes absolutely no sense to have conservative TV pundits in the vein of Fox News panelists saying things like "Atlantis!? Please! It's a myth!" when they all live in a world that openly acknowledges the existence of Super Man, and Wonder Woman, and The Flash, and Cyborg, and Steppenwolf and a whole bunch of invading aliens (some of whom previously levelled several cities and tried to terraform the Earth). Given those realities, a lost city seems entirely plausible by comparison. On the plus side, Momoa owns every scene he's in, assisted by a solid turn from Amber Heard in a role that's entirely warrior princess and zero damsel in distress. It's also comfortably the brightest and most colourful DC film to date, delivering visuals that wouldn't feel out of place in Blade Runner. Too often, though, director James Wan takes the focus away from Momoa and Heard, favouring instead either long-winded pontificating from the villain Orm (Patrick Wilson) or CGI-heavy action that never even comes close to looking real. It's an entertaining ride and a refreshing break from the Snyder-driven darkness/slow-mo aesthetic that has long felt stale. But the only character you ever really care for is Arthur's father, and his story receives the least amount of time of all. Aquaman is one small step forward for DC, but one giant leap missed for the Universe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDkg3h8PCVU
A decade ago, English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur FC scored a new American coach and assistant in an advertisement hyping up soccer coverage by US TV network NBC. In that four-minute commercial, Ted Lasso made his debut, taking a gig across the pond without knowing a thing about the sport — or letting that whole lack of familiarity with the world game stop him. At his side: a bearded, sunglasses-wearing, cap-donning offsider, who dutifully offered advice and tried to steer him in the right direction. Unsurprisingly given how successful Ted Lasso has now become as an award-winning sitcom, viewers warmed to the sketch and its characters. A year later in 2014, the clueless coach returned in another ad, this time back in the US and using his Premier League learnings on home turf. But it'd take six more years before the Apple TV+ series that's widely and deservedly loved would grace screens, and before Saturday Night Live alum Jason Sudeikis and his We're the Millers and Horrible Bosses 2 co-star Brendan Hunt would return to the roles of Ted and Coach Beard. Now, Sudeikis has two acting Emmys for the first two seasons of the smash-hit show, and another two as one of its executive producers — and Hunt has a nomination for his on-screen supporting part, and shared those latter two wins. "It's wonderfully insane," Hunt tells Concrete Playground while chatting about Ted Lasso's long-awaited third season, which starts streaming from Wednesday, March 15 after an almost two-year gap since 2021's season two. Even if you hadn't seen the two ads that sparked the show, Hunt's face might've been familiar when Ted Lasso first hit Apple TV+ — his resume also includes appearances on everything from Parks and Recreation and Community to How I Met Your Mother and Key & Peele — but co-creating, -producing, -writing and -starring in one of the biggest comedy smashes of the past four years has made him instantly recognisable. He's also the man behind one of the show's most beloved characters, which is no mean feat given how widely adored the AFC Richmond crew are. A man of few words who's always at Ted's side, Beard hasn't stopped intriguing viewers yet. When Ted Lasso started its run as a series, its namesake and his righthand man Beard moved to London, and switched sports. So far, so familiar from the ads. But Ted Lasso as a series has a warmer tone, a busy roster of other players and the hearty embrace of audiences worldwide thanks to its kindness as much as its comedy. The gap between season two and three has been keenly noticed and felt — and not just because season two ended with a bombshell, after AFC Richmond assistant coach Nathan 'Nate' Shelley (Nick Mohammed, Intelligence) defected to rival club West Ham United, burning bridges with his old team and, pointedly, with Ted. How will Ted and Nate handle their new status quo? How has Hunt handled the Ted Lasso rollercoaster ride so far? Why is Beard such a fan favourite? They're just some of the things that we discussed with Hunt — alongside season two's delightful Beard After Hours episode, of course. ON TED LASSO'S JOURNEY FROM A SKETCH TO A SITCOM — AND ITS HUGE SUCCESS "Yeah, it's bonkers. You know, we took that first gig in that first campaign, and the main selling point was 'oh and we get to go to London for three whole days!'. Cut to: last year when we're in London for ten months. I think last year we were in London so long, we were like 'eh, London'. But that first one was super fun, and it went well enough that they had us go the next year, and that was fun too. And then Jason, [Ted Lasso co-creator] Joe Kelly and I got together [and went] 'alright, we've got to find a way to do more of this'. And then we wrote a pilot and put together a season arc — that was in late 2014/early 2105, and it felt like 'oh wow, we're going to have a TV show any minute now!'. And we didn't. We didn't for years. Years passed. Jason's career, he's going fine. Joe's career, he's going fine. Me, I'm baking on a rock, holding on for dear life in Los Angeles. And I had officially gotten to the point where I had given up any hope of anything Ted Lasso happening — like I was no longer even asking Jason if anything was happening. Then one day out of nowhere, he was like 'hey, is that pilot we did, is that still online somewhere?'. Yeah man, of course it is, that's how online works. He goes, 'oh, because Im talking to [Scrubs creator and sitcom veteran] Bill Lawrence tomorrow'. And then suddenly things moved very, very quickly after years of nothingness and heartbreak. I mean the last four years — it is what it is, and I just cannot, cannot, still cannot believe what has happened. I try not to think about it. I try to just get on the ride and pull down the harness and shake it and make sure it's secure, and then 'weeeeeeeeeeeeee!' — and then not think about the actual physics of the loop-de-loops, because it's insane." ON WHY TED LASSO HAS STRUCK SUCH A CHORD WITH AUDIENCES "In the ads, it's a sketch. And a thin sketch idea can work really well for five minutes, but it's unlikely to work for 30. So we just had so much fun doing the first two — 'like, we've got to find a way to do this' — and as soon as were making the TV show, we knew from early on, and this was Jason's idea, that something has to be going on in Ted's life to make him do this crazy thing. And we came upon the idea that he's going through a divorce. We weren't going to play the divorce for laughs — we were going to play the divorce for real. Jason and Joe and I, we've all been through a divorce. It's nothing to mess with. It's a very hard time. And once we had that in there, then the reality of this character is more fully formed and is now baked in, and is something to keep returning to. That's what led the way to panic attacks. That's what led the way to finding out his history with his dad, and stuff like that. I think we wouldn't be sitting here still talking about this show if it was still what it was in the original campaign." ON COACH BEARD'S ROLE IN THE SHOW — AND HIS FAN APPEAL "I think the main thing was still have him standing next to Ted as much as possible, because then people understand why he's there. No, it's just the idea that Ted wouldn't do this crazy thing alone. He would do it with someone he trusts — someone who would help him with the finer points, such as offside. And Beard's whole mission — we come from an improv and sketch-comedy culture, and one axiom you hear in that world is while you're offstage, while you're watching your partners improvise, ask yourself 'what does the scene need?'. Then you come into the scene with that. Well, Ted is the scene that Beard is watching, and Beard is always asking 'what does Ted need?'. That is rarely for Beard to talk, because Ted's pretty good at that bit. So Ted and Beard just have a very unspoken yet incredibly clear relationship and dynamic, and one's not going to take such a journey like this without the other — they're bosom buddies. I think it's [Coach Beard's fan appeal] just sort of a happy ancillary result of how little he talks, because he's on camera a lot by dint of the aforementioned standing next to Ted, who will most often be in the centre of your screen. And when someone is on camera that much but isn't talking, well, that's mysterious. Now you don't know what that dude's really about. It makes him a bit if a blank canvas that people can project themselves on and make their own assumptions about, but they're still unable to fill up that whole canvas themselves. So that accidentally discovered air of mystery, once we knew that was there, then it was like 'we can play with this and have good fun with it'." ON SEASON TWO'S BEARD AFTER HOURS EPISODE "We started writing season two before season one had come out, and season two was going to be ten episodes as season one was. We'd been going for three or four months before season one came out, so by then we had the season worked out — we had it mapped out, we had the dynamics, we had the peaks and valleys, and where things were going to go. Then suddenly the show comes out and, as you may have heard, that went pretty well. Almost first thing Monday morning, Apple was like 'you have two more episodes, please do two more episodes!'. And we're like 'okay, alright'. But we can't just mess with the dynamics we'd created for the scenes, so we had to come up with two episodes that were kind of standalone. We had a bit of a discard pile of things we were thinking of doing, and one was the Christmas episode, and the other was an episode where we follow Beard around. On top of that, where it's placed in the season, we really liked from sort of a mischief standpoint — because the episode before is a very big episode where a lot of big things happen, and by the end of that episode, you're definitely ready for next week and to find out where these things are going to go. And instead we go 'no, no, sorry, you're getting Beard for 45 minutes'. 45 minutes! 'Yeah, sorry, his is how it worked out'. And then, the week later, then we finally get back to business. So it was a happy accident, essentially, and it ended up being a pretty fun diversion." ON SEASON THREE'S BIG THEMES "Certainly for Ted, he made a promise in season one if they ever got back he'd try to win the whole fucking thing. Well, now they're back, and he doesn't give promises lightly. So he has to decide if he's going to go whole hog with that and, if so, is that at the risk of the values that he's trying to teach? And at the same time, Nate is off at West Ham having to figure out if what he's done or what he's doing, and what he has now, is worth the bridges that he's burned. With Rupert in his ear, that can go a few different ways. Other than that, we're looking at some of the same things we always have — vulnerability and honesty, and love and pain. And every ten minutes or so, somebody apologises for something." Season three of Ted Lasso starts streaming via Apple TV+ from Wednesday, March 15. Read our full review.
