"Darling it's better down where it's wetter" isn't just a line The Little Mermaid fans have had stuck in their head for the last two decades. Come the beginning of 2019, it's also the first thing likely to pop into the minds of anyone heading to one particular Norwegian restaurant. Set to open in the coastal village of Båly in the country's south, Under will plunge hungry patrons into watery surroundings, offering more than just the usual scenic vistas. At this eatery, diners will be tucking into their dishes underwater. To be specific, they'll be feasting on seafood under the sea — if you're going to open a space underneath the ocean, you have to serve up the fish, which is just what head chef Nicolai Ellitsgaard will be doing. Visitors will descend down three colour-coded levels to sip sparkling tipples in a champagne bar that boasts views of the shoreline, before enjoying meals in the completely submerged dining room. The latter sits five metres below the water's surface, and is surrounded by panoramic acrylic windows for quite the aquatic view. For those wondering about pressure and safety, metre-thick concrete walls will keep everyone nice and dry, in a structure designed by architecture firm Snøhetta. Describing the space as "a sunken periscope", the building will be constructed not only to wow those stepping foot inside, but to fit in with its surroundings. The grey exterior colour scheme will blend in with the rocky coastline, and coarse surfacing will encourage molluscs to cling on. Indeed, over time it's hoped that Under will become an artificial mussel reef. As well as offering a memorable place to eat, the project also aims to champion biodiversity, functioning as a research centre for marine life. This will include informational plaques educating visitors about the area, helping to expand not only the list of places you've tucked into a meal, but your knowledge. Start planning your 2019 Scandinavian trip now. Images: Snohetta.
Sydney-based Eat Art Truck was one of the first food trucks to really take off, with its American barbecue street food infused with fine dining, and bright, colourful trucks that feature the work of local artists. It's quality food, but instead of being artfully plated up on ceramics, the chefs lean down and hand you your meal in a paper tray. Specialities on the menu are the eight-hour smoked pulled pork bun, the slow-roasted beef brisket bun and the crispy fried chicken bun. There are nachos, salads, fancier dishes like the kingfish entrée, and desserts like flourless chocolate cake. Once a month an artist will paint a piece on the side of the truck, and at the end of the month the piece is auctioned off for charity — so you get a serving of culture along with your fries. Brenton Balicki, founding chef of Eat Art Truck, cooked us up a three-course feast last week to celebrate the launch of the KitchenAid Mini in Australia. All three courses were inspired by Brenton's work experience as a chef — he spent his formative chef years working at Tetsuya's and moved to Quay before becoming one of the founding chefs of Eat Art Truck. His professional background instilled in him the importance of good produce, so Brenton rode down to the Sydney Fish Markets and picked up the fresh fish, meat, vegetables he would be using. The first course was a beautifully plated entree of beetroot-cured hiramasa kingfish — a dish that relies on quality produce above anything else. The second course was a classic Eat Art Truck burger. Brenton wouldn't give us the exact ingredients that he needed to make the patty, or the sauce (can't give away all Eat Art Truck's secrets) but there's enough there to make your version of their classic burger. The third course was a flourless, sugarless chocolate cake. He's given us his recipes so you can re-create them at home. Burgers for dinner tonight? BEETROOT-CURED HIRAMASA KING FISH INGREDIENTS 1 fillet of hiramasa kingfish 1 large beetroot 1 lemon 1 bunch baby radish 1 tablespoon of sugar 1 tablespoon of salt 1 poached octopus crème fraîche rice wine vinegar olive oil METHOD Marinate the fish in grated beetroot, lemon zest, sugar and salt overnight. This will begin the curing process Wipe off marinade with paper towel and slice the fish as thinly as possible. Lay it out on the plate and decorate with thinly sliced octopus, baby herbs and thinly sliced radish Create a dressing with the vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil. Once you're happy with the presentation, dress the fish with plenty of the vinaigrette and finish with some crème fraîche and sea salt EAT ART TRUCK BURGER INGREDIENTS 3 of your favourite cuts of meat (ours are a secret) your favourite sauces (also a secret) your favourite bread — we used brioche tomato caramelised onion lemon thyme chorizo sausage your favourite cheese — we used smoked cheddar METHOD Dice your chosen meat into small cubes ready to be minced Use the KitchenAid Mini meat grinder attachment on the coarse setting so you have a unique texture. Add chopped thyme and mix everything together with hands thoroughly until everything is combined Heavily season the burgers and then begin grilling along with the chorizo and onions. Once you have everything cooked just the way you like it, begin building your custom burger just the way you like it FLOURLESS, SUGARLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE INGREDIENTS 5 egg whites 3 egg yolks with 2 whole eggs 1 block of your favourite chocolate 200g butter 200g almond meal honey seasonal fruits ice cream dulce De Leche METHOD Melt the butter with the chocolate in bowl A. Use a KitchenAid Mini to whisk the egg yolks and whole eggs with the honey in bowl B. In bowl C, whisk the egg whites until firm Add the almond meal, bowl A and bowl B together and mix until smooth. Finish by folding in the egg whites from bowl C until a nice mixture forms Gently pour this into a non stick baking dish and cook at 160 degrees until firm in the centre Garnish with fruits, chopped nuts, dulce de leche, ice cream and some grated chocolate Images: Samantha Hawker.
Just because your bank account is looking a little empty, doesn't mean you've got to resort to sad, uninspiring lunchtime fare. At least, not this week, with food app Ritual dishing up tasty meals for just $1 a pop. Having launched in Sydney late last year, the mobile order and pay app is now available in Melbourne — and it's offering a very sweet deal to celebrate. It's dropping the price of select menu items from 150 of its CBD restaurants to just $1 a pop until November 8. In this budget-friendly lineup you'll find feeds from some of your favourite CBD vendors, which normally clock in at around $15. We're talking classic burgs from Betty's Burgers, cream cheese bagels from 5 & Dime, salami toasties from The Meating House and rice paper rolls from Roll'd. There are also $1 ice bubble teas from Coco Fresh Tea & Juice, coffees from Mister Munro, croissants from Weirdoughs and Chunky hot dogs from Chunky Town. Just remember that you do need to pick up your drink or meal, so make sure the eatery is in walking distance. [caption id="attachment_737291" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Chunky Town by Julia Sansone[/caption] Download the app and you'll be able to tap into three of these $1 deals over the week the offer is running. Which means a few mornings of extra shut-eye, thanks to not having to whip up lunch yourself. You'll also get to road test some of Ritual's nifty features, including a 'skip the line' function that allows you to order ahead and avoid queues, and 'skip the trip', where you can group together multiple orders from the one office to save everyone from making the same trek. There are a couple of restrictions, though. The deal is only valid between 5am and 5pm daily, and you can only order once per day and once per restaurant. You can check out all the nitty-gritty details over here. Ritual is offering three $1 meals or drinks per user through its app (for Android or iOS) until 5pm on Friday, November 8. Top image: Betty's Burgers
The past year has seen the film industry embrace streaming in a far bigger way than anyone could've imagined just 12 months ago. If you'd told even the most avid of movie buffs that a heap of cinema chains would be setting up their online viewing services, and that film festivals would be delivering their programs online, you might've been accused of wishful thinking. But, that's now the world we find ourselves in, and Event Cinemas is the latest Australian outfit to join the digital realm. It isn't turning its back on bricks-and-mortar picture palaces, of course. Neither did Sydney's Golden Age, or the teams behind the city's Ritz and Melbourne's Lido, Classic and Cameo cinemas when they did the same thing. Rather, the Aussie chain and its predecessors are all giving viewers more options, while also adapting to current movie-watching behaviour. Called Cinebuzz On Demand, Event Cinemas' service operates on a pay-per-view basis. So, it's more like YouTube Movies or Google Play than Netflix or Stan. You simply pick what you'd like to watch from its 1000-plus launch library, then pay accordingly per title — with prices starting at $4.99 per film. You won't find brand new, just-released blockbusters on the platform, or even the same movies that you can see if you head to one of Event Cinemas' physical locations and sit in a theatre. That said, the current catalogue does include plenty of flicks that have been brightening up the big screen over the past six months or so, such as Tenet, An American Pickle, The Personal History of David Copperfield, Wonder Woman 1984, Bill & Ted Face the Music, Antebellum and Baby Done. If you're particularly keen on comedies, horror movies, superhero flicks or Aussie titles, Cinebuzz On Demand lets users search by genre and theme. Or, you can simply browse through the entire library from A to Z. The service takes its name from Event Cinema's existing loyalty program, with members also earning points for their online rentals. And, viewing-wise, Cinebuzz On Demand is available on iPhones, iPads and Apple TV, plus Android and Chromecast, and on Windows and Mac devices as well. Cinebuzz On Demand is available via the service's website, with titles available to watch on a pay-per-view basis.
One Drink Jack Nicholson wears sunglasses. Harrison Ford wears an earring. Ellen thanks Seth MacFarlane for setting the bar so low. Winner thanks God or Jesus. Winner pays tribute to the late, great Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Winner commends losing nominees. Winner’s speech is played off by the orchestra. George Clooney says something earnest and/or pulls a “hilarious prank”. Leonardo DiCaprio smiles with an “Another year, another supermodel” look. George or Leo brings his mother as his date (five drinks if they bring each other’s mothers). Matthew McConaughy makes an incomprehensible speech and/or beats his chest in rhythm. Presenter refers to “The McConaissance” Jennifer Lawrence does something adorably “real” (three drinks if it’s a fashion mishap). Michael B. Jordan offers to star in the sequel to Space Jam. Channing Tatum refutes the suggestion that 22 Jump St will be the last in the series because he can’t count any higher. Jennifer Garner reminds us she's married to Ben Affleck who has TWO Oscars. Kevin Spacey refers to that corrupt, pernicious, money-hungry institution ... HOLLYWOOD. Not CONGRESS. HOLLYWOOD! Two Drinks Jack Nicholson wears sunglasses and a hat. Harrison Ford wears an earring and an Indiana Jones hat. Ellen jokes that the show will be longer than the Sochi Games and almost as long as Wolf of Wall Street. Winner thanks Buddha or Ganesh. Winner pays tribute to the late, great James Gandolfini. Winner describes his/her film as “important” Winner describes his/her film’s director as “a genius”. Special effects winner has a ponytail. Brad Pitt says something insightful/poignant, or Angeline Joie says something lighhearted. Jessica Biel says that marrying Justin Timberlake was irrelevant to getting a presenter’s gig. Liam Neeson looks genuinely surprised he wasn’t nominated for anything. Goldie Hawn tells Kate Hudson that she should give Matthew McConaughy a call now that he’s all respectable and accomplished. Anne Hathaway makes a rambling joke about rambling in her acceptance speech last year (three drinks if she also sings). Joaquin Phoenix brings a “Galaxy S5 – new from Samsung!” as his date. Amy Adams says it was awkward to be upstaged by her own cleavage in American Hustle. Kerry Washington mentions the potential for “scandal”. Emma Watson refers to the “magic of filmmaking”. Bendict Cumberbatch, referencing Smaug, is disappointed to be surrounded by golden statues he can’t keep himself. Three Drinks Jack Nicholson wears sunglasses and an Indiana Jones hat. Harrison Ford wears an earring, sunglasses, and an Indiana Jones hat. Ellen conducts a divorce of some of the couples who were married at Grammys but have found marriage to be “overrated”. Winner thanks Allah or Mohammed. Winner pays tribute to the late, great Paul Walker. Losing nominee mouths “fuck” when the winner is announced. Non-human presents an award. Congratulatory kiss or embrace from presenter “gets awkward”. Keanu Reeves throws a tantrum because they are re-making Point Break. Chris Hemsworth says he’s shocked that Liam and Miley’s engagement didn’t work out. Jonah Hill is reminded that he’s a two-time Oscar nominee and chuckles, “Who’s ‘super bad’ now, Michael Cera?” Naomi Watts congratulates Robin Wright on her engagement (five drinks if she also notes that Ben Foster is not quite young enough to be either of their sons). Jared Leto and Lupita Nyong’o win and make out on stage. The Lone Ranger wins for Best Visual Effects and everyone is just confused. Daniel Day-Lewis says he’d give his left foot to have Phillip Seymour Hoffman back. Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd dress as Ghostbusters to farewell Harold Ramis (five drinks if Ernie Hudson also gets on stage). Jospeh Godon-Levitt or Tyler Perry makes a reference to marriage equality, Jason Collins, Michael Sam, or the Arizona veto. Five Drinks Ellen announces that presenters do not have to hand over awards to any winner who is ... from Arizona. Gravity wins an award and Neil DeGrasse Tyson rushes the stage to protest. John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson take Christoph Waltz hostage, demanding that Quentin Tarantino make them relevant again. “Jackass” and “the Oscar goes to...” are used in the same sentence. Chiwetel Ejiofor or Michael Fassbender notes that it’s a bit weird that the two main actors in a movie about American slavery are English and German.
For New Zealanders, holidaying in the islands will soon become reality, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown this week confirming that a travel bubble is set to open between NZ and the Pacific nation. Pending final confirmation by New Zealand's Director-General of Health and the Cook Islands Secretary of Health, two-way quarantine-free travel will commence between the two countries on Monday, May 17, one month after the opening of the long-discussed trans-Tasman travel bubble between NZ and Australia. The Cook Islands closed its borders in March 2020 and has been virus-free to this day. Prime Minister Ardern said a huge amount of work had gone into ensuring the two-way bubble was safe and that the Cook Islands was set up and ready for it. The quarantine-free travel will apply to travellers in NZ and the Cook Islands who meet the eligibility requirements, including spending at least 14 days in either NZ or the Cook Islands before making the trip. But if you're an Australian now thinking of planning a multi-stop overseas getaway, the situation isn't as straightforward as you might hope. As part of NZ's announcement about the planned arrangement with the Cook Islands, it notes that anyone wanting to travel between Australia and the Cook Islands would need to spend at least 14 days in NZ in the middle. Back in April, however, the Australian Government made a Biosecurity Determination that advises that Australian citizens and permanent residents can only leave the country to travel to NZ, unless they receive an exemption. So, hopping from NZ to the Cook Islands after a fortnight in the former isn't currently covered. Neither is hopping from NZ to anywhere else in the world. The Biosecurity Determination came into effect after the trans-Tasman bubble between Australia and NZ started, to cover the possibility that Aussies would use NZ as a stopover before venturing further afield. Whether Australia and the Cook Islands will enter into their own travel bubble arrangement is yet to be revealed — and whether the Australian Government will amend the current Biosecurity Determination to allow Aussies to travel to the Cook Islands from NZ hasn't yet been advised, either. So, for now, that island getaway you might be dreaming of still needs to remain on hold. The two-way quarantine-free travel bubble will commence between New Zealand and the Cook Islands on Monday, May 17; however, Australia's recent Biosecurity Determination means that Aussies still can only holiday in NZ without receiving an exemption, and can't hop from there to the Cook Islands. Full information about quarantine-free travel for New Zealanders to the Cook Islands, including eligibility, what travellers should expect and updates to requirements, can be found on the New Zealand Government COVID-19 website.
Best known for their viral Barbie dolls draped in slices of Wagyu beef ($38.90), this Melbourne venue is one of more than 500 stores internationally. As an added bonus, the menu allows guests to choose their own mini, individual pots instead of the usual shared soup in the centre of the table. Personalised service is at the forefront of their business model – you can expect Spice World bibs and complimentary hair ties to be offered, as well as the perfect dipping sauce concoction made from their homemade soy sauce. Dip pieces of Kagoshima A5 Wagyu striploin ($98.90) or gold-dusted M9 short rib ($88.90) into your soup, sit back and let it melt in your mouth. Finish off the meal with the most intricately made purple sweet potato puffs shaped into black swans ($16.90) - even the 'neck' and 'beak' of the potato-crafted swan are entirely edible. Appears in: Where to Find The Best Hot Pots in Melbourne for 2023
Where each new year will take you can be an existential question. If travel is one of your resolutions, it can also be literal. Will 2024 see you basking in Shibuya's glowing lights in Tokyo? Sipping drinks in the pool by sunset in Bali? Finally taking in the wonder that is Uluru? Enjoying an island break on Hamilton Island? They're all options if you use Virgin's latest big sale as your guide. A hefty 500,000-plus fares are up for grabs as part of the airline's Holiday After the Holidays sale sale, covering a range of Aussie and international spots — the carrier's entire network, in fact. Sticking with home turf, you can head to Byron Bay, the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast, Cairns, Hamilton Island, Uluru, Hobart, Broome and more. And, if you're eager to journey overseas, you can hit up Bali, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Tokyo and Queenstown as well. One-way domestic fares start at $49, which'll get you from Sydney to Byron Bay. As always, that's cheapest route. Other discounted flights include Melbourne to Launceston from $59, Brisbane to either Cairns for $105 or Hamilton Island for $115, Brisbane to Uluru from $139, Adelaide to the Gold Coast from $119 and Perth to Hobart from $239. Internationally, the return deals start with Brisbane to Vanuatu from $419, then include Sydney to Queenstown from $435, Melbourne to Bali from $559 and Cairns to Tokyo from $679 among the options. If you're wondering when you'll need to travel, there's a range of dates from Monday, January 29–Saturday, November 30, 2024, all varying depending on the flights and prices. As usual when it comes to flight sales, you'll need to get in quick. Virgin's discounted fares are now on offer until midnight on Monday, January 22 or sold out, whichever arrives first. Virgin's 2024 Holiday After the Holidays sale runs until midnight AEST on Monday, January 22 — or until sold out. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
UPDATE: July 17, 2020: Wild Rose is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube and iTunes. Beneath her shock of red hair, Americana-themed clothing and fringed white leather jacket, a string of words adorns Rose-Lynn Harlan's (Jessie Buckley) arm. Her tattoo hails back to her real-life namesake, veteran US songwriter Harlan Howard, who coined an eloquent and evocative phrase to explain country music. "Three chords and the truth" isn't just the definition of a great song in the genre, however. It's the mantra that Rose-Lynn lives by in Wild Rose — and an apt way to describe the film itself. A music-driven movie in the same vein as A Star Is Born, this rousing picture plays plenty of familiar notes. But it also pairs them with such a rich and resonant spring of honesty that the screen lights up like an emotional symphony. Rose-Lynn believes in country music. She listens to it, croons it, loves it and is firmly convinced that it's her gateway to a better future. Feeling as if she was born in the wrong part of the world, the spirited Glaswegian has visions of Nashville in her eyes, as well as a melodic voice that could take her there. Alas, the twenty-something has just been released from a year-long prison sentence, and has two children that she had when she was still a child herself. Her ankle monitor and daily curfew are hardly conducive to chasing star-studded dreams, or for getting her singing job back at Scotland's version of the Grand Ole Oprey. Nor is her concerned mother Marion (Julie Walters), who wants her to do the right thing by her kids, or the daily cleaning gig for the wealthy Susannah (Sophie Okonedo) that Rose-Lynn needs in order to prove that she can be responsible. More than once throughout Wild Rose, its wayward songstress is asked if she writes her own songs — if she's belting out her own truth, or borrowing someone else's. While the script by first-time feature writer Nicole Taylor takes Rose-Lynn down a recognisable path that's part kitchen-sink drama, part stars-in-their-eyes quest for fame, this recurring question is a savvy touch in a film that's all about being true to yourself. That's the reality at the heart of many of the aching ballads that country music is known for; these songs aren't just about love, sorrow, longing, affairs of the heart and everyday problems, but about discovering, understanding and accepting one's place in the world. Indeed, more than simply charting Rose-Lynn's efforts to shake off her troubled life and warble her way to success, Wild Rose follows a lost young soul discovering who she really is one heartfelt tune and performance at a time. With that in mind, perhaps the film could've been called A Person Is Born. Actually it shouldn't because that's an awful title, but the underlying idea remains valid. While director Tom Harper (TV's War & Peace) has the misfortune of unfurling Wild Rose in A Star Is Born's celebrated slipstream, his is a different movie. If the Lady Gaga vehicle was a case of watching both fantasies and tragedies come true, this is a minutiae-filled chronicle of life lived in the shadow of a dream. Narrative details aside, Wild Rose's many differences are evident just from looking at it, with cinematographer George Steel (another War & Peace alumni) giving every frame a quiet, gritty, gloss-free sheen. The movie also boasts moments of expressive, subjective beauty, conveyed in intimate close-ups of Buckley's radiant face, red-lit scenes that channel her inner fire and the striking sight of her taking to the stage — although there's no mistaking that they're the exception, not the rule. No one is being swept off their feet by a rockstar, getting picked up in limousines, playing huge festivals and releasing pop songs about butts here. Of course, were Buckley to croon a peppy tune about attractive derrieres as Lady Gaga did, there's no doubt that she'd similarly do a stellar job. It'd be easy to call the actor a revelation, except that she's been consistently fantastic across her evolving screen career to date, including in TV series War & Peace, Taboo and Chernobyl, as well as the excellent 2018 crime drama Beast. It's fitting, too, that her off-screen story actually began in a not-too-dissimilar fashion to Wild Rose's charismatic, cheeky protagonist. Just over a decade ago, Buckley unleashed her pipes on British competitive TV show I'll Do Anything, singing her way not only to a second-place spot, but into acting studies. The classes paid off, as she demonstrates in a series of disarmingly intimate scenes with both Walters and Okonedo. Her vocal talents pay dividends as well, including in the moving finale. But like the woman she's playing, there's a spark to Buckley that's infectious, inimitable and irrepressible. The title Wild Rose, conjuring up visions of sprawling, messy, rebellious splendour, proves pitch-perfect for a plethora of reasons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke_OYBAc7J4
Dying to grow your own food but failed to take the agriculture elective in high school? Been green with envy, eyeing off new apartment blocks' vertical gardens, yet don't know where to start when it comes to greening up your own home? You've come to the right place. As increasing the flower, fruit and foliage content of our urban lives becomes more and more desirable, so too does the technology enabling it. Read on to discover five systems for apartment gardening that'll have your place biodiversify-ing like the Amazon in no time — even if you've never planted a seed or picked out a weed in your life. SproutsIO If you're handier with your smartphone than you are with a trowel, SproutsIO could well be for you. Consisting of a network of pods, each home to a separate plant, it functions according to the commands of a mobile app, which works through both Android and iOS devices. There's no soil involved. Instead, oxygen and nutrients are delivered via mist, with special censors ensuring that light, humidity and temperature remain at optimum levels. According to creator Jennifer Broutin Farah, SproutsIO's productivity levels are up to six times higher than those generated by traditional soil-based methods. Currently nearing production; on-sale date TBC. Windowfarm This vertical, bioponic solution does exactly what its name suggests — transforms your window into a farm that would do Old McDonald proud. A reservoir at the base of the Windowfarm pumps nutrient-filled water upwards, feeding each plant's roots, which are protected not by soil but by a 'nest' comprised of clay pellets, coconut hair and rice hulls. US$199 for a one-column starter bundle at store.windowfarms.com Aqualibrium This isn't just an apartment garden: it's a fish tank and farm, combined. Made possible by a successful Kickstarter campaign, Aqualibrium works according to the principles of aquaponics. The fish create nutrients, which are cycled upwards to feed the plants, while the plants soak up the nutrients and send fresh, clean water downwards. If fish aren't your thing, you can replace them with pre-bottled nutrients, thereby transforming Aqualibrium into a hydroponics system. From US$300 at shop.aqualibrium.com Bitponics Want home-grown vegetables but simply don't have time to attend to them? At all? Bitponics is a fully automated hydroponics system that can run an entire season of gardening via the Cloud. Everything — including pH, light, water, temperature and humidity — is measured and regulated by wi-fi responsive sensors. $9/month per garden. Sign-ups coming soon at bitponics.com. String gardens They might not be as productive or automated as some of the fancy systems already discussed, but they have plenty of other advantages. They're cheap; they look cool and you can make them with your own two hands — from scratch.
