Roll up, roll up, and step inside Drago’s Amazing Bona Fide Freak Show; a dark and dazzling one-man show from dancer, actor, writer and musician Ilan Abrahams. Inspired by his three-week pilgrimage walking the full length of the Yarra River, Abrahams' performance takes audiences back to 19th century Melbourne when circus and sideshows were the favoured entertainment of the day. In this world lives Drago, a mysterious travelling showman... with a 'freak' lurking in the shadows of his beat-up tent. Abrahams will revive his Drago character for four nights only at the Mechanics Institute in Brunswick, after the show played to sold-out crowds at La Mama in 2014. Combining theatre and song with a dark sense of humour, Abrahams is a consummate performer who vanishes into his role. Drago’s Amazing Bona Fide Freak Show plays at the Mechanics Institute from May 20 – 23. For more information, head over here.
If you're anything like us, you've spent the last few weeks being bombarded with memes and videos about the day Marty McFly travelled to the future. Nike announced they'll be releasing actual self-tying sneakers, Universal Pictures put out a trailer for Jaws 19 and Ford offered people flux capacitors for their cars. It was all pretty cute, but at this point we're kind of sick of hearing about it. Still, we're willing to make an exception for an event as awesome as this. Hosted by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Back to the Future: Live in Concert will see Robert Zemeckis' 1985 classic light up the screen at the Melbourne ConventionCentre, accompanied by a live performance of Alan Silvestri's iconic score. The concert will also feature a new piece of music composed especially for the film's 30 year anniversary. Just make sure you're quick — tickets are selling fast and once they're gone they're gone. Well, unless you own a DeLorean. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0kZes9GO9A
Pull out that old Discman, break out the cargo pants and start practising your smoothest 90s and early 00s dance moves — the pop tour of your wildest teenage dreams is hitting Australian shores this summer and it's got more stars than a TV Hits sticker collection. Come Saturday, February 11–Sunday, February 12, the So Pop festival is set to deliver a huge serve of nostalgia to Melbourne's Forum Theatre, pulling together a juicy lineup of old-school icons, starting with none other than Vengaboys — celebrating their 25th anniversary, too. Heading up the show, Vengaboys will bring Cowboy Donny, Captain Kim, PartyGirl D'Nice and SailorBoy Robin to sing their party-starting smash hits like 'Boom Boom Boom Boom!!' and 'We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)' from the Netherlands — and yes, you now have both tunes stuck in your head from reading this. They'll be joined by Danish artist and producer Whigfield, who'll break out 'Sexy Eyes'; the UK's N-Trance, which means hearing 'Set You Free', 'Stayin' Alive', 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy' and 'Forever'; and Reel 2 Real teaming up with The Mad Stuntman, which is where 'I Like To Move It' and 'Go On Move' come in. Dutch trance/pop outfit Alice DJ is also on the lineup, so get ready to hear 'Back in My Life', 'Will I Ever' and 'Better Off Alone'. And, Nick Skitz is on DJing duties — after releasing Skitmix 59 (DJ Mix) in 2021. SO POP 2023 LINEUP: Vengaboys Whigfield Alice DJ N-Trance Reel 2 Real featuring The Mad Stuntman Nick Skitz
Feast on top notch Sri Lankan cuisine courtesy of social enterprise Free to Feed. The Melbourne-based organisation, which provides hospitality training and work opportunities to asylum seekers and refugees, has teamed up with former Code Black Coffee chef Laura Neville for a pair of pop-up dinners at Firecracker in Thornbury. Set for three nights over July 20-22, the dinners will see Neville work closely with Free to Feed's resident Tamil cooking instructor, Niro, putting a twist on traditional Sri Lankan delicacies. The full menu is being kept under wraps for the time being, although we happen to know that Niro makes a mean vego curry. Incidentally, if you're vegetarian yourself, they'll be more than happy to cater to your needs – just make a mention of it in your booking. But with seats for just 14 people, you'd best make it quick.
There's no one quite like Frank, the person, and there's nothing quite like Frank, the film. The former, as played by Michael Fassbender while wearing a papier mache mask, is a soul seemingly eccentric but really just looking for the essence of creation and contentment. The latter is quirky by design but beautifully bittersweet by execution, revelling in all life's failures and flaws. Frank leads an experimental rock band with the fittingly unpronounceable name of The Soronprfbs, and that's exactly where Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) finds him. Downtrodden in his dismal everyday routine, Jon wants desperately to be a musician but lacks the opportunity and the ability to extend himself. His unlikely encounter with his new friend with the obscured face brings both, one fruitful, the other less so. As the reconfigured group ventures from the Irish wilderness to the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas in search of musical fulfilment, the solace they find comes from internal, not external, forces. Journalist turned screenwriter Jon Ronson, of The Men Who Stare at Goats fame, turns fact into fiction in Frank, taking his characters and narrative from his own experiences. With co-scribe Peter Straughan and director Lenny Abrahamson, he spins a story inspired by Frank Sidebottom, the comic persona of musician Chris Sievey, as fine-tuned and fleshed out where necessary. The basics remain, including the large and unusual headwear that demands attention in every scene that it appears in. Added in the tinkering with the tale is thoughtfulness that resonates like a homage while investing a layer of universality. That relatable spirit weaves through a film that ponders the oft-contemplated contrast between reality and perception in an interesting and endearing fashion. While Frank must resort to announcing his emotions on screen for the benefit of Jon, and to the disdain of his other avant garde band mates — Hysteria's Maggie Gyllenhaal and The Rover's Scoot McNairy among them — the sentiment of his every sentence is always clear, heightening the feature's commentary on communication and identity. Of course, much of the success stems from casting, including Fassbender in the titular role. Gleeson is wonderfully uncertain, Gyllenhaal convincingly curt and McNairy ever eclectic; however, it is the hidden figure that combines all their traits and more into a singular yet complex package. Again, it is his words that do all the talking, offbeat charm oozing from every wide-ranging conversation and progressive tune. Indeed, whilst shot with the same anarchic energy that adjusts to the mood of the story, Frank is a film to listen to as keenly as to watch — from every inflection in Fassbender's sometimes strange, sometimes touching dialogue to the diverse array of noisy, catchy, cute and unconventional songs. https://youtube.com/watch?v=IblHV2x64f8
The Lepidopters: A Space Opera is only touching down for a couple of Melbourne performances, and the insane amount of culture-mixing and genre-bending the work is cramming into Arts House this weekend makes it unmissable. Created by experimental Melbourne outfit Slave Pianos with European writer Mark von Schleegell, the centerpiece of The Lepidopters is a specially constructed electromechanial piano, fresh from a starring appearance in the National Gallery of Victoria’s exhibition Melbourne Now. This 'piano' contains no less than 56 gamelans, a traditional Indonesian instrument. In its NGV outing this machine played the audience’s choice of transcribed songs, but here in The Lepidopters it’s joined by a 40-member choir, punk-art musicians from Indonesia, as well as the solo pianist Michael Kieran Harvey, all backed by projected visual art and film.
