It's time to live out all your Tony Hawk Pro Skater dreams from 1998. Converse Australia — those perennial titans of street cred — are bringing you a bunch of free skate workshops and assorted cool dude-ery. Over the course of two weekends, Converse are giving you the chance to learn off experts like Kenny Anderson, Nick Trapasso, Mike Anderson, and Andrew Brophy for the ever-convenient price of free. From 12-5pm on Saturday, June 8 you can get some hands-on experience making ramps and other handy skate obstacles out of wood, then follow it up the next day with a crash course in concrete. The following weekend will be one for the show-offs. From 12-5pm on Saturday, June 14, Andrew Peters and Bryce Golder will be leading a course on skate photography. Hot tip: anything shot with a fish eye lens is automatically cool. If that's not enough, skate video producer Su Young Choi will be leading a videography workshop the very next day. All the workshops are free of charge, but get in quick. Once the sk8r bois of Brunswick and Fitzroy get wind of this, places won't last long. Book your place here. Photo credit: Chris H.B. Rogers via photopin cc.
We're in the thick of a glorious summer of festivals and you might be feeling the pinch in your pocket book (then again, who uses a pocket book anymore?). But don't you worry little darlings, we've got just the ticket — literally. We have a pretty darn sweet giveaway in our hot little hands which includes two tickets to Sugar Mountain festival which is happening on January 23 at the Victorian College of the Arts and Melbourne Arts Precinct. Thanks to the legends at Thinking Loud, Bacardi and Sugar Mountain, your weekend is now sorted. Importantly, this killer prize is for those of you who aren't afraid of a kick-on, because you'll also be getting two tickets to the official afterparty Hot Wax: Sugar Mountain Friends and Family Party presented by Bacardi Fuego. It's kicking on the next day, Sunday, January 24, at the Curtin House rooftop bar and the lineup includes Noise In My Head, Tom Trago and Andy Hart. It’s an exclusive guestlisted event from 12pm-3pm and where you can rub shoulders with the Sugar Mountain crew and from 3pm the doors are open to the public. You’ll actually save a whole heap of money because the prize pack includes complimentary drinks at both events — both events. And the best part? Free Boiler Room t-shirt, yesssss. Sugar Mountain is happening January 23 and Hot Wax — Sugar Mountain Friends and Family Party presented by Bacardi Fuego is on January 24. Final release tickets for the festival are $119, but thanks to Thinking Loud, Bacardi and Sugar Mountain, here's what you can score. Prize includes two Sugar Mountain tickets, two tickets to Hot Wax — Sugar Mountain Friends and Family Party, complimentary drinks at both events, a Boiler Room tee. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter and then email us at win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au with your name and address.
Contemporary art featured in galleries around the world will be on display at The Hotel Windsor this week, as part of the third annual Spring 1883. Returning to the iconic Spring Street venue this week, the free collaborative event will go ahead despite the cancellation of the 2016 Melbourne Art Fair, to which it was originally attached before the latter's untimely demise. Open to the public from noon until 6pm August 18 through 21, this year's event will boast art from more than two dozen galleries. Among the international contingent you'll find work from KANSAS Gallery in New York and Southard Reid in London, while local players include Sydney's Gallery 9 and Alaska Projects, and Melbourne's Murray White Room. The pieces on display promise to be similarly diverse, ranging from photography to ceramics to portraiture and more.
Move over Babe, Piglet, Porky and Peppa. Thanks to monochrome-hued documentary Gunda, cinema has a brand new porcine star. Or several, to be exact; however, other than the eponymous sow, none of the attention-grabbing pigs in this movie are given names. If that feels jarring, that's because it breaks from film and television's usual treatment of animals. Typically on-screen, we see and understand the zoological beings we share this planet with as only humans can, filtering them through our own experience, perception and needs. We regard them as companions who become our trustiest and most reliable friends; as creatures who play important roles in our lives emotionally, physically and functionally; as anthropomorphised critters with feelings and traits so much like ours that it seems uncanny; and as worthy targets of deep observation or study. We almost never just let them be, though. Whether they're four-legged, furry, feathered or scaly, animals that grace screens big and small rarely allowed to exist free from our two-legged interference — or from our emotions, expectations or gaze. Gunda isn't like any other movie you've seen about all creatures great and small, but it can't ignore the shadow that humanity casts over its titular figure, her piglets, and the one-legged chicken and paired-off cows it also watches, either. It's shot on working farms, so it really doesn't have that luxury. It features animals destined to play their parts in the food chain, a fact that can't be avoided. But, surveying these critters and their lives without narration or explanation, this quickly involving, supremely moving and deeply haunting feature is happy to let the minutiae of these creatures' existence say everything that it needs to. The delights and devastation alike are in the details, and the entire movie is filled with both. Filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky (Aquarela) looks on as Gunda's namesake gives birth, and as her offspring crawl hungrily towards her before they've even properly realised that they're now breathing. His film keeps peering their way as they squeal, explore and grow, and as they display their inquisitive, curious and sometimes mischievous personalities, too. Sometimes, this little family rolls around in the mud. At other times, they simply sleep, or Gunda takes the opportunity to enjoy some shut-eye while her piglets play. Whatever they're doing, and whenever and where, these pigs just going about their business, which the feature takes in frame by frame. In one of the documentary's interludes away from its porcine points of focus, the aforementioned chook hops about. Whether logs or twigs are involved, it too is just navigating its ordinary days. In the second of the movie's glimpses elsewhere, cattle trot and stand, and their routine couldn't seem more commonplace as well. It doesn't take a particularly observant person to notice the tag through Gunda's ear, or the fencing surrounding her and her fellow cast of creatures. No one need listen intently, their own ears figuratively pricked, to discern the noise of the human world beyond the sounds of nature. Evidence of people — even without even the slightest glimpse of a single one — is always there for viewers to see and hear, with Kossakovsky's engrossing and meditative documentary presenting it as plainly as it does everything else throughout its duration. The audience knows that these stories won't end happily as a result. It's well aware that humankind's intended use for the film's animals will trump the critters' own urges, desires and clearly apparent emotions. Indeed, Gunda screams its abhorrence of eating flesh without saying a word; to the surprise of no one who saw his Golden Globes and Oscars speeches in 2020, Joaquin Phoenix is one of its executive producers. Everyone finds their own meaning in every movie, but patient, dialogue-free, near-hypnotic documentaries like Gunda enhance that sensation several times over. Staring at its intimate visuals — at the stunning, resonant and evocative sights it presents again and again — sparks a shower of thoughts, threads and questions, and, sans guiding words dictating what to focus on and why, each individual viewer will veer in their own direction. Some will be struck by the act of watching life come into the world, then shaken by knowing its ultimate purpose. Others might be shocked by the way that even the simplest trace of routine connects every living thing. Others still could come to think differently about their diet choices. All three and more are options here, because Gunda ensures that its audience isn't just seeing its pigs, chicken and cows in a strikingly realistic, authentic and compassionate fashion, but is also confronting and challenging their own personal choices around animals at the same time. Gunda is an immensely empathetic film — director/co-writer/co-editor/co-cinematographer Kossakovsky was inspired by his own childhood experience, when he had a pig for a best friend — and also a work of astonishing skill. So seamless are Kossakovsky and fellow writer/editor Ainara Vera's (Aquarela) efforts that it's impossible to guess that Gunda and her piglets' lives in Norway are interspliced with scenes from British and Spanish farms. Every shot seen on-screen is so gorgeously framed and lit by the filmmaker and his co-director of photography Egil Håskjold Larsen (When Man Remains), and so vivid and textured in its inky black-and-white colour scheme, that avoiding the lure of its imagery is unimaginable. It's no wonder that taking in the documentary's every second feels like an act of surrender — visually, intellectually and emotionally, and to its layered and immersive soundscape as well. This isn't just a nature doco; it's a poetic musing on what it means for every creature to be alive and an examination of humankind's display of force over the natural world, and it's as staggering as it is stirring. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilNHPfOOeIs
Described as a cinema without the film, French artists Romain Bermond and Jean-Baptiste Maillet's Dark Circus sees the duo project striking silhouettes onto the big screen. Dark Circus tells the story of an "unhappy circus" – one where the human cannonball meets his demise and the lion tamer has the tables turned on him. Bermond and Maillet expertly interweave light, shadow and negative space – along with a light-hearted funk and soul soundtrack – to create a deeply tongue-in-cheek performance that seemingly brings a story to life out of nothing.
