As a major player on Melbourne's street art scene for the past few years, odds are you're already familiar with some of Kaff-eine's work. Best known for her vibrant yet sinister illustrations often featuring both animals and children, this local girl has been slathering paint all over the inner suburbs since 2010. Now taking to fortyfivedownstairs, her solo exhibition Kalabaw gives you a rare indoor encounter with her work. Though Kaff-eine loves to explore surreal subject matter, it's clear that this latest collection of works is heavily influenced by some of her real-life experiences. After spending much of 2013 visiting and painting in Manila, the artist found herself inspired by much of the local community. Despite living in inner-city slums in relative poverty, the people she interacted with remained largely upbeat. Kalabaw — named after a type of water buffalo native to the Philippenes — retains much of the imagery from this trip featuring uncharacteristically realistic portraits of local children and expressive representations of animals and urban scenery. Despite the exhibition being free of charge for audiences, all proceeds the artist makes from the show will be put towards two related projects entitled Phoenix and Happyland. Looks like we have a whole lot to look forward to in 2015.
Fresh from Falls and ready to spring into an East Coast tour is Brisbane five-piece Art Of Sleeping. After recently releasing first single ‘Crazy’ from their forthcoming LP (expected to land sometime mid-2015), the band are keen to test out their new material. For those who have been a fan of the band for a while, or really into previous single ‘Empty Hands’, do not despair, they’ll also be playing tracks off their 2012 EP, Like A Thief. Art Of Sleeping have been lauded by some pretty reputable music folks as quite the spectacle to be seen live, and really, who are we to argue? Their engaging brand of indie rock, and strong vocals from lead singer Caleb Hodges, is perhaps why the band has managed to make such a name for themselves despite their enigmatic nature. Either way, we’re pumped. They will be joined by Chris O'Neill and The Lulu Raes at the Northcote Social Club, and for $17 a pop, you’d be silly not to.
Like Christmas, Easter brings a wealth of family film fare to cinemas — but not all flicks seemingly targeted at kids are created equal. Not all movies find their story in Mexican and Latin American culture in general, and in Día de los Muertos (or the Day of the Dead) specifically, for example. And not all all-ages efforts are produced by Pan's Labyrinth and Pacific Rim's Guillermo del Toro. If you haven't already guessed, The Book of Life isn't much like other offerings aimed at viewers young and old, and the reasons keep on coming. Though it tells a tale of adventure and romance, it also plunges into worlds laced with death and filled with souls lurking beyond the grave. It may stick with the usual trick of using celebrity voices, but they're not your standard selections, nor do their vocals overwhelm the visuals. And it certainly doesn't look like anything else you've seen before, with its distinctively animated frames depicting the bulk of the characters as intricately crafted marionettes. Instead, The Book of Life is an entertaining feast for the eyes and for the heart, both beautiful to watch and to become immersed in. It starts with school students bored with a museum tour, then sparked into intrigue by a savvy guide (Christina Applegate). The story she shares centres on two warring spirits — La Muerte (Kate del Castillo), ruler of the Land of the Remembered, and Xibalba (Ron Perlman), ruler of the Land of the Forgotten — who make a bet over the control of their realms. Three friends draw their attention: the feisty Maria (Zoe Saldana), who refuses to conform to customary female roles just because it is the done thing; the guitar-playing Manolo (Diego Luna), who is expected to follow in his father's bullfighting footsteps; and the headstrong Joaquin (Channing Tatum), the son of their town's famed but fallen protector. La Muerte wagers that the sensitive Manolo will win Maria's love, while Xibalba backs the bandit-fighting Joaquin. Now, don't go dismissing the film for its formulaic focus on men tussling over a woman, because that's only the broad outline of the narrative. No one in the feature adheres to type, just like the movie itself. Everyone has to open their minds to finding their right path. Everyone has stereotypes to overcome. Indeed, experienced animator turned first-time feature writer and director Jorge R. Gutiérrez oozes affection for departing from the tradition of family fare everywhere he can, including ramping up the gothic, del Toro-esque touches, playfully bathing dark material in an abundance of colour, rendering villains in metal in contrast to the wooden heroes, and using Ice Cube as a hip hop overseer of all life. It's the little things like this that make The Book of Life as fun as it sounds — and it already sounds incredibly fun. Far removed from the usual movies of the season, this is one magically macabre cinema outing.
Why are French films so good even when they’re so bad? How does a mainstream drama masquerade as a classy arthouse film? Since the unlikely plot machinations of Gone Girl, there’s been much talk of preposterous thrillers; what Samba gives us is a preposterous romance. Charlotte Gainsbourg is an impossibly stylish yet under-confident social worker who falls in love with one of her clients, Senegalese immigrant Samba Cisse (Omar Sy), who’s in a detention centre and legal limbo despite ten years of work and life in France. A ridiculous scenario! So why do we buy it? And how exactly do the French do middlebrow cinema so well? Samba is co-written and directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, the team behind the 2011 feel-good hit The Intouchables that introduced the world to French-Senegalese actor Sy. I’d be surprised if Nakache and Toledano ever let him go — Sy is a super charisma bomb and genuine movie star. Gainsbourg is typically lovely and captivating, but really, it’s all about Sy. The film’s comedic beats are sprinkled evenly, the intelligent and photogenic romantic leads dance awkwardly and endearingly around each other as expected, all the loose ends are tied — and every stereotype of a French film is fulfilled. It's all pleasingly predictable. An Australian or British filmmaker might play Samba as gritty social-realist cinema, but in French hands it's closer to a rom-com with a dash of humanitarian consciousness, with a perilously close move to melodrama in the third act. The opening scene lays out the film’s more serious themes beautifully. We open on a group of Gatsby-era dancers on stage, glittering and red-lipped, a swing remix playing, and as the camera pulls back indulgently, a giddy bride and groom in punch-drunk love cut a huge cake. We follow as the cake is whisked out of the ballroom, through swinging service doors and into the sweaty, stressful kitchen, to be cut, plated and served. Across that threshold, the Luhrmann-style extravaganza immediately gives way to a hospitality class of invisible, non-white, super-stressed labourers. This one long take gives us a perfect, efficient view of how racial segregation continues in contemporary democracies — that the luxuries of the upper classes are fuelled by the sweat of migrants who renounce many basic rights for the 'privilege’ of living in the developed world. A film about the immigrant’s struggle might seem overly dry, but Samba is drenched in that amazing French cinema slickness. It’s an easy date film, a stay-in-on-Friday-with-pizza-and-wine film, the type of socially acceptable, trashy indulgence you don’t have to feel humiliated about (the anti-Fifty Shades of Grey). It’s the filmic equivalent of Cafe del Mar easy listening: it’s watchable. The direction and music and cinematography are so seamlessly invisible, and the lead performances so natural, the film appears to be directed on autopilot. Most of all, Samba is neither a good nor bad film; it’s a disturbingly competent one. Still, it’s a minor victory every time a film for grown ups that's not part of a Marvel-ised 'story world' makes it to theatres. And you get to spend a couple of hours with Charlotte Gainsbourg and Omar Sy.
