For more than a year now, we've all been paying extra attention to maps — but not just to show us how to get from one place to another. Thanks to all manner of handy online diagrams, we've been using maps to see which venues have been visited by COVID-19 cases, and also to work out how far we can travel during lockdowns. Now, with vaccinations an important focus at this stage of the pandemic, there's also a particularly nifty interactive map that'll help you work out where to get the jab. If you're familiar with COVID-19 Near Me, the statewide map that draws upon Victorian Government's register of locations that positive COVID-19 cases have visited, then you already know where to head for this new map. It's actually an added function on the existing website, which now comes with two options at the top: exposure sites and vaccination clinics. Like the exposure venues part of the map, the statewide diagram gives locations specific hues depending on how the clinics operate. A grey dot is used if the clinic doesn't take online bookings, a purple dot indicates that it's an AstraZeneca clinic and a blue dot shows a Pfizer clinic. This map isn't run by the Victorian Government — it's just powered by its official data. So, Victorian residents are urged to also check the official Victorian Department of Health website as well. At the time of writing, the map was last updated on Sunday, August 8. At present, all adults in Australia can opt for the AstraZeneca vaccine as long as you give a doctor your informed consent before you go ahead. Since Thursday, June 17, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation has recommended the use of AstraZeneca vaccine in people aged over 60 only due to the risk of rare blood clotting disorders that've been linked to the vaccine when given to younger folks. That change followed an early recommendation back in April, which noted the AstraZeneca vaccine wasn't preferred for anyone under 50. But since late June, as announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, anyone of any age, including those under 60, can still get the AZ jab — after making an informed decision by talking to a doctor. For people under 40 who'd prefer the Pfizer vaccine, you need to fall into a specific group to access it at present, as the nation's vaccination rollout hasn't yet opened up the Pfizer jab to that age group. That means that adults aged up to 39 aren't yet eligible to get the Pfizer vaccination unless you're of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent; work in quarantine, border or healthcare roles; work or live in an aged care or disability facility; work in a critical and high-risk job such as defence, fire, police, emergency services and meat processing; have an underlying medical condition or significant disability; are pregnant; or participate in the NDIS, or care for someone who does. You can check out all existing COVID-19 vaccination clinics at covid19nearme.com.au. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Victoria, head to the Victorian Department of Health website. Images: COVID-19 Near Me as of Monday, August 9.
Flipping through a newspaper, feeling the flimsy paper in your hands and finding your fingerprints smudged with ink might by a dying ritual; however The Wall Street Journal is hoping that people still want to take the time to sit, peruse and consume the news at a leisurely pace. Instead of hanging out at a cafe rifling through physical pages, readers can now enter an architect-designed virtual New York apartment to get their news fix thanks to the publication's just-launched VR news app. WSJ VR is the newspaper's new virtual reality app for Google's Daydream platform, ushering news junkies into a different kind of reading experience. Now available to download via Google Play, it allows users to view a wall filled with a live feed of breaking news, watch interactive 360-degree videos and see a visualisation of real-time market data, all in swanky digs designed by architecture firm Michaelis Boyd. Interactive storytelling is the WSJ's main focus, particularly allowing "the Journal's reporters and editors to take readers and viewers of our journalism anywhere in the world," said Andy Regal, WSJ's Global Head of Video, in a statement. Whether that's something anyone actually wants is yet to be seen, but it's certainly quite different to scrolling through newsfeeds on a smartphone screen. Users can do more than read, watch and see the news while they're using the app; they can also engage with the space — which is based on a mix of the firm's real-life residential projects — on a 360-degree axis. Accordingly, even if you're not keen on staying up-to-date on global events and financial developments in the most immersive way possible, the app also offers views of the New York City skyline — and it's cheaper than a plane ticket. Via Dezeen.
Keeping the romance alive can be difficult when your girlfriend is thousands of miles away and sometimes phonecalls, frequent visits and even video chat don't cut it. But Walter C. May has officially upped the ante on romantic gestures with this viral love letter. With his roommates, who just happen to be a band called the Daylights, May wrote a song called "I Hope This Gets To You", filmed silvery hands coming together to form faces that mouth the lyrics and unleashed it upon the Interwebs. It's already been tweeted by Katy Perry. May is hoping this video reaches his girlfriend, who's on the other side of the country at grad school, solely through the power of the viral internet, because he wants to show his lady that they "can feel close without having to be close every day." All together now: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. https://youtube.com/watch?v=EjgtxVxE14A [via Gizmodo]
First, the bad news: if you don't already have a ticket to Laneway Festival 2025 in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to see Charli XCX, Djo, Beabadoobee, Clairo, Barry Can't Swim, Remi Wolf and more, they've completely soldout. Now, some good news: in each of the three east coast cities, Laneway has just announced official afterparties. The small club shows will feature STÜM, RONA. and Fcukers, plus others, with the lineup varying per location — and it's your next chance to get in on the Laneway action. The dates for the three shindigs are obviously the same as the Laneway dates in each destination. Accordingly, Brisbane's turn comes on Saturday, February 8, then Sydney's on Sunday, February 9 and Melbourne's on Friday, February 14. As for venues, River City revellers are headed to The Brightside, Harbour City residents to Oxford Art Factory and folks in the Victorian capital have a date with The Night Cat. In Brissie, STÜM, DJ Ivan Berko, nate sib and Cyber DJs will be taking to the stage. Sydney's gig features RONA., Fcukers doing a DJ set, DJ Ivan Berko popping up again, and both Loosie Grind and BEMAN. And in Melbourne, RONA. and DJ Ivan Berko are back, as is nate sib, alongside Laneway Festival's own DJs. Tickets are limited — so, like all things Laneway, getting in fast is recommended. As for the festival itself, if you've been lucky enough to nab tix, its lineup also features BICEP doing their CHROMA AV DJ set, Olivia Dean, Eyedress, Skegss, Hamdi, Joey Valence & Brae, 2hollis, Ninajirachi, Julie, Girl and Girl, and more. For its 2025 season, the event started by Danny Rogers and Jerome Borazio in the mid-00s is also headed to Bonython Park in Adelaide and Wellington Square in Perth in Australia — but without afterparties. Laneway Festival 2025 Afterparties Saturday, February 8 — The Brightside, Brisbane, with STÜM, DJ Ivan Berko, nate sib and Cyber DJs Sunday, February 9 — Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, with RONA., Fcukers, DJ Ivan Berko, Loosie Grind and BEMAN Friday, February 14 — The Night Cat, Melbourne, with RONA., DJ Ivan Berko, nate sib and Laneway Festival's DJs Laneway Festival 2025 Dates and Venues Thursday, February 6 – Western Springs, Auckland / Tāmaki Makaurau Saturday, February 8 — Brisbane Showgrounds, Brisbane / Turrbal Targun Sunday, February 9 — Centennial Park, Sydney / Burramattagal Land & Wangal Land Friday, February 14 — Flemington Park, Melbourne / Wurundjeri Biik Saturday, February 15 — Bonython Park, Adelaide / Kaurna Yerta Sunday, February 16 — Wellington Square, Perth / Whadjuk Boodjar [caption id="attachment_975321" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Harley Weir[/caption] Laneway Festival 2025 Lineup Charli XCX Beabadoobee Clairo Barry Can't Swim BICEP present CHROMA (AV DJ set) Djo Remi Wolf Olivia Dean Eyedress Skegss STÜM RONA Hamdi Joey Valence & Brae 2hollis Fcukers Ninajirachi Julie Girl and Girl + Triple J unearthed winners [caption id="attachment_975961" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Guido Gazzilli[/caption] St Jerome's Laneway Festival is touring Australia in February 2025. Head to the festival's website for further details and tickets. Afterparties are being held at the fest's east coast stops — with tickets on sale for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane's events now. Laneway festival images: Charlie Hardy / Daniel Boud / Maclay Heriot / Cedric Tang.
With Irma Vep, French filmmaker Olivier Assayas (Wasp Network) retraces his own footsteps, turning his cult-favourite 1996 movie of the same name into an Alicia Vikander-starring HBO miniseries. There's more to that act both on- and off-screen, and Assayas couldn't be having more fun with the whole concept. But first, David Lynch's Twin Peaks deserves a mention. No, not just because it's always worth thinking about. When that cult-favourite series returned in 2017 after a quarter-century gap, it ended its 18-hour run by asking "what year is this?". That query made complete sense in the show's narrative with its Lynchian logic; however, it's also as perfect a comment on the state of entertainment today as anything could utter. In Lynch's hands, Twin Peaks was never going to feel like slipping cosily back into the past to rehash old glories. Almost everything else that's hit screens of late can't make that claim, though. Among 2022's big box-office successes so far sits the latest Batman flick, the 28th Marvel movie, a 36-years-later sequel, the 11th Wizarding World instalment, yet another Spider-Man film and more Ghostbusters; what year is this indeed? Irma Vep doesn't belong in their company, however. It slides into streaming queues knowing the everything-old-is-new-again status quo, and probing, challenging and satirising it. It also jokes about whether an episodic project aired on TV can really be a movie, playfully riffing on the chatter about Twin Peaks' third season — and it's one of the best things to reach television since that masterpiece. Streaming weekly in Australia via Binge since Tuesday, June 7, and in New Zealand via Neon from Tuesday, June 14, Irma Vep also requires some unpacking. The term 'layered' has rarely ever applied to a show quite as it does here. So, Assayas remakes his own film — and the resulting series follows a director remaking one of his own past flicks as a TV project, too. In all versions of Irma Vep, the movies and shows being made are also remakes of 1915–16 French crime effort Les Vampires. It was a ten-episode, seven-hour cinema serial, and it's supremely real. Indeed, by first helming a feature about remaking Les Vampires, and now a series about remaking a movie that remakes Les Vampires (which, IRL, is also a remake of a movie that remakes Les Vampires), Assayas keeps remaking Les Vampires in his own way. The nested dolls that are Irma Vep's meta setup just keep stacking. The 1996 Irma Vep starred Maggie Cheung, who'd later become Assayas' wife, then ex-wife — and the 2022 Irma Vep haunts its on-screen filmmaker René Vidal (Vincent Macaigne, Non-Fiction) with visions of his ex-wife Jade Lee (Vivian Wu, Dead Pigs), who, yes, led his movie. If you're a fan of word puzzles, you might've also noticed that Irma Vep is an anagram of vampire; that said, Les Vampires isn't actually about bloodsuckers, and nor is any iteration of Irma Vep. To add to the list, while Cheung played a version of herself, Vikander (Blue Bayou, The Green Knight) plays fictional American star Mira — a name that's an anagram of Irma. You can also take that moniker literally, because mirroring is patently a pivotal aspect of Irma Vep in every guise. This lengthy roster of links, nods and connections isn't done yet, with René clearly a fictionalised version of Assayas, and the latter finding inspiration for Mira elsewhere in his career. Two of his recent gems, the sublime duo that is Clouds of Sils Maria and Personal Shopper, both starred Kristen Stewart — and spotting similarities between her professional and personal lives and Mira's is oh-so-easy. In fact, Mira signs up for René's new Irma Vep after leading huge Hollywood hits, then yearning for more complex and substantial work. She also has a famous actor ex, Eamonn (Tom Sturridge, the upcoming The Sandman), and moved on with her now-former personal assistant Laurie (Adria Arjona, Morbius). As delightful as it is for diehard cinephiles, knowing all of the above isn't essential before watching Irma Vep 2.0. It helps put viewers on its wavelength, though — and this is a show that's all about wavelengths. René can't find his, with the production plagued by insurance woes, actors demanding either big sex scenes (Sorry Angel's Vincent Lacoste) or crack (Proxima's Lars Eidinger), and a financier who only stumped up the cash to get Mira to front his new perfume line. Amid that chaos, and after finishing promotional duties on her last blockbuster (and running into the now-married Laurie in the process), Mira attempts to plunge as deeply as she can into her role. She adores the black velvet catsuit that costume designer Zoe (Jeanne Balibar, Memoria) has fashioned — almost as much as Zoe visibly adores her — and, even under her new assistant Regina's (newcomer Devon Ross) watchful eye, immerses herself in playing Irma Vep far more than the script requires. Everyone's sinking their teeth into something here, or trying to, just as Assayas bites into a smart and savvy satire about the entertainment industry. Everyone's feasting on something, too, including Hollywood's insatiable need to devour itself one sequel and remake at a time. Irma Vep tackles these ideas, and parodies the incessant lust for more and more screen content, the perils and perks of fame, on-set antics and plenty of online discussion about cinema over the past decade, all while musing on the lines between art and reality as well. Oh, and while throwing in a wonderful Emily in Paris gag. But Assayas is an arthouse auteur above all else, and he's always grounded and naturalistic rather than campy and farcical — even when Irma Vep is hilarious, which is often. In contemplating why we consume art, or make it so that others can (and for others still to capitalise upon), he also revels in both dissecting and simply hanging out among behind-the-scenes shenanigans. If that wasn't all phenomenal enough — and equally thoughtful, playful and savagely clever — Irma Vep is hypnotically lensed like it belongs on the big screen. It also shimmers with the full force of Vikander at her absolute best (yes, better than her Oscar-winning turn in The Danish Girl). There's such an earthiness to her performance that it hardly feels like watching a performance at all. She's acting, of course — Irma Vep doesn't add that layer to its pile — but she inhabits Mira with relaxed effortlessness, whether she's projecting the cool, calm and collected movie-star persona, showing the character's vulnerabilities, or diving into the allure that the series-within-a-series version of Irma Vep holds. Macaigne, the always-impressive Lacoste and Eidinger, and Balibar and Ross also do their utmost, because this show isn't short on standouts. But that key combination of Assayas, Vikander and all things Irma Vep is what dreams are made of, as is one of 2022's most glorious new TV shows. Check out the trailer for Irma Vep below: Irma Vep streams week by week in Australia via Binge since Tuesday, June 7 — and in New Zealand via Neon from Tuesday, June 14. Images: Carole Bethuel/HBO.