UPDATE: September 24, 2020: The Dead Don't Die is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video, Binge, Foxtel Now, Google Play and YouTube Movies. What's left to say about zombies? We've had the genre-defining (Night of the Living Dead), the satirical (Dawn of the Dead), the comedic (Shaun of the Dead) and the fast (28 Days Later), plus the slow and romantic (Warm Bodies), the televised (The Walking Dead), and the animated and child-friendly (ParaNorman). We've even had undead Nazis (Dead Snow). In cinema alone, there's been 500-plus zombie films since Victor Halperin's White Zombie way back in 1932, so it's fair to say that genre's brains and heart have been sucked dry. It's almost as if, were the dead actually to rise in 2019, we'd be borderline blasé about it — which brings us to The Dead Don't Die. Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, it's a predictably deadpan (ahem) take on zombie films from the opening scene to the last — a story so laconic that it consistently flirts with tedium (but only really lapses into that territory in its final stages). It also boasts a phenomenal cast of Jarmusch regulars, including Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloe Sevigny and Steve Buscemi. Joined by Danny Glover, Rosie Perez, Iggy Pop, Sara Driver, RZA, Selena Gomez and Tom Waits, they almost all play larger-than-life characters within the sleepy nowhere town of Centreville. Jarmusch has always given his characters both time and room to breathe, and The Dead Don't Die provides perhaps the best example. The slow, breezy and downright folksy interactions of his townspeople are a patient delight, often with pauses so long between replies it's like the entire cast of Fargo took sedatives. Be it Glover's kindly hardware store owner, Buscemi's racist farmer or Caleb Landry Jones's film-obsessed petrol attendant, they're a quirky yet homogenous community of oddballs and outsiders, around whom the story takes its time to form. The standouts are Murray and Driver as Cliff and Ronnie — two-thirds of Centreville's police force and the intermittent Greek chorus of the film. Driver puts in one of his best performances to date, at once shrewd enough to identify zombies as the likely culprits behind some recent killings, while still oblivious to most human sensitivities around him. Murray is in endearing grandfather-esque territory, even if he's not as funny as usual. Together, they hold the threadbare conceit in place when few others could've (polar fracking has knocked the earth off its axis, so... zombies). Where the film falters, however, is in its self-referential tone. Periodically shattering the fourth wall, Cliff and Ronnie reference The Dead Don't Die's theme song, screenplay and director without any clear reason as to why. The first time is amusing enough, with Murray wondering why the tune on the radio sounds so familiar (answer: it just played during the film's titles), but from that point onwards, the device offers little more than a distraction. The movie's deadpan approach also suffers because of its one clear exception — Chloe Sevigny's Mindy, the third cop in the trio. Oscillating between fear, horror and confusion, her reaction to the zombie uprising is far more appropriate, but cast against Murray and Driver's apathy, it feels hysterical and out of place. Then there's Tilda Swinton's character. We won't spoil it, but her arc is so bonkers, it's a wonder that it was allowed to occur at all. Overall, this is a tough one to reconcile. The comedy is great, as are the performances, but the story is obtuse at best — and only weakens the longer it goes on. As a genre piece, it's definitely a Jarmusch-directed zombie film, but it isn't distinctive enough in any one respect to stand out from the other hundreds of undead offerings. Mellow for some, underwhelming for others, The Dead Don't Die will split audiences like its ghouls split spleens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brxU_Qi1eOM
By now, you've probably had an absolute gutful of your house, backyard, neighbourhood and city. You've probably spent much of the past 13 months daydreaming about getaways, too. Well, wannabe jetsetters with a vacation-shaped hole in your life, it turns out this is your lucky week, because a mammoth travel sale is hitting the internet tonight. The bargain-filled Click Frenzy Travel sale returns for a 53-hour online shopping riot, kicking off at 7pm (9pm NZT) on Tuesday, April 20. And it's chock full of airfare, accommodation, tour and holiday package deals, for all kinds of budgets. Obviously, international travel isn't back to normal yet — the trans-Tasman bubble between Australia and New Zealand only just opened this past weekend — but there are plenty of bargains to be found if you're keen to either stay local or plan well ahead. Virgin Australia is offering up to 25 percent off a range of domestic journeys, with prices starting from just $75. You can nab ten percent off flights with Air New Zealand, too. And, if you're thinking further afield in the hope that borders will reopen sooner rather than later, Qatar is doing up to ten percent off flights to places such as the United Kingdom, Greece, Italy and Spain. Obviously, you'll need to take into the consideration the fact Aussies can't currently leave the country for holidays anywhere other than NZ at the moment while you're booking. Staying close to home, Wotif is offering up to 25 percent off Aussie hotels, Park Regis and Leisure Inn hotels are doing up to 40 percent off, and Ascott Australia is taking up to 30 percent off their hotels and apartments in Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart and Perth. Oaks Hotels, Resorts and Suites is offering the same 30 percent discount, but at select locations in Australia and NZ if you stay for two nights or more. Fancy seeing the country by road? Greyhound Australia is taking 20 percent off all tickets and passes if a leisurely bus trip — complete with free wifi — sounds like your idea of a great holiday. If you're in need of a few travel essentials for your next getaway, Click Frenzy also does 99 percent off deals on some items, such as GoPros for $5, Beats headphones for $2, Weber barbecues for $3 and beach umbrellas for $2. Dust off that suitcase and start plotting your annual leave — it's holiday time, finally. The Click Frenzy Travel sale runs from 7pm (9pm NZT) on Tuesday, April 20, until midnight on Thursday, April 22. You can find it and all the tasty travel bargains on the Click Frenzy website.
