Stepping into Berlin's Markos Dance Academy on a grey, rainy 1977 day, Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson) is a picture of nervous excitement. The former Ohio Mennonite clutches at her meagre belongings with equal parts eagerness and apprehension, her eyes darting keenly. But once she's through the school's doors, she's willing to surrender to whatever comes her way. It's an attitude that everyone watching Suspiria should take note of, for Susie is the perfect viewer surrogate in this delightfully dark, seductive, twitchy and witchy remake. Like the American in Germany pursuing her dream and accepting everything that happens next, giving yourself over to the movie's horrors and charms is truly the audience's only option. If ever a remake yearned to be judged on its own merits, it's Suspiria. After the sun-dappled Italian vistas and melancholic romance of his sublime Call Me By Your Name, filmmaker Luca Guadagnino takes Dario Argento's iconic 1977 film — and really takes to it. Made with evident love for the original, but never trying to slavishly recreate it, Guadagnino's Suspiria is a new dreamlike interpretation of an already dreamlike classic. It's the feverish nightmare you might have after letting the initial flick needle its way into your brain and mix with your own subconscious. Perhaps that's what happened to Guadagnino and his second-time screenwriter David Kajganich (A Bigger Splash). Either way, their protagonist also experiences her own disturbing nocturnal visions, and they're gloriously unhinged. In a city still grappling with the aftermath of catastrophic conflict three decades on, where Red Army Faction terror attacks have become a daily occurrence, bad dreams are the least of Susie and her fellow dancers' concerns. Amid preparations for the academy's latest show — a re-staging of a piece created by head teacher Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton) after the Second World War — their star goes missing. It's with an air of unease that the unsettled group moves forward after Patricia's (Chloë Grace Moretz) disappearance, which the school's teachers link to the far-left RAF's disorder in the streets. Thankfully, newcomer Susie is both willing and able to step into Patricia's shoes, with her breathy passion more than catching Madame Blanc's eye. While Argento's Suspiria teased out its big twist, Guadagnino's version lays it all out on the dance floor from the outset. Rather than a company of dancers, complete with experienced instructors overseeing the next generation, this is a coven. Rather than training for their next recital, they're readying their new sacrifices for a ritual. Removing the mystery around the film's otherworldly elements doesn't remove the mystery from the film, however. With an elderly psychiatrist (an actor credited as 'Lutz Ebersdorf') searching for Patricia with the eventual help of Markos dancer Sara (Mia Goth), there's intrigue aplenty. The intense teacher-pupil, pseudo mother-daughter bond between Susie and Madame Blanc also keeps everyone guessing. Scored to Thom Yorke's moody tunes and edited with a sense of anxiety, Suspiria isn't a character study. It doesn't probe the recesses of Susie's mind to explore what makes her tick, or delve deeply into Madame Blanc's motivations. Instead, it largely leaves its key duo at the mercy of the movie's macabre plot. That's what horror movies typically do, as seen in this year's other dance-horror flick, Gaspar Noe's Climax. Nonetheless, Johnson and Swinton instantly demand the audience's attention, drawing viewers in in much the same way that their characters are drawn to each other. The combination of vulnerability and determination that made Johnson the best thing about the Fifty Shades trilogy is firmly on display, as is Swinton's well-established allure in multiple guises. Everything else that Guadagnino and Kajganich place within Suspiria's frames is also designed to reel the audience in; to encourage surrender, if not willingly then by force. A movie as densely layered as the rhythmic yet jarring dance moves that it thrusts to the fore, Suspiria is laden with intoxicating, inescapable detail. Thematically, it delves into the scars of war, the historical subjugation of women and the way that one childhood moment can shape someone's life. In its aesthetics, it's an all-out horror onslaught that evolves from creepily atmospheric to violently sensual to gleefully bloody (oh-so-bloody!) across its 152-minute running time. The film's strong visuals shouldn't come as a surprise, although not for reasons that original Suspiria fans might expect. Where Argento's movie glowed with deep jewel tones, Guadagnino favours grim shades enlivened by more than a dash of red. With a filmography that also includes Swinton in I Am Love, and both Swinton and Johnson in A Bigger Splash, Guadagnino has long known how to throw gorgeous pictures across the screen. He's not the first filmmaker to demonstrate that horrific imagery can also be bewitching but, aided by the suitably restless camerawork of cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (Call Me By Your Name), he makes the case in a stunning fashion. Two scenes stand out — Susie's telekinetic audition, and the movie's over-the-top climax — but the entirety of Suspiria stamps itself onto viewers' eyeballs. Perhaps Susie and her cackling company won't be the only ones having lurid, disturbing and spellbinding dreams. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q6jwH5_MKQ
"If any one unwarily draws in too close and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and his children will never welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble him to death with the sweetness of their song." With The Odyssey, Homer essentially created the epic. But with the above passage, he also created something much more insidious — the femme fatale, a stock female character who tempts men with the ultimate goal of destroying them. Victorian Opera's latest project, Lorelei, shoves a cabaret skewer through this idea and roasts it over an operatic blaze. Sopranos Ali McGregor and Antoinette Halloran with mezzo-soprano Dimity Shepherd have been spicing up the classics for a while as the Opera Burlesque collective. Now, they take to a cliff-top on a tricky bend in the river Rhine to explore how women are represented in literature and opera. But wouldn't you know it — just as they're getting down to business, a ship begins to approach. And it seems to be having a little trouble on those bends. Part cabaret, part opera and with a stinging libretto by Casey Bennetto (Keating! The Musical) and Gillian Cosgriff (8 Songs in 8 Weeks), Lorelei takes its cues from the sirens of German folklore. It's happy enough to toy with the trope — but it's not going to stop until it's smashed to matchsticks on a rock. Lorelei will run from November 3–10 at The Coopers Malthouse, Merlyn Theatre. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Victorian Opera website.
Melbourne, Sydney's favourite providore is coming your way — armed with dry-aged T-bone Florentina, Venetian doughnuts and house-churned gelato. Yep, we're talking Fratelli Fresh, the original gurus of fresh produce and authentic Italian goodness from up north. With five restaurants currently operating in Sydney, the Fratelli folks haven't settled for just any old place for their Melbourne debut. They're arriving with a bang, having taken over the stunning, two-storey, heritage-listed building in Alfred Place that was most recently inhabited by Stokehouse City. The expansion down south comes just a few months after the Fratelli Fresh chain was bought by the Urban Purveyor Group. On the ground floor, you'll find Fratelli Fresh's famous red and white décor. Nab yourself a seat at the marble-topped pizza counter and wait for your 48-hour, naturally-fermented, hand-stretched, thin-crust pizza to emerge from the wood-fired oven. Alternatively, hang out in the laneway with a friend and order the signature abbacchio alla Romana, which is Roman-style lamb on the bone with parmesan crust. Or you can always go with some antipasti or pasta, the wood-grilled fish or the aforementioned t-bone. Dessert will include Fratelli's famed tiramisu, and that's really all you need to know. The menu is wallet-friendly too, with more than 25 dishes for under 20 smackaroos and a six-course banquet for $55. Swing by during aperitivo hour between 3pm and 6pm, for $5 wine, beer and spirits, and $10 spritzers and Negronis. A photo posted by Fratelli Fresh (@fratellifresh) on Oct 12, 2015 at 4:46pm PDT But that's not all. Up the spectacular staircase, on the first floor, you'll find another Sydney export: The Cut Steakhouse. Sink into an ocean-green leather banquette and take your pick of ten beef cuts from five fancy, fancy farms. Extra posh cuts include Cape Grim's 36-month grass-fed beef, Black Market's 270-day grain-fed beef from the Rangers Valley, John Dee's 150-day grain-fed scotch fillet and a full-blood wagyu from Robbins Island. Match 'em with one of eight sauces and your pick of ten sides, including buttermilk onion rings and slow-roasted leeks. Meanwhile, in The Cut's bar, The Library, you'll be exploring a 300-strong, international wine list, more than 80 whiskies, a slew of craft beers and a bunch of signature cocktails. To celebrate this mammoth double opening, the two restaurants will also be running a giveaway in the funnest way possible — by dropping teeny-tiny prize-bearing parachutes from the building's rooftop. Fifty parachutes — containing prizes from free coffee for a week and pizzas for year, to dinners, lunches and bar tabs — will be dropped from 7 Alfred Place from 4.30pm this Friday, July 15. Start practicing your catching skills. Fratelli Fresh and The Cut Steakhouse will open this Friday, July 15. For more info, visit fratellifresh.com.au/the-alfred and thecutbarandgrill.com/melbourne.
Melbourne might currently be enjoying a somewhat mild start to the new year, with temperatures in the mid-20s on January 1 and forecast to stay below 30 degrees until Thursday; however a blast of extra sizzling warmth awaits come the end of the week. Indeed, finding some frosty air-con or a shaded pool is recommended on Friday, when the city is predicted to swelter through a day-long spell of 42-degree heat. The Bureau of Meteorology expects the mercury to soar across Victoria on January 4, hitting the 40–42 range in Melbourne and throughout the state's south, and reaching 44–46 in the north. While that's a whopping 16 degrees above Melbourne's average top January temperature according to Weatherzone, it's still lower than the city's highest recorded January maximum of 45.6 degrees back in 1939. https://twitter.com/BOM_Vic/status/1079983551989329921 The particularly hot spell comes after several similarly baking days last month, although the temperature will exceed the 38-degree maximum experienced in the brief early-December heatwave. It'll also top Melbourne's efforts post-Christmas, when the mercury climbed to 37.4 degrees on December 27. Thankfully, the scorching summer blast will be short-lived. BOM expects a gusty southwest change to arrive late on Friday, heralding a return to mid-20s temps. A cloudy few days will see Saturday peak at 24 degrees and Sunday hit just 22, before Tuesday climbs back up to 27. Image: udeyismail via Flickr.
The annual Orange Wine Festival is back for its 11th run, with ten days of events highlighting the region's sophisticated winemaking from October 13 through October 22. Patrons can expect wine shows, tastings, dinners and educational workshops, all of which showcase the rich diversity of Orange's rich culinary culture. This year's packed-out program includes over 90 events, which are open to all wine lovers, from the connoisseurs to those still getting to know their palate. The region is known for its cool climate which creates wines with bright fruit and deep, balanced flavours, making them some of the best drops in the country. While there are events on every day of the two weeks, signature events include the Festival Night Market, the Orange Wine Show Tasting ($50-$70) and Wine in the Vines ($145).
In true 2020 fashion, AFL Grand Final celebrations are set to look very different this time around. The game itself has been shipped interstate, the pubs are closed and even the classic backyard barbecue with mates is a no go. But that doesn't mean you need to let Saturday, October 24 pass without indulging in a proper footy feast, worthy of Melbourne's famous sporting clash. Diehard footy fan or not, there's no better time of year for some pub grub and finger food, matched with a few bevvies and scoffed in front of the telly. To save you from kitchen duty, we've found a stack of finals-friendly food and drink bundles, most of which you can get delivered to your door. And, of course, there are plenty of pies in the mix. Dust off that merch and elevate your at-home Grand Final experience with these eight footy packs. PRAHRAN MARKET x MOON DOG POUR 'N PLENTY PIE & BEER BOX Those game day pie cravings are in solid hands with this limited-edition pack from the Prahran Market and Moon Dog Brewery, celebrating that time-honoured footy pairing of hot pies and cold beer. Seven market vendors have each created their own signature party pie for the occasion, with inventive fillings ranging from lamb kofta to peking duck. The $55 pack comes loaded with 13 ready-to-heat pies, as well as a mixed four-pack of Moon Dog brews and a mini Sherrin footy. It also comes with tasting notes and the option to experience a virtual pie tasting session. How much? $55 HAND PICKED ULTIMATE FOOTY FEED Graze your way through Grand Final Day with the Ultimate Footy Feed selection from Australian Venue Co's new at-home menu. The pub group's chefs have dreamt up a roll-call of reimagined footy snacks, which you can have delivered straight to your door on October 23 (Grand Final Eve) for an easy $5 fee. Choose six snack dishes for $30, or eight options for $45, and get ready to sink your teeth into creative bites like boozy barbecue sausage rolls, ramen-fried chicken nuggets, and lobster mac 'n' cheese bites matched with truffle mayo. Orders close at noon this Thursday, October 22, so don't muck around. How much? $30–40 HOP NATION x PIE THIEF GAME DAY PACKS Can't fathom a footy final without some form of pie? Well, there'll be no Four'N Twenty pastries scoffed at the 'G this year, but Footscray pie shop Pie Thief and craft brewery Hop Nation have teamed up to deliver the next best thing. The duo's new Game Day bundles come in either six- or 12-pack form ($45/80), matching a selection of mini pies with signature Hop Nation brews and tinnies from their newly launched seltzer range, 'Ray. Get excited for pie varieties like chunky steak and spag bol, paired with drops like The Chop IPA, The Damned pilsner and summery peach seltzer. Deliveries will be running to a bunch of central and western postcodes on October 21 and 22, so that your fridge is all stocked come game day. How much? $45–80 ATTICA FOOTY LOAF Yep, even Ben Shewry's fine dining icon Attica is getting into the Grand Final spirit. The Ripponlea restaurant is shaking things up with a special at-home offering available only on October 23 and 24 — a family-friendly nacho-style footy loaf. For $85, you will get to enjoy a feast Shewry's own kids have labelled their "favourite ever Attica meal", starring a full loaf of bread with a swag of accompaniments for dipping, ripping and/or filling as you see fit. There's a rich beef and black bean chilli, corn chips, jalapeños, guacamole, pepperberry pickled onions and two varieties of sour cream. It's all available for pickup, or delivery to select suburbs, with pre-orders open now. How much? $85 400 GRADI GRAND FINAL PACKS The pizza maestros at 400 Gradi are slinging not one, but three different AFL Grand Final packs, catering to the full range of footy feasting preferences. You can opt for a grazing-style combination of cheese and prosecco ($70), or go for gold with one of the group-friendly spreads, featuring salumi, pizza, focaccia, a full lamb shoulder, tiramisu and more. Each pack is designed for two, but if you want to upsize, you'll find plenty of choice add-ons available in 400 Gradi's online food store. Delivery's available all across the state, with fees varying depending on how far out you are. Just be sure to get your pre-order in before the October 21 cut-off. How much? $70–170 SAN TELMO x FUTURE MOUNTAIN BREWING PARTY PACK Promising to lend a little South American flair to the footy finals experience is the new limited-edition party pack from the San Telmo Group. One of three bundles created in collaboration with the folks from Future Mountain Brewing, this should answer all your food and drink cravings. You'll score a one-litre serve of Future Mountain beer — perhaps the old-world farmhouse ale or an oak-aged golden sour — along with a lineup of Argentinian eats ready to heat and eat. We're talking empanadas, cured meats, chimichurri and a couple of classic choripan (chorizo rolls). You can pick up your feast from one of three locations, otherwise delivery is available to select suburbs near the Reservoir brewery. How much? $90–122 EASEY'S x THE EMERSON FOOTY BUBBLE PACKS Easey's kitchen residency at The Emerson means good things for any southsider with a burger craving this finals season. The pair is dishing up three different Bubble Packs, perfect for devouring in front of the telly while cheering on your team. There's a solo pack featuring a cheeseburger and a couple of cans of Splash vodka ($29), and a two-person bundle packed with two of Easey's signatures and a celebratory one-litre cocktail serve ($79). Need a footy feast for four? You'll also find a $99 family pack in the mix, loaded with four burgers and a four-pack of Splash. All three options are available daily from noon till 7.30pm, though you'll have to pick-up from the venue. How much? $29–99
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. DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA The movies have come to Downton Abbey and Violet Crawley, the acid-tongued Dowager Countess of Grantham so delightfully played by Maggie Smith (The Lady in the Van) since 2010, is none too fussed about it. "Hard same," all but the most devoted fans of the upstairs-downstairs TV drama may find themselves thinking as she expresses that sentiment — at least where Downton Abbey: A New Era, an exercise in extending the series/raking in more box-office cash, is concerned. Violet, as only she can, declares she'd "rather eat pebbles" than watch a film crew at work within the extravagant walls of her family's home. The rest of us mightn't be quite so venomous, but that's not the same as being entertained. The storyline involving said film crew is actually one of the most engaging parts of A New Era; however, the fact that much of it is clearly ripped off from cinematic classic Singin' in the Rain speaks volumes, and gratingly. When the first Downton Abbey flick brought its Yorkshire mansion-set shenanigans to cinemas back in 2019, it felt unnecessary, too, but also offered what appeared to be a last hurrah and a final chance to spend time with beloved characters. Now, the repeat effort feels like keeping calm and soldiering on because there's more pounds to be made. Don't believe the title: while A New Era proclaims that change is afoot, and some of its narrative dramas nod to the evolving world when the 1920s were coming to a close, the movie itself is happy doing what Downton Abbey always has — and in a weaker version. There's zero reason other than financial gain for this film to unspool its tale in theatres rather than as three TV episodes, which is what it may as well have tacked together. Well, perhaps there's one: having Lady Mary Talbot (Michelle Dockery, Anatomy of a Scandal) proclaim that "we have to be able to enter the 1930s with our heads held high" and set the expectation that more features will probably follow. A New Era begins with a wedding, picking up where its predecessor left off as former chauffeur Tom Branson (Allen Leech, Bohemian Rhapsody) marries Lucy Smith (Tuppence Middleton, Mank) with everyone expected — the well-to-do Crawleys and their relatives, plus their maids, butlers, cooks, footmen and other servants — in attendance. But the film really starts with two revelations that disrupt the Downton status quo. Firstly, Violet receives word that she's inherited a villa in the south of France from an ex-paramour, who has recently passed away. His surviving wife (Nathalie Baye, Call My Agent!) is displeased with the arrangement, threatening lawsuits, but his son (Jonathan Zaccaï, The White Crow) invites the Crawleys to visit to hash out the details. Secondly, a movie production wants to use Downton for a shoot, which the pragmatic Mary talks the family into because — paralleling the powers-that-be behind A New Era itself — the aristocratic brood would like the money. With Violet's health waning, she stays home while son Robert (Hugh Bonneville, Paddington 2) and his wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern, The Commuter) journey to the Riviera — as part of a cohort that also includes retired butler Mr Carson (Jim Carter, Swimming with Men), who's determined to teach his French counterparts British standards. And, as the Dowager Countess remains in Yorkshire exclaiming she'd "rather earn a living down a mine" than make movies, potential family secrets are bubbling up abroad. That subplot takes a cue or two from Mamma Mia!; Downton Abbey creator and writer Julian Fellowes must've watched several musicals while scripting. Violet also notes that she "thought the best thing about films is that