We all love a good Polish dumpling, but who knew the humble pierogi actually had a patron saint? His name is Saint Hyacinth and he even has a day of feasting dedicated to him. And to celebrate, your mates at Pierogi Pierogi are hosting a good ol' dumpling fundraiser. As it turns out, Saint Hyacinth was famed for feeding homemade pierogi to Krakow's poor, needy and destitute, and these locals are marking the occasion by doing something similar. At the Pierogi Pierogi stall at Queen Victoria Night Market on Wednesday, August 14 the team is giving out free plates of Polish dumpling to the first 100 people that donate to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) tins, which will be located out the front of the stall. The fundraiser is a nod to the Poles who were welcomed into Australia when they fled the communist regime in the 40s and 80s. If you miss out on free dumplings, you'll still be about to eat some and donate (and feel warm and fuzzy for two reasons). On the menu there'll be ruskie dumps (filled with potato and white cheese), kapusta version (with 'shrooms and sauerkraut) and mieso ones (with beer and vegetable). The stall will be open from 5–10pm but you better get in early if you want to snag a free (with donation) plate of pierogi.
Make your way out west for a day of food, rides and live entertainment, as the Yarraville Festival returns for another year. Engulfing Yarraville Village and the surrounding streets, this local community festival is like ten school fetes jammed together. We're talking market stalls, local food vendors and six different stages. Here's hoping the weather is willing to cooperate. It all goes down on Sunday, February 7. There'll be more than 120 stalls selling everything from beauty products to vintage clothing, plus an entire precinct near Anderson and Wills Streets just for stuffing your face. Of the dozens of music acts lined up for the day, highlights include Kattimoni, The Mercurials and Sarah Maclaine, as well as performances by the Bindaas Bollywood Dance Company. And if you love dogs, make sure you're near the Community Stage at 11am for the annual pooch parade.
Melbourne-based beer-lovers, here's a meeting of minds you'll be very excited about. Celebrated brewery Stomping Ground has teamed up with boutique bottle shop Blackhearts & Sparrows and pioneering Indigenous-owned food business Mabu Mabu to create a new collaboration brew. And it's wintry beer perfection. Introducing, the trio's latest project — a warming Wattleseed Stout celebrating local flavours and cool weather. The drop is getting a proper welcome, too, with a launch party firing up Blackhearts' Collingwood venue Perry's on Friday, July 8. [caption id="attachment_859550" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Wattleseed Stout brew team.[/caption] Here, you'll have the chance to taste-test the newcomer, while sipping your way through a full Stomping Ground tap takeover. Plus, four of the evening's beers will have clever food pairings, designed by Mabu Mabu chef-owner Nornie Bero — think, tartlets of leek, native currant and bunya dukkah, and saltbush lamb cutlet matched with warrigal green salsa verde. Meanwhile, you'll get to chat to all the people involved in the new brew and DJ Ingrid will be spinning tunes throughout the night. Tickets are $28, which includes entry, a can of the Wattleseed Stout and a selection of small plates. [caption id="attachment_845503" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Perry's[/caption]
There might be a while to go before summer kicks off, but you'll still find plenty of excuses to partake in a tasty gin or two this week. Especially from Friday, October 14–Sunday, October 16, when Collingwood restaurant, cafe, brewery, distillery and workshop The Craft & Co returns with a three-day spring-inspired edition of its much-loved gin market. It'll be held across six sessions in a sit-down format, with the distillers and producers going from table to table, speed dating style. Nine labels will be dropping by to show off their wares, including Naught, Applewood, Archie Rose, Boatrocker, Animus and more. You can expect some top-notch product to be cracked open across the weekend, and as always, there'll be a generously stocked retail store where market-goers can snap up bottles of their favourite gins for home. Session tickets range from $35–40, which includes entry, all of your tastings and a Craft & Co showbag. The eatery and bar downstairs will be operational for a pre- or post-market feed, though bookings are recommended.
Thursday, May 13 marks World Cocktail Day, so Monkey Shoulder is bringing its tipples to Welcome to Thornbury. The scotch brand has created Australia's biggest cocktail mixer truck called Monkey Mixer, which looks a little like a cement mixer truck, but shiny — and it'll be serving up free cocktails from 6pm. The giant orange and silver truck will hit the venue as part of a Guinness World Record-breaking attempt to mix up the most cocktails in one minute. The current record sits at a whopping 18; however, Melbourne bartenders and mixologists are invited to try to beat it. While they're shaking and stirring, the audience will sip free beverages. So, you'll get a drink and you'll be entertained. You'll be knocking back cocktails made in the Monkey Mixer, not by the competitors — but the price will be right, obviously.
Sake has really blown up in Australia over the last decade, with more and more bars able to access Japan's national drink. Of course, we're not sake masters — there are so many more varieties of rice wine that we haven't had the chance to experience yet. Enter Nihonshu Australia, an association of sake importers, who are aiming to change that once and for all. Presented REVEL — who organise boozy events including Pinot Palooza and Game of Rhones — the Sake Matsuri festival was first held in Sydney last year, and now it's coming to Melbourne for the first time. Taking over 524 Flinders Street on Saturday, June 9, there'll be more than 60 types of sake on offer, each representing the drink's different styles, serving temperatures and prefectures of origin in Japan. For $60 (or for a $50 early bird ticket before May 13), punters will get access to unlimited tastings plus a free Plumm glass valued at $35. The event is split into two sessions, so you can sip sake by day (from 11am-4pm) or night (5-9pm). Japanese craft beer will also be on offer, along with a selection of Japanese-style bites to eat from Maker & Monger and more.
There are just a few months left before our city's culinary obsession switches to overdrive and we're gripped hard by Melbourne Food And Wine Festival fever. And this year's program promises as hearty a celebration as ever, with a star-studded lineup of culinary legends and a heady offering of feasts, masterclasses, pop-ups and parties. From a locally focused meat-free feast in a winery to a dinner showcasing Quebec's finest, here are our top picks for MFWF 2019.
Guillermo del Toro hasn't yet directed a version of Frankenstein, except that he now has in a way. Officially, he's chosen another much-adapted, widely beloved story — one usually considered less dark — but there's no missing the similarities between the Nightmare Alley and The Shape of Water filmmaker's stop-motion Pinocchio and Mary Shelley's ever-influential horror masterpiece. Both carve out tales about creations made by grief-stricken men consumed by loss. Both see those tinkerers help give life to things that don't usually have it, gifting existence to the inanimate because they can't cope with mortality's reality. Both notch up the fallout when those central humans struggles with the results of their handiwork, even though all that the beings that spring from their efforts want is pure and simple love and acceptance. Del Toro's take on Pinocchio still has a talking cricket, a blue-hued source of magic and songs, too, but it clearly and definitely isn't a Disney movie. Instead, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is an enchanting iteration of a story that everyone knows, and that's graced screens so many times that this is the third flick in 2022 alone. Yes, the director's name is officially in the film's title. Yes, it's likely there to stop the movie getting confused with that array of other page-to-screen adaptations, all springing from Carlo Collodi's 19th-century Italian children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio. That said, even if the list of features about the timber puppet wasn't longer than said critter's nose when he's lying, del Toro would earn the possessory credit anyway. No matter which narrative he's unfurling — including this one about a boy fashioned out of pine (voiced by Gregory Mann, Victoria) by master woodcarver Geppetto (David Bradley, Catherine Called Birdy) after the death of his son — the Mexican Oscar-winner's distinctive fingerprints are always as welcomely apparent as his gothic-loving sensibilities. In del Toro's third release Down Under this year, following Nightmare Alley and horror anthology series Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities — something else that unswervingly deserved his name in the moniker — the Pinocchio basics are all accounted for. This isn't an ordinary edition of the story, though, or a wooden one (for that, see: the recent Mouse House live-action remake of its 1940 animated hit). Co-helming with feature first-timer Mark Gustafson, co-writing with Patrick McHale (Adventure Time), using character designs by author and illustrator Gris Grimly, and boasting The Jim Henson Company among its producers, this Pinocchio still takes liberties with the original plot, without being beholden to Disney as its guide. Two big leaps: using wartime Italy under Mussolini as the movie's setting, and reinterpreting what it truly means to be "a real boy". Also a visible departure: how Pinocchio himself looks, with his forest origins never sanded or polished away, or clothed over like a doll (or a flesh-and-blood child, for that matter). He cuts a rustic, thorny and whittled figure, complete with stick-thin legs, twisted nails protruding from his back, swinging joints and a branch-like nose with leaves snaking in all directions whenever he fails to tell the truth. No doubt aided by Gustafson's stop-motion background, including working as animation director on Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr Fox, the end result looks so knotty, gnarled and textured that wanting to touch it is a natural reaction. Pinocchio's entire visuals do, as lensed by cinematographer Frank Passingham (Kubo and the Two Strings) — and as befitting a story that's inherently tactile anyway. (Being about a hand-carved puppet that comes alive will naturally do that.) Sebastian J Cricket narrates, putting Ewan McGregor's (Obi-Wan Kenobi) melodious voice to good use as the talkative insect, and starting the film's star-studded cast. He chats through Gepetto's bliss with Carlo (also voiced by Mann), the recklessly dropped World War One bomb that took the boy's life and the booze-fuelled desolation that festers during the woodcarver's decades of mourning. It's while drunk that the latter whips up Pinocchio, who is then visited by the Wood Sprite (Tilda Swinton, Three Thousand Years of Longing), and embraces the next morning walking, talking and being thoroughly mischievous. Alas, the puppet isn't quite embraced in return to begin with — with his shocked papa constantly comparing him to his lost boy, the village priest (Burn Gorman, The Offer) demanding he's sent to school and the local Podestà (Ron Perlman, Don't Look Up) seeing military uses, wanting to ship Pinocchio to war with his own son Candlewick (Finn Wolfhard, Stranger Things). Telling the curious, cheeky, chaotic and selfish timber tot what to do at all is a tricky task anyway, but he listens to one person: Count Volpe (Christoph Waltz, No Time to Die). The carnival master entices Pinocchio to his circus with help from his monkey sidekick Spazzatura (Cate Blanchett, Tár), promising treats and fun, but only really seeing lira and adoration for himself. Del Toro's choice of period gives not just this but the whole tale a grimmer spin, with never being afraid to confront history's horrors — and life's — even when getting fantastical always one of the director's great moves. As in The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy, it works beautifully; Pinocchio is as tinged with personal and universal sorrow and violence as it is gleefully sprouting with eccentricities. (On the page, too, Collodi's creation has always been weirder and more wondrous than Disney gave it credit for, as the 2019 version by Gomorrah's Matteo Garrone also recognised.) Surreal, tinged with sadness, bittersweet, beautiful: that's the film that del Toro has chiseled. It's also caught between a stunning dream and a macabre nightmare, and oh-so-aware that life is only as remarkable and precious as it is because death casts a shadow over every moment for all of us. The usual moral flutters at its heart as well, like this movie's cricket inside Pinocchio's cavernous wooden chest, but the added darkness and pain gives the idea of becoming a genuine person through kindness, love and connection extra weight and depth. This iteration tinkers with the mechanics and meaning behind that 'real boy' quest, however, to utterly heartwarmingly results. In fact, the only less-than-glorious move del Toro makes in his Pinocchio-by-way-of-Frankenstein is keeping in songs — his movie is magical enough without them. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio screens in cinemas from Thursday, November 24, then streams via Netflix from Friday, December 9.
