Listen to Autre Ne Veut's album Anxiety and you will quickly understand the hype surrounding this young American R&B artist. If you don't have time, just take in 'Play By Play'. Have your credit card handy whilst doing so as by the end of the first chorus you will be reaching for it to secure yourself a ticket to hear that falsetto live as it sends everyone into a dancing frenzy (who would have thought a falsetto could do such a thing?). Join me there. If you would prefer to go with your friends you already know, then that is fine too, just make sure you do not miss Autre Ne Veut, else you'll miss out on the opportunity to say 'I saw him when' five years down the track. https://youtube.com/watch?v=j9uE46sMugw
Melbourne's already home to Australia's first permanent booze-free bar and bottle shop, and it also played host to a zero-alcohol pop-up bar by Dan Murphy's. And now, in huge news for anyone taking it easy on the alcohol front, we're getting the country's first-ever, major low- and no-booze drinks festival. Courtesy of Revel — the minds behind Pinot Palooza and cheese fest Mould — Picolo is set to debut on Saturday, February 11, 2023, at Port Melbourne's Timber Yard. A drinks showcase of not-so-boozy proportions, it's out to spotlight the hottest drops making a splash on Australia and New Zealand's 'no-low' drinks scene; from craft beer and vino, to spirits-style creations and cocktails. Across two sessions (12pm, 5pm), guests will be able to sip their way through goodies from 30 different producers. Expect pours from familiar names like Lyres, Heaps Normal, Four Pillars, NON, Sobah, Banks Botanicals, Giesen and Better Beer, with plenty more to be announced. Also on the bill: a live cocktail competition featuring bar talent from the likes of HER, Pearl Diver and more. Competitors will each whip up their own signature cocktail using products showcased on the day, to be judged by a panel of beverage experts. You'll also enjoy artisan bites from the Mould Cheese Collective stand, DJ tunes, a roller-skating rink, food pop-ups, giveaways and games — including Heaps Normal's 'beersketball' challenge. Tickets to Picolo clock in at $35, which gets you all your tastings and a Revel wine glass to keep. And all that with zero hangover awaiting you the next morning.
Not content with terrifying Melburnians with just one unsettling shipping container installation at a time, the folks at Realscape Productions are bringing all four of their disquieting Darkfield experiences back to the city for another heart-quickening run. The four immersive shows are taking over a Chinatown lot, serving eerie thrills from Friday, December 16–Monday, February 6. For the uninitiated, each of these interactive experiences involves stepping inside a 40-foot steel box, sitting in pitch darkness and listening to a particularly immersive soundscape while the production plays with your sense of reality. Included in the lineup is return favourite Flight, which has you strapping yourself into a section of a real commercial airliner, then pondering the many possible outcomes if the cabin suddenly happened to lose pressure. Séance also plays on the concept of sensory deprivation, but instead thrusts audiences on a journey into the supernatural realm as they join a medium in trying to contact the spirit world. [caption id="attachment_739297" align="alignnone" width="1920"] 'Flight', by Mihaela Bodlovic[/caption] Meanwhile, Eulogy sees participants transported through a dark, labyrinthine hotel under the guidance of a chaperone, with 60-degree sound and speech recognition technology used to lend an eerie dreamlike vibe. Finally, there's Coma, which unfolds as you lie in a bunk bed and tumble into a dream state along with your fellow supine participants, the total darkness imparting a spooky sense of solitude. The four shows will run at various times throughout the duration of their stay, with general admission tickets available online for $25 ($30 for Eulogy). [caption id="attachment_852678" align="alignnone" width="1920"] 'Séance'[/caption] Top Image: 'Coma', by Mihaela Bodlovic, Darkfield by Alex Purcell.
Here to kick off your 2023 with a big serve of live, local tunes, is Ferdydurke's latest free music series. Every Thursday night through January, the laneway bar will be heating up to the sound of a different local band playing improv sets, covering everything from jazz and soul, to hip hop and funk. [caption id="attachment_883873" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Leilani Bale[/caption] The aptly named Jamuary is set to serve a fresh batch of talent each week, with singers, spoken word artists and rappers invited to head along, take the stage and show off their skills. DJs will be spinning from 7pm, while the bands fire up from 9pm, with acts like Busted Chops, OJ Kush and Beat Science on the lineup. And if you're keen to showcase your talents on stage, there'll be plenty of liquid courage to help you through it, with an exclusive drinks list featuring sips from Illegal Mezcal, Flor de Caña Rum and Four Pillars. Top Image: Melissa Butters
Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, one of the superstars of contemporary dance, is taking over the State Theatre with his internationally acclaimed new show. Described by critics as wild, sexy and beautiful, M¡longa brings the tradition of Argentinean tango slinking seductively into the modern age. Drawing inspiration from the late night social dances held in bars across Buenos Aires, Cherkaoui’s show includes a dozen Argentinean dancers, moving across the stage to the sounds of a five-piece band. The marriage of tradition and modernity is accentuated by the performance’s multimedia aspect, with massive projections lighting up an onstage screen. Dance fans had best get in quickly, however, as M¡longa is only in town until Sunday April 5. For performance times and to book tickets, visit the Arts Centre website.
If you fantasised about walking on the moon as a child, you'll be happy to know that these dreams can now become a reality for as little as $20. Well, almost. Scienceworks and Opaque Space — an award-winning Melbourne company that helps train NASA astronauts — have teamed up to create a VR experience that takes you to the moon (and beyond). And while it's not the same as being in space, it's probably the closest you'll get for under $50. The immersive VR experience and multi-player game, which kicks off on Monday, December 17, sounds impressively realistic, too. Running for 40 minutes, the astronaut simulation sees you explore a lunar space station, walk on the moon and 'look down' on earth from above — all while walking around in a seven-square-metre space with a five-kilogram backpack on. Coinciding with Scienceworks' Museum of the Moon installation — a giant floating sculpture of the moon complete with NASA imagery on its surface — Earthlight: Lunar Hub has a capacity for six peeps at a time, so grab your mates and tick 'walking on the moon' off your bucket list. Earthlight: Lunar Hub is open from 10.30am–4.30pm daily. Tickets must be purchased with Scienceworks museum entry.
When Bong Joon-ho's Parasite won Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or in 2019, it became the second movie in as many years to nab the coveted prize for exploring class and wealth inequality through a tale of family. The year prior, when Hirokazu Kore-eda's Shoplifters scored the same gong, it too examined the ties that bind, plus the societal circumstances that conspire against and complicate such bonds. Indeed, that's the Japanese filmmaker's favourite subject. In a career spanning over three decades, he keeps being drawn to people who are drawn together, sometimes by biology and sometimes because that's simply the hand that fate has played in shaping a makeshift brood. It's fitting, then, that Kore-eda's latest Broker — his second feature since that big win — stays true to his go-to topic while also starring Parasite's Song Kang-ho. This is Kore-eda's first South Korean film, following 2019's French and English The Truth, which was his first non-Japanese picture. This is vintage Kore-eda, in fact, and it's warm, wise, wonderful, canny and complex. No matter how his on-screen families come to be, if there's any actual blood between them, whether they're grifting in some way or where in the world they're located, the Japanese writer/director's work has become so beloved — so magnificent, too — due to his care and sincerity. A Kore-eda film is a film of immense empathy and, like Like Father, Like Son, Our Little Sister, After the Storm and The Third Murder also in the prolific talent's past decade, Broker is no different. The setup here is one of the filmmaker's murkiest, with the feature's name referring to the baby trade. But showing compassion and humanity isn't up for debate in Kore-eda's approach. He judges the reality of modern-day life that leads his characters to their actions, but doesn't judge his central figures. In the process, he makes poignant melodramas that are also deep and thoughtful character studies, and that get to the heart of the globe's ills like the most cutting slices of social realism. It isn't just to make a buck that debt-ridden laundromat owner Sang-hyun (Song, Emergency Declaration) and orphanage-raised Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won, Peninsula) take infants abandoned to the Busan Family Church's 'baby box' — a chute that's exactly what it sounds like, available to mothers who know they can't embrace that part for whatever reason — then find good families to sell them to. There's a cash component, of course, but they're convinced that their gambit is better than letting children languish in the state system. In Kore-eda's usual kindhearted manner, Broker sees them with sensitivity. Even if blue hues didn't wash through the film's frames, nothing is ever black and white in the director's movies. The same understanding and tenderness flows towards mothers like So-young (Lee Ji-eun, Hotel Del Luna, aka K-Pop star IU), whose decision to leave Woo-sung (debutant Park Ji-yong) isn't easily made but puts Broker on its course. It's on a rainy night that So-young farewells Woo-sung, placing him gently in the hatch packed with blankets and soundtracked by lullabies, and leaving a note to say that she'll be back to claim him. She's nervous and tentative, peering around to see if anyone is watching — astutely so, because two groups are waiting on her significant choice. The traffickers have their plan to enact, while detectives Su-jin (Doona Bae, The Silent Sea) and Lee (Lee Joo-young, Rose Mansion) are keen to catch them. Muddying matters for both: unlike what usually happens in this situation, So-young does genuinely return for her baby. So sparks a road trip with Sang-hyun, Dong-soo and football-loving seven-year-old Hae-jin (first-timer Seung-soo Im), a runaway orphan, to meet Woo-sung's prospective adoptive parents, all with the cops on their trail as part of a six-month investigation. Broker's plot is never straightforward, nor are the questions it incites — questions about what family truly means, what governments say it's supposed to and why a ragtag group of outsiders can find a greater sense of belonging together on the run than anywhere else. Without offering any