On Swan Street in Richmond, surrounded by not much else, is the bright, yellow trimmed café, Friends of Mine. It's difficult to hold back a smile when you are here. Either outside next to the yellow sun covers or inside with the smiling staff, this place makes you feel good. Owner Jason Jones does Melbourne brunch spots well. He does them really well. If you haven't been to Friends of Mine it is likely you have tried Porgie and Mr Jones or Snow Pony. Friends of Mine, accepts one and all. On a sunny weekend morning you'll be hard pressed to land a seat outside, but do your best. Inside there are two sections. The front section fashions your standard wooden tables with newspapers splashed around, while the back section feels more like a restaurant with white linen tables clothes and ornate decor. Most great brunch spots are full come Sunday 11am, but with three dining areas the wait shouldn't be too long at Friends of Mine. For breakfast the Bircher muesli with rhubarb, vanilla compote and cleo's honeyed yoghurt ($10.90) is a satisfying, light option, while the toasted banana bread with maple syrup mascarpone, fresh banana, berry compote and crushed pistachio ($14.90) is a goer for the sweet tooths amongst us. The banana bread is light and fluffy and ridiculously good. Having said all of this it would be remiss to talk about Friends of Mine, Porgie and Mr Jones or Snow Pony without talking about the smashed avocado with thyme buttered mushrooms, marinated feta and torn basil on wholegrain toast ($17.90, or $19.90 with a poached egg). Two words. Do it. When curing a hangover, it is advised to add bacon to this dish, or as Friends of Mine have hangovers covered order the “HUNG” Over which is herb and cheesy toast, poached eggs, bacon, and smashed avocado ($18.90). Speaking of hangovers Berocca ($3) is the first thing on the menu, followed shortly by the Bloody Mary ($13) and the Moet Chandon ($18 a glass). Hair of the dog, or straight recovery, you are well looked after what ever your state. If delving into the lunch menu, a piadinis with roasted pumpkin, pesto, ricotta, roasted peppers and caramel onion ($12.9) is a solid option or try for something larger like the braised ox cheek with Pedro Ximenez, honey, cardamom carrots and cannellini bean puree ($23.90). Lest we forget that on last Sunday of the month Friends of Mine gets a little bit fancy with their high tea. $45 will get you sweet savoury and sparking.
A few years ago, facial recognition technology seemed like the stuff of the future, some nifty application you'd see only on the big screen. Now, we're using it in real life, to unlock our phones, to hustle through the passport queue at the airport and even to order our morning latte. That's right — cafes across the country are getting high-tech, implementing facial recognition systems in an effort to improve customer service. And the one system that's being used by most was developed right here in our own backyard. Geoff Cropley, owner of Sydney's Bahista Cafe, told the Sydney Morning Herald he spent two years working with developer John MacLean to create his own system prototype, NoahFace, which he first started using on customers in July 2016. "I searched the world for a low-cost face recognition [system] and there was nothing out there, all the solutions were multimillion-dollar ones," he explained. "So I went about creating what we have today." Willing customers simply have their face scanned by an iPad as they approach the front counter, with information, including their name and go-to coffee order, then instantly relayed to the barista. NoahFace is now in use across the country, having raised more than $1 million in seed funding, not to mention the backing of big names like Toby's Estate founder Toby Smith. Currently, you'll spy it operating at venues like Sydney's Bar Bellaccino, Adelaide's Hotel Richmond and a whole swag of Toby's Estate cafes — and, it'll spy you too. Via smh.com.au
Australia's war on waste has received a significant boost, with the Federal Government pledging to ensure that 100 percent of the country's packaging is recyclable, compostable or reusable in the next seven years. Announced by Minister for the Environment and Energy Josh Frydenberg, the target will be implemented by 2025 or earlier. The Commonwealth will also work with state and territory governments to increase the nation's recycling capabilities — and prioritise 'waste-to-energy' projects, which convert waste that is unable to be recycled into energy. Also on the agenda: ramping up the purchase of recyclable materials by the various levels of government by using more recycled paper, and building roads and construction projects out of recycled mattter. The focus not only on mandating the widespread uptake of recyclable packaging, but also finding ways to use and process it forms part of the country's response to China's decision to stop importing waste. Since the beginning of 2018, Australia has been struggling to find solutions for the 1.3 million tonnes of recyclable materials it previously sent to Chinese facilities each year, a figure that accounts for 35 percent of our recyclable plastics and 30 percent of our recyclable paper and cardboard. Earlier this month, it was discovered that one Queensland council had been sending recyclable matter to landfill instead. The promise to scrap non-recyclable packaging in general arrives as several other eco-friendly bans are coming into effect — or, in the case of Hobart's Australia-first commitment to get rid of single-use plastic containers, are set to by 2020. Single-use bags are on their way out in most states, with Queensland joining the fold this coming July and Victoria following suit, leaving New South Wales as now the only state that hasn't made the same pledge. Elsewhere, Aussie bars venues have begun phasing out straws, and campaigns to reduce the use of single-use takeaway coffee cups also continue.
Want to drink wine and support a great cause while you do it? The team at Vinomofo has you covered. The online wine cellar has just launched its limited edition Homeless Grapes Project Yarra Valley chardonnay, and it's donating 100 percent of proceeds to Australians who are sleeping rough. The mineral-rich drop comes courtesy of De Bortoli Wines, Rochford Wines and TarraWarra Estate, who all donated grapes to the project. It goes on sale on Monday, February 4 at $25 per bottle, sold in a case of six, with only few hundred cases available. All proceeds from the sales will go to St Mary's House of Welcome, which provides food, shelter, showers and emergency assistance to Melburnians doing it tough. Last year, the sale of 200 cases of Homeless Grapes Project shiraz raised more than $50,000 and was able to provide housing for 570 clients, over 40,000 meals and 3000 appointments with nurses. The Homeless Grapes initiative has been running since 2015 and has already raised more than $150,000 for charity. "Homelessness is a community issue that can be solved by the community and initiatives like Homeless Grapes," said Vinomofo co-founder Andre Eikmeier. "We can raise money for the front line to help make a real difference. And importantly, we change our attitudes." The Homeless Grapes Project Yarra Valley chardonnay is available from Monday, February 4. To find out more about the Homeless Grapes initiative and to buy a couple of bottles, head to vinomofo.com.
The arrival of Fitzroy's newest ramen spot Gogyo has't go unnoticed. An enormous new exterior mural, a modern interpretation of wuxing (the five Chinese elements) by celebrated Sydney-based artist Kentaro Yoshida, points to its entrance on the corner of Brunswick and Westgarth streets. And, in the kitchen, the team is shaking up the game by celebrating a gutsy style of signature ramen you won't find anywhere else in town. Japanese-born Gogyo has landed in Melbourne following the success of its Aussie debut, which launched in Sydney's Surry Hills in 2018. It's also from the same minds behind internationally revered ramen chain Ippudo and, as you might know, that equates to some serious street cred in the world of Japanese noodle soup. Gogyo has set itself apart from the pack with its burnt ramen creation dubbed kogashi. A smoky, sweet and intense dish crafted on a charred miso or shoyu base, it is then loaded with chicken broth, pork belly chashu and half an umami egg. While it's the headline act at the new Fitzroy restaurant, the black (but not bitter) soup is backed by a strong supporting cast of alternative ramen varieties and izakaya-style snacks. [caption id="attachment_760781" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kogashi ramen by Julia Sansone[/caption] The space itself is split between a minimalist front cocktail lounge and the restaurant, divided by traditional noren curtains featuring more of Yoshida's symbolic artworks. Step through into the dining room and you'll find a warm timber-filled space decked out with deep booths and a long open kitchen lined with stools. As for the menu, it's a mix of Gogyo favourites and Fitzroy exclusives. You might kick off with elegant snacks like scampi nigiri and spring rolls stuffed with sukiyaki-style wagyu, before diving into the likes of pork katsu curry or a poke-style sashimi number. There's a cracking karaage chicken, wagyu tataki finished with shiso and yuzu ponzu, and a miso chicken teamed with sticky rice and fennel pickle. Meanwhile, in the ramen corner, the two kogashi options steal the show, though there's plenty to tempt among the rest of the lineup, including a tonkotsu ramen laced with garlic oil and a fiery chilli shoyu soup. To match, there's a tight list of Aussie wines, Suntory brews on tap and a handful of elegant cocktails, like the whisky- and bitter orange-infused Salaryman. Images: Julia Sansone
It's with the swirling, piercing tones of a string-filled overture that The Childhood of a Leader begins. Ominous, unsettling and reminiscent of many a horror movie, the distinctive music provides quite the introduction — but then, that's what this film is all about. Actor turned first-time director Brady Corbet (Clouds of Sils Maria, While We're Young) announces his arrival as a filmmaker with a thoroughly ambitious effort about the youth of someone destined to become a fascist force to be reckoned with. After kicking things off in such spectacularly sinister fashion, Scott Walker's stunning score ushers viewers through a series of chapters, or 'tantrums', that comprise the film's narrative. At its centre is a ten-year-old American boy (Tom Sweet) growing up in France in 1919. His father (Liam Cunningham) works for US president Woodrow Wilson in the aftermath of WWI, helping to establish what will become the Treaty of Versailles. His mother (Bérénice Bejo) is distant and stern, so he warms to his French tutor (Stacy Martin) — a little too much, in fact. The time, the place, and the treaty will no doubt make viewers think of a particular historical figure who went on to devastate Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. Watching to see how your suspicions play out is part of the thrill of The Childhood of a Leader, although don't expect Corbet to play with the past exactly as we know it. Real-life parallels remain obvious, but it's the themes and ideas, rather than the specific details, that carry the most significance. Given everything that's happened in global politics since the film was shot in 2015, they're also what proves the most frightening. How does evil take root, be it in one person or an entire society? Does nature triumph over nurture? Does apathy and malaise breed something much more insidious than mere contempt and discontent? Corbet brings all of these questions to the fore – and while he's not particularly subtle about it, his approach works. An early line of dialogue, taken from a famous phrase coined about WWII, couldn't be more telling. "That was the tragedy. Not that one man has the courage to be evil, but that so many have not the courage to be good." That observation is uttered by none other than Robert Pattinson, who plays a friend of the boy's father. His role is a small but pivotal one, and will keep viewers on their toes — scrutinising each lavish frame as they wait to see if and when he reappears. The Childhood of a Leader demands that kind of close attention, and rewards it as well. You have to keep your wits about you when a seemingly ordinary situation slowly but surely turns into a nightmare. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEa9vg_OrSA
Theatre and storytelling have long been one and the same, but Malthouse Theatre are bridging that gap completely with their 2015 program. Presenting works in a new chapter format, the bustling year ahead looks a little like a storybook. First we have an exploration of the self (Body // Language), then a look at how it relates to their digital world (Post // Love), and finally we examine society at large (Ritual // Extinction). It's a tidy way to organise such enormous ideas, but the works in each chapter are far from a simple variation on a theme. Before you even step inside a theatre, the party will be kicking off with Blak Cabaret — a prologue to the chapter format featuring Indigenous comedians, musicians, dancers and poets. After premiering at Melbourne Indigenous Arts Festival last year, this year's run of the show will play out in the forecourt of Malthouse's home on Southbank. Featuring three works from the 2015 Dance Massive program, the first official chapter of the season will have a big emphasis on the body. In Nothing to Lose, Force Majeure, choreographer Kate Champion and fat activist Kelli Jean Drinkwater join forces to challenge body expectations and reclaim the stage for large bodies. Do You Speak Chinese? then sees Australian-born Victoria Chiu explore the expectations of her Asian heritage through dance, and Depth of Field examines life in the city with Chunky Move's Anouk van Dijk in the Malthouse forecourt. The one work without a focus on dance is Wot? No Fish!!. A story of love, history and family, this one-man play written by and starring Danny Braverman was an absolute hit at last year's Edinburgh Fringe. Post // Love starts up with an ambitious and critically-acclaimed story from Caryl Churchill. Directed by Kip Williams, Love and Information will be a postmodern series of vignettes that sees the talented cast playing over 100 roles. Definitely pencil this one in your diaries, it comes sporting a five-star review from The New York Times. Ash Flanders then takes the stage for an interrogation of YouTube stardom and digital identity in Meme Girls, while Lally Katz rounds out the chapter with her new comedic work Timeshare. Starring Marg Downey from Kath and Kim, this is definitely going to be one to lift the spirits. As winter encroaches, things get a little darker in Ritual // Extinction. Jane Montgomery Griffiths reimagines the tragedy of Sophocles with Antigone, while Declan Greene and Matthew Lutton take a look at life from behind bars in I Am a Miracle. Famous for her comedic social critque, Nicola Gunn takes on the world of business in A Social Service; then the chapter is rounded out with They Saw a Thylacine — a work that's toured the fringe circuit with its hunt for the Tasmanian tiger. As enormous and exciting as the program is, it's also going to be supplemented by related events throughout the year. To celebrate the body and language you can attend a fitness session with an eight-year-old trainer. To explore relationships in the digital age, Aphids will be organising a mysterious interactive game. And, to get on board with the best ritual of them all, the NGV will be hosting a part-performance, part-banquet version of the last supper. If that's not enough for you, The Wheeler Centre will also be hosting a series of discussions on each chapter. There's certainly a lot to talk about. For full program details, see the Malthouse website.
Bourke Street's home of slow-cooked, American-style barbecue fare is getting a little raucous this New Year's Eve. Come Thursday, December 31, Fancy Hank's is farewelling the year that was with a foot-stomping, inner city hoe-down. Guest chef Ross Magnaye (formerly Rice Paper Scissors) will be in the kitchen, lending his signature Filipino twist to a menu of party-style finger food. Meanwhile, the drinks will be flowing from 9pm until midnight, with a range of tap brews, house wines, soft drinks and celebratory bubbly included in your $118 ticket price. As for the entertainment, it'll be taken care of by Melbourne's own Pauly Main and Andee Frost, as they take over the decks to treat your ears to what the venue is describing as "a searing selection of saucy songs to get you moving". Get set for everything from Dolly Parton to Acid Cowboy, kicking on until 3am.