2024 is a double Dune year. First, Dune: Part Two brought the science-fiction franchise back to the big screen with help from director Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049), plus stars Timothée Chalamet (Wonka) and Zendaya (Euphoria). Next, television's Dune: Prophecy will arrive before spring is out. A six-part prequel series from HBO, it's set 10,000 years before the birth of Paul Atreides — and, as the latest teaser trailer for the show advises, this is a time when sacrifices must be made. Dune: Prophecy marks this book-to-screen universe's return to the small screen. Over the past four decades, the saga started on the page by Frank Herbert has hit cinemas three times so far, including David Lynch's 1984 film and Villeneuve's 2021 standout Dune: Part One. In the 00s, it also spread sandy across TV via two miniseries. Everything in pop culture has to span both movies and television at the same time these days, however, hence Dune: Prophecy — even though the tale of Paul, aka sci-fi's spiciest man, is set to continue in a third Dune film that doesn't yet have a release date. Come November, including via Binge in Australia, Dune: Prophecy will follow the sect that gives rise to the Bene Gesserit, aka the sisterhood that secretly sways the universe. In the debut sneak peek back in May, the narration explained how the faction formed, and was "assigned to the great houses to help them sift truth from lies" — but also noted that that power comes with a price. The new glimpse doubles down on the costs and chaos. Across both trailers, cue plenty of plotting, lurking in dramatically shadowy spaces, schemes, rituals, battles and marriages. The focus falls on two Harkonnen sisters — part of the same family that includes Stellan Skarsgard's (Andor) Baron Harkonnen, Dave Bautista's (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) Rabban and Austin Butler's (The Bikeriders) Feyd-Rautha in the movies — who are attempting to sure up humanity's future. Dune: Prophecy is inspired by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson's novel Sisterhood of Dune, and features Emily Watson (Small Things Like These), Olivia Williams (The Crown), Travis Fimmel (Boy Swallows Universe), Jodhi May (Renegade Nell), Mark Strong (Tár), Sarah-Sofie Boussnina (The Colony), Josh Heuston (Heartbreak High) and Jessica Barden (You & Me) among the cast. HBO is as keen as most Dune characters are about spice on turning films into TV shows at the moment, with The Batman spinoff The Penguin, IT prequel series Welcome to Derry and a Harry Potter remake as a television show all also on the way. Check out the latest teaser trailer for Dune: Prophecy below: Dune: Prophecy will stream from in November 2024, including via Binge in Australia — we'll update you when an exact release date is announced. Read our reviews of Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two, and our interview with cinematographer Greig Fraser.
The inner-city pocket of West Melbourne is slated for quite the reawakening, as part of a vision by The City of Melbourne to manage and steer expected population growth over the next decade. The plans have been pulled together and laid out in the council's new Municipal Planning Strategy — a comprehensive blueprint for the city's future that was put before councillors at the Future Melbourne Committee meeting earlier this week. The council outlined six key goals underpinning the overall Municipal Planning Strategy, which spans the next 10-20 years and includes considerations like celebrating First Nations culture and identity, as well as preserving Melbourne's distinctive places, people and culture. [caption id="attachment_717296" align="alignnone" width="1920"] West Melbourne cafe 279.[/caption] The blueprint covers multiple districts across Melbourne, outlining various changes for different parts of the city municipality, depending on their current vibe and existing level of development. While the plan stretches from South Yarra up to Parkville and Flemington Racecourse, West Melbourne and the CBD's north (that northwest corner of the CBD) is one of the areas that has been flagged for significant revamps. The strategy plots West Melbourne's evolution into one of "Melbourne's distinct inner urban neighbourhoods", aka a truly happening little spot. As part of the proposed plan, the top stretch of Spencer Street would be transformed into a lively shopping, commercial and creative precinct. It'd also score a mix of converted warehouses, Victorian shop fronts and heritage corner pubs, as part of an overall bid to encourage the retention of heritage and 'special character' buildings. Elsewhere in the suburb, there are plans for new walking and cycling routes, improved pedestrian access to surrounding areas, and a boost for public transport in an effort to minimise car traffic. There'd also be a stack of new trees and public green space added, including a new linear park along Hawke Street. In a post to Facebook following this week's Future Melbourne Committee meeting, Councillor Rohan Leppert indicated that the Municipal Planning Strategy would now be given a few tweaks during the amendment process. Once they've been made, the blueprint will be put on a public exhibition in the coming months so people can provide feedback and community consultation can begin. For more info about the Municipal Planning Strategy, see the City of Melbourne website. Top Image: Michelle Maria via Wiki Commons
As Melbourne's legendary food scene embarks on a necessary shake-up to suit the post-lockdown age, we're set to see plenty of clever and out-of-the-box events landing on our culinary calendars. That includes Everleigh-After — a multifaceted, art-filled dining experience from new culinary concept SSIXX, which hits Melbourne for seven weeks this summer. This envelope-pushing event will serve up a multi-sensory fusion of visuals, sonic delights, food, drink, art and aromas, in a collaborative effort between famed cocktail haunt The Everleigh, Ides' renowned chef-owner Peter Gunn and SSIXX's founder Philip Bucknell (who has imagined creative experiences for the likes of The Met Costume Gala, MOMA and New York Fashion Week). Taking place across a limited run of sittings from Tuesday, January 12, Everleigh-After features a series of intimate 14-person communal dinners, held within a futuristic cube at a secret inner-city location. Yes, it's set to be an immersive, otherworldly affair, offering a simultaneous feast for all the senses. And, while it comes in at a cool $250 a pop, this one aims to blow all your previous food experiences out of the water. While the visual splendour, bespoke scents and aural offerings unfold, guests will also enjoy a lineup of specialty Everleigh cocktails, carefully matched to a four-course feast. Much is being kept under wraps for now, though you can expect to taste a masterful reworking of Gunn's iconic Black Box dessert somewhere along the way — a much-loved Ides creation made famous after an appearance on Masterchef Australia. It seems that Melbourne is just the beginning, too. The minds behind Everleigh-After have confirmed the concept is a "travelling experience", imagined "in collaboration with culinary experts, artists and designers Australia wide." SSIXX presents Everleigh-After will host a limited run of sittings every Tuesday–Sunday from January 12–February 28, 2021. The location will be revealed to guests closer to the date of their dinner. To learn more and book a spot, head to the website.
No one needs an excuse to get stuck into a big bowl of gnocchi. But as winter steadily creeps closer, cravings for those pillowy potato dumplings tend to strike a whole lot more regularly. Luckily, the team running The Ascot Lot's beloved Gnocchi Festival is well aware of this fact. The event has been a fan favourite since 2019 — when over 10,000 pasta enthusiasts streamed in across the weekend. Now, the much-loved festival is back for another round, with a slew of the city's gnocchi-loving vendors invited to plate up their unique versions of the classic potato dish on Sunday, May 7. Only this time, the event's grown so popular, it's had to move to an expanded space in the carpark of sibling venue Holmes Hall. Head in from noon to devour a range of gnocchi-inspired creations from the likes of Cafe Merenda, Pasta Face, Hole in the Wall and Gnonnas Gnocchi, with vegan and gluten-free options also in the mix. Meanwhile, the outdoor Gnoch-Tail bar will be whipping up Italian-accented cocktails in a nod to gnocchi's roots, alongside a slew of other libations. A program of live tunes will soundtrack your gnocchi-scoffing right through the afternoon. And, as is always the way over at The Ascot Lot, pooches are more than welcome to join in the fun.
It seems that new multi-level venues might be the trend this year in Melbourne. The CBD scored HER a couple of weeks ago and now it's Richmond's turn, as Swan Street newcomer Untitled officially opens its doors. A labour of love more than three years in the making, the venue is the work of David Abela, Andrew Ryan and Daniel Vid; the same minds behind neighbouring cocktail haunt The Ugly Duckling. [caption id="attachment_842996" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anson Smart[/caption] The team has transformed a three-storey former art store into a 100-seat modern Euro bar and eatery, complete with creatively-charged yet timeless interiors by Flack Studio. It's a warm, eclectic space, featuring lots of rich textures, marble accents and an impressive art collection. In the kitchen, 2015 Young Chef of the Year Tim Martin (The European, Harvest) is delivering a contemporary menu spiked with lots of European influence. The snack game is particularly strong, with a slew of bites primed for matching to that after-work vino. Think, prosciutto paired with a melon escabeche, pea and ricotta arancini, smoked pork terrine, and oysters done with a celery heart mignonette. Deeper in, you can feast on duck ragu gnocchi finished with saltbush; a seafood spaghetti starring littleneck clams, prawns and calamari; and a pithivier (a style of pie) of gruyere, potato and chard, matched with a mustard aioli. [caption id="attachment_842844" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anson Smart[/caption] A grass-fed O'Connor scotch fillet features whipped bone marrow, a Murray cod fillet is elevated with roasted cucumber and harissa, and you'll spy a Russian honey cake leading the dessert offering. The matching wine selection pays homage to Euro drops and varietals, with a healthy spread on offer by the glass. Perch up at the horseshoe bar to sip the Rob Dolan pinot blanc, or head to France with a glass of the Domaine des Espérances gamay out of Touraine. Cocktails stick to the classics with the likes of a negroni and a dry gin martini, while the aperitif-sipping crowd will be all about the grapefruit-infused Kina Highball and the Spritz With No Name — a refreshing blend of Campari, Pampelle Grapefruit, sparkling wine, orange and olive. Find Untitled at 236 Swan Street, Richmond. It's open from 5pm until late Tuesday–Thursday, and from 12pm until late Friday and Saturday.
Will Dune movies just keep getting better and better? Here's hoping that's as natural an outcome as spying sand as far as the eye can see across Arrakis. When Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049) followed in David Lynch's footsteps with 2021's Dune, he made a new version of one of the most unfairly maligned sci-fi films ever crafted, and managed what Alejandro Jodorowsky sadly couldn't (see: excellent documentary Jodorowsky's Dune) — and a new science-fiction cinema classic arrived and stunned. Villeneuve's picture, which scored ten Oscar nominations and six wins, only told part of Dune's story. Cue Dune: Part Two to keep the tale going. War has arrived on the franchise's spice-laden planet, and Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet, Bones and All) and the Fremen are ready to fight. The former doesn't just want to face off against the folks who destroyed his family, but for the sandy celestial body, with Zendaya's (Euphoria) Chani at his side. That's the tale teased in not one but two trailers for the Dune sequel, with the second just dropping and filled with swirling tension. "This world is beyond cruelty," says Paul in the latest sneak peek, surveying the grim status quo. But he has a plan: "he who can destroy a thing has the real control of it." The first film had Paul head to Arrakis because his dad Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac, Moon Knight) had just been given stewardship of the planet and its abundance of 'the spice' — aka the most valuable substance in the universe — and then get caught up in a bitter battle with malicious forces over the substance. It also saw Paul meet the population of people known as the Fremen, including Chani, plus Javier Bardem's (Lyle, Lyle Crocodile) Stilgar, which is who he and his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson, Silo) are with in Dune: Part Two. Expansive desert landscape, golden and orange hues (again, Villeneuve helmed Blade Runner 2049), sandworms, the director's reliable eye for a spectacle and Hans Zimmer's (The Son) latest likely Oscar-winning score: they've all shown up in the new film's two glimpses so far. So have some of the franchise's new players, with Austin Butler ditching his Elvis locks as Feyd Rautha Harkonnen, the nephew of Stellan Skarsgard's (Andor) Baron Harkonnen. Christopher Walken (Severance) and Florence Pugh (The Wonder) also join the saga as Emperor Shaddam IV and his daughter Princess Irulen. From the first film, Josh Brolin (Outer Range), Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Beau Is Afraid) and Charlotte Rampling (Benedetta) return, while Léa Seydoux (Crimes of the Future) also joins the cast. Off-screen, Villeneuve has brought back not just Zimmer, but Oscar-winning Australian director of photography Greig Fraser (The Batman), Oscar-winning production designer Patrice Vermett (Vice), Oscar-winning editor Joe Walker (The Unforgivable), Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor Paul Lambert (First Man) and Oscar-nominated costume designer Jacqueline West (Song to Song). Check out the latest Dune: Part Two trailer below: Dune: Part Two will release in cinemas Down Under on November 2, 2023.
The shock of unkempt hair, the Irish brogue, the misanthropic attitude: there's no mistaking Dylan Moran for anyone else. It was true in beloved British sitcom Black Books, when his on-screen alter ego abhorred mornings, ate coasters and claimed that his oven could cook anything (even belts). And it's definitely true of the comedian's acerbically hilarious live shows. Moran is no stranger to Australia, and last headed our way in 2019. Whether you've guffawed at his bleak wit live or you've always wanted to, you'll be able to see him on Saturday, May 8, too — thanks to a streamed version of his Brisbane show from his last visit. Expect the kind of deadpan gags, wine-soaked insights and blisteringly sharp one-liners that've kept him in the spotlight since 1996, when he became the youngest-ever winner of the Edinburgh Fringe's Perrier Award. Dr Cosmos once again features Moran's grumpily lyrical musings on love, politics, misery and the everyday absurdities of life, which you can watch for $18 from your couch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMfRpM5PJRw
The Red Hummingbird's deck is an oldie but a goodie. Perfect for an after-work drink — without the obligatory staircase hike — simply pull up a swinging basket chair and have a cocktail.