I couldn't hear them", because the production helmed by Jack Barber (Hugh Dancy, Late Night), and led by stars Guy Dexter (Dominic West, The Pursuit of Love) and Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock, Transformers: The Last Knight), has hit a period-appropriate snag: talkies are the new hot thing, but their flick is silent. Read our full review. AFTER YANG What flickers in a robot's circuitry in its idle moments has fascinated the world for decades, famously so in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 — and in After Yang, one machine appears to long for everything humans do. The titular Yang (Justin H Min, The Umbrella Academy) was bought to give Kyra (Jodie Turner-Smith, Queen & Slim) and Jake's (Colin Farrell, The Batman) adopted Chinese daughter Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, iCarly) a technosapien brother, babysitter, companion and purveyor of "fun facts" about her heritage. He dotes amid his duties, perennially calm and loving, and clearly an essential part of the family. What concerns his wiring beyond his assigned tasks doesn't interest anyone, though, until he stops operating. Mika is distressed, and Kyra and Jake merely inconvenienced initially, but the latter pledges to figure out how to fix Yang — which is where his desires factor in. Yang is unresponsive and unable to play his usual part as the household's robotic fourth member. If Jake can't get him up and running quickly, he'll also experience the "cultural techno" version of dying, his humanoid skin even decomposing. That puts a deadline on a solution, which isn't straightforward, particularly given that Yang was bought from a now-shuttered reseller secondhand, rather than from the manufacturer anew, is one roadblock. Tinkering with the android's black box is also illegal, although Jake is convinced to anyway by a repairman (Ritchie Coster, The Flight Attendant). He acquiesces not only because it's what Mika desperately wants, but because he's told that Yang might possess spyware — aka recordings of the family — that'd otherwise become corporate property. Before all that, there's a stunning dance — a synchronised contest where families around the globe bust out smooth moves in front of their televisions, competing to emerge victorious. The dazzling scene comes during After Yang's opening credits and is a marvel to watch, with writer/director/editor Kogonada (TV series Pachinko) conveying a wealth of meaning visually, thematically, philosophically and emotionally in minutes. To look at, the sequence brings to mind Ex Machina's, aka the Oscar Isaac-led scene that launched a thousand gifs. In what it says about After Yang's vision of an unspecified but not-too-distant future, it's reminiscent of Black Mirror, with engrained surveillance technology eerily tracking participants' every move. It's here, too, amid the joy of the family progressing further than they ever have before, that the fact that Yang is malfunctioning becomes apparent, turning a techno dream in more ways than one into a potential source of heartbreak. When a feature so easily recalls other films and television shows, and so emphatically, it isn't typically a positive sign. That isn't the case with After Yang. Adapting Alexander Weinstein's short story Saying Goodbye to Yang, Kogonada crafts a movie that resembles a dream for the overwhelming bulk of its running time — it's softly shot like one, and tightly to focus on interiors rather than backgrounds — and that makes it feel like a happily slumbering brain filtering through and reinterpreting its wide array of influences. Another picture that leaves an imprint: Kogonada's own Columbus, his 2017 wonder that also featured Haley Lu Richardson (The Edge of Seventeen), who pops up here as a friend of Yang's that Jake, Kyra and Mika know nothing about. It isn't the shared casting that lingers, but the look and mood and texture, plus the idea that what we see, what we choose to revel in aesthetically and what makes us tick mentally are intertwined; yes, even for androids. Read our full review. WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY To watch films written and directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi is to watch people playing a part — in multiple ways. That's one of the key truths to features not only by the Japanese filmmaker, but by anyone helming a movie that relies upon actors. It's so obvious that it doesn't usually need mentioning, in fact. Nonetheless, the notion is as essential to Hamaguchi's pictures as cameras to capture the drama. He bakes the idea into his films via as many methods as he can, pondering what it means to step into all the posts that life demands: friend, lover, spouse, ex, sibling, child, employee, student, classmate and the like. Hamaguchi loves contemplating the overt act of performance, too — his Best International Feature Oscar-winning Drive My Car, which also nabbed its helmer a Best Director nomination at this year's Academy Awards, hones in on a play and the rehearsals for it in dilligent detail — but the auteur who's also behind Happy Hour and Asako I and II has long been aware that the art of portrayal isn't just limited to thespians. Shakespeare said it centuries back, of course. To be precise, he had As You Like It's Jaques utter it: "all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players". Hamaguchi's Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, his second film to reach cinemas in mere months, definitely isn't a French-set comedy; however, it lives and breathes the Bard's famous words anyway. Here, three tales about romance, desire and fate get a spin. This trio of stories all muse on chance, choice, identity, regret and inescapable echoes as well, and focus on complex women reacting to the vagaries of life and everyday relationships. They're about sliding into roles in daily existence, and making choices regarding how to behave, which way to present yourself and who you decide to be depending upon the company you're in. While Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy mightn't ultimately mimic Drive My Car's Oscars success, it's equally masterful. In the first part, model Meiko (Kotone Furukawa, 21st Century Girl) discovers that her best friend Tsugumi (Hyunri, Wife of a Spy) has just started seeing her ex-boyfriend Kazuaki (Ayumu Nakajima, Saturday Fiction), and grapples with her complicated feelings while pondering what could eventuate. Next, college student Nao (Katsuki Mori, Sea Opening) is enlisted to seduce Professor Sagawa (Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Tezuka's Barbara) as part of a revenge plan by her lover Sasaki (Shouma Kai, Signal 100). Finally, in a world where the internet has been eradicated due to a virus, Natsuko (Fusako Urabe, Voices in the Wind) and Nana (Aoba Kawai, Marriage with a Large Age Gap) cross paths — thinking that they went to school together decades ago. Hamaguchi's resume is littered with other obsessions beyond the fictions people spin to get through their days — to themselves and to each other, and willingly and unthinkingly alike — many of which also pop up in Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy. Coincidence has a role in each of the movie's trio of intelligently and painstakingly plotted narratives, and destiny and fortune as well (as the name makes plain). The tangled web that romance weaves, and the sticky strands that represent alluring exes, also leave a firm imprint. So does seduction, and not always in its usual and most apparent form. All three of the picture's sections could stand alone, but each could've been fleshed out to feature length as well; as they exist, they leave viewers wanting more time with their lead characters. Commonalities ebb and flow between them, though, because this is a smart, astute and savvily layered triptych that's brought to the screen with everything that makes Hamaguchi's work so empathetic, warmly intimate and also entrancing. Read our full review. HELMUT NEWTON: THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL One of the great treats in Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful stems from perhaps the film's simplest move: letting viewers peer at the often-provocative photographer's works in such a large format. Being able to do just that is the reason why the Exhibition On Screen series of movies exists, surveying showcases dedicated to artists such as Vincent van Gogh, David Hockney and Frida Kahlo over the years — and this documentary isn't part of that, but it understands the same idea. There's nothing like staring at an artist's work to understand what makes them tick. Writer/director Gero von Boehm (Henry Miller: Prophet of Desire) fills The Bad and the Beautiful with plenty more, from archival footage to recent interviews, but it'd all ring empty without seeing the imagery captured by Newton's lens firsthand. Every word that's said about the German photographer, or by him, is deepened by roving your eyes across the frequently contentious snaps that he sent Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Playboy and other magazines' ways. Those photos aren't run-of-the-mill fashion pics. Largely, the highly stylised images are of naked women — naked famous women, if not then then now, such as Isabella Rossellini, Charlotte Rampling, Grace Jones and Claudia Schiffer — and they're as fetishistic as the artform gets. They're the kinds of snaps that saw Susan Sontag call Newton out for being a misogynist to his face, as seen in a French TV clip featured in the film. The Bad and the Beautiful is an affectionate doco, but it also dives headfirst into the trains of thought that his work has sparked for decades. Anna Wintour explains that when someone books Newton, "you're not going to get a pretty girl on a beach". Women who posed for him, including the aforementioned stars, plus Marianne Faithfull, Arja Toyryla, Nadja Auermann and Hanna Schygulla, all talk through their differing experiences as well — and the portrait painted is varied. As a result, The Bad and the Beautiful is both a biography and a conversation. It covers the birth-to-death details, such as Newton's upbringing in Berlin, fleeing the Nazis in the late 1930s, and his time in Australia, where he met his wife June. It chronicles his stint in Singapore before heading Down Under, and his jaunts in London and Paris afterwards — and the fact that Monte Carlo and Los Angeles were both considered his homes when he passed away in 2004. The film is an easy primer on his life, complete with the requisite Wikipedia-style information, but it's an engrossing watch because of how eagerly it engages with the plethora of views that his images have and continue to inspire. (Admittedly, even a documentary that's clearly an authorised exploration of its subject couldn't justify really existing if it had left all traces of anything controversial out.) Don't go expecting answers, though. That isn't The Bad and the Beautiful's remit, unsurprisingly. That isn't necessarily a criticism; von Boehm's still-fascinating film presents the debate that's raged around Newton's works — are they sexist, art, both or neither? — and unpacks perspectives on either side, although the fact that this is a fond examination of his life, career, impact and legacy is never in doubt. A doco can be candid, probing, hagiographic and happy to let its viewers make their own calls, however, as this one clearly is. It can offer insider tidbits, conflicting views, comparisons and simply the change to look on in-depth as well, as is similarly the case here. And, it can let its images keep fuelling and furthering questions, which everything that Newton shot likely always will. 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 January 1, January 6, January 13, January 20 and January 27; February 3, February 10, February 17 and February 24; and March 3, March 10, March 17, March 24 and March 31; and April 7, April 14 and April 21. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Ghostbusters: Afterlife, House of Gucci, The King's Man, Red Rocket, Scream, The 355, Gold, King Richard, Limbo, Spencer, Nightmare Alley, Belle, Parallel Mothers, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Belfast, Here Out West, Jackass Forever, Benedetta, Drive My Car, Death on the Nile, C'mon C'mon, Flee, Uncharted, Quo Vadis, Aida?, Cyrano, Hive, Studio 666, The Batman, Blind Ambition, Bergman Island, Wash My Soul in the River's Flow, The Souvenir: Part II, Dog, Anonymous Club, X, River, Nowhere Special, RRR, Morbius, The Duke and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Fantastic Beasts and the Secrets of Dumbledore, Ambulance, Memoria, The Lost City, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Happening, The Good Boss, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The Northman and Ithaka.
In Netflix's ongoing quest to keep our eyeballs glued to the small screen, the platform pumps out new original shows with frequency. There are now so many to choose from, you could easily watch nothing else. But, still, there are some that stand out from the crowd. Combine filmmaker David Fincher (Seven, Gone Girl), true-crime book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit and a whole heap of real-life serial killer cases, and you get the best show the streamer has ever made. For two seasons between 2017–2019, Mindhunter has drawn on its factual source material to dramatise the origins and operations of the FBI's Behavioural Science Unit — aka the folks who interview mass murderers to understand how they think, then use the learnings to help stop other killings. The show's main characters are fictional, such as agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) and psychologist Wendy Carr (Anna Torv), but the details they're delving into aren't. Also real: notorious figures such as Ed Kemper (played by Cameron Britton), David Berkowitz (Oliver Cooper) and Charles Manson (Damon Herriman), to name a few. It's the kind of concept that easily could span on forever — with plenty of killers and cases to cover — and still prove fascinating and gripping in this meticulously made show. Sadly, hopes for a third season now look as paltry as Holden Ford's social etiquette, with Netflix releasing the cast from its contracts, Deadline reports. The fact that Mindhunter wasn't swiftly renewed after its second season dropped last August has always been a worrying sign, which is compounded by the current news. The series hasn't been cancelled. Still, its cast is free to move onto other projects — so if Mindhunter does come back somewhere down the line, its stars mightn't be available to return because they're now working on something else. The show does boast a premise that could lend itself to an anthology format, though, so returning with a new bunch of characters taking on new cases wouldn't be the end of the world. Netflix let the cast's options expire due to Fincher's current workload, because he's quite busy making other things for them at present. As well as producing a second season of Love, Death and Robots, he's directing a Netflix film called Mank. Due to hit the platform sometime later this year, the biopic will focus on the feud between screenwriter Herman J Mankiewicz and innovative director Orson Welles over screenplay credit for a little movie called Citizen Kane, with Gary Oldman and The Souvenir's Tom Burke playing the two men. Already missing Mindhunter? Check out the trailer for its excellent second season below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHlJQCyqiaI Via Deadline.
Laure Calamy doesn't star in everything that's hitting screens big and small from France right now, but from Call My Agent! and Only the Animals to Full Time and The Origin of Evil, audiences can be forgiven for feeling otherwise. Calamy isn't new to acting, either, with a resume dating back to 2001; however, her in-demand status at present keeps showering viewers with stellar performances. Indeed, The Origin of Evil is a magnificent Calamy masterclass. She's playing a part while playing a part, and she makes both look effortless. The Antoinette in the Cévennes César Best Actress-winner is also a picture of unnerving determination and yearning, and resourcefulness and anxiety, too, as a seafood-factory worker usually tinning anchovies, then packing herself into a mix of Knives Out, Succession, The Talented Mr Ripley and Triangle of Sadness. Unleashing in-fighting upon a wealthy family residing on Côte d'Azur island Porquerolles, this instantly twisty and gripping thriller from Faultless and School's Out writer/director Sébastien Marnier (who collaborates on the screenplay with Amore mio scribe Fanny Burdino) takes a setting that'd do The White Lotus proud as well, then wreaks havoc. On the agenda in such lavish and scenic surroundings, which come filled with an unsettling menagerie of taxidermied animals: witnessing savage squabbling over who'll inherit a business empire, bathing in the kind of bitterness that only the bonds of blood among the affluent and entitled can bring, more than one person wishing that patriarch Serge Dumontet (Jacques Weber, The World of Yesterday) would shuffle off this mortal coil and, just as crucially, not everything being what it seems. First, The Origin of Evil sees the mundanity of Stéphane's (Calamy) life on the mainland, as she works the tinning assembly line, is stood up during a visit to her incarcerated girlfriend (Suzanne Clément, STAT) and gets kicked out when her landlady decides to reconcile with her estranged daughter. It's after the latter news that she picks up the phone, makes a call and locks in a date for her own reunion. Soon, Stéphane and Serge are getting acquainted — but when the restaurateur takes his long-lost daughter from a fling decades ago back home to his palatial abode, the welcome is hardly warm. His shopaholic wife Louise (Dominique Blanc, Syndrome E) is largely obliging enough, but his daughter George (Doria Tillier, Smoking Causes Coughing) couldn't be icier, her daughter Jeanne (Céleste Brunnquell, Fifi) can't understand why anyone would want in on a clan she can't wait to get out of and light-fingered maid Agnès (Véronique Ruggia, Loving Memories) is also far from friendly. Stéphane isn't the only reason that affection among the Dumontets is as dead as the stuffed critters filling their airy, stately but jam-packed abode. His health may be ailing, but Serge still has a bite regarding work, ruling the roost and being threatened as the head of the family. George says that she's been running the company since her father's stroke, and is taking him to court to gain full control — which he'll do anything to stop. Accordingly, the joy that Serge splashes around over Stéphane's sudden appearance and the misgivings that are directed her way by George are both saddled with ample history. Whether she's claiming to own the fish factory, advising that all she wants is to get to know the dad that she's grown up without, or ignoring George's cold demand that she go away and never come back, Stéphane's time with this battling brood also has its own knotty backstory. With his School's Out cinematographer Romain Carcanade, Marnier makes The Origin of Evil a visually exacting and foreboding film, even as its vibe is laced with black comedy. Nudging viewers to spot firearms and knives isn't by accident. Ramping up the tension by having the audience primed for a body count isn't as well. Playfully clever use of split screens when everyone in front of the lens is in the same room helps reinforce the Dumontets' divisions, with and without Stéphane — and stresses her outsider status among them, alongside a heavy everyone's-a-future-suspect air. In its imagery, The Origin of Evil is as busy as the central villa that Louise has stacked with everything that she can possibly collect (one notable instance: a wall of VHS tapes of recorded TV shows). The switch of hues from grim to bright whenever Porquerolles beckons is telling, too. Watching along is like playing detective, then, scouring the sights, scenes and details for tell-tale tidbits. It might sport a title that could grace an entry in the Evil Dead, The Conjuring or IT franchises (most scary-movie sagas, really), but The Origin of Evil isn't a horror movie — traditionally, at least. As told via savvily suspenseful scripting, where constantly waiting for new revelations doesn't mean being ready for everything that spills, it's scathing about the ghastliness of money, privilege and expectation, and also misogyny. Snaky doesn't only sum up the plot, though. Where allegiances and sympathies land at any given moment is equally as zigzagging. And, as the story keeps spinning, Calamy's bobbing and weaving efforts as Stéphane are nothing short of phenomenal. Marnier and Carcanade regularly catch reactions from the newcomer in the Dumontets' midst that her hosts cannot see, each one adding new layers to this star performance. As riveting as she proves at every moment, Calamy also has excellent company, including the rest of the female-heavy cast. Blanc, Tillier, Brunnquell and Ruggia's characters mightn't receive as much time on-screen to demonstrate as much depth, but the quartet still ensures that they each make a sharp impression. Blanc is a barbed yet smiling gem, in particular. Together, around Weber segueing from affable to monstrous, the four women unpack the many imperfections of a life that glitters only on the surface — aka the flaws in the gleaming prize that Stéphane is so eagerly chasing. Again, however, Calamy is The Origin of Evil's jewel. If France's film and TV output wants to keep pushing her to the fore again and again, its movies and television shows will only be better for it.