UPDATE, February 12, 2021: Portrait of a Lady on Fire is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. In Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Celine Sciamma tasks audiences with literally watching paint dry — and it's riveting. Viewers don't merely stare as the pigment settles, and they don't devote the whole film to glaring at a canvas. Still, in this sumptuous, striking romance, observing artist Marianne (Noémie Merlant) as she gazes at her latest creation couldn't be more crucial. She agonises over every brush stroke as if her soul depends on it, because it does, in a way. Her heart does at the very least. On an island in Brittany near the end of the 18th century, Marianne has been commissioned to paint a portrait of the betrothed Héloïse (Adèle Haenel). But how does anyone do justice to the face of the woman they've fallen hopelessly in love with? Hardly a blushing bride-to-be, Héloïse doesn't want to get married to an Italian man that she has never met, and she certainly doesn't want to sit for an artwork marking the occasion. She has previously refused to comply for another artist, making painting her traditional wedding portrait a tricky prospect. Accordingly, Marianne is enlisted by Héloïse's Countess mother (Valeria Golino) to be her daughter's new companion, to scrutinise her closely every chance she can, and then to craft the picture from memory in secret. As the women spend time together, walking by the sea as the wind swirls and slowly sharing aspects of their lives, their feelings simmer, then bubble, then boil heatedly. When Portrait of a Lady on Fire depicts Marianne peering obsessively at her picture of Héloïse — even wiping off the paint and beginning again when she's discontent with what's staring back — it shows her lost in thought and swept up in the throes of affection. And, because Sciamma is a gifted visual storyteller and Merlant a great actor, the film makes clear the significance of these moments without overplaying a single element. Watching paint dry is important, because every speck solidifies into a permanent token of how Marianne feels about Héloïse. Naturally, she's determined to convey those feelings in as precise and perfect a way as possible. Given the period, place, prevailing societal attitudes and expectations placed upon women, this portrait is the only enduring way that she can immortalise their love — and the weight of that truth is always heartbreakingly apparent. Equally beautiful and bold, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a film that balances the reality of impossible circumstances with otherwise hopeful glimmers, as has become the French writer/director's custom. It's that dynamic that made Sciamma's last feature, girl-gang movie Girlhood, simultaneously perceptive, exuberant and emotionally raw, traits that are essential here, too. The solace that Marianne and Héloïse find in each other's arms in stolen blissful moments proves both tender and sizzling. Their yearning, inner awakenings, and struggle to contain their infatuation within such restrictive confines is palpable. And the fact that their lives aren't their own to decide — no matter how fiercely independent Marianne is, and encourages the more pragmatic Héloïse to be — constantly tints their restrained romance with an unflinchingly bittersweet hue. Bringing all of the above to life in a movie that's the epitome of slow-burning — pun intended, although a portrait of a lady does indeed catch on fire in the film — Merlant and Haenel are a dream duo. Their performances are so measured yet still so heaving with feeling, and their interplay so exacting yet still so quietly expressive, that they could escape the entire feature without saying a word. Writing and directing, Sciamma has penned intricate dialogue for them to speak, though. They say much without uttering a thing, and they also swap meaty exchanges about classic tales, memories and harsh truths. Sciamma won this year's Cannes Film Festival Best Screenplay award for her efforts, as well as acclaim and applause since; however her exceptional script wouldn't burn as brightly without her two leads. Thematically, narratively and emotionally, this could never just be a lush romantic drama brimming with uncomplicated passion and desire. In her first period-set tale, Sciamma was always going to confront the minutiae of life for women of the era — it's pivotal to understanding how the requirements placed upon her characters are so incompatible with their happiness, and why they must relish what brief joy they can. That said, Portrait of a Lady on Fire always looks like a lush romantic drama, whether its gorgeous imagery is watching paint dry, enjoying the scenery, or getting as lost in Marianne and Héloïse as they are in each other. Befitting a movie about a painter and a portrait, every frame could be hung on a wall. An exquisite piece in every way and one of the year's very best, this film earns all of the obvious fiery terms, because it sparks, blazes and simply sets the screen alight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn_-YoG69Sw
It's the page-to-streaming YA series that turned into a smash hit, made Lola Tung a star in her first-ever screen role and gave a second Jenny Han franchise a successful leap to the screen. It's also the show that's earned such passion and obsession that free tickets to a live book club event featuring Tung, fellow actor Rain Spencer (Test Screening) and Han in Sydney were snapped up instantly. The series in question is The Summer I Turned Pretty, of course, aka Prime Video's adaptation of Han's 2009 novel of the same name, as well as 2010's It's Not Summer Without You and 2011's We'll Always Have Summer. The show's third season is streaming now — and with it, the flower crown-loving, often Taylor Swift-soundtracked small-screen sensation is coming to an end. 2025 marks a mere three years since the world was first introduced to Tung as Isabel 'Belly' Conklin, then an about-to-turn-16 teen living her summer dream. Whenever the weather turns warm, the coastal Massachusetts town of Cousins Beach has always beckoned her family, who vacation at the luxe house owned by her mother Laurel's (Jackie Chung, Coming Home Again) best friend Susannah Fisher (Rachel Blanchard, Uno). Belly is the youngest among the next generation, thanks to her elder brother Steven (Sean Kaufman, Walker), plus Susannah's two children Conrad (Christopher Briney, Mean Girls) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno, Queen of the Ring). She's also been in love with Conrad since she can remember. In the initial sunny season charted in The Summer I Turned Pretty, neither of the Fisher siblings see Belly as a kid anymore. Enter the Team Conrad-versus-Team Jeremiah clash — and a hard choice for the show's protagonist between her lifelong dream and her forever best friend. Which of the duo that Belly's heart is swooning for at any given moment has changed more than once as season two and now season three have arrived, but can you ever truly get over your first love, or move past the person that's always known you better than anyone else? Audiences will soon find out for the character that turns 21 in the series' final run, and is so established in a long-term relationship with Jeremiah that the pair are making big plunges. Although Conrad is at Stanford chasing a medical career, he's clearly still deeply affected by how his time by Belly's side faded in the previous season. A coming-of-age story and a summer-romance tale all in one — several summer romances, in fact, thanks to Belly's love triangles, catching up with its characters summer after summer, and other relationships surrounding Belly, Conrad and Jeremiah — The Summer I Turned Pretty was always destined to follow Han's To All The Boys I've Loved Before trilogy to the screen. It was published first, but made its way to streaming after 2018's To All the Boys I've Loved Before, 2020's To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You and 2021's To All the Boys: Always and Forever films, all on Netflix, where that saga's spinoff series XO, Kitty debuted in 2023 and dropped its second season in early 2025. One of the key reasons that Han's work keeps finding a home on the small screen, as well as in the hearts and minds of fans — both those familiar with the source material and others brand-new through the adaptations — is an approach that's pivotal to the author. Han also created both The Summer I Turned Pretty and XO, Kitty in their streaming guises, and is a showrunner on both. That crucial factor: allowing the teenage girls and young women that are her protagonists to experience the entire and full spectrum of their feelings, and genuinely appreciating that with all sincerity and earnestness, which can't always be said about the depiction of characters in that demographic. Such an approach is essential to Han — and also to Tung and Spencer, who've grown up with their starring roles on The Summer I Turned Pretty. As Taylor Jewel, Belly's ride-or-die best friend, who has her own complicated romantic situation with Steven, Spencer has also been navigating a storyline that expands well beyond the novels, charting new territory even for avid readers. That said, whether book diehards actually know who Belly will end up with when the show says goodbye after its 11-episode third season isn't assured. Han, Tung and Spencer are all feeling good about where The Summer I Turned Pretty wraps up, though, they tell Concrete Playground. "I feel great," says Han, accompanied by smiles and nods from Tung and Spencer. "I feel excited for people to see it. The last episode is one of my favourites of the whole series," she continues. "I think — I hope — people feel satisfied, but I think I feel satisfied as a storyteller with the work that we did." What's in store will keep being revealed weekly until Wednesday, September 17, 2025; however, we also chatted with Tung, Spencer and Han about the viewer response to the series and what it means to them; the importance of the show valuing young women's emotions; the fact that The Summer I Turned Pretty has always been Team Belly first and foremost, regardless of what's happening amorously between her and Conrad or Jeremiah or anyone else; Tung and Spencer's experience with Belly and Taylor's journeys; and more. On What the Viewer Response to The Summer I Turned Pretty, Including Events Like Prime Book Club LIVE and Fans Obsessing Over the Show's Love Triangles, Means to Tung, Spencer and Han Lola: "It makes me so excited. I feel cool." Rain: "It's so cool." Jenny: "It's an honour. I think as an author of books, it makes me excited anytime I see people reading or being passionate about stories. So it's really cool for us." Lola: "We were walking around Sydney the other day, and it was just cool to see how many people watched the show." Jenny: "I was like 'whoa'. I was very surprised. Because I think you often just think about who's watching it in the US. We live in the US and people come up to us. So it's very exciting to leave the country and be like 'you've heard of us?'. It's so cool." On the Importance of The Summer I Turned Pretty Allowing Its Teenage Girls and Young Women to Experience the Entire Range of Their Emotions — and Appreciating That with Sincerity Jenny: "To me, it's essential. As somebody who writes stories about young people, I've always approached it in that way — with, I hope, respect — where every experience is meaningful and valid. And I think a lot of times adults can minimise a young person's point of view, because they're like 'oh, puppy love' or 'oh, they're just kids'. But I think It's all relative. It's kind of what you were saying earlier, Rain — that's always been my ethos, is that your experience is your experience, and it's relative to what you've already experienced." Rain: "Yeah." Jenny: "So as a teenager, if I have a really bad fight with my mum, that can be really destabilising and really horrible, right? And so I think people look back on it and laugh, but you forget how big that was in the moment — to not have someone to eat lunch with at school or to be dumped publicly." Rain: "Yes, it's the heightened emotion, the different definitions of love as you get older. But the first love that you experience, it might not be your experience when you get older, but it is absolutely real and true in that moment. That is what love means." Jenny: "And in some ways, that's more real than anything, because that's the first time and everything is magnified." Lola: "It's so special, yeah." On the Series Always Being Team Belly First, No Matter Her Romantic Status with Conrad or Jeremiah Lola: "I think that's more credit to Jenny, because that's always been a huge conversation, and that's always been a priority as a writer and as the creator — to protect Belly and to make sure that her story is fulfilling to her as a person on her own. And I love getting to explore all of that. The relationship with the boys, absolutely — and the relationship with Taylor, the relationship with her mum and her dad, and with Susannah. It's been so cool to get to feel like she has a proper story, and that Jenny is really fighting for that always." On How Tung and Spencer Feel About the Journey They've Taken with Belly and Taylor Over the Show's Three Seasons — Not Just What the Characters Have Gone Through, But Going on That Ride with Them Lola: "It's been so special. I mean, we really did grow up with them. And this was one of — this was one of our first, like my first project, her second project. So we've learned so much about this world and what it's like to be on a TV set. And also had a lot of time to really form this relationship, this friendship, that Taylor and Belly have together, and what it looks like as time goes on. And they're not kids anymore — and they spend a lot of time together even when their lives take them in different directions. And how they continue to be best friends. I think it's been really lovely." Rain: "It has been really lovely. Like Lola said, we grew up with these characters. I think something that's so beautiful about acting is there is a part of Taylor that will always be with me, because she taught me so many things. I've spoken before about the level of confidence that she had, I didn't have when I started playing her. And so she sort of taught me what confidence feels like in my body. And so I'll have that forever." On Taylor's Storyling Expanding Well Beyond the Books, Charting New Territory Even for Readers Rain: "I think I just feel so grateful to Jenny for the ability to explore the character and go deeper with her. It's been just one of the joys of my life thus far, is getting to know this character and having the opportunity to do so." Jenny: "But you also bring so much of yourself into it, which I think suits the character so much. So it's really, I think, special. I've loved being able to expand the character out and see more of her as a character. I think now, Rain, the way that you've brought Taylor to life, it's to me in some ways it's its own thing, which is really fun." The Summer I Turned Pretty streams via Prime Video. The Summer I Turned Pretty images: Erika Doss © AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC.
UPDATE, October 19, 2020: Climax is available to stream via SBS On Demand, Google Play, YouTube, iTunes and Amazon Video. A bowl of LSD-laced sangria. A thumping soundtrack. Dancers at the top of their game. With the lurid and kinetic Climax, Gaspar Noé takes a trip into a memorable, manic and murderous all-night party. Loosely based on a true story that dates back to the 90s, it starts with a troupe busting moves, downing beverages and blowing off steam after rehearsals, then discovering that their drinks have been spiked. That said, 'discover' isn't really the best word to describe folks realising that their nightmare is real. It's wholly accurate, however it can't completely convey Selva (Sofia Boutella) and her crew's horrific predicament. Writing as well as directing and co-editing, Noé isn't interested in explaining or describing, so that's about as far as his narrative goes. But, as the Argentine-born, French-based provocateur keeps demonstrating with each successive picture, he loves plunging audiences into hallucinatory and immersive worlds. From I Stand Alone and Irreversible to Enter the Void and Love, every movie on his resume involves a straightforward set-up, followed by a descent into chaos and mayhem of varying kinds. That said, Climax's might just be the most literal. One moment, everyone is eagerly strutting their stuff in a seemingly safe space. The next, an orgy of screams, tears, paranoia, sex, blood and death is the new normal. From a largely non-professional cast that numbers 24, all trapped in a remote hall as snow falls outside, connective threads emerge. Selva isn't particularly happy with anyone, and David (Romain Guillermic) considers himself the ladies man of the gang. Emmanuelle (Claude Gajan Maull) is trying to balance her career with being a mother to the young Tito (Vince Galliot Cumant), while everyone just wants to let loose as Daddy the DJ (Kiddy Smile) hits the decks. Personal squabbles, petty grievances and plenty of baggage all add to a jittery, claustrophobic mood, and that's before the acid takes effect. When the drugs kick in, so too do the group's fears and insecurities, the competitive vibe that comes with performing for a living, and the emotional and physical slaughter. Epitomising the idea that style can equal substance (as he has across his entire filmography), it's how Noé spins this story that mesmerises. Whether he's watching the troupe unleash their stellar dance skills in Climax's hypnotic first half, or charting carnage in its second, there's never a dull moment. There's never an average or unengaging moment either, or one that doesn't want to get a rise out of viewers. All of the director's usual traits are on display, from the propulsive tunes that set a distinctive rhythm, to the fluid and floating camerawork by his now four-time cinematographer Benoît Debie, to his penchant for evocative red lighting. And yet, pairing them with dance is a masterstroke. Noé already has a handful of music videos to his name, including for Nick Cave, Placebo and Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter (who contributes a new song to Climax's soundtrack), but in mixing fancy footwork and horror, he might've found his true calling. That's not to say that Climax doesn't have thematic bite as it both revels in and dissects hedonism, and posits that creation and destruction are two sides of the same coin. Nor does it mean that Noé isn't up to his usual tongue-in-cheek tricks (he introduces his main players via video auditions screened on a TV, with VHS tapes of boundary-pushing classics like Suspiria and Salò underneath). But the film is an experience above all else. Purposefully overwhelming the senses — and trying to shatter them, too — it pulls you in with a lengthy sequence of astonishing choreography. It gets your toes tapping until they can't stop. Then, it forces its pulsating frenzy into your soul. The result is Noé at his best, and is best summarised by a song by his regular collaborator Bangalter. In a sea of sweat and terror, Climax loses itself, its characters and its audience to dance in the most bold, unhinged and thrilling way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=-ydNrDCw58c
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
Just like most of us, Jetstar enjoys marking the passing of another year spent journeying around the sun. And, also like most of us, it's fond of flight sales. Combine the two and you get the Australian airline's 20th-birthday celebrations, which bring the return of its popular 'return for free' sale — where you buy a ticket to your holiday destination, then the carrier covers the cost of you coming home. This time around, the airline is doing discounted flights across Australia and to a range of international destinations, including in Japan, Thailand, Bali, Hawaii, South Korea and New Zealand. Wherever you'd like to head, the key part of this sale is making your way back Down Under without paying for the flight, which'll also make your holiday oh-so-much cheaper. Running from 12am AEST on Wednesday, May 1–11.59pm AEST Thursday, May 2, or until sold out — with Jetstar members getting an extra 12 hours access to the sale from 12pm on Tuesday, April 30 — it really is as straightforward as it sounds. Whatever flights you opt for as part of the sale, you'll get the return fare for nothing. The caveats: you have to book an outbound fare, then you'll get the return fare for free — and the deal only applies to Starter fares, and only on selected flights. Also, checked baggage is not included, so you'll need to travel super light or pay extra to take a suitcase. Plus, you have to use the same arrival and departure ports for your flights — so you can go from Sydney to Osaka and back, for instance, but can't return via another place or to another city. On the international destinations list: Osaka, Phuket, Bangkok, Bali, Honolulu, Bali, Seoul, Singapore, Auckland and Wellington, to begin with. Prices obviously vary depending on where you're flying from and to, but some include Sydney to Osaka from $548, Melbourne to Singapore from $399, Brisbane to Seoul from $479, Adelaide to Bali from $349 and Perth to Bangkok from $309. Domestic fares span deals such as Sydney to Ballina/Byron from $86, Melbourne to Launceston from $87 and Gold Coast to Melbourne from $125. You'll be travelling within Australia from mid-January to late March next year, and from mid-June this year to late March 2025 if you're going global. Jetstar's 20th birthday 'return for free' sale runs until 12am AEST on Wednesday, May 1–11.59pm AEST Thursday, May 2 — or until sold out. Jetstar members get an extra 12 hours access to the sale from 12pm on Tuesday, April 30. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
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.