With apologies to the many worthy winners at the 2024 Oscars, this year's ceremony will always be known for one thing. When the lights went pink, Ryan Gosling started singing from his seat in the crowd (with Margot Robbie and Billie Eilish giggling around him) and the words "doesn't seem to matter what I do…" rang out, the world began to witness Academy Awards history. His rendition of 'I'm Just Ken' from Barbie was a musical number for the ages. When he made it up to the stage to keep crooning about Kenergy, the man behind the tan and blonde fragility, it wasn't the only time that Gosling stepped up onto the platform that night. He also delivered a tribute to stunts with Oppenheimer's Emily Blunt — and the two couldn't have been better candidates to make the presentation, which doubled as a reminder that their new film was on the way. In The Fall Guy, Gosling blends his action and comedy modes to play a seasoned stunt performer. Blunt co-stars as the director of the latest flick he's working on, and also his ex-girlfriend. The picture is helmed by David Leitch, who famously was in the stunt game himself, including doubling for Brad Pitt on movies such as Fight Club and Ocean's Eleven, and also for Matt Damon, then jumping behind the camera on John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw, Bullet Train and now this. Gosling and Blunt's shared portion of the Oscars ceremony was also a call to arms: stunts, despite being so crucial to the film industry, are not currently recognised by the Academy Awards. They absolutely should be. Ask Leitch if he sees The Fall Guy as helping to advance the case to recognise the field at Hollywood's night of nights and he tells Concrete Playground "that's the hope". He continues: "I think it is definitely a celebration of the stunt industry, and hopefully it continues to shine a light on how much these unsung heroes contribute to the films you guys love and we all love. You just can't separate the history of action from the history of cinema, and stunt performers have been there since the beginning." Loosely based on the 80s TV series of the same name, The Fall Guy tasks Gosling with playing Colt Seavers, who has spent much of his career making actor Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, reteaming with Leitch after Bullet Train) look good. He's been out of the business after a workplace accident when he's enlisted to help out on a big-budget sci-fi blockbuster — not just to double for Tom, but to work out why the flick's star has gone missing in Sydney. Making the gig even more chaotic: plenty of nefarious folks on his tail, complete with a chase across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Plus, there's the fact that his ex Jody Moreno (Blunt) is directing, and it's her first stint in the role. Cue an action-comedy from Leitch, plus Kelly McCormick as his regular producer, that doesn't just showcase stunts but is firmly about stunts as well. [caption id="attachment_952101" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Caroline McCredie[/caption] When The Fall Guy's shoot shut down one of Sydney's most-famous landmarks, everyone in Australia knew. It isn't every day that Gosling brings the Harbour City to a halt, after all. The bridge isn't the only part of the New South Wales capital that can be spotted in the movie, however, because this is a film that takes place in Sydney and makes the most of it. The Fall Guy is a love letter to stunts, of course, but McCormick — who also co-founded production and action design company 87North with Leitch — also considers it a love letter to its setting. Using the Sydney Opera House as the backdrop for a sci-fi shoot also isn't forgotten quickly. ("It's still so sci-fi. It's still beyond its time. It's an amazing, amazing building," says McCormick.) Leitch and McCormick returned to Sydney in early April to give The Fall Guy a big local premiere at the State Theatre. While they were in Australia, the pair also chatted with us. Leitch living the dream as a former stunt performer-turned-filmmaker now making a movie about stunts, the challenges on such a stunt-heavy film, ensuring that the movie is a mix not just of action and comedy but also mystery and romance, casting Gosling and Blunt, shooting in Sydney: we asked the duo about all of the above and more. On Living the Dream by Being a Former Stunt Performer Now Directing a Movie About Stunt Performers David: "Absolutely — I mean, the 80s TV show was one of those shows that lit the fuse of me wanting to be a stunt performer. There's a lot of wish-fulfilment in that show as a teenage kid. So it was exciting that this property would come [my way] — and obviously having 20-plus years as a stunt performer and the anecdotes and the real life experiences to go with it, I had a lot to be able to put into it. And I felt I could really talk with the authentic voice and actually give Ryan some notes from a real place." On Whether Making a Movie Like The Fall Guy Was the Plan when Leitch Was Still Doubling David: "I don't know if that was the actual aim, although I did early on get the film bug and really want to tell stories beyond the stories I was telling in the action. So, I really did lean into spending my time on set observing and learning everything I could about filmmaking process so I could move to the director chair. I was excited about directing." On the Challenges of Making a Movie That Isn't Just Stunt-Heavy, But Is Constantly Calling Attention to Stunts Because It's About Stunts Kelly: "I think every movie has its own challenges, action or otherwise. I think safety is obviously something that comes to mind that we are particularly sensitive to. When we're doing an action sequence, bringing a team together that is top of class is essential to make sure that it's as safe as possible and as creative as possible at the same time. That's always the goal. I think that's maybe a bit of extra pressure, but it's exciting in the sense that stunt performers get into the business to do stunts — so the last thing we want to do is not do stuff. It's making their dreams come true and making them viable in the film business. So it's this tricky balance of just trying to make sure that you know you're as safe as possible and you've got excellence around them, and in them, to make sure that you can give them the opportunities." David: "I think it was fun to be on the other side of it. I was a stunt coordinator for so many years that it was fun to challenge the team to do these things. I knew what they were going to have to go through to achieve them. But to be like 'good luck, guys' and just run in there and throw down the gauntlet — 'I need you to recreate some of these classic stunts from history, but just make them bigger' — that was fun for me. So I didn't feel the pressure. I made the stunt team feel the pressure and, again, I felt that for many years as a coordinator, when I've been asked to deliver things. And I certainly didn't have to feel the producorial pressures like Kelly had to feel as well. So I was just telling people what to do." On Making It an Aim to Create a Fun Vibe on Leitch and McCormick's Sets Kelly: "I have this theory that the set atmosphere flows through the film to the audience. And we actively try to keep a happy, congenial family environment on our sets, as big as they are. That's what we're always striving for and hopefully achieving. We work with a lot of our heads of departments again and again and again, and part of that is because we like their energy, we like their creativity and we like to have a family kind of atmosphere around our films." On Balancing the Mix of Action, Comedy, Romance and Mystery in The Fall Guy Kelly: It was like problem-opportunity in a sense. I consider David an atonal director — and that used to be such a dirty word, but I actually think it's such a positive thing because you never know what energy you're feeling or you're going to be having in a David Leitch film. You may be crying one moment and laughing the next, and feeling the stakes in one moment and thinking it's ridiculous another moment later. When you have three movies in the one movie, that is the bigger challenge — to strike that tone and to get all of that right. And so it was a way to challenge David in his filmmaking." David: "I loved it. I loved taking the audience on a ride. I liked what Kelly just said, laughing at one moment, being awed by spectacle the next, then pulling at the heartstrings few minutes later. And to have an a property, an IP, where we could do that and have two actors that can pull it off with you is was really, really fun to do." On Casting Ryan Gosling — and Only Approaching Ryan Gosling for the Part David: "Ryan is obviously an incredible actor. He's great at comedy. He's great at romance. And our early conversations — he was the only person we went to, and we were crossing our fingers and toes that we would get him. It was even before we had a script. But I think he saw the potential in the property and the potential in this underdog hero, and that we could create an action, hopefully, franchise where he could use all those skill sets. I think that's what he was excited about — where he could use romance and comedy, and his new action chops that he had on The Gray Man. So a lot of the DNA of the tone stems from also what Ryan was excited about doing and we all leaned in as well, and it was fun." On Casting Emily Blunt — and Shaping the Role to Suit Her Kelly: "To be honest, we just feel so lucky that we got her. Right before we went to her, we switched the role from a makeup artist to a first-time director, thinking that it raised the stakes for that character and allowed for her to be in a place where she was dealing with some really serious stuff, like the weight of her dream on her shoulders and getting that to take over directing for the first time — and then this person who basically broke her heart and she thought she was over coming in, and the last thing she ever wanted to see, and the one thing that could probably disrupt this big opportunity for her. We went to Emily right after we had come up with that idea with a very, very rough draft and felt so lucky that she saw her way into it, so that she could add so many layers. And so, in a sense, it was really tailored to her as well to like Colt was to Ryan." On Shooting in Sydney, Including on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and at Sydney Opera House Kelly: "It was really exciting, actually, to get the access to both of those two super-iconic locations. I was amazed at how much time we got at the Opera House. And we chose a scene that we could really exhibit the Opera House as something other than the Opera House — Jody Moreno is using it as the sci-fi backdrop of her epic sci-fi love story. That they allowed for us to put a bunch of sand on the beautiful stairs, and bring in waterworks so that we could make it rain, even though the sun was shining that day — and let us yank and pull and show the beauty of what a ratchet looks like in an action sequence — that stuff you don't get to see when you're normally looking at just the film, instead of the movie being made. It was really, really exciting and we just kept pinching ourselves. 'Can you believe we're just at the stairs with the Opera House here and they're letting us do this? This is a thing.' It was amazing. The whole city just really opened their arms, and wanted to solve the problems and give us access and show the town. And we just hope that everyone's really as happy with it as we are in showcasing Sydney. We really consider it a love letter to to this town." The Fall Guy releases in cinemas Down Under on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Read our review.
