In any other year, the songs of the summer are those that have been heard blaring from car windows, festival stages and nightclub speakers. While we've had a few songs take on this energy despite the circumstances ('Blinding Lights', 'Heat Waves' and 'WAP' to name a few) for most of the year, it's just been us and our Spotify accounts. Now, as we head into what we are all hoping to be an action-packed, smoke-free and dance floor-heavy summer, it's the perfect time to refresh your summer playlist. Here are ten tracks you may have missed this year that are bound to give you those summer warm and fuzzies, primed and ready to soundtrack your road trips, bushwalks and pool parties. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmsvhQNuO-E GOLDEN VESSEL: MIDWEST Dive headfirst into the feeling of a summer road trip with this track of the latest Golden Vessel album colt. Each song on the album is primed for stares out of a car window, which the creative force behind the project Maxwell Byrne seemed to know, releasing it alongside a road trip-themed visual album titled eyes on the road. 'Midwest' encapsulates this the best. As soon as the first note hits and Byrne's deep baritone vocals kick in, you can see the trees passing by your window, stereo up, snacks on hand. The gentle instrumental plays off the persistent bass to create a sense of forward momentum. It's an anthemic ode to hitting the road with your crush and, while we may not be able to drive across the midwest right now, it's the perfect time to take to the road and explore regional Australia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc50wHexbwg KHRUANGBIN: TIME (YOU AND I) Like their music, the cover of Khruangbin's fourth studio album Mordechai explodes with colour. They're a group built on bringing forward the brightest and bounciest sounds of past generations into today. The highlight of the album is 'Time (You and I)', an easygoing soundtrack fit for any summer occasion. Sunshine exudes from every second of its five and a half minute run time. Over a smooth disco-heavy instrumental Khruangbin come to the conclusion that nothing is perfect and everything comes to an end, but that's ok. They're along for the ride, one full of baselines and dance floors. Towards the end of the track, the band recite the phrase 'that's life' translated into various languages. Turkish, Korean, Hebrew — it's universal. We're all here living our lives, just trying our best to have fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPgPHTZsGbU LIL SPACELY: STILL TRAPPIN' (FEAT. ELIJAH YO) 2020 was a landmark year for Australian hip hop. Artists like The Kid Laroi, Onefour, Sampa the Great and Tkay Maidza saw overseas success previously unseen in the local scene. The area undoubtedly leading the pack has been Western Sydney, catching the attention of US rap superstars and international record labels. Among it all, Lil Spacely, one of the area's rising stars, released 'Still Trappin', a sonic victory lap for Western Sydney. Bursting at the seams with sunshine, the track's beat glistens as Spacely tells us of his come up, ambitions and his love for his hometown of Blacktown. The track's biggest pitfall is that it was released during a winter lockdown. There couldn't a song more suited to a summer party — and luckily we have all summer to enjoy it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr_1pDBL0uc BIG DOG: FIGHT IT NOW 'Fight It Now' is the debut single from Sydney band Big Dog. Written during the devastation of the 2019/20 bushfire season, the song conceals a thread of climate anxiety under rich guitars and gentle melodies. Wrapped in warm Australiana reminiscent of Paul Kelly or The Go-Betweens, the track is filled with nostalgic energy. This warmth softens the blow of its cautionary lyrics, warning of future smoke-filled summers without immediate climate action. Musically, 'Fight It Now' conjures feelings of sitting on your porch on a balmy afternoon, but, lyrically, it's a sombre reminder of the country's climate crisis, and as a new summer begins with more extreme weather events, the song remains as relevant as ever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUVcZfQe-Kw DUA LIPA: LEVITATING Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia was created for late nights and bustling dance floors, two things that seemed like distant memories throughout the majority of 2020. Despite this, the album managed to blaze a global trail of feel-good pop energy. Any of the singles from the 80s-tinged dance-pop album could fit snuggly into your summer playlist (especially as dance floors and nights out return across the country) but 'Levitating' is the most joyous of the bunch. The anthemic chorus, punchy bassline and Dua Lipa's electric vocals radiate fun. It's overflowing with the energy we've been missing in 2020 and everything we're hoping 2021 will be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ej2BiNFFgM STEVAN: WARM True to its name, 'Warm' is a sunny slice of bedroom pop. Wollongong artist Stevan lays his heart on the line over twinkling synths and a subtle bass groove. Sporadic drums run through the song providing momentum. Completing the wholesome summertime energy of the track is the video, starring Stevan and his new best friend Tilly, a blue heeler cross border collie, and their adventures checking off classic summer bucket list activities: exploring the beach, hanging out at the park and eating rainbow Paddle Pops. Whether your partner in crime is human or dog, 'Warm' will help fill you with adventurous and heartfelt energy you're in need of this summer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw0zYd0eIlk PHOEBE BRIDGERS: KYOTO Phoebe Bridgers' take on the world struck a chord with many this year, with the singer going from underground singer-songwriter to Grammy-nominated Tik Tok sensation. Her music is effortlessly relatable and realistically bleak without ever slipping into overbearingly sad. She approaches topics like loneliness and anxiety with a sense of humour and wit. In a difficult year full of isolation, this perspective was comforting. 'Kyoto' served as Bridgers' breakout hit and an endearing ballad that refuses to get tired. Its bright guitars and horn section are contrasted by the track's dark lyrics of travelling through Japan while dealing with persistent calls from your ex. In Bridgers' world, just like in real life, everything can get pretty overwhelming, but we'll get through it all if we just don't take ourselves too seriously. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhS5MB9cLY8 BANOFFEE: TENNIS FAN (FEAT. EMPRESS OF) A typical element of the Australian summer is the Australian Open. The sight of an international tennis star out on a sweltering Melbourne day is as engrained in the fabric of this time of year as much as an icy pole or overcrowded swimming pool. Banoffee's 'Tennis Fan' builds itself around a series of tennis samples from umpire calls to balls being struck. Somehow, she weaves the samples into a metaphor for social anxiety and loneliness, lamenting on not being invited to a tennis match or the movies. It's layered songwriting, but, most of all, the song's a fun summer bop filled with dance grooves and high school nostalgia. With 'Tennis Fan' and its subsequent album Look At Us Now Dad, Banoffee marked herself as one of Melbourne's most exciting young artists and the queen of the tennis court, no matter what her crush says. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdvxzc7FLow THE AVALANCHES: MUSIC MAKES ME HIGH Throwing back to their classic 2000 album Since I Left You, 'Music Makes You high' throws together an eclectic collection of samples in the process of building a kaleidoscopic collage of sound. Through the magic of The Avalanches, it bottles the energy of being in a buzzing crowd hanging on every note of the music. It's the sound of a packed 1am DJ set at Freda's or an overflowing side stage, late afternoon at a music festival. The song's distant crowd noises, energised dance groove and 1980s disco sample transport you to possibly the closest thing to a dance floor many of us experienced this year. Like so many great Avalanches tracks, 'Music Makes You High' takes pieces of music history and compresses them into three minutes of joy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osz9DyfbjyQ FLEET FOXES: SUNBLIND Fleet Foxes returned in 2020 with their sweetest, most assured album yet. In many ways, it felt detached from the year's doom and gloom, preoccupied with its own journey of growth, as lead singer Robin Pecknold reckons with life and growing older. Of all the songs on the record, 'Sunblind' feels the most in touch with the year we've had. Partnered with triumphant instrumental, Pecknold sings of finding comfort in the works of late musicians (Bill Withers, John Prine, Jeff Buckley) and in nature, specifically water. While it may not have been intentional at the time of writing, when he sings "but I'm loud and alive, singing you all night", it's a perfect soundtrack to riding off into 2020's sunset. Everything may not be perfect but we're moving forward into brighter days. Listen on Spotify below. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/23TLh9PrnatiOBetr1PuNL?si=P0ohy4QnToGrceEJmvNR2g
The Feminist Writers Festival was created in 2016 and will return this May, with a bumper lineup that will take over venues in both Melbourne and Geelong. A space to promote and support female-identifying writers within the Australian writing sphere, FWF will again this year unfurl a program that provides critical engagement and furthers teaching and learning for all those who consider themselves feminist writers or readers — or just feminists in general. The program (running from May 25–27 in Melbourne and May 26 in Geelong) includes, on opening night, a gala surrounding the legacy of feminist texts. There's also a forum on writing about violence against women in the public eye, workshops to aid in finding a feminist voice, and discussions with prominent female activists. Artists such as Jax Jacki Brown, Tasneem Chopra, Clementine Ford and Tara Moss will take to the stage along with many others. Check out the website for the incredible array of feminist writers, editors and activists that attendees will be lucky enough to hear from. Head along to learn, engage, ask questions or just listen — you can buy tickets to individual sessions, a full day, or the whole weekend.
Who needs facts when you can have a ball with irreverently riffing on history? It worked for Blackadder decades back, then with The Great and Our Flag Means Death more recently, and now does the same for The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin. It was evident from the concept when it was announced, and the trailer afterwards as well: this Apple TV+ series is firmly in the same mode as the pirate comedy that gave streaming two wonderfully funny and heartfelt seasons, then was cancelled. The similarities don't stop being apparent now that Noel Fielding's latest stint of silliness is unfurling its six-episode first season. Accordingly, viewers looking for something to help with their Our Flag Means Death heartbreak have somewhere to turn. Everyone who loves The Mighty Boosh's Fielding when he's getting surreal — something that his The Great British Bake Off hosting stint can't quite offer, even with his outfits — is also catered for. Awaiting in The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin is an entertaining jaunt that's exactly what anyone should expect given its premise, star, his fondness for whimsy and flamboyant outfits, plus Britain's love of parodying its own past. Fielding co-writes and executive produces, alongside leading — and his brother Michael is among the fellow The Mighty Boosh alum on-screen. Dick jokes abound, because who could pass up the opportunity given its protagonist? A who's who of English comedy also features. The year is 1735. The place is the UK, obviously. The subject is a real-life highwayman. Streaming from Friday, March 1, an instantly amusing revisionist history about Britain's equivalent of Ned Kelly is the result. Stand and deliver: as Dick, Fielding does. While he isn't attempting to be anything more than Vince Noir but an outlaw centuries back, no one creating, funding or watching the show wants otherwise. With Rhys Darby (Next Goal Wins) and Flight of the Conchords' Murray instead, Our Flag Means Death had its main star do much the same. Although chances to spot commonalities between the two shows just keep coming, it's in an enjoyable way, like hearing a cover of a beloved tune by someone that you also adore. That someone being Fielding, who has such a rich resume of hilarious and absurdist TV comedy thanks to Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, Nathan Barley, The IT Crowd and Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy as well, is clearly pivotal. If Dick Turpin isn't familiar, he's another figure from the 18th century, as Darby's Stede Bonnet was. Swap the sea for the land, though; the whole robbery angle remains the same. The son of a butcher, he was his father's apprentice, but then took on a different career as part of the Essex gang. In reality, he was executed by hanging at the age of 33. In The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, standing on the gallows provides the opening. From there, the series steps through his time as a thief after being a vegan pacifist didn't gel with the family business. The key things that Dick takes with him when he leaves home, when his father John (Mark Heap, Significant Other) quickly replaces him with his cousin Benny (Michael Fielding, Merry Little Batman): eye-catching purple boots and a sewing machine. The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin creators Claire Downes, Ian Jarvis and Stuart Lane — who've collaborated on Around the World in 80 Days, Timewasters and We Can Be Heroes before this — then puts the mascara-laden, silky-locked, jollily talkative Dick in charge of his criminal colleagues, and at odds with the usual highwayman antics. He falls into his new gig accidentally, becoming the crew's leader in the same way. Dick wants sticking up stagecoaches and dog walkers to be charming, and done with panache. Working with his version of pleather, aka parsnip leather, he's just as certain that his crew needs to be better dressed. Also, toxic masculinity definitely isn't his vibe. As frequently chronicled in pamphlets by local scribe Eliza Bean (Dolly Wells, Pandemonium), so springs an array of episodic adventures for Dick, the wary Nell (Ellie White, Wonka), eager Honesty (Duayne Boachie, You Don't Know Me) and tender Moose (Marc Wootton, High & Dry). Cue magic mittens, a wild twist on a nun's habit as a disguise, capes, a haunted coach, warlock exams, knitting, trying to avoid letting in a witch by not saying her name a set amount of times Candyman-style, pretending to be a time traveller from 15 minutes into the future, suave rivals and other law breakers who are actually villainous, for instance. Usually on Dick's trail is corrupt thief-taker Jonathan Wilde (Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey: A New Era). Also interested in his actions is crime bigwig Lady Helen Gwinear (Tamsin Greig, Sexy Beast). Plus, this is an on-screen realm where the pub is run by an eight-year-old called Little Karen (Kiri Flaherty, Darklands). Popping up here and there are Asim Chaudhry (Barbie) as the aforementioned sorcerer, alongside Joe Wilkinson (Sex Education) as a gaoler. The cast list goes on, turning watching The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin into a game of Spot That Recognisable Face. When Fielding's Never Mind the Buzzcocks host Greg Davies (The Cleaner) makes an appearance, their banter could've been taken straight from the Spicks and Specks-inspiring music game show. The Mighty Boosh's Simon Farnaby (Ghosts) and Rich Fulcher (Still Up), Cunk on Earth's Diane Morgan, Spaced favourite Jessica Hynes, Matilda the Musical's Sindhu Vee, another Barbie and Sex Education link via Connor Swindells: one of them is never far away, all having as much of a blast as Fielding. Breezy, goofy, impish and oddball fun bounds through the series no matter who else is on-screen with The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin's lead — and while fleshing out its frames with such top talents is among its achievements, Fielding is always the star attraction. He's also the reason that its thematic dive into finding your chosen family and being accepted for who you are still feels potent, as slight as it is. As the show builds its romp around its him, it also ensures that an inescapable sentiment lingers at every moment: 17 years since The Mighty Boosh's last episode, it's a pleasure to have Fielding taking a sitcom's centre stage and loving it once more. Here's hoping that a second season of The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin promptly follows. Check out the trailer for The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin below: The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin streams via Apple TV+ from Friday, March 1, 2024.
