Tucked away inside the Royal Arcade, which is widely recognised as Australia's oldest arcade, Ziggurat's eccentric range of handbags, wallets, pouches and so-called 'lovely things' don't look out of place next to the wonderful light-filled corridor outside. The store's huge range of products are perfect for adding an accessory to any outfit, while still maintaining a functional design. Whether you prefer a minimalist aesthetic or a pattern that pops, Ziggurat will surely have the bag for you. Inside, you will also find host of luminous umbrellas and comfortable pillowcases so you can surround yourself with wonderfully crafted products all the time. Images: Tracey Ahkee.
The William Angliss Institute has long been a secret spot for city workers and locals to score cheap eats made by budding chefs. The Bakeshop serves up whatever pastries, cakes and loaves of bread the students have cooked up that day. Cafe 555 is home to an affordable lunch menu that changes daily. And punters can still score an ever-changing $38 set menu from the Angliss Restaurant every week during term. If you didn't know about this already, now you do. (You're welcome.) And now, William Angliss — with the help of designers at Gray Puksand — has gone all out by transforming an old-school W-class tram into a charming (and surprisingly spacious) streetside cafe. The cafe allows baristas-in-training to perfect their coffee-making skills, as well as future hospo managers to learn how to run a venue. But the real drawcard: a brew will only cost you $3.60 — almost unheard of for coffee in Melbourne's CBD. Fresh pastries will also be available from the Tram Cafe, also prepared by students. As for where to enjoy your brew and baked good, you can either sit inside the refurbed tram, at one of the outdoor tables, or get it to go. Just make sure you're extra kind to the students. These folks are still learning and will be essential members of Melbourne's hospitality industry for many years to come. You'll find the William Angliss Institute's Tram Cafe at 555 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, open Monday–Friday between 8am–2:30pm. For more details, head to the school's website.
It may have taken 15 years and two full blown reboots, but the Spider-Man movies finally have a decent villain. Gone are the Green Goblins and anthropomorphic sandpits, replaced at long last by...a guy. Just a guy; a vulnerable, human, salt-of-the-earth labourer trying to carve out a little something of his own amongst the rubble and ruin of a post-Avengers New York City. Played by Michael Keaton, Adrian Toomes is an ordinary character in an extraordinary world, whose bare bones simplicity helps ground this refreshingly low-key entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And low-key is the key to this movie's appeal. Spidey (Tom Holland) isn't a world saver, but a hero for the little guy; intervening in grocery store holdups and helping grandparents with their luggage. The problem is that he wants more. He's fought alongside Iron Man and taken on Captain America, and the expectation of future avenging is what drives his daily routine. Expectation, however, soon falls short of reality, as he's told by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) that which no teenager ever wishes to hear: "you're not ready". What's worse is that Stark is plainly right. Thing is, gaining super-powers doesn't mean you automatically gain super skills, and Spidey/Peter Parker is a superhero still very much in the training wheels phase. It's a clever device by director Jon Watts, whose hero – like a giraffe attempting its nervous first steps – repeatedly fumbles his landings, misses his web castings and wreaks low-level havoc in suburban backyards while chasing down the bad guys. Paired with raging hormones in a body that's also transforming in a more typically teenage way, and Peter makes for an immensely likeable lead. It helps that Holland makes for a far more plausible teen than either Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield. The teenage superhero setup has always given Spider-Man an added complexity (one perhaps only shared by Superman), in that his public persona is painfully weak and nerdy. Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark get to be billionaire playboys when they're not battling criminal kingpins, but Peter Parker is perceived as a weedy, bookish, scatter-brained dork who rolls over for bullies and can never keep an appointment. His life would be immediately and immeasurably better if he simply revealed his true, courageous self. But to do so would invite sudden and deadly peril upon all those he cares about. That dilemma, in turn, passes on to the audience, as you find yourself grappling with your desire to see Spider-Man take down the villains but also make his date with the dream girl. Even better, it all comes without another version of Uncle Ben's 'great power comes with great responsibilities' speech, or another retelling of Parker's spider-bite origins. Spider-Man: Homecoming is a film that knows what we already know, and just gets on with telling its story. If there's a drawback to all of this, it's that the final product feels a little bit childish. Yes, it's a film about a teenage superhero, but plenty of movies have captured the teenage experience without feeling like they were written by teenagers as well. There's far too much 'whoa, awesome, dude, bro, cool' going on here for our liking, although thankfully the adults (Downey Jr, Jon Favreau, Marisa Tomei and Keaton) provide plenty of counterbalance. Minor flaws aside, Spider-Man: Homecoming is a fun cinema experience, and a refreshingly human story amidst the surfeit of superhero movies that continue to flood our screens. Oh, and yes, there are the additional Marvel scenes – so if you're so inclined, remember to stay through to the very end of the credits. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9DwoQ7HWvI
When international art collective teamLab launched Borderless, its Tokyo-based permanent digital-only art museum, the dazzling space became the most-visited single-artist site in the world in just its first year of operation. Wherever the outfit pops up — be it in Shanghai oil tanks, Japanese hot springs or Melbourne — its installations are always hugely popular. So it's no wonder that the group is expanding its footprint by opening more permanent locations. Late in 2019, teamLab launched a new venue in Shanghai, which is also called Borderless. Come this March, it's also opening a museum called SuperNature in Macao. Located at The Venetian Macao, the latter site will sprawl over 5000 square metres, filling the space with the kind of immersive, interactive installations that have gathered the collective of artists, programmers, engineers, animators, mathematicians and architects such a devoted following. [caption id="attachment_758086" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] teamLab. Expanding Three-Dimensional Existence in Transforming Space - Flattening 3 Colors and 9 Blurred Colors, Free Floating, 2018, Interactive Installation, Endless, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi © teamLab[/caption] In good news for anyone who has visited a teamLab venue or installation previously, SuperNature will also include a selection of brand new works — although, even if you're a seasoned teamLab visitor, these are the types of pieces that you can visit over and over and never get bored. Much will look familiar, playing with concepts and designs that the collective is clearly drawn to, such as floating balls, projected flowers and animals, and other kaleidoscopic imagery Chief among the highlights is The Infinite Crystal Universe, which uses light points, pointillism-style, to create three-dimensional objects. While you're interacting with the piece, you can use your phone to select the elements that make up the universe. The artwork will also response to the presence of people, as most of teamLab's installations do. [caption id="attachment_758090" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] teamLab. The Clouds that Self-Organize, 2019, experimental photo of the new artwork © teamLab[/caption] Then there's Massless Clouds Between Sculpture and Life, which plays out just as its title suggests. In this installation, giant clouds will float between the floor and the ceiling — and even when you walk through them, breaking them up, they'll form back into shape. Also on the bill: Mountain of Flowers and People: Lost, Immersed and Reborn, which'll let digital flowers bloom and change with the seasons, and Expanding Three-Dimensional Existence in Transforming Space — Flattening 3 Colors and 9 Blurred Colors, Free Floating, where bouncing spheres float above visitors, changing colour when they're touched. Like Borderless, SuperNature will also feature an Athletics Park, where you'll really get physical traversing graffiti-covered valleys, climbing a ropes course, scaling a light forest, jumping or playing hopscotch, as well as an educational, kid-focused Future Park. Located in the resort hotel's Cotai Expo Hall F, and set up like a labyrinth — making you wander around and around to find all of its nooks and crannies — SuperNature will welcome visitors through the doors from January 21 for previews ahead of its official opening date. Find teamLab SuperNature at Cotai Expo Hall F, The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, Estrada da Baía de N. Senhora da Esperança, s/n, Taipa, Macao SAR, P.R. China from a yet-to-be-revealed date in March. It'll be open from 10am–10pm daily. Images: teamLab. teamLab is represented by Pace Gallery.
To ring in the year of the rabbit, dumpling master Din Tai Fung created cute chocolate and Biscoff bunny buns, continuing its annual tradition of welcoming the Lunar New Year with an adorable addition to its menu (see also: its tiger buns from 2022 and the ox buns it brought out in 2021). But creative dishes aren't just a once-a-year thing here. Now that Easter is almost upon us, the chain is serving up something else to tempt your tastebuds: hot cross bao. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like, with the bao only available for a limited time. And, while you might be familiar with the concept from previous years' incarnations, Din Tai Fung has changed things up a bit for 2023. The treats are made to look like traditional hot cross buns, only they're crafted on fluffy steamed bread and filled with gooey molten chocolate lava instead of the usual raisins or sultanas. And this time around, the dough is also made on cocoa, so it's all as chocolatey as ever. The hot cross bao are available at all Aussie Din Tai Fung restaurants and food court outlets. Sydneysiders will want to hit up its World Square, Westfield Chatswood, Westfield Miranda, Westfield Sydney, Broadway Shopping Centre, Gateway Sydney, The Star, Greenwood Plaza and MLC Centre venues. In Melbourne, you have one spot to head to, with the bao on offer at Emporium Melbourne. If you'd rather have them brought right to your door, they're also available for delivery in frozen form. If you're keen to stock your freezer and enjoy them once Easter passes, that's an option as well. The only problem we can foresee with this Easter hybrid dish? Wanting to devour as many as possible. They'll cost you $8.90 for two in-store, and $12 for a three-pack of frozen dumplings. Hot cross bun bao are available for $8.90 for two at all Din Tai Fung stores. They're also available for delivery.
Camping is an excellent way to get away from the buzz of city living, to slow things down and reconnect with nature. While you may be stripping back to the very basics, that doesn't mean your menu has to be — even if options can feel limited when figuring out what to eat around the campfire. To help you out, we've whipped up a full menu of tasty camp cooking hacks and tips to make your next outdoor trip a culinary delight. With a little bit of prep and a few handy tools, these meal ideas won't make you feel limited by your outdoor camping kitchen. Treat yourself to these easy, delicious dishes no matter where you are. BREAKFAST Paper Bag Bacon and Eggs Love camping, but hate washing up? This is the perfect no-fuss breakfast for your next rendezvous with the great outdoors. All you need to do is rub the inside of a paper bag with bacon to grease it, then line the bottom with a few strips of bacon, creating a nest for your eggs. Crack one or two eggs into the bag, fold the top down a few times, then poke a hole through the fold and put a stick through to hold the bag over the fire — though not so close that your breakfast bursts into flames (which can happen, so take care). Your bacon and eggs should take around five to seven minutes to cook, depending on how crispy you like your bacon and how soft your eggs. Make sure you have a bit of paper towel underneath the bag as you eat, otherwise you may end up with a nice greasy patch on your pants. Hot tip: Take your eggs and bacon to the next level by adding add some mushrooms or spinach. Campfire Blueberry-Orange Muffins For something pretty special for your next camping breakfast, we recommend breaking out these special muffins. All you'll need is twelve oranges and some blueberry muffin pre-mix from the supermarket. Make up your muffin mix in a jug so it's easy to handle, slice the oranges in half and scoop out the flesh (which you can save for your camping sangria — more on that below). Pour the muffin mix into one orange cup, then top with the other emptied half. Wrap each orange in a layer or two of al foil, and rest them on some hot coals just next to the flames. Turn each wrapped orange over every minute or so for about ten minutes until they're cooked through. Unwrap and enjoy. [caption id="attachment_630716" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Flickr/brenneman.[/caption] LUNCH Campfire Nachos The secret to making exceptional nachos is all in the layers. Making these nachos is super easy with a good camp oven and your preferred ingredients: tortilla chips, cheese, tinned black beans, tinned tomato, avocado, coriander, shallots, lime, salsa and more cheese. Start with a hefty layer of chips, followed by black beans, salsa, shallots, tomatoes and cheese, then repeat. Cook over the fire, so the cheese melts and the ingredients are warmed through. If you have an esky, bring some sour cream to add on top post-cooking, and unless you're a fan of warm avocado, top with avo and coriander as well. Finish off with fresh lime. Camping Toasted Sandwiches Few things hit the spot better than a gooey, melty toasted sandwich — especially when it's infused with some campfire smokiness. Bring a great jaffle iron, some bread and the fillings of your choice, and you're in business. If you don't have a jaffle iron, you can achieve similar results with foil and a skillet, or by cooking straight on the pan with some oil to stop your sandwiches from sticking. Filling options can range from roast chicken, swiss cheese and avocado to gruyere and blue cheese with fig jam. DINNER Campfire Potatoes Cold nights call for toasty warm, wintry food, and you can't go past campfire-cooked potatoes. As you fry up the spuds, the campfire will add a highly delicious smokey flavour. Warm up your camp oven by resting it over the fire on a tripod or straight on some hot coals. Slice brown onion into rings, and add them to your pan or camp oven with some minced garlic. Get those bits sizzling, as you cut your spuds into slices about half a centimetre thick. Toss the potatoes and a handful of diced bacon in with the onion and garlic, then pop on the lid, stirring every five minutes to make sure nothing sticks. Once everything's cooked, top your smokey, meaty, potatoes with that sour cream you brought for the nachos. Camp Oven Pizza Make sure you have plenty of hot coals for this one; it takes around 20 minutes to bake through. For ease's sake, grab some pre-made pizza dough — or prep some dough beforehand if you have a good recipe. Line the bottom of the camp oven with baking paper so that some paper sticks up on the sides, and press your dough in. Top with sauce, cheese and whatever toppings you fancy, put the lid on, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until the cheese is golden and dough is cooked through. Using the extra baking paper on the sides, lift your pizza out, slice and dig in. [caption id="attachment_630717" align="alignnone" width="1920"] @racheena.[/caption] DESSERT Campfire S'more Cones Bring along some some waffle cones for an easier-to-eat, more decadent take on the s'more. Fill the cones with marshmallows, chocolate chips, chopped nuts, almond slices, coconut, peanut butter and anything else you can think of, and wrap each cone tightly in foil. Roasting them in the fire takes a bit of balancing skill, as you'll want to roast them upright if possible. Leave them near the fire for about five minutes. The al foil shouldn't get hot, but if the cones are too hot to hold, use tongs to hold them, or MacGyver some kind of cone holder. Ten points of the latter. Baileys Marshmallows This is straightforward excellence. Toast your marshmallows as usual, and once they're golden and gooey, dip them in Baileys. That's all there is to it — be warned though, things can get a bit messy. Best for each person to have their own little mug of Baileys for sipping and dipping. DRINKS Campsite Sangria Be the hero of the campsite with this boozy, fruity sangria. The night before you head off camping, add fruits like the orange flesh from the muffins, apples, peaches, strawberries and blueberries, plus a quarter cup of vodka to a large mason jar. Fill the rest of the jar with white wine, and leave to sit overnight. Once you arrive at the campsite, you'll have the perfect mix to combine with ginger ale and lemonade. Speedy Mulled Wine Mulled wine at a campfire is mighty fine, but there's a lot of fussing around with sugar, cinnamon and spices, plus the mulling time. Keep things simple with two easy ingredients: cinnamon tea and port. Use a billy can to brew up some of the spicy tea, which is as simple as steeping cinnamon quills in water. Once the tea is sufficiently brewed and hot, fill mugs halfway and top off with port. The sweetness of the port balances out the cinnamon tea to add some extra warmth at night.
As the colder weather approaches, the idea of a steaming hot bowl of udon noodles starts to sound like a pretty good one. Now open on Bourke Street, Yamamoto Udon is serving up heartwarming creations that deliver a taste of Japan. Merging time-tested traditions with modern sophistication, these tempting dishes not only taste incredible, but come without a high price tag. Yamamoto Udon is the latest venture by Melbourne-based hospitality group Wagyu Ya, whose stable also includes Yakikami and Wagyu Ya Teppanyaki. Just like these other venues, Yamamoto Udon specialises in a particular type of cuisine or dining style — in this case, handcrafted udon. The restaurant serves both thick, bouncy sanuki udon and ribbon-like himokawa udon, with the latter limited to just 70 servings per day. Both varieties are aged for two days, and are made with natural ingredients and free of any additives. "Crafting udon is a tradition that takes skill and patience," says head chef Ryosuke Yasumatau. "Our team at Yamamoto brings years of experience in hand-making udon, staying true to the techniques that have been passed down through generations while sharing them with Melbourne." The menu features 18 udon variations to explore, with prices starting from $18 per bowl. You'll be able to choose between soup udon, dipping udon and curry udon, with flavours primed for almost every palate — highlights include the M9+ tomato braised wagyu udon, pork belly cold udon and curry prawn bisque red udon. While udon is undoubtedly the main event, Yamamoto Udon also offers plenty of sides and extras to expand your feast. Expect the likes of crispy tempura, juicy chicken karaage, agedashi tofu, onsen egg and more. There's also a selection of rice-based don, with prices starting at $16. Reflecting the minimalist warmth of other like-minded Japanese eateries, Yamamoto Udon's interior showcases a similar simplicity. Rich timber accents and a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere make it equally accessible for a low-key dinner with friends or a solo outing. There's even a clever sense of Japanese dining convenience, with iPad ordering and a 10-minute serve time making it perfect for a quick but nourishing feed when stepping out in the CBD. Yamamoto Udon is open Monday–Sunday from 11.30am–9.15pm at Shop 12/108 Bourke Street, Melbourne. Head to the venue's website for more information.