Forget Emily in Paris — the best Netflix series set in the French capital focuses on a light-fingered smooth mover who is as adept at stealing hearts as he is at pilfering jewels and art. The streaming service's Lupin isn't the first screen outing based on the Maurice Leblanc-penned master of disguise, with the author's famous character first popping up on the big screen over a century ago, then appearing in both movies and TV not just in his homeland but also in the US and Japan since. Centred on a gentleman thief who takes his cues from the fictional figure, however, Netflix's take on all things Arsène Lupin is equally creative, riveting, twisty and entertaining. With the charismatic Omar Sy (Jurassic World Dominion) as its lead, it also couldn't be better cast. Viewers initially discovered this Lupin's delights in January 2021, when Sy's Arsène superfan Assane Diop started showing off his larceny skills in the series' instantly engaging five-episode first part. The angle proved savvy. The central casting is sparkling. Creators George Kay (who has since made the Idris Elba-led Hijack) and François Uzan (Family Business) perfected the rollicking vibe, while director Louis Leterrier (Fast X) turned in some of his best work helming the debut three instalments. It's no wonder that the show became the most-watched series in a language other than English on Netflix at the pre-Squid Game time. A second five-chapter part arrived in June the same year, but audiences have had to wait until now for a third. Streaming its seven new entries from Thursday, October 5, Lupin's third part dazzles again. Crime capers don't much more charming — and bingeable — than this page-to-screen heist affair. Leblanc introduced the world to Lupin in short stories in 1905, with 17 novels and 39 novellas following. In some, Herlock Sholmes pops up — and yes, the reference to Arthur Conan Doyle's detective is clearly on purpose. Although Sherlock Holmes isn't quite Arsène Lupin's English equivalent, the two characters give readers and viewers alike the same thrills. If spending time with smart figures with silky skills in can't-put-down and can't-look-away mysteries is what you're after, both deliver. Netflix's Lupin gives the French favourite a modern-day Sherlock-esque spin, but with another pivot to put the suave Senegal-born Diop and his various quests in the spotlight. When Diop first sashayed across streaming queues, he was on a mission to avenge the incarceration and death of his father Babakar (Fargass Assandé, Represent), who was imprisoned back when Assane was a kid for stealing a diamond necklace once owned by Marie Antoinette. Lupin's striking debut heist involved burgling the jewellery again — and from the Louvre no less — as Diop kept trying to establish his dad's innocence. In season two as well, Babakar's wealthy former boss Hubert Pellegrini (Hervé Pierre, Benedetta), who owned the necklace it was initially taken, is chief among Diop's targets. Just like everything from Squid Game to Succession, there's an eat-the-rich angle to Lupin; perhaps more than Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood comes to mind. Season three tasks the ever-resourceful Diop with coping with becoming headline fodder for his efforts with Pellegrini. He's long been in hiding since, which is having an impact upon his childhood sweetheart-turned-estranged wife Claire (Ludivine Sagnier, The Serpent Queen) and their teenage son Raoul (Etan Simon, Jeune et golri). Cue a new big scheme — with trusty assistance from his gadget-making best friend Benjamin Feel (Antoine Gouy, Gold Brick), another mainstay from his school days — to abscond with a priceless black pearl, fund a new life and start afresh with his family. But it isn't just police detectives Youssef Guédira (Soufiane Guerrab, Visions) and Sofia Belkacem (Shirine Boutella, Christmas Flow), one a massive Lupin aficionado himself and the other slowly being convinced of the books' relevance, who boast a keen interest in anything that possibly involves Assane. Flashbacks to the 90s, to Diop (Mamadou Haidara, La vie de ma mère) and Claire (Ludmilla Makowski, Bardot) as high schoolers, remain in Lupin's return, with the series as concerned as ever with cause, effect and actions having consequences. Kay and his writing team not only adore layering in references to their source material as heftily as their protagonist, who bases his exploits around his inspiration, but piling in multiple mysteries. This is a show to sleuth along with, including puzzling through the same whodunnits that catch Assane's attention and pondering any heist series' main question: how'd they do it? Lupin always eventually explains the steps behind Diop's trickery, whether he's donning a luxe purple suit and ageing himself up to blend in by standing out or rushing through Paris' catacombs — and the reveals never disappoint. As tautly scripted and stylishly shot as Lupin is, and as enjoyably OTT as many of its robberies prove, there's no doubting that this wouldn't be the gem it is without the perfectly cast Sy. While it was his César Best Actor Award-winning role in 2011's The Intouchables that first brought him to worldwide fame, leading to parts in X-Men: Days of Future Past and Jurassic World, it's Lupin that has cemented the Micmacs, Mood Indigo, Monsieur Chocolat and Night Shift actor as a global star. Enlisting him as Diop is a Daniel Craig-in-Bond, Tom Cruise-in-Mission: Impossible stroke of genius — and he's just as debonair, and adept at donning disguises. There are plenty of reasons that Assane has become a hero to the French masses in Lupin's latest go-around, but Sy's magnetic performance couldn't be more essential for at-home audiences. Also pivotal: that Lupin isn't merely sleek action fodder with an excellent lead, plus gripping ups and downs. Emotional stakes have always been crucial to the show, as has unpacking traumas both now and across generations, the chasm between the one percent and everyone else, and interrogating racial divides as well as class clashes. It works as a Parisian travelogue, too, upping the thrills by getting Diop sneaking around — and often flatout waltzing into — well-known sights. John Wick: Chapter 4 isn't the only 2023 must-see to make excellent use of the Arc de Triomphe, for instance. In Lupin part three, the Place Vendôme, Père Lachaise Cemetery and Château de Thoiry also feature prominently. Lupin tours already exist, of course, but now they have a few more stops. Check out the trailer for Lupin part three below: Lupin part three streams via Netflix from Thursday, October 5.