If you're in Byron Bay right now, looking forward to this year's Splendour in the Grass — or you're on your way — then you'll already know that it's mighty wet in the region at the moment. In fact, it has been so soggy that campsites have been flooded, lines to get in have taken all night, there's even more mud than usual and the past 24 hours have been filled with chaos. And with more rainy weather due for the rest of the day, the fest's organisers have pulled the plug on all main stage gigs today, Friday, July 22. "A significant weather system is currently sitting off the east coast and may reach land later today bringing more rainfall. In the interest of patron safety and in consultation with all relevant emergency services, we have decided to err on the side of caution and cancel performances on the main stages today only — Amphitheatre, Mix Up, GW McLennan and Park(lands) stages," said the Splendour crew in a statement. "All of our destination spaces (Global Village, Tipi Forest, Forum, Comedy and Science tents, etc) will remain open today for patrons who are already onsite as well as those at our satellite campground at Byron Events Farm. Please relax and enjoy what is open." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Splendour in the Grass (@splendourinthegrass) From the fest's hefty lineup, Gorillaz, The Avalanches, DMA's, Dillon Frances, Kacey Musgraves and Orville Peck are among the acts that were due to perform today, but won't now. Organisers also advised that SITG looks forward "to Saturday and Sunday programming moving ahead as planned". So, fingers crossed that The Strokes, Glass Animals, Jack Harlow, Violent Soho, Tim Minchin and more will hit the stage on Saturday — and Tyler, The Creator, Liam Gallagher, Bad//Dreems, Mura Masa and others on Sunday. More rain is forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology for Byron Bay today, with showers and wind expected on Saturday, plus possible showers on Sunday. Affected ticketholders will be contacted by Moshtix in the coming week, via the email address you used to buy your ticket, with further information on refunds. Today's cancellation comes in Splendour's big comeback year, after two winters without live tunes at North Byron Parklands due to the pandemic. Splendour in the Grass runs until Sunday, July 24 at North Byron Parklands. For further information, head to the festival's website and Facebook page. Images: Ben Hansen.
Italy, eat your heart out. According to the experts, our fair city is home to the best pizza in the world. To get your hands on the faultless stuff, make your way to 400 Gradi, where the man who won the 2014 World Pizza Championships serves up his award-winning fare to the Melbourne masses. Expect light, yeasty bases cooked to perfection and topped with delights like creamy buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto, or marzano tomato. Simplicity is king here, though, with the margherita coming out tops. Follow up your feast with gelato at sister spot Zero Gradi, where classic flavours like pistachio and espresso are served alongside seasonal options. Produced in store daily and topped with whipped cream, this is Italian gelato at some of its most delicious.
2023 marks eight years since one of the greatest living American directors last released a film. While he did direct an episode of Tokyo Vice's first season in 2022, Michael Mann hasn't had a movie flicker across the big screen since 2015's Blackhat. Thankfully, that's changing with a picture that also gives the world Adam Driver as a race car driver-turned-sports car entrepreneur: Ferrari. Mann adds Ferrari to a resume that also includes 80s masterpiece Thief, The Last of the Mohicans and Heat in the 90s, plus Collateral, Miami Vice and more. For Driver, the film proves another case of living up to his name on-screen. He's played a bus driver in Paterson, and piloted a spaceship in the Star Wars sequel trilogy as well as 65. So, zipping through the Italian streets here fits easily. As both Ferrari's first teaser trailer and just-dropped new full sneak peek show, Driver is behind the wheel in a film that focuses on its namesake when he's an ex-racer. As adapted from Brock Yates' book Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races, The Machine, Mann's movie hones in on specific chapter of Enzo Ferrari's life: 1957, as potential bankruptcy looms over his factory, his marriage is struggling after a heartbreaking loss and his drivers approach the Mille Miglia race. Accordingly, Ferrari promises to peer behind the Formula 1 facade, into Enzo's relationship with his wife Laura (Penélope Cruz, Official Competition), the death of their boy Dino, and the son Piero with Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley, Robots) that he doesn't want to acknowledge. If you know your racing history, you'll also know that 1957's Mille Miglia — which spanned 1000 miles across Italy — was its last due to multiple deaths during the event. So, that race won't be an insignificant part of the film. Set to release at Christmas in the US and on January 4, 2024 Down Under, Ferrari also stars Patrick Dempsey (Disenchanted), Jack O'Connell (Lady Chatterley's Lover), Sarah Gadon (Black Bear) and Gabriel Leone (Dom). Check out the trailer for Ferrari below: Ferrari releases in cinemas Down Under on January 4, 2024. Images: Lorenzo Sisti / Eros Hoagland.
With 35 hours worth of footage uploaded to YouTube every single minute, it's easy to get lost wading through all of the new content. Instead of wasting your time searching through crappy homemade videos, check out this list of 10 channels actually worth watching. 1. Vlogbrothers, Crash Course, and Sci Show Created by brothers John and Hank Green in 2007, Vlogbrothers was initially used as a way for the two to stay in touch. Today, it has become popular enough to have acquired its own fandom and spin-offs and is definitely worth catching up on. Check out the Green's other channels as well: Crash Course, which features the brothers' entertaining lectures on history and biology, and Sci Show, Hank's show on anything and everything scientific. 2. Ill Doctrine Jay Smooth takes a creative turn from his New York WBAI's Underground Radio show to discuss all aspects of modern culture on his YouTube channel. His thoughts on politics, race relations and music are incorporated with his great sense of humour. 3. BriTANick Comedy Two announcers from Cartoon Network, Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher, got their start with this YouTube sketch comedy channel. Irreverent and hysterical, their video spoofs poke fun at everything from cooking shows to Shakespeare. 4. TED Education The TED media empire originated as a not-for-profit conference to discuss technology, design, and education. Today, their YouTube channel offers tonnes of different lectures and lessons, covering diverse educational topics and incorporating animation. 5. My Drunk Kitchen For those of us who have drunkenly stumbled into the kitchen after a night out to cook a very necessary bowl of mac 'n' cheese, there is My Drunk Kitchen, Hannah Hart's show dedicated to making sure "you don't puke your guts out". Be thoroughly entertained by Hart's drunken, yet somehow charming, kitchen antics. 6. College Humor 240 Jake and Amir videos, the College Humor Originals series and Hardly Working series are filled with enough crazy stupid shenanigans to keep you laughing for hours. 7. Julia Nunes For Julia Nunes, YouTube has been the vehicle to musical fame, but also the means to entertain us with her goofy ukulele covers of the likes of Justin Bieber. 8. Smart Girls at the Party Amy Poehler proves that smart girls can have a good time too by interviewing a different woman on every episode. These young women share their hobbies with Poehler and show the YouTube world that internet intelligence does exist. 9. Wheezy Waiter Craig Benzine's outlandish videos feature amazing production quality and not a whole lot of rhyme and reason. Posted almost every weekday, these quirky videos are ever-random and always entertaining. 10. Belated Media Dedicated to providing high-quality film reviews, Michael Barryte's channel features a green screen which allows Barryte to comment on the film as it happens. His reviews are carefully thought-out and well broken-down for his audience. [via Flavorwire]
Everyone loves Jamie's Italian. Or at least that's what we discovered when, back in November 2016, we reported that the Jamie Oliver had officially bought back his Australian restaurant chain after its parent company, the Keystone Group, went into receivership. People were excited — and the man himself even came to town to relaunch the venues. But now, a year on, things have taken a bit of a turn. The Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group will cease to manage its Australian restaurants, effective immediately. Last night, The Australian Financial Review reported that the group had gone into administration, and this morning it released an official statement announcing "a new operating partner for its Australian business". This partner is the Brisbane-based Hallmark Group, and it will take over the management of Australia's Jamie's Italian restaurants. What does that mean for your dinner plans? Well, the Sydney, Brisbane, Parramatta, Perth and Adelaide venues will continue to operate as usual, but, sadly, the Canberra outpost has already closed. "We'll be working closely with Jamie and the UK team, staff and local suppliers to keep driving the business forward and delivering exceptional experiences across the country," said a Hallmark representative. "Hallmark are actively seeking new suitable locations for the next Jamie's Italian." The news isn't that surprising considering the group has been in a spot of trouble in the UK — The Sun has reported that Oliver's group is in £71.5 million of debt, and will soon close 12 of his 27 restaurants. It'll be interesting to see if this changes much for Jamie's Italian. Will it bring back its $10 pasta deals? Will it finally expand to Melbourne? We'll keep you posted.
Some workplaces encourage suggestions, speaking up and letting company leadership know if things aren't quite right. As Severance viewers discovered in season one, Lumon Industries hasn't historically been one of them. So what happens when a group of employees attempts to raise issues? In the just-dropped full trailer for the Apple TV+ series' second season, Mark S (Adam Scott, Loot), Helly (Britt Lower, American Horror Stories), Dylan (Zach Cherry, Fallout) and Irving (John Turturro, Mr & Mrs Smith) all find out, as Mr Milchick (Tramell Tillman, Hunters) informs them that they've now become "the face of severance reform" after their actions at the end of season one. The latest sneak peek at season two returns viewers to a world of innies, outies and workplace nightmares — and a sci-fi thriller mindbender with a first run of episodes that deserved all the praise that it received and more. Apple TV+ has released past teasers for the second season, but the latest unveils the most details yet of what's to come. Existence inside and outside Lumon isn't just on a collision course; the two are crashing into each other repeatedly, even if Mark S and co's secretive employer wants otherwise. Audiences will be clocking back in for more Severance come Friday, January 17, 2025, in a case of ideal timing. Thinking about how to best balance your professional and personal spheres, and the time you dedicate to them, is an annual tradition when each new year starts after all. The subject will get a bigger push via this hugely anticipated TV comeback — and so will how work-life balance can weigh on your mind, or not. If you missed the first season, disconnecting from your job come quittin' time — and giving your gig every ounce of your focus during your daily grind — has become literal in Severance in a hellish way. At Lumon, employees agree to undertake the titular procedure, which splits their memories between work and home. But as Macrodata Refinement division employee Mark S begins to learn, nothing about the situation is what it seems. The show dives into the kind of scenario that Black Mirror might've dreamed up, with technology that could've been used if Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was about punching the clock instead of romance. Mark S willingly signed up for severance, all to help process his grief over the death of his wife. And he was happy with the situation until his work BFF Petey (Yul Vazquez, The Outsider) left suddenly without saying goodbye, then new staff member Helly arrived to replace him — and instantly questioned the insidious setup, the rules and restrictions needed to keep it in place, and why on earth her "outie" (as the outside versions of Lumon employees are known) agreed to this in the first place. In season two, Mark and his work pals will attempt to dig deeper into the consequences of the severance procedure, and trying to escape it. They'll also find out the ramifications of messing with the system — and Lumon isn't just filled with the same familiar faces. Severance's return calls for a waffle party, an egg bar or a melon bar — or at least a big bunch of blue balloons with the face of Mark S on them. Jen Tullock (Perry Mason), Michael Chernus (Carol & the End of the World), Dichen Lachman (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes), Christopher Walken (Dune: Part Two) and Patricia Arquette (High Desert) are all back among the cast, alongside new cast members including Gwendoline Christie (Wednesday), Bob Balaban (Asteroid City), Merritt Wever (Memory), Alia Shawkat (The Old Man) and John Noble (Twilight of the Gods). Ben Stiller (Escape at Dannemora) returns as a director on five episodes, too, and executive producer across the whole season, with ten episodes on the way. Apple TV+ will drop instalments through until Friday, March 21, 2025. Check out the full trailer for Severance season two below: Severance returns for season two on Friday, January 17, 2025 via Apple TV+. Read our review of season one.
When mid-February rolls around each year, a specific feeling starts to sink in: the yearning for these sunny, summery days to keep on stretching on. But autumn will soon be upon us, and cooler weather, too — unless you decide to chase an endless summer by spending time anywhere from the Gold Coast up to Cairns while it gets frosty down south. After a chaotic couple of years due to the pandemic, Queensland holidays have been back on the agenda since late 2021. Just last month, the Sunshine State also ditched all of its remaining domestic border restrictions. And, if you're keen to make an autumn date with plenty of sun, surf and sand — or even to book in a winter getaway, too — Virgin Australia has just dropped a huge Queensland flight sale. Running until midnight AEST on Sunday, February 20 or sold out, whichever arrives first, this sale is solely about trips to and from the Sunshine State — with more than a 1.5 million fares on offer. It might be focused on one part of the country, but you still have options in terms of departure points and destinations. Within Queensland, you can leave or arrive in Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, Hamilton Island, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Emerald, Gladstone, Mackay, Mt Isa and Proserpine. And, around the rest of the country, flights to and from Adelaide, Alice Springs, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth and Sydney are all covered. One-way fares start at $59 — which'll get you from Sydney to the Gold Coast, Launceston to Brisbane, Newcastle to Brisbane and Brisbane to Prosperine (and vice versa). Other sale flights include Sydney–Sunshine Coast from $65, Melbourne–Gold Coast from $69, Melbourne–Townsville from $99 and Sydney–Hamilton Island from $109. If you're wondering when you'll need to travel, the travel periods depend on the leg — but some span up till spring. Only some fares cover seat selection and checked baggage, however, with the airline announcing back in August that it is now splitting its economy flights into three types. Economy Lite doesn't include checking any baggage or picking your seat, but Economy Choice does — and Economy Flex gives you extra flexibility (hence the name) if you have to change your plans later. As we are still in the middle of a pandemic, flying is little different to normal. Virgin has introduced a range of safety measures, including hand sanitisation stations, contactless check-in and face masks provided to all passengers. Wearing masks on flights also became mandatory in Australia in January. Virgin's Great Queensland Getaway sale runs from today, Monday, February 14–midnight AEST on Sunday, February 20 — or until sold out.
