If you've ever watched a David Attenborough documentary about the planet and wished it was sillier and stupider, to the point of being entertainingly ridiculous and ridiculously entertaining alike, then Netflix comes bearing wonderful news. Actually, the BBC got there first, airing history-of-the-world mockumentary Cunk on Earth back in September 2022. Glorious things come to waiting viewers Down Under now, however — and this gleefully, delightfully absurd take on human civilisation from its earliest days till now, spanning cave paintings, Roman empires, Star Wars' empire, 1989 Belgian techno anthem 'Pump Up the Jam' and more, is one of the best shows to join Netflix in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 so far. This sometimes Technotronic-soundtracked five-part series' beat? Surveying how humanity came to its present state, stretching back through species' origins and evolution, and pondering everything from whether the Egyptian pyramids were built from the top down to the Cold War bringing about the "Soviet onion". The audience's guide across this condensed and comic history is the tweed-wearing Philomena Cunk, who has the steady voice of seasoned doco presenter down pat, plus the solemn gaze, but is firmly a fictional — and satirical — character. Comedian Diane Morgan first started playing the misinformed interviewer in 2013, in Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe, with Black Mirror creator Brooker behind Cunk on Earth as well. Over the past decade, Cunk has brought her odd questions to 2016's one-off Cunk on Shakespeare and Cunk on Christmas, and 2018's also five-instalment Cunk on Britain. Then, in Brooker's Death to 2020 and Death to 2021, two annual looks back at life during the pandemic, Morgan played Cunk-like everywoman Gemma Nerrick — aka the spoof specials' average person among its comic experts. That's Cunk's remit as well. She poses enquiries and makes observations that academics on various branches of history, plus archaeologists, biologists, engineers and others, wouldn't expect to be asked by their peers or serious interviewers. In fact, they wouldn't anticipate being asked Cunk's questions by anyone, really, except perhaps very young children. "If you want to talk about Russian Soviet vegetables, we can," is one response that Cunk's incorrect queries garner, this one after accusations of mansplaining when she's told she likely means the Soviet Union. When she isn't uttering outlandish questions, she's often simply demanding OTT statements that'll help the show go viral, such as an exchange with another boffin where she requests a pithy soundbite stating that Jesus Christ was "the first celebrity victim of cancel culture". Or, in classic history doco style, Cunk is walking and talking, her eyes trained on the camera and scenic and/or important locales stretching out behind her — and, elsewhere, narrating while remaining unseen over the same type of images. Much of Cunk on Earth's hilarity comes from its take on the past, and on humanity, as well as the series' love of the ludicrous — as delivered with Cunk's dry, droll and unflappable demeanour (unless she's learning that Laika, the first dog in space, didn't make it home). She posits with the straightest of faces that the human brain is made of pipes, and that Beethoven's 'Symphony No 5' has lyrics that just repeat the word "dumb" over and over. She has thoughts on the worst Romans, in ancient times and now; connects hieroglyphics to emojis and likens mummification to Gwyneth Paltrow's spa treatments; and asks "was early man made out of the same sort of meat as us?" while then wondering if human flesh ever had a pork- or beef-like moniker. Morgan's performance is a marvel, and a perceptive portrait of couldn't-care-less arrogance, ignorance and certainty that plays as an easy-but-still-smart caricature of a growing attitude prevalent online today. With one character, she's as much of a canny and cutting comedic force as Sacha Baron Cohen has proven with Ali G, Borat, Bruno and the various figures in 2018 mockumentary series Who Is America?. Cunk, in all of her on-screen appearances, adopts the same basic format as Baron Cohen's alter egos — proposing the absurd to both parody and interrogate. Her throwaway comment about the pyramids being designed the way they are to "stop homeless people from sleeping on them" says plenty about society's treatment of folks doing it tough, and she skewers the overuse and misattribution of quotes by stating that Aristotle said "dance like no one is watching". As brilliant as Morgan's deadpan turn is, and as committed as the Inside No 9, Motherland and Mandy actor is, Cunk on Earth is equally reliant upon its interviewees. They each take their task seriously — the real-life experts aren't here to court laughs — but they're also willing to use Cunk's silly queries and comments as a jumping-off point. The question about the brain's pipes inspires a considered and accessible explanation of two different schools of philosophical thought, for instance. Often, Cunk's naive musings spark tidbits and corrections that do exactly what an Attenborough-style show like this sincerely and earnestly would: inform. Of course, for every enlightening answer offered — whether recounting something that's common knowledge anyway or diving deeper — Cunk on Earth has Cunk being Cunk. She asks about ancient Greeks before declaring she couldn't give a shit, segues off on tangents about her ex-boyfriend Paul to counter her panel of experts, and pronounces words incorrectly to humorous effect (even if nothing beats her butchering of Camelot in Cunk on Britain, which begets questions about King Arthur's semen production). A series like this is a masterclass in juggling, with everything from a Black Mirror-leaning skit about Beethoven resurrected inside a smart speaker to a recreation of a Dark Ages fray purely through sound also thrown in. Here, this very series is flat-out masterful — and tremendously funny. Check out the trailer for Cunk on Earth below: Cunk on Earth streams via Netflix. Images: Jonathan Browning.
Being selected for the Melbourne International Film Festival's Bright Horizons is an achievement. Only one movie each year can take home the competition's $140,000 prize, however. 2025's just-announced victor: A Poet, which follows a once-celebrated literary figure who is having trouble writing, premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and marks the second feature by Simón Mesa Soto (Amparo). The fest's annual competition for emerging filmmakers has given its coveted accolade to "a tragicomic satire and microcosm of melancholy and irreverence", as the Bright Horizons Jury led by Aftersun director Charlotte Wells described A Poet. The same group also made its pick for MIFF's Best Australian Director of 2025, with photographer James J Robinson winning the award for his filmmaking debut First Light. Bright Horizons has been part of MIFF's program since 2022, when Australia's oldest film festival started its yearly prize for new directorial voices. Afrofuturist musical Neptune Frost won the award in its initial year — which Aftersun contended for — followed by Senegalese-French love story Banel & Adama in 2023, then Canadan dramedy Universal Language in 2024. "A Poet depicts Óscar, a failed poet turned reluctant mentor drifting between aspiration and self-destruction. The film is a biting fable of art as both an inescapable burden and a personal compass, breaking convention through its refreshingly brisk pace, unpretentious use of 16mm cinematography, deadpan performances by a mostly first-timer cast and pared-back jazzy score," the 2025 jury continued about A Poet. "The film's balancing act of unflinching character study and social satire marks Simón Mesa Soto as a vital voice in contemporary Latin American cinema." [caption id="attachment_1018710" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dijana Risteska[/caption] Of First Light — a Bright Horizons competitor, too — as the Best Australian Director recipient, Wells, Pavements and Videoheaven director Alex Ross Perry, Harvest filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari, composer and musician Caitlin Yeo (Last Days of the Space Age), author and screenwriter Nam Le (The Boat), performer Tamala (Late Night with the Devil) and IMDb founder Col Needham said: "James J Robinson's First Light is a moving and powerful meditation on faith, institutional corruption and moral awakening". "The film is anchored by a pitchperfect performance from Ruby Ruiz [Expats] and a sensorial mise en scène, inviting the audience into the spiritual grandeur of the landscape and the sacred intimacy of the convent to interrogate, alongside Sister Yolanda, not only the crime at hand, but also the Catholic Church and modern society itself." "As the first Australia–Philippines co-production to debut at MIFF, First Light not only showcases Robinson's promise as a cineaste but also marks a noteworthy milestone in cross-cultural cinema." 2025 is the third year of MIFF's Uncle Jack Charles Award, aka the First Nations Film Creative Award, as won this year by Yarrenyty Arltere Artists the art direction of short The Fix-It-Man and the Fix-It-Wooman. If you went to the festival and had your say in the Audience Award voting, you also contributed to 2025's winners lineup, too. After Australian documentaries Voice and Left Write Hook shared the accolade in 2024, another has won it outright in 2025: the aged care-focused Careless. For those who haven't caught them at MIFF, add the recipients of this year's accolades to your must-see list ASAP. Check out the trailers for A Poet, Careless andThe Fix-It-Man and the Fix-It-Wooman below: The 2025 Melbourne International Film Festival runs from Thursday, August 7–Sunday, August 24. For more information, visit the MIFF website. Bright Horizons Jury image: Dijana Risteska.
A new batch of travellers is checking in, and a third The White Lotus hotel is ready and waiting. As Lisa from BLACKPINK says in both the initial look at footage from season three in a broader HBO trailer and in the anthology hit's just-dropped first teaser, "welcome to The White Lotus in Thailand". Viewers mightn't be packing their bags to head to an exclusive Thai resort, but you can mark your calendar: the acclaimed series returns in mid-February 2025. A getaway at a luxurious hotel is normally relaxing, but that isn't what vacationers find in this show. It was true in the Hawaii-set first season in 2021, then in season two in Sicily in 2023, each with a largely different group of holidaymakers. Based on the sneak peek at season three, that's of course accurate again in the eight-episode run that arrives from Monday, February 17 Australian and New Zealand time. Walton Goggins (Fallout), Carrie Coon (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire), Jason Isaacs (The Crowded Room), Michelle Monaghan (MaXXXine), Leslie Bibb (Palm Royale) and Parker Posey (Mr & Mrs Smith) are among the folks checking in this time, alongside Sam Nivola (The Perfect Couple), Patrick Schwarzenegger (Gen V), Sarah Catherine Hook (Cruel Intentions) and Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education). Families, couples and friends on getaways: they're all covered by the above cast members. And as Monaghan exclaiming "what the fuck is this place?" indicates, they're in for some chaos. Bad feelings, seeking pleasure but finding pain, threatening to drink oneself to sleep: alongside guns, dancing, judgemental pals, missing pills, snakes, monkeys, ambulances, complaints about gluten-free rice and a body bag, they're all featured in the teaser as well. From season one, Natasha Rothwell (How to Die Alone) is back Hawaii spa manager Belinda, who advises that she's there on an exchange program. Season three also stars Lek Patravadi (In Family We Trust) and Tayme Thapthimthong (Thai Cave Rescue) as one of The White Lotus' owners and security guards, respectively. Where the Mike White (Brad's Status)-created, -written and -directed satire's first season had money in its sights and the second honed in on sex, eastern religion and spirituality is in the spotlight in season three, which also co-stars Nicholas Duvernay (Bel-Air), Arnas Fedaravičius (The Wheel of Time), Christian Friedel (The Zone of Interest), Scott Glenn (Bad Monkey), Dom Hetrakul (The Sweetest Taboo), Julian Kostov (Alex Rider), Charlotte Le Bon (Niki), Morgana O'Reilly (Bookworm) and Shalini Peiris (The Ark). Check out the first teaser trailer for The White Lotus season three below: The White Lotus returns on Sunday, February 16 in the US, which is Monday, February 17 Down Under. At present, the series streams via Binge in Australia and on Neon in New Zealand. Images: HBO.
UPDATE, December 23, 2021: Don't Look Up released in select Australian cinemas on Thursday, December 9, and will be available to stream via Netflix on Friday, December 24. Timing may be everything in comedy, but it's no longer working for Adam McKay. Back when the ex-Saturday Night Live writer was making Will Ferrell flicks (see: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Step Brothers), his films hinged upon comic timing. Ensuring jokes hit their marks was pivotal to his scripts, crucial during editing, and paramount to Ferrell and his co-stars. Since 2015, McKay has been equally obsessed with timeliness. More so, actually, in his latest film Don't Look Up. As started with The Big Short, which nabbed him a screenwriting Oscar, his current breed of politically focused satires trade not just in laughs but in topicality. Skewering the present or recent state of America has become the filmmaker's main aim — but, as 2018's Vice so firmly illustrated, smugly stating the obvious isn't particularly funny. On paper, Don't Look Up sounds like a dream. Using a comet hurtling towards earth as a stand-in, McKay parodies climate change inaction and the circus that tackling COVID-19 has turned into in the US, and spoofs self-serious disaster blockbusters — 1998's double whammy of Deep Impact and Armageddon among them — too. And, he enlists a fantasy cast, which spans five Oscar-winners, plus almost every other famous person he could seemingly think of. But he's still simply making the most blatant gags, all while assuming viewers wouldn't care about saving the planet, or their own lives, without such star-studded and glossily shot packaging. Although the pandemic has certainly exposed stupidity on a vast scale among politicians, the media and the everyday masses alike, mining that alone is hardly smart, savvy or amusing. Again, it's merely stating what everyone has already observed for the past two years, and delivering it with a shit-eating grin. That smirk is Don't Look Up's go-to expression among its broad caricatures — in the name of comedy, of course. Trump-esque President Orlean (Meryl Streep, The Prom) has one, as does her sycophantic dude-bro son/Chief of Staff Jason (Jonah Hill, The Beach Bum). Flinging trivial banter with fake smiles, "keep it light and fun" morning show hosts Brie Evantee (Cate Blanchett, Where'd You Go, Bernadette) and Jack Bremmer (Tyler Perry, Those Who Wish Me Dead) sport them as well. But PhD student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence, X-Men: Dark Phoenix) and her astronomy professor Dr Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) aren't smiling when she discovers a Mount Everest-sized comet, then he realises it's on a collision course with earth and will wipe out everything in six months and 14 days. And they aren't beaming when, with NASA's head of planetary defence Dr Teddy Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan, The Unforgivable), they try to spread the word. The world is literally ending, but no one cares. Conjuring up the premise with journalist/political commentator David Sirota, McKay turns Don't Look Up into a greatest-hits tour of predictable situations bound to occur if a celestial body was rocketing our way — and that've largely happened during the fights against climate change and COVID-19. The President's reactions stem from her clear-cut inspiration, including the decision to "sit tight and assess" until it's politically convenient or just unavoidable, and the later flat-out denial that anything is a problem. The character in general apes the same source, and bluntly, given Orlean is initially busy with a scandal surrounding her next Supreme Court nominee, and that her love life and the porn industry also spark headlines. The insipid media and social media response, favouring a rocky celebrity relationship (which is where Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi come in), is also all too real. The list goes on, including the memes when Dibiasky gets outraged on TV and the worshipping of Mindy as an AILF (Astronomer I'd Like to Fuck). A Steve Jobs/Jeff Bezos/Elon Musk-style tech-company head (The Trial of the Chicago 7's Mark Rylance, putting in the movie's worst performance) also gets involved — poking fun at putting capitalism ahead of the planet's best interests — as does a stoner skater (Timothée Chalamet, The French Dispatch) enamoured with Dibiasky. The list goes on here as well, because Don't Look Up is as overstuffed as it is toothless. Satire is meant to use irony and exaggeration to highlight failings and flaws, but McKay pads out the bulk of his 138-minute film with first draft-style sketches and figures that say the bare minimum, then hops quickly from one to the other in the hope that something lands. Yes, amid its on-screen text explanations, montages of stock clips, a superfluous pop song and overactive editing, Don't Look Up has a comic timing problem, too. And the scenes it does hover on, including the grating White House confrontations, could've easily been cut in half. McKay has zero faith in the world's ability to face existential and apocalyptic threats (understandably), and no hope his audience would notice if he didn't slickly spoon-feed surface-level commentary (insufferably), but he places plenty of responsibility upon DiCaprio, Lawrence and Morgan. The film's key trio aren't given much to work with, but everyone else — aside from the underused Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets) as Mindy's wife June — plays a one-note gag. Mindy is sweaty and swayed by attention; Dibiasky is defined by her two nose rings, flame-hued hair and the Wu-Tang Clan lyrics she's introduced singing; and Oglethorpe is the only competent government employee. It's a credit to all three actors that they turn in convincing performances and make their characters the most compelling part of Don't Look Up, although no one is anywhere near their best. The entire planet definitely isn't at its finest in Don't Look Up, which is the whole overstressed point; however, in weakly holding up a mirror to truths everyone's already painfully familiar with, it didn't need to embody the same concept itself. Forget following in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb's footsteps, or Wag the Dog's, or mustering up an iota of Succession's astuteness (McKay is one of the latter's executive producers) — Anchorman felt shrewder and more incisive. Maybe Don't Look Up might've worked if it had pre-dated the pandemic. It undoubtedly would've been improved by ditching the puffed-up snark, as its closing scenes demonstrate; it's a far better movie when it switches to earnestness and even takes a few cues from Lars von Trier's immensely superior Melancholia, as unearned as the tonal change proves. Perhaps a humanity-is-damned flick that crashes itself is McKay's ultimate joke, though, because that's just the doomed world we find ourselves in. Don't Look Up releases in select Australian cinemas on Thursday, December 9, and will be available to stream via Netflix on Friday, December 24. Image: Nico Tavernise/Netflix.