As the colder months approach and more days inside are on the horizon, you might be thinking it's time to give your pad a little refresh. Creating a beautiful living space will help you cherish more time spent at home — but actually creating that personal space can feel like a daunting task. Sure, your Pinterest board is a work of art and you binge celebrity house tour videos on YouTube. But, when it comes to recreating that stylish feel in a small space or a rental (without dropping $400 on a cashmere pillow), it's hard to know where to begin. Luckily, we have interior designer Steve Cordony on our side. In partnership with Samsung, Steve has given us some top tips to help you create the home of your dreams no matter how tight the budget or space you're working with is. START WITH A MOOD BOARD Good news: your endless scrolling on Pinterest, TikTok and Instagram isn't all in vain. In fact, according to Cordony, this is step one for any design project. "My approach is always the same. No matter if I am styling a tablescape or a whole house, I always mood-board reference images and visuals that create an overall concept, and subsequently blueprint, for the project," he says. Collect your favourite design images to form your own aesthetic. Whether you are drawn to a colourful, eclectic style or you're more into neutrals and minimalism, creating a mood board will help you establish the look you are going for. DEVELOP YOUR OWN 'STYLE DNA' While creating a mood board is an excellent way of getting inspired, it's important to not get too swept away with what's in vogue. "Just like your fashion choices, you should never try to be 'on-trend' rather than create your own unique style for your home," Cordony explains. Sure, trends are fun. But if you're on a budget, it won't be worth investing in something that'll soon feel outdated. Instead, find styles that resonate with you personally and fit in with your lifestyle. Once you develop your own sense of style, you'll know how to adapt to changing design trends and create a space that is both contemporary and timeless. As Cordony puts it: "Because I have a strong sense of my style DNA, I can allow these changes to develop and shift my work, but never alter it." FUSE THE PRACTICAL AND AESTHETIC The most important element of design is ensuring your space coincides with your lifestyle. This means choosing a couch that elevates your space while being comfortable, not opting for fabrics that look nice but are impossible to clean, and having a functional space that suits your Netflix ritual. Let's face it, the TV is a pretty central component of any home but can be tricky to style. "So many spaces I visit always try to hide it which often makes it look out of place," Cordony says. With the option to have the legs on or off, Samsung's The Serif TV will easily adapt to your personal style. "The reality is television is part of most people's everyday lives. And with incredible technology and design options at our fingertips, styling an interior with the TV in mind, and thinking of it as a piece of art or sculpture, allows you to fuse practicality and aesthetics, which is the hallmark of a successful interior," Cordony explains. PLAY WITH LIGHT For those working with a less-than-ideal smaller space, a few easy changes can brighten things up. Cordony's tip? "Keep it light! A white paint like Porters Popcorn or Dulux Vivid White instantly creates a crisp background to build your space and bounces light from wall to wall," he says. And, don't forget the magic of the mirror. "Mirrors are my go-to tip for making spaces feel larger than they are, as well as choosing bigger furniture rather than petite pieces to mirror the smaller scale space". SMALL DETAILS MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE According to Cordony, simple changes can make a world of a difference when refreshing your space. "My biggest budget styling tip is hardware — think new door and joinery hardware. They will instantly lift any space and create a bold statement with a metallic accent," he says. Cordony is also a believer in the basic rule of thirds to create layers and contrast in a space. Understanding placement can make a big difference to your space without breaking the bank. "If you have amazing pieces but they're all spread out with no thought or consistency, then your eye has too many places to travel and often items get overlooked," he tells us. Instead, he suggests making smaller scenes with contrasting objects. "Creating vignettes in the space and thinking about balance and layering is key to a well-curated interior". If you're looking to add a touch of designer aesthetic to your living space, check out the products Steve Cordony used in our recent styling videos. To find out more about Samsung's The Serif, created in collaboration with celebrated industrial designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, visit the Samsung website. Images: Jarrad Shaw
After introducing its cookie pies to the world last week, Gelato Messina is bringing the OTT dessert back for a second round. This time, the pie in question is red velvet and it looks just as decadent as it sounds. Hang on, a cookie pie? Yes, it's a pie, but a pie made of red velvet cookie dough with white chocolate chips. And it serves two–six people — or just you. You bake it yourself, too, so you get to enjoy that oh-so-amazing smell of freshly baked cookies wafting through your kitchen. While no longer free, these pies are now available for preorder — so if you missed out last week, here's your chance to get yourself a piece of the pie. On its own, the red velvet dessert will cost $20. But to sweeten the deal, the cult ice creamery has created a few bundle options, should you want some of its famed gelato atop it. For $28, you'll get the pie and a 500-millilitre tub, while with a one-litre tub or a 1.5-litre tub, it'll cost $34 and $39 respectively. A handful of the bake-at-home goods will be available via Deliveroo from Wednesday, April 29 for those who can't or don't want to leave the house. But your best bet of getting your hands on one is by peeling yourself off the couch and picking it up from your local Messina store. You can place your preorder now via Bopple, with pick up times available between Wednesday, April 29 and Sunday, May 3. You can preorder a Messina cookie pie via Bopple to pick up from all NSW, Vic and Queensland Gelato Messina stores (except The Star) from April 29–May 3 or you can order delivery via Deliveroo on April 29.
In the world of astronomy, 2018 is ending as it began. After kicking into gear with an extremely rare supermoon, the year is coming to a close with another impressive sky show: the comet 46P/Wirtanen. Given the festive time of year and the hurtling celestial object's green colour, 46P/Wirtanen has been dubbed the 'Christmas comet'. It's expected to be the brightest comet of 2018 and, while it's already a presence in the night sky, it'll be at its most vivid and glowing between December 14 and December 18. If you want to spy it at its absolute brightest — and on its closest approach to earth — NASA recommends looking up on Sunday, December 16 (in the evening down under, continuing through until the morning of Monday, December 17). If you're wondering how close it'll be, 46P/Wirtanen will be 11.7 million kilometres away, which equates to 30 times the distance to the moon. As for how vibrant it'll be, the comet should range between 3 and 7.5 on the naked-eye magnitude. At the upper end, that's dimmer than the brightest stars but still visible without binoculars or a telescope. At the lower end, you'll need one of the aforementioned pieces of equipment to help you see it. However you're choosing to take a gander, you'll be peering at a comet that was first discovered in 1948 by American astronomer Carl A. Wirtanen. It measures approximately 1.2 kilometres in diameter, and completes its orbit every 5.4 years, but it's not expected to venture this close to earth again for another 20 years. For the best view, the ABC advises looking north-east, and using either binoculars or a DSLR camera. You might also want help from an online chart to get you looking in the right spot, with The Comet Wirtanen Observing Campaign offering a guide. Heading as far away from city lights is also recommended, as it always is when the sky is putting on a spectacle. If you're thinking of camping out, you might want to consider making a weekend of it. 46P/Wirtanen's brightest spell comes two days after the impressive Geminids meteor shower, which is expected to be visible from late evening on Friday, December 14 through to the early morning on Saturday, December 15. The Virtual Telescope Project will also be streaming live images of 46P/Wirtanen between December 12 and 17. 46P/Wirtanen will be at its brightest during the night of on Sunday, December 16. Image: Stephen Rahn.
Spending your days in classrooms might be behind you, but binge-watching your way through school-set hit Australian TV shows is something that you never grow out of. When Heartbreak High first arrived on television in the 90s, it became one of the nation's classic teen series. When it returned in 2022 via Netflix, the new Heartbreak High revival also had everyone turning up. Your next date with its dramas: April 2024. 2020s-era Heartbreak High was promptly renewed the show for season two when its first season proved a huge smash. In 2023, Netflix advised that school would be in session again sometime this year. Now, the streaming platform has announced that term starts again on Thursday, April 11, 2024 for the International Emmy-, AACTA- and Logie-winning show. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Netflix Australia & NZ (@netflixanz) Hartley High will be reopening its gates, "rack off" will be the strongest insult there is again and more than just nostalgia for the OG 1994–99 series will be on the agenda. And, as announced last year, there'll be new faces among the students. Sam Rechner (The Fabelmans) will play country boy and classic cinema fan Rowan Callaghan, and he's destined for a love triangle. Also, Kartanya Maynard (Deadloch) joins the Hartley crew as Zoe Clarke, who has big thoughts on celibacy — she's in favour — as part of a gang of Puriteens. Plus, in new news, Bump's Angus Sampson is joining the show as Head of PE Timothy Voss. On the returning crew, character-wise: Amerie (Ayesha Madon, The Moth Effect), Harper (Asher Yasbincek, How to Please a Woman), Darren (screen first-timer James Majoos), Quinni (Chloe Hayden, Jeremy the Dud), Dusty (Josh Heuston, Thor: Love and Thunder), Ca$h (Will McDonald, Home and Away), Malakai (Thomas Weatherall, Troppo), Spider (Bryn Chapman Parish, Mr Inbetween), Ant (debutant Brodie Townsend), Sasha (Gemma Chua-Tran, Mustangs FC) and Missy (fellow newcomer Sherry-Lee Watson). [caption id="attachment_938095" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Heartbreak High S2. (L to R) Gemma Chua-Tran as Sasha, Ayesha Madon as Amerie, Sherry-Lee Watson as Missy, James Majoos as Darren, Chloe Hayden as Quinni in Heartbreak High S2. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024[/caption] Season one started with Amerie becoming a pariah at Hartley after a big revelation — an "incest map" plotting out who's hooked up with who throughout the school — and also struggling with a sudden rift in her friendship with bestie Harper. Attempting to repair her reputation, she called on help from her new pals Quinni and Darren, all while working through her crush on Dusty and developing feelings for Malakai. And that's just the start of the Heartbreak High revival's season one story. In season two, everyone will back for a second term after doing some growing up over the holidays, and Hartley is now the lowest-ranking school in the district. Netflix is teasing that threesomes, chlamydia and burning cars will be distant memory for the gang — but there'll still be teen chaos, of course, or this wouldn't be Heartbreak High. [caption id="attachment_869123" align="alignnone" width="1920"] HEARTBREAK HIGH[/caption] It was back in 2020 that Netflix initially announced that it was bringing the series back — and yes, it sure is a 2020s-era take on the Aussie classic, including everything from friendship fights, yelling about vaginas from the top of a building and throwing dildos at walls through to consent, crime, drugs and police brutality. The original Heartbreak High was a massive deal, and was filled with now-familiar faces, including Alex Dimitriades, a pre-Home and Away Ada Nicodemou, and Avengers: Endgame and Mystery Road's Callan Mulvey as Drazic. It painted a multicultural picture of Australia that was unlike anything else on TV at the time. And, for its six-year run across two Aussie networks, the Sydney-shot show was must-see television — not bad for a series that started as a spinoff to the Claudia Karvan and Alex Dimitriades-starring 1993 movie The Heartbreak Kid, too. Check out the trailer for the Heartbreak High revival's first season below: Heartbreak High season two will arrive on Thursday, April 11, 2024. The show's first season is available to stream now via Netflix. Read our full review.
If peering at an artist's work is the same as peering into their soul, then staring at a self-portrait is like peeking through a wide-open window. Perhaps Rembrandt believed this? The 17th-century artist certainly loved putting his likeness on paper, whether he was picking up a brush or pencil, or getting etching. Perhaps you can ponder this very notion at Rembrandt — True to Life, which is bringing the Dutch Golden Age master's works to Melbourne's NGV International to brighten up Australia's winter. From Friday, June 2–Sunday, September 10, the St Kilda Road gallery will be home to a wide-ranging exploration of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn's work — so expansive, in fact, that it's the most-comprehensive Rembrandt exhibition to display Down Under in 25 years. On loan from the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, 1659's Self-Portrait is one of the star attractions, and one of around 80 images of himself he's thought to have made. Created when the artist was 53 (and three years after he'd declared bankruptcy), it sits alongside ten etched self-portraits. Combined, they let True to Life attendees chart how he saw himself, and conveyed his soul to the world, over three decades. Etchings comprise a significant portion of the NGV's ode to Rembrandt, with more than 100 from its own collection at the heart of the impressive retrospective. In addition to helping to detail his self-perception, they showcase his innovations as a printmaker and also illustrate how widely and deeply he splashed around his artistic talents. If you're heading to a Rembrandt exhibition, you want to see his paintings, of course, an instinct that the showcase capitalises upon. Thanks to pieces borrowed from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Louvre in Paris, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and the Teylers Museum in Haarlem as well, the artist's prints are placed in context with his paintings. You'll see how they're connected no matter the subject or theme as True to Life steps through not just his portraits, but also his landscapes, scenes of daily life, depictions of religious motifs and nudes. Among his scenery-focused works, his largest landscape etching The three trees, which dates back to 1643, is a drawcard. From his pieces that hone in on the human form — never idealising them — Diana at the bath, an etching from 1631, is another highlight. Taking its cues from passages from the Gospel of St Matthew, 1648's well-known piece The Hundred Guilder Print is also on display as part of the exhibition's survey of Rembrandt's fascination with faith. His two largest prints similarly fall into the same category: The three crosses from 1653 and Christ presented to the people from 1655. Because the artist transformed them both by making continuous adjustments, True to Life shows them in two different states — early and late side by side. "The NGV is home to the most important collection of works by Rembrandt in the southern hemisphere and this NGV-exclusive exhibition celebrates one of our major strengths: our outstanding print collection. Rembrandt was a master printmaker and his experimentation in the medium reveals his insatiable curiosity and sheer versatility as an artist," said Tony Ellwood AM, the NGV's Director. While taking in all of the above, art lovers will journey through Rembrandt's life from Leiden in the 1620s to his waning years in Amsterdam in the 1660s. On hand to assist: a recreation of his cabinet of curiosities, which featured everything from his own prints and drawings through to musical instruments, weapons, shells and natural objects. Rembrandt's version helped spark his creative impulses, and the NGV has taken its assortment of pieces from its collection, as well as the Melbourne Museum and the State Library of Victoria. Rembrandt — True to Life displays from Friday, June 2–Sunday, September 10 at NGV International, St Kilda Road, Melbourne. Head to the gallery's website for further details and tickets. Images: Installation view of Rembrandt: True to Life on display from 2 June-10 September at NGV International, Melbourne. Photos: Tom Ross.
No one simply likes Caramilk. Cadbury's caramelised white chocolate is adored, obsessed over and flat-out loved with undying passion, whether it's being served in standard block form or being worked into cocktails. We could keep listing more words of utter and complete devotion — and keep outlining other different ways to eat the cult-favourite dessert, too — but you get the picture. When it comes to this specific type of choccie, there's no such thing as too much. Love Caramilk? Like ice cream as well? Then you'll want to sink your teeth into Cadbury's new collaboration with Peters Ice Cream. The resulting dessert is as straightforward as it sounds, but hey, when it comes to making Caramilk ice creams on sticks, there's really no need to overcomplicate matters. Available in Australian supermarkets from today, Monday, July 26, the new Caramilk desserts coast Peters' ice cream with the beloved chocolate. So, no more needing to choose between a few squares of the smooth and creamy chocolate and something frosty. The look a little like Magnums, but in that golden Caramilk hue — and, if you're already a fan of the chocolate, they're certain to tempt your tastebuds. They come in individual servings and in boxes of four, so you can either pick up some to share or stock up on dessert for the next few days. Getting in quickly is recommended, though, given how popular all things Caramilk typically prove. Cadbury's Caramilk ice creams are now available in supermarkets — and will set you back $4 each, or $8.50 for a four-pack.