simple justifications, answers or solutions, Kore-eda ensures that the factors that lead So-young to the baby box, and Sang-hyun and Dong-soo to the illicit adoption market, constantly demand the audience's attention. "This car is filled with liars," Dong-soo says mid-trip, but it's the why behind that statement that sits at Broker's core. Like in Shoplifters before it, Kore-eda queries the forces that've made his characters who they are, brought them to this juncture and meant that the choices they're making feel like the only ones they can. Here, that includes pondering expectations placed upon women whether or not they're mums, the baggage attached to motherhood, the alternatives to baby boxes, and the stark truth that bringing life into the world and having a family aren't the same things. If he'd decided that literature rather than cinema was his medium of choice, there's no doubting that Kore-eda would've made an excellent novelist. His plots are that layered, perceptive, generous, emotional and involving. Also, in his TV adaptation The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, one of 2023's streaming delights, he showed that he's equally as skilled at bringing tales from the page to the screen. But filmmaking is clearly Kore-eda's calling — and he's such a masterful visual storyteller, not to mention an affectionate movie craftsman, that it's forever plain to see why. Enlisting the great South Korean cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, a veteran not just of the aforementioned Parasite but also Bong's Snowpiercer and Mother, Na Hong-jin's 2016 standout The Wailing and Lee Chang-dong's sublime Burning from 2018, he gives Broker an earthy, lived-in, clear-eyed and yet eternally hopeful look. Falling rain, cramped rooms, cosy car rides, sprawling countryside, everyday phone calls: this film, and Kore-eda and Hong, make each one stun and say, well, everything. Broker's score by Jung Jae-il (another Parasite alum, and also Squid Game's composer) — plus the movie's spectacular use of Amy Mann's 'Wise Up' on its soundtrack, nods to Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia and all — are just as impressively and attentively fashioned. Nothing quite makes a Kore-eda feature what it is like his way with casting, though, pairing his empathetic stories with actors who gracefully live and breathe the same trait under his gaze. Accordingly, Kore-eda and the always-exceptional Song are a match made in cinematic heaven; it's no wonder that the latter deservedly earned Cannes' 2022 Best Actor prize for his latest phenomenal performance as a complex patriarch-type. Kore-eda and Bae is just as sterling a duo, too, especially when it comes to conveying yearning within this already bittersweet tale. Every heartfelt portrayal in Broker gets its audience feeling, however, including the scene-stealing Lee as a woman facing impossible choices, and pivotal baby Park.
Over three days this weekend, The Big Design Market will bring the best of independent Australian and international creations under the one roof. Acting as Melbourne's Mecca for crafts, the market promises an incredible variety of products combined with plenty of free creative workshops, delicious foodstuffs to impress the epicurean, and showbags bulging with creativity. The ethical shopper will find many stocking stuffers here, with the designs focused on ethical production and sustainability that does not skimp on quality and originality. The handcrafted designs range from fashion and accessories, homewares and textiles, and lifestyle and kids products. For those interested in looking to unleash their inner creative spirit, 10 free specialised workshops will be held over the three days. Find out how to master nail art with Trophy Wife and Kester Black, make a cute Christmas ornament with Wic & Folk or learn how to create the melt-in-your-mouth 'Be My Love' chocolate raspberry dessert with LuxBite.
You can't bounce off to Chinatown for a weekend yum cha session these days, but you can have the next best thing delivered right to your house. Modern Chinese restaurant Lee Ho Fook is upping the ante with a $48 finish-at-home yum cha feast, showcasing a lineup of chef Victor Liong's favourite dim sum dishes. Think, pork and garlic chive dumplings served with aged black vinegar and chilli oil, crisp veggie spring rolls and a riff on the classic pork and prawn siu mai starring goji berries, chilli and garlic sauce. You'll just need a few basic kitchen items to bring it all to life, including a wok with a steamer basket and some vegetable oil. Lee Ho Fook's online store has all the step-by-step instructions, as well as a handful of recommended playlists to dig into while you heat and eat. Gotta love a good yum cha soundtrack. Delivery is available Wednesday through Saturday to suburbs within 20 kilometres of the restaurant, or you can pick-up in-store from 1pm on the same days. All sold out? There'll be a fresh batch of dim sum feasts hitting the website every Saturday afternoon.
A white Christmas might be out of the question for Melbourne, but that doesn’t mean we have to miss out on French-style Christmas markets and all the tasty treats that come with it. This weekend, Alliance Française de Melbourne are hosting their tenth annual French Christmas Market, and better yet, they're free! The markets will feature products sold or made by French designers living in Australia. Authentic French food and wine will be on offer, and there are heaps of activities during the festival for those who wish to properly immerse themselves in the French festivities. There will be French language trial classes, a cabaret show, film screening and a theatre performance, as well plenty of kids activities if you're having a family adventure day. There's also a grand raffle to be drawn which could win you a trip for two to Reunion Island, a Sofitel Melbourne stay, or 20 hours worth of free French language lessons. But you have to be in it to win it, so Joyeux Noël!
The astroturf has been rolled out and the deck chairs have been prepped for those balmy January nights — it's the ideal time of year for an outdoor movie by the river. South Wharf's yearly cinema has been launched again, offering films like The Matrix, Crazy Stupid Love, Die Hard, The Lion King, 10 Things I Hate About You and Moana on a 7x4-metre screen with cinema-quality sound, while you wash down that choc top with a Pimms. Yes, there will be a Pimms Garden along with a pop-up Heineken Bar. And if you're hoping not to get out of your seat during the movie, you can also purchase 'cheese and bubbles' hampers from the candy bar, which will be also providing the popcorn and cocktail jugs. Running each Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday until February 28, South Wharf Pop-up Cinema will screen favourites along with a kids' movie each Sunday from 5pm.
If you've ever seen a live orchestra performance, you'll know just how powerful it can be — and sometimes so much so that you worry your glass of vino will spill. It's an experience to say the least. Whether you're a regular orchestra attendee or just keen to experience that level of energy on stage, you'll want to check out the fantastically chaotic Meow's Meow's Pandemonium at Hamer Hall. On Friday, May 21 and Saturday, May 22, international siren and comedian Meow Meow is joining the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ben Northey, for two nights of musical mayhem. Not sure what to expect? There'll be renditions of songs by the likes of Piazzolla, Weill, Brecht and Radiohead, as well as some originals by Meow Meow herself, who'll be performing in a number of dazzling outfits. You can bet you'll be in stitches, too. Head here to get your paws on some tickets.
Melburnians, if your late spring plans involve going out for a meal in the CBD, Lygon Street, North Melbourne, Southbank, South Wharf and Docklands — and your summer plans, too — then the Victorian Government and the City of Melbourne want to give you an extra incentive. For the second time in 2021, the two government bodies are teaming up on a dining scheme that's offering rebates for eating out in the city. Meet the 'Midweek Melbourne Money scheme', which follows on from 'Melbourne Money' initiative that was rolled out back in June. Obviously, that extra word this time around highlights one of the key differences. You'll need to head out for a meal midweek — or early in the working week, if you're opting for a Monday nosh — to score cash back, because this new program is all about eating out between Monday and Thursday. The initiative will kick off on Monday, November 15, and apply to food and drink purchases in-store anywhere that meals are sold — such as restaurants, cafes and pubs, as well as bars, clubs, breweries and distilleries — across the municipality. And, it'll cover 30-percent of your transaction total this time around (up from 20 percent in June), as long as you spend between $50–500 (including GST). That means you'll be able to claim up to $150. Further specifics are yet to be announced; however, given the focus is on eating out and the new scheme is being linked to the past scheme, it's expected that the same big caveat will remain. Back in June, you had to purchase something to eat to get the rebate, with your drinks only covered if you're buying food. There'll be $5 million available — totalling more than 200,000 rebates — which means there's another important thing to take into consideration: it works on a first in, first served basis. So, heading out as soon as the scheme starts and submitting your claim for a rebate immediately afterwards is recommended, as Midweek Melbourne Money will only run until the funds are exhausted. And, redemption-wise, you can likely expect it to run the same way as Melbourne Money did midyear. That involved getting cash back after you'd been to a hospitality venue, received an itemised receipt at the time of payment, then taken a photo of it and uploaded it to the Melbourne Money website. Within five working days, you then scored your rebate via a transfer to your bank account. The scheme falls under the Victorian Government and City of Melbourne's $200 million Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund, which is all about helping get the city back into gear following the latest lengthy lockdown — and in this case, boosting weekday foot traffic. As also just announced, another $10.4 million will go to other initiatives to support businesses, such as supporting outdoor trading and dining, and boosting the night-time economy. Also, $15.7 million is being put towards events, including an expanded Christmas Festival that'll start on Friday, November 12 — a fortnight earlier than usual. And, more than $14 million will be used to enhance public areas — refreshing them with pop-up libraries and creative spaces, for instance — and $3.6 million is going towards giving city businesses an enhanced Business Concierge service that'll offer greater support for new businesses and also assist existing city traders with operating in these post-COVID times. The Midweek Melbourne Money scheme kicks off on Monday, November 15. For more information, head to the City of Melbourne and Victorian Government websites. Images: Emily Godfrey, Visit Victoria.