Some shows commence with a dead girl wrapped in plastic. Others begin with a plane crash on a spooky island. With Outer Range, it all kicks off with a void. On the Abbott family ranch in Wyoming, in the western reach that gives the show its name, a chasm suddenly appears. A perfect circle swirling with otherworldly mist and resembling an oversized golf hole, it's just one of several troubles plaguing patriarch Royal (Josh Brolin, Dune), however. There is indeed a touch of Twin Peaks and Lost to Outer Range. A dash of Yellowstone, The Twilight Zone, The X-Files and whichever family-focused prime-time soap opera takes your fancy, too. As a result, while Royal is visibly disconcerted by the unexpected opening staring at him in an otherwise ordinary field, he has other worries. His rich, ostentatious and increasingly madcap neighbour Wayne Tillerson (Will Patton, Halloween Kills) suddenly wants a parcel of the Abbotts' turf, claiming mapping inaccuracies. One of Tillerson's mouthy and entitled sons, Trevor (Matt Lauria, CSI: Vegas), ends up in a bar spat with Royal's sons Rhett (Lewis Pullman, Them That Follow) and Perry (Tom Pelphrey, Mank). And there's also the matter of Perry's missing wife, who disappeared nine months back, leaving both her husband and their young daughter Amy (Olive Abercrombie, The Haunting of Hill House) searching since. Into this sea of faith-testing chaos amid such serene and dreamlike scenery, a stranger arrives as well: "hippie chick" backpacker Autumn Rivers (Imogen Poots, The Father). She just wants to camp for a few days on the Abbotts' stunning and sprawling land, she says. She just happened this way, she claims in the process. But the always-guarded, fiercely protective Royal is immediately suspicious — and while he still takes the fat wad of cash she waves around as payment to stay on the outskirts of the property that's been owned by his wife Cecilia's (Lili Taylor, Perry Mason) ancestors for generations, he remains openly and grimly wary. That's Outer Range's setup, although it's also just where the genre-bending new addition to Prime Video launches into its many mysteries. Across its eight-episode first season, it's a ranch-dwelling western, complete with a family battling secrets and struggles of both the internal and external kind, and left grappling with existential doubts when they keep being stripped of everything they believe in. It's an offbeat enigma, too, where bottomless gaps in the centre of the earth aren't the only things that can't be easily explained. Thanks to said hole and surrounding supernatural occurrences, it dives into eerie sci-fi as well. And with Indigenous acting sheriff Joy (Tamara Podemski, Run) trying to work out what's going on on several levels, all while campaigning to be elected to her job outright, it's also a detective quest and a thriller. In other words, it's a puzzle box of a program — and the weirder that Outer Range gets, and moodier as well, the more it intrigues and engrosses. Its giant twists are obviously best discovered by watching, but its small quirks are quickly compelling. This is a series where an ethereal feeling permeates the land, even when Royal is nowhere near the void he's desperate to keep hidden. It's a show where one of the other neighbour sons, the quiet yet perturbing Billy (Noah Reid, Schitt's Creek), loves breaking out into song, crooning 80s and 90s pop and rock hits at odd moments. At a funeral, he even sings Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush duet 'Don't Give Up', covering both parts himself and leaving mourners utterly bewildered. Reid is unnervingly difficult to peel your eyes away from in Outer Range, but the series is well-cast in every part — starting with Brolin as Royal, naturally. While the Milk Oscar-nominee has been happily dallying with sci-fi of late, including getting villainous in Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Deadpool 2, his is a grounded performance here. He sidles in as a stern-and-silent western archetype, unfurling more of Royal's layers — and unpacking what it means to embody that portrait of western masculinity in the process — with each grimace and glare. Taylor does phenomenal work in support, and although Poots sometimes suffers from the thinner writing establishing Autumn's moves and motivations, she still commands the frame. Family, faith, fate, the land, legacies, the ties of love, the disappointments of life, the inexplicable elements inherent in all of the above: they're all baked into Outer Range, providing plenty of puzzle pieces for its actors to play with. That said, as created and co-written by TV first-timer Brian Watkins, the series turns those familiar components into something shadowy and surreal. Its narrative path isn't always tricky to predict — one huge late revelation especially — however, it constantly surprises in how it tackles its moments and dynamics on a scene-by-scene basis. That's what lingers in Billy's songs, overtly so. It's there in Cecilia's response to every trying development that's sent the Abbotts' way, usually with her at home, on the sidelines, yet no less impacted. And it blazes through in the choice of shots, which bask in the glory of nature's vast expanse but also see far more than just postcard-perfect wonders. The latter stem from a strong roster of contributors, spanning filmmakers such as She Dies Tomorrow's Amy Seimetz and A Cop Movie's Alonso Ruizpalacios in the director's chair, as well as cinematographers such as Waves and Red Rocket's Drew Daniels, The Last Black Man in San Francisco's Adam Newport-Berra, and Seimetz regular Jay Keitel. Helping ramp up the tension, composers Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans' (Windfall, Becoming Cousteau, The White Tiger) anxiety-inducing score drips with tension, too. Pondering big ideas with heaving style and hefty ambition, Outer Range frequently looks and sounds cinematic — and, from the moment it first spies its gaping chasm, swiftly makes for beguiling viewing. With Jordan Peele's latest horror epic Nope also on its way in the coming months, 2022 seems set to be a big year for disquieting screen stories set amid vast American ranches and springing from stellar talent. What that film will bring is currently yet to be seen, of course, but Outer Range gives this entrancing trend an impressive start. Check out the trailer for Outer Range below: Outer Range's first two episodes are available to stream via Prime Video from Friday, April 15, with two new episodes dropping weekly until Friday, May 6.
Maybe you lived through the 90s rave scene. Perhaps you spent every weekend enjoying club life in the 00s. Or, you might just wish you were old enough to have ticked both boxes. Ministry of Sound was around to see both, and now it's revisiting the experience — bringing back its massive Testament parties for another year, this time touring them around Australia over two weekends. If cutting loose like you've travelled back in time is your ideal way to mark absolutely anything, then you'll want to make a date with Testament when it hits up six Australian cities. For two nights each in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, plus one-day-only stops in Adelaide and the Gold Coast, the event will have you making shapes to 90s and 00s bangers. [caption id="attachment_799510" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ben Jones[/caption] More than 90 DJs will be hitting the decks between Friday, August 4–Sunday, August 13 across the tour. It's a choose-your-own-adventure type of affair, so fans of old-school tunes can hit up the session dedicated to 90s house, rave, trance and garage tracks, and lovers of 00s electro and breaks get their own shindig. Leading the bill at the 90s parties are Barbara Tucker, Inner City, Phil Hartnoll and Tall Paul, while The Bloody Beetroots, Digitalism, Freq Nasty and Stanton Warriors are their 00s counterparts. The roster of local DJs varies per show and per city, too, including everyone from Alan Thompson, Jason Digby, Barking Boy, Mark Dynamix and Jen E on the 90s bill, plus Groove Terminator, Goodwill, Kid Kenobi, Bang Gang Deejays and Andee Van Damage on the 00s lineup. MINISTRY OF SOUND: TESTAMENT 2023 DATES: Saturday, August 5 — 90s session at Overseas Passenger Terminal, Sydney Sunday, August 6 — 00s session at Overseas Passenger Terminal, Sydney Saturday, August 12 — 00s session at The Timber Yard, Melbourne Sunday, August 13 — 90s session at The Timber Yard, Melbourne Friday, August 4 — 00s session at Warner Laneway, Brisbane Saturday, August 12 — 90s session at Warner Laneway, Brisbane Saturday, August 5 — 00s session at Metro City, Perth Sunday, August 6 — 90s session at Metro City, Perth Friday, August 4 — 00s session at Unibar Adelaide, Adelaide Sunday, August 13 — 00s session at Miami Marketta, Gold Coast MINISTRY OF SOUND: TESTAMENT 2023 LINEUP: Barbara Tucker Inner City Phil Hartnoll [Orbital] Tall Paul The Bloody Beetroots Digitalism FreQ Nasty Stanton Warriors + 85 local DJs around the country Ministry of Sound: Testament 2023 will tour Australia in August. For further details, and to buy tickets — with pre-sale registrations until midnight on Monday, May 29, pre-sales from 8am on Tuesday, May 30 and general sales from 8am on Wednesday, May 31 — head to the event's website.
Forget long-haul flights and lengthy stopovers — our closest neighbours are brimming with idyllic islands, gorgeous beaches and scenic regions just waiting to be enjoyed. It's never too late or too early to start planning your next holiday — and New Zealand has plenty to offer if you're looking for an unforgettable travel adventure in the middle of the year. Between geothermal phenomena and snow-capped peaks, the country is home to first-class skifields, dramatic volcanic landscapes, practically untouched coastal tracks and foodie paradises. While it can be tempting to curl up and stay in come cooler temperatures, nature's most fun playground emerges during winter and an escape to New Zealand is the only way to make the most of the season. To help you get planning for your mid-year break, here are ten places worth working your 2025 travels around. Wānaka Just a one-hour drive from Queenstown over the dramatic Crown Range and through Cardrona Valley is Wānaka, a lakeside village offering an equal level of heart-stirring beauty as its larger sibling. Boasting its own microclimate, Wānaka comes to life in the winter. The waters become icy and the surrounding peaks, which become cloaked in snow, reflect off the lake. The arrival of winter also marks the start of ski season and Wānaka is home to not one, but four ski resorts — each with distinct terrain. There's the world-class Cardrona Alpine Resort, straddling Queenstown and Wānaka, where the southern hemisphere's most extensive terrain park proudly sits alongside a mix of groomed runs and backcountry options. Conquering Roys Peak — one of the South Island's signature hikes — on foot is weather dependent during winter and you might need confident hiking skills, but Treble Cone Ski Area offers breathtaking views of the peak and Lake Wānaka regardless of whether you hit the resort's steep slopes. Rounding out Wānaka's resorts are Snow Farm and Soho Basin by Amisfield, both offering one-of-a-kind experiences. The former is where you'll find New Zealand's only cross-country facility while the latter is home to a guided catskiing experience that will take you deep into the backcountry beyond resort boundaries with catering by Queenstown's lauded wine producer and restaurant Amisfield. Back on solid ground, the family-owned Maude Wines is highly recommended for wine lovers, while beer fans are spoiled for choice with everything from tasting rooms to open-plan breweries and garden bars. [caption id="attachment_986162" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ian Trafford[/caption] Wellington New Zealand's capital is brimming with more restaurants, cafes and craft breweries than you can poke a wizard's staff at. It's no secret that the city has more cafes, bars and restaurants per capita than New York City — meaning you'd have to try pretty hard to have a horrible meal or bevvy in the city. (Here are five spots to get you started at any rate.) Your weekend on the waterfront might also include wandering through street art-filled laneways, copping postcard-worthy views from the top of Mount Vic, taking in some culture at our national museum or getting up close and personal with native birdlife at the world's first fully-fenced urban ecosanctuary. The relatively small Wellington CBD also makes hopping around the city, and between eateries, a breeze. [caption id="attachment_986165" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Miles Holden[/caption] Abel Tasman National Park The Abel Tasman National Park is best known for its coastal track which bypasses stunning shoreline and lush native bush that's accessible year-round. A 60-kilometre one-way journey might seem like a long way to trek, but when you can set your pack down and rest on secluded golden sand beaches, it's well worth it. On the way you'll discover Cleopatra's Pool — a natural rock pool with a moss-lined waterslide — negotiate tidal crossings, walk across a suspension bridge and encounter a seal colony. If you'd prefer a more relaxing adventure, you can take a water taxi or kayak between different locations. Top beaches worthy of a visit include Anchorage Bay, which is home to the track's first large camping spot, Torrent Bay, Kaiteriteri and Awaroa. [caption id="attachment_986166" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Miles Holden[/caption] The Poor Knights Islands Northland's Poor Knights Islands and its underwater network of caves, cliffs and tunnels are renowned for their diving and snorkelling. Jacques Cousteau once rated the area as one of the top ten dives in the world. The sea surrounding the islands has been a marine reserve since 1981, and offers a great variety of underwater habitats to explore, from kelp forest and sponge gardens inhabited by a multitude of exotic fish — many of which aren't found anywhere else in New Zealand, to black coral found in deeper waters and the steep cliffs that plunge up to 100 metres below sea level. If you're willing to brave the colder winter water temperatures, you'll be rewarded with exceptional visibility in the water that's still rich with sealife to observe. Aoraki/Mount Cook Standing at 3724 metres, Aoraki/Mount Cook is New Zealand's tallest mountain. With its sharp peak and plummeting crevasses, the sheer sight is enough to keep you on edge, but the company of the mountain is oddly comforting. Ngai Tahu, the main iwi of the region, consider Aoraki as the most sacred of the ancestors that they had descended from. The name is believed to mean cloud piercer. Ascending the steep peak is no easy feat and should be reserved for the most experienced climbers, or those safely tucked inside a helicopter. Winter transforms the mountain and unleashes its full natural beauty. From Hooker Lake, south of the mountain, the modern explorer can indulge in the ever-inspiring lake and mountain. As you drive into the region, past the electric blue Lake Pukaki, and catch the first glimpse of the mountain in the background, you know you're in for a vision of a lifetime. [caption id="attachment_791440" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Glen Sinclair.[/caption] Wharariki This windswept beach at the top of the South Island has to be one of the country's most photographed sections of coastline. Wharariki is only accessible via a 20-minute track from the end of Wharariki Road, which travels over farmland and through coastal forest. With particularly big seas, sightseeing is the number one attraction here — and the Archway Islands will certainly serve up the goods. The group of four rock formations rising from the tide provide an exception photo opp, especially if you decide to tour the region on horseback. The beach is popular year-round, but winter is the best time to walk the flat shores if you prefer your vistas less busy. [caption id="attachment_610026" align="alignnone" width="1282"] Rob Tucker.[/caption] New Plymouth Sitting on the western knob of the North Island, halfway between Auckland and Wellington, is New Plymouth — one of the country's best-kept secrets and a town bored of being thrown into the same basket as Palmerston North. At the heels of the mighty Mount Taranaki, or mini-Mount Fuji, you'll find a blossoming foodie paradise, a thriving arts scene and world-class festivals like WOMAD. The 13-kilometre coastal walkway is a must when visiting the region — head along the winding trail past the rugged coast and popular surf beaches. Elsewhere, the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre is the first gallery in New Zealand dedicated entirely to a single artist. The structure's undulating stainless steel exterior is a major landmark in the CBD, a work of art in itself, and gives great insight into the groundbreaking artist and his obsession with 'art of movement'. [caption id="attachment_791436" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Trevor Klatko.[/caption] Ninety Mile Beach This epic 88-kilometre-long stretch of sand has to be seen to be believed. The famed northland beach starts near Kaitaia and makes its way up to Cape Reinga. At low tide, the beach is officially a public highway, but don't even think about bringing your rental hatchback here — several have been swallowed by the unforgiving seas. The dunes at Te Paki in the north are famously used for bodyboarding — just expect to take home pockets full of sand. Whether you're sliding on down when the weather dips or in full sunshine, bring water and sunscreen. [caption id="attachment_986368" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Miles Holden[/caption] Waipoua Forest The walking track to Tāne Mahuta, the largest known living kauri tree in Aotearoa, in Waipoua Forest only just re-opened at the end of 2024, which makes exploring this pocket of New Zealand even more special. Nearby is Te Matua Ngahere, which just might be the oldest tree in New Zealand. While it's not possible to test the tree to confirm, Waipoua Forest on the whole is incredibly lush, verdant and well worth exploring. Fiordland At the heart of Fiordland sits Milford Sound. A spot that hardly needs an introduction, visiting Milford Sound during the winter months is a chance to experience a completely different side to one of New Zealand's best-known and most-visited landmarks. Famously one of the wettest places not just in New Zealand, but the world, winter is one of the few times in the year when Fiordland dries up just a touch, revealing crystal clear skies and unobstructed views. Although it's still best to be prepared for wet weather, this is the season to try your luck. Just as we retreat inwards during the winter, so too do marine wildlife — during the winter, seals, penguins and dolphins tend to head inwards into the Sound, which makes spotting them in one of New Zealand's most breathtaking vistas a very real possibility. Find your very own Aotearoa New Zealand here. Top image: Miles Holden.
