Funlab (Holey Moley, Hijinx Hotel and Strike Bowling) has a thing for competitive socialising, now operating over 50 game bars across Australia. And one of its most popular sites — Holey Moley on Little Bourke Street — is undergoing a huge expansion. Come Friday, October 11, the Funlab crew will unveil the new-look mini golf space, which has been decked out with new automated scoring and live leaderboards, bonus points scoring games, and a heap of other updated technologies. The main Caddyshack bar is also being expanded to accommodate guests visiting the new downstairs venue Holey Moley Funhouse. Here, putters will be invited to put down their clubs and participate in nine different challenge games — similar to those seen at the team's OTT Hijinx Hotel. These will include a ball pit, throwing challenges, an egg and spoon race full of obstacles, quick-fire memory games, and putt putt pong (we're not entirely sure what this is). Like the downstairs mini gold bar, these games can all be played with a drink in hand — or at least the drinks can be put down for a few moments while you compete with your mates at each different gaming area. Holey Moley Funhouse will also similarly embrace nostalgic 80s and 90s vibes but feel more like a carnival than a mini-golf course. "Holey Moley Funhouse combines two of our guests' favourite experiences; Hijinx Hotel challenge rooms and the competitive and nostalgic fun of Holey Moley. We think we've not only created the latest and greatest new Funlab concept, but also Melbourne's most playful new bar!", shares Funlab CEO Michael Schreiber. Holey Moley Funhouse will open on Friday, October 11, and can be found at 590 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. For more information, you can visit the venue's website.
If you avoid glass observation decks atop high structures like the plague, then you might want to look away. Those cash-grabbing, genius high rise developers have taken our apparent insatiable desire to stand on a floor of reinforced glass at great heights to the next level and turned the standing attraction into a sliding one. Yep, a see-through glass slide has just opened on top of Los Angeles' highest skyscraper. Terrifying. The slide — aptly named Skyslide — is part of the iconic U.S. Bank Tower's new Skyspace development, which opened on Saturday, June 25. Skyspace has turned the tower's 70th floor into an impressive open-air observation deck (the highest of its kind in California), and the slide is just an extra addition for people who feel that merely looking at a view of Downtown LA from 1000 feet is not enough. That said, the slide is relatively short at about 14 metres — it only travels the length of one floor, from the 70th to the 69th. So it's a bit of a short-lived ride. But if you're scared of heights, you can at least take comfort in the fact that it'll be over before you know it. Well, we assume there's nothing quite like moving at high speed in a glass tube on the side of a building to truly appreciate the view. Even if it is only for 3.5 seconds.
Summer is almost here for another year, and that means that festival season is almost here as well. We all know that the latter always comes in two parts, however. Before we spend our sunny days and balmy nights dancing in crowds, there's the anticipation phase — that time when it seems like every fest in the country is announcing plans and lineups to get us all excited. After Wollongong's Yours and Owls, new touring fest Summer Camp, Sydney's NYE in the Park and Melbourne's Beyond the City all dropped their latest details in recent weeks, it's now For the Love's turn. The waterfront music festival will hit up the Gold Coast, Wollongong, Melbourne and Perth in February and March 2022, with Dom Dolla, Crooked Colours and Mallrat leading the lineup. Running Touch, Allday, Boo Seeka, George Maple, Telenova and Ebony Boadu are also on the bill, and the folks at Untitled Group — the same minds behind Beyond the Valley, Pitch Music & Arts and Ability Fest — are still running the show. The Gold Coast's Doug Jennings Park, Wollongong's Stuart Park, Catani Gardens in Melbourne and Perth's McCallum Park are set to be transformed into blissful dance destinations — and punters will also have the opportunity to kick back in style in one of For The Love's VIP lounges, presented by Aussie streetwear label Nana Judy. If it all sounds a bit familiar, that's because a number of acts on the bill were due to play For the Love this year, only for 2021's events to get pushed back to 2022. But that chaos has meant that a Wollongong festival has now joined the tour, which is obviously great news for New South Wales residents. If an evening spent cutting shapes by the water sounds like a much-needed addition to your calendar, you can now register for presale tickets until 4pm AEDT on Tuesday, November 23. Presale tickets go on sale from 6pm AEDT hat same day, with general public tickets up for grabs from 1pm AEDT on Wednesday, November 24. FOR THE LOVE 2022 AUSTRALIAN DATES: Saturday, February 19 — Doug Jennings Park, Gold Coast Saturday, February 26 — Stuart Park, Wollongong Saturday, March 5 — Catani Gardens, Melbourne Sunday, March 6 — McCallum Park, Perth FOR THE LOVE 2022 LINEUP: Dom Dolla Crooked Colours Mallrat Allday Running Touch Boo Seeka George Maple Telenova Ebony Boadu For The Love 2021 tours the country in February and March 2022. Head to the festival's website to register for presale.
If you're fond of a certain 1996 sports comedy that features Adam Sandler (Spaceman) taking to the green, then this'll be magic: the full sneak peek at Happy Gilmore's long-awaited sequel. Netflix has been teasing the film for months, but the streaming platform has saved the longest look at the movie yet for just under two months out from Happy Gilmore 2's Friday, July 25, 2025 arrival. As Virginia Venit's (Julie Bowen, Hysteria!) told the feature's namesake in an earlier teaser trailer, "we're not done with golf". Almost three decades after first getting tap, tap, tapping as a hockey player with an anger problem who makes the jump to a different sport — and after Happy Gilmore became one of the best-known comedies of the 90s, as well as one of Sandler's best-known films — its star is back chasing more glory with a club in his hand. In the initial flick, Happy won the Tour Championship in 1996 in an effort to make enough money to save his grandmother's house. Since then, he's repeated the trophy-claiming feat several times over, and now has a bust of his head to honour five-time winners to show for. It's been years since he has played the sport, though, and he's a little intimidated by today's golfers — but soon he's back in the swing again, albeit with a few missteps, to help rustle up some cash to put his daughter through ballet school. Alongside Sandler and Bowen, Ben Stiller (Nutcrackers) and Christopher McDonald (Hacks) return from the original Happy Gilmore. Among those joining them in the cast: Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (Cassandro) aka Bad Bunny; Sander's daughters Sadie (You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah) and Sunny (Kinda Pregnant); Travis Kelce; Blake Clark (a regular Sandler collaborator, as seen in The Waterboy, Little Nicky, Mr Deeds, 50 First Dates, Click, Grown Ups and more); and Margaret Qualley (The Substance). Then there's the lineup of IRL professional golfers, such as John Daly, Rory McIlroy, Paige Spiranac, Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Will Zalatoris and Bryson DeChambeau. All part of trailers so far, too: a new happy place, unexpected reunions, broken clubs, more than a few rounds of advice encouraging Gilmore to get back to the sport, shanking shots, Happy's temper, breaking in his caddy, getting everyone talking and, unsurprisingly, a heap of nods to the first film. Just as with the original, Sandler co-wrote Happy Gilmore 2 with Tim Herlihy (who has also penned or co-penned Billy Madison, The Wedding Singer, The Waterboy and eight other Sandler flicks through to Hubie Halloween), but Kyle Newacheck (Murder Mystery) steps into the director's chair instead of the initial film's Dennis Dugan (Grown Ups 2). Check out the full trailer for Happy Gilmore 2 below: Happy Gilmore 2 will stream via Netflix from Friday, July 25, 2025. Images Cr. Scott Yamano/Netflix.
Throwing shapes on the dance floor is one thing, but how about really thrilling that inner tween of yours with a pair of skates, a roller rink and an afternoon of disco? Come 2018 you'll have the chance to do all of that, with The Collingwood Underground Roller Disco returning for its latest instalment. Once again setting up shop in a carpark beneath the suburb's landmark high-rise flats — and kicking off at 3pm on January 27 — it's set to be a family-friendly affair, with a lineup of much-loved Melbourne DJs and performers setting the beat for punters of all ages. Expect a mix of boogie, disco, and house beats as you go for a roll for the entry price of $10. You can take your own lucky skates or hire some on the day, and there'll be plenty of eats and drinks on offer to help fuel those freestyle moves. Start practicing now and grab tickets at the door.
They call it Tina — The Tina Turner Musical, oh Tina — The Tina Turner Musical — and it's finally coming to Australia. After premiering in London back in 2018, this stage ode to the music icon that's had Aussies dancing to 'Nutbush City Limits' for decades is making its way Down Under, locking in its first local stint in Sydney from May 2023. No, it isn't taking to the stage in a church house, gin house, school house or outhouse — or on highway number 19, either. But Tina — The Tina Turner Musical will obviously have Theatre Royal Sydney enjoying Turner's greatest hits in one massive show. The list of musical numbers includes 'Nutbush City Limits', naturally, as well as everything from 'River Deep, Mountain High' and 'Proud Mary' through to 'Private Dancer' and 'What's Love Got to Do with It?'. Tina — The Tina Turner Musical makes its trip Down Under courtesy of TEG DAINTY, Stage Entertainment and Tali Pelman, in association with Tina Turner herself. Announcing the news, the singer said that "Australia has always shared abundant love with me, going back to my early concerts in the late 70s through the uplifting partnership with the National Rugby League. It is very special for me that we will be reunited." "The joy, passion and message of resilience in my musical is so important now as ever. Thank you from the bottom my heart for welcoming me with open arms once again," Turner continued. The singer mightn't have mentioned her appearance in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, but she is indeed part of the beloved Mad Max franchise, too. Exactly what date in May the musical will open hasn't been revealed as yet, but it heads our way after also playing Hamburg, on Broadway, and in Utrecht and Madrid — and it'll tour North America from September. Penned by Tony Award-nominee and Pulitzer Prize-winner Katori Hall, plus Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, and directed by fellow Tony-nominee Phyllida Lloyd, Tina — The Tina Turner Musical clearly has quite the story to tell. The show steps through Turner's life and fame, including growing up in Nutbush, Tennessee, the hard work that led to her career, all of those aforementioned hits, her 12 Grammy Awards, her volatile time with Ike Turner and her huge solo success. If you're a fan, Turner herself summed it up — yes, it's simply the best. There's no word yet as to whether Tina — The Tina Turner Musical will head to other Australian cities, but cross your fingers while you're doing the Nutbush, obviously. Tina — The Tina Turner Musical will open its Australian-premiere season at Theatre Royal Sydney from May 2023, with the exact launch date still to be announced. To join the ticket waitlist, head to the musical's website. Images: Manuel Harlan.
The heritage shops of Camberwell and its surrounding areas might make it seem like you're stepping into the past, but hidden among the businesses that have stood the test of time are a selection of shops that showcase the emerging modern side of things. While there are still plenty of places to pick up some venerable antiques, nowadays you'll also come across a wealth of small businesses that offer the latest in fashion, cycling goods and homewares that'll add some modern flair to your home. With a wonderful array of independent stores making up the hotspots of Maling and Burke roads, we've come together with American Express to bring you a selection of local traders that makes it abundantly clear why you should always strive to shop small. These 10 businesses — which will all accept your American Express Card — demonstrate exactly why Camberwell remains such an alluring part of town.
You can glean much about an artist by the way that they commit their own likeness to paper. You can discover plenty about someone through their possessions, too. Art lovers are accustomed to exploring what made Frida Kahlo tick through her self-portraits, and they do indeed feature at Australia's latest exhibition dedicated to the icon. Her personal belongings are as much in the spotlight, however, at Aussie-exclusive showcase Frida Kahlo: In Her Own Image at the Bendigo Art Gallery. Announced in 2024, open at the regional Victorian venue since Saturday, March 15, 2025 and on display until Sunday, July 13, this tribute to the Mexican painter sees how she bared her soul in her work, especially in pieces where she stares back at audiences — but it also dives into a treasure trove of items belonging to Kahlo as well. Garments that she wore, her favourite cosmetics, hand-painted medical corsets that she donned following spinal surgeries: they're all on display, all direct from the Museo Frida Kahlo in Mexico. Many of the artworks and items featured have never been seen in Australia before. In fact, some were sealed for 50 years in her family home when Diego Rivera ensured that the site would become a museum after Kahlo passed away in 1954, and that her most-personal objects were stored in the bathrooms away from public eyes. It isn't just paintings, plus items such as clothes and makeup that've made the trip to Bendigo, but also mementoes, sketches and photographs. As a result, a visit to this exhibition will get you peering at traditional Mexican garments, including a headdress from the Oaxaca region — and Revlon cosmetics, such as lipstick, nail polish and an eyebrow pencil. Among the medical corsets, one featuring a broken Tuscan column to represent her spine is a highlight. From the art pieces included, Appearances Can Be Deceiving, a self-portrait drawing that provides a view through her clothing to her corset x-ray style, is another. 1940's Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird is also one of the works displaying in Australia for the first time ever — and add 1951's Still Life with Parrot and Fruit to the same list. "It is such an honour to have the opportunity to work with the Museo Frida Kahlo to tell the story of one of the world's most mythologised artists. This remarkable collection rarely travels outside Mexico, and has never before been seen in Australia," said Bendigo Art Gallery Director Jessica Bridgfoot. "Kahlo's much-loved home La Casa Azul, now the Museo Frida Kahlo, was the embodiment of her art, philosophies, and design influences," Bridgfoot continued. Australia keeps heroing Frida Kahlo: In Her Own Image's subject at institutions around the country, with this exhibition following the Art Gallery of South Australia's 150-work Frida & Diego: Love & Revolution showcase of Mexican modernism in 2023, and also Sydney Festival's multi-sensory Frida Kahlo: Life of an Icon the same year. Frida Kahlo: In Her Own Image displays at Bendigo Art Gallery, 42 View Street, Bendigo until Sunday, July 13, 2025. Head to the gallery's website for further details. Images: Bendigo Art Gallery.
When the weather starts to get warmer, we want to make the most of the sunshine, springtime air and budding blooms. We ditch the heavy reds that saw us through winter in favour of lighter, more effervescent tipples. And the classic G&T — or any variation of it — is an Aussie go-to this time of year. Whether you're sipping one on a rooftop, at a park picnic or kicking back with one in hand in a leafy beer garden, gin is synonymous with spring. Luckily, Hendrick's Gin has just released its limited-edition Midsummer Solstice gin. To celebrate, we're giving away a one-of-a-kind gin package so you can impress your mates by making your own G&Ts (or any gin-based drink that pleases you) at home. If you're the lucky winner, you'll get your hands on three bottles of unique, top-notch gins — for zero dollars. You'll be shaking and stirring your next cocktails with Hendrick's Original gin made with 11 botanicals and infused with rose and cucumber; the deeply floral, limited-edition Midsummer Solstice; and the limited-edition Orbium gin, which is instilled with additional extracts of quinine, wormwood and lotus blossom and is only available at select bars — so it's a bit of a steal. The prize also includes beautiful glassware so you can serve up the perfect G&T at home. If you're keen to get your mitts on this one-of-a-kind deal — which obviously you are — enter your details below to be in the running. [competition]744484[/competition]
After throwing open the doors to its new development in Brisbane in 2018 and announcing it'll be laying foundations in Sydney as well, the next destination on the horizon for luxe hotel chain W Hotel will be Melbourne. W Melbourne is slated to open in December 2020 on Collins Street in the middle of Melbourne's shopping heartland. Following Brisbane's ten-gallon baths and Sydney's flashy pool deck overlooking the harbour, the Melbourne digs look to be no less indulgent. W Melbourne will encompass 294 rooms and 29 suites, including an 'Extreme Wow Suite', which has its own 40-square-metre balcony with views of the Yarra, a jukebox and cocktail bar. Designed by New York-based Shop Architects, global design firm Woods Bagot and interior designers Hachem, W Melbourne will also house a 14th-floor spa, gym and a heated indoor pool with a gold-adorned roof, as well as a poolside bar and DJ decks. And, for those needing function space, W will have more of it than you can physically fill (under current COVID-19 restrictions, at least) — a 830-square metre space for conferences, meetings or holding lush balls. [caption id="attachment_673553" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Collins Arch[/caption] On the food and drinks front, you'll have four in-house venues to choose from. The 30-seat Warabi will be your go-to for Japanese fine dining, while Lollo will be run by a "renowned local chef" — we'll let you know exactly who that is when it's announced. Curious bar promises an "all-night experience" like "falling down a rabbit hole" and Culprit will flip from a cafe during the day to a wine bar at night. Functioning, too, as the bottom 20-storeys of a towering new precinct called Collins Arch, W Melbourne will sit on Flinders Lane. The $1.3 billion new precinct will be comprised of two towers of commercial, residential and retail spaces, joined at the top by a dramatic sky bridge. With international travel looking like it'll be off the cards for Australians for a little while longer, the opening of the dramatic W Hotel may be a good excuse to plan a trip to Melbourne or staycation when the hotel opens. W Melbourne is slated to open on Flinders Lane in December 2020.
