Melbourne's annual celebration of all things hoppy is very nearly upon us. Well, sort of. This year's Good Beer Week isn't happening until May — but, as is tradition, they're tapping a few kegs early for the GWB Gala Showcase. Returning to its founding site at The Atrium in Federation Square, the 2017 Gala Showcase will take place over two days: Thursday, March 16 and Friday, March 17. In addition to giving punters their first official look at the GWB program, the event will be attended by more than 30 local breweries and will feature masterclasses, brewer meet and greets, and plenty to eat and drink. Entry to the Good Beer Week Gala Showcase costs $50 per person and includes a GWB branded tasting glass and 20x 60mL samples from more than 100 different beers on offer. You'll also get a $10 food voucher to use at vendors including Pambula Oyster Company and Fancy Hank's.
When Table 19 begins, it would have you believe that there's nothing worse than being stuck at the random table at a wedding. There is. It's watching a film about being stuck at the random table at a wedding. Sure, in both situations you're stranded in a place that you mightn't want to be. But at least one has food, drinks and dancing to help pass the time. For those sitting in the cinema, prepare for an experience that's awkward, tedious, cliched and sappy, as the newly single Eloise (Anna Kendrick) heads to her oldest friend's nuptials. She was once slated to be the maid of honour, but dropped out when she was dumped via text message by the bride's brother (Wyatt Russell). Relegated to the worst berth on the seating chart that she helped plan, she's soon sharing a table with a bunch of guests that "should have known to send regrets, but not before sending something nice off the registry". Eloise's fellow undesirables include an ageing former nanny (June Squibb) thrilled to have even been invited, a hormone-fuelled teen (Tony Revolori) whose mother has told him to look for love, the obligatory weird cousin (Stephen Merchant) who's kindly but has a secret, and a bickering couple (Lisa Kudrow and Craig Robinson) who don't know why they're there. Obvious revelations and cheesy life lessons follow, flowing as freely as champagne and hors d'oeuvres. We suppose you could commend director Jeffrey Blitz (Spellbound) and writers Jay and Mark Duplass (Jeff Who Lives at Home) for their effective recreation of an unpleasant situation, right down to the stylistic and structural choices that give the audience the same limited view of the main celebrations as the characters. No one should be rewarded for laziness, though, and if Table 19 excels at anything, it's that. The fact that everyone spends much of the movie arguing about what their table assignment means isn't the least bit amusing or entertaining, nor does it offer any real commentary about America's obsession with status. Instead, it simply feels like an attempt to pad out a by-the-book script that jumps between misfit comedy and rom-com, but doesn't stray from the familiar path with either. It won't come as a surprise that this slice of supposed hilarity peddles a message about the joy that can arise from unexpected connections and making the most of a bad situation. Alas, as great as Kendrick, Merchant, Squibb and company have proven in the past, here they're average at best, and in some cases downright awful. Without any signs of character development, Kendrick's signature persona wears thin; you really have seen her do this all before. She fares better than some of her co-stars, however, who might find themselves wishing they didn't RSVP for their parts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BrKGHl5EXQ
Just because your bank account is looking a little empty, doesn't mean you've got to resort to sad, uninspiring lunchtime fare. At least, not this week, with food app Ritual dishing up tasty meals for just $1 a pop. Having launched in Sydney late last year, the mobile order and pay app is now available in Melbourne — and it's offering a very sweet deal to celebrate. It's dropping the price of select menu items from 150 of its CBD restaurants to just $1 a pop until November 8. In this budget-friendly lineup you'll find feeds from some of your favourite CBD vendors, which normally clock in at around $15. We're talking classic burgs from Betty's Burgers, cream cheese bagels from 5 & Dime, salami toasties from The Meating House and rice paper rolls from Roll'd. There are also $1 ice bubble teas from Coco Fresh Tea & Juice, coffees from Mister Munro, croissants from Weirdoughs and Chunky hot dogs from Chunky Town. Just remember that you do need to pick up your drink or meal, so make sure the eatery is in walking distance. [caption id="attachment_737291" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Chunky Town by Julia Sansone[/caption] Download the app and you'll be able to tap into three of these $1 deals over the week the offer is running. Which means a few mornings of extra shut-eye, thanks to not having to whip up lunch yourself. You'll also get to road test some of Ritual's nifty features, including a 'skip the line' function that allows you to order ahead and avoid queues, and 'skip the trip', where you can group together multiple orders from the one office to save everyone from making the same trek. There are a couple of restrictions, though. The deal is only valid between 5am and 5pm daily, and you can only order once per day and once per restaurant. You can check out all the nitty-gritty details over here. Ritual is offering three $1 meals or drinks per user through its app (for Android or iOS) until 5pm on Friday, November 8. Top image: Betty's Burgers
Faces carve deep impressions in Longlegs, in both their presence and their absence. As Agent Lee Harker, Maika Monroe (God Is a Bullet) does so with a clenched jaw, permanently on-edge eyes and mere bursts of words, aka the guise of a woman who'll never stop being vigilant in every moment but doesn't always know exactly why. As the movie's namesake, as announced in the opening credits, Nicolas Cage (Dream Scenario) has audiences straining to catch whatever glimpse they can whenever they can — and when a full look comes, it's scorching and haunting in tandem in the stare alone. Blair Underwood (Origin) gives Harker's boss Carter a weary gaze, but with fully rounded life experience beyond his FBI gig evident behind it. Alicia Witt (Switch Up) plays Ruth Harker, mother to Lee, as distance and struggle personified. As she relays a tale as survivor Carrie Anne Camera, Kiernan Shipka (Twisters) demonstrates how disconnected a grim reality can be from a dream. For his fourth feature following 2015's The Blackcoat's Daughter, 2016's I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House and 2020's Gretel & Hansel — the first of which also starred Shipka — writer/director Osgood Perkins has clearly assembled an excellent cast for his unease-dripping, get-under-your-skin, torment-your-nightmares serial-killer thriller. Another face leaves an imprint beyond his actors, however. Bill Clinton's portrait assists with setting the scene as it adorns bureau offices, with the majority of the movie taking place in the 90s. Think the FBI and three decades back, and there's no lack of pop-culture touchstones. The Silence of the Lambs is one. Monroe's portrayal as a newly minted operative tracking a murderer is every bit as layered, complex and unforgettable — and awards-worthy — as Jodie Foster's (True Detective: Night Country) Oscar-winning performance was. Twin Peaks and The X-Files, Point Break, even Cage's own Face/Off: they all also hail from the 90s and spin stories around the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This lineage is impossible not to ponder every time that Perkins reminds Longlegs viewers of the period that he's working with via Clinton's likeness — and it's a bold move. Getting your audience recalling other films and TV shows can simply spark the wish that they were watching those titles instead, especially when the list is as glorious as the aforementioned flicks and series. But the filmmaker who first started out in horror as a child actor walking in his father's footsteps — Anthony Perkins played Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho; Osgood was young Norman in Psycho II — makes good on the gambit. No one with their peepers glued to Longlegs would rather be ingesting anything else, no matter how equally exceptional, as it weaves its hypnotic spell. Longlegs bedevils and bewitches early, and earlier than its main era. The pristine snow that surrounds a young girl (Lauren Acala, Motherland: Port Salem) in her yard is a visual blank slate, soon darkened in shadow when Longlegs arrives with happy birthday wishes — and the mood, as thrumming through in feature first-timer Andres Arochi's cinematography, plus Graham Fortin (Ari's Theme) and Greg Ng's (Allegiance) editing, is as thick as the white blanket across the ground with apprehension and tension. When the movie hops forward, already festering is the feeling of an innocent state sullied. That's before learning about Harker and Carter's case, with a string of murder-suicides resembling each other garnering their attention. Families perish, fathers attacking before turning their violence upon themselves, which might be open and shut if there weren't a spate of such incidents over decades, if questions about motive weren't glaring, if a compulsive force — supernatural or otherwise — hadn't