Fresh from his stint in the jungle on I'm A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here, TV and radio personality Nazeem Hussain is taking the stage at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for his new show Public Frenemy. As he did time and time again in his brilliant, Logie-nominated sketch series Legally Brown, expect Hussain to carve up social prejudices, shatter expectations and break down in frank, funny terms his "love/not-so-love relationship" with modern day Australia.
There are few things Melbourne likes more than good booze and stinky cheese. If you don't believe us, consider the fact that we're about to have yet another cheese and wine festival. Hot on the heels of Say Cheese and Bon Fromage, Wine and Cheese Fest is rolling into town for an afternoon of serious overindulgence. Taking over the Meat Market in North Melbourne for a second year, 2017's festival will welcome representatives from over 15 different vineyards and breweries, as well as cheesemakers, chocolatiers, meat specialists and more. Patrons will be able to sample the best food and drink from all the different exhibitors, enjoy a live performance by Jazzobell Deux, participate in a cheesemaking class or compete in the Grape Stomp Comp. It all goes down from 11.30am on Sunday, April 2.
Just this morning, Nike announced to the world that it had terminated its sponsorship agreement with boxer Manny Pacquiao on account of his offensive views towards same sex couples. It’s a timely reminder of the lengths to which corporations will go in order to protect their brand, even if it means dropping one of the biggest and most successful names on their books. The most powerful companies in the world understand that such power exists only insofar as the public continues to allow it, for without their buying power, these companies are nothing. The most famous and certainly most destructive example of this approach took place in the 1950s, when Hollywood’s major motion picture studios agreed to blacklist a group of their most successful screenwriters on account of their affiliation with the communist party. No crimes were committed, no treason alleged, yet these men were suddenly denied any ability to work in the industry to which they’d dedicated their lives and provided so many financial and critical accolades. Families struggled, many crumbled, and some of the blacklisted even died. And all of it because a few powerful conservatives including John Wayne and gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (played here by Helen Mirren) deigned to call them ‘un-American’. The best known of the so-called Hollywood Ten was screenwriting legend Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston), the highest paid writer in town and the scribe behind such hits as Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo and Kitty Foyle. When he refused to comply with the infamous hearings of the House Un-American Activities Committee, Trumbo was immediately blacklisted and imprisoned, and soon realised the only way he’d be able to continue working was to write B-movies for a pittance under an assumed name. So began an extraordinary period in Hollywood’s history that ultimately resulted in not one, but two Academy Awards going to entirely fictitious writers. It's a story so fantastic it would seem to surpass the imagination of even the likes of Trumbo. Perhaps that explains why Trumbo the film falls somewhat short of the mark. A movie that not just centres on an extraordinarily gifted screenwriter, but also includes multiple excerpts of his craft, inherently sets up an unavoidable comparison with its own writers’ work, and the contrast is at times pronounced. The film’s tone, too, frequently errs on the whimsical despite its subject matter representing an incredibly dark and shameful period in America’s history. The scenes where its actors pay proper deference to this are by far the strongest – although the most moving scene of all takes place in the credits, when the real-life Trumbo pays tribute to his stoic daughter Nikola (Elle Fanning). Despite these issues, Trumbo tells a compelling tale. Led by a remarkable performance from Cranston, the extensive cast breathes much life into the story – and while it feels insufficiently told, the portrait of the man at its centre remains a moving one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gryhSJxx7I
Undoubtedly some of the best fun (and best value) events of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, the Crawl 'n' Bite nights have been a highlight in previous years. And the good news is, they've upped the ante this year with more crawls than ever — so there's still some tickets left. While the whisky bar and oriental crawls sold out quick sticks, you can still book in for one of eight crawls. Go on a tour of northside's "hippest" hotspots, which will see you scoff your gob with snack from Huxtaburger, Biggie Smalls and Belle's Hot Chicken. Or perhaps you'd rather bar hop between the CBD's rooftop bars? At the Rooftop Cocktails crawl you'll sip — you guessed it — cocktails above the city at Bomba, Loop Roof and Madame Brussels. See the full list of crawls happening here. And the best part? You don't even have to get on your hands and knees to take part.
In the opening moments of Nasty Baby, we're introduced to Freddy, played by director Sebastian Silva. Freddy is a Brooklyn-based performance artist whose latest work involves him rolling around on the floor, screaming and gurgling like a newborn child. Sounds deep, huh? Among those working on the project with him are his boyfriend Mo (Tunde Adebimpe) and their mutual friend Polly (Kristen Wiig), who is also trying to convince Mo to help her conceive a child. Freddy and Polly, in particular, are revoltingly self-absorbed – older but no wiser that the characters in outwardly similar New York narratives such as Girls and Frances Ha. But there's an important difference between Silva and his would-be contemporaries. While storytellers like Lena Dunham and Noah Baumbach purport to shine a critical eye on their characters, at the end of the day they tend to pull their punches since they want their characters to be likable – at least to a degree. Silva, on the other hand, shows no such mixed emotions. From the get go it seems clear he views these people with disdain, their privilege and self-importance born of a poisonous hipster culture that indie film increasingly tends to celebrate. That disdain is really crystallised in the film's shocking final act, which we'll do our best to talk about without spoiling. Put vaguely, after an hour of relatively low-stakes drama, Silva pulls the rug out with a vicious narrative turn, leaving both his characters and his audience struggling to find their feet. It's jarring and unpleasant and viscerally effective, but most importantly it speaks to Silva's broader thematic point. People this self-centred aren't just annoying. They're dangerous. The film's three leads are all appropriately understated, with Wiig in particular showing strong dramatic chops in her most interesting film role to date. The other big highlight is Reg E. Cathy, best known for his work in various HBO shows and Netflix's House of Cards. Here he plays Bishop, a mentally unstable old man who lives on Freddy's block, who Freddy regularly antagonises, and whose actual problems throw those of Silva's protagonists into sharp relief. Nasty Baby will no doubt prove divisive. The best films usually do. But love it or hate it, recognise it for what it is: timely social satire of the most scathing and cynical kind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__uqpDQ9ARs
Melbourne's home for passionate and intelligent talks, The Wheeler Centre, is hosting ten of Australia’s best thinkers and entertainers for a gala evening of storytelling on books that changed and shaped their thinking. Stories can leave indelible impressions, and the Gala Night of Storytelling: Books that Changed Me will cover everything – from the musing to amusing, provocative to poignant – on those fate-changing moments of communion between writer and reader. Perhaps it was Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex that convinced you that ‘one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman’. Or maybe Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment made you cancel plans to murder your local pawnbroker. Whatever may have inspired has also led others to change — and this evening is a chance to hear from Australia’s best. Actor, musician and Koori elder Jack Charles with be joined by former Australian of the Year and founder of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre Kon Karapanagiotidis as well as singer songwriter Sarah Blasko and SBS’s Lee Lin Chin, who will be switching her regular World News broadcast for the evening talk. Formative speakers also include Anna Funder, Russel Howcroft, Susan Carland, Tony Windsor, Graeme Simsion and Nakkiah Lui, so prepare for the profound. After all, there’s nothing quite like finishing a book that leaves you with a sense of wonder. Or better yet — hearing about your next best to read.