It may be set down an industrial backstreet behind a graffitied roller door, but This Little Piggy’s could not be farther from the looks-trumps-heart, minimalist cafe stereotype. Once you've finished ogling the epic mural of Twiggy out front, wander in and meet Sam Mrishahi, the sole operator of this hidden Balaclava gem. The Persian-born barista and artist is fast becoming the glue of William Street. When he arrived in the neighbourhood seven months ago, he noticed that not many people in the street knew each other — something he was keen to change. Sam starts each day delivering trays of coffee to local businesses on his skateboard whilst the mechanic across the street watches over the shop. Unlike most cafes in the area, Little Piggy's attracts a mostly local crowd. Sam is on a first name and chinwag basis with the majority of his customers. "I started this place not with the mind set of having customers, but having friends, and making friends," he says. "People say hello to one another now!" The space doesn't have a kitchen, which would be disappointing if Sam didn't spend his weekends driving around the suburbs in search of new treats to stock his ever-changing food cabinet. Lately he's been going to Oasis bakery on North Road for Turkish sweets and Glick's for muffins, croissants and bagels. Though there are a few stools around the bar, and some seats along the mural outside, this hole-in-the-wall is best for those after a takeaway coffee, and a focaccia for the other hand. The 'little piggy' behind the name, Sam is always experimenting with flavours. He understands that there is an art to frothing different kinds of milk — coconut, almond and soy all get a look in — and has each down pat. And just as he knows how to froth his milk, he knows how to make a brew. It's strong with a bit of a fruity taste to it, and just a hint of chocolate — a specialty blend he developed with a Brunswick-based roaster. A cappuccino man, Sam takes his chocolate powders seriously. He orders five different flavours — classic, dark, hazelnut, white and mint — from luxury car company Lamborghini, and puts each to good use. He puts hazelnut on top of his almond milk cappuccinos, and mixes all bar mint into his Oink Oink Special, which he describes as "a chocolate fountain in a cup". If you're looking for somewhere in Balaclava that's a little set back, but still very close to the main drag of Carlisle Street and Balaclava station, wander down to This Little Piggy's. And be sure to keep your eye on William Street in the next few months — Sam and his friends at Red Light Studio are creating a street-long outdoor gallery, one full-wall mural at a time.
The Murray River flows right through the heart of Tocumwal, and 24 riverside beaches within close proximity to town ensure you can make the most of every sunny day. With this stretch of Australia's longest river lined with shady red gums and native bushland, there's a quiet patch of shoreline with your name on it. Finley Beach sits within Tocumwal Regional Park, and is the perfect spot for swimming, kayaking and camping. Nearby, there's both Tocumwal Beach and Apex Beach, which are both stellar options too. Image: Emily Godfrey, Visit Victoria
These days, scrolling through miles of other people's holiday snaps is as much a part of planning that overseas jaunt as actually booking the flights. And the team at Lonely Planet have just made the whole research thing way easier thanks to their newly launched travel app, Trips. The interactive mobile platform lets users both publish their own content and perv on everyone else's, providing a simple way to discover and share travel experiences, all in the one spot. Similar to Instagram, Trips lets you upload content directly from your phone's photo library, and even bundle pics and videos together to craft stories — bringing to life your Machu Picchu adventures or that pub crawl you took through San Francisco. Creating a profile on the app allows you to follow other users, like their content and save your favourite stories, so you can keep returning to load up on inspo for your next adventure. Users can search by location or theme to discover others' trips or explore top recommendations, as curated by Lonely Planet's own team of writers and editors. Venturing into the world of apps seems a logical step for the digitally savvy travel media company, which launched a travel website long before it was cool. "We understand what the modern traveler wants and have delivered an interactive digital platform that offers an effortless, mobile-first way to document, share and discover remarkable experiences," explained Lonely Planet CEO, Daniel Houghton. Trips is currently available for free on iOS and is set to launch on Android later this year.
When Julia Ducournau's first film hit cinemas back in 2016, it garnered plenty of headlines. When reports start circulating about people passing out during your movie, that tends to happen. Following a vegetarian veterinary student who starts hungering for something much meatier when she heads to college, Raw definitely isn't for the easily queasy. It's also one of the best movies of the past decade, with the French filmmaker debuting with a film that's intense in multiple ways, and also surprisingly relatable. With her second feature, Ducournau is going to earn even more attention. Titane premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and, as announced on Sunday, July 18, it has just nabbed the prestigious event's coveted Palme d'Or. That's an exceptional feat for any director, but it's historic in this case. The movie's win marks only the second time ever that a female filmmaker has won the fest's top prize, and the first time a woman has ever earned the gong solo. Jane Campion is the only other female filmmaker to receive the Palme d'Or, back in 1993 for The Piano — and when she won, she shared it in a tie with Farewell My Concubine's Chen Kaige. The highly valued prize was first introduced back in 1955, which means that a long list of men have taken it home over the past 66 years. Ducournau's film was named 2021's best flick of the fest by a jury chaired by filmmaker Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman), and also featuring fellow directors Mati Diop (Atlantics), Jessica Hausner (Little Joe) and Kleber Mendonça Filho (Bacurau); actor and filmmaker Mélanie Laurent (Oxygen); actors Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Deuce), Tahar Rahim (The Serpent) and Song Kang-ho (Parasite); and singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer. Lee was so excited to announce the winner, he let it slip at the beginning of the ceremony — before the night's other gongs were announced. Like Raw, Titane doesn't hold back with its concept. The official festival synopsis describes it as a film that sees a father reunited with the son who has been missing for ten years following a series of unexplained crimes— but that's really the most simplistic description possible. Starring Vincent Lindon and Agathe Rousselle, it also sees the latter play a character with quite the car fetish, and morphs into Cronenbergian body horror territory from there. Ducournau's Cannes win marks the second time a female director has made history this year, after Chloé Zhao became the first woman of colour and second woman ever to win the Best Director Oscar for Nomadland back in April. At Cannes, a heap of other movies picked up shiny trophies, too — with the Grand Prix shared by Asghar Farhadi's A Hero and Juho Kuosmanen's Compartment Nº6, the Jury Prize split between Apichatpong Weerasethakul's English-language debut Memoria and Nadav Lapid's Ahed's Knee, and Best Director going to Leos Carax for his Adam Driver-starring musical Annette. The Best Actress prize was awarded to Renate Reinsve for The Worst Person in the World, while Caleb Landry Jones won Best Actor for his titular role in Australian drama Nitram. Check out the trailer for Titane below: Titane doesn't currently have a release date Down Under. We'll update you when one is announced. Top image: Carole Bethuel.
There's nothing quite like getting spirited away by a Hayao Miyazaki movie. Studio Ghibli isn't short on enchanting on-screen wonders hailing from a range of filmmakers, but the Japanese animation house's best-known co-founder truly does make films like no one else. Since 2013, however, fans have had a Miyazaki-shaped gap in their lives, ever since the director's last feature The Wind Rises reached screens. In fact, the movie maestro even announced his retirement, but thankfully changed his mind quickly. Since news that director wasn't farewelling filmmaking came to light, no new Miyazaki-directed features have hit screens as yet — but that's finally changing in 2023. After gifting the world a short trailer for the now-open Studio Ghibli theme park, the filmmaker will release his latest full-length effort midyear in Japan. Fingers crossed that it arrives Down Under around the same time. That film? How Do You Live, which has been in the works ever since it was announced that Miyazaki was returning from his short-lived retirement. Few details have been unveiled since, but Ghibli has just locked in that July 14 Japanese release date, and dropped a poster. The new feature film from director Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli has been announced! HOW DO YOU LIVE (tentative title) opens in theaters in Japan on July 14, 2023. https://t.co/fHnLM6epTS — Studio Ghibli (@GhibliUSA) December 13, 2022 As reported by Variety, How Do You Live is believed to be based on a YA book from 1937 by Genzaburo Yoshino, and to focus on a 15-year-old boy. Ghibli films are always about journeys of some sort, and this one is expected to hone in on its central teen's efforts to understand the meaning of life, and cope with poverty, via advice from his uncle in a journal. How Do You Live will mark Ghibli's fifth film since Miyazaki's last feature, following Isao Takahata's The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, page-to-screen treat When Marnie Was There, gorgeous French co-production The Red Turtle and the CGI-animated Earwig and the Witch. おはようございます。 pic.twitter.com/ayRkppbmT1 — スタジオジブリ STUDIO GHIBLI (@JP_GHIBLI) December 12, 2022 The movie gods are clearly shining upon 2023, and every film lover's must-watch list now has a couple of spectacular entries for the new year — with My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle icon Miyazaki's new flick set to drop around the same time as Wes Anderson's latest Asteroid City. Like that film, it's easy to predict that How Do You Live might premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May ahead of its Japanese release — and ideally hit the midyear film festival circuit Down Under (aka the Sydney Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival and New Zealand International Film Festival). There's no trailer for How Do You Live yet, but you can get excited by revisiting the trailer for Miyazaki's The Wind Rises: How Do You Live will release in Japan on July 14, 2023. The film doesn't yet have a release date Down Under — we'll update you when one is announced. Top image: How Do You Live poster, Studio Ghibli.
The inimitable terrain of Julio Torres' mind. Japan from centuries ago. Italy in black and white. Brisbane in the 80s. Another multiverse. Another wasteland, too. These are some of the places that 2024's best new television shows across its first six months have taken viewers — be it with laughs, heart, thrills, scheming, bloodshed, ghouls or multiple Joel Edgertons. No one can say that there's been nothing that's new and good to watch between January–June, then. In today's streaming age, no one can make that claim anyway at any time, because there's always something joining a platform somewhere. So if you don't already have your own list of 2024 highlights, you must've been avoiding the small screen. Don't worry — we're here with 15 recommendations. Do you feel like slinking into a spectacular spy series that's also about a relationship, and puts a Brangelina movie to shame? That's also among our cream-of-the-crop TV picks for 2024's first half. So is the based-on-a-true-story Netflix surprise that got everyone talking — and that no one will forget after they've seen it. Here's the full list, ready for you to binge your way through now or help fill the rest of the year's couch time, whichever suits you. Fantasmas With Fantasmas, creator, writer, director and star Julio Torres welcomes viewers into a world that couldn't have been conjured up by anyone else but the former Saturday Night Live scribe, who then became the co-guiding force behind Los Espookys and filmmaker responsible for Problemista. Torres also leaves his audience grateful that they exist in this particular world, where HBO has given him the means and support to make a comedy series so singular, so clearly the work of a visionary and so gloriously surreal. Fantasmas has no peers beyond Torres' work, other than the patron saint of spilling the contents of your mind and heart onto the screen with zero willingness to compromise or hold back: David Lynch. That said, even that comparison — and the utmost of praise that comes with it — can't prepare viewers for a show where clear crayons are one idea whipped up by the on-screen Julio, another sees Steve Buscemi (Curb Your Enthusiasm) playing the letter Q as an avant-garde outsider, Santa Claus is taken to court by elves (including SNL's Bowen Yang), and series-within-a-series MELF riffs on 80s and 90s hit sitcom ALF but starring Paul Dano (Spaceman) and featuring quite the twist on its alien-adopting premise. As the sets appear like exactly sets but with a DIY spin, star-studded cameos stack up, and absurdist vignettes pop in and out to flesh out Julio's mindscape as much as the futuristic realm imagined by the IRL Torres, there is an overarching narrative at the core of Fantasmas. The series' take on Julio trades in concepts, plus in being unflinchingly himself, but doing anything is impossible without a Proof of Existence ID card in this dystopia. He's on a quest to secure one, which isn't straightforward. In the process, he's also searching for a tiny gold oyster earring, and pondering whether to upload his consciousness and jettison his body. By his side: robot companion Bibo (Joe Rumrill, The Calling) and agent Vanesja (Martine Gutierrez, returning from Los Espookys and Problemista), who is really just a performance artist playing an agent. As phantasmagorical as everything that the show flings at the screen can get, which is very, it also tears into relatable issues such as societal status, class clashes, housing, capitalism's many woes and inequities, and the treatment of immigrants. As purposefully eager as it is to show its crafting and creativity, too, it does so to stress the fact that it's being made by people chasing a dream rather than corporations bowing to an algorithm. Fantasmas streams via Binge. Read our full review. Shōgun Casting Hiroyuki Sanada (John Wick: Chapter 4), Cosmo Jarvis (Persuasion) and Anna Sawai (Monarch: Legacy of Monsters) as its three leads is one of Shōgun's masterstrokes. The new ten-part adaptation of James Clavell's 1975 novel — following a first version in 1980 that featured Japanese icon and frequent Akira Kurosawa collaborator Toshiro Mifune — makes plenty of other excellent moves, but this is still pivotal. Disney+'s richly detailed samurai series knows how to thrust its viewers into a deeply textured world from the outset, making having three complex performances at its centre an essential anchoring tactic. Sanada plays Lord Yoshii Toranaga, who is among the political candidates vying to take control of the country. Jarvis is John Blackthorne, a British sailor on a Dutch ship that has run aground in a place that its crew isn't sure is real until they get there. And Sawai is Toda Mariko, a Japanese noblewoman who is also tasked with translating. Each character's tale encompasses much more than those descriptions, of course, and the portrayals that bring them to the screen make that plain from the moment they're each first seen. As Game of Thrones and Succession both were, famously so, Shōgun is another drama that's all about fighting for supremacy. Like just the former, too, it's another sweeping epic series as well. Although it's impossible not to see those links, knowing that both battling over who'll seize power and stepping into sprawling worlds are among pop culture's favourite things right now (and for some time) doesn't make Shōgun any less impressive. The scale is grand, and yet it doesn't skimp on intimacy, either. The minutiae is meticulous, demanding that attention is paid to everything at all times. Gore is no stranger from the get-go. Opening in the 17th century, the series finds Japan in crisis mode, Toranaga facing enemies and Blackthorne among the first Englishmen that've made it to the nation — much to the alarm of Japan's sole European inhabitants from Portugal. Getting drawn in, including by the performances, is instantaneous. Shōgun proves powerful and engrossing immediately, and lavish and precisely made as well, with creators Justin Marks (Top Gun: Maverick) and Rachel Kondo (on her first TV credit) doing a spectacular job of bringing it to streaming queues. Shōgun streams via Disney+. Read our full review. Ripley Boasting The Night Of's Steven Zaillian as its sole writer and director — joining a list of credits that includes penning Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York and The Irishman, and also winning an Oscar for Schindler's List — the latest exquisite jump into the Ripley realm doesn't splash around black-and-white hues as a mere stylistic preference. In this new adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 book, the setting is still coastal Italy at its most picturesque, and therefore a place that most would want to revel in visually; Anthony Minghella, The Talented Mr Ripley's director a quarter-century back, did so with an intoxicating glow. For Zaillian, however, stripping away the warm rays and beaches and hair, blue seas and skies, and tanned skin as well, ensures that all that glitters is never gold or even just golden in tone as he spends time with Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers). There's never even a glint of a hint of a travelogue aesthetic, with viewers confronted with the starkness of Tom's choices and actions — he is a conman and worse, after all — plus the shadows that he persists in lurking in and the impossibility of ever grasping everything that he desires in full colour. On the page and on the screen both before and now, the overarching story remains the same, though, in this new definitive take on the character. It's the early 60s rather than the late 50s in Ripley, but Tom is in New York, running fake debt-collection schemes and clinging to the edges of high-society circles, when he's made a proposal that he was never going to refuse. Herbert Greenleaf (filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan, who has also acted in his own three features You Can Count on Me, Margaret and Manchester by the Sea) enlists him to sail to Europe to reunite with a friend, the shipping magnate's son Dickie (Johnny Flynn, One Life). As a paid gig, Tom is to convince the business heir to finally return home. But Dickie has no intention of giving up his Mediterranean leisure as he lackadaisically pursues painting — and more passionately spends his time with girlfriend Marge Sherwood (Dakota Fanning, The Equalizer 3) — to join the family business. Ripley streams via Netflix. Read our full review. Mr & Mrs Smith 2005 movie Mr & Mrs Smith isn't the first time that title adorned a spy caper about a literally killer couple. That honour goes not to the Brad Pitt (Babylon)- and Angelina Jolie (Eternals)-starring, Brangelina-sparking film, but to a 90s TV series. No one remembers 1996's Mr & Mrs Smith, where Scott Bakula (who was not long off Quantum Leap at the time) and Maria Bello (Beef) took on the eponymous parts. It didn't last, with just nine episodes airing and a further four made but left unseen. But its existence gives 2024's Mr & Mrs Smith a full-circle vibe, with Donald Glover (Atlanta) and Maya Erskine's (PEN15) now both adopting the monikers and ushering the premise back to episodic storytelling. Bakula and Bello's Mr & Mrs Smith didn't inspire Pitt and Jolie's; however, the latter did give rise to Glover and Erskine's — and any history isn't mere trivia. Instead, it speaks to a concept that's so appealing that it keeps being reused, whether coincidentally or knowingly, and to an idea that's now being given its full Mr & Mrs Smith due, in line with True Lies and The Americans: that relationships are mysteries, missions and investigations. The backstory behind Glover and Erskine bringing glorious chemistry to John and Jane Smith doesn't stop there, because Mr & Mrs Smith circa 2024 has been in the works for three years. When announced in February 2021, it was with Atlanta-meets-Fleabag hopes, with Glover co-starring and co-creating with Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny). Then creative differences with Glover saw Waller-Bridge — who also co-wrote the No Time to Die screenplay and created Killing Eve — leave the project within six months. While it's impossible to know how that iteration of Mr & Mrs Smith would've turned out, whether with more overt comedy, talkier or boasting a darker tone, Glover's interpretation with fellow Atlanta alum Francesca Sloane lives up to the promise of two creatives from one of the 21st century's best dramedies turning their attention to espionage and romance. There's an intimacy, a lived-in feel and hangout charm to this Mr & Mrs Smith, even as it swaps Brangelina's already-wed pair discovering that they're assassin rivals for a duo only tying the knot for the gig. Mr and Mrs Smith streams via Prime Video. Read our full review. Baby Reindeer A person walking into a bar. The words "sent from my iPhone". A comedian pouring their experiences into a one-performer play. A twisty true-crime tale making the leap to the screen. All four either feature in, inspired or describe Baby Reindeer. All four are inescapably familiar, too, but the same can't be said about this seven-part Netflix series. Written by and starring Scottish comedian Richard Gadd, and also based on his real-life experiences, this is a bleak, brave, revelatory, devastating and unforgettable psychological thriller. It does indeed begin with someone stepping inside a pub — and while Gadd plays a comedian on-screen as well, don't go waiting for a punchline. When Martha (Jessica Gunning, The Outlaws) enters The Heart in Camden, London in 2015, Donny Dunn (Gadd, Wedding Season) is behind the counter. "I felt sorry for her. That's the first feeling I felt," the latter explains via voiceover. Perched awkwardly on a stool at the bar, Martha is whimpering to herself. She says that she can't afford to buy a drink, even a cup of tea. Donny takes pity, offering her one for free — and her face instantly lights up. That's the fateful moment, one of sorrow met with kindness, that ignites Baby Reindeer's narrative and changes Donny's life. After that warm beverage, The Heart instantly has a new regular. Sipping Diet Cokes from then on (still on the house), Martha is full of stories about all of the high-profile people that she knows and her high-flying lawyer job. But despite insisting that she's constantly busy, she's also always at the bar when Donny is at work, sticking around for his whole shifts. She chats incessantly about herself, folks that he doesn't know and while directing compliments Donny's way. He's in his twenties, she's in her early forties — and he can see that she's smitten, letting her flirt. He notices her laugh. He likes the attention, not to mention getting his ego stroked. While he doesn't reciprocate her feelings, he's friendly. She isn't just an infatuated fantasist, however; she's chillingly obsessed to an unstable degree. She finds his email address, then starts messaging him non-stop when she's not nattering at his workplace. (IRL, Gadd received more than 40,000 emails.) Baby Reindeer streams via Netflix. Read our full review. Such Brave Girls If Such Brave Girls seems close to reality, that's because it is. In the A24 co-produced series — which joins the cult-favourite entertainment company's TV slate alongside other standouts such as Beef, Irma Vep, Mo and The Curse over the past two years — sisters Kat Sadler and Lizzie Davidson both star and take inspiration from their lives and personalities. Making their TV acting debuts together, the pair also play siblings. Josie (Sadler) and Billie (Davidson), their on-screen surrogates, are navigating life's lows not only when the show's six-part first season begins, but as it goes on. The entire setup was sparked by a phone conversation between the duo IRL, when one had attempted to take her life twice and the other was £20,000 in debt. For most, a sitcom wouldn't come next; however, laughing at and lampooning themselves, and seeing the absurdity as well, is part of Such Brave Girls' cathartic purpose for its driving forces. If you've ever thought "what else can you do?" when finding yourself inexplicably chuckling at your own misfortune, that's this series — this sharp, unsparing, candid, complex and darkly comedic series — from start to finish. Creating the three-time BAFTA-nominated show, writing it and leading, Sadler plays Josie as a bundle of nerves and uncertainty. The character is in her twenties, struggling with her mental health and aspiring to be an artist, but is largely working her way through a never-ending gap year. Davidson's Billie is the eternally optimistic opposite — albeit really only about the fact that Nicky (Sam Buchanan, Back to Black), the guy that she's hooking up with, will eventually stop cheating on her, fall in love and whisk her away to Manchester to open a vodka bar bearing her name. Both girls live at home with their mother Deb (Louise Brealey, Lockwood & Co), who also sees a relationship as the solution to her problems, setting her sights on the iPad-addicted Dev (Paul Bazely, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves) a decade after Josie and Billie's father went out for teabags and never came home. With actor-slash-director Simon Bird behind the lens — alongside first-timer Marco Alessi on one episode — if Such Brave Girls seems like it belongs in the same acerbically comedic realm as The Inbetweeners and Everyone Else Burns, there's a reason for that, too. Such Brave Girls streams via Stan. Read our full review. Boy Swallows Universe A magical-realist coming-of-age tale, a clear-eyed family drama, a twisty crime and detective thriller, a time capsule of Brisbane in the 80s: since first hitting the page in 2018, Trent Dalton's Boy Swallows Universe has worn its happy flitting between different genres and tones, and constant seesawing from hope to heartbreak and back again, as confidently as readers have long envisaged Eli Bell's wide grin. That hopping and jumping, that refusal to be just one type of story and stick to a single mood, has always made sense on the page — and in the excellent seven-part adaptation that now brings Australia's fastest-selling debut novel ever to the screen, it also couldn't feel more perfect. As played by the charmingly talented Felix Cameron (Penguin Bloom), Eli's smile is indeed big. As scripted by screenwriter John Collee (Hotel Mumbai), and with Dalton among the executive producers, the miniseries embraces its multitudes wholeheartedly. Like style, like substance: a semi-autobiographical novel penned by a writer and journalist who lived variations of plenty that he depicts, learned and accepted early that everyone has flaws, and patently has the imagination of someone who coped with life's hardships as a child by escaping into dreams of an existence more fanciful, Dalton's tome and every iteration that it inspires has to be many things in one bustling package. Its characters are, after all. Seeing people in general, parts of a city usually overlooked, and folks with complicated histories or who've made questionable choices — those forced in particular directions out of financial necessity, too — in more than just one fashion flutters at the centre of Boy Swallows Universe. In the Australian Book Industry Awards' 2019 Book of the Year, Literary Book of the Year and Audio Book of the Year, and now on streaming, Eli's nearest and dearest demand it. So does the enterprising Darra-dwelling 12-year-old boy who knows how to spy the best in those he loves, but remains well-aware of their struggles. His older brother Gus (Lee Tiger Halley, The Heights) hasn't spoken since they were younger, instead drawing messages in the sky with his finger, but is as fiercely protective as elder siblings get. Doting and dedicated mum Frankie (Phoebe Tonkin, Babylon) is a recovering heroin addict with a drug dealer for a partner. And Lyle Orlik (Travis Fimmel, Black Snow), that mullet-wearing stepfather, cares deeply about Eli and Gus — including when Eli convinces him to let him join his deliveries. Boy Swallows Universe streams via Netflix. Read our full review, and our interview with Bryan Brown. Exposure When the words "DO NOT MESSAGE" greet someone that's looking through their friend's phone, curiosity kicks in. When that mysterious contact is spied, plus a list of deleted texts and apologies for unintended hurt, immediately after your best mate has taken her own life and left you to find their body, uncovering the person on the other end of the thread becomes an obsession. Twenty-seven-year-old photographer Jacs (Alice Englert, Bad Behaviour) is all impulse and immediate gratification when Exposure begins, when she's at a rave hooking up with a stranger and dancing with her lifelong BFF Kel (Mia Artemis, Anyone But You). The next morning, everything changes forever, except a haunting truth that no one likes realising when tragedy strikes: our worst moments alter us forever, but they can't fix our worst traits or paper over our other traumas. So Jacs keeps being Jacs as she heads home from Sydney to Port Kembla, where she'll barely let her mother Kathy (Essie Davis, One Day) and Kel's ex Angus (Thomas Weatherall, Heartbreak High) lend their support, and where her self-sabotaging spiral only gains momentum as she attempts to turn amateur, fixated, dogged detective. Pain ran in the family in the aforementioned Bad Behaviour, the 2023 New Zealand film — not to be confused with the 2023 Australian miniseries that streamed via Stan, as Exposure also does — that Englert made her feature directorial debut with, plus penned and co-starred in. The movie told of a former child actor (Jennifer Connolly, Dark Matter) and her stunt-performer daughter working through their baggage around the former's attendance at a new-age retreat. Filmmaking talent also ran in the family, given that Englert is the offspring of Oscar-winner Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog). While she's solely on-screen this time, with Lucy Coleman (Hot Mess) scripting and Bonnie Moir (Love Me) helming, Englert is superb again, including at excavating life's agonies once more. Exposure's moniker applies in multiple ways, spanning the controversial contents of an award-winning snap, facing past distresses, playing sleuth and confronting your own chaos — and it equally fits the raw and rich performance at the centre of this six-parter, which also showcases Davis and Weatherall's typically excellent work. Exposure streams via Stan. The Vince Staples Show It was true when Seinfeld made a series about a real-life standup comedian playing a fictionalised version of himself one of the world's biggest sitcoms in the 90s. It remained accurate when Larry David started riffing on his own existence in Curb Your Enthusiasm — and also when Pete Davidson leapt from making his life movie fodder in The King of Staten Island to turning it into TV in Bupkis. Donald Glover wasn't directly referencing his own career in Atlanta, and neither The Other Two nor Girls5eva bring exact replicas of real-life figures to the screen, but the same idea pumps through them as well: fame or proximity to it doesn't stop anyone from grappling with life's frustrating minutiae. Add The Vince Staples Show to the list, with the five-part series featuring its namesake as a take on himself. Whether or not you know who he is is part of the show's joke. On- and off- screen, he's a rapper and actor. Staples' very real single 'Norf Norf' gets quoted to him in the TV comedy. The fact that he's been in Abbott Elementary is referenced in the debut episode. But just attempting to have an ordinary day doing everyday things in an average way — driving home, heading to the bank, attending a family reunion, visiting an amusement park and returning to his old school — is as impossible for him as it is for us all. Sometimes, Staples' celebrity complicates matters in The Vince Staples Show. It also never helps. Usually, he's stuck navigating Murphy's law, so asking for a loan ends up with him caught up in a robbery, while endeavouring to source something decent to eat at a theme park takes him on an absurdist odyssey that winks at David Lynch and the Coen brothers. Having an entertainment career doesn't stop him from being confused for someone else by the police (Killing It's Scott MacArthur, You People's Bryan Greenberg and The Menu's Arturo Castro) — the same cops who ask for free tickets to his shows while they're locking him up — or ensure that cashiers treat him politely. If it assists with anything, it's with giving Staples a deadpan acceptance that anything and everything might come his way. Twice asked if something interesting happened during his day by his girlfriend Deja (Andrea Ellsworth, Truth Be Told), his reply is "not really", even though viewers have just witnessed the exact opposite in both instances. The Vince Staples Show streams via Netflix. Read our full review Dark Matter When an Australian actor makes it big, it can feel as if there's more than one of them. Joel Edgerton, who has been on local screens for almost three decades and made the leap to Hollywood with the Australian-shot Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones, is such a talent. He's usually everywhere and in almost everything (such as The Stranger, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Thirteen Lives, Master Gardener, I'm a Virgo, The Boys in the Boat and Bluey in just the past two years), and viewers would follow him anywhere. Dark Matter wasn't written to capitalise upon that idea. Rather, it hails from the page of Blake Crouch's 2016 novel, with the author also creating the new nine-part sci-fi series that it's based on. But the show's lead casting leans into the notion that you can never have too much Edgerton by multiplying him in the multiverse. For the characters in Dark Matter, however, the fact that there's more than a single Jason Dessen causes considerable issues. The series' protagonist is a former experimental physics genius-turned-professor in Chicago. He's married to artist-turned-gallerist Daniela (Jennifer Connelly, Bad Behaviour), a father to teenager Charlie (Oakes Fegley, The Fabelmans) and the best friend of award-winning college pal Ryan Holder (Jimmi Simpson, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia). And, he's been happy living the quiet family life, although pangs of envy quietly arise when he's celebrating Ryan's prestigious new accolade. Then, when another Jason pops up to pull off a kidnapping and doppelgänger plot, he's soon navigating a cross between Sliding Doors and Everything Everywhere All At Once. Everything is a multiverse tale of late, but Dark Matter is also a soul-searching "what if?" drama, exploring the human need to wonder what might've been if just one choice — sometimes big, sometimes small — had veered in a different direction. While a box is pivotal mode of transport like this is Doctor Who, as are all manner of worlds to visit, this is high-concept sci-fi at its most grounded. Neither version of Jason wants to hop through parallel worlds in the name of adventure or exploration — they're simply chasing their idea of everyday perfection. Dark Matter streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. Fallout A young woman sheltered in the most literal sense there is, living her entire life in one of the subterranean facilities where humanity endeavours to start anew. A TV and movie star famed for his roles in westerns, then entertaining kids, then still alive but irradiated 219 years after the nuclear destruction of Los Angeles. An aspiring soldier who has never known anything but a devastated world, clinging to hopes of progression through the military. All three walk into the wasteland in Fallout, the live-action adaptation of the gaming series that first arrived in 1997. All three cross paths in an attempt to do all that anyone can in a post-apocalyptic hellscape: survive. So goes this leap into a world that's had millions mashing buttons through not only the OG game, but also three released sequels — a fourth is on the way — plus seven spinoffs. Even with Westworld' Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy as executive producers, giving Fallout the flesh-and-blood treatment is a massive and ambitious task. But where 2023 had The Last of Us, 2024 now has this; both are big-name dystopian titles that earned legions of devotees through gaming, and both are excellent in gripping and immersive fashion at making the move to television. Fallout's vision of one of the bleakest potential futures splits its focus between Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell, Yellowjackets), who has no concept of how humanity can exist on the surface when the show kicks off; Cooper Howard aka bounty hunter The Ghoul (Walton Goggins, I'm a Virgo), the screen gunslinger who saw the bombs fall and now wields weapons