Aussies are usually hard-pressed persuading overseas visitors to sample anything more than a smidgen of our beloved Vegemite. But that's far from the case with Heston Blumenthal and Dinner by Heston group executive chef Ashley Palmer-Watts, two Brits who are so taken by the iconic yeasty spread that they've made it the star of their latest ambitious dessert, a dinky di-ce cream which will launch this Australia Day. Dinner by Heston's 15-month-old Melbourne outpost has seen the chef duo spending significant time on Australian soil and, with both fascinated by the cult product, a Vegemite dessert was always on the cards. "I had never really eaten Vegemite until I came to Australia," explains Palmer-Watts. "Heston was intrigued by the flavour immediately and pretty insistent for some time that we explore a dessert dish based on the spread." Blumenthal and Palmer-Watts have been in development mode these past six months, exploring the spread's unique (and polarising) flavours and translating them into a sweet concoction that's both worthy of the Dinner by Heston menu and respectful of Vegemite's long heritage. And it seems they've hit the nail on the head, the dessert already passing muster with the brand's Category Manager, Tania Trapla. "To have their innovative take on our famous Australian spread was truly remarkable," she says. "They've managed to take Vegemite to another dimension." While the dessert's being dubbed 'Vegemite Ice Cream', it's not exactly what it sounds like, instead featuring a riot of textures and tastes — teaming sourdough crumble base, verjuice curd, and barley chocolate ganache, with the ice cream element perched right in the middle. There'll even be a drizzle of decadent caramel sauce, poured from a Vegemite jar at the table. Now that's 'Modern Australian' cuisine. The dish will be unveiled as part of Palmer-Watts' special Australia Day lunch on January 26, alongside a raft of other innovative, Australian-inspired bites and cocktails. Read our review of Dinner by Heston.
So, you've binged on The Jinx and Making a Murderer, and now you need another outlet for your factual film and television fix. Announced back in February, the brand new Australian offshoot of Hot Docs promises to take care of your need to consume compelling real-life stories — and they've just announced the program to prove it. Packing quite the punch in their first year, Hot Docs at Palace Cinemas will bring 24 films from 15 countries to Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra in June and July. If exploring the story of James Foley, the journalist murdered by ISIS in 2014, piques your interest, or if finding out how the humble VHS helped defeat Romanian communism takes your fancy, then the likes of Jim: The James Foley Story and Chuck Norris Versus Communism well and truly have you covered. Elsewhere on the lineup, League of Exotic Dancers pays tribute to burlesque, What Tomorrow Brings explores the fight to educate young girls in Afghanistan, and Raving Iran looks at a couple of DJs working the country's underground techno music scene. Plus, two Aussie-made films will receive their world premieres: Charlie Hill Smith's Motorkite Dreaming, which focuses on a microlight aircraft adventure, and Helen Kapalos' A Life Of Its Own, which delves into the topic of medical marijuana. If that doesn't get you excited, perhaps a bit of background info about the original Hot Docs will. Also known as the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, it isn't just a small-scale event. Screening more than 200 films, it's actually North America's largest doco-focused showcase, and has been running for 23 years. Until now, it had limited its factual film smorgasbord to the nation in its name; however, with this Australian leg, that's no longer be the case. Hosted by Palace Cinemas and curated by Aussie artistic director Richard Moore, the local run really is everything documentary fans have dreamed of (as long as they dream about spending a week or so holed up in a cinema, that is). And it's just the latest new film fest to reach Australian screens, too. Palace just keeps building their annual calendar of events, with the cinema chain hosting another new festival dedicated to American independent cinema this month. Hot Docs at Palace Cinemas screens Sydney's Chauvel Cinema from June 21 to July 3, Melbourne's Palace Westgarth from June 14 to 26, and Canberra's Palace Electric from June 15 to 26. Check out the full program by visiting the festival's website and Facebook page. Image: Motorkite Dreaming.
Headphones aren't your crappy, service station-bought, tinny pieces of shit anymore. They can help you get high, they can edit the sound around you, they can even respond to your own damn ear. An Australian-based startup called Nura has raised over a million bucks on Kickstarter to develop a new pair of headphones that respond to the listener's various ability to perceive sound — and they casually tailor your music to fit your inner ear perfectly. The project has just hit an unbelievable AUD$1.2 million on Kickstarter (people reeeaaally want a good set of headphones) and is headed up by a Melbourne-based team. Kyle Slater, Luke Campbell and Dragan Petrovic dreamt up the scheme before teaming up with engineer Wilson Shao. Together, they're the A-Team of futuristic cochlear science. Slater has a PhD in psychoacoustics, human machine interfaces and helped design the first bionic eye. Campbell is an MD who's spent his life studying the mechanics of hearing, performing surgeries (on, you guessed it, ears!) and has a PhD in hearing science. Dragan is an electrical engineer from Berkeley with experience in product management. What a dream squad. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXU3cZSJ2wg[/embed] So how does it work? "Some headphones sound tinny and lack beat, others have too much bass which drowns out the detail," says the Nura team on Kickstarter. "The acoustic separation of Nura's design allows for the deepest bass and clearest tones. "The over-ear cup delivers bass you can feel through your skin. The earbud prevents the bass from drowning out the detail and delivers crystal clear notes directly into your ear. Your brain combines the sensations into a fully immersive experience — you hear and you feel the music." The laundry list of achievements is probably one of the reasons their Kickstarter went off — these boys aren't playing around. But they're not the only ones getting serious (and weird) about audio quality. The future is now, so go right ahead and throw away your $2 pair of temporary headphones and prepare to hear a whole new woooooorldddd. Uh. Sorry. EAR-FREE HEADPHONES Earlier in the year, Sony unveiled their latest gadgetry: ear-free headphones. Concept N (very sci-fi name, you guys) sits around your neck and, using a series of multi-directional speakers, directs sound up towards the ears. It's a device for people who don't want to zone out completely, but still want to listen to their tunes. HEADPHONES THAT GET YOU HIGH Then, of course, there's the offering from Nervana, a startup from San Diego — a pair of headphones that gets you high. A low-power electric stimulation is synced up with whatever music you're listening to, triggering the release of dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin in the brain, which sounds like the perfect way to listen to music. The product has also been crowdfunded and isn't quite on the market yet, but testing is going well. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzpqWMM_HrY[/embed] SOUND-PERFECTING HEADPHONES Finally, there's Doppler Lab's crowdfunded Here earbuds. They're not exactly headphones, but 'sound perfectors'. The technology aims to equalise the noise of the world and perfect your experience of sound without the noise. They allow you to turn up the volume, bass and treble, mute sounds you don't want to hear (like crying babies on planes). Best bit? There's an 'Instagram your ears' function with premade filters to overlay your hearing with selective enhancements. Only in 2016.
It'd be to rude not to start Melbourne Music Week with the festival's massive opening night at Fed Square. Featuring an all-Victorian and utterly danceable lineup with the likes of Ara Koufax, Sui Zhen, ALTA and DRMNGNOW, the party is all-ages and free for all. Each year, MMW takes over a new venue for its hub. This year, it's chosen ACMI — and this is where you can head after the opening night celebrations for a killer after party. Curated by Sydney-based queer party crew Heaps Gay, the night features an all-inclusive lineup of killer bands and DJs. With accompanied visuals across two stages and open till dawn, the $45 ticket seems a pretty good deal to us.
Vivid Ideas is bringing innovative humans from all over the world to Sydney stages. Championing change-making creative voices, you can hear Troye Sivan explore beauty and fluidity, delve into the experiences of those who were raised in cults with filmmaker Sarah Steel or listen as experts discuss the ethics and potential ramifications of a future reliant on artificial intelligence and QR codes. Joining a lineup that's not lacking a lick in talent is Gretchen Carlson in conversation with Lisa Wilkinson. The prolific journalists and media personalities will dissect power (specifically the fallout when it's out of balance), toxic workplace culture and finding the courage to expose wrongdoing. As well, the pair discuss the intricacies of what's needed to make it easier for people to come forward after experiencing sexual assault. In 2016, Carlson — the highly respected and acclaimed US journalist and ex-Fox News anchor — successfully sued Fox founder and CEO Roger Ailes for sexual harassment. This win, which inspired 2019's Bombshell, saw Carlson receive an unprecedented apology and settlement. The landmark case laid the foundation for the #MeToo movement's catapult to the global consciousness, as well as take down a predator who was in a position of immense power. [caption id="attachment_813274" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Vivid Sydney 2019, Destination NSW[/caption] Bound by an NDA, Carlson has tirelessly fought to break the culture of silence and remove protections from perpetrators — working to ban NDAs, enact legislative change and encourage survivors to share their experiences of harassment (which has resulted in the most significant changes to labour laws — passed by Joe Biden in March, 2022 — in over 100 years). The trailblazer was also named in Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World (2017). With a social climate that's been immersed in the courage of those sharing their stories of trauma in the quest for justice and a safer existence — the Grace Tames, the Brittany Higgins, the Saxon Mullins — the pair will discuss the shifting media and legal landscapes both here and in the US. They will look at what still needs to change so survivors are encouraged to draw upon reserves of bravery and resilience to keep pushing forward — for the good of others, for safer communities and to upend the status quo. Sydney's Town Hall will host Gretchen Carlson and Lisa Wilkinson on Speaking Out on Sunday, May 29 at 1pm. Head to the website for details. Top image: Destination NSW
Fuzzy's national electronic-meets-hip hop festival Listen Out is back for another round and this year's lineup is a humdinger, topped by California's inimitable Anderson .Paak, with his live band The Free Nationals. He's joined by UK beatsmiths Gorgon City, big trap fiend Baauer, AV-happy producer Claptone live, Harlem Trap Lord A$AP Ferg, LA young gun Jauz, grime newcomer Stormzy, Swedish rap phenomenon Yung Lean and more. There's plenty of homegrown love on the bill this year, as always, with festival favourites Rüfüs marking their final Aussie shows of 2016, alongside the likes of Cosmo's Midnight, Ngaiire, L D R U, JOY, Sui Zhen and Willow Beats. Listen Out tours nationally to four of Australia's capitals, kicking off on September 24 and hitting Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Brisbane over two weekends. Tickets are on sale from midday on Thursday, June 23 from the Listen Out website. LISTEN OUT 2016 LINEUP: Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals A$AP Ferg Claptone Immortal Live Cosmo's Midnight Gorgon City DJ Set Baauer JAUZ JOY. L D R U Ngaiire Rüfüs Stormzy Sui Zhen DJ Set Tash Sultana Tchami Willow Beats Yung Lean LISTEN OUT 2016 DATES: MELBOURNE — Saturday, September 24 at Catani Gardens, St Kilda PERTH — Sunday, September 25 at Western Parklands, HBF Arena, Joondalup SYDNEY — Saturday, October 1 at Centennial Park BRISBANE — Sunday, October 2 at The Sporting Fields, Victoria Park All shows 1-10pm Image: Listen Out.