Chocolates are often a last-minute gift option. You've forgotten a big occasion, your choices are limited and you know that the recipient of your present has a sweet tooth. Gelato Messina's Mother's Day chocolates don't fall into that category, however — and not just because you need to order them in advance. There's boxes of chocolates and then there's this annual box of chocolates, which puts the gelato chain's winning way with desserts into action without ice cream. In 2024, Mother's Day is happening on Sunday, May 12, in case it temporarily slipped your mind. And if you pick up this showstopper, you'll be vying for favourite-child status. An important note: back when Messina first started doing Mother's Day choccies, they came filled with gelato. That hasn't always been the case, though, and isn't this year. 2024's chance to win brownie points is a box of eight chocolate bars, each made in-house by the dessert brand's chocolatiers — and each sporting a brand-new flavour. Is your mum a salted caramel fan? Raspberry caramel? Passionfruit yuzu caramel? There's three bars covered. Other varieties include cannoli and hazelnut, strawberry cheesecake, chocolate brownie and cafe latte. And if your mother has always wondered what tea and biscuits would taste like in chocolate form, they can now found out. It's not just the filling that's different on each bar. So is the outer shell, ranging from 65-percent dark chocolate, light milk chocolate, raspberry chocolate and coffee white chocolate to passionfruit chocolate, strawberry chocolate, earl grey tea chocolate and milk chocolate with brownie crumbs. So, your mum will have quite the variety to feast on. And hey, if she doesn't like one of the flavours, maybe she'll share it with you. Each box costs $55 a pop, and will be available to order from 12pm AEST on Monday, April 29 for delivery, or for pick up at the brand's Marrickville store in Sydney. Gelato Messina's 2024 Mother's Day chocolate bars are available to order from 12pm AEST on Monday, April 29 for delivery, or for pick up at the brand's Marrickville store in Sydney.
Look, we could be mad. We could have been angry when LCD Soundsystem — the legendary band that called their final show at Madison Square Garden back in 2011 — turned up on the 2016 Coachella lineup. We could have been mildly annoyed when they announced they were reuniting last year. And we could have been pissed when they showed up on this year's Splendour in the Grass lineup and did shows in Sydney and Melbourne. But we're not. We can't be — we're just so goddamn happy the band's back together. And now, less than six months since LCD graced our shores, they've announced that they'll be back in 2018. The band will return to Australia in February for headline shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Call all your friends. Tickets will sell out so get your fingers ready for 3pm (2pm in Brissie) on November 27 if you're a Frontier member, or, for everyone else, 11am on November 30. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM 2018 TOUR DATES Monday, February 12 — HBF Stadium, Perth Thursday, February 15 — Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne Friday, February 16 — Hordern Pavilion, Sydney Wednesday, February 21 — Riverstage, Brisbane. LCD Soundsystem will tour Australia in February 2018. You can buy tickets here. Image: Matt Biddulph via Wikimedia Commons.
Cafes, pubs, bars and eateries across Melbourne have once again swung open their doors. But one venue in particular has also made its grand debut with ambitious newcomer The Commons at Ormond Collective taking over the St Kilda Road site once home to the Belgian Beer Cafe Bluestone. This multi-faceted, mostly outdoor venue is the latest from The Big Group, which operates a suite of event spaces including The Glasshouse in Olympic Park and the Myer Mural Hall. Aiming for broad appeal, The Commons features an array of different elements set across its various al fresco spaces, including The Conservatory, The Kitchen Garden, The Garden Cafe and The Beer Garden. Throughout, expect a heady mix of gingham and floral prints, bold stripes, fresh flowers and wicker, with lots of Euro-style cafe chairs and park benches setting the scene. In keeping with the times, you'll also find quirky lily pad seating positioned 1.5 metres apart and multiple hand sanitiser stations. [caption id="attachment_787847" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marcel Aucar[/caption] There'll be slightly different food offerings available at each of the different spaces, though as a whole the menu's built around classic flavours, local produce and lots of ingredients picked fresh from the onsite kitchen garden. Think, crisp flatbread crowned with an assembly of confit artichoke, greens, mozzarella and edible flowers; a spring salad featuring seared salmon; and a classic chicken sandwich with lemon mayo and shredded broccoli. You might settle in with some craft brews and a burger, or while away an afternoon over snacks and rosé. Coffee comes courtesy of North Melbourne's Small Batch, while house-made sweet treats run to the likes of salted pretzel brownies and an Italian strawberry love cake. [caption id="attachment_787853" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marcel Aucar[/caption] Like any outdoor venue worth its salt, this one's also optimised for guests of the four-legged variety. We're talking doggy day beds, puppy parking and a dedicated food menu for pooches. And, while all Melbourne events are still at the mercy of restrictions easing further, The Commons has tentatively started planning a roster of pop-ups and activations to grace the site. Eventually, you can look forward to the likes of market stalls, gigs, live beekeeper demonstrations and other creative happenings featuring here every weekend. Find The Commons at Ormond Collective at 577 St Kilda Road, St Kilda. It's open 8am–5.30pm Monday–Wednesday, 8am–9.30pm Thursday–Friday and 11am–9.30pm Saturday–Sunday. Images: Marcel Aucar
Melburnians, next time you visit a cinema, concert venue or sports facility, you're likely to have a bit more company. Late on Friday, April 9, the Victorian Government announced the easing on capacity limits on some seated entertainment, cultural and sporting venues throughout the state — and the new rules came into effect at midnight the same day (so, last night). In spaces that can host up to 1000 people, no caps are now in place. These seated venues can fill to capacity, and without any distancing requirements. That includes theatres, music halls, concert halls, auditoriums, museums, galleries and physical recreation sites, and spans both indoor and outdoor facilities. Both the 1000-person size and the seated component are crucial, though — take out either, and the relaxed rules no longer apply. In spaces with a 1000-person capacity, the eased restrictions only cover the seated area, too. So, in places where folks will be standing — such as lobbies — within these venues, the one person per two-square-metres rule still applies. And, QR code check-ins remain mandatory as well. As for bigger venues, they can fill up to the 1000-person limit. To welcome in more patrons, these larger spaces need to apply to do so under the Victorian Government's public events framework, which currently has a 75-percent capacity limit on seated events up to 25,000 people. [caption id="attachment_792215" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Pentridge Cinema[/caption] The government has also scrapped density quotas on offices, so you might be seeing more of your colleagues' smiling faces from now on. Again, the one person per two-square-metres rule still applies in some shared spaces, though, such as in publicly accessible areas like building lobbies. The changes have come into effect two weeks after Victoria's last set of eased restrictions, and follow on from a National Cabinet meeting yesterday, Friday, April 9, where relaxing venue capacity requirements around Australia was a key discussion point. It was agreed that large, ticketed and seated gatherings could increase to 100-percent capacity across the country; however, like all National Cabinet decisions, this still has to be implemented at a state-by-state level — hence the Victorian Government announcement a few hours afterwards. With that in mind, the Victorian Government advised that, "in line with AHPPC guidance, the Chief Health Officer will work towards future easing of caps for ticketed seated indoor and outdoor entertainment, cultural and sporting venues of more than 1000 patrons subject to epidemiology and compliance with mandatory QR code usage." Accordingly, in the near future, you might have more company at bigger venues as well. As always, the usual hygiene and social distancing advice remains in place throughout the state, as does the request to get tested if you exhibit even minor COVID-19 symptoms. Victoria currently has one active coronavirus case as at midnight on Friday, April 9. For more information about the rules moving forward, head to the Victorian Department of Health website.
In Stay of the Week, we explore some of the world's best and most unique accommodations, giving you a little inspiration for your text trip. In this instalment, we highlight the Gili Beach Resort located on Indonesia's Gili Trawangan island. If you're itching to get away and ready to book an island holiday now, on Concrete Playground Trips we have a fabulous lineup of deals on great stays across Indonesia and packages on incredible Bali getaways that you can't find anywhere else. WHAT'S SO SPECIAL? This accommodation is made for big groups of people looking to experience laid-back (but still pretty damn luxurious) island living, without spending exorbitant amounts of money. THE ROOMS Both multi-level timber villas have four enormous bedrooms — each with extra-large double beds, ensuites and balconies overlooking the private pool and beach. You'll feel like you're living in a postcard when staying at this character-filled resort. And because there are only two villas on the property, you'll be getting brilliant service from the staff. You'll also have your own fully-kitted-out kitchen with a few indoor and outdoor dining areas (including tables and chairs right on the beach). There are also multiple spots made just for lounging – either choose the pool, the beach or one of the terraces. Roll from one spot to the other during a lazy day of drinking, eating, napping and sunning yourself. FOOD AND DRINK The staff at Gili Beach Resort will greet you every morning with a big breakfast, and the restaurant next door will also deliver to your door all day long. This restaurant is known to be incredibly good and the French chef serves up an ever-changing menu but the focus is — unsurprisingly — all about the fish of the day dishes at this island haunt. But that's not all. On your first night at Gili Beach Resort, you get an epic BBQ and private bonfire made for you by their team — they go above and beyond when it comes to service. They'll even help you with your grocery list and enlist a horse-pulled cart to help you manage a big shop (there are no motor vehicles on this island so all transport is either man or animal powered). THE LOCAL AREA The resort is located on the quieter side of Gili Trawangan, one of Indonesia's three Gili islands. These small islands are best known for their sandy beaches lined with large trees and the coral reefs full of colourful marine life. It's not unusual to find turtles swimming in front of your villa (with snorkelling equipment available to guests too). You're also fairly close to town – either a short walk or an even shorter bike ride (also provided as part of your stay). Find a local beach bar or restaurant for sunset and enjoy great Indonesian cuisine and inexpensive but powerful cocktails. Alternatively, you can go hiking up into the forests and get some unbeatable views of the surrounding islands or walk around to quieter beaches to find your own remote paradise. Whatever you're up for, the incredibly accommodating staff will make it happen for you. THE EXTRAS For small additional costs, the team at Gili Beach Resort will bring just about any brilliant experience right to you. They'll organise massages on your balcony overlooking the sea, horseback rides along the coast and traditional Indonesian cooking classes in your own villa. The friendly and attentive service is one of the resort's most well-known traits. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image might be all about celebrating screen art — peering at films and TV shows, stepping into virtual reality and showcasing the talents that've made such a huge impact, for instance — but that doesn't mean that the Melbourne-based venue doesn't appreciate nature. The world around us can look stunning projected as large as a cinema can allow. David Attenborough has turned his documentaries about the planet into their own spectacular genre, too. And the natural realm can provide experimental artists with quite the playground to ponder, as Marshmallow Laser Feast: Works of Nature is set to unveil. This just-announced world-premiere exhibition will see art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast unveil a showcase of works that muse on trees, black holes, cells, breathing, space, science and more. Hitting ACMI from Thursday November 23, 2023–Sunday, April 14, 2024, Works of Nature spans five major pieces that aim to deeply contemplate and appreciate humanity's role in nature, and just nature overall. And, these aren't tiny pieces — all digital, they're aiming to inspire awe in both their size and content. [caption id="attachment_917015" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marshmallow Laser Feast, 'Distortions in Spacetime', 2018, courtesy of the artists[/caption] This is the London-based MLF's first major showcase in Australia, adding a stint Down Under to appearances at the Sundance and Tribeca film festivals, the Istanbul Design Biennial, Lisbon Triennial and the V&A and Design Museum in their hometown. That impressive history is matched by a significant lineup of names involved with MLF's immersive Works of Nature pieces. Cate Blanchett (The New Boy) lends her narration, director Terrence Malick (A Hidden Life) executive produces, while Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood (Licorice Pizza) and fellow acclaimed composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (Last and First Men) are among the talents providing music — the latter's work continuing to entrance after his passing in 2018. Daisy Lafarge provides poetry, while Jon Hopkins, Meredith Monk and Howard Skempton also contribute tunes. [caption id="attachment_917016" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marshmallow Laser Feast, 'Evolver', 2023, courtesy of the artists and Wave Museum.[/caption] Whether you're a Melburnian or have a trip to the Victoria capital in your future, you'll be able to see the meditative Evolver, which uses Blanchett's voice to journey through the human body, breath, the origins of cells and the cosmos — and Distortions in Spacetime, which heads to a black hole's edge. Or, there's the large-scale Sanctuary of the Unseen Forest, a video installation about the Amazon's kapok trees. Thanks to The Tides Within Us, oxygen is in focus again via six static pictures. And with We Live in an Ocean of Air, MLF explore how that last word in the piece's moniker connects life on earth. [caption id="attachment_917019" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marshmallow Laser Feast, 'Sanctuary of the Unseen Forest', courtesy of the artists and Sandra Ciampone.[/caption] "ACMI is thrilled to bring the work of Marshmallow Laser Feast to Australia for the first time. This exhibition reflects the power of large-scale moving image works and creative use of projection technologies to produce immersive experiences that demonstrate how our bodies and the natural world are so intrinsically connected. Works of Nature is an unforgettable experience that can inspire us to work towards a better future," said ACMI Director and CEO Seb Chan, announcing the exhibition. "Our artistic practice is a constant journey of discovery into the world beyond the limits of human senses. Our passion for ecology, astronomy, and technology has driven us to collect tree data in the Amazon, explore the sound of black holes and scan the entirety of the human body in microscopic detail, then transforming these explorations into transcendent, immersive experiences," added Ersin Han Ersin, MLF Partner and Director. "We are excited to share our work with ACMI's audiences and to engage in a conversation about the beauty of the natural world and the wonders of the universe." [caption id="attachment_917012" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marshmallow Laser Feast: Works of Nature, 2023, photo by Eugene Hyland.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_917018" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marshmallow Laser Feast, 'We Live in an Ocean of Air', courtesy of the artists.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_917013" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marshmallow Laser Feast: Works of Nature, 2023, photo by Eugene Hyland.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_917017" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marshmallow Laser Feast, 'Sanctuary of the Unseen Forest', courtesy of the artists and Sandra Ciampone.[/caption] Marshmallow Laser Feast: Works of Nature will display at ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne, from Thursday November 23, 2023–Sunday, April 14, 2024 — head to the ACMI website for further details or to get tickets. Top image: Marshmallow Laser Feast, 'Distortions in Spacetime', 2018, courtesy of the artists.
After crushing the hopes of literally tens of thousands of people when they slammed the brakes on multiple planned games of store-wide hide and seek, the fun police at IKEA have come up with a strange new promotion to try and win back community support. Starting today, the blue and yellow furniture leviathan is offering people in Sydney (Melbourne, you're probably next) the chance to help get its new Marsden Park location ready for opening, creating what they're calling the world's first Customer Built IKEA. Sounds fun right? After all, who doesn't want to work at IKEA? Roles up for grabs include IKEA Ball Pit Tester and IKEA Meatball Taster, both of which will presumably require rigorous, hardcore on-the-job training. We're sure it'll look just terrific on your resume though. You can also apply to be an Ultimate IKEA Assembler, as outlined in this kind of funny but also kind of cringeworthy promotional video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zhSa22FLu8&feature=youtu.be Look, it may not sound as fun as playing hidey with 30,000 friends, but you've got to give the Australian IKEA team credit for trying. They've also pledged their support to a number of volunteer programs in the local area, in order "to give back to the community." Besides, who are you to turn down a year's supply of free meatballs? They've even got a vegetarian option, with the launch of their new Gronsaksbullar veggie ball. Almost forgiven, but not yet forgotten, IKEA. For the chance to participate in IKEA's indentured servitude program fun new activity, find the Customer Built Store tab on their Facebook page.
Normally ugliness is relative and objective, but not if you’re at one of the stranger events taking place during the Basque city of Bilbao’s annual cultural festival Aste Nagusia or ‘Big Week’. Somewhere in between the comparatively commonplace displays of music, art, fireworks and bullfights taking place over the nine-day celebration falls the bewildering Concurso de Feos, which literally translates to ‘The Ugly Competition’. Concurso de Feos was apparently initiated as a spin on the controversial and outdated beauty pageant. Though it is also a great alternative for those not endowed with the skills required to perform the spectacular facial feat known as a gurn (perhaps due to still having at least six teeth) but who continue to dream of having their ugliest mug immortalised on the Internet. The Spanish competition apparently encourages the use of fingers to assist with the distorting process, with entrants stuffing digits into their nostrils, eyeballs and inner cheeks in their quest to perform the most unsightly sneer in all the land. There appears to be no age restrictions on competing, with the event popular amongst both old and young alike. And, obligatory jokes aside, Concurso de Feos can claim the dual merits of providing locals with a comical distraction from the Basque County’s economic woes and the rest of the world with a good boost of self-confidence. via Geekologie
UPDATE, January 7, 2022: Wrath of Man is available to stream via Binge, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Too many times in his now 23-year feature filmmaking career, Guy Ritchie has happily crammed a heap of his favourite things into a bag, shaken it about, spilled it out onto the screen and called it his next movie. The British director likes twisty crime capers, dialogue peppered with slang and wisecracks, and memorable character nicknames. He loves chopping his narratives up into parts, then piecing them back together in a non-linear fashion. And, he's rather fond of enlisting sizeable ensemble casts, then switching between their varying perspectives. He's keen on trying to keep his audiences guessing, too. That said, he also likes having someone explain the inner workings of a plan, then showing said scheme in action while those descriptive words echo above his needle drop-heavy soundtrack. If you've seen Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver, RocknRolla or The Gentlemen, you'll recognise all of the above. And, you'll know that in three of those films, Ritchie managed to point his lens at another of his favourite things as well. Lock Stock and Snatch didn't just make Ritchie a star, but also catapulted Jason Statham to fame. The pair found a groove that worked for them, and it changed their lives — until, with Revolver, it didn't. With revenge thriller Wrath of Man, Ritchie and Statham reunite after 16 years apart. During that stretch, the former subjected the world to his terrible Sherlock Holmes films, fared better with left-field additions to his resume like The Man From UNCLE and Aladdin, but didn't quite know what to do with King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. The latter has become an action go-to over the same time — with both forgettable and memorable flicks resulting, including three Fast and Furious movies and a stint scowling at Dwayne Johnson in the franchise's odd-couple spinoff Hobbs & Shaw. Accordingly, Ritchie and Statham reteam after heading in their own directions. Thankfully, they're not just interested in rehashing their shared past glories. From Wrath of Man's first moments, with its tense, droning score, its high-strung mood and its filming of an armoured van robbery from inside the vehicle, a relentlessly grim tone is established. When Statham shows up shortly afterwards, he's firmly in stoic mode, too. He does spout a few quippy lines, and Ritchie once again unfurls his narrative by jumping between different people, events and time periods, but Lock, Stock Again or Snatch Harder this isn't. Instead, Wrath of Man is a remake of 2004 French film Le Convoyeur. While walking in someone else's shoes turned out horrendously for Ritchie with the Madonna-starring Swept Away, that isn't the case here. Statham plays Patrick Hill, the newest employee at the Los Angeles-based cash truck company Fortico Securities. On his first day, his colleague Bullet (Holt McCallany, Mindhunter) dubs him H — "like the bomb, or Jesus H," he says — and the nickname quickly sticks. H joins the outfit a few months after the aforementioned holdup, with the memory of the two coworkers and civilian killed in the incident still fresh in everyone's minds. So, when gunmen interrupt his first post-training run with Bullet and Boy Sweat Dave (Josh Hartnett, Penny Dreadful), they're unsurprisingly jumpy; however, H deals with the situation with lethal efficiency. Cue glowing praise from Fortico's owner (Rob Delaney, Tom & Jerry), concern from his by-the-book manager (Eddie Marsan, Vice) and intrigue about his past from the rest of the team (such as Angel Has Fallen's Rocci Williams and Calm with Horses' Niamh Algar). Ritchie leaps both forwards and backwards from there, teasing out H's backstory and also exploring exactly what's brought him to his current gig. But this isn't just his tale, as seen via the time spent with Jackson (Jeffrey Donovan, Let Him Go), Jan (Scott Eastwood, The Outpost) and their fellow military veterans — plus glimpses of Agent King (Andy Garcia, Words on Bathroom Walls). The ominous mood remains steadfastly intact as Wrath of Man fleshes out the details, and composer Christopher Benstead (The Gentlemen) keeps working overtime with the nerve-rattling thrumming. Both could be accused of overplaying their hands, but they're effective. The same applies to Statham's no-nonsense tough guy routine, which never wavers, yet never becomes monotonous either. He exudes menace from the outset, as he typically does on-screen, but here it's of the baked-in variety. Wrath of Man isn't short on narrative twists, moving parts on justifications for H's behaviour, but there's an internalised sense of pain and anger in Statham's performance that never feels as if it's just going through the plot-dictated motions. Statham still glowers, throws around fists and shoots bullets like a man on a mission — and growls his lines like each word is a weapon, too — all of which happens often. But Wrath of Man is a streamlined rather than an indulgent action film. While it runs mere minutes shy of two hours, it doesn't pad out its frames with overblown and overly chaotic filler. As Godzilla vs Kong and Nobody also demonstrated recently, the power of cleanly shot and coherently staged action scenes really can't be underestimated. Viewers should be swept up in the action, rather than lost in it, which Ritchie, cinematographer Alan Stewart (Tom and Jerry) and editor James Hebert (Edge of Tomorrow) understand. Ritchie and co-screenwriters Marn Davies and Ivan Atkinson (The Gentlemen) also know the difference between a complicated storyline and a convoluted one. They wade into murky thematic territory, including exactly why folks might be driven to wage violent campaigns of vengeance or carry out intricate robberies, but don't ever expect to deliver easy answers. Wrath of Man doesn't come close to reaching the heights of fellow LA-set heist films Point Break and Heat, and it's also well aware of the crime and revenge genres' many conventions; however, it finds its niche. It also leaves its audience looking forward to the next collaboration between Ritchie and Statham — an as-yet-untitled spy film that's already been shot — rather than dreading that they'll simply stick to their decades-old greatest hits. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcOP5kQrABk
As part of the City of Yarra’s annual Leaps and Bounds music festival, Ali Bird and Richard Stanley of Aarght Records are making Sundays a little more tune-filled for everyone. Kicking off at midday for three Sundays in July, a solid lineup of bands, top notch vinyl record market and smorgasbord of treats await to round off your weekend . Let’s be honest, cheap Bloody Marys, Uncle Dougie’s BBQ and vegan cupcakes from Sweetie Pie & Cuddle Cakes is just what the doctor ordered for a Sunday recovery session. We have to admit, Copacabana on Smith St is an unexpected venue choice, but the daggy and unpretentious 'so bad it’s good' vibe might just be the ticket. Musical goodness to look forward to includes Dick Diver, Scott and Charlene’s Wedding, The Galaxy Folk, Total Giovanni and Misty Nights DJs on July 13. Then it's Harmony, Bitch Prefect and Empat Lima on July 20. The Independent Record Fair, which will also be held on July 13, will see local labels such as Two Bright Lakes, Mistletone, It Records, Bedroom Suck and Chapter Music selling records from their own artist catalogues. Sounds like a pretty good way to spend a chilly winter Sunday to us.