IRL; and Maximus (Aaron Moten, Emancipation), a trainee for the Brotherhood of Steel, which is committed to restoring order by throwing around its might (and using robotic armour). The show's lead casting is gleaming, to the point that imagining anyone but this trio of actors as Lucy, Howard-slash-The Ghoul and Maximus is impossible. Where else has Walton's resume, with its jumps between law-and-order efforts, westerns traditional and neo, and comedy — see: The Shield, Justified, Sons of Anarchy, The Hateful Eight, Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones, as a mere few examples — been leading than here? (And, next, also season three of The White Lotus.) Fallout streams via Prime Video. Read our full review, and our interview with Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell and Aaron Moten. The Sympathizer Fresh from winning an Oscar for getting antagonistic in times gone by as United States Atomic Energy Commission chair Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer, Robert Downey Jr gets antagonistic in times gone by again in The Sympathizer — as a CIA handler, a university professor, a politician and a Francis Ford Coppola-esque filmmaker on an Apocalypse Now-style movie, for starters. In another addition to his post-Marvel resume that emphasises how great it is to see him stepping into the shoes of someone other than Tony Stark, he takes on multiple roles in this espionage-meets-Vietnam War drama, which adapts Viet Thanh Nguyen's 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name. But Downey Jr is never the show's lead, which instead goes to Australian Hoa Xuande (Last King of the Cross). The latter plays the Captain, who works for South Vietnamese secret police in Saigon before the city's fall, and is also a spy for the North Vietnamese communist forces. It's his memories, as typed out at a reeducation camp, that guide the seven-part miniseries' narrative — jumping back and forth in time, as recollections do, including to his escape to America. As the Captain relays the details of his mission and attempts to work both sides, The Sympathizer isn't just flitting between flashbacks as a structural tactic. The act of remembering is as much a focus as the varied contents of the Captain's memories — to the point that rewinding to add more context to a scene that's just been shown, or noting that he didn't specifically witness something but feels as if he can fill in the gap, also forms the storytelling approach. Perspective and influence are high among the show's concerns, too, as the Captain navigates the sway of many colonial faces (making Downey Jr's multiple roles a powerful and revealing touch) both in Vietnam and in the US. Behind it all off-screen is a filmmaker with a history of probing the tales that we tell ourselves and get others believing, as seen in stone-cold revenge-thriller classic Oldboy, 2022's best film Decision to Leave and 2018 miniseries The Little Drummer Girl: the inimitable Park Chan-wook. He co-created The Sympathizer for the screen with Don McKellar (Blindness) and it always bears is imprint, whether or not he's directing episodes — he helms three — with his piercing style, or getting help from Fernando Meirelles (who has been busy with this and Sugar) and Marc Munden (The Third Day). The Sympathizer streams via Binge. Read our full review. Constellation If a great getaway to a beach, island or faraway city can be life-changing, what does a journey to space do? So ponders Constellation, among other questions. Inquiries are sparked instantly, from the moment that a mother in a cabin in northern Sweden, where there's snow as far as the eye can see but a frost infecting more than just the temperature, leaves her pre-teen daughter to follow a voice. The screams that she seeks out are yelling "mama!" — and what they mean, and why she's abandoning one girl to find another, is just one of the matters that Constellation interrogates. The woman is Jo Ericsson, as played by Noomi Rapace with the maternal devotion that also marked her turn in Lamb, plus the protective instincts that were key in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant as well — and the fierceness that helped bring her to fame as Lisbeth Salander in the original Swedish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo films. Jo, an astronaut, is Europe's representative on the International Space Station when Constellation jumps backwards from its opening icy horror to a different kind of terror. Not long out from returning back to earth, she FaceTimes with her nine-year-old daughter Alice (Rosie and Davina Coleman, The Larkins) and husband Magnus (James D'Arcy, Oppenheimer). Then, something goes bump in the sky. Trauma leaves people changed, too; what if this incident, during which setting foot on our pale blue dot again is anything but assured, isn't the only distressing facet of travelling to the heavens? On the at-risk ISS, on a spacewalk to locate the source of the collision, Jo finds the mummified body of what looks like a 60s-era Russian cosmonaut. There'll soon be another astronaut dead inside the station, destroyed infrastructure, the first escape pod shuttling her three remaining colleagues back to terra firma and Jo left alone trying to repair the second so that she herself can alight home. Where both Gravity and Moon spring to mind in Constellation's initial space-set scenes, plus Proxima in the show's focus on mother-daughter connections (Interstellar, Ad Astra and First Man have dads covered), it's the earthbound Dark that feels like a touchstone once Jo is back among her loved ones. There's a similar moodiness to this series, which also features Nobel Prize-winning former Apollo astronaut Henry Caldera (Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul), who has had his own incidents in space — and there's a feeling that characters can't always trust what they think is plainly apparent to the show, too, plus a certainty that nothing is simply linear about what's occurring. Constellation streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review, and our interview with Jonathan Banks. Sugar Colin Farrell's recent hot streak continues. After a busy few years that've seen him earn Oscar and BAFTA nominations for The Banshees of Inisherin, collect a Gotham Awards nod for After Yang, steal scenes so heartily in The Batman that TV spinoff The Penguin is on the way and pick up the Satellite Awards' attention for The North Water, Sugar now joins his resume. The Irish actor's television credits are still few — and, until his True Detective stint in 2015, far between — but it's easy to see what appealed to him about leading this mystery series. From the moment that the Los Angeles-set noir effort begins — in Tokyo, in fact — it drips with intrigue. Farrell's John Sugar, the show's namesake, is a suave private detective who takes a big Hollywood case against his handler Ruby's (Kirby, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off) recommendation. He's soon plunged into shadowy City of Angels chaos, bringing The Big Sleep, Chinatown, LA Confidential and Under the Silver Lake to mind, and loving movie history beyond sharing the same genre as said flicks. Softly spoken, always crispy dressed, understandably cynical and frequently behind the wheel of a blue vintage convertible, Sugar, the PI, is a film fan. The series bakes that love and its own links to cinema history into its very being through spliced-in clips and references elsewhere — and also foregrounds the idea that illusions, aka what Tinseltown so eagerly sells via its celluloid dreams, are inescapable in its narrative in the process. Twists come, not just including a brilliant move that reframes everything that comes before, but as Sugar endeavours to track down Olivia Siegel (Sydney Chandler, Don't Worry Darling). She's the granddaughter of worried legendary film producer Jonathan (James Cromwell, Succession); daughter of less-concerned (and less-renowned) fellow producer Bernie (Dennis Boutsikaris, Better Call Saul); half-sister of former child star David (Nate Corddry, Barry), who is on the comeback trail; and ex-step daughter of pioneering rocker Melanie (Amy Ryan, Beau Is Afraid). Trying to find her inspires heated opposition. Also sparked: an excellently cast series that splashes its affection of film noir and LA movies gone by across its frames, but is never afraid to be its own thing. Sugar streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review, and our interview with Kirby and Simon Kinberg. Criminal Record It was accurate with side-splitting hilarity in The Thick of It, as dripping with heartbreak in Benediction and in the world of Doctor Who in-between: Peter Capaldi is one of Scotland's most fascinating actors today. Criminal Record uses his can't-look-away presence to excellent effect, casting him as DCI Daniel Hegarty, one of the eight-part series' two key detectives. By day, the no-nonsense Hegarty is a force to be reckoned with on the force. By night, he moonlights as a driver, seeing much that lingers in London as he's behind the wheel. In his not-so-distant past is a case that brings DS June Lenker (Cush Jumbo, The Good Fight) into his orbit — a case that she's certain is linked to a distressed emergency call by a woman trying to flee domestic abuse, and who says that her partner has already committed murder, gotten away with it and sent another man to prison for the crime in the process. Hegarty contends otherwise, and gruffly, but Lenker is determined to discover the truth, find her potential victim, ascertain whether someone innocent is in jail and learn why every move she makes to dig deeper comes with professional retaliation. This is no odd-couple cop show. It's largely a two-hander, however — and saying that it couldn't be better cast is an understatement. Capaldi is already someone who makes every moment that he's on-screen better. So is Jumbo, which makes watching them face off as riveting as television gets. Passive aggression oozes from the frame when Hegarty and Lenker first confront each other. Tension drips throughout the series relentlessly, but do so with particular vigour whenever its key cops are in close proximity. Criminal Record doesn't waste time keeping audiences guessing about who's dutifully taking their role as part of the thin blue line and who's part of policing at its most corrupt; instead, it lets those two sides that are both meant to be on the upstanding end of the law-and-order divide clash, surveying the damage that ripples not just through the fuzz but also the community. While twists and mysteries are also layered in, they regularly come second to Criminal Record's extraordinary performances, plus its thematic willingness to tear into what policing should be, can be and often is. Criminal Record streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. Looking for more viewing highlights? Check out our list of film and TV streaming recommendations, which is updated monthly. We also keep a running list of must-stream TV from across the year so far, complete with full reviews.
When you lick a scoop of gelato, do you take a moment to let the flavour settle onto your tastebuds? Do you stop to contemplate the creaminess, and ponder how it feels on your tongue? Perhaps you spend too long thinking not only about how your dessert tastes, but how it smells — or maybe you're obsessed with how it looks, because a good ice cream is a truly glorious sight. If we've just described your usual thought processes every time you step inside a gelato joint, then you might want to throw your name in the ring for Gelatissimo's newest gig. As part of a four-hour, once-off deal, the dessert chain will pay one ice cream-loving person $500 to taste-test its newest gelato flavours. Over the past year, Gelatissimo has been responsible for frosé sorbet, ginger beer gelato and even a gelato for dogs, so you won't be tasting your way through plain ol' vanilla or the usual mint choc-chip combination (not that there's anything wrong with those two stone cold classics). Just what flavours you'll be munching on hasn't yet been revealed, but you'll play a crucial part in evaluating them. As well as being delicious, this is serious business, requiring the utmost focus on the task at hand. That means first assessing the gelato's appearance, then enjoying a couple of scoops to get a feel for the flavour and texture. Then, after cleansing your palate with water, you'll do it all over again (and then again). If you're keen, as most people with tastebuds will be, just head to Airtasker to explain why you're the ideal candidate for the job. While the competition is open nationally, the winner will be required to get themselves to Gelatissimo's Sydney office in Rydalmere on Friday, September 27. For more information, or to apply for the Gelatissimo gelato-tasting gig, visit the Airtasker listing.
Where bigger festivals rely mostly on a precise combo of big name international acts plus Pitchfork-approved indies, the Secret Garden sells out each year before its line-up is even announced. How you do that in today's musical climate is pretty astounding, until you look at what else the Secret Garden has to offer, at which point it becomes astoundingly obvious. Free booze, a magical farmland location revealed only to ticket-holders, and bands so close you can smell them all provide good reasons to get your unicorn onesie covered in glittery mud. And the food doesn't suck. "We are pretty different to what's out there," says festival director Clare Downes. "We are completely focussed, almost anal, about putting on a brilliant event. This includes lots of small creative areas, luxury camping facilities, great bars, brilliant music, award-winning food, interactive stuff and surprises. Gardeners love our surprises!" But that's not to say the music isn't a big draw card. This year the organisers have pulled together another excellent slew of bands and DJs that read like a cross-section of rising and risen local talent. PVT-approved Sydney duo Collarbones will make an appearance alongside Cub Scouts and The Griswolds, with The Preatures adding some artful gloom to the glitter. Rounding out the first line-up announcement are Alison Wonderland, DCUP, the Delta Riggs, Frames, Lancelot, Rufus, Spit Syndicate, Vance Joy, and Softwar and Slowball presenting Secret Garden After Hours. Secret Garden is also not a bratwurst in a bun sort of occasion. This year the festival is embracing Sydney's fleet of food trucks, with Eat Art Truck (headed by Stuart Magill of Tetsuya's and Brenton Balicki of Quay), Mexican masters Al Carbon, Tsuru's pan-Asian street food, and Jafe Jaffles confirmed to be in attendance, while Porch & Parlour takes care of breakfast. Knowing that the dinner table is the heart of the family and new dining experiences the soul of Sydney, organisers have also lined up a Secret Garden Banquet. Limited tickets are available for the feast, which will be held in heritage-listed stables in a secret area of the already secret location, and hosted, of course, by a secret group of foodies. The final component of today's announcement is no minor detail; it's the Friday theme, a greatly cherished part of the festivities. In 2013 Secret Garden is extending the hand of friendship to the scene perhaps best known for cosplay, the sci-fi convention, with Secret Garcon. For all those festivalgoers who'd feel outgeeked at Comic Con but have always wanted to dress up as their favourite Star Wars/Mass Effect/Ghostbusters character, this is for you. As Downes says, "Secret Garden is the kind of festival where you can dress as a pineapple, talk to the guy standing next to you, dabble in some karaoke, send a postcard to your mum and listen to some great bands. There are so many elements to it, beyond what happens on the stage and what we serve at the bars." It all comes together to create an immaculately tailored weekend away that you don't have to plan a thing for. Tickets for Secret Garden 2013 have sold out, but the festival is run entirely by volunteers, and it's not too late to become one of those. In exchange for four hours of work on the day, you can then run free at the venue. Secret Garden is run as a not-for-profit, with all proceeds going to the Sarah Hilt Foundation, which helps sufferers of meningococcal disease. Just another thing that separates this festival from the rest. By Hannah Ongley and Rima Sabina Aouf.
Earlier this year, we introduced you to Unyoked, an Aussie startup that lets you stay in your own tiny house in the wilderness. Now we'd like you to meet Redleaf, a 280-acre property in the Southern Highlands where you can sleep in an 1890s train carriage surrounded by gumtrees and birdsong. "We wanted a way of sharing this beautiful life we've created — to give people an opportunity to spend a weekend in fresh air, enjoying nature," says Katrina Sparke, who's lived at Redleaf for nine years with her partner Sam and their four children. While the Sparkes were contemplating how to do just that, they stumbled across a disused train carriage in a collector's junkyard in Sydney's northwest. Two cranes and a truck later, it was delivered to their property, which was already operating as a free-range farm, supplying suckling pigs and eggs to some of Sydney's best restaurants, including ARIA and Chiswick. Katrina set about restoring the carriage, now called #343, to its former glory. "It was pretty old and derelict, and needed a huge amount of work," she says. "But much of the original timber, silky oak, was still inside." That meant a whole lot of sanding, polishing and patching up with local river oak. To that backdrop, Katrina added a tin-pressed ceiling a la the 1890s, premium linen, lush cushions, a velvet couch and a marble-tiled bathroom. The aim was to capture the carriage's history, but also to provide touches of luxury. Outside, there's a barbecue and a fire pit to keep you warm on cold nights. The set-up is entirely off-grid and solar-powered. If you'd like something a little more modern, there's a second carriage, born in the 1920s and now known as #1238. "It's quite stylised — a bit like something out of Harry Potter," says Katrina. "The main room is entirely taken up by the bed." At the other end, there's an original train seat, a kitchenette and a deck with a barbecue, overlooking rolling paddocks. When you're not relaxing in your carriage of choice, there's a creek, swimming hole and waterfall to explore, as well as nearby trails for walking and mountain biking. You can also find out a bit more about how the Sparkes run their independent farm. "I want people to come to Redleaf and experience a unique break," says Katrina. "There's no TV and no wifi. It's about getting back to the things that are important in life." Redleaf Farm is located 20 minutes south of Bowral, off Redhills Road in Fitzroy Falls. The carriages start at around $280 per night — #343 can be booked here and #1238 here. For more info on the farm, visit redleaf-farm.com.