earned some thought and if letters in code signed by Longlegs weren't also found at the scenes. There's more than a tightly wound ball of anxiety to Harker, who sports a surname that brings being pursued and toyed with by Dracula — who Cage played in 2023's Renfield — to mind. (Longlegs is the second 2024 horror film to nod to Bram Stoker in its characters' monikers, after Ishana Night Shyamalan's The Watchers.) The movie's lead is also a source of intuition and perhaps clairvoyance, which the FBI is keen to capitalise upon. Indeed, that's why she's been assigned to the Longlegs investigation. She's as dedicated as dedicated comes when sifting through the analogue array of clues, too, with paper and tape amid dimly lit, cabin-esque interiors adding to the tactile sensation. As terse phone calls with her mum illustrate, there's nothing distracting her from her gig, either. Via framing, frequently with symmetry, Perkins conveys that Harker isn't just consumed by chasing down Longlegs — it might be the on-screen fate of ample detectives, including in Se7en and Zodiac, two David Fincher masterpieces that are also patent influences, but the hunt is consuming her back. With the fellow chillers that beat Longlegs to existence, and with elements as familiar in horror as serial killers, the occult, crime-solving procedural crusades, fixated sleuths and all-encompassing disquiet — to name just a few genre go-tos plastered across Perkins' cinematic mood board — the approach is fondness-meets-the filmmaker's own interpretation. That's the picture's guiding principle everywhere, including in Monroe and Cage's immense contributions, each of which is among their respective career highlights. All of Longlegs' key parties know that viewers have seen plenty of these same pieces before in a myriad of ways, and possess a single-minded resolve to avoiding serving up the same. Monroe does this with It Follows and The Guest on her filmography, the 2014 one-two punch about evil lurking among the ordinary and safe spaces terrorised. Cage does it with four decades of efforts that've solidified him as not just a singular actor but the singular actor, and ceaselessly able to surprise. Perkins crafts Longlegs as a dollmaker might, with the utmost of care apparent in each and every component, all building a creation that feels like it's staring piercingly back at you. He isn't afraid of a surreal Lynchian vibe, showing that waking life can immerse you in as much of a frightscape as the worst that your brain can conceive while slumbering — perhaps the most-alarming realisation that there is — but, again, as run through his own filter. He also isn't scared of using sound design to burrow that agitation deep into the audience's subconscious, so that Longlegs is distressing your soul before you, like Harker, are even aware. Chief among the film's strokes of genius is how inescapable its intense dread is, regardless of which traditional horror symbols taunt those watching or how much of Cage as Longlegs can be seen. In an instant classic, all of its pivotal faces are mirrors, then, reflecting the viewer's own.
In 2014, the ultimate celebration of French cinema in Australia will mark its silver anniversary with one of its most impressive programs yet. Lighting up Palace Cinema locations around the country, the 25th annual Alliance Francaise French Film Festival has film-faring Francophiles covered, with light-hearted comedies to searing dramas, as well as hat-tips to two of France's most legendary filmmakers. The festivities kick off on opening night with a screening of Nils Tavernier's inspiring sports drama The Finishers, followed by a post-film cocktail party. Other big tickets include the bloody Palme d'Or-nominated epic Michael Kohlhaas, Bruno Dumont's lauded biopic Camille Claudel 1915 and the Monaco-set espionage thriller Möbius starring The Artist's Jean Dujardin. Lighter options can be found in the festival's romance and comedy streams. Stylish indie ensemble 2 Autumns, 3 Winters has garnered plenty of positive buzz internationally, while Bright Days Ahead offers something for the older crowd, recounting the tale of a newly retired senior who strikes up an affair with a much younger man. Patrons can also preview the works of France's future filmmaking elite, with a program of short films from renowned Parisian film academy La Fémis. At the other end of the spectrum, fans of the classics might enjoy a retrospective of the works of new-wave pioneer Francois Truffaut, including his medium-shifting masterworks Jules and Jim and The 400 Blows. Closing night serves up another iconic slice of French cinema, in the form of Jacques Tati's wonderful 1958 comedy Mon Oncle. For the full Alliance Française French Film Festival program, visit http://www.affrenchfilmfestival.org/ https://youtube.com/watch?v=_0ENuOOgY2Y
Snakadaktal are one of those bands that pop their head out occasionally to remind us of how incredibly talented they are. They won Triple J Unearthed High in 2011 and debuted on the Hottest 100 for that year at number 22 with 'Air', no easy feat for a band fresh out of high school. They then went into the studio bunker for most of 2012, only releasing the dance-friendly wonder 'Dance Bear', which also snuck onto the Hottest 100 despite the band hibernating most of the year on the production front. This time, though, they are set to keep their pleasurable pop where everybody can see it, with their solo nationwide tour. It comes on the back of releasing their debut LP Sleep in the Water, which if lead teaser track 'Ghost' is anything to go by, will certainly feature many claims for entry into a third consecutive Hottest 100. The dream-inducing wizards will be playing at The Forum on August 24 and they will be supported by Fishing and Velma Grove. This should not be missed. https://youtube.com/watch?v=MNN1JWnXzyQ
There's already a huge dose of colour and fanfare set to descend on St Kilda's Fitzroy Street in February for the annual Midsumma Pride March. But just in case you need a little bit more, you'll find it waiting inside Prince Public Bar at a vibrant, sugar-dusted pop-up by Digby Cakes. Kicking off Saturday, February 4 — then returning on Sunday, February 5; Saturday, February 11; Saturday, February 18 and Saturday, February 25 — the takeover will see the venue's pastry cabinet stocked with an eye-catching, smile-inducing curation of cakes and cookies. If you're yet to drool over Louie Digby's talents on Instagram, now's the perfect chance to get acquainted. In honour of Midsumma, expect a rainbow-inspired range of oozy cookies priced at $6 a pop, along with colourful cakes at $10 a slice. During opening week, we're told they'll even be rainbow cupcakes up for grabs. Digby's sweet treats will be available from 8am each day of the pop-up, until sold out, with Prince Public Bar slinging its usual coffee menu to match.
No one has ever eaten just one roll of sushi. Or, if they have, they haven't done so willingly. Once you devour one coin-sized piece, you instantly want more. And more. You get the picture. Enter Sash Japanese's $39 Thursday deal, which sees the Windsor restaurant serve up all-you-can-eat sushi. Eight different types are on offer, so you can dig into as many rolls of soft shell crab and watermelon, salmon and avocado, miso kingfish, wagyu beef and wasabi tuna as your stomach can handle in around 90 minutes. You don't have to buy a drink for the deal to be valid, but if you decide to, you can pick from Aussie and Japanese beers, sake, Victorian wines and a range of Japanese-inspired cocktails, including the Yuzu Cheesecake ($18) made with sake, lemon and green tea. The endless array of seaweed-wrapped rice and filling is an ongoing special, on offer from 5.30pm till 10.30pm each Thursday. We do recommend you either head in early or grab some friends and book a table (it only takes bookings for groups of five or more) — some Thursday nights, Sash has over an hour wait for tables.
People do crazy things in the name of live art. They nail their testicles to roads in Russia, sew their own mouths shut, and get people to shoot them point blank. There's a reason artists have a reputation for insanity. But it's not all that often we talk about it in a cohesive way. Why does this happen, what is it for, and is there a future in it? Artists Moira Finucane, Natalie Abbott, Casey Jenkins and Stelarc will be joined in discussion with Julieanne Pearce at The Wheeler Centre for a debate on the topic. Finally, we have the chance to ask: was this really worth it? This event was featured in our top ten things to see at the Festival of Live Art. See the full list here.
Frolic amidst the flowers in the picturesque Carlton Gardens before tucking into a feast fit for a king. Part of the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, Gardens by Twilight will welcome a convoy of food trucks to the grounds around the Royal Exhibition Centre for an after-dark picnic of the most spectacular kind. Kicking off at 6pm on Friday, March 18, this ticketed event will feature morsels from Toasta, Speedy Gonzales, Yo India, Let's Do Yum Cha, Smokin' Barrys, Manny's Doughnuts and many more. Once you've eaten your fill, picnickers can check out some of the highlights of the Flower Show by night, including the Landscape Show Gardens and the Great Hall of Flowers. For more information about the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, visit melbflowershow.com.au. Image: Jason Edwards Photography.