Reaching its 93rd year in 2021, the Academy Awards has now spent almost a century handing out shiny trophies for filmmaking excellence. But, over that time, it has routinely nominated and awarded its gongs to male filmmakers, to white creatives across all categories, and to folks and films from English-speaking nations. In 2015, the #OscarsSoWhite campaign drew attention to the awards' lack of diversity, in a year where all 20 acting nominees were white. The fact that so few women have been nominated for Best Director — five up until 2020, with only one winning — has rightfully always stood out. And last year's big wins for Parasite, the first film in a language other than English to pick up Best Picture, underscored the fact that the accolades normally barely pay attention to the movies made across much of the globe. This year's Oscar nominees have just been announced overnight, and they've made history — with diversity championed in multiple ways. For the first time ever, two women have been nominated for Best Director, with Nomadland's Chloé Zhao and Promising Young Woman's Emerald Fennell earning recognition. The four acting categories also represent the Academy's most diverse lineup of nominations to-date, including nods for Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal), Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) and Steven Yeun (Minari) for Best Actor, and for Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) and Andra Day (The United States vs Billie Holiday) for Best Actress. Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari) was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress, while Leslie Odom Jr (One Night in Miami), Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield (both for Judas and the Black Messiah) received nods for Best Supporting Actor. Film-wise, it was actually David Fincher's Mank that topped the list, picking up ten nominations — including for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Gary Oldman) and Best Supporting Actress (Amanda Seyfried). Next came The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Minari, Nomadland, Sound of Metal and The Trial of the Chicago 7, all with six nods apiece, while Promising Young Woman scored five. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSFpK34lfv0 Other standout nods: Thomas Vinterberg's Best Director nomination for his Danish day-drinking flick Another Round, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm's Maria Bakalova getting recognised in the Best Supporting Actress category, Sound of Metal's Paul Raci doing the same for Best Supporting Actor, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross picking up two Best Original Score nods for the vastly dissimilar Mank and Soul. Boseman's nomination for Best Actor — his first ever — was always going to be a highlight, of course. It wouldn't be the Oscars without a few oddities and omissions, though. Kaluuya and Stanfield's supporting nods for Judas and the Black Messiah means that the Academy considered neither to be the film's lead, for instance. And, while two female filmmakers were recognised, One Night in Miami's Regina King — a Best Supporting Actress winner in 2019 for If Beale Street Could Talk — was overlooked, as was her film for Best Picture. Da 5 Bloods' phenomenal Delroy Lindo missed out on a Best Actor nomination, too. As for who'll end up actually clasping a trophy this year, that'll be revealed on Monday, April 26, Australian and New Zealand time. Yes, that's later than usual. Yes, by mid-February last year, not only were the nominees out, but the awards themselves had been held. But, as we all know, the past 12 months have been unlike any other in recent memory. The 93rd Academy Awards will take place on Monday, April 26, Australian and New Zealand time. Here's the full list of nominations: OSCAR NOMINEES 2021 BEST MOTION PICTURE The Father Judas and the Black Messiah Mank Minari Nomadland Promising Young Woman Sound of Metal The Trial of the Chicago 7 BEST DIRECTOR Another Round, Thomas Vinterberg Mank, David Fincher Minari, Lee Isaac Chung Nomadland, Chloé Zhao Promising Young Woman, Emerald Fennell PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE Viola Davis, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Andra Day, The United States vs Billie Holiday Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman Frances McDormand, Nomadland Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Anthony Hopkins, The Father Gary Oldman, Mank Steven Yeun, Minari PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy Olivia Colman, The Father Amanda Seyfried, Mank Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7 Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah Leslie Odom Jr, One Night in Miami Paul Raci, Sound of Metal LaKeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Judas and the Black Messiah, Will Berson, Shaka King, Will Berson, Kenny Lucas and Keith Lucas Minari, Lee Isaac Chung Promising Young Woman, Emerald Fennell Sound of Metal, Darius Marder, Abraham Marder and Derek Cianfrance The Trial of the Chicago 7, Aaron Sorkin BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman and Lee Kern The Father, Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller The Mauritanian, Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani and MB Traven Nomadland, Chloé Zhao The White Tiger, Ramin Bahrani BEST ORIGINAL SCORE Da 5 Bloods, Terence Blanchard Mank, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Minari, Emile Mosseri News of the World, James Newton Howard Soul, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste BEST ORIGINAL SONG 'Fight For You', Judas and the Black Messiah (HER, Dernst Emile II and Tiara Thomas) 'Hear my Voice', The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite) 'Husavik', Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson) 'Io Si (Seen)', The Life Ahead (Diane Warren and Laura Pausini) 'Speak Now', One Night in Miami (Leslie Odom, Jr and Sam Ashworth) BEST FILM EDITING The Father, Yorgos Lamprinos Nomadland, Chloé Zhao Promising Young Woman, Frédéric Thoraval Sound of Metal, Mikkel EG Nielsen The Trial of the Chicago 7, Alan Baumgarten BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM Another Round Better Days Collective The Man Who Sold His Skin Quo Vadis, Aida? BEST ANIMATED FEATURE Onward Over the Moon A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon Soul Wolfwalkers BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Collective Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution The Mole Agent My Octopus Teacher Time BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Judas and the Black Messiah, Sean Bobbitt Mank, Erik Messerschmidt News of the World, Dariusz Wolski Nomadland, Joshua James Richards The Trial of the Chicago 7, Phedon Papamichael BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN The Father, Peter Francis and Cathy Featherstone Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Mark Ricker, Karen O'Hara and Diana Stoughton Mank, Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale News of the World, David Crank and Elizabeth Keenan Tenet, Nathan Crowley and Kathy Lucas BEST VISUAL EFFECTS Love and Monsters, Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt and Brian Cox The Midnight Sky, Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins Mulan, Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury and Steve Ingram The One and Only Ivan, Santiago Colomo Martinez, Nick Davis, Greg Fisher Tenet, Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher BEST COSTUME DESIGN Emma, Alexandra Byrne Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Ann Roth Mank, Trish Summerville Mulan, Bina Daigeler Pinocchio, Massimo Cantini Parrini BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING Emma, Marese Langan, Laura Allen and Claudia Stolze Hillbilly Elegy, Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle and Patricia Dehaney Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson Mank, Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri and Colleen LaBaff Pinocchio, Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli and Francesco Pegoretti BEST SOUND Greyhound, Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman Mank, Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin News of the World, Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett Soul, Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker Sound of Metal, Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT Colette A Concerto is a Conversation Do Not Split Hunger Ward A Love Song for Latasha BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM Burrow Genius Loci If Anything Happens I Love You Opera Yes-People BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM Feeling Through The Letter Room The Present Two Distant Strangers White Eye
Few things in life are better than a long weekend getaway with your mates accompanied by excellent views and quality brews. So, where are the best road trip stops for stocking your picnic along the route? We asked, and you answered. There's no better recommendation than a recommendation from a mate, and we consider you all to be the sharpest mates out there, dear readers. So here are choice spots to stop along your route for tasty grub — and a bev from your local The Bottle-O — as recommended by you. As a side note and a hint of things to come, we're pleased to see that sausage rolls will never go out of fashion. The Baker's Duck, Toowoomba QLD Are you keen on a trip out to the lovely Darling Downs region for a long weekend? Home to great beef farming, famous gardens, top produce and epic escarpment views, if you're out that way, you won't have to go far to pack your picnic bag or stock your esky. Head to Toowoomba, Queensland's 'Garden City', which boasts the best of the Darling Downs. While you're there, don't miss out on the quality pastries and pies at The Baker's Duck, as recommended by Concrete Playground reader Steve: "Top choices for a road trip feed are definitely the chunky beef and mushroom pies or the pork and apple sausage rolls." Once you've stocked up on bakery classics, hit Picnic Point to take in those great views over a bottle of regional plonk or some cider. Closest The Bottle-O: Toowoomba Les Nôtres, Riddells Creek VIC This long weekend, Melburnians up for a hit of fresh country air should head to the Macedon Ranges. Village vibes, a booming local arts scene and farmers' markets stocked with local goodies are all on the cards. Don't miss a visit to Les Nôtres (which is French for 'ours', but once you see the food, you'll be thinking 'mine'), recommended by our Vic-based reader Sarah: "They have the best croissants and these excellent lemon curd cruffins and hazelnut praline eclairs that I can never say no to." We're sold. You can find Les Nôtres at a bunch of markets or the pop-up in Riddells Creek. Stock up and pair them with a lager or chilled white wine from Romsey's The Bottle-O once you hit your campsite or accommodation. Hot tip: While you're in the area, if you're up for an adventure, go explore Lerderderg State Park for a good chance of spotting koalas. Closest The Bottle-O: Romsey Bred Co, Albany WA If you're in Perth, Pemberton or Margaret River and keen on a coastal drive over the long weekend, Albany is a cracking weekend getaway spot boasting spotless white sand beaches and 'gram-worthy granite cliffs. Stock up on local brews and wines at Centennial Park's The Bottle-O, then swing by Bred Co, a hyperlocal bakery with a particularly loose menu item that comes recommended by our IG follower Blake: "You should go there for the beef sausage roll with béchamel cheese, life-changing!'' Once you're set for drinks and eats, all you need to worry about is enjoying those stunning coastal vistas around Albany. Closest The Bottle-O: Centennial Park Uprising Bakery, Newcastle NSW Sydneysiders, are you heading north this long weekend? Myall Lakes National Park is popular for its views, cheap campsites, epic sand dune beaches and kayaking on the lakes — even better when enjoyed with baked goodies from Uprising Bakery in Newcastle as recommended by reader Kate: "Pork and lemon preserve sausage roll — it doesn't get better than that. Maybe the brownie slab." Maybe? How about definitely. Check Lambton's local The Bottle-O to pick up some drinks to enjoy as the sun sets across the sand dunes after you arrive. Bliss. Closest The Bottle-O: Lambton Bruny Island Cheese Co, TAS Tasmanians or the Tasmania-bound, grab your mates and hop a barge to Bruny Island to enjoy the rugged coasts, wild nature and secret coves. Bruny is wonderfully untouched, which means you're definitely not getting any local sparkling delivered via UberEats, so before you leave the Tassie mainland, make sure you stock up at The Bottle-O in Margate. When you arrive at Bruny, check out the famous Bruny Island Cheese Co., as recommended by reader Tom (and every member of Concrete Playground's team who've done a stint in Tassie): "The best cheese in all of Australia, you can't change my mind." There are plenty of accommodation options on the island, but you can embrace the elements by staying at one of the park's campgrounds at Cloudy Bay or Jetty Beach so you can toast with your mates and scoff cheese as the sun sets over the water. Closest The Bottle-O: Margate Wherever the road leads you on your weekend adventuring, find your nearest The Bottle-O and stock up on some standout bevs. Ready to start planning? Head to the website. Top image: Bred Co.
Not once, not twice, but at least 17 times, Robert Pattinson (The Batman) dies in Mickey 17. In the just-dropped full trailer for the new science-fiction film, his character is not too happy about it, either. But when you've signed up to be an 'expendable', as Mickey has in this adaptation of Edward Ashton's book Mickey 7, you've agreed to kick the bucket over and over and over for a living. On the page, the lead character is the seventh version — thank human printing — working as part of an effort to to colonise an ice world and soon finding himself trying to fend off the eighth. Mickey 17 has clearly upped that to the 17th version of its lead character. And, with Korean director Bong Joon-ho writing and directing, making his long-awaited first feature since Parasite, it's leaning heavily on comedy as well. Mickey 17 has been in the works for years, even dropping an initial teaser trailer at the end of 2022. Back then, the flick was targeting a March 2024 release date; however, that changed early this year, with the movie now hitting cinemas in January 2025. Thanks to everything that the last few years have served up, 2019, when the Palme d'Or-, Sydney Film Festival Prize- and Oscar-winning Parasite released, seems like a lifetime ago. So, waiting for anything since that innocent pre-pandemic time feels like waiting forever. But a new Bong movie has always been worth it so far, as his impressive cinematic resume attests. He's also the filmmaker behind stunning crime procedural Memories of Murder, creature feature The Host, dystopian thriller Snowpiercer and the offbeat Okja, after all. Mickey 17 looks set to mark the filmmaker's third movie mostly in English after Snowpiercer and Okja, with Pattinson leading a cast that also includes Steven Yeun (Beef), Naomi Ackie (Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody), Toni Collette (Mafia Mamma) and Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things). Science-fiction fans will spot that the premise alone gives off big Moon, Sunshine and Voyagers vibes — and brings High Life, RPatz's last exceptional sci-fi flick, to mind. That said, Bong isn't a filmmaker to follow in anyone else's footsteps. How he makes this concept his own already looks like a treat to see based on the two sneak peeks so far. Mickey 17 is a return for Pattinson, too, given that he hasn't been seen on-screen since his debut turn as Bruce Wayne — although he could be heard in the English-language version of Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron, adding a movie by another iconic director to his filmography. Check out the full trailer for Mickey 17 below: Mickey 17 releases in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, January 30, 2025.
The pandemic hasn't conjured up many fond memories, but Normal People's small-screen arrival in 2020 is definitely one of them. Dropping into our streaming queues when the world was mid-lockdown and already feeling every emotion possible, the heartwrenching TV adaptation of Sally Rooney's novel was impossible to stop watching — thanks to the story, the pitch-perfect performances and the evocative mood that made you feel like you'd stepped into the writer's pages. Based on the two trailers for Conversations with Friends so far, history looks set to repeat itself on Monday, May 16, which is when the latest television version of one of Rooney's beloved books hits. This time around, the author's debut novel is making its way to the screen, but it has another tale of love, lust and emotional chaos to tell. Of course it does. As seen in the first teaser back in January and fleshed out further in the just-dropped full trailer, Conversations with Friends focuses on Dublin college students Frances (newcomer Alison Oliver) and Bobbi (Sasha Lane, American Honey), as well as married couple Nick (Joe Alwyn, The Souvenir: Part II) and Melissa (Jemima Kirke, Sex Education). Frances and Bobbi used to date, but are now best friends; however, everything shifts when they meet their new pals — with Frances and Nick having an affair, Melissa and Bobbi drawn to each other, and Frances and Bobbi's friendship put under threat. Complicating matters: everything from the fact that Frances and Bobbi are so close that they even perform spoken word poetry together, through to their different ways of pursuing Melissa and Nick. While Melissa and Bobbi flirt openly, Frances and Nick keep things under wraps. And yes, as the trailer shows to the sounds of Phoebe Bridgers, it all gets complex fast. Unfurling across 12 parts, all of which will drop on the same day — so you really can repeat the Normal People binging experience — Conversations with Friends also shares that series' co-director Lenny Abrahamson (Room, Frank), as well as co-screenwriter Alice Birch (Lady Macbeth). When Conversations with Friends was first published five years back, it launched Rooney's career and sent award nominations her way, with Hulu and BBC Three announcing their plans to bring it to the screen after the Normal People adaptation proved such a hit. Obviously, if you can't wait for Conversations with Friends to land in your streaming queue, you can try to fill your time rebinging Normal People. Check out the full trailer for Conversations with Friends below: Conversations with Friends will be available to stream Down Under via Prime Video on Monday, May 16. Images: Alison Oliver (Frances), Sasha Lane (Bobbi), Joe Alwyn (Nick) and Jemima Kirke (Melissa) in Conversations with Friends, Element Pictures. Photographer: Enda Bowe.
It's time to clock on: come spring 2024, The Office will reopen, this time in Australia. Back in 2023, Prime Video announced that it was making the 13th international take on the hit workplace sitcom, and also the first to be set Down Under. Now, the latest version of the franchise has a release date — and a debut image of star actor and comedian Felicity Ward (Time Bandits) as Flinley Craddick Managing Director Hannah Howard. Whether you think that David Brent was awful, awkward or a bit of both, Britain doesn't have a monopoly on cringeworthy bosses. Accordingly, after the original UK version of The Office proved a huge success two decades ago, more iterations of the comedy were always going to follow around the world. The American series became even more popular, and everywhere from Canada, France and Germany to Israel, India and Poland have similarly given the idea a go — so it should come as no surprise that an Aussie version is finally making its way to screens. Move over Brent, and also Michael Scott — it's now Howard's turn to become the manager that no one wants but everyone has worked for. She oversees a packaging company. When she receives news that head office is shutting down her branch, with everyone working from home instead, she's determined to keep her team together. Obviously, that won't go smoothly, or there'd be no sitcom antics to be had in The Office's Aussie stint. Joining Ward is a hefty cast spanning Edith Poor (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), Steen Raskopoulos (The Duchess), Shari Sebbens (Preppers), Josh Thomson (Young Rock), Jonny Brugh (What We Do in the Shadows), Pallavi Sharda (The Twelve), Susan Ling Young (Barons), Raj Labade (Back of the Net), Lucy Schmit (The Pledge), Zoe Terakes (Talk to Me) and Claude Jabbour (Last King of the Cross). Also featuring: Susie Youssef (Deadloch), Justin Rosniak (Colin From Accounts), Carlo Ritchie (A Beginner's Guide to Grief), Rick Donald (Population: 11), and Chris Bunton (Wolf Like Me). Viewers will be able to binge Ward and company's antics, with the entire eight-episode first season of the The Office dropping on Friday, October 18 — so get your staplers in jelly ready. As well as marking the first woman-led version of the franchise, the Australian take on The Office also features an impressive roster of female talent off-camera. Jackie van Beek (The Breaker Upperers) co-developed the series alongside Julie De Fina (Aftertaste), with both executive producers — and van Beek the setup director. Kylie Washington (Return to Paradise) is also an executive producer, with Sophia Zachariou (Ladies in Black) and Linda Micsko (The Letdown) producers. There's no trailer yet for the Australian version of The Office, but you can check out clips from the UK and US versions below: The Australian version of The Office will stream via Prime Video from Friday, October 18, 2024. Top image: John Platt and Prime Video, © BBCS and Bunya Entertainment.