Letting the likes of Little May, Aldous Harding and Boy and Bear take the backyard folk reins for a while, Australia's ARIA-dominating folksters Angus and Julia Stone are heading back to the stage to take back the wooden throne. Four years after their huge runaway hit 'Big Jet Plane' and their Everyone Should Just Stay at Home ARIA-blitzer Down the Way, the Sydney Stone siblings have announced a colossal Australian tour to mark their triumphant return. Teaming up with pop production legend Rick Rubin (Jay Z, Johnny Cash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Adele), the duo have recorded their third studio album at Malibu's Shangri La studios. The pair's self-titled effort is set for release on August 1, timed perfectly for triple j Hottest 100 dominance. Having spent the last couple of years touring internationally and dropping solo material here and there, it seems high time for the Stones to head home for some epic shows — we're talking Sydney Opera House, Brisbane's Tivoli and Melbourne's Palais Theatre. For their first national tour since 2011, Angus and Julia Stone will be joined by 18-year-old Brisbanite Tim Bettinson, aka super-internet-hyped falsetto wonder Vancouver Sleep Clinic. Fusing synthetic instrumentation with vocals sure to generate All the Feels, VSC will hop on tour with the Stones for all national shows except Canberra. Tickets on Sale 9am July 10. Secret Sounds pre-sale: Tuesday 8 July, from 9:00am. General on sale: Thursday 10 July, from 9:00am. Angus and Julia Stone Aus/NZ Tour Dates: Fri 12 Sep — Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide. Tickets via Venuetix or venue. Sat 13 Sep — Llewellyn Hall, Canberra (Support TBC). Tickets via Ticketek. Sun 14 Sep — Sydney Opera House, Sydney. Tickets via SOH. Wed 17 Sep — Civic Theatre, Newcastle. Tickets via Ticketek Thu 18 Sep — The Tivoli, Brisbane. Tickets via Ticketmaster. Sun 21 Sep — Arts Centre, Gold Coast. Tickets via Arts Centre. Tue 23 Sep — Perth Concert Hall, Perth. Tickets via venue or Ticketek. Fri 26 Sep — Palais Theatre, Melbourne. Tickets via Ticketmaster. Sun 28 Sep — Powerstation, Auckland. Tickets via Ticketmaster. https://youtube.com/watch?v=N6TNrXRUo4Q
Beau is afraid. Beau is anxious. Beau is alone. Beau is alive. Any of these three-word sentences would make a fitting name for Ari Aster's third feature, which sees its titular middle-aged figure not just worry about anything and everything, but watch his fears come true, concerns amplify and alienation grow — and then some. And, in the Hereditary and Midsommar filmmaker's reliably dread-inducing hands, no matter whether Beau (Joaquin Phoenix, C'mon C'mon) is wallowing in his apartment solo, being welcomed into someone else's family or stumbling upon a travelling theatre troupe in the woods, he knows that he's truly on his own in this strange, sad, surreal and savage world, too. More than that, he's well-aware that this is what life is inescapably like for all of us, regardless of how routine, chaotic or grand our individual journeys from emerging out of our mother's womb to sinking into death's eternal waters happen to prove. Aster has opted for Beau Is Afraid as a moniker, with this horror-meets-tragicomedy mind-bender a filmic ode to existential alarm — and, more than that, a picture that turns catastrophising into a feature. Psychiatrists will have a field day; however, experiencing the latest in the writer/director's growing line of guilt-dripping celluloid nightmares, so should viewers in general. Even with Chilean The Wolf House helmers Cristóbal León and Joaquin Cosiña lending their help to the three-hour movie's midsection, where animation adds another dreamlike dimension to a picture book-style play within an already fantastical-leaning flick frequently running on dream logic, Aster embraces his favourite deranged terrain again. He makes bold choices, doesn't think twice about challenging himself and his audience, elicits a stunning lead performance and dances with retina-searing imagery, all while pondering inherited trauma, the emotional ties that bind and the malevolence that comes with dependence. Death, the bonds of blood, life's onslaught of damage, long-kept secrets, wild and weird groups, odd rituals, unnerving altercations: yes, they're all present and accounted for in Beau Is Afraid as well; yes, this is unshakeably and unmistakably an Aster joint. When he slides into suburbia in the second act, he also gets as Lynchian as he ever has — that Beau Is Afraid springs from a ravenous mind fed a diet of Eraserhead, Twin Peaks and Inland Empire isn't in doubt long before Mariah Carey's earworm 'Always Be My Baby' scores a Blue Velvet-esque spin. Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York and Anomalisa, Darren Aronofsky's mother!, Richard Kelly's Southland Tales: they're equally among this movie's melange of peers, ambitious and impressive company that offers a litmus test for viewers. Swimming through someone else's mindscape is never easy, after all, and doesn't Aster love sharing that feeling. Beau Wassermann is an average Joe with a rundown flat in a dilapidated neighbourhood, his therapist (Stephen McKinley Henderson, Causeway) on speed dial, and O'Loha frozen dinners — an incredulous mix of Hawaiian and Irish cuisines — for sustenance. He's also the son of a wealthy and controlling businesswoman, Mona (played by American Horror Story's Patti LuPone, plus The Craft: Legacy director Zoe Lister-Jones in flashbacks), another mainstay on his call list (Moviefone, the US number for obtaining cinema session information that's been defunct since 2014, is another). And, he's wracked with stress whenever he leaves his house, which doesn't seem that far-fetched given there's a nude killer dubbed 'Birthday Boy Stab Man' by the news on the loose. That said, after Beau Is Afraid shows its namesake's birth from his perspective, obligatory slap on the rear and all, then meets him nearing 50 and nervous about a trip home, he's just fretful all the time anyway. Thanks to an escalating series of unfortunate events — another string of words that could've doubled as Beau Is Afraid's title; Disappointment Blvd was the actual original moniker — the basis for that apprehension is similarly swiftly apparent. From the tiniest minutiae to the biggest change, Beau's existence keeps getting worse, then bleaker still, then even more grim and hopeless. He's prescribed anti-anxiety pills that he's told absolutely must be taken with water, but doesn't have any and his building's supply is shut off. When he sprints to the convenience store across the road, everyone on his crime-riddled street slips into his apartment and trashes it. Aster begins Beau's malaise in the everyday, but becomes hellish quickly, a pattern constantly repeated when he's hit by a van and taken in by the married Grace and Roger (Only Murders in the Building co-stars Amy Ryan and Nathan Lane), watches that aforementioned theatre production, reflects upon his time as a teenager (Armen Nahapetian, NCIS) on a cruise holiday falling for his first crush (Julia Antonelli, Outer Banks) and seeks answers about his father. In only his second on-screen role since winning an Oscar for Joker, Phoenix plays Beau with deeply internalised sorrow, so much so that spying his shoulders do anything but slump in the character's uniform of pyjamas seems like the most fanciful thing that could happen — and this is a movie overflowing with eccentric, imaginative and absurd touches. It's a fascinating performance, both vulnerable and primal at once, as situations exceeding Beau's foulest terrors keep bubbling. Crucially, whether Beau Is Afraid is in Freudian and Oedipal mode, or bringing Misery or Station Eleven or Lord of the Rings to mind in Aster's unceasingly distinctive way, or having its central figure wrestle naked in the bath, Phoenix is committed to the ride and to being the everyman. He's in an often bitingly funny black comedy as much as he's in a horror flick, and he's both game and empathetic as Beau overtly endeavours yet struggles to keep it together. Ideally, no one watching is discovering intruders perched above their baths and monsters in attics, but they'll always understand Beau's panic, shame, dismay and humiliation. Of course, when Aster gets amusing, it's in largely while getting so distressing that you really can only laugh, as Beau's mushrooming plight forever is. If every possible development in your life is always the most miserable, what else are you meant to do? That's Beau Is Afraid in a smart, dark, cerebral, gut-punching, hope-crushing, relatable, hilarious and horrific nutshell. Aster packs in humour wherever he can, though, demanding the utmost attention to his returning Hereditary and Midsommar cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski's purposefully disorienting frames for slapstick silliness, dick jokes and brief flashes of background wordplay (Asstral Projection and Erection Injection are the names of the peepshows next to Beau's building, for instance). Beau is afraid of it all, and teeming with anxiety over it. He's alone in it all, but that's what being alive is. It'd be the film's biggest surprise if Aster wasn't chuckling — and having the ultimate fever dream.