If you live in Melbourne and haven't lost an hour or two in Readings, then are you really from Melbourne? While Readings' Carlton bookstore is the gem of Lygon Street (and the original), the St Kilda outpost also has iconic origins (it was formerly the independent bookshop Cosmos) and has garnered our prestigious title as one of the best bookshops in Melbourne. Also, musicians Paul Kelly and Nick Cave have been known to peruse the stacks here. There's a whole range of genres to choose from here including history, art and design, travel, literary fiction and the like from both Australian and international authors. Plus, the St Kilda shop also keeps a rare and impressive range of books from independent publishers. Beyond books, the shop specialises in new release vinyl and it often hosts book launches and author talks.
No doubt you have a couple of Donna Hay cookbooks in your cupboard. After all, she is an Aussie food icon. From baked treats and cakes to salads, soups and home-style feasts, she's known not only for her recipes but also her impeccable plating. Now, the much-loved cook is hosting a series of virtual cooking classes, so you can become a culinary whiz in your own kitchen. Yep, it's not often you get to cook with Donna Hay and, soon enough, you'll be plating up like a Masterchef contestant. Best of all, it's free. To make it happen, Hay has partnered up with renowned New Zealand winemakers Cloudy Bay, because it wouldn't be a dinner party without vino. Known for its well-crafted wine, particularly its sauvignon blanc, Cloudy Bay is synonymous with the Marlborough wine region. Happening on Thursday, August 20 and Thursday, August 27, the two 1.5-hour cook-along sessions will see you whipping up two courses — a grazing platter and a main — and pairing both with a Cloudy Bay vino. In the first masterclass, the focus will be on pairing a fresh, vibrant sauvignon blanc with each dish. In the second, it'll be all about cool-climate pinot noir. Overall, with the help of Donna Hay and Cloudy Bay, you'll pick up some serious shortcuts to at-home entertaining. You can register for free here. Once you've signed up, you'll get an email with a link to join via Zoom, plus access to online recipe cards access and where to purchase the two Cloudy Bay wines — and have them delivered to your door. The Shortcuts to Entertaining with Donna Hay sessions kick off at 6.30pm on Thursday, August 20 and Thursday, August 27. To sign up, head here, then order yourself bottles of Cloudy Bay from this website.
You might want to tone down some of the long and critical rants contained on your blog, as a case in Oregon has just see a woman fined $2.5 million for defamatory comments. Crystal Cox runs several blogs, and posted comments in one such blog which criticised the Obsidian Finance Group. The Group responded by commencing litigation against Cox for defamation. Cox represented herself in these proceedings. Cox said she had information from an inside source, whom she refused to name. As a result, it was impossible for her to prove that her comments were true. As she was a blogger and not affliated with any official media outlet, she was not provided the same protection as journalists in Oregon. Therefore, Judge Marco A. Hernandez slapped Cox with a $2.5 million fine. Heavy. Aside from the obvious legal questions in such a case, is this really an appropriate punishment for not being part of a media establishment? Blogs are now becoming pivotal points for topical discussion. News programs are using images and videos captured by ordinary citizens on iPhones as exclusive content to be broadcast on television. Television shows are increasingly conversing with audiences through social media websites. It seems nowadays that these lines between contemporary and traditional media are undergoing a rapid integration. Furthermore, you get the feeling that Cox probably should have hired a lawyer. [via Mashable]
When was the last time that you picked up a pen, sat down in front of a piece of paper and wrote someone a letter? When was the last time you picked up a pen and wrote something other than a reminder note, shopping list or a scribbled signature, for that matter? Handwriting is no longer a daily part of many people's lives, and nor is corresponding with others via mail — but both are in the spotlight at Dead Letter Club. Founded in Melbourne and now making its way around the country, Dead Letter Club is reviving the art of simply writing letters, although it's doing so with a twist. It's also a creative writing night, where people grab some stationery, choose a pen name and start scrawling missives. The letters are then sent via secret post — that is, swapped with other attendees, with everyone paired up with a mystery pen pal — creating a back-and-forth of handwritten correspondence throughout the evening. On the club's website, creator Melanie Knight describes it as "a chance to turn the tides on consumerism. Rather than consume more, we can make something". Dead Letter Club also presents itself an antidote to today's texting, twittering, emoji-sending, like-clicking forms of communication, instead requiring someone to spend time and energy to carefully compose a long-form piece of correspondence to someone else. Celebrating its first birthday at Melbourne's Noisy Ritual Urban Winery on Wednesday, October 10, Dead Letter Club often takes place in boozy establishments — so if you need some inspiration, the liquid type is available to purchase. Hundreds of writing prompt cards are also on hand, should you simply need an idea to get you started. The club comes to Sydney on Wednesday, October 17 thanks to a session at Daisy's Milk Bar, with fellow nights following in Wollongong and Canberra as part of an east coast tour. A session also occurred in Brisbane in September — and the club welcomes enquiries from folks eager to start up regular events in their city or town. Image: Dead Letters Club.
Love it or hate it, tipping culture has steadily crept into Aussie restaurants, bars and cafes. And despite growing cost-of-living pressures, you might be surprised to learn that more of us are tipping more of the time. In fact, the average tip across the nation has increased 25 percent year-on-year, now reaching $25.20. Yet some tippers are a little more generous than others, with a recent Zeller report finding that one state stands out as the stingiest in the country. That'd be New South Wales, with the average tip just $16.90. Contrast that with Victoria — where the average tip is $39.50 — and the data starts to paint a somewhat unfavourable picture. It's unlikely people from NSW are uniquely penny-pinching, so what might have caused this chasm in generosity? According to Josh McNicol, Director of Growth at Zeller, several factors must be considered. "The potential for financial pressure to dampen tipping enthusiasm, especially in costly cities like Sydney, is a logical outcome where diners feel tight budgets outweigh tipping impulse," he says. McNicol also suggests subtle differences in hospo cultures could exist, with those in Melbourne more open to honouring stellar service. He explains: "Victoria, particularly Melbourne, has long enjoyed living in the heart of Australia's dining and hospitality sector. There's an ingrained culture where diners want to reward great service, and now smarter payment technology makes it simpler for diners to leave a tip if they choose to do so." South Australia is also highlighted in the data. The average tip has increased 64 percent, with Adelaide posting a 180 percent year-on-year increase. And for those keen to split the bill — only 2.9 percent of restaurant transactions nationally involve a split, representing a 25 percent decline. That suggests fewer big group outings — or perhaps more of us have generous friends. Whether you're a tipper or not, check out our cheat sheet to the best restaurants and bars in Sydney or discover 20 top spots in Melbourne for a cheap eat.
Sky-watchers across Australia are in for a bright few months, with the first of this year's three supermoons — the October "harvest moon" — rising tonight. The moon will appear at its fullest on Tuesday, October 7, though it will remain spectacular on Wednesday when it reaches its closest point to Earth. Unlike most celestial events, there's no special equipment needed — as long as the skies are clear, it'll be visible rising in the east at sunset and setting in the west at sunrise. [caption id="attachment_1031874" align="alignnone" width="1920"] 2016's supermoon over the Sydney Opera House[/caption] A supermoon occurs when a full moon coincides with the point in its orbit where it's closest to Earth, known as its perigee. Because the Moon's orbit is slightly oval-shaped, its distance from Earth changes each month — and sometimes several full moons in a row fall near that closest point. "When the full moon is closest to the Earth, the full moon before and the full moon after are still a fair bit closer to the Earth than average," University of Southern Queensland astronomer Jonti Horner told the ABC. Horner explained that while the size and brightness differences are measurable — supermoons can appear up to 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter — they're often subtle to the naked eye. "It would be obvious if you put the two next to each other," he said, "but it's not a wow, leap-out-of-your-seats type thing." Australia will see follow-up supermoons on November 5 and December 4, with some astronomers also including the January 3 full moon in the series. The biggest and brightest of the lot is expected in November. [caption id="attachment_1031875" align="alignnone" width="1920"] May 2021's supermoon[/caption] And if the view alone isn't enough, the Moon's close approach will also slightly intensify tides — known as "perigean spring tides" or king tides — as its stronger gravitational pull interacts with Earth's oceans. This trio of supermoons marks the start of a lively period for stargazers. Beyond the lunar events, the Orionids meteor shower will peak later in October, and in March 2026, Australians will be treated to a total lunar eclipse — a blood-red moon lighting up the night sky. Want to get a good look? Here are our favourite places to stargaze around Australia. Images: Getty Images
The last time that Lady Gaga appeared on the big screen, she nabbed an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her troubles (and a shiny trophy for Best Original Song, too). Three years after A Star Is Born, she's heading back into cinemas in House of Gucci — and while no one should be speculating about accolades sight unseen, this true-crime fashion drama sure does scream potential awards contender. Haute couture. Murder. Disco tunes and Studio 54. Throw in one of the biggest names in fashion — and a tale that's filled with both glam and grim strands, too — and that's this Ridley Scott (The Last Duel)-directed film. Ranking highly among the most anticipated movies set to hit the big screen across the rest of 2021, it steps inside the Gucci family fashion dynasty, charting its successes and shocking moments over the course of three tumultuous decades. If you've read the book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed, which this new movie is based on, then you'll know the details. If you've seen news coverage about or can remember the events that rocked the Italian family back in 1995, you will as well. The focus: Maurizio Gucci, grandson of company founder Guccio Gucci, and the head of the fashion house throughout the 80s and early 90s — until he was assassinated by a hitman in 1995. Adam Driver slips on Maurizio's unsurprisingly stylish shoes, in what's proving a big year for him in cinemas (he also starred in The Last Duel, as well as in Annette a few months ago). As for Lady Gaga, she plays Maurizio's wife Patrizia. And, as the just-dropped new trailer shows — following on from a first sneak peek mid-year — her character isn't holding back. Obviously, there's quite the story to unpack here, and Scott seems to be going big on striking threads, 70s and 80s tunes and vibes, indulgence and luxury dripping through in every frame, and also an unavoidable air of melodrama. To help, the film's star-studded cast also includes Jared Leto (The Little Things) sporting plenty of prosthetics and makeup, as well as Al Pacino (The Irishman), Jeremy Irons (Love, Weddings and Other Disasters) and Salma Hayek (The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard). As both trailers reminds us, that's a whole lot of Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated talent in one flick. Check out the latest House of Gucci trailer below: House of Gucci will release in Australian cinemas on December 26. Image: 2021 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved.
If this isn't a golden ticket to a great night on the couch, then we don't know what is: the delightful Willy Wonka prequel starring Timothée Chalamet (Bones and All) and directed by the Paddington films' Paul King is now spreading its sweetness to your couch. Although it's still playing in cinemas after opening in mid-December 2023, Wonka has been fast-tracked to digital so that you can get chocolate cravings at home. And you will be have a hankering for desserts as Chalamet sings, twirls around an umbrella, and talks about making weird and wonderful treats — and as a childhood favourite gets a prequel. Our tip: choose your movie-watching snacks accordingly. Otherwise, your stomach will start grumbling amid the songs, dancing and Hugh Grant (Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves) stealing scenes as an Oompa-Loompa. Wonka hitting digital helps add to any pre-Dune: Part Two Timmy C marathons that you might be planning before the latter film reaches the big screen at the end of February. With King writing and directing, the first with co-scribe Simon Farnaby, this new stint with Roald Dahl's chocolatier gives the character an origin story starring the actor who has had his heart broken during a lusty Italian summer, romanced Saoirse Ronan in a Greta Gerwig film not once but twice, spiced up his life in a sci-fi saga and sported a taste for human flesh. Here, Chalamet croons his way through a whimsical world of sugar and pure imagination. First gracing the page almost six decades back, in 1964 when Charlie and the Chocolate Factory initially hit print, Willy Wonka has made the leap to cinemas before with Gene Wilder playing the part in 1971, then Johnny Depp in 2005. The difference this time: not just Chalamet, but a film that swirls in the details of Wonka's life before the events that've already been laid out in books and filled those two movies. The picture's main man has a dream — and, after spending the past seven years travelling the world perfect his craft, he's willing to get inventive to make it come true. Starting a chocolate business isn't easy, especially when the chocolate cartel doesn't take kindly to newcomers, selling choccies at an affordable price and sharing their wares with the masses. From there, brainwaves, optimism, determination, Wonka inventions and life-changing choices all spring, plus big vats of chocolate, chocolate that makes you fly and Willy's dedication to making the greatest chocolate shop the world has ever seen. Beyond Chalamet and Grant, Wonka's cast is as jam-packed as a lolly bag, with the pair joined by Farnaby (The Phantom of the Open), as well as Olivia Colman (Heartstopper), Sally Hawkins (The Lost King), Keegan-Michael Key (The Super Mario Bros Movie), Rowan Atkinson (Man vs Bee), Jim Carter (Downton Abbey: A New Era) and Natasha Rothwell (Sonic the Hedgehog 2). And the magical tone sprinkled throughout Wonka doesn't just fit the tale — it's exactly what King and Farnaby spun when they were celebrating a marmalade-loving bear. King helmed and penned both Paddington movies, while Farnaby also did the latter on the second (and acted in each). The duo worked together on wonderful and underseen 2009 film Bunny and the Bull as well, and on The Mighty Boosh, of which King directed 20 episodes. Check out the trailer for Wonka below: Wonka is available to stream via platforms such as YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. It's also still showing in cinemas Down Under. Read our review.
Pop in to browse through Make's thoughtful collection of products of all shapes, sizes and purposes — from classic tableware, kitchen tools, homewares, clocks and lighting through to modern desk tools and computer accessories, and everything in between. The store's focus is on good design, and while it offers products from around the world, the Make team is passionate about Australian design and showcasing local and Australian designers. Images: Parker Blain.
Foot-a-scray legend Franco Cozzo and his beloved furniture store will play host to a unique night of projections, discussions and performances as part of a brand new immersive arts festival coming to Melbourne's western suburbs. Presented in partnership with the City of Maribyrnong, Due West will run from August 10-27 and will feature a combination of music, performance art, cabaret, panel discussions, poetry readings, parties and more. Franco's furniture shop isn't the only famous location involved, either. Commuters at Footscray Station can catch performance art before boarding their trains, or, if you'd rather travel by water, you can take a guerrilla opera cruise down the Maribyrnong River. Other program highlights include a black and white house party by Post Industrial Design, along with A Scandal in the Weimar, a reimagining of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes story, set against the cabaret scene of pre-war Berlin. For a little extra immersion, punters can stick around after the show for a drink at the post-performance, pop-up speakeasy.