Chinese New Year is coming up, and in 2016 we’ll be ringing in the Year of the Monkey (goodbye Year of the Sheep, go sleep it off). And what’s the best way to partake of the celebration? We’ve got it right here and it’s more fun than a barrelful of monkeys. Well, actually it is a barrelful of monkeys. Dumpling masters Din Tai Fung are offering new limited edition ‘Monkey Buns’ for the month of February and they are literally the cutest food we’ve ever seen. Just look at them. Din Tai Fung are famous for their dumplings and are known to release beautiful and novelty dumplings for special occasions (check out these adorable little lamb buns from last year). The monkey bao buns are steamed-to-order and stuffed with a sweet filling of chocolate and banana. They’re part of a series of new dishes being added to the menu from February 1 including crispy golden seafood roll, braised Szechuan sliced beef noodle and vegetarian egg fried rice with mushroom and truffle oil. The only problem we can foresee is that eating those sweet little monkey faces may be hard…but we’ll probably manage it. Monkey Buns are available for $4.80 per piece from Din Tai Fung restaurants from February 1 – February 29.
When a film is called Dope, you really hope that it is. Telling a hip hop-infused high school tale complete with a '90s-leaning soundtrack to match, writer/director Rick Famuyiwa's movie comes close — and when it's not quite hitting the titular mark, it is having a rather good time trying to. Malcom (Shameik Moore) acts as the feature's guide through his teenage antics, geek-style. He's from a poor, crime-filled part of Los Angeles, and he's a straight-A student in a school where being so isn't cool, but he always has best pals Jib (Tony Revolori) and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons) for company. Their movement up the social ladder comes on account of a drug dealer (A$AP Rocky), who demands that Malcolm passes on a message to a neighbourhood girl, Nakia (Zoë Kravitz). Attraction springs, and so do adventures of the drugs, delinquency and coming-of-age variety. Welcome to this decade's latest version of a 'nerds on top' comedy, as filtered through the pop culture ephemera of the past 30 years. The formula of '80s teen movies, the sounds and clothing of the '90s, and the style and interconnectivity of '00s efforts combine in a film that not only relishes each element but obviously and overtly adores stringing them all together. Indeed, Dope screams enthusiasm, be it for its episodic storyline or for its gleeful mix of genres. Laughs abound, yet so does a caper, a heist and ample race-relations drama, as well as nostalgia. In fact, there's more to Dope than amalgamating its influences: there's also both cultural specificity and ambiguity. Famuyiwa creates a movie that attempts to express both a realistic and exaggerated version of what living in crime-ridden Inglewood as the Harvard-aspiring son of single mother is really like; realistic in showing the many shades of experiences evident, and exaggerated in heightening the complexities, contradictions and differences between seemingly typical inhabitants to stress the film's point about diversity. Malcolm may seem straight outta the Bottoms, but he also likes BMX riding and playing in a punk band — or as he puts it, "white stuff". His friends prove just as multifaceted and stereotype-defying, with Jib (aka The Grand Budapest Hotel's lobby boy) refusing to identify his ethnicity, and Diggy celebrating her sexual and aesthetic androgyny. Accordingly, Dope aims high with its statement, and skews fun in its packaging. Alas, the latter sometimes lessens the former, as enjoyable as the movie proves. Chaotic is the nice way to put it; however, messy and cartoonish also fit, even though the film is always sleek, fast-paced and energetic. It's an offering where the vibe reigns, and the overall sharpness and smartness of its message and dialogue often gets swept up in it.
Nobody translates the teenage psyche to film better than John Hughes. Nobody. We have this genius to thank for the 80s classics such as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Pretty In Pink, The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles - the latter two of which are playing back to back at The Astor Theatre this Saturday night. That’s right: strap in for some quality Molly Ringwald. After briefly closing down earlier this year, The Astor Theatre was thankfully saved and given new life under the management and craftsmanship of General Manager Zak Hepburn. Their most recent calendar is fun, clever, and a little off-beat in an absolutely glorious way. If you’re after a pair of classics that get more enjoyable after every watch, don’t miss this John Hughes double feature for an awesome date night or a nostalgic evening with your pals.
Wouldn't it be nice to see a music biopic that does its subject justice? One that understands that telling the tale of a rock or pop star requires something other than splashing songs over scenes of arguing? Focusing on conflict is what most movies end up doing, but they don't always elicit much interest. While Love & Mercy does plenty that toes the genre line, thankfully it's more interested in the man behind the band than the usual unhappy group shenanigans. That man is Brian Wilson, and his band is the Beach Boys, the '60s and '70s surfer-themed act turned '80s collaborators with John Stamos. There's much, much more to them than that, of course, and to Wilson. Many consider his innovation, experimentation and harmonies, as evidenced on the widely acclaimed 1966 record Pet Sounds, as markers of musical genius. At first glance, his story reads like a typical before and after snapshot of fame and stardom, including the obligatory drug benders and erratic behaviour, as well as the later fading out of the scene. What simmers beneath the early parties and the eventual burnout is the extent of his musical abilities and its interplay with his fragile mental state. In fact, Love & Mercy makes his mindset the main attraction, rather than the career highs or lows. The film cobbles together a portrait of Wilson from two points in his life, and they comprise quite the contrast. Wide-eyed in his twenties (as played by Paul Dano), he retreats from touring to invest his talents not just in new songs, but in creating the greatest album ever made. Over-medicated in his forties (now in the guise of John Cusack), he tries to rebuild a sense of normality with the help of a new girlfriend (Elizabeth Banks) and his psychologist (Paul Giamatti), the former offering a more nurturing relationship than the latter. You need not be a Beach Boys fan to become invested in his plight, nor fond of Wilson's songs to enjoy an engaging ride through his history. For aficionados and the uninitiated alike, filmmaker Bill Pohlad makes Love & Mercy a personal tale first and foremost. Yes, the movie uses the expected soundtrack, but only when the music suits the on-screen events depicted. Singles such as the iconic 'God Only Knows' take on an entirely new meaning when they're given context by Wilson's troubles and moods. The film also attempts to match its style to its subject, collages combining the two time periods, and mimicking the ups and downs of Wilson's energy. It's a smart, immersive and entertaining move from a director who last made a movie way back in 1990 and is actually better known as a producer of Brokeback Mountain, Into the Wild, The Tree of Life and 12 Years a Slave. His choice of leads similarly proves savvy and well suited, and while Dano and Cusack look nothing alike, they do perfect the one thing that could've made or broken the entire feature. That'd be the vibe of a singer and songwriter who attempted first to thrive, and then to survive, the roller-coaster that is the music industry. Wilson's vibrations aren't always good, befitting the ebb and flow of his reality — but as sensitively transferred to the screen, they do inspire more than enough excitations.
From those Melburnians who are still mourning the loss of their once-favourite shop Alice Euphemia, we’ve got some news that is sure to brighten your day. For one week only they’re opening up their doors (on Gertrude Street this time) to offer up to 70 percent off much-loved independent Australian fashion brands. With a mix of seconds, samples and end of season stock, you’re sure to come across some rather unique pieces. On top of that, there will be designer vintage pieces and designer fabric if you’re more of the DIY type. Some of the designer wares you can look forward to include Celeste Tesoriero, Gary Bigeni, Vege Threads, Yevu, Karla Spetic, Tlux, LP33.3, Rouda, Serpent and the Swan, iinco, Soot and many others. This fashion event focuses on designers who use ‘best practice’, which includes fashions that are made locally, use organic fabric and dyes, ethically recognised production, recycling and so on. There will be both men and women’s fashion available so there's no and support fashion with a conscience.