On years ending in four in even-numbered decades, we watch new Mean Girls films. So goes the 21st century so far, as the hit 2004 teen comedy about high-school hierarchies returns to the big screen in 2024 as a musical, after breaking out the singing and dancing onstage first. Just like donning pink every Wednesday because Regina George (Reneé Rapp, The Sex Lives of College Girls) demands it, there's a dutifulness about the repeat Mean Girls. Tina Fey, writing the script for the third time — basing her first on Rosalind Wiseman's 2002 non-fiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes — seems to fear the consequences for breaking the rules, too. Cue a Mean Girls movie musical that truly plays out as those four words lead viewers to expect: largely the same down to most lines and jokes, just with songs. Anyone looking at the longer running time in advance and chalking up the jump from 97 to 112 minutes to the tunes is 100-percent spot on. The latest Mean Girls also resembles protagonist Cady Heron (Angourie Rice, The Last Thing He Told Me): eager to fit into its new surroundings after being perfectly happy and comfortable elsewhere. That causes some awkwardness, sometimes trying to break the mould, but largely assimilating. Penning her first film script since the OG Mean Girls was her very first, 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Mr Mayor creator Fey revises details and gags that were always going to need revising. Social media, the internet and mobile phones are all worked in, necessarily so, as is sex positivity. Mean Girls 2024 is primarily dedicated to making Mean Girls 2024 happen, though; here as well, it's exactly as those three words have audiences anticipating. Scrap the songs and choreography (other than the Winter Talent Show performances, of course), and directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez (Quarter Life Poetry: Poems for the Young, Broke & Hangry) would've just remade the first film two decades later. There's a message in the Means Girls cycle, as the initial movie closed with. No matter how many obnoxious and angsty young women learn to cope with their ire and embrace kindness, more will follow the same journey, then more again. Accordingly, Mean Girls could easily be restaged every generation with nothing but era-appropriate changes and the tale would still ring true, as proves the case with its second cinema telling — plus the musical angle. That's a testament to the strength of and insights in Fey's foundational screenplay. It's also a sad truth about human nature. But like Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Wood, Love, Victor) yearning for a life and acceptance that doesn't involve everything that Regina decrees, viewers can be forgiven for wanting more from each Mean Girls iteration. While this is a winking, nudging, self-referential take that's forcefully trying to get playful with its devotion to its source material, Regina herself might call it an obsession. Once more, Cady swaps the savannahs of Africa for Evanston, Illinois, then homeschooling for North Shore High School, entering a savage teenage jungle in the process. With talented artist Janis (Auli'i Cravalho, the voice of Moana) and the "almost too gay to function" Damian (Jaquel Spivey, a 2022 Tony-nominee for A Strange Loop) to steer her, she joins the world of cliquery, where the Plastics — Regina, plus Gretchen and fellow entourage member Karen Shetty (Avantika, also The Sex Lives of College Girls) — rule the school. Befriending the in-crowd is meant to be a social experiment. Cady's mum (Jenna Fischer, Splitting Up Together) is a zoologist, after all. But after Cady gets a maths class-sparked crush on Regina's ex Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney, The Summer I Turned Pretty), the newcomer's stint at the popular lunch table morphs into a vengeance mission. Opening with the Cravalho- and Spivey-sung 'A Cautionary Tale' — Janis and Damien are viewers' guides, too — the Mean Girls movie musical uses songs in place of the original's voiceover, and to plumb the characters' emotional and psychological depths. Composer Jeff Richmond (Girls5eva) and lyricist Nell Benjamin (The Sea Beast, and another Tony-nominee) rework their tunes from the stage production that debuted in 2018, then was locked in for a film adaptation in 2020, with additions and exclusions; rarely are they the most memorable parts of the movie. Collaborating with YouTube-famous choreographer Kyle Hanagami (Red, White & Royal Blue), Jayne and Perez opt for a more-is-more vibe; however, the musical numbers ape the overall feature in miniature. Some aspects shine, such as the pure energy of the plan-setting 'Revenge Party' and the sincerity in Gretchen's 'What's Wrong with Me?'. Others are catchy but perfunctory, like the Rice-crooned 'Stupid with Love', plus Cravalho and Spivey again with 'Apex Predator'. Karen's ditty 'Sexy' is an entertaining social-media riff. And whenever Rapp sings, she's electric, but better than the material. Rapp was always destined to be one of the new Mean Girls' highlights. She's been here before, stepping into Regina's shoes again after wearing them on Broadway (Only Murders in the Building's Ashley Park also returns from the theatre after originating the role of Gretchen, but as a teacher). In a film so infrequently willing to switch up anything substantial, Rapp's interpretation of Regina is one of its biggest alterations: where Rachel McAdams (Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret) was icily piercing, the IRL pop singer is fiendishly ferocious. That fits today's times where the entire online realm is a burn book, making nastiness virtually the status quo, and it's never one-note. Among her co-stars, Rice, Cravalho, Spivey, Wood and Avantika all ensure that no one is desperately pining for Lindsay Lohan (Falling for Christmas), Lizzy Caplan (Fatal Attraction), Daniel Franzese (Not So Straight in Silver Lake), Lacey Chabert (A Merry Scottish Christmas) and Amanda Seyfried (The Crowded Room) as their characters instead — with Cravalho making the second-biggest impression, and screaming for more non-voicework parts. Fey returning as Ms Norbury, Tim Meadows (I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson) similarly back as Principal Duvall, Busy Phillips (also Girls5eva) taking over from Amy Poehler (Moxie) as Regina's mother: they're all grool touches. It almost wouldn't be a Fey comedy without Jon Hamm (Fargo) popping up, although he's given little to do — but scrapping Coach Carr's sex scandals was among the essential updatings. Mean Girls has always known that striving to conform is a clunky task, though it didn't need to live it. While this isn't the first movie to become a stage musical and then return to film also as a musical (see: Little Shop of Horrors, The Producers, Hairspray and Everybody's Talking About Jamie) and won't be the last (the new The Color Purple will follow it into cinemas Down Under, for example), it's firmly an example of being too committed to doing what's expected to have enough of its own fun.
Frolic amidst the flowers in the picturesque Carlton Gardens before tucking into a feast fit for a king. Part of the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, Gardens by Twilight will welcome a convoy of food trucks to the grounds around the Royal Exhibition Centre for an after-dark picnic of the most spectacular kind. You'll need a ticket to the show (they're $29.90) — but if you're somewhat interested in checking it out, this is the night to do it. Instead of finishing up at 5pm, the show will stay open until 9pm, lighting up the gardens with live music, food trucks and a bar. Once you've eaten your fill, you can wander around some of the highlights of the show by night, including special installations designed to be viewed by twilight. Image: Jason Edwards Photography. UPDATE: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16 — The first version of this event listed an incorrect date. The correct date of this event is March 23, 2018.
Of all the ways to cool down on a scorching summer's day, beer and ice cream are up there with the best. So just imagine what sort of magic happens when their frosty powers combine. To help keep Melburnians nice and cool this long weekend, Preston brewery Tallboy and Moose and North Fitzroy's Billy Van Creamy have invented a special range of treats, teaming beer and ice cream in all sorts of imaginative ways. And they'll be showing off the best of these hybrid creations at the Tallboy and Moose brewpub all weekend. Headlining the beer-infused ice cream options is the Dark Side of the Moose — a Malteaser-y concoction of Russian imperial stout and cream — and the light, bright King Tang — a sorbet made on the brewery's kiwi fruit sour. Folks who prefer their beer in liquid form can opt instead for a refreshing, nostalgia-inducing spider. There's the Vanilla Moose Vader, featuring vanilla bean ice cream in a pint of Tallboy's Darkside RIS, and the Kiwi Van Gift, teaming that King Tang sorbet with the Late Gift hoppy lager. They're all limited edition treats that'll only be on offer this weekend. Get down to the brewery early to nab yourself a prime spot in the front beer garden. It's all happening at Tallboy and Moose, 270 Raglan Street, Preston, until Sunday, January 28.
International Falafel Day is rocking around for another year and — thanks to Just Falafs — that means a free lunch for you. The Fitzroy North eatery is marking the occasion by handing out 1000 of its classic falafel pitas for free, from 12pm on Monday, June 13. A little long weekend lunchtime win, if you will. For the uninitiated, Just Falafs' signature vegan-friendly lunch feed features thick pita bread stuffed with falafel, hummus, pickles, tomato and cucumber salad, and pickled cabbage, finished with a generous drizzle of tahini. And if you fancy helping out a good cause while you're there, Just Falafs will also be taking donations, raising funds for Australia's first Indigenous youth-led climate organisation, Seed Mob. The free falafels are available only to pickup in store, with a limit of one per customer. [caption id="attachment_857111" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nat Jurrjens[/caption] Top images: Nat Jurrjens and Emilio Scalzo.
Ever wanted to learn how to brew the perfect cuppa? Well good luck finding a teacher with better qualifications than Ayden Graham. The winner of the inaugural Australia Tea Brewer's Cup, he's a man who knows a thing or two about tea — and he's ready to impart his wisdom at a pair of free classes at Sensory Lab in the CBD. From 10am till 12pm on Saturday, October 29, and then again the following week on November 5, Graham will lead participants on "a guided walk through the complex subtleties, and the oft-misunderstood world of tea". Explore a spectrum of different flavours and learn tricks of the tea-making trade — it'll ensure that your cups at home are brewed for maximum relaxation. In addition to the demonstration (which is free, by the way), the class also includes breakfast and bottomless cups of tea.