Ready player one, for a music festival unlike any you've ever been a part of. Taking over Fitzroy's Evelyn Hotel on March 3 and 4, Square Sounds is Australia's only event dedicated to chipmusic — that is, tunes inspired by and/or made using video game consoles. It may sound rather niche, but that's where you'd be wrong – as it happens, you can wrangle quite a bit of sound out of an old Game Boy. Whether you're into prog rock or deep house, the eclectic Square Sounds program should have something to fit your taste. Indeed, this year's festival will welcome chipmusic artists from the US, Japan, France and Sweden, as well as right here in our own backyard. Punters can even get in on the action themselves via 7bit Hero, an audiovisual experience that turns your phone into a joystick while Brisbane-based musician Hans van Vliet provides the live soundtrack.
If you experienced lauded director Barry Jenkins' last film Moonlight, then you would know that he's able to load his movies up with an emotional punch like no one else can. And if you believe the early reviews for his latest production If Beale Street Could Talk, this time around could possibly be even more powerful. Starring Kiki Layne as Tish and Stephan James as Fonny, this adaptation of James Baldwin's acclaimed novel is a love story set within the bustling world of 1970s New York. As the leading couple fall in love and come to expect their first child, their promising future is left in tatters when Fonny is arrested for a crime he didn't commit. Elegantly adapting Baldwin's celebrated portrayal of black America, the three-time Academy Award-nominated Jenkins offers up a cinematically stunning masterpiece that considers the power of love and family alongside a razor-sharp social commentary. Currently sitting at a 94% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it seems like Jenkins has produced yet another massive success. You can catch his latest flick nationwide from Thursday, February 14 — be sure to check out the trailer here beforehand. But if you can't wait until Thursday, we've got our hands on a bunch of double passes to the preview screening at Palace Como Cinemas on Wednesday, February 13. To be in with a chance, enter with your details below. [competition]707676[/competition]
If you've been keeping an eye on the NGV's programming, you'll know that the gallery's currently playing host to Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality: a major collection of ancient Chinese statues crafted between 221–206 BCE. And the figures are such a big deal, they've even inspired an unlikely themed high tea, happening at the Sofitel Melbourne in collaboration with the team at Dulux. Here, you can have a crack at painting (and eating) your own mini terracotta warriors, bringing chocolate figurines to life with some artistic flair, a paintbrush and a rainbow of edible Dulux paints. There'll be fountains of the stuff, pouring vibrant colours including Midas Touch, Mint Twist, Symphony Red and China White. To match, Sofitel pastry chef David Hann is whipping up an Asian-accented high tea buffet of sweet and savoury bites, from steamed pork buns to crispy wontons with chocolate, ginger and pineapple. The arty high tea will set you back $99, including a glass of bubbly and unlimited tea and coffee. An extra $19 will get you free-flowing sparkling wine. The Sofitel x Dulux Terracotta Warrior High Tea is happening in Sofi's Lounge every Saturday and Sunday at 2.30pm between May 25–October 13. The NGV International's Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality exhibition runs from May 24–October 13.
Christmas markets are always excellent for those of us who tend to leave gift purchasing until the last minute — and, thankfully, Etsy is setting up their markets all over Australia in the final weekend of November. Etsy Made Local is a grassroots initiative that celebrates crafters, collectors and artisans in local communities, and provides them with the opportunity to sell their creations both online and in a physical space. So whether you're on the hunt for handmade wares or vintage goods, these guys have got you covered. The markets will be held in Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra. Because each market focuses on the best local talent, each market will be filled with different stallholders and unique creations. Supporting creative small businesses and scoring a killer Christmas gift is a win for everyone involved, so head to Collingwood's Rupert on Rupert on Saturday, November 28 and get your festive shopping done early, for once.
This time last year, the Brisbane Street Art Festival was in full swing, with creative folks brightening up the Queensland capital with their artistic work. While the fest ranks among the many, many events changing their plans in 2020, you can still watch street art come to life before your eyes this weekend — via a two-day live stream. Teaming up with Brisbane art space Superordinary, BSAF is unleashing 19 artists on the building. Naturally, they'll be painting up a storm. Every inch of the space will be transformed, and everyone can see it happen. That doesn't just cover street art-loving Brisbanites, either, because online streams are handy that way. The weekend-long event runs across Saturday, May 16–Sunday, May 17, with the action streamed via Twitch. As well as oh-so-much painting, there's also interviews, Q&As and roving performances — all while social distancing. https://www.facebook.com/BrisbaneStreetArt/photos/a.10150176402908346/10158102825878346/?type=3&theater Top image: Gus Eagleton.
The year was 2005. The album: Hold Your Colour. That's when Pendulum hit the big time, and also why. The Perth-born drum-and-bass group not only became a homegrown sensation with their debut record and its tracks 'Slam', 'Tarantula' and 'Fasten Your Seatbelts', but made it into the UK Top 40 Singles Chart as well. Now, the year is 2023. Almost two decades after that breakout album, the Perth-born electronic favourites are breaking out their latest Down Under tour. Five stops, two countries, plenty of echoing arenas: that's what's in store when Pendulum play Australia and New Zealand in October, including on Saturday, October 7 at John Cain Arena in Melbourne. This'll be the first time that the band has performed across either country since 2021. Pendulum won't just be giving Hold Your Colour's tunes a whirl, but also songs from 2008's In Silico and 2010's Immersion. Expect to hear new single 'Halo' featuring Bullet for My Valentine singer Matt Tuck get a spin, too. Currently comprised of Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillien, Peredur ap Gwynedd and KJ Sawka, Pendulum heads home with experience playing huge overseas festivals such as Glastonbury, Creamfields, Coachella, Rock Am Ring, Reading and Leeds, and also recently headlining Ultra Miami. The band went on hiatus from early 2012, with Swire and McGrillien focusing on side project Knife Party, before starting to reunite in 2015. Joining Pendulum on their latest Aussie and Aotearoa tour: fellow Perth-bred drum and bass talent ShockOne, aka Karl Thomas. Images: Luke Dyson.
Ridesharing service DiDi launched in Melbourne back in 2018, but you probably haven't needed its services much lately. Now, as many Melburnians are beginning to venture out of the house — thanks to the city's easing COVID-19 restrictions, including on hospitality venues — the company is offering half-price rides on select days across the next six weeks. Spent the past few months walking around your neighbourhood for exercise? Don't quite fancy hopping on public transport as yet? Don't have a car — or a bike? Obviously, that's where ridesharing comes in. You can, of course, choose from Ola, Uber or DiDi. If you go with the latter, though — and if it's 4–10pm on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday between now and December 5 — you'll get a much cheaper trip. The newer of the three, DiDi is offering every Melburnian two half-price trips (up to $20 a trip) each on those select days, all within metro Melbourne. You just need to jump onto the app and use the code DIDIHOUR, which get you access to the discounted trip. You can only use the code once per week — and if you're wondering about the time slot, that's so you can get to or from a pub, bar or restaurant now that they're back in action. According to DiDi, lots of Melburnians have already been using the app since the latest set of eased restrictions came into effect this week. DiDi Chuxing launched in China in 2012 and has quickly become a huge player in the global ridesharing game — it has since bought out Uber's Chinese operations and has stakes in numerous companies, including Ola, Taxify, Lyft and Grab. To get your two half-price DiDi trips — as valid from 4–10pm on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday between now and December 5 — download the app (for iOS or Android) and use the code DIDIHOUR.