Fans of Tom Cruise, actors doing their own stunts and impressive action setpieces, prepare to take a trip to the cinema. If you've seen a Mission: Impossible film over the past two decades (or the television series before that), you know what to expect. In fact, if you've watched any of the previous installments, you've essentially already seen this one as well. A different writer/director takes the helm this time around, and a fresh foe threatens the Impossible Mission Force. Yet it still feels like a case of new movie, same ol' stuff. Cruise's super spy Ethan Hunt is hot on the trail of a shadowy, multinational organisation called the Syndicate, chasing a cluster of seemingly unrelated disasters, and hopping from London to Vienna to Casablanca and back again trying to track them down. There's more to Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation, of course — including an unhappy CIA boss (Alec Baldwin) intent on closing the IMF; the Syndicate's ever-crafty, always-one-step-ahead head honcho (Sean Harris); and the intriguing Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson), who could be either friend or foe. Hunt's trusty colleagues Benji (Simon Pegg), Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and Luther (Ving Rhames) help out, particularly after he goes rogue. But the details don't really matter. They're simply the filler that joins the film's standoffs, heists and fist fights together. That's not to say that filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie, reteaming with Cruise after directing Jack Reacher and writing the scripts for both Valkyrie and Edge of Tomorrow, doesn't craft an engaging-enough and unexpectedly lighthearted feature. It's just all too obvious that he's adhering to a tried-and-tested formula, leaving everything else — the characters, especially, as well as the dialogue — feeling a little too thin. That Baldwin both seems like he's reprising 30 Rock's Jack Donaghy and is forced to claim that "Hunt is the living manifestation of destiny" with a straight face provides the perfect example. Thankfully, what the Mission: Impossible franchise does often (and over and over again), it does well. Zipping through the slick mechanics of a never-really-impossible mission proves as well-handled as ever, notably in opera-set and underwater sequences that are sure to become the film's calling cards. Exuding an energy and urgency that the rest of the movie is lacking, the choreography of the action and the camerawork that captures it is in top form. The same can also be said for the returning cast, including the almost instantly shirtless Cruise, all playing to their strengths even if they are saddled with one-note roles. When Ghost Protocol arrived in cinemas in 2011 after a five-year gap in the series, its pace, smarts and thrills both surprised and impressed — and while none of those stand out in Rogue Nation, the feature does have one trick up its sleeve other than its spectacle. That would be Swedish actress Ferguson, last seen in Hercules, and the welcome addition that the film sorely needs. In an effort that's largely going through the motions, she is certainly not. Enjoying her time on screen is easy; finding anything more than been-there, done-that antics otherwise — now, that's your mission, should you choose to accept it.
Commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign with a brand new exhibition at the Melbourne Museum. Starting April 18, The World War One Centenary Exhibition will showcase more than 350 objects from the Imperial War Museum in London, marking the international premiere of the IWM exhibit that attracted more than 8000 UK entries a day. Visitors to the exhibition will be greeted by the one-tonne Royal Horse Artillery Gun that fired the first British shots on the Western Front. Other significant items include Herbert Hillier’s sketch of the Gallipoli battleground drawn just hours after the initial Allied landing, as well as fragments of the Red Baron’s fighter plane shot down over Northern France. The multi-room exhibition space will be divided by a life-size re-creation of a WWI trench, while video footage and audio production will help bring the wartime experience to life. The World War One Centenary Exhibition runs April 18 – October 4. For more information and to book tickets, visit ww1exhibition.com.au
One big ol' picnic party is coming to the Mornington Peninsula, with a day-long luncheon filled with great food, wine and music. The Peninsula Picnic will feature tasting plates and dishes from some of Melbourne’s best chefs, including The European’s Ian Curley, Terminus at Flinders Hotel’s Pierre Khodja, and Pope Joan’s Matt Wilkinson. The delicious foodie offerings are then matched with peninsula wines from vineyards such as Monalto, Circe and Crittenden Estate. If you’re interested in getting better acquainted with Peninsula produce, there'll be the Produce Patch food stalls, as well as the Hayseed craft markets for you to peruse. There’s even an area designated for lawn games. Speaking of entertainment, expect the likes of The Waifs, Paul Dempsey, Pierce Brothers, Tinpan Orange and Hayden Calnin to serenade you as you sprawl out on the picnic rug in the sunshine. Sounds delightful, doesn’t it?
One of the biggest standouts of last year’s comedy festival was The Reunion, the manic, preposterous and yet oddly touching two men show from UK comic duo Max and Ivan. Their follow-up once again invites audiences on a madcap journey through the personal lives of an array of colourful weirdos, this time in the sleepy English town of Sudley-on-Sea. There’s just one small problem: the world is about to end. With pitch perfect timing and a daggy sense of humour, Max and Ivan are as funny as they are endearing.
One of the bright stars of Canadian comedy, the pint-sized, high-energy, ukulele-playing DeAnne Smith (self described as looking like “a nerdy Justin Bieber”) is back at MICF for the fifth time in her career. Get Into It is the name of her latest show, one that she says you’ll enjoy “if you like super fun and great things that make you laugh and also feel less alone in the knowledge that everything is meaningless”. Despite that, she’s probably one of the cheeriest comics you’ll see at the festival. She even has a song about love... sort of.
Grab hold of your joysticks gamers. Australia’s oldest and largest independent video game festival is back for another year. Celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2015, Freeplay will once again descend on venues around Melbourne; with more than two dozen (mostly) free events ranging from panels to late night parties. Whether you’re an aspiring game designer or are just looking for an alternative to Call of Duty, this is the festival for you. Standout events on this year’s Freeplay program include the Freeplay Fete, featuring gaming sessions and workshops, as well as the Hovergarden Party at RMIT. ACMI, meanwhile, will host a screening of the Australian-made documentary GameLoading, while also representing the analogue world with a board game night. Additionally, 2015 marks the launch of the Freeplay Online Festival, featuring a program of symposiums and panel discussions broadcast live on the web. Discussion topics run the gamut from cultural diversity and queer representation to digital depictions of war, with speakers weighing in from all around the globe. For the full Freeplay program, visit their website. Image: GameLoading.
Robert De Niro tries to inspire laughs, Zac Efron takes off his shirt and Aubrey Plaza fires off ample snark. They're the obvious parts of Dirty Grandpa — or, more accurately, the most obvious parts. There's little within the film's frames that could be called subtle or surprising, or appropriate or amusing for that matter. Given that the movie follows a randy, rowdy, rude and crude senior citizen and his straight-laced lawyer grandson, its lowest common denominator approach is hardly unexpected. What's more tiresome is the been-there, seen-that nature of it all. Audiences who have seen Bad Grandpa, Spring Breakers, The Hangover or any party flick will already be more than familiar with the tired material the movie trots out. When Dick Kelly (De Niro) is widowed and seemingly bereaved, he claims to needs his grandson Jason (Efron) to drive him down to Florida. Though Jason's wedding to the demanding Meredith (Julianne Hough) is mere days away, he reluctantly agrees. But once they're on the road, Dick reveals his true boozing and womanising plans. Along the way, the duo cross paths with Jason's former high school classmate Shadia (Zoey Deutch) and her pal Lenore (Plaza), aka new romantic prospects for both men. Yes, it's all as formulaic as it sounds — and yes, the gags are as well. Showcasing terrible male behaviour is the clear aim of the game, all in the name of apparent hilarity that never comes to fruition. Alas, there's little that's humorous about De Niro pleasuring himself, pairing up with Plaza or physically assaulting Efron's genitals, or about scenes of drinking and drug-taking that could've come from any similar offering. Director Dan Mazer may have co-scripted Ali G Indahouse, Borat and Brüno, and writer John Phillips might be helping pen the upcoming Bad Santa sequel, but neither man demonstrates the cleverness of those films in their work here. Instead, they craft the kind of visually shiny, emotionally soulless movie that trades in standard scenarios and stereotypes, attempts to shock just by being as outlandish as possible, and appears the result of very little effort. And yet, as lazy as the bulk of Dirty Grandpa proves, the same charge can't be levelled at De Niro. Swearing like he's in a Martin Scorsese film, he's as committed to his role as he has been in years, though he's firmly in over-the-top mode. The same can be said of Plaza, who furthers the movie's problematic portrayal of women, but still rattles off filthy chatter with relish. Efron, sadly, mostly just looks bored, clearly having had more fun impersonating De Niro in Bad Neighbours than he does acting opposite the real thing here. Viewers will likely share his pain, particularly when the feature tries to mix its taboo jokes with sentimental heart-to-hearts. There's a supposedly soft centre underneath Dirty Grandpa's vulgarity and music video aesthetics, but it's as ill conceived as everything else.