The sun is shining, your out of office is set and you've already spent a good amount of time curled up streaming tv shows. Now's the chance to catch up on your reading — so, find a shady spot on a beach, next to a pool or by a waterfall and start making your way through our favourite seven books (and one awesome short story) of 2017. It's a mixed bag this year, we've been turning the pages of gripping homegrown murder mysteries, stories about presidential ghosts, cookbooks and a profanity-laden self-help book. Take your pick. THE VEGETARIAN BY HAN KANG The Vegetarian took me approximately one week to get through — it's a very welcome short read at less than 200 pages — but it left something dark and heavy in my stomach for much longer. The book by Han Kang, which has been translated from Korean, reaches haunting fever dream territory almost immediately and plays out scenes of family violence, force feeding and self-harm over three parts. Its affecting twisted surrealism will remind you of Murakami; I recommend this to his fans, not his haters. — Lauren Vadnjal THE DRY BY JANE HARPER Harper's debut novel is an eerie murder mystery set in a drought-ridden rural Australian town. It's a gripping read. I sat down to start it one Sunday afternoon and didn't put it down until I'd turned the last page, four hours later. What's even more impressive is that Harper wrote the 40,000-word draft for this novel during a 12-week online writing course. She has also — already — signed a movie deal, so expect The Dry (starring Simon Baker, perhaps) to appear in cinemas some time soon. — Samantha Teague THE SUBTLE ART OF NOT GIVING A F*CK BY MARK MANSON You've seen people reading it at airports, on buses and on benches. And, yes, it does fit into the category of self-help, but it's approachable, brutally honest and, thankfully, free of the overly positive language typical of other self-help books. It's not about not giving any f*cks. It's about giving the right number of f*cks about the right things. After all, there are only so many one has time to give. — Kitti Smallbone TWIN PEAKS: THE FINAL DOSSIER BY MARK FROST If you were left with more questions than answers after watching the latest — and final — series of Twin Peaks, you're not alone. Luckily, there's one more chapter left: The Final Dossier. Written by the show's co-creator, Mark Frost, the book explains some of what happened between the second and third season (a 25-year break) and ties up some loose ends. But, remember, it's David Lynch and it's Twin Peaks — you're not going to get all the answers. A must-read for anyone who watched the show this year, whether they loved it or hated it. — Sarah Ward LINCOLN IN THE BARDO BY GEORGE SAUNDERS A story steeped in history, this novel centres on the death of Abraham Lincoln's 11-year-old son William in 1862. But, don't expect a run-of-the-mill historical fiction — it's George Saunders, remember? The story is told by 166 different narrators, some of them dead, some of them alive. Saunders's first novel, it won this year's Man Booker Prize so it's definitely one that should be on your list. Start it. Be confused. Keep reading. And you'll be rewarded. Finish it and jump straight to Saunders's famed collection of short stories, Tenth of December, if you haven't already. THE POWER BY NAOMI ALDERMAN In 2017, The Handmaid's Tale once again rose to prominence with the release of the television adaptation. While Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel centres on a world in which women are stripped of all power, Alderman's The Power imagines a world where they have it all. Women gain an ability to send out powerful electric shocks from their fingertips around puberty and become the feared and dominant gender. The story travels across the globe, showing how the change unfolds in different countries. It's also written as a 'historical text', by a male author Neil Adam Armon who imagines how women rose to power thousands of years before. MEET ME IN THE BATHROOM BY LIZZY GOODMAN Goodman's in-depth look at New York's rock 'n' roll scene is juicy, fast and candid. It centres on the years between 2001 and 2011, and focuses on The Strokes — Goodman's interview with the band for Vulture is a good taste of what to expect from the text. Goodman interviewed over 200 people, and spent years immersed in the scene, to write the novel. The result is a 600-word book that doesn't give you too many chances to pause and take a breath. It's a rollercoaster worth taking. [caption id="attachment_651763" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Elinor Carucci[/caption] HONOURABLE MENTION: CAT PERSON BY KRISTEN ROUPENIAN It's a typical story. A bad relationship written from a female perspective. But it sent ripples through the internet. Thousands of people took to Twitter to discuss how much they related to it and one account took to documenting men's reactions. The piece — a short story, not a novel — is more than just an exploration of a bad relationship, though, it's about power dynamics, gender and the struggles of dating as a young woman. Many people have described reading it as akin to watching a horror movie unfold. Like most things that reach fame on the internet, it's had bad reactions, too. But you can be sure that when you read it, you'll definitely feel something.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. DUNE A spice-war space opera about feuding houses on far-flung planets, Dune has long been a pop-culture building block. Before Frank Herbert's 1965 novel was adapted into a wrongly reviled David Lynch-directed film — a gloriously 80s epic led by Kyle MacLachlan and laced with surreal touches — it unmistakably inspired Star Wars, and also cast a shadow over Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Game of Thrones has since taken cues from it. The Riddick franchise owes it a debt, too. The list goes on and, thanks to the new version bringing its sandy deserts to cinemas, will only keep growing. As he did with Blade Runner 2049, writer/director Denis Villeneuve has once again grasped something already enormously influential, peered at it with astute eyes and built it anew — and created an instant sci-fi classic. This time, Villeneuve isn't asking viewers to ponder whether androids dream of electric sheep, but if humanity can ever overcome one of our worst urges and all that it brings. Dune tells of birthrights, prophesied messiahs, secret sisterhood sects that underpin the galaxy and phallic-looking giant sandworms, and of the primal lust for power that's as old as time — and, in Herbert's story, echoes well into the future's future. Blade Runner 2049 ruminated upon a similar idea in its own way, as many movies do. Indeed, Ridley Scott was hired to helm Dune before Lynch, then made the original Blade Runner instead, so Villeneuve is following him again here. Dune's unpacking of dominance and command piles on colonial oppression, authoritarianism, greed, ecological calamity and religious fervour, though, like it's building a sandcastle out of power's nastiest ramifications. And, amid that weightiness, it's also a tale of a moody teen with mind-control abilities struggling with what's expected versus what's right. That young man is Paul Atreides, as played by Timothée Chalamet in a stroke of genius casting that seems almost fated — as if returning Dune to the big screen had to wait for the Call Me By Your Name star. (The book also earned the TV miniseries treatment in 2000, and we should be thankful that a 90s iteration soundtracked by the Spice Girls' 'Spice Up Your Life' didn't ever eventuate.) When the narrative begins in Villeneuve and co-screenwriters Jon Spaihts (Prometheus) and Eric Roth's (A Star Is Born) retelling, Paul's life has been upended. House Atreides, led by his father Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac, Scenes From a Marriage), must leave its watery home planet of Caladan to take over the desert world of Arrakis. Previously run by their enemies in House Harkonnen, it's the source of the universe's melange stores, with the spice making interstellar travel possible. Spice also expands consciousness and extends lives — and, while forced by imperial decree, the monstrous Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård, Chernobyl) isn't happy about handing Arrakis over. To say House Atreides' move doesn't go smoothly is like saying that its new home is a tad toasty, but the tricky transition is just one of Dune's concerns. Another: the plans for Paul. House Atreides' heir, he's being trained as such by the Duke, security expert Thufir Hawat (Stephen McKinley Henderson, Devs), swordmaster Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa, Aquaman) and weaponry whiz Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin, Avengers: Endgame). But Paul's mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson, Reminiscence) hails from the Bene Gesserit, an all-female group who pull the galaxy's strings, and she sees him as its fabled chosen one. Read our full review. THE CARD COUNTER Another Paul Schrader film, another lonely man thrust under a magnifying glass as he wrestles with the world, his place in it and his sense of morality. The acclaimed filmmaker has filled the screen with such characters and stories for more than half a century — intense tales of men who would not take it anymore — as evidenced in his screenplays for Martin Scorsese's brilliant Taxi Driver and Bringing Out the Dead, and also in his own directorial efforts such as Light Sleeper and First Reformed. You can't accuse Schrader of always making the same movie, however, as much as his work repeatedly bets on the same ideas. Instead, his films feel like cards from the same deck. Each time he deals one out, it becomes part of its own hand, as gambling drama The Card Counter demonstrates with potency, smarts and a gripping search for salvation. The film's title refers to William 'Tell' Tillich (Oscar Isaac, Dune), who didn't ever plan to spend his days in casinos and his nights in motels. But during an eight-year stint in military prison, he taught himself a new skill that he's been capitalising upon after his release. His gambit: winning modest scores from small-scale casinos. If he doesn't take the house, the house won't discipline his card-counting prowess. The money keeps him moving, but each gambling den could be the same for all that Tell cares. His motel-room routine, which involves removing all artwork from the walls, making the bed with his own linen, and covering every other surface and item with carefully tied cloth — making each space as identical as it can be, and resemble incarceration — lingers between fierce self-discipline and a stifled cry for help. Assistance arrives in two forms, not that Tell is looking or particularly receptive to having other people in his life. The regimented status quo he's carved out so meticulously is first punctured by fellow gambler-turned-agent La Linda (Tiffany Haddish, Like a Boss), who backs other punters and believes they should team up to profit big on the poker circuit. That'd bring Tell more visibility than he'd like, but it'd also increase his pay days, which would come in handy for his second new acquaintance. In Atlantic City, he meets the college-aged Cirk (Tye Sheridan, Voyagers), who has proposes a quest for revenge. Tell shares a grim past with Cirk's dad, and the twentysomething wants to punish the retired major-turned-security expert (William Dafoe, The Lighthouse) that he holds responsible — which Tell is eager to discourage. Isaac doesn't ask his reflection if it's looking in his direction. And, given that The Card Counter joins a filmography overflowing with exceptional performances — including Scenes From a Marriage already this year — it won't define his career as Taxi Driver did for a young Robert De Niro. Still, it's the highest compliment to mention the two in the same breath. At every moment, this blistering film is anchored by Isaac's phenomenal portrayal, which is quiet, slippery and weighty all at once. As conveyed with a calculating glare that's as slick as his brushed-back hair, here is a man who dons a calm facade to mask the storm brewing inside, revels in routine to avoid facing change, and anaesthetises his pain and past deeds with the repetition he's made his daily existence. Here is a man desperate to paper over his inner rot with time spent amid meaningless gloss, preferring to feel empty than to feel anything else, until he has an innocent to try to save and a clear-cut way to rally against the soulless world. Read our full review. ENCANTO Five years after Lin-Manuel Miranda and Disney first teamed up on an animated musical with the catchiest of tunes, aka Moana, they're back at it again with Encanto. To viewers eager for another colourful, thoughtful and engaging film — and another that embraces a particular culture with the heartiest of hugs, and is all the better for it — what can the past decade's most influential composer and biggest entertainment behemoth say except you're welcome? Both the Hamilton mastermind and the Mouse House do what they do best here. The songs are infectious, as well as diverse in style; the storyline follows a spirited heroine challenging the status quo; and the imagery sparkles. Miranda and Disney are both in comfortable territory, in fact — formulaic, sometimes — but Encanto never feels like they're monotonously beating the same old drum. Instruments are struck, shaken and otherwise played in the film's soundtrack, of course, which resounds with energetic earworms; the salsa beats of 'We Don't Talk About Bruno' are especially irresistible, and the Miranda-penned hip hop wordplay that peppers the movie's tunes is impossible to mentally let go. Spanning pop, ballads and more, all those songs help tell the tale of the Madrigals, a close-knit Colombian family who've turned generational trauma into magic. This is still an all-ages-friendly Disney flick, so there are limits to how dark it's willing to get; however, that Encanto fills its frames with a joyous celebration of Latin America and simultaneously recognises its setting's history of conflict is hugely significant. It also marks Walt Disney Animation Studios' 60th feature — dating back to 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs — but its cultural specificity (depictions of Indigenous, Afro Latino and Colombian characters of other ethnicities included) is its bigger achievement. The focal point of their jungle-surrounded village, the Madrigals are the local version of superheroes. They live in an enchanted home, complete with a magical candle that's burned for three generations, and they each receive special powers when they come of age. The latter wasn't the case for Encanto's heroine Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz, Brooklyn Nine-Nine), though, and that absence of exceptional abilities has left the bespectacled teen feeling like an outcast. Plus, with her young cousin Antonio (Ravi Cabot-Conyers, #BlackAF) now going through the ceremony, Mirabel's perceived failings linger afresh in everyone's minds. But then la casita, as their supernatural home is known, starts cracking — the flame begins to flicker as well, as everyone's powers waver with it — and it looks like only its most ordinary inhabitant can save the day. Encanto doesn't refer to the Madrigals by any term you'd hear in a Marvel movie, but the imprint of Disney's hit franchise remains evident. Thankfully, director Byron Howard (Tangled), and co-writers/co-helmers Charise Castro Smith (Sweetbitter) and Jared Bush (Zootopia) have sprinkled in a few fun abilities — because mixing up a template sits high among the feature's powers, even when those generic underlying pieces can still be gleaned. Accordingly, one of Mirabel's sisters, Luisa (Jessica Darrow, Feast of the Seven Fishes), is super strong, but the other, Isabela (Diane Guerrero, Doom Patrol), makes flowers blossom with her loveliness. Similarly, while their aunt Pepa (Carolina Gaitán, The Greatest Showman) controls the weather, their mother Julieta (Angie Cepeda, Jane the Virgin) heals through cooking. Read our full review. THE LOST LEONARDO Art of either great or dubious origins. Airport facilities where items can be stored — art masterpieces included — without their owners abiding by taxation rules. Both played parts in Christopher Nolan's Tenet; however, it's no longer the only recent thriller to include the two. The Lost Leonardo doesn't feature a phenomenal heist of a disputed piece from a freeport, but it is as tense and suspenseful as its 2020 predecessor. It also tells a 100-percent true tale about the artwork dubbed the 'male Mona Lisa'. Exploring the story of the Salvator Mundi, a painting of Jesus that may hail from Leonardo da Vinci, this documentary is filled with developments far wilder and stranger than fiction (sorry not sorry Dan Brown). And while there's little that's astonishing about the film's talking heads-meets-recreations approach, it still couldn't be more riveting. Although the Salvator Mundi itself is thought to date to the 15th century, The Lost Leonardo only jumps back as far as 2005. That's when the High Renaissance-era piece was sold for US$1175, and when Alexander Parrish and Robert Simon, art dealers eager to dig up sleepers — works from renowned masters that've been mislabelled or misattributed — suspected there might be more to it. The pair tasked restorer Dianne Modestini with tending to the heavily overpainted and damaged work, which revealed otherwise unseen details in the process. Cue a now-prevailing theory: that the Salvator Mundi sprung from da Vinci's hands. That's a shattering revelation given that, despite the prominence that the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper enjoy, the list of surviving works attributed to da Vinci barely hits 20 — and that's with questions lingering over his involvement in quite a few. Uncovering one of his previously unknown paintings was always going to be huge as a result; locating it in such a way, and for so cheap, only bolsters the extraordinary tale. Debates over the painting's provenance have continued for the past 16 years, although that's not the only reason that The Lost Leonardo exists. The piece has increased in fame over the last decade thanks to two factors, including the Salvator Mundi's inclusion in a 2011–12 da Vinci exhibition at the National Gallery, London, placing it alongside the author's accepted works — and its sale for US$75 million in 2013, then for US$127.5 million, and finally again in 2017 for a whopping US$450.3 million. Its unglamorous discovery, the ongoing argument over authenticity, the legitimacy gained by exhibiting in one of the world's most influential galleries, that it's now the most expensive painting ever sold: these details are unpacked and analysed by writer/director Andreas Koefoed (At Home in the World) via his array of interviewees — and so is the fact that, when that mind-blowing sale occurred, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was the secretive buyer. It's little wonder that the filmmaker has chosen to unfurl the ins and outs of these remarkable events as if he's joining the dots and puzzling together the pieces right in front of viewers' eyes, making The Lost Leonardo a detective story of a doco. It isn't a new approach, let alone a unique or unusual one, but it savvily relies upon the combined force of a ripping yarn and rollicking storytelling. Read our full review. THE HAND OF GOD For anyone that's ever watched a Paolo Sorrentino film and noticed his fascination with breasts, The Hand of God has the answers. It explains why the director behind The Great Beauty, Youth and Loro — and TV's The Young Pope and The New Pope, too — took to his chosen career as well, and why his features frequently feel pinpoint-accurate when they're either at their most sorrowful or their funniest. And, if he was ever to make a Diego Maradona biopic, the reasons why are also laid out. Sorrentino's latest drama takes its name from the Argentinian soccer superstar's infamous move during a 1986 World Cup match, where he used his hand to score a goal, wasn't penalised and helped win the game. Based on the filmmaker's own adolescence, it also tells of a time when the player was a deity to the not-yet-film-obsessed future Italian cinema great. First, those boobs: they belong to Patrizia (Luisa Ranieri, La vita promessa), aunt of teenager Fabietto Schiesi (Filippo Scotti, Luna Nera), Sorrentino's on-screen surrogate. She isn't shy — sunbathing nude on family boat trips and calling him over to hand her a towel — and the boy is obsessed to the point of chatting about it with his wannabe-actor elder brother Marchino (Marlon Joubert, Romulus). He's also fixated on Maradona's possible move to SSC Napoli, his local team, although that's a family-wide passion. At home with his mother Maria (Teresa Saponangelo, Porcelain) and father Saveria (Sorrentino regular Toni Servillo), and at get-togethers with all of his relatives, it's a frequent topic of conversation. But then a summer takes a turn for the tragic and, thanks to his devotion to Maradona, he's spared — but also caught adrift. For a filmmaker who often lets his excesses guide his frames, The Hand of God sees Sorrentino in a softer mode. The naked female skin remains, the dips into lavish visual extravagance and the eye-catching use of dolly shots as well — plus his penchant for following in Federico Fellini's footsteps, which also manifests when Fabietto tags along with Marchino to audition for the iconic figure — but this is Sorrentino at his most reflective and poignant. Bringing your most painful memory to the screen and sifting through all the complicated feelings it evokes will do that, understandably. Indeed, when Fabietto meets another real-life filmmaker, Antonio Capuano (played by Veleno's Ciro Capano), and says he wants "an imaginary life, like the one I had before" rather than his curent sea of hurt, Sorrentino reveals exactly why The Hand of God and his whole cinema career exists. It may start with a striking flight of fantasy involving a limousine and a small monk, but this is an affectionate and intimate family portrait, as populated with a wonderfully detailed central quartet. It's also a tender and touching coming-of-age story that's equally about sexual awakenings, farewelling childhood and confronting the worst that a teen can face, too. And, it's a movie layered with details about the tidbits that shape us in moments big and small, be it sport or friends or family practical jokes, and it always feels personal. As always, Sorrentino guides wonderful performances out of his cast — along with his striking cinematic eye, its long been one of his best filmic traits — and The Hand of God is never better than when Scotti, Joubert, Saponangelo and Servillo light up the screen together. BACK TO THE OUTBACK Joining the lengthy list of all-ages-friendly animated flicks that preach the importance of being yourself and not judging others on appearance (see also: Encanto and Ron's Gone Wrong), Back to the Outback hits screens with two differences. This overly glossy film is set in Australia, and sports the Aussie voice cast to prove it — Eric Bana, Isla Fisher, Jacki Weaver, Miranda Tapsell, Tim Minchin, Guy Pearce and even Kylie Minogue — while focusing on our native critters. Here, no one should assume a koala is nice, for instance. Fearing spiky, snapping and slithering creatures is similarly frowned upon. That's an immensely well-worn life lesson for kids, and also echoes with cognitive dissonance. When the animals in question are crocodiles, snakes and spiders, wanting them to be your next Finding Nemo or Finding Dory-style pet is hardly the best choice. Misreading how children will likely respond to the movie — begging for their own creatures, rather than taking a message they've already heard countless times to heart yet again — is one of Back to the Outback's many missteps. It smacks of trying to give a by-the-numbers formula a local spin but not thinking it through, a feeling that's also evoked elsewhere in the movie. Take its Steve Irwin-esque zookeeper Chaz Hunt (Bana, The Dry), who plays like a mean-spirited parody, and is the villain of the piece. Again, it must've been a quick decision to caricature Irwin and, while that choice is eventually grounded in the script, it really just seems like the easiest shorthand to make the movie more stereotypically Aussie. In the same vein, Chaz also mentions Vegemite and budgy smugglers when he's not uttering "crikey", unsurprisingly. He dons khaki and hosts wildlife shows at his Sydney zoo, too, which is where taipan Maddie (Fisher, Godmothered), funnel web spider Frank (Pearce, Mare of Easttown), scorpion Nigel (Angus Imrie, Emma) and thorny devil Zoe (Tapsell, Top End Wedding) all live — but koala Pretty Boy (Minchin, Upright) is the star of the show. That truth hits home for the sensitive Maddie when she makes her public debut and is called a monster because of her venom, while the cute and cuddly PB is a viral sensation the world over. Maternal croc Jackie (Weaver, Penguin Bloom) counsels not to take it all personally, although that's obviously easier said than done. So is the escape plan to flee the zoo and head back to the outback in search of her family — and yes, the film does utter its title in dialogue. Directed by Clare Knight (The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part's editor) and Harry Cripps (screenwriter of The Dry and Penguin Bloom, and also this), Back to the Outback hails from the distraction-filled school of family-centric filmmaking. Think: expensive and overt needle drops that add nothing to the story, but will keep kids bopping ('Bad Guy' is one such choice here); and a need to pack in as many flimsy jokes as possible in the hope that some will stick and, even if they don't, that they'll all keep viewers moving onto the next thing split-seconds later. Also high among its grating traits is an evident lack of understanding that great stories rather than half-baked sight gags and onslaughts of colour and movement make all-ages filmmaking special. Oh, and Back to the Outback's overemphasis on celebrity voicework is just as testing, as is that aforementioned heavy-handed messaging. SIT. STAY. LOVE. As Netflix keeps reminding its subscribers each and every festive season, Christmas rom-coms aren't usually known for their style, substance or depth. Instead, the most stereotypical flicks in the genre tend to favour cheese and cliches decked out in seasonal trimmings, and are designed to be consumed as easily and undemandingly as possible. They're the brandy custard of the cinema world, or the candy canes used to stuff stockings. Filler is a great way to describe the Hallmark-style fare that keeps getting churned out, too. Releasing in cinemas but surely destined to settle into a streaming platform's end-of-year roster in the future, Sit. Stay. Love is one such movie. And, while it gleefully owns all of its tropes — and all that Christmas packaging — that isn't the same as giving viewers a present. Festive-themed romantic-comedy meets animal-centric heartstring-tugger: even with an Eat Pray Love-knockoff of a title, that's the recipe here. Christmas brings people together, cute critters do as well, and Sit. Stay. Love doesn't hide either the formula at work or how blatantly it's splicing together two well-worn templates. The Australian-made film is better at getting a Gold Coast studio to stand in for Vermont in the thick of winter — because that's how firmly the movie embraces cookie-cutter Christmas flick inclusions, requisite snowy backdrop and all. Director Tori Garrett (Don't Tell) has nowhere near the same success in presenting the Australian cast as American, though, adding unconvincing accents to the feature's sack of struggles. As paint-by-numbers as it is, there's still wholesome potential in Sit. Stay. Love's premise, as penned by veteran sitcom writer Holly Hester (Ellen, Grace Under Fire, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The Drew Carey Show). Overachiever Annie (Georgia Flood, American Princess) has returned to New England after a stint building a school in Nepal, but the aid worker still needs to keep herself busy — lest she actually spend meaningful time with her dad (Anthony Phelan, The Nightingale) and come to terms with her mother's death in the process. When the local animal rescue charity looks set to go under, her solution is to help save it, and to try to find homes for three of its dogs. But that isn't enough of a feel-good setup, so Sit. Stay. Love also has Annie flirtatiously banter with her old debating nemesis, Dylan (Ezekiel Simat, Back to the Rafters), who's now the town vet. The schmaltz falls as thick as snow, the dialogue is trite and no one's putting in their best performance. They're all hallmarks of exactly this kind of Christmas movie, as is the complete absence of surprises served up by the plot. Still, simply adhering to a terrible pattern shouldn't be any feature's biggest strength, even in a genre as padded out and merrily content to always stick to the obvious as seasonal rom-coms. Festive flicks have a built-in recourse to criticism — if you don't like them, you must be a grinch, or so the accusation goes — but saying bah humbug to cloying movies shouldn't stop at any time of the year. The dogs are adorable, at least, but that was always going to be a given. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on August 5, August 12, August 19 and August 26; September 2, September 9, September 16, September 23 and September 30; October 7, October 14, October 21 and October 28; and November 4, November 11, November 18 and November 25. For Sydney specifically, you can take a look at out our rundown of new films that released in Sydney cinemas when they reopened on October 11, and what opened on October 14, October 21 and October 28 as well. And for Melbourne, you can check out our top picks from when outdoor cinemas reopened on October 22 — and from when indoor cinemas did the same on October 29. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Suicide Squad, Free Guy, Respect, The Night House, Candyman, Annette, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Streamline, Coming Home in the Dark, Pig, Big Deal, The Killing of Two Lovers, Nitram, Riders of Justice, The Alpinist, A Fire Inside, Lamb, The Last Duel, Malignant, The Harder They Fall, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, Halloween Kills, Passing, Eternals, The Many Saints of Newark, Julia, No Time to Die, The Power of the Dog, Tick, Tick... Boom!, Zola, Last Night in Soho, Blue Bayou, The Rescue, Titane, Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn.