Sticky Institute, Melbourne's staunch defenders of independent zine culture, have four huge days of entertainment lined up for Paper City, a festival celebrating everything in and around the joys of printed matter. If heartfelt, handcrafted mini-mags on any number of niche topics sounds like a riot, this is the event for you. The opening night party at Yah Yah's on Thursday features underground rap/noise stars Brothers Hand Mirror with supports in the folk and indie vein, as well as a complement of DJs. Friday the festival kicks off proper, with events all day at Sticky's underground Degraves Subway space, with a band t-shirt party and a split-zine launch among the day's lo-fi but high energy activities. Saturday brings some zine-world heavy hitters with the launch of the second issues of both the ethical eaters' recipe book Veganistan, and the much-needed Sex Industry Apologist. Then Sunday is the main event: a zine stall at Melbourne Town Hall, for all your zine needs. Get amongst it!
Since 2011, DJ Tom Loud's travelling dance party Hot Dub Time Machine has ripped up stages the world over, offering a rolling crossfade of the last six decades of pop-music. And two years ago he launched Wine Machine, a series of al fresco get-togethers on some of the country's most-loved wine regions. The Wine Machine events were a success and the tour will be returning to Yarra Valley's Rochford Wines for a third year on on Saturday, April 6. The boutique event will run from early afternoon through to after dark, and feature a hand-picked smorgasbord of Australian talent, including The Presets, Hayden James and Confidence Man. This will all lead into one of Hot Dub's signature sets, which will see audiences dancing their way from 1954 to today, as the DJ mixes best-known song from each year. Backing up the tunes, expect a tasty lineup of eats, craft beer and, of course, some sensational vino from these Australian wine regions. Safe to say, it's probably the rowdiest event these wineries will host all year.
There's a decaying ballroom in Flinders Street Station. Really. Once used as a lecture theatre, a dance hall and even a private boxing ring, the ballroom is hidden up the western end of the station’s third story. You'd be forgiven for missing it, the whole site's been closed to the public since 1985. But now, Premier Daniel Andrews has announced a facelift for Flinders Street Station, with $100 million allocated to upgrades and repairs — and the crumbling ballroom. Speaking on 3AW radio this morning and reported by The Age, Andrews stated that work on the refurbishment would begin as soon as possible, with areas of focus including upgrades to the platforms, information displays and toilets, as well as repairs to the iconic clock tower and crumbling ballroom. The restoration is expected to take between four and five years, and includes plans to accommodate additional commercial tenants. So what's to become of the grand ol' ballroom? The government plans to have chats with the private sector and universities to find new uses for the ballroom, as well as various other vacant rooms within the 110-year-old station which are currently in a state of disrepair. Previous proposals for the station’s upgrade have included a railway museum, an art gallery, as well as bars, cafes and retail spaces. "It needs to be restored to its former glory," said the premier, whose government has already scrapped his predecessor's plan for a costly (and rather hideous) redesign. "This is not a design problem, this is a disrepair problem," Andrews said. Our money's on the art gallery. Via The Age.
For your next Netflix binge, the streaming platform isn't simply suggesting its latest must-see series — it's also telling you what you should be eating. Crack out the tortillas, start marinating some meat and whip up a bit of guacamole, because it's taco time. No mere mortal can sit down to watch a show about this Mexican dish without devouring a whole plate of them, after all. Called Las Crónicas del Taco in Spanish and Taco Chronicles in English, the new series fittingly stems from Netflix's Latin American division. Also unsurprisingly, the show is an ode a meal that's beloved not only in its country of origin, but the world over. Expect to learn more about the versatile tortilla, including its immense cultural significance. And expect to start craving the many different varieties of tacos, too, such as pastor, carnitas, canasta, asada, barbacoa and guisados. Ample gushing about the dish is part of the package — this is a show made for taco lovers, by taco lovers — as is a feast of taco visuals. As any fan of food-focused documentaries already knows oh-so-well, viewing this multi-part effort on an empty stomach is not recommended. Taco Chronicles does boast Javier Cabral among its behind-the-scenes team, with the culinary writer acting as an associate producer and 'taco scout'. The series' English-language trailer is only available on Netflix itself, but if you can speak Spanish — or fancy looking at a whole heap of tacos anyway — Netflix Latin America's unsubtitled clip is below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2qist_IxZI The first season of Taco Chronicles is now streaming on Netflix. Updated: August 12, 2019.
The Melbourne Museum is staying up late, giving you extra time to walk with the dinosaurs from the smash-hit Jurassic World exhibition. The museum will operate with extended hours on Friday nights throughout June, when the dinos will be joined by local DJ Jess McGuire and bartenders serving prehistoric cocktails. The blockbuster exhibition — which features jaw-dropping animatronic dinosaurs courtesy of special effects wizards Creature Technology — has been a big hit for the museum, receiving more visitors in its opening month than any exhibition before it. And honestly, once you've seen the life-size T. rex up close, it's easy to see why it's been so popular. Assuming you're one of the few people who has yet to check it out, this nocturnal program is your perfect chance to do so. Tickets can be booked in advance via the Melbourne Museum website. The bar opens at 6pm.
Little Ones Theatre, fresh from rocking Midsumma with Psycho Beach Party earlier this year, are now bringing their rendition of Oscar Wilde's Salome to the Malthouse. Salome, if you don't know your Bible tales, is the Old Testament lady who demanded John the Baptist's head on a plate as reward for doing a saucy dance for her stepdad, King Herod. Wilde's dramatisation, which deepens the undercurrent of sexual tension in the story, was banned in England for decades after it was written but has been an influential rendering of the tale. The Little Ones Theatre version will be far from any expectations you may have garnered from either the Bible or your likely introduction to Wilde by your local am-dram company's version of The Importance of Being Earnest. Presented with an air of camp extravagance, featuring matadors, New Wave music and drag ball style crossdressing, it promises copious amounts of both humour and eroticism. One suspects Oscar himself would heartily approve.
Whether you're an architecture nerd, a history buff, or simply fancy getting up close and personal with your city, you'll catch a fresh perspective at the Melbourne City DNA exhibition. Currently on display at North Melbourne's Meat Market as part of Melbourne Knowledge Week 2018, this innovative, eye-opening exhibition takes a deep dive into the city's past, present and future. And it does so with the help of some pretty nifty technology, through a week-long program of interactive exhibits, augmented reality, 3D visualisations and virtual reality experiences. You'll have the chance to 'wander' around greened-up versions of Melbourne's streets and laneways via a pair of VR goggles, enjoy the view from above with a huge 3D model and projections of Swanston Street, and even trip back in time through a simulation of Melbourne in the days before European settlement. As Acting Lord Mayor Arron Wood explained, the 13-exhibit program "shows how our data can be used creatively to tell the story of what Melbourne is, has been and will be". Other exhibition highlights include an exploration of Melbourne's history using iPads and augmented reality, and a glimpse of the future, through 3D visualisations of what the cityscape could look like in the coming years. Jump over to the MKW website for more details and to grab tickets.
Writer Daniel Keene and director Ariette Taylor are joining forces after nearly a decade apart for the Australian premiere of their production Dreamers. Having previously collaborated on more than 47 productions with the Keene Taylor Theatre Project from 1997-2002, this duo are nothing if not experienced. Quite rightly, this latest work will see them tackling the big issues: isolation, prejudice and intolerance. Lead character Anne who is in her 60s has begun a relationship with a much younger man who has recently moved to Australia. He is trying to establish himself in a new country, and the struggle against exclusion appears to be one battle after another. With issues that are both timeless and more pertinent than ever, this will be a memorable work — one that is especially relevant for those in need of a place or person to call their own. Interestingly, the cast of eight includes four original members of the Keene Taylor theatre company, such as Helen Morse, Paul English, Marco Chiappi and Jonathan Taylor. This work has been a long time coming. Get in quick before their hardcore fans book out the whole theatre. Photo: Jeff Busby.