On the fairly unassuming Hallenstein Street in picturesque Queenstown sits one of the most luxurious new offerings in New Zealand's hotel portfolio, offering a personalised accommodation experience worth travelling for. The Carlin is the brainchild of US-born hotelier Kevin Carlin, a property developer with a special connection to the region after buying up large swaths of land here decades ago in a move he says people claimed was "nuts". But unlike other hotels in the area, his newest venture and namesake does not sit on the crowded shores of Lake Wakatipu. Instead, it's found quietly up Queenstown Hill and therefore boasts jaw-dropping views of the lake and CBD. For those after a luxurious hotel experience, The Carlin is fairly unmatched. If you're looking for a typical five-star experience look elsewhere – this hotel modelled on the luxury hotels of Europe offers a range of spacious suites with 88 to 500 square metres of indoor and outdoor living space, and boasts a ''beyond five-star' experience. The "beyond five-star" features include (but are not limited to) private butlers, private chefs, private massage, a separate private entrance and access to a private jet and luxury vehicles — you can take a Bentley for a quick shopping sojourn into town and save your legs from the hike back up the hill afterwards. While most hotel balconies are an afterthought, that's not the case here – instead, your outdoor space has been maximised to make the most of those views. You'll find a spa, a fireplace and a full-sized dining table for entertaining. Want to host a dinner party? Your suite has a fully stocked kitchen — although you'll probably want to leave cooking preparations to your private chef. Our experience: Our arrival at the Carlin for a recent stay was marked by an extensive tour by the man himself. While clutching our welcome cocktails (dirty gin martini for me, spaced rum old-fashioned for my partner) we were taken around the various one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom suits – including a peek at the penthouse. More resembling a full-scale apartment, The Carlin Skyhome is the largest penthouse suite in Australasia. It has seven bedrooms spanning three floors, and a separate quiet entrance "for when Tom Cruise comes to stay", according to Carlin. If you want to book in hoping to spot celebs or royalty you'll probably be out of luck as discretion is the name of the game here. The hotel only accommodates a maximum of 50 guests at one time and can even be booked out by single groups – Carlin told us he has a family taking over the whole hotel for a week in December. Once you've settled into your suite and noticed the unique touches luxuriously appointed in gold and marble, showered with the Molten Brown toiletries and tried out the wildly exciting modes on the toilet (turn it into a heated bidet if you're so inclined), it's time to head downstairs for dinner. Oro (meaning 'gold' in Italian and Spanish) is the hotel's single restaurant, and hospitality brains will notice the clever separate hot and cold pass system designed by Kevin Carlin himself. This eatery offers a further elevated experience and one not reserved solely for hotel guests – you'll spot a mix of Queenstown locals taking the opportunity for a special occasion meal. The menu has a local lean, making the most of suppliers from the region. Standouts include the grilled ora king salmon, South Island venison, line-caught seafood and lamb rack from Royalburn Station — a name that will stand out for fans of Nadia Lim's television series Nadia's Farm. We opted for steaks, and upon learning my partner was a scotch man, the wonderfully attentive front of house brought out various examples on offer on a board so he could choose the most appealing cut. It's that attention to detail that most stands out at the Carlin — nothing is a bother. And while you're drinking, dining and chatting you'll realise the tinkling piano playing while you dine isn't a Spotify playlist, but the work of the hotel owner himself, taking a quick 10 minutes to entertain guests with a virtuoso performance in the corner. Attention to detail, indeed.
In a dimly lit room in a grimy train station, a capuchin monkey sits at a table. In walks a detective, who then starts smoking a cigarette and interrogating the animal in front of him. They chat, bantering back and forth as the cop asks questions and the primate answers. At one point, the monkey even sings. Queries range from "do you know anything about birds?" to "you ever ride the rodeo?", all in a quest to solve a murder. A chicken also pops up, and a waitress. If the above scenario sounds more than a little surreal, that's because it is — especially given that it's part of David Lynch's new 17-minute short film. Called What Did Jack Do?, the black-and-white piece also stars the inimitable Lynch as the detective. At this stage of the acclaimed director's career, that just sounds natural, really. Intrigued? If you're a fan of the filmmaker's work — spanning everything Eraserhead and Blue Velvet to three seasons of Twin Peaks across nearly three decades — then of course you are. And thanks to Netflix, you can now spend a small chunk of your day watching the latest unique, delightful and inescapably odd work by one of the most distinctive auteurs to ever stand behind a camera. While first screened at Paris' Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain back in 2017, and then playing Lynch's own in Festival of Disruption in New York in 2018, What Did Jack Do? hadn't been widely seen until now. And although Netflix isn't known for stacking its catalogue with shorts, when it adds one, it's worth checking out — like last year's also far-from-ordinary Paul Thomas Anderson and Thom Yorke collaboration. Check out a clip of What Did Jack Do? below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crzwq4CjhvA What Did Jack Do? is currently available to stream on Netflix.
Enjoy the charms of the French countryside right in your own backyard, when So Frenchy So Chic in the Park rolls back into town. This massive annual picnic will once again bring the sights, sounds and flavours of France to revellers at Werribee Park. Ooh la la. This year's musical lineup features four unique artists. Moroccan-born folk blues singer Hindi Zahra has earned comparisons to Patti Smith and Billie Holiday; duo Brigitte bring a mix of lounge pop and retro folk disco; chanteuse Lou Doillon makes her So Frenchy debut; and Balkan electro collective Soviet Suprem will have you dancing all afternoon long. Food offerings will include an array of delectable hampers and cheese plates — although, if you want to get in on that action, you'll need to reserve one pronto. Don't worry if you miss out though, as you can BYO food, and they'll also be serving up a banquet of seafood, crepes, macaroons and ice cream, along with beer, wine, champagne and cocktails.
He's quick, he's nimble and he has what you need to get through lockdown. Jimmy Brings is a booze delivery service that'll bring wine, beer and spirits to your doorstep in an unbeatable 30 minutes or less — from that bottle of champagne for an unexpected iso engagement celebration to a Couch Cuddle Pack of shiraz and Toblerone to spice up iso movie nights. Old-mate Jimmy has been delivering the goods since long before COVID-19, starting out as a late-night service in Sydney in 2011, dropping off extra drinks, snacks and even ciggies for your out-of-hand house parties. Those were the days. Now Jimmy is all grown up, with not only a long-serving history in Sydney but also a suite of drivers in Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast and further afield. He's still peddling alcohol on demand, but things have stepped up a notch and you can now add in a bottle of hand sanitiser, ice and a pack of Jonny Condoms for those wild nights at home. The booze offering is a small-but-mighty range that's taste-tested by the Jimmy Brings team, and wine descriptions will make you smile. Those after organic wines can find low-preservative, punchy wines from Speak No Evil, Il Villagio and Farm Hand. There's also whites, reds and sparkling from Jolly Trotter, Heritage House and Covielle. And if you're stocking up for the long haul, there are wine bundles starting from $49.99 for six — around $8 a bottle. On the spirits and mixers front, you can make things super easy with Cheeky G&Ts, Skinny Soda and Moscow Mule packages that scoop up all the necessary ingredients for you, including soda, ice and limes, so you can add to cart without having to think too much about the logistics. A Dirty Daiquiri starter pack is $49.99 and an Aperol Spritz pack, just $42.99. Your beer, wine and bubbles are delivered cold and, as always, you can order seven days a week until 11.59pm in Sydney, and until 11pm in Brisbane and Melbourne — orders must be placed 30 minutes before closing time. Though they can't leave alcohol unattended, Jimmy Brings drivers are operating low-contact deliveries during COVID-19 times, including leaving bags on the ground and sighting your ID without handling it directly, so everyone's kept safe and happy. Never used Jimmy Brings before? Download the Jimmy Brings app and use the code 'CONCRETE' to get $10 off your first go. That's two packets of Nobby's mixed salted nuts, right there. Lucky you. Check out what Jimmy Brings can offer in your suburb. Offer expires on July 30, 2020.
If the humble straight-up beer just isn’t cutting it for you anymore, truffle-infused beer is a thing now — and they’re coming to high-end restaurants in New York City. Chicago-based Moody Tongue’s Shaved Black Truffle Pilsner is being sold for $120 for a 22oz bottle, which is just shy of a long neck for the classy folk playing at home. So far the beer has been trialed at Per Se in New York, a top-tier, Michelin-rated restaurant. To make matters even more fancy, the brew was paired with roasted bitter chocolate and truffle black pudding with brioche cream, walnut floss and green almonds. Jared Rouben, chef and now brewmaster behind Moody Tongue in Chicago, has put in a lot of homework and meticulous hours into concocting this extravagant tipple. "I reached out to other chefs to get as much information as possible. I did as much homework as I could to get it just right." Rouben explained to Grub Street that he spent several all-nighters shaving truffles. "Imagine separating egg yolks from egg whites by the hundreds." The beer consists of hand-shaven black perigord truffles, German hops and pilsen malt. For the first batch Rouben made a fairly small yield, about 40 barrels, which would fill 80 kegs. Depending on how well this creation goes down with the high society of New York, further production could be on the cards. Interestingly, the truffles used in the beer were sourced from Australia, as Rouben paired up exclusively with Western Australian truffle aficionados, Wine & Truffle Co. Australia is the fourth largest black truffle producer in the world, just behind, France, Italy and Spain. Retail cost for truffles in Australia is around $2500 per kg — and if you add importing costs on top of that to get the truffles to the States, the hefty price tag for a bottle of beer starts to make sense. Sadly there are no plans as of yet to export this beer, but if they do, we think they should return the truffles to their native homeland. As long as someone else is shouting the round, we’ll happily have a sip. Via Grub Street and New York Post.
Get ready to meet Mr Grumbles, a rufus betton; Rocky, a tree kangaroo; Yolo, Zaney, Harvey and Swarf, all Tasmanian devils; bare-nosed wombats Bell and Bruce; and Clementine, Patricia, Kandy and Keisha the koalas. They're all residents at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, one of Brisbane's long-standing tourist attractions — and they're making the venue's new nocturnal precinct their home. Joining them are potoroos, pademelons, bandicoots, bettongs, southern hairy-nosed wombats and echidnas, giving visitors to the Fig Tree Pocket animal haven an array of cute critters to peer at by night. Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary's latest addition was announced in October and opened to start November, so both Brissie locals and tourists alike have a new reason to drop by. Plenty of folks have explored the venue over the years, but not like this until now. Based around a one-kilometre stroll called The Wild Walk, which meanders through a eucalypt planation, the new nocturnal precinct heroes Australia's nocturnal wildlife and offer night-time experiences. It features seven exhibit spaces filled with ten species — half of which are new to the site especially for its latest expansion. "There's a whole world of activity that happens after dark that we aren't privileged to, but Nocturnal gives people that experience, with a tour guide, in a non-invasive way to celebrate Australis's animal superstars and educate people about the importance of sustaining their ecosystems," explains Frank Mikula, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary Curator. "It's an Australian native animal treasure hunt, with the prize being able to see these amazing creatures up close and personal." Nestled into a leafy pocket of the River City's western suburbs, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary already boasts the honour of being the world's first and largest koala sanctuary. It's a great place to cuddle a koala — including on Christmas Day if you're looking to for something other than the usual festive celebrations. See animals after dark is its latest attraction, with patrons able to get peering using portable thermal imaging cameras. The experience is designed around not disrupting the critters — so, no glaring beams are shone their way. Instead, you'll walk across the new elevated boardwalk, which has been custom-designed for the site. You'll also look through cameras that pick up heat signatures, and are around the size of a mobile phone. And, when an animal has been found, a non-intrusive red torch light will help you get a better glimpse. If you're keen, you can sign up for a tour that runs for 90 minutes three times a week, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Each group will welcome 20 visitors, and spans feeding opportunities and looking at burrow cams as well. Part of a $3.2-million project, the new additions further expand a venue where getting up close and personal with wildlife — not just by cuddling a koala, but also by holding an owl, touching snakes, and watching everything from kangaroos, wombats and echidnas to birds of prey, turtles and even Tasmanian devils — has been on offer for 97 years. Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary's nocturnal precinct is now open at 708 Jesmond Road, Fig Tree Pocket, Brisbane. Head to the venue's website for more information and bookings.
Canberra will be filled with all things art, architecture and design between Wednesday, November 2–Sunday, November 20 as Design Canberra makes its grand return with hundreds of events and activations. The festival will present a wide-ranging program across its 19 days, spanning public art, exhibitions, symposiums, workshops, studio tours and a food festival. The symposiums will kick off early with talks centred around public art on Sunday, October 29. From there, there will be a series of discussions on Canberra's role in the worlds of design and art on Friday, November 4, followed by 'Transforming Canberra' on Saturday, November 5, which will explore the future of the city with keynote appearances from Elizabeth Farrelly, author of Killing Sydney, and Canberra Museum and Gallery Senior Curator Virginia Rigney. If you're looking for an immersive hands-on experience at the festival, head to the open studios and workshops. A range of acclaimed Canberra-based artists ranging from glass blowers and cabinetmakers to ceramicists will be opening their personal studios to the public, demonstrating the processes that go into their artistry, and giving the public a sneak peek into what they're currently working on. As for the workshops, there will be both adult- and kid-focused classes, with sessions focusing on the likes of stitch meditation, spoon carving, zine-making and a special multi-day kids workshop based on designing the future of Canberra. A public art trail has popped up around the city. Wander through the City West until Sunday, November 20 and you'll discover an array of free outdoor artworks from six local craftspeople. These artworks range from huge pieces that have overtaken buildings to intimate works hidden among trees. Architecture fans, head out on one of the festival's architecture tours, or some of the most stunning and innovative houses in Canberra with the open homes program. Design Canberra has also come together with The Forage to add a bustling food festival and drink to the festivities. On Saturday, November 5, The Forage Food Festival will be bringing together 20 local vendors including Let's Do Yum Cha, Super Bao, Hungry Brown Cow Burgers, Canberra Distillery and a roving sangria cart from Skeehan Brothers Sangria Cart from 2–7pm in Civic Square. If all of this wasn't enough, there will be a heap more tours, talks, exhibitions and competitions popping up, as well as a festival hub shop selling works from artists involved and a limited-edition grapefruit Designer Gin made by Canberra Distillery. If you're from out of town and you're looking for an excuse to head to the nation's capital, luxury inner-city hotel A by Adina is offering 15-percent off all bookings during the festival. The stunning accommodation is located right among the action and boasts in-room cocktails from Maybe Sammy, two gyms and ARC — one of Canberra's best cafes — in its lobby.