First, the obvious fact: everyone watched plenty of films over the past year. We all ploughed through our streaming queues, checking out everything and anything that each and every platform served up — and we did it for the bulk of 2020. What we didn't do, however, is spend as much time watching big-screen blockbusters. Cinema closures and postponed release dates will do that. Accordingly, unless Tenet whips up a huge box office windfall across the rest of December or Wonder Woman 1984 does hefty business when it releases at the end of the month, 2020's top movie moneymakers worldwide will end up being Chinese action epic The Eight Hundred and, from way back in January, the abysmal Bad Boys for Life. In one rare pleasant side effect of 2020, the lack of supersized Hollywood flicks has meant that a plethora of smaller movies have reached audiences since cinemas reopened Down Under. Some of them might've hit the silver screen anyway, but some wouldn't have — and there are gems in both categories. Alas, even with more on-screen real estate available for these type of films, they didn't all draw crowds. There are many reasons for that, because this hasn't been an ordinary year. But if you're wondering which absolute must-sees you didn't catch in 2020 but should've — including titles released both before and after the pandemic changed this year forever — we've run through the ten best flicks that didn't set the box office alight, but you should add to your catch-up viewing list. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRMPdhQBlWs QUEEN & SLIM No one knows how a Tinder meetup will eventuate, but the events that unfurl in Queen & Slim don't fit into anyone's idea of a dream date. One of the points of this crime drama — which also doubles as a romance and a road movie — is that, for Black Americans, being hassled by the police for no reason isn't an unlikely outcome of a simple night out. After an unnamed criminal defence attorney (Jodie Turner-Smith, Jett) and a Costco employee (Daniel Kaluuya, Widows) chart the above path, they're forced to go on the run across the US, with law enforcement on their trails. The debut feature from music video director Melina Matsoukas (a Grammy-winner for her work on Rihanna's 'We Found Love' and Beyonce's 'Formation'), Queen & Slim knows that it's leads will always evoke comparisons to Bonnie and Clyde. In fact, the script by Master of None star Lena Waithe namechecks the figures in its dialogue. But as its titular characters' lives change drastically, this potent film combines a powerful message, dynamic performances and intoxicating imagery into one supremely stylish, textured and outrage-filled package. It'd be nice to say that Queen and Slim's world changes, too; however, they've always been forced to inhabit a space where their very existence was precarious due to racism, prejudice and police brutality, as every second of this haunting movie stresses. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Qn70iqo-4Q MONOS Set in a camp of teen guerrillas, Alejandro Landes' Sundance's Special Jury Award-winning third film Monos follows gun-toting rebels that have barely said goodbye to childhood, but are still tasked by their unseen leaders with holding an American woman (The Outsider's Julianne Nicholson) hostage. Unsurprisingly, even with nothing around but fields, jungle, a cow to milk and occasional enemy fire, little goes according to plan. The relentlessness of modern life, the ongoing unrest in Colombia, and the ceaseless trials and tribulations that plague all teens facing adulthood — they all sit at the centre of this stunning South America-set thriller. Echoes of William Golding's Lord of the Flies are evident (and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the book that inspired Apocalypse Now, too), but Monos firmly tells its own story. Engagingly lingering between a dark fairytale and a psychological treatise on war, combat and humanity's dog-eat-dog nature, the result is one of the definite standouts of recent years (of 2019, when it premiered overseas and did the rounds of the local festival circuit, and of 2020, when it finally released in Aussie cinemas). That status is assured thanks to everything from the eye-popping landscape cinematography to the needling tension of Mica Levi's (Under the Skin) score and the commanding performances from the young cast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biHUTtV4K40 IN FABRIC Anyone can make a movie about a haunted house, as many a filmmaker has shown. Peter Strickland could, too — but a feature about an eerie piece of clothing is far more intriguing, fascinating and entertaining. Viewers should expect nothing less from one of cinema's inimitable auteurs, of course, with the lauded British writer/director not only conjuring up narratives that no other helmer ever would or could, but also consistently bringing them to the screen with a distinctive sense of style and mood. It was true of his last two festival circuit hits, Berberian Sound Studio and The Duke of Burgundy. That observation remains just as accurate with In Fabric, aka his haunted dress flick. In London clothing store Dentley & Sopers, bank teller Sheila (Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Fatman) finds the perfect red dress for her first blind date. It both fits and looks a dream; however, despite her initial delight, she discovers that the fabulous frock has quite the dark side. Fashion items can live many lives, so that's just the start of In Fabric's story — and, also starring Game of Thrones' Gwendoline Christie, I, Daniel Blake's Hayley Squires and The Mighty Boosh's Julian Barratt, this sartorial-focused horror-comedy is a lurid, imaginative and mesmerising gem. It's also the kind of movie you haven't seen before, and won't again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atKsEdLKPLo&feature=emb_logo THE WOMAN WHO RAN Combine alcohol, conversation and a scene-stealing cat in one equally melancholy and charming movie, and not only is South Korean great Hong Sang-soo firmly in his element, but he delivers exactly the type of film that has won him a legion of fans. Given how prolific the director is, it'd be easy to assume that he'll soon run out of ways to combine his usual trademarks. Or, to expect that he'll eventually exhaust all of his ideas. But Hong's features never stop finding new ways to twist his favourite touches, themes and inclusions together (see also: Hill of Freedom, Right Now, Wrong Then and Yourself and Yours). In The Woman Who Ran, booze flows freely. Drinking plenty of it is Gamhee, as played by Hong regular Kim Min-hee (On the Beach at Night Alone). She's enjoying her first time away from her husband in five years, visiting friends around Seoul while he's off on a business trip. In Hong's typical fashion, much of The Woman Who Ran unfurls as the characters simply chat — about their lives, hopes, dreams, problems and, with a pesky neighbour in the movie's funniest moment, about feeding stray felines. His penchant for long takes, playful repetition and expertly timed crash-zooms are all used to winning effect, in a movie that slots perfectly into his busy oeuvre and yet always feels uniquely insightful. Also, and it cannot be stressed enough, look out for one helluva kitty. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srPas4PqCkw BEATS Beats knows how to start with a bang, letting the sounds of Ultra-Sonic's 'Annihilating Rhythm Part 1' echo from the screen in its opening moments. It's a savvy move — if viewers are going to understand just what electronic music means to the film's protagonists, early 90s-era Scottish teenagers Johnno (Cristian Ortega, One of Us) and Spanner (Lorn Macdonald, Shetland), then they need to not only see and hear it, but feel it deep in their souls. The delight on the duo's faces as they listen to the song down the phone to each other says more than swathes of dialogue ever could. Whether you're a fan of the same kind of tunes or not, you'll instantly be brought into the moment and the elation with them. And, from there, you'll ride every up and down this black-and-white film delivers, as the stage-to-screen adaptation from filmmaker Brian Welsh (The Rat Pack) peers into the broader scene just as the UK government was passing legislation to effectively ban raves. Johnno and Spanner are desperate to attend the very events the powers-that-be are trying to stamp out and, when they get their chance to head to what might be their first and last dance music festival, they go for it. Featuring a thumping soundtrack of old-school tracks, Beats serves up an insightful exuberant coming-of-age film from there, as well as a as a thoughtful and reflective social-realist drama. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYl1DVIgbAg SHIRLEY Elisabeth Moss has had a great year. While the Mad Men and The Handmaid's Tale star has enjoyed a fantastic past decade, she turned in two of her best performances yet in 2020. First came The Invisible Man, which twisted the classic horror tale in modern directions, including exploring gaslighting and the lack of willingness to believe women. Then, in Shirley, she stepped into the shoes of horror and mystery novelist Shirley Jackson. This is a movie by Madeline's Madeline director Josephine Decker, though, so it as never going to be a standard biopic about the The Haunting of Hill House author. Indeed, Shirley is drawn from a fictional novel by Susan Scarf Merrell, focusing on Jackson's home life with her husband Stanley Hyman (Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me By Your Name) during a 1964 period when teaching aide Fred Nemser (Logan Lerman, Hunters) and his wife Rose (Australian The Daughter star Odessa Young) come to stay. An agoraphobic, Jackson's routine is unsettled by her new houseguests, although an unexpected connection springs with unlikely kindred spirit Rose. In telling this story, Decker is far more interested in capturing the essence of Jackson and her sensibilities than slavishly sticking to facts, and her film all the better for it. Indeed, this subjective and engaging character study is daring, disarming, dark and, unsurprisingly, anchored by a pitch-perfect lead performance. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMB7SpEvxOI RIDE YOUR WAVE When 19-year-old surfer Hinako (voiced by former Japanese pop idol Rina Kawaei) frolics around a seaside spot with her boyfriend Minato (fellow local pop star Ryota Katayose), it's a scene that's familiar from many a film. In the picturesque Japanese city of Chiba, the pair chat, laugh, stroll and see the sights, as plenty of couples have in similar situations. Actually, this duo does so twice. The first time plays out exactly as expected but, occurring well into Ride Your Wave, the lovestruck duo's repeat romantic rendezvous has a twist. In the kind of image that can only really be brought to the screen via animation, Hinako isn't spending time with Minato in the flesh the second time around — instead, she's dragging around an inflatable porpoise filled with water that, when she hums the pair's favourite song, manifests her boyfriend's spirit from beyond the grave. While Ride Your Wave hails from a different filmmaker to big Japanese hits Your Name and Weathering with You, this Masaaki Yuasa-directed film falls in the same heartfelt, gorgeously animated, emotionally sweeping realm. It clearly also has an element of the supernatural to it, focuses on a star-cross'd romance, and delves into love and loss as well. Sweet, charming, sensitive and a joy to look at, it's especially thoughtful when it ruminates on the latter, tackling tough emotional terrain with unflinching, heart-swelling honesty Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hroo3-sKc0w HONEY BOY Following a child star's journey both as a 12-year-old actor (The Undoing's Noah Jupe) in a hit TV show and as a young man (Waves' Lucas Hedges) grappling with his time the industry, Honey Boy boils down easily to a one-sentence description — but this isn't an easy or straightforward film. Just what its protagonist Otis experiences at both ages, and how his youthful time with his ex-rodeo clown and Vietnam veteran dad James Lort (Shia LaBeouf, The Peanut Butter Falcon) leaves an imprint, proves complex, messy and resonant in this intimate feature. It feels personal, too, because it should. LaBeouf isn't just playing any father figure. He's stepping into the shoes of a version of his own dad. And, he's starring a movie that he wrote, that's based on his own journey from Even Stevens to Transformers and beyond. Brought to the screen by first-time feature director Alma Har'el, Honey Boy is raw, reflective and expressive as it wanders through LeBeouf's heart and soul, and it's an intense but rewarding work from everyone involved. This isn't an idealised, nostalgic look backwards, or a work of unfettered anger. Honey Boy, like LaBeouf himself, pinballs between multiple extremes. It should come as no surprise that this frank and sincere movie was penned while LaBeouf was in rehab himself — where Otis heads as well — and that it always feels like he's confronting issues he knows will never completely be resolved. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZvrlkF4TjM&feature=emb_logo LUCKY GRANDMA Lucky Grandma might be the second American-produced film about a Chinese grandmother in as many years, but no one should mistake Sasie Sealy's feature debut for The Farewell. Both offer up something special, and their similarities are truly only superficial. Here, the titular elderly woman (Tsai Chin, Now You See Me 2) is first seen chain-smoking and glaring her way through a fortune teller's appointment. When Grandma Wong is told that luck is coming her way on a specific day, she's quickly on the bus to Atlantic City. And when she spies a hefty stash of cash in the bag belonging to the gentleman sitting next to her on the return ride home, she barely hesitates. This string of events comes with consequences, however, with local Red Dragon gangsters soon following her every move. To cope, the feisty senior enlists the help of their rivals, and pays the towering Big Pong (Hsiao-Yuan Ha) to stick by her side as her bodyguard. Chin, who has featured in everything from You Only Live Twice to The Joy Luck Club, is such a gruff, no-nonsense treasure to watch in Lucky Grandma — and Sealy smartly lets audiences peer her way closely and regularly. Sometimes, Lucky Grandma is a drama about a widowed woman trying to make the most of what's left of her life. Sometimes, it's a crime caper that's hopping around Chinatown with glee. In Sealy's hands, that combination always works. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLmvs9Wrem0 COLOR OUT OF SPACE If you're going to task anyone on this earth with finding a blazing rock that has plummeted from the heavens and crashed down at a remote New England property — and in a big-screen adaptation of a short story by horror and sci-fi writer HP Lovecraft at that — you may as well give the job to Nicolas Cage. If you're going to ask any actor to run an alpaca farm and profess their love for the animals, too, you also know that he's just perfect. Thanks to its story about the fallout from said meteor, which turns the sky an otherworldly shade, unleashes both radiation and shape-shifting aliens, and sparks quite the wave of strange events, a film version of Color Out of Space would always garner interest. Cage has made some out-there and seemingly intentionally terrible movies in his career, especially over the past two decades, but this weird and wonderful effort doesn't fall into that category. It's bettered by his presence, because no one does unhinged and manic quite like the Vampire's Kiss, Face/Off and Mandy actor; however, filmmaker Richard Stanley (The Island of Doctor Moreau) turns this wild tale into an off-kilter, hallucinatory, kaleidoscopic, vibrantly pink and purple-hued spectacle. It occasionally lets it get a little too lost in its own delirium and can threaten to become a bit weighed down, but letting Color Out of Space's gleefully bonkers sights, sounds and story developments wash over you is all part of the experience. Read our full review.
