Christmas may not be on your mind just yet, but it's definitely on the mind of the Four Pillars owners, who have launched a pop-up gin store at Myer Melbourne Located in the Bourke Street department store, it's sticking around straight through to New Year's Eve and includes a store full of exclusive Four Pillars goodies. The gift shop will offer the entire Four Pillars core range of gins and merch, along with a few very limited releases from Four Pillars distillery, including the much sought after 2020 Australian Christmas Gin and new double-barrelled negronis. You'll also find a heap of gin-spiked products, including Christmas puddings, cranberry and orange relish, and a new dry gin salt created by Four Pillars and Olsson's Salt. This year's store won't have tastings or cocktails, unfortunately, but you can plan a trip to visit Four Pillars' OG Healesville distillery over the summer break. Four Pillars' Bourke Street pop-up is open from 9.30am–7pm Monday–Wednesday, 9.30am–9pm Thursday–Saturday and 10am–7pm Sunday.
As well as being part of many an art-gazing adventure when it opens its blockbuster Escher x Nendo exhibition this summer, the National Gallery of Victoria will also become a temporary workout destination when it hosts a slew of free wellness classes. The classes come courtesy of Lululemon — the brand is celebrating its 20th anniversary and will take over the gallery's serene Grollo Equiset Garden for a 20-week series of yoga, circuit and meditation classes. And they won't cost you a cent. Kicking off Wednesday, November 14, there are three sessions to choose from, running both in the mornings and after-hours. Punters can reconnect with their flow at a grounding yoga class, build mindfulness with a meditation session, or bump up the heart rate at the all-body 'sweat' class. They'll be led by a team of Lululemon's local ambassadors and fitness experts and will cater to all fitness levels. They're designed to get you bending, stretching, de-stressing and working those muscles, right through the summer months. Classes are free to join, with mats provided, though you'll need to book here (and quick!) to secure your spot. Breathe. Sweat. Stretch. will take place in the Grollo Equiset Garden at the NGV International from November 17 until March 26, 2019.
Last month felt particular steamy and uncomfortable (even for Australian summer) and it was — January was Australia's hottest month ever recorded. The Bureau of Meteorology this morning released its monthly climate summary, reporting that, for the first time ever in Australia, the mean temperature for a month exceeded 30 degrees. NSW, ACT, Victoria and the NT all had their hottest Januarys ever recorded, while other states had unusually hot weather and very little rain. If you're currently sitting at your desk — after running through rain in Sydney, waking up to 14 degrees in Melbourne or commuting in low-20s in Brisbane — and thinking, it didn't seem that bad, here's a quick summary of some of the weather we endured last month. The year kicked off with a country-wide heatwave, with the mercury hitting the 30s in every capital city and Canberra sweltering through four days of 40-degrees. By mid-January, the heatwave was causing record-breaking high temperatures across the country — including 48.9 in SA and high-40s across Victoria's North — with Sydney's west copping dangerously high levels of ozone gas. And, just last week, Melbourne survived its hottest day in ten years. Here's how hot our country looked at one point: https://twitter.com/BOM_au/status/1084218154782478337 Phew. We're sure you're happy to see the back of January. According to the BOM's senior climatologist Dr Andrew Watkins, the unprecedented heat was due to a "a persistent high pressure system in the Tasman sea which was blocking any cold fronts and cooler air from impacting the south of the country." Dr Watkins also said in a statement that Australia looks to continue getting hotter, too. "The warming trend which has seen Australian temperatures increase by more than 1 degree in the last 100 years also contributed to the unusually warm conditions." Unfortunately for our farmers, last month was also extremely dry. In NSW, where 100 percent of the state has been in drought, the northeast experienced one of the driest Januarys on record, while most of Victoria and Brisbane received less than 20 percent of their average January rainfall. Tasmania had its driest Jan on record and SA, which experienced some of the highest temperatures, also had very little-to-no rain — the Bureau's Adelaide city site recorded no rainfall for the month for the first time since 1957. So far, it looks like February is going to be less spicy. But if you'd rather not risk it, it might be time to book a trip to the northern hemisphere. Image: Visit Victoria.
Ten years ago, Jordan Peele had just premiered his now-iconic sketch comedy series with Keegan-Michael Key. Key & Peele was exactly three episodes in on this exact date back in 2012, in fact, and was still eight months away from professing its love for Liam Neeson. Today, Peele has an Oscar to his name for Get Out, directed two of the best horror movies of the past decade thanks to that unnerving standout and the equally exceptional Us, and had a hand in bringing everything from BlacKkKlansman and the ace latest Candyman flick to Hunters and Lovecraft Country to our eyeballs. And, he's just dropped the trailer for his third big-screen directorial effort, Nope. That's a glorious name for what to looks to be a gloriously eerie film — based on the initial sneak peek, at least. When a trailer has Get Out star and Judas and the Black Messiah Oscar-winner Daniel Kaluuya ask "what's a bad miracle?", things get creepy quickly. The setup: the Haywood ranch is proudly run by the only Black-owned horse trainers in Hollywood (played by Kaluuya and Hustlers' Keke Palmer), whose connection to show business dates back to the very birth of cinema. But their remote patch of inland California soon becomes home to a disturbing discovery — and the fact that everyone spends a fair amount of time either looking up in horror or running away from something chilling in the sky says plenty. As with all of Peele's celluloid nightmares so far, the less you know going in, the better. That said, the trailer does a fantastic job of teasing all of the unsettling imagery that the filmmaker is about to get lodged in your brain, including fields of colourful inflatable tube men waving in the breeze. Steven Yeun (Minari) also stars in what's already the must-see horror movie of the year — and the cast also spans Michael Wincott (Veni Vidi Vici) and Brandon Perea (The OA) — although film fans will need to wait till July to see how Peele's latest horror epic turns out. Check out the trailer for Nope below: Nope will release in cinemas Down Under on July 21, 2022.
It has been 11 art-filled years since Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art first opened its doors, and the creative riverside hub just keeps going from strength to strength. As unveiled on Friday, July 13, GOMA is now home to an illuminating new permanent work: Night Life, a brand light installation by artist James Turrell. You might be familiar with the Arizona-based artist's piees if you've been to Mona or the National Gallery of Australia (NGA). He's the one behind the sky-centred installations at both galleries — at Mona, the gazebo-like Armana lights up at sunrise and sunset each day, and at the NGA in Canberra, Within without acts as an outdoor viewing chamber to enhance your view of the sky. All up, Turrell has created 80 'skyspaces' like these around the world. Brisbane's Turrell piece isn't a standalone structure like these other two Australian works. Instead, Night Life lights up GOMA's eastern and southern white façades from within the building, using an 88-minute-long shifting pattern of vibrant coloured light developed by Turrell especially for the location. GOMA director Chris Saines describes it as "a permanent solid light installation that is a deeply immersive field of slowly changing colour." When illuminated — which it will be from sunset to midnight each and every night from this point onwards — the gallery is visible from across the river and around South Bank's cultural precinct. Commissioned for GOMA's tenth anniversary, while Night Life is a new addition, it actually ties into the gallery's history. As Saines explains, "during the development of GOMA, lead architects Kerry Clare, Lindsay Clare and James Jones envisaged an artist-illuminated 'white box' on the gallery's main pedestrian approaches. More than a decade on, Turrell's architectural light installation realises the potential of GOMA's white box façade, and completes a major aspect of the architects' original design intention." Images: James Turrell's architectural light installation at Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art. Photograph: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA. By Lauren Vadnjal and Sarah Ward.
If you live Down Under, winter is still coming for 2022 — but your next excuse to indulge your Game of Thrones love is already here. You will need to pack your suitcases and head to Northern Ireland, however, and also be mighty pleased that visiting the new GoT studio tour doesn't involve sailing by ship, walking for months or using other forms of transport from the fictional Seven Kingdoms. First announced in 2018, the Game of Thrones Studio Tour at Linen Mill Studios started welcoming in eager GoT fans at the beginning of February 2022 — and it boasts plenty to get excited about. And yes, while you're waiting for prequel series House of the Dragon to arrive later this year, and still biding your time wondering when author George RR Martin's The Winds of Winter will finally hit shelves, this'll help tide you over. Get ready to add Winterfell, The Wall, King's Landing and Dragonstone to your next holiday itinerary, and to peer at the Iron Throne as well, because that's all part of the new tour. Visitors are able to step inside the Great Hall, which is where Jon Snow was proclaimed the King in the North; see Daenerys Targaryen's Dragonstone throne; and also check out an array of props, weaponry, armoury, costumes, make-up and prosthetics from the show. Much of the series was filmed in Northern Ireland, hence the tour — which marks the first time that HBO has opened up the sets and sites to the public. Now rebadged as a tourist site, the GoT sets span across a hefty 110,000-square-feet location in in Banbridge. Basically, if you've ever dreamed about walking around Westeros, this is your chance. The tour has been dubbed an 'interactive experience', which covers wandering through fully dressed sets, reliving moments from the series and standing exactly where many of the show's standout scenes took place. Also part of the immersive attraction: learning more about the skills and craft behind the program that helped make it such a hit. And, there are also art files, models and other production materials in display, plus accompanying digital content and interactive materials highlighting GoT's digital effects. If it sounds huge, that's because it is. The whole setup comprises the largest authentic public display of Game of Thrones artifacts in the world — and is bound to make fans happier than Arya Stark crossing a name off of her infamous list. The Game of Thrones Studio Tour is now open at Linen Mill Studios, The Boulevard, Banbridge, Northern Ireland. For more information or to buy tickets, head to the tour's website.
Having established itself as a summer favourite across the country over the last few years, the Royal Croquet Club will return to Melbourne. Back for a third year, the outdoor festival is set to take over Birrarung Marr from December 8. The 16-day event promises all the fun and flavour of previous years, offering up a buffet of live entertainment, experiential arts, food, drink, and — of course — more than a few games of croquet. The al fresco festival will see revellers of all ages and skill levels hitting the central croquet pitch, with some of Sydney's best food on hand for refuelling in between games. Expect noms from St Kilda's POW Kitchen, 8bit burgers, and barbecued things from Hoy Pinoy and Up in Smoke. Gelato Messina will once again bring back their ice cream creations in Campbell's Soup-like tins. And the fun continues away from the mallets too, with a lineup of local and international artists dishing up live tunes, including Jarryd James, Hayden James, Touch Sensitive and, randomly, Angus Stone as Dope Lemon. This year they'll also be adding The Parlour, a 70-seat pop-up theatre that will showcase acts from Adelaide Fringe. Previous years have seen as many as 60,000 people rock up, and this time 'round you can expect just as many. Entry is $20 on Friday and Saturday nights after 6pm, but free at all other times.
It has been my personal experience that most galleries tend to have a pretty stringent ‘No Jumping On The Art’ policy. This seems unfair, I know, especially when so much contemporary art would probably improved by a good old double bounce, but I don’t make the rules! Fortunately, Melbourne based artists Brooke Williams and Henry Madin share our dismay at the un-jumpability of most art works, and have developed an installation piece to satisfy our taboo desires. Finding its home in Fort Delta gallery, JUMP relies on human interaction and movement to realise its full capacity. Fifty-five hand crafted wooden boxes are aligned in a semi-haphazard grid, and respond to weight bearing with a click-clack sound similar to the sound of wooden clapping sticks you probably last used in year 5 music class. Described by the artists as a facilitation of physical expression through movement and sound, the installation is designed to be navigated sock footed gallery goers, moving between coloured boxes to create a somewhat disjointed, yet undoubtedly cheery, soundtrack to the experiential piece. The exhibition runs August 9 – 23, so if you’d like to make sweet music with your body, hot foot it down to Fort Delta gallery (located downstairs at the back of the Capitol Arcade on Swanston Street). Take a friend or two along for the ultimate year 5 music class nostalgia.
Some desserts always tempt the tastebuds, because there's going wrong with a classic. As well as tasting great every time you bite into them, some of those same sweet treats have inspired a heap of creative takes, too. If you've ever sipped a lamington-flavoured milkshake or plunged a scoop into some Iced VoVo gelato, then you know exactly what we're talking about. The next dessert mashups on offer hail from chocolatier Koko Black — and, if you're particularly fond of nostalgic Aussie favourites, your stomach might just start growling. As part of its new Australian Classics Collection, the Melbourne-founded company is making chocolate versions of plenty of your childhood staples. Think honey joys, chocolate crackles and Golden Gaytimes, plus the perennial go-tos that are Iced VoVos and lamingtons. The artisanal range turns some of the above sweets into separate bars sold in three-packs, and some into slabs of chocolate. So, you can tuck into Gaytime Goldies, which combine vanilla and malted caramel ganache, then dip the bar in dark chocolate, before covering it with hazelnuts — or opt for a block of Koko Crackles, which features rice bubbles, caramelised coconut and white chocolate, as then dipped in dark chocolate. Also available: a Lamington Slice slab, combining chocolate marshmallow and raspberry jelly, as covered in dark chocolate and dusted with coconut; bars of Koko Vovo, aka milk chocolate-coated biscuits topped with strawberry rosewater marshmallow, raspberry jelly and coconut; and Jam Wagons, which top biscuits topped with marshmallow and raspberry jam, then coat them in milk chocolate. Or, there's also Honey Joys, if you like your cornflakes drizzled with honey, then mixed with either milk chocolate or dark chocolate. The Australian Classics Collection is available separately or as one big hamper, with prices ranging from $15.90–$169. If you're keen, they've already hit Koko Black's online store — with delivery available nationally — and will show up in its physical shops from September 24. For more information about Koko Black's Australian Classics Collection, visit the store's website. Images: Studio Round.