There's nothing better than treating your grumbling stomach with greasy cuisine after a late night of shenanigans. While a liquid diet is enough for some, for many a night on the town is not complete without tucking into something on the way home. The only criteria? Deep fried and crunchy. But where can you go after midnight without resorting to a soggy 7/11 sausage roll in desperation? Thankfully, a host of greasy do-gooders keep their doors open and deep-fryers switched on long past midnight. You'll never have to go to McDonald's again. CHILLI CHEESE FRIES AT LE BON TON A touch of class in Melbourne's late night greasies, this New Orleans-style eatery offers beautifully candlelit shelter from the night, complete with an oyster saloon, smokehouse, cocktail bar and an absinthe den. Fully licensed around the clock, the Collingwood favourite runs a limited menu until 6am — thankfully including all the deep fried snacks you desire. Try their legendary Texas-style chilli cheese fries, crisped to perfection with a very excellent cheddar dipping sauce that will definitely hit the spot. PICKLE DOG AT MASSIVE WEINERS After a 12 or a six-inch? Or perhaps you can only manage a three-inch Little Pecker? For some late night schoolboy humour, hot dog style, Massive Weiners is a crowd-pleaser — and they're open until 4am Fridays and 4.30am on Saturdays. The delicious hot dogs come with a range of extras such as sauerkraut, cheddar cheese, beef and bean chilli sauce and jalapenos. And while size isn't important, Massive Weiner does care for its non-meat inclined eaters and offers soy hot dog options as well MARGHERITA PIZZA AT CAFE ROMANTICA On the Brunswick end of Lygon Street, this late-night haven serves delicious and traditional pizzas right 'round the clock — in fact, the only time they close is between 5pm Monday and 5am Tuesday. Styled like an Italian version of an American diner, it's a family-run business that — perhaps unlike your own family — will welcome you with open arms regardless of the ungodly hour you decide to waltz in. For a token greasy meal, try one of their 27 homemade pizzas with plenty of toppings and a whole lot of stringy cheese. LAMB GIROS SOUVLAKI AT STALACTITES Some things taste better in the wee hours of the morning, and the humble souvlaki is one of the foods that transform into a magical sensation for your tastebuds when consumed past midnight. For a top melt-your-mouth souva, Stalactites is a 24/7 Greek institution that has been making a many late-night reveller happy since 1978. Expect a generous portion of Greek goodness, enriched in good ol' Vitamin G (that is, grease). PAN FRIED DUMPLINGS AND PORK BUNS AT CHINA BAR While other Chinatown restaurants sadly shut-up shop by 11pm, this bustling franchise continue to cater to your fried dumpling and pork bun needs until the after-clubbing hours of 5am. This enormous buffet-style eatery has every Chinese culinary delight to poke a chopstick at, from steaming plates of curry chicken or deep-fried dim sims. While the dumplings may not be as cheap as hidden-alley dumpling joints, they are still hot, fried and delicious. CHICKEN POPS AT BAM SAE NIGHTBIRDS With a menu section titled 'fried' you already know you can't go wrong here with your selection of oily noms. This aptly named 'Night Birds' Korean restaurant continues serving masses of night owls until 4.30am in laid-back surrounds, mixing fried treats with house-special cocktails. Chicken Pops proves a popular snack: deep fried chicken complete with a mixed salad dripping in sweet chilli and chilli mayo sauce. If a simple snack won’t cut it, the $29 all-you-can-eat buffet promises the ultimate greasy feast from spicy octopus, LA beef ribs and spicy chicken with cheese. CHARCOAL CHICKEN AT BELLEVILLE For a hot chicken hankering that no KFC outlet can ever fill, venture to Belleville, hidden upstairs in Chinatown. Cooked traditionally on a huge Brazilian-style rotisserie, this high-quality chicken will raise the bar on your bird expectations. Enjoy a quarter, half or full chook smothered with a delicious sauces in the bar and restaurant until 1am. MIXED KEBAB AT TOWN HALL KEBAB Perfectly located between the best drinking holes in Brunswick, this semi-permanent kebab stand offers a no-frills and no-nonsense approach to the delicious kebab. The one-manned hole-in-the-wall knows how to make a tasty kebab, pleasing late night stragglers with wrapped up salad and slow-cooked meats until 2am. As well as being enough to make your heart sing in delight, the obvious signage (reading 'Kebab & Coffee') is also a bonus for your tired eyes. Plus, Bordain went there. PIZZA AT LUCKY COQ After late night frivolities southside, duck into the cheap and cheerful Lucky Coq for an equally as cheap and cheerful pizza. With dim-lighting, electronic tunes and kitsch furniture, it's a pleasant venue to stop and recharge the batteries by hoeing into some greasy tucker. While the pizzas triple in price from their dirt cheap $4 price tag earlier in the evening, it's still the best place in Prahran for a vegetarian, meaty or seafood pizza right up until 2.30am. THE CLASSIC BURGER AT EMBASSY CAFE Park yourself in a plastic seat alongside cabbies, ravers and shift workers, and get your late night burger fix in this 24-hour retro-style burger joint. Praised widely for being a hangover cure, their burgers are also believed to be a hangover preventer — on par with water and Panadol. Treat yourself to the classic with the lot, topped with tomato, delectable beef patties, and rashers of bacon that are the perfect mix between sweet and salty. Images: Dollar Photo Club, Alpha via Flickr, kelami via Instagram, fatboo via Instagram.
If you think you’ve missed your chance to nab tickets to an epic New Years' music festival, think again. Jump across the Tasman and head to the unassuming vineyard city of Gisborne for three days of pumping beats and good vibes this December. Now in its 13th year, Rhythm and Vines has roped in some of the globe's best and brightest international and local artists to welcome in the first sunrise of 2016. From hip hop heavyweights to smooth electro sets, you’re guaranteed to be making at least one solid resolution after seeing this year's huge lineup. Heading up the bill on opening night, Pittsburgh-based rapper Mac Miller will be delivering tracks fresh from his latest record GO:OD AM after playing to sell-out crowds across the States earlier this year. Night two sees local rascals Sticky Fingers take the stage, along with iconic Canadian dupstep/house duo Zeds Dead. Throw in killer DJ sets by Grammy award-winning electro trio Nero and English producer Sub Focus and you'll be throwing shapes long into the night. Rounding off the festival, siblings Angus and Julia Stone will put their serenading skills to the test, before the ever-epic Pendulum kick things up a notch alongside NZ DJ Sir-Vere, plus many more legendary acts. Phew, it’s going to be a hell of a ride. If the thought of forking out the funds for an airfare is dampening your spirits, we’ve got some good news. Thanks to the crew at Air New Zealand, you and one lucky music-loving mate could be jetting off to Rhythm and Vines in A-class style. With return flights, a four-night stint at the Quality Hotel Emerald Gisborne and Vintage Club VIP access to the entire festival, you’ll be the envy of all your pals. Did we mention you’ll even score stageside access to Peking Duk’s opening night performance? Our Concrete Playground NZ team will host you on a backstage tour of the festival before getting side of stage to Peking's highly-anticipated set. Talk about a party to remember. To land a spot to this ripping NYE bash, click here to enter the Party with Peking competition. Image: Nick Gee/Paul Hoelen.
Have you ever wanted to run away and join the circus? Well now it looks like you finally can. Cirque du Soleil, the world famous circus troupe, is heading to Australia, and they're inviting all of us to audition. What could possibly go wrong? Preliminary auditions will take place in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth throughout the second week of February, with talent scouts on the lookout for artists, acrobats, sportspeople, singers, musicians and dancers, as well as "everyday Australians" who are looking to show off their "creative performance talent." We don't know about you, but that description sounds just vague enough to mean pretty much anything. Time to bust out the hula hoop people! If it all sounds a bit like an episode of Australia's Got Talent, you're actually not that far off the mark. Turns out the audition process is part of an as-of-yet unnamed reality show. A selection of talented and/or ridiculous candidates from each city will be flown down to Melbourne for a second audition on February 14. Hurrah! If you dream of being the next Philippe Petit or are just happy to make an idiot of yourself on TV, you can register for an audition in your home city at the following website. Registrations close at 5pm on Monday February 8.
Debauched banquets from Bompas and Parr, giant industrial fire organs and all the demon purging and ceremonial death dances you could want in a festival. Now in its third year, Dark Mofo continues to evolve to be darker, weirder and wilder than before. Aligned with the winter solstice and run from June 12-22, MONA’s annual June festival celebrated the Neolithic tradition over ten hedonistic days of eclectic and unpredictable art, performance, music and happenings around Hobart, concluding with the annual nude solstice swim at dawn after the longest night in Australia— yep, people actually swim nude in the bloody freezing Derwent River. Programming for Dark Mofo seems to be a deliberate descent from free-spirited, easily digestible art to uncontrolled, freakish insanity — from loveable Sydney fivesome The Preatures to Japanese eight-laptop conductor EYE. This year's citywide festival had thousands huddled ritualistically around fire bins in the waterfront arts precinct Dark Park, roasting giant marshmallows, chowing down on Pacha Mama wallaby burritos, Quiet Deeds Lamington Ale and Bruny Island oyster-garnished Bloody Marys at the Winter Feast and absorbing all the doom sludge metal, splintered electronic feedback ambience and Marina Abramovic performance art they could guzzle. We put our hands into mystery boxes at Hendrick's Gin's pop-up Parlour of Curiosities (which was wonderfully Sleep No More meets The Blair Witch Project), we made forcefields out of Anthony McCall's stunning Solid Light Works, avoided bodily injury by skipping Byron J Scullin and Supple Fox's Bass Bath and inhaled Aesop's olfactory soap-mist room — all while artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's beam of light towered over the city, pulsing with punter heartbeats. And then there's the event with a safe word (it was 'bananas'). Creative team Supple Fox created the mysterious, epic Blacklist party, a heaving, nightly end-of-the-world art rave taking over Hobart Town Hall until the wee hours. While most might want to abide by the rule 'what happens at Blacklist stays at Blacklist', we can divulge that there was more revolving pink Christmas trees made out of plastic bodies, silent drag shows, star sign-based floor huddles, melancholy poetry readings, Retrosweat-style dance demonstrations, silver balloon drops and car engine bonfires than we've seen at other, less apocalyptic parties. But the best bit about Dark Mofo? For an incredibly niche, dark and avant-garde festival that should be overwhelmingly pretentious, it's probably the most accessible and widely-attended (demographically) festival we've seen in many a day. Toddlers, nannas, teenagers, twenty-somethings, older humans; they all show up and have a grand ol' time. Maybe it's a Hobartian thing. Or maybe there's something about the end of the world that makes us lose our inhibitions and just run with it. Images: Andy Fraser. Words: Shannon Connellan.
Your everyday wine drinker probably knows popular Victorian wine regions like the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Rutherglen — but what about Beechworth? Few folks know that this part of the state has a stack of stellar wine producers, and the crew at Bridge Road Brewers is keen to change that by holding a massive one-off wine tasting at its brewery bar in Brunswick East. From 2–5pm on Saturday, November 30, vignerons from across the region will spend the afternoon pouring tastings of their own drops to curious wine lovers. Who's going to be there? You can expect to find a selection of wines from A.Rodda, Baarmutha, Castagna, Fighting Gully Road, Granjoux, Indigo Vineyard, Juliard, Little Frances, Sentiõ, Schmölzer & Brown, and Willem Kur. It's a truly stacked lineup of Beechworth winemakers, many of which don't have their own cellar door. That means this is your only chance to sample drops from a bunch of these folks. Tickets to spring Tasting in the City are going for $65 per person, and include all your tastings as well as a bunch of snacks. And if you rock up the night before, on Friday, November 29, you can join the team's Beechworth Wine Pairing Dinner — $150 for six shared dishes and six paired wines. Both of these events offer up a brilliant opportunity to explore a lesser-known Victorian wine region without leaving Melbourne.