Famed South Australian wine region the Barossa is about to move even higher up on your post-COVID-19 travel list, with Seppeltsfield winery announcing a new six-star hotel to open in early 2022. Named after innovative winemaker Oscar Benno Seppelt, the proposed Oscar Seppeltsfield will bring super-luxe accomodation to the area, which will make it more than just an epicurean's dream destination — so start planning your lavish out-of-iso trip now (just don't pack your bags yet). The $50-million development will be surrounded by century-old vines and feature 70 rooms — including penthouses and suites, each with a private balcony — as well as a fine dining restaurant, private dining room, boardroom, fitness studio, day spa and infinity pool. To top it off, there'll be a sky bar with sweeping 360-degree views over the Barossa. In short, this opulent hotel will take your next trip to new heights (literally). Just think, after hitting up a bunch of cellar doors, sipping local vinos and eating lots of cheese, you can come back and have a dip in the pool, sip more wine at the rooftop bar then sit down to a white-tablecloth dinner. If you're looking for indulgence, this is it. Designed by Adelaide-based firm Intro Architecture, the towering 12-storey design was inspired by wine barrels and is set to bring a modern edge to Seppeltstfield, which is one of Australia's oldest wineries and was lauded as one of the top 50 vineyards in the world in 2019. The new hotel also looks a lot like La Cité du Vin in Bordeaux, also one of the world's most prestigious wine destinations. Oscar Seppeltsfield is slated to open at Seppeltsfield Winery's Great Terraced Vineyard, Barossa Valley, SA, in early 2020.
More than two decades ago, Australian coffee roastery Single O took its first steps right here at home. Soon, the Sydney-based brand will boast more locations to its name in Japan than Down Under. A decade since heading overseas, four years after opening its first international cafe in the country's capital back in 2021 and just a year since its last Tokyo expansion, Single O is launching a new concept in the must-visit city: its first-ever day-to-night venue. Located near Akihabara, the neighbourhood of Kanda Awajicho is your next destination for one of the chain's cuppas in Tokyo — and for cocktails, wine and beers as well. Opening on Thursday, April 24, 2025, this will be Single O's largest venue in the city, as well as its new Japanese flagship. "We're excited to open our newest Single O location in Kanda. We've been in Japan for over ten years now, and it's unreal to be part of specialty coffee's growth here and support a thriving independent cafe scene," said Single O CEO Mike Brabant. "It's a sister to our Surry Hills site in Sydney, seating a community of coffee lovers, locals and travellers alike," he continued. "We're calling it the mothership and we hope people will come in, discover something new and feel at home — whether they're here for our signature Reservoir St flat white, [to] experience the latest single origin on tap from our producer partners around the world or grab an after-work drink." For the new 50-seater venue's look, Single O have gone with a space-age theme. "Mixing futuristic, industrial aesthetics found us celebrating the brand's DNA, Australian roots and celebrating Japan's vibrant culture," advised Stuart Krelle, with Sydney-based design firm Luchetti Krelle behind the aesthetic. The brand's commitment to sustainability remains in place, however, including in the Kanda cafe's recycled plastic countertops, upcycled plywood chairs and reused central communal table. Among the sips, coffee on tap is a feature, of course, with six free-pour options available. The lineup of drinks running through them will rotate between origins, blends and seasonal choices. Or, order something else caffeinated and get the cafe's staff to put the espresso machine to good use. When it comes time to say cheers to a boozy beverage, expect coffee cocktails, naturally. Single O has even whipped up its own piña colada featuring a pineapple and coconut coffee clarification that's created with spent coffee grounds, plus washed coconut rum and soda water. Australian craft beers and wines are also on offer. Yes, the banana bread with espresso butter is on the food menu. So is The Avo Show, aka rye, achiote cashew cheese, pickled fennel, seasoned crumb, chilli oil and sweet lemon aspen. You can also tuck into the Mothership Bowl (made with brown rice, caramelised mushrooms, seasonal vegetables, pickles and a soft boiled egg) and the Yuzu Benny (which features a poached egg, sourdough, smoked salmon, yuzu hollandaise, cucumber, mint, coriander, pickled apple, lemongrass sate, chilli oil, crispy rice and shallot crumb). In another first for Single O, the Kanda outpost also sports its debut range of pastries baked onsite thanks to Head Chef Yoko Kobayashi (an alum of Bills in Australia) and Pastry Chef Johnny Pisanelli. Single O's Kanda location joins its Hamacho spot, plus Ryogoku Roastworks — which initially started as a roastery and tasting bar before its initial Japanese cafe, then moved into bigger digs and added its second space for aficionados to grab a brew — and its Shibuya coffee bar. In Australia, the chain has venues in Surry Hills and at Carriageworks in Sydney, and in Newstead in Brisbane. Find Single O's new Kanda cafe at at 〒101-0063 3F Waterras Tower 101, 2-chome Kanda Awajicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, from Thursday, April 24, 2025 — open from 8am–9pm weekdays and 9am–6pm on weekends. Head to the brand's website for more details.
Inviting everyone over to enjoy your sun-drenched courtyard on a Friday evening seemed like a brilliant idea at the time — it's certainly more relaxed than cramming into a busy city rooftop bar and more summery than sipping cocktails in a dark, underground basement bar. But now that your friends are due round any moment, do you have your drinks repertoire ready? Here to help you, we've got five easy-to-make cocktail recipes that'll upgrade your home bar and hosting skills — and you won't have to spend all your time in the kitchen making them, either. Spruce up your evening get-together with the world's finest French vodka, Grey Goose, which we've partnered with to showcase three vodka cocktails and two non-alcoholic options that your friends and workmates will love. GREY GOOSE ESPRESSO MARTINI In 1983 a model sauntered into a London bar and uttered the phrase "I want something to wake me up and fuck me up", and the espresso martini was born. Thirty-six years later and the caffeinated cocktail has risen to cult status. To make things easier on you, this recipe uses cold drip coffee so you don't have to worry about making a fresh espresso for each round. — 30ml Grey Goose Original — 30ml De Kuyper Crème de Café coffee liqueur — 30ml cold drip coffee — 1 pinch of salt (serves one) Shake all the ingredients, hard, in Boston tins with lots of ice till the outside is frosty. Double strain into a martini glass. Garnish with coffee beans or chocolate dust. Everyone'll be pepped for the night ahead in no time. [caption id="attachment_750115" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Camille Vidal, La Maison Wellness[/caption] HEALTH YEAH Not everyone drinks alcohol — and having a non-boozy option makes you a considerate host. This refreshingly light iced tea needs a little pre-planning, so you'll have to batch-make the tea and syrup the night before. Then, come Friday afternoon, you can to knock one of these together in no time. — 120ml roobois tea — 80ml kombucha — 20ml turmeric honey syrup — 2 dashes of lemon essential oil (serves one) Use cold water to infuse the tea as it'll avoid bitterness and tannins; add ten grams of roobois tea for every one litre of mineral water and leave to infuse overnight. Strain and keep it in the fridge. To make the syrup, use three tablespoons of turmeric honey and one tablespoon of golden unrefined sugar with 350ml of water. Add all ingredients in a saucepan, bring to boiling point and stir for one-to-two minutes until dissolved. Remove from heat and allow syrup to cool. Build the cocktail over ice in a highball, give a gentle stir to mix ingredients and garnish with a lemon wedge. SPIKED ICE TEA Thought that last one sounded good? How about having an iced tea with an extra kick? Forget woeful Long Islands and upgrade to this delicious and balanced Grey Goose version which includes a fruity twist of apricot brandy. — 30ml Grey Goose Original — 20ml apricot brandy — 20ml lemon juice — 90ml cold earl grey tea — 10ml sugar syrup Just like the boozeless option above, prep the tea overnight and brew with cold water to avoid any bitter tannin taste. Build the cocktail over ice in a highball, give a gentle stir to mix ingredients and garnish with a lemon wedge. Easy peasy! BOOZELESS GINGER MOJITO Who said drinkers had to have all the fun and flavour? When you want to take time off the sauce, or cater for guests who do, opt for this gently spiced but super-fresh non-alcoholic mojito. As a bonus you can show off your muddling skills to impress your mates. — 22ml fresh lime juice — 15ml sugar syrup — 3 wedges of fresh lime — 2cm of fresh peeled ginger — 12 fresh mint leaves — top with soda water (serves one) Muddle lime wedges, mint leaves and ginger with the sugar syrup and lime juice. Add crushed ice and churn before topping with soda water. Look at you go! ROSE SPRITZ Make like you're in the south of France with this gently fizzy, and oh-so pink cocktail that practically begs to be sipped outdoors on a terrace surrounded by your besties. — 30ml Grey Goose Original — 20ml Martini Bianco — 10ml Monin watermelon syrup — 15ml lemon juice — 45ml soda (serves one) Build all the ingredients over ice in a collins glass and top with soda water. Garnish with a lemon wedge. Then upload a pic to Instagram to make sure everyone knows you can make such a fine looking drink. Upgrade your Friday night at home by choosing premium vodka Grey Goose. Each bottle is distilled in France, and the high quality vodka has a 100 percent traceable production process, from crop to cork.
Summer is outdoor cinema season, as Melburnians well and truly know. But sometimes, as much as you'd like to catch a film under the stars, you'd also like to do so in a more intimate situation. That's not a pandemic-related reaction, but just recognition that big openair cinemas have their moments, and plenty of them — however, so do quieter and cosier movie-watching environments. You could take your own TV outside into your backyard, of course. You could rig up a sheet and buy a projector, too. Or, if you're still keen on treating yo'self and your favourite person to a night out of the house (and not just outside your own house), you can book a room at the Melbourne Marriott Hotel that comes with a private courtyard — which is then decked out with a hot tub and an outdoor cinema setup. Launched to entice Melburnians to enjoy a staycation over summer, the Marriott's new deal includes a five-star room, your own courtyard and place to soak outdoors, and your own big screen as well. You choose the movie, which you can then sit back and watch from the tub or from reclining camp deck chairs. And, to say cheers to all that, you'll also receive a two-pack of wine. You can order gourmet hampers to your room, too, and check out the mini bar — but that'll cost you extra. Room rates start from $399 per night and, if all that hot tubbing and movie-watching leaves you in need of a sleep in, you won't have to check out until 1pm the next day. Find the Melbourne Marriott Hotel on the corner of Lonsdale and Exhibition streets, Melbourne — with stays in a room with a private courtyard, outside hot tub and outdoor cinema screen starting at $399.
For more than a decade, a movie version of Monopoly has been mooted, but hasn't yet reached screens. There's no need to hope for a Jumanji-style big-screen take on the game, however. Instead, from Wednesday, November 15 in Melbourne, you can just head to Monopoly Dreams and enjoy playing your way through Australia's first theme park-esque Monopoly experience. Here, the property-buying family favourite is no longer just a game: it's an immersive 1700-square-metre attraction. Monopoly Dreams is already open in Hong Kong, making the Aussie venue only the second in the world. Initially slated to launch in October, it's now officially ready to welcome in Monopoly lovers. If you're wondering what happens when the game that's caused many a childhood dispute — and plenty more between adults as well — makes the bricks-and-mortar leap on Melbourne Central's lower ground level, that's as understandable as being annoyed about being sent directly to jail. The answer isn't just a life-sized version of the game that everyone has played more than once. Rather, the venue is taking a chance on bringing Monopoly elements beyond the board, building a Monopoly city that includes water works, the electric company, the bank and Mr Monopoly's mansion. Yes, there is indeed a jail. Presumably you don't go directly there upon entering, but you can get your mugshot taken within its walls. When you walk through the doors, you'll also find carnival games. It wouldn't be an attraction based on a board game if playing games wasn't a big part of the setup, of course. Expect challenges as well — and, in the mansion, there'll also be a vault and gallery, alongside a 4D cinema screening a movie about Mr Monopoly and his dog Scottie touring Melbourne locations — plus the opportunity to create your own customised Monopoly title deed. For bites to eat, patrons can hit up the Monopoly cafe. And if all this Monopoly talk has you wanting to play Monopoly or buy Monopoly merchandise, Monopoly Dreams will also feature Australia's first and only dedicated Monopoly store. Catering for audiences of all ages — so, you'll have kids for company, but it's open for adults without children in tow — Monopoly Dreams will take visitors around 60–90 minutes to enjoy the full experience. "The opening of Monopoly Dreams has been highly anticipated by Monopoly fans since the news broke that we'd be making Melbourne our home," said Monopoly Dreams General Manager Mark Connolly. "We are absolutely thrilled to now be opening the doors and welcoming guests into the incredible world of Mr Monopoly." Monopoly Dreams will open on Wednesday, November 15 at Melbourne Central, Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. Head to the venue's website for tickets and further details.
Say goodbye to your childhood. Then, say hello to a beloved favourite slicing and dicing on the big screen. As announced back in 2022, the usually adorable literary critter that is Winnie-the-Pooh has been given the horror-movie treatment, in what's instantly one of the most intriguing flicks of the past few years. And, in great/cursed news for Australians, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey is hitting cinemas Down Under in 2023. This isn't the AA Milne creation that you grew up with. Instead, it's a slasher film about the Hundred Acre Woods' famous inhabitant and his pals. And, if cuddling up with your significant other while watching a horror movie is your idea of a prime Valentine's Day date, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey will bow locally on Tuesday, February 14, hosting sneak-peek sessions before a four-day season between Thursday, February 16–Sunday, February 19. Take every horror movie staple, every expected line and all the usual eerie settings, then throw in a favourite figure that's stopped being friendly and turned savage instead: yes, that's what's in Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey's pot. And yes, based on the trailer, it looks as creepy as the whole concept sounds. "Oh bother!" is definitely the mood, after Christopher Robin returns to the Hundred Acre Wood as an adult, years after leaving his pals Winnie, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Kanga and Roo behind. All that time alone hasn't turned out well for those animals, and there's about to be a body count to prove it. No, the idea that Pooh might turn murderous hasn't ever crossed anyone's minds before this film. Gracing pages for almost a century — plus screens big and small for decades — Winnie-the-Pooh has done many things in his time, but getting grisly hasn't been one of them. Ever since Milne first conjured up the honey-loving, walking-and-talking teddy bear back in the 1920s, Pooh has enjoyed plenty of adventures involving his human and animal friends, and tried to eat as much of his favourite foodstuff as possible. We've all seen the cartoons and toys, and also watched films such as Goodbye Christopher Robin and Christopher Robin in recent years. To director Rhys Waterfield, however, Pooh is no longer cute and cuddly, even if he's a honey-fiending teddy bear who normally doesn't wear pants (although he appears to here). And if you're wondering about the tone of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, other than horror, the filmmaker's other upcoming titles include Firenado, Sky Monster and Rise of the Loch Ness. Clearly, Pooh breaking bad all falls into B-movie territory, which the premise makes plain as well. The setup: after seeing their food supplies dwindle as Christopher grew up, Pooh and Piglet have spent years feeling hungry. They've turned feral, in fact, even eating Eeyore to survive. So when Christopher returns, it sets the pair on a rampage, which leads to them a rural cabin where a group of university students are holidaying. From that summary, it's obvious what'll happen from there. The trailer cements that fact, and throws in more horror tropes than you could fit in a pot of honey in the process. Now all that's left is to see the end result in Aussie cinemas, with Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey also hitting screens overseas around the same time. Wondering why something that's usually so sweet and innocent is being given the creepy, bloody, eerie horror treatment — turning Winnie-the-Pooh into a killer, no less? It's because the character has just entered the public domain in America. Disney no longer holds the copyright, and no one can now hold the exclusive intellectual property rights over the character, opening the door for wild interpretations like this slasher flick. Check out the Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey trailer below: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey will screen in Australian cinemas on Tuesday, February 14, then from Thursday, February 16–Sunday, February 19. Images: Jagged Edge Productions.
Every year, Australia's finest horse riders converge on stunning Werribee Park for three days. And you're invited to watch them in action. The competition will start on Friday, June 6 with dressage, which carries into Saturday. The following day, the riders will let loose on a cross-country course around the property's beautiful grounds. Then, come Monday, it's show-jumping time. Whoever performs best across all three events will be announced champion and take home some serious prize money. In between watching, head to the Trade Village to wander among horsey-related stallholders. You'll come across apparel (for animals and people) by Valley Horsewear, saddles by Bates, equestrian gear by Castlefin and loads more. Plus, on Sunday evening, catch the indoor speed jumping competition, set to music. Entry on Friday is free; tickets range from $12.50–$110 Saturday–Monday. You can book ahead online.
The Moon Dog crew doesn't really do understated. Its brewery bars are not only large in size but usually have a theme and playful food and drink lineup. Moon Dog Wild West out in Footscray even has a free-to-ride bucking bull and is made for big group parties. And now, the team is going even bigger with Doglands — its 1200-person island themed bar within the revamped Marvel Stadium Concourse, which is slated to open in October this year. The original plans included an indoor volcano and hidden karaoke room, but these have sadly been left out to accommodate more punters. However, it will still have a palm tree-lined boardwalk that snakes around the entire venue, plus a live music stage and jungle-themed terrace restaurant. The team will serve classic pub food, Moon Dog beers and seltzers, wine, spirits, cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks in the main venue. Vacay-inspired specials like a Jungle Spritz with Campari, dark rum and pineapple, and a Volcano Bowl Negroni will bring even more playful energy to the Doglands adventureland experience. And those who head over to The Jungle Room will find a slightly elevated dining experience with Med-inspired food and drinks. More details on exactly what's on offer here are yet to be announced, but we'll be sure to share more once it's all finalised. Moon Dog's Doglands will open in October 2024, and can be found at 685 La Trobe Street, Docklands. For more information, you can check out the venue's website.
