Following the intense success of Taken, Liam Neeson is back with a vengeance in his latest flick, Taken 2. We rejoin the story, this time on holiday with retired CIA operative Bryan Mills (Neeson) with his ex-wife and daughter. The festivities are short-lived, however, when Bryan and his ex-wife (played by Famke Janssen) are taken hostage by retaliating kidnappers. A high-suspense game of cat and mouse ensues, which sees Bryan’s daughter (Maggie Grace) enlisted to help them escape. This is a must-see for fans of the first film, as well as those who are partial to guns, explosions, and Neeson one-liners. Be sure to visit a theatre near you for this highly anticipated action film that’s sure to pack a punch.
The program for this year’s Melbourne Festival is looking a little gender bendy, with international guests including “sissy bounce” MC Big Freedia and legendary transgender singer Antony Hegarty. Local avant gardesters The Rabble are getting in on the androgyny act with their take on literature’s definitive gender warp, Orlando. The story of a young rake who suddenly, without explanation or much fuss, becomes a woman has been doing people’s heads in since Virginia Woolf penned it in 1928. The Rabbles’ staging looks like it will be less a direct adaptation and more a spring-boarding from Woolf’s text into a surreal and confronting world all of its own. Emma Valente and Kate Davis, artistic directors of The Rabble, are building a reputation for twisting classic texts into bizarre new shapes, and one can expect this to be as divisive and in-your-face as theatre gets. Just as Orlando him/herself would like it.
You really have to love an exhibition that features both a pink portrait of Hitler and a collage made from a Melbourne Bitter box. Okay, you don't — but you should. Jordan Marani is a Melbourne artist who has been on the scene for a while. He is the co-founder of Hell Gallery, and his work has been exhibited at both the National Gallery of Victoria and the Tate Modern. But don't let the resume give you the wrong impression. Marani's work is much more akin to Rosenquist than Renoir. Gloriously kitsch and sometimes straight-up dirty, the works in X-Mas is a Four-Letter Word are self-aware, relatable, and more importantly — funny. Like a working man's Warhol, Marani is examining the discarded remnants of the everyday. VB stubbies and house-keys are propped up next to a haphazard portrait of Winston Churchill and some garish portrayals of TV newsreaders. The portraits of Churchill and Hitler even hail from a larger group of works cheekily titled C.H.R.I.S.T. — a series which features C.H.R.I.S.T. (Roosevelt), C.H.R.I.S.T. (Stalin), and C.H.R.I.S.T. (Christ). X-Mas is a Four-Letter Word is showing at Daine Singer till October 5, then Marani's new show Idiot as an Artist (Don't Know Don't Care Mate) will be at West Space from October 18. That only leaves 13 Marani-free days for you to spend mulling over the inherent wisdom of his artwork names. My favourites are My Head Hurts and my Beer is Flat, Wogs Play Footy too, and the eternal — DUMBSHIT.
After a stellar season at London’s iconic Bush Theatre last year, Straight is having its Australian premiere at Melbourne institution, Red Stitch. After years of marriage, Lewis and his wife Morgan are confined to their claustrophobic apartment and dreaming of starting a family. But when Lewis’ effortlessly cool friend Waldorf comes to stay, he turns the couple’s cosy life upside down, and awakens their fear of commitment. Over the course of a play punctuated by explosive one-liners, the characters push the boundaries of good taste, common sense, and intimacy. And on a drunken night out, Waldorf and Lewis make a bet — one which pushes this flirtatious romp to breaking point. Adapted by writer DC Moore from the feature film Humpday, and featuring the onstage talent of Red Stitch’s resident actors, Straight is a comedy that looks equal parts hilarious and humane — a sticky cocktail of fragile tenderness and amateur pornography.
Friends, Romans, Melburnians, lend me your ears! Liquid Architecture, the National Festival of Sound Art is here once again in a bid to transform Melbourne into a Sonic City for its 14th year. According to artists Darrin Verhagen and Matthew Sleeth, art needn't be all for the eyes, and from August 29 till September 14 you'll be able to catch their experimental soundworks at Bourke Street's West Space. Presented by Verhagen, The Audiokinetic Jukebox features compositions from himself, Robin Fox, Adam Hunt and Chris Vik, while Sleeth exhibits The Last Car Park, a self-generating sculptural installation that invites visitors to get involved. Each celebrates the aural experience, all the while exploring the relationship between city, sound, vibration and movement. So, Potatoheads, get reacquainted with your ears and leave your eyeballs behind this time around.
It’s a truth widely accepted that people like to talk about themselves. You know that tale your best mate always tells about that night at the bar, or the one about that time in the paddling pool your mum insists on regaling near strangers with? People like to talk. Bazaar Tales, a bimonthly storytelling soiree held at the Horse Bazaar, takes this universal passion and waxes lyrical with it. True stories are the order of the day and previous themes have included ‘the stupidest thing I’ve ever done’ and ‘miracles’. There is also time for audience participation, so practice that punch line and get ready to hold court. Horse Bazaar has the beverages covered for those who need a little liquid courage or are just fond of a sipper served with a side of cracking yarn. Image courtesy of www.horsebazaar.com.au
The Northcote Social Club is a live music institution — if its four walls could talk, they'd tell stories of debauchery, cheap beer and flannelette shirts. Ready to make some more of those memories, this Wednesday the back band room will play host to Endless Boogie off the back of the Boogie 7 music festival. Just like the Northcote, Endless Boogie love a good dose of rock — bands like Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, The Masters’ Apprentices, Lobby Loyde and the Coloured Balls and X have been said to have influenced their sound. Growing up in the '70s in St Louis they took cues from punk and hard rock and audiences should expect a show that draws on these sensibilities, making for an all round rocking time. Image via northcotesocialclub.com
You may not have heard of the club-shakin', bass-droppin' record label Grizzly. Yet with the ever-growing lineup of club icons that have joined its ranks since it was kickstarted by British DJ Graeme Sinden in 2010, you may well have heard (or danced to) some of their mixes and mash-ups. This Thursday, Revolver Upstairs plays host to the Melbourne leg of Sinden's tour. Grizzly are unlike other independent labels who have found their niche in specific genres and sub-genres of dance and electronica. Instead, Sinden and his team have given themselves the ambitious task of finding, promoting and representing the sort of artists and producers that slip through the cracks that exist between musical genres and styles. According to Sinden, music makes the Grizzly cut if, and only if, it is "quality and fun bass music". We're talking tunes that are as original and unexpected as they are danceable and club-ready. And now the Grizzly boys are heading to Australia with some of their favourite artists, producers and DJs in tow. Headlining the tour is Mr Grizzly himself, Graeme Sinden, whose work with SBTRKT launched him into the club-scene stratosphere and whose collaborations with Aussie darling Elizabeth Rose have emphatically confirmed his local street cred. Joining him is fellow DJ and headliner, Brenmar, whose glossy yet rugged beats have endeared him to ravers, headbangers and pill-poppers across Europe, Japan and the US.
In early April, New York’s Lincoln Centre will play host to a retrospective of the work of Iranian director Asghar Farhadi — for the next two weeks, local audiences have the unusual chance to be ahead of inhabitants of the cultural centre of the world, courtesy of Directed by Asghar Farhadi at ACMI cinemas. Where Farhadi’s five-film long show reel is relatively small, he has received formidable international acclaim, winning awards at the Berlin International Film Festival and Moscow International Film Festival, as well as taking home a little gold friend known as Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 2011 Academy Awards, for A Separation. Farhadi uses a deep understanding and proximity to his native culture to craft highly personal stories of familial tension, diaspora and the trouble with societal normality, as played out against the backdrop of culturally tumultuous Iran. Despite their narrative specificity, his films are globally relevant in their wider exploration of the human experience. Image from About Elly (2009), credit Hi-Gloss Entertainment.