UPDATE, March 4, 2022: Crimson Peak is available to stream via Netflix, Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. "Beware of Crimson Peak," an eerie voice warns Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska). Thankfully, audiences need not heed the same warning. The gothic offering that shares its name with a crumbling mansion atop clay-filled heights is a dark delight that haunts with its unsettling mood and enchants with exquisite imagery. Coming from the mind of Guillermo del Toro, that shouldn't be surprising. In the writer/director's ninth and latest feature, as co-written with Don't Be Afraid of the Dark's Matthew Robbins, he dives further into all things scary and sublimely staged than he perhaps has before — and that's with the likes of vampire fare Cronos, ghost tale The Devil's Backbone and spellbinding fantasy Pan's Labyrinth on his resume. His protagonist, Edith, finds her way to the titular locale courtesy of tragedy and romance. In late 19th-century New York, British baronet Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) sweeps the aspiring author off her feet, much to the disapproval of her wealthy industrialist father, Carter (Jim Beaver). Kindly childhood pal, the smitten Dr Alan McMichael (Charlie Hunnam), also looks on in dismay, with neither the charming Thomas nor his terse sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain) warmly welcomed. When Edith accompanies the siblings to their dilapidated home, only to be met by sinister happenings, their secrets start to be revealed. Crimson Peak is the type of slow-building, richly evocative effort that feels torn from the pages of literature, as it is designed to. That the dialogue namechecks Jane Austen, Mary Shelley and Arthur Conan Doyle gives a firm indication of the balance of elements del Toro aims for, combining romance, horror and mystery. Make no mistake, though, the movie is more than just the sum of his influences. From the atmospheric unease to the heaving themes of love and loss to the overt sensation of yearning, there's never any doubt that is del Toro's film through and through. He inspires an unrelenting sense of tension that bursts forward whenever something untoward graces the feature's frames, but never subsides even in quieter moments. He also conjures the type of devastating detail that demands to be seen on a big screen. Whether transitioning between scenes with iris wipes, looking down on snowy ground laced with scarlet footsteps, watching colour-coded ghostly entities peer around corners or enjoying a fast-paced waltz with a flickering candle in hand, the movie is a sight to behold. With Crimson Peak such an effective exercise in tone, texture and aesthetics, it certainly proves a relief that the story does more simply justify its look and feel, and that the cast do more than wander through sumptuous surroundings. The deep red hue of the film's name references both the blood that flies freely as well as the focus on the luminous Wasikowska and the enjoyably unnerving Chastain, resulting in an effort where jump scares are modest, surprises few and the characters' inner workings made apparent from the outset, yet emotions run as deep as narrative intrigue, and attention never wavers. Pacific Rim this ain't. Del Toro is at home once again making sensually charged, period-set, haunted house fare. Intimate and intricate in the best possible ways, Crimson Peak is something sumptuous, spooky and gorgeously gothic to savour — as is superbly complex leading man Hiddleston, who almost anyone would follow into such creepy surroundings.
There are many key components to a great Christmas movie and music is often one of them, no matter how you feel about the usual carols. Who hasn't had the Home Alone music stuck in their head since the 90s? No one who's ever watched it. Who doesn't know all the words to Love Actually's 'Christmas Is All Around'? Again, the same category applies. It's that fact that helped make Love Actually in Concert screenings a) a thing and b) a huge hit, but that isn't the only festive favourite that you can see on the big screen with a live score this December. In Melbourne, at 7pm on Friday, December 16 at Hamer Hall at Arts Centre Melbourne, a three-decade-old gem is getting the same treatment: The Muppet Christmas Carol. It's time to play the music, light the lights and see Charles Dickens' classic play out in felt — and with Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge — accompanied by a live score. This is the first time that the film will play in Australia this way, after debuting in the UK last year. Sure, you might've watched it a thousand times when you were a kid, but you obviously haven't seen it like this before. The movie follows Dickens's tale, with the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge given a change of perspective by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. Here, however, Jim Henson's beloved creations join in, with Kermit the Frog playing clerk Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy as Emily Cratchit, Gonzo narrating the story as Dickens (with help from Rizzo the Rat), Fozzie Bear as Fozziwig and Robin the Frog as Tiny Tim. Other Muppets show up, because of course they do. The live orchestra will perform the feature's original score as composed by Miles Goodman (Little Shop of Horrors), with songs by Oscar-winning songwriter Paul Williams ('Rainbow Connection').
An annual celebration of the people and the music of the City of Yarra, the sixth edition of Leaps and Bounds Music Festival presents a captivating jamboree of diverse Melbourne music talent. Held over ten days, venues from across the area will be brought to life with more than 30 events. With a focus on promoting the next generation of talent, there's a gig to suit fans of pretty much every genre, from electronic to hip hop and jazz to queer and Indigenous music. Many of the events are free and all-ages, so everyone's welcome. Leaps and Bounds' 2018 festival will take over four venues, including Cosmo's Midnight at The Corner, Glovv and Waterfall Person at The Pinnacle, rock queen Penny Ikinger at The Yarra Hotel, and The Gasometer's Go! series launches with Cash Savage and Blake Scott of The Peep Tempel. Later in the week, will see Queering the Pitch: Music from Beyond the Binary and Queer. Here held at Hares and Hyenas and The Old Bar respectively, while the annual Smith Street Dreaming celebrates Indigenous culture and history with MC Leila Gurruwiwi, Dave Arden and Band, Benny Walker, Birdz and Alice Skye, plus loads more. Don't miss other popular annual events, like Fitzroy Bowls Record Fair, the kid-friendly Rock-a-Bye Baby and The Standard Hotel's Women of Country showcase. You can see the full lineup and event details on the website.
Bar Nonno on High St in Northcote might have closed, but its spirit lives on. The venue's old head chef, David Murphy, has taken over the space, turning it into a French bistro called Ruckers Hill. If the name Murphy sounds familiar, it's because this guy has been around the traps for a while. After starting his kitchen career at 15, Murphy went on to work as a sous chef at Bistro Thierry, PM24, Bar Nonno and 1800 Lasagne. Ruckers Hill is Murphy's first solo project, and so far it looks like a winner. With its exposed brick and bottle-lined walls, this place is a love letter to the Parisian 'bistronomy' movement, which emerged in the '90s as an antidote to the stuffy, Michelin-world of French haute cuisine. Bistronomy is more about the vibe: a combination of bistro atmosphere and fine dining techniques, at a price to suit the average wallet. At Ruckers Hill, this takes the form of a $79 set menu. The dishes change with the seasons, but depending on the night, you might be wolfing down king prawns and wasabi in crispy brick pastry, pork belly with ginger and dry sherry, or marbled entrecôte with a silky bordelaise sauce. Pomme frites are never far away, either. "I wanted to create a place where the local community can eat well at a reasonable price, and cook food using the best ingredients we can get our hands on," Murphy says. "I think our tasting menu hits that sweet spot. And after a career in restaurant kitchens, it's important to me that our staff are paid fairly, and are working in a positive environment, so that's a big focus for us." You can order a la carte, too, if that's more your speed, and Ruckers Hill also boasts an extensive (and self-described) "uncool" wine list. A lot of old-world drops, curated by sommelier Angelo Stella. Situated just a few doors down from Westgarth Cinema, this place makes the perfect one-two first date combination. Start the night with Murphy's scallops and pancetta, finish with popcorn and a choc top. Northcote, you've got a keeper here. Ruckers Hill is open at 83 High Street, Northcote from Tuesday through to Saturday, 5pm till late. You can make a booking via the Ruckers Hill website. Images: The Edible Image
Sporting a truly authentic cucina povera kitchen — embroidered tablecloths, mismatched chairs and lacy curtains — Bar Idda is the real deal when it comes to Italian restaurants in Melbourne. As its popularity shows no signs of abating, it's best you make a booking and be sure to grab the best seats in the house: the front room, or the window ledge overlooking Lygon Street. Even better, hit Bar Idda on a balmy night and you'll be promised a sunset and the whiff of tobacco from the regular congregation of older, Italian gents. A place where over-ordering is impossible, the casual diner-style vibe of Bar Idda is complemented by a shared menu of carefully considered classics and modern morsels. Entirely moreish and communal, order lots of little pieces and find yourself colliding knives and forks to steal the last piping-hot arancino (mixed mushroom, Sicilian oregano, fontina cheese) or delicately sweet purpetti dolce (tomato braised beef, almond, pine nut, currant, cinnamon meatballs). Simply not to be missed, the piscina spade with barqbecued swordfish, marsala carrots and gremolata proves how stunning the perfect seasoning can be. Every item on the menu at Bar Idda sits in harmony with its counterparts, making it supremely easy to order; the richer dishes sit in contrast to light salads, helping to cut through different flavours. Drinks are complementarily matched and on offer is a range of imported beers and carefully selected wines not often seen elsewhere. Wine by the carafe is endearing and the perfect addition to your spread, proving the true Mediterranean adage that alcohol is to be enjoyed with a meal. Finishing off with dessert — this is where Bar Idda storms home — try the cassata or cannolo with cinnamon shell and bitter chocolate crema to have you well and truly on your way to an Italian dream. Bar Idda is an all-Sicilian affair that will make you feel an entire world away. Its kitsch decor gives way to much more than what appearances offer, and its authenticity and sprit of generosity is clear. Here, it's hard not to turn every meal into a feast. Appears in: Where to Find the Best Pasta in Melbourne for 2023
Later this month, on Sunday, December 21, some of Australia's biggest musicians are gathering at Port Melbourne's PICA to headline A Gathering for Gaza — a one-day-only fundraising event that brings together names in music, charity, and activism in support of Palestinians and in support of much-needed relief efforts for Gaza. From the world of music, Angie McMahon, Cut Copy (DJ set), Folk Bitch Trio, Genesis Owusu, Harvey Sutherland DJ set), Julia Jacklin, Miss Kaninna, and many more are confirmed for live performances at the event. [caption id="attachment_1052482" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Debbie Hickey/Getty Images[/caption] Between performances, representatives from Palestinian, Jewish and global human rights-focused charity organisations, community groups and activists will share information, resources and updates on their ongoing work. The lineup of featured speakers includes Nasser Mashni from Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN); Mohammad Othman from Olive Kids; Uncle Robbie Thorpe; Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Greens Deputy Leader; and Ashley Killeen from Médecins Sans Frontières Australia (Doctors Without Borders). View this post on Instagram A post shared by @agatheringforgaza 100% of net profits from ticket sales, special event merchandise and bar sales at the event will be donated directly to Olive Kids, PANZMA, PARA and Médecins Sans Frontières Australia (Doctors Without Borders). Funds will be used to support their critical ongoing work on the ground in Gaza, providing essential services like medical aid, food and education, as well as supporting new arrivals from Palestine. Ashley Killeen, Acting Executive Director, Médecins Sans Frontières Australia shares, "After two years of relentless war and horror, Palestinians are now displaced, exhausted, and face a cold winter without basic necessities amidst intermittent Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip. Our 1,300+ staff continue to provide trauma care, burn treatment, maternal and paediatric services and mental health support. [caption id="attachment_1052481" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Lorne Thomson/Redferns[/caption] "As an independent and impartial organisation, MSF Australia doesn't accept funding from government sources; support from people across Australia is the reason we're able to keep providing essential medical assistance where it is needed most. We're so grateful for the invitation to join the Gathering for Gaza event and to be included as one of the charities receiving funds raised from the event." Tickets to A Gathering for Gaza go on sale this Wednesday, December 10th at 12pm AEDT here. Lead image by Matt Jelonek/Getty Images
From towering mountains and serene fiords shrouded in mist, to black sand beaches and forests housing some of the world's oldest trees, Aotearoa New Zealand's natural landscapes truly are something else. No matter when you visit, you'll feel the wairua (spirit) of New Zealand's landscapes drawing you in as you're immersed in them and they envelop you. This is scenery you'll feel, rather than merely 'view'. Winter transforms vistas as the skies darken, mountains rising from the horizon are dusted in snow and the seasonal passing by of wildlife occurs. During autumn and spring, you'll be bathed in warmer temperatures and lingering sunlight that casts a different light over the landscapes. We teamed up with 100% Pure New Zealand to unveil some of the most awe-inspiring scenery New Zealand has to offer each season, so you can plan a trip that's made all the more memorable by these breathtaking encounters. Flick the switch for our top picks of experiences to have in autumn, winter and spring and see how New Zealand changes with the seasons. Jump to switcher
The cold weather won't stop many from scoring a scoop of ice cream, but sometimes, a warmer bite just feels right. With this in mind, it's a good thing Gelato Messina is back with a new edition of its cult-favourite cookie pie. Made in collaboration with Tony's Chocolonely, this is the ideal chance to discover the brand's mission to end exploitation in the cocoa industry. Designed to be baked fresh at home, this feel-good cookie pie offers the ultimate treat for when you're rugged up on the couch. Plus, this inventive dessert hits all the marks of a winter treat: golden on the outside, gooey on the inside, and loaded with Tony's beloved milk and dark chocolate pieces. Crafted in-house by Messina's pastry team, expect each pie to resonate with the same thought and care as the brand's top-notch gelato. Speaking of, this molten delight is best served with a scoop of your go-to Messina flavour on top, helping to create your dream combination. Available from all Messina stores and for delivery from Monday, July 7, these limited-edition treats are served first-come, first-served. Just don't expect them to last long. Priced at $25 each, you're welcome to bundle with 500ml, 1L or 1.5L tubs of Messina gelato, so you can scoop at home until your heart and tastebuds are content. If you're keen to brave the cold weather, single-serve cookie pies will be served in all Messina stores (except Circular Quay and The Star) from Monday, July 14. Available from 5pm every Monday–Thursday throughout winter, these smaller portions are priced at $12, with your choice of gelato scoop making your after-dark adventure more than worth it. Plus, the team is getting in the mood by launching Brownie Points, a limited-edition flavour created to pair with your pie. Think salted milk chocolate gelato, lashings of caramel and Tony's double-choc brownie rolled into a toothsome scoop. It's available from all Messina stores from Saturday, July 12–Saturday, July 19, or until sold out. Tony's Chocolonely and Gelato Messina's cookie pie is available from all locations and for online delivery from Monday, July 7. Head to the website for more information.
There's something for everyone to get around when it comes to Halloween, whether it's eating nauseating amounts of lollies, flexing your arts and crafts skills and fashioning yourself a costume, or pulling that five-piece (mask included) Batman get-up out of storage and donning it to feel like the superhero you really are. Trick or treating never really caught on here, but we'll be damned if we won't use it as an excuse for a spooky time. There are plenty of parties, tours and immersive events happening around town for you to get amongst. Here's a list of some of the best things going on in Melbourne for Halloween, ranging from the not-so scary (party at Legoland) to the truly terrifying (an immersive show in an abandoned warehouse).
When 2023 arrived, it marked two decades since composer Stephen Schwartz and playwright Winnie Holzman took a book inspired by The Wizard of Oz, put it to music and turned it into one of Broadway's biggest hits of the 21st century. Now that 2024 is, it's giving Melbourne musical theatre fans their latest chance to see that very show right here at home — because Wicked is flying into the Victorian capital from Saturday, March 2. Even if you haven't seen the blockbuster show before, including on its past Aussie run from 2008–11, then you've likely heard of it. Following the Land of Oz's witches — telling their untold true tale is the musical's whole angle, in fact — Wicked has notched up more awards than you can fit in a hefty cauldron over the years. That includes three Tonys from ten nominations, a Grammy, an Olivier Award and six Drama Desk Awards. Also huge: its worldwide footprint, playing in 16 countries around the globe since its 2003 debut. And, when it makes its way to the Regent Theatre for its second stop on its current Aussie run, following its present Sydney season, it'll do so after enchanting itself into fourth place in the list of longest-running Broadway shows ever — even surpassing Cats. Story-wise, Wicked starts before The Wizard of Oz and continues its narrative after Dorothy Gale lands, adapting Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. The text itself has sold 5.5 million copies, including five million since the musical first opened. Here, before Dorothy blows in, two other women meet in the Land of Oz: Elphaba and Galinda. One will later be known as the Wicked Witch of the West, while the other will become Glinda the Good Witch. Exactly why that happens, and how, and the pair's relationship from rivals to unlikely friends to grappling with their new labels, fuels the show's tale. Popping on your ruby slippers, clicking your heels three times and defying gravity at the Melbourne stage show means seeing Courtney Monsma in her debut lead role as Galinda/GLinda, Sheridan Adams as Elphaba, Robyn Nevin as Madame Morrible and Todd McKenney as the Wizard — plus Liam Head as Fiyero, Adam Murphy isasDr Dillamond, Shewit Belay as Nessarose and Kurtis Papadinis as Boq. Wicked has been brought back to Australia by John Frost for Crossroads Live Australia, Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B Platt and David Stone — and is taking to the stage again before the in-the-works two-part film adaptation starring Cynthia Erivo (Pinocchio) as Elphaba and Ariana Grande (Don't Look Up) as Galinda, and directed by Jon M Chu (In the Heights, Crazy Rich Asians), is due to start reaching cinemas in 2024. Images: Jeff Busby.