Loved by locals, Cafe Terroni is renowned in Melbourne's west for its friendly service and warm atmosphere. Their pasta is freshly made every single day, from the pillowy ravioli filled with fresh crayfish, prawn and crustacean oil ($33.90) to their allergen-friendly vegan, almond-based, gluten-free beetroot gnocchi ($24.90). If you're feeling adventurous, have a peek at their daily rotation of specials — the fish of the day is exceptionally fresh. Finding a park in the area can be a bit of a nightmare though, so we recommend catching a ride on Melbourne's (mostly) reliable PTV for the night.
Doppelgängers: they're more than just a science-fiction staple, a key part of Twin Peaks and the reason that plenty of actors keep winning awards. Whether you've been mistaken for someone else, been sent a photo of someone who could be your twin or walked past a painting or snap that could double as a mirror, we've all had one of those moments. If you'd like more — and you'd like to see how your likeness has been represented in the art world — Google's Arts and Culture app can now help. While the app itself isn't new, launching back in 2016, the ability to search by uploading your own selfies — or photos of someone else — is. Users are prompted to take a photo, which the app then compares against its database of art from over a thousand museums and galleries in 70 countries. If one of them looks like you, depending on your expression and hairstyle in the photo, it'll do its best to find it. At the moment, the new feature doesn't appear to be available in all parts of the world as yet, so if you're fond of taking pics of yourself and finding your likeness in the creative world, fingers crossed that it'll be rolled out soon. There's no point snapping away as practice, as the feature will only allow you to upload a newly taken photo. One side effect, once you can try it out: wanting to visit a whole heap of galleries and museums to see your artistic doppelgängers in person. UPDATE: JANUARY 20, 2018: Google Arts and Culture app users in Australia can now access the selfie submission feature. Users should scroll down until they see the "search with your selfie" tile, which will then take you through the steps. Via Mashable.
Melbourne's CBD has no shortage of rooftop bars, with plenty packed out every time the sun decides to grace us with its presence. But The Q at the Quincy Hotel still manages to fly under the radar most days, even though it has such a prime location on the corner of Flinders Lane and King Street. To find it, you'll need to head into the Melbourne hotel and make your way to the 28th floor. Here lies the hotel pool (sadly, only available to hotel guests) and The Q, with its large indoor drinking and dining area and narrow wrap-around terrace. The indoor dining space is great, but you really come here for the views. When entering, make a beeline for the few benches located outside in the sunshine, boasting sweeping views over the city skyline and the Yarra. While many Melbourne rooftop bars are still within the city skyline, The Q rises above most other towers in the area. You really feel high above it all up here. Booze-wise, The Q is more of a luxe cocktail haunt than a casual beer and wine spot. And you'll realise this the moment you walk through the door, as you're greeted by the rhythmic sounds of cocktail shakers. Seasonal signature sips cover a broad range of spirits and flavour profiles, and you can count on the classics to be top-notch. Bar food comes courtesy of the downstairs Salted Egg restaurant, which champions elevated Southeast Asian street food. Everything is portioned out for snacking, including the fresh oysters topped with red nahm jim; fluffy pork baos; raw tuna in prawn rice cups; chicken ribs with garlic chilli fish sauce; and wild mushroom lettuce cups. Many of these options are one-bite snacks, perfect for when you're juggling a cocktail in your other hand. And to coax local workers and hotel guests up to the rooftop, the team even offers a wicked happy hour deal. From 4–6pm, Thursday to Saturday, you'll get 20% off all food and bevs. Alternatively, take advantage of the The Q's semi-regular bottomless cocktail package. The inclusions of this unlimited booze deal change from time to time, but from April–June 2024, it's all about free-flowing margaritas. If you needed an excuse to head skyward, this should do the trick.
Two Spanish couples on holiday, the tale of a real-life Barcelona bus driver and a crime thriller set in the Basque Country: if you're looking to swap Australia's winter for Euro vibes from your cinema seat, they're some of the highlights in store. When the middle of the year hits Down Under each year, the Spanish Film Festival brightens up Aussie picture palaces with a lineup of movies from its namesake country. Exploring the breadth of Spanish-language cinema, it also showcases flicks from Latin America. Thirty films are on the fest's just-announced program for 2025, which is touring across Australia in June and July. Across various dates between Wednesday, June 11–Wednesday, July 9, audiences in Canberra, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, Ballarat, Sydney, Byron Bay and Ballina can enjoy a roster of picks that includes a Sliding Doors-style opener, this year's two Goya Best Film winners and a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Nine Queens. Among the films mentioned above, Samana Sunrise is kicking of the festival with 20-year pals on a beachside getaway to the Dominican Republic when what might've been becomes the focus. Then, both El 47 and Undercover have prime slots fresh from their shared victory at Spain's version of the Oscars. The first heads back to the 70s to tell of bus driver Eduard Fernández's peaceful act of dissidence, while the second also unfurls a true tale, this time about the only police officer in Spain's history that has worked their way into terrorist organisation ETA. If you've been watching Ricardo Darín in recent Netflix hit The Eternaut, then you'll want to head back a quarter-century to see the Argentinian star's stellar work in heist flick Nine Queens — or revisit it if you're already a fan. It's closing out this year's Spanish Film Festival, screening in 4K. Other highlights across the program include The Quiet Maid, which was completely funded by NFTs, boasts Steven Soderbergh (Presence, Black Bag) as an executive producer, and follows a Colombian maid who discovers how to enjoy her summer while working on the Costa Brava; Ocho, charting a relationship over 90 years; the page-to-screen The Goldsmith's Secret; and Spanish box-office hit Wolfgang, a comedy a nine-year-old boy being set to live with his father. Or, there's Argentinian crime-thriller A Silent Death, which heads Patagonia in the 80s; El Jockey, with Money Heist and The Day of the Jackal's Úrsula Corberó among the Buenos Aires-set film's cast; and Peru's Through Rocks and Clouds, where an eight-year-old alpaca herder gets excited about the World Cup. With Marco, The Invented Truth, another slice of reality graces the lineup, this time honing in on the man who acted as the speaker of the Spanish association of Holocaust victims. The same is the case with I Am Nevenka, Nevenka Fernández's report of harassment by her employer in the 90s. Two documentaries also demonstrate how fact is frequently more fascinating than fiction, with Mugaritz. No Bread, No Dessert all about its eponymous Michelin-starred restaurant and The Flamenco Guitar of Yerai Cortés celebrating a rising star of its titular genre. From there, audiences can also catch the Canary Islands-set Babies Don't Come with Instructions, dive into mother-daughter relationships with Little Loves, follow three three Mexican American sisters retracing their grandmother's footsteps in Las Tres Sisters, Miguel Gila tribute May I Speak with the Enemy and queer drama Baby — and plenty more. Spanish Film Festival 2025 Dates Wednesday, June 11–Wednesday, July 2 — Palace Electric Cinema, Canberra Wednesday, June 11–Wednesday, July 2 — Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas and Palace Prospect Cinemas, Adelaide Wednesday, June 11–Wednesday, July 2 — Palace James Street and Palace Barracks, Brisbane Thursday, June 12–Wednesday, July 2 — Palace Raine Square Cinemas, Luna Leederville and Luna on SX, Perth Friday, June 13–Wednesday, July 2 — The Astor Theatre, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Penny Lane, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Palace Balwyn and Pentridge Cinema, Melbourne Friday, June 13–Wednesday, July 2 — Palace Regent Theatre, Ballarat Thursday, June 19–Wednesday, July 9 — Palace Norton Street, Palace Moore Park, Palace Central and Chauvel Cinema, Sydney Thursday, June 19–Wednesday, July 9 — Palace Byron Bay, Byron Bay Thursday, June 19–Wednesday, July 9 — Ballina Fair Cinemas, Ballina The 2025 Spanish Film Festival tours Australia in June and July. For more information or to buy tickets, visit the festival's website.
It's never too early to start dreaming of balmier days and all those al fresco sipping sessions to fill the sunny season. But this year, you can get a headstart on putting those plans into action, with Arbory Afloat revealing it'll return in its latest incarnation as early as next week. After a winter hibernation, the famed floating bar and restaurant will reclaim its prime position in front of on-shore sister venue Arbory Bar & Eatery, opening the doors for its next season on Wednesday, September 21 — just in time for the four-day weekend Melbourne's just been gifted. As always, Arbory Afloat will be rocking a whole new persona to the last time we saw it, this year pulling inspiration from the Balearic Islands, and the free-spirited energy of Ibiza, Formentera, Menorca and Mallorca. Expect holiday vibes in abundance once you step aboard — even if Melbourne's holiday weather hasn't flown into town quite just yet. A Spanish-accented food offering will span from pintxos and tapas, to bocadillos (sandwiches) and raciones (shared bites); best enjoyed while kicking back overlooking the Yarra and soaking up what the Arbory Afloat team is calling its "dreamiest design yet". Your Ibiza party dreams will be well catered to with concoctions like pina coladas, spritzes, sangria and Porn Star Sour Martinis, featured alongside a range of share-friendly cocktail jugs. Meanwhile, a wine list filled with local and international names will be heavy on Spanish varietals — think, albariño, tempranillo and mencía — and easy-drinking Mediterranean-style brews are set to rule the beer lineup. [caption id="attachment_742538" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Arbory Afloat 2019, by Simon Shiff[/caption] Catch Arbory Afloat 2022/23 at Flinders Landing from 4pm on September 21. Opening hours will be 11am–1am daily, from September 22 onwards. Top Image: Arbory Afloat 2019, by Arianna Leggiero
UPDATE: MONDAY, AUGUST 12 — The RTBU announced last night, Sunday, August 11, that after "construction conversations" with Metro Trains, it would not be proceeding with its planned industrial action between August 12–19. Instead, it'll be "work as usual" from today onwards as the union continues to negotiate a new agreement. The four-hour stoppage on Tuesday, August 27, however, is still on the table — we'll let you know if that changes. If your daily commute involves catching the train, you're in for a disrupted day on Tuesday, August 27. After discussing the matter for months, the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) will go on strike — although, while a 48-hour walk-off had been proposed, its members will only stop work for four hours. All services will be affected between 10am–2pm. The stoppage will occur between hectic peak-hour periods; however it's reasonable to expect disruptions both before and after the scheduled period as a flow-on effect. The move comes after an eventful week, with the RTBU originally stating that its members would keep ticket barriers open all day on both August 12 and 19 — effectively giving Melburnians two days of free travel. Then, on Friday, August 9, the Federal Court of Australia ruled in favour of an injunction filed by Metro Trains, causing the RBTU to cancel that part of its initial plans. At the same time, the new stoppage was announced, involving not only drivers but commuter-facing employees as well. Speaking to The Age, the RBTU Victorian Branch secretary Luba Grigorovitch said that the strike was in response to Metro's decision to dock the pay of any workers involved in the union's upcoming actions, and not a reaction to the Federal Court decision. https://www.facebook.com/RTBUVic/photos/a.905557212842062/2541434102587690/?type=3&theater Other plans for the period between August 12–19 remain in effect. RBTU staff still won't be checking Myki cards on both August 12 and 19, although the barriers will remain closed and require a swipe to pass through. Commuter-facing employees will also scrap their uniforms indefinitely from August 12, too, and workers will refuse to participate in any training for Melbourne's soon-to-launch high-capacity trains between August 12–18. Between these dates, drivers will also refuse to operate any train that doesn't have fully operational public address systems and passenger emergency intercoms. And there'll be no skipping stations, alternate services running, or announcements by drivers to alert when their trains are running late. The union, which supports over 35,000 members Australia wide, has seen months of failed negotiations with Metro Trains, while trying to secure a new enterprise agreement, cut a new wage deal and call for improved working conditions. "This industrial action is aimed at Metro's hip pocket, not the travelling public," explained Grigorovitch in a statement. With negotiations still under way, it's possible no strike will go ahead, though only if Metro and the RTBU reach a satisfiable agreement in time. Melburnians also look set to endure tram disruptions in the near future, as part of a separate set of failed negotiations with Yarra Trams. RBTU members have voted for industrial action across the tram network, including a strike of up to 48 hours. There's no word yet as to when the latter may happen, although it's expected within the next 30 days. Image: Josie Withers for Visit Victoria
Plenty of music polls have claimed to name the best songs ever made and, whatever they've chosen, they've sparked a heap of debate in the process. It's a tough, tricky and supremely subjective task, of course. But if 'Lick My Love Pump', 'Sex Farm' and 'Hell Hole' isn't on these lists, can you really trust them? If you're a This Is Spinal Tap fan, then no. Come 2024, those tunes just might have some more company — because the team behind the iconic 1984 music mockumentary is getting the band back together. Get ready to spend more time with David St Hubbins (Michael McKean, Better Call Saul), Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer, The Simpsons), and Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest, Mascots), aka the loudest, most explosive band in the world — at least according to their original movie outing. If you're new to all things Spinal Tap, the fictional English heavy metal band first debuted on American TV in 1979; however, it was This Is Spinal Tap that made them legends. With this trio, there is indeed a fine line between stupid and clever — and turning it up to 11 is a must. They've reformed IRL a number of times, too, and released albums. As reported by Variety and Deadline, filmmaker Rob Reiner (The Princess Bride, A Few Good Men) is returning to direct this four-decades-later on-screen followup, which'll release in 2024 to mark the OG flick's 40th anniversary. He'll also resume his role on-camera in Spinal Tap II as well, playing fictional filmmaker Marty DiBergi. The plot will follow the band as they reunite yet again to do one last in-film concert. They contractually owe it to their manager, who has passed away but his widow is insistent. This Is Spinal Tap isn't just an 80s comedy gem that everyone needs to see at least once, and actually several times more than that. Every music documentary since for the past four decades has followed in its footsteps, straightforward and satirical alike. Also, Spinal Tap's name has become shorthand for OTT bands who take themselves too seriously. Like all sequels made oh-so-many years later, Spinal Tap II is the kind of film that you'll believe is actually, genuinely, really happening when you're sitting in a cinema watching it, though, and coming up with your own two-word review. Still, best mark March 19, 2024 in your diaries now. And, in the interim, you can check out the trailer for the OG This Is Spinal Tap below: Spinal Tap II is set to release on March 19, 2024. We'll update you with further details when they're announced. Via Variety/Deadline.