Sisters Grimm do not make theatre the way you might usually think of theatre. The trashtastic Melbourne satirists (also known as Ash Flanders and Declan Green) staged their DIY 2010 theatre piece Little Mercy in a car park and 2012's Summertime in the Garden of Eden in a suburban garage — and got rave reviews for both. So much so that the anti-establishmentarians have gone establishment, in the nicest possible way, as the Sydney Theatre Company is bringing them out to reimagine Little Mercy, a high-camp ode to 'evil child' movies, for their Wharf 2 stage. (Summertime in the Garden on Eden, meanwhile, will get a run at Griffin Theatre in November). Marcus Costello caught-up with Ash, who as well as writing and directing is playing the mother character Virginia, on his first day treading the boards at the Wharf. Here's what he had to say on stepping up to the main stage, the joys of the low-brow, and how they're adapting their "aesthetic of failure". First day of rehearsals, how's it going? We haven't stopped laughing that we’re actually here at STC. Well it's a long way from where you gave birth to Little Mercy in a Melbourne car park all those years ago. How has the show changed since then? Oh, you know, just little tweaks — like rewriting the whole show. Our shows are always staged in response to the space we're working in and the resources we have available, which is usually next to nothing. Our work ends up being an exercise in the aesthetic of failure, which is where much of the comedy comes from. Of course, being here [at STC] we can't just pretend we have no money so we're responding to the idea and construction of conventional theatre. In a way it's not that radical a departure because we're all about the interrogation of genre — finding the cracks, tearing it apart, and putting it back together. We like to see how much pressure something can take before it's completely unintelligible. Stepping up to the main stage... I like to think of it as STC stepping down [laughs]. Good call. In any case it's a collision of worlds. If you like it here and want to stick around, how is that going to affect your anti-establishment practice? If we can get paid to do shows on big stages, great, but it was never really our aim to make it to this point at settle-in. I think we'll always do scratch shows because mixing up where we perform is really important to us. I mean, we'll ride this out and have fun along the way, but we won't get so big-headed that we'll stop performing in living rooms and backyard sheds, or car parks, even. By the same token, if performing in car parks to a bunch of our adoring friends was all we ever did, it wouldn't amount to much. We don't plan to play it safe. A character at the centre of your play, Rodger, is a wealthy theatre director. Should we take that as a dig at the establishment? Um, [laughs] oh I don't know how meta we want to get about that! I mean, yeah, his job, his taste comes across as increasingly ridiculous throughout the show. We needed a job where the husband/father could become totally engrossed in what he does. As we both know, directors can get way too involved with their own projects and stop seeing the world around them — maybe even fail to see their own child is a psychotic killer. You say that the goal of your theatre is to make the audience laugh. I reckon your gritty-camp shtick might rankle with some of the more conservative STC season subscribers, don't you think? We don't intend to shock them too much. I mean, we won't be flopping our dicks out. In a way, our comedy is kind of old-fashioned. A man in a dress isn't new, but what we do with it hopefully is new and interesting and funny. At least we hope so because we think laughter in the theatre is vital. If you go to the theatre to take your medicine, to eat something that's good for you, then you've killed a lot of the joy. I don't like to go to the theatre to be educated. Dialectical, polemical, preachy theatre, theatre where the performers blast their politics at you, that doesn't inspire me. At least, if I learn something I want it to be incidental to the laughs. And if it's not making me laugh, it should make be gasp. Whatever is does, it needs to make me feel something. There are a number of Australian theatre-makers at the moment who set out to hurt feelings and sensibilities. How do you feel about that? Oy vey! That's not something we would deliberately set out to do. Our kind of humour can be quite hoary and hokey but I think if anything was going to offend, especially the STC audience, it would be the stupid jokes — because we would offend their intelligence [laughs]. I'm not playing Virginia for a joke, but every time I get on stage there will be laughter for a good five seconds. That's interesting because you're not unknown to the Melbourne drag scene. How does it feel having an audience laughing at you not with you? I'm totally fine with it. It’s not my job to know why people are laughing, it's really not. I'm happy with laughs wherever they’re derived from. I'm just not that precious; I'm aware of the grenade that I am. Little Mercy is on at the Sydney Theatre Company's Wharf 2 from March 7 to 24. Tickets are available from their website.
OVERVIEW Are you an authority on pop culture, music, food, drink, events and city life? Are you adept at putting your thoughts on those things into words that people can’t help but read? Are you a total pro at all things digital? Concrete Playground is currently seeking a skilled, experienced journalist/editor to join its Sydney team as deputy editor, and if you answered in the affirmative to all of the above, you may just be the person we’re looking for. RESPONSIBILITIES Working closely with the editor-in-chief from our Redfern, Sydney office, you'll come up with story ideas, write articles and commission work from a team of freelancers. Fastidious subediting will be a pillar of your day, as will making images, text, video and links work together as a happy whole. Your primary responsibilities will include: Leading Concrete Playground's news and features content across Australia and New Zealand.Management and growth of Concrete Playground’s various social media channels.Assisting with the planning and execution of Concrete Playground’s editorial strategy.Creation of varied written and multimedia content.Management of freelance news contributors across five cities. REQUIREMENTS A university degreeAt least one year's experience in the online media environment.A demonstrated ability to write smart, funny, popular articles quickly, and to come up with even more ideas than you can write.Solid subediting skills and ability to work with a style guide.Experience with social media management and strategy.Knowledge of SEO and basic HTML.Experience working with a content management system (preferably Wordpress).A good eye for images and skills with image production (preferably Photoshop).Expertise on the topics of music and pop culture, though you might also be strong in: technology, design, sustainability, current affairs, fashion, lifestyle, travel, food & drink, film, the arts and local cultural life.Some photography or videography skills. HOW TO APPLY Please send your cover letter, CV and links to 3-4 relevant online writing samples to Concrete Playground’s editor-in-chief, Rima Sabina Aouf, at contribute@concreteplayground.com.au WHO WE ARE Concrete Playground is an online weather vane pointing readers to the cultural tornadoes that are just about to hit. Our writers, editors and contributors have a constant ear to the under and above (but never middle) ground of the creative worlds of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Auckland and Wellington. Ideally, applicants will be pretty familiar with us and what we're about.
Not all that long ago, the idea of getting cosy on your couch, clicking a few buttons, and having thousands of films and television shows at your fingertips seemed like something out of science fiction. Now, it's just an ordinary night — whether you're virtually gathering the gang to text along, cuddling up to your significant other or shutting the world out for some much needed me-time. Of course, given the wealth of options to choose from, there's nothing ordinary about making a date with your chosen streaming platform. The question isn't "should I watch something?" — it's "what on earth should I choose?". Hundreds of titles are added to Australia's online viewing services each and every month, all vying for a spot on your must-see list. And, so you don't spend 45 minutes scrolling and then being too tired to actually commit to watching anything, we're here to help. We've spent plenty of couch time watching our way through this month's latest batch — and, from the latest and greatest to old favourites, here are our picks for your streaming queue from April's haul of newbies. BRAND NEW STUFF YOU CAN WATCH IN FULL RIGHT NOW APOLLO 10 1/2: A SPACE AGE CHILDHOOD In 1969, the year that Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood is set, writer/director Richard Linklater was nine years old and living in Houston, Texas. This lovely animated film happens to follow a boy around the same age in the same city — and trust the filmmaker behind Boyhood, Dazed and Confused, and the glorious trio that is Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight to make viewers who weren't there then (who weren't even alive and have never been to America, too) to feel as nostalgic about the place and era as he clearly does. As narrated by his Bernie and The School of Rock star Jack Black, the film's entire middle section dances through memories of the time and city with infectious enthusiasm, but its biggest dose of affection radiates towards the technological promise of the 60s. The Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions were rocketing into space and it patently felt like anything was possible, a sensation so marvellously captured in each second of Apollo 10 1/2. Jumping back into the rotoscoped animation that served Linklater so well in Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, this loving ode to years and moods gone by also sports a delightful premise. As his older guise (Black) explains, young Stan (debutant Milo Coy) was an ordinary Houston kid with a NASA-employed dad (Bill Wise, Waves), doting mum (Lee Eddy, Cruel Summer) and five older siblings when he was approached by two men (Shazam!'s Zachary Levi and Everybody Wants Some!!'s Glen Powell) to help them with a problem. In the lead up to Apollo 11, it seems that NASA accidentally built the lunar module a couple of sizes too small, so they need a kid — Stan — to help them by going to the moon to test things out before Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins make their famous trip in a bigger version. That fantastical idea feels ripped from Linklater's childhood dreams, and it well might be; it also makes for a warm and charming entry point into a movie that's as much about life's ups and downs, the bonds of family and the wide-eyed optimism of youth as it is about heading to space. Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood is available to stream via Netflix. SLOW HORSES One of several espionage-themed efforts worth a watch this month — see also: The Flight Attendant and All the Old Knives below — Slow Horses gives the genre a pivotal switch and entertaining shake up. It's still a tense thriller, kicking off with an airport incident (another theme for the month) and then following a kidnapping, but it's also about the kind of spies that don't usually populate the on-screen world of covert operatives. Stationed away from the main MI5 base at a rundown, clandestine office called Slough House, Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman, The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard) and his team are the agency's rejects. They haven't been fired for a multitude of reasons, however, including boasting ties to influential past employees, being great at their jobs but also a drunk and having impressive hacking skills yet proving impossible to get along with. Given the nickname that gives the show its moniker, usually they do little more than push paper, too, until they get caught up in a high-profile case. Oldman goes big and broad as Lamb, and he's also ceaselessly absorbing to watch, but Slow Horses isn't short on stars. In a six-episode first season adapted from Mick Herron's 2010 novel of the same name, Kristin Scott Thomas (Rebecca) plays MI5 Deputy Director-General Diana Taverner, Lamb's supremely competent head-office counterpart — although it's Jack Lowden (Fighting with My Family) and Olivia Cooke (Pixie) as young operatives River Cartwright and Sid Baker, and their efforts to chase down a lead they're not meant to, that anchors the series. Behind the scenes, executive producer and writer Will Smith (not that one) brings a sly and witty way with dialogue from his past work on The Thick of It and Veep, making Slow Horses both crackingly suspenseful and tartly amusing. The slinky theme tune by Mick Jagger also helps set the mood — and season two is already in development. The first season of Slow Horses is available to stream via Apple TV+. HEARTSTOPPER It only takes minutes for British newcomer Heartstopper to explain its title — showing rather than telling, as all great shows should. A year ten student at Truham Grammar School for Boys, Charlie Spring (first-timer Joe Locke) finds himself seated in his form class next to year 11 rugby player Nick Nelson (Kit Connor, Little Joe). Sparks fly on the former's part, swiftly and overwhelmingly, with the eight-part series' graphic-novel origins inspiring a flurry of fluttering animated hearts on-screen. But Charlie has a secret boyfriend, Ben (Sebastian Croft, Doom Patrol), who won't even acknowledge him in public. He also hardly thinks of himself as sporty, even after Nick asks him to join the school team. And, while a friendship quickly solidifies between the two, Charlie is initially unsure whether anything more can happen — and anxiety-riddled in general. As well as writing Heartstopper's source material — which initially started as a webcomic — Alice Oseman pens every episode of this perceptive teenage-focused gem. From the outset, it bubbles with heartwarming charm, while its coming-of-age story and central love story alike prove wholly relatable, aptly awkward but also wonderfully sweet and sensitive. In short, it's a series that plunges so convincingly and inclusively into its characters' experiences that it feels like its heart is constantly beating with affection for Charlie, Nick, and their fellow high-schoolers Tao (fellow debutant William Gao), Elle (Yasmin Finney), Isaac (Tobie Donovan), Tara (Corinna Brown, Daphne) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell). First crushes, young love, the swirling swell of emotions that comes with both and also figuring out who you are: all of this dances through Heartstopper's frames. Also, when Oscar-winner Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter) pops up, she's glorious as always. The first season of Heartstopper is available to stream via Netflix. Read our full review. KILLING IT Killing It starts with a pitch. It's the first of many because that's just life these days, the show posits. Adding another sitcom to his resume after The Office, Ghosted and his beloved Brooklyn Nine-Nine guest spots, Craig Robinson keeps his first name as a Miami bank security guard with big aspirations — if he can rustle up some startup funds. His vision: owning a saw palmetto farm and living the American dream, because he believed his dad back when he was told as a kid that hard work and perseverance always pay off in the USA. For $20,000, he plans to buy land in the Everglades, then sell the fruit to pharmaceutical companies, who'll use it in prostate medicines for the lucrative health market. But when his branch manager won't give him a loan, and his life spirals soon afterwards, he begins to realise how America really works for everyone who isn't ruthless, wealthy or both. Striving for a better life, styling yourself to meet society's expectations, getting brutally trampled down: that's Killing It, which hails from B99 co-creator Dan Goor and executive producer Luke Del Tredici. It's a perceptive and savvily funny series about aiming for a shiny future to escape the swampy present, but getting stuck slithering in a circle no matter what you try. And, it's also about literally killing snakes, a money-making scheme that Craig comes across via Uber driver Jillian (Claudia O'Doherty, Our Flag Means Death). She's a chatty Australian who swings hammers at pythons because it's a profitable business — and because there's a contest awarding $20,000 to whoever kills the most. If The Good Place was wholly set in Florida and followed down-on-their luck folks chasing glory by slaying pythons, and also made exceptional use of the well-paired Robinson and O'Doherty, this'd be the end result. The first season of Killing It is available to stream via Stan. Read our full review. MASTER Taking cues from Jordan Peele's Get Out and Donald Glover's Atlanta (see below), as well as from old-school horror classics such as Rosemary's Baby and The Shining, college-set horror-thriller Master isn't lacking in well-known influences. It also isn't afraid to let the imprint left by its obvious predecessors visibly ripple through its frames. But being overly ambitious in stitching together a story that so clearly owes a debt backwards is one of this film's few missteps — that and being so brimming with ideas that not everything gets its due. Excavating the institutionalised racism that festers in the American university system is a big task, though, and first-time feature writer/director Mariama Diallo doesn't hold back. There's a slow-burn eeriness to this intense Ivy League-steeped affair, but also a go-for-broke mentality behind its dissection of deeply engrained prejudice and weaponised identity politics. Regina Hall (Nine Perfect Strangers), Zoe Renee (Black Lightning) and Amber Gray (The Underground Railroad) play Gail Bishop, Jasmine Moore and Liv Beckman, respectively — three women of colour at a New England uni, Ancaster, with a long history. The school's past is almost exclusively tied to white administrators and students, of course, so much so that Gail is the first Black head of the college, or master. Her appointment comes as Jasmine arrives and gets allocated to a dorm once inhabited by the college's first-ever Black pupil, whose tale ended in tragedy, and as popular professor Liv tries to earn tenure. Diallo balances racial politics and the supernatural with skill; yes, the former, and the way that 'diversity' is paid lip-service to boost the university's prestige, is far more chilling than the otherworldly bumps and jumps, but both play a key part in making this a smart and haunting feature. Master is available to stream via Prime Video. ALL THE OLD KNIVES Starring Chris Pine (Wonder Woman 1984) and Thandiwe Newton (Westworld) as two spies wading through the fallout of a terrorist attack that changed their lives years earlier, All the Old Knives brings its espionage intrigue to the screen with a sense of timelessness. It's easy to imagine how stars from any other decade — perhaps pairings involving Kurt Russell and Jamie Lee Curtis in the 80s, Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in the 90s, or Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in the 00s — could've stepped into the same film with little tinkering needed, and how it still would've turned out as slickly and engagingly. Pine and Newton play Henry Pelham and Celia Harrison, colleagues and lovers in 2012 when Turkish Alliance flight 127 is hijacked. In 2020, the case is reopened after new information comes to light, with Henry tasked with investigating — which means reuniting with Celia after she suddenly left her old existence behind. As directed by Borg vs McEnroe's Janus Metz Pedersen, much of All the Old Knives unfurls through conversation, with the filmmaker