The Bright Autumn Festival is a ten-day celebration of the changing of the seasons and the explosion of colours and flavours that accompany it. The festival, on from April 27 to May 6, brings together a programme of events dedicated to the autumnal produce of the High Country's valleys and the alpine scenery as the trees change from green to vivid gold and amber. Are you nuts about nuts? Then the Wandiligong Nut Festival is your opportunity to join in with the growers celebrating the harvest. On April 28 you can wander their market stalls picking up new-season nuts, fruit, wines, oils and other treats. It's the only nut festival in Australia, and the smell of the ultimate autumn nut — the chestnut — fills the air as it roasts on open cookers. Not sure what to do with your Wandi nut haul? The festival also hosts talks on how to peel and cook chestnuts, how to make chestnut hummus and pancakes, and lots of other nut-related topics. Any good road tripper knows you need souvenirs for family, friends and your fine self. For that, the Wandiligong Autumn Craft and Produce Market has got you covered. Open every day of the festival between 10am and 4pm, it showcases locally grown produce and handcrafted goods — think hand-dyed scarves, cushions, blankets, handmade cards and jewellery, along with edible souvenirs (which somehow never seem to make it home?) like homemade jams, preserves and fudges. For a real country experience, get along to the Gala Day on Saturday, May 5, when the streets of Bright are closed for one of the region's biggest community festivals, or wander 17 of the area's usually private gardens, which are opened up from April 27 to May 6 so you can appreciate their autumnal aesthetic. To plan your trip to the Bright Autumn Festival and the High Country region beyond, head to the Wander Victoria website and explore what's on this season.
Argh! Cannibals! Aargh! Clowns! Both of these things are horrible, who thought it would be a good idea to make a show that combines them? And why did I think it would be a good idea to see it? It’s not like it didn’t give due warning. The show’s name stems from the phrase 'long pig' — said to be the euphemism Polynesian cannibals used for human flesh — and every poster for the show has leering clown faces on it. It promises cannibal clowns and that’s exactly what it delivers. Three of them in fact, in butcher’s garb, with their clown noses black instead of the usual red. They scuttle round a murky stage, squabbling as they alternate between processing cannibal meat — in this context, red clown noses — and performing slightly warped versions of traditional clown acts. Despite the grotesque possibilities of the premise, the show is actually quite pedestrian. The cannibal theme has little bearing on the action for most of it, apart from informing the overall gloomy aesthetic and bleak energy-sapping soundtrack. Those expecting something visceral will not find it here. Nor is the clowning anything out of the ordinary, dependent on a familiar repertoire of slapstick, squeaky noses, silly sound effects, novelty size props and goofy facial expressions. There’s a lot of what you might call 'silly business': trivial onstage activity that looks quirky but doesn’t really advance anything. There are a few decent visual set pieces, such as a scene where a clown gives birth to a banana or one in which the trio briefly try to reclaim the persona of happy clowns in inflatable suits but find their dream literally deflating around them. They also get a bit of audience mileage with an extended parody of the crucifixion — though why cannibal clowns are being analogised to Jesus is anyone’s guess. One gets the feeling that there is a message intended here, about the tarnishing of the once jolly image of the clown into an icon of horror, or of people striving against their base natures or something of that order. It doesn’t come across though. The stronger visual scenes are disconnected without enough to tie them together and overall the show achieves neither the horror nor the poignancy it seems to be aiming for. It does seem to get enough laughs from the audience, so clearly the old bag of clown tricks still works for some. If seeing someone getting hit repeatedly on the head with a comically large hammer sounds like a good time to you, then you may well eat this show up as there’s plenty of that kind of thing. For me, the outlandish premise calls for something more adventurous in terms of comedy and dressing up stale gags in cannibal makeup doesn’t make them fresher. I would not have thought cannibal clowns could be anything other than horrible but it turns out they can in fact be simply dreary. Less "argh", more “ehh.”
Along with delivering quintessential Southern hospitality, Memphis is the destination that allows you to walk the brick-lined streets that witnessed the astronomical talent — and unprecedented ascent to fame — of Elvis Presley. The birthplace of rock 'n' roll, and home of blues and soul, is all electrifying energy and originality. This June, Baz Luhrmann is bringing the bright lights, creative flair and distinct directorial prowess he's known for to the euphonious history of Memphis with Elvis. The energetic and emotionally charged film charts the rise (and rise) of Elvis Presley (Austin Butler), celebrating the inimitable musician's music and life against the backdrop of an evolving cultural climate in 1950s and 60s America. Using the lens of Presley's relationship with his enigmatic manager Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), the bold picture tells a story of musical self-expression and monumental stardom — and the coinciding loss of innocence that was broadcast on a global stage. As hips shook, money was made and a rock 'n' roll icon immortalised. https://youtu.be/xSbQ_ERfmFQ To celebrate the release of Elvis in cinemas Thursday, June 23, Memphis Tourism is giving you the chance to win two tickets to the Australian premiere on the Gold Coast — which is where the feature was shot — on Saturday, June 4. To be in the running to rock and roll your way to the red-carpet experience, enter below. [competition]851551[/competition] Top images: Hugh Stewart (first two); Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures (third) © 2022 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.
As part of a recycling makeover for the state, Victoria is finally going to score its own container deposit scheme — but don't go holding your breath just yet. Although first announced back in February this year, the scheme isn't set to kick off officially until 2023. So, you may have to hold stash that lockdown collection of tins and bottles if you'd like to trade it in for coin. That said, the Victorian Government has just revealed what the container deposit scheme might look like, running through the details in an announcement made yesterday, Monday, November 2. It appears that you'll be exchanging your empty bottles, cans, cartons and juice boxes for ten cents a pop, with the scheme accepting containers between 150-millilitres and three-litres in volume (that is, those that tend to become litter rather than bigger and smaller sizes that are typically consumed at home). And you'll be dropping them off at a variety of different collection points, including automated reverse vending machines in public places, drive-through depots, over the counter in shops, at bag-drop points, and at pop-up collection points at events and festivals. Again, don't expect the above to come to fruition until 2023, after the system has been designed and implemented in close consultation with councils and industry. The Victorian Government is also currently asking for community feedback until Monday, November 30, which you can offer by heading online. You can give your thoughts on topics spanning how containers should be received, how refunds should be processed, what kinds of containers will be eligible and how often you think you'd use the scheme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=VxtjIl3J3d4&feature=emb_logo The move has already been a long time coming, with Victoria the only Aussie state that hadn't already committed to one — Queensland's Containers for Change program launched in late 2018, while South Australia led the charge by introducing its version way back in 1977. The container deposit scheme is just one of the Victorian Government has announced grand plans to overhaul the state's waste and recycling system, with a $300 million suite of initiatives to be rolled out across the next few years. One of the key initiatives will see homes switch from three to four different colour-coded bins, in an effort to better sort waste. A purple lid bin would be used for glass recycling; a green lid for food and garden organics; a yellow lid to recycle plastic, metal and paper; and a red lid for all other household waste. But, it's predicted the bins won't be rolled out to most households until 2030. For more information about Victoria's proposed container deposit scheme, and to provide your feedback until Monday, November 30, visit the Victorian Government website.
It's official: Melbourne now has its own rooftop brewery bar overlooking the city skyline, and you can thank former Aussie Rules football player David Neitz for making it happen. He established Brewmanity back in 2015, alongside fellow brewery lovers Jamie Fox and Paul Hopgood, to not only bring great craft beer to Melburnians but to also raise money to fight motor neurone disease — which Neale Daniher, Neitz's friend, fellow ex-footballer and coach when he was playing for Melbourne, has. To date, Brewmanity has raised nearly $970,000. And now, the trio behind it are taking things to the next level by setting up a huge 400-person, three-storey, 34-tap brewery bar in South Melbourne. The venue opened its doors on Friday, March 22, ready to fill your autumn with beers with a view. The ground floor houses the beer hall, where visitors can drink the team's craft brews surrounded by stainless steel tanks in which new creations are slowly fermenting. Head up the stairs to find another bar with a large terrace overlooking the city. But when the sun is shining, we're pretty sure punters will be racing for the rooftop, where they'll find even better vistas across Melbourne's skyline. And if Melbourne does decide to throw a surprise shower (which will inevitably happen), the venue has retractable awnings ready and waiting. Each level has a bar pumping out Brewmanity beers alongside some local independent wines, spirits and cocktails. Food comes courtesy of Chef Suman, who's serving up a selection of share plates and bar bites to hungry beer drinkers. This includes a beer braised lamb shoulder that feeds up to six people, DIY taco platters, cheeseburger sliders and mushroom arancini. There'll be no need to scale the stairs to go get a feed — just order and wait for it all to come to you. "We are proud with what we have achieved so far and there is so much more to come. We have proved that you can make a good beer that does good deeds and we hope to pour out the goodness for many years to come," said Neitz. Find Brewmanity at 44–50 Tope Street, South Melbourne. For more information, head to the venue's website.
South Melbourne is now home to a schmick new mindfulness and meditation studio, and it's offering cocktails alongside its yoga sessions. Mirosuna isn't your average yoga space. Last year, Founder Sally Kellett spent time at Vietnam's Truc Lam Monastery, where she studied under Zen Buddhist nuns. Veering away from your standard hatha and vinyasa classes, Kellett hopes to bring mindfulness into your everyday life by doing things a little differently. Classes include 'yin and tonic', a Friday-night session that focuses on releasing tight muscles and tension from the work week — and finishes off with a G&T during the wind down. You can expect more booze-related classes on the schedule in the coming months, since Mirosuna has its own liquor licence. Other special classes include sound meditation (with Kellett playing crystal singing bowls), one focused on sleep techniques (geared toward people who have difficulty falling asleep) and a 'mindfulness tea journey' — which sees participants using tea as a tool for meditation and a source of calm. Mirosuna also offers massages and free online wellness tools. The gorgeous studio was designed by Melbourne architect Melanie Beynon and is meant to exude a nurturing atmosphere. Think sustainably sourced cork floors, flowing curtains, soft lighting and custom-built acoustics. Find Mirosuna at Level 1/18 Ross Street, South Melbourne. For the full schedule of classes and events, head to the studio's website.
Both Nicola Gunn and David Woods are impressive performers and creators in their own right: Gunn has carved out a well-established indie career in Melbourne under the moniker SANS HOTEL, while Woods has appeared to acclaim in productions for Australian companies like Back to Back Theatre’s Ganesh Vs The Third Reich and a string of smash hits with his own group, Ridiculusmus. For this Malthouse Theatre production, the two have come together to make A Social Service, a satire that sees Gunn as an artist developing a work within a housing commission. Woods takes on a range of characters, from the KeepCup-wielding impresario, making wispy declarations of his love for a Punchdrunk-style performance of Macbeth in a housing estate, to the bullish president of the residents’ committee. One of the play’s central conceits is fascinating: after a while you realise that the conversation between 'Nicola' and a young, community-engaged artist from the flats (with script in hand) is itself being framed as a rehearsal or performance; a very subtle 'play-within-a-play'. It’s through this exchange that A Social Service offers its most interesting moments, as the young artist (played in this performance by Shaan Juma) starts to gently probe the aversion of this “artist-in-residence” to anything “earnest”, which she says is “something of a dirty word in my circles”. Seeing A Social Service on the night after opening, the laughter in the audience is thin on the ground. It’s not as if the play’s language is couched solely in insider jokes that only artists can understand. Gunn’s well-meaning, idealistic but ultimately naïve character is a broad enough archetype for an audience to engage with. As she writes in the show’s program, A Social Service is “a critique of the model of commissioning works intended to activate public spaces”. While that’s certainly an interesting idea — one that operates at the sticky nexus between art, money and appearances — it doesn’t seem like it can sustain the narrative as the biggest focus of an hour-long satire. Image by Pia Johnson.
Picnics and barbecues in the park are an age-old way to pass the time when the weather is fine. There's just something that makes you feel footloose and fancy-free when you're surrounded by nature, some of your favourite people and piles and piles of food. With barbecue facilities, walking paths, playground equipment for the kids and even a sculpture ('Within Three Worlds'), Princes Park in Carlton North is a great option for the next time you want to fire up the grill and spend a few hours sinking beers in the sun. Assign someone to salad duty, make sure that the person on the tools actually knows how to barbecue and bob's your uncles (maybe he can cook?). And don't forget to pack a frisbee for some post-feed fun. Your doggo is also welcome here, too, and there are off-leash areas within the park to take them to so they don't miss out on the running around fun.