Drum roll please: Groovin the Moo is here, and 2014 looks like a real crowd-pleaser. The big guns on the lineup this year include a few topnotch international acts, like electronica king Robert Delong (USA) and Dizzee Rascal (UK), as well as some of our well beloved locals like Karnivool, Illy and Architecture in Helsinki. The Naked and Famous (who we'll probably end up claiming as Australian soon) are making their way across the ditch, too. A fair slab of the artists announced have really proved their worth lately, taking out a number of spots in triple j's Hottest 100 of last year, including the winner of the coveted number one spot, Vance Joy. Rounding out the first announcement are Action Bronson, Andy Bull, Cults, Disclosure, Holy Fuck, The Jezabels, The Jungle Giants, Kingswood, The Kite String Tangle, Loon Lake, Parkway Drive, Peking Duck, The Presets, Thundamentals, Violent Soho, Wave Racer and What So Not. Groovin the Moo will hit Bendigo's Prince of Wales Showground on Saturday May 3. Over the last couple of years we've seen huge changes on the Australian music festival scene, losing some stalwarts and seeing some youngsters really come to fruition. Since its inception, Groovin the Moo has been one of those festivals that really looks like sticking around, bringing the best in Australian and international talent to the country, to the people who can't get to shows in the big smoke. Tickets are now sold out for Bendigo and there's more information available at the Groovin the Moo website. https://youtube.com/watch?v=uJ_1HMAGb4k
A few decades ago, marijuana becoming legal in parts of the western world while cigarettes were banned in public venues would have seemed unthinkable. Now, who knows what the future holds for drugs? In this panel discussion, psychoactive medicines are unpacked by Australian experts. Professor Iain McGregor and Dr Samuel Banister work in the field of medicinal cannabis and will be drawing on the findings of their investigations into the changing stance of big pharma. The pair will be joined by Dr Margaret Ross, who is currently running the country's first clinical trial using psilocybin (found in magic mushrooms) and has views that challenge conventional medical perspectives. Chairing the session is journalist and drug advocate Jenny Valentish, so prepare to have your horizons widened.
In the wake of the dubious election of Donald Trump to the office of President of the United States of America, the world took a shocked breath, flabbergasted that an openly misogynistic and accused perpetrator of numerous sexual assaults could be elected to such an important position. For some, however, that shocked breath was immediately followed by plans to take action against an open enemy to women's rights and gender equality. As a result, the Women's March on Washington was born. The march aims to provide a show of power on the first day of Trump's term with the goal of demonstrating that "women's rights are human rights", according to the official website of the organisation. As a show of solidarity to the women, men, and children who will march on the U.S. Capitol, over 170 sister marches are planned to take place on the January 21 all over the world, including the Women's March on Melbourne, which will start at the State Library at 1pm on Saturday. The marches are not only to protest the systemic repression of women, but the unfair treatment of marginalised populations in general. According the Women's March On Melbourne Facebook page, the march is "against misogyny, bigotry and hatred". It is a researched fact that furthering the cause of women's rights leads to greater social growth for all demographics, and these marches are examples of the fact that policy decisions need to tackle the gender inequality that still so blatantly exists in our societies. Aside from the fact that gender inequality is a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — or just, y'know, repressing more than half the population — ignoring women's rights is detrimental to the rest of society as well, as spending time and money on women's health and rights has a multiplier effect than benefits society as a whole. The March on Washington is due to draw crowds that will rival that at Trump's inauguration, and almost 2000 people are expected to attend the march in Melbourne. Image: Kimberley Low.
Bell Shakespeare artistic director Peter Evans has teamed up with Australian stage and screen actor Kate Mulvany to bring to life one of the most manipulative, dastardly and downright evil characters ever to stand before the footlights. Mulvany will play the notorious woman-hater and generally tasteless gent, which will undoubtedly lead to some tasty additional layers in the play and a fresh look at this gem of theatre and literature. Shakespeare's classic play explores King Richard III's Machiavellian acquisition of power and has essentially served as a textbook for most politicians from Henry Kissinger to… well, you can draw your own conclusions. The themes of power, deceit and malevolence amongst the ruling elite that are central to the play, have been echoed throughout the ages. If you're keen to get more out of House of Cards, this is a good place to start. Image: Pierre Toussaint.
Sydney's rambunctious leotard-loving lads, Bluejuice, are calling it a day. The beloved pop/rock/dance/errrthang ratbags Jake Stone, Stavros Yiannoukas, Jamie Cibej and James Hauptmann are embarking on their final greatest hits national tour to wrap everything up by the end of 2014. "After 13 years of broken bones, broken hearts, sore heads, passive aggression, regular aggression, several arrests, questionable skin infections, and a busload of infuriated tour managers, Bluejuice are announcing they are calling it quits at the end of 2014," says the Bluejuice reps. Since 2001, the beloved Sydney outfit have had one heck of a ride, keeping the chin of Australian music up with three celebrated albums (Problems, Head of the Hawk and Company) on the shelf and still holding the position of most played track on triple j ever ('Vitriol'). Bluejuice have decided to part ways to test the waters in other projects, with the sad intention of giving those leotards a rest. Before they take their final bows, the team will release a big ol' greatest hits album — a retrospective ride dubbed Retrospectable, with all your favourite mid-2000s sticky-floored party go-tos, best bits from their three albums, extra rare content and new single 'I'll Go Crazy', produced by Dann Hume (Sticky Fingers/Alpine). Bluejuice will kick it on their final national tour this September/October. Starting at Adelaide's Uni Bar, the pair will meander through the capitals and rural centres before finishing up where it all started — Sydney (at the Metro Theatre, where many a drunken Bluejuice escapade has roamed before). In one of the most emotionally-charged press releases we've ever seen, Bluejuice's legacy is laid down. "They shall leave behind a body of work of which they are all very proud, and they look to the future with a mix of hope and fear of starvation, not unlike the chick at the end of Children Of Men." Top notch. https://youtube.com/watch?v=ldBhDmvWFXE
Even if you've never been, Healesville Sanctuary is probably your happy place — it's full of adorable fluffy creatures, protects some of our important native Australian species and is located in a very peaceful part of the world. In news to make your heart swell even more, the sanctuary is hosting its very first Hop Fest on the Melbourne Cup long weekend of November 3–6. The festival will celebrate the standout craft beers and ciders being brewed int the Yarra Valley, with local brewers pouring tastings of their best drops. The whole thing will take place amongst the native flora and fauna with live music happening throughout the weekend. Plus, you'll have the opportunity to meet some of the animals — like hip-clinging koalas — which will be out and about with their keepers. There'll be a menu of street food-style snacks like sticky ribs and pulled pork tacos to help keep you going throughout the day. And, if you've outbeered yourself, head to the Chandon bar where a new classic Champagne cocktail will be poured each day. The zoo opens at 9am and drinks will flow from 11am right through to 4pm. One-day tickets are going for $49, and include all your beer and cider tastings and unlimited pats of the sanctuary's cute creatures. All proceeds will go towards Zoos Victoria's efforts to save the nearly-extinct brush-tailed rock wallaby. Drinking for four days straight has never been for such a good cause.
It's hard to believe we've been rustling around the trinkets and goodies at 1000 £ Bend for three years now. This Sunday, Bend and Snap Market celebrates its third birthday with another stellar showing of local creative talent. Pick up some cheap designer threads, a ornately crafted necklace, or a one-of-a-kind artwork. This is still one of our favourite places in the city to stumble upon unique treats and potential presents. From 11am-4pm, 1000 £ Bend will be hosting the diverse wares of a bunch of creative folks. Grab some specialty candles in beautiful glass jars from Elizabeth & Mary, some very cutesy curio from RunRabbit, or celebrate Bend & Snap's birthday in gluttonous style by feasting on the latest creations from Mille & B. Prepare yourself for this one: they make cakes out of a zillion (20) layers of delicious crepes. Your choices include Nutella Hazelnutella Banan, Sweet Salted Caramel, Balsamic Strawberry, and Oreo Oreo. If you need us, we'll be shamefully cramming crepe cake into our mouths in the corner. See you there.
Explore the role of women in the creation of the modern Australian city at a free talk in the Queen Victoria Gardens' MPavilion. Presented by Parlour, an advocacy group committed to expanding the opportunities for women in Australian architecture, Women Transforming the City will feature some of the foremost architectural experts in the country. Together, they discuss the incalculable contribution of women in the development of the nation's urban spaces. Join Parlour founder Justine Clarke, urbanist Jane Jose, architect Shelly Penn and historians Renate Howl and Karen Burns as they chronicle the ways in which female activists, architects, philanthropists and politicians have helped shaped Australia as we know it today. The discussion begins at 6pm at MPavilion opposite the Arts Centre, and is one of numerous talks in the MTalks program, which will be hosted in the pop-up culture hub over the next four months.