Calling all Scandi cinema diehards, Nordic noir buffs, fans of the region's oft-icy climes, and lovers of mythology and folklore: the 2023 Scandinavian Film Festival has something on its lineup for you. When it gets frosty in Australia each year, this big-screen showcase celebrates titles primarily hailing from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden — and its latest lineup is full of must-see highlights. Screening from Thursday, July 13–Wednesday, August 2 at Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema and The Astor Theatre in Melbourne, the fest's latest program will kick off with the Australian premiere of Let the River Flow, which won the Audience Award at this year's Göteborg Film Festival. Based on a true tale, it tells of a young woman who unintentionally becomes involved in a protest against a dam, with the new structure set to possibly flood Indigenous Sámi land. The standouts keep coming, such as Godland from Icelandic filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason (A White, White Day), which gets the festival's centrepiece slot — and Fallen Leaves, the latest from Finnish great Aki Kaurismäki's (The Other Side of Hope). Both hit the Scandi Film Festival after bowing locally at other events around the country. Also boasting a high-profile name is Burn All My Letters, which follows the consequences of a love affair, and stars Barbarian and John Wick: Chapter 4's Bill Skarsgård. Or, there's Swedish thriller Shadow Island, Darkland sequel Darkland: The Return and psychological drama Copenhagen Does Not Exist for devotees of Nordic cinema's dark side. If that's your favourite way to get a Scandi film fix, you'll also be in your element with Scandi Screams, the fest's six-movie retrospective. That's where that focus on myths and eerie tales comes in, and of course Let the Right One In is on the lineup. So is Ari Aster's Midsommar, the Oscar-nominated Border, Mads Mikkelsen in Valhalla Rising, twisted Christmas flick Rare Exports and the fantasy-heavy Troll Hunter. Back to the event's slate of recent releases, comedy lovers can get excited about Iceland's dinner party-set Wild Game, Denmark's Fathers & Mothers and The Land of Short Sentences, the new film in The Grump franchise, and absurdist-leaning period piece Empire. Also on the lineup: Unruly, another 2023 Göteborg Film Festival award-winner, this time for Best Nordic Film; documentary The King, about Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf; Munch, a dramatisation of the Norwegian artist's life; coming-of-age drama Norwegian Dream; One Day All This Will Be Yours, about a Swedish cartoonist and her siblings dividing up the family farmland; and polyamory love story Four Little Adults.
In Disney's non-stop quest to not only remake its animated hits, but to make them look as lifelike as possible, the Mouse House has already brought Dumbo, Aladdin and The Lion King back to our screens so far this year alone. But it's not done yet, with the company's new streaming platform set to welcome another high-profile do-over before the end 2019: a live-action version of Lady and the Tramp. To answer the question you've all been wondering, yes, it'll feature real spaghetti and meatballs. In all seriousness, the film does actually star real dogs — not photo-realistic canines cooked up by a special-effects team. The adorable pooches have still be given human voices, as the first trailer showed a few months back, with Tessa Thompson lending her tones to everyone's favourite pampered pupper and Justin Theroux doing the honours for her street-smart love interest. Playing an American cocker spaniel and a schnauzer, Thompson and Theroux aren't the only big-name talents going to the dogs. A Star Is Born's Sam Elliott gets gravelly as a bloodhound, Catastrophe's Ashley Jensen is a Scottish terrier, Avengers: Endgame's Benedict Wong voices a bulldog and Janelle Monae pops up as a pekingese. They're joined by a few cast members who are sticking with their two-legged forms, including Hearts Beat Loud's Kiersey Clemons, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl's Thomas Mann, and Community co-stars Yvette Nicole Brown and Ken Jeong. Story-wise, the film wags the same tale, as the upper middle-class Lady crosses paths with, eats pasta with and learns to appreciate the whole wide world with a downtown stray called Tramp. In the just-dropped second trailer, viewers can get a glimpse of more of their antics — and more of the other cute canines they interact with on their action-packed journey. Directed by The Lego Ninjago Movie's Charlie Bean and co-written by US indie filmmaker Andrew Bujalski (Computer Chess, Results, Support the Girls), Lady and the Tramp will sport a few changes when it drops on Disney+ upon the service's November launch, however. Monae is reworking 'The Siamese Cat Song' to remove the original's offensive connotations, and will also perform two new tunes for the soundtrack. Check out the latest trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4NtWb4WX20 The live-action Lady and the Tramp remake will be available on Disney+ when it launches Down Under on November 19.
"What are you up to?". It's a familiar question and, when asked by a friend, it's a considerate and good-natured query that shows their genuine interest. But when it's posed by the wrong person, it comes loaded with expectations and inherent judgement — like the type you might find at a gathering of family members and life-long family pals who've turned their gaze in your direction because you're at the age where interrogating every inch of your existence has become their preferred form of sport. In Shiva Baby, this question comes in multiple ways and is asked multiple times. Attending a shiva, the wake-like mourning ritual observed in the Jewish faith, college senior Danielle (Rachel Sennott, Call Your Mother) is on the receiving end of this barrage. Stuck in a house full of enquiring minds, she feels every needling probe thrust her way by relatives and friends of relatives, all asking about her life, future, job, studies and romantic status, and even her weight. She's trapped in an everyday, immensely relatable situation, of course, but one that's never anything other than awkward — and first-time filmmaker Emma Seligman ensures that her audience feels every second of Danielle's discomfort. Danielle doesn't quite know how to answer the onslaught, partly because she doesn't want to and feels as if she shouldn't have to. She's right, obviously. Hours earlier — with the film's blackly comic dramas occurring over a single day — she was happily astride the older, richer Max (Danny Deferrari, Private Life) in a lavish Manhattan apartment. That's how Shiva Baby opens, and he gifts her an expensive bangle afterwards, as well as cash as payment. To her parents and relatives, she refers to her job as "babysitting". The film never intimates that Danielle is ashamed of doing sex work, and refreshingly so, but it gives the impression that she'd prefer not to have a conversation about it with all the busybodies already poking their noses in her direction. Accordingly, she doesn't explain that she missed the funeral because she was having sex. When she arrives at the shiva with her parents Debbie (Polly Draper, Billions) and Joel (Fred Melamed, WandaVision), she has to ask which distant relative died more than once. A recent NYU graduate in her mid-20s, Seligman writes and stages this whole scenario with the specificity of someone who knows the claustrophobia, tension, horrors and social distress these gatherings can inspire, and the cringing that happens deep inside every time. She also knows that there's never just one complication, or even just a couple. As Danielle navigates all that quizzing, she's also confronted with two people she'd prefer not to see: Max, who has his wife Kim (Dianna Agron, Glee) and their baby daughter in tow; and Maya (Molly Gordon, The Broken Hearts Gallery), her ex-girlfriend from high school who's now bound for law school. According to the Greek chorus-esque throng of voices always nattering throughout the event, Maya has done better for herself out of the two. Again, that's the level of gossiping and judgement that surrounds both women. Seligman is careful not to buff down Danielle's edges or flaws, though. This isn't a tale about a preposterously perfect millennial forced to deal with grating but societally sanctioned scrutiny, but rather a movie about someone complex, full of contradictions, sometimes smart and savvy, sometimes immature and reckless, and always just as easy to empathise with as wince at. It charts how she struggles through everyday woes that we all have, but in a microcosm of a situation. Shiva Baby is an exceptionally written film, and an astutely penned one, as proves evident in every word Danielle utters and every sentence directed her way. That's also apparent in the reality that everything around Danielle just keeps escalating in an instantly recognisable fashion. We've all been there, and more than once, even though most of us haven't stood in these exact shoes. Seligman isn't the first filmmaker to spin a cinematic tale that's exactingly, intimately specific, and also proves universal again and again. She taps into that juxtaposition masterfully, however — just as that very combination made Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird the heartfelt and honest movie it was, and this year's Oscar contender Minari by writer/director Lee Isaac Chung, too. Shiva Baby feels authentic and lived-in, which is what nudges everyone watching to feel as if they've lived it as well, and to see clear parallels with their own experiences. The roving and floating camerawork, bobbing in and around the assembled crowd all cramped within one ordinary house, helps considerably. It aims to get viewers seeing the chaos from Danielle's perspective, and achieves that goal with every shot. The fact that the score ramps up the unease, its strings rattling nerves just as effectively as every incident and altercation at the shiva, is one of Seligman's other immersive and well-executed flourishes. From the way that she radiates both stress and aimlessness in her posture, to her deadpan facial expressions, Sennott's layered performance is unsurprisingly crucial, too. Danielle is such a ball of jostling traits that even the slightest tilt in a direction other than the multitudes seen here could've upset Shiva Baby's entire mood and impact. Also outstanding is Gordon, who has stolen scenes in Booksmart and Good Boys in the past, and makes this much more of a two-hander than it might've played otherwise. Shiva Baby is a comedy, and plenty of that humour comes from how Sennott and Gordon weather a mundane but also gut-wrenchingly painful social situation with the full knowledge that their characters can only hope to simply get through it. This is a movie that lives and breathes the idea that sometimes laughter is the only option, in fact. It's anxious and nerve-wracking, and also witty and entertaining — and it leaves no doubt that Seligman, Sennott and Gordon all have big futures. They'd still all likely cringe if you asked them "what are you up to?", though.
Yoga is good for us, we all know that. Yogis can live to be 400 and are known to look fresh as a daisy at 5am, and a daily or weekly regiment of yoga can seriously aid your mental health. But really, that pan-pipe music can be so annoying — not to mention that it's never loud enough to stifle the occasional fart. But all those troubles are behind you now because you can get limber among your people at Bey Yoga. Every Sunday from 3pm, you can channel your inner Beyonce while enjoying Bey and Bey-inspired music with nary a pan-pipe in sight. The class is designed to work your core strength and flexibility as well as mindfulness — and no doubt all this conditioning will help you nail the moves at your next Bey dance class. If this is your jam, make sure to book ahead as spots are limited and coveted.
Huddled around a fire, the apocalypse still fresh in their memories, a small band of survivors amuse themselves by acting out an episode of The Simpsons. Seven years later, the band are a travelling troupe, performing the episode for each outpost they pass through. A generation later, the episode has achieved almost mythical status, the story — a spoof of Cape Fear — a beacon, an example and a comfort to the people who have fashioned humanity's rubble into a primitive society. Back in the day, it was said that Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov contained the sum of all human experience. Come the 21st century, Matt Groening's pop culture behemoth is the proud usurper of that throne. Anne Washburn's play advances this argument one step further — elevating the show above the role of mass entertainer to that of a vital common language for humanity's devastated survivors. So, there's all that. But, to be honest, it also just sounds really freaking enjoyable. Premiering in Sydney back in early 2017, the play is now heading to fortyfivedownstairs to be performed by independent Melbourne theatre company Lightning Jar. Preview shows (for $30 a ticket) will be help from February 15–17 with the opening night ($40) on Wednesday, February 20.
Johnny Di Francesco's 400 Gradi chain might be best known for its world-class, award-winning pizza, but it has also won itself a spot in the hearts of local dessert-lovers with its sibling gelateria. After first setting up shop in Brunswick East back in 2015, Zero Gradi is adding another venue to the sweet-toothed arm of the business, opening the doors to a new Zero Gradi Gelateria and Dessert Bar in Southbank on Thursday, April 22. Located on Crown Riverwalk, this sugary oasis will be scooping 30 rotating flavours of Zero Gradi's house-made gelato, with options ranging from the classics to more inventive delights; think: white chocolate with sour cherry and the charcoal-infused Black Hawaii. The store's legendary Neapolitan-style gelato is the result of much careful honing and recipe tweaking, finessed during the years Di Francesco spent training in Naples. The flavours are pasteurised for at least 24 hours and churned daily, ready to be piled into a cone, a cup or even a take-home tub. And if dairy's not your thing, Zero Gradi's range of signature sorbets offers a vegan-friendly alternative that doesn't skimp on any of that creaminess factor. The Zero Gradi fun doesn't end in the freezer cabinet, either. At the new store, you'll also find yourself tempted by an Italian-leaning lineup of hand-crafted pastries and cakes, beckoning from their neat rows atop the front counter. There are freshly filled cannoli, chocolate and pear brownies, individual banoffee mousse bites and dainty meringue-topped citrus tarts, alongside an Italian take on a French croissant, dubbed the 'cornetti'. The store is even home to its own crepe station and a speciality frozen yoghurt machine. And, if you prefer your dessert fix in liquid form, the venue's indulgent shakes, espresso coffee and classic Italian-style crema di caffe (a whipped coffee dessert) should certainly hit the spot. Find Zero Gradi Gelateria and Dessert Bar at Shop 34, 8 Whiteman Street, Southbank from Thursday, April 22 — open 7am–12am Sunday–Thursday and 7am–1am Friday–Saturday. Images: Renee Oliver.