Here's one for all you meatheads out there: Texan barbecue chef Tom Micklethwait is heading to Melbourne. The man behind Austin's famed Micklethwait Craft Meats will join his friend (and one-time pupil) Chris Terlikar of Lygon Street's Bluebonnet Barbecue, where the duo will show off their slow-cooking, wood-smoking expertise to a restaurant full of hungry diners. Set for Tuesday, February 2 and Wednesday, February 3, this pair of four-course ticketed dinners will give card carrying carnivores the chance to sample world class barbecue in Bluebonnet's newly renovated dining room at the John Curtin Hotel. Each course will be paired with a different beverage, provided by the folks at Nant Distillery, Yak Ales and Pepperjack Wines. And to top it off, 2015 Australian Bar Awards Rookie of the Year Winner Will Sleeman, from Fitzroy's Black Pearl, will be on-hand mixing drinks. Pitmasters Reunited: An Evening with Bluebonnet BBQ and Micklethwait Craft Meats will be held at the John Curtin Hotel at 29 Lygon Street, Carlton on February 2 and 3. Tickets cost $98 plus booking fee, and are available through Moshtix.
Embrace your inner teenager at ACMI this week, with a selective look at the work of Lucas Moodysson. The most celebrated Swedish filmmaker since Ingmar Bergman, who himself described his young contemporary as a "master", few directors capture the angst and agony of adolescence with greater authenticity or understanding. The season begins, fittingly enough, with Moodysson’s debut, the queer coming of age film Show Me Love. His sophomore effort Together, a comedy set in a hippie commune during the 1970s, is also in the program; as is his third film Lilya 4-Ever, a stark drama about a teenaged girl from the Soviet Union forced into prostitution. Rounding out the retrospective is Moodysson's most recent work, last year’s We Are The Best! Set in 1980s Stockholm, the feel-good comedy follows the exploits of three rebellious thirteen-year-old girls as they endeavour to start a rock band —despite not knowing how to play their instruments. The Lukas Moodysson on Film Program runs from May 22 – 26. For more information and session times, visit the ACMI website.
Gentlemen of Melbourne, this one's for you. You are hereby summoned to learn how to perfect the art of being a modern day dapper lad. The Festival of Steve has returned. Before we go on any further we should also point out that the event welcomes females who appreciate a discerning gent; Steve leaves no one behind. This year's Festival ambassador is comedian and radio host, Tommy Little. The day will consist of free forums on everything from style to men's health to choosing the right cufflinks; covering every last realm of gentlemanliness. Starting the day off will be 'Rebel Without A Beard', where Lord Coconut's Mark Boldiston and bespoke tailor Carl Navè will examine how the 'hipster' phenomenon has influenced facial hair the world over. 'All quiet on the men’s front' will be an open discussion focusing on men's health and wellbeing with guest speakers such as psychologist Tom Pietkiewicz and personal trainer Talia Pranskunas. Finally, a panel of both men and women, including Nathan Jancauskas from Men's Biz, dating and lifestyle expert Chris Monak of Manic Workshops, and Little Miss Melbourne Sarah Harrison, will rain down knowledge on how to make an impression that lasts long after the first date for the single modern man. All the events are free to attend (with donations to Beyond Blue strongly encouraged) and held at the Kelvin Club, as well as involving some of Melbourne’s specialist retailers to help you become the modern gentlemen you long to be. Image: Arthur Hidden CC.
Bringing together the best in blues and roots, Brunswick's annual music festival returns for yet another season. Now in its 27th year, 2015 sees an even bigger and more diverse lineup of both international and local acts. Across two weeks, venues across the suburb will play host to some of the best soulful acts to grace our shores. So what can you expect from Melbourne's only folk-centred festival? Iconic Aussie singer-songwriter Archie Roach, Canadian social activist Buffy Sainte-Marie and blues-rock guitarist Bombino, just to name a few. Taking place across multiple locations, attendees won't be short of things to see with an array of gigs, live street entertainment plus food outlets to keep you fuelled up for every single set. Let your hair down and swing by to one or all of the shows for a festival like no other.
April de Angelis’ Jumpy is an ode to middle-age anguish, with its central mother figure, Hilary (Jane Turner) caught up in a growing sense of disempowerment. It’s a play that taxis around the runway for hours, makes several abortive attempts at taking off, and returns its audience safely to the departure gate. What are the stakes at play here? Hilary’s fractious relationship with her daughter? Dissatisfaction with her mild, boring husband? The possibility of romance with another man, who’s somehow even more insubstantial and weak-willed than her own partner? There’s no reason that middle-class ennui can’t make for thrilling, vital and compelling theatre; after an hour I can’t escape the memory of Jumpy’s director Pamela Rabe performing in the same company’s 2009 production of God of Carnage. We’ve seen it before, we know it’s possible. At one point in Jumpy, a gun is brought onstage only to be accidentally fired and quickly taken off. Is the conflict here the absence of one? Is drama something that these characters (and this audience) want to fetishise and control; to parcel out and ingest in safe communion? As a comedy, the play’s banal humour trades in stereotypes that would be offensive if they weren’t so wilfully implausible: “Have you lit a barbecue before?” “I must have, I’m a man.” Beyond these interchangeable, Men are from Mars jokes, the play’s teenage characters are hollow caricatures, phones always in hand, and often impossibly frank with adults about fake IDs and underage drinking. Even the cheapest jokes can be forgiven. But Jumpy’s politics are just as painfully unconstructed. De Angelis’s female characters make wispy invocations of distant feminist protests in their youth, feelings that never run deeper than shoehorned references to Greenham Common. It all adds up into a two-hour long shrug; the characters’ lingering feeling that this was not how our lives were meant to be. Towards the end, the deflating revelation that explains the play’s title is enough to provoke physical despair for this text. It’s as if the emotional impact of Citizen Kane’s central "Rosebud" had been dissolved in a thousand parts of water like a homeopathic cure. But the audience is pleased, filling the theatre with murmurs, gurgles, and harsh intakes of breath. They repeat lines to their neighbours, either in cloistered disbelief, or because they didn’t quite catch them the first time around: “What was that?” “She said mental-pausal!” I know that Jumpy is not meant for me, not to my taste; that it’s catnip for these MTC subscribers. And all of this criticism is no slight against a solid cast who actually acquit themselves well. In particular, it’s great to see some of the city’s exciting young actors like Dylan Watson and Tariro Mavondo make compelling mainstage debuts. But when all those performances are in service to a turgid script, what’s the point? Menacingly, the company’s Artistic Director Brett Sheehy invites us to treat Jumpy as a “taster” of MTC’s season to come.