We can't hate on your everyday supermarket hot cross bun, but if you're looking for something a little fancy this Easter, Morning Market has got a timely surprise. For the first time, the team behind Andrew McConnell's European-style pantry and provisions outfit are making their own spiced creation for your festive pleasure. With an elevated take on the classic recipe, these hot cross buns are produced with anise-flavoured pastis, brandy, cardamon and allspice, while top-quality dried prunes and apricots are added to the mix. With cool autumn mornings primed for this limited-time treat, starting your day with a sweet, fragrant bite puts you in good stead for what lies ahead. So, when can you get them? Morning Market's hot cross buns are available for pre-order and purchase from Friday, February 28 to Saturday, April 19, ensuring you have more than enough time to find out what makes them special. Priced at $4.50 each or $26 for a pack of six, these buns are the ideal way to complement your Easter festivities. With stores in Fitzroy and Prahran, Morning Market is no stranger to special-edition creations and hard-to-find gourmet goods. With both outposts stocked with the same tight curation of culinary goodies, it's become a go-to spot for browsing everything from gold-standard Comté cheese to bluefin tuna roe and best-selling sourdough from cult-followed Baker Bleu. Meanwhile, McConnell (Cumulus Inc, Builders Arms Hotel, Cutler & Co) has also been hard at work organising a refined selection of food-related gifts and homewares. Whether your foodie friend has a birthday coming up or you're keen to add some tasteful items to your collection, sophisticated cookbooks, vases, pepper mills and candles make shopping hassle-free. If you decide to pop in, both Fitzroy and Prahran have street-side seating where you can rest after your shop. Order up a coffee with a breakfast bap, the sandwich special of the week or – if you get down during this Easter celebration – a freshly baked hot cross bun that will open your mind to the possibilities of the enduring autumn tradition. [caption id="attachment_809358" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jo McGann[/caption] Morning Market is found at 59 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, and 579 High Street, Prahran. Head to the website for more information. Images: Parker Blain.
Before 2022, no one knew that they needed to hear David Attenborough talk about dinosaurs while watching spectacular photo-realistic recreations of the planet's ancient creatures. Then Prehistoric Planet arrived, giving Apple TV+ viewers a five-episode documentary series all about the extinct beasts paired with the perfect narration. It was pitched to audiences as a one-off, and instantly and unsurprisingly proved one of 2022's best new shows. Indeed, it was such a success that it's now returning for season two in May — and that new five-instalment run now has its first trailer. Get ready for a brand-new run filled with dino love, plus Attenborough's trusty voice talking us through it. The streaming service announced the roaringly great news about the show's return back in March; however, the trailer provides a debut glimpse at what's in store. In the words of the one and only Attenborough himself, expect "more adventure, more danger and more dinosaurs". Prehistoric Planet's second season is a five-part nightly event again. Across Monday, May 22–Friday, May 26, one instalment will arrive each day, serving up more informative insights and more of Hans Zimmer's soundtrack as well. This time around, the team at BBC Studios Natural History will be using photorealistic visual effects by MPC — the kind that series executive producer Jon Favreau deployed in his versions of The Jungle Book and The Lion King — to focus on new dinosaurs, habitats and scientific discoveries. So, you'll spend time with the long-necked, plant-eating Isisaurus, which inhabited an extreme volcanic region; the feathered bird-like dino Pectinodon; and prehistoric flying reptiles Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx, which were the biggest creatures ever to soar the skies. That said, the Tyrannosaurus rex will be back among other prehistoric favourites. Of course it will. What's better than one of the Attenborough siblings marvelling over our planet's ancient creatures? None other than David following in his brother Richard's footsteps, of course, just as it was in 2022. While the latter showed dinos some love back in Jurassic Park — with the now-late actor and filmmaker even uttering the iconic words "welcome to Jurassic Park" — his broadcaster, biologist and natural historian sibling largely surveyed the rest of the earth's living creatures in his iconic documentaries before Prehistoric Planet. With its first season, the show instantly earned its place among David Attenborough other doco highlights — a list that spans The Living Planet, State of the Planet, The Blue Planet, Frozen Planet, Blue Planet II, Our Planet, Seven Worlds, One Planet, A Perfect Planet and Green Planet, as well as Planet Earth and Planet Earth II, plus documentary David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet), just to name a few. Check out the first teaser trailer for Prehistoric Planet's second season below: Prehistoric Planet season two will hit Apple TV+ across Monday, May 22–Friday, May 26, with a new episode available to stream each day. Read our full review of Prehistoric Planet season one.
As both The Dry and Force of Nature: The Dry 2 demonstrated, Jane Harper's mysteries feel right at home on-screen. After the Australian author's first two Aaron Falk books made the leap to cinemas starring Eric Bana (Memoir of a Snail), and proved hits, of course more adaptations of her work were set to follow. The Survivors is next — first announced between The Dry and Force of Nature reaching picture palaces, heading to Netflix as a six-part limited series, and now officially joining your streaming queue at the beginning of June. The Survivors isn't linked to either Falk tale, so he isn't part of the narrative. Instead, the Tasmanian-set story follows families still coping with the loss caused by a massive storm in their seaside town 15 years earlier. Filmed in Tassie, too, it follows the aftermath of two people drowning and a girl going missing in Evelyn Bay, as the just-dropped trailer teases — and as viewers can watch in full from Friday, June 6, 2025. Tragedy isn't just in this coastal town's past, however. An incident like that is never forgotten. So, when a young woman's body is found on the beach, old wounds are unsurprisingly reopened. The series is pitched as both a murder-mystery and a family drama, and the sneak peek features elements of both. Cast-wise, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power's Charlie Vickers and Bridgerton season four's Yerin Ha play couple Kieran Elliott and Mia Chang, who return to their hometown. Also featuring: Damien Garvey (Nugget Is Dead?: A Christmas Story), Catherine McClements (Apple Cider Vinegar), Martin Sacks (Darby and Joan) and Robyn Malcolm (After the Party), plus Jessica De Gouw (The Union), Thom Green (Exposure), George Mason (Black Snow) and Shannon Berry (Fake). Filmmaker Tony Ayres is behind The Survivors' streaming adaptation, adding to fellow TV series Nowhere Boys, Glitch, Stateless, Clickbait and Fires on his resume — and Cherie Nowlan (The Irrational) both directs and executive produces, Ben C Lucas (Nautilus) also does the former and Harper the latter. The Survivors joins Netflix's slowly growing slate of Australian shows, which it has been growing since Tidelands became the first local production three years after the streaming service officially launched Down Under. Among the others: Heartbreak High, Wellmania, Boy Swallows Universe, Territory and Apple Cider Vinegar. Check out the trailer for The Survivors below: The Survivors streams via Netflix from Friday, June 6.
UPDATE, December 4, 2020: The Grudge is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video, Foxtel Now Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. In its final frames, the latest version of The Grudge peers menacingly at an ordinary small-town house. Absolutely nothing else happens in this long, lingering shot, other than the film's end credits rolling over the image — but the static picture serves up the movie's biggest scare. That's not a compliment. Even though it ties into an earlier plot point, it's not a spoiler, either. Because everyone knows how franchises work in this time of undying sagas, constant reboots and remakes, and sprawling cinematic universes, you can easily guess why this visual is so unnerving. It's a warning that, even after sitting through this bland, by-the-numbers instalment, The Grudge's curse hasn't ended yet. As long as this flick makes enough money or Hollywood wants to merely keep the series alive, it'll keep hexing audiences in future movies. As one of J-horror's huge international hits, alongside Ringu, the thought of more movies in this franchise shouldn't instantly make horror fans cringe. But two decades after the first Japanese Ju-On hit screens — and after seven sequels, one Ring crossover and four average-at-best, awful-at-worst American versions all called The Grudge — this series has very little life left in it, based on its latest film at least. Other big horror titles have survived excruciating chapters and returned with a splash, such as Halloween, but it's hard to see why anyone will want to keep watching US-made The Grudge flicks after this painfully dull and derivative effort. Of course, the fact that some curses just won't die, especially when long-haired Japanese spirits are involved, is this supernatural saga's whole premise. You might be familiar with the Sarah Michelle Gellar-starring 2004 version of The Grudge, the first Hollywood iteration — even though it wasn't particularly good. In fact, it was so unmemorable that you might not have bothered with its sequel in 2006, or with the direct-to-video third American movie in 2009. Luckily, 2020's take on The Grudge doesn't need you to recall much. While this new follow-on starts with American nurse Fiona Landers (Tara Westwood) in Tokyo, standing outside the abode that sparked all the drama in the 2004 film, it quickly shifts the action to Cross River, Pennsylvania two years later. When detectives Muldoon (Andrea Riseborough) and Goodman (Demián Bichir) start investigating a strange corpse with links to an old case in an eerie house, it's clear what's happening: moving back to the town, Landers brought the franchise's enraged ghost, Kayako Saeki (Junko Bailey), with her — and so the spirit's reign of vengeance lives on. While the Ju-On and The Grudge flicks have always traded in creepily effective imagery — Kayako, like Ringu's Sadako, has become a genre icon for a reason — a decent horror movie needs more than just a few scary visuals doled out with bumps and jumps in mind. Writer/director Nicolas Pesce knows that, as seen in his thrillingly unsettling 2016 debut The Eyes of My Mother. And yet, his version of The Grudge offers up little more than repetitive glimpses of gory sights wrapped up in multiple intersecting but still repetitive storylines. In addition to following Muldoon, who is also a grieving widow with a primary school-aged son (John J. Hansen), and a newcomer to town, too, the film flashes back to various different tales, all connected to Landers' Cross River home. John Cho and GLOW's Betty Gilpin play realtors selling the property, and expecting their first baby. Jacki Weaver pops up as an assisted-suicide consultant, enlisted to help an elderly resident (Frankie Faison) with his terminally ill wife (horror stalwart and Insidious franchise standout Lin Shaye). Thanks to the case that brought the whole mess to the US, Goodman's old partner (William Sadler) also has links to the address. Sadly, no matter how many characters The Grudge throws in its malicious spirit's path, it's always apparent how each segment will turn out. And, no matter how hard this impressive roster of actors tries to breathe life and depth into their slim, vignette-style stories — Riseborough, Bichir and Cho, particularly — the whole thing is about as frightening as watching someone manically shouting the movie's most obvious plot points. Yes, that actually happens. Pesce does bring an inescapable sense of unease to the film — a bleakness that not only infects his visibly wearied characters' backstories, or their otherworldly encounters, but the feature's grey-tinted vision of life in general. Indeed, with cinematographer Zack Galler (The Act) and production designer Jean-Andre Carriere (J.T. Leroy), he ensures that feeling of grim, unshakeable dread is present in every frame, as well as in the house that sits at centre of all the chaos. When a movie sticks to the most boilerplate of templates and well-worn of tropes otherwise, though, a disquieting look and mood doesn't go very far. That's The Grudge circa 2020's curse, and one this creatively fading franchise will undoubtedly dredge up again whether audiences like it or not. Talks of a sequel are already bubbling, because of course they are, as is chatter about an American crossover with The Ring series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3cjWaZf_LE
Buckle up, beach goers, because it's that time again — the sand delivery has arrived and Section 8 is transforming into tropical beach paradise. The outdoor CBD bar's annual Urban Oasis Beach Party series is back for four night this January, and the lineup is killer. Along with a few tonnes of sand, each night will be a unique selection of beats and beers, curated by a rotating cast of party posses who are bringing all their own DJs with them. Wax'o Paradiso take the helm on the Thursday night, kicking the weekend off with a strictly vinyl event (records, that is — dress code remains normal). On Friday, ONE PUF drop the grime with their own brand of UK garage, before the party comes to a head on Saturday, when Cumbia Massive are taking over, throwing a huge tropical bash that brings the beach that little bit closer. After all that, the crew at Good Manners will be spinning discs through Sunday night so you can not think about work for at least an extra few hours. Images: Duncographic.
Known for the signature fluffy white Japanese milk bread after which it's named, Melbourne bakery Shokupan has been busy cementing its cult status during lockdown. And it's set to win even more avid fans, as it joins forces with the French chef behind Romu for a new weekend kitchen residency dedicated to thick katsu sandos. Taking over the kitchen at Alphington Farmers Market every Sunday from November 1, the katsu sando pop-up will be serving up a tight menu of Japanese-inspired eats, with a few creative twists thrown in for good measure. Flying out the takeaway window from 10am each week, you'll find three dreamy $16 sando varieties, along with a Japanese potato salad ($7) and a couple of desserts ($7). There's a riff on the classic chicken katsu featuring sake-marinated chook and a native Australian togarashi, while a seafood option stars Yarra Valley trout rillette and a miso-infused tartare. A third, vegetarian sando teams creamy stracciatella with the likes of hard-boiled egg, pickled beetroot and sesame pesto. Top it all off with some cake, in the form of a black sesame chiffon number with salted honey custard, or the natural pandan chiffon with coconut, and your Sunday is looking pretty sweet. All menu items will be available until sold out, though, if you want to avoid disappointment, pre-order now via the Romu website. Images: Declan Sands
The Night Noodle Markets are nearly upon us and Gelato Messina is preparing to wow Melburnians once again with its newest creations. Perhaps it was its recent Sydney collaboration with Hoy Pinoy that did it, because this year's menu is full on Filipino. Messina's Filipino Jeepney food truck dishes will be available exclusively at the Melbourne markets from November 8–25. Expect the Southeast Asian country's most popular desserts to get the good ol' Messina treatment, starting with the 'Allo 'Allo! — a take on the shaved-iced hallo hallo, which combines leche flan with caramel-flavoured shaved ice, syrup and sauce, all topped with toasted milk crumb and dulce de leche gelato. The truck is is also bringing back a 2016 favourite under the guise of a different name — Thrilla from Manila is a take on turron, which in this case is filo-pastry wrapped and deep-fried brown sugar and banana gelato, mixed with bits of banana bread and topped with custard and chocolate peanut butter crumb. If you're more into fruity desserts, The Jolli P (a nod to fast-food chain Jollibee) is a mango and peach jelly-filled concoction with whipped cream and graham cracker crumb toppings. Handheld dessert lovers are covered too with the Brazo de Messina, an ice cream sandwich of pandan gelato, baked meringue and condensed milk custard, all layered with a graham cracker crust. The Night Noodle Markets run from November 8–25 at Birrarung Marr.