UPDATE, October 23, 2020: Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is available to stream via Netflix, Binge, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube, iTunes and Amazon Video. The film that inspired DC Comics fans to ridiculously call for Rotten Tomatoes' closure, 2016's Suicide Squad was many things. Filled with nefarious characters forced to band together to save the world, it was supposed to be a Joker-led villainous team-up flick — and, while it ticked that box, it was also formulaic, bloated, unsubtle and overflowing with ugly CGI. As a result, it was mostly just dull and a slog to watch. And while the anti-hero onslaught is still getting a sequel in 2021, only one element truly stood out. That'd be Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, the Arkham Asylum psychiatrist who jumped into a life of crime when she became the jester of genocide's main squeeze. From the moment that Robbie stole the show in Suicide Squad, a Quinn-focused spinoff was always inevitable. So, knowing when they're onto a good thing — and witnessing their now Academy Award-nominated Australian star keep rising in fame via I, Tonya, Mary, Queen of Scots, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Bombshell — the folks behind the DC Extended Universe have gone and done the obvious. Thankfully, the powers-that-be learned a few lessons along the way, leaning into everything that first made the anarchic character attract so much big-screen attention. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is vividly stylised, irreverently upbeat, and both frenetic and fluid. To the benefit of every fight and chase scene, it's also more concerned with eye-popping action choreography than overblown special effects. The movie's riotous mood, lurid colour scheme and kookily comic sensibilities can't smooth out all of its bumps, though, but put it this way: Suicide Squad, this definitely isn't. After breaking up with the Joker (Jared Leto's awful green-haired version of the villain is nowhere to be seen, luckily), Quinn finds herself at a crossroads. Just like anyone who's newly single, she's not quite sure what to do with herself, other than drinking, downing comfort food, cutting her hair and getting a pet. Just when she's starting to reclaim her havoc-wreaking spark, she also discovers an unexpected consequence of changing her relationship status. Now that she's no longer the clown prince of crime's other half, every lowlife in town wants to settle the score for all the times she's done them wrong. One of them is psychopathic nightclub owner Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor) — and, in trying to save her alabaster skin from her new number-one nemesis, Quinn gets caught up with a posse of other feisty Gotham gals. Enter: Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), a hard-nosed detective constantly overlooked by the brass; Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), a singer at Sionis' club with a helluva voice; and the crossbow-wielding, vengeance-seeking, leather-clad Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Light-fingered teen Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) actually brings them all together, with Sionis' goons chasing her, too. These ladies comprise a disparate bunch throughout much of the movie, but — because this flick is based on and named after a comic-book superhero team — becoming a girl gang is blatantly on the agenda. Yes, even with candy-coloured trickster Quinn leading the charge and grinning away as she's doing so, Birds of Prey brandishes a familiar caped crusader template. Besting Suicide Squad is an incredibly low and easy bar to conquer, which Birds of Prey does. Completely finding its own groove is a trickier task and, despite the best efforts of director Cathy Yan (Dead Pigs) and writer Christina Hodson (Bumblebee), it proves harder to master here. Sporting a punk-ish, perky, peppy attitude, Birds of Prey feels unique in the DC movie realm, even against other standout franchise entries like Wonder Woman and Aquaman. But its goofy, off-kilter vibe also feels just a few shades away from Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok on occasion. Quinn's cheeky, knowing, mile-a-minute narration, as well as the playful plot structure that comes with it, can also veer too close to Deadpool territory. That makes Birds of Prey fun, purposefully chaotic and mostly entertaining, but also sometimes struggling to keep it all together. That's Quinn herself in a nutshell, though — and while this isn't a case of a film perfectly aping its protagonist in every possible way, there's still some nice symmetry at play. And, there's always something enjoyable going on on-screen. Often, it's the kinetic fight scenes, with credit to second-unit director (and John Wick franchise director) Chad Stahelski. At other times, it's the dazzling, glittering production design, or a memorable dream sequence that casts Quinn as Marilyn Monroe. Usually, it's the cast, which firmly pushes a diverse array of girls to the front. An over-the-top McGregor relishes his rare cartoonish bad guy role, but Birds of Prey's motley crew of female stars soar highest. Robbie most of all, unsurprisingly — and just as Joaquin Phoenix's take on the Joker looks likely to nab him an Oscar, it's a delight to see Harley Quinn still stealing the spotlight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygzqL60kvwU
As one of the past year's most anticipated venue openings, multi-level party playground HER (from the Arbory and Arbory Afloat crew) got a serious workout in 2022. And if you figured those four storeys would be teaming up to host one giant New Year's Eve celebration — well, you'd be correct. In fact, guests at HER's upcoming NYE party will have free rein of the entire venue — as well as enjoying one-night-only access to a secret, never-before-seen fifth floor. The building's Lune Rouge NYE party promises to dish up an enchanting night of art, performance, glamour and debauchery, with ticket packages starting from $275. From 8pm–12am, guests are in for free-flowing champagne and cocktails, plus bottomless bites — from BKK's punchy Thai dishes to the caviar and French fare of HER Bar. [caption id="attachment_842092" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Parker Blain[/caption] You can groove to tunes from the likes of JNETT and Alton Miller, explore numerous art installations, drop by BKK for a sit-down feed and unleash your best dance moves immersed within HER Bar's sultry red glow. Meanwhile, the secret space on Level Two will be making a debut of sorts, with an avant-garde disco and cabaret party hosted by experimental artists and performance duo Discordia. Guests are encouraged to don their best red outfits for the festivities — and dancing shoes are definitely recommended. Images: Griffin Simm and Parker Blain
Falls Festival might be gearing up to celebrate a quarter-century, but, with the lineup it's just dropped, it feels a bit like we're the ones getting the birthday presents instead. Helping to ring in the art and music festival's 25th year is a pretty buzzworthy gang of musical mates, headlined by Australia's own wunderkind Flume, as he returns to the Falls stage for the first time since wooing the Lorne crowds in 2012. He's joined on the bill by international names like Seattle-based Grammy nominees Fleet Foxes (who were here earlier in the year for Sydney Festival), Oxford four-piece Glass Animals (who were also just here for Laneway), Californian indie-pop darlings Foster The People and The Kooks, who'll be celebrating a milestone of their own, having clocked up ten years since their debut album. If you've had your ear to the ground, you'll already know the part about Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher dropping in for his first-ever Aussie headline shows. True to form, the Falls 2017 local lineup is equally exciting, and every bit as broad. Homegrown acts hitting the stage include the party-ready Peking Duk, Brisbane rockers Dune Rats, Melbourne natives The Smith Street Band and Total Giovanni, and indie duo Angus & Julia Stone, off the back of their soon-to-launch album Snow. And it looks like you can start limbering up those vocal chords for a gutsy rendition of 'The Horses', with the legendary Daryl Braithwaite also slated for an appearance. As always, the tunes are backed by a colourful curation of art events, performances, pop-ups, markets, wellness sessions and gourmet eats. You can, however, say goodbye to the usual drink ticket situation, which has been ditched in favour of paywave and cash-enabled bars. It's all happening over New Years at the usual spots in Tassie's Marion Bay, Lorne in Victoria, and the North Byron Parklands, with WA's 2017 Falls Festival landing itself a new home within the Fremantle Oval precinct. But here's what you're here for — the full lineup. FALLS FESTIVAL 2017 LINEUP Flume (no sideshows) Fleet Foxes Run The Jewels The Kooks Glass Animals (no sideshows) Peking Duk Angus & Julia Stone Foster The People Liam Gallagher Vince Staples Jungle Dune Rats The Smith Street Band D.R.A.M Daryl Braithwaite Everything Everything Allday The Jungle Giants Thundamentals Methyl Ethel Slumberjack D.d Dumbo Anna Lunoe Dz Deathrays Confidence Man Julia Jacklin Bad//dreems Cosmo's Midnight Winston Surfshirt Luca Brasi Alex Lahey Camp Cope Flint Eastwood Ecca Vandal Dave Total Giovanni + More to be announced FALLS FESTIVAL 2017 DATES Lorne, VIC — December 28–31 Marion Bay, TAS — December 29–31 Byron Bay, NSW — December 31 - January 2 Fremantle, WA — January 6–7 Falls Festival 2017 will take place over New Years. Friends of Falls members pre-sale tickets are available from this Thursday, August 24, with General Sales kicking off next Tuesday, August 29. FOr mro einfo and to buy tickets, visit fallsfestival.com.
British and Mediterranean Easter traditions are well-known and celebrated all over Melbourne. You'll find hot cross buns at most supermarkets, bakeries and cafes. Greek Easter egg smashing is well-loved by many who aren't Greek Orthodox. And Italian Colomba is looking like it will soon be as famous as its sibling the panettone. But Brunswick East's Eat Pierogi Make Love is keen to teach Melburnians about Polish Easter festivities. And, of course, it's doing this through food. What better way is there to pique our curiosity than appealing to our appetite? Pop over to the Lygon Street restaurant on either Friday, March 29 or Saturday, March 30 to get a food-filled education. For $149, two people get a traditional Easter soup made with fermented rye flour, smoked meats, and marjoram; a sharing platter loaded with pickled herring, baked pork and beef pate; sausage and sauerkraut pierogis; plenty of bread for mopping up all the sauces and ferments; and a Polish cheesecake. Chef Ola Gladysz is known for her generous portions, but there's always the option to add more a la carte options during the night if you so wish. Our recommendation? As many pierogis as you can manage.
So there's a play called Mein Kampf. A comedy, in fact. Undoubtedly someone’s outraged already, just reading that. Adolf Hitler's notorious manifesto certainly seems like unusual fodder for comedy, but the play has been a perennial success since its first staging in Vienna in 1987. Written by Hungarian-born Jewish playwright George Tabori, who was himself an exile from the Third Reich, it casts the young Hitler in a farcical role as a penniless and pitiful wannabe artist. While staying in a seedy hostel, young Hitler strikes up a friendship with an old Jewish man, who becomes his inspiration for everything from the title of his book to his style of moustache. Both a fast-moving lampoon and an exploration of the origins of evil, Mein Kampf promises to be outrageous in every sense of the word. After a hit season in 2013, this production returns for an encore season in July 2014.
Restrictions on how many people can attend restaurants, entertainment sites and other venues have been a regular part of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, but they're about to become a thing of the past in Victoria. Limits on the amount of people that you can hang out with at home are going the same way, too. With the state set to reach the 90-percent double-vaccinated mark among over 12s in the coming days, these kinds of caps and density rules will no longer apply — effective from 11.59pm tonight, Thursday, November 18. So, once Friday, November 19 hits — unless you're venturing out just before the stroke of midnight this evening — double-vaccinated Victorians will be able to head to all hospitality, entertainment and nightlife venues without needing to abide by any other density or patron restrictions. That applies to places such as restaurants, bars, pubs, cafes, nightclubs, cinemas, zoos, stadiums, galleries, libraries and museums, and to all events, including everything from festivals to fun runs. The basic rule: if all venue patrons and staff are double-jabbed, there's no capacity limits. Events with fewer than 30,000 people won't need approval, either. That said, if you aren't double-vaxxed, you won't be able to go to most of these places or events at all. You can still go to hospitality venues that are only doing takeaway, but that's it. At 11.59pm tonight restrictions are lifting in Victoria. There will be no density limits. No capacity limits. No restrictions on how many people can visit you at home. No masks in most places. And if you want to celebrate - you can hit the dance floor too. pic.twitter.com/POq9jl61e2 — Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) November 17, 2021 The change means that dance floors are back, too, so Melbourne will no longer resemble the town from Footloose — again, only if you're double-vaxxed. In the retail space, the double-vaxxed requirement will apply to entering all non-essential stores, including beauty services and hairdressers. So, only places such as supermarkets and post offices will be accessible to unvaxxed patrons. All sporting and recreational facilities won't have capacity limits for double-jabbed folks either, but if you aren't vaxxed, you won't be able to enter — other than for community sport. There's also no limits on hanging out with friends and family either at home or in public — so while picnicking or at the beach — although it's strongly recommended that everyone is double-jabbed. Plus, for weddings and funerals, there's no limits at all if everyone is double-vaxxed. If not, or if vaccination status isn't being checked, there will be a 50-person cap — and the one person per four-square-metres rule will be in effect. And, regarding travel, there's no restrictions. The double-vaccination mandate to enter venues applies statewide; however, for accommodation premises such as hotels and Airbnbs, being double-jabbed is strongly recommended instead. The requirements around masks are changing as well, and will only be compulsory indoors in limited circumstances — such as retail, health care, aged care, justice facilities, public transport, taxis, ride shares, planes and for workers serving the public at hospitality venues. And, as long as hospitalisations don't jump significantly, the retail requirement will end on Wednesday, December 15. That said, it's still highly recommended that Victorians keep masking up anywhere that you can't physically distance from other people. The 90-percent double-jabbed threshold among over 12s was originally expected to be reached on or around Wednesday, November 24, so Victoria is ahead of schedule. At the press conference to announce the easing rules, Premier Daniel Andrews called it "quite an amazing achievement". When the new changes kick in at 11.59pm tonight, the requirements for anyone who comes into contact with a confirmed positive case outside their home will change, too. If that's you, you will no longer need to self-quarantine. Instead, you'll just have to get a standard (PCR) test and isolate till you receive a negative result. Also, exposure sites will no longer be published. Instead, you'll be notified via the new alert function in the Service Victoria app if you've been to a higher-risk venues where positive cases have been present — places such as restaurants, gyms and nightclubs. Today's announcement comes as 1007 new local COVID-19 cases were reported in Victoria. Victoria's COVID-19 restrictions will relax again at 11.59pm on Thursday, November 18. For further information about Victoria's reopening roadmap, head to the Victorian Government website. For more information about the status of COVID-19 and the current restrictions, head over to the Department of Health website. Top image: Visit Victoria.
If you're fond of exclaiming "whoa!" to mark huge news — and you've been conditioned to do just that by a certain Keanu Reeves-starring sci-fi franchise — then the past year or so has given you more than a few opportunities to break out that word in the best possible ways. First came the confirmation that a fourth live-action film in The Matrix series was 100-percent happening. Then came trailers for that very flick, giving us all a few sneak peeks before we could watch the full thing. And, when Boxing Day rolled around in 2021, the movie itself — aka The Matrix Resurrections — finally arrived on the big screen. Here's another reason for you to channel your inner Keanu Reeves right now: just a month after reaching cinemas, and while still actually showing in cinemas, you can stream The Matrix Resurrections via video on demand at home. Fast-tracking films to digital is a trend that's been gathering steam during the pandemic — and if you've been a bit cautious about going out during Australia's current Omicron wave, you can still fall down the dystopian franchise's rabbit hole sooner rather than later. A hit for more than two decades now, this is the science-fiction epic that smartly recognises that it's Keanu's world and we're all just living in it, after all — and now, we can plug into all four live-action movies from our couches. Get ready for Neo (Reeves, Bill and Ted Face the Music) to once again grapple with the Matrix and everything it means for humanity — and also for Carrie-Anne Moss (Jessica Jones) and Jada Pinkett Smith (Girls Trip) to return, too. They're joined by Matrix newcomers Neil Patrick Harris (It's a Sin), Jessica Henwick (On the Rocks), Priyanka Chopra Jonas (The White Tiger), Christina Ricci (Yellowjackets) and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Candyman). And yes, Reeves and Moss once again take centre stage this time around, because casting them in the first place — and showing unwavering belief in the duo — is the greatest move that filmmakers Lana and Lilly Wachowski ever made. It was a bold decision two-and-a-bit decades ago, with Reeves a few years past sublime early-90s action hits Point Break and Speed, and Moss then known for TV bit parts (including, in a coincidence that feels like the product of computer simulation, a 1993 series called Matrix). But, as well as giving cinema their much-emulated gunfire-avoidance technique and all those other aforementioned highlights, the Wachowskis bet big on viewers caring about their central pair — and hooking into their chemistry — as leather-clad heroes saving humanity. Indeed, amid the life-is-a-lie horrors, the subjugation of flesh to mechanical overlords and the battle for autonomy, the first three Matrix films always weaved Neo and Trinity's love story through their sci-fi action. In fact, the duo's connection remained the saga's beating heart. Like any robust computer program executed over and over, The Matrix Resurrections repeats the feat — with plenty of love for what's come before, but even more for its enduring love story. Lana goes solo on The Matrix Resurrections — helming her first-ever project without her sister in their entire career — but she still goes all in on Reeves and Moss. The fifth Matrix movie overall counting The Animatrix, this new instalment doesn't initially give its key figures their familiar character names, however. Rather, it casts them as famous video game designer Thomas Anderson and motorcycle-loving mother-of-two Tiffany. One of those monikers is familiar, thanks to a surname drawled by Agent Smith back in 1999, and again in 2003 sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. But this version of Thomas Anderson only knows the agent from his own hit gaming trilogy (called The Matrix, naturally). And he doesn't really know Tiffany at all, instead admiring her from afar at Simulatte, their local coffee shop. Check out the trailer for The Matrix Resurrections below: The Matrix Resurrections is currently screening in Australian cinemas, and is also available to stream online via video on demand — including via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Read our full review.
Always on the lookout for your next photo op? Wanting a fun way to escape your reality? Make sure to have your cameras at the ready because Honey House is about to hit Queensbridge Square (and have Melbourne feeling a little topsy-turvy — in a good way). Courtesy of Honey Insurance, the bold building is here to help you up your know-how on protecting that home of yours with seven interactive rooms (think mirrored illusions, misplaced furniture in candy-bright hues and photo spots aplenty). Want to know the best part? The part-photo-studio-part-art-installation is completely free for everyone to enjoy. Once you're in, you'll have plenty of time to explore, play and get the perfect shot — check out the Honey Instagram for a sneak peek. Running from Thursday, June 2 until Monday, June 6, this surreal experience is not one to miss. Reserve your tickets in advance, because it's sure to draw some serious crowds. Head to the website to reserve your spot. Top images: Scott Ehler
Glittery mirror balls, synth-heavy disco tunes and pizza — it's a Saturday night match made in heaven and it's the combo that's going to end your year right at Connie's Italian Diner. On December 31, the modern trattoria and much-loved party spot is combining its favourite things for a NYE party to remember. The venue's opening its leafy rooftop terrace, firing up its dance floor and inviting you to spend your final evening of 2022 getting down to a soundtrack of Italo-Disco tunes. Nab yourself a $125 ticket and you'll enjoy four hours of free-flowing drinks to match — including beer, vino, bubbles and a slew of aperitivo cocktails. Because what's a rooftop party without a few spritzes or Americanos? To fuel you up for all that dancing, they'll also be rolling out lots of Italian-style snacks; from mozzarella sticks, to arancini, to Connie's signature pizza varieties. And we reckon that terrace will offer a pretty good peek of the midnight fireworks, too.
As one of Melbourne's largest Chinese communities, Box Hill will celebrate the turn of the season with a marathon 12-hour festival that stretches from 1pm until well into the night. Local vendors will serve some of the city's tastiest Chinese cuisine, while traditional lion and dragon dancers entertain the masses. The highlight will be the Parade of Choi Sun, the Chinese God of Fortune.
A quarter-century since the world first met Monica, Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe, TV's most famous friends are never too far from anyone's thoughts. When the sitcom's catchy theme tune promised "I'll be there for you", it seems these New York pals really meant it — not just about each other, but for the legions of viewers who watched their antics between 1994–2004, then kept rewatching them afterwards. Over the years, you've probably caught reruns on television, binged your way through boxsets or let episode after episode play on Stan — but you probably haven't enjoyed a marathon of standout eps on the big screen. To celebrate the series' 25th anniversary, a heap of Melbourne cinemas are letting Friends fans do just that. There mightn't be an orange couch for you to sit on, but you'll want to gather the gang regardless. Prices and session times vary per cinema, but the lineup remains the same. On the bill are 12 of the show's classic episodes, including The One With The Black Out, The One With The Prom Video and The One Where No One's Ready — plus The One With Chandler In A Box, The One Where Everyone Finds Out and The One Where Ross Got High. Running for five hours, the screening will also feature new footage, interviews and bloopers — so you'll get an extra dose of Friends fun.