The glittery night sky has long been a source of mystery and wonder, but, surprisingly, there aren't too many exhibitions or events across Melbourne that let you explore its depths—until now. Enter Discover The Night Sky, the Melbourne Planetarium's new monthly astronomy series hosted by renowned astronomer Dr Tanya Hill. Blending science and storytelling with awe-inspiring visuals, this immersive five-part, after-dark program dives into a different cosmic theme each month. Each session is projected across a captivating 16-metre domed screen, paired with a powerful 7.1 surround sound system. Settle into a plush, reclining chair as you journey through the universe to uncover the science behind eclipses and exoplanets, the Milky Way and mind-boggling black holes. Looking for a fun date night idea? Or something a little more inspired than the usual post-work pub beers? Discover The Night Sky is the antidote to midweek monotony. Stargaze through telescopes guided by amateur astronomers while sipping drinks and enjoying snacks from the Galaxy Bar. Host Dr Tanya Hill says looking up at the beautiful night sky—especially shared with others—can force you to slow down and open up to new perspectives. "What I'm really excited about is sharing with people the things we can't plan for. There's always something new that's being discovered about the universe, and I want to take people behind the headlines. We'll do a deep dive into the research and details of any new discoveries—what we've learnt, how they come about, and what mysteries still need to be figured out." Whether you're a space enthusiast or simply curious about the cosmos, the Melbourne Planetarium's Discover The Night Sky offers an engaging, educational, and beautifully immersive experience. 'Discover the Night Sky' will run on the last Thursday of the month from Thursday, July 31–November 27. Tickets are limited, to secure yours, visit the website. By Elise Cullen, images by Eugene Hyland (courtesy of Melbourne Planetarium)
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. SCREAM Twenty-six years ago, "do you like scary movies?" stopped being just an ordinary question. Posed by a wrong-number caller who happened to be a ghostface-masked killer with a fondness for kitchen knives, it was the snappiest and savviest line in one of the 90s' biggest horror films — a feature filled with snappy and savvy lines, too — and it's now one of cinema's iconic pieces of dialogue. It also perfectly summarised Scream's whole reason for being. The franchise-starting slasher flick didn't just like scary movies, though. It was one, plus a winking, nudging comedy, and it gleefully worshipped at the altar of all horror films that came before it. Wes Craven helmed plenty of those frightening features prior to Scream, so the A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Hills Have Eyes director was well-equipped to splash around love for the genre like his villain splashed around entrails — and to eagerly and happily satirise all of horror's well-known tropes in the stab-happy process. If you've seen the 1996 film or its three sequels till now, you've bathed in all that scary movie affection. You might've gleaned the horror basics from their rules and references; the OG film even had its characters watch Halloween and borrows the 70s classic's stellar score for key scenes. Geeking out over spooky cinema is the franchise's main personality trait, to the point that it has its own saga-within-a-saga, aka the Stab movies, and its fifth entry — also just called Scream — wouldn't dream of making that over. The famous question gets asked, obviously. Debates rage about the genre, enough other horror films are name-checked to fill a weekend-long movie marathon, cliches get skewered and dissected, and there's a Psycho-style shower scene. 'Elevated' horror standouts The Babadook, It Follows, The Witch and Hereditary earn a shoutout as well, but Scream itself just might be an elevator horror flick. It isn't set in one, but it crams in so much scary movie love that it always feels like it's stopping every few moments to let its nods and nerding-out disembark. In other words, you'd really best answer Scream's go-to query with the heartiest yes possible, and also like watching people keep nattering about all things horror. Taking over from Craven, who also directed 1997's Scream 2, 2000's Scream 3 and 2011's Scream 4 but died in 2015, Ready or Not's Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett task their next generation of slasher fodder with showing their devotion with all the subtlety of a masked murderer who can't stop taunting their prey. That'd be Ghostface, who terrorises today's Woodsboro high schoolers, because the fictional spot is up there with Sunnydale and Twin Peaks on the list of places that are flat-out hellish for teens. The same happened in Scream 4, but the first new attack by the saga's killer is designed to lure home someone who's left town. Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera, In the Heights) hightailed it the moment she was old enough, fleeing a family secret, but is beckoned back when her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega, You) receives the feature's opening "do you like scary movies?" call. Soon, bodies are piling up, Ghostface gives Woodsboro that grim sense of deja vu again, and Tara's friends — including the horror film-obsessed Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown, Yellowjackets), her twin Chad (Mason Gooding, Love, Victor), his girlfriend Liv (Sonia Ammar, Jappeloup), and other pals Wes (Dylan Minnette, 13 Reasons Why) and Amber (Mikey Madison, Better Things) — are trying to both survive while basically cycling through the OG feature again, complete with a crucial location, and sleuth out the culprit using their scary movie knowledge. Everyone's a suspect, including Sam herself and her out-of-towner boyfriend Richie (Jack Quaid, The Boys), and also the begrudging resident expert on this exact situation: ex-sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette, Spree). The latter is the reason that morning show host Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox, Cougar Town) and initial Ghostface target Sidney Prescott (Skyscraper) make the trip back to Woodsboro again as well. Read our full review. KING RICHARD In King Richard, Will Smith does more acting than expected with his back to the on-screen action. He does more acting in general — while the Ali and Concussion star can be a transformative performer, here he feels like he's overtly playing a part rather than disappearing into a role — but the way his eponymous figure handles his daughters' matches instantly stands out. Richard Williams is a tennis parent who despises the usual tennis parent histrionics. At the time the film is set, in the early 90s, he has also coached Venus (Saniyya Sidney, Fences) and Serena (Demi Singleton, Godfather of Harlem) since they were four years old, and penned a 78-page plan mapping out their futures before they were born. He's dedicated his life to their success; however, he's so restless when they're volleying and backhanding that he can't bring himself to watch. These scenes in King Richard are among Smith's best. He's anxious yet determined, and lives the feeling like he's breathing it, in some of the movie's least blatantly showy and most quietly complex scenes as well. The Williams family patriarch has wisdom for all occasions, forged from a tough childhood in America's south, plus the hard work and hustle of turning Venus and Serena into budding champions, so he'd likely have something to say about the insights gleaned here: that you can tell oh-so-much about a person when they're under pressure but nobody's watching. If he was actively imparting this lesson to his daughters — five of them, not just the two that now have 30 Grand Slam singles titles between them — and they didn't glean it, he'd make them watch again. When they see Cinderella in the film, that's exactly what happens. But his courtside demeanour is teachable anyway, recognising how all the preparation and effort in the world will still see you tested over and over. King Richard mostly lobs around smaller moments, though — still life-defining for the aforementioned trio, matriarch Oracene (Aunjanue Ellis, Lovecraft Country) and the rest of the Williams brood, but before Venus and Serena became women's tennis superstars. It unpacks the effort put in to even get them a game, set or match and be taken seriously in a sport that's whiter than the lines marking out its courts, and the chances, sacrifices and wins of their formative years. From cracked Compton courts and homemade hype videos to seizing every hard-earned opportunity: that's the tale that King Richard tells. But, despite making a clear effort to pose this as a family portrait rather than a dad biopic, it still shares an approach with Joe Bell, director Reinaldo Marcus Green's prior film. It bears one man's name, celebrates him first and makes him the centre of someone else's exceptional story. In screenwriter Zach Baylin's debut script, Richard's aim is simple: get Venus and Serena to racquet-swinging glory by any means. His DIY tapes are bait for a professional coach, but attracting one is easier said than done for a working-class Black family without country club connections facing America's inbuilt racism and class clashes, and tennis' snobbery — even if Richard knows his daughters will reach their goals. A turning point comes when, after strolling into a practice match between Pete Sampras and John McEnroe, Richard convinces renowned coach Paul Cohen (Tony Goldwyn, Scandal) to watch his kids play and take on Venus for free. While she's swiftly impressing on the junior circuit, her dad becomes concerned about her psychological and emotional wellbeing, so he next works his persuasive act on Florida-based coach Rick Macci (Jon Bernthal, The Many Saints of Newark) — with a strict no-competition rule. Read our full review. LIMBO Describing a dance and a state of uncertainty alike, limbo is one of those always-intriguing words. Many terms boast multiple meanings, but this one skirts two ends of the spectrum — the party-fuelled joy of a parade of people trying to pass under a bar while bending over backwards, and the malaise of being stuck waiting and not knowing. Both require a degree of flexibility, though, to either complete physical feats or weather the fickleness of life (or, in limbo's religious usage, of being caught in an oblivion between heaven and hell). It's no wonder then that British writer/director Ben Sharrock chose the word for his second feature, following 2015's Pikadero. His Limbo lingers in a realm where men are made to contort themselves, biding one's time anticipating a decision is the status quo and feeling like you've been left in a void is inescapable. The fancy footsteps here are of the jumping-through-hoops kind, as Limbo ponders a revelatory question: what happens when refugees are sent to a Scottish island to await the results of their asylum applications? There's zero doubting how telling the movie's moniker is; for Syrian musician Omar (Amir El-Masry, Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker) and his fellow new arrivals to Scotland, there's little to do in this emptiness between the past and the future but wait, sit at the bus stop, check out the children's playground and loiter near the pay phone. That, and navigate the wide range of reactions from the locals, which veer from offensive to thoughtful. Everything about the situation demands that Omar and his companions make all the expected moves, but it also forces them to potter around in purgatory and stomach whatever is thrown at them to do so. In Omar's case, he's made the trip with an actual case — physically, that is, thanks to his prized possession. He's brought his grandfather's oud with him, which he rarely lets slip from his grasp, and so he feels its weight where he goes. It's a canny part of Limbo's script in two ways. Whatever they're fleeing in search of a better life, every refugee has a case to be welcomed into safer lands that they carry around with them, but Sharrock manifests the idea in a tangible sense. With Omar's musical dreams, which the beloved oud also represents, in limbo as well, the ever-present instrument additionally acts as a constant reminder of the sacrifices that asylum seekers make in leaving their homes, even when there's no other option, and the costs they pay when they're met with less-than-open arms, then left waiting for their new existence to begin. Just as the term limbo means so much, so does that oud — and so does the feature it's in. A film can be heartbreaking, tender, insightful and amusing all at once, and Limbo is indeed all of those things. It's both dreamlike and lived-in, too, a blend that suits its title and story — and also the mental and emotional state shared by Omar and his other asylum seekers as they eke out their hope and resilience day after unchanging day, all while roaming and roving around an island that may as well be another world. The Scottish landscape around them looks like it could grace a postcard, and Sharrock has cinematographer Nick Cooke (Make Up) box it into an almost-square frame to make it resemble vacation snaps. That choice of 1.33:1 aspect ratio also confines the movie's characters in another fashion, of course, offering a blatant visual flipside to the holiday-perfect splendour; being trapped anywhere is bleak, even if it appears picturesque. Read our full review. GOLD Gold's title doubles as an exclamation that Australian filmmakers might've made when Zac Efron decamped to our shores at the beginning of the pandemic. Only this outback-set thriller has put the High School Musical, Bad Neighbours and Baywatch star to work Down Under, however, and he definitely isn't in Hollywood anymore. Instead, he's stuck in "some time, some place, not far from now…", as all-caps text advises in the movie's opening moments. He's caught in a post-Mad Max-style dystopia, where sweltering heat, a visible lack of shelter, a cut-throat attitude, water rationing, and nothing but dirt and dust as far as the eye can see greets survivors navigating a rusty wasteland. But then his character, Man One, spots a glint, and all that glisters is indeed gold — and he must guard it while Man Two (Anthony Hayes, also the film's director) seeks out an excavator. Exactly who stays and who goes is the subject of heated discussion, but Gold is an economical movie, mirroring how its on-screen figures need to be careful about every move they make in such unforgiving surroundings. As a filmmaker, helming his first feature since 2008's Ten Empty, Hayes knows his star attraction — and he's also well-aware of the survivalist genre, and its history, that he's plonking Efron into. Almost every male actor has been in one such flick or so it can seem, whether Tom Hanks is talking to a volleyball in Castaway, Liam Neeson is communing with wolves in The Grey or Mads Mikkelsen is facing frosty climes in Arctic. Although Gold purposefully never names its setting, Australia's vast expanse is no stranger to testing its visitors, too, but Hayes' version slips in nicely alongside the likes of Wake in Fright, The Rover and Cargo, rather than rips them off. The reason such tales persist is pure human nature — we're always battling against the world around us, even if everyday folks are rarely in such extreme situations — and, on-screen, because of the performances they evoke. Efron isn't even the first import to get stranded in sunburnt country in 2022, after Jamie Dornan did the same in TV miniseries The Tourist, but he puts in a compellingly internalised performance. Man One's minutes, hours and days guarding an oversized nugget pass with sparing sips of H20, attempts to build a shelter and altercations with the locals, including of the two-legged, canine, insect and arachnid varieties, and the toll of all this time alone builds in Efron's eyes and posture. His face crackles from the sun, heat and muck, but his portrayal is as much about enduring as reacting, as both Efron and Hayes savvily recognise. Writing with costumer-turned-scribe Polly Smyth as well as directing solo, Hayes puts more than just survival on Gold's mind, though: when the titular yellow precious metal is involved, greed is rarely good. Here, staying alive at any cost is all about striking it rich at any cost, and also about the paranoia festering between two new acquaintances who've randomly stumbled upon a life-changing windfall — as heightened by the film's stark, harsh, post-apocalyptic setup. When a third person (Susie Porter, Ladies in Black) enters the scenario, Gold grimly lets its life-or-death and lucky break elements keep clashing, but also pairs Man One's desperation with the mental decline that blistering in the sun, being parched with thirst and starving with hunger all bring. Greed proves perilous in a plethora of ways in the film's frames, including inside its main character's head. Read our full review. THE 355 They're globe-hopping, ass-kicking, world-saving spies, but women: that's it, that's The 355. When those formidable ladies are played by a dream international cast of Jessica Chastain (Scenes From a Marriage), Lupita Nyong'o (Us), Penélope Cruz (Pain and Glory), Diane Kruger (In the Fade) and Fan Bingbing (I Am Not Madame Bovary), the tickets should sell themselves — and Chastain, who suggested the concept and produces, wasn't wrong for hoping that. Giving espionage moves the female-fronted spin that Bond and Mission: Impossible never have isn't just this action-thriller's quest alone, of course, and nothing has done so better than Atomic Blonde recently, but there's always room for more. What The 355 offers is an average affair, though, rather than a game-changer, even if it so evidently wants to do for its genre what Widows did for heist flicks. The film still starts with men, too, causing all the globe's problems — aka threatening to end life as we know it via a gadget that can let anyone hack anything online. One nefarious and bland mercenary (Jason Flemyng, Boiling Point) wants it, but the CIA's gung-ho Mason 'Mace' Browne (Chastain) and her partner Nick Fowler (Sebastian Stan, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) head to Paris to get it from Colombian intelligence officer Luis Rojas (Édgar Ramírez, Jungle Cruise), who's gone rogue and is happy to sell; however, German operative Marie Schmidt (Kruger) is also on its trail. The French connection goes wrong, the two women get in each other's ways, but it's apparent — begrudgingly to both — that they're better off together. They need ex-MI6 cyber whiz Khadijah Adiyeme (Nyong'o) to help, while Colombian psychologist Graciela Rivera (Cruz) gets drawn in after making the trip to stop Luis going off the books. No stranger to covert affairs or formidable women after penning Mr and Mrs Smith, but helming only his second movie following the awful X-Men: Dark Phoenix, director/co-writer Simon Kinberg spreads the action across several continents — including a foot chase in Marrakesh and an auction in Shanghai, which is where Lin Mi Sheng (Fan) joins the story. Scripting with TV veteran Theresa Rebeck (Smash), his big setpieces all play with the film's gender focus, mostly dissecting how women are so often overlooked in various situations; the indifference given wait staff, the invisibility of women in male-dominated societies and the way they're meant to be pure eye candy at black-tie occasions all earn the movie's ire. But these sentiments, like everything else in the feature, are blatant and straightforward at best. The mood the movie vibes with: "James Bond never had to deal with real life," as Cruz is given the misfortune of uttering. The 355 should be better — with its dialogue, clearly; with its girl-power, girl-boss, girls-can-do-anything messaging; and at celebrating more than five women, or even showing them. (If you were going to pick five ladies to do the job, though, this casting is spot-on.) It could use a sense of style and charm beyond Nyong'o's suits and the gang's personality-matched auction outfits, and its over-edited action scenes put Kinsberg two for two with tanking a crucial part of his directorial efforts to-date. Women can star in mediocre action movies as well, however. That isn't meant to be the picture's big push for gender parity, but The 355 is also exactly what seemingly millions of bland men-led actioners have been serving up for decades upon decades. It packages it up in an Ocean's 8-meets-Bourne approach, or a more self-serious Charlie's Angels, but these run-of-the-mill flicks have long been everywhere, just without as much oestrogen. The Bond and Mission: Impossible franchises have their own, too. Read our full review. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on September 2, September 9, September 16, September 23 and September 30; October 7, October 14, October 21 and October 28; November 4, November 11, November 18 and November 25; December 2, December 9, December 16 and December 26; and January 1 and January 6. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Streamline, Coming Home in the Dark, Pig, Big Deal, The Killing of Two Lovers, Nitram, Riders of Justice, The Alpinist, A Fire Inside, Lamb, The Last Duel, Malignant, The Harder They Fall, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, Halloween Kills, Passing, Eternals, The Many Saints of Newark, Julia, No Time to Die, The Power of the Dog, Tick, Tick... Boom!, Zola, Last Night in Soho, Blue Bayou, The Rescue, Titane, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, Dune, Encanto, The Card Counter, The Lost Leonardo, The French Dispatch, Don't Look Up, Dear Evan Hansen, Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Lost Daughter, The Scary of Sixty-First, West Side Story, Licorice Pizza, The Matrix Resurrections, The Tragedy of Macbeth, The Worst Person in the World, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, House of Gucci, The King's Man and Red Rocket.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. THE FORGIVEN Patience is somewhat of a virtue with The Forgiven. It would be in it, too, if any of its wealthy white characters hedonistically holidaying in Morocco were willing to display the trait for even a second. Another addition to the getaways-gone-wrong genre, this thorny satirical drama gleefully savages the well-to-do, proving as eager to eat the rich as can be, and also lays bare the despicable coveting of exoticism that the moneyed think is an acceptable way to splash plentiful wads of cash. There's patently plenty going on in this latest release from writer/director John Michael McDonagh, as there typically is in features by the filmmaker behind The Guard, Calvary and War on Everyone. Here, he adapts Lawrence Osborne's 2012 novel, but the movie that results takes time to build and cohere, and even then seems only partially interested in both. Still, that patience is rewarded by The Forgiven's stellar lead performance by Ralph Fiennes, playing one of his most entitled and repugnant characters yet. Sympathies aren't meant to flow David Henninger's (Fiennes, The King's Man) way, or towards his wife Jo (Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye). Together, the spiky Londoners abroad bicker like it's a sport — and the only thing fuelling their marriage. Cruelty taints their words: "why am I thinking harpy?", "why am I thinking shrill?" are among his, while she counters "why am I thinking high-functioning alcoholic?". He's a drunken surgeon, she's a bored children's author, and they're venturing past the Atlas Mountains to frolic in debauchery at the village their decadent pal Richard (Matt Smith, Morbius) and his own barbed American spouse Dally (Caleb Landry Jones, Nitram) have turned into a holiday home. Sympathy isn't designed to head that pair's way, either; "we couldn't have done it without our little Moroccan friends," Richard announces to kick off their weekend-long housewarming party. But when the Hennigers arrive late after tragically hitting a local boy, Driss (Omar Ghazaoui, American Odyssey), en route, the mood shifts — but also doesn't. The wicked turns of phrase that David slings at Jo have nothing on his disdain for the place and people around him, and he doesn't care who hears it. His assessment of the desert vista: "it's very picturesque, I suppose, in a banal sort of way". He drips with the prejudice of privilege, whether offensively spouting Islamophobic remarks or making homophobic comments about his hosts — and he doesn't, nay won't, rein himself in when Richard calls the police, reports the boy's death, pays the appropriate bribes and proclaims that their bacchanal won't otherwise be disturbed. The arrival of Driss' father Abdellah (Ismael Kanater, Queen of the Desert), and his request that David accompanies him home to bury his son, complicates matters, however. While David begrudgingly agrees, insultingly contending that it's a shakedown, Jo helps keep the party going, enjoying time alone to flirt with hedge fund manager Tom (Christopher Abbott, Possessor). John Michael McDonagh hasn't ever co-helmed a feature with his filmmaker brother Martin, but actors have jumped between the duo's respective works, with Fiennes — who starred in Martin's memorable In Bruges — among the latest. The siblings share something else, too, and not just a knack for assembling impressive casts; they're equally ace at fleshing out the characters inhabited by their dazzling on-screen cohorts via witty and telling dialogue. The Forgiven plays like it's in autopilot, though, but having Fiennes, Chastain, Smith and Jones (who appeared in Martin's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) utter its lines is a gift. Indeed, here it's the attitudes captured while they're speaking, and the behaviours and mannerisms made plain in how they're speaking, that add layer upon layer to this murky affair. That'd ring true even if Driss, Abdellah and the tense journey with the latter to inter the former weren't even in the narrative. Read our full review. FULL TIME Perhaps the greatest trick the devil ever pulled — the devil that is time, the fact that we all have to get out of bed each and every morning, and the sleep-killing noise signalling that a new day is here — was to create alarm clocks in a variety of sounds. Some are quiet, soft, calming and even welcoming, rather than emitting a juddering screech, but the effect always remains the same. Whatever echoes from which device, if your daily routine is a treadmill of relentless havoc, that din isn't going to herald smiles or spark a spring in anyone's step. The alarm that kickstarts each morning in Full Time isn't unusual or soothing. It isn't overly obnoxious or horrifying either. But the look on Laure Calamy's face each time that it goes off, in the split second when her character is remembering everything that her day will bring, is one of pure exhaustion and exasperation — and it'd love to murder that unwanted wake-up siren. That expression couldn't be more relatable, as much in Full Time is, even if you've never been a single mother living on the outskirts of Paris, navigating a train strike, endeavouring to trade up one job for another for a better future, and juggling kids, bills, and just getting to and from work. At the 2021 Venice International Film Festival, Antoinette in the Cévennes and Call My Agent! star Calamy won the Best Actress award in the event's Horizons strand for her efforts here — and while the accolade didn't come her way for a single gaze, albeit repeated throughout the movie, it easily could've. Mere minutes into Full Time, it's plain to see why she earned herself such a prize beyond that withering gape, however. Calamy is that phenomenal in this portrait of a weary market researcher-turned-hotel chambermaid's hectic life, playing the part like she's living it. In our own ways, most of us are. The first time the alarm sounds, Julie Roy (Calamy) is already lethargic and frustrated; indeed, writer/director Eric Gravel (Crash Test Aglaé), who won the Venice Horizons Best Director gong himself, charts the ups and downs of his protagonist's professional and personal situation like he's making an unflagging thriller. In fact, he is. Julie is stretched to breaking point from the get-go, and every moment of every day seems to bring a new source of stress. For starters, her job overseeing the cleaning at a five-star hotel in the city is both chaotic and constantly throwing up challenges, and the hints dropped by her boss (Anne Suarez, Black Spot) about the punishment for not living up to her demands — aka being fired — don't help. Julie has put all her hopes on returning to market research anyway, but getting time off for the interview is easier said than done, especially when the French capital is in the middle of a transport strike that makes commuting in and out from the countryside close to impossible. Also adding to Julie's troubles is well, everything. The childcare arrangement she has in place with a neighbour (Geneviève Mnich, Change of Heart) is also precarious, thanks to threats of quitting and calling social services. Having any energy to spend meaningful time with her children at the end of her busy days is nothing but a fantasy, too. Trying to get financial support out of her absent ex is a constant battle, especially given he won't answer the phone — and the bank won't stop calling about her overdue mortgage payments. It's also her son Nolan's (J'ai tué mon mari) birthday, so there are gifts to buy, plus a party to organise and throw. Julie is so frazzled that having a drink with her best friend is a luxury she doesn't have time for, because some other task always beckons. And when a father from her village, the kindly Vincent (Cyril Gueï, The Perfect Mother), helps her out not once but twice, she's so starved of affection that she instantly misreads his intentions. Read our full review. MURDER PARTY With apologies to William Shakespeare, all the world isn't just a stage in French farce Murder Party. Instead, it's a game, then another one, then yet another after that. This candy-coloured murder-mystery takes perhaps the ultimate high-concept setup and hones in on a crucial fact: that audiences love whodunnits, whether they're watching them on the screen or reading them on the page, because charting the unravelling details entails sleuthing along. In other words, when we're wondering who killed who in which room and why (and with what weapon), we're playing. The board game Cluedo also nailed this truth, as have murder-mystery parties, plus the increasing array of other interactive shows and events that thrust paying participants into the middle of such puzzle-laden predicaments. And while Murder Party acknowledges this idea in a variety of manners, here's the first and simplest: it's set among a family famed for making best-selling board games themselves. First-time feature writer/director Nicolas Pleskof and his co-scribe Elsa Marpeau (Prof T) kickstart the film with a killer setup: that eccentric crew of relatives, their brightly hued home on a sprawling country estate, an usual task given to a newcomer and, naturally, a sudden passing. Architect Jeanne Chardon-Spitzer (Alice Pol, Labor Day) is asked to pitch a big renovation project to the Daguerre family, transforming their impressive abode so that living there always feels like playing a game (or several). Patriarch César (Eddy Mitchell, The Middleman) already encourages his brood to enjoy their daily existence with that in mind anyway, including dedicating entire days to letting loose and walking, talking and breathing gameplay. But he's looking for a particularly bold next step. He's unimpressed by Jeanne's routine proposal, in fact. Then he drops dead, the property's doors slam shut and a voice over the intercom tells the architect, plus everyone else onsite, to undertake a series of challenges to ascertain the culprit among them — or be murdered themselves. Also thrust into the high-stakes game, which'll dispense with anyone who refuses to take part or guesses incorrectly: César's son Théo (Pablo Pauly, The French Dispatch), daughter Léna (Sarah Stern, Into the World) and nudgingly named youngest boy Hercule (Adrien Guionnet, Le Bazar de la Charité). Yes, sibling rivalry complicates the hypothesising, as well as the attempts to stay alive. Théo is particularly friendly towards workaholic Jeanne, adding another complexity to the already-chaotic situation. Similarly at hand is the dead man's younger wife Salomé (Pascale Arbillot, Haute Couture) — a mystery writer herself — and his no-nonsense offsider sister Joséphine (Miou-Miou, The Last Mercenary). And, because a home this immense was always going to have some help hovering around, butler Armand (Gustave Kervern, Love Song for Tough Guys) gets drawn in, too. If Amelie and Knives Out combined, the end result would look like Murder Party. If Wes Anderson and Agatha Christie joined forces, the outcome would be the same. It's highly unlikely that Pleskof was ever going to call his feature Murder in the Game-Filled Mansion or Death While Rolling the Dice, but that's the overwhelming vibe. There's an escape room element, too — thankfully, though, nodding towards the Escape Room franchise isn't on the agenda. Murder Party's characters get stuck in intricately designed locked spaces and forced to piece together clues to secure their freedom, and are only permitted to remain breathing by keeping their wits about them, but no one's in a horror movie here. Read our full review. THE REEF: STALKED In the crowded waters of cinema's shark-attack genre, which first took a hefty bite out of the box office with mega hit Jaws and then spawned plenty of imitators since, a low-budget Australian effort held its own back in 2010. The second movie from writer/director Andrew Traucki after his crocodile-attack flick Black Water, The Reef wasn't ever going to rake in enough takings to threaten the larger fish, but the stripped-back survival-thriller was grippingly effective. As Black Water did with 2020's Black Water: Abyss, the creature-feature helmer's shark film has now be given a sequel — and like Traucki's other franchise, this followup is a routine splash. The filmmaker keeps most of the basics the same, casting out a remakequel, aka a movie about basically the same scenario but with different faces. No, Traucki isn't seeking a bigger boat, or even to rock the one he has. The Reef: Stalked does make one curious new choice, however, stemming from its nine-months-earlier prologue. The film's opening sequences set up quite the harrowing source of trauma for protagonist Nic (Teressa Liane, The Vampire Diaries), and also clumsily equate domestic violence with the ocean's predators in the process. The aim is to show how Nic and her youngest sister Annie (debutant Saskia Archer) refuse to become victims after their other sibling Cathy (Bridget Burt, Camp-Off) is stalked and savaged in a different way, devastatingly and fatally so, at the hands of her partner Greg (Tim Ross, Dive Club). Drawing attention to assaults against women and femicide is a worthy mission, but it lacks bite here. Traucki's metaphor is as clear as the sky on a cloud-free day, and yet the domestic abuse plot point primarily plays as a way to complicate Nic as a character — PTSD flashes and all — rather than make a meaningful statement about violence within intimate relationships. After finding Cathy herself, Nic is so understandably distressed that she heads as far away as she can, but returns from overseas for a big diving and kayaking trip that was important to her sister. With friends Jodie (Ann Truong, Cowboy Bebop) and Lisa (Kate Lister, Clickbait), as well as Annie — who isn't known for enjoying the water, let alone for handling herself on it — they embark on a multi-day paddle. It isn't long until a different sinister force terrorises their getaway, though; even if you don't already know what "the man in the grey suit" refers to in surfer slang, this is a shark-attack sequel, after all. Aside from the haunting shots taking Nic back to Cathy's last moments, everything about The Reef: Stalked plays out as expected from the moment the quartet set off from north Queensland. Cue the obligatory waves of jump scares, many efficiently staged but their impact lessening as they just keep coming in increasingly predictable ways (when shark flicks are happy to swim by the numbers, if you've seen one movie like The Reef, 47 Metres Down, The Shallows, Bait, The Meg and the like, it feels like you've seen them all). Cue the tension that springs from the film's characters rarely being close enough to the shore to escape — but, when it's convenient, being close enough for kids playing on the beach to become potential fodder. Cue a score by Mark Smythe (Love You Like That) that tells viewers exactly how to react at every moment, too, and dampens the thrills and frights as a result. Still, Traucki has cast The Reef: Stalked well, enough that buying Nic and company's life-or-death stress comes easily. Trusting them, rather than clunkily overcomplicating the setup — no matter how well-intentioned — might've resulted in a better return to The Reef. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on April 7, April 14, April 21 and April 28; and May 5, May 12, May 19 and May 26; June 2, June 9, June 16, June 23 and June 30; and July 7, July 14 and July 21. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Fantastic Beasts and the Secrets of Dumbledore, Ambulance, Memoria, The Lost City, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Happening, The Good Boss, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The Northman, Ithaka, After Yang, Downton Abbey: A New Era, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Petite Maman, The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Firestarter, Operation Mincemeat, To Chiara, This Much I Know to Be True, The Innocents, Top Gun: Maverick, The Bob's Burgers Movie, Ablaze, Hatching, Mothering Sunday, Jurassic World Dominion, A Hero, Benediction, Lightyear, Men, Elvis, Lost Illusions, Nude Tuesday, Ali & Ava, Thor: Love and Thunder, Compartment No. 6, Sundown, The Gray Man, The Phantom of the Open, The Black Phone, Where the Crawdads Sing and Official Competition.