Have you ever felt like you just don't quite fit in? The team at Tight Pants Theatre know exactly how you feel. For two nights this week, this upstart collective of dramatists and thespians will present an anthology of short plays, each written by a different member of the company in response to notions of membership, exclusivity and belonging. Featuring loads of home-grown talent, No Vacancy shapes up as a suitably strange and boisterous affair, ranging from political satire to absurdist game show to sobering reflection on the global refugee crisis. Throw in a runaway Christmas cult and a funeral home run by a necromancer, and it's hard to imagine there won't be at least something in the show that strikes your fancy. Best of all, 100 per cent of profits raised will be donated to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. Because nobody should be made to feel like they don't belong.
Bond and big-name festival hits. Everyone from Paul Mescal and Lily James and to Olivia Colman and Colin Farrell. Established and up-and-coming filmmakers from across the UK. That's the British Film Festival's 2022 lineup, which'll hit Melbourne's Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema and The Astor from Wednesday, October 19–Wednesday, November 16. Get ready to catch Mescal's latest post-Normal People role, Aftersun, then check out a rom-com starring James (Pam & Tommy) with Shazad Latif (Toast of Tinseltown), before seeing the Australian premiere of Colman's (Mothering Sunday) newest movie Joyride. As always, it's a star-studded affair, including opening with Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, as set in the world of French fashion, with Oscar-nominated Phantom Thread actor Lesley Manville in the titular role. At the other end, that aforementioned rom-com What's Love Got to Do With It? will wrap things up, with James and Latif joined on-screen by Emma Thompson (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande). Other standouts include The Banshees of Inisherin, which reunites In Bruges writer/director Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) and his stars Farrell (After Yang) and Brendan Gleeson (The Tragedy of Macbeth); plus the Bill Nighy (The Man Who Fell to Earth)-starring Living, about a terminally ill man in the 1950s. Also on the complete bill, and a huge inclusion: Empire of Light, the new film from 1917, Skyfall and Spectre's Sam Mendes. Skyfall will also play as part of the Bond retrospective, but the director's latest has been called a love letter to cinema — because charting a romance in an old picture palace in the 1980s was always going to earn that description. An Emily Brontë biopic, aptly named Emily, and directed by Australia actor-turned-filmmaker Frances O'Connor (The End), also sits on the lineup — as do more sea shanties in song-filled sequel Fisherman's Friends 2: One and All. Or, there's Rogue Agent, which dramatises conman (and fake undercover MI5 agent) Robert Freegard's IRL story; In From the Side, about an affair between two members of a fictional South London gay rugby club; and Aisha, focusing on a young Nigerian woman seeking asylum in Ireland. As for that shaken-not-stirred contingent, it celebrates six decades since Dr No, the first movie in the 007 franchise, initially graced cinemas — and includes 14 films, with tickets $13 for each. The title that started it all is well and truly on the lineup, as are the fellow Connery-led You Only Live Twice, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger and Thunderball; Roger Moore-era titles Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun; On Your Majesty's Secret Service with Australia's Bond George Lazenby; Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill; Goldeneye and The World Is Not Enough with Pierce Brosnan; and Daniel Craig's Casino Royale and Skyfall.
If you're going to fork out an arm and a leg for candy bar concessions, the food may as well be good. That's the thinking behind the ever-popular Coburg Drive-In Food Truck Festival, which is back for a May run. On Wednesday and Thursday night you can sit back in your car and enjoy the latest Hollywood releases while chowing down on delectable offerings from Melbourne's leading mobile food vendors. Look out for the likes of Taco Truck, Smokin Barry's, Nem N Nem, Boss Burger Shakes, Yo India, Real Burgers, Those Guys' Food, Roadrunner Fried Chicken, Street Crepes and Senor Churro. Plus, your pooch is welcome to come along too.
Everyone loves a good laugh. And everyone really loves a good bargain. And right now, you've got a tiny window to enjoy both of those things, rolled into one. The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is just around the corner, kicking off in late March. But if you're quick, you can get a head-start on scooping up tickets to some of this year's shows at a very budget-friendly rate. From 11am today, Tuesday, February 1, MICF has launched its annual 24/24 offer — a 24-hour-only deal slinging tickets to a stack of shows for the low price of $24 a pop. The flash sale covers gigs from a whole host of big-name Aussie artists, including Becky Lucas, Wil Anderson, Nazeem Hussain, Geraldine Hickey, Zoë Coombs Marr, Aaron Chen and Sammy J. You can even catch some international acts on the cheap, with the likes of David O'Doherty, Ali McGregor, Mark Watson and Fern Brady also among the list of participating shows. To take advantage of the special offer, you'll need to be speedy — it ends at exactly 10.59am tomorrow, February 2. To check out the full list of cheap thrills available, see the website. Top Image: Jim Lee
When Virgil Oldman (Geoffrey Rush) celebrates his birthday, he does so dining alone in a high-end restaurant, staring disconsolately at a special cake baked in his honour as other patrons titter at the pitiful spectacle. Lonely as he is, Virgil has carved out a fine career as an art auctioneer and is widely respected as the best at what he does and valued for his fine eye and penchant for detail. In his fastidiously maintained home, he keeps a whole wardrobe full of top-end designer gloves, the perfect accessory for a man who likes to keep life at arm's length. The wardrobe leads into a sanctuary of his most treasured possessions, a secret stash of portraits of women. He has secured these valuable gems in league with his only real friend, Billy (Donald Sutherland), an art collector who conspires with Virgil to win valuable works at auction, sold under value to 'the best offer'. When he is engaged to value the collection of antique furniture owned by Claire (Sylvia Hoeks), a young woman whose parents have died, he goes to the spectacular but run-down old property but finds to his frustration that Claire is not there. He continues to visit the property to attend to his work, but Claire is a ghost, always finding excuses not to meet him. Eventually, he finds that a young woman has in fact been in the house all along, but is in hiding. Concealed behind a wall, she tells him she has not left the house since she a traumatic experience she had as a teenager. Sensing a kindred spirit, Virgil gets drawn into her life, against his better judgement. As Virgil becomes more familiar with the house, he finds scattered wheels and cogs of a mysterious machine, which he takes to Robert (Jim Sturgess), a twinkle-eyed, raffish young man with a busy love life and a flair for repairing old things. Increasingly Virgil comes to confide in Robert and seeks the younger man's advice on the twin mysteries of the contraption and the elusive Claire. Becoming entranced by Claire's ethereal beauty and isolation, Virgil's usually perfect work performance begins slipping, the sign of a man losing control of his ordered life as he grapples with the foreign emotional landscape of human connection. Writer/director Giuseppe Tornatore has made an exquisitely told story with a cruel sting in its tale. Rush delivers a beautifully judged and involving performance as a man whose austere and detached approach to life is thrown into disarray, while Sylia Hoeks is ideal as the mysterious Claire. While some elements of the story's final act probably don't stand up to closer scrutiny, the overriding impression as the credits roll is one of complete heartbreak, making The Best Offer one of the best feel-bad films in recent memory. https://youtube.com/watch?v=WCfXq3nFDUM
There's no better place to sample a region's top drops than at the wineries, breweries and cideries making them. So lovers of Victorian booze will be very pleased to know that the Peninsula VineHop Festival is set to return for its second year, having been awarded a Regional Events Fund grant by the Victorian Government and Visit Victoria. It'll showcase the best of the Mornington Peninsula this November 17 and 18. Imagine a local version of Rutherglen's long-running Winery Walkabout, only with equal emphasis on craft beers and ciders, and it's not hard to see why VineHop's 2017 debut proved so darn popular. This year, the two-day event runs to the same concept, with affordable shuttle buses allowing visitors to cruise between a stack of participating breweries and wineries, experiencing the best of each along the way. Yes, that's right, no designated drivers required. As well as the opportunity to sample premium libations just metres from where they were crafted, there'll be a program of food trucks, live music and DJs setting the mood at each location. Among the venues that will be open for visitors is the gloriously named Hickinbotham of Dromana. The family-run estate produces both wine and beer (via on-site microbrewery Hix) and will also host a Mornington Peninsula Brewery pop-up. To make the most of the stunning scenery, make a stop at Bayview Estate which offers vistas of rolling hills and lavender farms plus the opportunity for a hearty feed — think pig on a spit and Ploughman's platters — at its old English-style pub Pig and Whistle. Other venues include Mock Red Hill Cider, Stumpy Gully and Red Hill Estate, whose overwhelming popularity at VineHop 2017 has led to a different approach this year: Red Hill will be set up at historic homestead The Briars as the official festival hub. Tickets to Peninsula VineHop Festival go on sale at 5pm on Friday, August 3. For information on bus options and routes, visit the website.