This month, one of the west's best-loved drinks destinations is transforming itself into an immersive party playground, dishing up a high-energy evening of tunes, food, booze and frivolity. On Saturday, January 22, you're invited to let your hair down and blow off some post-holiday steam at Mr West's inaugural block party, Good Fest. Setting the tone is a diverse lineup of local musical acts, including Ausecuma Beats, Chilean Australian songstress Elaura, producer and DJ Amin Payne, and emerging DJ star Petra. They'll keep you grooving from 4pm through until 9pm. To fuel your evening's adventures, there'll be flaky pastry treats from Footscray's own Pie Thief, as well as Tex Mex eats courtesy of A Dingo Ate My Taco food truck. And of course, with Mr West's experts in the driver's seat, you can bank on some top-notch libations, too. Namely, the Fancy Free crew will be running a pop-up outdoor cantina bar in collaboration with new local drinks brand Homegrown, slinging native-heavy bottled cocktails alongside a solid range of craft beer and natural wine. [caption id="attachment_839277" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Amin Payne, by Moor Music Events[/caption]
Roll into Footscray Station every Thursday night in November for food, live entertainment and handmade trinkets galore. Melbourne's newest night market is welcoming vendors from the area, who'll showcase the best of what the western suburb has to offer. Conveniently located in the Footscray Station Forecourt on Irving Street, the market will run from 4–8.30pm every Thursday night until the end of the month. Food will come courtesy of some of the area's best restaurants, including Sekai Japanese, Viet Soup Kitchen, Roti Road, Burger Business, To's Bakery and many more. You'll also be able to hunt for a bargain, with various stallholders selling unique homewares and custom-crafted jewellery. Music and entertainment, meanwhile, will be provided by students from Victoria University. Image: Roti Road.
Every music festival has its own distinctive traits and drawcards, no matter who happens to be hitting the stage in any given year. Held on the banks of the Murray River, Strawberry Fields is no different. Fancy escaping into nature to listen to live and electronic acts, wander through art installations and hit up a bush spa? That's all on this fest's bill. Taking place across the weekend of Friday, October 28–Sunday, October 30 in Tocumwal, New South Wales, this year's Strawberry Fields has just unveiled its lineup, and it's full of impressive names. The Pharcyde, Massive Attack founder and DJ Daddy G, Acid Pauli, Moodymann, Barkaa and Jesswar are just some of the talents on the list — and yes, it goes on. Also exciting: being able to soak away your stresses, not that you should have any at a music fest, at the bush spa; the Moroccan Bedouin lounges and tea ceremonies in the festival's Mirage Motel space; and the glamping options, given that you'll want to make a weekend of it. For the fourth event now, Strawberry Fields is also implementing a low-income ticket program, which helps open up the festival to more punters — regardless of income. Applicants are assessed on a case-by-case basis, after providing supporting documentation, and receive 50-percent off the standard entry ticket rate. Also, if you happen to be born on this year's festival dates, you can also register to score a free ticket. Happy birthday to you indeed. Strawberry Fields 2022 will also add two new stages — and if you're wondering what's on the arts, workshops and performances lineup, or what food, drink and market stall options will be available, the fest is taking applications for those now, with details to be announced closer to the fest. STRAWBERRY FIELDS 2022 LINEUP: Acid Pauli Ash Lauryn Barkaa Bumpy CINTA Claire Morgan Daddy G (Massive Attack) DJ set DAVI DJ PGZ DJ Python EFFY Egyptian Lover FLEWNT Gioli & Assia Glass Beams Henry Wu Horse Meat Disco IN2STELLAR Janus Rasmussen Jesswar Julian Belbachir Kamaal Williams Kiasmos (DJ set) La La Mella Dee Merve Millú Mindy Meng Wang Moodymann Moontide Ensemble NO ZU Omar S Paramida Pjenné Roy Blues Roy Rosenfeld Roza Terenzi Sassy J Sebastien Leger Soju Gang SQL & Child Tamikrest The Pharcyde Tijuana Cartel Wayne Snow Strawberry Fields takes place at Tocumwal, New South Wales, from Friday, October 28–Sunday, October 30. Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday, July 28 — head to the festival website for further details. Images: Duncographic.
Melburnians aren't like most. We don't look at abandoned parking lots or empty blocks of land with despair — instead, we approach them with great anticipation. An empty space is always a potential place to eat. And the latest transformation to join the likes of Welcome to Thornbury and Preston Food Truck Park is no exception. The Ascot Lot is Melbourne's newest food truck park. Previously a deserted car yard, the Mt Alexander Road space has been transformed into a colourful venue for delicious food and ice-cold refreshments. Opening on Friday, October 26 and running for a month, The Ascot Lot will play host to some of Melbourne's most adored food trucks, including Poke Time, Two Fat Indians and Nuoc Mama's. The lineup will change weekly, with dinner and drinks served Friday through Sunday and coffee and jaffles available at the on-site coffee shop every day. In true Melbourne fashion, the bar offerings are epic, with espresso martinis on tap for just $10 a pop and a select range of wines and craft beers available too. If you're there on a Friday night, you'll be serenaded by bands from the comfort of a pastel picnic table. Basically everything at the space has been recycled, from the timber stools to the bricks that form the indoor bar and the cosy booth seating. The Ascot Lot will be open on Fridays from 5pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 11am.
As a customer of Whitemoss, you know you're in some very good company — the Richmond-based florist has created dreamy floral designs for the likes of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Arts Centre, ACMI and more. You can either pop past the Leggo Place studio to browse those blooms in person, or shop the online store to send something special with just a couple of clicks, even adding on extras like Champagne and chocolate to your delivery order. Not sure where to even begin? These guys will help guide you to your ideal gift bouquet with suggested themes like 'pretty and feminine', 'avant garde' and 'unique and textural'.
After his recent stint at Dark Mofo, Magic Steven has returned to Melbourne to perform his latest work, No Notes No Glory. Known for his long form beat poetry and deadpan comedic delivery, this "not-comedy" standup show from the Melbourne-based performer will see him work through new stories from his old notebooks. Steven has previously performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Melbourne Fringe Festival, and we look forward to his offbeat autobiographical tales. No Notes No Glory will take place in Fitzroy’s recently opened performance space/gallery/screening room/larder Grey Gardens, with local band Time For Dreams set to open the show. Tickets are $15, or you can opt for the dinner-and-a-show option for $33.