Fast cars, pulse-pounding action and plot holes bigger than the veins in Dwayne Johnson’s biceps: the seventh entry in the Fast and/or Furious franchise delivers everything fans have come to expect. And yes, to be clear, we mean that as a compliment. In an age where most Hollywood blockbusters do everything they can to seem dark and gritty, this souped-up seven-part soap opera drives straight in the other direction, delivering delightfully silly, self-aware thrills at every possible turn. The most over-the-top film in the franchise so far, Fast & Furious 7 doesn’t just jump the shark; it sails over the shark’s head at 245mph, in a $3.5 million Lykan Hypersport, in slow motion, while half a dozen strippers dance to a Wiz Khalifa song playing in the background. The 'plot' of the film sees Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his hetero life partner Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) back on the streets of Los Angeles after earning a pardon for six movies’ worth of crimes. Unfortunately for them, their newfound tranquillity is short-lived, as Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham playing the same character he always does, only evil) shows up to avenge his brother Luke, aka the bad guy from Fast & Furious 6. Dom and Brian’s only option is to team up with Agent Frank Petty (franchise newbie Kurt Russell), who promises to help them deal with Shaw in exchange for rescuing a computer hacker (Nathalie Emmanuel) from a group of international terrorists. Of course, in order to manage such a mission, they’ll need their regular crew, including Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges). Think of them as being kind of like the Avengers, only more racially diverse, and marginally less bound by the laws of physics or common sense. If they’ve got time, they might even be able to solve the mystery of who keeps stealing the sleeves off Vin Diesel’s shirts. Australian director James Wan takes over from four-time franchise helmsman Justin Lin, and manages to capture the film’s many, many action scenes with similarly explosive aplomb. Silliness aside, one of the great things about this series is how it opts for actual stunt-work and stunt driving instead of just relying on digital effects. That said, we kind of suspect the scene in which a car is driven out the side of a skyscraper and through the side of another probably benefited from a little bit of computer-generated magic. To say that that sequence isn’t even the most ridiculous thing about Fast & Furious 7 should really drive home just how absurd this movie is. To their credit though, the cast still play it 100% straight, and in doing so have managed to get this franchise to that sweet spot where even its legitimately terrible moments — including maybe the most blatant moment of product placement in the history of modern cinema — still manage to be kind of entertaining. Well, almost. We’ve gotta say that Wan’s use of the Michael Bay ass-cam on any and all female extras gets creepy pretty fast. It doesn’t help that the once gender-balanced cast of heroes has basically been reduced to a bunch of bros plus Michelle Rodriguez. Definitely something they should correct in Fast & Furious 8. Apparently Helen Mirren has already put her hand up to play the villain. Now that would be amazing.
With a trio of critically-acclaimed features already under his belt, director Alex Ross Perry is a name that every indie film lover should get to know. Luckily the programmers at ACMI agree, and are giving you the chance to do just that. Timed to coincide with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the Fed Square cinema is screening all three of Perry’s features, each one more striking and acerbically funny than the last. The three-week season is built around Perry’s most recent effort, the misanthropic comedy Listen Up Philip. Described by one critic as both "exceptionally funny and deeply sad," the film stars Jason Schwartzman as a narcissistic novelist whose life slowly collapses under the weight of his own flimsily constructed ego. If you enjoy Listen Up Philip you can also check out Perry’s low-budget freshman and sophomore films Impolex and The Colour Wheel. For full dates and session times, go here.
From haphazard Polaroids to meticulous glamour shots, photography has always been about people. And, long before Humans of New York or The Sartorialist, there was one American artist who got straight to the heart of the matter. Delving into street photography, high fashion, and striking artistic projects including an iconic survey of America's West, Richard Avedon was a master of the form for over six decades. In this collection of works presented with the help of The Richard Avedon Foundation in New York and The National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, we see the artist at his most iconic and influential. Composed of 80 monochrome photographs shot between 1949 and 2002, People includes portraits of celebrities including glamour icons such as Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn, counterculture legends like Bob Dylan and Truman Capote and many more. With his ties to the fashion world and his frank, simplistic style, Avedon was basically a much, much classier, 20th century Terry Richardson. Head over to the Ian Potter Museum of Art to catch a glimpse at how things used to be.
Ghostface Killah constantly features as an 'honourable mention' in countless publications' lists of the greatest rappers of all time — perhaps perceived as almost too smart a lyricist for his own good to attain too many top billings in his own right. Just as RZA’s overall production vision for the legendary Wu-Tang Clan has been the sonic foundation to the diverse crew’s raw power, Ghostface has been credited with holding the at-times fractious group together over twenty years at the cutting edge of the game. The 44-year-old New Yorker is the kind of rapper who's more at home sampling You Roam When You Don’t Get It At Home (from his acclaimed solo record Supreme Clientele) than repeating the mantra "Everyday I'm hustlin'". More recently he's embraced rap's intertwined foundations in classic soul even more fully, collaborating with Black Dynamite composer Adrian Younge and the Delfonics on Twelve Reasons to Die (soon to get a sequel) for a time capsule-like recreation of live 1970s instrumentation that spawned a series of unlikely singles, capped by 'Murder Spree'. Fresh off the back of a headlining slot at Meredith — where he invited Australian paralympian Dylan Alcott onstage for 'Protect Ya Neck' — Ghostface is playing an unmissable sideshow at St Kilda's Esplanade Hotel.
With a slogan that promises cinematic delight, the latest edition of Australia's Turkish Film Festival is about to get under way. Hosted at the Dendy Newtown in Sydney and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne, the festival caps off a banner year for Turkish cinema, one that included wins at major international festivals including Cannes, Venice and even Sydney. This year's program consists of the poignant opening night film Whisper if I Forget, Turkish-American co-production in Across the Sea and Palme d'Or winner Winter Sleep, as well as the film-centric comedy Coming Soon, about a desperate film extra attempting to make a movie of his own. Melbourne audiences will also get the chance to experience The Bride, one of the masterpieces of '70s Turkish cinema, as well as Sivas, which took out the Special Jury Prize in Venice.
Almost three full decades after the departure of the old Valhalla Theatre, a brand new pop-up is set to turn Richmond into Melbourne’s home of cult cinema once again. Operating just a few blocks away from its namesake’s original location on Victoria Street, The Val Cinema is part of the suburb's newly minted food and cultural precinct, the Swan Street Chamber of Commerce. Running Thursdays through Sundays, the 42-seat cinema has lined up an awesome program of classic and eclectic film titles, several of which qualify as absolute must-sees. Fittingly, the season begins with The Blues Brothers, which screened at the original Valhalla – first in Richmond and then at its subsequent home in Northcote – every Friday night for more than 20 years. Other highlights include Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy, William Friedkin’s Sorcerer and Robert Zemeckis’ Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, as well as a more recent would-be cult film in Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers. For the first part of The Val’s summer line-up, visit their website.
Head to the Melbourne Showgrounds to eat your weight in street food from every corner of the globe. A good place to start would be the AMFVG Food Truck Park to get a little sample from here, there and everywhere. If you make it out of there with some room left in your tum, there will also be stalls from the likes of Mr Burger, Wonderbao, Those Girls Iced Tea, The Snag Society, Treat Yo Self Quesadilla Cart, Gumbo Kitchen and 400 Gradi just to name a few. As well as food stalls galore there will also be live music throughout the weekend. The ISFF is one of our picks of the best Australia Day events. See the rest here.
With the sun out in full force and Melbourne's iconic winter blues all but a distant memory, there's never been a better time (nor title) for Emily Floyd's latest exhibition. Cataloguing 13 years of her big, bright sculptural installation works, The Dawn is the perfect way to kill some time on a lazy summer afternoon — a fun combination of bright primary colours and giant building blocks that seem to have catapulted themselves straight from your childhood toy chest. Known best for her large-scale sculptures that are often exhibited in public spaces, Emily Floyd's clean style and modernist design has made her one of Melbourne's most recognisable artists in recent years. Though she's exhibited overseas in the past, you may have caught her work locally at Heide, Anna Schwartz Gallery, or MUMA (she also lectures in Fine Art at Monash University). In this, her first solo retrospective, you're in for the full experience. Step into the NGV expecting a world of abstract goodness — the kind of frustratingly simple and beautiful designs that will make you want to redecorate your living room ASAP.