Last Wednesday night, C3 Contemporary Art Space opened the year with a dense group show featuring young Victorian artists. If you were looking for a common theme, you might say that urban environments are a loose thread tying the six separate exhibits together, but the show is almost too diverse to group the art under one single umbrella. The first piece on display is Marble Run 2, a fragile Rube Goldberg machine put together from objects both found and carefully constructed. While a video screen demonstrates what the contraption would look like if a marble was running through it, the actual sculpture is still and unused: an inviting piece of suspended animation that encourages closer examination. In I Thought I Was Where I Wasn't, Shannon Smiley and Helen Nodding explore scenes of urban decay in intricate detail. Drawings of machinery and dilapidation are leeched of all but texture, a bleak vision of our surroundings, but punctuated occasionally with delicately coloured paintings of wildlife growing amongst the debris. A piece with a mood that takes time to absorb, the artwork is testament to the ability to find beauty in even the most desolate environments. Moderator adds four new artists to the exhibition's already extensive list. This mini group show is the most strongly aesthetic of the six exhibits, with an emphasis on simplicity and staging that provides nice relief from the busier, realistic stylings of the works before it. A gentle sense of humour and a hint of pop-culture reference rounds out this series of sparse photographs and objects. Lauren Bamford's Field Notes collects images of displaced objects and urban snapshots, framing them in an on-the-spot, pseudo-amateurish style of photography. In the next room, Kevin Chin's Better Than Here explores similar obsessions with objects, albeit executed in a thoroughly different style — kitch, colourful oil paintings depict consumerism and disenfranchisement with a smile. The final collection, right at the back of the gallery, is the best one: Matthew Clarke's Turtle Time. A series of brashly colourful paintings that all depict turtles and windfarms, Clarke's paintings are eye-catching and fun in a way that makes them stand out entirely from the other exhibits. An environmental message lurks behind the deceptively whimsical paintings, but their strongly geometric construction means you will be spending more time enjoying the works in the moment than thinking about their motivation. These paintings are full of life and feel as if they've been painted straight from the heart. Image by Lauren Bamford.
Some really distinguished people pepper the RMIT University alumni roll call: Rove McManus, John Safran, and Jim Stynes, to name a few. None of those people are well dressed, but don't let that dissuade you from attending Alice Euphemia's launch of LEVEL TEN, the catalogue publication showcasing the work of RMIT's 2012 Fashion Design grads, because none of the aforementioned people studied fashion. Hell, they wouldn't know the beauty of a bespoke, hand-embroided, androgynous illusion sleeve if it grabbed them by the gonads. The crowd at Wednesday night's opening will be aspirational, the experimental designs of the young not yet stultified by the need to sell, sell, sell ‘dem clothes, and the drinks free flowing (disclaimer: this may not be true and if it is, it will probably only be true for the first half hour of the 6-8pm opening. Fash folk are thirsty creatures by nature). If you choke and can't put together a good enough outfit to attend, selected graduate work will be on show in the week following at Alice for your viewing pleasure.
You young pups may remember Andy Warhol as Guy Pearce's character from Factory Girl, to be held responsible for an excruciatingly endless supply of reprints of both Marilyn Monroe's likeness and a stylised can of Campbell's soup, as sold at your local home wares store or artist's market — real fancy like. Don't hold that against him. What you may not know is that in 1968 a deranged extremist feminist named Valerie Solanas shot Warhol at his famous studio, as part of a plan to tear down the patriarchal constructions of society, which she felt the voyeuristic Warhol personified. Intriguing, hey? Noel Anderson has written and directed a play about Warhol’s life and the whole assassination debacle, aptly titled Andy Warhol’s Fifteen Minutes of Fame, currently showing at La Mama Courthouse Theatre, from Wednesday through Sunday, until February 10. Buy your tickets here, watch an ambiguous YouTube video here.
In such a highly visual culture, you could be forgiven for overlooking aural art – but you really shouldn’t. Don’t be put off by the personalities on mainstream radio. There are some beautiful, carefully researched, lovingly crafted soundscapes and stories being played right now on the radio, and In The Dark showcases some of them before they even reach the air. In The Dark first began in the UK as a series of listening events that aimed to give radio the same artistic consideration as film. Can we look at radio in the same way as for film or music? Can we be as experimental and get the same funding? Can radio producers become household names? The popularity of these events suggests maybe we can. In the Dark Australia presents Hatched: A Dozen in the Dark. Twelve young, emerging radio producers from 3CR and SYN FM showcase their stories for your consideration and, hopefully, your listening pleasure.
If you've ever doodled aimlessly in class, scrawling “I'm bored” over and over again, or sketching the back of the head of whoever's in front of you, you'll know where Laith McGregor's S-O-M-E-O-N-E is coming from. The difference is this is the biggest, most intricate doodle you've ever seen at an enormous 4 x 1.5 metres. McGregor's mind-bogglingly detailed biro noodlings are supported by three ping-pong tables and stretch geometrically across a single huge page that resembles a classroom desk, enabling the viewers to wander physically around the work and zone in on any of the many detailed sections of the work. McGregor's skill with a biro is startling, carving out spiderweb-thin patterns with surgical precision, interspersed with photorealistic portraits of surreal characters. Part of the fun, though, is that McGregor's style is forever changing, sometimes filling up chunks of the work with meaningless ramblings, or copied patches of art theory — even some cartoon pals make appearances. Familiar treats that jump out from the often overwhelmingly complex tapestry of text and drawings. Next door is a more experienced Ronnie van Hout's All Said All Done. An exercise in aesthetic repetition, van Hout's use of an exclusively black and red colour scheme and recycling of the same few objects- chairs, basketballs, human heads- creates a cohesive, fascinating tableaux of uncanny imagery that inspires intense curiosity: what is the connection between a severed head regurgitating a banana and a man with a basketball for a face? Using himself as a model, van Hout makes himself variously small, big, ugly and naked through sculpture. He then places himself alongside weird sculpture creations- mostly involving human heads- that evoke horror movie monsters such as The Thing, or the gentler comedic animations of Bill Plympton. Again, van Hout makes physical interaction an important part of the work, forcing viewers to crouch and stretch to explore his artwork. Despite their differences, these works have a common sense of encouraging the viewer to explore them and discover new details. In other words: they are a lot of fun. Image shows detail from Laith McGregor's S-O-M-E-O-N-E.
More than just a bad pun, last year's Fair@Square fair trade fair attracted nearly 80,000 attendees. A celebration of all things ethical, this is vegan paradise. With ethical advice on all topics from better pizza techniques to gardening strategies, and entertainment including Wadaiko Rindo and Sol Nation, its sure to be a great day. If you're vegetarian, vegan, or just don't like wearing fur, the Fair Trade Fair has something for everyone. You can see the Living Tent, an exhibition by Fair Living which represents a non-superficial, ethical lifestyle. Bringing together technology from several designers, including living architecture and recycled furniture. You can also drop by the tackily titled Talk Tent to listen to some – you guessed it – talks on fantastic topics including ethical education, ethical financial management, sustainability in business and fashion, and advice for social entrepreneurs and enterprises. Image by Travis.