Just a week ago, Molly Rose Brewing announced it was calling in the liquidators, leaving the influential Collingwood spot as just the latest casualty of Australia's struggling craft beer scene. At the time, Founder Nic Sandery offered a glimmer of hope, saying the business would look to negotiate an agreement that would allow it to "continue serving our community with great beer and food." In an Easter miracle, these words have quickly come true, as Molly Rose Brewing has sent the liquidators packing after finding a solution to prevent its closure. While details of this solution are forthcoming, the fact that its doors have reopened is more than enough reason to celebrate. And in true Molly Rose style, this positive news is being met with a long weekend treat. From Thursday to Sunday over Easter, the brewery is pouring non-stop pints of its much-loved Little Hazy for $10. Serving as a "gesture of gratitude to the community," this party is perfect for an Easter catch-up with friends, or a well-earned pint after spending a little too long with the family between egg hunts and long lunches. As for the venue's immediate plans, some minor changes are afoot. Expect shorter hours and an approachable weekend snack menu featuring a new kids' offering. And, of course, the drinks list remains full of the Molly Rose beers you love. According to the brewery, further updates on trading hours, menu changes and upcoming events will be shared in the coming days. But for now, the mood around the place is looking rather bright. "This reopening isn't just about the beer or the food – it's about the people who make Molly Rose what it is. Our regulars, our neighbours, the folks who stop in for a quick sip and end up staying for hours, you!" said the brewery in a statement. Molly Rose Brewing's reopening comes after the business entered liquidation due to a combination of financial pressures, including rising operational costs and delayed expansion projects. With other breweries like Kaiju Beer and Black Hops Brewing having also emerged from the liquidation process in recent times with positive prospects, we're glad to see Molly Rose sticking around too. Molly Rose Brewing has reopened at 279-285 Wellington Street, Collingwood. Head to the website for more information. Images: Sarah Anderson.
When Jetstar launched a hefty domestic flight sale last June, it sold 70,000 seats in just five hours, with Australians keen to travel when and where they can in these pandemic-afflicted times. Unsurprisingly, discounted airline tickets have become a common occurrence since travel around Australia restarted — and the airline has just kicked off another sale. The latest Return for Free sale is already running, with discounted fares available until 11.59pm AEDT on Sunday, March 7 — if it doesn't sell out prior. In the sale, you'll find cheap flights across a heap routes from destinations right across the country. And, as the name suggests, it's doing return flights for free. So, you buy your ticket to your destination and then Jetstar will cover your trip home. There are a few caveats, as there always is. You have to depart and leave from the same airports and, if you need to make changes down the line to your flight dates, you will have to pay change fees and any difference in fare. The discounted flights don't include checked baggage, either — so you'll need to travel super light, or pay extra to take a suitcase. [caption id="attachment_785574" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Tourism Australia[/caption] Now that you know some of the things you'll need to take into consideration, here's where you can go. Sydneysiders can snag return tickets to Victoria for $65, Launceston for $89, Brisbane from $92, the Sunshine Coast for $96 and Hamilton Island for $151. Melburnians can book trips to Uluru for $185 and Darwin for $184, and to Hobart from $84, the Gold Coast from $107, and Ballina and Byron Bay from $116. And Brisbanites can head to the Whitsundays for $91, Cairns from $115 and Adelaide from $141. Yes, the list goes on. Tickets in the sale are for trips from April–December 2021, with exact dates varying in each region. If you're keen to get away, book some now and start planning. And, as always, keeping an eye on interstate border requirements is recommended. Jetstar's Return for Free sale runs until 11.59pm AEDT on Sunday, March 7, or until sold out.
If it's true that the things that don't kill you only serve to make you stronger, we can all expect Melbourne's Rising festival to come out fighting fit for its long-awaited premiere run this year. After COVID-19 unravelled its planned 2020 debut, then returned to cancel all but opening night of its 2021 program, the blockbuster citywide multi-arts festival will this year, finally, get its moment. As announced today, Rising is set to descend on Melbourne from Wednesday, June 1–Sunday, June 12. Determined to make this third time a charm, the festival is delivering a hefty, carefully-honed program of art, music and performance. "Overall, we're expecting one million people to experience Rising across 225 events, with over 800 artists involved," festival co-director Gideon Obarzanek tells Concrete Playground. Over 12 days and nights, those artists will transform the streets and spaces of Melbourne into their canvases and stages, serving up a diverse, supersized culture fix to kickstart winter. With borders reopened, a stack more international names have been able to join the bill, too. [caption id="attachment_846653" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Wilds, 2021[/caption] While the program has evolved and morphed since last year, some of its key experiences are built on return concepts. "The Wilds and Golden Square are the two big pillar pieces," explains co-director Hannah Fox. "But a lot of the content within those projects is new." The Wilds will return to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, this time dishing up a fluorescent-tinged fusion of art, sound and flavour courtesy of renowned New York-based Aussie artists Tin & Ed. It'll play host to performances, quirky large-scale structures, and an ice-skating rink beating to the sound of 80s and 90s bangers. Exceptional eats here include snacks from the likes of 1800 Lasagne and Smith & Daughters, and a 'glowing glasshouse bistro' manned by celebrated chefs David Moyle, Jo Barrett and Matt Stone. [caption id="attachment_846649" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Paul Yore's 2018 work 'It's All Wrong But It's Alright'. Credit Rémi Chauvin.[/caption] Golden Square will again transform a multi-storey Chinatown carpark into a vibrant, sensorial art park, featuring parades, rooftop bars and a compelling site-wide exhibition from artists like Paul Yore, Scotty So, Atong Atem and Jason Phu. Patricia Piccinini's otherworldy exhibition A Miracle Constantly Repeated will continue its popular run, gracing the Flinders Street Ballroom until the festival's end on June 12. Leading audio-visual artist Robin Fox is also creating a mesmerising laser and sound work, Monochord, that will beam one kilometre along the Yarra each night. And, thanks to Keith Courtney, one of the folks behind House of Mirrors and 1000 Doors, a 20-metre-long kaleidoscopic labyrinth will invite attendees to immerse themselves in a playground of mazes and light. [caption id="attachment_846648" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Robin Fox's work MONOCHORD[/caption] Gig-starved music-lovers can expect a smorgasbord of sonic delights throughout the fest, as international names like Moses Sumney, Welsh electro star Kelly Lee Owens and the multi-talented Andy Shauf join homegrown talent including renowned drummer Jim White, Tkay Maidza, Harvey Sutherland and the legendary Sampa the Great. Meanwhile, a diverse program of dance performances will share stories from around the world, with unmissable works from the likes of Stephanie Lake Company, Denmark's Mette Ingvartsen, Indonesian choreographer Rianto and Uruguay's Tamara Cubas. Legendary text-based artist Jenny Holzer will transform a 19th-century building facade with her six-storey projection work I CONJURE, too — and for The Invisible Opera, the constant buzz of Federation Square will be mapped in real-time, creating an immersive multi-disciplinary performance piece. [caption id="attachment_846654" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tkay Maidza[/caption] Jurrungu ngan-ga (meaning 'straight talk') explores refugee detention and the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in custody via a captivating, culture-bridging dance performance by the Marrugeku crew. Plus, the return of the famed Melbourne Art Trams will showcase six trams emblazoned with designs by First Peoples artists, alongside a reproduction of the 1991 tram work by acclaimed artist, painter and sculptor Lin Onus. And, nodding to one of the city's greatest sporting loves, there's the work that has Hannah Fox most excited, Still Lives. "It's a performance we commissioned back in 2020, which is now going to take place in the NGV, in the Great Hall," the festival director explains. "It's essentially two artists, Luke George and Daniel Kok, who are working with five retired AFL players to suspend them in rope bondage from the ceiling… in the form of an iconic mark from the AFL's history. Yeah, I'm very excited for that." Rising will run from Wednesday, June 1–Sunday, June 12 at venues and public spaces across Melbourne. Presale tickets are available from 12pm on Monday, March 21, with regular tickets selling from 12pm on Friday, March 25.
The greatest trick that Late Night with the Devil pulls could be a trick on future viewers. In a decade or so, perhaps less, someone will likely come across the film on a streaming platform and think that the year that's listed next to its name is a typo. The illusion would be stronger if video stores still existed, where the Australian-made horror marvel that's had audiences talking since its 2023 SXSW premiere could sit on a shelf beaming its 70s-era look and artwork at perusers searching for their next watch. Everything about the movie, which is presented as a found-footage documentary showing a Halloween episode of a late-night talk show in full, wants everyone to make that misinterpretation. The year is 1977 in Cameron and Colin Cairnes' latest feature, which joins the writer-director siblings' resume after 100 Bloody Acres and Scare Campaign. The date is indeed October 31. The show: Night Owls with Jack Delroy, which has been slipping in the ratings. The week is Sweeps Week, the key ratings period in the US, in fact. Host Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian, Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter) has been struggling himself, following the death of his wife (Georgina Haig, NCIS Sydney) 12 months prior. In his efforts to pick himself and his show back up, he commits to a special live spooky instalment featuring a skeptic (Ian Bliss, Safe Home), psychic (Fayssal Bazzi, Prosper), parapsychologist (Laura Gordon, Foe) and a girl (Ingrid Torelli, Force of Nature: The Dry 2) who is reportedly possessed — and being willing to do whatever it takes to succeed gets a demonic spin. The experience of watching Late Night with the Devil is like stepping into whichever type of time machine takes your fancy; the attention to period detail is that exact, as is the Cairnes' commitment to practical effects when things get eerie. The same can be said of Dastmalchian's stunning lead performance, playing a character styled after Australian TV's Don Lane alongside American television's Dick Cavett and Johnny Carson. When future viewers add Late Night with the Devil to their queue, the can't-look-away portrayal from the picture's star is bound to get them thinking that this truly is an unearthed treasure from the 20th century. Aptly, Dastmalchian is a big fan of horror TV hosts, even penning an article for Fangoria about them. So, take a childhood in the 80s spent watching late-night talk shows, a love of horror from that decade and the one prior, a keen awareness of the period's flicks about television such as Network and The King of Comedy, experience working in studios themselves, an exceptionally well-cast lead and a killer concept — plus that dedication to authenticity — and the next Aussie horror hit is the end result. "It's our twisted love letter to talk shows and the horror movies of that era," Colin tells Concrete Playground during a chat with both brothers. "I think it was really was a golden age for horror movies in the States, but also in Australia to some degree. We made some pretty cool stuff back then." A wild horror ride, a helluva character study, and an unpacking of the way that sensationalist media haunts and possesses as much as literal spirits, too, Late Night with the Devil is "pretty cool stuff" itself, deservedly earning a reputation far and wide. Iconic horror author Stephen King called it "absolutely brilliant" and said that he couldn't take his eyes off it". Mere days before we spoke with Colin and Cameron, they had run into one of their influences IRL, who also adored it. "Definitely all the great films by David Cronenberg and John Carpenter, the Wes Cravens," Colin cites as inspiration. "Joe Dante, who we were lucky enough to bump into two days ago in LA walking out of the screening of our film, which was really cool. Mind blown — it was just a wonderful chance encounter. And we've since exchanged emails. Yeah, he's a fan of the film. So that was really, really special to us. As kids growing up watching Gremlins or The Howling or Innerspace, all these great 80s horror hybrids, fun horrors that he made, it was just such an honour to bump into the man who had just seen our film, which was crazy." After it popped up on the festival circuit in 2023, viewers Down Under have been able to discover why Late Night with the Devil has been wowing King, Dante and more since it hit local cinemas on Thursday, April 11. We chatted with Colin and Cameron about their inspirations, specifically picking 1977 as the year to set the film in, the work that goes into making the movie look and feel so authentic, their take on Delroy and getting Dastmalchian to play him, and more. On Taking Inspiration From Watching Late-Night Talk Shows as Kids in the 80s in Australia Cameron: "I think TV was just a bit looser back then, and felt a little more dangerous. It was late night, and for a kid staying up late to watch those shows, it just felt a little taboo. So, what we love about that period in those shows — and we're talking not just our Australian icons, but the American ones as well — is just they all felt unscripted and dangerous, and like anything could happen or anything could go wrong at any minute. So that felt like fertile ground for us to to play in. And those experiences, they stuck with us. I think when you're young and you're watching stuff, you're very impressionable. So we're watching lots of horror movies on VHS, and we were watching lots of TV at home, lots of American stuff. It was all feeding into the script and to the story. We drew on those experiences quite a lot." On Setting the Film Not Just in the 70s, But Specifically in 1977 Cameron: "It really came down to our date, didn't it? Like 77, we wanted to set it on Halloween night, but it also needed to be Sweeps Week, if that means anything." Colin: "The ratings period." Cameron: "So in our research, we discovered that in 77 on Halloween week, it was actually Sweeps Week. So we tried to be as authentic as we could with every detail." Colin: "What's not to like about 77? We always knew it was somewhere in that range, but 77 felt like that was that was peak 70s, really." Cameron: "It was kind of the peak in-between time, too. The Exorcist, I think was released in 73, and then we were at the dawn of the Satanic panic. So I think, between 73–80, that period felt right. And also, we wanted to suggest that Night Owls, the show Jack Delroy hosts, had been on the air for a while and was struggling. So it just made sense that it maybe started around early 70s." Colin: "And going back to the movies, that's when that cycle of great films — I mean, there'd been Texas Chain Saw, probably that was 73, 74 maybe, that's when all those directors that we admire and are paying some homage to, I think, started to do their work. Halloween, I think was released 78, just a bit later. Network, I think, was released beginning of 77. So all that wonderful stuff was happening at that time, so that felt right — and yes, fortunately, Halloween fell on a Monday night at the beginning of Sweeps Week." On the Movie's Commitment to Period Detail and the Work That Went Into It Cameron: "Being as authentic as we could was just key to the whole movie. If no one's buying it, then they're checking out and it's not going to be worth your time. So we took all that stuff really, really seriously — just immersed ourselves in that world. I think having grown up a little bit in the period, and certainly through the 80s, we felt a little bit more connected to it, to that period." Colin: "We knew if something was a bit phony. I think a lot of the audience has been actually a younger crowd, but we are finding people in their early 20s talking to us after screenings, saying ' you know, I'm going bring my mum and dad to this. I reckon they'll really like it'. So people are sensing the authenticity of it, and like Cam's saying, I don't think the scares are going to work, the humour won't work — and, importantly, the drama isn't going to work — if it doesn't feel of a very specific time and place." Cameron: "Going into the production of it, it was just 'let's just commit to the idea that we're making this show in 1977'. So all the costumes, the lighting, the way we shot it, everything was pretty much of the period apart from the cameras we shot on — we obviously had to do some treatment on that in post. But we just tried to shoot it exactly like a late-70s Tonight Show. That meant three cameras were rolling the same at the same time, and the lighting looks a bit hot and harsh. But you just have to embrace all that stuff." On Drawing Upon Their Own Experiences Working in TV Studios Colin: "I directed, in a past life going back 20-plus, 25 years, I actually worked in television in Singapore. I got a job fresh out of uni directing sitcoms, English-language sitcoms, which were really big, huge successes in that part of the world. It was a lot of fun. That was a three-camera set up where we rehearsed through the week, and then we bring in an audience, so we would shoot it as if it were live. We would get a second go if something didn't work out, but we also didn't want to keep the audience there too late, because they'd stop laughing after the second or third take. And Cam's done some work in TV, too. So we had a sense of how adrenaline-fuelled that environment is, and how it's very stressful and has lots of anxiety, but it's also seat-of-your-pants stuff — it's exciting, it's fun. So we thought taking that as the foundation for an already very tense environment, and then bring in the supernatural element, we thought that that could go places. Ten years later, ten years of writing, we got there — so it helped a lot." On How the Film Evolved Over the Ten-Year Writing Period Cameron: "It went through lots of different iterations. In fact, I think the first draft it was centred around a