There can literally never be too many Spanish restaurants. In fact, it's Concrete Playground's dream to see every street lined with them and for life to become a neverending string of eating tapas and drinking Spanish wine. For these and other ham-related reasons, we’re incredibly excited that Chato, a bright and authentic Spanish eatery, has just opened in Thornbury. Chato has moved into their new digs on High Street and is warming up the suburb with an authentic Spanish winter menu — mixed in with some Australian staples. Chato translates to ‘a small glass of wine’, but the dishes on offer are in no way small or stingy. The breakfast menu is a balance of basics (eggs any way with sourdough, $9.50 and toasted museli with poached fruit, $12.50) and a few Spanish inspired dishes, including torrijas (brioche dipped in vanilla and lemon milk and lightly fried, $12.50) and Flamenca (eggs cooked in a chorizo and tomato ragout and topped with serrano ham, $16.50). While traditional Spanish food is very much ham-based, Chato offers many vegetarian dishes as well as gluten-free option, so it sounds like there’s a dish here to suit everyone. The lunch menu includes a menu de dia (set menu of the day, $19.90) and anyone who’s visited Spain will understand how authentic this is — most restaurants offer a set menu to delight tourists and regulars alike. Alongside traditional paellas and empanadas, the menu also boasts a solid selection of bocadillos, which is basically a Spanish-style sandwich. We're keen to try the lomo, which consists of grilled marinated loin of pork with shallow fried bell peppers ($9.90). Bueno. Best of all, Chato is run by Darebin locals Maria and Jenny Echevarria-Lang, who source their produce from local, free-range — so you can eat with a clear conscience. But better get in quick, because we expect this place to pack out faster than you can say “Bring me all of your ham!” Chato is located at 921 High Street, Thornbury. Open Sunday to Wednesday 8am-3pm; Thursday to Sunday 8am-11pm. Call 9484 9554 for bookings. Images: Eugene Hyland.
Our modern obsession with packing into cities means that increasingly massive skyscrapers are inevitable. After all, if we don’t head upwards, well, there’s only so much land. One of the problems with skyscrapers, though, is that their behemoth shadows seriously shorten the day of their surroundings. Even a spacious, sunny city like Sydney can feel cold and dark when you’re wedged between towers (just look at the long shadow Barangaroo's casino is expected to cast). Now imagine how gloomy things can get in densely populated metropolises like London and New York — if you've visited, you'll know how gloomy things can get in the financial districts. But a London-based architecture company by the name of NBBJ has come up with a solution: the 'No Shadow Tower'. The concept involves two twisting skyscrapers, to be built side-by-side, which redirect sunlight to the area around their base — right where dreary shadows are usually found lurking. The idea was developed with London’s North Greenwich in mind, at the request of New London Architecture, and was first published in New London Quarterly. "The algorithm design for the tower is based on the law of reflection," the design team told Dezeen. "Our facade has varying angles of panels that distribute light over a certain area at multiple times during the day." The algorithm works by recording the sunlight's angle every single day for an entire year. With this information, the team can predict how light will play on the building at various points during the day, and then construct the skyscraper’s facade to reflect it accordingly. The use of individual panels allows reflection on a pane-by-pane basis; creating circles of light, rather than a single, extremely hot area. NBBJ was motivated by its passion for the public and their environment-determined happiness. "One of [our] principle concerns is public space and the ways the public use and interact with these spaces," the designers explained. "The No Shadow Tower places public space at the heart of the project, along with human interaction and the impact of skyscrapers at street level... The research that we have undertaken could be applied in many locations in the world, each time creating a different form that would relate to its specific context and solar conditions." Where do we sign up? Via Dezeen. Images: NBBJ.
Australia has been responsible for many important inventions. The black box flight recorder. The ultrasound machine. Even the electric drill. Yet one Aussie contraption towers above the rest. We’re talking, of course, about the goon bag. A simple silver sack in a durable cardboard exoskeleton, for decades this unsung alcohol container been a symbol of our fair country’s greatest attributes: innovation, inclusiveness and fiscal responsibility, as well as our overwhelming desire to get pissed as quickly as humanly possible. In celebration of this national icon, The Lord Gladstone Hotel in Chippendale, Sydney is hosting its very own goon bag festival. Boxfest: A Festival of the Goon Bag kicks off at 2pm on Sunday, July 5, and will feature top vintages from such box wine all-stars as Yalumba, Stanley and Berri Estates. There will also be food available throughout the day, including a killer selection of cheese and cabanossi plates. Classic. This being a classy affair, you’ll obviously want to pair your food and drink appropriately. For brie we recommend a nice chardonnay, while sauvignon blanc goes best with a gruyere. And of course we don't have to tell you that, to guarantee that traditional heady sensation, the goon should be consumed straight from the bag. Music will be handled by Money for Nothing DJs, who’ll make sure that you’ve got something fun to stumble around the dance floor to as the afternoon wears on. And before you assume that this whole event is just one big excuse to get sloshed, we should point out that money raised from tasting tokens throughout the day will be donated to charity. So basically the more goon you inhale, the better you are as a person. If that’s not a philosophy to live your life by, then we don’t know what is. Boxfest: A Festival of the Goon Bag kicks off at 2pm on Sunday, July 5 at the Lord Gladstone Hotel, 115 Regent Street, Chippendale. Via The Brag. Image: 8 Tracks.
Whether you're heading to the cinema with friends or curling up on the couch with your significant other, a night watching movies remains a fantastic source of entertainment, enjoyment and escapism. Sitting in the dark, switching your mind away from your regular worries and slipping into another world — if you're catching the right flick, few things can top it. Cinema-wise, 2019 has thrown up plenty of films that tick all of the above boxes — and now we're just past the halfway mark, it's time to look back. Maybe you missed one of this year's hits when it was in theatres. Perhaps it's still showing and you haven't made it yet. Or, there could be a few gems that just slipped your attention. Of course, there's always the ace movies you saw, loved and want to see again. Whichever category fits, here's 12 films from 2019 that you you need to catch up on. Head to the cinema and grab a choc top or organise your streaming queue and cook up some popcorn, as we've sorted out your viewing for the near future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoxKy3d7Wno EIGHTH GRADE What our critic said: As effective as every narrative beat, probing shot and well-deployed blast of Enya (yes, Enya) proves, writer/director Bo Burnham's savviest move is also his most straightforward. Actually casting a teenager in a movie about a teenager is much more rare than it should be, and Eighth Grade wouldn't be the success it is without Golden Globe nominee Fisher as its star. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XhsuT0xctI FREE SOLO What our critic said: As well as chronicling an awe-inspiring story, every frame of Free Solo offers a palpable, visceral reminder of life's enormous risks and immense rewards — and to the filmmakers' credit, you're all but certain to feel the impact in your constantly sweaty palms. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8qbq6Z6HYk IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK What our critic said: Black lives devastated by discrimination, young lovers braving seemingly insurmountable obstacles: both tales have played out across countless pages and screens before, although not as they do so here. There's a bewitching alchemy to the combination of James Baldwin's words and Barry Jenkins' direction — never shying away from the despairing truth of the situation, but never wallowing in inescapable bleakness either. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMCYE9hKP68 VOX LUX What our critic said: In Vox Lux, the difficulties and complexities of success slash savagely and hack furiously, with Brady Corbet writing and directing a blunt yet brilliant onslaught of a movie. As he did in The Childhood of a Leader, the actor-turned-filmmaker relentlessly charts the ascension of an influential fictional figure who owes their rise to struggle and trauma. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcKinfILGDk DESTROYER What our critic said: Conflicted cop Erin Bell could walk alongside any of noir's dogged investigators and hold her own. Stepping into the character's shoes, Nicole Kidman could do the same among any of the genre's best stars. Destroyer lives and breathes through its complicated protagonist and phenomenal lead performance, with each putting on a stunning show. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bavqDA_3vIo US What our critic said: Us is a creeper in multiple senses of the word. It's disquieting from the outset (even more so when it spends its opening credits staring at caged rabbits), but Jordan Peele knows how to let that unease fester and grow. While the 'master of suspense' label was bestowed decades ago, the comedian-turned-filmmaker is just as devastating at cultivating distress as Hitchcock or any other iconic horror or thriller director. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI9UYcEwUYA BURNING What our critic said: A ruminative mystery, a fine-tuned character study and an intricately observed examination of human relationships all at once, one of the joys of Burning is its wholesale aversion to simplicity. Here, as in reality, nothing is straightforward. Indeed, Lee Chang-dong takes life's enigmas and puzzles, thrusts them into view and forces the audience to ponder along with him. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA6hldpSTF8 AVENGERS: ENDGAME What our critic said: There's very little that's simple about this picture, marking as it does the extraordinary culmination of several dozen intricate and intertwined story arcs that extend all the way back to 2008... Where Infinity War was all bombast, Endgame offers reserve. Where Infinity War wrought intergalactic devastation and destruction, Endgame delivers intimacy and an examination of grief, loss and very private regret. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ5X75F1YJw LONG SHOT What our critic said: After a five-year stretch that's included Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde and Tully, Long Shot is the latest example of its star's chameleonic talents — a political rom-com that's as irreverent (and often inappropriate) as you'd expect of a flick that also features Seth Rogen, and genuinely heartfelt and hilarious as well. Charlize Theron, romantic-comedy standout? You'd better believe it. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BULB0aX4lA JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 — PARABELLUM What our critic said: Cinematic beauty comes in many forms, and the John Wick franchise perfects one of them. The term 'balletic' couldn't better describe the series' hypnotic action sequences, with its array of frenetic fights and carnage-dripping set pieces all meticulously choreographed like complex dance routines. In fact, when ballerinas actually pirouette across the screen in John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum, they seem bland in comparison. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZeIHrx7Oyc HIGH LIFE What our critic said: While shooting into the stratosphere to ponder what it all means has become a genre of its own, High Life proudly stands in its own space boots. Perhaps that's why both the film and Robert Pattinson seem like such a perfect fit, and why the final product both soars high and burrows deep: you won't catch either meekly treading where everyone else has before. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_0KJAzyUJc PARASITE What our critic said: Parasite proves exceptional in every single frame and detail that it flicks onto the screen... Internationally renowned and beloved as the auteur behind The Host, Snowpiercer and Okja, Bong Joon-ho has crafted a bleak, twisty blend of black tragi-comedy, pulsating thrills and socially relevant horror — a movie that's such a phenomenal example of all that cinema can and should be that you'll want to high-five the filmmaker after watching it. Read our full review.