If you've never been interested in silent films, this Spanish production might change your mind — and if they are your taste, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Blancanieves, which translates to 'Snow White', is a unique interpretation of the classic Grimm Brothers fantasy. Set in Andalusia, Spain during the early 1900s when bull fighting, flamenco and romance were at their best, the film expresses all the gusto and passion of Spanish culture — even without those sultry words. The protagonist of the story is Carmen (Macarena García), the daughter of famed matador Antonio Villalta (Daniel Giménez Cacho). On the same fateful day, Antonio is injured in a bullfight and Carmen's mother dies whilst giving birth to her. Carmen, who is raised by her grandmother until her death, goes to live with the paralysed Antonio, and his nurse-turned-wife, Encarna (Maribel Verdú). As her evocative name implicates, Encarna runs a house of horrors, treating her husband and stepdaughter with cruelty while masking her own bizarre fetishes. According to the traditional story, the stepmother is insanely jealous of the budding beauty and tries to do away her. Of course, our heroine survives (with a little amnesia) and is taken in by a group of travelling dwarves who nickname her 'Blancanieves'. By accident, it is discovered that Carmen has her father's knack for bullfighting. They travel around Spain as she stares down bulls in a gladiatorial yet glamorous fashion, most notably in an emotive last torero. Dubbed "a love letter to European silent cinema", by director Pablo Berger, Blancanieves had been in his heart for quite some time. Inspired by a photograph of bullfighting dwarves, Berger started on the project in 2003. Eight years later, he got wind that The Artist, another black-and white silent film, had premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. "I almost threw my phone against the wall," he told the Guardian. The high concept was gone." If he worried that Blancanieves would look like a copycat of the Oscar winning Artist, I disagree. As do copious others; the film received ten Goya awards (the equivalent of the Spanish Oscars). Blancanieves has all the qualities of a classic silent film but with a fresh twist that keeps our modern minds guessing. By incorporating Hitchcock-type cinematography, Berger crafts a beguiling version of the traditional story that is in turns melancholy, eerie and erotic. His cast of devastatingly beautiful Spanish beauties, such as Verdú (from Y Tu Mamá Tambien and Pan's Labyrinth), makes us swoon with every lash bat and tear roll. The roles of the dwarves are also unexpected — possibilities for betrayal and even romance can be found. So if you're looking forward to a debonair don of a prince charming in this story, forget it. But with a fantastically ambiguous ending that will have you wanting more, his is a part that's hardly missed. https://youtube.com/watch?v=HanTDiiZLpg
Despite recently launching an all-day breakfast menu and ice cream sandwiches, we still think fries are the best thing about Lord of the Fries. And this Friday, March 8, and Sunday, March 17, the vegan fast food joint is giving away free serves of 'em. Free. Fries. To snag free fries on the Friday, head down to the new King Street store in the CBD between 12 and 1pm and you'll be gifted a bucket of deliciousness. You don't even have to purchase any vego nuggets to redeem them. If one bucket of fries is not enough for you fry fanatics, head back to the CBD store at 3pm, when the first 250 people will receive a bottomless chip cup — for endless free refills. The following Sunday, you'll need to head across to the new Docklands store between 12 and 2pm, when it'll be slinging free fries for all (once again, no purchase necessary). The first 250 customers will also receive a bottomless chip cup. You know the drill. Lord of the Fries is giving away free fries from midday–1pm on Friday, March 8, at 184 King Street, Melbourne; and from midday–2pm on Sunday, March 17, at 8 Star Circus, Shop G05, Docklands.
Next time you visit the National Gallery of Victoria, you'll find yourself immersed in fish, farm animals and skyscrapers. Why? Because Julian Opie has moved in. In his first major Australian exhibition, Julian Opie, the London-born artist has brought together more than 60 of his most-famous works. He's transformed the NGV water feature into an aquarium filled with virtual carp and Federation Court into a mini-metropolis, crowded with 13-metre high skyscrapers. Head into the Grollo Equiset Garden to meet a menagerie of sheep, horses and crows and into the foyer to find city slickers on their way somewhere or other. Meanwhile, the NGV moat is now home to a version of the Manneken Pis, the famous statue of a little boy weeing in Brussels, Belgium. Images: Tim Ross, courtesy of the NGV International.
It's the longest-running American musical in Broadway and West End history. It's the longest-running production now currently playing Broadway, too. It's been seen by over 34-million people worldwide in 38 countries, and played more than 33,500 performances in 525-plus cities. And, it's won six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and a Grammy. The show: Chicago. It has also locked in a return date with Australia, including splashing a healthy dose of 1920s razzle dazzle in Melbourne from Saturday, March 23, 2024 in the musical's big Aussie comeback. Come on babes, why don't we paint the town? With all that jazz, the the record-breaking smash will shimmy back onto Her Majesty's Theatre stage to put on one helluva show. Get ready to see Zoë Ventoura (Home and Away) as Velma Kelly and Lucy Maunder (Mary Poppins) as Roxie Hart, plus Aussie theatre star Anthony Warlow (The Phantom of the Opera, The Wizard of Oz, Annie, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) as Billy Flynn. [caption id="attachment_714916" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jeremy Daniel[/caption] Also featuring: Peter Rowsthorn (Kath & Kim) as Roxie's husband Amos, Asabi Goodman (Hairspray) as prison warden Mama Morton and S. Valeri as crime reporter Mary Sunshine. Inspiring 2002's Renée Zellweger (Judy)- and Catherine Zeta Jones (Wednesday)-starring Academy Award-winning film of the same name, Chicago tells the tale of housewife and nightclub dancer Roxie Hart. In the decadent 1920s, she twirls through a whirlwind of murdered lovers, jail time, fierce rivalries and tabloid sensationalism — all set to a toe-tapping soundtrack. Based on a 1926 play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, the production showcases music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb and choreography by Tony Award-winner Ann Reinking. [caption id="attachment_714915" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Paul Kolnik[/caption] Top image: Jeff Busby.
Docklands' winter forecast is looking very warm and toasty, as the annual Firelight Festival returns to the precinct from Friday, June 28 till Sunday, June 30. The festival's third outing promises to totally eclipse the others, featuring a sprawling program of events and activities, and some particularly lavish celebrations. Victoria Harbour is set to be transformed into its biggest, brightest self, playing host to nightly fireworks displays, 40 roving performers, flame jets, fire cauldrons, water and light shows and striking installations. You'll even catch two giant fire sculptures of a phoenix and a deer set ablaze on New Quay Promenade and Victoria Esplanade, as well as giant bonfires along Harbour Esplanade. Local and international entertainers will also descend on the festival's three live performance spaces. Expect to see everything from Bollywood dancers to Mariachi bands. The festival, which coincides with the winter solstice — the shortest and darkest day of the year — will have a hefty food lineup, too. Warming and smoky will be the order of the day with local favourites Limp Brisket, the Soup Factory and Frencheese all making an appearance. Firelight Festival will run from 5–10pm with nightly fireworks expected to start at 8.45pm. Image: Grace Petrou.
When an actor adds new movies to their resume quickly — popping up in new flicks every couple of months or so, and never proving far from their next film — there's a chance they might run out of worthy on-screen opportunities. The one actor that'll never apply to: Nicolas Cage. He's prolific, he stars in far too many terrible flicks, when he's at his best he's downright brilliant, and he always has something interesting around the corner. In 2021 alone, he's shouted expletives from Netflix, battled demonic animatronics and teamed up with one of Japan's most out-there filmmakers. He also played a truffle hunter on a quest for revenge after his pet pig is stolen, in the aptly named Pig, which is one of the year's definite movie highlights. The latter saw him turn in one of the best performances of his career, in fact, but Cage has been preparing his entire life to play his next part: himself. Yes, we've seen Cage break out of Alcatraz, sing Elvis songs, run around the streets convinced that he's a vampire, let his long hair flap in the wind and swap faces. He's voiced a version of Spider-Man, driven fast cars, fought space ninjas and stolen babies as well. Staying in his own shoes stands out, though, which is exactly what The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent will serve up in April next year. Announced earlier in 2021, and just dropping its first trailer now, the movie will follow the on-screen, fictionalised Cage as he accepts an offer to attend a super fan's birthday. Getting paid $1 million is just too much to pass up. He needs the money, but he also has to save both himself and his loved ones along the way. Yep, that sounds about right. As well as Cage playing Cage — not to be confused with his work in Adaptation, where he played two characters — The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent features Pedro Pascal (Wonder Woman 1984) as the aforementioned Cage devotee, and also Tiffany Haddish (The Card Counter), Sharon Horgan (This Way Up) and Neil Patrick Harris (It's a Sin). Are We Officially Dating? filmmaker Tom Gormican sits in the director's chair, because if there's anything this story needs, it's the director of a Zac Efron and Michael B Jordan-starring rom-com pivoting to total Cage worship. And yes, whether this'll be one of Cage's undeniable delights or pure cinematic chaos won't be discovered until the film hits cinemas — but he's clearly having a ball based on this sneak peek, and seeing him play and parody himself really does demand everyone's eyeballs. Check out the trailer for The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent below: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent will release in Australian cinemas on April 21, 2022.
Nineties kids, Disney fans and everyone who's ever cried over a lion cub that just couldn't wait to be king, it's time to climb onto a rock and yell your lungs out. The circle of life has struck again, and The Lion King is back. It's in live-action form this time around, and another new teaser for the movie has just dropped. While it's not the first teaser or trailer to drop — we've been blessed with not one, not two, but three already — this time we finally get to hear Nala voiced by Queen Bey herself. Yep, if you didn't already know, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter will be voicing Nala, while Donald Glover is Simba and James Earl Jones is his dad. Other big names attached include Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, John Oliver as Zazu, and Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa. Elton John is back working on the soundtrack with Tim Rice, as they both did on the first film. They'll reportedly have some help from Beyoncé, naturally, while The Jungle Book's Jon Favreau is in the director's chair for the entire production. If you're anxious about how it might turn out, it's worth taking Timon and Pumbaa's advice at this early stage — although this initial look should help get rid of your worries for the rest of your days. Here's the new teaser with Beyoncé as Nala: https://youtu.be/CQCUnDjYn50 The Lion King hits Australian cinemas on July 17, 2019.
Up-and-coming craft brewery Fury & Son opened the doors to its on-site taproom in early 2018. It was a much-anticipated move for the label, which set up shop in Keilor Park back in 2016, and has been winning fans and busting onto beer lists ever since. Now, punters are able to get an insight into the team behind the brews, as they sample beers like the pale ale and the IPA fresh from the source. It's open every Friday, serving an eight-strong tap list featuring six house creations alongside a couple of rotating guest beers. It's also be the number one spot for fans to get their hands on Fury & Son's special-edition releases, with the first keg of any new seasonal beer pouring here for free. Taking care of the food side of things is the team from Houston's BBQ, armed with a rotating menu of treats cooked low 'n' slow. Expect everything from US-style hot dogs, chicken wings and pulled pork burgers, plus veggie dishes like smoked cauliflower and capsicum. Working to the motto of "welcome to the family", it's the kind of joint that'll feel like coming home.