Let's just admit it: landscape painting can be boring. The English countryside is great and all, but if you've seen one painting by John Constable, you've seen them all. There are few artists that can make them interesting, and when they do, it invariably looks like an acid tip. Lookin' at you, Van Gogh. But James Yuncken has found a way to imbue the style with newfound life. All his paintings in the upcoming exhibition Places Nearby document just that: places that are really, really, really nearby. Painting the nooks and crannies of the inner north and north-east, Yuncken has created works that strike a chord for locals. With an intricate, matte style each painting looks like an old Polaroid hidden deep within an old photo album — the kind you take on your first day in a new neighbourhood. To get the full experience, we recommend heading along on Saturday, September 6. From 10.30am, the artist is leading an intimate walking tour around the sites in his work. Meeting at the iconic Black Cat on Brunswick Street, Yuncken will guide you through the laneways, shopfronts and streets that inspired him. This "show and tell" will also include a tour of his personal studio. See here for more information.
Autumn is shaping up to be a seriously dog-friendly affair here in Melbourne and we aren't complaining one bit. Next up on the calendar of pup-filled events is the Stomping Hounds and Sours mini beer fest, descending on The Ascot Lot this Saturday, April 6. Kicking off at midday, it's a celebration of Collingwood brewery Stomping Ground's latest batch of sour beers, dubbed the Smash Series. A dedicated tinnie bar will be slinging all three lip-puckering flavours — watermelon, guava and the brand-new passionfruit (grab all three for $20) — while other Stomping Ground classics will be pouring on tap. Adventurous beer drinkers can even wet their whistle with a range of Smash-infused slushies and sour beer cocktails. A fresh lineup of vendors will ensure that humans will have food options galore, and four-legged guests are sure to go barking mad for the free doggy treats, cleverly crafted from Stomping Ground's spent grain. Both humans and doggos are welcome to join in the day's festivities, with bookings available if you're quick enough.
When it comes to originality, place Violent Night on cinema's naughty list: Die Hard meets Home Alone meets Bad Santa meets The Christmas Chronicles in this grab-bag action-comedy, meets Stranger Things favourite David Harbour donning the red suit (leather here, still fur-trimmed) and doing a John Wick impression. The film's beer-swigging, sledgehammer-swinging version of Saint Nick has a magic sack that contains the right presents for the right person each time he reaches into it, and screenwriters Pat Casey and Josh Miller must've felt that way themselves while piecing together their script. Pilfering from the festive canon, and from celluloid history in general, happens heartily and often in this Yuletide effort. Co-scribes on Sonic the Hedgehog and its sequel, the pair are clearly experienced in the movie version of regifting. And while they haven't solely wrapped up lumps of coal in their latest effort, Violent Night's true presents are few and far between. The main gift, in the gruff-but-charming mode that's worked such a treat on Stranger Things and in Black Widow, is Harbour. It's easy to see how Violent Night's formula — not to mention its raiding of the Christmas and action genres for parts — got the tick of approval with his casting. He's visibly having a blast, too, from the moment his version of Santa is introduced downing drinks in a British bar, bellyaching about the lack of festive spirit in kids today, thinking about packing it all in and then spewing actual vomit to go with his apathy (and urine) from the side of his midair sleigh. Whenever Harbour isn't in the frame, which occurs more often than it should, Violent Night is a far worse picture. When you're shopping for the season, you have to commit to your present purchases, but this film can't always decide if it wants to be salty or sweet. Harbour's Kris Kringle: saltier than a tub of beer nuts. Still, after his sloshed pub stint, he keeps grumpily doing his job, because Christmas Eve isn't really the time to quit. Then, at the Lightstone abode, aka "the most secure private residence in the country" as viewers are told, more booze and a massage chair calls him — and that butt-vibrating rest sees him unwittingly caught up in an attack on the property. As wealthy matriarch Gertrude (Beverly D'Angelo, Shooter) lords over her adult children and their families, mercenaries storm in with their sights set on the mansion's vault. What the self-described Scrooge (John Leguizamo, The Menu) and his interchangeable colleagues aren't counting on, of course, is a formidable Father Christmas skulking around. He's trying to get away more than initially save the day, but he'll happily dispense season's beatings to do both. Just as the John Wick films, then Atomic Blonde, then Nobody all knew — Bullet Train director David Leitch has either helmed or produced them all, doing the latter with Violent Night — there's visual poetry and visceral thrills to be found when someone super-competent at holding their own dispenses with nefarious foes. That's the case even when they're battling scenery-chewing, "bah humbug"!-spouting, Hans Gruber-wannabe antagonists like Scrooge, plus his flimsier henchmen. As that's happening, and frequently, Violent Night ticks off many a movie's wishlist, but that's only part of the premise here. Those Lightstone offspring include Jason (Alex Hassell, Cowboy Bebop), who has his ex Linda (Alexis Louder, The Terminal List) and seven-year-old daughter Trudy (Leah Brady, The Umbrella Academy) in tow, and wants this Christmas jaunt to be a permanent reunion. That's a layer of drama Violent Night doesn't need, adding nothing but filler, just like Jason's sister Alva's (Edi Patterson, The Righteous Gemstones) Succession-esque clamouring for the family company. There's usually never a bad time to eat the rich, but Violent Night's efforts are a half-chomp at best — the gun-toting crew of intruders trying to rip off millions of dollars are always the real bad guys, after all. Casey and Miller haven't penned a movie with much in the way of depth, and attempting to pretend otherwise proves as clunky as it sounds. The saccharine side that Trudy's presence brings is similarly just a way to take up time; Bad Santa's bad Santa has a pint-sized offsider, which means this flick's does as well, apparently. Trudy has also just watched Home Alone and screams about it (yes, the nods are that blatant). The sizeable scene that puts her fandom to good use, nails, bowling balls, sabotaged ladder rungs and all, is among Violent Night's most entertaining, though. The film knows how to make its familiar parts gleam when it wants to, but that isn't often enough. Director Tommy Wirkola must've been a simple hire for the job, however, thanks to Dead Snow and its sequel, plus Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. The filmmaker has stuffed his stocking with high-concept this-meets-that flicks, the exact type of movie that Violent Night is from go to whoa to ho-ho-ho. Unsurprisingly, he fares best when his picture is letting loose and living up to its enticing idea, complete with kinetic fight choreography, blood and gory deaths, and everything from icicles to lit-up star tree-toppers used as weapons. In pure action terms, there's an around-the-world sleigh ride's worth of mileage in a literally killer Santa Claus turning slasher not in a horror-flick fashion (despite its many borrowings from elsewhere, this isn't a Silent Night Deadly Night do-over), but to play hero. Comedy isn't Wirkola's strength, or the feature's — see: the laboured attempts at laughs around Alva's actor spouse Morgan (Cam Gigandet, Without Remorse) and aspiring-influencer son Bert (Alexander Elliot, The Hardy Boys) — which is why all those nods to Gremlins, The Ref, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and more land with the hollow thud of an empty box. Holiday schmaltz and reminders that there's more to the festive season than material aren't highlights either, and Casey and Miller haven't stretched themselves in trying to come up with either amusing or heartfelt dialogue. Even with a The Northman-style backstory part of Violent Night's take on the jolly man, that leaves Harbour with a heap of heavy lifting in the film's first two thirds. He's up to the task — again, it's an ace premise with ace lead casting — but he's never walking audiences through an ultra-violent Christmas movie wonderland.
Loving Melbourne is easy — the high-calibre coffee, the burgeoning food and wine scene, the motley street art and those famous laneways. It's a city which hooks you with its effortlessly cool edge, which makes it mighty hard to leave. But, we're here to tell you, Victoria's culinary and cultural scene extends well beyond this buzzing metropolis. In fact, there's a multitude of exciting events happening far outside of Melbourne's perfect grid. To help you out, we've curated a list of the very best things to eat, see and do in regional Victoria this spring. Take it from us — the air is crisp, the undulating hills mighty relaxing and this lineup of events is super enticing. From blockbuster art exhibitions to food and wine festivals of mammoth proportions, you'll easily find your happy space away from the bustling city streets. So, jump in the car, chuck on your regional Vic Spotify mix — be sure to include Cut Copy, The Avalanches, Crowded House and other Victorian musicians — and get ready to discover a different side of this wonderful state.