Melbourne's biennial showcase of young and emerging artist has just unveiled its latest program. Running from May 3 to 20, the 2018 Next Wave Festival will highlight some of the coolest, most exciting and most innovative up-and-comers working across theatre, dance, video, music, sculpture and everything in between. The festival will kick off with a free opening night party at the Brunswick Mechanics Institute. The soiree is being sponsored by the Archie Rose Distilling company, so you know the booze will be good. It's one of a number of epic shindigs on the program this year, with Sezzo Snot and Makeda Zucco set to take over the Tote Hotel for a night of electronic music, sound art, performance and installation, and DJ Sista Zai Zanda headling an Afro-futuristic Mother's Day eve celebration of dance, music, poetry and storytelling. The rest of the line-up is packed with standouts. Crush Time, from Brisbane theatre artist Nathan Sibthorpe, serves up a democratic dinner where participants vote on the ingredients, while Estrogenesis, by performance collective Embittered Swish, will explore contemporary transgender realities through a mix of movement, lyricism, video and live sound art. There's also the intriguing-sounding Apokalypsis by local Greenroom Award nominees Zak Pidd and Charles Purcell, billed as "a high octane theatrical flipbook performance of 100 historical disasters in 60 minutes." If that all sounds a bit too intense, you can also check out Canine Choreography from Danielle Reynolds, an in-depth investigation into the world of freestyle dog dancing which is apparently a thing that exists. Image: Sarah Walker.
Death and vengeance are the common threads in Damián Szifron’s Wild Tales, one of the most deliriously savage black comedies to hit cinemas in years. Argentina’s nomination to the most recent Foreign Language Oscar race, the film consists of six separate vignettes, following six everyday people driven to the point of no return. The ensuing mayhem resembles the spawn of the Coen Brothers, Almodovar, Tarantino and Bunuel; a wicked tour de force as sharp as a corkscrew and every bit as twisted. Anthology films can be a risky proposition, particularly when one or more segments falls short. Thankfully, that’s not the case here. Yes, every viewer will have their favourite (personally, I loved the opener), but even the ‘weaker’ episodes are catapulted along by an almost maniacal sense of escalation. Whether it’s a wealthy couple trying to cover up their son’s indiscretions, a lowly waitress taking revenge on the man who ruined her family or just two drivers struck down by a serious case of road rage, every chapter in the film is propelled by a wonderful inevitability: eventually, everything will be thrown horribly, hysterically and often violently out of control. And believe it or not, there’s actually method to Szifron’s madness — an intelligence lurking beneath all that wonderful chaos. The cathartic pleasure we feel watching his characters rebel against what’s socially (and ethically) acceptable comes directly from our own frustrations with the everyday world. Bureaucracy, class inequality and male impotence are but a few of the film’s more pointed areas of exploration, and while we’re hesitant to suggest that the people in the film get what’s coming to them, poetic justice certainly tends to prevail. Many of the shorts also offer a thinly veiled criticism of the country’s endemic political corruption, although you certainly don’t need to live in Argentina for that to strike a chord. The script is matched by top-notch technical specs, with crisp cinematography and eye-catching production design along with some extremely memorable music choices. The cast is likewise terrific across the board, although particular praise must go to Rita Cortese as a burly cook and Erica Rivas as a seriously pissed-off bride. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTXKTj4XCs8
Madja and Nedim Rahmanovic have had us all on tenterhooks for the last nine months. In May last year they sadly announced their departure from North Melbourne's Twenty & Six and tantalised us with talk of a new venue, ambiguously named Host. It may have taken a bit longer than anticipated, but the couple's second Melbourne venture is finally up and running. Opening tonight, Wednesday, April 20 on Saxon Street, Brunswick, Host runs on a five-day schedule. You'll be able to sit down for dinner between Wednesday and Sunday, and lunch on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well. The focus — and the major point of difference between Host and Twenty & Six — is on more sophisticated nighttime service. The mode of the venue is reflected in the name — a focus on hosting, hearth and home. "The space was a bare warehouse and the brief was to create a home-like atmosphere that encapsulates the definition of what is it to be a 'host'," says Madja. This is mirrored with the menu's seasonal offerings, frequently changed to keep it fresh, and a focus on shared meals and flexible dining. This comes together for what Madja describes as "a relaxed evening service, alongside minimal intervention wines, local beers and a small cocktail and amaro list". The Brunswick space is industrial and gritty but made warm by wooden finishes, imposing staghorn ferns and intimate booth dining. And, as you would expect from the pair, the food itself is thoughtful and considered, plated up artfully with a splash of colour. Welcome to Brunswick, Host, you demure delight. Host is open now at 4 Saxon Street, Brunswick. It's open for lunch Friday to Sunday and dinner Wednesday through Sunday. For more information, visit hostdining.com.au.
Trippy Taco is quaint little Mexican eatery serving up mouth-watering tacos, burritos and quesadillas with vegan soy cheese. If you need a go-to for quick, filling, tasty vegan Mexican street food, this is it. If you'd like to sit and enjoy your feast with a Corona or two — just make sure you rock up at Trippy Taco before the crowds rush in. The no-frills cantina on Gertrude Street can only seat 45 amigos, and it can get a bit squishy. Its menu includes the Trippy's Original burrito with black beans, salad, salsa and mozzarella, the tofu asada burrito stacked with chargrilled tofu, goat's cheese and guac, and a range of tasty quesadillas including the special packed full of black beans, guac and salsa. For something more filling, give the nachos a go, while the breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs has all meals covered. Appears in: The Best Vegan Restaurants in Melbourne for 2023
Long-time creative collaborators, Virginia Martin of Melbourne fashion label búl and photographer Kate Ballis have done it again. The quintessentially Melburnian team has come together anew, this time tempting us with easy, refined style and otherworldly prints for Autumn/Winter 2017. Ballis is renowned for her ability to transport you to surreal landscapes through her dramatic lighting and moody aesthetic. So, using the photographer's striking prints of mythical Icelandic landscapes, Martin and Ballis have gifted us with a capsule collection of wearable art and travel inspo in the form of five covetable pieces. Ballis' mossy mountains sloping into hazy waters create geometric effects across a simple búl shift. Her icy glaciers evolve into subtle motifs that ripple over a jacket, top and skirt worn all together or separate. The collaboration also yields a cushion capturing búl's understated sophistication and Ballis' ethereal landscapes. As a whole, the minimalist capsule is a dreamy, subdued mix of muted hues, clean lines and pared-back style, and we're ready to whip out our wallets to shop every piece. You may just find us packing our bags to go and become one with the mystical surrounds of Kate Ballis' Iceland like some immaculately dressed ice deity. Or you know, just donning fresh threads around the office like some immaculately dressed writer who's spent her last paycheck well. The búl x Kate Ballis capsule collection drops in store and online on March 17.
Dropping in from the UK to play Groovin' the Moo, Brit singer-songwriter Charli XCX will be 'Boom Clap'ping her way through sideshows in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. In her own words, Ms XCX (AKA Charlotte Emma Aitchison) wants to give you "an hour of sweating and totally losing your mind, no matter what's going on that day or what you're worried about." Aitchison first attracted international attention in 2012, when she co-composed and performed on Icona Pop's hit 'I Love It', which played on Lena Dunham's Girls. In 2013, she released her own debut EP, True Romance, before joining forces with Iggy Azalea in 2014 on 'Fancy'. She and Azalea have since performed together all over the planet. Then, of course, along came 'Boom Clap', of The Fault in our Stars soundtrack, and the bratty 'Break The Rules'; confirming Charli XCX as a popstar in her own right. At the Corner, she'll be supported by Adelaide's rising rapper Tkay Maidza, another bright spark changing the rules of pop. Image: Mike Massaro.
Mona Foma, MONA's wild and weird summer music and arts festival, is back for 2018. And this time around, it's set to eclipse all previous incarnations, with the festival adding a program of Launceston events to its usual Hobart lineup. Further to the announcement of the MONA hotel and the move to Launceston back in July, this beefed-up presence also heralds the festival's biggest, most eclectic program to date, thanks largely to funding from the State Government. Unveiled today, the Mofo 2018 lineup is a cracker, delivering 11 days of thought-provoking art and music to Tasmania's two largest cities and celebrating creativity and personal expression in all forms. Running from January 12 to 14, the Launceston leg will see singer-songwriter Gotye join the Ondioline Orchestra to pay homage to renowned French electronic composer Jean-Jacques Perrey (January 12 and 13), as well as a dance performance by Canada's The Holy Body Tattoo, scored live by post-rockers Godspeed You! Black Emperor (also January 12 and 13). Mofo's northern run will culminate with a huge, free party on January 14. To follow, January 19 to 21 will mark Mofo's final MONA appearance for a while, so it's exiting with a bang. The museum's outdoor stage will feature performances from the likes of punk poet Moor Mother, all-female Argentinian act Fémina and a collaboration between Tassie bassist Nick Haywood and The Hobart Liberation Orchestra. Martin Blackwell will deliver a 24-hour continuous performance soundtracked by an array of global instruments, while the MONA tennis courts play host to a challenging fashion runway courtesy of SAAKA's Hunger for Gluttony. Elsewhere in Hobart, the Violent Femmes will perform with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, a one-day mini-Mofo will pull together local acts like Comrad XERO, Crypt Vapor and Phillipa Stafford, and the festival's official after-party Faux Mo will take over a huge new waterfront space at MAC2. Mona Foma 2018 will take place at venues across Launceston from January 12–14, at MONA from January 19–21 and across Hobart from January 15–22. Tickets are available here from Monday, October 16.
When your nine-to-five plays out like a well-oiled machine, it can sometimes feel like each week is a little same-same. But Melbourne is brimming with a fine bounty of things to experience and explore each and every day. So aside from casual laziness and a little lack of inspiration, there's really nothing stopping you from squeezing some adventure and spontaneity into your schedule. We've teamed up with Mazda3 to celebrate the landmark 40th anniversary of their iconic small cars, and in turn, help you celebrate the little things that bring that sense of adventure to life. Shake things up, as we give you seven different detours to take each week in Melbourne. From Monday to Sunday, enrich your everyday with one completely achievable activity that inspires you to take the scenic route as you go about your daily routine. This week, lose yourself in the swirling, vibrant world of Van Gogh, try your luck at scoring cheap tickets to The Book of Mormon and delve into a mysterious world at a secret immersive dinner. Plus, we've got your future detours sorted for the new few weeks here. All require no more effort than a tiny break from the norm — what's your excuse for not trying them all?
For many, Healesville Sanctuary is simply a school trip destination or a fun spot to take international visitors to so that they can hug a wombat. But for one weekend, the rural animal sanctuary is changing things up by hosting a massive food and wine festival. On Saturday, August 24 and Sunday, August 25, more than 20 local wineries, breweries and distilleries will take over the site's lush nature trail, each with their own pop-up cellar door. Sutherland Estate, Four Pillars, Steels Gate Wines, Zonzo Estate, De Bortoli, Hop Hen Brewing, Tokar Estate and Stag Lane Distillers are some of the drinks producers taking part this year — each offering a range of tastings. While the booze is the main attraction (as well as the Aussie animals), you'll also find plenty of food stalls along the trail. Little Yarra Creperie, The Greatest Doughman, Babaji's Kitchen and Lady Paella will cook up a bunch of sweet and savoury eats, while Healesville Sanctuary's three cafes will also be open as usual. Either nosh on these while you wander, or stop and sit by some of the bonfires and teepees dotted along the walk to rest and snack. You can also follow the sound of music to find live gigs. The entire property will only be open to Wine & Wildlife ticketholders across the two days, so be sure to plan ahead. Tickets cost $60 for average punters, $48 for zoo members, and kids go free. The ticket includes access to the sanctuary, a reusable wine glass, and free reign of the drinks tastings. As an added bonus, you'll be glad to know that money from ticket sales will help fund a dedicated team at the wildlife hospital, which treats thousands of animals every year, in addition to caring for the animals at Healesville Sanctuary.