seance. It was going to be a seance live on TV. But we kind of blew our wad early on that, because the seance was happening sort of at the 25-minute mark and we found we had nowhere to go after that. So it was constantly sort of rethinking the conceit and also finding the characters…" Colin: "That were going to warrant 90 minutes of your time." Cameron: "Exactly." Colin: "A character that could host legitimately host the talk show, but has his own baggage, his own issues. Plot's important, story is important, but for us, the characters are key. You want people walking away saying 'I hated that guy. I love that guy. I wanted to know more about that person'. And that's the stuff that really needs to succeed for any movie to work, regardless of genre." On What Inspired Jack Delroy — and the Cairnes' Take on Him Cameron: "Jack's a little bit desperate at this point in his career. He's been at it for a little while, but he's…" Colin: "Ruthlessly ambitious." Cameron: "But, his background is, he's this Midwesterner, worked in radio. He's kind of a sweet guy with good intentions." Colin: "He may have made one or two poor choices over the course of his career. A victim of some of those choices, I think. But he's a man who's experiencing some grief as well. I mean, his wife has passed away a year prior to the taping of this show. And, we explained early on — I don't think it's a spoiler to say that — his most-successful episode to date was the episode where his dying wife came on as his special guest. So there are some ethical concerns, I think, about his character. But the audience loves him. He's got his hardcore fans, and he's a showman through and through, who believes the show must go on. But that, of course, becomes harder and harder as some very strange events occur over the course of evening." Cameron: "When we first set out, we were referring a lot to Dick Cavett, Johnny Carson, I guess in our heads. He was almost an amalgam of those two. But then, we started drawing a lot on our own experiences, watching our homegrown talent. When I say homegrown…" Colin: "Bronx-born Australian Don Lane." Cameron: "Who people of a certain age will remember. We obviously grew up in the early 80s and watched a lot of Don Lane. Don and Bert, and Mike Walsh, and saw a little bit of Graham Kennedy as well. So they were definitely there in our heads as we are writing the character, but I think we were thinking more the urbane kind of American TV host." Colin: "We watched a lot of Dick Cavett. A lot of Dick Cavett. There's a bit of a blend." Cameron: "But when the American producers got on board and David got on board, we pointed them in the direction of Don Lane. We just thought as a curious thing they might be interested to see our own talent. And the producers, Steven Schneider [Insidious: The Red Door, Knock at the Cabin] in particular, and then David, our main actor, really took to Don. And he was like 'he's great'." Colin: "Yeah, 'what a character'. Because there's layers. He's not the slick showman that Carson is. Cavett's a bit more the slightly, there's a hint sarcasm, cynicism, but quite the intellectual — very happy to be talking to some novelist as he is to some pop singer. But Don was a bit less polished and a lot more, well, basically into the supernatural. He would have these lengthy specials where he'd have the Warrens [the inspiration for The Conjuring films] or whichever psychic happened to be visiting Australia. He would dedicate entire episodes, sometimes several episodes to these characters, which made him really different from the American version of that host." On Casting David Dastmalchian Colin: "We knew what a fan of the genre he was. He writes for Fangoria. His love of regional TV horror hosts." Cameron: "He writes comic books, he has written graphic novels" Colin: "He has Count Crowley. So we knew how embedded he was in the horror scene back in the States. And add to which he's just a really, really great character actor. And he has this look about him that also screams 70s, I think. So when we floated his name with all the producers, it was probably the first time everyone said yes at the same time. We were out to him a couple of weeks later through one of our American producers, the great Roy Lee [Don't Worry Darling, Barbarian], and weeks later we're talking to him and then a bit later he's signed on. We've got him. It just felt like was meant to be, and now you watch it and you cannot imagine anyone else being that character." Cameron: "It just wouldn't have worked if we'd had a big A-list star in there, you know, if Ryan Gosling — he's a great actor, but…" Colin: "You'd spend 90 minutes trying to look past the star. He's going to go on to bigger, possibly better — he's already working on a big show for Apple. Plus, the world is his oyster, and it has been for ages. We're just fortunate that we're a small part of his journey to international stardom." On Making the Connection Between the Film's Literal Possession and the Ravenous Urges that Sensationalist TV Sparks Colin: "Obviously, it was an important consideration in the scripting and the shooting, because we have the studio audience there and they're complicit in that. They're not — no one's leaving their seats. What would we do if we were there and shit started to go down like that? The logical thing would be to run to the door, but the fact is they know that the weirder and stranger and darker things get, the better the ratings are." Cameron: "I mean, we all love a bit of car crash TV, where we just can't turn away. And I think, yeah, definitely playing into that idea." Colin: "We're a little complicit, almost, and responsible to some degree for shows going where they go. And that hasn't changed — that was there before 77, and it's gotten even worse in many ways since. So if there's some little commentary or critique going — no, maybe not a critique — it definitely has fed into it. It was a serious consideration, because at what point would the audience just say 'this is stupid, I'm going home' or switch off? Or would the network just shut down the broadcast? So the fact that no one does had a lot to do with how we pace the thing, and how we reveal information, and where the scares come and all that sort of stuff. That's a more technical consideration, but it plays into what you're saying." Late Night with the Devil opened in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, April 11, 2024. Read our review.
It's been a long time coming, but the construction at 731 High Street, Thornbury has finally finished. After servicing the domestic animals of the inner north as a pet store, the spacious shopfront if now serving coffee, rather than collars, as well as cafe fare you certainly wouldn't feed your dog. Short Round is the latest addition to the area and, judging by the amount of locals and non-locals there in its second week, this is definitely Thornbury's newest thing. A burgeoning suburb in itself, Thornbury is perhaps a perfect milieu for Short Round. Unlike its neighbouring suburbs, Thornbury is yet to be inundated with cool coffee haunts — although, if this very well-received opening is anything to go by, it is sure to be next. With a stream of coffee savants, long-time local residents, and those just wanting to give the space a once-over, it's a good thing they knocked down the existing pet store-era walls to create a much larger, open area. Situated on a corner, the cafe makes use of the natural light, and the high ceilings do much to increase the sense of space. Inside, the fresh charcoal and timber fit-out boasts individual, window and communal seating, while around the corner on Ballantyne Street you can sit outside in the remnants of a suburban pergola. The food offering, like so many other venues at the moment, is seasonal, with the spring menu featuring in-season cherry tomatoes, green peas and spring lamb. Served all day, breakfast ranges from sweet (butterscotch house made waffles with vanilla mascarpone and toasted pecans; $13.50) and savoury (breakfast pizza with egg, pancetta, passata, bocconcini, cherry tomatoes, wild rocket and olive oil; $13.50), but lunch might be an even harder decision. Choose from the slow spring lamb with spring onion herb salsa, feta smashed potato, cherry tomato and green peas ($19) or the Labourer's Lunch — local Velimirovic kransky & deluxe ham, piccalilli, braised cabbage and vintage cheddar with mixed bread ($18.50). The Proud Mary coffee ($3.80) is, of course, good all year round, as is the selection of sparkling, red and white wine. Also stocked are the Thornbury-based 3 Ravens Golden Altbier ($8), Mountain Goat Hightail Ale ($7) and Cheeky Rascal cider ($11). Short Round has the air of a cafe that is a fixture, not a fresher. While it's been open a mere two weeks, it doesn't appear to have the fresh legs that suburban cafes tend to land on. The newest addition to a thriving Thornbury, it is surely set to flourish along with it.
When the first and second seasons of Sex and the City spinoff And Just Like That... started streaming, a famous setting made an appearance Down Under. If you'd always wanted to hang out on Carrie Bradshaw's (Sarah Jessica Parker, Hocus Pocus 2), stoop, that became a temporary reality in Sydney and Melbourne. For season three, which is currently working through its episodes on HBO Max, a different spot from the show is on its way to Australia. We hope you're hungry, be it for something sweet or savoury, because Hot Fellas Bakery is about to hit Sydney. Yes, this purveyor of baked goods is usually fictional. The brainchild of character Anthony Marentino (Mario Cantone, Better Things), it lives up to its name in the series. It'll also exist IRL at Darlinghurst's Taylor Square in the Harbour City, but only for one weekend: from Friday, June 27–Sunday, June 29, 2025. Hot Fellas Bakery first made the leap from the screen in New York — where else? — and will do the same in Australia just two weeks after its Big Apple debut. The pastries on offer won't cost you a thing. Neither will the coffee. There'll be limited-edition merchandise up for grabs as well. Equally doing its moniker proud is set to be part of the pop-up, too. On the menu: Vegemite babka, Golden Gaytime cream puffs and AP buttermilk croissants. While Hot Fellas Bakery has locked in a three-day Sydney run, you do only have a brief window of time each day to head by, however. It's operating from 10am–12pm on Friday, June 27, then from 8am–12pm on Saturday–June 28–Sunday, June 29, 2025 — and will close earlier each day if everything is already sold out. [caption id="attachment_1009739" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Craig Blankenhorn/Max[/caption] And if you haven't kept up with the Sex and the City world, And Just Like That... debuted in 2021 to continue Carrie, Miranda Hobbes' (Cynthia Nixon, The Gilded Age) and Charlotte York Goldenblatt's (Kristin Davis, Deadly Illusions) stories — with Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall, How I Met Your Father) largely sitting it out, except for a brief cameo in season two. Other familiar faces abound, including John Corbett (To All the Boys: Always and Forever) reprising his role as Aidan Shaw from season two onwards, plus David Eigenberg (Chicago Fire) and Evan Handler (Power) also returning. Check out the trailer for Just Like That... season three below: Hot Fellas Bakery is popping up at Taylor Square, 191–195 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney from 10am–12pm on Friday, June 27, plus 8am–12pm on Saturday–June 28–Sunday, June 29, 2025 (or until sold out). And Just Like That... streams in Australia via HBO Max. Head to the platform's website for more details.
Each year we vow to be better gift-givers, but when the office secret santa rolls around, and Christmas parties start to ramp up, we're left with limited time to find a truly good present, one that says we genuinely care. Well, not this year; this time we're prepared. In partnership with Square, we've searched through Australia's independent shops to bring you a gift guide to match all the colleagues you might be assigned this present-giving season. If you are a small business owner, Square has the tools you need to take payments and maximise your sales, including an ebook with tips to help you get started this holiday season. FOR THE WORK PARENT Plant and self-watering planter from The Plant Society, $30 Melbourne plant hunters Jason Chongue and Nathan Smith set up The Plant Society in 2016 and now the small business ships its green shoots, ceramics, homewares and planter kits to people across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. When you're looking for a gift that says thank you to the office parent — the one that mops up the spills, has painkillers when you need them and a shoulder to cry on — we suggest giving a little love back. Buy them an indoor plant already potted in a self-watering planter. You can choose the pot colour and plants, which range from tropical philodendron super atoms to the popular monstera deliciosa. FOR THE BIG CHEESE Gift card from Mould Cheese Collective, $25–85 No matter how much you love your boss, when you've drawn the big cheese of your workplace for this year's gift exchange there's a lot of pressure to get it right. Choose a dud: everyone feels awkward. Pick something special: early marks all round. We say, send them a box of cheesy delights from The Mould Cheese Collective, a Victoria-based club for cheese lovers. You can shop for gooey goodness on its website, but for the safest bet, there's a trusty gift voucher of either $25, $50 or $85. The bonus: it's an instant gift, so no need to wait for shipping. The downside: not suitable for lactose intolerant leaders. FOR THE WANNABE DJ Dolly Parton's Blue Smoke from Cottonmouth Records, $55 Sydney's Cottonmouth Records has a loyal local following for its record store and bar in Enmore, but you don't need to live nearby to take advantage of owner Zachery Williams' eclectic vinyl collection. Its online store has black gold in all shades of nostalgia, from Beastie Boys and Mariah Carey to Pearl Jam and The Prodigy. It's not all about the throwbacks — there are plenty of recent releases available on vinyl here — but, when shopping for the coworker who controls the playlist, we think there's a lot of joy in Dolly Parton's back catalogue. We've picked Blue Smoke, but you can also order Jolene for $39, which is an absolute steal. Shipping is $15, or free for orders over $100. FOR THE ETHICAL ONE Face mask from Second Stitch, $18 Melbourne-based not-for-profit Second Stitch is a social enterprise that employs refugees, migrants and people seeking asylum. It beat lockdown in Victoria by making cute reusable cloth masks in uplifting patterns and colours. When your kris kringle recipient is that work mate who likes to support charities and ethical businesses, this practical gift will go a long way. Not only are the two-layer cotton masks an environmental solution to an ongoing pandemic, but also your purchase directly provides meaningful employment for some of the most disadvantaged members in the community. Now that's what the spirit of Christmas is all about. FOR THE SALAD-FOR-LUNCH ONE Citrus Trio from Mount Zero Olives, $25 If the only thing you know about Nic from HR is that they like to bring their own meals to work every day, be the teammate who celebrates their forward planning and discipline by getting them something that'll bring them a little joy every lunchtime. This trio of extra virgin olive oils from Mount Zero Olives is better than your supermarket drizzles, as they're pressed with citrus fruits rather than infused with synthetic flavours. The family-owned Victorian company says the lime, mandarin and lemon oils pair well with seafood, egg brekkies and roast veggies, so they're versatile too. Shipping is $12, or free for orders over $100. FOR THE CAFFEINE GEEK How to Buy It, Brew It from Market Lane, $25 If you've got a work buddy who places coffee high on their daily to-do lists, look to Melbourne roaster Market Lane for a gift to match their beverage of choice. Market Lane ships beans, coffee making equipment and literature across Australia. And, for a present that'll last longer than a bag of freshly ground coffee, you should pick the in-depth guide to a good brew How to Buy It, Brew It, written by Market Lane's co-founder Jason Scheltus. You can ask for it to be wrapped in paper designed by artist Julia Stewart for no extra cost and shipping is just $8. FOR THE IT'S-5PM-SOMEWHERE ONE Four-pack of Peach Sauce from Sauce Brewing Co, $20 We've all got a coworker who's a bit of a craft beer nerd. The one who plans their weekends around brewery crawls, goes out of their way to order the most obscure ales on tap, and loves to share their knowledge of local drops. Lean into the passions of this person and get them a four-pack of tart, tangy, crowd-pleasing Peach Sauce. The berliner weisse is one of many creative brews from Sydney microbrewery Sauce. There's also hazy pale ale Caribbean Fog, New England-style IPA Bubble & Squeak and a tropical Frisson Raspberry, ready for the summer of seltzers. FOR THE SNACK QUEEN Bubble O Bill cookies from Dough Re Mi, $18 Wagga-based bakery Dough Re Mi specialises in custom-made cookies designed to brighten someone's day. And we couldn't think of anyone more deserving of a treat than the snack kings and queens of your office. They're always ready with a bag of chippies or choccies when deadlines are tight and everyone needs a mood booster. You could go all out and order ones with a motivational message, but for us the winning choice is Bubble O Bill's face on a butter biscuit, complete with a bubble gum nose. You can order a single cookie for $5.50, or a gift box for $18. And Dough Re Mi ships Australia-wide. FOR THE NEW PERSON Notebook from Studio A, $15 Thrown right in the deep end, just before the festive season, the workplace newbie has to be one of the toughest people to buy for when it comes to secret santa time. However, it couldn't be worse than actually being the newest person to join the team. Think of all the catching up they've got to do — and that's just on the office goss. Pick them something they'll be proud to use every day, like a notebook designed by one of Studio A's talented artists. The Sydney-based studio supports artists with disability, providing a workspace and materials for artists to realise their aspirations. We like these ones by Lisa Scott, left, and Thom Roberts, right. Shipping is an additional $10, so order one for yourself while you're at it. FOR THE FASHION ICON Sturt's Desert Pea Socks from Julie White, $30 Adelaide-based designer Julie White creates bold and colourful designs inspired by Australian flora and fauna. She draws all the designs by hand, including ones of lorikeets, midnight orchids and Sturt's desert peas. Her head and neck scarves are 100-percent silk, and the silky-feel knee-high socks are nylon. If your secret santa budget is $30, order a set of statement socks for the most fashionable person in your workplace. They'll feel seen. And, as a treat for you, shipping is free within Australia for orders over $30. Find out how Square is supporting small businesses with the tools they need to grow, here. If you are a small business owner, Square has guidance on how best to maximise sales in the run up to the Christmas holiday period in its ebook, found here.