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 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 through to old and recent favourites, here are our picks for your streaming queue from January's haul. Brand New Stuff You Can Watch From Start to Finish Now Boy Swallows Universe A magical-realist coming-of-age tale, a clear-eyed family drama, a twisty crime and detective thriller, a time capsule of Brisbane in the 80s: since first hitting the page in 2018, Trent Dalton's Boy Swallows Universe has worn its happy flitting between different genres and tones, and constant seesawing from hope to heartbreak and back again, as confidently as readers have long envisaged Eli Bell's wide grin. That hopping and jumping, that refusal to be just one type of story and stick to a single mood, has always made sense on the page — and in the excellent seven-part adaptation that now brings Australia's fastest-selling debut novel ever to the screen, it also couldn't feel more perfect. As played by the charmingly talented Felix Cameron (Penguin Bloom), Eli's smile is indeed big. As scripted by screenwriter John Collee (Hotel Mumbai), and with Dalton among the executive producers, the miniseries embraces its multitudes wholeheartedly. Like style, like substance: a semi-autobiographical novel penned by a writer and journalist who lived variations of plenty that he depicts, learned and accepted early that everyone has flaws, and patently has the imagination of someone who coped with life's hardships as a child by escaping into dreams of an existence more fanciful, Dalton's tome and every iteration that it inspires has to be many things in one bustling package. Its characters are, after all. Seeing people in general, parts of a city usually overlooked, and folks with complicated histories or who've made questionable choices — those forced in particular directions out of financial necessity, too — in more than just one fashion flutters at the centre of Boy Swallows Universe. In the Australian Book Industry Awards' 2019 Book of the Year, Literary Book of the Year and Audio Book of the Year, and now on streaming, Eli's nearest and dearest demand it. So does the enterprising Darra-dwelling 12-year-old boy who knows how to spy the best in those he loves, but remains well-aware of their struggles. His older brother Gus (Lee Tiger Halley, The Heights) hasn't spoken since they were younger, instead drawing messages in the sky with his finger, but is as fiercely protective as elder siblings get. Doting and dedicated mum Frankie (Phoebe Tonkin, Babylon) is a recovering heroin addict with a drug dealer for a partner. And Lyle Orlik (Travis Fimmel, Black Snow), that mullet-wearing stepfather, cares deeply about Eli and Gus — including when Eli convinces him to let him join his deliveries. Boy Swallows Universe streams via Netflix. Read our full review, and our interview with Bryan Brown. Society of the Snow It was meant to be a fun trip to Chile with friends and family for a game. When the Old Christians Club rugby union team boarded Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 in Montevideo on October 13, 1972, destination Santiago, no one among them knew what would happen next. The plane didn't make it to its destination, as 1976 Mexican film Survive!, 1993 American movie Alive and now Spanish-US co-production Society of the Snow each cover. All three features boast apt titles, but only the latest sums up the grim reality and existential dilemma of crashing in the Andes, being stranded for 72 days in snowy climes with little resources against the weather — or for sustenance — and attempting to endure. Taken from the memoir by Pablo Vierci, aka La sociedad de la nieve in Spanish, only this phrase adorning JA Bayona's (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) picture encapsulates the tremendous effort that it took to find a way to persist, as well as the fact that trying to remain alive long enough to be rescued meant adapting everything about how the survivors approached each second, minute, hour, day, week and month — and also links in with how a catastrophe like this banded them together, doing whatever it took to find a way off the mountains, while reshaping how they contemplated what it meant to be human. Society of the Snow isn't just a disaster film detailing the specifics of the flight's failed trip, the immediate deaths and those that came afterwards, the lengthy wait to be found — including after authorities called the search off — and the crushing decisions made to get through. Bayona, who also helmed the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami-focused The Impossible, has made a weighty feature that reckons with the emotional, psychological and spiritual toll, and doesn't think of shying away from the most difficult aspects of this real-life situation (including cannibalism). This is both gruelling and meaningful viewing, as crafted with technical mastery (especially by Don't Breathe 2 cinematographer Pedro Luque, plus Cinco lobitos' Andrés Gil and Cites' Jaume Martí as editors), built upon brutal candour, and paying tribute to resilience and then some. Its feats extend to its hauntingly acted performances from a cast that includes Enzo Vogrincic (El Presidente), Agustín Pardella (Secrets of Summer) and Matías Recalt (Planners), all contributing to an account of camaraderie and sacrifice that deserves its Best International Feature Film Oscar nomination. Society of the Snow streams via Netflix. The Tourist Same cast, new location, similar-enough scenario: that's the approach in The Tourist's second season, which brings back what was meant to be a once-off series from 2022. In its debut run, Jamie Dornan's (A Haunting in Venice) Elliot Stanley awoke in the Aussie outback with zero memory and his life in danger. When the first six episodes ended, he'd uncovered who he was, complete with a distressing criminal past, but was en route to starting anew with Helen Chambers (Danielle Macdonald, French Exit), the constable who helped him get to the bottom of his mystery. After the show worked so swimmingly to begin with, swiftly earning its renewal, screenwriters Harry and Jack Williams (Baptiste, The Missing, Liar) switch part of their initial setup for its next spin. The story moves to Elliot's homeland, while Helen is the tourist (as is her grating ex Ethan, as played by Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe's Greg Larsen). Remaining in the compellingly entertaining thriller-meets-dramedy's return is the lack of recollection about Elliot's history, even as he actively goes looking for it. The Tourist first rejoins its main couple on a train in southeast Asia. While not married, they're firmly in the honeymoon phase of their relationship. But the now ex-cop has a revelation: Elliot has received a letter from one of his childhood pals who wants to meet. Quickly, off to the Emerald Isle they go. Trying to shave off his bushy holiday beard in a public toilet leads to Elliot being kidnapped, plus Helen playing investigator again. As he attempts to flee his captors (Outlander's Diarmaid Murtagh, Inspektor Jury: Der Tod des Harlekins' Nessa Matthews and The Miracle Club's Mark McKenn), she seeks help from local Detective Sergeant Ruairi Slater (Conor MacNeill, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre), but any dreams that The Tourist's globe-hopping couple had about happy reunions or relaxing Irish getaways are sent packing fast. Disturbing discoveries; feuding families led by the equally formidable Frank McDonnell (Francis Magee, Then You Run) and Niamh Cassidy (Olwen Fouéré, The Northman); again bringing Fargo and TV adaptation to mind: they're all influential factors in The Tourist's easy-to-binge (again) second season. The Tourist season streams via Stan. Read our full review. Echo With its ninth live-action streaming series on Disney+, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has broken out a new label:" Marvel Spotlight". It's now being applied to anything that's apparently less about ongoing MCU continuity and sports a greater emphasis on character. The idea is that watching shouldn't feel like homework, with no prior viewing required. Echo has also dropped its entire five-episode span at once, another MCU first. The focus on badging this Hawkeye spinoff about Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox, who made her acting debut in the earlier series) as something different because it isn't just connecting Marvel dots and setting up more to come is a curious choice, though. It's also the wrong point to stress. Echo isn't worth watching thanks to a lack of constant MCU winking, nudging and future nods. In fact, given that Avenger Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner, Mayor of Kingstown), Matt Murdoch/Daredevil (Charlie Cox, Kin) and Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio, Dumb Money) appear, that "no knowledge necessary" claim isn't accurate. What makes Echo a must-see, rather, is its protagonist, the authenticity with which it explores her story as an Indigenous woman who is deaf and has had a limb amputated, its cast and the potency that gathers across its run. By deviating from its standard release pattern — where it usually launches with a few episodes at once, then doles the rest out weekly — and unveiling the full series in one go, Disney isn't dumping Echo. If anything in the MCU's streaming catalogue demands a one-sitting binge, it's this. As created by Marion Dayre (Better Call Saul), and directed Sydney Freeland (Reservation Dogs) plus Catriona McKenzie (the Australian filmmaker behind 2012's Satellite Boy), Echo's power resounds with more strength the longer that it continues. The show takes time to step into Maya's backstory, explore her Choctaw community in Oklahoma, see how Kingpin's criminal enterprise reverberates through her family and thread its elements together. The three prologues that kick off the first three episodes, each telling of one of Maya's foremothers, start painting the full picture: this is an MCU TV entry made with careful attention to and affection for the cultural heritage that it depicts, and ensures that that's a genuine and crucial part of the narrative, even if Marvel also still being Marvel comes with the territory. Echo streams via Disney+. Read our full review. The Kitchen He has an Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe for Judas and the Black Messiah. He was nominated for all of the above accolades for Get Out, and should've won them all then, too. His resume spans Skins, one of Black Mirror's most-memorable episodes, plus Sicario, Widows, Black Panther, Queen & Slim and Nope as well. But The Kitchen marks a first for Daniel Kaluuya: his first movie as a director. Hopefully more will follow. Co-helming with Kibwe Tavares — who also notches up his feature debut behind the lens after shorts including Jonah and Robot & Scarecrow, which both starred Kaluuya — and co-penning the screenplay with Calm with Horses' Joe Murtagh, the actor makes a stunning arrival as a filmmaker. The Kitchen's setup: in the year 2044 in London, with class clashes so pronounced that not being rich is basically treated as a crime, a man (Top Boy's Kane Robinson, aka rapper Kano) living in the titular housing development crosses paths with a 12-year-old boy (newcomer Jedaiah Bannerman) who has just lost his mother, with the pair discovering that they have no one but each other as they endeavour to find a way to survive. Robinson's Izy has bought into the social-climbing dream when The Kitchen begins. He'll do so literally if he can come up with the cash for an apartment in a swankier tower away from everything he's ever known within 21 days, a dream that he's been working towards at his job selling funerals. It's at the latter that he meets Bannerman's Benji, who has nowhere to live after his mother's death and no one else to turn to for help. The film's scenario is pure dystopia, reflecting the inequities, oppressions and realities of today as all great sci-fi should. Its intimate emotional core hones in on people attempting to persist and connect, as the genre's best always does as well. Accordingly, this is an impassioned and infuriated portrait of society's gaps as everyone watching can recognise, a nightmarish vision of what might come and a thoughtful character study. As directors, Kaluuya and Tavares excel at world-building, at bringing such rich detail and texture to the screen that viewers feel like they could step straight into its social realist-leaning frames, and at guiding affecting performances out of both Robinson and Bannerman (who adds to the feature's impressive first efforts). The Kitchen streams via Netflix. Prosper Prosper is the Australian TV series that was always bound to happen. Now that it exists, it's also easy to predict remakes of this involving drama popping up elsewhere in the world. Hillsong very likely inspired the eight-part show, which turns the angling within a Sydney-based megachurch's hierarchy into a Succession riff within religious confines, but the underlying story of power, corruption, and the complicated bonds of family and faith is universal. Richard Roxburgh knows what it's like to lead an Aussie effort that gets a US spin, thanks to Rake — and here he turns in another mesmerising performance. This time, the star of Elvis, The Crown, Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe, Force of Nature: The Dry 2, Go!, Fires and Bali 2002 in just the past four years alone plays Cal Quinn, a charismatic pastor whose belief in himself is just as strong as his devotion to the almighty. The fact that scandals keep raining down upon U Star, the name for the mix of worship and song he's trying to spread around the world with his wife Abi (Rebecca Gibney, Back to the Rafters) and their offspring, doesn't dent his certainty. The Quinns have big dreams to conquer the US, and also just-as-hefty chaos at home to deal with. Eldest son Dion (Ewen Leslie, The Clearing) wants to be more than just his dad's right-hand man, but has a fraying relationship with his wife Taz (Ming-Zhu Hii, La Brea) that's troubling him. Daughter Issy (Hayley McCarthy, Sylvie's Love) and her husband Benji (Jordi Webber, In Limbo) have their eyes on the American expansion, too. Cal and Abi are desperate to do anything that's necessary to bring Jed (Jacob Collins-Levy, The Witcher: Blood Origin), who left the church to work with the unhoused in the community, back to the fold. Throw in youngest child Moses (Alexander D'souza, Angry Indian Goddesses), a high schooler eager to understand who he truly is — and also family lawyer Eli Slowik (Jacek Koman, Faraway Downs), who knows everyone's secrets — and there's ample fuel for a rollercoaster-ride of a thriller. But as Prosper unpacks the Quinns' lives and lies, it also works in eager parishioner Rosa (Brigid Zengeni, The Artful Dodger) and her skeptical daughter Juno (Andrea Solonge, Class of 07), plus star US singer Maddox (Alex Fitzalan, Chevalier), who claims that he wants to be saved. Prosper strams via Stan. Good Grief Grief is a frequent filmic theme, but also a difficult one. Movie-of-the-week weepies have built their own set of cliches. The worst of the worst use someone's illness to try to claim that dying isn't worse than being by a person's ailing side. Dramedy Good Grief knows that the subject that's right there in its name is tricky, however — and that there's no one-size-fits-all experience of mourning. It also manages a complex task, focusing on a man who becomes a widower when his husband is killed suddenly, following his plight as he realises that not everything about their relationship was as idyllic as he thought, but never using someone losing their life solely as fodder to make its protagonist more interesting or tragic (or both). The directorial debut of Schitt's Creek's Dan Levy, who also pens his first feature screenplay, this sincere grappling with mortality and love cares about its characters deeply. It sees their intricacies and their flaws. This is also a film about the messy space that awaits when everything you thought your future holds crumbles, and then all that you're holding onto feels like it's floating away. Levy also stars as Marc, adding to a busy past year that's also seen him in The Idol, Haunted Mansion and Sex Education. When his character throws a Christmas party with his husband Oliver (Luke Evans, Nine Perfect Strangers), the only thing that doesn't seem rosy is the fact that the latter has a business trip to Paris that's taking him away mid-shindig. But the evening turns heartbreaking, leaving Marc lamenting the perfection he's lost — until he learns that there's more to Oliver's jaunts to France. Accompanied by his best friends Sophie (With Negga, Passing) and Thomas (Himesh Patel, Black Mirror), a visit to the City of Love himself awaits, where the stark discoveries keep coming in tandem with earnest soul-searching. Levy helms and pens this like he's lived it, especially in the honest dialogue. He unfurls the story with humour, too, and soulfulness. And he also never lets the inescapable truth that grief never disappears — and that its evolution never ends, either — fade from view. Good Grief streams via Netflix. New and Returning Shows to Check Out Week by Week True Detective Even when True Detective had only reached its second season, the HBO series had chiselled its template into stone: obsessive chalk-and-cheese cops with messy personal lives investigating horrifying killings, on cases with ties to power's corruption, in places where location mattered and with the otherworldly drifting in. A decade after the anthology mystery show's debut in 2014, True Detective returns as Night Country, a six-part miniseries that builds its own snowman out of all of the franchise's familiar parts. The main similarity from there: like the Matthew McConaughey (The Gentlemen)- and Woody Harrelson (White House Plumbers)-led initial season, True Detective: Night Country is phenomenal. This is a return to form and a revitalisation. Making it happen after two passable intervening cases is a new guiding hand off-screen. Tigers Are Not Afraid filmmaker Issa López directs and writes or co-writes every episode, boasting Moonlight's Barry Jenkins as an executive producer. True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto remains in the latter role, too, as do McConaughey, Harrelson and season-one director Cary Joji Fukunaga (No Time to Die); however, from its female focus and weighty tussling with the dead to its switch to a cool, blue colour scheme befitting its Alaskan setting, there's no doubting that López is reinventing her season rather than ticking boxes. In handing over the reins, Pizzolatto's police procedural never-standard police procedural is a powerhouse again, and lives up to the potential of its concept. The commitment and cost of delving into humanity's depths and advocating for those lost in its abyss has swapped key cops, victims and locations with each spin, including enlisting the masterful double act of Jodie Foster (Nyad) and boxer-turned-actor Kali Reis (Catch the Fair One) to do the sleuthing, but seeing each go-around with fresh eyes feels like the missing puzzle piece. López spies the toll on the show's first women duo, as well as the splinters in a remote community when its fragile sense of certainty is forever shattered. She spots the fractures that pre-date the investigation in the new season, a cold case tied to it, plus the gashes that've carved hurt and pain into the earth ever since people stepped foot on it. She observes the pursuit of profit above all else, and the lack of concern for whatever — whoever, the region's Indigenous inhabitants included — get in the way. She sees that the eternal winter night of 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle come mid-December isn't the only thing impairing everyone's sight. And, she knows that not everything has answers, with life sometimes plunging into heartbreak, or inhospitable climes, or one's own private hell, without rhyme or reason. True Detective streams via Binge. Read our full review. Criminal Record It was accurate with side-splitting hilarity in The Thick of It, as dripping with heartbreak in Benediction and in the world of Doctor Who in-between: Peter Capaldi is one of Scotland's most fascinating actors today. Criminal Record uses his can't-look-away presence to excellent effect, casting him as DCI Daniel Hegarty, one of the eight-part series' two key detectives. By day, the no-nonsense Hegarty is a force to be reckoned with on the force. By night, he moonlights as a driver, seeing much that lingers in London as he's behind the wheel. In his not-so-distant past is a case that brings DS June Lenker (Cush Jumbo, The Good Fight) into his orbit — a case that she's certain is linked to a distressed emergency call by a woman trying to flee domestic abuse, and who says that her partner has already committed murder, gotten away with it and sent another man to prison for the crime in the process. Hegarty contends otherwise, and gruffly, but Lenker is determined to discover the truth, find her potential victim, ascertain whether someone innocent is in jail and learn why every move she makes to dig deeper comes with professional retaliation. This is no odd-couple cop show. It's largely a two-hander, however — and saying that it couldn't be better cast is an understatement. Capaldi is already someone who makes every moment that he's on-screen better. So is Jumbo, which makes watching them face off as riveting as television gets. Passive aggression oozes from the frame when Hegarty and Lenker first confront each other. Tension drips throughout the series relentlessly, but do so with particular vigour whenever its key cops are in close proximity. Criminal Record doesn't waste time keeping audiences guessing about who's dutifully taking their role as part of the thin blue line and who's part of policing at its most corrupt; instead, it lets those two sides that are both meant to be on the upstanding end of the law-and-order divide clash, surveying the damage that ripples not just through the fuzz but also the community. While twists and mysteries are also layered in, they regularly come second to Criminal Record's extraordinary performances, plus its thematic willingness to tear into what policing should be, can be and often is. Criminal Record streams via Apple TV+. Expats Adapting Janice YK Lee's 2016 novel The Expatriates, Lulu Wang's first major stint behind the lens since The Farewell has been dubbed Expats as a miniseries. The six-parter marks a shift in location to Hong Kong and a splinter in focus to three protagonists for its guiding force — with Wang creating the show, executive producing, helming all six episodes and writing two — but she's still plunging deep into bonds of blood, deceptions amid close relationships, grappling with grief and tragedy, and being caught between how one is meant to carry on and inescapable inner emotions. It too sees not only people but also its chosen place. It's a haunting series and, albeit not literally in the horror sense, a series about women haunted. And it's spectacularly cast, with Nicole Kidman (Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom), Sarayu Blue (A Million Miles Away) and Ji-young Yoo (The Sky Is Everywhere) each stellar as its three main characters, all who've relocated for love, work or new beginnings, then make each other's acquaintance. The year is 2014, and Margaret Woo, her husband Clarke (Brian Tee, Chicago Med) and their family aren't new Hong Kong arrivals — but their past 12 months have been under a shadow ever since their youngest son Gus (debutant Connor James) went missing. No one is coping, including elder children Daisy (Tiana Gowen, True Love Blooms) and Philip (Bodhi del Rosario, 9-1-1). But while Margaret refuses to give up hope of finding her three-year-old boy, there are still lives to lead and, to help start Expats, a 50th birthday party for Clarke to host. In the lift at The Peak, the towering symbol of wealth inhabited by plenty who give the show its title, she's also insistent that her friend, downstairs neighbour and fellow American Hilary Starr (Blue) attend the shindig. The frostiness that fills the elevator also stems from Gus' disappearance, and accusations made against Hilary's recovering-alcoholic husband David (Jack Huston, Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches). When the soiree takes place, Mercy (Yoo) is there working one of her gig-economy jobs. Indeed, the lives of the privileged aren't solely this show's domain — because while this is a tale of three Americans adrift with their sorrows, where and the reality that surrounds them is equally as important as how and why. Expats streams via Prime Video. Read our full review. Death and Other Details There's no doubting that Death and Other Details loves whodunnits, or that it's made with a murderers' row of them in mind. Playing "spot the nod" is one of this ten-part series' games. Sleuthing along with its plot is the other, obviously. So, as an odd couple with an age discrepancy team up to attempt to solve "a classic locked-room mystery" — the show even calls it such — among the preposterously wealthy on holiday, and on a boat at that, where everyone has a motive and a battle over who'll seize control of a family business is also taking place, gleaning what creators and writers Heidi Cole McAdams and Mike Weiss (who also worked together on Stumptown) have been reading and watching isn't a puzzle. Nudges and references are regularly part of the murder-mystery genre anyway; here, recalling Agatha Christie's oeuvre and especially Death on the Nile, as well as Only Murders in the Building, Knives Out, Poker Face, The White Lotus and Succession, is part of sailing into a tale that's also about what we remember and why. Indeed, when other films and shows earn a wink here, Death and Other Details also digs into the purpose behind the minutiae that sticks in our memories. It's a savvy yet risky gambit, getting viewers ruminating on how they spy patterns and filter their perspectives, too, while chancing coming off as derivative. Mostly the series bobs in the first direction; however, even when it sways in the second, it still intrigues its audience to keep watching. Its seemingly mismatched pair: Imogene Scott (Violett Beane, God Friended Me) and the Hercule Poirot-esque Rufus Cotesworth (Mandy Patinkin, Homeland), with the second regularly dubbed "the world's greatest detective". Most folks might believe that label, but Imogene does not. The duo shares a history spanning two decades, from when she was a child (Sophia Reid-Gantzert, Popular Theory) mourning the shock killing of her mother that he couldn't solve. Back then, Rufus was on the case at the behest of the wealthy Colliers, who work in textiles, employed Imogene's mum as a personal assistant to patriarch Lawrence (David Marshall Grant, Spoiler Alert) and took the girl in when she had no one else. Now, both Rufus and Imogene are guests on a cruise chartered by them — she's there as basically a member of the family; he's accompanying the Chuns, with whom the Colliers are in the middle of a billion-dollar business deal — when bodies start piling up. Death and Other Details streams via Disney+. Read our full review. One of the Best Films of 2023 That You Absolutely Need to Watch — or Rewatch Killers of the Flower Moon Death comes to Killers of the Flower Moon quickly. Death comes to Killers of the Flower Moon often. While Martin Scorsese will later briefly fill the film's frames with a fiery orange vision — with what almost appears to be a lake of flames deep in oil country, as dotted with silhouettes of men — death blazes through his 26th feature from the moment that the picture starts rolling. Adapted from journalist David Grann's 2017 non-fiction novel Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, with the filmmaker himself and Dune's Eric Roth penning the screenplay, this is a masterpiece of a movie about a heartbreakingly horrible spate of deaths sparked by pure and unapologetic greed and persecution a century back. Scorsese's two favourite actors in Leonardo DiCaprio (Don't Look Up) and Robert De Niro (Amsterdam) are its stars, alongside hopefully his next go-to in Lily Gladstone (Reservation Dogs), but murder and genocide are as much at this bold and brilliant, epic yet intimate, ambitious and absorbing film's centre — all in a tale that's devastatingly true. As Mollie Kyle, a member of the Osage Nation in Grey Horse, Oklahoma, incomparable Certain Women standout Gladstone talks through some of the movie's homicides early. Before her character meets DiCaprio's World War I veteran Ernest Burkhart — nephew to De Niro's cattle rancher and self-proclaimed 'king of the Osage' William King Hale — she notes that several Indigenous Americans that have been killed, with Mollie mentioning a mere few to meet untimely ends. There's nothing easy about this list, nor is there meant to be. Some are found dead, others seen laid out for their eternal rest, and each one delivers a difficult image. But a gun fired at a young mother pushing a pram inspires a shock befitting a horror film. The genre fits here, in its way, as do many others as Killers of the Flower Moon follows Burkhart's arrival in town, his deeds under his uncle's guidance, his romance with Mollie and the tragedies that keep springing: American crime saga, aka the realm that Scorsese has virtually made his own, as well as romance, relationship drama, western, true crime and crime procedural. Killers of the Flower Moon streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review, and our interview with Martin Scorsese. Need a few more streaming recommendations? Check out our picks from January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December 2023. You can also check out our running list of standout must-stream shows from last year as well — and our best 15 new shows of 2023, 15 newcomers you might've missed, top 15 returning shows of the year, 15 best films, 15 top movies you likely didn't see, 15 best straight-to-streaming flicks and 30 movies worth catching up on over the summer.