Are you Ready For the Floor? Are you itching to "do it do it do it now?' Naturally. Hot Chip want you to dance your stripy little socks off and then some. After they do Falls and Southbound Festivals, Joe Goddard, Alexis Taylor, Felix Martin, Al Doyle and Owen Clarke are coming to Melbourne with their own kind of electro pop. They almost challenge you to keep to their infectious tunes. Yeah they've got some Mercury Prize and Grammy Awards, and yeah their fifth album has received critical acclaim, triple j love to play them and they've been in the top 20s charts for ages now. But we know what you're interested in — can you dance to their stuff? Hell yeah. As The Independent says, their shows are all about "blinding lights pulse at disorientating speed in time with a fierce percussive onslaught." Yes – be afraid. But in a good way. https://youtube.com/watch?v=zd_JW73R1Wk
Under her stage name of Cat Power, US musician Chan Marshall has established herself as one of those real rarities in music nowadays — an original. Trying to categorise her music is difficult, especially as it has evolved ever since her debut in 1993. Calling it 'her take on soul' or 'her brand of indie' is unjust since nothing she makes feels try-hard — it all feels real. From the sparse, haunting melodic indie of 'Cross Bones Style' to the uplifting blues of 'Lived In Bars' to the discordant R&B of 'Cherokee', Chan is always unmistakably unique. Her 2012 release Sun is her first album of original material in over six years. With increasing onstage confidence (and her notorious onstage meltdowns a thing of the past) Chan's more striking stage presence matches her powerful voice. https://youtube.com/watch?v=PDbPrOuXq2s
Red Stitch’s last play for the year is fittingly titled Midsummer. The summer in question though is not the sunny Australian one we’re all hopefully heading into but the more dreary Edinburgh version. The play is by Scottish playwright David Greig and tells the story of a whirlwind romance between petty crook Bob and divorce lawyer Helena. The unlikely couple have a wild weekend funded by money lifted from one of Bob’s criminal bosses, spicing up this thirty-somethings looking for love comedy with a touch of crime caper. With songs by Gordon McIntyre (of Ballboy), it’s also a kind of indie folk musical. The play made waves at 2009’s Edinburgh Fringe. While a British version of it did tour to Sydney earlier this year, this one at Red Stitch is a local production, featuring Ben Prendergast and Ella Caldwell. Sounds like it will be quirky, funny and smarter than your average summer romance.
They call Los Angeles the city of angels, but most people don't find it to be that exactly. From the glamour and intrigue of Hollywood to the danger and violence of Compton, LA plays a stand-out role in the collective imagination of movie-goers, hiphop fans, and fashionistas. All of these elements are tied together in Pompeii, L.A., a stageplay by Declan Greene, winner of this year's Max Afford Playwrights' Award. Following the story of a child star's rise and fall, and the bumpy ride between, the play explores the excitement and the danger of making it big. Movie stars and drug dealers, glamour and ruin, fiction and non-fiction – the lines between them are blurred in this new show. Pompeii, L.A. is sure to continue the run of great shows at the Malthouse Theatre, home to some of Melbourne's most cutting-edge live performances.
The discrepancy between Perfume Genius' Twitter feed and his music is incredible. As Mike Hadreas he channels his often unnerving honesty into a series of vulgar 140-character trivialities about everything from fondling the f*** out of zits to applying cheapo L'Oreal BB cream. As Perfume Genius he channels it into beautifully harrowing lamentations on serious personal traumas ranging from prostitution to drug addiction. Lyrics about traumatic past experiences aren't unique, but Hadreas' ability to convey them with warmth and lucidity is something special. His second album Put Your Back N 2 It tackles some big issues, but carrying them are tender vocals, delicate piano playing and a solid understanding of basic human fears that shape us all. And at his live show you also get a sense of the other side of Hadreas — the joker who pops his zits and rags on cheap cosmetics — making it an even more genuine look into the singular musician's mind. https://youtube.com/watch?v=OOpkr8uNWpk
Red Stitch Theatre's About Tommy sees the company follow their established inclination towards challenging, subversive subject matter. The translated Thor Bjorn Krebs play, directed here by Kat Hendry, transports the audience back in time to war torn 1990's Yugoslavia to explore the emotional realities faced by soldiers, both on and off the battlefield. Hendry aims to challenge her relocated viewer by telling the horror tales of wartime through the innovative use of live-action performance, intermingled with actual newsreel footage of the conflict. Within this creative, unorthodox composition, cast members Matthew Whitty, Kate Cole and Paul Henri collectively play 11 characters, compellingly conveying the maelstrom of emotions evoked in the context of conflict, particularly in the minds and hearts of UN peacekeepers who are given the impossible task of merely monitoring war rather than engaging in it. Image via Red Stitch Theatre.
This month Elle opens, an emotional new work from Lyric Opera of Melbourne, conducted by Pat Miller and directed by Nathan Gilkes. The legendary composer Francis Poulenc penned its music for Jean Cocteau's 1959 libretto of his 1930 play, La Voix Humaine. The one-act chamber opera consists simply of a series of conversations a woman conducts over the phone with her unseen lover. The audience eavesdrops on these, her last words to the man she loves; he's to marry another woman next day. The talk is interrupted by Paris's notoriously poor telephone service of the era, an effective metaphor for emotional disruption.
If you have seen the new single, 'Ballad of the War Machine', from Midnight Juggernauts, you might not know what to think. The throw-back, surrealist video clip had tongues wagging and mouths salivating a few weeks back for the return of the Melbourne trio, yet no one expected their return to be this covert. Like Cold War-era secrets, information on the new Midnight Juggernauts material was kept secret, as different versions of the video were distributed through blogs and discussion boards. The responses to this method of viral promotion were varied, yet the end result is a memorable experience that has only made anticipation grow in the bellies of fans. Since releasing their previous albums, Dystopia and The Crystal Axis, Midnight Juggernauts have been touring the globe before taking time off to gather inspiration for their next effort. If this lead single is anything to go by, Midnight Juggernauts will still be pushing boundaries and matching expectations. Their national tour takes in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne before the trio play at Groovin' the Moo. https://youtube.com/watch?v=VMeuC_aGuoo
‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.’ Although this statement may have rung true for Jane Austen circa Pride and Prejudice, her characters also got about in girdles and styled their hair like so — times have changed. A Contract of Love sees the Malthouse play host to a night of discussion and debate regarding the pros and cons of putting a ring on it, post millennium. Richard Watts (Smart Arts 3RRR) leads a debate that is bound to be fierier than your average neighbourhood domestic and coincides with the theatre's season of Dance of Death, a performance that explores one couple's experience of 25 years of wedded hell (you get less for murder). Panellists include writer and broadcaster Helen Razer (The Big Issue), the walking minority that is gay and Asian writer Benjamin Law (Gaysia, The Family Law), gay activist and Professor Dennis Altman (The End of the Homosexual?) and marriage equality campaigner Jacqui Tomlins. While the evidence is overwhelmingly negative (Britney in Vegas, Kimmy K and Kris and Carrie left at the altar), Pippa Middleton’s ass stands in strong defence of tying the knot — a reminder of the beauty that can come out of a well executed wedding. I do?
During the first two weeks of March, Melbourne will transform into a gastronomic playground showcasing the best of the city’s eateries, bars and markets with tastings, demonstrations and indefinable but delicious events, as part of the 2013 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Don’t be scared, the MFWF isn’t all $300 master classes and 35 course degustation dinners with world famous chefs — if your budget is feeling stressed just thinking about it, then our hip-pocket-friendly, curated buffet-style guide to the festival is for you. But get in quick as events are selling out fast. Image via melbournefoodandwine.com.au
Ganesh Versus the Third Reich is a play about the famous Hindu god, Ganesh — recently popularised by the T-shirts of a thousand faux hippie festivalgoers, teamed with a bindi — and his imagined quest to reclaim the Sanskrit swastika symbol from Nazi Germany’s Third Reich. Ganesh is the god of overcoming obstacles, and judging from the story's premise, his journey throughout director Bruce Gladwin’s performance will acutely test his ability to do so. At the same time, in a parallel universe, the cast of the Back to Back Theatre company who are to perform the piece must overcome the tribulations that accompany their attempts to tackle such contentious subject matter, with this second narrative also played out onstage. An interesting factor that is perhaps best approached head on, as it is in the play, is that all actors in the cast can be classed as "intellectually disabled". Whilst the abilities or disabilities of the actors are not explicitly a focal point, the way they sit alongside a story set amidst Word War II Germany, when the Nazis were attempting to create a "pure" race through unnatural methods of brutality, cannot be overlooked. The audience must confront both general questions of humanity, prejudice, and guilt, alongside their own motives, reactions, and motivations as participants in the part fiction, part reality of the performance. Image via backtobacktheatre.com
PUSH is a raw, stripped-back collection of four dance works that unites the talents of Sylvie Guillem and Russell Maliphant. Guillem made the move from to contemporary dance in 2006, after carving out a reputation as one of the greatest ballerinas of the twentieth century. Maliphant is best known for his prolific work as a choreographer, so PUSH is a rare chance to see him take the stage himself. The two artists who made the show together are also joined by a third long-time collaborator Michael Hulls. Hulls' lighting design aims to highlight the interplay between physical movement and sound, adding a third dimension to the duet and three solo pieces that make up the work. Maliphant and Guillem will also be presenting a free talk as part of the Melbourne Festival’s Artists in Conversation on Friday, October 25 at 1pm.