For some, it's an essential meeting place. For others, it's just a patch of concrete in the middle of the city. Whatever your thoughts on Federation Square, the Melbourne site has weathered a tumultuous few years. After being named as the location for Apple's first global flagship store in the southern hemisphere back in 2017, those plans received considerable council and public backlash — including a campaign to buy the space back — before being canned. Along the way, Fed Square received temporary and then permanent heritage protection, and the Victorian Government also asked Melburnians just what should be in the site's future. Now, the City of Melbourne has announced its proposal: building a new public library at Fed Square. As part of the $15 million project, not only would a new site be erected, but the existing City Library in Flinders Lane would be relocated — a move the council says will "attract one million more visitors to the Square per year". "Making Fed Square the home of Melbourne's most popular lending library would provide Melburnians with free access to event spaces, creative technologies and world-class resources," said Lord Mayor Sally Capp in a statement. The plan has been floated as part of the City of Melbourne's proposal to partner with the State Government to take over the management of Fed Square — which, at present, is independently managed — including overseeing its tenancies, maintenance and activation. [caption id="attachment_764005" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Koorie Heritage Trust, Artra Sartracom, Visit Victoria[/caption] If the proposal goes ahead, the Council will also allocate an additional $7 million to the Koorie Heritage Trust. Those funds would "ensure the stories the Trust tells and the experiences it offers reach even more people," with a key focus on encouraging international visitors to engage with, experience and understand Aboriginal culture. Also floated: the staging of more events in Fed Square, drawing upon the City of Melbourne's track record with festivities such as Melbourne Music Week and Melbourne Fashion Week; plus efforts to link the site to the wider precinct, as well as to the MCG. The City of Melbourne's proposal has been submitted to the Victorian Government's current Federation Square Review, which is due to deliver its key recommendations sometime early this year. Top image: Robert Blackburn, Visit Victoria
According to the great Aussie poet Henry Lawson, "Beer makes you feel the way you ought to feel without beer." Maybe our national penchant for a good brew began with his outback wanderings. It's hard to say. But what we do know is that nothing cuts through the heat quite like a cold, tasty drop. And with the rise and rise of more complex flavours and creative approaches across Australia, our options are only getting tastier. No longer do our 'beer events' comprise of hanging around in a muddy paddock knocking back a VB or ten. Every year, dozens of annual events pay homage to beer in all kinds of inspired ways, from epic city-consuming festivals to quirky one-offs focusing on a particular pastime (like building boats out of beer cans). Here's your handpicked guide to the most fun events and the finest froth in the next 12 months. SYDNEY CRAFT BEER WEEK Sydney Craft Beer Week entered its fourth incarnation in 2014. For a relatively new event, it's made up some serious ground in a short time, with 100 events held over nine days across 50 venues. Headline parties included all-day/all-night 'Sip and Savour' sessions, where more than 250 beers and ciders were sampled under one roof (that'd be the only roof big enough Sydney, the one belonging to Carriageworks); the James Squire Open Day, which saw beer fans pack into their beloved Malt Shovel Brewery in Camperdown; and a mega closing party hosted by The Rocks Brewery and Bar, where the brewing gets done by sixth generation descendants of convicts. MELBOURNE GOOD BEER WEEK Melbourne Good Beer Week is similarly youthful. First held in 2011, it proved so impressive that numbers doubled in 2012. That is some upward swing. And it isn't merely the punters who are into it. Visiting brewer Brendan Moylan, who hails from California's renowned Moylan's Brewery, described 2012's event as "the best, most professional and most diverse" beer festival he'd ever been to. Diverse is definitely the word. In 2014, more than 200 happenings popped up on surfboards, in vintage trains, in three-hatted restaurants and in local pubs. Melbourne Good Beer Week 2015 is set for May 16-24. WA BEER WEEK In contrast to its East Coast counterparts, WA Beer Week has the distinction of being Australia's oldest week-long beer celebration, which is rather fitting given that Australia's very first craft brewers set up in Fremantle. The event turned 13 in 2014, with more than 60 events held between October 25 and November 2. Craft beer aficionados planed, trained and automobiled their way west to partake in beer degustations, open brew days and behind-the-scenes tours and taste brand new releases. TASMANIAN BEERFEST At Tassie Beerfest, you get to do your sampling in a beer garden edged by 150 metres of water frontage. As the organisers will tell you, that's about the length of 2,500 stubbies lined up. What started as a boutique bender back in 2005 is now one of the biggest beer festivals in the nation. For one weekend in mid-November, at Hobart's Princes Wharf No. 1, Tasmania's best micro- and macro-breweries go head to head with beers from all over the planet. You can expect more than 300 brews and 12,000 people. If you're feeling a touch nostalgic for the festival's more intimate days, check out the Tasmanian Micro Brew Fest, a separate, one-day event that's all about keeping things local. QUEENSLAND BEER WEEK As of 2012, there's been yet another reason to head north while the cold is still holding on down south. Queensland Beer Week makes its presence felt all over the state, from the New South Wales border to the tropics of the Far North. So, in between spotting humpbacks, catching waves and dodging stingers, you can check out the latest in Queensland brewing, wherever you are. Events include masterclasses, new releases, degustations, talks and tastings. BITTER AND TWISTED INTERNATIONAL BOUTIQUE BEER FESTIVAL The Bitter and Twisted International Boutique Beer Festival is every bit about letting out your inner quirk as it is about the 100 or so brews on offer. It's highly likely that the setting has quite a bit to do with it. The event takes over the eerie confines of NSW's Maitland Gaol, which was a maximum security jail up until 1998. There's a foodie element too, with dishes from all four corners of the planet and a cracking live music program. Last year saw performances from The Griswolds, Jebediah, James Bennett and Morgan Joanel, among others. The Bitter and Twisted International Boutique Beer Festival happens on the first weekend in November. THE AUSTRALIAN BEER FESTIVAL Held on one weekend in October (during Oktoberfest), the Australian Beer Festival traditionally sees at least two streets in The Rocks road-blocked to make way for carousers. All the action centres around the Australian Hotel, one of craft brewing's spiritual homes in Sydney, and all the beers on offer are created right here, down under. The program includes live music, blind tastings, 'Meet the Maker' sessions and, for those who reckon their home brew has got what it takes, a chance to dominate in the Home Brewing Championships. THE GREAT AUSTRALASIAN BEER SPECTAPULAR The Great Australasian Beer Spectapular is given a bit of an edge by the fact that breweries in Australia and around the world cook up new beverages especially for the event, including James Squire and Little Creatures. That's right, you'll be testing some flavours that haven't been experienced anywhere else, ever. Plus there's a massive array of extracurricular activities. The last event included paddle art, paddle races (with five full cups on board), table tennis, giant Jenga, cornhole, roaming musicians and a gourmet food market. Spectapular 2015 will be held in two states: May 22-24, at Melbourne's Royal Exhibition Building, and May 30 at Sydney's Exhibition Hall, Australian Technology Park. GEELONG BEER FESTIVAL For the next Geelong Great Australian Beer Festival, to be held February 21, 2015, at Geelong Racecourse, you're invited to dress as none other than the elusive Where's Wally. Or as your favourite superhero. Anything a bit bold and out-of-the-ordinary. The one-day shindig matches 200+ craft beers and ciders with a good dose of local colour. There's a home brewing competition, a beertography photo contest and a bunch of live acts, including roving entertainers, stand-up comedians, cabaret performers and live bands. DARWIN BEER CAN REGATTA No event screams Australia quite like the Darwin Beer Can Regatta. Since 1974, people have been turning up at Darwin's Mindil Beach in their thousands to cheer it on. To enter, you have to create your very own water-going vessel — out of beer cans. (You can add a milk carton or two to the mix, if drinking enough tinnies to get your boat afloat proves too challenging). The only catch is that you're absolutely not allowed to test for sea-worthiness before the day. After all, the whole reason people turn up is to watch your boat slowly disintegrate with you in it. Oh, and there's also a coda, in the form of a thong-throwing competition. The next Darwin Beer Can Regatta is scheduled for July 12, 2015.