Stargazers can contemplate the mysteries of the universe at the ultimate astronomy class when the Discover the Night Sky series returns to the Scienceworks' Planetarium on November 7 and 14 from 7pm–10pm. The November series focuses on Indigenous astronomy, and, more specifically, on star stories and research by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Peoples — some of the world's earliest astronomers. The evening begins with a screening of Carriberrie: a short film that uses music and dance to explore connections between people, storytelling and the land. You'll then have a short break — in which to enjoy a complimentary glass of wine and cheese — followed by a presentation under the planetarium dome hosted by accomplished astronomer Dr Duane Hamacher and undergraduate astrophysicist Krystal De Napoli. Both are experts in the field of Indigenous astronomy and will explain ancient knowledge of the night sky. After the presentation, guests will have a chance to stargaze through high-tech telescopes on the Scienceworks Arena.
If you're partial to a serve of crispy fried chook, you don't wait for an occasion to eat it. But the fact of the matter is that that July 6 is International Fried Chicken Day, meaning you have more options than ever to sate that day's chicken cravings. And here's another one that deserves a place on your radar: Vietnamese barbecue joint Co Hanh. The Flinders Lane haunt is getting into the spirit of the global food day by giving away a truckload of free takeaway fried chicken. Be one of the first 100 people through the door when the doors open at 4pm on Saturday, July 6, and you'll nab a six-piece box of sticky glazed wings drenched in Co Hanh's signature sauce. If you miss out the free chicken haul, fear not — the restaurant's also dishing up a couple of finger-lickin' specials for the week leading up. Swing by that week (between July 1 and 6) to try some of Co Hanh's limited edition sticky fried chicken bao and banh mi, both starring cucumber and pickled carrots.
Spring is shaping up to be a seriously dog-friendly affair here in Melbourne and we're not complaining one bit. Next up on the calendar of pup-filled events is a series of Bottomless Drinks 'n' Doggos descending on Ascot Vale's permanent food truck park The Ascot Lot. Running from 2–4pm across three Sundays — August 25, September 1 and September 8 — the dog-friendly session will feature lots of cute fluff balls and endless cocktails. For $45, humans can down endless mimosas, sangria and spritzes, as well as wine, beer and prosecco during the two hours. A fresh lineup of vendors will ensure that there are food options galore, too, and four-legged guests are sure to go barking mad for the free doggy treats. During the event, the Garden Bar will be fenced off, so you don't need to worry about your pup escaping while you're getting a top up. Both humans and doggos are welcome to join in the day's festivities, with bookings essential. Bottomless Drinks 'n' Doggos runs from 2–4pm.
It's the middle of summer, so when creamy, next-level, vegan gelato comes along, you take advantage of it. So you won't want to waste a second when Piccolina Gelateria answers all your plant-based prayers, kicking off a week-long vegan gelato takeover this Thursday, January 10. The cult-favourite gelato masters will be whipping up four limited-edition gelato flavours made with rice milk, as well as a traditional Italian granita, to take over the specials board at its Collingwood, Hawthorn and new St Kilda stores, for one week only. We're talking peanut butter gelato with chocolate cookie crumble, a classic pistachio number, a sweet and sour lemon 'cheesecake' gelato, and a Bacio-flavoured one. The gelateria's regular vegan flavours — dark chocolate, strawberry, passionfruit and lemon — will be available, too. And you'll also be able to try any of the flavours whizzed up in a dairy-free milkshake. Images: Peter Dillon and Carly Ravenhall.
After spending the past few years on the bench, one of Hollywood’s most beloved* actors is finally getting his due. Keanu Reeves has had an incredible career, playing time travelling rock stars, surf-boarding FBI agents and a sunglasses-wearing, post-apocalyptic Jesus. He also starred in that one movie about that bus that had to speed around the city, keeping its speed above 50, and if its speed dropped below 50, it would explode. I think it was called The Bus That Couldn’t Slow Down. This Thursday night, in celebration of Reeves' astounding influence on pop culture, The Astor Theatre is hosting a Keanu Reeves double feature. The night begins with the actor’s most recent outing: the surprisingly not terrible vigilante action flick, John Wick. After that, take the red pill and journey down the rabbit hole, with the genre-defining sci-fi epic The Matrix. Tickets are available at the door for just $13. Whoa. *beloved by us, anyway.
Sweet tooths, assemble. Pastry chef Pierre Roelofs and his team of wicked enablers have resurrected their legendary Dessert Evenings, shattering our halfhearted plans for a relatively healthy end to the year like the crust on so many crème brulees. After five yearsat Cafe Rosamond in Fitzroy, Roelofs' dessert extravaganzas have recently made the move to Adriano Zumbo's Fancy Nance in South Yarra. Hosted every second Thursday, diners can expect a four-course degustation — the catch being that all four courses are dessert. The menu is top secret and changes every time. We can tell you that the last one involved mascarpone, strawberry, honey, orange, cardamom and speculaas, plus a deconstructed bread and butter pudding served in a test tube. Roelofs will also be offering a gluten-free option on October 29, and a vegan option on November 26.
When it comes to loving a particular film, not all affection is created equal. There's the type of fondness that inspires a fan to tell all their friends about something great that they've seen, and then rewatch it over and over again. Then there's the kind of adoration that becomes a fully fledged obsession. Kumiko (Rinko Kikuchi) fits the latter bill, but even then her fascination is a little more passionate than most. Joel and Ethan Coen's Fargo is the object of her excessive attention, and she doesn't just fixate over it, she believes it. It's not the bickering hitmen, inept car salesman and determined local sheriff — as anyone who has seen the blackly comic crime classic will be familiar with — that strikes a chord. Instead, it's the briefcase filled with money buried in the Minnesota snow. To understand why she's so intent on thinking the movie is more than fiction is to understand her largely solitary existence in Tokyo. Kumiko is 29 years old and still working as an office lady, a position her boss thinks she should've well and truly outgrown. Her mother only calls to scold her about her dismal personal life, and her only friend is her pet rabbit, Bunzo. So when she happens across a VHS copy of Fargo, embracing its tall tale as truth adds purpose to her days, and trekking across America to find the stack of cash it tells of becomes her destiny. Reality is actually at the heart of Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, though the filmmaking Zellner brothers — writer, director and actor David and co-writer and producer Nathan — aren't just living this fantasy themselves. They're delving into an urban legend that sprang up around the death of a Japanese woman in the US, which was first chronicled in 2003 documentary This Is a True Story. Indeed, those exact words are the first seen in Fargo itself, sparking reports at the time that it was based on real-life circumstances. Keeping that in mind, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter makes its own fable out of diving into the strangeness that can stem from both truth and fiction, as well as the tenuous relationship between the two. The basis for its premise aside, the film also offers an offbeat look at isolation, and the lengths someone will go to in order to escape into a dream rather than face their reality. There's no mistaking the magical realism at work in the Zellners' approach, as their gorgeous icy frames make Kumiko's quest seem larger than life, and the atmospheric score by The Octopus Project proves both haunting and hopeful. There's no avoiding the questions it raises about the protagonist's fragile, lonely state, either. Kikuchi plays the titular character with perfection, her performance as slow in building as the movie itself, but also as beguiling the longer she's on screen. It's one of quirks and details adding up to something you can't look away from, even if you're simultaneously enthralled and frustrated. That's the reaction Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter elicits: whole-hearted intrigue in its ideas, and traces of exasperation in its meandering. Well, that, and making you want to rewatch Fargo as soon as possible — and as long as you don't book a plane ticket to America to search for the briefcase yourself, that's not a bad thing.
The Australian Ballet is bringing its production of The Nutcracker to town this month, but it's not the only one getting into the spirit of the tale's famed fictional Land of Sweets. Much-loved gelato joint Piccolina has pulled inspiration from the classic story to whip up three limited-edition flavours, available all through The Nutcracker's local run. And you'll be able to try them for free. On offer at Piccolina's Collingwood store from September 17–28, you'll find the Sugar Plum Fairy, featuring rich crema gelato with plum and raspberry coulis and a silver leaf crown; a spiced apple and gingerbread fusion dubbed Clara and the Nutcracker; and The Land of Sweets, blending white chocolate gelato with strawberry boba, torched meringue and white chocolate-covered freeze-dried strawberries. What's more, you can try them out on the house on Friday, September 13, ahead of the show's launch. The Collingwood store will be dishing up free scoops of all three flavours for one hour, from 6.30–7.30pm. If you can't get to Collingwood, the Land of Sweets will also be available as a choc top, which you can grab from the Arts Centre Melbourne's State Theatre while the production's on. Images: Kate Longley.