The marriage of wine and music is one that has stood the test of time. From Bob Marley lamenting the amnesiac benefits of wine and how they ease his heartache to the image of Matt Berninger, the frontman of The National pacing the stage with a glass of red in one hand and a microphone in the other, one can't deny that wine and music have great chemistry. Cake Wines have taken advantage of this famous pairing by throwing a round of boozy bashes featuring the creme de la creme of local musical talent — as well as other art and foodie events — in Sydney. On August 8, they'll also be hitting Melbourne for a month of good times and great wine at their pop-up bar in a Fitzroy warehouse space. Catch the likes of Alpine, Hayden Calnin, Andras Fox, Tornado Wallace, Sui Zhen, D D Dumbo, Olympia as well as a special Wax'o Paradiso Record Fair. The pop-up will also host art events and talks, including a Supper Club discussion series presented by Next Wave and hosted by festival director Emily Sexton. The School of Life will be paying a visit to help all present barflies improve their conversation skills.
I could summarise Paranoia's plot. But to do so would be to compile a stock-standard litany of signposts of the corporate espionage genre: Dastardly capitalists who'll stop at nothing to retain their market share! An ambitious upstart from a working-class family who is recruited to steal secrets and quickly realises he's out of his depth! A hot love interest who our hero must lie to in order to retain his compromised position spying in the belly of the beast! Sinister henchmen who appear in little more than silhouette! Hard-edged, Matrix-style, millennial typefaces for the opening credits! The film equivalent of Getty stock images of New York's time-lapsed skyline at night! And finally, a mediocre title bluntly aimed at edginess: 'Sniper'? 'Hunted'? 'Suspect'? No, it's Paranoia! Here, the wide-eyed protagonist is Our Liam (Hemsworth), direct from Summer Bay via The Hunger Games, and our scheming tech billionaires are autopiloted by Gary Oldman (with an inexplicable Cockney accent) and Harrison Ford, who appears to be possessed by a necromancer. All of these actors are totally interchangeable — Hemsworth could be traded for Chris Pine or Ryan Reynolds, and Oldman or Ford could be any old guy with credibility for hire. Who's swindling who?! Have the tables turned? Fear not, each 'twist' is signalled from a pantomime-long distance. And remember, we're in a pro-Facebook, post-GFC era now, so we'll need just enough references to 'cutbacks' and 'socially networked devices' to make some token social commentary. But beyond the name dropping, terms like 'insider trading' are merely fuel for the generic, white-collar thriller fire. Paranoia really is so cliched and tiresome, it could be a minor work of cinemasochistic genius by Australian, Legally Blonde director Robert Luketic. No, the best thing for this sort of exercise in filmic pollution is to stealthily organise your cinema trip around a genre-based drinking game with a group of friends. Gratuitous Apple Mac product placement? Drink! Garden variety corporate-speak ("Competition breeds innovation!" "We need more R&D!")? Drink! Hey, maybe this movie's not so bad after all. Maybe the filmmakers were playing us for dupes and intend Paranoia to have a long and healthy DVD afterlife in the 'so bad it's good' category of home viewing. The tables have turned! Or have they? https://youtube.com/watch?v=kiwTRLwmm4w
Remember Holly Golightly's iconic black dress in Breakfast at Tiffany's or Christian Bale's hyper-futuristic get up in The Dark Knight Rises? Beyond even soundtrack, mise en scene and script, costumes are what stay with us long after the final credits have rolled, permeating our collective consciousness as they speak what the characters' words alone cannot. Hollywood Costume, which explores the pivotal role of costume design on the silver screen, finds a home for the winter at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, straight from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Get up close and personal with a century of costumes from the most well-loved characters of our time in movies like The Wizard of Oz and Casino Royale — that green dress Scarlett O’Hara wore in Gone with the Wind even features. Aside from the opportunity to imagine yourself transformed into Dorothy with just the click of some red shoes, the exhibition shows the collaborative and creative process that goes into costume design and how it translates from a fleeting idea to being memorialised forever on the big screen. LBD optional. Image: Breakfast at Tiffany's Courtesy Paramount.
Imagine your autobiography — meaningless, small, incomplete, full of diversions and 'ums' and 'likes' — was turned into a play. That went for 24 hours. Who'd watch that? Well, it turns out, if you're Kristin Worral of the Nature Theatre of Oklahoma, hundreds of thousands of people all over the world, who then rave about it as if possessed. The New Yorker calls you "a masterpiece" and the Guardian gives you all the stars. The Nature Theatre of Oklahoma (who are from NY; their name comes from a Kafka novel) are trying to remake everything we know about theatre, and for a company so experimental, they're also eminently watchable. The idea is that with each episode, the form shifts — from a musical to an '80s pop video, a murder mystery, an animated film and an illuminated manuscript. The first ten hours of Life and Times will be featuring at Melbourne Festival (the rest are still being developed), which you can watch over three nights or in one marathon performance broken up by a barbecue and snacks. Check out the rest of our picks for the Melbourne Festival here.
Listening to Yo La Tengo is like hanging out with an old friend. It's comforting, calming and you can't help but get nostalgic. With 13 albums to their name — count 'em — Yo La Tengo are one of the true bastions of indestructible indie rock, and they're sure to draw a crowd of diehards at this one-off show. But the evening won't all be spent dwelling on the total glory of their 1997 classic I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One. Their newest album, Fade, was released in January this year, and is proving itself testament to their adaptability and ongoing popularity. For those that like the sound of all this hype, but are maybe too young to know the full story, here's a cheat sheet to get you up to speed. You'll fit in with the diehards in no time. Check out the rest of our picks for the Melbourne Festival here.
The Melbourne Festival is known for its endorsement of experimental music, but this one is a doozie. Combining young local hip-hop artists with classical chamber music, dance, and performance poetry, the event is described as both a "multi-cultural ode to Melbourne" and a "hip-hop/classical throw down". That's a lot to digest. The kids from the MASSIVE hip-hop choir look really exciting though, and we'd love to see how it all comes together. At worst it could be a bit confusing, but at best it could be a really unique and entertaining hybrid — it's exactly the kind of adventurous project festivals like this should be supporting. Check out the rest of our picks for the Melbourne Festival here.
It might sound like a cross between death metal and a trip to Scienceworks, but the utterly unique combination at the heart The Black of the Star makes this an unmissable event in this year’s Melbourne Festival. With the help of SIAL Sound Studio director Lawrence Harvey, six percussionists will be beaming in the cosmic signals of two rotating neuron stars ('pulsars'), drawing on access to the CSIRO’s Parkes telescope (made famous by Australian classic, The Dish). The energy from these signals will be translated into a sound recording that will become the metronomic pulse at the heart of an already stellar composition. The piece was created in 1990 by French avant-garde composer Gerard Grisey, and these festival performances by Speak Percussion will mark its Melbourne premiere. Speak Percussion is already made up of some of Australia’s most accomplished individual percussionists, but the ensemble will no doubt be rounded out by the sounds of these two real stars, each more than 7 million light years away.