From moving road trip dramas and joyous concert documentaries to passionate anthologies and wondrous animation, plenty of excellent films reached screens large and small throughout 2020. Indeed, the past 12 months were filled with cinematic delights — even when we've been watching them at home while movie theatres were closed — but, sadly, they can't all be great. Each year delivers its fair share of exceptional and awful movies, of course. And, both the best and the worst of the bunch can all score awards. The Oscars and the Golden Globes rank among the accolades that recognise the former, while the Golden Raspberries devotes its attention to the other end of the spectrum. After announcing its nominees from the past year's films last month, the Razzies has just revealed its latest batch of winners. Leading the pack from the 41st Razzie Award recipients is the terrible Sia-directed Music, which picked up three of the four categories it was nominated for: Worst Director (for Sia), Worst Actress (for Kate Hudson) and Worst Supporting Actress (for Maddie Ziegler). It didn't take out the Worst Picture field, though, with that gong going to Absolute Proof. Peddling conspiracy theories about the 2020 US election, it also picked up the Worst Actor award for Mike Lindell as himself. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm similarly picked up two awards. Also linked to the election, it deserves its nods in a different way. The film is smart, funny and savage, and definitely not awful, but scored dual wins for Rudy Giuliani (for Worst Supporting Actor, and for Worst Screen Combo with his pants zipper). Although Polish erotic drama 365 Days nabbed six nods and became the awards' first-ever contender in a language other than English, it only won one, for Worst Screenplay. Dolittle, the Robert Downey Jr-starring remake that hit cinemas before the pandemic, also only received one award from its six nominations, emerging victorious in the Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel category. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEf412bSPLs Reflecting the past year's general chaos, the Razzies also handed out a special trophy to the 2020 overall, naming it 'the worst calendar year ever'. Check out the full list of winners and nominees below: GOLDEN RASPBERRY NOMINEES AND WINNERS 2020: WORST PICTURE 365 Days Absolute Proof Dolittle Fantasy Island Music WORST ACTOR Robert Downey Jr, Dolittle Mike Lindell, Absolute Proof Michele Morrone, 365 Days Adam Sandler, Hubie Halloween David Spade, The Wrong Missy WORST ACTRESS Anne Hathaway, The Last Thing He Wanted and The Witches Katie Holmes, Brahms: The Boy II and The Secret: Dare to Dream Kate Hudson, Music Lauren Lapkus, The Wrong Missy Anna-Maria Sieklucka, 365 Days WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR Chevy Chase, The Very Excellent Mr Dundee Rudy Giuliani, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Shia LeBeouf, The Tax Collector Arnold Schwarzenegger, Iron Mask Bruce Willis, Breach, Hard Kill and Survive the Night WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy Lucy Hale, Fantasy Island Maggie Q, Fantasy Island Kristen Wiig, Wonder Woman 1984 Maddie Ziegler, Music WORST SCREEN COMBO Robert Downey Jr and his utterly unconvincing Welsh accent, Dolittle Harrison Ford and that totally fake-looking CGI dog, Call of the Wild Rudy Giuliani and his pants zipper, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Lauren Lapkus and David Spade, The Wrong Missy Adam Sandler and his grating simpleton voice, Hubie Halloween WORST DIRECTOR Charles Band, All three Barbie and Kendra movies Barbara Bialowas and Tomasz Mandes, 365 Days Stephen Gaghan, Dolittle Ron Howard, Hillbilly Elegy Sia, Music WORST PREQUEL, REMAKE, RIP-OFF or SEQUEL 365 Days Dolittle Fantasy Island Hubie Halloween Wonder Woman 1984 WORST SCREENPLAY 365 Days All three Barbie and Kendra movies Dolittle Fantasy Island Hillbilly Elegy
Grab your bowling ball and swap your bathrobe for your best purple outfit — The Jesus Rolls, the two-decades-later sequel to the Coen Brothers' 1998 cult comedy The Big Lebowski, is due to hit the big screen in 2020. Instead of abiding by The Dude (Jeff Bridges), this follow-up spends time with John Turturro's Jesus Quintana, whose love of flinging gleaming balls down lanes means that he obviously isn't a golfer. Of course, if you still want to pour a white russian to celebrate this return excursion to the Lebowski universe, that's both understandable and warranted. Turturro not only stars, but writes and directs The Jesus Rolls, which was actually filmed back in 2016. Cast-wise, he's joined by a heap of familiar faces, including Bobby Cannavale, Audrey Tautou, Jon Hamm, Susan Sarandon and Pete Davidson. The movie will be released in the US early next year just in time for The Big Lebowski's 22nd anniversary — and while plans Down Under haven't yet been revealed, start crossing your fingers. As well as following Quintana's exploits post-Big Lebowski, The Jesus Rolls will also act as a remake of 1974 French film Going Places. As per the official synopsis reported by IndieWire, the picture will chart: "a trio of misfits [Turturro, Cannavale and Tautou] whose irreverent, sexually charged dynamic evolves into a surprising love story as their spontaneous and flippant attitude towards the past or future backfires time and again, even as they inadvertently perform good deeds. When they make enemies with a gun-toting hairdresser, their journey becomes one of constant escape from the law, from society and from the hairdresser, all while the bonds of their outsider family strengthen." The Jesus Rolls doesn't have a teaser just yet, but there's never a bad time to revisit its predecessor's trailer, should you need a reminder of Quintana's initial big-screen antics. If you're keen to watch the The Big Lebowski in its entirety, it's currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd-go0oBF4Y The Jesus Rolls hits US cinemas at a yet-to-be-revealed date in early 2020. We'll update you with local release details when they come to hand. Via Deadline / IndieWire.
In 2013, after 17 years on the air, Richard Mercer played his final love song dedication. Now, Tom Hogan and Bonnie Leigh-Dodds are picking up where the Love God left off. Billed as equal parts lecture, dance party and late-night cab ride home, Love Song Dedications (without Richard Mercer) is the ultimate love letter to a broadcasting icon, as Bonnie and Tom duke it out in their quest to find the perfect ballad. The pair also host a podcast on the subject. So, if nothing else, you know they're qualified to comment on it.
Take a journey through working life over the years at the Immigration Museum's My Working Life: Stories From the Collection exhibition. Showcasing objects and projected images from the Museums Victoria collection, this installation explores the nine-to-five experiences of a range of individuals, tapping into an array of different professions, and representing cultural and social diversity within their respective fields. The exhibition primarily focuses on showing how working experiences have shaped the way society perceives culture, sexuality and gender. Accordingly, the collection showcases snake-wrangling Scottish jillaroo Bernice Kopple, Gammin Threads Design founder Tahnee Edwards, and 1940s mum and professional pattern maker Violet Morgan — as well as Laverton pigment workers, post-WWII Italian migrant and model maker Domenico Annetta, plus former refugee and human rights lawyer Nydaol Nyuon. [caption id="attachment_876625" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Laurie Richards[/caption] "This installation reflects the Immigration Museum's ongoing exploration of identity and its ever-evolving nature based on a myriad of experiences in our journey of life," explains Rohini Kappadath, Immigration Museum's General Manager. Dive into the stories of these diverse communities at My Working Life: Stories From the Collection, which will run until September 2023. [caption id="attachment_876185" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Museums Victoria - Supplied[/caption] Top image: Museums Victoria.
UPDATE, December 14, 2020:Marriage Story is available to stream via Netflix. Talk about a bait-and-switch. Marriage Story opens with Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) and Charlie (Adam Driver) penning tender, generous prose about each other, explaining why they fell in love and built a life together. As they speak, writer/director Noah Baumbauch pairs their praise with glimpses of the New York-based couple's romantic highlights. But these aren't love letters. Rather, as viewers disconcertingly discover, they're part of a pre-divorce therapy exercise. And while Marriage Story does indeed tell the tale of the pair's marriage, this devastatingly astute and empathetic drama does so within a portrait of their relationship's dying days and its rocky aftermath, particularly focusing on the custody battle over their young son Henry (Azhy Robertson). 'Talk' is a keyword here. It's not by accident that Baumbach starts his 12th film with two hearty, revelatory monologues — the first of many. Chatter has often played a large part in the acclaimed filmmaker's movies, with his characters exposing their woes and shortcomings with a sea of words — and his actors, including the astonishing Johansson and Driver here, benefit from meaty, multifaceted roles as a result. Greenberg's titular grump, Frances Ha's buoyant but directionless twenty-something and The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)'s feuding family members all fit the above description. Everyone in While We're Young and Mistress America, too. In his ever-perceptive way, Baumbach hones in on figures whose lives are a shambles, then watches as they natter their way forward — revealing their fragile core while revelling in the minutiae of their existence. Nicole moves back to Los Angeles and tells her new lawyer (Laura Dern) about frustrations she hasn't dared voice in years: about being a rising Hollywood commodity who married an experimental theatre wunderkind, putting her wants and needs on hold, and feeling like Charlie was always directing their lives. And, as she does so, we don't just hear her story — we also learn about who she is, what she holds dear and where her path might lead, all while we listen and watch. When Charlie tries to juggle making the leap to Broadway for the first time and jetting back-and-forth to LA to see Henry, we go through the same process with him as gets annoyed with Nicole's decisions, pinballs around town, yet hardly makes the most of his time with his son. Marriage Story overflows with these kinds of scenes. The movie's duelling monologues basically continue from the outset, even when Nicole and Charlie are talking to others, or singing (which they both do) — and even when they're not saying a word. Taking the audience through these moments, and through the couple's clearly tumultuous times, Johansson and Driver are exceptional. It's through their achingly realistic work, and their way with Baumbach's witty and incisive script (and, yes, its words) that Marriage Story comes alive. Between this, his excellent performance in The Report, and standout turns in The Dead Don't Die and The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Driver is having a fantastic year (and Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker isn't even out yet). Meanwhile, demonstrating that she's acting's successor to the great Annette Bening, Johansson makes her biggest on-screen impact since the trio of Lucy, Her and Under the Skin. The two aren't just impressive — they make you feel Nicole and Charlie's ups and downs and, especially, the raw uncertainty about their new futures. And, they'll likely earn a string of well-deserved nominations and awards for their efforts, as should Dern as one of the uncompromising figures caught in the middle. (Ray Liotta and Alan Alda are also memorable as the legal eagles in Charlie's corner.) These are all sharp, layered performances that fill a big screen — perhaps a contentious point given that Marriage Story was funded by Netflix, and plays in cinemas before hitting the streaming platform in a few weeks. It might seem counterintuitive, but Baumbach's intimate, dialogue-heavy films and their accompanying portrayals soak up the light and room that a larger canvas provides, as if the director is putting his scenarios and characters under a magnifying glass. (He is, of course; that's what movies do.) His naturalistic imagery, lensed here by the visually talented Robbie Ryan (I, Daniel Blake, American Honey, The Favourite), also relishes the heftier format, laying bare the everyday interiors that fill the feature's frames, as well as the space that frequently blankets its protagonists. Indeed, in the movie's biggest confrontation, to watch Driver and Johansson go head-to-head against the beige walls of the west coast apartment Charlie doesn't even want to be renting is to witness the heart and soul of Marriage Story. Two people, ordinary surroundings, relatable circumstances, a whole lot of talk and a mess of whirling emotions — that's this shattering but phenomenal drama in a nutshell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHi-a1n8t7M
It's no secret that martinis are having a bit of a moment. But if you want to sip one that's genuinely different, you'll want to seek out Haku Vodka. Made from polished Japanese white rice and crafted by the House of Suntory, Haku Vodka is basically everything a martini lover dreams of. This winter, it's being poured at some of the best bars in the country as part of a limited-time experience pairing bespoke Hakumai Martinis with rice-inspired dishes. We're talking Bar Sumi, Icebergs Bondi, The Roosevelt, Prefecture 48, Aster, Island Radio, Letra House, Toko Restaurant and Moku in Sydney. In Melbourne, there's also The Blacksmith Bar, La La Land, Bar 1806, Warabi, Curious, Rossi, Ugly Duckling, Kushiro, Bar Jayda, Le Bar Supper Club, Holy Grail and Yugen Dining to check out. To celebrate, we're giving four lucky winners a $200 voucher each to enjoy the full experience for themselves. To go in the running, just tell us in 25 words or less: What's your ideal martini — and why? For the full details, see the comp form below. T&Cs apply. [competition]1016425[/competition]
From its opening scene, Terminator: Dark Fate succeeds in its most important mission: to go back in time and kill off every Terminator movie that came out after Terminator 2: Judgment Day. It's not that the subsequent films were awful (well, maybe Genysis), but their heart-pumping action scenes and lore-developing stories couldn't capture the complexity of the 1984 original and its 1991 sequel. They also lacked two other key components: writer/director James Cameron, as well as Linda Hamilton's version of kick-ass hero Sarah Connor. In Terminator: Dark Fate, they both return, with Cameron producing and helping come up with the story, and Hamilton raising hell as the gun-blazing terminator of terminators. We just wish that the latter had been more of a surprise. Blame the trailer — which not revealed the film's two biggest and best character reprisals, but also almost every one of its key action moments. That's Dark Fate's biggest mistake, because none of these parts of the movie needed to be teased. Terminator is one of those rare and fortunate franchises in the enviable position of owning its audience's heart and soul. Like Star Wars, Die Hard and Harry Potter, fans of the originals can't stop seeing these films, even if their love keeps waning with each increasingly disappointing sequel. As a result, what would've rated as genuine "no... fucking... way!?!" scenes in Dark Fate are rendered entirely anti-climactic, sucking the oxygen out of every prior moment as soon as you realise "oh, this is when Sarah rocks up". And yet, while Dark Fate's best moments fail to hit home as they might otherwise have done, the sixth instalment in the Terminator series still has a lot going for it. First and foremost, director Tim Miller (Deadpool) keeps the cast noticeably small, with just five main characters and only a few minor supporting roles. The first three are all franchise newbies, each holding their own against the veterans. Dani (Natalia Reyes) is a young Mexican girl who finds herself the target of a whole different kind of terminator called the Rev-9 (a terrific Gabriel Luna). Standing in its way is an augmented human named Grace (Mackenzie Davis), a soldier sent back from 2042 to protect Dani — just as Michael Biehn's character was in the first film. Indeed, much of Dark Fate plays out in familiar territory. Like the first two Terminator pictures, it's primarily a chase movie, with some scenes feeling almost too samey (the freeway pursuit sequence, for example, except this time it features a bulldozer instead of a semi-trailer). Where the film shines, though, is in its returning stars: Hamilton's Sarah Connor and Arnie's iconic T-800 'Model 101' terminator. Hamilton, in particular, reminds us how effortlessly she can be a total badass without it ever feeling forced or exaggerated — and even leaves you annoyed that more films haven't capitalised on this fact over the last 30 years. In contrast, Arnie's return is entirely different to his previous turns in the role. The trailers haven't spoiled that side of things, at least. So we'll say no more, except to note that all the CGI in the world still can't match the menacing simplicity of an exposed metallic eyeball or finger, and it's great to have him — and them — back. For those wondering how this story can even exist given the events of previous instalments, Dark Fate does a nice job of answering its own temporal conundrums. On that front, there's a genuinely unsettling edge to the idea of an inevitable apocalypse caused by human hubris and irresponsibility. Whether research companies, the military or tech startups play an influential part, the suggestion that our actions always eventually culminate in the creation of a mechanical monster seems to echo louder in the mind every time news arrives of another breakthrough in automation and artificial intelligence. "Skynet is coming" used to be an easy punchline, but these days it feels more like a warning — and Dark Fate neatly plays around in that space. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdivOFoF8-g
Vampires can be slain by staking them in the heart. Werewolves aren't fond of silver bullets. But Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement's addition to the undead world can't and won't be killed — not that anyone would want that outcome. First, What We Do in the Shadows jumped from a short film to a hilarious feature-length comedy. Next, it not only inspired an Emmy-nominated US television remake, but also New Zealand television spinoff Wellington Paranormal. And in the latter's case, following its first two exceptionally amusing seasons, it's returning to Australian screens for its six-episode third season this month. We've said it before, and we'll say it again: trust a mockumentary about the undead to keep coming back in new guises. The Cops-style spinoff follows police officers Karen O'Leary and Mike Minogue, who WWDITS fans might remember came knocking at the vampire share house's door. With the help of Sergeant Maaka (Maaka Pohatu), the cop duo keep trying to keep the city safe from supernatural happenings — including not only bloodsuckers and lycanthropes, but ghosts, aliens and more. Wellington Paranormal's third season once again explores the spate of paranormal phenomena popping up in the city, with a whole heap of new spooky occurrences attracting O'Leary, Minogue and Maaka's attention. And, as it keeps wandering through strange but funny and silly territory, it'll welcome another familiar face, with Rhys Darby set to reprise his What We Do In The Shadows role. Although he won't be appearing on-screen, Clement directed half of the new season's episodes, too. In Australia, Wellington Paranormal airs on SBS Viceland and streams via SBS On Demand, which'll remain the case again this year. Episodes will drop weekly on both the free-to-air channel and the online platform from Wednesday, February 24. For those following What We Do in the Shadows' continued evolution, Wellington Paranormal's success shouldn't come as a surprise. When the show was first revealed, Waititi described it as "Mulder and Scully but in a country where nothing happens" on Twitter, after all. Wellington Paranormal's third season starts screening on SBS Viceland and SBS On Demand from Wednesday, February 24.