Their impressive 2023 Women's World Cup efforts mightn't have ended in a medal, the 2024 Paris Olympics sadly didn't turn out as planned and the next Women's Asian Cup, which Australia is hosting, isn't until 2026 — but the Matildas have an opportunity to emerge victorious on the international stage in 2025. The contest: the SheBelieves Cup, a four-nation annual competition that's been held by US Soccer for a decade now. This is the first time that Australia is taking part, and you can watch along between Friday, February 21–Thursday, February 27. Australia's national women's soccer team will play three other squads that also competed in Paris: Japan, the USA (unsurprisingly) and Colombia. First up is the Japan match in Houston, then battling it out with the contest hosts — and Olympic gold medal-winners and world number-one team — in Glendale, before facing Colombia in San Diego. While the time difference means that none of the games are being played in Aussie prime time, they're still on in Australian-friendly slots — all mornings. On the east coast, you might want to go into work late on Friday, February 21 (8.30am AEDT / 7.30am AEST / 8am ACDT / 5.30am AWST) and Monday, February 24 (8.30am AEDT / 7.30am AEST / 8am ACDT / 5.30am AWST), or have an early lunch on Thursday, February 27 (11am AEDT / 10am AEST /10.30am ACDT / 8am AWST). To watch, Paramount+ is your destination, showing the games live exclusively Down Under. For this batch of matches, Steph Catley is donning the captain's armband, with Ellie Carpenter and Emily van Egmond as her deputies. After Tony Gustavsson left following the Olympics, the Matildas don't yet have a new permanent full-time coach, so Tom Sermanni — who did the job between 1994–97 and 2005–12 — remains at the reins, after stepping in temporarily in late 2024. Mary Fowler is back in the squad after sitting out the Matildas' last 2024 games to put her mental and physical health first — and, as well as Catley, Carpenter and van Egmond, she has plenty of company. The team also includes Mackenzie Arnold, Caitlin Ford, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Katrina Gorry, Michelle Heyman, Alanna Kennedy, Hayley Raso and Tameka Yallop. As for Sam Kerr, she hasn't yet returned to the field following her ACL injury last year, so isn't taking part in the SheBelieves Cup. The Matildas 2025 SheBelieves Cup Games Friday, February 21 — Matildas v Japan at 8.30am AEDT / 7.30am AEST / 8am ACDT / 5.30am AWST Monday, February 24 — Matildas v USA at 8.30am AEDT / 7.30am AEST / 8am ACDT / 5.30am AWST Thursday, February 27 — Matildas v Colombia at 11am AEDT / 10am AEST /10.30am ACDT / 8am AWST The Matildas' SheBelieves Cup 2025 games take place between Friday, February 21–Thursday, February 27 — and you can watch via Paramount+. Images: Tiffany Williams, Football Australia.
For all of us in Melbourne, it's a wonderful time to be alive. We're living in golden period of entertainment and you know what that means? Waterslides. Yep, we can do that fancy VR and high-tech stuff any day — but when an opportunity to have some good, clean (albeit slippery) fun presents itself, we just can't let it pass by. So we're very happy to hear that Slide the Square is returning to Federation Square from January 4. After a summer of slidey fun last year, the is a 75-metre slip 'n' slide will once again be set up in the square for 12 days this January. Sessions last for 50 minutes from 10am till 7pm each day and will set you back $20. It's a bit exxy for the opportunity to barrel down a wet piece of plastic, but you know it's going to amazing fun and way better than lying on the couch covered by a wet cloth to avoid the heat. Slide the Square will be set up in Federation Square, Melbourne from January 4-15. Tickets will go on sale soon here.
There may be a lot of prospects for high speed travel, like Elon Musk's Hyperloop, but when we can travel between continents without the agony long haul flights, that's when we'll know the future is well and truly here. And while we wait for teleportation to make it to the molecular mainstream, we'll have to settle for second best: high speed supersonic air travel. Looking to bring back supersonic travel to the people, Sir Richard Branson is set to make high speed transatlantic passenger flights (relatively) affordable and accessible. Working with a Colorado aviation startup called Boom, Branson — under The Spaceship Company (an arm of Virgin Galactic) — wants to create a new plane that can fly at supersonic speeds of up to 2335 kilometres per hour. That would see the flight from NYC to London take a mere three and a half hours (rather than the seven hours it takes now). That's essentially a Sydney peak hour commute. Supersonic air travel has already been achieved by the passenger plane the Concorde, which provided flights between London and Paris to New York, Washington and Barbados between 1969 and 2003. It was decommissioned due to the $20,000 per trip price tag; by comparison, the Boom is set cost only $5000 USD. According to Boom founder and chief executive Blake Scholl, this new plane will be more cost effective by having have less seats and being more fuel efficient. Scholl also told The Guardian that, aside from the London to NYC route, they would also be concentrating on getting up trips from San Fran to Tokyo and LA to Sydney. It's all very ambitious, but the first Boom plane is expected to be tested by the end of 2017. Via The Guardian. Image: Boom.
Located on the edge of Melbourne's favourite river, The Wharf Hotel's eclectic, asymmetrical interior makes it one of the best spots for a stylish summer drink. From warm, striped carpet and leather bar stools to fireplaces and a plant-filled deck, there's no lack of nooks and crannies to tickle your drinking fancy. And with the bar boasting a range of local and imported beers, spirits and cocktail jugs, you won't find any problem with The Wharf's drinks menu, either.
Sydney's Taronga Zoo boasts its own glamping experience, as well as a luxe new eco-retreat. At Melbourne Zoo, you can stay overnight in the elephant exhibit. Next year, southeast Queensland's Australia Zoo will follow suit, opening a campground that'll also include glamping and eco cabins. Slated to launch in 2020 to celebrate Australia Zoo's 50th anniversary celebrations, the new addition to the Irwin family's Beerwah zoo has unsurprisingly been dubbed Camp Crocodile Hunter. It'll feature a combination of tent accommodation, powered sites for caravans and RVs, glamping-style tents and cabins — with 108 sites included in total. Wildlife lovers can also look forward to a new cafe, an entertainment and pool area, covered cooking areas and a mountain bike track. And, there'll be facilities for school camps, too. Expect all of the above to be put to frequent use, with Australia Zoo anticipating that Camp Crocodile Hunter will attract more than 39,000 visitors each year. Increasing both tourism and zoo patronage is clear aim of the $8 million project, which has received Queensland Government support alongside Australia Zoo's own funding. Just what else the "luxury bush camp experiences" will entail hasn't been revealed, but for folks keen to extend their trip to the famed zoo across at least two days — and avoid having to trek offsite to stay the night — that's obviously on the agenda. From the crocoseum and croc school, to the onsite wildlife hospital, to a lineup of animals that spans tigers, cheetahs, giraffes, lemurs, meerkats, otters, rhinos, kangaroos, koalas, emus, crocodiles and more, there's definitely plenty to see. https://www.instagram.com/p/BwRk7kkF1eZ/ Camp Crocodile Hunter was first announced back in April, but construction started just this month, after the completion of planning work for all of the campground essentials — aka electricity, water and public amenities. Australia Zoo's Camp Crocodile Hunter is slated to open in 2020. For further information, visit the venue's website. Top image: Andy Mitchell via Wikicommons.
Since 1989, Sweden's Icehotel has given travellers a decidedly cool place to stay each winter. December hits, and the site reveals its new frosty rooms — the kind that are carved out of ice and only around for a short time, as they'll melt once the weather gets warmer. They're not just any old slabs of ice and snow in the village of Jukkasjärvi, 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, however. As part of their annual tradition, the accommodation provider calls for designers and artists to unleash their chilly ideas — then unveils their wondrous creations to travellers. In this year's crop? A snail world made out of cold, cold substances, a hanging installation that you can sleep in, a bed you can only reach by navigating a 34-meter ice labyrinth and another than requires walking over a bridge — and some thin ice — before you can bunk down for the night. Other highlights include a frozen jungle of Monstera-plants, an icy Fabergé egg, a space-inspired space, and a dream-like, cloud-esque piece that UK artist Lisa Lindqvist has dubbed "an art installation who also happens to be a bedroom." Now open until April 15, 2018, the fresh blend of ice and creativity features 35 one-of-a-kind rooms in total, as crafted by 36 artists from 17 countries. They're made from more than 30,000 cubic metres of snice — that's a mix of snow and ice — from the local Torne River. As well as places to sleep, the new iteration also includes an ice bar, ice ceremony hall and ice gallery. If you're a fan of the kind of coldness the southern hemisphere doesn't see at this time of the year, but you can't make it to Icehotel's cold climes during the northern winter, don't worry — in addition to their annual slate of artistic suites, Icehotel has been open all year round for the past year. It inclludes 20 permanent suites, an ice bar, plus private saunas and spas for an added touch of warmth in such cold surroundings. For more information about Icehotel, visit www.icehotel.com. Images: Asaf Kliger.
Bar Romantica's recent closure after many years serving late-night pizza and pasta was met with more than a few teary goodbyes. However, the good news is that Etta's acclaimed restaurateur, Hannah Green, is moving into the same cherished Brunswick East space. And the wait is finally over, with news just in that Daphne will open on Monday, 10 November. Bringing a similarly communal vibe, Green wants guests to feel like they're stepping into her home. To make everyone feel welcome, expect early-bird sittings, happy meals for the little ones, and weekly events where snacks and drinks flow until the early hours. Green says, "It's a restaurateur's answer to a pub. The mood is fun and easygoing, the food is highly delicious but not too fancy. Our rules are that my dad should be able to read and understand everything on the menu, and it should be as accessible for after-school snacks and casual catch-ups as it is for milestone celebrations and midnight martinis." Stepping inside, guests will encounter a venue divided into two distinct sections, with the front offering a dedicated bar space and casual counter service, primed for a walk-in feed or quick drink. In the back, the mood becomes a little more refined, featuring Green's signature elevated service and tables graced with crisp linen. Meanwhile, a semi-private dining room presents a fancy spot to celebrate a milestone with up to 30 of your closest pals. "This site has meant so much to Brunswick East over the years, and I feel incredibly fortunate to be its next custodian," says Green. "What I hope to create with Daphne is a welcoming space where everyone feels comfortable, and that isn't just for special occasions. Somewhere friends can drop in for an impromptu cocktail a couple of times a week, and parents can take the kids for an early meal before heading home for bathtime." In the kitchen, the main focus is a custom woodfire grill and oven, designed and built by Samuel Frarracio, aka The Brick Chef. This unique bit of kit will help respected Head Chef Diana Desensi — previously behind acclaimed spots like Montalto, Pt Leo Estate and Saint George — make the European-leaning plates shine even brighter, aided further with seasonal produce sourced from a bevy of local farms and friends. "I've admired Diana's food for years," says Green. "There's real heart and generosity in everything she puts on the plate. When I started dreaming up Daphne, she was the first person I thought of. She understands what it means to cook for a community." A concise menu of approachable snacks, such as grilled potato flatbread with mussels, and Bloody Mary tomatoes with pickles and olives, complements one glass after the next. Larger dishes include the likes of ricotta tortellini with artichoke and milk sauce, roast chicken with blistered grapes, pork cotoletta with 'Caesar' leaves, and a fresh Cobb salad. Shaped by childhood memories of family meals centred around what grew in the garden at home, Desensi's ethos is renowned for being nostalgic and highly seasonal. Diners can also expect daily tarts, cakes and crostatas to showcase the best farm-fresh fruit, served simply with a dollop of cream. As for the drinks, Sommelier Ashley Boburka (Etta, Rockpool Bar & Grill) has pulled together on-tap drops from Yarra Valley winemaker Dom Valentine. There's no shortage of choice as you're welcome to delve into Etta's 400-plus bottles — after all, it's just a couple of doors down. Sam Peasnell (Etta, Dom's Social Club) has also developed a curated cocktail program, with light spins on classic drinks. Get down on Monday evenings for Martini Club, complete with Nah-tinis for non-drinkers. Catering to 125 guests across the bar and restaurant, a cosy design led by IF Architecture will mix and match tactile materials, from walnut timber and stainless steel to glass brick and coffee-coloured upholstery. Fans of Bar Romantica will also instantly recognise the terrazzo floors, along with the custom-built sound system. Where Etta was Green's warmly sophisticated original, expect Daphne to bring a little more quirky fun to the local neighbourhood dining scene. [caption id="attachment_695349" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Bar Romantica by Kate Shanasy[/caption] Daphne is slated to open on Monday, 10 November, at 52-54 Lygon Street, Brunswick East. Bookings will be open from Wednesday, 29 October. Head to Instagram for more information. Images: Kristoffer Paulsen.
Public transport just stepped up a notch in France. Are you done with hair-pullingly long off-course commutes, but don't have the sweet funds for a ride of your own? The French city of Grenoble has found the perfect middle ground between two evils — electric, tiny, publicly-owned car sharing. Driven by Toyota's brand new, three-wheeled, Tron-like i-ROAD electric vehicle, the French city is trialling a new car sharing program called Smart City; designed to bring public and private transport together in one big planet-saving exercise. The City of Grenoble has teamed up with Grenoble-Alpes Métropole, EDF Group, Toyota and Citélib to put these ultra-compact, sustainable automobiles on the road amongst its current car sharing program. Basically, Grenoblians (yeah? Maybe Grenoblites?) pick up the Toyota EVs at one station and drop it off at another, kind of like NYC's Citi Bike or London's Barclays for cars. The tiny, tiny electric cars take up less space than those terrible, terrible pollution-happy 4WDs, so parking and traffic congestion loosen up while air quality increases. Two people can sit in tandem, if you're feeling like giving the Goose to your Maverick a lift. Even if you already own a car, the initiative is meant to get commuters to switch vehicles for the last leg of the journey into the CBD problem zone. Nice one, Grenobliers. The Toyota i-ROAD cars will zoom around Grenoble within the car sharing program for the next three years. Plans to bring the cars to Japan are underway, but no talks for programs in Australia or New Zealand have been had yet. And although these gloriously '90s-looking colour ranges... ...are slightly too similar to this... ...we're all for investing in sustainability, saving the planet one multicoloured faddish gizmo at a time. Via Inhabitat.