The term food precinct tends to make me think of overcrowded food courts, filled with overstuffed baguettes and suspiciously cheap sushi. But the Abbotsford Convent has one, and it's about as far away as you can get from bain-maries and plastic cutlery. Call it the Quadfecta, if you please. The Convent Bakery, Kappaya Soul Food Cafe and Lentil As Anything are all snuggled into the serene Kitchen Annexe space, with The Farm Cafe at the Collingwood Children's Farm just around the corner. Back in 1902, the Annexe was constructed as a key aspect of the Convent building, and the Sisters used to feed up to 1,000 people a day from its many kitchens. Convent Bakery You can still find the two magnificent masonry woodfired ovens used by the Sisters inside the Convent Bakery, where, on a daily basis, its artisan bakers now produce old-fashioned wood-fired bread — free from religious reference and baked straight on the oven brick floor. There is a beetroot sourdough that's the colour of red velvet, and they also make the best escargots in Melbourne (except for perhaps the flaky scrolls swirled with sultanas at Filou's). The glass display cabinet is packed with pre-made sandwiches, pastries, quiches, pies, croissants, tarts and cookies, and stands right beside the counter. It's nearly impossible to pay for an order without impulsively buying a treat or at least admiring the fluffiness of the strawberry cookies sittin’ pretty in the wheat-free section. The Bakery offers a full breakfast and lunch menu as well as the ready-to-go stuff, and the coffee is certified Fair Trade and organic. It's roasted in-house and available for purchase, and the Convent Bakery house blend means that local farmers get a fair price for their coffee harvest. Adjacent to the Bakery there’s a little hole in the wall known as the Boiler Room, where the nuns used to keep warm during the winter months. It now sells wine, spirits, liquors and cold, refreshing beer from midday. Like the rest of the Quadfecta, the Convent Bakery can get pretty crowded, especially during summer, so just close your eyes and think pious thoughts if people start to jostle and hustle around you. The goods coming to you are definitely worth the wait. Kappaya To the left of the Convent Bakery, underneath a spreading peppercorn tree, sits Kappaya Soul Food Cafe. It’s a quaint Japanese restaurant about the size of a Bento Box which offers simple, artful food at reasonable prices. The brown rice onigiri balls come with your choice of different fillings — think flaky salmon, pickled daikon, tempura prawn and walnut — and the green tea mousse is lightly drizzled with matcha syrup. Other highlights on the menu include the Breakfast Bento (order a creamy latte alongside it if early morning miso freaks you out; $9) and the mushi dori (steamed chicken and mushroom over broth; $7). Desserts at Kappaya are highly recommended, and the space is fully licenced with a melange of Japanese beers behind the bar. There is a staggering selection of green teas sourced outside Kyoto and served in gorgeous ceramic teapots. A particularly delicious fizzy pink moscato provides the perfect prelude to a list of organic local wines. Lentil As Anything To the right of Kappaya there is a small corridor leading down to Lentil As Anything, generally known as 'that hippy joint where you pay what you feel like'. The philosophy of philanthropy over profit has served Lentil As Anything well for over ten years — it's astoundingly popular and thriving in several inner-city suburbs. However, the Abbotsford outpost is the only one where you'll regularly find live music as well as local art. So to the food: Lentil As Anything is vegetarian, in case the name didn't give it away. Expect plenty of tofu, curries, dahl, stir-fried vegies, and pasta mixed with baby spinach. There's usually a green salad or two to go on the side and rounds of fresh white bread to mop up the sauce. The vegetarian tag means the spread is super-friendly to vegan and gluten-free eaters, but there is usually at least one dish at the buffet with feta lurking behind a stalk of broccoli. While the hippy ethos is in full effect, Lentils' management doesn't shove the meat-is-murder message down your throat. It's a peaceful place, though busy, and nobody stands over you when you pay — you simply slip whatever you feel the meal is worth into a large box with a slot in the lid. Nobody watches and the customers at Lentils are a friendly crowd; some are regulars who clearly just want a good feed, while others just find the experience priceless. The Farm Cafe The heritage and formal gardens at the Convent are beautiful at any time of the year and it's an easy wander past the main entrance to the Collingwood Children's Farm. Open 365 days a year, rain, hail or shine, the inner city haven is a much-loved Melbourne locus. In late 2005, two young volunteers had the genius idea of turning their pancake and coffee stall at the monthly Slow Food Farmers' Market into a cosy cafe with a paddock-to-plate ethos. The Farm Cafe is gorgeous, surrounded by veggie plots and 7 hectares of farmland. It's the kind of place where toddlers get up close and personal with roaming ducks while you sip a latte. Meals are made from scratch in the tiny kitchen and the food is sourced from just outside the kitchen door. The menu has a Kids and Adults section, and if you're one of those who prefers breakfast without baby-toting brunchers, you're in the wrong place. Live out your farmyard fairytale with the Ploughman's Lunch (ham off the bone, pickles, cheddar, apple, pork scratchings, bread and butter; $17.50) or try an organic beef sausage roll (served with herbed slaw and house relish; $12.50). Vegetarian food is far from an afterthought here, and the Green Eggs (caramelised fennel, silverbeet, quinoa, herbs, poached eggs and garlic aioli; $15.50) are a standout, second only to the Autumn Pear (poached William pear with nut granola, vanilla yoghurt mousse and sticky pear butterscotch; $10.50) The best thing about The Farm Cafe and the Abbotsford Quadfecta in general is the relaxed atmosphere and idyllic setting in genuine, earnest, down-to-earth nature. It just feels good to be there, and the therapeutic benefits of a visit last long after you've left the Convent grounds. Images thanks to eythian, Convent Bakery, Kappaya, s13n1 and Farm Cafe.
Music lovers and festival fans, get excited: Spilt Milk is back for 2023, hitting up Ballarat's Victoria Park on Saturday, December 2. Post Malone leads the lineup, with Dom Dolla and Latto also topping the bill. So, expect to hear everything from 'Sunflower' and 'I Like You' to 'Rhyme Dust' and 'Big Energy'. Tkay Maidza and Aitch also rank among Spilt Milk's impressive 2023 names, with Chris Lake, Dermot Kennedy, Budjerah, Cub Sport, Lastlings, Partiboi69, Ocean Alley, Peach PRC, Royel Otis similarly set to hit the stage. Also, because this fest is also about food, there'll be bites to eat from Chebbo's Burgers, 400 Gradi, Chicken Treat, and the BBQ and Beer Roadshow. Originally only held in Canberra, then expanding to Ballarat, then the Gold Coast and now also Perth in 2023, the multi-city one-dayer has cemented its spot as a must-attend event for a heap of reasons — with this year's lineup clearly one of them. While Ballarat's general-release tickets have sold out, pre-loved and VIP tickets are available. [caption id="attachment_851187" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jordan Munns[/caption] SPILT MILK 2023 LINEUP: Post Malone Dom Dolla Aitch Budjerah Chris Lake Cub Sport Dermot Kennedy Djanaba Grentperez Jessie Murph Lastlings Latto Lime Cordiale May-A Mincy Ocean Alley Pacific Avenue Partiboi69 Peach PRC Poolclvb Redhook Royel Otis The Buoys The Dreggs Tia Gostelow Tkay Maidza Ango Ben Gerrans Blue Vedder Reefrats Sami Srirachi Yorke Top image: Billy Zammit.
Wesley Enoch directs Black Diggers, a new play written by Tom Wright that uncovers the contribution of Aboriginal Diggers to Australia’s First World War effort. Featuring an all-male, all-Indigenous cast, the play draws upon extensive consultation and recent research to bring to light some truly exceptional stories of heroism forged out on the battlefields of Gallipoli, Palestine and Flanders. Marking the eve of the centenary of WWI, the piece aims to share an overlooked moment in Australian history. Following its acclaimed world premiere at the Sydney Festival and a highly successful run at Brisbane Festival, Black Diggers is presented here by Arts Centre Melbourne and the Queensland Theatre Company, of which Enoch is the artistic director. It's a powerful piece of theatre that was nominated in the recent Helpmann Awards for Best New Australian Work.
The Royal Melbourne Show might be over 175 years old, but there's still plenty of reason to discover the fun. Everyone has their go-to attraction — petting the farm animals, taking to the skies on carny rides or catching the high-flying stunt shows — but one experience we all love is delving into the sprawling Showbag Pavilion. With that in mind, this massive event has just revealed its showbag lineup for 2025, with over 400 options ensuring there's something special for every age, interest and budget. As one of the Royal Melbourne Show's oldest traditions, dating back to the early 1900s, this beloved pastime combines nostalgia and novelty in equal measure. At this year's event, 70 showbags are priced at $10 or less, with confectionery icons like Bertie Beetle and Wizz Fizz available at the most budget-friendly end of the spectrum at $5 each. Then you've got cherished Cadbury chocolate showbags, from Crunchie and Caramello Koala to Curly Wurly and Chupa Chupas for a dollar more. Of course, shopping the showbags is about more than just a sweet bite. At higher price tiers, you'll find options jam-packed with merch for cherished TV characters, video games and sports teams. Think Spider-Man, The Simpsons, Minecraft, and the Los Angeles Lakers, meaning there's a stellar showbag for just about every child (or adult, for that matter). "Wandering through the largest Showbag Pavilion in the southern hemisphere is great fun and brings much joy, whether you are very young or young at heart. There's showbags for all tastes, budgets and ages with more than 400 different varieties from traditional confectionery and snack food favourites to the newest and most sought-after novelty and lifestyle bags," says Melbourne Royal CEO Brad Jenkins. Beyond stocking up on showbags, the Royal Melbourne Show is ready to debut several new attractions. The LEGO Playland Farm to City experience is the most attention-grabbing of all, with kids and grown-ups discovering four free encounters stacked with building block fun. Meanwhile, the Little Farmers Field invites little ones to get immersed in an agricultural activation, digging for veggies and riding ride-on mowers. The Royal Melbourne Show is happening from Thursday, September 25–Sunday, October 5 at the Melbourne Showgrounds. Head to the website for more information.
UPDATE, MARCH 13: Due to concerns around the coronavirus, Disney has announced that The New Mutants will no longer release on its initially scheduled date of Thursday, April 9, 2020. At present, a new release date has not been announced — we'll update you when one has been revealed. When it comes to superhero cinema, quantity doesn't equal variety. A new caped crusader flick hits screens every month, or so it seems, but many of them follow the same formula. You know the drill, because you've seen it in everything from Captain America to Wonder Woman and several different iterations of Spider-Man: someone with special abilities grapples with their powers, learns how to put them to best use, then faces off against an evil nemesis — saving the world from destruction and devastation in the process. Accordingly, when something dares to break the mould in even the slightest way, it stands out. That's one of the reasons that Marvel's The New Mutants has gathered quite a bit of attention in recent years. Set within the X-Men universe and based on the comics of the same name, it follows a group of young mutants being held against their will in a secret psychiatric hospital, basically plonking them in horror movie territory. There's still plenty that's familiar about the premise, with the titular super-enhanced folks all learning to use their powers while trying to escape captivity — but the tone and approach of the film is definitely a welcome change. The darker, scarier mood is on full display in the just-dropped latest trailer, which also confirms an important piece of information: five years after it was first announced, four years since it was cast and three years after it was shot, The New Mutants finally looks set to hit cinema screens. That hasn't always been a given, with the long-delayed film originally due to release in April 2018, only to be pushed back to February 2019, then August 2019, and now April 2020. Along the way, it has been through cast member changes, script rewrites, reshoots and the Disney acquisition of Fox — aka the company behind the MCU flicks snapping up the company behind the X-Men movies — so if you were skeptical about it actually seeing the light of day, let this new sneak peek allay your fears. As well as its ominous tone and plenty of horror imagery, The New Mutants boasts an impressive cast — including Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams, Stranger Things' Charlie Heaton, and Glass and The Witch's Anya Taylor-Joy. Obviously, given how long ago the film was first shot, they all look quite a bit younger than their most recent screen appearances. And, behind the camera sits director/co-writer Josh Boone, who last helmed teen weepie The Fault in Our Stars. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otomJ2gKHfQ The New Mutants was due to open in Australian cinemas on April 9, 2020; however it'll now release on a yet-to-be-revealed date — we'll update you when one is announced.