If an evening spent scoffing cheese, quaffing wine and mastering the art of ceramics sounds like your kind of lockdown situation, then you'd best clear all other weekend plans. The cheese experts at Maker & Monger have joined forces with The Pot Dispensary ceramics studio and created the boredom-busting iso kit you've been waiting for. Designed for two-to-four people, the new Cheese, Wine & Pottery Pack ($190) is a jam-packed evening of fun in a box, which you can have sent directly to your doorstep. Inside, you'll find all the bits and pieces needed to whip up a few pottery masterpieces: five kilograms of stoneware clay, a cotton work surface, a ceramics toolkit and a step-by-step guide. Plus, there's plenty more expert guidance over on The Pot Dispensary's Instagram IGTV channel, with a series of easy-to-follow video tutorials for making bowls, incense holders and more. While you flex all that creative muscle, you can enjoy some hard-earned vino. The box comes with your choice of Mosaique wine, either the Clotilde Davenne Crémant de Bourgogne fizz, or a 2019 Domaine Raphael Chopin gamay. They're both French and they both pair well to the kit's other star additions — a trio of cheeses and accompaniments, as chosen by Maker & Monger's Anthony Femia. Dig into the likes of a Marcel Petite comté, gorgonzola with honeycomb, the Delice de Bourgogne triple cream brie, Bonilla a la Vista potato crisps, fresh grapes and quince paste. Pick up is available from the Prahran Market, or you can arrange delivery to select suburbs for an additional fee. Images: Kate Shanasy
Mary, Queen of Scots is a film steeped in two time periods, yet firmly of the times. A historical drama set in the 16th century as two female monarchs battle for supremacy, it's also a movie that could've only been made today. The true tale itself has graced the screen before, but the angle favoured by this interpretation of the story is straight out of the #MeToo era. As much as Mary, Queen of Scots tells of its titular ruler (Saoirse Ronan) and her conflict with her cousin Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie), it also explores the forces pitting them against each other and putting them in their places. When Mary returns to Scotland after a childhood spent in France, she regains her throne and sets her sights on her other birthright. The only legitimate child of King James V, she boasts a claim to England, even if Elizabeth already wears that crown. What follows is a quest for sovereignty by two relatives as different as they are alike. Mary is a teenage Catholic open to love, life and birthing a successor to both kingdoms, while Elizabeth is a Protestant who refuses to marry and isn't expected to bear an heir. But they're each headstrong, intelligent and passionate, and determined to fight for what's theirs regardless of the obstacles in their path. In a movie filled with men unhappy about serving the fairer sex, including Mary's disapproving half-brother (James McArdle), a scare-mongering religious leader (David Tennant) and Elizabeth's duplicitous chief advisor (Guy Pearce), there's no doubting how cruel the world can be to a woman in power. While political manoeuvring and machinations drive Mary, Queen of Scots' plot, confident first-time director Josie Rourke works with screenwriter Beau Willimon (House of Cards) to focus on the bigger picture. Behind both queens stands a line of wolves in sheep's clothing, complying with their rulers to the bare minimum and trying to push their own agendas. If the male posturing and plotting didn't ring so true, it might've felt like a forced, convenient modern revision designed to highlight that women still struggle to be taken seriously, even if their troubles are finally getting more attention. Sadly, men attempting to tear down female leaders hasn't gone out of fashion in the past five centuries. A veteran of the London stage before this, Rourke knows where the strength of the story lies. Although her handsomely mounted picture is based on the biography Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart and clearly favours the Scottish monarch over her cousin, Mary's struggles are deepened by the comparison to Elizabeth. Indeed, through skilled, fluid cross-cutting, the film convincingly closes the gap between two women who only actually share one scene. Their face-to-face, when it comes, is climactic, emotional and memorable (not to mention strikingly staged by Rourke and her team), but Mary, Queen of Scots places them face-to-face from start to finish, in a manner. History branded Mary and Elizabeth competitors; this version of history sees them as kindred spirits. Still, for all of Mary, Queen of Scots' successes, it ultimately mirrors the plight of its protagonists: striving for greatness, and to make an impact, yet often weighed down. It's a fine, meaningful film that could've been stellar, but sometimes makes its minutiae feel routine and elongated. After a while, the letters back and forth, the scheming and strategies, and the fears and the threats all bleed into each other, even for those already familiar with the details. Thankfully, the same can never be said of 2018 Oscar nominees Ronan and Robbie, each worlds apart from their respective acclaimed roles in Lady Bird and I, Tonya. One is plucky and idealistic, the other fierce yet silently fraying, and both are tinged by exhaustion and frustration — not from squaring off against each other, but from simply fighting to exist. Any movie would be lucky to have them, and their equally timely and timeless vision of women holding their own. Mary, Queen of Scots is lucky to have both. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEC-F8cBD9s
Go to the cinema in India and you’re in for a real show — answering the blower at pivotal narrative moments and launching into loud, unbridled conversation, heavy jostling, impromptu sing-a-long's minus the bouncing red ball and throwing betel nut in particularly involving sequences are all common practice. Amidst all this lively commotion it’s easy to lose sight of the real action taking place onscreen, a crying shame considering the vividly crafted, infectiously emotive hyper-realities for which the Indian film industry has become world famous. This May, the second annual Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, which fortuitously falls on the 100 year anniversary of Indian films, brings a broad selection of more than 60 of India and the wider sub-continent’s best cinema to local Hoyts and ACMI theatres. Highlights include ACMI’s 100 Years of Indian Cinema program, pure sequin encrusted escapism via Hurrah Bollywood and the counter-balancing Beyond Bollywood, a collection of experimental, art house films that suggest a deeper side to the industry, beyond much appreciated heaving bosoms and random explosions of song. Those wishing to become part of the action, a la the aforementioned Indian fondness for audience participation, can partake in the Bollywood Dance Competition at Fed Square on May 4, or attend one of multiple corresponding masterclasses, hosted by Bollywood’s finest throughout the festival. BYO bindi. Image via Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2013
Lost in Space, Loosely Speaking and Royalty are three new exhibitions at the ever-experimental Gertrude Contemporary, Melborne's first and best executed combined gallery and studio complex. Dan Moynihan's Lost in Space is an exhibition within an exhibition. Without descending into Matrix-style lingo, Moynihan devises a fantasy art gallery within the front space in which to live out an alternative version of his artistic career. This installation leads all those who enter his faux space into fictional scenarios inspired by his previous art residencies, train station encounters and artistic angst. Loosely Speaking is a collaborative effort between Ruth Buchanan, Sarah Crowest and Adele Mills. It considers the slippery logic of language and the inconsistencies of social expectations. The three women use sound, video and sculpture to gently point out how easily words and gestures can fall into the gap between understanding and misunderstanding. Reko Rennie's Royalty puts urban Aboriginal issues up in neon lights. As a Gertrude Contemporary studio artist, he draws upon local graffiti and streetscapes to feed his enduring passion for exploring contemporary Aboriginal identity via spray paint, installation and projection. While each exhibition is unique, they are all linked by a desire to recreate the spaces we move through unthinkingly, the interactions we crave automatically, and the city we take for granted.
Part bar, part performance venue, Loop provides a space for artists, film makers and live audiovisual performers (and fans of all the above) to share their creative energies — over a pizza and pot of beer. With an event calendar that offers something different almost every night of the week, expect film festival screenings, performances of buzzing electro-pop and DJs every weekend. Loop is also a pillar of the local filmmaking community, presenting Comfortable Shorts each month — a series of short films from local and international creatives.
It seems a pretty hard task to follow Hannah Gadsby's international smash-hit show, Nanette. After all, the one-woman stand-up performance copped serious praise on its 18-month travels across Australia and the UK, even scooping the top honours at both the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It also spawned its very own Netflix special. And when Gadsby used the show to announce she was quitting comedy for good, we thought that was it. But indeed, the beloved Aussie comedian is set to give the follow-up a red hot crack when she returns to the stand-up stage with her latest work, Douglas, named after her own pet pooch. While Nanette pulled apart the concept of comedy itself, dishing up an insight into Gadsby's past, Douglas promises to deliver a serve of "very new ideas", collected during her recent travels around the planet. This show will mark Gadsby's first-ever US tour, though us locals are getting first dibs, as Douglas makes its world debut with an Arts Centre stint for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Hannah Gadsby: Douglas tickets will go on sale at 10am AEDT on Wednesday, February 13. You can sign-up for pre-sale access here. First image: Jim Lee.
You might consider yourself a dumpling aficionado, but how many nations have your dumpling adventures taken you to? It's easy enough in downtown Melbourne to get your mouth around a xiao long bao from Shanghai or a prawn gow gee, but dumplings from other places — like Canada or Nepal — are not so easy to come by. Luckily, South Yarra's Oriental Teahouse wants to help you seriously expand your global experience — all in one night. As part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, the eatery is hosting the United Nations of Dumplings. Happening on Monday, March 19 and again on Wednesday, March 21, it'll give you the chance to sample 16 dumplings from as many countries. Get ready for Nepalese turkey momos with tomato cilantro sauce, Polynesian crab Rangoon fried wontons, maple syrup dumplings direct from Quebec and another 13 parcels of wonder. Dumplings alone will set you back $58 and you can add matching drinks for an extra 40 bucks.