It just might be Australia's brightest festival, and it's returning to light up Alice Springs once again. That'd be Parrtjima - A Festival In Light, which will deliver its latest annual program in 2022 — between Friday, April 8–Sunday, April 17. It's been a chaotic few years for the radiant fest, after its 2020 event was postponed to September due to COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions — and after moving to an autumn time slot back in 2019, too. But, following a few years of change and adaptability, Parrtjima will finally mark two consecutive stints in its April dates, after 2021's festival lit up the Red Centre over six months ago. While it's too early to announce the event's lineup just yet, visitors can once again expect a big — and free — ten-day public celebration of Indigenous arts, culture, music and storytelling, including an eye-catching array of light installations. That'll all take over Alice Springs CBD's Alice Springs Todd Mall, as well as tourism and conservation facility Alice Springs Desert Park Precinct just out of town — and yes, the event will dazzle, like it usually does. [caption id="attachment_801811" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Greg McAdam[/caption] If you haven't yet made the trip and you're wondering what could be in store, this year's Parrtjima included various luminous pieces, such as a 20-metre-long entranceway made out of light tubes of different lengths, an animated sequence of curated artworks projected onto the sands of Alice Springs Desert Park and a train of five illuminated camels. One thing that'll definitely be on the bill in 2022: the festival's main annual attraction, aka a huge artwork that transforms a 2.5-kilometre stretch of the majestic, 300-million-year-old MacDonnell Ranges, showering it with light each night of the festival. Registrations for the 2022 fest have just opened, if you'd like to nab an early spot in line for tickets when they go on sale. Of course, Parrtjima is just one of Northern Territory's two glowing attractions in 2022, with Australia's Red Centre lighting up in multiple ways. The festival is a nice supplement to Bruce Munro's Field of Light installation, which — after multiple extensions — is now on display indefinitely. If you're keen to start making Parrtjima plans, remember to check out the Northern Territory's COVID-19 border restrictions first. Parrtjima – A Festival in Light runs from April 8–17, 2022 around Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. For more information, visit the festival website. Top image: Greg McAdam.
Aussie hospo mainstay Maurice Terzini (Icebergs Dining Room and Bar, RE and Jackson on George) has teamed up with Joe Jones to open a sleek new bar in Melbourne's CBD. Opening in early December, the duo will take over the underground space at Queens and Collins, where Reine & La Rue recently opened to huge acclaim. Here, Euro-centric cocktails and "champagne food" will be served within a lavish brutalist space where post-punk tunes will be booming late into the night. So what exactly is "champagne food"? For Terzini and Jones it's small aperitivo-style dishes and luxe late-night bites that you want to nosh on while sipping on fine wine and cocktails. This will include house-made calzones filled with either mortadella, ricotta and fermented chilli or a playful take on the Big Mac flavours. You can also get around the tomato tartare brushed with shiko koki and a tuna loin that's made specifically to be paired with a dry martini. Speaking of martinis, Jones has decided to go balls-to-the-wall decadent with his Ticket to Ride creation. It will include a half-serve of martini taken right from the freezer and a 90ml glass of champagne, paired with a cheeky bump of caviar and kochu crème fraiche. This will glide over to you on a silver tray, effortlessly oozing luxurious cool. If Purple Pit is anything like its upstairs neighbour or any of Terzini's other ventures, it'll quickly rise to be one of Melbourne CBD's top bars. Purple Pit will open in early December at 376–390 Collins Street, Melbourne. It will be open Tuesday–Saturday, from 3pm–1am. For more details, check out the venue's website. Top image: Queens and Collins building courtesy of Reine & La Rue
With SPECTRE marking the now twenty-fourth film in the iconic James Bond franchise, it’s remarkable to think that not a single scene has ever been filmed in Australia. Now’s your chance, however, to show Bond’s producers what they’re missing out on by spending an amazing day living out the exhilarating, adventurous and exclusive lifestyle of its hero right here in your own home town. Bond’s long-term partner Heineken has teamed up with the boutique experience cultivators over at MrAristotle for a brand new project, The Catch. Throughout November and December, Heineken will be hosting exclusive SPECTRE 007 events that are so mysterious participants won’t know what’s in store until they’re suddenly whisked away and thrown right into the middle of the action right as it happens — like this one, where you and three friends will go into the running for a day that will earn you eternal bragging rights, give you a taste of the ultra-high life and make after-work drinks never quite feel the same again. Firstly, you’ll be picked up by your own private luxury helicopter and taken for an aerial tour of some of the city’s most famous landmarks. Next, your pilot will shuttle you and your team north along the coastline and over some of our most magnificent beaches until you arrive in a secret destination deep within the gorgeous countryside. Once down, a car will be waiting to ferry you to one of the region’s oldest pubs where you’ll enjoy a gourmet light lunch and a sampling of the local beers (and of course, ol' expat Heineken) while taking in the stunning surroundings. Then, your personal helicopter will be right there to take you and your friends back to town via the Olympic Village and over the glistening Harbour. To be in the running, sign up via the Heineken's The Catch website and have your mates locked, loaded and ready to move at a moment’s notice, because as any spy will tell you — you’ll never know when they’re coming for you, so you just have to be ready.
You've binged your way through HBO's excellent Chernobyl mini-series. If you're a Melburnian, or you've taken a trip to the Victorian city recently, you may have wandered through a recreation of the exclusion zone around the exploded nuclear reactor as well. Soon, you also might be able to sip shots of vodka from the region — made from grain from the Ukrainian area that has been off limits for more than three decades. The tipple in question is called Atomik Vodka. Brewed by a team of scientists from the UK and Ukraine, it's part of a three-year research project investigating the transfer of radioactivity from the soil to crops grown in the closed-off spot, as well as in the Narodychi District within the Zone of Obligatory Resettlement. (People still live in the latter location, but the land isn't officially allowed to be used for agriculture.) While the grain itself showed some signs, all traces of Chernobyl-derived radioactivity was lost in the distilling process, which inherently reduces impurities — leaving the vodka with the same level of natural radiation that you'd find in any other spirit. The vodka also uses local mineral water, sourced from a deep aquifer below the town of Chernobyl, around 10 kilometres south of the nuclear power station. It's been found to possess chemistry similar to water from limestone aquifers, like the one in the Champagne region of France, and was used to dilute the distilled alcohol to 40 percent. At present, only one bottle of the vodka exists. And, if you're curious about giving it a taste, it's not for sale. But the team behind Atomik hope that will change, and, that after clearing a few legal hurdles, they'll be able to begin a small-scale experimental run of the grain spirit by the end of this year. If they're successful in their efforts, they plan to donate 75 percent of Atomik Vodka's profits back to the affected Ukrainian community. It's also hoped that the research project will assist residents around the exclusion zone by showing that the land is now safe to be used for agriculture, opening up further investment and economic benefits. For more information, visit the Atomik Vodka website. Via the University of Portsmouth.
Prepare to say "accio remote!" and get comfier than Hermione Granger in a library. In the latest news that'll keep you glued to your couch this summer — and your latest fodder for an at-home movie marathon — everyone's favourite boy wizard will soon be working his magic on Netflix. You won't need the Marauder's Map to find these enchanting flicks. Come Tuesday, January 15, all eight movies in the Harry Potter series will hit the streaming platform, bringing their Hogwarts-set adventures to both Australian and New Zealand audiences. If you've watched your DVD copies from the 2000s so many times that they're showing a little wear and tear — or your laptop no longer has a disc drive — this is butterbeer-worthy news. Yes, everything from Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe) first visit to Platform 9 and 3/4, the Yule Ball, the Triwizard Tournament, many a fluttering snitch and He Who Must Not Be Named will be at your fingertips. Prime viewing for wizards, witches and muggles alike — all 19 hours and 39 minutes of it. The Fantastic Beasts films won't be joining them, with this journey through JK Rowling's wizarding world keeping its focus on the original franchise. The news comes hot on the heels of Stan's announcement that it's now home to a hefty batch of Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars and Disney movies and TV shows. If you're thinking that a time-turner might come in handy over the next few months, we completely understand. Find Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Part 2 on Netflix from Tuesday, January 15.
Hear ye, hear ye, fantasy fans! A medieval castle full of family-friendly adventures awaits, just 90 minutes from Melbourne. Within its impressive replica medieval walls, Kryal Castle presents an historical showcase of cavalry skills, apothecary methods, falconry displays and joust tournaments. There are also courses in archery, axe throwing, pony riding and potion-making for folk who want to get their hands dirty, as well as royal feasts to be had at the ale house and tavern. Grab your fam a family day pass, which will give you access to the roster of shows and displays. There are also dedicated interactive packages, as well as accommodation in a luxe castle suite (with after-hours access to the grounds) or the budget-friendly adjoining barracks for larger families. [caption id="attachment_830247" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Victoria[/caption] Kryal Castle's accommodation is open daily, with check in at 2pm. The theme park is open from 10am–4pm every weekend, public holiday and every day during Victorian school holidays. Top image: Visit Victoria
Fancy Hanks has long been one of Melbourne's premiere destinations when it comes to old school American-style barbecue. But if you think that's the only string to their bow, then prepare to be pleasantly surprised. Taking over an Abbotsford warehouse for two nights in July, Hank's Majestic Hawker pop-up will see the brisket and pulled pork substituted for an array of Singaporean dishes — including soy marinated chicken wings with chilli vinegar, sambal stingray served in banana leaf, rice noodles with Chinese sausage, fishcake and egg, and fried banana fritters with pandan coconut ice-cream. Turns out Americans aren't the only ones who know their way around a charcoal grill. Fittingly, the chef in charge of the pop-up is none other than Alicia Cheong, who previously ran Hank's kitchen when they were based at The Mercat Cross Hotel. Cheong is back in Melbourne after a year-long stint at the Michelin-starred Restaurant Par Andre in her native Singapore. But Cheong isn't Hank's only South East Asian connection — co-owner Daragh Kan's father was born in Malaysia. "My childhood holidays were mainly spent having satay eating competitions with my brothers at hawker centres," he says. Tickets to Majestic Hawker cost $30 for three dishes — a one from the BBQ, one from the wok, and one for dessert. For $50 you also get drinks included, with both beers and cocktails on offer. Majestic Hawker will be open at 274 Johnston Street, Abbotsford on the evenings of Friday, July 14 and Saturday, July 15. Tickets here.
Each year Splendour in the Grass ups the ante. Combining the best in international and local acts, the music festival caters for all music tastes making it as inclusive as it is entertaining. Set at the picturesque Woodfordia site in Queensland, carloads of people from across the east coast plough up the highway, arriving at their destination to camp for the better part of the week in isolated companionship. But if you missed out on tickets never fear, Splendour sideshows have promised the best of the festival making its way to capital cities around Australia. Sporting some of the most illustrious names in today's music, the announcement of Sydney sideshows includes heroes of 90s Britpop Pulp, LA electo-pop lords Foster The People, post-dubstep poster boy James Blake, London indie kids The Vaccines, Swedish maestros The Hives and Bloc Party's Kele. Keep an eye out for more annoucements but in the meantime tickets for these excellent show go on sale this Friday, May 27. https://youtube.com/watch?v=MVgEaDemxjc
In all art forms, creativity is the cornerstone of the craft. As we move into a modern world where everything has been created before, creative work has come from all corners of contemporary life. One could list many crevices where the beauty of the art form has spawned an unlikely trade, but never before has gelato been the source of such delicious innovation. Not like this. It is the cult of Gelato Messina, of course, which has spilled into every corner of Sydney like a sugar-laden avalanche blanketing the city. People eat it for breakfast, follow the rotating specials like movements of the sun and — I can only assume — thank the goddamn world each morning that Messina is open seven days a week, 364 days a year. It’s a sheer phenomenon and, with the opening of the first Melbourne store today, it's not one that's waning anytime soon. With 10 years already under their belt, an operation that started with just three guys and a gelataria in Darlinghurst has become one with a slew of stores, a factory and over 100 staff. While it's taken a while for Messina to drip down to Melbourne, it was just a matter of finding the right place, says part owner and founder Nick Palumbo. "We feel at home in Melbourne, even Fitzroy kind of reminds us of Darlinghurst," says Palumbo. "For us it just made sense." The Smith Street store may take their total to six (with four in Sydney and one in China), but the additional demand certainly won't affect the gelato's artisanal properties. Ask anyone in the Messina family, and they'll tell you that their gelato is unlike anyone else's in Australia. It's artisan gelato in every way; everything is distinctly made from scratch and nothing is out of the question. "What we do differently is that we don't use any pre-prepared pastes or powders that come out of Europe," says Palumbo. "Until about six years ago we had a few flavours that we could not get right, where still using pastes would achieve a better product, but, we finally cut that and now we don't use anything that comes out of Italy. We just do everything ourselves." While most gelato makers rely on flavoured pastes — akin to a box of cake mix — Messina works of the premise of creating recipes from raw, mostly local ingredients. One of their most popular permanent flavours, tiramisu, was the flavour that spearheaded the whole concept of making their own versions of desserts, says Palumbo. And so, they built a real tiramisu, complete with egg yolks, mascarpone cheese, marsala wine and coffee-soaked biscuits that could be frozen, churned and sold in-store. There's no doubt that this is doing things the hard way — "it's a very labour intensive procedure," says Palumbo — but it seems it's the only way these guys know how to do it. And the proof is in the numbers: they go through 1000 litres of milk a day, 2 tonne of sugar a week and an obscene amount of salted caramel each month. The way Messina develop and produce their gelato is not only one of skill, but one that's reliant on constant innovation. With Palumbo's love of gelato dating back to early visits to his family's native Messina in Sicily, he saw an opportunity to bring real, Italian gelato to Sydney — with a twist. "Back then, and even now, gelato places are doing the same flavours they've been doing for twenty years, and, in Australia, gelato has become this hard, icy thing — which it's not at all," says Palumbo. "We saw an opportunity to do something different and be creative and innovative with flavours." After starting to experiment with flavours such as Pavlova and coconut lychee, the team has progressively moved from tame to all-out rebellion with inventions such as Isn't That A Salad? (goats cheese, walnut, beetroot) and Nacho Libre (avocado cream, salsa, crushed corn chips). Taking inspiration from their mums, aunties, customers and progressive chefs, a lot of the flavours are variations of dishes or desserts they've eaten at restaurants. With five or six specials constantly rotating each week, the creative process is always in action. Managed by Simone Panetta, a man with a strong gelato background, Messina Melbourne is set to continue the gelato revolution. While the mix will be shipped to Fitzroy from the Rozelle factory, all the churning of the gelato will be done in store. If you're already following their Instagram account, you'll know that Sydney's weekly specials are posted as they are placed in the cabinet — and, for now, Melbourne will run on the same schedule. "We're going to start off with whatever specials are running in Sydney, will also run in Melbourne at the same time," says Palumbo. "It's going to be huge, but we’re going to give it a shot." And, giving it a go is something that's worked out pretty well for these ice cream artisans. Gelato is now an art form, with Messina at the helm of its reinvention. Gelato Messina is located at 237 Smith Street, Fitzroy. As part of Good Food Month, Gelato Messina is holding Talk & Taste Classes on Saturday 16, 23 & 30 at their Fitzroy store, $60.
Two months ago, Australia and New Zealand finally introduced the trans-Tasman bubble, which allows folks from either country to travel across the ditch without needing to go into quarantine upon arrival. During that time, the arrangement has been suspended on several occasions on a state-by-state basis — including during Victoria's recent lockdown, and in response to New South Wales' current outbreak — and now, with COVID-19 cases growing across Australia, NZ has put a pause on the bubble nationwide. Announced on Saturday, June 26 and in effect until at least 11.59pm NZ time (9.59pm AEST) on Tuesday, June 29, the suspension applies to quarantine-free travel from all Aussie states and territories. The initial timeframe will span 72 hours, which is NZ's usual first step. Whether it extends that period or not will obviously depend on coronavirus case numbers. "There are now multiple cases and outbreaks in Australia in differing stages of containment and the health risk for New Zealand in response to these cases is increasing," said NZ COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins in a statement. "As a result, the Government has taken the precautionary step of temporarily widening the current pause with New South Wales to include all of Australia." https://twitter.com/covid19nz/status/1408712957630902282 When NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the two-way bubble between Australia and New Zealand back in April, she noted that it could and would be paused if and when outbreaks occur — so none of the suspensions so far, including this one, are surprising. The NZ Government advised that this current pause will not only give it "time to get a better understanding of the developing situation," but will also enable it "to consider the potential implementation of a range of measures to make the bubble safer, such as the introduction of pre-departure testing for all flights from Australia to New Zealand." At the moment, Sydney's Bondi cluster keeps growing, with 112 locally acquired cases reported as at 8pm on Saturday, June 26. The Greater Sydney area is currently in a two-week lockdown, while positive cases — some linked, some not — have also been reported in Queensland, Victoria, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Whether you're an Australian on holiday in NZ or a New Zealander who has recently returned from across the ditch, anyone now in NZ who has been in Australia since Friday, June 21 is asked to monitor their health, and keep an eye on the exposure sites lists in various Australian states — such as NSW, Victoria, Queensland, the NT and WA. You're also requested to contact NZ's Healthline if you experience any symptoms. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website. To find out more about the virus and travel restrictions in New Zealand, head over to the NZ Government's COVID-19 hub.