In 2022, The Strokes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were meant to share the same Splendour in the Grass bill. Karen O's band didn't make it to what became Splendour in the Mud, but the two groups have shared plenty before — and for decades. Their maps have overlapped since pre-9/11 New York, when both were formed in the turn-of-the-millennium indie-rock wave, then surfed it to success and worldwide fame. Both The Strokes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were born of the Lower East Side pre-gentrification. Both spun in the same orbit as late-90s saccharine pop and Y2K nu-metal rock gave way to electrifying guitar riffs and an explosive sound that'd become a whole scene. Both are led by charismatic singers who came alive onstage, but also found chaos and challenges. Alongside Interpol, LCD Soundsystem, The Moldy Peaches, The Rapture and TV on the Radio, both now sit at the heart of documentary Meet Me in the Bathroom. Based on Lizzy Goodman's 2017 book Meet Me in the Bathroom, an oral history that focuses on exactly what its subtitle says it does — Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001–2011 — this is a fond look back at bands setting the room on fire and rolling heads as one century gave way to the next. While the film isn't about just one or two groups, it returns to The Strokes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs again and again, and not simply because they're two of the early 00s' biggest NYC post-punk, garage-rock revival names. Listening to The Strokes' first record, 2001's Is This It, is a jolt and a buzz. With Julian Casablancas behind the microphone, it thrums and hums with the energy of hopping between bars, gigs and parties, and with the thrill of a heady night, week, month, year and just being in your 20s. Hearing O's voice is galvanising — intoxicating as well — and has been since the Yeah Yeah Yeah's self-titled EP, also in 2001. It's no wonder that directors Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern just want to keep listening, and also inhabiting that vibe. Meet Me in the Bathroom jumps around like a mixtape — or, befitting the period, like illicit tunes acquired by Napster and LimeWire, tools that aren't irrelevant to this story. Before technology changed the radio star again, making global fandom easier, better, faster and stronger, the movie's bands had to come to fruition in the first place, however. Lovelace and Southern start with images of the Manhattan skyline, and of New York's subway system. They hero Andy Warhol, Lou Reed and Blondie, ticking through New York icon after New York icon. They position The Strokes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and company's arrival as the next step and, by using such familiar NYC mainstays, they mark Meet Me in the Bathroom's key players as era-defining legends who were always going be legends. Before this, Lovelace and Southern's best-known film was Shut Up and Play the Hits. In that James Murphy-centric doco about what was then LCD Soundsystem's last gig at Madison Square Garden and in this alike, the directing duo are patently enamoured with their subjects. That doesn't dampen or discount Meet Me in the Bathroom's passion and insights, not for a second — but the film is preaching to the long ago-converted rather initiating 00s-period indie-rock newcomers. There's a wistfulness beyond nostalgia to the movie as well that's a few strums away from being out of tune. The years have passed, naturally. It'll never be the advent of the 21st century again, short of time-travelling DeLoreans or phone booths. Still, The Strokes' last album arrived in 2020, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Interpol released new records in 2022; they're all still together and still touring. In a counterpoint to Meet Me in the Bathroom's confidence that this talent in this town was always going to lead to this tale, The Moldy Peaches' Adam Green voices early doubts: "I remember thinking maybe New York isn't the kind of city anymore that produces iconic bands." The film wouldn't exist if the names it surveys hadn't made their mark, of course, and helped ensure their scene made a mark. Viewers know that going in, but watching the process via archival footage, home movies and gig snippets from the time, much of it handheld and atmospheric — and hearing from Casablancas, O, Murphy, Green, Interpol's Paul Banks and more — is as immersive and transporting as Lovelace and Southern want it to be. A like-you're-there sensation kicks in; Casablancas looking so fresh-faced assists, plus O talking through how fronting a band helped her work out who she was. (Her comment that there were no women in rock leading the way beforehand aren't as spot-on.) O is a fascinating, mesmerising, don't-want-to-look-away point of Meet Me in the Bathroom's focus. The movie does peer elsewhere, but the audience wants it to swiftly return. Her transformation from a quiet girl with an acoustic guitar from New Jersey to a rock goddess doesn't just feel fated, but earned. Her honesty, especially when chatting about the solace from racism and sexism she sought in music, then the treatment that women in rock receive, is pivotal to making Meet Me in the Bathroom more than a vivid effort to revisit a time, place, mood and scene. Also, her candour sits in contrast to Casablancas, who the doco gravitates towards as the world did, but conveys most of what he's going to by saying little. The bigger The Strokes get, the less comfortable he is. And, given that everything in the film's frames comes from back in the day, that's without Casablancas knowing that two decades later this documentary would take its name from a track from The Strokes' second album. Affectionate, in the moment, revealing, reverent: Meet Me in the Bathroom hits all of those notes. It also covers much, from Y2K predictions to 9/11 and its aftermath, sweaty club shows to internet-enabled album leaks, and whirlwind tours through to struggling to get deals and records out. With editors Andrew Cross (Ronaldinho: The Happiest Man in the World) and Sam Rice-Edwards (Whitney), Lovelace and Southern structure the film by feel more than anything else. There's a timeline to this time capsule, but in flitting from one band to the next and back again, choosing where to linger — including an indulgent midsection spent charting Murphy's switch from producer to LCD Soundsystem frontman — and picking what to leave out, mood seems the biggest influence. That's music, though, as anyone who has happily lost themselves to The Strokes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on a heaving dance floor or among a jostling festival crowd knows, as does Meet Me in the Bathroom.
We know it's Monday morning and you're just getting stuck into the emails you didn't get to on Friday, but drop everything and scout out your closest 109 tram stop — because Public Transport Victoria is about to throw a one-off on-board pup party. And we're all invited. To mark International Day of People With a Disability and throw some support behind social enterprise Dialogue in the Dark, a team of furry Guide Dogs ambassadors will be special guests on the 109 tramline, from exactly 10.30am today. Keep an eye out for the yellow and black Dialogue in the Dark tram and hop on board to score some Monday morning doggy cuddles, and maybe even a special Christmas treat. Dialogue in the Dark is an initiative that allows the public to experience one hour in pitch darkness, guided by a person with vision loss. Plus, if you're keen to sign up to become a puppy raiser for Guide Dogs Victoria after your cuddles, head over here.
Looking to woo this Valentine's Day? Just remember that location matters — and stunning views don't hurt, either. Luckily for you, Rippon Lea Estate has both of these things going for it and it just so happens to be hosting the ultimate dinner date for loved-up couples on Tuesday, February 14. Book your table for two at the stunning Elsternwick property from 6pm and prepare to be swept off your feet. On the evening's menu: a three-course spread featuring dishes like twice-cooked goats cheese soufflé, lemon herb chicken with creamy white wine sauce and an edible chocolate garden for dessert. Included in the $129 ticket, you'll also score a package of house-made sweet treats to take home, saving you from having to rush out and buy those last-minute Valentine's choccies. What's more, you and your lover can take a romantic post-dinner stroll through the estate's lush gardens whilst being serenaded by the enchanting cello melodies of Gary Fu. Top image: Lenish John via Wikimedia Commons.