They don't make them like Nicholas Alexander Gray anymore. Besides having a name that sounds like an Oscar Wilde character, Gray is an artist, arts therapist, antiques buyer, grape picker, puppet maker, graphic designer and book collector. He's also working on an English translation of a series of seminal Buddhist texts, making a could be portrait of Nicholas Gray very intriguing indeed. Collingwood's House of Bricks gallery is hosting an enormous art book sale filled with over 2000 aesthetically inclined page turners acquired by Gray on the aforementioned crazy journey he calls life. Running alongside the sale is a collection of Gray's paintings and sculptures, also available for viewing and purchase. On Tuesday May 28 from 6pm-8pm the event opens with drinks and a performance by Gray's choir (yes, he has a choir). Image via House of Bricks.
It’s hard to write about art. How to even attempt to effectively communicate and quantify something so imaginative and indefinable that the person who made it probably doesn’t even use lined paper to scrawl their notes because they’re just so darned creative that even their shopping lists can’t exist within confines. You know what’s harder than writing about one exhibition? Writing about five. I throw my hands up, I have been defeated — West Space’s next wave of exhibitions, opening this Thursday night, can speak for themselves. In the front space Jessie Bullivant’s Giving away something that is free could be a reference to the generosity of West Space’s (free or heavily discounted, I’m not sure) bar policy. In actual fact it’s about the relationship between the size of an action and it’s weight, that other idea is just a conspiracy theory and happy coincidence. Elsewhere, Scott Mitchell’s Object Therapy obsessively explores the nature of…stuff, Pulp Fictions by Jonas Ropponen and Andy Hutson showcases a papier-mache exchange program (the best kind of exchange program), Andie Tham’s Inherited and Borrowed reimagines the grandiose and the mundane in cardboard silhouettes and Risa Sato’s Spaceship ‘Kari-nui’ sees an inflatable spaceship touch down, all the way from Yokohama via Pluto, Saturn and Mars. I could try and draw connections between this big old smorgasbord of art, but I’d be clutching at straws. Get down there to forge your own associations, whilst enjoying the high quality people watching always on offer at a West Space opening. Image credit Scott Mitchell.
It's time to live out all your Tony Hawk Pro Skater dreams from 1998. Converse Australia — those perennial titans of street cred — are bringing you a bunch of free skate workshops and assorted cool dude-ery. Over the course of two weekends, Converse are giving you the chance to learn off experts like Kenny Anderson, Nick Trapasso, Mike Anderson, and Andrew Brophy for the ever-convenient price of free. From 12-5pm on Saturday, June 8 you can get some hands-on experience making ramps and other handy skate obstacles out of wood, then follow it up the next day with a crash course in concrete. The following weekend will be one for the show-offs. From 12-5pm on Saturday, June 14, Andrew Peters and Bryce Golder will be leading a course on skate photography. Hot tip: anything shot with a fish eye lens is automatically cool. If that's not enough, skate video producer Su Young Choi will be leading a videography workshop the very next day. All the workshops are free of charge, but get in quick. Once the sk8r bois of Brunswick and Fitzroy get wind of this, places won't last long. Book your place here. Photo credit: Chris H.B. Rogers via photopin cc.
We're in the thick of a glorious summer of festivals and you might be feeling the pinch in your pocket book (then again, who uses a pocket book anymore?). But don't you worry little darlings, we've got just the ticket — literally. We have a pretty darn sweet giveaway in our hot little hands which includes two tickets to Sugar Mountain festival which is happening on January 23 at the Victorian College of the Arts and Melbourne Arts Precinct. Thanks to the legends at Thinking Loud, Bacardi and Sugar Mountain, your weekend is now sorted. Importantly, this killer prize is for those of you who aren't afraid of a kick-on, because you'll also be getting two tickets to the official afterparty Hot Wax: Sugar Mountain Friends and Family Party presented by Bacardi Fuego. It's kicking on the next day, Sunday, January 24, at the Curtin House rooftop bar and the lineup includes Noise In My Head, Tom Trago and Andy Hart. It’s an exclusive guestlisted event from 12pm-3pm and where you can rub shoulders with the Sugar Mountain crew and from 3pm the doors are open to the public. You’ll actually save a whole heap of money because the prize pack includes complimentary drinks at both events — both events. And the best part? Free Boiler Room t-shirt, yesssss. Sugar Mountain is happening January 23 and Hot Wax — Sugar Mountain Friends and Family Party presented by Bacardi Fuego is on January 24. Final release tickets for the festival are $119, but thanks to Thinking Loud, Bacardi and Sugar Mountain, here's what you can score. Prize includes two Sugar Mountain tickets, two tickets to Hot Wax — Sugar Mountain Friends and Family Party, complimentary drinks at both events, a Boiler Room tee. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter and then email us at win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au with your name and address.
Do you love ice cream? Of course you do. But do you feel like you could love it just that little bit more? If so, you might want to attend a Helados Jauja Ice Cream Appreciation Masterclass. Run by the team at the Helados Jauja on Lygon Street, these two-hour sessions will reveal the secrets of their Argentinean-style ice cream, made by hand with not a single artificial flavour in sight. Of course, in order to fully understand the ice cream making process, you'll need to sample the product for yourself. Ticketholders will be taken through an 'indulgent degustation' of the Helados Jauja ice cream cabinet, where you'll find flavours such as eggnog, blood plum and shortbread, and peanut butter Nutella. Once the class is finished, you'll also get a complimentary take-home pack full of your three favourite flavours. Just make sure you get in quick — tickets to their first two sessions for the year are already close to selling out. For more information, and to keep up to date with future classes, visit heladosjauja.com.au.
Having established itself as a summer favourite across the country over the last few years, the Royal Croquet Club will return to Melbourne. Back for a third year, the outdoor festival is set to take over Birrarung Marr from December 8. The 16-day event promises all the fun and flavour of previous years, offering up a buffet of live entertainment, experiential arts, food, drink, and — of course — more than a few games of croquet. The al fresco festival will see revellers of all ages and skill levels hitting the central croquet pitch, with some of Sydney's best food on hand for refuelling in between games. Expect noms from St Kilda's POW Kitchen, 8bit burgers, and barbecued things from Hoy Pinoy and Up in Smoke. Gelato Messina will once again bring back their ice cream creations in Campbell's Soup-like tins. And the fun continues away from the mallets too, with a lineup of local and international artists dishing up live tunes, including Jarryd James, Hayden James, Touch Sensitive and, randomly, Angus Stone as Dope Lemon. This year they'll also be adding The Parlour, a 70-seat pop-up theatre that will showcase acts from Adelaide Fringe. Previous years have seen as many as 60,000 people rock up, and this time 'round you can expect just as many. Entry is $20 on Friday and Saturday nights after 6pm, but free at all other times.
Contemporary art featured in galleries around the world will be on display at The Hotel Windsor this week, as part of the third annual Spring 1883. Returning to the iconic Spring Street venue this week, the free collaborative event will go ahead despite the cancellation of the 2016 Melbourne Art Fair, to which it was originally attached before the latter's untimely demise. Open to the public from noon until 6pm August 18 through 21, this year's event will boast art from more than two dozen galleries. Among the international contingent you'll find work from KANSAS Gallery in New York and Southard Reid in London, while local players include Sydney's Gallery 9 and Alaska Projects, and Melbourne's Murray White Room. The pieces on display promise to be similarly diverse, ranging from photography to ceramics to portraiture and more.