Our Flag Means Death might be no more, after the pirate rom-com was cancelled after two seasons, but getting giggling at Rhys Darby is still on the agenda. The New Zealand comedian has hardly been away from the screen for more than 15 years, ever since Flight of the Conchords became one of HBO's best-ever sitcoms, so he's been inspiring laughs for years. For the first time in nearly a decade, however, he's returning to the stand-up stage — and he's coming to Australia. Fans can expect gags about AI, robots, dads wearing tight jeans and more — and the mix of absurdity and insights that have always marked Darby's brand of comedy — when The Legend Returns tour plays Melbourne's Athenaeum Theatre from Tuesday, April 8–Sunday, April 13. [caption id="attachment_915747" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Our Flag Means Death, Nicola Dove[/caption] Between calling band meetings on Flight of the Conchords and finding love while swashbuckling on Our Flag Means Death, his career has spanned everything from The X-Files, A Series of Unfortunate Events and Wellington Paranormal to Sweet Tooth, SpongeBob SquarePants and Monsters at Work on the small screen. On the big screen, Darby has also been a frequent presence, thanks to The Boat That Rocked, What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Jumanji: The Next Level, Uproar, Next Goal Wins and plenty more. [caption id="attachment_980410" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Gage Skidmore via Flickr[/caption]
From French, Greek, Italian and Japanese to Jewish, British, Turkish and Russian, Australian cinemas have welcomed a vast array of cultural film festivals throughout 2017 — but they're not done just yet. Now in its second year, the Cine Latino Film Festival might be the last touring film fest of this year; however, it's here to help end the movie-going calendar with plenty of Central and South American cinema gems. This year's lineup includes Mexican rom-coms, Argentinian escape thrillers, Peruvian musicals and Chilean road movies, plus more from the festival's 26 film journey through everywhere from Uruguay to Cuba to Colombia to Ecuador. With the fest currently doing the rounds of Aussie capitals until November 29, we've picked five must-see movies from the jam-packed program. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECe0jfpNLKc YOU'RE KILLING ME SUSANA Is it possible to put on a Latin American film festival without Gael García Bernal showing up somewhere? Based on Cine Latino's two outings so far, clearly not. After turning in one of the finest performances of his career in last year's Neruda, the Mexican star returns for You're Killing Me Susana. Swapping poetry, police and politics for marital dramas, he plays the suddenly solo Eligio, who wakes up to find his wife has left him and then follows her to the US — as based on the novel Ciudades Desiertas by Mexican writer José Agustín. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnIE6y5KBwY WINTER Winter may roam across an icy landscape but it's every inch the western, its frosty sights playing home to a classic tale of survival in an unforgiving location. Winning a special jury prize for its cinematography at last year's San Sebastian International Film Festival, the debut feature from writer/director Emiliano Torres follows an older worker forced to face his future when a younger counterpart starts taking over much of his foreman role. Like many a traditional oater, it values sparse dialogue and stunning sights to help thrust the story forward https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGBVKLIbDqk WOODPECKERS Set in a Dominican Republic prison, stemming from reality and shot on location, Woodpeckers genuinely tells a tale you don't hear every day. In fact, you likely haven't heard this tale before. While the idea of love trying to conquer the odds is far from new, the story of petty thief Julián (Jean Jean) and female inmate Yanelly (Judith Rodriguez) is immersed in a location-specific sliver of jailhouse culture. Here, in a moving and immersive effort, detainees communicate via their own form of forbidden sign language — also known as woodpecking — from their respective men's and women's facilities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hi2FH_afxs EL INCA Add El Inca to the pile of big-screen boxing efforts, and add it to the list of controversial films as well. In its homeland, the Venezuelan feature was taken out of cinemas as a result of a court order; however, that hasn't stopped it from becoming the country's submission for this year's foreign-language film category at the Academy Awards. Based on the plight of real-life two-weight world champion Edwin 'El Inca' Valero, the movie not only steps through his professional bouts, but also his personal troubles — including his relationship with his wife, and the tragedies that result. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdA1c1ujTs8 GABRIEL AND THE MOUNTAIN Gabriel and the Mountain might initially seem like a Brazilian version of Into the Wild, but this Cannes Critics Week standout delves deeper as it tells its own true tale. With spectacular visuals providing quite the backdrop, this blend of recreation and reality charts traveller Gabriel Buchmann's quest to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. He's played by an actor, João Pedro Zappa; however the film pairs him with the people the actual Buchmann crossed paths with, in an involving, insightful and all-round stirring feature that's part travelogue, part character study, part untraditonal documentary. The 2017 Cine Latino Film Festival will screen at Sydney's Palace Norton Street and Palace Verona from November 14 to 29, Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como and Palace Westgarth from November 16 to 29, and Brisbane's Palace Centro from November 16 to 29. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
UPDATE Tuesday, June 21: The Melbourne run of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' has been extended due to popular demand, with tickets now available up until Sunday, August 7. The following has been updated to reflect this change. If you're looking to sink your teeth into an impressive piece of theatre this winter, you probably can't beat the visionary, one-person show that is Sydney Theatre Company's hit production of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Now, it's coming to Melbourne. You read that correctly: in Kip Williams' groundbreaking adaptation of the famed Oscar Wilde novel, Eryn Jean Norvill quite literally owns the stage, playing all 26 of the show's characters. And the response to the production's oft-extended, regularly-sold-out Sydney runs should tell you just how stellar a job she does of it. Hitting the Arts Centre Melbourne Playhouse from Sunday, June 5–Sunday, August 7 as part of Rising festival, the play's brought to life using a clever mix of staging tricks, camera work, projections, recordings and exceptional acting. Audiences will find themselves drawn into the witty world of Wilde's Dorian Gray as it dives into society's relentless obsession with youth and beauty. [caption id="attachment_856346" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dan Boud[/caption] Images: Dan Boud
The ever-popular Deeds Brewing finally has a taproom and tasting bar of its own, located in the same 2600-square-metre former mechanics workshop its brewery calls home. With room for 150 people across a ground floor and booth-filled mezzanine level, the lofty, mod-industrial space offers views of the brewing equipment and fermentation tanks from wherever you sit. A 28-tap lineup focuses on Deeds' own house creations, pouring year-round sips like the XPA (from $5.5) and Juice Train NEIPA (from $8) alongside a rotation of seasonal and limited-edition brews. The beers are backed by a curation of local wine, Aussie spirits and cocktails, plus brewery tours and tastings will also be on offer. A clever yet approachable menu from Head Chef Paul Kasten (Stomping Ground, Host Dining) incorporates both beer and classic beer ingredients throughout. Expect bites like focaccia teamed with malt butter, hop-cured salmon with creme fraiche and Geraldton wax, and brussels sprouts elevated with pale malt and onion cream. Blue Grenadier might be coated in a Deeds draught batter and matched with malt vinegar, while a wagyu MS9+ blade fillet comes served alongside an ale glaze and green chilli harissa. And if dessert's on the cards, prepare to be won over by the likes of a stout brownie or a malted whipped cheesecake with caramelised puff pastry. Paired with a serve of Deeds' latest dark, malty creation, of course.
Melbourne may not have many phwoar views, but you wouldn't know it perched on the terrace of Transit's Cocktail Lounge. The cool breeze off the Yarra below fans the view of the Arts Center precinct, sweeping down to the towers of Southgate. The crowd is usually a healthy mix of Southbank's after-work set with G&T's the refreshment of choice. Check out our full list of the ten best rooftop bars in Melbourne. Images: Giulia Morlando.
Sourcing a large variety of pots and planters from around the world, The Balcony Garden is where you need to head for top-notch ceramics that'll liven up just about any space, including your makeshift inner city garden. Across a series of thoughtfully created ranges, The Balcony Garden works with local and international artisan designers to produce handmade products that are suited for both modern and classical architecture. After being in business for 12 years, The Balcony Garden opened its Richmond showroom in mid-2018, making it the place to explore if you're on the hunt for some ethically made ceramics and an assortment of related accessories.
The shock of unkempt hair, the Irish brogue, the misanthropic attitude: there's no mistaking Dylan Moran for anyone else. It was true in beloved British sitcom Black Books, when his on-screen alter ego abhorred mornings, ate coasters and claimed that his oven could cook anything (even belts). And it's definitely true of the comedian's acerbically hilarious live shows. Moran is no stranger to Australia, but if you haven't guffawed at his bleak wit live, he's coming back late in 2019 to give you another chance. This time around, expect the kind of deadpan gags, wine-soaked insights and blisteringly sharp one-liners that've kept him in the spotlight since 1996, when he became the youngest-ever winner of the Edinburgh Fringe's Perrier Award. From late October to early December, Moran will tour the country with his latest show, Dr Cosmos, bringing his grumpily lyrical musings on love, politics, misery and the everyday absurdities of life to 14 Aussie cities. Kicking off in Wollongong and ending up in Brisbane, his upcoming visit marks his first Australian trip since 2015, when he was eliciting giggles with his Off the Hook tour. That mammoth effort took in a whopping 149 cities worldwide. As well as his stint as the world's worst bookshop owner in Black Books, Moran has popped up in films such as Notting Hill and Shaun of the Dead, should you been keen to get watching (or rewatching) before his new gigs. Nabbing tickets to his Dr Cosmos early is recommended — his shows usually sell out quickly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gy3C7cMNeg DYLAN MORAN 'DR COSMOS' 2019 DATES Wollongong — Wednesday, October 23, Town Hall Canberra — Friday, October 25, Royal Theatre Sydney — Tuesday, October 29, Sydney Opera House Melbourne — Saturday, November 2, Hamer Hall Launceston — Saturday, November 9, Princess Theatre Hobart — Sunday, November 10, Wrest Point Entertainment Centre Adelaide — Tuesday, November 12, Thebarton Theatre Perth — Thursday, November 14, Riverside Theatre Darwin — Monday, November 18, Entertainment Centre Cairns — Wednesday, November 20, Convention Centre Townsville — Friday, November 22, Entertainment Centre Gold Coast — Saturday, November 23, Star Theatre Newcastle — Monday, November 25, Civic Theatre Brisbane — Monday, December 2, QPAC Concert Hall Dylan Moran's 'Dr Cosmos' tickets go on sale at 9am on Tuesday, May 14, with pre-sales available now. For more information, head to the AB Presents website.