once again diving into a highly charged adversarial and emotional relationship. With Henry trying to extract information and Celia endeavouring to protect everything she's earned since the incident, it also unravels like a game between two well-matched players, even if the twists and turns penned by Olen Steinhauer — the creator of TV's Berlin Station, and also the author of the novel that All the Old Knives is based on — are rarely astonishing. Pine and Newton make the most of the material, however, in dialogue-driven parts that rely heavily upon their smouldering chemistry. Also influential in the handsomely shot thriller: the supporting cast that spans Laurence Fishburne (MacGruber) and Jonathan Pryce (Tales From the Loop) as fellow CIA operatives. All the Old Knives is available to stream via Prime Video. NEW SHOWS TO CHECK OUT WEEK BY WEEK THE GIRL FROM PLAINVILLE Whatever she's in, and whether she's the star of the show or a supporting player, Chloë Sevigny's face always tells a tale of its own. That's been true in everything from Kids and Boys Don't Cry through to Big Love and We Are Who We Are, and it remains that way in The Girl From Plainville — the new eight-part true-crime miniseries led by The Great's Elle Fanning that's based on the death of Massachusetts teenager Conrad Roy III in 2014. Here, Fanning plays Conrad's long-distance girlfriend Michelle Carter. It's due to the her actions that the situation has been known as "the texting suicide case" for almost a decade — garnering not just local but international attention, and earning a HBO documentary, I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth Vs Michelle Carter, back in 2019. Fanning is fantastic in what proves an eerie character study, but the looks that Sevigny, as Conrad's mother Lynn, shoots her way scream rather than simply speak volumes. Inspired by Jesse Barron's Esquire article of the same name, The Girl From Plainville tells a tough tale, starting with Conrad's (Colton Ryan, Dear Evan Hansen) suicide in his truck in a Kmart parking lot. It was his second attempt to take his own life, although he'd promised Lynn that he wouldn't do it again — and when his death was investigated, police discovered text messages sent to him by Michelle, including a plethora of words encouraging him to follow through. In 2015, she was indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter for "wantonly and recklessly" assisting the suicide. In 2017, her trial took place. The outcome is now a matter a history, which the complicated, captivating and gripping The Girl From Plainville builds up to while also unpacking Michelle and Conrad's relationship. The Girl From Plainville is available to stream via Stan, with new episodes dropping weekly. Read our full review. OUTER RANGE Some shows commence with a dead girl wrapped in plastic. Others begin with a plane crash on a spooky island. With Outer Range, it all kicks off with a void. On the Abbott family ranch in Wyoming, in the western reach that gives the show its name, a chasm suddenly appears. A perfect circle swirling with otherworldly mist and resembling an oversized golf hole, it's just one of several troubles plaguing patriarch Royal (Josh Brolin, Dune), however. There is indeed a touch of Twin Peaks and Lost to Outer Range. A dash of Yellowstone, The Twilight Zone, The X-Files and whichever family-focused prime-time soap opera takes your fancy, too. As a result, while Royal is visibly disconcerted by the unexpected opening staring at him in an otherwise ordinary field in this intriguing, quickly entrancing and supremely well-acted eight-part series — a show that makes ideal use of Brolin especially — he has other worries. His rich, ostentatious and increasingly madcap neighbour Wayne Tillerson (Will Patton, Halloween Kills) suddenly wants a parcel of the Abbotts' turf, claiming mapping inaccuracies. One of Tillerson's mouthy and entitled sons, Trevor (Matt Lauria, CSI: Vegas), ends up in a bar spat with Royal's sons Rhett (Lewis Pullman, Them That Follow) and Perry (Tom Pelphrey, Mank). And there's also the matter of Perry's missing wife, who disappeared nine months back, leaving both her husband and their young daughter Amy (Olive Abercrombie, The Haunting of Hill House) searching since. Plus, into this sea of faith-testing chaos amid such serene and dreamlike scenery, a stranger arrives as well: "hippie chick" backpacker Autumn Rivers (Imogen Poots, The Father). She just wants to camp for a few days on the Abbotts' stunning and sprawling land, she says, but she's a key part in a show that's a ranch-dwelling western, an offbeat enigma, an eerie sci-fi, a detective quest and a thriller all at once. Outer Range is available to stream via Prime video, with new episodes dropping weekly. Read our full review. RETURNING FAVOURITES NOW DROPPING EAGERLY AWAITED NEW SEASONS ATLANTA Atlanta's third season arrives with two pieces of fantastic news, and one inevitable but not-so-welcome reality. Hitting screens four years after season two, it's one of two seasons that'll air this year — and it's as extraordinary as the Donald Glover-created and -starring (and often -written and -directed) show has ever been — but when season four drops later in 2022, that'll be the end of this deserved award-winner. The latter makes revelling in what Atlanta has for viewers now all the more special, although this series always earns that description anyway. Just as Jordan Peele has done on the big screen with Get Out and Us after building upon his excellent sketch comedy series Key & Peele, Glover lays bare what it's like to be Black in America today with brutally smart and honest precision, and also makes it blisteringly apparent that both horror and so-wild-and-terrifying-that-you-can-only-laugh comedy remains the default. Actually, in the season-three episodes that focus on Glover's Earnest 'Earn' Marks, his cousin and rapper Alfred 'Paper Boi' Miles (Brian Tyree Henry, Godzilla vs Kong), their Nigerian American pal Darius (Lakeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah) and Earn's ex Vanessa (Zazie Beetz, The Harder They Fall), the lived experience of being a Black American anywhere is thrust into the spotlight. Paper Boi is on tour in Europe, which results in an on-the-road onslaught of antics that repeatedly put the quartet at the mercy of white bullshit — racist traditions, money-hungry rich folks looking to cash in on someone else's culture, scheming hangers-on, brands using Black artists for politically correct PR stunts and culinary gentrification all included. And then there's the standalone stories, all of which'd make excellent movies. Proving astute, incisive, sometimes-absurd, always-stellar and relentlessly surprising, here Atlanta examines the welfare system and in its inequalities, reparations for slavery, and the emotional and physical labour outsourced to Black workers. The third season of Atlanta is available to stream via SBS On Demand, with new episodes dropping weekly. BETTER CALL SAUL Saul Goodman's name has always been ironic. As played so devastatingly well by the one and only Bob Odenkirk, the slick lawyer sells the "s'all good, man" vibe with well-oiled charm, but little is ever truly good — for his clients, as his Breaking Bad experiences with Walter White and Jesse Pinkman demonstrated, or for the ever-enterprising law-skirting attorney himself. That truth has always sat at the heart of Better Call Saul's magnificent tragedy, too, and has made the prequel series one of the best shows of this century. Viewers know the fate that awaits, and yet we desperately yearn for the opposite to magically happen. But when the first part of the series' final season begins — with seven episodes arriving weekly since mid-April, then the final six dropping from mid-July — we're pushed well past the point of hoping. Professionally, the earnest, striving, well-meaning Jimmy McGill is gone, ditching his real name and his quest for a legitimate career, and instead embracing his slide into shadiness. Only three episodes in, Better Call Saul's new season has explored the fallout from this concerted life change — and from all that's brought Jimmy to this point. It hammers home what's to come as well, given it opens on Saul Goodman's Breaking Bad-era home being seized by the feds; however, the show still has much to cover in the lawyer's past. With his significant other Kim Wexler (the simply phenomenal Rhea Seehorn, Veep), he's seeking revenge on their former boss Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian, Black Monday). Meanwhile, his ties to the Salamanca family and their drug empire — to the psychotic Lalo (Tony Dalton, Hawkeye) and ambitious-but-trapped Nacho (Michael Mando, Spider-Man: Homecoming), and to ex-cop Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks, The Comey Rule) and Los Pollos Hermanos owner Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito, The Boys) — are drawing attention. Tense, intelligent, heartbreaking and just exceptional: that's the result so far, as it always has been with this astounding series. The sixth season of Better Call Saul is available to stream via Stan, with new episodes dropping weekly. RUSSIAN DOLL Getting philosophical about existence can mean bobbing between two extremes. At one end, life means everything, so we need to make the absolute most of it. At the other, nothing at all matters. When genre-bending and mind-melting time-loop comedy-drama Russian Doll first hit Netflix in 2019, it served up a party full of mysteries — a repeating shindig overflowing with chaos and questions, to be precise — but it also delivered a few absolute truths, too. Fact one: it's possible to posit that life means everything and nothing at once, all by watching Natasha Lyonne relive the same day (and same 36th-birthday celebrations) over and over. Fact two: a show led by the Orange Is the New Black, Irresistible and The United States vs Billie Holiday star, and co-created by the actor with Parks and Recreation's Amy Poehler, plus Bachelorette and Sleeping with Other People filmmaker Leslye Headland, was always going be a must-see. Here's a third fact as well: after cementing itself as one of the best TV shows of 2019, and one of the smartest, savviest and funniest in the process, Russian Doll's long-awaited second season is equally wonderful. In glorious news for sweet birthday babies, it's also smarter and weirder across its seven episodes, this time following Lyonne's self-destructive video-game designer Nadia and mild-mannered fellow NYC-dweller Alan Zaveri (Charlie Barnett, You) as they tackle another trippy problem. After being caught in a Groundhog Day-style situation last season, now death isn't their problem. Instead, time is. It was an issue before, given the duo couldn't move with it, only back through the same events — but here, via the New York subway's No 6 train, Nadia and Alan speed into the past to explore cause and effect, inherited struggles and intergenerational trauma. Season two of Russian Doll is available to stream via Netflix. Read our full review. THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT When The Flight Attendant hit shelves in 2018, it must've been sold in the most of obvious of places: airport bookstores. Based on the TV show adapted from its Chris Bohjalian-penned pages, it's easy to see why that would've been the easiest move any publisher has ever made; with its country-hopping murder-mystery thrills, spills and kills, it's a quintessential airport novel. The focus: Cassie Bowden, the titular airline worker and New York City-based party fiend, who is rarely far from a bar no matter which part of the world she happens to find herself in on any given day. But then she wakes up in a Bangkok hotel room next to a dead body, upending her already chaotic life — as Kaley Cuoco conveyed to perfection in the first season, and thankfully flew far, far away from The Big Bang Theory in the process. In The Flight Attendant's second season, Cassie's life has calmed down in some ways and gotten more tumultuous in others. Now based on Los Angeles, she's a year sober, all nested in a homely bungalow, and also in her longest relationship ever with the handsome Marco (Santiago Cabrera, Ema). She's working for the CIA as well, spying on people of interest during her jaunts abroad. And, when one moonlighting gig in Berlin ends in an explosion — and a mysterious woman seemingly passing herself off as Cassie's doppelgänger — the high-stakes bedlam sets in fast. Although it has been dropping its first four episodes in pairs, The Flight Attendant has always been compulsively bingeable, bringing page-turning cliffhangers to the screen with twisty and polished aplomb. Season two isn't as taut as its predecessor so far, but it still soars to entertaining heights thanks to its blend of humour, darkness and espionage intrigue, as well as Cuoco's career-best work and Girls' Zosia Mamet standing out in support. The second season of The Flight Attendant is available to stream via Binge, with new episodes dropping weekly. Need a few more streaming recommendations? Check out our picks from January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December 2021, and January, February and March 2022 — and our top new TV shows of 2021, best new television series from last year that you might've missed, top 2021 straight-to-streaming films and specials and must-stream 2022 shows so far as well. Top image: Coco Olakunle/FX.
Before there was a Marvel Cinematic Universe, there were Fantastic Four movies. The first two to earn a big-screen release arrived in 2005 and 2007, with the latter hitting the year before Iron Man kicked off the MCU. Now, add the Stan Lee- and Jack Kirby-created superhero quartet to the list of characters who are being brought into the Marvel fold. The next Fantastic Four is set to reach cinemas in 2025 as part of the franchise's sixth phase. That Disney has been planning to bring Fantastic Four into the MCU isn't new news. In fact, it's been on the cards for a few years, enabled by the Mouse House buying 20th Century Fox. But since it was announced, it's sparked a whole heap of speculation about casting Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm — aka Mister Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Thing and The Human Torch. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Disney (@disney) Exactly who'll be getting fantastic this time around has just been revealed, with Disney dropping the news for Valentine's Day 2024 in the US. It's a starry list, starting with Pedro Pascal — who adds the MCU to his resume alongside the Star Wars realm (thanks to The Mandalorian) and game-to-TV smash The Last of Us — as stretchy group leader Richards. He's joined by Vanessa Kirby (Napoleon), who'll bend light as one of the Storm siblings; Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things), who'll get fiery as the other; and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear), who is no one's cousin here, but will instead get huge, rocky and super strong. Directed by WandaVision, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Succession's Matt Shakman, the new Fantastic Four is now set for a Thursday, July 24, 2025 release Down Under. [caption id="attachment_885020" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Last of Us via HBO[/caption] Pascal and company are taking over from two past big-screen takes on the superhero team. In the 2005 and 2007 movies, Ioan Gruffudd (Harrow), Jessica Alba (LA's Finest), a pre-Captain America Chris Evans (Pain Hustlers) and Michael Chiklis (Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty) starred. Then, in 2015, Chronicle filmmaker Josh Trank gave the group a spin — still outside of the MCU — with Miles Teller (Top Gun: Maverick), Kate Mara (Black Mirror), a pre-Black Panther Michael B Jordan (Creed III) and Jamie Bell (All of Us Strangers). As everyone who caught this year's Super Bowl trailers knows — so, everyone — Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds, Ghosted) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman, Faraway Downs) are also joining the MCU in Deadpool & Wolverine, and also thanks to Disney purchasing Fox. Since dropping on Monday, February 12, the debut trailer for the film has become the most-watched trailer ever. There's no trailer for the new Fantastic Four yet, obviously, but you can check out the sneak peeks for the past three Fantastic Four movies below: Fantastic Four is set to release in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, July 24, 2025. Top images via HBO, Apple TV+, Netflix and FX.
Three months after closing its doors on the 55th floor of Rialto Towers, celebrated fine-diner Vue de monde is reopening with a whole new fit-out and menu. The adjoining Lui Bar is also back with a brand-new look and an expanded drinking area. During the break, Executive Chef Hugh Allen worked with his team to do a major update on the French-inspired food offering. "We've been working on the changes to Vue de monde and Lui Bar for a few years now, and it is wonderful to see everything come together. Taking a few months away from the day to day has helped us create what we believe are really special menus across the restaurant and the bar," Allen notes. Dishes from the opening menu are set to include grilled lamb sweetbreads with asparagus topped with a sauce made of fermented macadamia; padrón peppers filled with heirloom eggplant; and marron tail slowly grilled and served with a paste made from fried native herbs and accompanied by a warm marron roe custard. Wine continues to receive ample love here, as director Dorian Guillon and head sommelier Mathieu Gobin run Vue de monde's phenomenal, award-winning wine program comprised of 2,000 bins, hailing from both Australia and around the globe. When sitting down to eat, guests will still gather around the signature tables made by designer Ross Didier and kangaroo hide tabletops designed by Theo Hassett. But the rest of the interiors have been redone, mostly featuring luxe black and timber finishes. Restraint remains as the views across the city are the true star of the show up at Vue de monde. That goes for Bar Lui as well, which is now situated on the eastern and southern wings of the tower. The larger space is designed similarly to the Vue de monde dining room, yet with more natural finishes — think timber, marble, sheep skin and natural brass. Allen has developed a larger menu of snacks here, featuring Sydney rock oysters, Blackmore wagyu ribs and caviar service for the extra bougie folks out there. Lui Bar's manager Elisabetta Lupi has also curated a new cocktail list focusing on sustainability and native ingredients. Lupi's favourite new cocktail is the Margot — a spritz made with Davidson plums, rhubarb and lacto-fermented yellow tomatoes. It seems as if the same luxury French-inspired sensibilities of Vue de monde remain, but with a strong focus on local ingredients. Vue de monde is welcoming guests back from November 1, and Bar Lui will reopen on November 8. Find them both at Level 55 Rialto Towers, 525 Collins Street — open from Wednesday to Saturday.
We love a midweek dining deal. Whether that's bottomless pierogies, cheap tacos, heavily discounted lobster linguine or all-you-can-eat charcoal chicken. These deals are the perfect reason to get off the couch and into the city to support small businesses without going too heavy on the spending. And Chapel Street's Mr Miyagi is the latest spot to join the fold, slinging its flame-cooked yakitori every Tuesday night for just $5 a pop. Head down to the Windsor restaurant on its all-new Skewsday to sample pork belly skewers with teriyaki glaze, barbecue spice and lime; chicken skewers with garlic soy marinade and lemon ponzu butter; beef skewers with teriyaki glaze, barbecue spice and lime; and eggplant skewers with shio koji soy marinade and lemon ponzu butter. You can either sip and snack after work with these cheap yakitori and a few cocktails or make a feast out of these and a few other larger dishes. Dealer's choice.