Don't let La Niña ruin your summer. Do you know where it rains all the time? England. And do you know what the Brits do well? Garden parties. We've teamed up with Whitley Neill Gin to help you transform your outdoor space into a charming, verdant oasis that, despite not featuring Keira Knightly in that green dress or Colin Firth emerging from a fountain, will have you living out your British country manor dreams in excellent taste and style. [caption id="attachment_839393" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Paul Liddle[/caption] THE SET-UP No matter what space you're working with, you'll want to include plenty of beautiful blooms. Check out your local florist for English varieties such as peonies, lavender and delphiniums. Arrange them in rustic vases — these can be easily sourced from your neighbourhood op-shop. Next up, set up a long table — a tressell will do — and cover it with a crisp linen tablecloth. Have some fun practicing your calligraphy (and playing guest matchmaker) with some old-timey seating placeholders. When it comes to napkins and tableware, opt for softer pastel shades — try using the flowers for colour palette inspo. And, if you've got the space to hang them, add some decorative bunting, which can be found at most party stores. Or if you're up for a crafternoon, make your own. [caption id="attachment_839389" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Paul Liddle[/caption] THE FOOD Start off with finger sandwiches. They're dead easy to make and can be adjusted to suit all dietary requirements — plus, they look super cute. We'd recommend keeping it simple and classic with chicken, curried egg, and, of course, cucumber. For something a little more substantial to complement the refreshing botanicals of Whitley Neill London Dry Gin, serve delicious barbecue pork buns with coleslaw or rare roast beef with horseradish potato salad. And for something sweet to finish, go old-school with a classic like eton mess, jam roly-poly or scones with jam and cream. Opted for the latter? Sit back and watch the all-important debate as to which goes first — the jam or cream — ensue. [caption id="attachment_839379" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Paul Liddle[/caption] THE DRINKS With eight generations of gin distilling to its name, and a range of 15 100-percent grain-distilled gins with a wide spectrum of flavours, it should come as no surprise that Whitley Neill has some cracking recipes when it comes to booze. Give the Johnny's Ritual Gin and Tonic a whirl and dress it with a wedge of lime or orange and sprig of rosemary. Or, make use of one of the more out-there flavours and knock up a jug of the Queen's High Tea using the Whitley Neill Rhubarb and Ginger Gin, topped up with a dash of prosecco and ginger ale. The tartness of the rhubarb mixes beautifully with the warming ginger for a full-bodied, yet refreshing, summer cocktail. THE FUN It's time to ditch the beer pong (or Goon of Fortune) for more sophisticated games. If you've got the space, why not give badminton a try? Or go full Alice in Wonderland and opt for croquet — but please refrain from using actual flamingos. Chances are you or one of your mates will have a boules or quoits set knocking about, so make good use of it. You'll be surprised how much fun you'll have. For more information on Whitley Neill's innovative gin range, head to the website. Top image: Paul Liddle
In this very galaxy, probably just a few short months away, lasers will fire up, wars will be waged, and Sydney and Melbourne's biggest Star Wars buffs will show up in force. They'll also try to use the force, obviously, at the latest pop culture-themed party heading our way. A series of wizarding brunches have been making their way around the country, and a Game of Thrones-style medieval banquet is already on Sydney's agenda — and now comes Battle Wars. If getting a new Star Wars movie every year isn't delivering enough intergalactic space opera fun for your liking, then prepare to get a very good feeling about gathering for a real-life lightsaber tournament. Or lightsaber-like weapon, more likely — but arguing about semantics would be a real C-3PO move. At yet-to-be-revealed dates and venues, groups of up to 12 people at a time will unleash their inner jedi (or rebel, or sith), with 32 groups in total competing in a knockout-style contest in each city. While everyone yells lines about being Luke Skywalker's father (we're guessing) and vies for an undisclosed grand prize, Star Wars-inspired music will play, and there'll also be 'immersive entertainment'. That sounds an awful lot like folks dressing up as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Kylo Ren, Princess Leia, Rey, Darth Maul and more to us, but let's face it — if you're going along, you'll be doing that anyway. Unsurprisingly, it's a completely unofficial event, so don't expect any actual stars, tie-ins or merchandise. You can probably expect some ironic Star Wars Kid-esque moves, though — or George Michael Bluth-style antics, if you prefer. For more information — and to sign up to hear about Melbourne and Sydney dates and venues — visit thebattlewars.com.
Multicultural Melbourne is Melbourne at its best. There aren't too many cities where you can find authentic Vietnamese, exquisite Japanese, along with sweet Grecian delights and gutsy African within the space of a hundred or so metres — but Smith Street is one such location. Nestled in the heart of this inner-city high street is The Cutting Table. The cafe space of social enterprise The Social Studio, The Cutting Table brings together a variety of individuals from different cultures to learn, design and create as members of the one community. Serving an authentic selection of East and West African dishes, as well as ethically sourced and locally roasted coffee, The Cutting Table is known for its inclusive and welcoming environment. The cafe’s latest endeavour is Revolving Cuisine, held every Friday night at the Smith Street space. A celebration of diversity and culture, guests are welcomed to a banquet dinner from a different, exotic destination each week to learn and enjoy food in the company of others. We spoke to The Social Studio’s development and operations officer Susan Yengi, about the growth of the concept. Tell us a bit about The Social Studio. The Social Studio was established in 2009 and supports people from refugee and migrant backgrounds to gain qualifications and employment in the fashion, retail and hospitality industries. We came about in response to the difficulties that people from refugee and migrant communities have experienced in Australia's education system, and as a means of helping them get a 'foot in the door' into entry-level employment. We run three major training programs. Certificate III in clothing production is in partnership with RMIT TAFE, and Certificate I in vocational preparation and Certificate II in Hospitality are in partnership with William Angliss Institute. We have our cafe, The Cutting Room, as well as a retail shop and digital fabric printing studio that provides a seamless opportunity for The Social Studio to offer training and work placements to young people from refugee and migrant communities. At the completion of their certificate training we try to offer entry-level employment to students within our organisation, and if we are unable to, we help students securing meaningful permanent employment within other organisations that share similar values to ours. How did the concept for Revolving Cuisine come about? In our quest to create opportunities to facilitate cross-cultural exchange and build a more inclusive society, the concept for a 'revolving cuisine' came to fruition. We thought, what better way to share the rich cultures of the communities we work with than through food? Food is the one thing that can bring people from all walks of life together. So, Revolving Cuisine began, and it has now been running since May. How are the cuisines and guest chefs selected each week? The cuisines are come about in two ways. They are either nominated by a staff member or one of our students, and then discussed and agreed upon as a team, or one of our hospitality graduates offers to put on a dinner. We’ve been fortunate thus far to have had some incredible cooks wanting to be involved in the concept. Graduates of our hospitality program have enlisted their culinary expertise to work up some tantalising dishes for diners. How has the concept been received? What do you think people enjoy most about it? Our guests who have participated in Revolving Cuisine have walked away talking about how much they loved the food and the warm atmosphere. Our chefs have also been great in facilitating this — they often come out of the kitchen and interact with our guests as well, which I think many people enjoy. This feedback is important to us as we would love to make sure as many people know about the concept, and come in to experience the many cuisines and cultures on offer. What are your future plans for the concept? On the first Friday of every month we run 'African Night'. It’s a special night of African food and music, and there are normally a few performances. This has been quite successfully and normally results in a full house. We'd love to build up our revolving cuisines and cultivate them to be as popular as the African night. Doing this would mean we could potentially increase employment opportunities for young people and for other up and rising chefs from the communities we work with. Revolving Cuisine runs every Friday, with the first Friday of each month dedicated to a delicious celebration of African culture. For more information and bookings visit thesocialstudio.org
As a five-year-old in India in 1986, Saroo Brierley didn't expect to be whisked nearly 1,500 kilometres away from his family, and not be able to find his way back. Then, after being adopted by an Australian couple, he definitely didn't expect that he'd have a date with Google Earth as an adult, trying to locate the place that sparked so many memories. This stranger-than-fiction tale inspired a book, and now a movie too. And while a big screen adaptation of his life story might be the latest thing the real-life Saroo didn't anticipate, it's audiences that are in for the biggest surprise. If you didn't know that Lion was based on actual events, you'd be forgiven for thinking that it was simply a feel-good fantasy. First-time film director Garth Davis (TV's Top of the Lake) and writer Luke Davies (Life) recount Saroo's story faithfully, including its well-publicised ending. Yet despite the twists and turns having played out in the media, the Australian duo still manage to deliver a thoughtful, sensitive and emotional viewing experience. Yes, you'll know that tears are coming. But they'll still feel well and truly earned. Aerial shots of the Indian landscape immediately set audiences on a journey, with a charming little boy (newcomer Sunny Pawar) their guide. Tagging along as his older brother Guddu (Abhishek Bharate) seeks work to help their mother (Priyanka Bose) with the family finances, Saroo falls asleep on a train. By the time he awakens, events have been set in motion that will see him fending for himself on the streets of Calcutta, before eventually being adopted by Tasmanians Sue (Nicole Kidman) and John Brierley (David Wenham). It's two decades later, as an adult (now played by Dev Patel), that Saroo turns on his computer and begins his search for home. Sometimes, it's the simplest things that have the strongest impact: a child's warm, cheeky smile; the pain of a lost past lingering in a man's eyes; haunting visions of familiar places embedding themselves in the mind. Saroo's quest owes a lot to a certain search engine, but that's neither the most interesting thing to watch nor the most important part of the narrative. Crafting a highly personal story that conveys universal themes, Davis and Davies ensure that Lion doesn't forget this fact. Even as it balances several competing elements — the two countries Saroo calls his own throughout his life, his feelings for his two families, and the push and pull between old-fashioned human connection and the influence of modern technology — the film never loses its footing Indeed, the key to the movie is people. Or, to be specific, one person and two shining performances. Pawar and Patel each possess the naturalistic spark that keeps viewers along for the ride — one innocent and endearing, the other oozing inner conflict and yearning. As a result, Lion does exactly what it needs to make hearts soar and tears swell. It might do so in a standard fashion, but, boy does it do it well.
Thirteen years ago, Korea's cinema standouts scored their own showcase Down Under, with the inaugural Korean Film Festival in Australia debuting in 2010. Since then, the festival has kept returning — and expanding — to celebrate both the latest and greatest flicks that South Korea has to offer. It was playing Bong Joon-ho films before Parasite swept the Oscars. It was revelling in Korean thrillers prior to Squid Game becoming an international success, too. It loved Korean genre fare before Train to Busan as well. And, KOFFIA will keep the nation's must-see titles in Melbourne this spring. 2023's festival has a date with ACMI from Thursday, September 7–Monday, September 11. Across five days, it'll endeavour to give audiences a new Korean favourite, or several, from a selection that spans everything from murder-mysteries and detective dramas to revenge thrillers and musicals. There's no such thing as a standard Korean film, which is true of every country's movie output; however, this national cinema is mighty fond of twisty tales. Accordingly, it should come as no surprise that Confession and Gentleman are both on the 2023 bill. The first is a locked-room mystery with an IT company CEO suddenly finding himself the prime suspect, while the second involves a private detective agency's head honcho being falsely accused of a crime. Also on the lineup: The Devil's Deal, which sees a political candidate disqualified, then out for revenge; and The Night Owl, about an acupuncturist who is blind in daylight, can see clearly at night, and witnesses a tragic event one evening. The latter opens the festival, and the directors of both films — The Devil's Deal's Lee Won-tae and The Night Owl's An Tae-jin — are coming to Australia for KOFFIA. Elsewhere, comedy 6/45 hits the Korean Film Festival after proving a box-office smash at home, focusing on soldiers from both North and South Korea finding a windfall; Hero heads back to 1900s Korea to hone in on independence activist Ahn Jung-geun's plight battling Japanese colonial rule; musical drama Life Is Beautiful sees a husband trying to locate his wife's childhood sweetheart; and Next Sohee, which played Cannes 2022, is all about an exploitative work situation. Or, the standouts also include Switch, where a celebrity wakes up one morning to discover that he's living a completely different life — and romance Nothing Serious, about an aspiring novelist who writes a sex column.
Standing in front of a wavy ocean, watching rain fall and just staring at a body of water are some of life's most calming experiences. That said, simply soaking in their beauty is difficult to do when you start thinking about the fragile environment that's responsible for all three. In digital installation Shifting Surrounds, Yandell Walton combines nature's majesty and the eco-reality — with her display contemplating the planet's shifting environments, as caused by climate change Launching as part of the ART+CLIMATE=CHANGE 2019 festival, presented with the Centre for Projection Art and on show at The Substation until Saturday, July 20, Shifting Surrounds also aims to shine a light on humanity's connection with ecological and physical systems, the current technological climate and just what is rapidly altering our world. It also examines the idea of earth entering a new geological age, called the Anthropocene. Basically, consider it eye-catching food for thought. Developed by Walton across a series of onsite residencies over 2017–18, Shifting Surrounds also lives up to its name in another way, too. The installation responds to the architecture of the building, so prepare for quite the immersive sight. Image: Matthew Stanton.
After a hefty two-year hiatus, one of the bright sparks of Melbourne's frosty winter has made its way back onto the social calendar. You'd best clear your hump day schedule for the foreseeable future, because Queen Victoria Market's beloved Winter Night Market is set to return next month, running from June 1 to August 31. From 5pm every Wednesday, the QVM will be transformed into the kind of winter wonderland worth getting excited about, tempting you off the couch with a cosy program of street food, pop-up bars, live entertainment and artisan market stalls. What's more, come the middle of the season, the Night Market will be sating all your Euro winter holiday cravings with a special run of Christmas in July-themed nights, complete with festive decorations and gently-falling snow. As always, the Winter Night Market is set to serve up a tantalising assortment of street eats each week, with a huge array of food vendors repping dishes from all corners of the world. You can get excited for bowls of cheesy pasta, piping-hot dumplings, barbecued meat dishes and things grilled on sticks, perfectly paired with warming sips like mulled wine, hot gin toddies and spiced cider. The full culinary lineup will be dropping soon, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, as you're filling your belly with tasty winter fare, you'll be kept entertained with a rotation of live gigs and roving performers. After all, what better way to warm your cockles and work off a big serve of caccio e pepe, than a cheeky dance floor session? If you're a longtime fan, you'll know market stalls are also a big part of the offering here. This year, expect as vast a lineup as ever, with vendors slinging everything from jewellery and art, to skincare, homewares and books. The Winter Night Market will return to the Queen Victoria Market, corner of Queen and Therry Streets, Melbourne, running Wednesday nights from June 1–August 31. We'll share the full lineup of entertainment and food vendors as it drops.
Gin has come a long way in the past few years. No longer confined to your gran's dusty antique liquor cabinet, this refreshing and versatile nectar has shaken off the cobwebs by quickly becoming a staple component of any summertime drinking sesh. G&Ts have officially replaced vodka sodas as your beachfront drink of choice, and now Bombay Sapphire are taking things one step further. This summer they'll be opening a dedicated gin bar in North Melbourne. From November 19 until December 6, Bombay are treating us to a world of ginny bliss in the form of Project Botanicals. Pioneering the alluring idea of 'ginstronomy', this idyllic little hideaway will be serving up a curated menu of 10 dishes from Masterchef's Gary Mehigan paired with 10 unique cocktails from brand ambassador and certified gin master Raj Nagra. Taking inspiration from the aromatic depth of Bombay Sapphire, each pairing will be inspired by a botanical extract from the gin itself. Lemon will be utilised in a citrusy twist of a classic Tom Collins paired with cured kingfish, and coriander will be replacing the usual mint in a gin-based version of the Moscow Mule, paired with Vietnamese rolls and yellowfin tuna. It's safe to say, it's time to venture beyond the classic G&T. Project Botanicals will be open every Wednesday-Sunday evening at 64 Sutton Street, North Melbourne. For just $35 per person, you'll be treated to two cocktails and matching tapas style dishes. Book your tickets here.
After bringing Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban back to the big screen with a live orchestra soundtrack, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra is giving the fourth film in the franchise the same movie-and-music showcase. Across five sessions between August 15–18, the Sydney Opera House will come to life with the sights and sounds of the Yule Ball, the Triwizard Tournament and the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, because JK Rowling's boy-who-lived and his pals are never far away from a theatre — or a concert hall. This time around, viewers can expect something a little different. While the event will run as usual, it's the score itself that'll stand out. After doing the honours on the first three HP flicks, veteran composer John Williams stood aside for the fourth film, with two-time Oscar nominee Patrick Doyle (Hamlet, Sense and Sensibility) in charge of whipping up a wondrous wizarding soundtrack. Tickets for the Sydney shows are now on sale — and if you're a Melburnian or Brisbanite muggle keen to catch the next film in the series, watch this space (or, to be exact, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Queensland Symphony Orchestra websites) . Although screenings haven't been announced in Melbourne or Brisbane yet, they're bound to follow, complete with live scores by each city's symphony orchestra. In fact, that's exactly what has happened with the first three movies to date. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in Concert teams up with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House from 15–18 August 2018. For more information, head to the SSO website.