In an era rife with greenwashing, marketing buzzwords like 'sustainable' or 'eco-friendly' are readily thrown around (and rarely mean much). That makes Australia's first 1 Hotel special: an inside with a palpable connection to the outside. The 1 Hotels brand began in Miami in 2015 and was founded by Barry Sternlicht, the current chairman of Starwood Capital Group. Sternlicht's vision was a luxury hotel constructed from reclaimed materials and with nature-led design in mind — a place where comfort and sustainability walk hand-in-hand. A decade later, the franchise comprises 19 locations across North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region — the latest addition being a heritage-listed site along Melbourne's Yarra River. "We've created a waterfront destination that immerses guests in nature while celebrating the city's rich legacy and forward-thinking spirit," says Sternlicht of the Melbourne site. "This hotel [is about] how travel can inspire a deeper commitment to the world around us. The water inspires calm and serenity, which is what our brand is meant to convey: an oasis for travellers to escape the rigours of travel." [caption id="attachment_1013298" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The facade of 1 Hotel Melbourne.[/caption] 1 Hotel Melbourne is housed inside (and on top of) the heritage-listed Goods Shed No.5, the last of the unrenovated 1800s goods sheds that once made up Melbourne's busiest port. The hotel's industrial elements — bluestone pavers, steel trusses, timber doors salvaged from the original build — are juxtaposed against natural materials used throughout. Wicker, wood and tactile textiles like bouclé and jute make up the furnishings on the riverfront deck outside and in the Crane Bar & Lounge, From Here by Mike restaurant and Upstairs bar. 4,500 square metres of reclaimed timber is used in the cladding and furnishings. Beyond the interior design choices, living elements breathe a sense of tranquillity into 1 Hotel Melbourne — the vaulted ceilings of the shed allow for indoor trees (already impressive in their infancy), while real moss adorns the frame of each of the hotel's room doors. There are more than 7,000 plants inside the venue, reinforcing the hotel's biophilic approach. [caption id="attachment_1013302" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Crane Bar & Lounge.[/caption] Inside the rooms, careful choices have been made to encourage, but not demand, that guests make sustainable choices. There's filtered water on tap, complete with a carafe and glasses made from recycled wine bottles, an hourglass timer in the shower, and a plaque for the 1 Hotel's 1 Less Thing program — simply place it on top of any unwanted items to ensure they're donated to a local charity store. Instead of a typical synthetic room key and a cardboard 'Do Not Disturb' sign, you'll instead receive a circular wooden token key and a rock to place outside your door if you'd like some privacy. [caption id="attachment_1013301" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The 1 Hotel pool, sauna and steam room.[/caption] The commitment to being eco-friendly extends to the Bamford (a sustainable skin and body care brand) products throughout the hotel, including in the Bamford Wellness Spa — a haven of wellness, tranquillity and self-care hidden on level three. In addition to the spa, all guests also have access to a full gym, pool, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room. Though you'll be within walking distance of some of Melbourne's best drinking and dining at 1 Hotel Melbourne, the hotel's From Here by Mike restaurant is a must-visit. Chef Mike McEnearney has constructed a seasonally rotating menu that champions ethically sourced, hyperlocal produce — complemented by a similarly intentional drinks list featuring over 40 Victorian winemakers. Expect an exciting fusion menu, spanning the full gamut of European to Asian culinary influences. [caption id="attachment_1013297" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The vintage five-year ribeye at From Here By Mike.[/caption] Images: 1 Hotel
Tucked between the lively restaurants and bars of Yarraville Village, Lonni is the embodiment of everything owner and local resident Roselyn Moncrieff loves. Stocking a rich variety of Australian brands across fashion and lifestyle, Moncrieff has chosen everything inside herself, as she's gradually curated a selection of wares that she considers the best in the business. Featuring the likes of Rolla's Jeans, Assembly Label, Elka Collective and Zulu & Zephyr, Lonni has a keen focus on supporting local brands who also have a positive ethos. Spend some time between the shelves among the large collection of indoor plants, we're sure you'll find something you love. Image: Immerse Creative.
Top-of-the-line design meets state-of-the-art optical health research in this contemporary eyewear retailer right in the heart of Fitzroy's Gertrude Street. Optometrist Doctor Jayson Stone and store manager and buyer Kenny Chua have definitely proven they've got an eye for style when it comes to specs selection. Aesthetically pleasing frames and carefully crafted lenses to help you express your individuality make a visit to this shop a no-brainer. Treat yourself to a new pair ahead of getting stuck into your to-be-read pile, or pick up a pair of sunnies as a gift for a loved one. Images: Maitreya Chandorkar
What starts with a progress pride flag-raising ceremony, officially opens with Kylie Minogue and Charli XCX, features Kelly Rowland leading a Domain Dance Party, and ends with MUNA and G Flip? What features the long-awaited return of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade to Oxford Street (with new viewing areas), more than 45 rainbow artworks all around town and a monumental pride march with 50,000-plus people walking across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, too? In other words, what'll make Sydney the centre of the queer universe from Friday, February 17–Sunday, March 5, and make history in the process? Sydney WorldPride, the first WorldPride ever held in the southern hemisphere, and basically a mega Mardi Gras — and your unmissable reason to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community in the New South Wales capital. The above events are just a taste of this massive event's vivid lineup. In total, more than 300 shows, gigs, exhibitions, parties and more are taking over Sydney over 17 days, making Sydney WorldPride the largest-ever LGBTQIA+ festival ever held in the region. Still on numbers, that hefty total includes 19 official major events, 68 WorldPride Arts experiences, 17 WorldPride Sports events and 192 Pride Amplified community events. That's quite the lineup to sift through, so here's the short version: wherever you are in Sydney during WorldPride, expect the festival to be in the vicinity. Other standouts include the Bondi Beach Party, which will turn the famed stretch of sand into an openair club for a casual 12,000 people, complete with dancing to Nicole Scherzinger by the water from dusk; the return of Queer Art After Hours at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and its new building; the Mardi Gras Film Festival hosting its 30th fest, including an online program; and the Queer Formal. There's also the gigs at Sydney WorldPride's at Marri Madung Butbut (Many Brave Hearts): the First Nations Gathering Space — such as the Klub Village party and performance, the Miss First Nation drag contest, and exhibition Bloodlines, which honours artists lost to HIV/AIDS. And, addd lesbian divorce comedy Blessed Union, the Australian premiere of Choir Boy by Moonlight co-writer Tarell Alvin McCraney, and installation Eulogy for the Dyke Bar — which will indeed operate as a bar — to your list as well. Throw in a 24-hour dance piece, a comedy night hosted by Ru Paul's Drag Race Down Under's Coco Jumbo, and Powerhouse Museum's showcase of Sydney's leading LGBTQIA+ artists, designers, makers and performers as well, and there's just one word for it: stunning.
Nearly two decades after Hae Min Lee's murder, the Baltimore high school student's horrific plight continues to dominate the true crime landscape. After featuring on the first season of Sarah Koenig's grimly addictive podcast Serial, it's now forming the basis for a new documentary series, The Case Against Adnan Syed. Announced by HBO, the four-hour effort will pick up where everyone's 2014 obsession left off, not only exploring 18-year-old Lee's death in 1999 and her ex-boyfriend Syed's conviction in 2000, but the latter's ongoing quest to have the extremely complex legal matter reassessed in the years since he was found guilty. Everything from Lee and Syed's relationship, to the original police investigation and trial, to the developments up until now will feature, with the film gaining exclusive access to Syed, his family and his lawyers. The series couldn't come at a more crucial time for Syed, who was convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to life in prison, and continues to fight his case through the courts. While he was granted a new trial in 2016, that ruling was subsequently appealed by the State of Maryland — only for the Court of Special Appeals to agree to vacate Syed's conviction and finally give him that retrial just this past March. A date for the actual retrial hasn't yet been set, however. Splashed across the small screen, it's certain to make for compelling viewing — but if you think you've spent too much time mulling it all over across the past five years, filmmaker Amy Berg has you beat. Unsuprisingly given how complicated the matter is, the director has been working on the project since 2015. And, with her excellent doco background — with Berg helming 2006's Oscar-nominated 2006 Deliver Us from Evil, about molestation in the Catholic Church; examining the West Memphis Three's quest for freedom in 2012's West of Memphis; and tackling the sexual abuse of teenagers in the film industry in 2014's An Open Secret — her new venture is certain to be thorough. Currently in post-production, The Case Against Adnan Syed will air sometime in 2019. Plus, as they did for West of Memphis, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis will provide the score. Image: Adnan Syed via Syed Family / Courtesy of HBO.