Two Little Boys follows the series of unfortunate incidents that make up Nige (Bret McKenzie) and Deano's (Hamish Blake) long-term mateship. Things get tricky when Nige accidentally runs over and kills a Scandavian soccer star. He has no one to turn to but Deano and, unfortunately, Deano is not the kind of guy to turn to in a time of crisis. The mishap leads to more unfortunate events with hilarious and bizarre consequences. Directed by Robert Sarkies and based on the novel by Duncan Sarkies, Two Little Boys is a cheeky comedy bound to make you laugh and appreciate the one of a kind relationship between two best mates. Thanks to Hopscotch, Concrete Playground has ten double passes to giveaway to see Two Little Boys. To go in the running just subscribe to Concrete Playground (if you haven't already) then email hello@concreteplayground.com.au
Yarra Valley winery Helen & Joey Estate has just leapt into the world of dining and accommodation by setting up Re'em within its vast 200-acre property. The new Victorian site has been designed to take full advantage of the estate's rolling vineyard and ornamental lake, with the dining rooms and each of the 16 boutique rooms boasting views across the winery and surrounding region. In the 80-seat restaurant, guests can cosy up in booths by floor-to-ceiling windows or head to the shaded terrace to sample an impressive selection of contemporary Chinese dishes, each of which have been designed to match well with the estate's new-world wines. The menu honours owners Helen and Joey's Chinese heritage, but they've given culinary consultant Mark Ebbels (ex-The Fat Duck, Bacchanalia, TarraWarra Estate) and Head Chef Abe Yang (ex-TarraWarra Estate and Levantine Hill) plenty of room to leave their own mark on Re'em. This collaboration has resulted in plenty of raw dishes like the Sichuan beef tartare, plus dry-aged Buxton trout covered in a vibrant ginger, soy and star anise sauce. Hot dishes from the kitchen's woodfired grill also make an appearance alongside fried veggie dumplings, Hainanese chicken and crispy eggplant slathered in a capsicum doubanjiang (fermented bean paste and chilli sauce). The food offerings champion both traditional and contemporary Chinese cooking techniques while heroing seasonal Aussie produce. The team has also relocated its cellar door to the new site, where guests can sip their way through Helen & Joey Estate's new and aged drops — yet again boasting views across the winery. They've even set up a private wine-tasting room downstairs, so patrons can have a more intimate drinking experience surrounded by oak barrels and custom-made artworks. Stay at these two drinking and dining spots to catch the sunset over the vineyard, or sneak away to one of the boutique hotel rooms to stick around till sunrise the next day. Each of the 16 rooms has been designed to take advantage of the natural landscape — either through the floor-to-ceiling windows or balconies and patios. King beds, deep standalone baths, sleek kitchenettes and olive oil bath products add some luxury touches to the experience as well. Find Re'em Yarra Valley at Helen & Joey Estate, 12-14 Spring Lane, Gruyere, open every day of the week. For more information, head to the venue's website.
If bliss to you means peering at infinite reflections in lit-up mirror rooms, wading through brightly coloured ball pits and having pillow fights — plus hanging out in digital forests, watching tales told via shadows and hopping over musical tiles, too — then prepare to beam with joy when Dopamine Land arrives Down Under. The latest multi-sensory experience that's hitting Australia, it's being pitched as an interactive museum. Inside, you'll find themed spaces that you can mosey through, engage with their contents and, ideally, bask in nothing but pure happiness. With a name like Dopamine Land, it's immediately clear that contentment, glee, merriment and exuberance is the aim of the game here. So is evoking those feel-good sensations through nostalgia, because this is another kidulting activity — it's all-ages-friendly as well — and it's making its Aussie debut in Brisbane from Tuesday, May 28, 2024. Brisbanites, and anyone keen for a Sunshine State trip to revel in more than the sun's glow, can look forward to wandering around Dopamine Land at Uptown in the River City's Queen Street Mall. Locals know that the site was previously the Myer Centre — and, decades back, was home to a dragon-themed rollercoaster. So, it's a fitting venue to get everyone channeling their inner child, unleashing their imagination and, yes, hitting each other with cushions. Heading this way direct from London, the experience combines optical illusions, engaging soundscapes and more across its ten themed rooms. The ball pit is self-explanatory, but also takes its cues from Miami in the 80s, complete with a pina colada scent, an electro soundtrack and LED lights that pulse to mirror waves. The pillow-fight space also doesn't need much explaining; however, the decor is inspired by marshmallows and boxes of lollies, Mexican wrestling is also an influence and you can win the pillow-fighting championship. Fancy seeing stories play out via shadows? There's a room for that featuring a big top-style roof. If you try your hand at the musical tiles — well, your feet, to be more accurate — you'll create a melody as you jump around, with the lights changing as you go as well. And if getting as serene as possible is your aim, head to the Keep Calm Forest, which artificially recreates a woodland via LED trees, mirrors and sounds to match. There's even a room dedicated to the autonomous sensory meridian response, or ASMR, which goes big on projections and animations by Australian digital artist Cassie Troughton. As is always the case with these kinds of pop-ups — Fever, the company bringing Dopamine Land to Australia, has also been behind The Art of Banksy: Without Limits, The NBA Exhibition, Dinos Alive: An Immersive Experience and Unko Museum: The Kawaii Poop Experience — there'll be ample opportunities to take photos. Accordingly, you know what you'll be seeing on your social-media feeds. There's no word yet whether Dopamine Land will head to other Australian cities beyond Brisbane, but expect it to be popular either way. Find Dopamine Land at Uptown, Queen Street Mall, Brisbane from Tuesday, May 28, 2024, with tickets on sale from 7pm on Thursday, April 11. For more information, or to join the ticket waitlist, head to the experience website.
With a booming five-year stint and loyal crowd of regulars under its belt, unique party place Pawn & Co shocked plenty when it announced it was getting turfed from its Chapel Street home — at the hands of developers, no less. But, as promised fiercely to its fans, the bar-pawn shop hybrid has returned with a vengeance, moving to impressive digs around the corner, at 177 Greville Street. The new iteration is bigger and better than ever, with the original hidden bookshelf entrance now leading punters to a heftier two-level space, complete with cosy booths, a courtyard, and three separate bars. This time though, co-owner and designer Josh Lefers has dialled up the steampunk aesthetic to a whole new level, with the retro-futuristic reboot boasting such random treasures as a cryogenic chamber, a steampunk throne, and an old Victorian tram you can sit in. There's also a church organ mixing cocktails, a talking vending machine taking drink orders, and a host of bonus extra features, glimpsed only through special glasses given to patrons. Of course, Pawn & Co has stuck with the bar concept that put it on the map (it was once featured by Forbes back in 2013), so absolutely everything inside the space is up for sale. Best keep that credit card on a short leash though, unless you really want a cryogenic chamber for your house. Images: Eugene Hyland.
In these multi-purpose, multi-tasking, multi-hyphenate-filled times, the idea of a winery simply featuring rows of vines, the facilities to make vino, and somewhere to buy and drink it is long gone. Sure, all of the above are still included — but so are sculpture gardens, luxury hotels and four-acre spaces filled with edible greenery, plus giant five-storey cubes. The latter is the standout attraction at South Australian winery d'Arenberg, which opened its new centrepiece in McLaren Vale on December 14. More than 14 years and $15 million in the making, the towering structure looks like a partially twisted Rubik's Cube floating above the plants below. Of course, even over-sized versions of everyday puzzles don't usually feature an art gallery, a wine inhalation room, a virtual fermenter, a blending bench, a video room or a smartphone app-linked functionality that's being dubbed an "alternate reality wine museum." A cellar door and a restaurant are part of the space as well, the former boasting panoramic views over McLaren Vale, the Willunga Hills and the Gulf St Vincent, and the latter serving up seasonally changing degustations over two levels. Anyone visiting for a sip and to stock up their own wine reserves can expect to pay $10 to enter, then try 30 different grape varieties, 70 wines and choose from four different premium tasting flights (for an extra fee). Meanwhile, hungry attendees can feast on a menu cooked up by husband and wife team Brendan Wessels and Lindsay Durr. Other highlights include 115 televisions, and a glass roof that features 16 hydraulic umbrellas — which lift in a choreographed sequence. As well as proving unlike any other winery in the country, it's anticipated that the massive square will become a tourist attraction. "The d'Arenberg Cube has been a once in a lifetime project – high tech, yet grounded in the dirt of our McLaren Vale vineyard, with views to the future," explains d'Arenberg Wines chief winemaker and viticulturalist Chester Osborn. Images: d'Arenberg.
Sounds like a branding exercise, but there really is a brand new vegetable on the block; a teeny tiny new development dubbed lollipop kale, currently under development in Australia, the UK and US right now. And it's possibly the most adorable thing we've seen in many a day — even if it's almost a Brussels sprout. Lollipop kale is indeed a thing — one gaining predictable popularity in the US, UK and now, South Australia and Victoria. Developed as a hybrid by British company Tozer Seeds, lollipop kale is now known as kale sprout (boring) in Australia and kalette (better) in the US. A form of cross-breeding between kale and Brussels sprouts (so you'll actually eat 'em), lollipop kale is currently being developed by a cluey South Australian grower. Adelaide Hills grower Scott Samwell, of Eastbook Farms in Mount Barker, has been upping the ante on his lollipop kale plantings over the last two years. Samwell told the ABC the lollipop kale grows sort of like a Brussels sprout — tiny bunches growing from a central stem, growing to around a metre tall. Apparently the new veggie has been getting good reviews in South Australian and Victorian markets, where the mini-kale has been available. "Everyone we've spoken to who has tried it, especially in the local area, are very keen on it." he told ABC. "It's a different tasting product, compared to green Brussels sprouts, because it's a bit sweeter." According to Grub Street, lollipop kale was the centre of mere whisperings in the food community — and wholly doubted and denied by chefs. GS's Hugh Merwin described it as the Bigfoot of the vegetable world — appearing in fruit exchanges around America and then suddenly becoming unattainable. But now it's here, ready for 'hipster' brandings and total hater ridicule. Being so teeny tiny, lollipop kale is primed for the home roasting — more bite-sized and considerably more adorable than your regular freaky kale chips. Right now, however, growing lollipop kale at home is pretty expensive — GS noted that online vegetable message boards (an actual Thing) criticised the high cost of the seeds; $11 for 40 seeds. So expect to see higher prices on Australian menus for the bite-sized little blighters. Lollipop kale will supposedly be available on the Australian market this year. Via ABC and Grub Street. Image: Hugh Merwin, Grub Street.
When Twin Peaks wrapped up its original two-season run back in 1991, it left audiences with a damn huge cliffhanger. David Lynch revisited the series' distinctive world on the big screen the following year; however Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me was a prequel rather than a sequel, so the show's mysteries remained just that for more than a quarter-century. Then, in 2017, came Twin Peaks: The Return. The long-awaited 18-episode third season of the show continued the tale of FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) and murdered Twin Peaks homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) — but, with Lynch directing every episode and co-writing the whole thing with fellow series creator Mark Frost, it did so in a very Lynchian way. In the words of Coop himself, it took you to a place both wonderful and strange, exceeding what even the most feverish Peaks fans expected. Eighteen hours of Lynch and Frost's unfiltered weirdness will do that. Indeed, Twin Peaks: The Return felt like stepping straight into Lynch's brain. That said, the next Twin Peaks project just might have that beat. While it's unlikely to deliver anything as mind-blowing as the third season's acclaimed eighth episode, Twin Peaks VR will let you wander around the show's famous settings — and solve puzzles while you're there. Created by Collider Games and Showtime, and available now — via Steam and Oculus for Oculus Rift, Oculus Rift-S, HTC Vive and HTC Vive Cosmos, with versions for Oculus Quest and PlayStationVR coming at a yet-to-be-revealed date — Twin Peaks VR takes players on a first-person journey through everywhere from the Red Room and Glastonbury Grove to the Sheriff's Department and the Glass Box Observation. Yes, that means that you can virtually walk past the iconic crimson curtains and along the zigzagging floors, rifle through Sheriff Truman's desk and watch out for Bob. Based on the trailer, you can also see the kettle-like machine that David Bowie's Fire Walk With Me character became in The Return as well. While escape room-type puzzles keep the game moving forward, it's really an excuse to hang out in the Twin Peaks realm in the most immersive way yet. And, if you've watched and rewatched the show's 48 episodes (and the movie) more times than you can count — and read the various books related to it, too — it's your next chance to scratch your Twin Peaks itch. Best grab yourself some coffee, cherry pie and doughnuts to enjoy while you're playing, obviously. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHRXHvPRrJY Twin Peaks VR is now available via Steam and Oculus. For further information, visit the game's website.
'Social distancing' isn't just a phrase that you might remember from watching Contagion years ago. As the world reacts to COVID-19, it's an important and crucial tactic to help stem the growing spread of the coronavirus. That means not only keeping your distance from other people if and when you do venture out of the house but, increasingly, staying home entirely. If communal viewing parties are part of your usual social routine, however, you don't have to completely adjust to watching Netflix alone. Thanks to a Google Chrome plug-in called Netflix Party, you can now stream movies and TV series on the platform simultaneously with your friends — with the browser extension synchronising everyone's playback so you're truly watching each and every frame at the same time. It also features an online chat function, allowing you to talk, laugh and otherwise comment while your film or show of choice plays. To use Netflix Party, everyone you'd like to watch with will need have their own Netflix account. They'll also need to use Google Chrome — and the plug-in is only available on desktop and laptop computers, so you won't be able to sync your television sets. After downloading the extension, you'll want to head to the Netflix website, select what you'd like to watch and hit the 'NP' button at the top of the browser next to the address bar. Then, select 'start the party', which'll create a URL for you to share with your mates. For those receiving a Netflix Party URL, you'll need to click on it to open it in Google Chrome, then hit the 'NP' button at the top of the browser next to the address bar. Once you've done that, it should automatically bring you into the communal viewing space. Of course, people have tried synchronising their streaming viewing manually ever since Netflix and other platforms emerged on the scene. If you've attempted that option, though, you'll now that it's tricky, involves a constant barrage of text messages asking "which part are you at now?", and just proves logistically frustrating. Netflix Party is available for Google Chrome on both desktop and laptop computers. To download the plug-in, visit the Netflix Party website. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website. Top image: Netflix.
There's no putting a happy face on this news: Joker: Folie à Deux has been named one of the worst movies of 2024 by the 45th Golden Raspberry Awards. While the first Joker film earned Joaquin Phoenix (Napoleon) an Oscar, now he's up for Worst Actor instead. Lady Gaga (House of Gucci) is included in the Worst Actress field for her performance as Harleen Quinzel, and the picture's two leads share a nod in the Worst Screen Combo category. The flick also popped up in the Worst Screenplay, Worst Director (for Todd Phillips, War Dogs) and Worst Remake, Ripoff or Sequel camps. 2025's Razzies, which will announce its winners on Sunday, March 2, 2025 Australian and New Zealand time, weren't fond of comic-book characters making the leap to the screen. Madame Web also collected a heap of nominations — six in total, including for Worst Picture and in three of the acting fields. Cinema's least-coveted gongs didn't have any love for video game-to-film adaptation Borderlands, either, another flick with a big showing, including in the top field. Also up for Worst Picture: Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis and political biopic Reagan. The five-film group covers all of the most-nominated titles for 2025's awards, with Joker: Folie à Deux up for seven, then Madame Web, Borderlands, Megalopolis and Reagan each up for six. From there, although they weren't featured in the Worst Picture field, the Jerry Seinfeld-directed Unfrosted picked up four nods, Kraven the Hunter scored three and the remake of The Crow starring Bill Skarsgård (Nosferatu) nabbed two. Everything from Argylle (for two of its performances) to Mufasa: The Lion King (for Worst Remake, Ripoff or Sequel) are now Razzie nominees. Among the big-name stars recognised this year, Seinfeld earned two (for Worst Actor and Worst Director), while Jack Black received three (for Worst Actor for Dear Santa, Worst Supporting Actor for Borderlands and for the latter again for Worst Screen Combo — for any two obnoxious characters, but especially Jack Black). Whichever films emerge victorious in March, they'll follow on from 2024's winners, with Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey nominated in five categories and winning all five — and Expend4bles collecting two awards. The year before, Morbius, Blonde and Elvis tied for the most accolades with two apiece. Check out the full list of Razzie nominees below: Golden Raspberry Nominees 2025 Worst Picture: Borderlands Joker: Folie à Deux Madame Web Megalopolis Reagan Worst Actor: Jack Black, Dear Santa Zachary Levi, Harold and the Purple Crayon Joaquin Phoenix, Joker: Folie à Deux Dennis Quaid, Reagan Jerry Seinfeld, Unfrosted Worst Actress: Cate Blanchett, Borderlands Lady Gaga, Joker: Folie à Deux Bryce Dallas Howard, Argylle Dakota Johnson, Madame Web Jennifer Lopez, Atlas Worst Supporting Actor: Jack Black, Borderlands Kevin Hart, Borderlands Shia LaBeouf, Megalopolis Tahar Rahim, Madame Web Jon Voight, Megalopolis, Reagan, Shadow Land and Strangers Worst Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose, Argylle and Kraven the Hunter Leslie Anne Down, Reagan Emma Roberts, Madame Web Amy Schumer, Unfrosted FKA Twigs, The Crow Worst Screen Combo: Any two obnoxious characters (but especially Jack Black), Borderlands Any two unfunny "comedic actors", Unfrosted The entire cast of Megalopolis Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, Joker: Folie à Deux Dennis Quaid and Penelope Ann Miller, Reagan Worst Director: SJ Clarkson, Madame Web Francis Ford Coppola, Megalopolis Todd Phillips, Joker: Folie à Deux Eli Roth, Borderlands Jerry Seinfeld, Unfrosted Worst Remake, Ripoff or Sequel: The Crow Joker: Folie à Deux Kraven the Hunter Mufasa: The Lion King Rebel Moon 2: The Scargiver Worst Screenplay: Joker: Folie à Deux Kraven the Hunter Madame Web Megalopolis Reagan The Golden Raspberry Awards will be announced on Sunday, March 2, 2025 Australian and New Zealand time. For further details, head to the awards' website.