There are few crimes more abhorrent or unsettling than the abduction of a child. Even a child's murder carries with it the singular, hollow silver lining of closure for the family, whereas abduction offers only unanswered questions. Grief requires certainty before it can begin, and anything short of that feeds desperation and a cruel modicum of hope. Cruel, because whilst it provides much-needed energy and motivation, hope also clouds reason and fuels obsession, and it's there in that dark space of violent fixation that French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve sets his new film, Prisoners. Played out in the suburbs of a dreary, unnamed American town, Prisoners centres around the kidnapping of two young girls and the lengths to which their families will go to bring them home. In particular, it follows Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman), a carpenter and survivalist who becomes fixated upon the primary suspect, Alex Jones (Paul Dano). When the police let Alex go, believing him to be innocent, Dover kidnaps him in a moment of desperation and, alongside the other father (Terrence Howard), begins to torture him. It is brutal, deeply disturbing and given none of the glamour or moral justification seen in films like Taken or the 24 series. The allusions to America's war on terror and plain enough, though never so heavy-handed as to be intrusive. Much like Villeneuve's last film, Incendies (which earned him an Oscar nomination in 2010), Prisoners is uncompromising in its depiction of violence and makes no attempt to shape any character as a hero. With themes spanning the banality of evil, blood lust, compulsion, godlike vengeance, power and domination, Aaron Guzikowski's script avoids whenever possible the use of absolutes, focusing instead on the pacts even the best may make with evil and exposing the falsehood of civility in the face of aggressive self-interest. Even Jake Gyllenhaal's character, Loki, the police officer assigned to the investigation, is presented as a tortured soul and loner whose every conversation ends in abuse or argument. There is no joy in this film, nor perhaps should there be given its subject matter, but at 153 minutes it makes for a long and exhausting viewing experience. What grounds it are the performances, with Maria Bello and Viola Davis both excellent as the despairing mothers, and Melissa Leo turning in another fine and layered performance not unlike her role in 2011's Red State. Jackman is the standout, however, delivering a powerful portrayal of a man driven to the edge of sanity by anger and despair. https://youtube.com/watch?v=doPNgss-ntc
It's been a minute since we've been able to enjoy a classic pub session, but the good folk at The Builders Arms Hotel are here to fill that void. This Wednesday, September 22, the Fitzroy boozer is hosting another virtual edition of its ever-popular pub trivia, complete with banter aplenty, a prize haul and some next-level pub grub. Get set to test your knowledge of all things food, booze, tunes and local culture, as Triple R's Cam Smith reprises his role of quiz host, challenging those lockdown brains across three question rounds, including a hands-on sensory round. What's more, you can elevate your at-home pub experience by adding on one of the kitchen's curry bundles. For $35 per person, you get a finish-at-home dinner kit starring slow-cooked duck and snake bean curry (or a vegetarian alternative) served with sides like rice and tamarind relish. On the night, you'll be battling it out for both glory and some sweet prizes, with awards for the likes of Best Team Name, The Lucky Dip and The Golden Ticket. Trivia participation is free, though you'll need to register online to secure a spot and the details about how to play. Your special kit for the sensory round can be picked up from the Builders on Wednesday (2–6pm), along with any curry bundle orders. The venue's also stocking a solid curation of beer and wine, if you fancy a quiz tipple to round out the fun. [caption id="attachment_688733" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Harvard Wang[/caption] Top Images: Adam O'Sullivan
If you love movies, then you likely miss video stores. You probably have fond memories of all that time time you used to spend scouring the shelves trying to decide what to watch, as well as your attempts to find gems — or just truly weird and wonderful flicks — beyond the big new releases. Scrolling through streaming services just isn't the same, even if it has been keeping us all occupied during lockdown. The folks at the Lido and Classic cinemas clearly miss old-school video stores, too. So, during Melbourne's ongoing lockdown, the pair have set up their own lending libraries. If you live within five kilometres of either, you can head by to borrow a DVD or VHS copy of a range of movies. You'll obviously need a player to pop them in at home, though. Set up in a tower of crates outside both cinemas, these video stores encourage folks to borrow, watch, then return their flicks of choice — all without paying a cent. And, if you have some old discs or tapes at home that you don't want, you can donate them to the cause to help out your fellow locked-down movie buffs.
In the opening seconds of Ema, on a seemingly ordinary night in the Chilean port city of Valparaíso, a traffic light flickers with flames. The inky evening streets are silent and still otherwise, save for the film's eponymous protagonist (Mariana Di Girólamo, Much Ado About Nothing) — but Pablo Larraín (Jackie) well and truly starts his eighth feature as he intends to continue. Ema peers on from just a few paces away, her platinum blonde hair slicked behind a protective visor, a flamethrower strapped to her back and a nozzle in her hand. She's ready and eager to set her world alight. She's positively bursting to torch everything that's holding her back, in fact. Figuratively more than literally, she won't stop until she's watched the status quo burn. Anchoring a movie about trauma, power, family, restriction and freedom, she'll swiftly prove a blazing force, as well as an unforgettable central figure in one of Larraín's very best movies so far. Before 2021 comes to an end, the Chilean filmmaker will have given the world Spencer, a new biopic about Princess Diana featuring Kristen Stewart as the royal figure. Also on his hit list this year: Lisey's Story, a Julianne Moore-starring TV adaptation of a Stephen King book that has been scripted for the screen by the author himself. But with the release of the phenomenal piece of cinema that is Ema, he's already gifting viewers something exceptional — and something that'll be hard to top. A new project by Larraín is always cause for excitement, and this drama about a reggaeton dancer's crumbling marriage, personal and professional curiosities, and determined crusade to become a mother rewards that enthusiasm spectacularly. That it stands out amongst the director's already impressive resume is no small feat given he's the filmmaker behind stirring political drama No, exacting religious investigation The Club and poetic biopic Neruda, too. For the first time in his career, Larraín peers at life in his homeland today, rather than in the past — and, in the smouldering interrogation that results, he may as well be holding the flamethrower himself. Ema is filled with gleaming, dazzling and glowing sights like the image it first splashes onto the screen, with Larraín's now six-time cinematographer Sergio Armstrong (Tony Manero, Post Mortem) lensing an exquisite-looking picture. When its lead is first seen dancing for the company overseen by her choreographer partner Gastón (Gael García Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle), she stands before a giant blue fireball. It's a projection on a screen, but even just five minutes into the movie, it comes as no surprise when the eye-catching backdrop soon turns vibrant hues of red, orange and pink. Little else about Ema is that predictable, though, including its persistent penchant for glaring at its namesake as intently as it can. Faces and bodies fill the feature's frames, a comment that's true of most movies; however, in the probing patience it directs its protagonist's way, the intensity of its lingering shots that continually place her at the centre of the image and the kinetic fluidity of its dance sequences, this feature brilliantly, blisteringly and evocatively surveys and stares. There's much to take in, all sparked by Ema's struggles after an attempt at motherhood goes awry. With Gastón, she adopted a child — an older boy, rather than a baby — but something other than domestic bliss eventuated. Following a devastating incident and the just-as-stressful decision to relinquish the child back to the state's custody, Ema is scrambling to cope. But, in a script by Larraín, Guillermo Calderón (The Club, Neruda) and Alejandro Moreno, this isn't a situation she's simply willing to accept. Social services won't give her another chance, or even let her see the boy she still calls her son. Things with Gastón have changed irrevocably, too. To combat both, to rally against the oppressive rules and expectations thrust her way, and to reclaim her sense of self emotionally and in her career, Ema makes a series of bold decisions that reshape and reignite her existence. Unspooling its narrative like a mystery to be pieced together one enigmatic and melodramatic moment at a time, Ema is many things. Most potently, it's a portrait of a woman who is willing to make whatever move she needs to, both on the dance floor and in life in general, to rally against an unforgiving world, grasp her idea of true liberty and seize exactly what she wants. Impeccably cast as the unflinching dancer, and acting with internalised