When Quibi launched in Australia and New Zealand back in April, it added yet another streaming platform to the already lengthy list of services competing for your eyeballs, especially in this stay-at-home, pandemic-afflicted year. This newcomer came with a few twists — serving up its content in small chunks of up to ten minutes in length, designing it all for viewing on your phone, and eventually letting folks watch for free and allowing streaming from users' phones to their TVs, too — but it's now completely pulling the plug. Less than eight months after it kicked off, Quibi will close down, informing customers that it'll end "on or about December 1, 2020". In mid-October, it was revealed that the service would shutter after failing to both attract a big subscriber based and, once the company's powers-that-be realised that it was struggling, to attract a buyer. It shouldn't really come as a surprise that, when we're all spending more time at home during a global health crisis, folks didn't just want to view things by themselves on a tiny phone screen — and that by the time Quibi added Airplay and Chromecast capabilities, the world had largely dismissed the platform. There's also the fact that viewers have a seemingly never-ending array of new streaming services to choose from, so one dedicated to movies and TV shows in bite-sized pieces was probably never going to stand out. Quibi had big aims, both when it launched and in the years beforehand — including hitting 175 different shows and 7000 episodes in its first year. Boasting a name that's been shortened from 'quick bites', it was created by ex-Disney chairman and DreamWorks cofounder Jeffrey Katzenberg, and is led by former eBay president and CEO Meg Whitman. Before it launched, it had been in the works since 2018. And, it had earned ample attention thanks to its huge stash of cash (reportedly raising $1.75 billion to spend on content), as well as its hefty array of stars and shows. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96mETd0NIIE If you still have a subscription and you're keen to check out Quibi's slate of shows over the next month — including new version of Punk'd hosted by Chance the Rapper, Chrissy Teigen presiding over small claims cases in the Judge Judy-style Chrissy's Court and a Reese Witherspoon-narrated documentary series about females in natural history — you can still do so. Your access won't be renewed once your bill period ends, though. So, for now, you still have a short amount of time left to watch Anna Kendrick befriend a sex doll, follow the twists of horror-thriller The Stranger or work your way through a new version of The Fugitive. Some of Quibi's other highlights include mockumentary Nikki Fre$h, which follows Nicole Richie's efforts to become a wellness-focused rapper; cooking competition show Dishmantled, where host and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Tituss Burgess shoots food at two culinary industry figures, then forces them to try to recreate the dish in question; and Lena Waithe-hosted documentary series You Ain't Got These, about sneaker culture. There's also Flipped, starring Will Forte and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Kaitlin Olson as a down-on-their-luck couple desperate to host their own TV renovation series; Most Dangerous Game, the latest twist on the humans-hunting-humans idea, this time with Christoph Waltz and Liam Hemsworth; and Survive, which casts Game of Thrones' Sophie Turner as a suicidal patient suddenly forced to fight for her life after a plane crash. Or, you can watch luxury dog houses come to life in Barkitecture. Quibi will shut down on December 1, 2020. For further details, visit the Quibi website.
Do you like horror films? Australian director Mark Hartley obviously does. His infectious, gleeful enthusiasm for his popular if sometimes critically reviled genre of horror makes this a blood-soaked treat for like-minded fans. Having previously explored the rich if somewhat forgotten back catalogues of Australian exploitation cinema horror in his excellent doco Not Quite Hollywood, he takes the next logical step here, remaking Richard Franklin's 1978 cult favourite B-movie. The tagline of the original also serves as a neat plot summary: 'He's in a coma…yet, he can kill!' He is Patrick, a patient who somehow maintains his excellent condition while those around him waste away in a vegetative state in a creepy, isolated hospital. When a young nurse makes a ghoulish discovery that leads to her grisly end, the bright young Kathy 'Jac' Jacquard (Sharni Vinson) is recruited to the facility, which is overseen by Dr. Roget (Charles Dance) and his dead-eyed daughter, Matron Cassidy (Rachel Griffiths). Patrick rattles through genre tropes (creaky elevator shafts, dirty-looking syringes, zombie-like patients wandering blackened corridors, moments of silence shattered by a pounding at the door) with an expert's assurance and a fan's relish. This is a film that knows exactly what it is, and that recognises that some things are cliches for a reason. Patrick is in cinemas on October 17. Thanks to Umbrella Entertainment, we have one Patrick prize pack to give away, including a double in-season pass to see the film and a DVD set containing the original 1978 version of Patrick (Richard Franklin), Child's Play (Tom Holland) and Stake Land (Jim Mickle). Ten runners up will receive double in-season passes. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email us with your name and address. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au Read our full review here. https://youtube.com/watch?v=0N5iCcPGqoY
We've hit peak 2017 — where virtual cocktails are a thing, there's a karaoke Ferris wheel and dogs have been invited to chow down on beautifully presented raw fish with chopsticks. A sushi bar for dogs is popping up in Auckland. Dog sushi has been a thing since the early 2000s as a way for owners to ensure their pup is enjoying a holistic, all raw, all natural, preservative-free diet. Auckland's version, the appropriately-titled Poochi Sushi, will take place at the December edition of Parnell's weekend market just for (very good) dogs. There will be three sittings of ten to 12 pups on the day. Small dogs have been recommended to register for the 11am sitting, and medium and large varieties for 11.30am and 12pm. The main course will be a platter of sushi, sashimi and Pawl Ale for $15. The way to any dog's heart is through food, so the platters will of course use premium king salmon direct from the Marlborough Sounds along with hoki from the Coromandel. None of that cabinet stuff. Seeing as Sydney has a bakery just for dogs and Melbourne has a cafe that exclusively serves up dog treats, we're sure that pooch sushi isn't far away.
As anyone who has booked a flight, had to suddenly change their trip and been stuck paying handsomely knows, travel and flexibility haven't always gone hand in hand. But with the entire idea of making firm and definite plans undergoing quite the shift over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Virgin Australia responded to the uncertain period by scrapping its change fees until January 2021 — and it has just announced that it's extending that plan until the end of June. Make a booking before March 31 for travel between now and June 30 and, if life gets in your way and you need to rearrange your trip before your travel date, you'll be able to make unlimited changes to your booking without being charged extra. It's worth noting, however, that this only applies to the usual change fee — that is, the amount travellers can be slugged with just for the act of altering their itinerary. If changing your flights involves a difference in fare, you will still have to pay any shortfall amount. Need to cancel your airfare completely? You can also do that — before either your travel date or June 30, whichever is earlier — and now receive a credit without getting charged for doing so, too. The motivation for the idea, unsurprisingly, is to continue to encourage Australians to get booking — even knowing that little is certain when it comes to leaving the house, restrictions, interstate borders or just life in general in these coronavirus-afflicted times. "We've seen many travellers' plans impacted by domestic border restrictions and so we're here to give them comfort when booking a Virgin Australia flight that they'll be able to change their travel date if they need to," said a Virgin Australia Group spokesman. When it first announced the fee-free plan last year, Virgin called the move its 'Passenger Promise', which spans a number of other measures designed to make travellers feel safer and more confident about taking to the skies. Also included: contactless check-in, pre-flight health screening questionnaires for all travellers when checking in, staggered boarding as part of social-distancing measures, distancing between passengers onboard where possible and minimising movement during the flight. Passengers will also receive free face masks and hand sanitiser kits, and be asked to scan their own boarding passes to limit their contact with crew, while increased cleaning protocols are also in place. To find out more about Virgin Australia's new change fee policy, visit the airline's website.
The festival retreat of 2013 continues, with the Big Day Out announcing that their second Sydney event on Monday, January 27, will be cancelled and merged with the show on January 26. "Perhaps we were a bit ambitious expanding to two dates in Sydney for this year’s Big Day Out," promotor Ken West said in a statement. The Big Day Out has held two Sydney shows in three previous years, depending on the pulling power of its headliners. Ticketholders for the Monday event are automatically able to use their ticket on Sunday. Alternatively, they can get a refund until October 30, 2013, or exchange it for a Big Day Out in any other city. It all comes just a week and a half after the cancellation of Harvest. At the time, promoter AJ Maddah put poor Harvest ticket sales down to the lure of the 2014 Big Day Out lineup, but in light of this new information, it seems the competing festival can't have pinched that many of Harvest's followers. The 2014 Big Day Out lineup sort of lived up to the hype. Organisers spoke of their excitement at landing three "white whales", and the top of the ticket is pretty monumental. Pearl Jam is a classic choice for BDO headliner, Arcade Fire a welcome return visitor to the main stage, Blur a seriously impressive 'get' — and Snoop's good-natured, laaiiiiidbaaack style a nice counterpoint to the snarling grunge and indie-rock mania. For more information or to exchange your ticket, visit the Big Day Out website. By the Concrete Playground team.
Releasing its latest film schedule last night, St Kilda's legendary Astor Theatre has sadly and quietly announced its impending closure. "The Astor Theatre regretfully announces that this is our second last calendar," a note at the top of the schedule reads. "Come and celebrate the best of the Astor Theatre 1982-2015." This monumental loss to Melbourne's film scene comes as a result of the end of their tenancy agreement with the building's landlord. Though the theatre has occupied the space since 1982, operators were unable to reach viable terms for a new lease and all cinema operations will cease as of early 2015. "We do not know what the landlord has planned for the future of the building, only that we are not included in those plans," read the back of the film calendar. This isn't the first time the legendary venue has weathered trouble either. In 2012, then owners St Michael's Grammar School faced enormous community backlash for considering the venue's closure. A petition spearheaded by dedicated community group, Friends of the Astor asked them to relinquish the site and garnered the support of 13,000 signatories. But troubles this year seemed too much to overcome. Feuds over the lease have been reported since April and, when speaking to The Herald Sun, current owner Ralph Taranto openly derided theatre operator George Florence. "We're gonna kick him out. He thinks he owns the place," he said. This morning the iconic venue posted this message on Twitter and the news has trended all over Melbourne. It is beyond difficult to deliver news that we will close our doors in 2015. We hope you will help us celebrate what the Astor is until then — Astor Theatre (@astor_theatre) August 23, 2014 Of course, reaction has been understandably gloomy: When the @astor_theatre closes it's doors in 2015, cinema in Melbourne will lose it's heart. — Luke Preston (@LukePrestonInk) August 23, 2014 Gutted by @astor_theatre news. First time there, saw THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY. Blew my 13 year old mind. Who else remembers their first? — Tom Clift (@tom_clift) August 22, 2014 @LordMayorMelb @Vic_Premier The last great picture house in Melbourne @astor_theatre is set to close it's doors. Can nothing be done? — James Matthews (@pomandaussie) August 23, 2014 Heartbreaking. MT @astor_theatre: It is beyond difficult to deliver news that we will close our doors in 2015. — Marieke Hardy (@mariekehardy) August 23, 2014 The Astor is one of Melbourne's few remaining independent theatres and the very last single-screen cinema in the city. Renowned for its dress-up screenings and penchant for classic film, it's undeniably both an Australian cultural institution and the best possible place to see a showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. It has graced the glossy digital pages of Concrete Playground a lot over the last few years and will be missed dearly. Make sure you catch a film before they call it quits. Our tip: keep it classic. Kick back and get weirdly sentimental over a screening of Pulp Fiction, The Blues Brothers or Texas Chainsaw Massacre. We know Jennifer Lawrence is great and all, but the new Hunger Games is hardly the best way to farewell this much-loved regal screen. Via The Age and Junkee.
Amongst the many large-scale events that've cancelled or postponed in the wake of COVID-19, is perhaps the one we could all use the most right now — the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. With the government banning non-essential mass gatherings of over 500 people, and, today, indoor gatherings over 100, the huge annual laugh-fest was one of the first to be axed from the 2020 calendar. But if it's some chuckles you're after, fear not, because some of Australia's best-loved comedians, many of which were slated to perform at MICF, are coming soon to a streaming device near you. And even those bunkering down at home in a state of enforced self-isolation, or voluntary social-distancing, get to enjoy this little lineup as well. Hitting screens from next month is Amazon Prime's new special series of stand-up shows from ten big-name Aussie comics. Two specials will be released each week from Friday, April 10, including Tom Gleeson's sell-out show Joy, Zoë Coombs Marr with Bossy Bottom, Judith Lucy, Anne Edmonds and Tommy Little. Lano & Woodley, Celia Pacquola, Tom Walker, Dilruk Jayasinha and Alice Fraser are also on the bill, promising to inject a bit of sunshine into your socially distanced life. The comedy specials were all filmed last year at Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre and are set to stream worldwide. You can watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz3dmDUeydw The ten new comedy specials hit Amazon Prime Video from Friday, April 10.