A shadowy old house. A strange little boy. An unexplained object that won't go away. There's nothing particularly revolutionary about The Babadook; it's simply a matter of execution. Taking time-honoured plot points that in lesser hands would seem cliched, Queensland director Jennifer Kent has managed to craft a film that feels both entirely original and utterly terrifying. Featuring both a gripping lead performance by Essie Davis and one of the most creepifying monsters to ever stalk your dreams, The Babadook sets a bar by which future local horror films will be measured. Davis plays Amelia, the overwhelmed, widowed mother of a seven-year-old problem child named Samuel (newcomer Noah Wiseman). A maladjusted and volatile lad with a penchant for producing homemade weapons, Sammy is quite the handful for his mum, who's still haunted by the trauma of losing her husband in a car-wreck while driving to the hospital on the night of her Samuel's birth. One evening, while putting Samuel to bed, Amelia finds a mysterious new book on the boy's bookshelf. Written in Dr Seuss-style rhymes, the story it tells is of a strange, spindly-fingered creature named Mr Babadook. Although innocent at first, the stanzas grow steadily more menacing. Of course, by the time Amelia clues on to the fact that this might not be suitable bedtime reading, the damage has already been done. In an age when 'scary' is so often mistaken for 'bloody', Kent gives us a reminder of the power of anticipation. With next to zero onscreen violence, The Babadook is the kind of slow-burn horror movie that gets under your skin and raises the hairs on your neck; the kind of horror movie that has you bracing yourself for the next scare yet still catches you off guard when the monster finally rears its ugly head. A stop-frame creation that lurks in the shadows, the eponymous Babadook moves with a slithering unreality that seems to freeze the blood vessels in your brain. You know he can't exist. And yet he does. The terror comes also from our empathy with Amelia and Sam. Present in just about every scene, Davis is phenomenally good as Amelia, a worn-down figure who becomes increasingly erratic, and then monstrous herself, as the Babadook's presence grows stronger. More than once, the film implies that the creature may just be a product of Amelia's frazzled mind, pushed to the brink by the death of her husband and the constant demands of her son. In truth, that might be the most frightening suggestion of all. Kent doesn't quite stick the landing, unfortunately. Ambiguity is one thing, but the ending here is just plain unclear. Even so, an unsatisfying coda doesn't undo what came before. To anyone who can handle their heart in their throat, consider The Babadook highly recommended. To anyone who can handle their heart in their throat, consider The Babadook highly recommended. https://youtube.com/watch?v=IuQELNFtr-g
In the Swan Street space once home to Saint Urban, now sits owner Martin Pirc's (Punch Lane, Juliet) latest venture — a much-loved neighbourhood pit-stop for wining, dining and general merriment, named Waygood. It's a relaxed space with a charming streetside terrace, a penchant for top-notch, yet accessible wine and a menu designed by group Executive Chef Nuno Gabriel. From the kitchen, an oft-changing lineup heroes approachable dishes and real ingredients, guided by seasonality without tying itself too firmly to any one cuisine. You might find yourself easing into your meal with bites like the sweet tamarind caramel pork spiked with a touch of chilli and perched atop a betel leaf; or perhaps a light, bright riff on miso eggplant, finished with edamame and pea shoots. Glossy salmon pastrami is teamed with a dill creme fraiche and house-made crackers, the cauliflower steak is enlivened with pistachio dukkah and an eggplant kasundi, and a daily-changing fresh pasta special shows off a flair for Italian flavours. As for the vinous accompaniments, consider yourself totally spoilt for choice. A reasonably priced cellar selection runs to a hefty 80-strong rotation of bottles, available to grab-and-go, or to enjoy right there with your meal. Among them sits a solid spread of biodynamic and low-intervention drops, should you fancy quaffing something like the Moondarra pet-nat rosé ($15/74) or Quealy's Pobblebonk ($70) while you soak up rays on the terrace. A brief lineup of cocktails is equally primed for aperitivo hour — try the Davo Plum Sour ($20) or a Boulevardier made on Starward's Two-Fold whisky ($24). Images: Kristoffer Paulsen
UPDATE, April 26, 2021: Sorry to Bother You is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, Amazon Video and iTunes. How do you make a movie about the perils of apathy and complacency? A film that holds a mirror up to today's gleefully consumerist, corporation-driven society? A portrait of a world where money means power, and where both mean exploiting the many to enrich the few? If you're The Coup frontman turned first-time filmmaker Boots Riley, you also make a satirical comedy set in an alternate version of present-day Oakland, and a science-fiction fantasy that combines surreal images and scenarios with a savage message. You expose and skewer the status quo when it comes to race, class and wealth — and you tap into the anxiety that's become the prevailing mood of the 21st century. In short, you make Sorry to Bother You. Discussing the state of the world with with pals Salvador (Jermaine Fowler) and Squeeze (Steven Yeun), Cassius 'Cash' Green (Lakeith Stanfield) is offered a nugget of wisdom about the reason that nothing ever changes. "If you get shown a problem, and you have no idea how to control it, then you just decide to get used to the problem," he's told. Consider Sorry to Bother You the counterpoint — an audacious, absurd, amusing and highly entertaining rebuttal of simply accepting, assimilating, trying to conform and aiming to please. Riley takes Cash down a path that he can't merely grin and bear, in a picture that recalls Get Out and BlacKkKlansman in a vital way: it refuses to be shrugged off, ignored or overlooked. Get comfortable, because it's a wild ride. That said, being comfortable and content is a thorny notion in a film that paints the masses as workhorses for the rich, has everyone loving a reality show called I Got the S#*@ Kicked Out of Me!, and makes its protagonist rap for the braying approval of a largely white party. When viewers first meet Cash, he's anything but comfortable. In fact, he's waving about a fake 'employee of the month' plaque at a job interview, living in his uncle's (Terry Crews) garage with his artist girlfriend Detroit (Tessa Thompson) and barely managing to get by. He still gets the telemarketer gig, because they happily admit they'll hire anyone, but hawking encyclopaedias by phone is as soulless and soul-destroying as it sounds. Then a colleague (Danny Glover) gives Cash a tip: "use your 'white' voice". Taking his advice, he starts smooth-talking customers with tones that resemble Arrested Development's David Cross. Success follows, with Cash skyrocketing through the ranks to join the company's elite employees on the luxuriously appointed top floor. While his basement-dwelling ex-coworkers strike for better conditions, Cash is earning more cash than he's ever dreamed of, as well as the attention of hard-partying frat-boy CEO Steve Lift (Armie Hammer). He's also making multi-million dollar sales spruiking Lift's WorkFree concept, which promises ordinary folks a roof over their head and three meals a day if they sign a lifetime labour contract. Corporatised slavery is just the beginning of Cash's trip down the rabbit hole, and Stanfield is the perfect guide. On a resume that boasts Get Out, Atlanta and being one of the most memorable things about The Girl in the Spider's Web, Sorry to Bother You stands alongside Short Term 12 as the actor's best work. Here, he's everyone, including the marginalised and overlooked, and the minority communities forced to adjust to the prevailing world order. He's the everyday man unwillingly thrust into the spotlight, or laying awake worrying about existence, or just attempting to do what's right. For a while, he's also someone who gets shot from the bottom to the top and is willing to stomach his Faustian bargain. He's in great company, with Thompson, Yeun and Hammer all standouts. But Stanfield is Riley's anchor in a sea of chaos. And what chaos there is. Energy, zeal and fury, too, with the movie jam-packed with ideas, anger, insights and off-the-wall inclusions. Indeed, when a Michel Gondry-esque claymation sequence pops up, it's just one of the picture's stunning sights. Within such busy frames, there's little about modern society that Riley doesn't dissect and lambast, because, unlike the masses, he's not willing to look the other way. His lead character might adopt a white voice to survive and thrive, but the writer-director's voice is all his own (it's also literally heard on the soundtrack, which is partly supplied by The Coup). Like Cash, who's visually dropped into the lives of the people he calls, Sorry to Bother You's audience is submerged in the impassioned mindset of the film's creator. And Riley's not sorry to bother anyone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQKiRpiVRQM
Over the past 47 years, in this very galaxy, how much Star Wars merchandise has been collected? Not even a Jedi could probably give a definitive number. Making its Australian premiere, The Fans Strike Back: Exhibition doesn't answer that question either, but it is giving fans of the space-opera franchise a glimpse at a hefty range of Star Wars memorabilia — one of the planet's largest private collections of replicas, in fact. The force is strong here, and so is love for everything in the George Lucas-created big- and small-screen saga. Soaring into Melbourne from Saturday, November 23, 2024, and then set to tour the country afterwards, The Fans Strike Back: Exhibition features Star Wars starships, lightsabers, droids, creatures and even battles. An entire section is about the dark side, with Sith obviously starring heavily, while another is called The Jedi Temple. Some pieces are life-sized. Others are detailed models. Either way, Star Wars will surround attendees everywhere they look. This isn't an official showcase, however, with only private works featured. The Fans Strike Back: Exhibition finally heads Down Under after past stops in New York and Los Angeles in the US, and also London, Madrid and Paris in Europe. After Melbourne, it's displaying at The District Docklands.
Last time Spike Lee stepped behind the camera, he took on American race relations in the 1970s, with the equally scathing, impassioned and amusing BlacKkKlansman winning him the Cannes Grand Prix and an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for his troubles. Two years later, the acclaimed filmmaker is back with his latest feature, which once again tackles inequality and its consequences — this time in Vietnam War heist flick Da 5 Bloods. Dropping on Netflix on June 12 — and just dropping its first trailer, too — Da 5 Bloods follows four African American veterans who head back to Saigon decades after the conflict. They're looking for the remains of their squad leader, who was killed in action, but they also have another mission: searching for the buried gold they stashed away all those years ago. As the trailer makes clear, Lee was never going to explore the controversial war without also examining the role played by African American soldiers at the time. That just wouldn't be a Spike Lee joint. So, as well as charting the exploits of his characters both now and during the conflict, Da 5 Bloods interrogates the political and social reality behind their military service — including the fact that they were fighting for a country that didn't treat them equally, let alone care whether they lost their lives in combat. Lee's latest flick also assembles a mighty impressive cast, including Black Panther's Chadwick Boseman as the unit's fallen commander — plus, as the older versions of the surviving squad members, The Good Fight's Delroy Lindo, Broadway veteran Norm Lewis, and The Wire duo Clarke Peters and Isiah Whitlock Jr. Whether the latter will exclaim "sheeeeeeeee-it" is yet to be seen, although Lee is clearly a fan. https://twitter.com/SpikeLeeJoint/status/1262194706416455680 Da 5 Bloods also features French actors Jean Reno and Mélanie Thierry, When We Rise's Jonathan Majors and Richard Jewell's Paul Walter Hauser, as well as Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul's Giancarlo Esposito — who reteams with Lee after starring in the director's School Daze, Do the Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, and Malcolm X in the late 80s and early 90s. Check out the Da 5 Bloods trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5RDTPfsLAI Da 5 Bloods hits Netflix on June 12.
Aunty Donna's approach to their career and to comedy boast more than a little in common. Think about either, and it also brings a recent movie title to mind. Beloved for their absurdist mile-a-minute humour, the Australian group recent loaned their voices to Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, but it's the name of 2023's big Oscar-winner that seems to sum up their whole ethos: Everything Everywhere All At Once. Zachary Ruane, Mark Samual Bonanno and Broden Kelly aren't in that film; however, they have been touring, making a Netflix series, and releasing Aunty Donna's $30 bottle of wine and an Always Room for Christmas Pud picture book all in just the past few years. And, they've now returned to the ABC nine years after a Fresh Blood iView stint in 2014, this time with six-part sitcom Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe. For fans watching on, Aunty Donna's jam-packed recent slate has felt like a whirlwind. Chatting to Concrete Playground about the release of Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe — which is now streaming in full on ABC iView, and also airs weekly on ABC TV — Ruane goes one better, while also noting how much hustle it took to get the now world-famous comedy troupe to this point. "I think the last ten years for us at least have felt like a whirlwind. In a way, it feels like we've slowed down in the last couple of years, even though everything's a bit more in the public. We used to tour a lot more than we do now. We used to make a lot of content for online, possibly more than we do now," Ruane advises. "So even though there's heaps happening and it's nice to be reminded, it actually in some ways feels like we've slowed it down a bit, which gives you an indication of what the last ten years have been like for us." Aunty Donna formed in 2011, then took their first live show to the 2012 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. They haven't stopped inciting laughs since. Anywhere they can possibly spread their wild, weird and wonderful brand of comedy, they have — a lengthy list of stage shows all around the world, their YouTube channel, a podcast, two albums, multiple webseries, pilots, Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun, that book, the vino and now Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe included. The latter sprang after their Netflix success, and from Ruane, Bonanno and Kelly's eagerness to try the sitcom format. The end result: a workplace comedy skewering cafe culture, specifically Melbourne's caffeine-sipping scene, with an Aunty Donna spin. When it comes to satirising its setting and anything even tangentially connected — kidulting bars, cereal cafes, awful bosses and terrible landlords, for instance — the gags and bits keep coming. So too does Aunty Donna's beloved grab-bag approach, giving a show about working in a cafe an entire episode about a court case with Richard Roxburgh (Elvis) reprising his role from Rake, then a real-estate agent parody featuring Looking for Alibrandi's Pia Miranda, plus yet another instalment making fun of the very platform that Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe streams on. "We just went for it. We definitely caused a few headaches for our director Max [Miller, a fellow Aunty Donna member] with some of our setups," Ruane explains. Scoring a second show, being self-described "Melbourne wankers", getting nervous performing with Miranda, what comes next: Ruane told us about all of that, too — plus the dream of making an Aunty Donna movie. ON HOW AUNTY DONNA'S COFFEE CAFE COME ABOUT "It's our second longer-form thing, and I think we always knew that we wanted to keep pushing ourselves. Every time we come to a new platform or do a new thing, we want to it a little bit differently. We were really keen to do something a bit more narrative-focused, a bit more in that traditional sitcom structure. So that was the goal for us. I don't know how much that will read to an audience. Maybe it will all read as our crazy stuff, and in the same lineage of everything we do. But we wanted to challenge ourselves to make it a little more like a traditional sitcom, at least structurally, but still be as crazy and wild as what we've always done." ON COMING UP WITH THE CONCEPT — AND NOT JUST THANKS TO 'MORNING BROWN' "'Morning Brown', it's more of a nod to that song. We play around with different things, but we've always found that the things that we do that resonate the most are when there's a sort of a — I call it a sandbox, but there's a setting that resonates with people that I think people have an emotional connection to and understanding of. When we have that kind of setting that resonates, it allows us to go more crazy, more absurd. So, we've done it with the YouTube and our live shows. There's 1999, which was a webseries which is set in an office in 1999. We also did Glennridge Secondary College, which is a live show and a webseries set in a high school. I think we find whenever it's set somewhere recognisable and accessible, it actually allows us to go weirder and crazier and more absurd because people have a hook in. So we were looking for something like that — something that people would recognise, feel comfortable in, but then would also allow us to go in any direction we wanted." ON SKEWERING CAFE CULTURE "One thing we wanted to avoid going into — there's a territory of cliches in that space. We had to keep reminding ourselves to not just do the cafe stuff and the coffee culture stuff. But we've worked in hospitality, we're all Melbourne wankers, we've been customers at these cafes. It just feels so ripe, and it feels like the kind of thing you can pull from multiple different experiences. You can go into the kitchen and do a whole episode there. You can just focus on the staff, do a whole episode there. That's what we loved about the idea." ON MAKING A WORKPLACE COMEDY "It's really interesting. We've done other things set in workplaces, but also found it in the school one as well — there's something about a workplace where very different personality types and very different things can happen. I think also what we really loved about the cafe compared to our last series, which was set in a house: it's really hard to get people from the outside world into the house. We love to play lots of different characters, and it's really hard to get weird characters to come through the door. With a cafe, that's exactly what it is. Structurally, it's all a cavalcade of people coming through the door. Anyone you can envision, you just imagine them wanting to get a coffee and they're there in your world. That was the best part about it." ON GETTING GUEST STARS LIKE RICHARD ROXBURGH AND PIA MIRANDA "We were expecting Roxburgh to be a firm no. And not only that, we had to get so many layers of approval to get that joke in. I remember when it was floated, it was like 'oh, that's fun but it will never happen'. Because we had to get the creator of Rake onboard. We had to get ABC to sign off on it. We had to get Roxburgh to sign off on the character and then to want to do it — and then to be available to do it. Which is like, there are so many barriers here, it's not going to happen. We'd already started thinking of alternative jokes to him. Then I remember we were in the writers room and each day we'd get another person who'd said yes to it, we just kept getting this run of emails, and then when he was available to do it. We did not expect it to happen. Which I think made it more fun, because I don't think we put too much thought into it — we just wrote this stupid joke and were like 'surely he'll say no and then we'll figure something else out'. So it was very amazing that he said yes. I mean, same with Pia Miranda. I think I was more nervous performing with Pia Miranda than I was with Roxburgh. I had to act opposite her — that's crazy! Intimidatingly, she doesn't look like she's aged a day since [Looking for Alibrandi]. So it's like, I feel like I've been teleported. I'm like 'am I Kick Gurry right now?'. It was very cool." ON MAKING FUN OF THE ABC ON THE ABC "Insanely, they were so chill. It was funny how much. They were like 'you can tease us more if you want'. And we were like 'we'll see'. They were so up for it. I definitely thought we had pushed it too far with iView, because we really go at the platform. We thought they'll come back with 'you can make a bit of a joke but maybe not about technical issues'. But they were just like 'haha, yeah'." ON RUANE'S FAVOURITE AUNTY DONNA PROJECT SO FAR "It's hard to say. I mean, I was super proud of the picture book. It was one of those things that we had to keep explaining to people that we saw it as a little piece in its own right and it wasn't just a merch cash in. It was really fun to just do something completely different and to just discover a different world, and play around in a different space — and just to get people who really got the joke. I had such a specific vision in my mind of an early 90-style of Australian picture book — and to have it come out looking like that was pretty special. So that's, of the recent stuff, probably the thing I'm most proud of. But then I also love crazy stuff. Like I think $30 Bottle of Wine, which is a video on our YouTube that goes for about eight minutes and it's just repulsive, that's probably my favourite still." [caption id="attachment_791048" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun, Netflix.[/caption] ON THE ORIGINAL AUNTY DONNA DREAM — AND LIVING IT NOW "I think it's always evolving and always changing. To be honest, in a really real way, I feel like it has surpassed so many of the original dreams and goals years ago. Very early on, I would've been perfectly happy if it was my full job — that became the goal really early in my twenties. If I can be entertaining people or doing something like this as my full-time job, that would be enough. To have hit that, and then had all these other things happen — we've got an ABC show, Wednesday night, that was the dream as a teenager for sure. That's what I grew up watching. To have had another show seen around the world. We've got a world tour coming up. So many of these things weren't even in the dream, weren't even a part of the picture. So to have achieved it, it's really cool and lovely and so — people say humbling, but it's the opposite. It's not that, it's cool and amazing." ON WHAT COMES NEXT FOR AUNTY DONNA "It's always about the creative, and always about doing new things. I don't think it's about [doing] more or [moving] up — I think it's just about different ways. If we can find different ways to make people laugh and to bring joy, then that's for me what it is. So who knows? Maybe it's a video game, maybe it's a board game, maybe it's more TV, maybe it's more YouTube — there's so many options, and I'm excited to just see where it goes." ON MAKING AN AUNTY DONNA MOVIE "How we would do it and how we would go about it is such a big question, but that's definitely on the list as something that I'd love to do. Our big one was that we always wanted to do like The Rugrats Movie, just a real crazy adventure. Yeah, we would love to do something like that for sure." Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe streams via ABC iView, and also screens weekly on the ABC at 9pm from Wednesday, April 12. Read our full review. Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe images: Richard Lowe / Jackson Flinter / ABC.