Another year coming to a close, another batch of relaxing COVID-19 restrictions. That's the case in 2021, just as it was in 2020, as different parts of the country ease out of their latest lockdowns again. So, as also occurred last year, border rules around the nation are changing once more — with New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and now Tasmania announcing plans for visitors from elsewhere. Today, Friday, October 22, Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein revealed that the Apple Isle will reopen to all non-Tassie residents who've had two COVID-19 jabs — travellers from interstate and international destinations — on Wednesday, December 15. That's when the state is expected to have reached the 90-percent double-vaccinated threshold, if you're wondering what motivated that choice. And, yes, that's when the double-vaxxed from Australia and around the world alike will be able to enter without quarantining. "At the 90-percent fully vaccinated target for 12 years and over, anyone will be able to enter Tasmania from anywhere within Australia, subject to being fully vaccinated," the Gutwein advised. "That's if they've had a negative test result within 72 hours of travelling. The testing requirement will remain in place for up to four weeks subject to review." "Now, at the 90-percent vaccination mark as well, no quarantine for fully vaccinated overseas arrivals. It will be the same rules for everyone. If you're coming from overseas and you're coming to Tasmania, you'll have the same rules if you're coming out of Sydney or Melbourne or South Australia or Queensland," the Premier continued. That testing requirement is exactly what Victoria has just announced, too, for international arrivals — however, in Tasmania, it'll apply to both Aussie and overseas visitors. The Premier also noted that the only exemption to this will be for Tasmanians that return from a short trip to the mainland. "So, if you want to go shopping in Melbourne... if you're away for a couple of days, you'll be able to return, so long as you're fully vaccinated, without needing to meet the 72-hour test rule. So, if you travel and the travel is less than seven days, you'll be able to return," Gutwein said. The news comes just two days after Tassie hit the 70-percent double-vaxxed milestone among residents aged 16 years and over. For potential visitors who aren't double-jabbed or refuse to take a test before heading to Tasmania, there'll still be quarantine and testing requirements from Wednesday, December 15. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Tasmania, and the state's corresponding restrictions, visit its online COVID-19 hub.
"I kneel before no one," says Teth-Adam, aka Black Adam, aka the DC Comics character that dates back to 1945, and that Dwayne Johnson (Red Notice) has long wanted to play. That proclamation is made early in the film that bears the burly, flying, impervious-to-everything figure's name, echoing as a statement of might as well as mood: he doesn't need to bow down to anyone or anything, and if he did he wouldn't anyway. Yet the DC Extended Universe flick that Black Adam is in — the 11th in a saga that's rarely great — kneels frequently to almost everything. It bends the knee to the dispiritingly by-the-numbers template that keeps lurking behind this comic book-inspired series' most forgettable entries, and the whole franchise's efforts to emulate the rival (and more successful) Marvel Cinematic Universe, for starters. It also shows deference to the lack of spark and personality that makes the lesser DC-based features so routine at best, too. Even worse, Black Adam kneels to the idea that slipping Johnson into a sprawling superhero franchise means robbing the wrestler-turned-actor himself of any on-screen personality. Glowering and gloomy is a personality, for sure, but it's not what's made The Rock such a box office drawcard — and, rather than branching out, breaking the mould or suiting the character, he just appears to be pouting and coasting. He looks the physical part, of course, as he needs to playing a slave-turned-champion who now can't be killed or hurt. It's hard not to wish that the Fast and Furious franchise's humour seeped into his performance, however, or even the goofy corniness of Jungle Cruise, Johnson's last collaboration with filmmaker Jaume Collet-Serra. The latter has template-esque action flicks Unknown, Non-Stop, Run All Night and The Commuter on his resume before that, and helms his current star here like he'd rather still directing Liam Neeson. That said, Black Adam, the character, has much to scowl about — and scowl he does. Black Adam, the film, has much backstory to lay out, with exposition slathered on thick during the opening ten minutes. As a mere human in 2600 BCE in the fictional Middle Eastern country of Kahndaq, its namesake was among an entire populace caught under a cruel ruler hungry for power, and for a powerful supernatural crown fashioned out a mineral called 'eternium' that said subjects were forced to mine. Now, 5000 years later, Black Adam is a just-awakened mortal-turned-god who isn't too thrilled about the modern world, or being in it. Bridging the gap: the fact that back in the day, one boy was anointed with magic by ancient wizards to defend Kahndaq's people (the word "shazam!" gets uttered, because Black Adam dwells in the same part of the DCEU as 2019's Shazam! and its upcoming sequel), but misusing those skills ended in entombment until modern-day resistance fighters interfere. The above really is just the preamble. Black Adam is freed by widowed professor Adrianna (Sarah Shahi, Sex/Life), who is trying to fight the Intergang, the mercenaries who've been Kahndaq's new oppressors for decades — and, yes, Black Adam gets caught up in that battle. But being out and about, instead of interred in a cave, gets the attention of the Justice Society. The DCEU already has the Justice League and the Suicide Squad, but it apparently still needs another super-powered crew. Indeed, Suicide Squad and The Suicide Squad's Amanda Waller (Viola Davis, The First Lady) even shows up to help put this new gang together. That's how Hawkman (Aldis Hodge, One Night in Miami), Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan, The Misfits), Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell, Voyagers) and Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo, the To All the Boys movies) don their caped-crusader getup and try to stop Black Adam, or convince him to stop himself. Another blatant act of kneeling on this film's part: its new team. The Justice Society isn't new on the page, and some of its number pre-date their patent Marvel counterparts — but reaching the screen now, after the MCU and the X-Men movies, makes this bunch seem like a rehash. Wings like the Falcon, seeing the future like Dr Strange, controlling the weather like Cyclone, changing size like Ant-Man: that's all covered here, and it's impossible not to make comparisons. That Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone and Atom Smasher are also given little personality doesn't help. The cast behind them visibly commit, and there's a better flick to be made with far more Brosnan waving around a golden helmet in it (a welcomely sillier one, too), but character development clearly wasn't high among screenwriters Adam Sztykiel (Scoob!), Rory Haines (The Mauritanian) and Sohrab Noshirvani's (also The Mauritanian) priorities. As often proves the case in this genre, because superhero movies have been their own genre for years, the main aim of Black Adam is laying the groundwork for more to come. The titular figure gets an origin story, then an entryway into the broader DCEU, then sets up future franchise appearances, then teases the next step via the obligatory post-credits sting — stop us when this doesn't sound familiar. It's little wonder, then, that everyone around Black Adam feels like filler, including Adrianna's son Amon (Bodhi Sabongui, The Baby-Sitters Club), as well as the villain of the piece. And it's hardly surprising that any attempts at thematic relevance or resonance are thinner than Black Adam's smile. This tries to be a picture about the great responsibility that comes with great power (yep, again), choosing to do the right thing, and the thorniness of being an anti-hero, and also about the merits (or not) of throwing American force around (or not) in other countries; 'tries' is the key word. Collet-Serra does give Sabongui the best action sequences, though, all involving sneaking out of, skateboarding around and skirting attacks in his apartment/building. There's a tactile sense to these moments — as lively and as lived-in as the film gets, too — that's thoroughly absent in the bland, generic look and feel elsewhere. That Black Adam kneels before and could simply be mashing up parts of 300, Clash of the Titans and Tomb Raider for much of its running time, especially visually, just makes a dull movie duller (the DCEU really can't move on from Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League director Zack Snyder, so it seems). When the feature busts out The Rolling Stones' 'Paint It Black', because of course it does, it's both as obvious a choice as there is and a rare dose of energy. And when it shows iconic spaghetti western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on a TV screen, wishing you were watching that instead comes swiftly — or watching Aquaman's gleeful ridiculousness, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)'s rampant flair, or the non-DCEU weightiness of Joker or The Batman, actually.
Packing is no one's favourite part of going on holidays. If you're the kind of traveller who needs to cater for every occasion, stuffing your baggage is a massive task. If you like going light, whittling your outfits down but still ensuring that you've got the basics isn't as easy as it sounds. But, why not ditch all of that, and your suitcase? That's Japan Airlines' new solution thanks to its just-launched clothing rental service. Instead of tourists agonising over what to take to Japan with you — or stressing over what not to take — the carrier is offering a clothing sharing service with Sumitomo Corporation called Any Wear, Anywhere. You reserve a range of clothes, including choosing according to the season, and whether you're after a casual or smarter look. Then, that attire gets delivered to your hotel. When you're heading home, the rental clothes will be collected from wherever you're staying, too. And no, you don't have to do any laundry before handing them back over. The aim: not only to make travelling easier for tourists, but to do the environment a solid as well. If you're hiring clothes, less luggage needs to transported internationally. Japan Airlines will be monitoring the change in checked-in baggage weight thanks to the service, to see how it reduces the carrier's carbon emissions. Also, heroing the circular economy, the outfits on offer will be sourced from pre-owned clothing and excess stock from fashion stores. And, the airline is promoting the service as a way for tourists to support local options — not just for accommodation and food, but also for clothing. At this stage, Japan Airlines is trialling Any Wear, Anywhere from Wednesday, July 5, 2023 to Saturday, August 31, 2024 — and the service is only available for customers travelling to Japan via Japan Airlines. Price-wise, costs start at AU$42 / NZ$45 (¥4000) for a set of summer threads, which covers three tops and two bottoms. The most you'll pay is AU$73 / NZ $79 (¥4000), which gets you a winter range of six tops and three bottoms. You can keep the threads for up to two weeks, and bookings are available from a month before you travel. Wouldn't dream of travelling without a suitcase? Coming home, you can now fill it with souvenirs instead of dirty clothes. Japan Airlines and and Sumitomo Corporation's Any Wear, Anywhere clothing sharing service is being trialled until Saturday, August 31, 2024 — head to the Any Wear, Anywhere website for further details and bookings. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
A few years ago the gin and tonic seemed like a basic drink order saved only for times of limited choice or hot days when there was no cold beer within reach. But the rise of Australia's own boutique gin production has changed that quite rapidly, with small-scale distillers — like Sydney's Archie Rose and Melbourne's Four Pillars, to name a few — creating some distinctive and downright delicious gins in our own backyard (Pinot Noir gin, anyone?). The latest weird and wonderful gin creation comes from South Australia's Applewood Distillery. They've just released a limited run of one-off Green Ant Gin, which is infused with — you guessed it — green ants. How does it work? Like all gin, it's made up of a selection of botanicals. But along with the usual juniper berries and orange peel, the essence of ants has also been thrown in. That's because ants release a pheromone during the distillation process, which produces a flavour that complements the other botanicals. According to Applewood, the green tree ants give the gin a "lime-licked burst of intense green flavour". While this is the first gin made with green ants we've heard of, Applewood's not the first people to use the tiny insects in gin — Copenhagen's Nordic Food Lab produces an Anty Gin that costs a bomb per bottle, and last year Victoria's Bass and Flinders Distillery released their Angry Ant Gin made with ants sourced from Western Australia. As a general rule we don't allow green ants anywhere near our mouths, but we'll probably make an exception for this one. Bottles are currently going for $120 on Applewood's online store. There's only 300 of them though, so you may have to snatch one up stat.
First hitting Australian cinemas back in 2015, Girlhood was one of the year's landmark films, taking viewers into the coming-of-age exploits of a group of friends living on the outskirts of Paris. Written and directed by Céline Sciamma, the French drama follows 16-year-old Marieme (Karidja Touré) as she struggles at home, dreams of something more, joins a girl gang and navigates the reality of life on the margins. From Sciamma's vivid and empathetic style, to the standout performances from the largely untrained cast, to the stellar use of Rihanna's 'Diamonds', the award-winning movie isn't easily forgotten. The folks at the Melbourne International Film Festival clearly haven't stopped thinking about it, either. In fact, the fest has added it to this year's MIFF lineup, and it's doing something special to mark the occasion. As part of the Hear My Eyes series that's been on the event's agenda since 2017, Girlhood will screen at the at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday, August 3 — with Sampa The Great performing a live score as the movie plays. Cinephiles won't just be treated to a rare chance to revisit the film on the big screen, but will hear Sampa's take on Jean-Baptiste de Laubier's original soundtrack. How to you improve one of the decade's great flicks about female friendship and empowerment? By adding a new, unique blend of neo-soul, hip-hop and spoken word poetry that you'll never get to experience again. If you caught Sampa's live performances in support of Kendrick Lamar, Lauryn Hill, Thundercat and Joey Bada$$, you'll be doubly excited.