cool, control and command, the magnetic Di Girólamo exudes perseverance from her pores, as well as allure — two traits that couldn't be more crucial to Ema's plans. Whether she's showing off her best reggaeton moves against a vivid backdrop, staring pensively straight at the camera or being soaked in neon light, the film's star is hypnotic. Like the brightest of flames, she's impossible to look away from. One of Larraín's regular players, Bernal also leaves an imprint, perfecting a thorny role that ties into the film's interrogation of Chile's class and cultural divides. That said, so much of his performance involves responding to Di Girólamo that everything about Gastón would be completely different without her presence. Larraín has always had a knack for casting (see: each and every one of his movies listed above). His skill as both a visual- and emotion-driven filmmaker shines here as well, and that too isn't new. The experience of watching Ema almost feels like dancing through it alongside its titular figure, because that's how mesmerising each stunning image proves, especially when paired with an intoxicating soundtrack that sets the beat and tone all at once. Nothing about this movie fades quickly; not its ideas, inimitable protagonist, or rousing exploration of trauma, shock and their impact. Little feels like anything else in Larraín's filmography, and yet it's always still evident that he's behind the camera. Add it alongside Gaspar Noé's Climax in the list of dynamic dance movies that romp, swirl and gyrate to their own electrifying rhythm. That comparison can't paint the full picture, though, because a cinematic light this strong and scalding sparks in nobody's ashes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COrqRKMZ2KM
Every year for the past century, the Archibald Prize has recognised exceptional works of portraiture by Australian artists. In 2021, from a field of 52 finalists, the coveted award has gone to Melbourne-based artist Peter Wegner for Portrait of Guy Warren at 100. A unanimous decision by this year's judges, Wegner's portrait of the centenarian and fellow artist obviously won the gong in a fitting year. "Guy Warren turned 100 in April — he was born the same year the Archibald Prize was first awarded in 1921," Wegner said. "This is not why I painted Guy, but the coincidence is nicely timed." Wegner's win came after an equal number of works from both male and female artists made the finalists list for the first time in Archibald history — and plenty of these pieces will be on display at the Gippsland Art Gallery in Sale this spring. From Friday, October 8–Sunday, November 21, art lovers can head to the gallery to scope out the best portraits from this year's entrants. In fact, it's the only place in Victoria that'll be showing this year's winners and finalists, all as part of the 2021 Archibald Prize Regional Tour. [caption id="attachment_813770" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Archibald Prize 2021 finalist. Kathrin Longhurst, 'Kate'. Oil on linen, 122 x 122 cm. © the artist. Photo: AGNSW, Jenni Carte.[/caption] Top image: Winner Archibald Prize 2021. Peter Wegner, Portrait of Guy Warren at 100. © the artist. Photo: AGNSW, Jenni Carter.
Thanks to Parasite's 2020 Oscar sweep and Minari's strong showing at this year's awards, it's tempting to say that it's been a big few years for Korean cinema — whether made in Korea or focusing on Korean characters in America. The country's films have been gaining greater attention with Hollywood awards bodies, that's for sure; however, Korea has been making exceptional movies for not just a few years, but for decades. For the past 12 years, the Korean Film Festival in Australia has been shining a spotlight on those top-notch flicks, celebrating all the latest and greatest movies made by Korean filmmakers — or about Korean figures. 2021 is no different, with the fest nicknamed KOFFIA set to bring its Melbourne leg to ACMI from Friday, December 10–Thursday, December 16. On the lineup: Minari, because this moving gem about a Korean family in America should keep getting all the love; entertaining and frenetic crime thriller Deliver Us From Evil, about a hitman and a kidnapping plot; Waiting for Rain, a box-office smash on home turf that follows a long-distance relationship that plays out through letters; and comedy Samjin Company English Class, about three female office workers fighting against unfair corporate practices. Other highlights include documentary The Wandering Chef, about Korean celebrity chef Im Jiho's search for authentic and unique ingredients with medicinal properties; drama Paper Flower, which follows an elderly mortician; 17th century-set action epic The Swordsman, which comes complete with eye-catching fight choreography; and mystery-thriller Recalled, about a woman who loses her memory but starts to hallucinate visions that may foretell future events.
UPDATE Tuesday, July 13: Due to Melbourne's snap lockdown, West Set has been postponed until August. This article has been edited to reflect the new program announcement. You can keep an eye out for updates over at the website. Keep yourself warm this winter with the return of Melbourne's ten-day music fest, West Set. From Thursday, August 19 till Sunday, August 29, you can catch over 60 live music shows across 14 Footscray venues. Plus, all the venues are located within walking distance of each other — and Footscray Station — so you can bounce between gigs with ease. Start your night at West Set's festival club, dubbed Baby Snakes Bar, where you can enjoy a spicy eggplant sandwich and a glass of vino before checking out tunes. Head to Hotel Westwood to catch Cool Out Sun, Joelistics and DJ Elle Shimada on Saturday, August 21 or stop by on Friday, August 27, to see Kee'Ahn, Allara and HipHopHoe light up the Hotel Westwood stage. You can also check out Izy, Queen P Soju Gang at Kindred Bandroom on Friday, August 20. There'll also be a professional development panel featuring industry heavyweights discussing how musicians can remain agile in a post COVID-19 world. The closing day event will be stacked with DJs at the Counterweight Vinyl street party, as well as a showcase from not-for-profit Music in Exile will go down at Bluestone Church Arts Space. Plus, you can see Hayley Mary wrap up the festival on closing night at Kindred Studios. All West Set shows are free (except Hayley Mary) however registration is essential to attend. For more information and to check out the full lineup, visit the West Set website. And to register to an event, visit the Eventbrite website.
Lockdown 5.0 sees much-loved Carlton wine bar Henry Sugar moonlighting as a streetside yakitori bar. They're firing up the hibachi grill from 1–8pm Tuesday through Sunday each week to bring you a tasty lineup of skewers to grab-and-go. You'll also find bites like freshly-shucked oysters, fat toasties on house-made bread and a rotation of sweet treats. Takeaway drinks include a selection of signature cocktails and cosy serves of mulled wine.
Until 2020 hit, heading to a trivia night usually involved sitting in your favourite watering hole, sipping a few drinks and answering questions while a pub rock soundtrack played in the background. This year, however, that ritual has had a makeover — but in Isolation Trivia's latest online quiz night, those pub rock tunes remain. If you have a head full of otherwise pointless tidbits about the kinds of tunes usually blasted in pubs and bars around town, then this is a live-streamed trivia evening for you. Pub Rock Virtual Trivia is being held in collaboration with the current Pub Rock exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, so get ready to show just how much you know about everyone from AC/DC and Jimmy Barnes to Midnight Oil and Paul Kelly. If you're wondering how it works, you'll join the event from your couch, jot down your answers at home and everyone can compare scores virtually — and battle for trivia supremacy. Pub Rock Virtual Trivia takes place on from 7pm ADST Thursday, October 8. To play along, head to the event's Facebook page. And if you need some inspiration, this video just might help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLBfdyJ3cpw Pub Rock Virtual Trivia takes place online from 7pm ADST on Thursday, October 8. Top image: Not On Your Rider.
Until 2020 hit, going outside to soak up nature's splendours was one of those things we all thought that we could always do whenever we wanted, and for as long as we wanted. Quickly, however, we've learned that we took the simple activity for granted — especially in a year that's brought multiple lockdowns and strict rules about leaving the house, including to exercise, to Victoria. For the next two weeks the Victoria Nature Festival is aiming to let you connect with the natural world, even if you can't do so physically to the extent that you might like. From Monday, September 28–Sunday, October 11, the online fest will feature a range of free digital events that'll take you on stunning tours, teach you new skills and let you peer at cute critters. On the agenda: an online tour of the World Heritage-listed Budj Bim landscape, a virtual forest therapy session set in the Royal Botanic Gardens' fern gully, spending time with a wombat from Healesville Sanctuary and checking out Phillip Island's popular penguin parade. That's just the beginning of the list — and while this is all timed to coincide with school holidays, you're never too old to enjoy nature's wonders. [caption id="attachment_729905" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Lake Condah, Tyson Lovett-Murray, Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation[/caption] The Victoria Nature Festival runs from Monday, September 28–Sunday, October 11.