For the "it's better down where it's wetter" crowd, Disney Cruise Line takes that The Little Mermaid sentiment to heart, albeit while remaining on top of the water. Mouse House darlings, if you like Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars-themed stints sailing the ocean, then you'll love holidaying on the huge entertainment company's ships. As announced in 2022, its 'Magic at Sea' cruises will initially launch Down Under this October — and, because Disney loves sequels, the cruises have already locked in their return visit. Not only will sailing with the Mouse House from Australia and Aotearoa become a possibility for the first time between October 2023–February 2024, but it'll also be on the cards for getaways between October 2024–February 2025 as well. And, once again departing from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland, Disney Cruise Lines's second Down Under season will feature new itineraries, taking passengers to Eden in New South Wales, Hobart in Tasmania and Noumea in New Caledonia. [caption id="attachment_868737" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Todd Anderson[/caption] On offer for round two of this whole new cruising world (for Australians and New Zealanders wanting to depart close to home, that is) on the Disney Wonder: sailings for between two and seven nights — your pick — where you'll watch live musical shows, see Disney characters everywhere you look and eat in spaces decked out like Disney movies. Those musicals include a Frozen show; another production dedicated to the company's old-school favourites like Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Cinderella and Aladdin; and a Golden Mickeys performance, which is obviously all about Mickey Mouse. Or, there's a Mickey party set to DJ beats and a pirate shindig on the vessel's deck. While not every show and party is available on all cruises — especially the two-night option — the entertainment also includes Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Moana, Tiana, Cinderella, Woody, Jessie and more wandering around the ship. And, Chewbacca, Rey, Spider-Man, Captain Marvel and Thor as well, if you like hanging out around folks in costumes. Also on the list of things to do and see onboard as you explore the Disney Wonder's 11 decks: fireworks, plus movies — Disney flicks, naturally — in the ship's own cinema. The dining setup rotates, so each day of the cruise takes you to a different location with a different theme. One day, you'll hit up the Animator's Palate, which focuses on bringing Disney characters to life — including getting patrons to draw their own characters — and on the next, you'll get munching in a restaurant inspired by The Princess and the Frog, and serving up New Orleans-inspired dishes. Or, there's also Triton's, which offers an under the sea theme given it's named after Ariel's father, and does four-course French and American suppers. For folks travelling with young Disney devotees, there's also a whole range of activities just for kids — but adults without littlies in tow are definitely catered for, complete with a dedicated pool for travellers aged 18 and over, an adults-only cafe, the Crown & Fin pub, cocktail bar Signals, Italian eatery Palo, and a day spa and salon. Dates for Disney Cruise Line's second round of trips from Australia and New Zealand vary per city of departure, as do prices, but you can expect to enter this whole new ocean-faring world from $1214 per person for two nights in a double-occupancy room from Brisbane, $1413 out of Auckland, $1477 from Melbourne and $1889 departing from Sydney. And, room-wise, there's ten different types to choose from — some with private verandahs, and some with ocean views through portholes. [caption id="attachment_868736" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Matt Stroshane[/caption] [caption id="attachment_904977" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Matt Stroshane[/caption] Disney Cruise Line's 'Magic at Sea' cruises will sail from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland for their first season between October 2023–February 2024, and for their just-announced second season between October 2024–February 2025. Bookings for season two open at 10pm AEST on Monday, June 26. For more information, head to the cruise line's website. Images: Disney.
If a comet was hurtling towards earth on a collision course that'd wipe out all life as we currently know it, you'd think that humanity would react — and fast. But in the trailer for Netflix's new disaster comedy Don't Look Up, only two people really care: astronomy professor Dr Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and his grad student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence, X-Men: Dark Phoenix). To everyone else, the impending end of the world isn't really something to worry about. The President (Meryl Streep, The Prom) and her son and Chief of Staff (Jonah Hill, The Beach Bum) barely seem to mind, the media definitely doesn't, and neither does the general public. Instead, Kate goes viral for screaming about the apocalypse as she and Randall embark on a media tour to try to convince the planet that being obliterated — in less than six months, and by a Mount Everest-sized comet that's orbiting our solar system — really is kind of a big deal. Forget Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck endeavouring to save the world from an asteroid, because that's so 1998. The former "king of the world" and Katniss Everdeen teaming up to stop a comet from eradicating earth is the firmly 2021 version. And, after first being announced at the beginning of the year — as part of Netflix's lengthy list of new flicks heading its way before 2022 hits — and then dropping a teaser trailer back in September, Don't Look Up now has a full trailer so you can catch a glimpse of how that'll all play out. The film thankfully isn't a sequel to the aforementioned Armageddon. Instead, it's the latest movie from The Big Short and Vice director Adam McKay — and it's set to hit both cinemas and the streaming platform in December. As well as its two high-profile leads, Don't Look Up also stars basically every other actor you can think of, including Timothée Chalamet (Little Women), Cate Blanchett (Where'd You Go, Bernadette), Mark Rylance (The Trial of the Chicago 7), Tyler Perry (Those Who Wish Me Dead), Ron Perlman (Monster Hunter), Himesh Patel (Tenet), Melanie Lynskey (Mrs America), Kid Cudi (Bill & Ted Face the Music) and Ariana Grande. The film will hit Netflix just in time for your Christmas break, dropping on Friday, December 24. It'll also screen in some cinemas from Thursday, December 9, if you'd like to see it on the big screen. And if you're wondering how Don't Look Up will fare tonally, McKay looks like he's in The Big Short and Succession mode, rather than harking back to his Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and Step Brothers days. That said, Blanchett does play a TV host, so maybe the filmmaker will have audiences thinking about Anchorman as well. Check out the full trailer for Don't Look Up below: Don't Look Up will be release in select Australian cinemas on Thursday, December 9, and will be available to stream via Netflix on Friday, December 24. Images: Nico Tavernise/Netflix.
Melbourne has been a real pageant queen lately, having now been crowned Miss Most Liveable City for seven years in a row. We've all seen the glossy shots of laneway cafes and Federation Square that we're known for, and it's true that Melbourne looks great under the sun. But locals know that after dark is when Melbourne truly shines. The city's nightlife is the best on offer in Australia at the moment, and with public transport running all night on weekends, you can enjoy it even more. Instead of waiting out surges, jostling for cabs or sharking innocent pedestrians in an attempt to nab a park, jump on a late-night tram, train or bus and own the night. There's so much on offer at all hours of the eve, and we've got some tips to help you get to know the darker side of Melbourne. SUNSET AT THE BEACH Start your night by jumping on the 96 tram and heading to St Kilda beach. Grab an ice cream or pastry along Acland Street (don't worry about eating dessert before dinner — there are no rules tonight) and head to the sand to sit back and watch as the sun goes down and Luna Park lights up. People-watching is the name of the game here, and dusk is the time of day when all the kookiest subjects come out to play. COCKTAILS AND JAPANESE WITH A TWIST When you've brushed all the sand out of your crevices, it's time to eat. Jump on the 5 tram to Chapel Street, get off at stop 32, and wander down Chapel Street as it comes alive for the dinner rush. Head to Mr Miyagi for dinner, a southside favourite. They don't take bookings for groups of five or less, which is excellent news for cocktail lovers. Wait for your table in their adjacent bar, Yukie's, and sample from their experimental cocktail menu — try the salted watermelon martini garnished with Midori-infused faux olives. Once you're installed at Mr Miyagi's, try their signature snack: the salmon nori taco with grilled salmon belly, sushi rice and spicy mayo, all wrapped up in a seaweed case. Excellent fuel for the long night ahead. POST-DINNER ROOFTOP FEATURE Once you're sufficiently stuffed, prepare your bod for a digestive respite. Head to Windsor Station to get the train to Flinders Street Station. From there, jump on a tram heading up Swanston Street (heck yeah, free tram zone), get off at Bourke Street Mall and head to Rooftop Cinema. For the next few months, they'll be running a cinema program on the roof of the Curtin House building. It features a good mix of cult classics, new releases, deckchairs and a killer view of the city — it's the perfect intermission for your late-night antics. POOL, CRAZY MILKSHAKES OR AFTER-HOURS BOWLS Once you've fully digested both film and food, it's time to kick it up a notch. You have a few options. Take the 86 or 96 trams out to Fitzroy and stop in at the Red Triangle Pool Hall on Argyle Street. Play a few games of pool, and to keep it interesting, make it so the loser buys the winner one of Red Triangle's disgustingly indulgent milkshakes. But if you like your balls close to the ground, stay on the tram a little longer and head up to Fitzroy Bowls Club — it stays open until 10pm and is fully licensed. We recommend booking ahead to guarantee your spot. MIDNIGHT CBD BAR HOPPING Once you're deep in the night, jump on the 86 or 96, and head back into the city. From here, you can choose your own adventure depending on how you feel. We recommend Boilermaker House on Lonsdale for excellent craft beer; Heartbreaker on Russell for pizza, dancing and more pool; Siglo on Spring Street for pure class; Gin Palace down Russell Place for quiet, sexy ambience; or New Guernica to get heavy. Or better yet, take advantage of that free tram zone and stop in at them all. LATE NIGHT KARAOKE No late night is complete without a spot of karaoke. If you need privacy to belt out your heartfelt rendition of When Doves Cry (no judgement — we respect your craft), head to KBOX on La Trobe and book yourself a booth. If you know no shame and want the world to hear your siren song, head to Jankara Karaoke. This tiny, weird karaoke bar on Russell Street is always packed full of people who have no business doing karaoke, but who do it anyway and with unbridled enthusiasm. [caption id="attachment_639262" align="alignnone" width="1620"] Anwyn Howarth.[/caption] EVENING'S END EATS When the night is wrapping up, the sun is peeping over the horizon and you're in serious need of a snack, late night food options are abundant in the city. Shujinko on Russell is 24-hours and Stalactites, everyone's favourite late-night souvas slinger, is also open 'round the clock. And if you need a pick me up, Little Bean Blue on Little Collins opens at 6am, ready to caffeinate you so you don't fall asleep on the tram home — that's definitely not a good look. Whatever you're planning for the weekend, whether it's staying out after midnight or up until dawn, the Night Network will take you wherever you need to go — and then get you home again. Lead image: Brook James.
Following the announcement of Nils Frahm's return to Australia, electronic classical music fans have plenty to salivate over this week. Minimalist, ambient electro-acoustics will bring in 'The Four Seasons' this Spring, the legendary Max Richter is set to make play his first ever Australian show. One of the most influential composers in recent times, the German born, British neoclassical mastermind is set to present the Australian premiere of his celebrated reworking of Vivaldi's masterpiece, 'The Four Seasons', with New York City's 22-piece Wordless Music Orchestra. Following a sold-out Royal Albert Hall show showcasing his seminal 2002 album Memoryhouse, the 48-year-old composer is heading to Melbourne on Monday, November 24 to present both his recomposition of Vivaldi's masterwork and his own sparse 2010 album, Infra — an expansion of his poignant, ambient score composed for a Wayne McGregor ballet once staged at the Royal Opera House. Following piano and synthesiser studies under the great Luciano Berio and ten years with the neo-classical quintet the Piano Circus, Richter has been long-celebrated for countless projects including 2004's Tilda Swinton collaboration, the spoken word full-length album The Blue Notebooks, alongside reams of cinematic scoring to films like Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, Ridley Scott's Prometheus and Clint Eastwood's I. Edgar. "Max is someone we've wanted to have perform here for a very long time and to be able to present this vivid, fresh, mesmerising and precise composer performing his Vivaldi The Four Seasons Recomposed with the vibrant restlessness of the Wordless Orchestra from NYC is something of a dream come true for us," said Ben Marshall, Head of Contemporary Music at Sydney Opera House. The pairing is a solid catch for the Opera House (presented as part of Music at the House), with the Wordless Music Orchestra set to perform Jonny Greenwood's world premiere performance of his There Will Be Blood score in New York City in September. Originally premiered at London's Barbican Centre in 2012, Richter's Vivaldi, The Four Seasons Recomposed apparently discarded 75% of Vivaldi's original material, with Richter using the remainder to loop, phase and rework into a postmodern, minimalist triumph — one that topped the iTunes classic chart in the UK, US and Germany. It's an exciting time for local, contemporary classical fans with a love for electronic innovation. "Every now and then when programming music it becomes clear that something new and significant is emerging. There is currently a strand of rigorous, talented and acclaimed contemporary classical composers who are as comfortable with electronics as they are with formal composition," said Ben Marshall, Head of Contemporary Music at Sydney Opera House. Image credit: Yulia Mahr. https://youtube.com/watch?v=qTapNp-31rU
It's only a few years young, but Australia's most inclusive music festival just keeps getting bigger and better. Case in point: Ability Fest just announced the jam-packed lineup of artists that'll be joining in the fun for its next instalment on Saturday, March 25 — and it's a cracker. Leading the talent firing up the crowds at Melbourne's Birrarung Marr this autumn: Aussie hip hop legends Hilltop Hoods, dance duo Mashd N Kutcher and ARIA Award-winning songstress Sampa the Great, along with names like Paris, Meg Mac, DZ Deathrays, Linda Marigliano and dameeeela. Unfolding across two stages, including one devoted to dance acts, there's something on this program for all kinds of music fiends — with SHOUSE, Telenova, Juno Mamba, Mulalo and Latifa Tee just some of the other artists who'll be working their magic at Ability Fest 2023. The brainchild of 2022 Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott and Untitled Group (the crew behind Pitch Music & Arts and Beyond the Valley), Ability Fest is carefully designed to be completely accessible and as inclusive as they come. It'll feature ramps and pathways for easy access, Auslan interpreters working alongside the artists, and elevated platforms to give everyone a shot at seeing the stage. Plus: quiet zones, a dedicated sensory area, ticketing for companions and accessible toilets. And tickets start from $89. During its life, the not-for-profit fest has raised close to $500,000 for the Dylan Alcott Foundation, while continuing to dish up primo live tunes and music experiences to Aussies of all abilities. "I'm so proud to see the path Ability Fest has already paved for inclusive events across the country," says Alcott. "First and foremost, our main priority is to create a kick-ass festival that happens to be accessible. And that's something I think we've achieved since launching in 2018." Here's the full lineup: ABILITY FEST 2023: Alex Lahey Alter Boy BROODS Daine Dameeeela DJ Cooper Smith DZ Deathrays Hilltop Hoods Juno Mamba Latifa Tee Linda Marigliano Mashd N Kutcher Meg Mac Mulalo PARIS Sampa the Great SHOUSE Telenova The Journey Tiff Cornish Tyson O'Brien YO! MAFIA Ability Fest 2023 will hit Birrarung Marr in Melbourne on Saturday, March 25. Pre-sale tickets are available from 6pm AEDT on Monday, January 23 (register online), with general tickets selling online from 12pm on Tuesday, January 24.
Made in Japan using hakumai — 100 percent Japanese polished short-grain white rice — and filtered through bamboo charcoal, Haku Vodka is as refined as vodka gets. Hakumai is prized for its purity and subtle flavour, and it's what gives Haku Vodka its smooth and subtly sweet profile and clean finish. It's a spirit that rewards slow sipping and thoughtful pairing — an ideal base, in other words, for a martini. This July and August, a handpicked selection of Melbourne bars and restaurants are spotlighting the Japanese vodka with limited-time creative martini serves and paired snacks to match. From sultry laneway cocktail dens to buzzy Euro summer-channelling hot spots, here's where to experience Haku Vodka in its most elegant form.
In 1963, "muckraking" journalist Jessica Mitford (the staunchly left-wing sister-in-law to the UK's most famous pre-war fascist leader) wrote the seminal expose of the funeral industry: The American Way of Death. Mitford revealed funeral-parlour up-selling, lay-by burial rip-offs and a whole seedy underbelly that would sound pretty familiar to anyone who was scared of the undertaking competitors in Six Feet Under. For Matters of Life and Death, the Performance Space has pulled together a number of productions with a similar urge to pry into our fears of the workings of the unspeakable hereafter. Each ruminates on death and our anxieties about this looming personal apocolpyse. To get a better idea of how the undiscovered country has affected their mindset, Concrete Playground asked some of the people behind this season's productions their views on a few pertinent, eschatological questions. Unsettling Suite Is there a theory of death from life, myth or fiction that appeals most to your work? In Bone Library, which will be presented in Unsettling Suite as only a fragment of a much, much larger work. This work was inspired in its earliest stages by the historic repatriation of burial pouches, full of incinerated bone meal, to the Aboriginal people of Tasmania by the British Museum. Traditional Aboriginal burial rituals are really beautiful, I think, if it were still possible under Commonwealth law, which it isn't, of course, I'd love to meet my end in a traditional way. The body of the person is left out, above ground, inside a cave or a hollow log. The animals and insects feast on the remains, and after the bones have been picked clean, the skeleton is retrieved. The bones are regarded as objects of absolute preciousness, of course, they are the only physical remainder of your loved one. So the bones are distributed among the family, who carry the bone with them. One of the most shocking and irreconcilable things about death is the sudden and absolute absence of the person. Even if a person declines slowly, the moment of death is always sudden and always a shock to us emotionally and spiritually. I really think we have been stripped of whatever tools we once had to deal with this most basic fact of our humanity. I do wish that that I could carry the bones of the people I love, and that they could carry mine, with the knowledge that the rest of me has gone back into the land to nourish the continued cycle of life. Sarah-Jane Norman's Unsettling Suite is on February 23 to March 10. Photo by Penelope Benton. The Last Supper What is your production's view of death? It's odd that the word production is used in the same sentence as death — they don't sit well together. I'd never say that our Last Supper project is about death. It's about a lot of things: life, history, fame, executions, revolution, change, eating too much, eating too little. We serve last meal requests from prisoners who were on death row Texas. It takes the title of an event from a man who was also to be executed 2000 years ago, but we're serving food. And some of that food has meant the death of something else. If I start to get involved in this thought process, I find myself becoming stuck in a repeating cycle. You know the experience of experiencing this performance will die away, eventually. Or it will change. Or it might inspire another performance. I do hope so. Mole Wetherall answered on behalf of Reckless Sleepers. The Last Supper runs February 27 - March 9. NightTime: Live and Let Die Is there a theory of death from life, myth or fiction that appeals most to your work? Albert Brooks' 1991 Defending Your Life is my favourite movie about the afterlife. Purgatory is an LA courtroom where your life is examined to see if you're brave enough to go to heaven. Also Meryl Streep is really good in it. Our edition of Nighttimes will hopefully be a similar. People being as brave and adventurous as they can, while you sit back and judge them. With some death metal thrown in. Eddie Sharp is the guest curator for Matters of Life and Death's Nighttime: Live and Let Die on March 2. Photo by Lucy Parakhina. Mortality talking - Gas Bag What is your production's view of death? If we have an intimate relationship with the fact that our life — all life — will and does end, then this impacts on the choices we make, and the quality of our time in this fleshy envelope. This gasbag. This is why it's imperative to get the social and cultural practices around death (eg the funeral industry) and dying (as a medicalised experience) re-contextualised as the inevitable extension of our birthright. Back into our vocabulary, our thoughts, understanding and — for those who want to — our hands. How to create death literacy? That's what my practice as a death literacy educator, celebrant, artist and counselor is about and those are the ideas that Mortality Talking is playing with. Victoria Spence responded on behalf of Mortality Talking- Gas Bag. It plays on March 9. There's also a questionnaire feeding into the performance. Photo by Heidrun Lohr. Death (cha) Kucha What is your productions' view of death? At the Centre for the History of Emotions we are particularly interested in the emotional aspects of death and dying. One powerful example is suicide. Suicide is hard to talk about. It involves immense psychic pain, both on an individual level and amongst society more broadly. If we can uncover various forms of emotional response to suicide from various cultures across history, then we can begin to place our own understanding of that impulse and its consequences in perspective. This kind of historical understanding has the potential to inform current medical practices. At Death(cha) Kucha we will be discussing suicide, as well as executions, infanticide and other social taboos. Our aim is to critically engage our audience with their own attitude towards death; right before they sit down to Reckless Sleepers' The Last Supper. Gabriel Watts responded on behalf of the death-focused pecha-kucha, Death(cha) Kucha: with the Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions, on March 8. Image of the Dance of Death. Performance Anxiety What is your production's view of death? Some of the characters die, some are killed, some kill, some stare death directly in the face; and some are consumed by the overwhelming sense of loss that the death of a loved one can bring. Performance Anxiety acknowledges that death is inevitable. Alongside this acknowledgement of death, though, it also seeks to embrace life,and especially an approach to life that is not unnecessarily encumbered by fear and anxiety. Brian Lucas's Performance Anxiety is on February 27 - March 8. Photo by Fiona Cullen. Desensitising Death: A Night of Film What culture do you think deals best with death? In comparison to other cultures, the Western World shrouds death in secrecy and still refuses to integrate it into our lives. This cannot be said when it comes to popular culture and the world of entertainment. Since the birth of cinema, death has been exploited on the screen for its entertainment value. Miss Death and Jay Katz's Desensitising Death: A Night of Film plays at the Clubhouse program, March 9. Image from Psycho.