Pack your suitcases, don your best 30s-style outfit and keep an eye out for that lobby boy — it's time to check into Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel. That's where Underground Cinema is taking viewers to finish out its 2019 season, recreating the glitz, glamour and hijinks of the beloved 2014 movie. Here's hoping that Mendl's chocolates will be on the menu. Known for its immersive screenings (complete with live recreations and plenty of audience participation), Underground Cinema is going all out for this special event, taking over The Hotel Windsor on Spring Street. Nab a ticket for Friday, November 22, Saturday, November 23 or Sunday, November 24, and you won't just watch the flick starring Ralph Fiennes, Jeff Goldblum, Saoirse Ronan and Tilda Swinton — you'll feel like you've stepped inside it. Running over more than four hours each night, this suave soiree will serve up a light grazing menu, all the fun and frenzy of the famous fictional hotel presided over by the fastidious M.Gustave, a session of the film, and — for an extra price — a heap of stiff drinks. Tickets cost $89.95, or $110 if you're keen on a one-on-one experience — although just what the entails hasn't been revealed. And, like all of Underground Cinema's incredibly popular events, getting in quickly in recommended. UPDATE, OCTOBER 20: Underground Cinema's first two The Grand Budapest Hotel sessions sold out quickly; however an extra screening has been announced, taking place at 6.30pm on Sunday, November 24. This article has been updated to reflect the new date — and tickets will go on sale at 1pm on Monday, October 21.
If you're a fan of the British version of The Office, you'll know what we mean when we say David Brent: Life on the Road is almost unwatchable, but still worth a watch. This big-screen sorta-sequel follows Brent (Ricky Gervais) around as he gives his music career one last shot. Set a dozen years after The Office, Brent is now a sanitary products sales rep who invests a huge amount of his pension money in touring himself, his session band and his incongruous (but very much appreciated) young rapper friend Dom (Ben Bailey Smith) around on a self-made tour of Slough and the surrounding counties. The resulting 95 minutes rapidly deteriorate into an awkward hellscape puppeteered by Gervais' masochistic desire to make the audience squirm. While it's no Oscar winner, fans of The Office, and Gervais in general, will still find plenty to enjoy. Whereas the OG David Brent was built on classic British humour, modern day Brent is a more international flavour and slightly more palatable for it. Some of the gags are far too obvious, most of the ancillary characters might as well be cardboard cut outs with looks of disgust on their faces, and the narrative is just a series of exponentially embarrassing moments. In truth, the superficiality of the narrative is almost a relief, since Brent definitely doesn't have enough depth as a character to carry the plot for the length of an entire feature. True to form, the most excruciating moments aren't Brent's absurd stage antics or his terrible music (including such hits as "Please Don't Make Fun of the Disableds" and "Lonely Cowboy"). Nor are they his creepy and frequently offensive attempts to hit on women, or the ratty little grin that's constantly smeared on his chubby face. Instead, it's the brief but devastating moments when Brent pulls the cartoon mask up and becomes a vulnerable man with no friends. The shots of his tiny apartment, his failed attempts to mingle, the cheesy outfits of which he's so proud and his desperate need to be liked are so real. Too real. The tender heart at the centre of so much bluff is what makes the franchise continue to work. Some of the more depressing elements that defined The Office have been spruced up for the big screen. Gone are the halogen lights, wobbly camera angles and general low-budget vibes. Instead we're served great production to smother the stink of desperation – and honestly, it's a better film for it. Like the series before it, Life on the Road isn't for everyone, but has enough weirdness and insight to age into a cult favourite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2THODznVOt8
Do you have piercings? How about tattoos? How about incredible body modification? Whether you have already permanently decorated your body, or you're just interested in other peoples', you should swing by the Melbourne Tattoo & Body Art Expo. It will be an chance to see the amazing artworks that people have had themselves turned into, and to be immersed in a world of ink and flesh that is becoming increasingly more common. There will be a tattoo contest each day, fashion parades, and exhibitions from groups such as Trash Dolls. You'll have a chance to see Corey Miller, who recently featured on tattoo TV show LA Ink, and who is known for freehand drawing. Artists will be doing tattoos on the day but it's advised that you make appointments in advance. Image by David Davis.
Last year, Jim Beam once again proved its love and support for live music via its hit series Welcome Sessions. The online event series was aimed at bringing people together, albeit virtually, by connecting music lovers and artists when they needed it most. It's returned for 2022, only this time it has stepped outside of the digital realm. Melbourne music fans, listen up. You have the opportunity to score a free ticket to an exclusive and intimate show from Brisbane's favourite twins (and bonafide pop sensations) The Veronicas on Saturday, August 20, at The Hop Bar at Beer DeLuxe in Federation Square. As far as we're concerned, getting your groove on to this iconic duo with friends — with a Jim Beam in hand — is a recipe for a great Saturday arvo. Want to head along to this money-can't-buy experience? You'll need to enter the ballot. Simply enter the competition and you'll go in the running to win one of 75 double passes up for grabs. All you have to do is tell Jim Beam what your most memorable live music moment is and why. But be quick, entries close August 12. Want to learn more? Visit the website.
More of a pop-up library than an exhibition, the RMIT Design Hub is hosting a dual show of Archizines, an internationally touring collection of architecture-focused zines, and Public Offer, a similarly expansive catalogue of design magazines. The exhibit provides an alternative voice to mainstream discourse about architecture and design by showcasing a wide range of independently published material — each zine a little cultural freeze-frame, capturing a moment in the development of how we build and design our spaces. Printed media is tangible — you can pick it up, play with it, and flip through at your own pace — a beautiful element that was not overlooked in the curatorial decision making process behind Archizines/Public Offer. All zines are not just displayed but laid out to hold and engage with, making the whole experience exponentially more engaging and fun, particularly as many of the zines experiment with paper type, embossed fonts, and construction. True to its name, the Design Hub ensures an incredibly stylish exhibition by encouraging a different mode of view: two long tables are laid end-to-end with leaflets and magazines, with chairs dotted about the space, meaning that either a brief perusal or an in-depth reading can be comfortably accommodated. Not simply a series of hand-stapled and typewritten zines, the publications laid out range from your basic, old-school university photocopier stuff to hardback glossies. Archizine's Evil People in Modernist Homes in Popular Films does what it says on the tin, taking a lighthearted approach to the exploration of pop culture's representation of architecture. Meanwhile, They Shoot Homos Don't They is a gay look book with a serious side, confronting LGBT issues via fashion and design. Repeated discussion topics include the invasion of the virtual/digital into the physical world, unsurprising considering both architecture and design are increasingly digital mediums, being discussed here through a medium that is itself being supplanted by blogs and online news sites. A diverse and enormous amount of content to trawl through justifies repeated visits for thorough design and architecture enthusiasts. A series of projected video-blogs from various publishers, architects and designers round out the show, each video discussing a specific question, the most pertinent seeming to be, "what is the place of print media in the digital age?" If there's any exhibition that could convince a digital devotee how satisfying a lovingly created piece of printed text can be, Public Offer/Archizines is it. Image via Archizines at the Architectural Association, London, 2011. Photography courtesy of Sue Barr & the AA School.