Staying motivated to keep crushing your exercise goals can be a challenge at the best of times, let alone in the middle of a pandemic. To provide a little incentive for all those runners out there, Lululemon is hosting a virtual version of its annual Seawheeze run. With both a half marathon (21.1 kilometres) and ten kilometre available, the digital races can be completed anywhere you like. On a treadmill? Yep. By doing ten laps of your one-kilometre block? Sure can. How about 500 laps of your 20-metre balcony? Whatever floats your boat. The races just need to be recorded in a single activity on the Strava app (which you can download for free) between Saturday, August 15 and Sunday, August 23. It costs $28USD to sign up (about $36AUD and $43NZD), which includes a training plan by Lululemon Global Ambassador Rob Watson, a digital badge for your Strava trophy case, an IRL finisher medal and a $2USD donation to Vinyasa Yoga for Youth and Red Clay Yoga. Of course, depending on where you are in the world, there may be some other restrictions you need to abide by while completing the challenge. If you're in metropolitan Melbourne, you can only leave your house for exercise once a day for up to an hour — and you can only venture up to five kilometres from your house. When choosing your distance, keep in mind that the world record for the half, set by Geoffrey Kamworor late last year, is 58.01.
Second wave of lockdown got you feeling a little crabby? Renowned Chef Geoff Lindsay (Dandelion, Pearl Restaurant & Bar) is dishing up the ultimate antidote with the return of his popular Crab Club feasts. Operating out of his new home in the kitchen at Lamaro's Hotel, Lindsay is offering another run of seafood banquets that are sure to turn those iso frowns upside down. The pans are firing up for an at-home edition of Crab Club, available only from Thursday, July 23, to Sunday, July 26. For $100 a head, you can have one of these five-course crab fiestas delivered to your door. It's exactly the kind of indulgence you need in your restaurant-starved life right now, featuring dishes like fluffy crab and kimchi bao, black pepper swimmer crab, and a riff on the classic Singapore chilli crab using fresh crustaceans from Noosa. Be sure to stock up on napkins, because this lineup's bound to get deliciously messy. This weekend's Crab Club menu is available for free delivery to surrounding suburbs, with a $20 flat rate for addresses further away. Or, you can pick up your feast directly from Lamaro's in South Melbourne.
When a spider spins a web, the strands are designed to trap prey for the eight-legged arachnid to consume. Madame Web tries to do something similar. The fourth live-action film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe, it attempts to create a movie meal by capturing bits and pieces from anywhere and everywhere. There's Spidey nods, of course, variations on the "with great power comes great responsibility" line and more than one Spidey-like figure included. Introducing a new superhero to the screen, it's an origin story, complete with a tragic past to unfurl. Set in 2003 but with ample 90s tunes in the soundtrack, it endeavours to get retro as well. In its best touch, Madame Web winks at star Dakota Johnson's (Cha Cha Real Smooth) Hollywood family history, with a pigeon bringing The Birds, as led by her grandmother Tippi Hedren (The Ghost and the Whale), to mind. And, catching inspiration just like flies, the film also strives to be a serial-killer thriller. Look out, though. Here's hoping that spiders have more luck snaring a feast than Sony has in swinging Madame Web into its not-MCU franchise. They're not officially counted as part of the saga, and they're both exceptional unlike this, but the studio's animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse also help explain Madame Web's existence and approach. In trying to carve out a Spidey space around the Peter Parker version of the webslinger, who is now part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sony has been throwing everything it can at the screen. In the Spider-Verse flicks, that means a kaleidoscope of spider-folk, plus dazzling visuals and creative storytelling to match, demonstrating that people in suits isn't the best way to tell caped-crusader tales in cinema. In the SSU, focusing on a heap of peripheral Spidey figures is instead the tactic — and it's as piecemeal as it sounds. Hence Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Morbius, the upcoming Kraven the Hunter and the on-the-way third Venom title. Hence also the feeling that giving whichever bit players Sony can their own features, in the name of making a sprawling superhero saga with well-known stars because everyone else is (see also: DC), is the money-chasing move. In Madame Web's case, its namesake from the comics has scored a makeover to fit the franchise's mould — so, instead of being an elderly mutant with clairvoyant powers, who is both blind and attached to a web-like life-support system, she's 30 and sports Johnson's famous off-screen devil-may-care attitude. It's easy to wonder while watching if the film's lead took the gig just to wreak havoc on the press tour. Johnson's presence also gives viewers plenty to be thankful for. She hasn't gone for serious and solemn. She isn't playing for laughs, either. Instead, she lends the flick her charisma and knack for playing charmingly awkward, all without ever seeming bogged down by how lacklustre the movie around her is; now that's a superpower. Madame Web arrives on the big screen with one of its pieces of dialogue already sporting meme-level notoriety, except that it doesn't actually include that line. The clunky "he was in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders right before she died" became the best-known aspect of the feature's trailer when the sneak peek hit in 2023, but it isn't in the finished film. Words to the same effect are, describing the fact that Johnson's Cassie Webb is the daughter of scientist Constance (Kerry Bishé, Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber), who has spun off this mortal coil — and that explorer Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim, Napoleon), the flick's big bad, was there with her. That was back in 1973. In the movie's present, Cassie has grown up in foster care, now spends her days saving lives with her work partner Ben (Adam Scott, Party Down), then starts seeing the future after a near-death experience. The full backstory, which also provides the feature's prologue, involves Constance getting bitten in Peruvian jungle under the guidance of Amazonian spider-people Las Arañas as a way of saving the unborn Cassie's life. That's the reason for the adult Cassie's visions — and, thanks to his own interaction with the magic arachnids from the area, for Ezekiel's spider-like physical abilities and dreams of his impending death. In the latter, he sees three spider-esque women ending his existence. His plan: locate them now (with the help of The Flight Attendant's Zosia Mamet and some technology that doesn't really fit 2003), murder them, live evilly for longer. Only Cassie can stop that from happening, with Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney, Anyone But You), Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced, Migration — and also Dora in Dora and the Lost City of Gold) and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O'Connor, Ghostbusters: After Life) soon in her care despite not knowing her, or each other, beforehand. It doesn't bode well for veteran TV director SJ Clarkson (Succession, Vinyl, Jessica Jones) that her first cinematically released feature, which she co-wrote with producer Claire Parker (Life on Mars), also includes Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless as scribes. The pair with Dracula Untold, The Last Witch Hunter, Gods of Egypt and Power Rangers on their resume scripted Morbius, too, which is still the worst SSU movie — but generic, bland, caring zero about characters and basically sketching out scaffolding for monotonous action scenes remains their niche. Madame Web's serial-killer angle does stand out, more for feeling like it could've been the plot of a 90s effort about a psychic protecting three teen girls that had zero Spider-Man ties. That flick wouldn't have needed such routine fights and chases, either, or proven what too much caped-crusader fare constantly does: like join-the-dots filler. Enlisting ace talent such as Johnson, Sweeney and Scott, each of whom do what they can with stock-standard roles — as do Merced and O'Connor (alas, the usually stellar Rahim's part is woefully thankless) — can't paper over Madame Web's desperation to send strands Spider-Man's way. The 2003 setting could've been a Tobey Maguire (Babylon)-era nod, but with Ben's surname Parker and his pregnant sister Mary (Emma Roberts, American Horror Story) having a boy, the timing is geared to connect with the Tom Holland (The Crowded Room) iteration. A mid-movie scene blatantly yearning to make that leap also helps sum up Madame Web. At a baby shower for Mary, Cassie doesn't want to get roped into the antics, turns the room silent by talking about her mum's death and interrupts the big name reveal. Johnson kills it, but the need to link into a franchise that isn't even the SSU crashes. Unsurprisingly, pitching the whole picture to setup a future Spider-Woman trio flick feels like just as much as a stretch. Unless Madame Web becomes a box-office smash, no one, not even Cassie, would foresee a follow-up coming to fruition after this tangled mess.