There's nothing like a stint of chilly Melbourne winter to inspire cravings for a hearty Sunday roast. And one with bottomless drinks to match? Even better. This, my friends, is the enviable situation that now awaits you at Mr Joe every Sunday afternoon. Book in for the Richmond eatery's new bottomless roast series from 1–3pm each weekend and enjoy a sumptuous, globe-trotting feed for $72. The shared spread features dishes like fresh bread with whipped ricotta and a red mojo sauce, plump pork and vegetarian gyozas, and an array of seasonal vegetables. Alongside those, star roasted delights like slow-cooked Asian-spiced lamb ribs, Texas-style wagyu brisket, local pork belly and a tender lamb shoulder are all on the menu as well. You're also in for two hours of free-flowing booze, including sparkling wine, Asahi beer, mimosas, margaritas, espresso martinis and a crisp watermelon punch. Images: Ben Moynihan
Winter isn't usually the most fun time to be in Melbourne. Sure, it's nice when the local pub starts serving mulled wine, but when your favourite activities include sunny brunches, outdoor cinemas and going to the beach, grey skies and arctic winds are not your friends. But we've found at least one reason to celebrate the chilly weather: a pop-up ice skating rink right in the middle of Fed Square. Located on River Terrace overlooking the Yarra, River Rink will be open from 10am – 10pm, seven days a week, from June 18 until July 17. At night the rink will be lit up in a multitude of colours, while select evenings will also feature live entertainment. Tickets to River Rink cost $24.50 for adults, and include skate hire. Those of you without much skating experience or general coordination can also hire a plastic penguin and/or seal, which essentially serve as ice skating training wheels. Full disclosure though: you're probably still going to wake up the next day covered in bruises.
Strawberry Fields' Tocumwal home has remained quieter than normal of late, after the site was inundated by flood waters last October, forcing the annual music festival to cancel. But it's about to score its glorious comeback, with brand-new one-day fest Good Times heading along to give it a proper workout this autumn. Making its debut on Saturday, March 25, Good Times is set to deliver a hefty lineup of Aussie talent, with acts like Cash Savage & the Last Drinks, garage four-piece Floodlights and blues legend CW Stoneking & His Primitive Horn Orchestra already revealed to be making the trip to Tocumwal. [caption id="attachment_887375" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Will Hamilton-Coates[/caption] Now, organisers have dropped the full artist lineup, throwing big names like jazz-funk four-piece Surprise Chef, Music Victoria Award-winning songstress Bumpy and dance-floor favourite Wax'o Paradiso (aka Simon TK and Edd Fisher) into the mix. Joining them in this bush oasis on the banks of the Murray River are rising stars Glass Beams (with their signature masks), Yorta Yorta blues act Benny Walker and Alice Springs-based folk artist Charly. And you'll catch even more diversity of sound from the likes of JUMAN, Collingwood Casanovas, PBSFM's Mz Rizk and a stack of others. [caption id="attachment_887378" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Will Hamilton-Coates[/caption] The family-friendly one-stage festival is set to be capped at just 1000 guests, with camping passes available for those keen on sleeping over, as well as shuttles running to and from Tocumwal's town centre. Alongside the tunes, there'll be offerings like a flame-driven culinary program with eats by Three Blue Ducks' Mark La Brooy, Wild Pie (a new collaboration from Jo Barrett and Louise Daily), and the purveyors of wild game at Discovered Wildfoods. Plus, attendees can also enjoy a strong lineup of natural wines, a series of riverfront hot tubs for unwinding in between sets, and a pop-up lounge for resting and relaxing. And as is the case with Strawberry Fields, you'll be able to cool off with a refreshing dip in the river whenever you like. Best of all, the entirety of Good Times ticket profits will be rolled into the Strawberry Fields Community Grants Fund, going to support local community organisations and non-profits. Berrigan Shire locals have access to half-price tickets. [caption id="attachment_887377" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Will Hamilton-Coates[/caption] Here's the lineup in full: GOOD TIMES 2023 LINEUP: Benny Walker Bumpy C.W. Stoneking & his Primitive Horn Orchestra Cash Savage & the Last Drinks Charly Claps Collingwood Casanovas Don Glori Floodlights Friday Young Glass Beams JUMAN Kuzco Mz Rizk Surprise Chef Wax'o Paradiso Good Times will take place at the Strawberry Fields site in Tocumwal, NSW, on Saturday, March 25. General admission tickets start from $119, available online. Top image: Duncographic.
This month, one of Melbourne's newest rooftop bars is letting you get acquainted with some of Victoria's hottest craft distilleries — without stepping foot out of the city. Ever the champion of local booze, sky-high hideaway the Stolen Gem has kicked off a limited run of weekly bar takeovers, set on showcasing top-notch spirits from across the state. From 12pm each Saturday, through until May 14, the bar will be hosting a different guest distillery for an afternoon of tastings, exclusive specialty cocktails and distiller chats. Coming up on Saturday, May 7, you'll catch the team from family-owned Somerville distillery Chief Son, as they share some stories and pour samples of their limited-edition single-malt whisky. And on May 14, the Jamaican-style Killik Rum out of Belgrave will be taking the spotlight, with the distinctly flavoured wild-fermented spirit available to try straight, as well as blended into a signature Old Fashioned. Entry to each takeover event is free — book via the website. [caption id="attachment_852613" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lumea Photo[/caption] Images: Lumea Photo
If jungle vibes while shopping for greenery sounds like your perfect outing, head along to the Jungle Collective's indoor plant sale on Saturday, January 23–Sunday, January 24. It's the latest greenery-filled market from the Melbourne nursery, which stocks all kinds of weird and wonderful species. And, after hosting plenty of online-only events over the past year, this sale is a 100-percent in-person affair. Whether you're after a hanging pot plant, some palms for the garden or a giant Bird of Paradise, chances are you'll find it here. Have a reputation for killing your cacti? Overwatering your ferns? Don't worry — there'll be horticulturalists on site on the night to give you advice and chat through any questions you might have. Get inspired by greenery aplenty and learn to incorporate plants into your home and living spaces, all while browsing and soaking up some tunes. Jungle Collective is turning this event into a bit of a maze, too, so you'll enter in one spot, wander along a designated path and leave in a completely different area. Best get in quick though — these markets are always popular, with more than 170 different species usually on offer. Due to expected demand, the sale will be held in 30-minute sessions across both days, and attendees will need to register for free tickets in advance. Plus, if you come decked out in white from head to toe — and spend at least $10 — you'll also get $5 off your purchase.
Dig out those once-a-year novelty gumboots, because Groovin the Moo has unveiled its 2019 lineup. Taking the large-scale music festival out of the city and into regional centres for another year, GTM will hit Bendigo on Saturday, May 4. This year sees local talent new and established taking the stage, with the lineup spanning up-and-comers like Jack River, G Flip and Haiku Hands right through to recent Hottest 100 top tenner Billie Eilish, Aussie favourites Nick Murphy and Thelma Plum, Australian hip hop legends Hilltop Hoods and rockers Regurgitator. International talent like Coolio — who'll you'll most likely recognise from his hit track 'Gangsta's Paradise' — Danish pop singer MØ and American rapper A$AP Twelvyy will make their way to the Moo, too. Groovin the Moo is also moving its ACT festival to Exhibition Park for the first time as it conducts its second pill testing trial. Pill testing is still a much-debated topic around the country with five people recently dying from suspected overdoses in as many months and the NSW Government remaining staunchly opposed to the idea of pill-testing, despite international research and the success of last year's pill-testing venture at the Canberra fest. Here's the full lineup. GROOVIN THE MOO 2019 LINEUP A$AP Twelvyy (USA) Angie McMahon Aurora (Nor) Billie Eilish Carmouflage Rose Coolio (USA) Crooked Colours DMA's Duckwrth Fisher Flosstradamus (USA) G Flip Haiku Hands Hermitude Hilltop Hoods Holy Holy Jack River Just a Gent MØ (Dnk) Nick Murphy Nicole Millar Regurgitator Rejjie Snow (Irl) Sofi Tukker Spinderella Thelma Plum TOKiMONSTA (USA) Trophy Eyes Images: Daisy Hofstetter.
Bingo. Rave. Two ends of the spectrum of fine holiday fun and finally — finally — together as one. Bongo's Bingo is a games night like you've never seen before. Part club, part rave, and, of course, part bingo night, this unlikely fusion event has been wildly popular in the UK since 2015. Now, they're taking the show on the road and launching in Australia this June. In partnership with Wats On Events, Bongo's Bingo Down Under is throwing a massive bingo rave at Collingwood Town Hall on June 29. Patrons can expect all of the debauchery of the original British version of Bongo's Bingo, including rave intervals, dancing on tables and a loose kind of bingo that you definitely never played with your nan (well, maybe you have). The victorious players can win everything from big cash prizes to a Hills Hoist, with a range of some absolutely ridiculous surprises on offer. If you're not sure what you're in for, check out this video for a better sense of this crazy night out: The Melbourne launch event will be presided over by founder and comic ringleader Jonny Bongo who, as one would expect, is a character in the truest sense of the word and even holds the world record for the biggest ever pub quiz. Australia is the second international location for Bongo's Bingo, which recently launched in Dubai as well and, based on popularity, we imagine the event will continue to expand around the globe. Venues, guest lineup and DJ hosts will be announced in coming weeks, and tickets will go on sale at 6pm on Wednesday, May 17. Tickets are $40 and include six games of bingo. Keep an eye on this space for further updates and brush up on those bingo-break down skills in the meantime.