Every family has its own stories, but how many can you remember? Every Thursday for over 50 years, Ab Solomons drew a picture on his weekly wage packet for his wife to keep, creating a series of more than 3000 drawings that chronicled their daily life in London's East End. It wasn't until Danny Braverman discovered his great-uncle's doodlings, stored in an old shoebox, that these forgotten memories found a new life on stage. In his disarmingly simple, one-man production, Braverman projects a series of selected drawings and relates the stories behind them. After success at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe, winning the British Way Award for best new play that same year and then premiering in Australia at Sydney Festival, Wot? No Fish!! has come to Melbourne. Don't miss this honest portrait of the ups and downs of family life – a production that reveals both the comic and affecting moments of the everyday, while exploring ideas of storytelling, forgotten memories and family secrets.
Ready to get Freudian? Darebin Arts year-round theatre program, Speakeasy, is celebrating its third year of innovative performance with a new dance work from emerging company Phantom Limbs. Their latest work, Dreamlogic, explores the subconscious to engage with the 'shadow self'. While the subconscious is an area often studied by psychologists, this performance draws on scientific research to examine our neurological perceptions and their connections to our bodies, minds and the world around us. From founding fathers Jung and Freud to modern day neuroscience and MRI technology, the subconscious appears to be something we're endlessly fascinated by. Dreamlogic purposefully plays with the mind, creating visual illusions with two bodies that'll leave you questioning your own eyes. Artistic duo James Welsby and Amy Macpherson have choreographed the work, which is performed by Welsby and James Andrews. This March, Phantom Limbs want you to explore the darker corners of your mind. Image credit: Ashley McLellan.
It's not a food festival without food trucks, right? Well, apparently. As part of this year's Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, the city's most-followed food trucks will congregate on the lawn of the Melbourne Convention Centre over one weekend. All your favourites will be making an appearance, including Taco Truck (phew), Beatbox Kitchen (thank heaven), Gorilla Grill and Greek Street Food. Lil Nomnoms and TOASTA will be there too, but only on Sunday. If you don't head down South Wharf-way much, this is our chance — and if it's a nice day, you could incorporate a stroll down to the South Melbourne Market too.
Music producing legend Jamie xx has kicked off the New Year with his biggest ever Australian tour. In the last week, the 27-year-old DJ and producer has played to massive crowds at Victoria's Beyond the Valley and Lost Paradise in NSW, and will headline the inaugural FOMO festival in Queensland this weekend. In the meantime, however, he's showing Melbourne a little love, with a pair of shows at the iconic Forum Theatre. The first of the two highly anticipated shows is set to take place on Wednesday, January 6. After that he's off to Brisbane, before returning to the Forum on Saturday, January 10. Those lucky enough to have scored a ticket can expect a mix of tracks from his debut solo album In Colour, which recently earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Dance/Electronic Album.
For a man made famous playing a character named Silent Bob, writer, director and actor Kevin Smith has never had any shortage of things to say. Since bursting onto the scene in the mid-'90s with his underground slacker film Clerks, Smith has cultivated a devoted audience through both his movies and his candid Q&As and podcasts, including ‘Jay and Silent Bob Get Old,’ recorded with his long-time friend and co-star Jason Mewes. Now the dastardly duo is headed to Australia, for an evening of personal anecdotes, filmmaking titbits and all the dick and fart jokes you could possibly desire. Starting in Sydney on Friday September 18 before hitting up Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, Smith’s Australian tour will be split into two sections. The first will involve a live recording of Smith and Mewes’ podcast, where topics range from Mewes’ struggle with drug addiction to arguments about comic book characters. The second half of the show will involve an audience Q&A, with fans getting the chance to question Smith on whatever topic they like. For an idea of what to expect, here he is on his ‘feud’ with Tim Burton. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3-XeM6kyWA&t=0m58s The shows in Sydney and Melbourne are billed as ‘all ages,’ which should prove an interesting challenge for a man known to frequently wax poetical about his sex life, and whose film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back makes use of the f-word 248 times. In addition to Clerks and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Smith’s films with Mewes include Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma and Clerks 2. His recent output has included divisive horror films Red State and Tusk, while he’s currently working on a sequel to Mallrats, due out in 2017.
Cultural mag Avalanche Journal is inviting you to take part in their latest 'uncomfortable conversation'. The third in a series of open public forums following panels on navigating privilege and the death of the university, Avalanche Presents: Invisible Violence will welcome a number of guest speakers to Second Story Studios in Collingwood, to share their thoughts on the ongoing problem of sexual and gender-based violence. The event begins at 6pm sharp on Thursday, September 17, with speakers including journalist and author Alison Croggon, Undercurrent's Anne-Lise Ah-Fat, artist and musician Honor Eastly (of the excellent video below), and history graduate and sex worker Tilly Lawless, who was responsible for sparking the #facesofprostitution campaign earlier this year. Entry is by donation, although you also need to RSVP online. Food will be provided, with the opportunity for further drinks and discussion after the main event.
There aren’t many of us whose childhood wasn't in some way influenced by Jim Henson. Whether you learnt arithmetic from Sesame Street, had nightmares about The Dark Crystal, or re-watched your copy of Muppets Take Manhattan so many times that it broke the family VCR, the Mississippi-born puppeteer helped create some of the most iconic characters of all time, shaping literally millions of lives in the process. In celebration of Henson's incredible career, ACMI are hosting a three-week retrospective, one they've fittingly titled Muppets, Music and Magic: Jim Henson's Legacy. Beginning September 21, the program includes screenings of Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal as well as specially produced compilations such as Jim Henson: Commercials and Experiments, Muppets 201: Rarities from the Henson Vault and Miss Piggy: A Sow is Born. Also included are a pair of documentaries on Sesame Street's biggest stars, in Being Elmo and I Am Big Bird.
Dance meets the world game in a new show at the North Melbourne Town Hall. Presented by Arts House, SDS1 is the latest solo work from former soccer player Ahilan Ratnamohan, one very much inspired by his experiences on the pitch. Running for just four nights from Wednesday, August 19, to Saturday, August 22, the 55 minute show will draw on the physical, theatrical and psychological elements of the game, focusing on the parallels between sport and dance — the discipline, the focus, the athleticism — in order to delve into the psyche of the player/performer. The two disciplines might not seem like natural bedfellows at first, but then again, let's face it: no one who's ever watched the World Cup could deny that there's a heavy element of theatre at play.
Marc Maron of WTF with Marc Maron, one of the most downloaded podcasts, is coming to Australia in October, and if you're not there then you are a fool, a foolish fool. For you see, while he is best known for his podcast, averaging 4 million downloads each month and interviewing guests including the POTUS himself, he's just as brilliant alone on a stage, mic in hand, practicing his original craft. If you're not much of a podcast listener (why not? Get on that, they're the best), then you may have caught Maron’s critically acclaimed half-hour scripted series Maron, created, written and produced by Maron himself, on ABC2. Or perhaps his latest special, Thinky Pain, on Netflix. The man is a machine of brilliant cultural output. Get stuck in.