The most popular piece of video art ever created is coming to Melbourne, and making time to see it is recommended. Of course, when you're staring at The Clock, all you'll have is time. You won't be able to avoid it. First premiering in 2010 at London's White Cube Gallery, Christian Marclay's mammoth installation is comprised of images of clocks and watches, plus other mentions of and references to the seconds, minutes and hours passing. In total, more than 12,000 clips are featured, cobbled together from an enormous range of films and television shows. The piece is both a meditation on time, humanity's fascination with it and its relationship to our mortality, and an epic trip through eight decades of cinema history. With The Clock's temporal collage unravelling in real time, that means one thing — yes, every second of the day and night is represented. The full version runs for an entire 24 hours, operating as the most intriguing timepiece you're ever likely to come across. As a result, when Marclay's masterpiece comes to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) between Wednesday, January 23 and Sunday, March 10, 2019, it will screen in two formats. You can drop by daily during ACMI's opening hours to see time pass, or you can settle in for the long haul once a week across the seven weeks. Yes, from 10am each Thursday between January 24–March 7, The Clock will screen its whole 24-hour run, which you can get cosy and watch. Taking place in ACMI's Gallery 1, entry is free, with The Clock marking both a return and a finale for the Federation Square spot. Back in 2008, the first solo exhibition held in the gallery was all about Marclay — and this will mark its last before ACMI closes for its huge revamp. Images: Christian Marclay, The Clock, 2010. Photos: Ben Westoby, courtesy of the White Cube, London.
In 2020, when Gelato Messina decided that we'd all be much happier at home if we could bake and eat the company's OTT desserts, it kicked off its parade of tasty specials after Easter. So, while fans of sweet treats have been able to tuck into everything from cookie pies in choc chip, red velvet, choc-hazelnut, and peanut butter and jelly varieties to full tubs of both Iced VoVo gelato and Messina's own take on the classic Viennetta ice cream cake over the past year, we didn't get anything to pair with our chocolate eggs. Thankfully, that's changing in 2021. Up next: a hot cross bun version of the brand's sticky snails. Basically, it's their interpretation of a Cinnabon-style scroll, then combined with an Easter favourite. It's another of Messina's limited releases, and it'll be available at all of its stores for a very short period. Wondering what exactly Messina's hot cross bun sticky snail entails? Well, that spiced sticky hot cross bun dough is filled with choc chips and vanilla custard. Crucially, raisins aren't included — but it is topped with a cinnamon malt caramel. The sweet bake-at-home bite to eat can only be ordered online on Wednesday, March 17. It will set you back $65, which includes a one-litre tub of the brand's triple choc gelato hot tub, too — which features milk chocolate gelato, toasted white chocolate mousse and with Ecuadorian dark chocolate crack. Once you've placed your preorder, pick up will be available between Thursday, April 1–Sunday, April 4 from your chosen Messina store. And, after you've got the hot cross bun sticky snail safely home, you just need to whack it in the oven for 20–25 minutes at 160 degrees and voila. Gelato Messina's hot cross bun sticky snails will be available to order on Wednesday, March 17, for pick up between Thursday, April 1–Sunday, April 4 — keep an eye on the Messina website for further details.
From food to puppies to cricket umps, we'll never cease to be amazed by what Uber decides to deliver next (until they start delivering babies, that is). But their latest service offering is set to take things to literal new heights. At TechCrunch Shanghai over the weekend, Uber China announced it will soon give users the option to request not only cars, but hot air balloons and boats as well. The new services — aptly names UberBalloon and UberBoat — will come under the new Uber + Travel umbrella, which will roll out across China later this year. The ride-sharing company also announced UberLife, a sort of in-app magazine that will feature local events and attempt to make users spend more time in the Uber app while in the car/boat/hot air balloon. At the moment UberBalloon will only be available in China. According to TechCrunch, this is an attempt to move more services into the Uber app to help it properly compete with popular all-in-one app WeChat, which allows you to message, call, shop, make payments and play games. Desperate times call for desperate measures — and when you're Uber (and you're trying to take the Chinese ride-sharing market), those measures apparently include hot air balloons. Via TechCrunch. Image: ellehem.
This Hopkins Street institution is one of the longest-running businesses in Footscray, and one bite of the signature cannoli will tell you why. The rich patisserie cream, ricotta or chocolate is piped to order into a sweet, crisp pastry, both to keep as fresh as possible and avoid the dreaded soggy bottom. The recipes have remained unchanged since the pasticceria filled its first cannolo in 1956 — or perhaps even longer, with well-guarded family secrets passed down through generations of Cavalleros dating back to 19th-century Sicily. Custom orders are available, too — you can order literally cannoli by the stack, as well as birthday and wedding cakes, and a selection of traditional Italian biscuits. Pop by for a coffee (and a cannoli, of course) and check out the full range of sweet delights on offer, as well as the wide selection of mock pots also available for purchase. Images: Julia Sansone
Pizza and tequila are about to embark on a tasty summer fling at new southside bar and eatery Chacho's Windsor. The Chapel Street space is keeping things fresh and fun with a Mexican-inspired pizza offering, an edgy urban fitout and a selection of agave spirits that's worth crossing town for. In the kitchen, ex-Lazerpig chef Dan Pegg is turning his pizza prowess to a line of crafty pies made on 12-inch sourdough bases and topped with all manner of non-traditional flavour combinations. The Del Toro ($21) is loaded with roasted onions, chorizo, corn and jalapeños, then crowned with a central ring of corn chips for dipping into guacamole and sour cream. The Whole Hog ($22) features pork and fennel sausage, caramelised onion and a sprinkle of pork crackling, while the Holy Mole ($21) riffs on the classic meat lover, teaming slow-cooked pork, coriander and pickled red onion with a Mexican mole sauce. Meanwhile, a range of 'Not Pizzas' includes bites like cream cheese-stuffed jalapeños, a roast sweet potato salad, or grilled corn cobs doused in chipotle aioli, chilli, parmesan, lime and tequila salt. The party vibes continue over behind the Chacho's bar, where a sprawling selection of tequila and mezcal is put to good use throughout a lively list of cocktails. You'll find a swag of margaritas, both savoury and sweet, alongside drinks like the Coco-Loco ($18), teaming elderflower liqueur, coconut tequila with a tropical coconut rim, and the Negave ($18), with mezcal, Antica Formula, Campari and grapefruit. There are tequila flights, too, available in both 20ml and 30ml serves. And there's even more fun in store for your wallet, depending what time of the week you pop in, a daily 5–7pm happy hour promises $10 pizzas and $10 margaritas to soothe those after-work blues, and there are $10 bloody marys up for grabs, all night every Sunday.
From a field of 52 finalists — including, for the first time in its history, an equal number of works from both male and female artists — the 2021 Archibald Prize has been awarded to Melbourne-based artist Peter Wegner for Portrait of Guy Warren at 100. An unanimous decision by this year's judges, Wegner's portrait of the centenarian and fellow artist won the gong in a fitting year, with the Archibald turning 100 in 2021 as well. "Guy Warren turned 100 in April — he was born the same year the Archibald Prize was first awarded in 1921," Wegner said. "This is not why I painted Guy, but the coincidence is nicely timed." "I have been working on a series of drawings of people who have turned 100, beginning with my Aunty Rita seven years ago. I've gone on to draw more than 90 centenarians," Wegner continued. "I chose to paint Guy Warren because he is one of the most incredible centenarians l have ever met. This portrait honours Guy in the 101st year of his productive and meaningful life." [caption id="attachment_814783" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Winner Archibald Prize 2021. Peter Wegner, Portrait of Guy Warren at 100. © the artist. Photo: AGNSW, Jenni Carter.[/caption] Winning for the first time, Wegner was also a finalist in the 2020, 2016, 2011, 2004 and 2000 Archibalds. Warren won the prize himself in 1985 with a portrait of artist Bert Flugelman — and became an Archibald subject for the seventh time with Portrait of Guy Warren at 100. Wegner's win comes after 2020's history-making recipient Vincent Namatjira, who became the first Indigenous artist to receive the prize. In 2019, when Tony Costa emerged victorious, he did so with the first portrait of an Asian Australian to ever win the award. In 2021's main field, two artists also received high commendations: Sydney artist Jude Rae, who was recognised for her self-portrait Inside out; and Brisbane artist Pat Hoffie, who submitted Visaya in a c-collar, a portrait of her daughter. [caption id="attachment_814782" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Winner Wynne Prize 2021. Nyapanyapa Yunupiŋu. Garak – night sky. © the artist. Photo: AGNSW, Mim Stirling.[/caption] The winners of the Wynne and Sir John Sulman prizes were similarly revealed today, Friday, June 4, spanning a number of other pieces. Yolŋu painter and printmaker Nyapanyapa Yunupiŋu took out the former — which awards the best landscape painting of Australian scenery or figure sculpture — for Garak – night sky. The piece represents Djulpan, the Seven Sisters star clusters that are also known as Pleiades, and marks the second time that Yunupiŋu has been a Wynne finalist. This is also the sixth year in a row that an Indigenous Australian artist has been awarded the Wynne prize. The category also hands out three other gongs, with Tjungkara Ken receiving the 2021 Roberts Family Prize for Seven Sisters, Noel McKenna winning the Trustees' Watercolour Prize for South Coast headland (2), Ottoman rose, and Leah Bullen awarded the John and Elizabeth Newnham Pring Memorial Prize for Arid garden, Wollongong. [caption id="attachment_814779" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Winner Sulman Prize 2021. Georgia Spain, Getting down or falling up. © the artist. Photo: AGNSW, Mim Stirling.[/caption] The Sir John Sulman Prize goes to the best mural, subject or genre painting, and was this year awarded to Georgia Spain for Getting down or falling up. Limbs feature heavily in the piece, which was selected as the winner from 21 finalists by fellow artist Elisabeth Cummings. Across the three prizes, 2144 entries were received this year — the second-highest number ever after 2020. And, the three prizes received the highest-ever number of entries from Indigenous artists. The winning portraits and finalists will be on display at Sydney's Art Gallery of NSW from tomorrow — Saturday, June 4 — up until Sunday, September 26. If you don't agree with the judges, you can cast your own vote for People's Choice, which will be announced on Wednesday, September 1. ARCHIBALD PRIZE 2021 DATES Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, NSW — June 4–September 26, 2021 Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale, Victoria — October 8–November 21, 2021 Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Art Centre, Gymea, NSW — December 3–January 16, 2022 Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Maitland, NSW — January 23–March 6, 2022 Cowra Regional Art Gallery, Cowra, NSW — March 18–June 22, 2022 Manning Regional Art Gallery, Taree, NSW — July 8–August 21, 2022 If you can't make it to any of the above dates, you can check out the award winners and finalists of the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes on the Art Gallery of NSW website. Top image: Winner Archibald Prize 2021. Peter Wegner, Portrait of Guy Warren at 100. © the artist. Photo: AGNSW, Jenni Carter.
The Abbotsford Anglers are a lousy, Saturday morning, suburban cricket team, led by Ted (Stephen Curry), a sweet but kinda hopeless guy who lives in a mate's garage and works at a sports store. When his best mate, Rick (Brendan Cowell), announces his plans to marry and have children (which, to the boyish Ted, amounts to no less than treason), Ted can see his beloved cricket team will be overtaken by nappies, wives and all the other dreadful trappings of manhood. Oblivious to the inevitable fact that the times and the nature of his friendships are a-changing, Ted leads his D-grade team into the depths of India for a tour of glorified park cricket. It's here that tensions arise, friendships are frayed, life lessons are learned and Ted must finally man up, grow up and fondly leave his teenage dreams behind. Underlying all the beer and bravado, Save Your Legs! is about mateship and coming of age, with an affectionate portrait of everyday Aussie battlers that puts it in the same cinematic bracket as The Castle and Kenny. Cowell and Curry give endearing performances as man-boys who are forcefully and finally shoved out of adolescence and into adulthood at the ripe old age of thirty-five. As a lighthearted, nostalgia-drenched film, Save Your Legs! hits a six. Courtesy of Madman Entertainment, we have 15 complimentary in-season passes to give away to Save Your Legs, in cinemas February 28. To be in the running, subscribe to our newsletter (if you haven't already) and then email hello@concreteplayground.com.au with your name and address. You can read our full review here.
Remember Tiger King mania? Of course you do. When Netflix's true-crime docoseries about Joe Exotic dropped in March 2020, it seemed as if everyone on the planet tuned in, dropped their jaws and couldn't stop talking about the chaotic real-life story. The fact that it released just as worldwide lockdowns hit helped boost its success, obviously. In the aftermath, other networks and platforms in the US rushed to get in on the action. That's when dramatised versions of the former Oklahoma private zookeeper's tale started being greenlit all over the place. Two big new series were swiftly slated: one starring Saturday Night Live, Ghostbusters and Yesterday's Kate McKinnon as Carole Baskin — a glorious piece of casting if ever there was one — and a completely separate show with none other than Nicolas Cage playing Exotic. Neither series has surfaced yet, thanks to the pandemic. But, in sad news for Cage fans (aka everyone), the second show has just been scrapped. Variety and The Hollywood Reporter have reported that the Amazon has ditched its series — which means no blonde mullet for Cage. There's a chance the folks behind it might shop it around to other streamers and networks; although, whether anyone else picks it up, and if Cage will still remain onboard to play the tiger aficionado, one-time US presidential candidate and current incarcerated felon, is all clearly yet to be seen. This take on Exotic's tale was expected to chart his origin story, chronicling how he took on that moniker, became a larger-than-life version of himself and found himself on his present path. While Exotic has received plenty of media attention in his time, particularly recently, the Amazon series was due to take its cues from Leif Reigstad's 2019 Texas Monthly article 'Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild'. For now, anyone keen on more Tiger King mayhem will need to wait until the McKinnon-starring series comes to fruition. It's actually set to shoot in Brisbane this year. And, Cage fans will just have to console themselves by looking forward to him playing himself, and playing a truffle hunter as well. If you need a reminder as to why Joe Exotic's story keeps on keeping on, check out the Tiger King trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acTdxsoa428 The Nicolas Cage-starring Joe Exotic series has just been scrapped by Amazon. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is available to stream on Netflix, though. Via Variety / The Hollywood Reporter. Top image: Netflix.