Move over Babe, Piglet, Porky and Peppa. Thanks to monochrome-hued documentary Gunda, cinema has a brand new porcine star. Or several, to be exact; however, other than the eponymous sow, none of the attention-grabbing pigs in this movie are given names. If that feels jarring, that's because it breaks from film and television's usual treatment of animals. Typically on-screen, we see and understand the zoological beings we share this planet with as only humans can, filtering them through our own experience, perception and needs. We regard them as companions who become our trustiest and most reliable friends; as creatures who play important roles in our lives emotionally, physically and functionally; as anthropomorphised critters with feelings and traits so much like ours that it seems uncanny; and as worthy targets of deep observation or study. We almost never just let them be, though. Whether they're four-legged, furry, feathered or scaly, animals that grace screens big and small rarely allowed to exist free from our two-legged interference — or from our emotions, expectations or gaze. Gunda isn't like any other movie you've seen about all creatures great and small, but it can't ignore the shadow that humanity casts over its titular figure, her piglets, and the one-legged chicken and paired-off cows it also watches, either. It's shot on working farms, so it really doesn't have that luxury. It features animals destined to play their parts in the food chain, a fact that can't be avoided. But, surveying these critters and their lives without narration or explanation, this quickly involving, supremely moving and deeply haunting feature is happy to let the minutiae of these creatures' existence say everything that it needs to. The delights and devastation alike are in the details, and the entire movie is filled with both. Filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky (Aquarela) looks on as Gunda's namesake gives birth, and as her offspring crawl hungrily towards her before they've even properly realised that they're now breathing. His film keeps peering their way as they squeal, explore and grow, and as they display their inquisitive, curious and sometimes mischievous personalities, too. Sometimes, this little family rolls around in the mud. At other times, they simply sleep, or Gunda takes the opportunity to enjoy some shut-eye while her piglets play. Whatever they're doing, and whenever and where, these pigs just going about their business, which the feature takes in frame by frame. In one of the documentary's interludes away from its porcine points of focus, the aforementioned chook hops about. Whether logs or twigs are involved, it too is just navigating its ordinary days. In the second of the movie's glimpses elsewhere, cattle trot and stand, and their routine couldn't seem more commonplace as well. It doesn't take a particularly observant person to notice the tag through Gunda's ear, or the fencing surrounding her and her fellow cast of creatures. No one need listen intently, their own ears figuratively pricked, to discern the noise of the human world beyond the sounds of nature. Evidence of people — even without even the slightest glimpse of a single one — is always there for viewers to see and hear, with Kossakovsky's engrossing and meditative documentary presenting it as plainly as it does everything else throughout its duration. The audience knows that these stories won't end happily as a result. It's well aware that humankind's intended use for the film's animals will trump the critters' own urges, desires and clearly apparent emotions. Indeed, Gunda screams its abhorrence of eating flesh without saying a word; to the surprise of no one who saw his Golden Globes and Oscars speeches in 2020, Joaquin Phoenix is one of its executive producers. Everyone finds their own meaning in every movie, but patient, dialogue-free, near-hypnotic documentaries like Gunda enhance that sensation several times over. Staring at its intimate visuals — at the stunning, resonant and evocative sights it presents again and again — sparks a shower of thoughts, threads and questions, and, sans guiding words dictating what to focus on and why, each individual viewer will veer in their own direction. Some will be struck by the act of watching life come into the world, then shaken by knowing its ultimate purpose. Others might be shocked by the way that even the simplest trace of routine connects every living thing. Others still could come to think differently about their diet choices. All three and more are options here, because Gunda ensures that its audience isn't just seeing its pigs, chicken and cows in a strikingly realistic, authentic and compassionate fashion, but is also confronting and challenging their own personal choices around animals at the same time. Gunda is an immensely empathetic film — director/co-writer/co-editor/co-cinematographer Kossakovsky was inspired by his own childhood experience, when he had a pig for a best friend — and also a work of astonishing skill. So seamless are Kossakovsky and fellow writer/editor Ainara Vera's (Aquarela) efforts that it's impossible to guess that Gunda and her piglets' lives in Norway are interspliced with scenes from British and Spanish farms. Every shot seen on-screen is so gorgeously framed and lit by the filmmaker and his co-director of photography Egil Håskjold Larsen (When Man Remains), and so vivid and textured in its inky black-and-white colour scheme, that avoiding the lure of its imagery is unimaginable. It's no wonder that taking in the documentary's every second feels like an act of surrender — visually, intellectually and emotionally, and to its layered and immersive soundscape as well. This isn't just a nature doco; it's a poetic musing on what it means for every creature to be alive and an examination of humankind's display of force over the natural world, and it's as staggering as it is stirring. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilNHPfOOeIs
It might not feel like it somedays in Melbourne, but winter is done and dusted for another year. With that in mind, Victoria's High Country is celebrating spring with the first-ever Festival of Short Walks. Visitors are invited to spend a week exploring the area on foot, with a bunch of walking tours taking place in and around the quaint towns of Beechworth, Chiltern, Yackandandah and Rutherglen. The festival's program is stacked with more than 30 guided tours and 40 self-guided walks, each one mapped out, timed and graded on how hard it is, so you know what you're committing to from the get-go. Don't stress if you're not super fit as the walks cater to everyone from adventurous explorers to nature lovers just wanting to escape the city — even those of us who only go for walks if there's food at the end of it. Some of the guided tours will cost you a small fee (it's $26 for Disco Dee's silent disco walking tour of Beechworth — worth it), but there are plenty that won't cost you a penny, leaving more coin to put towards cute accommodation for the weekend or dinner at Bridge Road Brewers. If you're keen to make the most of being in some of Victoria's best wine country — and don't mind spending a few more dollars — there are a couple of ticketed foodie events. Wine producers from Lake Moodemere Estate will be taking punters on a walking tour through their vineyards before serving up a three-course meal with matched wines ($175), while the 1500 Pound Party will set you back $100 for a hidden shindig with drinks, nibbles and tunes — a reward for the rocky trail hike it will take you to get there. All the info you need, including tour sign-ups, tickets, maps and tips for where to stay and eat while you're in town, can be found here.
Described as a cinema without the film, French artists Romain Bermond and Jean-Baptiste Maillet's Dark Circus sees the duo project striking silhouettes onto the big screen. Dark Circus tells the story of an "unhappy circus" – one where the human cannonball meets his demise and the lion tamer has the tables turned on him. Bermond and Maillet expertly interweave light, shadow and negative space – along with a light-hearted funk and soul soundtrack – to create a deeply tongue-in-cheek performance that seemingly brings a story to life out of nothing.
We all love a good Polish dumpling, but who knew the humble pierogi actually had a patron saint? His name is Saint Hyacinth and he even has a day of feasting dedicated to him. And to celebrate, your mates at Pierogi Pierogi are hosting a good ol' dumpling fundraiser. As it turns out, Saint Hyacinth was famed for feeding homemade pierogi to Krakow's poor, needy and destitute, and these locals are marking the occasion by doing something similar. At the Pierogi Pierogi stall at Queen Victoria Night Market on Wednesday, August 14 the team is giving out free plates of Polish dumpling to the first 100 people that donate to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) tins, which will be located out the front of the stall. The fundraiser is a nod to the Poles who were welcomed into Australia when they fled the communist regime in the 40s and 80s. If you miss out on free dumplings, you'll still be about to eat some and donate (and feel warm and fuzzy for two reasons). On the menu there'll be ruskie dumps (filled with potato and white cheese), kapusta version (with 'shrooms and sauerkraut) and mieso ones (with beer and vegetable). The stall will be open from 5–10pm but you better get in early if you want to snag a free (with donation) plate of pierogi.
Make your way out west for a day of food, rides and live entertainment, as the Yarraville Festival returns for another year. Engulfing Yarraville Village and the surrounding streets, this local community festival is like ten school fetes jammed together. We're talking market stalls, local food vendors and six different stages. Here's hoping the weather is willing to cooperate. It all goes down on Sunday, February 7. There'll be more than 120 stalls selling everything from beauty products to vintage clothing, plus an entire precinct near Anderson and Wills Streets just for stuffing your face. Of the dozens of music acts lined up for the day, highlights include Kattimoni, The Mercurials and Sarah Maclaine, as well as performances by the Bindaas Bollywood Dance Company. And if you love dogs, make sure you're near the Community Stage at 11am for the annual pooch parade.
Normally, you mightn't be a fan of American football. You may not care for it at all, in fact, or know anything about it beyond Friday Night Lights. So when the Super Bowl rolls around each year, you might only pay attention for the half-time show and the movie trailers. But if you've been enjoying HBO's video game-to-TV series The Last of Us — if you've been hanging out for new episodes each week, too — then you're now a massive supporter of the biggest US football match of the year. You still don't have to watch the Super Bowl if you don't want to. But HBO thinks that plenty of people will be in America, so it's moving the episode of The Last of Us that's slated to air on Super Bowl day — on Monday, February 13 Down Under, and the show's fifth instalment — to an earlier date. That shift has a ripple effect here in Australia, with streaming service Binge doing the same. Accordingly, mark 12pm AEST / 1pm AEDT on Saturday, February 11 in your diary. This is a one-off move, with The Last of Us returning to Monday releases in Australia for its remaining four episodes of season one from Monday, February 20. Still, for one week — this week — you'll get two instalments in the space of five days instead of seven. In similarly welcome news that was announced earlier in February, The Last of Us is locked in for a second season as well. That development was hardly surprising given the 2013 game that the show is based on also inspired a 2014 expansion pack and 2020 sequel — and also because HBO's version has been attracting viewers faster than any sudden movement attracts zombies — but it was still obviously hugely welcome. If you haven't yet caught up with the thoughtful dystopian series, which is character-focused, supremely well-cast and committed to exploring not just what's happening in its contagion-ravaged world but why life is worth fighting for, it's already one of 2023's big TV highlights. Set 20 years after modern civilisation as we know it has been toppled by a parasitic fungal infection that turns the afflicted into shuffling hordes, it follows Pedro Pascal (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent) as Joel, who gets saddled with smuggling 14-year-old Ellie (his Game of Thrones co-star Bella Ramsey) out of a strict quarantine zone to help possibly save humanity's last remnants. There wouldn't be a game, let alone a television version made by Chernobyl's Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann from Naughty Dog (who also penned and directed The Last of Us games), if that was an easy task. And, there wouldn't be much of either if the Joel and Ellie didn't need to weather quite the brutal journey. Check out the trailer for The Last of Us below: The Last of Us screens and streams via Foxtel and Binge in Australia, and will drop its fifth episode via Binge at 12pm AEST / 1pm AEDT on Saturday, February 11 — before reverting to releasing new episodes each Monday from Monday, February 20. Read our review of The Last of Us' first season. Images: Liane Hentscher/HBO.