In a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19, Melbourne's major art and cultural institutions have temporarily closed their doors. In a statement made on Sunday, March 15, Museums Victoria said Melbourne Museum, Scienceworks, Immigration Museum, Royal Exhibition Building and IMAX would all be closed to the public as of Monday, March 16. "We are taking these steps as a public health precaution in support of measures to contain COVID-19, especially for those in our community who are most vulnerable," Museums Victoria Director & CEO Lynley Crosswell said in the statement. "We are committed to providing support for all of our employees and volunteers and to protecting our community during these unprecedented and challenging times." While a reopening date for these institutions has not been announced, Museums Victoria said it will continue to update the public on its website and social media channels. Yesterday, Arts Centre Melbourne, the NGV, State Library of Victoria, Geelong Arts Centre and Melbourne Recital Centre also announced they would be temporarily closing. The NGV and Arts Centre both intend to reopen on Monday, April 13, and are offering refunds for those who have pre-purchased tickets to shows and performances. Reopening dates for the Library and Recital Centre have not yet been announced. https://www.facebook.com/artscentremelbourne/photos/a.552397028158401/3026228627441883/?type=3&theater The COVID-19 situation in Australia is changing every day, with the federal government first implementing a ban on non-essential events with more than 500 people and then mandating that everyone arriving from overseas self-isolate for 14 days. The State Library of Victoria, Melbourne Recital Centre, Geelong Arts Centre, Melbourne Museum, Scienceworks, Immigration Museum, Royal Exhibition Building and IMAX are all now closed until further notice. The NGV and Arts Centre Melbourne intend to reopen on April 13. 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.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. LIGHTYEAR In the realm of franchise filmmaking, "to infinity and beyond" isn't just a catchphrase exclaimed by an animated plaything — it's how far and long Hollywood hopes every hit big-screen saga will extend. With that in mind, has a Pixar movie ever felt as inevitable as Lightyear? Given the main Toy Story plot wrapped up in 2019's Toy Story 4, and did so charmingly, keeping this series going by jumping backwards was always bound to happen. So it is that space ranger figurine Buzz Lightyear gets an origin story. That said, the trinket's history is covered immediately and quickly in this film's opening splash of text on-screen. Back in the OG Toy Story, Andy was excited to receive a new Buzz Lightyear action figure because — as this feature tells us — he'd just seen and loved a sci-fi movie featuring fictional character Buzz Lightyear. In this franchise's world, Lightyear is that picture. It's hard not to see Lightyear as a new cash cow — the Toy Story series' cash calf, perhaps. It's also difficult not to notice that the Disney-owned Pixar has made a movie that renders a famed character a piece of film-promoting merchandise, all while also releasing a new range of Lightyear-promoting merch so that IRL kids can have their own Buzz Lightyear toy again, too. In 2049, will audiences be watching a flick about someone who saw this as a child, nagged their parents for a Buzz and developed their own love of animation, space, franchises or all of the above? It wouldn't be surprising. Of course, there's form for making Buzz a movie tie-in toy; the overarching series' other main figure, pull-string cowboy Woody, stemmed from a fictional western TV show called Woody's Roundup. Maybe that's what Pixar will now make next. Or, perhaps it'll release a film or show based on one of Lightyear's new characters, feline robot companion SOX. Yes, you can now buy toy versions of it in reality as well, because of course you can. Buzz Lightyear and a cute cat that talks? The head of Disney merchandising must've seen potential piles of cash stacked to infinity and beyond purely at the thought of it, and director Angus MacLane (Finding Dory) along with him. Thankfully, as calculated as Lightyear's existence clearly is — and it's as blatantly engineered by bean counters as any movie can be — it's still likeable enough. It only slightly feels like a flick that might've actually come out around 1995, though, even if Apollo 13 sat second at the global box office that year (behind Toy Story, fittingly). And, after sending the wonderful Soul and Turning Red straight to streaming during the pandemic, plus Luca, it's also a standard pick for Pixar's return to the big screen. Buzz the live-action film hero — flesh and blood to in-franchise viewers like Andy, that is, but animated to us — also goes on an all-too-familiar journey in Lightyear. Voiced by Chris Evans (Knives Out) to distinguish the movie Buzz from toy Buzz (where he's voiced by Last Man Standing's Tim Allen), the Star Command space ranger is so convinced that he's the biggest hero there is, and him alone, that teamwork isn't anywhere near his strength. Then, as happens to the figurine version in Toy Story, that illusion gets a reality check. To survive being marooned on T'Kani Prime, a planet 4.2 million light-years from earth filled with attacking vines and giant flying insects, the egotistical and stubborn Buzz needs to learn to play nice with others. For someone who hates rookies, as well as using autopilot, realising he can only succeed with help takes time. Read our full review. MEN Since popping up over the last decade, the term 'elevated horror' has always been unnecessary. Used to describe The Babadook, It Follows, The Witch, Get Out, Hereditary, Us, Midsommar and more, it pointlessly claims that such unsettling flicks have risen above their genre. Each of these movies is excellent. They all boast weight and depth, trade in metaphors with smarts and savvy, and have style to go with their creeps and thrills. But thinking that's new in horror — that pairing unease with topical woes or societal fears is as well — is as misguided as dubbing Michael Myers a hero. With a name that makes its #MeToo-era point plain, Men has been badged 'elevated', too, yet it also does what horror has at its best and worst cases for decades. That the world can be a nightmare for women at the hands of men isn't a fresh observation, and it's long been a scary movie go-to. Still, Men stresses that fact in an inescapably blunt but also unforgettable manner. The film's setting is an English manor, where Harper Marlowe (Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter) hopes for a solo stint of rest, relaxation and recuperation. Processing a tragedy, shattering memories of which haunt the movie as much as its protagonist, she's seeking an escape and a way to start anew. The initial hint that she won't find bliss comes swiftly and obviously, and with a sledgehammer's subtlety. Arriving at an idyllic-looking British countryside estate, Harper is greeted by an apple tree. She plucks one from the abundant branches, then takes a bite. Soon, she's told by her host Geoffrey (Rory Kinnear, Our Flag Means Death) that it's forbidden fruit. He also says he's joking — but in this garden, a woman will again shoulder a society's blame and burdens. As overt and blatant as this early exchange is, there's an intensely unnerving look and feel to Men from the outset. Returning to the big screen after excellent sci-fi TV series Devs, writer/director Alex Garland isn't a stranger to visually stunning, deeply disquieting films that ponder big ideas; see: the complex, eerie and sublime Ex Machina, plus the similarly intricate and intriguing Annihilation. Oscar Isaac doesn't turn up this time, let alone dance. Buckley and Kinnear do turn in mesmerising and magnificent powerhouse performances amid the perturbing mood and spectacular imagery. Gender expectations also get probed and challenged, as do genres. And, things get strange and insidious after Harper tries to lap up her bucolic surroundings. Those blood-red walls sported by Harper's atmospheric centuries-old home-away-from-home? That's another glaring warning. Also discomforting: the jump-scare glitch when she video chats with her best friend Riley (Gayle Rankin, GLOW), after being told by Geoffrey — who is polite but never direct, perfectly satirising both stiff-upper-lip Britishness and the fine line between being courteous and patronising — that reception isn't the best. And, when Harper ventures out of the house, she discovers scenic treasures alongside hardly hospitable locals. She's a woman plagued by troubles that don't begin as her own, and she's forced to devote everything she has to moving past them and surviving. That Harper is played with such instinctive and physical feeling with Buckley, who just keeps going from strength to strength thanks to Beast, Wild Rose, Chernobyl, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Fargo and her Oscar-nominated efforts in The Lost Daughter, is one of Men's biggest assets. Read our full review. THE KITCHEN BRIGADE When a chef sticks to a tried-and-tested recipe, it can be for two reasons: ease and excellence. Whipping up an already-proven dish means cooking up something that you already know works — something sublime, perhaps — and giving yourself the opportunity to better it. That process isn't solely the domain of culinary maestros, though, as French filmmaker Louis-Julien Petit makes plain in his latest feature The Kitchen Brigade. The writer/director behind 2018's Invisibles returns to what he knows and does well, and to a formula that keeps enticing audiences on the big screen, too. With the former, he whisks together another socially conscious mix of drama and comedy centring on faces and folks that are often overlooked. With the latter, he bakes a feel-good affair about finding yourself, seizing opportunities and making a difference through food. Returning from Invisibles as well, Audrey Lamy (Little Nicholas' Treasure) plays Cathy, a 40-year-old sous chef with big dreams and just as sizeable struggles. Instead of running her own restaurant, she's stuck in the shadow of TV-famous culinary celebrity Lyna Deletto (Chloé Astor, Delicious) — a boss hungry for not just fame but glory, including by dismissing Cathy's kitchen instincts or claiming her dishes as her own. Reaching boiling point early in the film, Cathy decides to finally go it alone, but cash makes that a problem. So, to make ends meet, she takes the only job she can find: overseeing the food in a shelter for migrants, where manager Lorenzo (François Cluzet, We'll End Up Together) and his assistant Sabine (Chantal Neuwirth, Patrick Melrose) have been understandably too busy with the day-to-day business of helping their residents to worry about putting on a fancy spread. From the moment that Cathy arrives at the hostel, thinking she's interviewing for a restaurant gig rather than auditioning to cook for young men happy with ravioli, The Kitchen Brigade sets up a simple culture-clash scenario — in the realm of cuisine, contrasting its protagonist's gourmet expectations with the shelter's reality. When she cottons on to what's in store, she's gruff, wary and unimpressed, and learning to open up while making bonds with the hostel's inhabitants, all of whom yearn for new lives as well, comes as expectedly as pairing a baguette with cheese. Following familiar steps and still hitting the spot is a cooking staple, however, and it works with Petit's feature. He doesn't reach the pinnacle of charming culinary movies, or of underdog stories, but the end result goes down smoothly and is never less than palatable. Unsurprisingly, The Kitchen Brigade is at its best when it's fleshing out its characters amid the recognisable narrative beats, with Petit scripting with producer Liza Benguigui-Duquesne and screenwriter Sophie Bensadoun based on Bensadoun's idea — and, when it's doing what the floral industry-set The Rose Maker did, which used a comparable setup to dive into the layers and prejudices engrained in French society. Like that thematically similar, also-sincere and perceptive movie, The Kitchen Brigade benefits from fine central performances, adding depth and texture that mightn't have bubbled to the fore otherwise. Lamy, the ever-reliable Cluzet, Fatoumata Kaba (Validé) as Cathy's self-starter best friend, first-timer Yannick Kalombo as aspiring chef GusGus and Mamadou Koita (Dernier maquis) as soccer hopeful Djibril: they all leave an imprint, seasoning the cinematic meal. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on March 3, March 10, March 17, March 24 and March 31; April 7, April 14, April 21 and April 28; and May 5, May 12, May 19 and May 26; and June 2 and June 9. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Batman, Blind Ambition, Bergman Island, Wash My Soul in the River's Flow, The Souvenir: Part II, Dog, Anonymous Club, X, River, Nowhere Special, RRR, Morbius, The Duke, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Fantastic Beasts and the Secrets of Dumbledore, Ambulance, Memoria, The Lost City, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Happening, The Good Boss, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The Northman, Ithaka, After Yang, Downton Abbey: A New Era, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Petite Maman, The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Firestarter, Operation Mincemeat, To Chiara, This Much I Know to Be True, The Innocents, Top Gun: Maverick, The Bob's Burgers Movie, Ablaze, Hatching, Mothering Sunday, Jurassic World Dominion, A Hero and Benediction.
Some days you feel like putting together a vaguely cohesive outfit and getting dressed to leave the house; others, not so much. If you're more familiar with the latter, let us introduce you to Willa & Mae, the New Zealand label that's attempting to make it acceptable to wear your pyjamas in public. Well, your designer pyjamas, anyway. This winter, the sleepwear-turned-lifestyle label makes its foray into Australia with ultra comfortable, effortlessly elegant pieces that are designed to be worn out of the house. Having landed in Australia in February, Willa & Mae's winter 2017 collection is available to purchase from March 31, and fundamentally functions as your new excuse to wear PJs in public and not look like a grub. Creative director Jane Mow brings her background in menswear tailoring and styling to the brand, creating an androgynous line of highly elegant jammies. Navy, cherry and suiting stripes take shape in the old-world style of men's silk pyjamas, while long slip dresses, buttery camisoles and billowing robes recall the halcyon days of elegant women's loungewear. As piping, notched collars and cuffs evoke a certain masculinity, the luxurious silk satins maintain sensual femininity. The foundation of Willa & Mae lies within "taking opposing ideas and asking them to play together" – like wearing your sleepwear out of the house, and still looking great. The label is guided by the unexpected through materials and patterns used, and the way its styles not only suit the bedroom, but also a night out. There's a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde relationship happening; on the one hand you have the sharp, feisty trendsetter Willa, and, on the other, there's Mae, keeping things grounded as the elegant, subdued yin to Willa's yang. Willa & Mae's price point may sit a bit high for your pyjama budget — between $300 and $700 — but the dawn-to-dusk-to-dawn versatility, quality silks and promised longevity means that, arguably, you don't ever need to wear anything else. And if you need one last nudge to jump on this pyjamas-in-public bandwagon, everything is made locally and ethically. Tick, tick and tick. Willa & Mae's winter 2017 collection is available online from March 31. Shop the collection here.