Drum roll please: Groovin the Moo is here, and 2014 looks like a real crowd-pleaser. The big guns on the lineup this year include a few topnotch international acts, like electronica king Robert Delong (USA) and Dizzee Rascal (UK), as well as some of our well beloved locals like Karnivool, Illy and Architecture in Helsinki. The Naked and Famous (who we'll probably end up claiming as Australian soon) are making their way across the ditch, too. A fair slab of the artists announced have really proved their worth lately, taking out a number of spots in triple j's Hottest 100 of last year, including the winner of the coveted number one spot, Vance Joy. Rounding out the first announcement are Action Bronson, Andy Bull, Cults, Disclosure, Holy Fuck, The Jezabels, The Jungle Giants, Kingswood, The Kite String Tangle, Loon Lake, Parkway Drive, Peking Duck, The Presets, Thundamentals, Violent Soho, Wave Racer and What So Not. Groovin the Moo will hit Bendigo's Prince of Wales Showground on Saturday May 3. Over the last couple of years we've seen huge changes on the Australian music festival scene, losing some stalwarts and seeing some youngsters really come to fruition. Since its inception, Groovin the Moo has been one of those festivals that really looks like sticking around, bringing the best in Australian and international talent to the country, to the people who can't get to shows in the big smoke. Tickets are now sold out for Bendigo and there's more information available at the Groovin the Moo website. https://youtube.com/watch?v=uJ_1HMAGb4k
Every year the Fringe Festival gives Melbourne the chance to show itself off with exhibitions, performances and live art filling up the city’s humming laneways, theatres, and unconventional spaces. The upside of an uncurated festival is access to the unlimited scope, diversity, and imagination of the independent scene, but the sheer number of artworks on offer can make it tricky to navigate. To give you a taste, we’ve rounded up ten events taking place during the Fringe, which runs from September 18 to October 6. Now that it’s become a Melbourne institution, it would be easy for the festival to rest on its laurels, but the artists from these pieces stand out for their sense of risk. Shows like Kids Killing Kids and Viet Kieu are testament to the increasing value Melbourne audiences are finding in cross-cultural performance, while Digital Outlawed, Momentum: Live and the Fringe’s own Digital Gardens show us a tantalising glimpse of the possibilities on the next frontier for contemporary art. Kids Killing Kids In late 2011, four young Australian writers travelled to Manila to collaborate with local artists from the Sipat Lawin Ensemble on an adaptation of the famous novel Battle Royale. When audiences began to grow night after night, baying for blood, the production attracted massive international media coverage, and forced the playwrights to ask themselves questions about the nature of collaboration across cultures, onstage violence, and contemporary Filipino culture. One of three offerings in the Festival from Melbourne theatre company MKA, Kids Killing Kids is equal parts narrative and documentary reflecting on these events. September 20 – 29, October 1 – 3; Fringe Hub - The Warehouse, 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne Digital Outlawed Digital Outlawed is a new media exhibition presenting an imagined future of a world without computers. By removing digital media from the work itself the exhibition forces the visitor to face an uncomfortable question: is using this kind of media a necessary part of contemporary art? In a piece curated and produced by Arie Rain Glorie, the artists set out to prove that new art doesn’t have to be made in new ways. September 19 – 30; Raglan Street Gallery, 14 Raglan St, North Melbourne Yarn Devised in residence at The Australian Tapestry Workshop, Yarn is an evocative, site-specific piece of theatre that combines physical performance with poetic language. The work was created by Lily Fish (Inside A Mime's Compact, Alone, Isobel and Installation A), a member of the award-winning Fringe favourites The Dig Collective, who tease apart the mythology of the past to ground old stories in the here and now. September 25 – 28, October 2 – 5; Australian Tapestry Workshop, 262/266 Park St, South Melbourne Digital Gardens On the surface, Digital Gardens looks like the now 31-year-old Fringe trying to prove it’s still got the new age tech savvy of a pimply teenager. But don’t be put off by your first impressions — the program on offer doesn’t just use digital media as a gimmick but actually engages with its possibilities for audience interaction and storytelling. One of the ways the project will work is by collaborating with artists who are presenting in the Hub so that audiences from those shows can recreate their live experiences of that work in a digital format. Melbourne’s a city that punches above its weight in the world of independent game development, and the Fringe are inviting some of the city’s talented digital designers to dream up some immersive, multiplayer experiences for visitors. September 19 – 21, City Square, Melbourne CBD; September 28 – 29 and October 5 – 6, Prahran Town Hall, City of Stonnington Live Acts On Stage When acclaimed Australian playwright Michael Gow was approached by Four Letter Word Theatre about the rights to his already-debauched Live Acts on Stage, he insisted on rewriting the script; dialing up the filth to the level demanded by the company’s established fondness for provocation. The play’s a roller-coaster ride through Greek mythology, with the actors from a company on the rise juggling 45 characters in Gow’s savagely funny text. September 26 – 29, October 1- 5; fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane Simon Taylor Young Melbourne funnyman Simon Taylor was whisked away from the city’s comedy circuit after a chance run in with Jay Leno led to a regular gig writing for The Tonight Show. When he’s not coming up with gags for Jay he keeps busy with his original webseries Make It Gourmet — somehow he’s found time for a set of homecoming shows that stretches out over the course of the whole festival. September 18 – October 6; The Imperial Hotel, Cnr Bourke and Spring St, Melbourne CBD Mandek Penha “Mandek Penha is my father / Mandek Penha is my mother...” After ensnaring audiences across Melbourne over the past few years with his not-sure-if-serious cult of live music, comedy and multimedia, the Current Earthly Embodiment of Mandek Penha will be taking over upstairs at The Toff in Town in September. In the past he’s promoted his shows by hitting the streets of Melbourne, where reviews ranged from “I didn’t just get out of jail for this” to outright bafflement. Watching a packed-out audience of drunken punters be completely hypnotised by his live show’s suspiciously high production values is an experience in itself. September 23, 30; The Toff in Town, Level 2, Curtin House, 252 Swanston St, Melbourne Viet Kieu Viet Kieu is a spicy cabaret, provoking questions of Asian-Australian identity as it seduces with its dark comedy. While there’s a massive audience for multilingual performance in Melbourne, Diana Nguyen’s piece is one of only a few shows within the festival that not only try and fill that gap, but also show that this kind of diverse work deserves pride of place in the independent scene. It’s also a chance to catch the work of the director, emerging dynamo Felix Ching Ho, before she explodes next year. September 18 – 29, October 2 – 6; The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Pl., Melbourne Momentum: Live Coming straight from the Sydney Frigne, Nat Grant is bringing her durational online composition project, Momentum: Live, to Melbourne. By integrating electronic processing and sampling with acoustic sound recordings, Nat creates cumulative sound worlds that link human, digital and natural environments. With consecutive showings in Melbourne and Sydney, Nat will be taking sounds from Newtown to Fitzroy and sculpting them into eight unique live performances across both festivals. September 19 – 22; Conduit Arts, 83 Brunswick St, Fitzroy Bushpig Reviewers called the breakout premiere of Bushpig “the most intriguing show at this year’s Adelaide Fringe” — after taking the City of Churches by storm, Bagabus Inc. are touring their first show to Melbourne and Sydney. With an array of elements across live music, illusion, and insanity, it seems like the show could easily burst at the seams — but if word of mouth’s anything to go by, the creators Hannah Malarski and Jack Richardson have crafted a piece that sears through confusion. September 19 – 28; The Owl and the Pussycat, 34 Swan St, Richmond
Drop into almost any fitness class you feel like, without worrying about gym contracts? That's the idea behind Esquared, a new app that lets you find and book your chosen workout session regardless of where it's held (and, crucially, regardless of whether you're a member at the venue in question). Aiming to add some extra flexibility to your fitness routine, Esquared is all about hooking you up with the right class in the right place, giving you control of when and where you work out. Need to go for a spin on one side of the city one day, and hit the barre on the other side over the weekend? Not sure where your schedule will take you, but still keen to fit in a training session when and where you can? Esquared has you covered. Drawing upon a range of participating gyms, the app allows you to pick the session, timeslot and venue that suits you, pay in advance and then walk right in. And, with data displayed in real time, you can select classes on the same day, the next day or any time in the next 30 days. Founded in the UK by former accountant turned pro-athlete Eleni Plakitsi, Esquared will jump from London to Sydney on Monday, September 3, with more than 50 partner gyms already onboard — spanning everywhere from CBD and Surry Hills spots, to the likes of Bondi, Manly, Double Bay, Newtown and North Sydney as well. It's offering a $40 credit to everyone that signs up in advance and, once it's up and running in Australia, will give users access to classes and gym floors across its participating venues. The no-strings-attached, on-demand approach to heading to the gym is also slated to roll out in Melbourne and Brisbane later in the year, with dates yet to be announced. For more information, keep an eye on www.esq2.com.au.
For four decades, The Shining has been responsible for many a nightmare — not only due to Stephen King's 1977 bestseller, which helped cement him as a horror maestro, but courtesy of Stanley Kubrick's unnerving and acclaimed 1980 film. If you've ever been spooked by twins, garish hexagonal hotel carpet designs, sprawling hedge mazes, elevators filled with blood, someone shouting "here's Johnny!" or just Jack Nicholson in general, you have this macabre masterpiece to thank. From parodies to homages to overt recreations, The Shining is also the unsettling gift that keeps giving. Everything from The Simpsons to Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Ready Player One has nodded the movie's way — as has documentary Room 237, which attempted to delve into its many secrets, meanings, theories and interpretations, too. But they've got nothing on the actual sequel to the eerie story. It picks up decades later, following the now-adult Danny Torrance as he tries to cope with the fallout from his supernatural gift. (Oh, and the memory of being terrorised by his axe-wielding dad as well.) In the first trailer for Doctor Sleep — which is based on Stephen King's 2013 novel of the same name — all work and no play made Danny (Ewan McGregor) something something. Perturbed, mainly, as he grappled with the trauma he experienced in The Shining. Then he met a mysterious teenager (Kyliegh Curran) who also has the gift, and things got creepier than a ghastly woman peering out of a bath or the word 'redrum' written on a mirror. The teaser was filled with references to the film's predecessor, naturally; however the just-dropped new sneak peak ramps up the nods even further. This time, Danny heads back to the Overlook Hotel to confront his past, and things get even more ominous. Rebecca Ferguson, Bruce Greenwood and Room's Jacob Tremblay also star, with The Haunting of Hill House's Mike Flanagan in the director's chair. While King was famously unhappy with Kubrick's take on The Shining — even writing the script for a three-part TV mini-series version in the 90s — here's hoping that he approves of Flanagan's vision. This is actually the filmmaker's second King adaptation, after Netflix flick Gerald's Game. Check out the latest Doctor Sleep trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oCTK2U5lpc Doctor Sleep releases in Australian cinemas on November 7, 2019.
Writing a prescient tale is the science-fiction holy grail, and a feat that Philip K Dick firmly achieved. Making a movie that becomes the prevailing vision of what the future might look like in the entire world's minds? That's a stunning filmmaking feat, and one that Ridley Scott notched up as well. The reason for both? On the page, 1968's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. In cinemas, 1982's Blade Runner. And if you need reminding of how stunning a story that the iconic sci-fi author penned, or how spectacular a film that the legendary director then turned it into, look no further than Blade Runner's return to the big screen — with a live score. When Dick pondered the difference between humans and artificial intelligence more than half a century back, he peered forward with revelatory foresight. When Scott followed fresh from Alien, he did the same. Now, in 2023, with the clash between the organic and the digital a daily part of our lives in this ChatGPT-heavy reality, of course it's time for Blade Runner to flicker again. Film lovers, get ready for another dream movie-and-music pairing. Get ready for synths, too. Vangelis' stunning score will echo as Scott's feature screens at Melbourne's Hamer Hall, in the only Australian stop announced so far for Blade Runner Live — an event that premiered in London in 2019, made its way around the UK, then hit Japan earlier in 2023. The Victorian capital will host two sessions, on Saturday, November 4–Sunday, November 5, and show the Final Cut version of the movie. Wondering how it differs from the OG release, and also the House of Gucci, The Last Duel and Napoleon filmmaker's Director's Cut? First unveiled in 2007 for the feature's 25th anniversary, it's the only version that Scott truly had full artistic control over. Blade Runner's narrative, if you're new to the franchise — which also includes exceptional 2017 sequel Blade Runner 2049 and recent animated series Blade Runner: Black Lotus, with a new Blade Runner TV series also on the way — focuses on the one and only Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) as cop Rick Deckard. His task: finding replicants, aka androids, which turns into quite the existential journey. It's almost impossible to name a movie or TV series in sci-fi that's popped up over the four decades since Blade Runner first arrived that hasn't owed Scott's film a massive debt — and any synthesiser-fuelled score that hasn't done the same with Vangelis. And yes, add Blade Runner to the list of favourites getting another silver-screen run that celebrates their tunes heartily, alongside everything from Star Wars: Into the Spider-Verse to The Lion King to Star Wars and Harry Potter, plus The Princess Bride, Home Alone and Toy Story. Check out the trailer for Blade Runner below: Blade Runner Live will play Melbourne's Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne, on Saturday, November 4–Sunday, November 5. Head to the event website for further details, and tickets from 10am AEST on Friday, August 11.
It's been just over six years since Sandra Foti opened the doors to her first Piccolina gelateria in the heart of Hawthorn, launching what would quickly become a cult-favourite local dessert brand. Now, with seven further openings under its belt, the Piccolina label has come full circle, with the launch of its latest outpost last week. Piccolina's spacious new flagship store has made its home 100 metres up Glenferrie Road from that (now closed) OG site and it marks the gelateria's grandest offering yet. Here, interiors by renowned design studio Hecker Guthrie and creative agency Projects of Imagination have breathed new life into the light-filled, heritage corner space. The look pays homage both to Piccolina's signature style and the building's historic details, with a cheery green facade, multi-coloured menu board and roomy communal table primed for gelato scoffing. The piece de resistance is a chocolate fountain pouring the signature Better Than Nutella sauce. You can try it drizzled onto your choice of scoop, or paired with whipped cream in a frappe. Set into the front counter, sleek silver tubs hold classic all-natural gelato flavours like honeycomb, pistachio and fior di latte, along with a rotation of specials and limited-edition releases. And at the back of the room, giant fridges showcase Piccolina's offering of handmade gelato cakes, both signature and custom-made. Find the new Piccolina Hawthorn at 731 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn. During winter, it's open 2–10pm weekdays and 12–10pm Saturday and Sunday, while the rest of the year it's open daily from 12pm–late. Images: Jana Longhurst
The 1989 film The 'Burbs (starring Tom Hanks) is an underrated comedy about a suburban vigilante squad protecting their leafy suburb from creepy neighbours. Attack the Block (2011) is an overrated sci-fi flick about a bunch of London thugs protecting their housing estate from super-creepy aliens. Put them together and you get The Watch: a 'rated' comedy about a suburban vigilante squad protecting their leafy suburb from super-creepy aliens. It’s not quite as funny as the former, or as creative as the latter, but still has enough tricks up its sleeve to avert the instant fail. Directed by SNL's Akiva Schaffer and co-written by Seth Rogen and Adam Goldberg, The Watch boasts an enviable team of comedy heavyweights on both sides of the camera, with Ben Stiller, Jonah Hill, Richard Ayoade, and Vince Vaughn in the lead roles. Of those, Hill is the standout as the mentally unstable, police academy dropout Franklin, while the others rarely push beyond the tried and tested: Stiller is amiable and uptight, Ayoade is polite and awkward, and Vaughn is the chirpy man's man. The plot is similarly familiar, borrowing more than it invents, but at least it does so in a way that keeps the pace steady and the laughs frequent. For a cast of this calibre, the jokes do linger too long in the gutter, but The Watch never takes itself too seriously and as a result, earns itself enough leeway as a silly yet entertaining diversion.