Fancy an art experience that extends beyond looking at works on a wall? Then prepare to be impressed by Melbourne's new 3000-square-metre, 11-metre-high immersive digital art gallery. Originally set to open in late 2020, then in autumn this year, and then in September, The Lume will finally open its doors on Monday, November 1. The big drawcard: projections of some of the world's most celebrated artworks, which will be splashed across various surfaces at the site's permanent home at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC). Those luminous displays will be backed by powerful musical soundtracks, too, and even complemented by aromas. So yes, the idea is to engage multiple senses — and build the kind of art experience that surrounds you in multiple ways. When it opens its doors, The Lume's inaugural exhibition at will celebrate the works and life of Vincent van Gogh — so, you'll be able to walk through artworks like The Starry Night and Sunflowers while listening to a classical music score. For the latter, there'll be a dedicated mirror infinity room filled with sunflowers. Elsewhere, expect a reimagined Café Terrace 1888, and a life-size recreation of Van Gogh's Bedroom. If you were lucky enough to make it up to Sydney last year for Van Gogh Alive, you'll know what you're in for. The project is the brainchild of Melbourne-based Grande Experiences, which, for the past 15 years, has hosted immersive exhibitions and gallery experiences in over 130 cities across the world — and is taking Van Gogh Alive around Australia this year, too. The company also owns and operates Rome's Museo Leonardo da Vinci. Abiding by Victoria's reopening roadmap, The Lume will only be welcoming in double-vaccinated patrons upon opening. The Lume will open at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Monday, November 1 — operating Monday–Thursday from 10am–9pm, Friday from 10am–10pm, Saturday from 9am–10pm and Sunday from 9am–9pm. For more information, or to buy tickets, head to the venue's website.
Call it an obsession, but as soon as the warm weather arrives, we can't seem to stay away from the water. While you might settle for a backyard pool or your nearest beach, turning up the heat slightly more this summer is made possible at Adventure Park Geelong. Just an hour from Melbourne, Victoria's biggest water park is the ultimate family day out — and it's got a brand-new thrill to explore. With 23 rides and attractions designed for thrill seekers keen to keep cool, the addition of Thunder Falls to this summer's excitement offers a whole other perspective. As Victoria's first-ever free-fall drop waterslide, adrenaline junkies step into a trapdoor floor before plunging into a 105-metre white-water free-fall. On the way down, you'll hit speeds of up to 35 kilometres per hour — that's not for the faint-hearted. For even more adventure, tackle the 7.5-storey Tsunami — the state's only triple-funnel waterslide. There's also the Tornado, a fast and furious waterslide featuring 360-degree twists and turns, and the crowd-pleasing Aqua Racer, featuring a six-lane slide to the finish line. But don't stress if relaxation is more your style. Adventure Park Geelong is also home to tropical lazy rivers, luxe private cabanas and fun-loving play zones for little ones. "Summer at Adventure Park is all about creating unforgettable moments for families," says Managing Director Bree Salmon. "With its unmatched mix of adrenaline, relaxation and family-friendly fun, Adventure Park Geelong continues to set the benchmark as one of Victoria's most complete and compelling summer family experiences."
You can put a beloved animated series into cryogenic stasis, but someone is going to thaw it out one day. In Futurama's case, US streaming platform Hulu has announced plans to defrost the Matt Groening-created show about life in the 31st century, marking the second time that it has been brought back. Originally airing from 1999–2003, the futuristic animated series then returned from 2008–2013 — and now it'll be revived again in 2023. Obviously, in the words of Professor Hubert J Farnsworth: good news, everyone! Hulu has announced a new 20-episode run for Futurama, as well as the return of most of the original voice cast. That means that you'll be spending more time with Philip J Fry (voiced by Billy West), the 20th-century pizza delivery guy who managed to get accidentally cryogenically frozen on New Year's Eve 1999, only to defrost a thousand years later — and then get a job delivering packages with Planet Express, the cargo company run by Farnsworth, his distant nephew. It also means more antics with one-eyed Planet Express captain Turanga Leela (Katey Sagal); fellow company employees Hermes Conrad (Phil LaMarr), Amy Wong (Lauren Tom) and Zoidberg (also West); and everyone from self-obsessed starship captain Zapp Brannigan (West again) and his amphibious 4th Lieutenant Kif Kroker (Maurice LaMarche) through to scheming corporation owner Mom (Tress MacNeille). One key cast member who hasn't yet been confirmed for the Futurama revival: John DiMaggio, aka the voice of constantly sauced robot Bender Bending Rodríguez. Variety reports that it's still hoped that DiMaggio will return for this trip back to the animated future, but if that doesn't happen, Bender will be recast. Whoever will be exclaiming "bite my shiny metal ass!", Futurama will keep doing what it did hilariously well over its past seven seasons and four direct-to-DVD movies: peering at life in the year at 3000 and beyond in its offbeat way. "I'm thrilled to have another chance to think about the future... or really anything other than the present," said David X Cohen, Futurama's head writer and executive producer, in Hulu's announcement. "It's a true honour to announce the triumphant return of Futurama one more time before we get canceled abruptly again," added The Simpsons great Matt Groening. Viewers Down Under can likely expect to watch the new Futurama via Disney+, given that the Mouse House owns Hulu and airs Hulu shows in Australia and New Zealand via its Star expansion — but expect further specifics to be confirmed, alongside a premiere date, as 2023 approaches. New episodes of Futurama are set to air in 2023 — we'll update you with further details, including where you'll be able to watch Down Under, when they're announced.
It was once a stereotype that all people from Melbourne wore black, now it's quickly turning the other way. The pastel prints of local design icon Obus have been lighting up our city for some time now, particularly spotted around the inner-north with stores in the CBD, Fitzroy and Northcote. Known for its kooky style, block colours, and big billowing dresses, Obus strikes the perfect balance between high fashion and high comfort. Stand out from the crowd without having to squeeze into some hideous cocktail dress or bejewelled stilettos. These clothes were made to be worn loud and proud. Obus is also located at 226 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy and 285 High Street, Northcote. Images: Tracey Ahkee.
Italian eats and Aussie craft beers are set to prove a match made in heaven, when WA-born Colonial Brewing Co drops by laneway diner Marameo for a special Good Beer Week feasting party. On Thursday, May 20, the duo's teaming up to host a shared degustation dinner, with each dreamy dish either paired or infused with a different Colonial brew. Get excited for the likes of slow-cooked sher wagyu brisket sliders and gnocco fritto with the labels' pale ale; truffle-topped spaghetti cacio e pepe with the South West Sour; and a dessert of chocolate and hazelnut bigné (Italian cream puffs) teamed with a limited-edition 2020 brown ale from Colonial's Barrel Projects series. Plus, plenty more culinary and beery delights. You'll even enjoy a spot of live entertainment while you're feasting. Tickets to this one clock in at $99, which includes your four-course feed, snacks on arrival and five matched beers. [caption id="attachment_747585" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marameo, by Kristoffer Paulsen[/caption]
Just when you thought the last few years had already been bleak enough, Netflix looks set to add another round of grim dystopian tales to your streaming queue. The source: Black Mirror, of course, with a sixth season of Charlie Brooker's sci-fi series reportedly finally in the works. As per Variety, the streaming platform is forging ahead with the anthology hit's latest batch of episodes — its first since season five hit the service back in 2019. Exactly what tales they'll tell, who'll star in them and how many instalments will drop is yet to be announced, though, and neither has when Black Mirror's sixth season will arrive. That said, it seems that the new season will run for more than season five's mere three episodes — and apparently each one is being treated as an individual film. Of course, Black Mirror fans will know that the series has also released a direct-to-streaming movie, aka the choose-your-own-adventure-style Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, back in 2018 between seasons four and five. More Black Mirror is always great news. The glaring question: how exactly will the series manage to be even more dispiriting than reality over the past few years? That's increasingly been one of its dilemmas — and noting that something IRL feels just like Black Mirror has become one of the cliches of our times — but this'll be the mind-bending effort's first round of episodes following the pandemic. No one has ever watched the Brooker-created series for a pick-me-up, obviously. Since first hitting the small screen in 2011, Black Mirror has spun warped visions of where technology may lead us — and, no matter what tale the show has told so far across its 22 instalments (including that interactive movie), the picture has usually been unnerving. So, imagine what the program will cook up after the chaos we've all been living through since it last aired. Brooker has already riffed on COVID-19 in two Netflix specials, actually: Death to 2020 and Death to 2021, which offer satirical and star-studded wraps of both years with mixed success. For something completely different, he also jumped back into choose-your-own-adventure content with animated short Cat Burglar, which hit Netflix back in February, has viewers play through it as a thieving feline called Rowdy and gets you to answer trivia questions to advance the story. While you're waiting for Black Mirror's sixth season to arrive, check out the trailer for season five episode Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too below: Exactly when Black Mirror season six might hit Netflix is yet to be revealed. We'll update you when further details are announced. Via Variety.
Melbourne's cocktail scene is about to heat up this winter as popular Spanish liqueur Licor 43 is partnering with five top South American and Spanish restaurants to introduce the Carajillo 43. This twist on the classic Carajillo (kah-rah-HEE-yoh) cocktail combines fresh espresso with the Spanish liqueur, known for its sweet, citrusy flavours, which come from a secret blend of 43 ingredients. For a limited time, from July 19, the first 43 amigos to order a meal can score a complimentary Carajillo 43 at each venue when they mention this promotion. Keep reading to find out where and how you can join the fiesta.