Prepare to say "accio remote!" and get comfier than Hermione Granger in a library. In the latest news that'll keep you glued to your couch this summer — and your latest fodder for an at-home movie marathon — everyone's favourite boy wizard will soon be working his magic on Netflix. You won't need the Marauder's Map to find these enchanting flicks. Come Tuesday, January 15, all eight movies in the Harry Potter series will hit the streaming platform, bringing their Hogwarts-set adventures to both Australian and New Zealand audiences. If you've watched your DVD copies from the 2000s so many times that they're showing a little wear and tear — or your laptop no longer has a disc drive — this is butterbeer-worthy news. Yes, everything from Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe) first visit to Platform 9 and 3/4, the Yule Ball, the Triwizard Tournament, many a fluttering snitch and He Who Must Not Be Named will be at your fingertips. Prime viewing for wizards, witches and muggles alike — all 19 hours and 39 minutes of it. The Fantastic Beasts films won't be joining them, with this journey through JK Rowling's wizarding world keeping its focus on the original franchise. The news comes hot on the heels of Stan's announcement that it's now home to a hefty batch of Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars and Disney movies and TV shows. If you're thinking that a time-turner might come in handy over the next few months, we completely understand. Find Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Part 2 on Netflix from Tuesday, January 15.
Remember Who Framed Roger Rabbit? 1988's mismatched buddy comedy about a washed-up private eye (Bob Hoskins) and an animated rabbit was (and remains) a remarkable piece of cinema: groundbreaking in its special effects, hilarious in its comedy and note-perfect as a noir pastiche. It set the standard for movies that seamlessly entertained both adults and children alike, almost as if there were two separate audio tracks where only those over a certain age could hear the gags about sex, drugs and violence. Watching the trailers for Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, it was hard not to get excited that we might be on the verge of another Roger Rabbit-esque classic. Sumptuous special effects, a murky detective story, mismatched buddies and, as the pièce de résistance, master of deadpan Ryan Reynolds providing the voice of the eponymous Pikachu. Whether as a newcomer or a die-hard fan of the Pokémon franchise (which began as a video game and collectable-card craze), it seemed there was ample room for everyone to get beside the wise-cracking chubby rodent with the eyes of an angel and the mouth of a pirate. Alas, no. A convoluted plot, countless first-draft jokes and constant exposition dumb down the film to a level that even kids will find silly. It's not without its merits, but the overwhelming feeling is one of frustration at what might have been had they either embraced the world of Pokémon in earnest, or gone all-in on the detective story. Instead, it's a bit of everything and not a whole lot of anything. And to think, it all started so well. Detective Pikachu kicks off dramatically with a secret laboratory meltdown of sorts, prompting a prisoner escape, a car chase and a spectacular crash. The action then pivots to a delightful sequence involving a young man in a field, Tim (Justice Smith), attempting to catch and bond with a grumpy little Pokémon named Cubone. If the dynamics of human/Pokémon relations mean nothing to you, however, you'll quickly find yourself floundering from this point onwards, as the film all but glances over the details of what, for the franchise, were its core principles, rules and objectives. In fact, the film almost dismisses them entirely, setting its main story in Ryme City where the traditional sport of Pokémon combat is outlawed and humans and Pokémon instead live, work and play alongside each other as equals. Tim is there to finalise the affairs of his late father, Harry, whose death from the crash at the beginning of the film raises numerous unanswered questions. It's here where he also encounters Pikachu, and, to their mutual surprise, they discover they can communicate with each other. Pikachu has amnesia, remembering nothing except that he was Harry's former partner, and that he's convinced the death was fabricated. The stage is hence set for some classic sleuthing — but instead of going down that road, or even just following the story of the video game from which the film is based, Detective Pikachu simply jumps from one half-explored plotline to the next in a narrative that feels increasingly disjointed and rushed. It's such a shame, too, because in addition to the stunning visuals, Detective Pikachu boasts a pretty solid cast. Alongside Reynolds and Smith, there's Bill Nighy, Ken Watanabe and Kathryn Newton, all of whom receive either far too little screen time, or not nearly enough character development. Being a kids movie doesn't mean its leads have to be basic or cliched (consider, for example, the complexities of some of Pixar's leading characters). Yet here only Pikachu and Smith get anything even close to resembling a back-story. From the audible gasps at various stages of the film, it's clear there's some joyous content for the true Pokémon fans out there, but for the uninitiated Detective Pikachu doesn't offer nearly enough to sink your teeth into. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1roy4o4tqQM
2018 was a great year for cinema. If you've been thinking otherwise, then maybe you just haven't had time to watch enough flicks or you haven't ventured out of your viewing comfort zone. Indeed, the past 12 months have served up a feast of films that show why we all love catching a movie, whether we're heading to our local picture palace or getting cosy on the couch. The very best films aren't just an artful, entertaining combination of sound and vision — they're a reminder that, even though this medium is more than a century old, it's still full of surprises. Don't worry — we have examples. There's Black Panther with its engaging embrace of its vivid on-screen world, all while carving out a new space in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There's the combination of dance and horror that made both Suspiria and Climax two of this year's highlights, all while doing something completely different from each other. Widows boasted smart heist thrills, packaged with an all-star cast and a stunning statement, while A Simple Favour offered a delightfully twisty time at the cinema. There's also First Reformed's soulful and provocative contemplation of faith, The Favourite's wickedly funny royal hijinks and Can You Ever Forgive Me?'s involving account of literary forgery too. Each offered up something unexpected — and they're all unlucky to make our best-of list. Throughout 2018, Concrete Playground's film critics watched all of the above and more, and reviewed over 120 films. Now, they've whittled down their favourites to the below ten movies. Maybe you saw them. Maybe you didn't. But that's another great thing about cinema — you can always rewatch the flicks that you loved and seek out the ones that you missed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQyDaGWQ43w YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE In Lynne Ramsay's long-waited fourth feature, an ex-soldier and former FBI agent grapples with his own trauma while trying to save others from theirs. Joe rescues children abducted and abused by pedophile rings — and if that sounds like an astonishing story, just wait, because You Were Never Really Here isn't done yet. Indeed, it's hard to pick what's more stunning here: Ramsay's empathetic and expressive direction, which keeps making unexpected choices to immerse viewers in Joe's headspace, or Joaquin Phoenix's internalised performance as the movie's protagonist, which won him the best actor prize at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. Call it a tie, and call this film an exceptional achievement that isn't easily forgotten after watching. — Sarah Ward Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSYHHLk12x8 COLD WAR After the Oscar-winning Ida, Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski plunges into a sweeping love story that's also a portrait of his post-war homeland. In fact, it's a personal tale inspired by his parents (and dedicated to them as well), with Wiktor (Tomasz Kot) and Zula (Joanna Kulig) their on-screen surrogates. As Poland adjusts to the titular period, the ups and downs of the intertwined duo's lives spill across the screen. A film of deep yearning as well as a clear-eyed understanding of the way that the world works, especially in times of conflict, every aspect of Cold War borders on flawless, from its intimate performances to its moving soundtrack to its Academy ratio, black-and-white images. — SW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3__y-uPwbe8 HEREDITARY In a banner year for the horror genre, no film provided a more anxious or uncomfortable viewing experience than Hereditary. Director Ari Aster takes his time, immersing viewers in the unsettled life of the Graham family, which teeters on the brink of collapse long before demonic forces take hold. It's a smart move, one that makes the film's eventual descent into madness that much more disturbing. Toni Collette gives a career best performance as a mother consumed by grief, while the recurring dollhouse motif further emphasises the feeling that the characters — and the audience as well — are merely the playthings of a far more powerful force. — Tom Clift Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp_i7cnOgbQ ROMA In a stellar year for excellent directors doing what they do best, Alfonso Cuarón sits at the top of the heap. And yes, Roma does showcase the Gravity filmmaker doing what he often does — that is, peering at someone who doesn't usually take pride of place on the screen. Taking inspiration from his own upbringing, the Mexican helmer tells the tale of housemaid Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), splicing together slices of her life working for a well-off family in the early 70s. Whether watching Cleo clean up after the family dog or delving into her problems beyond her job, every moment proves both emotionally intricate and visually sumptuous. Roma earned Cuarón the Golden Lion at this year's Venice Film Festival, and he's only going to keep picking up more trophies. — SW Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYKBG1znk4A SWEET COUNTRY When Sweet Country emerged victorious at this year's AACTA awards, it was truly a case of the best film winning. Warwick Thornton's Australian western is a sight to behold, with the Samson and Delilah filmmaker seeing every inch of the Northern Territory's outback landscape. The film also makes a firm statement, as becomes clear when an Indigenous stockman (Hamilton Morris) kills a white station owner in self-defence. He's forced to flee with his wife Lizzie (Natassia Gorey-Furber), but a local posse is soon on their trail. As Sweet Country decisively confronts this all-too-real situation, it also confronts the country's history of racial prejudice. The movie might be set in the 1920s, but Thornton purposefully, convincingly and heartbreakingly holds a mirror up to Aussie attitudes today. — SW Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqy27Bk0Vw0 A QUIET PLACE The dreadful quiet before the scare has always been a crucial of horror moviemaking. But with A Quiet Place, actor-turned-director John Krasinski weaves the idea into the very DNA of his story. Silence is the key to survival in this gripping creature feature, which makes the most of its brilliant premise and benefits from standout (and largely dialogue-free) performances from Krasinski, Emily Blunt and young newcomer Millicent Simmonds. And while the film suffers somewhat from the Jaws effect in that the monsters are scarier before you see them, A Quiet Place is nevertheless a masterclass of tension. — TC Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8mJT7wEtkA CUSTODY A marriage crumbles. A woman leaves and takes her children with her. After a difficult ordeal in court, life should go on, except that Miriam's (Léa Drucker) husband Antoine (Denis Ménochet) won't accept the new status quo. In weekend visits, he resorts to bullying his pre-teen son Julien (Thomas Gioria), who is now forced to flit between his parents. Forget action blockbusters and spooky thrillers — the seemingly routine events of Custody provide this year's most suspenseful viewing experience. The extraordinary debut of French writer/director Xavier Legrand, this is a bleak, tough, raw, involving and unforgettable film from start to finish. — SW Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpxJIWz8MNQ BLACKKKLANSMAN Director Spike Lee fires on cylinders with this funny, compelling and uncomfortably timely story about a black cop's mission to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. Lee has never been an especially subtle filmmaker, and his allusions to contemporary American politics — and one politician in particular — are impossible to miss. But the approach works perfectly in this stranger-than-fiction true story, which delights in hammering home the overwhelming stupidity that drives so much prejudice and hate. With a perfect mix of outrageous comedy and sobering drama, BlacKkKlansman truly is the perfect film for these troubled times. — TC Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVkX1qAyMrY LEAVE NO TRACE In another world, it wouldn't have taken Debra Granik eight years to direct another feature after Winter's Bone. That's not the world that we're living in — but, thankfully, we do now have this affecting and sensitive portrait of a father and daughter trying to live their own way. Making an Oregon forest their home, military veteran Will (Ben Foster) and teenager Tom (Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie) try to avoid attention so that they can continue to do as they please — but life has other plans. Watching them adjust, and watching the wise-beyond-her-years Tom realise that her own path might be different from her dad's, Leave No Trace steeps viewers in an empathetic exploration of America's increasingly fractured society. — SW Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOOcpb48Oyo SHOPLIFTERS Few filmmakers are as adept at crafting intimate family dramas than Japan's Hirokazu Kore-eda. His latest effort, Shoplifters, won the prestigious Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and its hard to imagine a worthier recipient. Charting the highs and lows of an unconventional family unit living on the margins in Tokyo, the film shines a light on a side of Japanese society that's rarely seen, while tugging deftly at the heartstrings. There's no sense of emotional manipulation in Kore-eda's work, but audiences will invariably be in tears by the time all is said and done. — TC Read our full review. These are our favourite films of 2018, but we've also put together a list of the best films hardly anyone saw this year — y'know, the ones that sort of went in and out of cinemas without much fanfare but definitely deserve a watch.
If you're a fan of tasteful tunes and exuberant summer vibes that don't bruise the budget, the annual St Kilda Festival should be at the top of your summer bucket list. The nation's largest free music festival returns to St Kilda's foreshore for its 38th year, bringing seven stages of live music and a tonne of food stalls and interactive workshops. On the music front, pop-rock band The Jezabels, soul singer Dan Sultan, Melbourne locals Architecture in Helsinki (DJ Set) and electro duo Electric Fields are just some of the 60-plus artists that will be performing throughout the day. They'll jam on one of nine stages scattered along the beachfront — stretching from Catani Gardens to the south end of Acland Street. As well as bangin' tunes, the air will be filled with the scent of delicious eats emanating from more than 100 food vendors. There'll be everything from curry to burgers, ribs and sushi — providing plenty of sustenance for all that dancing. You'll also need energy if you plan on attending one of the festival's free workshops, which include bubble soccer, yoga hip hop and dance classes (and a less strenuous selfie station, if that's your thing). For more information on activities and to see the full lineup, visit their website. Images: Nathan Doran
It may be hot outside, but it's not quite 'our city in summer' until the Sydney Festival starts up on January 9, bringing with it a tidal wave of performance, music, art and other festivities. Tonight the Sydney Festival has launched its 2014 program, a massive conglomeration of 104 events, featuring 722 artists from 80 companies across 17 countries. Look out for a much bigger festival garden (so big, in fact, it's now the Festival Village) in Hyde Park, the return of music venue Paradiso at Town Hall and everyone's favourite duck, and a version of Stonehenge that you can bounce on. Yes, bounce on. But let's get the bad news out of the way first: crowd favourite Festival First Night has been shrunk down even further than last year's 'Day One', to the point where it's completely disappeared. This has been blamed on NSW state funding cuts, as the escalating event requires a large amount of dedicated resources. While the loss of Festival First Night is a little hard to swallow — especially when Parramatta gets one (the POP Parra Opening Party features public concerts and 'Boxwars', a street parade/brawl in cardboard costumes on January 10) — but you can understand the festival's insistence on there needing to be proper funding for such an undertaking. We say it's a unrivalled street party that for one day makes Sydney feel like a great, open, international city, and we hope it returns in the future. In the meantime, there are many free, public events to occupy ourselves with. Now, on with the show. Performance Sydney Festival is, above all, a means to get the most appealing, innovative and agenda-setting international performing arts works to visit our town. This year there's nothing topping the already-announced spectacle of Dido & Aeneas. This 'underwater opera' starts with a dance in a 7500L water tank and moves on to sumptuous feats of dance, costume, singing, music and stagecraft. But the one-woman La Voix Humaine promises to floor with conversely little. This Dutch production based on the monologue by poet and film director Jean Cocteau features actor Halina Reijn as a woman pleading with her lover down the phone line after a break-up. There are plenty of other acclaimed international theatre works with experimental, thrilling or just plain WTF twists. Bullet Catch (from the UK's The Arches and Rob Drummond), for instance, is about the notoriously dangerous magician's trick that took the life of William Wonder. We hear if you stay till the end, you may have a very direct part to play in the climax. Less unnerving is Othello: The Remix, a charming "ad-rap-tation" by Chicago hip hop outfit the Q Brothers that uses the words of Shakespeare and obliterates the memory of so many terrible modernisations. Also in the mix is Cadavre Exquis, a game of theatrical Exquisite Corpse played by some truly cool international artists; Tim Crouch's underdog tale I, Malvolio (we recommend going on the adults-only late show on January 18); and Pan Pan Theatre's All That Falls, a radio play you take in communally, while on rocking chairs. Of course, it's not festival time without a Spiegeltent somewhere, and this year's is grounded in some solid and frequently sexy circus. Strut & Fret are back with a follow-up to last year's Cantina, Limbo, which takes as its premise an otherworldly party between heaven and hell. There's also a second travelling tent, which belongs to Belgium's Circus Ronaldo, a genuine line of circus performers six generations long. Their La Cucina Dell'Arte is a more family-friendly brand of buffoonery set in a pizza parlour. They're sharing their tent with rowdier late-night act Scotch and Soda, which includes the stylings of the Crusty Suitcase Band. In the non-funny vein of circus arts, look out for Ockham's Razor, a unique blending of philosophy and acrobatics over three acts taking place at Carriageworks. There are also a few really exciting local productions that shouldn't be eclipsed: Black Diggers is a major new work by Tom Wright built on extensive research into the largely untold history of Aboriginal Diggers in WWI. Directed by Wesley Enoch, it's making its world premiere at the festival. Belvoir and post's Oedipus Schmoedipus will be an epic lark, Am I sees choreographer Shaun Parker and composer Nick Wales venture into a new civilisation, My Darling Patricia's The Piper is one to capture the imagination (and abduct some children), and Forklift required several dancers to get heavy machinery licences. Music This year’s Sydney Festival music lineup doesn’t quite have the ‘wow’ factor of former years, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find a tonne of events that underline why the festival makes Sydney such an exciting place to be in January. The headline event is undoubtedly Amanda Palmer, who will be playing 10 solo shows in the intimate surrounds of The Spiegeltent. Palmer has become an object of much debate after her incredible success at crowdfunding her latest album, but whatever you think of that whole deal you cannot deny she is a fascinating performer. Dating right back to The Dresden Dolls, her shows have always been fascinating amalgamations of pop, cabaret, punk, performance and songwriting, and even the Festival organisers can’t tell you exactly what to expect when Palmer plays solo. Big Star’s Third is an absolute cult classic, with bands as diverse as Belle & Sebastian, The Replacements, The Flaming Lips and R.E.M. citing it as an inspiration. Despite (or perhaps because of) the deteriorating mental health of frontman Alex Chilton, and the fact that the band had totally fallen apart between its recording and its release, it is regarded as one of the great records of all time. And you can hear the whole thing in all its broken, twisted beauty when an all-star band including original drummer and sole surviving member of the band, drummer Jody Stephens, Mike Mills (R.E.M.) and Ken Stringfellow (The Posies) take to The Enmore stage for one night only. Kurt Vile has quietly become a cult guitar hero in recent years, bringing together influences from psych to folk to garage to create beautiful, enchanting music. It might not seem like it sometimes – Vile is so laidback he’s almost horizontal – but the man is a virtuoso guitarist and a compelling performer. And he’s playing in two formats at this year’s festival: a solo “special midnight performance” in the Circus Ronaldo Tent, and again with his band, The Violators, at Paradiso and Town Hall. Not to be missed. And that’s not even mentioning Amadou & Mariam’s Eclipse (a “live, multi-sensory experience in pitch darkness telling the amazing story of the blind couple from Mali that includes scents inspired by Mali and their second home Paris pumped into the building”), performances from ex-Battles frontmant Tyondai Braxton, a collaborative performance with Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) and Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, etc), or dozens of other exciting acts. Even the classical music program is phenomenal. It might not seem like it at first glance, but Sydney Festival is once again putting on the best party of the year. Art Art-wise, the Sydney Festival offerings are incredibly choice. The focus is on large-scale, multimedia and installation-type pieces that pack an impressive visual punch. Christian Boltanski’s mega installation, Chance, on show at Carriageworks (10 January – 23 March), will prove to be a highlight of the program. It will be the first major work ever presented in Australia by the French artist, who is one of the more important figures of the international artworld. The piece will make full use of the architecture and size of Carriageworks and will chart births and deaths across the globe. The award for coolest festival event goes to 100 Million Nights, the collaboration between artist Daniel Boyd and electronic duet Canyons. The musicians have created an original score based on their interpretation of Boyd’s pieces. On 21 January, in the concert hall of the Sydney Opera House, the performance will be staged in front of three large projections of Boyd’s artwork. The show will also include a sight and sound work by former Battles frontman Tyondai Braxton. Hive will blend modular synthesisers, sound design and percussion with custom built “architecturally designed” illuminated platforms. Billed as an “inter-faith minibus tour (with a sonic and visual dreamscape)”, The Calling will take you on a tour of religious architecture and sacred music in Western Sydney. Beginning at the crack of dawn with the Adhan (the Islamic call to prayer), you will explore selected mosques, temples and churches throughout Auburn, Granville and Parramatta. Also thrown into the mix is a delish traditional Lebanese breakfast. Slovakian artist Roman Ondák is teaming up with Kaldor Public Art Projects (the group that brought us 13 Rooms) to present a trio of performative works. The artworld superstar will present Project 28 at Parramatta Town Hall. Swap, explores process of exchange and barter with humour and audience participation. The second work, Measuring the Universe, at first glance looks like hundreds of thousands of black strokes on a white wall. Look closer and you’ll see it’s tiny records of various visitors’ heights and the dates the measurements were taken. The final work, Terrace, will be a brand new work created specially for the Parramatta event. And that bouncy Stonehenge? That's Sacrilege by Jeremy Deller, direct from the 2012 London Olympics cultural program. Frighten off the tiny children and get jumping. Multipacks are available from October 24 at 9am. General tickets are available on October 28 at 9am. For full details see the Sydney Festival website. This year, the festival is offering an interactive, walk-through version of their program before tickets go on sale. A careers-counsellor-like service will help you find the events you most want to see. Take a gander from October 24-27 at Lower Town Hall. By Rima Sabina Aouf, Hugh Robertson and Rebecca Speer.