Something delightful is happening at Melbourne's cinemas. After months spent empty, with projectors silent and the smell of popcorn fading, indoor picture palaces have been given the green light to reopen. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made this year, including new releases, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit under the stars and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've picked the 12 best flicks that you can head to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-fxRXzfi0U KAJILLIONAIRE When Evan Rachel Wood played a troubled teen in 2003's Thirteen, the then 16-year-old received a Golden Globe nomination. For her work in Westworld since 2016, she has nabbed multiple Emmy nods. So when we say that the actor puts in her best performance yet in Kajillionaire — the type of portrayal that deserves several shiny trophies — that observation isn't made lightly. Playing a 26-year-old con artist called Old Dolio Dyne, Wood is anxious but yearning, closed-off yet vulnerable, and forceful as well as unsure all at once. Her character has spent her entire life being schooled in pulling off quick scams by her eccentric parents Robert (Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water) and Theresa (Debra Winger, The Lovers), who she still lives with, and she's stuck navigating her own street-wise brand of arrested development. Old Dolio knows how to blend in, with her baggy clothes, curtain of long hair and low-toned voice. She also knows how to avoid security cameras in physical feats that wouldn't look out of place in a slapstick comedy, and how to charm kindly folks out of reward money. But she has never been allowed to truly be her own person — and, from the moment that Wood is seen on-screen, that mournful truth is immediately evident. Kajillionaire introduces Old Dolio, Robert and Theresa as they're falling back on one of their most reliable swindles: stealing packages from post office boxes. But two developments drive its narrative, and make Old Dolio realise that she's far more than just the third part of a trio. Firstly, to make a quick $20 to help cover overdue rent, she agrees to attend a parenting class for someone she meets on the street, and is struck by how far removed its teachings are from her own experiences. Secondly, on a return flight back to Los Angeles from New York as part of a travel insurance grift, her parents meet and befriend outgoing optometrist's assistant Melanie (Gina Rodriguez, Annihilation). So accustomed to playing the role dictated to her by Robert and Theresa, and never deviating from it, Old Dolio isn't prepared for the emotions stirred up by both changes to her status quo. But July's poignant and perceptive movie — a film that's a quirky heist flick, a playful but shrewd exploration of family bonds, and a sweet love story — is perfectly, mesmerisingly equipped to navigate her protagonist's efforts to reach beyond the only loved ones and the only type of life she has ever known. In fact, the result is one of the most distinctive, empathetic and engaging movies of the year. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLNXHJB5Mto BABYTEETH Usually, cancer movies aren't just terrible and generic — they're insulting. Too often focusing on pretty young things succumbing slowly to the insidious disease, they generally tug at the heartstrings with shameless abandon, treating their protagonists and their plights as a mechanism to wring weepy tears out of the audience. The Fault in Our Stars did it. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl did too, and even won awards at Sundance for its efforts. So when a film also hones in on a cancer-afflicted teenager yet refuses to trot out the same old tropes and cliches, it firmly stands out. Based on the play of the same name, Babyteeth is that movie, and it could never be mistaken for the usual illness drama. As directed by feature first-timer Shannon Murphy, this lively, vibrant, insightful and genuinely moving Australian film truly sees its main character, Milla (Little Women's Eliza Scanlen), as a person first and foremost. She's not a mere tool used to evoke easy emotion. She isn't a secondary figure primarily deployed to explain someone else's troubles, either. Rather, she's a passionate Sydney high schooler who unexpectedly falls for drug dealer Moses (Acute Misfortune's Toby Wallace) as her already-struggling parents watch on. Also starring Essie Davis and Ben Mendelsohn as Milla's mother and father, this is a raw, sensitive, astute and arresting addition to a genre that rarely (if ever) earns any of those terms. It's also visually striking and, unsurprisingly given the cast, boasts fantastic performances — and it's one of the best Aussie movies that'll hit cinemas in 2020. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRvHl1dThlg PENINSULA If, prior to 2016, you'd ever wondered what might happen should zombies overtake South Korea, Train to Busan and Seoul Station arrived to answer that question. The first was a live-action thriller that tasked a locomotive full of living, breathing humans with battling the shuffling undead in one of the genre's best and most action-packed outings, while the second served up an animated prequel that detailed the start of the epidemic in another city. Now lands Peninsula, in case if you've since spent the past four years pondering what could occur next. Once again directed by Yeon Sang-ho, as all films in the franchise have been, it leaps forward to the present day to explore the plight of the apocalypse's survivors — including those initially lucky enough to flee via boat to Hong Kong, such as army Captain Jung-seok (Gang Dong-won) and his brother-in-law Chul-min (Kim Do-yoon); and folks like mother Min-jung (Lee Jung-hyun) and her daughters Joon (Lee Re) and Yu-jin (Lee Ye-won), who weren't as fortunate. All of the aforementioned characters cross paths when Jung-seok and Chul-min are recruited by Hong Kong heavies to head back to the abandoned and quarantined Incheon, where a truck filled with cash awaits. Zombies don't care about money, of course, so the city's valuables are there for he taking. But Incheon isn't completely empty, with Min-jung and her children spending years evading flesh-munchers and escaping a brutal rogue militia group that call themselves Unit 631. If Train to Busan took a Snakes on a Plane-esque idea, changed it to zombies on a train and made a top-notch movie in the process, Peninsula opts for decidedly dystopian Mad Max-meets-Fast and Furious-meets-World War Z heist flick setup — and, while it doesn't quiet reach its predecessor's heights or add anything new to the heaving undead genre, it is thoroughly entertaining. Cuts to an English-language talk show that explains what's going on are both needlessly exposition-heavy and cringe-inducing, but the film's grounded performances, ample array of fantastic setpieces and swift editing by Parasite Oscar-nominee Yang Jin-mo are always riveting. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsWV2qTX21k NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS In the scene that gives Never Rarely Sometimes Always its name, 17-year-old Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) sits with a counsellor at Planned Parenthood in Brooklyn. The teen hails from Pennsylvania, but has taken the bus east with her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) upon discovering that she's pregnant and realising she only really has one option — knowing that her family is unlikely to help, and after her local women's clinic has advised that she should just have the baby. Before she can obtain the New York facility's assistance, however, she is asked questions about her history. The queries broach tough and intimate subjects, but Autumn only needs to answer with one of the words from the movie's moniker. While they're simple and common, those four terms explain much about why a small-town high-schooler is engaging in a practice that's been dubbed 'abortion tourism'. So too does the silence that punctuates her responses and the heartbreaking expression on her face that goes with them. From its opening frames, which sketch out Autumn's everyday life — the taunting peers, the awkward dynamic at home, the attentions of her boss at her after-school supermarket job, and the efforts to be seen by performing at her class concert — Never Rarely Sometimes Always is an intricately observed and stunningly detailed film. Accordingly, when the aforementioned scene arrives, it's the latest potent, compassionate and revealing moment in a movie filled with them. But filmmaker Eliza Hittman (It Felt Like Love, Beach Rats) refuses to give viewers even the tiniest reprieve here. Autumn can't escape these difficult questions or the entire experience she's dealing with, and the audience is forced into the same situation. Maintaining the feature's unobtrusive, naturalistic, almost documentary-esque style, cinematographer Hélène Louvart (Happy as Lazzaro) doesn't look away, while first-time actor Flanigan pours out an entire lifetime's worth of feeling under the film's unrelenting gaze. As intimated by its protagonist's name, as taken from the season when the leaves fall, warmth fades and the weather's frostiest period approaches, this is a film about decay, loss and change in multiple ways — and it's as grim and gripping as it is outraged, empathetic and affecting. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIzchAe5H5A WAVES Waves begins with streaming sunlight, the scenic sights of South Florida, and a blissful young couple singing, smiling and driving. Their happiness is captured by fluid, enticing camerawork that circles around and around, and their exuberant attitude — the carefree feeling that comes with youthful first love — is mirrored by the use of Animal Collective's upbeat, energetic 'FloriDada' on the soundtrack. But this isn't a joyful movie. As the drama's name intimates, this contented moment is soon smothered by waves of tragedy and pain that ripple through the lives not only of high-school wrestling star Tyler (Kelvin Harrison Jr) and his girlfriend Alexis (Alexa Demie), but their loved ones, school and community. Following the breakdown of the pair's romance, Tyler's self-sabotaging struggles with injury and pressure, and the impact on those closest to them, Waves tells an immensely affecting tale of one African American family's ups and downs. While he already has the excellent Krisha and effective It Comes at Night to this name, writer/director Trey Edward Shults crafts his best work yet — a stunningly visceral, moving and profound drama that makes audiences feel every moment and plot development deeply. Also exceptional: Harrison's powerful performance, Taylor Russell as his younger sister Emily, Sterling K Brown as their domineering but well-intentioned dad and Hamilton's Renée Elise Goldsberry as their supportive stepmother, as well as the film's raw and resonant grappling with life, loss, love, and the chaos and emotion of being a Black teenager in America today. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYl1DVIgbAg SHIRLEY Unlike the rest of us, Elisabeth Moss is having a great year — on-screen, at least. While the star of The Handmaid's Tale, Mad Men and Top of the Lake has actually enjoyed a fantastic past decade, she has turned in two of her best performances yet in 2020. First came her lead role in The Invisible Man, which twisted the classic horror tale in firmly modern directions, including exploring gaslighting and society's lack of willingness to believe women. Now, in Shirley, she steps into the shoes of horror and mystery novelist Shirley Jackson. This is a movie by Madeline's Madeline director Josephine Decker, though, so it as never going to be a standard biopic about the The Haunting of Hill House author. Indeed, Shirley is drawn from a fictional novel by Susan Scarf Merrell, stepping inside Jackson's home life with her husband Stanley Hyman (Michael Stuhlbarg) during a 1964 period when teaching aide Fred Nemser (Logan Lerman) and his wife Rose (Australian The Daughter star Odessa Young) come to stay. An agoraphobic who prefers her own company to that of others, Jackson's routine is unsettled by her new houseguests, although an unexpected connection springs with seemingly unlikely kindred spirit Rose. In telling this story, Decker is far more interested in capturing the essence of her subject and Jackson's sensibilities than slavishly sticking to facts, and her film all the better for it. The result is a subjective and engaging character study that's daring, disarming, dark and, unsurprisingly, anchored by a pitch-perfect Moss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqXRg9D9SXg&feature=emb_logo A WHITE, WHITE DAY When grief plays a pivotal part in a film's narrative, one of two things typically happen. Far too often, it's used as an easy crutch, deployed to quickly explain a character's poor actions without diving particularly deep (see: this year's Ben Affleck vehicle The Way Back). When mourning is thoughtfully unpacked and interrogated, however, the difference is immediately noticeable. And, that's the case with excellent Icelandic thriller A White, White Day. Set in a remote town and often noticeably cloaked in a thick fog (symbolising its lead character's loss-afflicted head and heart, too), the film follows widower Ingimundur (Ingvar Sigurðsson), an off-duty police chief struggling with the death of his wife. While assisting with caring for his eight-year-old granddaughter Salka (Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir) helps give his days purpose, after Ingimundur begins to suspect that his deceased spouse was unfaithful, he's rocked by more than bereavement-induced misery. Sigurðsson is phenomenal as a man overcome by his heartbreak and anger, and his scenes with young Hlynsdóttir are immensely tender and touching. What particularly stands out in this tense, haunting and all-round excellent movie, though, is director Hlynur Palmason's (Winter Brothers) striking visual storytelling — whether he's spending an hypnotic minute watching a rock tumble down a hill and off a cliff, staring at his central actor's expressive face, or splashing his frames with spellbinding bursts of colour amidst the rampant grey-hued frostiness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIsEZ2tTavU&t=6s LES MISÉRABLES Almost 160 years since Victor Hugo immortalised the Montfermeil commune in Les Misérables, first-time feature writer and director Ladj Ly heads there to tell a different story. Or, to be exact, his Cannes prize-winning, Oscar-nominated crime-thriller that's also called Les Misérables stops by the spot to explore comparable themes in contemporary France — and to interrogate the reality of life in the Les Bosquets housing estates in one of the capital's banlieues. The latter and their communities have featured in the likes of 1995's La Haine and 2014's Girlhood before, two hands-down French movie masterpieces, but the approach here is especially inspired. Drawing parallels with a globally known, much-adapted, long-popular classic to shine a spotlight on modern-day class and cultural clashes is smart and savvy and, in the hands of a filmmaker from the area who is already known for making documentaries about the area, results in an especially compelling and confronting piece of cinema with revolution at its heart. Every neighbourhood bubbles with stories. So, focusing on Les Bosquets, Ly relays as many tales as he can. With propulsive and fittingly restless energy, his film flits between the locale's cops, kids and gangs — with troubles between all three groups reaching boiling point over the course of two summery and eventful days. The catalysts: familiar prejudices, long-held beefs, a stolen lion, a wrongful shooting and some controversial drone footage. The fallout: considerable. Unrelentingly terse and unafraid to filter real-world unrest through every frame, this Les Misérables is not always subtle; however, given the complicated terrain that it traverses, it needn't be. As a portrait of social tensions drawn from real-life situations, this is a movie of explosive emotional and visceral power even when it's clearly lacking in nuance. As an examination of how one event can escalate, detonate and spark a chain of chaos, and, Hugo-style, how insurrectionary acts come about, it hits hard. This definitely isn't a musical, but Ly's gripping, evocatively shot, deftly choreographed and impressively acted feature is still a rousing cinematic song of angry Parisians. Read our full review. https://vimeo.com/451401547#at=17 BRAZEN HUSSIES Chatting to activists involved in Australia's women's liberation movement during the 60s and 70s, Brazen Hussies doesn't lack in witty and wise ladies making pivotal points. But it's filmmaker Margot Nash (The Silences) who offers one of this documentary's most telling observations, and the one that crystallises exactly why this movie had to be made. "History has to be told over and over again," she advises. She's a talking head in the film, rather than the writer or director behind it — those roles fall to first-timer Catherine Dwyer — but she couldn't encapsulate Brazen Hussies' purpose any better if she was the doco's driving force. As the feature explains, it's easy for people to overlook this chapter of history, and the fact that it all happened so recently. It's easy to forget that women's lives were drastically different, as was the way they were regarded by the world around them. Brazen Hussies surveys pay inequality, legal abortion, funding for childcare, the way both queer women and Indigenous Australian women are treated, society's abhorrence of female sexuality and the first Advisor on Women's Affairs to a head of government anywhere in the world — plus everything from tackling domestic violence and the victim-blaming that can go along with it, to the simple struggle to survive that single mothers faced as well. But this happens in tandem with a historical recounting of Australia's actual fight for women's liberation, with Dwyer inspired by working on 2014 documentary She's Beautiful When She's Angry (which did the same from a US perspective). She examines what drove the more than 25 women she counts among her eponymous group to act and what they achieved, of course. At every moment, however, she's just as interested in how they battled for that change. Having access to a treasure trove of materials helps considerably in this engaging, informative and impassioned film. If the doco's talking-head lineup is impressive, it's bested only by the immense range of archival images and footage that Dwyer and editor Rosie Jones (director of The Family) splice together. With the rest of the filmmaking team, the pair sifted through more than 4000 photographs, journals, artworks and posters, and 800-plus news clips, documentaries and dramatic movies — and, unsurprisingly, Brazen Hussies is all the more detailed for it. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_u4YDiGH3k DEERSKIN How far would you go for the perfect piece of clothing? And can one ideal fashion item completely change your life? They're two completely relatable questions that Oscar-winning The Artist star Jean Dujardin faces in Deerskin, after his character Georges — an aspiring filmmaker — takes a strong liking to a fringed deerskin jacket that he just can't live without. And, we mean strong. Obsessed, fanatical and passionate, even. In the way that anyone can, but that vain, middle-aged, just-divorced men are stereotypically known to, Georges is certain that this one luxurious object is perfect for him. It doesn't matter that said coat costs nearly €8000, a price tag that most would stumble over. Similarly irrelevant: that the jacket looks just a tad too small while he's wearing it. Instead, how it makes Georges feel is far more important than any logical drawbacks — to him, at least. Also pivotal is the fact that it catches the attention of a small-town barmaid (Portrait of a Lady on Fire's Àdele Haenel). The latest film by the inimitable Quentin Dupieux (also known, in his electronic music guise, as Mr Oizo), Deerskin is the writer/director's latest movie to fixate on an inanimate object. If you saw the French filmmaker's 2010 cult hit Rubber, then you'll know just what kind of weirdness, ridiculousness and just all-round offbeat antics you're in for. That said, a few things particularly stand out in this, which might be his most accessible film. The deadpan performances, including from a fantastic Dujardin, are a delight. The commentary about consumerism and male egos proves as funny as it is astute — and even though it's also rather obvious, it's always entertaining. Indeed, the fact that the movie well and truly knows that it's stretching a thin basic idea to an absurdist extent means that everything is a joke, and the film is all the better for it. And then there's the visual symbolism and the editing, which both follow their own rhythm as much as anything Dupieux has ever made. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn3sK4WiviA ON THE ROCKS Not once, not twice, but three times now, Sofia Coppola has given the Bill Murray-loving world exactly what it wants. One of the great comedic talents of the past half-century, the Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day star is also a greatly charismatic talent — and, understandably, viewers want to spend more time in his inimitable company. So, Lost in Translation and 2015 Netflix special A Very Murray Christmas made that happen. Now On the Rocks does as well. These are films and specials predicated upon the very idea of palling around with Murray or the character he's playing, and this one hits that mark as perfectly as its predecessors. Murray steps into the shoes of a debonair playboy art dealer who is determined to help his New York-dwelling adult daughter discover if her husband is being unfaithful, his pairing with Rashida Jones is both joyous and lived-in, and Coppola once again strips bare her own life experiences, fictionalises them, and creates something both thoughtful and moving. On the Rocks' premise really isn't far removed from Lost in Translation. The film's female protagonist is a decade older this time, her romantic troubles are complicated by both marriage and children, and another bustling city provides the backdrop, but the basic idea remains mostly the same. With Murray as the lively Felix and Jones as his overstressed offspring Laura, the movie takes them hopping around NYC as they endeavour to ascertain if the latter's workaholic other half, Dean (Marlon Wayans), is cosying up to his attractive young colleague (Jessica Henwick) while Laura is raising their two young daughters. In the process, Felix and Laura chat about anything and everything, covering topics both important and trivial. They eat and drink, and do so in luxe spaces while Felix naturally captivates everyone in his orbit and turns everything into an adventure. Over the course of their investigative escapade, Felix helps Laura work through her struggles, too — although here, their own complicated relationship is actually one of them. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqO25i-XNEU THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD He's skewered British, American and Russian politics in The Thick of It, In the Loop, Veep and The Death of Stalin. This year, in the eerily prescient Avenue 5, he pondered what would happen if a group of people were confined on a cruise of sorts — a luxury space voyage — for an extended stretch of time. But, made in period comedy mode, The Personal History of David Copperfield might just be Armando Iannucci's most delightful affair yet. Indeed, playfully trifling with a Charles Dickens classic suits the writer/director. It should; he's a huge fan of the 19th-century author, and a staunch believer that Dickens' body of work "isn't just quality entertainment for a long-dead audience" (as he told viewers in his 2012 BBC special Armando's Tale of Charles Dickens). And so, taking on the acclaimed scribe's semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story, Iannucci tinkers, massages and re-envisages David Copperfield with ample love for the literary source material. In the process, he also crafts a still Victorian era-set yet unmistakably modern — and fresh, very funny and sharp-witted — big-screen adaptation. The eponymous character's tale begins in the film as it does on the page: with Copperfield determined to discover whether he shall turn out to be the hero of his own life "or whether that station will be held by anybody else". On-screen, the hopeful aspiring writer (Dev Patel) delivers that statement from a stage while speaking to a crowd. Then, in one of the many inventive visual flourishes that mark Iannucci's lively retelling, Copperfield strolls through the background to revisit his experiences from the moment of his birth. As episodic on the screen as it is in the book, Copperfield's life then navigates a rollercoaster of ups and downs — starting with the drudgery of child labour, as well as time spent lodging with the poverty-stricken, law-skirting but always kindly Mr Micawber (Peter Capaldi) and his family. As Dickens was, Iannucci and his frequent co-scribe Simon Blackwell (Peep Show, Breeders) are well aware of class chasms, the tough plights endured by the masses to benefit the better-off, the dog-eat-dog nature of capitalism in general and humanity's selfish, self-serving nature. The Personal History of David Copperfield may be largely upbeat in tone, visibly bright and dynamic, and take a few shrewd liberties with the story, but the darker elements of the narrative never escape view. Read our full review. Melbourne cinephiles are currently being spoiled for choice — and while we've outlined the 12 best options above, there are plenty more flicks gracing the city's silver screens. When outdoor cinemas reopened, we outlined the films showing under the stars. You can also read our full reviews of The King of Staten Island, Tenet, The New Mutants, Bill & Ted Face the Music, An American Pickle, Antebellum, The Craft: Legacy and Radioactive. And, you can check out our rundowns of the new films that released in other cities over the past few months — on July 2, July 9, July 16, July 23 and July 30; August 6, August 13, August 20 and August 27; September 3, September 10, September 17 and September 24; and October 1, October 8, October 15, October 22 and October 29 — as a number of those movies are now showing in Melbourne as well.
Melburnians get the best of both worlds — city and country. Within just two hours from our buzzing metropolis lies magnificent waterfalls, towering peaks, tranquil bays and ancient rainforests. Next time you need a breath of fresh air and some spectacular scenery, jump in the car and drive yourself to one of the nearby hiking trails. To help you decide on a location, we've whipped up a list of the best scenic hikes in regional Victoria. The best part is, they can all be achieved in a day — from the Mornington Peninsula's sparkling Two Bays adventure to the Otway's many enchanting cascades. These walks are all both beautiful and doable. ERSKINE RIVER TRACK, GREAT OTWAY NATIONAL PARK The Great Otway National Park scores more rainfall than most other parts of Victoria, so, it's a waterfall chaser's gold mine (sorry, TLC). Among the most popular are Erskine Falls, whose 30 metres of water tumbles into a lush gully along Erskine River. The falls mark the beginning of the Erskine River Track, an adventurous 7.5-kilometre trail that involves several river crossings and log bridges. Along the way, you'll pass through the natural amphitheatre of the Sanctuary, as well as two other waterfalls — Straw and Spitter — before reaching the river mouth at Lorne. Shorter strolls include the one-kilometre walk to Hopetoun Falls, the one-kilometre trail to Carisbrook Falls and the three-kilometre hike to Beauchamp Falls. To cap off the day, stop by the Great Ocean Road Brewhouse and sample one of the 100 beers on offer while enjoying ocean views. The Great Otway National Park is two hours' drive southwest of Melbourne. TOORONGO FALLS, MOUNT BAW BAW You might've seen Toorongo Falls in photos but it's not until you're standing underneath the two waterfalls that you can appreciate the full breadth of their beauty. Encircled by tall gum trees and rainforest ferns, the falls tumble down several rocky cascades into Toorongo River. The easy 750-metre walk passes through thriving bushland where you can expect to meet brushtail possums, sugar gliders and an array of bats. The drive is pretty, too, following Toorongo River much of the way. To make this trip extra special, stop by Stella's Pantry in Warragul, pick up fromage and cured meats and have a post-hike picnic. Or, if you prefer someone else to prepare your fare, head to Frankies in Warragul for delicious cakes and pastries. Toorongo Falls is situated on Mount Baw Baw, around 90 minutes' drive east of Melbourne. TWO BAYS, MORNINGTON PENINSULA As the name suggests, this walk transports you to two of Mornington Peninsula's most picturesque bays but that's far from its only attraction. Along the way, you'll also take in Arthurs Seat's panoramic vistas, dreamy Kings Falls and Greens Bush — a haven for native plants and animals. Keep your eyes peeled for wedge-tailed eagles, honeyeaters, black wallabies and sugar gliders. At 26 kilometres, the Two Bays trek is the longest walk on the Mornington Peninsula. While the trail is relatively close to the city, it's a good idea to leave early so you have plenty of time to explore. And, after you've sweat it out, finish up with a well-earned drink and pub lunch at Jetty Road Brewery. Two Bays is an hour's drive from Melbourne. KEPPEL LOOKOUT, DANDENONGS From Keppel Lookout, you can see half of Victoria. Well, not quite, but it certainly seems that way when you're gazing over the Cathedral Range State Park, Marysville and Steavenson Falls (which, at 84 metres, are the highest falls in Victoria). It's undoubtedly one of the most scenic spots in the state, however, getting there isn't easy. The 11-kilometre loop trail covers quite a bit of steep, uneven terrain, so it's for confident walkers only. If you're looking for a more relaxing escapade stick to Tree Fern Gully Trail, it's a gentle 3.4-kilometre stroll (or cycle) through mountain ash, manna gum and, you guessed it, tree ferns. If you're keen for some tucker after your trek, drop by Kelly's Bar and Kitchen in Olinda and order the Kelly's Notorious Wagyu Burger — it'll sort you out. Keppel Lookout is around two hours' drive east of Melbourne. [caption id="attachment_668784" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Andrew Harvey.[/caption] CATHEDRAL RANGE STATE PARK Cathedral Range State Park gives you 3577 hectares of rugged wilderness to explore. If you need to gain some height and clear your head, this is the place to do it. There are a variety of walks but for varied terrain and stunning scenery, conquer the Cathedral Range Southern Circuit. This 10.5-kilometre journey ascends Sugarloaf, the Cathedrals' highest peak, before following a scenic ridgeline. Fair warning, the trail is pretty steep and sparsely signposted, so you'll need some hiking experience under your belt. Alternatively, you can settle for a shorter and easier jaunt — such as the two-kilometre Friends Nature Trail or the three-kilometre Little River Track —there are plenty of possibilities for all manner of hiker. Take a slight detour on the way home and drop by the Yarra Valley to check out the wineries; you deserve a nice tipple after all that walking. The Cathedral Range State Park, about a two hours' drive northeast of Melbourne. For more spring places, spaces and events to discover in regional Victoria visit Your Happy Space. Top Image: Toorongo Falls.