Mid-last year, we looked at a Kickstarter project involving the construction of a swimming pool in New York's East River. Now, London-based architects Studio Octopi have hatched a similar plan for London: the Thames Baths Project. The concept is a response to the potentially impending construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel, dubbed the 'Super Sewer'. Thames Water is awaiting approval to build a 25km underground tunnel, designed to divert the 39 million tonnes of sewage that enters the river each year. London's 150-year-old sewage system simply can't cope with 21st- demands. Studio Octopi proposes the creation of two sets of baths — one at Shadwell in the east and one at Blackfriars (fancy a quick dip before hitting the West End?). The architects collaborated with Civic Engineers on the nitty gritty construction details and with Jonathan Cook Landscape Architects on the aesthetics. Each site would see three tide-responsive pools, supported by concrete slabs and fringed with native foliage — reeds, rushes, yellow flag irises, sedums and valerians. "A lot of people screw their noses up at the thought of swimming in the Thames, but it already occurs within very controlled conditions, such as at Hampton Court and the Docklands," Studio Octopi director Chris Romer-Lee said in an interview with Dezeen. "Imagine the views from the waterline [from Blackfriars], downstream to the London Eye, upstream to the City. Whether it's for sport or leisure, bringing these alternative uses to the heart of cities unites diverse communities, encourages physical activity and invigorates the flora and fauna of our much overlooked river." Even though the Thames Baths Project does not depend on the Super Sewer, it does require a significant improvement in the river's water quality, which fails to meet European standards. The concept is one of five successful submissions to London As It Could Be Now, run by The Architecture Foundation and currently on show at the Royal Academy.
Eyes to the sky, Australia — it's time to catch one of the year's most-impressive meteor showers. Each autumn Down Under, the Eta Aquariids meteor shower sets the sky ablaze. And yes, it's happening right now. This vibrant astronomical vision starts in April every year, but is at its peak in early May. In 2024, the best date to mark in your diary is the early hours of Monday, May 6, which is when the shower will be at its most spectacular. If you're eager to catch a glimpse, even from just your backyard or balcony, here's what you need to know. [caption id="attachment_769233" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] What Is It? The Eta Aquariids might not be as famous as Halley's Comet, but the shower is actually a distant relation — because the bits and pieces you see flying around were on Halley's path a really, really long time ago. And, rather than only being visible every 76 years (the next Halley's Comet sighting is in 2061), the Eta Aquariids come around every year, usually between April 19–May 28. The shower's name comes from the star from which they appear to come Eta Aquarii, which is part of the Aquarius constellation. So, that's what you'll be looking for in the sky. Luckily, being in the southern hemisphere, we get some of the best views in the world. On average, you can see up to 20–40 meteors per hour. When to See It The shower will reach a peak in the early morning of Monday, May 6, but its best viewing window runs for a few days on either side. The optimal time to catch an eyeful is just before dawn after the moon has set, so around 3am AEST — but between 2am–7am is also recommended. At that time, you'll be in the running to see as many as 50 meteors every 60 minutes. Each will be moving at about 225,000 kilometres per hour, shining extraordinarily brightly and leaving a long wake. The shower's cause is, essentially, the Earth getting in the comet's way, causing stardust to fry up in the atmosphere. How to See It Usually, when a meteor shower lights up the sky, we'd tell city-dwellers to get as far away from light pollution as possible to get the best view. If you can't venture out of town at the moment, you can still take a gander from your backyard or balcony. To help locate the shower, we recommend downloading the Sky Map app — it's the easiest way to navigate the night sky (and is a lot of fun to use even on a non-meteor shower night). If you're more into specifics, Time and Date also has a table that shows the direction and altitude of the Eta Aquariids. It has been updating this daily. The weather might get in the way of your viewing, though, depending on where you live. Sydney and Brisbane are set for showers until at least Thursday. Melbourne will be partly cloudy on Sunday and mostly sunny on Monday, and Perth partly cloudy across both days, with Adelaide mostly Sunny on Sunday and sunny on Monday. The Eta Aquariids meteor shower runs until Tuesday, May 28, 2024, and will be at its peak during the night on Sunday, May 5–Monday, May 6. For further details, head to Time and Date. Top image:
First postponed from July to October last year, and then ditching 2020 altogether, Splendour in the Grass has announced today, Tuesday, March 2, that its next event will now be held in spring 2021. The last time the festival updated its plans, it was intending to take place in July 2021; however, it'll now go ahead between Friday, November 19–Sunday, November 21. So, get ready for a much warmer trip to North Byron Bay Parkland than usual. Get ready to see The Strokes and Tyler, The Creator, too. Both acts were originally set to headline the cancelled 2020 fest, and will now hit the stage on the Saturday and Sunday nights, respectively. They'll be joined in the top slot by Gorillaz, who'll do the honours on the Friday evening. Announcing the change of dates via its website, Splendour in the Grass co-founders Jessica Ducrou and Paul Piticco noted that they "had so hoped to bring you Splendour's 20th anniversary edition this July, but we can't stage the event that you know and love within the current restrictions and international border closures. Since March 2020, not a single festival in Australia has been able to run at full capacity and the industry is currently operating at a fraction of pre-COVID levels." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Splendour in the Grass (@splendourinthegrass) Just who else will be on the bill is still up in the air, but we'll let you know as soon as anything else is announced. If you had already purchased a ticket for SITG 2020, you'll be happy to know that it's valid for the 2021 edition. If you've bought one for this year, for the July dates, it's still valid for November, too. And if you don't have a ticket yet, you can head to the festival's website to nab a pre-loved ticket now. Splendour in the Grass has been postponed again and will now take over North Byron Bay Parkland from November 19–21, 2021. All 2020 tickets and July 2021 tickets are valid for November, with pre-loved tickets currently available via splendourinthegrass.com. Top images: Splendour in the Grass 2018 by Charlie Hardy / Splendour in the Grass 2019 by Dave Kan.
Big things come in small packages at the St Kilda Film Festival, Australia's oldest and most prestigious celebration of short-form cinema. Taking over the beachside suburb from 17–26 May, the festival program is as jam-packed as ever, with films of every conceivable genre along with a VR lineup, filmmaking resources and a whopping $50,000 prize pool. As always, the centrepiece of the festival is Australia's Top 100 Short Films. The competition is split into 16 different sessions — spread across the ten days — including two documentary streams and an intriguing "after dark" contingent. Highlights from the lineup are The Story, which was filmed in St Kilda and centres on a man that witnesses an emergency; a film about four women in a futuristic Australia, called Cooee; and Mrs McCutcheon, the story of a 10-year-old boy who likes to wear dresses and go by the name of Mrs McCutcheon. Other program standouts include the annual SoundKILDA Music Video Competition, a selection of Latin American shorts presented in partnership with Mexico's Guanajuato International Film Festival, and the Under the Radar, which showcases films from emerging filmmakers under the age of 21. The festival is also home to The Big Picture, one of the country's largest free filmmaker development programs, where attendees can pick up tips of the trade from leading industry professionals on everything from working with actors to making a movie on your smartphone. While the festival's flashy opening night will take place at the grand Palais Theatre, the rest of the program will be screened at St Kilda Town Hall. St Kilda Film Festival will run from Thursday, May 17 to Saturday, May 26. To snag tickets head to stkildafilmfestival.com.au.
Forget the idea that Port Fairy is a purely summery destination. The small town on the Princes Highway may be best known for its beach — but thanks to their annual winter festivities there's still plenty to do when it gets chilly. From art installations and photography exhibitions to markets and toy-making workshops — plus the feverishly anticipated Dachshund Dash that attracts more than 2000 spectators — Port Fairy Winter Weekends are well worth the drive down the coast. Taking place every second weekend throughout June and July, Winter Weekends will showcase a mix of food, wine, art, culture… and sausage dogs. Did we mention the sausage dogs? They'll be pumping their tiny, adorable legs on Sunday, June 10 — although not before a dog's breakfast and the grand doggo parade. Other standout events include a Pulp Fiction-themed party, a nature walk and talk, 'hot pizza and cold jazz' at the Wishart Gallery, and ghost tours on Saturday nights. Anyone willing to brave the early morning cold can also take part in the Winter Solstice Dawn Swim first thing on Saturday, June 23. Port Fairy Winter Weekends will run on June 8–10, June 22–24, July 6–8 and July 20–22. Image: Loren Tuck.
Whether you're a political junkie or simply appreciate the 44th American President's annual end-of-year culture lists, block out your diary for March: you've got a date with Barack Obama. The former US leader is heading Down Under in autumn 2023 for a two-date, two-city speaking tour about leadership — marking his first Australian visit since 2018. President Obama is making the trip for an event dubbed An Evening with President Barack Obama, as presented by business leadership and events provider Growth Faculty. He'll be the organisation's first headline speaker as part of its return to in-person events, in fact — and restarting with the ex-US leader is quite the statement. Obama will take to the stage on Tuesday, March 28 at Aware Theatre in Sydney and on Wednesday, March 29 at Melbourne's John Cain Arena. For folks who can't make it, won't be in either city or miss out on tickets, the Sydney session will also be livestreamed. As for exactly what Obama will be focusing on — leadership is a broad topic — Growth Faculty quoted the man himself, from back in November 2019, as a guide. "Being a leader is not a matter of having your name up in lights, making speeches or corralling power at the top. It's identifying the power in other people and unleashing it," Obama said. The former US President will also cover unpredictable futures and how to navigate them, something that comes with his past job. In-person tickets start at $195, or there's a VIP option in Sydney with a pre-speech cocktail party — although Obama won't be there sipping drinks before taking the stage. AN EVENING WITH PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA 2023: Tuesday, March 28 — Aware Theatre, Sydney Wednesday, March 29 — John Cain Arena, Melbourne An Evening with President Barack Obama heads to Sydney and Melbourne in March 2023, with tickets on sale from 9am on Thursday, November 24. Head to the Growth Faculty website for further details. Top image: Carol M Highsmith via Wikimedia Commons.
UPDATE: JULY 31, 2020 — It's now mandatory for residents of Mitchell Shire and metropolitan Melbourne to wear masks when they leave their homes for one of the four essential reasons. You can find out more here. Stay at Home Directions were reintroduced for metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire last week, following a continuous spike in daily totals of new COVID-19 cases. Now, the Victorian Government appears to have tightened — or at least clarified — restrictions on just how far people can venture to get their allowed daily exercise and takeaway coffee. As with Victoria's original Stage 3 lockdown, this latest round of restrictions outlined only four reasons for people to leave their homes: for work or school (if not able to be done from home), for care or care giving, for daily exercise or for food and other essentials. During his initial announcement of the lockdown at a July 7 press conference, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews gave little detail about that exercise rule, simply telling people not to venture beyond the lockdown zone. Now, the Department of Health and Human Services has cleared up some of the murky area surrounding the rule, adding a couple of new FAQ-type entries to its online Sport and Exercise fact sheet. One new inclusion is a response to the question, "My favourite walking track is on the other side of the city. Can I still go there?". The answer: "No. You should not travel further than you need to". [caption id="attachment_729213" align="alignnone" width="1920"] You can't cross the city to visit your favourite coffee shop. Photo by Julia Sansone[/caption] When pushed for a definitive rule, a government spokesperson told Concrete Playground, "The whole way through this, we've been very clear that Victorians must use their common sense and stay close to home. It doesn't matter if it's work or study, care, shopping or exercise — under Stage 3 restrictions in the past and now, you cannot travel further than you need to." At a press conference this morning, Premier Andrews echoed this sentiment, telling Melburnians to stay close to home. "If you want to go for a walk then you can go for a walk close to home... If you are literally travelling 200-kilometre roundtrips, that will do nothing but spread the virus, stop. I am sure people would love to go to a more scenic location, a location that they spend time at normally, but this is not a normal winter." The Premier's office also provided The Guardian with a series of responses to example question about leaving the house, with the overriding message being to stay close to home. Answers to questions about visiting dog parks, coffee shops and bottle-os all direct you to stick to your closest, rather than venturing to one in a different suburb just because you like it better. "I live in Fitzroy North — can I go to the bottle shop in South Melbourne because it has better gin?", for example, gets the answer, "You should go to the bottle shop closest to your home." If you're caught breaking the rules, you could be slapped with an on-the-spot fines of $1652 — and, since lockdown began, more than 500 Melburnians have already been handed infringements. Stay-at-home orders are in place for all of metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire. For more information, head to the Department of Health and Human Services website.
Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning and Peter Sarsgaard are an unlikely but very compelling band of environmental radicals in Night Moves, from director Kelly Reichardt (Meek's Cutoff). The trio collaborate in an intense operation to blow up a dam in Oregon, as a protest against industrialism and resource exploitation. Night Moves is a suspenseful thriller that explores the concept of political radicalism and the consequences of your actions, despite good intentions. The film has had some great reviews since its premiere at the Venice Film Festival last year, currently sitting on 85 percent certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Night Moves is in cinemas in Brisbane and Melbourne on September 11. Thanks to Curious Distribution, we have ten double in-season passes to give away. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email us with your name and address. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au https://youtube.com/watch?v=4OQ7jjkY3tE
Take a trip through Melbourne’s past, present and future in the only show at the Comedy Festival in which getting hit by a tram is a legitimate possibility. A historical walking tour of the CBD hosted by a giant, talking, anthropomorphic penguin, Xavier Toby’s When We Were Idiots probably isn’t the funniest show you’ll see this festival season, but scores major points for thinking outside the box. Ticket-holders meet their flightless tour-guide in front of the Burke and Wills statue on the corner of Collins and Swanston Street. After handing out high-vis safety vests, he launches into his pitch: the year is 2114 — an enlightened era in which everything is recycled and all tools of warfare have been replaced with hilarious alternatives. The one exception to this global utopia is Melbourne, lost a century prior beneath a mountain of coffee cups and hipsters. Uncovered by future archaeologists, the city exists now only as a testament to the stupidity of the past. That and a way for an enterprising penguin to make a buck. Why Toby is dressed like penguin is one of the many vaguely surreal things about When We Were Idiots, an experience that definitely works best if you embrace its fly-by-the-pants format. Strolling at a brisk pace along Swanston Street. before taking a left turn into Bourke Street Mall, punters are treated to morsels of popular trivia about Melbourne’s original settlement, along with outlandish anecdotes from the 22nd century and jabs at contemporary politics and pop culture. At the same time, participants are actively encouraged to engage with the members of the public, who Toby insists are simply actors he has employed in the service of his elaborate tour. Special points are offered to anyone who can steal a policeman’s gun. “If you get into trouble, tell them the giant Penguin told you to do it,” Toby says. “That should clear everything right up.” Unfortunately, even more so than in a regular live show, there are certain factors outside of Toby’s control. These might include but are not limited to: noisy streets, the B.O. and/or chain-smoking habits of your fellow festival-goers or, worst of all, someone in the audience who thinks they’re the comedian (shout out to Damo: you’re a total fucking wanker). Nevertheless, for those looking for less traditional options this Comedy Festival, When We Were Idiots is a thoroughly entertainingly experience. There’s also a free beer coaster in it for you at the end, so really, how could you go wrong? For more coverage of the 2014 Melbourne International Comedy Festival check our regularly updated festival diary.
For the past five years, Qantas has been promising to eradicate one of the worst things about international long-haul air travel to and from Australia: the dreaded stopover. First, it announced and then implemented non-stop 17-hour flights from Perth to London; however if you live on the east coast, you still have to get to Western Australia. So, the airline revealed that it was exploring direct routes from Sydney, not only to London but to New York as well, with a launch date of 2022. Since then, Qantas has been pursuing the idea enthusiastically, widening their plan to also include departures to and from Melbourne and Brisbane. This weekend, the Aussie carrier is taking the next step by piloting its first ultra long-haul research flight from New York to Sydney. Initially announced a couple of months back, it's the first trial as part of the airline's Project Sunrise scheme. It's also the first flight by a commercial airline to ever make the huge 19.5-hour journey — and will use a Boeing 787-9 to soar the 16,200 kilometres, all with 50 passengers and crew on board. While the Boeing 787-9 hasn't been designed for such a mammoth trek, when it departs New York's John F Kennedy Airport at 9pm on Friday, October 18 New York time (midday in Sydney on Saturday, October 19), it'll do so with a maximum fuel contingent, a restricted passenger and baggage load, and no cargo. Indeed, almost half of the flight's weight will be fuel, and it's expected to use all but 6000 kilograms of its 101,000 kilogram load during the trip. No members of the public are making the voyage, though, with the flight's passengers comprised of crew and Qantas employees. Given that the aim of the journey is to gather data about inflight passenger and crew health and wellbeing, they'll be fitted with wearable technology devices to monitor their monitor sleep patterns, food and beverage consumption, physical movement and use of the entertainment system during the flights. The results will then be assessed by scientists and medical experts from the Charles Perkins Centre, with minimising jetlag, and helping identify optimum crew rest and work patterns part of their research. The flight's four pilots will also take part in studies, working with CRC for Alertness, Safety and Productivity researchers to record their melatonin levels before, during and after the flights, as well as their brain wave patterns and alertness — again, to help ascertain the best work and rest routine when they're commanding those long-haul services. While spending nearly a day on one single plane to get to the USA or Europe is definitely better than jumping on and off different vessels multiple times, it's still a seriously long slog. Yes, you'll avoid the sometimes long, always painful stopovers, but the lengthy journey isn't without its physical, mental and emotional toll — as anyone who has made the Perth to London trip knows — which is what makes this testing so important. Two more trail flights are planned in November and December, including one that'll travel direct between London and Sydney. That trek has actually been made before; however the last time the latter happened was back in 1989, when Qantas made the journey on a Boeing 747-400 with just 23 people onboard. Qantas is expected to announce whether Project Sunrise will progress to making commercial flights, rather than just trial flights, by the end of December 2019. If it proceeds, it'll eclipse the current record for the world's longest direct flight — which clocks in at over 19 hours on Singapore Airlines' 15,322-kilometre Singapore-to-New York route. Image: Qantas.
With small businesses relying so heavily on the vaccine rollout to get Australians out of lockdown, many are encouraging everyone to go out and get their first jab with freebies and discounts. Marrickville brewery Hawke's supplied 250 free slabs to freshly vaccinated Sydneysiders, while the Bald Rock Hotel is offering anyone who's received both shots free pints. Bondi sneaker brand Von-Routte is joining the drive to encourage vaccination by offering anyone who has been vaccinated 20 percent off its sneakers. The promotion is valid on all full-priced items from Friday, July 30 until the end of Sydney's lockdown and is open to all Australians. All you have to do is DM the brand on Instagram with your proof of vaccination and you'll receive a personalised coupon to use online. Von-Routte is imploring other businesses to join the charge and offer vaccinated Aussies discounts. "The more people are vaccinated, the faster we can be back to "normal". If every business copies this idea — which they are welcome to — we could, significantly, motivate people to accelerate the vaccination rate. It's better for everyone: businesses, people and the economy," Von-Routte Co-Founders Gus Agra and Marina Tokarski said. The Bondi brand prides itself on creating ethical sneakers that last and offers customers the opportunity to bring their shoes in for a complimentary clean to give sneakers a refresh. You can browse its selection at the Von-Routte website.
On Thursday, August 5, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced that all of Victoria was going into a new lockdown in a bid to stop the spread of Melbourne's latest COVID-19 cases. While regional parts of the state were permitted to exit stay-at-home conditions before the week was out, the lockdown has now been extended twice now in Melbourne. At the time of writing, it's due to remain in place until at least 11.59pm on Thursday, September 2. Current restrictions include the reinstatement of the five reasons to leave your home (the same reasons that were in place during July's lockdown), bringing back the five-kilometre travel radius and requiring mandatory face masks when leaving your house — and, as part of the new extension, the reintroduction of the nighttime curfew. The list of restrictions can be a bit overwhelming, so we've broken down exactly what you can and can't do. This information is correct as of Tuesday, August 17. For what reasons am I allowed to leave the house? Remember those four reasons announced back in March 2020? These reasons have been reintroduced, meaning you can only leave home to purchase groceries and other essentials, for care and caregiving, for outdoor exercise and recreation, and for authorised work. Like in the May and June lockdown — and in the July lockdown, too — there is also now a fifth permissible reason to leave the house. So, you can also head out to get a COVID-19 vaccination. You can use this nifty map if you're looking for somewhere to get the jab. What counts as authorised work, and how do I get a permit? From 11.59pm on Tuesday, August 17, the Victorian Government is reintroducing work permits, which are required by everyone who needs to leave the house for authorised work. The list of jobs that fall into that category covers a considerable number of sectors, including health, emergency and infrastructure; the state's COVID-19 response functions; public transport and freight; essential retail; and all manufacturing. The list goes on — for the full rundown, head to the Victorian coronavirus website. If it sounds familiar, that's because the same arrangements were in place during Melbourne's second lockdown during the latter half of 2020. You can apply for a permit online — and, once you have one, you'll need to carry it with you when working, and also when travelling for work. Your permit also needs to be certified by your employer. For how long can I leave the house? There are no limits on how long you can leave for permitted work — or for caregiving. For the latter, you will need to abide by the curfew. Otherwise, you can leave your home to exercise once per day for up to two hours. And, one member of each household is permitted to leave once per day to purchase groceries and other essentials. Is there a curfew this time? Yes, there now is a nighttime curfew. When this lockdown started on Thursday, August 5, there wasn't a curfew; however, one came into effect at 11.59pm on Monday, August 16. It requires all Melburnians to remain at home between the hours of 9pm–5am. Just like last year's lengthy lockdown, you aren't permitted to leave your house after curfew except in very limited circumstances — which include authorised work, for health and medical purposes, to care for and support a child or someone with special needs, and in an emergency or to escape harm. If you're at the home of your intimate partner or single bubble buddy when curfew begins, you also can't leave until 5am — unless the above exceptions apply. Do I have to wear a mask? Yes, masks or face coverings are still compulsory whenever you leave home — and have been since the last lockdown. You can find out all the nitty-gritty in our article about the mask mandate. The mask rules were tightened effective 11.59pm on Monday, August 16, so you now can't take off your mask to drink alcohol while you're outdoors. How far can I travel? You can only travel up to five kilometres from your home. The only reasons to exceed this five-kilometre radius is for permitted work, receiving care and caregiving, to visit your partner or someone in your single bubble (we'll get to more on these in a second) or if you live in an area where the closest essential services, such as shops, are over five kilometres away. You can also leave your home in the case of an emergency or family violence. Unless you've moved house since the last lockdown, you're probably very familiar with this five-kilometre radius — but if you want to have another look at what's around, check out this handy website. Can I see friends and family? No, you can't have generally visitors to your home — or gather with friends and family in a public place during the current lockdown. You are allowed to be joined by one other person who either lives with your or lives within your five-kilometre radius while exercising, plus any dependents you both have. You can check your five-kilometre bubble crossover on this nifty website. The exercise rule changed at 11.59pm on Monday, August 16, so you are now no longer able to exercise with more than one member of your household, even if you live in a larger household. Partners who live separately are allowed to visit each other at home and can leave their five-kilometre bubble to see each other, though. And, single bubbles are in effect again — so you can have one other designated person over to your house (just one, and only the sole person you have nominated) if you live alone. Can I drive to a park to exercise? As long as it's within five kilometres of your home, yes. You can exercise for a maximum of two hours, once per day — and with one other person. Can I go to the beach? You can go to the beach for exercise if there is one within five kilometres of your home. But, you can only go for a maximum of two hours and with one other person. [caption id="attachment_729107" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Beer DeLuxe[/caption] How about to a restaurant or cafe? You can pick up takeaway from a hospitality venue located within five kilometres of your home, but dine-in service is off the cards. If you're looking to order takeaway, this directory lists all the takeaway options within your five-kilometre radius. Or a gym? All gyms (indoor and outdoor), boot camps, sporting facilities and public pools are closed. Effective 11.59pm on Monday, August 16, all playgrounds, basketball hoops, skate parks and outdoor exercise equipment have also cllosed. Are professional sporting events permitted? Yes, professional sporting events including the AFL will proceed without crowds. Under the restrictions, professional athletes are permitted workers and are therefore allowed to leave their homes to compete in these events. Can I go shopping? For groceries and other essentials, yes. Supermarkets, food and liquor stores and pet stores are all open. But, only one person from your household can shop for essentials a day — and not all shops are open, or some will have altered hours, so check before you head off. You must also shop for essentials within your five-kilometre bubble if you can. Can I attend a funeral? Yes, however funerals are limited to ten mourners, plus those required to conduct the funeral. Can I attend a wedding? No, weddings are not permitted, except for on compassionate grounds. If you have more questions, the Victorian Government has an extensive list of details on its website — or you can read the Premier's latest statement about lockdown.
It’s hard to imagine something more topical to Melbourne than a piece about weather. Raging winds, blinding rain, glorious sunshine: who knows which, or indeed how many, of these you’ll get on your way to the theatre this Melbourne Festival but you can expect them all to be represented on stage in the latest work from renowned Australian choreographer Lucy Guerin. Exploring humanity’s relationship to the elements, Weather is Guerin’s first pure dance piece in a while, as opposed to the dance / theatre blend in many of her recent works. Her troupe will be performing at maximum intensity and it can’t be any less than spectacular. With a score by Oren Ambarchi and set design by the acclaimed Robert Cousins, it also represents a perfect storm of creative talent. Audiences can rightly expect to be blown away when Weather’s world premiere hits the Malthouse this week.