From The Muppet Christmas Carol to The Santa Clause to The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Disney has long been fond of Christmas films. And now that the huge entertainment company is about to launch its own streaming platform, we can foresee plenty more festive Mouse House flicks in movie-lovers' futures — starting this November with Noelle. Vying to become your next seasonal favourite, Noelle stars Anna Kendrick as the titular character, who also happens to be the daughter of Kris Kringle. When her dad retires, her brother Nick (Bill Hader) is supposed to take over the reins (and reindeer). But, after he gets even colder feet than usual at the North Pole and heads south to become a yoga instructor, it's up to the perennially perky Noelle to save the day. Festive film fans can look forward to Kendrick being oh-so-bubbly, Hader in the slacker mode he plays so well and Billy Eichner as the Kringle siblings' sarcastic IT worker cousin Gabriel. Based on the trailer, this streaming flick is firmly aiming for feel-good territory — not just because it tasks one of Hollywood's most likeable actors with salvaging Christmas, but because it's directed by rom-com veteran Marc Lawrence (the filmmaker behind Two Weeks Notice and Music and Lyrics, and the writer of Miss Congeniality and its sequel). Get festive watching the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBDnQkQUTGU Noelle will be available to stream on Disney+ when it launches Down Under on November 19.
Melbourne's South Wharf has an all-day Japanese bar serving up freezing cold brews, creative cocktails, share plates and even breakfast seven days a week. Citizen's major draw here is its cocktail menu ($18-20), which offers Japanese sake, umeshu, gin and whisky concoctions. Fans of sours will be happy to find a matcha version — mixed with Nikka gin, ginger syrup and egg white — or the Jasmine Yuzu, combining yuzu gin, jasmine tea, honey and egg white. There's also the Canteen Spritz (Nikka whisky, prosecco and elderflower syrup) and the Bubble T (souchong tea, amaro, Cointreau, lime and milk) to choose from, among others. The bar has also partnered with Asahi to bring Melburnians sub-zero beers, which have been chilled to -2.2 degrees. A succinct wine menu is also on offer. As to be expected, Japanese-inspired snacks are available alongside the drinks menu. There are miso eggplant chips ($12), prawn and chicken chilli dumplings ($16) and crispy barramundi wings with seaweed mayo ($16). For more substantial eats, go for the pork tonkatsu sando ($17) or one of three brown rice bowls, including a beef short rib number with kimchi and miso barbecue sauce ($26) and the grilled koji tofu with asparagus and yuzu ($21). For dessert, there's a matcha ice cream sandwich ($11) and a miso chocolate brownie ($11). Open from 7am weekdays and 8am on weekends, diners can also nab coffees and typical Aussie brekkies here — think Dr Marty's crumpets with miso honey ($10), along with ham and cheese croissants ($9), baked eggs ($14) and BLTs ($12). But this daytime vibe quickly disappears come evening, when the neon-lit bar comes alive to transport punters to Tokyo for a night.
Keen to try more wines but don't have time to hit the vineyards? Le Méridien Melbourne hears you — it's launched a monthly wine club in its bar, Intermission. Once a month, on a Saturday evening, head along to meet a winemaker and sample several drops you've probably never tried before. Your $45 ticket covers four glasses of wine, plus matching small plates, like cheese and charcuterie boards, and fried calamari with smoked whipped ricotta. In June, you'll be in the company of Scorpo Vineyard & Wines — a family-run winery on the Mornington Peninsula that's been producing small-batch wines since 2002. At Intermission, your tasting menu includes the 2024 Aubaine Chardonnay, the 2024 pinot gris, and two pinot noirs: the 2023 Norien and the 2021 Eocene. In between sips, Scorpo will share the stories behind the wines with you, and you'll have plenty of time to ask questions. Tickets are available online.
The last year has seen the resurgence of wines in alternative packaging. Instead of the standard 750mL glass bottle, winemakers are packing their beloved grapes into cans, casks, boxes and Tetra Paks. Wines in cans, which used to be a novelty, have been redesigned, and the quality of the wines inside have increased exponentially. They're a responsible way to drink in a myriad of locations where glass might not be permitted, such as campgrounds, festivals and beaches. Packaging quality wines in vessels like bags and casks also protects the liquids from outside air and other influences for longer, which guarantees a fresher and more consistent glass of wine. The smaller packaging has a secondary benefit, too: portion control. You can drink the wine the way it's supposed to be drunk — a glass at a time — without feeling pressured to drink the entire bottle (for fear it will go off). It's also much easier to transport on road trips. One canned beverage that we fully endorse is Sparkke's #TimesUp sparkling white wine. It's predominantly chardonnay, with equal parts pinot grigio and riesling. The chardonnay gives the wine its structure and body, the pinot grigio some texture and tropical fruit flavours and the riesling creates a nice acidity and length. Sparkke is a for-purpose alcohol company, with 10-percent of sales from each of its drinks going to a different cause. The company has previously given to charities supporting refugees, same-sex marriage rights and climate change. And its latest drink — the aforementioned sparkling white wine — is raising money for the International Women's Development Agency, which works toward achieving gender equality across the globe. To help you separate the fads from the flavoursome, we've picked the best wines (and one sake) in alternative packaging — perfect to pack in the esky for your next camping adventure. SHOPPING LIST 1. Sparkke #TimesUp sparkling white wine, Adelaide Hills & McLaren Vale, 250ml can, $35 for four 2. 2017 Elephant in the Room chardonnay, Limestone Coast, 250 mL can, $4.75 or $18 for four Bursting with peach, guava and melon flavours, interwoven with toasty oak elements, this wine has a fresh acidity on the palate that makes way for a pleasant and dry finish. Pair with your favourite pit-stop chicken sandwiches. 3. 2017 Le Chat Noir Rosé, Gers & Aude Valley France, 250 mL can, $5.70 or $22 for four This wine has everything you want from a rosé — a pale colour and a dry palate. Notes of rose petals and strawberries almost jump out of the can, too. The dryness of the wine is well balanced with fresh berry notes, and it has an almost crunchy texture in the mouth. Take a can with you when you're foraging for fresh mulberries. 4. Kunizakari Tanrei Yuzushu, 1L Tetra Pak, $48 Need a break from wine (for a short moment)? We've got you covered. Yuzu is a native Japanese citrus, and when combined with young-style sake it creates yuzushu (think of it as the Japanese version of Italian Limoncello). The drink works well on its own or paired with the above sparkling for a DIY campfire spritz. 5. 2016 Casale Sangiovese Blend, Tuscany, 3L Bag in Box, $70, available from Giorgio de Mara Fun Wines or at P&V Wine and Liquor The gold standard of wine in a box, this red blend is biodynamic wine in large format. It smells like rich soil after a fresh rain and tastes like cranberries covered in dark chocolate. Perfect for any kind of barbecue/campfire/grilled meat combo you throw at it. Its convenient three litre bag will keep you going for a long weekend, too. The Oeno Files is our new bi-weekly wine column keeping you up-to-date with the latest wine trends happening around the country. Samantha Payne is a Sydney based wine consultant, writer and sommelier who has worked in the industry for over a decade. She travels, both locally and internationally, to chat with winemakers (and occasionally lend a hand in winemaking), write wine lists and hosts wine events. Images: Lucia Braham
Trying not to think about Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet is about to become impossible in Australia. So will getting Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On' out of your head, where it's dwelled for most people since the Oscar-winning track was released in 1997. The reason: a Titanic exhibition has dropped anchor Down Under and docked at Melbourne Museum until Sunday, April 21. Titanic: The Artefact Exhibition has brought 200-plus items from the shipwreck to the Victorian capital in its Aussie trip after selling out its Paris season and also proving a hit in the US. The pieces on display were legitimately recovered from the vessel's wreck site, too, after the RMS Titanic's ill-fated voyage in April 1912 — aka the events that James Cameron (Avatar: The Way of Water) turned into the DiCaprio (Killers of the Flower Moon)- and Winslet (Ammonite)-starring Titanic more than a quarter-century ago. For everyone bound to exclaim, "I'm the king of the world!" while walking through Titanic: The Artefact Exhibition's Australian-exclusive stop, this is the king of all Titanic exhibitions. In fact, it's the most extensive in the world. As well as seeing the genuine objects from the ship, attendees will wander through full-scale recreations of the vessel's interiors, such as the veranda cafe, first-class parlour suite and grand staircase. In addition to the recovered items and recreations of the Titanic's spaces, the exhibition will tell tales about those onboard the ship that launched its maiden voyage on April 10, 1912, only to sink five days later on April 15, after hitting an iceberg. You'll be able to immerse yourself in the fateful events of that night with interactive exhibits like a touchable iceberg chilled to the temperature of the water the night of the sinking. This exploration of a tragic chapter in history will focus on passengers and crew alike while stepping through the vessel's class divisions and pondering the boat's legacy. Beyond the historical learnings, you can enjoy a Titanic-themed high tea designed by a Michelin-star chef to fully immerse yourself in the era in an elegantly designed lounge. Titanic: The Artefact Exhibition must close on Sunday, April 21. Evening sessions are also available. For more information or to book tickets, visit the website. Images: EMG / Alexandre Schoelcher / Eugene Hyland / Museums Victoria.
Your dream plans for 2025 can now include jetting off to Japan, Hawaii, Bali, South Korea, Thailand, Vanuatu, Singapore and New Zealand, then flying home for free — or, holidaying in Australia while scoring the same deal for getaways to Hamilton Island, Uluru, Cairns, the Gold Coast, Byron Bay and more. For Black Friday 2024, Jetstar has brought back its popular 'return for free' sale. You buy a ticket to your vacation destination, then the carrier covers the cost of you coming home. This time around, in this year's biggest 'return for free' sale, the airline is doing discounted flights across Australia and to a range of international destinations, including to Tokyo, Osaka, Honolulu, Bangkok, Phuket, Seoul, Auckland and Queenstown. Wherever you'd like to head, the key part of this sale is making your way back without paying for the return flight, which'll also make your holiday oh-so-much cheaper. Running from 12am AEDT on Friday, November 29 1–11.59pm AEDT on Sunday, December 1, or until sold out if that happens earlier — with Jetstar members getting an extra 12 hours to access the sale from 12pm AEDT on Thursday, November 28 — 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. Prices obviously vary depending on where you're flying from and to, but some include Brisbane to Tokyo from $373, Sydney to Osaka from the same price, Melbourne to Bali from $219, Perth to Singapore from $165, Sydney to Port Vila from $209, Melbourne to Honolulu from $316 and Sydney to Seoul from $349. Domestic fares span deals such as Sydney to Ballina/Byron from $42, Sydney to Melbourne from $51, Melbourne to Hobart from $67, Sydney to Hamilton Island from $109, Melbourne to Uluru from $115 and Perth to Cairns from $189, You'll be travelling within Australia from mid-July to late October 2025, and from mid-February to mid-September 2025 if you're going global. The caveats that are always in place with Jetstar's 'return for free' deal remain this around. So, you need 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 want 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 — which means that you can go from Brisbane to Tokyo and back, for instance, but can't return via another place or to another city. Jetstar's 2024 Black Friday 'return for free' sale runs from 12am AEDT on Friday, November 29–11.59pm AEDT Sunday, December 1 — or until sold out prior. Jetstar members get an extra 12 hours access to the sale from 12pm AEDT on Thursday, November 28. 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.
So, you've been tasked with planning a standout date for you and your main squeeze, but you can't decide between a romantic dinner or a stroll through a gallery. Well, why choose one when you can have both at once? Digital gallery The Lume is building on the success of its recent Valentine's dinner and launching a new weekly dining series fusing food and art. Running Friday and Saturday nights from April 14, Dining à Deux invites you to enjoy a three-course French feed set against a backdrop of immersive art from the gallery's current French impressionism exhibition. [caption id="attachment_896841" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dijana Risteska[/caption] You'll feast on dishes like duck à l'orange, beef cheeks with creamy Paris mash and chocolate soufflé, while the works of Monet and his contemporaries float around you in the form of giant moving projections. There are two dinner sittings each night, with tables set for two and tickets coming in at $145 per person. Or, step things up a level and nab a front-row table for $160 per person. Drinks are available to purchase separately.
Here's some news you won't read in Lady Whistledown's latest pamphlet — and a reason to frock up like you're in Regency-era London, too. This September, for one day and night only, Melbourne's Plaza Ballroom is playing host to party that'll whisk you back in time: the wholly unofficial but still appropriately themed Bridgerton Ball. If you're keen to be the talk of the ton, mark Saturday, September 17 in your diary — and prepare for the social soiree of the season. If you've binged your way through two seasons of the Netflix hit already and you're excited about more (and a Queen Charlotte prequel), consider this your chance to pretend you've stepped right into the series. On the agenda: dancing to tunes played by a string quartet, tucking into four hours of food and booze, playing games of chance, doing some live drawing and (probably) gossiping in corners while looking fabulous. Melburnians will have two chances to do just that, with sessions taking place from 12–4pm and 7–11pm, and tickets costing $209 per person. The ball is the latest pop culture-themed shindig from the folks behind A Wizardry High Tea, the Harry Potter-inspired excuse to eat bite-sized snacks, sip butterbeer and cocktails, and take potions classes — but unlike that event, this one is only popping up in Melbourne so far. The best way to prepare: watching Bridgerton, of course. Although, surely the Bridgerton Ball won't involve powerful families trying to marry off their children and scandal sheets getting everyone a-tutting. It will let you party like you're a duke or duchess, though. Check out the trailer for Bridgerton season two below: The Bridgerton Ball takes place at the Plaza Ballroom, 191 Collins Street, Melbourne, from 12–4pm and 7–11pm on Saturday, September 17. For more information or to buy tickets, head to the event website. To watch Bridgerton in the interim, head to Netflix. Images: Liam Daniel / Netflix.