One of the west's best-loved drinks destinations is transforming itself into an immersive party playground once more, dishing up a high-energy arvo (and evening) of tunes, food, booze and frivolity. On Saturday, February 25, you're invited to let your hair down and blow off some end-of-summer steam at Mr West's annual block party, Good Fest. Setting the tone and spilling out into the street is a dance-worthy lineup of local musical acts, including afro-funk outfit Cool Out Sun, Area3000 host DJ NayNay, funk aficionado DJ Manchild, Public Afro Opinion Orchestra side-project Afrobiotics and South African artist Kgomotso. Zambian-born journalist and author Santilla Chingaipe will take on the role of MC. To fuel your evening's adventures, there'll be vibrant Cameroonian fare from emerging favourite Vola Foods, as well as brisket snack packs and sriracha butter chicken wings courtesy of the Tisiri food truck. And of course, with Mr West's experts in the driver's seat, you can bank on some top-notch libations, too. Namely, they'll be running a pop-up outdoor cantina bar in collaboration with local drinks brand Home Grown, slinging native-heavy bottled cocktails alongside margarita slushies, low-intervention vino and a range of Hop Nation brews.
Need a bit of sunny holiday energy in your life right now? There's plenty of it waiting for you over at Repeat Offender this week, as the Latin-inspired diner celebrates its second birthday with some very tasty giveaways. On Friday, February 3, the Elwood spot — which just so happens to be gluten-free — is marking the occasion by handing out 100 free tacos and 100 frozen margaritas as soon as the clock hits midday. There's one of each up for grabs per person, with three kinds of tacos to choose from — a baja taco featuring barramundi and chipotle aioli, a roast pumpkin number and a slow-cooked red mole chicken creation with sweet potato chips. And you can wash it down with a free classic frozen marg made with Blanco tequila, triple sec and lime. Both the tacos and the cocktails will be packaged up to take away, though you're welcome to enjoy your freebies while kicking back on Repeat Offender's buzzing streetside terrace. And if you happen to dig a little deeper into the bar's hefty selection of margaritas while you're there, we're sure you won't be alone.
A character drama about a West Texas woman who wins the lottery, but six years later has nothing to show for it except pain, alcoholism and burned bridges, To Leslie is all about English talent Andrea Riseborough's remarkable performance — famously so thanks to her Best Actress Oscar nomination for an indie film widely underseen until that nod of approval. Nothing can take away the power of the Mandy, Possessor and Amsterdam star's stunning portrayal. A spectacular performance is a spectacular performance regardless of what surrounds it. So, Riseborough's work in the debut feature from seasoned TV director Michael Morris (Better Call Saul, 13 Reasons Why, Brothers & Sisters) remains a gut-punch no matter the controversy around the campaign by high-profile names to help get her the Academy's recognition, with Kate Winslet, Edward Norton and Jennifer Aniston among those advocating for accolades. To Leslie remains Riseborough's movie despite comedian and actor Mark Maron uttering the words that sum it up best, too. In his latest compassionate performance — with a less-gruff edge than he sports in GLOW — he plays Sweeney, the co-proprietor of a roadside motel in Leslie's hometown. That's where she ends up again after the money runs out, plus her luck and everyone she knows' patience with it. As scripted by Ryan Binaco (3022), Sweeney is another of To Leslie's flawed characters. The movie teems with such folks because everyone of us is flawed, and it sees that truth with the clearest of eyes. In a sincere but awkward chat, Sweeney explains how his now ex-wife's drinking helped end his marriage; however, he catches himself afterwards, making a point to say that just because his story turned out like that, that doesn't mean Leslie's will as well, or that he thinks it that'll occur. One person's tale can be everyone's — cinema, and storytelling in general, thrives on the fact that the deeply specific can be profoundly universal — but no one's experiences ever play out exactly as another's have. That's an essential message at the heart of To Leslie, and it's one that asks for understanding but not judgement. While watching the film's very fictional namesake on-screen, it's easy to spy parallels, to relate, and to feel what it is to be in Leslie, Sweeney or the feature's other figures' shoes. Movies are empathy machines, after all. That said, battling assumptions about what the course that Leslie's story has to follow, and what that says about her and other people who've struggled with addiction and poverty, is as important to Morris and Binaco's picture as Risebourgh's awards-worthy performance. There's such weight and soul to the actor's titular portrayal in this tale of redemption — when Leslie is at her best, worst, hovering in-between and splashing between the two extremes alike. In early footage that's repeated later, Riseborough is giddily ecstatic holding a giant cheque for $190,000 and hollering in a local news interview about what an impact it'll make (and promising to spoil her young son). She cuts a still-wiry, still-determined sight, but now fraught rather than euphoric, in the hard jump to after the cash has been drunk away, which is when she's being kicked out of her The Florida Project-style digs for not paying her bill. There's a visible difference between the two Leslies, as her grown-up boy James (Teague, The Stand) notes without saying when she reunites with him next — but much of Riseborough's efforts are about what's churning inside Leslie moment by moment, whether inebriated, desperate for whatever she can sip or stone-cold sober. When she turns up carting a pink suitcase containing all of her worldly belongings, James has one rule for Leslie's attempts to reconnect: no booze. Part of the heartbreak of To Leslie, and of Riseborough's performance, is foreseeing what might happen while witnessing how Leslie endeavours to battle against it. Similarly, part of the film's joys and surprises spring when addiction doesn't win out. With James, though, Leslie can't keep her promise. When she's sent home to Dutch (Stephen Root, Barry) and Nancy (Allison Janney, Breaking News in Yuba County), pals she was once as close as family with, she's met with the spite and bitterness of former friends rather than a son's disappointment and hurt. The bulk of the small town's residents similarly have long memories, largely treating her as a joke. And Sweeney's colleague Royal (Andre Royo, Truth Be Told) is hesitant when the former sees her sleeping outside their motel, initially runs her off, but then generously offers her both a place to stay and a cleaning job. Country music echoes within the film, heard and spoken about, in a telling choice for a movie about second, third, fourth and fifth chances (and more). Notes of Wild Rose, another feature about a woman piecing her life back together, filter in with that in mind; the two pictures have plenty of dissimilarities, too, but share exceptional leads. Indeed, simply watching Riseborough sit at a bar nursing a drink and listening to a twang-filled tune makes for an astonishing scene, with Morris shrewdly holding the moment, and cinematographer Larkin Seiple (Everything Everywhere All At Once) lighting a lengthy closeup like it's extraordinary and ordinary all at once. In what might be her biggest acting feat in a deservedly well-regarded career, Riseborough knows how to be Leslie, not play her — in this scene and from start to finish. This isn't a performance courting attention, but one committed to conveying what's swishing and swirling within a tumultuous character whose strengths and missteps are both always in view. To Leslie's least impressive trait is its fondness for neat and conventional beats, although Riseborough ensures that even the most predictable plot developments never feel like a standard pour (as does Morris' ability to recognise what he has with Riseborough as the narrative's anchor). Stories can turn out like this, traversing the highs as well as the lows, and To Leslie certainly isn't afraid of getting messy through its protagonist and her lifetime's worth of tussles before it starts letting hope loiter. It definitely isn't scared of showing what's worth striving for, either, be it the tenderness of Leslie and Sweeney's blossoming bond, the yearning of a mother who wants to finally be able to do right by her son, or a path to a future that's safe and sustainable. Riseborough is striving, of course, but her every move and expression — alone, and when paired with the also-excellent Teague, Maron and Janney — couldn't be more raw, complex and lived in.