Utterly gorgeous local legends, The Harpoons, are about to Walk Away (‘scuse the pun) from Melbourne for a spell to traipse around Europe. It’s not all fun and games though (although hopefully they’ll be a bit of that) — they’re off to write some more of their experimental pop bangers, and who are we to stand in the way of greatness? In fact, we’re going to give them the send off they deserve. While their first show with HABITS and DJ Simon TK has sold out, they have just added a new show for a soulful Sunday session, with guest appearances from Milk Teddy and DJ Frankie Topaz. Prepare to experience their flawless vocals paired with hypnotic beats for the last time for a little while. Ciao for now, lovely ones.
The southern hemisphere's biggest showcase of Indian cinema, The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne is back for another year. Celebrating its fourth anniversary, IFFM 2015 will once again shine a spotlight on the very best Bollywood blockbusters, documentaries and independent features, plus gala events, filmmaker Q&As and more. With events at Hoyts Melbourne Central, Hoyts Highpoint, the National Gallery of Victoria and Federation Square, this festival begins on Friday, August 14, with opening weekend timed to coincide with Indian Independence Day the following day. The theme of this year's festival is 'equality,' as highlighted by such films as Newborns, about women who have survived acid attacks, and Tell Me A Story, about gay men living in Bombay. Other standout titles include a Bollywood adaptation of Hamlet titled Haider, as well as political thriller Phantom which will bring the festival to a close. For the full IFFM 2015 program, visit their website.
Speakeasy Cinema and journalist Clementine Ford have teamed up to present a brand new monthly program featuring films by female filmmakers. Screening at Fitzroy's Grey Gardens Projects on select dates throughout spring, She Speaks First will showcase three excellent contemporary films from directors with two X chromosomes, before washing them down with a post-credits conversation about the place women occupy in the world of film today. The season begins on Tuesday, September 29 with A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, which is hands down the best black and white Iranian hipster vampire western you'll see on the big screen this year (no but actually, it's awesome). On Sunday, October 18 catch Gillian Robespierre's Obvious Child, starring Jenny Slate as a young stand-up comedian who needs to get an abortion. It may not sound it, but trust us when we say it's absolutely hilarious. The series will conclude on Sunday, November 15 with Mary Dore's recent documentary She's Beautiful When She's Angry, which chronicles the history of the modern women's rights movement.
She’s been everyone from a magazine editor in The Devil Wears Prada to Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, and now she’s an aspiring musician. She’s the inimitable, ever-chameleonic Meryl Streep, of course, and in Ricki and the Flash, she’s channelling her inner rock goddess. She’s also belting out everything from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 'American Girl' to Lady Gaga’s 'Bad Romance'. And yes, she's actually playing the guitar and singing the tunes herself. As the titular character, Streep plays a wannabe past the point where wanting to be something else is acceptable. With her band — including guitarist and lover Greg (Rick Springfield) — she gigs at a San Fernando Valley pub by night; to make ends meet, she works as a supermarket checkout operator by day. Ricki has been chasing her calling for sometime now but shows no signs of hitting it big. Then a phone call from her ex-husband, Pete (Kevin Kline), thrusts her out of her dreams and back to the children — about-to-be-divorced Julie (Mamie Gummer, Streep’s real-life daughter), and sons Josh (Sebastian Stan) and Adam (Nick Westrate) — she left behind years ago. Returning home and receiving something less than a warm welcome isn’t an uncommon movie narrative, or an uncommon movie-of-the-week one either. While Ricki and the Flash explores family problems from the female perspective, as well as attempting to shine a light on the judgments imposed on women who want to be something other than mothers and homemakers, there’s never any doubt that it covers well-worn territory. Writer Diablo Cody (Juno, Young Adult) and director Jonathan Demme (Rachel Getting Married) have much to do with the fact that the feature that results still offers an all-round pleasant viewing experience, with the script engaging despite its obviousness, and the film a well-framed, highly polished affair that suits its jukebox soundtrack of old hits. That said, that the movie always seems so nice and gentle — and absent any sense of edginess, other than Streep's half-braided hairstyle and black-heavy wardrobe — sometimes feels a bit out of place given its rock 'n' roll packaging. What she's wearing is the least impressive aspect of the star's performance, though, with her Ricki as convincing in her unattained desires as she is in her barely expressed regrets. Streep is not the film's only highlight, however. Gummer does much more than just convey her natural rapport with her mother, and Kline is as wanted a presence as ever on screen as the figure trying to reunite them. Together, they're as amiable as performers playing with a feel-good story steeped in several levels of cookie-cutter dysfunction can be. So is the likeable end product that is Ricki and the Flash itself, even if it doesn't amount to much more than its music and its cast — and even if Springfield doesn't sing his '80s classic 'Jessie's Girl'.
Not all blasts from the past are welcome — and not all trips down memory lane turn out the way you might expect them to. That's a telling message for our nostalgia-soaked times, where everything old always seems to be new again. It's also one Australian actor, writer and producer Joel Edgerton is pushing in his first film in the director's chair. His filmmaking debut, The Gift, is so steeped in tension and wariness about previous deeds, figures and altercations that it crafts a psychological thriller out of it. The feature starts, as many moody mysteries do, with a married pair moving to a new home. Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) are fleeing their recent baggage for a fresh beginning, the former starting a different job, the latter readying the house for trying to start a family. Out shopping one day, they meet Gordo (Edgerton, starring as well as helming), who recognises Simon from high school, though not vice versa. The three make polite, tentative plans to catch up; however, Gordo takes the pleasantries quite a bit more seriously than his reunited pals. Cue the beginnings of a stalker drama that wouldn't feel out of place as a late '80s or early '90s effort featuring Michael Douglas — and that's a compliment. Showing his skill behind as well as in front of the camera, Edgerton ramps up the creepiness in the film's mood, script and in his supporting turn. He's also made a movie that combines slick packaging and mature-skewed content; a glossy piece of entertainment for teens, this isn't. Indeed, again finding inspiration in familiar territory, The Gift isn't just concerned with the series of presents Gordo leaves Simon and Robyn, or his unwanted encroaching on their space, or the not-so-truthful tales he tells to get close to them, but with the chasm between how things appear and how they really are at all levels. There's a reason the audience is instantly aware that the seemingly happy couple aren't really, and that they always feel that Gordo seems both odd and somewhat sweet. Yes, appearances can be deceiving. As a screenwriter, Edgerton best explores the conflict that springs when ghosts from the past expose lies from the present through his characters — and as a filmmaker, through some stellar performances. The director himself straddles the fine line between strange and sympathetic, Hall brings depth to the role of the woman trapped in the middle, and it's always a pleasure to see Bateman flirt with playing the bad guy (the murkiness surrounding Simon and Gordo is The Gift's strong point). When the film devolves into one too many twists, and tries to offer a too-definitive ending — when it finally gets there — it loses steam. Remaining ambiguous and toying with the dynamic between the central trio is what keeps things intriguing. Accordingly, although The Gift may not always balance its generic elements with its ambitions, it revels in trying to present a well-produced piece of unnerving cinema. Here, it mostly succeeds too, because rare is the film that can balance overt jump scares with patient puzzling conveyed through dialogue, and follow a formula yet retain interest.