Say hello to my little friend, Australia. Academy Award winning Director Oliver Stone, the maestro behind such influential films as Scarface, Midnight Express, Platoon, Wall Street, Natural Born Killers, JFK, Nixon, and The Doors, is coming to Australia, appearing exclusively at Vivid Sydney. The highly respected director will join the Vivid Ideas Game-Changer talks series (already featuring street art icon Shepard Fairey), and join the Semi Permanent lineup while he's at it. Not one to veer away from controversial subjects, Stone will be joining equally no-bullshit Australian legend Margaret Pomeranz AM on stage at City Recital Hall on Sunday, May 28 for a rare, behind-the-scenes insight into Stone's career and his polarising films. "Interviewing Oliver Stone?" says Pomeranz. "One of the most significant filmmakers of the past 40 years to trawl through our political and cultural history! It's intimidating, exciting and absolutely unmissable. If I weren't on the stage with him I would be in the audience." Stone will also be speaking 'in conversation' at Semi Permanent at Carriageworks on Friday, May 26 — you'll need a full-day festival pass for that. "Semi Permanent is excited to welcome iconic filmmaker and storyteller Oliver Stone to our extraordinary line up for 2017 in Sydney," said Semi Permanent founder and director Murray Bell said. "The Academy Award winning writer and director is one of the most prolific of our time, making films that profoundly capture pivotal moments in our recent history – a lifetime spent creating entertaining and provocative works." Semi Permanent's 2017 event will take over Carriageworks from Thursday, May 25 to Saturday, May 27 and features a cast of players so influential in the modern design game that while this event's in motion, the world will become a very desolate and tacky place. Speakers include Museum of Contemporary Art Australia director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, Katherine Keating publisher VICE Impact, Nike design director Meirion Pritchard and Nike EMEA brand director Gary Horton, Jacqueline Bourke from Getty Images, animation studio Moth Collective, Design Studio's Paul Stafford, Frog Design and Australian designers David Caon, Henry Wilson and architect Kelvin Ho. In the meantime, we'll be playing Smokey Robinson all day: Oliver Stone will appear at Semi Permanent at Carriageworks on Friday, May 26 and The Vivid Ideas Game-Changer talk will be held on Sunday, May 28 at City Recital Hall. Tickets are on sale now at vividsydney.com and semipermanent.com. Image: Getty Images.
If Vincent van Gogh can do it, and Claude Monet and his contemporaries like Renoir, Cézanne and Manet as well, then Frida Kahlo can also. We're talking about being the subject of huge, multi-sensory art exhibitions — the kind that takes an artist's work and projects it all around you so you feel like you're walking into their paintings. First came Van Gogh Alive, which has been touring the country for the last few years. On its way next is Monet & Friends Alive, launching at Melbourne's digital-only gallery The Lume at the end of October. And, after that, Frida Kahlo: Life of an Icon is heading to Sydney as part of the hefty and just-announced Sydney Festival program for 2023. Frida Kahlo: Life of an Icon will make its Australian premiere in the Harbour City — and display only in the Harbour — from Wednesday, January 4, 2023. For two months, it will celebrate the Mexican painter's life and work, taking over the Cutaway at Barangaroo Reserve with holography and 360-degree projections. The aim: turning a biographical exhibition about Kahlo into an immersive showcase, and getting attendees to truly understand her art, persistence, rebellion and skills — and why she's an icon. Visitors will wander through seven spaces, and get transported into the artist's work — including via virtual reality. That VR setup will indeed let you step inside Kahlo's pieces as much as VR can, although the entire exhibition is designed to cultivate that sensation anyway, with digital versions of Kahlo's paintings expanding across every surface. The showcase hails from Spanish digital arts company Layers of Reality, alongside the Frida Kahlo Corporation, and will feature historical photographs and original films as well — and live performances of traditional Mexican music. As part of the interactive component, attendees will also be able to make their own flower crowns, and turn their own drawings into Kahlo-style artworks. And, you'll be able to immortalise the experience in souvenir photos, too. For Sydneysiders, Frida Kahlo: Life of an Icon is one of the most exciting announcements in Sydney Festival's massive 2023 lineup. For folks residing elsewhere, it's a mighty good reason to make a date with Sydney this summer. The exhibition comes to Australia after touring Europe and the US, and also displaying in Canada, Puerto Rico, Israel and Brazil. Frida Kahlo: Life of an Icon will run from Wednesday, January 4–Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at The Cutaway at Barangaroo Reserve, 1 Merriman Street, Barangaroo. For more information, or to book tickets, head to the Sydney Festival website.
It's Keanu Reeves' world and we're all just living in it. When he played Neo in The Matrix back in 1999, that was basically the narrative (because yes, Keanu is and always will be the one). But what would happen if his famous sci-fi franchise character was 20 years older, sported Keanu's John Wick-era look, and couldn't remember anything about blue and red pills, bending spoons, bullet time and living in a simulated reality in a dystopian future where artificially intelligent machines harvest human bodies for power? The answer to that question is coming to the big screen, and soon, all thanks to The Matrix Resurrections. The fourth live-action film in the series that started 22 years ago, already spawned sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions in 2003, and also includes excellent animated anthology The Animatrix, this 18-years-later follow-up dives back down the rabbit hole as Neo once again grapples with the Matrix and everything it means for humanity. And, as seen in the long-awaited, just-dropped first trailer for the new movie — which comes after a teaser site, www.whatisthematrix.com, popped up earlier in the week — he needs to show off some martial arts moves in a familiar-looking dojo again first. In the years since audiences have last seen The Matrix saga's trenchcoat-loving protagonist, it seems that Neo has been living his life as Thomas Anderson once more — and he's forgotten all about his time with Morpheus and co, so much so that he doesn't even recognise Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Jones) when they cross paths. He does chat to his therapist (Neil Patrick Harris, It's a Sin), however. And, he gets to hear a very telling line from another advice-spouting character (played by Mindhunter's Jonathan Groff): "after all these years, to be going back to where it all started... back to the Matrix." As newcomers to the franchise, Harris and Groff are joined by a lengthy list of other recognisable faces making their Matrix debuts, including Jessica Henwick (On the Rocks), Priyanka Chopra Jonas (The White Tiger), Christina Ricci (Percy vs Goliath) and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Candyman). And, while Jada Pinkett Smith (Girls Trip) sits alongside Reeves and Moss in the returning camp, one big name from the original flicks is noticeably missing — but the trailer does indeed have an answer to that. Crucially, filmmaker Lana Wachowski also returns as The Matrix Resurrections' director and co-screenwriter, albeit without sibling Lilly — who co-helmed the first three live-action films. Just as importantly, the first sneak peek at the new flick looks as moody and brooding — and as filled with spectacular action scenes — as its predecessors. It comes jam-packed with nods to the other movies, too. So, knock knock, The Matrix fans, because it's time to jump back in (well, it will be on January 1, 2022, when the film is scheduled to hit Australian cinemas). (And, because it really is Keanu's world, we're getting John Wick: Chapter 4 in 2022 as well — so that's double the chances to see Keanu return to his best franchises in one year.) Check out the trailer for The Matrix Resurrections below: The Matrix Resurrections opens in Australian cinemas on January 1, 2022.