Anyone who has spent time in an outback Australian pub will recognise The Royal Hotel's namesake watering hole, even if they've never seen this particular bar before. The filming location itself doesn't matter. Neither do the IRL details of the actual establishment that stands in for the movie's fictional boozer. What scorches itself into memory like the blistering sun beating down on the middle-of-nowhere saloon's surroundings, then, is the look and the feel of this quintessentially Aussie beer haven. From the dim lighting inside and weather-beaten facade outside to the almost exclusively male swarm of barflies that can't wait to getting sipping come quittin' time, this feature's setting could be any tavern. It could be all of them. That fact is meant to linger as filmmaker Kitty Green crafts another masterclass in tension, microagressions and the ever-looming threats that women live with daily — swapping The Assistant's Hollywood backdrop and Harvey Weinstein shadow for a remote mining town and toxic testosterone-fuelled treatment of female bartenders. Making her second fictional feature after that 2019 standout, and her fourth film overall thanks to 2013 documentary Ukraine Is Not a Brothel and 2017's Casting JonBenet before that, Green has kept as much as she's substituted between her two most recent movies. Julia Garner stars in both, albeit without breaking out an Inventing Anna-style drawl in either — although comically parroting the Aussie accent does earn a brief workout. Green's focus remains living while female. Her preferred tone is still as unsettling as any scary movie. The Royal Hotel is another of her horror films, but an inescapable villain here, as it was in The Assistant, is a world that makes existing as a woman this innately unnerving. This taut and deeply intelligent picture's sources of anxiety and danger aren't simply society; however, what it means to weather the constant possibility of peril for nothing more than your sex chromosomes is this flick's far-as-the-eye-can-see burnt earth. Backpacking Down Under by partying their way through Sydney, Hanna (Garner, Ozark) and Liv (Jessica Henwick, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery) swap boat shindigs on the harbour for a rust-hued expanse for one reason: money. With their cash drying up, the only option available to make more is a gig where the local pool is equally dusty. "Will there be kangaroos?" is their main initial question. If this pair have seen Wake in Fright, it hasn't left an imprint. They'll soon be living in their own version. Dirt, dirt and more dirt greets them fresh off the bus, then no-nonsense pub cook Carol (Ursula Yovich, Irreverent) and gruff drunk owner Billy (Hugo Weaving, Love Me), then a trial-by-fire night behind the taps to send off English tourists Jules (Alex Malone, Colin From Accounts) and Cassie (Kate Cheel, The Commons), who they're replacing. The Royal Hotel as the picture's prime locale might double for every typically Aussie watering hole, but both the setting and The Royal Hotel as a film take their cues from one specific pub. Western Australia's Denver City Hotel was immortalised in Hotel Coolgardie, the fly-on-the-wall documentary about two Finnish women who worked behind its bar and experienced the very worst of Australian drinking culture — and seeing that movie inspired writer/director Green to dive into this aggressively misogynistic world. "Fresh meat" adorns the boozer's chalkboard after Hanna and Liv arrive. Billy has barely spoken multiple sentences to them before he's dropping "cunt" with belittling force. Sexist jokes from the sozzled and arrogant customers rain down among eerie stares, brazen pick-up attempts, predatory demands and arguments between blokes over which woman they're claiming as theirs, like The Royal Hotel's latest faces have no say in it. To most of the pub's patrons, they don't. The comments, jibes and advances come from a cross-section of culprits, with Green and co-writer Oscar Redding (Van Diemen's Land) purposeful in showing that there's not only one kind of stereotypical guy whipping up discomfit. Toby Wallace's (Babyteeth) Matty knows how to charm, and how to rile up the male crowd by making women the butt of the gag. While James Frecheville (The Dry) plays the quieter, protective Teeth, those traits don't buff away his edges. With Daniel Henshall's (Mystery Road: Origin) Dolly, menace doesn't need words — and sinister entitlement drips from almost everything that he says or, to be precise, orders. There isn't just one way that women can be made to feel uneasy in male-heavy environments where they're expected to be at every guy's beck and call, and in general, as The Royal Hotel meticulously demonstrates. There definitely isn't a lone version of this gut-wrenching nightmare, nor a single way of coping when every waking minute is an exercise in monitoring your behaviour to get a job done, and just exist, without attracting the wrong attention. It's there in Hanna and Liv's varying reactions to the pub's clientele and their manners, or lack thereof; the difference between Hanna's distress and Jules and Cassie's carefree approach; and the range of factors that get Matty, Teeth, Dolly, Billy and company inciting alarm: the array of ways that Green's exceptional cast pack The Royal Hotel's powderkeg, that is. Only two things spark a straightforward read in Green's feature. The first is the eponymous everypub where nothing regal has ever graced its peeling walls and sticky floors. The second is the dread that pours out faster than visiting bartenders can pull pints. Actually, there's a third, because Kylie Minogue bopping through the soundtrack is a glorious choice. The uncertainty of this jittery environment otherwise — that someone can seem like a friend in one light and a sleaze in another, or a perturbed reaction can feel wholly justified by one of the bar's visiting women and overkill to another, for instance — only heightens the film's agitated mood. There's no one better at conveying this storm than Green, or at ripping it from reality and into her films. To watch Hanna especially is to achingly apprehend when and how often you've stood in her shoes. Green should keep Garner standing before her lens in as many movies as possible. With The Assistant and now The Royal Hotel, they're a dream team. Garner's flawless knack for conveying how life in Green's chosen scenarios is an incessant navigation and negotiation is as finely tuned as the director's; it's what made her so outstanding at playing Anna Delvey as well. As Green's now four-time cinematographer Michael Latham roves over blazing landscapes and gets claustrophobic in the tavern's dank indoors, and as composer Jed Palmer (back from Ukraine Is Not a Brothel) sets his score to faintly but still formidably jarring, that sense of steering your way through fraught terrain while trying to secure your survival proves as familiar as the outback venue at the centre of it all. With episodes of TV series Servant on her resume, Green can embrace horror traditionally, but the terrors that she digs into on the big screen aren't just frightening tales — they're piercing reflections of too much that's easy to recognise.
Off the back of the pop-up fundraising market 1800 Lasagne held a few weeks ago, Joey Kellock and his crew are at it again. Only this time, they're teaming up with All Are Welcome bakery and refugee-supporting floral enterprise The Beautiful Bunch, and descending on Northcote Town Hall for an even bigger fundraising effort. On Sunday, April 3, the Market Day for Ukraine will showcase a jam-packed offering of food, booze and coffee from your favourite local businesses, with the day's entire proceeds going to humanitarian aid for Ukraine. You'll be able to grab a coffee from the likes of Wide Open Road or Bureaux, and a snack from Monforte or Falco, to enjoy while you shop through this room brimming with goodies. Expect to find tasty wares from the likes of Sarafian Melbourne, The Fermentary and Nice Pickle; fresh loaves from Cobb Lane and Loafer Bread; and liquid treats courtesy of Mandi Wine, Glou and Molly Rose. Legends including The Flour and Sweet Miss Maple will have freshly baked things to sate your sweet tooth, and there'll be plenty of live tunes to soundtrack your day's shopping and fundraising efforts. [caption id="attachment_755063" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Falco[/caption] Top Image: All Are Welcome, by Julia Sansone
Give your festive season a Frenchy twist at Alliance Francaise de Melbourne's annual French Christmas Market, which is set to take over the organisation's St Kilda mansion on December 15 and 16. It's assembled a lineup to tempt Francophiles, gift hunters and market fiends alike, showcasing a vibrant array of French homewares, jewellery, artisan goods, food, wine and even secondhand books. There'll be lots of activities for kids, plus ample adult fun with demos, workshops and lots of French food and drink. If it all leaves you feeling extra inspired, you can even get a taste of Alliance Francaise's language lessons at one of the weekend's free trial classes. Entry to the market is free all weekend as well, with the fun running from 10am to 5pm on both days. Image: Alliance Francaise.
There hasn't been much that's great about the past couple of years, but a big shift in the film festival scene is worth celebrating. Every cinephile would like to spend all their time watching movies — and, not only seeing them on their favourite big screens, but hitting up every film fest possible. Alas, sometimes non-cinema reality gets in the way. Thankfully, after hopping online during the pandemic, plenty of film festivals are keeping their digital programs — so if you can't go in-person because you're busy, unwell, live in another part of the country of whatever other reason applies, you can still join in the fun. In 2022, Sydney Underground Film Festival is one such event, with its virtual festival running from Monday, September 12–Sunday, September 25. Sydneysiders can attend the physical fest on the weekend prior first, and everyone can stream along for the virtual fest's two-week run. For those watching at home, SUFF's online program includes queer Canadian drama Compulsus, horror/sci-fi film LandLocked, and an impressive range of documentaries — such as F@k This Job, about Russian TV channel Dozhd and its founder Natasha Sindeeva; Girl Gang, which follows a 14-year-old London influencer; the self-explanatory Nightclubbing: The Birth of Punk Rock in NYC; Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters, about the Hellboy creator; and Circus of the Scars, about sideshow performers. And, SUFF's dedication to the most out-there shorts the fest can compile will also hit screens via the virtual lineup.
Among the English language's best phrases, 'all you can eat' ranks up there with the best of them. It'd sound great in any language, of course, and you might hear it in German over the weekend of Saturday, June 29 and Sunday, June 30 — aka 'so viel du essen kannst'. Specifically, you might hear either version at Munich Brauhaus and The Bavarian, which are all offering an appropriate stuff-your-face deal. For a two-hour sitting, you can tuck into as many schnitzels as you can stomach. Served on a platter, there are three varieties on offer: the uber schnitzel, which is decked out with rocket, semi-dried tomato and parmesan; the jager schnitzel, topped with wild mushroom ragu; and the good ol' parmigiana, which obviously comes with melted mozzarella, tomato sauce and ham. Talk about good schnit. The special costs $39 per person, also includes unlimited mashed potato and potato salad — yep, both hot and cold spuds — and is available for bookings of at least two people. You do need to book, however, so gather the gang, get planning, and make a date with the Munich Brauhaus in South Wharf or the Bavarians at Highpoint or Westfield Knox.