Q Le Baker, tucked away inside Prahran Market, is a local favourite that loyal customers like to keep on the down low, seeing as the queues are already rather long. However, the secret is out — this French-leaning bakehouse is producing some of the best bread, pastries and baked goods that Melbourne has to offer. The bakers at Q Le Baker are masters of their craft, honouring age-old traditions while experimenting with different flavours and techniques from around the world. They use classical French baking techniques to showcase high-quality, seasonal and locally sourced ingredients. Each market morning, and particularly on weekends, marketgoers patiently find their spot in the line, perhaps with a box of organic vegetables in one hand and a coffee in the other, waiting their turn to see what goodies the glass cabinets and shelves of bread are showcasing that day. Starting with said breads, Q Le Baker's are generally gorgeously crusty and chewy. You might pick up a rustic ciabatta roll, a crisp ficelle or a sourdough knot, or go for one of their famed baguettes and a thick country loaf. There may be a special fougasse, such as the jalapeño and cheddar delight with roasted corn and Mexican spices, or a caramelised onion and gruyere version. Being a French bakery first, you'll always find a line up of traditional pastries — plain, chocolate and almond croissants, pain au raisins, and kouign amanns, for example — in the line up. Well, unless they've already sold out. Taking up the rest of the space in the display cabinet will likely be a combination of interesting and creative sweet and savoury pastries, pies, cookies, and sandwiches. Perhaps you'll try a mushroom and potato danish, a twice-baked pistachio croissant, a chorizo and cheese empanada, a Biscoff scroll and a buffalo fried chicken burger. Or, if you're lucky, you'll spot a mango and whipped coconut choux, an Earl Grey Danish, a roast pumpkin galette, a poached pear tart, or a D'Affinois ficelle with fig jam and rocket. The good news is, everything here tastes just as good as it looks, and you can't go wrong with any selection. Images: Supplied.
At least one visit to Capocchi's Collingwood showroom is in order when it comes to furnishing your abode. But who are we kidding? Once you enter the eclectically decorated shop — and have a chance to fantasise about how you can fit both a chic 70s sideboard and an opulent sandstone table into your lounge room — that one visit is likely to turn into a regular ritual. After all, there aren't many family-run furniture places left that consistently source such a trendy array of multi-era designs and put them all in one place.
The latest incarnation of the Royal Botanic Gardens' iconic lakeside venue comes courtesy of Darling Group, owners of Higher Ground, Kettle Black and Stringers. Surrounded by greenery, the all-day cafe and adjoining event space have been designed in a nod to their lush outlook, with interiors by Technē featuring plenty of botanical references throughout. Expect a palette of natural hues, with terrazzo-topped benches and an idyllic al fresco area spilling out amongst the gardens. Elevated classics drive the food offering, starring produce-led options like the asparagus with stracciatella, fennel and snow peas ($23); an avocado and tahini ricotta tartine (French-style open sandwich) ($22) and sumac-dressed fattoush salad with toasted pita ($21). You can aim a little less green with likes of a spiced beef rueben toastie ($15), a signature club sanga ($18), and the blueberry and ricotta hotcake ($26). Or perhaps the homemade scones — a nod to a much-loved offering from the site's previous life. Meanwhile, Darling Group's signature coffee blend stars on the cafe's broad-ranging drinks list, with two coffee carts perched at Gates A and D of the Gardens for customers on the go. Of course, this is prime picnic turf and the Terrace Cafe's expansive grab-and-go lineup makes for an enviable rug set-up. Choose from the likes of loaded baguettes, pinsa romana (a style of fermented-dough pizza) and pastries, or a Terrace-To-Go box containing your choice of sandwich or salad, a juice and a sweet treat. Images: Griffin Simm.
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. SEE HOW THEY RUN As every murder-mystery does, See How They Run asks a specific question: whodunnit? This 1950s-set flick also solves another query, one that's lingered over Hollywood for seven decades now thanks to Agatha Christie. If this movie's moniker has you thinking about mouse-focused nursery rhymes, that's by design — and characters do scurry around chaotically — however, it could also have you pondering the famed author's play The Mousetrap. The latter first hit theatres in London's West End in 1952 and has stayed there ever since, other than an enforced pandemic-era shutdown in COVID-19's early days. The show operates under a set stipulation regarding the big-screen rights, too, meaning that it can't be turned into a film until the original production has stopped treading the boards for at least six months. As that's never happened, how do you get it into cinemas anyway? Make a movie about trying to make The Mousetrap into a movie, aka See How They Run. There's a clever-clever air to See How They Run's reason for existing. The same proves true of its narrative, the on-screen explanation about how The Mousetrap sits at the centre of this film's story, and the way it details those rules around adapting the play for cinema. Voiced by in-movie director Leo Köpernick (Adrien Brody, Blonde), that winking attitude resembles the Scream franchise's take on the horror genre, but with murder-mysteries — and it also smarts in its knowing rundown about how whodunnits work, who's who among the main players-slash-suspects and what leads to the central homicide. First-time feature filmmaker Tom George (This Country) and screenwriter Mark Chappell (Flaked) still craft a film that's enjoyable-enough, though, albeit somehow both satirical and by the numbers. Keeping audiences guessing isn't the picture's strong suit. Matching its own comparison to Christie isn't either. But the leads and snappy sense of fun make this a mostly entertaining game of on-screen Cluedo. Was it actor Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickinson, Where the Crawdads Sing), his fellow-thespian wife Sheila Sim (Pearl Chanda, War of the Worlds), big-time movie producer John Woolf (Reece Shearsmith, Venom: Let There Be Carnage) or his spouse Edana Romney (Sian Clifford, The Duke) getting murderous in the costume shop at the backstage party celebrating The Mousetrap's 100th show? (And yes, they're all real-life figures.) Or, was it the play's producer Petula Spencer (Ruth Wilson, His Dark Materials), the proposed feature adaptation's screenwriter Mervyn Cocker-Norris (David Oyelowo, Chaos Walking) or his Italian lover Gio (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, The Queen's Gambit)? They're among See How They Run's other enquiries, which Scotland Yard's Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell, Richard Jewell) and Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan, The French Dispatch) try to answer. After the death that kicks off the film, the two cops are on the case, working through their odd-couple vibe as they sleuth. Naturally, everyone that was in the theatre on the night in question is a suspect. Just as expectedly, convolutions and complications abound. Plus, possible motives keep stacking up — and there's plenty of in-fighting among the stage and screen in-crowd who might've done the deed. In other words, even with equally parodying and paying homage to all things murder-mystery chief among See How They Run's aims (alongside showing off that it thinks it knows the basics as well as Christie), it isn't blind to following the standard formula. The guiding narration, which notes that it's always the most unlikeable character that gets bumped off, takes a ribbing approach; "seen one, you've seen 'em all" it advises, because Köpernick was charged with helming The Mousetrap's leap into movies, wasn't so impressed with the source material, then advocated for violence and explosions to spice up the whole thing. Yes, viewers are meant to see parallels between what he's saying and what they're watching. Yes, being that self-aware and meta truly is a feature-long commitment. Read our full review. SMILE If high-concept horror nasties get you grinning even when you're squirming, recoiling or peeking through your fingers, then expect Smile to live up to its name — in its first half, at least. A The Ring-meets-It Follows type of scarefest with nods to the Joker thrown in, it takes its titular term seriously, sporting one helluva creepy smirk again and again. The actual face doing the ghoulish beaming can change, and does, but the evil Cheshire Cat-esque look on each dial doesn't. Where 2011's not-at-all spooky The Muppets had a maniacal laugh, Smile does indeed possess a maniacal, skin-crawling, nightmare-inducing leer. In the film, the first character to chat about it, PhD student Laura Weaver (Caitlin Stasey, Bridge and Tunnel), explains it as "the worst smile I have ever seen in my life". She's in a hospital, telling psychiatrist Rose Cotter (Mare of Easttown's Sosie Bacon, daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick), who clearly thinks she's hallucinating. But when the doctor sees that grin herself, she immediately knows that Laura's description couldn't be more accurate. Toothy, deranged, preternaturally stretched and also frozen in place, the smile at the heart of Smile isn't easily forgotten — not that Rose need worry about that. Soon, it's haunting her days and nights by interrupting her work, and seeing her act erratically with patients to the concern of her boss (Kal Penn, Clarice). Rose upsets a whole party at her nephew's birthday, too, and makes her fiancé Trevor (Jessie T Usher, The Boys) have doubts about their future. There's a backstory: Rose's mother experienced mental illness, which is why she's so passionate about her work and her sister Holly (Gillian Zinser, The Guilty) is so dismissive. There's a backstory to the diabolical frown turned upside down also, which she's quickly trying to unravel with the help of her cop ex Joel (Kyle Gallner, Scream). She has to; Laura came to the hospital for assistance after her professor saw the smile first, then started beaming it, then took his own life in front of her — and now Rose is in the same situation. It springs from debut feature writer/director Parker Finn's own 2020 short film Laura Hasn't Slept, but given how quickly Smile's nods to other horror flicks come — and how blatant they are — it's hardly astonishing how little in its narrative comes as a surprise. A malignant terror spreading virally on sight? A single-minded pursuer that can hop bodies, but always chases its new target with unyielding focus? Yes, as already mentioned, a J-horror franchise and its American remake are owed a huge debt, as is David Robert Mitchell's breakout 2014 hit. And yes, there's no way not to think of a certain Batman adversary each time that eerily exaggerated smirk flashes (given how many times the Joker has featured on-screen, it's downright inescapable). But when Smile is smiling — not just plastering that unnerving grin far and wide, but frequently directing it straight at the camera (and audience) — the fear is real. It's an odd experience, the feeling of knowing how obvious every aspect of a movie's narrative is, yet still having it spark a physical reaction. Finn deploys jump-scares that do genuinely invite jumps. His film goes dark and grim in its look and atmosphere, tensely so, and with cinematographer Charlie Sarroff (Relic) adoring soft, restrained lighting that one imagines the realm between life and death could have. He knows when to let a moment and a shot hang, teasing out the inevitable but still making sure the payoff is felt. And, among all of that, the mood is Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar)-level bleak. The biggest kudos goes to (and the biggest responses come from) that hellish expression that could pop up anywhere on anyone, though. When Smile stops smiling, it's a blander movie — and although the fact that much of it is spliced together from elsewhere, and what isn't is largely generic, doesn't ever slip from view, that's also when the feature gets heftier. Read our full review. ON THE COUNT OF THREE What happens outside an upstate New York strip club at 10am on an ordinary weekday? Nothing — nothing good, or that anyone pays attention to, at least — deduces the unhappy Val (Jerrod Carmichael, Rothaniel) in On the Count of Three. So, he's hatched a plan: with his lifelong best friend Kevin (Christopher Abbott, The Forgiven), they'll carry out a suicide pact, with that empty car park as their final earthly destination. Under the harsh morning light and against a drably grey sky, Carmichael's feature directorial debut initially meets its central duo standing in that exact spot, guns pointed at each other's heads and pulling the trigger mere moments away. Yes, they start counting. Yes, exhaustion and desperation beam from their eyes. No, this thorny yet soulful film isn't over and done with then and there. There are many ways to experience weariness, frustration, malaise and despair, and to convey them — and On the Count of Three surveys plenty, as an unflinchingly black comedy about two lifelong best friends deciding to end it all should. Those dispiriting feelings can weigh you down, making every second of every day an effort. They can fester, agitate, linger and percolate, simmering behind every word and deed before spewing out as fury. They can spark drastic actions, including the type that Val and Kevin have picked as their only option after the latter breaks the former out of a mental health hospital mere days after his last self-harming incident. Or, they can inspire a wholesale rejection of the milestones, such as the promotion that Val is offered hours earlier, that everyone is told they're supposed to covet, embrace and celebrate. On the Count of Three covers all of the above, not just with purpose but with confidence, as well as a much-needed willingness to get messy. It knows it's traversing tricky terrain, and is also well-aware of the obvious: that nothing about considering taking one's own life is simple or easy, let alone a laughing matter. Working with a script by Ramy co-creators Ari Katcher (also a co-creator of The Carmichael Show) and Ryan Welch, Carmichael doesn't make a movie that salutes, excuses or justifies Val and Kevin's exit plan. His film doesn't abhor the emotions and pain behind their choices either, though. Instead, this is a complicated portrait of coping, and not, with the necessities, vagaries and inevitabilities of life — and a raw and thoughtful piece of recognition that the biggest standoff we all have is with ourselves. Rocking a shock of dishevelled bleached-blonde hair, and looking like he hasn't even dreamed of changing his wardrobe since the early 00s, Abbott could've wandered out of Good Time as Kevin — he and Robert Pattinson could/should play brothers some day — including when he's staring down Val with a gun. First, On the Count of Three jumps from there to the events leading up to it, including an earlier attempt by landscaping supply store worker Val in the work bathrooms, his response to hearing about that aforementioned climb up the corporate ladder. In hospital, Kevin is angry; "if any of you knew how to help me by now, you would have fucking done it!" he shouts. But when the time to shoot comes, it's him who suggests a reprieve to take care of a few last items — revenge being his. Read our full review. THE HUMANS Movie buffs who like to theme their viewing around the relevant time of year — holiday-related, primarily — are always spoiled for choice. Christmas films, spooky flicks at Halloween, Easter-relevant fare: you can build a binge session or several out of all of them. The same applies to Thanksgiving, all courtesy of the US, and The Humans is the latest addition to the November-appropriate list. This A24 release ticks a few clearcut boxes, in fact, including bringing a dysfunctional multi-generation family together to celebrate the date, steeping their get-together in the kind of awkwardness that always stalks relatives, and having big revelations spill over the course of the gathering (the calendar-mandated time for such disclosures, pouring out before the tryptophan kicks in). That said, even with such evident servings of underlying formula, The Humans is far creepier and more haunting than your usual movie about America's turkey-eating time of year. A hefty helping of existential horror will do that. Based on Stephen Karam's Tony-winning 2016 Broadway play — a Pulitzer Prize finalist as well — and adapted and directed for the screen by Karam himself, The Humans is downright unsettling, and for a few reasons. There's the tension zipping back and forth between everyone in attendance, of course — as crucial an ingredient at every Thanksgiving party as food, booze and warm bodies to consume them, at least if films are to be believed. There's also the bleak, claustrophobic, run-down setting, with the movie confined to a New York apartment close to Ground Zero, which aspiring composer Brigid (Beanie Feldstein, Booksmart) and her student boyfriend Richard (Steven Yeun, Nope) have just moved into at significant expense. And, there's the strange sounds emanating from other units, and perhaps this creaking, groaning, two-storey abode itself, which couldn't feel less welcoming. As a result, seasonal cheer is few and far between in this corner of Manhattan, where the Blake family congregates dutifully rather than agreeably or even welcomely. Also making an appearance: parents Deirdre (Only Murders in the Building's Jayne Houdyshell, reprising her Tony-winning part) and Erik (Richard Jenkins, DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story), Brigid's lawyer older sister Aimee (Amy Schumer, Life & Beth), and their grandmother Momo (June Squibb, Palmer), who has dementia and uses a wheelchair. No one is happy, and everyone seems to have something that needs airing — slowly and reluctantly when it's a matter of importance, but freely and cuttingly when it's a snap judgement directed at others. Watching The Humans, the audience hopes that no one has truly had a Thanksgiving like this, while knowing how well its fraught dynamic hits the mark. Thanks to Richard, film first-timer Karam has a straightforward way to start doling out backstory — a time-honoured function of fresh attendees to on-screen family dos, and not just in movies about Thanksgiving. Erik chats, filling the newcomer in, although the talk between everyone dishes out plenty of handy details. Religious and political affiliations cause strains, as do booze and money. The clash between the big city, where the Blake family daughters now live, and their hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania also informs the discussions. Health woes, relationship struggles, generation clashes, expecting more both from and of each other but getting less: that's the baseline. Brigid stews about not being given enough cash by her parents, and therefore jeopardising her career dreams; Aimee frets about treading water at work, being alone and a medical condition; Deirdre's conservative leanings bristle against her daughters' decisions; and Erik clearly has a secret. Read our full review. 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 June 2, June 9, June 16, June 23 and June 30; and July 7, July 14, July 21 and July 28; August 4, August 11, August 18 and August 25; and September 1, September 8, September 15 and September 22. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Mothering Sunday, Jurassic World Dominion, A Hero, Benediction, Lightyear, Men, Elvis, Lost Illusions, Nude Tuesday, Ali & Ava, Thor: Love and Thunder, Compartment No. 6, Sundown, The Gray Man, The Phantom of the Open, The Black Phone, Where the Crawdads Sing, Official Competition, The Forgiven, Full Time, Murder Party, Bullet Train, Nope, The Princess, 6 Festivals, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Crimes of the Future, Bosch & Rockit, Fire of Love, Beast, Blaze, Hit the Road, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Orphan: First Kill, The Quiet Girl, Flux Gourmet, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Moonage Daydream, Ticket to Paradise, Clean and You Won't Be Alone.