They're the TV equivalent of page-turners: the shows that have you hanging on every twist and revelation, and that you just want to keep watching when each episode comes to an end. You know the type. They're filled with mystery and intrigue, as well as wild plot developments that constantly keep you guessing. And they're exactly the thing to watch when you've had a long and busy day and just feel like immersing yourself in someone else's ups and downs. Perhaps you want to jump into a moody supernatural thriller. Maybe an involving crime drama is more your style — or you could prefer the ins and outs of a marriage rocked by scandal, the trials and tribulations of a hitman who really just wants to be an actor, or to see what happens when a flight attendant comes under suspicion for murder. They're all on offer on Binge, and we've teamed up with the streaming service to explain why you'll want to add them all to your must-watch list — including via a 14-day free trial for new customers.
"We're not done with golf": in the just-dropped official teaser trailer for Happy Gilmore 2, they're Virginia Venit's (Julie Bowen, Hysteria!) words to the movie's main character; however, they clearly apply to Adam Sandler, too. Almost three decades after first getting tap, tap, tapping as a hockey player with an anger problem who makes the jump to golf — and after Happy Gilmore became one of the best-known comedies of the 90s, as well as one of Sandler's best-known films — he's back on the green on-screen. In the first film, Happy won the Tour Championship in 1996. As the just-dropped new sneak peek at Happy Gilmore 2 shows, he's repeated the feat several times over, and now has a bust of his head to honour five-time winners to show for. It's been years since he has picked up a club, though, and he's a little intimidated by today's golfers — but soon he's back in the swing again. Alongside Sandler (Spaceman) and Bowen, Ben Stiller (Nutcrackers) and Christopher McDonald (Hacks) return from the original Happy Gilmore. Joining them among the cast: Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (Cassandro) aka Bad Bunny; Sander's daughters Sadie (You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah) and Sunny (Kinda Pregnant); Travis Kelce; and Blake Clark (a regular Sandler collaborator, as seen in The Waterboy, Little Nicky, Mr Deeds, 50 First Dates, Click, Grown Ups and more). Then there's the lineup of IRL professional golfers, such as John Daly, Rory McIlroy, Paige Spiranac, Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Will Zalatoris and Bryson DeChambeau. A new happy place, unexpected reunions, broken clubs, more than a few rounds of advice encouraging Gilmore to get back to the sport: they're all part of the new trailer, too, which follows a past teaser to start 2025. Just like with the original, Sandler co-wrote Happy Gilmore 2 with Tim Herlihy (who has also penned or co-penned Billy Madison, The Wedding Singer, The Waterboy and eight other Sandler flicks through to Hubie Halloween), but Kyle Newacheck (Murder Mystery) steps into the director's chair instead of the initial film's Dennis Dugan (Grown Ups 2). Check out the official teaser for Happy Gilmore 2 below: Happy Gilmore 2 will stream via Netflix from Friday, July 25, 2025. Top image: Cr. Scott Yamano/Netflix © 2024.
When Saturday, February 5, 2022 hits, Australia was going to welcome a situation that it hasn't experienced in almost two years: open state borders with Western Australia. But the country's current Omicron outbreak has seen the WA Government announce that it's delaying its reopening to the rest of the nation — and to the world — as Premier Mark McGowan revealed in a late-night press conference on Thursday, January 20. If you're wondering when WA will now allow vaccinated folks from other Aussie states to visit without quarantining — and WA residents to take getaways somewhere other than your home state and then return home easily, too — the Premier hasn't yet set a new date, postponing the planned reopening indefinitely. In a statement, the WA Government advised that "the updated plan means the full border opening will be delayed given the full impacts of Omicron in Australia are still unknown, with peak infections not yet reached in jurisdictions with widespread transmission" — and that "further reviews of border controls will be considered over the course of the next month". The change means that Western Australia's hard border policy that it's had in place throughout the pandemic will remain in effect for now, as now covered by the state's updated safe transition plan. There are a few amendments that'll kick in, though, with the list of people allowed to bypass the hard border expanding to include compassionate reasons — but still with a 14-day quarantine period. In light of what has occurred across the country, having closely assessed the situation over east and listening to the latest health advice, we have reworked WA's Safe Transition Plan to fit the environment that now confronts us. pic.twitter.com/o7Qb2vRrMU — Mark McGowan (@MarkMcGowanMP) January 20, 2022 Here's how it'll work: from Saturday, February 5, to get into WA from interstate you'll need to meet specific exemption criteria, have had either two of three doses of a COVID-19 vaccination — three if you're eligible for them all, two if you're not yet eligible for your third jab — and have returned a negative rapid antigen test within 24 hours of departure. You also need to get one of WA's border passes, the G2G Pass, then undertake 14 days quarantine upon arrival. And, there's a PCR testing requirement within 48 hours of getting there, and on day 12 afterwards. Exemption categories will include returning Western Australians who have strong recent connections or direct legitimate family connections with WA; compassionate grounds, which covers funerals, plus palliative care or terminally ill visits; if you're a family member of an approved traveller; and entering for urgent and essential medical treatment. Also on the list: reasons of national and state security; commonwealth and state officials, members of parliament and diplomats; people providing specialist skills that aren't available in WA, plus health services and emergency service workers; those who have to attend court matters, judicial officers and staff of court, tribunals and commissions; and special considerations and extraordinary circumstances as determined by the State Emergency Coordinator or Chief Health Officer. For international travellers, you'll have to meet the federal requirements to come to Australia under the nation's arrivals cap, and go into 14 days of quarantine — which includes seven days in hotel quarantine and seven days of self-quarantine if you have somewhere suitable for the latter. There's also PCR testing on days one, six, nine and 12 after your arrival, and mandatory use of G2G Now. This applies if you're coming to WA directly from overseas; if you're arriving via another state or territory first, you'll fall under the same rules as interstate visitors. Announcing the reopening delay, the Premier said that "it would be irresponsible and reckless for the State Government to ignore the facts, and ignore the reality of the situation playing out on the east coast". McGowan continued: "it is expected that they will be reaching the peak of this current wave in the coming weeks. At that point, after the peak, I hope we can have a better understanding of Omicron and what it means for Western Australia." To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Western Australia, and the state's corresponding restrictions, visit its online COVID-19 hub.
UPDATE, May 30, 2021: High Ground is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Violence is never splashed across a cinema screen unthinkingly. Depicting physical force is always a choice, even in by-the-numbers action films where fists and bullets fly far more frequently than meaningful moments. Accordingly, when brutality and bloodshed arrives in a movie that peers back at Australia's colonial past, there's no doubting that the filmmakers responsible have considered what they're including, why, the message it conveys and the impact it'll have on the audience. High Ground is one such Aussie feature. This outback western joins a growing number of homegrown efforts, such as Sweet Country, The Nightingale and The Furnace, and it's just as exacting about its scenes of confrontation and carnage. All excellent films, they each ensure that watching atrocities committed by white Australians against First Nations people and people of colour isn't a passive act — because having a visceral and emotional reaction, facing the horrors of Aussie history and releasing the imprint such violence still leaves today is the only natural response. High Ground's main forceful encounter occurs early, motivating everything that follows and proving impossible to forget. In 1919, ex-World War I sniper-turned-police officer Travis (Simon Baker, Breath) sets out across the area now known as Kakadu National Park, leading a law enforcement team on a routine expedition to track down runaway criminals. Travis is respectful of Arnhem Land's Indigenous residents; however, it doesn't take much — namely, the decisions of his less fair-minded colleagues — for the journey to end with slaughter. Twelve years later, in the 30s, Travis is still haunted by the incident. Thanks to one of High Ground's most important choices, it doesn't require any effort at all to understand why he feels the way he does, or why his eyes have taken on a sorrowful glint. The movie's viewers have witnessed the same awful events, with Aboriginal men, women and children who were enjoying a peaceful waterside gathering all suddenly and savagely killed, and a boy called Gutjuk (debutant Guruwuk Mununggurr) only managing to leave the scene alive due to Travis' intervention. The bulk of the film takes place in its later time period, when Travis is enlisted by his superior Moran (Jack Thompson, Never Too Late) and ex-partner Eddy (Callan Mulvey, Shadow in the Cloud) to address the still-lingering aftermath of the massacre. One of the few survivors, Baywara (Sean Mununggurr, Lucky Miles), has been waging a campaign of revenge — and, despite the fact that Travis turned in his badge in disgust after his bosses covered up the incident, he's given the task of locating him. Baywara is also Gutjuk's uncle, which sparks a reunion between the ex-cop and the child he saved. Of course, the latter is now a young man (fellow first-timer Jacob Junior Nayinggul), has spent the past decade-plus at a local mission with the kindly Father Braddock (Ryan Corr, Hungry Ghosts) and his sister Claire (Caren Pistorius, Unhinged), and is as begrudging about the new expedition as Travis. He's also just as aware that a showdown looms between Australia's colonisers and its original inhabitants, and that whatever eventuates isn't likely to be peaceful. Even when untainted by blood, the country's landscape has blazed with red, orange and ochre hues since long before European settlement — since the sun first started beating down upon it, undoubtedly — with those colours helping many an Aussie film bake heated feelings of fury and torment into their frames. Indeed, simmering anguish goes with the territory in High Ground. That's true of every movie that recognises that Australia was far from terra nullius when the First Fleet arrived, but there's no escaping the scorching mood that radiates here, as director Stephen Maxwell Johnson (Yolngu Boy) intends. Working with cinematographer Andrew Commis (Babyteeth) to bring screenwriter Chris Anastassiades' (The Kings of Mykonos) script to the screen, the filmmaker fills his first feature in two decades with picturesque yet also pulsating scenery. Peering down at eye-catching swathes of the Northern Territory, the nation's earthy beauty is striking and stunning, and so is the knowledge that it has been walked upon by Indigenous Australians for tens of thousands of years. And one goes with the other, as the movie's soundtrack also helps reinforce, layering the noises of birds and wildlife with songs by Yolngu singers such as Yothu Yindi's Witiyana Marika — who also appears in the film as Gutjuk's grandfather Dharrpa — and his son Yirrmal Marika. Johnson has a history with Yothu Yindi, directing music videos for the group, including for its 1991 hit track 'Treaty'. He also grew up in the NT, and has ties with Arnhem Land and Kakadu National Park's Yolngu and Bininj Aboriginal communities. And, he worked with the elder Marika and the late Dr M Yunupingu, also of Yothu Yindi, as the script for High Ground and the project in general evolved. It should come as no surprise, then, that the film stings with authenticity. It tells a fictional tale, but does so to illuminate inescapable truths. Everyone involved knows that they're interrogating a difficult but vital subject, and aims to get their audience thinking as long and hard as Johnson and his collaborators clearly have about the details, the violence, and the way the country's historic treatment of its First Peoples still echoes today. In one of his rare homegrown roles of late, Baker belongs among High Ground's intensely contemplative talent. He's one of the film's executive producers as well, but he's ideal on-screen. That said, he's at his best when he's acting opposite the exceptional Nayinggul, who seems to live and breathe Gutjuk's pain and conflict with such soulfulness and sincerity that his performance appears near-effortless. Their pairing speaks volumes at every turn, too. They play men pushed together by circumstance, with one made to confront the ills that an entire nation would rather ignore and the other forced to help clean up an invading culture's unspeakable acts. That juxtaposition alone paints a potent picture, and a purposeful one — but that's this latest great Aussie film all over. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL-G4oCoDF0
Since Pixar first hit the big screen with 1995's Toy Story, the animation studio's films have all shared a few traits. They're each gorgeously animated, of course; however they also layer their eye-catching imagery over a shared existential question. Pondering toys, bugs, monsters, fish, superheroes, cars, rats, robots, dinosaurs and emotions with feelings, Pixar's flicks ask what it means to be alive — even the now Disney-owned outfit is spinning stories about traditionally inanimate objects. As you might've noticed, the animation powerhouse has been leaning into this idea with even more force of late. Inside Out focused its attention on the emotions warring inside the heart and mind of a young girl, guiding her every thought, feeling and decision, while Coco drew upon the Mexican Day of the Dead, following a young boy as he wandered through the world beyond the mortal coil. Now, with Soul, the studio looks to be borrowing from and combining parts of those two movies. It hones in on a school teacher who dreams of becoming a jazz musician, then falls down an open manhole and into a dark realm that looks rather like the afterlife. His titular essence is detached from his body, comes across a far more cynical counterpart and, in the process, starts wondering what it really means to have a soul. Jamie Foxx voices jazz-lover Joe Gardner, who is already musing on life's important questions — why is he here, what is he meant to be doing and what existence is all about — before his accident. Once he has tumbled down the manhole, he spends his time bantering with 22, voiced by Tina Fey. As well as whipping out a nifty cowboy dance, 22 doesn't think that life on earth is all that great. Soul's just-released first trailer sets the scene for Joe's metaphysical journey, and gives a glimpse of Foxx and Fey's comedic double act. The film also features the vocal talents of Questlove, Phylicia Rashad and Daveed Diggs, and will boast a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. And if you're wondering where the movie's central idea comes from (other than Pixar's back catalogue), writer/director Pete Docter started thinking about the origin of our personalities when his son was born 23 years ago. Docter also helmed two of Pixar's big hits — and big emotional heavy hitters — in Up and Inside Out, nabbing Oscars for Best Animated Feature for both. Check out Soul's trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TojlZYqPUo Soul releases in Australian cinemas on June 18, 2020.