In case you missed it at GLOW Winter Arts Festival last year, the enormous cavern of light that littered your Instagram feeds last year is back once more. This time it's migrated from the south side to the CBD, taking to the ACCA forecourt as part of the inaugural Summersalt Arts Festival. But trust us — it's still as great as ever. At 53 metres long and nine metres high, this large-scale luminarium from UK artists Architects of Air is unlike anything you've seen before. This virtually-designed inflatable sculpture is a hideaway of nooks, crannies, paths and entrancing patterned domes takes its inspiration from Gothic cathedrals, Islamic architecture and unusual geometric structures and is sure to immediately put you in a walking daydream. The artwork is open from 11am-8pm every day until Sunday, February 1, but you will need to pre-book your places ahead of time via the Summersalt website. Unfortunately session times are capped at a mere half hour so you'll have to control the urge to nap and/or claim it as your home.
Cleveland-based, alt-punk trio Cloud Nothings is set to head our way this week, armed with brand new album Here and Nowhere and ready to play Meredith Music Festival — as well as a bunch of sideshows. Since starting out jamming around singer-songwriter Dylan Baldi's basement, Cloud Nothings' trademark sound has become bigger, bolder and more powerful; nostalgic in its references to the Buzzcocks, Husker and Blink-182, yet very much its own thing. It's been an unexpected year for Cloud Nothings. After moving from a quartet to a trio in early 2014 (former guitarist Joe Boyer can't actually leave Ohio for legal reasons), the band's blistering live shows — including recent appearances at Pitchfork Music Festival and Primavera — have played a huge role in boosting their fanbase. In fact, you'll probably want to nab yourself a ticket super-fast: their 2013 Australian tour was a sell-out. In addition to Meredith, Cloud Nothings will play Sydney's Oxford Art Factory on Wednesday, 10 December, supported by Palms and Bed Wettin' Bad Boys; Melbourne's Corner Hotel on Thursday, 11 December, supported by Palms and Power; and Brisbane's The Zoo on Sunday, 14 December.
The realisation that eventually comes to everyone underscores Once My Mother, one that dawned slowly upon filmmaker Sophia Turkiewicz. She grew up listening to stories her mother, Helen, would tell of her life, but could only see as far as the intersection with her involvement. More immediate family history weighed upon Sophia, driving a desire for distance as she grew from a girl into a woman. Unforgiving about time spent in an orphanage, she also demonstrated an unwillingness to look past the emotional scars of her upbringing. It follows that Once My Mother takes a universal process — that of discovering the real personality of our parents, of understanding the true impact of their past not just upon their lives but our own, and of showing compassion for any missteps along the way — and relates it to the audience in the only way possible: as a personal journey. Turkiewicz's documentary is dedicated to dissecting Helen's resilience through decades marked by difficulties of destruction, discrimination and displacement; however, it is also shaped by a daughter's burgeoning awakening to things only age and experience could help her appreciate. Many laudatory words are directed towards Helen in the film's narration, written by and told from Sophia's perspective as a letter from the latter to the former but actually voiced by another. The extolling of virtues is justified by the accounts of Helen's epic ordeals in Poland and Siberia during the Second World War, then in Africa in the aftermath, and finally in Australia in an attempt to establish a new life as a single mother. The language remains lyrical and love-fuelled, sensitive and sentimental, even if the revelation that it is uttered by someone else (Jen Vuletic) somewhat skews the sense of intimacy. Of course, the spoken component is just one part of the documentary, with the visual complement impressive in its detailed assemblage. Starting with Helen in an aged care centre, then going back to the beginning, Sophia combines archival footage and photographs with contemporary-shot interviews and visits. The most fulfilling and fortunate element comes from work filmed many years ago, in the fledgling days of her career and with the flame of inquiry into her maternal genesis just beginning to spark, of earlier chats with Helen. Turkiewicz's career has spanned a significant slice of Australian film and television since the early 1980s, most notably the AFI-winning feature Silver City. It is fitting that it similarly took stock of familiar circumstances, albeit in fictionalised form. Here, she confronts the true tale with obvious emotion, but also insight and information. Once My Mother is a time capsule of a unique bond, and a testament to the impact of tenacity, both resonant and relatable. https://youtube.com/watch?v=-fos7dm2inE
In Bertrand Tavernier's new political comedy, fictional foreign minister Taillard de Worms is likened to a human tornado. His arrival is announced by a sudden blast of wind, his departure accompanied by the scrambling of stressed-out aides. In that way, he's a lot like the film in which he resides. The French Minister rushes around with lots of sound and bluster. Yet it never really adds up to anything more than a bunch of hot air. The film is based on a popular French comic book by author Antonin Baudry. The book was, in turn, based on Baudry's time working as a speechwriter for Dominique de Villepin, the actual French Foreign Affairs Minister during the early parts of the 2000s, who serves as inspiration for the bombastic, temperamental de Worms. An arrogant, volatile, melodramatic diva, de Worms speaks mostly in pompous quotes and metaphors, with the occasional bizarre demand thrown in for good measure. He should be intensely unlikeable, but actor Thierry Lhermitte — apparently a major comedic star in France – endows him with a cocky sort of charisma. He's certainly more interesting that the film's protagonist, newbie speechwriter Arthur Vlaminck. There's nothing wrong with actor Raphael Personnaz's performance, but the character is just way too thinly drawn; a cipher through whose wide eyes we're given a glimpse at the madhouse of power. Even blander is his dutiful fiance, whose sole reason for being in the film appears to be so she can smile adoringly at her BF. Well, that and a few totally unnecessary shots of her lounging around in her underwear. Most of Arthur's working day involves drafting and redrafting speeches — and then inevitably redrafting them again once de Worms or someone else dismisses his work out of hand. The film's ticking clock is an address to the United Nations, at which de Worms will urge the free world against a pre-emptive invasion of the Middle Eastern nation of Ludmenistan — a very obvious stand-in for pre-2003 Iraq. Despite being sold as In the Loop with subtitles, Tavernier's film is far sillier than it is satirical. Most of the sharpest gags centre on the ministry's appalling bureaucracy problem; Arthur seems to have about five bosses and spends the first third of the film without an office. Niels Arestrup has some terrific moments as a veteran chief of staff, his character providing the perfect deadpan foil to de Worms' energy and Arthur's naivete. What the film is really missing, though, is a character like Malcolm Tucker. Without an angry Scotsman threatening to punch people into paralysis, the humour feels decidedly toothless. Soon, jokes and comic arcs start repeating themselves — whether Arthur is writing a speech about a coup in Africa or a dispute between French and Spanish anchovy farmers, de Worms' reaction is inevitably the same. As disconnected subplots crop up one after the other, the movie grows episodic and the comedy rather stale.
STATUS is an exploration of HIV in the modern world. As a response to various interviews, it is a story of HIV positive men, women, friends, family, lovers and acquaintances. It examines the stigmas still floating about and the tensions of living a positive life while being positive. The show is a brief 65 minutes long and seeks to spark discussion about HIV in society today. This year the International Conference AIDS 2014 is taking place in Melbourne, and STATUS will be performed as an independent event in affiliation with the conference. A production bursting with "hope, bravery, love, humour, pain, laughter, tears and compassion", STATUS is a celebration of life, not loss, and an opportunity to start talking.