Reservoir's Future Mountain has had a lot to celebrate this past year — it was recently named Champion Independent Brewpub of Australia and Champion Victorian Brewery at the 2021 Independent Beer Awards, and is now gearing up for its third birthday. And, while 2021's lockdowns squashed most party planning, the brewery is now making up for lost time — it's throwing a bumper day of festivities this Saturday, March 26. Head along from 12pm to kick off the celebrations by sampling an assortment of brand new special-release birthday beers. A few cheeky 'jeroboam' bottles — three-litre double magnums, that is — will also be doing the rounds, pouring signature beers on the house. There'll be giveaways and prizes on offer throughout the day, and regular brewery tours offering a glimpse into Future Mountain's inner workings. Once you've worked up an appetite, you'll be able to refuel with some of Roadhouse Barbecue's US-style smokehouse fare. And as for the party entertainment, expect a lively fusion of jazz and blues courtesy of local trio Jumbalumba. Entry is free, though you can book your table online to secure a spot.
When it comes to watching movies in the great outdoors, Melburnians have plenty of options to choose from. Yet, few outdoor cinemas boast a program as eclectic as the Gasworks Backyard Cinema. Popping up at the Gasworks Arts Park every Friday evening between now and the middle of March, this is your chance to enjoy a few lesser-known titles while relaxing under the stars. The season begins on Friday, January 15 with All the Time in the World, a doco about the importance of getting back to nature, presented in partnership with Port Phillip EcoCentre. The following week will feature a screening of the original Hairspray presented by the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, who'll also be back on February 5 with John Water's Cry Baby starring a baby-faced Johnny Depp. Other highlights include recent Australian health documentary That Sugar Film, acclaimed indie comedy Guidance and the Melbourne premiere of the locally-made Indigenous dance film Spear. There'll also be a number of food vendors on site, ensuring you've got something to snack on during the film. For the full Backyard Cinema program, go here.
Venture down the Mornington Peninsula this weekend and immerse yourself in a vibrant celebration of First Nations culture, filled with music, arts, markets and more. Community festival Womin Djeka Balnarring Ngargee returns for its sixth instalment on Saturday, March 25, taking over Emu Plains Reserve. The festivities will kick off from 11am with a Welcome to Country, before launching into a big day of live entertainment. Heading the lineup is Isaiah Firebrace — one of the world's highest streamed First Nations artists — with performances from John Wayne Parsons, Jalgany, Carissa Nyalu, Robert K Champion and more also set to grace the stage. You'll catch Willum Warrain's large-scale puppets with their storytelling performance, Yana Daadigan — Travel of the Spirit Animals, and see impressive moves from acts like the Murrundaya Yepenga Dance Troupe and Indigenous Outreach Project. [caption id="attachment_894154" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jalgany[/caption] Meanwhile, a pop-up market will showcase an array of goodies from First Nations makers and producers, ranging from artwork and fashion, to ceramics and bush foods. There'll also be a hefty program of workshops if you fancy learning skills like painting with ochre, Yidaki-style meditation, traditional weaving and more. A stack of local organisations will be hosting demonstrations centred on sharing how we can best care for Country, and there'll be an assortment of food trucks and pop-ups to keep you fuelled throughout the festival. You can register for your free ticket online.
UPDATE, January 18, 2021: The Truth is available to stream via Stan, Binge, Foxtel Now, Google Play and YouTube Movies. What does an acclaimed Japanese filmmaker do after spending his career exploring complicated family dynamics in his homeland, then winning the Cannes Film Festival's top prize for his last effort? If he's Hirokazu Kore-eda, he goes to France. Boiling The Truth down to 'Kore-eda in Paris' is simplistic, and yet it fits perfectly — and that's by no means a bad thing. Neither is dubbing this layered film Kore-eda ode's to French cinema. While the writer/director calls on many of the familiar trademarks that've made his Japanese-language features such hits, he sets them in France, filters them through French cinematic sensibilities, and deploys them in French and English. His first non-Japanese movie mightn't initially seem like the natural successor to Shoplifters, but it actually suits that role nicely. The intricate, intimate family interplay that Kore-eda has spent his filmography studying is universal, after all. When beloved acting veteran Fabienne Dangeville (Catherine Deneuve) welcomes her daughter Lumir (Juliette Binoche), son-in-law Hank (Ethan Hawke) and granddaughter Charlotte (Clémentine Grenier) for a rare visit to her sprawling home, there's much to unpack — for this loving but bickering brood, and for audiences. The family reunion is in celebration of Fabienne's just-published memoir, which Lumir hasn't been given a copy of before she arrives, but has firm views on once she reads it. "I can't find any truth in here!" she comments angrily. "I'm an actress — I won't tell the unvarnished truth," is Fabienne's haughty justification. As well as throwing around the titular term liberally, The Truth follows the pair's attempts to sift through a lifetime of baggage, with the book's many embellishments revealing just how differently they each view Lumir's childhood. Also an actor, Hank watches on, hampered by his inability to speak French. Meanwhile, Charlotte obsesses over grandmother's giant pet turtle, who has the same name as her grandfather. But the fallout from Fabienne's memoir just keeps coming. Her long-term personal assistant, Luc (Alain Libolt), quits because he isn't even mentioned in the book, throwing the household into disarray. That leaves Lumir, a screenwriter, to step in, accompanying her mother as she shoots her latest big-screen role. It's in a sci-fi film called Memories of My Mother, where Fabienne's character grapples with an absent mum — all as Fabienne herself gets envious about her applauded young co-star (Manon Clavel). Not only crafting a film about a strained mother-daughter relationship, but also featuring a film within the film about the same topic, Kore-eda threatens to steer The Truth into obvious territory. But he's always been talented at exposing the complexity lingering beneath seemingly straightforward scenarios — and, perhaps more importantly, twisting such situations into revelatory and insightful family portraits that bubble with honesty. So, he does just that. Specifically, he keeps finding new ways to interrogate the film's eponymous concept, and its relationship to Fabienne and Lumir's life. The Truth ponders the playful fibs told to children, the rose-coloured glasses applied to the past, the gaps that even the most vivid memories can have, and the overt choices made to shape one's own narrative. It also tasks Lumir with scripting dialogue for both her mother and daughter that they can each pass off as their own genuine emotions. There's such depth to the movie's contemplation of its chosen subject that, if you didn't already know, you'd never guess that Kore-eda doesn't speak French himself. The film certainly looks the part, set in well-appointed surroundings, favouring a subtle colour scheme and never overly making a visual fuss. Performance-wise, though, it helps that he's working with two of France's greatest living actors — and that Deneuve couldn't be better cast. Seeing the 76-year-old play a celebrated star who chain smokes, spits out strong opinions, and cares little for her predecessors, peers or successors is a clear case of art imitating life. It's also glorious to watch. Yes, Kore-eda has found yet another way to trifle with the truth, but his film's biggest accomplishment just might be its heft as a character study of Deneuve's irrepressible Fabienne. Binoche more than holds her own in the movie's second substantial role, continuing a stellar spate of very recent performances (in Let the Sunshine In, Non-Fiction, High Life and Who You Think I Am). While Hawke makes a smaller impression, there's no dead weight here. Seeing him weather Fabienne's barbs about Hank's career — because she doesn't consider acting in a streaming series to really be acting — is a classic Kore-eda move, with the director an expert at spying the ripples caused by throwaway comments. That's part of his observational, attuned approach. Cataloguing how family members interact and react in both ordinary and heightened circumstances, he captures the texture and reality of life, including in this characteristically warm, witty, emotionally perceptive addition to his resume. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQVotRZUxg4
Looking to step up your regular trivia game? In the mood for some ghostly fun? Over in Richmond, The National Hotel is giving the humble pub quiz a fun — and sinister — twist with a Halloween instalment of its murder mystery-themed trivia nights. Taking place from 7.30pm on Thursday, October 31, the session will feature four quiz rounds, with punters answering questions and collecting clues along the way to help solve the final whodunit puzzle. Topics will cover everything from pop culture to general knowledge, so you'd best start brushing up on some facts. There's a swag of prizes up for grabs — from jugs of beer to a huge $150 bar tab for the night's champion team. Spooky-themed cocktails will also be on the menu and, given the date, there'll be be prize for the best costume, too. Entry's free and you can even bring along your pup. Round up a team of between four and eight players and book your spot by emailing functions@thenationalhotel.com.au.