Mere days in and 2023 is already starting off in an exciting — and extremely delicious — fashion. Each month, Melbourne and Brisbane's Lune Croissanterie unleashes a fresh range of menu specials, spanning new and beloved creations. To kick off the new year, that means the return of quite the Frankenstein's monster of baked goods: the Iced Vovo cruffin. Back in 2022, the cult-favourite bakery began the year with lamington cruffins. 2023's choice is clearly just as tasty. The words you're looking for? Yum and yum. It's exactly what it sounds like, stuffing a cruffin with coconut custard and raspberry jam, dipping it in raspberry glaze, sprinkling coconut on top and adding another button of jam as well. Fans of Kate Reid's pastry haven can pick up a pink-hued treat at Lune's Fitzroy and Armadale stores in Melbourne, as well as at its South Brisbane digs in Brisbane — and you can order them online in Brissie, too. In the tastebud-tempting stakes, it also has company, spanning both sweet and savoury dishes. Also on the menu: a coconut rough pain au chocolat, the OG Lune twice-baked pain au chocolat. It includes a chocolate coconut frangipane filling, plus large coconut flakes and drizzled chocolate on top — and it's on offer at all Lune locations, and online from South Brisbane and Burnett Lane. The January specials list also boasts twice-baked almond frangipane and vanilla crème croissants, which are topped with a slice of raw honey; mixed berry danishes, highlighting summer fruits; and pineapple upside down cakes, for a retro bite. And, the savoury special is spanakopita as an escargot, as filled with a spinach, ricotta and feta mix, then seasoned with lemon and herbs. Different specials are on offer at different stores, and only the Queensland venues also do pre-orders. Lune's January specials menu runs from Tuesday, January 31, with different specials on offer at Fitzroy and the CBD in Melbourne, and South Brisbane in Brisbane. In Brisbane only, you can also order them online. Images: Peter Dillon.
Green living and financial prosperity are often pitted against each other, but a little village in Bavaria, Germany has shown that the two can actually get along quite nicely. Wildpoldsried, a village with a population of just 2,600, has put itself on the map via its concerted efforts to become energy efficient. It currently has four biogas digesters, seven windmills, three small hydro plants, seven public builidngs and 190 private houses fitted with solar panels. Indeed, the village is now so energy efficient that it produces 321% more energy than it requires, which has enabled the village to sell energy back to the national grid thus providing the village with US$5.7 million dollars in annual revenue. As a result, the village has become a bastion for green businesses and green initiatives. It has also become a model for other councils, both nationally and internationally, who are looking to ensure a greener, yet financially viable future. Not content with their current success, the people and council of Wildpoldsried have bigger and greener plans for the future, including another biogas digester, two more windmills, installing LED street lights and to initiate Project Irene (Integration of Renewable Enery and Electric Vehicles). There is also plan to add a hotel to the cafe and community centre to house the politicians and eco-energy tourists that have flocked to the area. Sounds like a good place for our politicians to visit on the next jaunt around Bavaria.
When you scroll through Netflix's menu, everything from Stranger Things to Bridgerton might catch your eye. Over on Disney+, you could make a beeline to The Mandalorian and WandaVision, while Amazon Prime Video may pique your interest if you're keen on The Boys or Tales From the Loop. But, if you're fond of homegrown films and television programs, you might've noticed that the huge range of streaming platforms on offer Down Under don't typically fund, create and make available all that much new Australian content. The current situation is somewhat better than it was. When Netflix officially launched in Australia back in 2015, its buffet of streaming movies and TV shows noticeably lacked new original local content (indeed, it took more than two years for the popular platform to finally announce that it was making its first Aussie series, Tidelands). It still doesn't overflow with Aussie fare, although it did give Aunty Donna its own delightful comedy. Fellow streamer Stan has been beefing up its catalogue with Aussie movies and shows, though, with the likes of No Activity, Wolf Creek, Bloom, Bump, After the Night, A Sunburnt Christmas, Relic and True History of the Kelly Gang among the local titles joining its ranks. If a group of Australian creatives has anything to do with it, however, there'll be much more local content added to streaming platforms in the future. High Ground's Simon Baker, Hungry Ghosts' Bryan Brown and Justine Clarke, and Ellie and Abbie (and Ellie's Dead Aunt)'s Marta Dusseldorp are all part of the Make It Australian campaign, which is lobbying the Australian Government to implement quotas. The proposal: that all streaming services operating in Australia that have at least 500,000 subscribers are required to spend 20 percent of their local revenue on new Aussie dramas, documentaries and content for children. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BVoYKwTc4E If the idea sounds familiar, that's because it has been under consideration before, and for some time — with a green paper on the topic published in late 2020, and a consultation period currently open — but nothing has come to fruition as yet. This time around, the group behind the move put forward their case at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday, March 16, particularly noting the importance of Australian audiences being able to watch local stories as streaming platforms grow in popularity. Similar quotas are in place regarding Australian programming on both commercial free-to-air television and pay TV — although requirements were altered in 2020 due to the pandemic. And if you're thinking that the Aussie screen industry seems to be in good shape at the moment considering that a huge number of Hollywood titles are being filmed here at present — including everything from Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder to Nicole Kidman-starring TV series Nine Perfect Strangers, plus new movies directed by Ron Howard and starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts soon to shoot — the current situation isn't the norm. Big productions have been coming to our shores during the pandemic given that Australia's COVID-19 case numbers are low, protocols are in place and it's safe to film here as a result, but that isn't guaranteed to continue once life returns to normal in the US. For more information about the Make It Australian campaign, head to its website. For more information about the media reform green paper, head to the Australian Government website.
Film techniques are always evolving and now a Canadian duo have explored what will likely become a staple of film festivals in future years — filming entirely on the screens of our devices. It is unlike anything you have seen before, yet like everything you see every day. Ryerson University film students Walter Woodman and Patrick Cederberg used the innovative technique to explore the sincerity of online identity, privacy and connections in this digital age. The 17-minute-long film, titled Noah, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival this week and has made waves online since. The film opens with Noah typing in his computer password, and his successful login reveals a desktop wallpaper of his girlfriend and himself, immediately providing context. It then proceeds to tell the story of their break-up, which occurs after Noah overanalyses some of her Facebook updates. All the time you cannot help saying to yourself, 'no you fool, don't do it.' This is because it succeeds in being surprisingly compelling for a work that involves watching people Skype, Facebook, text and Chatroulette. We can connect as we have all used these mediums (or are at least familiar with them) and we thus appreciate the multitasking that brings about Noah's seeming disconnection and insincerity. The immensely intricate details of the film, including the online profiles created (and cleverly employed to promote the film) and the 'Cuddle Jams' playlist, allow you to immerse yourself in the film. However, the truly compelling message of the film resonates when it distracts you. The Facebook notification noises will make you wonder if it is yours or Noah's that is receiving messages, driving home the concern that we are too connected and concerned with our digital self and the fallacies associated with it. Be warned, you will see unexpected and unwanted penis thanks to Chatroulette, so it's NSFW, but this film is a must-watch exploration of our online presence and how making connections online is no substitute for real-world conversation.
Back in early May, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said that when interstate travel was allowed once again, flights could drop as low as $19. Today, Friday, June 19, he's delivered on his promise. Qantas and Jetstar have just announced a huge tourism recovery sale with 200,000 discounted fares across the two airlines — including 10,000 flights on Jetstar for just $19. The domestic flight sale kicks off at 9am today and runs until midnight on Monday, June 22, or sold out. In the sale, you'll find cheap flights on more than 35 routes to 15 destinations across NSW, Victoria, South Australia, the NT and Queensland — but, before you book, we suggest you check in on when interstate borders are opening. Travel between NSW, Victoria and the ACT is currently allowed, but Queensland is working towards reopening to visitors from other states on July 10, although that hasn't been officially confirmed as yet, while the Northern Territory announced it'll reopen on July 17 — and South Australia is slated to do the same on July 20. Neither WA nor Tasmania have yet to announce reopening dates — but flight deals to these destinations are expected to be added when they are. Regional travel within your state is allowed, too, and you'll also find cheap flights from Sydney to Byron Bay (for $19), and Brisbane to Mackay (for $49). Other discounted flight routes include Sydney to Hamilton Island ($79), Brisbane to Darwin ($79) and $19 one-way flights on 22 routes, such as Melbourne to Sydney, Sydney to Gold Coast, Melbourne to Byron Bay, Brisbane to Whitsunday Coast and Adelaide to Cairns. Flights are available between July 14 and October 31. [caption id="attachment_743607" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Whitsunday Beach by Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] With Australian borders likely to remain closed to international travel until 2021, the Government has been telling Aussies to get out and explore their own backyards, which Joyce hopes this sale will also encourage. "We know that these low fares will encourage even more people to get on a flight to take a short holiday or visit family and friends. We've already seen our flights from Sydney to Cairns fill up on the days after the proposed Queensland border opening date of 10 July 2020, so we're adding more," Joyce said in a statement. "This is a great opportunity to go to the amazing places in our own backyard that you haven't got around to seeing like the Barossa Valley or the Great Barrier Reef." As we are still in the middle of a pandemic, flying will be a little different to normal. Qantas and Jetstar have introduced a range of safety measures, including hand sanitisation stations, contactless check-in and masks provided to all passengers (but wearing them is not mandatory). Qantas and Jetstar's domestic sale runs from 9am on Friday, June 19 until 11.59pm on Monday, June 22 or sold out.
Transporting some of the best Melbourne restaurants to the slopes, leading hospitality group Tommy Collins is making sure Mount Buller's après-ski scene is unmissable this winter. Guided by Grant Smillie (Marmont), Jason Jones (Entrecôte), and Frank Camorra (MoVida), expect a rotating series of ticketed dinners, featuring each restaurant's iconic cuisine served with a hint of alpine flair. Taking over the beloved mountainside venues of Villager and Little Villager, this four-weekend series sees each restaurant play host for an entire weekend, offering an abundance of signature cuisine, top-tier drinks and curated live entertainment. Think a five-course feast, standout wine and cocktails, and upbeat music for just 120 guests per night. Yet these exclusive dinner parties are only half of the occasion. The rest sees each restaurant shut down Mount Buller's Bourke Street for Après-Ski Street Parties, featuring an open-air celebration of cocktails, culture and connection. With drinks flowing from midday to golden hour, don your best wintertime outfit as world-class DJs spin tunes for 200 revellers. With more dates to be announced, the series opens Thursday, June 5–Saturday, June 7, with Grant Smillie's California-inspired Marmont. Next, MoVida takes over with innovative Spanish cuisine from Friday, August 1–Saturday, August 2, before Prahran's Entrecôte arrives on Friday, August 15–Saturday, August 16, with its chic Parisian fare. To kickstart your winter, don't miss the opening day's 'Party for the People' launch shindig, hosted by Grant Smillie and friends.
Fancy Hanks has long been one of Melbourne's premiere destinations when it comes to old-school American-style barbecue. But if you think that's the only string to their bow, then prepare to be pleasantly surprised. Taking over an Abbotsford warehouse for two nights in July, Hank's Majestic Hawker pop-up will see the brisket and pulled pork substituted for an array of Singaporean dishes — including soy marinated chicken wings with chilli vinegar, sambal stingray served in banana leaf, rice noodles with Chinese sausage, fishcake and egg, and fried banana fritters with pandan coconut ice-cream. Turns out Americans aren't the only ones who know their way around a charcoal grill. Fittingly, the chef in charge of the pop-up is none other than Alicia Cheong, who previously ran Hank's kitchen when they were based at The Mercat Cross Hotel. Cheong is back in Melbourne after a year-long stint at the Michelin-starred Restaurant Par Andre in her native Singapore. But Cheong isn't Hank's only South East Asian connection — co-owner Daragh Kan's father was born in Malaysia. "My childhood holidays were mainly spent having satay eating competitions with my brothers at hawker centres," he says. Tickets to Majestic Hawker cost $30 for three dishes — a one from the BBQ, one from the wok, and one for dessert. For $50 you also get drinks included, with both beers and cocktails on offer.