Melbourne's scored itself a new multi-sensory live music experience. Welcome to Seasons, a series of seasonal immersive events that draw inspiration from the world around us. Each edition promises something new and unique for Melbourne audiences, with local label Good Manners programming the tunes and visual treats by creative studio John Fish, whose work has previously wowed at the likes of Strawberry Fields, Pitch Music Festival and Melbourne Music Week. We're told to expect plenty of other surprises thrown into the mix as well. First out of the gates is Season's launch edition, Autumn, which descends on Rubix Warehouse on April 24, for a fittingly huge ANZAC Day Eve debut. Heading up the starting bill, there's The Australian Music Prize-nominated Darcy Baylis, genre-bending electronic act Alta, and Melbourne duo Shouse, as they serve up a live fix of their euphoric house cuts. R&B and house specialist Shelley will be dishing up the goods in between sets, with daring DJ Brooke Powers closing out the night with a hard-hitting set of her own.
Playwright, poet and performer Inua Ellams is on his way to Melbourne – and he's bringing his critically acclaimed one-man show with him. In Black T-shirt Collection, Ellams plays two brothers named Mathew and Muhammed. Matthew is Christian and straight. Muhammad is Muslim and gay. For a time, they find success in their native Nigeria with a t-shirt business, until they're forced to flee their homeland when Muhammed is outed by a journalist. The story that follows hits on big issues from religion and homophobia, to migration and family, to consumerism and globalisation. Ellams will perform the show on-stage at Arts Centre Melbourne from September 5–10. He'll also take part in an audience Q&A session following a daytime performance on September 6. Photo: Franklyn Rodgers.
Looking for something to fill your time (in between binging all 86 episodes of The Sopranos, of course)? TAFE Victoria is offering a heap of courses — for free. There are currently 46 free 'priority' courses on offer at Victorian TAFE institutions, running from a Diploma of Nursing to an Advanced Diploma in Accounting and a Certificate IV in Cyber Security. Exactly what courses are available at what time varies with what jobs are currently in demand in Victoria. The free TAFE for priority courses initiative isn't new — with the first free courses on offer from January 1, 2019 — but is particularly important right now, as Melbourne enters its second lockdown. Thanks to a $163 million boost from the Victorian Government, 10,000 more free TAFE places have been created for the second half of the year and new (free) courses have launched, including certificates in Mental Health Peer Work, Health Services Assistance and Civil Construction Plant Operations. According to the State Government, the free courses will not only help Melburnians who have lost a job during COVID-19, but will also help the state rebuild post-lockdown. "We're giving Victorians workers and industry the skills they need to help us rebuild from coronavirus," Minister for Training and Skills and Higher Education Gayle Tierney said in a statement. To be eligible for a free priority TAFE course, you'll have to be an Australian or New Zealand citizen or a permanent Australian resident and fit one of the extra criteria. This may be you if you're under 20 years old, if you will be upskilling (that is, enrolling in a higher qualification than you've previously attained), or you're a Victorian who requires additional support — ie, you're unemployed or have recently been retrenched. If you're looking to change careers, you may also be considered for one of the free places. To find out more about the free TAFE courses and enrol, head to the TAFE Victoria website.
What if a bomb had taken out Adolf Hitler in 1939? That's the question that haunts Georg Elser (Christian Friedel) after his assassination attempt fails due to timing. He hatched a plot, built explosives and set a timer, but it all went off too late. As the English-language name of the film that unfolds his story foreshadows, just under a quarter of an hour proved the difference between the past everyone knows and a World War II-free alternate timeline. In telling his tale, those titular 13 minutes are influential; however this measured, methodical feature is more concerned with the state of affairs that led Elser to such drastic deeds, instead of a well-worn account of what happened next. How did a mild-mannered pacifist and seemingly ordinary German citizen become the would-be killer of the 20th century's most despised figure? What injustices did he witness? What paved his path towards trying to save his country through a potentially revolutionary act of violence? Again, many of the broad strokes of life at the time are known, but 13 Minutes filters a familiar situation through one man's experience. After the blast, Elser is detained, interrogated and tortured by the Gestapo, his brutal treatment intercut with his preceding years. First, he's a carefree musician; then, he's a carpenter trying to save his family farm; next, he's fooling around with a married woman (Katharina Schuttler). Around him, society and sentiment changes under the Nazi party's influence. Best known as the director of Downfall, the Hitler film that launched a thousand memes, Oliver Hirschbiegel has explored this chapter of history before. That he does so again in meticulous detail isn't surprising, nor are the handsome images he works with. Though his last feature — the abysmal Diana — might indicate otherwise, the filmmaker shows an assured hand with conflict-riddled, based-on-real-life material. Indeed, 13 Minutes looks, sounds and feels the part. Yet it's never anything more than interesting, rather than gripping. Workmanlike best describes Hirschbiegel's effort, hitting all the right notes but playing a standard tune rather than a truly affecting melody. Given the rollercoaster ride his last decade of filmmaking has provided, perhaps he's just happy to play it safe. To the director, splitting the difference between the intense heights of his biggest hit and the considerable lows of his most recent biopic probably doesn't seem like such a bad outcome. Thankfully, the committed, charming Friedel is marching to his own beat, his performance as impassioned as the rest of the movie is restrained. That the film around him is just competently going through the motions of an important story doesn't seem to sway his complex portrayal. Of course, shining a bigger spotlight on a figure barely remembered in the official record, let alone seen in cinema (with a 1989 film called Seven Minutes Elser's only other big screen depiction), is a feat worth applauding regardless of the muted end result. And that's what lingers in 13 Minutes: the true tale surrounding the greatest act of WWII heroism that never was.
After three years of envelope-pushing dishes and rule-breaking dinner degustations, Carlton's small-but-mighty Nora has completed its last-ever service. Owners Sarin Rojanametin and Jean Thamthanakorn have announced they'd shut the doors to their Elgin Street eatery in December, and have drawn the curtains on one of Melbourne's most innovative food offerings of recent years. Nora first opened its doors as an experimental, Thai-inspired cafe back in 2014, hitting reset in 2016 to reopen as degustation restaurant, giving the owners more scope to flex their creative muscles. But there's one last chance to eat Nora's food. In a last hurrah, Rojanametin and Thamthanakorn will cook a final meal at Collingwood's The Moon on Sunday, January 7. The $95 ticket includes a taste of Nora's full menu, plus an aperitif and digestif. Wines will be available to purchase. 2018 will find the pair venturing back to their roots, tapping into new inspirations and setting their sights on fresh challenges. We hope to see a new venture from them in the near future.
If you've been dreaming of a white Christmas in July, this isn't for you. This year, The Kraken Black Spiced Rum is turning tradition on its head by transforming Melbourne haunt A Hereford Beefstouw into a deep, dark, mysterious wonderland for one evening only. On arrival, you'll immersed in the sounds of a violin being played live within a giant snow globe. You'll then be met with a warming Spiced Egg Fogg. The cocktail is a take on traditional eggnog, spiked with orange marmalade and — you guessed it — The Kraken Black Spiced Rum. Next up is an enigmatic feast, featuring dishes infused with black or blackened ingredients. Among A Hereford Beefstouw's offerings, you'll find rum-cured gravlax with squid ink mustard; blackened turkey with an orange, chestnut and black breadcrumb stuffing; and ash pavlova with rum-marinated blackberries. Three adventurous cocktails — a Sucker Punch, Sea Spector and Kraken Espresso Martini — will be available to enjoy with dishes. And they're not the only surprises. The plan is to keep you entirely ensconced in The Kraken's wintry abyss with a scattering of unexpected events. We can tell you, however, to look out for snow and listen for a cappella carollers. Your ticket includes absolutely everything: cocktails, the feast, live happenings and a farewell gift to take home. Kraken Kristmas in July will take place on Wednesday, July 25 from 7pm-10pm. This is an 18+ event and you can snag a ticket here.