It takes place in New York, not London. The era: modern times, not centuries back. Fleet Street gives way to Washington Heights, the demon barber to a masseuse nicknamed "Magic Hands", and pies to empanadas. There's still a body count, however, and people end up in pastries as well. Yes, The Horror of Dolores Roach namedrops Sweeney Todd early, as it needs to; there's no denying where this eight-part Prime Video series takes inspiration, as did the one-woman off-Broadway play that it's based on, plus the podcast that followed before the TV version on Friday, July 7. On the stage, the airwaves and now via streaming, creator Aaron Mark asks a question: what if the fictional cannibalism-inciting character who first graced penny dreadfuls almost two centuries back, then leapt to theatres, films and, most famously, musicals, had a successor today? Viewers can watch the answer via a dramedy that also belongs on the same menu as Santa Clarita Diet, Yellowjackets and Bones and All. Amid this recent feast of on-screen dishes about humans munching on humans, The Horror of Dolores Roach is light yet grisly, but it's also a survivalist thriller in its own way — and laced with twisted attempts at romance, too. That knowing callout to Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street comes amid an early banquet of knowing callouts, as The Horror of Dolores Roach begins with a play based on a podcast that's wrapping up its opening night. Newspaper clippings in actor Flora Frias' (Jessica Pimentel, Orange is the New Black) dressing room establish that the show takes its cues from a woman who got murderous in the Big Apple four years prior, and helped get unwitting NYC residents taking a bite out of each other. Meet the series' framing device; before the stage production's star can head to the afterparty, she's face to face with a furious Dolores (Justina Machado, One Day at a Time) herself. The latter isn't there to slay, but to haunt the woman spilling her tale by sharing the real details. Two decades earlier, Dolores was a happy resident of Lin-Manuel Miranda's favourite slice of New York, a drug-dealer's girlfriend, and a fan of the local empanada shop. Then the cops busted in while she was helping her beau, who was conveniently absent, with The Horror of Dolores Roach's namesake refusing to snitch and getting a 16-year sentence in return. When she's released after serving that entire stretch, gentrification has changed the neighbourhood. Also, her other half is nowhere to be found. Only Luis Batista (Alejandro Hernandez, New Amsterdam) remains that remembers her. His dad owned and ran the empanada joint, Luis was the teenaged delivery boy with a big crush on Dolores, and he couldn't be keener on letting her stay with him in his basement apartment below the store. After the best part of two decades inside, Dolores only dreams of the straight and narrow, and of putting the massage skills that she learned from her cellmate — which were quite a hit, hence the new moniker — to use in a legitimate job. Getting a paycheque isn't easy, but when Luis says that she can operate an unlicensed setup out of their flat, customers flock to get their shoulders kneaded. While it isn't the future that gave her something to look forward to behind bars, it'll do; however, the upscaling trend that's sweeping the community soon poses a threat. When Dolores offs her first victim, she's reacting; The Horror of Dolores Roach takes eating the rich literally. There's about as much subtlety to the series as slathering an empanada in whichever sauce takes your fancy, plus a mix of clashing tones on par with the guava and cheese variety that Dolores adores. But a show about turning people into pastries Sweeney Todd-style isn't aiming to be nuanced. Neither is a program that also namechecks producer Jason Blum, or heavily uses its narration to adapt its play and podcast roots for the screen. When Marc Maron (To Leslie) gleefully plays an uncaring landlord, and 80s music icon Cyndi Lauper a grey-locked private detective who could waltz out of this and into Only Murders in the Building, no one is going for understated, either. That's one of the reasons that The Horror of Dolores Roach proves tasty and entertaining: it's actively and openly trying to be a lot, and it sinks its teeth in hard. "I'm not the monster you're making me out to be," says Dolores to Flora, though, a statement that The Horror of Dolores Roach doesn't just give lip service to. The series knows that its protagonist is a serial killer, makes it plain from the outset and doesn't excuse it. And yet, it also knows that that can be true, and that Dolores can be a victim herself. Indeed, the show has the many horrors that are splashed her way firmly on its plate. She's betrayed and taken advantage of to land in prison, then judged and cast aside afterwards; she suffers for America's fondness for mass incarceration; she's robbed of a huge chunk of her life for weed only for it to start to be legalised while she's doing her time; and she's among the Washington Heights residents pushed out by the well-to-do. Again, none of this justifies Dolores' choices, but it adds flesh to the cutthroat world that The Horror of Dolores Roach constantly sees as it is. Having the always-great Machado play Dolores also helps ground the series. Much around her may get cartoonish, but the Six Feet Under, Jane the Virgin and Queen of the South actor always anchors the story in a woman seeing her life spiral in the worst possible ways. She's as adept at mining darkly comic laughs as she is tragedy, boasts pitch-perfect reactions to the series' gore, and makes a great pair with the lively Hernandez. Actually, she's stellar opposite everyone — Maron, Lauper, Pimentel, The Rehearsal's K Todd Freeman as the usual meat merchant and Dispatches From Elsewhere's Kita Updike as Luis' sole empanada-slinging employee included — and, like The Horror of Dolores Roach itself, bloody great. Check out the trailer for The Horror of Dolores Roach below: The Horror of Dolores Roach streams via Prime Video from Friday, July 7.
More and more Australians are reassessing their drinking choices, and choosing to ditch or simply limit the booze. In response, clever bartenders, winemakers and beer brands across the globe have been busy dreaming up new and creative alcohol-free beverages to make that no-booze night out a satisfying option. And, there's now one Melbourne haunt that'll leave teetotallers more spoilt for choice than ever before — with the Brunswick Aces Bar, the city's first dedicated non-alcoholic cocktail lounge, now open. From Saturday, May 1, local distillery and booze-free gin producer Brunswick Aces is welcoming patrons into its much-anticipated Brunswick East watering hole, which also marks the first of its kind in the country. The 150-person Weston Street space is not only a temptation-free drinking destination for the teetotaller or sober curious, but also just a neat spot to hang and imbibe when alcohol's simply not on your night's agenda. The bar's rocking a look best described as industrial baroque, with lots of plush furniture covered with velvety textiles, walls filled with gilded frames and moody floral arrangements trailing from the ceiling. While Brunswick Aces does make regular gin, it's perhaps best known for its range of sapiir — a non-alcoholic distilled drink crafted on botanicals. The brand uses aromatic ingredients like lemon myrtle, pepperberry, wattleseed and that all-important juniper to create a concoction that's akin to a gin, sans booze. And in this new bar, you've got a front-row seat to the sapiir distilling operations, while you sip the spoils just metres from where they're made. The menu might be short on alcohol, but it's sure not wanting for choice. In fact, there's more than 100 booze-free options available. You can expect to find an ever-evolving range of crafty cocktails, led by boozeless takes on the classics such as a negroni and an espresso martini. There's be a focus on local ingredients, too, with appearances from some premium international labels and regular product features. And, alongside the cocktails sits an impressive lineup of non-alcoholic beers and wines sourced from all over the world, as well as mixed drinks made on booze-free spirits and sapiirs. While you're there, you can browse and buy some hangover-free tipples in the country's first physical non-alcoholic bottle shop. This retail section will be slinging local brands including Heaps Normal, Ovant and Songbird Wine, as well as international offerings like the Netherlands' Vandestreek Playground IPA. [caption id="attachment_801275" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brunswick Aces' signature sapiir.[/caption] If you're hanging for the real deal, that's okay, too. In the spirit of inclusivity — and celebrating Brunswick Aces' other pursuits — the bar will be serving a single alcoholic option: a gin and tonic, made on the brand's own Spades and Hearts gin blends. Find The Brunswick Aces Bar at 124 Weston Street, Brunswick East, from Saturday, May 1. It's open Thursday–Saturday 3–11pm, with the bottle shop open Monday–Saturday 11am–5pm. Top images: Griffin Simm
Whether you're keen to cross completing a marathon off your bucket list or you're just looking for a wholesome and endorphin-inducing way to spend the weekend, there are plenty of must-run events taking place around Australia during the second half of the year. So, chuck on your very best activewear and get ready to clock some serious — or not so serious — kilometres at these events along the east coast. CITY2SURF, SYDNEY The annual City2Surf has called upon all Sydneysiders since its humble beginnings nearly 48 years ago, and this year shall be no different. The world's largest timed fun run has raised around $36 million for more than 900 charities since 2008 — and is aiming to raise a jaw-dropping $5 million this year alone. With more than 80,000 participants expected to tie up their laces and join the race, the City2Surf is a must-do for running enthusiasts. Owned and organised by the Sun Herald in partnership with Westpac, the 14-kilometre-long course starts from Sydney's Hyde Park, winds through the city streets, up the notorious Heartbreak Hill and through the eastern suburbs until it comes to a finish at glorious Bondi Beach. As you can tell, this isn't just your casual stroll through the park. Beyond the finish line, a beachside event awaits participants. Live entertainment, food vendors and cold beers await you. The City2Surf will take place on Sunday, August 12. You can register for the race here. RUN MELBOURNE, MELBOURNE This year, Run Melbourne will celebrate its 11th birthday with a two-day running festival — and it features live music and delicious food pop-ups as well as the race. As one of Australia's most iconic winter running festivals, Run Melbourne attracts both super fit athletes and casual Tan strollers alike. More than 175,000 runners have participated in this famed Melbourne running event since its inception — raising roughly $12 million for more than 400 charities to date. Organised in partnership with Lululemon, the course includes three race options: five kilometres, ten kilometres and a hefty half marathon. Run Melbourne will commence in the heart of the city at Federation Square, taking participants past Melbourne landmarks including the MCG, Rod Laver Area and South Wharf before finishing up at Birrarung Marr. Run Melbourne kicks off with the Friendship Dash on Saturday, July 28 with the main race taking place the following day, Sunday, July 29. Register for the Run Melbourne events here. THE COLOR RUN, NATIONAL Founded as a way to promote happiness and health, this five-kilometre-long run involves splashes of colour to distract you from the fact that you're, you know, exercising. All participants are asked to wear white t-shirts and embrace the colour pigment that's blasted at them at various points during the race. This is sweaty exercise disguised as straight-up fun. With a party at the beginning, a party at the end, and four colour zones to dance your way through — the fun never stops, and neither do your legs. The Color Run now takes place in more than 35 countries worldwide, attracting six million runners across the globe. This year it'll run races in Melbourne, Sydney, the Gold Coast and Perth. The Color Run will happen on the Gold Coast on Sunday, August 19; Sydney on Sunday, October 7; and Melbourne on Sunday, November 25. You can register for the events here. SYDNEY RUNNING FESTIVAL, SYDNEY On this Sydney track runners are afforded postcard-like views of the city while running on one of Australia's most iconic landmarks: the Harbour Bridge. With four events — the Marathon (42.2 kilometres), Half Marathon (21 kilometres), Bridge Run (nine kilometres) and the Family Fun Run (3.5 kilometres) — it doesn't matter whether you are a seasoned athlete or just starting your running journey. Post-event, all runners and their family and friends are invited to celebrate their achievements in the recovery village located in the Royal Botanic Gardens. The Blackmores Running Festival kicks off on Sunday, September 16. You can register for the races here. BRISBANE MARATHON FESTIVAL, BRISBANE A run is always made better by a scenic view — whether it's keeping you motivated, or distracted from your athletic endeavours, a pretty landscape makes all the difference. The Brisbane Marathon Festival provides running experts and novices with exactly that. Runners and walkers descend on the streets of the Brisbane CBD for this annual event, enjoying full closure of major city streets to experience a marathon event of epic proportion. The course has three duration options — the marathon, the half marathon and the ten-kilometre race — and whether you're from Brisbane or interstate, it's the best way to see the city in all its glory. The Brisbane Marathon will take place on Sunday, August 12. You can register for the marathon here. MELBOURNE MARATHON FESTIVAL, MELBOURNE The Melbourne Marathon Festival started back in the 70s and is a favoured annual running event for many Melburnians. The races vary in length and difficulty — the shortest event being a three-kilometre walk — and the flat course is perfect for less-experienced runners. The track spans the Melbourne CBD and gives runners an opportunity to experience the city's famous landmarks, feet first — from the St Kilda beach foreshore to the MCG, there's plenty to see. Take part on your own, as a team or with colleagues, and help raise funds for the Cerebal Palsy Education Centre, or a charity of your choice. The Melbourne Marathon Festival will take place on Sunday, October 14. You can register for the race here. [caption id="attachment_677471" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Flickr.[/caption] PUB2PUB CHARITY RUN, SYDNEY The annual Pub2Pub is arguably one of the most scenic runs in Sydney boasting spectacular beach views. Celebrating its 27th birthday this year, the running festival has raised more than $3.5 million for local northern beaches' charities. Whether you consider yourself an avid runner or more of a leisurely stroller, Pub2Pub has three course options available to satisfy all types of runners: Dee Why Beach (13 kilometres), Warriewood (six kilometres), and Mona Vale (three kilometres). Beyond the finish line, on the shores of Newport Beach, a huge family-friendly festival awaits with live music, a licensed bar, an array of food vendors, fun rides and games. The Pub2Pub Charity run kicks off on Sunday, August 26. You can register for the run here.
Get the jab, get a free beer, flight, holiday or pair of jeans: thanks to plenty of companies around Australia, that's been a reality over the past few months. Breweries, airlines, hotel chains, denim brands and more have been offering Aussies a little something extra for rolling up their sleeves, all as part of an effort to encourage getting-19 vaccinated against COVID-19. Now, one group of philanthropists and corporations is handing out a cool $1 million for having the jabs. The newly launched Million Dollar Vax promotion knows what it's about: giving away a big stack of cash to someone who has been vaxxed. And, it's open to folks who've just had one jab, too, as long as you've had it when you enter — and as long as you'll be fully vaccinated by Monday, December 13. If that's you — and you're over the age of 18 — you can enter whenever you like in October, all by filling out the online form on the contest's website. It runs through basic information such as your name, email address, date of birth, mobile phone number, suburb, state and postcode, and does require you to tick boxes to confirm that you meet the jab requirements. (If you have a medical exemption, you're not eligible to enter.) After you've filled out the form, you'll go in the running to win that $1 million prize, which'll be drawn on Friday, November 5. And, the competition is also giving out daily prizes, too. Over the month, 100 $1000 gift cards will be given away each and every day, from a total prize pool — including that top $1 million prize — of $4.1 million. You can only enter the overall contest once, however, and you're only eligible for the daily prizes on the day you enter. If you do win one of the $1000 gift cards, you'll be contacted via email within five business days of entering. You'll then get your gift card emailed to you once you verify your ID and that you've been vaxxed. All prizes are being handed out randomly, so you don't need to come up with a reason to win, enter an answer in 25 words or less or anything else along those lines. And if you're wondering who is behind the promotion, it's being run by "a group of generous philanthropists and corporations" called the Million Dollar Vax Alliance, who are aiming "to accelerate Australia's COVID-19 vaccination program" according to the contest's FAQs. "The faster we reach vaccination rates nationally, the sooner we all can safely resume our full range of community and business activity," the FAQs continue. For more information about the Million Dollar Vax promotion, or to enter, head to the competition website.
With the festive season just around the corner, Toblerone is helping to reduce the busy load of Christmas present planning. The premium chocolate brand is offering all the inspiration of indulgence you could ask for with a 'Gift Inspiration Station' at Emporium Shopping Mall from Thursday, November 14 to Sunday, November 17, from 11am—7pm on weekdays and 10am–6pm on weekends. The event is intended to help the hectic pre-Christmas rush, allowing shoppers to relax and gain inspiration for possible gift ideas with the help of its new Christmas treat — Toblerone Pralines. At this time-limited pop-up, you'll have a chance to sample some of these delicious treats. Featuring a smooth, velvety centre with tiny pieces of crunchy honey and almond nougat, crafted into a signature diamond-shaped treat. If you know a sweet treat fiend, enjoy a moment of chocolatey bliss together or just by yourself. The festivities don't end there. Toblerone is also offering a complimentary gift-wrapping service, making it easier for you to add a personal touch to your presents: each day from 1pm-2pm, the first 20 visitors can have up to two small or medium-sized gifts professionally wrapped for free. This Christmas, Toblerone Pralines are available in two festive options: a 180g box, or a limited-edition 45g box with a special holiday design, both available at your local Coles or Woolworths. The Toblerone Christmas Activation runs from 14–17 November at Emporium Shopping Mall. Find out more and purchase the 180g Pralines from Woolworths here, 45g Pralines from Woolworths here, 180g box from Coles here and the 45g box from Coles here. Images: Supplied
When Super Mario Kart first rolled onto Super Nintendo consoles back in 1992, it came with 20 inventive courses and endless hours of fun. 26 years later, and the game isn't just speeding through desert tracks and rainbow roads — but onto the real-life streets, and now Google Maps. Because zooming Mario Kart-style through Tokyo wasn't enough, or bringing the IRL concept to Australia either, you can now spend the next week getting navigational directions from everyone's favourite cartoon plumber. Plus, he'll not only pop-up on the app, but as you drive along the road, he'll drive along with you on Maps — in celebration of Mario Day, which is March 10 (or MAR 10). [caption id="attachment_659698" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Google Maps[/caption] Anyone keen to take a drive with Mario simply needs to update their Maps app, then look for a question mark-shaped box that resembles a block from Super Mario Brothers. That's all there is to it — and it's not quite as fun as being able to actually play Mario Kart on Google Maps, like their Pac-Man April Fool's Day update a few years back, but it'll probably make you look up directions more often than you actually need over the next seven days. It goes without saying, but you you should still be watching the road as you drive — and not Mario on your phone, as cute as the gimmick may be. How else are you going to keep your eyes peeled for bananas, shells or gold coins? Via Google Maps.
Is this the real life? Yes, Queen — the legendary rock band behind hits Bohemian Rhapsody, Don't Stop Me Now and We Will Rock You — is coming to Australia. And, they are hoping to rock you. Two of the original band members Brian May (lead guitar) and Roger Taylor (drums) will be heading Down Under, along with long-time collaborator and frontman Adam Lambert — a Grammy nominated American singer who has been touring with the group since 2011 — keyboardist Spike Edney (who's been performing with the band since the 80s), Neil Fairclough on bass and Tyler Warren on percussion. Lambert will be performing Queen hits — made famous by iconic moustached frontman Freddie Mercury, who passed away in the early 90s — from across the band's 15 albums. John Deacon, the band's original bass player, retired in the late 90s will also not be part of the Australian tour. [caption id="attachment_696706" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody[/caption] Queen rose to prominence in the 70s and 80s, with their famed Live Aid performance — oft referred to as one of the greatest concerts in rock history — happening at Wembley Stadium in 1985. But, the band has once again been in the spotlight with the release of the Rami Malek-starring film Bohemian Rhapsody. After the biopic was released, the song 'Bohemian Rhapsody' reentered the US top 100 — for the third time. While the Aussie Rhapsody Tour — hitting Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and the Gold Coast in February 2020 — won't star Mercury (or Deacon), it's set to be one rockin' show. With tickets most likely to sell out, put the below dates in your calendar ASAP. QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT 'THE RHAPSODY TOUR' 2020 DATES Brisbane — Suncorp Stadium, Thursday, February 13 Sydney — ANZ Stadium, Saturday, February 15 Melbourne — AAMI Park, Wednesday, February 19 Perth — Optus Stadium, Sunday, February 23 Adelaide — Adelaide Oval, Wednesday, February 26 Gold Coast — Metricon Stadium, Saturday, February 29 Queen + Adam Lambert The Rhapsody Tour pre-sales start on Wednesday, April 10 with general sale from Monday, April 15. For all sale times, head to the Ticketek website. Image: Queen + Adam Lambert, 2014. Photo: Diana Kat, Wiki Commons.
Award-winning 400 Gradi chef Johnny Di Francesco is bringing another little slice of Venice to Brunswick this year, by opening up a ciccetti bar next door to his World Pizza Championship-topper Lygon Street establishment. Housing up to 50 patrons, 400 Gradi Cicchetti will have a slightly different atmosphere to the buzzing pizzeria next door but will maintain an air of authenticity and tradition. While no details have been released in regards to the menu, we’re assured there will be a well-considered and extensive drinks list to wash it all down. Cicchetti, for those who are yet to get amongst it, are small Italian snacks or side dishes and are traditionally a Venetian style of food. They’re often served at small bars called bàcari and are consumed after breakfast, for lunch or as afternoon snacks. A few common cicchetti include marinated olives, small dishes of meat or fish and mini arancini (meat-filled rice balls). Think of it like Italian tapas, if that helps. Earlier this year Johnny Di Francesco took out the number one spot at the World Pizza Championship (Campionato Mondiale della Pizza) in Parma, Italy. His Neapolitan-style pizza is undeniably amongst the best that Melbourne has to offer, so it’s pretty safe to say this next door endeavour will have tables full from the get-go. Find 400 Gradi Cicchetti at 99 Lygon Street, Brunswick East (right next door to 400 Gradi).
This time each year, for close to three decades, the Singapore Food Festival has dished up one of Southeast Asia's best-known culinary celebrations. But for those who can't jump on a plane to catch the real deal, Windsor's Hawker Hall is serving up a local fix, with its own Singapore Food Festival running from Wednesday, August 24–Sunday, September 11. Across the two-and-a-half weeks, you'll be able to sate your travel cravings with riffs on classic Singaporean dishes, such as spicy seafood laksa, chilli lobster with fluffy mantou steamed buns, hawker-style barbecue wings and rojak fruit salad. [caption id="attachment_843531" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hawker Hall[/caption] Meanwhile, the bar has created two festival-exclusive cocktails to pair with your hawker feast, including the tequila- and umeshu-infused Cala Chameleon, and a tweaked Singapore Sling featuring gin, pineapple, cherry brandy, benedictine and curacao. And on Saturday, September 10, Hawker Hall Head Chef Andrea Kok leads a yum cha cooking class for those keen to learn how to recreate the magic at home. Tickets are $99 (available online), which includes a hefty post-class hawker feast.