See your old DVDs and worn out VHS tapes immortalised as part of a temporary art installation in Fitzroy. Curated by Jessie Scott, a video artist, programmer, producer and the founder of the Channels Video Art Festival, Miraculous Ribbon is a month-long lending library and archive committed to the leftovers of 20th century video culture. Anyone can contribute to the work by donating chunks of their old collection — think of this as a good excuse to de-clutter your house. Besides, are you really ever going to watch those old tapes you picked up during the Blockbuster going-out-of-business sales? Does your old VHS player even work anymore? Miraculous Ribbon runs from Wednesday, September 2 to Saturday, September 26 at Grey Gardens, Fitzroy's newly opened screening room, gallery space and cafe. Loans will be returned to their owners once the exhibition concludes, or sold off in a giant ex-rental sale at the end of the month. Image: Dollar Photo Club.
Melbourne's best purveyors of authentic Asian street food are gathering under a single roof for the feast to end all feasts. Hanoi Hannah, Saigon Sally and Tokyo Tina will join Ba Noi and gelataria Pidapipo in taking over the premises at St Kilda's St Hotel. The result? A buzzing hawker-style marketplace complete with music, live performers and a six-course feed. The menu for the event — which begins at 5pm on Sunday, September 27 — is for the most part being kept under wraps, although they have teased that it will include Hannah's mini pho and Tina's salmon tartare with crispy skin, cucumber and nashi. What we know for sure is that for $45 you get six different dishes, and that the night's entertainment will include circus performers and a DJ. Night Tripping, as it's been named, wraps up at 9pm, although you can always kick on upstairs.
Everyone might dream of changing the world, but few people actually try to do it. Bob Hunter strove to fall into the latter category. Even if you don’t know his name, you know about the results of his efforts. And even if you do know his name, you might not know his full story. In the late 1960s, in the aftermath of the United States announcing plans to perform nuclear tests off of the Alaskan coast, Hunter was driven to do something. A journalist covering environmental issues in Vancouver, he delved into the city’s community of so-called tree huggers and draft dodgers haunted by the thought of a dying planet, and helped form a group to protest the forthcoming injustice. In their actions, a movement was born, as well as an organisation that still endures nearly half a century later. They wanted to make a real difference. They became Greenpeace. Progressing with polish and patience, How to Change the World tells their tale. To do so, the rousing film uses a remarkable amount of archival footage capturing eager early times, intercuts modern-day interviews with important figures reminiscing about their experiences, and employs Hunter’s own words — as voiced by actor Barry Pepper — as narration. The documentary that results offers a primer on the intense but messy background of an outfit now synonymous with environmental activism, including the cause of saving the whales that they would swiftly adopt. It also offers an insight one of the men crucial in shaping both an influential gathering of likeminded folks determined to bring attention to ecology, and a way of enacting awareness about atrocities committed against the natural world. As the film lists Hunter’s how-to rules — among them, planting a mind bomb (i.e. going viral, in today's terms) and putting your body where your mouth is — and then offers evidence of each from his history, where its sympathies fall is never in question; an expose, this is not. And yet, writer/director Jerry Rothwell isn’t annoyingly overt in his fondness for the idealism he charts, letting the results of Hunter and Greenpeace’s exploits do the talking. Vision of the sights that spurred them to act, especially involving animals, is both difficult to watch and difficult to not want to react to. That a strong push for audiences to do their part becomes clear isn’t surprising, particularly given the passion on display. That focus also shifts to the issues that plagued some of the founders is similarly expected; the film might chart the feats of a now well-known organisation, but it is about people first and foremost. People dream and attempt to achieve their desires — and they also clash with each other as they confront the task of saving the planet. Even attempting to change the world, and endeavouring to understand those who try to, can’t quite alter that.
Ever been gettin' loose out on the town and thought, “I could destroy a round of mini-golf right now.” Procure an Argyle-patterned vest and beige slacks immediately, because the good folk at Howler are bringing back their custom-made nighttime mini golf course to conquer. One heck of a drawcard launched in July, the triumphantly returning Howler Mini-Golf-O-Rama features nine holes each complete with a classic theme (think windmills, volcanos and jungles, classic mini-golf). It'll be back at Howler from Sunday December 27 to Wednesday, January 6, from 3pm on weekends and 6pm on weekdays. And it's FREE if you buy a bev. To use the course, all you have to do is turn up to Howler, buy yourself and/or your golfing buddies a drink and choose your putter. The course will be set up in what was once Howler’s bandroom, and to keep the good times flowing, guest DJs will pump up the jams (and hopefully play a non-stop dubstep remix of Lee Carvallo’s putting challenge. In fact, consider this an official request). Check out Elliphant and MØ carving up the course in July, to give you an idea. Now, let's all dig out our Happy Gilmore VHS and prepare to just taaaap it in. Find Howler Mini-Golf-O-Rama at 7-11 Dawson Street, Brunswick from Sunday December 27 to Wednesday, January 6, from 3pm on weekends and 6pm on weekdays. Golfing is free if you buy a drink from the bar. Image: Marcus Hansson
If you're interested in food, the future, and creating positive change, this one-day festival is for you. Festival21 explores how food and the way we eat can be the key to a healthy and sustainable future for both ourselves and the planet. The youth-focussed day program, F21y, will run from 12-5pm at The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. The program is for 16 to 30-year-olds who are looking to make change, and will host a range of talks from entrepreneurs such as Who Gives A Crap and Shebeen owner, Simon Griffiths, leaders and team builders like AFL legend Kevin Sheedy, and a keynote presentation by Triple J’s loveable morning host, Alex Dyson. From 7-10pm the program becomes an evening celebration packed with music, comedy, short films and panel discussions. We’re pretty excited to watch the banter between barrister and human rights advocate, Julian Burnside and the ever-impressive Stephanie Alexander as they whip up a storm live onstage. For the artistically inclined, don’t forget to check out the live exhibition space as part of F21. The event is free but you will need to register. Head to their website to do so.
Take your mates Earl Grey and Jasmine and board the Darjeeling Express, alighting at MPavilion in the Queen Victoria Gardens. The pop-up architectural hub in the Southbank Arts Precinct is Melbourne's summer home of public art and culture, with meets, talks and performances practically every day of the week. This Thursday, the topic up for discussion is the humble tea leaf, as naturopath Catie Gett teaches you the tricks to brewing the perfect cuppa. Gett, who owns the wholefoods emporium The Staple Store, will brew up various different varieties of tea using home-grown roots and spices, while providing tips on how to create your own signature blend. She'll be joined by the proprietors of Brunswick ceramics shop Mr Kitly, who'll provide the hand-crafted cups to make your afternoon of tea appreciation complete.
With hard-hitting dramas, imaginative comedies and a retrospective tribute to one of the all-time greats, the latest edition of the Alliance Francaise French Film Festival doesn't disappoint. Lighting up the screen from March 2-24 in Melbourne, the 2016 program features a diverse mix of titles showcasing the very best the French film industry has to offer. Cannes winners are set to be a highlight, with Rust and Bone director Jacques Audiard tackling the issue of asylum seekers in his new offering Dheepan, and Philippe Garrel's masterful romantic drama In the Shadow of Women. Legendary French filmmaker Michel Gondry's new film Microbe & Gasoline will also feature in the festival — which will be closed by Jean Luc-Godard's 1963 film Contempt.