Monash Uni swings open its theatrical doors for this two-and-a-half week festival. With shipping containers scattered around campus, a pop-up bar and lounge and bucketloads of affordable entertainment from Melbourne's brightest up-and-coming performers, it's worth the trip to Clayton. There's cabaret, clowning, 10-minute dance parties, visual art, theatre and much more in this 35-page program. Particularly intriguing is award-winning performance troupe The Dig Collective Does Cabaret, described as "Monty Python and Rocky Horror's illegitimate child". Their mash of cabaret/physical theatre/clowning/poetry/comedy/drama is as visceral as it is funny. There's also Danception, a combination of dance, fashion, professional lip-syncing (who knew) and visual art that explores ideas of pop culture, social media and trends. How can we find our own voice in a world forcing expectations on us? At the very least, surely this is worth it for the lip-syncing. And where else but uni can you spend a few hours contemplating a question that has plagued Shakespeare students for years: Is It Okay to Tame a Shrew Today? Can The Taming of the Shrew be performed in a way that extracts the push for patriarchy? Or is it just a sexist play about women submitting to their husbands? Go on a journey to potentially find an answer.
So there's a play called Mein Kampf. A comedy, in fact. Undoubtedly someone’s outraged already, just reading that. Adolf Hitler's notorious manifesto certainly seems like unusual fodder for comedy, but the play has been a perennial success since its first staging in Vienna in 1987. Written by Hungarian-born Jewish playwright George Tabori, who was himself an exile from the Third Reich, it casts the young Hitler in a farcical role as a penniless and pitiful wannabe artist. While staying in a seedy hostel, young Hitler strikes up a friendship with an old Jewish man, who becomes his inspiration for everything from the title of his book to his style of moustache. Both a fast-moving lampoon and an exploration of the origins of evil, Mein Kampf promises to be outrageous in every sense of the word. After a hit season in 2013, this production returns for an encore season in July 2014.
For many years St Michaels Grammar School and Red Stitch Theatre have sat next to each other with little interaction other than the occasional use of a hall, or the odd class excursion. That is, until recently. Students from the performing arts-centric school will collaborate with actors from Red Stitch in the upcoming production of The Flock and the Nest. Twelve students from St Michaels are pairing up with four Red Stitch actors under the direction of Gary Abrahams to present The Flock and the Nest, a drama about youth, family, grief and loss. When Ebony's sister-in-law, Niamh, visits her and her family on their rural property, all hell breaks loose. The production is a combination of scripted drama and improvisation, written by Melbourne playwright (and the 2013 writer-in-residence at Red Stitch) Glyn Roberts. Taking the age-old tension of blood ties, land entitlement and grief, The Flock and the Nest promises to be a gripping family drama.
Short film, animation and innovative video artwork will all come together at the open-plan Southgate Cinema in July. Presented by Project Quick and Dirty, Play Me highlights the works of some of the country's most talented filmmakers and artists. Best of all, it's absolutely free. Starting July 8, each Tuesday evening will feature a showcase of narrative shorts. This includes a one-off July 15 retrospective of the films of notable VCA alumni such as Adam Elliot (Harvey Krumpet) and Justin Kurzel (Snowtown). Tuesday night bookings are highly recommended to ensure that you don't miss out on a seat. Wednesday and Thursday nights, meanwhile, will be dedicated to works of a more experimental nature. The public can either pull up a deckchair or choose to wander through the atrium cinema, capturing glimpses of moving image artwork that might normally be restricted to play in galleries. For more information on the Play Me program, visit www.playmeprogram.squarespace.com Image: WTF Is Aussie Art? by Mimi Leung.
With hundreds of great titles across countless languages and styles, the Melbourne International Film Festival has a movie to fit every conceivable taste. And yet for our money, one of the most exciting entries in this year's MIFF program isn't actually a movie at all. The fruit of a first-time partnership between MIFF and Red Stitch Actors Theatre, The Flick is the latest work from critically acclaimed young playwright Annie Baker, and was the recent recipient of the 2014 Pulitzer for Drama. Set in a small, single-screen art house cinema in Massachusetts that has long resisted the transition from 35mm to digital, the play explores the professional and emotional lives of the theatre's three underpaid ushers, as they struggle with a variety of personal insecurities while bickering about the movies that they love.
Get out your inner kitsch, embrace your inner quirk and head to the Fine Design Market for your fix of arts and crafts. Celebrating independent Australian designers, the Fine Design Market boasts a range of boutique crafts, art, music and tasty, tasty food. What's more, it's indoors — meaning that dastardly weather is no longer an excuse not to head to a market. Head to MC Square in Doncaster from 10am – 3pm this Sunday, August 10, Sunday, September 12 and perhaps for a Chrissy pressie on Sunday, December 7. Or if you're interested in running a stall of your very own, check out the website and apply now. Keep an eye on their Facebook page too, as they update it regularly with sneak peeks of stall items. Happy market-ing.
Six pairs of wine-making novices have teamed up with gurus from the likes of De Bortoli, Sutton Grange and Shadowfax to produce the best drop from start to finish. Wine: Baptism of Fire competitors include a team of food bloggers, two Bellota wine bar legends, the partners of St Ali, and a few excellent combinations of publishing folk and hospitality heroes. The wine has been made from personally selecting the best shiraz grapes from Mount Langi Ghiran (Grampians), De Bortoli (Yarra Valley), or Thousand Candles (Yarra Valley). Finally, the time has come to taste the final product. The pre-bottling tasting will be held at the recently refurbished Savoy Tavern, where industry experts and consumers will meet the team members, taste their wines (which will be released in October) and bid for their favourite at the auction. Auctioneers for the evening include Andrew Caillard MW and Stuart Gregor. From picking the grapes to designing the label, the teams have started from scratch and it will be a fight to the finish, as there can only be one winner. Part of the proceeds will go to SecondBite, to help distribute unused fresh food to those in need. Have a bid, have a sip and cast your vote. Our money is on Matt Harrop from Shadowfax proteges Team Harrop, but this evening you will be the judge.