From the creative minds behind MKA: Theatre of New Writing comes a new highly participatory work of live art. Supergroup EXPEN$$$IVE, starring the self-described queer femme showgirl Kerith Manderson-Galvin, are making a video clip despite never releasing a song. The Mechanics institute will become the live film set where audience members become involved in the shooting of the music clip. On top of that, audience members will also ask questions at a faux press conference, and we recommend attending on the May 8 to join in on their official Q&A and party. Come In Lover, We’re Doing Witchcraft is part of the Metanoia Live Works Program at Brunswick’s newest performance venue, The Mechanics Institute. It’s free entry and audience members can come and go as they please, but who would want to leave this riot?
Melbourne has scored itself a new haven of good, honest food with the cheery arrival of Stan's Deli & Sandwiches in Malvern. A vision of green and white both inside and out, this modern riff on the classic New York deli and diner comes courtesy of some pretty familiar hospitality faces, with Guy Bentley (Leonardo's Pizza Palace, Leonards House of Love) and Todd Vanneste (Frankie's Tortas & Tacos) teaming up with Alex Gavioli (formerly Moby 3143 and Lenny 3206) and Aaron Trotman of wine label NON. At the Glenferrie Road spot, Vanneste's Weekdays Design Studio has created a bright, smartly-dressed diner-style space for morning coffees and lunchtime sandwich pit-stops alike. And yes, Stan's is taking the concept of deli coffee to a whole new level, with Small Batch supplying both the house blend and a rotation of single origin offerings. As for the food menu, it serves up a finely tuned celebration of simplicity, heroing straightforward flavours and featuring a stack of elements crafted in-house. You'll find 5 & Dime bagels loaded with the likes of whipped ricotta, lemon and dill, or with pastrami, bread and butter pickles, sauerkraut and mustard. The sandwich game is strong, including the roast chook sanga with Swiss gruyere, herb mayo and green tomatoes that are salted overnight. Pork and fennel sausage comes housed in a muffin alongside curried egg and cheese, while the eggplant parm sandwich features a mix of napoli, mozzarella, peppers and rocket. Everything is available to go, as well as to enjoy in — and while you're there you'll find a deli section stocked with the likes of Chappy's chips, Birdsnake chocolate, Nice Pickles, Strange Love sodas and NON's booze-free wines. Stay tuned for a line of house-made sauces, preserves and other goodies, hitting the shelves soon. And, once Stan's liquor license comes through shortly, there are plans to host monthly dinner parties featuring fresh pasta and natural wine, and shining the spotlight on various regions and producers. Find Stan's Deli & Sandwiches at 248B Glenferrie Road, Malvern — open from 6.30am–3pm Monday–Saturday and 8am–3pm Sunday.
Run, jump and roll your way into the Melbourne Arts Centre on select dates this week to see a brand new stage work from the champions of Western Sydney's underground parkour scene. Straight from the streets of Fairfield, Jump First, Ask Later combines the fluid movement of free running and contemporary dance in an explosively physical performance that explores "violence, migration, redemption and the collective freedom these artists discovered by mapping their city through dance". On stage at the Arts Centre on August 2, 5 and twice on August 6, this troupe of six young performers from one of the most culturally diverse parts of Australia will traverse the theatre, springing and vaulting over obstacles in a 50-minute performance produced by Sydney's Powerhouse Youth Theatre and dance company Force Majeure. Expanding your understanding of both athleticism and dance, the show shapes up as a must-see for fans of either. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekt4QkjKnEw
Burgers. Giver of life. Mana from heaven. We're pretty keen on this most glorious of food groups — and given how many new burger joints we've seen pop up around town, it seems like you are too. Hell, Hank Marvin Market's last two Burger Biannuals drew more than 6000 and 7000 hungry punters respectively. So, really, it's little wonder they're gearing up for round three. Firing up from 11am on the Thursday, September 28 and Friday, September 29 of the AFL Grand Final long weekend, the event will feature more than a dozen of Melbourne's best burg merchants, including Mr Burger, Gorilla Grill, Sliders on Tyres, St Kilda Burger Bar and Sparrow's Philly Cheesesteaks. There'll also be vegan and vegetarian options. Burgers truly are for everybody. Assuming you have room for dessert, you'll also have the run of a number of sweet options from the likes of Billy Van Creamery, Whoopies Cookies and Pop-Up Crepes, and Collingwood's Stomping Ground will be pouring beers. Point is, you probably won't need to eat for the rest of the week. After its St Kilda stint, the Big Burger Biannual will hit the road to visit Watergardens, Ballarat, Wodonga and Shepparton before the end of the year. Image: Shara Henderson.
Descending on the cube-like Melbourne Music Week hub in Alexandra Gardens, the Sunset Jamboree invites you to shake off your serious side and get a little bit wild, as you embark on a multisensory adventure of queer delights. Helmed by legendary LGBTQI+ party-makers Poof Doof and Rock City, and backed by 3RRR, it'll see the temporary structure transformed into a dusk-time oasis of sound, colour and memorable costumes, on Sunday, November 17. As part of the fun, you'll catch a live drag show featuring fan favourites like Karen From Finance, Polly Filla, Jimmi The Kween and award-winning duo The Jawbreakers. More hard-hitting energy comes in the form of a diverse soundtrack served up by yet more local legends. Think big pop tunes from Zoe Badwi, a dance-worthy serve of techno from Argonaut and a healthy dose of hip hop courtesy of Duchess Kay. As for your own get-up, just remember that nothing's too OTT for this one.
Thirty years, hundreds of films and thousands of minutes spent staring at the silver screen — that's what the Alliance Française French Film Festival is celebrating in 2019. Three decades since first launching in Australia, the event is marking its mammoth milestone with a particularly huge festival. And like all of the best big birthday bashes, the fest has assembled quite the on-screen guest list. When AFFFF hits Melbourne's theatres from March 6–April 10, it'll not only screen 54 movies across a month-long period, but also showcase a heap of French acting greats. Think Juliette Binoche, Audrey Tautou, Isabelle Adjani, Vincent Cassel, Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Mathieu Amalric, plus Vanessa Paradis and her daughter Lily-Rose Depp. The list goes on (obviously). With acclaimed French directors Claire Denis and Jacques Audiard each making their English-language filmmaking debuts over the last 12 months, this year's AFFFF also boasts a bit of Hollywood star power. Robert Pattinson and André Benjamin (aka André 3000) join the aforementioned Binoche in Denis' stellar dystopian space effort High Life, while Joaquin Phoenix, John C. Reilly and Jake Gyllenhaal star in Audiard's western, The Sisters Brothers. Both titles have been gathering praise on the international festival circuit since late last year, and will hit Aussie screens for the first time at AFFFF. From opening film The Trouble with You to closing night's Kiss & Tell — both comedies — the full lineup boasts plenty of other features to get excited about. Intimate drama A Faithful Man steps into the complications of romance, with Louis Garrel both in front of and behind the camera; César award-nominee Amanda follows a twentysomething forced to bond with his niece; and doco fans can get a fashion fix with both Celebration: Yves Saint Laurent and Jean-Paul Gaultier: Freak & Chic. Elsewhere, famed director François Ozon returns with By the Grace of God, which comes our way after premiering in Berlin in February, and Olivier Assayas is back with his thoughtful latest offering, Non-Fiction. While the trio of The World Is Yours, Knife + Heart and Sorry Angel have already played on Australian screens, specifically in Melbourne last year, they're also worth looking out for — the crime caper, campy slasher and queer romance all made our best of MIFF list for a good reason. Finally, if you're keen on both old and new French talents, they're both in the spotlight in a considerable way. The former comes courtesy of a restored screening of Alain Resnais' classic 1961 effort Last Year at Marienbad, and a dedicated program strand highlights the latter, including emerging filmmakers such as Coralie Fargeat (Revenge), Cécila Rouaud (Family Photo) and Dominique Rocher (The Night Eats the World).