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio has won three Grammys and 11 Latin Grammys, starred in Bullet Train and hosted Saturday Night Live, among plenty of other achievements, but only in 2026 will he finally hit the stage in Australia. In February and March, Bad Bunny will tick a trip Down Under off of his list, bringing his new DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS world tour to Sydney. Named for his latest album, which released in January this year and spent three weeks in a row atop the Billboard 200 chart, the tour will see him become the first Latin act to headline stadiums globally. Only one city on Bad Bunny's jaunt around the planet is Australia, however: the Harbour City, for two shows at ENGIE Stadium across Saturday, February 28–Sunday, March 1. He's playing the New South Wales capital in-between dates in Brazil and Japan, two other countries where the 'Mia', 'Callaíta', 'Qué Pretendes' and 'Vete' singer will perform live for the first time ever. The Puerto Rican superstar's global trek follows his No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí gigs, a 30-date residency at José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in his homeland. Before that, he toured North America in 2024, and both North and Latin America in 2022. His DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS shows will take him to Europe for the first time since his 2019 X 100pre tour. On the charts, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, his sixth album, has kept garnering love — also sitting in the Billboard 200 top ten for 13 weeks, taking the number-one slot on Billboard's Latin Albums chart for 16 consecutive weeks and helping him become the first-ever Latin artist with 100 Billboard Hot 100 entries.
Every last trilby-wearing tween celebrity, former President's daughter and your smug, smug US-based friends will be rubbing their paws together after this afternoon's Coachella festival lineup announcement. Running over two weekends from April 12–21, the Californian festival has delivered their usual jaw-dropper of a lineup — including Australia's own Tame Impala headlining both Saturdays. Kevin Parker and his touring bandmates have big-name company, of course. Childish Gambino hasn't rescheduled his cancelled 2018 Australian dates yet, but he will be leading the charge on Coachella's two Fridays sessions. As for the Sunday shows, Ariana Grande doing the honours. Elsewhere, a bonafide metric fucktonne of squealworthy acts fill out the rest of the bill — Janelle Monae, Solange, Weezer, Aphex Twin, Khalid, Diplo, CHVRCHES, Jaden Smith, Idris Elba and Aussies Rüfüs Du Sol, to name a few. Anyway, let's be honest, you haven't truly read any of those words — you'll be wanting this: Coachella runs over two weekends, from April 12-14 and 19-21 in Indio, California. Tickets go on sale at 11am PST on Friday, January 4. For more info, visit coachella.com.
If you've ever been stuck with the job of throwing away perfectly good food at the end of a hospitality shift, it probably won't shock you that Australian retailers are turfing over three million tonnes of food each year. Or that 80 percent of it is being chucked out simply because it wasn't sold. Thankfully, folks across the country are tackling the issue of unnecessary food waste head-on, with groups like OzHarvest and SecondBite built around the concept of redistributing unused food to the needy. And now, you can help fight the issue and save money on grub simultaneously, thanks to a new locally born app called Y Waste. Currently operating in Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, the app helps you locate businesses in your area that have surplus food to offload at the end of the day. You can then purchase it at a discounted price, paying via your smartphone and picking it up from the venue at the allocated time. Depending on which city you're searching in, you might find sandwiches and salads from the local cafe, unsold pastries from that nearby bakery, or even freshly made pizzas, all going cheap. The only restriction is that you have to take what's left — so if you're a picky eater or have dietary restrictions, this may not be for you. Sydney's offering includes Newtown's The Pie Tin, which is serving up a box of unsold pies for $2.90, Sol Coffee Bar in Campsie, serving up a mix of sandwiches and salads for $4, and Neutral Bay's Tonic Lane, which has mixed bags of cold and hot dishes going for $5. In Melbourne, you'll find venues like Coburg's Falafel House, serving up two falafels for $7, and Richmond's Fruscolino Pizza, with a large pizza going for only $9.90, in the lineup. In Brisbane, you can snag $5 pizzas at South Brisbane's Presto Pizza and $2.75 breads, sandwiches and muffins from 3Js Cafe in Woody Point. Now you can nab a budget-friendly feed and feel good about your efforts. The Y Waste app is available to for iOS and Android. Image: The Pie Tin, Newtown
Last summer, Australians sat down in front of their televisions to watch a famous train cross the country. And, it proved a hit. In fact, a three-hour documentary about Adelaide-to-Darwin locomotive The Ghan was such a success that SBS aired a 17-hour version that followed the entirety of the train's daytime trip. Yes, 17 whole hours. It cut out the evening parts, where the screen would just be black, for obvious reasons. Come January 2019, The Ghan will have company in the very niche genre that is TV docos about super-lengthy Aussie train journeys — and, once again, there's two versions. Following the Indian Pacific, the transcontinental railway line that crosses Australia from Perth to Sydney, the documentary will air on SBS in a three-hour format at 7.30pm on Sunday, January 6. It'll then be followed by the entire 17-hour marathon, which'll run on SBS Viceland from a yet-to-be-confirmed time on Saturday, January 12. Now, The Indian Pacific: Australia's Longest Train Journey could've been longer. Much, much longer. In fact, the whole 4352-kilometre trip takes 65 hours from coast to coast, with stopovers in places such as Broken Hill, Adelaide, the Barossa Valley, Kalgoorlie, Rawlinna and Cook depending on the direction of the journey. A train with a hefty history, the Indian Pacific first ran along the rails on February 23, 1970, and is now considered an Aussie icon. The lengthy doco forms part of the slow TV movement, and it's not the only instance that's coming to SBS this summer. Like boats? Multiple types of transport? The broadcaster is also airing The Kimberley Cruise: Australia's Last Great Wilderness, which follows a Broome-to-Darwin route through the Top End; plus North to South, which ventures from Auckland on New Zealand's north island down to the Southern Alps and Milford Sound on the country's south island, including railways, sailing and driving the route. Both will screen three-hour cuts as well as lengthier versions up to 18 hours, with the Kimberley getting its time to shine on Sunday, January 13 and Saturday, January 19, and NZ in the spotlight on Sunday, January 27 and Saturday, February 2. If that's not enough, SBS Viceland will replay the whole The Ghan experience on Saturday, January 26 too. If staring at transport trekking across landscape is your kind of thing, there's your Saturdays in January well and truly sorted. For further details, visit the SBS website. Image: Great Southern Rail.
Whatever lengths you think you'd go to in order to watch your favourite sporting team, the Wellington residents that inspired big-screen comedy Red, White & Brass have you beat. In 2011, New Zealand hosted the Rugby World Cup. As part of the competition's games in the Aotearoa capital, Tonga was set to play France. Understandably, the local Tongan community was thrilled — and, amid painting the town red and white, also determined to go along. The avid fans at one particular Wellington church hit a snag, however: with tickets to attend the match both expensive and popular, they didn't end up with seats. Then, they lucked into a unique opportunity. If they said they were a brass marching band, exaggerating their experience with instruments — which was largely zero — they could perform on the field before kickoff, and sit down to watch their heroes afterwards. It's the kind of story that sounds like a pure Hollywood concoction, but it genuinely happened to Halaifonua (Nua) Finau and his family. Now, it's exactly the tale at the heart of NZ comedy Red, White & Brass. Not only stepping through this wild IRL twist of fate, but celebrating Tongan pride and māfana in the process, the resulting movie is an instantly heartwarming crowd-pleaser. It has also proven a big hit, both at home where it premiered in March, and now that it's both doing the film festival circuit — complete with a stop at the Sydney Film Festival — and opening in general release in Australian cinemas. Nua co-wrote the script, and also produces, with first-time feature director Damon Fepulea'i and on-screen movie debutant John-Paul Foliaki taking on a daunting task. How do you turn someone's real-life experience into a movie with them right by your side? That was Fepulea'i's job as both Red, White & Brass' helmer and co-scribe. How do you play the person that's there on set with you, including with his parents as your character's parents? That was Foliaki's gig as fictionalised on-screen ringleader Maka, in his first-ever acting credit after coming to fame as a NZ Popstars personality. With Red, White & Brass now screening in Australia, Fepulea'i and Foliaki chatted with Concrete Playground about their Red, White & Brass journey, including discovering the true story at the movie's core, working with Nua and his family, making a love letter to the Tongan community and the response so far. ON WORKING WITH A STORY THAT'S SO WILD THAT IT CAN ONLY BE TRUE Damon: "Writer and producer Halaifonua (Nua) Finau, it's basically his story, his family's experience. So he's an actor and a producer, and he's was just sort of telling people the story — and everyone was like, 'oh man bro, this is a really great story, you've gotta turn this into a film'. And him being like the real-life Maka, he basically just shopped the idea around and then ended up getting the film made. So when I was brought on, he told me the story and I was really connected to it as well, and we worked together and wrote the script." JP: "Honestly, when I got the script, when I got that audition — when I got the audition and when we did that first table read — that was something special. That's the first time I'd heard about it properly, and knew the story as based on a true story, and also got an insight to how special the project was going to be." ON TURNING REAL-LIFE EVENTS INTO A MOVIE WITH THE PERSON WHO LIVED IT Damon: "I think Nua and I had a really good chemistry when we were writing, because I think I had more experience as a screenwriter, but Nua is such a natural, gifted storyteller. So he would come in and yeah, lots of stories. Whether they're true or not, who knows?" JP: "Yeah!" Damon: "But actually, he would just tell stories, and we would talk and I'd ask him questions. I have a documentary background as well, so I'm always genuinely interested — and me being non-Tongan, a lot of it was just like 'what makes Tongans Tongan?'. So we explored that during the writing process — and it was actually, looking back, it was really quite a joy because we I think we complemented each other in terms of me being more kind of structure-focused, having experienced writing feature-length films, but also him bringing the truthfulness and the just the funny stories. He just would talk and he wouldn't even know he's being funny. It would just be like 'oh bro, tell this' — he'd go on these long stories and it'd be like 'oh, that's a scene'." JP: "It's like the real-life Maka and Veni from the movie." ON STEPPING INTO NUA'S IRL SHOES WHILE HE WAS THERE WATCHING JP: "I think at first I had a lot of doubts about myself being able to do good job of the role. But I think also just having him on set, yeah, I did feel like 'oh, man, I need to bring my A game'. But it was also super helpful, and he was really supportive — and he was definitely open to Maka being my own interpretation, and to bringing someone to life that I could relate to as well. And also just asking him questions when I wanted to. And his mum and dad in real life played Maka's parents in the film, so they were there and I could ask them lots of questions. We all have that type of cousin. To be honest, I'm that type of cousin to a lot of my cousins — so that was good. I had multiple sources that I could pull from." ON HAVING NUA'S PARENTS PLAYING MAKA'S REAL PARENTS JP: "For me, I think it was the kind of thing that — priceless may be the wrong word, but I think what I'm trying to say is that's the kind of thing that you almost can't cast or you can't wish for. Or, you wouldn't even think that's possible that they're writing the story about this family and the real parents from that family are going come play the parents. You know, no acting experience, Tongan through and through. They are part of the older generation of Tongan parents where they would think that this kind of thing is a joke, and you just do it when you're mucking around, or you do it for Sunday church productions and things like that — but it's nothing too serious. So to have them support their son and his story, and their family story, but also to be on the set, yeah, it meant a lot. It was sometimes really hard because it reminded me a lot about of my parents and my grandparents, and the journey that we took to get there, and all those themes of migration and having limited resources, and reaching an end goal and not worrying about what people say about you. And, that constant battle between church culture and family. Those themes are able to be brought to life — one, because of the cast, but also because the parents from the real story were there actually on set as well." Damon: "Yeah, they brought that authenticity that you just couldn't get from actors, I think. I don't know if there was actually that much acting going on — it's just them being themselves. Sometimes, in terms of directing, it'd just be like 'oh, what would you say to Nua? And how would you say it?'. And they just do it. It's just how they how they'd say things. It was an amazing blessing to have them." JP: "I was so proud of them, too. Because I'd see them highlighting their lines, learning their lines — and one of them forgets their lines, and the other one is trying to correct them. And they're talking to each other on Tongan on set, and it's so funny. They did such a good job." ON MAKING A LOVE LETTER TO THE TONGAN COMMUNITY Damon: "It was always meant to be a feel-good film right from the start. The game plan was always to capture that Tongan energy and the extraness. And the film explores what it means to be Tongan — and the way that Tongans go to these great lengths in showing the amount of pride that they have for their country and for their family. It's really about capturing that and the energy to go with it." JP: "A love letter to the community — that's such a good way to put it. I think when you think about being Tongan and and all the things that you love about being Tongan, a lot of that is displayed through the film. And not even just the things you love about being Tongan, but also the many challenges that we go through being New Zealand-born Tongans, or Tongans that, obviously, a lot of us have migrated to Australia, New Zealand, America and beyond. So all those challenges that we face, it was so cool to be like 'man, regardless of where we've moved overseas, we all share this and have this shared experience, and we can make a good movie out of it'." ON THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT COMES WITH SUCH A STRONG ODE TO TONGAN CULTURE Damon: "It was really important for us right from the start that we wanted to tell the story as authentically as possible, and also to represent Pacific culture as real as possible, and to not make it feel like it was like we were pandering to an audience, or taking out things just to make it easier to watch for non-Tongans. We always wanted to make sure the Tongan language was in there, and it was realistic, and that all the details from the costumes to the props were also all there. We really wanted to make sure that we got it right — and for me being a non-Tongan, I wanted to make sure that what I was doing represented Tonga in a good way as well." JP: "I think from an artist perspective or performance-wise, Tongans, we support 100-percent over and above — and we let it be known to the whole world that something is Tongan or something's happening that has to do Tonga. But when they don't like something, they also come out in full force as well. So I was very nervous about that. It was my first official acting role and I really just wanted to do the role justice, and make my family and my country proud, because I could see after our first reading and getting the script that it truly was going to be something special. And you don't know until you see the final cut, so I'm really happy that translated well and that we were able to do that." ON THE FILM'S SUCCESS — AND THE RESPONSE FROM TONGAN VIEWERS Damon: "It's been surreal, I have to say. We had the world premiere in Wellington, and that was in the Embassy Theatre, which is Peter Jackson's theatre. It was pretty much just full of Tongans, and they were waving flags— and it was probably the best screening experience I've ever had. It was just so much fun. It feels like we've just been on this whirlwind since then as well — it's been kind of surreal as well. It's sometimes hard to believe like 'oh, we made a film' and 'oh, people are watching it'. So yeah, it's still a lot of 'pinch me' moments." JP: "It's been incredible. I think a lot of people have shown a lot of love, and I think it's the whole idea of being able to see themselves on-screen and carrying out the themes that we know so well as Tongans, and the life that we live in our churches and our communities and our families. And having so many different versions of our cousins on the screen, but then also having universal messages and themes throughout the film. So Tongans have been very supportive — but honestly a lot of people, regardless of their ethnicity, have shown a lot of love." Red, White & Brass is currently screening in Australian cinemas. Read our full review.
So you didn't have the time or money to hop the pond over to Palm Springs to experience the epic Coachella music festival? Not a problem, YouTube has got it covered. Literally. The massive video library has created its own live-stream channel, appropriately named YouTube Live, and Coachella was the first partner to offer to broadcast live content for the channel from April 15 to 17 (US time). Among the lineup of over 100 performers include top acts The Strokes, Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, Kanye West, Cee-Lo Green, Kings of Leon and Duran Duran. If you aren't already in-flight to take part of the madness first-hand, just sit back and watch it all go down on the Coachella live webcast for all three days of the festival. Although YouTube isn't the first site to introduce a live-stream channel, they certainly will have the most advanced webcast program, one that will cater to individual users based on their interests online and undoubtedly be sought after by big-name events worldwide. https://youtube.com/watch?v=8heZuMZLqRI
D.O.C has played a significant role in developing Melbourne's contemporary Italian dining scene ever since it opened its first Carlton site in 1997. It blends warm and friendly old-school Italian hospitality with modern interiors and less-than-traditional cooking techniques and flavours — creating a roadmap for other Melbourne Italian restaurants to follow. D.O.C. has since spread across Melbourne with sites in Southbank and Mornington Peninsula, as well as a location in Sydney's Surry Hills. Most recently, the crew opened its doors at their newest restaurant on The Esplanade in St Kilda. D.O.C St Kilda has set up shop across from Alfred Square and looks out over St Kilda Beach, making it a mighty fine spot for spritz sipping and sunset viewings. The 100-seat restaurant has a heap of outdoor seating, plus a few covetable seats by the open kitchen. Guests can catch some D.O.C favourites found across all the group's sites, including classic pizzas, veal and pork lasagna, and boozy tiramisu (one of the best in town). And as this is a seaside venture, Head Chef Luca Quadri and Group Executive Chef Tom Jones-Davies have added a stack of St Kilda-exclusive seafood dishes to the offerings. Expect to find a grilled fish of the day, a platter of lightly fried fish and seafood fritti, a vongole bucatini, and a regular rotation of seasonal pizzas — with seafood currently gracing one. The campanelle pasta served with duck and Montenegro ragu is another exclusive dish for those wanting to pass on the pesce. D.O.C Director Michael Costanzo says that "the menu represents a glimpse into dining in Italy's present day. I hope guests are ready to enjoy a modern take on classic Italian hospitality." Beachgoers can also easily pop in to nab some of the daily house-made gelatos that include flavours like balsamic and grilled peach, and Frangelico and hazelnut. D.O.C St Kilda is the seventh notch in the group's restaurant belt and the very first with seaside views. You can find D.O.C St Kilda at 14–16 The Esplanade, St Kilda, open 5pm–late from Monday to Thursday and 12pm–late from Friday to Sunday. For more information, head to the restaurant's website. Images: Pete Dillon
Now and then, we all need to take a break from being a part of society, close the doors, turn off notifications and binge watch TV shows while ignoring all texts and messages. The tricky part, though, is being in a you-time bubble when dinner rolls around. Our instincts tell us to snuggle into our couch burrito, order enough UberEats to feed the whole apartment block and when it arrives, awkwardly call back into your apartment, "Hey, large group of my friends, the food is here!". You're not fooling anyone and you deserve better. Put on your glad rags and treat yourself to a meal out — alone. Yes, it sounds weird (food is often such a social concept, after all) but hear us out: you should be treated to fresh, delicious food and a doting waiter, even when you're retreating into your antisocial bubble. Alone but together with American Express we've uncovered Melbourne's best eateries for when you're riding solo and intend to keep it that way. Pick a spot, bring a book (and your American Express® Card) or spend the evening people watching — there's no wrong way to do it. Got yourself in another dining situation and need some guidance? Whatever it is, we know a place. Visit The Shortlist and we'll sort you out.