Melbourne-based beer-lovers, here's a meeting of minds you'll be very excited about. Celebrated brewery Stomping Ground has teamed up with boutique bottle shop Blackhearts & Sparrows and pioneering Indigenous-owned food business Mabu Mabu to create a new collaboration brew. And it's wintry beer perfection. Introducing, the trio's latest project — a warming Wattleseed Stout celebrating local flavours and cool weather. The drop is getting a proper welcome, too, with a launch party firing up Blackhearts' Collingwood venue Perry's on Friday, July 8. [caption id="attachment_859550" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Wattleseed Stout brew team.[/caption] Here, you'll have the chance to taste-test the newcomer, while sipping your way through a full Stomping Ground tap takeover. Plus, four of the evening's beers will have clever food pairings, designed by Mabu Mabu chef-owner Nornie Bero — think, tartlets of leek, native currant and bunya dukkah, and saltbush lamb cutlet matched with warrigal green salsa verde. Meanwhile, you'll get to chat to all the people involved in the new brew and DJ Ingrid will be spinning tunes throughout the night. Tickets are $28, which includes entry, a can of the Wattleseed Stout and a selection of small plates. [caption id="attachment_845503" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Perry's[/caption]
Tequila: 1. You: 0. That's right, champ, you're hungover. And when your head is throbbing and your stomach is promising to reject your carb-loaded breakfast, it is near impossible to resist the urge to crawl right back into bed, and stay there. All day. This plan of action isn't always the practical choice, however. Especially if you are in, say, Las Vegas. There's more booze to be drunk, more shenanigans to get into. Lucky for you, there's a solution. And no, it isn't ibuprofen and a Vitamin Water. Enter the fleet of magical buses, Hangover Heaven. The brainchild of Dr. Jason Burke, Hangover Heaven buses are available for walk-in visits, or to drop by the hotel rooms of those in need. The 45-minute IV treatment rehydrates you, all the while pumping you full of hangover-busting vitamins. The treatment is FDA-approved, and available for a charge of US$150. Get in. Get out. Go rage. [via Gawker]
Apple's plan to build its first Australian flagship store at Federation Square has been one of Melbourne's most controversial new building projects in recent times. And now, after almost 18 months of back and forth, it looks like the plans will be scrapped after Heritage Victoria today refused the huge tech company's application to knock down one of the existing buildings. Heritage Victoria has this afternoon officially refused Apple's application for a permit to 'dismantle and demolish' the Yarra Building and build a new two-level store on the site. In its refusal, the body noted that the proposed building would have an "unacceptable and irreversible detrimental impact on the cultural heritage status" of Fed Square as it would 'encroach' on public space and detract from the cohesive design of the current square format. It says that the negative impacts of the proposal "are not outweighed by the benefits". The Andrews Government has confirmed that, without the ability to build a new structure, Apple will not go ahead with the project. Instead, the government will launch a review (with public consultation) into the future of Federation to ensure it grows as "an innovative and exciting place for our community". https://twitter.com/NTAV/status/1114007888458948608 This will make opponents to Apple's plans very happy. After being announced in late 2017, Apple's proposed Fed Square store has received considerable community backlash, both around the designs and the fact that it would tear down and replace the existing Yarra Building — and displace the Koorie Heritage Trust in the process. The government has confirmed that the trust will be able to remain in its current home while the review is being completed. It's gone through a lot since. The Victorian landmark was granted temporary heritage protection in August, and then in October it was recommended for permanent inclusion on the Victorian Heritage Register by Heritage Victoria, which prevented any work on the new Apple store from commencing. This refusal doesn't mean Fed Square has heritage status — and it doesn't mean another retail offering could take its place. Heritage Victoria has stated that a "more conventional" commercial business could be viable for the Yarra Building if its requirements could result in a smaller impact on the square. Image: Robert Blackburn, Visit Victoria.
There are many activities you can do in a two-hour time slot. You could watch all six episodes of the ABC's satirical beauty blog Sarah's Channel, cook 60 packets of 2 Minute Noodles or listen to Pink Floyd's 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' 4.6 times. But we think the tastiest way to pass 120 minutes is to spend it eating endless plates of tacos. And that's exactly what you can do each Sunday in January, when El Camino Cantina dishes out two hours of unlimited tacos for just $19 a pop. Rock up to the Fitzroy venue between 3pm and 6pm, and you'll be able to dig into a bottomless feast of everyone's favourite Mexican dish. To redeem the offer, you will need to purchase a drink of sorts. Watermelon margs will be $7.50 — but you can get a glass of sangria, a Dos Equis or, really, anything else on the extensive drinks menus. If you're getting a crew together, you might want to book in advance. You can lock down a table here.
There might be a while to go before summer kicks off, but you'll still find plenty of excuses to partake in a tasty gin or two this week. Especially from Friday, October 14–Sunday, October 16, when Collingwood restaurant, cafe, brewery, distillery and workshop The Craft & Co returns with a three-day spring-inspired edition of its much-loved gin market. It'll be held across six sessions in a sit-down format, with the distillers and producers going from table to table, speed dating style. Nine labels will be dropping by to show off their wares, including Naught, Applewood, Archie Rose, Boatrocker, Animus and more. You can expect some top-notch product to be cracked open across the weekend, and as always, there'll be a generously stocked retail store where market-goers can snap up bottles of their favourite gins for home. Session tickets range from $35–40, which includes entry, all of your tastings and a Craft & Co showbag. The eatery and bar downstairs will be operational for a pre- or post-market feed, though bookings are recommended.
Thursday, May 13 marks World Cocktail Day, so Monkey Shoulder is bringing its tipples to Welcome to Thornbury. The scotch brand has created Australia's biggest cocktail mixer truck called Monkey Mixer, which looks a little like a cement mixer truck, but shiny — and it'll be serving up free cocktails from 6pm. The giant orange and silver truck will hit the venue as part of a Guinness World Record-breaking attempt to mix up the most cocktails in one minute. The current record sits at a whopping 18; however, Melbourne bartenders and mixologists are invited to try to beat it. While they're shaking and stirring, the audience will sip free beverages. So, you'll get a drink and you'll be entertained. You'll be knocking back cocktails made in the Monkey Mixer, not by the competitors — but the price will be right, obviously.
Sake has really blown up in Australia over the last decade, with more and more bars able to access Japan's national drink. Of course, we're not sake masters — there are so many more varieties of rice wine that we haven't had the chance to experience yet. Enter Nihonshu Australia, an association of sake importers, who are aiming to change that once and for all. Presented REVEL — who organise boozy events including Pinot Palooza and Game of Rhones — the Sake Matsuri festival was first held in Sydney last year, and now it's coming to Melbourne for the first time. Taking over 524 Flinders Street on Saturday, June 9, there'll be more than 60 types of sake on offer, each representing the drink's different styles, serving temperatures and prefectures of origin in Japan. For $60 (or for a $50 early bird ticket before May 13), punters will get access to unlimited tastings plus a free Plumm glass valued at $35. The event is split into two sessions, so you can sip sake by day (from 11am-4pm) or night (5-9pm). Japanese craft beer will also be on offer, along with a selection of Japanese-style bites to eat from Maker & Monger and more.