One of the UK's most versatile and interesting directors, Michael Winterbottom, is a hard man to pigeonhole. Teaming again with Steve Coogan, whom he collaborated with on 24 Hour Party People and the wonderful The Trip, his latest is a biopic of Paul Raymond, the controversial figure who became the 'King of Soho', pulling crowds with risque theatre at his nightclub and successfully branching out into the world of magazines with his bestselling lad's mag, Men Only. The action opens with a shaken Raymond (Coogan) pondering tragic events involving his daughter and driving around the district of London he rules with a small child, pointing out the business he owns, markers not just of his great wealth but also his striving for respectability. His rise was marked by his audacity and knack for turning setbacks to his advantage — when a newspaper condemns one of his theatrical productions for including "arbitrary displays of naked flesh", he slaps the quote on the promotional poster as a selling point. After leaving his family for his mistress, Richmond finds himself on the wrong end of an expensive divorce settlement ("I think you'll find it's the most expensive divorce settlement in UK history" he corrects reporters), but remains focused on empire building. Along the way he reconnects with his daughter Debbie (an excellent Imogen Poots), whose ambitions of stardom are not accommodated by the public and whose frail confidence is boosted by lashings of champagne and cocaine. Moving from the swinging sixties to the darker onset of disco, Raymond continues to show an unerring sense for what the public want and gleefully pushes the boundaries with his magazines and live shows. He intuited what the public wanted was a taste of his hedonistic, womanising lifestyle. Yet behind the glamorous facade, there was a melancholy underside to his life, with Raymond's inability to let go of his humble beginnings and his unusual relationship with his daughter forming the wounded heart of this impressive biopic. Impeccable in its period detail and scored by the sweeping melodrama of Burt Bacharach songs, The Look of Love gives the always watchable Coogan meaty, complex material to wrestle with. Some will be disappointed at the way it brushes over the darker corners of his porn empire; Raymond had a way of deflecting difficult questions that the film also uses. Whether Raymond deserves such a sympathetic biography is debatable, but there is no questioning the aplomb with which Coogan and Winterbottom have brought this contradictory and ultimately quite sad figure to life. https://youtube.com/watch?v=t3OxrgrD0VI
With a PM whose foot seems permanently lodged in his mouth and an opposition leader who has less personality than a drawer full of mismatched spoons, Australian federal politics is in desperate need of new blood. Enter Tom and Sam, a pair of ambitious, forwarding-thinking, all-singing, all-dancing candidates looking to bring some much needed pizzazz to Parliament House. Like House of Cards but with more accordions, this two-man musical production picked up the People’s Choice Award at Sydney’s Short + Sweet Cabaret Festival.
Ah, the mysteries of the cosmos. Stargazers everywhere, both sciencey and romantic, can rejoice at this exciting time because the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2013 competition exhibition is showing at the Royal Observatory Greenwich in London through 23 February next year. We've come an awfully long way from the first photo of the moon taken ca. 1826, what with our insanely high ISOs these days, and our tripods and our knowledge and our penchant for standing around all night while our Canons painstakingly track the path of the stars. Now in its fifth year, the competition received more than 1200 entries from 49 countries. Turns out, it's not only nerdy Hubble astronomers and National Geographic lensmen training their eyes on the skies — all manner of enchanting and mind-bending space images are being made by inspired amateurs year-round (even a 14-year-old's work has earned some laurels this year). You're sure to deeply enjoy pondering the beauty of infinity as you check out these selects. So who's been judged the ultimate astrophotography kingpin? Australia's Mark Gee with his photo 'Guiding Light to the Stars' — and we just happen to have the Concrete Playground Bluffer's Guide to Astronomy Photography on hand, featuring all the advice you could need from Mr. Gee himself. It's not so easy making sharp and correctly-lit images of the night sky (Lord knows I've tried and failed), which makes Gee's wisdom, and the shots in the exhibition, even more impressive. Soundtrack while you are shooting meteors? 'Constellations' by indie quirkster Darwin Deez. The Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2013 book is out now, and the Flickr pool has all the submissions for your viewing pleasure. Top image: Hi.Hello photographed by Ben Canales (Runner up – People and Space Category) Guiding Light to the Stars by Mark Gee, winner of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year “Snowy Range Perseid Meteor Shower” shot by David Kingham (Highly Commended – Earth & Space Category) The Waxing Crescent Moon by 14-year-old Jacob Marchio (Highly Commended – Young Astronomy Photographer Category) Green Energy by Fredrik Broms, capturing the Aurora Borealis (Runner Up – Earth & Space Category) Moon Silhouettes by Mark Gee (Winner – People and Space Category) Celestial Impasto Sh2-239 by Adam Block (Winner – Deep Space Category) Floating Metropolis – NGC 253 photographed by Michael Sidonio of Australia, showing the rare appearance of a starburst galaxy, with many stars being born at once (Highly Commended – Deep Space Category) Via Hyperallergic
Since March, a selection of normal, everyday activities have been off the cards. Now, with Victoria's first stage of relaxed restrictions introduced earlier this week, Melburnians can enjoy the great outdoors again. You can go for a hike, play golf, head out on a boat and have a picnic in a park with up to ten people — all while social distancing, of course. And for those who want to picnic while cruising around the Yarra, you can do that, too — even if you don't own a boat. From today, Friday, May 15, GoBoat's eco-friendly picnic boats are once again setting sail from Banana Alley, near Flinders Street Station. Aimed at making the whole boating caper more accessible for everyday folk, the outfit's Scandinavian-designed vessels are slow-moving, a breeze to operate and don't require a boating licence, making for fuss-free sailing sessions. In a win for the planet, they also run on silent, pollution-free, electric engines, and are crafted from a mix of reclaimed timber and recycled PET bottles. Oh, and did we mention they're pet-friendly? Surely you've got a very good boy who deserves a river jaunt. However, due to COVID-19, it'll be doing things a little differently. While the vessels have an eight-person capacity, you'll only be hopping aboard with up to five people from your family or household — and all your delicious snacks, of course. There'll also be contactless check-in and hand sanitiser available on all boats, plus they'll be sanitised before every use. Each of the contemporary GoBoats clocks in at 18-feet long, boasting a central picnic table with room for all the necessary snacks and booze. And despite what you might be thinking, they're pretty affordable — simply BYO food and drinks, round up enough of your housemates to jump aboard and a GoBoat session will cost you less than $22 per person, per hour. That's $109 hourly in total, or $189 for two hours, $269 for three hours, $349 for four hours, $429 for five hours and $509 for six hours. Yes, you can really make a whole day of it. For more information about GoBoat, or to make a booking, visit the service's website. Images: Lean Timms
Melburnians have always liked cheese, but in recent years things have gotten serious. Dedicated fromageries have popped up across our fair city and we've enjoyed at least three dedicated cheese festivals in recent memory. Our stomachs are working overtime to digest all the lactose — and, honestly, we've never been happier. And the love affair continues with this latest cheesy announcement. France (or more specifically, a Parisian centre for cheese, which is a real thing) is bringing us Bon Fromage, a ten-day cheese festival celebrating European cheese. The whole thing will happen in a laneway behind Carlton's King and Godfree from the November 11. First and foremost is cheese — the venue will be transformed into a cheese marketplace and wine bar for two weekends, alongside pop-ups from Melbourne cheese royalty Shifty Chevre, Milk the Cow and Harper and Blohm. But the cheese festival isn't just about eating so much cheese you puke. Anthony Femia of Prahran Market's Maker and Monger and Johnny Di Francesco from 400 Gradi will be there too, holding masterclasses in, we assume, the correct way to draw a cheese fondue bath for yourself. The festival is supported by the European Union, presumably to get Australians on board with the European cheese industry. To us, this seems like a bit of a misfire because we're already very on board with cheese (from Europe or elsewhere), but whatever — we'll be there front and centre with our bibs on regardless. Bon Fromage: Festival of European Cheeses will run from Friday, November 11 until Sunday, November 20 in Faraday Lane, Carlton, behind King and Godfree. For more info, visit the Facebook event.
A real life Willy Wonka has come to Melbourne. Catalan designer Martí Guixé has made a name for himself at the intersection of food, art and design, with works ranging from flavoured postage stamps to breathable cuisine. Now the so-called father of food design will present his first major Australian exhibition at NGV International, in the form of a colourful, custom-designed kitchen designed to teach kids and families about their attitudes to what they eat. Running from mid-June until mid-September, the free interactive exhibition, entitled Fake Food Park: Martí Guixé for Kids, will consist of "hands-on activities and digital design challenges" that encourage visitors to "sprout new ideas for food concepts and flavours" — and create their very own 'Fake Food Park' menu. The exhibition will also feature a selection of Guixé's drawings and illustrations as well as his famous fruit-and-vegetable wallpaper, which has previously been featured in galleries including MoMA, Design Museum London and the National Art Centre Tokyo. "We are delighted to bring the ground-breaking ideas of Martí Guixé to the NGV Kids exhibition space," said NGV director Tony Ellwood. "Guixé is a pioneer in his field; designing, innovating and challenging notions of how we eat in often whimsical and surprising ways... Fake Food Park will ask budding young designers to think about the future of food and reconsider familiar food items
Melbourne's got no shortage of top-notch bottomless brunch options these days, though sometimes that can leave you feeling a bit like the fabled Goldilocks when it comes to choosing one that's juuuust right. Luckily, one of the city's OG rooftop bars is ticking all the correct boxes with its brand-new weekend offering, pairing Asian fusion fare with free-flowing drinks. Perched above Swanston Street, Goldilocks' new Three Bears Boozy Brunch series is running from 1–2.30pm every Saturday and Sunday through autumn. Book a table, venture on up and for $75 you'll enjoy an enviable session of brunch bites, bevs and city views. Guests can look forward to 90 minutes of free-flowing drinks, including Hawkers beer, wine by Tarot and cocktails ranging from a classic espresso martini to the house Goldie's Spritz. Vibrant fusion dishes from Goldilocks' regular bar menu prove a perfect match, with options like spring onion pancakes, salt and chilli chicken ribs, and dumplings galore. Plus, the all-weather roof will ensure Melbourne's unpredictable autumn weather doesn't ruin your fairy tale brunch session.