If it's been a while since you visited the port city of Geelong, you're in for a surprise. Over the past few years, its industrial landscape has transformed into a hub for creatives, chefs and mavericks. The gallery's had a $450,000 revamp and a former 19th-century paper mill has developed a devotion to art, design and wine, all while a bunch of entrepreneurs have set up new digs — from Aaron Turner's fine dining restaurant Igni to Ren Inei and Kate Jacoby's Boom Gallery. But perhaps the biggest news of all dropped in 2017 when Geelong became the exclusive Victorian home of the Archibald Prize. Set to hit town on Saturday, September 22, Australia's most famous art exhibition is an excellent excuse for a road trip — and a chance to get to know the new Geelong. To help you plan, we've partnered with Mitsubishi in celebration of its new Eclipse Cross to bring you the best things to do on your weekend escape to Geelong. It's only an hour's drive southwest of Melbourne, so you can count on arriving in time for hors-d'oeuvres. SEE AND DO If you're travelling between Saturday, September 22 and Sunday, November 18, then make your first stop the Archibald Prize at the Geelong Gallery. Now in its 97th year, this popular portrait exhibition lets you wander through artists' interpretations of 57 Australian politicians, creatives, athletes and public figures. The 2018 winner of the mighty $100,000 first prize was Yvette Coppersmith for her work Self-Portrait, After George Lambert, while the $1500 Packing Room Prize — determined by the staff who hang the entries at the Art Gallery of NSW — went to Jamie Preisz for his work Jimmy (Title Fight), a portrait of singer-songwriter Jimmy Barnes. Highly commended for his work, Studio Self-Portrait, was Vincent Namatjira, grandson of Albert Namatjira. In between perusing the exhibition, check out related events, which include a pop-up bar and artist conversations — on Friday, October 19, Coppersmith will be chatting with gallery director Jason Smith. Among the permanent collection in the gallery are stacks of important works spanning the 18th–20th centuries. Look out for Eugène von Guérard's View of Geelong (1856), Frederick McCubbin's A Bush Burial (1890) and Russell Drysdale's Hill End (1948) — as well as modern works by Fred Williams, Ann Thomson and Peter Booth, among others. While you're exploring classics, you ought to visit the National Wool Museum to learn all about the life of a shearer and see old-fashioned looms in action. There's also a strong exhibition program beginning Friday, September 14, bringing one show dedicated to influential interior designer Marion Hall Best and another dedicated to Australia's goldsmithing, silversmithing and enamelling masters. [caption id="attachment_573394" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Boom Gallery.[/caption] Beyond these institutions, there are heaps of smaller, independent galleries. Set in a former wool mill, Boom showcases contemporary art and design curated by Ren Inei and Kate Jacoby, while 101 Ryrie houses artworks and objects created by local artists. And ten minutes' drive west of Geelong, in the little town of Fyansford, is the Old Paper Mills, a ten-acre wonderland of galleries, cafes, river frontage, waterfalls, caves and heritage-listed architecture. Be sure to hunt down Provenance Wines' quaffable wines at its cellar door. If its street art you're after, take a stroll along Brougham Street, Union Street, Dennys Place and Minns Lane, as well as the Geelong waterfront, where a scattering of public sculptures are backdropped by sparkling Corio Bay. [caption id="attachment_582796" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Freckleduck.[/caption] EAT Geelong offers culinary adventures aplenty to match your arty escapades. Launch into the morning among the polished concrete and palm fronds of King of the Castle. Sip Melbourne-roasted Padre Coffee and dig into comforting dishes like Mexican baked beans with crusty baguette, toasted corn, a fried egg, pecorino, sour cream and coriander. Or claim a table at Freckleduck for hearty creations led by fresh produce, like the pulled pork benedict with poached eggs, spinach, chipotle hollandaise, shallots and coriander. Meanwhile, freshly baked goodies are on high rotation at Mr Miller and James St. Bakery. Serious coffee connoisseurs should swing by Coffee Cartel Brew Bar, where local roaster Nathan Johnston encourages you to taste your way around the world, and John Doe Specialty Coffee, which keeps a variety of single origins and experimental blends on the brew. [caption id="attachment_659918" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Frankie.[/caption] In 2015, Belles Hot Chicken founder Aaron Turner decided to turn his genius to Geelong and opened The Hot Chicken Project, which serves up Nashville-style hot, fried goodness alongside beer and natural wines. Also bringing the people of Geelong their soul food fix is Pistol Pete's Food and Blues, where gumbo, jambalaya and po'boys feature on the menu and your meal is soundtracked by live music. The city's newest fine dining experience is another of Turner's projects, Igni, opened in early 2016. It's taken away two hats and the Santa Vittoria Regional Restaurant of the Year title at the 2017 Good Food Guide Awards. Put yourself securely in the restaurant's hands for a five- or eight-course tasting menu. [caption id="attachment_682276" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Le Parisien.[/caption] Meanwhile, since 1976, Geelong institution Le Parisien has been whisking diners away to France. Having moved to the waterfront in 1998, this airy restaurant gives you sweeping bay vistas along with the crumbed brains with streaky bacon and mustard-parmesan cream sauce, and confit duck leg with parsnip puree, confit witlof, fennel sausage and five-spice pannacotta. For more picturesque dining, among Tulip's blonde timbers, you'll feast on sprightly combinations, such as poached ocean trout with beetroot, mushroom and brown butter, and at Frankie on Malop Street, you'll settle into divine interiors — all polished leather, beige leather couches and soft rose-gold accents — for a pan-Asian dinner menu. The restaurant dabbles in a little Japanese cuisine with okonomiyaki pancakes with pickled veggie salad, a little Indonesian with its nasi goreng and some Korean by way of crispy pork belly with hot pepper glaze. [caption id="attachment_682280" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Devlin Apartments.[/caption] STAY With so much arting and eating to do, a spot to lay your weary head is of the essence. Geelong's most luxurious stay is the 4.5-star Devlin Apartments, housed within the heritage-listed Gordon Junior Technical School built in 1926. Choose between three design schemes — the New Yorker, the Industrial and the Modern — while finding comfort in the high ceilings, bucket loads of natural light, expansive living spaces, rainfall showers and cosy beds. There's a good selection on Airbnb here, too. This cosy studio in South Geelong comes with polished concrete floors and glass doors overlooking a pretty garden, while in the CBD, the swish three-bedroom Mercer apartment is just a five minutes' walk from the waterfront. For bay views and a glimpse into the city's industrial past, sleep over in this 150-year-old warehouse. Where to next? Make the most of every week with Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross and navigate to your next destination here.
If Mohammed won't come to the mountain, as the old adage goes, the mountain will just have to come to Mohammed's apartment block. In this instance, the role of Mohammed is played by eccentric and visionary doctor of Chinese medicine Zhang Biqing, and the mountain is literally a mountain, albeit a monumental $130,000, two-storey Eden/monstrosity that Zhang has painstakingly spent the last six years building atop his 26-storey residential building in Beijing's fancy Haidian district. Is it legal to build a mountain on your apartment building? No. Will Zhang get away with it? No. Do we love it anyway and want one of our own? Yes. In keeping with the zeitgeisty theme of greening urban spaces, what with all the recent edible green walls, adorable terraria, city farms and electric scooters born from plants, Zhang was obviously seeking to create an idyllic haven from polluted and chaotic city life. Rumours abound that the wealthy founder of acupuncture clinics hosts glamorous soirees with celebrities at his lofty lair. What started out as your average, non-Alpine 340 square-metre penthouse eventually became a 1000 square-metre wilderness through the introduction of countless artificial rocks, wooden panels and real grass and trees (which, according to Zhang's bitter neighbours, have been clogging the service elevator for years). After constant complaints from residents of the building, who are justifiably concerned about safety issues posed by all the construction and the hassle of noisy renovations and water leaks, last week local government officials finally issued Zhang an order to dismantle his hanging gardens of Babylon within 15 days. Zhang has said he will comply. Just another round in the epic battle waged between mankind and nature since the dawn of our race. Nature appears to have lost this time. Conceptually at least though, we can hope that Zhang's mad genius inspires someone to start building mountains in a somewhat more legal fashion. Via This is Colossal.
Victoria managed to clock up 28 days without any new locally acquired COVID-19 cases, before a hotel quarantine worker at the Grand Hyatt Hotel tested positive to the virus on Wednesday, February 3. Just four days later, a second hotel quarantine worker, this time at the Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport, has tested positive. The Victorian Government made the announcement at midnight on Sunday, February 7, saying: "the individual was tested on 4 Feb, returning a negative result. They returned to work 7 Feb, developed symptoms, were tested and returned a positive result." While the Vic Gov says "a full public health response is underway", it has released a list of three initial exposure sites visited by the newly identified positive case. https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1358397250410598400 Anyone who visited any of the below places during the specified exposure periods is being told to isolate immediately, get tested and remain in isolation for 14 days. As further contract tracing is undertaken, new spots may be added to the list — check the DHHS website for updated information. LIST OF CURRENT EXPOSURE SITES FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5 Marciano's Cakes, Maidstone — 9.45–10.25am Dan Murphy's, Sunshine — 5.50pm–6.30pm SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6 Off Ya Tree, Watergardens, Taylors Lakes — 1.17–1.52pm Dan Murphy's, Sunshine — 6.50–7.30pm These new four exposure sites are in addition to the 14 announced last week, visited by the first hotel quarantine worker. For further details on the latest exposure sites and updated public health advice, see the Department of Health and Human Services website. Top image: Dan Murphy's via Flickr
In response to the city's latest COVID-19 cases, the Victorian Government is reintroducing a number of restrictions within the Greater Melbourne area. Gatherings at home will be capped at five people per day, and a 30-person limit will come into effect in public areas — and, indoors, you'll need to wear face masks again. Announcing the changes today, Tuesday, May 25, Acting Premier James Merlino said that "these additional measures are an important extra precaution while we await the results of testing and undertake widespread contact tracing to stamp out the virus." The amended mask mandate comes into effect at 6pm tonight, applies to all indoor spaces and covers everyone over the age of 12 — unless you have an exemption. While it only covers the Greater Melbourne area, residents who leave the region are still required to abide by the rules. So, if you're visiting regional Victoria from Melbourne, you'll need to keep wearing a face mask when you're indoors. The gathering limits and mask requirement come after five new coronavirus cases were identified in the city's northern suburbs in the past 24 hours — four that were announced yesterday, and another that was revealed this morning. Victoria will also pause its plan to ease capacity caps for small- and medium-sized venues, which was initially slated to start on Friday, May 28. If you're now wondering where to grab a fitted mask, we've put together a rundown of local companies making and selling them. For more information about the status of COVID-19 and the current restrictions, head over to the Department of Health and Human Services website.
Last year, Melbourne’s first White Night was almost a victim of its own success. The CBD was stretched to capacity, swamped by unexpected crowds, and even if you had no interest in seeing The Cat Empire you were somehow forced to sardine yourself on Flinders Street regardless. This year, organisers have put a fix to many of these teething problems. Now, events are spread across the CBD (but never more than a brisk walk away) and most performances will be running repeatedly throughout the night. While it’s worth taking the time to browse the festival’s online program, we've plotted out one course of action for you. From 7pm till 7am — check out our guide to Melbourne's classiest all-nighter here.
For a lot of us, whether we're in relationships or not, Valentine's Day can give us the ick. But a Galentine's Day dinner party filled with cocktails and Latin American eats? Now, that we can get around. And it's exactly what's on offer over at Pincho Disco on Thursday, February 13. Gather together some of your favoruite gals, gays and theys for a big night out in Collingwood. For $139, each guest gets a cocktail on arrival, and shares some of the eleven dishes included in the big-ass set menu. This includes oysters, kingfish cannoli, cheese and corn empanadas, chorizo skewers, charred spatchcock and a dessert. A small take-home gift is also on the cards for those who pre-book a table.