Ever wanted to work directly with the world's most recognised performance artist? Here's your chance. Kaldor Public Art Projects are looking for project facilitators to lend a hand for their upcoming escapade, Marina Abramovic: In Residence, in which the controversial artist brings new and existing performance works to Pier 2/3 in Walsh Bay. Yep, Marina Abramovic wants you for her Sydney army. Over June 22 June to July 5 (with three full days of personal Abramovic training from June 15 - 17, alongside collaborator Lynsey Peisinger), you'll be part of the Gallery Team, present in Abramovic's installations with the artist herself, helping guests with guided interactions in the works, coordinating visitors amd supporting Abramovic to deliver one kickass exhibition all-round. Keen? Let's see if you've got the goods. According to Kaldor Projects, "Applicants should have an interest in long-durational performance art and be comfortable interacting with the public. Performance experience is not required but is welcomed. The role requires the ability maintain focus for long periods; people with long-durational practices, such as dance, meditation, sports and yoga, are encouraged to apply." You'll also need to be over 18, and experience interacting with an audience and engaging with the public is preferred. Got that CV ready? If you're interested in applying, you'll need to submit a short biography by Monday, April 13 April "detailing your artistic practice, professional experience or interests that relate to the requirements of the role" to project30@kaldorartprojects.org.au. For more info on Abramovic's Sydney project, click here. For more info on the facilitator role, click here.
Clear your midweek calendars and dust off your beanies, Melbourne — one of the bright sparks that helps us get through the city's frosty winter has made its way back onto the calendar. Queen Victoria Market's beloved Winter Night Market is heating up your hump day schedule from June 5–August 28. From 5pm every Wednesday, QVM transforms 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. As always, it's serving up a tantalising assortment of street eats each week, with a huge array of food vendors repping dishes from all corners of the world. Get excited for the likes of That's Amore's cheese wheel pasta, The Black Sheep's spit-roasted lamb, pork and chicken platters, Lui Boss' Korean fried chicken and corndogs, Casa Nata's famed Portuguese tarts and stacks more, all perfectly paired with warming sips like mulled wine, butterbeer, spiced Milo and hot gin toddies. As you're filling your belly with tasty winter fare, you'll be entertained with a rotation of live gigs, roving performers, Korean-style photo booths and open fires. Plus, the silent disco is also returning this year, because what better way to warm your cockles and work off a big serve of cacio e pepe than with 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 over 60 vendors slinging everything from jewellery and art to vinyl records, vintage fashion and books.
Those final-round, half-popped remnants of the once-brimming popcorn bag have a solid fan base it seems, with two companies (two!) now selling bags of almost-there popcorn. Washington-based company HalfPops and Minnesota-based company Pop'd Kerns have decided that fully-popped kernels are wildly overrated, now selling half-popped corn as an actual snack. Their premature little bag buddies make for quite the potentially teeth-breaking snack, selling 170-gram bags at over 2000 locations America-wide and online (not for international delivery yet, so we'll have to live with the few skerricks in our popcorn bags for now). How the companies purposely half-pop the corn isn't made entirely clear on either of their websites, so we're willing to conjure up an image of the team hiding behind unsuspecting popcorn eaters and stealing their bags when they're almost done. Hiiiiiissssss, the sweet, sweet half-popped gold! The partially-popped friends made a strong appearance at New York City's Summer Fancy Food Show, the city's first ever specialty food week. Taking over NYC's Javits Centre from June 28 to 30, the inaugural SFFS15 nabbed the title of largest specialty food trade event in North America; a leading showcase of food industry innovation. For three days, American foodies found themselves surrounded by the newest and weirdest edible developments in the game. Half-popped corn wasn't the only thing turning heads at SFFS15. Probably the most grown-up type of ice cream in the freezer, wine ice cream is the work of an upstate New York dairy called Mercer's. Don't think this is simply wine-flavoured, these creamy, creamy confections have up to five percent alcohol. Other 'fancy foods' making waves at the specialty food week included the controversial maple water, tomato butter and the retch-inducing camel milk. Like, milked from a camel. Yeesh. Via The Kitchn.
The National Gallery of Victoria has revealed what will be on its agenda at the tail-end of this year, this evening announcing its summer centrepiece in the world premiere of Between Two Worlds | Escher X Nendo. Much like the NGV's 2016's Andy Warhol | Ai Weiwei show, the blockbuster exhibition will celebrate two very different creators: Dutch artist M.C. Escher and Japanese design studio Nendo. It will be the first to unite the two, bringing them together in an assembly of immersive art and design. More than 160 different prints and drawings created by Escher during his career that ran from 1916 to 1969 will be shown, the first time the Dutch artist has had a major exhibition in Australia. Optical illusion being what he is known best for, and the images on display will be drawn from the world's largest collection of his work at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. In tandem, Nendo will create an environment to house the works, taking inspiration from Escher to manipulate geometry and space to warp perception. This'll create a fully immersive experience in which to be boggled by Escher's works. It doesn't stop there for the upcoming season, though — the NGV's spring/summer is bursting with art shaped fruit ready for you to pick.Australian artist Polly Borland will also be celebrated via a display of her works of recent times at the Ian Potter Centre. Borland is a locally born, LA-dwelling photographer notable for her photos of well-known figures like Queen Elizabeth II and Nick Cave. Gravitating lately more towards surrealism in her photography and producing disquieting and abstract images, both recent and new works of Borland's will be shown. This'll run from September 28 until February 3. Also on the lineup is an exclusive showing of British artist Julian Opie's mixed media works. To be set in the NGV's gallery and gardens, the exhibition was created specifically to fill these spaces and will incorporate sculpture, video, and art specifically for the children's gallery. Try Hito Steyeri's landmark video installation Factory of the Sun, about workers in a motion capture studio whose actions are used to create artificial sunshine, becoming a metaphor for the way digital screens use and emit light. Or take a bite out of Willian Wegman's work — a man whose Weimaraner dog became his artistic muse, William Wegman: Being Human highlights the artist's versatility across different artistic methods and mediums. And don't forget Designing Women, a 40 year highlight of the role of female designers in shaping the culture and fabric of the design world. Drawing from the NGV's permanent collection, over 50 significant works will be showcased, icons by name and affect, and united by gender. This summer's Triennial was the most visited exhibition in the NGV's 157 years, and this exhibition is sure to get similar numbers through the St Kilda Road doors. Start planning your art viewing now. Between Two Worlds | Escher X Nendo will run at NGV International, Melbourne from December 2, 2018 until April 7, 2019. For more info, visit ngv.vic.gov.au. Image: 'Day and Night', M.C. Escher, © The M.C. Escher Company, The Netherlands.
It's no secret that we Melburnians love our good food, so you can only imagine the culinary delights in store for us throughout November, as The Age plates up its annual Good Food Month. From wallet-friendly eats and drinks to illuminating degustation dinners, here's our festival hit list.
Foodies across Melbourne are counting down the days until Adam Liston (formerly of Northern Light) opens the doors to his next permanent venture, Honcho, in September. But if you're not one for waiting, you can catch Liston's cheffy magic over the next three months, at his winter-perfect pop-up, Honcho Noodle. Taking over the Bourke Street space at the foot of the Hotel Windsor, Honcho Noodle is here to warm your cockles with a taste of what's to come — namely creative noodle dishes, delicious drinking snacks and Asian-inspired cocktails. Split into 'noodles' and 'not noodles', the menu offers up clever interpretations of some Asian favourites. Think spicy Korean-style noodle soup with BBQ pork ($24), a rich spanner crab udon ($26), and flavour-packed chicken yakitori ($7). The minimal space is just as perfect for camping out over a bowl of noodles and a couple of Asahi Blacks ($10), as it is for after-work drinks by the bar, warming up with a half bottle of Aussie wine, some saké or an umeshu-infused Honcho Martini. Get those chopsticks ready, folks — this is one winter warmer that deserves to be put on high rotation. The pop-up will open from Thursday, June 2 through till the end of August, from 5-10.30pm, Tuesday through Saturday.
Batman's added one more surprise to his overstocked utility belt — free gelato. To celebrate the release of new video game Batman: Arkham Knight (the fourth and final in the Arkham series), N2 Extreme Gelato has created a trilogy of character-based flavours — all yours to inhale for free. This Wednesday, June 24 from 5pm, you'll be able to munch on DC Comics-inspired, handcrafted flavours of N2, all created using their signature style of liquid nitrogen-based 'gelatorgastronomy'. Again, it's free. FREE. And only available in N2's Sydney and Melbourne stores. Only one per customer y'greedy guts. There's 'The Batmobile' (burnt chocolate gelato representing ‘burnt rubber tyres’, crème brûlée ‘shattered glass’ shards, smoked chocolate ‘engine oil’ syringe and cookie chunk ‘asphalt’): Our personal favourite, 'The Scarecrow' (straw-infused gelato (!), cornflake crunch pieces, three syringes filled with citrus ‘fear toxin’ bitters): 'The Riddler (matcha gelato, green tea, ‘bewildered’ choc top, ‘confused’ ganache, feuilletines ‘puzzled bits’, topped with ‘?’ waffle discs): Munging down on Batman-inspired gelato isn't all we're celebrating here. This dark night of free N2 coincides with today's Australia-wide PlayStation 4/Xbox One/PC release of Batman: Arkham Knight, the Arkham series finale, where Batman faces off against the formidable Scarecrow and his merry band of supervillains (we're talking Penguin, Two-Face, Harley Quinn and The Riddler). If you played Arkham Asylum, City or Origins, you know you're down for some fly-across-room-to-hit-dude-in-face-you-weren't-even-aiming-at action and all the beautifully dark graphics you could want. N2 Extreme Gelato's Batman-inspired creations will be available from 5pm in the following stores on Wednesday, June 24: SYDNEY Newtown: 184 King Street Newtown CBD: 43/1 Dixon St, Sydney MELBOURNE Fitzroy: 329 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy CBD: 18 Sutherland St, Melbourne One free gelato is available to each customer (they'll see your moustache is fake, guys) and only while stocks last. Get. There. Early.
Throw us a bit of sunshine and we'll take just about any inside activity to the great outdoors. Open-air moviegoing, however, is a clear favourite. Each year we inevitably see our favourite outdoor cinemas return for the summer and a couple of newbies always pop up too. From films overlooking the CBD to nestled among the sands at St Kilda Beach, these cinemas showcase the best new releases and cult favourites under the stars. So pack a snack basket of wine and cheese (this is mandatory), some Aeroguard and get your butt on a picnic rug for the evening. It's a perfect date idea or a great way to spend an evening with mates.
The 400 Gradi crew is back at it again this year, throwing a massive party for World Pizza Day on Sunday, February 9. Rock up to the original Lygon Street location from 2–5pm, and you'll be treated to free-flowing spritzes and bellinis paired with unlimited pizzas by the slice for an easy $59 per person. That's a damn good price for three hours of bottomless food and booze. There'll also be tunes from Mark Pellegrini and stacks of giveaways — including pizza masterclass tickets, gift vouchers and free access to more bottomless food and drink sessions. For, from March 1, 400 Gradi will be running a new unlimited pizza and spritz deal every Saturday night from 8–10pm. It will be much like the World Pizza Day Party offering — with guests getting two hours of bottomless pizza by the slice and free-flowing spritzes for $59 per person. It's a pretty epic way to start a big Saturday night out in the northern burbs.