Virginia Woolf once said that "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction". Though the former is notoriously hard to come by these days, The Stella Prize is seeking to remedy the situation. Now in its second year, this new literary institution offers $50,000 to the best work from a female author over the course of the past year. Head down to The Wheeler Centre this Thursday, May 1, to see the girl power in full swing. Established as a remedy to the huge gender disparities in the industry, The Stella Prize seeks to draw attention to the great work being done by ladies across the country. Ironically, since its inaugural prize last year, most major literary awards have been dominated by women; the Miles Franklin even had its first all-female shortlist. In the wake of this, this year's prize will spur a discussion: is the gender gap closing? This year's nominees are Anna Krien (Night Games), Hannah Kent (Burial Rites), Fiona McFarlane (The Night Guest), Kristina Olsson (Boy, Lost), Alexis Wright (The Swan Book), and Claire Wright (The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka). First prize will be announced in Sydney on April 30; this event will be a discussion with the winner, 2013 winner Carrie Tiffany, and co-founder Aviva Tuffield. Book your seats here.
Can you think of a better way to spend a muggy, summer night than heading down to St Kilda for an outdoor movie? From November 29 to December 21, American Express is letting you do just that when it brings its outdoor cinema to Melbourne. Movies on the big screen include new hits like Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born, Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong in First Man and the latest Harry Potter instalment Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. All the Christmas classics will be playing, too, including Love Actually, Dirty Dancing and Elf. Fitzroy's Ladro will once again be slinging its woodfired pizza, and a bar, serving 4 Pines beer, Giesen wines, Pimm's and Black Devil Cider, will keep your thirst quenched all night long. In addition, there will be 23 events across the installation, including live music performances, DJs, trivia and a craft area with masterclasses in knitting and macrame. Oh, and it's a dog-friendly space, so you don't need to leave part of your family at home. Plus if you're an Amex user you'll get 15 percent off select tickets, plus a lounger and bites for the movie.
Eleven is a peculiar age: no longer rugrats, not quite teenagers (but please don’t call them tweens), today 11-year-olds are privy to more knowledge and information than any generation before them, incidentally making them fascinating fodder for documentary filmmaking. In 2005 Melbourne director Genevieve Bailey embarked on a six-year journey that spanned 15 countries on a mission to capture something of the lives of 11-year-olds around the world. The fruit of her labour is the now internationally acclaimed cinematic portrait of adolescence that is I Am Eleven, which since opening at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2011 has screened in the US, UK, Brazil, France, Sweden, Canada and Spain, winning numerous awards along the way. At once cute, hilarious, deeply touching, intriguing and heartbreaking, Bailey's film transports the viewer back to a time in life when romance looked like a Disney movie, becoming an adult was marked by "your voice changing" and anything seemed possible. Kids say the darndest things. To celebrate the launch of the DVD, Genevieve Bailey will be joined by some of the now nearly full-grown cast of I Am Eleven for a discussion at Readings Carlton this Wednesday. We can only hope little French genius Remi will be there and is still single. Image credit I Am Eleven.
Weekend brunch is set to score a sweet-toothed makeover when two Melbourne favourites join forces to deliver one very indulgent feast. On Sunday, March 22, doughnut doyen Morgan Hipworth (Bistro Morgan) descends on The Smith to co-host a special edition of the bar's weekly bottomless brunch. Guests will tuck into one of the dishes from the collaborative menu, which features plenty of doughnuts. Choose from the likes of a fried chicken french toast crafted with Hipworth's signature dough, a maple bacon doughnut number and a doughnut smashed pav with meringue, lemon curd and white chocolate. It's sweet meets savoury, in the best way possible. The real star of the show, however, will be the stunning doughnut tree, popping up on site exclusively for the occasion. Its branches will be hung with limited-edition cherry blossom doughnuts, ready for punters to pick themselves. And to drink, The Smith bar has dreamt up a special dessert-themed cocktail — topped with a doughnut, of course. Brunchers will score one on arrival, before settling into two hours of free-flowing spritzes and prosecco (from a fountain, no less) with their feast. All of this will set you back $60. The Smith x Bistro Morgan brunch pop-up runs across two sittings: 11am–1pm and 2–4pm.
It's the kind of music event every pet-lover dreams of, and it's back for another year of cute puppies and pumping sounds. That'd be Dogapalooza, of course. Yep, it does have a rather excellent name — and that merry moniker is just the beginning. After wowing crowds with their first fest last year, the dog-friendly shenanigans are bound to get tales wagging again at Richmond's Burnley Park. Expect everything from ethical eating options (including Dogapalooza's own in-house vegan BBQ) to boutique dog product vendors. Even though the music lineup isn't announced until August 26, we're betting that won't find the likes of Bow Wow and Snoop Dog on the bill, as on-theme as they would've been. That said, we're sure that the roster of acts will get your toes tapping regardless — and the paws of your furry best friend, of course. Dogapalooza isn't just about a day of music-oriented bliss in the sun with your pet pooch, though. All proceeds go raised will go towards helping canines in need via Oscar's Law and Melbourne's dog rescue groups Stafford Rescue Victoria, Melbourne Animal Rescue and Puppy Tails Rescue. Dogapalooza takes place at 11am on October 9 at Burnley Park, Richmond. Tickets are on sale now, and check out the festival's Facebook page for more information.
The astroturf has been rolled out and the deck chairs have been prepped for balmy summer nights for South Wharf's annual outdoor cinema. The cinema at outdoor bar Common Man has launched again, offering a program of hard-to-dislike films such as La La Land, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Dirty Dancing and Pretty Woman on a 6x3-metre screen while you wash down that choc top with an espresso martini. Yes, the garden bar will be serving up cocktails, frosé, beer and wine in a can. And if you're hoping not to get out of your seat during the movie, you can also purchase cheese plates and fried chicken beforehand. The cinema will run on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday nights March 31, and tickets are just $14.
You know Melbourne winter has hit when two things arrive: mulled wine and fondue. Transit Bar is following suit and breaking out the molten cheese this winter with a $15 fondue deal, running all-day every Wednesday and Thursday. $15 gets you your choice of fondue, and you can also load up with dessert ($15) or one of Transit's signature cocktails (also $15). There are three different fondues to choose from, and each one comes with a crispy potato rosti, Campari onions and a cress salad. There's the traditional, gooey raclette and Chardonnay fondue; a herby variant with caviar, chives and crème fraiche; or a sinfully sweet black pepper, dark chocolate and raspberry. Take your pick. For dessert, Transit are serving up some freshly piped and fried cinnamon churros with hot chocolate sauce. Bonus points if you order chocolate fondue followed by chocolate churros. Last but not least, Transit is also running half-price oysters between 6pm and 7pm, Friday to Sunday. You know where to go this winter. Images: supplied.
Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and a panther circle around a film, and each other. Who will come out alive? That’s the crux of Serena, a romantic melodrama tantalisingly bleak, though too beholden to its too-obvious symbolism. It strives for the emotional complexity of times and films long since passed, but can only offer a shaky — albeit pretty — approximation. Starting in North Carolina’s golden-hued Smoky Mountains in 1929, a wilful woman and a wild cat enter the life of a Depression-era logger; of course, for all their sleek allure, they’re both omens of worsening times. She is the titular Serena, determined to become involved in a waning timber empire beyond the bounds normally expected of her gender. He is George Pemberton, in love not only with his new wife but with making as much money from his woodland as he can. The feline threatens their livelihood, but no more so than their own vices. Adapting Ron Rash’s 2008 novel of the same name, Serena charts the troubles and tragedies that spring in their wake: feuds, premonitions, medical emergencies and illegitimate children among them. Tangled up in the drama are a jealous business partner (David Dencik), interfering sheriff (Toby Jones), single mother (Ana Ularu), and loyal enforcer (Rhys Ifans). If that sounds over the top and outlandish, that’s because it is. A host of problems and people test the lovers’ fates well into the realm of contrivance and convenience. Serena aims to hark back to features of the Golden Age, where spirited femmes headlined tales of moral corruption as fully realised figures. Here, as the catalyst for drama, the central sultry dame is only ever painted as brash or unhinged. As a love interest, she is only ever idolised or maligned. Starkly absent is the nuance needed to render the film a throwback in anything more than superficial terms — and the insistence upon linking Serena’s untamed nature with the creature stalking through the trees certainly doesn’t help matters. With 2010 foreign-language Oscar winner In a Better World among her output, director Susanne Bier is no stranger to heightened circumstances and the quandaries that arise as a result, though her pedigree amounts for little. A clumsy script proves her undoing, alongside an approach favouring slow reveals at the expense of tension. Plot machinations aplenty aren’t the same as a genuinely involving narrative. Reunited after Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, both Lawrence and Cooper are effective, suffering as they are from the same over-stretched material. Too often, they are reduced to smouldering separately or sliding through a series of sex scenes, always looking the part but never really fitting in. Alas, that’s the attractively shot and staged Serena from start to finish, lumbering along and constantly felling any source of interest. As everything builds towards the inevitable finale, audiences will strain to care just who lasts the length of the feature’s running time.