2024 marks seven years since Elliot Page (The Umbrella Academy) last featured on the big screen Down Under. Playing at this year's Queer Screen Film Fest, Close to You brings his absence from local cinemas to an end. The film boasts the actor's first male movie role, as a trans man heading home to his family for the first time since transitioning. It's also the Sydney-based cinema showcase's first-ever narrative centrepiece pick in its 11 year history. Close to You sits on the just-announced in-person lineup alongside opening night's Buenos Aires-set The Astronaut Lovers, plus closing night's dialogue-free Gondola — the former about two men crossing paths over a summer, the second about female cable-car conductors expressing their emotions in the sky. In total, QSFF 2024 will show 35 titles, with the fest running from Wednesday, August 28–Sunday, September 1 at Event Cinemas George Street, then sharing the love online nationally with a week of movies streaming from Monday, September 2–Sunday, September 8. Hailing from Queer Screen, which also runs the Mardi Gras Film Festival during the first half of each year, this celebration of LGBTQIA+ flicks has other recognisable names gracing its frames alongside Page. Evan Rachel Wood (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story) plays a cheerleading coach in Backspot, with Devery Jacobs (Echo) as the squad's newcomer. In the gay shorts package, both Lukas Gage (Road House) and Keiynan Lonsdale (Swift Street) make appearances via the bite-sized Stay Lost. Elsewhere on the program, other highlights include the world-premiering Strange Creatures, which heads on a road trip to Narrabri with fighting siblings; fellow Aussie effort Videoland, about a video-store clerk; and Frameline Outstanding Documentary Feature-winner Fragments of a Life Loved, a journey through former lovers with filmmaker Chloé Barreau. For both of the two Australian titles, the filmmakers will be in attendance. Or, Sydneysiders can catch Baby, about the connection between a São Paolo sex worker and an 18-year-old man just out of juvenile detention — and Hong Kong's All Shall Be Well, the recipient of this year's Berlinale Teddy Award and Frameline Audience Award for Narrative. Online, as well as Gondola, and the gay, sapphic and trans and gender-diverse shorts strands, viewers have American Parent, about a lesbian couple raising a toddler during the pandemic; Big Boys, focusing on a teen with a crush; All Shall Be Well director Ray Yeung's 2019 film Twilight's Kiss; and The Judgment, about US-based Egyptian boyfriends returning home and dealing with the supernatural, among the choices. Queer Screen Film Fest 2024 runs from Wednesday, August 28–Sunday, September 1 at Event Cinemas George Street in Sydney — and online nationally from Monday, September 2–Sunday, September 8. For more information, visit the festival's website.
Killing It starts with a pitch. It's the first of many because that's just life these days, the show posits. Adding another sitcom to his resume after The Office, Ghosted and his beloved Brooklyn Nine-Nine guest spots, Craig Robinson keeps his first name as a Miami bank security guard with big aspirations — if he can rustle up some startup funds. His vision: owning a saw palmetto farm and living the American dream, because he believed his dad back when he was told as a kid that hard work and perseverance always pay off in the USA. For $20,000, he plans to buy land in the Everglades, then sell the fruit to pharmaceutical companies, who'll use it in prostate medicines for the lucrative health market. First, Craig needs to convince his branch manager to give him a loan. So, when this new satirical series from B99 co-creator Dan Goor and executive producer Luke Del Tredici kicks off its ten-part first season, its lead is honing his spiel, certain he'll soon be rewarded for his efforts. But rejection comes quickly, bluntly and amid racist comments, all while someone who thwarts the rules waltzes in and nabs a rich payday. That's a contrast that Killing It repeats over and over, just like its slick speeches from ordinary people attempting to seize opportunities. The dreams seen are modest — not having to work nine different jobs is another — but there's always someone above them scheming or stealing their way to success, and being celebrated for it. Striving for a better life, styling yourself to meet society's expectations, getting brutally trampled down: that's Killing It. It's a perceptive and savvily funny series about aiming for a shiny future to escape the swampy present, but getting stuck slithering in a circle no matter what you try. Or, as Craig's low-level criminal brother Isaiah (Rell Battle, Superior Donuts) puts it after seeing his sibling's legitimate endeavours flail again and again, it's about how the world is "nothing but snakes all the way down". Capitalism breeds serpents eating each other's tales if they're lucky, and devouring their own if they're not, the show suggests. That said, Killing It is still very much a comedy, and sees kindness and camaraderie as the antidote to the reptilian status quo. If The Good Place was wholly set in Florida and followed down-on-their luck folks chasing glory by slaying pythons, this'd be the end result. What it takes to be a good person — and what the point of even trying is in a world that stacks the odds against most — is a question that working on B99 has inspired twice now, given that The Good Place also sprang from one of the cop-focused sitcom's co-creators. That shouldn't be surprising when the power afforded law enforcement in America has become a key subject of debate recently. For eight seasons, Goor helped conjure up warm-hearted laughs via the antics of likeable characters who belong to a highly privileged profession. Now, he's unfurling US society's stratifications by honing in on everyday people who sometimes find themselves on the other side of the line, and rarely by choice. Killing It's snakes are indeed literal, too, and a ladder to cash. After getting knocked back for the loan, Craig winds up in an Uber driven by Jillian (Claudia O'Doherty, Our Flag Means Death), a chatty Australian who makes a pitstop to casually swing a hammer at a python. It's a profitable business, she reveals. Also, there's a contest awarding $20,000 to whoever kills the most. Craig is reluctant to join in, but as more misfortune slinks his way, he soon has few other choices. Giving up on his dream isn't an option — and he's also desperate to show his ex-wife Camille (Stephanie Nogueras, Switched at Birth) and daughter Vanessa (Jet Miller, Young Dylan) that he's someone they can count on and be proud of. Clubbing critters and cutting into class inequalities mightn't seem an intuitive duo, but Killing It proves otherwise. Another of the series' crucial questions: what drives someone to spend their days wielding a nail gun at reptiles, or earning pittance for helping the ultra-rich avoid tax, or filming their snake-hunting exploits? The latter comes courtesy of fellow competition entrant Brock (Scott MacArthur, The Mick), who makes videos with his teen son Corby (Wyatt Walter, NCIS: New Orleans), has amassed a YouTube following of 150,000 viewers, and yearns for social-media stardom. He's Killing It's most cartoonish underdog, but also distills its essence perfectly. In a world where one-percenters and influencers reign supreme — getting away with their grifts scot-free, fetishising manual labour without dreaming of doing it, and treating the less financial as jokes, marks or pets — he's unashamed about diving in head first, but he's also constantly battling. Of course, Killing It doesn't offer up any insights that haven't been covered in other 'eat the rich' fare of late, such as The White Lotus, Squid Game and Succession. But staring clear-eyed at the divides that have become an accepted part of western existence, recognising the struggle for anyone who wasn't born wealthy or faked it till they made it, and giving the whole situation an astutely comic spin works devilishly well here nonetheless. It helps that the series knows when to lean into absurdity, when to let its tender heart beat loudly, and how much cynicism to wind into its tale. There's ludicrousness, kindness and bleakness in each and every episode, even if setting the show around the 2016 US election feels unnecessary. Robinson was bound to thrive in a comedy like this, and unpacks the swagger that's long been baked into his on-screen persona in the process. Always a delight to watch, Aussie comedian O'Doherty (Love, Sarah's Channel) is just as well-cast as the tireless but beleaguered Jillian, and gets most of the show's best lines and deepest moments along the way. They're an odd-couple duo, because Killing It eagerly draws upon a familiar formula, but their performances have plenty to say — and skewer — about simply trying to get by in unforgiving climes. It's no wonder, then, that it's easy to slide through and laugh along with the sitcom's snake-filled first season in one sitting, and to buy everything it's pitching. Check out the trailer for Killing It below: Killing It's first season is available to stream in Australia via Stan. Images: Alan Markfield/Skip Bolen/Peacock.
When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows dropped its last terrible three words on us at the close of the book, all was not well. It would never be well without Harry, Ron, Hermione fighting the Dark Lord in a series of fantastical and wholly engrossing scenarios. But, little did we know, this would not be the end of the Age of Harry Potter. Thanks to the internet and the sheer demand for all things HP, Harry has lived on through new books, fan website Pottermore, the Fantastic Beasts film spinoff series and all manner of events dedicated to the franchise. One of the biggest things to come of the post-Harry Potter era has been Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, of course — aka the West End play that's essentially the eighth book in the series. It first arrived in Australia in February 2019, hitting up Melbourne's Princess Theatre, and proved unsurprisingly popular. Now, after closing down during the Victorian capital's 2020 lockdowns, then returning early in 2021, the production has announced that it's sticking around until the end of the year. Muggles, rejoice. Harry Potter fandom aside, this is also something that all theatre-goers can get excited about. Since debuting in London in July 2016, the production has won a swathe of awards and has proven a repeated sell-out — in the West End, on Broadway and in San Francisco, too. Melburnians — and other Australian Harry Potter and/or theatre aficionados — will be able to access tickets for the new dates from 9am on Thursday, April 29. You'll be able to book right through until Sunday, December 12. So yes, if you feel like a pre-festive date with all things Potter, that's on the cards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gp6ekBcNYY&feature=emb_logo So what exactly is The Cursed Child about? Well, it picks up 19 years after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and that abominably cheery epilogue on Platform 9 3/4. Harry is now an overworked Ministry of Magic employee, and the play focuses on both him and his youngest son Albus Severus Potter as they grapple with the past and future. The production is presented in two parts, so you'll have to book into two performances, either on the same day (matinee and evening) or on consecutive evenings. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is playing at Melbourne's Princess theatre until December 12, 2021, with tickets for the newly extended season on sale from 9am on Thursday, April 29. Top image: Evan Zimmerman for Murphy Made.
Exploring the gender imbalance in professional surfing, especially during the 80s and 90s as women in the sport were starting to attract the world's attention, Girls Can't Surf feels like a floodgates-bursting documentary. Watching female stars of the era talk about their experiences, including the vast disparity in prize money between men and women and how that affected their efforts to make a living, it's easy to see this candid and detailed film setting a template for a wealth of other movies. As fans of any type of women's sport well and truly know, differing treatment, pay, sponsorship and levels of respect aren't restricted to hitting the waves. Indeed, as the doco's high-profile parade of talking heads offer their thoughts and recollections — such as former world champions Frieda Zamba, Wendy Botha, Pam Burridge, Pauline Menczer, Lisa Andersen and Layne Beachley — many of their words could be uttered by any number of female athletes in a wide range of fields. That truth doesn't undercut the doco's power, or downplay what women surfers have been through. Rather, it underscores the importance of continually shining a light on the way the sporting arena has routinely sidelined, undermined and devalued anyone who isn't male. "If you can't see it, you can't be it" is one of Girls Can't Surf's resonant and universal sound bites, and it's easily applicable far beyond the film's specific stories and the sport in focus. Indeed, when Beachley talks about how she used to mill around surfing contests as a teen starting out in the field, and annoy the ladies she'd soon be competing against, you can see those words in action; if earlier generations of women hadn't already been hanging ten, Australia's seven-time champ wouldn't have had any footsteps to follow in. The film is filled with astute insights and telling connections such as these. It all leads to the well-publicised recent development, only back in 2018, of equal winnings for men and women being mandated by the World Surf League from 2019 onwards. That happy ending benefits today's stars, such as Stephanie Gilmore, Tyler Wright and Carissa Moore, but it came too late for Girls Can't Surf's interviewees. Once again, knowing that significant change has finally come to the sport doesn't diminish the potency of hearing about the horrors, struggles and rampant sexism that female surfers endured for decades. Smartly, two-time feature surf documentarian Christopher Nelius (Storm Surfers 3D) brings those tales to the fore, and the people sharing them. Girls Can't Surf positively overflows with frank, determined, inspiring and engaging women telling it like it is about their time in surfing's spotlight. From Jodie Cooper's memories of being the first openly gay woman on the world tour, to Jolene and Jorja Smith's recollections of discovering that the pivotal Huntington Beach OP Pro was dropping its women's competition but keeping the bikini contest, there is no shortage of anecdotes that paint a despondent picture for women who were simply trying to chase their dreams. Learning about how, even if the conditions were too flat for the men, the ladies were still forced to surf instantly demonstrates how little standing they received from the sport's powers-that-be. Seeing Menczer explain that she got by via a combination of sleeping in her van and relying on the kindness of people she met on the tour — which continued after she became world champion — is just as galling. So too is the behaviour of surf brands when they cottoned onto the obvious idea that women's board shorts would be a hit, flirted with sponsoring actual surfers to help promote them, then put their dollars towards models instead. Even clocking in at 108 minutes, Girls Can't Surf gives the impression that a plethora of other tales about surfing alone — and just from the women that it chats with — could easily have made the cut. It probably could've extended its running time with more 80s and 90s archival footage, too, spanning the fluoro outfits and big hair that particularly marked the former, as well as more shots of Zamba, Botha, Burridge and company putting the surf scenes in the likes of Point Break and Blue Crush to shame. Just like standing on a board and taking to the sea, however, this is a film with a keen sense of balance. Working with co-writer and editor Julie-Anne De Ruvo (Morgana, Bump, Why Are You Like This), Nelius helms a zippily paced doco that's dense with information, absolutely infuriating in the specifics it thrusts forward, but also fluid and savvily structured. Wanting to hear and see more is a hardly unexpected side effect when the pool of appalling incidents, and the women who weathered them, runs so deep. Every one of the feature's interviewees could fuel their own movies, in fact, so fingers crossed that eventually comes to fruition. Girls Can't Surf does sport an air of familiarity on several levels, but this is the rare film that doesn't suffer whenever it wades into overtly recognisable waters. Nelius definitely doesn't stir up a storm format-wise, but the material, themes and subjects all ride their own waves — so deviating from the fairly standard mix of talking heads and retro clips is hardly necessary. Bringing to mind similar female-focused works such as 2019's Maiden and 2020's Brazen Hussies, plus Australia's sizeable history of surf features and documentaries, never proves a distraction either. When it comes to rousing movies about women defying the odds and fighting for equality, and about taking to the ocean in general, more are always welcome. The same sentiment rings true with Girls Can't Surf's soundtrack, which makes ample use of Joan Jett's 'Bad Reputation' and Bikini Kill's 'Rebel Girl' as seemingly every second flick about spirited or pioneering ladies does. Hearing those ferocious tracks with frequency — this month's teen empowerment comedy Moxie uses the latter prominently as well — in on-screen accounts of women wiping out barriers is a nice problem to have, after all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBjcbZla2cA
As part of ACMI’s Spectacle: The Music Video Exhibition and Melbourne Music Week this one-off event sees a panel of Gotye’s collaborators come together to dissect some of the video clips that have defined this artist’s rise from local talent to international star. In 2011, a video clip transformed Wally De Backer into a worldwide phenomenon and household name; two years later Somebody That I Used to Know has clocked up close to 500 million views online. Throughout his career these videos have played an important role in Gotye’s commercial success, but more importantly have offered representations of a visual diversity that reflects the scope of this artist’s own distinctive sonic palette. Like his songs themselves, each one manages to dream up a whole world — whether it’s the fragile wasteland of his early hit Heart’s a Mess or the frantic, full-blown animation of State of the Art. This event will focus on the journey that each video takes from initial concept all the way through to final production, with host Megan Spencer joined by filmmakers Natasha Pincus and Andrew Goldsmith, as well as Ivan Dixon and Greg Sharp from the animation studio Rubber House.