Last year saw a slew of announcements around new streaming platforms, including two dedicated to horror and another to the world of Disney. Now, Australia's ever-growing streaming landscape is being joined by a service spotlighting great storytelling. Landing at the beginning of March, the documentary-focused iWonder launched with more than 500 hours of on-demand content, and hopes to host over 1000 blockbuster and under-the-radar titles by the end of the month. Documentaries already available on the platform cover a huge range of topics, from fast food social experiment Super Size Me, to fly-on-the-wall spectacle Jesus Camp which follows an Evangelist summer camp, and Morgan Neville's Oscar-winning music doco 20 Feet from Stardom. Music doco series Rolling Stones: Stories From the Edge, which covers the last 50 years of music in the US, and timely political flick Alt-Right: Age of Rage are also available on the service. iWonder co-founder James Bridges says a key feature of the service is the curation of the home page, which will reflect current events through articles and relevant documentary recommendations. Subscriptions have been set at $6.99 per month or $69.90 for an annual subscription. New Aussie users will receive the first month free — you can sign up here. The service is available on iOS and Android and can be cast to the small screen via Apple TV and Chromecast. The platform previously launched with 15 million users via the iflix platform in Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East. iWonder debuted in Singapore and New Zealand at the same time as Australia. You can sign up for iWonder via the website. Top image: Alt-Right: Age of Rage.
Breakfast and dessert haven't looked so cosy till now. Welcome to gelato like you've never seen it before. Brought to you by iconic gelateria Piccolina and black pepper evangelists Pep, Sunny Side Up is a fun treat that blurs the line between breakfast and dessert. Fusing Piccolina's signature artisanal gelato with the deep flavour and aromatic complexity of Pep's premium Cambodian black pepper, this is a delicious, adventurous and somewhat egg-centric dessert that looks, at first glance, like a perfectly fried egg. "We've always loved pushing the boundaries of what gelato can be," says Piccolina founder Sandra Foti. "Sunny Side Up is playful, sophisticated and unique – a true testament to the magic of exceptional ingredients." For Pep, this collaboration is a delightful foray into the wonderful, wild world of desserts. "Black pepper isn't your usual sweet ingredient, but as any pastry or dessert chef will tell you, its versatility is extraordinary," says Pep co-founder Josh Gardiner. "As long-time fans of Piccolina's inventive flare, we hope everyone gets as much of a kick out of this lively little number as we do." So, here's what you'll get: black pepper mango jam gelato topped with a coconut jelly 'egg white' and frosty fruit jelly 'yolk', finished off with many hearty cranks of freshly cracked Pep, of course. It's cold, it's delicious, it's dessert at its very best, and it's a limited edition creation that you don't want to miss. Available exclusively across all Piccolina Gelateria stores for two weeks only from Wednesday, March 5.
'Tis the season for feasting — and one South Yarra spot is here to help make sure you do so in style, even after Christmas lunch is long over. You can forget about cooking at home, because Dukang Restaurant & Bar is dishing up a limited-edition Festive Bottomless Feast right through until Sunday, January 8. Clocking in at $79 per person, this Asian-fusion feed is chock full of good stuff, featuring shared entrees and a choice of main dish for each diner. You're in for plates like prawn-stuffed zucchini flowers, wok-tossed crispy wings, xiao long bao, curry kapitan, braised eggplant and pork noodles, and more. There's even a very special wagyu laksa with fresh udon available to add on if you're looking to amp things up ($18). Paired with the eats is 90 minutes of free-flowing drinks, including vino, tap beer, spritzes and mimosas. The Festive Bottomless Feast is on offer anytime during Dukang's regular opening hours — 5.30–8.30pm on Wednesday and Thursday, 12–2.30pm and 5.30–9.30pm on Friday and Saturday, and 12–2.30pm and 5.30–8.30pm on Sunday.
In 2012, Imogen Heap appeared on a Wired stage wearing what seemed to be magical gloves. Every time she moved, the music responded. One sweeping gesture would incite a dramatic crescendo; one wiggle of the index finger would provoke a shift from major to minor; one flick of the wrist would mute an entire string section. Liberated from laptops and mixing decks, Heap was transformed into a wizard/conductor/interpretive dancer who seemed to have every sound in the universe at her command. She liked it so much that she wants to pass her superpowers onto the world. She and a team of tech-experts have been hard at work creating a set of electronic gloves that anyone can use. Having come up with a prototype, they’re now looking for Kickstarter support to raise the £200,000 necessary to facilitating a first production run. The gloves, dubbed Mi.Mu, allow the user to interact with their computer through gestures. A series of sensors measure the hand’s position, direction and force of movement and this data is transported wirelessly, then transformed into musical elements. Heap has been developing the technology for four years, initially motivated by a desire to inject more expression into her live performances. "In order to free myself up on the stage from my various bits of technology and to bridge the gap between what’s going on on stage and the audience, I wanted to create something where I could manipulate my computer on the move wirelessly so that music becomes more like a dance rather than a robotic act like pressing a button or moving a fader," she told Dezeen. Early versions of the gloves were connected to a pack worn on the upper body and required elaborate set-up procedures. But the latest are much more accessible. The inclusion of an x-IMU board containing an accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer and wifi has rendered the pack unnecessary. "It's really simple," Heap explains. "It just sees this exoskeleton as a device and then it comes up on your computer as a wifi device and you're ready to go. It's super simple and it's great." It’s expected that Mi.Mu’s uses will expand beyond music, to include design, sign language and, um, driving a vehicle. "I suppose as long as you can access your computer inside your car, there's no reason why you couldn't just sit in the back of your car and indicate right or left," Heap muses. "It's a remote control. It feels like an expressive musical instrument sometimes but it's essentially a remote control and anything that you could potentially do with your hands, you could do with your gloves." With Heap at the wheel, that could be one interesting ride. [via Dezeen]
The Atlantic Group is known for setting up some of the best seafood restaurants in Melbourne — most notably, The Atlantic. So, it was no surprise to see its takeaway sushi joint Sushi Baby do so damn well in Brighton immediately after opening in mid-2023. Riding this wave of success, the crew has now gone ahead and set up a new dine-in restaurant with a bright pink and green dining room and a courtyard filled with greenery and pink blossom garlands. This fit-out is starkly different from most of Melbourne's sushi joints, which tend to keep the colour scheme muted and furnishings traditional. But Sushi Baby isn't your classic sushi diner. Its colourful design reflects the kitchen's contemporary stylings and playful approach to Japanese cuisine. The nori tacos — filled with raw salmon, avocado, teriyaki sauce and furikake — are a brilliant representation of this. The classic flavours and ingredients are presented differently without being unusual just for the sake of it. The sushi purists out there shouldn't be scared off, as the Sushi Baby crew isn't messing around too much. Traditional nigiri, maki rolls and inari are up for grabs, plus there's a daily changing sashimi platter for those wanting to really treat themselves. Katsu sandos and some larger sharing plates help the diner transition from day to night. Upgrading the space hasn't meant that it has totally abandoned its takeout sushi roots. Most of the dine-in goodies can be made to take away, plus the 62- and 85-piece sushi boxes are still as stunning as always — coming in a bright pink box with the brand's signature laughing baby face printed under the lid. Sushi Baby can be found at 414 New Street, Brighton, open 11am–8.30pm from Tuesday to Thursday (and on Sundays) and 11am–9.30pm from Friday to Saturday. For more information, head to the venue's website.
Named after an award-winning collection of short stories by Eleanor Farjeon, The Little Bookroom is a dedicated children's bookstore that first opened in the CBD in 1960. Since then, the famed shop has enjoyed many iterations and addresses, but remains a much-loved fixture of Melbourne's literary scene — easily ranking as one of the best bookshops in Melbourne. These days, it sits happily in Fitzroy North Village, helmed by Leesa Lambert and her parents. A cosy oasis for budding young bookworms, the store boasts an expansive curation of kids books, graphic novels and young adult fiction, guaranteed to delight small readers with big imaginations. There's also a handy selection of informative titles aimed at their adult counterparts, covering everything from parenting to hot-ticket new fiction. Plus, you'll find a jam-packed event calendar featuring things like book chats, author talks and interactive storytime sessions. [caption id="attachment_815355" align="alignnone" width="1920"] By Meghan Lawson, Piccolo Angelo Photography[/caption] Top image: By Meghan Lawson, Piccolo Angelo Photography
Multi-arts festival Rising is set to transform a host of inner-city precincts for the next two weeks as its blockbuster program of immersive art and performance descends on Melbourne. And even the Yarra is scoring an art makeover of sorts, thanks to a monumental work by leading audio-visual artist Robin Fox. On show nightly for the festival's duration (Wednesday, June 1–Sunday, June 12), Monochord will light up the Birrarung like never before. The work takes the form of a powerful laser, beamed one kilometre down the river's length, the light sitting just above its surface. It's thought to be the highest intensity laser ever before used in Melbourne. You'll be able to see this roaring light beam from multiple points along the river as it flickers, pulses and sweeps to a synchronised soundscape. You can also tune into the Monochord audio via the website. The laser will be visible from 6.30pm each night. [caption id="attachment_856329" align="alignnone" width="1920"] 'Monochord', photographed by Zillah Morrow and Robin Fox[/caption]
UPDATE, October 23, 2020: Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is available to stream via Netflix, Binge, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube, iTunes and Amazon Video. The film that inspired DC Comics fans to ridiculously call for Rotten Tomatoes' closure, 2016's Suicide Squad was many things. Filled with nefarious characters forced to band together to save the world, it was supposed to be a Joker-led villainous team-up flick — and, while it ticked that box, it was also formulaic, bloated, unsubtle and overflowing with ugly CGI. As a result, it was mostly just dull and a slog to watch. And while the anti-hero onslaught is still getting a sequel in 2021, only one element truly stood out. That'd be Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, the Arkham Asylum psychiatrist who jumped into a life of crime when she became the jester of genocide's main squeeze. From the moment that Robbie stole the show in Suicide Squad, a Quinn-focused spinoff was always inevitable. So, knowing when they're onto a good thing — and witnessing their now Academy Award-nominated Australian star keep rising in fame via I, Tonya, Mary, Queen of Scots, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Bombshell — the folks behind the DC Extended Universe have gone and done the obvious. Thankfully, the powers-that-be learned a few lessons along the way, leaning into everything that first made the anarchic character attract so much big-screen attention. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is vividly stylised, irreverently upbeat, and both frenetic and fluid. To the benefit of every fight and chase scene, it's also more concerned with eye-popping action choreography than overblown special effects. The movie's riotous mood, lurid colour scheme and kookily comic sensibilities can't smooth out all of its bumps, though, but put it this way: Suicide Squad, this definitely isn't. After breaking up with the Joker (Jared Leto's awful green-haired version of the villain is nowhere to be seen, luckily), Quinn finds herself at a crossroads. Just like anyone who's newly single, she's not quite sure what to do with herself, other than drinking, downing comfort food, cutting her hair and getting a pet. Just when she's starting to reclaim her havoc-wreaking spark, she also discovers an unexpected consequence of changing her relationship status. Now that she's no longer the clown prince of crime's other half, every lowlife in town wants to settle the score for all the times she's done them wrong. One of them is psychopathic nightclub owner Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor) — and, in trying to save her alabaster skin from her new number-one nemesis, Quinn gets caught up with a posse of other feisty Gotham gals. Enter: Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), a hard-nosed detective constantly overlooked by the brass; Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), a singer at Sionis' club with a helluva voice; and the crossbow-wielding, vengeance-seeking, leather-clad Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Light-fingered teen Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) actually brings them all together, with Sionis' goons chasing her, too. These ladies comprise a disparate bunch throughout much of the movie, but — because this flick is based on and named after a comic-book superhero team — becoming a girl gang is blatantly on the agenda. Yes, even with candy-coloured trickster Quinn leading the charge and grinning away as she's doing so, Birds of Prey brandishes a familiar caped crusader template. Besting Suicide Squad is an incredibly low and easy bar to conquer, which Birds of Prey does. Completely finding its own groove is a trickier task and, despite the best efforts of director Cathy Yan (Dead Pigs) and writer Christina Hodson (Bumblebee), it proves harder to master here. Sporting a punk-ish, perky, peppy attitude, Birds of Prey feels unique in the DC movie realm, even against other standout franchise entries like Wonder Woman and Aquaman. But its goofy, off-kilter vibe also feels just a few shades away from Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok on occasion. Quinn's cheeky, knowing, mile-a-minute narration, as well as the playful plot structure that comes with it, can also veer too close to Deadpool territory. That makes Birds of Prey fun, purposefully chaotic and mostly entertaining, but also sometimes struggling to keep it all together. That's Quinn herself in a nutshell, though — and while this isn't a case of a film perfectly aping its protagonist in every possible way, there's still some nice symmetry at play. And, there's always something enjoyable going on on-screen. Often, it's the kinetic fight scenes, with credit to second-unit director (and John Wick franchise director) Chad Stahelski. At other times, it's the dazzling, glittering production design, or a memorable dream sequence that casts Quinn as Marilyn Monroe. Usually, it's the cast, which firmly pushes a diverse array of girls to the front. An over-the-top McGregor relishes his rare cartoonish bad guy role, but Birds of Prey's motley crew of female stars soar highest. Robbie most of all, unsurprisingly — and just as Joaquin Phoenix's take on the Joker looks likely to nab him an Oscar, it's a delight to see Harley Quinn still stealing the spotlight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygzqL60kvwU
When The Duffer Brothers, the siblings who brought the world Stranger Things and gave Netflix its biggest hit yet in the process, announced that their obsessed-over and adored series was returning for a fourth season — a reveal made all the way back in 2019, just months after the third season released — they did it in the only way they know how. "We're not in Hawkins anymore", the video heralding the news advised. Even when dropping 45-second videos comprised solely of graphics and moody tunes, the Duffers' fondness for filtering their show through classic pop-culture references remained firmly intact. So it is that Stranger Things 4 ventures beyond its trusty small-town setting, and in several directions. It keeps those nods and winks to flicks and shows gone by streaming steadily as well. This fourth go-around, seven episodes of which arrive on Friday, May 27, ambitiously expands in other ways, too — not quite so many that you'd need seven Dungeons & Dragons dice to count them, but enough that it's noticeable. It's bigger and longer, with no episode clocking in at less than an hour, one in the first batch running for a feature-length 98 minutes, and the final two not set to release until Friday, July 1. Its teenage stars are bigger and taller as well, ageing further and faster than their characters. The show has matured past riffing on early-80s action-adventure movies, such as The Goonies; now, it's onto slashers and other horror films, complete with new characters called Fred and Jason. And with that, Stranger Things also gets bloodier and eerier. It's still the show that viewers have loved since 2016, when not even Netflix likely realised what it had unleashed — and no, that doesn't just include the demogorgon escaping from the Upside Down. But growing, as Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown, Godzilla vs Kong), her boyfriend Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard, Ghostbusters: Afterlife), and their pals Will Byers (Noah Schnapp, Waiting for Anya), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo, The Angry Birds Movie 2), Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink, Fear Street) and Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin, Concrete Cowboy) all visibly have, comes with a few pains. The Duffers give fans more this time around, entertainingly so; however, the flow of the season's super-sized episodes and sprawled-out narrative threads is often askew. But that's hardly the worst problem to have — and pressing "next episode" instantly when each set of credits rolls remains as easy as ever. Eleven and company all do have worst woes to deal with. Six months after the battle of Starcourt, Eleven lives in Lenora Hills, California, with Will, his brother Jonathan (Charlie Heaton, The Souvenir Part II) and their mother Joyce (Winona Ryder, The Plot Against America). There, the weather is sunny yet little is rosy. The former government test-subject writes otherwise in letters back home, but high school is an onslaught of mean-girl bullying, which spills out violently when Mike visits over spring break. Eleven's powers have also vanished, and she's haunted by the loss of Jim Hopper (David Harbour, Black Widow) — as is Joyce, who now sells encyclopaedias from home. Life isn't any better in Indiana. More accurately, it's terrifying and insidiously grim. A pre-holiday Mike has joined the high school D&D club with Dustin, as run by metal-loving outcast Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn, Small Axe). So has Lucas, but he's also on the basketball team, trying to work his way up the social ladder. Haunted by her brother Billy's (Dacre Montgomery, The Broken Hearts Gallery) death in season three, Max refuses to fit in anywhere, but needs the gang's help when a new form of evil seeps out of the Upside Down and starts leaving a body count. Also ready to assist: Steve Harrington (Joe Keery, Free Guy) and Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke, Fear Street), who've graduated to working in the Hawkins' video store, plus the school newspaper's new star reporter Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer, Things Seen & Heard). And, in Russia — because that Hopper is alive and definitely isn't in Hawkins was revealed between seasons — frosty bleakness is status quo. But the stranded Hawkins Police chief remains as stubborn as ever, even shackled in a Soviet gulag. Obviously, he's determined to regain his freedom. Stranger Things 4 is many things: a reminder that high school is hell, and just being a teenager is torturous, too; a musing on trauma and the way it carves through hearts and souls, as slasher flicks tend to be; an escape caper; an enormous love letter to horror master Wes Craven, a wonderful stab of casting included; and another book in the show's superhero story. One of its most frustrating aspects: the way it throws around that S-word, because everything has to be a superhero tale these days (see also: the clearly Stranger Things-influenced Firestarter remake). This series has always been at its best when it's embracing two other genres, sci-fi and horror. Ramping up the latter, and using it to explore the chaos of being caught between childhood and adulthood, is season four's savviest touch. While it isn't particularly new or inventive, it cuts deep, mining the pain of making mistakes, being forever changed by life's ups and downs, and grappling with the realisation that some wounds truly are forever. As a result, for all of its efforts to roam beyond its original setting, Stranger Things' fourth season feels more like itself on familiar ground, unsurprisingly. That sensation helps give Sink one of the season's best performances so far — its weightiest and most textured, too — complete with a stunningly deployed 'Running Up That Hill' by Kate Bush as her personal soundtrack. It's also in Hawkins where the stakes are greater, the plot tighter and the diversions funnier, in no small part thanks to Matarazzo's still-stellar timing, Keery leaning as hard on Steve's comedic vibe as he has since season two, and Hawke making every Robin moment an utter delight. There's no place like home, after all, including when that town is a cross between Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Sunnydale and Twin Peaks. Although they're both 90s references, rather than hailing from the Duffers' beloved decade prior, the blood of Buffy and Twin Peaks have long pumped through Stranger Things' veins. That feels especially the case in season four, which is also the most melancholic yet — but with a clearly vast budget, as made plain by the special effects that the Duffers and fellow directors Shawn Levy (Free Guy) and Nimrod Antal (Predators) have at their disposal. And, with all that dripping 80s nostalgia, of course, because it wouldn't be Stranger Things without it. The expected but never derivative winks and callouts to the decade's screen touchstones keep coming, naturally, like they too are spilling out of the Upside Down. Also flowing faster than Dustin's one-liners, Steve's glorious locks, Eleven's steely stares, Joyce's nervous energy and the horrors of season four's new Lovecraft-esque big bad? The can't-stop-watching thrill of having Stranger Things back, slinking into its darker trip — ups, downs, occasional awkwardness and all — and binging compulsively. The first seven episodes of Stranger Things season four hit Netflix at 5pm AEST / 7pm NZST Friday, May 27, with the remaining two set to follow on Friday, July 1. Images: Courtesy of Netflix © 2022.