Do you ever gaze at a portrait in a museum and wish the person inside it could speak? Maybe you'd ask them what it was like to be painted by the artist — boring, intimidating, thrilling? — maybe you'd want to know more about their life story, particularly if they're a well-known figure. Or maybe you'd simply be curious to hear what it's like to have your image hung on a wall and stared at by streams of strangers each day. They're not questions you often hear the answers to; when it comes to portraiture, it tends to be the case that the subject is recognised but the artist gets interviewed. So, to redress this, we sought out three 'muses' behind portraits selected as finalists in this year's Archibald Prize to get a sense of how it feels to be a subject in Australia's top portraiture prize. [caption id="attachment_634779" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Loribelle Spirovski: John Bell at home, oil on canvas, 2017.[/caption] JOHN BELL BY LORIBELLE SPIROVSKI The subject of not one, but two paintings in this year's Archibald, legendary actor, director and Bell Shakespeare founder John Bell appears in paintings by Loribelle Spirovski and Jordan Richardson. Having met him earlier this year when he worked with her partner, classical pianist Simon Tedeschi, Spirovski found Bell at first a slightly daunting figure to paint. She used a minimal background and flesh colours tinged with a gleam of Australian sun to channel the viewer's attention towards Bell's piercing gaze, just as she herself "was immediately drawn to that powerful, chiselled face with its deep-set features and inscrutable personality." The resulting portrait of a seated Bell feels both relaxed and intimidatingly regal. Bell was very excited at the prospect of being painted by the artist, who he describes as "a restless creative spirit". He admires her bold experimentation, speed and confident execution: "She can deliver a portrait of photographic realism or one that ventures into the darker reaches of the psyche in a most startling manner." Although he'd seen a number of her paintings, including several of Tedeschi, the finished work nevertheless came to him as "something of a shock," Bell says, describing it as "very intense, brooding and introspective but expressed with a violent palette of colour and craggy vigour of execution. I find it unsettling to look at but very persuasive." He is yet to visit the work alongside the public, but when he does he's looking forward to eavesdropping on their comments (you've been warned). Image: Loribelle Spirovski, John Bell at home, oil on canvas, 2017 [caption id="attachment_634780" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Andrew Lloyd Greensmith: The inner stillness of Eileen Kramer, oil on linen, 2017.[/caption] EILEEN KRAMER BY ANDREW LLOYD GREENSMITH It's not every year that a prominent plastic surgeon has a painting in the Archibald. For Andrew Lloyd Greensmith, ex-chief of the Department of Craniofacial Surgery at the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, art was a childhood obsession that he's only recently begun to seriously pursue. His muse? Eileen Kramer — who, at 102 years old, is the world's oldest working dancer and choreographer. She toured with the avant-garde Bodenwieser Ballet for a decade, and has called New York, London, Paris and India home. To Andrew, "she embodies beauty as that intangible thing which cannot be fixed on the surface nor defeated by the wear and tear of age." When asked to sit for the portrait, Eileen thought, "I love the portraits of the great Dutch masters, especially Rembrandt. I hope I look like that!" She found Andrew "extremely sympathetic" to work with during the sitting process. Drawing on memories of being painted several times in Paris, Eileen offered up a series of poses she thought would be suitable — until stopping for a moment to rest. This was, of course, the moment Andrew began sketching. After seeing the stillness and quiet grace of the finished work, Eileen felt that Andrew understood the dancer in her. "I didn't know he'd seen that in me," she comments. "To me it looks like the portrait of a dancer. I did not expect to like it, but I do." As for the idea of thousands of people staring at her everyday? "That is an extraordinary feeling. I wish my mother would have been here to see it." [caption id="attachment_634671" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dee Smart: The Major of Bondi, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2017.[/caption] JOHN MACARTHUR BY DEE SMART Picking up her first paintbrush 15 years ago while housebound with a new baby, Dee Smart's artistic drive revolves around the desire to capture the human condition — and it was John Macarthur's humility and sense of humour that drew her to him as a potential muse. The result (and her first Archibald selection) is a joyous portrait positively singing with colour, reflecting the 'vibrating hues' of Macarthur's home and wider world. Fondly known as the 'Mayor of Bondi', Macarthur is famous for his internationally coveted, extremely colourful knitwear brand Purl Harbour. And it sounds like he has a similarly colourful life story. In fact, while living in Spain he apparently very nearly became muse to another painter — Salvador Dali, to be exact — who wanted to paint him as an angel. No big deal. His initial reaction when Smart asked him to sit? "I was absolutely gobsmacked. What on earth and how and why?" The painting's progression was, however, a relaxed one, and by the sounds of it, he made an obedient subject. "She said jump, I said how high. That's basically how it went. We laughed a hell of a lot." Observing Smart's close attention to line and angle, Macarthur savoured his behind-the-scenes vantage point, and found the big reveal of the finished painting to be "quite extraordinary". He particularly enjoys the eye-catching palette of his beloved pinks and oranges — stating that "these are definitely my colours" — his "happy and veracious" look and the "intensity in the eyes" captured by Smart. "I identify totally with what she's done." Catch the 2017 Archibald Prize at AGNSW until Sunday, October 22.
Those of you who believe that heaven is a beef patty and munching through a juicy double (cheeseburger) with onion rings is a way of communing with a higher power, hear this proclamation. A new place of worship has been erected by faithful servants in Maribyrnong and behold, it is good. St. Burgs, named after the patron saint of burgers (probably), has thrown its door wide for saints and sinners alike and they are not messing around. Established by burger zealot Dan Soto, St. Burgs has been set up in an apartment block on Edgewater Boulevard and has nailed the clean, understated decor that says, "We’re just here to make burgers, people." The menu reflects this simplistic philosophy — it's pretty basic (in a good way) and like all great foodie establishments, makes the choosing part easy. You can get a beef burger (the ‘Durger’), double beef burger (the ‘Double D’), chicken burger (the ‘Western Fried Chicken’) or the mushroom burger (the ‘St. Shroom’). As that cartoon meerkat would say, "Simples." However St. Burgs diverges from the pack by rejecting the hipster burger staple, the brioche bun, and replacing it with something a little less sickly: a milk bun with an egg base (hey, we only said it was a little less sickly). You can also pick up a side of Filipino-style wingettes with slaw or a sinful salted caramel milkshake (*drools until dehydrated*). Amen. Find St. Burgs at 41-45 Edgewater Boulevard, Maribyrnong. Open Tuesday – Friday 6pm-9pm, Saturday – Sun 12pm – 7pm (or until sold out). Closed Mondays.
If you prefer your exercise with a side of open skies, fresh air and H20, then a spot of kayaking or canoeing near Melbourne will definitely be your jam. Gliding through the water, captaining your own vessel as you soak up some sunshine and scenery — that's the kind of recreational activity that delivers all year round. Thankfully, Victoria's chock full of stunning locations that are primed for those water-fuelled adventures — whether you're down for a bit of ocean frolicking or fancy cruising atop some glassy lake. So, we've rounded up some great destinations for kayaking and canoeing just a short drive from Melbourne. Pull that watercraft out of the garage — or tee up a rental — and hit the water this weekend. Recommended reads: The Best Beaches in and Around Melbourne The Best Snorkelling Spots Near Melbourne The Best Swimming Holes in Melbourne The Best Waterfalls You Can Swim Under in Victoria Murry River, Echuca Holidaying along the mighty Murray River has become synonymous with aquatic adventures. But you don't necessarily need an overnight stay to enjoy its scenic, paddle-friendly waters. Spread along most of the state's northern border, the Murray is filled with oar-some spots for kayaking, including the point where it hits Echuca, around 2.5 hours out of Melbourne. Here, the river's slow-moving waters make for some easy cruising, while the banks of majestic red gums offer a soothing nature fix and promise plenty of wildlife sightings. How far you venture is only limited by how much time you've got — this river is a whopping 2508 kilometres long. The Mornington Peninsula Literally surrounded by sparkling water, the Mornington Peninsula has canoeing and kayaking options on tap. All that's left is to decide is which bit of gorgeous coastline you're in the mood to paddle through today. The usually calm waters of the bayside stretch are ideal beginners turf, with plenty to see as you slip alongside the bathing boxes of Rosebud and Rye, and onward for a peek at the dazzling mansions set above Sorrento. Or, if you fancy splashing with some dolphins and seals, check out the pristine setting down by the Point Nepean National Park, at the entrance of Port Phillip Bay. There are loads of different tours on offer if you'd like a guided experience. [caption id="attachment_770519" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mark Chew for Visit Victoria[/caption] Barwon River, Barwon Heads A renowned haven for swimmers, paddlers and boaters, Barwon Heads sits an easy 90-minute drive from the Melbourne CBD, offering a serene aquatic playground at the mouth of the Barwon River. With its smooth, shallow waters, the inlet located on the Great Ocean Road attracts scores of stand-up paddleboarders all year round, though it's also a top destination for some laidback kayaking or canoeing adventures. There are no wild waves to deal with and you'll find lots of wide sandy shoreline for easing your craft in. And for relaxing in between paddles, of course. There's also a stack of coastal cafes and restaurants located just a short stroll off the water. [caption id="attachment_923248" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mark Watson for Visit Victoria[/caption] Lake Elizabeth, The Otways For a scenic paddle with a high chance of platypus sightings, take a spin on Lake Elizabeth, deep within The Otways. A favourite aquatic playground along the Barwon River, this one's loved by canoers and billed monotremes alike, rocking a lush, tranquil setting that's hauntingly beautiful. The calm, glassy waters are ideal for beginner boaters, and you can test your turning skills gliding among the dead tree trunks — remnants from when a landslide created the lake in the 1950s. Platypus pals are best spotted at dawn and dusk — you can head out on your own, or boost your chances by joining one of the local guided canoe tours. The Yarra River That paddling session needn't mean venturing way out of town. You can float your boat much closer to home, with a jaunt along our very own Yarra. For a chance to see the city sights from an entirely different angle, try a leisurely kayak or canoe river trek, with one of the many inner-city hire and tour companies, such as Sea Kayak Australia. There are minimal skills and effort required if you stick to protected central spots like Docklands and South Wharf. Otherwise, you can amp up the heart rate by tackling some white water rapids, out where the river passes through Warrandyte. And yes, you want to avoid copping a mouthful of Yarra water wherever possible. [caption id="attachment_770524" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Victoria[/caption] Lake Wendouree, Ballarat A 90-minute drive from Melbourne in the heart of Ballarat, Lake Wendouree offers up 238 hectares of primo paddling space, for water enthusiasts of all skill levels. And, having played host to the rowing events of the 1956 Olympics, it's also got quite the reputation. The lake has a bunch of different jetties and beaches you can take off from, and averages around two metres deep, with some choppiness where the wind hits the more exposed waters. Members can rent out gear from the Ballarat Canoe Club pontoon, otherwise, you'll have to come equipped with your own vessel. Scored nice weather? A cheeky sunset cruise promises some pretty spectacular scenes. [caption id="attachment_770522" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Parks Victoria[/caption] Lysterfield Lake, Lysterfield Park Featuring almost 1400 hectares of mountain bike trails, walking tracks and bushy parkland, Lysterfield Park is brimming with opportunities for outdoor adventuring. But when some water action's on the cards, its famous namesake lake is the place to be. With its calm waters and wide sandy beaches, Lysterfield Lake is a popular choice for kayakers, canoers and SUPers keen for a leisurely cruise. Only non-powered boating is allowed here, so even total novices can feel at ease exploring the gentle 82-hectare expanse. And if you keep an eye out you should spy plenty of feathered friends on your travels — the lake's ringed by lots of natural waterbird habitat, sitting out of sight of the main swimming beaches. Lake Nagambie, Goldfields A much-loved water sports destination that hosts regular kayaking championships throughout the year, the inviting waters of Lake Nagambie are guaranteed to bring out your inner paddler. Outside of regatta days, you can join a crowd of fishermen, swimmers and boating types making the most of this sprawling body of water and its grassy shores. Take a jaunt along the shallows filled with red gums, and practise turning around the mini islands made of vegetation. If you're boat-less, there are plenty of local operators who can hook you up with a rental canoe or kayak, and even guide you through a lesson. Top images: Lake Elizabeth by Mark Watson for Visit Victoria
With winter making its chilly, soul-destroying presence well known this year, it's a relief that the Melbourne Writers Festival is nearly upon us. Giving us all a viable and damn near social opportunity to rug up with a good book, this bastion of our city's cultural calendar is about to stroll on into our jumper-clad, tea-loving lives and make things a whole lot brighter. This year they're bringing the big guns too. The 2014 headliners include Helen Garner, Salman freakin' Rushdie, Dave Eggers, and a David Bowie-singing astronaut. There's hands-on experience being offered from Lonely Planet's Don George and The New Yorker's Emily Nussbaum. Even politicians are getting involved; you can offset your nights of heavy boozing with some highly intellectual discussions from Bob Brown, Malcolm Fraser and Bob Carr (provided you're feeling up for it). Of course, it doesn't matter if you're not a writer yourself. These kinds of festivals are just spaces for ideas. Rub shoulders with the nation's best thinkers, jot down some newfound inspiration, and float around the many city venues fuelled by curiousity and an unwavering stream of quality caffeine. Get ready for some literature, politics and gin, people. This one's going to be a doozy. The Melbourne Writers Festival is on August 21-31. Tickets are on sale via the festival website, though many events are free. For more, check out our full MWF run-down including our picks of the top ten events.
International fast food giant KFC is inviting its diehard fans to take their gravy drinking habits to the next level, unveiling one of its wackiest, most unnecessary releases yet — a series of cocktail recipes crafted on its signature gravy. Yep, the same marketing team that last year gifted the world with fried chicken-scented bath bombs has found another way to infuse flavours of the deep frier where they probably shouldn't be infused. According to the Independent, KFC's taken cues from bone broth cocktails that have been creeping onto forward-thinking (read: paleo) drink lists around the world, working with cocktail pros to design three boozy sips that hero its legendary gravy. The lineup includes a meaty version of the classic bloody mary (complete with a popcorn chicken skewer as the suggested garnish), and The Southern Twist, featuring bourbon and a parsley brown sugar rim. Requiring a touch more flair is the Finger Lickin' Sour, made with mezcal, cherry liqueur, marmalade and egg white. Gravy so good you can drink it... #BlueMonday pic.twitter.com/G5C1IgfM0H — KFC UK & Ireland (@KFC_UKI) January 15, 2018 This is of course another elaborate publicity campaign by the brand, but one that admittedly sums up weird food trends pretty well. And the recipes are indeed available online, along with videos created by London-based ad agency Mother, just in case you feel like getting creative the next time you order KFC. Come to think of it, this would make one hell of a hair of the dog drink. Via the Independent. Image: YouTube.
Some people collect stamps; others are passionate about coins; but we think if you're going to spend so much time thinking about one thing, it should be extraordinary. It should be something prolific and inspired — something that has the capacity to change the course of people's lives. For Ryan Beitz this something is VHS copies of the timeless 1994 Keanu Reeves classic, Speed. That may not be his exact reasoning, but regardless of motivation this guy now has upwards of 500 copies in his collection. What started out as a bizarre bulk buy from the op shop has now led to Beitz founding The World Speed Project, a group whose end goal is to collect every copy in existence. "The World Speed Project is satisfied by a compulsion to repeat [things]," said Beitz in an interview with VICE. "When you get one, you want to get another! And another! And another! Like the bus in Speed, we collectively cannot — and will not — stop." The group don't stop there, either. The WSP also want to take their message to the streets. Launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund it, they hope to convert an existing van into a small sized replica of the bus from their favourite film, and travel around the country while building their collection. Asking for a mere $2,500, WSP want to not only change their vehicle cosmetically, they also crucially need to fix the speedometer. Because how else will they avoid the 50mph marker, duh? Faced with increasing media scrutiny, Beitz is increasingly optimistic about his mission. "I think the World Speed Project is awesome in the truest sense of the word," he said. "It's larger than life. Imagine all of [the tapes] in one place! It’s uncompromising." If you share his unbridled joy, or maybe just have a morbid curiosity, you can donate to the bus fund here or send your VHS tapes to the address below (assuming you're willing to part with your most cherished possession). Chairman Ryan Beitz, The World Speed Project, 20204 SR 195 Pullman, WA 99163 USA Via Vice.
How many bricks of Lego does it take to build a bar? It probably wasn't the first Lego-related question we were going to ask (or test for ourselves) but The Brick Bar is proof that there are tangible answers to life's most ambitious questions. According to the creators of Australia's first bar made entirely out of Lego, it's a million bricks. And while we don't actually know if anyone counted a million bricks, you can try and fact check this point it when it pops up in South Wharf between September 13 and 16. You can expect elaborate Lego sculptures placed around the adults-only space, including a Lego bath, a Lego water feature and a Lego throne. There will be DJs playing across the afternoon and night, and you can try your hand at Lego table tennis or a Lego building competition. And there's a ball pit for some reason. Brick-shaped burgers will come courtesy of Common Man chef Malcolm Williams, and bevs will be served in Lego keep cups. Punters will also be able to make use of a huge pile of surplus bricks to fashion their own Lego creations, in public, with no shame at all. Just don't walk around barefoot. Updated: September 14, 2018.