"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." They're words famously spoken by Hippocrates, way back when, and lived diligently by so many foodies, even today. They also sum up the concept at the heart of bright new Prahran café Market on Malvern, which opened its doors in October. The brainchild of Dr Anthony Yeuong, who's also behind adjoining health practice Beingwell Healthcare, MOM was dreamt up in response to a growing number of patients with dietary dramas and allergy issues. Dr Yeuong has long been a champion of food that both tastes good and feels good afterwards, and now he's treating the good folk of Melbourne with a bit of pre-emptive edible 'medicine', Hippocrates-style. With an ex-Nobu chef helming the kitchen, MOM's catering to clean eaters and flavour seekers alike; its thoroughly-researched menu is packed full of paleo, vegan, allergen-free, and FODMAP-friendly goodness. Dishes are categorised according to their specific properties and benefits to the body. You might find yourself boosting those energy levels with the caramelised sweet potato and hemp protein hummus, or you might opt for the red rice and miso eggplant, to help soothe any digestive issues. Backing up all those healing food options, there's a slew of juices and smoothies, coffee by Allpress, and a list of caffeine-free lattes that runs from beetroot right through to mushroom. Market on Malvern is open daily from 7am till 4pm at 388 Malvern Road, Prahran. For more info, visit momcafe.com.au.
It has always been impossible to watch TV shows by Nathan Fielder, including Nathan for You and The Rehearsal, without feeling awkwardness gushing from the screen. The films of Josh and Benny Safdie, such as Good Time and Uncut Gems, are such masterclasses in anxiety and chaos — and so astute at conveying life's anything-that-can-go-wrong-will certainty — that viewers can be forgiven for thinking that their chairs are jittering along with them. From Easy A, La La Land and Maniac to The Favourite and Poor Things, Emma Stone keeps proving an inimitable acting force. Combine Fielder, the Safdies and Stone on one series, then, and whatever sprang was always going to be a must-see. Streaming in Australia via Paramount+ from Saturday, November 11, exquisite new dark satire The Curse is also as extraordinary in its brilliance as it is excruciating in its discomfort. As well as co-creating the ten-part series, Fielder and Benny Safdie co-star, co-write and co-direct. Stone joins them on-screen and as an executive producer, with Benny's brother Josh doing the latter as well. The Safdies' regular collaborator Oneohtrix Point Never, aka Daniel Lopatin, gets the show buzzing with atmospheric agitation in one of his best scores yet — even after winning the Cannes Soundtrack Award for his unforgettable work on Good Time. And yes, The Curse is everything that the sum of these parts promises. It's more, in fact, then even more again. It flows with disquiet like a burst hydrant. It fills each almost hour-long episode with a lifetime's worth of cringe. It's relentless in its unease second by second, moment by moment and scene by scene. It's also a marvellous, intense and hilarious black comedy that apes the metal Doug Aitken-esque houses that Stone and Fielder's Whitney and Asher Siegel like to build, reflecting oh-so-much about the world around it. The Curse takes the show-within-a-show route, with the Siegels eager to grace the world's screens as reality TV hosts. Their angle: environmentally sustainable passive homes that only use energy that they create, which Whitney and Asher consider their contribution to their adopted New Mexico hometown of Española. The newly married pair have American pay TV network Home & Garden Television interested in Fliplanthropy, as well as their efforts to green up the community, create jobs for locals, and revitalise a place otherwise equated with struggling and crime stats. Lurking between the couple and HGTV is producer Dougie Schecter (Safdie, Oppenheimer), Asher's slimy and manipulative childhood friend with a nose for sensationalism — particularly when he gets the scent of disharmony among his stars as they try to start a family, get their show on the air, build their gleaming houses, find ideal buyers, honour the area's Indigenous history and overcome The Curse's title. As the series dives into, parodies and interrogates unscripted television, gentrification, whitewashing, white saviour complexes, racism, appropriation, marriage, privilege, authenticity, spiritualism, inherited burdens and more, its moniker can refer to many things. A white couple sweeping into the region, trotting out altruism for fame — and, in Whitney's case, to scrub away her association with her parents (White House Plumbers's Corbin Bernsen Search Party's and Constance Shulman), who have been dubbed slumlords for treating their tenants poorly — is hardly the gift that the Siegels think. Accordingly, while their actions around Española don't just span futuristic abodes that couldn't stand out more, but also enticing new businesses to the area with free rent, supporting campaigns for land rights and celebrating local artists, it's forever plain that every move that the pair make is about getting something out of it. Fielder has long unpacked what it truly means to show reality on-screen, plus the machinations behind it — and with unsettling precision, The Curse is no different. Stress would ripple through this series as inescapably as Whitney's desperation to become TV's next big thing anyway, and Asher's onslaught of neuroses and humiliations (you'll never think about cherry tomatoes the same way again); however, The Curse's name is also literal. Being filmed for B-roll footage for the pilot at Dougie's suggestion, Asher gives primary schooler Nala (debutant Hikmah Warsame) a $100 note while she's selling soft drink in a carpark with her father Abshir (Captain Phillips Oscar-nominee Barkhad Abdi). Then, when the shot is over and his performative compassion is no longer needed, he snatches the money back. The girl's response, as accompanied by a steely gaze and the unfettered anger of a child wronged by an adult: "I curse you". As bad luck springs for the Siegels afterwards, arriving in both big and small ways, those words keep lingering. Again, Fielder ponders what is real and isn't, finding another way into his favourite topic. Whitney already oozes must-do-now urgency — served with a wide Stone smile — about anything that could stymie her quest for television domination, and Asher is a walking portrait of please-accept-me torment from the get-go; then comes the hex and the fudging of lines between what's a mess of their own making, what springs from paranoia and what may be supernatural. Aptly, when The Curse's title appears on-screen at the start of each episode, it shimmers with wavy lines looking glass-style to kick off this streaming mirror mirror, distorting and disorienting in the process. Birds sometimes fly directly into the Siegels' shiny houses, meeting their ends after not spotting what's looming right there in front of them, which also makes a fitting metaphor. Squirming and watching Fielder might go hand in hand, but the experience has rarely been better than in The Curse. Neither has Fielder. His familiar directorial instinct to let moments persist to the point of aching mortification continues here, sparking his most purposefully perturbing performance yet — because watching someone this bumbling yet authoritative, and this muddled and self-conscious in everything they do yet bolstered by their status, race and bank balance, is meant to be this incisively agonising. With the show often shot like it's spying, including through windows and doorways, Stone and Safdie are equally exceptional and difficult to look away from. The yearning to be worshipped and praised non-stop, and the fear of her carefully constructed do-gooder facade being cracked, is weaponised in Stone's portrayal. Meanwhile, Safdie plays the kind of shifty that can't be shaken devastatingly well. In a plethora of ways, The Curse ticks all the boxes that it was always going to, especially via Fielder, the Safdies and Stone's exacting involvement. Throw in the fact that A24 is behind the series, placing it on a slate alongside Beau Is Afraid, You Hurt My Feelings, smash-hit Australian horror movie Talk to Me and fellow TV series Beef from 2023 alone — each of which could pair with The Curse for different reasons — and that truth only grows. And yet, no one can pick exactly where this show is heading while watching, even when you're sure that you have and those predictions come to fruition in an exchange, plot point, theme or revelation. Consider it a funhouse hall of mirrors, then: you know that something warped will confront you wherever you look, but you can never be confident of what it'll be. Consider The Curse one of the best new TV shows of 2023, too, and the type of unique viewing that's a glittering treasure even it inspires non-stop dread and horror that threatens to swallow you whole. Check out the trailer for The Curse below: The Curse streams from Saturday, November 11 via Paramount+. Images: Beth Garrabrant and John Paul Lopez/A24/Paramount+ with SHOWTIME.
To Valhalla, George Miller went: when Mad Max: Fury Road thundered across and shone upon the silver screen in 2015, and it did both, it gave cinema one of the greatest action movies ever made. It has taken nine years for the Australian filmmaker to back up one of the 21st century's masterpieces with another stunt-filled drive through his dystopian franchise — a realm that now dates back 45 years, with Mad Max first envisaging a hellscape Down Under in 1979 — and he's achieved the immensely enviable. Fury Road and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga's white-hued, silver-lipped war boys pray to gain entry to a mythological dreamscape just once, but Miller keeps returning again and again (only 1985's Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, in a now five-film series that also includes 1981's Mad Max 2, is anything less than heavenly). "The question is: do you have what it takes to make it epic?" Miller has Chris Hemsworth (Thor: Love and Thunder) ask in Furiosa as biker-horde leader Dementus, he of the post-apocalyptic Thor-meets-Roman gladiator look and chariot-by-motorcycle mode of transport. Returning to all things Mad Max after an affecting detour to 2022's djinn fable Three Thousand Years of Longing, the writer/director might've been posing himself the same query — and he resoundingly answers in the affirmative. An origin story-spinning prequel has rarely felt as essential as this unearthing of its namesake's history, which Fury Road hinted at when it introduced Furiosa (then played by Charlize Theron, Fast X) and made her the movie's hero above and beyond Mad Max (Tom Hardy, Venom: Let There Be Carnage). Discovering the full Furiosa tale felt imperative then, too, and with good reason: Miller had already planned the figure's own film to flesh out her background before her celluloid debut, and that she existed well past her interactions with Max was always as apparent as the steely glare that said everything without words. Now with both Anya Taylor-Joy (The Super Mario Bros Movie) and Alyla Browne (The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart) playing the lead, Furiosa is an act of seeing how sands shift. Time, terrors and tragedy sweep through Furiosa's life, moulding her into Fury Road's formidable figure — and the grains blasted around by the years, and the trials and tribulations, assist with the shaping. As exceptional as Theron was, owning her time in the role and the film that she was in, Miller was smart to recast with Taylor-Joy rather than deploying digital de-ageing. His new Furiosa doesn't mimic her predecessor, but evolves into her take on the character, including via fierce and anxious eye emoting beneath slicks of grease in a frequently wordless performance. Browne is also excellent, and equally as determined. Furiosa has chosen all of its key talents wisely; in a showcase turn, Hemsworth peacocks and drips evil like he's never had so much fun on screen, while Tom Burke (Living) is commandingly stoic as Praetorian Jack, a war rig pilot and a thoughtful mentor. When Browne begins the film as Furiosa, The Green Place of Many Mothers and the Vuvalini, its matriarchal custodians, are the character's safe haven and guiding forces — blissfully so. But she's resourceful, knowing to sever the fuel line on the bike of roving scavengers to stop them from finding her home. The girl that audiences already know will become an Imperator under The Citadel warlord Immortan Joe (Three Thousand Years of Longing's Lachy Hulme, taking over from the now-late Hugh Keays-Byrne) — and will then secret away his captive wives, each treated as little more than human breeding stock — can't stop the raiders from snatching her up, however. Their hope: impressing the volatile Dementus, who rides across the desert with a teddy bear strapped to him, with living proof that more than the wasteland's dust and savagery exists. Furiosa's world-building first hour spends its time with its protagonist as a plucky pre-teen trying to escape back to her mother Mary Jabassa (Charlee Fraser, Anyone But You) — who is in swift pursuit — and then internalising the trauma of becoming her captor's adoptee as he plots dominance guided by sheer arrogance, entitlement, cruelty and buffoonery (Hemsworth wears his bluster as well as he does red capes, which he amusingly isn't done with in this move away from Marvel). She's still a girl when Dementus and his gang arrive at The Citadel, where she's traded into Immortan Joe's care. Fifteen years pass in Miller and Fury Road co-scribe Nick Lathouris' new narrative, but Taylor-Joy's step into Furiosa's shoes leaves the character no less enterprising and consumed by anger at a world where everything that she loves has been taken from her. Max Rockatansky was a vigilante, after all — and, as shot in Australia for the first time since Beyond Thunderdome, Miller is still making a vengeance story here. "We are the already dead, Little D, you and me," Dementus will tell Furiosa later. This remains a movie where speeding along dirt roads in the vehicular equivalents of Frankenstein's monster — tinkered together road trains ferrying arms from the Bullet Farm and petrol from Gas Town — is an eye-popping high-octane spectacle, but it's also one where pain, grief and, yes, fury run deep. With Aussie accents everywhere, and a sunburnt country that's inching closer to reflecting reality every day baking parched sights into the Simon Duggan (Disenchanted)-lensed frames, Furiosa doesn't forget that it's in a franchise about ecocide, what humanity robs from itself by committing it and what it takes to endure afterwards. Fury Road didn't, either, but by adding more room between the on-the-road chaos, its prequel buzzes and thrums with the urgency and immediacy of survival, and also lets the weight of Furiosa's plight land. With Oscar-winning editor Margaret Sixel (Happy Feet) and costume designer Jenny Beavan (Cruella) both back — the first working with Eliot Knapman (a second assistant editor last time) and whipping up action sequences as frenetic as ever, the second in vintage form — Miller has top-notch help etching stunning sights into cinema history again. Although Furiosa isn't just one long pedal-to-the-metal display, it's still filled with them. A mid-movie 15-minute setpiece is as tremendous as Mad Max flicks get. While CGI leaves bigger tyre marks this time, there's an apt air to the glossier look versus Fury Road's lived-in aesthetics, reflecting Furiosa's journey. The wasteland and its horrors greet her afresh in this film, but they're as caked on as mud when she's an Imperator. It also feels fitting that Furiosa arrives, finally, in a year that sand has already stretched across screens as far as could be seen in Dune: Part Two, and also revenge has fuelled Love Lies Bleeding and Monkey Man and Boy Kills World. Making the vast, primal and eternal feel vivid and shiny and new keeps proving Miller's 00s-era Mad Max wheelhouse — and what a treat, what a lovely treat, it makes for viewers.
If you've got a hard-earned thirst for some spiffy beer merch, the folks at Victoria Bitter have you covered, and that's been the case for a couple of years. Hankering not just for branded VB gear for your wardrobe, but also for a VB fragrance? That's also been a possibility since 2020 — because if you love the famed Carlton & United Breweries beer, you probably don't mind smelling like it as well. That fragrance now has a sequel, with Thirst now available in longneck bottles. Once again, it also been dubbed "eau de hard work" — by VB itself, of course. And, to answer the first question that will have instantly popped into your head, yes, it comes in a bottle that looks the part. As for second query that we're sure you're pondering, the fragrance is made from perfume oil combined with "the essence of Australian Super Pride hops" — aka an extract from the same hops that are used to brew VB. So, while you hopefully won't reek like the stale aroma that sticks to your clothes after you've accidentally spilled your beer, you will definitely smell like hops, it seems. Apparently the scent has whiffs of "bitter citrus" and "icy aromas", too. If you're eager to not only drink VB, but bathe yourself in a cloud of its distinctive bouquet, you can purchase Thirst from Chemist Warehouse, either online or in-store — and via VB's own website. [caption id="attachment_780167" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Victoria Bitter Thirst stubbie edition[/caption] If you're keen on other VB-themed items as well, you can still head to the brand's site to check out its latest range, which always has a retro flair that nods to the brew's lengthy history quenching the thirst of hardworking Aussies. There are crewneck jumpers, singlets, socks, beanies, bucket hats, caps, thongs and shoes, all emblazoned with that instantly recognisable logo. Alongside all the clothes, you'll also find VB wall art and jigsaw puzzles — plus glasses, water bottles, coolers, bar mats and even fridges. Victoria Bitter's Thirst scent is available to purchase from Chemist Warehouse — and from VB's own website.