In the summer of 1900, a group of schoolgirls took a day trip to Hanging Rock. Three of them would never be heard from again. The mystery at the centre of Joan Lindsay's iconic novel, along with Peter Weir's subsequent film adaption, has burrowed its way into the Australian subconscious. Few stories speak so effectively to what it means to live in this country. So it's hardly surprising that the team at Malthouse Theatre are bringing Picnic at Hanging Rock to the stage. Adapted by playwright Tom Wright, the modern production is described by director Matthew Lutton as "Malthouse Theatre's 2016 vision of Lindsay's nightmare". The show begins in preview on Friday, February 26 before officially opening on Wednesday, March 2. Harriet Gordon-Anderson, Arielle Gray, Amber McMahon, Elizabeth Nabben and Nikki Shiels star.
One of Australia's most promising young theatre companies is on its way to Melbourne. Founded in a sharehouse in Sydney, Woodcourt Art Theatre caught the attention of audiences following a highly successful tour to Adelaide Fringe in 2014. Now they're heading to Carlton's La Mama Theatre with a pair of critically acclaimed plays, for a strictly limited season beginning Wednesday, February 24. The first work in the Woodcourt double bill puts a new spin on an old classic. In Carly and Troy do 'A Doll's House', a pair of theatremakers argue over the best way to adapt Henrik Ibsen's iconic play. Carly wants a surreal, postmodern take, whereas Troy envisions a show-stopping musical with music by Beyonce. Things get a little more serious on the other side of intermission with Encounter, a scaled back tale of anxiety and paranoia brought on by a supernatural visitation. For more details including ticketing information and dates for both shows visit woodcourtarttheatre.net.
Little Red Pocket and The Irish Times are joining forces once more for their annual end of year blowout. A New Year's Eve tradition, this masquerade-themed street party will stretch across both venues, happily located on opposite sides of Little Collin's Street. Expect DJs spinning a mix of house, R&B, retro hits and top 40 favourites, and other live entertainment. Your ticket also gets you unlimited drinks (beer, wine, sparkling and basic spirits) between 7pm and midnight, along with complimentary Japanese and European snacks.
There's a reason that Mavis! has an exclamation mark in its title. The film doesn't only chronicle the life and music of Mavis Staples, but celebrates everything that has made the rhythm-and-blues/gospel singer and civil rights activist a star. It can't hide its enthusiasm, nor does it try to, but that's okay. While they're watching, audiences probably won't be able to contain their adoration either. Set to an obvious soundtrack of songs such as "I'll Take You There", " Respect Yourself" and "Let's Do It Again", Mavis! is just that kind of biographical documentary: affectionate about a thoroughly deserving figure, and informative about her rich history. The latter informs the former, of course, with every chapter of her past — from her humble beginnings singing in family band The Staple Singers and their rise to the top of the charts, to the intertwining of the group's hits with the civil rights movement and their relationship with Martin Luther King — painting a portrait of an artist who has earned the right to be considered an icon. The movie also benefits from the considerable and eager involvement of Staples herself, aged 75 at the time of filming, who never proves anything less than a candid and engaging interviewee. She starts the documentary showing off her vocal prowess with her friends and colleagues before a gig, then offers a few pearls of wisdom about her longevity — the combination of her voice and views setting the template for the content to come. As she explains, "I'll stop singing when I have nothing left to say — and that ain't going to happen." Her talent is big; her passion is bigger. Both are on display not just in her many chats to camera, but in clips and performance footage — snippets of Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz among them — spanning the length of her 60-year career. Both also encourage many an entertaining discussion with a parade of famous faces, such as Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Chuck D and Sharon Jones. Their awe is infectious; indeed, if writer-director Jessica Edwards was searching for a high-profile posse to mirror her own evident fondness for Staples, she definitely found one. Movies that double as exercises in hero worship often outstay their welcome; however, at a brief but busy 80-minutes, such a fate doesn't befall Mavis! The adoring tone doesn't only cater to existing fans either, with the film working equally as well as a primer for newcomers as it does as a refresher for devotees. That's a rare achievement for a documentary love letter, but then again its subject is anything but typical. Among her many career highlights, Staples made two albums with Prince, after all. Inspiring and enlivening an emotionally vibrant doco is just the latest in her long line of achievements.
Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel wonder about days gone by, while Rachel Weisz and Jane Fonda deliver verbal tirades designed to awaken the ageing men from their apathy. All four spend their time in an expensive Swiss spa, and in a film as visually luxurious as their lush surroundings. So unravels Youth, its seasoned cast and opulent images its obvious selling points. Musings about life, love and legacy have rarely looked as exquisite, even if the movie's charms remain somewhat surface level. Youth is an inescapably familiar effort from writer-director Paolo Sorrentino, who covered similar territory — contrasting internal emptiness with external splendour — in his Oscar-winning last feature, The Great Beauty. Alas, the same magic doesn't strike twice, though in some ways that's rather apt. There's obvious symmetry in a filmmaking repeating the past by depicting characters stuck in theirs. Caine's Fred Ballinger is a retired composer, so renowned that he's asked to conduct his most famous creation for the queen, and so haunted by his troubles that he can't agree to participate in the performance. His discussions with Keitel's Mick Boyle, a filmmaker trying to finish a new script, largely focus on former glories, the ailments of being elderly, and their feuding children. Fred's daughter, Lena (Weisz), is married to Mick's son, Julian (Ed Stoppard), until Julian announces that he's leaving her for another woman. Others wander around the retreat, including an actor (Paul Dano) worried about being typecast and a fading screen siren (Fonda) Mick wants to re-team with for his next movie. In slivers and glimpses, Youth casts its net even wider, with a famous footballer, a beauty queen, and a motley crew of fellow guests also featuring. Together, they paint a universal picture of the ebbs and flows of existence, and of the contrast between the sublime and the grotesque. Sadly, most come across as diversions and distractions, directing attention away from the flimsiness of the film's supposedly wise dialogue. That's not to say that Youth doesn't have its pleasures — just that they're saddled with less successful elements, which is an appropriate outcome for a movie that tasks its characters with attempting to find the joy beyond their own sorrows. Watching Caine and Keitel chat and ponder is as enjoyable as it sounds — and while their conversations aren't as profound as they're clearly meant to be, the performances are moving nonetheless. Coupled with a strong score, Sorrentino's aesthetic flair ensures the feature offers a sight to behold and a soundscape to revel in, whether fashioning a music video for a pop star, taking a trip down memory lane or just staring at the folks reclining by the pool. It all makes for a suitable spectacle of mortality and melancholy; however the filmmaker's greatest feat is also his greatest undoing. He makes Youth feel exactly as it should, but always like an imitation. It's a decadent picture about watching the world go by, rather than really experiencing it.
The tiny, non-profit gallery aptly named CAVES on Swanston street is hosting an exhibition of the work of Annika Koops, kicking off on February 5 and running until February 27. Koops, just FYI, is prolific homegrown artist whose work has been exhibited across Australia and who manages to combine the enviable attributes of being technically brilliant and precise with an ideologically broad and abstract practice. Koops has grown a name for herself through her hyperreal still-life painting and portraiture. Bump Function promises to continue Koops’ manifesto while looking at the interaction of man and machine — albeit with a slight twist. It explores the digital realm and the tools and patterns used to navigate and describe it as a starting point, but they are then reimagined as analogue in her native medium of oil painting. The result is a slick combo of the ironic internet art that’s so popular nowadays with the classic precision of oil painting. The pieces will be accompanied by an essay by Liang Luscombe and we can’t wait to see what they’ve got.