The Hoodoo Gurus have been one of Australia's most beloved rock bands for the past 40 years, certified as musical royalty on the back of nine ARIA Top 20 Albums and sold-out tours thanks to much-loved tracks like What's My Scene and 1000 Miles Away. Yet one milestone still to tick off involves performing with the full weight of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Well, the time has come to finally make it happen, as the band joins forces with the MSO for one special show at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Taking place on Thursday, January 29, 2026, this landmark event will see the Gurus' most classic tunes reimagined with grand arrangements from perhaps the world's most epic backing band. Joining iconic frontman Dave Faulkerm are OG bassist Rick Grossman and guitarist Brad Shepard, with current member Nik Reith on the drums. Meanwhile, Nicholas Buc will conduct the MSO, bringing new life to the band's biggest hits as well as 20 unique orchestral arrangements composed by Australia's own Alex Turley. "Together with Alex, we've chosen a very diverse set of songs that I think will both surprise and delight listeners. If I had to use one word to describe the results, I think "cinematic" comes closest. The Gurus and the MSO will be taking listeners on quite a journey, and I can't wait. It's going to be a very special night indeed," says Faulkner.
The story goes that, in 1971, National Geographic's Loren McIntyre found the source of the great Amazon River. Last year, author Petru Popescu published his version of the story, called Amazon Beaming, in which Popescu details how McIntyre found a tribal chief with whom he was able to communicate — telepathically. That is, with their brains. Yep. This instance of multimedia theatre, showing at the Malthouse from February 3–10, really challenges the audience to approach the production holistically, in terms of their senses. Taking the idea of telepathic communication, legendary director Simon McBurney and theatre stalwart Richard Katz project all the sound through a 360-degree microphone straight into the ears of their audience via headphones. McBurney pushes the audience's imagination to immerse themselves into the humid and mysterious environment of the Amazon through Katz's impressive performance in what is essentially a two-hour monologue.
Dance and classical aren't music genres you'd usually find swirling around in the same basket — unless you have a particular bent for the orchestral 'Sandstorm' covers found in the depths of YouTube. Synthony — A Generation of Dance Music is here to prove that the disciplines go hand in hand. Touring Australia since 2019, the event is returning to Melbourne on Friday, February 18. It'll see a 60-plus piece orchestra join forces with a selection of DJs and live performers at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, all to play the biggest dance tracks of the last 30 years. Expect the venue to take a few cues from the nightclub scene, with lights, lasers and mapped video all part of the experience — and a selection of dance floor bangers note-for-note. The lineup includes live performances from Savage, Emily Williams, Mobin Master and more — and The Synthony Orchestra, of course — with Madison Avenue's Andy Van on hosting duties.
Last night, the best chefs in the world descended on the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore for the annual World's 50 Best celebrations. And while there were plenty of Australians present at the awards — including the event's host, Australian journalist and TV personality Annabel Crabb — no local restaurants made the top 50. Australia's highest ranking restaurant was Attica in Melbourne, which came in at number 84 in the long list announced last week. Fellow Victorian Brae also came in at 101. This year, the list expanded to 120 for the first (and only) time, as a one-off nod to San Pellegrino's (the award's primary sponsor) 120th anniversary. The top five restaurants for 2019 were dramatically different from previous years as former World's 50 Best winners — including Eleven Madison Park and Osteria Francescana — were barred from the list, and instead added to a 'Best of the Best' lineup. The top gong, for the first time in the event's 17-year history, went to a French restaurant: Mirazur. Run by Argentinian-born chef Mauro Colagreco, whose cooking is also inspired by his Italian grandparents, Mirazur is located in an old 1930s villa in the French Riviera, near the Italian border. And, we're guessing it's going to be pretty hard to get a booking there for the next little while — so, we suggest planning a French vacay for 2020 (or beyond). Rounding out the top five were Copenhagen's Noma at number two, which reopened in a new space with a new seasonal menu last year; Spain's Asador Etxebarri at number three; the soon-to-close Gaggan in Bangkok at number four; and fellow Danish restaurant Geranium at five. Other new and notable additions to this year's list include a first-time inclusion for Dominique Crenn's famed San Francisco spot Atelier Crenn and NY's Cosme, by the 2019 Best Female Chef Daniela Soto-Innes, which was the highest ranked US restaurant. https://www.instagram.com/p/BzI0i_OlDGg/ The winning restaurants were chosen by a 1000-strong global voting panel which, for the first time, had an equal gender balance. Five restaurants led by females made the top 50, the same number as last year. You can check out the full list of the World's 50 Best Restaurants here and read more about the long list here. First image: Mirazur by Nicolas Lobbestael.
The theme of this year's Melbourne Fringe Festival is 'Eat Your Art Out', which sees most of the 470-plus events explore the relationship between food and art. You'll be invited to join interactive dinners, cook at pop-up barbecues and drop by the weekly Fringe Flavours Night Market. Every Wednesday evening from September 18–October 16, Queen Vic Market will play host to food stalls, bars, local artisan shops and heaps of Fringe performances. You can tuck into Polich dumplings from Pierogi, Pierogi, handmade pasta from La Trafila, a huge selection of tacos from the Le Mano, Korean corn rice from Oksusu and fluffy souffles from the Tokyoki Souffle team. There'll also be three separate bars running each night. One will serve up a selection of berry-infused cocktails, another will shake up nothing but margaritas, and the third will be run by the Fringe Night Market itself — serving beer, wine, spiced rum and gin and tonics. When it comes to entertainment, you're absolutely spoilt for choice. Tash York will perform their wine-filled cabaret show, Throw Catch Collective will run a food-themed juggling act, Bettie Bombshell and Ruby Sklippers will perform family-friendly versions of their burlesque shows, and Boyd Kelly will be DJing most nights — bringing soul and funk beats to the Fringe Flavours Night Market. You can, of course, look up who is performing in advance and go along for their free show at the market, but we love to be surprised by Melbourne Fringe Festival events — simply rocking up and hoping for the best. That's kind of the of the point of the Fringe. Discover a new artist at the spring night market series, and if you really love them, pay for tickets to their main Fringe show. The Fringe Flavours Night Market is running every Wednesday from 5-10pm from September 18–October 16. For more details, head to the venue's website.
Never forget that the first American version of Godzilla thwarted the titular behemoth by using "an internet". That's the ridiculously awful 1998 film's legacy (well, that and fruitlessly trying to follow in Jurassic Park's footsteps more than its own Japanese predecessors). Deploying the same logic, Reddit should probably be the saviour in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. It isn't, but that might've proven more interesting. Continuing the new US-made series that began with 2014's Godzilla and will link up with Kong: Skull Island once next year's Godzilla vs Kong comes around, this 'MonsterVerse' sequel actually does take a few cues from its late-90s American counterpart — more than any movie should, and not to its benefit. Some come through in the story, including a routine finale in a sporting arena. Others are evident at the human level, corralling yet another array of dull, feuding characters scrambling all over the place. But the main similarity is something that all US Godzilla reboots have struggled with: not knowing what to do with its hulking star. It's unsurprisingly strange to watch people quaking in the famous kaiju's shadow, whether in awe, fear or both, while the film they're in focuses on their reactions instead of the towering figure. King of the Monsters ups the creature factor considerably, giving Godzilla friends (Mothra), frenemies (Rodan) and foes (King Ghidorah) amongst a 17-strong cohort of havoc-wreaking 'titans'. At a narrative level, it doesn't just lean into the idea that more of these giant, city-levelling critters exist — it makes that very notion its premise. Alas, the film prefers to explain that supersized lizards, insects, pterodactyls, mammoths and three-headed dragons are frightening via clunky dialogue and pained faces, rather than offer much monster-on-monster action. Taking over from Godzilla's Gareth Edwards, writer-director Michael Dougherty has a background in horror thanks to Trick 'r' Treat and Krampus, but misappropriates one of that genre's key elements. Watching scared folks react to mysterious bumps and jumps in the night works a treat, all thanks to the powers of suggestion and imagination, however the same isn't true when your whole movie screams "Aaaaaaah! Fucking huge monsters! And so many of them!" Five years after Godzilla emerged from the earth's depths to battle a massive unidentified terrestrial organism, humans are basically yelling the aforementioned line. The government wants to know how many titans exist so that it can exterminate them. Shadowy outfit Monarch, led by scientists Ishirō Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) and Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins), plead that people and Godzilla can live together, and that maybe good ol' Zilly could even save us all. Also working for Monarch in a Chinese facility, paleobiologist Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) appears to feel the same way, creating a bioacoustics system that can communicate with the creatures. When she's kidnapped, along with her technological breakthrough and her teenage daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown), another group enters the fray. Overseen by British soldier turned eco-terrorist Alan Jonah (Charles Dance, because every movie has to feature someone from Game of Thrones), their aim is to let all of the titans loose, watch as they do their worst and hope that the ravaged planet is reborn in the aftermath. Thanos would be proud. Also popping up is Emma's kaiju-hating ex-husband Mark (Kyle Chandler), who once worked at Monarch, has a bone to pick with Godzilla and loves yelling about it while trying to rescue his daughter. And so everyone fights over what to do, with the shouting getting louder as Jonah keeps awakening more and more titans. Human noise isn't what anyone wants from King of the Monsters, though. And if someone does want to watch people squabble in the face of literally existence-shattering critters, the last live-action Japanese Godzilla, 2016's Shin Godzilla, delivered just that in a smart, thoughtful and engaging way. Here, the paper-thin, consistently cliched story doesn't justify so much chatter. Indeed, it feels as if it's been written to slot in beside the big beasty battles, then hurriedly padded out and over-extended when those massive monster melees didn't turn out as planned. Godzilla and Ghidorah do go head-to-head, more than once. Mothra and Rodan get to flap their wings, and brief clips of other creatures are glimpsed as well. King of the Monsters doesn't completely shy away from its prehistoric giants, but they're never the main attraction — or even much of an attraction at all. There's welcome reverence and respect directed Godzilla's way, however the movie barely acknowledges the character's metaphorical significance, preferring to show its love via a few impressive wide shots instead. And while simply pairing it with its fellow iconic figures in the same picture is inherently exciting, King of the Monsters essentially rests there. When it comes to the film's frays, they arrive packaged in dim, dark, Game of Thrones-esque lighting, blighted by ugly special effects and hardly serving up a spectacle. In fact, the battles feel rushed, busy, and never as fun and lively as you'd expect given the whole titan-versus-titan situation. Hollywood is never going to admit that it just doesn't quite get Godzilla, but perhaps it should. Or, maybe it should stop trying to style American Godzilla flicks after whatever else happens to be popular recently — Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a clear influence on King of the Monsters, as is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it isn't a coincidence that the film taps Stranger Things' Brown for her big-screen debut. 65 years after the enormous lizard-style gargantuan made its initial appearance in the first Japanese Godzilla, it deserves better than by-the-numbers franchise-extending entries. The kaiju genre deserves better too, but at least it has Guillermo del Toro's great Pacific Rim. The fact that King of the Monsters delivers its most thrilling aspect in its credits — the sounds of the original, exceptional, still rousing Godzilla theme, not the obligatory post-reel stinger — screams louder than the movie's humans, and than Godzilla's own roars as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW3xYYJ6NoE
The Pleasure Garden returns on December 8, painting St Kilda's Catani Gardens with colour, art installations, roving performers and, of course, some huge beats. A heady mix of Rainbow Serpent, Glastonbury and every other time you've had an impromptu sweaty day dance party with your mates (costumes mandatory), the festival, though only in its third year, knows exactly what it's doing. The small festival packs a lot of punch, with five different stages and zones to flit between across the day. Get into recognisable tracks on the Conservatory Stage, where The Temper Trap and Xavier Rudd will play throughout the day. Then you can get into some deep house at the Beach Club, into some reggae at Bass Station and, later, dance it up at the House Party area. And once you've flailed around to Confidence Man and itched in your costume for a while, there'll be plenty to revive your sweaty self with some of the city's best food trucks joining the lineup. There'll also be roving performers, art installations, market stalls and chill out spots for a break for when you wan a break from the bass. Best part? Tickets are under 100 bucks. Images: Duncographic and Rhys Newling.
One of the Mornington Peninsula's most celebrated wineries is making its much-anticipated comeback, just in time for summer. After a venue fire in May forced Pt Leo Estate to close its two main eateries, Laura and Pt Leo Restaurant, the pair are finally gearing up to welcome customers once again. And they'll even be dishing up some brand-new menus, under the helm of Culinary Director Josep Espuga. Relaunching Wednesday, December 7, contemporary bistro Pt Leo Restaurant will continue to champion local suppliers via a modern menu built around the kitchen's wood-fired oven and grill. And as before, the panoramas over the property's 130-hectare sculpture park and beyond to Westernport Bay promise a blissful backdrop for your feed. [caption id="attachment_881120" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Pt Leo Restaurant[/caption] Also taking advantage of those enviable views is fine diner Laura, which is gearing up to reopen on Friday, December 16. Guests can look forward to a new seasonal degustation offering, heroing top-notch dairy, seafood and other local produce, alongside fine ingredients from further afield. Plus, an award-winning wine lineup by Head Sommelier Amy Oliver, delivering a generous mix of classic pours and left-field or new-wave varieties. Walk-in-friendly casual sibling The Wine Terrace will also be reopening this month, taking the reins from the winery's temporary dining pop-up Pt. Leo Pavilion. And the famed four-star cellar door continues to operate for wine tastings; weekend 'snackettes'; and Saturday evenings dedicated to champagne, caviar and cocktails. [caption id="attachment_881112" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Laura[/caption] [caption id="attachment_881118" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Pt Leo Restaurant[/caption] Find Pt Leo Restaurant (from December 7) and Laura (from December 17) at Pt Leo Estate, 3649 Frankston-Flinders Road, Merricks. Images: Chris McConville
Who can get everyone in a crowd to take one piece of their clothing off and 'smash it in the air'? Hilltop Hoods can. It's a measure of the respect and adoration they've come to command in the local hip-hop scene (and, let's face it, the Australian music industry more generally). It's not for nothing — they have a persistent, infectious, unbridled energy that comes across in their epic live shows, and they're constantly giving to their fans. Nothing shows that more than the massive 21-date national tour they're setting off on right now. The Cosby Sweater Australian Tour comes off the back of their seventh studio album Walking Under Stars, the second instalment of an ambitious three-piece project that started with previous album Drinking from the Sun and will culminate next year with something big and as yet top secret. Will the reign of these undisputed kings of homegrown hip-hop never end? Expect heaps of new tracks alongside those old crowd favourites. Advice is, wear multiple pieces of clothing. https://youtube.com/watch?v=X6G2fzPTwOA
Before getting a glimpse into everyone else's lives was as simple as logging into your social-media platform of choice, a game arrived that let its players do something similar with computerised characters. A spinoff from SimCity and its city-building follow-ups, The Sims allows whoever is mashing buttons to create and control virtual people, then step through their existence. First hitting in February 2000, it has spawned three sequels, plus a whole heap of expansion and compilation packs for each — and online, console and mobile versions as well. A quarter of a century since its debut, The Sims still keeps dropping new releases. To mark its 25th birthday, there's now The Sims: Birthday Bundle. That's one way to celebrate the game's latest anniversary. Here's another: stepping inside a three-day Australian pop-up dedicated to the beloved life simulator, which is heading to Melbourne's Australian Centre for the Moving Image from Friday, February 21–Sunday, February 23, 2025. Despite The Sims' more-recent titles, thinking about the game usually means thinking about the 2000s. So, this pop-up is taking that truth to heart by celebrating the Y2K era, too. Going along involves entering inside a 2000s-era pre-teen bedroom that's been decked out by Josh & Matt Design with all of the appropriate touches. Yes, it'll be nostalgic. Yes, there'll be CD towers and blow-up couches, just to name a few decor choices. The pop-up will also feature free stations where you can play The Sims: Birthday Bundle, if the best way for you to commeroate the occasion is by diving into the franchise virtually. In addition, there'll also be a free panel about the game on the Saturday, with speakers including Josh & Matt Design's Josh Jessup and Matt Moss — who are big The Sims fans — and EA/Firemonkeys' Simulation Division General Manager Mavis Chan.