Ready to serve up some summer fun? The Canadian Club Racquet Club (CCRC) is back in full swing at Birrarung Marr for this year's Australian Open. The club will be running throughout the entire duration of the tournament and it's all free. You don't even need to book, just walk right up and enjoy the immaculate Melbourne summer vibes on the banks of our great Yarra. Celebrating a decade-long partnership with the Australian Open, Canadian Club knows a thing or two about creating a solid go-to spot for catching the matches. So go ahead and pull up a chair, relax, grab a drink, and take in the party atmosphere and stunning views. Doesn't get much better on a sunny summer arvo. This year will see the introduction of the Canadian Club AO Padel Court to the AO Hilltop at Birrarung Marr. For the uninitiated, think of padel as an off-the-wall spin on tennis and squash, played in doubles on an enclosed court. This is the first year it's open to anyone and absolutely free to participate, so if you fancy a game, hit the court at CCRC between 12pm–9pm daily. Now, let's talk launch party. On Sunday, January 14, from 5pm–9pm, the CCRC is hosting a bash with DJ Gazman on the decks. It's the perfect scene for a cheeky Sunday session with your mates. Mark it in your cal. Canadian Club Racquet Club is the place to soak in the Aus Open atmosphere free of charge. Have a hit of padel, enjoy a drink among the misting fans, chill out in the comfy bean bags, and bask in the electricity of one of the planet's biggest sporting events, right here on our doorstep.
UPDATE, April 16, 2021: Crawl is available to stream via Netflix, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Part creature feature and part disaster movie, Crawl is a gleeful ripper of a thriller. Not only unleashing a ferocious hurricane upon its father-daughter duo, but a congregation of snapping alligators as well, its premise is simple — what the film lacks in narrative surprises, however, it makes up for in suspense and tension. That's the holy grail of fear-inducing flicks. Regardless of the concept, if a movie can make the audience feel as if they're in the same space as the characters they're watching, enduring every bump and jump, and sharing their life-or-death terror, then it has done its job. By playing it straight, serious and scary, Crawl manages to exceed its Sharknado rip-off status to craft a highly effective battle between humans, animals and the elements. The film introduces aspiring swimming star Haley Keller (Kaya Scodelario) on a wet and windy day, although she initially misses the wild weather warnings while she's doing laps at training. A panicked call from her sister (Moryfydd Clark) doesn't rattle the no-nonsense young woman, and nor does the news that her divorced father Dave (Barry Pepper) isn't answering his phone. Still, thanks to a few unresolved daddy-daughter issues nagging at her conscience, Haley is quickly driving down the blustery highway, flagrantly ignoring police instructions and heading to their old family home. It's no spoiler to say that she discovers more than she bargained for down in their basement, with Haley soon trying to save the injured Dave, stay alive herself, fend off ravenous gators and stay ahead of rising flood waters. In telling this tale, writers Michael and Shawn Rasmussen (The Ward) haven't met a cliche they didn't love, an emotional beat they didn't want to hit, or a convenient twist of the narrative screws that they didn't want to turn. It can't be overstated just how much of Crawl, in a story sense, plays out exactly as expected. Plot developments and character decisions all stick to the usual formula, as does animal behaviour and storm surges (if you're a screenwriter, it's possible to control the very forces that your protagonists can't). But it's worth thanking the cinema gods that Alexandre Aja is sitting in the director's chair — and that he knows a thing or two about creature features and horror movies. While the French filmmaker has both hits and misses to his name (including Haute Tension, remakes of The Hills Have Eyes and Piranha, and the devilish Daniel Radcliffe flick Horns), here he masters the art of conveying an alligator's menace. Of course, it could be argued that much of Crawl's work is easy. Along with sharks, gators already rank among the most frightening beasts on the planet. Courtesy of their teeth, speed, size and power, just thinking about them gives plenty of people the shivers — so, on paper, all that an unsettling film need do is place the scaly critters front and centre. And yet, as too many Jaws wannabes have shown since Steven Spielberg's massive hit created the concept of the blockbuster as we know it, it's not enough just to throw a bunch of attacking animals at some clueless folks. As more comic takes have demonstrated in Sharknado, Snakes on a Plane and the Birdemic movies, it's not enough to write off the whole scenario as simple silliness either. There's an existential basis to the genre's underlying idea, unpacking how humanity truly copes when it's made to face nature. As a species, much of our sense of collective worth stems from our ability to shape and control our world, and yet we can't stop weather systems from morphing into destructive hurricanes, or hungry reptiles from doing what they're designed to do. Mainly lurking in the Kellers' dank, dark, rat-infested crawlspace, Crawl leans into the primal side of pitting people against the environment. Aja takes every chance to emphasise the scampering threats eager to gobble up Haley and Dave. With assistance from his regular cinematographer Maxime Alexandre, he ramps up the unease, deploying tried and tested filmmaking techniques such as low shots, quick cuts, point-of-view perspectives, dim lighting, and ample movement and shadow. A couple of gory kill sequences add to the mood, as does the movie's approach to its swirling winds and rushing water. Indeed, amid the rampant CGI, there's a sense of awe for the havoc that alligators and hurricanes can each wreak, which only heightens the stressful atmosphere. Unsurprisingly, fear and tension radiates through the film as a result — and through its key duo, too. Although Scodelario and Pepper are given about as much room for character development as their cold-blooded foes, they still bring a naturalistic air to their performances, portraying anxious everyday folks just fighting to survive by doing whatever it takes. No matter what's thrown at us, or how, or where, that's what making humanity grapple with our surroundings boils down to, after all. In fact, given the state of the planet, Crawl's central theme not only proves frightening and fuels an effective thriller, but also feels unnervingly prescient. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4WuVXo_XAM
Situated deep in the West Gippsland region, the tiny town of Thorpdale is best known for potatoes, thanks to its rich agricultural industry and community events like the Thorpdale Potato Festival. But now the tight-knit town — population 475 — will go down as the home of the West Gippsland region's very first distillery, located in the historic Travellers Rest Hotel. The journey to get here has not been easy. In 2017, the 80-year-old pub was destroyed by fire, with many in the community fearing their beloved art deco watering hole would never open again. However, new owners Jill Jepson and Sean McCarthy took on the responsibility of returning this spot to its former glory. The results were impressive, with a new beer garden and deck overlooking spud country giving the community its much-needed social hub once more. Now Jepson and McCarthy have led the public house into its next chapter, with the unveiling of a brand-new, in-house distillery in the pub's former basement keg room. Initially starting with vodka, the output will showcase a range of local produce, with an aim to utilise Thorpdale's famous potatoes. Complete with a visitors' tasting room and bar, the subterranean space is filled with historic features that showcase the pub's 88-year story from to the original keg room doors, to the smartly restored former staff bedrooms which now house the shiny new still, as well as a cosy tasting room and a library. One historic leftover is the so-called drunk's room, where blitzed rogues would get safely stowed for the night, rather than being left to wander the surrounding paddocks in a haze. Visitors to the Travellers Rest Hotel can expect the distillery to serve up a series of creatively infused vodkas, with the initial offering including apple and coffee-accented tipples. Meanwhile, a seasonally evolving menu of smaller-batch runs will showcase the very best of the region's produce throughout the year. In addition, the distillery will soon host immersive tastings and masterclasses, designed to take you behind the scenes of the distilling process. There'll also be bottles available for purchase over the counter, if you're after a memento of your visit to West Gippsland. Don't cut your trip short though — after your tasting, you can head upstairs to the front bar for a classic counter meal, and keep warm in front of one of the pub's two wood heaters. The Travellers Rest Hotel is open at 2 Station Street, Thorpdale. Head to the venue's website for more information. Images: Nicky Cawood.
Development in the lead-up to the Olympics often means catastrophe for the homeless. In 2008, Beijing attracted criticism following the announcement of an intended 'social clean-up'. A 2007 study by the UK Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions demonstrated that, since 1988, more than 2 million people worldwide had been forced out of their homes to provide space for the games. Journalist George Monbiot has described the Olympics as 'a licence for land grabs'. He recalls that, in Seoul, 'homeless people, alcoholics, beggars and the mentally ill were rounded up and housed in a prison camp. The world saw nothing of this: just a glossy new city full of glossy new people.' Last year, in London, the Manor Garden Allotments, which had been in use for a century, 'disappeared for good behind the Blue Wall', despite protests. The recent decision to transform London's Olympic Village into low-income housing is, therefore, a welcome one. It does not justify or ameliorate repeated disregard for the homeless, but it's an effort in the right direction. Having provided beds for 17,000 weary athletes, the area is being taken into the hands of a developer based in Qatar. Fifty per cent of the buildings will be up for private rental, with the remainder run by a local housing authority. Six-month contracts promise flexibility to tenants in need of short-term accommodation, and communal and commercial facilities, including schools, a medical centre, offices, stores and eateries, will be available. At least 100 houses will welcome their first residents this August. [via PSFK]
In Red, White and Blue, one of the five films in the Small Axe anthology, the force isn't with Star Wars' John Boyega. The police force, that is — although his character, Leroy Logan, gives up his job as a research scientist to fulfil his dream of becoming a cop. Logan wants to make a difference, and to drive change from within. He's committed to his task, even going through with his plan to enlist with London's Metropolitan Police after his father (Steve Toussaint, Doctor Who) is harassed and beaten by local officers because they can, and because they don't like the colour of his skin. But, while Logan excels at training and is quickly chosen to front a diversity campaign, British law enforcement in the early 80s wasn't welcoming to a Black man. Playing Logan — a real-life figure, like many within Small Axe — Boyega's eyes simmer with the intensity of someone who knows they're actively defying everything around them at each and every moment. Viewers can't help noticing this determined and resolute stare, just as they can't escape the Star Wars reference included by Hunger, Shame, 12 Years a Slave and Widows filmmaker Steve McQueen and his co-scribe Courttia Newland either. Red, White and Blue is the third film in the series, however, so its audience has already spied this particular gaze several times over. Boyega and the character of Logan only appear in one movie, but the same look blazes across many of the faces seen across the entire 60s, 70s and 80s-set anthology, which places London's West Indian community firmly at its centre. In Mangrove, that same fervent expression is evident far and wide as the film tells an infuriating true tale about a police campaign to target a Caribbean restaurant in Notting Hill. When the Trinidad-born Frank Crichlow (Shaun Parkes, Lost in Space) opens the titular establishment, he wants to give his community a taste of home and a place to gather, but the cops quickly make their presence known. After protests about heavy-handed and racially targeted policing, nine activists — known as the Mangrove Nine, and including Black Panther leader Altheia Jones-LeCointe (played by Black Panther's Letitia Wright) — are arrested for inciting a riot. Co-scripting with Trespass Against Us and Tomb Raider writer Alastair Siddons, McQueen turns this heated situation into a gripping movie of two expertly crafted halves, with the first detailing the events from 1968 leading up to the trial, and the second showing how the defendants are treated while they're fighting for their freedom. [caption id="attachment_789616" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Mangrove[/caption] Of course, every Small Axe film is about that same fight, just in different manners. McQueen wants everyone watching to see the toll such a battle takes, especially when it has to be waged day in, day out — and the images in his work, as has proven the case across his filmography, are repeatedly concerned with people trying to navigate stress, then internalising all the pain the external world throws their way. Oscar-nominated for 12 Years a Slave, he's a master at conveying that pain and tension, often by peering intimately and empathetically at his characters. That's a skill that can't be underestimated, and that few filmmakers possess in quite the same way. Indeed, it's one of the reasons that McQueen's features always stand out. Lovers Rock, the second Small Axe entry, overflows with faces and bodies — at a West London house party in 1980, where Martha (debutant Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn) and Franklyn (Micheal Ward, The Old Guard) cross paths. As the genre of reggae that shares the film's name echoes through the soundtrack, this pair of strangers lock eyes and more, with the film lovingly and tenderly showing Black Londoners just being themselves. Martha and Franklyn swoon over each other, and the movie swoons with them, its warm and sensual visuals helping to spin the only wholly fictional entry in the anthology. This tale is perhaps the most crucial part of the set, even though it departs tonally from its fellow features; the happiness snatched and shared by its two central characters feels all the more affecting and important when contextualised against the unwelcoming city around them. [caption id="attachment_797060" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Lovers Rock[/caption] Small Axe's fourth and fifth films don't leave any doubt that simply existing is often a political act for people of colour, and that trying to counter engrained discrimination and oppression is an ongoing effort. In Alex Wheatle, the series jumps into the life of the award-winning writer of the same name (as played by Ted Lasso's Asad-Shareef Muhammad as an eight-year-old, then by first-timer Sheyi Cole), who spends the bulk of his childhood in institutionalised care. When he later finds a place where he feels like he belongs, he's subsequently imprisoned during the Brixton Uprising of 1981. Unsurprisingly, Education also explores a character's formative years, using fictional figures to tell a story drawn from reality. Twelve-year-old Kingsley (Kenyah Sandy, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey) is singled out at his school, told he's underperforming and that he's being sent to another for kids with special needs — as part of an unofficial segregation policy his mother Agnes (Sharlene Whyte, We Hunt Together) learns is far too commonly applied to West Indian children. Before this anthology, McQueen hadn't directed a bad movie. That isn't changing now. Here, he gifts viewers a quintet of films that are as exceptional as anything he's ever made — and as potent, impassioned and probing as well. There's no weak link here, only stunning, stirring, standout cinema that tells blistering tales about Black London residents doing everything it takes to resist their racist treatment and live their lives. Every feature is sumptuously shot, too, thanks to the awards-worthy work of cinematographer Shabier Kirchner (Bull), which transports viewers into the five movies so vividly it's like you've been whisked back in person. McQueen's soundtrack choices also add yet another layer, including the pitch-perfect use of Janet Kay's 'Silly Games' in what might be the series' best sequence — as well Al Green's cover of the Bee Gees' 'How Can You Mend a Broken Heart' that cuts deep, as everything about Small Axe does by design. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcqItifbNUA&feature=youtu.be All five Small Axe films are available to stream via Binge. Top image: Red, White and Blue.
The holy trinity of a successful hospitality venue is food, drink and fit-out — though nailing this trifecta is no easy feat. Australasia's 2018 Eat Drink Design Awards covers the interior element in a celebration of hospo design across Australia and New Zealand in eight categories: best restaurant, bar, cafe, hotel, retail space and temporary installation (pop-up). Victoria (and more specifically Melbourne) is the clear winner this year — snagging five of the eight awards, plus additional commendations in seven categories. Birregurra's luxury farmstay Brae Restaurant Accommodation won Best Hotel Design (Six Degrees Architects); Melbourne CBD's tiny Japanese den Ishizuka won Best Restaurant Design (Russell & George); Fitzroy's heritage cafe Bentwood won Best Cafe Design (Ritz & Ghougassian); Yarra Valley's Chandon Australia — a tasting room and boutique – won Best Retail Design (Foolscap Studio); and Swanston Street stalwart Cookie was inducted into the Hall of Fame. The 2018 Best Bar Design went to Adelaide cocktail bar Malt & Juniper (Sans-Arc Studio), and Canberra nabbed a win in the Best Installation Design category for Pop Inn — a mobile wine bar (Daryl Jackson Alastair Swayn Architects). While Sydney did not come home victorious, the city did receive a good number of commendations, including two for Barangaroo House, which earned commendations in both the best bar and best restaurant design categories. The Imperial Erskineville and Edition Haymarket also received best bar design commendations and Fonda Bondi received a best restaurant design commendation, too. In the best retail design category, Little Bonny's received a nod, which was designed by famed studio Luchetti Krelle (Manly Greenhouse, Terminus Hotel, Banksii, Acme). Luxuriate in the sleekness of the top designs below. [gallery ids="697870,697865,697866,671311,691780,651134,662281,697859"] For the full list of winners and commendations, head to the Eat Drink Design website. Images: Ishizuka by Felix Forest, Brae by Trevor Mein, Chandon Australia by Tom Blachford, Bentwood by Kate Shanasy, Edition by Trent van der Jagt, Barangaroo House by Kitti Smallbone, The Imperial by Trent van der Jagt, Cookie.
Located in the heart of Victoria Street — affectionately known as Melbourne's Little Vietnam — Thuy Lu and Thy Vo's new casual mod-Viet restaurant has quite the family history. The sisters' parents Trang Le and Van Ho opened both the original Thy Thy and Thy Thy 2 on Victoria Street in the 80s, and Thy Thy Counter and Canteen now sits in the very same corner site that once housed their third venture, Tho Tho. This new incarnation celebrates the family's South Vietnamese heritage, while also embracing other regional flavours encountered on more recent trips through the country's north. In the role of head chef, Mum Le is deftly blending the traditional with the modern, with plenty of long-held family recipes getting a spin. It's all being plated up in a light-filled, minimalist space, featuring a contemporary mix of polished concrete floors and generous pops of colour. Classics are in strong supply on the menu, with options like bo bop thau (wagyu beef salad) ($22), banh hoi (rice vermicelli cake) ($18–20), Vietnamese-style slaws and a range of goi cuon (rice paper rolls) ($12). You'll find a swag of stir-frys, vermicelli bowls and signature rice dishes, while a special beef pho ($14) heads the selection of noodle soups. Wash down your feed with a Vietnamese 333 Beer ($9), a local wine, or perhaps a sweet Viet-style coffee ($6). Keep an eye out for a weekly-changing lineup of specials, too — think, bun bo hue (Hue-style spicy beef noodle soup), traditional broths and a rotation of banh mi rolls. [caption id="attachment_830385" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Pete Dillon[/caption] Images: Pete Dillon