The dulcet, knowledgeable voice embodying the soundtrack to a generation of nature docos is returning to our fair shores, with Sir David Attenborough set to roll through town in February. He'll be taking the stage for Sir David Attenborough – A Quest For Life, a series of live talks hosted by our own Ray Martin. The esteemed writer, filmmaker, producer, and host will give audiences a unique glimpse into his jam-packed, six-decade career. Sir David will give some insight into the changes he's witnessed along the way, as well as delving into some of the world's current environmental challenges — all delivered in that charming, distinguished voice we know and love so well. The tour kicks off in Auckland on February 2, followed by shows in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH – A QUEST FOR LIFE DATES AUCKLAND 8pm Thursday, February 2 — The Civic BRISBANE 7.30pm Saturday, February 4, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre SYDNEY 7.30pm Wednesday, February 8 and Thursday, February 9, State Theatre MELBOURNE 7.30pm Saturday, February 11, and (new date) Monday, February 13, Plenary, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre ADELAIDE 7.30pm Tuesday February 14, Festival Theatre PERTH 7.30pm Thursday, February 16, Riverside Theatre, Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre
Missed The Preatures on their huge sold-out 'Cruel' tour this spring? How'd you like to catch them live this summer, for free? The Sydney fivesome are gearing up for another national escapade, this time joining forces with Corona Extra for a huge free November tour. Locked in for 20 locations across the country, Corona Sunsets will see the Sydneysiders play unplugged shows everywhere from Bondi Beach's Bucket List to the Portsea Hotel. Kicking off in Yallingup, Western Australia on November 6, the tour will wind through some of The Preatures' favourite bars in WA, NSW and Queensland before finishing up in Victoria on the last weekend in November. Isabella Manfredi, Gideon Bensen, Jack Moffitt, Thomas Champion and Luke Davison will be careening through their 2014 debut album Blue Planet Eyes, from crowd favourite singles like 'Cruel', 'Somebody's Talking' and 'Is This How You Feel?' to lesser known album gems like 'Ordinary' and 'Whatever You Want'. Fingers crossed for a raucous pub singalong to The Preatures' go-to cover, The Angels' 'Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again'. All shows are free entry, over-18s only and it's first-in, best-dressed. If Corona Extra's previous free Australian tours, like Cloud Control, are anything to go by, you're going to want to get there pretty damn early. For details head to Corona's website. THE PREATURES' CORONA SUNSETS AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES: WESTERN AUSTRALIA November 6 Caves House Hotel, Yallingup, 7.30pm November 7 The Leftbank, East Fremantle, 2.30pm The Northshore Tavern, Hillarys, 7.30pm November 8 The Lucky Shag Waterfront Bar, Barrack Square, 2.30pm Ocean Beach Hotel, Cottesloe, 7.30pm NEW SOUTH WALES November 13 Towradgi Beach Hotel, Towradgi, 8.30pm November 14 Watson’s Bay Hotel, Watsons Bay, 3.30pm Manly Wharf, Manly, 7.30pm November 15 The Bucket List, Bondi, 2.30pm Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale, 7.30pm November 22 Hotel Brunswick, Brunswick Heads, 8pm QUEENSLAND November 20 Beach House Hotel, Scarness, 8pm November 21 Sandstone Point Hotel, Sandstone Point, 3pm Noosa Heads S.L.S.C, Noosa Heads, 9pm November 22 Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta, 3pm VICTORIA November 27 Lambys, Geelong, 9pm November 28 The Deck est 2013, Frankston, 3pm Westernport Hotel, San Remo, 9.30pm November 29 The College Lawn, Prahran, 2.30pm Portsea Hotel, Portsea, 7pm
Get the bacon and whisky ready, and start making your own canoe — Nick Offerman is coming to Australia in mid-2019. After last venturing to our shores in 2016, the Parks and Recreation star is headed back for with his all new All Rise show. Yes, Ron effing Swanson will be in the country again from June 2–21. All Rise sees Offerman do what he does best, other than star in beloved sitcoms and whip up items in his woodshop. Here, here'll be comedically contemplating life in a show that's described as "an evening of deliberative talking and light dance". If you've just started thinking about drunk Ron Swanson letting loose, that's understandable; however expect plenty of witty, reflective chatter as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrLZgP-OR6s It's been a big few years for the actor and comedian, with Offerman popping up in everything from Fargo, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Curb Your Enthusiasm to The Founder, Hearts Beat Loud and the forthcoming The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part since Parks and Rec ended. If you're a dedicated fan of not only Offerman, but his wife Megan Mullally, you might've noticed that his tour of Australia coincides with hers. With her band Nancy and Beth, Mullally is hitting up a spate of venues across the country between June 6–19, typically within days of Offerman's stops in each city. ALL RISE DATES June 2 — Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide June 5 — Crown Theatre, Perth June 8 — Palais Theatre, Melbourne June 12 — Canberra Theatre, Canberra June 14 — Wrest Point Casino, Hobart June 18 — State Theatre, Sydney June 21 — QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane Tickets go on sale at 2pm on Thursday, February 7, via Live Nation.
What would you do if you were a little less freaked out by consequences? Would you talk to more new people, fear a bit less, dance a little more like FKA Twigs, quit your desk job and start that independent photography career? Some sparkling young Australians are already flinging their inhibitions into a ziplock bag and seizing this little ol' life with both hands. Concrete Playground has teamed up with the Jameson crew to give you a sneak peek into the lives of some bold characters who took a big chance on themselves. They've gone out on a limb and rewritten their path, encapsulating 'Sine Metu', the Jameson family motto which translates to 'without fear' — getting outside your comfort zone and trying something new. After all, we only get one shot at this. Take notes. From a very young age, we're all asked the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" We're told to pick one path, one profession, to neatly label the rest of your life. Our responses change as we grow up, from astronaut to engineer, princess to PR, and for Sydney-based Cole Bennetts, from Penguin Boy to renowned photographer taking the Prime Minister's portrait. Now he's shot the likes of Sticky Fingers, Hermitude, Horrorshow, One Day and more, and you can find his work published in TIME, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Irish Times and Rolling Stone to name a few. Not bad for a Penguin Boy. WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU PENGUINS, BECOME THEIR KING Cole's origin story reads like a Mark Twain book, a tale from a time before life happened on the screen and people went out to seek their fortunes. Initially for Cole, the end goal was never photography. His start in the industry came from a pretty unlikely place — as a way to weasel out of participating in the swimming carnival. "I'd never been the most athletic of people but I discovered that if I had a camera in my hand I didn't have to swim in the swimming carnival. I was like 'there's something to this'." A self-proclaimed science nerd, Cole's formative years were spent studying biology at university and eventually found him monitoring the behavioural patterns of seagulls and penguins in Bass Strait. The documentation process again stirred his interest in photography and, strangely, penguin care. "When that wound up [at Bass Strait] I found myself in Canberra with the zoo there. I spent about 18 months within the zoo as a penguin keeper. I managed to get the nickname 'Penguin Boy'. I can't believe I'm saying this." SOMETIMES YOU'VE GOT TO SPEND SIX MONTHS IN THE WILD The antics of Penguin Boy became an attraction at the zoo, from lining up the penguins for feeding time to putting them to bed. Eventually, the prestigious title wore thin and Cole stumbled across an opportunity that would make most of us hurtle in the opposite direction. "I got offered a job on a really remote island… There was no water, there was nothing. We'd have to have supplies brought in by shark fishermen. It was a six-month stint living like a wild man." Just after quitting his role as Penguin Boy, Cole found out funding for the project had been cut and he was without a job. After a series of fortunate events, he founded a music business in Canberra and set about promoting. But Cole didn't have the budget for a photographer, someone you're kind of going to need for promo. So, having 'made do' in those six-months on the island, he improvised. "I bought a cheap camera set up and quit my job and told people I was a photographer. And I was awful. I was so bad. Within four weeks of doing it, I had $2.20 and half a loaf of bread to my name. "If you're going to do something, you throw yourself into it. I'm a big believer in sink or swim. And fake it till you make it. There's no better situation to learn than when you have no option; it's do or die." FAKE IT TILL YOU TAKE THE PRIME MINISTER'S PORTRAIT There's not a lot to do in Canberra outside of politics and partying, so Cole had a lot of fodder to snap. A crash course in how to work a camera when there's no natural light and your subjects are swaying was just what he needed to get a start in the world of photography. Fast forward a few years, he's made a name for himself as a portrait photographer and has jacked a gig taking the PM's portrait. "It's a fine line when you're shooting... Your subjects may be celebrities, they may be artists but you've got to stand in front of them with a camera […] and do them right," he says. "So I was down on my knees in front of Julia Gillard's desk and I was having trouble getting the right feel and I was starting to panic and I was like 'OK, Prime Minister, what I need you to do is close your eyes and I want you to go to your happy place'. That was crazy." He got the shot in the end though and, true to form, bossing the PM around becomes just one of his weird work stories to tell. CHANGE THE GAME — NOT EVERY HIP HOP ARTIST NEEDS TO RAP SQUAT Cole soon moved from Canberra to Sydney, the land of creative opportunity, to try and break into music photography. One day while working in his Camperdown studio, he left to pick up some lunch and walked smack bang into Omar Musa, his friend and collaborator, and Morgan Jones of the Thundamentals. "A couple of weeks later I bumped into Morgs in the cafe and he had this new group called Jones Jnr. I said I'll do your pictures, I'll do them for free but if you go anywhere and you become successful, then I'm your guy," he says. It was a smart gamble, as Morgan was in the process of writing Step On Sleep, Jones Jnr's successful debut album. From this handshake agreement, Cole has built a career photographing Australian musicians including Sticky Fingers, Hermitude, Horrorshow, Hilltop Hoods, One Day, Spit Syndicate, Tuka, Jackie Onassis, The Rubens, Angus Stone, Left and more, alongside international stars like The 1975. His proclivity for shooting hip hop royalty has changed the game and shifted music portraiture away from the cheesy and the cliché. "These guys are super intelligent, they've got good stories to tell," he says. "It's not doing rap squats in front of graffiti walls." And who better to tell someone else's tale than a guy with a killer story to tell? When you wake up a Penguin Boy one day, unemployed the next, Kirribilli House soon after, you stop fearing change and start to embrace a Sine Metu mindset because it might lead to the best shot of your life. "It doesn't matter if I'm shooting the biggest name in Australian music or I'm shooting someone having a dance, if I get the frame that captures that moment… I get just as excited. It's about storytelling." Want to experience a little bit of 'Sine Metu' yourself? Thanks to Jameson and The Rewriters, one extremely fortunate Concrete Playground reader (and their even more fortunate mate) will get the chance to 'fear less' and go on a big ol' adventure to Ireland. In addition to two return flights departing from your choice of Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, this epic giveaway comes with five night's accommodation and $500 spending money you can use to paint the Emerald Isle red. ENTER HERE. For more about how 'Sine Metu' influenced John Jameson's journey visit Jameson's website.
“Have you skied before?” This is the question I am asked — repeatedly — on the way to Thredbo: at reception when checking in at the Thredbo Alpine Hotel, at a five-course champagne brunch in an inflatable igloo on the ski slopes (a combination of words I never thought I'd say), while dancing and chatting to strangers during a poolside party started by French phenomenon La Folie Douce and, of course, when collecting gear and being assigned to a ski lesson on the final day of this weekend celebrating the Thredbo Top2Bottom race. The answer is sort of, once, when I was in high school and spent a day tumbling down Friday Flats. But if you think Thredbo isn’t for you, it’s time to think again. There’s a lot more than just skiing on offer in this alpine village getaway. ARRIVE AT THE HOTEL; DON'T LEAVE THE HOTEL From outside, the Thredbo Alpine Hotel (Friday Drive, Thredbo Village Resort, +61 2 6459 4200) looks austere — with a grey timber exterior capped by an aggressively sloping roof. But inside, it’s warm and wood-panelled, the staff are chilled out and friendly and there is a roaring log fire in the middle of the lobby lounge. The setting is pretty spectacular too. From the hotel room window, I can see a snow-covered mountain that reflects the pink morning light, and a pristine landscape of sky and trees. The rooms are small and haven’t been refurbished since the ‘80s, but this adds a rustic charm and comfort. The hotel breakfast is deliciously comprehensive, and the restaurant windows look out onto the slopes. Whether you’re into the bircher muesli or hash browns (or both), you can sit in your warm smugness and watch early morning skiers tear down the Supertrail at their own peril. The hotel also has an outdoor spa, an in-house massage therapist and sauna. So you basically have no reason to leave. OPEN CHAMPAGNE THE RIGHT WAY: WITH A SWORD On the first morning, I am whisked away to Crackenback Drive and treated by Mumm Champagne to a five-course champagne degustation with chef ambassador Josh Lopez (from Brisbane’s GOMA restaurant). The pop up restaurant is set on the snow in an inflatable igloo by the ski slopes. Mumm ambassador Chris Sheehy introduces the champagne at the beginning of each course, followed by Josh Lopez, who explains his approach to each dish. I learn how to open a bottle of champagne with a saber (the essential trick is to chill the neck of the bottle for a couple of hours to get a clean break), eat black rose caviar off the back of my hand and appreciate how truffle coated in 24 carat gold goes marvellously with a cordon rouge (that’s a type of champagne). The dessert is the highlight (or perhaps my head is rather light by this point), an architectural feat with macadamia, berries, vanilla and rose petals, matched with a light rosé. An evening champagne and caviar masterclass with Sheehy and Lopez was also available to Thredbo visitors at the Segreto Restaurant back at the Alpine Lodge Hotel. PARTY LIKE IT'S -5ºC (IT IS) Thredbo Alpine Hotel is known for its afternoon après-ski parties, and from 3-6pm international party-starters La Folie Douce took to the poolside stage, pumped up the beats and got the crowd going. It’s hard to explain the magic of La Folie Douce and exactly what happens up there on stage, but they charmed us with what essentially is a glorified karaoke-cross-Rihanna-inspired dance routine, hollering and grinding to a set of pumping music, encouraging the audience to follow suit. And before long, half the audience was up on stage, a squish-friendly party of ski jackets and champagne-fuelled shenanigans. And amazingly, it was finished in time for dinner. CELEBRATE OTHER PEOPLE'S ATHLETIC VICTORIES Upon assignment to this story I had a momentary freak-out where I thought I might have to actually ski in the 25th Anniversary Top2Bottom race — a kind of City2Surf for the slopes. Each year, a slew of skiers, snowboarders and even a select few fatbike racers (literally people riding fat bicycles down the slope) compete on Australia’s longest run (3.2km) for a $1200 prize pack. Luckily, all I had to do was hang out at the finish line by the Mumm Champagne pop-up bar and cheer them on. There were dramatic crashes, narrow finishes and plenty of champagne-popping to start the day. ATTEMPT TO SKI, DECIDE TO INVEST IN A TOBOGGAN The opportunity to ski came on the last morning of the trip. I quickly realised that the preparation for this sport takes more energy than the sport itself. I wore way too many layers of clothing, struggled to get my ski boots on and then walk in them (skis in tow) to the shuttle bus. But once on the magic carpet at the bottom of Friday Flats, under the friendly guidance of Albert our ski instructor, the snowplough position came rushing back to me and I went rushing down Friday Flats. It was exhilarating! But next time I think I'll invest in a toboggan. LET'S DO THIS; GIVE ME THE DETAILS Thredbo is open 365 days a year, though the ski season runs from the June long weekend to the October long weekend. By air: Qantas and Virgin Australia service Canberra Airport from major Australian cities. Canberra Airport is a 2.5 hour drive from Thredbo and shuttle transfers to and from the airport can be arranged. Several major car hire companies also hire from Canberra. By bus: Greyhound Australia run daily services from Canberra and Sydney, Murrays run daily services from Canberra during July and August and other service operators also offer transport and packages. By car: Thredbo is approximately 500km, or 6 hours' drive, from both Sydney and Melbourne. If you’re cruising to the mountains from Sydney, once you’re on the Eastern Distributor there are only a few sets of traffic lights to Thredbo. From Melbourne, the fully sealed Kosciuszko Alpine Way is your scenic window as you wind through the spectacular Kosciuszko National Park. The National Parks and Wildlife Service collect park use fees upon entry to the park. You can purchase your pass from the Entrance Station 13km before you get to Thredbo, the Snowy Region Visitors Centre in Jindabyne, the National Parks Visitors Centre in Khancoban, or the Thredbo Information Centre. Check out some tips for safe snow driving before you leave home. Roslyn travelled to Thredbo as a guest of Mumm champagne.
If you're looking to set the tone for some top-notch eating in 2025, we've found the ultimate place to start. Through January and February, social enterprise Free to Feed is dishing up a multicultural bounty of goodness as part of its latest dining series. The not-for-profit hosts food experiences aimed at helping refugees and people seeking asylum overcome social and economic barriers. And, working with talented cooks from all corners of the globe, it's delivered some pretty special dining events — and delicious cultural exchanges — during its time. Next up, the summertime feasts will take over Free to Feed's North Fitzroy events space for a program of intimate home-style dinners starting at just $55 per person. Each event will see one of the organisation's culinarily-gifted participants share the flavours and stories of their culture via a generous shared feast. Take your tastebuds on an international adventure via Nada and Aziza's Egyptian and Eritrean feast (January 25 and 25), featuring beloved recipes passed down through generations. Or perhaps Daniel and Verena's Colombian and Venezuelan spread (February 20 and 21), starring cassava bread, fresh seafood and flan. You can even drop by on Sunday, February 2 for a special Palestinian cooking workshop, or join the Story Table Series (January 6 and 7), which consists of a big dinner paired with conversations led by Bahaa, Rana and Somaya — some of Free to Feed's cooks — as they share their lived experiences of displacement and navigating new beginnings. You can even drop by the Free to Mingle evening on Thursday, February 13 to enjoy a really chill friend-making evening filled with canapes and craft workshops. [caption id="attachment_883689" align="alignnone" width="1920"] One of Free to Feed's cooking classes, by Hugh Davison[/caption] Top Images: Emily Weaving