The latest effort from RoboCop, Showgirls and Starship Troopers director Paul Verhoeven, Elle is a rape-revenge film — or a rape-anti-revenge film, perhaps. It's also a movie calculated to conjure some laughter, as surprising as that may seem given the topic at hand. The narrative's focus on a sexual assault victim's behaviour after her attack, and the incredulous reaction audiences may have thanks to more than a few awkwardly comedic moments, are closely linked. Bringing the aptly named novel Oh... to the screen, Verhoeven not only unpacks unpleasant experiences, but makes viewers confront the urges such experiences can awaken, and the instant, often inappropriate responses that come with them. It's an ambitious aim, particularly in a thriller steeped in sexual exploits both forceful and consensual, not to mention one heavily reliant upon perfecting the right mood and tone. Peppered with the kind of chuckles that sometimes spring from nerves and discomfort, it's one that the movie achieves on an intellectual rather than an emotional level. Elle will get you thinking and reacting, but not always feeling. And while that might be fitting given the psychological realm the movie willingly plays in, it's also unintentionally distancing. The film's title refers to Michèle (Isabelle Huppert), an executive at a video game company readying a new erotically violent release. After an intruder forces himself upon her and then flees, Michèle goes about the rest of her day. When the subject of her attack comes up, she steadfastly, matter-of-factly refuses to go to the police. Being plunged into the depths of physical assault, however, leaves her intrigued and even somewhat emboldened as she embarks on a mission to track down the perpetrator. While Elle isn't as violently or sexually excessive as some of Verhoeven's earlier efforts — and definitely proves more restrained in its visual style — the Dutch filmmaker has sly fun with subverting the expected in his first French-language feature. From the moment the movie opens with heated grunts that could just stem from energetic lovemaking (though they don't), he toys with content, with convention and with his audience. It's not quite a case of nothing being as it seems. Instead, everything that happens inspires many, many questions. That includes Michèle's behaviour and backstory, the several other complicated relationships involving her friends, her son and her ex-husband, and Verhoeven's ability to combine nuance in some moments with a sledgehammer lack of subtlety in others. Huppert clearly relishes the loaded territory she's playing in, and proves the real reason Elle demands attention. Although the film itself often lets its interesting perspective do the heavy lifting, its star is an absolute revelation. Or she would be, were it not for the five decade's worth of incredible performances in her ledger already. Still, operating at her absolute best, she's the complex, commanding core of a movie that's purposefully challenging in a number of senses — sometimes successful, sometimes not.
For more than 100 years, Richmond's Prince Alfred Hotel has been a popular local hang. It's the kind of place you can take a hot date, a bunch of mates, your grandma or even your dog — the beer garden welcomes all furry friends. To reward its loyal locals, the pub is offering a cracking Monday night special. Get down there with 15 bucks in your hand and you can treat yourself to a hearty main for a fraction of the usual price. The food menu is a selection of classic pub favourites — think beef burger with bacon, pie of the day and fish and chips. But locals' night isn't the only special on the Prince Alfred calendar. Wednesday nights are devoted to Meat Club, letting you nab a 300-gram porterhouse for $15, and come Friday, happy runs from 4pm–7pm offering $7 drinks. When the weekend hits, Prince Alfred is slinging free bottles of bubbles for table bookings of four or more before 4pm on Saturdays, and a $25 roast on Sundays, soundtracked by live acoustic music. Whether you're actually a local or just masquerading as one, secure a table for Locals' Night via Prince Alfred's website.
Give your festive season a Frenchy twist at Alliance Francaise de Melbourne's annual French Christmas Market, which is set to take over the organisation's St Kilda mansion on Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 8. It's assembled a lineup to tempt Francophiles, gift hunters and market fiends alike, showcasing a vibrant array of French homewares, jewellery, artisan goods, food, wine and even secondhand books. There'll be lots of activities for kids, plus ample adult fun with demos, workshops and lots of French food and drink. If it all leaves you feeling extra inspired, you can even get a taste of Alliance Francaise's language lessons at one of the weekend's free trial classes. Entry to the market is free all weekend as well, with the fun running from 10am to 5pm on both days. Image: Alliance Francaise.
Eandearingly known by those who love it as the Folkie, this is a great festival for the whole family in a relaxed coastal location. These guys have been putting on wonderful festival after festival since 1977, and all the kinks are well and truly ironed out to give you the best time imaginable. Local legends playing include The Stray Sisters (of The Waifs), Mama Kin, Ash Grunwald, Archie Roach, as well as a strong collection of international acts. If you want to chill out over the Labour Day Weekend, we reckon this is the festival for you.
When we take that first sip of our barista-brewed coffee on a workday morning, a lot of us can't actually imagine living without coffee. But what about living without a roof over your head or a guaranteed meal? Unfortunately, this is what many homeless people around Australia face each day, but on Friday, August 4, you can help your fellow Aussies out simply by buying a coffee as part of CafeSmart. CafeSmart is an annual event from StreetSmart that raises money and awareness for the homeless and is back for its seventh year running. This year over 500 cafes will aim to raise more than last year's total of $160,523. So how does it work? From every coffee purchased on August 7 at a participating cafe around Australia, $1 will be donated towards local projects. So if your go-to local isn't participating, shake things up for a day and head to one that is. Prefer a hot chocolate? You can also donate at the counter. Simply by aiming for a bighearted cafe, you'll be helping some of our country's most in-need humans, so treat yourself to a third or fourth coffee guilt-free. There are a heap of cafes participating across the country, but some include: SYDNEY The Grounds of Alexandria The Boathouse Bills Artificer Coffee Tea and Me Single O Three Blue Ducks Brewtown Newtown Daisy's Milkbar MELBOURNE Seven Seeds Assembly Proud Mary Top Paddock Tivoli Road Bakery Dr Morse Barry Axil Earl Sensory Lab BRISBANE Felix for Goodness Campos Mylk and Co Grinders Dovetail on Overend
It's getting cooler in Melbourne, and while that might mean hiding away indoors for some, Fitzroy's Provincial Hotel is putting forth a pretty convincing argument as to why you should get outside. Partnering with Wild Turkey American Honey, the rooftop is offering up a special brunch this season that'll help you channel some warmer climates. The food menu is inspired by America's Deep South — think honey and apple smoked chicken drumettes, waffles with bourbon barrel-aged honey and cheesecake with warm honey whiskey and ice cream. In a bid to support sustainability, all ingredients are sourced directly from local producers in the Yarra Valley. The brunch costs $60 per person and includes all your beverage needs such as beer, wine and three specialty American Honey cocktails, which you can garnish yourself with trimmings from the onsite garden. First up, there's the B&H Old-Fashioned (smoked bacon-washed whiskey, peach liqueur and apple juice), the Sweet and Sour Iced Tea (honey water, triple sec, kombucha and lemon) and the American Honey John Collins (cassis, lime and ginger ale). The Provincial Hotel's winter rooftop will be open for the duration of winter. The special brunch will run from 11am–1pm every Saturday and Sunday. Bookings are essential and can be made via the website.
When it comes to fine booze and fancy feeds, who says the inner city crowd has to have all the fun? This month, Eltham distillery Naught is reminding us of all the good stuff happening beyond the big smoke, when it teams up with the new Sebel Melbourne Ringwood for a sumptuous gin dinner. On Friday, August 12, the hotel's Orchard Restaurant and Bar will play host to the botanical-fuelled feast, dishing up four considered courses, each one centred around local produce and matched carefully to a different cocktail crafted on Naught's award-winning signature gin. For $125, you'll find yourself tucking into pairings like smoked gin kingfish ceviche with a Basil & Rhubarb Coupette, a gin-infused reworking of duck a l'orange sided with a classic Casino, and a riff on a baked Alaska teamed with Naught's Sanjo Sour. And of course, if you want to take full advantage of all that fine gin and ditch the drive home, you can simply book yourself a stay onsite — the Sebel's rates start from $215.