Winter's taken hold and truffle season is upon us, which can only mean one thing — it's time to celebrate one of the world's fanciest ingredients at Melbourne's huge annual truffle festival. Thought to be the largest celebration of its kind outside of Europe, Truffle Melbourne is back for its eighth edition this month, hitting the Queen Victoria Market's J and K Sheds from Saturday, July 10 to Sunday, July 11. In between watching some four-legged friends doing live mock truffle hunts, you'll be able to sample a huge variety of sweet and savoury truffle-infused dishes across the weekend — think, truffle mac and cheese, truffle-topped pizza, truffle cannoli and more. There's even a four-cheese truffle gnocchi served hot from a parmesan wheel. Or, get your truffle fix in liquid form, thanks to the bar's specialty truffle-charged lineup of espresso martinis, G&T's, beers and ciders. For kitchen inspiration, much-loved chefs including Guy Grossi (Grossi Florentino), Joseph Vargetto (Mister Bianco), Eileen Horsnell (Napier Quarter) and Jesse Gerner (Bomba) will host a program of cooking demonstrations covering everything from pork and truffle dumplings to a black truffle tiramisu. And if you're in the market for some take-home truffle, there'll be plenty of stock from five of the country's leading growers, along with truffle-inoculated trees for planting at home.
Much-loved nerdy white guy and Seth Cohen-endorsed musician Ben Folds is bringing his upbeat brand of piano pop back to Australia at the end of this year. Though you might remember his music best from the battered walkman you rocked in the late '90s, rest assured that this talented US Adelaide enthusiast is still a force to be reckoned with. And nothing proves this more than the fact that his backing band will be the nation's best symphony orchestras. From mid-November, Folds will be touring all of Australia's major cities (except Brisbane, oddly enough) performing with each state's respective orchestral talents. Taking both excerpts of his new Concerto for Piano and Orchestra as well as jazzed up versions of his old pop hits, this dynamic musician will be creating an exciting and unique show in some of the nation's best venues. Of course, this is a tour Folds is familiar with. He's performed with some of the world's best orchestras over the past decade, and before he gets to our shores this year, he'll be taking the Ben Folds Orchestra Experience all around Europe. Hardcore fans might even remember that Australia was the site of his first orchestral work — this performance with the Western Australia Symphony Orchestra was immortalised on film in 2005. But you don't need to know all that to enjoy the show. Whether you have a long history with 'Brick' and the rest of his early work, or just really like that Triple J Like A Version he did of 'Such Great Heights' — this is a show not to be missed. Ben Folds tour dates: November 14 and 15 — Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra November 28 and 29 — Perth Concert Hall with the Western Australia Symphony Orchestra December 5 — Festival Theatre with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra December 10 — Wrest Point Entertainment Centre with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra December 19 and 20 — Arts Centre Melbourne with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Ticket prices range from $50-$129 and will be available through each orchestra's website from July 4 at 9am.
The striking black and white cover image of Bat For Lashes' Natasha Khan standing naked with a man dragged over her frame sets the scene for her most personal (and best) record yet, The Haunted Man. Stripping back the lush ornamentation of previous pop fantasias for a more intimate sound, these tunes foreground her beautiful, breathy voice and ability to inject a shivery, otherworldly drama into every song. Apparently the product of a harrowing writing and recording process, The Haunted Man reaches for a stark beauty and retains the enchanting pull of previous work despite its more emotionally direct approach. As well as headlining Laneway Festival, Bat For Lashes will play a more intimate sideshow at the Palais Theatre. Her last tour was one of the best of the year, with inspired reinventions of Radiohead's 'All I Need' and The Cure's 'A Forest' featuring alongside classics like 'Daniel' and 'Pearl's Dream'. With the promise of stunning new songs like 'Lillies' and stirring single 'Laura', there's no doubt this tour will be every bit as magical. https://youtube.com/watch?v=EXK0Ejzin4c
Australia's about to embark upon an entire month of parties, gigs and backyard shindigs, all raising sweet, sweet money to fight poverty around the world. Having run successfully in the UK for about ten years, Oxjam is a month-long, nationwide music festival aiming to raise money for Oxfam. Now it's launching in Australia, with goodhearted gigs coming to venues, garages and backyards nationwide. Even you can throw one. One of those star-studded fundraisers which has seen the likes of Hot Chip, Fatboy Slim, Coldplay and T.E.E.D. crank out a set for a good cause, Oxjam has been a long time coming for Australia. Teaming up with MTV Music and MTV Dance, Oxfam are launching the festival in August; with the main events happening across Sydney and Melbourne. Local venues, collectives and labels like I Oh You, Noisey, Goodgod Small Club, One Day, Motorik, UNDR CTRL and more are holding some of the official gigs — where of course, funds raised will go directly to Oxfam. But you don't have to be near a major gig, you can also host your own party wherever you are. Literally anyone can hold their own Oxjam, from existing venues to local bowling clubs, big time clubs to your very own home. So if you're deep house DJ in your crew you could set up the decks in your garage, put a collection tin at the door and throw down one humdinger of a fundraving do. (And if your neighbours complain, give 'em hell until they donate too.) First time at the event-throwing rodeo? MTV Australia are hosting an official event at MTV HQ in Sydney (date TBC), where budding venue managers, club promoters and regular shindig starters can get tips on throwing their own Gig For Good during Oxjam. If you can't make it to the how-to, Oxjam's website has a bunch of handy tips and DIY guides for party planners. Oxjam is happening Australia-wide over August 2015, with the main gigs happening in Melbourne and Sydney. But with one in three people around the world living in poverty, Oxjam's probably one of the best reasons to throw a local backyard gig we've ever heard. Head over here for more info and start planning. Image: Goodgod Small Club.
Organised Chaos explores how the line between graffiti and fine art is becoming increasingly blurred. What was once exclusively “urban” has become somewhat domesticated — Banksy pieces sell to Brangelina for over $400,000. The sterile white walls of a classic gallery seem as far as possible from street art's chaotic, guerrila origins, making us wonder if graffiti loses its meaning when viewed out of context? AWOL is a collective that embraces both sides of the scene, throwing up pieces and gallery shows in equal measure, often on an impressively large scale that is demonstrative of the striking talents of each of the collective's artistically diverse members. The crew's founder is Slicer, who has previously proven his ability to singlehandedly carry a whole exhibition with RTIST. Slicer's work dips into abstraction, but always remains unmistakably rooted in graff. Brash colour schemes and extreme, slashing geometry combine to create exciting and engaging work. This exhibition is as eloquent an argument as you'll find against those who claim street art belongs only in the open as Slicer proves it can be just as effective when bordered by four walls. Image credit Slicer via awolcrew.com
A huge taste of Bavaria is coming to Melbourne's west next month, as Oktoberwest takes over Seaworks for a lively local riff on Germany's famed annual celebration of beer. Don your best dirndl or lederhosen and join 4000 festive punters raising steins, shouting 'prost' and polishing off pretzels. Just like the real deal, there'll be long communal tables filled with people sipping their way through a menu of imported German brews, beneath blue and white banners repping the colours of the Bavarian flag. Local Bavarian-style craft beers will be flowing just as freely, as will bubbly from the dedicated champagne bar. Steins will be sunk as you soak up the sounds of the day's live acts, including Furnace & The Fundamentals, 19-Twenty and The Black Curtains — plus oompah bands aplenty, of course. As always, German food stalls will be slinging classics ranging from bretzels to bratwurst; and in between bites, you can try your luck at traditional Oktoberfest games including the Pretzel Pass, the Barrel Roll and a Schuhplattler (a style of folk dance) competition. General admission tickets start from $45, with VIP tickets at $105.
Whether you believe in fate or chance, coincidental city encounters can often blow your mind. The latest work from innovative Melbourne dance company Chunky Move, Depth of Field explores the nature of chance meetings against the backdrop of a shifting urban landscape. It's one of a multitude of performances taking place around the city, as part of this year's Dance Massive dance festival. Presented by Malthouse Theatre, Depth of Field sees its world premiere on Friday, March 6. Performed at the end of the day in the theatre's openair forecourt, the show aims to take advantage of the outdoor space, with the changing evening light coinciding with the themes of Anouk van Dijk's choreography and direction. Dancers James Vu Anh Pham, Niharika Senapati and Tara Jade Samaya are all Chunky Move regulars, and previously collaborated with van Dijk on the critically acclaimed 247 Days back in 2013. For more information on Depth of Field, head here. For the entire Dance Massive program, wander over here.