UPDATE, September 17, 2021: A Star Is Born is available to stream via Paramount+, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. It's been a decade since Lady Gaga's star was born in a cloud of upbeat pop and outlandish costuming, but with her first major film role, it's happening all over again. Stripped of the makeup, outfits and theatricality that have shaped her stage persona since she told the world to just dance, the singer is a revelation in A Star Is Born — both because of and despite the obvious. Belting out heartfelt ballads and throwaway pop alike, she clearly has the voice for the job. That said, it's how she performs when she's not crooning the movie's catchy tunes that's truly special. Like an actor gaining weight or sporting a physical ailment, wiping the gloss off an existing megastar might seem an acting cliche, however Gaga isn't simply playing tourist with normality. The 'Poker Face' popster plays Ally, who works in hospitality by day and unleashes memorable versions of 'La Vie En Rose' in a drag bar by night. An ordinary woman dreaming big, writing her own songs but never thinking that she'll make it, it's a part that Gaga lives and breathes with earthy, unguarded authenticity — almost as though she's been through it herself. The singer is electric in A Star Is Born's early scenes, as boozy country rocker Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) catches her club act, convinces her to have a drink with him and sparks fly. When he takes her home the next morning, says goodbye and then calls back to her from his limousine window, Jackson says what everyone watching is thinking: "I just want to take one more look at you". And look he does. Thanks to Jackson, his adoring gaze, and his certainty that Ally has both a genuine voice and something genuine to say, her fantasies start coming true. When he sends a driver to take her to one of his stadium shows, brings her out on stage and they duet one of her songs, the movie's title starts ringing true too. Love blossoms also, but Ally and Jackson's tale is one of rising as well as falling. For Jackson, the combination of alcoholism, hearing loss and childhood trauma leave a wound that only cuts deeper as Ally shines and his career fades. An aspiring talent striving to see their name in lights is one of the oldest narratives in Hollywood's book. In A Star Is Born's case, it dates back to 1937 — or 1932 if you count What Price Hollywood?, whose studio almost sued the original A Star Is Born for plagiarism. Across eight decades now, this sweeping tale just keeps hitting the screen, complete with remakes starring Judy Garland in 1954 and Barbra Streisand in 1976. With Gaga leading the charge this time around, it's easy to see why A Star Is Born keeps glowing. A crash course in the highs and lows of the American dream, it's a fantasy where wishes come true, but where everything has a cost. It's also an underdog story, a star-crossed romance, an account of trying to make it in entertainment, a drama about substance abuse and a warning about fame's many ills. Most of all, A Star Is Born is an unashamed melodrama. While that's a term that's been given a bad name of late, wrenching emotion and heightened drama is exactly what this story calls for. Not only co-starring but jumping into the writer and director's chairs for the first time, Cooper doesn't skimp on sentiment, with every passionate kiss, overwhelming moment and tragic development landing with undeniable force. And yet, his film never wallows in sappiness or spoon-feeds its feelings to the audience – even when it charts blatant plot points that even newcomers to the tale will spot, or suffers from bloat in its mid-section. Seamlessly updating the narrative for the 21st century with co-scribes Eric Roth (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close) and Will Fetters (The Best of Me), Cooper understands the power of the material. A Star Is Born has been wowing audiences since the 1930s, after all. It helps that Cooper has a knack for visual storytelling, working with cinematographer Matthew Libatique (Mother!). A Star is Born's imagery sings its own affecting tune, with the actor-turned-director favouring shots that are grounded in the emotion of the narrative. Cooper also does his part as performer, both acting the sorrowful part and holding his own when it comes to his vocals. But his biggest gift to the movie is his willingness to let his collaborators glisten. While A Star Is Born is a definite showcase for a debut filmmaker who stars, croons, writes and directs, it gleams brighter thanks to the space and weight given to its cast. Sam Elliott is in astonishing form as Jackson's equally gruff and tender older brother, Dave Chappelle waxes kind and wise as an old pal telling it like it is, and Andrew Dice Clay is warm and protective as Ally's supportive dad. And, jumping from being one of the world's biggest pop stars to playing one of the world's biggest film roles, Gaga is far from the shallow now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywkF1lj5wyI
It was an incredibly sad day when iconic St Kilda venue Stokehouse burned down in 2014. Now, after a two and a half year hiatus, it's finally coming back, renovated and designated into a 'precinct' of multiple bars and restaurants, set to dominate that seaside like only Stokehouse can. On the ground beachside floor will be Pontoon, a casual bar and eatery, set to open at the end of October. This chic new 350-capacity beach-inspired establishment will be the second venue to open in the new multi-million dollar Stokehouse site, after a fancy new fish and chip kiosk, Paper Fish. The two will open head of the highly anticipated relaunch of Stokehouse St Kilda restaurant in December. The Pontoon menu will be casual and over the counter (think of the kind of food you can eat while standing with a drink in the other hand), and will put their four-metre grill to good use. You can expect a lot of seafood and shared plates, a strong wine list, 18 beer taps and of course, cocktails. In the most southside move ever, they'll also be serving up globally trending anomaly 'frosé' — that's frozen rosé — straight from the tap. Peppered with the furniture and trimmings of local Melbourne designers, the interior has been designed by George Livissianis (the design dynamo behind recent Sydney renos of The Dolphin Hotel, The Apollo and Cho Cho San). Expect a casual layout and a mixture of warm, natural materials (think wood, leather and cane) offset by concrete and brick. "Looking out onto St Kilda beach was a great starting point in considering colours and materials that would compliment the concrete and blackened timber building," said Livissianis. Stokehouse has announced they'll officially reopen on December 6, with Pontoon opening at the end of October. Find Pontoon on the ground floor of the rebuilt Stokehouse building, 30 Jacka Boulevard, St Kilda. From October 2016, Pontoon will be open 12pm till late every day, all year-round (except Christmas Day).
When Sydney's Odd Culture Group arrived in Melbourne, they chose Fitzroy's old post office as their venue: a sprawling heritage spot on the corner of Brunswick and Johnston Street. It was a smart move. Brunswick Street is just the spot for a Melbourne adaptation of Odd Culture's award-winning Newtown concept bar: part-ale saloon, part-bottle shop, part-fermentation factory, with space for 300 thirsty patrons. Odd Culture Group is the hospitality crew behind Sydney's inner-city spots including The Duke of Enmore, The Old Fitzroy Hotel and namesake King Street venue Odd Culture Newtown. General manager Gerry Nass runs the venue down in Fitzroy, having previously operated the Robbie Burns Hotel in Collingwood. And he's assembled a very knowledgeable crew. If you want to learn more about wild fermented ales, or lambic beer from Belgium's Pajottenland region, just ask a staff member. They're like walking beer encyclopedias. Speaking of beer, Odd Culture has 12 rotating taps, most of them fearless and funky. Further into the drinks menu, you'll find an easy-to-explore specialty array of wine, beer and spirits, with an emphasis on wild brews and natural vino. You'll be able to browse and buy to take away, or select a drop to enjoy onsite, either settled in on the indoor banquet seating or out in the laneway beer garden. There's a small but excellent cocktail menu (the sour negroni is probably the pick of the bunch) and next-level bar snacks like charcuterie from Meatsmith, or the likes of Cantabrian anchovies served with butter and shallots. "We want Odd Culture to be the place to go if you need good booze, full stop. I don't think there's anywhere in the country you can get as pointy-end and specialised in both beer, wine and cocktails, and you can still just sink an ice-cold lager at the bar or in the beer garden if that's all you're after," Group Beverage Manager, Jordan Blackman says. "We just want there to be no question around if Odd Culture has something for you. We love Cantillon, but we also love Melbourne Bitter." Image: supplied.
A weekend getaway is always sweeter when it's a prize. This one should particularly appeal to lovers of both bourbon and honeybees. We've teamed up with the champions over at Maker's Mark and Beechworth Honey to create an exclusive Beechworth getaway. It's all in celebration of Maker's Mark's new Gold Rush cocktail: a symphony of Australian honey, fresh citrus and the bold flavours of bourbon. At first glance, one might think that there's not much in common between an American bourbon brand and an Australian beekeeping family. Scratch under the surface and you'll find they aren't so different. Two multi-generational family-run businesses with links to gold on both sides of the planet, both work with a natural product, champion craftsmanship and have a shared commitment to sustainable practices. Lucky winners of the competition will receive a two-night stay at the historic Hive Apartment located in the heart of Beechworth — the ideal hub for discovering the town's unique dining, retail and historical streetscape. The building that houses the apartment was originally built in 1865, making it one of the oldest bank buildings in Victoria. It once operated as the 'Gold Office' and stored bars of gold for the bank. Now it is a homage to a liquid gold: honey. Not only will winners stay at the Hive, but they will also take part in a unique one-on-one honey-tasting experience at the Beechworth Honey Shop where they will learn all about honey and the importance of honeybees from the staff. Plus, they will be greeted with a bespoke Gold Rush gift basket with all the ingredients they need to make the cocktail yourself: a bottle of Maker's Mark bourbon, a jar of Beechworth Honey, and a cocktail shaker. You don't even need to worry about travel costs — the prize includes travel (either flights or car hire) up to the value of $1000). [competition]898062[/competition]
Ever woken up from a deep sleep, only to forget what you were dreaming about? Well the problem may be that your dreams just aren't memorable enough. A new iPhone app can solve this problem, as it apparently allows sleepers to control their own dreams. The app, named Yumemiru (translates to "see the dream" in English), uses a microphone to somehow detect when you are in your deepest sleep and most prone to mental influence. It then plays a soundtrack according to which dream scenario you have selected. Yumemiru currently offers eight different scenarios for users to choose from. These include a walk through the forest, a lazy day at the beach, getting rich, flying, and falling in love. Importantly, the romantic scenario has options for both men and women. Although this is a fascinating concept, I think that some of these scenarios are pretty pedestrian. If I'm going to stimulate my own dreams, I want my subconscious to come out with both guns blazing. There should be an option that allows you to become Godzilla or rob a bank. Regardless, give this app a try and see if your sleeps become any more exciting. After all, they may be so enjoyable that you'll never want to wake up. [via PSFK]
Above a modest store in a crumbling seaside suburb of Naples, a neon-lit sign bears the word 'Dogman'. In a place that's unshakeably grey in both its look and its mood, it's the shiniest thing in sight. The term refers to Marcello (Marcello Fonte), who makes a living grooming neighbourhood pooches, but it's fitting for reasons beyond those instantly apparent. Spending his days doting over dogs, the small-statured, mild-mannered Italian is the leader of the pack, although only among his faithful four-legged friends. Whenever hulking thug Simone (Edoardo Pesce) barges through his door — usually sniffing out cocaine, and never willing to leave until he's found his fix — Marcello dutifully acquiesces to the human equivalent of a growling pit bull. Returning to the lives of crime that have served much of his filmography so well — acclaimed 2008 mob movie Gomorrah, most notably — writer-director Matteo Garrone leans into the obvious in Dogman. This isn't a blatant or overstated film, however it doesn't shy away from comparing the behaviour of men with that of dogs. One kindly and subservient, the other snarling and vicious, Marcello and Simone adhere as much to the animal kingdom's laws as they do to man's. In Simone's case, the ex-boxer's primal need for instant gratification trumps everything else, be it loyalty, camaraderie, or an awareness of right or wrong. Of course, this is Marcello's story, and so it becomes a tale about aiming to please, bouncing back from mistreatment and learning when to bare one's teeth. The pint-sized underdog has clearly learnt more than a thing or two from his constant canine companions. Garrone starts charting Marcello's plight when his life couldn't be more routine. He works, sharing many a smile with many a mutt. He relishes the time he's given with his adoring daughter (Alida Baldari Calabria), dreaming of taking her far away for a fantasy getaway. And, as well as supplying Simone with drugs, he follows him through bars and on smash-and-grab jobs. While Marcello doesn't have much and he's visibly lonely, he's content to make do with the status quo — he's a good lapdog to his hefty pal, and he's proud about being well-liked by the community. Then, in unrelenting alpha mode, Simone keeps upping the ante. When Marcello isn't defending his bullying buddy from fed-up local shop-owners or saving him from revenge hits, he's sneaking back into the site of one of their burglaries to rescue a chihuahua that the callous behemoth shoves in a freezer. But as Simone keeps imposing his might, even the inexplicably devoted Marcello has his limits. It's a dog-eat-dog world in this grim, gritty drama, which takes the broad thrust of its narrative from a 31-year-old true tale. Both the film's insights and its real-life basis may seem standard on paper, and yet that's never the case on-screen, with Dogman as driven by the current state of Italian society — and of the global community — as it is by a headline-grabbing crime. Blending tense thrills with neo-realist observations, Garrone ponders not only the choices of his protagonist, but the world that's placed him in such a position. Indeed, in its own way, this is a movie about nature versus nurture. Anchored by a devastatingly powerful character study, Dogman examines how Marcello's inherent, overtly affable personality is battered and tested by his bleak, trying situation. Winning the 2018 Cannes Film Festival Best Actor prize for his efforts, Fonte is a whirlwind as the initially perky, increasingly put-upon, eventually perceptive Marcello. He sports the perfect hangdog face for the job, but it's his ability to simultaneously plumb poignant depths, express unfettered earnestness and evoke a sense of lightness that marks his performance as something truly special. Whether Marcello is bathing a huge, howling dog or facing his brutish supposed friend, he's never a one-note character. Dogman is never a one-note movie, either. It offers up a straightforward, even fable-like message, yet it never takes the expected path or lets its bark outshout its bite. Ever the detail-oriented director (and keenly scrutinising every inch of his rundown Neapolitan setting to prove it), Garrone builds a potently layered portrait around two simple truths: even the most well-meaning yap can fall on deaf ears, and a friendly pup is eager to please until it isn't. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd77T20zjHw
A Tasmanian distiller by the name of John Hyslop has created a Willy Wonka version of the mighty whisky. The newly established Deviant Distillery has just released Anthology, a drop they claim tastes like a ten-year-old spirit, yet was made in just ten weeks. Hyslop achieved this wonder by studying what happens when you place whisky in a barrel for a decade. Then he created an environment in which this process was accelerated by manipulating physical elements governing oxidation, esterification and evaporation. The only catch is that, legally, the resulting product cannot be called whisky. It's hand-distilled in a copper pot still with the usual four ingredients — barley, water, yeast and oak — and without any additives, but the lack of conventional ageing process means that only the label "single malt spirit" can apply. "Other than the ageing process, everything about our spirits is what you would expect from an ultra-premium craft whisky — we just can't call it that," Hyslop says. "I explain it like this: instead of putting a supercharged engine into a car and racing it to the finish line, we just remove all the obstacles in its way and let it become what it wants to be." Hyslop sees two major advantages in speeding up whisky making. Firstly, it enables frequent experimentation with various flavour profiles. "With the traditional distilling model, what is bottled today was barrelled 10 years ago," he says. "But now, in theory, we can conduct several centuries' worth of flavour tests and arrive at an ultra-premium drink that no single generation ever could before." Secondly, he considers it greener. On average, when whisky ages, between 30 to 50 percent of the spirit evaporates. However, Hyslop loses only four percent to the air, meaning the distillery uses much less water and ingredients. In addition to this, the distillery produces minimal waste and is working towards carbon neutrality. Right now, the whole operation takes place in Hyslop's mum's garage in Somerset, where he produces about 120 bottles per month. He's hoping to move to bigger, commercial premises in Hobart by early 2018. While Hyslop claims the spirit tastes like an aged whiskey, we're keen to give it test it out ourselves. Anthology is available online for $86 from today and in selected bottle shops in Tassie.
Funlab (Holey Moley, Hijinx Hotel and Strike Bowling) has a thing for competitive socialising, now operating over 50 game bars across Australia. And one of its most popular sites — Holey Moley on Little Bourke Street — is undergoing a huge expansion. Come Friday, October 11, the Funlab crew will unveil the new-look mini golf space, which has been decked out with new automated scoring and live leaderboards, bonus points scoring games, and a heap of other updated technologies. The main Caddyshack bar is also being expanded to accommodate guests visiting the new downstairs venue Holey Moley Funhouse. Here, putters will be invited to put down their clubs and participate in nine different challenge games — similar to those seen at the team's OTT Hijinx Hotel. These will include a ball pit, throwing challenges, an egg and spoon race full of obstacles, quick-fire memory games, and putt putt pong (we're not entirely sure what this is). Like the downstairs mini gold bar, these games can all be played with a drink in hand — or at least the drinks can be put down for a few moments while you compete with your mates at each different gaming area. Holey Moley Funhouse will also similarly embrace nostalgic 80s and 90s vibes but feel more like a carnival than a mini-golf course. "Holey Moley Funhouse combines two of our guests' favourite experiences; Hijinx Hotel challenge rooms and the competitive and nostalgic fun of Holey Moley. We think we've not only created the latest and greatest new Funlab concept, but also Melbourne's most playful new bar!", shares Funlab CEO Michael Schreiber. Holey Moley Funhouse will open on Friday, October 11, and can be found at 590 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. For more information, you can visit the venue's website.
The Good Food & Wine Show is set to return to Melbourne at the end of May this year, promising a stacked schedule of shows with notable chefs and the chance to discover artisanal goods from over 300 producers and brands. The celeb chefs that will take the stage include Ready Steady Cook's Miguel Maestre and pastry queen Kirsten Tibballs, along with MasterChef Australia alumni Emelia Jackson, Sarah Todd and Dani Venn, TV personality Alastair McLeod, and Aussie Barbecue Heroes host Jess Pryles. Between demos and talks on the Cooking Main Stage, attendees can expand their gastronomic horizons at various other events. Explore the world of tea with tea-infused bites and cocktails at The Art of Luxury Tea with Dilmah 85 Reserve, sample elegant wines at the RIEDEL Drinks Lab and Wine Selectors Tasting Room, or visit the Singapore Airlines VIP Lounge for your choice of three meals and five wines or beers. The Good Food & Wine Show will take place from Friday, May 31–Sunday, June 2 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. General admission tickets start from $39 and are available to purchase at the website.
Master of surreal everything (movies, TV shows, music, coffee), David Lynch has released a new track titled 'Crazy Clown Time' through his Facebook page. The experimental track is as weird as you would expect (see Twin Peaks soundtrack and Lynch's 'Good Day Today') and is part of Lynch's debut album of the same name, due to be released in November. It sounds like anything he'd include in his cooky cinematic or television work - a touch of weird appearing in the non-descript auto-tune vocals provided by Lynch himself. Of the album the song is on, Lynch thinks it's full of accidents and "should be in hospital." Is there anything the man can't do? https://youtube.com/watch?v=2GXGc4EobS8 [via Stereogum]
Swing by Hamer Hall after dark, during RISING festival and NAIDOC Week, and you're going to see something very special: a huge, large-scale projection artwork from celebrated Indigenous artist and respected Wurrundjeri and Yorta-Yorta Elder Aunty Zeta Thomson. The new piece is called Spirits Of The Land and is worth a trip into the city this winter. Hamer Hall's iconic façade will be lit up with First Peoples' spirit stories, including Mookies (the Ancestor spirits of Country), Hairy Bekka (a creature that teaches children about safety) and the Min Min lights. "These are the stories and beliefs of my people," Thomson says. "This work is to pass onto our younger generation and I think it is overdue. It's a way of remembering and keeping the stories from my mum, dad and family, and the culture they taught us alive." "Mookie means spirit in Yorta Yorta," Thomson adds. "In our culture, the old people would sing and clap our sticks or boomerangs together as they walked through the bush to let them (the Spirits) know that they were coming back to visit them again. It is important to strongly represent Victorian Aboriginal culture for people to know these ancient stories." You might remember Thomson, and Mookies, from her previous work, Mookies Around the Waterhole, which wrapped several trams in 2021 as part of RISING's Arts Tram series. Spirits Of The Land promises to be on a whole other level, using the entire front of Hamer Hall as a canvas. You can also catch Thomson's work at Flinders Street Station as part of RISING's Shadow Spirits exhibition. "It is an honour to work with esteemed Elder Aunty Zeta Thomson and to animate her stories. Spirits Of The Land is a work that shares belief systems and stories that are not myths or folklore, but very real to First Peoples across the state." Curator and RISING's Artistic Associate Kimberley Moulton says. Spirits Of The Land is free and will run from sundown to midnight between June 7 and July 9. You won't be able to miss it. Top Image: Visit Victoria, Roberto Seba. Images: supplied.