If you're a Queenslander with a trip to Melbourne in your future — or vice versa — the pandemic has just interrupted your plans. With the Victorian capital currently in day one of a snap five-day lockdown in attempt to contain the Holiday Inn COVID-19 cluster, the Sunshine State has declared the area a coronavirus hotspot. And, as a result, Queensland has closed its borders to the city. The change was announced yesterday, Friday, February 12, and came into effect at 1am today, Saturday February 13. It specifically applies to Greater Melbourne, with 36 Local Government Areas in the region all now considered hotspots by the Queensland government. Accordingly, folks who've been in Greater Melbourne are no longer be permitted to enter Queensland, unless they receive an exemption and then go into government quarantine for 14 days. The border will be closed for at least the next fortnight, and affects anyone who has been to Greater Melbourne in the past 14 days or since Tuesday, February 9 — whichever is shorter. Noting that some folks from Melbourne will already be in Queensland — and some Queenslanders who've visited the city and then returned home recently, too — the state government is also asking anyone who has been to Greater Melbourne since Friday, February 5 to get tested immediately and isolate until they receive their results. And, if you've been to a venue named by the Victorian government as an exposure site, you're asked to get tested and then go into self-isolation for 14 days, regardless of whether you're showing any symptoms. Queensland has brought back its Border Declaration Pass for anyone who has been in Victoria in the past fortnight, too, as announced earlier in the week. That also came back into effect at 1am today, Saturday, February 13. https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1359674995878727681 Queensland joins the rest of the country's states and territories in introducing new requirements for Greater Melbourne residents and, in some cases, folks from all of Victoria as well. New South Wales has placed everyone returning from Victoria from Saturday, February 13 into the same five-day lockdown; Western Australia completely closed its border to anyone who has been in Victoria, effective 6pm on Friday, February 12; and South Australia also did the latter from 12.01am on Saturday, February 13. Tasmania has similarly shut its border to Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory requires non-residents to obtain an exemption and go into lockdown and the Northern Territory has brought back 14 days of quarantine for Victorian arrivals. For more information about southeast Queensland's COVID-19 border restrictions, or about the status of COVID-19 in the state, visit the Qld COVID-19 hub and the Queensland Health website. For more information about COVID-19 in Victoria and the state's current restrictions, head over to the Department of Health and Human Services website.
Federation Square will be busting out the pierogi at its annual Polish Festival, helping you to celebrate Polish culture and forget about all your mates and their mid-year jaunts through Europe — at least momentarily. As well as being the 14th iteration of the festival, Poland is also celebrating the 100th anniversary of Polish independence after 123 years of partition, so this year's festivities look set to be particularly big. Expect hearty food like bigos (hunter's stew), and kielbasa (sausage), as well as heaps of traditional cakes and pastries. While the traditional dishes won't extend to the vodka variety, you can always move onto a bar later in the day once you've downed a couple of plates of pierogi. Live music and dance will also feature, as will folk-inspired art and piano music accompaniment, raking in the points for old-world charm. Kids will find interactive music shows, wianki (wreath) making, as well as DIY crafting masks of Smok Wawelski (a famous dragon in Polish folklore). Come for the pierogi, stay for learning about the history and legends of Poland. Image: Anna Torun.
There are just a few months left before our city's culinary obsession switches to overdrive and we're gripped hard by Melbourne Food And Wine Festival fever. And this year's program promises as hearty a celebration as ever, with a star-studded lineup of culinary legends and a heady offering of feasts, masterclasses, pop-ups and parties. From a locally focused meat-free feast in a winery to a dinner showcasing Quebec's finest, here are our top picks for MFWF 2019.
Guillermo del Toro hasn't yet directed a version of Frankenstein, except that he now has in a way. Officially, he's chosen another much-adapted, widely beloved story — one usually considered less dark — but there's no missing the similarities between the Nightmare Alley and The Shape of Water filmmaker's stop-motion Pinocchio and Mary Shelley's ever-influential horror masterpiece. Both carve out tales about creations made by grief-stricken men consumed by loss. Both see those tinkerers help give life to things that don't usually have it, gifting existence to the inanimate because they can't cope with mortality's reality. Both notch up the fallout when those central humans struggles with the results of their handiwork, even though all that the beings that spring from their efforts want is pure and simple love and acceptance. Del Toro's take on Pinocchio still has a talking cricket, a blue-hued source of magic and songs, too, but it clearly and definitely isn't a Disney movie. Instead, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is an enchanting iteration of a story that everyone knows, and that's graced screens so many times that this is the third flick in 2022 alone. Yes, the director's name is officially in the film's title. Yes, it's likely there to stop the movie getting confused with that array of other page-to-screen adaptations, all springing from Carlo Collodi's 19th-century Italian children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio. That said, even if the list of features about the timber puppet wasn't longer than said critter's nose when he's lying, del Toro would earn the possessory credit anyway. No matter which narrative he's unfurling — including this one about a boy fashioned out of pine (voiced by Gregory Mann, Victoria) by master woodcarver Geppetto (David Bradley, Catherine Called Birdy) after the death of his son — the Mexican Oscar-winner's distinctive fingerprints are always as welcomely apparent as his gothic-loving sensibilities. In del Toro's third release Down Under this year, following Nightmare Alley and horror anthology series Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities — something else that unswervingly deserved his name in the moniker — the Pinocchio basics are all accounted for. This isn't an ordinary edition of the story, though, or a wooden one (for that, see: the recent Mouse House live-action remake of its 1940 animated hit). Co-helming with feature first-timer Mark Gustafson, co-writing with Patrick McHale (Adventure Time), using character designs by author and illustrator Gris Grimly, and boasting The Jim Henson Company among its producers, this Pinocchio still takes liberties with the original plot, without being beholden to Disney as its guide. Two big leaps: using wartime Italy under Mussolini as the movie's setting, and reinterpreting what it truly means to be "a real boy". Also a visible departure: how Pinocchio himself looks, with his forest origins never sanded or polished away, or clothed over like a doll (or a flesh-and-blood child, for that matter). He cuts a rustic, thorny and whittled figure, complete with stick-thin legs, twisted nails protruding from his back, swinging joints and a branch-like nose with leaves snaking in all directions whenever he fails to tell the truth. No doubt aided by Gustafson's stop-motion background, including working as animation director on Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr Fox, the end result looks so knotty, gnarled and textured that wanting to touch it is a natural reaction. Pinocchio's entire visuals do, as lensed by cinematographer Frank Passingham (Kubo and the Two Strings) — and as befitting a story that's inherently tactile anyway. (Being about a hand-carved puppet that comes alive will naturally do that.) Sebastian J Cricket narrates, putting Ewan McGregor's (Obi-Wan Kenobi) melodious voice to good use as the talkative insect, and starting the film's star-studded cast. He chats through Gepetto's bliss with Carlo (also voiced by Mann), the recklessly dropped World War One bomb that took the boy's life and the booze-fuelled desolation that festers during the woodcarver's decades of mourning. It's while drunk that the latter whips up Pinocchio, who is then visited by the Wood Sprite (Tilda Swinton, Three Thousand Years of Longing), and embraces the next morning walking, talking and being thoroughly mischievous. Alas, the puppet isn't quite embraced in return to begin with — with his shocked papa constantly comparing him to his lost boy, the village priest (Burn Gorman, The Offer) demanding he's sent to school and the local Podestà (Ron Perlman, Don't Look Up) seeing military uses, wanting to ship Pinocchio to war with his own son Candlewick (Finn Wolfhard, Stranger Things). Telling the curious, cheeky, chaotic and selfish timber tot what to do at all is a tricky task anyway, but he listens to one person: Count Volpe (Christoph Waltz, No Time to Die). The carnival master entices Pinocchio to his circus with help from his monkey sidekick Spazzatura (Cate Blanchett, Tár), promising treats and fun, but only really seeing lira and adoration for himself. Del Toro's choice of period gives not just this but the whole tale a grimmer spin, with never being afraid to confront history's horrors — and life's — even when getting fantastical always one of the director's great moves. As in The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy, it works beautifully; Pinocchio is as tinged with personal and universal sorrow and violence as it is gleefully sprouting with eccentricities. (On the page, too, Collodi's creation has always been weirder and more wondrous than Disney gave it credit for, as the 2019 version by Gomorrah's Matteo Garrone also recognised.) Surreal, tinged with sadness, bittersweet, beautiful: that's the film that del Toro has chiseled. It's also caught between a stunning dream and a macabre nightmare, and oh-so-aware that life is only as remarkable and precious as it is because death casts a shadow over every moment for all of us. The usual moral flutters at its heart as well, like this movie's cricket inside Pinocchio's cavernous wooden chest, but the added darkness and pain gives the idea of becoming a genuine person through kindness, love and connection extra weight and depth. This iteration tinkers with the mechanics and meaning behind that 'real boy' quest, however, to utterly heartwarmingly results. In fact, the only less-than-glorious move del Toro makes in his Pinocchio-by-way-of-Frankenstein is keeping in songs — his movie is magical enough without them. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio screens in cinemas from Thursday, November 24, then streams via Netflix from Friday, December 9.