Already in 2023, Cate Blanchett has scored her seventh Oscar nomination. Thanks to her phenomenal performance in conductor drama Tár, she's likely to win her third Academy Award, in fact. However her luck pans out on Hollywood's night of nights in March, she'll be towering over Melbourne in June regardless — in a historic space built in 1867, across a film installation spanning an array of huge screens, and in one mighty impressive 360-degree display. The first event announced for this year's RISING, Melbourne's major annual arts festival, will feature Blanchett in her latest starring role for artist and filmmaker Julian Rosefeldt. The duo reteams for Euphoria after working on 2015's stunning installation Manifesto together. Set to take over Melbourne Town Hall from Friday, June 2–Sunday, June 18, their new multichannel work doesn't just focus on the acclaimed Australian actor playing multiple parts, however, instead honing in on the weighty topic that is capitalism. The Berlin-based Rosefeldt tackles his current topic — aka two thousand years of greed and the effect that unlimited economic growth has — via a spiral of screens that'll sit throughout the venue. On the ground floor, 24 screens will showcase a life-sized choir of Brooklyn Youth Chorus singers, while five jazz drummers will duel on the screens above them. And, there'll also be five theatrical vignettes looping above, too, which is where Blanchett playing an anthropomorphic tiger stalking supermarket aisles comes in. Those drummers? They include Grammy Award-winning drummer and composer Antonio Sánchez, who also composed the score for 2014 film Birdman. And those vignettes? They'll also feature Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul favourite — and recent Kaleidoscope star — Giancarlo Esposito among a cast that'll speaking thoughts penned by economists, writers and thinkers like Warren Buffett, Ayn Rand, Angela Davis and Snoop Dogg. As well as Blanchett as a jungle cat, RISING's first major international commission — which hits this year's fest as an Australian exclusive, and enjoyed its world premiere at the Park Armory in New York back in November 2022 — features homeless men chatting about economics, executives getting acrobatic in a bank lobby, and an all-round unpacking of capitalism via its own excess. Paired with it, Euphoria's original score by Canadian composer Samy Moussa and British saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi goes big on jazz, the tunes sung by the children's choir and those uttered ideas. Befitting the theme, the installation will run with a pay-as-you-can pricing model, and welcome in visitors for free on Fridays during its season. 2023 is turning out to be a stellar year for spectacular takeovers of town halls by citywide arts fests, after Sydney Festival turned Sydney Town Hall into an indoor beach — temporarily, of course — for an opera performance back in January. Check out the trailer for Euphoria below: RISING 2023 will take place across Melbourne from Wednesday, June 7–Sunday, June 18, with Euphoria displaying at the Melbourne Town Hall on from Friday, June 2–Sunday, June 18. Tickets for Euphoria go on sale to RISING subscribers from 12pm on Tuesday, February 14, with general sales from Friday, February 17. First top image: Katja Illner.
October is made for weird, wild and wonderful movies filled with shocks and scares. 'Tis Halloween season, after all. So, the world obliges, including on screens big and small — and, in 2023, via the return of Australia's genre film festival Monster Fest, which is dedicated to flicks of the spooky, dark, twisted, offbeat and out-there variety. Monster Fest doesn't always pop up in the month when everyone is worshipping pumpkins and thinking about costumes; however, the timing obviously couldn't be more perfect. As it always does, it'll run long in Melbourne, where the fest was born back in 2011, then head to Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide for a shorter season in each city all on the same weekend. Melburnians, mark Thursday, October 12–Sunday, October 22 in your calendar for this showcase of strange, surreal, thrilling and chilling pictures at Cinema Nova. Everyone else, you'll want to make a date with Event Cinemas George Street in Sydney, Event Cinemas Uptown in Brisbane, Event Cinemas Marion in Adelaide and Event Cinemas Innaloo in Perth between Friday, October 27–Sunday, October 29. On the lineup: the latest and greatest in genre filmmaking, spanning horror, sci-fi, comedies with elements of either and all-round unnerving movies. Standouts titles on the 2023 program include Suitable Flesh, which stars Heather Graham (Extrapolations) as a doctor going mad, takes its inspiration from HP Lovecraft and boasts Joe Lynch (Creepshow) behind the lens; The Last Video Store, a horror-comedy set, yes, in one of the last video stores; and Norwegian flick There's Something in the Barn, about a gnome uprising that plagues an American family (including Party Down's Martin Starr) who've relocated to Scandinavia. Or, there's also sci-fi comedy Time Addicts, Australian slasher Bloodmoon getting a 4K restoration 33 years after its OG release and Trim Season's nightmarish trip to a weed farm. All of the above titles are doing the rounds nationally; however, with its extra days, Melbourne scores a few more highlights. When Evil Lurks and its demonic infection will launch the Victorian capital's leg of the fest. From there, that's also where Red Rooms, which recently won Best Feature at the 2023 Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal, joins the program. And, so does the kung fu-filled The Invisible Fright, a 4K restoration of Jim Jarmusch's (The Dead Don't Die) Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai and a 30th-anniversary session of ninth Friday the 13th entry Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (screening on the appropriate date, of course). On the doco front, erotic thrillers are thrust into the spotlight in We Kill for Love, Satan Wants You looks back at 80s-era satanic panic and Enter the Clones of Bruce surveys the talents that endeavoured to replicate Bruce Lee after his death. Going all in on Bruceploitation, Monster Fest is also putting on a double of The Dragon Lives Again and Challenge of the Tiger, where Dracula and James Bond are among Bruce's foes. MONSTER FEST 2023 DATES: Thursday, October 12–Sunday, October 22 — Cinema Nova, Melbourne Friday, October 27–Sunday, October 29 — Event Cinemas George Street, Sydney Friday, October 27–Sunday, October 29 — Event Cinemas Uptown, Brisbane Friday, October 27–Sunday, October 29 — Event Cinemas Marion, Adelaide Friday, October 27–Sunday, October 29 — Event Cinemas Innaloo, Perth Monster Fest 2023 runs throughout October around Australia. Head to the festival's website for further details.
Need to do some last-minute Christmas shopping? Online vintage treasure trove Hawkeye Vintage will let you into its covetable closet with a huge clearance sale (yes, clearance) on bags, clothing and accessories. You'll be able to get a feel of a Dior coat and fight over Chanel bags as a cavalcade of items take pride of place at Hawkeye's South Yarra HQ on Friday, December 20. The pieces on offer will run from the affordable right up to the super expensive, but all will be going at a reduced price with up to 50 percent off. Given some of the brands on offer — including Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Chanel, YSL, Celine and Fendi — you'll be able to pick up some bargains, or opt for a few investment pieces. Covering fashion from the 80s onwards, the range will focus on handbags, scarves, jewellery and ready-to-wear clothing. Keep an eye on Hawkeye Vintage's Instagram to see more sale items, which'll be posted in the lead-up. Entry to the massive sale is free, but you will need to reserve a spot. We also suggest getting there early to snag the good stuff. The Hawkeye Vintage Luxe Sale will run from 10am–7pm.
You don't truly realise how parental and limiting adult writers can be towards children until you've seen the works of Belgian youth theatre group Ontroerend Goed. Their self-devised pieces are anarchic, freeform, funny, dramatic, frequently loud and generally unpredictable. The seminal Once And For All We're Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up And Listen has now spiralled out into a trilogy that somewhat progresses through the stages of youth. Melbourne Festival 2013 gets the later, angstier chapters. Teenage Riot has eight teenagers trapped in a room inflict twisted games on each other, and recording it on camera, while All That Is Wrong has single writer/performer Anna Jakoba Ryckewaert, 18, undertake a more introspective coming-of-age — what Melbourne Festival are calling "a final, poignant dispatch from the consuming borderland between youth and adulthood". Teenage Riot will be at the Arts Centre during the Melbourne Festival from October 15-20. Thanks to the Melbourne Festival, we have a double pass to give away for opening night. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au with your name and address.
The super-adorable Finders Keepers travelling market is returning to the Royal Exhibition Building once more for their autumn/winter edition. The biannual, designer-centric, come-one-come-all mini-festival has managed to bridge the gap between local market and exclusive exhibition, creating a space for independent designers to engage with the wider community. You'll be able to nab some marvellous treats difficult to find anywhere else. From bespoke leather goods to bespoke stationary, upcycled journals to upcycled bicycle reflectors, every stall will be a unique shopping experience that combines innovative design with grassroots feel-goodery. As usual, there will be live music, a cafe, a bar and thousands of other Melburnians celebrating independent art and design. The markets are open on Friday from from 6pm-10pm and Saturday from 10am-5pm.
If there weren't already enough reasons to visit France, the nation has just erected a ten-level superstructure dedicated entirely to life's magnum opus: wine. Located in the heart of Bordeaux wine country, La Cité du Vin (translating to The City of Wine) is more than just a museum about squashed grapes. From the outside the building is a masterpiece in its own right, the architecture charging its glass to the curvature of the infamous vineyard-bordered Garonne River, knotted vine stocks and the swirl of wine in a glass. Indoors, there are both temporary and permanent features, including a self-guided tour through 20 themed spaces showcasing wine from across the world, across the ages, across all cultures and all civilisations. The immersive experience kicks off in a wooden vault moonlighting as the hull of a wine-trading ship before taking visitors through several other multi-sensory areas. The final phase leads up to the top floor to take in 360 degree views of the city and for the most eagerly anticipated section of the tour: wine tasting. All that wine knowledge can be put to use in one of two restaurants, together sharing a wine cellar with upwards of 14,000 bottles from more than 80 wine producing countries. To top it all off the entrance hall doubles as the departure point for wine tasting excursions via boat along the Garonne or down the road to the plentiful Bordeaux vineyards.
James Bond is a fictional character. If literature and cinema's super-suave spy was real, however, he might be interested in a new bar that's set to start pouring cocktails in Melbourne from April. At Le Martini, one drink is in the spotlight. That cocktail can come in an array of varieties, though — yes, including shaken, not stirred — as patrons here will be able to enjoy. This 33-seat watering hole on the ground floor at Crown Melbourne won't just hero one kind of tipple. It'll also be all about one variety of vodka, too. Operating from 5pm–late Thursday–Sunday, the intimate Le Martini is the world's first-ever Grey Goose martini bar, so you know what'll be in each martini. Exactly what kinds of martinis will be on offer hasn't been revealed as yet, but they'll also change thanks to guest bartenders from overseas who'll whip up their own menus. One such person: New York's Dale DeGroff, whose career dates back to the Rainbow Room in the 80s. He's in charge of the opening martini lineup. Whatever the range of curators opt for, you can probably look forward to the alcohol brand's signature martini, which combines its own vodka, Noilly Prat dry vermouth and a dash of orange bitters. French bites to eat will be paired with the beverages, with Bistro Guillaume at Crown Melbourne responsible for the culinary range. "Here, we are creating a place where guests can sip on the very best expertly crafted Grey Goose martinis while immersed in exquisite surrounds," said the brand's Marketing Manager Sander Janmaat, announcing Le Martini. Find Le Martini on the ground floor at Crown Melbourne, Southbank from sometime in April, open from 5pm–late Thursday–Sunday — we'll update you with an exact launch date when one is announced.