When winter begins to thaw, with leaves growing back on trees and flowers coming into full bloom, we want to celebrate the warmer weather and the world's annual rebirth. And, come September — which is just around the corner — Australia's biggest festival of spring will once again roll around. Floriade has been drawing crowds for decades — and its 32nd year will be marked with the theme 'World in Bloom'. A celebration of all things floral, the festival will fill Canberra's Commonwealth Park with more than one million blooms. But this month-long flower festival is more than just smelling the tulips. From Saturday, September 14 until Sunday, October 13, Canberra will be filled with music, food, vino, locally crafted brews and spirits, entertainment, markets and cultural happenings galore. Those with green thumbs can also take part in workshops, while live music and markets will be open for art lovers and bargain hunters alike. To top it all off, festival entry is free. For one day only (Sunday, October 13), you'll also be able to take your four legged friend along for Dogs' Day Out. Expect to pat lots of pooches and some pup-themed food, too. Floriade runs from 9.30am until 5.30pm each day. Plus, after the sun goes down between October 3–6 (hello, long weekend in Canberra), you can wander through the gardens at Floriade's after-dark counterpart, NightFest. While you're in town, you may as well take the time to check out Canberra's best microbreweries, cafes and cultural hotspots, too. Start looking at accomodation ASAP. We're also giving you the chance to visit Floriade's NightFest for free. To be in the running, enter your details below. [competition]742011[/competition]
Sounds like a branding exercise, but there really is a brand new vegetable on the block; a teeny tiny new development dubbed lollipop kale, currently under development in Australia, the UK and US right now. And it's possibly the most adorable thing we've seen in many a day — even if it's almost a Brussels sprout. Lollipop kale is indeed a thing — one gaining predictable popularity in the US, UK and now, South Australia and Victoria. Developed as a hybrid by British company Tozer Seeds, lollipop kale is now known as kale sprout (boring) in Australia and kalette (better) in the US. A form of cross-breeding between kale and Brussels sprouts (so you'll actually eat 'em), lollipop kale is currently being developed by a cluey South Australian grower. Adelaide Hills grower Scott Samwell, of Eastbook Farms in Mount Barker, has been upping the ante on his lollipop kale plantings over the last two years. Samwell told the ABC the lollipop kale grows sort of like a Brussels sprout — tiny bunches growing from a central stem, growing to around a metre tall. Apparently the new veggie has been getting good reviews in South Australian and Victorian markets, where the mini-kale has been available. "Everyone we've spoken to who has tried it, especially in the local area, are very keen on it." he told ABC. "It's a different tasting product, compared to green Brussels sprouts, because it's a bit sweeter." According to Grub Street, lollipop kale was the centre of mere whisperings in the food community — and wholly doubted and denied by chefs. GS's Hugh Merwin described it as the Bigfoot of the vegetable world — appearing in fruit exchanges around America and then suddenly becoming unattainable. But now it's here, ready for 'hipster' brandings and total hater ridicule. Being so teeny tiny, lollipop kale is primed for the home roasting — more bite-sized and considerably more adorable than your regular freaky kale chips. Right now, however, growing lollipop kale at home is pretty expensive — GS noted that online vegetable message boards (an actual Thing) criticised the high cost of the seeds; $11 for 40 seeds. So expect to see higher prices on Australian menus for the bite-sized little blighters. Lollipop kale will supposedly be available on the Australian market this year. Via ABC and Grub Street. Image: Hugh Merwin, Grub Street.
Finding greatness in Bong Joon-ho's Parasite isn't difficult. The perceptive class-clash and eat-the-rich story, the array of pitch-perfect performances, the acclaimed director's stunning mastery of tone, the insightful and revealing production design: they're all examples in this Oscar- and Cannes-winning South Korean masterpiece. Another instance comes courtesy of composer Jung Jae-il's score, which soundtracks the film with tunes both disquieting and baroque. It's no wonder that accolades came Jung's way, too, including from his homeland's Grand Bell Awards. Hearing Jung's contribution echoing as Parasite screens is the best way to appreciate it, of course — and watching him perform it live in Australia with Orchestra Victoria will dial what's already a spectacular experience up a few notches. For the first time, the composer is heading Down Under, all thanks to 2025's Melbourne International Film Festival. The event's commitment to honouring the art of screen composition via screenings that pair live tunes and movies is continuing, and two Parasite in Concert sessions are set to be among this year's fest highlights. At 2pm and 8pm on Saturday, August 23 at Hamer Hall in the Victorian capital, Jung is taking to the keys. He's also conducting Orchestra Victoria as he plays. Seeing Parasite on a big screen is already a treat, no matter how many times you've watched it before; however, giving the picture the concert treatment is something extra special. Jung isn't just known for Parasite. If you've felt the tension emanating from Squid Game's score, then you've also appreciated the composer's efforts. Prior to Parasite, Jung collaborated with Bong on Okja, then did so again afterwards on this year's Mickey 17. The tunes in Hirokazu Kore-eda's Broker hail from him as well, as does the score for MIFF 2025 title Twinless.
Buckets of sunshine, adrenaline-inducing thrills in the heart of the city, plus dreamy white-sand islands and lush rainforests on its doorstep... Brisbane and its surrounds are a wonderland for outdoor adventurers. There's the iconic Brisbane River where you can captain your own eco-friendly boat or abseil down 230 million-year-old rock formations at sunset. Or, further afield you can find the epic sand islands of Bribie, Moreton and North Stradbroke/Minjerribah, hugged by crystal clear waters, covered in national park and packed with wildlife — from green sea turtles and dolphins to wallabies and koalas. Then there's the Lamington National Park that provides nature lovers and enthusiastic hikers with magnificent waterfalls or the chance to kick back in a spa overlooking ancient rainforest. Read on for seven unmissable outdoor adventures in and around Brisbane for your next adventure. [caption id="attachment_856015" align="alignnone" width="1920"] River to Bay Tour at Moreton Island. Image courtesy of Tourism and Events Queensland.[/caption] TAKE A RIVER TO BAY TOUR Just east of Brisbane you can find islands galore to explore. The easiest way to experience them? Book in a day trip with River to Bay. For snorkelling among tropical fish and green sea turtles at the picturesque Tangalooma Wrecks, spotting koalas among tall trees and wandering around the haunted ruins of Queensland's first penal colony, take the Moreton Island Bay Tour. Alternatively, go for incredible swimming beaches, spectacular scenery and boutique cafes in a historical village on the Stradbroke Island Tour. Another tempting option is the Champagne and Oyster Tour, which involves sipping bubbly and sampling oysters fresh from the ocean while watching the sun set. GO ABSEILING WITH RIVERLIFE For an adrenalin rush, go abseiling with Riverlife. On the Day Abseil, you'll complete a 90-minute ascent and descent of the 20-metre high Brisbane Kangaroo Point Cliffs. They're heritage-listed formations of 230 million-year-old volcanic rock which flank the Brisbane River, just a stone's throw from the CBD. Once you make it to the top, you'll be rewarded with panoramic views of Brisbane City and its surrounding waterways. For an even more magical experience, book a Twilight Abseil Tour. And if you're a nervous abseiler, don't worry. Riverlife is all about helping you overcoming your fears. [caption id="attachment_807856" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Go Boat Brisbane. Image by Lean Timms.[/caption] JUMP ON A GO BOAT One of the newest additions to the adventure scene is Go Boat. Founded in Copenhagen in 2014, it was launched in Brisbane to make the most of the city's glorious weather and winding river. For up to three dreamy hours, you'll captain a blissfully silent electric boat made of recycled PET bottles transformed into fibreglass. Pack a cheeseboard, a bottle of bubbly and up to seven mates, and see Brisbane from a whole new perspective on the water. Pets are welcome. By the way, there's no need for a boating licence, as the Go Boat crew will show you what to do before waving you off on your adventure. [caption id="attachment_856018" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hot Air Ballooning Brisbane. Image by Sam Lindsay/Tourism and Events Queensland.[/caption] GO HOT AIR BALLOONING WITH FLOATING IMAGES Once you've seen Brisbane from the water, the next logical step is to see it from the sky. You can do just that with Floating Images. Their sunrise flight takes you up where the air is clear for 60 glorious minutes. Prepare for incredible views of the Brisbane city skyline, backdropped by the Great Diving Range, the Scenic Rim and the countryside of Somerset. Afterwards, you'll be treated to a breakfast fit for royalty at a local restaurant. Chief pilot Graeme has flown air balloons for three decades on three continents, so you can relax knowing you're in safe hands. TAKE AN ADVENTURE TOUR WITH G'DAY Another spot on the must-see list for visitors to Brisbane is Bribie Island, the fourth largest sand island in the world. It, in itself, is an outdoor adventurer's kingdom packed with national parks, wild surf beaches, idyllic coves for swimming and the Pumicestone Passage, a protected marine park home to dolphins, turtles and dugongs. To get amongst it, take a tour with G'Day Adventure Tours. Their frolics range from the three-hour 4WD beach and bunker tour to the two-day, one-night Camping Adventure, which sees you kayaking through Norfolk lagoon, swimming in Mermaid lagoon, toasting marshmallows around a campfire and meeting wallabies. [caption id="attachment_856009" align="alignnone" width="1920"] O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat. Image courtesy of Tourism and Events Queensland.[/caption] RETREAT INTO THE RAINFOREST AT O'REILLY'S Another of Brisbane's drawcards is its proximity to lush ancient rainforests. One way to immerse yourself is a visit to O'Reilly's, an eco-retreat overlooking the World Heritage-listed Lamington National Park. Visitors have been escaping here for nearly 100 years. There's a bunch of activities to try, including an adventure trek to the Thunder and Lightning Falls, indulgent treatments in the Lost World Day Spa, a glow worm experience and e-bike tours. To fit them all in you'll want to stay overnight, either at the campground with your own tent or go a little more luxe with a variety of studios and villas. [caption id="attachment_856007" align="alignnone" width="1920"] North Gorge Walk at North Stradbroke Island. Image courtesy of Tourism and Events Queensland.[/caption] VISIT NORTH STRADBROKE ISLAND / MINJERRIBAH If beaches are your thing, then you'll want to put North Stradbroke Island/Minjerribah on your itinerary. It's the world's second largest sand island, which means there are beaches for surfers, swimmers and sun-soakers of all kinds. For stunning views (especially at sunset) hit Flinders Beach (Point Lookout). For a long seaside walk try a stretch of sand across the 33km-long Main Beach. For amazing surfing (not for beginners) get some epic swell off Frenchmans Beach or Cylinder Beach. For solitude make your way to Toompany Beach and for laidback swimming in gentle crystal-clear waters visit Amity Beach. And, since you can't pack all that paradise into one day, you should definitely stay for a night (or three). Ready to plan a trip to Brisbane and its surrounds? Learn more at the Visit Brisbane website.
These days, it's hard to be wowed, or even mildly surprised by a shopping centre. But Melbourne's newest suburban retail precinct is a whole different story. Set to officially open its doors on Friday, December 6, Burwood Brickworks doesn't just have a strong sustainability focus — it's on track to being the most sustainable shopping centre on the planet. Sitting on Middleborough Road in Burwood East, it's been built with the aim of scoring certification under the Living Building Challenge, an international program for sustainable buildings. It requires the building to have a net zero carbon footprint, produce more electricity than it consumes and use non-toxic and recycled materials in its construction, among other things. If successful, Burwood Brickworks will be one of only 25 structures worldwide to stake this claim, and the first-ever retail building to do so. Clocking a total of 13,000 square metres, the precinct boasts a Reading Cinema complex, a new-concept Woolworths store, a large Dan Murphy's and a curation of smaller independent retailers, all within an airy, light-filled space. The crowning glory, however, is the sprawling rooftop space, sporting its own paddock-to-plate restaurant and 2000-square-metre urban farm designed and run by consulting firm Tully Heard. They're the same crew who operate Sydney's farm-to-table Acre Eatery, here joining forces with local eco-warrior Joost Bakker (Greenhouse by Joost, Brothl) in the role of the centre's Creative Consultant. Along with a rooftop greenhouse, the huge variety of fruit, herb and veggie patches will be used in the restaurant, with excess sold to the public. There's even a coop of quails laying eggs for the kitchen. Visitors will be able to wander through the gardens and attend workshops, talks and more hands-on green-thumb experiences to come. The rooftop farm's not big enough to handle all of the kitchen's food supply, though, so Head Chef Brad Simpson (Lamaros, The Smith) has been busy sourcing any remaining ingredients from a crop of top Victorian suppliers. Think Mt Zero for olive oil and grains, and Flinders & Co, Sher Wagyu and Western Plains Pork for meat. In total, 20 percent of the Burwood Brickworks site will be used for growing food, with fruiting trees even planted between each aisle of the centre's car park. But while these urban farm practices might be the obvious, big-ticket sustainability drivers – along with the rooftop solar panel system generating a hefty one megawatt of power – it's the finer details that really set this centre apart. PVC has been scrapped from the build entirely in favour of less toxic alternatives, a swag of reclaimed hardwood has been incorporated throughout the precinct, and the products used by each retailer have had to meet super strict standards. Natural light and air quality are also huge factors here, so expect an abundance of greenery, windows aplenty and in the central space, a soaring, ventilated sawtooth roof decked out with huge skylights. A far cry from most of those other shopping centres we've frequented in our time. Burwood Brickworks is set to open on Friday, December 6, at 78 Middleborough Road, Burwood East.
The zombie apocalypse has evolved. When just 28 days had passed, survivors faced a nightmare. Little had improved when 28 weeks had gone by. Now, following 28 years of chaos, Jodie Comer (The Bikeriders), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (The Fall Guy), Ralph Fiennes (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar), Jack O'Connell (Back to Black) and Alfie Williams (His Dark Materials) are dealing with the aftermath of a society ravaged by a horrific infection for decades. Yes, the trailer for the aptly named 28 Years Later is here. Although 2030 will mark 28 years since viewers were treated to one of the best zombie movies ever, aka 28 Days Later from filmmaker Danny Boyle (Yesterday), you'll be watching a new flick from Boyle in the same franchise in 2025. First confirmed at the beginning of 2024, the movie has dropped its first full sneak peek to help close out the year — complete with Teletubbies, towers of skulls and bones, a possibly familiar-looking zombie, and the grim reality after days became weeks and then years of coping with the new status quo. 28 Days Later has already spawned one follow-up thanks to 2007's 28 Weeks Later, but Boyle didn't direct it. Screenwriter Alex Garland, who also penned Sunshine for Boyle, then hopped behind the camera himself with Ex Machina, Annihilation, Men, Civil War and TV series Devs, wasn't involved with 28 Weeks Later, either. But they're both onboard for the third film in the series, which is the start of a new trilogy. The saga's fourth feature 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple has already been shot, in fact, with Candyman and The Marvels' Nia DaCosta directing. The setup this time around: almost three decades after the rage virus initially seeped through humanity after escaping from a biological weapons laboratory, some survivors have etched out a life on a small island. Elsewhere, quarantine remains a key way of tackling the infection. With that starting point — and with unease dripping through the first trailer, complete with stunning imagery — expect Boyle and Garland to dig into the terrors that linger when two of the island's residents venture over to the mainland. With 28 Days Later among the movies that helped bring Oppenheimer Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy to fame, the actor is an executive producer on 28 Years Later. That mightn't be all that's in store for him, though, if you pay close attention to the trailer. In the original film, he played Jim, a bicycle courier who wakes up from a coma in a deserted hospital 28 days after an outbreak changed the world forever. Marking Boyle and Garland's first proper collaboration after Boyle adapted Garland's best-selling novel The Beach for the big screen two years prior, 28 Days Later still ranks among the best work on either's resume — and on Murphy's as well, even if it didn't win him any of Hollywood's top shiny trophies. Set in the aftermath of the accidental release of a highly contagious virus, the film's images of a desolated London instantly became iconic, but this is a top-notch movie on every level. That includes its performances, with then-unknowns Murphy and Naomie Harris (the Bond franchise's current Moneypenny) finding the balance between demonstrating their characters' fierce survival instincts and their inherent vulnerability. If you wondering why 28 Months Later wasn't made, it was talked about for years, but the time has now passed unless the new trilogy includes a flick set between 28 Weeks Later and 28 Years Later. Check out the first trailer for 28 Years Later below: 28 Years Later releases in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, June 19, 2025.