Whisky lovers, you're going to want to sit down for this. Beloved, accolade-winning and straight-up cocktail monarchs Eau de Vie are opening a brand new bar in Melbourne's CBD — with 700 whiskies behind the bar. Seven hundy. Dubbed Boilermaker House, Eau de Vie's second Melbourne venue will take over 209-211 Lonsdale Street in the CBD. If the name didn't already clue you in, Boilermaker House will be home to those 700 whiskies, ten tap beers and 70 bottled beers — you'll be spoiled for choice to craft your perfect Boilermaker combo. With plans to open doors by early April, Eau de Vie are adding Boilermaker House to their existing EDV venues in Sydney and Melbourne, following the opening of Sydney's Eau de Vie Apothecary last year. Via Australian Bartender.
Running from May 4–20, the High Country Harvest explores innovative food, wine, craft beer and spirits in Victoria's spectacular north-east. With more than 50 outdoor and culinary adventures to experience during the festival, curated around seasonally specific produce, there's no better time than right now to visit the Victorian High Country. On Friday, May 4, Yackandandah Organics' Farm Ramble and Feast lets you feast on food dug up, picked and plundered from the earth under your feet. You'll explore the market garden and orchard before sitting down to a long-table lunch with produce provided by Yackandandah growers Gena and Steve Cavini and prepared by the plant-focused chefs from Saint Monday. Also on May 4, you have the opportunity to get to know Shiraz in a whole new way. At Shirazzle Dazzle the Senses, Valhalla Wines' Anton Therkildsen will blindfold you before guiding you through a wine tasting with your remaining senses, encouraging you to focus on its smell, feel and taste. For the meat lovers, on Saturday, May 5, Dal Zotto winery is hosting their annual Salami Sessions, where you get hands-on experience in making traditional Italian salami with James Mele of the Meat Room Bespoke Butchers. You might have to learn one-handed as you hold a Dal Zotto wine in the other. More of an outdoor adventurer? Explore the ever-changing landscape of the High Country in autumn on horseback during the To Lunch on Horseback adventure. The Baird family (and their horses) from Bogong Horseback Adventure will guide you through the Alpine National Forest on a half-day horse ride, discovering native flora and fauna, exploring caverns and plodding through fern-filled valleys. Then enjoy a campfire feast made from local and native ingredients (along with some hay and carrots for your trusty steeds). Get prepped for the array of autumn events in the High Country and explore more of what's on your doorstep at the Wander Victoria website.
One of the sharpest political satirists in the business, UK comedian Andy Zaltzman is best known as the host of The Bugle, a weekly podcast that specialised in fake news long before Donald Trump started tweeting about it. He was also the guy in last year's Great Debate wearing cricket gear arguing with a cauliflower. His latest show promises to tackle "the biggest questions facing our very naughty planet" — although, knowing Zaltzman, there'll also be a fair amount of nonsensical sporting trivia as well.
What do you get when you cross three fine dining heroes with decades of combined experience that spans pretty much the entire world? Although this sounds a lot like a punchline that would force you to unfollow a close friend, the real answer is Etta, the new home for Hayden McMillan, Hannah Green, and Dominique Fourie McMillan. The trio, who have an insane resume that includes Cutler & Co, The Roving Marrow (which won a hat under Hayden's charge), Attica and Neil Perry's Rosetta, will open up their new joint in March at the Brunswick East end of Lygon Street. With restaurants all over the place trending towards a more healthy-meets-delicious selection of dishes, it's no surprise to see the trio's newest venture taking up the mantle of the balanced yet tasty diet. When we met Hayden back in 2013, when he was killing it in the kitchen at Auckland's TriBeCa, he told us that his dish of choice at home was a "massive bowl of vegetables and sweetcorn with sliced almonds and butter". Whether or not that's still the case, this focus on fresh produce is key to the menu at Etta. It's not a case of a strictly vegetarian joint, but he says to expect "a heavy representation of produce over protein." While it's easy to give in to our inner child and assume that everything that is good for you tastes rubbish, Hayden is aiming to blast that notion back into the past — where it belongs. "It's the kind of eating that makes people feel good," he says, "and it's delicious." The 80-seat restaurant will be a 'contemporary neighbourhood bistro', and the drinks menu will share that focus on locality, too, championing small producers and family owned operations from both at home and abroad. The fit out has been crafted by IF Architecture (the folks responsible for Gertrude Street's Marion Wine Bar), and promises to be "playful, but polished", according to Hannah. As well as lending the bistro her name, blues legend Etta James once said that "the two things you can't fake are good food and good music." With a track record like the one belonging to the trio behind Etta, you'd best believe that they ain't faking. Etta opens in March at 60 Lygon Street, Brunswick East. Check out their website for further details.
That most wonderful of foodstuffs is getting two nights to call its own, as the Melbourne Dumpling Festival returns for another year. Taking over the 206 Bourke Street development, this dumpling dine-in will feature dumps from some of Melbourne's best Chinese chefs, along with booze and other dumpling-related festivities. It all kicks off at 5pm on Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 16 – meaning you'll have all Sunday to lounge around in a food coma. On the ground floor, more than 50 varieties of dumplings will be on offer across the weekend from Tim Ho Wan, China Red, China Chilli, House of Delight and Dragon Boat. And when you buy some, you'll score a free bubble tea or wine from the Riot Wine Co. pop-up laneway bar. Plus, there will be a silent disco, live music and a ball pit filled with prizes and the chance to win free dumplings for a year. But you'll want to also book yourself in for a dumpling and wine pairing 'experience' up on level one. For just $10, you'll be treated to five dumplings (one from each of the vendors) and three tastes of wine. Not bad. There'll be five sittings each night, and you can book in here.
Since Victoria's second COVID-19 lockdown began in July, dreaming of spending a night somewhere other than your own home has become a regular part of pandemic life. Thankfully, that dream looks set to become a reality early next month, with Premier Daniel Andrews revealing earlier this week that Victorians will be able to travel regionally — and stay overnight — from 11.59pm on Sunday, November 8. Premier Andrews made the announcement earlier on Monday, October 26, when he ran through the next phases of eased restrictions for the metropolitan Melbourne area. Understandably — given that they came into effect this week — the bulk of the focus has been on heading back out to bars and restaurants, and having folks over to your house. But prepare for more things to change at the end of next week, too. On the travel front, the hard border between metro Melbourne and regional Victoria will be scrapped. And, so will the 25-kilometre travel limit — so "the state will be one again" as the Premier said. Crucially, accommodation sites will be allowed to reopen; however, there are rules about bookings. You can only book with members of your household, with your intimate partner, or with your household and two adults and their kids from another household. https://twitter.com/VicGovDHHS/status/1320588908862803969 From this November date, a heap of other changes will also come into effect. In metro Melbourne, gyms and fitness studios will be allowed to reopen, with a maximum of 20 people per space. At hospitality venues, they'll move to 40 people indoors and 70 outside. Religious gatherings will move to 20 people indoors and 50 outdoors, and indoor pools will also be allowed to open. As with all of Victoria's plans for future changes to its COVID-19 limits, the easing of the above restrictions on November 8 is contingent on case numbers. At the time of writing, Melbourne has reported four cases in the past 24 hours, three the day prior, two on the day before that, and zero cases for two days in a row before that — a trend that'll hopefully continue. For more information about the status of COVID-19 and the current restrictions, head over to the Department of Health and Human Services website — and for further details about Victoria's steps for reopening, head to the roadmap itself. Top image: Nightingale Orchard by Emily Godfrey via Visit Victoria
In the 70s and 80s, it was Countdown. In the 90s and early 00s, it was Recovery. Now, the ABC is adding The Set to its roster of music-focused TV shows. Like its predecessor, the new television series will feature live music performances in front of a live studio audience — with triple j's Linda Marigliano and Dylan Alcott as the program's hosts. Kicking off on both ABC and iview at 9.30pm on Wednesday, October 31, The Set will feature a different main band each week, who'll then invite two guest acts to perform live as well. To end each show, the week's artists will all team up in a one-off musical collaboration. And with the whole thing taking place on a purpose-built share house set, which also includes a backyard, 250 folks will be there, in person, enjoying the gig. Headliners include Angus and Julia Stone, Vera Blue, Ball Park Music and The Presets, while the likes of Illy, Odette, Baker Boy, Wafia, Mallrat, Angie McMahon, Tia Gostelow, LANKS and Kult Kyss have been named among The Set's guests. The series will actually air twice each week — with a 30-minute episode running each Wednesday evening, and then an extended hour-long version screening on Saturdays at 10pm from November 3.
Wool Modern will open to the public this ANZAC Day, Wednesday, April 25, in a celebration of one of Australia's top industries. This year's exhibition aims to dissolve any preconceptions about the wool industry by demonstrating the new, fashionable 21st century platform for the natural fibre. Featuring the "modern, innovative, and avant garde" use of wool throughout today's creative industries, Wool Modern promises to upstage your thick winter socks. Prominent Australian fashion and interior designers (including Collette Dinnigan and Akira Isogawa) will display their creations among industry greats such as Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood. The exhibition was the highlight of the 2011 Campaign for Wool, and was visited by the Prince of Wales himself last year. Wool Modern will be held on Pier 1 & 2 in Sydney from April 25 to Tuesday, May 1. From there, it will be transplanted to the nearby Queen Victoria Building on George Street, where it will remain through June. Josh Goot Emma Elizabeth Gorman https://youtube.com/watch?v=0-QpsFLpoB8
Before the pandemic, when a new-release movie started playing in cinemas, audiences couldn't watch it on streaming, video on demand, DVD or blu-ray for a few months. But with the past few years forcing film industry to make quite a few changes — widespread movie theatre closures will do that, and so will plenty of people staying home because they aren't well — that's no longer always the case. Maybe you haven't had time to make it to your local cinema lately. Perhaps you've been under the weather. Given the hefty amount of titles now releasing each week, maybe you simply missed something. Film distributors have been fast-tracking some of their new releases from cinemas to streaming recently — movies that might still be playing in theatres in some parts of the country, too. In preparation for your next couch session, here are 12 that you can watch right now at home. ASTEROID CITY In 1954, one of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest thrillers peeked through a rear window. In Wes Anderson's highly stylised, symmetrical and colour-saturated vision of 1955 in Asteroid City, a romance springs almost solely through two fellow holes in the wall. Sitting behind one is actor Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson, Black Widow), who visibly recalls Marilyn Monroe. Peering through the opposing space is newly widowed war photographer Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), who takes more than a few cues from James Dean. The time isn't just 1955 in the filmmaker's latest stellar masterpiece, but September that year, a month that would end with Dean's death in a car crash. Racing through the movie's eponymous setting — an 87-person slice of post-war midwest Americana with a landscape straight out of a western, the genre that was enjoying its golden age at the time — are cops and robbers speeding and careening in their vehicles. Meticulousness layered upon meticulousness has gleamed like the sun across Anderson's repertoire since 1996's Bottle Rocket launched the writer/director's distinctive aesthetic flair; "Anderson-esque" has long become a term. Helming his 11th feature with Asteroid City, he's as fastidious and methodical in his details upon details as ever — more so, given that each successive movie keeps feeling like Anderson at his most Anderson — but all of those 50s pop-culture shoutouts aren't merely film-loving, winking-and-nodding quirks. Within this picture's world, as based on a story conjured up with Roman Coppola (The French Dispatch), Asteroid City isn't actually a picture. "It is an imaginary drama created expressly for the purposes of this broadcast. The characters are fictional, the text hypothetical, the events an apocryphal fabrication," a Playhouse 90-style host (Bryan Cranston, Better Call Saul) informs. So, it's a fake play turned into a play for a TV presentation, behind-the-scenes glimpses and all. There Anderson is, being his usual ornate and intricate self, and finding multiple manners to explore art, authenticity, and the emotions found in and processed through works of creativity. Asteroid City is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — DEAD RECKONING PART ONE Pick your poison, action-franchise edition circa 2023: balletically choreographed carnage; cars, kin and Coronas; or Tom Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick) constantly one-upping himself in the megastar stunts stakes. Hollywood loves them all. Screens keep welcoming them all. So, after John Wick: Chapter 4 and Fast X comes Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One to deliver the kind of movie spectacle that always looks best on the biggest and brightest of viewing formats. And, as its lead actor's gleaming teeth do, the seventh instalment in the TV-to-film spy series shines. Like Cruise himself, it's committed to giving audiences what they want to see, but never merely exactly what they've already seen. This saga hasn't always chosen to accept that mission, but it's been having a better time of it since 2011's Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, including when writer/director Christopher McQuarrie jumped behind the lens with 2015's Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. Rubber masks so realistic that anyone on-screen could rip off their face to reveal Cruise's Ethan Hunt? Of course they're present and accounted for. Espionage antics that involve saving the world while traversing much of it? Tick that off ASAP. The saga's main Impossible Missions Force operative doing whatever it takes, including sprinting everywhere and relentlessly exasperating his higher-ups? Check. A trusty crew faithfully aiding the always-maverick Hunt, plus slippery adversaries to endeavour to outsmart? Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One gives them a hefty thumbs up as well. Shady forces with globe-destroying aims, being able to trust oh-so-few folks, wreaking slickly staged havoc, those jaw-dropping stunts, top-notch actors: Cruise and McQuarrie, the latter co-writing with Erik Jendresen (Ithaca), feel the need to feed it all into the flick, too. They're also rather fond of nodding to and reworking the franchise's greatest hits. Happily playing with recognisable pieces while eagerly, cleverly and satisfyingly building upon them isn't the easiest of skills, but it's firmly in this team's arsenal. Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. BLUE BEETLE Buzzing at the heart of Blue Beetle are two contrasting notions: fitting in and standing out. Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña, Cobra Kai) wants to feel at home not just in his own slice of El Paso-esque Texan spot Palmera City, but beyond his neighbourhood. When he assists his sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo, Hocus Pocus 2) working at the well-to-do's houses, he searches for opportunities, especially given that he's in need of a steady job to help his family save their home as gentrification swoops in. Thanks to a run-in with Kord Industries, its warmongering CEO Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon, Maybe I Do) and an ancient artefact known as the scarab, however, the recent Gotham Law University graduate will soon be his hometown's most distinctive resident. Getting covered in blue armour, being able to fly — wings and other bug appendages come with the suit — and hearing a robotic voice (Becky G, Power Rangers) chatting in your head will do that, as will having a multinational company try to swat you down because it wants to deploy the technology RoboCop-style. So scampers the latest entry in the DC Extended Universe — a movie that grapples with the same concepts as the ever-earnest Jaime beyond its storyline. It slots into its franchise while providing something new 14 entries in, before the DCEU comes to an end with the upcoming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (under fresh DC leadership, a different silver-screen saga is coming, which might still link in with Blue Beetle). Directed by Ángel Manuel Soto (Charm City Kings), this is the superhero genre's first live-action flick with a Latino lead, be it from DC or Marvel. It's a family drama as much a caped-crusader affair. It's a story about immigrants striving to thrive and retain their own culture. And, it revels in an 80s sheen and sound. Blue Beetle battles enthusiastically to claim its own space, then, as almost constantly seen and felt. Alas, that doesn't stop it from getting generic as well, as much save-the-world fare is. Blue Beetle is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. BLACKBERRY There's rarely a still moment in BlackBerry. Someone is almost always moving, usually in a hurry and while trying to make their dreams come true everywhere and anywhere. Those folks include Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel, FUBAR) and Douglas Fregin (Matt Johnson, who also directs and writes as he did with The Dirties and Operation Avalanche). The pair created the game-changing smartphone that shares this movie's name. Also always frenetic: Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), the executive they pitch to, get knocked back by, then hire as co-CEO. That near non-stop go-go-go look and feel — cinematography that's constantly roving and zooming to match, too — isn't just a stylistic, screenwriting or performance choice. It's a case of art imitating the impact that the BlackBerry handsets and their tiny QWERTY keyboards had on late-90s and early-00s life. Before the iPhone and its fellow touchscreen competitors