Sydney ambient electro darlings Seekae dropped news of their third album and a national August tour earlier this year. Luckily they didn't do it so silently. They've also gifted us with a new single, 'Test & Recognise'. Picking up the tempo and embracing the power of the synth, it could signal a new direction for the group — from classic chillout sessions to the dancefloor. With past releases, The Sounds of Trees Falling on People and +DOME, Seekae have made a name for themselves in the past few years, playing local festivals like Harvest and Golden Plains. Known for hypnotic electro-pop such as 'Void', 'Crooks' and 'Blood Bank', their name is synonymous with late night drives through the city or relaxed midnight hangs with friends. In the bigger picture, their debut was named one of the albums of the decade by FBi Radio, and their follow-up earned them four nominations at the Australian Independent Music Awards. Since then they've been touring internationally and even took to the stage at this year's SxSW. Seekae's third album, The Worry, is openly described as their most ambitious work to date. Bringing vocals to the fore and losing some of that distinctive ambient haze, it definitely marks a departure from their past sound that may not win over all fans. However, the shift will make for an entertaining live gig. Caught somewhere between blissful oblivion and classic electro these new tracks are sure to get people awkwardly shuffling around the dance floor nationwide. https://youtube.com/watch?v=S78pfy37SN8
In 2007, Dublin-born writer-director John Carney released his low-budget indie musical Once to widespread critical acclaim. Seven years later he returns to the genre with Begin Again, a similarly plotted follow-up, just with a far bigger budget and cast. The additional gloss and star power runs somewhat contrary to the film's subject matter, about two unlikely collaborators making music on the cheap. Still, with leads this charismatic, it's difficult to go wrong. In a role that recalls his likeable loser persona from The Kids Are All Right, Mark Ruffalo plays washed-up New York record executive Dan. Once a successful music producer, he's long become disillusioned with the biz, pissing off everyone who matters and getting fired from the company he helped found. His personal life is in a similar state of disarray — when you need to borrow beer money from your teenage daughter (Hailee Steinfeld), it's a sign that things aren't exactly going great. While drowning his sorrows in a bar in the East Village, Dan hears a melancholy performance from Gretta (Keira Knightley), who we soon learn is the recently ditched girlfriend of up-and-coming British pop-star Dave Kohl (played in a fun, self-deprecating turn by Maroon 5 front-man Adam Levine). Convinced that she's got what it takes, Dan approaches Greta with a record deal. The catch is that neither of them has any money, so they'll have to record it live on the city streets. More than once, there's a sense that Carney wants to have his cake and eat it too. The film is highly critical of the music industry — embodied by Levine's sell-out Kohl — and champions the DIY approach of independent artists for whom music is about a lot more than money. It's a message that felt perfectly suited to the micro-budget Once but seems a little bit at odds with the A-list names and glossy production values found here. Begin Again is also a far perkier film than Carney's previous work, gliding over more serious plot points, such as Dan's apparent alcoholism, with relentless, fairytale positivity. Yet only a cynic would begrudge the film its optimism. Even as you're aware of the script's somewhat hypocritical construction, it's hard not to be won over by its considerable warmth and charm. Ruffalo and Knightley have wonderful chemistry, and the fruits of their partnership are a joy to hear come to life. The songs, like the rest of the film, are cutesy but ultimately enjoyable. And who knew Knightley could sing? https://youtube.com/watch?v=zqRL2dY5-us
Cold nights got you down? Couldn't think of anything worse than taking off your ugg boots and heading outside into the chill? What if we told you there was a winter night market happening every Wednesday from now until August 27. Tempted? You should be, your beloved uggs don't even match up to the snuggliness of this hub of merriment. Queen Vic Markets are at it again with their Wednesday night markets. Following the success of last year's season, the winter market is proving to be just as popular as its summer cousin. Kicking off at 5pm every Wednesday, Luna1878 offers up toasty food, warm drinks, silent disco, a sheesha lounge, market stalls, cabaret, roaming performers and enough lively music enough to make you forget it was ever winter in the first place. There'll be open fires going and mulled wine a-flowing, so you can't pull the "it's too cold" excuse. Hidden from the wind within the Queen Victoria Market sheds, Luna1878 is the perfect post-work wind down and mid-week reminder that winter really isn't all that bad. https://youtube.com/watch?v=uEJile-LKoY
Any good Mexican will tell you that Mexican food is supposed to be hot. A taco without some piquante? Pfft. A mild burrito? Get out. Apparently the folk at SoCal know this, and they’ve come up with a Cinco de Mayo deal to weed out the wimps — Taco Roulette. For $16 you and your amigos can grab a plate of four tacos, three of which are your mild variety. But the fourth promises a ‘super hot’ kick we’re betting lies somewhere between that hot sauce you say you like but really you can only just handle and that pepper Homer Simpson ate that one time. A quick Google search tells me the idea is the loser pays; they’re usually easily identified by a shower of profanities or the way they break out in a sweat. This shindig is put together by SoCal and Corona, so there’ll also be $5 Coronas and Spanish and Mexican tunes playing all night, plus $10 margaritas (regular and chilli varieties) and $20 prawn and chorizo quesadillas for those who’d prefer not to run the risk of temporary tongue damage.
Every generation has at least one definitive teen movie. You've seen them. You grew up rewatching them. You may have them committed to memory. The Breakfast Club, Heathers, Clueless, Mean Girls, Easy A: these are the films weaved through many an adolescent experience. The list goes on — and there's always a new contender lurking around the corner. Circa 2015, that'd be The DUFF. For those unfamiliar with the term, it stands for designated ugly fat friend — or the pal in each clique that makes the rest look better, and that interested parties can approach for all the goss. Everyone has one, the movie tells us. If you don't know who fits the mould in your group, it might just be you. That's what overalls-wearing, horror flick-loving Bianca (Mae Whitman) discovers when her football jock neighbour, Wesley (Robbie Amell), explains why everyone in the school always asks her about her life-long best friends (Skyler Samuels and Bianca A. Santos). This isn't welcome news, unsurprisingly. To shake the label — and to try to win the heart of the guy (Nick Eversman) she likes — Bianca enlists Wesley's help on a mission of reinvention. Yep, that's deja vu you're feeling, courtesy of a storyline so well worn it should be threadbare by now. Over the course of decades of delving into high school angst and antics, the teen movie genre has assembled a long lineup of cliches, with that wealth of history clearly on display here. Add equal parts makeover fantasy and trawling through social hierarchies, plus the usual schoolyard cruelty led by a mean queen bee (Bella Thorne), and garnish with an ample helping of current lingo and issues (here, text speak and social media horrors such as viral videos). It's a popular recipe, making The DUFF just like all other teen fare — even if it is actually based on a novel of the same name. And yet, within a film that sets its protagonist up to shatter stereotypes but does so little of that kind of subversion itself, there's fun to be had — and not just in the fond memories it conjures for even average movies gone by, like the very similar She's All That. Much of it comes from Whitman, a likeable lead rising above the sometimes-silly flow of the story, and willing to go along with the ample physical comedy required. For fans of Arrested Development, her casting may seem like an extension of the series' long-running joke about her character's blandness, but in The DUFF she's anything but. Indeed, she doesn't really fit the film's title, either; unattractive, she's not. Of course, nestled in first-time filmmaker Ari Sandel's upbeat effort are those other components as commonplace as a prom showdown (also present): the message of acceptance, and the reminder that, deep down, nobody's perfect. That's just the standard topping sprinkled over this by-the-book story, but it's also a fitting reminder for avid teen movie aficionados. In a genre often as formulaic as its typical narratives, they can't all stand out, but they might each have their modest merits.
The Alliance Francaise French Film Festival is back for its 26th year and with 49 feature films to be screened at cinemas across eight cities, you'd best prepare yourself for everything from the flirting, whimsy, mishaps and misunderstandings that come with French comedy to the passion, ennui, coming-of-age rebellion, thrilling crime and non-conformist romance that come with French drama. Highlights include: gala opening night feature Gemma Bovery, an endearing comedy starring Gemma Arterton that drops the characters of Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary into a small Normandy town; the Saint Laurent biopic exploring the inspirations and struggles of the acclaimed designer Yves Saint Laurent at the height of his career; and Samba, starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and star of The Intouchables Omar Sy in a cross-cultural romance that looks at the hardships faced by French immigrants. See more of our highlights in this list of top five films to see at the French Film Festival. Read our top five picks of the French Film Festival here.
Explore the piazzas of the Italian capital this summer, with the help of a newly-curated film program at ACMI. Screening throughout February, ROMA! The Screen Life of the Eternal City features 10 titles from the past six decades, including several films from some of Italy’s greatest auteurs. Between them, the movies capture the charm and changing face of one of the most cinematic cities in the world. Indeed, Rome has provided the backdrop for no shortage of classic films. Take a Vespa ride with Katherine Hepburn in the quintessential Hollywood romance Roman Holiday, or wade into the Trevi Fountain with Marcello Mastroianni in Federico Fellini’s jaded masterpiece La Dolce Vita. Both films screen multiple times during the ROMA! retrospective, which kicks off on February 6. Other standouts include Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Mamma Roma and Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’eclisse. There are also a number of more recent works on the program, such as last year’s Best Foreign Language Oscar winner The Great Beauty and the critically-acclaimed documentary Sacro GRA. For the full ROMA! Program, visit the ACMI website.