Get ready to laugh. That's the autumn mantra in Victoria's capital, when the Melbourne International Comedy Festival unleashes a month of comedy. If someone knows how to tickle a funny bone, they're usually on this fest's lineup, and 2024's edition is set to be no different. Here, you can chuckle at international talents such as Starstruck's Rose Matafeo, Fire Island and Loot's Joel Kim Booster, and Upload's Zainab Johnson — and also local names including Hannah Gadsby, Sam Simmons, Celia Pacquola, Josh Thomas, Joel Creasey, Josh Earl, Lizzy Hoo, Nazeem Hussain, Nina Oyama and Zoë Coombs Marr. 2024's MICF runs from Wednesday, March 27–Sunday, April 21, with the lineup spanning more than 600 shows at 150 venues. Hoo will help get things started at the host of the fest's gala on its very first date for the year, while the official opening festivities happen at the Comedy Allstars Supershow a week later, where New Zealand's Guy Montgomery is on MC duties. When Booster and Johnson hit the stage, they'll do so as a double bill for almost two weeks of gigs. Matafeo is performing solo, but will also play for a couple of weeks. From there, David O'Doherty, Lara Ricote, Ed Byrne and Jason Leong are among the fellow overseas comedians heading to Melbourne — and Kanan Gill, Kate Dolan, Sam See and Takashi Wakasugi as well. Or, you can see Adam Kay and Fern Brady, who are well-known for books This Is Going to Hurt and Strong Female Character, respectively, too. From NZ alone, as well as Montgomery, Tom Sainsbury, Spankie Jackzon, Chris Parker, Guy Montgomery, Guy Williams, Melanie Bracewell, Ray O'Leary and Urzila Carlson all have slots. Australia's list of talent includes Rhys Nicholson, Claire Hooper, Tom Ballard, Tom Gleeson, Ting Lim, Tommy Little, Wil Anderson, Sean Choolburra and Nat's What I Reckon as well, alongside Dave Hughes, Felicity Ward, Gen Fricker, Mel Buttle, Merrick Watts, Michael Chamberlain and The Umbilical Brothers. As well as stand-up sets — and plenty of them, as the above names make plain — MICF's lineup incorporates shows that'll get you giggling at more than a person behind a mic. Checking out one of Bard's masterpieces but boozy comes via Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare, which is doing Macbeth, for instance. Shrek but a saucy cabaret is the vibe of Swamplesque, a Weird Al piano bar will be one big sing-along to the comedian and musician's tunes, Christie Whelan Browne will perform Britney Spears: The Cabaret, and Murder Village: An Improvised Whodunnit gives an Agatha Christie-esque setup a new spin each and every time it's performed. Pus, the already-running Groundhog Day The Musical also falls under the fest's umbrella. Also, RocKwiz is hitting MICF, as is Brisbane's Not on Your Rider, which takes more than a few cues from RocKwiz and Spicks and Specks. Fans of the latter can also look forward to Myf Warhurst on the bill with Zan Rowe, doing their Double J podcast Bang On live. Or, if that's not enough to fill your calendar with sidesplitting hilarity, you can also make a date with MICF's returning regular events within the fest, such as the Festival Club and its mix of stand-up, drag, burlesque and cabaret; the RAW Comedy, Deadly Funny and Class Clowns National Grand Finals, all of which are about up-and-coming talent; and the Neighbourhood Sessions, which will take the festival to the suburbs in Essendon, Caroline Springs, Williamstown, Moorabbin and Werribee. Get excited, comedy-loving Melburnians — the program from there still goes on, and will mean that laughing might be the only exercise that you need while this annual favourite is on. The 2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival runs from Wednesday, March 27–Sunday, April 21. Head to the festival's website for further details and tickets. Images: Nick Robertson / Jim Lee / TJ Garvie / SomeFx / Bianca Holderness.
Back in 2019, the thought of spending August in Melbourne doing anything other than sitting in a darkened room watching movie after movie would've sounded like flat-out cinephile blasphemy. Thankfully, after two pandemic-affected years that put Melbourne International Film Festival's in-person plans on hold not once but twice, that idea won't be a reality in 2022. Yes, the city's major cinema celebration is back in its best guise this year — and it'll have you making grooves in your favourite ACMI, The Capitol, Forum, Hoyts Melbourne Central, IMAX, Kino Cinema and Cinema Nova seats for most of the month. You'd better stock up on healthy mid-film snacks now, given you'll soon have a massive 371 features, shorts and extended-reality titles to watch. You'd best start training for all that time spent sitting down, too. Hitting cinemas for the first time in three years after pivoting online in 2020 and 2021 out of lockdown-fuelled necessity, MIFF is returning to Melbourne's picture palaces with a bang between Thursday, August 4–Sunday, August 21. That's already been obvious since back in June, when the fest unveiled its first 33 flicks for this year, its 70th event — and now that the full 2022 lineup has dropped, it keeps proving accurate. Among the just-announced new highlights, MIFF will boast the Australian premiere of The Stranger, a true-crime thriller starring Joel Edgerton (Obi-Wan Kenobi) and Sean Harris (Spencer), as directed by Acute Misfortune's Thomas M Wright; the local debut of Aftersun, another straight-from-Cannes pick led by Normal People's Paul Mescal; a big session of Three Thousand Years of Longing, the Tilda Swinton (Memoria)- and Idris Elba (The Harder They Fall)-starring latest from Mad Max: Fury Road's George Miller; and also David Cronenberg's Crimes of the Future, the iconic filmmaker's first feature since 2014's Maps to the Stars. Also massive: the Aussie premiere of documentary Moonage Daydream. As the title instantly makes plain to fans of David Bowie, it's all about the music icon, with Cobain: Montage of Heck and Jane filmmaker Brett Morgen creating a collage that steps through the singer's life using restored and never-before-seen footage. Or, there's also Decision to Leave, a noir romance that saw Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook (Stoker, Oldboy) win Cannes' Best Director gong — and documentaries by Ethan Coen (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), making his solo directing debut by surveying Jerry Lee Lewis; and Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name), about shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo. In 2022, MIFF is debuting a new competition, too, which'll boast a $140,000 Best Film Award. Called Bright Horizons, it'll feature 11 movies vying for the prize — including the aforementioned The Stranger and Aftersun, Mexican drug trade drama Robe of Gems, cyber-musical Neptune Frost, Sundance Special Jury Award-winner Leonor Will Never Die, and Aussie filmmaker Alena Lodkina's (Strange Colours) second feature Petrol. The list of MIFF highlights also covers Palme d'Or winner Triangle of Sadness, which satirises the mega rich, is directed by Force Majeure's Ruben Östlund, and marks his second Palme win after The Square; and Broker, the latest from acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, who won the Palme d'Or back in 2018 with the sublime Shoplifters. This time, the latter has made a movie in Korea — his first Korean-language film, in fact, starring Parasite's Song Kang-ho, who won Cannes' Best Actor Award — with Broker again exploring the ties that bind and the connections of family. Other Cannes award-recipients in MIFF's program include joint Cannes Grand Prix-winner Stars at Noon, which sees Claire Denis (High Life) direct Margaret Qualley (Maid) and Joe Alwyn (Conversations with Friends) in an erotic espionage tale; Tori and Lokita, which nabbed the Cannes 75th Anniversary Prize for Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Two Days, One Night); Holy Spider, an Iran-set true-crime serial killer thriller by Ali Abbasi (Border), and the recipient of Cannes' Best Actress Award for star Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Tehran Taboo). And, the lineup of must-sees also spans Blaze, a mix of live-action, puppetry and animation directed by acclaimed Aussie artist Del Kathryn Barton; Mass, which follows the aftermath of a school shooting; Australia's own Seriously Red, a SXSW hit about a Dolly Parton impersonator; and One Fine Morning, from acclaimed French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve (Bergman Island). Or, there's Shadow by theatre company Back to Back; War Pony, which scored Zola actor-turned-filmmaker Riley Keough and co-director Gina Gammell Cannes' Camera d'Or; and Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, the stop-motion comedy based on the shorts and books of the same name, which screens just before Jenny Slate hits town for Melbourne Writers Festival. MIFF's genre selection is always a treat, and 2022 is no different. That's where you'll find standouts such as Bodies Bodies Bodies, the A24 horror-comedy starring Rachel Sennott, Amandla Stenberg and Pete Davidson; Canberra-shot social media-skewering delight Sissy; and Something in the Dirt, the latest mind-bender directed by and starring Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (The Endless). The fest is also dedicating its filmmaker retrospectives to Hungarian auteur Márta Mészáros and French-Bosnian writer/director Lucile Hadžihalilović — and, obviously, all of the above and more joins the heap of already-announced flicks, such as opening night's coming-of-age feature Of an Age, a Hear My Eyes session of Chopper, the Aubrey Plaza (Best Sellers)-starring thriller Emily the Criminal, and horror-comedy Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon from A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night's Ana Lily Amirpour. Also, in fabulous news both for Melburnians and for movie buffs interstate, MIFF will still keep its online program in 2022 — an unsurprising move given that in 2020, when it first made the leap to streaming the fest in a big way, it enjoyed its biggest audience ever. This year, MIFF Play will be available from Thursday, August 11–Sunday, August 28, making the festival run for almost a month in-person and digitally, and will show 105 features and shorts. And, during its in-cinema stint, MIFF is going suburban, too, with sessions at Melbourne cinemas The Astor, Lido, Pentridge and Sun Theatre from Friday, August 12–Sunday, August 21 as well. It'll also hit up regional Victorian venues in Bairnsdale, Bendigo, Bright, Castlemaine, Echuca, Geelong, Mildura,Sorrento and Warrnambool during the same dates. The 2022 Melbourne International Film Festival runs from Thursday, August 4–Sunday, August 28 at a variety of venues around Melbourne and Victoria, and online. For further details, including tickets from Friday, July 15 — and MIFF member pre-sales on Wednesday, July 13–Thursday, July 14 — visit the MIFF website.
When Tenacious D return to Australian and New Zealand stages in winter 2024, it won't just be a tribute — it'll be the real two-man comedy rock group, aka Jack Black and Kyle Gass, performing their first Down Under shows since 2013. The duo has announced July dates in seven cities, playing arenas as part of their The Spicy Meatball tour fresh from sellout gigs in the US, UK and Europe in 2023. In the 11 years since Tenacious D last took to the stage Down Under, plenty has happened, including for Black and Gass. Black's acting resume has added everything from Goosebumps and two Jumanji movies to Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, voice work on Rick and Morty and lending his vocals to Bowser in The Super Mario Bros Movie. Gass popped up in Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Hacks. And in 2018, the band released their fourth studio album Post-Apocalypto. [caption id="attachment_939746" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Raph_PH via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Now, the Grammy-winning pair, which first came together in the 90s as theatre students in Los Angeles, has locked in dates in Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide in Australia — plus Wellington and Auckland in Aotearoa. Expect tickets to go quickly if the overseas response is any guide. In London alone, Tenacious D's O2 show was all snapped up the week that it was announced. [caption id="attachment_939740" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Travis Shinn[/caption] From not just their latest record, but also Tenacious D's self-titled 2001 debut, 2006's The Pick of Destiny — the soundtrack to the film of the same name — and 2012's Rize of the Fenix, attendees will hear 'Wonderboy', 'Tribute', 'Kickapoo', 'Low Hangin' Fruit' and more get a spin. Also on the band's current setlist: 2023's 'Video Games', the group's first single in five years, and their cover of Chris Isaak's 'Wicked Game'. They've been busting out Thin Lizzy's 'Jailbreak', Gerry Rafferty's 'Baker Street' and Led Zeppelin's 'Good Times Bad Times', too — but not The Super Mario Bros Movie's 'Peaches'. Tenacious D The Spicy Meatball Australia and New Zealand Tour 2024 Dates: Sunday, July 14 — ICC Sydney Theatre, Sydney Tuesday, July 16 — Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Newcastle Thursday, July 18 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane Saturday, July 20 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Monday, July 22 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide Wednesday, July 24 — TSB Arena, Wellington Friday, July 26 — Spark Arena, Auckland Tenacious D are touring Australia and New Zealand in July 2024, with ticket presales from 9am AEDT on Wednesday, February 7 and general sales from 12pm local time on Friday, February 9 — head to the tour website for further details. Top image: Sven Mandel via Wikimedia Commons.