When Guillermo del Toro last made a movie for Netflix — and last made a movie, too — Pinocchio not only streamed via the platform, but had a date with cinemas, where all of the director's films should be seen, first. The same plan is in place for the filmmaker's next picture, thankfully, the streamer has just announced. Del Toro officially adapting Frankenstein after riffing on it across his career? Now that absolutely demands the big-screen treatment. Netflix has revealed that the Oscar Isaac (Moon Knight)- and Jacob Elordi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North)-starring take on Mary Shelley's horror masterpiece will release in select picture palaces on Thursday, October 23, 2025. To watch it at home, it'll be available to stream from Friday, November 7, 2025 Oscar-winning The Shape of Water director del Toro will be the first to tell anyone, as he did at Neflix's annual Tudum event for 2025, that he's long had an obsession with Frankenstein, that he's been weaving that affection for it into his work since he first hopped behind the camera and that making his own adaptation of the gothic-horror masterpiece is a dream come true. "This is, for me, the culmination of a journey that has occupied most of my life," he advised the crowd at the time. So far, from its trailer and images, that love for Shelley's now 207-year-old novel is evident in every frame of del Toro's Frankenstein. "I first read Mary Shelley's book as a kid, and saw Boris Karloff in what became, for me, an almost-religious stage," he continued at Tudum while accompanied by Isaac and co-star Mia Goth (MaXXXine). "Monsters have become my personal belief system. There are strands of Frankenstein throughout my films — Cronos, Blade, Hellboy, big time on Pinocchio, and a long, long [list], et cetera." Isaac portrays the feature's namesake, aka Victor Frankenstein, the scientist driven by tragedy to attempt to conquer the line between life and what exists beyond it. As the trailer notes, "only monsters play god". As Victor advises himself, "in seeking life, I created death". Also uttered in the movie's debut sneak peek, reinforcing its theme: "what manner of creature is that? What manner of devil made him?". Goth is Elizabeth, Victor's fiancée. From there, Christoph Waltz (Old Guy), Ralph Ineson (The Fantastic Four: First Steps), Charles Dance (The Day of the Jackal), Lars Mikkelsen (Dalloway) and del Toro regular Burn Gorman (Pacific Rim, Crimson Peak, Pinocchio) are also part of the cast. Frankenstein will never stop entrancing filmmakers, as it has James Whale back in 1931 when Karloff played the monster, Mel Brooks (Dracula: Dead and Loving It) with 1974 comedy Young Frankenstein, Kenneth Branagh (A Haunting in Venice) on his 1994 take, Danny Boyle (28 Years Later) with his stage adaptation, Tim Burton (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) via Frankenweenie and Yorgis Lanthimos (Kinds of Kindness) in Poor Things, plus Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter) with 2026's The Bride!, just to name a few other examples. Check out the trailer for Frankenstein below: Frankenstein is releasing in select cinemas on Thursday, October 23, 2025 — and streaming via Netflix from Friday, November 7, 2025. Images: Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2025.
Serving up some of Melbourne's best pan-Asian food for about a decade, Red Spice Road is an express tour of Asian cuisine by doing no more than booking a table and arriving hungry. Located in the centre of town on McKillop Street, the restaurant has a relaxed yet constantly buzzing vibe, featuring long, communal tables and a menu that is designed to be shared. In short, sharing is highly encouraged at Red Spice Road. Small plates pack a bite-sized punch, like the betel leaf with roasted snapper, jackfruit, lemongrass and dried coconut ($8) and the crispy prawns with dashi and lime ($19). Medium plates include a watermelon salad with fresh mint and red nam jim dressing ($16), kingfish with coriander, pickled garlic, chilli, shallots and crispy wonton ($32) and sambal chicken wings ($21). For large plates, expect a range of curries, stir-fries and noodle dishes. Open both at lunch and dinner, Red Spice also offers an express tasting menu ($36 per person) during the day for those in a hurry while at night choose from one of two banquets, priced at $79 or $99 per head. Plus, the restaurant is fully licensed, with beers, wines, cocktails and even sake all available.
For almost two decades, Love Actually has been everyone's go-to British rom-com with festive flavour. This year, Last Christmas wants to give the star-studded classic a run for its money. And, given that it pairs Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke with Crazy Rich Asians' Henry Golding, is directed by Bridesmaids and A Simple Favour's Paul Feig, and features the music of George Michael — including the Wham! tune that shares the movie's title, obviously — this new dose of cinematic sweetness might just achieve that aim. Admittedly, Last Christmas sounds a little like the result of overlapping Venn diagrams mapping things that absolutely everyone loves. Its leads hail from one of the biggest shows of this century and one of the huge film hits of the past year, respectively. Its director has a following of his own. Even folks who aren't all that fond of Christmas manage to find a soft spot for festive flicks. And, there's never a bad time for George Michael's music — or, as Always Be My Maybe demonstrated earlier this year, for upbeat rom-coms that take their title from a beloved pop track. But, based on the just-released first trailer, this Christmassy movie doesn't just hit obvious crowd-pleasing beats. It also has plenty of charm. The fact that it's co-written by Emma Thompson, who has an Oscar for screenwriting (for Sense and Sensibility) and also co-stars in the flick, clearly helps. And, if Michael's existing hits didn't provide enough of a soundtrack, the film will also feature new, previously unreleased tunes by the late singer. Story-wise, the movie follows the cynical, Scrooge-like Kate (Clarke), who works as an elf in a year-round Christmas shop but has a distinct lack of seasonal cheer herself. She has ample reasons for her unhappy demeanour, including her stern boss (Michelle Yeoh), although she might also have some motivation to start feeling more jovial when she keeps running into the endearing Tom (Golding). Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9CEIcmWmtA Last Christmas releases in Australian cinemas on November 7.
What'd happen if the Hulk was a teenage girl, and turned into a giant, fuzzy, super-cute red panda instead of going green and getting ultra-muscular? Or, finding a different riff on the ol' werewolf situation, if emotions rather than full moons inspired a case of not-quite-lycanthropy? These mightn't be questions that most folks have ever even thought of, but writer/director Domee Shi certainly has — and they're at the core of Pixar's Turning Red, her debut feature after winning an Oscar for gorgeous 2018 short Bao. As many of the acclaimed animation studio's movies do (see also: Finding Nemo, Up, Brave and the Cars franchise, for instance), Turning Red takes its title literally. But, for the second time in the past year following 2021's Luca, it sees Pixar ask a question that isn't simply "what if toys/bugs/monsters/vehicles/fish/superheroes/rats/robots/dinosaurs/elves had feelings?" (or even if feelings had feelings themselves, or if souls did as well). It still ponders a spin on that notion, wondering what'd happen if red pandas sported human-style emotions; however, the Disney-owned company has also been musing on people becoming other kinds of critters of late, with particularly astute and endearing results here. Now streaming on Disney+ after bypassing cinemas completely, Turning Red spends its time with 13-year-old Chinese Canadian high-schooler Meilin Lee (Rosalie Chiang, also making her movie debut). The year is 2002, and she loves three things: meeting her strict but doting mum Ming's (Sandra Oh, The Chair) expectations; hanging out with her pals Miriam (Ava Morse, Ron's Gone Wrong), Priya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Never Have I Ever) and Abby (Hyein Park, also Bao's story artist); and ridiculously popular boy band 4*Town. And while her mother doesn't approve of her friends or her taste in music, and would prefer for her to either be at school or helping out at the family's temple at all times, Mei has become quite accustomed to juggling everything that's important to her. Then, after a boy-related mishap — Mei realises that she has a crush on a 17-year-old convenience store clerk, but Ming finds out and embarrasses her in public — the red panda appears. Mei goes to bed feeling normal, albeit angsty and upset, then wakes up looking like a cuddly creature. Like werewolf tales about teenage boys tend to be, Turning Red is all about puberty and doesn't hide it, with Mei forced to face the new version of herself that's awakened overnight. This is both Pixar's 25th full-length flick and its first solely directed by a woman, and the result is one of the studio's instant classics; when the company isn't throwing love towards childhood obsessions such as toys, monsters and cars, it also adores exploring what it feels like to be a kid — and Turning Red fits the mould perfectly. Of course, while it's easy to spy commonalities among Pixar's 27 years of movies so far, it rarely makes blandly formulaic fare. That's one of its key skills, after all: throwing around familiar parts, premises and patterns, but almost always making whichever movie eventuates feel new, thoughtful and specific. That remains the case with Turning Red, which is as savvy and delightful as the very best entries on the studio's resume. A charming coming-of-age effort, it flows with warmth and insight as Mei navigates an array of hugely recognisable high-school antics — being certain that you stand out, getting teased, wanting to go to concerts, developing your own interests, growing away from your parents and forging your own identity all included — while also grappling with sometimes being a red panda. Indeed, as struggles and pressures mount, and their protagonist yearns for the space to work out who she really is and what she truly wants, Shi and her co-scribe Julia Cho (Halt and Catch Fire) have also penned a tale of teen rebellion. The movie's heavy use of crimson hues represents many things, from its chosen animal to raging hormones, and a feisty can-do temperament sits high on the list. This is a Pixar movie that asks "has the red peony blossomed?" when Ming thinks that Mei has gotten her period, rather than turned into a red panda, for instance — if there was any doubt on how eagerly and openly it embraces everything that growing up means for teenage girls. It's a film that finds the relatable in the specific in a cultural sense, too, giving Toronto's Chinese community a hefty embrace, pondering generational trauma, and also creating an on-screen world that both looks and feels lived-in. And, it's as joyous about boy bands and their status as an object of obsession for adolescent hearts and minds as the wonderful Aussie documentary I Used to Be Normal: A Boyband Fangirl Story was as well. Bright, perky but never generic animation brings Shi's vision to life, and a soundtrack peppered with boy band-style songs by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell (the latter also voicing one of 4*Town's members) helps set an upbeat tone. But don't mistake all that gloss, those earworm tunes and that endearing red panda for fluff, though: Turning Red has sweetness, soul and smarts, and it's another of Pixar's gems. Check out the trailer below: Turning Red is available to stream via Disney+ from Friday, March 11. Top image: © 2022 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
Some would say it's a waste of a perfectly good piano, but what Canadian artist Maskull Lasserre does to wood is worth every unused inch. Lassere explores the unexpected potential of the everyday, unassuming wooden object, and with his exceptional carving skills, transforms them into incredible works of art. He reveals strange creatures and skeletons that seems to have been fossilised inside common inanimate objects such as pianos, doors, books or axes. The artist says his work is a demonstration of how once something ceases to be, it becomes something else: "When the remnants of life are imposed on an object, and that’s true especially with the carving work that I do, it infers a past history or a previous life that had been lived, so again where people see my work as macabre, I often see it as hopeful, as the remnants of a life. Despite the fact that the life has ended, at least that life had a beginning and middle as well, so often by imparting these bodily elements to inanimate objects it reclaims or reanimates them in a virtual way." Yes, his name is Maskull Lasserre. What a dude. via Viral Nova explore the unexpected potential of the everyday
Bourke Street Mall's constant foot traffic probably won't be slowing down anytime in the near future, but it'll soon be a little easier on the lungs to walk through the buzzy stretch. Melbourne City Council has this morning announced that a smoke-free zone will be introduced between Russell Place and Elizabeth Street — covering all footpaths, roads and tramways — from Friday, October 4. "We're creating a welcoming, safe and healthy environment for the 60,000 visitors, residents and workers who enjoy the shopping and fantastic atmosphere of Bourke Street Mall every day," said Lord Mayor Sally Capp in a statement. Once the ban has been introduced in October, there'll be $100 fines for people smoking in the zone. If you're caught littering butts, you could face even heftier fines of up to $660. The City of Melbourne currently has ten smoke-free zones, including Howey Place, Block Place, Equitable Place, QV Melbourne, The Causeway, Fulham Place, Goldsbrough Lane, Collins Way, and the Tan and Princes Park running tracks. Smoking in outdoor dining areas is also banned. The Bourke Street smoking ban comes just a couple of months after North Sydney made the move to become one of the first smoke-free CBDs in the country. Hobart and Brisbane also have designated smoke-free public places in their own CBDs. The Bourke Street Mall smoke-free zone will come into effect from Friday, October 4. Image: Josie Withers for Visit Victoria
Melburnians, if you were planning to pick up show bags, hop on rides and check out cute animals at this year's Royal Melbourne Show, we have bad news. As also proved the case in 2020, the event has been cancelled due to the pandemic. In a statement released today, Wednesday, July 28, the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria announced it had made the decision to cancel the 2020 show "due to the ongoing uncertainty and operational constraints, challenges and risks associated with holding major events with large free roaming crowds during the COVID-19 pandemic." Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV) President Matt Coleman said that "whilst the RASV Board is disappointed to make the decision to cancel the 2021 Royal Melbourne Show, we felt it important for all those planning to be involved in the event including exhibitors, competitors, judges, stewards, sponsors and volunteers that they have certainty so they can make informed decisions in relation to their own arrangements." This year's event was due to take over the Melbourne Showgrounds from Thursday, September 23–Sunday, October 3. First held in 1855, this is only the fourth time in the show's 166-year history that it has been cancelled — with previous cancellations happening last year, and in 1915 and between 1940-1945 due to World War I and II, respectively. The Royal Melbourne Show, which attracts around 450,000 visitors each year, joins a growing list of big events that have been impacted by the pandemic for two consecutive years — such as Bluesfest, Splendour in the Grass and Vivid Sydney. News of the show's cancellation comes on the same day that Melbourne emerged from its most recent lockdown, which spanned almost two weeks. Gathering and venue restrictions remain in place, as always happens following the end of stay-at-home conditions. The 2021 Royal Melbourne Show will no longer take place from Thursday, September 23–Sunday, October 3. For more information, visit the show's website. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website. Images: Flickr/Chris Phutully.
In Europe, it's called the Night of Museums: an annual evening when leading cultural institutions across the continent stay open long after they'd normally shut their doors, welcoming in patrons for after-dark art activities. In Melbourne, a new event is taking that idea, running with it and rolling it out across the city — with everything from gigs and movies to immersive dome projections and after-hours exhibition access on offer. That's all on the just-dropped program for Art After Dark, which was initially announced back in March. Back then, Melburnians heard the basics — that the city would be scoring an after-hours extravaganza in May, with State Library Victoria, the NGV, Federation Square, Arts Centre Melbourne, ACMI and Melbourne Museum all involved. That was all well and good and exciting, of course, but the actual lineup is even more dazzling. Set to run from 6pm–1am on both Friday, May 13 and Saturday, May 14, Art After Dark will feature limited-time-only experiences — both free and ticketed — that span live music, visual and performing arts, and food and drink. The Social Crew is producing the inaugural event, which is presented by Visit Victoria. And the aim, unsurprisingly, is to get both locals and visitors to the city to play tourist at Melbourne's cultural venues. At State Library Victoria, things will be particularly bright, all thanks to Midnight at Pink Lake. It's a 360-degree immersive projection that'll light up the La Trobe Reading Room — so yes, looking up is well and truly in order. And, it'll be paired with a themed program called Dream State, which features mindful workshops, music, roving performers, giant chess, and food and drinks. Basically, the venue is going all out on a visual and aural experience, calling it "part guided meditation, part poem, part chant, part song". Next, at NGV Australia, Ron Mueck's Mass from the 2017 Triennial will return — giant skulls and all — accompanied by pop-up poetry readings, choirs and DJs. And, at NGV International, light projections will transform its bluestone exterior thanks to QUEER: Stories from the NGV Collection. Also on the bill: Hannah Brontë's video installation EYE HEAR U MAGIK 2020, as well as access to the whole venue itself, with everything free to access across all levels. Over at Fed Square, BRIGGS is headlining Fed Square Live on the Friday night, with Kee'ahn, Soju Gang and Izy in support. And, that's where you'll be able to peer up at Aussie-first art installation Constellations — which'll see artist Joanie Lemercier's monochrome, vector-based aesthetics paired with an electronic soundscape by producer Paul Jebanasam. Also, for something sweet, Fed Square will also be doing free takeaway hot chocolates, coffees, s'mores and glow-in-the-dark fairy floss. Arts Centre Melbourne is also hosting live performances, going nostalgic with Human Nature on the Saturday night. DJs will play from the balcony, food trucks will pop up and the Australian Music Vault will stay open, complete with curators and tour guides diving into the local music scene. At ACMI, drop-in showings of Soda Jerk's phenomenal Terror Nullius will be a big highlight, as will free Oskar Fischinger exhibition Raumlichtkunst — featuring one of the first multimedia projections ever made. The screen-focused museum is teaming up with Collingwood's beloved Bar SK, too, for a room of innovative and interactive entertainment that's all about Aussie game developers. And, it's collaborating with PHOTO 2022 International Festival of Photography on Gillian Wearing: Editing Life, with the British artist in focus. [caption id="attachment_852016" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Triceratops at Melbourne Muserum. Photo by Eugene Hyland[/caption] Last but by no means least, Melbourne Museum is letting folks see its triceratops after dark, and doing projections, hosting food trucks, setting up pop-up bars and inviting DJs to spin tunes. Or, over at IMAX, you'll be able to dive into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with late sessions of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Art After Dark is expected to see thousands of punters descend on the city for a late-night culture fix — a move that's sure to be welcomed by Melbourne's hard-hit creative industries as they continue through their post-COVID recovery phase. Art After Dark takes place at State Library Victoria, the NGV, Federation Square, Arts Centre Melbourne, ACMI and Melbourne Museum from Friday, May 13–Saturday, May 14. Head to the event's website for further details and tickets. Top image: Performers sing with Mass by Ron Mueck, 2017 on display at NGV Triennial 2017 at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Eugene Hyland.