Aussie craft beer lovers might be feeling it in their livers this week. They've just gone through two weeks of craft beer glory around the country, starting with from Melbourne's Good Beer Week and the Australian International Beer Awards and culminating in the Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular, the epic two-day beer festival held in both Melbourne and Sydney. A record number of 27,600 people attended the events, which showcased over 400 types of local craft beers and ciders. That's a lot of tasting notes. And since it all started to get a bit hazy by the end, we've put together a list of the best, weirdest and most controversial new Australian beers we discovered at GABS 2016. Let's just hope these make it to market. THE BEST BACCHUS BREWING CO. (QLD) Festival beer: Peanut Brittle Gose The Queensland brewery was a clear favourite of the festival, taking home the GABS People's Choice Award for Best Festival Beer in both Melbourne and Sydney. The Gose style originated in 14th century Germany, but their version is not sour and salty like the classic — it packs a peanut butter and caramel toffee punch. This creative and delicious combo made for a true standout. WAYWARD BREWING CO. (NSW) Festival beer: Funky Pineapple Hand Grenade Brett IPA Fans were calling this drop the second best beer of GABS — and for good reason. The beer bursts with tropical pineapple, mango, peach and citrus, making it a great homage to the warmer weather. This is not to say it's a simple one to make, though. Fermenting with 100 percent funky Brettanomyces yeast, the beer has a distinct flavour which is balanced by a silky finish. HOP NATION BREWING CO. (VIC) Festival beer: The Kalash Russian imperial stout Despite the brewery's name, Hop Nation didn't win us over with a hoppy beer this year. Instead, they went the Russian imperial route, and The Kalash is just so damn good. Aged in oak puncheons for five months, the beer has bitter chocolate, coffee and toffee notes that are perfect for this winter chill. The smooth, roasted finish might fool your tastebuds, but the 10 percent alcohol value catches up fast. AKASHA BREWING CO. (NSW) Festival beer: Iago's Revenge black IPA Since opening in Sydney last year, Akasha always seems to be on Australian craft beer watch lists. This dark brew is Akasha's hoppiest yet, while still holding to its roasted malt backbone. Rested on American oak and whisky barrels, the IPA gives off citrus, pine and resin aroma — and at a massive 9.8 percent, this complex beer will just as readily knock you on your ass as well as your nose. THE WEIRDEST COLONIAL BREWING COMPANY (WA) Festival beer: Project #21 - The Reuben Sandwich rye IPA A collaboration with fellow West Australians West Winds Gin, Colonial Brewing refers to this one as "an iconic sandwich in one hand, a martini in the other". It's a complex — and weird — concept for a beer. Brewed using gin botanicals, the beer is spicy, fruity and a bit tart. And while we didn't get much of the Reuben flavour off it, it sure did make us hungry for one. BATCH BREWING COMPANY (NSW) Festival beer: Marrickville Pork Roll Described as a "spice, herb or vegetable beer", Batch went all-out with the ingredients on this one — coriander, chilli, cucumbers and carrots all went into the brew, as did pork broth and a citrusy hop called Sorachi Ace. Fashioned after a bánh mí thit in Sydney's inner west, there's no denying the pork roll flavours. But, nonetheless, it's still a really tasty, well made beer. PRICKLY MOSES (VIC) Festival beer: Faulty Towers basil IPA Better known for their ace ciders, Prickly Moses gave patrons an unexpected dose of herb this year. There is no doubt that fresh basil went into the brew, as it hits you both on the nose and palate — a bi-product of it being used both in the mash and during fermentation. Hoppy, bold and herbal, this beer really works and is one of our favourite wackier brews. THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL 7 CENT BREWERY (VIC) Festival beer: Belly Button Beer If you're hoping this isn't what it sounds like, stop reading here. The beer was fermented using yeast found hiding out in the brewer's belly button — for how long we do not know (nor do we want to know). Belly Button Beer received global curiosity and disgust well before its appearance at GABS, and most couldn't help but give it a try. It's a weird one — the kind of funk orange zest and coriander seeds can not disguise. DOCTOR'S ORDERS BREWING (NSW) Festival beer: Mutagenic Cephalopod Gose The name alone means you simply must try this one, and the ingredients are a truly bizarre combination. Infused with seaweed, smoked mushroom salt, chipotle oil and — wait for it — squid ink, we're not sure how the brewers dreamt this one up. The beer is tart and also tinged green in colour — making it a seaweed green, squid ink beer. Despite the controversy, many still thoroughly enjoyed the brew and the novelty behind it. SHENANIGANS BREWING (NSW) Festival beer: Sabotage oatmeal stout Nothing polarises quite like a chilli beer — folks either love them or absolutely hate them. In Shenanigans' case, the divide was evenly split. While we personally loved it, a lot of patrons had a hard time with the chilli, either claiming it was way too spicy or that they couldn't taste it at all. Brewed with organic coconut sugar, cacao and coffee beans, and then aged on bourbon oak, the controversial chocolate jolokia ghost chilli was unforgivable to some and praised by others. HONOURABLE MENTIONS We have to give a big shout out to Bucket Boys and Stockade Brewing Co., whose beers absolutely killed it. We're expecting to see big things from both of these brewers in 2016. Want to know more? Check out the complete list of the Festival Beers
The National Gallery of Victoria's 2019 program continues to pull in the big guns, with an ever-growing lineup of internationally acclaimed artists — including Keith Haring and Jean-Michael Basquiat — heading to the gallery. And from Friday, September 20, that list will include Brooklyn-based Kaws (aka Brian Donnelly), who's bringing his instantly recognisable pop-culture sculptures to Aus. Kaws is best known for his large-scale sculptures, vivid murals and distinctive, pop culture-inspired characters. You're probably familiar with his reinterpretations of iconic figures like Mickey Mouse, Snoopy and The Smurfs, all reworked with those signature Xs over the eyes. While it's a stable of work that's laced with a healthy dose of humour, this NGV exhibition, entitled Kaws: Companionship in the Age of Loneliness, focuses on the rest of those underlying emotions. You'll get a glimpse at how KAWS celebrates generosity and explores our need for companionship, offering up an antidote to the world's current 'Age of Loneliness'. Off the back of solo exhibitions at the Yuz Museum Shanghai and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis in 2017, as well as the Hong Kong Contemporary Art Foundation earlier this year, Kaws' NGV presentation has plenty of never-before-seen goodies. It features a sprawling collection of his pop culture reworkings, human-size figures and collaborative pieces, while a newly commissioned monumental work will be the artist's largest bronze sculpture to date: Gone (2019), a seven-metre-tall bronze sculpture standing imposingly in the NGV's Federation Court. The main event is be backed by Kaws: Playtime – an interactive, touch-focused installation centred around Kaws' bright blue BFF character, complete with soft sculptures and a hands-on multimedia game. While it's created for 'children', we'll sure you'll find a few kidults exploring it, too. Top images: Kaws, Gone (2019); Kaws, What Party (2019); Kaws, Kawsbob (2007); and installation views of Kaws: Companionship in the Age of Loneliness at the NGV International. All photos by Tom Ross.
It's been a long, long wait, but it's finally time for Dinner. After months of build-up (punctuated by bouts of anticipatory drooling by overexcited local foodies), Heston Blumenthal's first permanent Australian restaurant — and his first outside the UK — is due to start service next week. Here's all the information we have so far. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal is located on the third floor of Crown Towers Hotel in Melbourne and will be open for dinner seven days a week along with lunch on Fridays and Saturdays. Like its two-Michelin-starred London equivalent, the 120-seat restaurant will serve contemporary food inspired by 500 years worth of historical British gastronomy. Standout dishes will include Black Angus rib eye with mushroom ketchup, and 'rice and flesh' (a starter consisting of saffron, calf tail and red wine). Head chef Ashley Palmer-Watts will make use of Australian ingredients and will also introduce certainly historic local dishes including a Heston-style take on the lamington cake. Tony Conigliaro will tend the bar, serving bespoke cocktails that reference the history between Britain and Australia. The interior of the restaurant, meanwhile, has been designed by local company Bates Smart (responsible for The Fat Duck Melbourne), who have incorporated a mixture of elements including wood, leather and iron. Guests will enter via a 20-metre dark wood corridor before being greeted by the dining room, decorated by custom-made porcelain jelly moulds, sculptures commissioned by Australian artist David Bromley and a mechanical moving art piece by UK artist Robert Higgs. An open kitchen will allow diners to observe their food being prepared, with chefs making use of the latest culinary technology along with pulley-operated spit roasts. Those wanting to get even closer to the action can book a spot at the six person chef's table, located inside the kitchen itself. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal begins service on Tuesday, October 20, with online reservations opening the same day. For more information, visit www.dinnerbyheston.com.au. Images: Bates Smart, Ashley Palmer Watts.
"The things you own end up owning you." With that one memorable line, Fight Club's Tyler Durden became an unexpected forebear to the current trend for minimalism. But we've got news for you, declutterers and ascetics: even with all that absence of stuff in your life, the experts can still tell a lot about you as a person. Meet Sam Gosling, professor of psychology at the University of Texas and self-styled 'snoopologist' (good word, you have to hand it to him). He's the author of Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You, a book that explores how we project our personality in the spaces we create, and also how the spaces we inhabit influence our inner lives. He literally spends his life poking around bedrooms, offices, wardrobes, cars — anything you think is private is Gosling's lab. Ahead of his talk at Wired for Wonder in Sydney, we spoke with Sam about interior decorators, capitalism and our definitely awesome book collections. Can you give me a quick rundown of what you’ll be discussing at Wired for Wonder? I’ll be discussing how people affect space and how spaces affect people — both deliberately and inadvertently. There are things we can do — obvious things — to try and signal something to someone, but there are also things we’re less self-aware of. It’s these things that I pick up on and use to reveal things about the person who lives or works or socialises in that space. Based on what you see in someone’s house, can you tell what someone’s political leaning might be? We did some research in the US a few years ago which produced some surprising results. I think most people think that people interested in the arts tend to be closer to the left. But we found art and books about art have no relation to political orientation. However, we did find that someone who has sports-related decor in their space is likely to be more conservative, politically speaking. That said, it’s not so much what someone's interested in, as the number of things they're interested in. On average, if you have a narrow scope of interests, you’re more likely to be politically conservative. What do you think about professionally designed interiors? They can work ... but only if the client is genuinely able to convey what it is that they really want. Most people are actually pretty clueless about what will make them happy. When it comes to interior design people see things in magazines or on Pinterest and go, “There! That’s exactly what I want!” But the problem with this kind of wish-list making is that it’s impersonal. I work with the architect Christopher Travis – he’s amazing, a real visionary. He doesn’t ask his clients to describe their dream house. He starts by asking things like, “Tell me about a time in your life when you felt protected, loved. Now tell me about the physical space you were in.” And people will say things like, “My best memories are weekends away at my grandparents’ house when I was a kid learning to ride my bike on the gravel side road.” He’ll then somehow incorporate gravel into the design. Then again, trying to replicate an interior someone found on Pinterest might be important to them because they want their space to be on trend. So Christopher will ask other questions like, “What is it you want the space to say to your friends? Who do you want to be to these people?” I saw In the Basement at Sydney Film Festival. It’s an Austrian documentary about what some people get up to in their basements. There was an older, childless woman who kept a collection of dolls in shoes boxes. They were those dolls that looked incredibly life-like. She nursed them like real babies. I felt sad that these people had to hide away their passions, that their home wasn’t really a place they could express themselves. The thing is, the home has both public and private spaces. People put very different things in the living room than in their bedroom or the guest bedroom. That’s obvious enough. People may hide things away in a basement because those things are shameful — they may not be ashamed, but they think others will judge them. The other reason is because most of us want a space of our own even if we live with other people. The garden shed is at the back of the garden because it’s full of clutter, but it’s also out of the way because people go there to disconnect physically and psychically from the people they live with. Book collections can be revealing. Of course, what you own doesn’t always represent what you’ve actually read. I'm always a bit suspect when I see a whole shelf of those orange-covered, new-release Penguin Classics. Right. Apparently there are more Ramones T-shirts in circulation than there are Ramones records! That is, if you signal that you like The Ramones people will think you like a fleet of other stuff and have certain values. Our music and reading materials are increasingly being digitised. What are literary types turning to to flaunt their cultural cred? It might be harder for literary types to flaunt their hard copy libraries, but for researchers, the switch to soft copies of everything makes it much easier to gather data. I don’t just look at homes and workplaces; I’m very interested in how people display themselves on social media, too. Of course, on social media you can signal to your community what you’ve bought or what you’re listening to. In an article about the rise of minimalist living in this month’s New Philosopher, Oliver Burkeman writes, “Minimalism might be little more than the purging phase of consumer capitalism’s cycle of binge and purge.” Do you think it’s a genuine revolt or just a trend? Trend. Sam Gosling is the author of Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You. He will be speaking at Wired for Wonder, which is on in Sydney on August 26–27 at the NIDA Parade Theatre and Melbourne on August 28 at Central Pier Shed 14. Top image: Dollar Photo Club.