One mention of Queenstown and you'll likely think of bungee jumping, snow sports and picturesque landscapes in every possible direction. There's so much more to New Zealand's adventure capital if you're not in the market for an obvious head-first adrenaline rush and queuing all day for an Instagram-famous burger. Think backcountry cycle trails, irresistible tacos, bustling weekend markets and endless volumes of wine. This is your less obvious guide to Queenstown. EAT & DRINK A gothic portrait of Bill Murray takes pride of place above the fireplace at Yonder. The homage is the perfect example of the eccentric vibe you can expect from the eatery, which comes from Sydney's World Bar collaborators Steve Ward and Gary Livesey. Found in Queenstown's historic 1882 McNeill's Cottage, the space opened its doors last year and has since developed a reputation as the destination for generous share plates and great cocktails. As you enter the contemporary all-day eatery, you'll stumble across a cabinet stacked with mouthwatering treats like sticky date loaf, blueberry cheesecake and chocolate brownie. For a point of difference, pair your treat with a pitch black charcoal latte. Those who decide to eat in will have the option of kicking off their day or healing last night's wounds with the perfect early morning combo of a bacon butty, fries and bloody mary. After dark, the menu turns into a sharing affair with items like fall-apart brisket — an accompanying stack of white bread take pride of place on most tables. We can also vouch for the half chicken and ancient grain salad (much focus has been put on gluten and vegan dietary requirements). The fluorescently lit back bar is the place to continue your dining adventure — especially on weekends when live music kicks off. Our pick from the cocktail list? The Seven Year Sour, a tarty mix of rum, blood orange, citrus and lager. For something on the run, Taco Medic is the place to grab a bite and make some new friends in the process. The taco joint originally started as a food truck, though has since evolved into a permanent taco nook down the end of hospitality laneway Stafford Street. While there's an option to order at the pop-up window, we recommend heading inside and waiting for your order at the bar. Here you can wait with a frozen margarita in hand and watch the action unfold as the staff hand-roll corn tortillas and chips. The Bajaman is a must; it arrives with fried market fish, creamy jalapeño sauce, tomato salsa and lime to squeeze. For a special occasion, the stunning lakeside boutique Hotel St Moritz boasts award-winning restaurant Lombardi. Overlooking Lake Wakatipu, a table in the restaurant allows you to sit back and enjoy your meal while spying everything from paragliders to shark-shaped jet boats and the historic Earnslaw Steamship floating by in a plume of smoke. Take it from us, splashing out on three courses is recommended. Start your experience with either seared scallops, manuka-smoked lamb tenderloins or the soup of the day before going large on the signature Fiordland venison loin or the duo of lamb. Elsewhere, there's an entire wood-fire menu featuring lasagne and a selection of pizzas. If room for dessert is limited, try one of the unique dessert cocktails — flavours include Toblerone, tiramisu and cremé brûlée. And if the cocktails become too much, there's always a room downstairs. If relaxing with a wine in hand is more your style, there's always the option of exploring wine country in your own time by car (with a sober driver, that is). Gibbston Valley is home to more than 75 wineries and cellar doors — some even home to Central Otago's oldest vines. The cooler climate and changes in elevation also provide some interesting drops for your tasting pleasure. For great wine and a picturesque setting, drop by Chard Farm. A visit to the family-owned winery in the Kawarau Gorge will lead you up a windy dirt road that was once part of the main coach link between Queenstown and Cromwell — just don't look over the edge of the precarious cliff. The vineyard sits at the top and specialises in single vineyard Pinot Noir — most which welcome descriptions like juicy, pure and crisp. We couldn't get enough of the incredibly fresh 2015 Pinot Gris. Tastings are complimentary though donations are gratefully accepted. Across the road is Penegrine, which feels more like steeping into the futuristic wine-tasting lab. Here, tastings are also complimentary and come with the option of choosing particular vintages or leaving your destiny in the hands or the host. Further down the road you'll come across the Gibbston Tavern — a watering hole where you can sample local wines, Southland beer and wood-fired pizza. SEE & DO If you're around on the weekend, an unmissable destination is the Remarkables Market. Sitting just a ten-minute drive from the city, the Frankton market is where you'll find proper locals stopping by for a caffeine hit or lounging about on the grass. Shopping-wise, you can pick up everything from chopping boards crafted out of French wine barrels to the famous Gibbston cheese, handcrafted jewellery and mega rocking chairs that come covered in cow hide and animal furs (good luck with getting these ones home). Self-proclaimed 'meat preachers' Zamora are one of the most in-demand stallholders at the market. From the smoking grill comes sausages on a stick and the renowned pork belly sandwich — the perfect combination of crispy pork and puffy bread loaded with coleslaw and creamy aioli. We suggest grabbing a spot at one of the communal tables and finishing off the experience with one of Plantera's vegan sweets. Around the Basin is a cycle company offering both self-guided and supported tours along the Gibbston wine trail and backcountry. The Arrowtown to Queenstown tour is exactly that: a 35 kilometre ride from the historic gold mining village back to the city. After shuttling from headquarters in Queenstown, you'll be left to make your way back at your own pace — peddling along the Arrow River Trail toward the Twin Rivers Trail, along the Kawarau and Shotover Rivers to the shores of Lake Wakatipu and onward to Queenstown Bay. The trail is recommend as a full-day ride, which allows time for exploring, photo opportunities, café stops and, in this instance, getting lost in suburbia. It took roughly five hours to cycle the trail of isolated country roads and dirt tracks, across swing bridges and through pine forests. And if you'd prefer not to work the legs, Around the Basin also has the option of electric bikes. Hikes are a popular pastime in Queenstown and there's something for every skill level, from easy one-hour strolls to three-day high country treks. Let's start with the former: Queenstown Gardens offer an escape from the hustle of the city. Make your way through perfectly manicured gardens, past frisbee golf grounds, beneath the pine forest canopy and to the headland for a brilliant photo opportunity. Found at the base of the Arrow River, Tobins Track is a one-hour return walk that climbs to the Crown Terrace. While your legs may be screaming, the summit will welcome you with glorious views across the Wakatipu basin. For something excruciatingly hard, skip the gondola queue and take the trail by foot. GETTING THERE Queenstown has a fully functioning international airport so flying direct from across foreign waters is no problem at all. The airport is approximately ten minutes from the city centre and buses run to all major hotels every 15 minutes. Top image: Omer Faruk Bekdemir (Unsplash)
In an effort to further reduce the spread of COVID-19 across Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has this morning, Wednesday, March 18, announced that non-essential indoor events of more than 100 people will be banned — effective immediately. This announcement follows last week's ban on mass gatherings of over 500 people, which is still in place for outdoor events. Airports, public transport, age care, correctional facilities, law courts, parliaments, food markets, supermarkets, office buildings, factories, mining sites, hotels, motels, schools, universities and transit spots — such as Bourke Street Mall, Martin Place — are not be impacted by the ban, but the Prime Minister has said that the "advice to all Australians is do not travel abroad". State and territory leaders have the power to add to this list of essential gatherings, too. The Prime Minister also said that social distancing should be observed by all, which includes regularly sanitising your hands, using 'tap and pay', avoiding crowds and commuting at quiet times when possible, and maintaining a distance of 1.5m apart wherever it is practical to do so. You can read the Department of Health's social distancing guidelines over here. [caption id="attachment_758772" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The NGV has already temporarily closed.[/caption] While the PM hasn't stipulated what exactly a non-essential indoor event is, we can expect large art galleries — that haven't already temporarily closed — cinemas and big restaurants, bars and pubs to close in wake of this announcement. Many hospitality venues have already upped their takeaway offering in response to a downturn in customers during the COVID-19, but it's likely more will offer takeout-only options. During morning's announcement, the PM also said that the hoarding of supplies was "un-Australian" and it should be stopped, and that the above measures were likely to be in place for "six months" so they needed to be "sustainable" and "achievable" for all Australians. For now, the above bans on non-essential gatherings are in place indefinitely. The Australia-wide ban on non-essential indoor gatherings of more than 100 people is effective immediately. The ban on non-essential outdoor events of more than 500 people is still in place.
If you need to sweat out the toxins from a solid winter's worth of comfort food and you can't be bothered with the gym or a hardcore detox, we got you. Forget about boot camp, sweating from super spicy food is a go. Luckily, in the culinary world of Melbourne, there are more than a few places with mouth-tingling offerings on the menu for you. These hotspots will have you huffing, puffing and releasing all manner of yucky toxins. So, where to? We've compiled a list of ten spice-centric spots guaranteed to make you sweat. Three chillies next to your menu item or bust, we say. Get ready for things to get hot, hot, hot. NUMBING PORK AT SPICE TEMPLE, SOUTHBANK All aboard the so-hot-it-makes-you-numb train, direction: Neil Perry's Spice Temple — an upmarket, modern Chinese eatery in Southbank. Perry has long been a hallmark of the Australian hospitality scene. His restaurants are stylish, popular, smoothly run and, apparently, sweat inducing. Focusing on different regions and cuisines of China, Spice Temple uses dried, fermented, fresh, salted and pickled chillies — yep, spice is taken very seriously here. For chilli fiends, look no further than the numbing pork, described on the menu as "hot, sweet, sour and numbing" — best prepare your mouth for the whole spectrum. REALLY F**KING HOT WINGS AT BELLES HOT CHICKEN, VARIOUS LOCATIONS Belles Hot Chicken has outlets across both Melbourne and Sydney, bringing the ultimate comfort food — finger-lickin' fried chicken — to the people. Apart from those who don't eat meat, you'd be hard pressed to find a person who doesn't love hot Southern-fried chicken. The founder brought the recipe straight from Tennessee, so you know you're getting the goods. What's more, Belles offer various chicken heat from 'Southern' (mild) all the way through to 'Really F**king Hot', which means you're free as a bird to decide on how badly you want to mess with your insides. REAPER BURGER AT YOMG, VARIOUS LOCATIONS With five locations now under its hat across Melbourne, burger chain YOMG has grown rapidly from its original roots in Mordialloc back in 2013. As well as burgers, YOMG pumps out shakes, fries, chicken and frozen yoghurt for full cholesterol marks. You've probably seen the joint's trendy, pink and black buns pop up on your social media feed occasionally, but you probably haven't seen any Instagram shots of people copping a dose of the Reaper Burger. Well, that's a good thing; they'd probably be a sweaty mess. The burger is served with a five-millilitre 'injecta' of hot sauce that's made from the Carolina Reaper chilli — which has a whopping 1.6 million Scoville heat units, yeesh. Fittingly, it has a skull and crossbones symbol next to it on the menu because, yep, it'll probably kill your will to live. BHUT JOLOKIA CURRY AT LE TAJ, WEST MELBOURNE West Melbourne's Le Taj does the standard tandoori offerings, as well as all the old faithfuls — vindaloo, masala, biryani, plus a satisfyingly large naan — but the real pièce de résistance is the Bhut jolokia curry. The staff at Le Taj are calling it the hottest curry in Melbourne, which is both terrifying and intriguing. Also known as 'ghost chilli', the lil hot guy that is the Bhut jolokia packs more than a decent punch and, evidently, is the hottest chilli in the world. And, well, this curry is full of 'em. Choose between lamb, beef or chicken, and maybe opt for a cooling house-made raita, too. FISH NADAN AT THE ROCHESTER HOTEL, FITZROY The good old Rochey has been a pinnacle of Fitzroy's pub culture for years now, and its recent rebirth in the kitchen has changed nothing — except for the menu with a top-notch offering of spicy food options. Helmed by chef Mischa Tropp, the kitchen now dishes out a Southern Indian-inspired menu, influenced by Tropp's Indian heritage (his family comes from coastal Kerala). While the bar menu is punchy, the dining menu spreads the spice even further thanks to the fish nadan. This traditional Keralan curry made with Kahmiri chilli sees even those with a high spice threshold challenged. Make sure you've got a pint handy to wash that burning spice away. GOD FIRE RAMEN AT HAKATA GENSUKE, VARIOUS LOCATIONS Hakata Gensuke is a chain of ramen restaurants — located in Russell Street (Melbourne's unofficial ramen strip), as well as QV, Doncaster and Hawthorn — that churns out big, hot bowls of tonkotsu ramen for the legions of hungry fans. Along with the tasty signature tonkotsu, you'll find the God Fire Ramen that has a house-made, secret blend of 'Spicy Fire' mixed through. Given it has 'God Fire' in the descriptor its no surprise that this ramen is a real tearjerker — it pulls no punches and leaves no tastebuds unscorched. Only for the very brave. TOM YUM NOODLE SOUP AT DODEE PAIDAN, CBD Despite what your usual UberEats Panang curry order says, Thai food isn't just all mild, creamy, coconut-based curries. Oh no, things can get real hot, too. Little Collins Street's Dodee Paidang knows this and, boy, does it provide with a heap of fiery dishes on the menu. The tom yum noodle soup is the pick of the bunch if you're craving the burn. The dish comes with a handy little numerical heat guide; you can opt for a soup from level zero to seven. Be warned: level three upwards is not for the faint-hearted and level seven might also correlate with the number of seconds it'll take for you to request a large glass of cold milk. HOT POT AT X J HOT POT HOUSE, GLEN WAVERLEY If it's the heat you seek, we suggest you head to a designated hot pot restaurant. And X J Hot Pot House is one of the finest (and spiciest) hot pot hang-outs around. While it's a little off the beaten track in Glen Waverley, it's definitely worth the trip out of the inner city. The area isn't short on small Asian eateries, but this one is the hottest one around, literally. The use of Sichuan spices in its fiery soups is the second best thing about this place — the first being that it's all you can eat for a very reasonable price. MOUTH-WATERING CHICKEN AT DAINTY SICHUAN, SOUTH YARRA The menu doesn't lie: Dainty Sichuan's Mouth-Watering Chicken will stimulate your sinuses and have your saliva glands working overtime. It'll probably have you frantically flagging down a waiter to top up your water supply, too. The South Yarra Chinese restaurant is well known for its hotpots, more-than-just-peppery Sichuan spices and Chongqing cuisine and has left many a diner with a numb tongue and rosy cheeks. The go-to for spice-cravers and thrillseekers is the chicken, with both the three-chilli rated Mouth-Watering and Chongqing chilli packing a real punch. Proceed with caution — Sichuan spices don't muck around. SPICY FISH AT SPICY FISH, CHINATOWN Thankfully, Spicy Fish — nestled within Melbourne's Target Centre in the middle of Chinatown — holds true to its name and is exactly what it says on the packet: spicy fish. The signature dishes of chilli-heavy seafood are served in large portions and the spice kick certainly matches the size. Go for the fish fillet in hot chilli oil or the deep-fried soft shell crab absolutely littered with dried chillies. Both have a three-chilli ratin, of course, so pack some tissues in your bag. Top image: Dainty Sichuan by Letícia Almeida.
Award-winning British-born chef Paul Wilson has leant his talents to many a top Melbourne restaurant during his years in the city, even consulting on the opening of Lady Carolina back in 2015. He's since moved on — presumably to focus on his latest venture Wilson & Market, which is set to open tomorrow, Thursday, March 16. Taking over a grand space adjoining Prahran Market, the eatery is a multi-faceted affair, slated to launch in three stages. Later on, we'll see a sit-down cafe, a brasserie and a bar, but tomorrow it all kicks off with the opening of Mr Wilson's Tuck Shop. Here at this to-go window, framed by a custom-made arabica coffee plant mural, Wilson's looking to do takeaway fare without the fried food with what he describes as "delicious, produce-centric, local and nourishing dishes for the market patron to grab on the go". Built around produce sourced solely from the Mornington Peninsula's Transition Farm, the menu will change regularly, but you can expect on-the-go options that put that sad lunch sushi to serious shame. Rotisserie meats and house-smoked brisket sandwiches will sit alongside biodynamic salads and vibrant veggie dishes. Coffee will be courtesy of St Ali and sweet treats will come from the market's own chocolatier, Tad Lombardo at Cioccolato Lombardo. It's a hugely ambitious venture from Wilson. Next month a 50-seat cafe will open, followed by a huge 200-seat bar in May. Mr Wilson's Tuck Shop will open on Thursday, March 16. It will be open 7am-5pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays to Sundays at 163-185 Commercial Road, Prahran. For more info, visit wilsonandmarket.com.au.
Melbourne loves a dessert trend, be it shaved ice bingsu bowls, decadent doughnuts, mochi balls or cronuts. But what's next? The new Glenferrie Road dessert shop Joli is hoping it's coconut jelly desserts. Inspired by Southeast Asian desserts, these sweet treats are even said to be healthy — well, a whole lot better for you than your usual dessert options. The team uses plant-based konjac, a vegan alternative to gelatin (that's said to possess its own set of health benefits), to which the team adds Thai coconut. The classic jelly is all about coconut, but other options include Milo, coffee, Biscoff, fresh mango and ube. The Joli Kyoto is a really fun one, too, combining coconut jelly with red bean paste, mochi and matcha. Like most frozen yoghurt bars, you can also add stacks of different toppings when visiting. The Joli team is trying to be environmentally conscious as well, serving all its desserts in recyclable glass jars or coconut shells. If you drop by enough, and return ten of these glass jars, you'll even get a free tub of original Joli. Let's just wait and see if these coconut jellies can compete with all the desserts Melbourne sweet tooths are already stanning. You'll find Joli at 645 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn, open every day of the week. For more information, you can visit the venue's website.