Melbourne has entered yet another snap lockdown, which is set to run until at least 8pm on Thursday, August 12. It means the city's hospitality venues must keep their dine-in services closed, switching the focus to takeaway and delivery. Luckily, this isn't their first rodeo, so many of them have been able to pivot and pivot fast. The result of this head-spinning feat is that bars, cafes and restaurants across the city are already offering takeaway food and delivery meals. So, you can put down that fifth can of tuna — or give up on your most recent attempt at making sourdough — and pick up the phone, knowing you'll be doing a local business a solid while also getting to eat a tasty, fancy, succulent meal. Here are all the restaurant-quality eats where you can order takeaway or have it delivered to your doorstep. To find out exactly what you can and can't do during lockdown 6.0, head to the DHHS website. Remember, if you live in Melbourne — the five reasons to leave the house apply. Exercise is still limited to two hours a day with your household members, your intimate partner or one other person who is not from your household or your partner, but you can venture up to five kilometres from your house while you're working out or shopping. [caption id="attachment_683821" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Capitano by Kate Shanasy[/caption] VENUES OFFERING TAKEAWAY AND DELIVERY Babajan (Carlton North) This Middle Eastern spot is offering takeaway, for pick up and delivery, including the likes of moussaka, borek, bottles of wine and gift hampers. You can order online — there's a $15 fee for deliveries within 15 kilometres, with a minimum order of $100. Baby Pizza (Richmond) Pizzas, pastas, desserts and wine are all available daily for pick up and delivery from this Richmond restaurant. Order here and enjoy free delivery if you live within five kilometres. Burch & Purchese (South Yarra) Need a sugar fix? You'll find this sweet studio's usual lineup of dreamy dessert creations available for in-store pick-up, as well as delivery to select suburbs. What's more, from August 8–15, it's hosting Cheesecake Week, with a limited-edition menu of mouthwatering cheesecake varieties also on offer. Shop online here. Cannoleria by That's Amore (various locations) You can now get Cannoleria's small, large and gluten-free cannoli, as well as DIY cannoli kits delivered across most of metro Melbourne for a $5 fee (on purchases over $23). Order here. Capitano (Carlton) This corner pizza joint is offering takeaway and delivery once again, with vodka sauce tortiglioni, square pizzas, tiramisu and bottled cocktails all available to order. To nab yours, call 9134 8555 or head to the website. Chin Chin (CBD and Richmond) The Flinders Lane restaurant is again offering takeaway and delivery of its signature dishes, such as massaman curry and twice-cooked beef short rib. Also on the menu: beers, wine and a coconut panna cotta dessert. Order over here and enjoy free delivery within five kilometres of Chin Chin, or of its sibling kitchen in Richmond. As a bonus, Chin Chin's also slinging batched cocktail packs and finish-at-home dinner kits, with the latter available for delivery only this Friday, August 13 and Saturday, August 14. [caption id="attachment_729226" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dari Korean Cafe by Julia Sansone[/caption] Dari Korean Cafe (CBD) This Korean cafe is doing bulgogi burgers, fat toasties, pumpkin pie shakes and fusion cocktails (plus much more) for takeaway and delivery — with a cheeky 10 percent discount, no less. You can order over here. David's (CBD) Hot pot at home? Yep, you can order it from David's. The CBD restaurant has two different set menus available for delivery, with zero delivery fees for those within 20 kilometres of the CBD. Order by shooting them an Instagram DM, or calling 0404 960 196. Estelle (Northcote) You can pick up meals — such as chicken and coriander spring rolls, a two-person fish pie and strawberry gum profiteroles — nightly from 4.45–8pm. Or, try Estelle's selection of finish-at-home dishes, delivered via Providoor. Green Acre (Brunswick) This low-waste pizzeria is whipping up its much-loved pies for pick up, as well as delivering locally via Mr Yum. Jump online to place an order and you might even spy some weekly specials. Hanoi Hannah Vol. II (Elsternwick) and Express Lane (Windsor) Jump online to order vermicelli bowls, rice paper rolls and warming bowls of pho for pick-up from either of these Hanoi Hannah stores. Deliveroo and UberEats delivery is also available. And for something new, try the deliciously messy Drip Drop Banh Mi, loaded with chicken and lemongrass sauce, and served with a side of warm pho-inspired gravy. Hawker Hall (Windsor) This hawker-style eatery has chicken and potato curry puffs, dumplings aplenty, noods, vino and beer available for pick up and delivery daily. You can order over at the website. Horn Please (Fitzroy North) Available from 4.30pm daily, Horn Please's takeaway menu of curries and rice is 30 percent off the usual price if you order direct and pick it up. You can order via the website or by calling (03) 9497 8101. Otherwise, get the full offering of non-traditional Indian fare delivered straight to your door via Deliveroo or Uber Eats. Ichi Ni Nana (Fitzroy) and Ichi Ni Izakaya (St Kilda) A menu of Japanese classics and loaded bento boxes are now being whipped up for takeaway by the Ichi Ni kitchen in St Kilda from 5–9pm. You can pick up in-store, or have your meal dropped to your door by one of five delivery partners. Order here. Indu (CBD) This modern Sri Lankan restaurant has finish-at-home dinner boxes for two — as well as add-ons like a slow-cooked lamb raan — available to order via the website for both pick up and delivery. Find them here. For this week (August 9–15), $10 jugs of takeaway sangria are also on offer until sold out each day. Kickin'Inn (Port Melbourne) Fancy diving into a deliciously messy mixed seafood feast at home? Well, you're in luck, because this Port Melbourne newcomer is offering its Cajun-inspired menu of ocean-fresh goodies for takeaway and (free) delivery via Menulog. Right now, you'll also score 10 percent off mixed bags and Kickin'Licious products if you mention the deal upon ordering — place your order here. King and Godfree (Carlton) Offering delivery to a hefty list of Melbourne suburbs, King and Godfree's menu features everything from vacuum-sealed pizzas and loaded antipasto boxes, to pasta night packs and giant eggplant parmigianas. And plenty of vino, of course. Order online. Lagoon Dining (Carlton) You can enjoy a range of clever mod-Chinese eats from this Lygon Street diner, available for pick up (Wednesday to Saturday), as well as for delivery via Providoor (Wednesday to Sunday). Place your Providoor order here, or jump over here to pre-order for in-store collection. Little Prince Wine (St Kilda) The Prince Hotel's Euro-inspired wine bar, food store and bottle shop have lots of goodies available daily for takeaway — including coffees, sandwiches and salads, cheese, charcuterie, ready-to-eat meals and top-notch wines. You'll also find a selection of snack platters, deli goods and booze offered via Providoor. Maker & Monger (South Yarra) One word: cheese. Maker & Monger is selling the stuff to-go, delivering cheese in both 150-gram and 250-gram wedges, along with other cheese platter essentials and four of its cult-favourite cheese toasties, which you can finish off at home (so they're extra hot, not soggy). Order delivery over here. [caption id="attachment_728071" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Maker & Monger[/caption] Mejico (CBD) Hankering for some Mexican eats? This CBD spot is slinging plates like brisket empanadas, salt-baked trout tacos and margarita cheesecakes, for pick up six days a week. Order here, or jump to the website to organise a finish-at-home dinner kit for delivery instead. Mister Bianco (Kew) This Kew restaurant is back to offering its Italian Job finish-at-home meal boxes for pick up and delivery (August 11–14 — check here for details). It's also got a menu of ready-to-eat fare, including dishes like the famed duck pappardelle and gnocchi osso buco — order from that lineup here, Thursday–Saturday. New Shanghai (various locations) Get your dumpling fix courtesy of this legendary restaurant group's impressive take-home and delivery menu. Order everything from xiao long bao, to kung pao chicken and wonton soup, by calling either the Emporium or Chadstone store. Panda Hot Pot (Carlton) This Carlton spot's signature Sichuan hot pot is now available to enjoy at home. Choose your spice level, then order here for pick-up or delivery. Minimum order varies depending on your delivery location. Palermo (CBD) Palermo might be closed, but it's still offering finish-at-home meals including empanadas, beef short ribs and loaded date night dinner boxes for delivery via Providoor. Order over here. [caption id="attachment_753574" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Patient Wolf Distilling Co by Dean Schmideg[/caption] Patient Wolf Distilling Co (Southbank) This inner city distillery's bottle shop will remain open on select days for takeaways, but you can also get cocktail packs, batched drinks and signature G&T cans delivered to your door by heading over here. Red Sparrow (Collingwood and Prahran) Collingwood's plant-based pizzeria is delivering its vegan slices, sides and desserts to your door via Doordash, Tuesday to Saturday. Or, you can pick up your feed from either store. For the latter, order here. Rice Paper Scissors (Fitzroy) Right now, the Rice Paper Scissors kitchen is serving up Southeast Asian banquets, signature sauces and popular dishes — like the sticky soy tofu and the sugar cane prawns — for takeaway and delivery. Jump online to see the menu and order. Also available for Lockdown 6.0 is an indulgent boozy brunch box, complete with curated playlist, clocking in at $45 per person — order yours here by 4pm for next-day delivery or pick up. Scoopy Milk Bar (CBD) Just because you're in lockdown, doesn't mean you need to forgo dessert. Scoopy Milk bar is offering its bingsu — a colourful Korean shaved ice dessert — for pick up and delivery, doing drop-offs to a different suburb area each day. Check out full details and order here. Spring Street Grocer (CBD) Shop an impressive selection of vino, cheese, hampers, platters, pantry items and chef-made ready-to-heat meals over at Spring Street Grocer's online store. Both click-and-collect and delivery are available — see the range here. Tahina (Northcote and Fitzroy) If you're keen to get your mitts on some top-notch vegetarian Middle Eastern eats, Tahina's two stores are currently open daily for pick up and local delivery. Head here to order dishes like falafel-stuffed pita and plump sabich, plus feasting options like a $39 date night feed and the $89 family spread. That's Amore (Thomastown) Get your lockdown cheese fix dropped straight to your door, courtesy of That's Amore's expansive online store selection. Delivery is available for orders over $20 — place yours here. The onsite Cheesery is also open for takeaway. The B.East (Brunswick East) and The B.East of Brunswick Street (Fitzroy) You'll find The B.East's next-level burgers, sides and vegan eats available both for local delivery and takeaway — order online. Or, swing by either store from 12–2pm daily to grab brekkie burgers and Espresso Quarantinis from the Brettfast Club pop-up. The Happy Mexican (Abbotsford) Abbotsford's colourful Mexican spot is offering both delivery (free if you spend over $45) and pick up during lockdown, with a menu of favourites including tortas, burrito bowls and taco platters. The popular Taco Tuesday specials continue to run as well. Order here. The Left-Handed Chef (South Melbourne) This Israeli eatery is slinging a menu of hummus bowls, challah schnitzel sandwiches, traditional salads and feasting packs, available to pick up or to have delivered to your door. Check out the lineup and order here. Tipico (Windsor) Through its website, Tipico is serving hot dishes like beef pappardelle, eggplant parmigiana and veal cotoletta for pick up and delivery. But you'll also find a great selection of finish-at-home options for delivery via Providoor, including a romantic feed for two. [caption id="attachment_793263" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mejico by Arianna Leggiero[/caption] VENUES OFFERING PICK-UP ONLY Bar Romantica (Brunswick East) This popular late-night joint is whipping up pizzas, cannoli and other Italian delights for pick up. Along with a range of wine, they're available Wednesday to Saturday — order here. Plus, from 12–3pm each Saturday, the venue's doubling as a pop-up pizzetta shop, slinging a tidy lineup of limited-edition creations to-go. Bellboy (Brunswick East) Not only is Bellboy's full brunch menu available to take away during lockdown, the cafe's also serving a special-edition brunch box for two. Each one comes stocked with a couple of loaded bagels, sourdough crumpets, coffees, chia pudding and crispy potato hash for $49. Pre-order from the full lineup here. Penny for Pound (Richmond) You can get some of the city's finest croissants to-go at Penny for Pound. Pop in, or be extra organised and pre-order over here the day prior to collection. Pretzel (CBD, South Yarra and Doncaster) Your go-to pretzel slingers are now offering click-and-collect orders from three of their Melbourne stores. Jump online to grab some sweet and savoury versions of the signature twisty treats, and maybe even a drink to wash it down. Rustica (South Yarra) The bakery's legendary bread, coffee and pastries are available to take away from the South Yarra outpost from 8am daily. Check out the menu in advance over here. Stray Neighbour (Preston) This popular Preston spot is keeping busy putting together breakfast boxes, aperitivo kits and two-person dinner packs, which you can pre-order for pick up by calling (03) 9471 1420. The venue's also open for takeaway — swing past to grab house-made breads, sourdough pizza slices, sweet treats and more. Tulum (Balaclava) During lockdown, Tulum is serving up a range of Turkish street food to-go. Think, Bosphorus-style fish sandwiches, house-made vegetarian boreks and simit (a Turkish riff on the bagel). Swing past the Carlisle Street site to see what's on today — the kitchen's cooking from 10am until sold out. Top image: Babajan by Arianna Leggiero. Have you come across one we've missed? Let us know at hello@concreteplayground.com
Designed by architect Robin Larsen, the Clifftop at Hepburn boasts seven remarkable cabins that will take your rural retreat to the next level. Floor-to-ceiling windows reveal views across the rolling bushland toward neighbouring cliff faces. With unconventional amenities like Lord of the Rings pinball machines and eclectic Japanese massage chairs, each cabin presents a bespoke design that blends perfectly into the hillside landscape. Nearby Daylesford and Hepburn Springs present some spectacular day-long hikes, or you can refresh yourself straight from the source at Hepburn Mineral Springs Reserve. [caption id="attachment_722684" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Victoria[/caption] Top images: Visit Victoria
First, it teamed up with Belles Hot Chicken to bring you this indulgent Malaysian twist on a fried chicken sando. Now, PappaRich has its eyes set on burgers. After a sneaky trial in Sydney stores last year, the Malaysian hawker chain has rolled out a nasi lamek burger across Australia — at all of its 29 stores. The burger takes the typical accompaniments in this Malaysian rice dish and sandwiches them all between two pillowy brioche buns. There are layers of crispy Malay fried chicken, spicy sambal, peanuts and anchovies, all topped with cucumber and a fried egg. As a side? Expect PappaRich's deep-fried chicken skin instead of fries, of course. On offer for lunch and dinner throughout July and August, it'll cost you $14.90 all up, which we reckon will be worth every penny. If you're in Sydney, you can grab one in Bankstown or on your lunch break at the express outlet inside Westfield in the city; in Melbourne, pop by Chadstone, Southern Cross or QV; and PappaRich in Wintergarden and Coorparoo Square will be selling them in Brisbane. There are a heap more locations though, so check the website if you're looking for one closer to you. The nasi lamek burger will be available for lunch and dinner from July 1 until the end of August at PappaRich locations across the country. Updated: July 26, 2019.
Finding new ways to spend time at home is a very 2020 problem. Cooking, watching, making, scrolling through your social media feeds — by now, we've all been there and done that (over and over in fact). But, we're guessing you haven't tucked into a three-course Italian meal, sipped your way through two litres of wine and shaped ten kilograms of clay into ceramics, all without leaving your house. On Sunday, August 2, ceramics studio Céramiques is teaming up with Vino Quarantino and Ellie's Table to offer Melburnians a unique way to spend an afternoon. To your door, the trio will deliver everything you need to enjoy all of the above — all as part of a Wine, Dine and Claytime Experience. For $180 for two people, you'll receive a Ceramiques claykit, a two-litre bottle of Vino Quarantino's cabernet sauvignon from Somerset Crossing Winery and two three-course dinners from Ellie's Table. On the food menu: focaccia, creamy seasonal beans and toasted artichoke hearts, homemade pappardelle with vodka sauce, plus toasted hazelnut tiramisu. And, if there's four of you, it'll cost you double, and you'll obviously receive double the clay, wine and meals as well. Available to order now, the Wine, Dine and Claytime Experience will be brought to your door via contactless delivery between 1–6pm on the day — and you'll need to live in Melbourne metropolitan and its surrounding suburbs. Once you've feasted, downed your vino and moulded your clay, you'll be able to Céramiques to arrange glazing and firing of your handcrafted pieces, too. [caption id="attachment_777573" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Ceramiques[/caption] Céramiques, Vino Quarantino and Ellie's Table's Wine, Dine and Claytime Experience are available to order now, for delivery from 1–6pm on Sunday, August 2.
This January, the sun is shining and music is in the air — with the latter courtesy of the team at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. Now, technically, this year's festival isn't set to take place until June. But to tide you over until then, they've programmed five unique summer sessions, featuring an eclectic mix of musicians from around the world. The sessions begin on the evening of Saturday, January 9 at the Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, with a performance by the Vince Jones Quartet. Next up is improvised jazz trio Swooping Duck in Shebeen's Bandroom on Thursday, January 14, before the program heads back to Bennetts for a night with trailblazing Ethiopian jazz performer Hailu Mergia on Friday January 15. A group of local musicians will pay tribute to recently deceased Australian saxophonist David Ades on Saturday, January 16, before the program concludes with an evening of collaboration between Japanese duo Kaze and French collective Muzzix on Sunday, January 17. Starting times vary. For more information on the summer sessions, visit melbournejazz.com. Image: Kaz Harada.
It's no secret that the last few years have seen the hospitality industry need make some swift changes to its modus operandi. Businesses had to adapt or run a very large risk of not making it through. Although this free fall-like state has surely been clear to all, Uber Eats has taken it a step further and surveyed hundreds of restaurant operators nationwide to co-produce Pulse Check: Restaurant Report 2022, a piece of analysis highlighting key areas of challenge and opportunity for the industry as it continues to manage the shockwaves brought upon by the pandemic. Interestingly, the data revealed a whopping 92% of restaurants remodelled their business in some way during lockdown. Of course, the industry took a lot of hits, but more than a few businesses have come out in better shape than they could've imagined. One such business is El Jannah, the widely loved — and continually expanding — charcoal chicken joint. Together with Uber Eats, we sat down to chat through the ins and outs of the hospitality industry with Brett Houldin, El Jannah's CEO. Our mission? To find out how he and his team work, what they focus on and why he thinks they've thrived during an obstacle-ridden time. Have a watch below, and read on for the low down. https://vimeo.com/756994014 AUTHENTICITY IS FRONT AND CENTRE Houldin puts authenticity front and centre — El Jannah does what it knows and does it well. (Some would even say it does it perfectly). Of course, some pivots were made — especially as orders via delivery services exploded — but the chicken aficionados held true to what customers love and expect in every visit, no reinvention in sight. How that was possible? Houldin reckons it's thanks to an unwillingness to compromise on "the food quality, the ingredients and the healthy attributes". THE EXPERIENCE Something else that relies on authenticity (and contributes greatly to a diner's experience) is an environment that's friendly and memorable. When expertly executed, this generates a deep loyalty in a customer base — an all too familiar situation where El Jannah's concerned. "[Our customers] treat it like an extension of their friends and family," Houldin shares. "They know people by name, they can tell you a lot about their last food occasion, their first experience. They want to tell their friends and family about what that looks like and how that felt. And I think that, in turn, brings a lot of people coming through." "CULT-LIKE BEHAVIOUR" What's certain is that El Jannah has created a dining experience (even when delivered to your home) that keeps people coming back. And without well-trained staff giving friendly, top-quality service, that probably wouldn't be achievable. "That cult-like behaviour is growing with us as we expand into more locations across Sydney and Melbourne," says Houldin. "That's what's made us stand out." All this chat put you in the mood for El Jannah chicken? Head to the website to find a location near you, or place your order via Uber Eats. Top image: Jarrad Shaw
When a movie premieres at the Cannes Film Festival, the literal applause it receives makes headlines. It happens every year — and at fellow major international film fests such as Berlin and Venice, too — with reports detailing the number of minutes that the audience put their hands together for while on their feet. Back in May 2024, The Apprentice was no different. While the time spent clapping varied depending on the source, this was still a story. But there was also another tale that followed swiftly after the feature's debut, as it was likely always bound to: the response from its subject to this unofficial biopic, or at least from his campaign, including a cease-and-desist letter attempting to stop anyone else from seeing it. The Apprentice's title tells everyone the who and the why of this situation. Before he was America's 45th president, Donald Trump spent over a decade hosting the reality-TV series that shares its moniker with Ali Abbasi's new film. This isn't a chronicle of Trump's time on the show, or in the Oval Office afterwards, however. It isn't just an unsanctioned big-screen Trump biography, either. Making his first English-language feature after 2016 Danish horror film Shelley, the Oscar-submitted 2018 Swedish standout Border and 2022's Persian-language serial-killer thriller Holy Spider, Copenhagen-based Iranian Danish filmmaker Abbasi also doesn't simply step through Trump's origin story in the 70s and 80s — although it chronicles his start in real estate, his relationship with his father and his marriage to Ivana. The movie's pitch-perfect name hones in on the most-crucial element of the picture: that this is a portrait of chasing power seen through a mentor-protege relationship. Trump is the apprentice. His guide: New York City attorney and political fixer Roy Cohn, who first came to fame in the 50s investigating suspected Communists with Senator Joseph McCarthy. Abbasi digs into how Cohn helped shape Trump, including the three rules of winning passed down from the former to the latter. Those tenets: first, attack, attack, attack. Then, admit nothing and deny everything. And lastly, claim victory while never ever admitting defeat. It's impossible to watch these rules outlined in The Apprentice — or even read them on the page — and not spot how they still dictate Trump's actions today. That's one of the film's many astute moves. Another: casting Sebastian Stan (Dumb Money), who gives one of his two phenomenal performances for 2024 alongside A Different Man, as Donald Trump. Seeing him anchor the familiar Trump mannerisms, speech patterns, talking points and attitudes — details that anyone who has even just spotted the IRL figure on the news across his political career in passing will instantly recognise — in the younger version of the man, an iteration brought to the screen with complexity, is both haunting and uncanny. Equally exceptional: a can't-look-away Jeremy Strong in his first post-Succession part as Cohn, in another of the film's performances that demands awards attention. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Oscar-nominee and Bodies Bodies Bodies star Maria Bakalova also leaves an impression as Ivana. And Abbasi remains one of the most-exciting directors working today in every choice that he makes throughout The Apprentice, including deploying a visual approach that scrapes away any gleam from his take on Trump at every moment. "I think we've been quite restrained," Abbasi tells Concrete Playground about the movie, talking about the instant backlash and the complicated response he knows it will continued to receive. "If we wanted to be controversial, we have ample, ample opportunities to be so." We also chatted with the director about the quest to get the film made and seen, building a portrait of someone that everyone in the world has an opinion of, why he wanted to bring this tale to the screen, getting Stan onboard, and the importance of diving into Trump and Cohn's relationship. On the Diverse Responses to the Film's Premiere, Including the Cannes Standing Ovation and the Trump Campaign's Reaction "It's sort of the same in a way. What do they say, you have to grab a compliment whenever, wherever you find it, whichever way you find it, in whatever form you find it? I think if the Trump campaign thinks that this is the worst — they have an actually really funny formulation, they're saying this is 'pure fictionalised trash'. And I'm like, that's a very general sentence you can basically write in the beginning of every feature film. It's pure fictionalised trash — that's a punk-rock way of saying 'this is the movie'. And look, I think we've been quite restrained. I think this is a quite a restrained movie. I do not understand where people talk about controversy, controversial. If we wanted to be controversial, we have ample, ample opportunities to be so and to do so, and include stuff. I mean, with this guy, the sky is the limit, right. And therefore it's a little bit difficult for me to understand. Of course, we're the underdogs in this game. We just want to get the movie released. So any help, any publicity is appreciated. I don't mind. But on the intellectual level, when people talk about this as being controversial, provocative and the Trump campaign bashing us, I'm like 'have you actually seen the movie? You know, you come out, I would say, much better than you might have'." On Building a Complex, Three-Dimensional Portrait of Someone That Everyone in the World Has an Opinion Of "There's this fable about this father and son, and they have this donkey and they want to go over a river or something like that. They try one way and then someone comes and says 'no, no you can't tie the donkey like that. You have to do it upside down'. And they do it upside down and they say 'no, no, it if you do it upside down, it's going to drown and die in water. You have to do it from the side'. And anyway, it ends up that the donkey goes in the water anyway and drowns. It's a little bit like this movie. It's impossible to get that balance because everyone has an opinion about this donkey. And especially, I think, I really see this acutely in the US. Because I feel like it's impossible, almost, for the Americans — at least, for the critics — to see this as a movie. They either hate the idea of a Trump movie or they think it's not enough — or they think there's nothing new about him that they couldn't read about. So it's a vicious cycle. It feeds itself. And in in reality, I think the only balance that matters is the balance of three dimensionality of character and the authenticity of character. Do I deeply care if we hurt Donald Trump? No, I don't give a fuck, you know. He doesn't care. Why would I care? But I do care about what I feel is fairness. I don't want us to either work for him or work against him. Everyone has different agendas around him and around this sort of political minefield we're living in, and I'm this one guy who actually does not have an agenda either way for against. My agenda is a humanist agenda. I think it's interesting to investigate these people, and the time and the political apparatuses which they're part of." On What Appealed About Bringing This Story to the Screen After Abbasi's Past Films Shelley, Border and Holy Spider "I think what was exciting about this project was the fact that it it's not an American movie — it's about America. And as someone who grew up in Iran, I have this really special relationship to America. I mean, Iran was an American colony until 79. And then after that, we became the archenemy and America became the great satan. And we had this very tense relationship. I think that if you grow up in the Middle East, you have a different view of American politics. You don't really see the difference between Democrats and Republicans in the same way. The outcome is the same. The outcome would end up being a bomb on your head anyway. So I think this this sort of tension and fascination got me curious about American politics, obviously, and the American political system, and this social Darwinism that sort of runs through a lot of things in in American society — this sportifying of everything, so to speak. Even the debates, I don't know if anyone can come up with any single substantive point from the last Trump-versus-Harris debate, but everyone was like 'who won? By what margin did they win?'. But I think there's also something more, there is another complexity in in this story — it's not a Trump movie. It's about this very formative relationship, which Trump is obviously part of. But it's also equally about Roy Cohn, who's as colourful character and as exciting a character, and not as in plain sight as Trump is. And how through this relationship, Trump becomes the person he is. In that way, again, it's also my chance of studying or investigating the system they're operating." On Finding the Right Actor to Play Donald Trump — and Getting Sebastian Stan Onboard "I think for me, casting is like 80 percent of my job. That's also why I am really, really picky and it takes very long time for me to cast my movies, because really once you cast someone, there is not a whole lot you can do about that choice on set either way. And I meant this in a sincere way. It's not a criticism, it's not a problem, but it's something — it's a commitment, I guess. That's a good way of putting it. And that commitment was something that Sebastian definitely paid to this. We start talking about this 2019. And then movie evolved and fell apart few times. It fell apart right after January 6, I remember, as an example of the times. And I think in a way, it is a difficult part to prepare for — not only on a technical level, not only in terms of research and all that, but also mentally. I think I went through a version of this with Holy Spider myself. I was like, the movie itself is one thing, the consequences of making the movie is something else. So I had to mentally prepare to do Holy Spider for many years before I actually made it. I think it's the same for Sebastian. I think maybe the one good thing that came out of all these years of waiting and rebuilding the project was he had time to mentally prepare for the fact that he is doing this person who's extremely polarising — and the aftermath, which is also going to be polarising — and it hasn't even started yet. I think we're going to see the real reactions when the movie comes out. It's different for me. I'm an outsider to this political system, to the US. I can't say I'm an outsider to Hollywood anymore, because now I'm part of it. But I have a sort of a safety distance. If everything goes wrong, if shit hits the fan, I'm still in Copenhagen — and that's not the case for Sebastian. That's not the case for Amy [executive producer Baer, Purple Hearts] and Gabe [screenwriter Gabriel Sherman, Alaska Daily], who started the project. These are people who are taking real risks with this. As much as I don't understand the controversiality and the risk of it, I do know that I'm not the audience. I'm not the masses — that would be seen very differently." On The Apprentice Living Up to Its Name by Unpacking Roy Cohn's Influence on Donald Trump "It's a little bit of a Frankenstein story in a way, like how the monster is created by the master. But in that case, I think politically speaking, I think it's very wrong to refer to Donald as a monster. Because that would also imply that there's a monster in town and there are some other innocent people who are not. And in fact, that's really not the case. I think anything that the opponents are accusing Trump of doing, they have done themselves in some degree, one way or the other. The argument is here is not that 'oh, there are some fine people on both sides' or everything is relative. I don't think it's relative. I think there's some stuff, like when he comes and says 'people are eating dogs', that's a despicable, stupid, racist, fascist thing to say. That's not relative. That's black and white. But in terms of the dynamics of it, back to Roy Cohn, I think that in the movie as in reality, he had an outsized influence on how Donald became the person he is, and how he learned to navigate and pull the levers of power. And also, most importantly, maybe, how to deal with media. Once you know the rules, you can see how he's on a daily basis using those rules. And there's something interesting about these characters, because in a way, they are pretty punk rock. Punk rock is not something you associate with the right that much — mostly anarchist leftwing, that vibe of it. But when you look at these people, they do what the fuck they want. They establish rules. They tear the rule book. They're colourful. They don't care. And I think that maybe in terms of mentality, that was maybe also a big contribution from Roy. You know, you don't have to give a shit about people. If you say something wrong in an interview, double down, triple down, quadruple down. Who cares? Fuck them, you know?" The Apprentice opened in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, October 11, 2024.