UPDATE, October 21: Rebecca is available to stream via Netflix. Primarily set in a sprawling British estate that'd make Downton Abbey's characters envious, starring one of that show's cast members and telling a tale taken from the pages of an iconic gothic novel, the latest version of Rebecca arrives with a splash. A visible one, too; every frame is not only elegant and atmospheric, but often overtly gorgeous. Each second of this Netflix-funded film drips with extravagance. A parade of striking visuals saunters before viewers' eyes, surveying not only the movie's main location, but the luxe furnishings within it, the scenic coastal patch of land it sits on and the finely tailored attire donned by those walking its halls. At every turn, it appears as though no expense has been spared in bringing Rebecca to the screen, and in striving to sweep audiences up in its lavish imagery and 1930s-era story. Alas, while the first part of that equation is easily, almost instantly achieved, the latter portion proves a bigger struggle. Like its source material, Rebecca starts with an evocative line: "last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again". It's uttered in voiceover by a young woman who is never known as anything but Mrs de Winter (Lily James), and who viewers first meet before she takes that moniker, when she's working as a lady's companion to acid-tongued socialite Mrs Van Hopper (The Handmaids' Tale's Ann Dowd) on a trip to the French Riviera. During the picturesque getaway, the unnamed heroine crosses paths with wealthy widower Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer). Tasked by her boss to pay their hotel's staff to seat him at their table (for Van Hopper's benefit, not her own), her unassuming nature soon draws his attention. Romance quickly blooms — much to the shock of the well-heeled masses similarly summering by the sea — setting Maxim and his blushing new bride en route to the family mansion he vocally treasures. Back at Manderley, however, the second Mrs de Winter can't escape the lingering presence of the movie's titular figure. Everywhere she looks, she sees Rebecca's monogrammed belongings. Every conversation in the house seems to revolve around her as well, especially her tragic passing. With housekeeper Mrs Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas), all Manderley's newcomer feels is passive-aggressive and sometimes openly aggressive menace — and the fact that the stern employee was absolutely, utterly devoted to Rebecca. Maxim's mood changes drastically, too, and while those unacquainted with Rebecca's twists and turns should keep it that way going in, his second wife is increasingly troubled by the sensation that much is awry. In other words, the film's central young woman — the one that's still living and breathing, that is — is caught in the shadow of her new husband's late previous wife. In the pages of Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel, on the big and small screens several times since, and in this new iteration, that's a scenario laden with ample psychological thrills. Here, director Ben Wheatley patiently teases out the details, but it's noticeable (and perhaps fitting) that he also subjects his viewers to the same kind of experience endured by his protagonist. From the moment it was announced, Wheatley's film was forever destined to be compared to Alfred Hitchcock's Oscar Best Picture-winning 1940 version of the beloved book. That's what happens when you follow in Hitch's footsteps and, now that Rebecca circa 2020 has reached viewers, that won't change. Wheatley is a stellar filmmaker, and has a resume filled with everything from Down Terrace, Kill List and Sightseers to High-Rise, Free Fire and Happy New Year, Colin Burstead to prove it. But, in his most mainstream, least boundary-pushing effort to date, he has crafted a brooding movie that engages enough, yet never surprises and rarely has a strong lasting impact. That's the case even when it deviates from the famed changes that Hitchcock's version of the story was forced to implement under Hollywood's strict production code at the time (which didn't allow content and plot developments considered morally indecent to reach the screen). This iteration of Rebecca doesn't do du Maurier's adored text or the gothic genre it hails from a disservice. It's perfectly watchable, generally handles the narrative capably and proves near-overwhelmingly handsome, in fact. And still, even for audiences coming to it anew, with zero attachment to an 80-year-old previous adaptation, everything about it proves so expected. It must be terrifying, unsettling, dispiriting and downright soul-crushing to feel as if you're haunted by your predecessor, to have someone doing their utmost to ensure that impression never dissipates and to barely exist to those around you (that James' character isn't given a first name isn't an accident). Rebecca is as moody as it is visually lush, but it can't quite nail that crucial sensation. It tries, though. While the overall movie frequently seems content to serve up a standard period-set melodrama rather than leaning too far into taunting and lurching emotional horrors, Scott Thomas' turn as Mrs Danvers is supremely, disquietingly chilling — to the point that, if casting her in the part was the sole reason this film was made, that's understandable. Too much around her isn't willing to commit as heartily, however. James and Hammer always hit their marks, but do little more, for instance. All those opulent sights catch the eye, too, but as the feature's heroine herself learns, sumptuous packaging alone is rarely ever truly and completely satisfying. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFVhB54UqvQ Top image: Kerry Brown, Netflix.
In 2010, director Matthew Vaughn gave us his tongue-in-cheek take on the superhero genre with the hyperactive action-comedy, Kick-Ass. Five years later, he turns his attention to the spy movie, with similarly electrifying results. Adapted, as was Kick-Ass, from a graphic novel by Mark Millar, Kingsman: The Secret Service is popcorn entertainment at its finest: funny, exciting and immaculately paced, never once bogged down by grit or self-importance. Colin Firth crackles as Agent Harry Hart, a gentleman spy for a privately run espionage agency operating “at the highest levels of discretion”. After the death of a colleague, Hart finds himself on the trail of nefarious billionaire Richmond Valentine (a lisping Samuel L. Jackson), whose plan to save the planet may come at the expense of the people living on it. At the same time, Hart also finds himself mentoring teenaged hoodlum Eggsy (Taron Egerton), in whose defiant eyes he sees a glimmer of Kingsman potential. Vaughn shoots the film with the giddiness of a 12-year-old, one who just stepped out of his very first spy movie with dreams of saving the world. The antithesis of the Craig-era Bond flicks, Kingsman never tries to justify its own absurdity, but rather rockets along with such irreverent energy that you can’t help but get caught up in all the fun. Explosions of over-the-top violence dominate the second half, although it’s all far too cartoonish to cause any serious offence. The action is propelled by a rousing orchestral score, courtesy of regular Vaughn collaborators Matthew Margeson and Henry Jackman. The movie’s cast is excellent across the board. Firth could play a suit-clad toff in his sleep, but he also makes for a surprisingly convincing action hero — and listening to him drop F-bombs while dispatching thugs with his umbrella is a singular pleasure no other film can provide. Jackson is a job as the villain of the piece, while young Egerton has the makings of a star. Mark Strong and Michael Caine round out the ranks of the secret service, although it’s a shame that the latter isn’t given a little bit more to do. After a January packed with high-minded Oscar films, Kingsman: The Secret Service is a much needed blast of fresh air. If you’re looking for a fun night out at the movies, don’t hesitate to pick up a ticket.
It isn't called the big screen for nothing — and, when you head to the pictures, that's typically what you spend a couple of hours peering at. But you won't just be staring at a giant rectangle at Wonderdome, Australia's new pop-up cinema experience. In a blend of film, music and art that takes its cues from planetariums, you'll be sat in a dome watching movies that've been specifically designed to take up the whole 360-degree space that's towering above you. Melbourne Planetarium's regular fulldome sessions, the Melbourne International Film Festival's own fulldome programming and the Brisbane International Film Festival's foray into the same space a decade back have all served up this same kind of immersive view, if the overall concept sounds familiar. But when Wonderdome hits Sydney's Entertainment Quarter between Saturday, December 4–Sunday, January 30, it'll also be following in the footsteps of Coachella and Burning Man by creating a dedicated fulldome space that's all about this type of cinema-going. It'll also offer Australia's largest-ever 360-degree projection cinema. The structure itself is a geodesic steel dome that spans 21 metres in diameter, and is filled with multiple projectors, as well as a 7.2 surround sound system. To watch, you'll recline on throne-style beanbags and stare up at the movie. Given that the projection sprawls all around you, it's been likened to virtual reality — but without the goggles. During Wonderdome's debut run in Sydney, it'll screen a lineup of 22 films — including the dazzling Coral Rekindling Venus, about fluorescent coral reefs, bioluminescent sea creatures and rare marine life, from Emmy Award-wining Australian filmmaker Lynette Wallworth. Other highlights include National Geographic's Flying Monsters, about flying dinosaurs, which is narrated by the one and only David Attenborough; the climate-focused Dynamic Earth, which benefits from Liam Neeson's vocal work; and Carriberrie, which focuses on Indigenous Australian dance and song. Fulldome cinema is also known for its psychedelic and eye-popping visual displays, which is where Samskara, from artist Android Jones, comes in — plus Labyrinth, which is filled with squares, streets, passages, corridors and rooms; and Luminokaya, which lets you explore Cambodian temple complex Angkor Wat. The rest of the program also features the architecture-focused Urban Levitation; Distant Life: Alien Worlds, about whether humanity is alone in the universe; Flight of Fancy, which recreates a space jump at 120,000 feet; and other space-centric titles such as From Earth to the Universe and Journey to the Centre of the Milky Way. There's a lineup of fulldome movies for kids, too, because this is an all-ages space. Snacks-wise, you'll be able to grab something to eat and drink either before or after each Wonderdome session, with the menu including jaffles, chips, slushies, chocolates and ice creams. Plus, there'll be a gin bar, as well as a lineup of craft beers. Wonderdome's Entertainment Quarter season will also accept New South Wales' Dine & Discover vouchers, if you have some left — or you're eager to get your hands on more when two extra vouchers become available for NSW residents over the age of 18 sometime this summer. And if you won't be in Sydney this summer, cross your fingers that Wonderdome will plan stops in other cities. The fact that it's is pop-up dome obviously makes that easier. Wonderdome will pop-up at Sydney's Entertainment Quarter from Saturday, December 4 –Sunday, January 30. For more information, or for tickets from 11am AEST on Wednesday, November 17, head to the Wonderdome website.