It's set in Canada. It pays tribute to iconic Iranian filmmaking. It took home Cannes Directors' Fortnight's inaugural Audience Award. It's now the recipient of the Melbourne International Film Festival's Bright Horizons accolade, too. The movie to put on your must-see list if you haven't already caught it at MIFF 2024: Matthew Rankin's Universal Language, the picture chosen by the event's 2024 jury as the pick of the fest's competition titles. It was back in 2022 that the Victorian film festival, which is Australia's oldest, revealed that it was introducing a prize for standout new filmmaking talents. The Bright Horizons Award heroes both first-time and sophomore directors — and gives each year's winner a cool $140,000 for their troubles. Nabbed by Afrofuturist musical Neptune Frost in its initial year and Senegalese-French love story Banel & Adama in 2023, that hefty amount of prize money makes the gong one of the richest film fest awards in the world. Debuting at Cannes, and also set to make its North American premiere on home soil at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, Universal Language explores a vision of Winnipeg that resembles Iran in the 80s — and where Farsi as well as French are the official tongues. Alongside helming his second feature after 2019's The Twentieth Century, Rankin also appears in one of the movie's stories, as he spins absurdist tales about two kids on an adventure started by a random banknote, an unhappy teacher and a filmmaker. "Our task as jury was joyful, invigorating and inspiring. It was also incredibly arduous, heartbreaking and some might even say cruel, because how could anyone choose a favourite or pick a winner from such an incredible lineup of films, all worthy of accolades in their own ways, all testaments to the fact that the future of cinema is bright indeed?" said 2024's MIFF Bright Horizons jury, which was led by Australian filmmaker Ivan Sen (Limbo). "One movie represented all of the facets of the Bright Horizons Award: a film whose cultural specificity transcends borders; whose cinematic playfulness is matched equally by its sensitivity; and whose very form is in conversation with cinema past, present and future. This is why the Bright Horizons Award goes to Universal Language by Matthew Rankin," continued the group's statement, with director David Lowery (Peter Pan & Wendy), producer Yulia Evina Bhara (Tiger Stripes), costume designer Deborah L Scott (Avatar: The Way of Water) and actor Jillian Nguyen (White Fever) joining Sen. The quintet also gave a Special Jury Award to Flow, an animation about animals on a boat, when selecting Universal Language from a packed pool of contenders. Other films in the running included Janet Planet, the debut movie from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker; Inside, a prison drama with Guy Pearce (The Clearing), Cosmo Jarvis (Shōgun) and Toby Wallace (The Bikeriders) that's directed by Charles Williams, who won the 2018 short film Palme d'Or for All These Creatures; and The Village Next to Paradise, the first-ever Somali film play Cannes. Also since 2022, MIFF's lineup of prizes spans the Blackmagic Design Australian Innovation Award as well, which recognises an outstanding Australian creative from one of the festival's movies. 2024's recipient to the tune of $70,000: Jaydon Martin for Flathead. "We were captivated and affected by Jaydon Martin's visually arresting and very moving portrait of individuals often forgotten about in society — in this case, the real people of small town Bundaberg," advised the jury. "Flathead's seamless merging of realities and fiction, both so raw yet so cinematic, had a profound effect on our jury. We hope all of you have a chance to watch this brilliant, sensitive examination of survival, of humanity and of mortality, which will stay with you for days to come." In 2023, MIFF launched its First Nations Film Creative Award, which is now named the Uncle Jack Charles Award — with April Phillips winning for XR piece kajoo yannaga (come on let's walk together) in 2024. As chosen by festival attendees having their say as they're spending all of their spare time in a cinema, 2024's MIFF Audience Award went to two Australian movies: documentaries Voice and Left Write Hook, with the first about seeking support across the country for the Indigenous Voice referendum, and the second stepping into a boxing and creative writing program for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The 2024 Melbourne International Film Festival runs from Thursday, August 8–Sunday, August 25. For more information, visit the MIFF website.
Keen to get off the mainland for an immersive cultural experience that'll be sure to ignite your senses? Then make tracks to the East Coast Harvest Odyssey (ECHO Festival) happening in Tasmania this autumn. The 18+ event will be held from Friday, April 8 till Sunday, April 10 at Redbanks Farm near Swansea. Here, you and your mates can celebrate the rich cultural and culinary offerings that this region has to offer through a range of activities including grape stomping, morning mediations, inspiring talks and more. Love food? There'll be loads of tasty treats on offer from Cake & Honey Espresso, Tasmanian Oyster Company, Zen Gelato and more. Another highlight will be the Beaker Street Science Bar, a cosy yurt that's part-lab, part-cocktail lounge where you can sip on a cocktail while chatting with local scientists about Tasmania's giant (and disappearing) kelp forests, and the work being done to restore these treasured ecosystems. There'll also be a wine trail to explore, live music from the likes of Hayley Mary (The Jezabels) and Jem Cassar-Daly, kelp basket-making workshops and the immersive Womb Room — a pastel pink sensory space designed for wakening the senses of smell, sound and touch. Ready to explore a festival like no other? ECHO Festival will run from Friday, April 8 till Sunday, April 10 and tickets start from $125. To check out the full program and to grab tickets, visit the website.
Each year, Smithsonian invites photographers from around the world, professional and otherwise, to submit images that capture great beauty and evoke wonder across five specific categories — The Natural World, People, Travel, Americana and Altered Images. Of the 37,600 submissions, the 50 final images memorialise moments that are both astounding and mundane, but consistently beautiful. A shot of policemen running through the national congress in Brasilia competes with the everyday, yet equally poignant, image of a Texan snow cone stand at dusk. For sharing the best of their photo trail, contestants get the chance to secure some substantial coin, as well as the satisfaction of knowing they've captured a truly Kodak moment. Although the winning submissions are ultimately decided by the Smithsonian’s editor, in an appeal to democratic sensibilities, a Reader's Choice Award will be announced after tallying up online votes, which are open until late March. Naturally, only Concrete Playground has the authority to decide who the real winners are, as selected largely based on their ability to momentarily transport us to a parallel universe in which it is not a Monday morning in front of a humming computer. Scroll down to visually kiss the sky. The Natural World A pair of menacing bald eagles share a meal, as captured by Don Holland of Tennessee, bringing Hitchcock-inspired nightmares to mind. The Natural World David Morrow's Milky Way, as shot in a Washington national park, is even better than the chocolate variety. People Ilain Fain's portrait of three young girls inside a Greek Orthodox church in Nazareth suggests that childhood boredom is a universal phenomenon. People A young baby sleeps protected by the gaze of his watchful mother on a Congolese night in Paolo Patruno's photograph. Americana Ron Henderson's unaltered photograph of the mascot for underwear brand Fruit of the Loom captured on location in the Californian desert proves that sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction. Americana Times Square gets patriotic in Doug Van de Zande's image of technicolour shadows. Travel Afraid of losing the moment, Raul Amaru Linares yielded his camera instinctively when he spotted these musicians arriving pre-performance at a bull ring in Ecuador. Travel Playing with finger paints takes on a new meaning for this little boy in Indranil Sengupta's depiction of India's "tiger dance" festival. Altered Image The wrath of mother nature humbles in Tim Wright's image depicting the aftermath of a tornado in Iowa. Altered Image Pramod Shakya captures a building as it comes to life in Xi'an Jiaotong University. Images and story via Smithsonian.
Melbourne sneakerheads can geek out over some of the rarest sneakers, streetwear pieces and apparel on the market when Australia's largest sneaker convention, Sneakerland, descends on the city this spring. On Saturday, November 19, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre will be filled with over 3000 sneakers from different 52 vendors. Expect lots of rare footwear in the mix, including the Jordan 1 OG Chicago (1985) and Nike SB Dunk Low Paris. But this event isn't just for cashed up collectors — there'll be stacks of more affordable sneakers available from both local and international sellers, and the sneaker museum promises to be a huge drawcard, no matter your budget. Sneakerland will also feature a heap of entertainment, setting the vibe as you peruse — and maybe purchase — all that footwear. In addition to the live sneaker auctions, and exclusive sneaker and streetwear drops, visitors will be able to get around some basketball competitions, try their luck in the day's raffles, hit up the tattoo station and listen to DJs. Guest appearances from local celebrities and sporting icons are also on the cards. While general tickets cost $40, if you nab a $100 VIP ticket you're in for some extra swag. You'll score early access to the event, food and drinks, and a private lounge to relax in. There'll also be special live auctions featuring the most sought-after items — so if you're looking to beat all others on the trading floor, this is for you.
UPDATE, February 28, 2021: Rocketman is available to stream via Netflix, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube, iTunes and Amazon Video. "It's obviously not all true, but it's the truth," says Elton John about Rocketman. Trust the British superstar to sum up his own lively, dreamlike musical biopic perfectly. Cinematic celebrations of beloved singers and bands often aim for little more than supremely skilled impersonations, toe-tapping greatest-hits soundtracks and broad rags-to-riches overviews; indeed, it's an approach that won Bohemian Rhapsody several Oscars. But there's a vibrant spark to Rocketman as it charts Reginald Dwight's transformation into Elton Hercules John. A glorious tone, too, which couldn't work better. Showing how fantastical the ups and downs of fame, fortune and rock stardom can be by sashaying through a sea of surreality, the result is a winning marriage of form and feeling. Bursting into a support group wearing wings, horns and a blazing orange devil costume in the movie's opening moments, an 80s-era John (Taron Egerton) lays bare his sins. He's an alcoholic, cocaine addict, sex addict, bulimic, shopaholic, fond of prescription drugs, dabbles with marijuana and, if that's not enough, he also has anger management issues. That's Rocketman's warts-and-all baseline — the unflinching description of its protagonist at his lowest point, in his own words. Of course, we all already know how things turn out, but the film spends its two-hour running time unpacking and explaining John's troubles. Two intersecting threads come into focus: his ascent to the top of the music world, and his simultaneous descent into depression, frustration and loneliness. From his therapy circle, John follows his younger self (Matthew Illesley) to his childhood home, with the singer stepping through his unhappy formative years as the son of bitter, bickering parents (Bryce Dallas Howard and Steven Mackintosh). When his talent for tunes starts shining brightly, the biopic traces his long quest for success, including teaming up with lyricist Bernie Taupin (a well-cast Jamie Bell), who becomes a lifelong friend. After a 1970 trip to the US shoots John into the music stratosphere, the film watches as he rockets higher and higher, chronicling the hits, glitz, raucous parties and romantic dramas — complete with his first proper romance, with his manager John Reid (Richard Madden). But what goes up must come down, with the movie charting John's personal crashes as well. Story-wise, so far, so standard. The familiar superstar origin tale and cliched sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll trajectory don't dissipate. But from the moment that John breaks into song while recounting his woes, then dances and sings his way along a visibly desaturated 50s suburban London street with the childhood Reggie by his side, Rocketman thoroughly eschews the standard approach. Biographical details guide the narrative as expected, with the film stringing together a timeline that spreads over four decades, however it's emotion that drives every scene in Lee Hall's (Victoria & Abdul) screenplay. As proved the case in Hall and John's first collaboration on Billy Elliott the Musical, blending sentiment and song couldn't be more pivotal, poignant or important. Nor could Rocketman's core creative decision, because this isn't just a music biopic. It's unashamedly a musical biopic, and those extra couple of letters make a significant difference. With structure and staging that brings Hugh Jackman's Peter Allen musical The Boy From Oz to mind — not to mention a standout central performance — Rocketman is presented with razzle-dazzle showmanship that could easily see the movie adapted into a live production. Sequins, glitter, shiny platform shoes, oversized glasses and over-the-top outfits have long been part of John's public persona, and it's that theatricality that director Dexter Fletcher draws upon. That said, he's not simply fashioning the film after John's flamboyant attire. The intention, and one that comes to life with as much deep-seated feeling as eye-catching flashiness, is to convey John's true inner state rather than slavishly sticking to the truth. How better to show how young Reggie saw music as an escape from his difficult upbringing than to make his success seem like a dream? To demonstrate just how electrifying and unreal John's breakout gig felt than to literally depict him and the heaving crowd floating in the air? From the song-and-dance highs of finally making it, to the boozy, woozy, literally sinking lows of feeling all alone when the world is at his feet, the list of vivid and expressive examples goes on. Not only set to all of the expected tracks, but using them to plot an engaging emotional journey, the final product takes more cues from Fletcher's last two official directorial credits — on the upbeat Proclaimers jukebox musical Sunshine on Leith, as well as the Egerton-starring sports biopic Eddie the Eagle — than his uncredited job taking over for the fired Bryan Singer on Bohemian Rhapsody. Without an ounce of surprise, Rocketman is all the better for it, even when it makes crowd-pleasing moves with some of its song choices, and doesn't dive as deep into its narrative and themes as it perhaps could. Still, the two biopics share a crucial element, apart from the obvious. It's unlikely that the Oscars will award two actors for portraying real-life stars two years in a row, but Egerton puts in a thrilling, multifaceted performance worthy of ample recognition. He's a candle in the wind and defiantly still standing, all while singing John's songs himself and soaring across this rousing movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTm5DWgL-MU
UPDATE, December 17, 2022: White Noise screens in Australian cinemas from Thursday, December 8, and streams via Netflix from Friday, December 30. We're all dying. We're all shopping. We're all prattling relentlessly about our days and routines, and about big ideas and tiny specifics as well. As we cycle through this list over and over, again and again, rinsing and repeating, we're also all clinging to whatever distracts us from our ever-looming demise, our mortality hovering like a black billowing cloud. In White Noise, all of the above is a constant. For the film's second of three chapters, a dark swarm in the sky is literal, too. Adapted from Don DeLillo's 1985 novel of the same name — a book thought unfilmable for the best part of four decades — by Marriage Story writer/director Noah Baumbach, this bold, playful survey of existential malaise via middle-class suburbia and academia overflows with life, death, consumerism and the cacophony of chaos echoing through our every living moment. Oh, and there's a glorious supermarket dance number as one helluva finale, because why not? "All plots move deathward" protagonist Jack Gladney (Adam Driver, House of Gucci) contends, one of his words of wisdom in the 'Hitler studies' course he's taught for 16 years at College-on-the-Hill. Yes, that early declaration signals the feature's biggest point of fascination — knowing that eternal rest awaits us all, that is — as does White Noise's car crash-filled very first frames. In the latter, Jack's colleague Murray Siskind (Don Cheadle, No Sudden Move) holds court, addressing students about the meaning of and catharsis found in on-screen accidents, plunging into their use of violence and catastrophe as entertainment, and showing clips. In the aforementioned mid-section of the movie, when White Noise turns into a disaster flick thanks to a tanker truck colliding with a train — because its driver was distracted, fittingly — you can bet that Murray's insights and concepts bubble up again. Before there's a tangible calamity blowing in, life is still mayhem, as Baumbach stresses in White Noise's opening third. The professors natter all at once, with Jack and Murray even joining forces for a rapturous session on Hitler and Elvis Presley's commonalities — Baz Luhrmann's Elvis, this isn't — that's one of the film's tour-de-force scenes. Chatter awaits at home, too, where Jack's fourth wife Babette (Greta Gerwig, 20th Century Women) sports important corkscrew hair and mothers a blended brood spanning his kids Heinrich (Sam Nivola, With/In) and Steffie (May Nivola, The Pursuit of Love), her daughter Denise (Raffey Cassidy, Vox Lux), and their shared boy Wilder (debutants Henry and Dean Moore). Recalling Steven Spielberg's fondness for small towns and family dynamics, White Noise is both cosy and intricate in its everyday details (and oh-so-80s). The fact that everyone is always spouting and blasting something, again all at once, speaks volumes; little here, be it good, bad, sudden or expected, can be escaped. Baumbach keeps close to his source material, so much so that DeLillo's voice lingers in the dialogue; however, the director is no stranger to perceptively unpacking intimate bonds himself. Indeed, each one of his features across more than a quarter-century so far — including breakout flick The Squid and the Whale, quarter-life-crisis gem Frances Ha, the similarly arrested development-centric While We're Young, coming-of-age caper Mistress America and the adult sibling-focused The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) — has done just that. Only White Noise boasts "The Airborne Toxic Event", though, which tests its characters and relationships through apocalyptic horror, a frantic evacuation, and detouring ambitiously and hilariously into madcap National Lampoon's Vacation-esque territory. That ominous feathery plume makes the fear of death physical, as scary movies have for a century-plus. And, it makes it unavoidable, no matter how much the film's motley crew would rather divert their attention anywhere else. Also, it briefly turns it comical in a 'what else are you going to do but laugh?' manner. How does humanity, en masse and individually, trick ourselves into forgetting that our time alive is finite, fleeting, fickle and fragile — and that it could fade to black at any second? White Noise is that question in anxious filmic form with a satirical and savage bite. Accordingly, Murray waxes lyrical about grabbing groceries, and also about being someone who either kills or dies, while Jack and the teenage Denise start noticing the usually perky Babette's secret pill-popping. The Gladneys' patriarch and matriarch already proclaim how they couldn't live without each other as bedroom talk, but they're really ruminating on what it'll mean when they simply can't live. Buying and medicating your way away from that train of thought, and ignoring warnings and doctors, are all firmly in the movie's sardonically scathing sights. So is seeing how danger, terror and death inevitably bring people together — and, although set in the 80s, working with a novel penned in the 80s, the striking pandemic-era parallels sting (masks, conspiracy theories and all). In Baumbach's hands, White Noise is anything but unadaptable, but it is jam-packed. The themes, ideas, emotions, neuroses and tones flow as fast as all the talk — itself overflowing with big-thinking yet also screwball dialogue with a zippy rhythm — and then there's the always colour-saturated production design and costuming, the hypnotic choreography of bodies and vehicles, and the dream cast. Both Driver and Gerwig have already shown their sublime talents under Baumbach's guidance before, and both perfect the crucial-but-rare skill of conveying a world of character minutiae via their presence. Driver's size instantly makes him tower over the Gladneys' mania, just not as much as that black cloud, and soar over his college discussions. Gerwig, missed on-screen for six years while directing Lady Bird, Little Women and the upcoming (and Baumbach co-written) Barbie, is the face of soldiering on until you aren't or can't — equally warmly and heartbreakingly so. Impressive turns by Cassidy and Sam Nivola as the eldest two of the precocious children stand out, too, and Jodie Turner-Smith (After Yang), André 3000 (High Life) and Lars Eidinger (Irma Vep) also make an imprint in small appearances. Again, there's a lot to White Noise. Again, that's all by design, stems from the page, happily comes with built-in lurches and veers, and a hefty part of the point. (Life is a lot, death is a lot and confronting is a lot, after all.) As Danny Elfman's (Wednesday) score adapts nimbly to the many changes in mood, and cinematographer Lol Crawley (The Humans) helps make everything a spectacle, bearing life's transience keeps proving wildly careening, spiralling, amusing and entertaining. And when the closing credits roll, fancy footwork breaking out to LCD Soundsystem's 'New Body Rhumba' in an infectiously engaging display, a clear message has beamed in through the static: everything in life, like in supermarkets, has an expiration date, but knowing that fact means enjoying what you have while you have it. Top image: Wilson Webb/NETFLIX © 2022.