The Summersalt Festival has been brightening our days for awhile with giant puppets and free street art greeting you on each stroll through Southbank, but now it's going all out. To coincide with the Menagerie exhibition currently taking place at ACCA, the new festival are joining forces with the gallery to bring us this — a blissful two-week play session with a big ol' bunch of dogs. From February 16-28, the ACCA forecourt will be free reign to canine art enthusiasts as local artist Anastasia Klose brings her Farnsworth Republic For Dogs to its adorable fruition. The space itself will be full on dog-friendly art installations and sculptures (read: kennels shaped as iconic Melbourne buildings) and from 7am-9am each morning you are invited to bring your dog along for a play. The launch at 7.30am on Monday, February 16 will be a particularly fun event with a special leash/ribbon cutting, free treats for your pet and much-needed coffee for you. Word around the dog park is that it's the hottest event of the season.
Connect with designers, entrepreneurs and activists over two jam-packed days in Federation Square. Like an exclusive summer camp for brainiacs (complete with lunch and afternoon tea breaks), this year's Link Festival combines lectures, panels and interactive workshops in order to explore issues of modern technology and social change. Guests of the festival span a wide array of professions, from journalists to teachers to environmental scientists. Greenpeace Australia Pacific CEO David Ritter will be there, as will TEDx Sydney curator Jess Scully. Keynote topics include the intersection between architecture and activism, expectations of the mainstream media, as well as ways we can harness the power of the internet for good rather than evil.
If your idea of a Mexican food experience is a little less ‘overstuffed burritos washed down with tequila while waiting for your turn at the pinata' and a little more gourmet, this Cinco de Mayo celebration might be more up your alley. Acland St Cantina is known for its wholesome and authentic Mexican fare, not to mention the cognitive dissonance you experience when you’re able to order pretty-sure-they-don’t-have-that-in-Mexico salted-caramel ice-cream churros tacos for dessert. For Cinco de Mayo, the folk from Acland St are teaming up with Corona for a night of eats, beats and a sweet drink special called Cinco de Drinko. Get together with your amigos for that one; cinco means five in Spanish, so that’s five drinks at $5 a pop. We’ll let them slide on the lack of a mariachi band, because there’ll also be a DJ pumping out tunes from 7pm onwards.
Who isn't going to see Avengers: Age of Ultron? Since 2008, almost everyone has watched at least one movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this being the 11th. It's the TV approach to film, with an episode or two released each year. By now, we've all consumed enough to get hooked on superhero shenanigans. Such a history might seem like a blessing, sending audiences to cinemas; however, it can also be a curse. Viewers know what Marvel excellence looks like; they've seen it, and they've laughed and cried along. They also know when a comic book adaptation doesn't make the grade. And, in good but not great efforts, they can spot the formula at work, see when a film is stuffed with a few too many characters, and recognise when it feels like it's going through the motions. That's where Avengers: Age of Ultron lands, a by-the-numbers outing not without its issues, but still enjoyable. Everyone's favourite gang of better-than-average folks is back, and this time they're responsible for their new worst enemy. That'd be the titular addition to the fold, a program with artificial intelligence created by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) in the name of world peace. Alas, after taking robotic form, Ultron (voiced by James Spader) has different ideas about how to protect the planet. Basically, it's the Frankenstein narrative, as the creation turns against its creator and the uncaring masses. It's not an original story, but it remains intriguing, exploring Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) coming to terms with the reality of their powers, roles and ability to play god — and Thor (Chris Hemsworth), too, even though he genuinely is one. Joss Whedon being Joss Whedon, the returning writer/director dresses it all up with more than a few complications — think ideological clashes and romantic subplots — plus comic touches. He's simply doing what he does, as fans of his television shows like Buffy and Firefly will recognise. He crafts scenes of spectacular chaos and continent-hopping carnage thankfully given time to play out, and wraps up the standard set-pieces and fight sequences in pithy quips. Yes, you've seen and heard much of it before, and yes, the film can never quite shake that feeling. Instead, flitting from one drama to the next and giving everyone their moment, it relies upon the fact that you already know and love the characters, the actors and their camaraderie. While spending time with the bulk of the bunch and spotting other familiar faces is hardly a chore, veering off in different directions is certainly welcome, particularly when twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen) — aka Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch — join the fold. That's where the entertaining yet never game-changing effort shines brightest, actually: in setting up the next offerings in a long list of Marvel movies, including two Avengers sequels already slated for 2018 and 2019 respectively. Age of Ultron may not be the best instalment so far, and you'll walk out well aware that what you just watched was only the latest chapter, but you're still enthused for things to come. Next stop: Ant-Man.
Looking for quite the authentic warehouse party experience? smalltown is the latest clubbing event dedicated to capturing the feel of the best warehouse parties of yesteryear. So far, they're doing a damn good job of it with stellar lineups and packed-out events. This week, Detroit native Kyle Hall will be stepping up to the plate. Hall comes from an exceptional musical family of fellow DJs, with much of his youth spent playing with basic software and found equipment to create his now defined sound. Within four years of DJing, Hall found himself touring the globe; playing at the world's biggest music festivals and best clubs. Hall is quite the purist, only using vinyl in his sets for a raw and gritty performance. As well as performing the world over he also runs his own imprint, Wild Oats, which was created to represent the current Detroit sound that Hall knows and loves so well.
Prolific Japanese sludge-psychedelic noisemakers Boris are well acquainted with sounds of every type. They've released 19 albums full of them in the past 20 years — spanning from doom-laden metal to feedback-heavy acid rock — culminating in last year's release, with the you-can’t-say-they-didn’t-warn-you of a title Noise. It's a far cry from J-pop (though the trio have been known to dabble in it), but still a sound inspired by Japan. "Every street in every city is flooded with massive noise, from people talking, the constant playing of uncomfortable commercial music, so many conflicting sounds in one space," bassist/guitarist/vocalist Takeshi told the SMH. Last time Boris made it to Australia they played their 2002 cult classic record Flood in its entirety. If you manage to bag a ticket to their Corner show this month, come prepared for eardrum-popping experimental soundscapes as dense as their discography is in releases. Don't forget your earplugs. Supported by White Walls + Hotel Wrecking City Traders.
At 25 years of age, French-Canadian director and professional overachiever Xavier Dolan has been touted by cinephiles as the next great auteur — an antidote to a global film industry bloated with high-budget, low IQ franchises. Once a child actor, Dolan's fifth film, Mommy, won some insanely high praise and the Jury Prize at last year's Cannes Film Festival. In vivid colours and an Instgram-like 1:1 ratio, Mommy declares its arrival as loudly as its attention-seeking protagonist, Steve. An at-risk 15-year-old emblematic of Quebec's forgotten underclass, Steve (a hyper-charismatic Antoine-Olivier Pilon) has been expelled from his disciplinarian boarding school. His young, widowed mum, Die (Anne Dorval), is just as funny and street-smart and gutsy as her son, but ill-equipped to deal with his angry delinquency. Steve seems to get back on track thanks to a conveniently kindly neighbour who, despite her own barely discussed traumas, begins tutoring and putting boundaries on him, but begins to stray once again. Rather than frame these social-issue themes in a gritty, crime-flecked drama, Dolan opts for a set of stylish character studies about the volatile mother-son relationship, positioning his actors boldly in the middle of the square screen and pushing them to noisy, dramatic limits. The film is much less innovative than its stylistic choices promise, however, because it swerves towards predictably tragic plot points that we, as viewers, have learned to spot from sitcoms and indie dramas. 'Indie' has become a genre in its own right rather than a way of working outside the studio systems. The checklist for indie filmmakers working towards that sought-after 'quirky charm' seems to include an over- or under-saturated colour palette, blurry soft-focus camera work, a cast of loveable yet flawed characters (including a friendly stranger), a slowly revealed tragic backstory, a shot at redemption against hardship, a lip-synching musical sequence, a domestic disturbance, an ambiguous ending and so on. Like the filmmakers of the recent Skeleton Twins and Kumiko: Treasure Hunter, Dolan wilfully checks all these boxes. It's all about self-conscious style over substance, perhaps to compensate for an underwritten script that floats slackly over two hours. Like so much cinema, Mommy functions at a gut level — you either instinctively get it or you don't, which makes it inexplicably polarising. Whether you find the dialogue and performances accurate or OTT, the characters unbearably stereotypical or eye-openingly new, all comes down to your personal taste. From everything from the blaring musical choices (supposedly a '90s mixtape Steve's father made) to an emotional daydream sequence, this is showy filmmaking. Dolan has a tendency to push his actors to broad, melodramatic extremes to the point where I sometimes felt I was watching a Francophone Neighbours. Despite all the distractions, Mommy feels alive and young. There's something really interesting and energetic going on here — a director not working on autopilot, turning over big passions at high speed and with a great love of cinema. As to whether or not it amounts to much more than a French-Canadian, ADHD-style Instagram film, well, I'm unconvinced, but fascinated as to the director's next moves.