"Hey Garth, I really think you should read this book." Audiences have those ten words, as sent to Australian filmmaker Garth Davis in an email, to thank for Foe. When the director behind Lion and Mary Magdalene received that recommendation, it was from someone in the film industry that he didn't know — "it was just random," Davis tells Concrete Playground — and it led to his third feature. It also gave the world the outstanding pairing of Irish actors Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal, aka two of today's best talents, playing a married couple in the year 2065 when the climate crisis has made the earth nearly unliveable. The novel: Canadian author Ian Reid's text that gives Foe its name. The plot: in that time to come, Junior (Mescal, Carmen) and Hen (Ronan, See How They Run) are etching out what life they still can on his family's wilting American midwest farm when government consultant Terrance (Aaron Pierre, Old) arrives in the night to change everything. On the page and on the screen, this tale enlists Junior on a two-year space mission to help build an installation that's part of the plan to sustain humanity away from its ravaged home planet. It also reassures the couple that Hen will have familiar company: a duplicate that'll look exactly like her husband, as designed to slide seamlessly into his place. "I bought the book pretty much straight away, and then I read it in one sitting. I just couldn't put it down. Then I went back and read it again a second time," Davis explains. He also stresses the "obvious reasons" for that instant revisit, as anyone who has also devoured Reid's book will know — and viewers, too, once they've seen the movie that the filmmaker and writer teamed up to pen the script for. "When I was reading the book, I didn't have any expectations to turn it into a film. But as I was reading it, the first thing I was struck with was that kind of Hitchcockian feel in the setup. The stranger arriving in the night, this couple living on an isolated farm — it just felt I was seeing the movie in my mind," Davis continues. "But then what really interested me was it just went against all my expectations. Suddenly I became fascinated by this relationship, this marriage on-screen, and very curious why the wife was behaving in strange ways, this hot and cold quality to her behaviour. This deep meditation on their relationship started to unfold, and I found that fascinating." "Then it goes down this glorious, feverish rabbit hole, and all of these things are revealed, which I found an amazing experience. All that aside, after going through the whole journey, what I felt in my heart was Hen, and I really aligned with what she was fighting for in her marriage and in her life. She had that curiosity for life. She had that hunger to live. She understood the preciousness of time and to not take things for granted, and I found that something I could really align with," Davis notes. Largely a three-hander that's primarily shot in Victoria's Winton Wetlands — doubling for the US as Ronan and Mescal sport the appropriate accents — Foe marks a change of big-screen pace for Davis. When the Brisbane-born filmmaker made his feature debut with Lion after directing episodes of Love My Way and Top of the Lake, he jumped between India and Australia to helm a movie that'd earn six Oscar nominations and win two BAFTAs, and starred a hefty cast including Dev Patel (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar), Nicole Kidman (Special Ops: Lioness), Rooney Mara (Women Talking) and David Wenham (Elvis). Next, with biblical drama Mary Magdalene, shooting in Italy beckoned, also with ample on-screen names such as Mara again, Joaquin Phoenix (Beau Is Afraid) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Man Who Fell to Earth). The calibre of talents remains for Foe, clearly, but making something more intimate was firmly Davis' desire. Our wide-ranging conversation with the director about Foe, which is now in Australian cinemas, also spans that purposeful shift, the film's AI and environmental themes, humanity's approach to artificial intelligence, making a marriage drama first and foremost, the movie's stellar cast and Davis' learnings after Lion's huge success. ON FOE JOINING THE GROWING RANKS OF AI FILMS AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCI-FI "When we were looking at the book, it wasn't really in the vernacular at that point. It just wasn't happening. It wasn't in the zeitgeist. It wasn't until we started, at the end of the shooting, getting to editing where suddenly Starlink was in the sky, suddenly AI was — well, AI came quite late, but suddenly everything was coming alive. I just feel like we slipped right into the zeitgeist. I mean, I would think twice about doing it now because it is so saturated, but at the time, it just wasn't around. For me, this is not a film about that. This is a film about a relationship and that was my main interest. But what I did like about the AI and sci-fi device, it just created this super-exciting way to explore that human relationship in ways that you ordinarily couldn't. For Hen to be able to have a relationship with the version of her husband like when she first met him — I just love that proposition. I think that's really interesting. And how to navigate that in a believable way and a performance, I found even more challenging and interesting." ON FOE'S VISION OF THE FUTURE "I think this movie is very timely — and what I have witnessed is a lot of young people, maybe 16–25, in audiences really loving this movie and being alarmed by this movie for lots of reasons. They see it as their future, and they do identify with Hen because they feel they've been let down by my generation, who have basically not changed or done anything when the writing's on the wall. I guess what I love about the themes of this story is that it really explores stasis and our complacency — and when you take something for granted, you truly lose it, not just in ourselves but in the planet. I love all those aspects of the story, and it's something that I really felt we should be reminded of as we navigate into this technological future. I still think this question of what makes us feel fulfilled and how do we find a meaningful life, I think it's just going to get harder as we go along. And I guess the film is just reminding us not to keep looking outwards, to look inwards, and that we do have the power to make changes — we can stand up and say 'we don't want this' or 'I want to live my life and find my agency'. In a way, it's a kind of a wake-up call, this movie. It's a little bit of a call to arms — a call to arms to protect yourself and to fight for that, because that's what's precious and it's very vulnerable at the moment. I've got kids as well and they're all really pissed about the environment, and we've done nothing about it, and they're really annoyed. So when they when they see Saoirse Ronan, which is a human being that they all look up to as a good person, to see her playing a character that is frustrated by those very things and to want to have a justice for humanity, it's inspiring to these kids. They really love it." ON EXPLORING AI AS SOMETHING OTHER THAN AN ON-SCREEN VILLAIN "It's ironic that, in a way, the AI brought context and meaning to Hen's journey and helped her process a lot of things. So, yeah, you can definitely see the benefits of it. This is another way to look at: everyone talks about what AI's going do for them or take away from them, but have we ever thought for a moment about the ethics around creating sentient beings? Where do our ethics lie there? Because a lot of this artificial intelligence is being created to serve us — I guess it's a form of slavery in a way — and what happens when they do become sentient? What do we do then? Are they going to have rights or are they going be just used for our pleasure? So I don't know. I can see why people create it and I can see the positive aspects, but we do have responsibility, surely. We have responsibility in nature too, and we've fucked that up, so we're probably going to do the same with this." ON MAKING A MARRIAGE DRAMA FIRST AND FOREMOST "I think this couple is very relatable. I think everyone can attest to taking someone for granted over time, not even knowing so and finding you're in a very different point in the relationship. The actors bring their own understanding of that to the choices they make. Paul would have his own personal understanding of that, as would Saoirse — and that brings the richness through those choices. With this film, there's the story you think you're watching and the story that's really happening. And there's these delicious stakes, and all these wonderful riches to explore in the performance. The stakes change and build for all of the characters in different ways. We just have to drill down with all the actors in terms of preparation. We just made sure that we understood the real stakes of the characters at each of those points, so that we could bring something very believable through in the performances." ON CASTING SAOIRSE RONAN, PAUL MESCAL AND AARON PIERRE "You obviously look at a big list of people when you are working on the script — well for me anyway — and she was the person that I could feel the most in the room. I could almost feel her personality beside me and I could feel this curious human being, someone that had this inner light — I could really feel her. I took that feeling into the casting process and Saoirse was definitely right at the top of the list for that. She is an extraordinary actress, but she's just got this great personality that shines through all of her work. That's what I desperately wanted in the movie. It's what's precious. So we decided to start with her, and once she agreed to do it, then it's alchemy — it's like an emotional alchemy from there. You try to find people that you think could have a great chemistry with her and that led me to Paul Mescal. And what I loved about him, too, is that he had both alpha quality and that feminine quality. I thought he had emotional range to play the versions of himself that he needed to play, and he had such a deep love and respect for Saoirse — and their Irish heritage, of course. Then we did actually have Lakeith Stanfield cast as as Terence. We actually sold the movie with Saoirse, Paul and Lakeith Stanfield. That's what we took to the market. Then Lakeith Stanfield exited the project very, very late in the game, which was very distressing for me. But sometimes the universe intervenes in the right way — so it led me to Aaron Pierre. And I think we've been graced with this extraordinary performance from him. It it's so gorgeously nuanced and surprising and disorientating. So it was lucky — and it is so important that the film lives and dies on these actors because we've got nowhere to go. It's all about the psychology and the relationships on-screen, and I can't imagine it being anyone else really." ON AUSTRALIA STANDING IN FOR AMERICA'S MIDWEST "When I show the movie in America, they have no idea it's Australia. They actually go 'wow, that's a really haunting but scarily believable version of midwest'. So I think we did our job properly — I just had to avoid all the Australian tropes. It was really important for me that I wanted everyone to feel the earth dying and feel its distress, and its call for help. I really wanted to find landscapes that were real and I could put in camera, and Australia just delivered that feeling to me — and that was what was very exciting. The Winton Wetlands is where we built the set of the house, and it's haunting because there's a lot of death, obviously, with these dead trees, but you can really imagine what it would have been like when it was alive. It would have been the most beautiful farm. So I love all of that. I love that there's always beauty in our movie no matter how hard it gets — there's always a beauty in it and and I guess there's hope in that in a way. There's love in that. So I understand why he holds on to the farm. It would have been something that was loved and cherished, even though it may feel uninhabitable at this point. I can understand why we attach ourselves to these things. Everything was very deeply considered and chosen on a gut level to what we're trying to do on the story." ON MAKING A ONE-LOCATION FILM AFTER LION AND MARY MAGDALENE "It was actually a wish that I had. I've always done these super-ambitious, sprawling stories wrangling lots of cast, locations, traffic, chaos, extras. And I love all of that, don't get me wrong. But my absolute joy is when I when the camera's on that little boy's face and he does a performance that takes me away [in Lion], or Nicole Kidman in that scene with Dev, or Top of the Lake with Elisabeth Moss revealing this child that she has and the emotions. That's when I go 'I just want a whole movie full of that, how do that?'. So I guess I've always had this wish, like if there was the right material, I'd love to just just have a couple of actors in a room and go down that rabbit hole so. I guess this movie is partly serving that appetite for something more intimate". ON WHAT LION'S SUCCESS TAUGHT DAVIS ABOUT HIS CAREER "Lion, in a way, proved to me that you've just got to follow your instinct with what you want to make. Lion, I just fell in love with the story. I was passionate about it. I was very involved with with the script in many ways structurally, and in how we're going to tell the story. It just confirmed that I can follow my instinct and it can work out, and that was really exciting. I knew it was a story that people were going to love, and I would say that to my producers 'I think this is going be a really amazing movie' And of course [they'd reply] 'we hope so, we hope it works'. That was just a really great feeling to make something in such a pure way and for it to be accepted on such a scale. I approach all my projects like that now. I haven't changed. I have to feel it. I have to be excited about it, challenged by it. And I can be making things at any point, but I wouldn't be in alignment with my with myself. So I'm taking maybe a longer road or a different road, and just trying to just trying to make films that I care about. That's really, really what I'm doing." Foe opened in Australian cinemas on November 2. Read our review.