Expect native ingredients, beef dry-aged in-house, woodfired flavours and nostalgic cocktails on Blackbird Melbourne's modern-Australian menu. The three-level Flinders Lane venue is the interstate expansion of Ghanem Group's award-winning Blackbird Brisbane, offering a striking cocktail bar and lounge, a split-level dining space and a private events floor. Quartzite backlit bars, mirrored ceilings and dramatic chandeliers (curated by Space Cubed Design Studio) bring the group's intention — to establish a sophisticated dining experience that is "unmistakenly Melbourne" — to life. Manning the charcoals on the Josper Basque Grill are Ghanem Group Executive Chef Jake Nicolson, Executive Chef Melbourne Tim Menger (formerly of Entrecôte) and Blackbird Head Chef Josh Moroney (formerly of Nomad). Nicolson invites Melburnians to "experience one of the best steaks in the country" with showcase premium Australian cuts such as the chocolate-fed Mayura Station one-and-a-half to two-kilogram full-blood wagyu tomahawk headlining the menu. Dishes such as paté with lilly pilly jam, Paroo kangaroo with toasted pepperberry and riberry jus, and wood-roasted rock lobster with warrigal greens and native herb butter speak to the focus on foraged native ingredients. So too does the cocktail list, with concoctions like the Pacific Highball pairing Glenmorangie Original with Davidson plum apera and black walnut bitters. Beverage Manager Aaron Clark injects the drinks list with Aussie nostalgia, creating whimsical cocktails such as the Pavlova Punch, Mango Weiss Colada and the Tim-Tam Slam. The drinks offering is bolstered by a 650-bin wine list, so you're unlikely to leave thirsty. Images: supplied
Outer eastern suburbia is typically a leafy refuge, often mistaken as hilly outskirts heralded by hippies. And while parts of Lilydale are most definitely lush with greenery and farms boasting local produce, The Lilydale General doesn't reside there; the cafe has taken these elements of the surrounding region and settled amongst a large manufacturing area of the suburb. You can't miss it: the carefully manicured lawn, green and white striped awnings and a flawlessly painted picket fence stand out against the uninspiring industrial surroundings. It's a great expanse inside, too — high ceilings, window panes streaming sunlight and generous spacing between tables. The staff are jovial and homely — let them bring you a coffee made with beans from the guys at Coffee Supreme and allow a bit of time for a chat about your day before you place your order. They're locals interested in looking after their fellow residents. It won't be long before you'll be digging in. The bruschetta with tomatoes, avocado mash, feta, lemon rind and dukkah served on a slice of sourdough with an additional piece underneath ($15) is faultless in flavour, but the serving could be more liberal to compensate for the extra piece of bread and price. Add an egg for an extra two bucks for something more filling. The corn and leek fritters with rocket, tomatoes and feta ($17) are another winning savoury option. For those with a sweeter tooth, go for the black rice pudding with macadamia granola, lychee and coconut ($13). The fruity flavours are balanced by a light aniseed taste coming from the granola, a pleasant experience for the palate. Like any good current day cafe, not only has The Lilydale General adopted the smoothies-in-jars phenomenon, they also cover most dietary bases: vegan, gluten free and lactose free options are all available. Fresh sandwiches, big squares of vanilla slice, lemon tarts and a rotating menu of raw desserts make up the glass cabinet at the counter. Sure, the food isn't unlike what you’d find somewhere closer to the CBD, but it is for Lilydale and, most importantly, it's good quality. Owned and loved by locals, The Lilydale General is a peripheral delight.
The full bloom of television should come as no surprise to pop culture junkies. TV isn't the new film. It's just TV — a mature medium capable of developing its own conventions and arcs. Just like film, the quality of the 2013 offering inevitably ranged from abysmal (Two Broke Girls) and 'meh' (Sex Box) to polarising (Girls) and breathtaking (Top of the Lake). But where the major movie studios indulged in a catalogue of cinematic idiocy in the form of sequels, threequels and movie-park adaptations, home viewers were part of the beautifully conceived conclusion of Breaking Bad and the continued excellence of Mad Men, Enlightened, Rake, Puberty Blues and Boardwalk Empire. After all, when were stories ever wholly defined by the medium of their communication — they're all just stories, and they're beamed via digital transit onto small screens as well as projected into cinemas. David Lynch and Michael Frost knew that a whole two decades ago, as did those who grieved for Laura Palmer and loved all the freaks of Twin Peaks. The existential angst of Travis Bickle lives on in Don Draper, the maudlin chaos of Woody Allen in Michael Bluth, and the bleak search for optimism of Lester Burnham in Louie. Hopefully we can start looking forward to full-blooded, cinematically conceptualised feature films that merely debut on TV, with the respect and glory of Steven Soderbergh's HBO work Behind the Candelabra, which scarcely fits the old-school notion of a 'telemovie'. It's 2014, and everything's up for grabs. Here's what looks good in 2014 from the vantage point of January. Gracepoint Although the human race is already surely inundated with gratuitous US remakes, the fact that original lead actor David Tennant is also starring in the American version is a good sign of what's to come. The British original, Broadchurch, has received cultish worship and critical adoration for its exploration of a beachside community in the aftermath of a boy's mysterious murder. How and Why Film's transportation to the medium of television may be well and truly complete with Charlie Kaufman's new FX comedy series. Starring Michael Cera (perfect!), and telling the "story of a man who can explain how and why a nuclear reactor works, but is clueless about life", the longform series could be the peak vehicle for the funny, deadpan, melancholic musings we know from Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. https://youtube.com/watch?v=dunRvRJIm18 Believe Mexican super-director Alfonso Cuaron and The Forgotten's Mark Friedman are writing and steering this sci-fi mystery, executive producing with Lost's J.J. Abrams. The ingredients for profound awesomeness are all there: behind-the-scenes talent, obligatory supernatural child character, potential alien subplots, a solid trailer. In the wake of Gravity's impact on Earth, let's hope Believe will showcase the same science-fiction combo of smart visual effects and big ideas (what are we doing here?!). Jonah Takalua This is a controversial one, given the division in opinion around this year's relentless Ja'mie: Private School Girl. But Jonah was always Chris Lilley's most rounded and interesting character — a disadvantaged, endearing ratbag with a foul mouth and a lost-boy need for affection (from his violent father and Gumnut Cottage remedial teacher, Jan Palmer). Jonah let Lilley flesh out the best and the worst aspects of high school: the boredom, the institution's carelessness, the ill-equipped teachers' frustration, the kids' inflamed sense of injustice and their diehard devotion to their friends. Lilley clearly hasn't forgotten that young people's problems (their social cliques, family, love affairs) are just as real and important to them as adults' problems (rent, career, social cliques, family, love affairs) are to adults. Jonah will be vital viewing. Sense8 More film heavyweights defect to television — in fact, internet television (Netflix)! Matrix directors Andy and Lana Wachowski's ability to create complex longform narratives, engaging characters, surprising cinematic visual worlds and innovative special effects (remember when 'bullet time' didn't even exist?) will be stretched by their ten-episode science-fiction drama, Sense8. A mass of ostensibly disparate characters are linked by a shared and violent vision (of the past, future, or another world?). After the confusing and disappointing narrative experimentation of the duo's last feature, Cloud Atlas, perhaps television will afford them the slow-unfolding freedom they need to realise their filmic aspirations. Also on our radar Better Call Saul (A Breaking Bad spinoff centring on Walter White's crooked lawyer Saul Goodman); the animated and clearly shambolic BoJack Horseman (voiced by Will Arnett with Aaron Paul aka Jesse Pinkman of Breaking Bad); The Secret River, an ABC adaptation of the landmark Australian novel and play; Utopia, a satire from the guys from Frontline that "explores that moment when bureaucracy and grand dreams collide"; and two (two!) untitled Tina Fey Projects to air on Fox and NBC and quench the hollowness in our post-30 Rock lives.
Coffee is a complicated game. You need to source the right beans, grind them correctly, filter them for the specified time, perhaps froth the milk to that just-right temp and you need some pure-ass water. That's because coffee is 98 percent H2O, so some average water will mean your coffee will taste average — which is a damn shame if you've shelled out for some luxe Panama Geisha beans. Specialty coffee cafes are all over this and filter their water extensively, but baby home baristas aren't so diligent. So, to ensure they don't waste those beans on sub-par water, some genius has created a type of purified water specifically for making coffee. It's called Aquiem, and it's labelled its product as 'enhanced water'. While that sounds like total wank, it's essentially water that's been distilled to take all the extra stuff out of it. Then, a blend of good minerals that are supposedly meant to enhance the flavour of coffee are added back in. Then they're packaged and sold for a couple of dollars a pop. "What you definitely do not want is to have things like zinc and lead, fluoride, chlorine and large amounts of calcium in the water. All of that effects the taste of the coffee," co-founder Rob Vidacovich told Daily Coffee News. "What does have a favourable effect on coffee are things like magnesium, potassium, and a certain right blend of calcium." The whole idea is to allow non-pro baristas to make the most of their beans and drink a damn good cup of coffee every time. The Louisiana-based company has been working on the product for six years, but officially launched at the start of this year. Aquiem is currently sold in retailers in the state, but can be ordered online. Via Daily Coffee News.
For almost two decades, Love Actually has been everyone's go-to British rom-com with festive flavour. This year, Last Christmas wants to give the star-studded classic a run for its money. And, given that it pairs Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke with Crazy Rich Asians' Henry Golding, is directed by Bridesmaids and A Simple Favour's Paul Feig, and features the music of George Michael — including the Wham! tune that shares the movie's title, obviously — this new dose of cinematic sweetness might just achieve that aim. Admittedly, Last Christmas sounds a little like the result of overlapping Venn diagrams mapping things that absolutely everyone loves. Its leads hail from one of the biggest shows of this century and one of the huge film hits of the past year, respectively. Its director has a following of his own. Even folks who aren't all that fond of Christmas manage to find a soft spot for festive flicks. And, there's never a bad time for George Michael's music — or, as Always Be My Maybe demonstrated earlier this year, for upbeat rom-coms that take their title from a beloved pop track. But, based on the just-released first trailer, this Christmassy movie doesn't just hit obvious crowd-pleasing beats. It also has plenty of charm. The fact that it's co-written by Emma Thompson, who has an Oscar for screenwriting (for Sense and Sensibility) and also co-stars in the flick, clearly helps. And, if Michael's existing hits didn't provide enough of a soundtrack, the film will also feature new, previously unreleased tunes by the late singer. Story-wise, the movie follows the cynical, Scrooge-like Kate (Clarke), who works as an elf in a year-round Christmas shop but has a distinct lack of seasonal cheer herself. She has ample reasons for her unhappy demeanour, including her stern boss (Michelle Yeoh), although she might also have some motivation to start feeling more jovial when she keeps running into the endearing Tom (Golding). Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9CEIcmWmtA Last Christmas releases in Australian cinemas on November 7.
UPDATE, March 15, 2021: Skate Kitchen is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Skate Kitchen begins with a board, a banged-up pelvis and blood gushing down a leg. But stacking it once isn't going to keep Camille (Rachelle Vinberg) from shredding, grinding and nosesliding. Nor are stitches in her nether regions, or her mother's (Elizabeth Rodriguez) insistence that she give up her hobby. Instead, the film takes Camille gliding from the parks and pavements of Long Island to the streets of Manhattan, where a gang of girls skate like the city is their playground. They're the Skate Kitchen of Skate Kitchen. An all-female collective, they air, ollie and amble around town. They hang out, smoke joints, and shoot the breeze about anything and everything. They snap and record their tricks and kickflips, immortalising their antics on Instagram. And when they welcome Camille into the fold, it changes everything for the reserved, quiet 18-year-old. Early in what proves a laidback but layered movie, filmmaker Crystal Moselle captures Skate Kitchen's leisurely vibe and the effect it has on her picture's teenage protagonist. The irrepressibly catchy beats of Junior Senior's 'Move Your Feet' take over the soundtrack as the girls walk, dance and skate their way through New York City, and Camille couldn't look happier. As well as sending the film's frames freewheeling along with the group, cinematographer Shabier Kirchner cloaks his images in a warm glow — the kind that exists in your mind when you're simply content, regardless of what your eyes actually see. It's an ethereal sequence, and yet it's also grounded in naturalism. Sunny, carefree, comforting, vibrant: that's just how being part of Skate Kitchen feels. That's how watching Skate Kitchen feels as well, although Moselle's isn't a rosy coming-of-age portrait devoid of drama. Narrative-wise, the movie charts the push-and-pull that characterises Camille's life — first between the freedom of skating and the scolding of her overprotective mum, then between friends and family, and later between her new buddies and the wannabe photographer Devon (a flame-haired Jaden Smith) who they try to warn her away from. And, while the film marks Moselle's first fictional movie, Skate Kitchen itself is real. The endlessly fascinating Vinberg is one of its crew members. So is the scene-stealing Nina Moran, who plays the joker of the gang, as well as the affectionate Ardelia Lovelace, who becomes Camille's closest friend. Here, art both imitates life and does its utmost best to represent it accurately — even when sometimes packaged with a visual sheen that'd do Sofia Coppola proud. It's unmistakably rare to see a film featuring such authentic and candid conversations between teen girls. Such a diverse yet nuanced female group, spanning different races, sexualities and personalities, is hardly regular screen fodder either. And that's before noting the obvious: that depicting young women as skateboarders, letting them carve out a place in a male-dominated domain, and spending time with them just kicking around is so uncommon that it's almost revolutionary. Indeed, that's exactly why the movie's dreamy aesthetic is such a fitting choice. Until now, a film set in this world — that's intent on fighting back against gendered expectations, and that seems so achingly real — was basically a dream. Moselle knows a thing or two about stepping into an overlooked or undiscovered realm and revealing it to the masses. In 2015, her documentary The Wolfpack was a festival circuit hit, centring on seven home-schooled New York siblings — six boys and their sister — who were virtually forbidden to leave the house by their strict father. To experience the outside world, the factual flick's subjects escaped into movies, which they not only devoured on DVD but re-enacted and re-staged in an elaborate fashion. Skate Kitchen is The Wolfpack's fictionalised female-focused counterpart in many ways, and it also sees Moselle take her doco's core idea to the next level. There, cinema helped a sheltered family feel like they existed. Here, skateboarding does just that for a lonely soul, while the overall film will provide the same sensation for anyone who has ever been a teenage girl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VTFLvLtdYw
International travel might be off the cards for the next little while, but that means it's time to soak up all the goodness in your own backyard. Australia and New Zealand are chock full of world-class travel opportunities, with lush rainforests, dazzling coastline, pristine outback and more, just waiting to be explored. And one lucky local will get to hit the road and see part of it for free, thanks to a bumper new competition from Surf Stitch. The fashion retailer has joined forces with campervan hire crew Travellers Autobarn to give away a two-week road-tripping adventure of a lifetime. The winner will score 14-day van hire — with the chance to go cruising around either New Zealand or Australia with their besties, kicking off from a location of their choice — as well as a $1500 wardrobe worth of fresh threads from Surf Stitch, to keep you all looking extra good on tour. Where and when your adventure will unfold, is entirely up to you — and COVID-19 restrictions, of course. At the moment, there are restrictions on travelling between states and territories in Australia, all of Victoria is in lockdown and you can't fly between Australia and NZ — so, if you do win, be sure to check the laws before heading off on your adventure. Restrictions aside, you could go tripping along NSW's north coast, splitting your time between sandy beach and rainforest. Touring the untouched wilderness of Tassie. Or maybe gallivanting your way around the famed Fiordland National Park and Milford Sound on New Zealand's south island. Whatever your local travel bucket-list looks like, this prize is sure to help you tick off a few gems, while giving that holiday itch a good scratch. To be in with a shot at winning your ultimate road trip, simply jump on the competition website and enter your details. Then, decide just which part of this grand old backyard is calling to you the loudest. You can enter the competition by filling in your details over at the Surf Stitch website. Entries close at 11.59pm AEST on Friday, August 14. The competition is open to citizens and permanent residents of Australia and NZ. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
Despite St Edmonds' garish exterior brickwork, entering the inner sanctum just off Greville Street, Prahran, is the complete opposite. Quiet, refined and welcoming, St Edmonds handles their space with an unassuming surety, especially in an age where new cafes pop up wherever there is room for a coffee machine. For a diner, there is nothing better than feeling at ease in your experience and knowing you'll be at liberty to let your mind wander or get caught up in conversation. Sit across the bar to inhale the selection of pastries ($5-6) on offer, or at one of the spacious tables. Either way, you'll be granted a slice of undisturbed privacy amongst fellow diners. Service is consistent and friendly, if unremarkable. The upside? Regardless of how long you spend seated you will remain undisturbed, such is the genuine, relaxed presence of St Edmonds. If you just want to dine in the presence of good company, this is certainly the place to do it. With an offering that expands to all-day eating, St Edmonds' menu is comprised of a cleverly created selection of enticing flavour combinations. The souffled omelette with smoked tomato, jamon serrano, basil and goats curd ($18) satisfies any salty cravings on hand, and in the opposite direction, the ricotta and honey pancakes with toasted pistachios, strawberry and pomegranate ($17, add bacon $20) is a decadently sweet choice. For something lighter, the seasonal fruits with honey and orange blossom ($11) finishes off a well-rounded brunch. Serves are generous and well proportioned, with a very clear emphasis on sourcing the freshest produce. Come later in the week and things become livelier; Thursday night is St Edmonds' famous burger night, and Happy Hour from 4-7pm every Thursday and Friday also provides a nice selection of vodka, wine, champagne and schooners ($5). St Edmonds is a reliable, unassuming edition to an area littered with dining options. A solid offering makes it the ideal place to while away a few wasted hours, although the enticing menu does permit just the right amount of fancy for a particular special occasion. Sleek and affable, let the food do the talking.