In life and onstage, singer-songwriters Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter shared plenty. On-screen over the past year, they shared frames in exceptional documentary Wash My Soul in the Rivers Flow, too. And, come 2023, the pair will share a sculpture celebrating and commemorating their work and legacies, which is set to become a permanent fixture in Fitzroy. The Melbourne suburb will welcome a piece that hasn't yet been commissioned and designed, but will be overseen by the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation and Yarra City Council, as well as Roach and Hunter's family members. That process will start now, in preparation for unveiling next year, with the Victorian Government putting $287,000 towards the statue. [caption id="attachment_859315" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jacinta Keefe[/caption] "I remember good times with my dear baby brother Archie in Fitzroy and with Ruby right beside him," said Roach's sister Myrtle Evans in a statement announcing the news. "We shared many good times here together as a family. Being back here reminds me of those times. I miss those times now. May the spirit of dear Archie and Ruby always be here." Both Roach and Hunter, who passed away earlier in 2022 and in 2010 respectively, enjoyed careers worthy of the heartiest of tributes. It's aimed for the statue to become a landmark for fans to visit, including from within Melbourne, across Victoria, interstate and beyond. The pair's individual achievements are immense, with Ruby's 1994 record Thoughts Within the first solo album released by a First Nations female artist — and Roach's 'Took the Children Away' a powerful anthem for the stolen generations since 1990. Ruby was inducted into the National Indigenous Music Awards Hall of Fame in 2020, and Archie was named Victorian of the Year the same year. The statue will also recognise Roach and Hunter's work with Melbourne's First Peoples communities, including via the Archie Roach Foundation since 2014. "Uncle Archie's and Aunty Ruby's passion for their people inspired these gifted songwriters. They produced lyrics that not only touched the hearts of millions but educated a nation on the Stolen Generations," said Wurundjeri Elder Uncle Colin Hunter. Fitzroy's new sculpture celebrating Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter will be installed and unveiled sometime in 2023. We'll update you when further details are announced — and keep an eye on the City of Yarra website in the interim. Top image: Wash My Soul in the Rivers Flow, Sandy Scheltem.
Warm weather, beach holidays and kicking back with a few cocktails all go hand in hand. But thanks to ever-changing border restrictions over the past few months — plus life during a pandemic in general — you mightn't have been able to enjoy this summertime routine recently. If you're the kind of person who can enjoy a few beverages and instantly feel like you're vacation, though, then you'll instantly want to add Four Pillars' latest tipple to your must-drink list. In collaboration with Melbourne venue Arbory Afloat, the highly awarded gin distillery is launching a new Beach House Gin. It comes in a cheery pink hue, and heroes citrus and fruit flavours — think lemon myrtle, grapefruit, orange, lemon peel, sweet strawberry gum, pineapple sage and davidson plums. The idea, as the name makes plain, is to make you feel like you're on holiday by the shore every time you take a sip. Melburnians will know that this isn't Four Pillars and Arbory Afloat's first joint venture, with the two pairing up in 2019 on a different – but still pink — limited-edition gin. This time around, however, the tipple won't just be available onboard at Arbory Afloat. It still will be, of course, including on tap in spritzes and mixed into G&Ts — but folks around the country can also order a bottle. If your gin shrine is screaming for a splash of colour, Beach House Gin goes on sale at 8am on Tuesday, February 9 for $90 a bottle — or you can get it with a four-pack of tonic for $100. While Melburnians can try the new gin at Arbory Afloat, bottles are only available to purchase from the venue's website. To complete the summery feel, Beach House Gin features a label from Melbourne design studio 21-19 and Finnish artist and illustrator Antti Kalevi, which uses shapes and textures to create an abstract beachy landscape. And, gin fans in Melbourne can also head to a launch party for the new drop on Thursday, February 4, with tickets costing $145, and gin cocktails, beer, wine, sparkling, oysters and canapes on the menu on Arbory Afloat's pool deck. Four Pillars x Arbory Afloat Beach House Gin is available on tap and in cocktails at Arbory Afloat, and to buy by the bottle via the venue's website from 8am on Tuesday, February 9.
Beach umbrellas aren't new, but they're making a comeback in a big way this spring thanks to the popularity of social-distanced picnics. So, you can enjoy these sun-filled bliss outdoor sessions without worrying about sunburn, we suggest investing in a great shady beach umbrella. It'll be useful now and when summer hits, too. There are enough patterns, prints and fringes to satisfy even your wildest 70s design cravings, as well as clever bamboo and and biodegradable PVC eco designs, laser-prints to create dappled shade where you sit, understated parasols, and many, many, many eye-catching prints. With so much choice, there's really no excuse to be sporting a sunburn this summer. KEN DONE BEACH UMBRELLA, BASIL BANGS It was a hard choice between the many bangin' prints this company has on offer (check out their other options for extra inspiration). But this print by famed Australian artist Ken Done won our hearts. Inspired by tropical reefs with plenty of pinks, oranges and blues, it's a suitably bold park (and beach) accessory. Started by surfer and industrial designer Mike Durante, Basil Bangs has made it its mission to reimagine the vintage beach umbrellas Aussies love. That means the latest fabrics, pop art prints, and hard-wearing fixtures. Oh, and and matching, red-wine-proof picnic rugs. TAKE YOUR PICK FROM SUNDAY SUPPLY CO We couldn't choose between the lush designs at Sunday Supply Co. Each comes with cotton tassels, an extendable timber pole and a sturdy, custom-designed aluminium alloy hinge and hardwares. The premium fabric canopies are UPF 50+ and, with a diameter of two metres, will cast shade aplenty. But apart from all that, they look so damn pretty it's hard not to pick up more than one. BLOCK PARTY UMBRELLA, SUNNY LIFE Sunny Life has a whole range of umbrellas splashed with bold, playful prints. But who could resist this vibrant geometric number to shade their summer beach playground? Like many of the modern beach brollies popping out about the place, this one comes with a carry bag and sturdy, adjustable pole. But it's also waterproof, with a UPF 30 sun protection coating and a nifty 360-degree tilt function. Plus, that bold print is mighty hard to miss, even on a crowded beach. DAYTRIPPER BEACH UMBRELLA, BEACHKIT Here's one for the practical picnickers and beachgoers. While this classic blue-and-white striped number doesn't have quite the same look-at-me factor as some of its bolder counterparts, it does have some great design features that will make your beach trip a whole lot more comfortable. Like the two-piece vented top, designed to stop any gusty winds from flipping it inside out. The Daytripper's also got an extra wide 210-centimetre canopy for full coverage, and a self-anchoring sand lock that should help avoid any fly-away mishaps. WELLEN AND TIER SUN UMBRELLA, LIFE! Available in two hand-drawn prints, these sun umbrellas from lifestyle brand Life! are destined to get a solid workout over the coming balmy months. Each comes with a colour-coordinated carry bag for easy transport and a sand anchor to keep things nice and secure down at the beach. The design also features a UPF 50 canopy coating, a rust-resistant pole and a nifty tilt function to help you stay shaded all day long. Right now, you can even nab one on sale for $80. WHITE COAST, SUNBELLA There's something about the sheer simplicity of this umbrella that we really, really like. A cool white hue reminiscent of those Greek island houses we dream about, a summery cotton-blend canopy, a wooden sand-spiral handle and a UPF rating of 50+. With an 80-centimetre diameter and lightweight frame, this one easily doubles as a personal parasol to shade you while you're strolling around. And shipping to most Aussie locations will only cost around $10. Need more sun shade than this? How about a whole beach tent? Top image: Sunday Supply Co.
Two inner north favourites have joined forces in a perfect meeting of flavours, delivering your tastebuds one helluva treat. Abbotsford sandwich joint Kelso's has added to the family with a spin-off pop-up kitchen, taking up residence at Collingwood's The Mill Brewery. Dubbed Kelso's Chop Shop, the limited-edition venue is dedicated to the tasty sanga oft thought of as New York's answer to the Philly cheesesteak: the humble chop cheese. A hero of the Kelso's menu, it's now getting its own moment in the spotlight, with the pop-up serving six different varieties of the supremely lovable sandwich. In the lineup, you'll find the OG 'classic' filled with cheesy, chopped ground beef and all the usual cheeseburger trimmings, along with its veggo-friendly fried tofu cousin. Also in the mix: a fried chicken number with double cheddar, a meatlovers situation spiked with barbecued pineapple, a grilled prawn sanga and a vegan ode to the fried chook chop cheese. Of course, whichever you opt for, it'll be in very good company paired with one of The Mill's refreshing craft brews. Cut through that cheesy goddess with a crisp Australian pilsner, or go big with a pint of the hazy NEIPA. Kelso's Chop Shop will be serving the goods every Friday–Sunday.
Bringing a touch of 1920s glam to East Melbourne, Hemingway's Wine Room has made its post-lockdown return, following a short-lived launch of less than two weeks back when the doors first opened in June. After cementing itself in the hearts of local residents with its elegant delivery offering — Maisonette by Hemingway's — the venue's now getting to make a proper debut. A double shopfront on Wellington Parade has been transformed into a chic, vintage-inspired wine bar and brasserie that nods to the classic 20s-era haunts of New York and Paris. Art deco features abound, while a bold colour palette of black and red rounds it out in unmistakably French style. In the kitchen, Head Chef Patrick Dang (Sydney's Salt, Kyneton's Royal George and his own much-hyped Hong Kong venue Saam) has drawn on wide-roaming experience to create a sophisticated, Euro-accented menu, with two-to-five course prix fixe options also available. Aussie produce is celebrated throughout, across dishes like the scallop tartare starring foie gras rillette, roast Aylesbury duck teamed with charred turnip and caramelised pineapple, and a sweet corn agnolotti with cheddar fondue. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, a $109 per person long lunch offering will see you unwinding over a two-course feed matched with free-flowing wine poured from magnums. Assembled by Co-Owner and Sommelier Glen Bagnara, the rest of the wine list celebrates both the old world and the new, with a thoughtful range of bottles alongside an oft-changing rotation of premium pours by the glass. Meanwhile, a cocktail lineup showcases five favourite sips of Ernest Hemingway himself, reimagined with modern, high-end ingredients. Settle into a banquette and tumble back in time with help from the rye- and mezcal-based Spice Racket, or perhaps the Dame Blanche — a decadent sour blending Four Pillars Rare Gin, apricot brandy and lemon myrtle syrup. Find Hemingway's Wine Room at 150 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne. It's open Wednesday to Sunday for lunch, and Tuesday to Saturday for dinner. Venue images: Filip Konikowski
When the ABC announced that Spicks and Specks would return in 2024 after sitting 2023 out, it was big news, as anything to do with the hit Australian take on the UK's Never Mind the Buzzcocks always is. IRL, here's something just as exciting: the Brisbane-born and -based Not on Your Rider is also back for this year, although it didn't take a year off. On the agenda: playing a music quiz show filled with well-known faces live not just in the River City, but also in Sydney and Melbourne as well. And yes, the audience gets to play, too. You'll be peering at a stage, rather than a screen. You'll be answering questions, of course. And if it has you thinking about pub trivia nights, they don't include The Creases' Aimon Clark — who is also behind Isolation Trivia — hosting, or Patience Hodgson from The Grates and Jeremy Neale from Velociraptor captaining the two teams, let alone a heap of entertainment-industry guests. At past events, guests have included Murray Cook from The Wiggles, Broden Kelly and Mark Samual Bonanno from Aunty Donna, Boy Swallows Universe author Trent Dalton, Agro, Cal Wilson, Ben Lee, Steven Bradbury, Kate Miller-Heidke, Robert Irwin, Ranger Stacey, Craig Lowndes and Tim Rogers. Among the other musicians who've featured, Powderfinger, Dune Rats, DZ Deathrays, Ruby Fields, Ball Park Music, The Jungle Giants and The Go-Betweens have all had members take to the stage. Brisbane's 2024 season kicked off in mid-February, and now has seven more dates locked in for the rest of the year, all at The Triffid. Yes, given there's a Thursday, October 31 event, you can probably expect another Halloween celebration. And, come Thursday, December 19, a Christmas show as well. In Sydney and Melbourne, Not on Your Rider has a show in each city locked in. For the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, it's popping up on Thursday, April 18 at Brunswick Ballroom. And at Sydney's equivalent, head to Factory Theatre on Sunday, May 5. Here's how it works: Not on Your Rider takes something that everyone loves — showing off their music trivia knowledge — and dials it up a few notches. While the two on-stage teams are always filled with musos, comedians, drag queens and other guests, anyone can buy a ticket, sit at a table and answer questions along with them. The quiz element is accompanied by chats about the music industry, plus other mini games involving attendees. Not on Your Rider 2024 Dates: Brisbane: Thursday, April 4 — The Triffid Thursday, May 9 — The Triffid Thursday, June 13 — The Triffid Thursday, August 1 — The Triffid Thursday, September 12 — The Triffid Thursday, October 31 — The Triffid Thursday, December 19 — The Triffid Melbourne: Thursday, April 18 — Brunswick Ballroom Sydney: Sunday, May 5 — Factory Theatre Not on Your Rider's 2024 season runs on various dates until Thursday, December 19 at The Triffid in Brisbane, and on one-off occasions in Sydney and Melbourne. For more information or to buy tickets, head to the Not On Your Rider website. Images: Dave Kan / Bianca Holderness.
Cristiano, Neymar and Messi have been rendered as the futurist Incredibles in a new series of illustrations by up-and-coming artist Rafael Mayani. Bringing together twelve of the finest players in the FIFA 2014 World Cup, Mayani brought his playful style — often reserved for stunning, Disney and Nintendo characters — to slick renditions of Marco Reus, Andrea Pirlo, Didier Drogba and more WC favourites. Relatively unknown on the international circuit, Mexico City-based Mayani's talent for sketching footballers is evident in his sfumato charcoal Pele posted on his Facebook page: All twelve of the players feature on a limited edition poster available at Society 6. Devoid of sweat patches, day-old Cheezels and beer-stained couch groove, your World Cup addiction never looked so elegant. Marco Reus Didier Drogba Cristiano Ronaldo Iker Casillas Andrea Pirlo Leo Messi Via Fubiz.