When a bomb goes off in the centre of the city, the shockwaves are followed by ripples of fear and paranoia. For people like Amor, a young man of Arabic descent running errands near the bomb site, accusatory stares and murmurs of suspicion follow him wherever he goes. Written by acclaimed Swedish playwright Jonas Hassen Khemiri, I Call My Brothers makes its Australian debut at the Southbank Theatre; directed by MTC Women Director’s Program alumni Nadja Kositch. Originally set in Stockholm, where it was written in response to suicide attacks that shook the city in 2010, the play nonetheless confronts universal issues of prejudice and racial profiling — and does so with both gravity and unexpected humour. Following its two week season in Southbank, the MTC production will tour schools in regional Victoria, where it is being studied as a VCE drama text.
For those who like their comedy a little more introspective, you can’t go past Sydney’s Michael Workman. Combining wry observational humour with surreal long-form storytelling, he’s a rare kind of comedian capable of transcending genre, moving audiences to tears even as they’re cracking up with laughter. We Have Fun Don’t We explores Workman’s first-hand experience with heartbreak and depression. Sounds hilarious, right?
The NGV International’s latest exhibition will leave you with square eyes, as it explores a diverse range of artists work focused on television, sets and screens, visual broadcasting and the transmission of information. Transmission: Legacies of the Television Age will feature both Australian and international artists, with works dating back to the 1950s — when television was becoming popularised — and contemporary work from some of today's most prominent artists. Video works by artists Nam June Paik, Ant Farm and Dara Birnbaum feature as part of Transmission, alongside print and photography by Anish Kapoor and Susan Fereday. Contemporary works by Elvis Richardson and Simon Denny will also be on display, and the large-scale, immersive installation Available sync 2011 by Lizzie Fitch and Ryan Trecartin is sure to be a highlight. Transmission explores our move from being a passive to an active audience, looking back through history as well as offering suggestions as to what is to come in the digital age. The possibilities of which, as surely endless. Image: Lizzie Fitch and Ryan Trecartin, Available sync (2011) NGV.
In the last three and a half decades, more than five million children have been conceived via in vitro fertilisation. Yet while the use of IVF nowadays is relatively unremarkable, its early years were clouded with controversy. Now, that social uproar will be covered in detail, in an ambitious new Melbourne Theatre Company production opening May 15. The Waiting Room is the latest creation from playwright Kylie Trounson, whose own father spearheaded groundbreaking fertility research at Monash University at a time when so-called test tube babies seemed like something out of science fiction. Both Kylie and her father feature as characters in the play, which chronicles Dr. Trounson's breakthrough and the resulting (and divided) public reaction. Juxtaposed with the moral furore is the story of a woman going through IVF treatment in both the 1970s and today. The play will be performed at the Arts Centre, and is directed by Naomi Edwards, who was part of the MTC Women Directors' Program in 2014.
Cross-dressing spitfire MC Mykki Blanco is in the country for Dark Mofo, heading north afterward to blow Melburnian minds at the Hi-Fi. One seriously multitalented artist, NYC-based Blanco is a rapper, performance artist and poet who grew up listening to riot grrrl music. The significantly internet-hyped New Yorker's setlist will inevitably include writhing party jam 'Wavvy' and heavier tracks like the recently released 'Initiation' — both as likely to intrigue audiences as attract them to the dance floor. Think bass heavy, post-trap anthems with a killer MC at the helm. While Blanco certainly stands out and makes her presence felt, she doesn't aim to make a 'statement' as such; rather fluidly transcending many identities. https://youtube.com/watch?v=w39Fxx10CEI
Northeast Party House will be dominating The Corner with two shows over the weekend to launch their highly anticipated debut album. Any Given Weekend features dance floor fillers such as 'Youth Allowance' and 'Fake Friends', which are sure to stir a rambunctious crowd. Latest single off the album, 'The Haunted', is a great example of the strong songwriting chops and poppy hooks you can expect from the stellar debut record as a whole. Forming in 2010, these six Melbourne lads began by playing at warehouse parties, and their reputation for delivering high-energy live performances has stayed strong. Northeast Party House's alternative dance rock is chaotic but never sloppy, and always wildly fun. Northeast Party House were kind enough to pen us an ode the Palace Theatre a couple of weeks back. Have a read here. https://youtube.com/watch?v=yU63Pertfk8
There are few bands with enough unfaltering stamina to line up a debaucherous, beer-fuelled pub crawl to kick off every night of their Australian tour. But Brisbane's Dune Rats leave the rules at home, abiding by one big ol' proviso: "no kooks, no gutties." Whatever the blazes that means, these bloody corker dudes surf self-generated waves of laidback party-fuelled philosophy. Dune Rats' BC Michaels, Danny Beusa and Brett Jansch have been away from home for some time now, heading to the US, staying in a New York AirBnB warehouse, driving along the West Coast from San Diego to Vancouver and filming their own (sorta) web series American Death Trip of Dreams. Then they bailed over to Europe and the UK. After months on the road, the Dunies will head back home to Australia for a national tour, showcasing their debut album set for release on June 1. It'll be the first time the trio have played to home audiences for months. The tour kicks off on the west coast and ends up back where they all started. "I'm pretty fucking excited to get home, that's for sure. We haven't played in Brissy for ages," says bass player Brett Jansch. "We've been away for so long and hopefully we can just get back and hang out with our buddies and just talk about anything else, find out what they're doin'. Pieced together like a rambunctious escapade of regrets, the Dunies will host a pub crawl in every city before the gig for fans who've preordered their debut album (out June 1). Dune Rats is a rambunctious ride through moments of pure silliness ('Dalai Lama' has five words in total: "Dalai Lama, Big Banana, marijuana,") and heartfelt bouts ('Home Sick'). "Well I guess you just want to get as fucked up as possible before the gig with all our friends and buddies that have preordered the album in order to come to the pub crawl," Jansch says in a wink-wink, nudge-nudge moment of please-buy-our-albumness. "We'll find the right place where we can all hang out together near the venue or whatever and just go pub to pub. "So honestly, we'll be going on a pub crawl all around Australia I guess. I wonder if anyone will come all the way with us. If someone does, they can definitely have a fuckin' t-shirt! They can have a hangover as well." Supporting Dune Rats will be different buds in each state. "We've kind of put together just all our fucking favourite bands and our friends to play, you know... So it's going to be a fucking party every night, especially now with our pub crawls and shit.," Jasnch realises. "Fuck, I think it's going to be a full wash up by the end of it." Check out our chat with Dune Rats bass player Brett Jansch over here. TO REGISTER FOR THE DUNIES PRE PARTIES: 1. Pre-order the album Dune Rats for ten beans at iTunes or JB HiFi. 2. Forward your iTunes or JB HiFi album preorder receipt and your mobile number to stuff@ratbagrecords.com. 3. Let the Dunies you're off to the Melbourne show at The Corner Hotel. 4. Wait. Recieve the deets on the morning of the show. Then party on dudes. For more details about the Dune Rats pub crawls and to preorder the album head over here. Dune Rats debut album is out Sunday, June 1. https://youtube.com/watch?v=lU3n6vRX8yY