He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake. Christmas horror movies aren't a widespread genre, with holidaying folks ditching titles like 2010's Rare Exports (in which a homicidal Santa Claus was unearthed in an archaeological dig) and 1974's Black Christmas (college dorm slasher, set at Christmas) and preferring to pick up Home Alone for the hundredth time or anything starring Tim Allen. But this year, Christmas movies take a turn for the hilariously terrifying. Krampus is your unlikely new Christmas nightmare, directed by Michael Dougherty (who gained a cult following for his 2007 holiday horror film Trick 'r Treat). Set for release December 3, the film stars Adam Scott, Toni Collette and David Koechner as your regular family holed up, snowed in and arguing over shitty turkey at Christmas time. But when they lose their Christmas spirit, a scary-as-shit Christmas spirit, Krampus, decides to pay the family a visit — the ancient hoofed, horned antithesis to jolly ol' Saint Nick. Go on, give it a watch. You'd better watch out, you'd better not cry.
Power chords may soon be going the way of floppy discs and VHS, with Intel unveiling a new wireless phone charger that can be built right into your wooden desk. The concept, which was revealed by the company at the Computex conference in Taipei, could mark a big step in wireless charging, with Intel hoping to have the tech ready for consumers within the next 12 months. Looks like IKEA has a wireless charging competitor. Intel's new concept charges your devices through magnetic resonance, according to Gizmodo. This is opposed to previous examples of wireless charging technology which pass a current directly through a surface, creating the unwanted side effect of heating up other objects that happen to be placed near the charging plate. Although the technology currently only generates enough power to charge a phone, Intel is working on advancements that would allow you to charge other devices such as tablets and laptop computers all at the same time. Wireless phone charging has been around on certain devices for some time now (and IKEA's new range of wireless charging furniture caused quite the buzz), but has previously been hindered by rival companies being unwilling to agree on a universal standard — meaning that you need different chargers for each of your devices. Once this problem is solved the technology could easily become ubiquitous, with the potential for public charging stations in airports, hotels, and cafes, as well as basically anywhere else where you’re likely to find a horizontal surface. Via Gizmodo. Images: Dollar Photo Club and AFR.
Grab a cup of coffee and your best highlighter pen because the program for Melbourne Fringe is a doozy this year. From circus and dance to mind-popping installations and everything in-between, this year's festival consists of more than 450 events, brought to life by literally thousands of passionate artists. For punters, it's both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, there's certainly no shortage of things to see. On the other, it's basically impossible to get to them all. Inspired by the theme 'step into the light', this year's program is bookended by a pair of significant works from acclaimed audio-visual artist Robin Fox. Lighting up the city from September 15 to 18, Sky Light is a city-scale artwork that will connect iconic Melbourne skyscrapers with powerful lasers, invisible from some angles and breathtaking from others. Similarly, from September 29 until October 2, White Beam will pierce the sky above Prahran's Grattan Gardens with a focused beam of shimmering white light. But that's just the tip of a very impressive iceberg. As one of the biggest and most eclectic events on the city's cultural calendar, the Fringe lineup caters to every conceivable taste. There'll be eye-popping cabaret shows from the likes of James Welsby and Yana Alana, alongside a music lineup that covers everything from jazz to orchestral to disco. Comedy is, as per usual, a major focus of the festival, with Sammy J, Bev Kilick and rising star Laura Davis among those slated to perform. The latter, in particular, comes highly recommended. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the Fringe Furniture exhibition. Showcasing the work of exceptional Melbourne designers, find it at the historic Abbotsford Convent throughout the duration of the fest. And, of course, you'll want to spend plenty of time at the Festival Club in North Melbourne, where you can mingle with like-minded patrons and catch a different show every night. Overwhelmed? Check out our top ten picks of the festival program.
Melbourne's rockstars will go head to head with the bigwigs of community radio, at the 22nd annual Reclink Community Cup. In a dance as old as time — otherwise known as the mid '90s — muso team the Rockdogs will take on the combined forces of PBS, Triple R, SYN FM, 3RPP and 3MBS, aka the Megahertz, in a highly entertaining and heckleworthy game of amateur charity football with a year's worth of bragging rights on the line. Played once again at Elsternwick Park, proceeds from this Sunday's match will be donated to Reclink Australia and used to improve the lives of people suffering from disability, homelessness, substance abuse and economic hardship through participation in sport and the arts. Coming off a thrilling 27-point win last year, the Megahertz will be looking to keep the cup, while the Rockdogs try to snatch it back. The match will be bookended by a series of live performances by the likes of Regurgitator, Ross Wilson, Total Giovanni, The Sugarcanes and Loose Tooth, all of whose musical credentials are a lot more impressive than their footballing ones. Hey, if you want to see professional athletes, go to the MCG.
More films from Italy have won the best foreign-language Oscar than from any other country. The European nation took out the first-ever award in the category back in 1947, and last won with 2013's The Great Beauty, racking up 14 gold trophies to date in total. That's quite the feat to brag about — and if you're wondering what sets Italian efforts apart, that's where the Lavazza Italian Film Festival comes in. In fact, this year's lineup even features one of the country's more recent victors, with the World War II-set Life Is Beautiful screening on closing night. That's the end of the fest, though. Beforehand, the six-week touring event will showcase the greatest of the latest in Italian cinema. Marking its 18th year with 28 flicks, it includes everything from holiday envy-inducing comedies to playful takes on fate to straight-from-Cannes crime dramas and these: our five must-see films from the 2017 program. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJzZuoXZlR4 INDIVISIBLE When we say that 18-year-old sisters Daisy and Viola are joined at the hip, we mean that literally. The conjoined twin protagonists of Indivisible, there's nothing one does that the other doesn't witness, whether they're singing at weddings, being used as a donation incentive at their local church, or accosted by fans who want to touch their flesh. Then a Swiss doctor promises the impossible, and they start to contemplate time apart. Director Edoardo De Angelis turns the scenario into a sensitive and involving drama, helped by excellent performances from real-life, non-attached twins Angela and Marianna Fontana. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii8L9umLsY0 COFFEE Most people don't just drink coffee — they can't get by without it. With that in mind, imagine how many caffeinated brews must've been consumed during the making of the movie that takes its name from the liquid substance. Our guess: plenty. Inspired by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's pre-Birdman and The Revenant Oscar-winner Babel, the film jumps into three loosely connected tales about folks connected to the awakening beverage, charting the exploits of a barista, a pawnbroker with an antique coffee urn and the daughter of a coffee farmer. You probably don't need us to tell you that you'll want to take a cuppa into the session with you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGAIzwrRDLw SEA DREAMING GIRLS Life goals time: when you're a grandparent, here's hoping that you're as dynamic and carefree as the subjects of this documentary. Sea Dreaming Girls travels to the mountainous Italian village of Daone, where a group of nannas have been getting together for 20 years. To celebrate their big occasion, they plan a trip to the sea — a first for many of them. Their determination to chase their dreams is the stuff that documentarians' own fantasies must be made of, making for an engaging, heartwarming, amusing and inspiring film with plenty of heart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxTk4uDyb-k I WAS A DREAMER When an ex-con returns to his Roman home, he has noble aims in mind. Like many a person given a second chance, I Was a Dreamer's protagonist is eager to improve his family's lives, even if things don't always turn out as planned. What might sound like a routine, been-there-seen-that scenario seethes with realism, not only thanks to Italy's hefty experience in the genre — the country's neo-realist credentials go all the way back to the 1930s — but courtesy of its star. Fresh face Mirko Frezza plays the lead role and informs the feature's narrative, which is loosely based on his own life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oDCkUjGin8 EMMA Couldn't make it to the Venice Film Festival, which just finished up on September 10? Us neither. Thanks to Emma, however, you won't have long to wait for one of the fest's titles. Featuring Italian star Valeria Golino, the romance tells of a recently-divorced blind woman's new relationship with a womanising ad exec, turning their exploits into a thoughtful drama. It comes to Australia just after its local release — and for long-time European cinema fans, it's also the latest flick from Bread and Tulips' director Silvio Soldini, which was the Italian film to see back in the '00s. The 2017 Italian Film Festival tours Australia between September 12 and October 25, screening at Sydney's Palace Norton Street, Palace Verona and Chauvel Cinemas from September 12 to October 8; Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Kino Cinemas and The Astor Theatre from September 14 to October 8; and Brisbane's Palace Barracks and Palace Centro from September 20 to October 8. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
There's a brand new restaurant in South Melbourne called Meatworks. And yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. The latest venture from hospitality bigwig Lindsay Jones-Evans, the 100-seat eatery boasts a steampunk-inspired design, and promises to be something of a carnivore's cornucopia. We're talking fish, fowl and red meat recipes smoked, braised and roasted. You're welcome. Chef Travis Watson will man the Meatworks kitchen, and has created a menu inspired by both Eastern and Western cuisines. Mains include crusty meat pies, pork belly rolls, smoked duck pancakes and Asian noodles topped with slow-cooked braised beef, lamb, pork or chicken. Despite what you may think, they do also offer some vegetarian dishes — although given the likelihood of a vegetarian visiting a restaurant named Meatworks, we do have to wonder why they even bothered. The dessert options aren't exactly what we'd call healthy either, although they are admittedly less meaty. Choose from smoked custard, rice pudding, Turkish delight, Persian nut slices and a selection of freshly baked fruit pies and tarts. Located just a few minutes' walk from the South Melbourne Market, Meatworks can be found inside what was once a panel beating garage warehouse. Jones-Evans, who is best known for co-founding Sydney eateries Jones the Grocer and The Victoria Room, renovated the space by hand over the past 15 months, and also built the kitchen's 450kg wood smoker. Meatworks is located at 28-30 Ross Street, South Melbourne. They're currently open for lunch Monday through Friday and will be slowly expanding their hours over the next six months. For more information, check them out on Facebook. Image credit: Brook James
It goes without saying, Melbourne's characteristically buzzing cultural ecosystem has thrived this year, with the city's most innovative, forward-thinking residents taking bold risks in their field. More inventive, forward-thinking and experimental than ever, Melbourne's event producers have found new ways to celebrate city life, reinvigorating dwindling or hidden spaces, taking the idea of 'immersive' happenings to another level, and taking us on wild adventures in our own home. At Concrete Playground we encourage exploration and showcase innovation in our city every day, so we thought it fitting to reward those most talented whippersnappers pushing Melbourne to be a better, braver city. And so, these six new events, opened in 2016, have been nominated for Best New Event in Concrete Playground's Best of 2016 Awards. Vote for your favourite.