While it's necessary, you'd be hard-pressed to find too many Melburnians excited about the latest pandemic-induced restrictions, which have sent metropolitan Melbourne into stage four lockdowns and a state of disaster declared from Sunday, August 2. But, there's one thing that should make those stay-at-home orders a little easier, and that's the absolutely stinking weather headed our way for the rest of this week. Yep, if the Bureau of Meteorology's forecast is anything to go by, you'll barely want to leave your front porch, let alone venture the five kilometres from home you're currently allowed to travel for grocery shopping and exercise. According to the BOM, Victoria is in for some serious couch weather, kicking things off with 90 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms forecast for today, Tuesday, August 4. In metropolitan Melbourne, temperatures aren't set to climb above 12 degrees until Saturday, when it's forecast to max out at a slightly balmier 13 degrees. Much like our moods, the whole week is looking very soggy, too, with a strong chance of showers most days and possible hail for Tuesday and Wednesday. Indoors weather, for sure. https://twitter.com/BOM_Vic/status/1289823421510164482 However, ski bunnies might be left feeling a little wistful at news of some decent snowfall expected for parts of Victoria. Metropolitan Melbourne could see snow falling as low as 400–600 metres over the coming days, and regions like Ballarat and the Dandenongs look set to score some flurries of their own. In fact, flurries have already hit Colac this morning, with dairy farmer Lachie Sutherland Tweeting this video of his snow-dusted cows. https://twitter.com/LachSuth/status/1290389831701282817 To keep an eye on Melbourne's weather, head over to the BOM website. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in Victoria, head to the DHHS website. Image: Paula R Lively via Flickr
Northside food truck park Welcome to Thornbury is teaming up with the good folk at Mountain Goat Beer to dish up a one-off Sunday session jam-packed with live tunes. Join in the fun from 3pm on Sunday, March 19, and spend your afternoon soaking up sounds from a cast of well-known Aussie talent — while sipping a few crisp brews, of course. Tickets are an easy $10, which'll get you not just entry to the Live & Untamed party, but also your choice of complimentary bev — either a pint of Mountain Goat's new Headliner Pale Ale or a tinny of its Pink Gin & Soda. As always, the bar will be stocked with a hefty range of other sips, too. Meanwhile, there'll be some big names gracing the stage, with the day's lineup headed by ARIA Award-winning rocker Adalita, You Am I legend Davey Lane, and Kav Temperley, who you'll know as the frontman, bassist and songwriter of a little band called Eskimo Joe. Rounding out the bill are Scott Darlow, Zoë Fox and Reece Mastin, all up delivering a genre-hopping mix of tunes to help you wrap up your weekend in style.
The inaugural Melbourne Vegan Festival has arrived and ethically-minded eaters could not be happier. Topping the bill is Thug Kitchen, the infamous creators of the cookbook that told us all to "eat like you give a f**k" in 2014. "You bet your sweet ass everything we do is vegan. Every recipe on our site is completely plant-based," say creators Matt Holloway and Michelle Davis, the big vegan tickets for this year's festival. Jim Morris, a 79-year-old American bodybuilder, will also be in attendance and we're keen to hear how he keeps on keeping on. For those interested in vegan-focused business, Lentil As Anything founder Shanaka Fernando and the Loving Earth founder, Scott Fry will be there to talk shop. For those into raw foods, Raw Satya should be your one to watch; those up for a beverage, head to Dean O’Callaghan from The Good Brew Company. Considering the Vegan Festival will be held at the Corner, there's no way the event could go by without a bit of music, so Jamie Hay will be performing. In the spirit of the event, the Corner is extending their vegan menu for the day. So, if you're looking for some freshly-made vegan fare, cooking demonstrations and immediately useful talks, head to Melbourne’s very own vegan fest.
Art and vino prove the perfect pairing at Fitzroy's new pop-up cellar door meets photography exhibition. Championing skin contact wine grown in the Murray Darling region, along with the winemaking practices of Northeast Italy, new local label MDI Wines (formerly Mandi) is an emerging favourite of Melbourne's wine-sipping circuit. And until Monday, June 27, it's taking over the Gertrude Street event space At The Above for a tasting experience with a difference. The pop-up urban cellar door is not only pouring tastings of MDI's new-release drops, but showcasing an exhibition of works by celebrated Aussie photographer Josh Robenstone. While you sip and swirl, you'll be able to scope out pieces from the artist's BASTA! series, alongside additional works that have never been shown before. The featured snaps are from Robenstone's 2011 travels through Italian spots like the Amalfi Coast, Milan and Rome. What's more, their energy has been captured anew for the photographer's most recent designs, which you'll recognise gracing MDI's wine labels. The pop-up is open for tastings and gallery browsing from 10am–6pm Thursday to Sunday, taking walk-ins only. The MDI crew is also planning more exhibits and artists to join them at the cellar door over the coming months. [caption id="attachment_858930" align="alignnone" width="1920"] At the Above[/caption]
Step into the films of one of world cinema's greatest icons, with Australia’s favourite curmudgeonly critic as your guide. Screening at ACMI over two and a half weeks, Essential Bergman will showcase ten iconic titles from the oeuvre of Swedish master Ingmar Bergman, carefully selected by former At the Movies co-host David Stratton. Expect 35mm film prints, plenty of existential angst and not a handheld camera shot in sight. Even if you haven’t seen any Bergman films in full, odds are you’re at least unconsciously familiar with his work. Whether it’s Max von Sydow playing chess with the Grim Reaper in The Seventh Seal or the haunting dream sequence from the beginning of Wild Strawberries, Bergman has been responsible for some of the most indelible images in cinematic history. Other titles in the program include Persona, Cries and Whispers and Fanny and Alexander. Stratton himself will present a lecture on Bergman on Thursday, June 18, as well as an hour-long reviewing masterclass for aspiring critics aged 15 to 25. For the full Essential Bergman program, visit the ACMI website.
Are you sick of Friday nights spent in dingy bars with sleazy businessmen and girls in microscopic dresses? Does the thought of catching one more seedy cab from outside the Carlton Club make your skin crawl? Maybe it's time to class up your weekends. And there's no better way to do that than with late-night art, killer music, and the classiest venue of them all: the National Gallery of Victoria. From now until the end of August, the NGV are opening up their winter blockbuster series to the night-time crowd. It's been around for a few years now, so you probably know the drill. Each Friday night, you'll be able to cruise around Italian Masterpieces while listening to some sweet Aussie musicians and sipping on some wine. With talks, DJs, and a suitably Italian bar menu, the NGV has officially been transformed into an all-in-one oasis. This year's series will be kicked off by Kirin J Callinan on Friday, June 27 and followed up with the likes of Owl Eyes, Teeth & Tongue, Dan Kelly, and The Audreys. Head over to the NGV website to see the full line-up.
Thanks to an unfortunately timed COVID-19 outbreak, this year's edition of the Emerging Writers' Festival will take place entirely online. But if you're a devourer of books, you can rest assured it's still set to deliver a hefty lineup of talks, workshops, panels and more. Running from June 16–June 26, the all-digital program has events for all varieties of lit-lover — from After Dark, a night of live-streamed performance headlined by emerging stars like Wai-Mun Mah, Christy Tan, Jesse Oliver and Penny Smits, to a short story masterclass led by the award-winning Alice Bishop. Streamed via YouTube, Next Big Thing will feature readings from some of the country's hottest up-and-coming talent, while Littlefoot & Co heads up a night of spoken word on June 24. Plus, EWF favourite Amazing Babes will see a cast of familiar faces sharing stories about the women, real and imagined, who've helped shape their lives. The National Writers' Conference will also run as planned, with a full-day online program of panels, talks, workshops and pitching sessions. It's also your chance to hear from EWF's 2021 ambassadors, including poet and editor Elena Gomez (Body of Work), activist and novelist Tony Birch (Ghost River), and non-fiction star Sisonke Msimang (Always Another Country: A Memoir of Exile and Home). [caption id="attachment_811529" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sisonke Msimang[/caption]