Sweet tooths, assemble. Pastry chef Pierre Roelofs and his team of wicked enablers are resurrecting their legendary dessert evenings, shattering our halfhearted plans to cut down on the sweet stuff in 2019. Oops. After five years at Cafe Rosamond in Fitzroy and a few pop-ups around the traps, Roelofs' dessert extravaganzas are making a return to Collingwood. This time, however, they're taking place at Terror Twilight. The cafe will turn all things sweet for three nights in February, May, August and November. Luckily, there's still spots left for all of them — for now. We suggest snapping some tickets up quickly, these babies sell like hotcakes (or, should we say, like dessert-filled test tubes). If you haven't been to an evening before, you can expect a four-course degustation — the catch being that all four courses are dessert. The menu is top secret and changes every time. We can tell you that previous evenings have involved ridiculous concoctions of mascarpone, strawberry, honey, orange, cardamom and speculaas, as well as a deconstructed bread and butter pudding served in one of Roelofs' famed dessert test tubes. Tickets for the dessert feast will set you back $75 with non-alcoholic beverages able to be purchased separately on the night. To book your spot (quickly) head to the website. There are two sittings for Pierre Roelofs' dessert evenings each night: 7pm and 8.40pm.
Nazi. Zombies. Those two words alone were probably enough to secure the support of executive producer J.J. Abrams and have him green-light Overlord, the new horror/war flick by Australian director Julius Avery (Son of a Gun). Set on the eve of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the film sees a small troupe of American soldiers parachute into France tasked with destroying a Nazi radar station, only for them to discover a series of sinister, zombie-crafting experiments taking place deep beneath the facility's walls. In terms of the premise, gamers will immediately recognise similarities to both the Wolfenstein and Call of Duty franchises (the latter literally had a title called WWII Nazi Zombies – The Darkest Shore). At times the film tracks so closely to these games both in style and story that you expect the Xbox logo to appear on screen instead of the Paramount one. To the film's credit, though, for every example of borrowed content or tired cliche, Overlord surprises you with nifty subversions of horror-genre tropes and delights in its consistent, sumptuous cinematography. Much of the film's success actually lies in its pacing, and it's a testament to screenwriters Billy Ray and Mark L. Smith that they're willing to be so patient with their eventual zombie reveal. Indeed, it's so long before the first encounter with the undead that the film's trailer borders on misleading and deceptive marketing. Just like the shark in Jaws, we see the monsters in Overlord only after we've seen clues to their existence and their horrific, destructive power. And when at last they do arrive, the wait is (mostly) justified. Immensely strong and grotesquely twisted with sharpened bones protruding through burnt or shredded flesh, the fiends look and feel appropriately terrifying. If there's a complaint to be made, it's that – once revealed – they're deployed far too sparingly. Intentional or not, it's the mortal Nazis and not their flesh-eating compatriots who feel the most sinister in Overlord, and since the peril in the zombie genre traditionally comes from their unstoppable swarm dimension, removing that dynamic feels like a significant misstep. Overlord's characters aren't much for groundbreaking, coming straight from the stock WWII movie playbook. On the Allied side there's wise-cracking Italian-American Tibbet (John Magaro), timid war photographer Chase (Iain De Caestecker), grizzled loner Ford (Wyatt Russell) and pure-of-heart rookie Boyce (Jovan Adepo). On the Axis side, we're given an unapologetically evil commander named Wafner (Pilou Asbaek) who, to his credit, goes all-out in the performance. Also in the mix is French actress Mathilde Ollivier as Chloe, a civilian from the nearby town who helps hide the Americans from the Nazis and whose work is probably the film's standout. Given the film spends so much time in the company of these characters, it's disappointing that it rarely evolves their personalities or digs into their back stories. Still, the performances are above average for a B-movie, and while the film sometimes feels as though it's being pulled between two very different genres, it still has enough going for it to be worth your time and your money. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USPd0vX2sdc
On Sunday, October 29, Prahran Market will host the Say Cheese Festival. For uninitiated (or those who haven't attended before), it's essentially an entire day of eating cheese (and buying even more to eat later), featuring free cheese tastings, cheesy dish demonstrations and stalls from cheese providores. Throughout the day, chefs will take over the kitchen to demonstrate cooking techniques using cheese, including cheese and beverage pairing, knafeh from Atlas Dining and mozzarella stretching. If you're not too full from all of that, the traders are also offering food to take home or eat there. Some of the highlights include Noisette's croque monsieur, mixed-cheese ravioli, and an ice cream 'cheese board' from Glacé's Christy Tania. There will also be many, many cheese plates.
Everyone has a favourite kind of chocolate. Everyone also has a favourite kind of chocolate that doesn't actually exist. You know what we're talking about — you've fantasised about a bar of cocoa goodness that includes all your wildest, weirdest additions, and you've been cripplingly saddened every time you've looked for your crazy concoction in the supermarket. Keep dreaming deliciously big, because new Australian online retailer Chocolab is in the business of granting chocolate wishes. Whether milk, white or dark is your jam, and whether you like to find confectionery, spices, fruit, nuts, biscuits, cereal, coffee, popcorn or pretzels hidden within, your dream choccy could be an actual, eatable thing. In the company's online creation lab, you can add up to five possible bits and pieces to your 100-gram block of Belgium's finest. The lengthy list of ingredients currently includes sour gummy worms, Ovalteenies, Nerds, caramel fudge, Nutella, Fruit Tingles, sherbet, acai berries, Tiny Teddies, brownie bites, Cornflakes and more, with new options added regularly. If you don't see an add-in you like, you can even suggest your own. A block starts at $6.50, with add-ins ranging from 70c to $2. Once you've settled on your picks, your concoction is handcrafted by Chocolab's professional chocolatiers, then shipped to you as soon as possible — and yes, there's an express delivery option, because no one likes waiting for the food of the gods. Postage starts at $4 per block, so while it's not the cheapest block of chocolate in town, it's certainly the most happily indulgent. Chocolab recommends eating the finished product with a month or two, and we celebrate their optimism and judgement-free attitude. We all know your dream bar won't last that long. To find out more about Chocolab, or to design your own block of chocolate, visit their website.
A lot of doco makers rely on the adage that 'truth is stranger than fiction'. A few supremely lucky ones find a story that is so mind-bogglingly strange that they could sit back and let the film make itself. The Imposter is just such a story, at every stage revealing another layer of the bizarreness of which human beings are capable. British director Bart Layton is no slouch, either; the film is slickly made, metring out its tantalising information and almost single-handedly reviving the use of re-creation as a respected documentary tool. The subject is an incident in 1997 in which a 17-year-old Texan boy, Nicholas Barclay, was returned to his family after having been missing for three years. Except he turned up in Spain, had no physical resemblance to the missing blue-eyed boy, was noticeably older, and spoke with a French accent. He was accepted back into the family regardless. His sister thought she could recognise that smile anywhere. From the relatives to the authorities, everyone around him seemed ready to excuse the differences, taking the 'he's not the little boy you knew' trope to extreme and literal levels. In reality, the boy was French con man Frederic Bourdin, a 23-year-old obsessively seeking the comfort of childhood. At first, it seems the documentary reveals his identity prematurely, almost right from the beginning — but that's just because you don't know, at that point, of all the twists that remain for the story to take. The supremely tense Imposter features sensitive, in-depth interviews with almost all of the major characters in the incident, including Bourdin, the FBI agent who handled his repatriation, the PI whose suspicions uncovered the truth and Nicholas's mother and sister. Without them, no number of re-creations could have carried the story so far or got you close to understanding any of these people's motivations. And as for the re-creations, they're filmed with a keen cinematographer's eye and a sense of enigma, putting them at a long distance from those we're used to on made-for-TV specials. https://youtube.com/watch?v=mENui3UdMOY
Spending more time at home is much easier to stomach with a hefty rage of desserts on hand, or at least that seems to be Gelato Messina's pandemic motto. Over the past few months, the gelato fiends have served up plenty of tasty specials, including cookie pies in choc chip, red velvet, choc-hazelnut, and peanut butter and jelly varieties, as well as 40 of its best gelato flavours. Up next: a gelato version of everyone's favourite Italian chocolate, in tub form. If your ultimate chocolate is round, covered in gold wrapping and has a crunchy hazelnut centre — yes, we're talking about Ferrero Rocher — you best get ready to order this Messina special, dubbed the Tartufo Rocks Hot Tub. Inspired by the famed Italian chocolate, the tubs feature layers of gianduja (chocolate-hazelnut) gelato, whipped cream, chocolate-coated puffed rice, hazelnut mousse and gianduja fudge and are topped with hazelnut rocher glaze. And, yes, the end result looks like the chocolates you know and love — but in a scoopable form. Available as part of Messina's 'Hot Tub' series, the Tartufo gelato can only be ordered online on Monday, October 26, with a one-litre tub setting you back $30. You can then go into your chosen Messina store to pick up your tub between Friday, October 30 and Sunday, November 1. While Rocher's tagline is indeed 'share something special', we think there's nothing wrong with keeping this all to yourself. Gelato Messina's Tartufo Rocks Hot Tubs will be available to order on Monday, October 26, for pick up between Friday, October 30–Sunday, November 1 — keep an eye on the Messina website for further details.
Julie Delpy has a particular writing style. You might call it The Hangover for the high brow. It's full of cursing and smoking weed and laughing at words that sound like 'cunnilingus', and getting caught in webs of awkwardness after you tell your uptight neighbour to stop riding you because you're dying of cancer when you're not. And yet her audience is more Dendy than Hoyts. Teen boys don't aspire to live out Delpy scenes at schoolies. 2 Days in New York finds her character, Marion, broken up with her 2 Days in Paris boyfriend, Jack, not long after the birth of their son. Because that's the kind of thing that happens under Delpy's watch: not all relationships are forever. And figuring out this commitment thing is part of the story here. Her relationship with her new de facto, Mingus (Chris Rock), is about to be tested as Marion's family comes for a visit from Paris. The couple, who met while working at the Village Voice, have their typically NY neuroses stretched beyond cute. Marion's rotund father, Jeannot (Albert Delpy, Julie Delpy's real life dad), has tried to smuggle in several sausages upon his person; her sister, Rose (Alexia Landeau), has no affinity with American puritanism; and her sister's boyfriend, Manu (Alexandre Nahon), thinks Mingus will be cool with him doing a drug deal in the flat because he's black. Delpy's mother, Marie Pillet, who was a delight as Marion's mother Anna in 2 Days in Paris, has since died, and in 2 days in New York, as in life, her daughter is still trying to accept her death. Some people find the Delpy aesthetic grating and as thin as the gross-out comedies alluded to earlier. And while it may be true that this film is 'about nothing' and sometimes blithely scrappy, it's also blinkered to think that Delpy's quirks don't matter. Quirks isn't even the right word, attached as it currently is to a whimsy and cutesiness that bear no relation to the 2 Days In universe. She somehow gets to make un-Hollywood films that reach a large-ish audience, and that's an incredibly refreshing thing to see. Because apart from bawdy and untraditional, funny and generous, the other thing Two Days in Paris is, is internationalist. In Delpy's world, main characters don't all come from the same country, speak the same language, or share the same culture. Their differences may be the engine of humour, but everyone is shown respect and understanding that goes beyond stereotype. The set-up is a reality many people live but somehow rarely see on screen. There's one very telling early scene: Mingus takes Marion's father, who speaks no English unless it's to say something inappropriate, to his regular Thai massage centre to help him loosen up after the trans-Atlantic flight. We all sink down in our seats, but the worst does not happen. Far from it. Mingus emerges after his massage to see Jeannot sharing a cup of tea with the owners, with whom he has been conversing in scraps of Vietnamese. It turns out the owners are actually from Saigon, a city in which Jeannot also spent his childhood. The man might not understand Americans, but his experience has given him a worldliness that is beautifully acknowledged. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q1HDAOlPDzA
The National Gallery of Victoria isn't just good for art — it's also good for a bit of wining and dining, with cafes across all three levels and the Garden Restaurant on the ground level, too. The gallery's Tea Room on level one is good for you if you've brought your mum along and she's mentioned she'd love a cup of tea five times so far, or for you, if you just want to treat yourself to something a bit fancy. The high tea option puts fresh finger sandwiches on the table (poached chicken, leg ham, free-range eggs and cold smoked Tasmanian salmon) as well as homemade croquettes and mini quiches. As far as sweets go, there are scones, as well as pistachio macarons and yuzu meringue tarts. The high tea is served with a glass of bubbly and a pot of tea or coffee. It's a surefire way to make even a routine trip to the gallery a little bit special. [caption id="attachment_671242" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Victoria[/caption]