took over, it was the key device for anyone with a work mobile. The big selling point? Letting people do their jobs — well, receive and send emails — on the move, and everywhere and anywhere. Should you blame Research in Motion, the Canadian technology company that Lazaridis and Fregin founded, for shattering work-life balance? Dubbed "crackberries", their phones played a significant part in extending the office's reach. Is anyone being inundated with after-hours emails on a BlackBerry today? Unless they have an old handset in their button-pressing hands, it isn't likely — and BlackBerry the film explains why. Spinning on-screen product origin stories is one of 2023's favourites trend, as Tetris, Air and Flamin' Hot have demonstrated; however, history already dictates that the latest addition to that group doesn't have a happy ending. Instead, this immersive and gripping picture tells of two friends with big plans who achieved everything they ever wanted, but at a cost that saw the BlackBerry become everything, then nothing. Like its fellow object-to-screen flicks, it follows a big leap that went soaring; this one just crashed spectacularly afterwards. BlackBerry is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. CHEVALIER "He is the most accomplished man in Europe in riding, running, shooting, fencing, dancing, music." Writing in his diary in 1779 about Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, American Founding Father and future second US President John Adams didn't hold back with his praise. But the world has barely taken his cue in the nearly two-and-a-half centuries since, letting the tale of this gifted French Creole violinist, conductor and composer slip from wider attention. Within a sumptuous period drama that's charmingly, confidently and commandingly led by Kelvin Harrison Jr — with the Waves, The High Note, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Cyrano star full of mesmerising swagger, and also endlessly compelling as a talent forced to struggle as a person of colour in a white aristocratic world — Chevalier endeavours to redress this failing of history. Veteran television director Stephen Williams (Watchmen, Westworld, Lost) and screenwriter Stefani Robinson (Atlanta, What We Do in the Shadows) begin their Bologne biopic boldly, playfully and with a front-on confrontation of the "Black Mozart" label that's surrounded their subject when he has been remembered — even if they also commence Chevalier with likely fiction. In pre-revolution Paris in the late 18th century, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Joseph Prowen, Father Brown) has an enraptured crowd in his thrall as he both plays and conducts. He pauses, then prompts his audience for requests. The response comes as a surprise: Bologne striding down the aisle, asking if he too can pick up a violin, then getting duelling with the musical instrument against the acclaimed maestro. Williams and Robinson start their film with a statement, announcing that they're celebrating a life that's been left not only ignored and erased — especially in a realm that's so often considered old, stuffy and definitely not culturally diverse — but also been stuck lingering in someone else's shadow. Chevalier is available to stream via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. SANCTUARY Succession with BDSM. A reminder that love can sear. A slinky two-hander that's sometimes about only having one free hand. Sanctuary is all of the above, plus a psychosexual battle and a romp of a twisty erotic thriller-meets-romantic comedy — and also a reminder that there's something about Christopher Abbott in chic hotel rooms being teased out of his comfort zone by blonde sex workers (see also: Piercing). There's something about the actor in confined settings in general (see there: Possessor, The Forgiven and Black Bear), but only this supremely confident affair about a significantly complicated affair pairs him with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood breakout Margaret Qualley. As they verbally tussle and sometimes physically tumble, unpacking class, control, chemistry, intimacy and authority along the way, they're a chamber-piece dream. Sanctuary's chamber: a sleekly appointed suite decked out in saturated colours and ornate patterns at one of the 112 hotels that share Hal Porterfield's (Abbott, The Crowded Room) surname. And the piece's point? The thorny, horny relationship between the born-to-privilege heir and Rebecca (Qualley, Stars at Noon), who enters his room with a sharp knock, a no-nonsense stare, business attire and a briefcase filled with paperwork. Hal's father has just passed away, and he's now Kendall Roy awaiting the anointing that he's been promised since birth. His companion runs through background-check questions, veering into the highly personal. Soon, after drinks, dismay and a snappy debate, he's on his hands and knees scrubbing the bathroom while she watches on. Now he's Roman Roy, complete with dirty-talk banter, but in a film directed by sophomore helmer Zachary Wigon (The Heart Machine) and penned by Micah Bloomberg (Homecoming). Sanctuary is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. BIOSPHERE If an apocalypse ever brings humanity so close to extinction that there might only be two people left, one thing is certain: if that duo is together and can communicate, they'll spend most of their time nattering about nothing. They'll talk. They'll argue. They'll fill the days, months and years by talking and arguing. They'll still be human, in other words, doing what humans do. Biosphere sets up house within this very scenario, and in that exact truth. Here, lifelong pals Billy (Mark Duplass, Language Lessons) and Ray (Sterling K Brown, This Is Us) are the only folks left after the planet has met a catastrophic fate — one that, because he was the US President when things went dystopian, Billy likely had a hand in — and they're now confined to the movie's titular structure. So, they talk. Sometimes, they argue. When first-time feature-length filmmaker Mel Eslyn plunges the audience into this situation, her characters have been talking and arguing, then arguing and talking, for so long that it's just what they do. Working with a script that she co-penned with Duplass, Eslyn introduces Biosphere's viewers to a self-contained ecosystem of discussing and disagreeing. In the abode designed and built by Ray, a scientist and Billy's former advisor, this pair has no other choice. "Self-contained" perfectly sums up the sensation when the film begins flickering, too — as Ray and Billy go for their daily jog around the sphere, talking and arguing as they trot, their dynamic and their routine is conveyed with such efficiency that it feels like you've been watching for longer than you have. Biosphere doesn't drag, though. Rather, it's excellent at constructing a lived-in world with Billy and Ray as they live through what could be the end of the world. It's ace at storytelling as well, but the talking, the arguing, and the immersive and relatable air all smartly say plenty about a movie that recognises from the outset how adaptable people are. Biosphere is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. EGO: THE MICHAEL GUDINSKI STORY Post-viewing soundtrack, sorted: to watch Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story is to take a trip down memory lane with the Australian music industry and hear homegrown standouts from the past five decades along the way. Unsurprisingly, this documentary already has an album to go with it, a stacked release which'd instantly do its eponymous figure proud. His tick of approval wouldn't just stem from the artists surveyed, but because Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story's accompanying tunes comprise a three-disc number like Mushroom Records' first-ever drop, a 1973 Sunbury Festival live LP. To tell the tale of Gudinski, the record executive and promoter who became a household name, is to tell of Skyhooks, Split Enz, Hunters & Collectors, Jimmy Barnes, Paul Kelly, Kylie Minogue, Archie Roach, Yothu Yindi, Bliss n Esso, The Temper Trap, Gordi and Vance Joy, too — and to listen to them. Need this on-screen tribute to give you some kind of sign that the Gudinski and Mushroom story spans a heap of genres? Both the film and the album alike include Peter Andre. Any journey through Michael Gudinski's life and career, from his childhood entrepreneurship selling car parks on his family's vacant lot to his years and years getting Aussie music to the masses — and, on the touring side, bringing massively popular overseas artists to Aussies — needs to also be an ode to the industry that he adored. The man and scene are inseparable. But perhaps Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story plays as such an overt love letter to Australian music because it's an unashamed hagiography of Gudinski. Although the movie doesn't deliver wall-to-wall praise, it comes close. When it begins to hint at any traces of arrogance, moodiness or ruthlessness, it quickly does the doco equivalent of skipping to the next track. Australian Rules and Suburban Mayhem director Paul Goldman, a seasoned hand at music videos as well, has called his feature Ego and there's no doubting his subject had one; however, the takeaway in this highly authorised biography is that anything that doesn't gleam was simply part of his natural mischievousness and eager push for success. Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. DRACULA: VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER In the Bram Stoker vampire novel that's inspired almost all other vampire novels, Dracula is undead. In popular culture since and forever, the fictional Transylvanian bloodsucker will never die. Regardless of his fate on the page back in 1897, the most-portrayed character in horror movies ever keeps baring his fangs on-screen, rising again and again like the sun that this creature of the night can never bask in. 2023 brings two new Dracula films, which isn't overly notable, but this crop of Stoker-influenced flicks doesn't simply retell the usual 126-year-old tale. Leaning into comedy and action, Renfield sunk its teeth in by giving the vampire's long-suffering familiar some love. Now the dread-dripping Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter hones in on one chapter of the book that started it all, detailing the captain's log from the neck-munching fiend's journey to London via ship. Starring for Trollhunter, The Autopsy of Jane Doe and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark director André Øvredal: Corey Hawkins (In the Heights) as physician Clemens, Aisling Franciosi (The Nightingale) as stowaway Anna and Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) as Captain Eliot. The former hops onto the latter's ship in Eastern Europe, where a promised job falls through due to his race, forcing a pivot onto the Demeter's crew to return to England. Clemens isn't the only new boarding, with the vessel also welcoming 50 unmarked crates from the Carpathian Mountains. Given that the film is named Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter Down Under — elsewhere, it's known as just The Last Voyage of the Demeter — there's no surprises about what's among the cargo. So, as initially told in Dracula's seventh chapter, in the epistolary format of letters, journals and clippings that Stoker's tome deployed across the entire novel, the key contents of those mysterious wooden chests soon begins offing fellow seafarers. Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. GRAN TURISMO: BASED ON A TRUE STORY Speeding onto screens with instant brand awareness is 2023's big trend. Air, Tetris, The Super Mario Bros Movie, Flamin' Hot and Barbie: they've all been there and done that already. Now it's Gran Turismo's turn, albeit with a film that isn't quite based on the video game of the same name. Directed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium, Chappie), and penned by Jason Hall (American Sniper) and Zach Baylin (King Richard), it also doesn't tell the racing simulator's origin story. Rather, this pedal-to-the-metal flick focuses on the real-life Nissan PlayStation GT Academy initiative from 2008–16, and the tale of British racer Jann Mardenborough specifically. The overall program endeavoured to turn the world's top Gran Turismo players into IRL motorsports drivers — and the Cardiff-raised Mardenborough is one of its big success stories. The ins and outs of GT Academy receives hefty attention in Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story, plus Mardenborough's (Archie Madekwe, Beau Is Afraid) life-changing experience along with it; however, much is also made of a massive marketing push. Here, Nissan executive Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom, Carnival Row) wants to attract new customers, ideally those leaping from mashing buttons to hitting the road. Accordingly, he conjures up the console-to-racetrack idea to help make that sales boost happen, even if racing veteran Jack Salter (David Harbour, Violent Night) is skeptical when asked to come onboard as a trainer. You don't see it in Gran Turismo the feature, but surely taking the whole situation into cinemas if the underlying concept proved a hit was part of that initial plan as well. Amid the ample product placement anywhere and everywhere that the film can slide it in, that certainty thrums constantly. Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. STRAYS Canines are so beloved in cinema that the Cannes Film Festival even gives them a gong: the Palm Dog, which has been awarded to a performing pooch (sometimes several) annually since 2001. Among the past winners sit pups in Marie Antoinette, Up, The Artist, Paterson, Dogman and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — most real, one animated, some anointed posthumously and none scoring their prize for a quest to bite off someone's penis. That genitals-chomping journey belongs to the four-legged stars of Strays alone. They're played by actual animals, with CGI assisting with moving lips and particularly raucous turns, and they're unlikely to win any accolades for this raunchy lost-dog tale. The pooches impress. They're always cute. Also, they're capable of digging up laughs. But Strays is a one-bark idea that's tossed around as repetitively as throwing a tennis ball to your fluffy pal: take a flick about adorable dogs, and talking ones at that, then make it crude and rude. Games of fetch do pop up in Strays, but via a version that no loving pet owner would ever want to play. This one is called "fetch and fuck", with stoner and constant masturbator Doug (Will Forte, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson) doing the pitching. He isn't a kindly human companion to Reggie (voiced by Will Ferrell, Barbie). He's cruel and resentful — and constantly drives Reggie to various distant spots, sends him running and ditches the pooch. With unwavering affection, plus the naivety to only see the good in his chosen person, Reggie thinks that it's all meant to be fun until he's abandoned in a city hours away. There, he meets Boston terrier Bug (Jamie Foxx, They Cloned Tyrone), Australian shepherd Maggie (Isla Fisher, Wolf Like Me) and great dane Hunter (Randall Park, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania). Realising the truth about his relationship with Doug, he's sent by Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar director Josh Greenbaum and American Vandal creator/writer Dan Perrault on a canines-gone-wild revenge mission with his new dog squad trotting along to help. Strays is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. HAUNTED MANSION There's almost nothing that's bold about Haunted Mansion, but making the Disney family-friendly horror-comedy about moving on from the past is downright audacious. What the film preaches, the company behind it isn't practising — with this specific movie or in general. This flick isn't the first that's based on the Mouse House's The Haunted Mansion theme-park attraction, thanks to a 2003 Eddie Murphy (You People)-starring feature. In 2021, the entertainment behemoth also combined the Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland highlight with The Muppets in streaming special Muppets Haunted Mansion. And, no matter how Haunted Mansion circa 2023 fares at the box office, there's no doubting that the idea will get another spin down the line. Nearly everything Disney does; this is the corporation that keeps remaking its animated hits as live-action pictures (see: The Little Mermaid), revelling in sequels even decades later (see: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), and getting franchises sprawling as films and TV shows alike (see: Marvel and Star Wars). When Dear White People and Bad Hair filmmaker Justin Simien begins his Haunted Mansion, it's with backstory that explains why astrophysicist Ben Matthias (LaKeith Stanfield, Atlanta) is himself so unwilling to embrace the future. He meets Alyssa (Charity Jordan, They Cloned Tyrone), falls in love, then understandably falls apart when he's suddenly a widower — and, once he's consumed by mourning he's committed to staying that way. Then priest and exorcist Father Kent (Owen Wilson, Loki) ropes him into a gig at the movie's central abode, enlisting not just his help but the use of his specially developed camera that photographs dark matter and, ideally, spectres. The gadget was a labour of love for Alyssa, who worked as a ghost tour guide around New Orleans, a job that Ben has swapped science and the lab for after her passing. Now, he needs his invention to assist Gabbie (Rosario Dawson, Ahsoka), a doctor who has just relocated with her son Travis (Chase W Dillon, The Harder They Fall) — while calling in psychic Harriet (Tiffany Haddish, The Afterparty) and college historian Bruce Davis (Danny DeVito, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) to also lend a hand. Haunted Mansion is available to stream via Disney+, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. Looking for more at-home viewing options? Take a look at our monthly streaming recommendations across new straight-to-digital films and TV shows — and fast-tracked highlights from January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August and September, too. You can also peruse our best new films, new TV shows, returning TV shows and straight-to-streaming movies of 2023 so far
¡Viva el cine español! Australia's carnival of Spanish-language cinema is on the verge of adulthood and is celebrating the occasion in style. Commemorating its 17th birthday in 2014, the Spanish Film Festival will once again showcase the best of the Spanish and Latin American film industry, from twisting crime tales to slick ensemble love stories, heart-warming comedies and searing social dramas. This year's festivities will be bookended by two big favourites from Spain's prestigious Goya awards. Opening night features the sixties-set road-trip movie Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed, winner of six statues including Best Picture, Director and Actor. Two-a-half-weeks later, the macabre comic fantasy Witching and Bitching, featuring Best Supporting Actress Terele Pávez, will bring the festival to a close. Other highlights on the 30-film program include The Golden Cage, which won Best Cast at the Cannes Film Festival, and Scorpion in Love, a boxing drama in which Javier Bardem plays a neo-Nazi gang leader. (Not such a heartthrob now, is he ladies?) For the full Spanish Film Festival lineup, visit the festival website Image: Still from Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed. https://youtube.com/watch?v=xAPS2uPFNkY