And now, the end is near. And so we face the final curtain... My, what a ride it's been. 22 films, more than a dozen TV series, 80-odd main characters, $4 billion spent and close to $20 billion made. But as Tony Stark, the man whose original Iron Man film kicked this whole crazy thing off, says: "part of the journey is the end". In Avengers: Endgame, we're given an end worthy of that extraordinary journey. In the simplest sense, Endgame is a sequel to 2018's Infinity War, and the 22nd film in the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe. And yet, there's very little that's simple about this picture, marking as it does the extraordinary culmination of several dozen intricate and intertwined story arcs that extend all the way back to 2008. It's also, if you'll forgive the pun, a stark counterpoint in both style and content to Infinity War, presenting very much like an out-and-out drama instead of the traditional comic book spectacle. Where Infinity War was all bombast, Endgame offers reserve. Where Infinity War wrought intergalactic devastation and destruction, Endgame delivers intimacy and an examination of grief, loss and very private regret. It's comfortably the Marvel film in which the least happens, yet it never for one moment feels dull or lags — even with its 3 hour run time. Despite Disney's best efforts, spoilers are abounding online, so in the interests of preserving secrecy for those who've managed to silo themselves away from revelations, we'll keep any plot discussion to a minimum. The shock of Infinity War's conclusion, in which 50 per cent of all living things in the universe were snapped into dust by Thanos (Josh Brolin), looms large over those left behind. Survivor guilt affects everyone, most notably the remaining superheroes burdened with the additional feelings of failure, blame and empty vengeance. In one of the film's best scenes, Captain America (Chris Evans) sits in an AA-style support group, telling those in attendance it's up to them to move on, rebuild and make something of earth again. It's a beautiful speech and entirely true, but the hollowness behind Cap's eyes betrays his own failure to practice what he preaches. So too the rest of the Avengers. Thanks to the trailers, it's safe to say Ant Man (the ever-appealing Paul Rudd) plays a pivotol role in kick-starting Endgame's plan to rectify the devastation of Thanos's genocide, employing what he playfully terms "a time heist". Directors Anthony and Joe Russo and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely gleefully unpack some of the persistent myths of that particular device, ripping apart the plotholes of iconic chrono-cinema stories like Back to the Future and The Terminator. In Endgame, there's some impressive backtracking through the MCU's own history, which doubles as the launch pad for most of the film's lighter moments (a discussion about Cap's butt being chief amongst them). The humour, though, doesn't always land, and the main offender in Endgame, we're sad to say, is Chris Hemsworth's Thor. He's taken the failure to prevent Thanos' snap particularly badly, but save for a solid sight gag early on, Hemsworth's performance feels at odds with everything else in the film. Only when he abandons the attempted comedy does he again sizzle on screen, be it in one of the rare moments of action or in a tender moment with a key character from his past. And there are a lot of those, with Endgame drawing its cast list from the entire MCU catalogue. Most appearances are fleeting, but rather than feel like mere fan service, they serve to reinforce the scale of the franchise's achievement. With each new face we're reminded of another moment within another film from somewhere in our own past; an opportunity to engage in some time-travelling of our own as we revisit the experience of watching these films throughout the last decade. When the inevitable culmination arrives at the film's conclusion, it's so much more than a roll call. It's at once a reunion, a rectification, a resurgence and a cathartic, tearful farewell. Yes, tearful. There are deaths here, and having spent so long in the company of these characters, the emotional resonance of their departures isn't easily absorbed. Technically, the upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home is pegged as the official end to Phase 3 of the MCU, but emotionally there's no question Endgame lives up to its name. When the dust finally (and literally) settles, the payoff is thoroughly earned and the emotions are heartfelt and raw. But goodbye doesn't necessarily mean gone here, and in certain cases a character's departure simply means their baton is passed on to others. A few of these are shown; others, merely hinted at. Phase 4 will mark a significant reset for Marvel, and with the recent acquisition of 20th Century Fox, the path now lies open for drawing in the X-Men franchise to the growing MCU roster. According to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, however, it'll be a while before we see the likes of Magneto and Professor X alongside Captain America. Til then, Marvel's challenge will be to build, develop and deliver the same level of complexity and pathos into its next generation of heroes as with those we've just farewelled. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA6hldpSTF8
Kween Yonce is about to tower over Melbourne. A skyscraper inspired by Beyonce’s fierce aesthetics in the 'Ghost' video clip is set to be built near Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station. Although 'Beyonce' is not yet a recognised religion (give it time), the 76-storey tower will pay homage to the mother of us all by mimicking her monochromatic twists and turns in 'Ghost'. The 13012 Premier Tower will house retail space and hotel rooms as well as apartments and creates those curves with an innovative vertical cantilever system designed to make Beyonce fans weep (and effectively redistribute mass and stabilise the building but whatever). The tower has been designed by the architectural firm Elenberg Fraser, who have a monopoly on the chic apartment market; they're responsible for 42 percent of the apartments under construction in Melbourne right now and we're stoked they're Beyonce fans too (can we please have a 'Crazy In Love' apartment block next?). It may just be a marketing strategy but if so, boy do they have our number. We would love to live inside Beyonce. And we can even discern some graceful and svelte curves in the initial renderings of the 13012 Premier Tower. It’s a case of art mimicking life and who better to mimic than the Kween herself. Bow down bitches. Via The Guardian. Images: Elenberg Fraser.
If you've been struggling to live in the teenies because you're musically and spiritually stuck in the noughties, we have some news that's going to bring you bolting straight into the present. Ministry of Sound are embarking on a super-niche tour. From mid-November, they'll be paying visits to Australia's capital cities to perform, get this, their greatest clubbing moments from The Annual 2001-2004. And that'll be all, folks. Leading the lineup will be OGs John Course and Mark Dynamix, who, between them, have placed millions of CDs in club-loving hands and ears over the past couple of decades. They're the mighty duo behind Ministry of Sound's annual compilations, on which you probably first heard Roger Sanchez, Basement Jaxx, Tim Deluxe, Cassius and Groove Armada. To each gig, Course and Dynamix will be inviting a bunch of cracking support artists. Sydneysiders will be treated to an extra-special tribute to early noughties break beat at a Clubber's Guide to Breaks Room. You can count on appearances by the UK's Plump DJs, as well as by homegrown breaks guru Kid Kenobi. MINISTRY OF SOUND 2001-2004 REUNION TOUR November 18 — The Prince, Melbourne December 16 — The Metro, Sydney December 20 — HQ, Adelaide January 13 — Discovery, Darwin January 15 — Matisse Beach Club, Perth January 21 — The Met, Brisbane Tickets are over here. In the meantime, to get yourself in the mood, have a listen to this dedicated Reunion Tour play list on Spotify.
Wizards of drinking age have a new spot to drown their sorrows about You Know Who — there's now a Harry Potter-themed bar in Toronto. Named The Lockhart, after Hogwarts' cheesy fraudster of a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, the bar is full of super niche HP references and enough wizardy bits and bobs to make JK Rowling ponder legal action. With less actual magic than The Leaky Cauldron or the Three Broomsticks, The Lockhart is run by two self-described Hufflepuffs (lol), Paris Xerx and Matt Rocks. Of course, it's not the first HP-themed bar in the world, but we're glad to see one more. The cocktail menu, while it's missing butterbeer (for now, they're coming) or Madam Rosmerta's famous mead, is full of themed potions like the Shacklebolt, Befuddlement Brew and Ludo's Debt. There's also a cocktail on the menu which you can have for free if you can figure out the seriously niche HP ref. Dare to try the potions & elixirs on the cocktail menu at Harry Potter themed @thelockhartto? #newrestaurants #toronto #harrypotter A photo posted by Toronto.com (@torontodotcom) on Sep 9, 2015 at 2:26pm PDT The food menu hasn't a Harry Potter reference at all. No Bertie Bott's? No Cauldron Cakes? No self-propelling custard pie? This is bit of an opportunity lost here. Design-wise, the bar is truly subtle, looking more like a regular casual, cocktail bar than a Disneyland-like novelty bar. The Lockhart, instead, is full of obscure references for serious fans. You can find the Deathly Hallows sign hidden in the bar, a little apothecary, and there's a big neon sign glowing with the famously terrible last line, "All was well." Ugh. So if you're flying to Toronto, apparating or using the floo network, pop in to The Lockhart. Just be wary of cloaked strangers happy to part with dragon eggs in poker. hey it's wednesday A photo posted by robyn hoja (@rohojahoja) on Sep 9, 2015 at 5:06pm PDT Serving our full menu this evening. Specialty popcorn tonight is a sweet and savory, lightly buttered popcorn with Cadbury chocolate drizzle. Yummmmay. A photo posted by The Lockhart Bar (@thelockhartto) on Sep 10, 2015 at 1:21pm PDT Via The AV Club.
Melbourne likes movies. Melbourne likes rooftop bars. Little wonder then that the Rivoli Cinema in Camberwell is now serving cocktails at a slightly higher altitude. Now open on the roof of Hawthorn East's iconic cinema, nineteenforty is a garden-inspired rooftop bar that offers panoramic views of the surrounding suburbs. Named for the year that the now-iconic picture palace first began operations, the east side's newest watering hole sounds like an ideal date spot, with drinks and a movie all rolled into one. Designed by Hot Black, the rooftop bar's look is meant to complement the cinema's art deco trappings, with timber cladding, striped umbrellas, potted plants and festoon lighting. Food-wise they'll offer a selection of bar snacks including wedges, veggie spring rolls, and cheese and dip platters, along with pizzas and gourmet popcorn options like salted caramel, white raspberry, maple bacon cheese and pecan pie. As for drinks, moviegoers can pick between an array of wines, beers and ciders, or sample cocktails like the Athena (apricot brandy, cloudy apple and lime) and the South of the River (Star of Bombay, St Germain Elderflower, apple, lime and mint). "We've always been enamoured by the history of the cinema," said Rivoli site manager James Zwack. "The rooftop bar seems like the perfect way to invite guests to enjoy the space as much as we do." The Rivoli isn't the only cinema to look to the sky in recent times, with the recently opened Lido on nearby Glenferrie Road offering rooftop screenings throughout summer. Find nineteenforty on the top of Rivoli Cinema, 200 Camberwell Rd, Hawthorn East. Open from 5.30pm weekdays and from 2pm on weekends, subject to weather.