Writing can be a lonely business. Crouched over a fluorescent glowing computer screen for most of your day, your main social interactions will regularly come from a nerdy #QandA exchange on Twitter rather than anything meaningful IRL. But once a year, all the beautiful (if not a little sun-deprived) creatives come out to play. The Emerging Writers' Festival is back for another year; it's time to get your fix in awkward literary puns, super-helpful panels, and much-needed drinks with your fellow writers. Comprised of parties, panels, performances and workshops, this annual festival is a one-stop-shop for all your writerly needs. Learn up about the literary merit of the average sext, hear a panel of writers let loose about the industry in the dark, or head along to the Emerging Q&A to have all your burning questions answered. This year's festival comes with a particular focus on the creative industries of fiction, poetry and screenwriting, so it's bad luck to any emerging journalists out there. However, the hands-on experience on offer is bound to be helpful nonetheless. The Freelancing for Life Masterclass will finally be teaching us hopeless freelancing creatives how to file a correct tax return/organise our lives entirely. An all-day screenwriting workshop will be showing you the ins and outs of writing for film and television. Then this Digital Writers' Masterclass is there to guide you through the thorny terrain of writing for the web. Whatever your poison, EWF has you covered in some way or another. Even if you're not interested in writing, you're bound to like the parties all the same. As the festival openly declares, it's pretty much the best place to go if you're on the lookout for sexy nerds. The Emerging Writers' Festival runs from May 27 till June 6 in locations all across the city. Check out the full program at the Emerging Writers' Festival website.
Memory is weird. Sometimes it makes sense and other times it runs in loops, unfinished and unresolved. Memorandum seeks to demonstrate the disconnection between memory and reality, and the strangeness of recollection itself. In this intimate and immersive piece, Kate Hunter explores the weirdness and unreliability of the mind. "I have this ongoing image on my mind from childhood of a number of people — grownups — who have nappies on. So I don’t know what that’s about." The show features Hunter retelling stories varying formats, all the while second guessing the truth of her memory. The topic was actually developed after Hunter spent four years researching cognitive neuroscience for her PHD in Performance Studies. Her performance is strong, her storytelling skills are admirable, and her memories (whether they are accurate or not) are fascinatingly obscure. However among the constantly changing and confusing dialogue, I struggled to find a richer meaning other than 'Goddamn it, why can’t I remember things better?' It would have been good to see a bit more of the scientific side of the concept, or at the very least, a deeper exploration of the concept. Part poetry, part physical theatre, part audio/visual show, Memorandum perhaps tries to cross too many theatre 'to dos' off the list. One that really got me was the microphone capturing Hunter’s breath. Perhaps it was an attempt to remind us of the frailty of the mind, or the life force that drives memory — but really it was just kind of distracting. Plus I hate bodily noises, so... Visually, the piece is beautiful. Hunter crawls through pools of light, stands amidst projections of herself and creates ghoulish shadows across the back wall. There is a particularly striking moment of audiovisual design where words trip down panels of cloth featuring projections of Hunter herself while she recalls yet another unbelievable story from her life. While the production looked good, and the stories were engaging, I didn’t feel particularly challenged by the piece, despite it making a statement I wasn’t sure I understood. However, with such a short work — just under an hour — it was simply a pleasure to be immersed in Hunter’s weird and wonderful mind. Photo credit: Leo Dale.
Palo Alto should come with a warning: may cause optic nerve damage as a result of excessive eye-rolling. Adapted from a collection of semi-autobiographical short stories by Instagram-age Renaissance man James Franco, the film marks the directorial debut of 26-year-old Gia Coppola, the granddaughter and niece of filmmakers Francis Ford and Sofia, respectively. A portrait of teenage disaffection, it's a film that attempts to capture the aimlessness, the angst and the self-aggrandised melancholy of youth. That it more or less succeeds in that goal is a big part of what makes it so unbearable. Emma Robert and newcomer Jack Kilmer play April and Teddy, a pair of brooding high schoolers absorbed by personal drama. He's a delinquent skater who's actually an unappreciated artist; she's the neglected daughter of self-absorbed parents who begins an affair with her creepy soccer coach (Franco). Meanwhile, Teddy's best bud Fred (Nate Wolff) finds himself drawn to increasingly anti-social behaviour to hide his insecurities, while another classmate Emily (Zoe Levine) turns to sex in order to hide her own. While Coppola and Franco do their best to depict the nuances of teenage ennui, their interlocking stories end up bringing little new material to what is already an over-saturated genre. Likewise, while the mannerisms of the characters feel pretty accurate, the kids ultimately come across more like ciphers than real people. There's little insight into why they do the things that they do, other than they're bored, perhaps, or feel entitled. Or maybe the world just, like, doesn't understand. Coppola's direction shows promise, only to fall into indie film cliché. Midnight strolls through deserted streets look as though they've been pulled from a Smashing Pumpkins music video circa 1996, while some of the visual metaphors — Fred driving the wrong way down the freeway, for example — are way too obvious to be profound. Despite this stumble, there's enough in Palo Alto to suggest the youngest Coppola may have a future ahead of her. You'd be less inclined to be charitable towards Franco, whose aggressive desire to be taken seriously makes it basically impossible to do so. https://youtube.com/watch?v=sTqMUu1iTIo
As far as Henry Miller was concerned, alone time is crucial to creativity. “An artist is always alone,” he wrote, “if he is an artist. What the artist needs is loneliness.” But spending day in, day out, with only your cat for company isn’t always a recipe for inspiration. Luckily, Etsy is well aware of the problem. So, every year, they host an enormous, worldwide Craft Party. Artists and craftspeople all over the planet are encouraged to get together to paint, draw, sculpt, sew and make — with like-minded others. This year, the gathering will be happening on June 6 and the theme is 'Recapture: bring new meaning to your photographs'. You scour the family photo album for your most archaic, treasured, embarrassing and bizarre images and take them with you. Etsy Craft Parties will be held all over Australia. You can organise your own, or to attend one of Sydney's major bashes, book a spot online.
You know your life has gone well when it basically looks like an IRL version of The Jungle Book. Dr Jane Goodall is a hero to environmental types around the world. She lived with chipmanzees in Tanzanian National Parks, she is an expert on the issues of climate change and habitat destruction, she was once described as "the woman who redefined man"; and now she's in the country to dole out some life lessons. Put your thinking caps on — this one's bound to be a doozie. Unlike the character she inspired on The Simpsons — a deranged environmentalist who used chimpanzees as free labour in a secret diamond mine — Dr Jane Goodall is a well-respected member of the scientific community. Her visit to Australia this year in fact marks her 80th birthday, and in that time she's achieved dazzling success. In this discussion at the Melbourne Town Hall Goodall will be telling all about her amazing life and times. If you've ever had a secret yearning to be Mowgli (or a UN Peace Ambassador) this is must-see event.