Next time that you're looking for a cocktail spot, follow the pins. That's what The Pinnacle Guide, the new bar recognition system that's throwing some love at the top watering holes around the world, gives out. Michelin does stars, this ranking does pins — and on its just-announced first batch of picks, two Australian bars have made the cut. Scoring one pin apiece: El Primo Sanchez and Maybe Sammy, both in Sydney. The duo both hail from the same crew, in fact, and now have bragging rights over Australia's other cocktail havens. In total, 25 bars received one pin and 12 were given two pins. Nowhere has nabbed three pins so far. [caption id="attachment_889906" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Steven Woodburn[/caption] Created by three folks behind London Cocktail Week — Hannah Sharman-Cox, Siobhan Payne and Dan Dove — The Pinnacle Guide doesn't just make its selections based on beverages and bar service. Also considered: an establishment's approach to sustainability, diversity and philanthropy. The idea is for the guide's pinned watering holes to reflect everything that's required to be a cocktail bar, and that The Pinnacle Guide is the kind of list that heroes versatility as well. Bars submit to be considered, which requires them to provide information on their drinks program, how they manage their staff, and both the venue's aesthetics and its vibes. From there, anonymous reviewers comprised of mixologists, industry experts and bar enthusiasts undertake in-person reviews to decide which places deserve a place in the guide. [caption id="attachment_941736" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Steven Woodburn[/caption] To get a pin, a bar must be considered excellent, outstanding or exceptional both in front of and behind the bar. Securing three pins requires both the written application and the service during the reviewer's visit to be exceptional, and no venue has achieved that so far. Other overall considerations by The Pinnacle Guide include that commitment to sustainability, and ensuring that the drinks list expands beyond booze, with at least two curated non-alcoholic drinks required on the menu (so, thoughtful mocktails, not basic soft drinks). [caption id="attachment_889910" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Steven Woodburn[/caption] "We've been overwhelmed by the incredible response to the first round of applications for The Pinnacle Guide. In revealing this first list, we have been able to realise our goal of celebrating the extraordinary range of cocktail bars the world has to offer — from tiny drinking dens to majestic hotel bars," said Dove. "We're proud of our unique submissions process, which has allowed these deserving bars to shine — and we're excited to shed light on many many more in the months and years to come." In the first picks made since The Pinnacle Guide's applications opened in November 2023, entries came from around the globe, including Australia, the UK, the US, Singapore, Spain, Mexico and Dubai. Maybe Sammy's inclusion adds another accolade to its lengthy collection, including being named the number-one bar in the data-driven Top 500 Bars list for 2023 and also coming in 15th on The World's 50 Best Bars list for last year. The Pinnacle Guide's Pinned Bars: Three-pin bars: None Two-pin bars: ATLAS, Singapore Bitter & Twisted Cocktail Parlour, Phoenix, USA Nipperkin, London, UK Origin Bar, Shangri-La Singapore, Singapore Panda & Sons, Edinburgh, UK Paradiso, Barcelona, Spain Pretty Decent, Louisville, USA Selva, Oaxaca, Mexico The American Bar at Gleneagles, Auchterarder, UK The Spy Bar at Raffles London, UK Thunderbolt, Los Angeles, USA True Laurel, San Francisco, USA One-pin bars: Artesian, London, UK Ballroom by Barbary Coast, Singapore Blue Bar at The Berkeley, London, UK Couch, Birmingham, UK Cure, New Orleans, USA El Primo Sanchez, Sydney, Australia Kiki Lounge, Isle of Man, UK KOL Mezcaleria, London, UK Kwant Mayfair, London, UK Little Rituals, Phoenix, USA Magnus on Water, Maine, USA Maybe Sammy, Sydney, Australia Meteor, Minneapolis, USA Milady's, New York City, USA Nightjar Shoreditch, London, UK Passing Fancies, Birmingham, UK Rattlebag, Belfast, UK Roka Dubai, UAE Sexy Fish, London, UK Sexy Fish, Manchester UK Side Hustle, London, UK Swift Soho, London, UK The Dead Rabbit, New York City, USA The Guards Bar & Lounge at Raffles, London, UK Velvet by Salvatore Calabrese, London, UK For more information about The Pinnacle Guide and its pinned bars, head to its website. Find El Primo Sanchez at 27–33 Oxford Street, Paddington, Sydney. Find Maybe Sammy at 115 Harrington Street, The Rocks, Sydney. Top image: Steven Woodburn.
Whenever Easter arrives, be it in March or April depending on the year, sweet treat-loving tastebuds across Melbourne and Brisbane are thankful. In 2023, the annual excuse to devour chocolate is delivering plenty of tasty options, including from Lune Croissanterie — but Kate Reid's cult-famous pastry chain has plenty more in store across the whole month. The beloved bakery celebrates all 12 parts of the year with a different lineup of treats, even when Easter is here. On Lune's April menu: the return of its twice-baked finger bun croissants, plus choc-orange pains au chocolat. If you like popular desserts that have been turned into other sweet treats — or mashups, food hybrids and the Frankenstein's monsters of baked goods, all those labels fit — prepare to be in culinary heaven. If you adore the sublime flavour combination that is chocolate and orange, get just as excited. Both specials are exactly what they sound like, which is delicious, and you can only get them until Sunday, April 30. If the finger bun croissants have your tastebuds in a tizzy, they're an old Lune highlight that's making yet another comeback in-store at all locations — aka Fitzroy, Armadale and the CBD in Melbourne, plus South Brisbane and Burnett Lane in Brisbane — and also online. Made with traditional croissants that are brushed with strawberry syrup, they're then filled with a coconut milk frangipane and house-made strawberry jam. On top: a whipped coconut icing, because a finger bun isn't a finger bun without the icing. And yes, they're also dipped in desiccated coconut. Feel like celebrating the second month of autumn with those choc-orange pains au chocolat? These ones are on offer in-store only from Fitzroy, Armadale and South Brisbane. Lune has taken its usual pain au chocolat, then filled it with orange cake frangipane and dark chocolate custard. Next, it has topped it with candied orange slices and shards of tempered chocolate. The word you're looking for, as always, is "yum". The April specials list also boasts a cardamom bun at all stores, with Lune giving the Scandinavian fave its own spin — so they're made with laminated pastry, filled with cardamom butter, twisted into a knot, then dusted with raw sugar before being popped in the oven. And, just Fitzroy, Armadale and South Brisbane are doing harissa and goats' cheese escargots, plus kaya cruffins rolled in desiccated coconut and sugar, filled with kaya custard and topped with toasted coconut chips. Also, all three have added rhubarb and vanilla danishes to their menu as well, and you can nab them online from South Brisbane, too. If you're on snacks duty for April — in the office or at home — your job just got easier and tastier. Lune's April specials menu runs until Sunday, April 30, with different specials on offer at Fitzroy, Armadale and the CBD in Melbourne, and South Brisbane and Burnett Lane in Brisbane. From the South Brisbane store only, you can also order them online. Images: Pete Dillon.
If you heard the name 'Funland' in Australia, you'd think it was one of two things: an offshoot of Dreamworld where you'd be surrounded by obnoxious tourists, or an offshoot of Sexyland where you'd be harangued by middle-aged sex pests. Neither sound all that desirable. But in New York this week, Funland is an 'erotic playground' designed by British artists Bompas and Parr at the Museum of Sex — a bizarre combination of both Dreamworld and Sexyland that's infinitely better than either. One of the most obviously titillating (lol) attractions at the frisky fairground is an enormous bouncy castle full of giant protruding breasts. Appropriately titled, Jump for Joy this artwork is for those of us constantly frustrated by the absence of adult playground equipment, and also for lovers of big squishy Skywhale-scale boobies. In addition to this absolutely amazing thing which might be worth booking a flight for on its own, Bompas and Parr are also presenting four other fairground attractions with a sexual bent. There's an R-rated cinema, The Tunnel of Love — a mirrored labyrinth where patrons must go in search of the Gräfenberg (G) Spot, a mechanical horse-riding game where the animal is replaced by a certain male appendage, and a climbing wall made out of body parts knowingly titled Grope Mountain. The artists behind this utter excellence actually have quite the reputation outside of giant grope-able genitals too. Known for their extraordinary culinary innovations, they were responsible for London's NYE celebrations last year creating the world's first edible fireworks display. They also make the most incredible artisan jellies you've ever seen. What a life, eh? The entire Funland installation is of course a great celebration of sex positivity — an important principle of the NY institution in which it will be held. But the artists also claim they're responding to the erotic nature of fairgrounds themselves. Bompas explained to Wired this week that fairgrounds were a place to "hold hands and have a snog"; they're a place of thrills, pleasure and climaxes. Gives you a whole new perspective on the Royal Easter Show, right? Via Wired and Gothamist.
